"Another suicide or a tragic accident?" one of the local news reporters asked rhetorically. "WKPW News has lost one of its shining stars. Field reporter and weekend anchor, Andie Star, was discovered dead."

Lucy frowned sadly as she ate her cereal, a picture of Damon's fake-girlfriend and one of Jenna's oldest friends flashing on screen while the reporter mourned her co-worker's death. As far as she knew, Andie wasn't one to depressed and she seemed happy with Damon, so she doubted that she killed herself. That meant something else happened last night and Lucy didn't know about it.

As Elena walked into the living room, Lucy asked her, "Hey, have you seen this?"

"Yeah," Elena mumbled sadly, sitting down next to her on the couch. "I think that's why Damon was messed up last night. Did you know he's been tracking Stefan by himself?"

"I heard whispers between him and Ric but I wasn't positive," Lucy shrugged. "Hey, where's Ric anyway? The couch wasn't slept in."

Elena shrugged. "I came home last night and he told me that he was staying at his loft. Apparently now that I'm eighteen, he doesn't need to sleep here. I'm pretty sure he thinks he's unwanted."

"I guess we'll have to make sure he knows he's wanted around here," Lucy sighed and gave Elena a small smile. "Did you at least have a little fun last night before you and Damon fought?"

"It was a great birthday despite the circumstances," Elena bit her lip and grinned. "So…you slept with Matt last night."

Lucy, who had been chewing on her frosted flakes, spat into her bowl, completely shocked at Elena's matter-of-fact statement. How had her sister even known? Matt left early in the morning because of his shift at the Grill. Oh, God…did Joel, Jeremy, and Ric know too?

"Uh…how do you even—"

"I came to see if you were asleep last night and I saw you two cuddling," Elena wiggled her eyebrows. "I didn't know you had feelings for Matt."

Lucy sighed and tapped her manicured nails on the outside of her bowl. "I don't have feelings for him. Romantic feelings, I mean," she shrugged. "We agreed this morning that it was casual sex. No strings attached."

Elena gave her a deadpan look. "You lost your virginity to one of our closest friends and you're saying there's no feelings or strings attached?"

"Yes, and don't tell Caroline, okay? I want to tell her myself…" Lucy checked her phone, sighing when she saw no missed messages. "if she answers me."

"I won't," Elena promised. "Wow, I can't believe you had sex with Matt."

"Lena!"

"Hey, I'm just saying!" she held her hands up defensively. "So, how was it?"

"Seriously, shut up," Lucy nudged her with her elbow, making her laugh. "Now I know why we don't talk about our sex lives."

"Well, before last night, you didn't have one, Lulu. And besides," Elena flinched, dodging Lucy's elbow. "Stefan's one of your best friends and I didn't want to make it weird."

"Thanks, then," Lucy bit her lip, hesitating for a second. "Elena, I have to tell you something…"

There was no way she wasn't going to tell Elena about Stefan calling her last night. It might hurt Elena that he didn't contact her but she knew if she didn't tell her sister, she'd be furious. Plus, it would be nice for Elena to know that Stefan was alive and fighting for himself. Besides, there was nothing romantic about the call at all—Lucy did not go after taken men, especially her sister's boyfriend—Stefan hadn't even spoken, for crying out loud.

"What's up?"

"Stefan called me last night," Lucy confessed, watching as her sister perked up. "He didn't speak or anything but I knew it was him."

"He called you?" Elena blinked and looked down at her lap. "He didn't call me."

"It's probably because he knew that if he heard your voice, he'd want to come home," Lucy said honestly, trying to comfort her. "His breathing was shaky already. I think he was upset."

Elena nodded solemnly. "Do you think he's okay?"

"I think he's struggling…but he's strong, Lena."

"Yeah…"

Lucy squeezed her hand and smiled. "I was hoping that Liz could trace the call. Do you want to come with me? If we find out where he is, maybe we can look for him."

Elena nodded and gave her a thankful smile. "Of course I'll go with you."

