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Part 1 of Breathing Series
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Published:
2021-07-06
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2021-07-09
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27/27
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Still Breathing

Summary:

Caroline liked being a vampire. The life-altering change had shaped her in ways she couldn't even imagine, and she had loved the new her. But when she woke up in the back of Katherine's car two weeks after her high school graduation, she knew that the life she had grown to love would never be the same again. (Breathe Again, SEQUEL to Still Breathing COMING SOON)

Notes:

A/N: This is a repost of a story that I have on fanfiction.net. I thought it was about time that I uploaded it here. I hope you enjoy.

Chapter Text

CAROLINE P.O.V.

Every muscle in my body ached. A constant wave of pain running through me. That was the first thing that I noticed when I woke up. The second thing I noticed was that I was moving. Well, not necessarily me, but the ground beneath me.

I let out a small involuntary groan and slowly opened my eyes. The light was blinding as my eyes cracked open and I quickly shut them again, trying to ignore the pain that shot through my head. I shifted my body and pushed myself up into a sitting position. Nausea pulsated through my stomach as I sat up.

Trying to regain my balance in what I could now tell was a car, I held my hand to my face and shielded my eyes from the sun as I forced them to open again. This time the light didn't seem as bright, and I could finally see where I was.

I looked around the large car that I was seated in, looking at the backseat where I was sitting. I didn't recognise the car. I hadn't been in an SVU like this one before. I looked towards where the driver would be, not being able to see them because of the black screen that separated the front and back seat.

I looked down at myself, noticing that instead of the dress I had worn to graduation, I was wearing a pair of tracksuit pants and a sweater. I dropped my hand from my face, my eyes having adjusted to the brightness of the warm day, and stared out the window in an attempt to get a grasp of where I was and where I was going.

I shuffled closer to the window looking outside to see if there was anything there that I could recognise. But there was nothing that could tell me where I was and who exactly I was with.

I jumped at the mechanical hum of the black screen lowering. Fear shot through me as I saw the familiar curly-haired brunette that sat behind the wheel in the driver's seat. Katherine.

She was wearing her usual black leather jacket and skinny jeans, with her hair handing loosely over her shoulders. She was facing forward, keeping her focus solely on the road as the screen barrier lowered between the two of us.

I didn't speak, afraid of what would come out of my mouth if I spoke to her. The faint sound of some foreign band came from the stereo, and I tried to get a look at what I could see in the front seat.

The car looked brand new, sparkling more than my bathroom after I went through one of my cleaning binges. The faint 'new car' sell reached my nose as I looked to the passenger seat. There, resting on the seat, was my large bubble gum pink duffel bag.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty. How are you feeling?" Katherine said, still not turning to look at me.

"Katherine, why am I here? What did you do?" I asked, my voice cracking from dryness. How long had I been asleep? Why was I with Katherine? The last thing that I remembered was saying goodbye to Klaus and heading towards my car after the other side being down.

"I'm doing great, thanks for asking." She muttered, looking over her shoulder at me.

"What the hell is going on, Katherine?"

She didn't reply as she flicked on the indicator and pulled up onto the side of the highway. She turned the key in the ignition, killing the engine, and shifted in her seat to look at me. Looking her up and down, trying to figure out if I could overpower her long enough in this situation and run for it. I figured she would have me back in the car within a matter of seconds with her increased strength due to her age.

"Look, Blondie, I'm doing you a favour. It's a long story and we've got a long drive until we reach out final destination. I'll tell you everything you want to know, but you're gonna have to sit up from and listen. Without interrupting me. Because I'm not in the mood to repeat myself, got it?"

I nodded, slightly confused, and opened the door to climb out.

The minute my feet hit the ground pain shot through my legs and they gave out under my weight. Katherine was at my side in a flash, holding me up and helping me onto the front seat, chucking my duffel bag over onto the back seat.

"What's wrong with me?" I moaned out, trying to calm the ache in my muscles.

Katherine shut the door, racing back around to the driver's side. She didn't answer me until we were back on the road, heading in an unknown direction. "I don't really know why your muscles ache so much, but I can tell you what happened."

"Then tell me."

"What exactly do you remember from the night of your graduation?" Her tone was guarded, not giving away anything.

"Well, I remember graduating, obviously. I remember the barriers being broken down and being attacked by Kol and the witches. Klaus came and helped up. The last thing I remember is saying goodbye to Klaus and heading back to my car."

Katherine let out a small sigh, wiggling in her seat and flipping her hair over her shoulders. I watched silently as she thought about what she was going to do next, seeing the thoughts tick through her brain.

"Okay," She said, keeping her eyes trained on the road ahead. "I can fill in the blanks of what I know. I was fighting with Elena in the school. I was angry that Quetsiah wouldn't grant me immortality, and even angrier over Elijah dumping me because of what Elena had said. I was going to kill her, not gonna lie, and I would have done if you hadn't intervened. You pulled me off of Elena just before I could rip out her heart…and just before Elena could shove the cure down my throat."

I tried to remember what she way telling me, straining against the blur in my mind, by everything remained blank. No matter how hard I pushed, I couldn't remember any of this happening.

"That doesn't explain what happened t-" I cut myself off, Katherine's words finally sinking in.

'Just before Elena could shove the cure down my throat.'

Elena was going to use the cure on Katherine. I had pulled Katherine off of Elena before she could do it. My hand covered my mouth as I gasped out a choked 'no'.

Katherine looked at me from the corner of her eye and then back to the road, her arms and back tensing.

Everything I had been feeling since I woke up in the car suddenly made sense. The fact that I couldn't hear anything outside of the car, or even the quiet music within the car. The muscle aches were probably because my body was readjusting to the lack of 'super strength'. And now that I thought about it, the usual burn that sat in the back of my throat, the tell-tale sign of my bloodlust, was gone. I was human.

"I'm sorry that it happened to you. I know you didn't want the cure."

"My being cured doesn't explain how I got in your car." I shot back, ignoring her useless apology. "What happened after Elena shoved the cure down my throat?"

Well, you passed out. So did Elena. I had had my hand buried in her chest when you pulled me off, and the strain knocked her out. Then I went over to you, realised what Elena did, then took you home." She paused, taking a deep breathe. "Your mum freaked out when I took you home. She thought I was Elena and invited me in, I put you on the bed, explained what happened, then left. A few days later your mum came to the house I was staying in, I hadn't left town yet because I wanted to see what happened, and she told me that you still weren't awake. I don't know what she expected me to know, but she ended up telling your friends you went on a spur-of-the-moment holiday, when really you've been unconscious for the past two weeks."

Two weeks. Two whole weeks. It was like I had been thrown under water. Everything swam around me as my brain fought to take everything in.

I was human again. And whatever the cure did had caused me to be unconscious for two weeks. And for some reason my mum trusted Katherine over my friends.

"Why did my mum go to you instead of Elena and my friends? She had no reason to trust you?" A thought hit me and my head snapped to the side to stare wide-eyed at Katherine. Pain show through my neck, but I tried my best to ignore it. "Did you compel my mum?"

Katherine scoffed at me, her lip curling. "No, I didn't compel the good sheriff. I don't really know why she trusted me. I guess she noticed that I was in some way grateful for you pulling me out of the way. That, and she appealed to my curiosity over the cure."

I nodded softly, not sure whether I could trust her word or not. As soon as I was near a phone I would be double checking with my mum just to make sure.

I settled into the soft car seat and watched as the trees went by. The tension in my muscles easily slightly as I tried to relax. I watched the scenery move outside the window for a while before I even realised that Katherine hadn't mentioned where it was that we were headed. I looked around for any sign or landmark that would tell me where we were going, but there seemed to be nothing around. We could have been anywhere. I didn't know how long we'd been driving, and I didn't even know which direction we had started on.

I turned in the side, moving to face Katherine as much as I could while buckled into the car. I opened my mouth ready to shoot another round of questions her way, but was cut off before I could even say one word.

"We're heading to see a very powerful witch that I know. We've been on the road for 5 hours, and we have 9 left until we reach where we're headed. So, I recommend you sit back and relax. If you reach back for your duffel bag, your mum put in a couple of books she thought you might enjoy. Or, you could go back to sleep and I'll wake you up when we get there."

"Where is 'there', exactly?" My voice was quiet, afraid of all of the places outside of Mystic Falls that we could be going. I'd never been outside of Virginia, even my dad had remained when he had moved in with Steven. And now I didn't even know when I'd be going back home.

"A place that is renowned for having some of the most powerful witches in the world. It also happens to be a sort of…hub for supernatural creatures. Which happens to be both a blessing and cure for us. On one hand, we should blend right in. On the other hand, it's ruled by a pseudo 'king' that has a weird obsession with you."

Chills ran up my spine. I knew exactly where we were going. I only knew of one person who would ever dare call himself 'king', and he was living in New Orleans.

#

I ended up falling asleep after an hour of reading The Great Gatsby, one of the books my mum had packed for me. I only woke up when Katherine shook my shoulder and told me we had arrived.

I groaned and stretched, trying to ease some of the aches that seemed to have settled in my body, knocking the book off of my lap and onto the car floor. I jumped at the noise and hesitantly opened my eyes. I looked around at the darkness around us, my eyes landing on the house that sat before us in the glow of the car lights. I wondered how long I had slept this time

Unlike anything I had seen in real life, the house was three floors high and something that Scarlett would probably adore. A plantation house. Not uncommon in New Orleans. I wished that I still had my enhanced sight so that I could take in all of the details at once.

I looked down at the dashboard clock and saw that I had slept for far longer than I thought, considering it was now the middle of the night.

Katherine was fixing her makeup in the rear-view mirror when I managed to tear my eyes away from the clock. She looked more nervous now than I had ever seen and a wave of panic settled in the pit of my stomach.

Was this where Klaus was living? I highly doubted she had enough guts to drive straight to Klaus' doorstep, so if it wasn't him, who was it?

"Who lives here?" I asked, watching her face closely, trying to gage what sort of reaction she would give. "Is this Klaus' house?"

Katherine grimaced at me as she adjusted her shirt and hair. No Klaus then. She stared at me out of the corner of her eyes, pushing her door open and landing on the ground with a dull thud. She gave a deep, heavy, sigh.

Her eyes were hesitant as she looked up at the house, the fearful look in her eyes making my panic rise to an almost breaking point. She didn't reply to my question, just continued to stare up at the house with dread in her eyes.

"Katherine!" I snapped out, trying to keep my voice relatively quiet, not wanting whoever was in the house to hear me. "Where the hell have you taken me?"

Another shuddering sigh rolled through her body as she brushed her fingers gently through her curly hair. "The person who lives here is likely to react just as bad as Klaus would to my arrival. But, she's our only option for now."

Katherine flashed to my side of the car and pulled the door open with so much force that it let out a grating groan. I stayed seated, her words not making me any calmer. She gave me an indignant look, her head tilted to the side with one perfect brow raised.

"Seriously, Caroline. Did you really think I'd drag you all the way out here if I thought you were going to be killed?"

"Yes."

"She won't hurt you. I hope. But me, that's debatable."

I reluctantly pulled myself from the car, wincing at the pain that shot up my sore legs, and picked the book up from the ground and placed it on the seat.

"Like that's going to make me feel better." I muttered to myself.

I followed Katherine along the long driveway, all the way to the stairs at the front of the house, staying as close as I could without tripping us both up in the dark. She walked slowly up the steps, taking them one at a time, the closer we got the slower she'd walk. She didn't speak again, and I followed suite. I didn't want to be attacked by whoever it was we were here to see.

Katherine came to a stop in front of a massive set of ornate doors, staring up at them. Or more precisely, staring at the cord that hung next to the door. What I could easily guess was an old fashioned doorbell. She didn't make a move to pull it.

The cold night seemed to seep into my skin as time ticked by without Katherine doing anything. I rolled my eyes. Katherine could stand in front of Klaus, teasing and taunting him, but she was afraid of the person she had decided we would seek help from? It didn't make any sense at all.

I reached past Katherine, grasping for the cord in the almost pitch black, and yanked on it. The sound was haunting as it rippled through the dark, sending chills across my skin. It rang only for a few seconds before silence filled the night once again.

Katherine shot me a withering stare over her shoulder and took a step in front of me, shielding me from whoever it was that would answer the door. Seconds later Katherine tensed, someone was coming.

I watched as Katherine shook her hair behind her shoulders and pulled on a calm look of disinterest just as the door was pulled open.

An involuntary gasp left my body as I took in the woman in the doorway. Tall lean body, rich olive skin, straight brown (almost black) hair, and facial features that were unmistakable. If I hadn't already seen the extent of how identical Katherine and Elena were, I would have thought that this woman was another doppelgänger. But, she was close enough in likeness, without being an exact duplicate.

Her button nose was a mirror image of the one Katherine wore. The shape of her eyes and the bone structure was just as similar. The one thing that she didn't have in common with Katherine was that she had a pair of piercing green eyes. Eyes that were looking down at Katherine with anger and dismay.

The mystery look-a-like continued to stare at Katherine, as if she couldn't fathom how or why Katherine would be there. Even with her cocky mask in place, Katherine still stood too afraid to speak.

A moment later the green stare moved from Katherine to me, she raised one perfectly shaped eyebrow as she looked me up and down.

"What an interesting choice in a travelling companion, Katerina. I never would have pegged you for someone who would bring your meals along with you."

Her heavily accented voice made my stomach drop and I flinched at the implication behind her words. She assumed that because I'm human, that I'm some sort of meal. Katherine seemed to snap out of whatever trance she was in and she placed a hand on her hip as she flipped her hair over one shoulder.

"I'm not some meals on wheels you know." I said softly, not realising I had actually said it out loud until they both turned to face me.

I coughed slightly, trying to cover up my words. Katherine turned back around and shifted her weight from one leg to the other.

"I'm surprised to see you here, Katerina. In the middle of the night. Without any sort of warning." She sighed, leaning casually against the door and peered directly into Katherine's eyes.

"I didn't want to risk the chance of you running away and not being here when I turned up, Nadia." Katherine looked unsure of herself. Her voice taking on the same accent as the woman, Nadia. My theory of this woman being Katherine's sister seemed to solidify.

"You were afraid of me running off?" Her hands flew up in aggravation. "Last time I checked it was you who always does the running away, not me."

"Nadia, if you just let me explain-"

"There's nothing to explain." Red and blue veins began to appear beneath Nadia's eyes. The white of them turning the colour of blood as she opened her mouth and hissed violently. "I found you after 500 years. You were frightened and ran for it. I got on with my immortal life. The. End."

"Well, I'm here now. Doesn't that count for something?"

"You can't just change your mind when you wish to. Not when it's just so you can get something that you want. Which is why you're here in the dead of night, I'm assuming."

Katherine took a deep unsettled breath and clenched her hands tightly. "Why can't I have just decided to come and visit? Why do you assume that I want something from you?"

"I am not a stupid woman. You want something from me. Probably somewhere to say so that Klaus doesn't rip your heart out." Nadia snarled at Katherine and took a small step forward. "I will not risk my life for you, not when it's blatantly clear that you would not do the same for me. So, why don't you and your little friend here turn around and go back to where you came from."

Katherine's shoulders slumped and defeat flashed across her face before she could pull her cool mask back into place.

"Nadia, I understand that my actions when we first met each other probably weren't the best. But, I've had time to think over everything and I would like to get to know you." I listened to Katherine closely but watched Nadia over her shoulders. She wasn't impressed. "You have to understand my shock at having you show up after all this time with me thinking you were dead."

"I understand that you were shocked, but you didn't have to be so harsh about it. I spent the last 500 years looking for you. I turned myself into a vampire so that I could find you. And you brushed me aside like I was nothing. And now, just because you want my help, you think I'm okay with you trying to…cosy up to me?"

Katherine furrowed her brows, raising one of her arms and taking half a step forward, opening her mouth in what I could tell would only resort in a more furious argument.

"Look, Nadia. This is bigger than-"

"Okay, excuse me." I said, pushing past Katherine and holding my hand out to Nadia. She stared down her nose at me curiously. "My name is Caroline Forbes, I'm a…well, for lack of a better term, I'm a friend of Katherine's."

"Nadia Petrova." She took my hand and gripped it tight. "It's nice to meet you Miss Forbes, and I thank you for interrupting Katerina. But, I don't care what either of you want, I'm not getting involved."

"Look, I don't know what happened between you and Katherine. And to be perfectly honest, it really isn't any of my business. However, she thought that coming here was a good idea, and I'm not going to argue with that. So, instead of having all of our time wasted, it would mean a lot if you could just hear her out and if you still don't care we'll climb back in that car and exit your life. Because I am tired, I am sore, and I don't really have any other options at the moment."

I took a deep breath in, feeling the air make its way painfully through my chest and down into my lungs. I had either just majorly pissed her off, or she would see the desperation in my eyes and let us explain. Well, let Katherine explain.

Nadia turned towards the open door and called out in a foreign language. Moments later a tall curvaceous black girl appeared behind her. She stood around the same height as Nadia, looking no older than 17, but somehow seeming to hold more age than all of us combined. Her tight white curls were pulled back by a large bandana, and her dark skin contrasted with the tribal-patterned colourful mishmash that was her dress. When I met her eyes they shone a brilliant honey gold. Not a supernatural gold, like Klaus, but a natural shade that appeared to swirl behind her eyelids.

She looked to Nadia, tilting her head to the side and waiting for some further instruction. Then she spoke in a thick accent like Nadia's. Nadia gave her a sharp nod, muttering quietly in the same language before stepping back into the house.

"You may both come inside." She said, her English coming out strained and broken.

Katherine didn't wait before she pushed past both me and the girl, heading straight into the house. I rolled my eyes, thanking the girl before following Katherine and Nadia through the entrance.

I gasped at how beautiful the inside of the house way. The ceiling hung high above our heads, with a glorious iron chandelier lit only by actual wax candles. I wondered how anyone could possibly reach up that high to light the candles, but quickly dismissed the thought as I remembered that I lived a life surrounded by vampires and witches.

I looked further into the room, my eyes resting on the staircase that stretched high up onto the second floor, and a portrait that hung on the wall at the top. It was a wall-sized painting of Nadia standing with a man. They were both dressed in clothes that were clearly from the 1920's, Nadia wearing a short flapper dress, with the man in a black suit. Nadia was standing behind him with her hand on his shoulder. Her husband maybe?

Katherine called out to me, catching my attention, and making me realise that I had been standing blankly in the middle of the room while she and Nadia had reached a door at the back of the room. I quickly caught up with them, walking into a small sitting room and coming to sit on a rickety-looking couch across from Nadia.

I looked Katherine up and down as she sat close to me, her body angled between me and Nadia. As if Nadia would have let us in if it hadn't been for me. While Nadia walked over to a small cabinet and poured us each a glass of whiskey.

They glared across at each other, neither of them speaking. I rolled my eyes and leant back against the kind of soft cushion of the chair, making myself comfortable while I waited for their silent conversation to be over.

"So…what are you two doing in New Orleans?" Nadia asked after five minutes of us sitting in a complete silence. "The real story."

Katherine cleared her throat and shifted her bum on the seat, looking around the room trying to figure out what to say. "Caroline was in a slight accident a couple of weeks ago. Her mother and I thought that a witch here might be able to help her."

Nadia let out a rough laugh, tapping her nails on the edge of the whiskey glass that rested on her knee. "I'm going to need more information than that. I'm not letting you stay here if this witch is some minion of Klaus' that you need to steal, or if you plan on burning the city down to the ground to get what you want. I don't want any involvement in that."

Katherine looked over her shoulder at me, as if to ask me permission for her to tell Nadia what happened. I shrugged my shoulders, too tired to care who knew that I had been cured. She pushed herself up straighter in the chair, her eyes running over the length of the room before landing back on Nadia. "It's rather a long story, Nadia. Complicated."

"I have plenty of time."

"Caroline was cured of Vampirism."

Nadia's eyes flew to me, shock filling them. She stood up from her chair, drinking the remnants of her drink and then refilling it to the brim. She took a large gulp from that and then turned back to Katherine. "Is this some kind of sick joke? A cure is impossible."

"It's true." Mine and Katherine's voice's came out at the same time. Mine defensive, hers disinterested.

I took a sip of my drink, grimacing at the burn of the cold liquid as it ran down the back of my throat.

"I turned Caroline into a vampire over a year ago. And up until two weeks ago, when I had the cure shoved down my throat, she was a vampire. It's a long and involved story including her friends getting into things they'd be best leaving alone, the original family, me, and a whole bunch of dead people."

Nadia looked scandalised for a moment, looking between Katherine and I with wide eyes and a slightly open mouth. She took another gulp of her drink, plopping ungracefully back into her chair as she spoke. "Please tell me you didn't wake up Silas?"

"Like Katherine said, my friends have a knack for getting into things they shouldn't."

Katherine stood up from the couch, walking over to the glass wall on the opposite end of the room, leaning against the window with her arms crossed across her chest as she stared at Nadia.

Nadia groaned and closed her eyes, resting her head on the back of the seat. "And?"

"He's dead. My friend turned him into stone and then smashed him to pieces, dumping him in a safe at the bottom of a lake. My friend Elena was given the cure, but I guess she decided that she didn't want to be a human again."

I looked to Katherine to see if she was going to elaborate at all, but she was staring at Nadia with furrowed brows. There was definitely sadness there, which shocked me. Usually the only emotions you saw in Katherine's eyes were anger, self-love, or pity.

"Your friends are obviously idiots." Nadia remarked, staying in her relaxed position in the chair, with one hand now covering her closed eyes. Her comment seemed to brighten Katherine up a bit and she let out a sharp laugh. I shot her a glare. Misguided, maybe? But my friends weren't totally stupid.

Katherine sat back down in her chair while Nadia moved her hand and looked down at me. My stomach tightened as I awaited whatever questions she was planning on shooting my way. "So, how come you're human and not this…Elena? You don't seem too enthused by your situation."

I shook my head. "I don't actually remember how I was cured. It's all blank."

"Which is where I come in." I downed the rest of my whiskey as Katherine spoke. "I was the one who was supposed to be cured, but Caroline decided to be the hero and break up a fight between me and the inferior doppelgänger. It was a 'wrong place, wrong time' sort of situation."

"You really weren't joking when you said it was a long and complicated story, were you?"

"Nope." The effects of that one glass of whiskey were washing over me, and although every inch of my body still thudded achingly, it was now blurred by the calming wave of alcohol. "Nothing is ever simple when it comes to Mystic Falls."

"Okay, so none of that explains why you're in New Orleans looking for a witch."

"I need access to a specific witch guarded by Marcel. The cure knocked Caroline out for a couple of weeks and the witch might be able to tell us exactly why, and what's happening to her body now that she's human again. You can never tell what'll happen with these ancient spells."

Nadia thought over Katherine's words before she turned her head to the door and called out. The black girl who had invited us into the house appeared in the doorway seconds later, this time carrying a tray holding a sandwich and a steaming mug of tea. She walked directly past Nadia and placed the tray down on the coffee in front of me, motioning for me to pick it up before she came to stand next to Nadia's chair.

"This is Kida. She is my most trusted friend. She takes care of the house and will serve both of you while you stay here. It's quite late and I'm guessing that you'll both need your rest before you go off trying to convince Marcel to help you…without the Mikaelson's finding out what you're doing."

Katherine stifled a laugh as she looked across at me. I glared over at her, taking a bite out of the sandwich as my stomach flipped at the thought of Klaus knowing I was here. I was glad I had the distraction of food, especially now that food actually tasted good. I took another bite as Nadia looked between us questioningly. I just shook my head at her. I didn't want to get into logistics of my history with Klaus.

"Alright, then. I'm going to head up to my room. Kida will show you to yours once Caroline has finished eating her food." Nadia headed towards the door, stopping in the doorway and turning to look back. "Oh, and Katerina, don't think this means that we aren't going to talk about your dismissal of me."

"Of course, Nadia." Katherine muttered sarcastically. "I wouldn't dream of avoiding that conversation."

"I could care less about your incessant need to push your past away. If you are going to stay in my house, then we are talking about it."

"Of course, Nadia."

I sat silently as Nadia stormed from the room, Kida exiting just behind her. Katherine looked sadly after her, and suddenly everything made sense. The tension between the two of them, Katherine's fear of showing up here, and the way that Katherine had been acting since we arrived.

I shoved the rest of the sandwich in my mouth, gulping down the cup of tea and placing it back down on the table. Kida, who seemed to appear out of nowhere, glided into the room and motioned for the two of us to follow her out.

I turned to Katherine as we made our way through the entrance and up the steps, a small laugh making its way from my lips. "You were afraid of your own daughter."

Chapter Text

CAROLINE'S P.O.V.

Beats of sunlight crawled through the open curtains and bright light flooded my eyes. I pulled my blanket over my head, trying to shield myself from the early morning sun. The soft bed beneath my body was more inviting than the early morning New Orleans sun, and I sunk back into the comfortable mass of blankets that lay on top of me.

The comfort was ripped away too quickly as the warm blankets flew from the bed, letting cold air hit my body. I let out a sharp growl and threw one of the extra pillows towards the end of the bed, hoping to hit Katherine, who I knew would be the one to ruin my perfect night's sleep.

"Good morning to you too, Sunshine. It's time to get up for breakfast. I don't want to see what Kida will do to you if you let her food grow cold again."

Groaning, I rolled onto my back, still shielding my eyes from the sun as I opened them once again. I peeked out from beneath my arm, and there at the end of my bed, just like I knew she would be, was an immaculately dressed Katherine. Hands crossed over her chest defiantly. A playful smile on her red lips. I reached for another pillow and flung it her way. She caught it with ease and threw it back at me with her enhanced vampire strength, taking the breath out of me.

We had only been here for a couple of days and I was already sick of Katherine's early morning cheerfulness. Every morning, just before 8am, she would barge into my room and fling the curtains open, waking me up for breakfast. And it's not like I don't like being up early. In fact, before the whole 'being unconscious for two weeks' thing I was routinely awake at 6 in the morning. However, my body was still getting used to being human again, and for some reason that also meant that my body wanted to constantly be asleep.

I swung on pyjama-clad leg over the edge of the bed, followed by the next, and rubbed at my still-tired eyes. Katherine stayed where she was, watching me with equal amounts of concern and humour. I pushed myself up and stretched my arms above my head, groaning at the pull in my muscles.

"We'll figure out a plan soon. We just have to tread lightly."

"I'll be down in five minutes." I said, ignoring her question while I walked past her and into the adjoining bathroom.

I heard Katherine leave behind me as I closed the bathroom door and leant against the sink, groaning at the fatigue that still ran through my body. No amount of caffeine seemed to help my ever-present tiredness, but hopefully my body would adjust soon.

I looked at myself in the mirror, grimacing at the dark purple bags under my eyes and the birds nest hairdo I was sporting. I managed to make quick work of my hair, tugging and pulling at it with my hairbrush until it finally submitted and let me draw it up into a ponytail. Then I applied the minimum amount of makeup that I could get away with, threw on a plain white t-shirt, a pair of yoga pants, and Ugg boots. It was going to be a long day.

#

The tension between Katherine and Nadia was consuming as I stepping into the room for breakfast. It was considerably worse than it was when we had first arrived. I didn't know if they had taken the chance to talk to each other about their mother-daughter issues yet, but from the rising discomfort in the room I would guess that they hadn't.

I plopped myself down at the large dining table that stretched the whole length of the room, taking my place in the end seat next to Katherine, and across from Nadia. They each stared at me as I sat, probably glad that there was someone else there to occupy their minds.

"Good morning, Caroline." Nadia was sitting back in her seat drinking a glass of wine, dressed in an outfit that looked like it could be worn on a runway somewhere. "Did you sleep okay?"

I smiled politely across at her, trying not to show the nausea I felt sitting amongst the Petrova family mess. "Yes, thank you. It would have gone a lot better had it not been for Katherine's unorthodox wake-up method."

Katherine let out a snort while Nadia just raised her brow and smiled softly. I rested my arms on the hardwood table in front of me, pain shotting up my back as I tried to sit straight. Katherine's humour disappeared as she caught the look of pain on my face. She opened her mouth but I quickly told her that I was fine and that it wasn't too bad.

I was saved by Kida wheeling a small trolley into the room. A smile pulled at my lips as the delicious smell hit my nose. She placed a plate in front of each of us, giving me twice as much food as Nadia and Katherine. She then placed a small teapot in between all of us, along with some tea cups, and a bottle of wine.

Our voices came out in a robotic synchronicity as we thanked her, digging straight into our meals. I had to remind myself that I should pace myself when eating so that I wouldn't make myself throw up. I had already made that mistake once since arriving here, and I didn't want to revisit it.

"So, what are the plans for the day?" Nadia asked, looking up from her plate.

"I think it's about time that I message my mum and friends, just to let them know that I'm okay. Tell them something about this 'holiday' that I'm supposed to be on."

"Why don't you just tell them the truth?" Nadia asked.

"You don't know her friends. They hear anything about Caroline being with me, or anywhere near New Orleans for that matter, and they'd be here on some stupid rescue mission." Katherine paused for a moment, sipping on a glass of wine she had poured. "Then, if past experiences are anything to learn from, we know that they'd most likely turn around and make it seem as if the whole situation has something to do with Elena."

"That sounds absolutely horrid." Nadia placed her own glass down on the table, looking towards me. I just sighed and put my fork and knife down on the plate, wiping my hands and face on a napkin.

"Katherine is over-exaggerating. They aren't that bad." I said, my jaw clenched tight as I glared across at Katherine.

She snorted, looking at her daughter. "Yes they are. Anything goes wrong, and they'll swarm ranks around Elena. Even if it has nothing to do with her."

"That's not true, Katherine!"

She sipped on her wine again, smirking at me over the edge of the glass. "Then why aren't you telling them the truth?"

"Because I don't want them to worry. It's better if they think that I'm really on a holiday."

Luckily, Nadia had been quick to change the topic of discussion from me to Katherine, much to Katherine's dismay. It was clear that Nadia was sick of waiting for her mother to open up to her, and it was just as clear that Katherine didn't want to open up at all.

"I don't understand why you won't talk to me about yourself. It can't be hard to reveal just a little bit about your life. From what I've heard you usually have no problem talking about yourself. Why, when it comes to me, do you close up?"

"You don't want to hear all the sordid details of my life Nadia. And I don't particularly want to relive them either."

"I know virtually nothing about the real you." Her voice was raised now and I sunk lower in my seat, wishing that I had left the room before this whole conversation could have begun. "I know the basic rumours and stories that go along with the great Katherine Pierce, but nothing that tells me anything about you. You claim that you want to get to know me now that you're here, yet you don't want me to get to know you."

"I have no problem getting to know you Nadia. In fact, I'd love to know more about the life you've had. But my past, is just that…my past. It's not all fantastic adventures of seduction and escape death. A lot of it is stuff that I don't like to think about anymore. Stuff that I've put behind me."

I gulped as Nadia's eyes hardened and her knuckles turned white against the wine glass she held. I reached for the teapot in the middle of the table, hoping to draw myself further from their conversation. I did not want to get between Katherine and her temper.

Nadia narrowed her eyes further as Katherine cleared my throat. "I'm sorry that I won't talk to you Nadia. It's just…I find it difficult to talk about certain aspects of my past. I know what you want to know, and I won't…I can't revisit that. Not right now. Maybe one day, but I can't just yet."

I gulped down a scalding mouthful of the herbal tea that Kida had brought out and watched as Nadia's gaze softened slowly, but the hardness was still there behind her bright green eyes.

Before Nadia could even respond Katherine got up from her chair, placed her glass down on the table, and ran from the room at top speed.

"I don't know why she finds it so difficult to talk to me."

I focused on Nadia as she spoke, pulling my eyes away from the door where Katherine had just disappeared. I stacked mine and Katherine's empty plates on top of one another, trying to both calm my unsettled nerves and make things easier for Kida when she came to clean up.

"Well, think about it like this: you spent your whole life searching for Katherine, and she spent her whole life running from everything in her life." I said, stumbling over my words as I tried not to make Nadia turn even more aggressive than she looked with her hand still clenched tightly on her glass. "It can't be easy for her to open up after all this time being so secretive and closed off. I bet you that once she gets to know you better she'll open right up and tell you anything you want to know."

"I doubt that." It took a moment for her to reply as she sat and picked at the aging label on the wine bottle. Sighing as she thought over my words. "Anyway, I'm sure it would nice for you to talk to your friends again. I'm sure they'll be happy to hear from you."

It was my time to sigh this time. I knew I had to message everyone and tell them that I was okay, but I knew there would be a lot of questions that I couldn't really answer.

I plastered a well-practiced fake smile on my face as I met Nadia's eyes, standing up from my chair and heading towards the French double doors. "I'm sure that you're right. I'm gonna go and do that now, so I'll see you later on."

I walked slowly through the house up to my room, glancing at Katherine's closed door that sat opposite mine. I shook my head at myself and headed into my room, closing the door behind me and heading straight to the vanity drawers that were placed next to the large bed and sitting down.

I pulled my phone and charger from the top left drawer and plugged it in to charge, waiting a few minutes before it turned on and the succession of dings letting me know of all of the messages that I had missed.

I unlocked the phone, not paying attention to the messages from my friends as I scrolled straight to my mums name and sent her a message letting her know that I was awake and that we were working on talking to the witch that Katherine knew. Then I went through each person and sent them all the same thing:

I'm sorry I haven't returned any of your messages. I got the opportunity to go on an amazing holiday before collage starts and I just couldn't turn it down. I'm sorry if I don't reply to your messages or calls for a while, reception isn't very good where I am. Talk when I can.

Within a minute if me sending the message to each of my friends, the replies started to flood in. I groaned and slowly opened them one by one.

Elena: Hey Care! I'm so glad you decided to go away on a holiday. Bonnie's gone away with her mum as well. I have amazing news! When the wall between the other side was down Bonnie somehow brought Jeremy and Alaric back to life. I'll tell you more when we talk. Miss you.

Stefan: I'm glad that you're okay, Caroline. Everything here is fine. I hope you have a good trip.

Matt: I've been so worried about you Caroline, but I'm glad you're alright. I think after the last couple of years we all deserve a holiday. Even I got away for a little while. I hope the trip is great. Message me when you can.

Tyler: Where are you? I came back to town and your mum said you had left. If you tell me where you are I can come and meet up with you. We can spend some time together before you start at school.

I let my head fall into my hands as I finished reading Tyler's message. That's just what I needed, Tyler tracking me down. If he found out that I was human again he would probably spin it to be about him. And on top of that, if he found out that I was in New Orleans, the same city that Klaus was in, he would start making stupid accusations and fly into a rage.

My phone dinged again and I was thankful that it wasn't another message from him, but a message from Elena instead. Reading over the message I didn't bother replying, knowing that if I engaged in conversation with her it would go on and one forever, and I didn't want to deal with that just yet.

I had other messages from people on the cheer team, and some of my dad's family who couldn't make it to my graduation. I messaged them all back thanking them and letting them know that I was having a holiday and would be out of reach. Then I messaged Matt back and promised to message him back soon, knowing that he was less-likely to pry into every little detail.

I struggled off of the small chair that I had been sitting on in front of the vanity and walked over to the bedside table where I had placed all of the books my mum had packed in my bag. Sitting on the corner of the bed I picked my tattered copy of Twilight from the bottom of the pile. For once I was happy that my mum wasn't up-to-date with what I was into, because although I had absolutely no interest in reading Twilight, I was glad that it was here.

I flicked through the thin pages and felt a smile pull at the corner of my mouth as the smell hit my nose. As I flicked through it the pages fell in a large chunk to the page that was marked by a bookmark. Not marking any particular page in the book was a slip of worn paper with a very familiar drawing on it.

Pulling the drawing out from the pages, I threw the book aside and smiled at the words that were written on the edge of the paper. 'Thank you for your honesty.'

My mind slowly wandered to the night that inspired this drawing, then to the moments he and I had shared at the graduation after he'd come to save the day. I was glad that the one thing that seemed to be clear in my mind about that night was my conversation with him. Our witty banter over the money he had given me as a present, and how he had told me he would be my last love…

"However long it takes." I whispered quietly, feeling heat flood my cheeks as I placed the picture down on the mattress beside me. Tyler couldn't even wait a couple of weeks for me to come back to Mystic Falls, but Klaus said he'd wait forever.

What would Klaus think if he could see me right now? Would his feelings towards me be the same if he knew that I was human again?

I sighed and laid my head in my hands. I definitely needed to sort out more than just being human before I returned to Mystic Falls. I needed to figure out what I was going to do now that I didn't have forever to travel the world, as well as what I wanted from my now-limited life.

I stood up from the bed and started to ace the length of the room, ignoring the shooting pain in the back of my legs. Closing my eyes I imagined what Klaus' reaction would when he found out that he didn't have multiple lifetimes to woo me. That's if I was still interesting enough now that I wasn't a vampire.

I scowled at myself, mentally slapping myself across the face. Why was I even thinking about this? Klaus wasn't a boyfriend. I had no claim on him, so why were all my thoughts turning to his opinion of me rather than the guy that I was actually dating?

A heavy breath shook its way through my body as I walked across the room and fell into the vanity seat again, snatching up my phone and opening Tyler's message back up. I stared at his name for a minute before I started to form my reply.

After I typed the message I read over it several times, tears falling down my cheeks as I pressed the send button. I quickly locked my phone and placed it back down on the vanity, screen facing down. Hands on my hips, I took shaky breathes in and out as I thought about how Tyler was going to react when he read my message. My breakup text.

It hurt beyond belief to write what I had written, but I knew in my gut that he just wasn't what I wanted anymore.

I immediately hated myself for breaking up with him through text, but I knew that I couldn't face speaking to him over the phone. I would end up caving and taking it back or telling him where I was. I also knew that he would be furious when he saw my message. We had waited for a long time to be together, but that was the problem. In my mind I knew that we had waited too long. I didn't want the same things as I did when he and I had first gotten together. And neither did he.

I held back tears as I rushed into the adjoining bathroom and turned the shower on, barely getting my clothes off before I climbed into the hot stream of water.

A good shower would ease the aching in my muscles, but it would also hide my tears and stop any residual swelling that might occur.

The hot spray of water ran across my body and I let out a sigh of a mixture of pain and anguish, letting the tears run down my cheeks as I thought over the words that I had sent to Tyler.

Hey, Ty. I'm sorry that I wasn't there when you finally got home. I really needed to get out of Mystic Falls, find myself, and make some series decisions about my future. After two weeks away I've already managed to make some pretty important decisions. I thought about what I had wanted us to be before you had to leave, and how I wanted out future to pan out, but that's impossible now. I'm so sorry, but I think it's best if we go our separate ways.

#

KLAUS' P.O.V.

The colour of the paint was beautiful, but it was nothing compared to the real thing.

I mixed some more white into the mix I already had, making it a pale, blonde tone. I grabbed my thin brush back off of the table and added just a small amount of the paint before stroking the colour on to highlight the parts of the golden hair I had grown to love so much.

After I applied the pale colour I sat back, placing the palette back onto the table with one hand while I grabbed my bourbon with the other, taking a swig as I looked at the half-finished portrait that sat in front of me. No matter how many times I painted her, or how accurate each piece seemed, nothing was as good as the real thing. There was always something that was just wrong with it.

I finished my drink and picked the paintbrush back up, washing it off and grabbing a darker shade of blonde that I had mixed up earlier for the shadows. I could feel the growing agitation as each stroke made my stomach tense and my muscles clench with a distinct feeling of …homesickness.

I growled and threw the paintbrush down on the table, not caring about the splatters of paint that went flying. Standing up from my chair and storming from the room, I held my bourbon glass in hand. I needed something stronger. Something that could help me forget about the blonde beauty that had been plaguing my mind ever since I had returned to Mystic Falls post-curse.

Heading straight to the bar in the corner of the lounge room, I scowled at my siblings that were watching me like some sort of ticking time bomb. I ignored them as I went through the cupboards and pulled out one of the oldest bottles of bourbon that we had in stock. Ripping the lid off I poured it into my glass, some of the liquid sloshing over the edges. Throwing the drink back, I repeated the process twice. Then I started a third time.

"Having a bad day, brother?" Elijah asked from where he stood next to the window.

I looked up at him and glared. "My day is fine, Elijah. I'm just not in the mood."

"You're never in the mood these days, from what I hear." I spun to face the door, seeing my sister standing there with a smirk on her face and one hand on her hips.

"Hello, Rebekah. When did you decide that you weren't too good for our little family?"

Her lip curled up at me as she strutted into the room, coming to sit on the opposite end of the couch to where Hayler say, who didn't look all that pleased at all.

I drank what was left in my glass before picking up the whole bottle and heading for the exit, wanting to just be alone in my studio.

"Don't pout, Nik. People might think you've gotten soft." I stopped at Rebekah's taunting and turned to face her.

"I am not weak, Rebekah. I am simply sick of people sticking their noses into my business."

"Klaus, we're just worried. You've been in a horrible mood ever since we decided to settle down in New Orleans."

I looked around the room at what was left of my family. My nosy sister, my saint-like brother, and the mother of my unborn child. All of them staring at me. Expecting me to do…something. I scowled again and lifted the bottle to my lips, closing my eyes as I took a large mouthful.

I felt the air around me shift and my eyes shot open to see Rebekah come to a stop at the opposite side of the room. I growled, feeling my face heat up as my vision shifted and the veins pushed their way through my skin. "Give me back my phone Rebekah."

"You know, maybe if you called her instead of moping around the house like a love struck puppy, you wouldn't be so insufferable." She said, tapping away on my phone.

"I don't know what the hell you're on about. But, if you don't give my phone back I'll-"

She looked me up and down, one of her eyebrows arching in amusement. "You'll what? Shove me in a coffin? I'd welcome a nap right about now. At least it would save me from your adolescent pining."

Hayley stood up from the couch, her shirt pulling up to reveal a hint of her growing baby bump. I had to fight to tear my eyes away to look back at Rebekah, who was still flicking through my phone.

"Give. Me. My. Phone."

"Can't you two just grown up?" Hayley yelled as she stormed past me and out of the room. "You're both over 1000 years old and you're acting like children. It's enough to drive me fucking insane."

We all looked at Hayley as she stopped in the entrance hall, hands on her widened hips, eyes angry and lips curled as she yelled at us. I stared at her with my mouth hanging open, shocked by her outburst.

"Rebekah, give Klaus his bloody phone. He's moody enough as it is without you teasing him." She said, before addressing me. "And Klaus, instead of moping around, act like the man you are and call her. It's not that hard."

She stormed up the staircase towards her room, not looking back as she left. I closed my mouth and turned back to Rebekah, holding my hand out expectantly for my phone. She smirked before tapping the screen and throwing the phone through the air into my awaiting hands. Then she spend past me and up the stairs, yelling a 'goodluck' behind her.

I looked down at my phone, my stomach dropped as I read Caroline's name on the screen and heard the faint 'ring ring' of the dial tone. She had called Caroline. I gulped, knowing that even if I hung up the phone Caroline would still receive a missed call from me and then wonder why I had tried to call her.

I made the quick decision to speed up and into my studio, slamming the door behind me as I put the phone to my ear.

"Hello?" The sound of her voice sent a ripple of chills down my spine and I had to shake myself in order to concentrate on what she was saying. "Klaus, are you there?"

"Hello, Love."

"What do you want Klaus?" She said, her voice coated with annoyance as she spoke. I listened carefully at the noise coming from her side of the phone call. Running water.

"Having an afternoon shower, Sweetheart?" I asked, before playfully adding, "It wouldn't happen to be a cold one, would it? Been thinking about me?"

"You wish." She let out one of her full laughs, sending shock waves across my whole body. "No, Klaus, it isn't a cold shower. I just haven't been feeling 100% and I thought a nice hot shower would make me feel a little bit better."

"Are you alright?"

She didn't reply for a moment, and I heard the shower water still running in the background. Even though worry prickled at the corner of my mind, I couldn't fight of the images of her naked and wet in the shower.

"I'm fine. I just…a lot has happened since graduation and I'm just trying to figure some stuff out."

"Do you want to talk about it? I'm an excellent listener." I sat down on my chair and placed the bottle of whiskey, which I was still holding, down on the table next to my discarded paints.

"It's kind of a long story, Klaus. And I'm still trying to figure everything out. Thanks for offering to listen though. I appreciate it."

"I mean it Caroline, you can talk to me about anything. I'll help in any way that I can."

I heard her deep intake of breath, as well as her quiet footsteps, followed by the running water being turned off. She put the phone down, telling me to wait a moment before there was a series of shuffling in the background. I could picture her looking around her bedroom for a change of clothes to wear.

