Hey everyone, sorry it's been such a long time but school and yada, yada, yada.

I was totally inspired by Castle and CSI New York for this one. I hope you like it, any details you recognise are mine, they either belong to the fantastic Castle creators of CSI NY creators.

I hope you enjoy and don't forget to tell me what you think at the end :D

Oneshot: Caroline and Klaus are detectives, they're called to figure out how a person died and have to work their way through a rigged house and puzzles.

New York City…

"911, what's your emergency?"

"I'm gonna' die, you've got to help me please!"

"Sir is there someone attacking you?"

"I'm at 20405 Central Park West East Penthouse, please hurry…please…"


"Stop that!" Caroline hissed as she pushed Klaus' feet off her desk, he smirked at her before she sucked in a deep breath as she readied herself to launch into a scolding speech for the dirty-blond haired man.

"Forbes, Mikaelson! In here, now." Caroline's head snapped to attention as she heard Alaric's voice reverberate through the entire 3rd floor of the building, she immediately stood to attention and strode towards the office before she scowled as she saw Klaus stride in line with her out of the corner of her eye.

"Captain Saltzman." Caroline greeted him as she stepped through the door, she heard the door slam shut behind her just as the brown haired man behind the desk slid across a file for the blond to swiftly take hold of and open.

"A 911 call?" Klaus scoffed behind Caroline as he scanned the report, "I thought we were more homicide than missing persons." He muttered though it was clearly loud enough for their Captain to hear.

"We are. But if you'll take a few more seconds to comprehend the report, Mikaelson, you'll soon learn why it's been directed towards us."

Klaus pursed his lips as the words fell together, he opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by the determined blond in front of him. "Dead man in the building."

"Correction, dead mummified man in the building by the name of Atticus Shane." Alaric stated causing both detectives to furrow their brows.

"Mummified…wait, so who made the 911 call?" Klaus questioned as he let his fingers grace over the detail on the report causing his skin to graze against Caroline's.

"A man named Marcellus Gerard."

"Is he in holding?" Caroline questioned not finding the details on the writing before her.

"No, it appears he's still in the penthouse owned by a man named Malakai Parker which is where the call came from," seeing the curious expression on both of their faces he continued, "when forensics processed the house they found no footprints leaving the house, only entering. The front door was bolted from the inside when officers went in. Phone records show Gerard did make the call from within the house."

"But they haven't been able to find him?" Alaric shook his head at Caroline.

"So I've decided to send you two in whilst the rest of the team will be processing the body and evidence already collected."

"Us two?" Caroline exclaimed as she heard Klaus' light chuckles resound in her ear whilst his breath hit her neck causing the hair on the nape of her neck stand on end. Alaric raised his brow.

"Is there a problem, Forbes?" Alaric asked narrowing his eyes as he glanced between the two.

"Of course not, Captain." She replied plastering a smile across her lips.

"Good because that 911 call was made 6 hours ago so I suggest you both get moving. Salvatore will meet you there and outline what they've found so far." Captain said as he nodded dismissing them.

"Don't get in my way Mikaelson." Caroline said as she grabbed her gun from the drawer of her desk as Klaus ambled past her.

"I wouldn't dream of it, love." He returned smirking at her, he raised his brow in challenge as she glared at him before rolling her eyes as she flipped her hair over her shoulder and strode down the hall towards the elevator.

"That's what you said last time…" she narrowed her eyes dangerously, "…and remember what happened…"

"Dammit, Mikaelson what the hell are you playing at?" She muttered to herself as she tightened her hold on her gun, the blond carefully edged her way around the van before freezing as her eyes locked onto the gun that was jammed against Klaus' throat whilst the arm of the dark haired man behind him was wrapped around his neck holding the blond-haired, blue-eyed man in a choke hold.

"Put the gun down-"

"Don't move-"

Caroline kept her eyes steady on the gun and the man who was now pulling Klaus back as they moved towards the fence behind them. "Let him go, Augustine!" Caroline shouted clearly as she kept her gun up pointed at him.

"Easy, easy." Klaus murmured as he felt himself be forced back.

"Klaus, you okay?" The blond asked sparing a glance in his direction.

"Yes!" The struggle echoed through the alley, "Psycho here could use a breath mint."

"Shut up!" Enzo hissed as he pushed his back against the corner of the fence trying to find a weak point which he could break through and use to get away.

