Lucy bit her lip, nervously fiddling with her bracelet as she and Joel waited next to Meredith in the MRI booth. Alaric was already in the machine, clad in a hospital gown, about to lay still for forty-five minutes so they could get a look at his brain. They had already been through a little testing and the MRI was the last test Meredith was able to give him.

Lucy was a nervous wreck but Joel's presence did calm her down. She was glad that she didn't have to do this alone, since Elena and Jeremy were out of town. She did have Stefan—who had sheepishly arrived at Klaus' house that morning with an apology bagel, which Lucy happily accepted even though she told him an apology wasn't needed—but since Alaric wasn't his guardian, he wasn't allowed back with her and Joel.

"What are you looking for?" Joel asked Meredith, just as worried as Lucy.

"I don't know," Meredith gave them a sympathetic smile. "A tumor, vascular anomalies…Anything physical that might explain his behavior. If it's medical, I can treat it."

"And if it's not?" Lucy spoke up quietly.

"Then we'll deal with that, too," Meredith assured her.

Lucy swallowed harshly and nodded. Meredith was right, if doctors couldn't do anything to fix Alaric, then she would find some way herself. Alaric had to be okay, she couldn't lose him too.

"When did you suspect him?" Joel asked the doctor. "That it was Ric who was killing all of those people?"

"It was after he told me about his ring," Meredith told him. "I remembered a story my grandmother had told me about Samantha Gilbert and her secret journal. I don't know if you know this, but we Fells are notorious busybodies."

Lucy smiled faintly. "Why did you protect him?"

"Because I'm a doctor," Meredith looked back through the window, peeking in on Alaric. "I don't like to see someone hurt by something they have no control over…and, because when he and I first met, I felt like—" she shrugged. "I don't know, I just kind of want to help him."

Lucy couldn't help the fact that her smile grew. It was nice that Alaric was moving on and now that she knew the truth about Meredith, she knew that she was good for her biological father. She couldn't think of another woman who would be doing the same stuff to help him like Meredith was.

"No!"

Lucy, Joel, and Meredith turned toward the window, watching as Alaric's feet squirmed. Meredith furrowed her eyebrows and clicked on the microphone so she could speak to him.

"Everything all right in there?"

"Yeah," Alaric called after a moment. "Yeah, everything's okay."

After Alaric's MRI was finished, he was shown back to his room. Stefan was allowed to come in while they waited for results and Alaric got dressed. It wasn't long until Joel came back with news about the MRI results.

"Meredith said that everything looked normal," he said as he entered the room.

"Because everything is normal," Alaric sighed, shrugging on his coat. "Because there is nothing wrong with me. I didn't kill Brian Walters, I didn't kill Bill Forbes, and I sure as hell didn't shove a hunting knife into my stomach."

Lucy pressed her lips together in sympathy, exchanging a look with Stefan. Alaric looked down at his ring that he had stashed on the table and exhaled heavily.

"Or I did," he retracted his previous statement, looking at Joel and Lucy with regret. "and I've gone insane. Just like your ancestor who wore that ring."

"Look, I'm gonna call Bonnie. The rings were made by a Bennett witch, so maybe she can reverse the damage," Lucy told him, trying to stay strong for Alaric's sake. "If she can't find anything, I'll call Kol to see if he knows of something we can do."

Alaric pursed his lips and sighed, nodding. He looked down at the ring and picked it up, handing it to Joel. "Give this back to Elena. I don't want it anymore."

Joel gave him a disapproving look but took the ring anyway. "Come on, let's get you checked out of here."

Alaric nodded. "All right."

As Alaric and Joel left the room, Lucy turned to Stefan. He gave her a sympathetic look and pulled her into a hug. Lucy squeezed his shoulders and buried her nose into his chest, inhaling his comforting scent.

She could be strong for Alaric but she was also allowed to take a little comfort for herself. Her mind raced with things she needed to do; calling Bonnie was at the top of the list. Hopefully she'd actually take her call…

"Are you gonna be okay?" Stefan asked as they pulled out of the hug.

