I went through a lot of fight clubs and got a pretty damn good reputation. And I had three fans. Those guys and that angel. I'd now spotted this trio at six different clubs and I just thought, well, they've got nothing better to do. I had always had the fleas make sure that there was no fear demon at or near the club. I hated that I had a weakness. Very, very deeply. I didn't care if the men were done partying or not. I went through the clubs, destroying demons in search of this Nicodemus. I'd heard all sorts of rumors about it and I'd now made it my main target. Then when Dresden called and tried to warn me not to go after Nicodemus but to always tell him what I had found, as he is a professional I just said to myself, "I'm going to keep looking. I had already destroyed quite a few demons by this day. What was so dangerous that I couldn't handle this? Always those men are so overprotective.
My life was starting to go smoothly. I'd been killing, sniping, and blowing up medical facilities for years, and still, I felt like I couldn't make any kind of impact. I'd been on the road with Adam for almost two months now, we were in Australia, to begin with. My great dream of learning to ride so that the horse doesn't flinch when Mimosa surfaces were about to come true. Adam had been a real horse whisperer and had finally got the horses to accept me. I knew how to ride. In between the killing sprees, I fixed up the ranch and rode. But I wanted to do more than just ride and went to riding school. It was really wonderful and the teachers and everyone complimented me. They said I was a natural.
Course after course went brilliantly. The riding tests went well and Adam and I became so close that he asked me to marry him one night when we were in a fancy French restaurant. I said yes. Adam said, "What about Damon?" I said "Do you see him here? I wonder if Mr. Salvatore is out there again with some big bad redhead. "I replied, bored. Damon's adventures with women had already led to one divorce. Then I was crazy enough to take him back. Then to top it off, we were invited to America. I promised myself I'd keep riding and took all my diplomas with me.
We flew to America and fucked the whole plane ride with Adam in a frenzy. Adam said "What if you get knocked up? Then we'd have a bun in the oven for the wedding." I was left wondering. Adam would probably be the perfect father. Unlike Salvatore. Adam would be patient, gentle, involved, and all in all perfect. Damon, well again, I pictured Damon and my girl in my mind.
Her father's hair and eyes, my mouth, her own nose. Her father's confidence and stubbornness become in her mother. I imagined different ways to tell a child " That, yeah, Daddy can't come to your birthday party now that Daddy has to fuck other women." Or the school would call and say Damon didn't pick up the kid again when he was supposed to and I'd be in the middle of sniping. I imagined the arguments we'd have, about my career, childcare, strange women.
Adam was stroking me as we lay side by side. "What do you think?" he said. I told him everything, and Adam went on and on, elaborating on everything, how Salvatore would knock me up again and I'd try to do a killing spree with the baby bump. I said to Adam " You'd probably be the perfect father. "Adam was silent for a moment. He said "I don't know, I've never really been. So a good dad. Jesse, well Christy mostly raised her and complained about how hard it was to be married to a werewolf. She more than once turned Jessie against me." Adam sighed. I said, "Isn't it every parent's nightmare to have to bury their child?" Adam said. "Maybe it was for Christy, not for me. I've had to bury so many. So dear and important. "I knew he was talking about Mercy. I kissed him and got Adam back in the mood.
We arrived in America, in Washington DC. We actually had to go all the way to Langley to meet the CIA and FBI bosses. They said they had a proposition for us. We went there dressed properly, of course. We were escorted to a big table with all the intelligence and security chiefs. The president and vice president were also there. The conversation was boring. I was mostly quiet and let Adam do the talking. they would like me and Adam to head up a new task force to put the drug companies and all the illegal drug trials out of business. We would have the support of the entire federal government, as well as the President and Vice President. We'd also have our own task force to take out those who should be taken out. I wouldn't have to kill everybody myself.
Damon was devastated. They were running out of options and time to save Mimi. Two months ago when he had received a phone call from an unknown woman who had told him she had found an unconscious woman, and in whose pocket she had found Damon's phone number, that was the beginning of his nightmare. And now it seemed as if the nightmare would only continue. At first, Damon had dissed the whole call but when the woman had called again half an hour later, Damon had jumped irritably into the car and gone to see what the fuss was all about. He had arrived at an abandoned factory site in South Carolina. When he got there, he had gotten out of the car. If only he'd stopped the party earlier or there wouldn't have been a party. Oh, why had Mimi had to go after Nicodemus? Damon blamed himself and now he was once again in danger of losing Mimi.
She came to him. She had looked very familiar. Damon paid no attention to the woman's appearance but went to follow her out of sheer curiosity. He was almost 100% sure it was a trap. The woman led him into the depths of the factory and ducked out the door of one of the rooms. Damon entered the room. A still figure lay on the table. Mimi. Damon rushed to his wife's side and then he noticed. Mimi was coined.
She said in a quiet voice. "Looks like she's going to need a lot of help overcoming that evil now. Maybe you should take her to the Pope."
