Really short little oneshot that wouldn't leave me alone. :)
Title: Paradox
Author: Cindy Ryan
pairings: Camille/Klaus
spoilers: everything up to and including 2x19
category: one shot, post ep
Camille O'Connell was surrounded by paradoxes daily. She was friends with creatures that shouldn't exist but did. They not only existed but thrived. Most of them despite their blood thirsty nature were trying to do their best to keep those they loved safe.
One of the biggest examples of contradictory in Camille's life was Klaus Mikaelson. She'd been coerced to be his therapist and secretary. Even after that compulsion had been painfully broken Camille found she couldn't stay away from the hybrid. She told herself she was continuing her uncle's work; keeping the supernatural community safe. However, it was the little glimpses into Klaus's humanity that kept Camille thinking there might be a real relationship between them. The moments she saw him with Hope. The tender loving father the little girl needed. Then in a flash that man was gone replaced by the monster everyone saw.
'Am I supposed to fear you too?'
'It would be better if you did.'
Those two sentences pretty much summed up Camille's relationship with Klaus. Her friendship with any supernatural being for that matter. She was human, she was mortal. She should run from them very fast and not look back. Problem was Camille cared about this unique group. More than she should. More than was safe. They were more than a community; they were a family.
'...and we would pass a perfect afternoon in a corner café together. And I would wish for nothing more.'
Heaven help her. In that moment in that courtyard Camille believed that Klaus felt something for her more than friendship. He could've left the room as soon as he declared his innocence in Aiden's death. Yet he had stayed. It was a silly foolish hope for Camille to have. For her to even think that this paradox of a creature had soul enough left to care for her.
Camille finally understood why Elijah had fought so hard and so long for his brother's redemption. She had seen the man Klaus was and the one he could be. The one who had caressed her face with such tenderness in that courtyard. The one who wanted her to know he hadn't been the killer she thought he was when she had confronted him.
Camille's uncle had tried to protect her from the supernatural community. Did his best to convince her to leave New Orleans. Despite everything in that moment as Camille stood with Klaus in his courtyard she was glad she had stayed. This man, this leader of the family she had grown to care about may be a mess of paradoxes but he was a puzzle Camille was more than willing to solve.
How this had become her life; Camille didn't know. Part of it had been fate part family history. Most had been her own choice. Still she found herself surprised at the outcome. That she was embracing these contradictions willingly and freely. It may be a bizarre, crazy and sometimes frightening life but it was hers. One she was proud of and hoped maybe by some crazy fleeting chance that Klaus might someday share with her.
end