"Wake up, Luce. We've got more dead bodies."

She rolled over and glared at the brunet vampire. "Seriously? That's how you wake me?"

He smirked. "What would you prefer, princess?"

Lucy groaned. "For you to let me sleep until I feel like getting up. Barring that, a cup of coffee and a good morning are always nice." She sat up and ran a hand down her face.

"Ask and ye shall receive." Damon produced the mug of coffee he'd been hiding behind his back. "Good morning, Lucy." She took the mug and inhaled the rich aroma. "Now, get up. We've got more dead bodies."

She sipped the coffee and closed her eyes as she took a deep breath. When she opened them, she looked at the vampire. "Talk."

"They're reporting it as a drug deal gone bad in the cemetery or something. Pretty clear it was a vampire." He sat on the edge of the bed. "We need to find them. They're drawing too much attention."

"Where would we even start, Damon? Just because I know how to kill a vampire doesn't mean I know shit about finding them. I prefer to play defense."

"There's too much activity around the cemetery right now, but once it settles, we'll go investigate. See if we can find anything."

"That sounds like a horrible idea," she said. "You know they'll have the same plan."

"Well, unless you come up with a better one, that's all we have."

***

As it turned out, they didn't get the chance to go vampire hunting. Damon's phone rang late afternoon with a call from Stefan summoning them to Elena's.

"What do you mean she's transitioning?" Damon exclaimed after Stefan broke the news that Vicki Donovan had turned up to see Jeremy mid-transition.

"Shh." Stefan glanced to the stairs to make sure his brother wasn't overheard.

"What do we do?" Elena asked.

Lucy shrugged her shoulders. "She feeds or she dies. Someone needs to explain that to her and let her make her decision."

"There is no choice. She can't become a vampire."

Lucy shifted her gaze to Elena. "You don't get to make that decision for her. Or anyone else."

"Okay," Stefan interjected. "This isn't helping anyone. I think I should be the one to talk to her. No offense, Damon."

The vampire in question smirked as per usual. "None taken. We all know you're the fluffier, friendlier vampire. Explain away."

"Vick!"

The yell interrupted their conversation and they moved into the front hall. Matt was heading out the front door as Jeremy ran down the stairs. The four of them went outside to find Matt yelling for his sister again.

"She was fine, then she just freaked out," Jeremy said.

Lucy looked at the brothers knowing they could track her. "Go." Stefan nodded and jogged away. She put a hand on Damon's arm to stop him before he followed. "We need to know who turned her." He was just as likely to kill her as bring her back if it was easier. He rolled his eyes but gave a nod so she let him go. He handed her his keys then took off after his brother.

"Where are they going?" Elena asked.

"They can track her."

She just looked at Lucy with wide eyes before nodding and heading back in the house.

Lucy couldn't think of anything she wanted to do less than spend her time waiting with the teenagers so she headed back to the boarding house. At first, she'd been fine reading while the tv played in the background, but the more time that passed, the more worried she became. She really hadn't thought it would take them long at all to find the baby vampire and bring her home.

When she heard the familiar sound of the front door, she stood and waited impatiently. Relief flooded through her when Damon walked in. He offered her a tired smile as he poured himself a drink.

"Did you find her?"

"Mmhmm." He stripped off his jacket and draped it across the back of a nearby chair. "She's with Stefan. He wants to try the bunny diet with her."

Lucy frowned. "Isn't that incredibly hard for new vampires?"

"Yep," he said, popping the p. He sat on the couch and lifted an arm.

She sat beside him and curled into his side. His arm wrapped around her and pulled her into him with a sigh. "We found her in the cemetery. Stefan approached her while I hung back. Unfortunately, Logan Fell found them. He shot Stef with a wooden bullet and intended to stake him. I intervened. While I was helping Stefan, Vicki fed on Fell."

Lucy tried to sit up but Damon held her in place. "Let me up. I need to check on him."

"He's fine, Luce, and you aren't going anywhere near baby vamp." He handed her his glass so she could take a sip. "Which brings me to the first of two topics we need to cover. You are not to be alone with Vicky. One of us is with you at all times. If we leave, so do you."

She nodded, having no intention to argue for her right to be around a vampire with control issues. "And the second?"

Damon shifted around to pull something from his pocket and handed it to her.

Light glinted off the gold casing as she turned it in her hands. She looked at him with a frown. "A pocket watch?"

He shook his head and pressed the button to open case. "A very special compass." As long as he was touching it, the needle spun. Once he released it, the needle turned to point at him. "It finds vampires."

"Holy shit," she said with wide eyes. "The council can't have had this for very long."

"Thankfully not, but we can use it to find the vampire leaving a mess. Well, you can. I'll just follow along behind to rip his heart out."

She sat up so she could look at him without getting a crick in her neck. "Did Vicki say who turned her?"

Damon clenched his teeth. "She doesn't know. He came up behind her, fed her the blood and broke her neck."

