[A Cell]
(Damon is alone and after some struggle, he finally gets out of the cell)
[Salvatore’s House]
(Katherine wakes up next to Stefan)
Katherine: Oh, my God!
Stefan: Hmm. Hey
Katherine: Um, don't turn around
Stefan: What are you doing?
Katherine: Um, just don't turn around
Stefan: Where are you going?
Katherine: Uh, everything's fine. Go back to bed
(Katherine is about to leave when Damon enters)
Katherine: What the hell happened to you?
Damon: Ditto. Elena's not here by any chance, is she?
Katherine: I haven't seen her, not that I've been looking
Damon: Stef, you awake?
Katherine: You know, he hasn't seen her either. I know because we were together all night
Damon: Look. I've had a really crappy couple days, ok? If you're implying what I think you're implying…
Katherine: Why? What were you thinking? That our hot, naked bodies collided in one unforgettable night of passion?
Damon: I'm gonna barf
Katherine: Great. Then my work here is done. Too-do-loo
(She leaves)
[A Lab]
(Dr. Maxfield is with Elena. She’s tied to an exam table)
Dr. Maxfield: Subject 83182 appears conscious
Elena: Where am I?
Dr. Maxfield: Why? Look familiar?
Elena: What is that thing? What are you doing to me?
Dr. Maxfield: 83182 resume prep for blood dialysis. Count from 10 , 9, 8, 7, 6, 5...
[Salvatore’s House]
(Damon enters Stefan’s room)
Stefan: Where the hell you been?
Damon: Aw, you know, being held against my will, sh*t in the head, now I can't find Elena. How was your evening? Anything out of the ordinary happen?
Stefan: Wait a minute. What do you mean you can't find Elena?
Damon: I mean, she's not picking up her phone, she's not in her dorm, she's nowhere in this house, which leads me to believe that Dr. creepy Ken Doll has her somewhere
Stefan: Are you talking about the Whitmore bio teacher?
Damon: Yeah, the one that operated on vampires during business hours, yeah, that one. Put your hero hair on, Stefan. Let's go get Elena
Stefan: You just said you don't know where she is
Damon: I don't, which means we're gonna have to find us some leverage. So come on
[Whitmore College]
(Aaron is alone, writing. Damon sits beside him)
Damon: Pop quiz. So your girlfriend's taken by a mad scientist. Now do you: "A," get a new girlfriend; B," call the police; Or "C," k*ll someone close to that mad scientist?
[A Lab]
(Maxfield is still talking in his recorder)
Maxfield: 4.1 pints drained. 83182 still shows signs of consciousness. Note that 15 years ago subject 12144 faded into unconsciousness after losing 2.9 pints. Evolution or luck? Mystery for another day
Elena: What are you doing to me?What are these tubes? Let me go!
Maxfield: Relax. I plan to once I'm through with you
Elena: My friends are gonna find me
Maxfield: Your heroic vampire friends? Did you know Aaron Whitmore spent his entire life thinking his family was haunted by some death curse? Turns out that curse was your boyfriend systematically k*lling every member on his family tree. I'm curious. How does one justify that in her mind?
Elena: And this, holding people against their will, how do you justify that?
Maxfield: Science
(He opens a diary and reads)
Maxfield: "June 25, 1999. Incredible findings today. After enduring 3,000 volts of electricity, the subject continues to have a heartbeat. June 26. More success. Subject was exposed to 4,000 volts today. Seizing continues after electrocution. Flesh remains hot to the touch."
Elena: You're a monster
Maxfield: This isn't my journal, Elena. These are the hand-written medical findings of Dr. Grayson Gilbert, your father
Elena: What?
Maxfield: Everything I'm doing to you, I learned from him
[Whitmore College]
(Stefan and Damon are still with Aaron)
Aaron: I have no idea where Wes took her
Stefan: Well, they're not at his lab, so where else could he hide a vampire?
Aaron: I'm sorry. Am I supposed to know who you are?
Damon: That's my brother Stefan, but I'd watch your tone with him because he's kind of in the midst of a psychotic break
Stefan: I'm sorry. I'm what?
Damon: Oh, come on. You don't think I know about you and Katherine?
