"Emma," Stefan called out as he entered the library.
Emma turned her head from the book she was reading, "Yea?"
"We have a problem."
"Since when is that new?" Emma looked back down at the book she had gotten invested into.
"Connor escaped."
Emma finally closed the book and paid attention to what Stefan had to say, "Okay, I can see how that is problem."
"Klaus wants him kept alive."
"Okay, so let's get hunting, start at his trailer."
"I already know where he is," Stefan explained, "he is holding hostages over at the Grill."
"Son of a bitch," Emma sighed.
"Everyone is meeting at the Lockwood's, let's go."
Emma stood up and grabbed her jacket before heading out the door with Stefan and driving over to the Lockwood mansion. Inside Damon, Elena, Tyler, and Caroline were already waiting for them.
Emma stepped up to Damon cautiously, "Hey."
Damon understood her caution and wrapped an arm around her to show her that he was still there.
"Where in the hell have you been?" He demanded from his brother.
"No one else thought to grab the most powerful person we have on our side, so I did," Stefan crossed his arms.
"So I'm going to rip Connor's heart out and feed it to him," Damon said angrily as he stepped away from Emma and took a step towards him brother.
"That's not a plan, we need to be careful. Connor has Jeremy and who knows how many other hostages," Stefan argued.
"Wait, Jeremy is caught up in this?" Emma started questioning keeping the hunter alive.
"Hence the open heart surgery," Damon smirked evilly.
"Damon's right, Connor's strong, but he's not going to be able to take all of us," Elena added her thoughts.
Emma rolled her eyes at the sound of the girl's voice.
Tyler crossed his arms, "I called in the hybrids to help too."
Caroline entered the room and smiled at Emma when she saw her, "My mom put squad cars blocking the streets; they're saying it's a faulty gas main. We're good to go."
"Great, no cops, no witnesses, no reason to wait around," Damon was becoming impatient.
"All right, hold on, you're not all going," Stefan tried to stall for more time by starting another argument.
Tyler was the first to argue back, "He shot me like nine times. If we're killing him, I want in."
"He's got Jeremy, I'm going," Elena glared at Stefan, daring him to argue against her.
Stefan tried another angle, "Listen, nobody is going anywhere until I figure out what we're walking into."
"Until you figure it out? Is that where you've been all morning? Out buying bossy pants?" Damon wasn't going down that easy.
"This guy is known for setting traps, right? We'd be pretty dumb to walk into one, especially if he has werewolf venom," Stefan was quick to point out their biggest problem.
"Does he?" Elena questioned.
"He had before," Stefan crossed his arms, ready to accept his win.
"We have Emma, literally only a couple of things can kill her," Damon started to argue but gave up, "fine, if you want to take some time to do recon, you get one hour; but we're gonna need some extra help. So, where the hell's the Wicked Witch of the West?"
"She can't do magic," Caroline pointed out.
Damon crossed his arms, "Really? Well, call her, tell her Jeremy's life is in danger; maybe that will bring her out of retirement."
Damon stormed out of the room, pushing his brother to the side as he past him. Emma glanced at Stefan before running after Damon. She found him at the miniature bar in Tyler's father's old office.
"Hey," Emma said as she stepped up behind him.
"Hey," Damon said quietly back before taking a sip of his drink.
Emma stepped up on her toes and kissed the side of his neck, finally able to bring a smile out of him as he turned around to face her. He used one of his hands to brush her cheek before he set his drink down and pulled her into a passionate kiss, he sighed as they pulled apart. Both of their hearts ached, knowing each kiss, each touch, each moment, could be the last.
Elena walked into the room, interrupting their moment, "Uh, hey, we are heading to Alaric's old apartment, since we can get a good look at the Grill from there."
Damon didn't bother to let go of Emma, he just nodded, "Right behind you."
Elena huffed but left the room.
Emma nodded, releasing Damon from her grasp, before walking out of the room. He stayed close as he walked down to his car. Emma took her place in the passenger's seat, as soon as Damon got in he grabbed Emma's hand and held it on his lap, as if holding on to her would make him never forget who she was.
Emma hadn't been inside of Alaric's apartment since his death, she hesitated at the door, but a strong squeeze on her hand and a reassuring look from Damon helped her step forward. The first thing that caught her eye when she entered was a picture of her and Alaric hung up on the wall, her mother had taken it at Emma's sixteenth birthday party. Alaric had pranked her by buying her a bright pink princess cake that was clearly meant for a five year old. The cake ended up being used as a weapon for a small food fight between the two of them and the picture showed the aftermath, both of them covered in pink and white frosting, hugging with huge, bright smiles on their faces.
Damon looked to what had caught Emma's attention, "I don't think I ever got to see him smile like that."
Emma nodded and smiled but looked down, knowing she needed to keep herself together, at least until all of her friends were safe again.
In the town square Stefan was on the phone with Klaus, forming a plan to keep the hunter alive, while Elena watched blissfully unaware of what was going on.
"Who do you think he was talking to?" She asked Damon while he started rooting around the apartment, looking for all of Alaric's weapons.
Damon shrugged, "Bonnie hopefully, maybe she decided to make herself useful again."
Damon found a map and spread it out on the coffee table .
"What is that?" Elena asked.
"It's our way in," Damon smirked, "courtesy of Alaric Saltzman's interest in the Mystic Falls Underground Railroad."
"Tunnels?" Emma traced one that led towards the Grill, "Just like under the old Lockwood cellar."
"Yep," Damon confirmed as he took a quick picture of the map with his phone.
