❪ 𝓢𝑰𝑿 𝓕𝑬𝑬𝑻 𝓤𝑵𝑫𝑬𝑹 ❫ ⚰️ ˖ ׁ ⁩ 𓂃
𝚃𝚅𝙳  ⸻  ✸ 🔮⭑.ᐟ
❝ 𝖭𝖮 𝖧𝖠𝖱𝖣 𝖥𝖤𝖤𝖫𝖨𝖭𝖦𝖲 ❞

✦ ╮ 𝟓𝟓. ❝ 𝖧𝖤𝖠𝖱𝖳 𝖮𝖥 𝖣𝖠𝖱𝖪𝖭𝖤𝖲𝖲 ❞ ── .✦

𝗔𝗡𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗦𝗜𝗔 𝗠𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗦 behind Elena as the two of them walked to the cellar where Alaric was locked up.

"Alaric?" Elena calls out to the history teacher.

"Yep. Still me." He jokes as Anastasia unlocks the door and the two walk into the cell where Alaric is sitting on a cot. "You know, you both shouldn't be in here. It defeats the point of the whole being locked in a cellar thing."

Elena drops the bag on the floor that she had in her hands, "Well, you still need the basics. Toothbrush, clothes, some boring books to help you sleep."

Alaric picks one of the books up and hands it to Elena, "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?"

"What? No, I grabbed....Damon." She drops the book to the floor, "Thinks he's hilarious."

"At least one of us still has a sense of humor."

"Are you sure that you...? I mean, you don't have to be kept in here." Elena tells him.

"Ah, no, this is...this is the right place for me to be." Alaric says, "At least until you guys can convince my highly uncooperative alter ego to fess up to where I or he hid the white oak stake."

"We looked everywhere." Anastasia shrugged her shoulder, "The other you hid it well, and it's becoming a pain in my ass."

"What's Klaus gonna do if you can't find it?"

"It's the only thing that will kill him, so wage war, murder people, you know Klaus stuff." The Salvatore girl says as Elena pulls up a chair and sits down in it.

"Listen, Stefan is gonna watch over you for a little while. Now that Klaus knows where Jeremy is, it's not safe so, Damon, Anastasia and I are gonna do to Denvor to pick him up."

Alaric raises an eyebrow as he looks at Anastasia.

"I'm going against my will." She tells him, "Apparently, I'm the backup if he doesn't want to come with us."

Alaric looks back at Elena, "Why do you say that like you're waiting for me to disapprove?"

"I don't know. Me and Damn. Traveling across the country."

"I guess I'm more curious to hear what Stefan has to say about it."

Anastasia laughs, "It was his idea. He thinks that Elena has some unresolved feelings for Dad."

"Do you?" He asked the Doppelganger.

"I guess that's why I'm going on this tip. So I can figure it out."

"Oh, by the way, I put a PlayBoy in there for you." Anastasia throws the history teacher a wink as she turns to walk out.

𑁍₊𓄹 -

𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗙𝗔𝗡 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗦 in front of the fireplace, staring off into the flames as Damon brings down his and Anastasia's bags for the trip to Denver.

"You hear from Klaus?" Damon asked.

"Not yet. I'm sure I will soon though." Stefan picks up the white oak stake, "He's expecting me to deliver two stakes, I only have one."

"Well, that's gonna be disappointing for him."

"I'll get it out of Alaric. I just need some time." Stefan tells his brother.

"I like that confidence, Stefan." Damon says, "I don't share it, but I like it."

"You don't think I can do what it takes."

"Well, you're good Stefan again. You're in control." Damon said, "Sorry, you might get the girl but you lose the edge. Speaking off...," Damon trails off as his daughter and Elena walk into the room. "Have you ever flown first class?"

"Who did you have to compel for that?" Elena asked him.

"I'm offended." Anastasia mumbles as she walks towards her uncle to hug him around the waist.

"Pft, please. I use miles." Damon said before picking up their bags and walking out of the door.

Elena looks at Stefan, "Stefan....,"

"Be safe." Stefan tells him before he looks down at his niece, "And you, don't cause any trouble, please. You're over a hundred years old, not five."

Anastasia scoffed, pushing away from him. "I hate you."

"No you don't!"

