Chapter One: Forgiveness

It wasn't every night that Camille O'Connell dreamt of beating a horde of supernaturals effortlessly. Usually her dreams were running away from various people, falling into endless pits, or just living a completely normal life somewhere in the suburbs with a husband and kid. Not this night though.

This night, she was doing highly complicated kicks and punches in her dream, knocking down her pursuers one after another. Her body moved like a well-oiled machine, her fists were flying like hard weapons, she even demonstrated a world-class judo move on one particularly lecherous-looking werewolf. He writhed painfully on the ground and she resisted the urge to give out a maniacal laugh as she heard all her enemies begging for mercy.

So this was how Klaus and Elijah felt when they were beating up the bad guys. This… was… completely… glorious!

"Camille," came the familiar voice behind her. She turned so quickly she nearly gave herself a headache.

"Klaus?" What was he doing here in her dream?

He had an ominous look about him, his face and shirt covered in blood stains.

He started moving menacingly towards her. "You need to forget this, Camille."

"What? Forget what?"

"Forget everything." He was a foot away and clamped her shoulders with both hands, his face starting to lean so close to hers, she knew what he was about to do.

"NO!" She had no clue what he wanted her to forget but she sure was not going to be compelled without a fight.

She reeled back and attempted to punch Klaus hard in the face.

She didn't know whether her punch landed or not but suddenly, the hard grip on her shoulders were gone. She felt, rather than saw him put his hands on her arms and rub up and down.

The Klaus in her dream pulled her closer to his chest, effectively leeching off the fight in her. She started to relax and let him just hold her. Instead of being oppressive as she'd expected, she felt comforted. She felt pleasant. And she knew somehow that he wasn't going to compel her again.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, there were tiny things she was slowly becoming aware of that indicated she was no longer dreaming.

The sensation of having her arms held and gently rubbed were getting to be all too real.

Those were real hands touching her.

A real voice murmuring her name.

She blinked her eyes open and jolted awake to the actual Klaus holding onto her and rubbing her upper arms and shoulders in an oddly comforting manner.

Oh God.

As soon as he was aware that she was conscious and about to open her mouth, he put one hand up and calmly spoke, "Before you scream bloody murder, will you please hear what I have to say first?"

She clamped her mouth shut to physically stop herself from screaming, her heart beating too fast trying to cope with the reality that Klaus Mikaelson was inside her apartment holding her while she was sleeping just a couple of seconds ago.

"I truly regret to wake you up this way, Camille, I realize that this is not quite the ideal situation we are in. I have attempted reaching you on your phone, but I got no answer. I have stood outside your apartment calling your name, I don't think you heard me at all, you were already deeply asleep."

His blue eyes were sincere as he continued, one hand resting warmly on her shoulder. "I would not even deign to intrude in your private chambers without permission, had it not be an urgent matter I need your help with."

She swallowed hard, trying to calm her nerves from the manner she was just woken up. "What is it?"

"It's Elijah. He is in the compound now, unwell. He has asked to see you."

...

The fastest way to travel short distances for vampires, or in her case, Originals, was to use their super speed. Klaus explained he had vamped over to her place to save time, and that the most practical way to get to Elijah in the compound was to do the same thing.

"Let me just grab a couple of things and I can go."

He briefly glanced down at her tank top and pajamas and had the dignity to look a little embarrassed for her. "Of course."

She knew the seriousness of the situation and only had time to put on a hoodie and slip ons, tie her hair, brush her teeth and wash her face in less than five minutes. She knew she looked like crap, but after finding out Klaus already saw her sleeping/ drooling/ Godknowswhatelse, it couldn't get any worse than that, so there was no point caring.

She came out of her bathroom and he looked at her questioningly. Ready?

She nodded, moving closer to him. He looked at her and saw briefly saw an expression she couldn't quite comprehend. She didn't have time to dwell on it because he swept her off her feet. Quite literally.

Being carried by a running hybrid in super speed almost felt like the downhill run in a scary rollercoaster, except it was going horizontal rather than vertical, it was harder to breathe, and rollercoasters didn't make you feel like your skin was about to get peeled off your face.

Much sooner than she anticipated, they'd arrived at the compound and Klaus stopped and put her feet on the ground as gently on the ground and didn't let go of her hand.

"It's okay, I'm perfectly..."

She felt the earth move and it made her drop to her knees, trying not to blow chunks right there and then. She felt him rub her back as she tried to fight the nausea.

"It will pass in a minute, love."

It took her some time to answer. "We are… taking… a car… next time."

...

Elijah was much worse than she'd imagined. He had dark circles under his eyes and was sitting in the dark, staring outside the window. Klaus was standing directly in front of her as they both walked towards him, she knew, to protect her in case anything happened.

