"Now, remind me why we can't just get the stupid cat and go home?" Adrian asked Helene as they dressed for another party that night. "We came to get a stupid cat and so far, all we've done is have mindless conversation with a bunch of women who treat me like shit they stepped in. What's their problem, anyway?"

Helene sighed. "I'm sorry," she said. "It's just that...witches don't usually marry outside of their kind, and when they do, it's not looked on favorably. But thank you for behaving yourself. It means a lot to me. As for why we can't just get the cat and go home, Adrian these are people I haven't seen in years. They're my friends and my parents' friends and I've missed them a lot."

Adrian scoffed. "You should have just brought Lenora. I bet they would like her, even though technically she's an 'abomination' too."

"Oh, I'm sure they don't think you're an abomination," Helene said, sitting next to him.

Adrian nodded insistently. "They do! One woman whispered it to another woman, and someone else said, "He may be an abomination, but he's a handsome one and I'd let him clean my pool any day." He scoffed. "Maybe my dad had the right idea after all. Maybe it would be best to just enslave every last one of them."

"Adrian, please," Helene said. "You couldn't do that. There are too many of them. They'd overpower you and take you down in a second. So for now, just hold your tongue, be civil, and I'll see if I can't straighten things out with everyone, okay?"

Adrian shrugged. "Fine, whatever. I don't care." He lay down on the bed with his eyes closed and his shirt off. Helene looked down at him and began stroking his hair. "You poor guy," she said. "You put up with a lot, don't you?"

"Yeah, I do," Adrian muttered so she could hear. "And you're damn lucky, Helene."

Helene sighed. "All right," she said. "Enough pitying yourself. Get up! Put your shirt on! Put on your shoes."

"No," Adrian said. "I don't want to. Tell them that I'm sick or something. I doubt that they'd miss me."

Helene smirked. "I can't tell them you're sick. They'd never believe that."

"Fine," Adrian replied. "Then tell them the truth. Tell them I just don't like them and see what they say."

"No," Helene said insistently. "Either you dress yourself or I magically dress you. You know how pleasant that is. So which is it gonna be, Adrian?"

Adrian shot up to a sitting position. "Why is it so important to you that I come with you?" He shouted. "Tell me that, Helene, and then I might just consider getting up, getting dressed, and coming with you."

Helene sighed. "Well, okay. I didn't want to have to tell you because it's kind of awkward, but one of the guys that's here is a childhood friend of mine and everyone was always real hot to see him and me together, so unless you come with me, unless we make it abundantly clear to everyone that we are a couple and together and everything, they're gonna try and shove me together with him and I doubt you want that."

That finally got Adrian out of bed. "Are you serious?" He asked. "Helene, if you are just messing with me so I'll come with you, I swear-"

"No!" Helene shook her head. "Adrian, I swear I'm not messing with you. I'm serious. Now please, get dressed and let's go!"

"Fine," Adrian said. "But the next time a really awkward function comes up for my side of the family, I am going to remember this and I am going to make you come."

"You don't have to make me come," Helene said primly, throwing a blue polo at him. "As my father's daughter, I'm obligated to come. Between the two of us, it's the only way to keep peace at your family functions."

Adrian gave her a sour look, put on his shoes, and the two of them left the room, just in time to run into Astrid, who was coming down the hallway toward them. "Oh, here you are," Astrid said. "Good. Everyone was wondering. They sent me to look for you."

"We were talking," Helene said. "That's all, Mom. But we're coming down now and we're sorry we made everyone wait."

They followed Astrid in silence, keeping their eyes on her blonde head as they left the hotel where they'd been put up and got in her car to head to the building where the witches' council had their offices.

The three of them reached the door to the building and Astrid went inside, but Helene paused at the door and reached for Adrian's hand, taking hold of it and grasping it tightly before pulling him along behind her.

The first person they saw when they reached the reception room was a young man with dark hair wearing a tux. He approached Helene with a grin on his face, and, taking no notice of Adrian standing behind her, embraced her gently and kissed her lightly on the cheek.

