Always {A Vampire Diaries/Supernatural crossover story} HIATUS

Chapter 1: Cliché Beach is Cliché

Chapter 1: Cliché Beach is Cliché

May 26, 2009

The sun rose steadily over the horizon, casting its light over the beach of Assateauge Island and the man who sat there. He was tall, reaching roughly 6' 3" in height when he was standing – though he was not doing so now. He was sitting on the sand in his tan board shorts, legs spread open and knees just barely touching the sand. His white flannel shirt was unbuttoned, exposing the toned muscles of his chest and abdomen. The sleeves were rolled up, showing the black wolf's head with ice-blue eyes on the top of his right arm, and the red, gold, and orange phoenix on his left forearm. The wind ruffled his jet-black hair, making it even messier than it usually was. He lifted his glass of bourbon to his mouth with his left hand, ice-blue eyes fluttering closed as a peaceful sigh escaped his lips.

This man was Daniel Salvatore, the oldest of the three Salvatore brothers, and he was a vampire. Not one of those sparkling ones from Twilight, nor one of the vampires created by Eve. He was a vampire sired by the Original breed of vampires. Vampires created by magic over a thousand years ago who continued to flourish to this day. He had been turned in 1861 – his brothers following three years after – and, despite the fact that he had had to die to become a vampire, he felt that was when his life had truly begun.

Life with his brothers had been good. Life with his father had been quite the opposite. The man had control issues – to put it mildly. Anyone that wouldn't bend to his will was beaten into submission – regardless of how petty their slights may have been. Danny himself had received a majority of the beatings. Not because he defied Giuseppe's will – at least, that wasn't entirely the reason – but because he consistently took his brothers' punishments. The times he hadn't been able to, he had resorted to fisticuffs with the man, which led to many black eyes and busted lips.

But, all that was in the past now. The scars had faded away with his old life. He was no longer weak and taking beatings from others to protect what he loved – he was fighting back and winning against those who tried to oppress him or his family – whether they be related to him by blood or not.

A buzzing in his pocket alerted him that one such family member was in the process of trying to reach him. He took it out of his pocket, putting against his ear.

"Hello, Dean," he answered in a slightly accented tone.

"Houston, we have a problem," came the response on the other end.

Danny took a moment to take a sip of his bourbon, letting loose a satisfied sigh before saying, "You dropped the ball and let Lucifer out, didn't you?"

There was a long pause before, "How did you know?"

"You usually don't call me unless it's something important. As far as I'm aware, the breaking of the seals was the only thing happening...." He paused, taking another sip of his bourbon. "Sammy killed Lilith and broke the final seal, right?"

"You knew?! You knew that bitch was the last seal?!" Dean shouted over the phone, prompting the vampire to pull it away from his ear.

"Yes. As far as I was concerned, it didn't matter if you two knew or not. As long as you killed Lilith before the 65th seal broke, everything would've been golden. Besides, I'm sure they had a back-up plan in case Plan Winchester didn't pan out," he responded in a mild tone.

There was silence for a moment as Dean processed this, marred only by the lapping of the waves on the shore and the clinking of ice in Danny's glass.

"Any ideas on takin' down Satan?" The man finally asked.

"Not at the moment. I'll hit you up whenever I think of somethin'."

"Same."

There was a click as Dean hung up, allowing the vampire to finally relax and enjoy his bourbon. He closed his eyes, enjoying the salty ocean air and peaceful serenity that pervaded the beach. This was his home – his sanctuary. 

A rustling next to him alerted the vampire that he was not alone. Glancing to the side, he noticed that there was another man sitting on the sand next to him dressed all in black and looking remarkably similar to Daniel.

"What brings you to my neck of the woods, Damon?" He asked, taking a long sip of his drink.

"Paid a visit to Mystic Falls last night and saw something you might find interesting," his younger brother replied, giving him a lopsided smile.

"Well, don't keep me in suspense," Danny replied when Damon didn't immediately continue, bringing the glass to his lips once more.

"I saw Katherine."

Danny's fist clenched around the glass, shattering it as he spat out his drink. He turned to Damon, his brother now having his full and undivided attention.

"Or, at least, someone who looked and sounded exactly like her," Damon continued with a smirk.

"You're lucky I'm already dead. Otherwise, you might've just given me a heart attack, dick," Danny replied, punching his brother in the shoulder playfully before rubbing a hand over his heart. "Jesus fucking Christ, man. Don't do that."

Damon chuckled before rubbing his shoulder, hitting his brother back. "Since you're the supernatural encyclopedia, I thought you might be able to offer an explanation."

"Well, it could be any number of things. Most likely one is a doppelgänger."

"Doppelgänger?"

"Doppelgängers, also known as Shadow-Selves or Mortal Shadow Selves, are a supernatural occurrence that were created by Nature. The purpose of them is to maintain the natural balance by dying in place of their immortal ancestors," Danny replied, smirking at Damon's blank look. "In short, they're Nature's harmless attempt at correcting the balance."

"Uh-huh," Damon said slowly, nodding his head.

"Look, baby bro, all you need to know is that it's not Katherine, and the girl's harmless," Danny stated, rising to his feet and dusting off his shorts. "Now, I don't know about you, but I could really go for some pancakes. You in?"

"Race you there," Damon smirked, vamping in the direction of the only house located just above the beach.

Danny chuckled, shaking his head before following at a slower pace, pondering what the existence of a Katherine look-alike would mean for his plans.

A/N: Redid the chapter since the original was garbage.