"I've always liked the minds of criminals, they seem similar to artists." ~ Richard Linklater

The Consultant

Dead man walking

"Mom? - Dad?"

"Kitchen."

Elena put her bag down next to the stairs and lost her jacket on the way to the kitchen. She found her mother in front of the stove, the same place she always found her whenever she came home from school.

"Hi, Mom."

"Sweetie, there's something for you on the counter." Miranda turned around with a beaming smile, pointing her spatula to the granite countertop. "It came with the mail this morning."

Elena frowned and started walking to the back of the kitchen. A gasp left her throat as she found the white envelope waiting for her, the sender making her heart drum in her chest. She looked at her mother in awe.

"Go on." Miranda turned the stove off and came to stand next to her daughter. "Open it."

"Shouldn't we wait for Dad?"

"You know where to find him."

She nodded and walked out of the kitchen into the hallway, finding the one door in the house that was usually closed. Her father's office was off limits to anyone who lived outside the house, and even if you lived in it, you couldn't enter without him being in there. Grayson Gilbert had been an FBI agent for the past twenty years; some said he was one of the best, other said he was one of the toughest, she said he was the one that was the most obsessed.

"Dad?" She knocked timidly on the door, finding her mother next to her. "Can we come in?"

She pushed the handle down when a muffled 'come in' reached her ears. With the white envelope clutched to her chest, she looked around the room; finding papers scattered all across the floor, maps with marked places hanging on the walls.

"Something wrong?"

Her father turned around in his chair, leaving the papers on his desk for what they were. Her mother squeezed her shoulder and gave her a push forward in the direction of her father. Grayson was a good man and a good father but to be honest the last few years it was as if he wasn't really there anymore. He spend his days at the office or in his home office, caught up in the ongoing investigation. Elena had grown up between these papers, between the investigation that now ruled her father's life.

"There's a letter from Georgetown." she shrugged nervously, biting her lip. "I thought maybe we could open it all together."

"Do you want me to catch you if you faint?" Grayson stood up and chuckled softly. "Go on, open it."

"Don't let me hit the ground, okay?"

"I'm sure it's good news, hun." Grayson came to stand next to her and gave her a nudge. "You've worked hard, they'd be honored to have someone like you."

"But what if I don't get in?"

"Let's not think about that now." Miranda gave her arm a squeeze. "Just open the envelope and if you weren't accepted, then we'll find you another school."

"I don't want to disappoint you."

"You won't."

She teared up as both her parents spoke at the same time. They always had her back, always would have. She was their little girl and whatever she decided, they would support her. Even though her father wasn't always there, he was there when she needed him, he was by her side whenever a new dream came to her mind, he was there when she tried to fulfill those dreams. And in the end that was what mattered, the support, the love, the endless feeling of family.

"Here we go."

Her hand trembled as she ripped the upside of the envelope open and pulled the white expensive paper out of it. Her heartbeat was the only sound in the room as she folded it open and started reading the golden letters.

"I got in." she clapsed her hand over her mouth, jumping like a little girl. "I got in!"

"Congratulations, Elena." Miranda hugged her tightly, jumping with her through the small office. "I knew you would get in."

"Can I congratulate my daughter too?"

She entangled her limbs from her mother's and turned around to her father, falling into his arms. He squeezed her in his embrace while tears started to form in her eyes. He hushed her soft sobs and kissed her forehead, his gray eyes shimmering.

"I'm so proud of you, Elena." he stroked her cheek affectionately. "I couldn't imagine a better daughter."

"I'm going to be an FBI agent like you, Daddy." she jumped back in his arms, snorting unladylike. "I'll help you catch the bad guys."

"At this rate, I wouldn't be surprised if I'm still looking for this guy when you graduate." he rubbed her arm and pulled away from her embrace. "I've never seen a case like this."

"How's it going?" she sat down on his desk and looked down at the file he was studying. "Did you get any closer?"

"I'm still not a step closer to him as the day I started chasing him." Grayson shook his head and closed the file. "He knows how to disappear, every time we get closer, he goes further away."

"You've been chasing him for four years." Elena bit her lip and shrugged. "Maybe it's time to give up."

"My sweet Elena." Grayson ruffled her chocolate brown hair, chuckling. "Once you're an FBI agent, you'll learn that you never give up before you have a criminal in handcuffs."

"But let's say you still haven't found him in ten years?" Her brown doe eyes searched for his. "What then?"

"Then I'll still be looking for him in ten years." Grayson shrugged indifferently. "I opened this case and I'll be the one to close it."

"Do you think you'll ever catch him?"

"He's the smartest criminal I've ever seen." Grayson's lips formed a hard line. "But he's only twenty-six and he'll make a mistake one day, when he does, I'll catch him."

"Maybe you should let me look for him when I'm an agent." she smiled smugly. "Some female charm might pull him in."

"I don't want to see my seventeen-year-old daughter anywhere near one of the biggest criminals America has ever seen." he tapped her nose and sat back down in his chair. "We'll talk about this again when you know how to use a gun."

"Has he ever killed someone?"

"No." Grayson shook his head. "But he's still young and they always start out small, maybe one day he'll kill someone."

"You won't let that happen, right?"

"Not if I can help it." Grayson patted her knee, sighing. "And if I don't catch him, then I guess you'll have to."

She got up and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, her cheek resting against his. This was her father, the man that guided her through life and the greatest example someone could ask for. She wanted to follow in his footsteps and do exactly what he did, protecting innocent people from those that could cause them harm.

