Chapter Twenty-Five
"You know, listen, I'm really tight with the Sheriff. If there's anything I can do that will help find Mason, I'll do it," Damon said. "He's a great guy. I mean, after his brother's funeral he stuck around and helped his nephew –"
"Tyler?" Jules asked.
"Yep. Mason was with him the whole time, helped him through all that grief." Damon smiled at her, pretending to be shy. "You know, you haven't touched your drink."
"I'm not much of a drinker. I should actually get going."
"Oh, no, come on. One drink," he pleaded, sounding like someone who didn't want her to leave.
Jules turned back to him and smiled a little.
"If you insist. It'll help me sleep."
Damon clinked glasses with her and said a cheer for sleep. He watched as Jules brought the glass to her mouth, but before she could take a sip she slammed the glass back down on the bar. Damon gave Ric a signal to come back just in case, because apparently this Jules was a werewolf.
"You think you're clever, don't you?" she asked.
"What do you want with Mason Lockwood?"
"He's my friend."
"Well, I'm sorry to inform you, but you probably won't find him." He dropped the nice guy act. "You should leave town."
"Are you threatening me? On a full moon . . . How stupid are you?"
Ric sat down on the other side of the girl and said, "Damon, how about that second round?"
"I think we're done, Ric." Then to the werewolf. "You think I'm afraid of you?"
"No, I don't," Jules said, standing up and facing him. "That's your vampire arrogance. But you should be. I sniffed you out the moment you entered this bar, along with your pathetic wolfsbane. See, I've been at this a long time. And any other night of the month, the situation would be reversed, but tonight is not the night to pick a fight with me. You've been marked."
Damon watched Jules walk out of the bar. He was going to give her a couple minutes and then he was going to go after her.
In fact, she was probably going to wait for him outside to ambush him.
At the Lockwood slave cellar, Caroline was feeling as helpless as ever. Tyler had begun his transformation, but he was not yet a wolf. Every bone in his body had been broken as his human frame tried to become that of a canine.
"I wanna help, but I don't know what to do," she admitted.
Tyler was laid out on the ground, exhausted and traumatized from his physical ordeal.
"There's . . . there's nothing you can do," he said softly. "You need to get out before it starts again."
"No, I –"
"Get out. I don't wanna hurt you."
"No. No – okay?"
Tyler's back arched and he screamed as his spine broke in half. Caroline screamed along with him. Why couldn't he just shift already?
"Where is she?" Damon demanded as he and Ric stormed out of the Grill.
"Just let it go. Damon, don't be stupid."
"What? I'm supposed to just let her get away? 'You've been marked?' What the hell kind of wolf throw-down crap is that anyway?"
"Damon, look up!" Ric said, grabbing Damon's arm. "Look up! If this werewolf stuff is true, one bite and you're dead. One bite!"
Damon noticed the full moon and realized Ric was right. He couldn't go after this girl no matter how much he wanted to. He had responsibilities to people and he couldn't be as reckless as he'd once been.
"Don't risk it. Just go home, lock your doors and we'll deal with it in the morning," Ric said.
Damon nodded, recognizing the wisdom in that plan.
Damon was just getting home when Rebecca pulled into the garage. Damon was in his Camaro and she was in her Charger. Rebecca noticed something was wrong the second she saw his face.
"What's wrong?" she asked, opening the back door so she could get Chelsea out.
Damon didn't answer until they got to the front door. Rebecca knew something was extremely off when Damon locked the door.
"Damon?"
"I may have pissed off a werewolf."
"Oh, Damon." Rebecca shook her head. "I knew I should've gone with you."
Rebecca followed Damon through the house and into the library/study/war room they had. Someone was there, but not someone Rebecca viewed as a threat.
"Rose," she said. "What're you doing here? I thought you'd left."
Rose looked away. "I did. I wanted to apologize."
"Just admit it. You don't have anywhere else to go," Damon said, crossing his arms and leaning back against the doorway.
"I'm sorry about Elena. I wasn't thinking straight. I didn't know that she had a death wish. But I called you. I tried to make it right, okay?"
Rebecca knew Rose was mostly talking to Damon, because Damon was the one who could hold grudges.
"I'm sorry, Damon. And I have nowhere else to go," Rose added as an afterthought.
"I forgive you," Rebecca said. "Elena's just stupid."
