A Case of Vampires

Veronica Mars/ TVD

Pairing: Veronica/Damon

Set into Veronica's sophomore year of College at Hearst, after her FBI Internship and after season 3 of The Vampire Diaries.

Veronica was very proud of herself.

She was back at Hearst for her Sophomore year of college, was a licensed Private Detective and had spent an incredible summer interning for the FBI. It had started out by her simply fetching coffee for a team of great agents until one day, 1 week into her internship, she had noticed something that no one else had and had mentioned it. From that moment on, her days stopped being about files and getting coffee and started being about catching bad guys and investigating along side real hot shots agents.

The summer of her dreams actually.

She felt like she was on top of the world, like nothing could slow her down, especially when she remembered what she had managed to pull off while at the FBI without getting caught.

She was surprised that the Kane's still hadn't found her but then again, maybe she was being a bit foolish to hope for a Thank you from them. After all, she had managed to make sure the FBI didn't find Duncan when they were a detail away from spotting him. It didn't come without risks and had been challenging but she had managed to hide his whereabouts all the while sending him a warning that he needed to move and she was very proud of her accomplishment.

Of course her relationship with Piz hadn't survived the summer but that hadn't really surprised her and she hadn't jumped back into Logan's (all too willing) arms when she came back in town so she considered it an accomplishment. She still managed to remain friends with Piz so everything was fine in that department.

Maybe it was because what happened during the summer brought back memories of Duncan and the love they had shared, maybe because she had finally realised that she couldn't go with anyone just so she wasn't alone. She needed someone that would love her and take care of her like Duncan had done, would have a hint of danger like Weevil did and who would challenge her like Logan did. What she needed was someone new in her life and she wasn't in a hurry to find him...

She was single and freer than she had ever been. She felt like she stood on top of the world and on the back of her mind she couldn't help but fear that something would come to knock her off it soon enough. Happy moment never last when you're Veronica Mars and you live in Neptune. There's always someone to knock you down when you least expect it.

Right now though, she was free and had her entire life ahead of her. She already had managed to impress her teachers and the first semester of her second year of College was starting out great. She was still double majoring in Criminology and Psychology and was a well respected, first of her class student.

So what if her father hadn't been elected Sheriff before the summer started?

The people of Neptune were idiots and it was proven when Vinny screwed thing up by working with the Fitzpatricks and got busted for it (by Keith of course). She smiled when she remember all the people who begged Keith to take the job back, to forgive them and be Sheriff again. Her father had even pretended not to want to take the job, to think hard about it and to take it only because they begged him to. Before he agreed to come back to office, several people sent him daily muffins, pies and cards to ask him to come back to office before he agreed to do it. The mayor even had a conference where he said that Keith Mars would be the best for Neptune and that they would be lucky if he forgave the town for not believing in him twice in a row.

It took less than 3 months in office for Vinny to spoil everything he had and he was now in jail. Keith was back in office and everything was right again in Neptune.

Well, almost right because, let's face it, it was still Neptune and Veronica was starting to wonder if there wasn't some supernatural evil lurking the streets and making people behave so badly. Was it possible to have so many bad people in one town? So much sins? If this were Buffy the Vampire slayer, she'd swear Neptune was on a hell mouth.

"Hey V, how are things going?" Weevil asked her as he came to sit by her side on the bench she was thinking on during his lunch break.

He was still working at Hearst and everything was good between them. They were friends, maybe not as close as she was with Wallace but close enough. She couldn't imagine going a week without at least running into him once, she'd get worried.

"It's fine." She shrugged her shoulders, sipping on her coffee and chewing a tuna sandwich.

"What did Jake Kane want with you yesterday?" He asked her curiously.

"You saw that huh." She told him with a smile.

"Yeah, I did. I almost came over to see if you were alright or needed help but then he left and you went back in your car. I didn't see any tears or sign of anger so..." He replied.

"Would you believe me if I told you that he just wanted to see how I was doing?" She asked, tilting her head a bit.

"Nope, I wouldn't." he smiled.

"He learned right before summer started that the FBI was close to finding Duncan and then nothing. Clarence Wiedman said he hadn't been able to do anything about it. M. Kane put 2 plus 2 together and thought that my interning for the FBI might have had something to do with it." She answered him.

"Did it?" He asked her curiously, already knowing the answer she would give him.

"I asked Jake Kane if he thought that I would really jeopardize my dream job just to save his son's ass after what he tried to do to my father. I told him how stupid it would have been of me to do this when I was right under their nose. I could have gone to jail if I had done it and I'm not stupid."

"No, you're very smart." Weevil told her.

"Funny, that's what Jake Kane told me too. He said that he knew it was me and that he owed me one. I told him that I was late to work, because I had to work to pay for my education. He gave me a check large enough to complete College here without having to work at all." Veronica explained.

"Cool, you deserve it. Wait, you did cash it right?" He asked her.

"Of course. I know I said I didn't want anything to do with these people but money is still money after all and it's to pay for college so...it's a good cause. I cashed it and paid my semester." She smiled.

"Well, I'm glad he didn't want any trouble. Now if you'll excuse me, my break is over and I have things to fix." He said before he walked away.

Veronica watched him go and stood too, walking to her class.

Of course on the way she crossed Logan who tried to talk to her while Parker glared but she ignored Logan, greeted Parker as nicely as she could and went in her psychology class. She was getting tired of this drama. Couldn't Logan take a hint? Didn't Parker see that she didn't want anything to do with Logan anymore and that she had nothing to do with him breaking things off with her once more?

While she waited for the professor to come in she over heard two of her classmates talking about their friend who hadn't been seen since Saturday at a party. It was Thursday and nothing new had been found. The parents apparently refused to go to the sheriff and report her missing, not willing to tarnish their very good reputation by letting people know that their only daughter got drunk regularly and slept with strangers at college parties. She discreetly gave her business card to the girls just in time to see their teacher starting class.

Even if College was paid for, it didn't mean that she had to stop working all together right? And if she could find that girl, it would truly impress her father and pay for the new camera she wanted to buy.

A girl had needs and she had to take care of them.

.

Her day went on fine until she went in the office her father left her when he went back to the Sheriff's department and saw that a couple was already waiting for her by the door. According to the woman's jewelry they were pretty wealthy.

"Miss Mars?" the man asked her.

"Yes, I am. How can I help you?" She asked, letting them in the office that was now hers.

"I'm mister Miller and this is my wife. Our daughter is missing and her friends gave us your card. They said that even if you were young, you...how did they put it...Rock..." He informed her.

"Well, Thank you, I do my best." Veronica smiled as she offered them some coffee.

"I had my doubts about your age but we looked into it and saw that you've managed to solve a few complicated cases and that you spent the summer at the FBI... Our friend Jake Kane vouched for you and assured me that you were good at what you did. I want my daughter back, I want to know what happened to her...if...if she's..." Mrs Miller cried.

