I passed out in the backseat of Tyler's car again, waking up in the morning, all warm now, but still sick and dying since my vampire soul was in Martha Hammond's dead human body. I looked at Sarah and Tyler in the front seats. "What happened?"

"Well, we pulled you out of the snow, you ate a bunch of donuts, and then puked blood all over my nice, clean car," Tyler answered. 

I looked at my lap, which was covered in bloody napkins.

"You said everything hurt, so..." Sarah trailed of, pulling out a grocery bag of over-the-counter medication, taking out the pills. "I got you these. Head stuff, throat stuff, stomach stuff..."

I groaned in pain, ill and miserable. "Where are we?"

"On our way to Memphis," Tyler answered. "Valerie got a line on your real body. The hot one."

Sarah gave Tyler an amused look.

"How did my real body end up in Memphis?" I asked in exasperation.

"Stefan and Damon lost the vampire inside your real body," Sarah answered. "So, while Stefan, Damon and Tyler are looking for your real body, you and I are just gonna focus on keeping you alive, okay? Sit back, relax, find your happy place. Chug one of those five-hour energy things, maybe with a cough syrup chaser or something?" I started to feel sick again, taking the empty bag from Sarah, vomiting blood into it, groaning in pain. Sarah looked away. "Good thing I took out the medicine."

"Okay," Tyler told us. "Plan B."

Tyler pushed down the gas, speeding down the road, pulling over, making a call.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

Tyler held up his finger, making the call. "Stefan, Nikki's getting worse. She can't go to a hospital because Martha Hammond got loaded and crashed a bus full of kids, so there's an interstate manhunt going on. We can't take her to the hospital, so you gotta find a way to bring the hospital to her."

        ~~~~~~~   

Tyler pulled us up to a road where Damon's Camaro was parked next to an ambulance at the side of the road.

Sarah, Tyler and I got out of the car.

Stefan, Damon and two compelled paramedics walked closer.

I gave Stefan and Damon an exasperated look.

"What?" Stefan asked.

I gestured to the compelled paramedics.

"We had to improvise," Damon told us. He pointed at the paramedics. "That's Frank, and that's Sully."

"Hi, guys," Frank told us.

"Hey, how you doing?" Sully asked.

"We've asked them very politely to make sure that you stay alive, and if you don't, we will cut their thumbs off and feed them to the squirrels," Stefan told me. He looked at Frank and Sully for confirmation. "Right, guys?"

Frank and Sully rolled their eyes, giving us two thumbs up.

I sighed in exasperation, rolling my eyes in annoyance, walking weakly toward the ambulance. They helped me inside. I laid on the stretcher.

Damon looked at Tyler. "Meanwhile, you will come with Stefan and me to go hunt down the sociopath that has taken residence of our niece, slash your girlfriend, slash Sarah's sister. And then Valerie will jam her soul back... in..."

Tyler looked around. "Where's the witch?"

Stefan sighed. "She's at a motel off Route 70, prepping for the spell."

"Prepping for the spell?" Sarah repeated. "What does that even mean? What could she possibly have to prep?"

"I guess it's a little more complicated than that," Stefan told us. "At any rate, she managed to do a locator spell on the serial killer in Nikki's body. His name's Ambrose. Turns out, he's holed up in a frat house near Memphis College."

Damon nodded. "Maybe he'll be so busy snacking on drunk sorority girls that this'll be an easy snatch-and-grab."

Stefan, Damon, Tyler and I looked at Sarah.

"I'll stay here with her," Sarah told them. "At least she has one person that won't abandon her when she needs them the most."

Sarah walked past them toward us in the ambulance, getting inside.

Stefan and Damon looked hurt, but knowing that they deserved that.

Tyler looked at Stefan and Damon smugly, smirking.

I looked at Sarah, smiling a small smile.

Sarah chuckled softly.

        ~~~~~~~   

The paramedics were still working over me to keep me alive, putting an oxygen mask over my face. 

I was fading in and out of consciousness.

Sarah sat next to me, leaning closer worriedly in concern, taking my hand comfortingly. "They're gonna get you your body back. And then we're gonna put your soul where it belongs. This is not how you die, Nicola Salvatore." I smiled a small smile, reaching up to take the oxygen mask off of me. Sarah tried to stop me. "No, hey."

I took the mask off, taking a deep breath. "No, it's okay. I just want to tell you something."

"Okay," Sarah told me. "You can tell me anything."

I took a deep breath. "If I don't make it through this..."

Sarah shook her head. "Uh-uh. Don't even talk like that."

"Sarah," I told her. Sarah sighed worriedly. "Just tell Tyler I'm sorry. Okay? He doesn't deserve to lose me like this? Not when I got myself into this mess by saving Stefan and Damon. We all knew that me sacrificing myself for them was gonna get me killed someday. But if I do make it through this, I don't know if I can keep doing that."