When he pulled away, he finally noticed Adrian. "So," he said to Helene, "Who's your friend?"

"I've told you already, Eric," Helene said. "He's my-"

"I'm her husband," Adrian interrupted. "We're married and everything. And we have sex every night. Usually during the day too."

Eric looked uncomfortable. "I'm not sure I wanted to know that, but thank you. I'm gonna go now."

He left and Helene glowered at Adrian. "What the hell was that about? Why do you think you need to broadcast the details of our sex life to someone you don't even know?"

"Well isn't that the guy everyone wants to set you up with?" Adrian asked. "Cause I was just trying to make it abundantly clear that you're with me. That's all."

Helene scoffed. "Really? Why don't you just pee all over me? That would be an easier way to mark your territory, wouldn't it?"

"Well, I'm sorry!" Adrian said. "I wasn't trying to cause trouble. I just-I have to say I'm not exactly comfortable knowing that there's a guy around here who wants to steal you away from me. Last time that happened, you died!"

"Do you not trust me?" Helene asked. "Do you think that once I see him, I'm gonna forget all about you and go running into his arms? That's not gonna happen! I love you!"

"You hear that?" Adrian said to another guy who was at the food table picking up baby carrots and broccoli. "She loves me!" He pulled Helene to him and kissed her deeply. Helene let this go for just a second before she pushed him away from her. "You're starting to act like your father and that's not good when we're in public! Remember the rules: You and act like your uncle Elijah in public and your father-"

"-Behind closed bedroom doors, I know," Adrian finished with a roll of his eyes.

Helene nodded. "That's right. And just so you know, that wasn't the guy everyone wants me to be with. When I see him, I'll point him out to you so you don't make a bigger ass out of yourself than you already have."

"Well, good," Adrian said. "That's all I ask."

"Now here comes Esmerelda," Helene said, gesturing at an older lady with blue eyes whose hair was a fiery red that obviously came from a bottle. "She works with my mom."

"You made it, Helene!" Esmerelda said, hugging her. "When you and your...friend didn't come, we were worried."

"Well, we're sorry to have kept you waiting," Helene apologized when she let go. "We were having a talk and we lost track of time." She paused and gestured for Adrian to come closer, which he did, reluctantly. "And Esmerelda, Adrian is not just my friend. He's my husband. We have a daughter. Her name is Lenora. We couldn't bring her this time, but next time there's a function, I promise we will so you can meet her."

"And I'll be more than happy to stay at home," Adrian added before Helene elbowed him in the gut. "I mean," he recanted, "so pleased to meet you." He held out his hand, but Esmerelda ignored it and said dismissively, "Yes, I'm sure you are." Then, she walked away from them and over to Astrid. "How is it that you allowed your daughter to marry that...that?"

"Oh, Adrian isn't bad," Astrid tried to assure her. "He's really a very nice boy if you're nice to him. Are you being nice to him?"

Esmerelda shook her head. "I see no reason why I should be. Is there one?"

"Well, yes! Of course there is!" Astrid said indignantly. "For one thing, it's just good to be decent to people no matter who or what they are. I shouldn't have to give you any other reason than that." She walked away from Esmerelda and toward Adrian and Helene.

"How are you doing?" Astrid whispered when she reached Adrian. "Are you okay?"

"No," Adrian shook his head. "Astrid, I'm really not. I'm doing my best to be civil, but it doesn't seem to be having any effect on anyone."

Astrid sighed. "I know it's a tough crowd, but just keep in mind that this is the only time you'll ever have to associate with these people. Helene would never subject you to it again." She looked sternly at her daughter. "Would you, Helene?"

"Well, I had good intentions when I brought him!" Helene said. "I thought that if I brought him and people saw the two of us together, it would make it clear that I was with someone and they would back off, but apparently not."

"My advice," Astrid said to the two of them, "don't drink anything anyone gives you, no matter how thirsty you are."