"The lovely Camille. I was wondering when I would see you," Elijah said.

"Elijah. Have you been keeping yourself busy?"

"As you can see my brother has me under lock and key lately I haven't really had the time to make much use of myself. What about you? I see you've pulled out all the stops to impress me with your… manner of dress."

"I didn't want to get too fancy tonight, you might resent me for being prettier than you."

He smiled at that and continued staring out the window. "I thought we were going fishing and you were going to tell me about that summer."

"Oh stop pretending you're interested in that. Pretty sure you have more things you would rather tell me."

Klaus give her a sideways glance. "I will leave you alone then."

Earlier he had told her he will give them privacy for their conversation, but should anything remotely dangerous occur, she should scream as loud as she could.

She nodded to tell him she was fine.

After he exited the room, she sat across Elijah and waited for him to speak. When he didn't start, she randomly told him, "I nearly vomited on your doorstep tonight."

He raised his eyebrows. "Was it because you were too long in my brother's company? Forgive him, he naturally has that effect on people."

That made her laugh so hard that even Elijah had a reluctant smile at how much she was enjoying that little joke on his brother's expense. "That super speed thing is definitely not my preferred method of traveling."

"I'll let him know when I ask to see you next time that it's not that urgent so you won't have to be subjected to it again."

She looked at him closely. "Was it not urgent?"

She let him mull on that for a bit. She knew getting answers out of Elijah took some time.

As they sat in comfortable silence, she wondered what god she pissed off that she would be playing psychiatrist to an original vampire at 3 am in the morning.

An on-call shrink to vampires. She should be getting paid at least five hundred an hour for this, she thought to herself. Plus life insurance of at least five million, and extra ten million if she gets beheaded.

Not that beheading was really a laughing matter since she'd heard the stories of Elijah making heads roll literally as a hobby. The chances of that happening with were very likely if Elijah somehow lost control. She would probably demand some compensation if she had someone to leave it to, but really, she had no one. She didn't really care about the money. So here she was, trying to fix others' problems. It gave her something to do at least.

And at least she saw Elijah as a friend she genuinely wanted to help, even if to him she was probably just someone to pass the time.

Before she could ponder on how pathetic her life was seeming, he spoke, carefully choosing his words. "It's about the red door again."

"Tell me more about it."

"I have not had a night of sleep in weeks. I keep dreaming about it, about Tatia. I wake up sweating, shaking and I am… I am fearful I will hurt people close to me again. This is why I could never tell her. This is why I could never let her in my life, I didn't want..." he hesitated. "I didn't want to hurt her."

Although he didn't name the her he didn't want to let into his life, Camille knew who exactly was being referred to.

"I've scoffed at your methods before, but as much as it pains me to admit it, I need some assistance. Perhaps your human ways could work out, I am willing to try it now. " He exhaled. "As you can guess, I am quite in despair. My brother probably thinks I am losing my mind, I have not been myself."

As she listened to him unload a little bit of the centuries of his baggage, she found herself grateful for her short human existence, for some semblance of normalcy relative to his. She found herself wanting to reach out and ease his burden.

It wasn't going to be easy. He needed someone to talk to. His family… Klaus… was at times, even more broken than he was.

How could he be saved?

...

She stepped outside and quietly closed the door to Elijah's room. He had finally closed his eyes to rest after an hour of conversing with her. She quite hoped that his sleep would be much longer but she had a feeling he would be waking up less than well rested. It was doubtful regular medication worked on Originals. As of now she had nothing to prescribe but mere listening skills and conversation.

She didn't know why and how Elijah had come to trust her with his most innermost troubles, but he did, and somehow that made her feel really a bit better about the path she'd chosen for herself. Right now, she really didn't have much to live for herself and to second-guess whether she was doing the right thing was a little depressing.

"Cami?"

Klaus had apparently waited outside the whole time, ready to barge in, in case Elijah ripped her throat open.

She gave him a wan smile. "He's resting now."

He nodded. "I am in your debt."

"It's nothing. He's actually…" she grasped for the words to explain how she felt about helping Elijah. "I've come to look at him as a friend."

A strange expression passed his face. "I've gathered that from the way you two have conversed. I am glad your time alone before had done some…. good… for your relationship."

"Me too."

He walked her over to the living room to get her a drink. "I want him to get better. I need him by my side."

"I understand. It will just take some time. It will be beneficial for him to be surrounded by good things. Things that will not stress him out. He needs someone to talk to. Elijah has always had… such control over his feelings, his emotions, his desires. You can tell in a way it's all taking its toll after years."

HIs smile was a little pained. "I find it hard to communicate about such things with my brother."

"I know." She yawned suddenly, feeling the effects of not having enough sleep and the daunting task of carrying Elijah's burdens.

"Would you mind terribly coming here every now and then to see him?"

