Hey, it`s me again. The ideas just keep flowing lately, so I started my next Dalaric-Story already. I got the idea while watching reruns of season 3. To be exact, it was the Episode where Stefan realizes that he and Klaus were friends and that he`d been compelled to forget. I thought it would be interesting to do something like that with Damon and Ric.

The Story starts during season one. I don`t know how Long it will be. We`ll see...

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Alaric looked at himself in the mirror with a sigh. A 50`s decade dance – whoever came up with this stupid idea? And as a teacher, especially the new teacher, he had no choice but to attend and play chaperone. Just great. He hoped it might at least take his mind off of recent events. Somehow he still couldn`t believe that he`d actually done it. Killed a vampire. And it hadn`t even been that hard. Actually it had been kind of exciting, which scared him a little. But maybe that was a good thing. Maybe it would give him the strength to go on and do what he had to do. He glanced at his watch and - sighing yet again – left his apartment.

The gym was decorated nicely, he had to admit. The students had invested a lot of work into this. Looking at all the teenagers mingling around, dressed up in perfect 50`s clothes actually made him smile. The smile faded quickly however when he spied a familiar figure across the room. The vampire who had killed his wife. The reason he was here in Mystic Falls. After two years of research Alaric hadn`t thought it would be that easy in the end. He had come to Mystic Falls because Isobel`s research had pointed to this town. He hadn`t really thought he`d actually find any vampires here, let alone the vampire he was looking for.

And yet here he was, standing at the edge of the dance floor, discreetly surveying the crowd. Alaric tensed a little as the vampire`s gaze swept over him. Back at the bar, where he`d seen him the first time, he had thought for a second he saw something like recognition in the vampire`s eyes. Ric remembered that night vividly, when he`d come home to find a vampire in his bedroom, draining his wife. He knew he`d made some sound, because the vampire had sped off, taking Isobel with him. But Ric wasn`t sure if the monster had seen him. If he would recognize him as well.

The teacher was startled out of his musings when Jenna walked up to him. He wasn`t really sure how he felt about her, yet. She was nice and easy-going, beautiful and charming, but somehow he doubted he was ready to start dating again. Still he smiled at her. "Hey, look at you." Jenna smiled back. "I figured I'd stand out less if I dressed up." The comment made Ric laugh and he accused her of lying. "Okay, I'm a sucker for the decade dance. I went to school here, you know. They do the sixties and seventies, too." she let him know with a smile. She was clearly flirting and Alaric felt a little bad for stringing her on.

But maybe he wasn`t. Maybe he just needed to get this over with, to finally find out exactly what had happened to Isobel and then he could go on with his life. "Oh. Can't wait." he retorted a little sarcastically. Wasn`t one decade dance bad enough? Jenna laughed and he couldn`t help but grin as well. They moved to get some punch and talked animatedly, until Jenna mentioned that she was starting to see some change in Jeremy. "Uh, losing someone you love so suddenly, the, uh … the trauma and the grief there are some of the tougher things he'll face in life." Ric commented, thinking of Isobel.

Jenna stopped to look at him. "From someone who knows. You have no idea what happened?" she asked sympathetically. "That's the hard part, not knowing." Alaric told her honestly. "I'd be lying to you if I told you it didn't keep me up at night. Wondering why, by who." Well, he knew by who, but he wanted to know the whole story. He wanted to know why. Had Isobel been just a random victim? Or had her research gotten her killed in the end, because she got too close to the truth?

"Maybe one day." Jenna`s comment shook him out of his thoughts. The teacher nodded, his eyes drifting again to the man standing across the room, his arms folded over his chest, watching the couples on the dance floor. "Hope so." he murmured, sipping at his punch again and wondering if it was such a good idea to talk to Jenna about these things. He shouldn`t get her involved in all of this. Ric felt actually relieved when one of his teaching colleagues came up to talk to her and gave him the chance to take his leave.

Hesitating only a second he made his way over to the vampire. Time to face the enemy. This was neutral territory after all and maybe he could find out something useful. "I don't recognize you. How'd you get roped into chaperoning? Alaric Saltzman. I'm the new history teacher." He pasted a friendly smile on his face and shook the vampire`s hand. "Damon. Salvatore." The guy was looking at him with a spooky intensity that made Ric nervous. "Salvatore, as in, uh, Stefan?" he asked, stuttering a little. Damn, he shouldn`t give the vampire an advantage, but that blue eyed gaze was rather distracting. Especially up close.

