This one-shot was written for the Klaroline Vacation Gift Exchange 2017 and originally posted on Archive of Our Own.
The blood of their victim was warm in her mouth as his tongue stroked hers, she could feel the heat of the blood radiating throughout her body, invigorating her with an energy that encouraged her to wrap her legs more firmly around his waist, desperately seeking for more friction between their bodies and causing him to grunt as he slipped deeper into her. She brought a trembling hand up to his neck when his lips left her mouth to taste her throat, sucking and biting her sensitive skin.
She sighed in bliss and in frustration when his fangs didn't plunge into her neck, his lips sliding along her collarbone instead, licking the blood that had flowed in abundance when she'd torn into the neck of the unsuspecting man who had accompanied her outside the Mystic Grill.
Compulsion hadn't even been needed, she'd only had to shamelessly flirt with him, smile and occasionally laugh at his jokes, touching him from time to time, her eyes always on Klaus who'd been sitting at their table, slowly sipping his whiskey as he'd watched her luring their prey away, his dark eyes intermittently flashing red with a possessiveness she'd known would lead him to kill the man she was toying with even in front of all the witnesses present if she'd only pressed toward him a little more. She'd entertained that possibility, but had finally decided she would much rather enjoy the rest of the evening without being interrupted by a hunter or a witch that the scene would undoubtedly attract.
Klaus had let her eat first once they'd had him outside. Their victim was silent and compliant after Caroline compelled him to stay calm and not scream. Caroline felt Klaus' lips kissing her throat, feeling the blood she'd ingested pulsing in her veins under his tongue, making her whimper when his tongue and then teeth brushed her skin as she'd buried her fangs deeper into the man's neck before he'd himself sank his fangs into the other side of his neck, more violently than he needed to.
The blood that had flowed in her veins had sated her hunger and aroused another which had burned its way through her body until she'd been finally too distracted to fully enjoy the liquid rolling down her throat. She knew Klaus shared it when she'd found herself shoved to the nearest wall, looking up to see the same blazing need she felt reflected in his eyes.
She felt him smirk against her skin and pulled at his hair a bit, to encourage him to move his lips where she wanted them, but mainly to scold him silently for mocking her eagerness. She gasped in surprise when she felt him forcefully grip her hips as he lifted her up, causing her back to rub against the wall she was pinned to, with him still buried in her. Instead of sinking his fangs into her neck as she had expected, his lips moved down to her bosom.
She felt the cool air of the night touch her breasts and her eyes fluttered closed when Klaus lowered the cups of her bra and wrapped his lips around her nipple, his tongue flicking it slowly, his right hand sliding to her thigh while the other continued to massage her breast and roll her nipple between his fingers.
Her walls clenched around him when he bit into the underside of her mound, one of her hands holding his head while her head fell against the brick wall in ecstasy, feeling light-hearted with what she knew to be the effect of both the emotions stirring in her and the adrenaline that buzzed through her body for sometimes hours after she killed someone. He tore his mouth away from her breast in favor of her lips and her hands went to his cheeks, cupping his head as their lips collided, her tongue moving over his, spurred on by his low groan.
His hands went down to her buttocks, pressing himself against her until there was no space between them. Caroline's chest clashed against his, causing a moan to vibrate against his lips when her nipples brushed against his Henley, prompting him to thrust faster into her.
Her hips met his frantically, matching each of his thrusts as she undulated against him. Her nails sank into his neck and cheek, drawing blood and eliciting a guttural groan on his part as his tongue invaded her mouth, slowly caressing the warm cave of her mouth in a way that made Caroline clamp down on him.
She felt his face change before she saw it; discerned his fangs scraping against her lips, touching them in a way that caused him to groan in their kiss, and sensed the veins appear under her fingers, fluctuating under her touch. She broke the kiss, succumbing to the overpowering desire to look at him. She peered at golden eyes that looked back at her with a hunger she knew well. Almost tenderly, she gave him a last kiss before letting her head slump to the brick wall, waiting for his fangs to rub against her throat. He playfully kissed her neck, not even really teasing, and then sank his fangs into her throat with a force that made her moan loudly.
Gripping her thighs, he thrust into her quickly, pulling her hips down harder, his length rubbing the spot that made her buck helplessly. She gasped and moaned his name, her whole body writhing when he gulped her blood greedily. Her back arched as he pushed her over the edge, feeling her walls spasm before he found his own release.
He licked the two holes he had tore into her neck until her wound was healed.
She collapsed onto his chest, sighing when he wrapped his arms around her and moaning softly as she threw one of her legs over his, becoming aware of the way her limp body was deliciously sore. Caroline glanced up with sleepy, lazy eyes, letting them slide shut when he leaned down to steal a quick kiss.
She felt her eyes close little by little, nestling her head more comfortably in his chest and basking in the warmth of his body. Despite being completely relaxed, she couldn't find sleep and soon the comforting haze surrounding her vanished and gnawing questions and doubts were back with a vengeance.
"Did you manage to kill her?" She finally asked, her resentment clear beneath her casual tone.
He nodded. "I did. It was easier than I would have thought," he mused, a smile on his face as he certainly remembered the witch's demise.
"It wouldn't have been so dangerous for me, then," she snorted bitterly, her curt tone causing him to stiffen.
"It's too dangerous."
"I can handle her, I'm just as capable as you are."