Trying to pull my mind away from what her bare skin would look like, but failing miserably.

She picked the phone back up and with the shuffling of material she sat down.

"I don't know if I should tell you. And if I do, I don't really know how to."

"Well, I for one think you should definitely tell me. And the start is probably the best place to begin."

She let out a nervous laugh that was followed by an exhausted sigh. "Well, I suppose I could start with the fact that I've been unconscious for the past two weeks."

Every nerve ending in my body tingled at her words. My brains scanned all of the possibilities of what could have happened. She was obviously okay now, otherwise she wouldn't be talking to me on the phone. But had she been hurt? Attacked? Captured?

"Something happened at the school after you left me in the parking lot." She started, her voice quiet. Shaking. Nothing like the confident person she was at the start of the phone call. "I don't remember a lot of what happened after that, but I've been getting the blanks filled in. I stupidly tried to break up a fight between Elena and Katherine."

An involuntary growl escaped my mouth at the mention of both of the doppelgänger's. "What did they do?"

"Well," She sighed again, her breath crackling as it hit the speaker in the phone. "Katherine was on top of Elena, and was apparently about to tear Elena's heart from her chest. And then I pulled her off just before Elena…fought back. And when she did, I was the one who was hurt. I passed out and only woke up a couple of days ago."

"Elena attacked you?" My words came out harsh and clipped, my fists clenched and shook as the familiar sensation of a shift spread deep in my bones. I tried to calm myseld down, forcing myself to stop the tremors running down my arms.

"She didn't mean to. She was half-conscious when she did it. She didn't notice that I wasn't Katherine." If it hadn't been for the fact that Caroline had been injured, I probably would have been amused at how quickly she jumped to defend her friend. Typical. Everyone jumped to defend Elena.

"I'm sure she didn't, Sweetheart. Why don't you tell me what happened exactly?"

"I doubt me telling you what she did will make you feel any better." She said, laughing nervously. "If anything it will make you hate her more."

"Caroline," I breathed, my chest pulling tighter and my heartbeat beating louder. "Just tell me what happened."

"I don't think you've ever been this worries about me. It's nice to know that you care so much." Her voice hitched in her throat as she started to cry.

"Of course I care, Caroline. It's impossible not to care about you."

Silence washed over us as I heard her grabbing around for a tissue. The worry and anger were at war in my body, each one trying to prove themselves stronger as I fought hard to keep them both at bay. I was worried about Caroline and about what had happened to her, bit I was furious that Elena had somehow hurt her. Even if she wasn't aware of it at the time.

"That means a lot. Probably more than you think." She said, sniffling quietly. "I'm just so angry and upset. I'm upset that I'm in this position now, and that it was Elena that put me here. Not to mention that she was going to do this to Katherine. Katherine, of all people!"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Sweethear." I whispered, reaching out to grab the edge of the table until it nearly buckled and snapped under my strength, trying to prepare myself for the bad news.

"I'm afraid to say it out loud. I can't bring myself to say the words." I could hear the panic rising in her as her breath hit the speaker faster and faster.

I couldn't handle the waiting. It was like there was an invisible pressure that was closing closer and closer around my body. I tried to control my rage, not wanting to upset her further, bit the wolf inside of me was growing restless with the need for control. "Just tell me, Caroline."

"Elena shoved the cure down my throat." She said, shouting the words through the phone.

Everything stopped. I couldn't tell you how much time passed. My brain fought to try and comprehend exactly what she had said. Elena had cured her. Cured. As in, she was human.

I was shaken out of my inner turmoil by a loud, gasping sob. Her cries grew louder and louder, each one like a thousand bullets hitting my skin. The sounds muffled, and I knew she had put the phone down.

I sat, staring around my studio at all of the sketches and paintings that I had done of her since being here in New Orleans, and I tried to imagine what Caroline would be like now that she was human. She definitely wouldn't want to be with me now. She would want to settle down and live out her human life. She wouldn't waste what time she had with me.

She picked the phone back up, having stifled her sobs slightly, her breathing having returned to semi-normal. "Are you still here?"

"Yes." I said, my voice cracking. I cleared my throat before continuing. "Yes, I'm still here Sweetheart."

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I didn't want this. It was never an option for me. There were other people who wanted it more than I did. Like Elena, or Stefan. Rebekah even wanted the cure. I never contemplated what I would do if I had it. And now I've had it thrust upon me and I don't know what I'm supposed to do.

Before this I had as long as I wanted to decide my future. I could spend hundreds of years travelling the world before deciding on a career. That's if I even wanted to build a career. Now I feel like my whole life has just imploded. And on top of all of that, I'm the furthest I've ever been from home, with two people whose attitudes to one another make me a big ball of anxiety."
She stopped abruptly as if she had just realised she had said too much.

I tried to take in everything she had said. She was really human. I took a small bit of comfort in the fact that she hadn't willingly taken the cure, but it didn't change the fact that she was still hu- "Who the hell are you with and why aren't you in Mystic Falls?"

"I'm fine Klaus. I'm just over exaggerating." I could almost smell her lie through the phone. My other senses picking up on the lilt in her voice.

I gripped the table even tighter in my hand, the wood finally breaking under the pressure, leaving a hand-sized hold in the edge of the table top. "Don't lie to me Caroline. It's taking all of my self-control not to snap and run straight to Mystic Falls to give Elena a visit. I want to know that you're okay. Who. Are. You. With?"

One beat…two beats…she didn't reply. Three beats…four beats…a deep sigh. "No one in Mystic Falls, except for my mum, knows what happened. Elena was unconscious as soon as she shoved it down my throat, and then mum told everyone that I had gone on a holiday instead of telling them that I was actually unconscious."

"If you and Elena were both unconscious, then how did you get home without everyone else knowing?" I waited, trying not to sound too aggressive through the phone, but knowing that I was failing miserably. She stayed silent again, not answering my question.

"Katherine carried me home to my mum and explained everything. I suppose she felt…something, about me saving her from being cured. And then after two weeks of me being unconscious my mum decided that something wasn't quite right, and for some reason she sought out Katherine instead of my friends. I'm not too sure why.

I mean, imagine my surprise waking up in the back of Katherine's car, hallway to…well, hallway here. It came as a bit of a shock. But Katherine's been pretty decent considering she doesn't have to be nice to me."

Another chunk of the table broke off and feel to the floor as I held onto it with a death grip. She was off somewhere with Katherine. Katherine! And someone else. Someone who, from what Caroline had previously said, didn't get alone with Katherine either. "Where are you? I can come and get you and you can come and stay with me."

Her tone hardened and I could picture the skin between her eyebrows furrowing up in anger. "I'm perfectly fine where I am Klaus. I don't need you, or anyone else, running in and protecting me. I can take care of myself."

I bit back the growl that threatened to escape from behind my teeth. "You're human now, Caroline. You can't protect yourself the way that you could when you were a vampire. Let me protect you. Just tell me where you are."

"I'm fine where I am. Katherine is being decent, and our host doesn't have an issue with me, it's Katherine she's having issues with. I don't need your help."

"I'm not asking you again, Caroline. Tell me."

She sighed angrily, and I could hear the shift of material again as she stood up. "All I'm going to tell you is that I'm closer to you than I am to Mystic Falls. That's all you get. I don't want you tracking me down and ripping out people's hearts before you ask questions. Once things settle down more we can sort something out, but in the meantime you interrupted my shower. So, if you'll excuse me I'm going to go and finish that and then get dressed ready for lunch. Bye, Klaus."

"Goodbye, Caroline." I whispered, but she had already hung up.

Chapter Text

KLAUS' P.O.V.

The table shattered into pieces as it connected with the wall. I let out an earth shaking roar as I felt my face transform. Turning towards my current work in progress, which I had spent countless hours working on, I held it in my hands and took in each delicate brush stroke, the paint still wet from my earlier painting session. I gripped the canvas in my hands, staring at the picture with venom instead of the usual adoration. I was angry that she wouldn't do what I had asked of her. Angry that she was now a human, and even more out of reach that she was before.

I raised the painting above my head, and felt my muscles tense in preparation of me throwing the canvas against the wall, which was filled with other portraits of the blue-eyes girl that filled my every thought.

As I moved to release the painting at full-force, a tight restraining hand wrapped around the edge of the canvas and pulled it from my grip, placing it back on the easel as if I hadn't just been about to destroy it.

I glared at my brother, reaching around him for the painting, only to be pushed back with such force that I went flying across the room and landed against the doorframe. The wood buckled slightly under the force of my body, but I ignored that as I sped to my feet, looking at my brother with as much malice as I could muster.

"Get out, Elijah." I said, my voice coming out in an animalistic hiss. He didn't even flinch as I spoke, standing his ground glaring across at me.

"Niklaus, you need to calm down."

"Calm down?" I stepped forward, fists clenched at my sides as I advanced on him. "I will not calm down. I can't calm down. Not now. Not after this."

He remained still, his hands in his pockets, with the blank and worried looked on his face. I walked forward, wrapping my hand around his throat and held him off of the ground. In one swift movement my hand was knocked away and I was flying through the air and crashing into the door again.

I landed on a heap on the ground, looking up at my brother, preparing myself to counterattack. He zoomed forward and kicked me out of the room and threw me down the flight of stairs. I ignored the pain as I tumbled down to the ground floor.

I shot to my feet and bared my teeth as Elijah as he descended the stairs as if he hadn't just swung me around like a ragdoll. I let out a feral noise and flashed my fully extended teeth. Crouching low, my body was screaming at me to shift and attack. He stopped a few feet in front of me. Close enough for me to pounce, bite into his-

"Niklaus. If you're having anger issues take I out on something that will easily fix itself. Destroying your whole studio will only cause you to hate yourself more than if you spar with me." He said, voice relaxed, as if he was suggesting something as simple as a chess match.

"I don't want to fight you. I want to get rid of everything. I can't look at the paintings anymore. I can't have them here, taunting me with something I can never have." I straightened up as I spoke, letting my fangs sink back into my jaw, and the veins under my eyes to blend back into my flesh.

"If you can't stand to look at the pictures of her, then you pack them away in storage. You don't destroy them all and throw a tantrum." He said, his voice dripping with condescension. "I understand that you're in pain. I understand that it's hard for you to hear about Caroline's current situation. But, think about it this way: she now has a limited amount of time left on this earth, and when she's gone you'll at them pictures and remember the feeling you had when you first realised you had feelings for her. In a hundred years from now, you'll look back and remember the person she was, not the person that she could have been."

"It's not that easy Elijah. I can't just pack them up and ignore the fact that I'll never get my chance. When she was a vampire, I had the small possibility of a chance. It didn't matter how long I had to wait. There was a chance that she would one day decide that she had feelings for me too. Now she's mortal, and she's going to want to settle down with some dull human and she's not going to want me."

"That's not true." Rebekah said, walking out from the kitchen door, watching us carefully as she stepped closer. "If I know Caroline, which I hate to admit that I do, she wouldn't be the type to want to settle down straight away. She's going to want an education, a career, and then a family afterwards. But even then, some people prefer to live their lives with their career and never decide to settle down."

"It still doesn't change anything. She didn't want me before, why would she want me now."

"You shouldn't give up just because there's another bump in the road, Niklaus. Wait until you speak with her again before you give up completely."

#

KATHERINE'S P.O.V.

Tapping my foot on the ground impatiently, I waited for Caroline to stop looked at me guiltily. She was fidgeting and pulling at a loose thread on the grey sweater she was wearing, her wet hair pulled up onto the top of her head.

"It's really not that bad. I mean, Klaus knows that I'm human now, so it should be easy for us to get past him to see the witch. He didn't exactly mention wanting to hunt you down and killing you."

I crossed my arms across my chest and tilted my head to one side. "But Klaus now knows that I'm with you, near New Orleans. He's going to send out his goons to find me, and I doubt he's going to lenient when he finds me. Why did you have to tell him?"

Caroline threw her arms up in the air and stood from the chair she had been sitting on, pacing across the carpeted floor. "Because, I happen to trust him. I didn't want to lie to him, so I told him the truth. It's not that big a deal. I'm sure I can talk him out of doing anything while we're here."

I scowled across at her and rose from my own seat, storming closer until I came to stand directly in front of her face. My mind having moved from my own safety, to the safety of Nadia and Kida, who I had dragged into this mess. "And what about Nadia. If Klaus finds out who she is, he'd have a field day. Who knows what he'd do to her if he wanted to get to me?"

Caroline glared at me and stamped her foot on the ground, resembling a two year old. "He doesn't have to know about Nadia and her connection to you. We can figure something so that you can go into the city, see your witch, and you won't even have to encounter Klaus or the other Originals."

"You obviously don't know that much about Klaus." I bit out, turning around and storming over to where the copious bottles of alcohol sat. I poured myself a drink and swallowed it in one gulp. Why couldn't she have just kept her mouth shut?

My hands shook as I refilled the glass and sipped at it with shaking hands. I knew that in coming to New Orleans I would be running the risk of encountering Klaus, but I was hoping to make my presence known on my own terms, not because of some over-emotional phone call.

Every instinct in my body was telling me that I should run away as fast as I could, but I knew that wasn't an option this time. I couldn't just up and leave Caroline, or leave Nadia after I had promised her that I would stay and get to know her.

Nadia. Just thinking about her made my heart beat quicker in my chest. The daughter I had lost a long time ago, come back from the dead to dredge up all of the bad memories that I had. I took a deep breath before sipping my drink again, closing my eyes shut tight and trying to steady myself.

"You won't tell your friends about what happened, but you'll tell one of the oldest, deadliest people in the world. I will never understand how your brain works."

The door to the room opened Nadia walked in in all her glory. When I had first met her I had made the assumption that she was a descendant of the Petrova bloodline, like Isabelle. Someone who was from further down the bloodline and just bore similar features to me.

Little did I know that I had been very wrong. When she had sat down across from me in the small booth in the diner she had tracked me down to, and looked over at me with her brilliant emerald green eyes, I saw everything that I had left behind me in Bulgaria 500 years ago. Every moment I had shared with her father had come rushing back to me, and I had the urge to run away as fast as I could.

And I did.

But here she stood, barely tolerating my presence, as I dodged her every question. Her dead-straight hair shone in the sunlight that came through the large window, and she looked between Caroline and I in confused disdain. She greeted Caroline politely before walking over to the cupboard where I had poured myself my drink, and began rummaging around looking for something specific.

"What are you two arguing about?" She asked, her arm disappearing to the back of the cupboard as she continued her search.

"Nothing." Caroline replied, making herself comfortable on her chair.

I scoffed at her words, causing her to glare up at me. "Caroline went and told Klaus Mikaelson that she was human and in New Orleans with me."

Nadia's hand shot out of the cupboard and she stood up, slamming her hands down on the table sending a loud bang throughout the room. "You what?"

"I didn't tell him where I was. I'm not an idiot. I wouldn't put you guys in danger like that." Caroline stared at Nadia with apologetic eyes.

"So," Nadia started, looking between Caroline and I, "you called the original hybrid, and offered up all this information? Exactly how close are you two?"

"We're not close." Caroline insisted, not convincing anyone. "He called me because he wanted to talk. He has a certain affinity towards me."

I rolled my eyes. I didn't believe for one minute that he was calling her just to talk. Klaus always did stuff with some ulterior motive in mind. Especially where Caroline was concerned. He wanted something, that's for sure. But Caroline's news probably got in the way of him asking for it.

Caroline continued to protest as Nadia went back to the cupboard and reached deep into it to retrieve a very old bottle of bourbon. I ignored both of them as I walked back to my seat and sat down, mind racing over every possible outcome of my presence in New Orleans.

"Besides," Caroline was saying as I tuned her back in, "it's none of your business who I decide to tell my business."

"It is if it puts my family in danger." I hissed out between clenched teeth, not paying any attention to the fact I'd slipped up and called Nadia family. "You may think that Klaus won't hurt you because of his feelings for you, but I have known Klaus for 500 years. He's ruthless, cold hearted, and he'll dagger his own siblings if he doesn't get his way."

"I know that Katherine, but I trust him enough to know that he isn't going to hurt me."

I was about to bite back at her, but a sudden vibration in my jean pocket had me pulling my mobile phone out. I smiled as I took in the caller ID. Elijah. "Well, we're about to find out…Hello Elijah."

"Katerina. How are you?" His voice floated through the phone, melting my carefully placed exterior as it washed over me. I watched as Caroline leant closer to me in her seat, trying to use her human hearing to pick up on what was being said.

"I'm as good as I've ever been. And you, 'Lijah?"

"I'm fine." He paused, clearing his throat before continuing. "I'm calling because Klaus spoke to Caroline earlier, and she said that she was currently with you."

"Did she now? And why does me being with Caroline warrant a phone call from you? I was under the impression that you didn't care about what happened with me." I stood up from the chair and walked past Nadia to where the window sat. I looked out towards the trees, imagining Elijah probably doing the same thing on the other side of the phone. He was probably wearing one of his perfectly tailored suites, without a single hair out of place as he stood…or sat, all business.

"My brother is rather fond of Caroline, as I'm sure you already know."

"Really," I cut in, trying to make myself sound as over-the-top and incredulous as I could. I had no idea."

"Don't be so childish, Katerina. He's worried about her wellbeing while in your presence. And I can't say that I disagree with him. No doubt you have some major scheme on how you can use her to your advantage against my brother."

I rolled my eyes as I ran my nails against my scalp in my hair. Of course Klaus was worried, I was most likely getting this phone call after some long-winded hissy fit. And of course they all thought I was going to hurt Caroline. That was exactly why I didn't want them to know that she and I were here.

"You can tell your brother that Caroline is perfectly fine. I haven't touched a single blonde hair on her pretty little head. And I don't plan to."

"You can understand why Klaus and I have a hard time believing that." I scowled at the tone in his voice. There was a time when Elijah wouldn't even dare condescend me. Damn Elena and her pushing herself into other people's business.

"If I had planned to hurt Caroline, you can guarantee that would have been the one to call Klaus instead of Caroline."

He stayed quiet for a moment. In the background I could hear the soft scraping of glass against wood. "And no doubt you'd use her as a bargaining chip for your freedom, Katherine. Why is it that you aren't doing that? Why are you with Caroline at all?"

"It's none of yours, or Klaus' business, Elijah. If Klaus wanted to know what I was doing, all he had to do was ask Caroline." I flinched at his use of the name Katherine. He very rarely used the newest adaption of my birth name, and when he did it was always when he was upset, angry, or disappointed in me.

"I'm not arguing with you right now. I called because I'm worried about my brother." He sighed. "I think it would be a good idea if we could all meet up. Let Klaus see for himself that Caroline is okay. He might calm down a bit is he sees that she's not hurt in any way."

"You sound tired, Elijah." I said, changing the subject. "Are you getting enough sleep?"

The quiet ripple of a growl travelled down the phone, sending shivers down my spine. "Don't try and flirt with me Katerina. I'm trying to be civil. It took a lot for me to rein Klaus in so that I could call and arrange something with you. Now, he mentioned that Caroline was close to New Orleans. How close, exactly?"

Turning away from my view of the trees I looked between Caroline and Nadia. Nadia had gotten herself a glass of the old bourbon and was perched on the arm of the chair that Caroline was still sitting, cross legged, on. Both of them were watching me with wide eyes. Nadia looked thoroughly confused, whereas Caroline had a knowing smirk on her face.

I scowled and turned back to the window.

"We're near the outskirts of the city, staying with a friend of mine."

"And why New Orleans? Out of all of the places in the world you choose New Orleans. It seems as if you have every intention of using Caroline as leverage."

"Not everything is about your brother, you know. There's someone else in New Orleans that I need to see. I offered to help Caroline find out more about what the cure did, and someone I know might be able to help us. The fact that your family is currently living here is purely coincidental."

"Is it Marcel?" He asked, his interest piquing. I immediately wondered why Marcel was of such an interest. I knew, from the time that I had spent with Marcel back in the early 1900's that he and Klaus were like family.

"Not directly." I answered. "Although, it has been a while since I last saw Marcel. It would be nice to catch up with him."

"Who do you want to see here?"

I raised my brow even though he couldn't see me, and smiled. Something big was happening in New Orleans. Something that threatened the Mikaelson's in some way. A sweet taste coated my tongue. There was no other reason why Elijah would be so interested. But what could it be? Would it make it more difficult for me to see who I needed to?

"A witch. I'll need to see Marcel first, of course. To get him to grant me his permission. Why the sudden interest in my involvement with Marcel? Jealous?"

"I'm just curious."

"Of course you are." I said, pausing for dramatic effect. "Well, I'm sure I could bring Caroline to New Orleans, but I have conditions."

"I didn't doubt that you would." He let out a long breath. "Let me guess, you want your freedom." I flinched, tapping one of my fingers on the window pane as I watched the sun dance across the trees.

"I've come to the realisation that life wouldn't be any fun if I was completely free of Klaus, so I'll pass this time. Like I said, I have no problem arranging a meeting between the two lovebirds, I just want assurance that I'm not going to be killed on sight. The same goes for anyone associated with me while I'm here. I don't want some innocent acquaintance of mine having their heart ripped out because they know me. I'm not here to stir up anything, I'm here to help Caroline and then I'll be on my merry way."

I could almost hear his mind ticking as he took in my words. I pushed away from the window, ignoring the stares I was still getting, and sat back down gently in the chair, picking up my glass and drinking what was left inside.

"Why do you want to help Caroline? Being compassionate isn't something you do, Katerina."

"If Caroline hadn't have stepped in…I would the human one." I fought to keep the lightness in my voice, hiding how grateful I actually was.

"I'll talk to Klaus and call you back." I didn't get the change to say anything else because he hung up straight away. I blew out the breath I had been holding and placed my phone on the arm of the chair, laying my head against the back.

"That was…weird." Nadia said, making my head shoot up. She had moved from her position on the arm of Caroline's chair and was now standing back over near the alcohol, pouring herself a drink.

"Yep." Caroline took a teacup off of a tray that Kida was holding. When had she come into the room? "Nothing is ever normal where Katherine, or the Mikaelson's are concerned. I've heard much weirder conversations…I've had weirder conversations."

I rubbed my hands over my face, groaning. If only Caroline hadn't spilled her guts to Klaus, then I could have approached them myself and they wouldn't have known we were so close.

"So, what's going happen?" She asked, shifting in her seat as I looked over at her.

"I don't know. He'll talk to Klaus, who is 'seriously worried' about by the way. I'm guessing that Klaus threatened him copiously to get him to do it."

"I told him that I was fine." She said, avoiding my eyes as she looked down at her cup.

"He seems to really like you, Caroline." Nadia announced from her spot near the cabinet behind the couch. Caroline looked immediately uncomfortable and started to fiddle with the edge of her pants.

"He just likes the thrill of the chase. He's only interested as long as I say no. I bet you that if I gave in, he'd drop me in a hot second."

"I doubt that. If Klaus wanted to have his way with you, he'd make it impossible for you to say no to him. From what I've seen, he's given you the freedom of choice."

"Let's talk about something else. Like, oh I know…'Lijah." Caroline said, smiling across at me. I curled up my lip. I didn't want to talk about Elijah, especially with Nadia here.

I was still angry at Elena for having caused my relationship to break up. The only relationship I actually felt comfortable in, and would want to settle into. I had been with heaps of men over the centuries, but Elijah was different. I felt more than I had ever felt with any other man, with him. And Elena had ruined that.

"Yeah." Nadia agreed, walking closer. "I actually wanted to ask you about that."

"There's nothing to talk about." I said defensively.

"Okay. If you feel uncomfortable talking about your current relationship status, why don't we go further back. Why don't you tell me something about my father?"

I froze. I should have known she would try to get more information out of me. I looked up at her blankly, noticing the hopeful look in her eyes. I could see Caroline sink lower into her chair, avoiding any sort of confrontation that might happen between Nadia and I.

I took a long, rattling breath, closing my eyes and trying to bring myself to say anything that would get me out of this situation. I had spent the past three days avoiding this. Why did she have to be so persistent?

I opened my eyes again and looked at her. Hopeful that I would give some kind of response. Her green eyes wide and unblinking as she watched me. I shook my head. I couldn't do this. I'd never spoken about him to anyone before. Not since I had been a human in Bulgaria. Long before I had been banished to London.

I turned my eyes to Caroline who was looking at me encouragingly, motioning her head in Nadia's direction then pulling her phone out and unlocking it.

I felt my heart pick up speed as if the room around me was closing in closer and closer.

#

I stood completely still as I listened out to hear if anyone was around to catch sight of me sneaking out of the house. When no noises came, I cracked the door open and peeked out around the edge of our back door and into the garden. There was nobody there. I smiled to myself, straightening out my new dress before silently slipping out the door and making a run for it to the stables.

I was out of breath as I reached the large door, and even more out of breath as I heaven it out of the way, walking inside and heading directly for the end stall. I was alone, but I knew that that wouldn't be the case for too long. It was just after midday, and Andre would be returning from town, having bought this months' supply of horse feed.

I grabbed a blanket off of the stall door. A tattered, old horse blanket that Andre and I used to cover the dirty ground whenever we met.

I laid it out on the ground and sat down, my large skirts spreading out around me. I fiddled with the sewn-on details on the skirt and listened for his arrival.

It was no more than five minutes later when I heard the stable door opening up and the sound of footsteps and hooves walking in. I stayed quiet as he unloaded the horse and tethered it up, just in case he wasn't alone. I sat entirely motionless as I listened to his every movement, watching the sun reflecting off of the straw around me.

This particular stall was the perfect meeting place for the two of us. It was the furthest from the front of the stable, hardly ever used for anything other than storage, and at this time of the day the light came in and lit the stall up perfectly.

I heard his footsteps walking towards me and my heart hammered faster within my chest. I smiled as he came into view, climbing over the closed stable door and landing softly on his feet. His green eyes shining in the afternoon sun as he stared at me mischievously.

"Hello, Katerina." He said, sitting down on the blanket and pulling me into his arms. He pressed his lips to mine, kissing me deeply before pulling back to look into my eyes. "How are you, my love?"

"I'm well, Andre. Very well now that you are here. How are you? How was your trip into town?"

He pulled me even closer, pressing his lips to my temple, and then letting his lips trail down to my cheek and then to my the hollow of my throat. I smiled, relishing in the feeling of his soft lips on my skin. "My trip into town was rather successful. Brutis was in a haggling sort of mood, but I got the feed for the proper price."

I ran my fingers through his short, dusty blonde hair, pulling his face back so that I could look into his eyes again. He smiled cheekily up at me and I couldn't help but smile in return. I laid myself back on the blanket, pulling him down with me. Looking down at me adoringly, he propped himself up on his elbows.

I was mesmerised by his bright green eyes, an abnormality in a town such as ours. Green eyes were considered exotic. It was one of the many reasons that I had fallen for him. His dazzling green eyes burnt into mine, and sucked me right in from the moment that my father had hired him as the stable hand.

"You are so beautiful." He whispered, leaning in closer to me and tickling my skin with his breath.

"And you are so handsome." I replied, placing a soft kiss to his jaw. He growled low and pressed his lower waist again mine. I let out a shrill laugh and pulled him the rest of the way down so that he lay all of his weight on my body.

"How long will you love me?" His voice swam in my head as the sensation of his body on mine took over.

"Forever." I choked out, as his hands grasped at my many skirts.

"Forever is a long time, Katerina."

#

"Katherine." I snapped my head around, meeting Caroline's worried eyes. I looked back to Nadia, whose brows were furrowed as she stared at me. All of the hope in them now gone.

"I…I need some fresh air."

I didn't wait for either of them to respond before I fled from the room and out the front door, not stopping until I passed the tree line. I breathed in shakily, squeezing my eyes closed and forcing back the tears that were threatening to fall. I leant against one of the trees, throwing my hands over my eyes and trying to zero in on only my breathing.

I hadn't thought about Andre this much in centuries. And now that I was around Nadia, it was like in every room that I entered a new memory was popping up to haunt me. Pain stretched through my chest and across my whole body. I pulled at my hair restlessly as I tried to push my mind to forget those green eyes.

"Forever is a long time." I whispered, pushing the thought further into my mind.

"Yes. It is."

My eyes shot open. Nadia was standing in front of me, arms crossed across her chest. I ran my hands through my hair again, trying to straighten myself out so that I didn't look so…broken.

"I said that I needed some air."

"Yes, I got that. But, I thought that I'd come and check that you were still here. I wasn't sure if you'd run or not." She spoke in monotone. Her voice even as she stared at me curiously.

"I promised you that I wouldn't run this time."

"Yes, you did." She said. "But considering how unforthcoming you've been, I wouldn't be surprised if Caroline and I woke up to find you gone."

I winced at her words, knowing that she wasn't too far from the truth. I did prefer to pack up and run when things got tough. But, I wouldn't just run off now. Against all my better judgement, I felt like I was obligated to help Caroline.

And even though I found it difficult to be in around her, I wanted to get to know Nadia.

"I won't run this time."

Scoffing, she flicked her hair over one shoulder. I looked her up and down, still getting used to the similarities between the two of us. I doubt I would ever get used to it. My whole life I had an image in my mind of what my long lost daughter would look like, I never would have guessed the similarities we shared.

"And why should I believe you. Sometimes you act like you can't even stand me. I just don't understand how you could hate me so much."

"It's not that I don't like you. I really do want to get to know you. It's just that, when I'm around you, I can't…"

"You can't what? Stand to be near me?" She asked, hurt coating her voice. "Is that it? If any of my children were still alive, I would jump at the chance to spend some time with them. I wouldn't avoid them."

"It's different for me. You got to meet your children. You got to hold them, and watch them grow. You were torn out of my life, just like your father was, and I can't go through that again. I won't survive it this time." I quickly shut my mouth, straightening up my body as I slipped up, mentioning Andre. Nadia's eyes widened considerably and she took a small step forward.

"You have me now. No one is going to tear me away this time. I promise."

"Do you know how many enemies I've made in my 500 years as a vampire? The list is a very long on, and any one of them people would take our connection and use it against me."

"I don't care about that. What I care about is getting to know the woman I spent the majority of my life searching for. I don't care about the risks. Did you honestly think I didn't know what danger there was when I approached you?"

"You have to understand how hard this is Nadia. You come jumping out of the woodwork, centuries after I thought you had died, and I'm supposed to be okay with that. I've been running from my past for as long as you've been alive, and it's taking all of my strength to slow down and stop. I just need time."

"Fine, I'll give you time." She said, moving to step slowly back in the direction of the house. "But I won't wait forever."

I followed her slowly as we walked back to the house, still breathing heavily after my panic attack. We didn't speak as we made our way past the trees and across the front lawn.

Chapter Text

CAROLINE P.O.V.

Staying in the chair, I watched as both Nadia and Katherine disappeared out of the house, knowing that they needed their privacy to work through the issues they had.

Leaning forward I picked up the cup of tea that Kida had brought in for me, taking a long scolding gulp of the earthy-tasting drink. My mind was still playing over my conversation from earlier with Klaus. I knew it was irresponsible to tell him everything, but I couldn't help it, it was like everything just spilled out of my body the moment he asked me what was wrong.

Obviously I understood why Katherine was upset with me, if I was her I would be too, but it was over and done with now and there was no going back.

Vvvvvrrr…vvvrrrrr…vvvvvrrrr…vvvrrrrrr…

I looked up at the vibrating noise that filled the silence to see Katherine's phone wiggling across the arm of the chair. Sitting still I waiting for Katherine to come running back into the room to answer it. But she didn't. Standing up from my chair, I walked slowly across the room and picked the phone up.

It wasn't surprising to see that it was Elijah's initials lighting up the phone screen. I contemplated going outside and giving the phone to Katherine, but I didn't necessarily want to interrupt whatever was happening between her and Nadia. For all I knew, Katherine could be spilling her entire life story to Nadia in some emotional outburst.

Staring down at the vibrating phone I sighed and tapped 'answer'.

"Hello, this is Katherine's phone. Caroline speaking." I felt blush rise on my cheeks as I mentally slapped myself for sounding so stupid. Of course he knew whose phone it was…he was calling it.

"Oh, hello Miss Forbes. Where, may I ask, is Katherine?" He sounded just as formal as me, and I smiled in relief that I hadn't just made a massive fool of myself.

"She's currently in the middle of an important conversation. She left her phone with me. I can give her a message if you'd like."

He paused. "Yes, that would be okay. I spoke to my brother and he agreed with Katherine's terms. Of course, he has his own conditions for her while she's in New Orleans."

I laughed, of course he did. "I figured he probably would. What are they? Anything too ridiculous?"

"No, he's actually being rather reasonable at the moment. Which, I'm assuming has something to do with your involvement. If it was just Katherine he was dealing with he'd deal out a few death threats, growl, and then call it a day."

Both of us laughed and I'm sure he was picturing Klaus in the same way that I was. "We've all been at the tail end of one of those threats, I think. What does he want Katherine to do?"

"It's fairly straight forward. He wants assurance from Katherine that she won't stir up any trouble while she's here. He also said that if she conspires against him he won't hesitate to torture her before 'killing her slowly and painfully in more ways than she can imagine'. He went into more graphic detail after that, but I think you have an understanding of where it was going."

"Yeah."

"He also requests that you move in here with us, but I told him that that wasn't going to happen. I doubt you'd want to be kept under lock and key for the duration of your time here."

I rolled my eyes and placed a hand on my hip. "You would be correct. I'm perfectly fine where I am. No one is going to hurt me, mainly because no one knows where I am. I'd probably be in more danger if I did live with your family."

"That's what I thought too, but Klaus wanted you to know that the offer stands."

"Thank you, Elijah. I'll keep that in mind."

"What the hell are you doing?" Katherine's voce echoed through the room. Her eyes narrowed as she saw that I was holding her phone in my hand. She stormed over and snatched it from me, lifting it to her ear. "Hello, Elijah."

Nadia looked at me over Katherine's shoulder and shook her head. I just rolled my eyes and moved past Katherine, sitting back in my chair.

Katherine's face was scrunched up as she listened to whatever Elijah was saying. Nadia, who came to sit on the arm of my seat, looked at her, and amused smirk on her face.

"He's scolding her for being rude and snatching the phone from you." She whispered to me, leaning in closer to my ear and smirking widely. "He wants her to apologise to you."

"Sorry for interrupting your conversation with Caroline, but considering that she was on my phone, I believe it was me you were calling to speak to." Her voice was tight and she glared down at me. I picked up my cup from the table and finished off the tea as I waited for Katherine to finish. "I don't care if she was being nice by picking up my phone before you hung up, she shouldn't have been touching my hone. Now, what did Klaus say?"

She placed on hand on her hip and tapped her foot on the ground as she listened intently. Then with a loud huff she pulled the phone away from her ear and pointed an accusatorial finger at me.

"He hung up on me." She said, her voice shrill.

"It's not my fault he hung up. Maybe if you had asked for your phone, instead of snatched it, then he would have stayed on the line longer."

"That's twice in one day he's hung up on me." She growled. "And do you know what he said? He scalded me for being rude. Like I'm a child. Then he told me that he didn't have anything to say, and HUNG UP."

"You are being way too over dramatic, Katherine." I smiled up at her softly. "I didn't want to interrupt whatever you and Nadia were doing, so I answered your phone. It's not that big of a deal. I let him know it wasn't you as soon as I answered the phone, so it's not like I heard anything that was meant for you. And besides," I added, crossing my legs. "I took a message."

#

"I don't understand why we need to go today, why not just wait until tomorrow," I said, rummaging through the set of drawers for a decent change of clothes.

Katherine was in the doorway, watching me as I frantically pulled clothes out all over the place. After I had relayed my conversation with Elijah to Katherine she had gone off to call him back and I had come straight to my room to read. Then, a few minutes ago, she had stormed into my room announcing that we would be driving to the city to visit Klaus. Today.

"We're going today so that Klaus can see that I'm capable of being civil and cooperative." She leant against the door frame and played with her nails while she spoke. "It's not like we have anything else to do this afternoon. We can drive down there, see Klaus, and then we can go out for dinner or something."

"I would have appreciated a little bit of warning. I have nothing to wear." I muttered, pulling a pale yellow sundress out of the pile of clothes I had already dumped on the bed. It would do.

"I didn't realise you needed warning. And what you're wearing is going to be fine. I doubt he's expecting you to be dressed up."

I turned to face her, straightening out the now-crumpled dress before laying out on the bed and then searching for a matching cardigan. I managed to find a plain white one before heading over to the corner of the room where I had dumped the measly amount of shoes that had been packed for me. Continuing to ignore Katherine as I looked for any other bits and pieces I would need in New Orleans.

"I'll leave you to get ready. We leave in ten." I curled my lip up at her as she spun around and strode right into her bedroom across the hall.

I made quick work of getting myself ready, getting dressed, doing my hair, and then adding a little bit of makeup to hide how horrible I looked. I rushed down the stairs once I was ready, ignoring the ache of my back and legs, and met Katherine in the main hall as she was saying goodbye to Nadia.

Katherine looked up at me and smiled. "I see you've gussied yourself up for the big bad wolf."

"Shut up." I hissed as I said goodbye to Nadia and followed Katherine down the front steps of the house to her car. "Don't think I didn't notice that you curled your hair and put more makeup on. Who are you trying to look good for?"

#

I was mesmerised by the beautiful scenic drive to New Orleans. I enjoyed looking out the window and seeing a whole new world of things I had never seen before. It was vastly different compared to what I had seen in Mystic Falls.

Katherine played some more of her quiet, foreign music and didn't speak during the drive, which I figured meant that she was just as anxious as me.

Once we reached the part of the city that contained actual stores I had made Katherine stop at a Target so that I could quickly grab something. She wasn't very happy, but complied anyway, even when I refused to tell her what I was getting.

I made quick work of running into the store and getting exactly what I wanted, not wanting Katherine to be any more annoyed with me than she already was.

One thing I remembered clearly from the night of my graduation, was Klaus telling me why he was staying in New Orleans, besides wanting to return to the one place his family had been truly happy together.

Hayley and the baby.

Of course, when he had told me I felt instant annoyance at the fact he had slept with the backstabbing she-wolf, but the fact that he was going to stick around for the baby and her, rather than killing her and the child, out shadowed my anger towards her.

I could still picture the look on his face as he told me he was going to be a father. And that the fact that Hayley was the mother, he had no feelings towards her whatsoever. I was touched that he had cared enough about my opinion to share a secret like that with me.

I looked across the shelves, trying to find anything that would be a suitable gift to give a pregnant woman who I had a strong dislike for. I ended up finding a small baby grow suit that was a nice shade of purple, and a little toy that looked like a wolf. Grabbing a congratulations card before heading back out to the car.

When I climbed back into the car with the bag Katherine just rolled her eyes at me. "You're seriously buying Hayley Marshall a present? Didn't she sleep with your boyfriend and then break your neck?"

"Yes, she did. But that doesn't mean that I'm not going to congratulate her." I said, buckling my seatbelt back up and shoving the presents into the gift bag I had bought. "Besides, it isn't the baby's fault that both of its parents are idiots."

She laughed before pulling back onto the road, going quiet again as we drew closer and closer to the other side of the city. I could tell that we were getting closer because of Katherine's aggressiveness in turning the radio off and then tapping her hands nervously on the steering wheel.

As we began to get further away from the main part of the city I felt my stomach drop and the bubbling of nausea filled my throat. I didn't think it would be this nerve-wracking seeing Klaus again. But, it was different now. I wasn't the same person anymore. Now I was just another human in the world. Someone who could easily blend into the background.

I looked down at my outfit and straightened out my dress some more, picking at a loose thread along the hem. My head shot up as the car started to slow down as it turned up a long, dirt driveway.

It was getting later in the afternoon now and the sun was at a point in the sky that it hit the house in just a way that took my breath away. I gasped at how beautiful it was, knowing that even if I hadn't already known that this belonged to the Mikaelson's, I would have guessed that it was theirs.

Katherine came to a stop next to an over-the-top bright red convertible and turned the ignition off. We both looked up to the front of the house to see the front door open, with Klaus walking out. He looked over at the car and I felt my heart speed up. Katherine groaned as Elijah and Hayley followed Klaus out the door.

She was the first to open her car door and land gracefully on the ground. Taking another deep breath I opened my door, winding as I climbed down from the high car. My muscles pulled and stretched as I landed a little less gracefully on the ground.

"Ouch." I muttered, shutting my eyes and stretching my back to try and stop the pain shooting up my back. I turned back to the car and got my handbag, as well as the gift for Hayley, my stomach twisting in knots.

Closing the door I plastered a smile on my face, walking around the front of the car, following Katherine up the front steps.

Katherine reached the tip before I had even fully passed the row of cars, standing at the top with her hands on her hips. "Long time no see, Klaus." She said, her voice filled with hate I knew to be false confidence.

"It's always such a pleasure, Katherine." He sounded annoyed as he greeted her in return.

I felt his eyes on me I slowly made my way up the steps. I tried to keep the smile on my face as my legs continued to protest my movements. When I reached the top, coming to a stop next to Katherine, I looked up to meet his eyes. A shockwave ran through my body and I had to stop myself from gasping at the feeling that spread through my body. He looked at me with wide eyes for a second and then smirked his trademark smirk.

"Hello, Sweetheart."

"Hello, Klaus." I said cheerfully. Then I pulled my eyes from him and looked at the others on the porch. "Hello Elijah, it's nice to see you again."

He stepped forward, holding out his hand for me to shake. "Likewise, Miss Forbes."

Then I turned to Hayley, who was standing back eying me carefully. I held out the gift bag to her, ignoring the indignant look she gave me. "I got this for you. I thought that considering our past, a little gift would be a nice way to clear the air."

She smiled as she looked down into the bag "Thank you. I haven't been able to get anything for the baby yet, so this means a lot."

Klaus invited us inside the house, leading us to a little lounge area that side to the side of the large entrance. It was awkward as I sat down on the couch next to Katherine, my body relaxing into the soft cushion of the couch.

"So, when's the pup due?" Katherine asked. I groaned, rubbing at my forehead. Of course she make a dog joke. Klaus let out a small growl and a smile pulled at the corner of Hayley's mouth, which surprised me. I elbowed Katherine in the ribs, making her let out a small laugh. "Sorry, couldn't help it."

"We don't know." Hayley said, eying Klaus angrily out of the corner of her eye. "Someone won't let me go and see a doctor. I obviously know the rough timeline of when the nine months is up, but there's no date."

"Nice."

Everything fell into silence and I bit back a giggle at how awkward the tension was in the room. We had driven all the way here to meet with them and now no one was speaking. While I waited for someone to speak up, I looked around the room and took in all the antique furniture and decorations. This house was probably just as old as Nadia's, if not older.

"So," Klaus started from his place against the wall. "How are you feeling now that you're human?"

I turned my head to look at him, trying to decide how I could explain how I felt. He was dressed in his usual Henley shirt and jeans, not having changed one bit since I last saw him.

"I'm doing okay. I mean, it's weird not having the strength, or speed, the amazing hearing, but I'll get used to it. It would have been harder to adjust had I been a vampire for a long time, but I'll be fine." I said, turning my hands over in my lap, wiggling so that I could sink lower into the chair. "The only problem I've had is the muscle pain, but that's probably normal. There's really nothing to compare this situation to."

"You were also unconscious for two weeks." Katherine added, crossing her legs.

Hayley and Elijah's eyes both widened. Klaus obviously hadn't explained the full details of what happened to me. Hayley rested a hand on her small baby bump and leant forward. "How strange. Unconscious for two weeks."

"Yeah, the last thing I remember before waking up halfway to New Orleans in Katherine's car was saying goodbye to Klaus after my graduation." I tried to make it sound as if I was saying something normal, even though this could be one of the strangest conversations I'd ever had. Hayley looked at me, her eyes still wide.

I shot a look to Klaus and found that he was still staring at me from his place next to the window, now having moved since I had last looked up at him.

"You don't remember taking the cure?"

I stopped, looking at Katherine. She shrugged as if to say 'I'm not explaining this one'. I sighed and prepared myself to tell the full story of what happened.

"Elena forced the cure down my throat. Or, well, she tried to force the cure down Katherine's throat, I just got in the way. That's what Katherine told me anyway."

Elijah steeped his fingers in his lap as he let his eyes fall on Katherine for the first time since we had arrived. I felt her tense beside me under his gaze.

"Got in the way?" He asked.

"Katherine and Elena were having an argument…things got physical." Katherine scoffed at my words. "I must have heard them fighting, and I went to break it up. By the time that I reached them Katherine was about to, well that isn't important. I pulled them apart just as Elena was shoving the cure towards Katherine. Then Katherine, who was the only one who was still conscious after everything, took me home to my mum. And that's where I stayed while I was out of it."

