Masquerade

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

"Guys, please be careful." Emma said worriedly, as she watched Matt and Jeremy carry Jenna inside the Gilbert home.

Jenna let out an annoyed sigh. "Emma, stop fussing. I'm fine."

Elena and Emma walked next to Jenna and Matt as they made their way to the living room. "The doctor said that you have to take it easy." Elena explained, adjusting the bag on her shoulder.

"Yeah, you don't wanna rip the stitches, hemorrhage and die, all right?" Jeremy said, closing the front door and joining the group.

Matt gently guided Jenna down the one little step in front of them. "The only thing I'm gonna die from is embarrassment." The woman then looked over at Matt as he began to deny. "I 'walked' into a knife. How does somebody do that?"

Elena, Emma and Jeremy shared a look, unsure how to react to that.

"It was a freak accident." Elena said.

Emma shrugged. "It's common."

Jeremy nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it happens."

Matt glanced back at the three Gilberts and laughed. "Yeah. I mean, I've done it, like, 20 times at The Grill." he said, making Jenna give him a playful glare. "Okay, I'm being nice." They all laughed and Matt, with the help of Emma and Jeremy, carefully set Jenna down on the couch.

Matt lifted up the bag of food from the grill. "What should I do with this?"

Emma reached over and took it from his hands. "I got it." she said, going around the couch and following Elena into the kitchen. Jeremy also went with them.

"So," he said, as Emma placed the bag on the island. "what are we gonna do?"

"Make lunch." Elena said, putting the stuff she was carrying down.

Emma shook her head. "No, Elena, about Katherine."

"We are not going to do anything, guys."

Jeremy snuck a quick glance back at Jenna. "She tried to kill Jenna. We can't let her get away with that."

Elena opened the bag of food as she answered. "Yes, we can. If it keeps us safe, then we can."

Jeremy and Emma glanced at each other, surprised by the way Elena was acting.

"Elena, you're acting like she won't do something again." Emma said, leaning against the island with her arms crossed on the surface.

Elena looked over at her younger siblings, annoyed. "She won't. Katherine hurt Jenna because I didn't do what she said. Well, I'm doing it now. Me and Stefan are over. She wins. The end." she said, taking out a container full of food from the bag.

"You're being naive and you know it." Jeremy said, looking disappointingly at Elena before turning to leave.

"Where are you going?" Elena asked.

"Out." he said, going over to the dinning table and grabbing his jacket. "I'll be back!" With that, he went out the door.

Emma watched after him and looked at Elena. "I'm going with him. Bye." she said quickly, not letting Elena stop her as she went out the door. She had to run to be able to catch up with Jeremy. "Jer. Wait." Jeremy stopped at the car and turned around. "Where are you going?" she asked when she finally caught up with him.

Jeremy shrugged and tried to act natural. "Uh, no where. Just thought I could go to The Grill and eat."

Emma narrowed her eyes at him and crossed her arms. "Really? So the food that we got at The Grill not even 20 minutes ago is no good?" she asked, tilting her head to the side as Jeremy realized his mistake. "Come on, Jeremy."

Jeremy sighed. "Fine, don't tell Elena. I'm going to Damon and Stefan's to find out a way to kill Katherine."

