The Vampire Diaries: Bastard Line of Delgallo

The flickering candlelight in the ancient crypt cast eerie shadows along the stone walls as Greta led Leon into Klaus's presence. The air was thick with power, a palpable energy that crackled between them as Leon locked eyes with the man who currently possessed Alaric's body. Klaus smirked, his demeanor cool but laced with underlying menace.

"Well, well," Klaus drawled, his voice carrying the weight of centuries. "I've heard much about you, Leon Alphonz Bellatunde Delgallo. Your lineage precedes you."

Leon remained unfazed. "And yours has been a plague upon my family for generations."

Klaus chuckled darkly. "Ah, yes. Papa Tunde. A formidable man, but ultimately another casualty in my rise to power."

Leon tilted his head slightly. "A century ago, perhaps. But I'm not here to settle old scores."

Klaus raised an eyebrow. "No? Then why are you here?"

Leon stepped forward, his expression unreadable. "To make a deal."

Silence settled between them for a moment before Klaus let out a soft laugh. "A deal? Now that's interesting."

Leon nodded. "We bury the past. I help you achieve what you seek, and in return, you ensure Katerina's safety and allow me to keep Greta Martin after the Sun and Moon Ritual is complete."

Klaus narrowed his eyes. "And what do you get from all this?"

Leon smirked. "Control. Leverage. The ability to shape the outcome rather than be a pawn in it."

Klaus considered the offer, his fingers tapping against the stone crypt. "A bold proposal. But how do I know you're not just another fool trying to manipulate me?"

Without hesitation, Leon moved, lightning-fast, and snapped Maddox's neck. The witch crumpled to the ground, lifeless.

Klaus's eyes flickered with amusement and intrigue rather than anger. "Impressive. You do know how to play the game."

Leon met his gaze steadily. " And now you need another witch to help you out of that body. I control the witches. I always play to win."

For a moment, Klaus seemed ready to lash out, but Leon lifted a hand. "Before you react, I have something to offer—something worth more to you than vengeance."

Klaus tilted his head, intrigued. "Go on."

"You have two choices," Leon said, voice calm. "Information on Aurora De Martel or on Mikael."

A flicker of something dark passed over Klaus's face. His grip tightened as he weighed his options.

Aurora—his first love, the one who had shaped him in ways he had yet to admit. Or Mikael—the relentless force that had hunted him for centuries, his father, his greatest fear.

Leon watched him carefully, knowing exactly where his thoughts were leading. "Choose wisely."

Klaus exhaled sharply, his expression hardening. "Mikael."

Leon nodded. "A wise choice. Your father is desiccated in a Prison World, created by a coven powerful enough to keep him there indefinitely."

Klaus clenched his jaw. "And you know where?"

Leon smirked. "I do."

Without another word, he grabbed Katerina's arm and vanished into the darkness, leaving Klaus standing among the shadows, contemplating his next move.

______________________

The scene opens at a long, oak dining table in the mayor's mansion. Soft, golden light from chandelier candles reflects off the polished surface, casting shadows over the gathered figures. The room, warm and inviting, contrasts with the tension thick in the air.

At one end of the table, the Mayor's sharp, calculating eyes. Across from him sits Sheriff Forbes her posture poised and confident, with a look of steady determination behind her cool eyes. They are both keenly aware of the weight of their recent discussions.

Leon, the town's reluctant witch leader, sits at the opposite end. Or so they believed him to be. His brow furrows as he watches the two enter. The air is filled with expectation. Next to him, his wife, Vanessa, watches with equal parts curiosity and caution, unsure of the path her husband now walks. Her fingers lightly trace the rim of her glass as she waits.

The Mayor sets her steak knife down and takes a deep breath, her gaze meeting Leon's as if gauging the moment's arrival.

 "Leon, Vanessa," She begins, her voice steady but carrying a thread of solemnity. "As we discussed before, the council has voted. The witches… they have been granted the freedom to move about as they see fit. You can open a shop in town for tourists. It is a new chapter, a new beginning."

