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Ben Howard - Time Is Dancing
"Hold it in, now let's go dancing
I do believe we're only passing through
Wired again, now look who's laughing
Me again, all fired up on you."
INSIDE THE SALVATORE BOARDING HOUSE LIFE WAS GOING FORWARD AS HOLDEN WOKE UP IN BED. Elena was on top of him kissing his face so that he'd get up.
From near their room Damon had walked out of the shower and banged a wall because of the noise Elena and Holden were making. "Knock it off!" he grumbled loudly and heard laughing as Izzie brushed her teeth, also only in her towel.
Back in Holden's room, he groaned lowly and kissed Elena's nose causing her to chuckle. "We should get," she sighed and then wrinkled her nose curiously. "Do you smell something?"
Damon stopped near Izzie and grimaced. "Hmm. Mom's cooking," he announced as Izzie raised her head up to look at Damon through the mirror. "Probably some baby she abducted from a nearby village"
"How weird is that I met your mom last night?" Izzie asked as she finished brushing her teeth. Damon chuckled and wrapped his arms around her waist.
Holden pulled Elena back to bed causing her to laugh. "Give her a chance, just like Izzie gave Damon one. Just like I gave you one," she stroked his cheek longingly as Holden looked away for a second. "She's your mother."
"More like a tool to get Stefan's humanity back," Holden whispered dully so she glared at him. "What do you think Romeo and Juliet are up to right now?"
"So she'll help you and Holden get Stefan's humanity back?" Izzie asked Damon as she touched his arm and pulled them off of her before she walked into their room.
Damon followed her.
"Have you seen my t-shirt?" Elena questioned curiously as she stood by Holden's drawer and opened up the top causing Holden to vamp sped towards her and stop her from looking inside. "What?"
"Just take mine," he smiled nervously as he held a shirt in his hand. Elena looked confused and took the shirt from him. Once Elena walked out of the room, Holden looked inside the drawer, where he had stashed the cure Damon gave him.
"Heading downstairs?" Damon startled Holden so he moved and took the cure with himself before turning at his older brother, who watched him with a look.
"Let me get dressed."
Elena and Izzie were sitting at the kitchen table in front of each other as they both watched Lily make the table with incredibly delicious food.
Elena looked impressed but Izzie noticed how much Lily watched her. Damon told her Lily was a Ripper and maybe it was just her blood. "Wow!" Elena chuckled clearing the air.
Lily smiled. "This was always my sons' favorite - 'Eggie in baskie.' "
Damon and Holden then entered the room as Lily sat down on the side of the girls causing Damon to take a seat next to Izzie and Holden next to Elena. "Mm. Our favorite, Damon," Holden commented sarcastically as Damon mused back.
Lily watched them as they both took a bite. Damon grimaced. "Doesn't taste like I remember."
Holden only smiled at his mom dully. "Nonsense, brother. I think it's just our taste in food and some people changed," he then took another bite as Damon contained himself from laughing causing Elena to glare at her lover.
"Well, you aren't human anymore," Lily said trying to be polite but then she turned to the girls. "Our tastes change over time. But, Elena, you're fairly new at this, aren't you?"
Elena nodded her head as Holden glared at his mom. "I turned a few years ago."
"And you, Izzie? You're... human," Lily trailed off awkwardly as Izzie stopped eating and then giggled as Damon placed his arm around the chair she was sitting on.
Holden knew exactly what Damon was doing and he was thankful. No way they'd leave Izzie alone with their mom. "I am," Izzie nodded her head so Lily mused.
"And you know Holden since you were born?" Lily questioned so Izzie nodded again. Damon was about to say something but Lily asked Izzie again. "And now you're dating my vampire son? How do you do that?"
"Amazingly," Damon answered sarcastically as he gave Lily a look to stop so she cleared her throat and turned to Holden and Elena.
"So, if I understood correctly, um, in order to free my companions from that place where I was trapped, we'll need the magical device."
Holden nodded his head. "The Ascendant."
Lily smiled warmly. "Yes. The Ascendant. Where is that?"