Elena's phone began to ring, it was Stefan, so she put it on speaker phone.
"What did you find out?" Elena asked.
"I can only make out the voices," Stefan informed them.
Damon rolled his eyes impatiently, "How many hostages?"
"Three," Stefan hesitated for a moment, "but Elena, it's Matt and April Young."
"What!" Elena exclaimed, shocked.
At the mention of Matt, even Emma no longer cared about Klaus or Stefan's plan, the hunter just became fair game. Jeremy would be okay, he had his Gilbert ring, but nothing was going to bring Matt back to life, Emma hadn't perfected any part of her powers enough to be confident.
"Those two idiots are danger magnets," Damon said angrily.
"We have to get them out," Elena looked at Damon for help.
"I just need a little more time," Stefan tried to stall.
"Well," Damon crossed his arms, "clocks ticking brother."
"I could do without your colored commentary," Stefan said before he hung up.
"I'm going in those tunnels," Elena began to walk off but Damon grabbed her wrist.
"No, your not," Damon pulled her back, "this guy doesn't know you're a vampire, let's keep it that way."
Elena thought for a moment, "Well, maybe that's it, I can offer myself as a trade."
Emma scoffed, "Best case scenario, is now you're a hostage. Worst case scenario: he figures you out, kills you on the spot."
"So you go in, you're practically invincible," Elena pointed out.
"Key word, practically," Emma crossed her arms, "he knows what I am, and I'd be willing to bet that there is a trap in there for me. Just because I can come back to life doesn't mean I'm the better option here, I don't have enough control over my powers to guarantee that I can over power him."
Elena turned to Damon, "My brother is the only thing holding me together right now, if I loose him..."
"We will get him out, I promise," Damon released Elena.
Emma stepped over to the window and peaked out the blinds, Damon came up behind her and wrapped his arms around Emma while resting his head on her shoulder.
"I hate waiting," Damon sighed.
Emma spun around and faced him, she rested her head on his chest, "I know, and once we have everyone safe we need as much 'us' time as we can get."
Damon nodded, "Definitely."
Emma let out a sad sigh and looked up at Damon, "We have a lot of stuff we have to talk about, with what's coming up."
"Yea, I know. I wish it was you who was going to forget me, I already know this isn't going to be easy."
Emma tried to lighten the mood, "Guess I'll just have to make you fall in love with me again."
"Shouldn't be too hard," Damon smiled before kissing Emma gently.
Elena cleared her throat, "Stefan is on his way up."
"Good, this will all be over soon," Damon let go of Emma but held onto her hand.
"Will it?" Elena sounded panicked, "I mean, haven't we already been here before with Jeremy? Isn't this why we sent him to Denver?"
Damon shrugged, "Well, we'll get him out of this and we'll compel him down to the Bahamas. Maybe he'll find an island girl."
Elena rolled her eyes and scoffed just as Stefan entered the apartment.
"Did you find the tunnel map?" He asked.
"Got it," Damon pointed to it, "it was in his weapons drawer with seven stakes, some weird MacGyver crossbow, and the last remaining vervain in Mystic Falls, so how about we get this party started."
Stefan held up his hands before Damon could even move, "Not yet, Klaus is sending in one of his men. He'll take the front, you and I can take the tunnels."
Damon scoffed, "Since when did we join Klaus and his lollipop guild?"
"Well, I already told you, Connor has werewolf venom," Stefan shrugged innocently, "we need someone to draw his fire, the hybrids are immune to it so they're our best bets."
"How do you know he has werewolf venom? Why is Klaus involved brother?" Damon let go of Emma's hand and stepped towards his brother.
No one saw Stefan sneak a vervain dart off of the table of weapons, "Stop being so paranoid Damon."
Damon took another step towards Stefan, this time it was more threatening, "Start telling the truth, Stefan. Why is Klaus involved? Did he compel you?"
"I'm telling the truth," Stefan insisted, glancing at Emma for back up, but something had changed and he could tell she wasn't going to help him, "this is the best way to get everyone out."
"We're wasting time," Emma crossed her arms.
"You know what, she's right," Damon turned away from Stefan and headed for the door, "screw your plan, I'll kill Connor myself."
Before Damon reached the door Stefan rushed him from behind and jabbed him with a vervain dart before pushing him to the ground.
"No!" Emma ran forward to Damon's side.
"Why are you doing this?" Elena demanded.
"Damon had the right idea with the tunnels," Stefan opened Damon's phone and sent himself the picture of the tunnels, "but, I'm not gonna go in there if I can't count on him to do it my way."
"You just vervained him," Emma glared up at Stefan, "clearly the wrong brother has trust issues."
"Do you think he cares about April or Matt?" Stefan looked at Elena, already knowing she would side with him the second he said his next sentence, "He'll get Jeremy out for you, but then he'll go right after Connor, no matter who gets hurt."
"I'm coming with you," Elena announced.
"No, your not," Stefan said confidently.
"You'll need my help," Elena insisted.
"What if Connor attacks and you have to defend yourself? And what if you kill him?" Stefan pulled out his ace, knowing this would win him the battle, "The guilt will wreck you."
"So take Emma," Elena gestured towards her.
Emma shook her head and stood up, "Maybe it's better I'm not here when he wakes up, let's go Stefan."
She already knew what was coming, the vervain would have suppressed his ability to heal, and if at any point between now and when he woke up Gabriel's magic made him forget her, he would never remember. Emma shoved Stefan hard into the door frame as she past him and started down the staircase.
"I'll get Jeremy back, I promise," Stefan said before kissing Elena and following Emma.