"I have to be," Lucy gave him a closed-mouth smile. "This scares the hell out of me but I have to be strong for Ric."

"You're already strong, Luce," Stefan brushed some of the hair that escaped her braid out of her eyes. "Ric's lucky to have you."

"I'm lucky to have him," Lucy shook her head and sighed, changing the subject. "Um, did you find anything else about Samantha Gilbert?"

"Yeah," Stefan nodded. "she was committed to an insane asylum. She tried to give herself a lobotomy with a knitting needle and bled to death on the floor of her cell. If the same thing is happening to Alaric, I don't know if there's anything we can do."

"Don't say that," Lucy's eyes stung as she thought about what Stefan was implying. "There's always something we can do. I can't just let this ruin him, Stefan."

"We'll find something then," Stefan was quick in assure her, pulling her into another hug. "I'll do some more research, okay? We'll find something."

Lucy sniffed into his shirt and nodded.

Normally Lucy would have found herself at the newest town event but Mrs. Lockwood had excused her since it was about the rebuilding of Wickery Bridge. Considering Lucy almost died and her parents did die there, Mrs. Lockwood was more than sympathetic when Lucy gave her a sad look and told her that it was too soon.

Of course, it would be hard for Lucy but that wasn't exactly the reason she was skipping out. She had moved back out of Klaus' house with a grateful apology—she told him and Rebekah exactly what was going on with Alaric and surprisingly, they were pretty sympathetic—and had gone back to her house. She didn't care if Stefan was still worried about her safety with Damon around, her first priority was Alaric.

Currently, Lucy was making lunch for Alaric and Meredith while they were stopping by the rebuilding of the bridge. She took her time making homemade pizza, stopping every couple of minutes so she could call Bonnie.

She was annoyed that Bonnie wasn't answering her calls but also hurt. She had left numerous voice mails filled with apologies and she knew why Bonnie was upset. She didn't blame her, either, but it hurt that Bonnie was willing to spend time with Elena while ignoring Lucy for the same reasons.

As she slid the pizzas into the oven, she gave up and called Caroline, hoping that her best friend would at least speak to her.

"Hey, what's going on?"

"Nothing good," Lucy sighed. "How are you guys?"

"Abby's struggling," Caroline answered honestly. "and I just had to give Jamie a pep-talk about avoiding her."

Lucy frowned, remembering that Jamie was the guy that Bonnie's mom took in a couple years ago. "Is he afraid of her?"

"Yeah but he was compelled by that hybrid, so…I don't really blame him."

"No, I wouldn't either," Lucy agreed before hesitating. "Listen, Bonnie's not returning any of my calls."

"Sorry, she's still mad," Caroline said apologetically. "and she's not listening to my attempts of telling her how hypocritical she's being about you and Elena."

"We can worry about that later," Lucy stated. "She needs to focus on her mom and I understand that. I just need…Listen, something is happening to Ric and I really need her help."

"Elena told us some of the stuff happening," Caroline said somberly. "Is he okay? Are you?"

"I'm trying to stay strong for him but it's bad, Care," Lucy admitted. "I don't want to bother her, but if Bonnie could help in any way I'd be eternally grateful."

"I'll talk to her," Caroline promised. "Love you, Luce."

"Love you too, Care. See you later."

"Bye."

Lucy dropped her phone on the counter and pressed the heel of her palm against her forehead. Her eyes stung but she squeezed her eyes shut to stop her tears before they began. Everything was such a mess and she felt like she was going to explode.

"Hey, was that Bonnie?" Joel asked as he walked into the kitchen.

"It was Caroline," Lucy corrected him as she started to clean up her mess. "Bonnie is still not taking my calls because I apparently ruined her mom's life."

"You didn't ruin her life, Luce," Joel tried to comfort her. "Damon and I did that."

Lucy huffed, her eyes starting to glaze over. "Bonnie doesn't see it that way," she told him. "So, now I have to call Kol and see if he knows anything that could help us and after that, I have to find a way to break it to my best friend that my father killed her dad."

