Emma sat on the ground outside of the cellar where Stefan had put Damon before bleeding him almost the point of desiccation. She made circles in the dirt on the floor as she waited for Damon to wake up.
"Easy there buddy, you lost a lot of blood," she finally heard Stefan say, letting her know that Damon was starting to come around.
Damon groaned, making Emma wince, "You bled me out?"
"Yeah, I didn't really have much of a choice. Kol's compulsion is still in effect, so you need to stay locked up. We don't have any vervain, so...this was the only way I could weaken you," Stefan explained.
"You sound real torn up about it," Damon said sarcastically, "shouldn't we be going after Kol, make him decompel me or something?"
"Yeah, yeah, sounds real easy Damon, I'll get right on that," Stefan returned his brother's sarcasm.
Damon began coughing as he tried to sit up, "At least let me see Elena."
"Come on. You know you can't do that. With the sire bond, all you have to do is tell her to let you out of here. It's too risky," Stefan crossed his arms, "you should be asking if Emma is okay, since she saved your ass."
Damon coughed again, "You're really enjoying this, aren't you?"
"It's better for Elena if you stay in here for now, at least until we find the cure, and then once she's no longer sired and you're no longer compelled, you can both do whatever the hell you want," Stefan said angrily as he headed for the door.
"Stefan, wait. Stefan!" Damon began begging his brother to look at him, "Stef!"
Stefan shut the door and locked it behind him, he looked down at Emma and kneeled down next to her, "You can see him if you want, but don't let him out."
"I don't think he wants to see me," Emma said with a soft smile that was meant to show that she was okay, but really it just showed Stefan how much pain she was actually in.
The both looked up when they heard footsteps on the stairs that led down to where they were.
Stefan stood up and crossed his arms, "Going to see Damon?"
"I need to talk to him," Elena said sheepishly.
Emma kept her eyes on the ground to stop herself from glaring.
"Well, you can't, he'll just ask you to let him out," Stefan stood firm.
"I won't let him out," Elena tried to defend herself.
Stefan shook his head, "You won't have a choice, you're sired. Anything else?"
"What are you doing with Rebekah?" Elena asked, "She tried to kill me."
Emma raised her head slightly at the revelation.
Stefan scoffed, "And this will be the second time that Damon tried to kill Jeremy. So I guess nobody's perfect, right?"
"Are you trying to punish me?" Elena asked, Emma couldn't help but roll her eyes at the girl trying to make everything about her again, "I don't know how many times I can apologize."
Emma raised her eyebrow, and stood up, "Apologize for what?"
Stefan ignored Emma's question, "I never asked you to. You can do whatever you want Elena, I don't really care."
"You're hurt," Elena tried to seem empathetic, "you're hurt and acting out, Stefan, this isn't you."
"Sure it is. You've just never seen me like this. You don't know what I look like when I'm not in love with you," Stefan smirked, "I'll let Damon know you stopped by."
Elena slowly backed out of the basement and back up the stairs. Stefan didn't say anything but nodded, he began walking upstairs once he heard that Elena had left. Emma followed him upstairs and raided the liquor cabinet, pouring herself a hearty glass of whiskey before going and sitting by the fire.
"So I hear you are working with Rebekah," Emma commented without looking up.
"Speaking of a certain blonde," Stefan began to stand up, "I have to go meet up with her."
"Planning something nefarious?" Emma asked.
"Better, something that may put most of this back in its proper place," Stefan stepped out the door.
Emma sighed and put her drink on the table next to her. Her first plan of just naturally letting Damon come back to her was failing miserably, it was time for the next move. She walked down to the cellar where he was being held. She peered into the small window in the door, Damon was awake, staring at the ceiling.
"Come to keep me company?" He turned his head slightly and looked at her.
"Do you want company?" Emma asked.
Damon shrugged as best as he could. Emma looked at him sadly, everything that was once hers and perfectly balanced, was now tilting in a direction that she wasn't strong enough to rebalance, she was just barely able to keep a hold of the edge of the platform.
"Only if you plan to explain to me who the hell you are," Damon grunted as he sat up to look at her.
Emma opened the door to the cellar and sat down in the doorway.
Damon cocked his head to the side, "What makes you think I won't take advantage of the door being open and make a run for it?"
Emma smirked, "Because you are too curious about me and you saw what I am capable of in the woods, so you know I can shove your ass right back in here."
"Assuming you don't accidentally turn me into ash," Damon chuckled.
Emma shrugged, but smirked slightly, "So don't risk it."
"All right," Damon looked right into Emma's eyes, "who the hell are you?"
