Damon drove back, Nik stuck his feet on the dashboard and propped a notepad on his leg, scribbling notes.

"As much as I hate to do this, I suppose you could be of some use. My boss can't seem to find anyone in the area to help me out, and it's always good to have a second set of eyes for this kind of thing. At the very least you can carry her out of there while I pick them off. Try to sleep for a few hours when we get back. The best time to return will be early afternoon, it's when they'll all be either asleep or tired, they're less suspecting of an attack that time of day, and we'll still have a lot of time before they're expecting you to make a trade." Nik said.

Damon looked at him like he was crazy. "You expect me to be able to fall asleep?"

"At least try." Nik shrugged.

"Why are you doing this?" Damon asked, still suspicious of the plan Nik had been explaining to him on the drive back.

"You're her friends." Nik said.

"Caroline's not our friend. She's our family." Damon said, trying to sound as strong as possible when he was falling apart. Elena was right there, he was across the street from her and there was nothing he could do. Knowing she was still tied to that chair drove him crazy. He didn't need more stress from this guy who was trying to take away Caroline. She was like a sister to him. He couldn't lose her too.

"Family." Nik repeated, trying to imagine it.

"Yes. Family. Stefan's my brother by blood, but Elena and Caroline are my family too. Even Katherine. We take care of each other."

"I'm the one taking care of your family."

"Fuck. Who do you think you are, swooping in like this? You're going to ruin everything."

"You're the one who invited me in."

"I didn't think it would be like this."

"Let me guess, you thought after you got rid of Tyler, Stefan and Caroline would fall in love, You'd marry Elena, he's marry her, be best man at each other's weddings, all your business problems would be solved, and you'd have a happy little life with all the loose ends sewn up. Just the four of you. Your family." Nik said.

"Something like that." Damon said, absently touching the box in his pocket.

Nik noticed the motion, the distinct shape, and realized just how close his guess was. "You're going to ask her to marry you."

Damon begrudgingly pulled out the box and handed it to him. Nik opened it up and looked at the huge cushion cut diamond solitaire atop the platinum band. It was extravagant, even for someone as wealthy as Damon.

"Wow." Nik said. "When were you going to..."

"I was waiting until after things with Tyler blew over, but then just when it seemed like the time was right, we all had to run.. and she was so worried when she was separated from Caroline. The two of them became inseparable the day we introduced them. When Tyler insisted on bringing her along, I wanted to strangle him, but Caroline became one of us so quickly. She and Elena need to have each other in order to have some sense of balance with this life. I couldn't ask her when Caroline was gone. And I thought once you two were back here, I could find the right moment, but then she was gone..."

Nik handed him the box. "You'll get her back."

"I want to kill Mason Lockwood."

"I can assure you, he'll be dealt with." Nik said.

"No. I want to do it."

"Damon, you're not one of us. It changes you. Let me take care of it."

"No. I need to be the one. He hurt her. I can't let someone else... I need this."

"It would change you."

"This has already changed me."

"You know, we have to kill them all. All three of them in there. Other than Mason, I think they're two women."

"They hurt Elena."

"So you don't have a problem? You wont get all sympathetic and try to let them live? Because if you do they'll go straight to whoever is in charge and send someone bigger than Mason Lockwood after us."

"Ok, I get it, the girls die too."

"And you're sure you can live with being a part of that?"

"Yes." Damon replied instantly.

Nik took a moment to study Damon, to be sure he was serious about this.

"Alright. Let me rearrange some things. It might be possible. How good of a shot are you?"

Damon snorted "Just get me in close enough range that it won't matter."

Nik laughed "That bad?"

"Let's just say my aim has never been so great."

"Alright, we'll figure out a way."

"What made you change your mind? To let me do this?"

"I'd want to be the one.. if it were Caroline."

"You're really not backing down, are you? You're going to shove your way into all our lives."

"My siblings seem to have already infiltrated your family. It seems like we'll be seeing more of each other one way or another."

Damon shook his head and concentrated on driving. All the Mikaelsons in his life were giving him a headache.

Caroline heard the door open and sprung up in bed. She heard Damon and Nik talking to Katherine in their living room. Without thinking about the fact that she was only wearing Nik's shirt, she bolted out of the room and into his arms.

He dropped the bag he carrying when he saw her and walked quickly towards her. His hands captured the sides of her face and he watched her intently, seeing the relief in her eyes as she looked at him, glad he returned unharmed, but still aware that the dangerous part was yet to come.

Without thinking of their audience, he kissed her. She kissed back passionately, looping her arms around his back to pull him closer. He traced his hands down her sides, feeling the soft fabric of her shirt- wait- his shirt. He broke away to look at her. She was wearing his shirt, the one he had on yesterday, when he had her pinned against the hood of the car, not caring who saw them, he was wearing it when she said she loved him. She had pushed her hands under it, raking her hands all over his body. He wanted to return the favor, and wondered if she was wearing anything under it. He would never get tired of the sight of her in his clothes.

