Status of main Characters from the first story, You are my Freedom:

Alive and human-ish:

Elena Gilbert

Jeremy Gilbert (6th Sense)

Bonnie Bennett (Witch)

Alaric Saltzman

Elizabeth Forbes

Jenna Sommers

Alive and Vampire-y:

Damon Salvatore

Clara Salvatore (powers of an Original)

Stefan Salvatore

Caroline Forbes

Klaus Mikaelson

Elijah Mikaelson (daggered)

Rebekah Mikaelson (daggered)

Werewolf:

Tyler Lockwood

Ghost:

Katherine Pierce

Dead:

Mason Lockwood

Kol Mikaelson

Rose

John Gilbert

Isobel Flemming

When we last left the gang...

1. Clara and Damon got re married and retreated to their magically enhanced adult/luxury treehouse(s)

2. Klaus had dagered Elijah and was off to create his Hybrids after breaking his curse

3. Tyler triggered his werewolf gene

4. Caroline told her mom the truth

5. After dying and being brought back due to the Martins tying him to his Uncle John, Jeremy is seeing ghosts.

A/N: Reminder Damon was never bitten and Stefan had no reason to barter himself to Klaus in exchange for the cure so there is no Ripper/humanity off Stefan yet and no Delena kiss, this is NOT a Delena story, also the gang still doesn't know what the cure for a wolf bite is.

3rd Person POV:

Somewhere outside Tennessee...

Niklaus Mikaelson had succeeded in writing a wrong his mother had done him nearly 1,000 years ago. His persistence and ruthlessness had finally paid off, he should have been happy... as happy as a monster was capable of being anyway.

But he wasn't, he was lonely and frustrated, despite his best efforts over the summer he had yet to create a single hybrid.

There was something he was missing, there had to be.

He decided as much as it might pain him to admit, this wasn't a job he was going to get done on his own... he needed help.

Finding his long lost friend Stefan Salvatore had been a happy accident but after killing the girl he loved not to mention his brother's wife he decided to give his old mate a few months to mourn before reveling their shared past to him.

A plan started to form in his mind.

Rebekah

His sister and former paramour of Stefan Salvatore's would make a nice companion until he could get once again have his ripper friend by his side. And the gift of allowing the two to once again be together should be enough to smooth over any residual anger from previous treatment of the pair.

He stalked about town gathering a few peace offers for his sister before heading to the warehouse where he was currently storing his siblings.

Strolling up to his sister's coffin he lifted the lid, removed the dagger, and held the wounded wrist of one of her welcome back gifts over her mouth.

"Time to wake up, little sister." He tells her, but Rebekah remains still,

"Any day now, Rebekah."

She's still lying there dead and now Klaus is starting to lose his patience.

"Come on now, stop being dramatic."

Finally the the corpse springs to life grabbing onto one of the victims Klaus brought for her quickly draining him before fixing Klaus with an angry stare.

"Did someone wake up on the wrong side of the coffin?" he quips not amusing her.

"Go to hell, Nik!"

Mystic Falls

Damon POV:

It was official, I was the luckiest son of bitch that ever lived.

I had my woman, I had my brother... who had no romantic interest in said woman, I had *gag* friends, and a limitless supply of blood and bourbon, what more could a guy want?

Well for one thing, out of this damn stupid treehouse!

I kept hitting my head on low ceilings and have to cram my body into a bath no bigger than an oversized sink.

Despite my time in the army I had never been denied luxuries and this was the closest I had come to roughing it and the fun novelty of it had definitely worn off.

I wanted to move back to the boarding house or really any house but my darling bride was happy, how was I meant to be the one to tell her the honeymoon was over and I wanted a boring life making love in a bed... the movement of which wouldn't risk the foundation for our home falling over to the sound of someone shouting "timber!"

My inner thoughts are put on hold when my bride shifts her naked sleeping body draping a leg over the two of mine.

I can see the curve of her ass that beckons my hand to warmly greet good morning too... what was I saying again?

Oh yea, luckiest son of a bitch that ever lived.

I'm about to pounce and wake my delicious wife up in one of our 7 favorite ways but the ringing of her phone goes off and spoils my plans.

She blindly reaches for it and sleepily answers "hello?"

