Damon's standing at his window, looking out over the city. Raising his coffee, he finishes what's left in his mug and then sets it down. He's frustrated that Mexico isn't cooperating with allowing them to bring Markos back to Texas. Sure he's eligible for the death penalty, he slaughtered a young woman in cold blood in front of her toddlers. To this day, he still struggles to understand the capacity some people have to commit evil. When his eyes land on the pink envelope, he knocks his forehead with his palm. Glancing at his watch, he quickly logs off his computer, snatches the envelope and hurries out of his office.
"Where's the fire?" Enzo asks, when Damon darts inside the elevator just as it's closing.
"My niece's birthday, I damn near forgot. I'm gonna run over to the park, hopefully they're still there," Damon shakes his head, upset at himself for brushing off something so important to his favorite little girl.
"You coming back?" Enzo asks when the elevator stops on the ground floor.
"Yeah, if I'm not in the doghouse, I'll stay a little while and then I'll return, lots of work to do."
"Have fun," Enzo calls from behind as Damon slips through the double doors and leaves the building.
He breathes a huge sigh of relief when he sees his family. He quickly parks the car and jogs over to them.
"Uncle Damon, you're here!" Allie squeals and runs into his arms.
"Hey kiddo," he hands her the card then lifts her onto his shoulders, carrying her piggy back to join the others.
"You made it," his mom arches an eyebrow at him.
After setting Allie down, Damon takes a seat next to her. "I'm working on the Mikaelson case, you've seen it on the news."
"Tragic," she pats his hand. "But you work too hard."
"I know mom," he agrees to placate her.
"You need to settle down and find a good woman like your brother," Lily's eyes drift to Stefan, Valerie and Allie who's showing them the card he gave her.
"Well, that sounds nice but I have to find her first," Damon quirks his brows right back at her.
"Thank you, Uncle Damon," Allie runs back to hug him for the $20 bill he tucked in the card.
"I'm sorry little girl, I didn't have time to pick up anything but once this case is over, I'll take you shopping and you can choose something."
With a twinkle in her eyes, she cups his ear and whispers, "I want a kitty."
Damon smiles, he can see Val's face already when they bring it home. "We'll keep that our little secret okay?" he winks at her.
"Ah ha," she bobs her head and runs off to join her friends.
"She's a handful," his mother shakes her head.
"I'm going to say hi to Stef and Valerie before I lea..." his voice trails off when he catches a glimpse of Elena pushing a double stroller. "Excuse me for a minute would you?" Damon runs off before his mother can utter a word to the contrary.
"Elena, hi," he catches up and steps in beside her.
"Ranger Salvatore, did you need to talk to me?" she stops in her tracks, locking eyes with him.
"No... yeah, I want to ask you a little more about the mysterious Wes but I'm not here on business," he points towards his family, "Today is my niece's birthday party, she's 5."
"Which one is she?" Elena looks over there as Damon points to the little blonde girl wearing a pink fluffy dress with a princess crown on her head. "She's cute."
"She has her uncle Damon wrapped around her finger that's for sure," he laughs and continues to walk with her when the twins fuss and she begins to move again.
"Do you think they'll remember, I mean seeing Katherine like that? They're only 18 months old but I don't know..."
"I hope not, Elena, but I'm sure you'll help them if they do."
"Thanks," she starts to say when Allie runs over to them.
"My name's Allie, are you uncle Damon's friend?" she peeks at the babies. "They're cute."
"It's nice to meet you, Allie, I'm Elena. These two babies are my niece and nephew, Nadia and Noah. And I guess I'm your uncle's friend." Elena shares a look with Damon.
"Yes, I'd like to think that too," Damon concurs and Elena can see how his eyes grow even bluer.
"Hi babies," Allie pets their chubby toes.
"Happy birthday," Elena smiles at the young girl.
"How did you know?"
"Your uncle told me."
"Daddy wants to talk to you before you go back to work," Allie takes his hand.
