Caroline watched the flames that had consumed the body in front of her with an almost gleeful fascination. She wanted the person destroyed. For there to be no remnants left. She watched the flames dance transfixed. She had to be sure the job was done. No more could the person in front of her cause any more harm or ruin her life anymore.

The wind shifted around her and her attention was drawn away from the flames. She couldn't help the smile that came to her face. She knew he would come. She turned around to face the man who intruded on her moment.

"Hello Klaus."

He stopped in front of the woman who had captured his heart and took in the scene in front of him. She was covered in blood. It still dripped from her fingertips as she stood waiting for his reply. She was illuminated in the dark forest by the burning body behind her. He couldn't help but think that she looked beautiful. She was glorious as she had given into her darkest self.

And that's what worried him.

This wasn't the Caroline he knew. As his eyes swept over her, it was her eyes that caught his attention. The light in them had gone out. It had gone out but a sadistic smile was etched on her face. Which could only mean one thing.

He opened his mouth to speak but Caroline held up her hand.

"If you wanted to save her you're too late. But don't worry. I made sure she suffered before she died."

Klaus was shocked. He never imagined Caroline torturing someone. She was exceptionally loyal and would do almost anything for her friends but she had never tortured anyone. In fact she had spoken out against such actions. It confirmed to him something terrible had happened.

"Care to tell me why you turned your humanity off, love?"

He crossed his arms and waited for her response. He knew the answer but he wanted her to tell him. Caroline crossed her arms as well and eyed Klaus suspiciously. She didn't like how well Klaus knew her. How easily he got under her skin. She could already feel the pull of her emotions deep down. She tried her best to ignore it.

"My mum's dead. I needed some time to not feel it." She shrugged, hoping to appear nonchalant.

Klaus watched her for a moment, "That doesn't explain why you killed the werewolf. What's the story behind that, love?"

Caroline chose to ignore the pleasurable shiver that ran up her spine at the pet name. She looked back at the burning body and then back at Klaus. The fact that the two were in close proximity didn't sit right with her.

"Why do you want to know? She mean something to you?"

Klaus opened his mouth to speak when his siblings arrived. They each glared at Caroline and he recognised their aggressive stances. They were planning to attack. He couldn't let them.

"What did you do?!"

"Do you have any idea what you've done?!"

Caroline smirked at the Mikaelsons in front of her. She looked back at the burning body of Hayley and back at the Mikaelsons.

"Does it matter? The deed's done now." Caroline said shrugging. Klaus had to admire Caroline's strong will.

"She could have been a fresh start for our family. The fresh start we desperately needed." Elijah said as he stepped forward.

Caroline's eyebrows raised at that. It was something she wasn't expecting, "And how exactly would she have provided that? Hayley was a pathological liar. You couldn't believe a word she said and she betrayed everyone she met. How could she have helped you?" Caroline wanted to hear this.

"She was carrying Niklaus' child."

Caroline burst out laughing. She continued laughing for a few minutes when she noticed the looks on the Original's faces. Rebekah looked angry, Elijah looked stone-faced and Klaus looked sheepish. She stopped and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Oh my god! You're actually serious. You actually believe she was pregnant with Klaus' kid. How could it be Klaus'? He's dead. A dead blood-sucking werewolf. In what world would you actually believe naïve enough, gullible enough to believe it was Klaus'?" Caroline couldn't help the few chuckles that came out as she spoke.

"There was a heartbeat." Elijah simply stated.

Caroline shrugged, "So? That doesn't mean it's Klaus'. I know you all are over a thousand years old but there is this thing called a DNA test where the paternity can be determined. And why would you believe that a vampire can produce a child?"

Rebekah, Elijah and Kol exchanged glances while Klaus kept his eyes on Caroline. Caroline sighed. It was clear that was something none of them had considered, "Geez. You're all useless."

The Originals stayed silent as Caroline chuckled again. She walked over to the burning body and shoved it with her boot, "Well it doesn't matter now. She's dead. And I thought you should know. I never heard a heartbeat in all the hours I spent torturing her. Well, none but her's. Thought you should know."

With that she sped off. They all stayed silent before Klaus raced after her.

"Caroline!"

The blood soaked beauty stopped a few paces in front of him. She looked beautiful in the moonlight.

"I can't believe you fell for that." She said as she turned around. She crossed her arms. Klaus stepped towards her with his hands up.

