Title: And when I fall

Rated for: language, violence, future M chapter

Genre: Angst, Romance, Suspense, Horror?, Adventure

Fandom/Universe: Vampire Diaries / Supernatural / The Originals

Characters: Stefan Salvatore, Damon Salvatore, Alaric, Bonnie, Caroline, Tyler, Klaus, Rebecca, Elijah / Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester, John Winchester, Bobby Singer

Pairings: Damon / OC / Dean, Caroline / Tyler, Bonnie / Jeremy

Spoilers/Warning: Mentions of events on the shows and books.

Disclaimer: The Vampire Diaries and all related characters belong L. J. Smith and The CW. No infringement intended. Supernatural and all related characters belong to Erik Kripke and OC's are all ME. No infringement intended. The Originals and all related characters belong to Outerbanks Entertainment, Alloy Entertainment, CBS Television Studios, Warner Bros.

Summary: She was looking for answers. He was just passing the time.

Status: In-Progress

Author's Note: So this just hit me a few minutes ago. I'm intrigued by Elijah and John meeting. I think I'll have to go write up their conversation and the why... Enjoy. And feel free to drop your own questions for that conversation.

Chapter: I Know What You Are

I Know What You Are

Rheygne is watching John argue with her grandfather about joining his Hunt. It's not the first time a Hunter claimed to 'be there first'. She'd correct the Winchesters by saying it's really theirs and John would be lucky that Pops is allowing them to tag along. The Loups are what the Henrié's have Hunted since forever as far as she knows. It's her legacy, it's in her DNA…

It's the blond smart ass leaning on the shiny hood of the black beast that draws her attention and the superior expression on his face that ticks her off.

"Hey," she eyes him- admiring the play of muscles under the faded t-shirt and the nice fit of his ratty jeans. He's way pretty, but pretty doesn't always mean smart.

Or nice…

"Dean." He says with his smirk. He's not pretending to ignore the looks she's been giving him, hell; he's been looking too, though he's been doing it on the sly. No sense in adding to the argument taking place between the 'adults'. And there's the annoyance of her being a minor, or of him being considered an adult now. Legally.

"Don't care." Rheygne throws back with a smile of her own. She leans her hip on the hood of the Impala, which draws his eyes lower. She still finds it surprising and fun all at the same time- this being a girl thing definitely has its perks. "You should take your Dad and run along." Her fingers mimic the motion of walking through the air that he ignores.

Dean snorts. "Really?" he'll go with amused, no need to get riled up if there's nothing in reach to kill. He likes her spunk and maybe she's too sassy but it's not like he's going to be around long enough for it to annoy him. "Your old man looks ready to fall apart." He cocks his head to where her grandfather is standing his ground. "Werewolves will be gnawing on his bones." Dean leans into her space, his green eyes running over the skintight jeans and her tank top. He doesn't hide that he likes what he sees and when his eyes meet hers there's a challenge in her gaze. "Shame to see your pretty face get clawed." He murmurs. There's sparks of copper and gold in the dark depths, long lashes that flutter as she blinks up at him.

Rheygne laughs. Her eyes glint with humor, the amber and copper sparking under the sunny day and maybe a little bit of annoyance because yet again, no one seems to take her seriously as a Hunter. "Garçons ânesse muette, pensant toujours avec votre pantalon."

"Huh?" Dean's smirk falters slightly, his brow furrowing and he doesn't like being purposely spoken to in a language he doesn't understand.

Rheygne turns away from him, no need to translate for him because that's only going to start another argument and one seems plenty. But he's not the first to think with his pants and her experience over the last three years since she's 'grown into her looks' – there's an eye roll she suppresses- only makes it more obvious that's not something that will change.

"Fine." John gives in, eyeing the old man and turning his dark eyes on Rheygne.

Reîgner huffs, like John ever had a chance of getting rid of them. The annoying part is John thinking he's 'allowing' the Henrié's to tag along on his hunt.

"Keep an eye on her." He orders his son and stomps towards his truck for the weapons he'll need.

