AN: Thank you to my reviewers! To lauren, I'm glad you're enjoying my story! I hope you like this chapter, too. To Marauders12345, E.J.'s a very fun character to write, and I'm still developing her as I go. They didn't actually keep my computer at all, I've just been busy the last couple of days. Yes, I love Damon-E.J. interactions, too. They're fun to write. To everybody, I have nothing else to say, so enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: See previous chapters. E.J. belongs to me and cannot be used without my permission.

"You brought me to a bar?" E.J. hopped out of the passenger side and blinked up at the flashing sign The Grill. The parking lot was packed, and Damon had had to park on the street. Damon hopped out from his side and strode over to hers, taking her by the arm and marching her up the driveway to the door.

"It is not a bar," Damon defended himself as they walked. "It's The Grill. Completely different."

E.J. rolled her eyes. "Completely." The door jingled as they entered and E.J. shook Damon off and trotted ahead of him. The inside was crawling with people, the tables almost all filled up. However, the bar was only occupied by a few people, and that's where Damon immediately headed.

What about introducing me to one of your human friends? E.J. projected at him, irritated. She stepped down into the main section of the restaurant/bar and snaked her way between the tables. A section of the bar had couches set up where some people were sitting laughing far too loudly, drinks in hand.

Let me know when you see any, and I'll be glad to. E.J. rolled her eyes and decided to take matters into her own hands.

You suck. She decided to ignore Damon for the rest of the time they would be here.

"Hey!" E.J. jumped and swung around, her heart racing wildly. She had been sneaked up on too many times in the past two days to not suspect the worst. She immediately calmed when she saw who it was. The girl from English class approached her, smiling broadly.

"I don't believe we've ever properly met," the girl greeted. "I'm Elena, Stefan's girlfriend." She stuck out her hand, and E.J. shook it heartily, laughing to herself. That would explain her presence at the Boarding House last night!

"E.J.," E.J. returned after releasing the girl's hand. As always, she had been gentle, and she was glad to see that Elena's face was pain-free. "But I guess you knew that."

Elena smiled and motioned at someone behind her. The two other girls from last night approached, greeting E.J. separately, and very differently. The tall blonde girl wearing a skimpy yellow and red sundress was overly perky and the petite African-American girl wearing black shorts, a pictured shirt under a long sleeveless sweater, and a long necklace with a dangling star-shaped pendant barely nodded at her.

"These are my friends Caroline and Bonnie," Elena introduced them, pointing first at the blonde and then at the raven-haired girl. "We were at the house last night, but we never actually saw you."

E.J. laughed and followed Elena as she, Caroline, and Bonnie made their way over to a section of The Grill where a pool table was set up. "I was a little too busy hiding from Damon." E.J. wasn't stupid. Chances were if these girls were acquainted with the Salvatore brothers, then they probably knew about the supernatural persons of the world.

"Damon's a dick, yeah," Caroline piped up matter-of-factly.

"Caroline!" Bonnie scolded. "Language!"

E.J. rolled her eyes. "Nothing I've never heard before, Bonnie." Bonnie immediately blushed and sent Elena an alarmed look. "Oh, you know what I am, don't you?" All three girls nodded. "And that doesn't bother you at all?" Elena immediately shook her head, Bonnie said not a word, but Caroline smiled broadly at her and stepped forward.

"Why would it?" The skin around her eyes became veined, her eyes darkened, and fangs elongated from her mouth for a few seconds. E.J. blinked in surprise before bursting into laughter and grasping Caroline's hand.

"No way!" E.J. squealed. "And here I thought Rebekah was the only girl you-know-what in town!"

The three girls froze. "You know Rebekah?" Elena asked after a few long moments. E.J. realized that maybe she should have kept that quiet.

But, now, she had to give them an answer. "Er, she sorta came to my room and threw me around a little last night."

"That bitch!" Caroline exclaimed. "Don't worry, E.J." She came around to E.J.'s side and wrapped an arm around the shorter girl. "You're with us now. Rebekah better stay away!" E.J. giggled and allowed Caroline to lead her up the steps to the pool table, Elena and Bonnie following.

"You ever played pool before, E.J.?" Elena asked as she set up for the break. "My friend Matt and I used to play it all the time, so I'd say I'm pretty good. Caroline pretty much sucks, but Bonnie's a natural."

E.J. grinned, twirled her cue in her hands, and expertly lined up for the break. "We'll just have to see, huh?" The three other girls raised an eyebrow at each other before Elena removed the triangle and stepped aside. E.J. took a few moments to line up her shot before expertly thrusting her cue into the perfectly formed triangle. The balls went all directions, but every single one shot into one of the four corners and fell down into the holes.

