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

~ X ~

Somewhere near Mystic Falls, Virginia

I easily followed the unsuspecting pair from the Lockwood dungeon to the red neck dive they finally ended up at. I slipped into the noisy, crowded bar with a group of laughing, chattering humans and commandeered a table in one of the darker corners. When the waitress eventually made her way over to me and asked what I wanted, I caught her eyes and commanded, "Bring your best bourbon and then ignore me." She blinked, smiled and said, "Of course". I allowed the din in the bar to engulf me and then fine tuned my hearing to the conversations I was interested in, namely that of the Salvatore Brothers.

Handsome lads, men really, but from my vantage point of one thousand plus years they appeared mere children. The younger one would be close to one hundred and sixty three now and the other brother maybe five years older. The elder Salvatore, Damon, was so attractive he bordered on beautiful. The other one, Stefan, though not quite as good looking as his brother, had the better body. He was lean, but all muscle without an ounce of fat on him.

I watched as Damon compelled the lively blonde bartender to offer her arm to Stefan and then carefully positioned his body to block his brother's feeding. His 'drink up brother!' was quite merry.

I was in no hurry to approach them. I sat, swirled my drink, and thought over what I knew about them.

I remembered the younger Salvatore from the raid on the Chicago night club back in the twenties. Even though Niklaus had escaped, I didn't waste the opportunity. I ordered my compelled cops to round up everyone in the club for questioning. I grilled the regulars, both human and vampire, in depth. The young witch Gloria reeked of vervain so I couldn't compel her, but she wasn't stupid and had no intention of dying for Niklaus. She answered my questions readily enough, and what she revealed gave me a lot to think about. Apparently, one particular boy meant a lot to Rebekkah. It seemed that my wayward daughter had fallen in love with one Stefan Salvatore, and that he was also great friends with Niklaus.

I found the boy squatting on the trash covered floor in the middle of the club examining something. I stood over him and said, "Hey kid, Chicago PD." He stood up, moved close to me, and said, "I'm not afraid of you." His cocky attitude amused rather than irritated me, and I replied, "Oh, I'm not here for you. " I showed him sketches of Klaus and Rebekkah and asked, "Have you seen these two?"

At first, I didn't believe his easy reply. "Never seen these people before in my life." But when I searched his eyes, it was obvious he was compelled.

Nothing further could be gained from him. I briefly considered killing him because of his friendship with Niklaus, but let it go, instead barking, "Let's wrap it up boys." It was better not to be hasty.

I had kept an eye on the brothers while I was thinking. They were playing a drinking game now. They bantered back and forth about how boring Stefan had been for fifty years. Damon sarcastically called him 'Saint Stefan'. Hmmm. His behavior certainly didn't qualify as saintly now.

I hadn't met the elder brother in Chicago. What I knew about him came from Katherine. Ah yes, Katherine. Did she really think she was going to dictate terms to me, Mikael, father of the Original vampire family? I made her pay for that insult. At first she fought the compulsion, but Katherine, above all else is a survivor. To get what you want out of someone you just have to know what's important to them and then use it against them. You need leverage. I drained her almost to the point of death and then semi-revived her with a cupful of blood only to drain it out of her again. After many such cycles of pain, helplessness, and burning, she accepted the inevitable. She talked for hours – everything she knew about Klaus and the brothers. She told me how she turned them both – but Stefan was the one she truly loved. She even revealed the exact moment he had touched her frozen heart.

I recalled that the older brother, Damon, was hot-headed, rash, unpredictable, in other words, a total loose cannon. Damon had been a disappointment to his father; they fought constantly. Katherine told me she had to compel Stefan, but Damon willingly drank her blood, eager to turn. Everything I had learned about him reminded me of Niklaus, and I was predisposed to be prejudiced against him because of it.

The younger one, Stefan, was the dutiful son. His father had turned to him when he was disappointed in Damon. Stefan was taught to manage the estate, had accepted an arranged marriage (Katherine confessed she had killed the girl out of jealousy) that would extend the family's properties and influence, and deferred to his father in all decisions. He reminded me of my son Elijah. I think if Elijah had a son he would be like Stefan.

Thinking about that stirred the old rage. In life I prided myself on being the head of my family, respected and obeyed by my wife and children, as I had respected and obeyed my father. My word was law as the elder Salvatore's word had been law to his son. Niklaus had destroyed it all. His folly had lead to Henreich's death, and my determination to make my family strong through witchcraft. I took a deep unnecessary breath to calm myself. Now was not the time to let my temper get the better of me.

I once again turned my thoughts to Stefan and his puzzling behavior. Apparently he alternated between the equivalent of a vampire monk and a total uncontrolled ripper. Suddenly, I remembered an obscure little tidbit that Katherine had babbled while begging for mercy. The Bennett witch, Emily, had told her she sensed the boy's soul was pure. That intrigued me; how could a ripper have a pure soul? Something niggled at the edge of my brain. Something that I had once overheard - witches discussing the effect of turning a person with a pure soul into a vampire. I couldn't quite recall it.

Damon was now dancing on top of the bar, alternating his attentions between two women. His graceful gyrations fit the rhythm of what was currently considered dancing music.

