A/N: Here's a two chapter update as thanks for you guys for being so patient with me, I have been busy these days so please bear with me if updates are slow.

⚜️Dig Down Deep⚜️

"What are you reading, Nora?" Salome Agrippa, one of the chancellors of the Vampire Authority asks the other woman as Nora snapped her scroll shut at this as she lifted her head to face Salome.

"Salome! You took me by surprise" she says, being careful not to overplay her 'shock' at getting caught by the elder woman. Nora has been purposely acting suspicious around Salome and Roman, well-aware that they were watching her.

It was only a matter of time before one of them confronted her. She's just surprised that it took as long as it has considering she's been back from Godric's nest for nearly a week now.

"Forgive me" Salome says in what would have passed as a soothing tone if Nora didn't know what she was truly like, "It was not my intention" she adds as Nora nods at this, "so what are you reading?" she asks coolly as if that downplayed her curiosity.

"Just an ancient text, nothing in particular" Nora lies smoothly as she held the scroll close to her chest and moved to head off only for Salome to flash over to her and easily pry the scroll from her.

Nora pretends to be surprised by this though she had actually been counting on it.

"Ancient Yiddish?" Salome says in surprise when she opens the scroll to the section that Nora had bookmarked.

"Salome–" Nora protests.

"Why on earth would you be reading about the accounts of my people with the fae, Nora?" Salome asks her as she lifted her head to face Nora after reading a little of what the scroll said.

"I-I...uh..." Nora stammers.

"Does this have anything to do with your maker's human? Marina Sinclair, was it?" Salome asks her even though Nora is 100% that Salome KNOWS that she's correct.

"No!" Nora protests immediately with wide eyes, "I mean, yes" she says with a faux heavy sigh as she rubs the bridge of her nose. "I didn't want to tell you and Roman until I was certain" she adds.

"That she is fae?" Salome asks in intrigue at this. Nora isn't fooled by her calm outer appearance she knew that internally Salome was ecstatic.

The woman has always been power-hungry and what could be more wonderful than to have the blood of a fairy, whose blood can apparently allow a vampire to day-walk for a brief period of time.

"Yes" Nora admits begrudgingly. "She never told me so but I pieced everything together" she adds.

"And your maker? What did he say about this?"

"Godric avoided topic about Marina when possible, which led me to believe that there was more to her than meets the eye" Nora replies.

"Well then" Salome says as she lowered the scroll onto one of the tables in the Authority's Grand Library, "we shall have to keep this information between us women for now, don't you think?"

"But Roman–" Nora tries to comment.

"Roman shall be informed when the time is right" Salome says to her as Nora regards her in suspicion at this. Salome laughs musically at this. "Come now Nora, there is no need to regard me so suspiciously" she says in an airy, 'friendly' tone, "we are...friends, are we not?"

"I suppose" Nora replies.

"Then between us girls let's keep this information classified" she adds as Nora nods slowly at this.

"Seeing as we are...friends" Nora starts, using the same tone as Salome, "could you help me to translate these texts?"

"I would be happy to" Salome says with what she assumes to be a sweet smile as Nora returns it with one of her own fake smiles.

⚜️Dig Down Deep⚜️

Isabel's phone rings with a message from Nora and she grins when she reads it.

"Something amuses you, Isabel?" Godric asks his second-in-command as they were sorting through all the paperwork for the night as he signed where appropriate.

"There is a message for you, sheriff" she says to him as she shows him the message on her smartphone as Godric read it: The fish is on the hook

"Ahh" Godric says, understanding exactly what his childe meant to say.

"Will you tell Marina, sheriff?" Isabel asks him.

"I will. When the nest closes for the night" Godric says as he handed her phone back to her as they went back to the paperwork.

⚜️Dig Down Deep⚜️

"And she is under the assumption that you have not told me anything?" Roman asks his lover as they lay in bed together, their limbs intertwined after making love.

"Yes" Salome nods, "as far as she is concerned you know nothing" she added as she traced a pattern on her lover's chest.

Though he is more than a thousand years younger than her they have been lovers for well over 400 years.

"Good" Roman says to her, "keep up with that pretense" he adds.

"Of course" Salome says with an inclination of the head. "Do you suspect her of being aligned with the Sanguinista religion?" she asks him in intrigue.

"I wouldn't put anything past her" Roman replies, "after all, Godric's brother is an avid follower of that damned religion too" he says angrily.

"Speaking of which, where is the Impaler these days anyways?" Salome asks. She hasn't heard of Remus the Impaler in more than a 100 years.

"If he knows what's good for him he'll stay far away from anything that could jeopardize our mainstreaming movement" Roman says angrily.

Remus was one of the oldest vampires in the world but he 'vanished' 100 years ago and they had yet to see him again. Roman had placed the man at the very top of his 'Blood List' when they started to plan the Great Revelation.

That list was of the Ancients that could have jeopardized the Revelation and how to deal with each of them if the time for such an event should occur.

⚜️Dig Down Deep⚜️

Rina lay curled up to Godric as they watched television together at Sam and Jade's house.

