Hi my loves! I hope you all enjoy reading this story, especially since I enjoyed writing. Totally off point, season 5 of The Originals...WOW! Episode 6 was amazing! If you haven't yet watched it, you so should!

In this story, Alaric died trying to save his new wife. There are no paternal parents for the twins.

Disclaimer: I own absolutely zero of the characters, the locations, or such. That belongs to the wonderful Julie Plec.

~TVD/TO~~TVD/TO~~TVD/TO~~TVD/TO~~TVD/TO~~TVD/TO~

Driving down the interstate, Caroline's hand subconsciously migrates down to rest on her soon-to-be growing stomach. Her mind reeling in the fact that she's actually pregnant. She had given up on every hope of becoming a mother when she found out she was a vampire. "Infertile," they had told her. But magically, there were now two little babies growing inside her.

So much had happened recently, adding this as a supernatural cherry on top of a pile of drama. Her mom had died, Elena was put into a Sleeping Beauty-type coma, Bonnie and Enzo went romping off Europe with Damon trying to cope, Stefan ran off with Valerie to rekindle their old flame, Tyler was off to God knows where and Matt wanted absolutely nothing to do with vampires anymore. Feeling utterly alone, she packed her SUV and left with a sad good-bye to her hometown.

Stopping for gas in a small town, Caroline gets out of the car and rests her hands on the door as the gas pumps, letting her head droop down to the ground. She kept thinking she was insane for doing this trip. The closer she got to her destination, the more her soul pulled her back to Mystic Falls. Never had she traveled so far alone. Her and Enzo had gone to Atlanta to find Stefan's doppelganger, but she was about an hour passed Georgia now.

The gas pump clicks off, breaking her train of thought and she gets back in the car, hopping on the ramp connecting with the highway once again. Driving through Mississippi was incredibly boring but once she gets on the I-10 Twin Span Bridge, her heart jumps. She's officially in Louisiana and following her GPS to Frenchman Street, she gets incredibly lucky by finding a parking spot just as someone was pulling out. Stepping out of the car, she slings her cross-body purse over her shoulder and locks her vehicle.

Having no idea where to start, she just walks the streets. Making it over to Royal Street, she looks at all the artists lined up against the fences and listens to the music, finding comfort in it all. Her stomach growls so she locates a small restaurant and takes a small table to herself, ordering a bowl of gumbo. When in NOLA, right?

Halfway through her meal, she gets the feeling of eyes on her. Turning her phone camera on selfie mode, she looks behind her discretely and notices a man watching her, he's young and attractive but obviously gay. Paying him no further attention, she pays for her meal and thanks the waitress. Leaving the restaurant, she feels the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, indicating he was following her so heading down an alleyway, she vamps over to him, grabbing him by his shoulders.

Pushing him up against the building, she bares her fangs at him. "Why are you following me?"

"We know every daywalker in New Orleans and when one shows up out of the blue, Marcel wants me to tail them," answers the guy. "Not many realize that I'm following them though and confront me."

"Well, I'm not your typical vampire," she says, letting him go. "Caroline," she offers while extending her hand.

"Josh," he responds. "So, just so I can say I did my due diligence, what are you doing here?"

Feeling nervous, she treads carefully, "I'm just looking for someone. Who's Marcel?"

"He runs this town."

Confused, she says, "I thought the Mikaelsons ran New Orleans."

His eyes narrowed suspiciously, "You know the Mikaelsons?"

"I know of them. I was almost too afraid to come here," she prays silently that Josh can't hear her heart beat at the lie. Although, thankfully, it didn't skip at all. Was she really lying? Or was she actually scared to be here?

Believing her, he nods and adds, "If you need to find someone, come with me. Marcel's lived here his whole life and knows everyone. I'm sure he can help you find who you're looking for."

Wanting to get a feel of who this Marcel guy was and feeling confident in her trainings with Stefan and Elena, she nodded. "Okay, sounds good."