"Why would she say that?" Adrian whispered.

Helene shrugged. "I don't know, but I think it would be best to listen, don't you think?"

"Where are you going?" Lenora asked Lucy as the latter grabbed her coat and headed to the door. "You can't leave! What about Damon?"

"You have to send him back," Lucy said to her. "You can do that by yourself, can't you? I have to go see my father."

"Oh, can I come too?" Lenora asked. "Daddy's never actually let me be in the same room as him before."

"And I think things should stay that way until your father says otherwise," Lucy said. "Your father has reasons for thinking what he does about Daddy. So you will stay here and focus on getting Damon back to the past, all right?"

"Okay," Lenora said, looking deflated. "I'll stay here."

"Good," Lucy said. She looked at Lenora's sad expression and said, "Hey, it's not like I'm going to my dad's to have fun. If it were up to me, I wouldn't go at all, but he feels that we're not bonding enough and he won't let me marry Damon until he feels that he and I have sufficiently connected. So I have to go. That's just how it is."

"Well, all right," Lenora said, giving her aunt a hug. "And by the way, I know I've never said this before, but I'm sorry I did the spell that made you big. I could take it off now if you want."

"Oh, no, no, no!" Lucy said quickly. "Don't you dare. It's done wonders for me."

"Well, okay," Lenora said. "I just thought I'd put the option out there."

"Dad?" Lucy called. "I'm here! What sort of bonding thing would you like to do now?"

"He's not here," Caroline said, coming toward her. "He left. He's gonna be back later in the day, though."

"Oh," Lucy nodded. "Okay."

"So are you gonna go?" Caroline asked. "Or do you want to stay?"

"Why shouldn't I stay?" Lucy asked. "You and I are close, right? And it's not like I have a lot of company at home, what with Damon being gone and everything."

"About him," Caroline said, "maybe you could use this time apart to really evaluate your relationship and decide if being married to Damon is something that you really want to pursue."

"Of course it is!" Lucy said. "Caroline, what is your problem with Damon? Why is it that every time I mention him, you come up with some reason why we shouldn't be together? Is there something about him that I should know? What do you know that you're not telling me?"

Caroline sighed. "I suppose you're old enough to hear this now, although I doubt you'll believe me since you have such a rosy view of him, but a long time ago, Damon and I were a couple."

"You were?" Lucy asked. "Like how long ago?"

"Like when I was still human," Caroline said. "Back then, he was obsessed with a vampire named Katherine. She was the one who turned him and he believed with everything he had in him that he loved her. But right after he was turned, she was taken away by people in Mystic Falls who were hell bent on killing every vampire they could find. Katherine was caught and supposedly entombed underneath our old church, her body preserved by her witch Emily. It took years and years, but finally, he was able to connect with a descendant of Emily's, my friend Bonnie. The thing is though, witches and vampires often have deep mistrust between them and he knew Bonnie wouldn't just do the magic to help him rescue Katherine, so he compelled me to convince her for him. It didn't quite work, but it went on for awhile. And when I wasn't convincing Bonnie to do the spell for him, he and I were-" She paused here, tears in her eyes.

"You were what?" Lucy asked quietly. "Caroline, you have to tell me."

"I know," Caroline said. "Just a minute. This is hard. It's not something I try and think about anymore." She took a deep breath, steeled herself, and looked Lucy in the eye. "We were in a sexual relationship," she said. "Not that I had any choice, of course. He compelled me to believe that I wanted to be with him sexually. And he convinced me that I was stupid and that no one else would want me." Her voice broke and she started to cry. "I was at a very bad place in my life at that point and I just didn't have the strength to get away."

She looked up at Lucy, her eyes red, tears falling down her cheeks. "That's why I've always wanted you to be careful with Damon," she said. "I didn't want him to treat you the way he treated me. I know you probably don't believe me. You probably think it's something that I'm making up to ruin your life. But it did actually happen, I swear. It's something you need to know and you can do with it what you want."

