So this is my first Klaroline One shot.
It's my take on the beginning of the 5th season (only 3 more days!)
Caroline is a bit OOC but it was necessary. Warning: Hayley bashing
Hope you like it!
For the better – for you
"I am sorry, Caroline but I can't return to Mystic Falls, I have nothing left there. I found a pack to run with and they need an alpha. This is not the right place for you to be, please understand that. Maybe one day…"
Caroline listened to the voice mail over and over again, feeling more and more torn every single time.
The little devil inside of her told her to be angry, furious even. How did Tyler dare to pull this off just like that? She had fought so hard for them, for their relationship and now this? How could he decide for her without even asking?
The sensitive angel on the other hand felt with Tyler and tried to understand him. It wanted to trust his word when he said 'one day'.
However, the angry part seemed to be fueled with every word that sounded so faked listening to it again.
Groaning, she got up from her bed, knowing she needed to find a distraction. Grabbing her keys, she left for the boarding house, hoping to find one of her friends.
The Salvatore house was quiet when she arrived, so she refrained from knocking and went straight in.
"Elena? Stefan?"
No reply.
In the parlor she helped herself to a tumbler of Damon's finest scotch. She might not like her sire but he definitely had the best stuff in town. Checking her phone, she texted Elena. When she looked up again, she stumbled back.
Stefan was standing right in front of her.
"Stefan, you scared me!" She exclaimed.
"You're a vampire, Caroline – what has gotten into you that you're afraid." He said in a strange tone.
The blonde took a deep breath. "I didn't say I was afraid of you, you just startled me."
A cold smile showed on his lips. "Well maybe you should."
She flinched. "Stefan? What the hell is going on?" An uneasy feeling spread in her stomach.
"Oh nothing…" The Salvatore said, still in that strange tone.
The younger vampire decided to stay cool. "Have you seen Elena?"
He shrugged, "She might be upstairs, I don't know."
Raising one eyebrow, she watched him as he poured himself a drink, deciding not to say anything.
"Okay…" When she made her way to the stairs, she heard his cold voice once again.
"Good-bye for now, sweet Caroline…"
As she spun around, he was already gone.
Upstairs, she listened to any sounds that could tell her where to possible find her friend. The distinct sound of dabbling water, led her to the bathroom.
"Elena?" She called again, being polite enough to announce her arrival.
When there was no answer, she pushed the door open for fear, something might have happened.
However, the sight she was met with was shocking in an unexpected way.
Elena – or who she would've thought to be Elena – was lying in the bath tub, a glass of champagne in hand. Her hair was semi-wet and still curly but it lacked the red strand her best friend had dyed in.
Additional to that, she heard the suspicious sound of a beating heart.
"Wh- What?" She asked, confused.
"Oh look what the wind blew in, the neurotic bestie Miss Forbes…"
"Katherine." The blonde stated, annoyed.
"The one and only." The brunette smirked.
Inside, Caroline still felt scared of the doppelganger, rational considering what she had done to her. To the outside, however, she showed none of it.
Matter-of-factly, she wasn't a threat anymore but that was no reason not to be careful around her.
"What are you doing here?" The vampire inquired.
"Isn't that obvious?" After a second she added, "Oh I forgot, you're naturally blonde…"
Her words fueled her anger just as much as Tyler's voice mail and adding Stefan's irritating behavior, she felt her temper rising. Today was definitely a bad day to mess with her.
"Trying to weasel your way back into one of the Salvatore's hearts?" She bit back, "Well then I have bad news for you, Stefan isn't in the mood as it seems and Damon has chosen the better, stronger version of you…sorry to disappoint…"
Katherine didn't give away much, but the twist of her mouth was enough of an indication that she had hit a soft spot.
"At least I had both brothers, as far as I know you're not so lucky when it comes to your playthings…Tyler's not here and Klaus – well you never had him nor would you ever have enough to keep him…" The condescendence in her voice made Caroline see red.
