Disclaimer and Warning: I do not own Vampire Diaries, however consider this story mine. Any dialogues not canon from the show as well as any descriptive sentences are the end result of over twenty years of writing. I have poured my heart and soul into every beautiful paragraph, every perfect sentence, every hot and/or romantic scene, and every funny one-liner. To copy this work or any other and claim as one's own, in whole or in part is a criminal offence punishable by ostracism, harassment by my loyal readers, and possibly even dismissal by the MODs. Repeat offenders will be reported IMMEDIATELY to Stop_Plagiarism on LiveJournal and your name will be placed on the watch list under all known aliases. It's not worth it; don't be a thief !

Dedicated to Meg, for giving me both the idea and the title of this story, and for being so very good for my ego. It was LOVE of my fics that brought you here, and FATE that made sure we'd become friends ;)

Prologue

Manhattan, New York

Damon Salvatore stepped into the immaculately decorated office of his newest client; one of the top players in the entire country, if not the world. Klaus was renowned to have many connections within every facet of the law, as well as the underworld, and it was no secret that if he wanted something, he usually got it. So when he had contacted Damon directly and requested his services as a private investigator, he'd been more than a little intrigued. The man behind the desk intrigued him even more. Damon had always pictured him to be older; the very picture of one of those old-gangster movie crime lords with the pressed suit and a tough expression that showed he wasn't to be messed with. While Klaus certainly had the suit, he didn't look nearly as menacing in person. The guy looked to be no older than twenty-five, and had such a youthful appearance that if he hadn't been wearing a black Armani suit and white collared shirt, he could pass for a lot younger than that. The term "pretty boy" immediately sprung to mind, and Damon couldn't imagine how someone with the reputation Klaus had for pulling strings and causing people to "disappear" could look so harmless. He was almost as threatening to him now as his little brother Stefan was; that is to say, he wasn't. Damon was certain that if it came down to him and Klaus in a fight, he would kick the little prince's ass in a second.

"Detective Salvatore is here," the pretty assistant beside him announced in a honeyed voice.

"Thank you, Greta," Klaus replied. He immediately looked up from the file in his hands to meet her gaze. "If anyone calls for me, I'm in an important meeting and do not wish to be disturbed."

She nodded her head, giving him yet another sweet smile. "Of course," she purred. "Call me if you need anything else."

Damon had no doubts at all that they were sleeping together. If the look she'd given him wasn't enough evidence, Klaus' lingering gaze on her ass as she turned to let herself out certainly gave their secret away. Not that he could really blame the guy for it; Damon was no stranger when it came to the company of attractive women, and with his considerable charms he was rarely lonely. As soon as the door shut, indicating that they were alone, Klaus turned his attention to Damon.

"Please, have a seat," he said in a business-like tone.

Damon settled himself on the plush leather chair on the opposite side of the deep mahogany desk. His eyes fell to the open file on the surface, where a pair of deep brown eyes kept staring up at him. The young woman in the photo, Damon assumed, was the reason why he was sitting here now.

"I suppose you're wondering why I called you today," Klaus said.

"I'll admit, I'm a little curious," Damon shrugged. "Especially considering your reputation."

Klaus smirked arrogantly. "It is true; normally I don't have to go to such lengths to get what I want, but as I informed you on the phone earlier, these are special circumstances and I've been told you're the best there is when one wishes to be discreet."

"I get the job done," Damon confirmed.

"So I've heard. You and I aren't so different; we both like to know everything about everyone, and we know how to keep our emotions out of it. I'm certain that if there's any man I can trust with this case, it would be you."

Damon was used to flattery; he received plenty of it from pretty much any person he met, and it was boring him now. "So just what is this special case that's far too delicate for the police to handle?" he asked, wanting to cut to the chase. He wasn't here to socialize; he was here to work, and hopefully get paid very well for his time.

Klaus pushed the file toward Damon before leaning back in his chair in a casual manner. "Everything you need is in here," he said simply.

Damon took a moment to once again study the photo. The girl looked to be in her early twenties, with long dark hair and a hint of innocence in her expression. Beneath the photo was a stack of papers, including birth records and a list of contacts and relatives.

"Elena Gilbert-Primoris," Damon read out loud, furrowing his brow in confusion. He was used to handling high-profile cases involving criminals who often knew how to cover their tracks; highly influential men, similar to Klaus himself. This file he was looking over, however, appeared to be a simple "missing persons" case that could very easily be handled by someone much less qualified than he was. "You want me to track down your wife?"

Klaus nodded his head, his lips forming a hard line. "She went missing six months ago," he informed him grimly. "My own brother and his wife have her hidden somewhere, and they refuse to let her go until I hand over the full-rights to my father's legacy."