"Ok, ok," Klaus panted before he composed himself, "you know what's bugging me, if you were that deep in debt, why didn't you just ask your father for money?"

Caroline saw the rage in Enzo's features build again, "Klaus, you're not helping!" She heard the blond hiss as Enzo slammed Klaus' side into the wall causing his bleeding leg to smash against the brick.

Not being deterred by the agony that shot through his knee, he continued, "You know what I think…I think you did ask and he said no. He always said no. Self-mannered man like that I think he thought you were weak for asking."

Enzo pressed the barrel of the gun harder into Klaus' neck whilst Caroline kept her eyes focused on Enzo, she slowly moved closer as the dark haired man spoke.

"He was the one who was weak," he spat out tightening his arm around Klaus neck, "I was trying to make something of my life but all he cared about was her."

Realization struck Klaus' features as the pieces began to fall in place, "That's why you killed her, it wasn't just for the money, you wanted to punish him before he died. Take away the only thing he loved."

Enzo slammed his foot against the fence as he tried to break it down, "Augustine, let him go. It's over!" Her voice echoed against the brick walls. Finding no way out of the alley, Enzo focused on Caroline as she moved closer.

"It's not over, it's not over! Drop the gun," he pulled the gun from Klaus' neck to point towards Caroline, "or I swear to God I'll-" He was halted as Klaus' elbow slammed into his nose throwing Enzo off balance and allowing the blond man to grab hold of his gun pointing it towards Augustine's direction as the dark haired man fell against the wall.

Caroline raced towards Enzo as she pulled his hands behind his back cuffing his wrists together whilst pushing his front into the wall.

"Good job-"Klaus began before he felt himself be forced against the wall by the petite blond.

"What the hell were you thinking? You could have gotten yourself killed, what part of stay in the car did you not understand?!" She said in a hard voice before looking at his leg, "You were shot in the leg for God's sake." She panted keeping her eyes locked on his, she gritted her teeth together as she saw a smirk peak from his lips. "Don't ever do that again!"

"Sweetheart, the safety was on the whole time." He gestured towards the gun before resting his head against the wall with a school-boy smirk. Caroline stilled as she glanced towards the gun before shaking her head in Klaus' direction.

"You know you could have told me." She hissed as she pulled Enzo to his feet.

"Now where's the fun in that..?"

"Just stay out of my way, Klaus."

"Of course, love." He replied in a soft reassuring tone but Caroline didn't buy it.

Especially with the smirk that he was sporting across his lips.


"We checked every room, closet, cross base, any place a person might hide or dead body could be stashed." Stefan spoke as he entered the main room.

"And all possible points of escape." Caroline added coming up behind Stefan as she looked around the main room.

The décor was simply old. The floor was covered in dark brown floorboards whilst there was a large square in the middle of the room made up of tiles creating a picture of an angel. The walls were dark and some areas were lined with cobwebs. The windows were stained coloured glass that would usually be found in churches but suited the old, decaying manner of the room.

"Marcellus Gerard's gotta' be in this penthouse," Klaus said as he glanced between Caroline and Stefan. His mind was running in circles as he looked around the room trying to find anything that seemed out of place but it was a particularly difficult feat as everything seemed to have arrived from a previous era.

"There's no evidence suggesting he ever got out of here." Caroline said supporting Klaus' opinion, a thing that only occurred once in a blue moon. Caroline had to admit that he was a good detective, an arrogant ass surely but a good detective nonetheless and sometimes she would find herself on the same page as him.

Pursing his lips Stefan eyed both detectives and sighing, "Do we rule out 'vanishing into thin air' cos were the hell could this guy have disappeared?" He earned an incredulous from both blond causing him to step back in a surrendering pose. "Just asking." He murmured.

Caroline turned to look back at the entrance before her eyes cause sight of the opening in the wall that had previously led them all to an undiscovered area. "Stef, you said on the first search of the apartment no one found the utility room?" Caroline squinted at the wall like appearance of the door which had mysteriously appeared once Stefan had returned with herself and Klaus, she bit at her lips as she turned back round slowly eyeing the walls.

"Yeah, it's like it popped up out of nowhere," a beat passed before he hummed out the theme tune of the Exorcist causing Caroline to scoff and Klaus to raise his brow unimpressed. Stefan may have been his best friend but on some days he was simply crazy.

