Enjoy!

Chapter 6: Home visits

When Elle walked into the Dallas police department precinct with Kieran holding her hand tightly she caused a massive uproar. The officer on duty by the entrance jumped up from his seat behind the counter, gasping out her name. Tasha, on the other hand, was gaping, the phone in her hand dropping to her desk. Then, a large grin spread across her face.

"If you don't mind, officer Davis, we'll straight up to see the Chief?" Elle told the man at the desk, who only nodded stiffly. Tasha was beside herself with joy, grabbing the phone again and giving Elle a series of nods. As the odd duo got onto the elevator, Kieran gave her an odd look.

"What're they staring at you for? Did you kill someone or something?" He asked as the elevator dinged, doors opening.

"May as well have." Elle grinned, leading him through the bullpen and towards the Chief's office. Similar reactions followed the young officer and her charge as she walked. She caught Dean's excited eyes as he gave her a wide a grin and a big thumbs up. Elle offered a smile back, continuing on her way to the office. She knocked twice, for once, before opening the door without waiting for an invitation. Chief Ramirez gave her a half-glare from behind his desk.

"At least you knocked, right?" He grunted out. Elle gave a small nod and smiled at him. "Why do you look like you've been working narcotics? Did Montgomery rope you into a round-up again?" He tossed his pen onto the papers on his desk and leaned back in his chair, giving her a once-over.

"Not at all, Chief. I promised to go through proper channels last time, didn't I?" Elle couldn't help the slight exasperation from making it into her tone. True, she'd worked narcotics when she'd just started. She looked young enough to pass as an escort and had proper training in dealing with thugs on the street. But, after she'd been transferred to homicide as an officer she'd only given into Montgomery's begging once and played bait for some high ranked politician. It was later that Elle had realized that the detective hadn't cleared her involvement with the Chief, who had been furious, and rightfully so. They'd both gotten a thorough tongue-lashing about proper protocol and channels they needed to go through in order to authorize an op like that. But, Montgomery had saved their careers when he'd noted that the politician had had an informant on the inside. "I have someone here I thought you'd like to meet." Elle stepped to the side, allowing Kieran to come into view. "This is Kieran O'Callaghan."

"Madre de Dios!" Chief Ramirez was on his feet in an instant. "Close that door behind you. I don't need those brats listening in." And Elle did as she was told, giving Kieran a much-needed smile of encouragement. The crowd in front of the door let out a collective groan of disappointment as the sound-proof barrier closed behind the duo.

"Let's sit, shall we, kiddo?" Elle suggested conversationally. "I'm certain that the Chief has some chocolate stashed somewhere in his desk." She grinned and headed for the chairs in front of her. Kieran followed, reluctantly, like a little lost duck tailing his mother.

"Don't tell Paulina." And Chief reached into one of his drawers, tossing a bag of Hershey's Kisses at the officer. Soon enough, they had a highly informative conversation flowing.

Kieran had proved to be a smart cookie. And Elle wasn't surprised. With years in foster care, he had a bag of adult-proof tricks up his sleeve. He'd refused to leave the young officer's side, screeching like a little hellion when the social worker tried to take him away. So, in the end, Elle was stuck with the boy. The Chief had her fill out paperwork that had the boy in police custody as a material witness until proper channels could be followed and he could be placed safely with a family. Hence, Elle found herself changing from her 'narc clothes' into a proper T-shirt and jeans from her locker after a thorough conversation with the boy's case worker. She would be allowed to take him home and feed him, keeping him under constant supervision for the following few days, as they planned to keep up the ruse of Kieran missing. That, of course, posed a small problem, as Elle had work with Sheriff Godric scheduled for the evening. Which led to her current situation.