Lucy froze. "I-I don't know what to say," she said quietly. "I don't want to belittle what happened to you, or call you a liar, because I care about you and I know you care about me, but Damon-he's always been good to me, ever since I was a little baby, all right? He took me and Mom in when things weren't going so well between her and Dad. He bought me toys. He played with me. He read me storybooks and took care of me. He saved me from being bitten by a werewolf by letting himself get bitten, even when he knew the only way to get cured was Dad's blood and it was questionable that he'd get it. And because of that, I'm gonna talk to him about it before I believe you completely. He deserves to tell me what happened himself. I owe him that much."

Caroline nodded. "Okay," she said. "Are you going to go talk to him now?"

Lucy nodded. "I think I have to," she said. "If I don't address this now, it's just gonna eat away at me. And I don't want it to." She sighed. "When Dad comes, will you tell him that I stopped by and will see him later?"

"Sure," Caroline nodded. "I will."

Lucy nodded and got up to leave. She reached the door and stopped, turning around and running back to give Caroline a hug. "I'm sorry," she said. "If Damon tells me what you told me, if he confirms everything that you went through, I am so sorry." Then she let Caroline go and headed back to the door again. "I should probably leave before I lose my nerve and just let this go."

Caroline nodded. "Good luck. And I'm sorry too. For when Damon tells you the truth. It's always hard to have people you've idealized for so long revealed to be flawed, even evil."

"We'll just see about that," Lucy said and shut the door behind her. She drove home, praying hard that Lenora hadn't sent Damon back to the past yet. When she reached the house and Lenora met her at the door, the first thing she said was, "Did you send Damon back?"

"No," Lenora said, her eyes cast down. "I didn't yet. I'm sorry."

"No, no!" Lucy shook her head. "That's good because I have to leave again, I might be gone for awhile, and someone needs to watch you."

Lenora nodded. "Okay. Where are you going?"

"I have to see Damon," Lucy said. "I need to ask him something really important. While I'm gone, you and Damon are not to leave the house, okay? Just stay inside and watch movies or something."

"Okay," Lenora nodded. "I promise we won't leave. Would you tell Damon I say 'Hi'?"

"Sure," Lucy nodded. "I'll tell him that. Bye, sweetie. I shouldn't be gone long."

Lenora waved goodbye and Lucy got in her car, calling Stefan as she pulled out of the driveway.

"Hi, Stefan. Where are you? And is Damon with you? I have to talk to him. No, that is not a euphemism for something. Caroline told me something really disturbing about him and her and I want to hear from him if she's telling the truth or not. Yeah, okay. I should be there in about an hour."

"Lucy's gonna be here in an hour?" Damon asked Stefan. "That doesn't give me a lot of time to prepare things, does it?"

"I wouldn't be so happy about it if I were you," Stefan said, putting a hand on Damon's shoulder. "She said she found out about you and Caroline and wants to find out if it's true or not."

"What?" Damon asked, his eyes wide. "How the fuck did she find out about me and Caroline? She wasn't supposed to know about that! Ever!"

"Well, she does," Stefan said. "So what are you gonna do about it? Are you gonna tell her the truth, or are you just gonna lie to her?"

"Well, what do you think I should do?" Damon asked.

"Tell her the truth," Stefan said. "She's old enough to hear it."

"I don't know if I can tell her the truth, Stefan," Damon said. "I just...I don't know if I can."

"Why not?" Stefan asked. "Why is it so hard?"

"Because!" Damon burst out. "Stefan, she is the only woman in my whole life who's always seen me as a good person, all right? I know I've screwed up a lot in the past and I can't take any of it back. But Lucy never knew any of that. All she knew was that I was a good person that she loved. She always believed in my goodness, that I was capable of loving and being loved. And it was because she didn't know about Caroline or any of the other bad stuff that I've done. Once people hear about my bad deeds, there's no going back. They taint all opinions of me. Now that Lucy's heard about Caroline, she's gonna think of me as the bad guy just like everyone else." He sat down. "Maybe if I tell her the truth, she'll be so upset she'll break up with me. That's the silver lining, isn't it? If she breaks up with me, I won't have to live with the guilt."

