As she was pulling a brush through her hair Emma heard Damon scream downstairs, she threw down the brush and rushed to the door. Damon's screams intensified as Emma hit the bottom step of the stair, she picked up her pace and ran into the living room. Damon was chained to a chair and the window's curtain was pushed aside, even though the sun had never effected him before, Damon was now burning in it. Emma got to the window and closed the curtain at least ending that part of his suffering.
"Who the hell did this?" She kneeled in front of Damon, looking for a way to help him.
Now out of agonizing pain Damon was happy to be sarcastic, "Oh, you know me babe, just trying to be super kinky."
"Did you forget the safe word?" Emma returned his sarcasm.
"Can you please just grab my ring please," Damon motioned with his head towards the floor in front of him.
Emma got up and walked over to the ring, picking it up off the ground and heading back over to Damon who had already managed to pull himself free from most of the chains, "Is this how you can stand in the sun?"
"Daylight ring, very few vamps are close enough with witches to get one," Damon pulled himself free from the rest of his chains and stepped over to Emma, "I got lucky from the get go."
Emma turned the conversation back to Damon's earlier predicament, "So who did that?"
"I thought it was one of Stefan's sick ripper games, but he said he didn't do it."
"Stefan saw you chained up and didn't help? Did he open the curtain and take off your ring?"
"No, I'm not sure how the hell that happened, but I think it has to do with whatever weird ass ghost issue we had last night."
Last night after they had gotten Stefan into Elena's car they called Bonnie and found out that Matt Donovan had gotten himself mixed up in a magic spell that could bring his sister back, Bonnie had fixed it just before Elena and Stefan ended up burnt up in Alaric's car.
"So get yourself ready, we need to go see our local witch," Damon followed Emma back upstairs so he could change his cloths.
Once they were both ready they got into Damon's car and headed towards the Grill, it was usually a good starting point to find someone. They didn't see her there but at the park area in the middle of town they found her talking with Caroline, Damon pulled his car up to them.
He didn't bother to get out of the car, "Greetings blondie. Witchy, I think you got your voodoo wires all crossed when you tried to get rid of Vickie Donovan."
"What do you mean, why?" Bonnie was confused.
"Because I'm pretty sure I just got spit-roasted by Mason Lockwood's ghost," Damon seemed annoyed.
"And why do you think that?" Chimed in Caroline, happy to question Damon's logic, Emma rolled her eyes.
"Maybe because he chained me to a chair and shoved a hot poker in my chest, let's just say I'm having déjà vu."
Emma looked over at Damon, "You did that to Mason Lockwood?"
Damon ignored her as Caroline asked Bonnie about ghost interacting with the physical world.
"They can't," Bonnie answered.
"Yeah well I don't have time for a vengeful Lockwood. When I kill someone they're supposed to stay dead. Whatever you screwed up, fix it," Damon rolled up his window and sped off.
"You did that to Mason Lockwood? Why?" Emma wasn't sure what was going on, "Was he a hybrid too?"
"Nope, just a run of the mill werewolf," Damon replied.
"I need to be caught up on some things."
Damon sighed, "Klaus is an Original but he is also a hybrid, last year he broke his curse so he could create hybrids. Turns out he need Elena's blood since she is a doppelgänger, hence the guard dog aka Stefan. I killed Mason way before that."
"I'm assuming Tyler didn't take that well."
Damon shrugged, "Dummy managed to trigger his curse and then get bitten and turned by Klaus."
"And now sired."
"That too. We need to find Ric."
"To the Grill!" Emma sang out like a battle call before laughing at herself.
Damon pulled his car over to a spot in front of the Grill and headed inside, Emma at his side. They spotted Alaric at a table in the corner, Emma smiled and waved, Alaric started to return her wave when he saw Damon at her side and stopped.
"You know I think I've had enough vampires today thanks," he grimaced at Damon as he sat next to him.
"Come on, have a drink with me, we've got trouble."
"No, you've got trouble. See, we're not a team, you tried to kill me. All right? We're not friends. Oh, and you are dating Emma, so there is that."
"You tried to kill him?" Emma glared at Damon who waved her off like it was no big deal.
"But remember when you liked me and we conspired to kill Uncle werewolf Mason Lockwood?" Damon continued pleading.
"Yeah, and?"
"I think he is still just a little pissed."
Mason walked up and stood next to Emma, she had no idea who it was but when both men had shocked looks on their faces she moved back slightly.
"Mason," Alaric addressed him and motioned for Emma to get away, she moved to Alaric's side.
"God I miss whiskey," Mason took the glass of whiskey on the table and drank what remained in it, in one quick motion he slammed the glass into Damon's head, knocking him on the floor.
Damon sat up on his elbows as Emma bent down to help him up, "Told ya."
Emma stood up and grabbed a near by salt shaker, she unscrewed the cap and tossed the salt onto Mason's ghost, she was shocked when the grains just slid down his shirt as he was unaffected by it, she stepped back in awe.