"Just give me some days, I need to tie up some loose ends."
"I don't think so."
"I don't even know why I'm arguing with you. You can't stop me from going there if I want to," she told him after having given up on convincing him.
"I'm afraid I actually can, sweetheart," Klaus retorted.
He didn't need to inform her of all the ways he could dissuade her from accompanying him without having to lay a single finger on her, she knew him all too well and she didn't want to know which one of her friends - the ones she still had - would die in their battle of wills.
"You stay here," he ordered, his warm breath fanning on her cheek, "until I tell you to come."
She remembered the burning, unrelenting anger that had built up in her chest and raced through her veins, something almost tangible she had felt all the way up her clenching heart. The rest had been a blur of yells and insults and accusations and objects smashing against walls but mostly against him. He had still been determined once she had calmed down a bit, glaring at him, panting with her hands curled into fists, but mostly exhausted.
"Will I have to tear some hearts out to convince you of the merits of my plan?" He finally drawled, dusting off his coat.
His condescending voice was the final straw. Her eyes grew larger and, her fangs bared, she was about to lunge at him when she noticed the spark in his eyes. He was deliberately provoking her. That had always been how he preferred her, tenacious and not backing away from him. He wanted a fight. Too bad for him that she wasn't feeling like giving him what he wanted. Instead, she wanted to hurt him, to make him feel as insignificant as he gave her the impression she was.
"You don't think you're worth one of my friends' lives, do you?"
She barely managed not to flinch when he lost his composure and raised vulnerable eyes towards her, hurt and betrayed. Knowing someone for centuries meant knowing everything about their doubts, their weaknesses, their insecurities and Mikael's shadow and words had followed him everywhere, a judgment she knew Klaus would never manage to escape, always weighing on him and always influencing the way he saw himself.
"Similarly, you don't think you're worth risking my doppelganger life, do you?" He, too, knew all about her insecurities, and often used them to his advantages in more ways than one.
She hadn't let him see how each of his words had sliced through her body, their edges nicking her heart, making her feel more fragile than any weapon ever did. She had wondered if her words had hurt him as much. She had hoped they did.
"If that's how you feel, you surely won't mind if I don't come at all."
His face was unreadable then but only because he wanted it that way, so that she wouldn't discern what he really thought. But she did. If only for a split second, his features were twisted into a cruel mask, half a smile touching his lips. He knew her well, and he knew that she would return, that she couldn't help but want to find out if things could get better once he would finally break his curse, that she wouldn't want to live forever with that doubt.
And Caroline hated how right he had been. She would have normally left him for pulling this shit, for ordering her around like she was one of his lackeys, if only to show him how angry she was. That was the only thing that made her feel better about the situation.
Failing to apologize, he'd surprised her when she came to town by admitting that he had missed her and assuring her that he trusted her completely but hadn't wanted to take any unnecessary risks. Knowing that she couldn't hope for more from him, she'd accepted his excuse with a nod. She'd not been able to let bygones be bygones, though.
Sighing, Klaus slipped away from her and sat up. She grudgingly gave up her comfortable position on the still warm cushions and did the same, wrapping a sheet around her and puffing out her chest, steeling herself for the same argument they had had for centuries now.
Something flashed in his eyes. She could have sworn that it was guilt, an emotion that made him appear almost human, a ghost of the man she fell in love with before she herself became a monster that would have horrified the girl she had been back then.
"Maybe I should have done things differently," he confessed finally. Her surprise at his admission was topped by her irritation. Maybe? Maybe? She folded her arms over her chest as she tilted her head, looking at him incredulously, her lips pursed and her eyes narrowed.
"Definitely," he amended, noticing how angry she still was.
His hands fell to his sides. He had always been able to read her like a book and she sensed he could see her anger gradually returning to her at that very moment as she remembered how she had felt helpless and neglected, once again the second choice. She hadn't been able to look in mirrors once he'd gone and she'd been left alone with only murderous desires for company and a powerful self-loathing that had seemed to stifle her. Next time, she had thought. Next time, I will leave him.
She took a deep, calming breath, her shoulders slumping.
"Klaus?"
"Yes?" He asked warily, surely alerted by the tone of her voice.
"I swear, the next time you do that, I will not be around to hear you apologize."
She had been a bundle of nerves all day. Memories of the last time – the only time – they had been so close to succeeding and of their subsequently bitter failure were whirling in her head, putting her on edge and making her snap at people around her.
Maddox had known Caroline long enough to know when to keep his distance from her and everyone else learned quickly enough after she hurled a vampire through a window for chuckling at her control-freak tendencies. After that, they did everything they could to avoid being in her path when she flashed around in the small apartment at vampire speed, making sure everything was in order for the sacrifice until all her nagging doubts were finally silenced.
Not having anything more important to do, she compelled some of Elena's classmates to discreetly follow her wherever she went all day – Caroline wasn't about to risk her selfishly killing herself as Katherine did and then checked – twice – that they had spare sacrifices in case something went wrong with them, ignoring their pleas as she made sure they couldn't escape. Two vampires and two werewolves. And Klaus was already contacting a very powerful warlock that she knew was too scared by the consequences he had to endure the last time he defied Klaus to dare to refuse him anything.