Josh leads her to an industrial loft across the river, sliding the metal door to the side, they walk inside. A suave, regal man walked out of the room on the left with a phone to his ear. "Well, this is a good way to get some intel," he was telling someone on the phone. Caroline determined this was man Josh was talking about, Marcel. He waves to Josh before talking again. "You seem to forget that if you die, I die Klaus, including all my men. I'm not letting that happen. You're going to need all the help you can get right now." Caroline's breathing stopped for a second. He was talking to the Big Bad Hybrid. "Whatever…see in an hour," and at that Marcel's attention was officially on her. "Sorry about that. Marcel Gerard," he extended his hand to her.

"Caroline Forbes," she put on her best Miss Mystic smile.

His eyes grew as she shook his hand. "You're pregnant? How is that possible?"

Josh's eyes grew too, for he must not have noticed until now. But she calmly said, "That's one really long, witchy story. One that I don't feel comfortable telling anyone just yet."

"Do not worry. You're safe in my town. Kids and moms are the utmost priority to me." When he spoke, she somehow trusted him.

"She says she's here looking for someone," spoke up Josh, as he took a seat on the sofa.

Marcel looks at her in question, but Caroline didn't want to say who she was looking for until she knew more about him. "Actually, I think I know where to look. But if I find it more difficult than I perceived, I will let you know if I need more assistance." His eyes grew suspicious, so she added quickly, "When we were heading this direction, I got a feel of the city a little bit. I should know my way around now. It was a pleasure meeting you and thank you."

Caroline was halfway out of the room when Marcel vamps over to stand right in front of her with a menacing look on his face. "You're not being entirely truthful," he says, grabbing her shoulders. It wasn't hurtful, just rough. It was a sense that perhaps he was trying to get a feel of her. "I can help you." She got the hint that things were stirring in the city that she wasn't aware of and he just did want to help.

Suddenly, there is a whoosh of air past her, blowing her hair in front of her face. Blinking, she sees Marcel thrown up against the wall, toes barely touching the ground and a very angry hybrid holding him in place. "Don't touch her again," Klaus growled.

Marcel looked at him, looked at Caroline and then smirked. "I knew there was something up with you. You were acting too secretive."

Klaus' hand squeezed harder until Caroline grabbed Klaus' jacket and used all her strength to pull him off Marcel. "Klaus, he wasn't going to hurt me. You need to chill out." He stumbled backwards as Marcel fell to his left knee, rubbing his throat.

"So, you two know each other." This wasn't a question, Marcel knew.

"Yes, I wasn't sure how you would respond to me looking for Klaus Mikaelson. Most people don't react well," she said, glaring at Klaus.

"I don't know why not. I'm a joy," grinned Klaus. "What are you doing here, Caroline? Not that I'm in any way disappointed, Love."

"She's pregnant," answered Josh, who up until this moment had remained silent in the corner.

Klaus' eyes glued to her stomach to listen intently as Caroline put a protective hand on her stomach, it burning under his intense stare. "How?"

"It's a long story," she started. And then forgetting that Marcel and Josh were there, she told Klaus everything. About Kai, the Gemini Coven, Jo and Ric's wedding and lastly, about the magical spell used as one last desperate attempt to save the coven's remaining witches.

"And where is the Rippah in this story?" asked Klaus. All he wanted to do was wrap an arm around her shoulders and comfort her. That, or locate each one of her friends and kill them slowly and painfully for leaving her alone.

"He left…with one of the Heretics Kai released from the prison realm. That's another long story." She suddenly felt tired, so she looked around and took a seat on the empty couch. "I had nothing left for me in Mystic Falls. I can't do this alone, Klaus." She wasn't looking at him anymore; instead, her hands had suddenly become very interesting.

Marcel handed her a glass of water which she accepted and thanked him with a slight smile. Finally catching the hybrid's eyes, she sees only admiration and caring in them – something that had been missing from her friends. "You are more than welcome to stay with me," offered Marcel, noticing the silence between the two.

"That won't be necessary Marcellus," Klaus said, not bothering to look at his young protégé. "Come Caroline, I'll have someone gather your things and park your car in our garage." At that, he turned and left.

Caroline looks back at Marcel, knowing there was more to this acquaintanceship than they were letting on. "Thank you...and I am sorry for not telling you the full truth right way."

He regarded her sympathetically, "It's alright. It's one hell of a story." She handed the empty water glass to him and he added, "If you ever need anything, Klaus has my number and Josh's."