A/N: Very belated thank yous to Crazyluver08, irishcookie, Madelines, and Likes-The-Emphatic-Boom for reviewing the last chapter.

The white sand and crystal clear water were practically calling to her. If not for the fact that her best friend's life was on the line, Caroline would've been on the beach in three seconds flat. As she hurried to catch up to Damon and Elena, she cast a last envious glance at the bronzed bodies laid out on the sand.

She spotted the pair just ahead, Elena in cutoffs and a yellow tank top, and Damon standing out like a sore thumb in his usual black jeans and leather jacket. The heat didn't bother her much, but Caroline wore a white lacy top and flowery mini-skirt so as to blend in.

She trotted up beside them and the trio strolled along the foreshore, scouting out the bar Tyler had mentioned. The main strip was crowded with a mix of locals and tourists browsing through the shops and cafes. Most of them looked old enough to be her grandparents. Retirees, she guessed. She felt a flush of warmth that she was startled to realise was relief. Relief that she would never have to grow old. Of course, there was a reasonable chance that she'd get her heart ripped out, but, hey, at least she'd never get wrinkles.

"I still think I should go in alone," Elena said.

"Not gonna happen," Damon said flatly.

"Don't worry, Elena," Caroline said. "The full moon's weeks away. They can't hurt us."

Elena flashed her a smile. "I know that, but we need this guy's help. What we don't need is anyone," her gaze flicked to Damon, "stirring up trouble."

"Who, me?"

The girls indulged in a mutual rolling of the eyes.

"Yes, you," Caroline said sharply. "Pissing off the locals isn't gonna get us any closer to Stefan."

"I'm not an idiot, Caroline."

"You could've fooled me."

Damon scowled. "Listen, you-"

"Okay!" Elena said, in full cheerleader mode. "So we're all agreed, then? We're gonna stay calm and reasonable." She pointed a finger at each of them in turn. "No biting."

"Tell them that," Damon said.

Elena stopped dead on the sidewalk and glared at him.

He huffed. "Fine, whatever."

"Caroline?" Elena said, turning to her.

"Yes, mom," she said with a grin. She waited for Elena to catch up and linked arms with her.

"Teacher's pet," Damon muttered as he fell into step beside them.

Caroline's grin widened.

They walked a little further along the strip and stopped under a sign bearing a three leaf clover. Damon entered the bar first, with Elena and Caroline trailing him through the open door.

It was gloomy inside, especially after the bright sunshine, but Caroline had no problem scanning the interior. A long wooden counter lined one wall with a bunch of booths along the other. This time of the afternoon it was pretty quiet, with just half a dozen patrons nursing their drinks. Caroline gave them a quick onceover, but couldn't tell if any of them were werewolves. Damon sailed up to the bar and she immediately started to get a bad feeling.

"Three beers," he said cheerily.

The man flicked a sceptical eyebrow towards Caroline and Elena. "I.D.?"

Leaning across the bar, Damon made with the googly eyes. "Oh, you don't need to see their I.D."

The bartender smiled. "You wanna try that again, bloodbreath?"

Damon's eyes widened, then he smirked. "Sure," he drawled. "Three beers or three quarts of blood. Your choice."

"Damon!" Elena said.

"What? He started it."

Caroline gave the bartender her perkiest smile. "Look, maybe you could let Sandy know we're here? He's expecting us."

"I don't take orders from bloodsuckers."

"Hey!"

"Yeah, I sniffed you out soon as you walked in the door, blondie."

"Okay, first of all, ew! Second of all, don't call me blondie."

Damon grinned. "Go get 'em, blondie."

"You're not helping," Elena hissed.

"We don't serve vamps here," the bartender said, "so you should just head on out. And if you know what's good for you, you'll keep going right out of town." He leered at Elena. "You, on the other hand, can stay as long as you like, sweetheart."

Damon's grin vanished and he growled. Caroline felt eyes on her and glanced round to find two men on their feet. They reminded her uncomfortably of Brady, what with their shorn heads and rippling biceps and she could've sworn that she saw their eyes flash yellow. Her heart skipped and she slapped the bar hard enough to leave a dent.

She growled and said, "If you two are done with the alpha male crap, we're here to see Sandy. And we have a frickin appointment."

