FRAGILE BROKEN THINGS | LUKE

Luke had worked in a lot of different places over the years and he’d had various jobs in different kinds of law enforcement. He’d worked for Homeland Security in the past along with the FBI, he’d been elected Sheriff in one of the counties he used to live in and he’d also worked as a private detective. He hadn’t known exactly what job he’d wanted to go for when he’d decided to move to Mystic Falls with his family since being his own boss definitely had its perks but with everything that he had learned about the town he had come to realise that working as a detective was probably the best way to go. There were so many supernaturals in Mystic Falls and not all of them wanted to live peacefully like Luke and his family did. There were far too many deaths in the town than he was comfortable with and as far as he was concerned working as a detective was his way of protecting the town. He and his brothers had all decided on their own way of doing that a long time ago, Nick always went for something in the medical profession and was currently working as a doctor at the local hospital while for Sean his calling was as a firefighter. They had all lived much longer than they perhaps should have done and they’d seen so much during that time so this was their way of giving back.

Luke would be lying if he said that he hadn’t felt apprehensive at first about the idea of moving to Mystic Falls, after all it hadn’t taken much digging for him to find out that there weren’t just supernaturals in town but plenty of hunters too and considering that Nick’s eldest son James had already died at the hands of hunters Luke knew that he didn’t want anyone else that he loved to lose their life like that. As it was they had been in town for the last few years, though, and they had been incredibly careful so if any hunters did know about their presence in town then they were seemingly leaving them be and for that Luke was truly grateful. His family had already been through so much and aside from his nephew, Luke had also lost just about every woman that he’d ever loved so the truth was that he wasn’t sure that he could stand losing anyone else. Letting people get close to him wasn’t something that he found particularly easy given everything that had happened but there were a couple of people he’d met along the way who had managed to make a lasting impression on him and he knew that those were people that he wanted to keep in his life for as long as possible.

One of those was Danielle. They had worked together in the FBI before and even after that they’d still partnered up on occasion. She was the second partner he’d worked with after he’d arrived in Mystic Falls and after she went on her sabbatical he had refused another full time partner because he had known that it would never be the same. Since then he’d worked with people when he’d needed to but otherwise he had worked alone. He and Dani had kept in touch which had made things easier and he’d made it clear that he was going to be there for her whenever she needed him but as he looked up from the case file he was reading in time to see her reaching the door to his office he couldn’t deny that he was surprised. “You’re telling me,” he agreed, a grin already forming on his face as he got to his feet. “Get over here,” he said, closing the distance between them before pulling her into a hug. “So are you just passing through?” he asked, not wanting to get his hopes up that she might just be back at long last.

DANIELLE COLLIER

Luke had earned enough money over the years to make sure that he could live comfortably without having to worry about working but that wasn’t him. He had never been the kind of person who could spend each day without actually doing anything, he preferred to keep busy and it had always been the same. He could have done any number of things when he got to Mystic Falls but working as a detective was what he liked to do best so the truth was that it had been an easy decision to make. Not only was it something that he enjoyed doing but it was also a good way of knowing what was going on around Mystic Falls and making sure that his family continued to fly under the radar. He knew that there were other people on the force who were supernatural, one of the patrol officers was a vampire and another was a chimera so in a way it was good to know that he wasn’t alone. The person that he trusted most was Dani, however, and the truth was that it just wasn’t the same without her around. He’d had other partners since then but it was never quite the same and he was pretty sure that it never would be. He was doing the best he could, though, and he knew that he couldn’t do anymore than that. There were always plenty of cases that needed to be solved to keep him busy and that was something that he was glad about. He hadn’t thought that a small town in Virgina would be half as busy as Mystic Falls was but he knew that with the amount of people in town who were supernatural then he shouldn’t really be surprised.

