Kill or Be Killed

*AGE CHANGE FROM 12 to 14; Birthday no longer on Founder's Day*

Emma finished tying her shoes and exited her room, seeing Jeremy and Elena having a conversation. "Good morning." she said after she walked up to them.

"Morning." Jeremy grunted, giving Emma a quick glance before turning back to Elena. "By definition of being in this family," He held up his hand to show the Gilbert ring. "I'm involved."

Elena sighed. "This is dangerous, Jeremy." she said.

Jeremy rolled his eyes. "But it isn't dangerous for Emma?" he countered. "Come on, Elena."

"She's been in this since almost the beginning. You have to stay out of it, okay?" Elena said, giving Jeremy a stern look.

Jeremy shrugged, giving up. "Alright. Just saying." he said, walking past Elena and Emma to go downstairs.

Emma watched him depart and frowned. How is it that she can participate in all this dangerous stuff but not Jeremy? It doesn't make sense. "He has a point, you know." Emma told Elena, leaning against the frame of the door.

Elena nodded and entered her room, Emma right behind. "I know, but everything is just so crazy right now." she said, opening her closet door to take out a jacket. Once she closed it, Stefan appeared on the other side, making the sisters jump in surprise.

Emma rested a hand over her heart. "God, Stefan. You gave me a heart attack." she said, breathing in and out to calm her rapidly beating heart.

Stefan smiled apologetically. "Sorry, Emma." He looked down at Elena and went to kiss her, but the doppelganger stopped him with her hand. Elena walked over to her room door and closed it.

