Klaus sat at the bar of his penthouse apartment, sipping a glass of Scotch while gazing out at his view of nighttime New Orleans. The window was covering the whole wall of his vast living-room-kitchen-complex. It was mirrored on the outside, so while he was able to enjoy throning and watching over the city with all these little people and their little lives in it, nobody was able to watch him in return.

They were going to be here any second. A smirk spread on his face at the thought.

They were not going to find anything.

They were never going to find anything.

Suavely he leant back and fixed his gaze on the amber liquid, slowly shaking the glass in his hand.

The doorbell rung with a ferocity that made him chuckle.

Taking his time he took another sip, then languidly strolled towards the door, out into the hall and then to the entrance. All the while, his doorbell was assaulted with a well-known insistence.

"Mister Mikaelson, this is the police! Open the door or we will be forced to break it down!"

He forced down a loud laugh and instead took another sip, smirking to himself, then finally, slowly placed his hand on the door handle and opened it.

Waiting outside was a small police force, five officers, and his favorite detective was standing right in front of him, a piece of paper in her hand.

He leant against the doorway, one arm outstretched to block the way, gifting her with a wide and friendly smile only betrayed by the mirth in his eyes. "I apologize; I didn't hear you at first. How can I be at your service, Detective?"

Detective Liz Forbes had a hard expression on her face that was no doubt supposed to tell him that she was not going to deal with his shit.

She stepped forward, shoving the piece of paper right in his face.

"Mister Niklaus Mikaelson, this is a search warrant for this apartment and all of your other properties. Step aside."

He feigned an expression of surprise, not moving an inch.

"Why, me? But Detective, I'm afraid this must be a misunderstanding. I assure you no misconduct has taken place. I was about to go to bed. I've had a long day. I'm sure you're aware of the fact that I'm a busy man."

If possible, her face hardened even more as she took another step forward, trying to push her way through. The arm he had placed on the side of his doorframe didn't move an inch and he cocked his head and raised his eyebrows, smiling down at her softly.

"Mister Mikaelson, I have no time for your games. Step aside now or I'll have you removed by force."

His smile widened and then he chuckled.

"But Detective Forbes, as much as I would love to welcome you into my home – unfortunately, I'm afraid first I'll have to have my lawyer check the legality of the document you're so rudely pushing into my face."

She didn't falter. "Then call your brother now. But hurry up. This is a serious situation. And as much you seem to enjoy this little game of yours, I won't take your shit."

He looked down at her, eyebrows still elevated in feigned surprise. He shook the glass in his hand and took a sip. He drew it out until he could see she was about to order her officers to contain him – or, god forbid, do it herself (he forced back another chuckle at the thought) –, then he dropped his arm and stepped aside.

"I wouldn't want to wake him at such a late hour. I suppose it will suffice if only one member of the Mikaelson family has to suffer from another uncalled-for late-night intrusion."

Without sparing him as much as a glance, Detective Forbes strode forward into his home, followed by her detectives. She raised her speaker to her mouth and ordered the teams waiting in front of his countless other properties to enter and begin the search.

He closed the door behind him, turned around and smirked, taking another sip of his drink.

Then he languidly strolled back to the bar, sat down on his stool facing his living room, placed his elbows on the counter behind him and leant back, chuckling to himself as he watched the police force ransack his apartment.

They wouldn't find anything.

They never did.

He'd made sure of that.

"It's just a little too much at once, you know?" Elena murmured at the other end of line.

She had just found out that she was adopted – through the death of the man who turned out to be her father and who she previously thought was her very much disliked uncle. Her birth mother happened to be a member of the Petrova clan, a drop-dead rich and extremely influential family from Bulgaria. On top of that she'd inherited her now dead father's company.

"You know that if you need anything you just have to ask me. I have all the time in the world," Caroline answered while packing the little snacks she'd prepared into her bag and drinking her coffee.

