Disclaimer: The Vampire Diaries is the property of CW. I don't own the characters, but most of the storyline is mine and mine only.

Author's Note: This is no longer a one-shot and has officially taken an AU turn. Things will coincide with what is happening on the show, but it's going to be totally warped in so many ways.

He has never hated any one place as much as he hates Dallas. There is nothing really wrong with the city of Dallas or the state of Texas, but Tyler isn't where he wants to be. He's meant to be with Caroline, in Daytona Beach, watching the waves, talking about the next stop, running away from everyone and everything. Except he's in Dallas, sitting in a SUV with Jules typing away furiously on her laptop while he watches the people passing them and Caroline is back in Mystic Falls, probably under house arrest with her mother, Matt and the Salvatores watching her closely. The reason he took her away was to save her from all of that, but now he's sent her right back into the lion's cage. There is nothing he can do other than going to get her. But that will piss Jules off and everyone in Mystic Falls will band against him. He's tapping his fingers absentmindedly on the steering wheel as Jules swears and mutters under her breath. They've been in Dallas for a month and what they have achieved so far is a meeting with a wolf pack just outside of the city limits. Tyler doesn't even know what the point of these meetings are because nobody really gets much talking done between all the growling and shouting and fighting. It bothers all the other packs that there is a woman in charge of this pack, but Jules isn't going to tell them that she's not the Alpha, because she needs them to trust her and she can't do that if they get wind of her true title. Tyler doesn't understand how the hierarchy works or who comes next when the original Alpha dies and he knows that doing research on Jules' laptop is probably not the smartest thing. But he's assuming that it works the same way the hierarchy in kingdoms and families work. When the father dies, his son takes over and so on and so forth. Which means that with Mason gone, Tyler's technically next in line. But he doesn't want to question it and he doesn't want to be the damn Alpha, that keeps him tied to Jules and the rest of the wolves he encountered in Mystic Falls. He just wants to get out and get away from all of this. He's embraced his werewolf side, but that doesn't mean he wants to hang out with the others like him. It's stupid. And weird.

"The laptop can't fight back, so go easy on it."

"Don't talk to me right now."

"What are you even looking for?"

"Tyler," he arches an eyebrow as she uses her threatening voice on him, "Keep your eyes ahead."

"I could just hop out of the car and take a walk if my presence is a problem for you."

"You will not do any such thing."

"Then you have two options," Tyler held up one finger, giving her a fake smile, "One, you tell me what's going on so that I can either help you or figure something else out."

"And what is two?"

"Two, I get out and go find something better to do."

"You can't leave the post."

"You've been watching too many of those medieval movies that play on cable in motels."

"Just shut up and sit where you are."

"Wrong option," Tyler unbuckled his seat belt and opened the door, hopping out and taking the car keys with him. Shutting the door, he waved the keys at Jules through the window and pocketed them before walking away. He could hear Jules growling from where he was and instead of running back to the car, Tyler just smiled and continued walking. There was a diner, a coffee shop, a million stores and tons of people walking around. There was no way she was going to try anything funny with him right then. She had already attempted to get him naked a few nights ago and used some lame ass excuse about missing Mason and needing something, but he hadn't gotten over the fact that she had made him give up the girl he wanted, so sex with her was the last thing on his mind. Groaning as he heard her call out to him, Tyler stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and turned to face her as a huge group of kids charged past them, "What?"

"Do you even realize what I brought you here for?"

"To meet some wolf pack, fun times."

"You're the Alpha," he saw the joy pass over her face as he stiffened slightly at her words, "That's right, as a Lockwood, the buck has passed onto you."

"So why are you pushing me around me?"

"Because you're not ready to be the Alpha."

"You get to decide something like that just because you've been doing this longer than me?"

"I get to decide this because you picked a vampire over your own kind."

"What if I don't want to be the Alpha?"

"You don't get to pick and choose here, Tyler. The Alpha responsibility falls on you because you're the next in line."

"And I don't want it."

"Are you even listening to me?"