After a quick stop at city hall, five unanswered text messages sent to Caroline, and ten ignored calls to Damon, Lucy and Elena pulled up to the Salvatore Boarding House. The yard was meticulous and when they entered the house, it was like the party from the previous night never happened.

Damon must have hired cleaning services; Lucy was impressed with their work.

The sisters made their way to the second floor and entered Damon's room, finding him ripping down papers from his closet door while listening to yet another newscast about Andie's death.

"Just can't stay away, can you?" he asked bitterly, sensing their presence.

"You've been dodging my calls," Elena put her hands on her hips.

"Yeah, well, I've been busy dating a dead fake-girlfriend and all."

Lucy frowned sympathetically and Elena visibly softened.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked him.

Damon scoffed. "Happy birthday, Elena. Stefan killed Andie. Cake?"

He stepped away from his closet and dropped the piles of papers he had collected on Stefan on the bed. Elena sighed and turned to face him, crossing her arms over her chest.

"He called Lucy, Damon."

Damon raised his eyebrows at them. "What?"

"Stefan called me last night," Lucy reiterated Elena's statement.

Damon cocked his head, pretending not to be interested. "Well, what'd he say?"

"He didn't say anything but it was him," Lucy insisted. "We asked Liz if she would trace the call's origin. It came from Tennessee."

"Where he's binge-drinking on the country folk," Damon muttered, rolling his eyes as he picked up the papers and threw them in his fireplace. "We went through this. Stefan's gone and I don't mean geographically."

"If he was gone, he wouldn't have called."

Elena pounded on the door at Alaric's apartment, giving Lucy a skeptical look. Lucy rolled her eyes and gestured for her to keep knocking until Alaric got his ass out of bed and answered the door.

"Go away, Damon!" they heard him groan but Elena kept knocking.

Since Damon wasn't any help with the Stefan situation, Lucy suggested they go to Alaric. Joel was at work—he still had his job at Whitmore until school started—so she knew that Alaric was the only option left. He knew as much as Damon since he was one of the vampire's only friends.

Alaric ripped the door open and paused when he saw his daughter and her half-sister standing in front of him.

"Good morning," Lucy smiled brightly, as though they hadn't woken him up an hour before noon.

Alaric cleared his throat and awkwardly shifted. "You're, uh, not who I expected."

"We see that."

"We need you to tell us what you know about Stefan and Tennessee," Elena demanded politely.

Alaric walked away from the door, leaving it open so they could come in. "Did you miss the part where I checked out of all this?"

"Ric, I hate to break it to you, but you have part-time guardianship over me," Lucy reminded him as she walked into the apartment behind Elena. "Checking out is not part of the deal."

Alaric gave her a deadpan expression while he pulled on a t-shirt.

"Come on, Ric," Elena groaned. "Whatever Damon knows, you know."

"Then ask Damon."

"Damon's not exactly in the mood to help right now," Elena sighed as Alaric dug into his fridge and pulled out a water bottle.

"For good reason," Alaric reminded them. "It's not safe for either of you. Stefan's off the rails."

Lucy rolled her eyes; that was old news. "Stefan's still holding onto his humanity which means he can be saved," she declared. "Right, Elena?"

Elena nodded firmly in agreement.

"Why does you guys have to be the ones who save him?"

"Because I'm not the kind of person who checks out," Elena said pointedly. "And Lucy's too compassionate for her own good. She'd try to save the devil if she could."

Lucy scoffed, offended. "Not true! I don't really think the devil's redeemable, thank you."

"Look," Elena continued, ignoring Lucy's comment. "he would never give up on me. I'm not gonna give up on him."

"Tell us what you know, Ric," Lucy pleaded. "Please."

Alaric sighed heavily. "They've been tracking werewolves, he and Klaus," he gave in. "All over the eastern seaboard. We thought we had them just outside of Memphis…"

An hour later, after Alaric showered, got dressed, and took some medicine for his hangover, they went to the Grill to meet Tyler. Lucy had contacted him after Alaric spilled the beans about Klaus and Stefan searching for werewolves, asking him to tell her about the information about the packs he learned from Jules.

