As always – TVD theme, characters etc. belong to the CW, Warner brothers and surely half a dozen other people. Think of fanfic as a tribute to your work.

Once again, I find myself apologizing for how long it took to post a new chapter. My excuses are lame, but valid. I need 30 hour days, and the ability to function well on four hours of sleep. This section of nursing school sucks – pun intended. It's Labor and Delivery, pediatrics – yeah that's right, the part that's supposed to be fun. What's not fun is trying to cover 15 chapters in 7 days and having to pass a test on all of it. The school experimented with the curriculum. Front load and cram all the classroom stuff in fast, spend the last few weeks in clinical's. Great idea on paper. But practical? Not if you're human – and yes, I live in reality. I'm human and it sucks (again, pun intended) to be human right now, with the need for healthy food and adequate sleep.

Tonight I finished this little section, because I simply had to get away from the real world for a while. To borrow Trogdor's term, I met someone who was a great candidate for Damon's 'douchebag clean up' routine. Everyone would approve if Alex snacked on and got rid of this guy. But alas, we live in the real world, but I needed a little escape.

Enjoy the read, send me comments and reviews, and of course any suggestions. The comments make my day. Actually, the comments get me through my day sometimes.

~~OFANV~~

Elena was passed out cold. Damon made sure of it. It wasn't just the copious amounts of alcohol – though that would have helped if they hadn't managed to burn it off. The joy of vampire senses and metabolism. Everything was more intense, but they burned through everything a lot faster. Booze may help the cravings, but it took a lot more of it to get them good and hammered, and they burned through it fast.

Elena had certainly still been good and drunk when they got home, Damon certainly had. The sex, as always, had been intense. He'd done his level best to overwhelm all her senses, and now she was sleeping deep. Damon should have been too, because Elena always gave 100% of herself back. But some of last night's events were still weighing heavily on his mind, and it wasn't Darren kissing his cheek, or Alex kissing him on the mouth, entertaining as that had been. Well, to be honest, it was Alex's kiss that Damon found entertaining, and only that. Naïve, sweet little girl . . . his old buddy Darren had so much to teach her. No tongue involved at all.

Then again, thinking back on it, maybe not involving tongues had been a good idea, though a good tongue was a terrible thing to waste. His buddy was possessive, and it bad been a prank after all.

It wasn't the impromptu teasing prank kiss at midnight that had Damon worried. It was Nigel's short appearance that was haunting Damon, and keeping him awake. Darren had been right. Nigel knew more than he was letting on. Sure, he might have seen Darren with them. It wouldn't be too hard to find out his name, ask a few questions of a few people, and compel them to forget he'd asked. But Damon didn't think that was it. More likely, Nigel had been talking to Richard. Even more disturbing - how long had he been talking to Richard and were there more players involved? None of it looked good.

Damon got up, pulled on some loose draw string pants, and left the bedroom he shared with his wife. He wandered downstairs to the sideboard where the liquor bar was set up, and he poured a few fingers of bourbon into a glass. Confronting Richard was dangerous, with two vampires or four. Realistically, he could depend on Elena to be smart – if she wasn't worried about him. He could say the same for himself. The moment Elena was in danger, all the rules went out the window. He'd sacrifice anyone and anything to save her. Last night he'd warned Nigel off of the area they were partying in because they had human friends that were there. He'd be pissed if something happened to any one of them. He'd have done something about it. Kicked Nigel's ass, gut staked him, hell – he'd stake him for real – in the heart where it mattered if he went after any of his human friends and killed them.

But knowing now that it could be more than just Richard and one very fucked up in the head human, that it could involve Nigel, and what about Richard's other friend – Leo, the one that was always around him. Then there was Vlad . . .

How the hell had this gotten so damn out of control?

Their biggest issue for dealing with this, stopping this, was to prevent a hunter from coming to town. No one liked having to worry about hunters, and by now, if a hunter hadn't noticed, it was a damn miracle – there could be one of the 'five' in the city right now. Hell, he was surprised Jeremy hadn't called him already.

He heard the faintest sound coming from upstairs, and he looked up, and saw Elena coming out of their bedroom.

"Why are you up?" asked, slowly, "it's . . . 9am . . . which is early, considering . . ."

She'd pulled one of the silk robes he was always getting her, but because of his keen vision, he knew she had on more under the robe – sleeping shorts and a camisole top. After all, they weren't living alone right now.

"Just thinking," he said, reaching out as she got closer. She slipped under his arm easily, snuggling into his side.

Elena could tell the moment she saw him, before she spoke a word as she walked out of their bedroom that something was bothering Damon. It had happened last night. She knew something was off when he and Darren came back from the liquor run, but she couldn't ask then, and he seemed intent on keeping the party going, so she'd gone along with it.

'Color me selfish,' she thought. She wanted to enjoy the rest of the evening.

But she couldn't ignore it any longer.

"Don't tell me you're bent out of shape because of that little kiss Alex and Darren laid on you," Elena said, though she knew it wasn't. She was hoping for some levity.

Damon snorted, "Please . . ."

