Disclaimer: The Vampire Diaries is the Property of the CW. No copyright infringement is intended.

~ X ~

This story has its roots in the first season of the Vampire Diaries. The canon characters mentioned below appear in several different seasons and from the Stefan's Diaries Books. I included them in case any readers are new to the TV series and books.

Time frame – the story is set three years in the future from the day Elena woke up a vampire, which is the start of season four. Since I'm writing this as season four begins it can, of course, not be canon.

Canon Characters Mentioned:

Bree – a witch, former lover of Damon Salvatore, dear friend of Lee and Lexi. Killed when Damon Salvatore ripped out her heart because she betrayed him to Lee. Owner of Bree's Bar in Atlanta, Georgia.

Cassie Gallagher – a pretty, red haired, pale skinned girl who helped rescue Damon from her father. Damon killed her when he realized Stefan loved her.

Gloria- a powerful witch, based in Chicago, who was well known to the Original brother and sister, Klaus and Rebekah. She was killed by Katherine Pierce while torturing Stefan to reveal the presence of the Original witch's amulet.

Joanna – one of the matriarchs of the Bennett witch clan, mother to Lucy, first cousin twice removed to Pauline.

Lee – Lexi's lover. He voluntarily made the choice to turn vampire so he could spend eternity with her.

Lexi – True name Alexia Branson. She was Stefan's best friend and periodically helped him through his ripper phases. She was 350 years old at the time of her death at Damon's hands.

Lucy- a witch, cousin to Bonnie. Part of the extended Bennett clan. Former friend of Katherine Pierce (Katerina Petrova) who turned against the vampire when she realized she would be fighting against her cousin. She helped the Salvatore brothers defeat Katherine.

Pauline - one of the matriarchs of the Bennett witch clan, niece to Sheila (Grams). Bonnie Bennett's grandmother. First cousin twice removed to Joanna.

Rose - An old vampire who offered Elena to Elijah as a way to settle a debt with the Originals. When her lifetime companion was killed by Elijah she joined forces with the Salvatores. She took Damon to a contact she knew for information - Slater.

Slater – vampire turned in 1974. Lived in Richmond, Va. Owned a coffee shop known and patronized by vampires because he had special UV filtering glass windows so the vampires could socialize during the daylight. He killed himself under compulsion from Elijah. He kept records of the genealogy of almost all vampires.

~ X ~

Damon idly strolled through the large first floor common room at the boarding house. He was expecting Elena to return from her outing with Caroline soon, and he was just killing time.

"Hmmm! Let's have a tiny little tongue wetter." Damon leisurely poured himself a glass of bourbon from the decanter always kept on the sideboard. As he took his first sip his phone rang, and he pulled it out of his jacket pocket with the glass still at his mouth. His interest was piqued when he saw 'Unknown Caller' on the screen.

"Damon Salvatore speaking. How may I help you?" He was in a good mood, so his tone was jaunty.

"Lucy. You might remember me in connection with a certain moonstone." The voice on the other end of the phone was tense.

Damon's eyebrows rose. "I do. I do. To what do I owe the honor of this phone call?" He was still amiable but cautious now.

"To the fact that you have someone looking out for you." The voice stayed curt.

"Sooooo?" Damon drawled and then sipped his bourbon.

"You need to leave town pronto. Your life is in danger. Don't wait. If you have to leave a note for Elena do it, but go." The voice was deadly serious.

"Really, why would I do that?" Damon's voice and smirk reflected his skepticism.

"There are witches and vampires after you." The voice was almost whispering and rushed.

"Why hasn't Bonnie warned me then?" Damon countered impatiently.

"There's a code of honor among witches, a kind of protocol. Knowing Bonnie has intervened on your behalf before, Joanna and Pauline, the matriarchs of our clan, were approached first. They've agreed to have the family stay out, and Bonnie has to go along with it unless she wants to be estranged from the rest of us. It could also endanger her mother."

Damon straightened up, totally focused now. "If it's a witch pact then why are you telling me this?"