He agreed to meet up to tell them anything he knew.

Alaric went straight to the bar while Lucy and Elena went to the table Tyler had already secured. They all ordered drinks before settling in, Elena asking Tyler about werewolf packs around the Tennessee region.

"A lot of us like to keep to ourselves for the full moon, chain ourselves up," he explained. "but there are some werewolves that like to gather in places where they don't have to do that, where they can enjoy it."

"What kind of places?" Elena asked quietly.

Tyler shrugged. "Mountains, state parks, deserts…that kind of stuff."

Lucy hummed. "And there's a pack in Tennessee?"

"Yeah," he confirmed. "Here, give me you're phone. I'll try to pull up a map."

Lucy nodded and pulled her phone from her shorts, handing it over to Tyler. He got to work on unlocking her phone—did Caroline tell him her passcode? —and heading to Google maps.

"Thanks for this," Elena sighed in relief. "I know it's asking a lot."

"As Caroline likes to remind me, Stefan's in this mess because I bit Damon," he shrugged her off. "I figure I owe you one...Have you talked to her today?"

"She hasn't been answering me," Lucy grumbled, wishing that Caroline would just text her back. "Why?"

"Just curious," he said sketchily, handing Lucy back her phone and pointed to a spot on the map. "Here, that's your best bet."

"Thank you, Tyler," Lucy saw that the spot he pointed at was in the Smoky Mountains. "Let me know if hear from Care, okay?"

"Will do."

Elena thanked Tyler once more before she and Lucy left the table, heading over to the bar to talk to Alaric about what they learned. He was nursing a hot cup of coffee as they sat down but he turned to them expectantly.

"Did you get anything?"

"How do you feel about a little hike through the Smoky Mountains?" Elena asked coyly.

Alaric looked at her in disbelief. "You wanna hunt down a pack of werewolves on a full moon?"

"We'll be out of there before the moon is even full," Elena placated him. "If you don't come with us, we're going by ourselves."

Alaric gave her a dirty look.

"What?" she asked innocently. "You're the one who told me that I could handle things on my own now."

"Yeah, I meant frozen dinners and SATs," he grunted.

"Elena would just burn the frozen dinner," Lucy commented, smirking at her sister.

Alaric shook his head. "All right, fine," he reluctantly agreed. "Let's just go. You're driving, Elena."

"Yes!" Lucy hissed. "Road trip!"

"In a couple of hours, the full moon's gonna rise just above that ridge," Alaric pointed ahead of himself, Lucy, and Elena, the peak they were searching for full of gorgeous trees. "If Tyler's right, that's where the pack will be."

Lucy raised her eyebrows and took a sip from her water bottle, enjoying the light breeze coming from the river beside them.

"You were a boy scout, weren't you?" Elena asked him teasingly.

"Shut up."

"A boy scout, slash vampire slayer," she insisted while Lucy chuckled. '

"Slash whiskey-drinking all-around lost cause," Alaric quipped, shrugging off his backpack.

He set his backpack on the ground, unzipping the front pocket and revealing the weapons he brought. There were numerous stakes, a few knives, and a lot of wolfsbane and vervain.

"Wow," Lucy looked at him, impressed. "You came stocked. All I brought was another bottle of water and a couple granola bars."

"Well, we aren't exactly bird watching," he pulled out two small canisters filled with dark yellow water. Handing one each to Lucy and Elena, he said, "Here. Put those in your bags."

Lucy carefully observed the canister, discovering that it was actually a homemade grenade. Before Alaric arrived in town, she hadn't even known you could make your own grenades. She was starting to think that it was his favorite weapon.

"Vervain grenade?" Elena asked as Lucy carefully put her grenade in the front pocket of her backpack.

"Wolfsbane."

Elena nodded and slid the grenade into the bottle sleeve on her backpack before pulling something out of her shorts pocket. "Well, since we're exchanging gifts…" she held out the mystical Gilbert ring, expecting him to take it.

Alaric narrowed his eyes. "That's John Gilbert's ring."