"Safe. Very safe!" Damon mused awkwardly as Izzie made eye contact with Holden. She was a little clueless about what happened the other night.
"And we'll also need a celestial event," Lily added to the list.
Holden wondered whether any of them should stall their mother. And that's exactly what Damon did. "We'll have to do some digging, yeah. Be patient, they take time. They're very rare."
Lily then smiled mysteriously. "There's a full moon coming up. Will that work? If not, the Lyrids meteor shower is in two weeks."
Izzie was surprised as well as Elena. "Look at you. If you're not a one-woman Farmer's Almanac," Damon told her as Holden smirked to himself.
"Actually, I took your advice, and I've been dabbling on Stefan's computer," Lily announced as Holden pursed his lips and nodded. "What a wondrous invention! All that knowledge."
"And videos of cats riding robot vacuum cleaners," Damon grumbled so Izzie chuckled causing Lily to stare at her pulsing neck.
Holden noticed that and clenched his jaw. Elena's phone then beeped and when she checked it she gasped in shock. "Everything's okay?" Holden asked her in concern as he touched her arm.
"It's Jo. Someone's been attacking people at Whitmore," Elena sighed deeply and stood up.
"Let me guess -" Damon began as Holden shook his head.
"The duo," Holden sighed so Elena mused and kissed the top of Holden's head.
"That's exactly what I'm gonna find out," she then turned to Lily with an apologetic smile. "Thank you so much for breakfast."
Elena then turned to leave. "Wait... Elena, why don't you take Izzie with you?" Holden asked so she stopped and turned to him in confusion.
"What for?" Izzie asked him curiously as Holden glanced back at Izzie with a smile. "Okay, fine."
Izzie stood up, thanked Lily and left with Elena as the brothers stared at their mother awkwardly.
DAMON LOOKED UNHAPPY AS HE DROVE HIS CAMARO WITH HOLDEN SITTING NEXT TO HIM. Holden was on his phone as Lily sat in the backseat looking a little frightened by Damon's erratic driving.
The three relatives were heading off to Whitmore to find Stefan and Caroline as Lily glanced at a calmly sitting Holden in the front. "Text Izzie, Holden." Damon ordered but Holden only scoffed.
"I can't right now. I'm on my game," he mused as he grabbed the phone out of Damon's hand and handed it back to Lily all while not taking his eyes off the screen.
Damon knew Holden wanted his mother to learn and that annoyed him because no matter how angry Holden thought he was with his mom, he still loved her. "Okay. Fine. Text Izzie," Damon told Lily who slowly took the phone into her hands with curious yet surprised eyes. "Tell her we're headed to campus to check it out."
Lily looked confused so Holden locked his phone and turned to look at her. Damon rolled his blue eyes. "You see those letters?" Holden asked so Lily nodded her head. "Just press on them and you'll see it."
Lily looked puzzled as she hesitantly touched the phone's keyboard. When it worked, she smiled up at Holden, which warmed his heart a little. "Oh! You're right."
"Yeah," Holden nodded and turned back into his seat as Damon gave him a questionable look.
Lily then started to narrate her text as she typed. "Dearest Izzie, I hope this finds you well..."
Damon rolled his eyes once again at Lily's old-fashionedness. "No, no, no, no - short and sweet," he ordered as Holden snickered. "Just 'Headed to campus'."
Lily gave Damon a puzzled look as Holden smiled and texted Elena the same thing Damon told him but he let them fight. "Yeah. Then, when we find them, I'll take care of Caroline, Holden will make sure you're in your place. You look Stefan right in the eyes..."
"And I will return him to the man he used to be," Lily narrated as she typed with a proud smile on her face. The technology was new to her but as a woman from 1800's she was good at it.
"Exactly," Holden mused as Lily raised her eyes up at them.
"And once we've done that, then we will go rescue my friends?"
Damon didn't skip a beat. "Sure. I know how terribly concerned you are about that."
Holden looked through the window as Lily continued to type. "How shall I end it? With an I love you?" she asked Damon.