"I told you I wouldn't. He's a friend."

That statement somehow made him pause and stare at her. For a moment he looked like he was about to say something and then finally decided against it. "Anyway, now that my dear brother is feeling a bit better and your duties are done with for the night, may I just tell you a little thing?"

"Yes?" she asked, suspicious at that momentary glint of mischief she saw in his eye..

"Did you know that you attempted to punch me this morning when I woke you up?"

She gaped at him. "I did not."

"You really did. You started thrashing about and punched me when I was trying to wake you up. Not a morning person at all, are you."

"Huh." She plopped down on one of their settees. "Did it at least land?"

"You're joking right?" He chuckled evilly and stopped midway when he saw her face. "Sorry, love, but you and I both know I am too fast for your punches. While I am sure they are mighty and all, I am after all, an Original hybrid. Plus you were dreaming, making it fifty percent less effective."

"Yes I was." She yawned. "My dream was nice at first. Then it turned into a nightmare type."

"Was I in it?"

"I believe I said it turned into a nightmare, so of course you were in it."

He gave her a slight scowl and sat next to her on the settee. "Nice pajamas, by the way."

She looked down at her Pikachu-printed pajamas and gave him a sleepy smile. Trust him to notice. "Sean gave them to me as a prank. Everytime I wear them, I remember how he was. The real him, I mean."

He was silent for a long time before speaking and she took the time to rest her head against the backrest of the settee.

"Camille…?"

Her eyes started to close. Listening to some of Elijah's darkest moments had sapped out all her energy. She needed her bed. Some beer? Coffee. Burger. Fries. Sleep. Her thoughts started drifting to the warm and cozy bed waiting for her back home, and her eyelids suddenly felt so heavy. She was getting too comfortable sitting here.

"Cami…?"

"Mmm?"

"I don't think I have ever... apologized... for things that have occurred between us before."

Her eyes snapped open and there was a pause as she considered what to tell him.

"Klaus, you must know I've already forgiven you a long time ago."

She felt his back stiffen. "Be that as it may, I regret that I have caused you pain."

She struggled to keep her eyes open, and wished that she was feeling more awake to know exactly what to say. To hear him actually express regret about the past made her feel so many things. Relief. Joy. Gratitude. Some sort of heavy weight of resentment against him, something that she didn't even know she'd been carrying, was finally lifting.

Maybe, the next time she dreamt of him, it wouldn't be him trying to wipe away her memories.

I regret that I have caused you pain.

He sounded so agonized relative to how he normally was, that she did the only thing she could think of doing to tell him it was okay.

She reached over and exhaustedly placed her hand on top of his.

For a moment, it seemed like Klaus was rendered motionless by her actions. She saw him glance at their hands with a start, and turn to look at her. His eyes betrayed varying degrees of surprise and confusion, as if he was expecting his whole apology to be thrown back at his face. There was something else in them, but she couldn't dwell on what it was, not now when she was struggling to keep herself conscious.

She gave his hand a comforting squeeze, quietly saying "Thank you, Klaus," before resting her head against his shoulder and falling dead asleep.

...

She woke up for a second time that day feeling more out of sorts,if that was even possible. She had the kind of headache that you get when you didn't get enough sleep. Upon waking up she realized two things immediately.

One, she was not in her own bed.

Two, someone had taken her shoes and hoodie off and tucked her in properly in a very big, warm and comfortable bed. One she currently didn't want to leave, but had to because she didn't know where she was…

Oh wait, now she did know where she was.

Klaus' bedroom. The easel, a half finished painting, and scattered paintbrushes on the side gave it away.

Now she was all too aware of whose sheets it was that were wrapped all over her, whose pillow that was she was laying on moments ago. Whose smell that was, pervading the air.

She felt her face grew warm and hurriedly looked around that no one else was in the room with her. Not a soul was in the area. Knowing that she was by herself, she took more time to look around.

Then she remembered that the last time she was here, Genevieve was also here in... just her undergarments. Great.

With that sobering thought, she hurriedly jumped out of the bed and tried to look for her shoes, shuddering at the thought of the various naked women that have been on that bed. Nothing like a bad memory to ruin the moment.

She finally found her things carefully laid out on a chair, and crossed her way to the living room to be well on her way out. She hoped she could make a quick get away without having to deal with anybody seeing her leave.

Wait a minute, why does this somehow feel like a walk of shame, she thought as she crossed the living room. From the corner of her eye, she saw one of room's doors wide open. Hayley's room. She knew Hayley's room connected to Hope's nursery and if she could just see Hope for a quick moment, well that would more than just make her day.

Without a second thought, she walked towards it and tentatively entered. "Hello?"

Nobody there. She slowly walked towards the nursery and found Hope in her crib.

