AN: OMG you guys! Thank you so much for positive response to the first chapter. It was very inspiring! I worked hard to get this next chapter up sooner for y'all so I hope you enjoy it! – Vanessa
…
Chapter Two: There's a New Sheriff in Town
The next morning, Dean got out of the Impala first, Sam following him as they walked up the steps to the police department. He fixed the cuffs on his suit, and straightened his tie before opening the door, striding in with confidence.
"Excuse me." He smiled at the young lady at the counter as he approached. Dean reached into his inside breast pocket, producing his badge and flipping it open. "We'd like to see the Sheriff, please."
She straightened, her eyes widening. "Oh um…yes, I'll let him know you're here." She quickly picked up the phone, dialing the extension. "Hi Sheriff? There are a couple agents here to see you…from the FBI." She whispered. She glanced back up at the two men in front of her. "Um, I don't know, they didn't say. Yes, sir." She hung up, clearing her throat. "Sheriff Donovan will see you now. Down the hall, first door on the left."
Sam and Dean shared a glance before taking her direction. "Thank you." When they got to the office, the door was already open and a man no older than them stood from his desk coming around to greet them. "Sheriff."
"Please, call me Matt." He was young for a sheriff; blonde hair, fit and by the tired look on his face, bore the weight of this town.
They both flashed their badges again. "I'm Special Agent Plant, this is my partner, Special Agent Page. We just have a few questions in regards to a string of missing persons." Dean started. "One in particular. A man by the name of Asa Fox. He was on a hunting trip and hasn't been home in a few days."
Matt frowned sympathetically. "No reports that I've seen."
"Well then maybe, you can tell us a little bit about the strange deaths in this town." The younger Winchester probed further.
Matt did his best to hide the panic. "I'm not sure what you're talking about."
Dean glanced at Sam, who reached into a briefcase and handed him a thick folder. "Something tells me you do." He watched as the Sheriff flipped through, swallowing thickly, seeing familiar names. Jenna Sommers, Sarah Nelson, Monique Welsh…Vicki Donovan. Matt closed the file abruptly, his eyes bouncing between them. "She was your sister, right?" Sam observed him with narrow, scrutinizing eyes.
"Yeah." Matt cleared his throat as all the memories came flooding back. "I'm surprised the FBI is showing such an interest in the wildlife habitation problem in this town." Matt covered, tossing the file onto his desk and crossing his arms. "Animal attacks; people like to take in the views around here, up at the falls…but that's mountain lion territory."
Sam raised a brow. "Mountain lions?" His tone was unconvinced.
Dean scoffed. "Do mountain lions usually drain people of their blood?"
"Look…" Matt started looking at them soberingly. "I think you guys may be a bit out of your element on this one, okay. The mayor is already in contact with the Game Warden so…I don't think a couple of suits can help with this issue."
The brothers shared a knowing look. This sheriff knew something, and he wasn't budging. "Well, if you hear anything about our missing persons case, you be sure to let us know." Dean handed him his card. "See, Asa is a friend…almost like family." He pinned Matt with an intense stare. "So, we are taking his disappearance very seriously. You have yourself a nice day, Sheriff."
Matt nodded, taking the card and rolling it between his fingers. "I hope you guys find what you're looking for."
Sam's lips quirked ironically. "Oh, we usually do."
…
"I was worried about this." Caroline mumbled holding the pendant in her hand. She dropped it on the desk in front of Ric who sat in his desk chair with his hands clasped and resting on his chin. "Ever since she had to-" Caroline stopped herself. "Ever since Landon died, she's been unravelling." She didn't wish that burden on anyone. To have to kill someone you loved, to save others. They had been carefully keeping an eye on her since then, but they hadn't counted on her being so good at deceiving them. Like father, like daughter. "Hope is a tribrid now; being a vampire heightens everything. Of course she'd turn it off. But she's attending all her classes, no trail of bodies…she signed up for the musical!" She plopped down in the chair across from him.
