When they entered the gym Damon grabbed Emma's hand and led her out to the dance floor, he wrapped one arm around her waist and held her close as he led the dance to the rhythm of the music.
"What are you doing?" Emma tried to hide a smile from him but failed.
Damon spun her elegantly before pulling her in again, "I figured we should at least enjoy one dance before all hell breaks loose."
Emma put her head on his chest as they continued to sway. When the song stopped she looked up at him, he leaned down and kissed her gently.
"Let's find Stefan and come up with a plan," Damon took her hand again and pulled her off of the dance floor.
Damon managed to catch Stefan's eye and motioned for him to meet them in the hall. Emma groaned when she saw Elena was joining them as well.
"What's the plan?" Stefan looked to Emma for the answer.
"We get him, and I take him to the bunker in Kansas," Emma explained, "hopefully by the time I get there Sam will have found something. At the very least they can keep him locked up way more securely than we can."
"How?" Elena asked, "We need to find a cure or something."
Damon sighed, "We tried medicine, we've tried magic."
"What if we get him off of vervain?" Stefan suggested, "We could compel him."
"What? To pretend to be Alaric?" Damon said angrily, "The guy that we know is gone. We're talking about someone who not only hates vampires, but vampire sympathizers; which means you Emma."
"Do you think he would go after Elena?" Stefan asked.
Emma couldn't help but roll her eyes, before looking over at Damon, "So what are you suggesting? My plan is clearly the best."
Damon tried to brace himself for what was about to happen when he said his plan, "I'm suggesting, we put him out of his misery."
No one could have predicted how quickly and explosively Emma would react.
"No!" She shoved Damon so hard he stumbled back into the lockers, "No way in hell!"
"It's what he would want Emma, a mercy killing," Damon tried to defend himself, but his eyes widened as he watched Emma coming after him, he moved out of the way before she could reach him.
"Are you out of your mind?" Emma screamed, light bulbs began popping around them as Emma's rage grew.
Stefan reached his hand out and put it on Emma's shoulder in an attempt to distract her, but as soon as she felt his touch she grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back before throwing him on the floor. She turned and started running down the hall to the exit door. A new urgency to find Alaric surged through her.
Elena followed her into the parking lot, "Emma wait!"
Emma didn't bother to turn around, "Do you really think it's a good idea for you to be out here Elena? You're just a human and I just threw Stefan like he was a sack of potatoes."
"I want the same thing you do," Elena called after her, the statement made Emma stop in her tracks and turn to face her.
"Damon?" Emma sarcastically asked.
Elena stopped walking, deciding to keep a distance between herself and Emma.
"Elena," someone called out from behind Emma.
Emma turned to see who it was, she took a step back when she was confronted with Ester, the Original witch.
"If you wish to help your friend Alaric, I suggest you come with me," Ester offered.
Elena hesitated.
"I mean you no harm, but willing or not, you will come," Ester turned towards Emma as soon as Elena started walking to her, "don't worry little Phoenix, your time will come."
Emma started running to catch up with Elena and Ester, but when she got close she felt like she hit a wall. She bounced backwards before landing on her back, when she sat up slightly she saw a salt line, it looked like it had been drawn around the entire school.
"Em!" Damon said panicked behind her.
As she stood up, Damon rushed to her side and tried to help, she yanked her arm away from him as soon as he touched her. Stefan had stepped over to the invisible wall to inspect it, using his hand to try and push past.
"She used salt as a binding agent for whatever spell she is using," Emma pointed down at the line.
"So we're trapped," Damon commented.
"And that bitch has Ric," Emma said as she stomped back towards the school to find Bonnie.
"I'm going to find Klaus," Stefan announced before following Emma inside.
Everyone was gathered in one of the classrooms around Bonnie as she worked on breaking the boundary spell.
"If never even thought to use salt as a binding agent," Emma commented, mostly to herself, "I've always just used it as a container for demons and ghost. I could have made my job so much easier."
Damon stood on the other side of the classroom, staring at her, disappointed in himself for hurting her.
"What is taking her so long?" Klaus demanded, "All boundary spells have a loop holes."
The door to the class opened and Matt stepped inside, "People are walking right out of the dance and past the barrier."