A gruff voice came from the back of the bar. "Yes, you do." A short, burly man with a grizzled beard stood in a dark doorway. He shot a reproving look at the bartender, who shrugged.

"You said not to kill 'em. You didn't say nothing about serving them drinks."

The burly man rolled his eyes and beckoned them with a wave of his fingers. "I'm Sandy. Come on back."

Caroline slid neatly in front of Elena, just in case this was some kind of trap, and followed Sandy down a short, dark corridor to the back office. They filed into a small room that felt even smaller with four people crammed inside. Sandy moved behind his desk and sat down. After a moment of confused shuffling, Caroline took a spot against the wall where she could see the entire room, while Elena sat in the single available chair and Damon hovered next to her.

Sandy looked at each of them in turn, taking his time. Caroline squirmed. Maybe it was just her imagination, but his gaze seemed to linger on her.

"So what can I do for you folks?" he said at last.

"Tyler fill you in on Klaus?" Damon said.

Sandy nodded. "Sorry to say you've already missed the son of a bitch. He attacked a pack up in Pensacola night before last. Killed four of my wolves, put a couple in hospital, and took one with him."

Damon's gaze sharpened. "He left survivors?"

"Yeah."

"Was there anyone with Klaus?" Elena said, leaning forward.

Sandy's gaze shifted to her. "Pretty black girl? Vamp with a nasty temper and too much hair gel?"

"Yeah, that's them," Damon said. His expression didn't change, but Caroline thought she saw a flash of relief in his eyes. A relief she shared.

"We're so sorry for your loss," Elena said, "but if there's anything you can tell us about where Klaus might've gone... Please, we need to find them."

Sandy crossed his arms. "We got a few ideas."

"Care to elaborate?" Damon said.

"With you? I don't think so."

Damon narrowed his eyes. "What exactly did Tyler tell you?"

Sandy gave him a grim smile. "Enough."

"Well, that's just great," Damon said, shooting Caroline a dirty look.

She ignored him and took a step towards Sandy. "Did he tell you that Damon saved his life?"

Sandy shifted in his chair. "He might've mentioned it."

"And that Damon might be an amoral asshole, but he wants to kill Klaus more than anybody I know."

"Gee, thanks," Damon said.

She kept her gaze on Sandy. He leaned back, cocking his head to look up at her.

"What's your point?" he said.

"That we're all on the same side here. So maybe you could put away the anti-vampire 'tude and help us."

Sandy's mouth twitched, but he nodded. "All right. Yeah, we got a bead on them. Took off from Pensacola airport and headed to L.A. I've got some people on their trail."

"Call them off," Damon snapped.

"Why the hell would I do that?"

"Because your people have no idea what they're dealing with."

Sandy's eyes hardened. "Listen, we don't leave one of our own behind."

In a blur of motion, Damon lunged forward and planted his hands on the desk. Sandy recoiled at first, but then thrust forward and growled in Damon's face.

Damon growled back. "You think Klaus left your wolves alive out of the goodness of his heart. Don't you get it? It's a trap."

Elena rose and put a hand on Damon's shoulder. She tugged and, after glancing at her, Damon backed off.

"Please, you don't understand," Elena said. "We already know that Klaus wants to make more hybrids. We don't know how he's going to do it, but it's a pretty safe bet that he's gonna need werewolves."

Unexpectedly, Sandy glanced at Caroline. "What do you think, blondie?"

She bit back her instinctive response at being called "blondie". "Well, I..."

"She thinks what we think," Damon said.

Sandy scowled. "Well, then, let her say it, pretty boy."

They all stared at her and Caroline felt a flush creep up her neck. "I hate to say it, but Damon's right. Klaus is a psycho, but he's a smart psycho. He's gonna be waiting for your people."

"So you expect me to just sit here and twiddle my thumbs, is that what you're saying?"

Elena shook her head. "No, what we're saying is that we know Klaus and we know what he's capable of." Her face spasmed and Caroline knew that she was thinking of Jenna. Elena took a deep breath. "We have a better chance of taking him out."

"You three?" Sandy said, raising an eyebrow. "And just how do you plan on doing that?"

"You don't need to know," Damon said.

Sandy grinned. "No clue, huh?"

Damon's face tightened, but all he said was, "We've got it covered."

"Uh huh." Tugging at his beard, Sandy leaned back and let out a heavy sigh. "All right. Say I agree to back off. What do I get in return?"