He shot her a look. "Didn't you?"
Caroline shook her head. "How did we not see it?" She felt responsible for Hope. After Klaus died, she took her in as one of her own and somewhere in the mist of all the chaos, she failed her.
"I saw it." Ric admitted sadly. "I didn't want to crowd her; I tried giving her space…to heal, but I didn't want to believe she would go this far. To hurt someone this way." The words caught in his throat.
"Not just anyone, Ric. A hunter." She whispered. "What if someone comes looking for him?"
"Then we'll deal with it. She could have been acting in self defense, Caroline. Maybe this was an accident." He defended desperately.
She shot him a look. "If it was an accident, she would have come to us. This is bad…if Matt finds out about this…"
"He won't." Alaric vowed strongly.
…
Sam and Dean parted ways to cover more ground. While Sam visited the usual hunter haunts; local motels, dive bars and occult shops, Dean checked the woods and abandoned warehouses for any sign of Asa or a vampire nest. When both brought up zero leads Dean found himself back at the Grill, in need of a well-deserved drink.
It was weird being back here. He looked over his shoulder from the bar to glance at the booth in the corner he used to sit at all those years ago. He remembered having his first date with Bonnie there; watching her blush as he put on the Winchester charm, the smile on her face when he called her the prettiest girl in the room.
.
Bonnie flushed under his blatant stare, looking at him from under her lashes. "You're staring."
Dean grinned. "Can't help it. I'm pretty proud of myself actually."
She frowned, eying him with a curious frown. "And why's that?"
He leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table between them. "Because somehow I finally managed to get the prettiest girl in school to go out with me."
She turned her head away, a brilliant smile lighting up her face. "Stop…" she breathed, a school of butterflies fluttering in her stomach. She wasn't used to this kind of attention, let alone from a guy like him. Every girl in school wanted him, especially Caroline, but that was no surprise to her. The look on her friend's face when Dean walked right up to them at their lockers, and introduced himself to Bonnie, just Bonnie…now that was a surprise. He looked like a teenage girl's dream; tall, sexy eyes, pouting lips, leather jacket with the collar popped…she almost forgot her name. He looked like the kind of guy that could get any girl he wanted, but she wasn't going to make it easy for him…not to just have him move on to someone else when he got bored. But for some reason, he didn't give up.
"Sorry sweetheart, but you're just gonna have to get use to it." He chuckled.
Stirring her milkshake, Bonnie narrowed her gaze on him inquiringly. "You could have any girl you want, why me? I have done nothing but give you a hard time since you got here."
He shrugged a lazy shoulder, leaning back in his seat. "Well, maybe I like that about you. My dad always said, the best thing about hunting isn't the catch, it's the chase."
Bonnie paused. "And what exactly are you hunting, Dean?" Her tone was both intrigued and playful as she sipped from her straw.
He huffed a laugh, breaking eye contact. She knew how to disarm him without even realizing it. Bonnie Bennett made his palms sweat; made him stammer and laugh nervously. A far cry from his usual smooth charm. Talking to her felt so comfortable he almost forgot that they were from different worlds, but for once…he didn't care. He wanted to let her in. "Something real…someonereal."
Bonnie sucked in a breath, her tongue darting out to wet her lips. Her throat suddenly felt very dry. The gaze he levelled her with held a rawness that she hadn't seen on him before. Like for the first time he was giving her the true Dean Winchester. "How's that working for you?"
Dean's lips quirked up in a crooked smile. "I'd say she's within reach."
He was rewarded with a dazzling white smile that lit up her eyes, and Dean, for the first time saw himself, not just liking a girl…but falling for one.
.
He smiled with a shake of his head, bringing his whiskey to his lips. Good times…
He barely registered when someone occupied the stool beside him. It was only when he heard her voice that he turned. "Well, look who it is. Twice in two days, must be fate." She teased, pinning him with her sultry jade eyes.
Dean felt his breath catch in his throat. Still after all this time, she knew how to make him nervous. "Must be…" he cleared his throat. "Can I get you anything?"
