Three hours later, Elena was cured.

"Oh, thank fuck," said Maribel when she examined her blood and saw no evidence of the inserted genes. "It worked."

Everyone let out a sigh of relief. "I'll go tell her the good news!" said Caroline brightly.

Maribel smiled to herself, starting to clean up her makeshift lab that took up almost the entirety of the study she'd been permitted to use. One by one, she closed all the windows, and as soon as she was done, she sat down to write a summary of both procedures, perfected now that she'd performed them twice.

"Hey, Maribel."

She looked up, her smile only growing. "Elena. How are you feeling?"

"Exhausted, but a lot better," said Elena, coming to sit beside her. "You got me the injection before the hallucinations got too bad."

"I'm glad to hear that. All back to normal."

"Yeah... listen, Damon talked to me about some stuff. Things you said to him."

She remained calm, knowing she'd done nothing wrong. "Yes. I assume he told you the full extent of it?"

"He did. I wanted to thank you."

Now, this surprised her. "Thank me?"

"Ever since I realized I felt something for Damon, everyone has been trying to get me away from him. Insisting he's a bad person. Telling me I couldn't change him. I was stubborn. No one had ever summarized it all so well. Well enough for himto see it. He's saying he wants us to take a break from each other, reevaluate, find a way to live without depending on one another. And that... is more than I've ever accomplished with him. Stefan told me that two people can either be in love with each other, or they could be friends, but they couldn't be both. And I think, though I did love Damon, there's a chance he'll be able to stay in my life and we can be functional friends."

Maribel tapped her arm reassuringly. "No one should ever be stuck in a toxic relationship. I wish you both the best as you learn what it's like to be without each other. If I might overstep, admittedly, this is really not my place, but I think you could benefit from being away from both Salvatores, romantically. Maybe a fresh start is good."

"I think I may take your advice on that," said Elena gently. "Caroline encouraged me to do the same thing. Though, don't tell anyone, but I think the real reason behind it is that she has a thing for Stefan."

She raised a brow. "Are you serious?"

"Yep. I sense something different with the two of them. Something... more than before. I think they like each other but either haven't realized it yet or haven't admitted it to themselves. You know what? I think that's what I'm going to focus on outside of school. Getting those two together."

Maribel shrugged, figuring there was no harm in that. "That sounds fun. Semi-professional matchmaker while you take a break from relationships."

"I can help you, too," offered Elena. "Bonnie mentioned Enzo talks about you a lot."

She laughed lightly. "Oh, no, it's okay. I'll figure that out on my own. I appreciate it, though."

"You sure? I think I'd do a very good job of setting you two up."

"I'll let you know if I ever want to take you up on that offer, I promise. I'm just glad you're happy and healthy, Elena."

She drove back to Whitmore shortly afterward, knowing she had a ton of homework waiting to be done at home. She received a text while she was preparing a meal to enjoy with her lecture notes, informing her that the Travelers had roped Caroline, Stefan, and Enzo into some deal. They needed Stefan's help with something, and in exchange, they would find and destroy the other Ripper virus injections Wes left behind before Damon killed him.

She pulled an all-nighter to get her notes done, grateful that she didn't have a lecture the following day. She went to one of the main bars on campus to finish one last assignment, half-smiling at a curly-haired blonde that served her a drink before clocking out.

"Fancy seeing you here, Beli."

She didn't even look at him, gesturing at the new bartender. "Can I please order a bourbon, neat, for my companion here?" The girl nodded, and she smiled. "Thanks."

"Neat?" asked Damon, as if offended. "What are you drinking?"

"A strawberry daiquiri. My reward for all my hard work last night." She accepted the bourbon and passed it to Damon. "Let me guess, someone died or someone else is hurt and you guys need my help again."

"Nah." He drew a sip. "On our end, nothing needs to be done. Elena's at a parent-teacher conference for Jeremy. Care Bear and Enzo have to kill Stefan's doppelgänger for some fucking reason. And Bonnie suspects Crazy Locks is up to something, but I don't really care about that."

"And who's 'Crazy Locks?'"

"Right, you're not in the actual group chat."

She frowned. "You're telling me the group chat I had to mute to avoid constant notifications isn't the actual group chat?" She saw him smirking, and rolled her eyes. "You're fucking with me. Crazy Locks hasn't been mentioned in the group chat."

He shrugged. "It was fun to see you looking so betrayed. Crazy Locks served you that drink."

"What, the curly-haired bartender? Wait, how did you see that? Who is she?"

"She's a newbie witch that Bonnie is teaching. She's the one that helped us find Wes. Her name is Liv, and she constantly looks like she's pissed at the world."

"Honestly, I would be, too, if I'd been forced to find Wes. Was that the time Enzo almost killed Jeremy?"