"And that's my cue to leave." Emma said, grabbing onto the bathroom door handle. "I'll wait for you downstairs." She closed the door behind her and went into the living room to wait.

~~~~♡~~~~  

"So, suddenly, she's in the running for mother of the year, just when I'm trying to avoid her the most." Caroline ranted as she walked with the Gilbert sisters to paint somewhere. Though, the two weren't really paying attention to what she was saying. "I'm babbling. You guys don't want to here this." Caroline said when they made it to their post.

Emma set her paint down and looked at Caroline. "Sorry, Care. Continue. What happened next?" she said, starting to paint a piece of wood brown.

Caroline sighed. "Well, I was a bitch which is part for the course with us." As the girls painted, Caroline snuck a glance at Elena. "So, how are things with you and Stefan? Anything?" she asked.

Emma's eyes went to Elena's figure, seeing her tense a bit.

"No, not since the fight." the oldest Gilbert responded. "He's been pushing me away because he thinks that Katherine might get jealous enough to hurt me. I just don't know how to change his mind."

Emma kept painting as she watched Caroline move towards Elena and kneel next to her. The vampire glanced up and gave the young girl a look. Emma nodded in understanding and set her brush in the paint bucket.

"Uh, I'm gonna go get some more brushes." she said, walking backwards while pointing behind her.

Emma glanced back at the two as she walked towards a pickup truck with supplies. When she looked forward, she bumped into someone, making them drop the pieces of wood on the grass.

She bent down and helped the person pick them up. "Oh, my god. I am so sorry. I should have watched where I was going." she apologized.

The person laughed. "No, no. It's okay."

The voice sounded familiar to the young Gilbert. When she looked up, her eyes widened. There, looking back at her, was Jared. The last time she saw him was back when it was the carnival at the school.

"J-Jared." she stuttered out, blushing at her nervous state.

Jared smiled at her. "Hey, Emma. Long time no see." he said, standing up with the pieces of wood.

Emma nodded, getting up as well. "Yeah, yeah. Uh, the-the carnival." she remembered. She closed her eyes and sighed, annoyed about how nervous she was. "So, how's it going?" she asked, looking her eyes again.

Jared shrugged. "Everything's fine. I just wished we spent some more time together." he admitted, tilting his head to the side.

Heat rushed upon Emma's face once again. Why is he doing this to her? He's just a boy. A boy. A very. . . cute boy. With gorgeous hair. And an amazing smile. Yeah. Just. A boy.

Emma chuckled a bit. "Sorry about that. Family stuff."

"Well," Jared began. "maybe we could do something. Possibly next Friday night?" He smiled at her again.

Emma's mouth hung open after she heard him say those words. He just asked her out. He asked out plain old Emma. On a date. Never in a million years did she ever think someone would want to go out with her. Never.

"Uh-sure. Yeah. Yes." She let out a laugh and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Yes, I would love to."

Jared's blue eyes glinted in happiness(A/N: If that makes sense). "Awesome! Okay, so how about-"

"Gilbert." Damon announced, coming up to the two young teens. "I need help, come."

Emma scoffed and crossed her arms in annoyed. "Well, Damon, as you can see. I'm in the middle of a conversation."

Damon rose an eyebrow. He turned his head towards Jared and leaned closer to the boy's face. "Walk away-"

"W-wait, Damon!"

"-and carry on with your useless life." the vampire finished. Jared nodded in a daze and turned around, leaving the two alone. Damon smiled in triumph and looked at Emma, only to be met with a sharp glare.

"What the hell, Damon." Emma asked, cocking her head to the side. "Was it really necessary to compel him?"

With a simple shrug, Damon responded. "Yes because he was distracting you. Now, come on." he said, already walking away.

Emma sighed and reluctantly followed Damon. "What do you possibly need my help for?" she asked.

"I plan on talking to Mason and by having you at my side, it will prevent Mason from trying to kill me." Damon explained, glancing around the park.

"Mason wouldn't do something stupid like killing you in public, Damon." Emma said, raising an eyebrow at the vampire's explanation. She thought for a moment and added, "Though, that would be something you would do."

Damon looked at her over his should with narrowed eyes, but kept walking and walked up a small set of stairs that was connected to a large gazebo. As she followed behind him, Emma noticed Mason standing by a lemonade stand, drinking from a plastic cup.

"Hello, Mason." Damon said when the two reached the werewolf. "Working hard?"

Mason nodded a little. "Doing my part." He glanced over at Emma and gave her a small nod. "Emma."

Emma smiled in response and looked down, feeling the awkwardness growing around the three.

"I heard you talked to Stefan." Damon said.

Mason raised his cup in the air. "Nice guy."

Damon nodded. "Yeah. A lot nicer than me."

"Well," Mason moved his head around. "nice is overrated."

Damon reached out and nudged Mason on the shoulder. Emma tensed a little, thinking that Damon did it to get Mason pissed off or something. "That's what I think. Heh."

"You have a good day." Mason said, taking his leave.

Emma and Damon watched him depart in silence. When his figure was out of sight, Emma glanced at Damon with her arms crossed.

"So, that seemed to be a very civil conversation. Meaning that my presence here was a waste of time and I could have been talking to my," She had to think of the correct word to use. ". . . friend." she ended up saying. Jared just asked her out. It's not like she's just going to start using the boyfriend card right away.

Damon rolled his eyes. "Whatever. That kid looks like trouble anyways. I basically saved you." Emma scoffed and looked around the park, watching people work.

"Please tell me you were just bonding."