Elena raised an eyebrow, and lowered her voice, gave it a suggestive tone, "So is Alex a good kisser?"

Damon laughed, "Darren has a lot to teach baby vamp."

Damon pressed a kiss to her temple, "Can I fix you something to eat?"

Elena smiled, "Eggs, bacon . . ."

"Hhmm, full hangover breakfast," Damon said, running his hand down her back, "Maybe a pint or two of O negative?"

"I'll get the bags," Elena said, and she stood up on her toes, pressed a slow gentle kiss to his lips, "What would I do without you?"

'Deal with my brother's moody bullshit, and live on take out . . .' Damon thought to himself. But he didn't say it.

"Hhmm . . . languish . . . I'm sure. . . . I love you."

With that, he playfully patted her butt as she turned to go downstairs to the basement.

Damon went into the kitchen, and started to pull things out of the fridge. He started to lay out strips of bacon on the griddle – lots of strips, because the scent would float up through the house, and wake up their temporary roommates. If not, maybe he'd be nice and bring breakfast up to them, crack a joke about breakfast in bed after they'd both kissed him on New Years, tried to show him a good time.

He started making coffee, and hesitated for a moment . . . how strong to make the coffee . . . Damn baby vamp for wearing off on him, and he added another tablespoon of grounds.

Elena came back with four pints of blood, and she poured two into mugs, warmed them in the microwave, and Damon started whipping eggs. It struck Damon how all domestic, family like it was – only vampire style.

He drank down his mug of blood, watched his Elena, his wife, as she drank hers, and then she went for the coffee, and after adding cream, sugar, and a dollop of Kahlua (baby vamp was definitely wearing off on them), she sat down on one of the breakfast bar stools, and just sat and watched him.

He enjoyed these moments. Never ever did he think he'd enjoy simple things like this so much, crave these moments so much. No way in hell was he going to let anyone put that at risk. This crap with Richard, and whomever else, had to end, and fast.

"You want to tell me what's really going on?" Elena asked gently, after a few minutes.

Damon sipped his strong coffee with Kahlua, and felt very weary and old for a moment. Not because of his chronological years, but because he realized these kinds of things were going to haunt them forever, no matter what.

"Nigel was there last night," Damon said, "Walked up on Darren and I when we were doing our second booze run – remind me to thank baby vamp for rolling some drug dealer, because we spent a lot of money on booze last night. And on that note – who came up with the weed?"
Elena blinked, "I have no idea, probably Billy. Nigel was there?"

"Out for the buffet – that's what he called it. Now normally, being a member of the species who believes we should embrace all our hedonistic tendencies under the right circumstances-"

"Discreetly," Elena added, her voice full of humor.

"Discreetly," Damon agreed, "I'd be thinking, 'Snatch, eat, and erase' away. But he asked some questions. Like did we know any more than we did before about the bodies? He wished you the best, wished Alex the best, and he knew who Darren was."

Elena nodded, "OK . . .so he knew who Darren was . . . and he . . . hasn't . . . met . . . Darren."

The way she drew out the last few words told Damon she was putting things together fast. Yeah, a lot more than pretty face. Elena was sharp, she always had been.

Damon nodded his head, "Knew his name, knew he and baby vamp were together."

"That's . . . that's a lot to know," Elena agreed, sighing, "Well, I didn't think we could trust him, but this . . . you think he's in on it with Richard?"

Damon nodded, sighing, "Yeah, I think he might be. If he wasn't originally he's talking to him now at least."
Elena sighed, "There is no way this turns out good, is there?"

Damon shook his head, "Nope."

Elena watched him as he flipped over the strips of frying bacon, cleaning vegetables to put in the omelets he planned to make.

"Sweet peppers, onion, tomato, cheese?" Damon asked.

Elena nodded, "Sounds wonderful – want me to start the toast?"

Damon looked over her, thought about teasing her about how often she burned toast. As if she knew what he was thinking, she sent him one of those challenging sassy looks, daring him to say it.

She slid off the bar stool, and started loading up the toaster with slices of bread, checked the dial, and pressed the lever down, starting it.

Then leaned over, picked up her coffee, sipped.

"How are we going to fix this Damon?" Elena asked him, "I . . . it's not just us we have to worry about – they're our friends, and Alex is so new, and a little reckless-"

"A little?" Damon asked, "While I can appreciate her snack choices, I'm praying to gods I don't believe in she doesn't out herself."

Elena sighed. Of course Damon would appreciate her 'snack' choices. Elena did – and Elena felt responsible for so much of this. Targeting sex offenders had been her idea.

"We have to stop this. I'm old enough to be over how vampires live. We can't fix the world, but . . . this is our home, I like it here, I don't want to leave earlier than we have to."

Damon nodded. He didn't like the idea of his wife, Elena, or their friends being in danger. He knew Darren could take care of himself, just as well as Damon could. Deep down, Damon knew Darren could be just as ruthless, cold and calculating as Damon could be. Alex . . . disaster waiting to happen, and Damon liked her. Not just because his old friend was in love with her. Damon genuinely liked her.

"We're not going to let these fuckers mess up our lives here," Damon said, "We're going to stop this shit, once and for all. I just have to figure out how."

