A/N: I am soo sorry for taking this long to update! I can't believe it's been months…

There's a summary of the first 11 chapters at the beginning of chapter 12. And here's a short summary of chapter 12:

The next morning Marissa wakes up, and though she is confused at first, she finally accepts that Alex has really been with her the previous night. So she concludes that Alex has to be alive. That evening she waits for her until late in the night, but Alex doesn't turn up.

The next evening, Marissa waits for her again…

"Alex," she whispers in quiet determination, her fingers closing around the knife firmly. "I'm coming."

13

Alex lay on the bed of her motel room, staring at the ceiling. She replayed the night's events in her head for the thousandth time – and still she didn't know what to think.

She had talked to Marissa… She had touched her face – and Marissa had touched hers.

She had bandaged Marissa's wounds, wiped away her spilled blood. And yet, the thought of attacking her had never even come to her mind. How was that possible?

Shivering, Alex remembered the other times she had smelled human blood. She had always been able to control herself in the end, but she had sure enough felt the power the red fluid of life had over her.

Alex thought back to the moment when she had entered Marissa's living room through the window and seen her with all the blood… And, yes, she had smelled it. But all she had felt in that moment had been worry for the girl she loved.

Only much later that night, when Alex had left the house, she had felt herself being overcome by bloodlust and had quickly found herself an animal to feed on. She still hated that part of being a vampire, but she had more or less accepted it as part of who she was.

Alex thought of all the poor, helpless animals she had killed by now, and silently prayed for their souls. Not that she was religious, but she did believe that all living creatures had souls. Alex quickly pushed aside those thoughts, when the question whether vampires had souls, too, began to gnaw at her mind.

Suddenly exhausted, the once-blonde-girl-now-dark-haired-vampire closed her eyes and was soon embraced by a deep dreamless sleep.

*

The sound of a door creaking open made Alex wake with a start. She sat up straight in her bed, alert as if she was expecting a murderer to enter the room.

"Dammit, Victoria," Alex breathed out, "you scared the shit out of me."

Victoria closed the door behind her and the motel room, which had been illuminated by sunlight for a couple of seconds, became pitch-black again. But Alex' eyes were no longer dependant on light, and so she didn't miss the grin on the other vampire's face.

"Hey, good day to you, too. And sorry – I would have been more quiet, if I had suspected you'd still be asleep at this time."

Alex frowned, rubbing her temples. The night's events had been truly exhausting – not that she minded, when exhausting meant seeing Marissa.

"Why, what time is it?"

"It's quarter past one. The sun's up high, and it's a gorgeous day!"

Victoria sighed contently and Alex gawked at her for a moment, before bursting out in laughter.

"Vic, what's up with you today? What did you do last night, that you're in such high spirits now?"

"Oh, never mind, it's not important," Victoria said smiling.

Alex frowned, and her frown deepened when her thoughts returned to Marissa and the events of the night before.

"So how come you're still in bed at this hour?" Victoria asked, her smile making way for a frown of her own. "Did you spend the whole night watching Marissa again?"

"Well, it's a bit more complicated than that…" Alex sighed, and quickly gave Victoria a summarized version of what had happened.

"Yup, that was my night," Alex finally finished. "So she saw me. But I'm not sure if she'll remember. She was not in her right mind."

They both fell silent for a moment, but when Alex saw that Victoria was about to say something, she quickly changed the subject. She did not feel like talking about Marissa anymore – her thoughts were too confusing.

"You know what I realized yesterday? I need a job! I mean, how am I supposed to live once you leave the O.C.?!"

Victoria gave Alex, who now bore a desperate expression, a thorough glance.

"Well, there is a possibility… But don't worry, even if we part ways, I could continue supporting you. Money's not really such a problem…"

"I really appreciate that… But, come on, I can't live off your money forever," Alex replied, shuddering involuntarily had her phrase. Forever was such a strong word. "What kind of 'possibility' were you talking about?"

Victoria looked at her intently for another moment. "How about you get dressed, and we'll talk about it then. You might not like my proposal, but it won't hurt you to listen to it."

Alex nodded and tried to suppress a yawn. "Okay. But give me a few minutes, alright? I want to jump under the shower quickly."

*

Some twenty minutes later, Alex and Victoria were both getting into a new car that Victoria had rented.

"Nice one," Alex said grinning. It was a shiny black Mercedes, obviously expensive. "But don't you think the tinted windows are a bit too obvious?"

Victoria grinned back at her. "Not really. It seems like every second car here is owned by paranoid people who don't want others to peek through their windows. It's probably more inconspicuous than that old Golf I had before."

"Actually, you're probably right," Alex said, frowning again. "So… spill it out, what do you want to tell me?"

"Well actually, I want to introduce you to someone. That's were we're going. To meet him."

