AN: THANKS TO KICKASSFU, LYNYRDWRITES AND MRSLACKLES FOR THEIR INPUT AND IMPROVING THE STORY EXPONENTIALLY!

Disclaimer: Even though it hurts, all characters belong to Julie Plec/ L.J. Smith.

"No, Damon's never right. He's sneaky and manipulative and rude and abusive but he's never right," said Caroline, trying to talk some sense into her friend. "How can you not see that?"

"I don't know, but why do I think you won't hesitate to tell me?" asked Elena.

"Maybe because I've been there and done that, Elena! Or have you forgotten that when I was with Damon, you were the one who was trying to convince me to break up with him?"

Caroline didn't usually like to think about that very dark period of her life, much less talk about it, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

"Things are different now, Caroline. Damon has changed. You know that," muttered Elena.

"I don't think he has, Elena. I think you're just deluding yourself! Remember Andie Starr? Her relationship with Damon wasn't that different to mine!"

Elena opened then closed her mouth before finally deflecting.

"Wow, Caroline! Thank you, for making this very difficult time so much easier," she huffed before walking away.

Klaus stood in the distance after having listened to the heated argument going on between the two friends. His face was stony as he watched Elena huff and walk away like the brat she was. Caroline stared after her before going in the opposite direction.

xxx

"You dated Damon," said Klaus, exuding such calm that you would never suspect the rage swirling inside him.

Caroline was taken aback. She felt panic begin to rise but kept her expression smooth.

"It was a long time ago. Now if you'll excuse me I have to go announce the winner."

She tried to escape but Klaus grabbed her wrist, pulling her back.

"Let go of me, Klaus!"

"We're not done yet, love. I would very much like to talk," he said giving her a pointed look, and Caroline knew she wouldn't be able to escape this conversation.

"Fine. Meet me. My place at ten. We'll talk then."

Klaus gave her a solemn nod and she breathed a sigh of relief when he left.

That was one conversation she wasn't looking forward to.

They'd just figured out that Elena was sired to Damon and Stefan had gone to bed shortly after.

He would go to the boarding house in the morning and talk to his brother. He probably wouldn't get much sleep tonight – she felt sure he'd spend the bulk of it lying on the couch just staring at the ceiling.

Caroline texted Klaus, feeling a little relief that she would be able to put off the inevitable even for a little longer.

Can't meet. Stefan's here.

Not a problem, love. Meet me in the woods by the cemetery or I just may be inclined to remind Stefan of the pleasures of a snapped neck.

Caroline pouted then sent her reply.

Fine. Bring bourbon.

God knew she was going to need it.

After receiving his reply, Caroline snuck out her bedroom window, landing on her knees. The perks of vampire healing never got old.

She then made her way to the cemetery, not bothering with vampire speed. She was in no hurry to answer the trillion questions that Klaus probably had.

She saw him waiting for her, holding two bottles of whiskey. He handed her one as she approached.

"What do you want to know?"

The exasperation was clear in her voice; she just wanted to get this over with.

"You and Damon. When exactly did that happen? I'm sure that on your scale the elder Salvatore is as 'evil' as you regard me to be. What persuaded you to give him the time of your day when you are clearly reluctant to be with me thanks to my sinful misdeeds?"

She could see that he was genuinely curious but it was underneath the bubbling rage he was no longer attempting to hide.

"It's complicated and, frankly, none of your business," she spat, crossing her arms and taking a sip of the best bourbon she'd ever had.

"Caroline, don't test my patience, love, or so help me God I will lock Damon up, drain him of vervain and compel it out of him. I'm sure you would prefer for me not to receive all the gory details, and from Damon's point of view no less. So let's try this again. When did you get into a relationship with him?"

She glared at him for a minute but he didn't relent and eventually she found herself giving in.

"Fine! It was when I was human. Damon blew into town in all his older sexy danger guy glory and I was too naive to realize that he was no good for me. We met at the Grill and made eyes at each other then slept together. It went on for a few weeks before Stefan realized that Damon was a threat to Elena and trapped him in the basement of the boarding house. There. Happy?" she finished, breathless.

"Not quite. Why do I get the feeling that's not the whole story, hmm?" asked Klaus, his eyebrows raised. "Let me try this. You were human and Damon was in his pre-Elena stage. Killing mindlessly, manipulating, compelling – that sort of thing. Since you had no idea about the existence of vampires, I'm guessing you weren't on vervain. See where I'm going with this, love?"

"Yes. You're right. He compelled me to be with him and manipulated me into being his little bitch. He used me, abused me and never failed to remind me that he was going to kill me when he was done. He crumbled my self-esteem into a million little pieces."

She swallowed another sip.

"Did he compel you to sleep with him, Caroline?" Klaus said through gritted teeth.