Suddenly there was the sound of glass shattering coming from the living room. Rebecca jumped because the noise was so sudden.
"Damon?"
"Keep Chelsea in here," he ordered and Rebecca agreed.
Both Damon and Rose left and Rebecca was frustrated that, again she wasn't able to help out because of Chelsea. She couldn't just leave Chelsea there alone. Whatever had just broken in would be able to get to her.
She heard snarling coming from the living room and everything became clear. The werewolf Damon had upset had followed him home.
"Damon!" she heard Rose say, and then there was thud and Rose was yelling in pain and fear.
Rebecca bit her lip hard enough to draw blood and cursed under her breath. What was she supposed to do now? Rose was in trouble and maybe Damon too – and she had Chelsea to think about. Chelsea, who was screaming because someone else was screaming. Chelsea was afraid – at least Chelsea was screaming for herself and not because she was feeling someone else's fear.
"Oh, it's okay," she said, beginning to sway back and forth. It had worked when Chelsea had been younger; maybe it would help now.
A whimper – an actual animal whimper – came from the living room and then all was silent, except for the crying baby in Rebecca's arms.
"Damon?" she called out. "Is it safe now?"
"Yeah, you can come in here."
Rebecca went into the living room and saw Damon kneeling down over Rose, who had a wound on her shoulder. It was a bite mark.
"Is that . . . ?" she asked Damon and he nodded.
"How bad is it?" he asked Rose.
"It hurts."
Hurts? Rebecca thought. Werewolf bites were supposed to be fatal to vampires. It had to do more than hurt.
"It's healing . . ." Damon said in wonder.
And sure enough, the wound was disappearing. The bite mark was going away.
"I thought a werewolf bite was fatal," Rose said. "I thought . . ."
Rose began sobbing and leaned forward into Damon's arms. That's when Rebecca realized that Damon and Rose had bonded over the time Rose had been there. If the werewolf bite had been fatal, Damon would've lost a friend.
"You're gonna be okay," Damon said. "You're gonna be okay."
Rebecca was surprised that she didn't feel any jealousy – she guessed it was because she knew Damon was as loyal as a person could get.
"Are we seriously not gonna talk at all?" Katherine asked.
Stefan had been in the tomb now for about a day and a half. He had the candles lit from what Damon had brought him. Katherine was on one side of the tomb and he was on the other.
"No, we can talk about how you regret all you've done to make my life miserable."
"What d'you want me to say, Stefan?" Katherine asked. "That I'm sorry for everything I've done? Well, I'm not, okay? It's called self-preservation. I've been looking out for myself for five hundred years."
"And look where it's gotten you," Stefan said, gesturing at the tomb.
"Yes, I've done terrible things. I know that. But I do love you, Stefan." Katherine began walking toward him and didn't stop until she was right in front of him. "Even if you don't believe it."
"You . . . want me to believe you?" Stefan questioned. "Show me. Do something. Prove to me that there's something inside of you that's actually worth trusting."
"And then what? You're still gonna hate me."
Katherine sat down across from him and stared at him, basically daring him to contradict her.
"Well, maybe," Stefan said. "Or maybe I'll see that there's still hope for you after all."
"You're playing me," she assumed. She looked away and when she looked back Stefan could see the mask she'd put in place. "You wanna find Klaus? Kill him so you can protect your precious Elena?"
"Let me guess. You know where he is?"
"No, I don't. But I could help you find him. Start with Isobel, Elena's mother. She was a research expert. She found me."
Stefan nodded, but before he could say thank you there was a loud thud on the wall – it sounded as if something very strong had hit the entrance of the tomb.
Both Stefan and Katherine looked toward the entrance, and they got up to go see what was happening. Katherine stopped mid-step when she saw that Elijah was standing there.
How was he standing there? Hadn't Damon killed him?
"Good evening, Katerina," he said. "Thank you for having the good sense to be frightened." Then to Stefan Elijah said, "Your release has been requested."
"What? By who?"
"The lovely Elena drives a hard bargain. However, we've reached a peaceful agreement, she and I. Please, come."
Stefan slowly made his way forward and hesitantly stepped out of the tomb. The spell had obviously been lifted.
Katherine rushed forward, but Elijah flashed in front of her. Stefan watched as Elijah caught and held Katherine's gaze.