"Out of nowhere, huh?" Caroline murmured tilting her head as her cornflower blue eyes locked onto the murky grey paint that coated the wall which stood behind two green vases and a bookstand. Nibbling her lower lip, she moved across the room as she grabbed a crating knife from the wooden table that stood before the windows and moved towards the wall. She brushed her hand against the cobweb pulling it away before setting the knife against the wall and using her strength to drag the metal along the wall and marking a cross.

Both Klaus and Stefan watched her carefully wondering what she was doing, they observed as she brushed her fingers of the marking and scratched at it. "There's…" she began as she put the knife to the side and grabbed a poker stick to dig into the marking she had carved. She continued digging through until grey dust fell to the ground causing her stop as she scratched at the material beneath the wall, "…there's concrete behind this plaster." She murmured hitting her fist against the wall allowing loose concrete pieces to fall. "It's pretty damn thick."

Klaus narrowed his eyes moving closer just as Stefan did, "Why would you have cement interior walls on the 25th floor of a New York City penthouse?"

"There could be hidden passages between these rooms?" Stefan replied, "Malakai Parker, the man who designed this place, could have put them in?" He said as he drew closer observing the concrete that had been discovered, he stepped onto a tile causing it to shift and move down.

"Stefan!" He heard both blonds shout causing him to jump forward as he felt the air shit behind him.

"What the hell?" Caroline whispered as they watched Stefan narrowly avoid being impaled on a rod with jagged metal edges on the end that were heading directly towards Stefan's back as it sliced through the air before shooting back up to the ceiling to be concealed by a tiny opening above them. "Stef, you okay?" Caroline asked concerned as the brunette's wide eyes were locked to the ceiling.

"Yeah." He breathed out swallowing hard. "What the hell was that?"

Klaus glanced at Caroline whilst the blond shared his look of curiosity and surprise, deciding to take charge he spoke, "Both of you move towards the door." He ordered keeping his eyes on the ceiling as he moved towards Caroline and gently pressed his hand against her back urging her to do so quickly. He pulled away as he felt the sliver of bare skin against her waist but pushed the feeling of her soft skin to the back of his mind, "Be careful." He stated following Caroline's movement with his eyes ensuring she got to Stefan safely.

Once the pair had arrived on the other side of the tiled floor having edged around it, Klaus carefully took an ornate metal statue and moved towards the tile that had released the spike. He glanced at Caroline and Stefan before shifting his weight and easing the heavy statue on the tile. He stepped back immediately to watch the tile move down to release the spike which stopped directly above the tile in question to hang from the ceiling.

"Pressure trigger." He announced gesturing towards the tile. Caroline moved round coming to stand in front of the spike, she glanced down towards the statue then back towards Klaus. "After the weapon's done its job," he looked at the spike just as Caroline got out her torch and shone it on the jagged edges of the weapon, "the pressure is taken off the trigger and it retracts." His fingers followed the route back up the ceiling before squinting at the single large square tile on the ceiling.

"Keep the pressure on the tile and it doesn't reload for the next unsuspecting victim." She murmured with a hint of awe as she shone the torch along the weapon before it settled back on the spikes. "We've got our murder weapon," she said spotting the dry blood covering the spikes.

"This whole house is a murder weapon." Stefan said creeped out by the mere idea of having a spike shoot out of the ceiling to kill intruders. He watched fascinated as Caroline moved the torch around the tiles letting it come to a standstill on the edge of an outer one. "What's wrong?"

"Mikaelson." Klaus observed the spot she gestured at, he saw the partly lifted tile on the edge, grabbing a tin metal ruler from his kit box, Klaus crouched beside the tile as Caroline did the same next to him. She looked around the room as Klaus carefully eased the ruler under the edge of the tile.

"I hope you both know what you're doing." Stefan spoke as he saw Caroline and Klaus glance at each other, the former nodded and the blond carefully lifted partially lifted the tile as the trio looked around the room in anticipation of another trap but were relieved as none appeared once the tile was removed and placed to the side.

Caroline tilted her head as she reached out to shuffle the tile on the corner, she released a breath in disbelief when the tile slid into the empty space, "These tiles were designed to slide," she moved the one above the corner down into the now empty space before looking from Stefan to Klaus, "just like a child's number puzzle…1 through 15."