"And you shouldn't have to," Sarah told me. "You've given up enough for them. It's time that you start living for yourself."

I chuckled barely. "If I make it out of this."

"You will," Sarah told me. "I'll make sure of it."

Sarah and I smiled small smiles.

I sighed, putting the oxygen mask over my face again.

        ~~~~~~~   

We were driving so we wouldn't get caught by any authorities.

Sarah's phone rang. She pulled it out, seeing who was calling, answering, putting it on speaker. "Damon?"

"Tell me you're not still driving, Sarah."

"We hit a little accident-related traffic a few miles back."

"What is the point of having an emergency vehicle if you can't run other cars out of the way?"

"Hey, I'm not the one driving. But you're on speaker."

"Frank! Sully! Do not stop again. Do not pass 'go', do not collect $200. Turn on the lights on the top of the van, and deliver Nicola to a very powerful witch woman before some lunatic tries to off her."

"Copy that," Frank told him.

I struggled to take off the breathing mask off in confusion. "What?" Sarah held the phone toward me so I could speak louder so Damon could hear me. "What are you talking about?" 

"Ambrose is coming after you, thinking that if you're dead..."

"You'll stop hounding him to get my body back," I finished. "Damn it."

Frank walked up to the front. "Hey, Sully? We gotta turn on the lights."

Sully nodded, turning to the right to turn on the sirens and lights.

Something rammed into the right side of the ambulance so hard that it toppled onto its side, sliding across the road.

Sarah and I fell to the lower side of the ambulance, landing badly.

        ~~~~~~~   

Sarah was struggling to get up, groaning in pain. She crawled toward me.

We heard Sully outside. "Hey, buddy, you okay?"

We heard my own voice. "Me? Oh, I'm well. Thank you."

Sarah looked at me in confusion. "That's your voice."

I sighed, shaking my head. "But that's not me. Obviously."

"Ambrose?" Sarah asked.

I nodded weakly. "Coming to kill me."

Sarah wrapped my arm around her shoulder to help me up.

We heard Ambrose outside. "How about you, friend? Are you hurt?" Sarah helped me out of the back of the ambulance. We stayed in hiding, watching as Ambrose/me fed on Frank until he died, sighing in relief as he was empowered by the blood, letting the body fall. I pointed toward the house. Sarah helped me run toward the house. "What about you, Nicola? Are you ready to meet your maker?"

Ambrose finally made it to the ambulance, pulling the back doors open, only to became frustrated when he didn't see anyone.

Sarah and I got to the house.

I broke the glass door with my elbow, unlocking the door from inside, opening the door.

Sarah helped me inside.

Ambrose rushed up to us, trying to get inside, but was stopped at the threshold as neither he nor my body had been invited it.

I laughed smugly, weakly. "I guess being human still has a few privileges."

Sarah chuckled in relief.

        ~~~~~~~   

Sarah and I were still inside the house.

I lost my balance, falling to my knees weakly.

Sarah knelt next to me worriedly.

Ambrose was outside the house, pacing. "You look like you're in pretty bad shape, Nicola. Hmm? Would you rather just get this over with? Think of it this way. At least you won't have to go back to the hell stone." It was so weird to see my body like this. Ambrose looked around at all the construction materials outside of the house, noticing a pile of bricks and picking up one, throwing it toward us. Sarah and I ducked.  "You just have the sweet release of death to look forward to. For both you and your little friend here."

"That's sister, you jackass," Sarah corrected.

Ambrose chuckled. "Ooh. You two are feisty, huh?"

"It's a Salvatore family specialty," I told him.

Ambrose picked up another brick, throwing it toward us.

Sarah and I ducked.

Sarah hurriedly pulled us both into cover behind a wall. 

Ambrose picked up another brick, throwing it toward us.

We ducked behind the wall.

Ambrose looked around for something else, very pleased to find a gas tank next to a grill in the side yard. "Oh, portable stoves. What will they think of next? I think I'm really going to enjoy my life in this new world." He turned the spigot on the gas tank, causing it to release the gasoline inside, throwing it through the now broken window, where it landed in the foyer. Sarah and I looked at each other in panic, watching the tank fill the house with gas. Ambrose walked closer, using a grill lighter to set a can of oil on fire in a makeshift Molotov cocktail. "Any final words you'd like me to deliver to your pathetic, little family, girls?"

Sarah was terrified at the thought of dying in an explosion, crawling into the living room to grab the gas can and throw it outside.

Ambrose threw the lit oil can toward the door.

Stefan appeared in front of the door, catching the oil can before it could get into the house. "Fun's over."

Stefan blew the lit can out.

Sarah and I sighed in relief.

