Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries.

Huge thanks to everyone who helped create the VD wiki as they have transcripts available for every episode! 3


Chapter 01 – Reunited at Last

I'd lost track of how long I'd been trapped inside my own body, it had to have been years since we'd been sealed inside the tomb, it only took a few days for the first of us to begin withering, our skin turning grey as we began to dry and desiccate from lack of blood. Only Katherine had escaped our unfortunate fate, despite it being something she was mainly responsible for causing.

My consciousness became more aware as I started to sense something alive moving among us, my whispers reflexively joining in with the others, reaching out to try and coax the unlucky human closer so I could finally quench my thirst and revive enough to walk among the living again.

Instead, I felt someone else approach me, barely feeling as they clutched my shoulders, pulling me away from where I was sat against one of the tomb walls, subconsciously noting their aura being one belonging to a vampire as they moved, the sudden scent of human blood hitting my nose. I lunged for the source on instinct, guzzling down the blood that was pressed insistently towards my mouth, encased not in a warm body but instead inside of some kind of hard yet malleable pouch that crinkled under my grip.

Pulling away once it dried up, I greedily took in gulps of air, my lungs now working again, though only partially restored. It was only once I had begun to calm down, my breaths slowing, that I became aware of the words being spoken to me, hushed reassurances and declarations of love that could only come from one man.

"Damon?" I croaked, my throat still not fully recovered.

"Shhh," He cradled my head, pressing a gentle kiss on my forehead "It's okay, I'm here." Pulling away from me for a brief moment he rearranged us so that his arm wrapped around my waist, lifting me to standing as he rose himself, steadying me as I stumbled, my muscles still weak from desiccation.

A distinctly female shriek echoed towards us, I tilted my head, squinting at Damon in curiosity as he let out a huff, him answering my silent question "Stefan's new girlfriend." A voice sounded from the same direction, though what was said was still indecipherable to my senses as they had not finished healing, still needing more blood before they were back to a normal state, well, for me at least. Damon's eyes narrowing as he heard whatever was said, guiding me along faster "And that's trouble."

Another, louder, scream pierced the air, Damon upping our pace once more as he practically carried me towards the source until we stumbled upon a group of three women, two I recognised as being Pearl and Anna who worked the apothecary, the third's name however eluded me as though my first assumption was Katherine, the scent of her human blood permeating the air proved that wrong.

"No, please don't!" The new doppelganger pleaded as Pearl latched onto her wrist, her eyes widening as she caught sight of Damon and I.

One more familiar face entered the scene as Stefan appeared, pushing Anna aside, ignoring her protests as he removed the other girl from Pearl's clutches "Let her go!" He took no notice of us, prioritising her safety as he pushed her in the direction of what I assume was the exit, Damon quickly leading me the same way.

The tomb brightened as we reached the entrance, the girl in front of us stepping out into a wider area to join two women who I supposed were the witches who had opened it, judging by the grimoire they were looking through, Damon supporting me as we tried to follow only to be blocked by an invisible barrier.

"Elena, Stefan..." The younger of the two greeted looking up only to trail off with wide eyes as she saw us at the barrier.

"He's right behind me." The doppelganger now identified as Elena replied, not noticing the witch's distraction as the elder also looked up, eyes narrowing harshly as she took us in.

Footsteps slowly approached from behind us as Stefan joined us, a dejected, but unsurprised expression on his face. It was at this point that Damon finally snapped, his jaw having been clenched, arms tense as they supported me, ever since we'd realised the spell on the tomb had in fact not been truly broken "You better let us out of here witchy, there's still a lot I can do to hurt you from here."

"What? What do you mean?" Elena asked, looking between the women and us, worried as she walked over to stand in front of Stefan. "Stefan, what are you doing?"

"It's gonna be okay." The younger witch reassured her "We'll fix it."

"What is it?"

He made an aborted gesture "We can't…"

"Can't? Can't what?"

I squeezed Damon's side causing him to look down at me in concern, only for it to change to amusement upon seeing my expression, quite obviously questioning this girl's intelligence, the situation seeming clear to me. He pressed a kiss to my head, speaking softly "Don't worry, we'll be out of here soon."