"You move each one, you place them in number order thus creating an image," Caroline slide the tiles back to their previous positions whilst Klaus placed the tile he had taken out back in, "it's a giant slide puzzle that's already been solved."

"And the reward for putting the last piece in place," she stood and moved round towards the spike, "is to be impaled by a swinging bed of knives."

"Guess our Vic', Atticus Shane, was the unlucky winner." Stefan adding pressing his lips together as he eyed the sharp edges. Klaus let out a disbelieving scoff as he looked around the room.

"Malakai Parker was an inventor. This room…maybe this entire penthouse was his greatest creation." Stefan nodded as he looked at Klaus taking in his words.

"Ok…" He looked back at the spike, "Knowing that how do we find Marcellus Gerard?" Klaus pressed his lips together.

"We play Parker's game." He replied in a resolute tone.

"Things just got a little more difficult." Caroline said breaking the beat of silence that settled on the room.

"And a lot more dangerous…" Klaus eyed the bloodstained spikes that hung from the ceiling.


"What I'm saying Nik is that th-this library i-it isn't a library," Kol spoke as he fumbled trying to catch hold of the opposite end of the large blueprint, "I mean it-it is a library but it-it's a library-"

"Kol!" Klaus groaned out, he held his phone tightly in his hand watching Kol staring confused at the paper as he stumbled around in the frame of the video. Caroline couldn't help the smile that crept along her lips as she watched annoyance paint his features.

"Sorry Nik, I'm just kinda' off my game today." He murmured putting the paper down and pressing his hands on the illuminated table in front of him

Seeing Klaus' expression soon turn to frustration, Caroline sighed and strode towards him immediately taking the phone from his hand and smiling at Kol who continued to stare at the blueprint in nothing but confusion. "Kol, look don't stress about Bonnie, I'm sure if you act like a decent human being for once and simply ask her out she'll consider it. Now get to the point, will you?" Kol's eyes widened at her words as he stared at Caroline through the laptop screen on his side.

"How did you-"

"Everyone knows and if you're lucky I might be persuaded to give over a few secrets to your advantage but first spill." Kol nodded composing himself, he released a deep breath calming down and focusing purely on the case.

"Ok. The short story. This blueprint is useless. If you're standing where you say you're standing then everything's been changed around and nothing matches the original plan, I mean-"He was interrupted as Damon slid into the frame placing his hand on Kol's shoulder.

"Wait, wait, wait, listen to this. I found a ledger from 1922, apparently Parker spent some serious bucks to pimp this place out. I mean major renovations, it was a two year 300'000 dollar project, at the time that was a whole load of money-"

"More than 4 million by today's standards." Klaus stated as he stood beside Caroline listening to Damon's words. Caroline's eyes widened at the amount wondering why and how someone would spend that much on simply renovating one apartment.

"Right," Damon continued, "and he hired different contractors to complete the construction in stages, I mean none of them were told what the finished product would be." Damon's eyes followed the notes on a few newspaper clippings in front of him noting the construction, "There was a lot of mystery and speculation over what Parker was doing up there."

Caroline nodded as she listened to Damon, "Ok, we'll need an updated floor plan, find out if one exists."

"Of course, Blondie." Damon replied with a smirk before Caroline rolled her eyes and disconnected the call.

After the screen went blank Damon looked back at the ledger whilst Kol glanced at the blueprint. "So, who's gonna' crack first?" Damon asked nonchalantly keeping his eyes on the words in front of him. Kol raised his brow as if taking a moment to think about it.

"Nik, definitely. Remember the 'Ice Age' case?" Damon nodded his lips turning up into a smirk, "Neither actually told any of us what happened when they were trapped so I'm thinking one of them did make a move…."

"I j-just wish this w-was a stupid d-dream…" Caroline murmured softly as the cold continued to bite at her skin relentlessly. The silence descended back on them only to be accompanied by shivers and harsh breaths as the icy air burnt their lungs. Caroline closed her eyes but was met with nothing but the freezing feeling that had enveloped her. "I always thought, being a cop, I'd take a bullet…I never thought I'd freeze to death."

"Hey…" Klaus whispered back pressing his cheek against her cold dull hair that had lost its golden shine, "…we-we're n-not dead y-yet." Caroline let out a small breath that sounded like a tired moan.