Joel stiffened when her heard her breathing pick up, wheezing through her lungs. Her heart raced as the tell tales signs of her panic attacks started. She gripped her head a little too tight and her sobs broke through what she was trying to tell him.

It made his heart ache to see her like this. It had been a long time since she had a panic attack and the last one was months ago, after she forgot what Jenna sounded like. She had been doing so well and he didn't want to her have a set-back like this.

"Lucy," he walked over to her and pulled her hands away from her face; she fought him as she cried but eventually he was able to pull her into a hug. "Breathe. Just breathe. Everything is going to be okay. Just breathe."

And Lucy was trying to but everything just kept flooding her mind, stressing her out all over again. Her chest ached so badly and she fought to breathe but it was so hard. She hiccupped as stars floated in her vision despite her eyes being closed.

"Remember that breathing that Jenna taught you?" Joel prompted her. "One long breath in, one long breath out," he began to slowly breathe in and out, hoping that she would copy him. "Come on, Lucy."

Lucy inhaled slowly, mimicking his breathing pattern, and then exhaled. She repeated her breathing over and over again until the ache in her chest started to fade, her tears dried, and she started to feel sleepy.

Once she felt like herself again, she squeezed Joel gratefully and pulled away from his embrace. She wiped her eyes, smearing mascara all over her face, and gave him a half-hearted smile.

"Thanks," she whispered, ashamed that she broke down like that. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize," Joel waved her off. "You should go get cleaned up before Ric and Meredith get home. I'll take the food out of the oven."

Lucy nodded gratefully and left the kitchen, heading upstairs to her room. After she cleaned her face of make-up and changed into different clothes that weren't stained with flour, she called Kol to see if he knew anything.

Kol had never hear of the Gilbert rings and he had been daggered much of the eighteen-hundreds so he couldn't offer much help. He was very apologetic about not knowing anything but Lucy assured him that it was fine. Kol reminded her of the grimoire he was sending her way before they both hung up with well wishes for each other.

When she finally went back downstairs, Alaric and Meredith had arrived and were eating pizza with Joel in the dining room. Lucy quickly grabbed herself a few slices before joining them at the table.

"There you are," Alaric smiled at her, his knowing eyes drifting over her bare and pale face. "You okay, Luce?"

Lucy gave him a weak smile. "Yeah, I'm fine," she lied, avoiding Joel's pointed look. She took a bite of her food, swallowed, and then asked, "How was Wickery Bridge?"

"I may have gotten in trouble with Mrs. Lockwood," Alaric admitted with a grimace. "I forgot the sign."

Lucy raised her eyebrows and laughed lightly. "Oh, no! She's been stressing about that for a couple of weeks."

"Yeah," Alaric winced. "I, uh, dropped the ball, I guess."

"Carol Lockwood has always been uptight," Meredith shook her head in amusement.

"It probably runs in the family," Joel snickered.

They all laughed together and continued eating. Lucy's mood was lifted slightly, seeing Alaric lighten up. She knew that this had to be scary to him but he was being strong for her and Joel, too. She lucked out, having two dads who loved her so much.

Lucy and Joel started to clean up the meal, putting away the leftovers and washing dishes as Alaric and Meredith went over his medical and criminal records. Lucy briefly heard him confess to her that he was the one who killed Logan Fell—that shocked Lucy in all honestly, as she had no idea that he was the one who staked the long-dead vampire—but Meredith didn't seem that worried about it.

By the times the dishes were washed and dried, courtesy of Joel, Alaric had finished writing out all of his information on a pad of paper. As Lucy went back into the dining room to see if he and Meredith wanted some coffee, he slid the paper over to her.

"Listen, I want you to have this," he declared. "This is a list of my bank accounts, passwords, where to find my will, and how to contact my family just in case this doesn't go my way."

Lucy bit her lip and shook her head. "Ric, please don't think like that."

"Lucy, I need to know that you and your siblings will be okay," Alaric stated seriously.

"We're going to be fine," Lucy smiled weakly, pushing the paper back over to him. "Just…just keep that until you're old and wrinkly and on your actual death bed."