Klaus was ecstatic, in a better mood than she had seen since a long time, which probably explained why he pulled her aside before the sacrifice began to whisper a quiet "Thank you, Caroline" into her ear, speaking so softly that she was convinced no one else – humans or not – could hear him.
Caroline couldn't remember the last time she had seen him so happy, the last time she caught a glimpse of that incandescent light in his eyes that inexorably pulled her to him against her best judgment. She had forgotten how smoldering his eyes could be when they were not shrouded by suspicions and worries.
That should have eased her worries, but instead, it only made her more apprehensive, the feeling in the pit of her stomach tormenting her and intensifying once the ritual began.
This is too easy. The doppelganger and her friends had put up a good fight before Klaus' arrival and had even taken care of daggering Elijah, an original stronger than all of them put together. The witch Klaus had been so worried about had been powerful enough to be a threat but now no one was there to at least attempt to save the doppelganger's life after all the sacrifices they had made to prevent this ritual.
With suspicious eyes, Caroline looked down at Stefan who was still on his knees and clutching his stomach and wondered if his brother was nearby and what he was up to.
She watched as he lifted desperate eyes filled with longing, sadness, and apologies to Elena who did her best to hide how frightened she was for his benefit and Caroline wondered once again why he would offer himself in sacrifice for the doppelganger's aunt but not his little girlfriend. If he was ready to die, should he not have risked it while trying to save the girl who was so important for him? It didn't make sense, except if they had a backup plan, one that would spare the doppelganger's life
Caroline's heart kept hammering in her chest until Klaus finished drinking every drop of the doppelganger's blood and her body slumped to the ground, motionless and lifeless, finally dead and the sacrifice over.
Finally.
Caroline blinked, barely able to grasp what that meant.
No more searches that led nowhere and the disappointments that always followed them, no more quests and lies and smoke screens and fake curses.
She looked in amazement as his transformation began, his bones cracking loudly, breaking before snapping into different angles immediately after. The color of his eyes changed to a deep shade of gold and his lips exposed two sets of shining fangs as he growled, low and long.
Relief washed over Caroline, scattering in her chest and replacing the feeling of fear that had taken root, engulfing her in the certainty that this time everything was going as planned.
She exhaled, and finally relaxed. Probably at the worst possible time. Klaus' growls unexpectedly turned into moans of pain. She looked on, puzzled but sure that the transformation wasn't what was causing him to scream; his tolerance for pain was high and she'd never seen him suffering so much, not even during the first transformation he'd gone through. A flash of lightning appeared and Klaus was flung forward as a witch walked into the clearing, chanting, fire in her wake, and magic coming off of her in waves.
Caroline reacted instinctively, dashing to the witch whose concentration was temporarily broken when Caroline's fingers curled around her throat. A flick of her wrist and the witch's neck would be broken. With a few more seconds, Caroline could have easily killed her, but her movement was promptly stopped, a paralysis extending from her wrist to her arm before a stinging pain pierced her. Her knees hit the ground while she grabbed her head in her hands, a hundred razors jerking under her skin and into her flesh.
She noticed Stefan's brother scooping Elena up in his arms as the witch kept chanting relentlessly and Klaus' screams resounded in the clearing. Of course they had decided to attack them at that very moment. Klaus would never be as vulnerable as during this ritual and that was their only chance to kill him once and for all. The fear that this idea inspired in her was surpassed only by the fright rising in her chest when she understood that this eventuality was close to being realized.
The witch's chants became louder and Klaus' cries strident as Caroline squirmed on the ground, trying to find relief in the midst of an ocean of raw agony. She could only imagine what he was enduring with the witch focused entirely on him. Orange flames licked at her face and arms, brought to her by gusts of wind that followed the witch as she walked by Caroline.
When the pain finally released its grip on her, she slowly opened her eyes. She felt paralyzed, a sensation similar to the one which ran through her every time Klaus put a dagger into her heart. The same sensation of fear and ethereal tranquility glided over her when she watched Elijah advance on his brother, then fear crawled up her spine, causing big tears to flow down her cheeks.
Ignoring her protesting limbs, she raised herself on her knees before standing up on wobbly legs. As soon as she did, an invisible force brought her back to the ground, and Caroline glared at the witch, imagining herself cutting off her tongue.
She indistinctly heard Klaus say something to Elijah, something she couldn't comprehend through the pain still burning her head, but he turned to her and then to Elijah again and whatever he told him made Elijah ignore the witch who was threatening him and flash the three of them into the depth of the woods.
Her heart was still pounding with fear when she felt a laugh bubbling up her throat. She was still alive, and Klaus was too, and the curse was broken. She hadn't anticipated the night would end like that less than an hour earlier, hence her conflicted emotions. It had been a long time since she had failed to keep her emotions in check, but she found herself in this predicament, her muscles quivering with residual fear while relief kept flooding her.
She surrendered to these sensations, no longer fighting her tears, and tried to stop only until she noticed Elijah looking at her impassively from the corner of her eye. Her expression sobered immediately, understanding he wasn't going after Klaus as she expected him to. Nevertheless, she had nothing to fear from him now, not when he'd already made that deal with Klaus. He had no reason to attack her anyway, and even assuming he still had a dagger with him he wouldn't risk doing it; Klaus would refuse to take him to their siblings unless he gave him Caroline first, and once undaggered Caroline would repay Elijah in kind. She relaxed slightly. There's really nothing in it for him.