"I wish this was just another story and we could re-rewrite th-the ending…" she released a series of shivers, her breath escaped as a puff of white smoke as it left her lips. Her body was near to fully becoming numb, the arm which had wrapped around her tightly acting as the only sensation left keeping her nerves alive. She felt Klaus squeeze her arm reassuringly as he breathed out cold air that dissipated into the room.

"I'm so-sorry…" he said, he pushed his head further back into the metal wall of the large walk-in freezer, his scalp burnt at the touch as the ice dug through his hair into his skin.

"For what?" Caroline asked trying to keep her eyes open, the cold was consuming all the strength that she had remaining and there was no way she would be able to last long. Klaus dragged the cold air into his lungs trying to ignore the burn running down his throat.

"F-for b-being me…." His body shivered harshly as his muscles began constricting under the cold conditions, "For go-going rogue…for g-getting y-you into this." He gasped but air as he tried to continue, "I-If we hadn't h-have g-gone-"

"Shhh…Klaus" Caroline said gently, "Just…shhh…"her voice withered away as the air was slowly being frozen inside her lungs, pulling more in she continued, "You were r-right. We f-found the b-bomb." Her face was free from expression, the temperature freezing the muscles in her features. "We were j-just late…"

Klaus tightened his grip on her, he forced his other hand up from its frozen position to come and rest on Caroline's other arm, both blondes fought for breath as Caroline twisted her body slowly trying to get herself out of the frozen position she was in. She rested her head against his cheek, her hair tickling at his ear.

"Klaus…" She whispered, her nose lightly grazing his jaw.

"Hmm…" he hummed back as he wrapped his hands tightly around her body embracing her as she rested against him. Caroline inhaled a stuttered breath as she lifted her head whilst Klaus turned his face towards her.

"Thank you…"she whispered, she stretched out her fingers to touch his chin whilst she slowly pressed her lips against the corner of his, he let out a shaky breath at her touch, her lips scorched against his skin as they touched, "…for being there…" her voice trailed off as her eyes closed, she fought to keep her fingers in contact with his jaw.

"Always…" he murmured back keeping tight hold of her body.

"I just want you…to know…how much…I…" her voice died on her tongue as the bitter air trapped it within her throat, her fingers slipped down from his jaw against his chest where it rested against his heart.

Klaus turned his face further ignoring the ache in his neck, his eyes came to rest on her pale, motionless face. Her body became limp in his arms as he saw a breath escape her lips and dissipate into the cold.

"Caroline," he tried shaking her but his arm refused to move, "Caroline, st-stay with me…" he pleaded, he pulled his hand into motion feeling for her face and pressed her head closer to him trying to envelope her body with his, he pressed his cheek harder against her head trying to feel something-anything- but all he could feel was the numbness setting in.

"It'll always be Nik, Caroline is too proud."

"Care to make a wager of it?"

"How much we talking, Salvatore?" Damon smirked peeling his eyes away from the book to look at Kol.

"50." Kol stood straighter.

"Make it a 100 and we have a deal." Damon hesitated for a second before placing out his hand which Kol shook gingerly.

"You better have that 100 ready, Mikaelson, I don't accept IOU's." The younger brunette smirked as he pulled his hand away and looked back at the paper in front of him. There was no way he was losing to the arrogant Salvatore prick.


"So Bonnie and Kol, huh?" Klaus murmured chuckling as Caroline tossed the phone back to him.

"I didn't know you were one for gossip, Klaus." Caroline said smirking at his sudden interest, Klaus rolled his eyes.

"Not gossip, sweetheart, just looking out for my brother." The young blond scoffed as she heard his words.

"I didn't know you cared." Klaus painted a hurt expression over his face as he clutched at his chest.

"Ouch, you wound me, love. Of course I care."

"Hmm, funny. Where was your caring when Kol was wandering around New York City drunk off his ass?" Klaus smirked remembering the time the brunette had made a complete and utter fool of himself after going to a bar and drinking a whole barrel of liquid courage before wandering aimlessly around the streets trying to serenade every girl that passes him by.

"I did care, he needed to learn his lesson and anyway, I knew exactly where he was the whole time." Caroline narrowed her eyes.

"How?"

"GPS."

"Control freak." The blond muttered under her breath yet it was loud enough for Klaus to hear whilst the latter ambled closer to her.