Leon's jaw tightens, his eyes flicking toward Vanessa, seeking some kind of silent reassurance. Vanessa places a hand on his arm, though she remains still, her lips parted in surprise. The weight of the decision is hard to ignore. The witches, after all, had been seen as dangerous by the town in the past. This newfound liberty will change everything.

'I thought Damon said he was dangerous. Leon Delgallo…' Sheriff Forbes looked at the interactions between Leon and the High School Literature teacher. It was hard to see them as less than normal.

The Sheriff leans forward, her sharp features becoming more pronounced as she continues. "But," she adds, her voice cutting through the silence, "there are conditions." She pauses, allowing the words to hang in the air. "You, Leon, will now bear the responsibility for their governance. The witches will answer to you, and you alone. The council trusts you to keep balance."

Leon looks at the Sheriff, then at the Mayor. He hid his excitement deep and continued to show his softer side. 

 "I'm not sure what you mean," he says slowly, his voice laced with concern. " Sole Governance? You can't seriously expect me to handle—"

"Sole governance," the Mayor interrupts, her voice firm. "We trust you, Leon. This town depends on you. The witches are free, but their freedom comes with an understanding. They will be allowed to stay as long as you maintain the peace, ensuring they do not disrupt the balance. Their freedom, and yours, lies in your hands now."

Vanessa's hand clenches his arm tighter, her eyes darting between Leon and the Mayor. In her eyes, all of Leon's work was paying off. While the Vampires hid from the majority of the council save for the Sheriff and the Mayor, the witches became a different existence.

"Are you saying... Leon will have to enforce this? And what happens if he doesn't?" she asks.

Sheriff Forbes exchanges a brief glance with the Mayor before answering. "If the balance is not maintained, there will be consequences. The council is watching. But they trust your judgment, Leon."

The words linger in the room. Leon's mind races, weighing the implications of what he's just heard. The witches, free to roam as they please... and him, the one expected to make it all work. He swallows hard, his gaze flicking to Vanessa.

"What of the vampires?" Leon asked.

The Sheriff shifted uncomfortably. She had learned about her daughter's existence and the others. But Carol Lockwood was still oblivious.

"If you see one, kill one," said Carol.

"And the town will pay per head." Leon stated firmly.

The dinner had wound down, the evening stretching long into the night, but there was still business to be done. Carol Lockwood, ever composed and calculating, sat across from Leon at the head of the table, her fingers lightly tapping against the rim of her wine glass. Her expression was unreadable, a master of the quiet negotiation.

With a final, deliberate movement, Leon signed the deal. His pen paused briefly on the dotted line, his signature marking the completion of a transaction that had been months in the making. The land deal was significant—an entire swath of Mystical Falls, one of the last undeveloped tracts of land left in the area. It was a chunk of the town so large it could only be rivaled by the founding families. The deal was as much about power as it was about land. And Leon knew it.

Carol's lips curled into a thin, satisfied smile as she leaned forward, extending her hand. "Pleasure doing business with you, Leon," she said, her voice smooth, confident.

Vanessa, who had been silent signing, now watched her husband with furrowed brows. She had seen the deal go down, the land now in Leon's hands, but she wasn't entirely sure of the full scope of what he had just committed to.

As they made their way from the dining room, the soft murmur of their footsteps filling the silence, Vanessa's voice broke through. "Leon, what exactly is going on here? Carol's selling you that much land? You didn't tell me about this."

He took a moment to answer, his jaw tightening as he processed her question. "It's not just Carol. It's all the families, above market price, and it's more than just the land, Vanessa. It's a stake in this town. Mystical Falls, the entire thing, is at a tipping point. Carol's not just selling land—she's positioning herself, and by extension, I'm positioning myself. That land will give me the leverage I need."

Vanessa stopped walking and turned to him, her eyes wide with confusion. "Leverage? For what? What's really going on, Leon? This isn't just about land. You're making decisions, huge ones, without telling me everything."

Leon paused, his own gaze drifting downward. She was getting sharper and he loved it.

"The land deal is part of it," he said, his voice quieter now, almost too soft. "But there's more. It's the money behind it. The vampire files weren't the only thing Slater left behind. He had connections, accounts, networks of people and organizations. And Alice… Alice turned over everything. Not just the vampire files, but the rest of Slater's entire operation. I needed to know everything about him, and Alice gave me the key."