She's not particularly happy about being foisted off like she can't handle herself. Reîgner sees the eye roll, ignores it in favor of glaring at Dean who doesn't look pleased to be set as Rheygne's baby sitter. That doesn't mean the boy is going to keep his hands to himself without some sort of 'help'. Of course, Rheygne can handle roving hands- they'd be easier than a monsters claws.

"Nous devons les abandonner dès que possible."Rheygne ignores Dean as her grandfather starts towards their own truck. Ditching the Winchesters would be easy once the Hunt began for real. Reîgner can track anything but he's even better at concealing his own tracks. A skill he's been teaching Rheygne since she was old enough to trail him around the house.

"Ainsi, le loup peut avoir?" Reîgner moves around the truck bed and grabs the packs in easy reach. As much trouble as the Winchesters are going to be, he still doesn't want them eaten by werewolves.

Rheygne shrugs, grabs the edge of the truck bed and hops into the back. She pulls the case from under the toolbox and pops the locks open. The lid lifts easily and the gleam of metal is camouflaged by the black paint coating the compound bow. Reîgner tosses her the harness she slips into with ease. The leather straps have long since molded to her body and the quiver has a flap that keeps her arrows from going where they aren't supposed to. Unless she wants them to.

"What-?" Dean frowns, his hand resting on the now closed trunk of the Impala. "Peter Pan, the girl version?" he chuckles shaking his head but he stops that forward step as the whistle of an arrow thunks into the soft ground where his foot was supposed to go.

"What the hell!" John bellows while Dean glares up at the girl standing in the back of the truck like his Father doesn't have a gun trained on her.

"It landed a bit short." Rheygne notes, the tiny shrug of her shoulder coupled with the twitch of her lips really annoys Dean. "I'm more of a Yanuki Jun. Nidaime lerō Fō!" she gives a saucy salute and winks.

"She's not threatening your boy." Reîgner gruffly points out to John. He waves his granddaughter down, never taking his eyes from the Hunter he's heard is a stubborn son of a bitch. "Rheygne has better aim." And this time he levels a stern eye on her when she lands beside him.

"I know, Pops." But she's not at all sorry for showing off either and he can tell. "But Sailor Mars made a vow I'm pretty sure I'll break one day."

Off to the side she can hear Dean's annoyed : "Cartoons?" which she ignores because who doesn't enjoy some Anime?

The shrill whistle by her head finally gets her to open her eyes. She's scowling in the dark of her hotel room because of the memory she dreamed of and grabs her cell phone.

"Merde!" she squints at the too bright screen and taps the icon that silences the alarm then flops back into the uncomfortable mattress. It's too damn hard for her taste and the fact it's just like every other damn bed she's slept in since she took to the trail of her brother, brings frustrated tears to burn at her eyes.

"Fucking stupid dream." Rheygne mutters. But she's not going to lay there and cry for someone that didn't care enough to fight for a slice of the 'happily ever after' they both wish they could have. How realistic is it anyway?

'It wasn't meant to be.' So she gets up and starts for the shower. Today is going to be the first day of many 'hanging out' with Professor Atticus Shane at the University.

"Please let the torture be over soon." She mutters stepping into the hot water.

o0o0o0o0o0o

He's been sitting in the sunlight, feeling the warm rays on his face trying to puzzle out this version of Katerina. The girl, Elena. It isn't difficult to separate the two but this… the naïve girl, still with hope and untarnished… she's so much like the Katerina he remembers. The girl she used to be, before Klaus…

His brother holds so much anger, the pain and hurt he shoves so far down into the darkness of what they've become; these monsters of myth and legend.

…

They've struck a bargain. A temporary alliance and he hopes this will get him what he wants. What Klaus refuses to give him-

Elijah frowns. The angry voices he locks on to draw his eyes to the girl stomping through the garden talking on her cell phone.

'Insufferable little machines.' He notes with annoyance. All the noise is made worse by all this technology and he wishes for times past, when the noise wasn't so loud it took effort to block it out. How they hadn't gone mad yet was a mystery-

"Don't you dare!"

"Look-."

"NO. You look, Dean Winchester. I am not a fragile little thing and I definitely don't need you screwing up my Hunt so stay the hell away from Mystic Falls. And me!"