"How did you meet Sam and Dean?" Emma asked.
"Uh," Damon was confused by the question but played the game her way, "I was walking to my car and Dean's dumbass shot me, luckily Alaric stopped him."
Emma nodded and pressed her lips together, "Do you know who Katie Peters is?"
"Alaric's ex that Stefan killed."
"Do you know what my last name is?"
Damon shook his head.
"Last summer I moved here with my sister, Katie."
"Then why don't I remember you?"
"I think that you do, to a point, that's why you keep getting all of those confused feelings."
Damon sat up a little more and leaned against the wall, "I uh, have to tell you...well more like ask, you something."
Emma sat waiting patiently for Damon to continue.
"The other night after the Rusalka attacked you and you fainted, I may have done some digging in your head while you were out," Emma remained quiet, "I gave you my mother's bracelet."
Emma nodded.
"Who are you to me?" Damon finally asked.
Emma sighed sadly, "The night that you gave me that bracelet, I asked you where I fit into your future; and you told me that I fit everywhere."
"Why don't I remember any of that?"
"Because of what I am," Emma looked at Damon, "there is an angel who wants to use me as a personal body guard or something, once I learn how to use my powers. He took away your memories of me."
"Wouldn't it make sense to do it the other way around? Make you forget me?"
"Have you met you?" Emma couldn't help but laugh slightly, "You wouldn't stop until he put the memories back, you would have burned the world to the ground to get me back."
"I'm secretly a hopeless romantic, I'd probably move heaven and hell," Damon sighed.
Emma laughed softly but wiped away a tear before it had a chance to fall, Damon looked at her curiously, "That was what you said to me when you weren't quite ready to admit that you loved me, but it was the only way you knew how to express it."
"That I would move heaven and hell for you?"
Emma nodded and wiped another tear away.
"How have you been able to stand even being around me?" Damon asked.
Emma shrugged, "Like you said, I'll move heaven and hell. But this didn't suddenly happen either. At first you would only forget me for a few minutes, then an hour. When Stefan vervained you to keep you out of the Grill when Connor was holding hostages; that was the end, you never knew who I was after that."
"Did he know that I would forget you when he did that?" Damon almost growled in anger.
Emma shook her head, "No, I don't think he knew how the magic worked."
"If it's magic, can't Bonnie fix it or some other witch?"
"Bonnie's current magic is a bit volatile since she started mentoring with that Shane guy, but it was an angel that did it, and that magic isn't easily broken."
"So where does that leave us?" Damon asked.
"I can't make you have feelings for me Damon, I'd hoped that maybe things would just naturally fall back in place, but Elena..."
"Wait," Damon's eyes widened, "does Elena know about all of this?"
Emma hesitated.
"Does Elena know?" Damon asked in a more demanding tone.
Emma nodded slowly and looked down at the ground. She couldn't even begin to comprehend what feelings were running rampant through Damon's brain.
"She knew that me and you are supposed to be together and still..." Damon was clicking puzzle pieces into place, "but the sire bond..."
"Can you honestly say that you love her? I know you care about her well being, but can you really say you love her?" Emma said quietly.
Damon thought for a moment, "No, I-I don't know, maybe..."
"Then what do you feel?"
"I feel like something huge is missing, like there is something off about the world right now and I can't figure out what it is and it is driving me absolutely insane!" Damon's anger was beginning to show.
Emma stayed quiet while Damon processed everything he had been told. Emma pulled her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs, putting her head between her knees. Both of them sat in silence, waiting for the other to come up with a solution to their predicament.
"You're a vampire hunter," Damon was trying to figure out what had made him fall for Emma in the first place.
"And you're a vampire," Emma shrugged, "Alaric asked you to look after me after your brother gave up his humanity."
"He didn't think you could handle yourself?"
Emma smiled at the memory of Alaric, "He was always overprotective of me. I guess asking a vampire that he trusted was better than nothing."
"So everything I saw...that happened?" Damon asked quietly.
Emma nodded.
"I saw us at your sister's funeral," Damon said with a tone of sadness, "how did she die?"
"Stefan."
Damon looked at her like she was crazy, "And you didn't kill him?"
"I wanted to, I wanted the world to burn," Emma looked into Damon's eyes, "but I couldn't put you through that. I didn't want you to have to live through the pain that I did; I couldn't stand the thought of being the cause of that."
There was nothing more to say after that. Damon stared at the wall, trying to force his mind to put the pieces back together.
Emma's head turned when she heard footsteps coming down to the cellar, it was Stefan.