She exhaled deeply and took a moment to curse her heightened emotions, focusing on one of them while trying to ignore the others.
"It was a close call," she remarked off-handedly once she pulled herself together.
He nodded. "Indeed," he replied calmly, his polite, emotionless, voice letting her know he had picked up on her reproach.
"I was not going to kill you," he said after a while. She raised her eyebrows quizzically. She hadn't been under that impression when that witch's magic had burned her from within. "I specified that you were to be incapacitated but not killed."
In any other situation she might have smiled at the proof that the friendship she had so much valued was still partially intact even after all their disagreements, but not tonight, not when flashes of Klaus helplessly squirming on the ground at the mercy of people who wanted him dead still passed before her eyes, bringing each time the memory of the panic she'd felt.
"It would have been a mistake," she commented coldly.
If they had succeeded and had taken away from her the only person whose grip on her heart never faltered throughout her long life and still made the mistake of leaving her alive, there would have been hell to pay for all those involved, with no exceptions. It wouldn't have mattered whether Elijah had awakened her up decades or centuries later, she would have wanted to take revenge on the vampires still alive and on the descendants of the humans who'd been stupid enough to attack them.
"That's very possible," Elijah agreed.
The strident howl of a wolf startled them both. Elijah murmured a quick, "It was good to see you again, Caroline," before flashing away, surely already on Klaus' trail and ready to clean the mess he would undoubtedly make.
And then she was left alone.
Closing her eyes, Caroline listened carefully for any sounds, resolved to get some information about what was going on before acting. Various sounds drifted to her ears but she could no longer hear the sound of Klaus' paws scraping against dead leaves as he ran, or the witch she'd heard shrieking to Stefan in a jittery voice – What do we donow? – after they'd fled with Elijah, or the rush of air which always followed vampires' movements when they used their supernatural speed. If she fully used her enhanced hearing, she could hear a car parking on a highway shoulder near the forest and then a man thanking another man for bringing a spare tire, but nothing else, nothing important, anyway.
She let out a huge breath and darted away, her surroundings becoming a blur of colors and shapes until she finally stopped at the hunter's apartment to retrieve the files Klaus had the good sense to bring with him.
She leafed through the files, stopping only when she found the names and phone numbers she was looking for. Witches, wizards, mediums, vampires, shamans... She wasn't about to leave anything to chance.
Her hands squeezed into fists, Caroline felt her confusion and anger increase after every call, every refusal. For the most part, they were coming mainly from witches and wizards but also of some mediums and even vampires who refused to obey her orders without explaining themselves.
She glanced down at her phone in disbelief when the last call ended. It was after a conversation with one of her friend that Caroline learned that a spiteful medium had seen the confrontation with the Bennett witch and had started going around spreading rumors. Since then, many of them thought Klaus was enfeebled and didn't consider him capable of retaliating.
"So, it's true? He really did it?" Dina asked with awe and fear and an excitement that she wasn't trying to hide. She loved conducting experiments, loved to use her powers to see what was inside supernatural beings and try to change the way they functioned. Until now, all her experiments had failed, the balance of nature not allowing her to succeed but Dina didn't seem to get tired of trying, she actually continued with more elation.
Caroline could imagine her at the moment, red curls framing her heart-shaped face, smiling with an almost childish excitement. Whoever looked at her would not suspect that she had once eviscerated a werewolf with bare hands.
"Goodbye, Dina," Caroline mumbled, hanging up.
Caroline swore she would kill that medium, very slowly, but decided that she most urgently needed to ensure their safety, and for that she needed reinforcements.
She called every vampire and human Klaus had already compelled and posted near the witches and wizards who had sworn allegiance to him – or had been forced to – in case one of them ever thought of challenging him, instructing them to convince the recalcitrants in any manner whatsoever and to kill those who still refused to accept the second chance she offered them.
She compelled a school teacher named Laura to kidnap two of her students and take them out of town to a place only Caroline knew and to then call the parents of the children to tell them that Caroline had a message for them.
"What is the message?" The woman asked, her voice trembling with real concern for the children.
"I'm sure they'll understand," Caroline replied and began to wait.
When their reaction to her threat took longer than she had anticipated, Caroline deduced the parents were surely trying to find their children with localization spells before accepting to submit to her will. She was getting bored, but not worried. She and Klaus had already taken precautions; the house they had chosen to retain hostages made the people inside untraceable by any forms of magic, Dina had ensured that.
Predictably, the couple ended up calling, the man apologizing and the woman assuring her that they would do whatever she would ask of them.
Over the next few hours, she bribed and threatened all those who dared to defy them, sincerely stunned when some of them refused to obey her orders at the expense of their loved ones' lives, claiming that serving an abomination would be a disgrace to their ancestor.
Caroline refused to feel guilty for the lives she took afterward.
She smiled, a pleased expression appearing on her face when she found out that more than half of them had decided to obey her. Servants of nature can be so stubborn.
She shallowed, her chest tight, and crossed the name of the last person she had commanded to kill off the list, a little girl with a shy smile who, according to the file, would have been ten this year. She hadn't been the only one who meet her death because of the decision of a parent, of a sibling, or of a friend. Files on those who had refused to get into line were spread out around Caroline along with smaller files on their families and friends. There was a photograph on each file, dozens of photographs smiling up at Caroline, dozens of names she'd neatly crossed off her list.