They all digested the information in silence, except for Klaus, who kept shooting murderous looks Katherine's way. Unlike the others, I had already told him what had happened in full detail. But Katherine was already in a bad place with Elijah, and I knew that she would probably be angry if I announced she was going to rip Elena's heart out.

Elijah flexed his hands, straightening the cuffs of his suit jacket. "How did you end up travelling with Katherine, if she took you to your mother?"

"The sheriff came to me for help. Caroline had been unconscious for two weeks and she didn't know what to do. She had told everyone Caroline was on a holiday, and she was scared that something had gone wrong in the curing process. I don't know why she came to me, but she appealed to my curiosity of the unknown. And I happen to know a witch that has amazing talents in magical diagnostics."

Klaus stepped forward while Katherine was speaking, moving so that he stood near the arm of the couch where I was sitting. I ignored his continued stares and watched Katherine, who was staring over at Elijah. Only addressing him as she spoke, her eyes never wavering.

"And this witch lives in New Orleans," Klaus said, not asking a question.

"Yes. I was close with her mother, and I'm old friends with her current guardian. All I have to do is make a couple of phone calls and I should be able to go and see her. She'll be able to tell me what the cure did, why Caroline was unconscious, and anything else that happened. I mean, it would suck if someone bit into her and found themselves human. Or, what if the cure didn't completely change her back, she might be some other creature we've never seen before. We don't know what Quetsiah intended when she created the cure for Silas."

"And you're helping because your frozen heart has somehow thawed?" He said, sitting down on the arm of the chair, so close that his arm was brushing mine. I struggled to stop myself from looking up to meet his eyes again, trying to avoid the same feeling that had spread through my body when we were standing out on the porch.

"Very funny. Like I said, Caroline's mum appealed to my curiosity. Not to mention, if Caroline hadn't been there I would be human now instead of her. And who knows where I'd be. Living in a villa in France? Locked up in the Salvatore basement being tortured by the lovely Elena Gilbert? Who knows."

I visibly flinched at Katherine's words. Not because of how harsh her words sounded, but because there was more truth in them than I'd like to admit. The only reason Elena would use the cure as defence rather than fight with her strength was in order to punish Katherine. And that punishment would probably include some sort of torture. That, or they would have handed her to Klaus on a silver platter.

"Anyway, I've never completely hated Caroline. She can be decent when she wants to be. And she's not as dull as the other residents of Mystic Falls."

"Thanks Katherine," I muttered, rubbing my hand on my forehead in frustration. "That means a lot."

"So, what are your plans now that you're here? I know that you obviously want to go and visit this witch, but when can you arrange for that to happen?"

Katherine uncrossed her legs and pulled herself up from the chair, walking past me and Klaus to the window that Klaus had just occupied, overlooking the city. "Well here's the thing. The witch I need to see is under heavy protection at the moment. And it might take a little bit of womanly persuasion to get me in. My problem, before you knew that we were here, was getting in and out without you knowing. But now that you know I'm here there's going to be some…questions about why you haven't killed me yet."

"Marcel's witch." Klaus bit out, moving so that he could now face Katherine more head-on, brushing his arm against me as he went.

"Davina, yes. And I was friends with her mother long before Marcel killed her." Katherine kept facing the window, staring out at the city as she spoke. "Davina was going to be used in a ritualistic sacrifice performed by the coven she was a part of. Marcel stopped it by killing all the witches. And as I said, I can go and see Marcel no problem. But being in the city without Klaus trying to kill me is going to draw some major attention from Marcel. And from what I've heard about your relationship with Marcel at the moment, it's not going to well. So, I was thinking that if you came with me it would show him that you can be somewhat…docile. If he's sees us acting relaxed and civil when you hate my guts, he might lower his guard against you."

"Okay." He said, standing up and holding his hands up in a weird welcoming type of gesture. "When do we go?"

Chapter Text

KLAUS' P.O.V.

Looking at Caroline as a human was a vastly different experience than I thought that it would be. I had gone into it expecting my feelings for her to be somewhat lessened by seeing her weaker than she always seemed to be. But, that wasn't the case. As she climbed from the car and walked towards me with that stupid 'congratulations' gift bag clutched in her hands, one of her bright smiles plastered across her face, my feelings for her only intensified.

And when those eyes met mine, the feeling grew even more. It felt incredible. Better than breaking my curse. Her eyes turned from mine, and I tried to will her to look back at me, trying to feel that wondrous feeling again.

Then, when I couldn't stand her ignoring me anymore, I had sat down on the arm of the chair so that we would be close enough to touch.

I didn't understand why she was avoiding me, had she not felt the same feeling that I did? Did she think that I would hurt her now that she was human? Did she think that my interest had disappeared? Or even worse, did she see her future with another human?

Shaking those thoughts out of my head, telling myself to stop being an insecure idiot, I picked up my phone and dialled Marcel's number, praying that he would answer me now that the city was really awake.

Not even half a second later I heard the familiar click of the phone being answered. "Hello, old friend. What can I do for you?"

I rolled my eyes at the forced ease in his greeting. He didn't trust me…yet.

"Hello Marcel. An old friend of mine has decided to visit and she was wondering if you could do her a favour." I said, taking a sip from my glass on whiskey as I waited for him to respond.

"Who is it, and what sort of favour?"

"Well, I wouldn't exactly call her a friend. The only reason her heart isn't clenched in my fist right now is because she's agreed to the conditions I've set for her. She's requesting to see your little witch friend, which she seemed certain you would agree to. However, because of my lack of trust, she wants me to tag along."

Marcel let out a small laugh before turning serious. "Who is this 'she' and how does she even know about my witch?"

"Why don't you ask her yourself?" I replied, dropping my phone into Katherine's waiting hand. She smiled she placed the phone to her ear.

"Marcel, it's been a while."

"The myth! The legend! Katerina Petrova, what are you doing back in New Orleans? With Klaus of all people!"

Flipping her hair over one shoulder, she rested her hand on her hip and let out a throaty laugh. "I need to see Davina. I have a little problem that I need her help with."

"Then why go to Klaus and not directly to me? You're in my city baby girl, you should know that you're always welcome."

Katherine rolled her eyes and took a sip out of her own glass. I watched her carefully as she began to formulate her spiel. "After recent events between the Mikaelson family and I, I felt it was safer for me to go to him first for permission. I'm actually quite shocked that he let me get this close. I half expected to be tied up in his basement by now."

"Still running, after all this time."

"I doubt I'll ever stop Marcellus."

"And you want him to come with you? Are you sure that that's wise? The information that she has is probably best kept out of his hands."

Katherine looked me up and down. "I think he'll be fine."

She spoke to him for several more minutes, but I tuned her out, looking through the door straight at Caroline. She sat next to Hayley, the both of them looking at the small presents that Caroline had bought for the baby. They were discussing something about gender neutral colours, but that wasn't what I was paying attention to. My attention was on the blonde who had moved from her original spot, so I could now take in all of the perfect details of her face.

Her face lit up as she reached into her bag and removed her phone, tapping rapidly at the screen before showing Hayley. Hey eyes glowed as she spoke, her face the only thing coming into focus as her lips moved in succession. I watched as her eyelids fluttered shut and the echoing of a small laugh hit my ears, like bells tinkling.

"Hey, lover boy." Katherine whispered in my ear. I whipped my head around to glare down at her as she pushed my phone back into my hand. "Just so you know, she likes you too."

"And how would you know that?"

"She spent half an hour choosing what to wear. She was running around like a headless chicken. It was quite funny to watch."

I looked back over at Caroline, who still sat with Hayley, and focused in on the outfit that she wore. My lips turned up slightly at the cute little sundress and cardigan she had chosen. It took her half an hour just to choose what she was going to wear. For me.

"Anyway, if you can peel your eyes away from her, we have to get ready. Marcel wants to do this tonight."

"Okay. What's the plan?"

"Well, he told us to meet him at his club down on Bourbon Street. Then he's going to be leading us to Davina. We're meeting him at six." She looked down at a small silver watch on her wrist. "So, in about three hours. That gives us time to prepare. Why don't you go and swoon over Caroline some more. I'll be outside making a few phone calls."

She strutted past me and straight out the front door. As soon as she disappeared I let my eyes glide back to Caroline. Sighing, I rubbed the back of my neck and took hesitant steps forward.

#

"I don't know when we'll be back, but we shouldn't be gone too long." I said, having dragged Caroline away from everyone else. "Will you be okay to stay here with Elijah and Hayley?"

She met my eyes for the first time since she arrived and smiled. "I'm a big girl, Klaus. I can handle a couple of hours here. I'm sure Hayley and I will talk about some more baby things. You've been depriving her of any kind of proper celebration where this baby is concerned. Pregnant women need to be celebrated…worshipped, and Hayley only got her first baby thing today. From someone she doesn't even like."

I scowled at her crossed arms and angry expression. What right did she have to scold me? "Fine. As soon as everything is sorted out, then I'll buy Hayley a present. How does that sound? But for now I'm going to find out what I can about you."

"Okay." She looked around and then hesitantly let her eyes fall on me again.

"What's wrong, Love?"

"Just…don't do anything stupid if you get bad news tonight."

I leant closer to her, watching her blue eyes dilate. "I promise not to do anything stupid if I don't like what I hear."

"Good. I guess I'll see you later."

I told her goodbye and walked out of the house, meeting Katherine next to my car. We were taking my car, as fact that I insisted upon. Katherine didn't seem to mind when she saw the vintage model I owned. We both climbed in and as I started the car I looked up to the lounge window. Caroline stood there watching us. She gave a small wave when she met my eyes. I just smiled confidently as I shifted the gears and backed my way out of the driveway.

"You have it so bad." Katherine said, checking her makeup in the rear-view mirror. I growled and reached across to put the mirror back in the exact spot it had been in before she moved it.

"I do not."

"Yes you do." She said, punctuating each word. "It's not like it's a bad thing. I think you could be good for each other. She's all about making everyone else happy, and being all nice and moral. Whereas you're cruel, ruthless, and only do things that benefit you. It's the whole opposites attract thing."

"And what about you? Pining after Elijah all afternoon. Giving him puppy dog eyes when you think no one notices."

"I've always cared about Elijah, Klaus. I've never claimed that I don't. In fact, I wanted to go and live with him in France. But, I have this odd habit where I tend to be a sadistic bitch. Believe it or not he's not really into that."

"In other words, he dumped you." She stilled for a moment, her hand reaching down to play with a diamond bracelet that I recognised immediately as being a gift that Elijah had been given by a Grecian queen that he had saved many centuries ago. "Sorry, I'm supposed to be acting civil towards you."

"You were being honest, Klaus. I wouldn't expect anything less." She sighed, looking longingly down at the bracelet. "I'm gonna have to get over it eventually."

I stared back at the road, not bothering with replying, and let the car dissolve into a tense silence.

It didn't take us long to drive through the city to Marcel's club, and when we pulled into a car spot directly on the street outside, I could see that it was already filled. Turning off the ignition and moved to get out of the car, but was stopped short when I saw Katherine glaring straight ahead. Following her gaze and felt my own eyes widen.

Standing just outside of the club was an olive-skinned, dark haired woman who was the spitting image of Katherine. I looked back to Katherine, taking in her locked jaw and tense body.

"A friend of yours?" I asked.

"You could say that." She shoved open the car door and quickly jumped out with me following close behind her. She stormed up onto the pavement and stopped in front of the woman. I thought back to 1492 when I had had her family killed. Everyone within her immediate family had been taken care of, but this woman was surely related to her. Katherine crossed her arms over her chest. "I told you to stay back at the house."

"There's no reason for me to follow your orders, Katherine. I'm perfectly capable of making my own decisions. Now, why don't you introduce me? I've never had the pleasure of meeting this particular Mikaelson."

I was taken aback by her thick accent. The rough markings of Bulgaria…or Russia. But considering her resemblance to Katherine, that and the fact that she was wearing the high-end clothes, and oozed self-confidence, I would say that it was definitely Bulgaria.

"Hello, I'm Klaus. It's nice to meet you." I said, holding my hand out for her to shake. She took it confidently and steadily made eye contact. She didn't show any sign of being afraid of me.

"It's nice to meet you too. My name's Nadia Petrova."

Katherine seemed to tense even more, if that possible. "What relation are you to Katherine? I'm trying to figure out who I forgot to kill."

Katherine scowled and shot Nadia a warning look before Nadia opened her mouth. "You wouldn't have known to kill me, or where to find me. I'm Katherine's daughter."

The corner of my lips pulled further up into a smirk. That would definitely explain Katherine's behaviour. I looked between the two of them again, finding it even more obvious that they were mother and daughter. The only clear difference between the two of them were Nadia's green eyes.

"That explains a lot."

"Yes, okay! Now that introductions have been made, Nadia can go back home and we can get on with meeting Marcel." Katherine said.

"I thought I might tag along, actually. It has been a while since I attended Marcel's club. It will be nice to reacquaint myself with some old friends."

Nadia led the way to the door, greeting the bodyguard cheerfully, wrapping her arms around him and kissing both of his cheeks affectionately. They spoke briefly before he let the three of us inside.

It wasn't that hard to find Marcel amongst the crowd. He stood directly in the centre of everyone, dancing with three beautiful women.

Katherine's demeanour changed the deeper we got within the club. Gone were her tense shoulders and guarded features, and here was someone entirely different. Completely carefree. She wore a bright smile on her face as she looked around the room full of vampires dancing and grinding on each other. Still standing close to me, but not acknowledging me, she pushed her way through the crowd to Marcel.

Marcel looked up as we approached, his body still moving against the girls he was entertaining, not making any sort of move to come towards us. Nadia, who had been just ahead of me and Katherine as we dodged our way through the people, leapt forward and wrapped a young blue-eyes man into a bone crushing hug and spoke to him rapidly in Occitan.

"Katerina Petrova." Marcel said, emphasising each syllable of her name. He reached out and grabbed her hands in his, leering at her body as he took her in. "Damn, baby girl. I swear you get sexier each time I see you. Although, I like this hair on you much more than the short cut you had last time. Modern times sure have been good to you, if you exclude the fact that you've suddenly decided to befriend Niklaus, of course."

I rolled my eyes at his words, looking around the room and monitoring everyone present in the club, assessing if there were any threats. The crowd was mostly made up of vampires, however there were a few humans scattered in the mix. Meals.

Katherine let out a laugh and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him into a full on-the-mouth kiss. "Marcellus, it's been far too long. So much has happened in the past 50 years."

Marcel's attention moved from her to me, and his smile faltered as he watched me. "Nik, old friend. You are entirely too uptight. It's a party."

I didn't make a move to change my posture, just raised a brow at him and smirked. "I'm not here to party Marcel, maybe another time. I'm here to make sure that Katherine is behaving."

"Ahh, yes. It was very strange seeing the two of you walking across the room together. Very strange indeed. But, anyway, you must have a drink before we head off. I insist. You can't come to a party without having at least one drink." He led us through the crowd to the bar and ordered us three bourbons. Marcel drank his down in one swift gulp, whereas both Katherine and I took hesitant sips of ours.

"So, what caused you to show Katherine some leniency? It's not like you, Nik?"

"He pitied me because his idiot brother turned me down." Katherine said, having to shout over the blare of the music to have us hear her clearly. She smiled at Marcel and gave him a wink. "But, being turned down once doesn't mean that I won't try again."

"The poor man. I don't think he's capable of acting like anything other than a robot. The man needs to loosen up."

"He can be loose when he wants to be." Katherine leaned even closer to Marcel, whispering directly into his ear. "Why do you think I keep trying?"

We finished our drink and Marcel gestured for us to follow him to the back of the club, where we were quickly joined by Nadia. She and Marcel greeted each other affectionately, which piqued my curiosity of her even more, then we exited the club and walked the back streets towards an old church building.

We all stayed quiet while we made our way down the streets, not wanting to draw any attention to ourselves, and when we reached the church Marcel started to tell us his guidelines for seeing the witch.

"Now, as Katherine knows, Davina is still only 16 years old, she's a child. So I don't want any violence or threats being thrown around. I also don't want you to put any pressure on her if she can't tell you what it is that you want to know. Got it?"

We all nodded in agreement, my gut clenching at the thought of going to a child for help. He opened the large door to the desolate church, and led us past the rows of pews out into the back of the building, then up three flights of creaky stairs to the attic. We stopped in front of a worn door, breathing in I could smell the sealing spell that was placed on it. Marcel knocked twice, stepped back, and waited for the door to be opened.

Seconds passed and then the door swung open to reveal a small, puppy-faced brunette sitting down on a stool in front of an easel drawing eagerly. She smiled a wide tooth-filled smile as she saw us standing in the doorway. Pushing the easel to the side, she came running right into Katherine's arms.

"Aunty Kate, it's so good to see you." She said, hugging Katherine while holding her arms out so that the charcoal that covered them wouldn't smudge on Katherine's clothes. She stepped back and looked cautiously at both Nadia and myself, before looking at Marcel. "I never get visitors."

"Well, Katherine asked nicely if she could come and visit her goddaughter, and I couldn't exactly refuse. Even when she wanted to bring some friends with her."

Davina held her hand out to Nadia first, greeting her by name before she had even been told who she was. Then she turned to me, studying me carefully before holding out her hand. I smiled at her and took her hand, shocked by the tightness in her grip.

"I know why you're here." She turned back into the room, sitting down at her easel and motioned for us to take a seat.

Marcel entered the room first, followed by Katherine and Nadia, then me. We all sat down, Marcel and Katherine taking the small bed in the corner, and then Nadia and I taking a chair each. Davina went straight back to her drawing, and I took in the other pictures that were covering the walls and ceiling. Each one messily taped up on display.

My eyes stopped when they landed on one drawing, the sketch clear and messy at the same time, showing me sitting down and holding a small bundle in my arms. My chest tightened as I forced my eyes away to look at other pictures. One showed Hayley with the professor that had lead everyone to Silas, another showed Marcel killing the witch that had used her magic that first night that I had arrived in the city.

I turned my eyes to Davina who was now watching me silently.

"You're an excellent artist." I said, shifting forward in my seat. "Are all your pictures premonitions?"

"I'm not an artist." She said, doing a couple more lines on the paper that was resting in front of her. "I see something in my mind and then my body wills me to draw it. Some of them come true, some of them change. But, I suppose you could say that they all tell the future."

"Your magic has definitely grown since the last time I saw you Davina." I looked over at Katherine, whose eyes were focused on a small sketch that hung on the roof. An embarrassed flush filled Davina's cheeks. The drawing depicted Katherine and Elijah in the throws of something I didn't really want to see.

"It's always growing. I don't really have control of what I see. I just see it."

"So, can you help us with what we want to know? You said you knew why we're here, so you must know something about it." Katherine met Davina's eyes, completely unashamed of what the young girl had seen.

"Yes and no. It's complicated. I know that Caroline was indeed cured of vampirism. But, I also know that she isn't exactly a human either. There's more to her than meets the eye."

I searched the walls for anything else familiar, anyone that I knew. There were several showing me and my siblings, but it was of things that had already happened, nothing that looked new. And there were none that showed Caroline.

"I know that since her recent transformation her body has needed to adjust to being human again, that's why she was unconscious for so long. Her body had to adapt and age appropriately."

"Age appropriately?" Nadia asked, from her spot next to me.

"The cure would change the person back into their human state, but their body needs to be caught up with itself. It can't pick up where it left off because the person is technically older than what they were when they initially turned. For instance, if Klaus had taken the cure, like many people wanted, then he would have stayed unconscious until his body was prepared to age. Then he would have woken up and over the next two weeks his body would turn into dust, because he's 1000 years old." She paused, grabbing a new stick of charcoal from the packet that sat on a small table next to her. "Whereas Caroline woke up and her body will go through only slight physical changes so that she's up to date…so to speak."

"So if I had taken the cure then I would have died?" Katherine asked, fidgeting in her chair and looking incredibly uncomfortable. I watched Marcel taking everything in from the bed. We hadn't told him about the cure, and I would have preferred to keep it that way, but it was too late now.

"Yep, you would have started to age rapidly. Wrinkles, grey hair, teeth falling out, declining health, then you would drop dead and your skin and flesh would most likely turn to ash. It's actually quite lucky that someone so young was cured, she'll suffer very little backlash from it."

"That's good." Katherine said, looking over at me reassuringly.

"What did you mean when you said that there was something else going on with her?" I asked.

She looked confused for a second and then scribbled on her page for a few moments. "That's the thing. I know there's something else about her, but I don't know what it means. I mean, there's just this one word that I keep seeing, but I can't find the definition anywhere. And my visions usually tell the future, but I know that this is something from the past. I've been wracking my brain for weeks trying to figure it out, and the only thing that I can conclude is that it's something very ancient that kicked in once Caroline was cured. Something that is specific to her, and wouldn't have happened had anyone else taken the cure."

My senses lit up and both Katherine and I leant forward, staring at Davina with wide eyes.

"What word?"

Davina put down the charcoal she was holding and shifted the easel so that we could see what she had been drawing. We both gasped at the now-finished piece that rested there. My brain spun as I took in the drawing, immediately understanding what it was that Davina had been seeing. Remembering stories that my mother had told me and my siblings when we were children.

The drawing was of Caroline's face, so beautiful and bright, but her eyes were different. They were unlike anything I had ever seen before. They had some of the characteristics of vampire and hybrid eyes. The veins beneath them and the dilation of the pupil. But there was just something more human about them. Katherine and I looked at each other, my face falling as she looked at me in wonder.

"The word is something like 'la-nee-ah-me-tie' or 'loo-nee-ah-me-tee'."

Chapter Text

KLAUS' P.O.V.

I was not prepared for what Davina had revealed to us. The whole drive back to the house I had stared out the windscreen in shock, with Katherine sitting quietly in the passenger seat beside me.

We had spoken briefly to Davina before we had said goodbye, having gotten as much information as she had for us, leaving the young girl behind in the church. Marcel had asked a series of questions on the short walk back to his club and luckily Katherine had been prepared to answer each of them while still avoiding direct details about who Caroline was to me, and what exactly 'luniamiti' was.

It was clear to tell that Nadia hadn't recognised the term either, but she had had the curtesy not to ask.

My brain was completely shell-shocked by what Davina had said. Of course, I had sensed something was different between Caroline and I. Things had started to noticeably change when I was on my way back to New Orleans after her graduation…after she had had the cure shoved down her throat. And that feeling had only intensified the moment I saw her in Katherine's car. But I had never even thought that this was a possibility.

"Are you okay?" Katherine said meekly, looking over at me. I closed my eyes and mentally growled at myself to focus.

"Yes."

She smiled softly, knowing that I was lying through my teeth. Even I wasn't convinced by my own words, which made me reconsider my want to keep this whole situation a secret. As the driveway drew closer, my chest grew tighter and tighter and I was glad that Katherine had decided to keep quiet once again.

Pulling the car to a stop I yanked the key from the ignition, but neither of us moved for a couple of minutes. Then she unbuckled her seat belt and faced me, opening her mouth and then shutting it again, reaching for the car door and opening it.

"I don't want Caroline to know about this just yet. I want to find the best way to tell her."

"All you need to remember is that this isn't a bad thing Klaus."

#

CAROLINE'S P.O.V.

Watching Elijah out of the corner of my eyes, Hayley and I rummaged through the sketches and plans that were spread across the table. He looked like he was uncomfortable in his three piece suit, sitting and reading in a chair that was positioned in the corner of the room. I had wanted to ask him if he was okay, but I knew that either way he was too much of a gentleman to claim that he was anything but comfortable. Especially since he was playing guard to Hayley and I.

Looking back down at the notes and plans that we had laid out, I tried to organise them all within my mind. As soon as Katherine and Klaus had pulled out of the driveway I had asked Hayley what she was doing for a baby shower, and she had told me that if Klaus didn't want her seeing doctor, then he sure as hell didn't want her to throw a party. I shrugged that off and opened the Google browser on my phone, not accepting the fact that Hayley was giving up on having a celebration just because Klaus was a tyrant.

So we spent an hour or so mapping out all kinds of details for a small, family oriented, baby shower. Just something really small, because I knew that Klaus would never go for anything big and grand.

It was fun to slip back into something that I was comfortable with doing. Having been the one to head all of the dance committees in Mystic Falls, it was comforting to sink back into the relaxing process of organising and researching products and decorations. It helped balance out the stress of not knowing what was happening with Katherine's witch.

My head shot up as I heard the approaching sound of heels on the hardwood floor, expecting to see Katherine walking back into the room, but instead seeing Rebekah. She smiled tightly at me and the both of us eyed each other up.

She was dressed the same way that she was usually dressed, in a pair of jeans and a nice blouse, her blonde hair hanging loose. She stopped in the doorway, looking at her brother, then Hayley, neither of which bothered to look up at her arrival.

"Hello Rebekah." I said, forcing myself to be civil as I sat up straighter. She returned my fake smile, arms crossed over her chest as she leant on the doorframe.

"Caroline." She nodded her head in acknowledgement. "What are you two doing?" She stepped further into the room, looking down at the papers littered around in front of us. Her eyes grew wide as she took in the designs and lists. Her attitude immediately perked up. "Ooh, a baby shower."

She sat down opposite us and picked up a random piece of paper, reading it over and then reaching for a pen to add something down.

"Yeah, Hayley told me that Klaus was being a spoil sport about the baby, so I thought that a little celebration would get everyone excited."

She picked up another sheet of notes and flipped through them, asking questions as she went. We fell into a quick routine of paper shuffling, note taking, and discussion. While Elijah ignored the three of us, still only interested in his book.

This routine wasn't broken for another half an hour when both Rebekah and Elijah's heads shot up and looked towards the front door. A moment later it swung open and Katherine strutted her way in. She raised her brow at the scene in front of her and flipped her hair over her shoulder as she came to a stop in front of the coffee table.

Looking down at us speculatively, she picked up one of the pieces of paper and looked it over before placing it back down and heading towards the window. She looked out into the driveway, and then turned to stare at me. The worry was evident on her face, and I felt my heart sink into my stomach. What was wrong? Were the effects of the cure worse that we thought?

Minutes later Klaus walked into the house, closing the door softly behind him. Elijah, who hadn't looked back down at his book, stood up and walked towards his brother. I watched as Klaus scanned the room and then focused on me. He looked just as troubled as Katherine, making my stomach sink even further.

"What is that on my coffee table?" He said, looking at the three of us surrounding by the mass of papers.

"Caroline is going to throw me a small baby shower." Hayley said, sitting her phone, and the list she had been writing, down on the table. "Just a little something so that we can all share a nice memory of the pregnancy."

Klaus blinked, staring at Hayley's smiling face. "Is she now?"

I smiled up at him innocently. "Well, every woman deserves to have a baby shower. And considering that you don't want everyone knowing that you're having a baby, I thought that this could be a cute idea." I placed my things down on the table as well, happy with my justifications. "It's nothing like the usual size of my parties, but it's been fun to get back into the swing of things. What happened with the witch?"

Klaus grew tense at my question, looking between Katherine and I. The expression on his face was unreadable, and that didn't make me feel any better.

"Well," Katherine started, stepping forward. "The bad news is that you're going to die."

Everyone's head turned to look at her as tears sprang to my eyes and fell down my cheeks. Die? The cure was going to kill me? How long did I have? Would I get the chance to say goodbye to everyone I loved?

"The good news," she continued, "is that it won't be for another seventy plus years."

Growling, I threw a cushion from the couch and flinging it towards her, luckily hitting her. She laughed at her own little twisted joke, probably hoping that it would lighten the mood, but Klaus still looked troubled.

Looking between, I stood up from the couch and crossing my arms. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. It just came as a shock." He said, smiling what was clearly a forced smile.

I walked forward, past Rebekah and Hayley, stopping directly in front of him and looked into his eyes, feeling the shocking jolt run across my skin and into the pit of my stomach. "What came as a shock? Because Katherine just said that I'm fine."

"Yes, you are fine." Katherine said, rolling her eyes at Klaus. "The thing is, we found out that if anyone as old as us had taken the cure then we would have rapidly aged…and then died within a couple of weeks. With you, your body just has to catch up a short amount of time. But for someone like Rebekah, for instance, then she would already be halfway to grandma by now. It was kind of shocking to hear how close anyone could have been to death."

From Katherine's explanation, I didn't think that it had anything to do with Klaus, but I didn't push him any farther, noticing the darkness within his eyes. Something had definitely shocked him tonight, that was for sure, but it didn't have to do with the fact that the cure could have killed any of them.

"Fine." I gave Klaus one last look before turning around and falling onto the couch, crossing my legs on the chair and picking my phone back up, continuing through the list of shops nearby that stocked the supplied that we would need. Hayley's attention slowly turned back to her previous notes as well, realising that we weren't going to get anything else from them.

Klaus shifted in my peripheral, the tension in his shoulders slowly falling away when he realised he wouldn't be questioned more. Elijah stood up in the corner and excused himself, picking up his book and heading directly for the exit, probably glad to get away from the mess that Hayley, Rebekah and I had made. Klaus crossed the room and reached for an empty bourbon glass that sat on the top of a table on the other side of the room.

"The most shocking thing," he started, pouring himself a drink. "Was finding out that Katherine's daughter is alive. Quite an interesting little tidbit."

Everybody in the room stopped short, their eyes moving to Katherine, who was standing with her hands on her hips. She shrugged slightly, storming up to the bar and snatching Klaus' drink straight out of his hands.

"You all knew that the Petrova bloodline survived somehow, Elena is evidence of that. Why is it so shocking that I happened to have a daughter?"

Elijah, who had been mid-step when Klaus had blurted out Katherine's secret, stopped and was watching Katherine with an unreadable look on his face. His brows furrowed slightly and he shook his shoulders as if to straighten himself out.

"Katherine, a word." He said, turning back around and keeping on walking out of the room. Katherine shoved the glass back into Klaus' still-hovering hand and then rushed out after Elijah.

Returning back to my notes, focusing on a website that made custom banners for any occasion, not paying attention to the fact that everyone in the room had their eyes trained on me, waiting for some kind of explanation.

The sloshing sound of liquid filled the room as Klaus poured himself another drink and then his footsteps echoed as he moved across the floor.

"You knew that Katherine's daughter was alive." Klaus whispered, his voice directly in my ear, his breath spreading over the bare skin of my shoulder and neck, making the hairs stand up. I didn't react to his close proximity, but when he didn't move straight away I could feel myself growing more uncomfortable.

Looking up I slammed my notes down on the coffee table. "I found out when we arrived in New Orleans. Nadia had been kind enough to let us stay with her while we're here. All I know, apart from who she is, is that Katherine found out about her not that long ago and didn't react well to the news that Nadia was alive and breathing."

Klaus straightened up, smirking as he walked over to the window with his bourbon on hand. He leant back against the window and kept his eyes on me. I made sure to look anywhere but at him. Hayley was trying to make herself comfortable next to me, whereas Rebekah had an incredulous look on her face.

"What?"

"Nadia? Is her full name Nadia Dubois, by any chance?" She asked, strained as she found to gain control of her features.

"I don't know. She only introduced herself as Nadia Petrova. She could have another name, I suppose. Why?"

Rebekah seemed to grow even more uncomfortable, wiggling in her chair and looking back down at a random piece of paper on the edge of the table. "No reason. I just…when I was in Prague recently I met someone called Nadia and she looked a lot like Katherine. You'd think they were twins if it wasn't for her-"

"Green eyes." Klaus said, finishing her sentence as he looked down at his little sister.

"Oh yeah, that's definitely Katherine's daughter. I thought they were sisters when I met her. It was kind of unnerving. She had a thick accent too." I added.

Rebekah's face paled and she looked as though she was going to be sick. Klaus let out a deep chuckle and Hayley and I looked between the two of them. Rebekah's cheeks turned a light shade of pink and she quickly stood up, excusing herself as she ran from the room.

"What's her problem?" Hayley asked, turning to Klaus who was still standing at the window laughing.

"It would seem that my sister is more than acquainted with Katherine's daughter." He said still, chuckling.

Hayley and I looked at each other and I bit my cheek to stop the giggle from rising up and escaping. Hayley didn't have much luck, letting out a sharp laugh. We all chuckled a bit more before Klaus stood up and came to sit across from us where Rebekah had been sitting. He leant forward and reached out for one of the lists on the table. Without hesitating I slapped his hand away, causing a small growl to rise up in his throat.

He looked at me sharply and I just glared back. "These aren't for you to look at. You can just wait and see what we plan."

"It's not that big, Klaus." Hayley muttered. "It's just something small. The only reason that there are so many notes is because Caroline likes to be thorough."

I could see the disappointment in Hayley's face as she waited for Klaus to forbid it, which I wouldn't let happen. I raised one eyebrow at him, challenging him to dare question me.

"Fine. As long as it's a small party, and Caroline doesn't invite the whole city. I've been to a couple of parties that you've planned, Sweetheart, and there was absolutely nothing small about them."

Rolling my eyes, I began to stack up the papers into relevant piles. "I understand that you want to keep the baby a secret, Klaus. I'm not stupid."

"I never said you were." He said, voice gentle.

There was silence in the room again as Klaus and I looked across at each other. The silence was broken by Hayley as she abruptly stood up from the couch, making both Klaus and I jump slightly.

"I'll leave you two to talk for a little bit. I'm tired anyway."

Sighing, I watched her run from the room. It was barely 8:30. Placing the papers into one big pile, ordering them by importance and level of difficulty, I attempted not to notice that Klaus didn't take his eyes off of me. He offered no comment as I reached into my bag and pulled out a small pencil case that I always kept in there. It had always been essential for me to keep the little pencil case there in the event that anything like this came up, because I was one of the people that had to be prepared for any scenario that could possibly occur.

"Thank you." He said, making me look up at him. He had a small smile on his face, but his eyes were sad.

"What for?"

"Giving this to her. I didn't ask for any of this, and I don't know how to handle her. But, I care about her wellbeing and the wellbeing of the baby. I know that she's miserable being stuck here with Elijah and myself, so it means a lot to me that you would put past your hatred of her in order to plan this party."

His honesty caused me to smile brightly. He looked more serious now than I think I had ever seen before, making my heart constrict at the thought of how much he truly cared about all of the people around him.

Warmth spread through my body as our eyes remained locked.

"It's okay. I didn't want to come here and fight about stuff that's in the past. I'm sick of all of the fighting. I just want some down time so that everything in my life can return to some semblance of normalcy."

He flinched at my words, his voice growing tense as he spoke. "Do you know what you're going to do now that you're human again?"

Joining all of the papers using paperclips, I closed my eyes and breathed out a sigh, running my hands over my face. "That's a hard question for me to answer. I'll probably take a bit of a break before I go back to school. Grow accustomed to being a human again. Then I'll get a degree in business, build a career. The same sort of thing I could be doing if I was still a vampire. It's just that this decision is going to a serious life-long career choice rather than something that's in the moment."

"Are you glad that you were the one who was cured?"

The pain in his eyes intensified with his question, and everything made sense. The way he had acted when they had arrived back here, and how worried he had been since I told him about being cured. He was afraid of me being human. Afraid of all of the time that he had lost with me. He was hurting just as much as I was.

"Honestly…no." I laughed, pushing a loose curl of hair behind my ear. "I was a horrible person before I was turned. I was a narcissistic bitch who only did things for herself. I had no sense of anything other than being the pretty blonde doormat who got to lead the cheerleading squad. But when I turned it was like I was given a chance to be more. It was like the universe was saying to me that I could be more than the small town girl I had assumed I would always be."

Pausing I took a deep ragged breath as I remembered life before vampires had entered it. The constant fear of not being good enough, the attempts to get my mum's attention, throwing myself at guys so that I could feel even a little bit wanted.

"I hated life before being turned. I was lonely and shallow. I'm afraid that I'll let all of that stuff happen to me again. Afraid that the people who hurt me before will sense some weakness in me and now, and hurt me again."

"You're anything but weak, Caroline." Klaus said, moving so fast I almost missed it, and came to sit next to me. Placing his hand on my knee. "And you'll never get treated like that again. Because even though you aren't a vampire anymore, and you don't have all the nice perks of being supernatural, you've grown stronger and more aware of the world around you. You won't let yourself become who you were again."

Neither of us moved as we gazed into each other eyes. A part of me wanted him to kiss me so bad, but I was glad when he didn't and the moment had past, with him rubbing soothing circles on my thigh.

The sweet moment between us was broken by the clicking of heels on the stairs and then the reappearance of a very clearly disheveled Katherine entering the room. Klaus let his hand fall from my knee, standing up from the couch and heading to the window again. Katherine studied us carefully, straightening her hair and her clothes as she came to a stop.

"Are you ready to get going? It's getting late and you probably still haven't eaten, so we'll have to get food on the way back to Nadia's."

Chapter Text

CAROLINE'S P.O.V.

In the days following Klaus and Katherine's visit to see the witch things had taken a worrying turn. At first Klaus had appeared to be worried about the fact that I was human again, and although I thought that that might be a part of it, there was a definitely something else there. Something that he was keeping from me.

In that time I had been watching everyone closely to see if I could pick up on what, or why, they were keeping from me. They had told me that everything was fine, yet every time I walked into a room where both Katherine and Klaus were alone, or where Katherine and Nadia were alone, the conversations would stop and their stares would press against me.

Laying down on my bed, trying to find some comfort in the soft Egyptian cotton blankets, I stared up at the ornate gold light fitting that hung from the ceiling directly above me. I wasn't really seeing the light, but moreso was scanning over my latest ridiculous theories as to what the big secret could be. Would my vampiric bloodlust somehow return, making me need to drink blood to stay sane? Would I rapidly age and drop dead as if I was as a rotted corpse?

Sighing, I pushed myself up into a sitting position and cringed at the tight pull of the muscles up my back. Bright light coated everything in the room and I sat up taking in the way that it glinted off of every surface, counting down from twenty in my head and then pushing myself towards the edge of the bed, letting my legs fall over the side. They hit the cold floorboards and I counted down again, trying to build up to the action that would cause my muscles to spasm and shoot out pain, and then placed weight onto my feet as I came to stand, wincing.

I stumbled across the room, picking up my slippers from in the corner and slipping them on my feet. Maybe I could find some kind of exercise, or yoga that would help with my back issues.

Looking at myself in the vanity mirror, my hair was unruly and bits of hair stuck up in all directions. The bags underneath my eyes were prominent against my pale skin. I stepped forward and tried to make myself presentable for lunch, pulling my hair into a tight ponytail and then adding a light layer of foundation and concealer.

Walking down the long hallway to the main entryway stairs I thought over the way that Katherine and Nadia had been acting, and silently prayed that today at lunch they could at least act normal. Last night at dinner I had interrupted a whispered conversation and they shot apart and both made ridiculous excuses, Katherine muttering something about wolves under her breath.

And I knew that the reason for all the secrecy was because Klaus had asked them to. I wasn't stupid. He had probably made some sort of threat, which made it incredibly difficult to get them to give it up to me. I had one last resort, which was to ask Kida is she knew anything about it, but her loyalty to Nadia would probably prevent her revealing what she knew.

Stepping down from the last step and instead of heading towards the dining room, I went in the opposite direction, heading for what I hoped was the kitchen. I had seen Kida disappear behind these doors several times and I knew that it was either the kitchen or where her room was, so either way I would hopefully find her.

The door handle was cold against the palm of my hand as I turned it and pushed the heavy wooden door open to reveal the pleasant herbal scent that seemed to follow Kida wherever she went.

Kida was standing behind a large island bench and was in the middle of putting lunch together, spreading butter onto bread while something was cooking on the antique fire-powered stove. Her white hair was pulled back by another one of her colourful bandanas, and the sun that was coming through the window seemed to glow off of her skin.

She looked up at me as I walked into the room, smiling knowingly as she put the knife down next to the butter tray. The look she sent my way gave me the feeling that she had been expecting me.

"Hello, Caroline." She said, her words rolling off her tongue in a thick drawl.

Smiling in return, I walked further into the room, sitting on one of the stools that was next to the island. She turned to the frying pan, where some sort of meat was frying, and grabbed a spatula and began to flip the meat over.

"Hello, Kida. How are you?"

"I am well. What is it that you wanted to see me for?"

"Why the assumption that I want something?" I said, sitting up straight in the chair, trying to ease some of the tension in my back that was slowly spreading to my shoulders. I would need to go and find some painkillers after lunch.

Kida pursed her lips as she watched me, reaching into a drawer and pulling out a small mason jar that was filled with what looked like small dark green peas. She twisted the lid, grabbing two of them out and holding them out for me to take from her. Holding them in the palm of my hand I could see that they weren't peas, but some sort of plant or herb that had been crushed up and rolled into a small ball.

"Their herbal pain relievers. Homemade. They'll help with your back." She explained, opening up the oven door and pulling out an oven tray that held some halved tomatoes slightly roasted. I took a deep breath in through my nose, and delighted in the fresh calming aroma of the tomatoes. "And, I can tell when someone wants something from me. I'm a hard person to keep secrets from."

I placed the tablets in my mouth and struggled to swallow them down with my dry throat, feeling my muscles relax almost instantly. Of course Kida would know that I was here for something. From what I could gather, Nadia's resident caretaker was either a witch, or she grew up among them. Neither was very clear because Nadia was just as good as her mother at keeping secrets.

"It's about the night that Katherine and Klaus saw the witch. They told me that I'm fine. Perfectly human. But ever since that night, everyone has been acting really weird around me. Like there's this massive secret that they can't tell me. I was just wondering if there was anything that you could tell me about it."

Kida started to place the tomatoes on the plates, looking down at the food with full concentration. "I cannot tell you before you are destined to know. What I can say is that you need not worry about it being something bad. The stars have aligned and made everything so, and therefore it will be what it is."

I stared at her with an open mouth, trying to make some sense out of what she had just said. When nothing came out, I smiled and thanked her for her advice, even though I was more confused now than I had been before. Walking out of the kitchen, leaving the delicious smell behind, I headed straight for the dining room.

I halted mid-step outside the door as I heard Katherine speaking rapidly.

"She's not stupid Klaus. She knows that we're keeping it from her. The sooner that you tell her the better." She paused for a moment, listening to the reply that I didn't have the power to hear anymore. I stayed as still and as silent as possible, not wanting to tip her off that I was just outside the door. "I'm not going to tell her, I'm saying that you should tell her. Now. I know Caroline, and the longer this is kept from her, the angrier she's bound to get. And from the stories I've heard about the Luniamiti, it isn't a bad thing. In fact, it's supposed to be this rare, magnificent, natural occurrence."

I listened for a little bit longer, rolling the foreign word around in my head. I had never heard that word before, but the moment she said it tingles ran from my scalp down to my neck and back. Katherine didn't mention the word again, and as the argument continued I knew that I was going to have to interrupt sooner rather than later, not wanting to be caught eavesdropping by Kida.

I took several steps back and made sure that as I approached the door again that my footfalls were loud, pulling the door open and hiding that I had heard anything. Katherine quickly hung up her phone, not even bothering to say goodbye to Klaus.

"What have you been up to?" She asked, picking up a glass of blood and taking a long sip. A part of me gagged at the thick liquid that sloshed around in the glass.

"I've been in the kitchen with Kida. I was asking her if she could tell me what you're hiding, but the only think I got was some gibberish about me finding when the time right." I plopped down opposite from Katherine and waited patiently for Kida to bring in lunch. Instead of eating lunch, all I really wanted to do was to head straight up to my bedroom and google the word I had overheard Katherine say to Klaus.

Luniamiti. If I could just find out what that word meant, then I would know exactly what they had been hiding from me.

The door pushed open and in walked Nadia, followed by Kida who was pushing a tray of steaming plates. She placed the plates down in front of each of us, the corner of her plump lips edging up as her eyes met mine. She motioned to Katherine with her eyes and then her smile disappeared and she returned to the indifferent demeanour she usually wore. Had she known that I would overhear Katherine on the phone to Klaus? Did she know that I would hear that word? I smiled at her and thanked her for the food, digging into my lunch.

I didn't engage in conversation, twisting my conversation with Kida around in my mind. That and all of the possibilities of what exactly 'luniamiti' was. Katherine and Nadia, instead of trying to talk to me, discussed about what I assumed they thought was a dull topic…ancient politics.

I'm sure to them, the people who had lived through what they were discussing, it was dull. But to someone who had been alive less than 20 years, hearing two people discuss George Washington and Alexander Hamilton I was kind of riveted

"I'm telling you, Katherine, Angelica and Hamilton did not have an affair. I was friends with Angie at the time. Yes, it was popular belief that there was more going on, and there kind of was in an intellectual way, but they were never physical." Nadia argued, taking a bite from the deconstructed sandwich that Kida had put together. "Trust me, Angie was too loyal to Eliza to do anything with Hamilton."