"The spell's still up. We can't get them out yet." The younger witch told Elena as she searched through her grimoire, coincidentally backing up his soft assurance.

Said girl looked back to Stefan, seemingly touched "You went in there not knowing if you could come back out?" He avoided her gaze remaining silent "Oh, my God."

"I heard you scream." He replied with a tone that suggested he didn't regret his actions.

"I'd be surprised if you didn't, she was quite loud." I murmured as Elena went back over to the witches, pleading with them to find a way to lower the barrier.

My words drew Stefan's attention, him acknowledging me for the first time with wide eyes breathing out a quiet "Erika."

"Hello, Stefan." I greeted with a small smile, voice still somewhat weak from my imposed mummification.

Damon pulled me closer to his side, gazing at me tenderly "I found my girl." His expression soured a bit as he told me "Stefan was going to let you rot in there."

"Hey!" Stefan objected as I turned to him hurt that he would have left me despite our friendship. He began trying to explain himself "It's not that I wanted to leave you in there…it's the others getting out I have a problem with. That many starving vampires being released, surely you can see why that'd be an issue?"

I hummed in acceptance at his reasoning as Damon let out a scoff "Is that really your excuse for getting in my way all this time? If you were really worried about the others getting out you could have just let me rescue up Erika like I planned and we could have just got rid of the others, it's not like they're exactly in a condition to fight back."

"Wha- Don't you think it's a bit too much to just kill them when they're so defenceless?" He shot back in a tone that I scowled at.

"Make your mind up Stefan." I snapped, causing him to look at me in surprise "While I myself may not agree with that solution, it was you yourself that has just implied they were a threat, did you not?" He reluctantly nodded, seeing the point I was trying to make. "So, I'd appreciate it if you did not take that tone with your brother when he has said nothing wrong."

"Yeah, Stefan." Damon added smugly, while I rolled my eyes amused at how childish the brothers could be at times.

Our attention was brought back to the women on the other side of the barrier as the torches flared, the witches having begun chanting as we spoke, Elena circling them, looking to the rising flames then back over to us as she spoke "I think it's working."

Damon tightened his hold on me, making sure I was steady as we hesitantly made our way to where the barrier previously held, this time finding no resistance as we passed into the wider area, Stefan following alongside us as Damon led me over to a place I could rest for a moment.

The mother-daughter pair we encountered earlier exited shortly after, Anna supporting the still weak Pearl, directing her words to Elena as she passed "I just wanted my mother back. Jeremy's fine. He's outside. I won't touch him."

"…Shouldn't they be stopping now?" I inquired looking between the brothers as Elena walked over to stand by Stefan.

"What about Katherine?" Elena asked worried as she peered at Stefan "Are you going to get her?"

I decided to intervene as a troubled expression took over his face "She's not in there. Tell your friends they can stop, they're wearing themselves out."

Elena ran over to the witches, the torches dying down as they ceased their spell. Both Stefan and Damon turning to me in question, though it was Damon that asked "What do you mean she isn't in there?"

"Exactly that." I answered "From what I understand from what the others said when we were first imprisoned, when the rest of us were captured, Katherine bargained her way out by offering to turn one of her guards, Noah? I believe his name was?" I looked to the brothers in question "I think he may have been the sheriff?"

They both had grim looks, Damon's jaw tightening as he ground out "She left you behind? I thought you were friends."

"We were travelling companions for a while." I murmured, moving to lean into Damon, my strength waning as I closed my eyes "I always thought that she never opened her heart enough to have a true friend."

Damon's hand began to stroke my arm as he told me "You can sleep if you like, I can carry you home." I hummed in agreement, it fading as I quickly fell into the land of dreams.


Salvatore Estate 1864

The carriage made its way along the road as Katherine once again laid out our cover story "Remember, we are two poor girls who have been unexpectedly orphaned and so have come to be generously taken in by a Mr Giuseppe Salvatore and his two sons."

"I remember, Katherine," I shared an amused look with Emily "it's not as if you haven't told me this story before."