Damon groaned, "You coming to snap my neck again? Because I'm feeling completely un-murderous, and I'm pretty sure that it's safe to set me free."
Stefan glanced at Emma briefly before throwing a vial of blood to Damon. Damon caught it and smirked, muttering something under his breath before turning to look at his brother.
"You practically bled me dry. At least spring for a bag or something. I'm thirsty," Damon complained, Stefan placed a bottle of water on the rock near by, Damon rolled his eyes, "not what I had in mind."
"Stefan..." Emma stood up and began to come up with a defense to end Damon's cruel and unusual punishment when she spotted Klaus.
Damon saw him at the same time, "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Babysitting," Klaus cocked his head to the side and smiled.
"I prefer my previous babysitter thanks," Damon glanced at Emma.
Stefan turned to Klaus, "Give him a vial of blood every couple of hours, so he doesn't desiccate. If he gets too much strength back, or if he just annoys you, bleed him out again."
"Silent treatment, huh? Is that your best shot?" Damon turned to Klaus, "He's still pissed at me for sleeping with Elena."
"What?" Emma's voice cracked, she had suspicions, but to have them said out loud made it real.
Stefan gave a pitiful glance towards Emma as she lowered her head to the ground, even Damon seemed remorseful for the words that had just shot out of his mouth in anger.
Klaus laughed, "You sure about that? 'Cause I saw him trying to sneak out of Rebekah's bed this morning, which would suggest to me that he's moved on."
Stefan sighed when he didn't hear a smartass quip come from Emma, that was all the proof he needed to know that she was stuck in her own thoughts, "Well, why don't you two enjoy your little, uh, villain bonding time? I'll let you know when I get the dagger from Rebekah. Come on Emma."
"Why, where are we going?" Emma asked as she followed Stefan up the stairs.
"I need..." Stefan began to answer but his phone began to ring, he looked at it, "Hang on, it's Elena."
Emma rolled her eyes but continued following Stefan.
"Damon's fine," Stefan answered annoyed, "I locked him up with all the creature comforts he deserves."
Stefan's brow suddenly furrowed as he listened to what Elena was saying. Stefan suddenly started his bike and revved the engine, using it as cover so Klaus couldn't hear their conversation. As soon as he hung up he motioned for Emma to get on the back of the bike behind him. Emma got on the back seat and kicked out the pegs meant for the rear rider before putting the wedge of her boot firmly on them and then holding onto Stefan's hips to steady herself for take off, once they were on the highway Emma relaxed her hold slightly.
Stefan pulled off to the side of the road just a few miles away from the boarding house, he turned off the bike but didn't get off.
"Kol tried to kill Bonnie," he informed Emma.
Emma sat up straight, "Is she okay?"
"Yeah, whatever new magic she is using is intense."
"So what's the plan?" Emma asked.
"Elena wants Jeremy to kill Kol to complete his mark, we just need to dagger Rebekah somehow."
"Well, you can't do it, or, ya know, you're dead," Emma shrugged, "there is no way that bitch trust me enough to get close to her."
"Think you can persuade Matt to help?" Stefan suggested.
"Maybe, drop me at his house."
Stefan nodded and started the bike back up before taking off again, this time with a clear direction. He pulled the bike up in front of Matt's house and Emma hopped off.
"I'll get Rebekah to the school, meet me there, but stay out of sight," Stefan issued his orders.
Emma turned and headed up the steps to Matt's door. Matt had heard the bike and was already at the open door with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face.
"Thought you went missing," he joked.
Emma shrugged, "I can't get that lucky. Wanna become a degenerate teen for the day?"
"I guess," Matt sighed, "let me get my keys."
Emma waited by Matt's truck while he grabbed his jacket and keys.
"So we are really about to break into a vampire's house?" Matt said as they pulled up in front of Rebekah's modest mansion.
"I'm so happy I get to be here for your first time," Emma said proudly.
Matt rolled his eyes as he got out of his truck and began walking up to the front door, "Second time, Elena and I broke into Dr. Fells house. Do you think she is cocky enough to just leave it open."
Emma smirked, "Absolutely."
Matt turned the handle and the door open, he looked back at Emma and shrugged, he let Emma lead the way up to Rebekah's bedroom.
She took each step cautiously, making sure to make as little noise as possible. Kol was being distracted by Elena, Klaus was babysitting Damon, but Rebekah was the wild card. Stefan was in charge of distracting her or convincing her to give them the dagger to use on Kol, but one wrong move and she would be speeding home. Emma kept herself ready for the impeding fight if she came back anytime soon.