He leaned down to kiss her again, his fingers finding the hem of the shirt, grazing against her thigh, slowly creeping up.

Someone was coughing loudly, and he felt Caroline pull away, blushing bright red.

Katherine looked both of them up and down, annoyed by their little show.

"There are seven bedrooms in this suite. Please find one." She sniffed.

"Sorry Kat." Caroline mumbled, and pulled him towards the room she was sleeping in.

Damon and Katherine exchanged grossed out faces.

"How's my sister?" She asked him warily.

He just sighed and slumped down in a chair.

"She'll be better once I get her back."

"Damon, maybe you should leave this to the professionals. If you make a mistake..."

"I won't. And no one will fight harder for her than me. I need to be there."

"Ok." she nodded. "You better get some rest."

"I'll rest when Elena's safe."

"Damon, you look like you haven't slept in days."

"You think she has?"

"She's my sister. Don't talk to me like you're the only one who cares."

"It's beginning to feel like it."

"Stop it. We're trying to keep level heads and focus. If you let your emotions rule you, you're going to get her killed."

"I'm the one who's going to keep her alive."

"I'll believe that when my sister's back."

Caroline dragged Nik across the suite into one of the bedrooms and locked the door behind them before pushing him against the bed. He sat down and pulled her her with him, so she was straddling his lap. The shirt rode up a bit and he moved his hand beyond the hem, tracing the edge of the thin lace fabric she was wearing under it.

She was kissing him like he had been gone for months instead of hours. He pulled her in tighter, appreciating every moment. She broke away to catch her breath and smiled at him. He could get lost in a smile like that. No one looked at him that way, no one except her.

"If this is the type of greeting I'll get every time I leave..."

"I was so worried..."

"This was nothing. We were just watching."

"When are you going back?"

"In the late morning."

"You'll be careful?"

"Of course. It'll be nothing. I've been in much worse situations."

"But you're doing this because of me. If anything happens to you I'll never forgive myself."

"Everything will be fine." He promised.

"Nik." She whispered. He traced a finger along the side of her face and saw the tears begin to form in her eyes. One slid down her cheek and he wiped it away, kissing the place where it had fallen.

"Don't cry." He said. His stomach twisted when she looked like that. It was awful to see her cry and even worse to know it was because she was worried about him. "Stop, everything's going to be fine."

"I can't. I didn't want to in front of you but I'm so scared." She said, more tears falling. "I spent so much time pushing you away when I could have been honest with myself and admitted I wanted to be with you. Now I finally have you, and you're leaving."

"It'll be a few hours. Nothing at all."

"But what if something happens?"

"I promise you, nothing will happen."

"Don't say that." She shook her head, unable to believe it.

"This time tomorrow, we'll be sitting by the pool with Elena, drinking margaritas and everyone will be happy and safe."

She relaxed a little. "Well, everyone except Katherine. She's really messed up about the whole Elijah thing."

He smiled. "Is it wrong to be proud of him? I didn't know he had it in him."

"What's his plan, with her?" She asked.

"I have no idea, sweetheart."

"She got really drunk and told me some things she probably would have kept secret otherwise. I think, as horrible as what she did to him was, she really did care for him. She said he was different."

"Do you believe her?"

"I do... I also think she's selfish and she doesn't care about who she hurts. She's the total opposite of Elena, but she's also really fun and ever since she saw him, that spark is gone. It's like the light inside her went out. If his goal is to make her suffer, it's working."

"I don't know if my brother is that sadistic, but this is a whole new side of him."

"He should know. She wasn't just using him. I think it was real for her."

"You're so concerned about her happiness."

"I just felt something when she told me about it."

"What's that?"

"She's you."

"Me?" He asked, eyebrows raised.

"Yes. She's selfish and reckless and she makes her money like you, traveling the world and hurting people. You both lie and you can both look at the people around you as less than. You can justify doing horrible things to people you don't care about."

"Hey!" he protested. "Easy there."

"But there's good in both of you as well. You know I see that in you. You're loyal to the small group of people you care about. You're talented and intense and addictive. She's not all bad either. She's the one who's the most fun in any group of friends, and she cares about her sister more than anything. She met him like you met me, though her job and lying to him. But if I believe you when you say you really fell for me, then I have to believe it's possible that the same thing could have happened to her."

He nodded. "I'll talk to him. But Elijah's all about honor and the value of someone's word. Once his trust is broken, it's not likely it'll be regained."

"Thank you. I just want him to know how she really feels. She won't tell him, and I'm sure he wouldn't listen to me."

"You don't seem too fond of him."

"He's a good brother. Very protective of you."

"Trying to protect me? From you?" He smiled.

"Don't laugh! I can be very threatening." She huffed.

"I'm sure. Poor little darling, Elijah was mean to you." He mocked.

"Stop it! He was probably just freaked out by everything."

"By what?"

