Alyssa leaned against the walls of the cellar watching Elena watch Stefan through the bars in his cell. "What do you think he's dreaming about?"

She backed up from the door crossing her arms and answered, "I don't know."

"How long do you think till the blood works it's way out of system?"

"Damon said it'll be a few days. Can't come fast enough," she rest against the wall near the cellar's door leaning her head against the wall. "It's so hard to see him locked up like this."

"It's for his own good, Elena." She leaned up from the wall, "and yours, not to mention the rest of the towns. Can't have him turning it into his own personal chew toy." She walked upstairs leaving Elena to mournfully watch Stefan in his cell.

She walked into the living room where she saw Damon with the object that Pearl gave him. The one that her uncle had been acquiring about. She just didn't know why.

"I'm guessing from the complete perplexed look on your face you haven't figured out how it works." She stopped beside him and took it from him. "Pearl didn't say anything else about it?"

"She thought she was stealing his vampire compass, but that was a pocket watch. That Johnathan Gilbert was a crazy scientist. Have you spoken to your uncle lately?"

"I've been trying to avoid what I know is going to be unpleasant conversation. That," She began to tinker with the object that she had no name for or new what it did, "and I've been spending most of my time here babysitting a sick vampire."

"So, you'll be here again tonight?"

She handed him back the Gilbert device and walked over to the couch where her books were, "that a problem?"

"Yes. You're a complete nuisance."

The corner of her mouth curled up in a smile at the lack of sarcasm that usually went into his comments then began to place her books in her bag.

"So I was thinking about Uncle John's connection with Isobel and I have theory. But before I share, I want to do a little digging first. Shake the tree, see what falls out." She shouldered her bag and left. There were bound to be a lot of skeletons in his closet, and she was eager to dig them up.

She sat in her car on the side of the road calling hotels in the area. She started with the ones closest to town and the ventured out. She was on her fourth call when she finally found something she could use. "Hi, I'm calling to see if Jonathan Gilbert checked in yet. He has? Do you know if he's in his room? He isn't? Well is there a way that I could leave a message or a note for him. Thank you so much." She grabbed a pen and paper out of her bag and wrote down the number of the calls. "Who should you say is calling?" She hesitated on how to answer. "Tell him it's his daughter."

She pulled up to the hotel forty-five minutes later cutting the engine. The brick building in front of her stood at least thirty stories high and was elegant and tasteful. None of which described her uncle but she knew he had cultivated taste so it was no surprise he was staying there.

She walked over to the check in desk and the man behind it smiled at her politely when she walked over she got down to business not wanting to exchange pleasantries. "We spoke on the phone earlier. I was calling to see if my dad had checked in yet, Johnathan Gilbert. I was suppose to leave you a note to give to him and I was wondering if it would be too much trouble to pop up slid it under his door."

He looked apprehensive. Her eyes searched his desk. "I just want to make sure that he has it. I just found that he was my dad even though I've known him my whole life and the last time that we spoke it didn't go so well and I just want him to know that I'm sorry and I want to make it work. We've lost so much time already. Please."

She saw his eyes slid over to the picture on his desk of what she assumed to be his family before he went to look up the room number and gave it to her.

"Thank you," she walked over to the elevators on the other side of the lobby and rode it up to his floor. She bumped into a housekeeper on the way to his room and apologized. She walked to his room and knocked on the door.

When no one responded, she took the key card that she had slipped out of the housekeepers pocket into the door and opened it.

She looked to the housekeeper who had stepped into the room a few doors down to clean and walked inside John's room. The room had looked hardly slept in but she wasn't surprised since he had spent most nights at the house. She suspected that's where he'd come to conduct the business that he didn't want anyone finding out about.

She began to look through the drawers and closet to see if she could find anything useful and came upon a copy of rental papers for an apartment in Grover Hills. She wondered why he would need an apartment an hour and fifteen minutes away.

She jotted down the address and continued looking for any other bit of useful information before putting everything back where she found it from and leaving.

She drove the hour and fifteen minutes that it took her to Grove Hill and parked outside of the apartment complex that John had rented out. She got out of the car and took a look around the inside by peeking in through the window.

