A/N: Please see my instagram artful_becca in the next few hours for an update on everything going on. Enjoy xoxo

GILBERT HOUSEHOLD

"Are you sure you can go through with this?" Caroline asked her best friend, watching as she tied on her embellished gold mask.

Aella turned to look at her, back straight and tense as she contemplated Caroline's question. Even with the amount of makeup Caroline had tried to hide Aella's unusual paleness, the sadness of Mason's death still shone in Aella's bright emerald eyes. Caroline thought back to that moment when she arrived at the Gilbert house after Katherine's latest power play.

THE PREVIOUS DAY

Caroline ran into the house, eyes wide as she saw Stefan soothingly rocking Aella. Still, the teen only stared numbingly at the floor. Meanwhile, Jenna held a sobbing Tyler in her arms, and Caroline had to stop breathing at the blood that covered him. Then, when she heard footsteps, she saw Damon walking out of the kitchen, drying his hands. "What the hell happened, Damon?"

Damon purposely ignored Stefan and Jenna's soothing words that they repeated to the teen they held. Then, turning his back to them, he looked at Caroline, "Katherine showed how much she really cared for Mason. How did you know?"

"Elena called me sobbing," Caroline shook her head in disbelief. "I came straight here." She looked out the door she'd left open, "Elena said it happened outside, but-"

"We cleaned it up pretty quick," Damon interrupted, her confusion at the lack of blood and body outside. "Jenna and Stefan got Tyler and Aella inside, me and Ric got Mason in the backyard while Anna and Jeremy cleaned up the mess outside." He smirked grimly, "I would make a joke about teamwork, but that's too dark even for me."

Caroline glanced over at Aella, hating how pale the usually tanned teen looked, "This isn't right, Damon." She stepped closer to the vampire and lowered her voice, "I know Katherine is a complete psycho, but this seems...."

"Like Katherine's lost control completely?" Damon finished for her, and at her nod, he agreed with her. "Mason realized he'd been playing with the devil and played her at her own game. Katherine wasn't expecting that; she thought she had him wrapped around her deadly finger. Instead, he'd given Aella the moonstone and happily told her all he knew about Katherine. It threw her off guard, so she killed him."

They heard a door closing, and when they turned to the kitchen, they saw a dirty Anna and Jeremy walking towards them. Caroline pulled the two close, noticing the dried tear marks on Jeremy's face, "Are you okay?"

Jeremy nodded against her shoulder before pulling away, briefly noticing Anna still stood close to Caroline. He looked over his shoulder at Tyler; he had stopped crying but was sitting stoically as Jenna stroked his back. "We buried him under the oak tree; it's a nice place, and i-"

"It's a lovely thought," Caroline rubbed his arm as his voice broke. She cleared her throat before she walked over to Tyler and Jenna. When Jenna saw Caroline approaching, she whispered something into Tyler's ear before standing up; the teen didn't move a muscle, intently staring at his hands he gripped fiercely. Sitting down, Caroline's hand moved back and forth, debating internally what to do before her heart chose. Finally, her hand fell onto Tyler's, squeezing softly at his clenched ones, "I'm so sorry, Tyler."

"I'm going to kill her."

Caroline shivered at the tone of Tyler's voice and opened her mouth to try and calm him, but another voice echoed the silent house.

"No." Stefan stood, "You're not gonna kill her."

Damon raised a challenging brow, "Really?"

Stefan looked at Tyler, "You're not gonna kill her because I am." He looked down at Aella, who looked up at him with eyes wide as a silent tear fell down her pale cheek. "Tomorrow night, I'm going to make sure Katherine Pierce never hurts any of us ever again."

NOW

Once her mask was adjusted, Aella turned to her best friend, her lip curled as she gritted out, "For Mason, I can."

She left the room, and Caroline quickly followed, the two making their way down to the kitchen, where everyone stood. As soon as Elena saw the two, she ignored how incredible they looked and marched towards them, "This isn't fair."

Aella had no time for fair, not when she could still feel the blood of her oldest friend on her skin. She turned to the brunette and gave it to her straight, "I don't care, Elena. Katherine has an advantage when her doppelganger is in the same building. We're not risking any more lives."

Elena laughed humorlessly and pointed at Jeremy, "So my little brother can go, but I can't?"

Aella wasn't pushed, "Yes, because he has Anna with him and Tyler trusts him, they can stop Tyler from doing anything stupid. Caroline and Stefan can protect themselves. The only person left to look after you is Damon, and from your attitude lately, I'm pretty sure being babysat by Damon is the last thing you want." Aella pointed to the guardians in the room, "Jenna and Alaric are staying here too; get with the program, Elena. You being anywhere near Katherine risks the plan, risks our lives, and risks your life."

Elena scoffed before shaking her head and stormed out of the kitchen and up to her room; Aella flinched as Elena slammed her door shut. Jenna rubbed her shoulder with sympathy, "She'll be fine. She'll realize that soon enough."

Aella looked to her adopted aunt, eyes watering, "I can lose any more people." Her brows pulled closer together as she shook her head tightly, "I refuse to."

Jenna only nodded and kissed Aella's forehead, "We'll be here, we'll be safe, you don't have to worry about us. You need anything, let us know."

Aella nodded, her eyes taking in the numerous weapons on the table. For the first time that day, she felt a lightness in her chest as she raised a brow at Jenna, "With all those weapons Ric's brought, I would hope you're safe."