The woman paused to look after Damon and sighed. She said quietly to herself "I hope, my dear friend, your Damon will save you, I do remember how you worshipped him. We will meet again one day when you remember me again. You will both remember." Bridgette sighed and walked away. This was the difficult place, it wasn't her place to help, it wouldn't be time yet. Just because Mimi didn't remember her didn't mean she'd ever stopped caring about Mimi. But she always had to do what she had to do.
Damon was shocked. A coin had sunk into Mimi's right palm. Damon tried to dig it out, no help. he was already thinking about cutting off her hand and as if the coin had read his mind it was suddenly on her neck. Damon had picked up Mimi, ran to the car, and rushed to the house. Bran, Samuel, Adam, and even Charles had come to help and think of a solution.
Even Dresden couldn't help, he couldn't get the coin off " It's up to Mimi to get that coin off, but a word of warning. Mimi is in a perfect world right now. She doesn't want to get out of it." Dresden had seen this too many times. He had one enchanted warehouse full of coin victims. He had put the victims in a deep deep magical coma so the demon inside the coin wouldn't wake up and cause trouble. Dresden knew with a fair degree of certainty that somewhere along the line he would probably have to take Mimi there too. He just didn't have the heart to say it out loud yet, and figured he'd let the pack give it their best shot.
Once the demon had full power over Mimi's head, he would probably trap her somewhere deep where no one could reach her. Mimi would wake up. That could take some time considering how strong Mimi is. But this demon was strong if it was already that attached to Mimi. Constantine said quietly " But that demon can't get everything right, there are mistakes, too bad those mistakes don't mean anything. You don't pay attention to them. I know. Mimi's got a fucking bad fight coming up and I'm not at all sure she's going to win. It could be that Dresden has to put Mimi in a magical coma for centuries. He just didn't have the heart to tell you that yet. But you should know where we're going." Damon looked shocked. Into a magical coma. For centuries. How the fuck did he always pull these stunts that Mimi was so fucking close to having to pay a mind-blowing price.
Damon didn't know what else to do. Finally, he remembered her words. He thought " This is a real Hail Mary." Damon went to Adam "Adam, I want to take Mimi to the Vatican to see the Pope. Maybe he can give Mimi some power or weaken the demon or whatever." Adam and the rest of the pack agreed. They requested an audience with the Pope, explaining the urgency of the situation. The Pope agreed.
On the plane ride, Damon held Mimi's hand, speaking softly to Mimi, encouraging " Come on, Baby, fight, realize it's not true, find a flaw. Come on, give me something, anything, a little hope." But Mimi was silent. Samuel had found a powerful anesthetic in Mimi's blood. And lots of it. Unknown, and Damon's teeth couldn't do anything about it. Apparently, Constantine's failed attempt had worked for someone else. The sedative was very slow to wear off. Maybe it would help, keep the demon weak, Damon thought desperately.
They arrived at the Vatican and Mimi was first taken to a large room where cardinals and lesser priests cleansed Mimi and interceded on her behalf. From there Mimi was moved to a room on a soft bed. The Pope, frail and old, went to sit by Mimi's bed. He took a coined hand between his old but surprisingly strong hands and began to pray. The coin did not escape. Damon got to stand on the other side of Mimi and watch. The Pope didn't last long. After a couple of hours, the cardinals came to take the Holy Father to rest. Damon thought it must be wishful thinking but as if the coin was closer to the surface.
After a couple of hours of rest, the Pope asked Damon to visit him. Damon went. The Pope motioned him to sit down. "You are strong, my son, so much stronger than you realize." the Pope said. Damon replied "If I am so strong, why can't I help Mimi? " The Pope was silent and suddenly turned on the TV. The Pope laughed "Excuse me, I'm old and this series about you is one of my favorites. " The Pope began, seemingly calmly, to watch Vampire Diaries. In this episode the actor in Damon was in bed with a woman, the woman was sick. In the series, Damon went into the woman's head and eased her pain, and gave her good dreams before the woman died.
Damon understood. He could do the same. He'd just have to get deep enough into Mimi's mind that the demon wouldn't notice. He'd tried telepathy, but that vampire mind link might work. It's kind of like being created in a dream. The Pope looked at Damon for a moment and smiled mysteriously. Then he said "I can keep the demon in check while you do what you do. I can get the demon weakened but without Mimi's own will the demon will not go away. Damon was grateful. He got up and went to the Pope saying in earnest " You gave me exactly what I needed. Hope."
Then Damon bent down to kiss the Pope's ring. His head was pounding. He was dizzy for a moment as he stood up. Then he walked away. The Pope rubbed his ring and for a moment, sighed. The vampire would return one day but the Pope wasn't sure if he would be there to receive it.
The next day they went to work. Now they gathered again in the great hall. Damon went to the stone table to lie down beside Mimi and took one hand, while the Pope sat down in a chair and took the coined hand in his. Damon gathered his strength and concentrated. The Pope said. "Be sure to challenge Mimi, right now the demon is giving Mimi everything she wants, You attack and destroy those dreams. You must be cruel now. Determined, remember you are not only fighting Mimi but the demon is also trying to stop you. Be strong, my boy. Be strong." Damon steeled himself and dove into Mimi's thoughts.