"So, I have a question," Toby said as he lifted himself up onto the table. "Does the sentence 'experimenting on innocent college student against their will' sound wrong to you?"

"Human trials are a vital part of modern medicine," Dr Maxfield replied weakly. He was sweating profusely and his face had gone pale.

"I thought you volunteered for that kind of thing and, you know, signed a waiver or something."

Toby pulled the tray of vials onto his lap and looked through them.

"Sometimes you do what's necessary for the greater good."

"I'm not the greatest guy in the world, but sounds like some Mengele level crap that you're spouting out," Damon said. "So I gotta ask, what is your greater good?"

"Yo," Toby called to get Damon's attention. He tossed over a vial. Damon caught it easily with one hand. Damon looked down at the label.

"Rabies," he read off. "Sounds fun, doesn't it? And appropriate, given the circumstances."

Damon filled a syringe with it and then injected it into Dr. Maxfield.

xxxx

Elowen was observing the party by herself when Veronica came over to her, holding two jello shots in her hands. She held one out for Elowen.

Elowen started to shake her head. "No, I don't-"

"You don't drink, blah, blah, blah. Look, I get it. You wanted to be a role model for your alcoholic brother, but he was sober when he died, and Caroline drank around him all the time and he was fine. You're in college now. You're allowed to let loose. Now, here, take it."

Elowen sighed, but gave in and took the jello shot from Veronica. She opened it up and clinked her shot against Veronica's before popping it into her mouth.

"So," Elowen started to say after she swallowed the jello. "Why aren't you out there flirting with someone and partying? I was always under the impression that this was your scene."

Veronica sighed. "I think I'm getting a little too old for this. I'm 20. I had my time to peak in high school, you know?"

Elowen gasped dramatically. "Veronica Garcia is being responsible?"

Veronica rolled her eyes. "Oh, shut up. I just think it's time that I take life a bit more seriously. Being around all this vampire stuff made me realize that human life is so short, and I should appreciate it a bit more and not waste it away."

She sighed, looking over at Bonnie and Angel, then over at Jeremy and Adriana.

"I guess I'm also just lonely, and you're the only friend I have. I'm tired of having meaningless hookups with people I'm never going to talk to again."

Elowen followed her line of sight and understood.

"You want something real, and knowing that Angel and Adriana have found it makes you sad."

Veronica sighed.

"I'm not saying you're wrong, but if we started a deep conversation in the middle of a college party, it's going to ruin the night."

Elowen laughed.

"Okay, then we won't."

She held out her hand to Veronica.

"How about we go dance?"

Veronica smiled and took Elowen's hand.

"We shall."

xxxx

"Well, rabies was a bust." Damon threw the needle away and faced Toby. "Find something stronger."

Toby started looking through the vials when Dr. Maxfield finally said something.

"I wanted to turn Jesse into a new kind of vampire."

"Well, that's awfully ambitious of you."

"I am awfully smart."

"Ooh." Toby lifted up a vial. "Ebola."

Dr. Maxfield visibly flinched at this one as Toby passed it off to Damon. Toby turned his attention to Dr. Maxfield.

"So, creating a new vampire. Why?"

"Your kind is dangerous to humans. You're dangerous because we're your food source. I want to change that. If vampires don't need to feed on humans, they're no longer a threat."

"Hm. I'm not buying the good doctor bit." Toby looked over at Damon. "Do you?"

Damon shook his head. "Nope."

"Human blood will only satiate Jesse temporarily until he gets a taste of what he really craves," Dr. Maxfield told them.

Damon and Toby shared a look before Damon looked back towards Dr. Maxfield.

"Well, what exactly does he crave?"

xxxx

Elena pushed her way through the crowd and found Elowen dancing with Veronica. She grabbed Elowen's wrist and started pulling her away from the party. Veronica followed closely.

"Whoa, hey! Is something wrong?" Elowen asked.

Elena turned to face her. "Okay, look, I was out of line earlier, but I'm asking this seriously. Please make sure Damon doesn't kill Wes."

"Uh… can I ask why?"

"Wes is Aaron's guardian. He's the only family he's got left, and I just-"

"No, I got it. I'll call him, okay?"

Elena breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you. Oh, um," Elena faced Veronica, "Aaron was asking about you."

Veronica quirked an eyebrow. "He was?"

"Yeah, he asked me if my roommate was here and when I asked him which one, he very specifically said the one with red hair. I think he likes you."

Veronica shot a knowing look at Elowen, who smirked back. Veronica turned back to Elena.

"Where is he?"

Elena got on her tiptoes to look over the crowd before her eyes landed on him. She pointed him out.

"Over there."

"Hm," Veronica hummed. "Not really my type, but I guess I can humor him. Wish me luck."

As Veronica walked off, Elowen pulled out her phone to call Damon when Caroline came up to them.

"Hey. Have either of you seen Jesse?"

Both Elowen and Elena shook their heads.

"Is everything okay?" Elowen asked.

"I don't know. He just took off."

"Okay, let me call Damon really quick, and then we can look for him."