"Thank you, Care. I mean, I do welcome the money but I really don't know how to lead a company. And Jer isn't exactly up to the task either. Damon's excited, though."

Caroline snorted. Sure he was. Damon had always been excited about anything that allowed him to live the high life. Back when they'd been in together she'd basically paid all his bills.

Damon wasn't a subject she was comfortable talking or thinking about.

She'd been young and naïve, he had been the older bad boy and the relationship had basically been abusive.

After Stefan's relapse Elena had tried but failed to keep their love alive and finally realized that she'd fallen for his brother. Caroline did not agree with the relationship and she'd made that more than clear. But as far as she could tell (and she knew the signs) he was treating her decently and since Elena had already been through enough, losing both of her (now apparently adoptive) parents three years ago, she let it go. Caroline just wanted her friend to be happy, and although she was still wary about Damon she tried to keep her mouth shut for the time being.

"What about that cousin you were talking about? Didn't she offer to take over for you?"

Elena sighed. "Problem is – I hate her."

And she did have her reasons. The world was a small place. As it turned out she had dated both Stefan and Damon in the past – at the same time. Both brothers had quite a lot of explaining to do – because Katherine basically looked like Elena with curly hair.

Caroline nodded. "Maybe you should hire some consulting firm – you do have the money. Maybe you should try not to worry so much and focus on the good parts – like, masses and masses of cash."
Elena laughed, and Caroline smiled in turn, knowing she had done her job.

"How are you doing, by the way?" Elena asked, obviously cheered up enough to focus on something other than her own current and admittedly pressing problems.

Caroline rolled her eyes, while closing the zip of her bag. "Ugh, don't even ask. I've just been assigned to host another horse show for Rose – and as much as I like horses, after doing five of these I'd really like something else for a change."

Elena laughed again. "Too many horses – the sorry fate of an event manager."

Caroline laughed but then turned serious. "I'd really like to do something bigger for a change. Something challenging, something new. I didn't leave Mystic Falls to be stuck in a rut."

"Always the same old overachiever. Just give your best like you always do, maybe you'll get lucky soon."

Caroline sighed. "Well, I don't like being lucky, I like to be in control."

"Oh, trust me, I know."

Being the former Miss Mystic Falls, head of basically every school and town committee and charity there was, everyone who knew her was pretty much aware that she was a control freak – hence her choice of profession. She'd been pretty much of an insecure mess back in her early teens but she'd grown up and come to terms with who she was as well as how to use it for the better.

Caroline finished her sandwich.

"How's Tyler by the way?"

She felt her chest clenching.

"Oh, he's fine. It's pretty stressful but he's doing great and it looks like they're actually gonna move up a league."

Tyler was her boyfriend back from Mystic Falls, but now that he had started his football career she basically never saw him at all and the whole thing had turned into a long distance relationship. Which was not her kind of thing.

She got up and grabbed her bag. "I really need to run now. Sorry, can we talk later?"

"No problem. You cheered me up sufficiently."

"Call me if there's anything you need!" With that Caroline hung up and rushed out the door.

"You really should refrain from playing with fire like that, Niklaus. Truth be told, I don't think I fully comprehend why you do it – do you want to get caught?"

They sat in Elijah's study, a room that was daily and repeatedly checked for bugs and cameras by trusted employees and from time to time the brothers themselves.

Klaus shrugged, raising his eyebrows while fixing his gaze on the glass in his hands.

Liz Forbes was his current obsession.

God forbid, not in a romantic or sexual manner, he preferred younger women – he simply wanted to break her, test her seemingly eternal patience, take a look behind the façade of toughness. If it was a façade at all.

When he had first been called in for questioning he'd planned on playing nice and getting out of the spotlight as quickly as possible – they had nothing on him, after all.

But when he had found himself confronted with a woman who could see right through his game, was immune to his charms and no matter what kind of tactic he'd tried had never even faltered he'd been enthralled. Change of plans.

