om_main | Damon and Dana, Wednesday Afternoon (Reply)

Damon interviews Dana for a position with X-Factor. It's not much of an interview, but that doesn't matter.

The public library wasn't really Damon's thing, but they had a small atrium in the back that some people used for reading in the summer, but during the winter was virtually deserted. He'd chosen a small table, kicking his feet up on a nearby chair while leaning back in his own, eyes slitted, but watching the door.

The petite redhead that came to the door didn't look anything other than perfectly calm, and as competent as a fifteen year-old could be. Internally, though, Dana was intrigued and maybe a touch nervous about the whole thing. She'd heard about Damon Salvatore, of course. His mutation, some of his less-than-good traits. He had looks in his favor, she definitely noted, but that wouldn't be enough to make her forget those other things. Still, he offered a singular opportunity, and it might allow her to help people with her less-offensive mutation. She was many things, but a soldier wasn't one of them. "Hello," she greeted.

"You come well recommended anyway," Damon noted with something that seemed like it would have wanted to be a sneer in another life. Instead, he just came off as tired.

Waving a hand toward the chair across from him, he shifted both of his feet to the ground. "Dana Scully?"

Dana was gratified that apparently Lydia had vouched for her, though she didn't much let it show. She held out a slim hand to him. "It's nice to meet you."

He glanced down at the tiny hand, then back up at her face, and something in his eyes was honest-to-god wary, despite her small size. In the end, he shook his head. "Keep it, small fry. Sage tells me you can talk to ghosts."

She took her seat a bit primly, even as she nodded. "Something like that. I can recreate the deceased's person and, to an unverifiable extent, their memories for a period of time by use of leftover electro-neural impulses," Dana corrected. She was maybe starting to make peace with that reality, too, no matter how creepy it often seemed.

Damon took the techno-babble in stride. "So you're a ghost memory DVR."

"And you're a psychic vampire," she returned in kind.

He regarded her for a moment, trying not to feel as charmed by her as he wanted to. She had spunk. She was cute. She'd definitely be useful. He hated it when Sage was right. He also hated this new trend of being drawn in by intelligent redheads.

"Why do you want the job?" he finally asked, breaking the silence he hadn't realized had settled about them.

"Because I want to know the answers," Dana said simply. "And working with you will help me find them. Furthermore, I think that my particular ability lends itself to this type of investigative work."

Damon tapped a finger a finger impatiently on the table-top. "You're tiny. I'm guessing you're looking for a part-time gig."

The continued commentary on her size was a bit annoying, but she'd grown-up with three siblings. Dana could more than handle it. Damon had a lot to learn if he wanted to ever approach Billy Scully levels of mockery. She supposed Damon might just be off of his game, though, he did seem a bit tired. "Yes."

Damon leaned his arms on the table, regarding her thoughtfully. "How long can someone be dead that you pick up on these...whatever neural impulses? How far away can you be from where they croaked?"

"I can do what I do anywhere they spent time while alive," Dana said. "The more time they spent there, the better. I'd have trouble if, for example, it was a place they had visited once. And, of course, the energy dissipates over time. So the more time they've spent there, and the more recently they did so, the better the connection I can establish."

Damon narrowed his eyes, and he hated the fact that his immediate reaction was to kidnap the girl and drag her to Mystic Falls. "What if the person's death is in question? Could you tell if they actually died or not?"

She furrowed her brow a bit, thoughtful. "Well, it's an imprecise diagnostic test, I guess," Dana said slowly. "If I could call them up, then they are certainly deceased. I've never, ever managed it with someone who wasn't. If I can't...I mean, if it was the exact location where they died yesterday, then I'd be inclined to say they aren't dead. But if anything is too far removed, it might simply be that I'm not strong enough, yet, to get it.

"Basically, I could rule out life by finding someone, but I can't say with medical certainty that someone I can't find is dead."

He rolled his eyes, but he shouldn't have been surprised. He would probably go his whole life never knowing what had happened to her. In the meantime..."You're hired. Mostly because my partner would kill me if you weren't. Give me your phone."

Dana pulled out her phone, but cocked an eyebrow at him and kept the phone in-hand. "Why?"

He reached out and snatched it out of her hand, giving her a look. "If you're going to work with me, you're going to have to learn to listen to instructions, no matter how much you distrust me."

Damon tapped a few things into the screen, then handed it back. "I added my contact information and the address for our office. Which happens to be a barn. Meet me there this Saturday at ten a.m. I'm taking you with me on a consult."

"A friend once told me to trust no one," she said lightly, tucking her phone into her purse. "Ten a.m. I will be there. Thanks, for the job."

"It's good advice. You do that. Keep your trust to yourself. But learn to follow directions," Damon snorted. "And don't thank me until you've gotten a taste for what we really do. For now, I won't ask you to work outside of weekends if you don't volunteer. You look like one of those nerdy types that has her nose in a book most of the time anyway."

Dana shrugged, and began to stand. "I have three siblings. I've been called worse. If we are done for now, Damon, I will see you on Saturday."

He smirked and wiggled his fingers in her direction. "Toodles, Ginger."

She raised her eyebrows and gave him a look that clearly said, really? Ginger? And, with that, she left.