Damon rushed into the hospital. Bonnie and Maya flanked him on either side, their faces pale and worried. Stefan and Tyler followed closely behind, scanning the crowded hallways for a familiar face. They spotted Matt slumped on a row of seats outside the ICU, his eyes red and swollen. They rushed over to him, hoping for some good news.

"How are they?" Bonnie asked, her voice trembling.

"They're not good, Bon." Matt choked out, eyes pained and distant.

Bonnie slid down into the chair next to him and laid a hand on his arm.

"What happened?"

"We were driving back from the celebration, and Caroline She tried to stop at the intersection, but the car didn't respond. It didn't even slow, she said the brakes weren't working, we just rolled straight out in front of another car."

"The brakes didn't work?" Damon repeated, his eyes narrowing. He couldn't imagine Caroline not getting her car checked regularly, and even if she didn't the Sheriff surely would have.

Matt shook his head.

"The other car smashed into us, right on the driver's side. Caroline and Vicki bore the brunt of the impact. They were both unconscious when the paramedics arrived." Matt said, his voice breaking.

Maya leant into Damon tugging on his shirt until he looked down into her eyes.

"Is Caroline gonna be, okay?"

"Yeah, kiddo. She's gonna be fine, I'll make sure of it okay." He replied, low enough that only she and Stefan would be able to make out his words.

Damon hugged her to his chest, a tight embrace, and a promise all rolled into one. Stefan nudged him slightly and nodded over to another part of the waiting area. Damon glanced over and saw Liz leaning against the desk, head in her hands. He gently detached Maya and guided her into Stefan's waiting arms.

"Keep an eye on them?"

"Of course."

With the kids sorted for a moment, Damon headed for Liz.

"Liz, we came as soon as we heard. Is she okay?"

"She's in surgery, Damon. It's... it's bad. They're doing everything they can, but they don't know if she'll make it."

Damon wrapped his arms around Liz, as she began to weep. Keeping an eye and an ear on the group he'd left over by the chairs, he saw with some relief that Maggie and Enzo had arrived, having followed them in a separate car. Between the two of them, they would be able to manage the anxious group over there for a little while at least, while he stayed with Liz. Enzo and Stefan were dispatched by Maggie to get drinks for everyone and after discovering Matt hadn't been checked over by a doctor yet, she gently bullied him into letting her take him for an examination.

Once Liz had stopped crying and was calm enough, she insisted on going to wash her face and Damon headed back over to the kids, he was almost with them when Elena rushed in.

"Bonnie. How's Caroline?"

"She's in surgery. They don't know if she's going to make it, Vicki either."

"What?" Elena gasped.

Bonnie stood up and briefly embraced Elena.

"Is there something that you can do? Like a spell or something?" She glanced between Bonnie and Maya.

"I don't know how Elena,"

Elena spun to Maya and stared down at her,

"What about you, could you do something, fix Caroline."

"No." Damon said, finally close enough to speak to them without drawing unwanted attention, "It takes years to learn a spell like that."

"Damon's right Elena, neither of us have the knowledge to help Caroline or Vicki." Bonnie told her.

Damon lowered his voice and looked between Tyler and Bonnie.

"I can give them both some blood."

"No, no way." Elena said, earning a look of sheer dislike from Maya.

Damon ignored Elena and carried on speaking to Tyler and Bonnie, letting the choice be theirs.

"Just enough to heal them. They'll be safe in the hospital, and it will be out of their systems in a day, two max. They'll both get better, they'll both live."

"It's too risky, I can't agree to that." Elena insisted, as if it was her decision alone.

"I wasn't actually asking you, Elena. Tyler? Bon-Bon?"

"Do it." Bonnie said, without hesitation. Tyler nodded. They both cared too much about Caroline to let her die. And they wouldn't leave Vicki behind either. Bonnie turned to Elena, who looked shocked. "This is Caroline. We can't let her die, and I won't save her and not Vicki." She turned back to Damon, "Do it, please."

