"And for a little local history, Mr. Saltzman's students have recreated Virginia's Battle of Willow Creek."

The air was filled with the smell of popcorn and the sound of Mrs Lockwood's cheerful voice as she narrated the parade of floats. Maya stood next to Bonnie, sharing a bag of popcorn with her as the floats went by. She glanced at the history float, where Stefan was reluctantly waving a flag next to Tyler, who pretended to shoot Jeremy before grinning and waving at the cheering crowd. Behind them, Damon, Maggie, and Enzo watched the spectacle with varying degrees of interest. Maya could sense Damon's tension, even from a distance. He was on edge, waiting for the inevitable attack from the tomb vampires. They had been hunting them for a week, with the help of Pearl, Anna, and Harper, but they had found no trace of them. Everyone agreed that today was the most likely day for them to strike, to exact their vengeance on the founding families.

Maya knew they were not alone in their vigilance. Director Picquery and Commander Graves had sent more aurors to reinforce their ranks, and they were hidden among the crowd, ready to intervene if needed. Anna, Harper, and Pearl had teamed up with an auror each, and they were scanning the faces of the spectators, looking for any familiar foes. Agent LaSalle stood next to Damon, prepared to apparate Maya to safety at the slightest sign of trouble. Maya was not worried, though, trusting that the aurors would protect her and her family, keeping them all safe from harm. She decided to focus on the positive, and enjoy the parade as much as she could.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome our stunning Miss Mystic Falls Court and their handsome escorts. This is Caroline Forbes, Miss Mystic Falls. Aren't they beautiful."

Maya whooped shoving the bag of popcorn she'd bee eating at Damon, who barely had time to catch it before she'd let it go, clapping her hands with excitement. She waved and cheered wildly for Caroline and Matt, who were riding on a float decorated with colourful balloons and streamers. Bonnie chuckled beside her, joining in the applause, and shouting words of encouragement to their friends. Caroline spotted Maya in the crowd and blew her a kiss, her smile bright as the sun. She winked and waved, then turned her attention back to the rest of the spectators who were lining the streets and enjoying the parade.

"Having fun, kiddo?" Damon asked, ruffling Maya's hair.

Maya grinned up at him and nodded, her eyes sparkling with joy. The parade was amazing, and she couldn't wait to hug Caroline later and tell her how pretty she'd looked in her dress. Much prettier than Elena.

Damon was glad. He had fought hard to suppress his protective instincts and let her enjoy the celebration today. He knew she deserved to have a normal life, as much as possible in their crazy world. He wanted her to experience the simple joys of fun days out, small-town festivities, and childhood memories. He couldn't keep her locked away in a bubble of safety, however tempting it was. He had to trust their plans and back-up plans, their allies and friends, and their own abilities to handle any threat that might arise. At least they had one less thing to worry about: John Gilbert wouldn't be able to use the device, Maya and Bonnie had seen to that. And they had prepared for every possible scenario if the vampires decided to attack. They had done everything they could to protect the townsfolk and themselves. But still, he couldn't help but worry. He loved her too much to lose her.

They found Caroline, Stefan, and Tyler once the parade was over. Maya embraced them all one by one, showering them with compliments. Praising both Tyler and Caroline for their amazing float designs, and stunning dress Caroline had donned for the event.

"What about me?" Stefan asked, affecting a tone of mock-hurt.

Maya pretended to think for a moment.

"You kept the flag upright, I suppose."

The sound of laughter filled the air as Stefan leaped on Maya and tickled her mercilessly. She squirmed and gasped, pleading for him to stop, but he only grinned and continued his assault. Before wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close, feeling her warmth and heartbeat. Damon, Maggie, Enzo, and Tyler were quick to join in the hug. Caroline watched from the sidelines, feeling a pang of envy and longing. She wished she could be part of their happiness. Suddenly, she felt two pairs of hands grab her and pull her into the group hug. She squeaked in surprise and delight, feeling a surge of affection for Enzo and Tyler.

"Okay." Stefan let go of Maya and stepped back, "We have to go and get changed, but we'll catch up with you guys later."

Damon ruffled Maya's hair and grinned down at her.

"Shall we see about getting some cotton candy kiddo?"

They spent the rest of the afternoon, walking around the celebration, gorging on cotton-candy, popcorn, and hotdogs. Stefan, Caroline, and Tyler joined them for a bit, but only Stefan stayed. Caroline went off to spend some time with Matt, and Tyler took off to play pool with some of his friends in the Grill. As day turned to dusk, and dusk turned to night, Damon grew more and more tense. This was the time they'd decided would be most likely for an attack to occur, when night had fallen, but the hour was still early enough for people to remain out an about enjoying the celebration.

He wanted to send Maya home, but he knew she wanted to watch the fireworks if she could. Agent LaSalle and other members of his team continued shadowing them though, so Damon wouldn't outright forbid her from staying, knowing that one of them would get her home in an instant.