He had thought about having her on his table, but then again – where would be the fun in ridding himself of his new source of entertainment so soon? He couldn't do it anyway, it would be too much of a risk. While he took great enjoyment out of taking calculated ones, this was hardly a smart idea.

Ever since that first day he'd been playing Detective Forbes, and she was good but he was better.

For his last victim he'd chosen a woman who'd been left by her husband for a gay lover. He did his research.

At his last questioning he knew that she knew, but she hadn't even faltered – again – because there was another thing they both knew. She had nothing on him.

He smirked at the thought.

"No," he finally answered, "I do not want to get caught. And I won't get caught. You know I'll never let it get that far. And just in case it does – I'll be out of the country before they even know they have me."

Eliah sighed, frowned and shook his head.

"This is not just about you, Niklaus. It's about our company. It's about our family."

Klaus' gaze hardened, he looked away.

"Enough, 'Lijah, I know what I'm doing. Now what is it that you called me here for? That couldn't possibly be all you wanted to talk about."

Elijah nodded, then pulled out a few documents.

"Alright, then. But I'm afraid the subject of this conversation isn't exactly going to be on a lighter note."

Klaus looked at his brother apprehensively, taking a sip of his drink.

He handed him the documents.

"Katarina," Klaus froze at the mentioning of her name, "has proposed a deal."

Klaus clenched his teeth.

Katarina or Katherine, how she called herself these days – some stupid attempt at making herself more of an American – was the CEO of the Petrova Network, a Bulgarian company that had immigrated to the USA about the time Mikaelson Inc. had expanded to America, too.

To say they had history was an understatement.

Once upon a time when he had been young and foolish he had fallen madly in love with her older sister, Tatia, the original heiress of Petrova Network. She'd been strong, beautiful and opinionated – just how he liked his women. They'd planned on marrying and fusing their companies.

Unfortunately, the infamous Mikaelson charm had struck twice on the ruthless bitch that was Tatia Petrova. For about half a year she'd cheated on Klaus with Elijah who'd been so head over heels for her that he'd abandoned his usual habit of being the honorable brother until Klaus had found out and the whole thing had escalated. The both of them had been about to literally bash their heads in when Tatia had forced them off each other with a gun in her hands. By ill luck, this had happened to be the moment that their mother had walked in, armed in order to deal with the supposed burglars that were causing a ruckus in her house. Completely misunderstanding the situation she'd shot Tatia.

At least that was what she'd told the police. Klaus had an idea that the woman that had driven a wedge between her sons hadn't exactly been his mother's favorite person.

Fortunately she'd been able to escape jail time by paying a massive fine.

After a – for Klaus rather short – grieving period both brothers had sworn each other eternal loyalty.

Elijah had been left a broken man, while Klaus had sworn to himself to get his hands on that company and draw out at least as much money as his mother's freedom had cost him.

Having acquired a taste for revenge Klaus had proceeded to woo Tatia's younger sister, said Katarina, in order to trick her into leaving him her company.

But the Petrova-charm had struck again and before Klaus had been able to even voice the word 'loyalty' twice she'd had Elijah on her leash. She'd found out about his plans and had left both him and Elijah – just the moment when he'd thought he'd finally succeeded in coaxing her into giving in.

He'd been furious, eager to have her on his table.

But for the sake of his brother, who now truly had been a broken man (and because, again, it wasn't the smartest of moves to kill people one knew privately) he'd refrained from giving into the urges.

In turn Elijah had – very much to the distaste of his father, Mikael – left the position of head CEO of the American expansion of the Mikaelson Inc. to Klaus, taking his former position as second.

"What does she want?"

Ever since Katarina had left and taken any chance of revenge or a piece of that bloody company, Mikaelson Inc. and Petrova Network had been rivals. He'd tried to crash her on the market, being the bigger and ultimately more influential company, but she was smart. Too smart.

Bringing down Katherine had been one of his personal favorite obsessions, but some time ago he'd arrived at the point that he'd been tiring of it.