The fact that Jake Kane would recommend her to anyone shocked Veronica but she hide it. Celeste probably had no clue that her husband was helping her that way, Veronica was sure of it.

"Our daughter likes to party and often has random sex with strangers but she loves us as much as we love her, she never stays this long without calling or visiting..." Mister Miller explained as calmly as she could.

"Why didn't you report it with the sheriff?" Veronica asked.

"We don't want the word to get out that she's missing... Her cousins would just love to use this opportunity to steal her inheritance away and spoil her reputation for her grandparents... We want this to remain as discreet as possible." M. Miller told her.

"The Sheriff is pretty competent you know, he wouldn't spread the word like that." Veronica defended her father.

"We know that. Sheriff Mars is by far the best sheriff this town has had but the people he works with aren't as good as him..." M. Miller declared.

"Do you want our case or not?" Mrs. Miller asked her.

"Of course. Now, what can you tell me about her?" Veronica asked.

Then the Miller's told Veronica everything they could about their daughter, her tastes, her habits. They already had prepared a list of her friends, along with the way to contact them and her lap top.

"We figured you might need to look into it..." The crying mother explained.

"Thank you, that should help a lot." She nodded.

"We don't have her planner, it was in her phone and she had it with her when she..." Mrs Miller's voice broke and her husband hugged her.

"Do you know where she was planning to go when she was last seen?" Veronica asked, trying to remain professional.

"She was last seen Saturday night leaving the Pi-Sig party with a man she had met on a website and was supposed to meet there. Her friends haven't seen him. All they know is that he's slightly taller than my daughter and that he had short brown hair... They don't know his name or even his user name on the site... That's why we brought her computer, you might be able to find something there..." M. Miller explained while comforting his wife.

"Well, we'll let you do your job. Here is a picture of her to help you... We know that the sheriff is your father and we don't mind you asking for his help but please keep her identity a secret... If you solve this case while keeping everything a secret from the press, we'll pay you double." M. Miller announced before he and his wife stood up and left the office, leaving Veronica to start her investigation.

.

Veronica started by opening the lap top and, with the passwords that the Millers had given her, she looked through the girl's emails. Abby Miller was blond and about the same height as Veronica. She was a big party girl according to the many invitations she got in her emails. Veronica didn't find much that could be useful, beside the mail that came from some online dating website that confirmed her user ID and password. Veronica logged in using Abby's name and immediately made it look like she was offline. If the culprit was a member of this site, she didn't want him to start asking questions.

There wasn't much to answer Veronica's questions. The messages had all been erased and there was a lot of contacts that could fit the description so she wrote down all the names and logged off, deciding to go see her father to check if he knew anything about it.

"Veronica, honey, what are you doing here?" Keith asked her.

"I got hired to look into the disappearance of someone... young, about my age, blond...was last seen at a party..." Veronica replied as she sat down in front of him.

"Ah, I see that Lorene's parents didn't want to wait any longer..." Keith sighted.

"Lorene? That's not the same girl... I was asked to keep her disappearance quiet... her name is Abby." Veronica explained.

"Well, we have a few cases that could fit your description but no Abby... Why don't we share our information? We can't put into those cases as much attention as we should, we've got too much to do already..." He suggested, calling Sacks and asking him to bring the files.

It took the two of them a few minutes only to see that the cases were all similar. It also fit several other disappearances from the surrounding towns. Even if the Neptune Sheriff's department wasn't responsible for most of those cases, they had copy of it from other stations because of their similarities.

"So, what, you think it's a serial killer or something?" Veronica asked her father.

"Maybe... So far I did everything I could... As a sheriff my hands are tied..." Keith sighted.

"I'll see what I can do. Can I take those to look over at the office?" She asked her father, pointing at the files.

"Sure, why not. Two heads are better than one but Veronica, honey, please be careful, okay? I don't want to add your name to those girl's."

"Don't worry, I'll be careful." She assured him.

As she left the station with a legally obtained copy of the files under her arms, Veronica couldn't help but feel this need to solve this particular case, she needed to find the answer before her father, to show him that she was capable of it and that she deserved the office he had left to her. She knew that he respected her work but he did so as a father respected his daughter's work, she wanted him to see her as a co-worker, like an adult capable of holding her own. She wanted to show him that she could do much more than catching cheating husbands and that this life was the one she had chosen. She knew that he wanted her to chose a career where she'd be safely behind a desk all day and she wanted to make him understand that it wasn't what she was made for and that she would be fine in this career path.

While Veronica was buried in her files to find everything those girls had in common, Damon was just waking up in the apartment he was renting. He hadn't closed the curtains before going to bed earlier in the morning and the sun was warming his cold naked skin. He smiled as he looked at his ring, the only thing that was keeping him from turning into a pile of ashes.

Next to him the bed was empty. He hadn't brought a girl home with him. He had a date with one of his contact on the website but she didn't appeal to him. She had looked too much like Katherine and Elena. She had been a tall brunette with dull brown eyes and he didn't even bring himself to drain her dry. He had drank a bit, just enough to quench his thirst and had compelled her to leave. It had happened quite a few times lately...

This was why he only met with blonds, they appealed to him and they didn't remind him of the two doppelganger whores that even though had loved him, loved his brother more and didn't want him. They were the reason he had fled his home town, to escape them and the torture he felt every time he looked at them.

He had driven to California because it was sunny and girls were blonder and easier to charm there. Sometimes he'd pick girls from Hearst College, sometimes he'd get them from UCLA... This area wasn't short on hot and easy girl and he was planning on enjoying every single one of them while he could.

Of course, his mood wasn't at its best and he had put a few of them in danger, especially because they had screamed as soon as they had seen his real face, his vampire face, but could he really be blamed for this? Was it too much to ask to find someone he could spend time with, have sex with, drink from that would accept the fact he's a vampire and like him? Anyway, it wasn't like he was a monster or anything, the ones he didn't kill, which was most of them, he compelled them and deposited them at the hospital so they could get they neck stitched up and heal the normal human way.

He just wanted to fill a void that Elena had created in his heart.

Sighting, he got out of bed and turned on the news as he stepped into the shower. He wanted to make sure that nobody was on his track for the murder of those few girls he hadn't been able to control himself with. After all, nobody had found the bodies yet and without a body, they were only missing. Although he started to wonder if there were actually people missing those girls because he surely wasn't. They were all annoying, stupid party girls unable to hold a smart conversation to save their lives, literally.

After his shower he served himself some Bourbon and sat down on his chair, thinking about what he would do that day.

None of the girls he had brought back to the hospital ever contacted him again and he briefly wondered why that was. He didn't compel them to stay away, he even compelled them to want to see him again so why did they never call again? Maybe there was something wrong with the way he did it...

Veronica was working hard on this case and really wanted to solve it.

