This is the web, web that you weave

[abetment]

Who: Katherine Pierce + you; Damon Salvatore
Where: Her home, French's General Store, S&D Automotive, Britches and Hose, Weaver's Bar
When: March 14, all day
What: Guess who has their memories back?
Warnings: Some violence. Will update as needed, otherwise.

You were different from my last but now you got it mirrored
OPEN. Main Street. French's General Store.

[ The morning sun is shining over their just lovely backwater town as Katherine pads through the house. The one she shares with two souls who have mutually accepted along with her (maybe grudgingly), that there's so much more to who she is, to her story, than they've exposed. Because, she'll get her memories back. Sooner rather than later, as the days go on. Color her impatient with each passing day.

It happens as she's pulling a bloodbag out, the chilled item falling from her fingers and snugly back in with the others. There's a torrent of information that sweeps over her, fog lifting, reality settling in, and the ache of a life always on the run coating back over her mind. She wanted this back, her life, and now that she has it? She wants to tie the person who ever cut it off from her up by their ankles to watch them bleed out.

Okay. She needs to gather herself, her resolve. First things first: appearances. There's...nothing in the house, other than a few containers of makeup, that she wants. Needs. Slipping into an outfit she's acquired (denim, what the hell), including jeans with a snug fit and lower waistline than most of the atrocities she's seen lately. She snatches up the camisole that's she now remembers using to impersonate Elena, sliding it on and starting outside. Those ankle boots, also Elena-y, get put on too.

She strides down the street, a girl on a mission, the spaghetti straps out of place in winter weather but whatever. There are more important matters to attend to than a breezy walk, so she speeds up to vampire speed to make her way to the town center, stopping out of sight of anyone and casually walking out of an alley.

Popping into the general store, she searches for a beauty section. As if they'll -- oh, there actually is one. Maybe this town won't be as horrendous as it could be. She spies a human shopping in the area and compels them into buying the items she wants. As a gift for her: it is her birthday, after all (it's absolutely not), and the people in this town have wanted to be oh-so welcoming. A curling iron. Lipstick. Products for her hair. A manicure kit (are the people here barbarians, not providing someone with the basic necessities she needs?)

Items in tow, she stops by a clothing store. With the world's least appealing selection. She manages, compelling the shop-hand into thinking how well the outfit suits her, how it was meant for her closet. She heads back to the house in that. Where, the infamous Katherine Pierce comes together, best she can in Wayward Pines. ]

And as it all plays out I see it couldn't be clearer
For Damon. S&D Automotive.

[ There is no game she's intending to play with Damon as she steps into the garage. They both know that Stefan's her favorite to play games with, anyway. Damon, he's always been the more creative ally to have. Plus, there's a hurdle they need to get over here. She's sure his heart is oh-so shattered after mistaking her for Elena (looks like Elena finally made the switch that Katherine could see coming from a mile away; though, how long it'll last, that's another story...that won't play out there -- she hopes Elena Gilbert never actually shows up.) Her ego's getting in the way with how she's presenting herself, putting herself out there for him to be testy over. Again, might as well go in strong and take it as it comes. She doesn't actually need to do this: interrupt his work day. Yet, selfish.

Maybe he'll be relieved that she's back? No more weird Elena-ness. No more attempted soft touches to bridge a gap between them that she can't believe anyone ever made her forget. What's wrong with the people in charge around here? She's back to Katherine. If her being regarded as a psychotic bitch makes for better relations overall, that's a plus in her book. This way, they can stop pretending that Damon doesn't constantly want to rip out her jugular, too.

She's acquired black heels (not the best ones, but they'll do): a chunkier heel than stiletto, but not awful enough that she looks like a goth wannabe reject. They click across the cement floor, legs long and clad in black pants (the closest fit to her own style that the '90s clothing there allows), a dark purple crushed velvet sleeveless top on, generous with the cleavage. Her makeup is done to a tee, that obnoxious pink she came in with her makeup bag set aside for a red bought by their friendly neighborhood friend. Most importantly, her hair is curled, divinely. She thinks she's really outdone herself, toying with the daylight bracelet over her wrist when as she comes up to find Damon working on a car. ] So industrious. You always were, when you put your mind to it. [ There can't be any doubt that her memories are back, not with that confidence in her tone, throaty voice having fully returned. When he first meets her eyes, her brows pop and she adds -- ] Hey roomie. You'll never guess what happened while you were out. [ A smirk, a giggle.