"I'm telling you, I knew Hamilton. There was more there than met the eyes. They were together at some point. The way she mourned him. The way he spoke about her. They were more than in-laws. Not to mention Hamilton would have slept with any woman who complimented his political standpoint."

After lunch I was quick to excuse myself, hurrying through the house to my room, locking myself in. I grabbed my phone, a notebook and pen, and sat down on my bed. I sounded out the word that Katherine had used and wrote down several ways that it could spelled, entering each one into the google search and finding…nothing. It just kept coming up with completely unrelated word searches and topics. I highly doubted Klaus and Katherine were discussing moon phases or a European restaurant.

It was an hour later that I came to the conclusion that my search wasn't going to give me any reliable information. I stopped, exited the web browser, placed my phone on the bed, and placed my head in my hands, hunching my body forward as I tried to think of what to do next.

Rubbing my hands against my eyes until I saw little flecks of light behind my eyelids, I sighed counted the options in my head.

I could confront Katherine, Nadia, or Klaus with what I had heard, and make one of them tell me what she knew. I could continue my Google search and hope to find something that was actually related to something supernatural. Or I could try and find someone who knew a lot about supernatural lore. Someone who might be able to give me some insight.

My head shot up and I smiled to myself as the realisation hit me. Elena had told me that Bonnie resurrected both Jeremy and Alaric. Surely Alaric would know something. And even if he didn't, he would know someone who did.

Reaching for my phone, climbing off the bed and pacing across the rug as I tried to locate Alaric's number in my phone. I prayed that he still had the same phone, I didn't want to have to explain to Elena why I needed Alaric's number. It was going to bad enough explaining to Alaric why I needed the information from him in the first place.

I was relieved when I didn't get the automated voicemail message, but instead I heard the familiar click of the phone being answered followed by a gravelly voice. "Hello?"

"Hey, Alaric. It's Caroline." I said kicking at the rug.

"Caroline? It's…nice to hear from, I was told you were on holiday."

Forming an explanation in my head, I played with my sleeve. I needed something to explain how I came by the word. "Yeah, I am. I needed a break from Mystic Falls drama. Do some soul searching, you know?"

"I wish I could so that at the moment." He grumbled, his vice strained. "When I was brought back the fact that I was a vampire didn't change, so I'm trying to get a hand on controlling that before I stray too far from Mystic Falls."

"Wow. I didn't even think about it like that. I just assumed you'd be a human again…I actually called because I have a supernatural history question for you. On my trip I've been looking up some old texts and I came across this word that I can't figure out. I've Googled, as well as looked deeper into the text where I found it, but I can't find an explanation anywhere."

He appeared to perk up, his voice loosening up as I heard rustling in the background. "Sure, I'll try and help. What's the word?"

"Luniamiti."

Silence followed and all I could hear was some faint rustling as he moved around. "I've heard of that word before. Give me a moment and I'll find the book it was in."

I waited as he put the phone down. I walked back over to my bed, sitting on the edge, admiring the warmth of the sun on my skin. I looked down at my notebook and picked up my pen, doodling on the corner of the page as I waited for him to pick the phone back up.

"Where was it that you said you heard this word?"

I hesitated before answering, trying to come up with a believable lie. "I was reading an old text with this witch I met. She translated most of it, but we couldn't translate this section, it was in some old indecipherable language, but luniamiti was written down on the bottom of the page, so I assumed that it was important."

"You were right. The book that I have mentions an old legend and describes the word that you found. It says that the phrase comes from Europe, but it also says that the legends origin is as old as the Ancient Greeks. Luniamiti isn't the proper term for it, the original term roughly translates to 'soul mated'. It's related to the mating of werewolves. Werewolves usually mate with another werewolf. It's how they keep things within the pack. However, this story says that sometimes a rare occurrence will happen and a powerful alpha will mate with a human. It's how they cleanse the pack and bring outside blood into the line of wolves. It helps prevent imbreeding." He paused for a moment, his words followed by the shuffling of pages. Soul mated. Werewolves. Alpha…Klaus. "It doesn't go into much more detail than that, but it references a few side effects of the mating. You know what, I'd love to get my hands on that text you found. If I could translate it there might be some more detailed information."

My mind was still reeling over what he had just said. Mated to a human. That would definitely explain the way that Klaus had been acting around me, and how he didn't want me to know what had happened with the witch.

"I'll talk to this friend and see if they can get the text to you." I stopped, looking at the trees outside the window, knowing that I couldn't promise him the text because it didn't even exist. "But nothing is guaranteed. Thank you for giving me that information. I need to go."

I hung up the phone, heart beating wildly in my chest. My mind slowly wrapped itself around what he had said, then the anger set in.

Klaus had no right to keep this from me. No right at all.

Chapter Text

CAROLINE'S P.O.V.

Throwing my phone down on the bed, I slammed open the bedroom door and stormed through the house to find Katherine. My blood was boiling. I could feel the heat in face as I made my way through the hallway and down the stairs, my hands shaking as I opened the dining room door to find both Katherine and Nadia still debating on old presidents. They both looked up as I bustled into the room, glaring down at them.

I pointed my finger accusingly at Katherine, and she stared up at me from her chair, wide eyed and confused by my sudden reappearance.

"How dare you?" I yelled, pointing my finger in her face.

"What have I done now?" She asked, shifting so that she could look up at me better.

"Not you specifically. You. Plural. How dare you guys keep this from me? I have every right to know that Klaus and I have somehow become mated."

Katherine's eyes widened even further and her mouth opened slightly, looking almost like something from a cartoon. She looked at Nadia, and Nadia just shrugged back at her.

"How do you know about that? No one was supposed to tell you." Her words confirmed exactly what Alaric had told me and my heart beat even faster.

"So it is true! I am mated to Klaus. Why wouldn't you tell me something like that? I have every right to know. I thought that you were keeping something horrible from me. Like my impending doom. I was scared. But now I'm just royally fucking pissed off."

Katherine stood up from her hair, holding her hands up in front of her. "Look, it was Klaus' decision not to tell you. He made us all promise. He wanted to find the best way to tell you about it."

I squared my jaw and placed my hands on my hips. "So, Klaus decided that I shouldn't know? He's the one that decided to hide something that is going to dictate the rest of my life? Of course he bloody is." I curled my lip and narrowed my eyes. "You're driving me to see him. Now. And I'm not taking no for an answer."

I spun on my feet and stormed back up the stairs, stopping halfway and calling back to Katherine. "And don't even think about calling him. I want him nice and surprised when I kick his ass."

Grabbing my phone off of the edge of the bed, I slipped my shoes on, and threw on my hoodie, not even caring how I looked. I met Katherine and Nadia in the entrance, Katherine ordering Nadia to stay there as we climbed into the car. I was glad that Katherine decided to speed her way through the city, the speed making my anger seem to grow rather than fade.

Neither of us spoke during the drive, I just sat staring out the window, chewing the inside of my cheek and ringing my hands together. The tension in the car increased with every mile we drove, and I could tell that Katherine was excited to see what I did.

It didn't take us long to pull into the long driveway next to all of the expensive cars, and I barely let the car stop before I jumped out and started towards the front of the house.

I didn't even make it to the top of the stairs before Elijah opened the door, staring at me curiously as I pushed past him and stormed into the house. I looked around the front rooms, not seeing Klaus anywhere.

When the final room came up empty I opened my mouth and screamed out. "Klaus, you dog. Get your ass down here now!"

A second later Klaus appeared in front of me looking slightly dishevelled and slightly amused. He wore his trademark smirk as he took in my less than perfect appearance. When our eyes met the smirk faltered and he looked past me to where Katherine had just entered, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Hello Sweetheart, I wasn't expecting to see you today." He said, keeping his voice pleasant.

"Don't you dare even think about 'sweetheart'ing me. I am so beyond angry at you. How dare you keep this from me? It's my life and I deserve to know when something as monumental as this happens."

"I don't know what you're talking about." He switched his weight from one foot to another, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.

"Yes you do, you…urgh! I can't even find the proper words to insult you with." I threw my hands up into the air and then reached across the space between us to push hard against his chest, which happened to be a horrible idea. A shockwave of electricity ran through my hands and up my arms. It almost made me forget what made me so angry at him. Almost. Looking into his eyes I saw that they had softened at my touch. "Don't even think about looking down at me like that. How the hell can you justify not telling me that some weird wolf-thing made you mate with me? Did it ever occur to you that that was something I should maybe know? Or did you expect me not to notice what was going on around me? I am not an idiot."

His jaw tenses as I spoke and his eyes lifted from mine to glare over my shoulder.

"Katherine didn't have to tell me anything, Klaus. I'm smart enough to figure it out on my own. The only person you should be angry with is yourself. I can't even comprehend how stupid and selfish you are." I was panting and out of breath as I finished my long spiel, still glaring up at him. "So, what do you have to say for yourself? Huh?"

He opened and closed his mouth like a fish before words actually made their way out, his hard voice turning soft. "I was waiting for the right time to tell you."

"The right time?" I screamed. "The right time would have been the moment that you found out. The night that you sat down all cosy next to me and asked me about my future. That was the right time. I had to eavesdrop on cryptic conversations and then lie to a friend in order to find out what was going on. As you can probably imagine, it came as quite a shock."

"Well maybe you should have minded your own business and waited until I was ready." He yelled back, stepping towards me, his face darkening with each word.

I gasped, readying myself to slap him across the face, but was stopped by Katherine stepping between us. "Woah. You two need to calm down."

Moving away from Klaus, I continued to stare at him angrily. He stepped back too, but his gaze softened as he looked at me. I was close to snapping out of the trance of madness that I was under, but I pushed myself to remember that he had kept this secret from me for days. And it wasn't a small white lie that wouldn't affect my life. It was something that would have an impact on every day of the rest of my life.

"Now. Yes, Klaus was a dick for not telling you right away. Yes, he's an ass. But I don't think screaming at each other is going to solve anything. So, why don't we all just calm down and-"

"What's going on now?" Rebekah said from the front door. I turned to look at her, taking in the tall, tanned man that she was accompanied by.

Katherine looked up, opening her mouth to shoot a snarky retort back at Rebekah, but froze, staring directly at the handsome stranger. His eyes landed on her and they grew wide. Something in her completely changed. Her face turned an unhealthy shade of grey and her shoulders slumped in defeat.

"Caroline and I were just having a small domestic." Klaus said, stepping forward. He walked past Katherine and I and headed towards his sister, shaking the man's hand enthusiastically. An enthusiasm that wasn't shared with the man. He quickly dropped Klaus' hand and looked back at Katherine. "Andre, old friend. What are you doing down in New Orleans?"

I turned my attention back to Katherine as she took a hesitant step forward, one hand coming up to her necklace, the other one covering her mouth. I could see Elijah looking between the two of them as well, watching their reactions to one another.

"I'm just passing through. I ran into Rebekah at a bar and she told me you guys were staying here for a while." He said, his words coated in a light accent. "It's nice to see that you and your remaining siblings are getting along. I was sorry to hear about Finn and Kol, my condolences."

Katherine seemed to snap out of her catatonic state and it was quickly replaced with rage. Rage like I had never seen it before. Katherine's eyes immediately grew veiny and red, her teeth elongating as she hissed. Everyone in the room tensed and I took an instinctual step away from her, knowing that one wrong move and I would get snapped in two. Rebekah's eyes widened as she looked between Andre and Katherine for the first time since she arrived at the house. Elijah was the only one who dared a step towards Katherine, edging closer to her without trying to make it seem obvious.

Within a split second Katherine had lunged towards Andre and tackled him through the front door, and down the porch steps. Klaus and Elijah jumped into action and ran after them, leaving the rest of us standing there in shock. Had that just happened? I had seen Katherine do a number of horrible things before, I had been on the receiving end of some of those horrible things, but she had never lost control and attacked someone like that.

I rushed forward to see what was happening, watching Klaus and Elijah as they tried to pull Katherine off of Andre. He didn't seem to be fighting back, just taking hit after hit as she sent them his way. She was screaming in what was probably Bulgarian.

Klaus managed to break her vice-like grip on Andre's shirt and him and Elijah scooped her up into their arms and pulled back.

Klaus handed her over to Elijah and reached to help Andre stand back up, whose once neat hair was now mussed as he tried to straighten out his dishevelled clothes. He stood, reassuring Klaus that he was okay, while Katherine continued to scream at him.

Elijah carried a struggling Katherine up the front steps and towards the front door where I stood. I stepped aside to let them through. As they went passed I looked over at Andre as he started to climb he steps. He was watching Katherine disappear inside, his eyes flickering to mine.

My breath caught in my throat as I took in the brilliant emerald green eyes that bore into my blue ones.

A sudden noise behind me told me that Katherine had broken loose, and I quickly moved further inside as she stormed out the front door, her blood-soaked hands clenched into fists at her side, Elijah following at her heels.

"You slimy son of a bitch. How could you?" She yelled, pulling her arms out of Elijah's grip. "I love you. I mourned you for years. And you've been gallivanting around this whole fucking time, like you left nothing behind."

I stared wide eyed as the strong and powerful woman I knew seemed to break apart in front of me. Her rage made the anger that I had felt earlier seem like a happy greeting, but as the tears started to fall down her cheeks I knew that whatever this man had done to Katherine had to have been significant for it to warrant this sort of reaction. And for what I guessed was the first time in a long time, Katherine fell to the ground and wept. "I lost everything because of you. I sacrificed so much for you, and you've been alive this whole time."

Chapter Text

KATHERINE'S P.O.V.

I couldn't believe that he was here. Actually here. Alive. That he had left me.

My heart was beating wildly in my chest, and I could feel my head pounding at the implication of what this meant. What him being here meant for everything that had happened in my past.

He stared down me, his face blank, not even showing any remorse for what he had done to me. I looked over his tanned skin and mousy hair, then I looked into his eyes. The eyes that mirrored Nadia's so perfectly.

Nadia. I let my mind go to her and the time we had spent together since Caroline and I had come to New Orleans. I was glad she had stayed back at her house.

I needed to get out of here. I couldn't bring myself to be civil when all I wanted to do was rip his throat out with my teeth. I closed my eyes for a moment, letting my vampire features fade back into my skin, wiping at the tears that stained my cheeks. Then I shook my head, trying to find some sense of clarity.

I opened them again and straightened myself out. I would not let myself be humiliated by him again. Without another word to anyone I sped from the property, closely followed by Elijah, and ran to the closest bar I could find.

I ignored all of Elijah's pleas as I ordered myself two drinks, gulping them down like they were air as soon as they hit the bench in front of me. I ordered another two, sipping at them more slowly this time.

He stared at me in the mirror that sat behind the bar, but I just continued to sip my drink ignoring that he was even there.

The first man I had ever loved. The man I had given my everything to, and lost everything because, he was alive. Not only was he alive, but he was a vampire. And considering he didn't look a day older than the last time I had seen him, I would guess he had been turned at the same time I had thought he had died.

Elijah placed her hand gently on my arm and I looked into his eyes through the reflection in the mirror. He sought out my eyes in the mirror, locking mine in place, pity and confusing reading out clearly.

#

I felt like I was going to throw up again, but I fought to hold it down as my father spoke over out meal. My stomach rolled and churned dangerously at the smell of the roasted boar that wafted up from the centre of the table and into my nose. I turned my eyes to the dark grounds, trying to let my mind wander until the nausea passed.

Many a meal had been spoilt in the past few weeks with the constant string of nausea. I suspected what the cause of my illness was, but I didn't dare speak of it. I didn't dark so anything, lest it be true. The longer I kept my sickness to myself, the better.

I looked up as my younger sister placed her hand on my arm. She looked at me worriedly, and my eyes scanned their way around the table I realised that my mother and father were doing the same.

"Are you feeling okay Katerina?" My mother said, standing from her chair and touching her hand to my forehead.

"I feel slightly under the weather, but I will be okay."

My mother accepted my excuse and sat back down in her chair. My father, however, leered down at me from across the table. I shifted under his scrutiny, and took a large bite of the greasy chunk of meat on my plate, trying to convince everyone, including myself, that I was fine.

The bitter taste tolled across the inside of my mouth, the grease coating my tongue and teeth and sticking to the roof of my mouth like moist bread. I chewed the thick flesh between my teeth, trying to seem nonchalant. I chewed as my father continued to watch me, trying to force myself to swallow down the foul taste.

Swallowing down the mouthful of food, my throat protested as I tried to push the food down. I reached immediately for my goblet and drank a long swig of the rich mead.

That turned out to be an even worse idea, because as soon as the secondary flavour met with the remnant of the greasy boar, my stomach churned and heaved. I pushed myself up from the chair, sending the chair to the floor as I ran from the house. I stopped not too far from the door, keeling over and emptying the contents of my stomach onto the cool ground.

When the heaving sensation stopped, I stood up from the ground, wiping at my mouth as I tried to fix up my skirts. I turned to re-enter the house, only to find the door blocked by my father as he loomed in the doorway.

"In the lounge. Now."

I followed behind him and into the lounge, sitting down in one of the empty chairs. My mother through the room and came to sit on the chair next to me, looking wholly flustered. My father didn't sit down in the other chair, but instead he stood next to the fireplace and stared into the raging fire.

When he turned to look at me I quickly looked down into my lap, not wanting to meet his eyes. There was still a small chance that he hadn't clued onto my indiscretion. There was still a chance that I wasn't in the family way. No matter how small that chance was, it was still there.

"What do you have to say for yourself, Katerina?" He growled, stepping forward.

"Papa, it isn't…"

Whack!

My face swung to the side with the force of his hand connecting with my cheek. I cried out at the pain that shot through me, tears welling up in my eyes. I grabbed my face and turned to look back up at him. He stood over me, a burning anger filling his face. He swung his hand back and hit me again, the force sending me out of the chair.

My mama started to protest, standing from her own chair, but she quickly sat back down when she met my father's eyes. I stayed where I was on the ground, not braving facing him head-on.

His hand gripped my wrist, sending shockwaves up my arm as he wrenched me to my feet. I steadied myself as he let go, stumbling slightly as pain still radiated from my face and arm. I couldn't see through my tears as they flowed freely down my face.

"How could you Katerina?" He said, taking hold of my wrist once again in a vice grip. "You're better than this. You know better than to throw your body and the reputation of this family around. You had and abundance of potential as someone's future wife, and you go and ruin yourself with some useless boy."

I sobbed at the clear disappointment in his words. He was right. I had ruined my life.

#

I felt at my stomach through the layers of my dress, caressing the swollen lump that protruded visibly from my stomach. I smiled down at my hand, feeling the small life shifting and pushing against the strained skin.

I lifted my head up to look at the sky, feeling the warmth of the sun seeping into my skin. I let my eyes fall closed against the light and breathed in the clear afternoon air. When I opened my again I continued my walk across the garden, picking some flowers as I went and held them in my hand. I was in the final stages of my child baring, and any day now I would give birth to our son or daughter. The thought sent love coursing through my chest. In a matter of weeks, or even days, I would be a mother. And I would be a wife.

After my papa's violent reaction to my indiscretion, he had ordered that Andre and I marry as soon as my papa taught him how to be more than the stable boy he was. Andre, as someone who was considered to be below my station, didn't have the type of upbringing that would make him a 'decent husband', so my father was training him in the family business.

In just a few days we would marry, and we would be able to have the life we had wanted, our own special forever.

I rounded the far side of the garden and slowly made my way past the stables towards the house. I stopped at the sight of the carriage coming up the road from the direction of town, meaning my papa and Andre were back. I sped up my walking, as much as I could with the added weight I was carrying, eager to spend some time with Andre before nightfall.

The carriage came to a stop near the front door of the house and I gripped the small bunch of flowers in my hand as my papa opened the door and stepped down, shutting it behind him. I looked past him and into the carriage through the window, but Andre wasn't there.

I felt my eyebrows furrow as I looked over my father, taking in his rumpled clothes, small spatters of blood staining his pants.

"Where is Andre, Papa?" I asked, stepping forward with one hand resting comfortably on my stomach.

He looked down as me sadly as he walked to the front door of our home, removing his thick coat as he walked. I followed closely behind him as he hung up the coat and headed through the house into the kitchen where my mama and sister were making bread.

"Tell me where he is Papa." I said, standing beside him as he grabbed a goblet of mead and drank it down.

"Where is who?" Mama asked, turning around from the bench and looking at my papa and me curiously, her hand resting on her hip.

"Andre." I replied, pulling out a seat and setting myself uncomfortably into it. "He didn't come back from town with Papa."

Papa drank down the rest of his mead before turning to me, sadness in his eyes. My heart started to hammer in my chest. What had happened? Was the blood on the bottom of my Papa's pants Andre's?

He reached across and grabbed my hand gently. "I am truly sorry Katerina."

Tears sprang to my eyes and I leapt up from my spot on the chair, searing pain shooting through my hips and stomach. "Sorry for what? What happened to him, Papa?"

"There was an accident in town."

I backed away from him, not wanting to hear whatever it was that my Papa was going to say. "No."

"Someone didn't tether up their horses properly, and then there was something that set off a loud noise. Andre went to go and help calm the horses down before they could run off, but he was knocked off of his feet."

"No." I whispered again, my voice coming out as silent as a prayer. I stepped further back, knowing exactly what my father was going to say next.

He stood up from his own chair and made his way towards me slowly as I continued to back up from him. "There was nothing that could have been done to save him Katerina."

"No." I said, repeating it sternly. I didn't believe him. I couldn't believe him. Andre was an expert with horses, he wouldn't go rushing into an unsafe situation where they were concerned unless he knew he could fix it. He wouldn't have endangered himself when he knew that he had me to come home to. "I don't believe you."

"I was there Katerina. I saw it happen with my own eyes."

Chapter Text

KLAUS' P.O.V.

I watched Caroline from across the room as she sat on the floor in the lounge room, surrounded by a large stack of papers. She was working on her plans for the baby shower that she still insisted on holding for Hayley.

After Katherine's outburst over Andre, she had been stranded here after Katherine had run off, and in the time between Andre leaving and Nadia showing up to pick her up we had talked to each other about our current situation.

It shocked me how well she was actually taking the news. I had expected her to get angry, and to have some sort out breakdown about the fact that something supernatural was pushing itself back into her life after she'd just been cured. But instead, she had asked a lot of questions and taken everything in her stride. One of the many reasons I was so taken with her.

She had asked about how this would affect her, and what it would all entail exactly. And as I had sat down and told her everything that I knew, which wasn't much, she had listened intently, the look in her eyes a clear picture of curious understanding.

She had come here every day since finding out, spending most of her time planning the baby shower, but in her spare time she would spend little bursts with me. Her questions going from the 'whole mated thing' to about my life and about me being a hybrid, what that was like for me.

It was a strange feeling, having someone become actually interested in my thoughts and feelings so abruptly, but I wasn't going to complain about her attention. I liked it. I especially liked how she would occasionally look up from her work and smile brilliantly at me, or how she would take breaks and sit and let me draw her as she ate her lunch before returning to her planning.

Three days was all that it took for a small routine to develop between us, and here we were five days later and she was making herself at home.

Picking up another stacker of papers, Caroline looked up at me and poked out her tongue before making her way through her notes. She was adamant to keep everything she was planning a secret, having kicked Rebekah and Hayley out when the finer details were being organised, and she seemed content to just sit by herself.

"Why don't you come and sit down over here instead of staring at me like a creep?" She said, still staring at her papers.

I slowly made my way from the parlour that sat off of one side of the entrance, and walked over to the lounge where Caroline was sitting. She didn't speak as I made myself comfortable on the couch near where she sat on the floor, but I could see the hint of a smile playing on her lips.

A few moments passed as she put papers aside, ticked something off on her chart, and turned around to smile at me. "I figured you'd be more comfortable sitting over here."

"Why's that Sweetheart?"

"I've noticed how uncomfortable you are when you're away from me. You get all twitchy. The moment I walk through the front door some of that twitchiness seems to disappear, but it's still there unless you're sitting right next to me." She pushed herself up from the floor and sat down next to me. "I noticed it the moment Katherine and I arrived in New Orleans and didn't really know why. But now that I know the reason behind it, I've noticed more about it. So, if you want to sit next to me while I work out the boring details of your baby mama's baby shower, then be my guest. As long as you promise not to snoop into what I'm doing, then it's perfectly fine."

I smiled at her, glad that she could see and understand the effects of our mating.

She rested her feet on the coffee table as she leant back against the back of the couch, closing her eyes and sighing gently. I watched as her pale glossed lips parted and the soft sigh exited. Hesitantly, I reached over and rested my hand on her thigh, causing her to open her eyes and look across at me. She smiled and shifted closer to me so that our legs touched.

"I can't sit here for too long." She said, her voice no louder than a whisper as her eyes fell shut again. My hand made it way up and down her thigh which was covered by the thin material of her tights.

"You should move in here." I whispered, still staring at her perfect lips.

"No."

"Why not?" I protested, sitting up straighter and stopping the movement of my hand on her leg, letting it sit there still. "You won't have to drive here every day. We'll be able to spend more time with one another. It would be perfect."

"Perfect in theory. Klaus, I like this. Spending time together and getting to know you better, but I wouldn't be able to stand living with you. I know what you're like. You're possessive and controlling, and you'll watch my every move. I wouldn't be able to handle living like that. I like the freedom I have living with Katherine and Nadia. I like being able to walk around without worrying about how I look, or how I act. I think it's best that we don't live under the same roof. Maybe later."

A growl threatened to escape and I pushed it back down as my hand gripped lightly onto her thigh. I tried to focus in on the positives in her speech. "Later?"

She smiled, reaching down and grabbing my hand, squeezing it before she took her feet down from coffee table and moved up onto her feet so that she was standing above me. "Yes, Klaus. Later."

I smirked at the thought of living with Caroline sometime in the future. My inner wolf growling happily at the thought. "How much later?"

"We'll see."

I opened my mouth to reply but was stopped as I heard a car pull into the driveway. I stood up from the couch and ran over to the window to see who it was. I was surprised to see that it was Katherine, because she hadn't been back here since her outburst with Andre.

I looked over at Caroline, who had moved back to the floor and was immersed back into her planning, and then I walked to the front door just in time to meet Katherine on the front steps.

KATHERINE'S P.O.V.

Klaus managed to gather everyone rather quickly after my arrival at the Mikaelson house. Caroline had already been in the lounge when Klaus had let me in, then not even five minutes after Klaus had sent out a mass text Rebekah and Elijah appeared, then Hayley came to the lounge room as well.

I stood next to the window, watching the city rather than sitting on the chairs with them. I felt incredibly uncomfortable having told Klaus that I had wanted to explain myself to everyone. I wouldn't have come here if it hadn't have been for Nadia pushing me to come.

Rebekah and Hayley both went to Caroline when they came into the room, asking her how she was going with her baby shower planning, and for that I was grateful. It was good to just warn up to the room before any questions were asked about how I knew Andre.

I could feel Klaus and Elijah's eyes on me as I kept looking out the window, not really paying attention to what anyone way actually saying, my memories of Andre dancing across my mind.

"Katherine?" Caroline said, snapping me out of my daze. I turned around and saw that she was staring at me questioningly.

"Sorry. What was that?"

"I was asking where Nadia was today." Caroline's question made me even more uncomfortable. My relationship with Nadia had been unnecessarily strained since I discovered Andre was alive. I had broken down the night I had found out and told her everything that had happened…or that I thought had happened.

She had been distant ever since, as if trying to process what I had said. A part of me was grateful that she wasn't pressing me for information. Another part of me was upset that she had been avoiding me since. The only real conversation we had had was earlier today when we had argued about me coming here and explaining myself.

"She and Kida are spending the day inside. I think they're doing some sort of cleansing ritual. It's a magically significant day, apparently. Probably a planet aligning or something. I don't really know." I paused, crossing my arms over my chest as I hesitantly stepped forward. "It's part of the reason why I came today, she wanted me out of the house for a while."

She smiled as she nodded her head. She knew that things were weird and luckily she respected that. It was one of the things that I had grown to like about Caroline. She managed to keep to herself, and not push herself into things that weren't hers to push into. But she did it in a way that was surprisingly supportive.

I watched as her focus returned to the lists that she had been looking through, plans for the baby shower she was determined to follow through with. Her navy blue sundress, that she had made me take her to buy, bunched up around her legs as she sat curled on the floor. I still found it funny that she was putting in so much effort to impress Klaus, I was sure that he would still be attracted to her if she lived on the streets wearing a potato sack.

I turned my attention back to Klaus, Elijah and Rebekah, preparing myself to talk about the one thing I really would rather forget. "I just wanted to come and apologise for what I did the other day. I was caught off guard with Andre being here. It had been a very very long time since I had last seen him, and I thought be died back then. It was just…a bit shocking. I lost my cool."

"It's okay." Klaus said, looking at me carefully, humour dancing in his eyes. "It was rather entertaining to watch."

"I haven't lost control and attacked someone like that in over a century."

"Why did you attack?" Rebekah asked, leaning her head slightly to the side, causing her loose hair to follow.

"He and I were close. We were involved, and I thought he had died. Seeing him again just snapped something inside of me."

"Do you do that to all of your ex-boyfriends?"

Caroline let out a snort and shifted in her position on the floor. "No. She just smothers their friends with pillows."

"Blood hell!" I said, letting out a small laugh as I strolled over and came to sit down on the arm of one of the unoccupied chairs. "You smother one girl with a pillow and you never live it down. In my defence, it was the best way to send the message I wanted to. And you ended up enjoying being a vampire anyway."

Klaus looked at me with an expression that would usually make me shrink back in fear, but knew that Caroline would intervene before he could do any damage. Besides, Caroline seemed to be over anything I had done to her in the past, so it wasn't like he had anything to hurt me over.

"Andre told me to tell you that he was staying in New Orleans for a while if you wanted to catch up." I let my face freeze into an indifferent mask as Rebecca's words sunk in. Andre was going to stay in town. He was in New Orleans right now. Somewhere in this city. Would he find out about Nadia? Would he even care? "He also said that he would wait for you to come to him instead of the other way around."

I sighed, distracting myself with my nail polish covered fingers. "Of course he did. He doesn't want to catch me off guard again. Anyway, I'm sorry for causing a scene. It won't happen again.

I pushed myself up from the arm of the chair, glancing down at Caroline, who was multitasking between watching everyone in the room while still working on whatever she was working on. "I'm going to head off. I'll probably go and see a few of my old friends. Are you still alright driving yourself home, Caroline?"

"I'm fine driving Nadia's car, Katherine. I'll see you at home later."

"Okay. I'll see you then." I waved goodbye to Klaus, Rebekah, Elijah, and Hayley, then headed towards the front door.

I made it half of the way down the front steps before a firm hand grasped my arm, pulling me to a stop. I looked over my shoulder at Elijah, watching his calm face as he let my arm drop back to my side. I smiled one of my flirtatious, man-eater, smiles and waited for him to say whatever it was that he wanted to say.

He dark eyes shone in the warm afternoon sun, something gleaming behind his façade. "I was wondering if I could come with you. I think it would be best if you and I could go somewhere private to talk to one another…away from prying ears."

I stood taller, not necessarily wanting to get into the nitty gritty aspects of my relationship with Elijah yet, but I wasn't going to turn down the opportunity to spend some time alone with him. It wasn't like I actually had any friends that I wasn't to visit, I just wanted to get away from the curious stares of not only the Mikaelson's, but also Nadia.

"Sure. Why not." I said, flicking my hair over one shoulder. "Do you need to go and get anything from inside, or are you ready to go now?"

"I'm ready now."

#

You could cut the tension with a knife. Both nervous and sexual. And while I was trying my hardest to ignore how close Elijah and I were sitting to one another, it was almost impossible with the feelings that were swirling around within the confines of my car.

If what I had felt for Andre was true love, then my feelings for Elijah were something altogether otherworldly. I had fallen for him almost as soon as I had met him. He outshone the other members of his family, and although I flirted with the idea of Klaus, my eyes had zeroed in on Elijah and hadn't strayed too far since.

My feelings had continued to grow stronger with our recent time together. Even though it had been such a short amount of time, the time we did share was domestic bliss. We were free to do the things that normal couples did. Date nights, cooking dinner together, watching cheesy romantic movies.

My heart had been shattered after Elena had told him what I did to her brother. I should have known that Elijah didn't want me, he had wanted the calm and docile version of myself that existed 500 years ago.

Elijah stared face-forward out the windscreen, watching the road as he broke the silence. "Where are we going?"

I shrugged, unsure of what to say. I didn't really have a final destination.

"Well, who were you planning on visiting?"

"A full bottle of whiskey." I muttered, slowing down as I reached a red light.

I could feel Elijah's piercing eyes on me as he turned to look at me.

"Okay. Why don't we go to Sophie's? They have nice food there, and you won't have to drink alone."

He didn't take his eyes off of me for the rest of the drive, giving me directions to Sophie's. I tried my best to ignore him as I focused on the road in front of me, but I failed miserably.

We didn't speak to each other again until we were seated at a small table in the corner and had ordered our food.

"So, why don't you tell me the real reason why attacked Andre?" He said, taking a sip of his glass of water, his eyes flicking across everyone in the room.

"I already did."

"I know you, Katherine. I can tell when you're lying. It's written all over your face."

I took my glass of whiskey from the waitress and took a sip, looking towards the kitchen and praying that the food would come before I was forced to tell Elijah everything. "I didn't lie. I just avoided telling the whole truth."

"Yes, I'm familiar with that habit of yours. Well, now I'm asking for the whole truth. So, instead of glaring at the cook why don't you just tell me? I'm not going to stop until you do."

I moved on the seat, pulling at my shirt. I met his eyes, which were dark in the dim light of the bar, and they locked onto mine without hesitation.

"Andre was the first guy I ever…the first guy in my life. Other than my father. He worked for my family, he was handsome, forbidden, and young. I fell for him before I even know what was happening." Elijah looked uncomfortable, as if he wanted to tear his eyes away, but couldn't. I pushed a lock of my hair behind my ear as I thought over how to word everything so it didn't turn into a long-winded rant. "I was young and didn't understand that there was more to love than a quick fuck in the back stable. And like a lot of relationships back in the day, I fell pregnant. My parents demanded we get married, which we planned on doing, but at about 8 and a half months pregnant he was trampled by horses and killed. I had my daughter the next night, and then three nights later I was on a ship to London. The end. Until he walked into your house perfectly alive, of course."

"Why didn't I already know any of this? Why didn't you tell me about the fact you had a baby, about the life you had before London? You could have told me after we got back together, but you didn't."

"Elijah I was 16 years old when I had Nadia. I didn't even get to hold her in my arms before my father pulled her away. I pushed that part of my life so deep inside of myself that until I was reunited with Nadia, I didn't acknowledge the fact I had ever been a mother. I couldn't. I still can't."

I stopped as a large bowl was placed down in front of me, our waiter appearing out of nowhere. I looked down at the gumbo in my bowl, not having even noticed that that was what Elijah had ordered for me.

"Okay. I won't push you anymore."

I looked up, meeting his eyes, and let a small smile pull at my lips. "Thank you."

Chapter Text

CAROLINE P.O.V.

I watched as their cars pulled out of the driveway, waving at them from my place in the front doorway. It was early in the afternoon and after spending the past three weeks preparing for this day, I didn't want any of them to be around to ruin the surprise.

The moment the final car drove out of site I retreated back inside of the house, slamming the door, and headed to the lounge room where all of the boxes were stacked. There weren't a whole lot of boxes, I had managed to keep my promise to Klaus and keep the baby shower small, but there were just the few that held decorations, games and food.

Taking a deep breath, I opened the first box and got to work. Using a ladder, I managed to strategically place pale pink and blue streamers all across the ceiling, with a banner across the room that read, with the insistence of Klaus (and eventually the approval of Hayley), 'Baby Mikaelson'. Rearranging the room, I moved the couch, chairs and coffee table to one side so that I could bring in a larger fold-out table and put that near the window, filling it with snacks and little baby decorations.

A couple of hours later the nerves and excitement started to kick into hyper-drive as I heard a car pull into the driveway. Looking out the window I spotted Katherine's black SUV. Her and Nadia got out and came to wait on the porch for the others, who arrived close behind them.

Hayley and Rebekah got out of one car, a mountain of shopping bags clutched in their hands as they made their way to the front stairs. Elijah and Klaus walked up behind them, Klaus sneering at his sister and all of the bags.

Opening the front door and stepping out, everyone stared at me as they waited to be let into the house. I smiled eagerly at Hayley as I led them into the front lounge room. Hayley almost burst into tears as she looked around the room and took in the decorations I had spread across the whole room. She stopped dead in the doorway, just letting her eyes scan everything while the others came up behind her.

"This is amazing Caroline. Thank you." Standing to the side, I smiled as she walked further into the room, heading straight to a chair I had labelled was just for her, the others following behind.

Nearly an hour later everyone found themselves seated in a chair, having already started eating the snacks I had placed out, and now Klaus and Katherine were arguing about the gender of the baby.

I laughed as Katherine adamantly argued that Hayley was having a girl 'because of the way that she's carrying the weight', whereas Klaus was sure that it was a boy because he felt the child would be a strong 'heir'. Hayley didn't seem all that fazed by any of it, she just seemed happy that everyone had gathered under the one roof and were somewhat civilly celebrating the baby.

She had confided in me a week earlier that she hadn't known any of her family, and that she had spent the early years of her life travelling from foster home to foster home until she triggered her curse and ran into some other werewolves in the Appalachian mountains. Before I had shown up she had been worried that her baby would experience the same feeling of being unwanted.

I poured myself a drink and then decided that it was time for the presents. Grabbing a handful of them, I started carting them over to the chair where Hayley was sitting. Nadia quickly jumped up to help me move all the presents across. The room grew quiet, Klaus and Katherine's argument coming to an abrupt stop as I handed Hayley the present I had bought her.

She unwrapped the gift in an almost supernatural speed, smiling down at the little custom-made grow suits I had bought that read "Original Cutie" and "Little Howler". Rebekah's present was next, and she was proud to show off the extravagant stroller that had bought that was decked out with a bottle holder and a bunch of other 'necessary' accessories.

Katherine and Nadia had gone for the 'basic' baby items, buying diapers and generic gender neutral clothes. Hayley had thanked them, and it was as if in that moment Hayley realised that she would need to stock up on A LOT of diapers and other basic things for the baby, but she quickly pushed their presents aside and reached for Elijah's, which as a small handmade wooden toy that he had made back in 1632.

The last present was from Klaus, and I could easily guess what was inside the rectangular package. Hayley tore through the plain brown paper and let out a sharp gasp at what she saw inside. She pulled the rest of the paper away and stared down at the canvas in awe.

Tears welled up in her eyes as she pulled the canvas closer to her face, as if to take in all of the details it held. I leant in, curious as to what Klaus could paint that would make Hayley cry, and I almost cried myself at what I saw.

It was an oil painting that had been down in different tones of brown, making it appear like a sepia photo. She was curled up on one of the couches, her feet curled up beneath her, with a book in one hand and the other one cradling the bump she was sporting. It must have been from a day that she had worn a rare skin-tight shirt because the round of her stomach was on full display. A part of me wondered why Klaus had chosen to immortalise this moment onto the canvas, but I knew it was the right choice.

I pulled away as Hayley turned the painting around to show everyone else in the room. Klaus looked unfazed by everyone's appreciative reactions, he just looked down at his glass of pink lemonade (a drink that he had almost had a fit over when I placed it in his hand earlier). I looked across at him, watching as he avoiding their complements.

Hayley shoved the painting into my hands and shot up from the chair, launching herself into Klaus' unsuspecting arms and mumbling something unrecognisable. He wrapped his arms around her carefully, eyes wide as he slowly patted her back.

My heart clenched at the sight. Not out of something mean or vicious. But a sense of happiness at the affection between the two of them. After weeks of Klaus barely acknowledging Hayley, it was nice to see that he actually did care.

The nice moment was broken almost immediately by the shrill ringing of my phone. I scowled and placed the painting gently down on the coffee table, standing up and snatching my handbag from underneath the large table.

"Sorry, I'll be back in a moment." I said as I rushed from the room.

Rummaging through the bag, I headed for the front door, scowling as I picked the phone up only for it to stop ringing. Reading over the missed call notification, I wondered what my mum could possibly be calling me about when I had already told her what I had planned on doing today. My mind instantly went to the worst case scenario.

It was Mystic Falls, nothing stayed quiet for long.

What if Silas had returned? What if someone had been bitten by a werewolf? What if it was a hunter? Looking back over at the lounge room where the conversation had picked up, I decided that I should call her back now, in case it was really bad.

Opening the front door, I stepped outside and headed across the front porch to a chair that sat near the end. Sitting down I unlocked it and scrolled through the contacts to find my mums name. I paused at the sound of gravel crunching.

We weren't expecting anyone else for the party.

My head shot up and I was surprised to see Andre strolling across the driveway, hands in his pockets. He looked me over, his nostrils flaring as he clearly realised that I was a human. His eyes travelled across my body, making me sit up straighter and meet his eye.

"Hello," he said, looking towards the front door and then back to me, "I'm just looking for Klaus. Is he inside?"

Looking back to the door, I wasn't sure if I should let him inside or not. But then I remember that there was an added up age of about 5000 in the room, and if he caused any trouble they'd be able to handle it.

"He's in the front lounge room. They're having a small party though, so I wouldn't just barge in."

He nodded his head and turned back around, not even knocking on the door as he left me sitting alone on the porch. Rude.

Looking back down at my phone, I clicked on my mums name and held the phone to my ear, listening as the phone started to ring. A few seconds passed before I head the tell-tale click of the phone being answered.

"Hey mum, what's up?" I said, trying to remain as calm as possible, not letting the worried tone seep back into my voice.

"Hey, Caroline."

KLAUS P.O.V.

Moving quickly, I ordered Hayley to sit back in her seat and stay there. Everyone else had noticed that Andre was outside on the porch at the same time I did. Listening carefully to see if Caroline was in any trouble, her voice echoing softly in my ears, I moved myself to the other side of the room. Trying to make it look like I was an unwilling participant in the party, I plastered an annoyed expression on my face. I did not want Andre knowing who the baby shower was for. Rebekah quickly removed the 'Baby Mikaelson' banner and shoved it in a box under the table.

A few seconds later the front door swung open and Andre came strolling into the room, hands placed firmly in his pockets as he looked around the room suspiciously. His eyes scanned over the room, one eyebrow raising at the decorations, before they landed on Katherine, who had moved closer to Elijah.

"This wasn't what I expected when the hot blonde said there was a party." He said, finally meeting my eyes.

Pushing away from the wall I had just placed myself against, I walked towards him slowly. "Neither did I when I got home today. It seems my sister decided to throw one of her 'projects' a baby shower. What can I do for you?" Stopping in front of him, I looked briefly at Katherine. "That is, if you're here looking for me?"

He followed where my eyes had stopped, staying on the curly-haired brunette who was distracting herself with showing Nadia something on her phone. "I came to see you, but it's clear that you're all busy. While I am here, Katerina, maybe you and I should talk?"

Katherine's posture didn't change as she glanced up at him nonchalantly. I watched her as she locked her phone and placed it back in her pocket, sitting up straighter and curling her lip up at him.

"First of all, it's Katherine. It has been for several centuries now. Second, I don't have anything else to say to you." Katherine gracefully uncurled herself from her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. She stepped forward, seeming like she was about to leave the room, but came to a stop next to him. "However, there is someone here that you might want to explain a few things to."

With those words Nadia turned around, her emerald green eyes meeting the matching pair that was now staring at her in a panic. This was clearly an ambush he hadn't anticipated. If it wasn't for the fact that I didn't want a fight to break out in the middle of the baby shower that Caroline had spent weeks preparing, I would have probably made a joke out of this whole situation.

Nadia stood up from her chair, just as graceful as her mother, and then held out her hand to the man in a kind gesture. Andre's face contorted from shock horror to uncertainty and then to fear. "It's nice to meet you. My name is Nadia."

He just continued to stare open-mouthed at her until she hesitantly let her hand drop. Her jaw clenched and I caught flicker of something in her face before she placed an indifferent mask in its place. I wondered what was going through his head at this moment, being confronted by the daughter he had abandoned. That thought led me to wonder what Katherine's reaction had of been. That would have been an event.

Andre closed his mouth before opening it a second later, a long choking breath forcing its way out before he swallowed nervously. Seconds passed before he finally spoke. "You should be dead."