"Knock yourself out."
"You do love that human, don't you?" Lily asked Damon as Holden glanced at his older brother, already knowing the answer.
"I fought Holden because he wouldn't let me be with her... But that's not your business," Damon trailed off as Holden smiled to himself. Lily glanced from Damon to Holden. "But yes, I do love her. And she loves me. You should see the epic love of Holden and Elena though."
"I heard..." Lily giggled as Holden glared at Damon. "Then why are you afraid to give her the cure then?"
Holden and Damon both snapped their heads back at Lily but only Holden stared at her longer. Lily looked caught as she looked away. "Last night, I heard you two talking... Also, Bonnie."
"You spied on us?" Holden asked her in surprise.
Lily pursed her lips as she met his eyes once again. "Well, I didn't mean to eavesdrop, I'm just not used to hearing other voices. I..."
"Really?" Damon snapped, exasperated by his mother already.
Holden sighed as he thought about the cure. "I couldn't help but listen. And, it's not every day that one hears something so rare as a cure for vampirism."
Holden grimaced as he glanced back at his mom. "Let's not bring this up anymore or to anyone else, okay?"
"Not to Elena?" Lily asked him as Damon gripped his steering wheel tightly.
Holden was calmer. "I don't even know if she wants the cure. If she doesn't, I'll give it back to Damon."
Lily smiled mysteriously. "But you fear that she might, and that if you give it to her, you'll lose her."
Damon shot her a look as Holden shook his head. "No, that's not it. I want to be human," he opened up and that was his first mistake. "Especially with her. But..."
Holden then glanced at Damon, who stared at the road. "We're more alike than you both care to admit. All three of us. None of us can bear the thought of being alone."
"Oh, I felt it," Holden mused quietly as he remembered of the three months spent alone.
It almost drove him crazy and he had no idea how could Lily went through it for years.
AFTER ELENA AND IZZIE HELPED JO WITH THE VICTIMS ELENA WALKED OUTSIDE THE HOSPITAL. She found Izzie sitting on a bench, looking around. "I'm done," Elena smiled and sat down next to Izzie.
Izzie didn't answer as she watched an elderly couple walk towards a car. She smiled slightly as Elena's eyes followed the scene. "I feel awful... Not being able to help," Izzie began as Elena stared at the old couple in jealousy. She wanted to be human so much. To be human with Holden.
"You helped as much as you could and that's really brave," Elena comforted Izzie but she only sighed and leaned back.
"I held their hands while you healed them. Healed them, Elena, with your blood," Izzie mused as she smiled. "I want that. I'm ready for that but..."
"But Holden won't let you," Elena nodded her head as Izzie laughed breathlessly.
"It's not about Holden," Izzie told Elena calmly as Elena frowned slightly. "It's about Damon and what he wants for me. And he wants me to be human. I saw the way you reacted at the news of Jo being pregnant. I saw the jealousy and now... That couple, you want to be them one day but you can't.
And I've been staring at that couple for the last few minutes and I don't want that. I don't want to get old, I don't want children like you do, Elena. How I wish I could change our lives. Take my place, please, and let me be with Damon forever."
Izzie then looked away as Elena stared at her in shock and surprise. "Then do it," Elena shrugged as Izzie snapped her head back at the female vampire. "I know Holden told you not to be a vampire, but if you told him what you told me... He'd change his mind. You have Damon by your side too. You have me and Holden, and so many other people."
A tear rolled down Izzie's cheek. "You are right. I am jealous of humans. I want to be alive again. Physically," Elena chuckled as she took Izzie's hand in hers. "But I can't. I know that and Holden knows that. There's nothing we can do to change that."
Izzie then rested her head against Elena's shoulder as Elena smiled. "How come I'm so emotionally unstable?" Izzie chuckled as Elena laughed too as the two continued to sit in the chilly air.
HOLDEN, DAMON AND LILY ARRIVED TO ONE OF THE BUILDINGS OF CLASSROOMS AND LABS. The three walked down the hall while they discussed what they knew. "If your brother's on the hunt, he won't be staying in one place," Lily told them.