"It was yours once. Go ahead, take it," Elena insisted. "It'll protect you from whatever supernatural danger we're about to get ourselves into."

"He gave it to you."

"Yeah but I'm a doppelganger," Elena shook her head. "It's not gonna work on me. He left if for if I ever have kids."

"Yeah, well, then why don't you save it for future generations of stubborn, relentless baby Gilberts?"

"Ric just take the ring," Lucy sighed, exasperated with his attitude. He was just as stubborn as Elena and his new thing of not being enough for anyone was making her mad. He didn't even realize how much he helped her, Elena, Jeremy, and Joel after Jenna died. "You can borrow it for now."

"I'd feel bad if we got you killed before happy hour," Elena added challengingly.

Alaric's hazel eyes darted from Lucy to Elena before he chuckled. Elena held out the ring once more and he took it, slipping it on his right hand.

Lucy smiled in satisfaction, taking another sip of her water while they waited for him to get his bow out of his bag.

"I don't know why you think that you're a lost cause—" Elena screamed as someone sped over to her, pushing her into the river.

Lucy gasped in shock and whipped toward Elena's attacker, her hand reaching up to siphon from her necklace. Luckily, it just turned out to be Damon, who was leaning against a nearby tree with a closed-lipped smile. Lucy slumped in relief while Alaric lowered his bow.

"Damon!" Elena shouted at the vampire. "How are you even here?"

Damon looked toward Alaric. "Thanks for the tip, brother."

Lucy made an indignant noise. "You sold us out?"

Alaric raised an eyebrow at her. "You think that I'd take you to a mountain range of werewolves on a full moon without backup?"

Lucy could feel the effects of Elena's glower and it wasn't even directed at her. Damon, however, seemed unaffected by her fury.

"Get out of the water, Elena," he demanded.

"If I get out of the water, you're gonna make me and Lucy go home," Elena snapped.

"Yeah because I'm not an idiot like you two."

"Right now, you're all acting like idiots," Alaric commented, annoyed.

Elena shook her head and looked away from Damon. "You gave up on him, Damon."

"I didn't give up on him, Elena," Damon argued. "I faced reality. Now get out of the water."

Besides the fact that Damon was acting way too protectively, Lucy agreed with Elena that he was giving up on Stefan. If the roles were reversed and it was Damon traveling with Klaus, ripping apart bodies in his wake, Stefan would be doing anything he could to get his brother out of his mess. It disappointed Lucy because she thought more of Damon and despite all that Stefan had done for him, one dead fake-girlfriend made him give up.

"No!"

"What's your big plan, Elena, huh?" Damon walked into the river, slowly making his way to Elena. "You gonna walk into a campsite full of werewolves, roast a marshmallow, and wait for Stefan to stop by?"

Elena stepped away from him. "My plan is to find him and help him," she replied stubbornly. "Damon, this is the closest that we've been to him since he left. I'm not going home."

"Klaus thinks you died when he broke the curse," he pointed out. "That makes you safe. This? This is not safe."

"I'm not leaving before we find him."

"It's a full moon, Elena."

"Then we'll find him before then," Elena promised with wide, earnest eyes that Damon was a sucker for. "Damon, please."

Lucy bit her lip and exchanged a look with Alaric as Damon visibly softened. She wasn't going to judge—she was in the same boat as Damon, after all—but she didn't think Elena knew just how much effect she had on the oldest Salvatore brother. She loved Elena but she didn't want her to lead Damon on…

"Okay," Damon agreed. "but we are out of here before the moon is full and I'm werewolf bait."

"I promise."

"Unless you wanna relive that whole deathbed kiss."

Elena gave him an annoyed look. "I said I promise."

"Fine," Damon shrugged as he started walking out of the water.

"Now that we wasted ten minutes of arguing, are we allowed to continue?" Lucy called sarcastically, watching as Damon gave Elena a hand out of the river.

"Shut up, Twitch," Damon rolled his eyes. "Let's go."