Kieran had been eager to get out of the police station and into Elle's old car. He stretched out in the back seat like he owned it and settled there, while she made a phone call she honestly dreaded. Isobel had been helpful, giving both her and officer Dean the contact number of the top three in command of the Area Nine. But, Elle hadn't even thought of using either of those contacts, especially not the one that she was currently staring down. Sheriff Godric, it said clearly on her screen. She just needed to dial. Just dial. Just dial a vampire Sheriff and tell him she couldn't come that evening for her work. Elle groaned and let her forehead hit the steering wheel.

"Calling your boyfriend to tell him you're brining your secret love child home?" Kieran piped up from the backseat helpfully. Elle glared back. Gosh, the kid was smart. And snarky. It came with the job description, she supposed. Dave hadn't been that bad, though. But, he'd had his moments where he'd driven her nuts.

"As if." And Elle hit dial. It rang once, twice and then kept going. She wondered if the Sheriff was having trouble with the gadget, like with his Gmail. She was ready to hang up when a smooth voice picked up on the other side.

"Hello?" Sheriff Godric seemed surprised by the call and sounded just a bit out of it. Had she woken him up?

"H-hello, sir?" Elle stammered, her heart beating wildly. He could probably hear it from the other side easily enough, with what she'd learned about their vampire perks. "It's Elle Hart, sir." There was lazy shuffling on the other side.

"I know." Now, he sounded mildly amused, as he always did when they talked. "Is everything alright?" Elle almost choked on air. She had a certain impression of Sheriff Godric. He was stoic, the lazy kind of slow, like he was always worried about spooking his human liaisons and he was often amused by their antics, as if he hadn't had the chance to interact with many humans throughout the years. But, she'd never gotten the impression of him being kind. But, he was. As she recalled the way he'd always tried to make working with both her and officer Dean easier on them, she realized that he was. Suddenly, Elle felt rather guilty about picking up Kieran herself and not just reporting the possible location to Harris and his task force. "Miss Hart?"

"I-I don't think that I'll be able to come in tonight for work." Elle collected herself. "Is it possible to do the paperwork from home and video conference with Dean to touch base?" She already had a drawer full of files on suicides which she had begun to organize, somehow. There was silence for a moment.

"It's alright." Sheriff Godric's lilt still bothered her in a way that she needed to know its origin. She'd re-watched a number of videos online, trying to locate the proper one. "We have a few humans to re-interview tonight. I can do them on my own." Danish?

"Oh crap." Elle whispered, her head hitting the steering wheel again. She looked at the automatic clock on her car, turned on as she'd blasted the AC again. She calculated. "Hang on a second." Fifteen minutes to get home. An hour to get Kieran settled in and brief Dave on the situation. Another hour to get the kid some food and put him down for bed. Maybe they could get something on the way and cut the time? "Would you be able to pick me up at home for the interviews at nine?" Then, Elle remembered that she was talking to the vampire Sheriff. "I-if it's not too much trouble, sir."

"Not at all." The vampire replied. "And, miss Hart," Elle's head shot up. "It's just Godric, if you would." Right, he had asked to be called by his name only. She'd committed yet another vampire faux pas, apparently.

"Y-yes, of course, sir. Godric, I mean." She stumbled through, wincing as she realized that she probably sounded like some love-struck teenager or something.

"Alright." The Sheriff didn't seem to notice, or chose not to. "Shall I call this number when I'm at your address?"

"Yes, please." Elle nodded, reaching over to start driving. "Thank you so much, s- Godric. It won't happen again."

"It's no inconvenience." And the line cut off. Was he mad? Troubled by her demands after only being a single week on the job? He'd said that he was inconvenienced by it, tough. Elle shook her head as she pulled into the busy traffic and banished the thoughts from her head. She tossed her cellphone into the seat beside her and glanced over at Kieran in the rearview mirror. He was looking out the window with a semi-bored expression.

"Kieran, wanna grab some food on the way or should I cook?" Elle asked. "There's a Subway near my place."

"Whatever's good." The boy piped up.

"Let me see if Dave's home. That's my brother." Elle explained. "He's really good at cooking and I suck, honest. If he isn't, we'll grab something at Subway." She reached for her cellphone again.

