A/N: First, sorry for the late update. It's just, so much has been going on in my life, but I have not given up on this story. I've skipped to 2x13 because although I'd planned to do 2x12, I couldn't handle it. For this chapter, two new ghosts show up. Anyway, on with the story.
A few days later, the guys were talking. Apparently, John was back in town.
"You brought back John Gilbert? That was your big save Elena move?" Damon asked.
"I went to go look for Isobel and I get John instead. He said he can help us and we're desperate." Stefan said.
"We're not that desperate, Stefan. The guy tried to barbecue me!"
"Damon, Bonnie's new witch friend is working with Elijah so we have to assume that the moonstone was never destroyed. Elena is putting all of her faith into some deal that she made with Elijah to keep everyone safe. I mean, do you trust Elijah? I don't trust him. He's an original, he can't be trusted. It's not like we can just go up and kill him because apparently he can't die!"
"I'm still waiting for the part where John Gilbert is the answer." Damon said.
"He knew about the sacrifice. Isobel told him. He said he know of a way to keep Elena safe." Stefan explained.
"And how do we do that?"
"He's not talking. At least not to me anyway."
"Great work Stefan. Top notch. As if I didn't have enough problems."
"Hey, I'm sorry about Rose." Stefan told him.
"Whatever. I knew the woman for five minutes." Damon said.
"And you cared about her after five minutes."
"And you two don't have to talk about me like I'm not here." A familiar accent said. They both looked around. "I'm behind you." Damon turned and looked surprised.
"You're here?"
"Wait, how did you…"
"I didn't." Rose told them. "But as long as you're keeping me safe, there's a good shot I'll be back."
"Are you just here to say hi or…"
"I'm going to help you guys out." Rose said. "And if you ever need to reach me, you know how to."
"Okay, I have to go meet with Caroline." Stefan left the room.
"I'm sorry about this." Damon told her.
"It wasn't you're fault, Damon. Wolves tend to look after their own." Rose said. "No matter what happens, I'll come back."
"I'll hold you to that, Rosie." Damon told her. Rose went over to him and kissed him. When he opened his eyes, she had disappeared.
Meanwhile, Tyler was in his father's office. Then he noticed Stefan in the room and started to leave. "I'm not going to hurt you. I just wanna talk." Stefan told him.
"Then why'd you break in?" Tyler asked.
"Would you have let me in otherwise?" Stefan pointed out.
"Tyler?" They heard Mrs. Lockwood call. "Tyler, I'm leaving for the memorial." As soon as she was gone, Stefan let go of Tyler.
"Maybe we got off on the wrong foot here."
"What happened to Mason?" Tyler asked.
"Tyler, there's a lot for us to talk about." Stefan said. He started to leave, but Stefan stopped him. "I wouldn't do that. Without a full moon, you're not a match for me."
"Just listen to him, Ty. It wasn't his fault." Tyler turned around. He saw Mason standing there.
"Mason? How…"
"I don't know how long I'm here for, but for now, I need you to listen to him." Mason said.
At the Grill, Elena and Damon found John. "We just need answers. Please don't do anything stupid."
"Yeah, but stupid is so much more fun."
"Damon, I mean it." Elena said.
"John, buddy, how have you been?"
"I've been alright, Damon. It's good to see you." John said.
"There's no way this can end well." Rose said. Elena looked at her, surprised.
"How can I see you?" Elena asked.
"I don't know."
Back at Tyler's, he was listening to Stefan. He knew Mason was still there. "Look, about Caroline, no matter what her flaws are, if an issue comes you'll want to have that girl on your side . She's your friend, stop being a dick to her." Stefan told him.
"I thought vampires hated werewolves." Tyler said.
"That's some sort of leftover idea from another time. It doesn't have to be that way anymore. We go to the same school. We have the same friends. We keep the same secrets. This can work, Tyler. I mean, it's your home, it's my home too. I want this to work." Stefan explained.
"He's right, man. It's because of this stupid feud that I'm like this." Mason told him. "Look, I'm sorry about the whole mess, but Caroline seems like a great girl and no stupid feud is a reason to throw you're friendship with her away."