Victoria stared the engine and drove off the parking lot, in silence.

Alex stared at her slightly irritated, but her eyes shimmering with curiosity. "Is that all you're gonna tell me now?"

Victoria flashed Alex an apologizing smile. "No. Sorry, I just spaced out for a moment…

"The man I want to introduce you to is Marc Jackson, a federal agent. He leads a special unit… And I cooperate with him. In return he provides me with any technology and so on I might find useful. He knows."

Alex looked at her in surprise. "He knows you're a vampire?"

"Yes."

"But he is human?"

"Yes."

Alex turned away and stared out of her window up at the blue sky, lost in thought. She took a strand of black hair between her finger and turned and twisted it subconsciously.

Victoria sent her a sideways glance, about to say something, but changed her mind and left Alex to her day-dreaming.

The two vampires talked little during their drive to LA, but neither of them minded the silence. Soon they reached the city and finally Victoria parked the car in front of one of countless skyscrapers.

They got out and walked up to the front door. Victoria barely glanced at the dozens of name tags on the wall, but instantly found the correct bell.

"Does he live here?" Alex asked.

"No. Not really. This apartment belongs to his department of the agency."

"Right."

There was a rustling noise and a mechanic-sounding voice demanded "Yes?"

"It is I and the girl," Victoria replied perfectly calm. A buzzing added to the other millions of sounds filling this busy street of LA, and Victoria pushed the door open. Alex entered behind her and followed her to the elevator, becoming more nervous with every step.

"Vic, are you really sure this is a good idea? I mean I'm supposed to be dead… Showing myself to the police seems kind of foolish to me."

"Alex." Victoria's voice sounded so serious and was so full of authority that Alex felt forced to look the older vampire straight in the eye. "I know this man, I know this business. Trust me."

Alex stared at her for another long moment. "Okay," she finally said, and merely a second later the elevator came to a stop with a high-pitched 'ding' in the 25th floor.

Alex followed Victoria out of the elevator and down the hall, then they stopped in front of a black door, which looked exactly like all the other doors on this floor. There was no name tag to indicate that this was the correct apartment.

Victoria raised her hand and knocked lightly, twice, and Alex marvelled at the contrast of Victoria's white skin against the black.

The door opened seconds later to reveal a tall black man standing in the doorway. He was quite young, Alex registered in surprise – she had somehow expected a severe-faced white guy in his fifty's who smelled of cigarettes and was clad in a Sherlock Holmes styled outfit.

But this man, though he bore a quite earnest expression, had friendly eyes and Alex felt that she immediately liked him.

He smiled at Victoria, and they shook hands. Alex couldn't help but smile at them both and in that moment she wished she had a camera on her. The picture was beautiful: white-skinned Victoria clad all in black clasping the hand of the black-skinned man, who was wearing a white suit.

"Geez, I think we could win an anti-racism arts prize with this picture!" Alex said, and raised her hands pretending to take a picture with an imaginary camera.

"Well, this is an old joke between us," the man said, gesturing towards his white suit, a smile on his lips. "So you must be Ms. Kelly," he added.

"I prefer 'Alex'," she responded, shaking his offered hand.

"I am Marc Jackson. Call me Marc. And come on in, both of you."

Victoria closed the door behind them and locked it twice before following Marc and Alex into the living room. "Here, take a seat. Would you like anything to drink…" Marc broke off and scratched his head in embarrassment. "Sorry, never mind. My mother really drummed those rules of politeness into me, I just can't seem to get used to not needing to apply them sometimes."

They all sat down and there was a moment of silence.

"Sooo," Marc finally began, "I don't know how much Victoria told you…"

"Not much," Alex said.

"Alright. Well, I'm not quite sure where to start… At the beginning, I guess. As you know there are different types of vampires. Vampires like Victoria and yourself that are so to speak still human. And then there are other vampires, ruthless murderers – one of which you have, of course, met.

"These vampires are a threat to all normal citizens – who of course must never find out about your existence. Imagine the chaos such a revelation would cause. People would cease to trust their own neighbours, friends, family."

Marc paused, seemingly lost in thought for a moment. Then he cleared his throat and continued: "So it is our job to hunt down the vampires and to get rid of them – while making sure that the people do not get wind of it. The last part we manage quite well, and also the killing is not so much the problem. But as to the hunting… That is were vampires like Victoria here kick in. We need her vampire senses to identify and locate killer-vamps."

Alex nodded slowly. "So what exactly does all this have to do with me?" she asked, although she did quite well have an idea were this conversation was headed.

Marc looked at her directly. "I hereby offer you a job. Help us with the vampire hunt. It's not easy to find trustworthy vampires. But Victoria trusts you – and thus I do, too."

"I… I…" Although Alex had expected this, she didn't know what to answer – her thoughts whirled around madly in her head.