"Says you." Caroline raised her perfectly curved eyebrow glaring at him with her arms crossed over her chest.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" She demanded through clenched teeth as Klaus stilled right in front of her causing his manly scent to try and envelope her being. Klaus could see the pink blush that rose up on her creamy skin settling on her cheeks and he couldn't help but wonder how far down the vibrant colour went, if he stopped at the peak of her perky chest or continued down to her curvy waist. Oh what he would give to trace it all the way down as she writhed beneath him panting in his ear as he pressed hot, searing kisses along the column of her throat. To have her dig her nails into his back and scratch all the way down as her creamy, mile long legs wrapped around his waist whilst he pushed his way into-

"Klaus." The man blinked rapidly as he was pulled from his daydream and his eyes fell back to the woman standing before him. "What did you mean?" He swallowed hard trying to get rid of the dryness in his throat as he locked his eyes with Caroline's. He saw the unbridled fury and passion in her cornflower blue orbs and couldn't help but smirk knowing that he had created that mixture of emotions. Composing himself fully he replied:

"Nothing you need to worry your pretty little head about, love." He tapped his finger against her nose as he sidestepped her and walked towards the doors before coming to stand still as he eyed the room once again. "The better question is, why would Atticus Shane play a game that could get him killed?" Sighing Caroline focused all her energy towards this mystery instead of the ass sharing the same room as her.

"Maybe he didn't know the stakes." The blond moved round the tiled square to stand on the opposite corner to Klaus, "Or, he knew the stakes but was forced to play." Klaus nodded storing the theories in his head. "An angel." He saw Caroline staring at the tiled ground. "A fallen angel." She looked up towards the ceiling sighing as she spotted the large square mimicking the one on the ground but it had no separate tile pieces within. He tilted his head catching sight of the image. An angel with his wings spread out as he flew in front of an illuminated cloud. "A message to a friend who's now an enemy." She said, her voice being a quiet murmur dancing alongside the quite hum of the city that entered the room.

"Looks like there's some kind of theme going on here," Klaus said as he looked from the images back to the spikes that acted as a weapon, "do those look like wings to you?" Caroline followed his line of sight.

"Yeah." She whispered as she moved closer to him, Klaus pointed at the angel's hand.

"He's pointing, that can't be a coincidence." Using the beam from the torch, Caroline followed the direction of the angel's hand until the light fell on the object. "The bookstand." Klaus and Caroline shared a look before moving towards it, the young blond gently placed the tips of her fingers on the cover as Klaus glanced around them making sure there were no more surprise weapons in store.

Caroline carefully opened the cover ready to spring out of the way of any booby-traps, seeing none she sighed in relief as she flicked through the crinkled pages. "No title, no author" she continued to flick through seeing no writing, "blank pages." She stilled as Klaus placed his hand over hers stopping any more movement, they both ignored the burning heat between their skin.

He gestured towards a thin yellow ribbon tucked between the pages which was visible from the bottom of the thick book. He carefully lifted the pages up parting them to see the full length of the ribbon which was accompanied with a page that had neat cursive writing printed on it.

"Except this one." Klaus murmured before reading out the words, "If a Redhouse is made of red bricks and a Bluehouse is made of blue bricks. What is a Greenhouse made of?"

"Glass." Caroline answered, "A greenhouse is made of glass." She looked around the room. "Well the windows would be too obvious."

"Two vases. Both glass?" Klaus pointed his torch towards each vase as they seemed to be made of green glass.

"It's part of the game." Caroline looked from one vase to the other.

"50-50 chance that we're right." The blonde's lips turned up as an idea sprung into her head.

"I can do one better than that." She moved around Klaus towards the first vase where she licked the tip of her finger.

"Careful Caroline." Klaus said as a hint of worry bled through his voice, she nodded taking in his words before locking eyes with the vase and setting her finger on the rim of the ornament, she looked towards Klaus as she moved her finger around the edge. Her lips curved up into a gentle smile as she let out a breath of disbelief whilst the room was filled with an angelic hum. Klaus' brow rose curiously.

"It's crystal. Crystal sings." She pulled her hand away, "This isn't glass."

"Impressive." Klaus admitted earning a humble nod from the blond as she moved around him to the other vase.