Damon walked closer.

Ambrose scowled at them angrily, grabbing a nearby plank of wood, using my knee to break it in half. "On the contrary. The fun's just begun."

Ambrose lunged toward Stefan and Damon with each side of the broken makeshift stake.

Stefan and Damon just smirked smugly.

Ambrose was shot in the back with vervain darts, instantly falling unconscious.

Sarah and I looked outside to see that Tyler had been the one to shoot Ambrose/me in the back with the vervain darts.

Tyler tossed down the vervain dart gun, walking into the house toward Sarah and me, looking at me. "Let's get you back into your body, huh?"

I smiled.

        ~~~~~~~   

I had passed out before I could see what would happen with the spell.

I woke up in my own mind at the Salvatore Boarding House.

A fire was roaring in the fireplace.

Tyler was by the bar, smiling a small smile, reaching for a bottle of bourbon. "Care for a drink?"

I sat up, looking around in confusion. "What am I doing here?"

Tyler poured us two drinks. "Well, you know what they say. 'There's no place like home'.'

"You're in my head, aren't you?" I asked.

Tyler smirked, rolling his eyes good-naturedly, walking closer, sitting next to me on the couch. "With a little help from Stefan's vampire powers, yeah." He handed me a glass. "No matter where we traveled, you were always going on and on about how much you missed this musty old house. I figured you'd be more comfortable here, and I wanted to see the real you."

"Do I even want to know what's happening out there?" I asked.

"You're going to be fine," Tyler told me. "Promise."

"You wouldn't happen to be lying to me, would you?" I asked. "Because if I'm about to die a painful death in a strange human's body, then I want to make the most of my time. Maybe I can pick our next destination. Any ideas? Or would you rather spin the old globe in the upstairs study and let fate decide?" Tyler didn't answer, taking a drink. I looked at him in confusion. "What? Tyler, what?" Before he could answer, he disappeared. I looked around in confusion. "Tyler? Ty!"

I stood, looking around.

The parlor started to glow white.

        ~~~~~~~   

I woke suddenly in a motel room, to find Valerie kneeling between the two beds that held Martha's body and my body.

I looked at Martha's body, feeling that I was in my own.

Stefan, Damon, Tyler and Sarah were standing nearby, looking at me anxiously, not knowing what to think.

"Nicola?" Sarah asked hesitantly.

I nodded. "It's me. It's me." I sat up, sighing in relief. "It's me."

I couldn't look at Stefan and Damon, barely glancing at Valerie, looking at Tyler and Sarah, smiling a small smile.

        ~~~~~~~   

Sarah and I walked outside the motel, toward Sarah's car.

Sarah turned to face me. "Are you sure you're gonna be okay?"

"No," I answered. "With a Salvatore, nothing is ever 'okay' for long, but I'm fine now. Honest."

"I kinda don't wanna leave after what just happened," Sarah admitted.

"No, no, it's okay," I told her. "I want you to go home, okay? I want you to continue living your life like you're supposed to. You'll see me again. Trust me. More soon than you think, probably. I just want you to be safe. And now that I don't have the scar on my chest anymore, that means that Rayna has no reason to come and kill me. She has no reason to come after you again."

"Yeah, but she still seems pretty intent on turning you into a Huntress like her," Sarah told me.

I shook my head. "The only way for that to happen is for me to kill a vampire, and I'm not gonna kill a vampire. Trust me."

Sarah nodded understandingly. "I'll see you soon, right?"

I nodded. "You can count on it."

Sarah and I smiled.

Stefan and Damon walked out of the motel toward us.

Sarah looked at me. "I'll see you later."

I nodded. 

Sarah got into her car, driving away.

I watched her go, waving. I turned to face Stefan and Damon coldly, walking past them toward the motel.

Stefan grabbed my arm to stop me. "Nikki, where are you going?"

I turned to face them, pulling my arm away from Stefan. "To my boyfriend, and then to home."

"And where is home?" Damon asked. "You can't go back to Mystic Falls. Matt Donovan made sure of that."

"I don't know yet," I told them. "But as far as I'm concerned, I don't wanna be around you right now."

Stefan and Damon looked hurt but understanding.

"Oh, Nikki, we're trying here, okay?" Damon asked. "We are. I shouldn't have abandoned you. We shouldn't have abandoned you. That was a terrible thing to do."

I pointed at Stefan. "Oh, and another thing. Matt only let Rayna out of the Armory because he wanted her to kill you."

"I'm aware," Stefan told me.

"Whatever the hell happened between you two, it pissed him off enough to make him hate you so much that he would release Rayna so that he could try and kill you, and look at what happened in the process," I told him.

"I'm sorry," Stefan told me. "But just tell us whatever amends we need to make, or whatever bridges we need to build, and let's just... let's just get back to the way things were. All right?"

