A/N: Sorry for the long wait. I got busy with school and forgot about the ending I promised y'all! Hopefully some of y'all stuck around and again I'm so sorry. Anyways, here's part 1 of 2.

64 Year Later

It had been several days since Michael had received the dreaded news he knew had been coming for years.

In Celebration of the Life of
Claire Danvers

He always paused at her name because he always had a hard time reading passed it. How could he not? It had been nearly seventy years since his life in Morganville had changed forever and they had left, but he could still remember it as if it were yesterday: Amelie being staked, Oliver taking over, Shane and Eve and Claire leaving, him being forever alone in the world. It all stung like the sun shining on his skin repeatedly.

He knew he could always make new friends: try to get to know other vampires better or even some of the humans, but it was impossible. Most of the other vampires avoided him like the plague. He'd been on Oliver's bad side from the very beginning of Oliver's reign and many were afraid that they'd gain Oliver's wrath if they were seen with him. Oliver had not punished him in any fashion for his part in the resistance during The Takeover years ago and gave him the same rights as the other vampires in town. He could have any human he wanted as long as it was in moderation or the family was compensated in one way or another. He could go where he wanted when he wanted with few to no restrictions. Although vampires had clearly been more valuable when Amelie was in charge, there was even more of a noticeable gap between them and the humans. The humans had a bed time, they were restricted from most places unless accompanied by their protector, and so much more that Micheal felt bad for the humans. Yet even with the same treatment as the others and no true sign that Oliver would punish any who would try, none of the vampires, old or new, had tried to approach or befriend him.

The humans were fearful of him. He could enter anywhere and immediately smell the fear radiating through the room: some of it at him. Many of those he grew up knowing and that knew him growing up were dead and gone: both natural and supernatural causes. Anybody who knew him, knew the kind and gentle and sweet him, before his life as a vampire was gone. This thought brought him back to Claire.

In Celebration of the Life of
Claire Danvers

Sunrise: April 10th, 1990

Sunset: September 3rd, 2073

He couldn't believe that she was already gone. She'd been the last one to go. Eve had passed away almost ten years prior from a car accident and Shane had died about five years ago from a heart attack. He couldn't outright contact Eve or Shane but he made sure to keep notes on them and their lives the best he could, stealthily taking trips all over the country to collect details on them.

After leaving Morganville, Eve had settled down in a small town in Washington where technology was scarce. Michael guessed she hoped that it would be hard for Oliver to track her in a town with barely any technology. There, she worked in a coffee shop, a fact that made Michael smile every time. Seven years later, she met a guy named Leon, who happened to have lots of money, and the two spent the next four years traveling the world together before finally getting married and having the kids that Eve had hoped for ever since she had laid eyes on her niece and nephew. Four children, they had: three boys and one girl. The eldest was Leon Jr. due to him looking like his father's twin at birth. The second was Michael, named after her first love and best friend. The third was Marcus Shane, named after his father's best friend from his time in the army (who gave his life for him) and his mother's best friend. The youngest and only girl was named Clarice, named after a character in the movie that had brought her parents together. Clarice, from a young age, had a flare for the brilliant and weird in life that one day caused her mom to tearfully give her the nickname Claire and it stuck. Her children grew up and went off to good colleges and Eve and her husband spent the rest of their time in the world traveling and exploring. It wasn't until years later that, after the birth of their fifth grandchild, Claire's little girl, both got into a car wreck on their way home.

Shane, after leaving Morganville, had a different method of approach. Instead of fleeing to a small town, he opted for the biggest city in the U.S.: New York. He probably figured it would be like picking out a needle from a haystack. He did many ends and odd jobs for a few years before he had a somewhat lucky break. A bar fight broke out one night at a bar he'd been in and he had tried to break it up and ended up with a broken nose. However, he'd been so impressive that an up and coming rock star, a spectator in the bar that night, offered him a job as his bodyguard. After declining multiple times, Shane finally said yes and this is where the time of his life began. Much like Eve, he traveled the world and got to experience so much more than he ever thought he would have been able to. He never got married, preferring not to be tied down, but was father to a son named Seth. He seemed to live relatively happy. This also made Michael really happy. He had worried so much about Shane and the trouble he'd get into but his best friend had found a place in the world.

Claire was a different story though. She'd been clever enough to realize that Oliver never intended to watch them: he'd be too busy running his newly acquired kingdom. So they'd been writing to each other for decades although they'd never gotten bold enough to meet up. She kept her promise of sending him photos of everything: Nathan and Natalie's second birthday, all of their school photos, their school events, play dates, junior proms, senior proms, graduations from high school and college, their joint wedding, and even some of their children. She also included pictures of herself, her first day at her job, promotions, holiday parties, school functions, and even some of her engagement and wedding. He could remember his surprise when she told him…

"I found someone." She had said. "He's a partner at a nonprofit law firm that focuses on environmental suits."

