Leanna O'Sullivan squatted down on the wet pavement.

The familiar blue and red lights flashed around her, the jumbled voices of other officers soothing to her ears, and the yellow tape flickering the wind made her feel most at home. She'd done this hundreds of times, usually in the middle of the night, and had yet to tire of it. The officers had tired of her rather quickly, but she did her job well. Very well. Better than the others who'd come before her.

"Tell me the truth," Officer Nicholas Littleman said, leaning down so she could hear, "it's a vampire, right?"

Leanna nodded and pointed to the mangled neck. "Most animals in this part of town could never bite so precisely and the surrounding area was merely mauled to look like an animal attack."

"So it's a serial killer, then?"

Leanna smirked. "All vampires are serial killers, Nicholas."

"You know I hate it when you call me that," he whispered against her ear.

She let her eyes close at the feeling of his hot breath warming her cool skin before elbowing him in the side and standing. "The only problem is I can't tell the bite."

Nicholas raised an eyebrow, unfamiliar with her words. "The bite?"

"Every vampire leaves a specific bite. It's like DNA evidence for them. Even in instances like these"- she gestured to the bloody mess of a human neck- "the bite can still be seen."

"Maybe once she's cleaned up you'll see it better," Nicholas said, but Leanna was already following the bloody trail up the steps, the damp night warming as the rain moved westward. He followed, motioning for one of the younger officers to get the body processed. They still had yet to find out her name.

"Leanna, wait."

But Leanna continued to follow the trail, lightening up as the vampire sped across the street and into the trees. Nicholas never understood how she knew these killers so well, almost anticipating their next moves before a regular investigator could reach the first step.

"Leanna!" He reached out and caught her arm before she could delve further into the trees and out of sight. She gazed at him with wide, dark eyes, flustered and confused. She looked down at her arm and then up to him again. She swallowed and stepped back, Nicholas' hand falling to his side.

"Sorry," she said, smoothing down her pants. They were the close-fitting ones that he had extreme difficulty ignoring. "He's still here."

"The killer?"

Leanna nodded, swallowing again. "I lost my train of thought, almost compelled to follow him into the woods to, I'm assuming, my death. He's watching us," she said, gazing into the darkness before them. She hated knowing the vampire was so near yet untouchable.

She jumped slightly when Nicholas draped his officer coat on her shoulders. He smiled, zipping her in. "I thought you couldn't be compelled."

"I can't." That was the troubling part. She dipped her silver cross into liquid vervain every morning and night to ward off the compulsion, but tonight she had no control over her actions.

Nicholas captured her lips in a quick kiss, finally putting a smile on her face.

"You're not supposed to do that," she said, leaning against him.

"I like doing things I'm not supposed to."

Were they in love? She would deny the label, but Nicholas would hesitate on refusing what he considered the truth. They'd met on his first case and he'd been impressed by the vast array of information and confidence she held in every word she spoke. He had been twenty-one and she eighteen. Two years later, she still managed to impress him with every case.

"I'll take you home," she said, knowing his partner Coleman would need the cop car tonight.

He reached around her shoulders and pulled her smaller body into his, planting a kiss on her head. "It's the man that drives the lady home, Leanna O'Sullivan."

"But I'm a better driver and you know it." She tapped his cheek in making her point and let him open the driver's side door for her. It was the least she could do.

He watched the sleek black car drive away from the crime scene. A group of people had gathered outside the Grill, one of them the insufferable boy Rebekah had an attachment too. And the rest of his friends, the witch, Elena, Stefan, Damon, and the pretty little thing his brother had affections for. Yet it was the woman he nearly captured that left him wondering. She had seen through his tricks and followed his exact path. It was only with a quick glance through the trees was he able to compel her, though just barely.

He dared not return home tonight. His brother's wrath he could tolerate, but it was Elijah's incessant need for morality that irked him beyond belief. He hadn't meant to kill the waitress, but she began to fight and he merely reacted. Klaus would understand. Bekah would too. Hell, even Finn would have agreed with him. But not Elijah.

"Moral bastard," Kol muttered.

Yet he had nowhere else to go.

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter in my first Klaroline fanfic. This has been a long time coming, so please review and let me know what you think. And trust me, Klaus WILL come soon enough ;)