After Charlie left I was cornered by Niklaus and Elijah.

"Sit down Stella," Elijah ordered me.

I complied, giving a mental sigh as I sat down on the couch in the living room. I had known that this conversation was coming but I was hoping to have more time to try and weasel out of it.

"You disobeyed me," Elijah accused without preamble.

"Yes, but I..."

Elijah interrupted me, "I don't want to hear it." He stated, which I thought was rather unfair. He should at least hear my side, right? "You're grounded for the summer."

I held back a snort, what a great idea grounding me when we all know that didn't go well. I was so focused on the hilarity of the sentence that I almost missed what he said next... almost. I stared at him in disbelief, convinced I heard him wrong.

"What!?"

My father gave a low growl of irritation and repeated what he had just said, "You will turn your wand over to me at the end of the summer you'll get it back."

I glared at him, Elijah had been around the Wizarding community long enough to know what he was requiring. While I could very well do wandless magic my wand was still an extension of myself. It represented who I was, what I could do and to turn it over to my father was unthinkable. There was a reason that a witch or wizard would have their wand snapped if they were exiled or severely punished despite their ability to do wandless magic or not.

"Let have it," he said pulling out an exquisite box meant to store a wand in from his jacket pocket. I briefly wondered where he had gotten it at but refrained from asking instead focusing on the matter at hand: my wand not being in my possession.

"I don't have it," I told him sheepishly. I hadn't had it in a few months, which was rather stupid of me really considering its value. My father and uncle would not like it when they found out where it was either.

"Where is it?" Dad asked sharply.

"Damon has it. I haven't had it since the night they daggered you and they knocked me out. "

"Why not get it before now?" Niklaus asked narrowing his eyes at me. I winced, I was right they didn't like it one bit, not that I blamed them.

I shrugged, "Other things were more important and Damon knows better than to let anything happen to it, besides I don't need it to do magic."

"True," Dad said, "But it is incredibly symbolic and in no way should it be left there. We'll stop by and pick it up on our way to be reunited with our family."

I nodded but was unable to say anything because Niklaus addressed me. "That is only part of your punishment, love. That deals with your disobedience but you also lied to me."

I winced, I guess I did at that. "I don't tolerate lies Estelle, you know that. Don't you? "He continued sternly.

"Yes, sir." I replied looking at the ground. Why was it he had more of an affect making me feel ashamed than my father did? Elijah made me feel contrite, but Niklaus made me feel guilty.

"You told me you were staying in but then you came anyway. You coming to the ritual made us worry about you instead of focusing on our tasks at hand." Niklaus continued to speak.

I started to protest but he held up his hand to silence me, "I know that the others couldn't see you, but that didn't mean you couldn't get hurt, you did the last time, didn't you?"

I nodded, it was true. "We discussed this with Charlie and he agrees with us. In fact he helped us come up with your punishment," Niklaus told me.

I looked up curiously. They had pulled Charlie aside for a few minutes before he left and I was about to find out why.

"Charlie cast a special spell before he left," Niklaus started. I narrowed my eyes at him, what kind of spell? Niklaus looked way too pleased with himself and my heart dropped as he said, "You will be unable to be more than 50 feet away from one of us at all times."

I stared at him in shock and he smirked at me, "You already proved grounding you wouldn't work, now you don't have a choice."

"I could take the spell down," I mumbled to myself.

"True, but it will take time to figure it out," Niklaus shrugged with a smirk. "In the meantime you're stuck. Besides if you try to take it down, vervain will stop you."

I stared at him in shock, "You wouldn't!"

"Maybe I would, maybe I wouldn't. I have done worse." Uncle Nik replied.

I stared at him, trying to gage if he really would do that or not. Probably so, I had damaged the trust he had in me, by lying to him. He had daggered his siblings when they had done similar things by disappointing, betraying, or disobeying him; and right now he viewed me as doing all three on some sort of level.

"You're better off not giving him a chance, dear," Elijah told me in a stage whisper. Niklaus rolled his eyes at his elder brother.

I sighed in defeat, "Fine." With the one word I submitted to my father and uncle's wishes and demands.

Uncle Nik grinned broadly, "Splendid! Shall we go retrieve your wand, niece?"

I nodded sullenly, pouting a little, which they ignored as we set off. When we arrived at the Boarding House there seemed to be no one around. I briefly wondered where everyone was at but didn't dwell on the thought. I led my father and uncle to the bar, where I knew Damon hid my wand. Once there I hit a secret button that revealed a secret drawer housing my wand. We had installed a secret drawer like that in every bar in every house we had lived in, just to store my wand if need be.

I held my wand close for a minute, letting the warmth and familiarity of the magic wash over me. Elijah smirked and held out his hand. I frowned as I reluctantly relinquished it to him. He slipped the wand in the box he carried and we were off again. This time to Alaric's apartment that still housed Katerina.

We walked in the door to find Katerina holding Stefan up against the wall.

"Klaus, you're back. Look who decided to come for a visit," Katerina told Uncle Nik.

Niklaus stood just inside the door with Dad and I just behind him. We all looked at Stefan curiously.

"You just keep popping up, don't you?" Niklaus asked him.

"I need your help...For my brother," came the reply.

I frowned and stepped forward and asked, "What happened?"