"You don't have to decide just now. I'm just asking you to think about it. But you know, it could be a chance for you to start over. To give your life a new meaning. It'd be part of our service to you to supply you with a new identification – that way you could actually be a legal citizen again. And the pay, is good, too," Marc added grinning.

Alex smiled weakly. The offer sounded quite good, actually…

"If you should agree to join us, you would first of all undergo a training, for about a year. And then you could travel the world at your will, and help rid the world of ruthless monsters."

Alex inhaled deeply. "And were would this training take place?"

"Well… Either here in LA or in New York City – whichever you'd prefer."

"That wouldn't be a though choice," Alex muttered. She sighed. "I really don't know if I can do this," she said more loudly, thinking of Marissa.

"As I said, take your time to decide."

"Yes." Alex was suddenly feeling uneasy – she had been away from the O.C. far too long already. Who knows what Marissa is up to after what happened last night, Alex thought. She stood up and cleared her throat.

Marc blinked and shot Victoria a surprised glance - but Victoria was looking at Alex, evidently comprehending what was going on in the younger vampire's mind.

"I think we shall get going, shall we not?" Victoria asked.

Alex nodded, and Victoria and Marc got up as well. The latter approached Alex in a few quick steps.

"Here take my card, and just give me a call if you like. We'd be grateful to have you."

Alex nodded and pocketed the card with Marc's number.

The three went to the door, and Alex shook Marc's hand before walking out into the hall.

"I will hear from you, I suppose," Marc said quietly to Victoria, and Alex had the sudden feeling that this was a private moment for the two. She walked over to the elevator and then turned in time to see Victoria and Marc embracing each other. Moments later Victoria was standing next to her, and they both waved good-bye before the doors of the elevator shut Marc from sight.

Soon, they were both sitting in the car, driving back to Orange County. Alex looked out of the window, staring at all the normal people. She had always thought it to be a good thing not being too 'normal', too mainstream. Even for her taste, though, her situation now was definitely too abnormal.

She thought of Marissa, and was suddenly filled with such a strong desire she had not felt in a long time. I miss her so badly, she thought sadly. I want to wake up in the mornings with her in my arms again.

"So, what are you going to do about your girl?" Victoria asked softly.

"I don't know," Alex sighed, but she was relieved that Victoria was not questioning her about what she thought about the job offer – she would need some time to think about that. "I really don't know."

Suddenly remembering something, Alex turned to face Victoria. "How come I didn't try to attack Marissa when I smelled her blood? You said young vampires can hardly control their bloodlust."

"Yeah, I said that," Victoria said slowly. "And I think that's the way it usually is. But you seem to have extraordinary control… That is a useful gift – a gift that could enable you to let Marissa be a part of your life."

"No," Alex said immediately. "No. She deserves better."

*

Once they were back at the motel, Alex didn't waste any time. She took the car and started driving towards Marissa's home. At some point, she looked out of the window – and straight into a familiar face. Shocked, Alex slammed the accelerator pedal. She glanced into her sideways mirror, and there was no mistaking: There was Sandy Cohen, walking down the street. She wasn't quite sure whether she was just imagining it, but he seemed to stare at her car rather surprised.

Alex shuddered, but continued her way nonetheless. She drove past the apartment slowly, and sure enough she saw Marissa opening the door and slipping inside just that moment.

Alex nodded to herself. Marissa was alright. She turned around and drove back to the motel. She thought of Sandy and shuddered again. She had to be more careful.

She would go back to Marissa later that evening, when night had fallen. She would go by foot and then watch her love through the windows, until she went to sleep.

And the next evening she would do the same thing. And the next, and the next, and the next, and the one after that.

What else was there to do, really? Marissa was the only thing in Alex' existence that had any meaning.

Alex sighed, rubbing her cold arms. If her heart was dead, how come it could still hurt so badly, even after all this time?


A/N: Thanks for reading, even tough it took me so long to write this! The next chap is almost ready for posting, and there will definitely be more Alex/Marissa! =)

Oh, and one more thing:

I really had to laugh out loud when I read Zoey's review ("Marissa isn't gay, you're gay. Stop writing for this ship, it ain't ever gonna happen. Ryan and Marissa go way back.") … And I really want to thank her here for pointing out the fact that I'm gay. I would have never realized it without her.

Though that review really made my day (seriously, I was in a bad mood before…^^ But when I read it, I instantly showed it to my sister, and we had a good laugh together), I find it kind of sad how so many people still have a problem with homosexuality. Luckily, I live in a tolerant city (even our mayor is gay!) – but actually I hate the fact that we have to be 'tolerated' at all.

Oh well… I could go on with this topic forever, but I guess this is not really why you're reading this. ;)

Cheers!

- Elanor