Thinking for a moment, Emma nodded her head in content and got into the car. When she saw her brother standing in his spot, she opened her door again. "Well, what are you waiting for? We have a vampire to kill."

~~~~♡~~~~  

Emma stood next to Damon and Alaric in front of a table full of weapons as the history teacher explained how each one worked. She reached over and grabbed a shot gun, cocking it and pointing at Damon. Damon glared at her as she pretended to shoot him.

"Let me take that." Alaric said, taking the gun out of Emma's hands.

Emma pouted and started to fiddle with a vervain dart. "Alaric, you're such a buzz kill. It's not like I was actually going to shook him."

"Of course you wouldn't because I would kill you before you could get the chance." Damon said, crossing his arms.

Emma gripped the dart in her hand and immediately got into a defensive position. "Wanna bet?" she said, a lazy grin on her face. Damon pushed his sleeves and got into a stance as well but the two were stopped by Stefan.

"Seriously guys?" he said, crossing his arms looking at the two.

Emma gave him a small smile before turning her attention to Alaric as he began to explain what each weapon did. Damon rolled his eyes and went back to looking at the table of guns. "Whatever, baby bro."

Stefan let out a sigh as the front door's bell rang.

"I got it!" Caroline said, running from the library to the door. Thirty minutes earlier, Caroline had call Bonnie to come over to the boarding house with Grams' grimoire, not telling her the reason why. So Emma came to the conclusion that it was the witch. Letting the new vampire handle that situation, the Gilbert focused on what Alaric was saying.

"Now, this works with compressed air." Alaric explained, holding a very large and bulky gun that loading with wooden stakes. "The tripper is here. I've got 2 of these in a different size." Stefan, Caroline, Bonnie, and Jeremy joined the original three at the table. Alaric turned to Damon as he grabbed a device with mini stakes around it. "Now for you, I recommend this. Fits nicely under a jacket sleeve. Here's the trigger when you're ready." Alaric demonstrated what to do and pretended to stab a vampire in the chest. After he finished, he saw the looks he was getting, especially from the vampires. "You wanted me to show you how to kill vampires." he said, taking the device off and setting it back down on the table.

Bonnie set the grimoire down and left the room, probably feeling uneasy about what's going on. Stefan held his hand up, signaling that he got it and went after her.

Emma crossed her arms and glanced at Alaric. "So, Mr. Vampire Slayer, what weapon do you think I should use?" she asked.

Alaric didn't respond to her question, simply looked down and avoided her gaze. Emma furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and looked at the other three for an answer when she saw that they had the same looks. A few seconds went by when it finally clicked in her mind.

"No, I'm going." she said sternly.

"Emma, you can't go. It's too dangerous." Jeremy countered, shaking his head at the same time.

Emma felt like she was going to cry. They always treat her like a little girl every single time. And she was sick of it. For once, she actually wants to feel like she's wanted. Scoffing, she leaned against the table as Alaric began to pack the weapons. "So if I can't go, then what am I supposed to do?"

"You're going to stay with Elena and make sure that she doesn't leave the house tonight." Damon responded.

Anger filled her small body. "Seriously? That's the worst task to do. You have to let me go."

Caroline frowned at the young girl. "We're just trying to make sure you're safe, Emma."

Emma shook her head. "Well, you can't stop me from going. So suck it up." she said, giving them a final look and went to the kitchen so she could calm down. Going up to a cabinet, she grabbed a cup and filled it with water, chugging it down and slamming it on the table. The young girl heard footsteps behind her and turned to see Stefan leaning against the door frame with his hands in his pockets. (A/N: I'm sorry but just imagine how hot that would be.) She sighed and played with the cup in her hands. "Let me guess, you're here to convince me to stay behind."

Stefan smiled and pushed himself off the door, walking closer to her. "No, I'm not." Emma raised her eyebrows in surprise. "I'm going to let you do what you feel right. And if you feel that you want to be at the Masquerade to help, then okay. You can come."

Emma set the cup down with a huge smile on her face and hugged Stefan tightly around the waist. She was relieved that someone finally understood how she felt. Stefan hugged back, patting her back.

"Oh, just one thing." he said, pulling back a bit. She looked up to him. "Don't get into trouble."

She smiled and nodded her head. "Promise." They hugged for a few more seconds then pulled apart and went back to the living room with the others.

Alaric picked up his bag and turned to the group after Emma and Stefan joined the group. "You sure you guys don't want me there tonight?"

"No." Stefan quickly responded. "I need you to stay with Elena." Eyes looked over a Emma as the young girl smiled up at Stefan once he said that. "I don't want her to know about this."

Alaric nodded and crossed his arms. "Okay, I'll make sure she doesn't leave my sight."

Stefan nodded and continued his speech. "All right. If anyone wants to back out, I'll understand." He crossed his arms as he looked at ever single person in the room. Everyone nodded.

From his spot behind Stefan, Damon spoke up. "Yeah, cold feet speak now. I don't want this going wrong because someone chickens out. Caroline?" he said, glancing at the blonde vampire.

"I won't." she replied with confidence. "She killed me. Fair's fair. And as long as there are no werewolves running around."

Damon smirked. "Oh, I took care of Mason."

"Well, there's still Tyler." Emma brought up, taking a seat on the couch arm rest.

"He won't turn as long as he doesn't kill anyone." Jeremy said, confirming that Tyler was not a threat.

Stefan glanced at Bonnie, who was standing, looking unsure. "Bonnie? Are you with us?" he asked the witch.

Everyone looked at her, waiting for her response. She nervously fiddled with the moonstone, thinking. She nodded quickly after a few seconds, walking closer to the group.

"But no one gets hurt." she demanded.

"Except Katherine." Damon injected. Emma looked at him as he smirked. "Tonight Katherine gets a stake through her heart." His words struck Emma, making her think.

No night was going to be the night. But if they get Katherine using any opportunity that was presented to them, then they'll take it if it meant she was going to be out of their lives for ever. She'll never cause them suffering or pain anymore. She's going to get what she deserved. . . and Emma couldn't wait.