"Sure. Bourbon on the rocks." Dean raised his brows in surprise. "It's been a long day." She chuckled in response.
"Tell me about it." He agreed, ordering the drink and clinking his with hers once it was placed on the counter. "Cheers." He was impressed that she sipped it without making a face.
"Thanks." Her eyes dropped to her drink bashfully. "I'm glad I ran into you yesterday. I honestly didn't think I'd ever see you again."
He blinked. "After the way I left, I didn't think you'd want to." He rumbled regretfully.
She shrugged. "I was mad for a little while…but more than anything I think I was just confused."
He nodded, his mouth twisting ruefully. They hadn't parted on the best of terms. At the time, he had thought a clean break was best, hurting her, and himself in the process. "I can understand that. Look Bonnie…I'm sorry for how things ended back then. Hurting you was the last thing I wanted to do." He vowed, holding her gaze with a sympathetic slant to his brows.
"Then why did you?" she whispered back.
"My dad…" he started on a sigh. "His work had him traveling all the time. He was the kind of guy where if he said jump, you didn't ask how high, you just jumped. I knew we wouldn't be around for long, but when I met you…I broke the number one rule I made for myself." He twisted his glass between his fingers on the mahogany counter anxiously.
Bonnie canted her head, trying to catch his gaze. "And what rule is that?"
Usually, being so bold with his feelings was not something Dean was comfortable with, but he pinned her with a genuine, unwavering stare. "'Don't get too attached'. That along with a few others. But…you were the closest I ever got to a normal girlfriend." He added with scoffing laugh.
She frowned, her eyes narrowing as she tried to dissect what his hidden joke meant. In truth, she felt the same way. After Dean, her romantic life had been anything but normal. "Really…I would have figured you to be quite the ladies man." She jested playfully.
He laughed; a sarcastic, deep, humorless laugh. "Sure…but I was never close with anyone. Not like I was with you. Not then, and definitely not now. The life Sammy and I lead…there isn't really any room for that." He finished with a hardened and resolute tone.
"I get it." In this life, if you loved someone, you were almost guaranteed to love them…at least that was her experience. "Can't say I've been lucky in that department myself." She sighed a weak laugh.
Dean pondered over it for a moment, before finally asking the question that had been on his mind. "And that guy from last night? Mickey Blue eyes."
Bonnie cracked a smile. These two and their nicknames. "Damon? No…I mean, there was a time when I thought maybe something could come of it…but no. We're just friends." She reassured.
Dean's gaze drifted passed her. "You sure? Cause, if looks could kill…" he nodded in the direction of the man in question, who somehow during their talk seemed to sneak into a seat at the far end of the bar, glaring daggers into Dean shamelessly.
Bonnie, glanced over her shoulder sharply, and Damon's icy stare met hers. With an annoyed roll of her eyes, she turned back to Dean. "Oh, I'm sure. He's made it very clear where we stand." She snapped, more for Damon than for the man beside her. She knew full well the vampire was probably listening in on the private conversation, unnecessarily protective of her. Even though her head was turned, she could practically feel Damon's eyes roll in the back of his head at her jab. "He's just…protective."
Dean smirked, looking her over admiringly. "Something tells me you're the kind of woman that can handle her own." She was a small slip of a thing, but she exuded power and confidence; the kind that came from living through pain and heartbreak. She was quickly becoming a mystery to him he needed to solve.
Bonnie grinned. "I like to think so."
They got lost in conversation; reminiscing about the past and both offering as much as they could about themselves without revealing too much. Dean found himself laughing harder than he had in a long time, and Bonnie couldn't help but letting all those old feelings back in. He was handsome, and funny, and the look in his eyes was doing something to her. Soon, they forgot why they were both here and it was like time stood still.
Damon watched from down the bar, jaw clenching and eyes stony. Who was this guy? Who was this man that made Bonnie laugh like he made her laugh? Was she touching his arm? When he'd seen enough, he sauntered over standing behind Bonnie, towering over both of them intimidatingly. "Hey Bon…who's your friend?" He plastered on a fake smile.