It was Anna and the auror who first alerted them to the trouble they were expecting, about fifteen minutes before the fireworks were due to begin. Sending him a text to let him know that they'd just found and cornered one of the remaining tomb vampires, that the attack would begin when the fireworks started. Damon read the text and looked over at Agent LaSalle, who nodded, he'd received the same information. He turned to Maggie and Enzo and gently pushed Maya towards them.

"Go, get her home."

He watched as a pair of aurors materialised out of the crowds and began to guide the three of them away so that they could apparate out unseen, before he and Stefan headed for Agent LaSalle, and the other auror with him.

"What's the plan?"

"There were eleven tomb vampires unaccounted for after Pearl's group was dealt with. Minus Henry and the one Anna and Benson just took out, that leaves nine. The Aurors are spread around the stage area where most of the founding families are congregated, under the assumption that they will be the primary targets. We have pictures of each of them, and Pearl, Anna, and Harper are on alert. We will neutralise each of them as cleanly and quietly as we can, without alerting any of the townsfolk. Damon, you're with me, Stefan you're with Reynolds."

Stefan nodded and left with Agent Reynolds to find a spot to keep watch from for their targets.

"Is this going to be enough?" Damon asked.

"Let's hope so."

John Gilbert glanced at his watch and gave a curt nod to the last remaining deputy.

"Get in position."

He strode over to the device, a sinister contraption that he had meticulously prepared. All he had to do to set it off was insert the final piece. Stefan and Damon, the Salvatore brothers, were both at the celebration, along with the other bloodsuckers they cohabited with and Pearl, the one who had slipped through his fingers the week before. He had spotted all of them within the last thirty minutes and knew he would be able to wipe them and all of the tomb vampires out with one fell swoop.

He gripped the last piece of the device, the piece Isobel had procured for him and held it ready to insert. He had dismissed Isobel as paranoid when she had instructed him to get a witch to check out the piece, but it turned out she had been right. Damon Salvatore had somehow managed to get someone to remove the enchantment before handing it over to his daughter, who had then given it to Isobel. But John had not taken any chances and the piece would work, Isobel's witch had guaranteed him that. As soon as the fireworks erupted, the agreed upon signal, he inserted the key into the device.

A surge of triumph turned into a howl of fury as the entire device began to melt in front of his eyes. Either Isobel's witch had betrayed him. Or Damon Salvatore had outsmarted him.

Damon shifted from foot-foot in his position next to Agent LaSalle has he watched the Mayor stand up on stage to begin his speech. Chris had been getting constant updates from the aurors placed amongst the crowd. So far five of the nine had been located and neutralised, leaving four left.

"For one hundred and fifty years, Mystic Falls has been the kind of town that everybody wants to call home: safe, prosperous, welcoming. And we have the Founders to thank for that. That's why I'd like to dedicate this evening's firework display to their legacy."

As the first firework exploded in the sky, Agent LaSalle gave another nod and held two fingers up to Damon, who felt a surge of relief. They were almost done. Granted two vampires could still do a lot of damage, but two was better than nine. His gaze scanned over the crowd, the Mayor was leading his wife off the stage, an urgent and worried look on his face. Clearly he knew something. He passed over Bonnie and then darted back, she had stopped dead in her tracks for a moment staring at something, before beginning to make her way through the crowd, eyes fixed on something ahead of her. Damon followed where her gaze led and saw that it was a man she'd been staring at. A man who was also moving through the crowd with purpose his gaze fixed on the Mayor and Carol Lockwood.

Damon couldn't see his face properly so he couldn't say for sure it was one of the vampires they were looking for, but he was willing to bet that it was. Signalling to Chris, he began to make his way through the crowd as well, angling straight towards the vampire, he felt rather than saw Chris following close behind. He and Bonnie broke free of the crowd at exactly the same moment, leaving him with a clear view of exactly what happened next.

The vampire they'd been following sped forward, but before he could reach the Lockwood's, fell screaming to the floor, clutching his head. Damon didn't even need to look at Bonnie to see she was the one who'd taken down the vampire.

He and a deputy both converged on the screaming man.

The deputy got there first, injecting him with something and dragging him away, in such a seamless move that it must have been planned out. Presumably by John Gilbert who must have attempted to set-off the Gilbert device, and ordered the deputies to deal with anyone it took down. Considering Damon was still very much on his feet, then he could only assume that Maya's little trick had worked, and the device was very much useless.

Agent LaSalle tapped Damon on the shoulder and nodded.

"We got the rest. Commander Graves and Director Picquery are dealing with them now, giving them the same choice, we gave the others."

Flushed with rage, he strode out of the office, intent on hunting Damon Salvatore down and personally driving a stake through his heart. He was brought up short by the approach of two deputies carrying a man between them.

