Maya let Damon guide her inside the Grill. Sheriff Forbes had begged Damon to take part in the 'Annual Bachelor Auction', to make up the numbers and he'd grudgingly given in. Since this was the one evening a month both Maggie and Enzo was busy and Dobby had a night off, Lexi and Lee were unavailable, and Stefan was off doing 'Stefan things', he'd brought her along with him. She knew he was also planning on using her as an excuse to cut the evening short, once the auction was over, and later as an excuse for only one date if whoever he got was too pushy. Damon spotted Caroline manning the ticket booth and made a beeline for her.

"Good evening, Caroline,"

"Hello Damon," Caroline grinned at Maya, "Mymy."

Maya pulled a face and pretended to shudder.

"That's almost as bad as Mimi."

"Shoot foiled again. I'll have to try harder."

Maya laughed, she found Caroline's determination to find a nickname for her, to be very entertaining. Even if she did come up with some weird ones, such as 'Maya Papaya'.

"Caroline, can Maya sit with you please?" Damon asked, "Just until this auction thing is over, or Stefan gets here, whichever comes first."

"Of course, she can." Caroline patted the empty seat next to her, "Why don't you sit here, and we gossip about boys."

Damon let out a pained sounding groan.

"She's thirteen. No boys. Not till she's thirty."

Maya laughed, Caroline who'd heard the same thing from Damon several times now, knew exactly how to respond.

"So, what I hear you saying is boys are out, but girls are okay."

Damon just pulled a face as Maya hopped up onto the stool next to Caroline.

"I think I see your mom. I'm gonna go talk to someone who might be able to understand my pain."

"Is everyone in your family a total drama queen?" Caroline asked as Damon moved away.

"Yep. We're naturals at it. It's also why we all like you so much."

Caroline gasped in mock offense and put a hand over her heart.

"Moi, a Drama Queen! I must have misheard you."

"Nope, I think she's got you absolutely pegged."

Maya looked past Caroline into a pair of laughing blue eyes. Caroline turned her head and grinned at Matt.

"Hey Care," he kissed her cheek and grinned at Maya, "Maya. Damon taking part in the auction?"

"Yeah. The Sheriff begged him to help out till he caved in."

Matt chuckled as they all looked over at Damon who had a pained look on his face, probably due to whatever Carol Lockwood was saying.

"Better him than me. I'll catch you ladies later."

Matt left to continue clearing tables, but he was soon replaced by Vicki who was carrying a couple of drinks.

"Damon ordered them for you." She explained, handing a glass of lemonade to Maya and a cola to Caroline.

"Thanks Vicki."

"You're welcome sweetie."

"Yeah, thanks Vicki."

"No problem, Caroline." She turned to go before pausing and turning back, "Listen, my mom can be a bit of a bitch sometimes. Don't repeat that word sweetie." She pointed a finger at Maya, who nodded, before continuing. "The point is, you're good for Matty. You're what he needs right now, and I think he's good for you too. So don't let anyone, least of all my mom, tell you differently, okay?"

Caroline nodded, as Maya beamed at Vicki. She really liked Caroline, had begun to think of her as a sort of older sister, so she liked that Vicki was being nice to her.

"Thanks Vicki."

The brunette gave Caroline a double thumbs up and left to continue doing her rounds of the Grill. In between Caroline selling raffle tickets to the women who were coming in for the auction, they chatted about school. Maya was in the middle of explaining the combined math/history project she would need to work on this term, when Matt returned, and Elena showed up.

"So, you have to build an accurate scale model of a famous historical monument? And this is for Math or History?"

"Both. Our Math score will be graded on how accurate the construction is and whether we scaled it all correctly. For History we have to include an accompanying report on the historical significance of the monument in question."

"Wow." Matt said with a laugh, having caught the tail-end of their conversation. "Your school is hardcore."

"What monument –"

"Hey guys."

"Hey Elena."

Caroline and Matt both smiled warmly and greeted Elena, Maya just took a sip of her lemonade and gave her a bland look.

"Hi Maya."

"Hello."

"Have you seen Stefan?" Maya bit back a scoff as Elena immediately jumped straight into her Stefan obsession, "He said he'd be here, and I wanted to talk to him about some stuff."

Caroline and Matt both shook their heads and Elena turned hopeful eyes onto Maya.

"Damon said he's busy doing 'Stefan stuff', but he said he'd be here later. He promised to film Damon's big night for Enzo."

Caroline laughed, and Matt bit back a grin at Maya's words. Elena just looked confused, like she didn't know how to respond to what Maya had said.

"I'm sure he'll be here soon. He might end up wishing he hadn't bothered though, a lot of hungry women in here tonight. Matt's already been hit on like 35 times. He's total cougar bait."