Caroline nodded, and then Elowen walked off to make the call.

xxxx

Stefan had just taken a shot when suddenly, he felt a panic attack coming on. The room felt like it was spinning and he tightly gripped onto the shot glass in his hand, shattering it in his palm. He looked down at his hand and dropped the broken pieces of glass onto the bar when Esmeralda came back with a bottle of bourbon and two glasses in her hands.

"Ta-da! Found the- Oh my god." She saw what was left of the shot glass and the blood on Stefan's hand. "Is everything okay?"

"I need to get out of here," Stefan blurted gruffly before pushing his way through the crowded bar towards the back exit. Esmeralda put down what was in her hands and quickly followed after him. Stefan burst through the door and grabbed onto the railing, panting and struggling to breathe. He started to walk down the steps when Esmeralda caught up to him.

"Stefan! Hey, talk to me. What's going on?"

"Get away from me," Stefan snapped and Esmeralda stopped in her tracks. Her empath power was going into overdrive now that she was alone with him. Before, there were too many people around her to zero in on what Stefan was feeling, but now it was hitting her full force. She cleared her throat, feeling like something was stuck in it, and after the third time, she felt like she was choking, mimicking the feeling of drowning. Panic filled the pit of her stomach and she caught on to what was happening.

"Stefan," she called out, her hands shaking from the anxiety radiating off of him. "You're okay. You need to relax. Think of-"

Stefan sped over to her and grabbed her throat.

"I can't do that! Do you understand me?"

"Stefan," Esmeralda wheezed out. "You need to shift your focus. Think of anything else. When's your birthday?"

Stefan didn't answer. Instead, his hand tightened around her neck.

"I can't breathe, Stefan. You're going to kill me." Esmeralda's hands came up to grab at Stefan's, trying to pull his fingers away from her. "Focus! When is your birthday?"

"Nov… November 1st, 1846."

"And Damon's?"

"June 18th, 1939."

"Elowen's."

"May 10th, 1992."

Slowly, Stefan's grip started to loosen on Esmeralda.

"Josiah's."

"September 6th, 1993."

"Mine and Eliana's."

"July 21st, 1976."

Stefan let go of Esmeralda and she gasped loudly before beginning to choke, doubling over to grab her stomach. It took her a few seconds to catch her breath, but once she did, she went right back to helping bring Stefan down.

"Alaric."

"February 4th, 1976."

"Toby."

"August 15th, 1992."

"Veronica, Adriana and Angel."

"December 28th, 1991."

Esmeralda felt his panic start to subside and she nodded.

"Good. You're in control, Stefan. You're on solid ground. One more. Sydney."

"October 30th, 1977."

Esmeralda paused, watching as Stefan swallowed and closed his eyes.

"Better?" She asked after a few moments of silence.

Stefan opened his eyes, took a deep breath and nodded.

"Yes. Thank you."

"Guess being locked in a safe for three months did a number on you."

Stefan chuckled and nodded his head again. "Yeah, I guess it did." He paused. "I have a confession to make."

"Oh?"

"I didn't invite you out just for a drink. Elowen told me that you were really good at helping with the whole PTSD thing and since she's away at college…"

"You decided to take her word for it."

"Yeah."

"Well, I'm glad that you felt comfortable enough to rely on me for help, but a heads up would've been nice. I can't help you unless I know what's going on."

"Ah, yeah, sorry about that."

"Let's just get you home."

Stefan cleared his throat awkwardly. "Uh, I don't really want to be alone tonight."

"Alright then, you can crash in Josiah's room. No biggie."

"Are you sure?"

"Stefan, you're my daughter's boyfriend," Esmeralda deadpanned. "Or at least one of them. You're always welcome at my house. Always. Now come on."

Esmeralda held out her hand and Stefan took it in his own, allowing her to pull him back up the stairs and into The Grill so they could leave.

xxxx

"Jesse feeds on… vampires?" Elowen asked in confusion. She had called Damon and he was filling her in on what him and Toby had learned.

"That's what Doogie said, and apparently once he starts, he can't stop."

"This means Dr. Frankenstein is still alive, right?"

"As of now. Why?"

"Elena asked me to ask you to keep him alive."

"Elena asked you to keep him alive? Since when do we care what she wants?"

"I guess Wes is her friend, Aaron's, guardian and she doesn't want him to be alone, or whatever."

"And what do you want?"

Elowen sighed. "I'm not in the mood to deal with another dead body, and I really don't want this to be a repeat of what happened when I was in high school. Heal him up and we'll figure out what to do after that."

"Sounds like a plan. See you in a bit."

"Yeah."

Damon turned to face Dr. Maxfield after he hung up with Elowen.

"Problem is, I know people like you a lot better than you realize. If I let you live, you're just gonna do it again. You're gonna turn another vampire, you're gonna do another experiment. The only way to really handle you is just to snuff you out. You're lucky that I agree with my girlfriend and that neither of us want to deal with a dead body."

Damon picked up a scalpel and cut open his wrist. He offered it to Dr. Maxfield and he was about to drink when the door burst open and Jesse stormed in.