"But, because of them…"
"The Salvatores had nothing to do with it." Mason told him. "I was stupid." Tyler's phone rang. "Careful. Don't let her know what's going on." Tyler looked at the phone. Sure enough, it was Jules.
At the Grill, Damon went over to talk with John. "So John, rumor has it that you know a lot and won't say anything." He pointed out.
"How I know you can be trusted, Damon?" John said. "Originals can compel vampires and according to Stefan, that's why Katherine's still in the tomb, because an original has compel her to stay there."
"Only because all of the vervain have left her system. Stefan and I on the other hand are chock full."
"You guys are drinking vervain?"
"It's an acquired taste. I don't see that magic little ring on that stitched finger so if you know something about Klaus, you better start talking or I will kill you in your sleep."
"Is that any way to convince me that you and I are on the same side?" John pointed out. "First, I need to know that I can trust you, Damon, that I can count on you. Then we'll talk." He left him standing there.
"Okay, clearly you've forgotten the rules here." Rose said, appearing next to him. "If you guys need his help, death threats are not the answer."
"Now you tell me."
Back at the Lockwood house, Tyler was sitting down. "I guess I misjudged the situation. Whatever happened, it wasn't really you're fault."
"Yeah. So, friends?"
"Guess so." Suddenly, Stefan's phone rang.
"Hey, is everything okay?" He asked.
"That depends. How about you want to keep her alive?" Jules asked him
"Who is this? Jules? Where's Caroline?" Tyler looked up, concerned.
"You made a mistake, Stefan. I gonna give you a chance to fix it."
"Where is she?"
"Sounds like some of my pack members caught her." Mason told him.
"Hurt her again and you're dead." Stefan said into the phone.
"I hurt her again and she's dead. Bring Tyler to me, the clearing by Wickery falls. You have twenty minutes until she dies." Jules told him.
"What are they going to do to her?"
"They're going to torture her or worse, finish her off." Mason said. "If you care about her, you're going to have to team up to save her. I'll see you guys there."
"Alright." Stefan said. "We better go, now."
At the Grill, Elena and Damon were talking in the bathrooms. "Why am I just finding out about this now?"
"Stefan was worried that you…" Elena began.
"That I'll what? That I'd kill him? Of course, it's what needs to happen." Damon said.
"No Damon, not Tyler. Do whatever you need to do to get Caroline back but just leave Tyler out of it, okay?" Elena pleaded.
"Why? He's a werewolf, he needs to die. I'm willing to kill him, it's win-win."
"He's also one of her friends, are you forgetting that?" Rose pointed out. "From what I know of this, he's not like them. Besides, it's not Tyler's fault that I'm…you know."
"Well, we have to do something. Jules has Caroline and wants to trade for him." Damon said. "If not, she's dead."
"So what do we do?" Elena asked. Just then, John entered the room.
"Do you mind?" Damon asked him.
"What's going on?" John asked them.
"Nothing." Elena told him.
"It doesn't look like nothing."
"Well guess what John, trust works both ways. Get out." Damon said.
"Look, we don't have time for this. We need to get Caroline back." Elena pointed out.
"We don't have to do anything. I'll take care of it." Damon said. He turned to John. "First dad duty: ground your daughter. Keep her here."
"You can't just go off alone."
"I'll keep an eye on him." Rose told her. John looked in her direction just as she disappeared.
"I have to help them."
"I'm with Damon on this one. Besides, it seems your ghost friend can handle it." Elena looked at him in shock.
"How did you…" Elena began, then remembered what Anna had said about few humans having the ability to see them. "You're a mediator?"
"Not everyone in the family gets it, though there's usually a few of us, like Jeremy."
Jules was waiting in the woods, when she heard something. "I know you're out there." Stefan and Tyler showed up.
"Where's Caroline?" Stefan asked.
"Locked up tight." She told him.
"Let her go and I release Tyler. The situation doesn't have to get any messier than it already has. I'm not your enemy, Jules." Stefan told her.