"Alright, nice seeing you Elena, I'll give you a call," he nods and lets his niece drag him away although he'd rather spend more time with Elena Gilbert.
"Damon, come in," the man looks up, gesturing for him to enter when he pokes his head in.
"Thanks Vincent," he pulls out a chair and sits down.
"Coffee?"
"No thanks, listen I'm here on a case..."
"You don't say," the FBI agent swallows what's left in his cup.
"I'm sure you've heard about the Mikaelson case in Galveston?"
"Who hasn't?" Vincent replies, tenting his fingers as he stares at Damon.
"We have suspect, he left a print at the scene and we found Mrs. Mikaelson's DNA in his sister's vehicle. We know he borrowed it and was gone for a few days."
"So what's the problem?"
"He got through border patrol and is in Mexico. Let's just say they're not in the mood to extradite him. I could use your help."
"Have you talked to the DA?"
"Yeah, I've talked to him, he's not willing to take death off the table just yet. I tried to tell him that we won't get Barstow back here unless he does but you know as well as I do that Matt Donovan does what he wants."
"He's a good man, Damon. Has an impressive record on convictions."
"Yeah, yeah, I know. It's just frustrating. The guy slaughtered that woman in front of her twin babies. There's a special place in hell waiting for him," Damon rakes his hand through his dark hair.
"I hate to chase you out of here, but I have a meeting to go to. I'll do what I can, you have my word."
"Thanks Vincent, I appreciate anything you guys can do," Damon shakes his hand and walks out with him, they separate when he ducks into the stairwell to head back to his office.
"Detective St. John, I'm Elijah Mikaelson. I'm here to represent my brother," he shakes Enzo's hand.
"Have a seat," Enzo leads them into an interrogation room.
"Why am I here again? I told you everything I know several times now," Nik's frustrated. "You're wasting all this valuable time on me instead of trying to find her real killer."
"I'm not at liberty to talk about all the dynamics at play here," Enzo starts, his eyes drifting from Nik to Elijah. "I have some pictures I want you to look at, tell me if you recognize any of them." He lays out a random group of criminals, Markos among them.
Nik looks at him before picking them up one at a time and perusing them carefully. Enzo watches meticulously for any little shift in his facial expression, a tighter grip, a mannerism, anything that may indicate that the man knows one of them.
"I don't know who any of these men are," he admits, and shoves them back to the detective. "Is one of these men on your radar?"
"I can't say," Enzo stacks the mug shots up and lays them in front of him. "You and your sister in law seem pretty tight?" he leads with a question.
"What are you implying?" Nik's hand tightens into a fist.
"I'm just saying, she's a beautiful woman, the two of you..."
"That's it, this interrogation is over," Elijah slides back his chair and stands up, nodding for his brother to walk out. Pausing at the door, Nik turns around, "I'm not going to dignify that remark with an answer."
With that, he walks out, leaving Enzo to contemplate what just happened.
It's late by the time Damon leaves the office so rather than cook, he stops at Subway to get himself something to eat. While waiting in line to order his sandwich he looks around, his eyes popping when he sees Elena Gilbert sitting by herself, a sub in front of her while she's texting. He chuckles and a smile forms when he remembers Enzo calling her a mountain lion if raised to anger. It's not hard to imagine.
As soon as he gets his twelve inch tuna on wheat, he fills his soda cup with Cherry Zero then takes his food and approaches her. "Do you mind if I join you?" he asks, interrupting her concentration.
"Ranger Salvatore, please sit down," Elena clicks off her phone and drops it in her purse.
"Please call me Damon," he sides into the booth opposite her, unwraps his sub, and takes a bite to mask his sudden uncertainty that he sometimes feel in her presence. It's not in his character to get so friendly with people involved in cases. His cases.
"Long day?" she asks, popping a potato chip in her mouth."
"In all honesty, yes, your sister's case is baffling."
"How so?" Elena takes another bite of her turkey bacon club sandwich.
"I've seen alot of horrible things in my career, Elena, it's still difficult to comprehend the viciousness of the attack on her. I want to make that person pay."