"Yep."

"You guys are such dicks. Anyway, why are you here? What do you need?"

"Can't we just share a drink without you accusing me of something?"

She kept a deadpan expression. "Every time you come looking for me, it's because you need something."

"For once, I just wanted a drink. Besides, it's fun to bother people."

"And by 'people,' you mean me, huh?"

"Bingo."

"You're a terrible drinking buddy. And study buddy. I have homework to do."

"I can just compel you a PhD if you want it so badly. You already know everything."

"I don't know everything. If I did, it would have taken me three minutes to cure you and Elena, not three hours. There's always more to learn."

He hummed, reaching into his pocket. "Here," he said, handing her a blank check. "Write the amount you need and I'll sign it. Or I could just compel you the funding directly from Whitmore if you still think this is charity."

She took the check, hesitating. "You and Stefan don't have jobs. I'll drain your entire saving's account with this."

"You really think we don't have constant funds coming in from past work or just compelled people that do what we want them to? You're bold to assume you'll drain our account. I dare you to try and guess how much we have. You're also from a Founding Family, you know how rich we are. Which begs the question of why you don't just use your own money for this."

She shook her head. "We grew up comfortable, but not rich. My dad is one of five. My grandparents, as we've learned, donated a lot to Augustine. They were dead by 1990, and that remaining money got divided. My Uncle Vincent couldn't handle the Fell legacy, took his share, and left. My Uncle Lawrence and Aunt Alyssa— Logan's parents— are dead. Logan used it all to pay his student loans, the rest was seized after he died. My Uncle Trevor has three girls to take care of. He's helping Tina go to Beauty School and he's saving for when Valerie and Violet are ready to go to college. My Uncle Broderick is directing his money to my cousin Blair, who gets no financial aid at Wellesley. My parents gave almost everything to put Meredith and I through undergrad and to help her go to Med School. We got a little more after my dad died, and that's the only reason I can afford to do a PhD."

"You need a sugar daddy badly from the sound of it," snorted Damon. "Here..." he took the check back and wrote in the amounts, "Take thirty thousand. That sounds like a good number. The memo will be: Salvatore Scholarship. If they want proof, I'm a great actor." He signed it and handed it back to her, noticing her eyes were wide as saucers. "What?"

"Thank you," she said in a small voice, slowly folding up the check. "Seriously... thank you. This can cover me for this whole year. Enough to sustain me until I get paired with a new faculty sponsor... and even then I'll have more than enough to replace some older equipment. Wow. Wow, thank you, seriously, thank you."

He cringed playfully. "If you say 'thank you' one more time, I might take the check back."

"Sorry. I'm just really grateful. This is very kind of you."

"And just like that, you make me want to barf."

"What, you don't like people appreciating the things you do for them? Or..." she tilted her head, "you're not used to anyone thanking you at all, are you?"

"Admittedly, people yell at me for what I do wrong a whole lot more often than they thank me for doing something right."

"Well, I appreciate this a lot. You didn't have to, but you did. I honor that. I'll mention you in my paper."

"Your paper?"

"Wes proved my theory. And now, because I've had to make the cure, I can proceed with my tests on mice, something I didn't realize I was so close to even just two weeks ago. I think by the end of the month I can have enough data and I can start writing my paper. This is big. Really big."

"That's what she said."

She pouted teasingly. "How would you know?"

"Now that's cold."

"Admit it, it was funny."

"You are a bitch, Beli."

"Thank you."

He drew another sip. "I dare you to tell that to Enzo if you ever hook up with him."

"What, tell him he's not big? Damon, please, I'm not trying to get murdered while naked. It would be so embarrassing."

"Does that mean you're going to?"

"Going to hook up with him? No. At least that's not the plan. He's cute and all, he seems super sweet, but I don't know if I want to get involved with him, in any way. I think I need to know him more. Besides, Meredith has me questioning everything."

"Questioning what?"

"Well, before Wes, I had a few relationships but nothing really worked out. So I decided I wanted to just swear off romance for a bit and have a normal friends-with-benefits situation. With Wes, it was fine. We slept together when we wanted to, things were fairly normal otherwise. Then she got me thinking I wanted more than that... and I believe I do. I think I want to give relationships a try again."

"So what was the thing with Silas?"

"Eh, I was just mad at Wes and wanting to get some relief. I would have considered more with that if he'd lived. With Enzo, I just don't know him enough to know if I'd like to be more than just friends with him. 'Cause I could totally be his fuck buddy but I don't just want a fuck buddy now, so... I'm just not sure yet. We'll see. I don't want to sleep with him and mislead him. So I don't intend to make any moves or respond to his advances until I decide what I want it to be. If I figure out I don't want a relationship, I'll see if he's down to be friends-with-benefits. If I figure out I do want a relationship, I'll tell him that and see what he's willing to do."