Alaric gave her a sad look—Lucy knew he thought she was in denial, but she really wasn't—while her phone started to ring. She saw that it was Elena and answered it, hoping to have some news from Bonnie.

"Elena?"

"Hey," Elena greeted her back. "I have some news. Abby thinks that Bonnie can reverse the damage with a spell. Supposedly this same thing happens with witches who become obsessed with dark magic. They lose control and start acting out their darkest impulses."

"Oh, my God," Lucy sighed in relief.

"Caroline's going to stay with Abby but Bonnie and I are leaving now," Elena told her. "Uh, hold on…"

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows as she heard shifting on the other line. When the shifting stopped, Bonnie spoke, "I need a personal effect of Alaric's," she told Lucy. "Something he wore before he started wearing the ring."

"Okay, I'll get it," Lucy confirmed and hurried on before Bonnie could hang up on her, "Bonnie, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry for everything. Thank you so much for doing this."

There was a few silent seconds before Bonnie sighed. "Be ready to do the spell as soon as we get there. We have to work fast. I'll see you soon."

The line was dead before Lucy could say another word. Alaric looked at her expectantly as she slipped her phone into her pocket.

"Good news, bad news?"

"Bonnie's mom things that there's a spell to help you," Lucy informed him as Joel and Meredith walked into the room.

"Well, it's worth a try."

Lucy nodded. "But she needs something that you wore before you put on the ring. Something personal."

Alaric inhaled sharply and glanced at Meredith. "Well, there's u, my wedding ring," he told Lucy. "It's at the loft."

"Okay," Lucy nodded and exchanged a look with Joel. "That's should be good."

Alaric went to stand up but Meredith gently pushed him back down into his seat. "I think it's better if you stay here with me."

Alaric quickly gave in. "Oh, you and your tranquilizers," he looked back to Lucy, who was joined by Joel. "It's in the dresser by the kitchen. It's in, uh, an Aspirin bottle and probably covered in cobwebs."

Lucy smiled in amusement and shook her head. "Okay, we'll go get it. See you soon."

"Be careful!" Alaric called as she and Joel left the house.

Stefan was waiting for them outside of Alaric's apartment, leaning casually against the wall as if he were a male model. He smiled at Lucy and nodded at Joel in greeting, shifting out of the way so Joel could unlock the door.

"I missed you guys at the house," he told them. "Ric told me you guys were coming here."

"We need to get his wedding ring so Bonnie can use it in a spell," Lucy explained as the three of them walked into the apartment. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I did some more research on Samantha Gilbert," Stefan closed the door behind him.

Joel raised an eyebrow, turning away from the dresser Alaric told them the ring would be in to ask him, "Anything helpful?"

"The Founding Families were always pretty good about destroying their records, but I found a couple of newspaper articles," Stefan told them as Lucy started turning on lights. "Samantha killed two people while she was in the institution—a nurse and a guard."

"So psychopaths run in the Gilbert family," Joel hummed sarcastically. "Nice."

"She was under suicide watch," Stefan went on, getting to his point. "No personal effects. No jewelry."

"Wait," Lucy turned back to him and Joel, her eyebrows furrowed. "are you saying that the violent behavior can still happen even if the person's not wearing the ring?"

Stefan nodded somberly. "That's exactly what I'm saying."

Lucy sighed in frustration and immediately turned to the dresser, pulling open the bottom drawer. She rummaged through some of the clutter that Alaric had collected, shocked that none of his things were organized. Joel and Stefan watched her huff and puff as she tried to find the ring, both of them worried.

"What if Bonnie's spell doesn't work?" Joel spoke up. "What are we gonna do?"

"We'll keep looking until we can find something that will help him," Lucy stated matter-of-factly, shutting the bottom drawer and moving on to the middle one. "We gave him that ring, Joel. It's our responsibility to fix him."

Stefan understood where Lucy was coming from but he was worried about her. He could see that her eyes were pink like they usually were after crying and her face was still pale; there was no hint of pink behind her dimples like there usually was. She was stressing herself out about this and everything else that was going on. He wished that there was something more he could do to help but, to be honest, he didn't see Alaric getting better.