Yep. She sure is back. ]

Now sing
OPEN. Main Street. Britches and Hose. Weaver's Bar.

[ She's scoped out the lay of the land, its residents (both natural and those forcibly immigrated in), in the first two weeks. Yet, Katherine couldn't seek out the sorts of people, of information, that she finds herself drawn to. There was no allure brought out by her full personality, but with her memories back...she's on the hunt for interesting people.

Things go about as she expected them to a la Salvatores. Reality bites sometimes, what can she say? They're stuck there together though, and she knows that both of them simply must have allies around. She's not stalking after either brother that day (she's not stupid.) It's the first day she's reaching out to anyone that doesn't reside under the roof of where she calls home.

Daylight hours still, she finds herself in a lingerie store. Interesting. For all the sexually repressed soccer moms of the '90s, she wonders? She goes along the aisles, a presence about her that says why yes she's interested in speaking to you, if you're in there too. Holding out a black teddy, her head tilts, curls tumbling down over her shoulders as she hums -- does she want it? ...Maybe.

With the fall of night, she finds a bar, and there's only one thing to do at a bar: compel free drinks out of the bartender (who knows if she can, depending on who's working), get people to buy her drinks and/or flirt. All of the above sounds lovely to her, the infectious giggle she has carrying out when she gets her first drink. There is a 100% chance she'll approach you, fellow patron or staff member. Bars are great for meeting people, everyone knows that.

Comments

you should've known better than to mess with me, heartache

[unforgivably]

[ He never forgets.

He lives with the woman, or the shell of a woman he has vivid, painful memories courtesy of, but he manages. He has a "life" to lead. When not playing the part of the mechanic's older brother, he tries in vain to find any sign of what he needs to do to get out of this small town hell. Were Rayna Cruz involved, they'd all be dead. Could Bonnie have spirited them away in a prison world? For their own good? A semi-dystopian small town in the 90's with strict rules? Someone else? Who knows if the Phoenix stone accepts two souls at once - three possibly if Katherine's joined them, and Caroline to boot. Katherine is still the person out of place here. She's gone. She's been gone for two years.

But Katherine Pierce never stays dead, does she.

If living here didn't confound him before, it does now.

But, the woman living with them doesn't count. She's yet another doppelgänger, playing the part of Katherine. And doesn't she just deserve that and more.

He loses track of the time regarding her memories. It becomes a routine. She's not a bad person to drink with when they don't discuss the atrocities she's committed - or he's committed. He's no closer to finding out why - or even how. And that's why he's at the garage. Because where else would he be. This Damon works there, this Damon lived here. More flashes come, more details - without the detail of Katherine and why she's living with them, why she was given that key. He half expects there to be a surprise connection there, that none of them conveniently remember. With Katherine's luck, she finally managed to snag Stefan. But, he has no context to believe that. Despite it, he sees people everyday he knows or he's seen before, that he went to school with or shot in a game of pool. But, he never loses track of where he's come from. Maybe he should thank Katherine for that, for being a constant, blank slate of a reminder that nothing here is as it should be. That something's up. And they'll find out.

For once Stefan takes his lunch hour alone, Damon's not feeling it, but one of them has to hold up to routine. When paperwork fails to pass the time, Damon's grateful for a drop by and an oil change request. But, they're full service, so he decides to do the full work up, no charge. Kick the tires so-to-speak. Double check everything. Check the transmission fluid.

Katherine always did have the best timing.

Leaning over the hood, she catches him as he's checking the dip stick. As she speaks (Katherine loves to hear herself speak), Damon wipes the dip stick down with his rag. With the dip stick now clean, he can do something he's wanted to do since the moment he realized she was Katherine. There's no reason to lie to himself anymore. ]

Great.

[ And in one fluid motion, he breaks what's probably a given rule in this town.

She deserves more than a dip stick stabbing, but it's a start. It cuts into her abdomen nicely. It won't do any real damage, of course, but he did just ruin her new top. That's an extra perk, right? Whether she doubles over, or collapses, Damon turns back to the car as nonchalantly as he stabbed her. He probably shouldn't have done it out in the open. But you see, she deserves it. ] That's just for your two month joyride in my girlfriend's body. I'll save something more excruciating for trying to get Stefan to stake me, and then something more creative for stabbing yourself with Wes Maxwell's Suck Potion Number 9. That really left us with quite the mess.

