1923

     After Damon turned due to Stefan's persistence, he wanted to avoid him for as long as possible. But no matter how much he resisted, his need for constant reassurance led him to check on his brother more often than he'd like to admit.

Stefan exited a bar with his arm around a naive girl who just wanted to have fun. Stefan just wanted a drink.

Damon, watching from afar, noticed that his brother caught the eye of a much smaller little woman who followed him in the shadows.

Focusing in on the darkness, he could now see a little girl with a determined, murderous look on her face.

Shockingly, the little girl came out of the shadows (with a quickness oddly similar to the vampire's) pushing the woman behind her in a protective manner, and brandished a freshly sharpened stake in front of the ripper.

Damon felt the need to jump out and help out his brother, before realizing that he's always wanted Stefan to pay for turning him. Admittedly, he was too much of a coward to openly kill his brother like he said he would. So, what harm would watching his demise from the shadows do?

As the young vampire threatened the ripper, Damon noticed the underlying fear in her eyes as she was way in over her head on this one.

Stefan shakily cocked his head to the side, eyes showing his unstable mentality, as he took in the young, small figure in front of him. Stefan would hate himself for hurting a child. But this wasn't Stefan, now was it?

"Playing brave now are we?" He said in a scarily calm demeanor. "Don't move." He compelled the young lady who looked shocked at her ability to no longer move a muscle. Stefan slowly strolled toward the young hunter. 

"Don't mind the young frame, I'll still be able to kick your ass before bedtime. You've been hurting a lot of people. Getting on a lot of radars from people that now want you dead." She snarled.

"Bounty hunter are you? This is a rather unorthodox way to raise money for Girl Scouts." He scolded.

"Keep 'em up, you'll only make me less merciless when I drop your ass."

"You think so?"

"I know so."

"Alright, let's dance." (Yes, those are lyrics to a rap battle.) Stefan then launched at the hunter with impeccable speed. He was notably surprised to see that she had a speed that matched his as she sped away from her previous position.

"A vampire, that's a vampire hunter? Isn't that against some rule?" He questioned.

"Isn't killing people against some rule?" She shot back. 

"Touché." He went back at her, managing to grab her this time. Then he threw her a couple of yards away with his strength, it also helped that she was pretty airy.

Back on her feet pretty quickly the girl switched to offense as she attacked him with incredible vigor. Slashing, scratching, and punching without missing a hit. This eventually pissed Stefan off as he threw her yet again with so much force that her spine snapped. Luckily, it started healing almost instantly.

Damon, who was still watching from the sidelines could see the outcome of this situation from a mile away now. What would you get from openly attacking a vampire with their humanity off and an insatiable thirst for blood?

Using his speed, Damon swapped in and grabbed the young girl away from the altercation. Leaving Stefan with a lot of malice as he then turned back to the girl who was compelled not to move. (Pray for her.)

******

Dragging her towards an empty alley, Damon wasn't prepared for the powerful slap that landed on his cheek the second he let go of her small wrists. 

"Ow! What the hell?" He exclaimed.

"What the hell me? What the hell you?! Who even are you to drag me away from a fight I started?" She barked at him.

"I'm the guy that saved you from dying!" He defended his actions.

"Did I ask you to save me? NO! I started that for a reason. I had to pay off my debt, and that was how I would've done it." She explained still bitter that she was taken away from the action.

"Well, sorry not sorry. I wouldn't be okay with watching a little girl get killed by the hands of my brother."

"So, you babysit often, huh? Also, how do you think I am?"

"I don't know ten?" He guessed while shrugging his shoulders.

They both stared in silence, one shaken with the guess and the other thinking they were justified.

"Yeah no." She spoke up.

"Do you need some blood to heal faster, kid?" Damon asked.

"Fine, but I want my own. I don't like sharing." She walked off following the direction of voices that would make for a great snack.

"I'm Damon by the way. If we're going to have a tea party, might as well know each other's names."

"I know who you are. I did some research on Stefan before the whole thing earlier. I'm Iris."

"Nice to meet you, Iris," Damon said as they continued to walk on together.

"Of course it is." She responded.

******

This is gonna be so fun to write! I've been thinking of this story for a while, and I finally put it to fruition. Iris and Damon are 100% Nimona and Ballister coded. I mentioned Interview With A Vampire purely because Iris and Claudia have pretty similar bases. Also the word: Prologue looks so weird.

Hope you enjoyed! Until next time,

TAMARA <3