(1) The Phoenix (D. Salvatore)

Chapter Ninety-Four

"I'm the best," She tells them and shrugs with a smirk.

"Yeah, Daph, you are" Elena agrees.

"Klaus has always been one step ahead of us, but now we have the advantage" Stefan points out. "We're all armed and they are all linked, meaning we only need to kill one of them. We need to seize the best opportunity, which means we need to prepare for every opportunity"

"Scenario number one" Damon grabs Elena and moves her over to the centre of the group. "You get to play Klaus"

"Okay," Elena agrees.

"Rebekah is our target so we distract her and catch her off guard" Stefan continues. "To do that we need to keep Klaus separate and occupied" Stefan looks at Caroline. "Caroline"

"Why do I always have to be Klaus bait?"

"Because he's obsessed with you" Damon walks over to Caroline. "But for right now we need you to play Rebekah. We use the quarterback to distract her. Just keep her talking"

"How?" Matt asks.

"Act interested. She's lonely, desperate" Damon answers with a shrug.

"Clearly. She tried to sleep with you" Daphne teases, Damon turns a look on her, a sly smirk.

"You did sleep with me" He argues.

"I was desperate" She counters. He pulls a face at her, scolding, but not seriously, she winks back. Elena suppresses a grin listening to the two of them bicker like that. Damon's different around Daphne. Not as scrunched up or angry at the world. He's fighting harder, not out of pettiness or just a want to kill, he's fighting for her. To prove himself to her. To protect her. To protect the people that she cares for. Damon turns to the others.

"So Beefcake holds Bombshell. I come up from behind her" Damon gets behind Caroline, grabs her arms, and put them behind her back. "Grab her arms like this"

"Ow!" Caroline complains, though there is no real pain in it. Stefan comes up with the stake in his hand, imitating stabbing Caroline.

"Gives me time for one shot" Damon lets go of Caroline. "Got it?" Stefan asks.

"Why are we doing this without the use of Daphne's magic?" Caroline asks. Daphne turns to Damon and raises an eyebrow, silently asking the exact same thing. She can easily stun one of the Originals so that one of the others can get in and jam that stake in. Damon lets out a breath and looks back at Daphne. The two of them share a look. She knows why he's not using her. Sage's warning shook him. Daphne's explanation of the fate of the Phoenix's shook him. He's worried about Klaus using her curse. He's worried about him hurting her. Despite the fact that nothing else has changed. Daphne is still a very capable young witch. She still has magic. Still has her spells at her disposal. She is still perfectly capable of dealing damage to the hybrid nightmare.

"Because..." Daphne starts and sets her hands on her hips with a sigh. "Because I'm cursed" Daphne admits and shrugs. "And Klaus knows about it. Damon thinks that he might use it as a way to.....stumble us"

"Daph" Elena starts, softly. She's never said anything about her being cursed.

"You're cursed?" Caroline draws out.

"It's a long story and I don't want to go through it all now" Daphne points out with a shrug. She found it hard enough to tell Damon, and she knows that it was going to come out at some point. She had wanted to wait for Jeremy, but with Klaus, Kol, and Sage all knowing about it, it would only be a matter of time before one of her friends found out, and likely from the wrong source. It had to come from her. Elena looks at Daphne sadly, knowing that her sister never said anything about a curse, and that she knows Daphne well enough that she did it to save Elena and Jeremy from the truth of it, to protect them from the pain that might come of it. Damon touches Daphne's arm and she looks at him. She shrugs a little. It had to come out.

"So we all have one stake, we keep it hidden and we look out for any opportunity we have" Stefan continues his plan talk, sliding over Daphne because it is clear that she does not want to talk about it. Damon nods in agreement.

"No last-minute attacks of pity for any of them" Damon looks at Elena who shakes her head.

"Don't worry about me. Daph made her point"

"Barbie?" Damon turns to Caroline.

"Oh, I'm ready. Anything that will free Tyler from his sire bond to Klaus" Caroline assures them.

"Busboy?"

"Do I have a choice?" Matt asks.

"Good point" Damon agrees, Daphne smacks his arm and turns to Matt.

"We're not going to make you get involved, Matt" She assures him. "Walk away, we'll say nothing more about it...." Matt lets out a breath and looks around those gathered. Caroline has a point about Tyler. And the town would be better off without the Originals infesting it. He nods at Daphne, letting her know that he's in. Whatever is needed of him. "Okay, then we have 13 stakes, 13 shots at killing one Original" Daphne voices and then rubs her hands together. "We can do this"

"Alright, let's try another scenario" Stefan continues. "Elena grab a crossbow" Stefan hands Elena the crossbow. "Matt, you play Klaus" Daphne nods a little, they can do this. They can band together and come up with a working plan to deal with this family. To protect each other, the town, and everyone in it. This is their home. And they are ready to defend it.