[4x13; Into the Wild]

Lucy sat quietly in the middle seat of the boat, letting the rocking of the soothing waves calm her down. Rebekah was in the front seat, staring at the small, desolate island they were approaching, Jeremy was on the seat in between Rebekah and Lucy, his head bowed and his hands clenched together, and Stefan was in the seat behind Lucy, steering the boat so they went in the same direction as Professor Shane, Bonnie, Damon, and Elena.

It was quiet; no one on the boat was talking and Lucy liked that.

She didn't even know what to say to Jeremy; he had approached her when they got off the plane in Nova Scotia to attempt an apology but he just gave her a sad look and backed away. She didn't know if he wanted her to talk to him or he was actually sorry about killing Kol. To be honest, she didn't want to know at the moment. Rebekah was just as peaceful with the silence as Lucy, which was relieving. Neither of them wanted to talk, both of them grieving Kol, and that was all right. Usually Rebekah was a chatter box—and so was Lucy, for that matter—but they didn't have words to comfort each other right now. They would talk later, Lucy was sure of it.

And, Stefan…he was trying and Lucy loved him for it. She loved that he tried his best to help her with Kol and that he defended her—and even Rebekah and Klaus—so fiercely. He had held her hand tightly the whole plane ride—who knew that Lucy would be afraid to fly—and he would talk to her and read the novel he was currently reading, Water for Elephants, to her. His voice was soothing and it relaxed her enough to talk back to him, even just for a little bit.

She couldn't push her grief away like she did for Finn and Alaric because that had wrecked her. But this? This was hard to deal with, too. She was drowning in her own mind; she went through the thirteen years of memories that she had with Kol, studying them like they were being played on a television screen in front of her.

She went over them again, memorizing how his smile was always mischievous even when he was being sweet and honest. She thought about his laugh and the way he used to vent to her, disappointed because he felt left out of Klaus, Elijah, and Rebekah's close circle. She remembered the phone calls they shared when he was undaggered; he would talk about magic, telling her about the things he learned on his adventures throughout the thousand years. He spoke about how much he had missed her and the way he would see things during his travels that reminded him of her. She and Kol had bonded more than anyone knew. They spoke every week that he was gone, talking about what he had done that week or what trials and tribulations Lucy was going through.

There were now three missing holes in the section of her heart that her first set of siblings filled up. Henrik, Finn, and Kol—three of her brothers dead.

Their boat docked at the rocky beach. Jeremy, Rebekah, Lucy, and Stefan carefully got out and worked together to tug the boat further in so it wouldn't go drifting out deeper into the water. Once the boat was secured on the beach, each of them got their packs out.

Lucy sat quietly on a large piece of driftwood, triple-checking to see if she had everything. She knew she did since she double checked back in Mystic Falls, but it was comforting to make sure, anyway. Her pack was full of her clothes, her cellphone and some charging banks she and Stefan bought at the airport, two flashlights, numerous bottles of water, and a couple of blood bags for Stefan and Rebekah. Stefan was charged with carrying their tent and sleeping bags, along with an extra gallon of water that he insisted on bringing just in case.

Stefan plopped down next to her, dropping his pack and pulling out a scarf from one of the pockets. Without saying anything, he kissed Lucy's pink nose and wrapped the scarf around her neck to keep her warm.

"Thanks, Stefan," she gave him an appreciative smile.

"No problem, pretty girl."

Lucy's heart fluttered happily, just like it always did when he called her one of the pet names from his vast collection for her. She quickly grabbed his cold hand and pressed a kiss on his palm before wrapping his arm around her shoulders and snuggling into his side.

And then she saw Elena walking by and her mood dropped once again. Rebekah, who had stood in front of Lucy and Stefan, felt the same way, glowering at the doppelganger as she passed.

"Rebekah," Stefan sighed like he was scolding a child; it wasn't that he didn't think Rebekah and Lucy had a good reason to be furious, because they had every right to be. It was just that he didn't want another fight to break out and he didn't want anyone to get hurt. "It's not gonna help the situation with you giving Elena the evil eye."

"She killed our brother," Rebekah stated tensely, eyes still on Elena. "She's lucky all she's getting is the evil eye."

