They´d been driving until they reached an airport. Caroline numbly followed Klaus inside wondering where they were going. They stood in front of the ticket counter where Klaus turned to finally speak to her again.

"Seattle" was all he said, as he pointedly tilted his head towards the counter. It took her a second to comprehend, but once she understood, she tiredly walked to compel them their tickets. Her vampire hearing picked up a whispered. "First class, love" on the way.

Less than an hour later, they were seated as the sole first class passengers on a plane to Seattle airport. Klaus set next to her, relaxed but somehow he did not seem content.

"So, what´s in Seattle?" Caroline asked.

"Werewolves. Lots of them." he responded with a smirk. Caroline frowned, the ordeal she had watched Tyler go through jus t the other night still made her stomach ache. Now she had the feeling that there would be more of that in her future.

Tiredly, she decided to check her phone before she´d be forced to put it off for the flight. She found a message from Tyler.

- WHERE ARE YOU? -

She gulped.

"How´s Tyler?" he asked absent-mindedly as he watched the stewardesses.

Caroline scoffed at him in annoyance. Quickly she texted Tyler. "On my way to Seattle." Then she turned off her phone.

"Care to join me for a drink, love?" Klaus suddenly asked. She followed his gaze towards the flight attendants.

"Nope, thanks."

"Suit yourself." With that, he was gone. He did not come back until the flight was already up in the air, in his hands he held two flutes of champagne.

"Here love, that should help you relax."

Caroline took her glass hesitantly. Somehow she was not sure if relaxing around her new boss was a good idea, but then again, she needed to drink SOMETHING. Or at least, she needed to not start a war over one glass of champagne. Klaus was busy looking around the cabin innocently, while sipping from his glass. Finally, she gulped down the entire glass, placing it on the table in front of her. The second the glass touched the table, Klaus´ eyes were fixed on her again. She felt uncomfortable under his scrutiny.

"What ?" she asked.

"Nothing" he hummed innocently. As if on cue, her vision suddenly got blurry, just for a second. The next thing she knew was Klaus pulling her into his arms, while lifting her legs onto her former seat. She tried to struggle against lying in his arms, but suddenly she felt groggy again.

"Relax, sweetheart. Our flight attendant was kind enough to give you a tiny overdose of sleeping pills. When you´ll wake up again, you´ll be already in Seattle, safe and sound." she felt his hands caressing her cheeks and her hair, as her eyes slowly fell shut. The last thing she felt was his hand on hers.

She woke up in a hotel room. Her head buzzed from having died of a narcotic overdose and having to revive herself. As comforting as the knowledge of not being able to literally die by normal mortal means is, death is still death. It sucks. Great, within less than 48 hours she´d had her neck snapped and got poisoned. Lovely. As she slowly stumbled out of bed, she noticed her cell phone lying next to another black phone. There was a note, too. Have a good first day at work. Klaus. Looking further, she also found a small, black notebook in a black leather carrier bag next to the night stand. Was this for her?

"Morning, love." she suddenly heard a familiar British accent say behind her. She turned around in exasperation.

"You killed me."

"You were going to ask questions, and I felt more like having a quiet evening. Plus, I thought you could use the rest. But at least I did not snap your neck or something gruesome like that, give me points for that." he smirked.

"Are those for me?" she asked pointing confusedly at the notebook and the phone.

"Yes. The phone is the most important thing for now, basically I gave its number to all of my current informants, and I am pretty sure you´ll already find a few texts and missed calls when you turn it on. Your main task is to filter. At the moment, I mostly care about making hybrids, so anything pertaining to finding werewolves is your top priority, however you´ll probably receive other types of information as well. Your job is to weed out anything that is not a priority and give me a summary by the end of the day, while filling me in immediately on anything that is important. Oh, and I recommend you check the information for reliability, after all you probably won´t be keen on organizing road trips to places that prove futile to my cause, love."

Caroline was overwhelmed. Seriously? Klaus had just given her an all-access phone to all of his informants. She shuddered at the kind of power that was connected to it.

"Wait... didn´t you say there are wolves here? Why do you need to send out informants for other places then?"

"First, one of my informants only told me there is definitely a huge pack here, but I still need to find at least one of them. Secondly, I am not content with just turning one pack. Thirdly, just do as you´re told. I´ll explain later, maybe. Oh, and yes, every information perceived on this phone counts as information on me, so love, you´ll find that the compulsion you´re under will prohibit you from divulging any of that to your friends."

Caroline sat down onto the bed, and turned on the phone. True to Klaus´ words, there already were five messages and two missed calls.

"Speaking of compulsion, I require you to put yourself on vervain. Preferably, I want you to put up a tolerance for it."

She looked up at him. "Is that an order?"

His hands found their way through her curls. "The part about drinking it, yes. I really don´t want my siblings being able to compel my private assistant. It would be most uncanny. The part about the tolerance, well, consider it a friendly suggestion. It makes you less vulnerable and it might even make you stronger, little baby vampire."

"How am I supposed to wield through all of these texts and calls and find out which information is worth your time." she asked.