"I've made it a habit to block your voice out as often as I can," Tyler shrugged as he walked backwards, giving her a brief smile before turning around and joining the squealing group of kids as they headed for what he figured was an ice cream parlor. He didn't want to be Alpha, hell, he didn't even want to be a werewolf, but shit happened and he'd turned. He couldn't control that, but he could control this. He was sure that nobody knew that Mason was gone and if they did, they were keeping this bit of information to themselves. Moving around the kids, Tyler stepped into the coffee shop and smiled at a group of girls that were sitting near the door before heading straight for the counter. Placing his order, Tyler glanced out the window to see if Jules had followed him and then pulled out his phone. Now was the only time he was going to be able to call and find out if everything was okay, especially after that text message he got a few hours ago from Stefan.

xxx

"I hate you," Caroline threw another one of the cushions from her bed at Stefan as he stayed still on the chair beside the window. She had been doing that for almost an hour and he wasn't even flinching or saying anything back. obviously he was winning this game because all the cushions and pillows and stuffed toys were with him and all Caroline had left was one tiny cushion that was big enough for her thumb and once that was gone, she would be left without any ammo. Stefan was watching her as she toyed with the idea of holding onto the cushion or throwing it at him when the bedroom door swung open and Matt walked in, "I need to speak with Caroline alone."

"Why?" Caroline shook her head as she looked from Matt to Stefan, "I really don't feel like talking to anyone."

"I wasn't asking for your permission, Caroline, I was telling Stefan what I wanted to do."

"You're in my house, I'm pretty sure that I can decide what I want to do."

"Caroline," she spun around to look at Stefan as he said her name and pouted before nodding slightly, "I'll wait outside."

"You should probably go back home, Stefan, there's nothing for you to do here."

"I'll wait outside," Stefan smiled at Caroline as he stood up, staring right back at Matt as he attempted to scare him off, "Call me if you need anything, okay?"

"Thank you, Stefan," Caroline gave him a weak smile and scooted back on her bed so that her back was pressed against the headboard and pulled her knees up to her chest, watching as Stefan let himself out and Matt sat down where Stefan had been only a few minutes ago, "What do you want, Matt?"

"Tyler Lockwood."

"What?"

"Where's Tyler?"

"How would I know?"

"You ran away with him, I figured you'd be the only person who would know where he was."

"Which part of 'we got separated' did not register with you?"

"All of it," Matt leaned forward and rested his elbows on his thighs as he watched Caroline. She tilted her head to the side to look at him properly, wondering what the hell happened to the boy that she had once loved. Matt had been staying in the Forbes house a lot and he had been spending all of his time with her mother and with the information that Tyler had given her, Caroline knew that Matt was helping put an end to everything in Mystic Falls. It scared her to know that her ex-boyfriend was trying to kill her and it didn't really comfort her much either, "So, where is Tyler?"

"Like I told my mother the day I got back, I don't know."

"Come on, Care," Matt rolled his eyes and smiled smugly, "You can trust me."

"Even if I didn't trust you, I would tell you the exact same thing. He didn't tell me where he was going."

"Why not? Aren't the two of you in love or whatever?"

"He figured I would follow him there," Caroline ignored the tone of his voice as he spoke and it didn't matter that that was the truth, she wasn't going to let him enjoy seeing her squirm about it, "He wanted to protect me."

"Aw, isn't that just the most romantic thing you've ever heard?"

"What is your problem, Matt?"

"Besides the obvious problem that my best friend is a werewolf and my ex-girlfriend is a vampire?" Matt stood up and slowly paced the room, "Absolutely nothing."

"Why do you want Tyler?"

"Well, we can't hurt you because your mother won't have it. But we can hurt Tyler and get you to cave because he is your biggest weakness."

"We?"

"Your mother put a group of people together to put an end to the vampire and werewolf rampage in Mystic Falls."

"Who are you?"

"The guy you dumped for a werewolf."

"That's what this is about?" Caroline climbed off her bed and adjusted the t-shirt she was wearing as Matt turned to face her, "This is about me dumping you for Tyler?"

"Among other things."

"Oh," Caroline rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest as she shuffled her feet and looked at him, "Please, fill me in."

"You're a vampire, Caroline, how is this normal?"

"It's not, but it's not like I can do anything about it."

"But, we can. Which is why we need to put an end to this."

"Are you crazy? Killing me is not the way to deal with this. if you kill me, someone will come around and try to get you back."

"Someone like Tyler?"

"Someone like other vampires."

"That's good, we can kill them too. We can put everyone out of their misery. Let everyone be at peace."

"Everyone is at peace, Matt; you can't just go around killing people because you think people aren't safe here."

"People aren't safe in Mystic Falls!"

"You cannot do this to take revenge for Vicki's death," Caroline glared at him as Matt winced at the mention of Vicki, "You can't fix everything and bring her back just because you discovered the truth."

"I can stop them from killing the sister or turning the girlfriend of some other guy!"

"Nobody is going to kill anyone, Matt, there's another way for us to survive."

"Oh yeah, what is that? Someone always dies."

