but oh what a year

[patrols]

Comments

[opencases]

( Grayson finally frees the cork and grabs four glasses, one in anticipation of Carol's arrival.

That's a loaded question, but Liz knows there's more to the question, so she waits for everything to land. )

I didn't handle it great at first. Well, the first time I really found out, ( She remembers now, thanks to death transcendence and compulsion. ) I even caught myself off guard with how I felt. But, she didn't trust that and I couldn't blame her. So, she erased it. The second time I found out, Matt Donovan came to me and... I did not take it well at first. But, it didn't take me long after that to see that she was as compassionate and selfless as she'd always been. The only thing that had changed was that - she was a vampire. It was easy to detach myself from how we were raised. I also know Damon and Stefan were and -- I knew it wasn't black and white.

( She accepts the glass of wine and takes a healthy sip before the next part. )

Bill did not take it well. Carol suspected what she was, before she learned Tyler was a werewolf, and had put vervain on her bag. Bill took her, hid her away and tried a form on aversion therapy on her that was really just torture. He... left, unresolved, but the next time he came to town, someone killed him and he'd had vampire blood in his system. She respected his decision to die and I think through that, he realized she was still his daughter.

( She hopes some of that helps. )

I'm not saying some people don't turn and become dangers to others, but there are many vampires that are still who they were as humans. Just - a little more... personality. But, more of the same.

[happiness_elude]

We're ... getting there.

[But all of that makes sense. The idea that it wasn't immediate but time and understanding built a lot of bridges. She's glad that Caroline had her mother, and she hoped that Elena felt she could still go to Liz, if she needed it.]

I think the hard part is everything that Elena seems to have been put in the middle of, through no fault of her own. That there are these covens or vampires out there who want her blood and would kill her for it if they could. She just seems so ... comfortable with it.

[opencases]

It's okay if it takes time. But, you can't stop being the parent. Even if it hurts. I thought tasking Matt to report back to me was being the parent.

( But instead, it pushed them further away from one another. )

I wouldn't call it comfortable, but I would call it... You have no choice after awhile if the same thing keeps happening to accept it and/or fight back. Elena has always been strong. No matter the circumstances, she made her decisions. I admire that in her. Would you feel better if she were freaking out or unable to come out into public?

[happiness_elude]

No, of course not.

[Just maybe avoid people who are also deep in danger all the time.

But no, she likes Dean. She understands that Elena is building a life. It's just hard when she feels like she's not keeping herself safe. But it's Elena's choice to make.]

It also probably doesn't help that I've been stuck in a bunker for a month. It's nice to actually be home.

[opencases]

Tell me about this bunker? I keep hearing it being thrown around and all I can picture is... a ladder down to one or two rooms with some dry storage. And I know Elena wouldn't be with someone who'd live like that.

( God she hopes not.

"No, it's expansive. Two entrances. Two garages. Big main room, kitchen, more bedrooms than have been used since we were there..." )

[happiness_elude]

It really does feel like a home. It's not terrible. But when you don't leave it on a regular basis it feels ...

[Like a trap. But before she can say that, there's a knock on the door as Carol lets herself in.

"Everybody here? Hope you weren't waiting on me."]

[opencases]

We're in the kitchen! ( To them. ) I'll stop worrying that Elena is dating the unibomber.

( "Only two vampire brothers," Grayson says, taking a sip from his wine. He can joke about it now. )

[mayoralty]

Though not anymore. Now it's hunter brothers. Though, Elena's not dating both.

[Not that Stefan and Damon ever really overlapped to Carol's knowledge, but she can contribute to the conversation.]

Is that better or worse?

[Miranda shrugs. "We only just barely met Stefan and haven't met Damon at all so ... hard to say."

Carol smirks.]

Damon is charming. Though Liz spent more time with him than I did.

[opencases]

Well, that's not our story to comment on.

( Because Caroline is a wonderful daughter and tells her everything, even offscreen.

She was around during the era of brother flip-flopping, and even she knows it was much more complicated than that. Over and over again.

Grayson pours the last glass, stepping up and handing it to the third of the trio. )

Uh, he was a friend and helpful on cases and all things Klaus. You were around through the Stefan years and everything I heard was that he was a perfect gentleman.

( Again, until Klaus. )

Well, girls. We're all together again. I can't believe it.

[mayoralty]

Neither can I. But given the lengths it took to get us all here, I can see why we never thought of it.

[Miranda smirks, before shaking her head. "I have to say, you two are much calmer about all of this than Grayson and I were. Did you speedrun wrapping your head around the whole 'I died' part?"