"I think you're not giving her enough credit," Stefan said. "But I can't control your thoughts, so obviously, you'll think what you're gonna think."

They sat in silence with Damon rocking back and forth nervously on the bed until they heard a knock on the hotel room door, which caused Damon to start violently. "I have to go," he said. "I have to!" He got up to run toward the door, but Stefan reached it first, pinning Damon against the wall by his shoulders. "Come in, Lucy," he called.

Lucy opened the door and came in. Her eyes were red and wet and her cheeks were puffy. "Hi," she said. "Damon, I have to ask you about something and I need you to tell me the absolute truth. Please."

Stefan looked Damon in the eye. "If I let you go, will you run? Or will you sit next to Lucy on the bed and tell her the truth?"

Damon sighed. "You can let me go, Stefan," he said. "I'll tell her the truth."

"All right," Stefan nodded. He slowly released his brother and Damon went to sit next to Lucy on the bed. He reached out to put his arms around her, but she moved away. "I don't want you to touch me," she said. "I just want to know if what Caroline told me happened between you and her is true. I don't want it to be because you've been nothing but good to me all my life, but at the same time, I don't know why she'd make something like that up, so I wanted to give you a chance to confirm or deny her story."

"Lucy, I-" Damon opened his mouth, but no words came out. He tried again and again with the same result. Finally, he was able to speak. "This was a very opportune moment for Caroline to tell you this," he said. "First, your father ruins our wedding, and now she goes and tells you this story. All they're trying to do is pull us apart!"

"So is it true or is it not true?" Lucy asked. "Did you do all that bad stuff to her?" She refused to be swayed from her question.

Finally, he said, "Yes. Yes, I did. I was in love with a woman who was entombed by magic and I did whatever I had to do to get her out. Caroline was collateral damage in that pursuit."

"Well, are you sorry for what you did?" Lucy asked. "Please tell me you're sorry at least."

"There's something you have to understand about me, Lucy," Damon told her. "When I love someone, they are all that matters to me. I will do whatever I have to in order to make them happy. Nothing and no one else matters to me. So, I guess, to answer your question, I'm not sorry for what I did to Caroline. She hates my guts and I'm okay with that. She has every right to. What she doesn't have the right to do is poison your mind with bad thoughts about me just because she had a bad experience with me." He paused. "So I've told you the truth. I assume you want to end things between us now?" He held out his hand. "I'll be wanting the ring I gave you back."

"No!" Lucy said. "I'm not gonna break up with you and I'm not giving you back your ring. At least not yet. But I do think we need to take a break from each other because there's clearly more to you than I ever wanted there to be and I need to really think about whether or not we should go on like this. Cause the image of you that I've had my whole life has been shattered into a million tiny pieces and I need to decide whether I can take the good with the bad. If I can, then we'll stay together, but if I can't, I'm gonna let you go because I don't think it's right for me to expect you to be this perfectly good person all the time. You should be able to act like a vampire without worrying whether or not I might judge you for it. Is that fair?"

"Well, what am I supposed to do while you figure things out?" Damon asked. "How long will that take? Like a week? Two?"

Lucy shrugged. "I don't know how long it will take. I'm sorry. But I'm sure you can find some way to entertain yourself in the meantime. I'm sure there are plenty more unwitting, innocent girls for you to torture."

"Bye!" Damon said. "See you later!"

Lucy just shook her head at him and left the room. She managed to keep a straight face until she reached her garage and got out of the car. Then, she burst into tears, ran inside her room and shut the door with a bang.

"Are you all right, Aunt Lucy?" Lenora asked a little while later. "Why are you crying?" She climbed up in bed beside her and patted her on the back.

