"A Moment In Time"
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters; those belong to their original creators. The way it's all stringed together is of my making. No profit is being made out of this (*sigh* unfortunately).
Fandom(s): Vampire Diaries
Character(s): Jeremy Gilbert and Alaric Saltzman
Pairing: guardian/minor, friendship
Rating: T
Words: 822 words
Requested By: Enx2103 (kind of)
Challenge/Summary: Tag on to 4x07 – While Matt is great with keeping Jeremy level-headed, sometimes a kid needs an adult to tell him that everything will be fine.
Inspiration: I just had to do a scene of this kind…I wish there were more like it.
Spoiler(s): everything up to ep. 4x07 ("My Brother's Keeper")
Time Frame: Immediately after the episode.
A/N: Additional comments at the end to avoid spoilers.
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"Close Call"
Jeremy was too lost in his head to notice that he wasn't the only person in his room, so when he heard the unexpected voice, the new hunter jumped and with his new speed, he spun around to see his former guardian leaning against his desk.
"How are you holding up?" Alaric asked after Jeremy caught his bearings again. Alaric was aware of what had gone down over the last few days. He isn't always around but he does pop in from time to time to check up on the gang.
Jeremy scoffed. "I drove my own sister out of our home…how do you think I'm doing Ric?" He finished with a pointed look at the ghost.
Alaric sighed; memories of his evil alter-ego came to mind and he knew that Jeremy was worried about turning into that version of his former guardian. "I know this must be difficult for you…"
"That's an understatement Ric." Jeremy interrupted as he moved to shut his door; he didn't need Matt to hear him. "I almost killed Elena today…my sister!"
"But you didn't." Alaric firmly stated as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"No…instead I push her into the arms of the Salvatores." Jeremy grumbled as he started to pace the length of his room. He was still having trouble in processing the day's events. Not only did he kill a newborn (courtesy of Stefan) but he was inches away from staking his own sister at the Miss Mystic pageant. Who does that? Apparently he does after completing his hunter transformation.
"Whether we like it or not, Elena is in good hands there." Alaric pointed out, even though he didn't want to. "Especially now that she's a vampire, Damon will keep her in check." Whether he liked it or not, this ghost knew that Damon would be the last person to bring intentional harm to Elena. If anyone was going to keep Elena safe, free from suffering and in control then it would be Damon. Alaric may not agree with some of Damon's tactics but they seem to get through to Elena and that's what mattered.
Jeremy's brow furrowed out of confusion. "And what about Stefan?"
"He's too focused on that map." Alaric stated with a sigh as he pointed to Jeremy's Hunter mark. If it wasn't affecting Jeremy the way it was, Alaric would have found the mark to be a fascinating thing to uncover as a hobby. Now it just seemed like a thing he must uncover to solve a bigger puzzle, like the cave drawings that spoke of the Originals' origins.
"Shouldn't he be? It leads to a cure for Elena…right?" Jeremy questioned as he stopped his pacing. He had learned about the mark being a treasure map of sorts from the files that Bonnie handed him before he had killed that hybrid to save Elena. If Elena hadn't been plagued with deadly hallucinations, Jeremy would have been more hesitant in being a hunter.
Alaric ran a hand through his unruly hair. "Yes but by the rate your mark is growing, you're going to have to kill a lot of vampires before you complete it."
"Then that's what I'll do." Jeremy declared with so much conviction that it worried Alaric.
"But at what cost Jer?" The ghost questioned the hunter yet when he got no answer, he continued, "You've killed twice already and you were so close to killing Elena today." Jeremy flinched at the reminder but Alaric didn't stop, he needed Jeremy to understand the repercussions of his actions. "That feeling is only going to increase the more vampires you kill. Completing that map may benefit Elena in the end but it will destroy you Jeremy."
Jeremy gritted his teeth as Alaric's words repeated in his mind. "Then let it. I owe her since it's my fault that Elena is even a vampire in the first place."
"No its not." The ghost repeated. He remembered having this conversation with Jeremy just after he had died. It was before Elena had been resurrected but instead of the vampire part, Jeremy had truly believed that he had killed Elena.
"Yes it is!" The hunter replied harshly as he turned to glare at the ghost. "If I hadn't told Matt that we needed to get Elena out of Mystic Falls then she would have been safe at home than out in the open for Rebekah to kill." Jeremy reminded Alaric even though they had been through this argument before…Jeremy just couldn't let the guilt go.
Alaric wouldn't hear it. "If you want to play the blame game then it's my fault Jeremy. Not yours." He protested as he moved until he was right in Jeremy's face. "Getting the cure is not going to change what happened to Elena…you just have to accept what has happened and make the best of it before you lose yourself in the process." He stated while Jeremy's attention was still on him. And when he saw the little signs of denial and refusal, the ghost reassured the teenager that it wasn't his fault and that it will never be his fault.
After the message sunk into the teenager's mind, the ghost got settled for a night of purging as Jeremy voiced what this mark has done to him. Alaric may be dead but he could figure out a way to help out…like Rose or Anna had done for him before.
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A/N #1: And there you have it…I know it's a bit rough but I only wanted to share the dialogue in the scene between Alaric and Jeremy. It actually got me thinking about Evil!Alaric and how his thought process and behaviors resembled those of the Brotherhood of the Five. I even wondered on whether Alaric would be a potential or not like Jeremy was. Anyways, what did you think about these two interacting together? I had fun writing them together…I definitely miss Alaric.
A/N #2: Thank you to everyone who took the time to read my latest snippet/challenge on Vampire Diaries, it means the world to me! A special thanks to Ghostwriter, booboobegone and Enx2103 for leaving me a review for my previous snippet...once again, thank you for always leaving your thoughts for me to read and respond to. THANK YOU!
Coming Up Next: TBA
Originally Published: December 5, 2012