"Yeah? Well, we have to start somewhere," Damon sassed as her as Holden rolled his eyes. He was actually warming up to his mother.
"Elena texted me saying she treated some kid who was attacked coming out of modern European history," Holden commented as he paused for a moment after he received yet another text. She gave him the address of the place. "Well, well. Mother does know best. Elena said they're at Scull Bar. Let's go there then."
Damon and Holden moved as Lily stayed behind. "We have yet to discuss what we'll do if Stefan fails to remember me."
She looked anxious as Damon looked confused. "What, are you kidding me? You're his mother. Of course he's gonna remember you," Damon then stopped to look her in the eye. "Tell me you can do this."
"What if I say the wrong thing? A century and a half is a long time to be away."
"You'll be fine," Damon commented as he started to walk towards the bar near where they were.
Holden then turned to Lily. "Just channel what you felt all the way back when you came back to get us."
"When I came back to get you?" Lily looked puzzled as Damon quickly turned around. He knew that Lily wasn't looking for her sons but Holden thought otherwise and no way he was gonna let some woman who abandoned them all hurt his little brother.
"Yeah. 1903. You found out we were vampires, you landed in New York Harbor after a forty-year romp in Europe, and you..." Holden trailed off as Damon marched back to his mom.
"Don't dare..." he started but Lily only shook her head at Holden causing Damon to stop furiously.
"Oh," Holden realized as all of his love that he still had for his mother vanished into thin air, leaving nothing but pain. "Oh. You weren't coming to get us."
Lily was embarrassed as Damon glared daggers at her. Holden looked away with a dull smile. "No. I wasn't. I'm sorry."
Holden looked momentarily devastated as Damon stood next to him as he looked at her. "You can do this," he sneered lowly. "All we have to do is just try."
"I have been trying, Damon!" Lily then raised her voice slightly. Holden didn't even look her way. "Since I laid my eyes on you two yesterday, I have been trying with all of my heart to connect with the woman who was your mother, to remember what it felt like to mourn you and Stefan after I was banished by your father. After I was turned, the only thing more powerful than the longing I felt for you was the fear of what I would do if I ever saw any of you again. So, I stayed away. I had to find others who could help me find my way back to myself, and... by the time my new family helped me do that, everything I felt for my old family- for you two and your brother - was gone. I hate that I can't make myself feel more. I'm so sorry."
Damon was clearly upset as Holden stared at her calmly yet it held nothing but lost hope. Lily's eyes were filled with tears as she walked away from them. "Good to know," Holden mused and walked away too as he held his hands in his jacket's pockets.
Damon gulped anxiously and only shook his head.
Later on, Damon was talking on the phone with Izzie in Alaric's lecture hall as Holden stood outside of it with Lily leaning against the wall on the other side of him.
The two were quiet as Holden waited for Damon to talk with his girlfriend. "How can you stand next to me?" he then questioned as Lily looked at him tiredly. "How do you have the courage to stand next to me when you flat out told me you don't love any of us?"
"Let me be," Lily said quietly but Holden shook his head. "Fine. Then I will show myself out."
Lily then started to walk away but Holden grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "You, listen," he said angrily as Lily glared at him. "You hurt me and that's fine by me. But you also hurt Damon, and unlike you, I cherish and love my family, who's bounded by blood. For that I can't forgive you. But there's one person out there, who doesn't know that. And that one person loves you dearly. Still does and always will. So even if you don't love him, you're gonna go over there and you're gonna act the best that you can to bring my little brother back. Or you can kiss your desiccated vampire family goodbye!"
Damon stood in the hallway as Lily yanked her arm back to herself. Holden pulled away and breathed out. "There's so much father in you... It scares me sometimes," she whispered as Holden smiled.
"At least my father had the gut to raise me up," he sassed back so Lily shook her head.
"What if I can't bring him back?"
Damon then clicked his tongue and approached her. "You won't fail."
"I need to be assured that... Regardless of the outcome with your brother today- I can count on you to help me get my people back..."