There was no lights on or signs of movement inside so she walked over to the door taking out the lock and pick set she picked up from the hardware store on the way there, she unlocked the door and walked in shutting the door behind her.

She passed a small dining room set on the way in and walked into the kitchen. The living room was connected to it separated by a wall that lets you see right into it. She checked the cabinets for any signs that someone had been living there followed by the fridge. There, she found a couple of blood bags in there and slipped her hand inside of her purse.

"Hello," she stepped into the living room. "Anyone here?"

"What are you doing here?"

She turned at the sound of the male voice her hand tightening on the medal sprinter in the bottom of her purse.

"John Gilbert sent me."

"He didn't tell me anybody was stopping by."

"It was a bit of a last minute thing." She said keeping her eyes on him as he slowly moved towards her. She took a step back. "Your suspicious. I get it. A stranger comes sniffing around you never seen before, I'd be suspicious too."

"How do you know John?"

"He's my uncle. It's how I knew you were here. He told me. Gave me a key and everything. How else would I gotten or know about you at all." Her back hit a wall. "He trusts you, said that I could too. I hope he wasn't wrong."

"He wasn't."

She let out a breath when he backed down and released her hand on the can in her purse. "Good." She let go of the wall and placed her hand to her chest. "Sorry if I seem a little jumping. I'm new to all of this. Every family has a secrets but I'd never mine would be vampires. They're suppose to be just fairy-tales. Or, that's what I always thought. Clearly I was wrong. I'm sorry do you mind if I sit down."

He backed out of the way to give her space to move and she did so cautiously sitting at the table.

"My uncle never gave me your name."

"Henry."

"Well, Henry, I'm sorry to have just barged in on you like this. I did hope that my uncle would have mention that I was coming. He didn't mention a lot including how the two of you meet."

"I met him right after I got out of the tomb."

"Your one of the tomb vampires?" She didn't know why she was surprised but she was. "I heard that they all escaped. I just thought most of them were in Mystic Falls."

"A few stayed, but most of us left."

"And since you met Uncle John he's been helping you this whole time?"

"It's a whole new world...Cars, computers, . There's so much to learn. He helped me get this place."

"Has he ever mentioned anyone name Isobel to you?"

"Uh, no. No, I don't know an Isobel. I know John. He's my only real friend. He really showed me the ropes...how to use a microwave, separate my whites."

"What do you do for him? I mean he's showing you all this thing and giving you a place to stay. What does he ask for in return?"

"I help keep an eye on things...You know, with the others."

"The others? From the tomb?"

"A lot of them are still pissed at the founding families for trying to burn them alive. I'm cool, but those tomb boys, they want revenge."

"What does John want with them?"

Henry turned to the door hearing voices outside his door, he turned back to her, "are you expecting someone?"

She shook her head no and he grabbed her arm pulling her up from the chair by her arm and placing her in the other room. "Stay here."

She stayed put listening for anything that could tell her who it could've been and hoped that it hadn't been her John at the door coming to ruin everything.

She heard the sound of a scuffled and came out when she heard the last voice she expected to hear.

"Damon?"

He looked up from looking down at Henry who had been laying in the floor. When she saw his eyebrows drew together in concern. She knew she was in for a lecture.

"Outside."

She looked over at Alaric, the second to last person she expected to see there and with Damon and walked out. Damon was outside seconds later and she turned to him ready he wasn't just mad he was seething and and any retort she had left her.

"I don't know how many more ways I can say it that would make it perfectly clear. Vampires are off limits to you. And just in case you get anymore stupid ideas in your head like the millions of ones you have had so far, I'll will rip that necklace from your neck and compel you to forget the vampires even exist if you ever pull something like this again. Am I clear?"

She nodded realizing that she had already pushed her limit with Damon.

"Go home."

She knew he was serious about going through with his threat of making her forget everything after all the warnings he gave her so she turned and left without a fight.

"Hey Matt, it's me." She walked up the stairs to her home with the phone to her ear stopping outside of the door. "I know we were suppose to meet up tonight but something came up. I'll explain later but tonight isn't a really good time. Call me later so we can reschedule." She unlocked the door and hung him as she walked in.

John must have been expecting her because he was waiting for her in her room when and her guard went up as it usually did whenever he was in the general area.