Jeremy perked up, "Matt and I can leave, we can stop Ester ourselves, we just need to know where she is."
"It's suicide Jer," Stefan crossed his arms.
Klaus rushed forward and grabbed Bonnie's date, Jamie, by the throat, "Suicide would be disappointing me, now work your magic witch, or I start killing people you fancy."
Bonnie stopped chanting and looked up in a panic, "Let him go."
"Not until you get us out of here," Klaus threatened.
Stefan stepped up to defuse everything, "Ah, don't be stupid, Klaus. Bonnie doesn't give a damn about us. The only reason she's helping us right now is to save Caroline and Tyler. You start killing the people she cares about, she'll tell us all to go to hell."
Klaus growled but released Jamie, who fell to the floor, coughing but breathing and unharmed.
Everyone but Emma left the room as Bonnie continued working. Just before he left Damon looked over at Emma, she wouldn't even look his direction, he sighed and walked out.
After an hour Damon returned with Klaus. Bonnie had moved on to plan B, finding Ester and stopping her by any means possible.
Emma looked up as he entered the room, she looked at him sadly, but quickly looked back down at the map when she saw his head turn towards her.
"Baby Gilbert made a little donation for your locater spell," Damon handed Bonnie a small vial of blood.
"I have to do this with you two lurking over me?" Bonnie asked angrily.
"You're still mad at me for what happened to Abby. Let me apologize," Damon got a sarcastic look on his face suddenly, "I'm sorry Elijah forced us to turn your mother into a vampire to save Elena's life. Didn't exactly have a choice."
"There is always a choice Damon," Bonnie glared at him, "it's just whenever you get to make one, someone suffers."
"Let's cut the dramatics and begin shall we," Klaus's impatience was getting the best of him.
Bonnie dropped the blood on the map and began chanting in Latin. The blood swirled in a circle for a moment but didn't move.
"Ester is fighting me," Bonnie said frustrated.
"She couldn't possibly have this much power," Klaus looked over to Emma before rushing her and pinning her against a wall, "unless she is channeling something or someone."
Damon sped to Emma's side and shoved Klaus off of her, he stood in front of Emma like a sentinel.
"She isn't channeling me," Emma glared at Klaus, "last time it felt like I was having the energy sucked out of me, I don't feel any of that."
"A hotspot?" Bonnie suggested.
A lightbulb seemed to click on in Klaus's head, "Get the human's ready, I know where she is."
All of the supernaturals stood at the salt line, waiting for it to break. Jeremy and Matt rushed over to the old Cemetery where Klaus had determined his mother was. It was the spot that he had killed her a thousand years before.
Emma continually checked the boundary by trying to reach through, but it kept feeling like something was pulling her back towards the middle of the circle.
"You know, this is your fault. You set us on this path when you released my mother. I wonder if revenge will prove worth the cost," Klaus said coldly to Stefan.
"Oh, I'm done with revenge," Stefan smiled sarcastically, "as far as Ester; we've stopped her before, we can stop her again."
"Well, at least this time when you kill Emma, we already know she will come back," Klaus teased, "we're strange bedfellows, you and I. You know, all of this, reminds me of our time together in the twenties."
Stefan rolled his eyes, "You say that as if I'm supposed to have happy memories about it."
Klaus shrugged, "Well, there were moments, real friendship, brotherhood."
Damon walked up behind Stefan and as close as he dared to Emma, he saw her side eye him, "He already has a brother, not to be, ya know, territorial or anything."
"Oh no, of course; the Salvatores, and their unshakeable bond. I wonder what'll happen when Elena finally makes her choice," Klaus smiled Emma's direction but she ignored him, "will we see you shake just a little bit?"
Emma turned when she heard the gym door open and watched Bonnie walk up to them.
"It's done, Ester isn't fighting me and the boundary spell is broken," Bonnie announced to the group.
Klaus stuck his arm out while Emma pushed the salt line to break it, both worked. He looked over to Emma and nodded before rushing away.
"Thank you Bonnie," Stefan said sincerely, "for everything."
Bonnie didn't meet his eyes as she walked away, "I didn't do it for you."