The two women didn't spend as much of their time there anymore, staying at Godric's nest instead.

It was still very much their house but Rina liked spending private time with Godric there.

For the past week they've spent their time together there when Godric finally concluded with all his sheriff duties for the night.

"Grá mo chroí" Godric says as Rina lifts her head from laying it on his chest to face him.

"Yeah?"

"Nora sent word that Salome and Roman are now aware of your...true nature" he says with a little smirk that makes Rina chuckle.

"Really? I'm surprised it took them this long to ask" Rina says to him, "so I guess I should be extra vigilant from now on" she adds as Godric nods at this.

"Why are they so intent on finding out all this stuff about me anyway?" Rina asks him as Godric paused the movie that he and Rina had been watching as he turned to face his lover.

"Roman is...hesitant around me" Godric admits, which is essentially Godric's way of saying that Roman is shit terrified of him, "I assume he's quite pleased with himself that you are my weakness" he adds.

"So he thinks that he can use me to control you?" Rina asks with a laugh, "I feel really bad for this Roman guy now, he has no idea what he's going up against" she adds.

"Roman is...hesitant around a lot of the vampires older than him. Which is a lot considering he's less than 600 years old" he reveals, much to Rina's shock.

"Really? I figured he'd be a thousand years at least" Rina says.

"No, even Eric is older than him" Godric replies.

"How did he manage to get his position?" Rina wonders, "I know how ageist you guys can be to the younger vampires" she teases him as they share a laugh at this.

"You are not incorrect though, mo grá" he says to her, "my kind can be quite ageist. We tend to look down on those younger than us" he adds, "Roman was fortunate that the Ancients were either bored or disinterested when he and his Authority rose to power" he adds

"Ancients like yourself?"

"And many more" Godric nods.

"You being 2,000 years old is quite big so my mind can't even begin to imagine anything beyond that" she says with a laugh.

"There are a number still alive" Godric says, "vampires such as my vampire brother Remus for example" he adds.

"You have a brother?" Rina asks in surprise. "You've never told me that."

"I do not like to speak of him" Godric admits to her. "He is...far different than I" he adds.

"Ahh, so he's like Stan then" Rina says, thinking of Godric's former second-in-command who resented humans and thought of them as nothing more than meals.

"Remus is 10,000 times worse than Stan ever was" Godric says. "He is without mercy" he adds, "to him humans are less than dirt and he sees no value in any human life" he adds.

"How much older is he than you?" Rina finds herself asking him.

"1,500 years" Godric admits as Rina wolf whistles at this.

"So that would make him..."

"3,500 years old" Godric concludes for her.

"When we were at the Fellowship you told me a little about your maker" Rina says, "but you didn't really go in-depth" she says, "was he a bad maker?" she asks hesitantly.

"He was...brutal" Godric says.

"You don't have to tell me about it, my love" Rina says gently.

"I...want to" Godric says to her.

"No, Godric–"

"Mo grá" he says as he places a finger on her lips, "allow me to tell you" he says as she nods slowly at this. "You and Eric are the only ones who know this" he adds as Rina looks at him in shock at this.

"Nora..."

"...Does not know" Godric reveals to her as she looks at him in shock at this.

She's so honoured that he would share something with her that he's only ever shared with 1 other person in his 2,000 years of life.

"2,000 years ago I was a slave to the Roman Empire" he reveals to her as she regards him sadly at this, "the Roman that purchased me to be his slave was called Appius Livus Ocella" he adds.

Rina recalls that he once shared the name with her back at the Fellowship though she didn't write that down in her notes for Steve Newlin.

"Appius was not a good master. He had lots of servants. Mostly little boys" Godric reveals as Rina stiffens at this, "he preferred boys" he adds as Rina exhaled sadly at this. "Me in particular he truly enjoyed tormenting" he adds.

"Fucking asshole!" Rina exclaims angrily at this.

"I appreciate your anger on my behalf, my love" Godric says to her, "but it was years ago and now I can barely remember it" he says, "Appius had one servant that he favoured amongst all others and he was rumoured to be his favourite of all his servants" Godric resumes.

"Remus" Rina says as Godric nods at this.

"Like Appius, Remus was cruel, vindictive and enjoyed hearing the screams of the boys and men that he and Appius brutalized and feasted upon" Godric added, "when Appius took a shining to me as his newest toy Remus was not happy about it" he added.

Rina listened on intently, feeling her anger bubble with each word that Godric spoke.

"He had served Appius for 1,500 years and resented that a lowly human slave managed to steal his maker's attention from him" he added, "so he tried to kill me" he adds as Rina gasps in shock at this, "but Appius caught him and banished him from his homestead – much to Remus' shock and fury" Godric resumed, "Appius then turned me into a vampire, citing that he didn't want anything to hurt his favourite new toy" he added.

"What happened to Appius?" Rina asks.

"I killed him" Godric says simply, "his obsession with me worked in my favour as he wanted me to replace Remus' position in his life" he adds, "when he taught me everything that there was to know about being a vampire...I staked him" Godric says shamelessly.

