"Deja vu." Hunter muttered as he finally spied Diana across the darkened room. She seemed to shine like a beacon of white light amid the darkness of the club.
Walking toward her, he noticed a familiar figure chatting her up. A deep horror pitted in the middle of his stomach.
"Get away from her, Stasy!" He said as his hand tangled itself in the back of Stasy's t-shirt and pulled him away.
"Hunter." Diana's green eyes lit up at the sight of him and then she smiled.
"Diana, are you okay?" He said pushing an astonished Stasy behind him for good measure.
"What?" She frowned slightly. "I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"
"Never mind then."
"I can't believe it Hunter. She's too innocent for you."
"What are you doing here Stasy, anyway?" Hunter paused in the middle of his tirade to look around at the suddenly quiet club. The silent group of dancers that included two of his suspected Circle Daybreak spies, Emma Syke and Dayle Reed. "Come. We'll discuss this in my office."
Shooting a glare in the general direction of the dancers, Hunter wrapped a protective arm around Diana. He walked toward the back of the club with a bemused Stasy trailing behind them.
"Why are you here?" Hunter asked once more after he had gotten himself comfortably next to Diana on the large leather couch that took up a wall in the room.
"Actually, I came looking for you. I spied Diana in your club, looking as bored as I was, and found a kindred spirit. A bosom buddy if you must." He sat back with a smirk as Diana tried to contain her laughter while Hunter stared at Stasy with his mouth hanging open. He quickly snapped it shut and narrowed his eyes though as a thought occurred to him.
"Have you been drinking, Stasy?"
"A drink would be lovely, old friend. I'm in the mood for a little-"
"I wasn't offering you a drink, half-wit! I was asking if you had been drinking!"
"Why, yes. Yes I have. Why do you ask?"
"And what on earth did you do to your hair? I have never seen such a bright shade of red in my life!"
"Except on your own head." Stasy managed to mumble as Hunter paused for a breath. At the look of fury on his face, Diana managed to quell her laughter once more.
"And the tongue thing? You look like a punk! A human in their teens! You're a vampire with more than a human lifespan under your belt for Christ sakes."
"Are you suggesting that I act my age? And that you act your age? Good lord, I severely think that that lovely outfit would have been out of place six hundred years ago."
"You know Hunter, I believe he has a point there."
"Diana-"
"Good girl! You're a good thing for him. He's far too serious. Gotta spice things up a bit, you know." Stasy interrupted Hunter with great glee.
"Serious? He's not very serious." Diana looked at Hunter in puzzlement, and then back to Stasy.
"Yes, well. You can well understand it if he is. Lily just recently died. That's one of the reasons I came. To give my condolences."
"Lily?" Diana again looked puzzled and then concerned as Hunter's blank face suddenly took on a faint sadness, showing his age through the unlimited goldness of his beautiful eyes.
"His only surviving daughter."
"Oh." She turned to face him and put a hand out to gently stroke the side of his neck in sympathy.
********************
Findabhiar was just about to go hunting when her cell sounded from the general direction of her bed.
"Findabhiar." She nearly shouted into it after her intense search under piles of clothes had unveiled it's location.
"It's Mandelyne."
"Hey. What's up?"
"Bonnie's gone into labour."
"Oh no, it's way too soon, right?" Findabhiar sank down on the bed. She wasn't going to be able to go anywhere for awhile yet.
"Yeah. They might have to do a C-section... On top of that, she's worried about Damon." There was more than a subtle hint in Mandelyne's voice as she mentioned this. Findabhiar winced.
"I'll call him." She said wearily.
Half a world away, Damon had been at Elena and Stefan's apartment, visiting at their demand, when his cell phone had fortunatly gone off.
"Oh, damn. Excuse me a minute." He went into the kitchen leaving them in the living room.
"Yeah?" He barked into it as soon as he was on his own.
"Damon my dear..." A familiar voice purred into his ear.
"Ah, Fin... The love of my life. Have you decided to run away with me yet? Imagine the amazing sex..." He smiled as he heard Findabhiar's laughter ring down the line.
"Oh Damon, you just make me so hot..." His grin widened as he laughed with her. They had met in the 1920's when he had tried to pick her up for sex and blood somewhere in Boston. She had laughed in his face and they had basically been best friends ever since.
"Love you too, darling. What can I do for you?"
"Besides that tongue job you promised me? Actually, I did call you for a reason."
"Sounds serious. I suppose that other thing shall wait for later then."
"We'll set a date. It's about Bonnie...."
"What about Bonnie?" Damon strove for casual but ended up with the strained tone of voice he had been striving to avoid.
"She's gone into labour."
"Labour? What? How is this possible?" He nearly dropped the phone in surprise. Shock seemed to darken his already black eyes.
"Julian played around with the runes or something. Bonnie was very vague when she told me about it. That's not the point here though. She's gone into labour almost two months early. They might have to do a C-section. She's scared, and we don't want her worrying about you on top of things. And she has been worrying ever since you left a year ago."
"So you wabt me to come to America for her?"
"Yes. It is the right thing for you to do."
"No."
"No?!"
"No. I do not want to go to America."
"You ass! I can not believe you'd do that to her!"
"I will not argue with you about this, Findabhiar!" The only response he got was the dial tone. Angrily he turned off his own phone and spun around to see Stefan leaning against the doorframe watching him intently.
"What?" He snarled at him.
"Fin got you in a tangle again?"
"Eavesdropping is not a very pleasant trait." Damon glowered. He leaned against the counter and ran his hand through his silky black hair.
"Sure. But if you had been yelling any louder, the people down the street would have been able to hear you." Stefan crossed his arms over his chest and cast a thoughtful look at the now-silent Damon.
"She wants you to go to America? Why would you refuse her? You've been avoiding leaving Italy for almost a year now since you returned. What happened? You never stay in one place for this long."
Damon shoved himself violently away from the counter and stalked out of the room startling a calm Elena drinking tea on the couch.
"You're not leaving so soon, are you Damon?" She asked, concerned by the shouting that had come from the kitchen before Damon's dramatic exit.
He slammed out of the apartment without a backward glance as Stefan stepped hesitantly into the living room.
Elena set her tea down and stood while smoothing her flowing white pants over her hips. She walked to her husband and laid a gentle hand in the middle of his white-cotton clad back.
"What happened?" She asked softly feeling his muscles relax under her fingertips.
"I'm not sure." He turned to smile gently at her and stroked a strand of golden hair off her brow.
