The Fathers: #1: Damon Salvatore and Alaric Saltzman

Summary: [Part of 'The Other Key' series] Naturally, their first stop was a town that rivaled even Sunnydale in terms of the supernatural. Not to mention one of the possible dads was just like Spike personality wise.

Ok, here's the first two possible dads that aren't Spike, Angel, or Doyle: Damon and Alaric

.

#1: Damon Salvatore and Alaric Saltzman

As expected, telling Dawn she was actually half of a mystical key didn't go well, and it honestly broke Buffy's heart to see her sister like that. After reminding her constantly that it didn't change the way Buffy thought of Dawn, and that no one else besides them and Tara had to know for now, Dawn had finally calmed down enough to ask if she could come along when they went to meet the possible fathers. Deciding it was the least she could do after dropping such a huge bombshell, she agreed.

Together, the three of them came up with a fairly legit excuse for the others: Tara and Buffy decided to have a little bonding trip checking out places with massive supernatural activity, and Dawn was coming along so she would be able to further recognize different types of demons.

Joyce had protested at first, but stopped after being reassured nothing would happen to Dawn. The others- minus Riley- wished them luck. Riley, however, refused to back down, demanding he come with them.

"You can't seriously be thinking about doing this without backup!" He argued. Buffy resisted the urge to roll her eyes, suddenly really glad he wasn't one the list of possible fathers. Their relationship, she was realizing, had been steadily going downhill for quite some time now.

"I'll be fine Riley; Tara and I are more than capable of protecting both ourselves and Dawn." She replied, grabbing the bags she had packed for herself earlier this morning in preparation to head out.

Tara and Dawn did the same, and with a round of goodbyes, the three of them left the house, shutting off Riley's continued protests.

-BtVS-

"Who's up first again?" Buffy asked as the plane took off. Tara took out the list and Dawn peered around Buffy to get a better look.

"The spell actually turned out four of the fathers within the same area: a Damon Salvatore, an Alaric Saltzman, and an Elijah and Klaus Mikealson." She read off of her list. "I would've located more, but I was too tired to try." She apologized.

"It's fine. It's not like we're in any big hurry to meet all of the dads. Besides, we already know three of them." Buffy said.

"We do? Who?!" Dawn exclaimed. "Please tell me it isn't Riley."

"Angel, Spike, and Doyle- you've never met him, and I only have once." Buffy replied.

Dawn let out a little squeal. "Yay!" The two stared at her. "What, it's a good thing people we actually know are on there, isn't it?" She said, although really it was about the possibility of Spike being the father. But she wouldn't tell them that.

Buffy just shook her head and smiled slightly; despite what some Monks said, her sister was as real as the next person.

-T*O*K-

A few hours later, they arrived at their destination: a small town in Virginia called Mystic Falls.

"This should be the place- now all we have to do is find one of the four guys." Tara said. The three of them walked around for a bit, before noticing how this one place called 'The Grille' was full of people.

"We should start there." Dawn commented, and began strolling towards it, leaving the two women to follow.

When they managed to catch up to her, they found the girl already asking people if they'd seen any of the men they were looking for. Deciding it was useless asking since Dawn seemed to be asking everyone in the place, Buffy sat down at the bar. Tara sat next to her.

Someone slid into the seat on Buffy's other side, and her Slayer senses tingled slightly. She turned and found the person was a guy, maybe a few years older, with fairly decent looks: black hair, blue eyes, and a leather jacket that fit him quite well.

"What are two pretty woman like yourself doing sitting her alone?" He asked, trying to flirt. Buffy's tingles were still there, but as it was daylight, she relaxed slightly- though that didn't mean he couldn't be anything supernatural.

"We're looking for some people." She replied. "Do you happen to know a Damon Salvatore, Alaric Saltzman, or a Klaus and Elijah Mikealson?" She asked.

