05. Kill Or Be Killed

It was night time, and Caroline had just come back from the Grill, after Katherine left, Caroline had stayed in the bathroom of the Grill, crying her eyes out, Katherine told Caroline to break Brayden's heart, but while doing that Caroline could feel her own heart break, Brayden was the last person Caroline wanted to hurt, whenever Caroline needed someone Brayden was there, and now when Brayden was hurting because of her, Caroline hated that she couldn't be there for him, all Caroline wanted to do was tell Brayden the truth about Katherine's blackmail, but Caroline knew she couldn't risk her mother's life either, for the first time in her life, Caroline Forbes felt utterly alone.

Caroline wiped her tears, and entered her room, to her shock, Brayden was sitting on her bed, waiting for her.

"Brayden" Caroline whispered, "What are you doing here?".

Brayden didn't look at Caroline, just kept staring at the floor, "I should have known" he whispered.

"You shouldn't be here" Caroline said, worried that Katherine was going to find out about Brayden being here.

"Why?" Brayden asked, finally looking at Caroline, allowing her to see his bloodshot eyes, that were full not only of anger, but also immense agony, like he was in physical pain, "Scared Katherine's going to find out?".

Caroline looked at Brayden in shock, "I-I don't know what you're talking about".

Brayden used his speed to stand infront of Caroline, making her flinch and step back, but Brayden grabbed her wrist and pulled her against him.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about" Brayden said, "Kaitlynn heard you and Katherine talking at the Grill, how could you not tell me Caroline?".

"I couldn't Brayden" Caroline cried, "If I told you anything, or if I didn't do what she asked me to do, then Katherine was going to kill my mom".

"So you decided instead of telling me, you were going to do what?" Brayden asked, "Break my heart, pick on my insecurities, make me hate you?!".

"You think this was easy for me, Brayden?!" Caroline yelled, pushing Brayden away from him, "I love you, hurting you wasn't easy okay, every time I said something bad to you, it hurt me, much more then it hurt you!".

"Then why not tell me, Caroline?!" Brayden yelled, "Or even give me some kind of clue, don't you trust me enough to know that I will never let anything happen to your mother?".

"I trust you, okay!" Caroline yelled, "I do, but I was scared Brayden, Katherine just showed up in my room one night and threatened to kill my mother, I didn't know what to do, I just knew one thing, that I couldn't let my mom die, so I did what Katherine asked".

"Which is what exactly?" Brayden asked, "What exactly did Katherine ask you to do?".

"She told me that I'm supposed to keep an eye on Elena, Fae and Stefan, and anything that happened between them, I'm supposed to tell her" Caroline replied, "And I was suppose to make you hate me".

"What does Katherine get if I hate you?" Brayden asked confused.

"I don't know" Caroline replied, "The only thing she said was that if you hate me, then you wouldn't save me".

"Save you from what?" Brayden asked.

"I don't know" Caroline replied, "That's all she said".

"Dammit!" Brayden snapped, running his hand through his hair in frustration.

"Say something" Caroline pleaded.

"What do you want me to say Caroline?" Brayden asked.

"Say that you're not mad at me, say that you understand why I did all this" Caroline replied, stepping closer to Brayden.

"I understand" Brayden said, making Caroline breathe a sigh of relief, "But that doesn't mean I'm not mad".

"Brayden--".

"You should have told me Caroline, we could have had a pretend fight infront of Katherine or something, me and Damon would have made sure your mother stayed safe, but you didn't trust me enough to tell me everything" Brayden said, "And that hurt Caroline, it hurt a lot".

"No Brayden" Caroline cried, "I love you".

Brayden cupped Caroline's face, "And I love you".

"I'm sorry" Caroline cried, clutching Brayden's shirt in her hand, "I'm sorry that I hurt you, but I had no choice".

Brayden placed a kiss on Caroline's forehead, "Everyone has a choice Caroline".

Before Caroline could do or say anything else, Brayden speeded out the room.

"Brayden!" Caroline yelled, but Brayden didn't come back

***

Caroline stepped out of her room, exhausted as she hadn't slept all night, she kept trying to call Brayden but he refused to talk to her, she even called Damon who told her that Brayden had locked himself in his room and refused to come out, no matter what Damon or Stefan did.

"Are you off today?" Caroline asked her mother, confused seeing her out of uniform.

"The Historical Society Volunteer Picnic is today" Liz replied, "You're the one who signed me up".

"Right, I forgot all about that" Caroline said, everything with Brayden and Katherine caused Caroline to completely forget about the picnic, "And I just assumed you'd bail".

"Nope, I'm gonna spend the whole day with my daughter" Liz said.

"You're gonna pretend to be a mother?" Caroline snapped.