As the words fell from his lips the rising tension in the room was pierced by the steel blade that was an agonised scream…coming from the front porch.

The sound sent a ripple of pain through my chest, and I ran as fast as I could out of the front door. I half expected someone to be attacking her, but instead I found Caroline kneeling on the ground, her phone lying next to her on the ground, her body shaking with the force of gut-wrenching sobs.

The pain still radiated through my chest as I knelt down beside her, wrapping my arms around her protectively. Holding her while her tears soaked my shirt. I continued to just hold her, losing track of how long we sat there with her sobbing.

What could have possibly happened to make her this distraught? Clearly something had gone wrong back in Mystic Falls. The idiots couldn't go a day without something happening. The question was, what had happened to make Caroline react this way?

I waited until her cries died down, her head resting gently in the crook between my shoulder and my neck, before I asked her what it was that had happened.

Pulling her closer, another round of sobs started to shake through her. I pressed a light kiss to the top of her head and stroked her hair until she was ready to pull back. She let out one final sob as she pulled back and looked me in the eyes. I had never seen her this upset, and it was killing me to watch her beautiful face contort in pain.

"Bonnie's dead."

Chapter Text

CAROLINE P.O.V.

I tapped my hand on the handle of the door impatiently, watching the trees as world flew past us. Klaus was speeding, which wasn't surprising considering he was an immortal hybrid who couldn't die. But, I was breakable. I could die. Not that he would crash, but if he did I would likely become a crushed pile of flesh and bone.

It was making me feel sick.

Pushing the nausea down I looked at my hand which was nervously beating against the leather lining of the arm rest of the passenger side door of Klaus' car.

We had been on the road for almost twelve hours now. Klaus had arrived at Katherine's early in the morning, before sunrise, insisting that he be the one to drive me home to Mystic Falls. We were expected to arrive at around 7pm, giving me enough time to settle in and get a good night's sleep before the funeral tomorrow.

Bonnie's funeral. That's why we were driving back to Mystic Falls. It was impossible to wrap my head around it. My mum had told me all of the details of how Bonnie had died at graduation, and how Elena only found out because she caught Jeremy talking to Bonnie's ghost.

The moment that I had calmed down on Klaus' porch, I knew that I would need to return to Mystic Falls as soon as possible. My mum had tried to convince me that I didn't need to come back for the funeral. That everyone would understand if I didn't come. But, I wasn't going to miss the chance to say goodbye to my friend, even if I was afraid of my other friends finding out that I had mistakenly been cured.

Katherine had been the one who initially offered to drive me back, but both Klaus and I thought that that was probably a bad idea. With her involvement in the awakening of Silas, and the fact that she was the one who was supposed to be cured, who knew what my friends would do if they saw her?

So, here we were, twelve hours into a drive that was killing my back and my legs. The dull ache, that I still wasn't used to, was beating against my body as I sat watching the day darken into night.

"Can you please stop that infernal tapping?" His voice cut through the silence like a knife. I stopped immediately. "I know that you're nervous, and that you're upset, but there's only so much I can take. First you were picking at the seam of your jeans, then you were playing with your fingernails, and now you've graduated to this."

Turning to him, I glared indignantly. "Oh, I'm sorry. Sorry that I can't focus on anything other than the fact that I'm going to be burying my best friend tomorrow. That I feel sick to my stomach about the fact that I never even got to say goodbye."

His hand moved from its place on the steering wheel and landed softly on my thigh. I tried not to smile at the gentleness in his gesture then I placed one of my hands on top of his. "I understand Caroline. But everything will be fine. It's going to hurt, but it'll get easier with time."

We slipped back into a silence that was remarkably less tense than it had been previously, and instead of tapping my hand on the arm rest besides me I distracted myself with tracing the lines of the hand Klaus still had on my leg.

#

A bright light flickered on above the front porch as Klaus turned the key in the ignition, killing the engine. I watched as the front door was pulled open and my mum emerged from inside. A smile found its way onto my face at the sight of her wearing her uniform, knowing that she had probably just gotten home from work. Wanting to be here when we arrived, but still wanting to spend as much time as she could protecting the people of Mystic Falls.

Klaus removed his hand from my lap not once looking up at the house. His movements were stiff as he kept his head down, unbuckled his seatbelt, and then flung open his car door. The muscles beneath his shirt jerking at the tight actions.

Copying his actions, I then reached down to retrieve my handbag from the floor in front of me. The cold air from outside sending a shiver down my spine, I then looked over my shoulder at where he still sat, letting out a soft sigh. "You know, you didn't have to agree to have dinner with my mum. You're over 1000 years old, you could have gotten out of it."

He didn't respond or move as I flung one foot out of the door onto the hard concrete curb. Pausing before pulling myself up and out, I reached one of my hands back over to grasp his, whispering softly that it was going to be okay. He seemed to instantly snap out of whatever it was that had been going on and climbed out of the car in a blur. Rolling my eyes, I moved my other leg out of the car, wincing at the pain that shot up my legs and back from the pressure of my own weight. I would need to take another one of Kida's pills before we had dinner.

Klaus and I made our way up the path side by side, it was almost like this was a normal situation. Except, it wasn't really, not when I noticed the worry so clear in my mums eyes and then remembered why it was we were actually here.

When we finally reached the top of the stairs, she wrapped me in a large bear hug. As someone who hadn't been overly affectionate growing up, I was pleasantly surprised at this sudden embrace.

My aching muscles relaxed as I took a deep breath in and recognised the familiar notes of whiskey and the woods, which had clung to her body for as long as I could remember.

She pulled me tighter to her body before letting me go, holding me an arms distance away from her. "I've missed you so much Caroline. I was so worried when you wouldn't wake up."

"I know. You were worried enough to go and seek out Katherine."

"I didn't think your friends would be able to help you. I at least figured that Katherine would know someone that could help you." She let me go and stepped back, her blue eyes taking me in. "You look older."

"That's because of the cure. My body has caught up to my actual age."

She nodded as if I had mentioned the weather and not the fact that I had gone through a magical growth spurt, then level her eyes onto Klaus. "Thank you for driving all the way down her. I'm sure you had a lot of other…things you could have been doing."

Klaus, ever the gentleman, stepped forward to shake my mum's hand politely, spouting some nonsense about it being his duty to ensure my safe return. Rolling my eyes I walked straight passed my mum and into the house.

Letting my eyes travel over every surface that was visible, taking in everything that was within my eye line, I was relieved to find that it was all pretty much the same. The house wasn't as clean as it had been, which I wasn't surprised about considering how much mum worked. The majority of the housework had fallen to me.

Walking further into the house I turned into the lounge room, smiling at the fire going in the fire place, as well as the delicious aroma that permeated the air.

"Dinner's almost ready." She said from behind me. I spun around to face her, almost laughing at how awkward Klaus was looking. "I cooked chilli. Is that okay?"

I smiled widely. The only thing that my mum excelled at cooking was the famous Forbes chilli. It was amazing, and I was thankful that she hadn't attempted to cook anything else.

"That sounds great, mum."

"Okay. Well, I'm just going to go and get changed. Why don't you get Klaus something to drink?"

Watching after her as she hurried from the room, I turned to face Klaus. The last time we had been alone in my house had been when he had come to cure me from the bite that he had forced Tyler to give to me. Klaus came to stand beside me. He looked around curiously, seeing the room for the first time even if this wasn't his first time here.

"Is your mum's chilli any good? You looked relieved when she told us that that was what she would be serving."

"It happens to be the only thing she doesn't ruin. It's amazing."

"Amazing that she doesn't ruin it? Or that it tastes amazing?"

#

To say that this dinner was strange would be a gross understatement. Strange didn't even begin to cover it. Everything was managing to go surprisingly well, but it was the looks that mum kept shooting between me and Klaus that was filling the entire room with tension. She looked as if she wanted to ask us something, but then she would look back down at her food. This meant that the conversation around the table was pretty scarce.

Eventually my mum looked up and me Klaus' eyes steadily, putting on her best 'cop' expression. "So, Klaus. Are you sleeping with my daughter?"

I choked on the mouthful of water I had just sipped from my drink, trying to swallow it down without it spraying out of my mouth. Grabbing my napkin, I wiped the water from my face. Where the hell had this come from? Why would she automatically assume that he and I were sleeping together?

Looking between my mum and then to Klaus, who was sitting there wearing his trademark smirk. "Would it be a problem if we were?"

My eyes narrowed, not liking the menacing tone in his voice. Or the smile that was causing dimples to form in his cheeks. I decided that it would be best if I stepped in before Klaus could make this any worse. "No. We are not sleeping together."

She took a long sip from her glass of bourbon, raising an eyebrow at me over her glass. "I was just checking. This is the first time you've been away from home without any family, I was just making sure that you're behaving yourself."

"The only trouble Caroline had gotten into is over-spending with my credit card. She's been remarkably…dull. I'm sure if any of her friends were with her then the whole city will have imploded by now."

I groaned internally, suddenly wishing that I had chosen to stay away in New Orleans. Anything would be better than sitting at a table with this conversation. It was one thing for mum to accuse us of sleeping together, it was another for her to speak about me like I was still a child, but I was instantly flustered by the fact that Klaus was playing along with it.

My face grew hot and the temperature of the room seemed to increase. Taking a deep breath I tried to ignore the feeling that had spread through my body. It shouldn't have bothered me. This whole conversation shouldn't have bothered me. Klaus was just being his usually sarcastic self, and of course my mum would question us, I had barely spoken to her since being in New Orleans and she was obviously curious to hear what was going on.

Pushing my chair away from the table, catching their attention immediately, I muttered a quick excuse before rushing from the room and heading to my bedroom.

The ensuite bathroom door slammed as I shut it behind me, and I came to a stop in front of the mirror, staring at my reflection. My cheeks were red, my face glistening with the slight sheen of sweat. I gripped the tap in my hand almost flinching away at the cold contrast against my skin, then turned the water on so that I could pour it over my face. Drying my face, I cleaned up the slight mascara smudges, feeling almost better, but still not wanting to return to the dining room just yet.

Turning around I reached over and pulled the toilet seat down, planting myself on top of it and laying my head in my hands. Slowly but surely the heat left my body, and my mind swam with thoughts on what they could be discussing down stairs.

After five minutes of just sitting there perched on the toilet, I decided that it was time for me to go back downstairs and join the hopefully-not-so-awkward conversation. I didn't bother flushing the toilet as I left, knowing that Klaus would know that I hadn't actually used the bathroom.

When I re-entered the dining room both Klaus and my mum looked up from their plates, their eyes following me as I made my way to my seat, picking up my glass and taking a small refreshing sip.

"Are you alright, Sweetheart?" Klaus asked, sitting up straighter in his seat.

"I'm fine. I just needed a minute to myself."

#

"What did you and my mum talk about while I was out of the room?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest as Klaus drove us to the outskirts of town.

"She just wanted to make sure that you were really okay. She knew that you wouldn't tell her if you were having a hard time or not, so she asked me."

A part of me was relieved by the fact that she was so worried about me, but another part of me was still worried about her other intrusive questions. And I definitely knew that it didn't help that I had asked to go back to the Mikaelson mansion with Klaus. Not for the reasons that my mum was probably assuming. It was more so the fact that being in my bedroom felt strange. I felt out of place.

I tried to forget the eerie feeling that had spread over me when I had brought my bag to my bedroom, which was promptly followed by a cool wave of goose bumps. It had freaked me out, not that I was going to admit that to Klaus or my mum.

"She didn't ask you anything else?"

The car filled with the sound of his deep, gravelly chuckle as she turned to look at me. His face scrunched up in humour. "No. She didn't ask me anything else about you. She was more interested in why me and my family had abruptly moved to New Orleans. She doesn't want you to get stuck in the middle of something. And you can't blame her for that."

Keeping quiet, I watched the familiar patches of trees pass us by. Trees that I had spent most of my adolescence running around in, even before I became a vampire. I remembered all of the times that we would have parties in these woods, people scouting the woods for clearings that were ideal to drink and have loud music without being caught. It had been how Bonnie, Elena and I had spent the majority of our teenage years, before all the drama started.

The thought of Bonnie was like a stab to my heart as my mind reminded itself why it was that we were here, and where I would be going tomorrow morning.

It was all organised for my mum to come and pick me up tomorrow morning so that she could drive us to the Salvatore Boarding House, where Bonnie's funeral would be held.

They were having it there because they didn't want her death to be public knowledge. You never knew with our friendship group. One minute you could be killed, the next you're waking up as if nothing had happened.

I found this to be utterly ridiculous. We had brought enough people back from the dead using magical loopholes, and it never turned out good for us in the long-run. Bonnie deserved to have a proper burial, with a funeral in a church.

Klaus pulled into the large garage and killed the engine, grabbing my bags as he led us both into the house. I had expected to see a build-up of dust throughout the empty house, but I guessed that Klaus had hired a cleaner. Every surface seemed to shine.

"You'll be sleeping in the spare bedroom across from mine." He handed me my bag and turned towards his own bedroom door. "It's quite large. A king bed with an adjoining shower and bath. Make yourself at home."

"Thank you."

He entered his room, leaving me alone in the hallway. My eyes strayed to the walls that had once held artwork, but were now bare. I wondered if all of the Mikaelson homes seemed this empty after they decided to inevitably clear out.

He had been right, the room was large, and unlike the rooms we had passed through to get to this part of the house, it was fully furnished and decorated. It reminded me of the bedroom at Nadia's, but this room definitely had a more modern feeling to it. It wasn't a museum for the past, but a combination of the past and the present. Instantly I felt comfortable amongst the off-white walls and wooden furniture.

I couldn't wait to fall into the massive bed and forget about what tomorrow would bring.

Chapter Text

CAROLINE'S P.O.V

When I woke up I felt horrible. My back ached, my head throbbed, and I felt like I was going to burst into tears any second.

The reason for my feeling horrible was obvious. Today was the day that I would be saying goodbye to my best friend.

Rolling out of bed, I tried not to dwell on anything to long, as I turned on the faucet and began to fill the bathtub. While the tub filled up I brushed through the bird's nest that was my hair, and then walked into the room to get my clothes from my bag. I had chosen just a simple black dress, with black tights, and ballet flats. I wasn't ready just yet to brave wearing heels.

Laying the dress down flat on the bed, I felt the soft material between my fingers. Tears prickled my eyes, and I sighed before rubbing my hands furiously again my face. I didn't know if I could do this today, but I was going to push myself no matter what.

I made quick work of bathing, I usually would have chosen a shower over a bath, but with the aches and pains I thought a bath would be more beneficial. Once I was done I blow dried my hair, applied barely any makeup, not needing to look like a model today, and put on my dress and shoes.

Before I left the room, I stopped to look at myself in the mirror, staring at how different I was from the last time I attended a funeral, even though it wasn't that long ago in the scheme of things. Everyone always seemed to die in Mystic Falls.

Making my way down the flight of stairs, I was unsure if Klaus would be down there or up in his room. When I turned into the lounge room that lead off of the main room, I found him sitting on the couch, glass of bourbon on the table, and a sketch pad resting in his lap.

He looked up as I entered the room, and a small hesitant smiled filled his face, making his dimples appear. I returned his smiled, fighting down the sorrow that filled me.

"Good morning, Love." He said, placing the sketch book down on the coffee table, beside his half-finished drink.

"Morning, Klaus." I walked closer to him, catching a glimpse of the sketch in his book before he flipped it closed. Me.

"When will your mum come to pick you up?"

"The…" I paused on the word that caught in my throat. "It starts at 10:30. So she should be here soon."

Sitting down on the opposite side of the couch that he sat on, I crossed one leg over the other, and leant back against the soft chair. Closing my eyes as I tried to mentally prepare myself for the day ahead of me. Not only would I be burying my best friend, my friends would be find out that I was cured today. Something that I had wanted to keep to myself for as long as possible.

There were going to be so many questions that I wouldn't want to answer. So many things that I wanted to say to them, but was too scared to do so.

My eyes shot up at the feel of Klaus wrapping his arm around my shoulder. He had shifted across the couch and was sitting directly next to me now, pulling me closer to him as his arm wrapped around me.

"It'll be alright." He whispered. "Just remember that you can call me at any point, and I'll be there to pick you up."

"I know. I just, I feel sick to my stomach."

Not even five minutes later, Klaus stood up from the couch and headed towards the front door. My mum was here. I stood up and followed behind him, pulling at my dress in my nerves.

My mum surprisingly wasn't wearing her uniform today. She wore black pants, and a nice black blouse, with her short hair hanging loose. She smiled at Klaus and greeted him politely, and then her smile turned sad as she took me in.

"Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be." I replied, stepping out the front door. Turning back to Klaus I gave him a small smile. "I'll see you later, don't get up to too much trouble."

I fidgeted the whole drive to the Salvatore's. No matter how hard I tried I just couldn't sit still. Mum had the radio playing quietly, but no matter how closely I listened to it, my brain always strayed back to our destination.

It didn't take up too long to reach the Salvatore's. My heart raced in my chest as I looked at the cars parked in the driveway. Elena's, Matt's…Tyler's. I sighed and ran my hand through my pulled back hair. I hadn't heard from Tyler since the day I had broken up with him. Mainly because I had ignored every message he sent me, and he ultimately gave up. Today was not going to be fun.

My mum pulled in next to Matt's car, and I wringed my hands in my hands as she turned the ignition off and opened her door. Looking towards the front door, my stomach churned as I saw Stefan open the door and look out towards my mum's car.

"It will be alright, Caroline." My mum said as she climbed out.

I followed behind her as we walked towards Stefan. A smile had broken out on his face the moment he saw me, and when mum and I got close enough he rushed forward to wrap me in a bear hug.

"Caroline, I'm so glad you could make it." He said, squeezing me tight. I hugged him back, looking over his shoulder as Elena came walking out of the house.

I could tell the exact moment that Stefan realised that I was human. His whole body tensed, and he took a deep breathe in through his nose. I winced as he pushed me away and looked at me with his mouth open in shock.

Elena came walking around him, pushing him out of the way as she wrapped me in an equally as hard hug. I prayed that the strength behind their hugs wouldn't set my back off any more than it already was. All I needed was to be in pain all day.

"What?" Elena gasped as she pushed me back and stared at me just as shocked as Stefan still looked.

I stood up straighter, shorter than Elena because she was wearing heels, but holding my head high. I didn't have anything to hide or be ashamed of. I hadn't done anything wrong.

"It's a long story." I said, meeting Elena's eyes steadily. "We can talk about it later on."

Elena didn't look like she wanted to let it go, and I wondered if she had told anyone what she had intended to do to Katherine. Stefan seemed to accept my brushing it off, and wrapped me in another hug.

"How has your holiday been?" He asked, leading me into the house with my mother and Elena coming in behind us. "Have you liked seeing the world?"

"It's been great. I've seen some pretty interesting things so far." I said, making sure to edge around the truth. I didn't want anyone to know that I had spent half of my 'holiday' unconscious, and the other half living surrounding myself with people who had tried to kill all of us at one point or another.

"That's good. I miss travelling."

Our small conversation ended as we stepped into the parlour where everyone was sitting and having a pre-service drink. My throat instantly dried up and I wished I could get myself a stiff drink, but I couldn't with the pain killers Kida had me on.

Damon stood next to the bar, a drink in hand. Jeremy and Matt sat together in one corner of the room, talking quietly together, with Tyler not too far away from them, looking like he didn't want to be here at all. Alaric was near the bar with Damon, talking to Abby who looked distraught. I hadn't been sure if Abby was going to come today, but I was glad that she had come.

Everyone looked up Stefan, Elena, my mum, and I entered. Tyler jumped up from his seat and made his way over, moving to wrap me in a hug. I held my hand up, I had had enough hugs for the day. I didn't need any more bone crushing. He looked crestfallen as he greeted me. Matt was next to come up, and I let him give me a short one-armed hug, knowing that he wouldn't be able to hurt me.

"Caroline, I'm so glad you could make it." Abby said as she stepped forward. I smiled sadly at her.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world. No vacation is worth more than this."

I ended up sitting down next to Matt and Jeremy, joined by Stefan. They both asked me questions about my trip, and I tried to edge around the truth as best as possible, giving them hazy details about not having left America, and seeing 'all the sights'.

"We're going to head into the woods now." Elena announced, speaking to the whole room. "There's a place not too far from here which we've set up for the ceremony.

Staying with Matt, we started to make our way through the thin tree line, I was glad that I had wanted to be practical today. We came to a stop at the clearing that had a tree stump in the centre of it. I looked around as the sunlight flittered through the trees, casting a nice glow on the space. There was a photo of Bonnie in the centre of the stump, resting on a thin blanket.

We all stood around the stump and my chest constricted as if a dart had penetrated it. This was it. We were saying goodbye to Bonnie. She was really gone.

Jeremy walked up the front, looking extremely nervous as he looked at us all. I knew why instantly why he was chosen to speak. He wasn't speaking at all. Bonnie was giving him the message that he was supposed to convey.

He cleared his throat, looking beside him before he spoke. "Bonnie doesn't want anyone to spend too long mourning her. She had a great life, and she got to do things that no normal person would ever be able to do. She got to spend an amazing eighteen years surrounded by people she loved, both friends and family, and she got to use her power to save those people, even at the cost of herself.

I sob wracked in my chest and Matt wrapped him arm over my shoulder, pulling me closer.

"Bonnie wanted me to give you all a message. Abby, she wanted me to tell you that you did what you thought was right, and that Bonnie doesn't blame you for that. Matt, she told me to tell you that your more than just a bus boy. She said that you know what you want to do with your life now, and to not hesitate when it comes to achieving that. Alaric, she wanted me to tell you that giving up her life to save both you and me, she wouldn't take it back even if she could. Sheriff Forbes, she wanted you to know that she was always grateful for all that you did for her and everyone, how you were always there to help with any trouble that arose. Damon, she wants you to stop being a dick. Stop taking shit for granted, and treating people like their nothing. Tyler, she wishes you luck in the world, and wants you to know that your path can always alter. Stefan, she wants you to know that you shouldn't let the bloodlust control you. Don't let that dictate how you live your life. And she wants you to know that you don't have be chained to this place out of obligation, you should go and do the things you want to do without your ties here stopping you from doing that. Elena, she wants you to know that she'll always love you, and that she wants you to go to college and become to doctor that you always wanted to be, because being a vampire doesn't change the fact you can save hundreds of lives…and Caroline. She wants you to know that you there is so much more to your situation than you even know. That you are precisely in the place that you need to be in, and that you shouldn't hold back if what you're looking at is what you really want."

Jeremy turned to the empty space besides him, and tears filled his eyes. I wiped at my own as Bonnie's words sunk in. she knew where I had been, and she knew what had happened between Klaus and I. She wasn't angry that I opened myself up to the prospect that Klaus and I might one day be together.

Matt pulled me tighter to his side and grabbed a tissue from his pocket, handing it me. I rubbed my eyes and blew my nose on it. My body tensed and aching.

"She also wanted me to let you know that she doesn't want everyone searching for a way to save her. She died for a reason, and she doesn't want anyone else endangering themselves to bring her back." He paused, a tear running down his cheek. "That she died at exactly the right time, and that now it's time for her to spend her time on the other side waiting for us to join her there."

After Bonnie's speech, we all laid roses down on the tree stump, saying a few quiet words that we all knew she would be able to hear.

We walked slowly back to the house, the sunlight now high in the sky, heating up the day. Sweat started to run down my forehead and back, making me feel even more uncomfortable than I already did.

We all sat down in the same places we had been before we had walked out to the woods, my mum stopping next to me to ask if I was okay. I told her that I was fine and then sunk into my own thoughts.

Klaus was on my mind. And Bonnie's words made me think over every second I had spent with him in my time in New Orleans. He and I were fated together, and I had been spending more time with him growing to understand what all of that meant. Getting to know him, his family, and his werewolf feelings towards me. I had effectively given him the green light in regards to our future, but I hadn't thought about the 'when' or 'how' of it.

Chapter Text

CAROLINE'S P.O.V

"So, Caroline." Elena said, sitting down next to Damon across the room. "What did Bonnie mean when she said that you are where you need to be, and that you shouldn't hold back?"

Looking at her wide eyed, I wondered how I was going to explain this. I thought over all of the excuses I could give, but I decided to go with something along the lines of the truth. I told myself again that I had nothing to hide from them.

"I'm assuming she's talking about the fact that I've been cured." I said, holding Elena's eyes and ignoring the several gasps that spread through the room. Her jaw tightened.

"I figured that much, but what does she mean exactly. I mean, you've been travelling and doing god-knows-what for over a month. Surely you have a better idea of what she means?"

I forced myself not to flinch from Elena's intense gaze. "Yes, I do know what she was referring to. But, I don't see how that is any of anyone else's business. I don't see you asking anyone else what their message means."

"I'm just curious, we've barely heard from you since graduation, and then you show up for Bonnie's funeral, cured, and acting completely different." She said, leaning forward slightly in her chair. "I mean, you were desperate to be with Tyler, and then you disappear and break up with him. You don't talk to any of us. I'm allowed to be curious."

I stared her down, knowing what underlying question she wanted to ask. Where the fuck was Katherine? And why wasn't she the one who was human?

"Are you sure you're not worried Elena?" I replied, focusing solely on her and not the other people in the room who were watching our conversation carefully. "I mean, you get into a fight with Katherine and supposedly shove the cure down her throat, and then I show up cured instead of her. Surely you're worried that she's going to pop up out of nowhere and try to kill you again?"

Elena's eyes widened and I stood up from my seat, heading across the room towards my mum. I didn't want to be here anymore. I had come to pay my respects to Bonnie, I didn't have to be here any longer. "I think it's time we leave, mum. Is that okay?"

"Is that where you've been?" Elena growled, jumping up and running so that she was standing in front of me. "With Katherine?"

Straightening up, I tried to ignore the veins beneath her eyes becoming more prominent. "Actually, Elena. For the first two weeks of my 'holiday' I was unconscious in my bed…at home. None of you seemed too worried about me then. Did you even tell anyone that you had tried to shove the cure down Katherine's throat? Or did you keep it a secret, too afraid to tell them who you wasted it on?"

"She was going to kill me, I had no other choice but to shove the cure down her throat." She stepped closer to me, eying me up and down. "And I didn't want anyone to know who I cured because when I woke up she was gone. And I doubted she would ever be back."

"You could have fought back. Used your strength. Instead of playing the damsel in distress, like you always do." I yelled, walking closer to her, completely unafraid. "But no! Instead of fighting back, I intervened and yanked her off of you, and you shove the cure down my throat. And do you know what Elena? I'm sick and tired of my life being ruined by you. I was turned to send a message to you, Damon, and Stefan. I was kidnapped by Klaus' cronies to be used in your sacrifice, as well as the countless other times I was used as a bargaining chip for you. Then you decided to waste the cure on someone like Katherine. You didn't think that maybe someone else wanted it. You didn't think that there were other people out there who deserved it better. No, you acted for yourself. Like you always do."

My breathe came in deep gasping heaves as I finished yelling. Tears running down my cheeks. My body felt completely drained. Every muscle in my body ached, and I had a feeling deep down that I had never felt before. Something powerful and strange.

Everyone in the room was looking at me shocked and before any of them could say anything else, I rushed from the house and down the footpath and up to the end of the driveway, pulling out my phone to message Klaus, but already seeing a message from him.

Klaus: Caroline, are you okay? I can sense something wrong.

Klaus: Can you just message back to let me know that you're okay?

Klaus: That's it, I'm on my way to come and get you.

Sent five minutes ago, he should be here soon. I took a deep breath in, my stomach still churning as I tried to take in some fresh air.

Heavy footsteps sounded from behind me and I turned around to see Tyler making his way up the driveway, a determined look on his face. My stomach dipped, I didn't want to have a one on one confrontation with Tyler. Not now.

He stopped a few feet in front of me. Close enough for him to touch me if he wanted. He looked exactly the same as he had the last time I had seen him. The same high school jock I had fallen for. Looking at me for a moment, he reached out to grab my hand. I stepped back. He looked hurt and then he crossed his arms over his chest. "Caroline. What the hell was that?"

"I meant every word I said to her. She needs to realise that the world doesn't revolve around her." My voice quiet as I watched to make sure he wasn't going to make another move to grab me.

"She's your best friend, cut her some slack. Not to mention that you're human again. That's a good thing, isn't it?" His tone was frustrated. He was frustrated with me? And what did he mean that me being human was a good thing?

I narrowed my eyes and mirrored him by crossing my own arms. "What makes you think I wanted to be human again? I liked how I was. There are plenty of other people who could have taken the cure and been happy. But I didn't want this."

He reached out again, this time it was so fast that I didn't have time to pull away, and he wrapped on tight hand around my arm. "So, what? You're going to lash out at your friends, break up with me, and go running off all because you didn't want to be human again?"

"No, Tyler. I'm lashing out at my friends because I'm sick of being walked all over. I broke up with you because we were heading in that direction whether I was human or not. And I'm not 'running off' because I'm not happy. My mum sent me off while I was still unconscious, so that I could get help. Even she realised that everyone here would just turn my situation around so that the main focus was Elena."

His grip tightened and I hissed at the pain that shot through my wrist and up my arm. I tried to pull away, but he wouldn't let go. His face turned angrier than I had seen it in a long time, his eyes turning golden yellow.

"I think you're hurting her, mate." I let out a small breath, turning my face to see Klaus standing there. Calm and collected, while staring at Tyler. I could see in his eyes that he was holding back as much as possible, and suddenly that weird feeling in my stomach disappeared.

Tyler's nostrils flared and his anger instantly grew, looking between Klaus and I in shock. "So, you dump me for Klaus. I see how it is."

"I said that you're hurting her." Klaus said, enunciating each word slowly, as if Tyler were too dumb to understand. "I'm using a fair bit of restraint at the moment, so why don't you let her go."

Tyler let go of my wrist, pushing me back a bit, sending me toppling to the ground. I fell unceremoniously on my backside, sitting there shocked. That's all it took for Klaus' restraint to fade, and for him to pounce. He rushed at Tyler and threw him across the driveway that so that he landed right near the door.

A moment later, my mum, Elena, Stefan, and Damon appeared in the doorway. All of them except my mum looked shocked to find Klaus there, but I didn't pay attention to them. Tyler was glaring across at me. Hurt and anger were in his eyes as he stood up and then disappeared into the trees.

Klaus straightened up and composed himself, turning around and reaching out to help me up. He grabbed the wrist that Tyler had been holding, sending shockwaves of pain up my arm. I hissed and pulled my hand away, falling the small distance back onto the ground. His eyes narrowed as he leant down and grabbed me around the waist instead, settling me safely back onto the ground.

I cradled my wrist and used the other hand to wipe the dirt and dust off my the back of my dress, looking over to the house where the others were still staring at Klaus in shock. My mum, however, was halfway across the driveway and quickened her pace as she saw me cradling my wrist.

"I'm fine." I said before she could even reach me. "It's probably just a sprain. It'll be fine."

Klaus' eyes narrowed as he gently took my sore wrist in his hand. He looked over the slightly bruised skin and bared his teeth. "I should give you some of my blood to heal you."

My mum reached us at that point and was looking me up and down to make sure that I was okay. "He's right."

"I said that I'm fine. I've had worse. Now, if you wouldn't mind, I want to get out of here. I've had enough of this drama for one day and I just want to go home and curl up in a ball and sleep."

My mum nodded, wrapping me in a hug and wishing me a safe trip, knowing that when I said that I wanted to go home, I meant back to New Orleans with Klaus. I didn't look at my friends again as Klaus led me to where he had parked his car, just out of the view of the house.

#

"Are you okay?" Klaus asked for what had to have been the hundredth time since leaving Mystic Falls.

"I'm fine Klaus. It's just a sprain. It'll be okay in a week or so."

We had left Mystic Falls immediately. Klaus had put all of our things in his car before he had come to get me from the Boarding House, sensing that I wanted to leave before I had even finished yelling at Elena.

We had been driving for hours, and it was getting late in the afternoon. Luckily, Klaus had announced that we would be stopping at a small bed and breakfast on our way home, knowing that the long drive last time had hurt my muscles fairly badly. I didn't know where we would be stopping, or when, but I hoped that it would be soon. I didn't think that I could handle much more sitting down in the uncomfortable seats.

"We'll talk to a doctor when we get to New Orleans." He said, tapping on the wheel as he looked at me from the corner of his eye.

"So you'll let me see a doctor, but not the mother of your unborn baby?" I snapped, turning to look at him angrily. He hadn't let Hayley see a doctor during the whole pregnancy, not even to see if everything was okay. But, he was fine with me seeing one even with a small sprain.

"You're human, Caroline. Hayley is a werewolf, and our baby is something completely new. I don't know what a doctor would find if they examined her."

"I'm fine Klaus. It's just a sprain. The only thing wrong with me at the moment, is the fact that you won't take my word for it, and we've been driving for ages. When are we stopping?"

"We'll be there in a half an hour at most."

Conversation died after that. Klaus kept looking straight ahead at the road, and I sat looking at the moving scenery as he drove, cradling my wrist to my chest to prevent any pain as we went over bumps in the road.

True to his word, twenty five minutes later we pulled up at a bed and breakfast that sat on the edge of an empty highway in the middle of nowhere. Looking up at the building as Klaus parked the car I could see that it was one large building, with two floors, with a smaller building beside it that looked like it was probably the owners living space.

Klaus climbed out of the car, heading toward the trunk to get our things, while I slowly got out of the car, stretching my muscles as I looked around at the slowly dimming afternoon sky.

Klaus led me into the building, stopping in front of a desk and pressing the little belle. As soon as he pressed the bell, a tall woman walked out from behind a door. She was taller than me, standing with her head held high as she greeted Klaus. Her old skin, wrinkled in certain places, but not enough for her to be as old as she felt. Her grey hair was cut in a stylish bob at the base of her throat.

"Niklaus, darling!" She called in a slightly accented voice, as she wrapped him into a hug. "It's been too long. You don't visit me enough."

I watched as he smiled at her, wrapping her into an equally as friendly hug. "Siobhan, you're still gorgeous I see. You don't look a day over 50."

"Not bad for two hundred, am I." She said, giving a little spin. That confirmed what I thought, she was older than she looked. And she was a witch. She caught sight of me and smiled, stepping forward to wrap me in a hug that was just as friendly as Klaus. "Hello, you must be Caroline. Klaus told me about you on the phone."

Looking at Klaus over her shoulder, he shrugged as he looked around the old bed and breakfast.

"I helped Klaus with a little bit of trouble in New Orleans once upon a time." She said, moving away from me and heading behind the counter. "He bought me this place out of gratitude, and I've been here ever since."

I smiled at Klaus, surprised that he could actually do something nice for someone in return for their help. Siobhan was flipping through a large book that sat in the centre of her desk, looking for something that I assumed had to do with our rooms.

After a couple of minutes she looked up and smiled. "There are two beautiful rooms on the northern side of the building that I reserved for you. The view from them is amazing, you'll love it. I will show you where they are, of course." She stepped back around the counter and led us up a flight of stairs and down a long hallway that looked way longer than it should've been. She must have noticed my eyes widen because she slowled down to walk next to me. "This building of the bed and breakfast is reserved only for people who know about the supernatural. I designed it so it the hallway would elongate and allow for more rooms and guests. The outside building is used by humans, and it's much smaller, but not many humans stop here anyway."

I smiled, this whole place was filled with magic. Bonnie would have gotten a kick out of this place. She came to a stop in front of two doors that sat next to each other, letting us know that dinner was at six o'clock, and that there was a menu in each of the rooms so that we could decide what we wanted before we headed down. She handed us our keys, and I quickly opened my door, eager to see what the room looked like.

Klaus followed me into the room with my bag, and I gasped at how beautiful it was. It felt like I had stepped right into a fairy tale. The room was so beautiful that it looked like it would be fit for royalty. Walking through the room I came to stop in front of the window. Siobhan had mentioned the beautiful view.

A gasp slipped past my lips at how stunning the view actually was. I wondered if the humans could see this, or if it was just people who knew about the supernatural. In a clearing in the centre of what looked like strategically planted trees, there was a large old-fashioned pool and Victorian style garden

The pool was giving me series Robert Redford Great Gatsby vibes, and the garden was reminiscent of the one from Alice in Wonderland. It was beautiful.

I turned around to see that Klaus was standing by the door, having let my bags down next to the bed. I smiled at him as I hurried over and wrapped him in a hug, flinching as my wrist bumped against his shoulder.

"Thank you so much for bringing me here Klaus. Did you know that this place would cheer me up?"

"I hoped it would."

The sincerity in his voice made my heart tighten in my chest. I pulled back slightly, looking into his eyes before I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him into a hug and whispered in his ear. "Thank you."

#

After Klaus and I had settled in, we headed downstairs to the dining room which sat pretty much empty. There were only a few people there, a couple of which looked extremely uncomfortable the minute that Klaus walked in.

We were placed at a table near the wall, and Klaus looked out at the room, surveying it. Not long after Siobhan entered the room and came to sit at our table. She was holding a small jar in her hand, and placed it in front of me before she turned to talk to Klaus. I looked at it curiously, picking it up and looking inside. There was some sort of milky syrup inside of it, moving around very slowly as I turned the jar over.

"What is this?" I asked, placing the jar back down on the table.

"It's for your wrist. You'll put it in the tea that the waiter is bringing. It will help heal it." She looked at me with a smile on her face. I could see that Klaus looked suddenly relieved by her words. I didn't feel the same comfort.

"I'm fine, thank you." I said, pushing the jar towards her. "I'm okay with letting it heal naturally."

Siobhan laughed and waved her hand, sending the jar back in front of me. "No need to be brave, girl. It will heal…rather painfully, but quickly. You'll need a good wrist later on."

I furrowed my brows at her and almost asked her what she meant, but we were interrupted by a waiter coming to our table with our food and drinks. We hadn't even ordered yet. My panic at not having ordered our food disappeared as the waiter placed down exactly what I had wanted.

Siobhan laughed gently and stood up from the table, wishing Klaus a good night before walking off, calling over her shoulder that I needed only one teaspoon of the mixture in my drink.

#

Klaus and I ate our dinner in relative silence, only talking briefly about the drive here and how the food was. I could tell that he didn't want the other vampires in the room to hear any personal details about either of us.

Grabbing one of the spoons from the table I opened the jar of liquid and stirred it around before putting the required amount into my drink. It tasted just like honey, but god knows what it actually was, and the pain she had promised was almost instantaneous. Klaus didn't seem to like the fact that the healing process hurt, but I preferred to have it heal with some consequence rather than miraculously heal and everything be okay.

When we had gone back upstairs, Klaus and I had separated, both of us wanted to shower and wind down after the day we had had. Well, that's what I wanted, and Klaus went with it. Heading straight for the shower, I climbed under the hot stream of water, wanting to wash away everything that had happened.

The hot water felt good on my aching muscles, especially on my wrist which was still stinging from the healing process. I hoped that it wouldn't last all night. My shower lasted about twenty minutes before I rinsed myself off and climbed out, wrapping my body in one of the soft towels.

After drying myself off, I left my hair wet as I rewrapped my body in a towel and walked out into the room to get my clothes. Reaching for my bag, I cradled my still-stinging wrist to my chest as I tried to use it to hold my towel while I used my good hand to grip the zip of my bag. But it wouldn't move.

Pulling at it harder, I couldn't get it to budge. It was stuck. I stood there for a moment, trying to figure out what to do. There was always the option of putting my black dress back on, which I had been wearing all day, but I didn't feel like wearing that to bed. I wanted to get into my PJ's.

My hair started to drip down my back, cold against my warm body. I looked towards the door, I was going to have to get Klaus, but I didn't necessarily want to leave the room in only a towel.

"Klaus." I called, keeping my voice below a full yell, but raising it above speaking level, hoping that he would be able to hear me. "I need your help."

A second later my room door opened and Klaus stood there, worry in his eyes. They widened as he saw me standing beside my bag in a towel. He looked me up and down, the pupils in his eyes dilating as he took me in.

I shifted uncomfortably as his eyes scanned my body hungrily, flashing gold as they met mine. I gripped the top of my towel tightly in my good hand, not wanting it to suddenly drop.

"What do you need help with?" He asked, his voice gravelly. I scoffed.

"My wrist still hurts and the zip on my bag is stuck. I can't open it one-handed." I said, trying to keep my voice level as a light blush made its way up my chest and neck towards my face.

Klaus seemed to snap out of his lustful haze and he walked further into the room, letting the door fall closed. He leant down and pulled on the zip, struggling to begin with, and then finally pulling it free. He stood up in front of me, standing so close that I could smell the earthy cologne that he wore.

I looked up into his eyes and smiled softly. "Thank you, Klaus."

"That's okay."

I expected him to walk away and leave my room, but he didn't move from in front of me, his eyes baring down into mine. We both stared at each other for what felt like forever before he moved.

He reached forward to brush a lock of my wet hair over my shoulder. "I should probably go back to my room."

I could only nod, my brain having turned foggy. His hand lowered and within a second he was gone.

I let out a short, hesitant breath as I stumbled towards my bed and collapsed on the soft mattress, forgetting all about getting myself clothes. My skin still felt warm, and I could tell that my face was more than likely still a light shade of pink.

What the hell just happened?

Later that night I laid down in my bed, my still-damp hair pulled up into a ponytail, and my soft pyjamas on. I was comfortable and warm in bed, completely ready to go to sleep, but something in my brain wouldn't turn off. I couldn't sleep. My every thought was focused on Klaus.

I wanted him. The one thing I had been denying for the better half of a year, was true. I couldn't deny it now. The way that my body had reacted when he had been standing that close, had made it obvious.

But I didn't just want him. I could have been able to handle that. No, I wanted more than just his body. I wanted…no, I needed everything about him. I needed the anger and the violence, I needed the cheekiness and the snide remarks, and I needed the side of him that he only ever showed me and those closest to him.

I sat up in the bed. The blankets fell down to my waist, my bare arms getting hit by the cold air. Reaching over I turned on the lamp that sat on the bedside table, throwing the blankets off of my body as I slid from the bed and landed on the floor. I slipped my feet into my slippers, flexing my wrist and realising that the pain had completely gone. Had this been what Siobhan had meant when she said I would need my wrist tonight?

I walked towards the door, shivering slightly as the air hit my arms and legs. I somewhat regretted wearing the sleep tank top and shorts, but I threw that out of my mind as I opened the door and walked out into the hall.

Stopping in front of Klaus' door, I stared at the dark wood and hesitated, my hand frozen mid-air ready to knock on the door. A sudden realisation hit me. I had no idea what I was going to say to him. How would I tell him how I felt?

Sighing, my hand back to my side. I ran one hand over my eyes, I didn't think this out properly. I had no idea what I was doing.

Raising my hand again I knocked on the door three times, standing perfectly still as I waited for him to answer. I hoped that he was awake. A minute passed and he didn't answer the door. I planted my feet more on the floor and raised my hand again, knocking with more strength behind it.

The door was thrown open to reveal Klaus wearing only a pair of pyjama pants. I stared at his bare chest, looking at the tattoo across the top of his chest. He looked down at me in surprise.

"Is everything okay?" He asked, still holding the door in his hand.

"Can we talk?" I pushed past him, not waiting for his reply as I walked into his room and sat on the edge of his bed.

He looked confused as he closed the door and turned to face me, crossing his arms over his chest and tilting his head to the side. "It rather late to want to have a chat, Sweetheart."

"I need to talk to you now. This can't wait until the morning."

"Okay." He said, walking closer to me, pulling a chair that sat in the corner over to the bed. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Bonnie told me something today."

His eyes widened and his gaze changed to one of worry rather than confusion. "Caroline, Bonnie died."

I rolled my eyes at him. Of course he thought that I was crazy. "I'm not losing my mind, Klaus. She was at the funeral…as a ghost. Jeremy was speaking for her. But, she said something today that really struck me. Something that made me acknowledge something important."

"Alright…what did she say?" He continued to stare at me with worry, my clarification not putting him at ease.

"She said that there is more to my current situation than I know. That I'm exactly where I need to be, and that…" I paused, meeting Klaus' eyes steadily. "That I shouldn't hold back on the thing that I really want."

"What do you really want?" He whispered, sitting up straighter in the chair.

I leant forward, a smile pulling at my mouth. "You."

I don't think I could have caught his movement even if I was a vampire, he moved that fast. One second he was sitting in the chair opposite me, the next second he had me pinned to the bed with his lips pressed against mine. Instantly leaning into the kiss, my eyes fell closed and I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him closer to me.