I sighed, hesitating for a moment. "You want to know why the last three years have been the happiest of my life? Because I got to have a life outside of Mystic Falls. I got to have a relationship with my sister, and I had a boyfriend that loved me even when he didn't agree with the decisions that I made when it comes to the two of you. I got to travel the world, and it didn't feel like I was running for my life until you made the mistake of pissing off the wrong people that nearly got me killed. Again. And all of this was so good because you weren't in my life and screwing things up." Stefan and Damon were obviously devastated by this answer, though they were understanding and knew I was right. I felt guilty about the harsh words, but I meant them, sighing. "No offense, but I don't want things to go back to the way they were."

Stefan and Damon were overwhelmed by emotion and at a loss of what to do, trying to cover up their hurt feeling.

"Well, thanks for being honest," Damon told me.

I was guilty and overwhelmed with emotion. "The bad thing is that I want to thank you for saving my life, but you're the ones that put it in danger again. Maybe we can work this out some day, but it's not gonna be today. I just... I need time. A lot of time."

Stefan nodded, ashamed. "Of course."

I looked at them for a moment, walking past them, walking inside.

         ~~~~~~~     

I was in the motel room, walking out of the bathroom after having showered and changed, seeing Tyler sitting on the bed.

Tyler was writing a message. He looked up. "Better?"

I smiled a small, weak smile. "Better." I walked closer, gesturing to the letter in confusion. "Hmm. Catching up on your, uh, correspondences?"

"I was trying to write you a letter," Tyler told me.

I looked at him in confusion. "Uh... I'm standing right here. You don't have to write me a letter." Tyler sighed, standing. I looked down. "This about why you didn't answer me about where you wanted to go next?"

"Yeah," Tyler answered. 

"That's because... you don't want to go anywhere," I told him. "With me, that is."

Tyler sighed. "I love you, Nicola." I knew that this was going to end sadly, biting my lip. "But I can't keep watching you keep sacrificing yourself for you family when all they end up doing is abandoning you, hurting you, and nearly get you killed."

"I know," I told him. "Which is why I just told them goodbye for what may be the next few years."

"Yeah, or maybe just the next few months," Tyler told me. "No matter what happens between you and your family, you will always end up forgiving them, no matter how horrible the deed is. I thought that you would hate them forever after you found out about what they did to Sarah and the hex that Kai gave you. And it took you nearly a year to even look at them in the eyes, but you ended up forgiving them so much that you took on Julian to try and save them. You took on Rayna to try and save them, and you got the scar in the process. You were on the run because you saved them. Your life was on the line, again, because you saved them, again."

"They've saved my life, too," I told him.

"Because they're the ones that put it in danger," Tyler told me. "And they care about you. They do. I get it. Three years ago, after you got the scar, and you took off to go to New Orleans, to Elijah, to Freya for the paste that blocked Rayna's sword's signal, Damon put me in a coma. And when he and Stefan were locked in the vault with me, they almost killed me, just like I almost killed them."

"Yeah, but they didn't," I told them. "That's the difference."

"If it's not me, it's going to be somebody else, Nicola," Tyler told me. I was surprised he called me by my full name, a little hurt. "There's no way in hell Damon's lasting sixty years without royally screwing up. You'd think that he already did by putting your boyfriend in a coma. And you would think that both he and Stefan royally screwed up by letting you take the sword in the chest."

"It was my shoulder," I told him.

Tyler gave me a look. "The point is, as long as you're around them, you'll always keep risking your life trying to save them until you're dead."

"That's what family is for," I told him. "They're supposed to be there to make sacrifices for you."

"What sacrifices have they made for you?" Tyler asked. "You've made every sacrifice in every worst possible way. Your life? Check. Your sanity? Check. Your humanity? Check."

"But I am fine now," I told him. "That's what you don't get, Tyler."

"No, I 'get' it perfectly, Nikki," Tyler told me. "You're gonna keep sacrificing everything for them until you die. Again. But I can't keep watching you give up everything good in your life for something so bad."

"You're making me choose between you and them?" I asked. 

"No," Tyler answered. "Because I know what your choice would be. This is my choice. I can't keep worrying about your safety and your life every time you're out with Stefan and Damon, because that will last until long after I'm dead." I was stunned, not knowing what to do. "I'm sorry, Nikki. But I'm done."

I was hurt, looking away.

Tyler tried to kiss me goodbye.

I didn't let him, backing away.

Tyler looked at me in regret, walking out, leaving.

I started to breathe shakily, tears in my eyes after the hellish last couple of... years I had had, slowly sitting down on the bed, holding my head in my hands, starting to cry.

Even though I was still alive, and I wouldn't have to be on the run anymore, I felt like I lost everything.