Already she had found that some of them were using the same online dating site and she had asked Mac to come and help her hack into the website's database to see who those girls had in common. While she waited for Mac to join her, she considered calling her father and to give him the new piece of information but hesitated. Shouldn't she wait until she knew everything? No, he needed to know.

"So they were on the same website... Interesting... Mac is coming to help you with it?" he asked her.

"Yes, I'm waiting for her right now." Veronica replied.

"Good. Keep me informed and be careful. I'll put a warning in the news to be careful on this site." Keith informed her before he hung up to go back to looking into the murder that had happened on the line between the PCH and the 90909 neighborhood.

While Mac was working her magic on the computer, Veronica was listing all the point those girls had in common. They were all blonds, even if some were fake blonds, they loved to party and to spend the night with men and weren't too regarding on the age or the marital status of those men. They all came from different places, surrounding colleges or working at the Mall or at the beach. Some of them had caring families, most of them didn't though.

"Here, it's all of their user ID's and the contacts they had. There's really only one that they all have in common. Lovefangs1864. Tall, brown hair, blue eyes... He didn't publish a picture but he seems kinda hot if you overlook the fact that he might be a serial killer. I couldn't pin point one IP Adress, apparently he has several different ones but here are the most recurring locations." Mac informed her.

"Thanks Mac. What would I do without your magic?" Veronica smiled as she took the list and paid Mac, who left to go on her date with Max.

Veronica knew that she didn't have much of a choice, she needed to pose herself as a prey in order to get this guy. She turned on her lap top and opened internet. She decided to keep it a secret from her father until she had something real to show him. She didn't want him to worry and she knew that he wouldn't like the fact that she was meeting with a potential serial killer.

Then Veronica signed in the website, luckily for her, it was free for women. She wasn't really feeling like spending money on a case like this.

USERNAME.

Veronica thought a lot about it. What would be better to attract this guy? Something superficial and deep at the same time, something that would make him curious about her. She needed to catch his interest.

His username was Lovefangs1864... A fang is supposed to bite right? Maybe she should put that in her username, try and provoke him.

Bitefree maybe?

Smiling at her great idea, she entered Bitefree20 for her username, then the rest of her information. She made sure not to put too much details and to enter only information that would make her look like the other girls that had gone missing. To finish, she entered a picture of herself. Personally, she thought it was one of her best ones. It was a close up of her face where she was tilting her head like she did when she tried to charm people into doing things her way.

Damon was bored and the bar he was in wasn't distracting him anymore so he compelled the barman to lend him his lap top and logged on the dating website he always went on to find distractions. He immediately went to look for the new female users and his eyes were quickly attracted to a new comer who named herself 'Bitefree20'. Looking at her picture, he wouldn't mind giving her a few bite marks... She looked delicious. Since she was on line, he decided to try and talk to her.

Lovefangs1864: Hey there.

Bitefree20: Hey! :-)

Lovefangs1864: I see you're new to this site, Welcome. What are you looking for here?

Bitefree20: Oh, you know, same as most people. Having fun, living a little, forget about old BF.

Lovefangs1864: Looks like we were meant to meet then. :-)

Bitefree20: You don't have a picture?

Lovefangs1864: No, it's not my computer...

Bitefree20: Can't you take one with your cell phone and send it to me?

Lovefangs1864: Sorry, camera broken on the phone but we definitely should try to meet up. It's better to meet people in real. Computers aren't the same.

Damon skillfully avoided giving his picture, as he always did. If he ended up killing this girl too, then nobody would find him. He didn't want to find his face on the news some day.

Bitefree20: Maybe... So I told you what I was looking for... What about you?

Lovefangs1864: Just like you, I want to have fun, forget about my past.

Bitefree20: Your past?

Lovefangs1864: Forget it, it isn't important...

Damon could kick himself... Why did he mention his past? The girl was staring at him from her picture and her head tilt and bright blue eyes were confusing him. Not to mention her super cute smile. She had to have something magical in her, it was the only thing that could explain his reaction to her.

Bitefree20: Bad breakup?

Lovefangs1864: Yeah, she loved both my little brother and me and chose him... Then we left and met someone else whom I fell in love with too but she chose my brother too...

He didn't know why he was being so honest with her but he decided to hide her picture, staring at her cute face and charming blue eyes would only bring him down.

Bitefree20: What a bitch!

Lovefangs1864: Yep...

Bitefree20: I'm sorry...

Lovefangs1864: Don't worry about it. So, when do you want to meet?

Bitefree20: I'm free tomorrow afternoon...

Lovefangs1864: Great, so am I!

Actually, Damon was free all the time, but he didn't need to tell her that.

Bitefree20: That's great. How about we meet at Dog Beach?

Lovefangs1864: Dog Beach?

Damon frowned behind his screen.

Bitefree20: Yes, it's great in the afternoon, my doggy loves to go there during the afternoon.

'Doggy' didn't really fit Back-up but Veronica figured it would make it sound like it was one of those superficial girl's dogs. It made him sound less threatening and much smaller.

Lovefangs1864: You have a dog? Would you bring him?

Damon wasn't a big fan of dogs but this girl intrigued him more than any others... Why couldn't he stop himself from being honest with her?

Bitefree20: Of course! Would that be a problem?

Lovefangs1864: Not at all. Where should we meet on Dog Beach?

Bitefree20: The announcement Board, around 3 PM?

Lovefangs1864: No problem, I'll be there.

Bitefree20: How will I recognize you if I don't have a picture?

Lovefangs1864: I'll be the only devilishly handsome man around! ;-)

Bitefree20: Modest too!

Lovefangs1864: Don't worry, I'll find you.

Bitefree20: Okay then, good.

Lovefangs1864: I can't wait.

Bitefree20: Me neither.

After that the girl he was speaking with said she had to study and logged off and Damon gave the computer back to the barman before he left the bar and walked back to his small apartment. On her profile, Bitefree20 looked just like any other girls he had found before but there was something more to her, a sparkle in her eyes that said she was different, he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He would just have to wait until he met her and see what was wrong with her.

If only he could find the right girl, the one that would make him forget about Petrova Doppelgangers, that would love him and make him fall in love with her too... He craved for not only the company of a woman, but for her presence in his life, in his heart. He wanted to be able to go back to Mystic Fall's with that woman and proudly present her as the love of his life. He wanted to show Elena and Katherine that he didn't need them and that he could be happy without them. He wanted to see his brother suffer between both doppelgangers while he was happy and finally free of their fatal attractions.

Veronica logged off and smiled.

She had managed to successfully contact her only suspect and she was going to meet him the next day at Dog Beach. It was perfect. Now she needed to see if Weevil would be willing to earn some cash during his only afternoon off. She wanted him to stand around and watch over them, to make sure that she would get home safely and to make sure she didn't loose the guy when she came up with an excuse to go leave early. She wanted to see where he stayed and how to find him. She would spy on him as much as she could, in hope of finding something that would prove what she was sure that he did to the other girls.

