"You didn't have to buy that nice underwear, you know," Aaron commented from his bed as he watched Rosalie strip off her clothes and dance around in lacy, rose-colored panties and a matching bra. "But I can't deny that I appreciate it."

"Well, good," Rosalie smiled and kissed him. "I just want to make sure that you're happy."

"Oh, I'm very happy," Aaron nodded. "But what's going on? You've been awfully nice to me recently. Do I have some sickness that I don't know about that your magic is picking up? Am I gonna die, and that's why you're making me cookies and going to that football game with me, and now you bought completely new underwear to wear while we have sex? Tell me. You can be honest."

"No, let's not talk about that, okay?" Rosalie asked as she straddled him and unzipped his pants. "Let's just think about happy things, okay?" She was really struggling not to tell him what her father had told her about how Aaron's mom had died. On the one hand, she thought he deserved to know the truth about how his mother had died. On the other, she wanted to keep it quiet so he wouldn't hate her for the rest of his life. It was a very tough decision.

She then let out a giggle as he moved her to the mattress, slipped off her panties, then began kissing down from her belly button before nudging her legs apart. She let out a cry as she felt his tongue swirl around inside her, and then gave a loud laugh as she felt herself come and tried not to kick him.

As she was catching her breath, he loomed over her, a grin on his face. "Well, what do you know?" He said. "I know how to make a vampire scream."

"Yes, you do," Rosalie nodded. "Come over here and kiss me again."

"Not until you tell me why you're being so nice to me," Aaron replied. "Seriously. Should I be worried?"

"No," Rosalie shook her head. "You're absolutely fine."

"Good," he said and let out a relieved breath. He was silent for a few moments and Rosalie waited for him to ask more, but instead he just kissed her again, and Rosalie let out a sigh of relief as his thoughts drifted away from her odd behavior, and she got to get through another day without telling him the truth about his mother. She knew she'd have to tell him soon, though; the longer she waited, all the sex in the world wouldn't stop the rift that was bound to happen when he found out that she knew who killed his mother and hadn't told him a damn thing about it.

"You really didn't have to come with me," Klaus told Amy as he led her into Roxie's. "You don't usually like this place."

"Well, I thought it would be a nice change of pace," Amy replied. "Would you order me some white wine while I run to the bathroom, please?"

"Sure," Klaus replied. She headed off and he strode toward the bar, noticing a pretty brunette of werewolf descent sitting next to his usual seat. "Hi," he told her. "Would you mind if I sit next to you?"

"All right," She nodded and looked him over. "I'm Renee. Can I get you a drink?"

"I actually came here with someone," Klaus got out.

"You mean that redhead with the spindly legs who just went into the bathroom?" Renee asked, leaning forward a little. "Are you sure you're happy with her?"

Klaus sighed. "I don't know," he said. "I'm not so sure she's happy with me. The temper gets the best of me sometimes."

"I don't mind it a little rough if you're bored," Renee smiled. "What's your name?"

"Renee, this is my son, Niklaus," Ronan told her. "But don't get any ideas. He's not looking for anyone right now."

"You aren't?" Renee let out a breath. "What a shame." She then reached out for a napkin and wrote her number on it, handing it to him. "If you ever wanna talk, there's my number," she smiled. "I'd be more than happy to listen."

"Good to know," Klaus said, feeling somewhat uncomfortable as she then got up and sauntered away toward the pool table. He then put the number in his pocket and said to Ronan, "That woman is really something, isn't she?"

Ronan shrugged, pushing his blond hair out of his eyes. "I think she's just bored," he replied. "She's living alone in her apartment now that her daughter's moved out and has a house of her own, and her way of dealing with it is to man-hunt."

"Good to know," Klaus replied. "I think I'll stay clear of her for now."

"But then why did you put her number in your pocket?" Ronan asked.

"Because I know it's just a matter of time before something goes wrong with Amy and me and it'll be nice to know that someone will be waiting for me when I'm all alone," Klaus explained.

"What in the world have you done to her to make you feel like you need to prepare for something like that?" Ronan asked, looking concerned.

"I've done lots of things," Klaus admitted. "Lots of very bad things that she shouldn't have to put up with, you know? And now I just…I think we're drifting apart."

"I wish I could say I was surprised about that, but I'm not," Ronan admitted. "I always wondered how long the two of you were going to last."

Klaus looked up. "Why would you think something like that?"

"Well, she's not exactly werewolf stock, is she?" Ronan asked. "Not like Selina. Witches are much more temperamental about, you know, killing and stuff like that."