"I do too but I don't know what you expect to gain or learn by calling Nik in for questioning every damn day." she quirks a brow.
"I get that you're upset and why however, most homicide victims know their killers. If I overlooked him simply because they were married, I wouldn't be doing my job. And whether you'll admit it or not," he pauses to take a pull from his straw, "you would be angry if I left any stone unturned."
"I suppose but Nik is innocent," she refuses to be persuaded to the contrary.
"I haven't accused him of anything but I don't want there to be any doubt."
Elena sighs and drops her head when her phone rings. "Excuse me," she answers it, nods a few times then says she's on her way. After dropping it back in her bag, she finishes her drink. "I have to go, one of the twins has a fever."
"Are you staying with your brother in law?" Damon asks tactfully.
"No, he's staying with me. He can't take care of the babies alone," she explains matter-of-factly.
"Thanks for letting me join you."
Goodnight Damon, I enjoyed this." Elena gives him a smile and hurries out.
"Goodnight," he says softly and follows her movements till he sees her back out of her parking spot and drive away. There's something about Elena Gilbert that he can imagine might drive a man like Niklaus Mikaelson mad. He makes a mental note to question the neighbors from their old neighborhood to see if anyone can give some insight on how the Mikaelsons got along. After finishing his sandwich, he refills his soda, hops on his Harley and heads back to headquarters. It's going to be another long night.
"So we know the cash from her wallet was taken, and some of the drawers were rifled through, Mikaelson said she had a diamond pendant on when he left for work that morning. It wasn't on her body, nor did we find it when we searched the home."
"Robbery?"
"When you take into account, the brutality of the murder - I have that hinky feeling that something deeper is going on here," Damon looks up at Enzo.
"I tend to agree but Markos isn't talking," Enzo gets up to pour himself another cup of coffee.
"But why borrow his sister's car and drive all the way to Galveston for a robbery? It makes no sense - unless..."
"I know exactly what you're thinking Damon but we have nothing - as in no physical evidence to suggest a conspiracy."
"Have we gotten his financial records? Computer? Anything that might tell a story?"
"We know he has or had a computer but the sister claims she doesn't know what happened to it."
"Convenient. What do we know about her other than she denies knowing anything? Let's ask the Huntington, West Virginia PD to check the local pawn shops, look into his banking records, let's run him to ground."
"I'm on it," Enzo tosses his coffee cup in the waste basket, nods at Damon and leaves the room.
Sighing, Damon spins his chair to gaze out of the window. The sky is consumed in numerous shades of grey, white and black. It looks like the sun has given up on trying to break through this iron curtain of clouds that it has become content to lounging out behind them. Thunder rumbles in the distance and a bolt of lightning cracks the dark sky into two. Jagged flashes of pure light cast a glow against the monochromatic background.
Soon rain is cascading in diagonal sheets in its full glory. There is a certain rhythm to the downpour that he catches amidst the wind unleashing a torrent of its own. The rain exhibits no signs of ending.
Seagulls are tossed like paper in the storm, flashes of white in the grey, tumbling as they struggle against the gale. Beneath them the sea rises as great mountains, anger in the form of water, turbulent and unforgiving.
Damon can't help but realize the storm matches his mood and then his mind drifts to Elena. She's a vision and he can't help but feel drawn to her. Yet he doesn't know how to read her? He suspects she's slow to anger but a mighty foe when that line is crossed.
The sound of the phone ringing snaps him out of his reverie. Taking a breath, he turns his chair and answers it.
"Damon, it's Vincent. I have some news."
He listens carefully to what the FBI agent has to say. Instantly infuriated, Damon pounds his fist on the desktop. "What the fuck? How in the hell did that happen?"
Thank you all so much for you continued interest, you're amazing. The story is over 20 chapters - much to come.
Title: 'Your Funny Uncle' by The Pet Shop Boy.
Thank you Eva. Love you to pieces.
Have a lovely day and a great week ahead. We'll see you next time.