Elena, Bonnie, and Caroline stared at her in disbelief. "I used to play professionally back in the '70s," E.J. explained, grinning triumphantly. "Don't believe what you hear. That was all the rage back then." She twirled her cue in her hands again. "I was the state champion of Nebraska three years in a row."

"You're pretty good." The four girls turned to find Kol standing behind them, holding his own cue. "May I join you?" He grinned wickedly at E.J. and, before any of the other girls could say a word, she had thrust the butt of her cue into his gut.

Kol looked surprised but barely winced from the blow. "I guess I probably deserved that." His grin turned devilish.

"You broke my neck!" E.J. snarled at him, thrusting the cue at him again. This time, he caught it and no matter how hard E.J. tugged she couldn't get it free. "And then you kidnapped me!" she continued, still tugging on her cue.

"Leave her be, Kol." The other voice broke through the tension and E.J. stiffened. This was one voice she had never heard before, but she could sense that its owner was dangerous. Kol immediately let go of her cue, sneering at her, before turning and stalking away to stand beside another man.

He was shorter than Kol, but presented a more imposing figure in the way he held himself and the vibe he gave off. He was very attractive with closely cropped light-brown hair and vividly blue eyes. When he smiled at E.J., she felt as if she might drown in those eyes. And he had dimples!

"I apologize for my brother," the man spoke, looking E.J. up and down with some interest before turning his attention to Caroline. "He can be quite a brute."

"What do you want, Klaus?" Caroline demanded, standing tall even though E.J. could tell she was nervous. Klaus's smile wavered briefly before he recovered and strode toward Caroline, reaching out a hand to brush a lock of her hair behind her ear.

"Nothing you haven't already given me, love," he breathed seductively into Caroline's ear. She stomped on his foot and Klaus was surprised enough to stumble backwards, although E.J. doubted he was hurt.

Kol giggled darkly. "Rejected! How does it feel, Nikky?" Klaus spun around and leapt at his brother, who deftly avoided his grasp.

It suddenly clicked in E.J.'s mind who this man was. "Are you Niklaus?" Klaus froze and turned around to stare at her, nodding slowly. "Sorry, your brother Elijah mentioned you. By the way, what did you do that was so horrible?"

The look on Niklaus's face was priceless. "Did Elijah say I had done something horrible?" he asked, sounding almost wounded.

E.J. slowly shook her head. "No, not in so many words, but that's what I was inferring. Question: Are you like Finn and Elijah or Kol and Rebekah?"

Niklaus was clearly startled by this question. "Little girl," he spoke, sounding confused, something that clearly amused Kol, "who are you exactly?"

Kol jumped in, "She's that girl I was telling you about. The one me and Rebekah kidnapped. Her name's A.J., or something."

E.J. glared. "E.J."

"Yeah, whatever." Kol waved her away. "Anyway, we brought her to the house so Elijah could have a 'talk' with her, but he decided to be all chivalrous and let her go."

Niklaus turned away from his brother and focused his attention on E.J. Normally, whenever Caroline was around, he hardly found himself paying any attention to anyone else, but he found himself drawn to this strange girl. "In what way do you mean, 'Am I like Finn and Elijah or like Kol and Rebekah?'"

"You know." E.J. shrugged. "Are you a total dick like Kol or a gentleman like Elijah?"

Niklaus blinked before he chuckled, glancing at his brother. Kol looked slightly miffed, but he must have been wary of his brother because he kept his mouth shut. E.J. took notice. "I would hope that I am not a 'dick,'" Niklaus finally answered, "but I am sorry to say that I am not anywhere near as chivalrous as Elijah."

"No one is," Kol muttered, sounding like a dejected child. "I have a few names for you, too, kid," he muttered to E.J. Niklaus glared at him sharply, and Kol promptly fell silent.

"So, you're more like Finn?" E.J. inferred, looking thoughtful. "He's totally not a dick—he's really sweet, even though he'd never admit it—but he's not what I'd call a gentleman either."

Niklaus actually laughed. "I do not believe I have ever been compared to Finn before." He chuckled. "I am afraid we are nothing alike, but I suppose we are similar in that matter."

"I need a drink," Kol suddenly announced, glaring hideously at E.J. before stomping down the steps and over to the bar.

"Get me one while you're at it!" Niklaus hollered after him before returning his attention to E.J. "Nice meeting you, love."

E.J. grinned up at him. "You too, Nik. Can I call you 'Nik,' or do you go by 'Niklaus'? Or do you prefer 'Klaus,' because that's what Caroline called you, you know."