An hour later, they were near the top of the ridge and Lucy's calves were on fire. She was already out of water, having drank her last one dry, and she needed to go to the bathroom but she wasn't complaining.

Okay, she complained a little bit.

But it was worth it if they were going to help Stefan. He was worth it.

"How are you doing?" Damon asked Elena, looking over at her in concern.

"Fine," Elena breathed, having just as difficult a time as Lucy.

"You know, I could help you."

"What the hell, Damon?" Lucy asked indignantly. "I've asked you to carry me five times already."

"Yeah, well, you're annoying, Twitch," Damon smirked at her before turning back to Elena. "Just one little swoosh?"

Elena scoffed. "Yeah, with my luck, you'd drop me."

Alaric shook his head. "It's like babysitting twelve-year olds," he muttered, looking at the map on his phone. "We got about a mile left."

"And the sun's about to set," Lucy sighed, looking up at the orange and pink skyline that was slightly visible through the large trees. "We've gotta be quick."

"The moon doesn't reach its apex for a while," Elena informed them. "We have time."

Ahead of them, a branch snapped, causing Alaric and Damon to slow down. They stiffened as more sticks were broken and a man stumbled into view. He looked gross and bloody—Lucy was pretty sure he was crying blood.

Alaric aimed his bow at him while Damon stiffened, ready to jump into action if necessary. "Stay where you are."

The man inhaled and zeroed in on Damon. "Vampire."

The man blurred toward Damon but Damon was ready, wrapping his hand around the man's neck. Unfortunately, the man quickly overpowered Damon, shoving him against a tree while trying to bite him.

Alaric shot an arrow at the man but he seemed unaffected by it. While Elena pulled the wolfsbane grenade out of her bag and threw it to Damon, Lucy siphoned magic out of her necklace. As the grenade exploded in the man's face, she held out her hand and used her magic to snap his neck.

"Let me guess," Alaric stared down at the unconscious man. "Hybrid."

Damon angrily pursed his lips and picked up the man. "Let's get him tied up so I'm not puppy chow."

Lucy, Elena, and Alaric got to work while Damon held the man to a tree, pulling out the three lengths of rope Alaric brought with him and dousing them in wolfsbane and vervain. Lucy gave the wolfsbane-soaked ropes to Damon and gave Alaric an amazed look as he pulled some chains out of his bag.

How did he fit so much in that tiny backpack? Who was he, Hermione Granger?

Damon and Alaric quickly tied the man to the tree using the ropes and chains but it didn't take a genius to know that they weren't going to hold the hybrid for long. He was already stirring, which was pretty quick considering a vampire's rate of recovery after a snapped neck.

"These ropes aren't gonna hold him much longer," Damon sighed as Elena poured vervain on the last length of rope. "What else do we have?"

"Ric, here," Elena spoke up, holding out the vervain rope. "Take these."

Damon absentmindedly grabbed them, grunting in pain when his skin hissed and smoked upon contact.

"I said Ric," Elena shrugged, making Lucy giggle at her nonchalant attitude.

Alaric quickly took the rope out of Elena's hands and tied it around the hybrid. "All right, that's the last of the vervain," he told Lucy, Elena, and Damon. "We don't have enough stuff to hold him. I don't think we're gonna make that ridge before the full moon."

Elena took slow steps toward the hybrid. "If we can get him to talk, we don't have to."

As Elena reached out to touch the hybrid, he jumped awake, inhaling deeply. He only looked at Elena for a second before his bones started breaking, his limbs twisting grotesquely.

"Uh, is he turning?" Lucy asked loudly, wincing when the hybrid's arm spun in a way that could not be healthy.

"It's impossible," Elena breathed, backing away from the hybrid. "It's still daylight."

Alaric narrowed his eyes as the hybrid started to scream from the pain of turning. "Tell him that."

Damon lunged forward and held the hybrid's shoulders, gritting his teeth against the strength the man seemed to possess.

"There aren't supposed to be werewolves out here until the moon if full!" Lucy objected, starting to panic as the hybrid squirmed relentlessly under Damon's grasp. "Those ropes won't hold!"