Stefan: Oh, I see. You're jealous
Damon: More like disturbed. See? He's off his rocker, he's losing his mind, teetering on the brink of insanity
Aaron: How are you not dead? I sh*t you
Damon: Well, because you went for the head. You got to go for the heart. Go for the heart next time. Now where's Elena?
Aaron: I have no idea. All that Wes told me was to go about my life as usual
Damon: Well, you're gonna call Wes, and you're gonna tell him that if he doesn't give us Elena the next experiment that he conducts will be sewing your arms back on
[A Lab]
Elena: This is my dad's clinic. We're in the basement
Wes: Was your dad's clinic. Then your town council b*rned a whole bunch of vampires down here. Now it's just a condemned building in Mystic Falls where no one will find us
(His phone rings and he answers)
Wes: Aaron, hey
Aaron: Do you have Elena?
Wes: Aaron, what's wrong?
Aaron: Uh, Stefan and Damon Salvatore are gonna k*ll me unless you give them Elena
Wes: Damon Salvatore is locked in an impenetrable and inescapable fortified cell
Aaron: Or he's in front of me imagining what my kidney would taste like
Wes: Fine. Meet you in my classroom. Once I see you're safe, tell them I'll give them Elena
(He hangs up and goes into an another room. Enzo is there)
Wes: Enzo… Enzo, wake up. When was the last time you were out in civilization?
Enzo: What's that?
Wes: An insurance policy. Guarantees you'll come back to me. I'm giving you the day off. You and Damon have some catching up to do.
[The Woods]
(Katherine is training with Matt)
Katherine: I don't hear you counting
Matt: 3, 4, 5, 6
Katherine: Uh!
Matt: Good try
Katherine: Good try? That was horrible, Matt. Come on. I'm paying you to make me hot again, whip me into shape, and prolong this death thing as long as possible
Matt: Yeah, that will happen
Katherine: What did you say? No. Seriously. I didn't hear you. Oh, God. I'm going deaf. I'm going deaf. My entire body is falling apart. I can't breathe. I can't breathe. Wa--water! Give me some water. Faster
Matt: Deep breaths. If you're so anxious not to be dead, why don't you just have a vampire turn you?
Katherine: Tried that. Every time I ingest vampire blood, my body rejects it
(She sees someone coming)
Katherine: Who is that? I can't see
Matt: It's Nadia. I told her you were here
(Nadia rejoins them)
Nadia: "Dear Nadia, sorry I had to k*ll your boyfriend, but it was the motherly thing to do. su1c1de, however, not very motherly of me."
Katherine: Great. So, um, Stefan obviously gave you my su1c1de note. What's your point?
Nadia: That's for trying to k*ll yourself without saying good-bye
[Whitmore College]
(Aaron, Damon and Stefan are walking)
Stefan: You want to give me a little back story as to how you know one another?
Damon: Aaron is Aaron Whitmore, and he comes from a very long line of vampire-probing, blood-testing, organ-removing freaks called Augustine
Stefan: Why do you know this?
Damon: Because I was their test subject in the fifties
Stefan: What do you mean test subject?
Damon: Meaning I donated my body to science except I was alive and it was against my will
Stefan: Wait. Hold on a minute. How do I not know about this?
Damon: Don't get all guilt-ridden, Stefan, on me. We were on the outs back then, and by the time it was over, you know, it was over
Aaron: Why don't you finish the rest of the story, Damon?
Stefan: I don't recall saying that you could talk. Did I say that he could talk?
Damon: I don't remember anything
Stefan: I didn't think so
[Salvatore’s House]
(Katherine and Nadia are back at the house)
Nadia: I get it now. If I was living here, I'd want to k*ll myself, too
Katherine: It was a moment of weakness. I'm over it
Nadia: In a moment of weakness, you eat chocolate or kiss the wrong boy. You don't jump off a clock tower
Katherine: Do you see this? This is raw kale. In what universe would I put this inside of my body unless I actually wanted to live another day
Nadia: Ok. Then what changed your mind?
Katherine: It's not so much a matter of what as it is who. Can I ask you something absentee mother to mildly abusive daughter?
Nadia: I'm listening
Katherine: Do you think after all the horrible things that I've done it would be possible to be forgiven?