She took a deep breath and began to tidy things up. It would be light soon and there was still a lot of people she had to see.
She wasn't broken.
She'd never allowed that possibility, had struggled to rebuild herself every time she'd been about to fall apart, had found the will to live and the strength to forget the noticeable bitterness in her mouth, that sourness that, if she focused on it, spread in her mouth and then into the rest of her body, like a poison, slow and effective.
She had succeeded, but the cracks were apparent to anyone looking closely, her laughter had lost its clearness, muffled by too many years spent reminiscing past mistakes – some done to her and some done by her – and many people would call what she was a ruin, unlike the ancient monument still standing after centuries of hardships she fancied herself as.
Klaus didn't see her as any of these things. She wasn't broken for him, or damaged, but an unfinished work of art, always altering before his eyes, changing into something more surprising, more unexpected, more unpredictable, cool colors splattered onto warm colors and blending to create something unique.
He wasn't hanging on to the memory of the girl he'd loved – and would be unable to respect now – when he'd been another person or to the idea of the woman – the vampire – he would like to see her become. He loved her for who she was, no matter how different she could be. And Caroline was sure she was addicted to this facet of his love, the one that accepted instead of demanded. Could be in love with the way he looked at her more than with the man he was.
We are everlasting, sweetheart, it goes without saying that we are ever-changing, too. Why would you want to be limited to one single version of yourself?
His eyes didn't blink as they opened and faced the bright rays of sunlight pouring down on him, a slow and pleased smile stretching his lips, his habitual impatience at bay, quietly delighted with the triumph he had longed for for a thousand years.
Caroline's breath caught when he looked at her in this way again, like he marveled at seeing her, like he was as fascinated by her as he had been the first day of she arrived in this town – village then – and she could feel the heat of it slipping away from him to engulf her, ravage her. He seemed happy to see her, thrilled to share that moment with her.
His triumph and happiness were contagious, a warm embrace cradling her, unhurriedly dragging her to him. She laid a hand on his cheek and looked as his eyelids fluttered, his eyes open but his long eyelashes drawing shadows on his skin. Then she was rolling in the grass, a pair of arms holding her tightly.
She huffed a laugh while trying to pretend to be annoyed after leaves attached themselves to her hair, especially when his smile became a smirk, but she was so close to him, the heat of his body going through the layers of clothing she was wearing and his scent floating to her with a slight breeze: fresh blood – so much blood – and burned wood and wet leaves and when she stooped to rest her cheek against his, she also could smell salty water clinging to his golden curls and the nape of his neck, the familiar scent of paint and paper absent for once.
She murmured something about Elijah, how he would soon be there to make sure Klaus was holding up his end of their deal, only too happy to give in when he muttered against her lips that they still had plenty of time.
She slipped into the back seat, ignoring Stefan's irritated sigh as she started chatting with him. She asked him questions, trying to make up for lost time. How was he doing in high school? Was it everything he had hoped for? How did he meet Elena? How was Lexie? Was Damon still the same asshole?
As she kept talking, she saw incredulity in his eyes, silent questions too and she knew that he wondered how she could know him so well. His fears when he enrolled in high school, his shame and selfishness for attempting to have a normal life despite being a danger to other students, his eternal conflict with Damon and his deep friendship with Lexie who had become his anchor over the years.
She had intentionally revealed more than she was supposed to know about him, giggling a little when she looked at his bewildered face. If his eyes became any wider, they would burst out of his eye sockets. Caroline considered telling him that it was he who had confessed all this to her in the first place, back when he was emotionless, and that he'd even laughed heartily when he'd recalled all his ridiculous fears, but decided that it should wait until it was opportune to give him back his memories.
He gave monosyllabic answers to all her questions, which was far from satisfying but she decided to accept that for the moment.
Stefan continued tapping his fingers against the car window, almost with impatience, until Klaus snapped at him to stop. He did as he was asked and stiffened, looking out the window. He was in a bad mood that day, more than usual, and she didn't need to ask why. Klaus had ordered him to kill a pretty brunette the night before and had made it clear that Stefan had to make the torture last. Caroline was sure that the resemblance between that girl and Elena hadn't gone unnoticed by Klaus when he'd chosen her or by Stefan when he'd heard her beg for mercy, and then for a quick death, once she hadn't been able to take the pain anymore.
"You shouldn't mourn her," Caroline said, exasperated. "She was just like all those Petrova sluts, she'd have destroyed your relationship with your brother." She frowned, remembering Tatia and Klaus and Elijah and how her lies had estranged the two brothers. They never fully recovered from that quarrel. Beyond Caroline's hungry, possessive heart, it had been what made her resent Tatia even after her death. "She'd have cheated on you, too, and even if she hadn't, she definitely would have ended up aging and dying. What kind of difference does it make that it happened a little sooner?"
Her diatribe only made Stefan more irascible, his frown deepening, and Klaus smirked at her, clearly amused by her efforts.
Raising an eyebrow, Caroline crossed her arms over her chest. Really? He could laugh but so far he hadn't been luckier than she and Caroline could see that forcing Stefan to kill every night and day was not a good strategy if he was going to be so gloomy afterward.
She tried to make conversation with Stefan again, after a while only to make him as annoyed as she was, then decided that her phone would be a better distraction. They had not yet found any werewolf and she was already exhausted by the prolonged boredom she felt trapped in the car.