The hybrid started to snarl animalistically, baring his teeth at Damon.

"Damon, we've got to get out of here," Elena urged the vampire, deciding to ditch the Stefan plan. "We gotta get out of these mountains now! Damon!"

Damon released the hybrid and they all took off, running away from the screams and snarls as fast as they could. They were almost to the river as the sun finally set, shrouding them in darkness.

It was then when Elena tripped.

They all stopped to help her up but something zoomed right over to her. Lucy inhaled deeply when she saw that it was the hybrid in his wolf form, its gold eyes glowing in the dark. It faced Elena, growling softly.

"Don't move," Damon quietly ordered Elena. The hybrid started to turn to him but when Elena shifted, it whipped back to her. "Here doggie, doggie."

At Damon's taunt, the hybrid lunged; Damon sped away in a blur and the hybrid followed him, leaving Elena unharmed for now. Lucy quickly helped her sister to her feet and turned to Alaric with wide eyes.

"What do we do?" she asked breathlessly.

"We have to keep moving," he urged. "Come on."

"We can't leave Damon," Elena objected."

"He can handle himself," Alaric tried to reason with her. "Let's move."

"No!" Elena shook her head, looking around the dark forest. "If he gets bit, he'll be dead. I'm the reason he's out here."

"I am the reason he's out here," Alaric firmly corrected her, looking around urgently. "I told him where we were and I'm telling you to keep moving. Let's go."

"Lena, please," Lucy begged, squeezing her sister's arm in fright.

Elena sighed heavily but nodded; they took off running.

"Stefan's out there somewhere and now Damon and we're just sitting in this car?" Elena asked anxiously, staring out of the passenger window for any sign of Damon.

Lucy bit her lip, searching for Damon, too. Admittedly, she was afraid that he was going to be bitten and die. Klaus wasn't around to donate blood and she doubted he'd like it much if she called him up for some of his blood after insulting him in the letters she sent to Stefan. She should have been more upset about the fact that they didn't get to Stefan like they wanted to, but if it came down to their safety, it was worth it to back off this time.

There were going to be more opportunities to find Stefan. She just knew it.

"Let the vampires fight the hybrid-zombie-mountain-man," Alaric sighed. "I'll take care of keeping the humans safe."

Lucy raised her eyebrows and leaned forward between his and Elena's seat. "I thought you were checked out of taking care of people?"

Alaric gave her a knowing look. "I know what you're doing," he acknowledged, looking at Elena now. "There doesn't need to be a lesson here."

"You're better at it than you think, Ric," Lucy insisted.

"Oh, boy, you're both suckers for a lost cause."

Lucy sighed, aggravated, and gestured for Elena to take over. She was now pretty sure she got her stubbornness from Alaric.

"You're not a lost cause, Ric," Elena said earnestly. "You're just lost…but so is Jeremy and Joel and Lucy…and so am I. Our family is gone and we don't have anybody. I'm sorry, but you don't have anybody, either, so…"

"It sounds like you were put in our lives for a reason," Lucy added quietly when Elena trailed off.

Alaric was quiet for a few seconds before his lips quirked. "I'm keeping the ring, then."

Lucy beamed at him, a giggle escaping her lips. Elena and Alaric joined in, chuckling at her glee. They only stopped when they heard a branch nearby snap, looking up to see Damon walking toward them.

They all got out of the car and ran over to him.

"Damon," Elena reached him first, her tone panicked as she grabbed his arms and searched them for a bite. "Are you okay? Did you…?"

"I'm fine, bite-free," Damon said briskly. "Get back in the car."

Elena scoffed. "Can you just give me a minute to appreciate that you're not dead?"

"I'll give you ten seconds," Damon snarked. "Nine…eight…" he turned her around, forcing her toward Alaric's SUV. "Hey, Ric, did you happen to see where I parked my car?"

"Damon, stop being such a caveman," Elena scolded the vampire while Lucy and Alaric chuckled.

"Get in the car, Elena! I'm starving!"