"Unfortunately, I do know the last two, and they're not people you want to meet. The second one is walking in-" The guy began. Buffy turned and saw a man in his late twenties possibly, with short brown hair, hazel eyes, and light stubble across his jaw walking through the entrance. "-as for Damon, well, you've found him." He finished, smirking at her.

Buffy just stared. This was one of the Monk's choices? A guy- albeit good looking guy- who seemed pretty average despite his obvious player skills? But there are the tingles you got… Her mind whispered.

"Why would you be looking for me or Ric? Just out of curiosity." Damon continued.

"Can we go somewhere private and discuss this; just you, Alaric, us and my sister?" Buffy asked at the same time Tara asked "Can we trust you?"

The Slayer glanced back at the witch, who was staring at Damon. She then remembered Tara could see aura's, and knew something had to be up with this potential father. Great… She thought sarcastically.

"Why do you ask that?" Damon asked, and Buffy noticed the look in his eyes.

Tara leaned in and dropped her voice so only the three of them could hear. "Your aura is similar to that of a vampire, yet you're able to walk in the day. That points to be something other than human." She said.

Judging by the look Damon developed in his eyes, Buffy decided to intervene before she ended up killing the possible father of her baby. "Look, we'll explain everything, but first we need to go somewhere private; preferably with Alaric."

Still looking at them warily, Damon nodded and led them through the crowd gathered at the Grill, stopping briefly to say something to the guy Buffy recognized as Alaric Saltzman. The other man shot them a look but followed them, while Buffy caught Dawn's eye and the teenager soon hurried over to join them as they left.

-T*O*K-

The five of them sat down in the insanely huge living room of the Salvatore Boarding House, which was were Damon and his bother apparently lived. There was nothing but silence for a long while, until Alaric finally broke it.

"While we're waiting for something to actually happen, can I at least get your names?" He asked Tara, Buffy, and Dawn.

They told them, and silence fell once again, until the lack of explanation must have finally gotten to Damon.

"Alright, we're alone. Why do you need to speak to us, and how the hell can you read auras?" He said, the last part directed at Tara.

"This is going to sound… weird, but I found out a few days ago that these men called Monks split this thing called the Key into two and sent the halves to me: one in the form of a sister, and the other as a baby. A Monk I found left behind a list of fathers, and your names were on there." Buffy said.

Damon snorted while Alaric stared at them. "That's impossible- vampires can't have kids!"

"This isn't any regular baby- it's a magical one. Therefor, it defies logic." Dawn said.

"And you might not even be the father- there are fourteen others, including Alaric and these two Mikaelson people." Tara added. "I can read auras because it's something I was born with along with magic."

"Wait, which two Mikealson's?" Alaric asked, changing the subject. He'd gotten over his shock at being told he was possibly a father of some magical baby. And I thought my life before now was weird.

"Someone named Klaus and another Elijah. You wouldn't happen to know where we could find them, would you?" Buffy replied.

"Yeah. There's a mansion not too far from here- that's where you're most likely to find them. Be careful, though. They're two Original vampires- the firstever vampires- and Klaus is a werewolf-vampire hybrid." He warned. He may not be the father of this child- or even consider himself ready for the responsibilities of being one- but he didn't want anything to happen to this baby or these three women.

"Great." Buffy mumbled.

"Thank you." Tara said, before getting up and heading for the door, Buffy and Dawn following.

As the door closed, they heard Damon say "Am I dreaming? Did some blonde chick really just tell me I'm possibly a father?"

*T*O*K*

Next two fathers: Elijah and Klaus Mikealson.

I decided to go ahead and tell you the other fathers. Ichabod Crane, Tony DiNozzo, Timothy McGee, Harry Potter, Ash. I'm still trying to decide if I should have Eragon and Aragorn be the other possible ones (remember, these are the Monks- chances are they would choose people from alternate dimensions) or Aragorn and Legolas or maybe just add Draco and Gibbs to the list or wait and see who else I can add (since I'm going to start watching Veronica Mars soon and possibly the anime Inuyasha as well). What do you think?