Lucy's voice was harsh. "Because the young child of a very close friend has disappeared, and I got a phone call saying that I had pulled a nasty deal a couple of years ago and payback's a . . well you know what. So, I asked what I could do to get her back. This call and one other thing gets back my friend's child and wipes out the ill will I generated between me and a former friend."

Damon was quick to connect the dots.

"Katherine," Damon said softly. "I don't trust her."

"She said you would say that and my answer was to be this. Are you going to take a chance that it's not true? If it is, do you think your vampire friends will stay out of it? Are you going to try to fight protecting a three year old and perhaps the four year old vampire at the same time or do you think Elena and Caroline will just stand by and let you get killed?"

Damon was quiet for a moment. "How do I know that nothing will happen to Elena if I go?"

"The interested parties are not, let's say interested, in anyone but you. If they stay out of it nothing happens to them," Lucy said impatiently. "Listen, I can't be caught in this. Travel out of Mystic Falls on the highway, until you get to the truck stop in the next town. They'll be a plastic bag taped to the bottom of the dumpster at the back of the restaurant. Drink what's in it, and it will block you from a blood spell to track you for forty eight hours."

She emphasized each word. "Burn . . that . . bag. If I get caught . . if I'm traced . . I'm on my own. My relatives can't help me. I could cause a witch feud that will endanger everyone I care about."

The fear in Lucy's voice got through to Damon. "Please! You owe me. I helped you and your brother, not just my cousin, and I'm paying for it now. Don't leave any trace. I don't want my family hurt anymore than what I've already done to them."

Damon, face serious, nodded, and then realized she couldn't see the nod on the phone. "I'll do it."

Lucy's sob of relief was audible. "I made my call. I'm turning in this throw away phone with your number on it as proof of my call. It's your only warning, and the last thing I was to tell you was that your brother's in Shreveport, Maine."

"Why should I c —" Damon stopped when he realized the connection was cut. He looked at the call ended screen before gulping down the rest of the bourbon. Moving at vampire speed, he headed first to the basement refrigerator where he packed a cooler full of blood bags.

He swooshed upstairs and threw clothes into a back pack, grabbed his stash of emergency cash, and then raced downstairs. He thought for a moment and quickly grabbed a pen and paper. He wrote.

Stay out of this. Not your problem.

He left the note on the table with the bourbon glass holding it down. He got in his blue convertible and raced through town. When he reached the town center, he slowed down as he caught sight of a familiar figure on the sidewalk.

Bonnie looked up briefly as he rolled down the window. "Protect them."

She didn't reply, just nodded briefly and kept walking, grim faced.

Bonnie immediately texted some instructions to Caroline.

Caroline managed to keep a straight face as she received and read them, only the widening of her eyes betraying her alarm.

Elena, walking next to her, picked up on it and was concerned. "Everything okay, Care?"

"Oh yeah! Let's stop by Bonnie's on the way home. She needs us to help her move something." Caroline's voice was extra perky and cheerful.

Elena smiled in return as she pulled out her phone. "Sure, I'll just call Dam—" Elena never realized the neck break was coming. Caroline quickly got her into the car and over to Bonnie's. Between them they kept her out until the following morning.

~ X ~

At precisely two a.m. the front and back doors to the Salvatore House were crashed through, and three vampires moved at top speed throughout the house. They converged back near the front door where two witches waited.

"He's not here."

The taller witch said fiercely, "She better not have told him."

The other one calmed her down. "No way. She knows she wouldn't be able to hide it from us. We'll check, but I know it wasn't Bonnie." She thought for a moment. "So who would be helping him? I didn't think there was a person on earth outside the few he knows in Mystic Falls that would support him." She frowned. "The brother might, but he's practically been wiped off the face of the earth. Hasn't been heard from in at least two years."

One of the vampires said fearfully, "You don't think the Originals—?"

He was quickly cut off. "They haven't been seen in three years. They left for Europe. You know word would have spread if they were back. Besides, he's no friend to them."

The tall handsome man with the rough beard threw the stake he brought with him so hard, it pierced the wallboard above the oak paneling. "We need to track him down. I've waited long enough."

The shorter witch with the fine, milky coffee colored skin assured him, "Don't worry Lee. We'll get him."