It turned out that Dave was at Amy's, helping her study for the BAR. He took in the situation with a minimal amount of yelling and outrage, but agreed to help, regardless. But, in the meantime, Kieran was Elle's responsibility, which scared the crap out of her. She was actually toying with the idea of calling up her parents and asking for some tips. After all, Elle lived like a broke college kid ninety eight percent of her time. She ate when she could and she slept a ridiculously short amount of time, especially with her new position as a liaison. Taking care of a child meant making time for them, too. She would need to shuffle some stuff around and accommodate.

Kieran was surprisingly easy to handle, though. He'd followed Elle on her gloriously embellished tour of the tiny flat where she lived. The two bedrooms, one which she would be sharing with the boy, and the small living room and kitchenette where Dave was the master, through and through. Elle was a bit embarrassed by all the files and papers, along with semi-dirty clothes that lay strewn about. With her being in DPD and Dave working for a private law firm, they both had a number of cases which they brought home, trying to meander through the paperwork on their own time. It was a mess. A huge mess of a tiny flat. But, the kid seemed content.

"Is there somewhere I can put this?" He asked her, looking around her room. Elle's bed was unmade, there were papers on it, clothes and empty Subway wrappers. About half a dozen disposable coffee cups sat on her nightstand, waiting to be thrown out. Her wardrobe was open, showing messily thrown clean clothes inside. She was a slob, Elle realized. She was a horrible slob.

"Yeah." The young police officer walked over to her wardrobe and chose the bottom two drawers, emptying them on the bed. "This should be okay, right?" She grinned at the kid. "I work a lot, so… Yeah, this is how it looks on a good day." Kieran grinned.

"I'd take this over any polished home, officer." He told her and stepped over her jeans carefully on the way to the wardrobe. "It's honest." He shrugged and tossed his backpack next to her wardrobe. Then, he gave her a wide grin.

"Alright, cheeky brat." Elle messed up his hair and choose some boy shorts from her top drawer. "Let's get you into the shower." She dug out a T-shirt, as well, along with a fluffy white towel.

"You look like you need one, too." Kieran offered, sniffing at her. "Before your date with Goooodriiiiic."

"Oh, you little brat!" Elle threw the shirt at him, which he caught before it hit his head. "He's my… boss?" She tilted her head. "I think…" She shook her head. "Definitely not in the dating pool."

It took a moment for Kieran to work the shower and get himself cleaned up. He took more time than necessary and Elle pressed her ear against the door, hearing small sobs. She sighed and smiled. Good, he was letting it out. She'd wondered when the kid would finally break down. It was good that he was crying, even if it was when he had a locked door between them. After all, he'd had a poker face while he re-told the story of his adoptive parents' murder to the Chief. So, this was good.

Elle was putting fresh sheets on her bed when the front door unlocked. A pitter patter of her dog's paws sounded out as he checked out the new scent in his home. Soon enough, Dave was in her room, wearing his court suit. Without words, they communicated quickly, her telling him that the kid was in the shower and him being annoyed at her for taking the boy in without asking him. But, Dave finally threw his hands up, telling her that it was her problem and that he didn't want any part in it, before heading to the kitchenette.

"Dog!" Kieran's voice rang out and Elle forgot all about arranging her clothes in the wardrobe, just tossing them on the bottom of the section with hangers. "Here boy!"

"That's Snuffles." Dave's voice sounded. Elle came into the short hallway which led from her room, passing the bathroom and Dave's door to walk into the kitchenette. "I'm Dave, that idiot's brother." Dave was leaning on the counter, making himself coffee, while Kieran was on the floor, petting an eager Snuffles. The dog was on his back, enjoying his belly being scratched. Elle's shirt was a bit too big on Kieran, but it was clean. The boy's eyes were red, but he didn't show any signs of crying. Dave and Elle shared a look, agreeing not to mention it.