"He was the only one we found sir. What should we do with him?"

"Take him into the basement and burn him. Like we planned." John ordered, silently wondering how this had happened with the device non-functional.

Also why had they only caught one. What had happened to the others and how many people had been hurt because the device hadn't worked.

It didn't take much questioning to learn that there had been no fatalities, though it had been a close-call for Richard and Carol, the one vampire they had caught had clearly been going for them before being taken out by someone. No-one else had gone down as he'd told them they would, during the fireworks, and none of the founding families had been harmed.

Part of him briefly wondered if Henry's information had been accurate, but he discarded that thought quickly. There was only one person he was going to get answers from, and that was the person he most wanted to kill. Damon Salvatore. John was under no illusions that the vampire would tell him anything freely, he would have to consider how to make him talk. So, once the fire they had set was being brought under control by the fire department, he despatched the deputies to free the Sheriff and went home.

He was getting himself a drink, under the impression that he and Jeremy were the only two in the house, so when he closed the fridge door and spotted Elena, he jolted back in surprise, and let out a little laugh.

"You scared me."

"Sorry," She said, wandering into the kitchen and beginning to put away the dishes.

"Can I help?"

She nodded.

"Sure."

In one swift move, she picked up a knife and chopped the hand his ring was on off, slicing through bone and muscle just above the wrist, like it was absolutely nothing. He screamed in agony as she casually pushed him back against the sink, the realisation that this was not his daughter swept over him.

"Katherine?!"

Dark veins appeared underneath her eyes, and she smiled at him.

"Hello, John. Goodbye, John."

With that she plunged the knife into his stomach and stepped back, letting him gracelessly full to the floor as he groaned in pain.

Damon took Bonnie back to the Boarding House, with Sheila still out of town, he didn't want to just drop her off at home on her own when she was clearly shaken by what had happened. She had been silent the whole way, staring out of the window with a haunted look in her eyes. He pulled up in front of the house, but she didn't budge. He turned off the engine and sighed, feeling a pang of empathy. He had been in her shoes before, more times than he cared to remember in his long and bloody life.

"You did good tonight." He said, hoping it would help.

"The deputies took him away, so he's probably dead now, right?"

"Yes, more than likely."

"I wasn't trying to kill him, I just wanted to stop him." She said defensively.

"I know. But if you hadn't done what you'd done, then more than likely both Carol and Richard would be dead right now, and possibly a whole host of other people as well."

"Does that make up for it?"

"I don't know." He replied softly, "One thing I've learnt over my many years, everything I've seen, everything I've done. Is you and you alone have to decide what you can live with. Sometimes you work it out too late and you have to carry that regret with you for the rest of your life."

"Do you have a lot of regrets?

"Yes. Before I was a vampire, I was a soldier in the confederacy. I was sent on a mission to capture some deserters who were being housed by union sympathisers. What I didn't know was that those union sympathisers were innocent women. The deserters threatened us with guns and in the ensuing chaos, both they and the women housing them were shot dead. I can't say for sure that I fired the bullets that killed those women, but their blood is on my hands and always will be. And that's just one example of many."

"I'm sorry."

"I can't tell you how you should think or feel about what happened tonight. So, why don't you come inside, have a cup of hot chocolate, and sleep on it. See how you feel in the morning, and if you need someone better than me to talk to, then I'm sure Maggie would be willing."

"You're a pretty good person to talk to." She said, with a small smile, "I can see why Caroline and Tyler look up to you so much."

He opened his door and got out, then went round to her side, and opened hers, holding out his hand, hopeful that she would take it.

"Come on. Hot chocolate awaits."

They stepped into the den, where the rest of the group was gathered, except for Stefan. Tyler and Anna were playing video games with Maya, trying to keep her mind off the night's events, while Pearl, Harper, Maggie, and Enzo were talking quietly, keeping an eye on them and waiting for an update. As soon as they saw Damon and Bonnie walk in, they all turned their attention to them, relief and concern on their faces. Maya didn't even bother to pause the game, she dropped her controller and ran to Damon, throwing her arms around him in a fierce hug.

"I'm okay kiddo," he said brushing a hand over her hair and hugging her back, "Everyone's okay. All the vampires were neutralised before they could hurt anyone."

"Good." Maggie said standing up, "I'll go get us some drinks."

In short order they were all sipping on hot drinks and Bonnie had been persuaded to join in the video game session. Bonnie felt herself relax a bit, and even enjoyed the game. Damon was glad to see her smile, and hoped she would be okay. He knew she had a lot to process, and he wanted to be there for her. He also wondered where Stefan was, and what was taking him so long. He hoped his brother was okay, too. He got his answer when Stefan finally came back, looking pale and worried. He walked into the den, and everyone stopped playing and looked at him. Damon felt a surge of dread, and met his brother's eyes.

Stefan shook his head slightly, and said,

"There's been an accident."