Holden smiled sarcastically to himself. "Seriously? We've told you that a billion of times already! We will get them back."
"Is that the truth?" Lily asked suspiciously.
"Why would I lie?" Holden asked her with a raised eyebrow as his heart didn't skip one beat.
"You have the power to give your greatest love the human life she desires, and you have yet yo be truthful with her," Lily told him as Holden was speechless after that.
Lily gave him a look so Damon sighed and pulled the Ascendant out of his jacket before he handed it to her as a sign of good faith. "Showtime," Damon stared at Lily with a look telling her not to mess up.
TYLER WAS DESPERATELY TRYING TO STABILIZE MATT'S WOUNDS UNTIL THEY COULD GIVE HIM HELP. The two emotionless vampires watched casually from the sidelines. "I'm sorry, Matt. Come on. You can't die on me, man," Tyler pleaded painfully as Caroline chuckled.
"So, for those of us keeping score, if Matt dies, are you gonna start peeing on fire hydrants again?" Caroline asked mockingly.
Stefan smirked. "Ooh, that's a very good question. I mean, if all that rage made you think that you could take us both, maybe this is Nature's way of reconnecting you with your true self?" Stefan asked Tyler.
"Shut up!" Tyler yelled but it was cut short as Holden and Damon entered the bar with Lily following close behind them.
Caroline and Tyler looked confused when they saw Lily with them, but Stefan only looked stunned. "Who's that?" Caroline noticed Stefan's shock.
"It's my mother."
Holden saw that Matt was injured badly so he left Damon and Lily deal with the vampires as he rushed over to help. "Take my blood and get the hell out of here," he bit into his wrist but Matt only shook his head weakly, refusing to take any of the blood. "Just take it, Matt."
"No... No blood."
"What the hell?!" Tyler hissed as he looked at Holden in confusion.
Holden pulled his healed already wrist and stood up. "Help him get to the hospital. Elena will be there," he mused as Damon noticed them and threw Holden his cars' keys. "Take it."
Tyler took the keys of Damon's Camaro and raised Matt up, who groaned in pain. The two males left as Holden turned back to meet Caroline's eyes. He smiled dully and walked back to Lily. "So... you have a mother?" Caroline asked Stefan.
"I had a mom. She died. So, whoever this is is my brothers' lame attempt to get my humanity back on," Stefan scowled at them as he stared at Lily, who looked slightly uncomfortable.
Caroline looked angrier. "Let me guess... Then you get my humanity back on? I don't think so.." Caroline then picked up the makeshift stake Tyler made out of the furniture earlier and stabbed Stefan in the back with it before vamp-speeding to the door. "Sorry, Stefan. But thanks for the head start."
She fled the restaurant, leaving Stefan groaning in pain on the floor as Damon, Holden and Lily watched awkwardly.
Lily then approached Stefan and knelt next to where he laid on the floor. "Here. Let me help you."
She pulled the stake out of Stefan's back and he groaned in pain. "Ugh!"
Stefan then pulled away from her quickly and stood to his feet as he looked at Lily awkwardly. "I'm sure you have many questions..."
"Well, the fact that you haven't aged a day answers the big one," Stefan snapped at her sarcastically so Lily looked away for a second.
"I'm a Ripper," she blurted out as Holden closed his eyes. Stefan looked surprised at this revelation and frowned at her. "All the guilt you've carried for your lack of control? It's my fault, not yours. You get it from me. That's why I had to leave. I was so new to the bloodlust, I was afraid I would hurt you and your brothers. The last time I saw you was the day of my funeral. You weren't imagining it. I was your angel."
Holden looked down as he watched Lily tell Stefan things Damon told her to tell because apparently it was too hard for her to be genuine with her own son. Holden couldn't imagine a mother unable to love her children. "If only I'd been there to see you grow into a young man, to protect you from your father's temper. But I was so ashamed of the things that I'd done, of what I've become, and by the time I got my appetite under control and was coming back for you and your brothers, I was hunted down and banished to a prison world by the Gemini."