Her face must have showed how little patience she had for him at the moment for he held his hands up in surrender and she took a few steps in, "I didn't come to fight." He stood up from the position he had taken in the corner of her room where a rocking chair was. "I do however think it's about time the two of us talk. It's really silly for us to keep pretending that you don't know."

"I've never pretended not to know anything. You just assumed," she folded her arms across her chest daring him to lie to what she was about to say next, "but you're right, we do need to stop pretended to know less than we really do. Only, one of us has been underestimating the other."

"It seems I have," he admitted seeing the righteous indignation in her eyes. "I've been doing it your whole life. So why don't we stop the pretenses and just be honest. I know you. I'm just wondering what your mom would have to say about you running around with vampires."

"She probably wouldn't be too happy. After all, she was apart of the founding families when she married my dad. She also never approved of anything I did, I wouldn't think this wouldn't be any different. As far as Elena's mother's concerned, well who knows how Isobel feels on the issue of her daughter dating a vampire. But I know how her father feels about it, after all, you haven't made your discontent for them very clear, haven't you Uncle John. And please," she shut him down before he could refute the claim that she had present him with, "don't insult my intelligence by denying it.

I know all of it. Your connection to Isobel, her connection to Katherine. It took me a while to put the pieces together but something Elena said about the original Johnathon Gilbert making sure that one of the vampires in the tomb couldn't be waken unless it was by Gilbert blood. Anna fed her her mother's Elena's blood. Now, if she wasn't a Gilbert, then it wouldn't have worked. Took longer than it should have to realized but then you showed up and voila the pieces started to fit. The only thing I can't figure out is why you're playing errand boy to Isobel and What's this Gilbert device Pearl took from Johnathon have to do with anything. My guess is, if it's anything like the watch then it has something to do with the vampires that you've had Henry keeping an close eye on. Tell me if I'm going to warmer."

"You have no idea, what you're getting yourself into."

"I think we've already established that I do. Now, if you have nothing more to talk about then kindly remove yourself from my room."

John left quietly and she waited until she heard the door to close behind him before she turned around and left herself.

"Do you feel guilt?" She walked into the Salvatore house apparently in the middle of conversation that Stefan and Damon were having.

"If I wanted to, it's there. Emily waited till after I turned to tell me she'd been successful in protecting Katherine with her spell. She didn't want me to know about the tomb. She thought it would impact my decision."

"She didn't want either one of us to turn. She said it was a curse."

Stefan sounded like he was his old self and for Elena's sake she was glad he was.

"Witches...Judgy little thing."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"'Cause I didn't want you to know. 'Cause I hated you and I still do."

"I know."

"But not because you forced me to turn."

"Then why?"

"Because she turned you. It was just supposed to be me, Stefan...Just me."

She decided to walk interrupt the moment by walking in and they both turned to her. "Am I interrupting anything?"

"No," Damon said looking at his brother. "We're finished."

Alyssa turned to Stefan, "I'm glad to see your back to your old self."

"Me too," he hesitated and she know what he was about to say before he couldn't fully get the words out, "listen-"

"Don't worry about it," she knew he was going to apologize for what happened the might of the Miss Mystic Falls Pageant. "Just don't try again and we'll call it even."

"Deal."

She turned to Damon after he was gone but he disregarded her and walked to the bar. "I see you're still upset. I had hoped you would have gotten over that by now."

"You know I don't know what pisses me off more," he sat the bottle down harder than was necessary and turned to her, "the fact that you continue to disregard anything I say or you don't seem to understand why I'm upset."

"No I get it. You care about me and whether or not I'm safe, in your own special way and I do understand that. You've asked me not to go rushing playing hero and tonight I just walked into a situation that I knew nothing about and I could've gotten hurt or worse. So I understand why your upset with me."

"But?"

"No but's. You're right. I can't keep putting myself at risk like that. I have Jenna, and Jeremy to think about. So I will think before I leap next time. It's just good to know there's still something inside of there," she poked his chest, "after all."

"I wouldn't go that far."

"Don't worry," she took his glass from him. "I know you have a reputation to protect. Your secret safe with me." She took a sip from his glass and walked towards the door. He watched her as she walked towards the stairs before following.