The two turned to see Stefan walk up to them.

Completely ignoring his comment, Damon asked, "So what's up with this, um, faux drama in your relationship."

Stefan and Emma made quick eye contact upon hearing those words. Apparently, the couples acting needed a little work. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, come on, Stefan. You and Elena don't fight." Damon said. "Especially not over me."

Stefan leaned towards Damon's face a little. "Drop it, Damon."

Damon smiled innocently. "With pleasure." He turned to the lemonade stand that the three were standing next to and went to pick up a cup when a little girl held one out to him.

"Would you like some lemonade?" she asked.

"Thank you sweetie." Damon said, grabbing the cup from her hands. Before he drank from the cup, he looked at Emma. "Why can't you be nice like that?"

Emma glared at him and punched his arm, which didn't effect the vampire at all. Damon smirked and drank the lemonade, only to cough and spit it out.

"Damon? What's wrong?" Emma asked worriedly as Damon hunched forward and dropped his cup.

Stefan guided Damon to a picnic table and sat him down. Damon pointed to the cup.

"Vervain." he said in a raspy voice.

Emma bent down, picked up the cup and sniffed the inside. From the time she's spent time with the Salvatores, she learned a lot of things. And one of those things was the smell of vervain. The cup definitely smelled like vervain.

After a few minutes went by, Damon finally calmed down and got up angrily. He picked up a water bottle, opening it fast and gurgling the water. Emma stood next to him and patted his back. After he spit it out, he tossed the water bottle on the floor.

"I'm gonna kill him." Damon said angrily.

"How do you know that it was him?" Emma questioned.

Damon put his arms on his waist. "Oh, come on, Emma. Don't defend him. Mason is responsible for this." Damon countered, making the move to pass her and Stefan.

"Damon, no!" Emma said, pulling on his arm to stop him.

"No, hey." With Stefan's help, the two were able to get Damon to sit down.

"I'm not listening to any more of your give peace a chance crap." Damon said, struggling against Stefan's grip. "He's dead."

Stefan sighed. "Okay." He glanced at Emma, seeing her worried expression on her face. "I don't like it, but he's making threats. He could expose us. We need to put him down." he said.

Emma's head snapped up and she looked at Stefan, shocked.

"All right. Let's do it." Damon tilted his head to the side and saw Mason walking into the forest with trash cans. "Woods. Trash duty. Come on."

Emma stepped in front of the brothers before they were able to walk away. "Guys, are you sure this is the way to go?"

Damon scoffed. "Of course it is. Now move." he said, pushing Emma to the side and walking forward.

Stefan followed him. "Wait!" she said, stopping Stefan mid step. "This isn't right. Don't do it."

Stefan glanced at her over his shoulder. "We have no choice." And with that, he walked after Damon.

Emma stood there, watching the vampire's walk. Killing wasn't the solution to any of their problems whatsoever. After debating it over in her mind, Emma decided to follow the boys.

As she walked, she made sure not to get to close to them or they would know she was there. A few minutes had passed and the Salvatores made it to Mason's location. They circled the werewolf as Emma hid behind a tree.

Mason looked from Stefan and Damon, setting down the tree branch he had in his hands.

"Don't look so surprised." Damon sneered. "You knew this was inevitable." He narrowed his eyes at him.

Mason looked around what seemed to be for a way out.

"Go ahead and run. I'll give you a head start." Damon offered.

Just then, Mason dropped to the ground and Damon was shot in the stomach. Emma's eyes widened and she covered her mouth to hold in her gasp. Stefan turn around and got shot twice in the chest. Shot once again, Damon and Stefan fell to the ground, groaning in pain.

Sheriff Forbes and one other cop walked toward their bodies with their guns out.

"Thank you, Mason." she said, bending down and injecting Stefan with vervain. The other officer did the same to Damon.

The young Gilbert took that as a sign to get out of there. Slowly, she backed up, watching everyone in front of her to make sure they didn't see her. But as she walked, she felt someone grab her arm. Turning, she saw that it was a cop.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" he asked, pulling her closer to him.

Emma struggled against his grip. "Let me go!"

"Sheriff!" the cop called, dragging the girl to the others. Sheriff Forbes stood up from kneeling over Stefan and looked at Emma in surprise. "Found her behind a tree."

Sheriff Forbes looked at the fallen vampires and back at Emma. She sighed and tucked her gun between her jeans. "She'll have to come with us." Sheriff Forbes walked forward and grabbed Emma's other arm. "Pick them up."

"Please, let them go." Emma begged, watching Stefan's and Damon's unconscious bodies being lifted up by the two other cops. "They didn't do anything wrong." she tried to reason, desperately looking up at the Sheriff.

Sheriff Forbes shook her head lightly and made a gesture her arm out while looking at Mason. "Lead the way."

Mason nodded and began to walk through the forest, Emma, Sheriff Forbes, and the others behind him. Emma glared at the ground as they walked, angry at Sheriff Forbes for doing this to the brothers. She tried to get her arm out of the Sheriff's grip again.

"Emma, you need to stop." Sheriff  Forbes firmly said, stepping over a fallen tree trunk.

Emma rolled her eyes. "I'll stop when you let go of me. It's not like I'm going anywhere." she said, glancing at Mason and the two cops.

Sheriff Forbes thought for a moment before sighing and letting go of the brunette's arm. Emma brought her arm close to her chest and rubbed the area where it was grabbed, upset even more when she saw that a small bruise was forming because of the Sheriff's and cop's strong grip. She grumbled in annoyance and continued to follow Mason. Finally, after a few more minutes, Mason stopped next to a set of stairs that lets down into the ground.