"I'll bring my gun if it gets rough" Liz joked, but Caroline said nothing, "Come on, give me one day, I've been buried in work mode, I've barely seen you".

"Well, be warned, I'm in a mood" Caroline said.

"Goody for me" Liz said, "Is everything okay?".

Caroline hesitated, "Me and Brayden are going through a rough patch".

Liz frowned, "Rough patch? What happened?".

"A disagreement" Caroline replied, "But don't worry, I'll figure it out".

"You better, I've never seen a guy love someone as much as Brayden loves you" Liz said.

"Yeah well your daughter has a habit of ruining every good thing that happens to her" Caroline said.

"Don't say that Caroline" Liz said.

"Look, I'm going to go get ready" Caroline said, "I'll see you at the picnic, if you decide not to bail"

***

"I don't get why I have to be here" Brayden complained.

After having enough of Brayden staying up in his room, both Damon and Stefan broke Brayden's door, and dragged him out of his bed, ignoring his constant complaining, and forced him to attend the picnic with them, much to Brayden's dismay.

"Because you can't stay locked up in your room all day" Stefan said.

"Watch me" Brayden said, about to walk away.

Before Brayden could walk away, Stefan grabbed the back of his shirt, and forced him to stand still.

"Stefan!" Brayden yelled in annoyance.

"I'm the younger brother Brayden, so why are you acting like a child?" Stefan asked.

"You know why" Brayden snapped, "I don't want to be here, or anywhere for the matter of fact".

"Well suck it up" Stefan said, "Right now, you and I have to fix a mess that Damon caused".

"I thought you don't fix Damon's messes, according to you that's my job" Brayden said confused.

"Yeah well, since this mess is going to get all of us killed, I'll help you fix it" Stefan said, as the two brothers walked over to Mason.

"I'm in a mood Stefan, I might kill him in my anger" Brayden warned.

"Well control your mood, we are here to fix things, not make them worse" Stefan warned.

"Stefan and Brayden, right?" Mason asked, as the brothers stood infront of him, "The other two Salvatore's".

"The nice one" Stefan said.

"Don't pretend like you don't know me, I'm in no mood to play guess who" Brayden snapped.

"I'm the nice brother whose offering an apology" Stefan said, before Brayden could say anything else.

Mason shook his head, "Not interested" he said.

"Look, my brother acted impulsively" Stefan said.

"You think?" Mason asked.

"You and Damon keep at each other's throats, somebody innocent is gonna get hurt, I don't want that" Stefan replied.

"I personally don't care" Brayden said, making Stefan regret bringing him along.

"You have family here, so I can't imagine you'd want that either" Stefan told Mason, "So, what do you say we just, quit the whole alpha-male fighting thing, and just call it a truce?".

"I made that same offer to your brother" Mason replied, "He turned it down, with a knife".

"Well, our offer's better" Brayden said.

"Damon made a mistake" Stefan said.

"Debatable" Brayden said, glaring at Mason.

"Shut up" Stefan told Brayden, he then turned to Mason, "I'm here to make sure that neither one of you make another one".

"Tell your brother to watch his back" Mason warned.

Mason tried to walk away, but Brayden blocked his way, "Alright listen here, you mutt, I let my brother be the good brother and try his good way, but clearly that doesn't work on you, so let's try it my more cruel way, here's the thing Mason, if you wanted my brother dead, he would have been dead by now, which makes me think you're not strong enough just yet to take him on, you're waiting for the full, am I right, or am I right?" Brayden asked, "You're a lone wolf Mason, and you should know that lone wolves don't survive, specially not against three very old vampires, so instead of threating my brother to watch his back, maybe you should be the one who needs to be watching his back".

Mason glared at Brayden, but nonetheless, he knew Brayden was right, "If he comes at me--".

"He won't" Stefan assured, forwarding his towards Mason, which after a little bit of hesitation, Mason shook.

"What are you two doing?" Damon asked, coming behind his brothers.

"Negotiating peace on your behalf" Stefan replied.

"But I don't want peace" Damon complained.

"Well, suck it up" Brayden snapped, "You can't just wage a war between vampires and werewolves Damon, that's not how it works".

"Come on guys, please tell me you don't seriously think a handshake just solved our problem" Damon said.

"No, actually, I think that the first chance Mason Lockwood gets, he's gonna drive a stake through your heart, then Brayden's, and then through mine" Stefan said, "All because you took it upon yourself to try to kill him".

Brayden hit the back of Damon's head, "Ow!" Damon complained.

"Thanks a lot Damon, for adding to our already many problems" Brayden said.

***

"Oh, thanks, Mason" Liz said, as Mason helped her with the boxes.

"Hey, sheriff, you got a second?" Mason asked.

"I'm out of uniform" Liz replied, "Let's go with Liz".