"So, how is your case going along?" Her father asked her over dinner.

"I have a suspect, I'm meeting with him tomorrow." She replied, forgetting about her decision not to tell him this particular detail.

"Are you sure that's wise?" Keith asked her with a frown.

"Don't worry, I'll take my taser, Back-up and Weevil also agreed to come and keep an eye on us." She assured him.

"Weevil? What do you think he'll do?" Keith asked her.

"Well, he already agreed. He'll stay around and keep an eye on us, then he'll call me and I'll pretend I have to go and while I go to my car he'll follow the suspect back to his car and then I'll join him and follow the suspect too. I'll know where he lives and be able to keep an eye on him until I find proof that he did something to those girls." Veronica explained.

"Very well... But I'll have one of my officer patrol around too. Where are you meeting him?"

"Dog Beach, in front of the announcement board around 3 pm." She replied, knowing it was pointless to argue with him on this.

"I think Leo will be perfect for this. I'll have him and his partner run patrol around Dog Beach all afternoon. I'll tell them not to speak with you, to try and act as if they don't know you." Keith offered.

"Okay, I guess more is always best." She smiled before she drank a glass of water to wash down the food she had just eaten.

She was surprised at his acceptance but didn't question it. Maybe he was finally seeing her like the adult she was.

.

Veronica was nervous when she got ready.

Should she stay natural or dress up the party girl part? Should she be herself or play dumb superficial blond? She ended up deciding to be herself (of course she would hide the licensed PI part of her true self) and to dress in a pair of jeans and one of her favorite tops. Apparently, she was the guy's type so why work too hard? All she wanted was to meet him and be able to follow him, she didn't need for him to fall head over heels for her or to like her too much. Actually, it might be better for her if she ended up not being his type. It might even save her life.

"Nervous?" Keith asked her before he left to go to work that day.

"A little." She admitted.

"You should drink some herbal tea, it always helps me when I'm too nervous. Your grandmother used to drink some every night in periods she was uper stressed. All we have left is some vervain one. You should drink some." Her father suggested.

"Really? I always figured Chamomile was better to calm nerves... Oh well...I think I will, I sure don't need coffee now." She replied nodding and making her way to the kitchen to get the small herbal tea bags to do as her father suggested.

After drinking the vervain tea, she made sure she had her trusty taser and that it was fully charged, then she grabbed a tracking device and a couple of bugs. She'd try and put one on him or on his car if she had an opportunity to do so. She had given a tracking device to Weevil last night too, so he could put it on the guy's car if he had an opportunity.

Before she left with Back-up, Veronica looked around and she was pretty sure that she had everything she would need.

"Come on boy, time to meet a suspect." She told her dog who came to her and let her put the leash on.

.

When she arrived on Dog Beach, Veronica was half an hour early and she took her dog for a run and played with him for a while. She knew that Weevil was already around, hanging out and she had crossed Leo and his partner a couple of times already. She knew that everything would be fine.

As she threw the ball to Back-up one more time, she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched and she knew, deep down, that it was because of her suspect. He was probably early too. She decided to ignore it and kept on playing with her dog until the time came to go meet him by the announcement board.

She put the leash back on her dog and made her way to the Board where only one person stood. It was a very handsome young man, not much older than her. He had light brown hair and she could see his blue eyes from where she stood. He was also looking at her and she knew that he was the one she was supposed to meet. It was just her luck, he had to be this hot... She really hoped that she was wrong because she thought that arresting someone this good looking would be very hard and such a shame. Why did the worst people always had to be the best looking ones?

"Hello, you must be Bitefree20.. I'm Lovefangs1864." he introduced himself.

"In real life I'm called Veronica and this is Backup." She replied with a kind and charmed smile.

After all, she wanted him to think that he was winning her over... But she was capable of resisting right? Right?

"I'm Damon and it's an absolute delight to meet you." He smiled, offering her his hand to shake.

His hand was a bit too cold to the touch but since the weather was so warm Veronica welcomed it and guessed that it simply had to do with bad blood circulation, she knew it could happen. A small spark of electricity went from her body to his and she had to force herself to let go of his hand. It felt so nice there... What was happening to her? She felt like she did back when she fell in love with Duncan...

No! This couldn't be happening, not with a serial killer suspect. No Way!

"I came earlier but didn't want to interrupt you, you seemed to be having so much fun with your dog." He admitted.

Well, at least he was honest and he wasn't trying to hide the fact that he had been there earlier. It was a good thing right?

"I always enjoy the time I spend with Back-up. It's like a break from reality." She nodded honestly.

She was surprise when her trusty and always defending dog didn't even growl at Damon but she figured that it was a good sign. Either he was completely innocent and didn't give out the 'bad guy vibe' that Back-up always detected, or he had a way to calm animals, which would be suspect. It didn't mean anything thought, she couldn't let him off the hook simply because her dog didn't growl at him.

After those basics introductions, they started walking along Dog Beach and Veronica made sure that she could see Weevil around. She even felt better when she noticed that the patrol car was still driving around.

All in all, Damon seemed to be a nice enough guy. He definitely wasn't stupid and his very good looks wasn't his only strong point. He also seemed to be very cultivated.

"So, what does 1864 stand for in your user name?" She asked him after a few minutes.

"It's a date where my family's history changed radically in Mystic Fall's." He answered honestly, not thinking that he was giving away anything.

Damon was enjoying this 'normal' time with Veronica and her dog and for once he didn't want to drink her blood. He just wanted to keep on talking with her.

"Mystic Fall's? Where is that?" She asked him.

"In Virginia, it's the kind of small town where they've recorded every past event and celebrate everything the Founding Families ever did. I happen to be one of them. The prestigious Salvatore family. It gets kinda boring after a while."

"Is that why you moved here then? To get away from your hometown?"

"Yeah, I needed to get away both from the town and my brother and his girlfriend. I couldn't stand to see them together anymore, especially after she admitted to having feelings for me too but that they just weren't stronger than what she felt for my brother." He replied, surprised at his own honestly.

What was she doing to him?

Veronica couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to this guy, that Mystic Fall's was more important than just a home town. She was about to ask him another question when her phone beeped. She had almost forgotten than she had asked Weevil to send her a text message to give her an excuse to leave. She didn't want to leave now, she wanted to stay with Damon and hear more but she knew that she needed to stick to the plan she had made when she had a cool head and when she wasn't influenced by his piercing blue eyes.

"Something important?" He asked her.

"Yes, sadly I have to go..." She replied, truly disappointed.

She wanted to stay around and talk to him more but she knew that it wouldn't be reasonable.

"Oh, well, maybe we could see each other again soon? Like maybe tomorrow?" He asked her.

"I'd love that...I'd also love speak with you online tonight." She offered.

"Or I could give you my cellphone number, we could exchange text messages."