"Not your typical haunting sweetheart," Mason stepped up to the bar and ordered another shot of whiskey, "one of you will pay for this right?"
Damon had made it back to his feet, "Let's get to it, I killed you, you want revenge. Get in line."
"Actually I want an apology," Mason stated as he downed his shot.
Both Emma and Alaric let out a laugh.
"Good luck with that," Alaric informed him of Damon's lack of empathy.
Damon rolled his eyes, "Don't you have a family to haunt? You know your nephew has turned into a mindless hybrid minion?"
"That's why I'm here. To help Tyler."
"Well, sorry to break it to you buddy but Tyler can't be helped. At least not while Klaus is alive, which is like, forever."
"Not necessarily; not if you found a weapon that could kill him."
"There is no weapon," Damon scoffed at first but then grew suspicious, "what do you know?"
"I know you need to apologize."
"You've got to be kidding me," Damon thew his hands in the air frustrated.
"Are you incapable of remorse?" Alaric looked at Damon like he was crazy, "Just apologize."
Damon looked at Emma for back up but saw she wasn't going to give him any, "You're right. I didn't have to kill you. I do a lot of things I don't have to do."
Emma grabbed Damon's hand as Mason laughed.
"Good enough, meet me at the old Lockwood cellar. Bring a shovel," Mason looked between Emma and Alaric, then back to Damon, "come alone."
"What? You're going to bury me alive?"
"Don't tempt me."
Mason left the trio and Damon shared a look with Alaric before Damon looked over to Emma who looked worried.
While Damon was working with Mason, Emma decided she needed to start working on getting her sisters funeral together. She decided to start with flowers, as she was browsing the flowers she realized she had no idea where she was supposed to tell the florist where to send them. Emma walked out of the flower shop in a daze, Katie had dealt with everything for her parents funeral and now Emma felt horrible that she had left her alone to do it, when she couldn't even complete one task. She sat down on a bench at the park across from the shop.
Caroline stopped when she passed Emma and noticed she was alone, "Emma?"
Emma looked up and tried to look happy, "Whats up?"
Caroline saw right through her smile, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, why would you think that?"
"Well, Damon's not glued to your hip. Plus you look kinda overwhelmed," Caroline sat down next to Emma.
"Yeah, I kind of am. I just...this is the first time I've been alone since my sister died, so I decided to try and get some stuff done for her funeral and I wanted to start with flowers but I don't know where to send them, I have no idea how to buy a plot in the cemetery, I have no idea about any of this, and I have no idea why I want to bother at all considering the only person that would be at a funeral would be me," Emma took a deep breath as she let everything off her chest, "I'm sorry, I usually don't unload like that."
Caroline hugged Emma from the side, "Let me help."
"You don't have to do that."
"I insist, I live to plan and make list and I can do everything, all I need to know is what your sister's favorite flower was and what color she liked," Caroline smiled warmly.
Emma knew she was already in over her head so she relented, "Peonies, and pink."
"Perfect, how many people do you think will come?"
"Just me and Ric."
"It really was just you and her, huh," Caroline looked the ground, "I'm sorry, that was insensitive."
Emma laughed, "Caroline, look at who my boyfriend is, insensitivity is the norm."
"True."
"Okay so I'll set up the funeral, it will be small, and then after we can keep it super simple and just order out at Elena's for dinner," Caroline's eyes showed just how compassionate she could be, "you just show up, okay?"
Emma smiled, "Okay."
"I have to go, I'm sorry, but I promise I'll get all of this set up and you won't have to lift a finger," Caroline gave Emma another hug before she stood up and hurried off to her car.
"Emma!" Alaric shouted at Emma from his new car, she got up and walked over to him and leaned against the door, "Get in, Damon found something with Mason but apparently he can't get to it."
Emma opened the passenger door and hopped in, "What do you mean he can't get to it?"
"He wasn't specific about that."
"Of course."
Alaric drove to into the woods as far as he could before he had to stop the car and they reached a point where they needed to start hiking.
"We haven't had time to talk about everything with Katie," Alaric said carefully.
"Nothing to talk about Ric," Emma did a quick jump over a downed tree, "Caroline offered to set up everything with a small funeral and I am moving out of the apartment. I have everything handled."
"Please tell you aren't moving into the boarding house Em."
"Until I find something else, but I can't stay in that apartment Ric, you of all people get that."
"What about North Carolina?"
Emma stopped walking, "Do you really hate Damon that much? You were the one who told him to look out for me."
Alaric turned around and faced Emma, his shoulders dropped, "Hate is a strong word Em; but I know him, he can go off the rails at the drop of a hat. One thing doesn't go his way and he starts acting out."
"And you don't think I can handle that?"
"It's getting darker, we need to move," Alaric ignored her question.
"We are not done Ric," Emma pushed past him and continued her way past Alaric.
