Try {One | Alaric Saltzman}

Masquerade

"I mean, I've done it like twenty times at the Grill."

Jenna winced.

Matt added, "Okay, I'm being nice."

Abigail followed Elena into the kitchen with the rest of the bags from the grocery store. "So, what are we going to do?"

"Make lunch."

Jeremy joined them; eyebrows furrowed. "She means what are we going to do about Katherine."

Elena opened the refrigerator. "We're not doing anything."

"She tried to kill Jenna," Abigail protested. "We can't let her get away with that."

"Yes," Elena said. "We can."

Abigail scoffed. "What if she tries something else?"

"Katherine hurt Jenna because I didn't do what she said," Elena stressed. "I'm doing it now. Me and Stefan are over. She wins, the end."

Jeremy stormed out of the backdoor, hissing, "You are being naïve, and you know it."

Ignoring the look on her sister's face, Abigail followed her brother. "He's right, Elena."

Bonnie was standing outside of the boarding house when Abigail and Jeremy pulled up. She had the grimoire tucked under one of her arms, her bag over her shoulder, her keys in her hand, and an expression that was almost what they were expecting. She was confused, less so when she realized how many familiar cars were surrounding her, but she had to be. For now at least.

"Did Stefan call..." Bonnie followed them toward the house. "Everyone?"

Jeremy pushed open the front door, letting the flurry of action speak for itself. Stefan and Caroline. Damon and Alaric. The weapons laid out between them. The quick movements. The obvious premeditation. It all hit her at once.

"What's going on?" Bonnie asked.

Abigail met her eyes briefly. "We're going to kill Katherine."

"I can explain," Stefan said as Abigail brushed past him. "We're going to kill Katherine."

Alaric's demonstration was one that she had seen before. Weapons as old as time, weapons he picked up along the way, and weapons of his own invention were spread out in a way that put them on display.

They all had a story, a certain thing that set them apart from the rest, but each of them had the same purpose. To kill a vampire.

It would be impossible to explain them all by the time they needed them, so, for each person he picked the best weapon. Stefan and Damon shared worried looks, Caroline tried not to let it bother her, Bonnie hung on to every word although she knew she had everything she needed within herself, Jeremy paid attention to every single one, just in case he'd need them all, and Abigail, although she had heard him talk for hours about them, although she had seen them all before, although she knew everything he was telling her, made a list in her head.

They split off to different parts of the house, separate plans now one, to solidify what had been put in place. Because today would turn into tonight. Tonight. They only had tonight.

Everyone was in the living room now. They'd settled, or were about to, but their conversations from before were spilling over into the beginning of their regrouping. Two of them, however, were saying more than the others. They were in a room, surrounded by people, with an excuse to be. And, so, even as their volume dwindled, they settled on the couch.

"Are you sure you don't want me to be there tonight?" Alaric asked Abigail.

"I need you to stay with Elena." She could feel his warmth, the brush of his body against hers as he shifted in his place. That alone made her want to change her answer, but she knew that she couldn't. She knew that she had to stick to the plan. "I don't want her to know about this."