I'd be able to hear even without being supernatural, the voice on the other end could and probably has literally woken the dead.

"Ugh what the hell does Caroline Forbes require this early in the morning?"

"Apparently I promised to help set up for Elena's birthday,"

"And that needs to start at..." I look over to the clock for the time, "7:40am?"

"Apparently, I better get going before she starts climbing random trees hoping to find us."

Well I had to admit that was one plus to our current living arrangements, no unannounced visitors or drop ins.

3rd Person POV:

Over the summer Jeremy had gotten a job at the Grill and was currently in the stock room moving boxes and talking to Bonnie over the phone

"You need to come home. It's boring around here without you." He tells her, since Klaus and Elijah left the town had been peaceful, abnormally so to the point where people almost seemed to be waiting for things to go wrong again.

"Huh, you think you're bored. My dad's side of the family is like wet paint that never dries...How's the Grill treating you?" Bonnie asks.

"Well it's teaching me the value of a mundane human experience."

"A summer job is good for you. You needed something normal in your life."

Suddenly the lights flicker and there's a strange sound.

"What was that?" Bonnie asks concerned,

"Nothing. Look I uh...I got to go back to work. I'll talk to you soon okay?"

Jer puts his hand on the phone ready to end the call.

"Wait, wait Jeremy. Is everything okay with you?"

"Yeah, yeah. Normal and mundane. Come home soon okay."

"Okay."

The lights flicker and go off. After a moment they come back on and Anna is standing in front of him. He drops his phone.

"Anna?" He asks but she quickly disappears.

Freaked out he bends down to get his phone, revealing that Katherine is standing menacingly behind him. She reaches out her hand and is about to grab him when Matt comes barging in.

Katherine disappears.

"Hey man, we need you out there." Matt tells him.

"Yeah, be right there."

Jeremy closed his eyes and tried to pretend he didn't just see the ghost of his ex girlfriend, just like he had been trying all summer to convince himself he wasn't seeing Katherine when all the lights went out. It was a fight he was losing, and he knew he wouldn't be able to keep it to himself much longer.

Meanwhile over at Elena and Jeremy's old house the insurance money had finally come through after Damon compelled the inspectors to ignore the signs of arson and it was a now a construction site/where Damon and Alaric went to get day drunk without influencing the youth of Mystic Falls.

Stefan had joined them this day and the three sat amongst wood and plastic sheeting,

Alaric: "I don't know why you just don't come clean and tell her you want to move."

Stefan: "Because that would mean my brother admitting defeat, something he is not particularly great at."

Damon: "Oh yeah, tell me why are you letting Caroline Forbes commandeer Elena's birthday party? Admit it none of us are any good at telling the women in our lives no, apparently even the ones we aren't sleeping with."

Alaric: "He has a point, I've been sleeping at Jenna's for months now but still haven't gotten up the guts to ask her if we are officially living together."

Stefan: "Do you want to be?"

Alaric: "Yeah of corse, Jenna's great but it just seams I don't know... too easy?"

Damon: "Considering the trajectory of your last relationship I would think easy would be a selling point."

Alaric: "Yeah, well what do you want me to say... maybe I'm just not cut out for a normal boring life, I mean here I am drinking with two vampires on my lunch break."

Stefan: "So stop sleeping over, pull back a little."

Alaric: "I don't exactly relish the idea of sleeping somewhere Klaus Mikaelson once laid his head, and I have been pulling back in other ways I mean we haven't slept together in over 2 weeks... you know, I keep waiting for them to kick me out, make the decision for me but they don't. I don't know why."

Stefan and Damon: (Agreeing.) "Mm-mm."

Damon: "And how 'bout you little brother, any eternal teenage drama looking to sink the ship of Stelena?"

Stefan: "Nope, all clear skys ahead."

Alaric: "Really, you know college isn't too far off for her, what are you guys gonna do then?"

Damon: "Excellent question Mr. Saltzman."

Stefan rolls his eyes at his drinking partners, "I don't know we'll figure it out, I can always go with her."

Damon: "And when it starts getting obvious you aren't aging and she is? Has she expressed any interest in being turned?"

Stefan: "No."

Damon: "Might wanna re check that weather report, pretty sure it won't be clear skies for much longer."