[ But, now that he's gotten that out of his system. ] Now. We killed you. Stabbed you with the Traveler knife and everything - well, Stefan did, can't leave that detail out, but how in Hell did you come back this time? Did somebody dig up your bones?

[abetment]

[ Her identity has been cleared up, yet the consideration has cropped up of if Damon and Stefan know more about their whereabouts than they told her previously fragmented self. She'll ask, later.

Katherine knows her presence at the garage won't be a surprise; she's gone there many times over the course of her two week stint in town. She's eyeing Damon carefully, knowing that he can be a loose cannon when the mood strikes. He seems to be tending to mechanic tasks though, and that single word? It's not enough for her to realize what he's about to do.

Her flesh is pierced too quickly for her to react, soft fabric splitting and blood spilling out in a customary circle around the nearest, dearest weapon of choice that Damon had at the ready. She cries out in pain, in shock, shoulders caving and slumping in, a double over if there ever was one. Mouth agape, no breath coming from her, she stares over at his form. ] Not the welcome I -- [ she reaches down, face twisting in preparation of the jolts of pain she'll need to inflict upon herself, both hands encircling the dip stick and yanking it out, tossing its bloody-coated self down onto the garage ] came to expect here. [ Usually, she found herself sitting around the garage, out of either of the brother's way, but near enough to not feel alone.

Jesus, how fucking pathetic she was the past two weeks.

He starts in about what the stabbing was for. Wound healing as quickly as they both know it will, she steps over closer to him, never one to back away, not even after being attacked (not when it was by someone who's technically weaker than her.) She's unimpressed, eyes piercing through him, lips parted, and a constant hold of confusion spread over her face. ] Damon -- [ speaking to him as if he's an infant ] if I'd died? Don't you think I would remember that? And...Travelers? [ In this, there's no confusion, only disdain. ] Since when have you or Stefan been around any of that breed of vile witch? [ Hey hey, looks like she's knows that they exist, which doesn't help her case much, for timeline's sake: just because she's known about Travelers all her life doesn't mean she ever wanted to bring them up with, oh, anyone. She hates them, has every reason to. More so than she knows. ]

I don't know what you're talking about, or what crawled into your brain and died, leading you to craft wild accusations. I don't even know who the hell Wes Max-whatever is. But? [ Her nose scrunches, head shaking, arms crossing loosely over her chest. ] You owe me another shirt, and, right now? More. Details. You're not making sense, Damon. Because the last time I even saw Elena? She was around town, doing Elena things. [ Her brows lift, tone a little cynical. ] Your every day, run of the mill, dull, girl next door human things. [ No emphasis on human, but she tosses it in because why not. ] Far, far away from you and I were going. [ Not a lie!! She gives a bitter laugh, eyes almost rolling. ] Did it take being pulled away from her, this far, however the hell that's happened, [ this town, man ] for you to become so obsessed with another version of me that you really think you're in love with her?

[ Okay, maybe she deserved to get stabbed. She's trying to logic her way through the obvious discrepancies, not jumping to timeline differences. Because, who would? ]

[unforgivably]

Because we've always given you the warmest of welcomes.

[ Her tone infuriates him. She's infantilizing him, speaking to him like he's a child and not a vampire over a hundred years old. Ironically, someone she may have cared for (tough to say, really) was a Traveler but maybe he'll never say the name, Nadia. Then again, telling Katherine she found and lost a daughter would be a knife Damon could twist in the future.

He listens, not liking everything that is coming from her mouth. It's a wonder he has nothing else sharp with which to stab her. He did contaminate this poor dipstick's dip stick, though.

Once again, worth it.

He keeps up with her, that familiar disdain for Elena cropping up, but one thing stands out. ] Around town. You saw Elena around town. [ Because of Bonnie? What's happened back home that he doesn't know about? She must be worried. They all must be. Luckily, this time he and Stefan are in it together and Stefan's not off tearing his life apart. Yeah, he heard about Ivy.

His hands come to her shoulders now. ] Don't lie to me, Katherine. You saw Elena up and around, walking, talking, and not in a coffin? She's awake?

