Yeah, Peachie X is still here with her Beta. She has done so much, but she hasn't stopped yet...

Not Mattering

Only three went to the back of the building. They would enter first according to the plan. The rest waited at the front with Katherine and Isobel and would enter a little later.

A text message from an irate Marcus had informed them that the captured witch was awake now, talking to Sarah, though the vampire was being excluded. Isobel had attempted to contact Damon again, but received no response. Katherine considered all this only briefly, before deciding to move anyway. She thought it best to finish it before any other hostile vampires or witches returned.

Those entering in the back of the building would be noisy and very un-vampire like, but she hoped it would draw most of the fire-power of whomever was inside. They would wait only 30 seconds or so from the time appointed for the rear assault to enter in the front. She hoped that would give time for whatever was inside to react and move away from the front, away from where they were.

At least, if they had not been detected yet.

When the time had arrived, Katherine and the vampires with her concentrated. They could tell that something inside was moving towards the back, but could not tell if it was everyone who was inside.

"Now." Katherine whispered. The front entry was very vampire-like. Silent and swift. It didn't matter. There were still witches and vampires waiting for them.

Problems

Elena stared at Sarah as she talked to the captured witch, trying to learn something from her expression. She watched it harden as the blonde made another phone call.

The human looked at the witch tied to the tree, trying to see if she could tell anything about what was being said.. She was totally unreadable.

Elena had watched Marcus put his phone away, probably talking to Katherine. He hadn't spoken to her – she was glad for that, but he still pushed against the spell. She could tell he was becoming enraged, he did not like being kept from the prisoner.

She was surprised when, as she was looking at him, he was suddenly able to move towards the witches.

It didn't last. Sarah had moved a few feet away from the witch, after removing Alaric's ring. She had also loosed the binding tying the witch to the tree. Marcus passed her, trying to get to the hostile witch, but was blocked again.

By the time he turned to face Sarah, she had moved to stand next to Elena. The blonde witch still wore an expression so harsh that the human girl was a little nervous to be standing next to her. But Sarah was focused on the vampire.

"Let us in." The vampire demanded.

"No!" Sarah's voice was harsher then Elena had ever heard it. "She is bound – will be for a couple of hours. She can't leave and you can't get to her. But make no mistake, she will have her powers when the binding wears off. Leave her alone – she'll leave quietly, but not if anyone bothers her."

Marcus just glared, looking from Sarah to the other witch and back. Sarah ignored him, turning to Alaric, showing him the ring and motioning for him to join them.

Elena was still unnerved by the witch's expression, but forced herself to speak.

"Sarah, what's wrong? What did you learn?"

The blonde's expression did not soften as she turned to Elena. "I learned a lot. I learned the Proctor witches aren't what I thought. They aren't what my mother said."

The witch didn't continue, didn't soften, she just kept glaring at Elena. Finally Elena asked, "What do you mean?"

"I mean I won't let your vampires hurt any more of them." Sarah said as Alaric arrived with Jeremy and Jenna. Elena noted that the vampires that had been standing near them were now unseen, except for Marcus.

After giving the ring back to Alaric, Sarah finally focused on Elena, rather than what the other witch had told her. She noticed that the girl was starting to look afraid and quickly shook her head, trying to snap herself out of it.

"None of this is your fault. I'll still do all I can to help you. It's just not so simple anymore." She turned away from them, but pulled Elena's arm to drag her along.

"What are you…?" Elena began before being interrupted by the witch.

"We need to go to the building. Your vampires are going to have a problem."

Thoughtless

Damon was moving at top speed. Before he had found the spot where Isobel said she was taking Elena, he found the building and heard the ruckus taking place inside. He heard Elena's name and Isobel's voice. He entered without further thought.

Not Quite What it Seemed

Elena and Sarah were running.

When they had started to move ahead, Jeremy had joined them, walking next to Sarah, though not speaking. Elena wasn't happy about this until she noticed that the witch was calming down, softening. She still didn't let Elena speak, always bringing her finger to her lips and shaking her head, telling Elena to be quiet.

Then Jeremy saw the building and started running towards it in front of them. Jenna had lagged behind them, Alaric at her side.