"Hunter." He stands, easily following her progress through the few students on this part of the university grounds. "Winchester…" he wonders if Elena's little group of friends might've called in for some help. Would they know of Hunters? The Winchesters in particular…?

Elijah flicks an invisible speck from his sleeve, buttons his suit jacket and follows after the girl-

'They're all so young.' He notes with an inward sigh.

He found himself in a bit of a 'jam'. Par for the course, maybe. Either way, it was not fun and certainly not part of the plan. The worst part was knowing that Dean was alone. Alone with Sam in a shit-ass Motel just a few miles away… He wondered what would happen to his boys without him? Who would take them in if this was the end of John? And was it fair? His boys had already lost their Mother… Sam would never have even a memory of Mary. And Dean? What could the kid really remember about her? Would he have good memories of John?

The crash of the doors yanked him out of the thoughts that seemed to be swallowing him up. Thinking of his mortality and imminent death when he should be focused on how to get his ass out of the God damned frying pan he'd jumped into blindly.

He struggled to stay on his feet. He yanked on the belt he'd buckled over the shirt plugging up the gouges in his abdomen tighter. He still had some ammo and his knife. It was plenty but even empty handed, John Winchester would fight to get home to his boys. He couldn't leave them to fend for themselves when that thing was still out there.

And that was the other reason John moved with purpose to the window. He'd make his way up to that exit and climb or drag his ass out.

o0o0o0o0o0o

Elijah watches her from the bench across the little garden in front of the building she has entered. He can hear her, if he really wants to make the effort to just focus on her… He does.

"…okay, well. …"

"Done for today?"

"Yup, I need a break and you need me to get out of your hair before I wear out my welcome."

A laugh. "I'm learning something as well."

"Good. Its better not to let your brain go to mush."

Another chuckle. "Exactly."

"Bon nuit."

Elijah watches her emerge from the building. She stops and stands on the front steps just staring. He can see her gaze behind the dark aviators she wears. Her gaze seems to pass over him without notice. He feels the slight urge to smile make his lips twitch; he knows better.

Rheygne skips down the steps and heads across the street right to the little garden. She never looks at Elijah and continues past him. Its late afternoon and though the sun is still bright enough she didn't have to put on her shades. But she likes the fact it allows her to look around without drawing attention to herself for staring. The warning shiver down her spine is always annoying but more when she can't seem to find the cause. Still, her scowl lands on the tall stranger leaning again Graham.

'No one. Nobody touches my ride.' Her stride switches from fast to 'you're about to feel my boot up your ass'. In the back of her mind is the thought that only a hand-full of people would ever notice the difference. And she already told one of them to stay the hell away.

o0o0o0o0o0o

The scent of blood is strong enough to draw Elijah away from the well-worn path. It doesn't take him long to find the source; the man struggling to get to his feet.

Elijah watches, he's still safely hidden out of sight, debating what it is he really wants to do with this opportunity.

He could feed…

It wouldn't take much to grab the man and drink him dry. But he's lost a lot of blood already- he wrinkles his nose in distaste for the waste of a good meal, the blood soaked into the t-shirt…

'Humans.'

Just a drop…it wouldn't take much but…well, why should he go out of his way?

Is it boredom?

Elijah steps into the path of the wounded man.

o0o0o0o0o0o

He stands back and watches the slight girl, balled fists, stop in front of the Salvatore brother. He can hear the first words out of her mouth die out as Damon steps into her space, pale blue eyes narrowed and with a quick swipe of his hand, he takes the sunglasses off her face.

"Remember me?" Damon offers a slow smirk, the edge of her shades lightly tracing a path down her cheek until he hooks them in the collar of her shirt.

"Should I?" Rheygne stares back, her lack of height not at all diminishing the threat in her tone. Because they can see she is not afraid of him.

Elijah wonders if she doesn't 'feel' it. She's a Hunter. The girl should know what Damon is-

"Yes." Damon leans down, his eyes locked with hers. It only takes a moment, the amount of time it takes to draw breath and then she does remember him.