"I just had my rose-colored glasses taken off," Lucy said. "I learned some things about Damon that weren't very nice and because of those things, we're temporarily broken up."

"What sort of bad things?" Lenora asked.

"You're too young to hear about specifics," Lucy said. "But they were really bad things. I should have figured, right? Damon was almost too good to me, and now that I know the truth about him, it can't be taken back. I can never have the Damon I knew before today back again."

"Maybe you could," Lenora said.

"How?" Lucy asked.

"Well, if you wanted, I could send Damon from now back in time and keep Damon from the past here," Lenora suggested. "I bet human Damon's still a good person."

"But can you do that?" Lucy asked. "Isn't that illegal or something?"

"Why?" Lenora asked. "We're sending a Damon back and keeping a Damon here, just like things are supposed to be. We just switched them around."

"Oh, my god," Lucy said, brightening up. "Lenora, you're right! I could kiss you! Send Damon back in time and let the one who's here stay here. At least until I tell you otherwise.

"Okay," Lenora nodded. "I'll do that, Aunt Lucy."

As Lucy lay on her bed, she heard a soft knock on the bedroom door. She let it go on for a little while before she called for the person to come in. The door opened and Damon stood in the doorway, fidgeting with his suspenders. Finally, he let them go and approached the bed. "I know Lenora sent the other me back," he said. "Why did you let me stay? I shouldn't be here!"

Lucy stared up at him. "Yes, you should be here!" She said insistently. "You are a good person! You've never killed anyone or anything like that, right?"

"No," Damon shook his head. "I haven't. Why does that matter?"

"Because!" Lucy grabbed him by his lapels and pulled him close enough to her that their lips were practically touching. "Because I have just had my heart crushed, okay? All my life, you've been this perfect man to me. I thought you'd never hurt a fly. But I found out that you abused my-let's call her my friend-Caroline, just for the sake of this conversation-and my whole world has just shattered. I don't know who to turn to anymore! That's why I need you to stay here with me and tell me everything is gonna be all right and that you're a good person!"

Damon strained against her grip on his lapels. "You're hysterical," he said. "Why don't you let go of me and then you can rest and everything will be better once you wake up."

Lucy slowly released him and backed away before lowering herself back onto the bed. Then, Damon tucked her in. "Sleep well," he said. He made his way to the door before Lucy said, "Damon, wait a minute."

He turned. "Yes, Lucy?"

"May I...may I have a good night kiss?" She asked quietly. He looked at her for a long moment and then walked back to the bed, giving her the briefest of kisses on the forehead before standing up straight again. "Sleep well," he repeated. Lucy reached out and grabbed his wrist.

"I need a real kiss," she said. "You know how to do those, don't you?"

"Well, yes I do," Damon said, running his fingers through his hair. "But since I'm your father, I doubt that would be appropriate."

Lucy shoved the covers aside and sat up. "You know, you're not really my father," she said, hopping out of bed and approaching him. "I just told you that so your time here would be less awkward to explain, but since you're gonna be here awhile, you might as well know the truth: You're not my father. You're my fiance. And we kiss all the time. You wouldn't want to disappoint me, would you?"

Damon sighed. "I still think you're hysterical, but if a kiss is what will make you finally calm down, I suppose it wouldn't hurt me to oblige. Especially if you're telling the truth and I'm not your father."

Lucy nodded. "I am and you're not. Now pucker up!"

But before Damon could even get his lips ready, she pulled him to her and planted a big one on him, her hands going down his back and over his bottom. Damon had planned for the kiss to be brief, but he found that he enjoyed it more than he thought he would, so he prolonged it. When they finally stopped to get a breath, she grinned wickedly at him. "Maybe you were right earlier," she said. "Maybe I really am a prostitute after all."

In the days following Lucy and Damon's break-up, Lucy spent so much time with Klaus that Caroline began to feel neglected.

"Who's that?" Roxie asked one day when she found Caroline looking longingly at an old picture of Tyler.