Elena was sure her brother was just showing off for Sarah, but every time she tried to call to him, the witch shushed her again. He was almost out of sight when he was caught and held.

Sarah had been watching. As Elena gasped, the witch pulled her to a slow walk, holding her back. Or maybe it was the protection spell that Elena had figured out was being cast around her.

"Can you cover Jeremy?" Elena asked desperately. She could tell that Sarah was concentrating hard, and was not surprised when she did not respond at first, but the witch did finally speak to her.

"Trying. I'll probably get one or two of them in the spell as well. Are they vampires?"

"I don't know," the girl said quickly, turning to look behind her to see to see how far back Alaric and Jenna were.

When she turned back to look at Jeremy, she noticed something she hadn't before. She grabbed the witch's arm.

"Wait, Sarah."

Sarah turned to the human, her frustration at not being able to push the spell to Jeremy showing on her face. "Are they yours?"

Elena shook her head. "No, but look. They're just talking to him."

Sarah looked back to Jeremy and could see that his sister was right. It still stunned her when he raised a hand and motioned for them to join him.

"Drop the spell" Elena said from beside her.

The witch didn't look at the human, she just continued looking at Elena's brother. "Do you know them?"

"Actually, I think we do."

More Trouble

Damon found himself in a hallway, running unchallenged to the only room he could see with the lights on. He had passed a number of figures lying on the floor, some vampires, some not, unsure if they were dead or not. He didn't stop to check, just moved straight to the room. He could tell it was large before he entered. He could also hear a little of the conversation before making his entrance.

"It has to be her." It was a man's voice. "She's with vampires, like we were told."

"And witches?" a gruff voice responded.

Katherine was being held, struggling hard against a strong vampire, who spoke now "She's a…"

Damon was there, ripping his head off before he finished the sentence.

A witch standing nearby acted immediately, casting a spell in his direction. He hit a wall and collapsed immediately.

"No!" Katherine screamed, ignoring the others in the room, running to where Damon had hit the wall.

Isobel, who was also being held, used the distraction to pull herself free. She managed to reach the witch, hitting her hard enough to break the spell before being subdued by two other vampires again.

The man spoke again when things were relatively quiet. "Another piece falls into place. That is the vampire she loves."

Isobel recognized the vampire that moved towards Damon and Katherine. It was the vampire she had faced earlier, the vampire that had drawn them from the Gilbert house while a witch went inside to try to take Elena.

Katherine found herself being held again, but did not struggle. She just looked at Damon with a distraught face. If she was acting, Isobel thought she was doing a good job. Her expression reflected true concern. Her face and her actions could have easily been Elena's.

"Elena Gilbert." the gruff voice spoke again as the vampire neared Katherine. "You've been far more trouble than expected."

Sworn, Not Bound

Bonnie had stopped asking questions. She was just listening to Heather, when the other witch's phone vibrated.

Heather looked at it and scowled, immediately rising. Her sudden actions brought Stefan quickly to Bonnie's side. The other vampire remained in place, trying to maintain the ruse.

"What are you doing?" Heather asked angrily. "She's not here is she? They already have her."

Bonnie looked at the other witch, her eyes tired, and shook her head. She spoke softly when she said "I don't know where she is."

"This does not bode well for you Bonnie Bennett." Heather was moving towards the door.

The threat startled Bonnie and cleared her head at the same time. Her eyes flared. "I'm not a Proctor witch. This isn't my fight!"

Heather had reached the door, but turned back the Bennett witch as she pulled the door to open it. "If you get in our way again…"

She cut herself off when she felt the resistance.

"Let me go!" she demanded.

Bonnie shook her head, remaining in place. "No! You're not leaving until I know if something really happened to Elena!"

Heather saw the anger in Bonnie's expression and realized the danger she had let herself fall into. She tried to hide her concern and control her voice as she spoke. "I've told you everything. You know what we have to do and you know why."

Bonnie rose and moved next to Stefan who was on his phone trying to reach someone. Her face had not softened, her voice reflected the finality of her decision. "And I've told you I'm not a Proctor witch. I'm not bound to what you have to do. I'm sworn to protect Elena."