They continued their journey upstairs where Rebekah's room was located and began their search there, looking in all of the obvious places such as her dresser and closet. Emma sorted through what seemed like hundreds of cloths and shoes but came up empty handed. Matt was have just as much luck at Emma, he continually came up empty handed. After doing a sweep of the entire house they decided to give up.
"Maybe she keeps it on her?" Matt suggested.
Emma nodded, "Yeah, I'll head to the school, you keep looking here."
Emma headed to the garage and found one of Rebekah's cars with its keys in it, she smiled as she revved the engine.
Emma pulled the sports car into the school parking lot and hopped out; heading indirectly for the gym where she knew Stefan was more than likely swaying Rebekah to their side.
As she approached she heard The Cure playing, she couldn't help but roll her eyes at Stefan's less than subtle method of suggesting Rebekah side with them in collecting the cure. Emma looked around the corner to see Stefan pinning a Koala corsage onto Rebekah's dress, making her smile and laugh before he led her into a dance.
They were definitely a beautiful couple, and the amount of grace they had as they danced made Emma envious. She missed dancing like that with Damon, the way his arms fit around her perfectly and he would whisper sweet nothings in her ear, or the naughty things that he wanted to do to her later.
Emma saw Stefan suddenly let go of Rebekah and leave the gym, in his absence Rebekah began kicking balloons around while she continued twirling to the music. When Stefan returned he had a bottle of whiskey in his hand.
"It's amazing what you can find stashed away in the teacher's lounge," he joked as he twisted the lid off and took a swig and handed off to Rebekah, who did the same.
Wanted Dead or Alive was playing, "This song isn't as terrible as the others."
Stefan scoffed, "This song, is the godfather of rock anthems, okay?"
Rebekah suddenly stopped and got suspicious, "What's wrong with you? You're...fun tonight."
"I can't listen to this music without thinking of my best friend, Lexi," Stefan explained, Emma felt her heart shatter slightly at the mention of her friend, "we spent most of the eighties together. I remember this one time she snuck us backstage and compelled half the band to do tequila shots with us before the show. She was fearless, kinda like you."
Rebekah popped her hip to the side, "So you slept with her too?"
Stefan let out a soft laugh and smiled, "It wasn't like that, I was just a better person when I was with her. I didn't think I'd ever feel that way again."
Rebekah was quiet for a moment, "Until Elena?"
"Until Elena," Stefan sighed, "and now, that's over."
"That look right there," Rebekah pointed directly at Stefan's face, "that is why I don't let myself care."
Stefan shrugged, "Well, you can say that, but we both know it's not true."
A balloon popped in the distance, making Stefan visibly jump; Emma's body suddenly felt hot and her heart began pounding, she had to take several deep breaths to calm herself down as she felt the heat being to subside.
"Don't worry, I'll protect you if Kol tracks his way to this abandoned dance," Rebekah smirked and reached down to pull her leg warmer down just enough to show that she had the dagger with her, "I think I'll pick the next song."
Emma's eyes widened at the sight of the dagger, she quickly pulled out her phone and typed a messaged to Matt to get him to come to the school as fast as he could. She looked back up and saw Stefan already trying to put a plan into action.
"I think I have a better idea," Stefan took Rebekah's drink and sat it down before pointing to the hallway, "that way."
Emma took a deep breath, she wasn't sure if Stefan planned to forcefully take the dagger from Rebekah. She prepared herself for a fight by slipping a stake into her hand, it may not do much against the Original vampire, but it would at least slow her down. She followed them out into the hall and into a new hiding spot, out of their line of sight. She watched curiously as Stefan did a small run before sliding in his shoes along the laminate floor.
Rebekah threw her hands up, "This is ridiculous."
Stefan laughed, "Well, that's the whole point of the Breakfast Club slide, it's supposed to be ridiculous."
Finally Rebekah relented and rolled her eyes before sliding, but she used her sped.
"No," Stefan crossed his arms, "that's cheating."
"What is fun about hurtling down a hallway like a teenage imbecile?" Rebekah questioned sarcastically.
Stefan shrugged, "You're just gonna have to do it to find out."
Rebekah rolled her eyes and tried to slide, but the grip on the bottom of her boots stopped her, she huffed in frustration.
Matt had finally arrived at the school and came up quietly behind Emma, tapping her on the shoulder to show he was there. She looked back at him and smiled slightly, happy to see she had more back up. They both turned back to the scene in front of them.
"All right," Stefan stepped over to her, "it's the shoes, take them off and you'll be fine."