"In my defence love I was doing it more for my siblings. It was a way to keep them around. Something I've been trying to achieve for a while." Even he wasn't convinced by his own words as he spoke. Caroline smiled but otherwise didn't move.

"The most powerful creature in the world duped by a were-slut. I am never going to let you live that down. Not now. Not for the rest of eternity. You know that, right? It's just too funny." She chuckled again. It really was ridiculous.

Klaus felt embarrassment flood his senses as Caroline's reaction registered. Looking back it did feel ridiculous. He couldn't believe he had simply taken the witches and known liar at their words. Why didn't he look into it? Why didn't he listen to his doubts? He shook his head and continued making his way towards Caroline.

"Enough about me, love. Are you going to tell me what Hayley had to do with you turning your humanity off?"

The smile fell from her face and she huffed. She really didn't want this conversation. Especially not with Klaus. She knew that she would reveal too much or worse turn her humanity back on if he asked too many questions. He had always managed to push passed her limits and barriers. It both enthralled and annoyed her,

"Why do you want to know? What's it to you? Especially if you're off sleeping with lowlifes like Hayley. I can see where your taste lies."

Klaus smirked. So he was pushing her buttons. Good.

"It was a drunken one night stand love. It meant nothing."

"You know she's the one that got your precious hybrids killed. She taught Tyler how to un-sire the hybrids and made it so you would kill them. She planned the whole thing. I'm surprised you didn't kill her for it."

Klaus stopped and registered Caroline's words. He hadn't known that. Again something else he had ignored. Why had he ignored it all? He was going to have to have a serious look into witch activity at the time. He didn't like that he had missed so much.

"Don't deflect, love. This is about you."

Caroline huffed again, "Fine. She's the one that killed my mum."

Klaus was not expecting to hear that.

"My mum looked into Professor Shane's past after the Silas thing and was finding some suspicious stuff out. I guess Hayley didn't like that my mum was digging and decided she had to go. Permanently."

"And the emotions were so overwhelming you turned your humanity off and decided to get revenge."

Caroline shrugged, "That and she snapped my neck to stop me from telling you and Tyler the truth about her plan."

Klaus didn't like all this information he was learning tonight. Something was clearly wrong and it seemed from Hayley. He was determined to find out what but now his attention had to be on Caroline. He had fallen for her light and it hurt to see her without it.

"So now your revenge is complete, what will you do?" The question of whether she would turn her humanity back on was clear enough in his words. Caroline wasn't interested in hearing it.

"I told my friends I wanted a year. One year without my humanity and then I would turn it on and deal with my mum's death. But I can't deal with it right now."

Klaus nodded. He knew how overwhelming the emotions could be when you were supernatural, "Are you sure you will want to turn it back on? When you do your emotions will flood into all at once. Are you sure you will be able or willing to deal with that?"

Caroline shrugged, "I will have to. Are you going to try and stop me?"

Klaus shook his head.

"I have bigger things to deal with. With the information about the werewolf I need to look into what exactly the witches and Katerina have been up to. I have a bit of research I need to complete first."

With that he turned to walk away. He stopped a few paces away and turned back to Caroline, "My door is always open if you want some company. Enjoy your year love. It may be a while before you are back on your feet afterwards. You have my number."

Caroline blinked and he was gone. She stood in the middle of the woods and felt her heart beating fast. She could also feel her emotions trying to bubble to the surface. She pushed them down and focused on exploring more of the United States. She had a year. A lot could happen in a year.

Klaus lurked in the shadows, careful to not alert Caroline to his presence. He watched the woman who had always held his attention as she stood in the moonlight. He longed to see the light come back into her eyes. A year. He just had to wait a year. She would get her year and he was always there if she needed him. He knew she would regret her actions once she turned her humanity back on after all. For now he had to figure out what was really going on in New Orleans. He smiled and then left to go back to his siblings.

She turned away to disappear but not before looking at the spot Klaus had disappeared from. She laughed out loud to herself before moving on.

"I can't believe they fell for that. What losers."

Maybe one day she could deal with her mother's untimely death. But not now. She had some exploring and growing to do first. Maybe one day she would invite Klaus along. Just as long as he had learned his lesson from this.

But one thing was true...

She was never going to let him live this down. With or without humanity.

This story popped into my head recently and wouldn't leave so I decided to write it down. I haven't watched TVD since S4 so I have only a vague idea of what happened in the seasons after. But this is an AU so I decided to ignore any continuity.