The other three girls were expecting the hybrid to lose his patience with E.J., who was even stranger than they'd first thought, but he only appeared to be amused. He chuckled again. "You, my dear, may call me whatever you like."

E.J. giggled. "I like you, Nik. Think you can buy me a drink? I don't think the bartender will believe I'm sixty-five-years-old."

Niklaus laughed and held out his arm. "It would be my pleasure, love."

E.J. took his arm and asked as they were walking to the bar, "Are you British?"

"Did that really just happen?" Bonnie asked in disbelief.

"It did," Caroline replied, as if in a daze.

Elena shook her head and pulled out her phone. "I'm texting Stefan. Damon clearly isn't paying any attention to her." She jerked her head at Damon, who had already downed five drinks and was now voraciously hitting on a blonde girl who looked as if she might be a prostitute. "Somebody needs to tell E.J. that Klaus is dangerous."

Bonnie frowned and leaned against the pool table. "But Klaus seemed to like her. Maybe we should just stay out of it."

Caroline reluctantly agreed. "I hate Klaus just as much as the rest of you." Elena and Bonnie shared a knowing look when Caroline wasn't looking. "But Bonnie's right. E.J.'s not gonna believe it until she sees it, and Klaus is being totally nice to her." She wrinkled her nose. "It's really weird."

Elena smirked teasingly at her and reached out to play with a lock of Caroline's hair. "Are you jealous, Care Bear?"

"No!" Caroline leapt away from Elena and glared at her friends, who were now both snickering. "Screw you!" Caroline cried as she turned on her heel and stomped away.

E.J. eagerly hopped up onto a bar stool as she and Niklaus finally reached the bar. Niklaus stood while he called the bartender over. "Two margaritas, please, mate," Niklaus ordered cheerily, grinning up at the tall boy with tousled brown hair and deep brown eyes.

The boy glanced over at E.J. and shook his head. "Ah, no, Klaus. She's way too young. Don't even think about it."

Niklaus sighed and shook his head, leaning forward and staring the boy in the eyes. "Do we need to do this the hard way, then, Gilbert?"

The boy shook his head, smiling. "I've been on vervain for months, Klaus. You can't compel me."

E.J. laid a hand on Niklaus's arm. "Allow me."

Niklaus stepped back. "Be my guest, love."

The boy turned to her, still shaking his head and smiling. "Look, kid, there's nothing that you can do to—"

E.J. leaned forward and looked the boy dead in the eye. "You will do whatever Niklaus or I says, and you will not question us." Her pupils slowly receded as her compulsion sunk in.

The boy slowly nodded his head and backed away. "Yeah, yeah, okay," he said, taking the towel from his shoulder and laying it on the counter. "Your drinks will be right up."

"Very impressive," Niklaus praised, looking at E.J. in a new perspective. "How did you know he wasn't on vervain?"

E.J. looked back and grinned up at him. "Oh, he was."

The smile disappeared from Niklaus's face and he suddenly leaned in close to E.J. and grasped her by her shirtfront. Her short pink athletic shorts and gray sleeveless under armor offered him little material to grab onto, but he somehow managed. "You cannot compel someone on vervain," he hissed in her face. "Why are you lying to me?"

E.J. sighed and rested her elbow on the bar counter. "Yup, you're definitely like Kol."

Niklaus started and immediately released her, stepping back. "I am nothing like that imbecile!" he hissed.

E.J. shrugged. "I can compel people on vervain. Believe it or not. Makes no difference to me."

Niklaus's anger slowly abated and he sat in the barstool to E.J.'s left. "How do you compel someone on vervain?" he asked in a low voice.

E.J. sighed, glanced around to make sure no one was listening, and leaned in close to speak only to Niklaus. "A friend of mine showed me how. But she said it wouldn't work for normal vampires. Maybe it would work for you?"

Niklaus sat back and appraised her. "How?" he asked simply.

"To be able to compel someone on vervain, you must be full of it," E.J. answered as if she were in class. "That's what I did, and now I can compel anyone on vervain. I wanted to be able to compel Damon because he's a total dick."

Niklaus blinked at her. "Damon is a vampire."

E.J. raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "No kidding."

Niklaus shook his head. "Only an Original can compel other vampires."

E.J. shrugged and leaned back in her seat. "I can. I have no idea how, but I can."

"There you are!" Damon suddenly appeared behind her, clearly drunk, and grabbed her by the arm. "I've been looking everywhere for you! What the hell are you doing with this demon?" He nodded over at Niklaus, who looked mildly offended.

E.J. tried to shake him off, but Damon's grip was strong. "Maybe you should have stayed with me instead of running off to get drunk off your ass. And Nik is a hell of a lot less of a demon than you are, dick!"