𑁍₊𓄹 -

"𝗔𝗛, 𝗕𝗔𝗦𝗘𝗕𝗔𝗟𝗟 players." Anastasia smirked as she looked around the batting cages in Denver, I know some vampires that only like playing baseball when there was a thunderstorm.

Elena looks at her over her shoulder, "Why during a thunderstorm?"

"Something about the thunder just made them...faster." Anastasia smirked, "There's Jeremy."

The three watch as the Gilbert boy swings at the ball and misses.

"Next time we compel him, remind me to make him better at baseball." Damon said as Elena walks over to the cage.

"Hey, Jer!" Elena calls out to him.

Jeremy turns around, "Elena?" He glances behind his sister and finds Damon and Anastasia standing behind him. "What's wrong?"

"Katherine sired us." Damon says after telling Jeremy everything that he had missed in Mystic Falls over the months, "Rose sired Katherine, all we need to do is find out who sired Rose."

"So, you traveled across the country to get me to talk to a dead vampire?" Jeremy asked as he put the metal back back in its place, holding the helmet in his hand.

"Dead vampire is redundant, but yet."

"Well, I can't." Jeremy tells them, "I could talk to Anna and Vicki because I knew them, I've never even met Rose."

"What good is you dying and coming back to life if you can't talk to a ghost when I need you to?" Damon asked the human boy.

"Rose spent a long time running from Klaus as well. She and Damon were close, so maybe we can use him as a connection." Elena tells her brother.

"Fine, fine, but can we do this later?" Jeremy asked them, "My friend just got here, and yes, Damon, I actually have some. I'll call you later."

Jeremy walks away and both Anastasia and Elena turn around the find Kol walking towards the Gilbert boy.

"Oh, boy." Anastasia groaned, throwing her head back, "Why do you hate me jesus? Is it because I've sinned so many times in my hundred something years of living? Is it because I broke that window in 1883?"

"That was you?!" Damon gasps, looking at his daughter wide eyed.

"No....it was Uncle Stefan."

"Jer...," Elena gaspsed, "Damon, it's Kol!"

"What are you doing?!" Jeremy exclaimed as Kol hit Damon with the wooden baseball bat, causing the bat to split in two as Damon falls to the ground.

"Jeremy, get back!" Elena yells to her brother, "He's an original."

"What?"

"Hello, Darling." Kol grinned as he walked towards Anastasia, kissing her on the forehead before he turned back to Jeremy, "No hard feelings, mate. But we're not buds." He grabs an aluminum bat from the bat rack, "You know, I'll never get used to aluminum. But hey, at least it won't break."

Kol swings to hit Damon with the bat, but Damon grabs it and with his other hand picks up the broken half of the wooden bag and stabs Kol through the chest with it.

Anastasia gasps out in pain, clutching her chest as Kole falls to the ground.

"Did you kill him?" Jeremy asked, "Anastasia!"

"She's fine." Damon grunts, picking his daughter up from the ground, "I'm seriously not sure why the hell that keeps happening when we try to kill that bastard. And this will give us a head start. Okay, come on."

𑁍₊𓄹 -

"𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗘 record, she's the one who wanted to stay in a motel, not me." Damon says as the four get out of the rental car, Anastasia rubbing at her chest.

"So, where are we?"

"Corner of somewhere and nowhere where Kol can't find us." Damon tells him.

"I can't believe Kol was a vampire." Jeremy walks ahead, Anastasia behind him. "I can't believe that's the same Kol that is your best friend."

"That's the one."

"Well, didn't you find it weird that you made friends so fast? Have you met you?"

"Not helping." Elena glares at him as they walk up the stairs before entering the motel room with two beds. "Well, this should work, right Jer?"

"Yeah, doesn't really matter."

"Alright, Whoopi, what do you need?" Damon draws the curtains closed as Anastasia sits on one of the bed, "Candles? Incense? Pottery wheel?"

"That's not how it works." Jeremy said.

"I know, I know. They push from the other side and you pull from this one."

"Alright, you uh - you got a picture of her?" Jeremy asked his ex-girlfriend's father.

"Picture? What, a trip to Disneyland?" Damon asked, "Come on Rose, you're not gonna actually make us wait, are you? I know you're obsessed with me."