But he was relentless in nature and the last thing he was ever going to do in any aspect of his live was give up.

Liz Forbes was a welcome distraction, just as his little hobby had been and continued to be his favorite method of stress-relief – except for painting, maybe.

"She has proposed a peace-offering."

Klaus leant back, raising his eyebrows.

"Peace?" he snapped, curling his upper lip in disdain.

Elijah sighed. While he had managed to get over Tatia, he most definitely wasn't over Katarina. It was something they both knew but never spoke about.

"There is a subsidiary company she is offering as compensation. Apparently her cousin just inherited the Gilbert empire. According to Katarina she should be easily fooled."

Klaus frowned. This was news.

"How is the Gilbert empire affiliated with the Petrova clan?"

Elijah nodded knowingly pointing to a picture on one of the documents. "This," it was a girl that carried a surprising resemblance to both Katherine and Tatia, "happens to be Elena Gilbert. Apparently she is John Gilbert's daughter. For some reason she was adopted by his brother and his wife. Her mother however," he pulled out another page, showing the familiar face of Isobel Petrova, sister of both Tatia's and Katarina's father, and the black sheep of the family, "happens to be her birth-mother. Now John died and the poor girl of only twenty years is left with shoes that are a little too big for her to step into."

Klaus licked his lips.

"And what is it Katarina thinks will stop me from continuing to sabotage her company after I'm done with tricking her little cousin?"

Elijah fixed his gaze on his brother, a serious expression on his face.

"Please consider it, Niklaus. I know you're too proud to show it but you're exhausted, too."

Klaus forced down his anger.

Both of them knew about the unspoken subtext that engulfed the matter.

"I'll think about it," he pressed out and then swiftly rose to his feet, setting down his glass.

"That would be all," said Elijah, placing the documents back in the folder they originated from and handing it to his brother.

"Good," Klaus nodded, heading towards the door. "I have a vernissage to plan."

"You're late, girl," Lexi announced, standing in the doorway of the apartment she shared with their mutual best friend, Stefan. She was wearing a fake accusatory expression. They had a free room and they'd offered for her to move in with them, but she had declined since she was actually relishing in the indepence of having her own apartment. Plus, Lexi was kind of messy and she just knew it would drive her crazy the first week.

"Well, I'm a busy businesswoman. You wouldn't know," she teased.

Lexi stepped aside with a smile, offering her to come in. She was co-owning the nightclub Dead or Alive with Stefan, and while he stuck to the business-part of the equation she worked the nights, basically being the face of the establishment and the reason many people returned frequently.

All the employees loved her, too, and with time she had gathered a steady, reliable staff, charming them into loving and automatically excelling at their jobs.

As far as Caroline was concerned, Lexi was pretty much perfection – except for the messy part, of course.

Caroline stalked into the apartment, beaming at Stefan who quickly rose from his place on the couch to pull her into a hug.

When she pulled back she kept her hands on his upper arms and smiled at him.

"How are you doing?"

Stefan had had his share of misfortune in his life. After killing his own father in what had ultimately been self-defense, he'd succumbed to the devil of alcoholism and only meeting Lexi – who had basically forced him through therapy – had been able to pull him out of his hole. Then, years later, he'd met a really bad influence that had managed to pull him right into relapse in the blink of an eye.

This time it had been Caroline, Damon and Elena who had brought him back to his old self again, since Lexi had been in her phase of traveling the world hitchhiking and couldn't be reached.

She had a lot of stories to tell which assured that talking to her was never going to be boring.

A part of Caroline was really jealous of all the experiences she'd made. She would travel the world, too, one day, but most definitely in a safer manner.

Right now Lexi and Caroline were basically Stefan's sober coaches and he'd been clean for over a year now. Working in a nightclub didn't exactly make it easier, but having both girls at his side apparently happened to be enough of a stabilizing factor to keep him steady.

"Just fine. Thank you for asking. What about you?"