"All right, Liz" Mason said, "I was hoping to talk to you about the Council".

"I don't know what you're talking about" Liz said.

"I know you and the other founding families have a secret council" Mason said.

"If that was true, then you'd know it's a secret and isn't discussed with non-Council members" Liz said.

"I know I rejected all that, but it's only because I wanted a life outside of this town" Mason said, "Not because I was a non-believer, look, I know vampires exist, and you have three of them living right under your nose".

"Really?" Liz asked, not believing Mason.

"Yeah" Mason replied.

"And who would they be?" Liz asked.

"Damon, Brayden and Stefan Salvatore" Mason replied.

Liz looked at Mason in shock, "That's impossible" she said, "I know Damon, Brayden's dating my daughter, do you know what those two have done for this town?".

"I know it's a lot to digest" Mason replied.

"No, no, no" Liz snapped, "I have watched Damon kill vampires, I let Brayden date my daughter, both of them are allies, they're part of the Council".

"Think about it" Mason urged, "When did the vampire attacks begin? When Damon, Brayden and Stefan Salvatore moved to town?".

"They walk in the sun, Mason" Liz defended.

"They've evolved, it's not 1864" Mason snapped, "They've figured it out, Liz".

"No, Damon Salvatore is my friend" Liz said, "And I've witnessed the amount of love Brayden Salvatore holds for my daughter with my own eyes".

Mason looked towards where the three brothers were, "What if I can prove it to you?" he asked.

***

"And now Jeremy wants to help us figure out whether or not Tyler Lockwood is a werewolf or not, but Caroline, I'm so scared something is going to happen to him--Caroline, are you even listening to me?" Elena asked.

"I'm sorry" Caroline apologised, "My mind isn't in the right place, right now".

"Does this have to do with Brayden?" Elena asked curiously.

"Maybe" Caroline mumbled, starting to paint a pillar, "We had a fight, and now there's this awkward tension between us".

"What was the fight about?" Elena asked.

"Nothing important" Caroline lied.

"Caroline, you know you can talk to me, right?" Elena said.

Caroline sighed, "I can't Elena, you won't understand".

"Try me" Elena said.

"I'd rather not" Caroline mumbled, "All you need to know is I'm not giving up on Brayden, we are going to get past this, we have to".

***

"Hey, we saw you with Mason earlier, what was that about?" Damon asked, as he and Brayden walked over to Liz.

"Oh, I, uh--I just asked him to help with the cleanup in the woods" Liz lied.

"Well, we're here as well, put us to work, please" Brayden pleaded, "I could really use a distraction".

"Should we go help him?" Damon asked.

"Oh, no, no" Liz replied quickly, "You know what? I--He's--I'm sure he's fine".

"Hey, is everything okay Liz?" Brayden asked, seeing Liz's upset face.

"It's Caroline, we had a moment" Liz replied, making Brayden frown.

"Is there anything we can do?" Damon asked.

"No, Damon, thank you" Liz replied, "It's just my horrible parenting skills paying off in spades".

"Don't say that" Brayden said, "Caroline isn't angry at you, she's angry at me and she's taking my anger out on people near her, and I'm really sorry about that".

***

Caroline watched as Brayden and Damon walked over to Stefan near the woodworking table.

"You're staring" Elena said.

"I need to fix things with him" Caroline said.

"Caroline, wait" Elena said, holding Caroline's wrist to stop from her walking towards Brayden, "You and me both know when Brayden's angry, he can say a lot of hurtful things, and if he's still angry at you, he might end up hurting you".

"Brayden will never hurt me, he's not me Elena" Caroline snapped, removing her wrist from Elena's hand and walking over to Brayden who was busy cutting wooden planks, "Brayden--".

"You shouldn't be talking to me in public" Brayden interrupted, while his brothers stood to the side and watched the scene unfold.

"You won't answer my phone" Caroline said.

"I've been busy" Brayden said, not looking towards Caroline.

"Doing what?" Caroline asked.

"Recovering from my heartbreak" Brayden replied, trying to walk away.

Before Brayden could walk away, Caroline grabbed his wrist, and made him face her, she then grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him closer.

"Don't walk away from me, Brayden" Caroline whispered.

"Careful Caroline, you're getting too close, wouldn't want Katherine to find out" Brayden whispered.

"God, why are you being so difficult?!" Caroline yelled.

"I learnt it from my girlfriend" Brayden snapped.

"I am not difficult" Caroline said.

"Try dating you, then talk to me" Brayden said.

Caroline narrowed her eyes at Brayden, "You're trying to hurt me" she realised, "Just like I hurt you, you're trying to get even with me".

"Depends, is it working?" Brayden asked.

"No" Caroline replied, "You can never hurt me, Brayden".