"Is Mother?" Klaus asked.

"Of course," Ronan nodded. "Why do you think I do my hunting while I work? Why do you think I was so delighted when Roxie told me I could work here? But don't listen to me, son. Don't give up with that witch. If you think there's something to fight for, then try."

"I will," Klaus nodded. "I promise. Oh, and Amy wanted some white wine. I almost forgot."

Ronan nodded and then went back to work as Amy came out of the bathroom.

"Are you all right?" Klaus asked. "You were in there for a while."

"Well, you know the thing about ladies' rooms," Amy shrugged. "There's always a line." She sat down as Ronan plunked the white wine down in front of her. "There you go," he said.

"Thank you," Amy replied. She wanted to say more but he didn't give her the chance. After she finished her wine, she put the glass back on the table and got up. "I think I'm gonna go now," she said to Klaus. "You can stay here. You don't have to come with me."

"But we only came with one car," Klaus pointed out as they headed toward the door.

"You can keep it, and I'll zap myself out," Amy told him. "It's really not a problem."

"Why are you going so soon?" He asked. "Have I done something to hurt you? If I did, I'm sorry. I knew I shouldn't have brought you here."

"No, it's not your fault," Amy told him. "You like this place and that's great. But I…there are lots of people here that I feel like I have no connection with, so I feel out of place. What just happened with your father is an example. Or does he just ignore everyone?"

"Oh, I'm sure he didn't mean to ignore you," Klaus assured her. "But he's really busy and you don't go here very often so there hasn't been as much time for you two to forge a connection."

"Well, I wouldn't want to bother him with trying," Amy sighed. "I'll be at Selina's if you need me. Will you find some way to entertain yourself? Don't miss me too much."

Klaus then noticed Renee getting up and preparing to come toward him cause of course she noticed Amy was leaving. "Oh, I'll miss you plenty," he replied. "Believe me."

Amy then gave him a brief hug and headed out of the bar, disappearing and arriving in front of Elijah and Selina's front door. It was after school hours, so she was pretty sure Selina would be home. However, it was Amanda who opened the door. "Hi, Aunt Amy," she said brightly. "Come in! What's up?"

"Nothing much," Amy replied. "How was prom?"

"Prom was great!" Amanda told her. "I went with Viktor and Astrid gave him a disguise so people wouldn't know I'd come with a teacher, but she made him look like Alistair, so when Alistair came to pick her up, he ran into his double and it was the funniest thing! And he really knows how to dance. So does my dad. He and Mom didn't act all embarrassing when they were chaperoning. They mostly just did slow dances and hung out at the refreshment table."

"And you're glad you went?" Amy wanted to know. "None of my girls were really prom people." She sighed. "But if they ever decide to get formally married, I'll get to see them dance at their weddings. That's something, I guess."

"Do you want a drink or something to eat?" Amanda asked. "Mom would be shocked to know I haven't asked yet and we've been sitting here all this time."

"No, thanks," Amy shook her head. "Speaking of, is your mother around? I want to have a chat with her."

"Yeah, she is," Amanda nodded. "In the library, I think. She likes to hang out there. And if she's not there, check out Daddy's office. It's the door with the 'Remember to knock before entering' sign on it."

"Thank you very much," Amy smiled. She went to the library and immediately saw Selina laid out horizontally on one of the sofas. "Hi," she said and waved. "Sorry if I'm interrupting anything."

"Hi!" Selina replied and came to hug her. "No, you're not interrupting anything. What's up?"

"I wanna have a chat with you about something kind of personal," Amy replied and sat down next to her. "I think you're the only person who might understand."

"Sure," Selina nodded. "What is it? Is something wrong? Are you hurt? Are you sick? Whatever you want me to do, I'll do it."

"Nothing is physically wrong," Amy assured her quickly. "It's just that Klaus and I…I think we're sort of drifting apart. Actually I'm drifting away from him would be a more accurate way to say it."

"Really?" Selina asked. "So, he finally did one kill too many, huh?"

"In a way, yes," Amy nodded. "Do you remember that Klaus killed me the day Vivi was born and that's how I became a vampire?"

"Of course I do!" Selina replied earnestly and gave her a hug. "Stuff like that really stays with you."