"No one," Caroline said quickly, shoving the photo back under her side of the mattress. "It's no one. And did no one teach you to knock before you enter a room?"

"Sorry," Roxie said. "But seriously, who is that? He's handsome."

"It's Tyler," Caroline said. "He was my husband, he was a werewolf, and now he's dead."

"Can I see the picture?" Roxie asked.

"What are you gonna do with it?" Caroline asked.

"I just want to look," Roxie said. "I won't mess up the picture. I promise."

Caroline reluctantly handed her the picture and Roxie looked it over. "Why do I feel like I recognize this guy?" She asked. "Should I recognize him? Does that sound crazy?"

"Not entirely," Caroline said. "He's a distant cousin of your mother's on your Grandmother Amelia's side. He's a Lockwood."

"Oh," Roxie nodded. "Right. So, why are you looking at this picture of him? Just a walk down memory lane, or...?"

"I don't know if I want to tell you," Caroline said. "We're not exactly close."

"Come on," Roxie said. "Give peace a chance, would you? I mean, I could be willing to turn over an entirely new leaf between you and me. Would you believe that?"

"No," Caroline said immediately.

"What if I told you that I've noticed how much Lucy's been relying on Dad and I kind of feel bad for you?" Roxie asked. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Nothing that I can think of," Caroline said. "Not unless there was some way to bring Tyler back to life. Maybe seeing me with him would light a fire under your dad's butt and make him pay attention to me. But that's not possible, is it?"

"It could be possible, maybe," Roxie said. "But you'd have to trust me. "Are you willing to do that?"

"Maybe," Caroline said. "How in the world are you planning on bringing Tyler back to life?"

"Well, my Aunt Anna can do magic," Roxie said. "She usually restricts it to turning men who reject her into fuzzy, adorable puppies that she later eats, but ever since she and Stefan got married, her magical ability's kind of been put on the back burner. I'm sure she'd love the opportunity to start practicing again."

"Wait," Caroline said, putting a hand up. "You mean, you're actually offering to help me for real? What do you want in return?"

"Nothing!" Roxie said. "Nothing at all, I promise. Just tell me where Tyler is buried and we can jump start the process."

"He's buried in Mystic Falls," Caroline said. "There's one cemetery there and it's not hard to find."

"All right," Roxie said. "Sounds simple enough. I'll go talk to Aunt Anna and see what I can do."

"You want me to what?" Anna asked after Roxie told her the plan.

"I want you to come with me to Mystic Falls and bring this Tyler guy back to life so Caroline will fall in love with him again and get the hell away from my dad," Roxie said. "I assumed you'd be on board with the plan. You dislike her as much as I do."

Anna nodded. "That's true, but I don't want to do anything that might upset your dad."

"The whole point of this is that now Dad is so involved with bonding with Lucy that he no longer even notices Caroline is alive," Roxie said. "I doubt he'd even notice she was with someone else much less that it would upset him. So will you do it? Please?"

"It's gonna take a lot of magic," Anna said. "And I have a vague recollection of it being illegal to bring people back from the dead with your magic."

"Even if it is, it probably doesn't apply to you," Roxie said. "Technically you're not a witch. You're a vampire who just happens to be able to do magic. You're not subject to witch rules."

"Well, I wouldn't think so," Anna agreed. "So whatever. Let's give it a shot. But I will need a few days to get my magical batteries recharged. Can you wait a few days?"

"Of course," Roxie nodded. "Take all the time you need. I'm not in a rush."

"Where are you going?" Vince asked Roxie a few days later as she made her way out the door and out to her car, having just ended a conversation with Anna.

"Will you shhh!?" Roxie asked. "I have to go somewhere, and this is like, the one place I can't take Addie, so I don't want her to know where I'm going, otherwise she's gonna pitch a fit!"

Vince frowned. "Where could you possibly be going that you couldn't take Addie? Are you gonna do something bad?"