"Impressive."

"More like embarrassing."

Caroline and Maya both laughed, but Caroline soon straightened up as another woman approached the table they were sitting at.

"Hi, Mrs Donovan."

The brunette woman gave Caroline a look of distaste and ignored her in favour of speaking to Elena. Maya eyed her as she did so, annoyed on Caroline's behalf.

"Elena, honey,"

"Hi Kelly."

The two of them hugged.

"Long time, no see."

"How are you doing?"

"Oh, same old. Oh. Matty tells me you broke his heart."

"Mom!"

"Just kidding. Calm down. He found his rebound girl." She inclined her head towards Caroline and half-rolled her eyes, making her feelings on the matter known to all of them including Caroline.

Maya scowled at her. The woman was being purposefully hateful, and Caroline absolutely did not deserve it. Kelly pulled out some money and held it out to Caroline.

"Oh. Here you go, sweetheart. How ever many that'll buy. I just hope I don't get Bachelor 3. I dated him in high school. Not impressive… In any way."

Caroline took the money and handed back some raffle tickets without saying a word. Maya could see the clear hurt in her eyes from Kelly's treatment and she wished for a moment she could jinx the woman without getting in trouble. Kelly took the tickets and gave a fake laugh.

"How exciting."

She walked away leaving an awkward silence in her wake and Maya staring stonily at her back. Elena slipped away shortly after to sit with Jenna and Matt returned to work. Leaving Caroline and Maya to continue their conversation.

Stefan hurried into the Grill, hoping to grab Damon for a private word but he was too late. He'd have to talk to him later. The Bachelor Auction had already begun. He saw Maya and Caroline sitting together at a booth and headed that way, pulling out his phone as he did so, ready to film Damon's humiliation as he'd promised Enzo. He gave Maya a hug and grinned at Caroline, before pulling up a chair and pointing his phone straight at Damon, making Maya laugh and Caroline grin and shake her head.

Carol Lockwood was currently introducing the bachelor's on stage. Neither Maya nor Caroline seemed very interested in the proceedings however, as they were continuing the conversation they'd been having when he'd arrived. Stefan listened in as he continued to film the goings on upon the stage. Damon had caught site and was attempting to glare at him without actually glaring, because of the amount of people who were watching him.

"So, the Colosseum, huh? Why that monument?"

Ah. They were talking about Maya's term project. He'd been hearing about it all week, from Maya who was enthusiastic about the whole project, from Enzo who was also enthusiastic about it, and from Damon and Maggie who seemed worried about their enthusiasm. For good reason.

"Yeah. It's a really cool monument. Did you know they used to host mock naval battles there?"

And there was the reason Maggie and Damon were both concerned. Fairly certain that Enzo and Maya were now going to attempt to hold a mock naval battle of their own. Maggie seemed concerned they would flood one of the bathrooms in the attempt. Damon on the other hand was fairly certain they were going to use one of the nearby lakes.

"They did? I thought it was all gladiatorial combat and lions eating people."

"They did that too; they did loads of things there."

Stefan was fairly certain that they should be less worried about potential naval battles and more worried about them reenacting gladiatorial combat and possibly even lion-induced executions.

Carol had finally moved on to Damon for the introductions.

"Damon Salvatore. We don't have much on you."

"Well, I'm tough to fit on a card."

"Do you have any hobbies, like to travel?"

"I used to, but these days I'm more focused on taking care of my little brother and my goddaughter."

"Ooh, a family man ladies. How refreshing."

She drew a laugh from the audience. Elena had spotted Stefan and thrown a wave his way, but he was too busy filming Damon to notice. Maya did though, hiding a smirk at the irritated look that crossed Elena's face when Stefan didn't respond to her.

Having introduced everyone, Carol began reaching inside the bowl to draw the tickets. Maya and Stefan both tuned out again not interested in proceedings that didn't relate to Damon, though Stefan kept filming throughout, so as not to accidentally miss anything. Mostly he was waiting for it to finish so he could grab Damon and question him about Alaric's wife. Now that he had a photo and a name and her connection to Elena, he was hopeful Damon would give him an honest answer. Maya was busy doodling out images of the Colosseum, thinking about her project as Caroline checked the tickets of the winners and congratulated them. Neither Maya nor Stefan looked up until Kelly Donovan started laying into Caroline.

"… Stop trying so hard. This thing you're doing, this nice thing, it's fake. Like you. Like your mom –"

"Caroline's not fake!" Maya interrupted before she could carry on with her tirade. "She is nice. She congratulated the other two winners before you and no doubt will congratulate the two winners after you because she's a good person. You don't have to like her, but you do have to keep your opinions to yourself."