"I guess only one of us has the capability of hurting the other" Brayden taunted.

"I'm going to fix this Brayden, I'm not giving up on us" Caroline said.

"Yet, you were so ready to give up on me when Katherine told you, oh, and stop taking my anger out on your mother, she doesn't deserve that" Brayden said, finally walking away.

Stefan and Damon exchanged a look, while Stefan chased after his brother, Damon walked over to an upset Caroline.

"When Brayden gets hurt, he makes it extremely difficult for the other person to make it up to him" Damon said.

"I don't know what to do to make it up to him" Caroline said.

"Don't give up on him" Damon said, "He'll come around, he always does, one thing about Brayden, he can't stay away from the people he loves for too long".

"I hope you're right" Caroline said.

Damon nudged Caroline slightly, "I know I am".

***

"I don't want to hear it" Brayden said, as Stefan walked over to him.

"You're being too harsh on her, Brayden" Stefan said.

"No, harsh was what she said to me" Brayden snapped.

"What exactly did she say to you that's gotten you so angry?" Stefan asked curiously.

Brayden looked at Stefan, he didn't know if he wanted to tell Stefan about what Caroline said about their relationship, "None of your business".

"I'm trying to help Brayden" Stefan snapped, "Let me help".

"Why is mine and Caroline's relationship, so important to you and Damon?" Brayden asked, getting frustrated.

"Because you love Caroline, Brayden" Stefan replied, "And as your brother it's my job to make sure you don't lose her in your anger".

"Since when do we act like we're good brothers to each other?" Brayden snapped.

Stefan smiled, "Didn't you hear brother? It's a new era for the three Salvatore brothers, the three of us are going to try to be better brothers to each other, after all we are family".

"I never signed up for this" Brayden mumbled.

"No, but you're the one who started this" Stefan said, "By helping me through my ripper phase".

"Yeah well, I couldn't have you eat the whole of Mystic Falls" Brayden said.

Stefan patted Brayden's shoulder, "Sure Bray, whatever you say".

"You know, instead of worrying about me, you should be worrying about Damon, whose currently working on breaking your peace treaty with the mutt" Brayden said, pointing towards Damon who was busy provoking Mason.

"Unbelievable" Stefan mumbled, walking over to Damon with Brayden, "Please tell me that you were just bonding" he asked, after Mason had walked away.

"You done making blondie upset?" Damon asked Brayden, ignoring Stefan.

"Okay, why does everyone see that I made Caroline upset, but no one sees that Caroline made me upset?!" Brayden snapped.

"Because blondie over there is trying to make it up to you, while you're just being a dick" Damon said.

"The biggest dick in the world doesn't get to tell me that I'm being a dick" Brayden retorted.

"Language Bray, we are surrounded by children" Damon teased.

"Alright, Captain America" Brayden retorted.

"Would you like some lemonade?" A girl asked the brothers.

"Of course, sweetheart" Brayden replied, as he and Damon grabbed a lemonade each.

"Maybe this will cool your hot head" Damon told Brayden.

Brayden rolled his eyes at his twin, and ignoring him he took a sip of the lemonade, while Damon did the same, as soon as the twins drank the lemonade, they spat it back out, and started coughing violently.

"What's wrong with you two?" Stefan asked, suddenly worried.

"Vervain" Damon gasped out.

***

Caroline sat by the water fall, throwing rocks into the water.

"Hey" Kaitlynn said, sitting next to Caroline.

"Kaitlynn" Caroline whispered shocked.

"Hey, Caroline, I thought it was about time we finally met and talked" Kaitlynn said.

"About what?" Caroline asked, "You wanting Brayden back?".

Kaitlynn chuckled, "Relax Caroline, Brayden is all yours, I'm actually here to apologise".

Caroline looked at Kaitlynn in shock, "Apologise?".

"I know my sister has put you through a lot" Kaitlynn replied, "First killing you, and now threating not only your mom but also your relationship with Brayden, so I'm sorry on her behalf".

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Caroline asked confused.

"Well, first of all, I've been in your shoes before, in 1864 Katherine's planning jeopardised my relationship with Brayden" Kaitlynn replied, "And second of all, I want to be your friend".

"My friend?" Caroline asked shocked.

"Yeah, your friend, why is that so shocking?" Kaitlynn asked.

"It's just, well, I thought you hate me" Caroline replied, "You know, for being with Brayden".

"Don't be silly Caroline" Kaitlynn said, "Brayden was my past, but he's your present, I'm not my sister, I don't obsess over guys who don't love me anymore, personally I think I deserve better then that".

"I had a completely different picture of you in my head, and you're nothing like that picture" Caroline said.

"Should I be glad?" Kaitlynn asked.