"You´ll figure it out. Don´t worry, I won´t expect you to not screw up for the first six months, love."

"I don´t even know who these people are, how am I supposed to trust their word or their judgment"

"Like I said, you´ll figure it out, but since I am not a complete bastard of a boss, I took the liberty of putting some basic information, like where I stationed them, what specie, job, true age into the phone along with their numbers."

With that he went to the door. Before he left, he turned to face her once more. "Oh, and love. You´re not my prisoner. You´re free to venture about town as long as you do your job properly. Plus, I am sure you have a few things to do, like getting a decent cup of coffee, you look slightly overwhelmed. Or like tracking down a hospital, so you can get some blood bags. Maybe do some sight-seeing. Enjoy your day, I´ll see you tonight for your report."

Caroline fell back onto her bed in exhaustion. She had a lot to process. Panic started to flood her. She had no idea what she was doing and even less idea of how she was going to survive this. There was a silent scream caught inside her throat. She was close to hyperventilating. The last time she had been this freaked out when faced with a task was when she had first auditioned for the cheerleading squad. She remembered, how badly she wanted to get in, how badly she wanted to have something else she would impress any other mother but her own with. How badly she wanted to have something that she would be better at doing than her friends. In all honesty, she had been close to a nervous breakdown in a bathroom stall at school a mere day before the tryouts. But then she had clung to her "one-step-at-a-time"- philosophy, and clung to her choreography like it was a life line. One step at a time.

She slowly sat up and grabbed her new phone. She found Klaus in it, on speed dial, and she was slightly surprised that he had not put his name under master or Original Hybrid, but simply as Klaus. She found his name was the only one that had no further information saved in the entire address book. She read through all the names and information within two hours, she could not remember all of it, but by associating dumb questions to the profiles or sarcastic comments, she had at least the basics down. With a sigh she got up. Leaving the room, she took note of her room number. Before she left the lobby for the nearest coffee shop, she briefly went to the front desk, asking them about wireless internet availability in her room and organizing herself a map of the city along with a card of the hotel, in case she got lost and needed the address. There was a starbucks right around the corner.

However, instead of entering, she went into the book store next to it. Buying herself a leathered journal as well as a pen. Then she went for her coffee. She ordered something that was basically a quadrupled espresso in a frappuccino. Anyway, it contained enough sugar and caffeine that she had to compel the waitress to mix it for her.

She sat down in a quieter corner and opened the first texts. During her profile research time, a lot more had come and she even had ignored one call. Now she was working through it all.

A 200 year old vampire by the name of Carlos had allegedly spotted a pack around Tijuana. Great, more drug overdoses coming my way. She texted him back immediately. Define "spotted." Give me details. She briefly wondered under which name all of these contacts had saved her number. Klaus assistant? Klaus´ slave? Did they know her real name or were they thinking that they were still texting Klaus?

A witch named Silvie told him she had obtained a new grimoire. Caroline wondered what he could want with a grimoire in Pittsburgh, but figured it ´d be something for her report.

She found calling them back was tougher. The first call she made was to Corinna. A 643 year old vampire from Las Vegas.

"Hey. Is this Corinna." Caroline asked hesitantly.

"Yes. You´re the girl Klaus told us to contact?"

"Yup. What´s up?"

"There´s a pack here. "

"In Vegas?"

"Yes." Great, what will I get for waking up in Vega? Seattle got me a drug overdose, maybe I´ll play a round of Russian Roulette there.

"Do you know anything about that pack or did you just hear about them?"

Then Corinna told her everything she knew. Gathering places. the name of a few members. Turns out she knew more than Carolos from Tijuana, but not enough to make Caroline want to call Klaus ASAP. After that call, Caroline compelled herself a taxi to the nearest hospital, easily stealing a cooler worth of blood, though in order to not cause any shortages, she took care to mix the blood types. On her way back, she called a Seattle-based witch, asking her about the local pack. Since said witch was the only local contact listed in the phone. However, oddly enough, the witch claimed to have no knowledge of any pack. Making lemonade out of lemons, Caroline obtained a source for vervain from her, so she´d take care of her most recent order, before going back to the hotel. It was 4 in the afternoon by the time she returned.

In the hotel, she opened her new notebook and immediately went online. For a second she hesitated, not sure what she was looking for, but mere minutes later she knew. She searched for the dates of the last 24 full moons, scribbling them down on paper, then searched for local news papers around Tijuana (noting that Carlos still owed her a text, so he just send him a second text, hating him already for making this even harder on her) and Las Vegas. She found two strange reports of animal attacks centering around the areas of the city Corinna had mentioned. However, she found none so far in Tijuana, though it could just mean that this pack is more careful.

She quickly texted Klaus.

- Your only local source knows nothing about werewolves, however it looks like you´ll need to go to Las Vegas pretty soon. - Secretly, she hoped he´d station her behind in Seattle.

Then she spent two more hours online, researching all the other clues she´s received, while typing off her report to Klaus.

After that, she was done. The phone, after buzzing all day, went quiet. Finally, she was out of excuses to not call Tyler or any other of her friends. Now she was forced to deal with the cold reality of homesickness, guilt and fear.