"What do you want?" Elena said.

"I want my werewolf back. Unharmed."

"Sure," Damon said, rolling his eyes, "we'll add it to the list."

Sandy scowled. "Listen, boy, maybe this is all a big joke to you, but I've already lost four of my people and I'll be damned if I-"

"Look, grandpa, we'll do what we can, okay?" Damon playfully waggled his finger. "But if the wolf tries to bite me, all bets are off."

Sandy looked as if he wanted to leap over the desk and bite Damon himself. Caroline tensed, preparing to intervene if necessary. Ever the peacemaker, Elena broke the awkward silence.

"We'll do our best to save..."

"Tom. His name's Tom."

Elena nodded. "We'll do our best to save Tom. I promise."

Not many could stand up to Elena's doe eyes, as Caroline knew herself from personal experience. After a moment Sandy nodded.

"All right. Then I guess we've got a deal."

"Super," Damon said. "We'll be in touch."

He moved towards the door, guiding Elena with a hand on her back, and Caroline started to follow them.

"Hold on there, blondie, I want a word with you."

Caught off-guard, Caroline froze. Damon and Elena turned back to look at her and Sandy.

"About what?" Damon said.

"None of your damn business," Sandy snapped.

"Yeah? Well, anything you have to say to her, you can-"

"Damon," Caroline said. "It's okay. I've got this." He gave her a dubious look, but she didn't back down.

"You sure?" Elena said.

Caroline nodded. "Why don't you guys wait for me outside."

"Outside the bar," Sandy said. "I don't need you riling up my boys."

"Your boys can kiss-"

Elena grabbed Damon's arm. "Fine. We'll be outside." She shoved him out the door before he could say anything else, though Caroline could still hear him grumbling as they made their way down the hall.

Sandy gestured to the chair and Caroline took it, feeling as if she was at the principal's office. Except that she never got sent to the principal's office. But he gave her a warm, paternal smile that somehow put her at ease.

"Tyler thinks very highly of you."

"Oh, me too."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Of him, I mean," she said hastily. "I think highly of him, not...not myself."

"I guess I don't have to tell you he's got a hard road ahead of him. Gonna be even harder if he's crushing on a vampire."

She laughed uncomfortably. "Oh, Tyler and I are just friends."

"Uh huh. Well, maybe you could try not to get your 'friend' killed."

"Count on it," she said with a steady gaze.

Sandy held her gaze for a long moment and then nodded. "Good. Now Tyler doesn't think much of your friend Damon, but he swears I can trust you."

Caroline straightened. "You can."

"I hope so. Cause I need a favour."

"What kind of favour?" she said cautiously.

"I need someone to look out for Tom."

"Well, Damon already said-"

"I know what he said and I know where his priorities lie. Your friend Elena's too."

Caroline bit her lip. She thought she knew what Sandy wanted her to say, but she couldn't lie to him. "I can't promise you anything. My best friend-"

"I know all that," Sandy said, waving his hand. "And I ain't asking you to put Tom's life above anyone else's." He sighed, and every wrinkle on his face seemed to deepen. "These kinds of situations...well, they can get chaotic. I just don't want him to get forgotten in all the commotion."

She breathed a little easier. "Okay, well, I can do that. I mean, I won't forget about him. I promise."

"Thank you." Sandy scribbled a number on a scrap of paper and handed it over. "And I want daily reports or I'm sending in the cavalry."

Great. Just what she needed - homework. But she took the paper and tucked it in her pocket. "Anything else?" she said, with just a hint of sarcasm.

"Yeah." He gave her a grim look. "You get the chance to put Klaus down, don't hesitate. I saw what he did to my wolves. The man has no mercy in him. So don't give him the chance to destroy you."

"You don't have to worry. Trust me, we know how dangerous he is." She rose and turned towards the exit.

"And be careful." Sandy smiled when she glanced back at him. "Tyler wouldn't be happy if you got hurt."

"You really care about him, don't you?"

"He's one of us," Sandy said simply.

She felt a twinge of envy as she remembered how alone she'd felt during her transition, and still did sometimes, despite her friends. "Tyler's lucky."

Sandy's smile turned mischievous as he gave her a pointed look. "Yes, he is."

And for no particular reason, Caroline blushed.

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