"Good" Rina says happily though she knew that it was nowhere being good enough.

Part of her wishes that Appius suffered more for what he put Godric and who knows how many others through.

"Because of my actions I was forced to flee and protect myself from the older vampires and vampire councils who wanted me dead for killing my maker" he reveals to her. "My actions were unheard of as it is almost impossible for a progeny to intentionally bring their maker harm" he adds. "I fled for 1,000 years" he adds, "narrowly escaping death at my brother Remus' hand many times" he adds, "and then one night I watched the most spectacular sight, a Swede Viking who fought with the strength of a thousand men against enemies that outnumbered him and his men" he adds with a smile at the memory.

"Eric" Rina says with a smile as Godric nods at this.

"Indeed" Godric nodded, "he intrigued me" he adds, "I had lived for 1,000 years by then and little intrigued me at that point" he admits, "he was mortally wounded and I wanted to turn him immediately but the sun soon came up and I had to go to ground so I vowed that if he lasted the day then I would surely turn him on the following night" he says.

"And then you did" Rina says as Godric nods at this.

"And he's remained the faithful companion of Death ever since" he adds.

"What about Nora?"

"Nora was going to die from the plague in the 1640s so Eric asked me to turn her and give her life, recognizing a fighting spirit in her like I had in him" he adds.

"Wow" Rina says. He'd shared so much information with her. Both good and bad. "Thank you for sharing all of this with me" she says to him as she joins their hands. "I am honoured that you've told me all of this" she adds sincerely as she placed a tender kiss to the back of his hand. "I love you so much" she says to him.

"You could not love me the way that I love you, mo grá" he says to her.

"Would you like to bet, sheriff?" she teases him with a light laugh as she snuggled up to him once more as he kissed her head as he drew her closer.

⚜️Dig Down Deep⚜️

"Excuse me, Ms. Beaumont" a voice comments as Isabel turns from her discussion to face the man that's called for her.

"Yes?" Isabel asks the younger vampire.

"I have a...private matter that I wish to discuss with you, would it be alright with you if we went to someplace private to discuss it?" he asks her.

"I–"

"She would be honoured to" Joe cuts in for his maker as Isabel turns to face him at this, "I'm sure you can use the sheriff's office since he's not here, right maker?" he asks with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

"Very well" Isabel says professionally, "follow me" she says to the younger vampire as he nodded at this as they flashed upstairs to Godric's office. Joe chuckles at this as Sam approached him with a beer in hand.

"Why are you laughing?" she asks him amusedly, taking a swing of her beer as she does.

"I'm pretty sure my maker is about to become a cougar" he says as Sam chokes on her beer while Joe gives her a pat on the back with a laugh as she recovered a few seconds later.

"Taken to playing matchmaker then have you?" she asks him amusedly, "where's your match, oh great love expert?" she asks him.

"Why do you ask? Do you want it to be you?" he asks teasingly as she scoffs at this.

"Eww, Joe. You're like my baby brother" she adds as she took another swing of her beer.

"So..." he says, "you and Eric Northman, huh?" he says nosily as she rolls her eyes at this.

"That happened a week ago, Joe. Let it go" she adds.

"I guess" he says with a shrug, "I saw it coming from a mile away though" he adds.

"How could you have seen it coming from a mile away when even I had no idea that it would happen?" Sam asks with a scowl.

"Oh Sam" he says as he makes a face as if to say that he pities her, "we would have had to be blind not to see it" he adds, "you and the sheriff were always one second away from jumping each other" he adds.

"We were not!"

"Who are you trying to fool exactly Sam? You or us?" he asks, making his way toward some of his nest mates with a smug grin when one of them calls for him.

Sam glared at his retreating form when he walked off.

"Smart ass" she says, knowing that he can hear her as his shoulders shake at this to signal that he heard her loudly and clearly.

⚜️Dig Down Deep⚜️

Joseph stood in the corner of the music store that he usually went to and he was perusing through some of the vinyls there when he hears someone speak.

"So are you finally going to ask me out or are you content pretending to always be scanning through the vinyls?" a woman's voice comments as he turned to face her.

"Uh...I..." Joe stammers.

He leans against a rack of CDs and almost topples them over but luckily due to his being a vampire he's able to catch them.

"For a vampire you're a little clumsy aren't you?" she teases him with a smile as he clears his throat in embarrassment at this.

He suddenly felt very human and exposed. Something he hasn't felt since he was...well, human.

"I should...go" he says, internally chastising himself for messing up his one chance to talk with the human girl he's had a crush on for some time now.

"Wait!" she stops him as he was about to head out the door, "What's your name?" she asks him when he turns to face her.

"Joseph" he replies.

"I'm Nia" she replies.

"Nice meeting you" he says awkwardly before hurrying out the store as Nia laughs at the sight.

He was extremely cute to her and she didn't care that he's a vampire. She's never seen a vampire look that flustered before.

Joseph chastised himself the entire way back to the nest for messing up his introduction.

A/N: Poor Joe. He's so awkward 😅. Anyways as you can see the face claim for Nia is the gorgeous Courtney 'Coco' Jones.