"Blood banks."

"Exactly my point, you're depriving people of fresh blood to keep yourself alive while other people are dying."

"Will you please just shut up for two seconds and listen to yourself?"

"I'm going to find Tyler and we're going to put an end to this," Caroline felt her knees shake at the thought of what was going to happen, but kept her eyes locked with Matt's just so that he wouldn't see how weak she was when it came to Tyler, "And then I'm going to make sure you and your vampire buddies are gone within the next few months."

"Don't do this, Matt."

"You lost the right to talk to me like that when you picked Tyler over me and let him beat me up."

"Matt…"

"I'll be seeing you soon, Caroline," he gave her a soft smile, which made everything that much worse and walked out the room, shutting the door behind him. Caroline inhaled sharply and sat on the edge of her bed, staring at the wall as she tried to make sense of everything that just happened. Her phone beeped and she reached for it, feeling a tear roll down her cheek as she read Stefan's text: Nothing will happen to you or Tyler, I promise.

xxx

it happened again and Tyler had done more than tell her off the second time, but Jules didn't seem to like what he had to say or the way he was treating her. sure, she was helping him figure things out, but that didn't mean that she could take advantage of him. he wasn't that guy and he wasn't going to let Jules believe that because he had let Caroline go, he was hers for the taking. In fact, he wasn't letting Caroline go. Not ever again. His quick phone call with Stefan hadn't been exactly what he thought it would be. Stefan had been soft and to the point, which made Tyler believe that things weren't going to get better from there on in. He didn't want to go back to Mystic Falls and piss everyone off, but from what he understood, he needed to be there. There was the risk of Matt or the Sheriff catching him and putting a silver bullet in his head, but he had to be there. Because they were expecting him. He figured that telling Jules where he was going was a bad idea, but if he didn't tell her then she'd follow him. and in a way, Tyler figured that was a good plan. He'd have back up and whether or not Jules liked Mystic Falls, she would help him. and she was good at what she did, so all that mattered was that she could be there if he needed someone to help him. he packed while she slept, making no noise at all as he moved around the motel room, putting everything he could find into his bag. Whatever he left behind would just stay left behind. He didn't need all his things, he just needed the basics and once he was back in Mystic Falls, he could stay protected behind the walls of the Lockwood house. Sure, all the vampires had been welcome in there before, but that only meant good things, because the vampires could protect them all if Matt and his stupid army decided to come knocking. If they wanted to kill him, they had to work really hard. He wasn't going to make it easy for them and he wasn't going to stand by and watch them destroy Caroline any more than they already had.

"You're not very good at keeping quiet," Tyler rolled his eyes as he pulled on his shoes and glanced over his shoulder at Jules as she sat up, not bothering about covering up, "Where are you going?"

"Away."

"Be more specific."

"Away from here."

"Is that code for home, because I'll say it again, it's not safe."

"Nowhere is safe, not when you're a werewolf, so I might as well go to the place I am most comfortable."

"When are you coming back?"

"When Caroline and my mother are safe."

"Tyler," he could hear Jules moving around behind him, but he wasn't going to turn around to look at her again, he didn't want to give her a reason to think he was interested in her in any way, "You can't protect her, she has her band of merry bloodsuckers doing that for her."

"You would do anything to protect someone you love, right? I'm doing the exact same thing. The only difference is," he stood up, grabbing the bathrobe and tossing it to her before turning around, "I'm in love with the enemy and I know this and I'm not going to suddenly stop the way I feel."

"What do I need to say or do to make you understand that the two of you can't be together forever?"

"Nothing," Tyler shrugged and grabbed his bag, "You and I cannot be the way you and Mason used to be. I'm not Mason, stop trying to replace him with me. And beyond that, I love Caroline and while you think that it is wrong, you can't stop me."

"What happens if you die?"

"I die, it's that simple."

"You're the Alpha, Tyler, you don't have an heir."

"You be the Alpha if I die."

"There has never been a female Alpha before."

"Start a trend, change history, be the first. Maybe we'll get ourselves a female President too."

"Tyler, this isn't funny."

"Look at me," Tyler raised his eyebrows at her, "Do I look amused? I'm doing this and for once I'm not stopping you. And I'm hoping you won't stop me either. This is something I need to do."

"To protect a vampire."

"To protect Caroline and my mother."

"Mason would be so disappointed in the choices you've made."

"You think you know Mason so well," Tyler scoffed and opened the door of the room and turned to look at her, "You know how he got to Mystic Falls? That vampire, Katherine, compelled him and he was her little bitch. Your precious Mason was sleeping with the enemy too. Maybe," Tyler shrugged and gave her a small smile, "Maybe it's genetic. Wolves who want the bloodsuckers."