Emma and Matt saw Rebekah bend over and take the dagger out of her leg warmer; Emma twitched, ready to charge to steal the dagger. Matt grabbed her shoulder to keep her in place.
"This is what you want," Rebekah held the dagger out to Stefan, "right?"
Stefan took the dagger without saying anything, he was in just as much shock as Emma and Matt.
"Go ahead, take it. You're right; I do care. I want stupid koala corsages and a prom, I want to have kids with someone who loves me enough to stand outside my window with a stupid boombox, I want to be human. So let Klaus put down my brother," Rebekah said with conviction, "let's go find the cure."
Stefan glanced over to where he knew Matt and Emma were hiding before he pocketed the dagger. Matt grabbed Emma's arm to keep her from charging forward.
"Let's go home," Stefan said as he grabbed Rebekah's hand and led her out of the school.
Once Emma knew they wouldn't hear her she looked at Matt, "That son of a bitch!"
"We don't know the whole story Em, it's Stefan, he is always playing several angles. Whether he wants to admit it or not, he is just as bad as Damon," Matt tried to reason.
Emma rolled her eyes as her phone pinged, alerting her to a text message from Jeremy.
"Kol is dead," she said matter of factly.
"One down," Matt shrugged.
Emma nodded, "I'm heading over to the boarding house, you coming?"
Matt shook his head, "I'm vamped out for the day."
Emma let out a soft laugh, "No one understands that better than I do."
She gave him a quick hug before heading back out to the parking lot where she hid Rebekah's sports car in the stoner den around the back. She peeled out of the parking lot and drove straight to the Salvatore house.
Emma walked into the house to see Jeremy pacing back and forth in the main room in a near panic. Bonnie and Elena were sitting together on the couch.
"It didn't work," he tossed his hands up in frustration.
"It took awhile for Finn's line to die off, remember? It'll work." Bonnie assured him.
Jeremy snapped at Bonnie, "What if it doesn't?"
"Where is that Gilbert optimism?" Everyone turned to see Damon walking into the room, finally free of his compulsion he was able to leave the cellar.
Elena jumped up and hugged him, smiling, "Hi."
"Hi," he smiled, "sorry I missed all the excitement."
"I'm just happy to see you," she beamed up at him.
Emma looked to ground, even more uncomfortable with their show of affection now that Damon was aware of who she used to be to him. Before anyone else could say something; Stefan came in carrying Silas's tombstone.
"Got the Silas headstone," Stefan announced to the room.
"We're just waiting on Jeremy's mark to grow," Emma said quietly from her corner, she noticed Damon was watching his brother warily; which Emma had learned meant that Damon thought Stefan had a something up his sleeve, this time she agreed, she witnessed it first hand.
"Klaus is trapped in our living room," Elena informed both men.
Bonnie shook her head, "Temporarily. I drew on the new moon, we have three days to find that cure; four at most."
"If we don't, we might as well look up Katherine Pierce and see if she wants some company in hiding," Jeremy was quick to point out the facts, "cause he will come after us."
Elena seemed optimistic, "We'll find it. Now that we've got Rebekah taken care of, all we need is professor Shane, and then we'll have everything we need."
Stefan looked down almost ashamed, "I didn't uh...dagger her."
"What? Why not?" Elena's yelling made Emma grit her teeth.
"I don't need to," Stefan shrugged, "she is on our side."
"On our side?" Elena looked at Stefan like he was nuts, "Did you really just say that?"
Stefan pointed at the headstone, "Yeah, she handed over the tombstone, she wants this more than any of us."
"Why would you possibly think that we could trust her?" Elena yelled.
Damon crossed his arms, "Let me guess, she pledged her allegiance to you while you were naked in the sack?"
Everyone stayed silent while Elena looked at Stefan in shock.
Stefan glared at his brother, "I bet you were just dying to get that out, weren't you Damon."
"Oh" Damon said sarcastically, "was that supposed to be a secret? Maybe you should have made that a little clear while you were bleeding me dry in our cellar."
"Yea, to keep you from killing Jeremy," Stefan argued back.
Elena had clearly had enough of their arguing, "Stop it, both of you."
"Now, why don't you tell her to calm down, Damon? You've managed to use that sire bond pretty well so far, haven't you?" Stefan smirked.
Emma shuffled uncomfortably, leading Damon to move forward and punch his brother in the face, knocking him to the ground. Just as Stefan regained his footing and was about to retaliate, Jeremy started screaming and ripping his shirt off.
"It's happening," Jeremy huffed in slight pain.
Elena gasped, "Oh my God..."
"You can see it?" Jeremy looked confused.
"Here we go," Damon smirked.