Talking about Damon was making Emma begin to get eager to see him, she was ready to be near him again, to feel like she could breath again. She easily crossed a few more fallen trees before they came upon the Lockwood cellar. Damon was leaning against the stone wall of what remained of the old house.
"You're here," Damon kissed Emma on the temple before turning to Alaric, "about time."
"Didn't you have anyone else to call?" Alaric sounded annoyed.
"No actually I don't, because I need a non-vamp, and you are two are pretty much the only ones I trust," Damon explained.
"Well, you have a crappy way of showing that."
"Look," Damon said frustrated, "if Mason Lockwood can get over the fact I killed him, can't you cut me a little slack Ric."
"I shouldn't have to get over it, you were my friend Damon, you shouldn't have done it in the first place," Alaric snapped.
"That's enough Ric, I don't know what happened, but this needs to stop," Emma chided both men.
Damon looked down, "Well sometimes...I do things I don't have to do."
Both Emma and Alaric gave Damon an annoyed look.
"You're going to recycle that crap-ass apology from Mason Lockwood?" Alaric called Damon out.
"Yeah, well, I didn't mean it with him," Damon smiled.
Alaric rolled his eyes and turned on his flash light and pointed it at a hole that was in the wall of the cellar, "Is that it."
"Follow me," Damon led the way through the tunnel, when they reached the area he couldn't get into Damon stopped and pushed with frustration against the invisible wall.
Alaric patted his shoulder and stepped through into the cavern followed by Emma. He began to shine his flash light around the walls looking for whatever it was that Mason Lockwood was trying to show Damon. Emma shined her light up closer to the ceiling and gasped, as she took a step backwards to get a better look she tripped and fell.
"Em," Damon said with concern, "are you okay? Did you find something?"
Alaric stepped over to Emma and helped her up before shinning his light up to where she had seen something, "We found something."
"What is it?"
Alaric continued shining his flashlight on the walls, trying to get a better understanding of what he was looking at, "I have no idea."
They agreed that it was getting too late and that they needed to get a fresh start in the morning. Damon drove with Emma back to the boarding house.
"Stefan is officially locked up in the old Forbes prison by the way," Damon grabbed Emma's hand.
"Good, how did everyone manage that?"
"Elena wasn't super clear on specifics, but I had bad signal down in the tunnels."
"I'll have to ask her tomorrow, for now it will be nice just having the house to ourselves, assuming no one else barges in for a room."
"Don't hold your breath," Damon laughed, "so what did you do while I was busy mining?"
Emma was quiet for a minute, until Damon squeezed her hand slightly, "I tried to plan Katie's funeral, failed miserably, then Caroline offered to deal with everything."
"Its for the best," Damon pulled the car into the Salvatore driveway, "you don't need to deal with all that menial crap, your job is to just stay positive."
Damon kissed the back of Emma's hand. Emma let the subject dropped as they walked into the house. She was just looking forward to relaxing, she plopped onto one of the couches and covered her eyes with her forearm. Damon walked over to his mini bar and poured them both glasses of bourbon before he joined her. After she took a few sips of her drink she laid her head on Damon's shoulder, her phone beeped, alerting her to an incoming text message. It was from Caroline.
"We are going to have Katie's funeral in morning, before we go to the tunnels, then later in the evening she wants everyone to meet up at Elena's," Emma said after she clicked away from the message and set her phone down.
"You ready for that?" Damon put his arm around Emma.
Emma shook her head, "Would you be? Stefan's been a literal monster, but I know how much it would hurt you if something happened to him."
"Once he is back to normal and Klaus is dead, you and I are getting out of here," Damon kissed Emma briefly, "road trip, oversees, anything you want."
"I have school to finish Damon, I may not care about a high school diploma, but Katie did. I at least have to do that for her."
"What do you want to do for a job for the rest of your life?"
"You tell Elena and I'll stake you, last thing I need is goodie two shoes trying to reason me out of what I do," Emma threatened, "I'm happy being a hunter, living off of hustling. I'm good at it and no one expects anything from me. Plus I'll have money for a while once everything gets settled, unless you kick me out or start charging rent."
"Nah, I'd get bored," Damon kissed the top of her head, "but Em, you do realize that you are quite literally in bed with the enemy."
"These vamps are different, like a totally different species," Emma tried to explain, "some of the things I've seen are insane. They are ruthless killers."
Damon knew he needed the subject to drop, "We need to get to bed, gonna be a very long day tomorrow."
"Just don't go investigating strange noises without me this time."
"No kidding."
Emma led the way to the bedroom, pulling Damon behind her, eager to lay her head down. She had just gotten out of her pants and pulled her shirt over her head when she felt Damon's arms snake around her and his lips start to trail kisses on the nape of her neck.
"Hmm," he hummed happily, "I just couldn't help myself."
Emma turned herself in his arms to face him, she met his lips with hers and let herself get wrapped up in the moment. She grabbed both of Damon's hands and pulled him with her to the bed before she gave him a soft nudge, making him fall back on the bed, pulling Emma up with him.