In a flash she was next to the doppelganger, one hand around her neck. The flute of champagne dropped to the floor, spilling its content. Katherine choked, trying to free herself but to no avail.
"What do you know about Tyler?" She demanded not resorting to compulsion yet.
"Wouldn't you want to know…?" The brunette managed to stay cocky.
Caroline tightened her grip. "Remembering our previous relationship you might want to think about provoking me, Katarina…" She purred lowly, deadly anger in her voice.
Fear broke through her features. Yes, Caroline was probably the last person who wanted her alive.
"Tell me." Loosening her hold, she allowed her to speak.
Deciding to give the blonde what she wanted, Katherine said, "All I know is that he has more important business to attend to around Mississippi…although it's not my idea of smartness to run so closely to Klaus, granting that I know what I am talking about. That Hayley-girl may now what is good for her but her ways of helping her special friend are more than questionable…"
"What does Hayley have to do with this?"
Katherine raised a perfectly curved eyebrow. You don't know? He's leading her pack…The former alpha male was her lover…"
Caroline was barely able to cover up her shock. Jealousy flooded her veins, followed by hurt and rage. This more than dangerous cocktail of emotions stripped her off all control she had. Only the doppelganger's frantic choking made her aware of her iron grip around her delicate, human neck.
Trying to cool down, she focused on her make-shift prisoner. "I bet you also know more about Klaus' business…"
Katherine was more than worried about her current rather helpless situation, so she decided to play along. Next time she wouldn't be that careless.
"He's in New Orleans, the magical city."
"I know as much. Do you know which business he has down there?"
The brunette smirked. "Nice pun. Indeed, I do. I am the one who set him up to it, after all."
"What did you do?" The blonde inquired.
"Oh, you know, when someone's plotting Klaus eternal demise I always give a hand…"
In a flash, Caroline pulled her out of the tub, ignoring her screams, as she pressed the fragile and naked form of Katherine Pierce against the nearest wall.
"What did you do?!" She yelled, her vampire features showing.
Of course there was a rational explanation for her outburst, since not just her own life depended on the hybrid but everyone's she loved but in this moment, all she felt was deep worry for the man who had saved her graduation.
Locking eyes with her, she concentrated and said, "Tell me!"
Katherine's pupils dilated. Against her will she spilled everything.
"I sent him to the French Quarter. There's a witch named Jane-Anne Deveraux plotting against him. She's dead now but her sister is still there."
"What is their plan?"
"Taking out the rest of the family. The ruler of the quarter, Klaus's sire Marcel must die, too. She wants to use Klaus' weakness to make him destroy Marcel only to end him as well." Katherine revealed mindlessly.
"And you told them what Klaus weakness is…?"
"Yes, his family. The need to have a family."
This wasn't news to the blonde. "Who else knows?" She questioned.
The brunette gulped. "The witch sisters …and… Hayley."
Caroline took a step back in shock.
That stupid, selfish bitch!
Katherine fell to the floor, gasping for fresh air.
The vampire knew she had to do something. She couldn't have someone threatening Klaus with her just standing by. These times were over.
"What is their exact plan?"
"I…I am not sure…" she began. "From what I caught up, they want to find a way to bind Klaus to someone…someone or something he'd do everything for… family…" The last word was barely a whisper.
"And then?"
"Once the witches are free, they can channel enough power for a desiccation…I don't know whether they can find a way to kill him once and for all…"
The brief moment of relief Caroline had felt vanished into thin air.
As the compulsion wore off, the smirk reappeared on her face, despite her indecent appearance.
"For all I care, they could. If there are no vampires anymore, there's no threat for me…Oh and what she might want to know…my spy in NOLA told me our favorite hybrid already has a new favorite….I don't know what to talk about art…I'll give you a hint, she's blonde."
The slap resounded in the marble bathroom and left the doppelganger unconscious.
Half an hour later, Caroline pulled up in her driveway.
As former Miss Mystic Falls, she wouldn't let anything happen to her friends and admittedly, that was exactly what Klaus was. Her friend.
