anne

25 | Just a nip

TVD - S5 E18 - the night before - continued

• ____________ •

"And then she just... disappeared. Into thin air. Whoosh," Anne waved her hands in the air.

Damon swirled his drink, "Wow. That's some news."

Anne let her head hit the bar and groaned in exhaustion, her voice muffled, "Why me?"

After he downed his drink, Damon patted Anne's back and replied, "Hey now, what about me?"

She moved her head to the side, still resting on the bar, "Huh?"

Damon put a hand to his chest, while the other one held the back of Anne's chair. "The universe is against me too, you know. Splitting up me and Elena, making Mystic Falls a graveyard and all that jazz. Don't hog the bad luck, friend."

Anne snorted, "Yeah, this place sucks ass."

"Don't I know it," Damon said, downing the last of his drink. He signalled the bartender for another round as Anne sat up straight.

"You know," She stared across the bar as she spoke, "This whole situation here is way crazier than what's happening back in Seattle, but I'd still rather be here."

"Cheers to that."

They clinked glasses and finished their new drinks, waiting to be poured some more. For a few seconds, there was a comfortable silence. But Anne felt like she needed to talk more about what Georgia had said to her; she needed an outside perspective.

"Damon, Georgia told me that my brother's been watching me, that he makes me have the dreams, and the dreams warn me of things."

"Yes, I recall you mentioning this."

"I've been dreaming a lot about Mikael."

Damon tensed, and Anne said what he really wished she hadn't: "What if Mikael is coming back?"

"No," He shook his head, "No way. He is dead, we saw that through."

Anne leaned forward, "Think about it: I'm getting warnings of Papa Mikaelson left, right and centre, exactly when the other side is weak; right when Klaus, Elijah, and Rebekah are divided. It's got to mean something. Even Rebekah is worried."

The two friends shared a look of uncertainty. They both knew how powerful and problematic Mikael was, and neither of them wanted him back. Anne sighed and dipped her head, looking down at her hands, clutched around an empty glass. 

"Aside from that," Anne continued, "She said something about magic and science being mixed. The only thing I can think of about that is Augustine."

"They're all dead though."

"I know, so the only reasonable thing I can think of, is that maybe someone went rogue. Maybe someone left Augustine to start their own thing. And the only connection I have to that theory is TorvoTech."

Damon's confusion led to Anne explaining, "It's this dodgy biochemical business that's linked to this case I'm working on. Coincidentally, there are Vampires working for TorvoTech."

He hummed, and Anne surrendered to the overwhelm of her predicament. Slumping in her chair and receiving a pat on the back from Damon. 

"Hey, at least you know your brother's alive."

Anne chuckled dryly, "I mean, he's still dead. But now I know he's here. He's..." She sighed and looked down at her drink. "He's watching over me. I just wish he was really here. God," Anne rubbed her face with both hands, "I never knew how much I missed him until all this shit started happening."