Things were supposed to settle down after Klaus broke the curse but instead it looked like they were going to be on the road looking for their deadly enemies for a long time to come.
They finally arrived in Tennessee and found what they were looking for.
The women Stefan killed that night led them to a werewolf named Ray, which led them to the pack of werewolves they researched, which led them to a dead end.
Each werewolf woke up with bloodshot eyes, weaker than baby vampires, wobbling, and, in some cases, unable to stand upright, gasping for air they should not have needed and coughing blood they should have been able to drink. A far cry from the powerful and obedient soldiers Klaus wanted to create.
By the end of the day, they were all dead, having choked on their own blood or been killed by Klaus.
The air was heavy with blood and death and excrement, the remnants of dreams he had envisioned all his live encircling him in a putrid heap of guts and shit and his goal once more unreachable.
"Klaus," she said carefully as she lowered Stefan's wounded arm, acutely aware that he was likely to lash out at any moment, "he needs your blood."
Fathomless eyes met hers and she shivered. Unconsciously, she took a step back. Stefan cautiously imitating her immediately after, already sweating. She could almost feel Klaus' lethal anger and frustration stemming from him, and waited for the unavoidable outburst, unsure how it would emerge.
She expected it but still winced when the beer bottle Klaus was holding was smashed against a tree. For some reason, Caroline's eyes focused on the dozens of tiny, silver-looking, glass shards slowly descending to the ground. For a moment, she was oblivious to her surroundings. Klaus' angry shout made her raise her head, startled.
He seethed and yelled and raged until, finally, he calmed down a little as he muttered that he did everything that was asked of him. He looked downcast as he said he killed the doppelganger, the element he had been looking for during centuries, the one that was supposed to solve all his problems. Our problems, Caroline thought bitterly.
To her surprise, she didn't need to convince him to cure Stefan.
She didn't get to say a word before Klaus told them he wanted to be alone. Stefan didn't need to be told twice, but Caroline stayed behind.
He was fuming in rage and dejection, his calm doing nothing to hide his violent and volatile mood or that gleam of despair and madness that she knew all too well in his eyes.
Taking a deep, steadying breath, she walked on to him.
"Leave, Caroline," he said, his voice tense with his desire to snap at her like she knew he wanted to but had wisely decided to suppress. "I need to be alone," he insisted, almost snarling.
She knew what he was afraid of. He was scared he would physically take his frustrations out on her like he did with Rebekah so many times before, and try as she might, she was sure it was not hurting her that he wanted to avoid the most but her reaction if he did. He knew she wouldn't stand to be treated like that.
He flinched when she took his hand in hers, the look he gave her sending shivers down her spine. For a short moment, she believed he didn't recognize her as he looked at her without seeing her, and this moment reminded her so much of the ones she had endured when he was still under the curse of the Five that she pulled her hand away from his. Her shudder of fear seemed to be what brought Klaus back to reality and caused him to catch her hand before it could slip completely away from him.
His thumb caressed her palm, his gestures deliberately calming. Caroline didn't relax, but did feel more centered when she allowed herself to finally breathe.
She intertwined their fingers together and moved closer to him, noting the way he inhaled sharply when her head touched his shoulder before he wrapped an arm around her waist almost hesitantly. He brushed his lips to her hair, breathing in the scent of her hair, and holding her more firmly to him. She tucked her head under his chin and closed her eyes, but her mind was already drifting elsewhere, just like his.
She thought of all the possibilities, all the reasons why the transformations could have failed and eventually found none. Klaus had been meticulous, had followed the instructions he'd been given to the letter and she found no explanation for the phenomenon she witnessed all day and night.
"It looks like you're the only one I have left," he whispered in her hair and now more than ever she wanted to push him away from her, more put out than she had been when he shouted in rage.
He had said these words as if they were a condemnation, as if being with her was something he only contented himself with. As if he had resigned himself to this alternative. Always, alwaysthe second best.
She bolted away from him, putting some distance between them, despite his unwavering grip. She wondered when his lost eyes meet hers if he could see in her eyes how hurt and angry she felt, but above all betrayed. A detached part of her couldn't help but be impressed by the new way he'd found to twist a dagger in her heart.
She was the only thing he had left. Because he had managed to drive away everyone who was ever close to him and even more people who could have been. Because being close to Klaus was the equivalent of agreeing to be consumed in the hope of offering him a little light. One that, in the end, he might not even accept, or that he might discard once he did, tired by the same brightness and having already spotted another that hadn't been reduced to a dim glow by his presence. Not many people wanted to be used so carelessly.
But she did. She had agreed to be there for him when he needed her and had trusted him to know her limits. She had given herself to him and had stupidly believed he would do the same for her.
He had, once – lifetimes ago –, when the best part of his days was to see her by the lake, eagerly waiting for him and greeting him with melting kisses that they would exchange until they would both have to go back to their chores.
When they had spent summer nights under the stars planning unrealizable projects, adrenaline flowing in their veins after having escaped their parents' vigilance and going to their heads, making the possibility of returning to the Old World and getting away from Mikael and werewolves and witches more feasible than it had truly been.