As a vampire, she knew that sometimes one had to go to great lengths to achieve something in the supernatural world of witches, vampires, werewolves and hybrids but she would get it done. No matter what. She owed this to him.
Her mother's message telling her that she would be home until morning since there had been an accident that demanded the police and the hospital's full attention had only encouraged her absolutely insane plan.
After a short stop at said hospital, her bag was now filled with empty flood bags, cannulas and plasters.
On the passenger seat, Katherine was still out cold.
Perfect.
Fortunately, all her neighbors were at work, so she didn't have to worry about strange looks as she carried someone who looked like her best friend into her house.
In her room, she lay her down on the bed.
Getting some sanitizer from the bathroom, she got straight to work.
In her childhood she had spent way too much time with doctors to not know how to draw blood from someone.
Piercing Katherine's vein and letting the blood flow into one of the Mystic Falls Hospital blood bags was easy. She carefully eyes the brunette to not miss her awakening. The hit must've been rather hard.
She would take exactly three blood bags, the number of bags it had indirectly cost Klaus when he had saved her from the council. Not that she approved of the hybrid-siring but Katherine's words had made her see that it was his decision and he was stripped off it to save her.
Katherine awoke when Caroline secured the last bag.
"Wh-…."
Looking into her brown orbs, she commanded, "Don't move."
Plastering the punctured skin, she threw away the trash and searched for an appropriate container. Then she got some ice from the fridge to store the blood properly.
Only when all of this was done, she returned to the doppelganger.
She knew this wasn't what she should have done but her hatred for the person who killed her and used her was too strong.
"Consider this my payback." She purred dangerously.
Katherine's frightened expression faded when Caroline compelled her.
"…I won't tell anyone about our encounter nor about what I told you. I was never here and you never did anything. I was taking a bath at the boarding house. I won't alert my spy and won't bother anyone in Mystic Falls." She repeated mindlessly.
Adding one more security, the blonde said, "Fine. Now forget everything that happened today."
The next morning, she drove to Richmond to catch her early flight to New Orleans, Louisiana.
Admittedly, a little compulsion was needed but now she was on her merry way, clothes for a few days and a container with blood in tow.
She hadn't told anyone about her plan, a note in the kitchen table explained that she'd be back soon so her mother wouldn't worry.
At the airport she needed more mind-control than she anticipated but she wasn't willed to risk anything only to avoid it. This was too important.
A few hours later, she was in the middle of the so called 'French Quarter' that Katherine had mentioned. According to her, everything was full of vampires here. So no compulsion.
Unsure of how to find the hybrid, she decided to go for the conventional way.
When she saw a girl and a young man with striking rings each, she chose to take a chance. As she approached, the smell of blood became more and more distinguishable, coming from the cups they were holding.
They were both not too much older than she was, of course that didn't mean a thing.
"Excuse me." She began, making sure they saw her daylight ring when they turned around.
"Yes?" the girl's tone was cool but not impolite.
"I am searching for Niklaus Mikaelson, do you happen to know him?" She asked in the sweetest tone possible.
The two exchanged dubious glances. "Who wants to know?"
After a second of hesitation, she lied boldly, "I am his sister." Caroline truly hoped this made it better, not worse.
"Alright. Please, come with us."
Without further questions, they led her to a mansion, almost as beautiful as the one in Mystic Falls. It wasn't too far away.
"Wait a second." The guy flashed away, while the girl kept staring at her. Either she was doubtful or she was scared of her, the blonde hoped for the latter.
A male voice came from inside the house. "I've heard your sister arrived in the Quarter."
Then there was his voice. "What you don't say… how could you know?"
"My daywalker informed me." She had no idea who that guy was but she realized that her lie might have reached another dimension.
The girl nodded and said. "Go in, Miss Mikaelson."
When she entered the fancy mansion, the voices became louder. When she appeared behind the guy who had led her here, she heard Klaus saying, "Leave us alone, will you. I'll get back to you, later."
The guy and the stranger vanished in a flash, leaving her face to face with him.