Kissing Klaus was definitely not what I expected. I had kissed plenty of people in my short romantic history, but none of those experiences were like it was with Klaus. It was like electricity was shooting across every inch of my skin where he touched. Like kissing him was exactly where I belonged.

He shifted, pulling his lips from mine and leaning back to look me in the eyes. His eyes shone a brilliant gold as he looked down at me. He looked almost as if he was seeing things out of focus. As if things weren't clear for him. I stayed still, waiting for him to get a hold of himself.

It took a moment, but his eyes returned to their normal colour, and he leant down to press a chaste kiss to my lips. He propped himself up on his elbows as he looked down at me, my arms still wrapped around his neck. He smiled one of his genuine smiles, causing me to smile in return.

"I love you, Caroline." He said, his voice barely a whisper.

I stared up at him shock. Loved me? My brain went blank and everything froze. He loved me? A part of me didn't believe him. Klaus wasn't the kind of person to fall in love. I knew that I wanted to be with him, but I never expected love to be in the cards.

A look of hurt flashed across his face as he pulled away from me, moving to sit next to where I laid on the bed. I sat up too, not wanting him to interpret my silence as rejection. I reached out for him, resting my hand on his cheek and turning his face to look at me.

"You love me?" I asked, moving closer to him. He didn't reply, he just stared at me blankly. I pressed my lips together tightly, watching his face. "Klaus, did you mean it?"

"Why else would I say it?" He growled, pulling away and climbing off of the bed. "I wouldn't lie to you, Caroline."

My heart raced so loud in my chest, I was surprised that Klaus couldn't hear it. I moved closer to the edge of the bed. "Say it again."

He glared at me. "So that I can embarrass myself again?"

"Say. It. Again."

He threw his hands up in the air. "I love you. There, are you happy now?"

"I love you too." I whispered, watching his face go from anger to disbelief.

He pounced again, pushing me back onto the bed and pressing his lips hard to mine. His hands cupped my face, and then started to travel down my neck to my waist. He continued to kiss me until I had to pull away, gasping for breath. He moved his lips to my neck and continued to kiss me as my chest heaved, trying to catch my breath.

I wrapped my legs around his waist, pulling him even closer to me, wrapping my hands in his hair and pulling his lips back to mine. I wasn't going to hold back anymore. I only had a limited amount of time left to live, and I wasn't going to sacrifice anymore of my happiness just to make my friends happy.

Chapter Text

KATHERINE P.O.V.

(The same night)

"Marcel has invited us to a party." Rebekah said as she walked into the room, I shifted off of Elijah's lap and onto the arm of the chair, knowing that he doesn't like public displays of affection.

Elijah raised his eyebrows at his sister, as she flopped down onto the couch. "A party?"

"Yes. He's having a big soiree tonight. He invited all of us. Nik, You, Katherine, Nadia, and me. What should we do?"

I climbed off of the couch and walked across the room, plucking the invitation she held from her hand and read it over. A formal event to 'have a good time'. Formal attire. "Sounds like fun."

"We can't all go. Klaus wouldn't allow for Hayley to be left here alone."

I turned to look at Elijah sceptically. "I'm sure she'll be fine for one night. We all deserve a little time out."

"I'll stay with her. I don't think it would be wise to leave her alone anyway. You never know what might happen."

"Well, I'm going." I said, throwing the invitation down at Rebekah. "And I'm sure Nadia would love to go."

"I'm going too." Rebekah said, jumping up from the couch, arms crossed over her chest as she looked at Elijah. "I mean, you don't have to do everything Klaus wants you to do. He's not here."

Elijah sighed and placed his hands in a steepled position. "Klaus hasn't given me any orders, I'm using my common sense. I don't mind if you guys go, but I'm not leaving Hayley unprotected."

#

"It's too bad that Elijah and Klaus couldn't make it." Marcel said, leaning against the wall next to me.

"I suppose so. Not that I'm looking to spend any more time with Klaus." I said, taking a large sip of my drink. "He just doesn't seem like the type to miss a party."

"Well, it's his loss." Marcel pushed off of the wall, grabbed my arm and dragged me towards the dance floor, both of us placing our glasses down on a table on our way.

Once we reached the dance floor, he wrapped his arms around my waist as we danced to the relatively slow music. I let my eyes scan the room, falling on where Rebekah and Nadia stood talking among themselves.

A part of me wishes that Elijah could be here to dance with me and actually let loose for once, but another part of me knew that he preferred to show affection in private rather than in front of heaps of people.

"You look very beautiful tonight, Katherine." He whispered, his lips close to my ear. One of his hands slid down my waist and came to rest on my ass.

I laughed and reached down to move his hand away. "Marcel, if Elijah saw you right now I'm pretty sure he'd snap your arm off."

Marcel reeled back in shock. His eyes wide. "You and Elijah? I wouldn't peg him as your type. He's too...structured for someone like you."

Marcel spun me around to the music and then pulled me back to his chest. I opened my mouth to shoot back a snide remark, but stopped when I saw who had just entered the club. Andre.

I stopped dancing and pulled away from Marcel. "What the hell is he doing here?"

Marcel turned around to see who I was talking about, and then looked at me curiously. "I invited him, but I did not invite her."

I followed Marcel's eyes and was surprised to see that Andre had a witch on his arm. Marcel was renowned for not tolerating witches, especially in his club. But this wasn't just any witch. I knew her.

With icy blonde hair and pointed features, Ysabeau had always looked flawless. She was from one of the larger covens in Bulgaria, and I had met her a couple of decades ago when I had contracted her help.

I watched as Marcel made his way towards Andre. Not wanting to be notice, I moved towards the back of the room, and was met by Nadia and Rebekah coming to stand beside me.

"Marcel, nice party." Andre was saying, his arm wrapped around the Ysabeau, with a massive smile on his face.

"Andre, old friend." Marcel called, smiling maliciously. "I don't think you got the memo. I don't like witches in my parties."

Ysabeau looked shocked and turned to face Andre, slapping him in the arm at Marcel's words. The whole scene seemed rather confusing. I wondered what Andre was up to.

"I am so sorry. I didn't know." She said with a fake American accent filling her voice. "I will go. I didn't mean to cause you any trouble."

Marcel smiled down at her and swept her a bow. "Such nice manners. I am sorry, Sweetheart. Any other night and it would be fine, but tonight's a night for the vampires to have some fun."

She slapped Andre on the arm again before saying goodbye and leaving. After she had gone, Andre apologised to Marcel, telling him that he hadn't realised that witch security had gotten so tight.

I stopped listening, not wanting to listen to anything else that he had to say. Nadia was still watching Andre with a strange look in her eyes, and Rebekah seemed to watching Marcel. I sighed and composed myself, walking over towards the bar to get myself another drink. Suddenly this party didn't seem so much fun.

"I'm sorry about that, Katherine." Marcel said, wrapping his arm around my waist again. "Now, why don't you tell me how you know Andre?"

"He's an old friend. We didn't part on good terms." I whispered, taking a large swig from my drink.

"Ah, he's one of those old friends!"

I turned to shoot another remark at Marcel, but before I could open my mouth I was blown back by a massive explosion near the front of the club. Falling hard on my back, Marcel landed hard on top of me. Pushing him off of me, I shot to my feet to see the extent of the damage.

The front of building was in flames and there were people laying on the ground covered in building debris and glass. I looked around the room for Nadia and found her and Rebekah at the back of the room untouched. I rushed forward, pulling some of the rubble off of people as I passed. Marcel was beside me, shouting out in Occitan as he looked for his men.

We were quickly joined by the other uninjured vampires, all of us working to extract the people who were hurt. I had moved more towards the front of the building, clearing the large rocks and fallen building out into the street.

I looked around for Andre, wondering if he had been one of the one who had been buried. Across the street I caught sight of him standing beside a man covered in shadow. A man I knew. A member of the same coven that Ysabeau was from.

I turned back to the building. This had been a hit.

I didn't bother running after him. I was needed here in the clean-up. We could worry about him later.

Hours later nearly all of the debris had been moved. The police had arrived not long after the explosion, helping clear the way with their machines and such. Before Nadia, Rebekah, and I left I caught sight of Marcel sitting on the curb with a couple of his friends, sadness in all of their faces. They had lost men.

The drive back to the house was filled with an unbelieving silence. None of us could put into words how we felt about what had happened. When we finally pulled up in front of the house, we all let out a collective sigh.

Before we could get out of the car, I stopped and stared at the light through the front window. "It wasn't an accident."

"What?" Rebekah said from the passenger seat, turning towards me and staring at me in shock.

"The witch Andre arrived with…I know her. And I saw her again, and another witch from her cover, outside when I was cleaning up rubble. They were looking at the club and whispering to one another. It was a hit."

"How do you know it was a hit?" Nadia said from the back, her voice sad.

I turned to look at her. "The coven those witches are from specialise in hits. And I know a shady transaction when I see it." I paused and turned back to face the house. "When we go inside and tell Elijah, he's going to want to call Klaus straight back. I think we should wait a few hours until day breaks. It's going to take a lot to unpack all of this, and I think it would be best to have a well-rested Klaus when that happens. Also, can I be the one to tell Elijah?"

We all agreed and climbed from the car, Rebekah and I walked up to the house, whereas Nadia bid us goodbye and climbed into her own car. When we entered, Elijah looked up from reading in his chair in the lounge room. Once he took in our dishevelled appearances his expression darkened and he raced to stand in front of us.

"What the hell happened?" He growled, looking between me and his sister.

"It's a long story. We've had a long night, and I think it would be best if we headed up to bed and talked it over. I'm sure Rebekah would like a shower and then some sleep."

I pulled Elijah by the hand up the stairs to his room, not looking back to face Rebekah as I went. I sat down on the edge of his bed and rested my head in my hands. I should have known that Andre was up to something when he showed up to the party with a witch. I should have spoken up and done something before people died.

"Katerina, what happened?"

I looked up and met Elijah's eyes. I could sense the worry coming off of him in waves. "There was an explosion at the party."

His eyes widened and he stepped forward and knelt down on the ground in front of me. "An explosion? How?"

"The whole front of the building was blown to rubble. Some of Marcel's men died. We spent the last two hours just cleaning up debris and getting the bodies out. Marcel and everyone thinks that it was an accident, but it wasn't." I took a deep breath and ran my hands through my hair. "It was Andre and a coven of witches from Bulgaria."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure!" I yelled, shooting up from the bed. "Andre showed up to the club with a witch that I know. Then, not even ten minutes later, the explosion happened. And while I was out the front of the building I saw him with another witch from the same coven. What I don't understand is why. Why would he blow up Marcel's club?"

"We should call Klaus." He said, placing his hands on my shoulders and looking me in the eyes. "Maybe he will know of a reason."

"No." I said, stopping him as he moved one of his hands from my shoulder towards his pocket. "We decided it would be best to wait until the morning to tell him about it. We think a well-rested Klaus would be better in this situation than a sleep-deprived, murderous, Klaus."

CAROLINE P.O.V.

The blaring noise of a phone ringing was what woke me up from my peaceful sleep. I groaned and started to roll over, but was stopped by my body hitting something warm. My eyes shot open and I looked up to see a half-asleep Klaus growling as he reached for his phone that sat on the bedside table.

Memories from last night flooded through my brain and a sleepy smile pulled at my lips. I snuggled into Klaus' chest, closing my eyes and trying to drown out the ringing.

Klaus shifted and picked the phone up, growling into the speaker. "Do you know what time it is?"

I sighed, lifting my head up to look at his face. I stroked his bare chest and pressed a kiss to his collar bone, listening carefully to see if I could hear the reply on the other end. I couldn't.

Klaus listened for a moment, one of his arms wrapping around me and running their way up and down my back. "Fine. We'll be there at lunchtime."

He hung up the phone, placing it back on the bedside table and the rubbed his free hand over his eyes.

"What's wrong?" I asked, tracing my fingers over the feather tattoo.

He turned his face to look at me, smiling as he pulled me closer. "Something happened last night. Elijah didn't go into detail, but they want us back there as soon as possible."

I nodded, pulling myself away from him and up into a sitting position. The blanket fell down to my waist, revealing my bare chest. I reached down to cover myself back up, but was stopped by Klaus pouncing on me and pulling me back down to the mattress.

"That doesn't mean we have to get up right now." He growled, nuzzling his face into my chest.

I wrapped a hand in his hair and pulled him back. "Klaus, if something happened we need to go and see if everything is okay. That doesn't mean roll around in the sheets for hours and then maybe get ready and go."

He smirked down at me before leaning down to press his lips against mine in a soft, but passionate kiss.

"Sweetheart, I only just got you to cave in. I'm not ready to share you with anyone just yet." He leant in close, his breath tickling my neck as he whispered into my ear. "Whatever happened can wait."

"Klaus." I laughed, running my fingers through his hair and down the back of his neck.

He nibbled on my ear, making a moan slip from my lips. "I think we're intimate enough for you to call me Nik."

"Nik…That's going to take some time to get used to."

"I'm sure I'll have you screaming it in no time." He said, smiling down at me.

#

The drive back to New Orleans was filled with happy conversation, which was strange considering that we didn't know what exactly we would be driving into. Klaus didn't let go of my hand once the whole drive, gripping it tight as if he thought I would disappear if he let go.

As we got closer and closer towards New Orleans, Klaus seemed to get even more nervous, gripping my hand tighter and tighter.

"It will be okay, Nik." I said, leaning across the centre console to press a kiss to his cheek.

"I know." He said, unconvincingly.

When we pulled up in front of the Mikaelson house, a little bit after 2 in the afternoon, we were met by a very frustrated-looking Katherine. Klaus and I slowly walked across the driveway and up the steps, meeting her there. She stood in her usually leather jacket and skinny jeans, with her hands on her hips.

"You're late." She hissed.

"Last time I checked, I didn't specify the exact time we would arrive." Klaus said, edging past her and into the house.

"Seriously! We tell you that something major happened last night, and you and Caroline decide that the better decision of what you should do, is to roll around in the sheets?"

Klaus spun around to face Katherine, his eyes flashing gold as he bared his teeth at her. "It's none of your business what happens between Caroline and I. We got here. Now, why don't you tell me what happened instead of complaining."

I followed both Klaus and Katherine into the lounge where everyone was seated. Klaus stood by the window, as he did most time we were in this room. Elijah sat in his corner, where he was joined by Katherine; Nadia was standing by the doorway; and Rebekah and Hayley were sitting on the couch. I sat down in one of the chairs, leaning back and relaxing into the soft cushion.

"There's been an attack." Elijah said, placing a hand on Katherine's leg as she sat on the arm of his chair.

"Where?" Klaus asked, looking out the window rather than at his brother.

"At Marcel's club."

Klaus stood perfectly still, his body slightly tensing at Elijah's announcement. I watched Katherine, who was looking remarkably…guilty.

Klaus sighed, running his hand through his hair, slowly turning around to meet his brother's eyes. "What happened?"

"It's all my fault." Katherine said, meeting Klaus's eyes. "I could have stopped it."

"What. Happened?" He growled.

"Marcel had a party and invited us all. So, Rebekah, Nadia, and I decided to go. It was a regular party, everything was going fine until Andre showed up with a witch. Marcel told her to leave, and she did. Then, ten minutes later the whole front of the building blew up. Marcel lost men, the club is out of business until the police figure out how the explosion started. But, I saw Andre outside with a witch from the same coven as the girl he showed up with. I know the coven, I've dealt with them before."

"And you think it was Andre who hired them to blow up the club?" I asked, interjecting before Klaus could.

"I could tell by the way that they were talking to one another. It looked like a business transaction. You could just tell that that's what happened."

"And why do you think it's your fault?" Klaus said, stepping forward, his anger dissipating slightly the closer he stood towards me.

"I should have known something weird was going on when Andre showed up with a Bulgarian witch. I should have mentioned something to Marcel, maybe they could have prevented it. I could have gone with Marcel to confront Andre when he first arrived, but I was too afraid."

"I don't understand why Andre would want to hurt Marcel. It makes no sense." Rebekah said, sitting up straighter. "I mean, when I found Andre he was drinking with Marcel in the bar. They seemed like friends. Not enemies."

My brain ticked. Rebekah was right, that didn't make sense. But, surely Andre would assume that at least one Mikaelson would be there. Klaus was supposedly trying to get his throne back from Marcel, so it wouldn't be too farfetched that the Mikaelson's would be there. If that was true, and he had known that one of them would be there, then why was that so important? What did he want with the Mikaelson's? Unless they were the target, and we were playing right into his hands.

"He's not after Marcel. He's after you." I said, looking at Klaus. He met my eyes, his brows furrowing.

"Why do you think that, Sweetheart?"

"You're trying to take reign of New Orleans back from Marcel. Andre would have either assumed that one of you would be at the club, or he would have known that you would band together to catch whoever it was that had attacked Marcel." I looked from Klaus to Katherine, who was watching me carefully. "What he wasn't expecting was Katherine knowing the witch he bought to stake out the layout of the club. If you hadn't noticed her and then the other witch, then no one would have a clue about who caused the attack. But, you would all be helping Marcel, and be out in the open."

A smirk appeared on Katherine's face as she looked from me to Klaus. "Who are you and what have you done with the small town neurotic cheerleader?"

Chapter Text

KLAUS P.O.V.

Sitting on the arm of the chair that Caroline was sitting on, I stared across the room towards Katherine. Caroline's logic worked remarkably well, but I still couldn't figure out why Andre would want to attack us. It didn't make any sense.

"Nik, are you alright?" Caroline asked, reaching over to place her arm on my leg.

"I don't know why he wants to hurt us. There's nothing that I can think off that would cause him to attack us. I haven't seen him in around 150 years, and even then, there's been nothing that I can think of that would cause this sort of anger."

"It could be anything." Katherine said, walking across the room towards Caroline and I. "He could have met someone between then and now that changed his opinion of you. It could be anything."

Caroline squeezed my leg comfortingly, and a sense of relief flooded my body and I rested my hand on top of hers. The closer that I got to her, the more relaxed and comfortable I felt, and in this situation that really helped me get a grip on and think about things clearer.

"Klaus," Katherine started, placing her hand on her hips. "I can track down Ysabeau and find out what Andre wants. It won't take that long, and Andre will have no idea I've gone to see her."

"Are you sure?"

"I've been friends with the members of that coven for centuries. She'll talk to me on principle. Trust me."

I nodded, knowing that Katherine would easily be able to get the information from the witch. I also knew that I would have to call Marcel and let him know the details of what was happening. He would want to be a part of any action to avenge the members of his group, and with the current strain on our relationship I didn't want to keep anything unnecessary from him.

"We need to plan this properly though." Caroline said, sitting up straighter. "Katherine can't just go barging into whatever hotel this witch is staying in and start interrogating her. We need to figure out how to do it without alerting anyone, including the other vampires and witches in town. If Marcel, or any of the vampires find out that you're digging then they'd probably attack us rather than Andre."

"You're entirely right, Sweetheart. And it's for that reason, as well as the fact that we'll probably need Marcel's help in the future, that I've decided that I'm going to tell Marcel what we know. He could help us in ways that we don't know we need right now."

Caroline nodded, smiling up at me proudly. I smiled back down at her, marvelling at the memory of us spending last night and this morning together. I still couldn't quite believe that she was giving me this chance, and I wasn't going to waste it by being stupid when it came to Andre.

"Okay. Well, why don't you go and talk to Marcel. I suggest that you do it in person, last night was pretty bad and I doubt he's doing too good today. And I'll work out exactly what I'm going to ask Ysabeau."

I agreed, giving Caroline's hand one last squeeze before standing up from the arm of the couch and motioning for Elijah to follow me out of the room. I didn't look back as I opened the front door and headed towards my car. I could hear Elijah walking behind me.

"It would be better for the both of us to go and see him because we weren't there last night."

Elijah nodded and we both climbed into my car. "I agree."

#

CAROLINE P.O.V.

I listened as Klaus' car pulled out from the driveway and exhaled a small breathe. When I looked up from my lap it was to see everyone else in the room staring at me with knowing looks. Great. Like I needed everyone to know about my sex life with Klaus.

Katherine smirked at me and crossed her arms over her chest.

"I'm not talking about it." I said, glaring at Katherine, knowing that even if she did happen to let it go tonight, then she would corner me later on and drag the details out of me.

"That bad?" Katherine gasped, mock shock written on her face.

"I just don't want to discuss it while we're in the midst of yet another threat…In front of his sister."

Katherine let out a shrill laugh and retreated to the seat that Elijah had been sitting in. "That good?"

I rolled my eyes and shifted in the seat, letting my brow raise as I looked at Katherine. "If we're going to discuss my private life in front of everyone, why don't you tell us about you and Elijah? Or better yet, why don't Nadia and Rebekah tell us about how they met?"

Katherine cringed. No one had yet asked Nadia and Rebekah what had happened between them, and I don't think anyone really wanted to know, but if it would get Katherine off my back I'd gladly jump down that rabbit hole.

"Fine! We won't talk about why you smell of dog…and sex. Why don't you tell us about how it went in Mystic Falls?"

"Great way to change the subject Katherine. Bring up her best friends funeral." Hayley muttered, eating a potato chip out of a bag that I hadn't even noticed that she had resting beside her.

"It went fine." I said, leaning more into the couch. "Klaus and I had dinner with my mum, in which she decided to embarrass me by asking embarrassing questions. Then I got to say goodbye to one of my best friends, then everyone found out I was human, which pissed Elena off. We argued, I left, Tyler sprained my wrist, Klaus picked me up, and that's that."

"Ah…is 'little miss goody-two-shoes' angry that she couldn't beat me? Or is she angry that she didn't get her way for once?"

"We're not talking about that either." I groaned, rubbing my hands over my eyes. "Why don't we talk about how you're going to approach this witch? You can't just barge in there demanding answers."

Katherine rolled her eyes and looked down at her hands. "I'm not new to this Caroline. I don't need to 'discuss' my conversational tactics."

#

KLAUS P.O.V.

Elijah and I walked into Marcel's compound, watching and listening carefully to the sounds coming from deep within. I could hear people doing a wide range of things, some of which I didn't really want to hear, but it didn't take long to find where Marcel was. He was arguing with someone about the explosion the night before.

Elijah and I made our way through the halls, surprisingly not running into anyone on our way to Marcel's room at the back. The door was locked when we reached it, and I raised my hand to give a slight knock.

The arguing within the room stopped almost immediately and a second later the door was thrown open and a short brunette exited with a fiery expression on her face. She pushed past us, leaving us to face a very angry-looking Marcel.

"What are you two doing here? I thought you were out of town." He said, motioning for us to enter the room. We both walked inside, but stayed close to the door.

Marcel's room was more like a small one bedroom apartment than an actual bedroom. With the large king size bed at the back, a small kitchen area, a walk-in wardrobe, and an adjoining bathroom. I looked around the room, noting the smashed bourbon bottle near the side wall, with water running down the wallpaper.

"Rebekah called us and told us what happened. We made sure we could get here as quickly as possible. We need to talk." I said, standing tall but trying my hardest not to look intimidating.

Marcel shot back the drink he was holding in his hand, sadness flitting across his usually carefree face. "I'm not in the mood for a nice chat, Klaus. My club was attacked, and my friends died. I won't sit here with you and discuss you getting 'your' city back. I have an arsonist to catch."

"That's why we're here. We know who blew up the club. We also have a faint idea of why. We want to band together to catch them."

Shock filled his face, his eyes widening as he placed his drink down on the table next to him. "Who was it?"

"Maybe we should go somewhere more private. It would be best if we kept this information primarily secret. We don't want the attackers to catch wind that we know who they are." Elijah said, both his hands in his pockets, appearing just as serious as he always did. "May I suggest we go to our home? It would be more relaxed, and we'll be able to talk without interruption."

A primal sensation shot through my body at the thought of Marcel in the same house as both the mother of my unborn child, and my mate. I fought the urge to growl, clenching my teeth and locking my jaw, not letting the primitive sound to escape. In that split second, every inch of my body despised Elijah for making such a suggestion. But, that moment passed and I felt my body relax back into its normal state. I hoped that neither of them had noticed the change.

Marcel shook his head, grabbing a jacket from the edge of his large bed and walking towards where we stood near the door. "No. I don't trust you enough to go alone to your house. We'll go to the church. It's abandoned, and the only person who might overhear us is Davina, and she wouldn't betray either of us."

Elijah and I looked at each other and then both agreed. The church was common ground. And I doubted that Marcel would attack us so soon after being attacked himself. We ended up walking the short distance to the abandoned building, slipping inside unnoticed and walking to one of the back rooms.

The room was dark, the windows boarded up as to not let in any of the light. The room had only one table which sat in the centre of the room, with five chairs placed in random places throughout.

Elijah and I sat close to one another facing Marcel. If anyone else walked into the room they would most likely think we were having a face-off or argument instead of a conversation.

"Okay, who was it that attacked my people?" Marcel said, leaning leisurely back in his chair, as if it wasn't awkwardly designed and made out of stiff wood.

"We're certain that it was Andre." I cleared my throat, readying myself for an outburst from him, but I continued on before he could properly react. "Katherine recognised the witch that Andre brought with him, she knows the witches coven. And then, while she was cleaning up debris outside she saw someone else from the same coven, making some sort of transaction with Andre. It's our belief that he hired the coven to attack your club."

Fire was in Marcel's eyes as he stared at me. Even though I knew he couldn't hurt me, I was glad that I wasn't the reason for his anger. "Why the fuck would Andre want to attack me? We've only ever gotten along. There's no reason for him to attack me."

"We're not sure. But, we think he may have attacked you in order to get us out into the open so that our guard would be down." Elijah said, speaking up for the first time since we arrived.

"So, he's after your family and not mine?"

"We think so. We're not one hundred percent sure. What we want is to stop him from hurting anyone else, or orchestrating any more attacks in New Orleans. What we're suggesting is a temporary alliance between us. No arguing over who is the rightful ruler of New Orleans. No fighting or attacking each other, but focusing on a way to stop Andre and finding out what he wants."

Marcel listened intently, nodding gently as I finished speaking. "So we'll join forces to stop him, and you won't turn around and double-cross me and my people?"

I nodded. "There are things in my life right now that I don't want to jeopardise losing. I won't risk that by starting a way between us."

"Fine." Marcel said, standing up from his chair. Elijah and I followed suit. He held out his hand, which I took steadily. "I'll agree to work with you."

"Before we go any further, we need to talk about privacy." Elijah said, cutting mine and Marcel's handshake short. "We don't want Andre to know that we know what he's up to. So, that means this stays between us until we have a clearly laid out plan set up. That means, only telling your inner circle, with the assurance that they won't attack Andre for the men you've lost."

"I agree. It would be best that the minimal amount of people know until we're ready."

Chapter Text

KLAUS P.O.V.

"Is it okay if I stay here tonight?" Caroline asked, snuggling in closer to me with her head in the crook of my neck. We had been sitting and discussing some boundaries that I felt needed to be set now that there was a threat of an attack. Nothing too controlling, just basic 'stay safe' guidelines so that she wouldn't get hurt.

"Of course, Sweetheart. Any time you want to stay, you can stay." I said, wrapping my arm around her and pulling her even closer into the side. Well, as close as our sitting position would allow.

"Okay, thanks. It's just that Katherine is staying here too, and I don't really want to drive all the way to Nadia's when I'll just be back here early in the morning anyway."

"You don't have to explain yourself to me Caroline."

"I know I don't have to explain myself to you Nik, but it doesn't mean that I don't want to explain myself." She said, pulling back to smile up at me.

I smiled down at her and leant down to press my lips gently to hers. She wrapped her arm around my neck and pulled me closer. "You're beautiful."

She let out a small laugh. "I know."

#

KATHERINE P.O.V.

(The next day)

"I've tracked Ysabeau down. She's staying at a hotel across town." I said, stepping into the room to interrupt whatever Klaus and Caroline had been discussing. They pulled apart and both glared across at me. "Don't look at me like that. We have more pressing matters to discuss than you guys sticking your tongues down each other's throats. I mean, you spend two nights together and BAM you're all over each other."

Klaus rolled his eyes and wrapped his arm around Caroline's shoulder. "Just get on with it Katherine."

"I'm going to go and see her late tonight. It shouldn't be too hard for me to sneak into the hotel where she's staying. I can sneak in, ask her the questions that we've discussed, and then I can be back here before you even know I'm gone."

Caroline pulled away from Klaus' arm and reached forward for a glass of water that sat on the coffee table. She sat back up and smiled at me. "Are you sure you'll be okay going alone?"

"Of course. I've done this a million times. It'll be a piece of cake."

#

I easily stole the spare key to Ysabeau's room from the main office, sneaking unseen up the stairs and to her door. I could hear her moving around inside, the TV playing quietly in the background. I inserted the key into the door, silently turning it and then opened the door.

Ysabeau spun around and shot a burst of fire in my direction, which I simply dodged. Shock filled her eyes as she saw me standing in the doorway. She got out of her offensive stance and looked around the room, trying to figure out what to do.

"You look scared Ysabeau. Why would I want to hurt you?" I said, stepping into the room and pushing the door shut behind me. "It's not like you've, I don't know, blown up a building or anything?"

He face dropped and she ran her fingers through her platinum hair. "I knew you saw me the other night. I knew you would put the pieces together. I told Andre that his plan was stupid, but he wouldn't let it go."

"So you did help him blow up the club." I growled, stepping even closer towards her. "You do realise the innocent people died in that explosion?"

She looked sad, sitting down on the edge of the bed and resting her face in her hand. "I wasn't a part of the actual explosion. Andre told us that there wouldn't be that many people there, and the people who were there were killers. But I knew as soon as I saw how many people were there, that it was wrong."

"I've known you and your coven for centuries. I'm well aware of your moral code, but that doesn't change you're history of guns for hire. In fact, you've never needlessly attacked anyone. Ever. Why start now?" I said, still standing several feet in front of her, not moving any closer as she spoke. "And why help Andre? What was he trying to achieve by attacking Marcel?"

She looked confused for a moment, straightening up and inching closer to the edge of the bed, her bum barely sitting on the mattress. "Who's Marcel? We were attacking a party thrown by Klaus Mikaelson. And he's definitely not innocent."

I raised one eyebrow at her, crossing my arms over my chest. "Klaus wasn't even at the party. That party was a celebration for the vampires of New Orleans, thrown by the person currently running the city…Marcel Gerard."

Ysabeau shook her head, tears springing to her eyes. "That's not what Andre told us. He told us that Klaus was throwing a party with all of the vampires living under him. We were attacking them because they were all in one place, and it would be easier than attacking them all separately."

"But why? I understand that Klaus is an evil son of a bitch, but why would you travel halfway across the world just to attack a party? Klaus can't be killed. And from what Klaus has said, Andre is one of his friends not an enemy."

Ysabeau pulled at the bottom of her shirt, looking down at her lap. "Andre came to our village last year, introduced himself and told us that he needed a place to lay low for a while. Igor let him stay and they grew close. Andre told us this whole story of how he had had enough of Klaus' 'evil ways' and he didn't want to be a part of it anymore. He told us that because of that disagreement, he was on the run."

"Well, that was a lie. Andre was in Klaus home last week, acting as if they were friends." I snickered. "If Andre and Klaus had a disagreement, Klaus isn't aware of it."

"That's not all. He told us that after all he and Klaus had been through, he couldn't sit by and let him ruin anyone else's lives."

"What does that mean?"

She sighed, wiping tears that leaked out of her eyes. "He told us that Klaus had murdered his one true love. A witch in 1492, called Elizabeth. She worked for Klaus, and then went against his word. He slaughtered her like an animal, and Andre stayed loyal to Klaus that whole time."

My mind raced. That story didn't sound as much like a lie as the other story he had spun. And the name Elizabeth sounded familiar, and not just because it was a really common name. Thinking back to my time in London back in 1492 I remembered a witch that was working for the Mikaelson family. She was the one who was supposed to perform the sacrifice on me. The one who had gotten so guilty that she had ended up telling me there was going to be a sacrifice.

I let a smile pull at my lips. We got him.

"Thank you for your help, Ysabeau." I said, turning around and heading towards the door.

"What?" She called, stopping me in my tracks. "You don't want to know anything else?"

"I now know why Andre attacked Marcel, as well as how. That's all I needed to know. Unless there was something else you wanted to say?"

She shook her head, still looking troubled.

I took a deep breath in and gave her an encouraging smile. "It's not your fault that those people are dead. You didn't know that Andre was setting you up. I mean, if it wasn't for me seeing Andre talking to Igor outside the club, Marcel probably would have slaughtered your whole coven by now."

I left it at that, turning back around and walking easily out of the hotel and back to my car.

My mind continued to race on the way back to the house. Andre had been with the witch that had saved my life. Sometimes life was just too funny. It made sense though. If Andre had been with the witch at the time she had betrayed Klaus, I doubted that Klaus wouldn't have cared, or even known. And I had no doubt that Klaus would have slaughtered her the moment he discovered her betrayal.

And now, hundreds of years later, Andre was ready for revenge. Of course, it didn't make sense that he would wait this long, but I suppose the saying is 'revenge is a dish best served cold'. Klaus wouldn't expect Andre to attack five hundred years later.

I pulled up next to Klaus' car at the house, strutting into the house with a smile on my face. I wasn't surprised to find everyone, including Marcel, sitting in the front lounge room, the room where we all naturally gathered.

Everyone looked up as I entered, and a smile matching my own made its way onto Klaus' face. "I'm guessing from the look on your face, that you were successful?"

"Did you doubt me?" I said, leaning against the doorway. "Does the name Elizabeth Parson ring a bell?"

Klaus drew his brows together, looking confused for a moment before he shook his head. "No. Why?"

"Well, it should. It's the reason that Andre wants your head on a stick."

"Who is she?" Elijah said, sitting straighter in his usual chair, placing his current book down on the arm of the chair.

"The witch that Andre was fucking 500 years ago. She also happens to be the witch that warned me that you were planning on killing me in the sacrifice." I pushed off of the wall and walked further into the room, stopping by the window that looked out onto the city. You could see all of the lights off into the distance. "Apparently Andre was quite attached. And now he wants to get revenge for you killing the witch."

Klaus looked thoughtful for a second before he let out a small laugh. He pulled himself away from Caroline and pushed himself up from the couch. He didn't speak as he ran from the room. I looked at Elijah questioningly.

A moment later, Klaus reappeared with a bundle of papers and envelopes in his hand. "He threw them through the air to my ready hands. I looked down at the papers, untying them and looking at the name on the front of one of the Envelopes…Elizabeth Parson. Opening the first letter, I read over the neat handwriting. A love letter from Andre to Elizabeth.

"Where did you get these?" I asked, flicking through the pile.

"Her bedrooms. Back then I didn't always remember all of the people I killed. So, with the women, I liked to take their love letters. It kept a nice record. Kind of like how Stefan kept a log of names written on a wall in the 20's when he was in full ripper mode."

"That's disgusting." Caroline muttered, standing up from the couch and snatching the letters from me. "These are peoples personal thoughts and feelings, and you just took them like some sort of trophy."

"Sweetheart, I'm fairly certain I've never hidden how much of an evil bastard I am. Yes, I used to keep the letters of my old victims, but I stopped doing that centuries ago."

Caroline still kept holding the letters, glaring down at Klaus. "So what, you plan to use these against Andre?"

"These letters," I started, stepping forward to snatch them back, "are going to give us some insight into Elizabeth and Andre's relationship, as well as a point of leverage against him. He wants the whole Mikaelson family dead, and it's clear that he doesn't care who he kills on the way. In fact, Ysabeau told me that their coven didn't even know that they were attacking Marcel the other day. Andre told them that it was going to be a small party hosted the Mikaelson family, just for their most inner circle."

Klaus looked at me with wide eyes. "He tricked the whole coven into attacking the party."

"If I had to guess, I'd say that he wanted them to take the fall for it happening. He doesn't know that we know he's the one behind it. He probably expects Marcel to get rid of the coven before anyone knows of his involvement."

"So what's the plan?" Marcel says, leaning back in his chair to look me in the eye.

"The plan?" I say, letting a smirk pull at my lips. "Andre has been wanting to catch up since he knew I was here. I'll just play on that. And I'll get amusement out of watching his face fall as he realises that he's not as smart of he thinks he is."

Chapter Text

KATHERINE P.O.V.

I stared at Andre unnoticed from my spot in a chair in the corner of the room. He had just exited his bathroom, towel wrapped around his muscular body, and hadn't even looked up. I watched as he went to the draws and pulled out clothes.

I waited to speak until he was just about to remove the towel. "You should really pay more attention to your surroundings."

He looked up, shock on his face. He gripped the towel tight and moved back slightly, looking me up and down. I didn't move from my position, one leg crossed over other in the chair, as he tried to form words.

"What are you doing here, Katerina?" He said, reverting to our native tongue.

"Every time I've seen you, you've wanted to talk." I held my hands up, motioning around the room. "So, here I am. Talk."

"I didn't expect you to want to talk." He said, shifting from on leg to the other, still holding up his towel.

"I don't. I'd much rather be getting to know our daughter. But, I happen to be curious. Especially as to why you sounded pretty adamant that she should be dead." I leant forward, letting my eyes meet his. "But why don't you go and get dressed, we can discuss this once your decent."

He picked up his clothes and then smirked at me. "It's nothing you haven't seen before."

"Nothing being the operative word."

He quickly went and got dressed, and I waited patiently, pulling out my phone and opening the photos I had taken of his and Elizabeth's letters. A couple of minutes later he exited the bathroom fully dressed. He sat down opposite me on the edge of his bed.

"How did you find Nadia?" He asked, leaning his arms against his knees.

I let out a dry laugh. "I didn't find her. After having herself turned, and searching for 500 years, she found me."

He narrowed his eyes at me and looked down at his bare feet.

"Why were you adamant that she was dead? I mean, it's not too farfetched for her to have turned. It happens to a lot of people." I uncrossed my legs only to cross them the other way, playing with my phone in my lap. "But you seemed almost scared to see her alive."

He didn't answer for a moment, and I always bombarded him with another question, but he finally opened his mouth and let out a sigh. "I didn't want this life for her. I didn't want her to have to rely on blood to survive. So, I put measures in place so that she wouldn't be able to transition. Her body would reject the vampire blood before she could even attempt it to transition."

I glared over at him. "Well, that plan obviously didn't work, considering she's here…and alive."

Andre looked up, meeting his eyes with mine. "Do you even know that she is our daughter?"

I snorted, crossing my arms across my chest. "There's not a doubt in my mind."

We both stared at each other in silence, neither of us willing to break eye contact as we waited for the other to speak. I tapped my phone nervously, unflinching with my gaze as he seemed to study me.

After almost five minutes of the two of us looking at each other, I couldn't take it anymore. I looked down at my phone and unlocked it, opening up one of the letters that I had taken a photo of.

"You know, the Andre that I remember was rather intelligent." I said, smiling over at him. "You've gotten sloppy."

A smile flashed across his face. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Next time you plan an attack, you should make sure that nobody at the party recognises the hitmen." I said, tilting my head to the side.

His smile dropped and his eyes hardened. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Letting my head tilt back, I let out a shrill laugh. "First of all, I'm close friends with Ysabeau's mother. And although I may have been at the back of the room, I can recognise her anywhere. Second: standing outside a building that has just blown up, having a dodgy conversation with a witch instead of helping with the aftermath, kind of screams 'guilty'."

His jaw locked and his eyes narrowed. I could almost see the faint veins that were threatening to appear.

"You may have lied your way into the trust of their coven, but trust can be broken. Especially when faced with the truth. I got some very interesting information from Ysabeau." I held my phone, waving it slightly so that his eyes landed on it.

"You have nothing." He growled.

"Actually, I have something that even you don't have." I unlocked my phone again, looking down at the last letter he had written to Elizabeth. "Something that Klaus was more than happy to supply me with."

His expression faltered at the mention of Klaus, and I knew I was walking a thin line between having him afraid and intrigued, with him maybe turning violent. I looked down at the screen and zoomed in closer so that I could see the text more clearly.

"My Darling Elizabeth," I started, slipping into a British accent. "My days grow darker each moment that I am away from you. It is my every wish that I will be able to return to the Mikaelson estate, and to you, as soon as the problem at hand is dealt with."

"How did you get that?" He yelled, jumping and lunging for me. I quickly ran to the other side of the room.

"I am glad to hear that the woman Trevor found is, in fact, the doppelgänger that Klaus will need to break his curse. The full moon is soon approaching, meaning that the sacrifice should be successful within a few days' time. And I should be returning to you in a weeks' time, if all goes according to plan." I continued, watching as he stood there growing angrier as I spoke. "Your role in this ritual, although still unnerves me, brings me hope that Klaus will allow our relationship to be public once all is done with. I dream of the moment that I can present you into society as my own.

This correspondence must remain short because I am trying as hard as I can to complete the tasks at hand. I hope all is well, and that you miss me as much as I miss you, my love. Send me word of any progress that becomes of the doppelgänger and the ritual, and let me know of any tasks that Klaus has you undertake. All my love and devotion, Andre."

His nostrils were flared and his hands were clenched at his side. "You have no right having that letter."

"I just have a photo." I said, stepping closer. "Klaus has the original copies of all of the letters." I stopped directly in front of him, our faces almost touching. "Did you honestly think that Klaus is stupid enough not to realise when someone is trying to attack him? You used to be smarter than this Andre. But I suppose heartbreak has turned you soft."

I turned around and headed for the door, which happened to be a mistake. Andre grabbed my arm, turning me around and throwing me against the wall. He had let his face transform, and he bared his teeth as me as he leaned in closer. "I am not the stupid one! You're all cozied up to Klaus now, but what's stopping him from killing you for your betrayal? Do you think Elijah will be able to save you? You were always gullible, Katerina. And that will be your downfall."

I let a smirk appear on my face, grabbing the arm that was holding onto my neck and flipping him onto his back. I ran to the chair I had been sitting on, snapping the let off and then plunging the make-shift stake into his stomach.

He groaned in pain, reaching out to try and pull the stake out, but I pushed back. I leant right and down and whispered into his hear. "It wasn't me who betrayed Klaus 500 years ago. That would be your witch, and she paid the price for that."

I stood up, taking the stake with me, staring down at him trying not to let my swirl of emotions take over. He was holding his stomach where the gaping hole now was. I dropped the stake down next to his body and started to retreat towards the closed door, stopping and turning back just before I opened.

"I may have been a gullible child when you knew me Andre. But instead of letting that make me weak, I took it in my stride and became stronger." I smirked down at him. "I survived 500 years running from Klaus. I wonder how long you'll last."

#

Walking back into the house, In was stopped by the scene in front of me. Everyone was rushing around and talking over each other. I looked around, trying to figure out what it was that was happening.

Caroline caught my eye and pushed past everyone to come and stand with me.

"What happened?" I asked, pulling at my leather jacket.

Caroline sighed and looked back over to where Klaus was yelling at Elijah. "Everything was fine, and then I went to go and check on Hayley and she wasn't there. No one has seen her since she went and had a nap earlier today. We searched everywhere and we can't find her."

Shock filled my system. I knew that Andre hadn't come and taken Hayley, I had just been there and there was no sign that he had kidnapped anyone. "When did you discover her gone?"

"About half an hour ago. We don't think she's been gone for more than an hour or so because I had checked on her a bit before then and she had been asleep."

"Shit." I muttered, just as Klaus looked over and caught site of me. His expression darkened and he came stalking over to us.

"Where the hell have you been?" He growled, reaching out to put a death grip on my arm. I pulled it away and glared at him.

"Where I was supposed to be. I've been at Andre's hotel for longer than an hour. He didn't come and take her." I said, meeting his eyes steadily. He looked like he was on the verge of going on a rampage, so I worded my next question carefully. "Are you sure she hasn't gone off on her own? I mean, she is here 24/7. There's a chance that she wanted to be alone."

Caroline shook her head and folded her arms across her chest. "She wouldn't go out on her own without telling anyone. She's been scared ever since the attack on Marcel. She doesn't want anything to happen to the baby."

I nodded. She was right. Hayley had been hyper sensitive about safety since the attack. She wouldn't leave the house unless it was with someone else she trusted. "Then how did someone get in to break her out? You guys would have heard anyone who even tried to get in."

Klaus edged closer to me and I took a hesitant step back. Elijah had walked over now, and he placed a hand on Klaus shoulder. Klaus let out a feral growl. "What did Andre say?"

"Not much besides confirming that he was the one who orchestrated the attack, and that he definitely doesn't like you. I warned him that you wouldn't stop until he was dead. I don't know if he heeded my warning or not. But, surely he must know that kidnapping the mother of your child would only make that worse?"