"Even better." She smiled and gave him the number of the disposable phone she had bought just for this occasion (there was no way she was giving him her real phone number!).

After they exchanged number, he kindly offered to walk her back to her car and held her door open for her.

"A gentleman, it's rare these days." She smiled.

"Not where I come from. Nice car by the way." He replied, nodding at her Saturn.

"It's better than the old beat up Le Baron I had before that, that's for sure. What about you, what kind of car do you have?" She asked him.

It would make it easier for her to follow him if she could recognize his car.

"It's the blue Camaro over there."

"Wow, that's an old car." She was impressed.

Hot guy, hot car... She really hoped that he wasn't a murderer.

"My family bought it new back then."

"Well, Damon, I have to go now but it truly was a pleasure to talk to you. Same time, same place tomorrow?" She asked him before she started her car.

"Sure, I'll be there." He smiled.

As she drove away, Veronica texted Weevil about Damon's car being the blue Camaro and watched in the rear view mirror. Damon was standing by his car, waiting for her to leave the parking lot before he got in. Either he truly was a gentleman or he was afraid that she'd figure out his secret. Or both. She really needed to find out more about this guy and now that he knew her car she would have to borrow another one. Maybe she could exchange car temporarily with Wallace. Mac's Beetle was way too noticeable but Wallace's car was dark and not too big, she'd be able to hide easily in it.

As Veronica left, Damon couldn't understand what was going on.

Why did he feel such at ease with her? Why did he tell her so much about his true self when he had a perfect fake story he usually told girl? Most importantly, why couldn't he consider her like dinner? What did she have that other girls didn't?

Shaking his head, he looked at his cell phone. While Veronica wasn't watching, he had snapped a picture of her and he added it to her phone number. Before he started his car he decided to send her a message.

"I really appreciated this short moment with you. It was different...and good. Xo Damon"

He didn't know if she would answer immediately so he just jumped in his car and drove back to his apartment, his head filled with her smile and sparkly blue eyes. When he parked his car, he noticed that his phone was beeping and he smiled happily when he saw an answer to his previous text:

"So did I. It was a happy surprise. Looking forward to tomorrow. V"

He didn't know why this simple answer made him so happy but that day, he fed from a blood bag and he even took the time to call his little brother to check up on him.

Veronica drove home until Weevil came back to her with the address of her sexy suspect. He had also managed to place a tracking device under the hood of his car after he had parked at his apartment.

"So, do you think he did it?" He asked her after she paid him what she had promised.

"I don't know... I hope not... I hope I'm wrong about him... Anyway, thanks Weevil, I'll take it from here." She smiled back at him.

"You're welcome, and V, if you need anything just ask me okay, don't go after a dangerous suspect like this on your own. Be careful."

"You sound so much like my dad sometimes. Don't worry, I know what I'm doing." She replied while waving him off.

After Weevil left, Veronica turned on her computer to see that Damon's car hadn't move from the address given by Weevil so she took the time to call Wallace who, of course, agreed to exchange cars while she was on stake out that evening. It wasn't like he really needed it anyway and even if he really needed to use his car while she had it, Piz assured that he would drive him or lend him his own car so she could use it.

Veronica changed clothes and after making sure that she had everything she needed, she left a note for her father and went on a stake out. One the way, she asked Mac if she could get her the town's surveillance cameras from around Damon's address and of course Mac could do it, it was pretty easy for her. Veronica promised a nice pay and Mac promised to have it done by the end of the day.

Much to Veronica's dismay, Damon didn't go out that night. He stayed in and texted her so when she got tired of waiting around for nothing, around 11 pm, she drove back home, knowing that the surveillance camera that was in front of Damon's apartment building would catch him leaving anyway.

She arrived to her apartment and found Mac already inside, working on her computer.

"Oh hey, your dad let me in." Mac greeted her friend.

"Cool. So, did you do it?" Veronica asked.

"Of course, I got you the last few days of footage in front of his apartment and to the places the IP addresses gave us. I looked into your computer and made it so you could watch those cameras by yourself. Here, let me show you how to add a new one."

For the next hour or so, Mac showed Veronica how to get the footage she needed on her computer and she made sure that it was easy and quick for her busy friend.

After Mac left, Veronica looked into the videos she had been given, especially the dates of the disappearances and if the images weren't clear enough to see the girls faces, Damon was caught a couple of times coming in with a girl, blond and fitting the description of most missing girls. Veronica shook her head and let the feeling of disappointment drop in her stomach when she noticed that the first girl left on her own, a white towel pressed against her neck and the other one got carried out by Damon in the middle of the night. He came back in less than an hour later. It wasn't much but it was enough to confirm Veronica's first impression... He definitely had something to do with this.

She looked at the videos from the places he had used internet in and saw him with a brunette once. It was outside a bar, Damon got out with the young woman, got her in a dark corner, pressed his face against her neck, looked her in the eyes and walked away from the dazed girl who was pressing something against her neck while Damon cleaned his mouth.

What was going on here? Should she wake her father up? Ask his advice? No! She wanted to figure this out on her own. She had walked in on a mystery and didn't want to back down now.

She went on the internet and researched Damon Salvatore and Mystic Fall's. This small town had a very complete website with very helpful archives who went back to the foundation of the town...in 1864. Veronica spent hours digging and reading. She had her trusty cup of coffee in her hand and after several hours, it was now 7 in the morning, she found herself in front of the Founders Council's password protected new online archives.

"Dammit!" She cursed.

Her father was leaving the apartment to get to work, thinking that she was asleep and she couldn't stop now. She called Mac again and once more her best friend rushed to answer a new challenge.

Until Mac arrived, Veronica showered and changed. She then prepared another batch of coffee and ate a bowl of cereals hoping it would all give her enough energy to get through the day.

"Did you sleep at all last night?" Mac asked her while she worked on finding the password.

"No, I was buried too deep in information." Veronica replied.

"Well, I hope what you find here will be useful... Their password is Vampire1864... Weird. Anyway, I've got to go meet Parker, Logan broke up with her again and she's been crying all night. Call if you need anything."

Once Mac left, Veronica rushed to look into the mysterious council archives and started by the most recent entries. Apparently, Damon was a member of the council and had been absent to the last few meetings... Supernatural? Doppelgangers, vampires, werewolves, hybrids, witches, dead people that came back to life and died again... Were those people crazy? Veronica wondered as she read on. Damon Salvatore is a vampire and an important member of this council according to this page... Should she really believe something like this? Could he really be a blood thirsty monster?

She decided to look at the oldest entries. They were scans of the paper written ones in 1864. They weren't always easy to read but the theme was pretty much the same. They wrote that in order to protect yourself from vampire you had to drink vervain, it poisoned them. They were killed with a stake through the heart, or pulling their heart out, or burning them, like they apparently did to a bunch of them in 1864 in a church.