~~~~♡~~~~  

Emma stood walked around the outside of the mansion, looking at all the people making their way into the house for the party. She and Jeremy were able to get to the party without getting caught by Elena, she was too busy taking care of Jenna to notice. Jeremy was off with the other's getting prepped for what was going down tonight. She volunteered to keep look out if Katherine showed up. Though, there was nothing she could do really if she did. All she had a was her vervain bracelet to prevent Katherine from compelling her. The young girl sighed as she went to one of the servers to get a sample of a strawberry.

"Why so glum?"

Emma froze, her hand hovering above the tray. It can't be her, she's at home. Emma brought her hand down and slowly turned to come face to face with Katherine.

"Come on, baby sis, you can tell me anything." Katherine said, smirking when she saw Emma's surprised look.

"Leave me alone." the young girl said, checking herself to be braver.

Katherine let out a wicked laugh. "Wow. So tough. Though, I can see right through you're act. You're scared." she pointed out. She began to advance toward Emma, making the girl back up and eventually her back hit a wall. Emma noticed that Katherine some how managed to get the girl into a secluded area. She cursed herself in her mind for not paying attention. "Now that we're alone." Katherine began, blocking Emma's chances to escape by putting her arms against the wall on either side of Emma. "I'd like to ask you something."

"Yeah?" Emma asked, her heart beat accelerating. "What would that be?"

"What are you guys planning?" the vampire asked with a sneer. "I don't like that I'm being lured to the lake where there's no one in sight. Tell me."

It was Emma's turn to smirk. "And why would I do that?" At that, Emma heard a snap and felt a sharp pain in her right arm. She let out a gasp and looked down a her arm to see Katherine's hand on it and her arm, bent a little. It hit her at what happened. The vampire had broke the bone of the girl's arm.

"Because, little Emma, I'm going to kill you if you don't." Katherine threatened.

Biting her lip, Emma shook her head, trying to keep tears from falling down her eyes. "Over my dead body." she spat, taking heavy breaths.

Katherine smirked. "Gladly." Her hand shot up to Emma's throat but just as she was going to snap the young girl's neck, Caroline walked into them.

The blonde's eyes widened at the scene, completely not expecting Katherine to injure Emma.

"Caroline." Katherine greeted, glancing at Caroline. "You're just about to witness me end the life of this useless girl."

Emma and Caroline made eye contact and Emma slightly widened her eyes to signal the vampire to do something.

Caroline got the hint and stepped forward, ready to attack. "Why, what do you want?"

"I want to know what Stefan and Damon are planning." Katherine responded, teeth grinding out of annoyance.

"I know, just let her go." Caroline confessed. Katherine looked at her but made no move to get her hand off of Emma. "They're planning to kill you."

Katherine's grip around Emma's throat lessened, allowing Emma to take bigger breaths. "Duh, of course they are. Where's the moonstone?"

"Bonnie has it." Emma stuttered.

"And where is she, dear little Emma?"

Emma closed her eyes, calming down more. "I don't know." The hand tightened once more, blocking her airways.

"She's upstairs!" Caroline said, panicking.