He nodded. Stefan and Enzo returned with the drinks they'd got everyone. Leaving Stefan to hand them out, he pulled Enzo aside and explained that he was gonna give blood to both the girls. Enzo shrugged.

"Figured you would. Caroline might as well be family, and you wouldn't be as selfish to save her and not Matt's sister as well. Need help?"

"Please."

Damon glanced over again and saw that Elena had disappeared somewhere. Stefan had got the other three to sit down on the chairs, Maya was leaning against Bonnie who had wrapped an arm round her shoulders. Stefan was speaking to all three of them, Damon heard enough to understand that he was reassuring them all once again that Caroline and Vicki would be okay.

"Let's go."

It didn't take them long to find the rooms in which the two girls were being treated. With Enzo's assistance, they managed to compel a doctor to draw Damon's blood and inject it into each of the girls. They watched to make sure it was done, and once they'd confirmed both girls had been given his blood and would heal, they headed back towards the waiting room. They saw Elena hovering further down the corridor, and Damon was just about to suggest they find an alternative route, when a harried looking Jenna rushed up.

"Elena, I came as soon as I got your message. How is John?"

Damon's first thought was to wonder what had happened to John for him to end up in the hospital, His second thought was to hope it was something extremely painful and/or extremely fatal.

"Where have you been?" Elena demanded.

Jenna looked confused. "At the fire department. I had to fill out a report. I told you earlier." she said, as if it was obvious.

Elena shook her head, her eyes narrowing. "No, you didn't." she said, firmly.

Jenna frowned. "Yes, I did." she insisted.

Elena raised her voice. "No, Jenna, you didn't." she repeated.

Jenna matched her tone. "Yes, I did." she argued.

Damon felt a cold knot of fear in his stomach as he watched them go back and forth. There was only one explanation for Jenna's stubbornness, for Elena's lack of memory. Well, two, but he knew Stefan had made sure Elena was on vervain, so she couldn't be compelled to forget anything. The other explanation was one he dreaded to think about. He glanced at Enzo, who had the same look of realisation in his eyes, that had dawned on Damon.

Katherine was back.

"Why are you so certain it was Katherine?"

"Because he's not an idiot?" Maya suggested, rolling her eyes at Elena, who frowned at her.

Tyler, perhaps sensing that Maya was both tired and hungry, which was making her extra cranky, and much less likely to hold her tongue, or choose another language to casually insult Elena in. put his arm around her shoulder and turned her away from the group, leading her down the hospital corridor.

"Come on, there's a vending machine down here somewhere. Why don't we see if we can get you something to eat?"

Damon was, at that moment, incredibly grateful that they had brought Tyler into their group. He had proven to be an excellent big-brother figure to Maya over the past few months. He supposed it helped that Tyler wasn't as close to Elena as Caroline was, and therefore was more inclined to take Maya's views of her seriously. Once they were both out of earshot, Damon turned back to Elena.

"Let's recap shall we." He began to tick off his fingers as he laid out each fact to her, "All the tomb vampires were rounded up… Someone got inside your house, cut off John's hand, which means they knew the significance of his ring, and then stabbed him. However, they didn't attack you or Jeremy… Jenna swears blind she told you about going to the fire department, yet you can't remember it… Both of you are on vervain so you can't have been compelled, which means someone who looks so much like you that they were able to fool Jenna was the person she spoke to, and more than likely the person that stabbed John… There is only one candidate who fulfils those requirements… Katherine."

Honestly. Everyone else had understood the significance of what had happened the first time round. Elena was either being wilfully blind or just plain stubborn in refusing to accept it.

"If Katherine was in their house, that means she was invited in." Bonnie said, looking fearfully between Elena and Damon, "So, she can get in at any time. Is there anything we can do? A spell or something?"