"What the hell did you do to me?" Jesse asked in a panicked loud voice.

"Easy there, killer," Damon said.

"Wasn't bad enough that you locked me up and poked me full of needles, now I wanna feed on the girl I like?"

"You feed on monsters, Jesse," Dr, Maxfield told him.

At that moment, Jesse noticed Damon's cut wrist. His eyes started to vamp out and he sped at Damon to attack him, but Damon grabbed him in the neck to hold him off.

"In case Professor Forbes forgot to tell you in your training, sweetie, I'm a lot older than you, and that means I'm a lot stronger than you."

"Actually, that's not 100% accurate," Dr. Maxfield commented from behind them.

Toby ran over to try and pull Jesse off of Damon when Jesse grabbed him and threw him through the glass on the door.

Toby hit the wall outside with a loud crash, but he quickly sped up to his feet, sped back in the lab, grabbed Jesse and threw him the same way, away from Damon. Toby grabbed Damon's arm and started pulling him away.

"Let's just get out of here, okay? Come on!"

Damon nodded and the both of them tried speeding away, but Jesse was slightly faster, grabbing hold of Toby, knocking him off of his feet, then grabbing Damon and slamming him against the wall.

"What the hell did they do to you?" Damon asked as he tried to hold off Jesse, but to no avail. With a growl, Jesse got the upperhand and sank his fangs into Damon's neck. Even though he was slightly disoriented, Toby got to his feet.

"Toby! A little help here?"

Acting quickly, Toby sped over to a piece of broken wood from the door, then sped over to Jesse to stake him in the heart just as Caroline, Elowen and Elena turned the corner.

"No!" Caroline shouted as Jesse fell to the floor. "No!" She ran over and pulled him into her lap. "No, Jesse! Jesse, come on. Hold on. Hold on. Just stay with me, please. Jesse, just stay with me, please."

Slowly, grey veins crawled up Jesse's body until he was dead.

"No." She looked up at Toby. "What did you do?"

"He was gonna kill Damon-" Toby started to defend himself, but Caroline cut him off.

"I promised that we would help him!"

"Look, Caroline, I'm sorry, but there was no stopping him, okay? I didn't have a choice. Once he had a taste of vampire blood, there was nothing stopping him. Ask the freaky doctor if you want proof." He turned to Damon. "You good?"

Damon nodded. "Yeah. Thanks."

Toby nodded his head back towards the lab. "Let's just take care of this."

Damon nodded and followed Toby. Elowen and Elena shared a look, both of them standing over Caroline. Elowen carefully crouched down to her level.

"Caroline," she said softly. "We need to go before we get caught."

Caroline shook her head. "No! We can't just leave-"

"Caroline. If someone sees us here, it's game over. We have to leave."

Elowen looked up at Elena, who nodded. Elowen took hold of Caroline's arm and started pulling her up to her feet, and once she was standing, Elena grabbed her other arm. Together, they left Jesse's body and went back down the hall.

Inside the lab, Toby turned towards the door as something hit him and he walked back over to look into the hall before cursing under his breath.

"What?" Damon asked, pulling his wrist away from Dr. Maxfield's mouth after he had had enough blood.

Toby sighed and turned back towards Damon.

"Instead of waiting for the vervain to leave his system, we could've asked Elowen to do it."

"Oh. Damn. You're right. Oh well. She's kind of on Caroline duty now."

"If you're gonna do this, I'd much rather prefer a bullet through the brain," Dr. Maxfield spoke up, causing Damon and Toby to turn to look at him.

"Didn't you just hear me?" Toby asked. "I said we're going to wait for the vervain to leave your system and compel all of this out of your head."

Damon walked over to the tray of vials and picked it up so he could put it back in the fridge. When he opened the door, he saw a bag of blood and picked it up.

"What the hell is that? Why does it say 12144?"

"What do you care?" Dr. Maxfield retorted.

"Because I was 21051."

"21051. Wait, hang on. You were an Augustine vampire?"

"What the hell is Augustine?" Toby asked cluelessly, looking between Damon and Dr. Maxfield.

Damon ignored him. "Augustine. I haven't heard that name in decades. Vampire lab rats, coded subject names. I thought you guys shut down 60 years ago."

"You thought wrong."

Damon threw the blood bag back in the fridge and slammed the door closed.

"You know how I said I wasn't gonna kill you? I lied."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Toby stepped forward. "What?"

Damon once again ignored him and started filling a syringe with something when Dr. Maxfield escaped what was binding him to the gurney and ran for the door. Toby sped in front of him to stop him, but Dr. Maxfield reached behind Toby and hit a red button that was on the wall next to him. It triggered the sprinkler system on the ceiling, but instead of spouting out water, it released a gas into the room. Damon and Toby both started coughing and choking, falling to the ground.

"Atomized vervain," Dr. Maxfield explained. "When working with vampires, you can never be too careful." He glanced at Damon. "Not only will Augustine be thrilled to have you back," he looked over at Toby, "they'll be glad to have fresh meat."

The next second, Damon and Toby went unconscious.