Damon groaned, shaking his head as if it hurt and picking her up from the chair. "Come on. We're leaving."

"Leave her be!" Niklaus immediately leapt up and threw Damon off of E.J. "Do not touch her without her permission!"

E.J. held up a hand and, amazingly, Niklaus listened, stepping back and sitting back down. E.J. stepped up to Damon and looked dead into his drunken eyes. Her pupils dilated as she spoke in a low voice, "You should really go out and check on your car, Damon. I think you may have a flat tire."

Damon blinked for several long moments before he slowly straightened and shook his head as if his ears were filled with wax. "I think I'll go check on the car," he murmured, turning on his heel and staggering toward the door.

Niklaus gazed at E.J. in amazement as the young girl climbed back into her seat and quickly threw her finger over her shoulder. She grinned broadly at Niklaus and settled into her seat right when their drinks were brought to them. E.J. plucked the glass up with two fingers and held it out to Niklaus. "Bottoms up!" She tilted her head back and drank heartily.

This is my kind of woman, Niklaus thought to himself happily.

TVDTVDTVDTVDTVD

As Damon was walking to his car, he felt strange. He couldn't remember why he was going there, but he couldn't stop himself. His feet seemed to be moving of their own accord as he crossed the parking lot and trotted across the grass until he finally reached his car.

"Did that girl actually compel me?" he muttered to himself as he went about inspecting his tires, again not of his own free will. He froze when he saw that one of his tires was indeed flat. "Holy %*# !" he cried, hurrying around the nose of the car and kneeling before the injured tire. "That little creep!" he seethed as he lovingly ran his fingertips over the deflated rubber. The tire was literally flat, the air almost completely emptied from it.

Damon was no mechanic, but he did know how to change a tire. Unfortunately, his car was parked off to the side of a road and, although Mystic Falls was not a busy town, he was still wary. He sighed as he trotted to the trunk of his car and popped it up. And Stefan had thought him paranoid to keep a spare in his trunk!

He lifted it out with ease, holding it up with one hand as he reached in for the car jack. Right then, a silver Chevy drove on by, and the driver stared in shock out his window. Damon glanced up at him and glared until the man hurriedly sped away.

"I am going to kill her," he muttered as he set about changing his tire. The jack was old and rusted, and it took some work for Damon to fit it under his tire and crank it up. Once the tire was elevated above the ground, he remembered that he needed his toolbox to remove the tire and leapt up to get it.

As he was struggling with removing the bolts holding the tire in place, Elena and Caroline exited The Grill, spotted him, and hurried over. "Damon!" Elena cried, running ahead of Caroline and reaching Damon first. Caroline followed at a more leisurely pace, watching Damon's struggles with interest.

"What, Teresa?" Damon grumbled, finally managing to yank the first bolt off and moving on to the second.

Elena blinked. "Teresa?"

"Barbie's brunette friend?" Damon asked with a huff. "Don't you kids know anything nowadays?"

Elena glanced back at Caroline and shrugged before turning back to her boyfriend's brother. "Do you realize that E.J. is getting awfully chummy with Klaus?"

"No kidding!" Damon snarled, yanking off the second bolt and moving on to the third. "I thought that's who it was with her when I went up to her to take her home!"

Elena frowned. "What happened?"

"Klaus happened," Damon snapped. "He threw me off E.J. And then the brat happened! I swear that kid actually compelled me!"

Caroline snorted. "You're delusional, Damon. Vampires can't compel other vampires."

Damon yanked off the third bolt and moved on to the final one. "Well, someone convinced me to come out here and check for any flat tires, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't Klaus."

Elena sighed. "But, Damon, you actually did have a flat. I keep telling you you're reading too much into this."

Damon yanked off the last bolt, tossed his tool into his small orange toolbox, and yanked the tire off with one pull. He tossed it aside, narrowly missing Elena, who leapt to the side. The doppelganger glared at him, but Damon ignored her as he lifted up his spare and shoved it into place. "How am I reading too much into this, Elena?" Damon finally asked, sounding weary. "I can take that she knew about the flat because maybe she noticed it or something. But that doesn't explain why I came out to check for one. I didn't know about it."

Caroline bit her lip and stepped up beside Elena. "He does have a point, Elena," Caroline reluctantly agreed.

"Thank you!" Damon grumbled. The bolts went on much easier than they had come off, and Damon was soon able to stand, pick up his toolbox, and face the girls head-on. "I can't explain it, Elena," he sighed. "I know E.J. shouldn't be able to compel me. Even if she somehow can compel other vampires, you know I've been on vervain for months, so it shouldn't matter."