Vanessa's expression shifted, a mix of surprise and concern crossing her features. "Alice gave you all of that? You're saying she handed over everything—after all this time?"

Leon nodded slowly, his gaze steady. "Yes. And I knew she would. I needed to test her loyalty. I needed to be sure she was on our side, that I could trust her. It's more than just her knowing about Slater's network. I needed to know where she stood, whether she would use that information against us or help us."

Vanessa's lips parted, trying to absorb the weight of his words. " You've been testing her? All this time? You didn't tell me, Leon. You kept this from me."

Leon stepped closer, his voice soft but insistent. "I didn't want to, but I had to. There's too much at stake. If Alice had turned, if she was working against us, we'd be in even deeper trouble than we already are. You don't understand the layers of this, Vanessa. I couldn't risk it."

Her eyes searched his, looking for the man she knew, the man she trusted. "And what about us? What about me, Leon? We're in this together, aren't we?"

He reached for her hand, his grip warm but filled with the weight of the decisions he'd been making alone. "I never meant to keep you out of it. But some things... Some things are too dangerous to involve you in until I know we're ready. I need to be sure that every move I make is the right one."

Vanessa shook her head, her expression torn between frustration and understanding. "And Carol Lockwood? How does she fit into all of this? You don't think she's just selling that land out of the goodness of her heart, do you?"

Leon's gaze hardened slightly. "No, of course not. Carol's looking to solidify her position here. But it's not just about what she's selling—it's about what I'm buying. This land, this town—it's all a piece of the bigger picture. If we can control it, we can control the flow of power."

Vanessa exhaled sharply, her hand slipping from his. "So everything we're doing, everything you're signing, it's all connected. But we're still playing the game, aren't we, Leon? Only now, you're playing it alone."

Leon's expression softened, regret flashing in his eyes. "I'm not playing it alone. I'm doing this for us, for our future. But I need you to trust me, Vanessa. I can't do this without you."

She didn't respond immediately, her eyes still clouded with a mix of fear and disbelief. After a long pause, she nodded slowly, but her voice was small, uncertain. "I don't know if I can keep up with this anymore, Leon. You've been making decisions like we're just pieces on a chessboard, and I don't know if I can keep following you like this. I need you to let me in. All the way."

Leon swallowed hard, the weight of her words hitting him squarely. "I will. I promise. But right now, there's too much going on. I need to make sure we're on solid ground."

As they stood there, facing each other in the dimly lit hallway, the gravity of everything they had just discussed hung thick in the air. The night outside felt colder now, and in the distance, the shadow of the land deal, the witches' governance, and the vampire files loomed like an impending storm.

Vanessa couldn't hold any longer, "And Elena? How long have you been fucking her?"

Leon chuckled, "Never. It was a mind wedge. I had to pay Damon and Stefan back for what they did to you. They tried to kill you. But, I couldn't just blow everything up. So when you took Elena. I tortured and placed a mental wedge in Damon, then had Katherine 'save' him. Before that, she pretended to be Elena for half a day to help me with my plans. I then broke into the house and Stefan's torture began. Aside from the physical torture, everything with Elena was an illusion, the pain made it stick and the wedge kept him from shaking it."

Vanessa laughed and shook her. "And you placed one in Elena too. That's why she's soft on you. You and your secrets. What else is happening?"

Leon smirked, "The witch burial ground is on the land I purchased. And so is the site Klaus needs for ritual. Have you ever heard of sacred ground?"

Leon walked closer to Vanessa, "Hey" she said, "I love you…forgive me?"

Vanessa pursed her lips, "Do leave me out of stuff. I want to do this with you."

"No… You and Jenna are the key to the next plan. Your project is how to start our coven." Leon assured her, "We all have our roles."

"Hmm, speaking of Jenna…"

Leon looked incredulous, "You were just about to give me shit because you thought I was fucking Elena."

"This is different." Vanessa pouted cutely, "I like Jenna. And that little bitch already has two boyfriends. Anybody but her. After the picnic, I know I need a little help from somebody."

Leon chuckled and the lovers walked to the car to head home.