"It's down the stairs to the left." Mason directed, pointing the way for the cops.

Sheriff Forbes went to follow them. "Careful, the wooden bullets and vervain won't keep the down for long." she said. "What is this place?" she asked Mason.

"Old slave quarters from the original Lockwood house." Mason responded. Sheriff Forbes nodded in content and disappeared underground.

Emma walked up the steps and stopped to peer down the opening. "What is this place really?" she asked Mason who stood next to her.

Mason, making sure Sheriff Forbes was out of hearing, answered the girl's question. "A place to control the werewolf." He then began to walk down. "Come on."

Before Emma went down, she looked behind her, seeing the openness of the woods. She could run right now. Go get Caroline and Elena to help. But she knew she would never make it. Though they wouldn't shoot a child, there were three armed cops and a werewolf that could get her before she was even 40 feet away from the dungeon. Sighing in defeat, she turned and descended down the stairs.

Entering a room with cells inside it, the young Gilbert watched as the cops carelessly dropped the Salvatore brothers on the floor.

"Hey!" she said, running toward their bodies and sat on her knees between them. She reached her arms out over them as if to protect them against the four older people.

Sheriff Forbes looked away from Emma, disapprovingly shaking her head at her, and stared at Mason in gratitude. "Thank you, Mason. We got it here."

One of the cops reloaded a gun and handed it to Sheriff Forbes.

"You're going to kill them, right?" Mason asked, pointing at Stefan and Damon.

The woman nodded. "Yes. That's why you should go with Emma."

Emma's head shot up at those words. "What?!" she shouted, standing up from her spot. "No, you can't do that." she said. "You can't just kill them. I know what they are but that doesn't mean you can just kill them." she defended.

Sheriff Forbes shook her head. "If you know what they, then you know what they do. They kill people and I won't let them get away with it." she said, already pointing the gun at the vampires.

Emma hopelessly shrugged. "How do you know that they were responsible for the resent attacks?" she shot back. 

"Emma, that is enough." Sheriff Forbes sternly said.

Emma was taken back at the tone the Sheriff used on her. She scoffed and crossed her arms. "Stop trying to parent me like you're my mother."

Sheriff Forbes raised her eyebrows at the girl. Handing the gun to one of the cops real quick, Sheriff Forbes reached out and grabbed Emma by the arms, pulling her towards the chains attached to the walls. Picking up the cuffs, she cuffed Emma to the wall.

"You are underarest for resisting to follow orders from a police officer." Sheriff Forbes said before Emma could protest. Looking at Mason, she said, "Goodbye, Mason."

Mason nodded, quickly glancing at Emma, struggling against the chains, and then left.

Sheriff Forbes grabbed the gun back and nudged Damon's leg to wake him. Damon barely opened his eyes, not fully conscious. The Sheriff pointed the gun and shot Damon's thigh, making the vampire scream out in pain.

"Damon!" Emma cried from her spot chained to the wall. "Stop!" she shouted, tugging at the chains to get loose.

Sheriff Forbes ignored her and cocked her head to the side, staring down at Damon. "This is how it's going to work. Answer me, and you don't get shot. Understand?"

Damon looked over at Stefan and then at Emma, not really surprised that she managed to get herself in the situation.

"How many are there of you?" the Sheriff asked.

Damon groaned. "Liz, please-" He was shot on the other thigh and once again cried out in pain.

Emma glared at the Sheriff with so much hatred. She hated that Sheriff Forbes was hurting people she cared about and that she couldn't do anything about it. She tugged at the chains again but of course, she was still stuck.

Sheriff Forbes reloaded the gun. "How did you fool us? How do you walk in the sun?"

Damon groaned and as a result, the Sheriff shot Stefan in the chest who was still unconscious.

"I will drag this out painfully." the woman threatened.

Damon looked up at Liz. "But you're my friend."

"Our friendship was a lie. Answer me, and I'll kill you fast." Damon didn't say anything again causing the Sheriff to sigh angrily. "He's not going to tell is anything. Kill them both." she said, looking at the two cops.

"No!" Emma yelled, trying to get up. "Leave them alone!"

"Let's do this. Each with a stake in the heart, then burn them both." Sheriff Forbes instructed.

"Damn it, stop!" Emma yelled just as there was a noise of squeaky metal.

Sheriff Forbes nudged her head in the direction of the noise at one of the cops. "Go check it out." The cop went out and ended up getting hit in the head by a wooden stick. Then, Elena walked in the room breathless. "Elena, what are you doing here?"

"You can't kill them. I'm not going to let you." the oldest Gilbert responded. The cop she hit came up behind her and shoved her further into the room, next to Emma. "Are you okay?" Elena whispered.

Emma nodded and pointed at the brothers. "We need to save them." 

The metal door suddenly shut closed, causing everyone to be started.

"Who else is with you?" Liz asked, pointing the gun at the girls.

Elena looked just as confused as the rest of them. There was a sudden gush of wind.

One of the cops turned frantically to find the source. "What the-" A blurred figure went behind him and bit down on his neck. From where Emma was sitting, she noticed that the figure had been Caroline. The other cop began to shoot but Caroline used the injured cop as a shield, causing the man to get shot multiple times in the chest.

Dropping the body, Caroline rushed over to the other cop and knocked his out unconscious. She let out a hiss and looked at her mom, who was staring at her daughter in shock.

"Hi, mom."

