Astrid was woken by Rebekah early that morning and said she wanted to do some investigation work and Astrid had to come.

"I'm sorry, what?" Astrid asked as Rebekah dragged her through the town square and into the Mystic Grill.

Rebekah quickly turned to her, "There was a white oak tree here 300 years after we fled back to the old world, now we're here trying to find out where it could be. Ah! There's the mayor!"

Rebekah and Astrid sat themselves down across from the mayor and immediately started interrogating her.

"Thank you, for meeting with us mayor Lockwood," said Astrid while smiling. She gestured to herself and Rebekah, "We figured as head of the preservation society you'd be a good person to ask about the oldest trees."

"A long line of Lockwood women used to keep those records. Back before any of them actually had jobs," Carol explained to them, drinking her coffee.

Rebekah chuckled, "I've been to the founders archive. But I can't seem to find any record of the tree we're looking for."

Carol shrugged, "It probably got cut down. Big old trees helped build this town in the 1900s."

Astrid could see Rebekah was distracted, too busy looking at Damon, so she jumped in, "Do you happen to know who kept the milling ledgers in that period?"

"Back then, all the logging mills were owned by the Salvatores," Carol told them.

Rebekah nodded and Astrid whispered, "Perfect." After the girls said goodbye to the mayor, they walked up to the Salvatore boys sitting at the bar.

Astrid heard Damon speaking, "At least in 1912 they killed a Salvatore."

"Which Salvatore would that be?" Rebekah asked, butting in on the conversation while ordering a drink for her and Astrid.

"Well if it isn't blondie and the original wife."

***

Astrid furrowed her eyebrows, "So Zachariah Salvatore was your nephew?"

"Well our father knocked up one of the maids during the Civil War. She had a son," said Damon, messing with his drink. "But as far as everyone else knew, Stefan and I were dead. The family name had to go somewhere."

"And, uh, your family owned the logging mills back then?" Asked Rebekah, trying to sound casual.

"You're full of a lot of questions," said Damon.

"I'm just researching the town history, after all," Rebekah gestured to her and Astrid, "we grew up here."

"You know, you don't have to disguise your true motives bonny Beks. If you want more sex, just ask for it," Damon taunted. "You too wifey."

"Don't call me that," said Astrid.

"Oh, that's right. You're spoken for," Damon nodded, "Blondie?"

"Not enough liquor in the world," said Rebekah and Astrid smiled in amusement.

Damon groaned, "Oh come on, it was too good for you to be this hostile." Stefan got up, grabbed the bottle of bourbon and left. "You'll have to excuse my little brother. He's jonesing for some O-positive."

Suddenly, Stefan was back and he just chuckled, "I'm not jonesing," He informed them.

Astrid decided to change the subject, "So did they ever catch the killer?"

"Nope," said Damon, popping the 'p'. "Wrote it all off on the vampires."

"Maybe it was a vampire," Astrid suggested, not breaking eye contact with Damon. It was like they were having a staring contest.

"Yeah," said Stefan, turning to his older brother, "maybe it was a vampire Damon."

"Don't think for a second, you didn't cross my mind to brother," said Damon, knowing exactly what Stefan was thinking. "But these murders weren't your style, were they? Plus, there were no other vampires circulating then."

"Well, there was one other vampire," Stefan said. "Remember Sage?"

"Oh, right. Sage. Speaking of great sex, whew," said Damon and he downed his drink.

Rebekah turned to Astrid, "We knew a Sage once, remember?"

"Oh, she was trashy little thing," Astrid scoffed.

Damon turned his attention away from the two girls and back to his brother, "you really think it was Sage killing all those founders back then?"

"Town questioned every grown man in Mystic Falls," said Stefan, "It probably never occurred to them that a woman could do it."

All four of them spoke for hours, debating on who could've killed the founders back then and Rebekah slipping slipping in some casual questions about trees.

"So, uh, tell me more about your old relatives. I heard they tore down half the woods to build this town," said Astrid, sitting down next to Damon. She reached for the new bottle of bourbon but Damon swiped it away.

"Easy there, lushy-pants. It's been a hoot and a half, but this is a boy's night and you two weren't invited," Damon said, smiling sarcastically. Stefan also took the glasses away and followed his brother.

Astrid shook her head, "men!"

"I know," Rebekah agreed

***

Much to the boys displeasure, the two girls did not leave them alone. Instead they went and joined Damon and Stefan by the dart playing area. Rebekah and Astrid heard Damon say a very sexist remark.

"It's not that psycho Dr Fell. She's a woman," he said. "There's no way she could stab three grown men."

Astrid caught his dart before it could hit the board, "That's a bit sexist. A woman could easily kill a man."

"With the right motivation," Rebekah added.

"You, uh, you just don't give up do you?" Stefan asked in a grumpy voice.

Astrid arched a brow, "What's with Mr Grumpy-pants over there?"

Damon turned to her, "He's on a master cleanse. Trying to be a better man and all."

"You know, you were a lot more fun in the 20s," Rebekah said.

Damon elbowed her, "Don't rile him up, he's testy when he's being self-righteous."

"I'm not being self-righteous Damon. I'm just not interested in slaughtering innocent human beings," Stefan told them all.

"Oh, okay. Fair enough. My mistake," Damon suddenly pulled out Stefan's diary from the bag he had. "You used to be self-righteous.  Dear diary, Damon has lost his way. Though I have pulled my own life together, he continues to waste his."

Astrid grabbed the diary from him, "Ouch. His bitterness consumes him. He is nothing but blackness and bile."

"Ooh, judgey," Rebekah taunted. "You know if I'm being honest, you didn't seem like much fun either Damon."

"I wasn't. The woman I was in love with was stuck in a tomb and she wasn't getting out for a hundred years. I wasn't having any fun at all."

He continued to tell them how Sage taught him how to feed the 'proper' way, and how she told him a woman could be for pleasure too.

Astrid shook her head, "That sounds like Sage, all right."

"How did you know her?" Damon asked.

"She was obsessed with my brother Finn over 900 years ago," Rebekah sat down on the chair opposite Damon.

"What? Creepy suicidal guy?" asked Damon with a dumbfounded expression. Stefan began tapping his ring on the table. "You're doing it again."

Stefan stood up quickly. "All right. You know what? I need to uh, I gotta get out of here." He pulled on his jacket and walked out of the bar.

"Sure. First, admit that you're jonesing," said Damon.

Stefan shook his head. "Damon, I'm not-" He didn't get to finish his sentence.

"Admit it," intervened Damon.

"Okay fine. I'm freaking out. I'm ready to eat the entire wait staff," admitted Stefan, finally caving in. "Why do you need to hear me say it?"

"This is awkward," said Astrid as she drank some of Damon's drink.

"Definitely," Rebekah replied and they clinked their shots together before drinking them.