Damon shook his head. "I don't think Enzo is wanting a relationship right now. But I guess you'd need to ask him personally. He just got free again, he doesn't want to be tied down so soon, he'd rather explore for a good while."

"Makes sense. Then in that case, no, I'm not going to hook up with him. Friends is fine. He seems fun, murderous parts aside. Just like you. As long as you guys don't kill anyone I care about, I really don't care. It can work that way."

"So... you're saying you don't care that we kill people as long as it doesn't apply to anyone in your life?"

"Yeah. It's not like I can stop you guys from doing it. And I don't want to force you to shove down your instincts just to maintain a friendship. The point is for me to accept you, warts and all. Which I'm going to do. I just don't want you threatening me, hurting me, or hurting the people I love. Wes stopped being someone I cared about... so I don't care that he's dead. He hurt me and I wanted him gone. Obviously I'd also appreciate you didn't tell me about the killing even if it is done to people I don't know at all. I just don't want to hear it. It happens, it's normal for you guys, but just keep me out of it, please, and we'll be fine."

"Doable, Beli," he said. "So, what do you say? Drinking buddies?"

She sighed. "Okay, fine. Drinking buddies. And whatever happens at the bar stays at the bar. We can talk all we want, pour our hearts out, and nobody hears it. I won't judge what you say and I won't tell anyone either, as long as you vow to do the same with me. Deal?"

"Deal. What happens at the bar stays at the bar."

They tapped their glasses together, the two finishing the rest of their drinks.

Damon left after another round, allowing Maribel to finish her homework. She went to her lab for the afternoon, making a list of machines that needed to be replaced and materials that needed to be replenished. She found out through the group chat that Liv, the not-so-newbie witch, had tried to kill Elena. According to her, the Travelers were trying to make it so there was only one female and one male dopelgänger left. The witches were trying to prevent them from enacting whatever plan they had in mind. Jeremy, Matt, and Tyler were going to help Liv and her twin brother, Luke, protect Elena and simultaneously stop the Travelers.

"Beli."

"Please don't break down my door!" she shrieked when she heard Damon outside her apartment. She skidded toward the entrance, opening the door. "I just got the doorknob fixed. What is it?"

"I know we just discussed the whole killing thing," he said with a cheeky smile, "but we need something lethal to use against the Travelers. Think you can whip up a lethal injection of some sort to just kill them all?"

"Damon, you don't need science for that. Why don't you just all get guns? They can do magic, but they're mortals. Why don't you just shoot them?"

"Shoot them?"

"Uh, yeah. You know, honestly, Harry Potter could have defeated Voldemort in two seconds if he pulled up with a gun. What are they gonna do if you shoot them? Just die."

"That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

"Am I wrong?"

"Not exactly."

"Precisely," she said, satisfied. "What's the real issue here?"

"Well, we want the Travelers gone so they don't use Elena and Stefan for whatever their stupid plan is, and so Blonde and Blonder don't have to kill them to prevent said plan. So either we make the doppelgänger blood useless, or we kill all the Travelers. Problem with your plan is that they could still stop the bullets, couldn't they? Chant and put up a shield?"

She tried to think. "Hmm. Well... I don't think I can make Elena and Stefan's blood useless to them because of all the magical qualities to it. Changing its composition isn't likely to do anything at all. So defeating the Travelers is probably the better path to take. I could potentially make a serum similar to the cure I used with you and Elena. Something that'll stop them from performing magic. If they can't do magic, they can't use the doppelgängers for anything. They'd need witches to help them and the witches don't want to do that, so they're screwed. Problem is, I don't know how this would work on a witch. It was hard enough to heal you because I had to bypass your vampire healing. They don't have a supernatural healing factor but they can create magic. I could potentially make a serum that'd temporarily hinder their ability to perform magic... which would leave them helpless if you attack. But I don't think I can permanently turn off that gene. Witches seem to have been around a lot longer than vampires so I think at this point there will be a way for their natural magic to bypass my genetic alterations."

"Beli," he said, blinking several times, "can you do it or not?"

"I can try," she said. "Keyword, 'try.' There are no guarantees. I'll start working on it. But... I'm going to need a Traveler to study. You need to find me a test subject."

He winced, making faces as if this was too much to ask for. "Mm... I will try, too. No promises there."

"Just do your best, please. Anyway... good night."

"Kicking me out already?"

"Well, you're welcome to stay and eat all my food but I'm going to sleep."

"You are boring."

"Hey, don't call me 'boring' after coming to ask me for a big favor. It's poor manners."

"When have you ever known me to have good manners?"

"You are a man child. You have yet to grow up."

She walked away, leaving him in her living room. He escorted himself out when he realized she was serious about going to sleep even if he was still there, standing around like a moron.