"It's a little late to be waving the white flag, don't you think?" Jules asked him.
"You need to leave town. No one else has to get hurt." Stefan said.
"I'm not leaving without Tyler."
"Tyler is free to make his own decisions as soon as you release Caroline." He told her.
"My brother the peacemaker." They turned around as Damon showed up. "Since Stefan got here before me I'm gonna let him try to his way before I resort to my way, which is a little bloodier. So give us Caroline."
"Let go of Tyler." Jules demanded.
"Give us Caroline. Without a full moon it's not an even fight and you know it." Damon pointed out. "We will take you."
"I'm not so sure about that, tough guy." Jules said. She whistled and the rest of her friends showed up, armed with weapons. "Let's try this again. Give us Tyler."
Damon turned to him. "You heard her. Go. Get over there." He said. Tyler reluctantly went over to Jules' side.
"Which one of you killed Mason?" One of the pack members asked.
"Uh, that'd be me." Damon admitted.
"Boys, make sure that one suffers."
"We can take them."
"I don't know about that." Stefan told him. Damon sped over toward Jules, but she jumped on top of the RV. While the group started fighting, Tyler ran inside.
He found Caroline locked up in a cage. "Tyler, there's a latch on the door and I can't get to it." She told him. He was hesitant for a moment. "Tyler?" He moved toward the cage and helped got her out.
Outside, the guys were starting to struggle against the werewolves. One of them tried to attack Damon, but got thrown back. The guys looked to find Rose helping them. Caroline stepped out, but Jules pushed her against the RV. Tyler stepped out and looked at her, not sure of what to do. Then…
"Everybody stop!" Tyler, Jules, Caroline, Damon, Stefan, and the rest of Jules' pack froze where they were and looked to find Mason addressing them.
"Mason?" Jules asked.
"Let the girl go. She has nothing to do with this." He told them.
"She's a vampire." One of the others protested.
"She's innocent." Mason told them. "She's been nothing but a friend to my nephew here. She helped him get through his first transformation, despite the fact he could've killed her. So let her go, let them all go. So help me, if any of you try to force Tyler to join your pack, you'll regret it."
"Mason…" Tyler began as he started to fade.
"Don't worry about it. I'll show up whenever you need me." He told him. Jules released Caroline, then the four of them left the woods.
Damon headed back to the Boarding House and found Rose. "You're still here?"
"Have you forced me to leave?" She pointed out.
"Hey, thanks for the back-up back there."
"No problem." Rose told him. "I'd never leave you in trouble." They looked at each other for a moment.
Stefan walked Caroline back home. "So is your mom home?" He asked as they reached her door.
"No, she's at work." Caroline told him.
"I can come in if you want me to."
"I'm fine, Stefan."
"You don't have to pretend with me. Anybody would be upset after what you went through tonight." Stefan told her.
"I'm okay. I'm not girly little Caroline anymore. I can handle myself."
"Sure you can."
"I just really want to go shower so…"
"Okay."
"Good night."
"Good night." Caroline went inside and closed the door. A few minutes later, she heard someone knock on the door. She found Tyler outside.
"Are you okay?" Tyler asked.
"I'm fine." Caroline told him.
"I had no idea they would come for you." He told her.
"Do you know what they did to me?" Caroline asked.
"I'm sorry about them." She turned, surprised to find Mason there. "My friends really don't like vampires. This whole mess, it wasn't Ty's fault."
"I'm sorry, too." Tyler said. "I know it's crazy, but I thought they may have known about him. And you lied."
"To protect my friends. And you." Caroline pointed out.
"I understand that." Tyler said.
"Look, it's been a really bad day." Caroline said. "Could you please leave me alone for a while?"
"Yeah." Tyler said. He touched her cheek. "I really am sorry, okay?" He left the house.
"Hey, you'll get through this, man." Mason told him.
"You think so?"
"You two are friends. Trust me, we all have our moments like that." Tyler smiled.
"Thanks for helping us out."
"Anytime, man." Mason said.
A/N: What did you think? Looks like Anna and Lexi aren't the only ones helping Team Mystic Falls these days.