[abetment]

[ Making contact with her, it's a nonissue since Katherine is at the ready to slam him against the nearest wall if he tries to stab her with anything again. She scoffs, low and uncertainly. Slowly, cautious hold to her eyes, she lifts her hands and puts them over Damon's. Trying to move them away, gently. ] What's your deal, Damon? Yes. Walking, talking, probably laughing over lame texts from her gaggle of friends. I'm not lying. And since when has Elena been in a coffin? She may be a prize of Klaus' but last I knew, he wasn't keeping her locked up like the rest of the sad saps he carts around. [ It's easy enough to refer to Elijah in that breath, even though her heart isn't in it. Rebekah's out, and obnoxious, but the other Mikaelson boys may be out of commission for another, who knows how many centuries. ] I mean, I don't even know how he'd...keep her there without, you know. Killing her. But. Like I said, she's alive. Awake. Whatever. Same difference.

[ Which Damon knows about, Elena's state of being alive. Her stare holds upon him. A flash of ache, something like jealously, flits over her features. ] Last I could tell, you didn't seem very impressed with her -- or anyone else other than yourself, Damon. What changed? [ Uh, lots. ]

[unforgivably]

Klaus? [ Why is she bringing up Klaus. Klaus is old news. He's in New Orleans. But, his siblings, carting them around, it's familiar territory but only because the life of a vampire is as long as you live it. There are things you never forget. And this all happened three years ago. Give or freaking take.

He furrows his brow, dropping his hands when she removes them. Nothing that she says tracks. Nothing. ] What's the last thing you remember?

[abetment]

[ She gives him a hard, long stare when he asks her to specify that. ] Why? [ Yet she's befuddled too, so the answer pours out. ] Driving with you down the highway away from hell town. [ A wry, cynical, forced smirking smile. ] To find Mikael. [ Impatience flares, because he should know this. ] Why? Are you... [ her eyes narrow, really looking at him ] is that not what you last remember?

[ Now that's she's considering it? Damon and Stefan do seem different than she last remembers them, at home. But what the hell that means, she doesn't know. ]

That can't be possible. [ Yet it apparently is? ]

[unforgivably]

With Jeremy Gilbert.

[ He's remembering. No wonder she came in friendly, white flag waving away so to speak. Because last she remembered they were chummy and Damon was feeling like getting out of town. ]

It's not. It's your memory. [ Maybe that's it. ] You've just remembered halfway. [ Maybe? ] Someone doesn't want you or us to know how you being here at all is possible. [ And with that, he's pacing away and back. ]

[abetment]

[ She frowns instinctively at that. Takes in the rest of what he has to say as she tries to process what's happening.

Foot tapping once, her head shakes. ] I can remember everything, Damon. Every part of my life. Things you wouldn't believe happened no matter how elaborately I painted the picture. [ You may have been obsessed with her, Damon, but there's a lot she's never talked about with anyone. A girl needs to have her secrets, to guard her heart. ] You think that I could be thinking this clearly, about everything I remember, but still only be remembering halfway? This isn't how it felt earlier. Yesterday. There isn't that...weight of the unknown.

[ Her head nods to the side. ] You didn't know Jeremy was in trunk yet. I know you didn't. [ A beat. ] Did you or Stefan's memories come back like this? In big chunks? [ Can she ignore that you mentioned that she gets killed? ]

[unforgivably]

No, they came all at once. One after the other. Stefan's happened right here with Bucky. [ Who, he's happy isn't here. He brings a hand up, indicating, trying to keep the ensuing headache at bay. ] Katherine, that happened a long time ago. Years ago. Little Gilbert channeled Rose and we found Mikael. Been there, brother-napped that.

[abetment]

[ Her brows lift high and hold, giving him a 'told you so' expression, lips pressing together. ] Not for me. Obviously. [ Then her brows furrow. ] Damon...if that wasn't what was actually happening for me, right before these psychos brought me here? Why would I have had Elena's necklace show up in my stuff? Why would the clothes I was wearing when I was pretending to be her? [ He may be able to find logic, some form of it, and she's probably not winning any favor by continuing to bring up Elena. ]

[unforgivably]

[ Any desire to threaten her if she's keeping back information disappears once she makes that point. ] You were more high school Elena than -- [ He leans against the hood, everything sinking in. She wasn't Vampire Elena. Or, newly human Elena. ]

So, you and I hit the road with Jeremy Gilbert in the trunk to find Mikael. [ He chews on that for a second. ] What I remember doesn't matter. It probably won't even mean anything to you. Unless you've heard of the Phoenix Stone, or Rayna Cruz. Or, I could try Gemini siphons on for size. Any of that sound like something you've come across in your five hundred year run?

[abetment]

[ Katherine sighs. ] This -- is a mess. [ Once her memories sprung back up, she should've realized the differences in both brothers, that neither of them have been acting like they should be. None of them would have any reason to believe they didn't all come from the same point in time though: abduction to weird towns is one thing, time travel or whatever one could call it being quite another.