"Well, fuck."

"Concisely put."

***

It was morning of the next day when the bell rang. Lucy was still in her pajamas so she let Damon answer while she lingered in the doorway of the kitchen. Elena had come for a visit. Lucy could barely contain her excitement. Undoubtedly, she was here to lecture the 150-year-old vampires.

"Where's Stefan?" she asked. The whiny undertone set Lucy's teeth on edge.

"Why are you here, Elena?" Stefan asked as he appeared from upstairs.

"I wanted to check on Vicki."

Damon rolled his eyes as he walked past her to head back into the kitchen. "There's this lovely little invention called the telephone. You should try it sometime."

"He's right. It's not safe for you to be here until we're sure Vicki has control," Stefan said.

The girl's gaze immediately moved to Lucy. "Why is it safe for her and not me?"

Lucy moved her wrist in a familiar motion and a stake popped into her hand. Damon huffed a laugh and went over to finish making her pancakes for breakfast.

Elena blinked at her. "You're wearing weapons with your pajamas?"

"See, the fact you're surprised by that only further proves it's not a good idea for you to be here."

"Wait," Elena said, looking between Lucy and Stefan, "you'd actually kill Vicki?"

Lucy shook her head. "I can't. I just can't." She had a minimum level of caffeine she had to ingest before she dealt with stupid. As such, she went back to her seat at the kitchen table determined to ignore the teenager. She sipped her coffee, pleased to find it still warm.

Damon laughed as slid a plate across the table and took the seat across from her. "She's asking Stef how she's supposed to lie to everyone about Vicki. He volunteered to compel her to forget about it if it was really that stressful for her."

"That girl needs to prioritize. Vicki's trying to adjust to being a vampire, another vampire keeps dropping dead bodies—Vicki being one of them—and the council is hunting with wooden bullets. And she's upset she has to tell a few lies." She gestured with her fork as she ranted and continued to eat.

The smile slid from his face as he straightened in his seat, drawing her attention immediately. She studied him as he listened to the conversation from the other room knowing he would fill her in after a moment. Lucy could hear the hum of voices but couldn't make out words.

His jaw went tight and he narrowed his gaze. "Vicki has made an appearance. She wants to go home."

"Of course, she does. She's scared whether she wants to show it or not."

"That's not the real problem. Elena is expressing her sympathy. She's trying to console her and I think it's just pissing Vicki off." Irritation threaded through his words. Stefan was determined to handle the situation with the baby vamp on his own and Damon was doing his best to let him. The fact was they had completely different approaches to pretty much everything which left them butting heads more often than not.

In this particular situation, Stefan had far too soft a touch when it came to the girl he was crushing on. "Excuse me," Lucy said and she wiped the remnants of syrup from her lips before standing.

She found the others sitting at a table, only one seat separating the tasty human from the hungry vampire. Lucy rolled her eyes. "Elena, might I have a word?"

The girl glanced between her and Stefan, confusion furrowing her brow. Finally, she nodded. "Sure."

Lucy led her outside. The vampires would still be able to hear if they tried hard enough but it was more about getting Elena out of the house anyway. "You need to go home."

"Excuse me?" She couldn't have sounded more offended if she tried.

Lucy licked her lips. "I realize you're here because you want to help, but the fact of the matter is, you can't. You know nothing about vampires or being in transition. Literally nothing. Everything you are doing is only making things worse, so go home."

Elena snorted in disbelief and her lip curled in a sneer. "You don't know anymore about them than I do."

"My entire life has been spent around vampires amongst other things. So yes, I do. Vicki is not dead. She is simply starting a new life. You expressing sympathy does not help her embrace that new life." Lucy shifted her weight and crossed her arms over her chest. "You being here is incredibly hard on Vicki while she learns control. Especially since you insist on remaining in her presence. I understand it makes you feel better to think you are doing something, but this is not about making you feel better. This is about helping that girl in there adjust to a massive change in her life."

The other girl at least had the decency to look slightly embarrassed by her life choices.

"Go home, Elena." Lucy opened the door to step back inside before turning back. "And start calling before you come over. It's just common curtesy."

She walked inside without waiting for a response, shutting and locking the door behind her.

"Baby brother may not be pleased when he hears from her later," Damon said from beside her, startling her.

She slapped him lightly in irritation. "I hate when you do that."

His only response was his usual smirk.

"Stefan can take it up with me if he wants, but we all know I'm right."

"Take up what with you?" the vampire in question said as he stepped into the hall followed by Vicki.

Lucy crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the door behind her. "I gave Elena a little lesson in compassion and manners. I was polite enough but I kicked her out and told her to call next time."

Stefan's brows lifted but he simply nodded in understanding. "Probably for the best. Thanks, Luce."

Lucy smiled. "My pleasure, Salvatore. Now, I am going to get dressed so your brother and I can go hunting."