"I've never heard of a single spell capable of revoking a vampire's entry once it's been granted." Damon replied, shaking his head. "The only thing I know that can do that, is legally changing the person of entitlement. But that wouldn't stop someone from inviting her in again believing her to be Katherine. Which is why Jenna and Jeremy need to be told."

"No!" Elena shook her head, "Absolutely not! I don't want them involved, in any of this."

Damon bit back a sigh and glanced at Stefan, hoping he'd be able to talk some sense into her.

"Elena, as long as you're involved, they're involved." Stefan spoke gently and earnestly, "Not knowing doesn't protect them, in fact it makes them more vulnerable."

"I said no, Stefan."

Damon did sigh this time, she was clearly being too stubborn to listen to reason, he wasn't the only one to think so either. Stefan looked frustrated, Enzo was looking at her like she was an idiot, he wasn't far off, even Bonnie looked like she disagreed with Elena's decision. She clearly wasn't going to argue with her best friend in front of everyone else though.

"I'll speak to grams, and check Emily's grimiore. Maybe there is a way to magically revoke an invitation." She offered.

Elena nodded.

"John must know something. There has to be a reason why Katherine tried to kill him." She mused, looking between the rest of them to see if they agreed.

"She's Katherine." Damon told her, unconvinced. "She loves to play games and you're fooling yourself if you think you're going to find out what she's been up to before she wants you to know."

"No, actually Elena's right," Stefan interjected, "John could know something through Isobel. Your mother, she was in touch with Katherine so maybe we can come back tomorrow and get him to talk."

"Suit yourself." Damon glanced at the clock, "Caroline and Vicki both have my blood, so they're going to be fine. It's late, and I want to get Maya home." He turned to Bonnie, "That offer of a room for the night is still open if you'd like?"

Bonnie nodded shyly.

"Thanks. I just want to make sure Matt's okay first."

"Maggie and I can drive her." Enzo suggested. "I'll wait with Bonnie for them to get back, then we can bring Bonnie back home."

Damon nodded and looked at his brother.

"You coming?"

"Yeah." Stefan looked at Elena, "Do you need a lift home?"

Elena shook her head.

"No Jenna will drive me, home. She's just sorting out all the paperwork for John."

"Ok. I'll pick you up tomorrow and we can see if John will tell us anything."

Damon lightly patted Bonnie's shoulder.

"They're gonna be okay. I promise."

"I know. Thank you."

He nodded to Enzo, who quietly slid into the seat next to Bonnie as they waited for Maggie to return with Matt. He could see the worry and exhaustion on Bonnie's face, and he wondered how she was coping with everything that had happened. He headed in the direction Maya and Tyler had gone, leaving Bonnie and Enzo to their own thoughts. He needed to see if Tyler wanted to be dropped off home, or spend the night at theirs.

Tyler opted to go with them and crash in his room at the boarding house, so Damon drove the four of them home. The car was silent, except for the occasional sigh or sniffle from Maya, who was leaning against the window. Damon glanced at her in the rearview mirror and saw that she had fallen asleep by the time he parked the car outside the house. He felt a surge of affection for her, and he carefully undid her seatbelt and lifted her out of the car to carry her up to her room. He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and kissed her forehead gently. Dobby popped in when he placed her on her bed and seeing she was dead to the world, magically switched her into her bed clothes. Damon smiled at the sight of her in Star Wars pyjamas, and pulled the covers over her.

"Thanks Dobby." Damon murmured quietly, as the two of them left Maya's bedroom. ""Listen, Bonnie is going to be spending the night, and she doesn't know about the wixen world yet. So…" He trailed off, hoping Dobby would understand what he meant.

"Dobby will be careful and will stay out of the young Miss Bennetts way." Dobby nodded, his ears flapping.

"Thanks."

Damon set his glass of bourbon down on the side table with a slight clink and looked at his brother.

"So, what did you learn from John Gilbert?" he asked.