Elena scoffs, rolling her eyes and sitting down next to Jeremy.

"Alright, uh - tell me something about her." Jeremy tells him.

Damon sits down on the end of the bed next to his daughter, "Um, well she does this little thing with her tongue."

"Ew! Gross." Anastasia scrunches her face up.

"Something that matters, Damon." Elena tells him.

"She spent her last day in paradise. Soaking in the sun and reminiscing about what it means to be human. And when death came, she didn't fear it." Damon explained to them.

"I was with her on her last day." Elena looks at the vampire in confusion, "and she definitely wasn't in paradise."

"It was in the dream he gave her." Jeremy caught their attention, "She's here."

Damon looks around the room. He can't see her, but Rose is sitting next to him on the other bed.

𑁍₊𓄹 -

"𝗜𝗦 𝗦𝗛𝗘 lonely on the other side?" Elena asked her brother.

"No, I enjoy it. I was running so much when I was alive, now I have the freedom to do whatever I want." Rose says, though only one person could understand her.

"She says not to worry, she's happy." Jeremy tells them.

"Is she still hot?"

"Tell him he's still dripping with sex too." Rose says, but Jeremy only stares at her, "Fine, tell him I miss him."

"She misses you."

"And tell him I'm rooting for him and Elena." Rose said.

"She uh - she misses both of you." Jeremy lied.

"Unfortunately, I don't have any news on the siring front." Rose says, "Klaus didn't sire me. No original did. It was Mary Porter."

"She was sired by someone named Mary Porter." Jeremy tells him.

Anastasia groaned, throwing herself back onto the bed, "No! I hate that bitch!"

"Uh, scary Mary." Damon says, "Well, where is she, Rose?"

"I didn't keep track of her when I was alive, much less now." Rose told Jeremy, "Tell them to sit tight, relax. I'll see what I can find out."

𑁍₊𓄹 -

𝗗𝗔𝗠𝗢𝗡 𝗔𝗡𝗗 Anastasia are outside the hotel room when his phone rings, and he answers it, putting the phone on speaker so that his daughter could hear. "There you are. Any sign of Evil-laric?"

"Nope, only dead Alaric." Stefan answers.

"What?" The two Salvator's in Denver say in sync.

"Don't worry, he was wearing his ring." Stefan said, "Klaus was here, let's just say he's not very patient."

"Kol must have told him we were in Denver." Anastasia rolls her eyes.

"How long has Ric been out?" Damon questioned.

"A few hours. I'm hoping when he wakes up, it won't be him, it'll be the other him." Stefan said.

"And if not?"

"Yeah, I know. Whatever it takes. So, were you able to contact Rose?"

"Yeaah, no answers yet."Damon said, "So, we're just stuck in this motel until she gets back to us."

"A motel?"

"Yeah, we had to get away from Kol. I'll call you when I know more." Damon said before hanging up.

𑁍₊𓄹 -

𝗝𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗠𝗬 𝗔𝗡𝗗 Elena are in the motel room together as they wait on the father and daughter to get back, Jeremy laying on his bed watching TV while Elena goes through the luggage.

"So, what's up with you and Damon?" Jeremy asked his sister.

"What do you mean? Nothing's up." Elena tells him.

"Are you sure about that?" He questioned, "Cause even Rose said something."

"What did she say?" Elena asked as Damon and Anastasia walk into the room.

"Everything okay?" He asked as Anastasia threw herself on the bed where Elena was at.

"Yeah, it's fine."

"Okay, well, I'm gonna freshen up." Damon tells them, "You might want to get some rest. I'm sure Rose will make herself known when she gets back."

𑁍₊𓄹 -

"𝗦𝗢, 𝗞𝗢𝗟." Jeremy says as it's just him and Anastasia in the motel room, no idea where Damon and Elena had gone.

"What about it?" Anastasia asked, playing with the necklace around her neck, "He's Kol. He's just not in a casket with a dagger in his heart anymore. Do you seriously want to talk about this?"

"Yes, I wanna talk about it." Jeremy sits up, looking over at her, swallowing the lump forming in his throat, "Was..Was I just some placeholder until he came back into your life?"