Elena stop walking and turned back to them, giving them a glare of her own. "You know I can hear you, right?"

"You know I don't care, right?"

Elena dropped her pack on the ground and sped over to Rebekah, gripping her throat tightly and pushing the tip of the white oak stake into her stomach threateningly. Rebekah easily overpowered her, roughly throwing her on her back in the rocky sand.

"Go ahead, kill me," Rebekah taunted her. "But then you'd have face your real problems, like how you turned into a monster."

"Rebekah, stop," Lucy sighed and stood up, grabbing her oldest sister's hand. "She's not worth your time."

"You're right," Rebekah agreed.

The two of them walked twenty feet away from the driftwood they had taken a rest at. Lucy watched with careful eyes as Stefan stared down at Elena on the sand and said something.

"What's he saying?" she murmured to Rebekah.

"He told her to leave us alone," Rebekah informed her, a smile forming on her face as Stefan turned away from Elena and started making his way toward them.

Lucy smiled gratefully. "I love that man."

Rebekah laughed and patted her dimpled cheek. "I know you do."

Their hike started at the beach and led them through the woods for a while. It was dark under the cover of the pine needles that were made to survive the harsh winter and it made the cold air even harsher. The gloves on Lucy's hands, the knitted beanie on her head, and her heavy jacket and boots did nothing to sooth the icy sting when the air hit her body. Sure, she was warm enough not to die of hypothermia but she wasn't anywhere near comfortable.

The cold made her focus, though. At the moment, she wasn't thinking about how Kol had died and how Damon and Elena were the ones to kill him. She was thinking about the cure and how much Stefan had wanted it—how much he deserved it.

Stefan had never wanted to be a vampire. He was compelled into drinking vampire blood by Katherine and killed because she was captured by the Founding Families. His transition was never supposed to be; he had been ready to die by Damon's side but then he was caught off guard by his father's blood and controlled by his unsatiated thirst. He was a ripper and had taken many, many lives but he made up for it.

He had taken time to learn control and followed his diet of animal blood as best as he could. He helped people. He held down many jobs, some of them first responders. He went to war to help wounded soldiers on the battlefield. He held so much love and compassion in his heart and he treated most people fairly—until they gave him a reason not to. He was such a great man and he probably had the unluckiest life ever.

But now, with this cure, he could have the human life he wanted. He could graduate high school and experience life as a human college student. He'd get a degree and a job, marry a girl, and have babies. He'd get sick, he'd see his grandchildren born, he'd grow old with the girl he loved, and he would be buried with her. It was everything Lucy wanted for Stefan.

And if she wasn't the woman Stefan wanted by his side, she'd accept that. She loved him so much that she would let him go to live his human life away from her if he wanted to do that. She knew that Stefan, though; he wouldn't leave her. She believed in his love for her and when he said he wanted to experience a human life with her.

She could already imagine it. They'd go to Duke together; Stefan would be a biology major and apply to medical school while Lucy would figure out what actually she wanted to do for the rest of her life. They'd get married in December, after Stefan was officially a doctor, because she had always wanted a winter wedding. And after a year or two, they'd have kids; three boys and two girls because Lucy loved how close knit she was with Elijah, Klaus, Kol, Rebekah, Henrik, Jeremy, Joel, and Caroline. They would live in Mystic Falls where Stefan owned his practice and Caroline and the rest of her siblings would visit every once in a while.

It was a beautiful dream; she was just wishing with all of her heart that it would come true.

Lucy pulled her hand out of her jacket pocket and slipped it into Stefan's, squeezing it tightly. Stefan squeezed her back and smiled down at her, pausing for a brief second to place a loving kiss on her cheek.

They journey in the woods was done for the moment. The trail they were following led them out onto the edge of a cliff hanging over the beautiful water. The sun shined a little brighter, which was nice, but with the water came a numbing breeze.

Shane, who was just behind Damon, who was leading the group, sighed as his satellite phone beeped noisily. "Satellite phone lost its signal," he pushed the useless thing into his cargo pants.

"That's a good sign," Damon uttered sarcastically.

"Is anyone else a little creeped out?" Elena spoke up, looking around at the trees on one side of them and then the cliff on the other.