"It does," Amy nodded. "When I came into Klaus' life, I'd been charged by Astrid to curb his really vicious behavior just like Alistair did. But when I got involved with him and started bearing his children, that became more difficult. As we've been a couple, I've tried to look at things both ways: curb his killing like I'm supposed to, but also respect that he's a vampire who has a right to hunt to eat. That's the deal I made with him: that as long as he was only hunting to feed, I could look the other way. But I knew it'd never stick. I knew in my heart of hearts that he would always kill people for fun, even if he knew it upset me. And one kill in particular affected me: the mother of Rosalie's friend Aaron. I saw the pictures cause Rosalie and Aaron have been looking at them for years. Her body looks exactly like some of Klaus' other kills, but he doesn't know that I know. That makes me want to rethink things, along with when he and his brother Kol attacked that poor witch Alexandra on Elijah's orders."

"I was there the first night," Selina told her apologetically. "I helped them. It was because I was worried about what she would do to Amanda since Amanda was involved with Viktor, but I know it was still wrong."

"You don't have to apologize to me," Amy replied and put a hand on her arm. "I know you don't kill people for sport anymore, and I'm sure you hear enough about what behavior is right and wrong from Elijah."

"Yep," Selina nodded. "That's very true."

"And after I found out about Alexandra, I decided to do something kind of…well, you're gonna think it's weird and stupid," Amy said. "But I…at night, I change my appearance so that I look kind of like a superhero, stalk Klaus when he goes hunting, and then I save his victims before he has a chance to do away with them entirely. I think it's only right."

"And he hasn't figured out it's you yet?" Selina asked in amazement.

Amy smiled. "That's one of the handy things about magic," she said. "I can make myself look totally different."

"You make a good point," Selina smiled. "A witch is just the person to do that sort of thing."

"You don't think that what I'm doing is wrong do you?" Amy asked hesitantly.

"No," Selina shook her head. "It's no different than what Alistair used to do. The only thing you're doing different is that you're doing it in secret."

"And I'd like to keep it that way for as long as possible," Amy requested. "So…you won't tell him, will you?"

"Of course not," Selina swore. "You're secret is safe with me."

"Good," Amy told her. "Thank you very much."

"You're welcome," Selina replied. She then offered her cake, which Amy accepted this time, and they sat and chatted until it was gone and, with a sigh, Amy went home to Klaus.

Meanwhile, in other law enforcement matters, everyone was very concerned about what had happened to Victoria.

"I know I said I was gonna keep her safe, but I failed and I'm sorry," Liam apologized to Regina. "We'll get Victoria out of there. I promise."

"This is really gonna sound harsh, so don't take it the wrong way," Regina told him. "But frankly, I'm not particularly worried about Victoria right now. She can handle herself."

"So you don't want me to work on getting her out?" Liam asked in amazement.

"Well, of course I do," Regina nodded. "But you don't need to be all apologetic and fretful. I told you when we went to lunch before the field trip that I suspected something like this would happen. You'll get her out in good time. I trust you."

"Oh," Liam nodded. "I get you now. All right."

Meanwhile, Victoria was proving her mother's assessment of her character correct. "How long do you think I'm gonna be down here?" She asked Kai, who was still tied to a chair. The idea that she could use magic and he couldn't cause he was a prisoner had been something she'd taken full advantage of." She zapped up a knife and approached a wide-eyed Kai with it. "I'm hungry again," she told him. "Where should I cut from now?"

"You know," he said, his voice full of nervous laughter. "If you were actually the age you look, I would find this such a turn on!"

"You would?" Victoria asked. "My mom and dad are like that too. They whip and hit each other all the time in a room in our basement that I'm not allowed to go in. Sometimes they do it in their bedroom too, when they think I'm not listening." She cut his neck and began licking up the blood with her tongue while Kai closed his eyes and muttered to himself, "She's twelve and annoying. Remember that: she's twelve and annoying."

Finally, she removed her lips from his neck. She gave Kai a look and he just started laughing.

"Why are you laughing?" Victoria cried. "You're supposed to be angry or disgusted!"

"Oh, you dear sweet little girl," Kai replied. "In case you don't remember why I'm here, it's because I'm a sociopath! I enjoy stuff like this, and the only reason why I'm not subjecting you to it in turn is that I can't. If I were allowed powers, you'd be in so much trouble."

"You're just talk," Victoria replied and zapped up a bag of chips. "Now eat these and shut up."

"I can't really eat anything tied up like this," Kai replied. "You'll have to keep feeding me."

So Victoria rolled her eyes and fed him one chip after another, cursing when he bit her hand hard enough to draw blood.

"Well, look at that, you're bleeding," Kai said with a smirk. "Whoopsie!"

"Ha ha," Victoria replied. "Glad to see you can fight back. This might not be boring after all."