His glare was menacing and Caroline shivered even though she knew he'd never hurt her. Though when exactly she'd developed that faith in him, she had no idea.

"Not the first time. I was willing, but when I woke up the next morning I had dried blood and bruises on my neck. I tried to escape but he caught me and then compelled me to comply to his wishes, which included sex," she sighed, knowing there was no turning back now.

"You realize I'm going to kill him?" he seethed.

"You can't do that Klaus! You can't just go around killing everyone who's ever hurt me," she tried to point out, though she knew it was in vain.

"I honestly don't see how that's a problem," he countered.

She glared at him and he glared right back.

"He raped you, Caroline! Surely you can't expect me to simply let it slide. Especially when you are clearly still wary of him."

"Since when are you the Moral Police?" she demanded, but when Klaus merely looked back at her, she heaved a sigh, knowing that she needed to try and talk the Hybrid down. "Look, he doesn't scare me anymore, Klaus. When I turned and got back my memories, I kicked his ass. Even though he's over a century older than me, I beat him."

"You're well aware that that's not what I meant. I wonder if he ever acknowledged what he did to you, hmm? How it is that no one stood up for you when you most needed it and overlooked it all? And how you can possibly tolerate that your best friend is falling for the man who treated you like that?"

"I hate it, Klaus!" she exclaimed. "Is that what you want to hear? I won't deny it. But that doesn't mean I want him dead. If I did, then how would I be any different from him? Him, who my best friend loves. Him, who is my other best friend's brother."

"No. You don't want him dead," he agreed, his eyes burning, "but you do want him to suffer. You don't want to be expected to forget all about it while he goes on his merry way. Isn't that right, sweetheart?"

"I'm not entirely sure that you have the right to point fingers, Klaus," she said, consciously avoiding his question. "How many times in the past one thousand years have you done the same to a woman?"

His jaw was set. "I won't deny having used compulsion for convenience and in the case of blood, but I have never forced myself upon a woman," he growled. Looking angry, he continued. "Don't you think that I would have done so long ago with you if it were in my repertoire? If you didn't notice, I happen to enjoy the chase." He took a swig from his own bottle. "And I respect women and their consent."

This new information baffled Caroline. Even though she hadn't experienced Klaus' wrath firsthand, she'd still believed him to be the worst man alive(ish) on Earth. Certainly after everything Elena had told her.

Now she was forced to consider that the first place was occupied by Damon Salvatore instead of Klaus. Unsurprising really, considering her source of information, but it still caught her off-guard.

Her time with Damon still gave her nightmares and it always pinched her how everyone seemed to forget what he had done just because Elena, the holy matron of Mystic Falls, had deemed him redeemed.

She still seethed on behalf of Matt whose sister had died because Damon had turned her into a vampire out of boredom.

She seethed on behalf of herself who was forced to tolerate him every day.

And now she realized she'd offended Klaus.

"I'm sorry," she bit out. "For assuming."

He didn't say anything and she sighed before looking up at him.

"Why?" Noting his confused expression, she added, "Why me? Why do you care so much about me?"

"Apart from the fact you are bloody brilliant and beautiful? Hell if I know, love," he replied, looking a little sheepish. Then he shrugged. "But, frankly, I'm not interested in the how or why. All I care about is you, Caroline."

"You do?" she asked awed at his admission. She knew he cared for her to a certain extent but hearing him say it outright was an entirely different matter. She looked into his eyes which seemed to be swirls of grey like the sea on a stormy day and saw the sincerity reflecting in them.

"Yes", he said unwavering, "Which is why I'm going to punish Damon for what he did to you."

Seeing her widened eyes, he conceded, "But I won't kill him." Caroline's relief was short-lived when he added. "I will hurt him though. Badly."

She knew she had to pick her battles. He'd already agreed not to kill Damon and there was a part of her – a part she'd been trying to suppress ever since she turned – that wanted to hurt him, to make him feel what he had made her feel. She wanted to cause him pain. It was the part of her that was the creature of the night; the one that hid beneath all her light.

"Fine. Do what you have to do. I'm not going to stop you. All I ask is that my friends don't lose another person they love."

He nodded. "I can work with that."

She stepped forward and cupped his face in her palm. She leaned forward as if she was going to kiss him on the cheek but seemed to suddenly snap out of it and stepped back. Her face was flushed a bright red. She had no idea what had invaded her sensibilities! Klaus remained still as a statue from the moment her hand touched his cheek. He did not move when she nodded her silent thanks. He opened his mouth to say something but thought better of it and simply stated, "See you around, sweetheart."

xxx

Only Klaus knew that there were things worse than death in this world. He had seen enough of them in his one thousand years.