Maribel heard the bad news in the morning.

For some reason, the Travelers had all incinerated themselves, overwhelming Bonnie and leaving her unconscious on the floor of her dorm for several hours. Liv had Matt, Tyler, and Jeremy working to expel Passengers using the Traveler Knife. Maribel's only task was to try and figure out how to take down the Travelers.

Damon and Enzo decided to watch her work.

"You two would be more useful to me outside of this lab, searching for a Traveler I can test this on," she said loudly when she heard them looking through the cabinets.

"We're out of Travelers," said Enzo with a shrug. "Do your work without one, for now, gorgeous."

"Am I destined to have you stalking me for the rest of my life?"

"Yes."

"Assholes. Can you at least make yourself useful and wash the stuff in the sink without breaking anything? And after that, here—" she tossed a paper their way, "I want to rearrange this lab and I can't lift anything but you guys can, so get to it."

"On second thought, I don't want to be here anymore," said Damon with a cheeky smile.

"Better for me," said Maribel. "Either you leave and let me work in peace or you do what I need done if you're so desperate for my company."

Enzo gestured toward her, but addressed Damon, "You said her sister looks the same, but is she this obnoxious?"

"My sister is a lot more tolerable than me," said Maribel. "But she's married and lives in Alaska, so good luck getting in her pants."

"You think so little of me, love!"

"I might think more of you if you do what I ask!"

Enzo and Damon both made faces at each other, as if Maribel wouldn't realize exactly what they were doing anyway. But, thankfully, they got to rearranging the lab as she requested, doing their best not to break everything she owned.

"Look at that," said Enzo when his phone started to ring. "Caroline's calling me." He answered, "Hello, gorgeous."

"Can you tell Damon that there's something going on with Elena and Stefan?"

Enzo put her on speaker, and Damon asked, "What?"

"Well, you know how we all laughed off the notion that the universe is drawing Stefan and Elena together?"

"Uh, yeah..."

"Well, that's happening."

"What's happening?"

"Now that Stefan's doppel-him—"

"Tom?"

"Tom, yes," said Caroline. "Now that Tom is dead, Stefan and Elena are the last pair of doppelgängers, which might explain why Stefan and Elena are suddenly having vision-type situations of each other."

Damon scrunched up his nose. "Wait. What kind of visions?"

Enzo smirked. "You know what she's not telling you. Somebody's having sex dreams."

"They're not sex dreams!" came Elena's voice from the other line.

"Yeah," agreed Caroline. "They're more like romance dreams."

"Well, where's Stefan?"

"He went to the Traveler camp to see if anyone's still there that can tell him what's going on."

Enzo snorted. "Yeah, good luck with that."

Caroline sounded frustrated. "Well, it's our only lead. Look. All we know is that Tom is dead, the Travelers just committed a mass suicide, and now Stefan and Elena, who are clearly not together anymore, are having intense visions of each other."

"We'll be there soon," said Damon. "Find a witch and have her join us."

Maribel finally got some peace and quiet when they left. The witch who showed up to help them (Luke) wasn't able to stop the visions, but it seemed the problem was solved when Elena saw an address that led Damon and Enzo to where Markos was. By that evening, her understanding of the zillion text messages was that the visions were over.

"Oh, come on," said Maribel the following day when Damon appeared behind her as she left her lecture and made her way to one of the campus cafés. "You show up empty-handed again? Where's my damn Traveler?"

"That's what I'm trying to find out," said Damon. "'Cause we have bigger problems. Tyler is missing. Matt and Jeremy are two brain-dead teenagers who didn't realize two plus two equals one hijacked hybrid. But, here's my train of thought... we find Tyler, we find a Traveler to use as a test subject."

"And I fit into this... how?"

"You don't. I'm just telling you. I'll see if Enzo can find his old friends. If he can't, then you do come into the plan. Maybe you can pretend you need something Wes left behind and they'll listen to you and then I come in and take them down, Tyler comes back, hooray hooray, you get your patient, and we take down the Travelers. Piece of cake."

"Your 'hoorays' don't fill me with any hope."

"Have a little faith in me, Beli. I'll get you your subject. Jeez, why are you so pessimistic?"

"I'm not, I just struggle to believe this is going to go well. If Tyler was kidnapped... it was for a reason. Why else would they want him, of all people? What if we're already too late and they have what they need to destroy the world, or whatever?"

Damon made a face. "Mm, you are terrible at motivating anyone."

"I'm just saying it how it is! I thought you liked my honesty."

"I've changed my mind. I don't like anything about you, Beli."

"Great, then we're on the same page."

She nudged him in the ribs to keep him from following her into the café. Damon rolled his eyes at her from behind the glass door, and she winked before flipping him off.