"You, however, shall not exit until I say so. When Klaus comes he'll want to know exactly where you are."
Elijah broke her gaze and Stefan watched as Katherine snapped out of it. Elijah had compelled Katherine . . . Elijah could compel a vampire, which meant Original vampires could obviously compel other supernatural creatures.
Stefan would have to tell the others.
"You're free to go," Elijah told him. "Elena will explain the arrangement to you. If she keeps her word, I'll keep mine."
Rebecca and Damon were sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace, Chelsea asleep between them, while Rose was off taking a shower. Rebecca had just gotten off the phone with Caroline to see how everything had gone with Tyler, and Damon had just gotten off his phone with Ric.
Caroline hadn't said much except for the fact that the transformation had been long and torturous. Tyler hadn't left the cellar, though, so the wolf that had attacked Rose hadn't been Tyler.
Rose came out and sat on the couch with them. She was wearing a red robe. They told her about Tyler, so she jumped to the only logical conclusion.
"So it was Jules, the other werewolf. The one who attacked you?"
"Yeah. I'm sorry," Damon said.
Rebecca froze. "Wait, what? The wolf attacked you?"
"Well, I picked a fight with her. She was coming after me." Damon stood up and went to grab three tumblers and filled them up with bourbon.
"All's well that ends well," Rose said lightly.
"You all healed?" Damon asked.
"Yeah. Seems that way."
"Rose, uh . . . I'm happy that the legend was fake."
Rebecca smiled at Damon's honesty and the humanity he was expressing at the moment. This was the part of Damon she'd fallen in love with first and the part she loved the most.
"Maybe werewolves made it up to keep the vampires away."
"Lucky me," Rose said, smiling.
"Very lucky," Rebecca agreed.
Rose looked serious suddenly. "I'm gonna stay and help you save Elena."
"Really? Why?" Damon asked.
"Because I like you and I believe in friendship. I happen to have a vacancy in that department and you can use all the friends you can get."
Rebecca giggled at that because Rose was right. Damon had a problem keeping friends.
"Well, I'm going to bed," Rose announced. "See you in the morning."
"See ya."
Once Rose had gone, Rebecca said, "I love you, Damon."
Damon smiled. "Okay, Random. I love you, too."
"It's not random. I love when I see you opening up and letting people in. It's almost beautiful."
"Almost beautiful?" Damon was mock insulted. "Not sexy?"
"You're sexy," Rebecca whispered. "But the way you are is beautiful."
Damon smiled almost shyly and it made Rebecca giggle. She hadn't seen that smile in a long time.
"Come on," she said, grabbed his hand. "Let's get Chelsea into bed, and then we can go show our love for each other."
The next morning Damon and Rebecca woke up, both in a good mood – until they went downstairs. Elena and Stefan were there and they were getting into it about Elena's deal with Elijah.
"I can't pretend everything's okay," Stefan said.
"Katherine's locked away in the tomb."
"I know, but we still have this pressing little issue of you being Klaus's human sacrifice."
"Yes, but Elijah promised to keep everyone safe as long as we played by his rules.
"Right, as long as you played by his rules."
"What's going on?" Damon asked suddenly. "What deal are you talking about? And how did you get out of the tomb, Stefan?"
Elena looked at Rebecca briefly, and with surprise.
"You didn't tell him?"
"We had a long night," Rebecca said. "Long story short, Elijah doesn't want Elena killing herself. He wants to draw Klaus out so he can kill him."
"Hm . . ." Damon widened his eyes. "You believed him?"
"I made a deal with him, didn't I? And so far Elijah has kept his word," Elena said smartly.
"You know . . . Katherine said that Isobel might have answers," Stefan started hesitantly. "And I have a couple questions."
"Stefan, I made a deal with Elijah."
"Right. You made a deal with Elijah. I didn't make one. You should keep your deal."
"Stefan, I don't want anyone else to get hurt."
"When have I ever wanted somebody to get hurt?" Stefan wondered out loud.
"Uh . . ." Rebecca started, "Me. When I died."
Both Elena and Stefan glared at her and she gave a sheepish expression. She'd been being honest, what did they want?
"Anyway," Stefan began again. "We need to start ingesting vervain. Katherine built up a tolerance for it so it wouldn't hurt her if she were injected with it. Also . . . Elijah can compel vampires. I saw him do it with Katherine. The spell is off of the tomb and yet she's still in there because he told her to stay."