"So, then leave," Rebekah commented tartly. "Out of everyone, your presence is the least necessary."

"Ugh," Damon groaned in annoyance. "Please don't start this again."

"I'm merely stating the facts," Rebekah shrugged from in front of Lucy, keeping her pace steady. "Jeremy has the spell on his body, Bonnie's the witch that unseals the curse, Shane is the human compass, and Lucy, Stefan, and I have the tombstone, which does God knows what. Elena has no point."

Damon looked back at her, almost offended. "What about me?"

"You have a nice behind."

Lucy rolled her eyes and shared a smile with Stefan. Despite all that she was feeling and what they were currently doing, she was glad Rebekah was there. Her oldest sister cheered her up and made her feel comfortable and safe.

They continued hiking, moving away from the cliff and going into the woods once again. Once the sun set and the darkness flooded in, Lucy had taken her place on Stefan's back—his pack going to Rebekah, who had packed very little—with her flashlight out to add to the light guiding them through the woods.

"Some of you may know the story of Qetsiyah and Silas but I figured all of you might want to know," Shane spoke up as they continued walking, his voice lowering. "Silas and Qetsiyah, both very powerful witches, were set to get married over two thousand years ago. Now, Silas went to Qetsiyah for help to make a spell for immortality. Qetsiyah figured it out and made him immortal, only to learn that Silas intended to use the spell on two other women, not her."

"When she found out, she was angry—like any woman would be," he continued with a short laugh. "She killed the other women. Silas was immortal; she couldn't kill him. So, she trapped him in a cave and buried him alive. Qetsiyah then created a cure for immortality and buried it with Silas, hoping that he would take it and die. That he would end up on the Other Side with her all eternity. But he wouldn't give her the satisfaction. So, many centuries later, her descendants created the hunters to find him, cure him, and kill him."

There was something about the first half of Silas' story that tugged on something in her brain. Like a memory she had forgotten but couldn't figure out.

"Centuries after Qetsiyah died, there were these miners who were excavating a well on the island," he told them. "They suddenly went mad and bled themselves dry for no apparent reason. So, the legend spread that these miners, in exchange for a drop of their blood, saw visions of their lost loved ones in the well they were digging. The word traveled and explorers sought out the well to see if the legend was true."

"So, the well was magic?" Bonnie wondered.

"Oh, yeah," Shane confirmed. "Some people believe the voices of lost souls were just a wind vortex whipping through the caves and the visions were caused by inhaling the island's poisonous plant life."

"And what do you believe?" Elena asked him.

"I believe in magic," Shane said firmly, coming to a stop in between two large trees. "My wife and son died within months of each other. So, I decided to try the well out for myself. I offered up my blood and waited. I saw my wife; I saw her eyes, her smile…My blood let me see her again."

"Yeah, I got it," Damon snarked. "Don't eat the poisonous flowers."

The group began to walk again, only getting a few feet until Shane stopped them.

"Stop!" he pushed past Rebekah, Elena, and Damon to crouch down next to a pile of dead leaves. "Is everybody paying attention?" he picked up a nearby stick and threw it into the pile of leaves; a net quickly snapped up, flying many feet above their heads. "Our first lesson in survival. Stay together and keep your eyes open."

They started walking once again, arriving in a large clearing next to an old cabin only twenty minutes later—after Jeremy and Elena were almost attacked by a local and simultaneously saved by someone wielding a hatchet.

"What is this place?" Stefan asked, bending his knees slightly so Lucy could get off of his back.

"According to island lore, a group of college kids came here for spring break," Shane explained. "A few weeks later, they were all found dead, completely drained of blood."

Of course, Rebekah wasn't fazed by anything Shane said. "Well, tragic for them, brilliant for us. Who sleeps where?"

No one was able to answer her because Damon started to complain. "Well, this is lovely. There's a mystery man with a hatchet lurking in the woods and we're just gonna camp?"

"We're safer here than we are hiking in the dark," Shane tried to placate him as everyone else started to claim their space.

"Where shall we put our tent?" Rebekah walked over to Lucy and Stefan, her hands stuffed in her vest pockets.