"Well, in my head, you were after Brayden, you wanted him back, you were extremely bitchy and evil" Caroline replied, making Kaitlynn look at her in amusement, "And I had this vivid picture of you threatening me to leave Brayden so you could have him".

"Well, I assure you I'm not like that" Kaitlynn said, "Well, sometimes I can be bitchy and evil, but I won't threaten you, that is unless you do something bad to me or the people I care about".

"Noted" Caroline said.

"So, friends?" Kaitlynn asked, forwarding her hand towards Caroline.

"This isn't a trick, right?" Caroline asked, slightly unsure.

"No tricks" Kaitlynn assured, "I just want a new friend".

Caroline stared at Kaitlynn and after a moment, shook her hand, making Kaitlynn smile.

"Aww" Fae said, walking over to the two girls, "This is such an aww moment, I should definitely take a photo, oh, on second thoughts, let's take a selfie".

Fae sat on the other side of Caroline, and took out her phone.

"Smile girls" Fae said, "We just became best friends".

"She gets very excited when we make new friends" Kaitlynn said, "You'll get used to her excitement the more time you spend with her".

"Well, you can't blame me for getting excited" Fae said, "We don't make new friends everyday", Fae turned to Caroline, "I have an important question for you".

"What?" Caroline asked, slightly confused.

"Fae" Kaitlynn warned, knowing all to well what Fae was about to ask.

"Sex or chocolate?" Fae asked.

"Oh boy" Kaitlynn mumbled.

"What?" Fae asked, "It's an important question, so Caroline, what will it be?".

Caroline blushed, "I-I don't know".

"That means you choose sex" Fae said.

"What? No" Caroline said quickly,

"Well, if you chose chocolate, you wouldn't have blushed so much" Fae pointed out.

"Fae, we just made a new friend, don't scare her away already" Kaitlynn said.

"I'm not scaring her away, I'm just getting to know her" Fae defended, making Caroline look at her in amusement.

Before Caroline could say anything, her eyes landed on her mother, who seemed to be leaving the picnic.

"Is she leaving?" Caroline mumbled.

"Who?" Kaitlynn asked slightly confused.

"My mom" Caroline replied, standing up, "I need to see where she's going".

"We'll come with you" Fae said, as her and Kaitlynn followed Caroline, as she went to confront her mother.

"What's wrong?" Caroline asked her mother.

"Oh, nothing, I, uh--I just have something--".

"You mean work?" Caroline interrupted, "I mean you surprised me, you lasted longer than five minutes".

"It's important" Liz argued.

"It always is" Caroline retorted.

"I'm sorry" Liz apologised, walking away from Caroline.

"Everything okay?" Kaitlynn asked, walking over to Caroline.

"I don't know" Caroline replied, "Something's up".

"Where are the brothers?" Fae asked suddenly.

"Wait, you think something happened to the brothers?" Kaitlynn asked worried.

"We have to find out" Fae replied, as the three girls ran to find the three Salvatore brothers.

***

"Argh!" Brayden yelled, as him and Damon grabbed an water bottle each, and walked to the side.

"Oh, it burns" Damon complained.

Both Brayden and Damon gargled the water and spat it out.

"He's dead" Brayden snapped, throwing the water on to the floor, "The mutt is so dead".

"No" Stefan said, holding both his brothers back.

"No more Mr. Nice Guy" Damon snapped.

"Sit, sit, sit" Stefan ordered, pushing both his brothers down on to the bench.

"Screw your stupid peace treaty!" Brayden yelled.

"He's dead" Damon snapped.

"Okay" Stefan said, trying to clam his brothers down, "Okay, I don't like it, but he's making threats, he could expose us, we need to put him down".

"Great, lets go then" Brayden said.

"The woods" Damon said, seeing Mason go into the woods, "Trash duty, come on".

Damon and Brayden stood up, and the three brothers made their way into the woods to kill Mason.

***

"Here" Kaitlynn said, as the three girls stood on top of a hill, "We should be able to hear everyone from here".

"Alright, let's find these brothers, who always find a way to get into trouble" Fae said.

Caroline nodded, and the three girls stood on the hill, and started listening, wanting to know where the brothers were, and why Liz was so worried.

***

Damon, Brayden and Stefan surrounded Mason while he was in the woods.

"Don't look so surprised, you knew this was inevitable" Damon told Mason.

"Go ahead Mason, run" Brayden said, "We like the chase".

"We'll even give you a head start" Damon said.

Suddenly Mason bent down, and multiple shots were fired at the brothers, causing them to fall to the floor in pain.

"Thank you, Mason" Liz said, walking over to the brothers and injected the three of them with vervain

***

"Oh, my god" Caroline whispered in shock.

"Did you guys hear that?" Kaitlynn asked.

"The gunshots?" Fae asked.

"Yeah" Kaitlynn replied.