He had hoped that sooner or later Dani would return but he hadn’t expected it to happen like this. The two of them had stayed in touch and he had thought that she might give him a heads up but if he was honest this was actually better – it was a nice surprise. It was easy for him to get to his feet and pull Dani into a hug and her reaction made it that much better. There were few people in the world that Luke was close to but Dani was definitely one of those people and he would be lying if he said that he hadn’t missed her. He had understood why she had felt the need to leave, after all it couldn’t have been easy for her to get her head around the fact that she had become a vampire or anything that had happened after that but she’d seemed to be doing better and he hoped that she still was. “How ever will I cope?” Luke chuckled, an amused smile forming on his face as he looked over at her. “I’ve been fine, I’ve been keeping busy,” he admitted. “How about you, how have you been?” he asked, knowing that was the much better question. As she told him to catch her up on what she’d missed and any new cases he was working on, he couldn’t help but laugh. “How long have you got?” he asked, nodding in the direction of the large stack of cases that was currently piled up on his desk. “I was actually about to head out and interview some witnesses if you’re up for coming along.”

DANIELLE COLLIER

Luke had learned a long time ago that getting close to people wasn’t a good idea. His parents died while he was still quite young and he lost the first girl he loved, Sean’s younger sister, a few days before their twentieth birthday. That had been the start of a pattern of Luke losing people he loved and over time he had come to realise that it was easier if he didn’t let people get close enough to hurt him when they died but there were always going to be a few who slipped through his defences no matter how hard he tried to keep those walls up. He had his brothers, Lauren and the kids in his life and Olivia was in Mystic Falls as well so he knew that he was lucky in that respect but he would be lying if he said that there weren’t times when he found himself feeling jealous of the family that Nick had built. Luke was pretty sure that that wasn’t on the cards for him, though, and he had done his best to make his peace with that a long time ago. He might not have been able to build a family of his own the way that his brother had but he could at least do his best to keep them and everyone else in Mystic Falls as safe as possible and that was exactly what he was trying to do through his work as a detective.

It wasn’t the same without Danielle around and that was something that Luke wasn’t afraid to admit. Ever since she left he had preferred working alone because there wasn’t anyone who could measure up to her and that wasn’t a decision that he regretted. He hadn’t known when or if she could come back but he hadn’t lost hope and now it seemed like he was right to do that. “I know it’s not easy but you can do this, I have faith in you,” he offered. Danielle had earned his trust a long time ago and it was so much easier now that they knew what the other was. It gave them someone that they could confide in and for Luke it meant that he could support Danielle when she needed him as well. As Danielle looked at the stack of files on his desk, a humourless laugh escaped Luke’s lips. “These are all ones that have come in over the last few days. I seem to clear one stack and another takes its place,” he explained. There was certainly enough going on in Mystic Falls to keep him busy, that was for sure. It was so natural to fall into old habits and ask Danielle if she wanted to go with him to speak to some witnesses and he felt a smile form on his face as he realised just how up for throwing herself back into it she really was. As she grabbed his car keys, however, a playful groan left his lips. “You’re really going to subject me to your driving on your first day back?” he teased, rolling his eyes jokingly before slipping his phone and wallet into his pocket just in case he needed them and following her outside. “Last chance to back out and get out while you still can if you want to,” he said, letting his arm rest against the roof of the passenger’s side of the car as he waited for Danielle to unlock the door.

DANIELLE COLLIER

No matter where Luke ended up he seemed to work alone most of the time. He’d had a few partners over the years but he was sure to outlive pretty much everyone around him and that had made making any meaningful connections with people very difficult. He had lost so many people over the course of his life that the thought of losing anyone else wasn’t something that he was sure that he would be able to deal with. Most of his past relationships had ended with the woman dying in one way or another and he had also seen the devastation that had come from Nick and Lauren losing James. It could have easily torn them apart but if anything it had brought them closer together and for that he was grateful. Ever since he was a child the only two people he’d had in his life that he could always count on were Nick and Sean and Luke was fine with that but the truth was that he missed having others in his life. Danielle had become his partner first and his friend second but they’d formed a connection between them and they’d stayed in touch even after she’d decided to take some time out. Selfishly a part of Luke was glad that he wouldn’t have to worry about Dani growing old like everyone else while he remained the same now but he knew that becoming a vampire wasn’t what she’d wanted so he had been trying to help her as best he could.