"Hopefully close to the fire," Lucy mumbled, waving her flashlight around until she found a firepit in the middle of the clearing.

"Here's good, then," Stefan dropped the tent and their sleeping bags on the ground near the pit. While Stefan and Rebekah started to get their tent up, Lucy started on the fire. The wood in the pit was, thankfully, dry, so she gathered up some dead leaves and added them before taking out the set of matches she packed.

She was never a girl scout and she wouldn't ever be able to make a fire without matches but Alaric had taught her that a fire was easy to make if you had the right ingredients. She was just glad that the wood was dry and the dead leaves caught fire quickly.

She smiled slightly as she looked into the fire, thinking about Alaric. If he was here with them, he'd would have been so involved. He wouldn't have let Shane around any of them, because he was pretty creepy, he would have helped Jeremy with the hunter's mark, instead of Damon—which turned out so well—and he maybe he would have stopped Elena, Damon, and Jeremy from killing Kol.

Before her grief could overwhelm her once again, she quickly thought of something else. Her stomach growled, so that caught her attention; she dug into her pack and pulled out one of the chocolate chip granola bars Stefan had insisted she bring.

The granola bar tasted fine but with the fire in front of her, all she wanted was roasted marshmallows. She looked up as Stefan approached her, Silas' tombstone in hand, and smiled as he sat next to her.

"I can't believe you didn't bring marshmallows, Goofy," he grinned at her. "It's just not like you."

"I was just thinking about that," Lucy laughed lightly, loving how much he knew her. She nodded at the tombstone. "Whatcha doing with that?"

"We're a day away from finding the cure. I'm not letting it out of my sight," he set the stone in between his feet and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, offering her more warmth.

Lucy studied the small but wistful smile on his lips. "You must be excited," she mused, snuggling further into the warm fabric of his jacket. "I'm so happy for you."

"I'm happy, too," Stefan agreed quietly, his eyes on the orange flames in front of them. "I thought that being human again was just a fantasy but we're here right now, about to find it."

"Will you miss anything about being a vampire?"

"There are some things," Stefan nodded against the side of her head. "I'm strong enough to protect myself and you but I might not be when I'm human. I'll miss the places I get to travel and things I get to do that humans aren't able."

"Like swimming naked in the Trevi fountain?" Lucy slyly smiled.

"Ah, of course," Stefan chuckled, knowing that was one of Lucy's favorite things that Lexi told her about him; it was one of his fondest memories, too. "And there's seeing how the world changes, how people evolve mentally and physically…But it's worth losing all of that to be human."

"Yeah?" Lucy lifted her head from his shoulder and looked him in the eyes.

He stared back at her with strong emotion in his eyes; passion, happiness, hope, love—there was so much love. "Yeah," he confirmed, his lips curling softly. "There'll be no more bloodlust, no more fighting that part of myself…and I'll be with you, Luce."

"You still want that?" Lucy asked hesitantly. "You'd want to spend the rest of your life with me by your side?"

Stefan lovingly cupped her jaw. "Of course, I would," he placed a soft kiss on her lips before pulling back. "I love you so much, Lucy Gilbert."

"I love you, too, Stefan Salvatore."

Lucy hit the uneven ground roughly, her stomach in so much pain that she could barely breathe. She should have listened to Shane's advice about keeping her eyes peeled for any traps. Of course. she was the one to fall into one, one step and an arrowed was flying into her stomach, right above her belly button.

"Lucy!" Stefan called worriedly as he and Rebekah blurred over to her, kneeling down on either side of her. His already pale cheeks whitened further when he saw the tail end of the arrow sticking out of her body. "Fuck."

For some reason, the arrow didn't hurt as much as when she was shot by Connor. She didn't know if it was because the arrow might be keeping her blood inside of her body or if she was just used to pain now from all the accidents she had been having lately.

"Why am I always the one to get hurt?" she moaned, more embarrassed than worried about her injury.

"Shush, now," Rebekah clicked her tongue, wrapping her hands around the arrow tail. "I'm going to pull this out you now, Luci."

"Wait, maybe you shouldn't—"

"One—"

"No, Bekah, seriously—"

"Two—"

"Bekah—OWWW!" Lucy howled as Rebekah quickly pulled the arrow out of her. Blood spilled down her stomach, staining the sweatshirt she had slipped into earlier that morning. "What the fuck, Bekah?"