"Thank you." She repeated the process placing her finger on the rim of the vase and sliding it around, the lack of sound making her carefully wrap both hands around the waist of the vase and gentle try to ease it off, she felt the vase give way on one side whilst the other side remained steady in what seemed to be a hinge-like manoeuvre. She continued to ease the vase up from one side before she shivered as a deep rumbling echoed through the room, she looked at Klaus before they both observed the ceiling where the rumbling seemed to originate, the sound moved along towards the far wall that had a bookcase filled with novels and cobwebs in front of it.

Klaus and Caroline's eyes widened as the seemingly firm wall slowly span around coming to a halt exactly perpendicular to the position it had been before. "You've got to be kidding me." Caroline whispered as she moved towards Klaus and used the torch to light up the newly discovered room that was already dimly lit. She dropped her hand as she licked her lips.

"I'll shoot you if you say ladies first…" Klaus couldn't help the grin that erupted across his features hearing her remark.

"I love it when you're feisty." He murmured as he stepped towards the new room…

"Not a bad first day, Mikaelson." Caroline said sending him an impressed look before it fell completely off her face, "But it isn't going to be like this every day. You can't use your charm to woo the suspects or the victims. And I don't know how they ran things down in Britain but here you can't take home souvenirs, especially not any guns or case files that haven't been authorized to be taken. Clear?" He smirked at her but suppressed it when she gave him a hard look.

"Crystal." He replied as he stood up from his seat beside Caroline's desk as the blond mimicked his motions. He looked at her intently flashing her his dimples.

"It's a pleasure to be working with you, Detective Forbes." He said in a gentle voice, his eyes locking onto hers, Caroline suddenly felt her lungs collapse as she saw the depths of his azure blue eyes before she froze as he leaned in and softly pressed his lips against her skin. He pulled away giving her an intent look before moving around her and walking towards the elevator as Caroline's lips parted and a breath was finally released from her lungs.

Needing a minute, she slowly sat back at her desk picking up her pen as she leaned over to lose herself in paperwork instead of the burn that coursed along her skin. She looked over her shoulder biting her lip as the elevator doors closed on her new partner.

She allowed a small smile to cross her lips, maybe this one wouldn't be as bad or as annoying as the last. She looked down at the file.

Her pen slipped from her fingers as her eyes narrowed.

That bastard.

20 minutes later

Klaus smirked as he heard his mother's voice. "Niklaus, dear, there's a nice woman here to see you-" His lips widened into a grin as the doors to his study were slammed open and the tell-tale click of heels echoed in the room.

"Niklaus Mikaelson, I should put you under arrest for felony theft and obstruction of justice!" She clearly stated as he turned in his chair and leaned back with a smug look.

"You forget 'and for making you look bad'." She slammed her hand against his desk as she leaned down coming face to face with him as she glared into his eyes.

"You know for a minute there you actually made me believe you were human." His smirk falter. "I should cuff you." She pulled her handcuffs from her back pocket slamming them onto the desk.

"Oohh, bondage. My safety word is apples." He replied with a wink earning a sarcastic smile as she grabbed the handcuffs and quickly slipped one end around his wrist twisted his arm and hooked the other on his other wrist. "Ouch, I didn't know you were the sardonic type, detective Forbes, hmm, kinky." She pulled him from his chair and led him towards the front door.

"Shut it, Mikaelson…" She hissed pushing him through the door…


Rebekah strode determinedly through the glass doors into the lab that Kol was working in, she came to stand beside him as she leaned her hip against the table. Kol kept his eyes locked onto the sample under his microscope instead of talking to the blond he knew was standing beside him having heard the clicks of her heels on the smooth floor.

After a few moments of silence, Rebekah sighed and proceeded to break it with three simple words. "I want in." Kol smirked but didn't look up towards her. "Did you hear me? I want in."

"Hello to you too, I'm fine thanks for asking, sister." Rebekah rolled her eyes.

"Cut the crap, Kol. Damon told me all about your little bet and I want to be included. 100 on Caroline breaking first." Kol finally looked up from the microscope suppressing the giddiness that threatened to cross his face.

"Are you sure, Bekah'? That's a whole load of money, think of all the shoes you could buy with that." Rebekah narrowed her eyes.