Maya looked up from her textbook, highlighter forgotten in one hand, and looked at Stefan as well, eyes wide with curiosity. She wasn't the only one.

Tyler had been called home by his mom, first thing that morning, something about his uncle returning to town. And when Stefan had left to get Elena and go question John Gilbert at the hospital, Bonnie had tagged along to visit Caroline and assure herself she really was okay. Even knowing Damon had given Carolien his blood, she'd wanted to see her friend in person and make sure. Damon had promised to take Maya along later to visit Caroline.

Anna had left as well, supposedly to just hang out with Jeremy since John was in the hospital and it was now safe for her to do so. Maya knew she really did want to see Jeremy, but she suspected that part of it was Anna's determination to protect Jeremy from Katherine since she probably had an invite to the Gilbert House.

Maggie had compelled Jeremy to forget about vampires when he'd been kidnapped just before Christmas, Maya knew that. But no-one had mentioned compelling him again after Isobel kidnapped him two weeks ago. So, Jeremy had to either know about vampires by now, or someone had compelled him to forget again, and just hadn't mentioned it in font of her. She had seen the way Anna looked at Jeremy at the Miss Mystic Falls event though, and the way Jeremy had looked back at her. So, she really wouldn't be surprised if it turned out Anna had revealed everything about vampires to him. Not that she'd asked though.

Everyone else was in the living room though, and they all turned their attention to Stefan when Damon asked his question. Curious to know if John had revealed anything.

"Nothing. He never spoke to Katherine directly, apparently, she didn't trust him."

"What vampire would?" Enzo commented sarcastically.

"Yeah." Stefan nodded. "Didn't learn anything but I did give him twenty-four hours to get out of town unless he wanted me to turn him into a vampire."

"Good." Damon said, a murmur f agreement went round the room. "That's one problem to deal with, now we just have Katherine's reappearance to worry about."

"I might be able to help with that, at least the why." Pearl said.

"We might as well."

All their heads swivelled to the door of the room, where Aradia and Himiko stood slightly behind Dobby, who was wringing his hands, ears flapping anxiously. Probably because they hadn't given him a chance to announce them.

"Lady Aradia, and Lady Himiko, are here to see you." He squeaked. "Dobby will go get refreshments."

Tyler let himself into his house and followed the sound of voices to his mom's favourite sitting room. Part of his mind was on Caroline and Vicki, in the hospital, Damon had given them his blood so they should both be okay, but he couldn't help but worry. He needed to see them for himself. First though he had to spend some time with his uncle. The uncle who had returned to Mystic Falls, completely out of the blue, after a seven-year absence. One thought reverberated through Tyler's mind as he laid eyes on Mason. 'Why now?'

"So, the black sheep returns." He said, staring down at his uncle.

Mason grinned back at him and stood up.

"Tyler?"

"Yeah."

"What happened to you? In my mind you're twelve years old."

"Then that's two years' older than the last time you saw me, Uncle Mason."

Mason pulled him into a hug and thumped his back a couple of times.

"Good to see you again."

"It's good to see you too. Even if it is a surprise."

"A good surprise?"

"Yeah." And it was, suspicious as hell, but a good surprise all the same.

His mom patted the seat next to her.

"Come sit down Tyler, Mason was just telling us what he's been up to for the last few years."

"Uh, I wanted to go to the hospital, check on Matt, Caroline, and Vicki. See how they're doing."

His mom shot an uncertain glance at his dad.

"Well, I'm sure you can go later. We'll all go together, I really should check in with Liz, see if she needs anything."

"Your mom's right. We'll go this afternoon, as a family." His dad said, frowning at him, "They probably won't let visitors in until then anyway. Come sit down, son."

Reluctantly, though careful not to show it too much, Tyler sat down next to his mom, attention on Mason, who began regaling them about his time in Florida. He barely paid any attention to what was said though, part of his mind on his friends in the hospital, and part of it still wrestling with Mason's suspicious return to Mystic Falls.