"Oh, you're gonna be fine," Rebekah waved her off, relieved, and looked toward Stefan. "Give her your blood."

"Seriously, more blood?" Lucy whined as Stefan nipped his wrist and held it out to her. "Honestly, I don't think it's necessary—"

Stefan cut her off, shoving his wrist to her lips. Grimacing, Lucy swallowed a couple of sips and then pulled back, her sore stomach already finding some relief. As much as she didn't like drinking the vampire blood, she appreciated the fact that it did heal her. She couldn't find Jeremy if she couldn't even walk.

They had woken up when the sun rose, only to find Jeremy gone and his tent empty. They immediately split up to look for him; Stefan, Lucy, and Rebekah in one direction, Elena and Damon in one, and Bonnie and Shane in the other.

Lucy was worried about Jeremy. Despite everything that had happened with him going along with Elena and Damon's plan to kill Kol, she couldn't help but care about him. This was Jeremy, her little brother who had told her only weeks before that he would never try to kill any of her siblings. That he understood why Lucy loved them the way she loved Jeremy, Elena, and Joel. It was that conversation that made Lucy think that the persuasion of the hunter's mark and Elena's plan had convinced him that killing Kol was the only way to finish everything.

And maybe she was in denial, maybe he knew exactly what he was doing, but right now, she didn't care. She already lost Elena, she couldn't lose Jeremy, too.

"Are you okay?" Stefan asked her worriedly, picking up the bottom of her bloody crewneck and long-sleeved shirt to see that that her smooth and soft stomach had completely healed.

"As you can see, I'm fine," Lucy rolled her eyes, hopping up to her feet. "We need to find Jeremy."

"Well, we didn't have any luck at the quarry and we were supposed to meet back up at the campsite at two," Rebekah checked the waterproof watch on her wrist. "We have to head back."

Lucy was about to protest but Stefan soothed her worries. "We're just checking in," he reminded her. "Then we'll be able to look again."

Lucy sighed and nodded. "All right, fine."

The three of them were the last to arrive back at the campsite; Bonnie, Shane, Damon, and Elena were already waiting for them.

"Did you guys find anything?" Elena asked as soon as Lucy, Stefan, and Rebekah joined their circle.

Bonnie shook her head. "He's not on the trail."

"His gear's still in his tent," Shane reported.

"He's not at the quarry, either," Stefan finished.

Damon pressed his lips together, annoyed. "Split up."

"I'm gonna stay and try a locator spell," Bonnie told everyone.

"I'll join you," Lucy spoke up, crossing her arms over her chest. "Two people trying to locate him is better than one."

Bonnie nodded at her, completely surprised that Lucy would want to be anywhere near her.

"Okay, I'll stay here, too," Shane nodded. "I'll make sure they're safe."

"And I'll stay here and make sure you're not lying," Damon glared at Shane.

Lucy rolled her eyes at Damon and Elena, who was eyeing Rebekah and Stefan with a hard look.

"Fine," she grunted. "We'll keep searching the island."

Lucy smiled at Stefan and squeezed his hand. "Be careful," she told him, pressing a quick kiss to his lips. "Love you."

"I love you," Stefan countered happily, kissing her once more. "And you be careful, too. I'm sure Damon won't do anything, but…"

"I won't let him touch her," Bonnie spoke up, surprising both Lucy and Stefan.

Wasn't Bonnie one of the people who had hurt her less than forty-eight hours ago? Nevertheless, Lucy believed her. It was hard to see the fierce promise in Bonnie's eyes and not believe that she'd keep Damon away from Lucy.

Lucy slowly nodded at her and then turned back to Stefan. "I'll be fine. Try to keep Elena and Rebekah from killing each other."

"That will be tough," Stefan mused.

"Hey!" Rebekah scoffed in offense. "I'm perfectly pleasant."

They spent four more hours walking around the island, searching for Jeremy, and they had found no tracks or clues to where he might have been. The air was tense between Rebekah and Elena the whole time, much to Stefan's irritation, but things eased when Elena went back to the campsite just around sunset. Stefan and Rebekah kept searching, both of them knowing that they couldn't return without Jeremy.