"Caroline?" He asked disbelievingly.
"Hi Klaus." She answered weakly.
After a moment, he went on. "How … what… what are you doing here?"
"Flying Economy Class to new Orleans…?" She tried a feeble joke. Seeing his eyes lighting up, she didn't want to believe he had replaced her.
He approached her slowly, stroking a strand of hair out of her face. "I can't believe you came..." He murmured. "Why…?"
Becoming more self-confident, she said, "Well I wanted to bring a house-warming gift.
Klaus raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
"Yes, I guessed I owed you one…you know, for saving me…"
"You don't owe me anything, love…"Klaus objected softly. "I did it for you."
Caroline smiled. "I know…"
She pulled out the container, and gave it to him. He looked at her uncomprehendingly.
"I know you gave up on the plan but I thought you might want to have the opportunity."
She watched as he opened it. For the briefest moment, she saw a frail growth of hope in his eyes.
"What…what is this?" he asked.
"I thought you remembered…didn't Rebekah destroy the last of your reserves when you didn't save her…?"
Of course he remembered. "Where did you…how…?"
"I am a former Miss Mystic, I always find a way." She teased.
"Is this really it? Are you absolutely sure?" He asked.
Caroline scoffed. "If by sure you mean, 'have you not mixed up the blood bags', then yes, I haven't compelled and almost drained more than one doppelganger in the last few days."
Klaus stared at her, wide-eyed. "You did WHAT?"
"Oh I didn't know Katherine's wellbeing was a priority to you…"
"Wait a second, Caroline, love, did you really and I mean really, drain three blood bags of doppelganger blood for the creation of hybrids off Katarina Petrova? How is she even human? How did she get the cure?"
The blonde smiled at him. "Firstly, yes she is human, long story. Secondly, yes I did. But since she killed me, I could've done worse."
Before he could ask any more questions, another figure approached.
"Oh, hello Miss Forbes."
Caroline turned around. "Hello Elijah."
Confusedly, he turned to his brother. "I thought Rebekah was here?"
Caroline couldn't help but laugh and Klaus joined her. "No she isn't."
They went into the parlor after Elijah excused himself again. They had enough catching up to do.
However, they weren't left alone for long. The front door opened and a female voice shrilled through the mansion.
"Klaus?"
Caroline froze on the spot. She knew that voice.
"Hello…the least you could do is take care of the bags, I am not supposed to carry heavy things in my state."
Klaus rolled his eyes. "Dear Lord…"
Moments later, a girl Caroline knew and despised all too much, walked into the room.
"Oh, hello Caroline, long time no see…" She smirked.
The blonde glanced from Klaus to Hayley and back.
"What do you mean, 'in your state'?" She asked angrily.
The smirk broadened. "Oh didn't he tell you? I am pregnant – with his child."
Klaus growled but Caroline didn't hear him. She was too shocked.
Hayley didn't care either; she was way too focused on the victory she sensed. This was her revenge on the blonde.
It was then, that everything fell into place.
'She wants to use Klaus' weakness…' …'The need to have a family…' Katherine's voice sounded in her mind.
'He's leading her pack…The former alpha male was her lover…'
The silence was deafening.
Caroline reacted on impulse for the first time in her life.
In a flash she was in front of Hayley, who was no match to her without a full moon, one hand around her throat.
"Tell the truth!"
"It's true. Sorry that it can't be you, I didn't ask for it. Although the night may have been worth it. Not that you'd know, right?"
The werewolf had the nerve to be cocky.
The blonde took a deep breath. "Are you sure it's not from your dear alpha in Mississippi? I mean it can't be Tyler whom you ran with all the time, right? Weren't they sufficient for you?"
Hayley smirked. "I am a girl with needs…"
Caroline took a step back. "You know what, tell your gigolo I said hi when you see him…" She knew what needed to be done, even if Klaus would hate her for it. He wouldn't kill her, hopefully. This was for the better.
"On the other side." She added.
With that she ripped Hayley's heart from her chest.
What do you think? R&R!