"Take me to her." Katherine demanded, letting go of Emma's neck but grabbing onto her arm. Caroline nodded and the three of them made their way to the stairs. When they were half way up, Katherine used her other hand to grab onto Caroline's blonde hair. "Which room is it?" the old vampire asked, looking around the upper level.

Caroline looked down sadly and pointed to the room the group picked. "That one."

Katherine began to walk toward the room with the girls in her grip but she let go of them once she entered inside. Katherine didn't see Bonnie inside and turned when she heard laughing behind her. Emma and Caroline had smiles of triumph.

"I did it." Caroline said, happiness filling her at her accomplishment. "I really didn't think that I'd be able to fool you. But I did it."

Emma smiled up at Caroline. "Good job, Care." she congratulated, holding her broken arm.

Katherine vamped to them but she was stopped at the door of the room, unable to get out. "What the-?"

"You're trapped," Emma explained, smirking at Katherine's frustrated face. "Bitch." Katherine's face was in pure shock. Emma's eyes flickered to behind the vampire and Katherine knew exactly who was there.

"Stefan."

Emma and Caroline backed away and went downstairs. The girls laughed and high fived each other, only for Emma to hiss at the movement of her right arm.

"Emma, are you okay? Want me to help?" Caroline asked, examining her arm.

Emma shook her head. "It's not important right now. I have to go update Bonnie and Jer." she said, leaving Caroline and going outside to find her brother and the witch. When she did find them, she was surprised to find Elena with them. "Elena?" she asked.

Elena looked at Emma angrily but quickly changed to worried. "Are you okay, Emma? What happened?" the older Gilbert asked, going up to Emma and looking at the girl's arm.

Emma brushed it off. "I'm fine. But why are you here, Elena?"

"I found out what you guys are doing. Do you not understand how crazy this is? You're gonna get yourselves killed." Elena asked, looking at the three of them crazily.

"We know what we're doing, Elena." Bonnie said, defending their plan.

"And what am I going to do when one of you gets hurt?" Elena asked, motioning to Emma's broken arm at the same time.

"It's not about you anymore." Jeremy said. "She's messed with all of us. She has to be stopped."

Elena looked at them again, trying to process what was going on. Suddenly, Elena bent down, gasping in pain and grabbing her back as a blood stain began to form.

"Elena!" Emma shouted, freaking out on what's happening.

"Oh, god!" Bonnie exclaimed, bending down next to Elena. Elena screamed again when another blood stain formed on her arm. "It's Katherine. Guys, she's linked to Katherine!" Bonnie realized.

Emma was the first to start running back inside the mansion. She pushed and shoved past people, groaning when people bumped into her arm . Going up the stairs, she skipped every other step to go faster. She made it just in time as Damon was going to stake Katherine in the heart.

"Stop!" she shouted, halting Damon's arm and Jeremy arriving at her side. "Everything you do to Katherine, is happening to Elena." she said, earning shocked looks from Stefan and Damon.

Damon got up and stepped away from Katherine as she got out from Stefan's hold on the floor. "You think you two are the only ones with a witch on your side?" Katherine asked, looking at each one with a look of victory. "Wrong. And something tells me that my witch is better than your witch." She grabbed the stake from Damon's hands and twirled it between her finger tips.

Stefan pointed to the middle Gilbert. "Jeremy, go check on Elena. Make sure she's okay. Go!" he instructed. Jeremy nodded and ran back outside.

Emma stood at the door, feeling tears form in her eyes. Once, just once she wanted to be able to get Katherine without any of her tricks. But of course she was one step ahead of them. As always.

"Yes, let's all make sure poor Elena is okay." Katherine sarcastically said. "Let's add a little pressure." she said, taking the stake and making a cut on the palm of her hand. Stefan smacked it out of her hands, stopping her from causing more cuts.

Emma knew that Elena would be feeling the pain at the moment. "She has the same injuries as Katherine." she whispered, a tear escaping.

Katherine smirked and grabbed the stake again. "Well, this is really going to hurt." she said, aiming the stake over her stomach. Right before she could make contact, she was stopped by the brothers.

"Stop."