Elena sighed and walked with Damon as he moved to fit his toolbox into the far back corner of his car's trunk. She waited as he slammed the trunk closed and turned to her. "Nothing to say?" he asked.

When Elena didn't answer, he brushed past her, picked up his deflated tire, and trotted to the back of The Grill to toss it in the dumpster. There was no hope for it.

Elena and Caroline started dejectedly back to The Grill, but Damon suddenly appeared and went inside ahead of them. "Rude!" Caroline snapped under her breath as she grabbed Elena's wrist and tugged her through the door, the bell jingling above them, after Damon.

They spotted him making his way over to E.J. and Klaus, who looked as if they had been drinking nonstop for some time. Elena and Caroline hurried over, Elena to make sure Damon didn't do anything stupid and Caroline because she was a little jealous of E.J., although she'd never admit it.

E.J. glanced up, her eyes a drunken glaze, at Damon when he approached her and giggled. Amazingly, the elder vampire had sobered up nicely and now had a distinct advantage over his drunk tenant. "I don't know how you did it," Damon murmured to her under his breath, "but I am not amused. We're going home, now."

Klaus looked up and laughed when he saw Damon. "You again!" he wheezed, pounding his fist on the counter and giggling uncontrollably. "I thought we got rid of you!"

"I'm taking E.J. home," Damon informed the hybrid calmly, trying his best to keep from attacking Klaus.

"You ain't taking her nowhere!" Klaus suddenly became serious, but he stood on shaky feet as he hopped down and zeroed in on Damon.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Kol appeared and easily herded his brother away from the elder Salvatore brother. "Easy, big brother," Kol soothed, sitting his brother back down onto the stool and peering into his face to judge just how drunk he was.

"This was great!" E.J. hiccupped, speaking for the first time. "We should do it again sometime!"

Kol turned to E.J. and gave her a dark, menacing look. Even in her drunken state, the girl knew better than to further goad him and hopped down from her stool, hanging her head and shuffling toward Damon. "There you go," Kol said. "Just head on back to the Boarding House with Damon, love. Little girls like you should never consume that much alcohol."

"Come off it, Kol!" Klaus snarled weakly. "We was jus' havin' some fu-u-un!"

Kol ignored him as he looped his brother's arm around his shoulders, lifted him up, and turned around to nod politely at Damon. "Get her home, mate. She needs rest and a big cup of coffee."

Damon nodded, for once at a loss for words. "Thank you," he said unexpectedly, shocking both Elena and Caroline. Kol turned to him, eyebrows raised and an amused smirk on his face. "I might hate your guts," Damon continued mildly, "but I'm kind of glad you were here. Your brother's dangerous when drunk."

Kol glanced down at Klaus, who looked as if he might collapse at any moment. The younger Original glanced back up at Damon and nodded politely. "I may be evil incarnate," Kol quipped smartly, "but I do love keeping my brother in line. Ciao!" In the blink of an eye, Kol had sped him and his brother out of The Grill.

Damon sighed in relief and glanced down to E.J., who was yawning and swaying on her feet. "Be nice to her, Damon," Elena suddenly spoke. Damon glanced up at her and almost smiled at the determined glare on his brother's girlfriend's face. Caroline's glare was a bit more menacing, and, though Damon might have been stronger than the blonde baby vampire, he knew better than to take her on when she was angry.

Instead, he promised, "I will," swept E.J. up into his arms, and strode past Elena and Caroline out the door.

AN: I'm hoping to update very soon. Unfortunately, these quick updates will abate very soon, because I'm heading off to college in the next couple of weeks. I'm excited, but I won't have a lot of time to work on this until I get the hang of everything. Again, you lovely people, tell me what you thought of this chapter! I know most people don't review probably just because they have nothing to say, but don't worry about it. Just tell me what you thought, I don't expect anything deep. Thanks for reading!

READ THIS!

P.S. There's still a possibility I'll do some kind of contest thing, but I haven't decided yet. Basically, the first person to guess the three points of what's "special" about E.J. would get something. Probably a one-shot of his/her choice, but I don't know. If that idea interests anybody, let me know! If I do the one-shot thing, it would be fairly open, but I would have conditions. I want to see more people guessing, though, otherwise I won't bother! If you want hints, I will be more than happy to give them.

Here are some: E.J. can compel other vampires and vervain does not have much of an effect on her. Rebekah "felt" something when E.J. first came to town and E.J. could "hear" Rebekah thought-speaking to Kol. Not all of these have any connection with the TV series. I won't say which point(s) these clues belong to, you'll have to guess. If enough people say they are interested, I will give you all the first point.