Katherine closed her eyes, she felt sick, not just because of what she was about to do, about to risk, but because of the poison pulsing through her veins. She was so good at running away; escaping her fate that it is incredibly rare for someone to catch her off guard. She cursed under her breath, seeing herself in a shop window, there was no hiding the black veins creeping away from the gaping, puss covered wound. She winced slightly pushing her hair over her shoulder to cover the wound.

She always had a plan for every letter of the alphabet, she was always prepared, except for this moment. How could she have possibly known? She thought it was foolproof but apparently she was the fool. She sighed, feeling a little dizzy she fluffed her hair and walked towards Klaus's home. Things looked unpromising, surely he would laugh in her face and watch her die, but she had no other choice. There was only one cure to a werewolf bite and it was pulsing through the veins of her greatest enemy.

She made it to his door and as her fist hovered over the door, ready to knock and place her case the door swung open. Klaus stood in front of her, a smug look sitting on his face. "Katerina, what a surprise."

Katherine forced a smile, trying to stay calm. "I thought it was time, Klaus." Her voice dropped on his name.

"My thoughts exactly." He opened the door a bit wider and she walked through the doorway, he shut the door behind her and walked in front of her. "I don't often find that prey walk directly into the den of their predator." He said pouring himself a scotch.

Katherine stood, her body tense. She swallowed hard. "No, they usually don't." She murmured.

"So why exactly are you here?" He questioned.

She moved her hair away from her wolf bite, wincing.

Klaus laughed out loud. "You want me to heal you."

Katherine pursed her lips. "It was worth a shot."

"Katerina, I want nothing more than to watch you die a painful death."

"I know."

"So is this a gift?" He questioned. "Bringing yourself here, so I can watch your pain in the comfort of my own home?"

Katherine's eyes were swelling with tears but she held them back with everything in her, she would not let herself lose it in front of him. "I guess that's what it's come down to." She cocked her hip to the side and crossed her arms across her chest. "You can find joy in watching me die, and I'll find joy in your face when you realize this wasn't your doing."

"Yes." He admitted taking a drink. "But."

"But?"

"But I could save you, so indirectly it is my doing." Klaus said devilishly.

Katherine paused for a few moments before she whispered. "Congratulations then."

"Oh, Katerina, don't be such a spoil sport." Klaus mocked.

"I really wish you would all stop calling me that." She snapped at him. "I am not that girl anymore. I'm not your Katerina. "She bit her tongue slightly but there was no going back on it.

"I… I always thought you were Elijah's Katerina?" Klaus questioned taking a step towards her.

"You forget that I play games." She countered.

"Yes, you do, Katherine does. But Katerina?"

Katherine looked away her bite throbbing. "What does it even matter, now?"

"I suppose it doesn't." Klaus said quietly his eyes meeting hers. "I suppose it never did."

"Careful Klaus." Katherine said her mouth dry. "Keep it up and I might actually start believing that you care."

"That would be a tragedy." He agreed.

Katherine rolled her eyes.

"What, Katerina? What did you expect? Did you expect to come here, with your puppy dog eyes and win over this old heart?"

Katherines lip curled up, from her being upset. "Would that be so bad?"

"I've spent the better part of my life trying to kill you." He said moving her hair away from her bite.

She didn't move, her heartbeat pounding in her chest. "and I've spent my entire life running from you." She murmured.

"People like us don't feel, Katerina." He said quietly. "We only act, move through the motions of our lives. Too stubborn to turn and walk away."

"I'm like this because of you." She said almost angrily.

"I know." He said frowning, his voice low. "I've considered, once or twice, how different my life would have been if I would've allowed myself to feel."

Katherine looked down, not sure why he was saying all of this, honestly she was nervous that she was hallucinating.

"You know that bloody cartoon? Literally. The one with the cat.."

"Tom and Jerry?" She looked up at him raising an eyebrow.

"Yes." He laughed then looked at her seriously. "We are Tom and Jerry. You were always just one step out of my reach."

"You've had chances to kill me Klaus."

"That is the thing, Katerina. The writers admitted that deep down Tom cared for Jerry, without him what would be Tom's purpose?"

"So I give you…purpose?" She asked confused, her head spinning from the poison. She was leaning slightly to the left, her head feeling light.

"Are you…?" He began before she collapsed, and he sped forward catching her.

She looked up at him the room spinning. "Why are you doing this?"

He took her to his room laying her down. "Because we are alone." He explained. "And you're dying." He frowned. "And although I should feel happy I…"

"Me neither." She mumbled.

He looked at her confused.

"I don't understand either. But you're looking at me like you did…you did…" Her eyes rolled back in her head before she started to sweat, she looked at him. "NiKlaus," She whispered in a heavily Bulgarian accent. "My father would not approve."

The room transformed before her eyes and she was laying in the grass next to him. "Elijah fancies you, you know."

"You two have a bit of a rivalry, I expect." She smiled at him, her hair sprawling out behind them.

"You are correct." Klaus said putting his arms behind his head.

"You must respect that I cannot be a part of that." She nodded. "A respectable woman would never play such foolish games, especially not with two men such as you two." She propped herself up on her elbows to look down at him.