"What? Jeremy, no." Anastasia pinches her eyebrows together as she moves to the end of the bed, "I love you, Jeremy. And like I said, a part of me will always love you but Kol.....he has always had the number one place in my heart. And I don't think that will change unless he's actually dead."

Jeremy turns his head, eyes drifting off to the corner, "Rose said she found Mary."

"Let's go find my dad and Elena." Anastasia stands up from the bed, Jeremy quickly following her actions as they pull the door open and rush around the corner, stopping in their traces as Damon and Elena pull out of the heated kiss they were in.

"Elena?" Jeremy gives Elena a shameful look as she smiles back at him slightly unsure of what she wanted.

"Both of you are so pathetic." Anastasia scoffed, turning on the heels of her feet and going back towards the motel room.

"Oh my God, Jeremy, I.....,"

Jeremy cuts her off, "Rose found Mary. She lives in Kansas."

"Okay then." Damon breathes deeply, "Let's go." He heads back into the room as Jeremy looks at his sister.

𑁍₊𓄹 -

"𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗜𝗦 the address." Jeremy says as they pull up to an abandoned-looking house and gets out of the car.

"Looks about right." Damon looks at the house.

"Wait here." Elena tells her brother.

"Why?! So you guys can make out some more??" Jeremy asked them.

"Don't be a dick. Listen to your sister."

Jeremy scoffs, moving back into the car.

The three walk into the house as Elena turns on a the light from her phone. The room is full of books on the floor and a bunch of other junk.

"Oof, like Vampire Hoarders." Damon looks around.

"Ugh, nasty bitch." Anastasia makes a face.

"Who is this Mary person?" Elena asked the two vampires.

"Scary Mary. She's really old, super creepy."

"And how do you know her?" Elena looked between the two of them.

"I dated her." Damon said.

"Of course."

"What? I said creepy, not ugly."

A loud noise comes from another room, and the three look towards the room where it had come from and they move towards the noise as Elean moves the phone light around the room, and the beam of light lands on a vampire who has been staked to the wall.

"Mary." Damon breaths.

"Serves you right, bitch."

The lights come on in the dark room, and Kol is sitting in a chair with a metal baseball bat in his hand.

"Ooh, we should've seen that coming." Anastasia points towards the Original, shrugging at the 'really?' look that came from her father. "What?"

"Quite contrary." Kol says, "Shame about Mary. She used to be a blast. Didn't quite know what happened. I fear all the time she spent with my family might have ruined her. She was a bit of an Original groupie."

"And you were her favorite?"

"You mean, did I turn her? Oh, I was never around Mary. I was too busy with Anastasia to be worried about her." Kol shot a wink in Anastasia direction, causing the girls face to heat up as he remembered all too well what she and Kol got up to when Mary was staying with them. "Maybe it was Rebekah. There was also a Klaus period."

"Ooh, don't forget the Elijah affair." Anastasia says.

"Right, how could I forget? Thank you, Darling." Kol grinned, "I spoke to my brother. I know you're trying to find out who you descended from. Now you never will. So, where did we leave off?"

Kol hits Damon's leg with the baseball bat, causing him to fall to the ground as Kol continues hitting him.

"Elena, get out of here!" Damon exclaimed.

Elena runs for the door, but Kol is quicker than she is and blocks her way from leaving.

"According to my brother, you're off limits." Kol throws Elena to the ground as Damon stands up and rushes towards Kol.

"Don't touch her."

"Oh, dear, I've hit a nerve." Kol throws Damon off of him, "Heh heh. Relax, darling, I just want to be even. You snapped my neck, you killed my brother, and then you humiliated me in front of the love of my life." The Original hits Damon with the bat repeatedly. "There, now we're even."

𑁍₊𓄹 -

𝗔𝗡𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗦𝗜𝗔 in the backseat of the car as they drove back to Mystic Falls, her head resting against the glass window as she looked out into the night sky.

Elena turns her head to look at the vampire in the back with her brother, "Stacie...I have a question."

"Hmm? Well, considering the fact that this whole trip has been a bust, I'd be happy to tell you what you want just to pass up some time."

"How come...when Kol is staked, you temporarily die?" The Doppelganger asked, causing Jeremy to turn his head to look at the vampire as Damon looks at his daughter in the rearview mirror.

Anastasia chuckled, "That's one secret, I'll never tell."