Rebecca looked at Damon. He had his thinking face on.
"How is that possible?" Elena asked.
"He's an Original. I don't really know what that means," Stefan admitted.
"I guess that means I will have to call Diana back to town." Rebecca said. Even though Diana had given Rebecca the apartment the lease was almost up for the year and Rebecca had never signed the thing anyway.
Elena smiled Stefan's way. "See, we don't need Isobel; we just need Diana and her books."
"Yes, please. No Isobel," Rebecca said. "I'm gonna go and explain to Rose what's going on and get Chelsea up. You guys get the vervain ready. I like Elijah, but I'm not risking compulsion."
As Rebecca walked away Damon called after her, "You're bossy today."
"You love it," she called back. "Now get to work."
Once Rebecca got upstairs she went to where Rose had been sleeping. The woman in question was just getting dressed. She was pulling her pants on underneath her gown.
"Hello, Rose," she said. "Sleep well?"
"My shoulder is a bit sore."
Rose pulled her shirt off as if another person weren't in the room with her, and when she turned to grab a new shirt Rebecca gasped.
"Rose!" She rushed into the room and stopped Rose from moving. "Your wound . . . it's back."
"What?" Rose grabbed at her shoulder. "Oh my God!"
"I – you're gonna be okay. You just need blood. When's the last time you fed?"
"Two days ago . . ."
"Well, that must be it. Okay?"
Rose nodded and sat on the bed while Rebecca rushed down to the cellar and grabbed a blood bag. She passed by Elena, who was cutting sprigs of vervain off of the plants Damon had continued to grow. Stefan and Damon were there with her.
"Damon?" Rebecca called.
When Damon looked at her he didn't even say anything. He could probably tell that something was wrong just by the look on her face.
"Come with me," she said. "Rose is . . . her wound is back."
"What?"
"She hasn't fed in a couple of days, so it may be because she's weak." Rebecca gestured to the blood bag she had. "Um . . . yeah."
Rebecca and Damon made their way back to Rose's room, where Rebecca was glad to see that Rose had put on her shirt.
"Rose?" The vampire looked like she was in shock. "I brought you blood."
"I was born in 1450 – that makes me 560 years old," Rose said. "So I can die. I've lived long enough."
"You know, if you're gonna be maudlin, I'm gonna kill you myself," Damon said, grabbing the blood bag from Rebecca's hand. "Just to put me out of your misery. Come on, it's just a little werewolf bite."
Rose laughed softly. "Just a little fatal-to-a-vampire werewolf bite."
"Well, according to legend, which is a notoriously unreliable source." Damon put the little tube in the blood bag and then handed it to Rose. "Drink up. Blood heals."
Rebecca realized that Damon was pretending not to be worried so that Rose might feel better.
Rose took a few sips from the blood bag and then said, "Yeah. It does feel like it's working."
"Well, then, let's have a look. Come on."
Rose turned away from Damon so that she could lift her shirt without him seeing anything in the front.
"How is it?" she asked.
"Uh . . . definitely not bad." Damon stumbled over the words. For a once homicidal vampire, he really was a terrible liar.
The bite wound on Rose's shoulder was worse than it had been. It looked like some flesh eating bacteria had gotten a hold of her. Or maybe that someone had clawed her with a gardening fork.
"Right, Rebecca?" he asked.
"Oh, uh . . ." She was surprised that Damon had asked. "It's not bad." She was a terrible liar too.
"See, Rose. It's not that bad." Damon looked at Rebecca. "I'm gonna go find Stefan real quick and then I'm gonna go on a hunting trip. Keep your phone on you."
Rebecca nodded once. She knew that Damon wanted to find Jules and find out what they could do to help Rose.
"Where's Stefan?" Damon asked when he reached Elena in the cellar.
"He left. I need you to talk to him. He's convinced that he has to find Isobel, but I think that's gonna upset Elijah."
"No can do. I'm with Stefan on this one. But if you could help Rebecca play nurse for a little while . . ."
"Damon, Rebecca doesn't want Isobel involved. She hurt Matt last time and she took Jeremy."
"She needed something last time. She doesn't now."
Elena paused in cutting the vervain sprigs and whispered, "Is Rose gonna die?"
