In the woods, Maria was in hiding. She'd made sure to split up from the others, since it was part of the plan. The others were nearby, though she made sure not to deal with them. She could see a girl walking into the clearing alone. However, she could sense she had two vampire bodyguards nearby.

Maria took a deep breath and walked into the other clearing. The girl didn't notice her at first. However, she did seem to notice her friends were missing. "Looking for someone?" Maria asked, keeping her distance.

The girl turned around. She knew it was Katherine. "Um, no." She said. "But I could use a hand getting out of here."

"You're not going anywhere, Katherine."

"How did you know my name?"

"You mean you really don't remember?" Maria walked closer until she was standing a few feet from her. "After all, it's thanks to you that I'm like this."

"Mary. How can you still be alive?"

"I'm part vampire, thanks to some idiot trying to kill me." Maria said.

"Look, I don't know why you're here, but I could end you right now if I wanted."

"You do that," They both turned at the sound of Damon's voice. He and Bonnie walked out of hiding "It'll be the last move you ever make."

"Right, you really think I'd come out here all by myself?" Katherine asked him.

"Already taken care of." Another voice said. Caroline, Nate, and Tyler emerged from one direction, while everyone else came out of their hiding places.

"You think that Maria and I would be stupid enough to come here without back-up?" Damon said.

"Really?" Katherine said. "I guess you don't think I won't go to the council and frame you?" Suddenly, a shot came from out of nowhere. She involuntarily flinched and turned around.

"Did I forget to mention that the Sheriff, my mother, is on our side now?" Caroline asked.

"It's over, Katherine." Maria said. "Call off your attack on the town or you're the one who's going to get it in the end."

"Oh, please, you think I can't take you down?" Katherine asked.

"You can't face all of us by yourself." Bonnie pointed out. "And last I checked, your two friends were dead."

"So, what's your plan? You going to kill me?"

"Maybe." Allison said. "Or maybe we should just kick your butt."

"Guys," Maria began, but it was too late. The next thing she knew, everyone had rushed into a fight. That's when she saw it. There was another guy coming up behind them.

"Ali, behind you!"

She turned and jumped out of the way. She seemed surprise. "Yo, guys! I could use a little back-up here! Turns out we forgot to deal with bodyguard number three."

"Oh, man," Caroline said. "Yo, guys! We better get on it!" She managed to gather Matt, Nate, Lauren, and Tyler to help her.

"Sure you can manage without us?" Matt asked.

"We'll be fine." Jeremy insisted. "Go help Ali!"

Meanwhile, Allison was struggling as the vampire had pinned her. "You must think you're so strong, picking on a girl."

"Just following orders, sweetheart." Then, she smiled as she heard a familiar growl. Meanwhile, everyone else was staring in shock.

"How is that even possible?" Caroline asked.

"I don't even know." Tyler told her, looking just as surprised as the others. A lone, brown wolf was sitting where Nate had been just seconds before. He rushed on top of the vampire that had Allison pinned down. Matt and Caroline helped her up.

"Easy, Nate. Don't bite him. Yet." Allison told the wolf. It's ears perked up and he turned to look at her.

"How is he…" Caroline said.

"Sometimes he can control the shift." Allison said. "It's something we used to practice, but we never thought we'd actually have to use it." He got off the vampire, though it still flinched in pain. Matt could see two scratches on it's shoulder.

"Matt!" The vampire was getting up to hurt him, when Lauren used her powers to restrain it. Tyler picked up a branch near him and staked him in the heart.

"Thanks, man."

"Hey, no one messes with my buddies." Tyler said. They looked at each other, smiling.

"Yeah, now we've got another problem to deal with." Caroline said. "Wait, how will…"

"I hid some clothes in the bushes over here." Allison said. "Nate will be fine."

Meanwhile, Maria was trying to restore order. She saw Katherine get knocked to the ground. This ends now, she thought. In one quick move, she was standing in front of Katherine and put a barrier between everyone. "Enough already!"

"What are you doing?" Elena asked her.

"Guys, when I suggested we go after her, I didn't mean like this." Maria said. She glanced back at Katherine, who was sitting up on the ground, unable to bring herself to move. The feeling she was getting from her wasn't anger, but it explained why she wasn't even trying to get up.

"Are you forgetting that she tried to kill us all?" Damon asked. The others were walking over now.

"And if we kill her, who's to say someone else on her side won't try to kill us. Don't you get it? This cycle of killing and trying to kill each other won't stop if we keep this up." Maria pointed out. Then she added, "Besides, she's not worth it anyway."

"Excuse me?" Care stepped forward. "Are you forgetting that she killed me?"

"And is responsible for Mason." Tyler added.

"You're not the only one she's tried to kill." Jeremy pointed out..

"Hello, she did kill me!"

"Not to mention what they've been through." She said, indicating the guys.

"Oh, please, you two definitely weren't the only ones she'd strung along." Allison pointed out. "And at least you all have a good reason."

"Well, you guys are on our team, but I noticed you flinched whenever her name came up." Damon said to Allison. "What's the reason you and your group were into this?"

Allison looked at Nate. He nodded. "Because she, or one of her cohorts, is responsible for killing my sister." The group, including Maria, were looking at them in shock. "When I found her and asked what happened, all she said was, "Katherine…", and then she collapsed."

"And you're just telling us this now?" Bonnie asked.

"Did any of you ask?" Allison pointed out. They all blushed or looked away.