"You introduced me as your girlfriend and he almost fell over."

"Was that wrong of me? I know we said we would be together, I just figured that was what you meant. If you don't want me to call you that..."

"No, it's great. It just seemed like it really shocked him."

"I don't think I've had a girlfriend since the 9th grade."

"You're kidding."

"That was around when everything happened. When it all changed and I started doing this kind of work."

"You were that young?"

"I didn't exactly lie when I told you what I was like in high school. I really was living separate from my siblings, and I was too busy working to be social."

"I just assumed you were working some after school job, not running around beheading people."

"I've only beheaded a few. It's a messy way to kill someone."

"I'm going to ignore that. I just can't believe you were so young. And you didn't get to have normal relationships."

"What's the point in building a relationship with someone you have to lie to about everything?"

"You started to, with me."

"I couldn't help it with you. I decided I'd rather keep things from you than not have you at all."

"Well now you don't have to choose, because you know I'll be with you no matter what. No truth is scary enough to make me not want to be with you."

"Are you so sure?"

"I watched you kill your father. Your eyes do this weird thing when you switch into murder mode and you get all cold looking and scary. I seriously doubt you can find a way to scare me away now."

"Stepfather, really."

"So you really haven't had a girlfriend in like ten years?"

"I've had... short term companions."

"Ok! I don't need the details."

He smiled "So you're wearing my shirt again. Why didn't you take a clean one, that one's filthy."

"This one smelled like you."

He shook his head, amused by her. "I thought after a week of wearing my clothes you'd be eager to get back into yours."

"Did you want it back?" She smiled, pulling the hem up slightly.

"I.. um... uh.." He stammered, watching her slowly pull the shirt up, exposing more skin until the blue lace panties she was wearing were visible. "Yes. I think I would like it back. right now." He blurted out, kicking himself for sounding so eager.

"Since it is your shirt, I guess that's only fair." She smiled and moved away so she as standing in front of where he sat on the bed. She pulled it off slowly, glad that she took the time to change into a sexy matching bra and underwear set before he got back.

He looked hungrily at her, standing there mostly exposed, holding his shirt out in her hand.

"Did you want this?" She dangled the shirt in front of him.

"You're making the whole lets wait until Elena's safe thing very difficult." He said.

"Oh? Well we've never been good at waiting." She smiled, throwing the shirt at him.

"Don't make me be the responsible one." He pouted.

"Why?" she asked, walking back to him so her skin almost touching him.

"You're not going to be here 100%. You're worried about Elena, about me leaving soon."

"So I can't have some fun with you before you leave?"

"Caroline. It's not supposed to be like this."

"Like what?" She asked innocently, climbing back onto his lap and trailing her fingers through her hair.

He tried to stay still but his hands betrayed him almost instantly, wrapping around her, running up and down her sides to feel her soft skin.

"Like this. With your friend and my family on the other side of the door. When you're preoccupied with worry about a kidnapped friend. Without any kind of date first or anything to make the occasion special."

"Stop acting like this is the first time." she whispered, pulling at his shirt.

"It is." He said, his brain clouding over as she pulled his shirt over his head and kissed along his stomach and chest.

"Nik, we've had sex before." She replied, moving her kisses up to his collar bone and sucking gently.

He gripped on to her tighter, closing his eyes, trying to remember why it was such a bad idea for them to just go at it right now.

"That was before you really knew me. Now you do."

"And I still want you."

"You don't see how significant this is? Caroline, please, I'm trying to do right by you."

"And I'm trying to take your pants off, so stay still."

"You have no idea how difficult you're making this."

"I think I do." She smiled.

"Caroline, please, it has to be perfect."

She looked into his eyes and saw it. He wanted to do things right, and as much as she wanted fuck his brains out, she would let him have his way. It would be super embarrassing if someone like Elijah heard them anyway and Damon would throw a shitfit if he found out people were having sex during this crisis.

"Ok, so we'll wait on this until you rescue Elena and we can slip away to anywhere out of earshot of your siblings." She offered.

"It's not that I don't want to right now. Believe me, I do. But not with everything that's going on right now.

"I understand. We're always rushing into things." She smiled.

He smiled back at her.

"And I'm taking you on a date first." He added.

"Not necessary."

"No negotiation. You agreed to one back in the shelter. I plan on delivering."

"I don't see how that matters now that I agreed to way more than a date."

"Still happening."

"Fine." She huffed, feigning annoyance. "So what now?"

"I need to rest a bit before I go back out."

"Do you want me to leave you alone so you can sleep?" She offered.

"Actually, I was hoping you would stay." He said.

She smiled and nodded, climbing over to the top of the bed to pull the sheets down. She wiggled in and he slid in next to her, pulling her into his side.

He pulled off his watch and set an alarm for when he needed to be up, placing it on the bedside table.

"Promise me again." She said.

"Everything is going to be fine." He reassured her, and they both drifted off to sleep.