"Probably," Damon said. "The wolf bite caused some kind of infection and it's getting worse."
"Like a poison?"
"I don't know, Elena. I'm not an expert in the field."
"I'm sorry," Elena said.
"Death happens. We come we go. The sooner she dies, the better. It's gloomy as hell in here."
"That's not how you feel, and you know it." Elena touched his arm through his shirt. "Rebecca wouldn't be able to love you if you really felt that way."
It was true. Damon didn't really feel that way, but it was also true that if he found that there was no cure it was better that Rose die fast rather than suffer.
Caroline was at home waiting for Tyler to come pick her up. They were going to a pep rally together. She was a cheerleader and he was a football player so it made sense. Plus she wanted to know how he was doing.
When he called to ask if he could pick her up he'd said he was fine but sore, that every muscle ached. It made sense because every bone in his body had been broken and converted twice, once while he'd shifted into a wolf and the other when he'd shifted back into human.
But he'd done it. He'd made it through his first full moon and he hadn't hurt anyone, namely her.
It would be easier now. He'd get better at it, he'd learn to control it, and it wouldn't hurt as much. She knew she needed to tell Tyler about the legend of the werewolf bite, but she wanted to help him enjoy this small victory first.
Tyler had just parked outside of Caroline's house. He was there because he was giving her a ride to the school for the pep rally the school was having.
Before Tyler could get out of his car, Caroline came bounding out of the house and had already reached the car before he could get out and open the door for her.
"Hey," she said, smiling widely.
"Hey back." Tyler didn't start the car right away. "Look, I really wanna thank you. I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't been there."
Caroline's bright smile turned into a shy one and she looked away.
"Um, yeah . . . anyway, um, next month we should probably reinforce the wall because, I mean, you almost got me that one time, and it just would've been, um . . ."
"What?"
"Uh . . . never mind, it's . . ." Caroline began laughing nervously.
Tyler remembered breaking through the door and almost getting Caroline, but she would have been fine anyway because vampires healed fast, right?
"What?"
"Well, it's not a big thing. It's just that one bite . . . and it's, uh, you know, curtains for me."
"What're you talkin' about?"
Tyler realized they needed to get moving if they were going to make it to the school on time, so he started the car and they took off.
"The legend says that a bite from a werewolf can . . . kill a vampire."
"How d'you know that?" And why would she risk it, if that was the case? Why would she risk her life just so he wouldn't have to be alone the first time he'd changed?
"I . . ." Caroline bit her lip and sighed. It was almost like she didn't want to answer. "I think I read it somewhere. I've been reading up on everything supernatural ever since I turned into a vampire."
"Oh. Well . . . next time you should get away before I turn. I don't want you hurt because of me."
At the school, Caroline and Tyler ran into Matt, who wanted to talk to the blond so Tyler left them to it.
"That was nothing," Caroline said. "There is nothing going on between Tyler and me. We were just talking."
"I believe you," Matt said. "Look, Caroline, you're a lot of things, but you're not a liar. You've always been straight with me and I believe you."
"Well . . . good."
Caroline smiled on the outside, but she felt completely guilty on the inside. Matt seemed to have so much faith in her and yet she lied to him all the time. She lied to protect him, but she still lied.
"Look, I think we got some wires crossed here, and you know how tongue-tied I get, and, well . . . I – I don't like this."
"Don't like what?"
"Whatever this is that's going on between us. I miss you, and I – I just wanna –"
Matt broke off and gently let his lips slide against hers. To say Caroline was surprised was an understatement. The last time she'd really talked to Matt had been when she'd pretended to be mad at him for talking to Aimee Bradley. He'd broken up with her because she'd pretended to be jealous.
Caroline kissed him back without thinking. She still loved Matt. Only when his heartbeat began to pound in her ears did she pull away.
"You can't," she breathed out. "Just –"
"Why? Care?"
"No, Matt. Okay?"
Caroline forced herself to walk away from Matt, knowing she'd just made things more awkward for herself. Now she'd have to avoid Matt for the rest of the day.
Ric was at the Grill, having lunch and grading papers, when Stefan Salvatore sat down across from him.
"Hey, is that the, uh, werewolf?" Stefan asked, gesturing to a blond girl, who was also having lunch.
"Yeah. I, uh, just left Damon a message."