"Maybe you and Dave could take him for a walk tomorrow morning?" Elle suggested.

"Oh, please!" Kieran begged, looking at the man. "Please, mister Dave!"

"Alright, kid." The lawyer was obviously enjoying his new position at the top of the food chain. Elle shook her head and came closer to her brother.

"I'll put him to bed and then go to work. I have the vampire Sheriff liaison thing tonight." She explained. "Can you handle it if he has… you know?"

"Yeah, I got it." Dave nodded. Then, her gave her a small side hug. "You're doing the right thing, just in case you were wondering."

"I wasn't." Elle's phone rang and she dug it out of her jeans' back pocket and picked up. "Officer Hart."

"Miss Hart." Sheriff Godric's voice was as smooth as always. "It appears that I'm a bit early."

It was an odd situation. Very, very odd. Godric felt incredibly out of place sitting on the couch in the tiny living room, locking eyes from time to time with the tall, dark haired man named Dave. Elle's husband, he guessed. He hadn't bothered to read the whole length of her file, forgoing the personal section. Now, he semi-regretted that decision. Elle'd invited him up to wait, apologizing a number of times for the situation, which he'd assured her wasn't an issue. She'd asked him to come in, probably not even knowing that she'd given him permission to enter her home with those words. It had surprised him. Godric had been ready to sit in the comfortable driver's seat of his car and wait.

But, Elle had apologized, asked him for ten more minutes, and ran for the shower, after ordering her dog to shut up and not attack the vampire it seemed very anxious about. So, the Ancient found himself sitting in her living room, watching a small redheaded boy jump about, playing with the large dog, while Dave leaned on the counter top. It seemed like officer Hart had quite the family life. He wondered how her new position as a liaison between their departments had affected that.

"So…" Dave trailed off, but Godric's eyes locked onto his curious gaze. It was only slightly hostile. With the reputation of vampires around women, Godric would've been surprised at a non-hostile one, though. He wondered if he should reassure the man that nobody would be treating his wife as a pet in his nest for as long as he was Sheriff. "How's she doing during her first week?" The man asked conversationally.

"Good." Godric instantly replied. The boy and the dog were now doing some kind of a fetch game, where they both ran after the dog toy after it was tossed. Godric wasn't good with animals, them being cautious of his nature, but he was pretty certain that a game of fetch wasn't supposed to be quite like that. "Miss Hart is a good police officer. She's a quick learner of laws, too." At this, Dave laughed.

"Well, with both me and mom being lawyers, she'd better be." He grinned easily, sipping his coffee. "But, she doesn't play by the rules, just so you know. She gets a bit crazy, especially when she knows the law."

"I have yet to see her unorthodox methods." The vampire Sheriff's lips pulled in a small smile. He couldn't imagine the proper officer being unorthodox in anything. Though, the girl he'd seen jumping around his kitchen a few days ago to some pop music? He could imagine her finding all the law loopholes she could. Godric was looking forward to her surprising him, if she could manage it.

"I'm ready!" Elle came into the room, hair in a messy, wet bun on top of her head, clothes smelling fresh. Godric allowed himself to take in a deep, unnecessary breath. Dog, coffee, fabric softener and paper. Among all of those scents, he easily found Elle's unique one. The smell of her fresh, human blood. Elderberries and 0 negative. His mouth watered, fangs pushing against his gums. Godric, though, wasn't a newborn or a young vampire. They might have dropped fang at the sight of the bare, pale neck and the tantalizing smell of the woman's blood. He simply pushed back the urge to feed and got up.

"Shall we, miss Hart?" He suggested. The boy and the dog stopped playing. Or, at least, the boy did.

"You're leaving?" The child asked with wide eyes. Elle crouched down, ruffling his hair affectionately.

"Only for a bit." She reassured him. "You listen to Dave and go to bed like a good brat." She avoided his swipe at her for the comment and laughed, standing up. "I'll be home by the time you get up. Promise."