Suddenly he jumped off the bar and glided to his brother. Stefan had the blonde, now off-shift, bartender pressed against a support column and was grinding his body against her, his face buried in her neck. The boy was insatiable – this was his what? third drink of the night. I watched as Damon compelled a girl who had paused by the pair, obviously on the verge of intervening. He snatched her neck scarf and sent her on her way. Damon pulled Stefan off the bartender, tenderly wrapped the scarf over the bite marks on her neck, and sent her home while the younger Salvatore smirked.

They sauntered over to the bar and Damon called for another round. I started paying closer attention to their conversation.

They casually leaned against the bar, facing each other, sparring verbally, each one trying to get one up on the other one. I let the sibling bickering continue until I heard Stefan object. "Damon, he can't be killed."

This was my cue to take command of the conversation.

I moved so fast no human saw me and ended up just behind Stefan. I said, "Maybe I can help with that." As they turned to see who was speaking I walked in front of them.

I felt no need to disguise my casual contempt so, as I looked back and forth between them, I said, "The – Salvatore boys, I presume?", with a little extra emphasis on boys.

Stefan stared and slowly straightened up. His eyes never leaving mine he stepped right up to me, exactly as he had done in Chicago. I almost expected him to say, 'I'm not afraid of you'. I could see recognition in his eyes, and he nodded slightly, as if confirming something in his own mind.

"Mikael!"

Damon seemed a little taken aback.

I started my interrogation with a smile on my face, as I gently questioned Stefan. "Is Niklaus out of the country?"

Stefan smiled and said, "I can't tell you?"

"Has he spoken to you since he left?"

He hesitated slightly and then still smiling said, "I can't tell you."

I tried again, still calm. "Alright, can you tell me the last time you spoke to Niklaus?"

Stefan looked away as if exasperated because I didn't understand and then folded his arms and explained, "I am compelled to do what he says, and he says to keep my damn mouth shut."

Damon, as I expected, just couldn't resist chiming in and drawled, "I really hope this game of twenty questions isn't your secret weapon."

I turned my attention to him. I really didn't like his attitude and decided he needed a lesson.

I reached over and placed my hand on his shoulder. "You see, Damon—," I deliberately made my grip painful and he glanced down at my hand, wary now, "—I've been a vampire hunter longer than you've been alive. It's why I found you here. It's why I'm gonna find Niklaus.

Stefan was watching me, nervous now, licking his lips, and rocking slightly.

Damon didn't know when to back off. He still had his sarcastic attitude and lectured me. "Well, Klaus has been running for over a thousand years so if you think you're gonna get a work around here—"

Enough! My patience snapped, and I plunged my left hand under his shirt and into his chest cavity. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Stefan start forward. "Careful, Stefan," I cautioned. "One move and his heart's gone." The boy licked his lips, clearly upset. It was time to apply some leverage. Now that I had Stefan's total attention I turned to him, my left hand still on Damon's heart, right hand holding his shoulder and started again.

I let the steel creep into my voice. "Now, where is Klaus?" I demanded. I was getting to him. His eyes shifted to Damon and back and his mouth quivered, but he couldn't make anything come out.

I twisted my hand in Damon to make him moan. "Come on," I urged. "What's the trick question, Stefan?"

His face twisted and his body rocked, but he still couldn't speak.

"One twist, and he's dead. Unless you don't care, of course." I was mocking him – I knew he cared. Katherine told me how he sacrificed everything he valued, the girl he loved and his self control, to save his brother from the werewolf bite. I just had to keep up the pressure.

Damon groaned. "All his emotions have been shut off. He can't care."

"Really?" I taunted. "Is he into Klaus so strong he will let his own brother die?"

Stefan closed his eyes and struggled to speak. He lips parted, but nothing came out.

"No idea?" I commanded. "Think, Stefan!"

His teeth showed as he struggled to overcome the compulsion. His eyes were frantic as he looked at his brother. He was close. I just had to goad him into finding a way around the compulsion. I snapped my head back to the suffering Damon. I shrugged. "I guess you're right, he's a dead end." Stefan gritted his teeth as I continued. "And so are you, Damon. " I pulled his heart toward me. The squish was audible, but Damon's groan of pain was louder.

Stefan grabbed my left arm, right at Damon's chest. "Wait. I can bring him back. I can lure Klaus back to Mystic Falls."

I stared into Stefan's hopeful face and then pulled my empty hand out of Damon's chest.

"Hah!" My exclamation was quite jolly as I leaned in against Stefan to grab a bar cloth. Damon was of course, on his knees. Triumphant now that I got what I wanted, I said, "And there is our loophole," not that I was ever really in doubt that Stefan would come through. There is always a way around a compulsion provided there is enough incentive.

I explained to Damon as I cleaned off my bloody hand, "Just had to rile him up a bit."

I held Stefan's eye's and said with a touch of menace, "Get Klaus back to Mystic Falls, and I will gladly drive a stake through his heart. Fail – I'll drive it through yours." Stefan's face twitched. I don't know what emotions he was experiencing, but I think it was more anger at what I had done to his brother then fear for himself.

I left them thinking perhaps I should have clarified I would stake them both if he failed. Oh well, we could talk about it tomorrow.