Carol pauses, before tipping her head to the side curiously.]

Not really. But I remember being dead.

[opencases]

Me too. Maybe, because we were brought back differently. But, Carol and I also have experience with the supernatural. Her son, my daughter. Mystic Falls after you. It's only natural for it to take time.

( She almost wishes she didn't remember being dead, because there is that strange difference, the dichotomy of how Peace felt. But, in this moment, with her oldest friends, all who were dead before this, it compares. )

Caroline has a boyfriend. Ryan. She happened to be in California when I woke up in Beacon Hills. So, I get missing their lives.

[mayoralty]

Tyler's been with someone for twenty years. The amount of time we've missed is old enough to drink and vote.

["We met Ryan," Miranda nods. "He's a nice boy, though a bit quiet." And a vampire, but it's not a pro or a con. Or at least Miranda's trying to get there. "And Tyler's girlfriend is named Liv. We haven't met her though."]

She's a firecracker. I like her.

[opencases]

It can buy porn and cigarettes.

( Grayson just gives a long look at Liz. He forgets she was always more a broad than a lady and chuckles to himself.

"We haven't met Liv. But, Ryan takes care of her. He cares. You can tell," Grayson says.

'Thank you,' Liz mouths. )

Is she intimidated by you, Carol?

[mayoralty]

Intimidated? No.

[That isn't the vibe she's getting. Carol is a little disappointed by that, but she enjoys seeing Tyler happy, she'll allow it.]

But she is invested in making a good impression. Which ... I don't want to say it seems difficult for her, but I get the sense it's not her usual mode.

[opencases]

That means something.

( "Making a good impression on a relative back from the dead probably isn't easy, on average," Grayson says. )

[mayoralty]

No, it's not. Though she seems to have had her fair share of experience with that.

[Miranda shakes her head. "The fact that this is something you can become accustomed to is still beyond me."

Carol shakes her head.]

You're telling me. But I'm sure it's been helpful for Tyler.

[opencases]

Really, Carol. You're surprised people become accustomed to this?

( They had a town full of Originals they all had to contend with and coexist with. But, she remembers how that ended and she goes quiet. )

Really, nobody has ever been given the choice. Including Elena. And Tyler. And Caroline.

[mayoralty]

I don't think a lot of people - witches or not - deal with surprise family members coming back from the dead on a regular basis.

[But Liv is going on her what? Fourth round with surprise Parker roulette? She's just saying.]

I wasn't just referring to the supernatural in general.

[opencases]

Elena has. Several times over. But, you're right, about the average person. By the end of this, we'll all be experts.

( "I could probably teach a class," Grayson says, one eye squinting into his glass. )

[mayoralty]

["The fact that this seems like it could be a class now is ... something." Miranda sighs, rubbing at her eyes. "I miss when the world worked one way, though ... not complaining, because if it did, I wouldn't be here."

Carol smirks.]

I have a feeling it's just going to get weirder, depending on what this Barry has to say.

[opencases]

Caroline through Stiles through William Queen apparently says that Barry is "good people." So, there's that, at least.

( "Good they're not sending us villains to vet everyone." Grayson might be a little buzzed. "Who came back from the dead around Elena?"

Liz looks to Carol, then back. )

Her biological parents both resurfaced to... varying degrees, according to Caroline. Isobel and John Gilbert. And John Gilbert's time in Mystic Falls was bloody. And ended... It ended. I didn't get all the details. But his funeral was the next summer.

( And that was just them. )

[happiness_elude]

[Miranda's hand finds Grayson's arm, because they knew that John was dead, but it still never gets easy to hear. John wasn't her favorite person, necessarily, but he was still family.]

Elena and I spoke some about Isobel. How she was a vampire. Poor girl.

[True, it may have been her choice, but Miranda couldn't imagine what would have sent her running to that.]

[opencases]

She... wanted to be one.

( Which made her resurfacing more of a shock to everyone. )

Again, this was a little after Caroline started filling me in, but the last time she was in town... it left an impression.

[happiness_elude]

I'm sure she did.

[That had never been something Isobel lacked - the ability to make an impression.]

She did even when she was human.

[She certainly made an impression on Miranda, but that may have been because it gave her Elena.]

[opencases]

But, she's gone, too.

( Or, so she thinks. ) I think before now, Elena had a longer list of people she'd lost than... ( She sighs. ) Vampires never stopped. And, with them, a whole wide world of other visitors. Most recently for me, witches called Travelers. They took over the town and ended up casting an anti-magic spell. Everyone magic was trapped outside the town lines. Obviously, it was lifted.