Caroline sighed and rubbed her face. "He's not working logically. He wants Nik to suffer. He wouldn't care what he had to do to make that happen."

Klaus' face was still angry, but I could see the sheer panic behind his eyes. I reached out and gripped his hand tightly, making him meet my eyes. "Andre isn't smart enough to do this on his own. There's someone here, someone who knew your connection to Hayley. And we'll trace them, and bring her home. No matter what."

Chapter Text

CAROLINE P.O.V.

Sitting close to Klaus on the couch, I gripped his hand tightly as he sat discussing what should happen next. We had all gathered in the lounge room last night, and we hadn't moved to go to bed throughout the night, even though the sun had risen.

I yawned, holding my hand over my mouth and leaned my head against Klaus' shoulder. My whole body was tired. My muscles continued to ache, and I wondered when exactly the tension would go away and I could feel some kind of ease.

"I say we call all of our combined contacts." Katherine was saying, standing next to Elijah as she looked down at the group. "Surely if we flood the town with more people, we'll flush him out."

"Or we'll invite more people, and he would have left town by the time they arrive." Klaus growled back at her.

"I'm just adding some suggestions, Klaus. I know this is time sensitive, but what else do you think we should do? Sure, there's enough people here to help search for her, but if more people were here we'd have an even better chance of finding her."

Klaus gripped my leg in anger. Not hard enough to hurt me, but enough to let some of his gathering anger out. I placed a hand gently over his, not looking up at his face, but feeling him calm under my grip.

Another yawn rippled through me, and although I tried to hold it back it escaped through my lips. I looked down at my lap, to my phone which sat there, and used the hand that wasn't gripping Klaus' to check the time. I internally groaned. It was already after seven-thirty in the morning.

I rubbed my eyes and suddenly got an idea. My mum would surely know what to do about a kidnapping. Not that she had had any firsthand experience. But she would have a better idea than any of the people here did.

Leaning closer to Klaus I whispered in his ear that I was going to go and lay down. Then I pulled myself up from the couch and bid everyone a goodnight.

Slippin away from the room, I left everyone in the lounge room to sit and continue strategizing of what their next move should be. I made my way up the stairs to Klaus' bedroom, sitting on the edge of the bed, and pulled my phone from my pocket.

It didn't take my mum long to answer with a cheery 'hello'. I sighed and readied myself to tell her what was happening, and why I had called her.

"Hey, mum."

Her cheerful voice quickly turned serious as she heard the tone in my voice. "What's wrong? Are you okay? What did Klaus do?"

"Klaus hasn't done anything, mum." I ran my hand through my hair and looked over at the bedside table where Klaus had left his open sketchbook, filled with portraits of me. "He's been really great."

"But…"

"But something has happened. Someone that Klaus pissed off 500 years ago has decided to take revenge on what Klaus did. And by doing that he, well, he kidnapped Hayley. The werewolf that Tyler was friends with earlier this year."

I could hear my mum's confusion through the phone. "What does she have to do with Klaus?"

I sighed and rubbed my eyes. I didn't necessarily want to get into all of the private details about Klaus and Hayley, but I needed her professional advice and I wasn't about to waste time making something up.

"After Hayley had the hybrids betray Klaus, and he killed them, they had a one night stand and somehow Hayley got pregnant. That's why Klaus is in New Orleans. It's a long story that I don't really have time to get into right now. But Andre, the guy, kidnapped her and I wanted to know what we should do."

"When was she taken?" She asked, all business.

"Early last night." I let out a small yawn. "We've been up all night trying to figure out where she could have been taken."

"And you're sure she hasn't run off on her own?"

"Yes, we're sure. She knows it's dangerous for her to leave the house on her own."

"And this person, he wants revenge?"

I thought about the way that Andre had acted the night of the baby shower, how he had seemed happy to see Klaus. He hadn't seemed menacing at all. He didn't look like the kind of person to kidnap a pregnant woman. But then again, Stefan didn't look like the type of person who would tear a person limb-from-limb.

"Yes. Klaus killed his girlfriend back in the late 1400's and he never got over it."

She stayed silent for a moment before replying. Thinking over what I had told her.

"Okay," she started, matter-of-fact. "If you haven't been contacted by this person just yet, and you have no idea where she is, the best thing you can do is to wait until he contacts you. I know it sounds harsh to not look for her, and you don't have to sit around and do nothing. But, instead of searching every inch of the city, and instead of hunting Andre down, the best thing that you can do is to wait until he makes the next move. If you make the next move he could turn volatile, and that would put Hayley at a risk."

"You just want us to sit and wait?" I bit out, my voice harsher than either of us expected.

"Caroline, if Klaus goes out there and hunts Andre down, Andre will most likely realise that there's no way out for him, and then he'll kill Hayley anyway. If you wait until he makes the next move then you can figure out the next best move to make in order to retrieve her safely."

I groaned and rubbed my eyes with my hands. I was so tired, having stayed up most of the night, and worry gripped at my chest. "Okay. I'll go and tell Klaus what you said. I doubt he'll listen, but I'll give it a try."

"Just be careful okay, Caroline." She said, sounding more worried than I had ever heard her. "You're not as invincible as you used to be."

I smiled as I said goodbye, telling her that I loved her. When I placed my phone down and looked up I saw Nik standing in the doorway with a sad look on his face. I stood up, leaving my phone on the edge of the bed as I walked towards him.

"Hey," I whispered, stepping into his open arms. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." He said against my hair, kissing my forehead. "We haven't made any progress. I just came to make sure you were okay."

I leant up and kissed him gently on the lips. "I'm not going anywhere Nik."

He pressed his nose into the crook of my neck, breathing in my scent before pressing a soft kiss to my collarbone. "I know. But I can feel my protectiveness over you growing with each day. An invisible pull that makes me want to protect you from anyone and everything."

I pulled back and stared into his eyes. "I know it's hard. I'm sure once we get used to the fact that we're mated, it'll get easier."

A small smile broke out on his face and he pressed another kiss to my lips. "I know."

I let my smile fall as I touched his face gently. "I spoke to my mum."

"What did she say?" He said, pulling back slightly.

"She told me something that I know you're not going to like. But, I think I should explain it to everyone, so we don't have to waste time by repeating everything."

"Okay." He said, pulling me from the room and down the stairs. I rolled my eyes as he strutted back into the lounge room where everyone was now sitting down resting their heads in their hands, and looking absolutely defeated. I wondered what Klaus had said to them before he came to check on me.

They all looked up as we entered the room. Katherine groaning and rolling her head around as she looked at the determined look on Klaus' face. Marcel, who had been talking quietly with Nadia, looked at Klaus with a raised brow, then down at mine and Klaus' joined hands. A smirk pulled at his lips as I pulled my hands from Klaus'.

"Caroline spoke to her mum, who offered some advice on the matter." Klaus announced, sitting down in the seat he had been sitting in before.

Everyone's eyes fell on me and both Nadia and Marcel looked confused as what Klaus had said.

"What would Caroline's mum know about a vampire kidnapping someone?" Nadia asked, her accent sounding thicker with the exhaustion of not having slept.

"My mum's the Sheriff of Mystic Falls." I said, pulling at my sleeves. "I thought it might be a good idea to call her and see if she had anything to offer on the subject of kidnapping. She would have learnt about these sorts of things in her police training."

"And what did the good sheriff have to say?" Katherine muttered, leaning forward to rest her arms in her lap.

"Well, her advice might sound counterproductive, but I think it's a good idea."

"Just tell us, Sweetheart."

I took a deep breath and met Klaus' eyes. "She doesn't want us to do anything. She thinks that it would be a good idea to call extra people in, but she doesn't think we should go looking for Hayley, or to make a show about the fact that she's missing. She said that in most kidnapping cases the kidnappers want something, and will contact you when they're ready to tell you what that is. In cases where a major search goes on, the victim gets killed."

Klaus jaw locked instantly and he looked like he might explode in anger.

"But surely with our increased power, that doesn't apply." Rebekah said, playing with her hair.

"Well, I don't think it really matters who you are. I actually think it's a good idea. If we show Andre that we don't care, or that we're not going to walk into whatever trap he has set, then he will contact us and tell us what he wants. I think it's the safest option for Hayley."

"That or he'll take out disinterest as a sign that means he can kill her anyway." Klaus bit out, gripping the arm of the couch tightly.

"I know it's hard, Klaus. I want to find her as much as everyone. But if you go running in and ripping hearts out, then Andre isn't going to negotiate. He's going to kill her. If we play along then there's a chance you can out manoeuvre him."

"She's right." Elijah calmly spoke from his position in his usual armchair. "He'll expect us to go running in. When we don't, it'll take him off guard and he'll make a show of taunting us and telling us what he's after."

Klaus looked to his brother and then back to me, anger still burning behind his eyes. His eyes flashed gold for a second and in the blink of an eye he ran from the room, slamming the front door behind him.

"Always one to throw a tantrum." Elijah muttered, I glared over at him.

"The mother of his child was just kidnapped and it's for something he did 500 years ago." I growled. "He's upset and feeling guilty. He has every right to act out."

Chapter Text

KLAUS P.O.V.

Sitting perfectly still, I glared at the canvas that sat half-painted in front of me. I couldn't bring myself to pick up the brush. Every inch of my body was hyper-aware of the situation at hand. The wolf in me needed to get Hayley back, but the 1000 year old vampire in me knew that what Caroline had said yesterday was true. We needed to wait and see what Andre did next before we acted. But it didn't change the fact that I couldn't concentrate on anything other than where Hayley might be, and what Andre would be doing to her and the baby.

I looked back to the canvas and then to the brush that sat on the edge of the table next to my paint palette. I wanted so badly to paint out what I was feeling, but I knew the painting I had been working so painstakingly on would turn into a painting of anger and rage, and not the one of hope that it currently was heading towards.

I made the decision to quickly change course, removing the canvas from the easel and placing it against the side wall of my studio. I then grabbed a new canvas and my dark red and blue acrylic paints.

Half an hour into my angry painting session a small knock sounded at the turn, making my head turn. I breathed in through my nose, instantly recognising the scent. I placed my brush down and called for her to enter.

Caroline opened the door slowly, popping her head around the corner of the door. Smiling when her eyes met mine. "Hey. I was wondering where you ran off to."

I smiled back at her, opening my arms for her to come and nestle into. She didn't hesitate to walk forward and wrap her arms around me. I breathed in her scent some more, loving the feeling that the smell sent through my body. The warm calmness that spread from my every limb.

"I'm just trying to clear my head." I said into her hair, pulling back to look into her blue eyes.

"I'm glad." She stepped back from my arms and looked at the painting I was in the middle of, a grimace making its way onto her face. "This is…nice."

I laughed. "No need to lie, Love. I know it's bad. I was just letting some of my frustration out.

"Well, at least you're doing something." She sighed and crossed her arms as she looked around the room. Eyeing all of the paintings and drawings I had done of her. "Will you ever get sick of painting me?"

Giving her a boyish grin I reached out and pulled her back into my arms. "Nope. You're too beautiful not to immortalise in art."

She hit me gently on the shoulder, pressing a kiss to my lips before walking back towards the still-open door. "Some people are already starting to arrive. When you're ready, please come down and greet them. Show them that you're grateful for their help. Okay?"

I nodded, having heard the cars arrive and the new voices filling the house. "Of course, Sweetheart."

#

I ended up staying in my studio for another five minutes after Caroline had left before I followed her down to the main entrance. When I walked into the front room I was surprised by just how many people had shown up.

Most of them I recognised easily, but a few of them were new to me. I greeted the people I knew, thanking them for arriving so swiftly, then moved onto the other people who Katherine and Nadia introduced me to. I was thankful that everyone turned up so quickly, and that they were all eager to jump into action.

We ended up sitting down and discussing our next course of action. My anger at Caroline's suggestion yesterday had subsided, and I was now firmly on her side. Waiting was really the best option. But not everyone agreed with that.

"I understand that Caroline's mother thinks it's a good idea to wait. But that's using humans as a reference. This is a completely different. We should take action now. We deserve to go and get Hayley and then get our revenge. I'm sick of waiting." Marcel yelled, standing from his chair and looking down at where I sat on the couch next to Caroline. "Why should we take some small town Sheriff's word as gospel."

I bared my teeth at him. The wolf within me coming to life and pushing against my restraint at Marcel's insult towards Caroline's mother. I tried to push it back. Knowing that it was my mating bond with Caroline that was making my anger flare, and not my anger at Marcel.

"My mother isn't some hick." Caroline said, teeth clenched as she looked up at Marcel. "She's dealt with a whole number of vampire related crimes, and she knows how to deal with them. Her suggestion will work."

Marcel turned his eyes to Caroline. Narrowing his eyes down at her. "And why should I take your word. Andre blew up my club and murdered my family. We should take action and not sit around. Why should we take the world of some human toy that Klaus has decided to entertain himself with?"

His words shot rage through every part of my body, and although Caroline tried to comfort me by gripping her arm on mine, I felt my teeth lengthen and my eyes shift. Less than two seconds after the words left Marcel's mouth I lunged from the chair and tackling Marcel, and slamming him against the wall.

His head collided with the plaster, leaving a head-sized dint. His face changed as well, and he tried to fight against me, but I didn't budge. I bared my fangs, glaring into his eyes.

"Caroline. Is. Not. A. Toy." I growled, feeling the increasing urge to bite into his flesh, stopping him from ever getting the chance to hurt my mate.

A hand came to rest on my shoulder, and I turned my face around to bare my fangs at whoever it was. Caroline stood there, her face soft and calm as she squeezed my shoulder. She spoke, but I couldn't hear what she said behind the angry ringing in my ears.

She squeezed my shoulder again, and I inhaled carefully through my nose, taking in the delicate smell. Slowly my hearing returned and eyes shifted back to normal, along with my fangs.

I turned back to Marcel, letting my grip on him go. I stepped back, letting every inch of my mind focus on Caroline's touch. Marcel looked between Caroline and I, his eyes widening.

"I don't like having to wait either. But, I won't risk Hayley's life just for a quick fix of revenge. We wait until Andre contacts us."

"Okay." He choked out, slinking back to the chair he had occupied.

I continued to face the wall, not turning around to face all of the eyes that were on me. Caroline continued to hold my shoulder, stepping forward and whispering that it was okay. If only that were true?

"I need some air." I choked out, pushing off of the wall and pulling away from Caroline, storming straight out the front door.

Anger filled my veins, flooded by Caroline's scent. I needed to get control of myself before I let anyone else be hurt for things that I had done. I walked out into the garden, stopping at the fence and running my hands through my hair.

I could hear Caroline walking up behind me, her gently footsteps crinkling the earth beneath her feet. She came up behind me and wrapped her arms around my waist. "Nik, it'll be okay."

I pulled from her grip again, turning around to face her. "No it won't Caroline. I can handle an attack. I can handle a whole army coming after me. But, I cannot handle you or Hayley getting hurt because of me. Especially you. Every moment since you told me how you felt, my urge to protect and control you has taken over my every thought."

Sadness filled her eyes as he reached up to caress my face. "It'll get easier, Nik. You just have to hold on a while longer."

"No it won't. It's just getting stronger." I growled, nuzzling my face into her hand. I tear that I definitely did not want to cry, threatened to fall from eyes. "How am I supposed to save Hayley and our baby when I can't even handle someone on my side speaking negatively about you?"

"You don't strike me as someone who would give up Klaus. You get what you want, and you do whatever the hell you can to make it happen." She moved her hands and placed them on her hips, smirking up at me. "Yes, you've done some shitty things in your life. But, you won't let anyone you care about get hurt because of this. I know you won't. I trust you with my life, and I think you need to forget worrying about how you're doing, and put on that sexy smirk and kick some ass."

I couldn't help but smile down at her. She was everything I ever wanted and more. She was light and selfless, whereas I was all darkness and rage. We were exact opposites, but that was what made us work so well.

I pulled her towards me and wrapped my arms around her tightly, breathing in her scent for what felt like the thousandth time. A scent that grew sweeter and sweeter every day. But I didn't mind. She was mine, and I would do anything to keep her and my family safe.

"Stay the night tonight, Caroline." I whispered into her hair. "I don't think I could handle you leaving right now."

"Of course." She mumbled in reply.

"Thank you."

#

ELIJAH P.O.V.

I sighed, rolling over and wrapping my arm around Katherine's small waist. She groaned in her sleep, leaning into my embrace. After everything that had happened yesterday, Klaus' outburst and then our further discussion about what our next move would be, Katherine had decided she would stay her as well. It was better that we stick together, she had said.

"Elijah." She said, her voice filled with sleep as she slowly shook herself awake. "What's the time?"

I looked over her shoulder at the clock that sat on the bedside table. "A little after 8am."

She groaned again, completely rolling over and pushing her face into my chest. I smiled down at her, my heart swelling. I made to move so that I would have better access to kiss her lips, but was cut off by the sound of the doorbell ringing.

Growling, I pulled myself from the bed, knowing that none of my siblings would bother to answer it. I threw my pants and shirt on, not bother with my usual suit, and just putting on a plain long-sleeved shirt and jeans.

The doorbell rang again and I stormed out of my bedroom and down the stairs, listening to Katherine protest as I went.

I opened the front door, shocked to see a postman standing there. We had never received mail here. We weren't registered anywhere for mail to come to this address.

The postman looked at me shocked, eyeing me up and down as he clutched a large envelope in his hand. He looked like he couldn't be any older than twenty, and he seemed intimidated by me, which I usually wouldn't like, but I was annoyed at having my morning interrupted.

"Hello." He squeaked, still looking up at me with wide eyes.

"What can I do for you?" I asked, fighting the yawn that threatened to come up.

"Elijah, who's at the door?" Katherine said, coming down the stairs in what looked like nothing but her satin robe. The postman's eyes widened with desire.

I growled at the boy, letting my eyes harden. Katherine placed her hand on my shoulder.

"I have a registered letter for a..." He looked back down at the letter, reading the name. "Klaus Mikaelson. Is that you?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm his elder brother. Can I sign for him?"

"Klaus Mikaelson has to sign for the letter."

I groaned, I didn't really want to be the one to wake Klaus up.

Before I could even think about opening my mouth to call out for him, Katherine smirked at the postman and turned her face to the rest of the house. "Klaus! Get your ass down here, you've got mail."

I rolled my eyes at her, she definitely was not subtle.

When no noise came from the rest of the house, Katherine called out again.

A moment later curses could be heard making their way through the house. When Klaus appeared he looked just as angry as I knew he would be. He hadn't even bothered to properly dress. Only wearing his pyjama pants.

"What?" He growled, taking in Katherine and I in the doorway with the young man standing there with wide eyes.

"Klaus Mikaelson?"

Klaus rolled his eyes. "Yes. What do you want?"

"I have a letter you need to sign for…sir." He held out the small electronic box with the cursor attached.

Klaus let out a disgruntled breath and reached forward and roughly signing his name. As he handed the machine back to the boy, the postman handed him the letter and made his hasty retreat.

At the same moment Caroline came down the stairs, looking just a chipper as she always did. She smiled at me and Katherine as she sidled up to Klaus, who was opening his letter.

Within the next moment several things happened. Klaus opened the large envelope and tipped it upside down, letting the contents drop into his hand. Then both he and Caroline let out surprised cries at the same time, Klaus dropping to his knees.

My eyes widened as I got my first look at what had been inside the envelope. Several small Polaroid photos, each one depicting a half-dressed Hayley with a whole range of different expressions of pain.

Klaus' face was contorting into one of anguish as he looked through the photos, his eyes growing darker as he took in each one.

Caroline was down beside him in the same instant, her arm wrapped around his shoulder, as she stared at the photos open mouthed. She went to wrap Klaus in a hug, but was instantly pushed back, flung across the tile floor. She gasped in shock as Klaus yet again ran from the house.

Katherine quickly made her way over to help Caroline, while I leant down to pick the photos up.

I understood Klaus' reaction immediately. The photos were horrible, and my stomach fell as I looked them over for any clues.

Hayley was wearing a ripped t-shirt, in only her underwear, with her arms tied above her head to some sort of framework in what looked like an old shack. Her face was scrunched up in each photo, contorted into one of pain. Her bare stomach bleeding with what I hoped were shallow cuts.

"Katherine, call everyone. Now." I said, grabbing the envelope from the floor and placing the photos inside. "Andre has made his step, and now we must make ours."

Chapter Text

CAROLINE P.O.V.

Klaus stood in the corner of the room, a full glass of bourbon clenched in his hands. I sat on the opposite side of the room, watching him carefully, my stomach twisting as I watched his hand shake with nerves.

I hadn't taken my eyes off of him all morning, not since he returned from his breakdown. I didn't ask him where he went, but guessing from the blood that stained his lips I could hazard a guess. Not that I had had a chance to ask him, even if I wanted to. The house was filled to the brim with people here trying to help find Hayley, and Klaus had yet to even look at me let along come anywhere close to me.

I mean, I understood that he was distraught about Hayley. We all were. But ignoring me, and not even apologising for throwing me across the room, wasn't the best thing to do in this situation.

"We know she's being held in some sort of cabin or shack somewhere. But where?" Katherine was saying, leaning over the map that was splayed out across the coffee table.

She wasn't the only one leaning over the table and scouring the map. Half of the people in the room were trying to get a look at it. It was suffocating.

"There's a lot of those shorts of shacks on the outskirts of the city in the bayou, not to mention those that are even further out than that. There's no way of telling you where she could possibly be. It would take forever search them all." One of Marcel's men added, leaning on the backrest of the couch where I sat.

Klaus looked over at him, his eyes briefly resting on me before he looked back out the window. He didn't speak up or offer any thoughts of that revelation. He probably knew all of this anyway.

"Surely we can get a witch to do some sort of locater spell on her." Rebekah grumbled, drinking what I hoped was a glass of wine, but was probably something very different.

"We tried that already, remember?" Katherine replied, turning her head to look at Rebekah. "He obviously has witches on his side that can block her location."

"It was just a suggestion." Rebekah looked dejected and looked at her older brother.

Elijah stood to the outskirts of the group like Klaus, except he was scrolling almost manically through his phone. He only looked up when someone spoke to be polite, then his head tilted downwards again.

"You could offer up some sort of bait." Marcel muttered, his eyes moving to me. Klaus' tightened his grip on his glass so hard that it shattered, splatting bourbon all down his front.

Everyone flinched.

"No one is being offered up as bait." I said calming, standing from the chair. I had made a vow to myself that I would never be offered up as the blonde distraction again. I had spent too much time risking my life to distract someone, or lure them out. And I wasn't going to do it now.

I quickly excused myself and headed upstairs to the bathroom, pulling out my phone and scrolling through my contacts as I leant against the sink. I found the name that I was looking for, a number I didn't think I had ever called before, and pressed call.

A happy voice answered the phone. "Caroline? What are you doing calling me?"

"Hey, Jeremy." I said, running my hands through my loose hair.

"Are you calling to see if Elena is still pissed at you? Because she is."

"No. I'm not calling because of Elena. I was wondering if you could still talk to Bonnie or not."

He paused, and I could almost hear his hesitation through the phone. "Look, Caroline, Bonnie doesn't want us to call on her just because we can. I mean, she even doesn't want me calling on her unless there's a proper emergency."

"This is an emergency Jeremy." I tried to figure out quickly how to put things without revealing too much to him. "A pregnant woman here in New Orleans has been kidnapped by an old vampire. We're trying to locate her, but it seems like witches have blocked her location. I just want to know if there's anything Bonnie knows about getting around this."

He paused again, this time for longer. I heard him mumble something to himself before he called out loudly for Bonnie. I sighed a sigh of relief. He wasn't asking more questions.

Then Jeremy started to talk to Bonnie, answering the questions and complaints she obviously had about being called on. "Bon, Caroline says that there's someone pregnant who has been kidnapped. She wants to know something about a locator spell."

"…Yes, I'll ask her." He said after a short moment of silence. "She wants to know if you've tried the average locator spells already."

"Yes, we've tried all of the basic ones. But, we're being blocked."

I waited as they spoke for a couple of minutes. Jeremy excused himself from the phone, walking off only to return with what sounded like a book in hand. "Okay, Bonnie said that there's a couple of spells that you can try. But not all of them are accurate. The witch you have there, if she knows this sort of magic, should know these spells. One requires blood of someone related to the victim, and another requires something that she came into contact with in the last 24 hours."

My heart sank. Hayley didn't have any family that I knew of. And she had been missing for longer than 24 hours. They were both useless. "Tell her I said thank you Jeremy. I'm not sure if this will help, but we'll try."

"Okay, if you need anything else just-"

I flinched at the loud crashing sound coming from downstairs. Jeremy cut off on the other end, swearing, having heard the loud sound as well. I opened the bathroom door and hurried down the stairs to see what had happened.

"Caroline, are you okay?" Jeremy asked, still on the phone. I quickly assured him that I was fine, hanging up the phone and rushing into the lounge room.

Most of the people who had previously been in the small lounge, were now standing with wide eyes in the entrance hall, or on the porch.

Elijah, Rebekah, and Katherine were still in the lounge with Klaus. He was obviously having another breakdown, or a panic attack. His face was changed, his teeth elongated, and his eyes shining gold. The table that had been in the centre of the room was split in two, and the bar was flipped upside down.

Katherine stood back, a large gash on her arm, while Rebekah and Elijah held him back. I walked into the room, not thinking twice about how dangerous it could be. I walked straight to Katherine, who was staring down at her arm in shock. Teeth marks.

"Katherine, why don't you go and clean yourself up." I said, grabbing a tissue from the box that sat off to the side.

She looked up at me as I handed her the tissue, panic in her eyes. "You shouldn't be in here. He could hurt you. He wouldn't want you in danger."

I rolled my eyes. "He'll be fine once he calms down. He isn't going to hurt me."

Katherine shook her head. I turned back around to look at him. He had a pained look on his face as he hunched over, his bones cracking as he moved and warped with the change. He was turning. I had never seen him lose control like this.

"What happened to cause this?"

"Some idiot decided to mention that the chances of us finding Hayley alive were slim-to-none." Katherine whispered to me, trying not to get the attention of Klaus. "I happened to be standing next to that idiot, and Klaus bit me instead. He just snapped."

"He needs to calm down. He can't snap every time he hears something he doesn't like." Marcel spoke up from the entrance hall. Klaus' head shooting in his direction.

"Of course he did." Katherine growled, seeming really emotionally affected as she stepped forward to stand directly in front of Klaus, who was still keeled over in pain fighting off the change that was instinctfully going through his body. "He isn't used to experiencing these sort of feelings as a wolf. It's taking control. His connection to Caroline is overpowering him, and his paternal instinct is kicking into overdrive now that Hayley is gone."

She reached out, taking his face in her hands as she met his eyes. He didn't look like he was fully there as she spoke to him in a soft whisper. The next second an ear-splitting crack filled the room. Klaus collapsed in Elijah and Rebekah's arms.

Shock filled their eyes as she took a bite out of his arm, standing up and brushing herself off, the wound on her arm already healing.

"What the fuck, Katherine?" Rebekah yelled, dropping her brother to the ground.

"He was having a panic attack. He wasn't in the right state of mind, and could have killed half of the people helping him." She yelled back, crossing her arms. "Sorry, if I have everyone's greater good in mind, but we can't keep coddling him just because he's finally feeling some sort of human emotions."

"Katherine…" Elijah said, stepping forward to reach for her, but she pulled away.

"No, Elijah. Klaus isn't the only one here who has lost people, or had the threat of losing people. In fact, he's probably caused half the people in this room's misery. I understand that he's trying to change, but he needs to pull his head from his ass and get shit together. This is about Hayley, not about his hormonal outbursts."

She rushed from the room, heading upstairs. I stood there in complete shock. Anger and confusion running through my body. I had never seen anyone get that close to hurting Klaus, let alone break his neck.

I mean, breaking his neck wouldn't hurt him at all. He would wake back up in a few hours perfectly fine. But, that didn't mean I liked the fact that that was the solution that we ended up using to calm him down.

Elijah told everyone to reconvene later that night, sending them out of the house as he and Rebekah carried Klaus up the stairs to Klaus' bedroom. They laid him down on the bed, and I sat beside him on the bed, reading one of my books that I had brought with me the other week.

It was two hours later when he finally sucked in another breath, eyes shooting open. He sat up, clutching his neck as he looked around the room in confusion. His eyes landed on me and I looked at him over the top of my book, raising my brow.

"Katherine broke my neck." He said, not sounding angry, but more so incredulous.

"Yes." I said, turning the page and continuing to read about Daisy Buchanan and Jay Gatsby."

"What's happened?" He said, getting up from the bed. "What have you guys done while I've been out?"

He looked frantically around for his phone, his eyes not meeting mine again, but rather searching every surface of the room.

I reached into my pocket and held it out to him. "Elijah told everyone to come back once you woke up. They didn't want to do anything until you were awake again."

"So you've all been sitting around wasting time?"

I slid my bookmark into the book and closed it, resting it on top of the bedside table. "No, Klaus. We haven't. Elijah, Rebekah, Katherine, and Nadia are in the lounge room scouring the maps for any sign of a place where she might be. They've been talking to witches and trying to figure stuff out. But, there isn't much they wanted to do without you to oversee it, or add in your input."

He looked lost for a moment, still not looking straight at me. I sighed, climbing off the edge of the bed and walking up to him. I rested my hand on his cheek, moving his face so that he would finally look at me.

"Klaus…Nik, we're going to have to talk about it sooner or later." I whispered, reaching up to press a kiss to his lips.

"After we get Hayley back. I can't focus on anything until Hayley is back."

I nodded, giving him a hug and holding him there for several seconds. When I pulled back I offered him a small smile. "Nik, I'm going to stay at Nadia's tonight. Don't look at me like that. I need time to think everything over, and to clear my head. I'll be back here early tomorrow morning."

He shook his head down at me. "I'll leave you alone. But please don't spend the night somewhere else. I need to know that you're safe and sound, and I can't do that if you aren't here."

It was my time to shake my head. "I already talked to Nadia about it. Her housemaid, a witch called Kida, is coming to pick me up in an hour and then Nadia will be there tonight."

He continued to protest as we made our way downstairs. I smiled at the group that sat there, Marcel and a few of his men having arrived since I had last come down. They updated Klaus and I on what developments they had made, and then proceeded to discuss with Klaus what their best options were.

An hour later, Kida knocked on the door and I wished everyone well for the night, heading back to Nadia's house and climbing into the shower to release some of the tension that ravaged my body.

#

I groaned as a knock sounded at my door, waking me up from my much-needed nap. I rolled out of the bed, yawning as I opened the door to find Kida standing there anxiously.

"What's wrong?" I asked, panic filling my body. "Was Andre here?"

"Someone is here to see you and I don't know what to do. He says that he knows you, but I don't want to invite him just in case." She wringed her hands together, tapping her foot as she looked at me. "If you would come downstairs to identify him. I will be there just in case he is here to harm you. But, I don't want to turn someone away that is truly your friend."

I smiled at Kida, confused as to who could be here, but happy that she didn't want to offend me by sending any of my friends away.

I followed her through the house to the front door, which was shut as to not let anyone else out there in. I stood back as she opened the large door to show…Tyler.

My eyes widened as I took Tyler in. He looked like shit. His eyes were bloodshot and he had a light dusting of facial hair across his face. He smiled as he saw me, but I didn't return his smile. I was still angry at him for what he did to me the day of Bonnie's funeral.

"Ty, what are you doing here?" I said, causing Kida to relax as she realised this was someone that I did know. "How did you find me here?"

He ran a hand through his short hair, looking at me sadly. "I tracked you. I went to New Orleans and found your scent. I just followed it here."

I crossed my arms and shifted my weight from one leg to the other. Then I turned to Kida and told her that she could go. "That doesn't explain why you're here Tyler. I thought after our last conversation that you wouldn't want to see me again."

"No." He all but shouted, making me flinch. "I had to come and talk to you, Caroline. I figured it out."

I stepped forward, leaning on the doorframe and looking him up and down. "Figured what out, Tyler? That you were an inconsiderate asshole in how you treated me."

"No, that's not it." He shook his head nonchalantly. "I figured out why you were there with Klaus."

I rolled my eyes and took a deep breath in and out. "Okay. I'll bite. Why was I there with Klaus?"

"You wanted to make me jealous." I sniggered. Of course he would make this about himself.

"wanted to make you jealous?"

"Yes!" He called, throwing his hands up with a massive smile on his face. "I mean, I cheated on you while I was off learning about being a werewolf, and you rocked up with Klaus to make me think that you were sleeping with him."

"There's one problem with your theory Tyler." I said, catching his attention and meeting his eyes. "Klaus and I are in a relationship. He wasn't there to make anyone jealous. If that was the case I would have brought him to the funeral, instead of having him pick me up outside where I didn't expect anyone to follow me."

His expression hardened and he went completely still. "You can't be with him Caroline. He's a monster."

I groaned and felt tears come to my eyes, I didn't want to be having this conversation with Tyler. I didn't want to have to make him understand my feelings for Klaus.

"We're all monsters, Ty. Each and every one of us. We all drink blood to survive, and we all have killed innocent people. We're just as bad as Klaus, he's just had longer to build his reputation."

"None of us are as bad as he is Caroline."

"Really, then how do you explain Damon? Or Stefan? Or Elena when she turned her emotions off? Even me, for Gods sake!" I stepped out the door, throwing my hands up in the air. "I don't care about Klaus' past, and I don't care what anyone thinks about our relationship. It's none of your business."

I turned around to head back inside, stopping at what I saw there. Kida was laying unconscious on the ground, Andre standing over her.

I heard one thing before everything went black.

"Wrong answer, Care."

#

KLAUS P.O.V.

I cornered off the sections on the map where each of the group would search for the shack where Hayley was being held, my head struggling to stay clear as I thought about the fact that Caroline wasn't here.

I hadn't heard from her since she left, but Nadia had called her housemaid who told her that Caroline had been sleeping, so that eased some of the worry that bubbled within me. And Nadia had left half an hour ago to head home, promising to make Caroline call me before she left.

I turned to Elijah and pointed out the different sections, telling him who should go where, and where we should meet up to regroup after the initial search.

Rubbing my eyes hard with my hands, I stood up from the chair to grab a glass of bourbon, checking my phone to see if I had any new messages or phone calls.

"Hello, Nadia." Katherine said happily. I turned around to see that she had answered her phone.

Her face dropped, and I immediately let my ears hone in on the phone. "-door was open when I arrived. I didn't find that weird, but when I came inside Kida was unconscious ground. Someone bit her and knocked her out."

I didn't have to hear any more of the conversation, I ran for the door and pulled Katherine and Elijah along with me, Katherine still on the phone. Not bothering with a car, we ran on foot, speeding out of the driveway as quickly as we could. I continued to listen to Katherine's conversation.
"I searched everywhere for Caroline, but she's not here. He somehow got to her." Katherine hung up her phone and quickly began to type away on the phone.

We came to an abrupt stop when we reached Nadia's house. We all hurried up the steps, Elijah and I stopping in the doorway, unable to get inside.

Nadia and the witch came rushing forward, the witch was on full alert although the bite mark was still on her neck. The witch invited us in and I quickly followed Caroline's scent to her room, slamming open the door and making sure she wasn't there.

Then we searched the house for clues, Nadia sitting with Kida to ask her what happened. When nothing turned up in the house, or in the garden, we all sat in the kitchen with Kida working on something at the stove.

"What happened?" I asked, sitting down and fidgeting as I thought of all the things that could be happening to Caroline right now.

"Someone knocked on the door, so I answered it. I didn't let them in." She reassured us, shaking her head with a scared look in her eyes.

"I know." Nadia whispered.

"He told me he knew Caroline, so I told him to wait, then shut the door and retrieved her. She knew him, and then she told me to leave, so I did. I heard them arguing so I went to go and see what was happening. That's the last thing I remember. Someone must had gotten me from behind." She paused, taking a long swig of her cup of tea. "I don't know how they got in. All of the doors were locked except for the front door. And even then, no vampire would be able to get in with my invitation."

"Who was the person here to see Caroline?" Katherine asked, crossing her arms. "You said she knew him."

Kida thought hard for a moment, her brows furrowing. "I didn't recognise him. I'd never seen him before."

"Did she mention a name at all?" Elijah asked, sitting forward slightly.

I held my breath as Kida's eyes widened.

"She called him Ty." She said, excited that she could remember something helpful.

My blood ran cold. Tyler. I growled, making Kida flinch. Then I proceeded to lose it. I ran from the house, not wanting to hurt anyone, then I tore apart as many trees as I could get my hands on.

When I had calmed down, I walked into the room to see Katherine on the phone. I ignored her to look at Kida. She was holding something in her hand now. A photo. My blood chilled.

Kida held it out to me. "I found this in my pocket when I woke up."

I looked down at photo, my stomach clenching as I took the image in. It was Caroline. Tied up in the back of a car. I snatched the photo from her hand and looked at it closer. Nothing seemed to be wrong with her, physically at least. I just hoped that they had only knocked her out and nothing worse.

A tear threatened to all from the corner of my eye and I rubbed it away before it could fall. "How did Caroline act when she saw Tyler?"

"She was defensive." She said, tapping her nails on her cup. "But she told me to leave, so I assumed that it was okay. If she thought she was in danger she would have wanted me to stay."

I groaned, pulling at my hair. "She wouldn't have thought she was in danger. She always tries to see the best in everyone."

Kida turned from me, placing her glass in the sink. When she looked back at us, her face was scared. "Is it…is it okay if I go and clean myself up? I do not feel comfortable like this."

After she left we all sat there thinking about what we should do next, Katherine still whispering away on her phone to who I know knew was Rebekah. My heart beat fast in my chest, my brain running around what I should do next.

The wolf inside of me was pushing to break to the surface, but after my outburst earlier today I wasn't going to let myself lose control when the life of my mate and the mother of my unborn child was at stake.

Chapter Text

CAROLINE P.O.V.

Every muscle in my body ached. That was the first thing I noticed when I woke up. A part of me hoped that when I opened my eyes I would be back in Katherine's car on my way to New Orleans. When I did open my eyes it wasn't to bright sunlight and passing trees, it was to the dim light a lantern sitting on an upturned log in the corner of the room and handcuffs around my wrists.

Blinking against the slight blur in my eyes, I took in more details of the room around me. The walls blended into the floor, both made of what looked like half-decayed wood. There was only one door, with a window placed on either side of it, meaning that if I was going to escape I'd only have that one point of exit to escape from.

I then moved my eyes down to my wrists, which were bound tightly in a pair of handcuffs which were attached to an old rusted chain. Following the chain with my eyes, I turned my head to see that it was attached to the floor with a metal hoop. As my head turned I caught site of what was laying between me and the wall. Hayley.

She was either unconscious or asleep. Curled up in the foetal position, her cuffed hands caressing her bared stomach. Her dark matted hair covered her face, but I didn't need to see it to know that it was bloody and bruised, I had seen enough in the pictures. Anger rose up within me at the site of the dark blue and purple bruises that covered her stomach and her legs. What had they done to her?

Taking another look around the room, I reached out my cuffed hands and gently touched Hayley's shoulder. She immediately flinched away from my touch and her head spun around in my direction. Her eyes went from panic to relief as she realised that it was me sitting in front of her and not Andre.

"Caroline, you're awake." She said, her rough voice breaking the silence.

"Oh god, Hayley. What happened? How did Andre get to you?"

She took a gasping breath as she tried to sit herself up. I reached my hands out and tried to help pull her up with my cuffed hands. Once she was sitting up she winced in pain, her eyes flicking from the direction of the door and then back to me. "I got a phone call from Tyler. He said he wanted to meet up. I didn't think it would be dangerous. I mean, how was I supposed to know Tyler was on Andre's side? We met up near the cemetery and he took one look at me and-and told me I deserved whatever I got. That's the last thing I remembered before waking up here. Andre says there's no way that they'll find us."

She looked to me as if asking for reassurance that he was wrong. Her eyes pleading with me to tell her that Klaus was close to finding our location. When I didn't respond tears started to run down her cheeks and painful sobs wracked her body.

"Please tell me that they're close to finding us. I can't take much more of this…And tonight is the full moon."

"But you won't turn. I mean, when Tyler first found out we did lots of digging. Pregnant wolves don't turn because of the affect it can have on the baby."

"I know. But Andre, he's done something to me. I can feel the full moon rising. I can feel it nearing closer to its peak. And when it does, I know I'll change. I can't…I can't lose the baby."

"You won't." I reassured her. "Nothing is going to happen. You'll both make it out of here."

"And what about you," She started, "Klaus will be broken without you there. He'll tear the city apart. And I can sme-"

"Now isn't the time to worry about that. We need to focus on finding a way out of here." I replied, cutting her off and turning to look towards the door to try and gage how close it was to midnight. "Andre's witch has some sort of block on tracking, but we were trying to find some sort of loophole when I left the house. I have no doubt that they'll find us. But that doesn't me we have to stop fighting and sit around waiting. Have you tried to break the chains?"

"Yes. They've spelled the metal so that every time I pull at it burns like it's covered in wolfsbane."

Looking down at the handcuffs and the chain, I pulled tightly against them, using as much strength as I could muster to try and elicit the reaction Hayley had described. Nothing happened.

"Maybe it's been spelled specifically for wolves. They probably don't think there's anything I can do because I'm human."

"Do you think you could break it?"

"I don't know. Maybe, but I don't have as much strength as I used to-" I stopped mid-sentence. The sound of a stick breaking outside causing me to freeze. Hayley froze too, having heard it as well. She seemed to shrink even further into herself and I moved myself so that I could shield her from whoever was outside.

A second later the sound of heavy footfalls sounded on wood. Would it be Andre? Tyler? The witch? All three? I tensed my body, trying to mentally prepare myself with the knowledge that whoever it was was probably going to cause me a great deal of pain. I had been through pain before. I mean, I had been tortured by my own father and survived. I could make it through this. If not for myself then for Hayley.

The door was pushed open to reveal Andre, scissors in one hand and a Polaroid camera hanging around his neck, a cocky smirk plastered across his face. His footsteps echoed as he walked towards where Hayley and I were chained at the back of the shack. Tyler entered several steps behind him, his eyes trained on the floor, never looking up to meet either mine of Hayley's eyes.

"Ahhh," Andre started, coming to stand in front of us, "it's nice to see you both awake."

"Do you know what would be even nicer, if you let us go you sick sonofabitch."

Before I could even blink his hand came down to strike me across the face, sending my head flying to the side, and a ripple of pain down my neck and spine.

"I wonder what Klaus will do without his precious playthings? The Klaus I know could care less, but according to my new friend here there's something different about the two of you. Klaus seems to actually be fond of you." He let out a sharp laugh, and bent down so he was at my level. He then reached out and grabbed my loose hair in his hands and lifted me up off the ground in one fowl swoop. I winced. "So, I'm gonna do a little experiment. Let's see what the big bad wolf will do when he sees what I'm going to do to you."

He ran the tip of the scissors down my cheek, applying just enough pressure for it to scratch the skin. Closing my eyes, I waited for the pain to come. But not came. The smell of whiskey came off of his breath as he leaned to run his mouth across my neck. Then came the sound of the scissors hacking…at hair.

When the scissors had made their way through my hair he let me fall in a heap on the ground. He waved the long handful of hair around, showing me how much he'd cut. He then dropped the scissors to the floor and pulled a zip lock bag out of his pocket, shoving the hair inside. After sealing the bag he threw it back to Tyler and then held the Polaroid camera up and pointed it in my direction.

The flash was almost blinding, and I hated the thought that Andre was going to use the photo along with my hair to taunt Klaus more than he already had. Klaus' self-control was already teetering with the disappearance of Hayley, I didn't want to think about what he'd do to those around him now that both of us were gone.

Andre waved the photo around until it developed and then held it out to show me his work. "Not bad. Let's see what the big bad hybrid does with this."

#

KLAUS' P.O.V.

By now I knew the layout of New Orleans like the back of my hand, but no matter how much geographical knowledge I filled my head with, it didn't give us any hint as to where Andre was holding Hayley and Caroline. We had already checked with the werewolf packs in the Bayou and it was evidently clear than none of them had even heard of Andre, let alone helped aid him in his mission to punish me.

Nadia was working with Kida in trying to find a work around for a tracking spell, but every avenue they went down they'd hit a dead end. And on top of that every ounce of me wanting to rip out the throats of anyone I could get my hands on. I had spent a millennia tring to get the wold back, and now I was fighting constantly to keep it at bay. Losing control would not save Hayley and Caroline.