Veronica closed her laptop, as if not seeing the words would make them disappear for real. No. It couldn't be. Supernatural? No way! But then her mind went back to the videos and how Damon wiped his mouth, the young women holding their necks, his cold hands, his old car...

He was devilishly handsome, maybe she simply underestimated just how devil he really was.

With a big breath, Veronica opened her computer once more and read some more pages. She learned a lot, especially in the entries from the past couple of years. Doppelgangers of the girl Damon loved, sacrifices to make hybrids, witches, old witch being resurrected and wanting to die to join his true love... Their archives were full and it got Veronica thinking.

If Damon truly was a vampire, then drinking blood was natural to him so could he really be held responsible for the missing bodies? After all, even if he had killed them, you didn't put humans in jail because they killed the cow they wanted to get the meet from...

Was she really defending a serial killer though? Was she really that far gone already? What should she do?

Sighting, she took her keys. She was meeting Wallace for lunch and she needed to give him his car back while she took hers to meet with Damon.

They had talked a lot over text message since the previous night and she already felt very close to the blue eyed devil. Should she confront him or ignore what she knew and walk away? Maybe she should simply show her father what she had found... No, she knew that showing her father everythign was something that she definitely couldn't do. He would think her crazy and send her to the hospital to get a check up if she ever told him.

Damon couldn't wait to meet Veronica again. When 2 PM arrived, he drank a blood bag quickly and jumped in his car, eager to see her again. What was she doing to him? He barely knew her and already she had a bigger place in his mind that Katherine or Elena ever had...

He arrived around 2:30 pm and she was already there, with her dog by her side and a serious, determined look on her face.

"Hey Veronica, nice to see you again. Something wrong?" he asked her cheerfully.

"Damon... We need to talk." She replied.

"That's never a good thing to hear... What did I do?" He asked her curiously.

Thinking back on it, he was sure that he had done everything right with her.

"Oh, I don't know... Maybe you killed several young women while feeding on them because you're a vampire and made their bodies disappear?" She asked him, looking him in the eyes and thankful for the vervain she had drank before she left.

"What?" Damon asked her, taken aback.

How could she know?

"See, there's a thing I didn't tell you about me, I'm a licensed P.I. Have been for the past year or so. I also did a summer internship at the FBI, I run Mars investigations, my father is the Sheriff and in college I'm majoring in Criminology and Psychology." She blurted out, looking angry.

"Okay... How... What makes you think I'm a vampire?" He asked her.

Usually, he would have killed anyone for even suspecting anything but he couldn't bring himself to harm her. Maybe it was her magical head tilt, maybe it was something else, something deeper. He just couldn't bring himself to hurt her. He couldn't bring himself to lie to her either and he kenw that he was risking his life and his cover by not denying it.

"I have a friend who's good at hacking... She got me into the city's surveillance camera system and into Mystic Fall's secret Founder's Council's archives. Learned a lot of interesting facts..."

"So, what now? Is your Sheriff father around waiting to arrest me? Are you going to expose me? What?" he asked her.

He surprised himself with the calm voice he used. Somehow, he felt like she, too, was surprised by her feelings for him. Maybe he wouldn't die today, maybe there was a peaceful way out of this for the two of them.

"We both know that my father wouldn't be able to keep you locked up and that nobody would believe me... If anything telling him the truth would put his life in danger." She sighted.

"What then? I'm not planning on hurting you or anyone you care about." He assured her softly.

"But you killed those other girls didn't you?"

"Yes, I did. Sometimes, when I don't control my emotions, I do things I don't have to do, things I shouldn't do...I kill the ones I feed on, especially when they're boring and superficial." He told her.

"So I was right, you are a serial killer." She sounded disappointed.

Somehow, she had hoped for him to deny it all, blame it on a supernatural evil twin or something.

"Well, I skipped serial killer and went straight to vampire." He tried to say with humor.

"It's not funny! What am I supposed to do now?"

"What do you want to do? Do you want me to leave town? Do you want me to stay out of this town and out of your life? I know we barely met but something's going on between us, I know it. I feel it. I've never felt anything like this and I know it's not just a crush. Tell me how you want to deal with this and I'll do it." Damon told her, barely recognizing himself.

Seriously, what was she doing to him? It wasn't like him at all to just stand there, giving her all the power, letting her decide his fate. His little brother would make fun of him, he was sure of it.

"Why are you reacting this calmly? Shouldn't you threaten my life if I say anything? Aren't vampires supposed to be super strong and evil?" She asked him.

She really didn't understand anything. Why was he like this? Why was he calm? Why was she feeling for him the way it took her several months to feel for Duncan? Why didn't she want to see him hurt? She needed answers now!

"Truly? If you were anyone else I would have killed you as soon as you said you knew I'm a vampire...but... I don't know... there something about you, there's something between us, I can feel it... I don't want to drink your blood and I don't want to see you get hurt... I don't want to be away from you either but if you want me to leave I will... I'm usually very selfish but with you... I don't know... I want to trust you..."

"Trust me? You should know that I have trust issues..."

"All people with history do." Damon replied with a smile.

"I... I don't know why I'm feeling like this either... I shouldn't, I know I shouldn't. I should call my father and convince him that I'm not crazy..."

"But..."

"But I don't want you to get hurt either and I don't know why... You're everything I've been told to hate. You just admitted to being a murderer, a serial killer at that and all I can do is find excuses for you... I don't like not knowing, not having all the answers I want or need..." She snapped, exasperated with herself.

"I don't know if you'll want to hear this or if you'll deny it but... Weather you believe in it or not I think it might simply be True Love, the Soul Mate bond... An old friend of mine, Sage, told me about it in 1912. She felt it when she met her True Love Finn..." Damon explained, trying to calm her down.

Backup was sitting calmly between his mistress and her new friend. He didn't seem to have any objections to the vampire.

"Soul mate? True Love?" Veronica asked, doubtful.

"You're free to believe it or not Veronica but I recognize the signs... Now I can give you my word that I'll try to feed only from Blood bags from now on, or if I feed from the vain to try my best to keep the humans alive... I can do it for you, but if there's one thing you need to know about me is that I tend to act impulsively, it can be a good thing but it can also be a bad one." He explained.

"This is all too much...I...I don't know..." Veronica was feeling like the world was spinning around her, like she was loosing her balance.

"Why don't we go and sit on that bench over there? Sitting down might help you." Damon suggested, surprised at his own calm and collected thoughts.

Veronica nodded and let him guide her. He had one hand on her elbow and the other on her shoulder and he guided her to the bench where she sat down.

"Would it help if you had something to drink?" he asked her, kneeling in front of her with concern.

"I could do with a bit of coffee... I haven't slept last night, I was too busy looking for clues... Coffee might be the solution..." She replied.

"Okay then, you stay here, I'll go and get you some coffee. If you're not here anymore when I come back I'll understand that I need to stay away and I'll leave town." he told her before he stood up and kissed her forehead.