When he had ventured into the woods during a full moon night to find her and bring her back home after she had sprained her ankle
When she'd become ill and he'd stopped by every day to see her, regularly sporting a new injury that had made her blood boil and her fingers itch to claw Mikael's eyes out, but always happy to be with her, asking how she was and if she needed anything and never complaining when she would light-heartedly decide to give him a hard time and ask him to read to her stories of the book that her father had given her.
From the day they met until their death and even after, he had given her his entire attention, and then his irrevocable love.
Of course, she had been aware of the monster lurking beneath his skin, the one nobody had paid enough attention to see, not even Rebekah, but Caroline had, and she had noticed the viciousness, the savagery barely contained in his eyes, in his posture and in his movements. She had even been frightened by it, rejecting his advances on more than one occasion, but her hostility had only encouraged him until she had finally given in one evening when her father had been absent and she had felt particularly lonely, she had asked him to come and dine with her that night, then the next and the next after that, and when her father had come back she had made excuses to leave the table earlier and had gone to join Klaus.
It had been flattering to be the only person with the exception of his siblings being treated with so much kindness by him. Every time his eyes had fell on her, she had been persuaded that his world had narrowed down until she had been the only person he could see, the only one that mattered to him. He had never looked at anyone this way, whether it was Tatia or someone else.
Caroline tried, almost frantically, to remember when that had changed, tried to pinpoint the moment she had become just another of his many priorities, but couldn't.
There was a good reason why she never dwelt on memories of her former life, she only did it when she was miserable and recalling what she had lost only deepened the hole she could feel in her heart, cutting always a little deeper into her invisible wound, until Caroline would regret having even completed the transformation which had granted her her eternal life.
She felt all her anger spilling out of her, leaving her vulnerable to her sadness and regrets, a deep exhaustion taking hold of her. Will this everend?
It was his turn to reach out for her hand, leaning in as his larger hand closing over hers when he felt it jerk, already tugging away from him. If she'd been human, he would have crushed her bones to dust, even now she felt a shiver of pain in the tips of the fingers he clutched tightly.
A spark of anger lit up in her – maybe it was never quenched – and Caroline was seized by an almost irrepressible urge to break each of his fingers until he would let go of her, desiring to inflict on him a tiny fraction of the pain that seemed to be a part of her.
"And I don't know what I would do without you," he said, looking at her intently with those blue eyes she'd found herself drowning in more than once. Before she could say anything, his lips rested on her cheek, their warmth clinging to her skin made cold by the icy air of the night, her skin tingling wherever he dragged his lips. He was whispering words then, half-truths she longed for, reassuring and calming, alleviating the tightness of her chest and granting her the illusion of love and family.
She was too bone-tired to question his words. And even if she did, what good would come out of it? If he was actually lying then he would go on until he was able to convince her of his sincerity. And she wanted to believe in his words, she could at least admit that.
Her lips clashed against his, silently asking him to distract her and then she was drowning again, deliciously heavy as she sank ever deeper.
Caroline could remember the confusion that had made her head spin every time she woke up in a new world, her emotions heightened, sharpening the treason she'd felt at being betrayed by someone she loved.
That was why she put up with Rebekah's foul mood without complaining despite all the harsh words that were quivering at the tip of her tongue when her friend was being particularly bitchy.
"Not any more than you are," Stefan remarked after Caroline forced him to listen to her. She'd never said she would put up with Rebekah's bullshit with good grace and she did need a friend. She'd forgotten that her friend's personality had reverted to something that was closer to the one he'd had in the twenties rather than the one he'd adopted when he'd pretended to be a high schooler. He was just as cynical and frank as he'd been then but also a lot less fun, and still restraining himself, even when he tore bodies to pieces.
If Stefan had seemed overwhelmed by the memories and emotions of another time, another life, after getting back his memories, it had been short lived and he'd immediately tried to distance himself from his former lover after Rebekah had put her arms around his neck to kiss him. And since then, he was avoiding her and seemed to be totally indifferent to her when he was in her presence. Actually, the barbs he threw at her rivaled Kol's. And Klaus was just too amused to pay Rebekah's hurt feelings any mind.
Rebekah claimed to consider it when Caroline suggested they go shopping alone but she knew Rebekah was only too happy, and even relieved, to get away from Klaus and Stefan.
"Gloria will retrieve your necklace," Caroline assured her absent-mindedly. It was not the first time she'd made this promise in order to calm the other original and each time Caroline sounded a little more aloof, tired of having to repeat it again and again.
"What if she doesn't?" Rebekah snapped.
"Then I'll listen to you whine about it for a long time," she singsonged, unable to stop herself and earning a glare from her friend. "Try this one," Caroline piped up, seeing the dresses that the saleswoman they'd compelled had just brought back from the storehouse for them. She held out the gray sleeveless dress that caught her eye.
"It's really not my style," Rebekah said as she inspected the dress, still getting used to the new fashion, but ended up sneaking into the dressing room for a while before coming out to look at her reflection in the large mirror. The saleswoman hovered patiently, waiting for Rebekah to choose whether she'd buy it or not.
Feeling her phone vibrate, Caroline's hand fumbled into her purse, smiling once she read the message and writing a quick reply to Klaus before leaning back into the plush armchair.
He'd gone out of his way to please her since the hybrid fiasco, soliciting her opinion when he would seek out a witch to help him and occasionally offering to stop somewhere for several weeks when he'd perceive how tired Caroline was of being on the road and asking her to come with him when he was meeting potential allies. The very fact that he was trying was surprising in itself because he'd decided to do so for someone's else sake – it didn't matter that it was for her, he wouldn't gain anything out of it, and that made his actions uncharacteristic – when he didn't concern himself with anyone's problems but his.