Bonnie's mood changed, and she glared at him over her shoulder. He knew who he was, she told him last night. The witch wasn't eager to give him anything more than what he already knew. She was just as stubborn as he was. "This is Dean. Dean this is my friend Damon."
Dean, to his credit was civil, despite being immediately suspicious of his threatening demeanor. "Hey man. Nice to meet you." He offered his hand, watching closely for any reaction to the silver ring on his middle finger. There was none. Not a werewolf, and not a shapeshifter. Dean relaxed slightly but kept his guard high.
"Likewise." But his tone said anything but. "Bonnie…duty calls." He flashed his eyes at her pointedly.
She shot him a narrowed glare. "I'll catch up with you."
"I think we should go now." He hissed back.
Dean rose to full height, now standing an easy four inches taller. "She said she's good, man." He defended.
Damon scoffed an amused laugh before locking in on him; pupils dilating. "Why don't you sit back down, shut up and forget we had this conversation, Romeo." He compelled effortlessly, smirking when he did just that. Damon's hand gripped Bonnie's arm, pulling her up from her stool. "Bonnie…let's go."
He basically dragged her out of the Grill, leaving a stunned Dean behind wondering where Bonnie went.
"Damon!" She exclaimed, ripping out of his hold when they were finally in the parking lot. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"
He huffed. "I don't like him."
"Well that's a shocker!" It didn't matter who she was with over the years Jeremy, Enzo, or otherwise, Damon seemed to have issue with all of them. "God, you can't just let me have this? Have one normal conversation with a normal person?! Someone I like? Someone I care about? God forbid Bonnie Bennett does something selfish for once."
His mouth dropped open in shock at her outburst. "That's not why-"
"Then why, Damon!? It's not because of us." She gestured between them. "Because I told you what I wanted before I left, and you were the one that said no." she exclaimed passionately. This was what she was worried about. Everything she'd been holding back for months spilling out of her mouth unchecked and in anger.
He approached her, now on the defensive. "Because of Elena! Not because I didn't have feelings for you!"
Bonnie sucked in a breath, reeling back in surprise. Even though a part of her knew, it was the first time he'd ever vocalized it to her. She tried not to let it distract her from the point she was making. "Whether you have feelings for me or not, it doesn't matter. You made your choice…" Her words got stuck in her throat.
He swallowed, pinning her with a regretful slant of his brows. "I know…and I regret it." He told her softly, taking a few cautious steps towards her. "I wish I could take it back, and I know I can't but it doesn't mean that I'm okay with watching you be all flirty with someone else."
She tried to keep the tears out of her eyes. "That's not fair, Damon." She whispered back, looking up at him torn.
His lips quirked in a sad smile. "I know. I'm not perfect, you know that." His thumb came up and brushed over her cheek affectionately before falling back to his side. "But I only want what's best for you…and he's not it, Bon."
"How do you know that?" her voice trembled.
Damon graced her with a smile; a genuine, adoring smile that was rare to find on his face. "Because he doesn't know you. The real you; the badass Bennett witch. The town hero…the Bonnie that is so selfless, she'd rather die – and has, to safe the people she loves. You tell a guy like that about vampires and werewolves, he runs for the hills, guaranteed. Plus, I got a weird vibe from him." He added as an afterthought.
The shift in conversation was both a relief and a disappointment. It nearly gave her whiplash but she decided to table the heavy topic for another day. "What kind of vibe?"
Damon shrugged. "I don't know, like he was testing me."
She arched a brow high on her forehead, crossing her arms and cocking her hip. "Maybe it was because you popped up out of nowhere all sexy danger guy and dragged me away…like a total asshole." Her words were harsh, but years of banter between them gave it a light connotation.
"Just be careful around him, okay?" he asked with concern. "Please?"