"Really? That's great! How long have you been together?"

"It's been a few years: I didn't want to tell you unless I was sure it was serious."

"How serious is it between you two?"

She'd been silent for a few minutes before answering in a breathless tone. "He's asked me to marry him…and I said yes."

Michael had been floored for some reason at the news. He knew that she wouldn't be single for the rest of her life because she was so beautiful and smart but he was still shocked.

So naturally, many of the twins' photos had included other children, their half-siblings, and Claire's husband, Terry. Terry had been a dirty blond with light green eyes that only seemed to be for Claire. In all pictures Michael received, Claire and Terry looked so happy and so in love that Michael couldn't help but to smile even over his tiny spurt of jealousy. He had loved Claire once upon a time but she did not belong in Morganville...

She did not belong with him.

Visiting her grave was almost surreal. It was a quiet, beautiful spring day in Longview, Texas: better than most. The quiet made it both eerie yet peaceful in the graveyard and Michael cherished both.

Claire Danvers
April 10th 1990-September 3rd 2073
Loving Wife, Mother, and Friend
You are missed.

It was a beautiful headstone: marble, glossy, and new. Michael couldn't help but run his fingers over the smooth surface then the outline of the letters and words and although he hadn't seen her in person in more than fifty years he missed her greatly already.

"Uncle Michael?" Surprised that anyone could identify him in his heavy trench coat and hat that blocked out the sun and the use of the word 'uncle', Michael turned to see an elderly couple make their way toward him.

At first he couldn't identify who they were. How could two old people-outside of Morganville-know who he was? But as they moved closer, he could see the resemblance. At 65, Nathan and Natalie still looked very much alike: same shades of dark gray hair, facial structure, even down to their walks. Even after seeing them many times in their pictures, it was still a shock to see the babies he'd helped take care of older.

"How did you know?" He asked as soon as they were close.

"Mom had a lot pictures of you around the house when we were growing up. She always told us you were one of her closest friends." Natalie responded. "She also told us about what she remembered of the town we were born in: about what you are."

"So you know I'm a-"

They both nodded. "We didn't believe her at first, thought she was crazy, but the few pictures you sent over the years were enough and the fact that our mom was one of the smartest women any of us have known made us believe." Nathan chuckled.

"How did you know I'd be here?"

"Mom told us a few days before she died to expect two of her friends from Morganville to be stopping by to pay their respects. She knew y'all cared enough to come say your final words."

"Two friends?"

"Yeah, you and Myrnin, who, may I add, must be the weirdly dressed guy headed our way."

Turning, Michael did indeed find Claire's old boss stalking toward them with a bouquet of flowers. Wearing a trench coat like Michael and a worn, floppy cowboy hat and tennis shoes, he ignored them at first, kneeling down and touching the stone as Michael had earlier, before setting the flowers down, murmuring something in some language, and facing them.

"Young Michael, I should have expected to find you here: how is eternity treating you?"

"As well as you've been treating that hat."

Myrnin nodded, not seeing the humor, and turned to the twins. "And who are you lovely people?"

"We're Claire's children, well, at least, two of them. I'm Nathan and this is-"

"Natalie!" Myrnin clapped his hands in delight. Everyone looked at him as if he were crazy, which they all knew he was. "When you were younger, your mother promised me I would be able to meet you one day, preferably when I was sane or no longer a creature of the dark, and here I have."

"Oh." She looked kind of uncomfortable so Nathan spoke.

"Like we said, she told us the two of you would be coming. So when you came, we were to give you these." Natalie searched in a bag, which Michael had not noticed she had, for a second before producing two boxes. She handed one to each of them.

It was a plain white box with his name wrote in Claire's neat handwriting. He was a little nervous to see what was inside, unsure of what she had left for him, but he steeled himself and opened it. Inside was a really old and worn picture of the two of them from when they'd been roommates and dating.

Dear Michael,

Thank you for being such a loyal friend all these years. I know we said our goodbyes long ago but I can never say how much you meant to me. In the darkest time of my life, you were there as my light. You were there for me in a way no one else was. You helped me through and I'm not sure if I ever really thanked you for that. Without you I would have never survived. I would have given up and would have never experienced life: experienced a time where the dark of night shifted into a beautiful sunset where I had some of the best times in my life with you guys. There is so much more that I have to be thankful to you for but no words or infinite amount of paper could hold just how much I owe to you. In a time that I was broken and unsure if I could be fixed, or that I even wanted to be fixed, you mended me and showed me that I could love and wasn't broken. I am forever grateful to you.

What could I give to someone who did such wonderful things for me? The only thing that really matters: my heart. There's still a part of my heart that has always and will always belong to you, Michael, and not even death can or will change that.