Holden let out one tear because that also wasn't the truth and it hurt. She wasn't their mother. That he knew. "The only thing that helped me get through being trapped in that awful place was the hope of seeing my sons again," she then walked over to Stefan and placed her hand on his cheek. "I know that there are no words that make up for me abandoning you, but we have all of eternity for me to try. Your angel has returned to you, and I will never leave you again."
Stefan closed his eyes for a long moment, and when he opened them again, he had emotion in them. His face then softened as he saw Lily. "Mother," he mused in shock and then hugged her as Lily stared ahead of herself with a dull and unknowing look on her face.
"My sweet, sweet boy."
"HOLDEN!" Elena called out causing Holden to turn around. He was waiting for Elena outside of Scull Bar so she ran up to him and instantly noticed his look. "You're not fine."
"I'm not fine," he agreed so Elena hugged him. Holden took his hands out of his jacket and wrapped his arms around her waist before burying his face into her neck. "I love you."
Elena smiled to herself and then pulled away to stroke his cheek. "Izzie told me your mother practically deceived you both. I can't believe in her..."
Holden stared at her lovingly and smiled. "I'll be okay," Holden then pulled away and took her hand before leading her to sit on a bench near a park. "Well... Matt is alive and still hates vampires, Stefan is on Caroline-duty, Damon left to take his human girlfriend and I just introduced mother to Uber. Who do you think will be the worst?"
Elena smiled widely and shrugged before she snuggled on his side. "I wanna throw Jo a baby shower."
Holden looked at her curiously. "Whoa! Where did that come from?"
"Jo's pregnancy is the best news that we've had in a little while, and I feel like I didn't react in the way that I should have," she sighed deeply so Holden frowned as he felt the cure in his pocket. It was so close and yet he was doubting it.
"Why is that?" Holden asked as he cleared his throat.
"I was jealous... I always wanted a family before you know... So, it's kind of a bummer of a reminder that that's never gonna happen for me," she mused as Holden looked sad. "But, I get to have a life with you, which is also what I've always wanted even if I can't remember. So... It'll be good, right? I just had to let myself be sad for a minute," she looked him up in the eye as Holden held a big secret. The answer to her prayer.
"Well... What if I told you that things could change?" he asked curiously but Elena only frowned at that.
"Well, nothing's changed. I still love you no matter what am I," she smiled as he smiled back as he rested his forehead against hers. "Don't be upset about your mother."
The two had their eyes closed as Elena trailed her hand down his left side of the face. "I'll always be there for you."
Suddenly, Elena's phone began to rang causing them both to open their eyes. "Ugh. This better be important," Holden pulled away as Elena chuckled and checked the text message. Holden read Jo's message too and they both became worried.
HOLDEN AND ELENA BOTH ENTERED JO'S OFFICE TO FIND THE PREGNANT WITCH, DAMON AND IZZIE THERE ALREADY. The doctor looked overwhelmed and haunted. "So, I called my dad to let him know that Kai's gone, but all he wants to know where the Ascendant is. We have to destroy it," Jo ordered as Elena looked confused by it. When she asked why Damon grimaced.
"Before you answer that, I should probably skip to the part where... I already gave it to Lily."
"What?" Elena snapped as Holden let out a guilty sigh. "You promised Bonnie that—?"
"Before the 1900s, your mother fell in a group of witches that were cast out of the Gemini Coven," Jo commented in anxiousness. "They were known as Heretics, Siphoners like Kai, but not just that. Lily turned them, resulting in creatures that are both witch and vampire."
"But that's not possible," Izzie shook her head. "Vampires can't be witches."
"These are witches that have magic only when they siphon power from another source," Jo sighed deeply as she explained. "As vampires... They were on their way to destroy the Gemini, but the coven got to them first. Put them in exile. Heretics are ruthless - vampires with witch power, an aberration of Nature. They can never be allowed to escape. Imagine Kai with the bloodlust of a vampire. Now, imagine six of them."
Holden glanced at Damon worriedly. They were in deep trouble for sure.
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