“You’ve got this and if you come close to losing control just remember that I’ll be right beside you the whole time. I won’t let anything happen,” Luke assured her, knowing that he wasn’t going to let Dani hurt anyone or end up getting hurt herself. He could see that she still didn’t believe in herself but he hoped that in time she would start to do so. Either way he was glad that she was back anyway because the truth was that he’d missed her and with the amount of cases that were piling up he knew that they would get through them twice as quickly together since they could share the workload. Luke knew that every detective in the department was busy but with his case solving rate as high as it was he often seemed to have more than anyone else although that was something that he had grown used to. Heading outside, Luke couldn’t stop a smile from forming on his face as Dani laughed. “Now that’s something I’ve missed hearing,” he grinned, knowing that it had been a while since he’d last heard her laugh properly. “Trust me, your driving is bad. The streets of Mystic Falls have been a lot safer without you driving them,” he teased. He didn’t really mind Dani’s driving too much but he couldn’t resist the opportunity to give her a hard time about it in jest considering that he hadn’t been able to do that for so long. “Never, you know that,” he chuckled as she said that he was already trying to get rid of her before climbing into the passenger’s seat.

DANIELLE COLLIER

More often than not Luke preferred to work without a partner. He knew that there were benefits to having someone around who would always have his back but the truth was that it took a lot for him to trust people and even more for him to let them get really close to him. Working alongside someone all day every day wasn’t a bad thing for most people but for Luke it wasn’t something that he was very good at. He was more than happy working with a team but when it came to working with just one person he tried to avoid it as much as he could. He hadn’t thought that Mystic Falls would be any different and he’d worked on his own to begin with but then he’d found himself partnered with Dani and over time they’d built a rapport that worked for them. He hadn’t felt comfortable letting her get truly close to him before she became a vampire but after that it had felt like a weight had been lifted. He had to conceal who he really was from so many people around him but he didn’t have to do that with Dani, not anymore, and it was a relief to say the least. It also meant that he would be there to make sure that she didn’t hurt anyone and he knew that that wasn’t ever going to be a bad thing. He believed in her but he knew that she didn’t necessarily share that same belief in herself and he knew that he would do what he could in order to stop her from doubting herself.

He hadn’t realised just how much he had taken having Dani around for granted until she was gone and he couldn’t deny that he was glad that she was back. The cases had been piling up a lot lately and no matter how quickly he worked or how many hours he put in it was simply never enough. Whenever he closed one case three more took its place and it didn’t seem to be slowing down at all. Heading out to the car it felt like old times again and that alone was enough to bring a smile to Luke’s face. Letting people break through his walls wasn’t something that Luke tended to do too often but Dani had managed it and it was good to be able to fall into old habits again. “Ask anyone, there has been a lot less road rage around here,” Luke teased as he settled back in his seat and let Dani drive. He had always given her a hard time about her driving but it was only ever in good fun and thankfully Dani knew that. “I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he grinned. “Have you seen many other people since you came back?” he asked, not sure whether she had managed to catch up with anyone else yet or not.

DANIELLE COLLIER

Luke had thought that Nick was crazy at first when he’d suggested they all move to Mystic Falls. After everything that had happened he had thought that his brother would have wanted to be as far away from hunters and others who were a part of the supernatural world as possible but he had decided the complete opposite. Now Luke knew that it wasn’t a bad thing at all, there were plenty of hunters in town but their family was able to fly under the radar and essentially hide in plain sight. It made things that much easier for all of them and it meant that Nick’s kids had the chance to be around others who were like them as long as they didn’t let the wrong people know that they were supernatural. Luke had lost so many people that he loved over the course of his long life and he knew that the last thing that he wanted was to lose anyone else. James’ death had almost broken Nick and Lauren but they had stuck together and managed to move on from that loss but he knew that they would never forget what had happened to their eldest son. They had all managed to build lives for themselves in Mystic Falls and Luke knew that that was just as it should be.

It had been easy for him to get a job on the police force with all of the experience he had and he had been a little unsure about being assigned a partner to begin with but now he knew that it was one of the best things that could have happened. He had kept what he was to himself and he had only come clean about it after he’d learned that Danielle was a vampire. Then he had known that if he expected her to trust him then he needed to trust her in return and once that door had been opened he really hadn’t looked back. The two of them had worked well together and even though he had understood when she’d needed to take some time off he couldn’t deny that during the time she’d been gone he had missed her not just as his partner but also as his friend. They had stayed in touch and he’d helped her as much as he could but being able to talk on the phone wasn’t the same as being able to see someone face to face and he was only now starting to realise just how true that actually was.