Katherine sat down on the sofa behind her and crossed her legs. "Okay, so how about that moonstone?"

Tears continued to fall from Emma's eyes, the feeling of defeat weighing down on her. She fell down to her knees. Damon saw her and made the move to comfort her but bumped into the invisible wall. Frowning, Damon raised his hand and put it on the wall, his hand unable to make it through.

"The three of us, just like old times. The brother who loved me too much. And the one that didn't love me enough." Katherine said, looking at both of the Salvatore brothers.

"The evil slut vampire who love only herself." Damon added.

"And then there's sad little Emma," Katherine looked intensely at the tear stained face on the floor.

Emma sneered and got up, rushing to the vampire, but Damon blocked her path.

"Don't or you'll be trapped too." Damon said.

The little anger that filled Emma disappeared and she began to break again. "Damon. . ." she started, more and more tears coming down.

"I know." he said, looking sadly down at her. "I know. Go downstairs and check on Elena."

Emma slowly nodded and turned making her way down the stairs. Though she couldn't help but glance back at the room to see Katherine smirking at her as she left. The girl retraced her steps and made it back to where she found Jeremy, Bonnie, and Elena. Elena was sitting on a chair, slowly breathing with Jeremy next to her.

"How're you feeling?" Emma asked when she met up with the two.

"A little better." Elena replied, closing her eyes to concentrate on anything beside the pain.

Emma sat in the chair next to Jeremy and sighed. "Where's Bonnie?"

"She's finding the witch that linked them together." Jeremy informed, glancing at his younger sister.

Emma nodded and three sat in silence, waiting. After a while, Elena's wounds began to heal and there was an all clear that Katherine was done for permanently. The news sent relief through the Gilbert siblings, happy that the plan worked. Jeremy and Emma took Bonnie home after, leaving Elena at the Lockwood's and Jeremy then drove Emma to the hospital to get her arm checked. She was going to have to have a cast on for about 2 months, so that the bone could completely heal. Emma was of course a little mad that she was stuck with it but she sucked it up.

Arriving home was not a good. Jenna was angry that Emma ended up getting hurt once again but nonetheless she was happy that Emma was okay. Emma said goodnight and made her way to her room. When she entered it, she jumped, seeing Damon's figure sitting on her bed.

"Damon?" she asked, closing the door behind her. She walked closer to him and saw his down look. "You okay?"

Damon scoffed and shook his head. "Define okay. How's your arm?"

She glanced at her cast and shrugged "I can live with it." Emma then furrowed her eyebrows in confusion as she sat down on her bed next to him. "Damon, shouldn't you be happy? We took down Katherine. Well, more like you and Stefan but I helped a little too."

Damon sighed and fell back on her bed. "Yeah, I guess I should. But I don't. You know what I'm saying?" he asked, staring up at her ceiling.

"Nope." Emma chuckled and laid down, looking at the ceiling as well. "I've never had the person I love be the devil so." she said, earning a snort from Damon. "Did you do it?"

Her question didn't need explaining, he knew exactly what she was asking. "No," Before Emma could jump the gun, Damon quickly finished his sentence. "but she's trapped in the tomb. Right where she belongs."

Emma though about that for a moment. "And you think that will hold her?"

"Well, not when you start thinking like that." Damon said, annoyed that Emma might jinx it.

The brunette shrugged. "Hey, I'm looking at both sides of the possible." She let out a big yawn and felt her eyes begin to droop. "So, want to tell me why you're here and not at your house?"

"I don't want to be near Stefan's brooding cloud." Hearing her confused silence, Damon explained. "Elena didn't get back together with him."

Emma's mouth opened as an 'o' and understood. Elena probably didn't want to get back with him because things needed to settle down a bit. "That's too bad." she said, another yawn escaping her mouth.

"You should get some rest." Damon suggested, glancing at the sleepy girl.

"Well, you should. . . sleep. . . too." Emma said, before letting her eyes close and the dream world take her. What she didn't know was that after she fell asleep, Damon helped out of her shoes and tucked her in her bed, careful not to bother her cast. Damon stared down at her and kissed her forehead goodnight before vanishing through her window into the night.