"He's my little brother. I'm his legal guardian, hence the chaperoning." Damon told him. Alaric made some comment about Stefan, stating that he hadn`t met him in class so far and wondering absently if Stefan was a vampire as well. He must be, right? If his brother was one. "Well, his attendance record's a little spotty. Family drama." Damon murmured conspiratorially. He seemed way too friendly and easy-going for a heartless monster. Probably practiced this, to lure innocent victims into trusting him, the teacher suspected. "No parents?" he asked, trying to keep his tone light.

"It's just the two of us now." Damon answered willingly. Alaric wasn`t sure if it was a good idea to keep interrogating him, but the chance was too good to pass up. The vampire had to behave himself in a crowd this big. Still Ric`s questioning seemed to start grating on his nerves after a while, because the vampire looked at him with raised eyebrows and Ric quickly backpedalled. "I'm sorry. I'm nosy. I …I don't mean to pry. Look, it was nice meeting you." he quickly excused himself, patted the vampire on the arm and left.

Even with his back to Damon he could practically feel those blue eyes on himself. Cursing himself for his own stupidity he walked away at a fast pace, trying to disappear into the crowd. He could only hope he hadn`t raised the vampire`s suspicion now.

A few minutes later he ran into Jenna again, who promptly started chatting him up once more. Alaric still felt a little shaken up over his encounter with the vampire and therefore didn`t really pay attention. Of course Jenna noticed that he was distracted and asked worriedly if he was okay. He gave her a reassuring smile and nodded. "Yeah, I`m fine. Just a little tired, that`s all. It´s been a long day. I think I`ll go get some fresh air." he left Jenna standing there and exited the gym, breathing a sigh of relief when he was out of the crowd.

Alaric walked towards the restrooms, just wanting to be alone for a second, to compose his thoughts. The school hallways were dimly lit and completely empty. The noise from the party faded away and his steps sounded unnaturally loud. Ric stopped short when he heard a noise. It seemed to come from the cafeteria. Curious he went to investigate. His hand slid into his jacket pocket and he pulled out the vervain, hoping it would really work like Isobel`s research had said.

He stopped abruptly when Damon appeared in front of him, seemingly out of nowhere. Damn, the vampire was fast. The teacher cleared his throat nervously. He could feel his heart rate speed up, but tried to act nonchalant. "Hey." The vampire stepped closer, was now standing directly in front of him. He was staring at Ric even more intensely than earlier at the party. His blue eyes seemed to darken. "What were you doing?" he asked. His voice sounded hypnotic and Ric realized that he was trying to mess with his mind. But it wasn`t working. So obviously his resources had been right about the vervain.

"Looking for Ms. Hilden." he answered calmly. "Why are you in Mystic Falls?" the vampire continued his interrogation. Ric told him he was here, because he got hired as a teacher. "Do you know what I am?" It was getting increasingly difficult to hold that stare, to keep breathing evenly, but somehow the teacher managed not to flinch. His hand closed even tighter around the vervain. "You're my student's brother." his voice sounded strangely calm even to his own ears. Damon took another step closer and for a second Ric`s breath caught in his throat. "Is everything you're telling me the truth?"

Alaric nodded. "Yes." The vampire continued to stare at him. "Then forget we had this conversation." he ordered, before finally taking a step back. His eyes raked over Alaric one last time, then he simply walked away. The teacher just stood still for a moment. His hand was shaking when he put the vervain back into his pocket. Up this close the vampire`s presence had been nearly overwhelming. Had to have been the compulsion he was trying to use.

Shaking himself out of his trance, Ric finally returned to the gym. He went purposefully looking for Jenna this time, hoping that talking to her would take his mind off the strange encounter in the hallway. Luckily it did. He found himself talking about Isobel again, simply couldn`t help it, but Jenna didn`t really seem to mind. In the end he even walked her home. At her front door he apologized for talking about his wife so much, but she just shrugged it off and assured him it was okay. Only after he had bade her goodnight and was on his way home, did he realize that it would have been the perfect opportunity to ask her out. Well, he obviously still wasn`t ready for a date.