Damon demanded, he enforced…he rarely asked her to do anything let alone say please, so she knew this was more than just him being jealous and possessive. "Okay." She agreed. "So, what was so important, hm?"
He was all business now, squaring his shoulders. "Blondie called a Scooby meeting. You were right about Hope. She turned it off."
Bonnie's eyes closed in guilt. "Damnit…I should have never left. Maybe I would have seen it, maybe I could have helped her." Before taking her year off to hone her magic and train with witches all over the world, she had been teaching at the school, and Hope was her star pupil…her prodigy. But that was before running her boyfriend through with a sword.
"Hey…" Damon grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. "This isn't on you. We all should have seen this coming…but she played us. Now we just have to find her trigger and flip it. Now come on." He nodded his head in the direction of his car, and together they headed to Caroline's.
…
It was a thirty minutes later when Sam called.
"Hey Sammy, got anything?" Dean answered ordering another drink.
"I might. Did some poking around, and apparently…the sheriff's department has a specialized task force."
"What kind of task force?" Dean swallowed down a big sip.
"That's the thing, no one knows, or maybe they won't say; but according to the locals they do spend a lot of time patrolling a school on the far side of town. Get this; it's called 'The Salvatore Boarding House of the Young and Gifted.'"
"Young and Gifted, huh. Sounds super…unusual to me." He tossed back the last of his drink and slapped some bills on the counter. "Got an address?" grabbing his jacket off the back of the chair, Dean headed towards the exit.
"684 Abernathy Rd North East."
"Well Sammy…looks like we're going back to school." Dean joked, hopping back into the car. "I'll meet you back at the motel. We'll wait for night fall and do a bit of recon." He hung up, tossing the phone on the passenger seat, and ripped out of the parking lot.
…
They were all silent, the mood in the living room was somber after discussing the plan. Ric was the one that spoke up first.
"Do you think it'll work?" He wore his discomfort of the situation heavy on his face.
"We've done it before." Damon countered. "We'll just have to take extra precautions this time." He looked to Bonnie.
Bonnie reached into the duffel bag, pulling out the heavy shackles. "I picked them up at a temple in Egypt. They're spelled. No witch can escape them."
"Then we dip them in vervain and wolfsbane and we have a triple whammy." Damon finished, with a confident quirk of his lips. "No way she's getting out."
"And how exactly do we get her in them, Damon? I can't imagine she'll put them on willingly." Caroline snarked, crossing her arms.
Bonnie pulled out a small vile of white oak ash from her back pocket. "It's all that's left, but it's enough to knock her out for a few hours. Just long enough for us to shackle her and move her to a more secure location. Then we can start the process of convincing her to turn it back on." She added quietly.
"You mean torture?" Ric corrected with a deep frown.
Bonnie's shoulders dropped. "Physical pain is the only thing she's feeling right now, Ric. Trust me, I don't want to do this any more than you do, but it's the first step to triggering some kind of emotion."
Ric shook his head, turning away with his hands on his hips. "I don't like this."
Caroline placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I don't like it either…" she glanced back at her friend. "But Bonnie's right. We need to dry her out, make her scared…then we pull the trigger. It worked on me and Elena."
"What trigger? Landon is the only one that could get through to her and he's dead, Caroline!" Ric exclaimed.
Caroline racked her brain for a moment, when it suddenly occurred to her, her eyes widening. "I know what to do."
.
AN: oooh what do you think it's going to be? I (reluctantly) watched Legacies because I felt like I had to for the full story. I won't bore you with the semantics if you haven't watched it, but essentially Hope had to kill her boyfriend to save the everyone – very Buffy/Angel-esque; and in doing so, she turned herself into a tribrid and turned off her humanity. I won't follow the story line in Legacies AT ALL so don't worry about that. I just like her character and I think that this is going to fit in, and set some things up nicely for later chapters.
I will explain this later, but the vampires in Mystic Falls are a different breed than the SPN vampires we know, so same rules do not apply.
I love hearing from you, so please let me know what you think. - Vanessa