Disclaimer: I do not own anything you recognize here. TVD and SPN both belong to the CW. Anything recognizable belongs to the creators of the shows along with the writers.

Chapter Eleven:

Showered and now in dry clothes, Dean and Ruby were all smiles until they entered the living room of the Salvatore boarding house. The look in Sam's deep green puppy dog eyes said it all. They both went to his side to ensure that he was okay although Ruby also glanced over at Stefan who seemed to be in a rather brooding like state. Damon, of course, was nowhere to be found and the blonde demon was beginning to wonder if something had happened to him only for Stefan to speak up relieving her from thinking the worst.

"Someone burnt the garden in the cellar, but it was only about half full. Whoever it was also left behind a psychic trace that, uh, Sam picked up on." The younger Salvatore brother explained to Dean and Ruby rather calmly.

Dean glanced at Sam and then looked at Stefan in disbelief, "What do you mean Sam picked up on it? Wait, a garden? Someone burnt down your garden and you're all upset?"

"It wasn't just any garden, Dean. It was a garden of vervain. It's a herb that's toxic to vampires if ingested. Humans that wear or ingest it can't be compelled by vampires either. Wait, Stefan, what do you mean Sam picked up on a psychic trace?" She smacked Dean's arm explaining the garden to him before turning her attention toward the younger Salvatore brother.

"I put out the fire with the fire extinguisher and then we were looking around for clues. I turned around so that my back was facing the little garden room and walked toward the Salvatore brothers. I only took about a step and then I was hit with a psychic vision. I saw some kind of small wooden box with a mechanism inside of it. There was also fireworks and Damon was on the floor with a wooden stake in his chest. It was in a room with a wooden staircase. There was also flames and someone was at the top of the staircase, but I couldn't tell who was standing there." Sam cut in explaining what he saw and sighed softly.

His green eyes widened as he listened to what his brother said and then he looked at Stefan, "Who knows about this vervain garden that you had?"

"Well aside from the four of us and Damon, Elena also knows. So does Caroline. Our Uncle also knew about it, but he's dead so as far as I know he never told anyone." He furrowed his eyebrows in deep thought as he tried to think of anyone else who could of possibly of known about the garden.

"Alright, we need to check with Elena and Caroline to make sure they didn't tell anyone about the vervain garden. Hey Sammy? Do you think you could sketch out that box you saw in your vision with the mechanism inside of it? If we had a better idea of what it looked like, it might help us figure out how it's connected to the fire." Ruby explained looking at Sam who simply nodded at her in agreement.

With that said, Sam got to work on his sketch while Stefan agreed to run over to Elena's as Ruby had agreed to go find Caroline, but of course no one wanted her to go alone. She watched as Dean somehow goaded Damon into a round of Rock, Paper, Scissors. Ruby knew this was pointless since Dean always chose scissors and true to form, he chose scissors yet again while Damon's pale hand remained in the formation of a fist. A smug expression formed on Damon's face much to the annoyance of Dean and the elder Winchester brother pulled Ruby into a kiss before reluctantly releasing her to the vampire.

His green eyes hardened into a glare which he targeted on Damon, "Don't even think about touching my fiancée or I'll stake your sorry ass so fast you won't even see it coming."

"Your what?" Stefan and Sam exclaimed simultaneously as they looked over at Ruby in shock.

"Um, surprise?" She shrugged her shoulders and smiled softly.

"Congratulations to the both of you." Stefan nodded his head shaking Dean's hand before hugging Ruby.

"Well it's about damn time! Welcome to the family, Sis." Sam grinned softly pausing from his sketching duties long enough to pull Ruby into a hug spinning her around slightly before placing her back down on her feet.

Though she'd probably never admit it out loud, Ruby couldn't help feeling touched by Sam's reaction and the fact that he had called her 'Sis'. She watched the Winchesters do the whole brotherly hug thing and smiled proudly at them. Before she could say anything, however, Damon grabbed her arm and whisked her out of the house using his vampiric speed. He finally stopped running when they had reached The Mystic Grill and pinned her under his pale cerulean stare against the brick wall around the corner from the entrance.

"I'm a demon, remember? You can't compel me, Damon." She remarked calmly as she returned his gaze.

Damon looked at her in disbelief and shook his head, "I'm not trying to compel you, Ruby."

"Then what are you trying to do?" The newly engaged blonde questioned the handsome vampire.

His lips twisted into a slight smirk as he gazed down at her, "Just checking to ensure you haven't lost your damn mind. A hunter, Ruby? Why would you want to marry him?"

"Because, Mr. Salvatore, I love him." She smiled softly not realizing the significance of what she had just said and pushed past him making her way into The Mystic Grill.

The horse drawn carriage pulled up to the Salvatore boarding house and she smiled when she saw Stefan Salvatore waiting there for her. With her blonde locks pinned back into a fancy up do and her new crimson red corseted dress, Ruby Covington looked like a poster girl for southern belles. Stefan helped her out of the carriage and she promptly greeted him with a hug. The carriage pulled away and a knowing smile appeared on the younger Salvatore brother's face which only seemed to make Ruby even more curious. Hearing footsteps, the blonde turned around only to see the older Salvatore brother, Damon, standing a few feet away from her in his uniform. A grin spread across her face as she hiked up her dress running toward him and let it go at the last second leaping up into his arms.

"But how..I mean..I thought you were off fighting in the war?" She asked as she pulled away slightly cupping his face in her hands and staring into his pale cerulean eyes.

Damon grinned softly obviously amused by her reaction and chuckled slightly, "I was, but I realized that I didn't belong there. I belong here with my family and with you. Father is royally miffed though. He'll get over it eventually."

"Well, regardless, I am still so very proud of you." Ruby smiled as he set her down on her feet.