She sighed, unceremoniously dropping her ass and her bag onto the sofa.

"Things are going slow. As always."

"Not that much of a busy businesswoman, then?" Lexi asked as she sauntered over to them, carrying a bottle of soda and an array of chips. For her, this was breakfast. It was three in the afternoon and she'd just gotten up, having worked the night shift.

Caroline never could've had this kind of lifestyle – not for long, anyways.

"That reminds me – I have something to tell you," Lexi said, as she sat down on the couch beside her.

Caroline looked up.

"Anna has talked to her mother." Anna was one of the girls working in the club. She was a little weird, but nice nonetheless. She originally came from Mystic Falls, but at some point during high school her mother and she had moved to New Orleans where she had finished high school. "You know, about your job situation."

Caroline frowned. Well, that was none of her business. Lexi had a habit of butting into other people's concerns.

"Pearl runs a small business that connects different companies and contacts. You know, Harper Events?"

Caroline nodded. Where was this going? "Of course."

Harper Events was a rival event managing company, nowhere as prestigious as Fell Events, her current employer, but reasonably big enough that she had considered applying for a job years ago.

"Harper happens to be a good friend of Pearl's and he has looked over your online profile. He's offering you a job."

Oh. Caroline's eyes widened in surprise. "What- For real?"

A wide, smug smile spread on Lexi's face. "Jup."

Caroline leaned back into the sofa, taking a deep breath. All right, she needed to sort herself out.

On the one hand, switching to Harper Events would mean a step down the food chain. She'd probably also get less of a salary, because Fell Events was known for the ridiculously high amounts of money they threw around just because they had it. Once you were in you were basically in a privileged position, and since she was nowhere near getting fired changing employers could be a huge mistake.

On the other hand, she was continuously underestimated at her job, always given the crumbs rather than the cookie and she really, really needed something more of a challenge.

She didn't really know whether Harper Events would treat her differently in that matter and she didn't know whether it was worth taking the risk.

But if Harper, the actual head of the company, had looked into her work himself and considered it good enough to offer her a job without having even talked to her first, chances were, he would giver her a chance. Also, knowing Pearl might be another positive factor in that equation – she knew the weight of connections in the working world.

But most of all, the idea of working in a smaller company stirred her inner taste for a challenge – if she was given the chance and worked hard enough she might even be able to enhance the status of the company, maybe even bring it up to the likes of Fell Events.

But it was risky, nonetheless.

She frowned. "That's amazing, but… I don't know. I don't think I have enough information to make such a decision. Fell Events is pretty much the top of the food chain and it would be a step down to switch to Harper. He'll probably also give me less of a salary. I need to meet up with him first."

Lexi nodded, opening up a bag of chips. "That's why you'll meet him tonight, at the club. Harper and Pearl are coming over – just for you."

Oh. A wide smile spread on her face. "Lexi- I don't even know what to say-"

"I do", Stefan interjected. "Simple phrase, two words that are a substantial part of human society – except Dothraki-society maybe." Stefan was currently looking through their ever-growing movie obsession.

Caroline laughed and threw herself in Lexi's arms, accidentally spilling chips all over the couch.

"Thank you!"

Lexi laughed as well, chips falling from her mouth. "Alright, okay. But now it's time for a movie – Stefan?"

Stefan walked over to the couch, ready to present his choice of movie for the afternoon.

Back when she'd been in high school she'd preferred girly and cheesy movies like The Notebook and they most certainly still held a special place in her heart. But she'd also opened up to more intellectually challenging stuff and found that she enjoyed a wide array of genres.

Lexi was always looking for any kind of entertainment and Stefan had declared it his new obsession, dedicating a lot of his free time to searching for new things for them to watch.

He'd taken the break-up with Elena pretty hard and had been helping.

As Lexi darkened the room, Caroline shrugged of her jacket, unpacked the snacks she'd prepared, and set them out on the table.

Somehow she had a feeling that she wouldn't exactly be able to focus on the movie today.