"You can't put that on yourself, Luce," he said quietly. "You can't save anyone."

Lucy narrowed her eyes at him as she closed the second drawer and tried to open the top drawer; unfortunately, it was stuck. "I'm not one to give up, Stefan," she said pointedly. "and if I can help Ric, then I will."

Stefan pressed his lips together and reached forward, using his vampire strength to forcefully open the drawer, which was actually locked.

The Aspirin bottle was on top but there was a lot more stuff in the drawer. It was full of gruesome pictures, a stack of papers, and a couple files of research. One of the pictures on top was of Brian Walter's dead body and the other one was of Bill Forbes, his throat slashed and his stomach stabbed with Alaric's knife.

"What the fuck?" Joel breathed as Stefan picked up some of the photos.

"They're pictures of his victims."

Horrified, Lucy pressed her lips together and took the manila folder that Joel handed to her as he went through the drawer. On the front of the thick folder was Jeremy's name written with black ink in Alaric's handwriting.

She pulled out the large stack of papers inside and found a note on top.

"Jeremy, if anything happens to me, carry on my work," she read out loud for Joel and Stefan. "You have the ring. Let the ring make you strong. The council must be cleansed before the work can begin."

While Stefan took the stack of papers from her, Joel hissed angrily, "Fuck."

"It's the Founder's Council roster," Stefan looked over the first page in the stack. There were numerous names, some of which were highlighted. "It looks like some sort of hit list."

Lucy sighed, realizing that Alaric was much worse than everyone thought. "Ric wrote all of this," she whispered. "and he wants Jeremy to continue his work…"

"I'll call Jeremy when we get home," Joel declared as he took the note from her and ripped it up. "Let's get back."

Lucy nodded and grabbed the Aspirin bottle, popping it into her jacket pocket. "Let's go."

The house was dark when Lucy, Joel, and Stefan arrived at the house. There were no sounds; the television wasn't on nor were Alaric or Meredith talking in the dining room or kitchen. There was an eerie feeling that made Lucy shiver.

Stefan stiffened when he heard quiet shuffling and a low curse; he exchanged a look with Joel—who nodded knowingly—and put a finger against his lips to warn Lucy to be quiet. He and Joel whisked away, each of them searching a different part of the first floor for Alaric or Meredith.

Only seconds later, Alaric clomped down the stairs, smiling at Lucy as he wiped off his hands. "Hey there."

Lucy arranged her face into a smooth mask, swallowing down her fear. "Hi," she smiled, closing the front door. "Where's Meredith?"

"Oh, she got called in to the hospital for a last-minute surgery," Alaric smiled widely; it made Lucy feel a little creeped out. "She's be back later."

Lucy hummed, her eyes darting to the cloth he was wrapping around his hand. "What happened?"

"Oh," Alaric chuckled and looked at his injured palm; Lucy could see the blood starting to soak through the cloth. "I broke a coffee cup and sliced my hand open trying to pick up the pieces. I'll live. Where's Joel? Did Stefan catch up to you guys?"

"Joel's picking up ice cream," Lucy lied. "and we didn't see Stefan."

Alaric nodded in understanding, his eyes searching her face. "Well, did you get my ring?"

Lucy shook her head. "I couldn't find it."

"Yeah, well, my place is a bit of a disaster," he chuckled as he finished walking down the stairs. "I guess I'll, uh, I'll just have to go get it."

Lucy pressed her lips together, fully knowing that Alaric's alter-ego had taken over. He was creepy and sneaky and, other than Stefan and Joel's weird behavior, the bloody knife on the floor only a few inches away from her feet had been a dead giveaway from the start.

Alaric's eyes followed her gaze down to the knife. He blinked and lunged toward her; just as Lucy flinched away and went to siphon from her necklace, Stefan appeared, wrapping his arms around his neck.

"Don't hurt him," Lucy warned Stefan nervously.

"I'm trying not to," Stefan grunted as Alaric fought him. When Alaric ran out of breath, he slumped in his arms, unconscious. Stefan laid him down carefully on the floor and looked up at the ceiling.