"They're in trouble" Caroline realised, and with that the three girls ran to save the brothers.

***

"It's down the stairs to the left"  Mason said, leading the deputies who were carrying the brothers, into the Lockwood cellar.

"Careful, wooden bullets and vervain won't keep them down for long" Liz called out, she then turned to Mason, "What is this place?".

"Old slave quarters" Mason replied, "From the original Lockwood house".

"Thank you, Mason, I appreciate all you've done" Liz said, as they walked down into the cellar, "We got it from here".

"Hey, you're gonna kill them, right?" Mason asked, slightly worried.

"Yes" Liz replied, "That's why you should go, I'm here as the Council, not the law, you can't be a party to this, it's for your own protection".

"Liz, I don't care about--".

"Yes, but I do, and I'm not asking" Liz interrupted, "Goodbye, Mason".

Mason glanced at the brothers one last time, then walked away, but before leaving he turned to Liz one last time, "Don't take any chances" he warned.

***

"Here" Kaitlynn realised, as the girls arrived at the place the brothers were shot, "They've been here".

"Caroline!" Elena yelled, running over to the Forbes vampires, "Is everything okay? I saw you rush into the woods".

Caroline ignored Elena and bent down and looked at the leaves, "Fresh blood" she said, looking at Fae and Kaitlynn.

"What are you four doing out here?" Mason asked, walking over to the girls.

"Have you seen the Salvatore brothers?" Fae asked, while Kaitlynn narrowed her eyes at Mason.

"Yeah, I've seen them" Mason replied.

"Where are they?" Caroline asked.

"You don't need me for that" Mason replied, "You can sniff them out yourself, does your mother know what you are? I'm happy to tell her".

"I've seen you somewhere" Kaitlynn said, making Mason look at her, "I just can't remember where".

Fae and Caroline went to attack Mason, but he grabbed Elena and held her in a headlock, "Don't be stupid" he warned, "Necks snap easy around here".

"I can take you" Caroline said, in her mind going through all the techniques Brayden taught her.

"Wanna bet?" Mason asked.

"Yeah, I do" Caroline replied, rushing over to Mason, she quickly pushed him away from Elena and shoved him into a tree, "Told you" she said, kicking Mason in the stomach, causing him to fall to the ground, she then kicked him into a tree.

"Clearly Brayden has been giving you amazing self defense lessons" Kaitlynn said, as her and Fae looked at Caroline, amazed.

"Come on" Caroline said, as the four girls ran to find the brothers.

***

Liz nudged Brayden with her leg, causing him to slightly open his eyes, seeing Brayden awake, Liz shot him in the leg again, causing him to yell in pain.

"This is how it's gonna work" Liz said, "Answer me and you don't get shot, understand?", Brayden looked towards his brothers in worry, to see Damon slowly waking up, while Stefan stayed unconscious, "How many of you are there?" Liz asked.

"Don't do this" Brayden whispered.

Liz didn't say anything, just shot Brayden again.

"Aah!" Brayden yelled.

"How did you fool us? How do you walk in the sun?" Liz asked, when Brayden stayed quiet, Liz shot Stefan and Damon, Stefan had no reaction as he was unconscious, but Damon yelled in pain, "I will drag this out painfully" Liz warned.

"Good luck telling your daughter, that you killed the guy she loves" Brayden whispered.

"Your love for my daughter was a lie" Liz snapped, "Answer me and I'll kill you fast".

"I don't snitch" Brayden said, causing Liz to shot him again, "Aah!".

***

"What is that?" Elena asked, as the girls arrived at the Lockwood cellar.

"Shh" Caroline said, listening to what her mother was saying.

"He's not gonna tell us anything, kill all three of them" Liz ordered.

"Oh, my god" Caroline cried.

"We need to save them, now" Fae said, as her and Kaitlynn heard the same thing.

"What's going on?" Elena asked, frustrated with not knowing what was happening.

"My mom, she's killing them" Caroline replied.

"Come on, we're wasting time" Kaitlynn said.

"I can't" Caroline whispered.

"Caroline, Brayden is dying, so are Stefan and Damon, we need to save them" Fae snapped.

"No, I can't, Fae, she's gonna find out about me" Caroline cried.

"Fine, then you stay up here, we'll go save them" Kaitlynn said, as her and Fae rushed in, Elena following them.

"Guys!" Caroline called out, but none of the girls stopped.

"Let's do this" Liz said, "Each with a stake in the heart, then burn them both".

Before any of the deputies could stake the brothers, Kaitlynn and Fae speeded into the cellar, and each of the girls, bit into a deputy each.

Liz shot at the two vampires, but they used the deputies as their shield, but the third deputy managed to shoot the two girls in the stomach.