She let out a huff as the carriage rolled to a stop "Well, you best stick to it then." We peered out of the window, taking in the building that would now supposedly be our home for the coming months, a young man waiting on the steps. She turned back to us, gesturing impatiently "Emily, you first."

Emily did as ordered and exited the carriage, straightening down her skirts as she moved to hold the door open for Katherine to exit next, I exited shortly after to stand behind her as Emily moved to smooth down Katherine's skirts for her as she coyly observed the young man approaching to greet us.

"You must be Miss Pierce." He greeted, seemingly taken aback by her beauty.

"Please," She held out her hand, palm down for him to take, subtly preening as she curtsied "call me Katherine."

"Stefan," He introduced after a short pause, snapping himself out of his daze with a smile "Stefan Salvatore."

It was at this point I'd decided I'd had enough of being ignored, Emily having already moved to stand beside me after making sure I too was presentable. "Erika Johansson," I introduced, stepping up beside Katherine "pleased to meet your acquaintance. Shall we move inside? I believe your father is expecting us."

"Ah, yes." He straightened himself up at my subtle reprimand "If you would follow me please ladies, I'm afraid my father has some unexpected business to attend to which is why I am greeting you in his stead."

"You shall hear no complaints from me." Katherine remarked coquettishly as we followed him up the steps into the house, shooting a smirk at me behind Stefan's back as he let out a startled chuckle.

Stefan stopped in front of a door, swinging it open as he announced "This is the parlour." Only to reveal it was already occupied, another young man perusing the bookcase within, turning at our arrival as Stefan introduced "and this is my elder brother, Damon."

Bright blue eyes met my darker, green tinted ones, the man walking over to take my hand with a gentle smile, pressing a light kiss to it, eyes remaining glued to mine as he greeted "It's a pleasure."

My eyelids fluttered open as I was pulled out of the memory I was dreaming of, stretching in delight as I found myself on a wonderfully soft bed, running my hands over the silk sheets with a smile. I turned onto my side as I heard a laugh, seeing Damon lying next to me, also on his side as he watched me. "Have you been watching me sleep?"

"Yes." He admitted completely unashamed. "I missed you."

We fell into a short silence, simply basking in each other's presence now that we had been reunited, I being the one to break it as I softly asked "How long has it been?"

"145 years." He reached out a hand, stroking his thumb over my cheek as he gently cupped my face, still looking at me as if he couldn't believe I was really there "I'm sorry it took so long."

"Somehow, I think the wait wasn't your fault. You have nothing to apologise for." I assured him, my hand coming up to cover his as I smiled.

His breath hitched at my words, shuffling closer to press his forehead against mine with a content sigh. "We should probably get up, you need to drink more before you're back to 100%, not to mention…" He pulled back as he exaggeratedly scrunched up his nose "You kind of stink. It's almost like you've been in a tomb for a century or something."

"Ha!" I playfully slapped his arm, sitting up, looking over myself as he rolled on to his back with a laugh. "Yes, I suppose I could do with getting cleaned up." I turned swinging my legs off the bed only to lose my balance, still weak from lack of blood, Damon immediately sitting up, reaching out to steady me.

"Steady there." He swung his own legs off, sitting beside me as he wrapped an arm around my waist, lifting mine so that it was resting around his neck "Ready?"

At my nod he stood, supporting me as he brought me up with him, walking me in the direction of an already partially opened door, through which I could see was a bathroom, though updated with the times. I peered curiously at the shower, it seeming different from the ones I'd used before as he gently lowered me to sit on top of the closed toilet seat.

He moved over to it, turning one of the taps on the wall causing the head to start releasing water, placing his fingers under the stream as he adjusted the temperature, withdrawing them once he was satisfied, turning back to me as steam began to fill the room "I'm going to quickly go get you some more blood, I'll be right back."

With that said he sped away, coming back quickly as promised, arms full of bags like the one he'd originally fed me from. He crouched in front of me, dropping the pile onto the floor next to us, picking one up he removed the top, presenting it to me, "I've got you a selection, but we'll start you off with good old O positive."