Nadia: Of course I do. That's actually why I'm here. I may have an idea that will keep you alive longer
Katherine: I'm listening
[A Lab]
Elena: When did you meet my dad?
Wes: He was working with Augustine to turn vampire blood into a magical cure-all to fight disease, cure cancer, save the world
Elena: Do you know if he ever brought a vampire down here?I remember coming down here as a kid. There was something about this place that always creeped me out. Wes, I saw Enzo when I woke up. I know he's alive. Where is he?
Wes: He's on a little day trip. Apparently he has some unresolved business with your boyfriend
Elena: What did you do? What did you do? What did you do?
[Whitmore College]
(Aaron, Damon and Stefan arrive at the classroom)
Damon: Which one is it?
Aaron: It's right here. 21051
(They enter. Enzo is there)
Damon: Enzo!
Enzo: It's been a while, mate
Stefan: Who the hell are you?
Enzo: Lorenzo... But my friends call me Enzo. Ah. Kidding. I don't have any friends
Damon: Enzo's another Augustine vampire. Our cells were next to each other. So we're here to meet somebody-- Wes Maxfield. You know him?
Enzo: That's your first question for me? Not "how are you? How'd you survive in that fire I left you to die in"?
Aaron: Uh, does somebody want to tell me what the hell is going on here?
Enzo: I'd love to. Have a seat. Been waiting 70 years to tell my story
[A Lab]
Elena: Enzo is the Augustine vampire. He k*lled my roommate Megan, didn't he?
Wes: Conserve your energy. I've drained enough blood to start phase two
Elena: Let me guess. You're not gonna tell me what phase two is, are you?
Wes: If it works, you'll be the first one to know
Elena: Why did Megan have a picture of my dad on her cell phone?
Wes: Maybe because her parents helped fund your father's projects
Elena: They knew about Augustine, too?
Wes: Well, no. All they knew was that your dad had an unregulated compound that could cure most injuries
Elena: Vampire blood
Wes: Exactly, but as Megan grew up, she got suspicious, enrolled at Whitmore, roomed with Dr. Gilbert's daughter, and she went to a party at Whitmore house and put her nose where it didn't belong
Elena: She found Enzo in his cell
Wes: And being clueless to what a starving vampire will do around fresh human blood, I'm guessing she got too close
(His phone rings. He answers)
Wes: Aaron
Stefan: Where's Elena?
Wes: Who's this?
Stefan: We have Aaron, and we're trying to decide how to k*ll him
Wes: Funny. I have Elena, and I'm wondering how she'll function without her cerebral cortex. Touch him, and you'll never see her again
Stefan: That thr*at works both ways
[Whitmore College]
Enzo: Damon and I had been locked in those cells for years, tortured, beaten, humiliated, but we weren't gonna let them break us, no. We decided if we were going to escape we needed to work together. We needed each other
Stefan: He's not sending her
Enzo: Tragic. Can I continue my story now, please?
Damon: Doesn't he know we have Aaron?
Stefan: He doesn't care. He's willing to risk it
Aaron: What? Let me talk to him! He'll listen to me
Damon: What part of "he doesn't care" are you not registering?
Enzo: Where were we? Uh, ah, right. I was telling my story, and you were all politely listening. So I'd given Damon all of my blood ration so he'd have the strength to escape and save me in the process. Our plan began perfectly, didn't it? I was waiting in the cage for him to release me, waiting for my friend, my cellmate, the only soul with whom I'd connected with in all those years of captivity. Then a fire starts, burns out of control, but Damon just can't get the damn cage open. He looks me in the eye as if he doesn't even recognize me, turns around, saves himself, leaving me to die
Stefan: Well, you didn't die obviously
Enzo: No. Unfortunately I lived. I was spared by one of the scientists so I could spend another 50 years on a table being opened and closed. Now that we've all been acquainted, I'm gonna go find something to wet my whistle
Stefan: You didn't tell me about him
Damon: It was the 1950s. I'm supposed to remember every moment of my life? Do you want to k*ll Aaron, or should I?
Stefan: This guy was your cellmate for 5 years, you left him to die, he comes back, and you're completely unfazed?