Before Liz could hurt the girls, Elena walked into the cellar, "You can't kill them, I'm not gonna let you" Elena said, as the last deputy shoved her in.

Suddenly Liz and the deputy heard someone run into the cellar.

"Who else is with you?" Liz asked Elena.

Before anyone could realise, Caroline speeded over to the last deputy and bit into his neck, after killing the deputy, Caroline turned to her shocked mother, "Hi, Mom" she said.

***

Fae helped take the wooden bullets out of Stefan, while Elena watched, Kaitlynn and Caroline sat near Damon and Brayden, watching them drink the deputies blood.

"You okay?" Caroline asked Brayden.

Brayden nodded, "Much better".

"You need to drink some deputy blood" Damon told Stefan.

"Oh, no" Stefan disagreed, "I'll be fine, it's just gonna take a little bit longer".

"Damon's right, you know?" Caroline said, "If there was ever a time to break your diet--".

"He said he didn't want it, okay?" Elena snapped.

"Why the hell is her useless ass here?" Brayden asked, glaring at Elena.

"I came to help" Elena replied.

"Yet you did nothing" Brayden snapped.

"Stefan, I can help you, you know" Fae said, "You can drink human blood, and I'll help you through it, you don't have to be afraid of becoming a ripper, I'll never let you become that person again".

Stefan looked at Fae, "I'll think about it".

Fae gave Stefan a small smile, "That's all I want, something tells me things are going to get worse, and you need to be the strongest you can be for it".

Damon stood up, "This is a most unfortunate situation" he said, turning to face Liz, "Three deputies dead, and you, what am I gonna do with you?".

"You won't tell anyone, will you?" Caroline asked her mom, who couldn't even look at her, "Mom? Mom? Please, look, I know that we don't get along and that you hate me, but I'm your daughter and you'll do this for me, right?", Liz stayed quiet, "Mom, please, he will kill you".

Liz looked at Damon, with teary eyes, "Then kill me" she cried.

"No" Caroline protested.

"I can't take this" Liz cried, as Damon walked over to her, causing Brayden to stand up, "Kill me, now".

"But you were gonna drag it out so painfully" Damon said, making Liz stand up.

Brayden ran over to them and pushed Damon away from Liz.

"No more deaths" Brayden stated, "No one else is dying today", Brayden turned to Liz, "You are mine and Damon's friend, and you happen to be the mother of the girl I'm madly in love with, so instead of death, you get to stay in the cellar of hotel Salvatore for a few days".

"Before we go, we gotta clean this up" Damon said, pointing to the dead bodies.

***

"Hey" Brayden greeted, opening the front door for Caroline.

"Hey, sorry that took forever" Caroline said, entering the house, "I just didn't know how long my mom was gonna be here".

"It should take max three days to get the vervain to leave her system" Brayden informed, "But it could leave sooner".

"Hey" Caroline greeted Stefan, Elena behind him.

"Hey" Stefan greeted.

"Get some bunny in you?" Caroline asked.

"Yeah, feeling much better, thank you" Stefan replied.

"Poor bunnies" Brayden commented, as the group walked down to the basement.

"A stomach bag" Liz said into the phone, "Yeah, it came on fast, I'll definitely be out tomorrow".

"Tsk, tsk, tsk" Damon said, shaking his head.

"Or longer, I'll text you" Liz said, "Yeah, good night".

"Thank you" Damon said, taking the phone from Liz, "It's not exactly the Ritz, but it's secure, brought you a good thread count, and once the vervain has worked its ways out of your system, I will compel you, you will forget everything, and you will be a free woman".

"Keep Caroline away from me, please" Liz pleaded, as Caroline, Brayden, Elena and Stefan walked down, "I don't wanna see her".

"She's your daughter, Liz" Damon reminded.

Liz shook her head, "Not anymore, my daughter's gone".

"You have no idea how wrong you are about that" Damon said.

Caroline went to leave, but Brayden grabbed her wrist, and dragged her into the cellar.

"With all due respect Liz, this girl here, is still your daughter, she is still Caroline Forbes, I admit, being a vampire changes people, but it hasn't changed her, it's made her better as a person, she is one of the good vampires Liz, and you should be proud of her, not bring her down" Brayden said, "Caroline didn't choose to be a vampire, your daughter was murdered Liz", Liz looked at Brayden in shock, "You need to understand what happened first, before you judge her, because knowing the human and the vampire Caroline, I can tell you, she's still the Caroline we both adore and love".

Caroline looked at Brayden with teary eyes, she then looked at her mom, who was looking down at the ground, with tears streaming down her face, Caroline wiped her tears, and ran upstairs.

***

Stefan walked over to the freezer that was full of Damon and Brayden's blood bags, grabbing one, Stefan stared at it for a moment.