And Damon Salvatore was going to get the worst of it. He flashed to the boarding house and barged straight into his bedroom. Another flash and he had arrived at his mansion, the elder Salvatore in tow before he could put on a shirt or even utter a word.

He had decided on his method of punishment.

Klaus believed in poetic justice. He had also made a study of Caroline Forbes; of the horrors she had survived, coming out alive and stronger each time.

And so he started it. A series of tortures that Caroline had gone through in the past two years. He began by shooting Damon with vervain soaked wooden bullets. First his legs, then his arms, then his torso and finally, when he seemed to be almost unconscious with pain, he shot him in the head.

While Damon was passed out, Klaus transported him to the Forbes' cellar where he bound Damon to the same chair Caroline's father had tried to fix her in. Only this time, there was a plank on the arms of the chair.

It was almost noon when the raven-haired vampire came to, several hours later. He had barely gathered his senses when suddenly he felt his back being set on fire by the now bright sun. It was only then that he registered the absence of the familiar weight of the blue ring on his finger.

He screamed as loudly as he possibly could, begging Klaus to stop. The hybrid only responded with a vicious glare and wrapped a piece of cloth dripping with vervain on Damon's mouth, much like Alaric had done to Caroline. He then took two pencils and jammed them into his hands, binding them to the plank.

Damon tried to shout in pain but that only rubbed more vervain against his chin and lips. Klaus waited for Damon's back to heal sufficiently and when he was satisfied, he opened the shafts again, continuing for the rest of the day.

To Damon it seemed like centuries had gone by when Klaus finally declared that the sun had gone down. They were going to move on to the final stage now – the worst one. Damon had partially experienced it before but would soon realize that there was a huge difference between the bite of a young werewolf and that of the thousand year old original hybrid.

Before biting him, Klaus compelled him.

"You will not feed from the vein ever again. You will not kill anyone either. You will also try to convince Caroline to forgive you even if you have to empty your bank account in the process of buying her diamonds in order to make amends. You will treat her with respect and hold back the snide remarks."

It was not that Klaus had suddenly developed a moral compass, but he knew how the other vampire relished the hunt. Damon's control over his vampirism was largely due to his moderation in blood intake. If he had to relinquish that, then nothing would stop him from going ripper, sans the benefit of gorging on blood. Relying on blood bags and animals would make him weak, just like Caroline had felt when he had controlled her.

Moreover he wouldn't be able to do what he did to Caroline ever again.

Once Damon had repeated his compelled instructions, Klaus sank his fangs into his neck.

He didn't want to kill him – just wait till the mere century-old vampire was on the threshold of death before healing him.

Considering his already weakened state, it wouldn't take long.

Thus Klaus extracted vengeance from the man who had hurt his queen.

He promised himself that anyone who treated her as anything less would meet a similar fate, whether said queen approved or not.

After all, in some cases death was far too kind.

He freed the Salvatore of his pencil shackles then opened the door to let him out. The venom was already making him groggy. So Damon half ran, half stumbled his way out.

He had a pretty good idea what the whole torture fest had been about. Now he was weak and in need of blood, preferably from the source but something stopped him from going after the young girl he saw standing a few feet away.

So he rushed home, at least as much as he could in his state. He sped straight to the basement and went through blood bag after blood bag. That's how Stefan found him – a hallucinating mess, covered in blood.

Even though a small part of him enjoyed seeing Damon suffer after the whole Elena debacle, he didn't want his brother to die. So he called up Klaus and managed to get his blood and although he found it surprisingly easy this time, he knew he was now in Klaus' debt and that the hybrid would cash in soon.

The next morning Caroline found a velvet box on her bed when she came out of the shower.

There had been no sign of Damon for the past two nights and she'd finally decided to confront Klaus about it.

Elena had been going hysterical with worry over him and the whole time Caroline had had to pretend she had no idea about his whereabouts. He'd promised not to kill him!

But from the look of things it seemed she'd be going to Klaus for an entirely different reason. She opened the box and found a string of diamonds in it – a bracelet. The string had rubies in between every pair of diamonds which were arranged to look like leaves and were together giving the effect of roses. It was beautiful. Caroline stared at it slack-jawed then opened the accompanying note.

She was surprised when what she found wasn't Klaus' neat handwriting.

Caroline,

I'm sorry for all the hell I put you through and I'm sorry it took me this long to say it.

-Damon

Caroline was part shocked, part amazed. What the hell had Klaus done to get such a reaction from Damon?!

Despite the horrific scenarios going through her head, she couldn't help but let a small smile escape. Out of all her friends, it was only Klaus who had sought retribution for the wrongs done to her. She was certainly not a damsel in distress but it never hurt to have a knight in shining armor once in a while. Maybe she would go a little easier on Klaus the next time she saw him.

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