Timidly, she pressed the dial button to call Tyler.

After Tyler had recovered from turning into a hybrid, they had stood quietly for a few minutes. Before he had gently intertwined their fingers. Pressing his forehead against hers. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yes. Are you?" he had asked back, referring to her encounter with Klaus.

And just like that she had lied. He had just barely survived this, the last thing she needed was him doing something reckless or getting upset. She´d tell him later. Then she had not known that she would be leaving town the same night. "Yes" she said, with her best smile.

So he let her into the hallway. Their hands were still joined together.

"You´re sure you´re okay?" she had asked, knowing she´d feel like asking the same question over and over again for quite some time in the future.

He had smiled, when he answered her. "Great Caroline. I´m like phenomenal. It´s a rush. I wish I could explain it." And honestly, she had wished he could, too. How could she be so glad that he was okay and be so worried about it at the same time?

He contently had added: "Everything is just better" and just like that she had felt even guilty for not telling him about her deal with Klaus just yet. After all, it was her own fault, had she not snapped and pissed of the Original jerk, her life would still be okay.

She gave him a small smile, trying to just enjoy the fact that he was okay. He smiled back, and before she could do anything about it, he had her scooped up in his arms, whirling her around in the air. By the time, he let her back onto her feet, she was smiling and giggling. He really seemed okay.

And then they had kissed, and just like that she had felt okay again.

"This is going to be an amazing year." He had promised her. Then reality set back in and as she hugged him closely, she felt like she was ruining their amazing year together already. She had made a deal with whatever consequences with the devil.

Tyler picked up after the first ring.

"Care, where the hell are you?"

"In Seattle."

"Come back."

"I will, but not right now. I can´t."

"Damon told him about what happened between you and Klaus, why didn´t you tell me?"

"Because you nearly died, and at the time I did not think I would not get the chance to tell you in person later. I am sorry. I know I messed up, but you were dying and I was so angry and before I knew it was my life or yours... and I am so so sorry."

"Care, come back, we´ll work this out."

"Tyler, he compelled me."

"When will you be back?"

"Soon, I hope." She honestly didn´t know. Klaus had briefly alluded to them returning eventually, but he never specified when exactly.

" I miss you."

" I miss you, too."

Again, as if on cue, Klaus chose that moment to enter the room. "I gotta go Tyler, take care, okay?"

"How´s my hybrid?"

"Pissed at his girlfriend." Caroline mumbled.

"That´s rather foolish, how could a guy be pissed at a girlfriend that is going out of her way to ensure his safety. But sounds like he´s healthy. So what was that about a trip to Vegas?"

"Your "friend" Corinna called about a pack there. I called her back and asked for specifics, and I found two suspicious newspaper articles about mysterious animal attacks around two full moons in the same area, so it sounds believable."

"Good. Organize our trip there for the day after tomorrow, and since I assume it´s your first time there, pick an interesting hotel." So he was not going to leave her behind, she thought with a sigh.

"Oh, and tell my sister I expect her to move in with the Salvatore brothers within the next week."

"What?" Caroline nearly fell of her bed.

"Just do it." he said, as he strolled into her bathroom, taking a bath robe and a towel with him.

"What are you doing?" she asked, incredulously.

"Taking a shower." he informed her with a smirk.

"Can´t you do that in your room?"

"Don´t you mean our room, love?" he teased. And with that he went to take a shower.

Caroline looked around in exasperation. So this was not her room, it was theirs? The room had a huge bath room and that was it, no second bed, nothing second as a matter of fact. Wait a second, that means, last night, he... OH MY GOD! Seriously?! She went with her fingers through her hair and once again let herself fall onto her bed, and that would have been enough until she remembered it was going to be THEIR bed for at least two more nights. Finally she settled down onto the window sill, and tried to calm down. When her breathing was even again, she did as she had been told and texted Rebekah the info.

Then she decided to text Elena. However, she found that she could not type further than "Hi Elena, just so you know... " Damn compulsion, she thought. There was only one way she´d be able to give her friend a much needed headsup.

Scoffing, she tiptoed towards the bathroom door and knocked. "Klaus?" she called.

"Yes love, care to join me?" she could already visualize his smirk.

"No, thank though. May I PLEASE give Elena a headsup on Rebekah moving in with the Salvatores? Please, I know you probably don´t care, because you don´t, but she really does not need any more bad surprises right now."

She heard the shower stop. There was a rustling sound, probably him grabbing a towel.

"Of course love, you may." his tone showed how much he relished in the power to decide whom she told what. "You may even add that I want Rebekah to enroll in your school, feel free to relay both pieces of information. "

Caroline felt relieve ease through her shoulders.

"Under one condition, though." she heard him say from the other room. Just like that the ease was gone again.

She took a step away, when she heard him approach the door. And there he stood in front of her, wearing nothing but a towel, making her wonder where that bath robe had disappeared to.

She gulped at the proximity.

"What condition, Klaus?"

"Join me for dinner." he grinned.