The toast popped up, and Damon looked over. 'Not burned . . . amazing.'

Elena smiled smugly, and buttered the slices, stacked them up, put in a second round, edged the dial down just a hair, now that the toaster was warm.

"We need more help," Elena said, and seeing Damon open his mouth to argue, "I'm not even gonna argue about Alex and I helping, no matter what you and Darren say. Alex and I are just as invested, but there is just four of us. Now we don't know how many players are involved with Richard."

"You want to call Jeremy?" Damon asked her. He'd considered it himself.

"Not just Jeremy," Elena said, "Richard is an older vampire . . . we need more of 'us' than there are of them."

Damon sighed. He knew where this was going. It was time to call their extended family, even if he didn't want to. He hated asking for help, especially from some of them.

He pulled the bacon strips off, set them on a plate with a layer of paper towel to absorb some of the oil.

"I'll make the call," Damon said, "Damnit! They're going to find out – all of it Elena – all of it!"

She nodded, "So we remind them at one point, we were all learning the hard way to control the thirst – besides, targeting sex offenders – that my idea."

"Going all demon barber of Fleet Street was Darren and I . . . this isn't on baby vamp. Actually, I don't see where anyone gets off giving us shit about this. Vampires eat humans, that's how it works. Most of us don't leave behind a walking talking amnesiac meal."

Elena nodded, "So we agree – this is all on Richard going overboard."

Damon nodded, "Agreed."

Elena drew in a raggedy breath, scrubbed her fingers through her hair in frustration. Damon was at her side in an instant, pulling her back against his chest, his lips on her temple.

"I'm not letting anything happen to any of us," Damon said gently, "We'll call our back up team – we'll end this. No one risks the life we've created and gets away with it."

~~OFANV~~

Darren woke up to the sound of Damon's voice, and it took a moment for it to sink in what he said. He'd been vaguely aware of the scent of strong coffee, bacon, and murmured sounds from down stairs, but he was in that languid space between awake and asleep, he and Alex were all tangled up in each other, and she was sleeping deep. He treasured these moments. He'd never had them before Alex.

"Pull the cover's up! Or not! I'm cashing in on your little group come on last night!"

Darren considered diving for his jeans, but he knew he'd never make it. Damon was on the steps, and Darren could smell the food he was bringing up. He untangled himself from Alex, and pulled the sheet over her – all the way over her, even over her head.

Damon nocked a millisecond before he pushed open the door. Darren was sitting up, the sheet low on his hips, his chest bare displaying the tattoos, most of which Damon couldn't decipher. His hair looked a lot like Elena's did after night of wild sex.

"We changed our mind," Darren said, his tone teasing, "Neither Alex or I want to fuck you anymore."

Damon snorted, "Yeah you do, but my wife doesn't like to share so you're out of luck."

Damon set the tray he'd been carrying down on the end of bed, "Eat up, and get up, we have to plan how we're going to kill Richard and his vamp-boy wanna-be."

"I'd be getting up – getting it up, if you'd get out our room," Darren quipped back.

Alexandra murmured something from under the sheet, peeked her head out, "Seriously? Aren't you going feed me first?"

Darren grinned, "Oh I got something to feed you . . ."
Damon laughed, "and here I am again, showing someone how to treat a lady! Baby Vamp – you're coffee – just the way you like it."

Damon picked up a mug of coffee, and held it out. Darren took it, and passed it to her as Alexandra sat up, pulling the sheet up with her.

"Thanks perv," She said, sipping her coffee.

Damon grinned, "You have no idea . . . see you down stairs."

With that, Damon left, leaving them alone.

"I might actually miss them," Alexandra said, "When we move into our own house."

Darren snorted, "If anyone other than Damon or Elena walked into our bedroom, they'd be dead. I can't wait to get into our house."

~~OFANV~~

In New Orleans . . .

Klaus saw the number and name pop up on his caller ID, and looked over at Caroline. She was still deep asleep, a tangle of blond curls and soft skin. He'd never been much of a sleeper himself. He'd woken up after only a few hours of sleep, and seeing the long line of her back and the disarray of sheets, pale slim limbs and the mess of curls from late night sex, he'd been inspired.

So he'd started to paint. He probably had hundreds of painting of her at this point, but he didn't care. Moments like this should be preserved. Beauty such as hers was a rarity. The only difficult part was how to convey the intellect behind those pretty blue eyes and not just the physical beauty of her.

No single painting had ever truly done her justice yet.

He'd been thinking about this, painting the portrait of his true love when he phone went off. He glanced at it, expecting it to be one of his people telling him about some fiasco involving witches or werewolves or even the humans and all there drama on New Year's eve. Any Excuse to stir up trouble in thee city, they took it. But it was Damon Salvatore's name that appeared.

Damon Salvatore was probably the last person who'd call him. If it was social, it would be Elena calling Caroline – much later in the day. It was early too.

Nothing good could possibly be behind that call.

Klaus picked it up, feeling a sense of dread build in his stomach, "What bloody mess have you gotten yourself into mate?"

~~OFANV~~

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