"Where did Joel go?"

"He's calling Elena," Stefan answered, his eyes still on the ceiling. "Lucy, I'm gonna need your help."

"Why?"

"Meredith's in your bathroom and I don't have much control."

Lucy nodded in realization, knowing that Stefan had been having a hard time with human blood lately. After the night before, it was kind of obvious. If Meredith was bleeding out and Stefan was the only one who could help, of course Lucy was going to help Stefan keep control.

"Okay," she took his hand and Stefan intertwined their fingers. "Let's go."

They went upstairs as quickly as possible, where Stefan broke down one of the locked doors into the bathroom. Lucy rushed into the room, her eyes trailing over the large amount of blood smeared all over the counter, floor, and some of the drawers.

Meredith was sitting on the floor against the counter, unconscious. Her stomach was sliced open from Alaric's assault and there was blood all over her, soaking her purple sweater and jeans.

"Meredith!" Lucy breathed, ignoring the blood as she kneeled next to her. She looked up at Stefan and saw the dark veins popping out underneath his eyes. "It's okay, Stefan. I'm here. You're not gonna hurt her."

Stefan hesitated, looking at Meredith unsurely.

"You're going to be okay," Lucy told him firmly, hoping that it would help his control.

It took a second but Stefan gained control, his vampire features slipping away. He bit into his wrist as he kneeled on the other side of Meredith and put it to her lips, healing her with his blood.

Meredith slowly woke up, cringing from the ebbing pain in her stomach. Lucy quietly comforted her, assuring her that she would be okay, while smiling at Stefan. She was so proud of him; he controlled his bloodlust and with an injured human right in front of him, that was a huge deal.

Stefan smiled weakly at her and sped out of the bathroom, presumably to make sure Alaric didn't wake up. Lucy sighed in relief and helped Meredith off the floor so she could explain what happened and help her clean up.

By the time that Meredith was clean, dressed in some of Elena's clothes, and safely locked away in her apartment, Bonnie and Elena were home.

After Lucy gave her Alaric's wedding ring, Bonnie had gone straight into Alaric's room with Elena and Joel to perform the spell that would keep away his dark alter-ego. Lucy stayed away, knowing that Bonnie probably wouldn't want her around, and started to clean up the kitchen for the third time in twenty-four hours.

Good thing she stress-cleaned.

"Hey."

Lucy turned away from the bleach-filled sink and smiled weakly at Bonnie as she entered the kitchen holding a jar of what looked like dead herbs.

"Bonnie," she breathed, setting down the sponge in her hand. "Hey."

"Are you okay?"

"Um, yeah," she nodded. "I'm fine."

"Abby says that all the dying and coming back to life might have chipped away at Alaric's psyche," Bonnie explained. "making it easier for the darkness to take hold."

"God," Lucy sighed, leaning against the island. "This is like some episode of Supernatural."

"Yeah," Bonnie chuckled awkwardly and slid the jar of herbs over to her. "These herbs are the binding element of the spell. He needs to take them twice a day. I'll get you more. Abby and I are going to work on the garden."

Lucy felt her heart warm at the happy smile on Bonnie's face. At the same time, her guilt wanted to choke her. "Caroline told me she's having some trouble," she acknowledged in a whisper. "Is she okay?"

"It's been hard," Bonnie admitted. "but I think she'll be okay eventually. I'm going to go back and stay with her for a while. It'll give us a chance to work things through."

Lucy nodded and swallowed harshly. "I'm so sorry, Bonnie," she apologized. "I'm sorry for everything and if you need me to do something to help, I'll do anything. I'll even stay away from you for as long as you want and I'll—"

Bonnie cut her off, wrapping her up into a hug. Lucy sighed into Bonnie's shoulder and squeezed her tightly, relieved and thankful that Bonnie was forgiving her. It didn't seem right, not talking to her favorite witch. Right now, with everything that was going on with Alaric, Lucy needed her friends by her side. She was lucky to have Bonnie. She was lucky to have all of her friends.