"Still, I'm your friend, and even I didn't know about that." Maria said.

"It happened while you were busy with these guys." Allison explained. "I told Nate about and eventually, we told Lauren. And before anyone asks, my sister was human. When I heard that we were preparing to fight her, I went into it for revenge. You know, a life for a life."

"I know you're still upset about her, Ali, but it's still not worth it." Maria said. "I mean, look." She was still on the ground, having given up. "She's nothing but a coward who only fights when she has others to do her dirty work."

"I'm still a lot stronger than all of you." Katherine said.

"Then why am I sensing that you're the one who's scared here?" Maria asked.

"What do you mean?" Elena asked. Everyone was staring at her in shock now.

"She's frightened to death because she knows she can't win." Maria said. "And I'm an empath, remember? I can feel the emotions of others," She clarified for some of the new people in the group. "And I'm picking up on hers right now."

"If you're going to kill me, just get it over with." She told them.

"No." Everyone turned to the source of the voice.

"Elena?"

"Maria's right. We can't do this." She pointed out. "Look, she's done some bad things, but how many of us haven't?" She turned to Caroline. "Destroyed my homecoming dress freshman year." Caroline blushed in embarrassment. "You two weren't exactly close friends before, either." She said to her brother.

"I've pushed people away when they were trying to help."

"I'm not completely innocent, either. None of us are." Elena pointed out.

"Okay, guys, listen." Maria said. "We're going to help her, but I'm going to need all of you with me on this."

"How can we possibly do anything?" Damon asked.

"Do you trust me?" Maria asked. She looked completely serious.

"Yes."

"Okay, first, I need Elena and Bonnie next to me."

"Why me?" Bonnie asked.

"Because it's going to take more than one witch in this and you're the second-strongest one here." Maria pointed out. "The rest of you join us once you've stopped holding a grudge against her."

She and Elena held hands. Maria closed her eyes and felt Bonnie take her other hand. She began whispering a spell so softly, not even the vampires could hear it. She was so focused, she didn't notice anything until she felt her power start to flare up. When she opened her eyes, she saw that the rest of the group, apart from Liz and Alaric, who'd stayed behind, had joined hands with them. Altogether, they'd formed a half circle around Katherine.

She felt that her fear had slowly started to vanish, but not completely. That's when she felt as though a force of energy had hit her. She fell to the ground, still holding their hands. "Maria!" She heard someone call.

A few seconds later, everyone had let go and Jeremy, Stefan, and Damon had run over to the girls. "Is she okay?" Damon asked.

"I don't know." Bonnie said. She was looking for a pulse, even though she didn't know if a half-vampire still had one.

"Wait, it's okay." Stefan said. "I can hear her heartbeat."

"So why did she collapse?" Caroline asked. Suddenly, Maria's blue eyes fluttered open.

"Easy, you're okay." Elena said. She and Bonnie helped her to her feet.

But Maria wasn't looking at them. She was looking at Katherine. She slowly took a step toward her. Katherine looked at her, unsure of what would happen.

"Katerina." She said in a gentle voice. Katherine looked at her in shock. No one had ever spoken to her in that tone, unless…

"Anastasia?" Katherine asked.

Maria smiled. Then she spoke to her, while the others watched.

"What's she saying?" Elena asked.

"I don't know." Damon said.

"Neither do I."

"But she speaks five languages." Caroline pointed out.

"Yes, but she's never spoken in this one. Not to any of us."

"That's because she's speaking in a language she doesn't know." Bonnie said, the pieces falling in place. "She's possessed."

Maria had helped Katherine to her feet. Then, she fell forward, as though she was going to fall. She managed to regain her balance. The others were by her side instantly.

"Are you okay?" Stefan asked.

"Yeah, that was weird." Maria said. "It was like I was there, and at the same time, I wasn't. Does that make sense?"

"Kind of." Bonnie said.

"Are you okay?" Elena asked.

"I…I think so." Katherine said. "You all know that everything I did to you guys was so I could survive, right?"

"Maria explained the sacrifice stuff to us." Tyler said. "But if you had Mason, why'd you compel Matt to make me turn into a werewolf?"

"Yeah, that was our fault." Damon said. Bonnie and Stefan glared at him. "Mine, mostly."

"It was pretty stupid of you to run in the first place, though." Maria said.

"Are you kidding me? If I had stayed back then, I would've been killed." Katherine pointed out. "It's what they'd have wanted."

"That's not true." Elena said. She glanced to the others for help.

"I'll tell her, Elena." Maria said, stepping up. "In 1492, Elijah figured out a way to save the doppelganger. You. But you ran before he could explain things, before he had a chance to help you."

"In defense, can you blame her?' Everyone turned to look at Nate. "I mean, if she'd just found out about vampires…"

"He has a point. How many of you reacted calmly when you found out they were real?" Allison said. Only Lauren raised her hand. "Okay, but in your case, you were used to the supernatural already."

"Please, you think you and Maria were the first ones I met?" Lauren asked.

"I found out the night before." Katherine said. "And I really didn't feel like being sacrificed so that he could become more powerful."

"But you wouldn't have been." Maria said. "If you'd stayed, he would've helped you."

"You don't know if that's true." Katherine said.

"She speaks the truth, Katerina." Everyone turned toward the source of the voice. A figure stepped out of the shadows.

"Oh my God!" Bonnie said. Everyone, including Katherine, were staring in shock.