She listens, nodding once when he repeats what is the obvious to her. At least he remembers it. Although, then he's spouting of details she's unfamiliar with. Lips pursing down in a frown, she answers. ] No. They don't. [ A long beat as she slightly sucks her cheeks in, soft pop sound when her lips open again. ] Was all of that before or after I was apparently killed. [ It's a question, but now she's bitter. So, so very bitter. It's a subject she needs to go back to, all the same. ]

[unforgivably]

Welcome to the last month. Not happy to have you here. [ He'll retrieve the dip stick now, by the way, and the rag, wiping it down and setting it back where it should be. Changing the oil can wait. And the hood comes down with a snap. ]

After. All after. [ Is he secretly pleased she's bitter? Is the sky blue today? ]

[abetment]

[ A glance away, her eyes loll up, another sigh passing her lips, guttural and purposeful. If she were a lesser person, she'd call you what you are, Damon: a dick. No verbal response, and she pretends like she isn't attentive to his every move. Her eyes flick back over when metal bangs down against metal.

Jaw tight, lips starting to go thin before she tries to fight it off, to gather her emotions and resolve, and she peers down. Swallows. Looks back up to Damon's face. She wants to know why. ] Something I did to your precious Elena? Because if so, she must've done something to me first. I've never planned on trying to kill her, Damon. She would've been dead already if I'd wanted to. But. I didn't. I'm not stupid. [ Oh, Kat. Dig your grave, why don't ya? ]

[unforgivably]

[ He could feel bad for Katherine, for anyone learning eventually they die, but in dredging up the sequence of events, Katherine did bring it on herself. ]

What do you want to hear, Katherine? That, in your quest to always be ten steps ahead, you succumbed to the very maguffin you stole. Elena shoved the cure down your mouth during a fight in the school. And, yes, she attacked you, but in her defense, you killed the very brother you once kidnapped. Not to mention unleashing Silas. Who, in finally wanting to die himself had to drink your blood to do it. You were human, Katherine.

[abetment]

[ She's never going to agree that she brought any of it on herself, since she hasn't experienced it. Conceding to the facts however, that she can do.

Her features shift, morphing back to the same guard that Katherine generally maintains. Eyes pained, and she knows Damon will be able to see that, but at least she doesn't look like she might turn weepy.

Instead, confusion (at 'the cure') followed by a lift of her brows over Elena indeed having attacked her first; a sigh at killing Jeremy. Whoops. Faintly she shakes her head at whoever the hell Silas is. Finally ending with parted lips, a blank stare that goes on several seconds long enough so she appears catatonic. Until she blinks, swallowing. ] Human. [ Disbelief and disdain. ] That's impossible. There's no cure. If there had been, you know who would have found it centuries ago. [ How stubborn she is, swallowing again and looking down to the floor. ] Sweet little Elena? [ Back up to Damon. ] How? Who helped her? [ The very human Elena. ]

[unforgivably]

Rebekah. [ He does say her name. ] Also in the race for the cure. And Stefan and I wanted Elena to take it. But, you won out, Kitty-Kat. [ He smiles, accompanying it with a nose scrunch, always obnoxious when he feels it's warranted. ]

I think that answers who didn't have to help her. Elena transitioned. Courtesy of Rebekah.

[abetment]

[ She was lumping all the Mikaelsons into one as to who would've found this cure, not necessarily getting the double meaning of why Damon brought up the Original sister. Then he goes on, her countenance faltering back to a frustrated one over tossing out the nickname in conjunction with a fate they both know she'd never want. She can't deny that he's serious about all of this, that he's not lying, and she hates it.

Then. That. She stares for a moment before outright laughing, pointing over at Damon, head canting. ] A fate Elena never wanted, but that you always did, no? But, you're in love with her now. Are you delusional, Damon? Should I ask Stefan for the rundown?

[ Bitterness, thy name is Katherine Pierce. The deflection is obvious and pissing Damon off probably isn't in her best interests. Yet, she's hurting. Thus, she tries to hurt him too. ]

[unforgivably]

Ask him, ask me, the rundown won't be any different. [ But nice try, Katherine. A lot's changed. Oh, you bring this out in him, Katherine. ] When Silas took a bite, it caused you to start aging. Rapidly. The consequences of being a walking cure. Cut to months later, you on your death bed and Elena forgives you.