"You are beautiful, Katerina, if you don't mind me saying so."

She blushed and shook her head. "No, I do not mind."

She blinked and she was back in his room she looked around.

"Katerina?" He questioned quietly. "Katherine…?"

She looked at him her eyes heavy. "You were so nice to me." She said with a cough.

He sat next to her and touched her curls. "I was." He admitted.

"Why? Was it all a game? A trick so I could be your stupid sacrifice?"

"At first, yes." His voice was almost silent, she had to strain her ears to hear him. "I didn't want to fancy you, but it was very difficult. I thought if I acted as though you were only an end to a means that you would become that."

"If that wasn't what I was then what was it, Klaus?" She asked angrily. "Why did you take my life from me? Why!?" She demanded.

"I needed you to break the curse." He said his voice a bit louder. "But then I fell in love with you, but it was then that my brother was already taking you away. And of course Elijah," Klaus made a disgusted face. "The perfect Elijah would get my Katerina." He stopped quietly sighing.

"Why are you telling me all of this now…"

"Because its too late now." Klaus said quietly stroking her hair, she looked uncomfortable. "Because the universe is ironic… and I'm no better than I was 500 years ago."

"Not true." She said dryly. "500 years ago you wouldn't have said any of this. 500 years ago I hung myself in order to get away from you."

"And today you walked up to my stoop." He said quietly. "Why is that? You knew I wouldn't heal you.."

"You aren't the only one that needs a little redemption." She laughed humorlessly. "I'm dying and I couldn't imagine another place I'd rather be." She sat up and looked at him, a few inches from his face. "It killed me when I knew what you had planned for me, because I was falling in love with you." She said quietly a tear escaping her eye, he caught it with his index finger.

"None of that," He whispered and slowly slid his hand behind her neck and pulled her towards him his lips touching hers gently.

She sighed slightly relaxing and putting her arms around him.

Their lips moved together for what seemed like an eternity before his tongue slowly caressed hers. Her fingers shook as she tangled them in his shirt, she had never experienced him like this… he was so gentle, like he was a different man. She pulled his shirt over his head and ran her fingers over his tattoos before locking eyes with him again. The shirt floated to the floor and soon hers followed, as well as their jeans and socks, before they knew it he was hovering over her staring into her eyes. He had never had a moment like this before. Their lips touched again and they were together, like it was where they were always meant to be.

He pulled the sheet over them, creating their own personal sanctuary away from everything they were expected to be, and everything they had always been. Under there it seemed as if it was only them in the entire world, only their heavy breathing and skin to keep them company. She gripped his shoulder blades, feeling them move and warp under her fingers.

She thought then about how those bones twisted and broke to turn him into the monster she always believed that he was, the monster that would let her die today simply because that is what the world expected him to do. But the moment she started to doubt him, she turned her face away from his, and without stopping his motion that he had been in he brought his wrist to his lips and sank his teeth into it holding it out for her to try blood pooling where his fangs had been.

She looked up at him and put his wrist to her lips, blood falling down her throat she groaned slightly from the stimulation she was getting from everywhere, she could feel her wound heal and she pulled him against her their lips colliding.

They both laid on their backs, the sheets covering them for the most part, their chests rising and falling together. He turned towards her after a few moments of pure bliss and silence apart from their heartbeats. "Was that so I would heal you?" He asked quietly playing with a long curl that spiraled out from the front of her hair.

Katherine was quiet for a long time, her answer would determine a lot of things, her life, her future, but it would also change the dynamic of everyone around her. The universal dynamic of the cat and mouse. She looked up at him a tear falling out of her eye without her even knowing it. "I'm a survivor." She said simply. "Let that mean whatever think it does." She sat up and grabbed her clothes holding them against her chest she made the horrible mistake of turning back and looking at him.

He was perfect laying their, his bare skin glistening from sweat and his face twisting into something she had never seen from him, was it hurt? He hadn't moved form the spot he was in when she left the bed, a dent still obviously there from where she was laying, as if she had spent a lifetime in the bed with him. "What?" She asked quietly.

"I'll give you five seconds." He said quietly. "To come back to me, and if you don't." He frowned his eyes swelling. "Then this never happened and we will go back to our regularly scheduled programing." He said quietly.

Katherine bit her lip hard, she had slept with men for less. Her life was on the line, so she had to.

"One."

Her head was spinning, she was dying, she doesn't really love him… she was just nostalgic.

"Two." His voice cracked slightly.

She couldn't actually be with him, not after all the hell he put her through.

"Three." His bottom lip was quivering.

She stared at him, and his lip. She watched his muscles tense.

"Four." He whispered desperately.

Suddenly, before she even realized what she was doing she dropped her clothes to the floor and was laying on top of him again. "Don't you dare say five." She whispered and kissed him.

He laughed, his emotion bubbling up and out of him. "I thought I had lost you for sure." He said his fingers trailing her spine.

She smirked. "Well I'm Katherine Pierce," She said saucily. "And I get what I want." She leaned down and pressed her lips against his again, she could feel him smile against her kiss. "And I want you."