"Don't worry, Daddy." she pecked his cheek and hugged him tightly. "I'll catch Damon Salvatore."

7 years later

"Agent Gilbert, FBI." she held her badge up in front of the security guard. "I'd like to speak to the lead investigator."

"He's inside watching the security tapes."

She ducked under the yellow tape and entered the old building, her heels clacking on the concrete floor. A few nods and smiles were exchanged as she walked past the other agents in the building, their curious eyes lingering on her unfamiliar face.

She pushed the door from the security room open and found two men inside. The older one looked up at her over his shoulder and smiled slightly, pushing himself up to meet her in the middle. The younger man with green eyes and sandy-brown hair eyed her suspiciously; his mouth forming a hard line, his eyes traveling over her form, starting at her long silk brown hair to her doe eyes and further down to the white blouse and skinny black jeans she was wearing.

"You must be Elena Gilbert." The older man with green eyes and brown hair extended his hand to her. "D.C. Informed me you would be coming in."

"Why did they sent an agent from D.C?" The younger man spoke up and came to stand next to the other one. "We can handle this."

"They didn't sent me here, I came here myself." she straightened her jacket and smiled smugly at the younger man. "Why? Are you threatened by me?"

"I used to work with your father." The young man cleared his throat. "He told me you wouldn't be coming back to New York anytime soon."

"Obviously, he was wrong."

"Excuse Stefan, agent Gilbert." The older man interrupted their conversation. "We're glad that you decided to come back home, my name is Elijah Michaelson, I'll be your supervisor."

"Nice to meet you, agent Michaelson." she shook his hand and pointed her gaze at the man beside him. "And you are?"

"Stefan." he extended his hand, his green eyes hardening. "Stefan Salvatore."

"Salvatore?" she cocked her head to the side, the corner of her mouth lifting up. "As in Damon Salvatore?"

"They're brothers." Elijah's gaze switched between hers and Stefan's. "They're complete opposites though."

"You can say that." Elena let her eyes travel over Stefan's form, clacking her tongue. "One becomes a cop, the other a criminal."

"Stefan's the lead investigator in this case." Elijah turned back to the monitor. "He should be able to solve this whole thing quickly."

"Before you ask," Stefan held his hand up as she was about to speak. "We might be brothers but that's only on paper, I never knew Damon."

"If you don't know him, then how are you supposed to find him?"

"And you do know him?" Stefan's green eyes followed her as she walked over to the files on the desk. "Last time you were in New York was seven years ago."

"I grew up with Damon, that's more than you can say." she flashed him a grin before opening one of the files on the table. "My father was obsessed with him, for years Damon was the only thing we talked about."

"Did you ever meet him in person?" Stefan smiled smugly. "Because he becam..."

"I know what he became." she threw the file back on the table. "And I don't approve of it, he's a criminal, he belongs behind bars."

"Your father thought..."

"Like I already said... my father was obsessed with him." she focused her hard eyes on Stefan, making him take a step back. "Even after he caught him, he couldn't let go of him."

"We don't know how he escaped." Elijah changed the subject, breaking the tension. "The surveillance videos tell us he just walked out the front door in a guard's uniform but we don't know how he pulled it off."

"I'm not interested in how he did it, he can tell us that once he's back where he belongs." Elena looked up and arched her eyebrow at the two men. "I want to know why he escaped, he only had three months to go before he would be out."

"Damon might have been convicted but he hadn't been in prison for over three years until two months ago when your father di..."

"I know what happened." she snapped at him before he could finish his sentence. "But even someone as smart as Damon wouldn't escape without a reason if he only had another three months left of his sentence."

"Do you know why he escaped?" Stefan came to stand next to her, looking over the file. "If there's a reason... why don't you enlighten us?"

"Why don't you find him?" she smacked the file against his chest so he was forced to grab it. "So he can tell us that reason."

"Why are you even here?" Stefan grabbed her arm when she tried to walk past him. "You're some hotshot in D.C., why are you back here?"

"Is it so hard to believe that I want one of America's biggest criminals back behind bars?"

"It's hard to believe that it's the reason you came back here after seven years."

"Maybe I just want to see if he still has it after all these years," Elena's eyes hardened, turning away from the ones that were looking at her. "I want to see if he's still the criminal that my father admired, I want to know how long it will take me before I catch him, I want to put him in a cell and let him rot in there for the rest of his life."

"Your father used him differently."

"My father was a fool." she clenched her teeth together, locking her eyes with Stefan's green ones. "He let Damon make fun of the system and him."

"The arrangement between your father and Damon..." Elijah came to stand between their bodies. "It solved a lot of cases."

"Damon belongs behind bars." she straightened her shoulders, locking her eyes with Elijah's. "And it's exactly where I'm going to put him, because we both know that even if you send a whole team after him, you won't find him and you won't catch him."

"And you will?"

"I won't stop chasing him until he's back where he belongs."

"Why did you really come back, Elena?" Stefan made her turn around again. "Because you want to be a hero like your father and catch one of the biggest baddest criminals we've ever seen?"

"No." she clenched her teeth together. "Because you screwed up and I won't watch you let him escape into the sunset."

"Why don't you just tell us why you're really here?" Stefan shrugged indifferently, letting out a hard laugh. "We all know why."

"You really want to know why?"

"Yes, please tell us the truth."

"Because my father took a bullet for him."

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