Damon glanced at him skeptically. "You're telling me your brother kidnapped your wife, and you want me to find her for you? Why didn't you just go to the police?"

Klaus shrugged. "I did. I used every connection I had trying to find her, but for some reason every trail went cold. My brother has his own connections, and knows how to disappear when he doesn't want to be found. That's where you come in. I've heard that you are able to track down even the most elusive criminals, regardless of how often they change their names or how many connections they have. I need you to use every one of those skills you've acquired to locate my wife, and bring her home to me."

Damon considered the man across from him; he could already tell that there was more to the story than Klaus was telling him, but as much as he hated to admit it, he really needed this job. Business had been horribly slow for the past few months, and it hadn't helped that his idiotic little brother had gotten himself in hot water with debt collectors again. It was his own fault for spending the family inheritance on ridiculous little sports cars and jewelry for his spoiled little blond girlfriend, but Damon couldn't help feeling responsible for Stefan; he was always cleaning up his messes, and the money from this case would certainly speed up the process and get the debt paid off in less than six months. Of course, that was assuming that he could find the girl in the first place. He still suspected that Elena had simply run off with Klaus' brother of her own free will; she already looked like a heartbreaker, and Klaus was obviously an arrogant dick who was screwing around on her with his secretary. Nothing would surprise him anymore. At twenty-seven, Damon had witnessed more than his fair share of illicit affairs; he'd learned early on that women, as beautiful and entertaining as they were, were not to be trusted. Klaus would probably be better off without her.

"Normally, I don't take on simple missing persons cases," Damon pointed out.

"I assure you, I'll make it well worth the time and effort," Klaus said, reaching into his desk drawer and pulling out a black check book. He scribbled a figure onto the paper and slid it toward Damon face-down. "This would only be a month-by-month payment, but I'm of course willing to negotiate."

Damon kept his expression neutral even as he stared at the amount on the check. Ten thousand dollars a month just to track down a mere slip of a girl seemed a little excessive, but who was he to complain? It would probably be the easiest money he'd ever make, and while he'd be bored to tears by the simplicity of the case, he wasn't about to turn down such an offer.

"I must say I'm impressed," Damon said casually. "Most men wouldn't go to that much trouble for their wives."

"Well, Detective," Klaus replied, "Most men don't have a treasure as valuable as my Elena. You will take the case then?"

"Normally I wouldn't," Damon said. "But to quote your own words, this is a special case."

The corners of Klaus' mouth turned up in a smirk. "You have no idea," he replied.

Author's Note: This is actually a collaboration between me and LovexAndxFate (though I'm the one doing the writing. Lol.) As my dedication suggests, this was HER plot bunny, and we've been brainstorming ideas for over a month now. I already had this chapter written, but couldn't post it b/c I didn't have a title for the fic. Meg again is the genius mastermind who gave me that, and I give her credit where credit is due. That's what friends are supposed to do, right? Right! Anyway, this is the first chapter, and I'll try to work on the second one soon. Now, I have a bit of "business" to discuss. Quite a few of you aspiring writers have been coming to me for advice on your fics, or asking me to read them over and critique them for you. While I'm INCREDIBLY honored and flattered that you all think so highly of my work, I am still only one woman and there's only so many hours in the day ;) I wish I could read every fic here (and believe me, I'm working through them at a slow but steady pace) right when asked, but I can't. Soooo…I've created a solution that I'm hoping will help most of you out. If you check out my profile page, you'll notice that I've set up a special "online course" on smut writing, where anyone with a LJ account (easy enough to create one) is welcome to join and play around with the different exercises. I already have a few students who have signed up, but it's always more fun to have a bunch of people on a forum to share ideas with! Likewise, if you're already an "expert" smut writer but don't necessarily have time to Beta, you can sign up as a "teacher" and post your own examples in the threads or give advice/tips for those who already worship you for your writing prowess-Jenna, I'm looking at YOU right now ;) As an added incentive, there's a thread where you can post "prompts" for other writers. So if there's a specific smut scene you have in mind that you want someone to write, then you can post the request there. There's going to be tons of fun little group activities and awards in the future AND….On my LJ, there's a bunch of little treats I've uploaded this week, available to all who want them! While still on the subject of LiveJournal…The TVD Recs community is still taking fic nominations. Please nominate as many authors/stories as you can for each category!

Now, please be good and review. The more you feed the muse, the more likely it is that I'll write another chapter for this…or write MY idea of what happens after our "I like you now, just the way you are" kiss; b/c it's been in my head for 2 days now, and I'm sure you'd all really like it ;)

XOXO

Carly