I took the bag lifting the nozzle to my lips, my drinking becoming more ravenous as the first drop hit my tongue, the bag emptying rapidly, Damon already replacing it with another, and another until I was finally sated, leaning back with a satisfied sigh, peering down at the pile of drained bags that now littered the floor.

I stood, Damon's hand coming out to hover around me on reflex in case I stumbled but fell back to his side upon realising I'd now truly regained my strength and no longer had any trouble keeping my balance. Tugging at the tie at my neck that held up the nightgown I had been wearing for over a hundred years, I unfastened it, the dress dropping to pool around my feet, leaving me standing bare in front of him.

I raised a brow as he dragged his gaze over my body, smirking as I asked, "Want to show me how this shower works?" I shrieked with joy as Damon sped to lift me under the spray, already removing his own clothes, laughing as his buttons flew off in his impatience.

Somehow, I think this shower will take longer than expected.


It was a few hours later and we were now curled up together on the sofa in the living room of what I had been informed was the new Salvatore boarding house, the one I had previously stayed in having been reduced to rubble many years ago. A laptop was perched on Damon's lap as I leaned into his side, one of his arms wrapped around me as we peered at the screen.

"What about this?" He asked pointing to one of the dresses displayed "You like florals."

"I do." I agreed, Damon already hitting the 'basket' button to add it to our cart, the total already showing an absurdly high number "Do you think that's enough for now?"

He let out a hum, proceeding to the checkout "It'll do, we can go to other stores in person so you can have a proper look. Though," He peered down at me, taking in my bare legs "you could just continue wearing my shirts, I personally have no complaints."

"Ah, but that would mean others would get to see me like this as well." I teased.

"I take it back." He announced closing the laptop, placing it on the coffee table now that we'd finished, pulling me to sit on his lap "This is a sight only for my eyes."

I reached up, hooking my arms around his neck to pull him into a kiss that he eagerly responded to, one hand coming up to wind through my curls that he'd painstakingly washed and detangled hours earlier, our kiss becoming more passionate as I moved my hands up to do the same, pulling him closer as I straddled him.

Only to be interrupted as someone loudly cleared their throat. Damon and I reluctantly parted, giving one last peck once our lips separated before turning to look at the intruder.

"What can we do for you, Stefan?" Damon asked annoyed, his hands now resting on my thighs as he leaned to mutter in my ear "Buzzkill Bob."

"Can we talk?" Stefan asked, eyes trying not to linger on us for too long, seeming a bit uncomfortable with our position.

"Do you mean Damon, me, or the both of us?" I inquired politely, as though I was a bit disgruntled at his interruption, I also recognised this was his house too, and we were in what was technically the family room.

"Both." He answered, more confident, now looking directly at us "I was just wondering what you two were going to be doing now that you've been reunited, are you staying or...?"

"Trying to get rid of us so soon, Steffy?" Damon asked not looking at him as he played with a lock of my hair, it still falling to below my bottom as I preferred, thankfully not having needed to be trimmed much once clean.

"No," He denied quickly "You're free to stay, this is your home too. It's just you said before that you'd leave once had Erika back."

I turned back to Damon, looking into his face curiously "Oh? Where are you going to take me?"

"Anywhere you'd like." He promised, lifting my hair to his lips, pressing a kiss to it as he gazed into my eyes with a smile.

I smiled back at him happily "I'll be happy wherever we go so long as I'm with you."

"So," Stefan cut in, drawing our attention back to him "You are leaving then?"

"In a while," Damon answered, "I want to try and help Erika get as adjusted to the time as possible first, then we'll set off."

I grinned at Stefan "We've already ordered me some clothes! This internet is really so convenient, we only have to wait until tomorrow and they'll be here."

"That's great." He replied, smiling back at me "I'm glad you're settling in okay, and I didn't say this before, but I'm also happy to see you again, if you ever need a friend I'm still here."

"Thank you, Stefan. It really is nice to see you."

"Yeah, yeah." Damon huffed, raising a hand to shoo him "Now get gone brother, we've got some more reuniting to do."

Stefan raised a brow, crossing his arms as I laughed, Damon having already begun to kiss my neck noisily "If you don't want to be interrupted, why don't you go to your room, you do realise that's what it's for right?"