He and Stefan shared a knowing look before he dropped down on one knee in front of the blonde, "Proud enough to marry me?"

"What? I..Of course I'll marry you, Damon." She grinned happily as her bright blue eyes sparkled with joyous tears.

Damon grinned sliding the silver ring onto her left ring finger and stood up pulling her into a kiss. The silver banded ring had a rather simple design of a six leaved ruby flower with four diamond leaves on either side. In the center of the ruby flower was a ruby bud encircled by silver and diamonds. Once the newly engaged couple pulled apart, Stefan grinned softly congratulating his brother and his soon to be sister in law. The sound of someone clearing their throat caught their attention and they turned only to see that it was the father of the Salvatore brothers. Naturally, Ruby was the first to speak up. After all, she always did have a way with the Salvatore men.

"Giuseppe, how wonderful to see you! How are you and Lady Salvatore faring today?" The newly engaged blonde walked over to her soon to be father in law and curtsied in front of him before he kissed the back of her hand as was proper in those days.

He let go of his hand smiling at the blonde and eyed his sons, "Very well although we'd be better off if our oldest hadn't of shamed us like he did. What is the meaning of this ring? Ruby, did you finally find yourself a proper suitor?"

"Shamed? Damon made a very honorable choice. He chose his family. Oh, that. Well, I'm sure you'll find out soon enough anyway so I might as well tell you, Giuseppe. Your oldest just asked for my hand in marriage and I accepted." She glanced over at Damon and grinned softly.

Giuseppe Salvatore, though he adored Ruby most of the time, didn't appear too fond of her announcement, "Damon? Why on earth would you want to marry him? Why not Stefan?"

"Because, Mr. Salvatore, I love him." With that said, Ruby took Damon's hand and walked past his father making their way into the Salvatore boarding house.

Caroline was sitting at a table with Bonnie in The Mystic Grill when Ruby walked in. She ordered a Coke and sat down with the girls surprising them with her presence since they obviously weren't expecting her. Damon approached the table a few moments later quite amused by the small talk that Ruby was making with the two girls. She looked over at him for a moment only to roll her eyes at the smirk on his face. Of course that only made him smirk more as he watched her take a sip of her Coke.

He could tell that Ruby was about to say something so he spoke up instead, "You know, it's a good thing Elena left the boarding house when she did today. At least she didn't have to witness the flames billowing out of the cellar."

Pure shock was apparent on Caroline's face as she looked at both Damon and Ruby, "Flames? Oh my god, what happened?"

"Well I didn't actually see it, but someone set fire to the cellar of the boarding house. Thankfully no one was hurt since the boys put the flames out before it became out of control." She remarked sincerely because she truly was grateful that her boys hadn't gotten hurt.

Bonnie took a sip of her own soda and appeared sympathetic toward the two of them, "Well I'm glad no one got hurt. Why would someone set fire to a dusty old cellar anyway?"

"That's exactly what I thought! Luckily for the Salvatore brothers, there was only minimal damage from what I heard. It was only in one general location so I'm sure it won't take the boys long to figure out what caused the fire though, right Damon?" The older blonde took another sip of her Coke and batted her eyes slightly at the blue eyed vampire.

Damon eyed her for a moment before nodding his head in agreement, "Of course. Such a shame that one of Stefan's prized possessions got destroyed by the flames though. Sure, it was a bit too kitschy for my taste, but my brother adored it."

"Yeah exactly. Well, uh, it was lovely chatting with you girls, but we should probably make sure the boarding house didn't get even more wrecked while we were gone." Ruby simply said before practically dragging Damon out of The Mystic Grill.

It wasn't until they returned to the Salvatore boarding house that Damon and Ruby found out from Stefan that Elena hadn't told anyone about the secret vervain garden in the cellar. They were seemingly back at square one as Ruby poured herself a drink and then Damon snapped his fingers before running off. He returned mere moments later with a beige flyer in his hand showing it to Sam, Dean, Ruby and Stefan. The vision that Sam had in the cellar was beginning to make sense to them and it was almost as if a light bulb had gone on above Ruby's head.

"The fireworks in Sam's vision, that's it! Whoever stakes Damon is going to stake him on the night of the Founder's Day celebration which according to this flyer is tomorrow night. Wait, you guys said that whoever set that fire in the cellar took a lot of the vervain from it right? Well, what if the vervain is to subdue Damon? I mean, they have to weaken him somehow right?" Ruby asked taking a sip of her drink before looking over at Stefan.

"She has a point. Sam, think back to your vision. Specifically when you saw someone at the top of the stairs. Now I know you said that you couldn't tell who it was that was standing there, but can you make out anything about them at all?" The younger Salvatore brother instructed the younger Winchester brother hoping it might give them some kind of lead to work on.

"Well everything is a bit hazy from the smoke and flames. I can see the person standing at the top of the stairs though. It's a girl from what I can tell, but nothing is really standing out about her." Sam remarked with his eyes closed and then opened them only to see Ruby's eyes flash to their angrier onyx shade.

"Oh my god, It's Bonnie! What? You heard her, Damon. She referred to the cellar as being a dusty old cellar. Now how would she know that unless she's been down there herself?" She stated as her eyes returned to their normal bright blue shade.

Damon eyed her for a moment and then shook his head, "Maybe because it's a cellar, Ruby."

"Yeah I know that, Damon, but she knew you were lying when you said that one of Stefan's prized possessions was burnt in the fire. I could see it in her eyes. Caroline totally believed you, but not Bonnie. Also she had a tiny sprig of vervain caught in the cuff of her jacket." The blonde demon explained with a smug 'I know I'm right' look upon her face.

He rolled her eyes at her and then smirked softly, "Fine, you're right, but that still doesn't help keep me away from that stake tomorrow night. I can't believe I'm about to say this, but we need a plan."