Ric had been researching all morning even though he'd just found out about Rose being infected. He knew that legends were based on truth, at least a little, so he'd wanted to be sure nothing was going to pop out and surprise him. None of the lore had any hint of a cure, though, and Ric didn't want anything to happen to the one vampire that wasn't Katherine that could actually help them.
"So you're doing his dirty work for him now?"
"Hm, well, she could have a cure for Rose." Ric liked Stefan – really, he did – but he didn't like how he sometimes treated Damon. "I couldn't find anything in any of Isobel's research except for the fact that it's fatal."
"Do you still know of a way to, uh . . . to get into touch with Isobel?"
"Even if I did, she isn't gonna help," Ric said firmly. "What would she care if a random vampire died of a vampire bite?"
Stefan shook his head. "Katherine said that Isobel knew of Klaus."
"So this isn't about Rose. It's about Elena." Ric sighed. "I have an old number, probably out of service."
"No harm in giving it to me, then."
"You know you can't trust Isobel even when it comes to Elena."
"I know that."
"A'right. I'll see if I can find that number. If I do, I'll text it to you." Ric picked up his stack of papers and looked at Stefan. "Keep track of the she-wolf until Damon gets here, will you? And don't let him do anything stupid."
Stefan nodded and let a small chuckle pass his lips as Ric walked away.
Back at the boardinghouse Rebecca was helping Rose into bed. She'd sent Elena home and she'd asked the brunette to take Chelsea with her. Elena had agreed – there were too many unknown factors in this situation for Chelsea to be anywhere near it.
"I hate this," Rose said. "I'm a vampire. I haven't had a cold in five centuries. We don't get sick. When we die, it's fast and sudden, and it's certainly not drawn out with illness."
Rebecca didn't know why, but she'd brought Rose to Damon's room and had put her in Damon's bed. Maybe because Damon was Rose's friend or maybe just because Rebecca felt more comfortable in the room she shared with Damon.
"You're lucky, you know," Rose said. "No one's ever loved me the way Damon loves you. Trevor was my best friend, nothing more. I spent all those years on the run from Elijah. I just never thought it was a good idea to set up roots. The whole idea of a family is not exactly compatible with being a vampire."
"Tell me about it," Rebecca said. "I love Chelsea and I don't want to give her up. But sometimes . . ."
"Sometimes you think it would be best?"
"Yes." But she didn't want to take her away from Damon.
"He'd understand, you know. He'd be angry, but he'd understand."
Rose then looked like she was going to fall asleep while talking and Rebecca sighed. Things did not look good for Rose. Unless . . .
"Rose, will you do something for me?" Rebecca asked. "I want you to drink from me."
"What?"
"Please? I . . . my blood is powerful. It may not heal you, but it may make you feel better."
"I can't use you as a blood bag, Rebecca."
"I'm offering it to you as a convenient fix – or possible fix."
Rebecca brought her wrist up to Rose's mouth and left it there for Rose to decide. The older vampire grimaced.
"Not from the vein. Put it in a glass."
"Okay." Rebecca got up and went to Damon's mini-bar. He had it stocked specifically for him since it was in his room. "Where are you from, Rose?"
"St. Austell. Thirty kilometers south of London. All trees and fields and horses."
"So, nothing like Mystic Falls then?" Rebecca quipped.
"No."
Rebecca picked up one of Damon's tumblers and then bit into her wrist and held it over the glass. She had to bite herself three times before the glass was even half full.
She handed the glass to Rose and told her to drink it all. Rebecca waited patiently for Rose to finish and the she told Rose to let her see the bite marks.
The wounds began to fade as Rebecca watched. They didn't disappear completely, but they looked better than they had before.
Maybe Rebecca had bought Rose some time for Damon to find a cure . . . if there was one.
Okay, so I really like Caroline as she's a vampire and I don't mind the Tyler and Caroline parts, but the Matt parts are driving me nuts. I'll be so glad when I'm done with that. I do like the interactions between Damon and Rebecca - but I usually love those - and I like the interactions with Rose and Rebecca. I brought up the dreaded "Should we send Chelsea away or shouldn't we" debate. I've already decided what I'm going to do with her. I think if I keep her, I may get angry remarks from logical, realistic people, but if I send her away, I'll also get angry remarks for people who want to keep her around . . . We shall see what happens. Let me know what you guys think, as always!