Damon: Fine. I will
Aaron: Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on, hold on, hold on. Wes gave me a bunch of files on my family history. They're in my dorm, ok? Maybe there's something in there you need, a name, I mean, another lab
Damon: That's a timely revelation
Aaron: Yeah. Well, you know, he's not gonna help me, so why should I help him?
Damon: I don't like you, I don't like your family, I don't like you messing with my relationship. If you're lying, I'm gonna take my thumbs, and I'm gonna gouge out your sad little eyes out of your sad little head!
Enzo:Ah. It's frightening what you can find on campus these days
Stefan: Knock yourself out. We're going with plan "B"
Enzo: Damon's not. Damon's staying right here. He knows all my secrets, so he knows how ornery I can get when I don't get my way
Damon: Call me if you find anything, k*ll him if you don't
Stefan: Come on
[Salvatore’s House]
Katherine: You didn't just propose spirit possession with a straight face?
Nadia: You said my grandfather was a Traveler, which means your father was a Traveler. Therefore, you are a Traveler. We just need to find one who can teach you how to do the passenger spell
Katherine: Hang on. I'm hardly a Traveler, ok? My father banned us from doing Traveler magic. He said it was the devil's work or something dramatic that terrified us, and then I became a vampire and never thought about it again
Nadia: But it's in your blood, which means you have the ability to keep living inside someone else's body. Gregor was a Traveler. He put his spirit inside Matte's body. So that even after his body d*ed he lived on
Katherine: Yes! He lived on in a busboy. Good idea, Nadia. Let's put my essence in some nobody. Thing is, Stefan actually likes this body
Nadia: What are you talking about?
Katherine: Stefan and I may have rekindled an old flame last night
Nadia: I see. So when you asked me about forgiveness, you were asking about him, not me?
Katherine: Look. Maybe I don't want to die a sad, lonely 538-year-old. If I have to bow out, knowing that Stefan still cares might not be the worst way to go
Nadia: No. You had it right the first time. Go k*ll yourself, see if anyone misses you
[Whitmore College]
Enzo: What about cricket? That ever become a thing here?
Damon: No
Enzo: Oh, shame. Fun sport. Not that I can play. Took up drawing for a while. Of course I had no pencil, so I'd just prick my finger and paint the cell wall with my blood
Damon: What do you want? You want me to feel guilty? I couldn't save you. Now where's Elena? What's wrong with you?
Enzo: Wes injected me with poison that will stop my heart. I'll desiccate if I don't return for the antidote
Damon: All the more reason to tell me where he is. Look. You get the antidote, I'll save my girlfriend, we'll k*ll Wes together
Enzo: Did you even think about it after you left, the experiments, the cell, or did you just go out and live your merry life to its fullest?
Damon: Look at me. If you go back, we go back together. We finish this for good. Come on
Enzo: You're not gonna see your girl again, Damon, because I want the antidote, and Wes told me not to come back until you were dead. I imagine you just broke your clavicle. Probably a few lumbar and thoracic vertebrae. It's funny what you learn about your body when it's taken apart like a bloody automobile right before your eyes!
Damon: I'm not gonna fight you, Enzo
Enzo: What are you gonna do then, run?You're good at that
Damon: I want to find my girlfriend
Enzo: While you were out running wild, I had one single thought, that I'd have the pleasure of k*lling you
Damon: Enzo, look at me
Enzo: Bloody poison!
Damon: Where is she? Where's Elena.Tell me where she is!
Enzo: Or what?! You never see her again? It might be good for you to know what it's like to miss someone for the next 60 years
Damon: Enzo, look at me. Hey! Enzo! Where is she? Where is she? Enzo, hey
(Stefan and Aaron are in Aaron’s dorm)
Aaron: All the files of my family history are in here
Stefan: Hurry up. Is this all a lie, huh? If you want me to k*ll you, I will k*ll you. Do not test me
Aaron: Do it. I'm dead already. Damon's been planning my death since before I was born
Stefan: What are you talking about?