"Maya, it's okay."

"No, it's not." Stefan said firmly, looking angrily at Kelly, who seemed surprised by the two of them coming to Caroline's defence.

"She had no reason to be so rude to you." He looked at Kelly with an uncharacteristic scowl. "Maya's right. If you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all. If children can learn that, then I'm sure a grown woman like you can do so as well."

She didn't say anything for a moment, open shock on her face, before shrugging.

"Whatever. Tell plumber boy I'll be at the bar."

She walked off, but the hurt remained in Caroline's eyes. Maya leaned over and gave her a hug, which after a moment she returned.

"Thanks. Neither of you had to do that, but thank you."

"Yes, we did." Maya mumbled, still hugging her.

Stefan smiled.

"You're our friend Caroline, and even if you weren't, she had no right to speak to you in such a manner."

Stefan turned back to the stage and scowled when he realised, he'd missed Damon's ticket being drawn. Carol Lockwood was busy thanking everyone for coming and Damon was headed there way.

"Hey Stefan."

Stefan turned away from the stage and gave Elena a distracted smile.

"Hey Elena."

"Do you have a moment?"

Damon had almost reached them, so Stefan nodded and followed Elena through the crowds towards the door. Clearly whatever she had to say she didn't want an audience for.

"So I went to see Trudie Peterson."

Stefan nodded. He'd figured she would when she'd told him about the information Jenna had unearthed on her birth mother. He'd offered to go with her, but he wasn't surprised she'd gone on her own. Stefan wouldn't have wanted company if he was in Elena's shoes. She opened her mouth to say more, but a frown crossed her face as she caught sight of someone behind him. Stefan turned and saw a man standing there staring at Elena.

"I have a message for you."

"What?"

"Who are you?" Stefan asked, stepping slightly in front of Elena.

"Stop looking." The man said ignoring Stefan completely.

"Stop looking for what?" Elena asked.

"She doesn't want to know you. She doesn't want to talk to you."

"Isobel?"

That was pretty much a confirmation of Stefan's suspicions that Damon had turned Alaric's wife into a vampire.

"You need to stop looking. Do you understand?"

Stefan had been watching the man closely, with that final question it became clear that he had been compelled to deliver the message to Elena.

"She's alive? Does that mean she's a –"

"Elena, he's under compulsion."

"Do you understand?"

"Yes, I do."

"Good." The man looked to his right, "I'm done now."

He stepped back straight into the path of an oncoming truck before Stefan could stop him. As soon as the truck had stopped moving, Elena pulled herself out of Stefan's grasp and ran forward. He followed her, not sure what she was attempting, but sure as ell she didn't need to be seeing the man's dead body. She crouched down next to him before he could stop her. He grabbed her arm and pulled her up.

"Come on. Let's get you back to Jenna."

Stefan led her back inside and delivered her to Jenna's side, quickly explaining what they'd witnessed to a shocked Jenna. As soon as Elena was safely dealt with, he looked around the Grill but couldn't see Damon or Maya anywhere, they must have already left. Another sweep told him Alaric was gone too, he cursed under his breath and raced out, not noticing Elena slipping away from a worried Jenna and following him.

Stefan had disappeared somewhere with Elena. It was late though, and Maya had school in the morning, so Damon had decided to start heading for where he'd parked the car. Stefan would either catch up or could find his own way home. Maya was chattering away about Matt's mother, and how rude she'd been to Caroline, and how she and Stefan had told her off, because Caroline was their friend. Damon was listening attentively, and making a mental note to keep an eye on Caroline at future events in case this Kelly Donovan, or anyone else for that matter, decided to start in on her again. That was his only excuse for not noticing they were being followed.

Well, it was less not noticing, because he had. It was more not being alert for a potential attack, assuming that the teacher was merely heading for his own car.

Fortunately. They were out of sight of curious eyes when he did attack, so there was no witnesses who might wonder why the high school history teacher was attacking him with a wooden stake.

Unfortunately. Damon was too concerned with ensuring that Maya was out of the line of fire to completely avoid the stake the teacher had aimed at him.

Fortunately. He did manage to dodge enough that the stake went through his lower side rather than dangerously close to his heart where it had been aimed.

Unfortunately. The pain was still debilitating enough to cause him to partially collapse.

"Babbo!"

Damon gritted his teeth through the pain and positioned himself between the teacher and his daughter. If the man even thought about laying a hand on her, he would peel the skin from his bones, strip by strip. And that would only be the beginning of the torment he would visit upon him if anything happened to Maya as a result of this attack. He could feel her trembling behind him, but he figured it was more out of rage than fear, given that he could also hear her growling. He wanted to reassure her, but he needed to keep the teacher's attention on him. At least until the Auror's arrived.