~~~~♡~~~~  

Emma, rubbing her red wrists, sat next to Caroline as Damon drank blood from one of the cops and Elena rubbed Stefan's back. Damon raised his head and crawled over to Stefan, blood dripping from his mouth.

"You need to drink some deputy blood." he said, patting Stefan's shoulder.

Stefan shook his head. "No, no. I'll be fine. It's just going to take a little longer." he said, grunting.

"Damon's right, you know." Caroline began. "If there is ever time to break your diet, it's-"

"He said he didn't want it, okay?" Elena defensively said.

Caroline nodded slowly, backing off.

"Guys," Emma said, catching everyone's attention. "What do we do with her?" she asked, glancing at Sheriff Forbes who sat quietly on a rock in the corner.

Damon stood and walked slowly around. "Well, this is certainly a most unfortunate situation. 2 deputies dead." He dramatically turned to Sheriff Forbes. "And you." The Sheriff looked up at him scarcely. "What am I going to do with you?"

Emma tensed a little, scared at what Damon actually might do considering that he's probably beyond mad.

"You won't tell anyone, will you?" Caroline asked her mom. Sheriff Forbes looked at Caroline but quickly looked back down, not saying a word. "Mom? Please. Look, I know we don't get along and that you hate me, but I am your daughter and you'll do this for me, right?" Caroline begged, looking at her mother desperately. Liz never said a word, tears forming in her eyes. "Mom, he will kill you."

Damon nodded in agreement.

Liz looked up at Damon. "Then kill me."

"What?" Emma said aloud.

"I can't do this." the older woman said, starting to cry. Damon walked closer to Liz as Emma and Caroline got up. "Kill me now."

Emma watched as Damon knelt in front of Sheriff Forbes. "But you were going to drag it out so painfully." He then grabbed Liz roughly, making everyone panic.

"Damon, no!" Emma said, as Stefan and Elena also pleaded.