"No!" Roxie said. "Of course not. Aunt Anna and me are just going to help a friend. And to help said friend, we have to go to a cemetery. And Addie is to young to go to a cemetery."

"Mama!" Addie came running out and attached herself to Roxie's leg, her blue eyes big, staring up at her mother.

"Hi, sweetie," Roxie said, patting Addie on the head and reaching down to grab her. "You have to let go of Mommy now. She has an errand to run." She tried to pull Addie off of her leg, but Addie wouldn't let go.

Roxie sighed. "I suppose I could take her to my dad's. She likes it there."

Vince nodded. "True. And I need to run to work real fast, so..."

"Remember," Roxie interrupted. "You can't take Joey there because of how he's supposed to be dead now. Hazel could stop by at any time, see Joey, and then Enid could get in big trouble, so don't take him to work with you."

"I won't," Vince said. "I'll drop him off with Tessa. He likes Tessa."

"Yeah," Roxie scoffed. "Other than you, he's the only one."

"Don't forget your brother," Vince said with a smirk. "Adrian likes her too. As a friend, but he still does."

"Yeah, whatever," Roxie said. "I know you're trying to mess with me and it won't work!"

Vince grinned. "You can't blame me for trying though, can you?"

"Roxanne!" Klaus said. "And Addison too, how nice! Come in, won't you?"

"Thanks," Roxie said. "But I really can't stay. I just came to drop off Addie. Aunt Anna and I are doing something together soon. It wouldn't be too much trouble for you to watch Addie while we do that, would it?"

"Of course not," Klaus said. "But there's just one little thing." He led Roxie into the living room where a little girl with dark hair and big blue eyes like Addie's sat on the sofa. When she saw Klaus, she reached up for him eagerly. Klaus picked her up and went to sit with her on a recliner. She sat on one of his knees, snuggling against him.

"What's Laura doing here?" Roxie asked, clutching Addie protectively.

"Selina and Elijah decided to bond all day today," Klaus said. "They asked me if Caroline and I would watch Laura and I said 'Yes'. I had no idea you'd need me to watch Addison too."

"Oh, it's not your fault, Dad," Roxie said. "And who knows? Maybe Laura will be better behaved this time. I guess I have no choice but to believe that, cause I need to go and meet Aunt Anna like, now." She put Addie down told her goodbye, gave her a kiss and then left. Once she was gone, Addie sat on the floor staring at Klaus and Laura, who were still sitting in the recliner. Then, she got slowly to her feet and approached them, climbing up on Klaus' other leg. Laura watched this with displeasure and then reached out, pulling Addie's hair and trying to push her off his knee. Addie fought back as best she could, but just wasn't strong enough.

Attracted by the noise the girls were making, Caroline came into the living room and pulled them apart, picking Addie up and taking her to sit in another chair.

"Why didn't you stop the two of them from fighting?" She asked Klaus.

"Because," Klaus said, "They're strong girls. They'll heal right up. And it makes me have flashbacks to the old days when Roxie and Selina would fight and fight-"

"That's something you remember fondly?" Caroline asked.

Klaus nodded. "Maybe a little."

"I hate seeing poor little Addie get beat up so bad," Caroline said. "Laura's just a bully, that's all."

"You can't blame Laura for being stronger than Addie," Klaus said. "Laura is the daughter of an Original; Addie is the granddaughter of one. Naturally, that makes Laura the stronger of the two. It's just a fact. I'm sure that Addison is perfectly capable of sticking up for herself. She just needs to have the chance."

After a wait of a few seconds, Caroline brought Addie back over to Klaus and Laura. "It's okay," she said calmly. "You can sit there if you want."

Addie looked at her and then turned back to Klaus, cautiously reaching out. Much to Laura's surprise, Klaus picked her up, put her on the floor, and then took Addie in his lap instead. Laura let out an angry shriek, got up and ran off.

"Let me guess," Caroline said. "That's like the good old days too?"

Klaus nodded. "Like you wouldn't believe."