"Haven't we been through here before?" Stefan wondered, grateful that he could see well in the dark.

"It all looks the same to me," Rebekah sighed from beside him.

Making the same mistake that Lucy had hours before, Stefan stepped right into a hidden trap. What would look like a blur to a human was not to him; he grabbed Rebekah out of the line of fire and pulled both of them back so the spear shot into a tree a few yards away.

"Thanks, but that wouldn't have killed me," Rebekah said gratefully, shaking off the grip he had on her hand.

"Sorry, it's a force of habit," Stefan apologized.

"Yeah, I guess you would be used to it," Rebekah smiled. "Luci's always been a little clumsy. One time she almost fell into the fire we built for the night."

Stefan blew a breath out of his nose, amused. "Of course, she did," he nodded, his amusement fading. "Did you mean what you said to Elena? The cease-fire?"

He, of course, was referring to what happened just before Elena took off. She had set off a trap and a long stick with numerous stakes slung forward, almost piercing her body. She would have been killed if Rebekah hadn't saved her.

"Why do you all assume that I hate Elena so much?"

"Well, you did run her off a bridge."

"Elena's death was the only way to save my family," Rebekah defended herself, growing upset. "I did the same thing that every one of you would've done to protect the people that you love. And before you cast me as the bad guy, maybe you should remember that Elena's helped to kill not one but two of my brothers."

"I remember and I don't blame you for hating her," Stefan stated firmly. "And you're right."

Rebekah raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm right?"

"Yeah, you are," Stefan nodded. "I've killed for Damon, Lucy, Caroline, and even Elena. And I'd do it again. So, you're right, we're the same. We're no better than the people who come for us."

Stefan believed every word he said to her. He'd been thinking it for a while but it was the first time he spoke about it out loud. What made him, Damon, and the rest of their friends better than these so-called monsters they take down? They threatened Anna, who only wanted to get her mother out of the tomb; he allowed Damon to kill Mason Lockwood for no reason…Stefan couldn't even remember every single time they killed just because someone was an inconvenience to them because there were too many.

When he thought about it, Rebekah, Klaus, Elijah, and Kol were the same way. Kol was scared about Silas, and what did Elena and Damon do? They killed him. Finn was trying to die as a human being and he was killed, too. Rebekah wanted a human life, Klaus wanted to be a hybrid…Klaus might have been an enemy to them but in his story, they were his.

It was all about prospective, really, and what you were willing to do for your loved ones.

Rebekah was surprised by Stefan's admission but not shocked. Even when his humanity was off in the twenties, he had been thoughtful about things other people wouldn't even think about. She liked that about him and she knew that Lucy did too; her sister wouldn't have fallen in love with the vampire if he only thought about himself.

"You know what, Stefan?"

"Hmm?" Stefan gave her a curious look.

"You fit right in with the Mikaelsons," Rebekah grinned, laughing when Stefan's mouth gaped open in shock. "You do! Your calm to all of our chaos will be good for us. Maybe our family won't tear each other apart if you're there to stop it."

"Our family?"

Rebekah blinked at him. "You'll be marrying Lucy eventually, yes?"

"Yeah, of course," Stefan nodded seriously; it was one of the things that he was most serious about. One day Lucy would be his wife and he'd be her husband; there was no doubt in his mind about it.

"Well, then, you're part of the family," Rebekah swooped her arm into his elbow and pulled him the opposite direction. "Come on, Jeremy's not here. We should head back."

They arrived back to the campsite within the hour, only to find it completely empty except for their tents, packs, and Elena.

Elena stormed out of Bonnie's tent, looking panicked. "Where is everyone?"

Stefan stiffened. "What are you talking about?"

"Bonnie and Lucy aren't here and Shane's stuff is all gone."

A spike of fear rolled up Stefan's back as he sped over to the tent he shared with Lucy and Rebekah. She wasn't there and he couldn't hear her heartbeat anywhere around him.

"Fuck," he cursed under his breath, palming his chest right above his heart. "God damn it."

This couldn't be happening. Lucy couldn't be gone.