"We need to start checking these places out." Marcel growled, stabbing a place on the map that laid in between him and Katherine. "We should split up into groups and just start looking."

"That's probably what he wants. He wants us separated and running around with no clue as to where he is. What we need to do is to find a way to break the spell he has that's blocking us from tracking him." Katherine replied, placing her hands on her hips as she glared over the map at Marcel.

Marcel bit something back, but my ears starting to ring and the wolf started to pulse through my veins, bringing the veins beneath my eyes to the surface briefly before I pushed it back down.

"I think you need to go and have a drink." Elijah placed his hand on my shoulder and squeezed gently. "Take ten minutes to calm down a bit, away from the arguing. Clear your head. Hopefully by then Nadia and Kida will have a solution. We'll call for you if we think of anything new."

I nodded. He was right. I couldn't think clearing, not when the wolf was on the verge of breaking through and risking the lives of everyone who was trying to help. Elijah lowered his hand and turned to the map that had been sitting in front of me, stars marking the places where we knew Andre wasn't hiding.

Backing out of the room, I headed for the bar and poured myself a glass of whiskey before heading up the stairs in the direction of my studio, the yelling behind me drowning out as I moved further away.

Opening up the door I instantly froze, taking a deep breath in through my nose. My eyes went straight to the easel that sat directly in front of me and my heart hammered harder in my chest. The one window was open and a light breeze was making its way into the room, sending some of the papers from one of the benches onto the floor. But my eyes remained trained on the easel.

There, sitting against the angry painting I had painted the last time I had been in here, was a small plastic bag filled with a mass of blonde hair. Next to the back sat a small photo.

The glass of whiskey in my hand buckled and smashed, pieces of glass falling to the floor and slicing open my palm. Not paying any focus to the shrill burn of the pain, I wiped my bloody hand on my jeans as I made my way closer. Stopping in front of the easel, I reached down to pick up the small photograph, holding it close to my face so I could take in all the details it held.

The main feature of the photograph showed Caroline, sitting in a crumpled mess on the floor, her hands cuffed and resting in her lap. Her now-short hair sticking up in all directions. A red mark had formed across her cheek. But other than that she looked unharmed. Behind her I could just see Hayley, looking over her shoulder with fear in her eyes. Her face was swollen and covered in bruises and I could only imagine what the rest of her looked like.

Bile rose up my throat and I fought to keep it down. Falling to my knees, I dropped the photo on the ground in front of me, an agonised howl fighting its way out my throat. Reaching for the closest thing I could grasp, the easel, I threw it across the room, watching as it hit the half-open window and cause it to shatter.

I reached out again, this time for the table that held all my papers and sketch books, but was stopped by Elijah who gripped my wrist. "Niklaus. Stop."

The wolf growled at the order. It knew it was the alpha, and in this moment it knew it had the control. But the look in Elijah's eyes made it second guess itself and I managed to push it back.

"I need to get them back Elijah. I need to get them back." Tears spilled down my cheeks and sobs rippled through my body.

"We'll get them back. Don't worry Niklaus. We'll get them back."

And for the first time since Henrik had been killed, Elijah pulled me to him and comforted me as I cried.

Chapter Text

KLAUS' P.O.V

The map of the city sat on the studio floor in front of me. I was trying to get something…anything to click in my brain to make me realise where Caroline and Hayley were, but my mind wouldn't let me focus. No matter how hard I tried to pull away from the thought that Hayley and Caroline could be getting hurt by Andre right now, the thought just kept bouncing back into focus.

The photo Andre had somehow gotten in kept dancing around in my head along with those thoughts, but I tried to keep them out of the forefront of my mind. Elijah had taken the photo and the bag of hair and left me to clean up the mess I had made, which I had. I had then gone and gotten one of the maps from the front room, wanting to be alone while I tried to think of new ideas.

Taking a deep breath I rubbed my eyes with my hands. Now was not the time for me to lose focus. Now was not the time for me to go blank on things to do. I needed to be alert. I needed to bring them home.

A knock echoed at the door and a growl bit out. I didn't want to be around anyone right now. Let alone half the people who were here helping. Without waiting for an answer the door opened and in walked Katherine. I especially didn't want to be around Katherine.

"Katherine, I'm not in the mood." I choked out, looking uselessly back down at the map.

"We need to talk, Klaus. I don't care if you want to or not, but this is important." She came and sat down beside me on the floor, crossing her legs over one another and placing her hands on the knees of her jeans.

"Katherine, I just want to do this on my own. I can't handle having you here nagging me, or whatever it is you're here to do."

She scowled across at me, elbowing me gently on the arm. "I understand the pressure you're under Klaus, I'm not here to piss you off. I mean, I may not understand the ramifications of what it's like to be a werewolf and the territorial feelings that come along with that. However, I do have something I would like to say to you that may put things into perspective."

Shifting, I pulled myself up from the ground and walked over to the table where I had put a bottle of bourbon after I had collected the map. I took a swig straight from the bottle and turned to face where she sat on the floor. "What story are you going to spin now?"

Reaching forward she started to fiddle with the map, holding it up as if to look at something on it closer, hiding her face from my view. "I was close to Elena's biological mother, you know. She came to me when she was young, sixteen. She discovered her heritage and she wanted to know more about her ancestors."

"And this applies to this, how?"

"We were close enough so that I was the first person she told when she found out that she was pregnant with Elena. It was strange. Here was someone, family, who was a would-be mother around the same age I was when I had had Nadia. I didn't know how to feel. I hadn't dealt with my own issues over Nadia at that point, still haven't." She paused, placing the map down and moving to play with her hair. "But we were close, and when she wasn't in school or at home, she was with me. Then she had the baby, and I knew instantly. I don't know how, but I just knew that she was the next doppelgänger. My ticket to freedom. And do you know what I did?"

I rolled my eyes. "You tried to trade her for your freedom. I was there for that part of the story, remember?"

She shook her head, smiling. "No. I held baby Elena. Helped Isabelle give her to the Gilbert family. Compelled the nurses and doctors to sway them into believing that the baby was biologically a Gilbert. And then I left Isabelle and Elena behind. And I didn't look back until Damon started really looking for me. Isabelle was a close friend and I cared for her. For the first time in a long time, I actually cared for something other than personal gain. And because I knew that it would hurt her if I traded her daughter, I left. Giving Elena a fighting chance when I inevitably came back to screw everything up for her."

"Yet you still came back."

"Not the moral of the story that I was going for Klaus." She sighed and stood up. "I cared about Isabelle. I let myself care, and that wasn't a weakness. And when I did come back for Elena, I called Isabelle and told her what I had intended to do. And that was a massive advantage. You got what you wanted. I got what I wanted. And Isabelle got what she wanted. Time with the daughter she had given up."

"I still don't understand what this has to do with Caroline and Hayley getting kidnapped."

Walking forward she grabbed my arm. "You always have underestimated the power of love, and the relationships between people. What people would do for those they love, how you can use that to your advantage.

Raising my eyebrow, I still wondered where she was going with this.

She groaned and crossed her arms over her chest. "Who does Caroline love?"

"Everyone."

"More specifically. Who is someone that Caroline loves that can help up with finding her?"

"I am not asking Elena for help."

Katherine rolled her eyes and then got her phone from her pocket, pressing several buttons before holding it up to her ear. "Marcel. We need Davina here as soon as possible…yes, we'll be discreet." She rolled her eyes, placing her hand on her hip. "No one has to know that she's here."

Then she hung up and shot me her tell-tale smirk.

"What do we need Davina for?"

"We're going to raise the dead."

CAROLINE'S P.O.V.

The longer I sat on the floor of the dilapidated shack the more my body ached. All of the muscles throughout my body were screaming at me for release, sending shock waves through my whole body.

But I was doing a lot better than Hayley who was sitting hunched against the wall, holding her stomach while she groaned in pain. I had moved closer to her not long after Andre and Tyler had left so that she could at least have the comfort of my presence, even though I couldn't actually wrap my arms around her the way I wanted to. We had spent the first few minutes after Andre's visit pulling at the chains, begging them to come loose, but they stayed strong.

"Fuck." Hayley groaned, breaking the eerie silence that surrounded us. I jumped into high alert.

"What's wrong?"

"Something isn't right." She cried, trying to muffle her own cries as to not notify anyone who might be outside. She pulled at the chains again, setting off the spell that was placed on them. She hissed and stopped struggling, placing her hands on her battered stomach.

"With the baby?" I moved closer.

"The full moon is getting closer and closer. My muscles are screaming at me to turn, and with each minute I can feel whatever is happening to the baby getting worse." She cursed again, shifting and sucking in a deep breath.

Watching her closely, I tried to figure out how to help her. I had helped Tyler change, but he wasn't heavily pregnant. I didn't know how to help her. A growl rumbled in her chest and her eyes flashed gold, her back arching, a deafening crack filling the room.

"I can't turn, Caroline." She choked out, her swollen eyes closed shut. "If I turn it'll kill the baby. I need to get out of here. I need to stop it."

"Everything will be okay. We'll get out of here."

She looked at me her eyes flashing back and forth between their natural colour and the supernatural gold that came with being a wolf. "How are you so fucking optimistic all the time?"

"I'm not. I mean, sometimes it's really hard for me to put on this happy face and act like everything is going to be okay. But, if I don't have that hope, then I'd never have made it out of half the situations I've been put through. Hope. That's what we need Hayley."

She went quiet, and I used the silence to try and figure out what to do. My neurotic, organiser mind kicked into gear and I tried to make a list of things that were going to happy, and what we could do to fix them. We were handcuffed to the wall. But our feet were free. Hayley was in danger of turning and killing the baby, but it was a full moon which means that there was a high probability of a tracker spell working.

"SHHHHHITTTTT!" Hayley half-screamed, half-howeled.

Something inside me turned on, my brain turned off and instinct kicked in. Pulling as hard as I could on the handcuffs, I tried to imagine an impossible strength coming in and making the metal tear away. Then the sound of bending metal filled the room as the handcuffs bent and snapped away from my wrists.

Hayley looked at me with wide eyes. We were both in shock. How the hell had I been able to do that? I didn't pause long enough to question it, but jumped into gear and starting pulling on the ones that covered her wrists until they too fell away.

Pulling her up to her feet I tried to steady her, but she keeled over, gripping her stomach with white knuckles. My eyes were drawn to a small patch of blood that covered the floor where she had been sitting. Not good.

The door creaked behind us and I turned around to see Andre and Tyler walking in, followed closely by a someone who I guessed was the witch. Andre's eyes widened as he saw us both free from our restrains. The witch immediately jumped forward to grab us, but as he reached for Hayley's arm, I shot my own out and punched him in the face, knocking him out instantly.

I had heard of people growing stronger because of adrenaline, but this was something else entirely. Andre and Tyler stared at me in shock.

"What do you think you're doing?" Andre said, a blood-chilling smile making its way onto his face. I didn't reply, just placed myself between him and Hayley. She needed to get out here and fast. "I don't know what you did, Love. But neither of you are getting out of here that easily."

"You wanna bet." Reaching behind my back I gripped Hayley's hand in mine.

Andre stepped forward, grabbing for me, but I tried to channel as much strength as I could and pushed against his chest, sending him flying through the air and crashing through the wall of the shack. Tyler looked at me in shock, before holding his hands up in defeat.

The energy I had seemed to gain started to fade and I knew that we didn't have long to run for it. Not letting that show, I moved towards him in a fighting stance, as if ready to push him out the same wall Andre had flown through. "Hayley, run."

"I can't leave you here. Klaus would want you back more than me."

I shook my head, stepping further in between him and Hayley. "I couldn't live with myself if you died Hayley. You need to go. Now."

Without so much as a look back at me she ran as fast as she could out of the shack and into the trees, disappearing from sight. Standing up straight I crossed my arms over my chest as Andre pulled himself out of the rubble and climbed his way back into the shack.

Chapter Text

KLAUS P.O.V.

"Okay, so how will this work?" I asked, eying Kida and Davina as I moved the couch from its place near the middle of the room to the wall.

Their conversation halted and Kida turned to face me, looking mature for someone who couldn't be more than a couple of years older than Davina. "Well, first of all we have to cast the circle. Then Davina and I will perform the spell to call Bonnie to us. The variation of the spell we're using will allow Bonnie to be corporeal for about 10 minutes, which should be long enough for us to get the information we need."

Nodding, I wasn't particularly excited about the prospect of seeing the Bennet witch again. Especially under the current circumstances. I didn't need her judgement about Caroline having been taken, I was judging myself enough as it is.

"Will you be okay for us to be in the room when you do the spell? Or will having too many people present disrupt you?" Elijah asked, walking into the room with an armful of candles, dodging Rebekah as she moved the coffee table out of the way.

Kida rolled her eyes. "It doesn't matter how many people are in the room for the spell to work. As long as there are two witches performing the spell. Without the second witch this would end up being a run-of-the-mill séance. With the added witch it will allow Bonnie to not only interact with us, but to become corporeal."

Katherine laid down large black blanket in the centre of the room, and Elijah started to place the candles randomly around the room. Marcel, who was standing in the corner of the room watching Davina like a hawk, stepped forward to ask if she truly wanted to help us. I was thankful that she did, because no doubt Marcel would whisk her off to the church in a heartbeat if she said she wanted to go.

Kida picked up a small bag she had brought with her when she had arrived and took out a small photo frame and a bag of herbs. Looking closer at the photo I realised that it was one of Caroline's. Of Bonnie, Elena, and Caroline at one of the High School dances.

"The moon is almost at its fullest. We need to get started." Kida said, sitting down down on the blanket that was laid down.

At that second Nadia walked into the room holding a large bowl and a box of matches. Handing them to Kida, she moved to stand beside her mother who was standing back silently watching everyone move around her, much like myself.

Davina joined Kida down on the floor, sitting opposite her. They spoke in quiet voices, Kida instructing Davina on how to prepare the ingredients that they needed for the spell, in the order that they needed to be prepared. Opening the bag of herbs, she emptied the contents into the bowl, handing Kida the photo to remove it from the frame. While Davina fiddled with the frame, Kida held the bowl in both of her hands and rotated it around in a circle, breathing in the aroma.

Davina held the photo out to Kida, who took motioned for Davina to place it straight into the bowl. "Light a match please, Davina."

Kida placed the bowl down and held her hands out for Davina's. Davina struck the match and as it burst into flame the lights flickered off. Davina dropped the match into the bowl and reached out to grasp Kida's hands. The contents of the bowl caught alight and they both started to chant the spell.

I froze at the sounds of footsteps running up the driveway. Meeting Elijah's eyes, I motioned my head in the direction of the front door and we both ran for the door. We had asked everyone to leave and not come back until the morning or until we got word about Hayley and Caroline.

Opening the front door my heart stopped. Hayley.

She was standing at the bottom of the stairs, out of breathe and holding her stomach. She was panting loudly as she looked up at me and then collapsed onto the steps. Racing out the door and down the stairs, I picked Hayley up and carried her past Elijah and into the house. Our entrance immediately caught the attention of Katherine and Nadia, Katherine exited the lounge room and followed me up the stairs into Hayley's room.

She was moaning in pain as I laid her down on the mattress, mumbling to herself about the moon and Caroline. I wanted to ask her about Caroline, but refrained, instead I tried to help Hayley become as comfortable as possible on the bed.

Katherine pushed past me and knelt down on the edge of the bed, whispering to Hayley softly as she checked her pulse and then listened closely to her stomach. Checking that the baby was okay.

"We need hot water, towels, and a first aid kit." Katherine said to Elijah, then she turned to me. "You need to see if there is any medically trained vampires or witches that can get here as fast as they can. I know basics, but we're going to need someone trained to figure out what's wrong. Preferably a witch."

Hesitantly leaving the room, I didn't want to leave Hayley alone, the wolf in me coming to life at the prospect of leaving the mother of my child alone.

Katherine stepped close to me. "I understand that you want to be here, but we need them now. Hayley is too early in the pregnancy to go into labour, and she's bleeding. The baby could die if we don't get help."

Her words kicked me into gear and I ran from the room, stopping in front of Marcel and asking him if he knew of any witches that had medical training. He got his phone from his pocket, calling one of his men to go and retrieve the witch.

"We don't have time." I growled. "Go and get her yourself."

Marcel flinched back, turning and running from the house. As soon as he was out of site I headed back upstairs. When I returned upstairs Elijah was wiping Hayley's face with a wet towel, while Katherine was holding a hot towel onto Hayley's bruised stomach.

Stepping forward, I came to stand on the other side of the bed, leaning closer and telling Hayley that everything was okay.

Katherine moved to Hayley's pants, which were just scraps at this point, and used some scissors to cut them from her body. I turned my eyes away, knowing Hayley wouldn't want any of us to see that. I looked up as Elijah silently left the room.

"Okay, the bleeding doesn't look too bad." Katherine was whispering as she placed another hot towel over Hayley's waist.

Hayley reached out, gripping my arm and turning her face to mine. She let out another screech of pain and her eyes flashed gold. She was turning. The second passed and she released the grip on my arm, moaning and relaxing back into the bed.

Grabbing my phone, I called Marcel, knowing that if that witch didn't get here soon to stop the turn then both Hayley and the baby would be in even more danger.

"I'll be there in a minute, Klaus. We're just coming up the road."

"Be faster."

Katherine looked at me and raised a brow. "What's wrong?"

"Female wolves aren't supposed to turn. Turning into a wolf while pregnant would kill the baby. It's like a built-in fail safe. They did something to her to trigger a turn."

I started pacing across the room, willing that she could hold on until Marcel returned with the witch.

She let out another cry and reached out for me. I leant in close, as she took deep breaths in and out, her swollen eyes filled with tears.

"She stayed to save me." She whispered, her voice dry and cracked. "Something changed…made her strong. She broke us free. But she stayed to save me."

With that she started to scream again, her bones breaking as her body started to changed. Katherine and I both stepped back, our eyes wide as we watched something that we both knew we couldn't control.

Tears filled my eyes as Hayley's body started to twist and transforming. The sound of bones breaking echoed through the room, her arms and legs shortening, her jaw elongating, and her body starting to grow a coat of fur. Standing in the centre of the bed she took one look at me, letting out a bone chilling howl and then launched herself straight through the window.

Katherine looked at me with wide eyes and stood perfectly still, blood covered towel in her hands. "I-"

We were cut off by Rebekah running through the door. "They've got Bonnie."

#

Bonnie looked me up and down as I walked into the lounge, a judgey look fixed on her face. "I knew that Caroline would get dragged into some of your messes. I just knew it! I should have known the minute she called Jeremy."

"She called Jeremy?" I asked, crossing my arms across my chest.

"She was asking about how to get around the average locator spell. I told her what I could, but you'd have to use some very big magic to do it."

"How much magic?"

"It depends on the amount of power used to block you. You need to match it, or have more. It's tricky."

"Was that a wolf I just saw running down the street?" Marcel asked, rushing inside with the witch he'd gone to retrieve.

"Yes. That was Hayley. She turned." Both the witch and Marcel's faces dropped. They obviously knew enough about werewolves to know that that wasn't a good thing.

"Do you want me to stay here until the morning?" The witch asked, stepping forward. "I may be of help when she returns."

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but we need to get a move on. We only have a small window of time before the power of the moon starts to fade." Kida said, looking pointedly at Bonnie.

I groaned and turned to her. "What can we do to find her?"

"There's one way that kind of mashes two locator spells together, it's stronger but needs more power. You need something of hers that she's touched in the last 24 hours, and you need blood from someone related to her."

Rebekah swore, throwing her hands up. "Great. A spell that we can't even use. Thanks for the help."

I shook my head. "How many witches would be needed?"

"At least two, but the less witches the less powerful the spell would be."

I turned to Marcel's witch. "Are you willing to help?"

She shook her head, shooting a scared look at Marcel. "I…I'm not allowed to practice that sort of magic."

"That doesn't matter. Would you help?"

"I, yes. I suppose."

"There," I said, turning back to Bonnie. "We have three witches…four if we use you in the spell, Caroline's pyjamas are in my bedroom which she wore last night, and you can use my blood."

"You're not her family, it won't work." I walked over to the bar and got a glass, biting into my wrist and letting it fall into the glass. Once there was a significant amount of blood in the glass I handed it to a stunned Kida.

"It'll work. Trust me."

#

They set straight to work in putting the spell together, Bonnie instructing the other witches on how this new spell would go. Leaving the room, I collected Caroline's pyjamas from my room, handing them off to Davina before heading outside to get some fresh air. My mind drifting to what Hayley had said before she had turned. Somehow Caroline had been able to tap into some kind of strength to break her and Hayley out of there. I had no idea how, whether it was because of being mated to me, or if it was something else, I didn't know.

A part of me was angry that she had stayed behind there to save Hayley, but the other part of me knew that Caroline would do nothing else. She would consider Hayley more important than herself, just like she did with her friends.

Of course, another part of me was glad that she had saved Hayley and my child. Even though that was all void now that Hayley had turned.

I looked out into the forest surrounding our house, wondering if she was out there and what she was doing. I wondered if she was okay or if she still in pain.

I just hoped that she wouldn't think that she wasn't welcome now that she wasn't…I cut myself off, not being able to let myself thing the actual words.

"Nik," Rebekah said from the door, walking out and wrapping her arms around me. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. I'm fine."

She nodded, hugging me tight. I was grateful that my family was here holding me together. I knew that if I was alone I would probably be going out on a murdering rampage.

"They've started to perform the spell." Elijah said from the door.

We walked inside to see the three living witches sitting in a circle on the floor with Bonnie standing in the centre, Caroline's clothes and my blood in her hand. All four of them were chanting, slowly building momentum as they got louder and faster.

Goosebumps ran up my arm as a small breeze filled the room. Then Bonnie opened her eyes and let out a gasp, fainting out of the circle. The chanting stopped.

Katherine stepped forward to help Bonnie stand up.

"Did it work?" Davina asked, looking at Bonnie wide eyed.

"Bayou. Old wold territory. They're hiding there."

I let out a breath. The one place we hadn't considered. The wolves weren't the types to share their territory with anyone other than their own kind, even their old territory.

I turned to Marcel with a sneer. "Get your men. We're about to go and pay them a visit."

Chapter Text

CAROLINE P.O.V.

The ropes dug into my wrists and the bark of the tree scraped into my back as I tried to pull myself into a more comfortable position.

I was tied to one of the large trees near the shack, my hands tied around one of the branches, my feet barely able to touch the ground. I could feel the pull against my arms as my toes brushed the dirt beneath me.

Sucking in a sharp breath, pain shot through my body. Andre stood in front of me, holding the knife he had been using on me. I tried not to focus on the fact that it was dripping with my blood.

My mind raced over all of the other times I had been in this position and survived. If I held on a little bit longer I knew that Klaus would come and get me. If I could withstand torture from revenge crazed werewolves, if I could live through my father trying to condition me, then I could make it out of this alive.

"I wonder if Klaus is sitting back having a nice laugh. Imagining you're pretty face when you realise that he's never going to come for you." Andre was saying, spinning the knife in his hands. "Has it sunk in that he was just using you? Have you realised that you were just another one of his useless conquests? Another human he could fuck and then dispose of?"

I didn't reply. I hadn't spoken since Hayley had run from the shack. Tyler had been quick to subdue me, then Andre had taken me by my now short hair and hung me here. He had then proceeded to use the knife to slash thin cuts across my stomach, chest, and face.

He seemed to have enough of not getting a rise out of me, turning to the male witch and nodding his head. The next second my whole body burst into a prickling sensation…then came the pain.

Closing my eyes, I forced myself not to scream. Even though my whole body was pushing me to make a noise, I kept it in, trying to make it seem like I wasn't affected as much as I was. My brain shot to every moment I shared with Klaus, trying to forget the pain and remember the good. It didn't work.

When the pain stopped, I opened my eyes to see Andre kneeling directly in front of. He looked me up and down, his head tilted to the side.

"What I can't understand in all this mess, is that you're human but you still managed to take down three fully grown men. Two of which have supernatural strength." He smiled as he reached forward with the knife, brushing a short lock of hair out of my face. "And I know you're human. You haven't healed one bit. None of the bruises and none of the cuts have healed."

I kept my mouth shut, staring at him with wide eyes. My arms throbbed and were half-asleep as I tried to make my feet stay on the ground.

Andre growled and motioned for the witch to go again. This time the pain was twice as bad as the first time, sending shockwaves through my whole body and making me feel as though I would vomit and pass out at the same time. I tried my hardest to hold it in. I tried to act as if everything was okay. But the pain was too much.

My mouth fell open and I let out a primal scream.

Then the pain stopped. I kept my eyes closed, anticipating another stab, another wave of pain, but nothing came. Everything in the field had gone quiet. Deadly silent.

I opened my eyes and my face lit up. Standing at the other end of the clearing that we were in stood Klaus and about 20 other vampires, werewolves, and witches. Andre was facing Klaus, so I couldn't see his face, but I hoped that it was scared.

Klaus' eyes met mine and I could see the anger bubbling beneath the surface. Then something behind the trees grabbed my attention.

From in the woods more people emerged, except going from Klaus and everyone else's body language, they weren't on our side. Some of them vampires, and others were witches. I tried to stay calm as I looked at the people around me. Andre had more people, but Klaus definitely had the leverage. Half of his people couldn't be killed.

"Give it up, Andre. You're not making it out of here alive." Klaus said, seemingly perfectly calm, but I could see the panic in his eyes.

Andre growled, edging forward. "I'm done sitting back and watching you parade around like your some sort of king. You were once human, you're no better than anyone else. And that doesn't give you the right to kill whoever you want."

"You didn't seem to mind for the past 500 years when you tagged along."

Andre held up the blood covered knife, pointing it in Klaus' direction. "I was just biding my time. Waiting for you to turn weak. And it turns out, I showed up just in time for you to be at your weakest."

Klaus growled, and Andre stepped back closer to me, using the knife to cut my arms loose. Relief shot through my arms, sending a calm throb through my shoulders and wrists. The relief didn't last long as he reached forward and gripped my short hair and held me up by it. I hissed in pain, trying to think about how I could get out of this, but not coming out with anything.

Andre started to drag me back, away from the crowd of people gathered in the clearing. He thought that he could make a run for it. As soon as he managed to walk a couple of metres back, all hell broke loose and everyone on his side lunged in the direction of my saviours. Taking this in their stride they fought back with just as much force, with Klaus dodging his way through the field towards Andre and I.

#

KLAUS P.O.V.

Making my way through the throngs of people, I ducked and dodged my way past the people fighting. I didn't care about any of that, I just wanted to get to Caroline.

Looking at Andre now, I could see the pure hate he had for me, and how that hate had completely taken over his life. As long as I got Caroline out of here safe, I didn't care what happened to me.

As I made my way around the people, being stopped several times by people on Andre's side, I saw Tyler backing away behind one the run-down shacks. He knew what I would do if I got my hands on him again, I wouldn't show him anymore mercy.

"Andre, you're not getting away from here. No matter how much you think you can outsmart me. No matter what weaknesses you think that I have. You. Will. Not. Get. Away. From. Me."

Andre stopped, still holding Caroline by her hair. I could see the pain behind her eyes as she watched me, and I could hear her heart racing rapidly in her chest.

"Like Elizabeth didn't get away?" Andre snapped, pointing his knife in my direction again. I tried not to focus on the blood that dripped from the blade. "You killed her in cold blood, and I've had to live 500 years with that pain. And you deserve the same."

"Elizabeth knew what she was getting into when I acquired her. She knew that any betrayal would cause a retaliation. She went against me anyway."

"That doesn't make it okay for you to kill her. That doesn't make it okay for you to kill anyone."

"If I'm so horrible, then you're just as bad." I said, stepping even closer, causing Andre further back. "You were there right by my side throughout the centuries, killing people right by my side. You're just as bad as I am."

"Elizabeth didn't deserve to die! You could have waited another 500 years for a doppleganger to reappear. You'd already spent years cursed, what was another 500. But, instead you killed her."

"If it had been any of the other witches, would you be this upset?" I asked, stopping two metres in front of him. "If I had of killed any of the other witches, would you still feel the same way? Elizabeth knew what I would do to her. In her final letter to you, the one she didn't get to send, she knew I would kill her. She expected it from me. But, she told Katherine what would happen anyway."

Andre's jaw clenched and he gripped Caroline tighter. I watched her, trying to figure out how I could possible get her out of his way. If I lunged, would I be able to knock him out of the way without her getting hurt? If I moved closer, would he snap before I could get her away?

Dropping my voice, changing from anger to something of understanding. "If I could go back and change things in my life that I've done, I would. Every day I have to live with the lives I've taken, and the people that that's affected. It's not something that I can take back. It's not something that I have the power to change. But, what I have learnt, is that revenge gets you nowhere."

He stared at me, his face blank as he took in my words. His hard demeanour seemed to waver, and I could see Caroline looking at me with relief. I waited for him to let her go, letting him process things clearly before I pushed him further. I hoped that my honesty would get him to think more clearly.

"You regret everything that you've done?" He asked, his jaw locked and his eyes soft.

I nodded my head.

Within a heartbeat, everything changed. His face hardened further, and he moved before I could stop him. He dropped Caroline, making her fall towards the ground, then turned and grabbed her face in his hands. Then he snapped.

The noise filled my ears, the sickening crack as her head spun to the side. Then her whole body fell limp to the floor.

Chapter Text

KLAUS P.O.V.

A strangled growl made its way up from throat, and I looked to Andre who was standing above Caroline's fallen body. Dropping to my knees, he took one look at me and ran for it.

Everything stopped, and my heart ached tightly in my chest. It was like a piece of me had been taken away. Like there was a hole in my chest where something beautiful had been.

Reaching for her, pulling her closer to me, tears ran down my cheeks as my ears strained to find any trace a heartbeat that was no longer there. Her neck was hanging completely to the side, showing the strength he had used when he had snapped it. Her skin already a sheen of pale.

I studied each scrape on her skin, each cut that Andre had made. And with each cut my heart broke more and more. I didn't want think that this was the end. I didn't want to think that the small amount of time we had shared would be our only. And losing her had been all my fault.

Unmoving, I sat with her, holding her body close to mine. Knowing that I would eventually have to let go, but not bringing myself to do it just yet. I cried into her hair, not caring about my reputation.

I lost track of everything that happened, but eventually the noise that had been surrounding us faded, and left nothing but quiet whispered conversations. Trying my hardest to drown everything out, my mind screamed out for her to wake up, but knowing that she wouldn't.

"Nik." Rebekah said, placing her hand on my shoulder. I looked up from Caroline, meeting my younger sister's teary eyes. "Everyone has been dealt with except Andre. I…do you want me to take Caroline back to the house?"

I nodded, looking over to where Katherine and Elijah held Andre in place. Rebekah moved to lift Caroline, but I still couldn't bring myself to let her go. Rebekah placed her hand on my shoulder again, reassuring me that she would take care of her, before lifting her away from me and carrying her off with Marcel and the others, leaving only four of us behind.

Climbing to my feet, I walked over to where Andre was kneeling, Elijah and Katherine holding him down by his shoulders.

"This should have worked." Andre was mumbling to himself, looking undone as he stared down at the ground. "I should feel better, but it didn't work."

I kicked his leg, causing him look up and stare at me with bold eyes. "Murdering an innocent human never makes anyone feel better, no matter the revenge you're getting from it."

"But the seer said that if I could kill the one you loved then you would be destroyed, and then I could live without this pain. Without the loss."

I knelt down in front of him looking into his eyes. "I'm 1000 years old, and I feel the pain of the people I've lost, every day. You just killed an innocent woman. Someone who never did anything to you. You deserve all of the pain in the world."

"She was not innocent. She was with you. Any woman who can see past your sins is guilty enough." Katherine gripped down on his arm, causing Andre to cry out as his shoulder broke under the weight. "You killed Elizabeth, and hundreds of other women. How is that any different from what I did?"

Standing straight I let out a blood-curdling growl. I smiled as he stiffened at the sound. Katherine was looking off into the woods, not watching what was happening. I thought I could see tears in her eyes, but I turned my attention back to Andre.

"I didn't kill Elizabeth." I whispered, leaning in close to Andre's ear. "I turned her."

When I pulled back to look at him, his eyes had widened and his mouth was open slightly. "You what?"

"I turned her." I repeated, stepping back and looking back over to where Caroline had fallen, but no longer lay. "I made her a vampire, then I made her promise to never contact you again. She was so ashamed of what she was that she run into hiding. I didn't even need to compel her. The last time I saw her was in London about…50 years ago."

He tried to process what I had told him, his face scrunching up. Stepping closer, I squatted down in front of him. "There was no better punishment for Elizabeth other than taking away that power that she loved so much. Just like there was no better punishment for Katherine other than taking her freedom. And for you…you're punishment isn't going to be so…kind."

In a short second, my teeth sunk into his throat and his blood ran down my throat. I didn't take pleasure in the bite, pulling back and watching as the panic filled his eyes.

"You're revenge was all for nothing. If you had asked me nicely, instead of causing all of this, I would have told you where to find her. But, instead you decided to do this." I said, standing up and beginning to walk across the clearing. I called back to Elijah and Katherine as I left, my only thought being to get back to the house. "Tie him to a the tree, let him suffer."

#

KATHERINE P.O.V.

I never expected it to hurt as much as it did. Losing Caroline. I mean, it was obvious that she was going to die eventually, she was human. But losing her to Andre, of all people, broke my heart. That and the look on Klaus' face when it happened.

After Klaus had left the clearing, Elijah and I had wasted no time tying Andre to the tree, ignoring his protests. Then Elijah and I had walked slowly back to the house, not wanting to face whatever it would be that we would be walking into.

When we had returned to the house, in the early morning, the house was completely silent. Rebekah and Marcel were sitting together in the lounge room, neither talking, and Nadia was standing on the porch staring off into the woods. Everyone else had gone back to their hotels.

"Did Klaus kill him?" Nadia asked as Elijah and I were about to close the front door, not turning from her spot on the porch.

Waving Elijah off I walked up behind Nadia and wrapped my arm around her waist. "Klaus bit him and had us tie him to a tree. He has 24 hours tops."

Nadia nodded. "Good. He deserves it for what he did to them."

Leaving Nadia there, I headed inside to see that Elijah was now sitting on the entrance steps with his head in his hands. I sat down beside him and placed my hand on his knee. "Where's Klaus?"

"Up in his studio, I think." He groaned loudly and then looked up at me. "I can't wrap my head around how this happened. I just…I can't make sense of how we messed things up as much as we did."

"Neither can I. You know, out of all of us I thought Caroline would surely be the one to make it through this."

I was interrupted by Kida making her way through a side door, holding a grimoire in her hands. She smiled sadly at me as she walked forward, coming to stop directly in front of us.

"I did what Klaus asked. I'm going to drive home now, if that's okay?"

I looked at her confused. Unsure as to what she could be referring to. Kida wouldn't resurrect Caroline, would she? "What did he ask you to do?"

"Oh, he asked me to put a preservation spell on the body." She said, gripping the book tight to her chest, her accent sounding more pronounced with emotion. "To make sure she'll never decompose. I told him I was happy to…considering that it's partly my fault that she's gone."

"It's not your fault." We all froze at the voice at the top of the stairs, turning to see Klaus standing at the top of the stairs with tear stained cheeks. "It's not any one of yours faults."

Elijah and I stood up as Klaus descended the stairs, running his hand through his hair. He thanked Kida for her service and wished her goodnight, even though the sun was close to rising, then he headed towards the lounge room.

Elijah and I followed behind him, coming to sit down on the couch near where Rebekah and Marcel sat. Rebekah looked up as Klaus entered the room. Placing her drink down on the table she jumped up to wrap Klaus in a bone crushing hug. He held her for a moment before letting her go.

"Marcel, I want to talk to you soon, but first, Rebekah I was wondering if you could clean Caroline up." I stared at him confused. Clean her up? "I spoke with her mother, she's driving up here to collect Caroline. If anyone saw her in the state that she's in currently, Caroline would have a fit."

Sitting up straighter, anxious butterflies filled my stomach. The prospect of having to have a face-to-face confrontation with her after taking her daughter away to get help, and getting her killed instead.

"Of course I'll clean her up." Rebekah said, smiling at her brother.

"And maybe cut her hair as well, just to make it nicer. It would be best if her mum didn't know all of the details of what happened."

She nodded, not waiting for him to continue before she ran from the room. Klaus sat down as she left, sighing as he leant his head against the back of the chair.

"What's going on? What happened?"

I don't think any of us had ever moved faster than we did in that moment, our heads turning to the voice in the door. Hayley. She looked dishevelled. Her skin healed of the injuries she had endured, but her clothes still torn and her skin still coated in blood.

"What happened?" She repeated, stepping into the room.

Straining my ears, I listened to her carefully, staring at her stomach which still protruded out, looking even bigger than it had before she turned last night. There was a heartbeat. I turned to Klaus, watching his reaction as he took her in. He let out a breath of relief, getting off of the couch and walking over to wrap her in his arms.

"How is the baby still alive?" Klaus whispered, sounding relieved.

Hayley pushed back, looking at us all. "I'm not going to repeat myself again. Tell me what happened? The last thing I remember is being upstairs, then black until I woke up in the woods behind the house."

Klaus stepped back, looking down at her sadly. I knew that it would be painful for him to have to tell her that Caroline had been killed, so I stood up from the chair and grabbed Hayley's hand, promising to tell her what had happened.

Taking her to her room, which had somehow been cleaned in the time that everything had happened. I sat Hayley down on the edge of the bed, placing her hand in mine.

"Caroline didn't make it, Hayley."

Her face didn't change straight away. But then her eyes narrowed and ripped her hand from mine, standing up from the bed. "How did it happen? Was it because I ran instead of her? Was it because you were distracted by me returning and didn't go and find her?"

I shook my head. "No. We found her in time. There was a fight and Andre tried to run off with Caroline. Klaus tried to talk him down, I'm assuming he didn't want to attack Andre in case he hurt Caroline. But, when he got close to getting Andre to give up, Andre snapped Caroline's neck."

Hayley started to weep, throwing herself into my arms as she cried.

Chapter Text

KLAUS P.O.V.

Staring after Katherine and Hayley, I knew that we would have to figure out how it was possible for the baby to have survived the change. But right at that second I wasn't going to question a miracle. We could have used a couple of more of those.

"What was it that you wanted to talk about, Klaus?" Marcel said, snapping me back to the room.

"My family and I are going to be leaving town, I think." I said, leaning back and looking at Elijah pointedly. "Too much has happened here and I think it would be best for us to move on. Don't you?"

Marcel took a sip from his drink, eying me up and down as he did so. "Look, Klaus, I know we've had our differences. I know you don't like how I've been running New Orleans. And I definitely know that now is not the time to be discussing politics. But, I'd be willing to change things up. Maybe run some things by you while you're away from the city, get your opinion on things."

I smiled at him, knowing that the best thing to do would be to accept this truce. We needed more allies than enemies at this point. "I'd like that."

He stood up, and I followed suit. We both shook hands, and he placed his empty glass over on the bar before leaving the house.

I turned to Elijah, who had continued to sit in the chair. He looked up at me sadly. "Where are we going to next, brother?"

"I was thinking somewhere warm. Someplace nice for us all to relax and recover from what happened here. Maybe Italy, or Greece."

Elijah agreed, staying in his seat as I left the room and headed upstairs to my studio. I let out a small cry as I took in the painting I had been working on, my heart breaking and my calm façade dropping. I let the tears fall freely as I sat down and picked up the brush, working on my portrait of Caroline, trying to pour all of my love and heartache into the picture that came to life in front of me.

She smiled up at me from the picture, a conversation we had shared in private before she was taken came to mind, telling me that everything happened for a reason. I hoped she was right, because right now it felt like everything was going to fall apart.

I painted for hours, the sun rising high into the sky as I painted. It was mid-afternoon when I finally finished the portrait. Happy with how it turned out. Deciding that, although it didn't do her justice, it definitely captured who she was.

Groaning I stood up from my stool and grabbed the canvas in hand, opening the door and heading down the stairs. I wasn't surprised to see that everyone had started to pack and gather things ready to leave. I knew that my brother would work fast.

Hayley walked over to me, her eyes bloodshot from tears. "I'm so sorry Klaus. I can't help but feel that this is partially my fault. Caroline didn't deserve to die."

"It's not your fault, Hayley. If anything, it's mine. But, I know that Caroline wouldn't want anyone here to blame themselves. So, let's just try and…let's just get ready to leave."

"Everything we need, except for your things, are packed. We're reading to leave once Caroline's mum comes." Rebekah said, standing in the doorway with her arms crossed.

I walked over to the sideboard that said across the wall. I placed the picture of Caroline down and turned to everyone. "Why don't you guys head off now? I'll wait here, and follow after you once she's come and gone."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I'll meet you at the airport."

#

THIRD P.O.V.

Once everyone had left, Klaus made his way down the stairs to the basement where Caroline's coffin sat. It was sitting amongst the coffins of Kol, Finn, Esther, and Mikael. He reached for the lid, hesitating before deciding that he couldn't open it.

He gripped the gurney that it sat on and pushed it out of the room and carried it up the stairs, stopping it next to the portrait he had spent hours painting. He stared down at it for a few minutes before finally deciding that he did want to open the lid, then slowly lifted it up, holding his breath.

He let out a shaky breathe as he looked into the coffin. There, laying across the satin inlay was Caroline. Rebekah had changed her out of the filthy clothes she had been in, covering up the cuts and bruises across her stomach. She had also trimmed her hair so that it was in a short pixie bob. If he didn't already know she was dead, he would think she was sleeping. She didn't look dead.

He reached in and caressed her face, tears running down his cheeks as he felt her soft skin.

"I'm so sorry, Sweetheart." He whispered, leaning down to press a gently kiss on her forehead. "I'm so sorry that I couldn't protect you. I would give anything to change what happened. I'd give anything to have you back here with me."

On the other side of the coffin, staring directly as Klaus' tear-stained face, stood Caroline. Not that he could see her, her being a ghost and all. But she stood there nonetheless, tears filling her own eyes as she watched her mate mourn her.

"One day in the future, I'll see you again, Love." He continued, getting interrupted by a knock at the front door.

Both he and Caroline let out a sharp breath, Klaus closing the coffin and heading to the door with Caroline following unseen behind him. He opened the large door to find Liz Forbes and Matt Donovan, both of them having cried a fair bit on the long drive. Klaus stepped aside and let them both into the house.

Liz let out a sob at the site of the coffin and quickly wiped at her eyes, not wanting to show any weakness.

"How did this happen, Klaus?" She asked, turning on him with anger in her eyes. "You told me that she would be safe. That you wouldn't hurt her."

Klaus ran his hands through his hair. "I did everything I could do to protect her. The person who did this, he had leverage I couldn't foresee. I couldn't stop him."

"Who was it? Who killed her?" She sobbed.

Caroline stepped towards her mum, wanting to reach out and comfort her, but her hand went straight through her.

"His name was Andre. He's someone I've known for 500 years. I did something to hurt him back then, and he waited until now to retaliate. He…he found a way to get to Caroline through someone she trusted."

Liz looked at him with narrowed eyes, her mind racing. "Someone she trusted? Someone she knew gave her up?"

"I'm not going to tell you who it was. I know you'll hunt them down and kill them for what they've done." Klaus said, addressing both the Sheriff and Matt. "But, I think the best punishment is that fact that they'll have to live the rest of their lives knowing that they did this. This is their fault, and no one else's. If we kill them, then their suffering is over."

Liz nodded, looking down at the ground. Klaus moved over to where the coffin sat, picking the portrait up and handing it to Caroline's mum. "I painted this for the funeral. I thought it would be nice to have instead of a simple picture. I also, I felt like I had to do something else."

She took the painting and looked it over, Caroline standing beside Klaus trying to get a look as well.

"This is beautiful, Klaus. Thank you."

Klaus motioned for Matt to help him with the coffin, while Liz went outside to open the car door. They both grabbed ends of the gurney and wheeled it across the entrance.

"I'm sorry that this happened to her, Matt. I never intended for her to get hurt."

Matt looked up at him, his expression unreadable. "I don't like you, Klaus. But Caroline saw something in you. She wouldn't have been here if she didn't want to be."

Klaus nodded and they both wheeled the coffin to the car, lifting it up inside and securing it in place. Klaus spoke briefly to Liz again before they left, leaving him at the house alone. He went upstairs and packed a bag quickly, making sure he only grabbed the things he would immediately need, and then he headed downstairs to grab his car.

He locked the door, stopping on the porch to stare out at the horizon.

"No matter what happens, I love will love you always."

Caroline stood next to him, wishing that he could hear her. "…and forever."

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