Damon glanced at them from behind. "Relax. No one's killing anybody." Everyone calmed a little. Damon looked back at Liz. "You're my friend." It was quiet for a while till Damon looked around. "We need to clean this up."

~~~~♡~~~~  

Damon reached out and handed Sheriff Forbes her cell phone. "What do you want me to do with this?" she asked.

Emma crossed her arms across her chest as she leaned against the wall next to the cell door. "We want you to call in sick at work." the girl responded.

Sheriff Forbes tapped the phone before turn it on and dialed the number of the police department. She sighed when the line was answered and began to explain her absence at work for the next couple of days.

"A stomach bug." Liz said. "Yeah. It came on fast."

As she talked, Emma pushed herself off the wall and went next to Damon. "Hey, you healing okay?" she asked, holding her hands behind her back.

Damon smirked and glanced at Emma teasingly. "Oh, you care?"

Emma sighed and rolled her eyes. "Come on, Damon. The one time I actually try. . ."

Damon chuckled. "I'm kidding. I healed alright." He smiled genuinely this time. "Thanks for asking though." he said.

Emma smiled back and turned to Sheriff Forbes who hung up the phone and handed it back to Damon.

"Thank you." the vampire said, as Liz walked past the two, observing the cell. "It's not exactly the Ritz but it's secure." He turned toward her. "I brought you good thread count. And once the vervain's worked its way out of your system, I will compel you to forget everything be a free woman."

"Keep Caroline away from me, please." Sheriff Forbes asked.

Emma furrowed her eyebrows. "Why do you want that?"

Liz looked down. "I don't want to see her."

Letting out a scoff, Emma opened her mouth to speak but Damon stopped her. "But she's your daughter, Liz."

Liz shook her head. "That's not my daughter. She's gone."

"How can you say that?" Emma burst out. She went straight up to Liz and crossed her arms. "She's your daughter. Caroline's going through a tough time right now and you're supposed to support her and cherish her like a mother's supposed to do." She groaned frustratingly and threw her arms up in defeat. "You know what, I can't even look at you right now." she said, running out of the cell and into the hall way, only to run into Caroline, Elena, and Stefan.

Upon seeing Caroline's face, Emma reached forward and hugged Caroline. Right after pulling apart, Caroline turned around and walked off, with Elena following behind her. Emma watched as they left, Stefan included, and sighed.

As she stood there thinking, she heard a commotion further down the hallway. She walked over to see Elena staring at Stefan in pure sadness.

"What's wrong?" she asked, looking from the two.

Elena shook her head, small tears forming in her eyes. "Uh, nothing, Emma. Come on, let's go upstairs." she said, walking away quickly.

Emma furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and looked at Stefan for a little help but he just turned and walked to the open freezer that was holding blood bags. The young girl took that time to walk away, not wanting to know what Stefan was planning with that. Catching up with Elena, the two sisters walked up the stairs and entered the living room where Caroline was sitting on the couch looking down sadly.

"Can I take you home?" Elena asked, leaning against one of the reading chairs.

Caroline shook her head with tears falling from her eyes. "No, I can't go home."

"How come, Care?" Emma asked, sitting on the couch next to Caroline.

"Because I'm scared."

Elena also walked over, concerned as to why Caroline would be scared. "Why are you scared?" She sat on the ottoman in front of Caroline and put a comforting hand on the vampire's knee. "You can talk to us."

Caroline took a deep breath before saying, "Katherine's going to be there, and she's going to want me to tell her everything that happened today." Emma shifted in her seat, already know about Caroline's business with Katherine. "She told me I had to spy on you and report back to her."

"We know." Elena admitted, earning a shocked look on Caroline's face. "And I've been so mad at you. But then, I tried to put myself in your position so that I could understand why you would do this to me, and to Stefan, because he's been such a friend to you." Elena and Emma each took a hand. "Who did she threaten?"

"Matt." Caroline responded, crying even more. "She threaten Matt. And I'm so scared of her."

"We all should be." Emma stated. "We all should be."

"Why is she doing this?" Caroline asked. "What does she want?"

Elena thought for a moment and shook her head. "That's the million dollar question."

Emma reached forward and wrapped her arm around Caroline's neck, bringing her down into a hug. Elena moved to sit on the other side of Caroline, rubbing her back.

After some time went by, Caroline fell asleep in Emma's arms and Emma was fighting the tiredness that was weighing heavily on her. Elena seemed to have noticed because she got up and tried to get Emma up but the young girl refused, wanting to stay with Caroline. Elena understood and went to go home.

Emma continued to sit on the couch, thinking about how much is going on and how much she could handle. It's like every corner she turns, there's always a problem and there's never a way to fix it. And it just keeps piling on and on. When will it ever end?

"Hey."

Emma looked up tiredly to see Damon standing next to the couch. "Hi." she whispered, petting Caroline's head.

"You should go to sleep." he suggested, leaning against the arm of the couch. Emma shook her head 'no' and her head began to droop down a bit. "Like in a bed." Damon said.

"No, Damon." Emma responded, looking down at Caroline sleepily. "I want to stay with Caroline and make sure she's okay." she said, yawning at the end if her sentence.

Damon chuckled and walked up towards the Gilbert. "Nope. Come on. You're going to bed." Before Emma could protest, Damon pointed at Caroline's sleeping figure. "She'll be here in the morning." After thinking about it for a moment, Emma finally nodded in defeat and helped Damon make Caroline get comfortable on the couch.

Emma stood from draping a blanket over Caroline and left out a big yawn, rubbing her eyes at the same time. She made the move to walk forward, but she was so exhausted that she couldn't walk straight. Hearing a sigh, she felt herself being lifted up and when she opened her eyes, she saw that she was in Damon's arms.

"What are you doing?" Emma asked in a whisper.

"Shh," Damon shushed, walking up the stairs. "Go to sleep."

Emma stayed awake as he carried her. She wasn't paying attention to where he was taking her but after a while, she felt the softness of the bed underneath her. The young girl snuggled with the pillow and watched Damon make his way to the door of the room.

"Goodnight." she blurred out, her eyes finally giving in and closing.

Damon looked back at her from the opened door and smiled a little. "Goodnight."