"Nah, where's the fun in that?"

"Exactly, what's a bit of exhibitionism between friends?" I added.

Stefan rolled his eyes as we laughed "As enlightening as this conversation is, there was actually another reason I interrupted you."

"Get to it then." Damon snarked, hands coming to cup my rear as he once again buried his face in my neck "We're busy."

"There was a woman you may have known a few years back named Isobel in North Carolina at Duke."

Damon pulled away from me, shooting him a look of disbelief "You wanna discuss the women in my past right now? Seriously?"

"You killed her."

"What's your point?" He asked as I slid off of his lap to take the seat next to him, much to his reluctance as he pouted at me.

"I just-" He stumbled a bit as he answered "Just wanna know if you remember anything about her."

Damon brushed him off "Oh, it's like a needle in a haystack, Stefan."

"Well, think hard. It's important." He insisted.

"Why is she important?" I cut in, peering at Stefan curiously "This Isobel?"

"She's not." Damon answered irritated as he stood, grabbing my hand to pull me up with him, clapping Stefan's shoulder as we passed "Great chat."

He pulled me back up the stairs to his bedroom, letting go of my hand as we entered, him entering his closet as he left me to sit on the bed, the mood from earlier officially gone. I swung my legs as I leaned back on my hands, looking over at him as he searched through his clothes for something "What are you looking for?"

"I'm trying to see-" A shirt went flying "If I have anything for you to wear that's decent enough to go out in. Saint Stefan ruined the mood so I thought I might at least take you out to make up for it. Aha." He pulled out a bag that was hidden on one of the shelves, bring it over to me as he began routing through. "Thought I'd put this back there."

He placed the bag on the bed next to me, I pulling my legs up to kneel as I dug through it, pulling out sealed packages of underwear in what was presumably my size in addition to a few tops, shorts, a dress or two, and multiple hair accessories, as Damon returned again placing a large box next to the bag, which I pulled the lid off to reveal a pair of boots that seemed they would reach to either above my knee or just under. I looked back up at him with a smile "Where's all this from?"

"I bought them." He ran a hand through his hair self-consciously "For you. They might be a bit outdated though, I just got in the habit of buying things if I thought you'd like it."

"That might be the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me." I stated, touched by how much I'd been on Damon's mind even when we were parted.

"Don't mention it." He rushed out, a bit flustered, reaching out to pull more clothes out of the bag "Let's find something for you to wear."

I placed my hand over his, stopping him from pulling out anymore "Damon," He turned to meet my gaze "I love you."

He swallowed, eyes beginning to glisten as he replied softly "I love you too." He cleared his throat, blinking rapidly before grinning "So let's get you dressed so I can take you on a date, what do you think of that Miss Johansson?"

"I'd be delighted Mr Salvatore."


We were now seated at the bar in a place called the 'Mystic Grill', which Damon had told me was pretty much the only place anyone seemed to go out to around here these days. I found myself wearing a long, loosely fitting floral dress that I'd been told he'd bought some time during the early 70s, paired with the long brown boots that were in the box. Damon had also helped me put small braids throughout my hair, clipping two pieces from the front back so that it didn't fall into my face.

"Bourbon." Damon told the bartender when he came over, adding a "Please." When I lightly hit him.

The bartender nodded, turning to me "And for you?"

"Just an orange juice please. Oh!" I turned to Damon "Can we order food?"

"Of course." He replied with a smirk, telling the bartender "Can you get us a large basket of fries as well to start off with? And a menu." The bartender nodded once more, going off to pour our drinks, setting them before us quickly, dropping off a menu before moving on to his next task.

I began browsing the menu I had been given as Damon noticed the man sitting next to us, commenting "Behold the teacher. Don't you have some papers to grade?"

"It's, uh," The man answered a little caught off guard "more fun with a buzz."

"Well, most things in life are." He agreed.

"Damon," I tapped his arm, causing him to completely dismiss the man as he returned his attention to me. I gestured to the menu "What do you think I should get? I'm not quite sure."

"Hmm," He leaned into my space, looking over the menu with me before pointing to something "What about the lasagne? Pasta, cheese and tomato – what's not to like?"