"What the hell?"

The attack had happened in a matter of seconds, but the aurors should have been following them. It shouldn't take them long to react.

"Where's Isobel? What have you done to my wife?"

Before Damon could tell the man, he wasn't even aware he had a wife, let alone know what happened to her. Stefan arrived and broke the teacher's neck with a clean snap. Damon would be impressed.

If not for the guilty look on his brother's face.

The auror's appeared seconds later. All in all, the attack by the teacher and Stefan arriving and killing him had taken no more than a minute from beginning to end. Agent Beckett moved forward and pulled the stake out of Damon's side, while Agent Morgan checked Maya to make sure she wasn't hurt. Damon's eyes remained fixed on Stefan. He hadn't been looking at the teacher he'd just killed with guilt. Stefan's guilt had been for Damon's injury, which meant he'd known something about the teacher before the attack happened, and hadn't said anything.

Damon pushed himself to his feet, glaring at Stefan.

"Deal with this." He ordered pointing at the body, "I'm taking Maya home. You and I are gonna be having a conversation about whatever you know later."

Stefan's miserable look deepened, and he nodded. Damon turned his back on him and pulled Maya into a hug.

"You okay kiddo?" She nodded, clinging to him with a desperate grip, maybe she'd been more afraid than he realised.

"No injuries." Agent Morgan reported, "Want a lift home?"

Damon nodded and she laid on hand on his shoulder and the other on Maya's, apparating them both back to the Boarding House.

Agent Beckett lifted an eyebrow at Stefan and nodded at Alaric's dead body.

"You got this? Or do you want some help?"

Stefan shook his head, he didn't need help, and honestly, he didn't feel like he deserved help right now. He should have said something to Damon as soon as he found out about his apparent connection to Alaric's dead wife. If he had then maybe this wouldn't have happened. He could only hope this hadn't permanently scarred Maya's psyche. Agent Beckett shrugged and disappeared with a sharp crack.

Stefan knelt down next to Alaric's body preparing to pick it up and disappear with it. But two things happened before he could. First Elena came racing around the corner and stopped dead when she caught sight of Stefan crouching next to Alaric's prone form. Before she could say anything, demand answers about Alaric who was quite clearly dead. The man in question inhaled a great gasping breath and sat up looking confused.

"What happened? What's going on?" It took a moment for his mind to catch up and then he glared accusingly at Stefan, "You killed me!"

"Stefan!?"

He ignored Elena's surprised demand and focused on Alaric.

"I told you not to attack my family."

"Your brother killed my wife!"

Elena gasped.

"Damon killed Isobel?" She glared at him accusingly, "And you knew?"

"I knew it was a possibility that Damon was the one who turned her –?" Stefan began to explain.

"Turned her?" Alaric asked.

At the same time as Elena demanded.

"Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you say anything when I told you about my birth-mother this morning?"

"Because I hadn't had a chance to talk to Damon about it yet, and I didn't want to tell you anything without knowing all the facts." He told Elena, before turning back to Alaric. "Yes, Damon probably turned Isobel into a vampire. Which I would have told you if you hadn't gone off half-cocked and attacked him. Speaking of turning people. Who gave you vampire blood?"

"No one."

"No, no, no. You must have vampire blood in your system. Somebody slipped it to you."

"No. It's uh, it's something else."

"Then how?"

"I uh…" Alaric fingered the ring on his finger, "Isobel. This ring protected me."

"That's impossible." Stefan had never heard of a ring that had the power to bring someone back from the dead. Hell, he'd never heard of someone coming back from the dead without having vampire blood in their system.

"I know."

Stefan shook his head in disbelief. But honestly, that wasn't important right now. He stood up.

"Right. Here's what we're going to do." He turned to Elena. "Go home, Jenna's probably worried about you. I'm going to talk to Damon tonight and get whatever answers he has about Isobel, and I will tell you tomorrow."

"But –"

"Take it or leave it, Elena."

She huffed.

"Fine."

As soon as Elena walked off, he turned back to Alaric.

"Same deal. Go home, I will tell you what I find out about Isobel tomorrow. Attack my family again and I will rip that ring off your finger and then I will rip your heart out of your chest, understood?"

"So, your brother kills my wife, and I'm just supposed to let it go."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes. You attacked and almost killed my brother in front of an innocent thirteen-year-old, you're lucky I'm letting you go at all. Attack my family again and believe me when I say, you'll be lucky if I'm the one who kills you, because at least it will be over quick, everyone else will take their time. This is your one chance. Go home."

Alaric stared at him for a second before nodding grudgingly and walking away. Stefan sighed. Time to face the music.