Love & marriage

Catch me if you can

It's nighttime. Matt is frantically running for his life. A vampire is chasing him. He stops and hides behind a tree. He looks behind the tree, and when he turns his head back, a vampire attacks him. Jeremy shoots the vampire in the back with an arrow as the vampire drinks Matt's blood. The vampire falls over.

A few moments earlier...

"No way. I'm not doing this." Jeremy says as he keeps looking around at the bodies in transition. "What makes you think you have a choice?" Klaus asks.

"You have to kill vampires to complete the hunter's mark. Mark equals cure. You're in a bar full of almost vampires, so get your hunt on." Damon says. 

"Why are you even agreeing to this, Damon?" Diana asks him as he simply rolls his eyes. "Screw you. You said I wouldn't have to kill any innocent people." Jeremy says to both Damon and Klaus.

"Jeremy, they're not people." Damon responds.

"Enough! Have at it, or else." Klaus says. 

"I don't take orders from you, dick." Jeremy drops a stake. "Hunters can't be compelled."

"You're right. I can't compel you. But if your conscience is getting in the way, then allow me to make this easy for you. Because, I can compel them." They look at the vampires in transition; a few compelled humans are feeding them their blood. "I'm gonna give you a two-minute head start. Then I'm gonna send every vampire in here after you. You kill them, or they kill your friend...Matt."

"Wait a second!" Matt says.

"No, no. You turn them, he kills them. That was the deal, Klaus."

"I'm taking artistic license."

"You know he can't take them all on at the same time."

"With you and Diana as his coaches, he'll be fine. It's Matt I'm worried about."

"You only like attacking the weakest link, Klaus. He's just a human." Diana says. 

"Jeremy, go get the weapons out of the car. I'll be right behind you. Both of you." Damon commands. 

"If I hear an engine start, I'll kill Matt myself!" Klaus says as most of the transitioning vampires have been fed blood and are standing.

Back to the present...

Jeremy is holding a piece of fabric to Matt's bleeding neck. Matt is on the ground. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just need a second."

"We don't have a second. They can smell your blood. We need to go." Jeremy hears something behind him. He swiftly turns around, holding up his bow, but it's Damon. Damon deflects the bow. "Don't hesitate! You're lucky it was me. Otherwise you two'd be dead."

Diana speeds up and slaps Damon. "What was that for?"

"You set us up." 

"I was trying to get this thing over with. You're the one that pissed off Klaus. Now you have to fight your way out of it." Damon says to both Diana and Klaus. 

"All right, where are the other vampires?" Matt asks.

"They're newbies. They're still trying to figure out how to track, which means you have two seconds to get ready to fight."

"The lake house is this way. If we can get there, they won't be able to get inside."

"You're running?" Diana asks. 

"They're going to kill Matt." Jeremy answers. Diana and Damon look at each other. "Fine. Get out of here. We'll slow them down." 

Jeremy and Matt run to the lake house, and a vampire charges at them. Damon rips out the vampire's heart and looks at it. The vampire is dead. Two of them attack Diana and she kills one, but the other one kicks her in the stomach. 

She feels a sharp sting that brings her to her knees as Damon kills that vampire. "Are you okay?" Damon asks her. 

"Yeah, that kick hurt like a bitch."

"Let's get out of here." 

XXXXX

Diana returns home to Klaus after Damon decides to take Jeremy on a hunting expedition...or at least, that's what he calls it. "A bit ironic, you coming to me for help. Weren't your friends just trying to bury me in a cement tomb?" Klaus asks Elena. 

"This is your fault. You started this when you forced Jeremy to kill those vampires."

"And now my little brat of a brother has gone and made things worse. Well, he never did like Damon. I suppose I should do something, shouldn't I?"

"Call him off, Klaus."

"You are in no position to make demands, love. Whilst I'd like to cure you to make more hybrids, I do have other reasons for finding the cure, not the least of which is destroying it so you lot can't use it against me."

"Whatever our differences, we want the same thing. Please, Klaus, I'm begging you." Klaus smiles at her then rolls his eyes as he gets out his cell phone. He calls Kol who is still in the back storage room at the bar.

"Little brother. Just two days home, and I'm told you've already gone and made a mess."

"Come on, Nik. I was only having some fun." Kol answers.

"Those vampires were for my hunter."

"I'll make some more. There's no shortage of people."

"Where's Damon Salvatore?"

"I gave him a good and proper beating just for old time's sake."

"Yes. Well, you've had your fun. Now let him go and come home. Avoid any more trouble, or you'll find yourself back in a box."

"Hey. No need to be nasty about it."

"On the contrary, I find nastiness to be essential whenever my siblings try to sabotage me. Listen closely, Kol. Stay away from the Gilbert boy. You understand?"

"Fine. I won't touch him. You have my word."

XXXXX

Diana is now in Klaus after their second rendezvous. "I thought you wanted me to go to hell what was it, two days ago?" Klaus says.

"I changed my mind."

"Hm, and are you sure this has nothing to do with that fact that our little hunter is at my mercy?"

"More like Kol's, if you could control him."

"I can't. Kol spreads like wildfire. Two days back and he's beaten up half the town."

"Can't say he's not too much like you."

"Hm, how about we forget about that and focus on the now?"

XXXXX

Klaus walks up the front steps and knocks on the door. Elena opens the door, Jeremy standing behind her. "Good evening, Gilbert clan."

"What do you want, Klaus?" Elena asks.

"I've come to fetch my hunter. Seeing as how my brother's become a liability, Jeremy will be safer with me."

"I think I'll pass. I've killed enough people for you today." Jeremy responds.

"You think you're safer here? Hmm. Clearly you don't know Kol. He'll stop at nothing to get what he wants, so strange as it may seem, I'm your best bet."

"Sorry, but I think we'd rather take our chances." Elena answers.

"Fine. But when Kol does come-and he will come-be sure to let me know, preferably before he burns your nice little home to the ground. And as for you, hunter, there's no shortage of people to turn or loved ones to threaten, so sleep well. We'll plan on finishing our work tomorrow."