The look Danielle gave him when he said that there’d been a lot less road rage around Mystic Falls was enough to draw a smile to Luke’s lips. “Maybe I’ll ask the Sheriff to send out a town-wide alert,” he grinned. Danielle’s driving wasn’t actually that bad at all, it was just something that he liked to give her a hard time about now and then, especially now that she was back. As she said that she’d only seen her brother, Luke nodded. “I bet he was glad to see you,” he said gently. Luke definitely understood the bond between them, Dani was a twin just like he was and he always felt a sense of being whole again whenever he and Nick were reunited after being apart for a while. They had always been close but they had lived separate lives as well and it was the same for Dani and Cory although she’d unfortunately had to experience what it was like to lose her twin and that was something that Luke knew he wouldn’t wish on anyone. The way her grip tightened on the wheel didn’t go unnoticed but Luke wasn’t sure whether that was something to do with her brother, the way the attention had been focused on her or the case itself so as she asked him to get her up to speed on the case, he knew that it would be best to focus on that for a moment instead. “This one started out like all of the other disappearances. The woman vanished without a trace but this time she turned up dead two weeks later. Her death was covered up to look like an animal attack but there were traces of mercury in her system and marks on her body that looked like signs of foul play,” he explained. It was an odd case, that was for sure, but he knew that the two of them would figure it out. “You’re sure you’re ready for this?”

DANIELLE COLLIER

Luke had been alive for such a long time that things rarely surprised him these days. He knew that he could have easily gone for a different career after he’d tried his hand at being a cop but the truth was that this was what he was meant to do. He had been lucky enough to figure that out just like Nick had found out that he was meant to be a doctor and Sean had found out that he was meant to be a firefighter. It had taken them all a while but in the end they had each found their calling and Luke knew that that was just as it should be. There were times when it was easy to figure out who was responsible for breaking the law on a case he was working on but more often than not he had to give it some thought and he couldn’t deny that he liked the mystery of it all. He had worked various jobs in law enforcement over the years but being a detective was his favourite by far. He wasn’t very good at working with others usually, he tended to keep to himself and working with a partner meant having to let someone get close to him which wasn’t something that he had ever been very good at. Things were different with Dani though, she was supernatural too which meant that he didn’t have to hide anything from her and he could help her if she ever found herself struggling with being a vampire. She was the first partner he’d had in a long time but it worked well for them. They were a good team and he couldn’t deny that he had missed working with her during the time that she had been gone.

He hadn’t expected her to just show up at the station the way she had done since she hadn’t even told him that she was back in town but it had been a pleasant surprise and he couldn’t deny that he was glad to have her help with the stack of cases that had been building up. There were other detectives working at the station but none of them had the solve rate that he and Dani did. Even while she was gone he had kept up that standard so the cases had kept being piled on him and he had been doing his best to keep it up but two heads were much better than one when the other was Dani’s so it was good to have someone to share the load with again. Slipping back into old habits was so easy with her and Luke couldn’t resist teasing her. Dani always gave as good as she got and the playful banter that always passed between the two of them definitely made the time pass that much quicker. She was one of the few people outside of his family that he trusted completely and they had known each other for a while now so they were pretty good at reading each other. He knew better than to pry when Dani didn’t want him to and instead he focused on filling her in on what was going on with the case they were working. There had been so many disappearances around Mystic Falls and so many instances of people showing up in the town with no idea how they had ended up there so it was clear that something was going on but so far no one seemed to know what was going on. Add the deaths that were made out to be animal attacks to those who weren’t in the know just like this one had been and there was plenty to be getting on with. Luke hadn’t let the Sheriff or anyone else at the station aside from Dani know what he was but it was clear that this wasn’t an animal attack and with traces of mercury in the woman’s system it was clear that this was something new entirely. The question had slipped out as he had parked the car but Dani was straight on the defence and Luke studied her carefully for a moment as he looked over at her. “You know I didn’t mean it like that,” he said at last. “It can just take time to get back into it.” That was something that he knew firsthand but Dani was a natural so he had a feeling that she would be fine. “I called ahead, there are a couple of people we need to speak to so we might be here a while.”

DANIELLE COLLIER