Aaron: Damon left out the best part of the Augustine story, the part after he escaped
Stefan: Talk
Aaron: It wasn't enough for Damon to k*ll the doctors who tortured him. He had to t*rture their families and their future families. He spent the last 60 years k*lling every one of my relatives except he's a psychopath. He leaves one alive so that they can continue the family line so that he can destroy future generations of innocent people. So go ahead and do it, k*ll me because I don't want to give Damon the satisfaction, so do it. Do it!
Stefan: You know, not all of us are like my brother
Aaron: Stefan? This is everything Wes gave me on Augustine. I saw Elena's last name on a few pages. Maybe it will help
[A Lab]
Flashback
(Elena is little and she’s in the basement. Her father rejoins her)
Grayson: Hey. You're not supposed to be down here. Basement's a kid-free zone, remember?
Elena: I heard someone screaming
Grayson: Oh, it's ok. Everything's fine. In fact, today's a good day, Elena
Elena: Why?
Grayson: Daddy's gonna save a little girl's life. She's just about the same age as you. Pretty cool, huh? All right. Get out of here. Doctor's orders
Elena: Ok dad
Nowadays
Wes: Good news. The sample cells mutated. My compound worked
Elena: I don't follow. You kicked me out of bio, remember?
Wes: You've heard of Pavlov? Conditioned his dog to salivate at the sound of a bell. This compound is like that bell except instead of a ding your body will salivate at the smell of vampire blood
Elena: Oh, my God. That's what you did to Jesse. You turned him into some rabid vampire who only wanted to feed on other vampires
Wes: Jesse was a fantastic case study, but he took too long to condition, and considering the size of the vampire population, a single-dose injection is much more efficient
Elena: Yeah, but he couldn't stop feeding. He tried to k*ll Damon
Wes: Exactly. Vampires are now one sh*t away from craving their own kind, and you're about to be patient zero
Elena: What? No. No, you can't do that to me. You'll turn me into a ripper
Wes: I know. Subject 83182 prepped for compound injection
Elena: No. Please. You can't do this to me
Wes: You'll be doing the world a favor, Elena. I might not be able to k*ll vampires...
Elena: No! Let me go!
Wes: But you will
Elena: No
(Stefan arrives)
Stefan: Elena
Elena: Stefan! Oh, God. Ohh
Stefan: Come here. Oh. You're ok. I got you. I got you. I got you. I got you
Elena: Get me out of here. Come on. Come on get me out of here
[Mystic Grill]
(Matt goes out and sees Nadia at a table)
Matt: Look. We're closing, so...
Nadia: We met on a little patio like this, remember? The twinkling lights, music. That was a fun night
Matt: Yeah. I'd kind of rather just put us, um, behind us
Nadia: Fine. Will do, but I need you to hold on to this for me
Matt: The Travelers' Kn*fe? No way. I just got rid of that thing
Nadia: It's not about you. I'm leaving Mystic Falls, and I need to know it's safe
Matt: Why? and why do people want it?
Nadia: I thought I could convince Katherine to live a little longer. I was wrong, but if she changes her mind, she will need this. That's all you need to know
Matt: Well, she won't because Katherine cares about Katherine and only Katherine. If she doesn't want to do something, then she won't
Nadia: I spent 500 years searching for her. I finally find her only to lose her all over again. I don't know if I should hate her for giving up or be at her side when she dies
Matt: Listen, I get the whole crappy parenting thing. My mom kind of sucked. She was selfish, and she drank too much and never really thought about how it would affect me
Nadia: Then you know what it's like to hold on to the hope that maybe just once she'll do what you want
Matt: If she changes her mind, the Kn*fe will be with me
[Whitmore College]
(Enzo wakes up in Wes’ lab. Damon’s here)
Damon: Oh. Never mind
Enzo: What did you do now?
Damon: Well, I injected you with a bunch of these that say, "Antidote," and apparently, one of them worked
Enzo: If this is some attempt to make amends, it's a bit pathetic, mate
Damon: I don't care about amends, mate. My girlfriend's safe, so technically, I'm not suffering, and it'd really suck if you desiccated in vain... And I'm gonna tell you my side of the story. You asked me if I thought about you after I escaped, and answer is no, and I sure as hell don't feel guilty about leaving you because in order for me to save myself and leave you, I had to shut off my humanity, damn it, so I flipped the switch, and then I felt nothing, no remorse, no regret, no pain
Enzo: And now what do you feel, remorse, regret, pain? Even if I forgave you, Damon, would that make you less of a horrible person?