Eternally yours,

Claire

Along with the note were three pictures, three very old pictures: two of the the four of them and one of just the two of them. The first was a picture that he recognized was them on one of the very first days that Claire had moved in with them. Eve and Shane were making faces at the camera as Michael and Claire smiled. Claire, who still had bruises from her encounter with Monica, looked so happy. The second was from their last night together. All four of them were smiling sadly at the camera, the knowledge of their parting heavy on their hearts. Side by side, the difference was amazing. It made Michael's heart clinch in his chest. The last picture made tears sting his eyes. He and Claire sat on the couch in the Glass House living room just smiling at each other, her legs on his lap and his arm around her. There was so much love in the picture that Michael couldn't stand to look at it any more and closed his box.

A little teary eyed, Michael looked over to see what was in Myrnin's box and was surprised to see that Myrnin, too, had tears in his eyes. In his hand was, get this, a pair of vampire bunny slippers that were in great condition. Michael remembered this being some kind of inside joke between the two of them that he never honestly understood. He had gotten a letter too and, thanks to his vampire sight, Michael could read what Claire had written to her old boss.

Dear Myrnin,

I know it's been years since we talked-although that's your fault for never answering my letter like ten, twenty years ago-but I knew you'd come by to say goodbye to me. I never really thought much on or about our relationship back in Morganville, but thinking on it and remembering it now, I cherish all the memories we have. I never really understood just how much you meant to me back then but now I know. I always had so much fun thinking about all the weird times we had in your little trap door lab. I hope the years have been as good to you as they have to me. I missed being around you sometimes; having the adventures and the life threatening missions. I missed your unusual and unpredictable behavior that made you so special and unique to my life. You told me never to trust you, everyone told me never to trust you, but I did and, although it nearly got me killed multiple times, I'm glad I did. I'm glad to have had a friend like you because you are one of those rare types of people that only come along once in a lifetime.

Since you've been so long without me, I know that the pair of vampire slippers I gave you years ago is probably ruined. So here are some new ones. Take care of them because they are the other half to the pair I've had for years. Whenever I saw them, I thought of you so I hope that whenever you see these you'll think of me and all the scary fun we had.

Love always,

Your faithful assistant Claire

"Oh my dear, Claire." Myrnin sighed as he shed a tear and turned to look at her grave. "Always." He bowed his head for a moment before looking back at everyone. "Thank you for this, Nathan and Natalie. I'll hold it dear always. Your mother was an amazing woman. She meant a lot to many people: she meant a lot to me. She was one of the only people who could see the beauty and genius to my madness. It saddens me that her light has gone out, but I am comforted in knowing that she lived a long life in which many were touched by her light."

Goodbyes were had after that and Michael couldn't help but feel that he had left part of his heart there in the cemetery.

Michael had been really confused when Myrnin suggested they drive back to Morganville together and have a talk, but when Myrnin opened his mouth all confusion vanished.

"It's about time we dealt with Oliver, isn't it?"

In his surprise, Michael slammed on the brakes so hard that his momentum snapped his seat belt, which he didn't actually have to wear but did so out of habit, in half. "What?"

Glad he had Michael's attention so completely, Myrnin repeated. "It's time to end Oliver's reign."

Gaining his wits, Michael pulled over to the side of the road and turned completely to Myrnin. "What are you talking about?"

From there, Myrnin went into a lengthy explanation of how he'd been in contact with Amelie for the last ten years. For the first fifty years, Oliver was quite strict on the punishment for Amelie and monitored when she was due to be given silver. This had changed. On the fiftieth anniversary of his victory, Oliver became cocky and no longer attended the process, leaving his followers to carry out his commands. This was a mistake. The vampire who had been assigned this task had, over the course of the last fifty years, become sympathetic of Amelie's plight and unsure of Oliver's rule so he started to lessen, just a little bit, the amount of silver given and gave Amelie more blood than was necessary to survive. Due to this, Amelie started to get stronger. This vampire had not known much of Amelie's powers, including the one to control lesser vampires to do her will, and had been ensnared by her power as soon as she was strong enough, five years later. Through this vampire, Amelie sent secret letters and knowledge to her only ally outside of Morganville: Myrnin. Together they came up with a plan: a plan that included and required Michael.

At this point in the story, Michael stopped him.

"Me? Why do you need me?"

"You are still a welcomed resident of Morganville, are you not?"

"I am."

"You are in Oliver's presence at times, are you not?"

"I am."

"And you are still loyal to your maker, to the Founder, and to the rightful guardian of Morganville, Amelie, aren't you?"

Michael sighed. "Of course."

"Amelie requires you because of all those reasons. She needs someone who is able to go into town and help bring me in and get around."

"And what makes y'all think that this will be any different from the first time? Oliver's supporters are still strong while Amelie's are still in hiding."

Myrnin gave him the maniac, Cheshire smile that he remembered Claire loving and admiring so much. "This time it's not a war: it's an assassination."

A/N: Thanks for reading this! There's only one piece left and it should be up within the next week! Again, sorry for the wait. Please review and let me know what you think!

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