[abetment]

[ She laughs, chuckles, eyes giving a quick roll. ] Oh please, now you're just being ridiculous. She may be little miss perfect to some, but I know the truth. Elena would never forgive me for, oh, everything I've done to her. [ Her lips purse down expressively. ] Including a storm of other...sins. [ She smiles, moving so her back is to Damon, stepping across the garage floor. ] Why lie about it? [ A breathy sigh, walking in a small curve so she's facing him again, stopping and standing farther away. ] To preserve her reputation? [ Arms cross over her chest. ] Or are you actually playing storyteller, all for my benefit?

[ She starts moving back to him, coming in closer than before, looking into his eyes before backing off, running her hand along the side of the car. ] You've changed, Damon. [ Don't you want her analysis of you? ] I can't decide if I like that or not.

[unforgivably]

[ Before he can answer, she approaches and passes him. He turns, always keeping his eye on her. ]

I'd go with not. You always liked when I was a lit fuse. [ He's less so now. Ish. He's grown, for sure, but he's also backslid incredibly before coming here. And he was about to make the most selfish decision he's ever made in his life. But, he's here and he'd never tell her that. ] You wanted to know the circumstances around your death. There are many. One domino tumbles into another, into another, leaving you in one of the many bedrooms of the boarding house. Elena did forgive you, because that's just who she is and you repaid her by hijacking her body. You used a Traveler spell you learned. Funny you find them so vile, you didn't hesitate to use their means to your own ends.

[abetment]

[ The rest? She hears and makes note of, but Katherine latches right onto that last part. Unable to hide the surprise, her forehead just creases as she turns away from him again, taking a step parallel to the car every few seconds, hand still running along it. ] My father was a Traveler. [ Chest tightening, emotion that she knew would rise when saying so flashing through her eyes, gone and allowing her to turn back around, leaning a shoulder against the car. ] He wasn't a very good father, and I never wanted anything to do with his magic. It's genetic though -- you know how that works.

[ A sigh, brows rising high as she glances to the side for a second. ] You're leaving something about. I don't know Traveler spells, Damon. But that's why you hate me, so much more, now? Because I took a vacay in Elena's body. To survive? I did it when I was dying? [ A light scoff. ] Would you have expected anything else, Damon? Don't you get it by now: I do anything to survive.

[unforgivably]

I do. Now. [ Not then.

It's funny he thinks of mentioning Nadia, and Katherine beats him to it. He wasn't planning on mentioning her long lost daughter. Even Damon had his limits of torture. And telling her that the baby stripped from her arms upon being born was not only alive, but a vampire Traveler? It borders on cruel. And while Damon can very much be cruel, he is no longer needlessly so. ]

I get it. I got it. Nobody was surprised you did it. [ It's what she did with it. And after. ] Despite what you might think, I do want to spare you undue pain. But, if you really want to know, I'll tell you.

[abetment]

[ She got out what she needed to say about her priority of surviving above all else, so that's that.

Gaze turning analyzing, her chin juts to the side with Damon's reply. ] You have changed. [ A beat. ] Don't forget, Damon. I knew you. Before the shame. The guilt. Losing all you held dear. You had a tender heart. Why couldn't that resurface? [ Did Elena bring this out in him: if so, ugh. She shrugs, sighing, as if she isn't speaking sincerely, as if these aren't raw compliments to what she knows of his past human character. ] I don't not believe you. Believe it or not. But, it's a set up, even an unintentional one. How can I not ask what it is, now that I know there's something more to know?

[ A step back toward him, expression turning wry, trying to fight off threatening vulnerability. ] How much do you think this could hurt, Damon? Me. Of all people. The psychotic bitch everyone loves to hate.

[unforgivably]

[ He shudders, knowing she's right, knowing she's seen him at his most vulnerable. Most foolish. But, he's no longer that boy. He's come a long way from being the Civil War deserter. ]

You know you do that to yourself. Your running, your loose ends, stalking us from afar and then coming to claim us, but not liking what you find and making our lives a living hell because of it. [ And Stefan's. He's definitely talking about Stefan's. ] You had a daughter. Her name was Nadia. She was a Traveler. She became a vampire to find you. She found you, ironically, when you were human. She taught you the spell. She died in a bid to get Elena's body back. [ He knew she would ask. Because of tenses. ] Ask me before now I may be the one arguing you don't feel a damn thing, but I think you feel more than all of us. [ And he wanted to spare her this pain. But, again, she asked. ]