Damon: We're even, Enzo
Enzo: You were the most important person in my life, and you ruined me, but that's just who you are, that's who you'll always be... A monster
[Salvatore’s House]
(Elena is reading her dad’s journal when Damon enters)
Elena: It's weird. Even as a kid, there was something about that basement that creeped me out
Damon: Sure you want to give yourself nightmares reading that thing?
Elena: And I remember my dad talking about this little girl. I think he was talking about my roommate Megan. Look. "January 1999. Saw Megan King today. Megan is 7 years old. She suffers from a congenital heart defect with a life expectancy of two months. A single injection of vampire blood appears to be an effective life-saving solution." That's why Megan had a picture of my dad on her phone… because he saved her life
Damon: A hundred pages of horrific t*rture and you find the one happy passage
Elena: My dad used his research to save people, Damon, children, families
Damon: Yeah. And dissected vamps along the way. News flash, Elena. You are a vampire. I mean, do you honestly think that he would sit here and see you as anything more?
Elena: I don't know. He was my dad. I can't not defend him
Damon: No. I know you can't because you do it for me all the time
Elena: I'm not defending you. I'm not defending your decision to k*ll Aaron's entire family, to go out of town and k*ll the aunt while we were still together
Damon: So why are you still here? I'm bad, Elena, I am bad for you, so why wouldn't you have run away from me as far as humanly possible?
Elena: Because I love you, Damon, because I chose you, and because I stand by my choice
Damon: Well, now I'm choosing, and I'm choosing to let you go
Elena: What? No, Damon
Damon: I am choosing to not have to think about how you must feel every time some ghost from my past comes into our life. I'm choosing to relieve you of having to defend me for every awful thing I've ever done
Elena: Stop acting like I'm perfect. Damon, I've done horrible things, too. You think I'm gonna stand here and judge you after I find out that you've been tortured for 5 years?
Damon: Stop defending me! I won't change who I am. I can't... But I refuse to change you
(Stefan enters his room. Katherine’s here)
Stefan: Can I come in, or are you gonna freak out and run away again?
Katherine: I'm getting wrinkles
Stefan: Heh. Katherine Pierce's chickens come home to roost. In the form of wrinkles. It's kind of brilliant
Katherine: What's the opposite of funny? Oh, right. Not funny
Stefan: Hmm. So what are you, uh, doing in my room?
Katherine: I want to talk about last night
Stefan: Ok
Katherine: So talk
Stefan: Well, um, it was a long day, we had a moment, and we got swept up in it
Katherine: Did you memorize that from... A textbook or something?
Stefan: Katherine, what do you expect? You want me just forget everything that you've put me through for the last 147 years?
Katherine: I'm dying, Stefan
Stefan: I know you are, and I'm sure that you will figure a way out of it
Katherine: No. I mean, it's for real this time. Look at me. I'm dying. What does someone have to go through to get a little redemption around here?
Stefan: 147 years is a long time to forgive in one night
Katherine: One night... An eternity... You'd never look at me the way you look at Elena, would you? Good night, Stefan
Stefan: Hey. I'm sorry that you're dying
Katherine: Trust me. I am, too
[A Lab]
(Aaron finds Wes)
Aaron: Wes? Wes?
Wes: Aaron?
Aaron: What the hell is this place, huh?
Wes: It's one of Augustine's research labs
Aaron: Do you really think that you're helping people with this vampire crap?You sold me out! You used my life as a bargaining chip
Wes: Aaron, I'm sorry
Aaron: I never want to see you again. Get the hell out of my life
Wes: Aaron. Aaron!
[Salvatore’s House]
(Katherine is on the phone)
Katherine: So do we have a deal? You'll find me a Traveler that will teach me how to do the spell?
Nadia: I guess this means you want to live
Katherine: I'm a survivor. Staying alive is my specialty
Nadia: Mm-hmm. Assuming of course it's on your terms. Clearly Stefan inspired some profound thinking
Katherine: I think Stefan believes that a part of me can still be redeemed
Nadia: And what do you think? Is he right? Hello? Katherine? Katherine?