"Alright." The boy seemed troubled, still, but agreed. Godric was quite surprised to receive two waves and an invitation from Dave to come back whenever as he left the small apartment. Elle followed him, apologizing, yet again. At that point, Godric just wanted her to stop.

"Miss Hart." She stopped so that she wouldn't bump into his back, while he turned to her slowly on the stairs. He didn't like the fact that she was above him. It made him feel small. What an odd thing to cross his mind, Godric mused. He hadn't been bothered by his lack of height in many years. "I believe the matter of your apology to have been closed four 'sorry's ago. I'm going to have to do something drastic if you can't move past it." He heard her heart speed up. He felt the way air whooshed out of her lungs. Afraid? Yes. She was afraid. Her blood sang to him, telling him so. Godric allowed a small smile to make its way to his lips before he continued down the stairs and towards his car. He heard her splutter behind him, knowing that he'd been teasing her, before she followed him with a groan, muttering something about childish vampires.

Elle tried not to show her shock at the vehicle Godric drove. Seriously, that thing had to cost a small fortune. Then again, she'd heard plenty about vampires and their treasures. And, if Godric really was an old one, various blogs gave him just a little over a thousand years on his shoulders, it didn't come as a surprise that he'd accumulated a small fortune. Kind of like a dragon. As Elle sat in the passenger's seat, her mind wandered along the long list of different supernatural creatures, wondering about their existence and how true the myths about vampires were. Honestly, anything to distract her from the fact that she'd provoked a vampire, her boss, into messing with her in order to stop her from her word vomit apologies. He was mischievous, surprisingly.

The young officer glanced over, watching as he drove without a hitch. He didn't seem like the type to tease someone. Then again, he didn't seem like the type to struggle with Gmail either. If she saw him on the street, she'd peg him for one of those Amish guys on their Rumspringa. He looked a bit lost with the modern world and often got that glint in his eyes, like he enjoyed seeing new things.

"The first on our list is Mr. Tucker." Godric spoke, getting her attention back. Elle forced her thoughts to stop wondering, like they usually did. She could think about the intriguing vampire Sheriff that she couldn't figure out later. "His daughter committed suicide after a rape."

"Not uncommon." Elle nodded. "Her rapist wasn't sentenced, right?"

"Tried, but set free." Godric nodded. "There wasn't enough evidence and his attorney presented another possible scenario."

"He said, she said." Elle groaned.

"Mm?" There was a question there, she was certain of it. Elle didn't know if Godric was aware of it, but he tilted his head and his eyebrow rose slightly whenever he had a question. Sometimes, it was a silent inquiry. At other times, like this one, he vocalized it.

"Rape cases without a witness are usually called 'he said, she said' at the precinct." Elle clarified. "After all, there were only two people in the room. One claims rape, the other says it was consensual. Ergo, problem."

"I see." He nodded. "How do they end?"

"Depends on who the jury believes." Elle shrugged. "Our SVU has enough trouble with them, I assure you. Especially with the delicate nature of victims."

"So, you believe that this case is outside of our perimeters?" The vampire Sheriff never took his eyes away from the road, but Elle still felt like he was trapping her inside his sharp, grey gaze. Those eyes should be illegal.

"I have no idea." Her head hit the seat as she looked up. "I called my friend from SVU this morning to see about the details of the case with him. He was the arresting officer." Elle looked back to the road, realizing that they were close. "He said it was particularly messy. The girl had been in a relationship with the guy who raped her before. It was some kind of sick revenge for him, or something. Not to mention that he wasn't a repeat offender, but a model citizen. Hence, the perfect he said, she said scenario."

"She claimed rape and he said it was a tryst for old-time's sake." The Sheriff wasn't a fool, despite being inexperienced in this line of work.

"Exactly." The car pulled up and Godric turned it off, taking his keys with him.

"Shall we?" He asked. Elle nodded and they both slid out of the car. The walk to the house was short, in companionable silence. "Would you like to take point?" He offered. Elle gave a small nod.