Ric ignored her joke as Jenna let out a light laugh and murmured to Aella, "I think Ric was a scout leader in a former life."

Aella snorted as Stefan and Damon walked in; Stefan immediately made his way over to Aella and kissed the top of her hair, "You look beautiful."

Aella reached up and brushed her fingers over his red and black mask. She knew he'd had it since he and Lexi journeyed to Venice, and the blonde had made him buy it, "Nice mask. Had it a while?"

Stefan was pleased to hear Aella teasing him again; the last 24 hours had been harsh. He grinned, taking hold of her fingers and squeezing them lightly, "Oh, this old thing...."

Damon rolled his eyes at the two of them, "Okay, one: Ugh. Two, are we all ready?"

THE PREVIOUS DAY

"What about the spell you did to Damon and Vicki?"

Damon, Stefan, Ric, Aella, Jeremy, Anna, and Caroline sat around the large oak table in the kitchen. After Stefan's declaration, Tyler had marched into the back garden with Elena and Jenna following him. He wasn't too pleased he wouldn't be killing the vampire that had killed his uncle. The group had brought down Aella's grimoires and were trying to figure out a plan to contain and kill Katherine.

Aella shook her head at Stefan, pulling at her hair in frustration, "There are too many variables. And it's really for a house, rather than a room; especially a room that other people will be going in and out of."

Damon flicked through the pages in annoyance, "You'd think powerful witches would learn how to organize their precious books."

Aella glared over at the vampire, "Oh, I'm sorry my ancestors didn't have time to create a magical dewey decimal system while they were being burned alive."

Damon slammed his book closed as he stared down Aella, "I told you I was sorry about betraying Emily. Get over it."

Aella glared down at the book she was reading as she muttered, "You get over it."

Damon contemplated throwing the grimoire in front of him at Aella until Anna raised her head with an excited squeal, "I think I've found something." Due to her history with Emily, the vampire had asked Aella if she could go through her ancestor's grimoire. "It's in latin, but I'm sure this means 'sealing.'"

Anna pushed the book to Aella, who eagerly looked down at the page. Luckily for the group, Aella had been taught latin by her parents and Sheila. Aella grinned widely when she read through the spell, "You're right, Anna." It caused the vampire to do a mini dance in her seat that had Jeremy laughing lightly. Next, Aella's finger traced the words, "It's a sealing spell," She looked up at Stefan and Damon, hesitating in her voice, "I can seal Katherine in the room...."

Damon smiled in triumph, but Stefan knew by Aella's tone, it wasn't so simple, "But?"

Damon's smile fell at his brother's question, and he looked at Aella with a raised brow, "But? No, we don't like buts."

Aella held back all the jokes that grew in her mind at Damon's statement and carried on, "But... she won't be alone." she looked between the vampires at the table, "It's a species spell. Any other vampires in the room will be trapped too. Give me more than a few hours, and I can change it for Katherine alone, but...."

Damon threw his head back, "I hate that word."

NOW

The group gathered outside, minus Elena, who refused to send them off. Ric looked at Stefan and Damon, "Are you sure you guys don't want me there tonight?"

"No," Stefan shook his head alongside Damon. "We need you to stay with Elena. Aella was right; with Katherine and Elena in the same building, we'll always be second-guessing."

Alaric sighed heavily, "Okay. Well, Jenna and I will make sure she doesn't leave the house." He nodded to Damon and Stefan's sleeves, "Are you all set?" The two raised their sleeves to reveal the stake trigger device Ric had given them, and the teacher nodded. "Good. Good luck."

Damon smiled sarcastically, "You mean, don't fuck it up."

Stefan rolled his eyes and turned to the group, "Alright, if anybody wants to back out, I'll understand."

"Yeah," Damon adjusted his suit as if this was just another day, while inside, his emotions were exploding. "Cold feet speak now. I don't want this going wrong if someone chicken's out...." He narrowed his eyes at the blonde, "Caroline."

Caroline let out a squeak of annoyance, "Um, excuse me, did everyone forget? She killed me, fair's fair."

Stefan turned to Jeremy and Anna, "The two of you are on Tyler duty, avoiding Katherine, full stop."

"Plus," Aella held up a hand to the group as she looked at the couple. "Tyler is fucked up right now..." The group looked a little shocked at her words, but the witch shrugged. "I don't sugar shit; I'm not Willy Wonka! Accidents can happen, and the last thing we need is Tyler hurting someone and suddenly growing fur and fangs."

Stefan hesitantly agreed with his girlfriend and turned to Caroline, "Caroline, once you and Aella have found the right room, let us know and get out of the way until Katherine finds you."

Aella turned to her best friend, concerned, "Are you sure you can do this? You were quite the bitch to Katherine last time you saw each other."

Caroline poked Aella's shoulder in annoyance, "Once again, I repeat, Katherine killed me." She poked Aella's shoulder again, "And I am not a bitch, I am the bitch, okay?" She poked a final time, really pleased with herself, "And that's Ms. Bitch to you!"

Aella rubbed her poked shoulder but smiled proudly at her best friend before looking at the group, "She's ready."

"Damn it," Damon scowled, pulling out a ten-dollar note and handing it to Aella, who slid it into her bra quite smugly. He shrugged at the aghast blonde, "Sorry, not sorry, blondie."

Caroline just walked to her car, muttering quite loudly as she passed the vampire, "Asshole."