The sweet baby was fast asleep, one precious little fist tucked under her chin. She grinned. That was her favorite sleeping position. She really missed this child. At that safehouse, she had enjoyed every moment she had taking care of Hope. The baby made her laugh, made her felt needed, made her feel so much love and belongingness. Something she hadn't felt in such a long time ever since Sean and Kieran's deaths.

She stroked Hope's cheek tenderly, careful not to wake her up, softly whispering that Aunt Cami missed her so much.

After drinking in her fill of the beautiful baby, she gave her a goodbye kiss, happy that she was able to see Hope after a long time.

She turned and saw Klaus quietly standing in the doorway.

She jumped, her hand clutching her chest from the shock. "God!"

"Yes, good morning to you too."

She whispered, anxious not to wake up the baby. "You scared me to death, I thought you were… someone else."

"Like who, might I ask?"

"I don't know. This is a house full of vampires, you don't think that will make anyone a little bit jumpy?"

He looked thoroughly insulted. She could tell he was getting himself ready to deliver one of his infamous monologues, and braced herself for it. Klaus was particularly fond of dramatics during times he felt offended, no matter what level of offense it was.

"Let me make one thing clear, Camille…"

Here we go.

"You are under my roof. MY roof. You of all people should know I will never allow anything untoward happen to you. If only you knew the steps I follow to take precaution. Why I…" he paused. "Do you… do you find this amusing?"

Yes.

"No."

"Are you laughing at me right now?" he demanded.

Yes.

"No, why would I laugh at you? My safety is not a laughing matter."

"Damn right." he said, looking at her sideways, still suspicious. She had a sinking feeling that he could see exactly through her duplicity but he decided not to say anything.

They continued their conversation outside. "By the way, how did you know I was still here? I could have walked out the door anytime if I didn't get sidetracked."

"We hybrids don't need to see you to know where you are. We just know by your scent where exactly you are," he stated casually, like he just commented on the weather outside.

"My scent! What scent?" She gave him a troubled look.

He said nothing but he was clearly trying not to smile at her obvious panic at the thought of him sniffing around for her like a dog.

"Is it a bad scent? Oh my god, this is so horrifying, I haven't even had a shower yet." She made a face. She was disturbed but at the same time equally curious about his hybrid senses. She rambled on, "But seriously I wonder what it's like, if I can smell everything times a hundred. It must be horrible. Imagine the smell of garbage, or a loaded diaper-"

"Please, don't let me stop you. By all means, indulge yourself. This is all quite fascinating to hear."

She folded her arms. "Well, Klaus, we don't need extra sensitive noses to find you. We all know to just follow the trail of fire and brimstone."

He shook his finger at her with amusement, "And I'd bet... you've just been dying to use that for a long time, Camille."

"That's me, always waiting for that golden opportunity to call you the devil."

She could tell he enjoyed that bit but was pretending not to do so by momentarily frowning at her. "We have some pastries and coffee downstairs if you feel like having something to eat. I am aware we have quite imposed on you last night…"

That suddenly reminded her of everything that happened last night. From his apology to her just falling asleep afterwards. What a mess.

"Actually I should apologize for just dozing off on you like that. I didn't mean to stay in. Thank you, by the way, for putting me on the bed. I was hoping I didn't kick anyone out of their own room, but…"

"Lucky for me, I don't need much sleep."

She breathed in relief. "Good. As for breakfast... sorry, but I really do need to get going. I just wanted to see Hope before I left."

He paused, and then nodded. "I'll drive you home."

"I can walk, it's fine."

"In those pajamas, I suppose?"

She blinked, forgetting she was in sleepwear. "You're right. Why are you sometimes right?"

"ALWAYS right. I am always right. Try to remember that from time to time. And consider me driving you as gratitude for psychiatric services for Elijah."

"You know, normally people would just pay. Like a million dollars. It's not like you're poor, Klaus, you're in Gucci all the time or some other thing like that."

"But you'd miss out on my excellent chauffeur services."

They stared at each other for a beat, and as she noticed that boyish grin on his face, she suddenly came to the realization that she honestly, genuinely just enjoyed bickering with this man.

He must have seen something change in her eyes, because he stopped smiling and those startlingly blue eyes searching hers turned dark.

Her own grin faltered, and Cami suddenly forgot to breathe.

When he looked at her like that, she forgot every daunting quality about him as a supernatural.

Forgot the violence, the selfishness, the arrogance.

Forgot that he was a thousand years old and she hadn't even made it to three decades.

Forgot that it could never in a million years happen for so many wrong reasons.

All she saw was this gorgeous man looking at her with those deep blue eyes. And there she was, just standing and drowning in them.

"Oranges and vanilla," he quietly said.

"What?"

"That's what you smell like."

And just like that, he'd rendered her speechless the rest of the way home.