"I will find you."

"I'm counting on it."

An hour outside of Mystic Falls, Tyler pulled up into the parking lot of a diner and found Stefan Salvatore sitting on the hood of his car, sipping on what would have looked like a glass of cranberry juice to most people. This whole ordeal left a bad taste in Tyler's mouth, but if Caroline was in trouble, he needed to be there for her. and if they wanted him, Tyler would give them just that. Walking over to Stefan, Tyler adjusted his sunglasses and took a deep breath. The vampire didn't move an inch as he sipped on his drink and Tyler leaned against the car and waited. "You're alone."

"Jules isn't far behind, she didn't want me to know she was tailing me."

"Are you sure she's going to show up?"

"Possibly," Tyler glanced at Stefan and shrugged, "I said some things that might not have gone over so well with her."

"As long as she comes."

"She doesn't want to be the Alpha, so she'll show."

"You're the Alpha?" Tyler looked back at Stefan and pursed his lips, almost unsure of how much information he was allowed to share, "Don't worry, I have no issues with you. You did show up to protect Caroline, that counts for something in my books."

"What is happening?"

"Matt, Sheriff Forbes and the rest of the police force and a few other people are looking for you. You're the key to get to us."

"They know about you?"

"Yeah," Stefan sighed and slid off the hood, leaving Tyler standing there looking a little dumbfounded, "The Sheriff is smart with her vervain and she caught Damon in the act, so now we're pretty much screwed. But something tells me she hasn't shared that bit of information with the rest of her army."

"So they believe that by killing me they'll get their hands on you. Because I'm Caroline's weakness?"

"And she is yours," Stefan grabbed another bottle of juice for himself and Tyler chewed on his lip as he stared out at the open road, "They can hurt either one and the other will stop at nothing to stop it."

"What about you and Elena?"

"That's definitely a problem too," Stefan shrugged and took a deep breath, "But Matt really wants you dead, so they're targeting you first."

"Is this about Vicki?"

"Partly and partly because you took Caroline away from him."

"I didn't even have anything to do with Vicki's death."

"That doesn't stop him from thinking that being with you led her to her death."

"I'm basically bait."

"I'm not really sure what you are, I can tell you that I don't have a plan yet. But we need to get you into Mystic Falls first."

"Great, I'm going to be spending all my time in a house full of vampires while the rest of the town is out looking to kill me," Tyler sighed dramatically and looked at Stefan, "I think everyone should be jealous of my life."

"Come on, let's get you home."

xxx

Caroline leaped off the couch as the door swung open and when she saw Tyler's face, she practically launched herself at him. it had been a miracle getting her out of the Forbes house, but Damon, Elena, Bonnie and Jeremy had managed and for the first time since she got back, she felt like herself again. She clung to Tyler, afraid that if she let go it would prove to be some kind of dream or something. She didn't want that. She wanted him to really be there. "Care…"

"Not yet."

"Babe, I can't breathe."

"Two minutes."

"Caroline, he's turning blue," she quickly released him and fell back on her feet as she cupped his face and bit down on her lip, "Hi."

"Please don't cry, Care."

"You're here."

"Someone's gotta keep an eye on you."

"I can look after myself!"

"Yeah, but I feel better if I can do it too."

"I know," Caroline brushed her thumb over his cheek as she dropped her voice to a whisper, "I love you."

"I love you," Tyler smiled as he leaned in to kiss her, wrapping his free arm around her waist, pulling her against him.

"I don't mean to interrupt this romantic reunion, but we have an army of pissed of humans coming here to find Tyler, so we need to get moving on a plan."

"We should get Caroline to a sa-" Stefan paused as he glanced at Damon and Caroline frowned, still clinging onto Tyler for dear life, "Elena, get Caroline downstairs."

"Are you kidding me?"

"Caroline, you need to protect Elena and Bonnie, we'll handle it upstairs," growling under her breath as her best friends pried her off Tyler, Caroline started for the cellar when the front door flew open and Alaric stumbled in, bloodied and beaten. The three of them stopped and Caroline watched as Tyler moved backwards into the house, letting Stefan and Damon drag Alaric to the living room. She caught Tyler's eye and he shook his head as he dropped his bag and peeled off his jacket. She gripped Elena's hand tighter, afraid to breath and just as she took a small step towards the front door, she heard the last voice she wanted to hear, "Caroline, honey, are you here?"