"Give me one reason to book your agency again – given the disaster your now former employee tried to sell me as a proper vernissage the last time I took that chance," Klaus barked into his phone.

"Mr. Mikaelson, you are one of, if not the most cherished of our customers. We've been working together for years now. If you decide to continue to use our services, of course it's a given that you will receive the planning for this and another event for free."

He smirked. A little intimidation often did the trick to get people to give you what you want.

He could hear the slight panic and suppressed anger of the woman on the other hand of the line.

He took a deep breath, calming his supposed rage.

"Alright, Meredith," he said, returning to their former stage of familiarity after having made his point – he was the one in control here and he could take it away any time he wanted. "I suppose I'll give you another chance."

He heard a sigh of relief at the other end of the line.

"Thank you so much for your generosity. I'll immediately send you a file with all the available employees."

"Thank you, Meredith. That would be all." He hung up and opened his laptop, waiting for the file to arrive. As expected, he didn't have to wait for long.

Appreciatively he nodded. If one thing, Meredith was reliable. He had never really planned on changing agencies.

Besides his main occupation as head CEO of Mikaelson Inc. and his little hobby he was also a passionate painter. It was a habit that had survived from early childhood on.

He got inspired by many things, but in the past few years his little hobby had taken the place of his muse. It was the thing that had led Liz Forbes on his trail but he'd made sure to present only those paintings that featured information published in the papers and known to the public. Yet again she had nothing on him.

He was hosting vernissages frequently; however, this would be a special one.

There was a little message to be sent to his current favorite obsession.

He scrolled through the pages – faces of smiling young people, followed by their résumés, a quick superficial introduction, and then photos of their previous work.

He was looking for an interesting face and started to get increasingly bored and indifferent with the offerings – until suddenly his attention was caught. He'd almost scrolled past it.

The picture of a beautiful young girl. Blonde, curly hair fell to her shoulders, and blue eyes seemed to pierce his, even though he was looking at a screen. She had exquisite features, a delicate nose, very kissable lips forming a stunning smile, and perfectly shaped eyes. Usually he didn't go for thin eyebrows, but on her they looked natural, even complementing her face.

The most captivating part of the picture, however, was the look in her eyes.

Candidly cheerful, yet surprisingly mature. She most definitely was no naïve little girl.

And there was something else, something familiar, a fierceness and dedication he was well accustomed to.

He frowned. Maybe he was reading too much into one insignificant picture.

He scrolled down and lowered his eyes to her name.

His heart skipped a beat.

He had read this name before, while skimming through the research his trusted private detectives had compiled on his current obsession.

The name he read on the screen of his laptop, the name of the captivating little thing on the picture, was Caroline Forbes.

Authors note:

This concerns Caroline's way of dealing with her abusive relationship with Damon.

Some of you may have been ticked off by the way I let her address it. That is good, because there is something wrong with it.

In most cases, if you were a victim of such a thing, it's always in the back of your mind and not necessarily in the dramatic kind of way it deserves. On the one hand that is because it would make daily life pretty difficult. On the other hand: If you go through something like this long enough to some extend you get used to it and view it as normal, the lines of right and wrong get blurry and you develop an emotional numbness to the subject.

Caroline is a person that deals with these kinds of things by pushing them away and moving forward into the future. Obviously she has made up her mind about the fact that it was wrong and who is to blame. That doesn't change anything about the fact that she has never dealt with it head on and being put into triggering situations could set her off in some way.

She doesn't know this.

She is very strong and not very likely to get herself into such a situation again that easily because she can tell right from wrong. But she also is a person that tends to take other people's burdens and probably a little too much of their shit.

What we have here is a case of unreliable narrator, which basically means she is not aware of the flaws in her thinking, which I think is necessary to create a realistic character.

But don't worry; this will be addressed in future chapters and a huge part of her character development.

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. :)~

Leave a review if you like, I really really appreciate feedback.

this will eventually be uploaded weekly