He half ran at human speed across the street and a few shops down the street to get her some warm coffee, leaving her on the bench to think about everything.

Veronica had been surprised by his reaction to her confrontation and when he gently guided her to the bench, offering her coffee and kissing her forehead... She liked it.

She knew that she should run away, go back to her car and to her father's apartment. She should ask Damon to stay away from her and from this town but the simple thought that she might never see him again was painful and this pain surprised her. She knew him for only two days and already it felt like he was her entire world...

He had been very honest with her and she was sure that she could trust him to answer any questions she might have...

That was another thing. Trust. Why was she capable of trusting him when she couldn't trust people she had known for much longer like Logan? Could he really be her True Love? Was she allowed to believe in this? To think about it? To even consider it? And what would happen if she gave him his chance? He was a vampire, he wouldn't grow old, he would stay the same forever... She would have to change, to hide it from her father and from her friends.

She'd have to leave Neptune, which wasn't a bad thing at all but would she be able to leave her friends and father behind? Would emails and phone calls be enough for her overprotective father?

One thing she was sure of at this point, she wasn't leaving. She wanted to know more, she wanted to see where this was going and if she could bring herself to believe in him and if she did, what of her case? She couldn't just forfeit it, it wasn't her, but if she couldn't get him arrested either, then how was she supposed to solve this thing and get her money?

"Here, I didn't know how you took it so it's black but I took you some cream and sugar if you want to add them in." Damon told her when he came back, sitting next to her.

"Thanks. I usually drink it black." She replied with a soft smile.

"I was half expecting you to be gone by the time I came back..." He told her.

"I thought about it but... I guess I want to know more and I want to see where this could go..." She replied, drinking from her cup as if the liquid inside were pure gold.

"By 'this' you mean 'us'?" He asked her.

"Yes, I do..." She nodded.

"I'm glad to hear that... But I'm curious, what got you on my trail? Do you investigate all the people you meet?" He asked her.

"Actually, I was going to bring it up too... I was hired by the Miller's to find out what happened to their daughter. My father brought up a few other disappearances that looked a lot alike and they all had the same dating website... A friend of mine hacked into the site and you were the only contact that they all had in common..." Veronica explained.

"All? I can't be that much..." Damon shook his head.

"Well, there are about 15 similar young women recorded missing over the past few weeks... All blonds, even if some were fake ones." Veronica argued.

"I know that I can act impulsively but I haven't killed that many of them... 3 for sure, 2 if they didn't make it to the hospital to get stitched up... I remember the Miller girl, she didn't die, I dropped her off at the local hospital, in front of the ER. A male nurse took her inside..." Damon informed her.

"Well, we need to find out what happened to her and why she hasn't been found because there is no way I'm forfeiting on a case, especially this well paying." Veronica declared.

"Okay well, I'll help you all I can but I think that for now you should go home and rest. There will be plenty of time for investigating later, don't you think?" he asked her.

"You might be right... It's a lot of emotions in one day, even for me..." She nodded and stood up.

"Will you be okay to drive?" he asked her.

"I think so, yes. Although you might want to follow me to make sure I don't have an accident." She added.

"Sure, no problem. Hey, can I take a look at those missing person cases? I might see things that you didn't." he asked her.

"You know about investigating?" She asked him as they walked back to the parking lot.

"Yes, in Mystic Fall's I sometimes help Sheriff Forbes. Plus, if the one behind it is supernatural, I'll see the signs." he added.

"You're right... Follow me, it's all in my apartment."

As she drove back home, Veronica kicked herself for even thinking of inviting her new Vampire friend in after knowing him for less than 2 days but she couldn't help but trust him. Once they arrived, she showed him to her door and invited him inside.

"It's all in my room." She said, motioning for him to follow her.

"Here, that pile is the copy of all the files my father gave me, plus the Miller one."

"Thanks, do you have access to the sheriff's station database also?" He asked her.

"Maybe...why?"

"Well, if another vampire is responsible there will be other reports like murders passing out as suicide or missing blood from blood banks, weird testimony, people who have seen weird things..." he explained.

"My father is supposed to be out of the station all afternoon. He's meeting with the mayor and after that he's patrolling until 10:30... We can use his access code until then. She nodded, turning her computer on and logging herself in before showing it to him.

"Does your father know you have this?" He asked her.

"Of course...not." She replied.

"Can I stay here then?" he asked her.

"Sure, you can look into this in the living room, I'm going to take a nap on the couch." Veronica replied as they left her bedroom and she laid down, trusting him to look into things.

This immediate trust and peace between them was weird. It was like they had been working together and knowing each other for years. They knew how to behave, what to do... They knew they could trust the other...

While Veronica took her small nap with her dog standing watch between her and her new friend, Damon looked into her files before he started looking on the reports from the sheriff station.

After a couple of hours it was obvious to him that there was another vampire around. That, or someone wanted him to pass for a vicious killer. All the missing women he hadn't killed were women he had dropped off at the ER of the same hospital and now that he thought about it, it was always the same male nurse that brought them inside.

Damon always did the same thing, he put the woman on the ground in front of the ER and waited, hidden afar. Often, it took less than a minute for the male nurse to come out and pick her up. Surely there was a link there... This guy had to know something. If he wasn't the vampire then he knew one or was being compelled by one.

Turning around, Damon saw that Veronica was sleeping soundly and he couldn't help but watch. He could get used to this, watching her sleep. Of course it would be much better if he could sleep by her side but he understood that he had to take things slow. Not everybody could feel as intensely as a vampire did and accept it the minute it happened. he had to give her time, show her that he was there for her and willing to work for them to last.

He didn't really believe in the possibility of True Love and Soul Mate back when Sage had told him but now that he was actually living it he felt how truly great it was. In a second, Veronica had managed to erase both Katherine and Elena from his mind.

.

Veronica opened her eyes to the smell of cooking.

"So I guess that you being a vampire that I invited to stay wasn't a dream..." She said as she sat up after checking that it was, indeed, him and not her father.

"Nope, it wasn't. But as you can see I'm making you a Salvatore exclusive and super secret delicious recipe of pasta. You'll be totally in love with me once you eat it." Damon replied, in a good mood.

"I thought the whole point of being soul mates was that we were already in love." She smiled.

"Of course, but you won't be able to let me go." He chuckled.

"So, did you find anything?" Se said changing the subject and pointing at her closed computer who lied on top of the pile of files on the side of the counter.

"I think I did but I'm not sure what yet. We need to look into that male nurse that I told you about earlier. All those missing girls where girls I took to the ER." Damon explained.

"You think that he's a vampire too then?"

"Maybe, or maybe he's being compelled by one..." He added before he started explaining to her how you became a vampire and everything vampire could do that the council didn't necessarily know about.