"You've convinced me, lasagne it is." I decided, setting the menu down, sliding it closer to him across the bar "What are you having?"

"I'll just get a burger." The bartender luckily chose that moment to return, setting down our basket of fries as Damon gave him our order.

The man next to us stood, throwing back his drink, clinking the empty glass back down on to the counter, turning to give us a nod "You two have a good afternoon."

"We will, thank you!" I called after his already departing figure.

I reached for a fry, munching on it with a hum of delight, no regret at all for it being the first human food I'd eaten since being released. Upon noticing Damon watching me with a smile, him leaning his head on his hand that he'd propped up on the bar, I picked out a fry holding it out towards his lips, which he easily took, finishing it before commenting amused "You know, it's not the fries I was looking at."

"I know." I answered cheerily, biting into another with a grin.

Damon turned to follow my gaze as I noticed someone approaching over his shoulder, the policewoman giving a wry greeting as she took in Damon's glass "Daytime drinking, huh?"

"It's all the rage." He toasted her before taking a drink. "What can I do for you Liz?"

"I need a favour." It was at this point she seemed to clock onto the fact that he wasn't alone, holding her hand out to me with a smile "Hello, sorry to disturb your…date?" She continued at my nod, releasing my hand after a firm shake "I'm Liz Forbes, the sheriff, a friend of Damon's."

"Erika Johansson," I introduced smiling back, catching Damon's eye as I continued "Any friend of Damon's is a friend of mine."

"So, what can we do for you then?" Damon asked.

She let out a sigh "Well, it's a bit redundant to ask now, but there's a fundraiser here tonight that the Founder's Council is throwing. The town's most eligible bachelors get raffled off for dates, and, well, we're short a bachelor."

"And up until recently he could've been considered one." I realised, understanding her reason for sighing now.

"Well as you can see," He stood, coming around to hug me from behind "I'm currently off the market for the foreseeable future." He lowered his voice, leaning over my shoulder as he asked "Is this what you do when there's no, um... Vampires? Organize bachelor raffles?"

She shot him a startled look, turning to look at me in worry before Damon assuaged her concerns "Don't worry, she's in the know." I nodded in agreement, though the look I shot Damon told him he'd be explaining all this later "I've known Erika for a long time."

She let out a short laugh, less tense now that had been explained "Oh, trust me. At this point, I miss the vampires. Carol Lockwood won't let me live it down if I come up empty-handed."

"What exactly does this raffle entail?"

"You know, a room full of women clamouring to win a date with me." Damon was the one who answered me.

"Just a date?" Liz nodded "Why not then? Go on Damon, it sounds like a laugh. I might even get a ticket myself." I teased.

He turned to Liz with a smirk "You heard the lady, you've got yourself one 'bachelor'."

She let out a relieved laugh "Thank you."

"One thing." He held up a finger "Can you get information on someone for me? Alaric Saltzman, the history teacher. There's just something a little off about him, and I just- I just wanna make sure that the high school did their homework on this guy."

"You got it." She promised.

"Thanks."

I shot Liz a wave as she left, Damon taking a swig of his bourbon, finishing it off before stealing a few fries from the basket shoving them into his mouth as our other food arrived. I accepted my dish with a smile, Damon retaking his seat as he dug into his own.

"What was all that about?"

He finished chewing and swallowed before answering "That guy who was sitting next to us earlier? Yeah, I think he's suspicious so I'm gonna have Liz - who's a member of the new founder's council – look into him just in case he's a threat."

"Hmm," I considered this as I finished the bite of food I'd taken "So the council's still active then?"

"Uh huh and infiltrated by yours truly." He boasted, shooting me a wink.

"You know," I started, amused "that would be a lot more effective if you didn't have sauce all over your mouth." He quickly snatched the napkin off the side of his plate, wiping at his mouth as I laughed.


Here have the first chapter of 1 of 3 Vampire Diaries fics I have started to write – the next chapter could come in a week or a year, who knows? It's a mystery~

Think I might just start posting chapters for all of my fics in progress as soon as I finish them, regardless of when the next chapter will be done. It gets them out there at least.