"…You were at the Mystic Grill…" she sounds confused. A bit upset she had forgotten and with the reminder of their meeting come a lot of other things she can't believe she's forgotten. The fact she completely forgot she had been out that night- like she'd missed a day of her life.

'How the hell does that happen?'

"I'll take you home." Damon slips his hand into hers, cool fingers twining with hers and tugs her around the hot rod to the passenger side.

Rheygne doesn't even know why she's letting him sit her down, why she allowing him to take the keys out of her hand and why she doesn't protest the fact he's getting behind the wheel of her car.

"I don't want to go home. I'm not ready yet."

"We're going to my place." Damon clarifies. He's got a few someone's who need to learn to stay out of his business. He looks at her; she's sitting just like he told her to. Her eyes meet his, the sun still giving enough light to make the gold and copper flecks ignite like fireflies in the dark depths. His gaze drops to her parted lips and the soft exhale of breath. He can hear the steady beat of her heart…

Damon smiles."I'll remind you of how much fun we had together."

Elijah doesn't interfere. He could. Possibly should have. But then …

o0o0o0o0o0o

John wakes up, startled to find the road only a few away. He can't remember walking this far. And then he jerks into a sitting position and that alerts him to the fact he's no longer in pain. He pats his chest and the shredded t-shirt, even yanks on the bits of cotton to find smooth skin underneath.

"That's impossible." He mutters. He'd been bleeding, his abdomen in shreds it was all he could do to get himself out of that window before the fire and-

"Not exactly."

John's head snapped up to the voice. He stared at the man standing very still a few feet away.

"Who are you?" John barked the order as he got to his feet. He felt unsteady and had to grab onto the trunk of the nearest feet to stop from face-planting into the ground.

"My name is Elijah Mikaelson." He introduced himself. There wasn't anything the man could do to him. It was safe enough to make the introduction. "What are you doing here?"

John refused to give an answer. He glared at Elijah, not sure why he felt threatened but he was going with his gut.

Elijah sighed. "I much prefer a civilized conversation." He took two steps forward and stopped seeing the gun aimed at his chest.

"Not an inch closer." John warned.

A pair of dark eyebrows rose in slight annoyed question and a bit of disbelief. Elijah felt slight amusement at being threatened by such a weapon.

"Who are you?"

"John Winchester." He snapped his mouth shut, scowling.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was Hunting." Again, John didn't know why he was talking so freely and he didn't like it. "What the hell are you?!"

"Put your gun away, John." Elijah took another step closer as John did as he was told. "I believe I've just saved a Hunter. Am I correct?" he asked.

"Yes." John stepped back from Elijah. Horror was slowly taking root, displacing his anger and confusion. "How are you doing that? What are you?!"

"No need to shout." Elijah frowned. "I am a vampire. And as I said, I've just saved your life so it would be most unproductive if I killed you. Wouldn't it?" he paused, waiting for John to make his move but after a long moment when it didn't come he smiled at the Hunter. "I was out taking a stroll. Join me. We can converse. I am curious about your kind and why it is you humans feel the need to shorten your lives so drastically. They're short enough as it is. Don't you think so?" he starts walking, slowly so that John can keep pace and not exert himself too much.

"What do you want?" John growls. He can't stop from walking beside the vampire and he doesn't know why or where this is going.

"To talk. As I said." Elijah replies. "You asked how I'm doing this." He motions an elegant hand at John walking beside him. "I've compelled you. I would have rathered we talk like men but…"

"You're not a man." John points out with heat in his tone.

"No… I suppose I haven't been a man for a very long time." Elijah agrees. "You have nothing to fear from me, John." He promises after a moment. "I give you my word."

John clearly doesn't believe him but they continue walking through the trees just a few feet from the road.

"You don't believe me. I understand." Elijah nods, unperturbed. He accepts it as a fact and doesn't let it bother him. "We have a ways to go. Your automobile is quite … well, I'm not exactly an expert." He offers a polite smile glancing at John. "I'll walk you there and I'll compel you to forget our ever meeting."

John still didn't believe him.

o0o0o0o0o0o