It was easy to forget all the doubts that had pestered her that night when her heart pounded in her chest as it did now, her pulse quickening and blood rushing to her cheeks, making her feel infinitely younger than he was.
The sound of fingers drumming against a flute snapped her attention back to Rebekah who had apparently chosen the dress in another color and was not so patiently waiting for Caroline to finish answering to her brother.
"Are you done sexting?" Asked a bored-looking Rebekah.
Caroline locked the screen and quickly tossed her phone aside, raising an eyebrow and tilting her head as she looked up at Rebekah.
"You are catching up with the twenty-first century."
"Does that mean you were?"
"No, I really was not," she said, sure that her guilty smile would betray her.
Technically, she hadn't been, The message Klaus sent her was primarily letting her know how much he missed her, but he did add one or two lines detailing everything he wanted to do with her once he'd have her all to himself.
"I sure believe you," Rebekah snorted. "No, I really don't want to hear it," she protested when she saw Caroline's lips parting to tell her something she'd evidently already decided she didn't want to know.
Caroline let out a chuckle. She'd forgotten how the simplicity of those moments with Rebekah was comforting, warming her from within. She basked in the soothing warmth, so different from the painfully scorching intensity of her relationship with Klaus.
Gods, how long had it been since she'd seen her friends?
She was not as surprised as she should have been by Stefan's betrayal, or by Gloria's, a small part of her might even sympathize with them. There was nothing amusing about being under Klaus' thumb, especially not when he required absolute obedience and loyalty from his lackeys.
She followed Stefan for a while, staying out of sight and waiting patiently until she had the information she was looking for.
What Gloria said confirmed Caroline's suspicions, the enormity of the revelation making her thoughts whirl agitatedly in her head. Not only was Elena alive, which she suspected was the reason Klaus' hybrids died after being turned, but she also had Rebekah's necklace.
That explained a lot.
The doppelganger had somehow survived the sacrifice, leaving the ritual incomplete, and Stefan was trying to keep her safe and away from Klaus, lying and hiding important information. He had for a while now, presumably since long before she'd seen him talking to Katherine after she and Rebekah had dragged him to their shopping trip. Stefan's fleeting glances and his strange behavior made sense now.
Klaus would be delighted to have the solution to his hybrid problem. Or furious to have been betrayed by one of the very few friends he really valued. But he must have expected it when he'd asked her to track Stefan.
"I think," he'd said, wiping his paint-stained hands on a damp rag, "that our dear friend hides something from us." Caroline had no need to ask him what made him think that, her secret weighing heavily on her conscience. She'd nodded, silently encouraging him to say more. "He's hiding something from us, I can tell. His brother is not around, therefore I'm certain it's not him he meets in secret when he slips away, but there's definitely something he's hiding, and I want you to find out what it is."
"What do you want me to do?" She'd asked
"I want you to follow him, discreetly. Stefan is wary of me, and he's always careful of what he does or says. You, on the other hand," he'd tucked a lock of her golden hair behind her ear, "he doesn't consider you as a threat."
"That's the good thing about not having killed his girlfriend in front of him," she'd mused.
He'd nodded again, his smile wide and his teeth gleaming. "He thinks of you as my girlfriend, his former game partner in the twenties, and his nagging friend now. He doesn't know what you are capable of. The same goes for Rebekah; he's awfully carefree with her, maybe even a little too much for his own good. If you don't discover anything, I will send my sister fishing for information."
She hadn't commented, but she did understand why Klaus had bend over backwards instead of compelling Stefan to divulge whatever he'd been hiding. He wanted an army of soldiers with no purpose whatsoever but the one he would plant in their head but he also yearned for genuine, freely given loyalty, that he was unlikely to ever get when his method for acquiring it was horribly unhelpful.
Any friendship she'd had for Stefan, and which had deterred her from warning Klaus about the little reunion she'd watched between him and Katherine disappeared quickly, and before any of them could make a single move to defend themselves she had Gloria's heart in her hand while her body went flaccid and Stefan's neck was promptly broken before he could try to form a lie.
"Well well, what did Stefan do to you?" Asked Rebekah, with a raised eyebrow, without looking up from the magazine she was holding.
There was a time she wouldn't have tolerated Caroline hurting him and their argument would have rapidly turned into a fight, but the disinterest Stefan had shown had seemingly vexed and hurt Rebekah more than Caroline believed.
Klaus looked up, his posture relaxed as he stalked forward, but his eyes burning with a cold, calculated, fury. He glanced down at Stefan at their feet and asked her what happened, his face growing darker when Caroline informed him about the conversation she heard between Stefan and Gloria.
When she finished, a cruel smile stretched Klaus' lips. He seemed equally determined and murderous and Caroline figured what he was going to demand before he formulated it, had already deduced where they were going and what they were going to do once there.
He caught her hand before they entered the building of Mystic Falls High School and she inquisitively glanced over to him when he halted, knowing he wanted to retrieve the doppelganger as fast as possible.
"I swear it will be over after that, Caroline," he promised, his eyes burning earnestly.
It dawned on her that she wasn't the only one who believed his lies.