"I've never done this before." She admitted when they came up to the door.

"Me neither." Godric gave her a small smile.

"Perfect." Elle rang the doorbell. "Let's not botch it up." They shared a small moment of silence before the entrance swung open to the inside. There was a man standing there, in nothing but boxers and a Longhorns T-shirt. His beard was growing out and he seemed like a general mess. Elle could smell the scent of beer in the air.

"Who're you?" His voice was gruff and his tone unwelcoming.

"Mr. Tucker, my name is Elle Hart, with DPD." Elle didn't miss a beat. She pulled her T-shirt up a bit, to flash her badge at the top of her jeans. "This is my associate, Godric." The man eyed the vampire Sheriff for a second. "We were hoping that you could answer a few questions about your daughter's case for us."

That's all folks!

Anyone notice the Easter Egg I tossed in? Elle is slowly warming up to Godric, no? Forgetting to address him as Sheriff properly and introducing him as her associate… With him being in a playful mood, it's quite inevitable, no? We'll see where that leads :)

My thanks goes out to all who favored and followed since last time! And, of course, to all of you lovely reviewers who keep me writing :D

Reviews:

Royal Ember: Hey! Thanks for the feedback :D I'm happy to make you blush, because you deserve all the damn praise you're getting :D Oh, you're the intrigued Guest? Sweet! I gotchu, completely. I usually read on my phone, too. But, I like to be logged in so that I can follow stories right away xD Like I said, you reviewing gave me like a mini heart attack xD Still a fangirl in total denial xD

Oooooh! I'm glad xD Godric is a tough one to write, I have to admit. With how little screen time he got, I kinda made my own spin of him and ran with it. I figure that Eric had to get the sass somewhere, no? Hence, you guys get to read about my childish version of Godric hahahaha
Btw, the sitting on tables and counters is a total headcanon of mine that I can't get rid of. I have a friend who does it, and every time I see him hopping onto one I think about Godric for some reason… Maybe cause they look alike? No idea xD
Elle is an idiot. Let's face it, she has no idea what she'd doing, but she dives in headfirst most of the time. It's gonna come and bite her in the ass soon enough, don't worry :D Isobel and Godric are surely going to suffer an aneurism or two just from dealing with Elle xD Happy to keep you entertained :D

Otakugirl1996: Thanks for the feedback! Glad that the scene with Godric and Elle came off that way. He finds her intriguing and she's just embarrassed at this point and trying to find her groove. Soon, I promise, soon!
Yeah, Elle is a tough cop, despite being a young lady. We'll see more of her steel balls (idiocy) soon enough :D Glad that the crime has you interested :D Hope you enjoyed the update!

Nurisiliel: Hello again and thanks for the wonderful review! Glad that you liked the kitchen scene :D It's one of my favorite moments, too :) Godric finally sees the silly Elle for a bit :D She will tell him that she found the boy, but, in due time :)
I need to admit that I was tempted to update right after you reviewed xD But, I held off just for a bit. I like to have a chapter or two written in advance, just so I can update even after I love inspiration for writing :D Cheers!

Anonymouscsifan: Thanks for the awesome feedback! Elle is a silly little thing, no? Godric is enjoying the show, though hahahaha She kinda dives into things headfirst and regrets her bravado after if she has the chance to hahaha Isobel is definitely having a hard time with the fact that Godric chose Elle as one of the liaisons… She'll learn to play by the rules soon enough, don't worry :)
Glad that you find Elle amusing! I have a lot of fun writing her, to be honest. She is a little wild, but she has to be if she's to make it in the boys' club of DPD, no? And, Godric is enjoying her antics the more he discovers :D Plenty of silliness to come hahahaha
Ahhh Kieran is a cute one. My heart goes out to him, too! I promise that there will be plenty of good things for him in the future, though. Hope you enjoyed the update!

I'll be looking forward to hearing what you guys think :D