Chapter One-Hundred and Two

                                    

                                          
Cassandra walks down the stairs into the basement with the bag that Elena dropped off early for Alaric. She approaches the door to one of the cells and peers through the barred door window to see Alaric sitting on the cot, looking rather sorry for himself. It seems Cassandra does not have a monopoly on sucky shit right now. 
"Alaric?" She asks and he looks at her. 
"Yep" He whispers. "Still me" Cassandra unlocks the door and enters the cell, moving to sit on the chair across from him. She sets the bag down between them. "How are you feeling?" He asks her, she shrugs a little. 
"A little knocked but...I'll survive" She answers and opens the bag up. "Whilst you're here you will still need the basics. Toothbrush, clothes, some boring books to help you sleep" Alaric picks up one of the books and hands it to Cassandra. 
"Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?" He asks. Cassandra snorts a little. 
"Damon packed the bag" She admits and sets the book back into the bag. "He's hilarious" 
"At least one of us still has a sense of humor" Alaric comments, disheartened by his life at the moment. Which is fair, because he is now living in a basement dungeon. He's going to be here until Cassandra can find out what they want to know, to find out where his alter ego hid the last white oak stake. Given that she's not been on top of her game recently, it might take some time. 
"Are you sure that you...? I mean you don't have to be kept in here, we can go upstairs and watch a movie or something" 
"Ah, no, this is...this is the right place for me to be. At least until you can..." He motions with his hand at his head, implying her mind reading. "What's Klaus gonna do if you can't find it?" 
"It's the only thing that will kill him, so wage war, murder people, you know Klaus stuff" She teases and he nods in agreement. Cassandra pushes herself to her feet and pushes his bag closer to him with her foot. "Stefan and I are going to be upstairs" She explains. "I'm going to read through some books and see if I can find a spell to help me be more specific with my search...." 
"What about Damon?" Alaric asks. "He's okay with you being down here with me alone?" 
"Damon and Elena have gone to Denver to pick up Jeremy" She answers and then takes a deep breath. "Do you want anything to drink or eat?" She asks, he shakes his head. 
"No, thank you, Cassandra" He looks up at her. "I know you've been through a lot the last few weeks, but...you're still trying to help"
"You're family" She assures him. "We look out for each other" 
.......
Curled up on the couch at the boarding house, Cassandra reads through a spell book, her phone pressed to her ear as she talks to Damon. He's barely been gone for two hours and he is already calling her to complain about things with Elena. 
"It's awkward" Damon states as he glances over at where Elena is buying herself a coffee. He wasn't exactly expecting a titillating conversation with her. There is a tension to them, because he has never really liked her. He's tolerated Elena this whole time because Cassandra loves her. Simple as. Now they are traveling together. Alone. They haven't really had any time alone. He hasn't had a need or a desire to be in this position with her. Why would he? And maybe part of it is because he knows how she feels about him. Thanks to Cassandra, he knows just how Elena feels. He doesn't want her to try anything because he knows that it would upset Cassandra. It would push a greater wedge between the two sisters, and as much as Cassandra is mad or upset with Elena, she is still and always will be her sister. Just like with Ally and Katherine. For all her speak about hating Katherine, there is still some caring there too. 
"It's not for long" She reminds him as she turns a page. "And once you get Jeremy, things will be easier" Damon hums a little and then pulls a face. Jeremy he can more than tolerate. Jeremy has at least proven himself useful and he makes Cassandra happy. That's all Damon wants. 
"How's Ric?"
"Despondent" Cassandra answers. "But I suppose anyone being locked in a dungeon would feel that way" Damon hums in agreement. "I'm going to go down there in a little while and get started..."
"Take Stefan with you," Damon asks her. "We don't know what Ric's alter ego is capable of when he feels threatened" Cassandra glances across the room at Stefan who sits in an armchair frowning at one of her spell books. "As screwed the wires in his head are currently, he will keep you safe" 
"I can protect myself," Cassandra reminds him. 
"I know," He agrees. "But right now, you are still recovering" She smiles softly at the concern he is showing right now. He's worried about her and given her recent experiences, she can't blame him. She's worried about herself too. "Any tips on getting through this without killing your sister?"
"If you all come back alive" She starts and closes her book. "I'll do that thing you've been thinking about asking me to do" Damon sucks in a breath. 
"All of it?" He asks, she hums in agreement. "Okay" He caves, easily and quickly. "Motivated now....don't worry" She chuckles and rests her head back. 
"I wasn't worried," She assures him fondly. "I trust you" Stefan rolls his eyes from his seat as Cassandra lowers her head to look at him.