"I've got to say, I love Pasta but I've never had any this good before. If it was possible to physically make love to a plate of Pasta, this would definitely be the one." She complimented over dinner.

"I see that I have competition then." he smiled, loving that things were so easy between them.

After their dinner, Veronica left a note for her father, saying she was going on a stake out and not to wait for her before she put all her files back in her room and left with Damon.

.

They decided to take Veronica's car. Damon would pick his up once they were done. Taking two cars seemed pointless.

As soon as they arrived at the hospital, they came into the ER and Damon discreetly pointed the man out. Veronica snapped a picture of the guy, Damon read his name tag and as soon as he left the hall she rushed to ask questions about him to his colleagues. Damon helped with a little compulsion.

After an hour they had found out that he worked day shifts and night shifts and that he didn't have any jewelry, which meant that he wasn't a vampire.

"We should follow him back to his place, maybe we'll learn more." Veronica suggested and Damon nodded, escorting her back to her car until it was time.

Fortunately for them, the guy's shift was almost over and so they only had to wait one more hour before he drove home. He lived in one of the smaller houses of the 90909 neighborhood.

"I doubt his pay as nurse means he can afford a place here..." Veronica noticed.

Once he walked inside, they entered the unprotected yard and looked through the front window. The curtains were opened and they could see him talking with a woman.

"She's a vampire." Damon declared.

"How do you know? Can you tell from here?" She asked him.

"No, but she has a Lapis Lazuli necklace and I swear I saw her with Katherine a few months before the bitch took the cure. You can bet that she's the one behind it all." Damon cursed.

"So what do we do then? Kill her and get him arrested and put in a mental institution for believing in vampire's existence?" Veronica suggested.

"Not a bad idea... I can easily take her on, when I saw her she was human, I'm sure of it. It means she's less than a year old. I'll be able to kill her easily." Damon explained.

After that, they made a plan and put it in motion immediately.

Veronica went to ring the doorbell as soon as the guy went to take his shower, pretending that her car broke down right in front of their house and that because she saw light, she wanted to use their phone. Since the woman (vampire) had answered, Veronica pretended to fall down, cutting herself. Smelling the sweet blood, the vampire stepped out of the house, allowing Damon to stake her before she could even touch Veronica.

After that, while Damon took care of the body, Veronica looked for clues silently in the lower level of the house and found more than enough when she saw, in the living room, a box with a lot of woman's wallet and purses, most of them still had the ID's inside them.

"We can call my dad, we have what we need." Veronica smiled as she stepped back out.

"Good, come on."

So they when back to her car and called Keith Mars who arrived with another Patrol car a few minutes later. He arrested the young male nurse who appeared crazy, and when they looked where she told them to, they found the evidence Veronica pointed out and much more.

Veronica used the opportunity to introduce Damon to her father as a new friend who had potential of becoming more soon. They agreed on all having dinner together the next day so they could get to know each others and Keith went to take the guy in a cell.

It was now December. More precisely Christmas.

Veronica and Damon were now officially together for all to see and they were great together. Even Keith had to admit that his daughter's new boyfriend was much better than the past ones. Of course, he didn't know that Damon was a vampire or it would have changed everything. Damon got along well with all of her friends and he had even compelled Logan to leave her alone. Even Weevil liked to hang out with Damon from time to time and the two men often rode motorcycles together.

She was happy.

Veronica had gotten the promised money from the Miller's and she still did her PI work when she had the time, especially since Damon made it safer and funnier. She really felt like she was blessed.

They had talked about their future and had agreed that Veronica would become a vampire after her graduation. Then she would pretend that she was recruited by a secret agency and that she had to leave. She would be able to keep in touch with her father through email and phone calls and even to see him for a few years until... Well, either she'll keep on making excuses as to why she can't visit or they'll have to pretend that she died, they'll see.

For now, she was focusing on the present.

They were in Veronica's apartment with Keith and Damon, waiting for his brother Stefan to arrive to celebrate the holidays with them. He had announced that he was coming alone because Elena wanted to stay with her brother and her friends but Damon had been told differently by Liz Forbes. Apparently, Elena was furious that he had moved on and forgotten her and she was on the outs with Stefan for this very reason. Veronica hadn't met this Elena but she figured that she would like her about as much as she did Madison Sinclair.

She was considering, eventually, telling her father about Damon's true nature, maybe it would make her life easier but she still had time to make that decision. Right now, she at least had the satisfaction that he wouldn't be alone when she left, he would have Alicia and her two sons. Maybe they'd even have more children together, they were still a young enough for that.

Right now, she was putting the finishing touches to the dessert, watching happily as her father, Damon and Wallace got along perfectly well together and were watching a game on TV. Alicia was by her side, making toasts while her youngest son was playing with Backup outside. It was the perfect picture of family holidays. The only missing one was Damon's brother but he warned that he would be late.

"Stop eyeing the gift pile Veronica, you won't get to open them before midnight." Her father warned her.

"What? I wasn't!" She protested.

"Please V, even I saw you eyeing them with envy." Wallace intervened.

"I only glanced a second..." She defended herself.

"I know you honey, every year you try to see what I got you before it's time to open them..." Keith added.

"Well, it's only because I want to see if you finally got me the pony I wanted... Obviously you didn't." She replied with humour.

"One of these days Veronica, you'll find yourself with a pony staring at you when you wake up, breathing on your face and you won't know what to do with it..." Damon warned her.

"Promise?" She smiled at him.

"Always." He promised her.

It was a hiden promise known of them alone. Understood by them alone. It was a simple I love you forever, I'll always be there. It was an understanding that they'll always try to surprise the other, keep things interesting between them.

Damon knew that Veronica was curious as to what he had gotten her. He hoped she'd like the Salvatore crest on her neck until he put it on her finger.

Right as the game ended, someone knocked on the door.

"That would be Stefan." Damon warned.

"I'll get it." Veronica smiled as she followed Damon at the door. They needed her to invite Stefan in.

"Merry Christmas brother!" Stefan greeted them with a big smile.

"Merry Christmas Stefan."

"Come on in Stefan, I'm Veronica." Veronica offered.

The rest of the day was spent in family, in joy, with happiness. They exchanged gifts around midnight right before Damon and Stefan left to sleep in Damon's apartment (He had moved in the same complex as Veronica so he could be closer to her).

As she kissed her Love Goodnight, his new gift hanging around her neck, Veronica couldn't help but be happy about her life and the way it was heading.

She was happy and obviously so was Damon since he hadn't drank from anyone since she had confronted him.

So, what do you think of this one shot I wrote for your Christmas gift? At first I was going to go in a totally different direction but I might still do that. From the moment Veronica confronts Damon I have 2 alternative ( and totally different from each others) endings in mind, I might write them down later, we'll see.

Until then don't forget to review,

Merry Christmas to you all merry readers!

A review from you would be one of the best Christmas present...

Lorelei Candice Black