"Stefan, I think that we should--", Elena froze seeing Stefan looking at the blood bag, "What are you doing?".

"Katherine took a little vervain everyday and built up a tolerance to it" Stefan replied, Kaitlynn having told him why Katherine was able to escape, "I could do the same with blood, I could learn to control myself on it".

"But you can't, Stefan, you don't have to" Elena said.

Stefan stared at Elena in shock, "I almost died tonight, Elena" he reminded, "Because I was too weak".

"But the last time you drank human blood--".

"Last time, I didn't have Fae" Stefan said, causing a hurt expression to come over Elena's face, "I'm sorry Elena, I don't want to hurt you, but the truth is, Fae helps me, she always has helped keep the ripper in me at bay, and you want me to stop Katherine, then is it, this is the only way, because she's stronger than me, and unless that changes, I can't protect anyone from her".

Elena pointed to her ear, gesturing that Brayden and Damon can hear them, "Can we talk about this later?" she asked.

"They can hear us whatever we are because they drink this" Stefan snapped, holding the blood bag, "This is the only thing that can help me".

"Are you serious?" Elena asked.

"Of course I'm serious Elena" Stefan snapped.

Elena looked at Stefan with teary eyes, she then ran up the stairs, away from Stefan.

***

"Hey" Brayden whispered, entering his room, and seeing Caroline, laying on his bed.

"Please don't kick me out" Caroline whispered, "I don't want to go home, I'm scared Katherine's going to be there".

"Then stay" Brayden whispered, taking his shirt off and laying next to Caroline, after turning the lights off.

"Are you still mad at me?" Caroline whispered.

"No" Brayden replied.

"Then why am I talking to your bare back and not your face?" Caroline asked.

"Go to sleep, Caroline, you've had a long day" Brayden replied.

Caroline moved closer to Brayden and hugged him, "Please don't be mad at me anymore" she whispered.

Brayden sighed, he turned around and faced Caroline, "If you hide things from me Caroline, then I can't protect you, and I know you don't need my protection, but I still am going to try and protect you from anything and anyone who even dares harm you, but I can't do that if you don't tell me the truth, I know Katherine threatened you, but you should have found a way to tell me, I would have kept you and your mom safe".

"I will next time" Caroline promised.

"There's not going to be a next time" Brayden said, putting his hand on Caroline's face, "This is the last time Katherine Pierce is going to threaten you".

"I love you" Caroline said, moving closer and her lips hovering near Brayden's.

"Back at you" Brayden said, putting his hand on the back of Caroline's head, and bringing her head down so their lips meet.

***

"Hey" Fae said, entering the living room, where Stefan was.

"Hey" Stefan greeted.

"I came to check on Caroline and her mom, and I didn't mean to but I accidentally ended up hearing your and Elena's conversation" Fae said.

"All of it?" Stefan asked.

"All of it" Fae replied, sitting next to Stefan, "I don't know Elena, but I know you Stefan, and I know the amount of will power you have, if you want, I can help you with your bloodlust".

"I don't know if I'm actually going to be able to control" Stefan admitted.

"Well, that's what I'm here for" Fae said, "If you lose control, the cellar downstairs is always going to be there".

Stefan chuckled, "You'll really help me?".

"Of course" Fae replied, "You need to drink a little bit of blood everyday, so um, do you want a blood bag, or my blood?".

"You will let me drink your blood?" Stefan asked shocked.

"It won't be the first time" Fae replied, playfully nudging Stefan.

"Fae, blood sharing is a huge thing" Stefan reminded.

"Stefan, this isn't anything sexual, I'm just trying to help, if you would prefer blood from a blood then just say so" Fae said.

"I never said that" Stefan said.

Fae smiled, she grabbed the knife that was laying on the side table, and made a small cut on her palm.

"I'm right here Stefan, and I don't plan on leaving this time" Fae promised, forwarding her hand towards Stefan, "I believe in you Stefan, now it's time you do too".

Stefan grabbed Fae's hand, he looked at Fae one last time, then drank her blood.

"You okay?" Fae asked Stefan.

"I'm fine" Stefan replied, looking at Fae, "I really want to kiss you".

"You can't" Fae whispered.

Stefan attached his forehead with Fae's, "I know" he whispered.

***

Presenting 2x05 of The Vampire Diaries . . .

How was the chapter? Disclaimer: In order for me to fit all the couples, and everything that happens in TVD, chapters in this book will be pretty long, so bear with me >.<

Thoughts Brayden refusing to talk to Caroline after finding out the truth about Katherine blackmailing her?

Thoughts on Caroline, Kaitlynn and Fae now becoming friends?

Thoughts on Caroline, Kaitlynn and Fae saving the brothers together?

Thoughts on Fae helping Stefan with his bloodlust?