Before Stefan could answer, Niklaus ignored my concern and replied, "Well, whatever it is, it's gonna have to wait a tick. You see, I have an obligation to my brother that requires my immediate attention."

This time my father spoke up, "You understand how important family is, or you wouldn't be here. My brother gave me his word that he would reunite me with my own."

Niklaus smirked at Elijah, "And so I shall."

Then before I could even register what happened, Niklaus stabbed a dagger through my father's heart. Then he grabbed my arm and pushed me further away from my father into a chair and in a fluid movement pushed Stefan up against the wall.

"I should have known," I muttered staring at my father's crumpled form.

I shifted slightly and my uncle briefly turned his attention to me, without loosening his tight hold on Stefan. "Sit tight love, we'll be on our way soon."

"On our way where?" I muttered again.

Niklaus ignored me, and turned back to Stefan, "Now, what am I gonna do with you?"

In another fluid motion my uncle stabbed Stefan in the chest with a stake just missing his chest. I jumped up protesting the movement, without bothering to look at me Niklaus ordered me to sit down and be quiet. I huffed, and refused to obey but didn't move, although I stood at the ready to get involved if I needed to.

"Do you feel that? It's scraping against your heart. The slightest little movement and you're dead." Niklaus asked as he held Stefan tightly to keep him from moving.

"He's just trying to help his brother," Katerina protested.

"The witches said you had a cure. Make me a deal. Just give me the cure, and I'll do whatever you want." Stefan gasped out.

"Cure for what?" I asked worried about my ex-husband.

"He got bit by a werewolf," Stefan choked out.

"No!" I gasped out in horror, my knees buckling slightly and my lungs felt like all the air had been knocked out of them.

Niklaus pulled out the stake and released Stefan allowing him to drop to the floor. Niklaus walked away and approached me, he grabbed my arm roughly, pulling me with him to the counter. Once at the counter he forced me to sit on a stool, something I was slightly grateful for although I didn't appreciate the manhandling. He set the stake on the counter out of my reach, I raised on eyebrow at him but didn't say a word as I watched him pour a glass of blood.

"Trouble is I don't know if you'd be any good to me the way you are now. You are just shy of useless," Niklaus told Stefan.

Niklaus sent me a warning glance telling me to stay put as he turned towards Stefan. He crossed the room and approached Stefan who was still huddled on the floor.

He held the glass close to Stefan's nose as he bent down and said, "I heard about this one vampire, crazy bloke, always on and off the wagon for decades. When he was off, he was magnificent. 1917, he went into Monterrey and wiped out an entire migrant village...A true ripper. Sound familiar? "

Stefan frowned, "I haven't been that way in a very long time."

"Well, that's the vampire I can make a deal with. That is the kind of talent that I can use when I leave this town," he said casually with a shrug of his shoulders.

Stefan forced himself to stand up as Niklaus called Katerina over to him. Once Katrina got within arm reach of my uncle he grabbed her arm yanking her close to him. His eyes flashed yellow and he bit Katerina and she cried out panicked. Then he bit his wrist and made Katerina drink his blood which then healed her wound. I let out a small gasp, of course, Niklaus' bloods was the cure!

"You want your cure? There it is." Niklaus told Stefan.

"Your blood is the cure." Stefan needlessly said.

"Gotta love Mother Nature," Niklaus said with a smirk.

Niklaus put his hand on Stefan's shoulder, "Now...Let's talk, you and I."

Niklaus dropped his hand from Stefan's shoulder and walked back to me. He squeezed my shoulder encouragingly letting me know that it was going to be okay, he would save Damon one way or another. I knew he would try to get something from Stefan first, he knew exactly what he wanted too. So I watched carefully, not making an effort to get involved.

Uncle Nik stepped behind the counter and grabbed a vial and a knife. He cut his hand and squeezed his blood into the vial.

Niklaus held it out for us to see, "There it is. You want to save your brother? How 'bout a decade-long bender? And I have big plans for you when we leave this town."

"I'm not like that anymore," Stefan protested.

Niklaus looked disappointed, "Well, that's too bad. You would have made a hell of a wingman. "

Niklaus started to pour the blood down the sink but with one word Stefan stopped him, "Wait!"

Niklaus stopped, "Now that's more like it. I want you to join me for a drink."

I watched Niklaus curiously, there was a reason my uncle was trying so hard to get Stefan to join him, but I wasn't sure what was going on. Uncle Nik tossed Stefan a blood bag and watched as Stefan took a sip, drinking from his own glass of blood.

"Finish it. All of it. You do everything I say, and I save your brother. That's the deal." Stefan did as he was told and once he was finished Niklaus tossed him another bag. "Again."

After making Stefan finish 4 blood bags and start another Uncle Nik finally deemed it important to get the cure to Damon. He compelled Katerina to take the cure to Damon and come right back, all the while Stefan moaned about Katerina not delivering it.

I knew as well as Stefan that Katerina had been slipped vervain by my ex-husband, she had informed me so I could keep my distance before she washed her hand after drinking it. I only hoped that she would give Damon the cure before out of honor of my friendship with her before she took off. It was much later at a warehouse, where Niklaus had stored his family in their coffins -now housing my father as well- that we got the word that Damon was alright.