"Shut up." She hissed through gritted teeth. "We all know she's falling for him, especially after everything that happened with Montgomery…"

"If I give you name, I know you and you'll run straight at him. I might as well shoot you were you stand." Captain Montgomery said as he stood a few feet away from Caroline in the plane hangar. He saw the determined look carved into her features and knew the woman he was looking at was everything he had wanted her to become since the first day they met.

"That's why you brought me here, isn't it, to kill me?" She asked in a hard voice as she moved closer to him whilst he remained rooted to the ground.

"No," he said simply keeping his eyes locked on hers, "I brought you here to lure them." Caroline gave him an incredulous look.

"You baited them?" He looked towards the entrance of the hangar as a black jeep crept round the corner in the distance.

"Yes. And now, they're coming." Caroline's head snapped in the direction he was looking and she caught sight of the vehicle. "They're coming to kill you and I'm not going to let them." He looked at her resolutely, his eyes never wavering. "I'm going to end this."

"I'm not going anywhere, sir."

"Yes you are." He glanced over her shoulder, "Mikaelson, get her out of here." Caroline looked over her shoulder spotting Klaus who moved closer.

"Captain I-"

"Don't argue." Captain Montgomery cut him off immediately. "It's why I called you here. Get her out of here, now!" He hissed.

Caroline felt Klaus' hand try to grasp her arm but brushed him away as she stepped closer to the dark skinned man who kept looking at the car which continued to move closer. "Captain, please just listen to me," her voice welled up with emotion, "you don't have to do this-"

"Caroline." Klaus whispered as he saw the black jeep get closer, she pulled her arm away from his touch again as she continued to plead with the man before her.

"No, please, no, Sir." She stepped closer, "I forgive you. She placed her hand on his chest making him look at her. "I forgive you." He slammed his eyes shut before reopening them and looking directly at the woman in front of him.

"This is my spot, Caroline." Caroline shook her head as tears welled in her eye, "This is where I stand."

"No…" she whispered.

"Mikaelson." The Captain ordered, both men seeing that the car was close, too closer.

"No, no, please, listen to me you don't have to do this."

Both men heard the sound of an engine drawing closer, they looked towards the car, Klaus' eyes widened as it began to speed up. "Mikaelson, get her o0ut of here. Now!" He exclaimed.

"You don't have to-"Klaus grabbed her but she refused to mover.

"Caroline-"

"No, please." She shouted as Klaus wrapped his arms around her waist and picked her up, she kicked out her legs wanting him to stop as he raced them towards the back exit of the hangar. "Klaus, please, don't!" He slammed them through the door as the echo of the car engine grew louder. "Klaus let me go!" She began crying, her sobs catching in her throat as she tried to grab onto the frame of the door failing as the blond rushed her through.

"No!" She screamed as they grew closer to Klaus' car, he released her catching her as she tried to move past him.

"Sh, sh, Caroline." He hushed her, she tried pushing him out of the way but he pinned her body with his against the car as he brushed her hair back and covered her mouth with his hand. He glanced over his shoulder checking that no one had come through to follow them. "Shhh…" he whispered as he felt her hand reach up to his face as he brushed back her hair keeping her head pinned to the car. "It's okay, I'm sorry…I'm so sorry." She pressed her hands to his cheeks trying to find comfort in his presence as he wrapped his arm around her waist keeping her pressed to him so that she wouldn't make a sound to draw anyone towards them "It's okay, it's okay."

They froze as two shots rang out into the air, Klaus felt her body slide down the frame of the car, he held her tighter as he pressed his hand over her mouth muffling the scream that she let out. "Shh…sweetheart, please…" He murmured keeping her trapped between himself and the car, "I'm so sorry…" He whispered over and over again as he felt her body sag into his, "I'm sorry…"

Rebekah gritted her teeth as she caught her brother's attention again, "I'm in, right?" Kol waited for a moment faking hesitation before he nodded slowly.

"Fine." Rebekah smiled with an air of accomplishment before she turned on her heel.

"Oh, Matt's in as well. He's betting on Nik breaking first though." She pursed her lips, "Maybe I should tell him Nik won't make the first move especially with her." She saw Kol shrug which she mimicked. "Hmm you're right, you win some you lose some." She threw the words over her shoulder as she walked out of the lab leaving Kol to himself as he grinned widely.

"Absolutely right, dear sister. You win some, you lose some…"


Klaus stepped over the threshold of the room the light from his torch guiding his way as he noted the features of the room. It fit in beautifully with the rest of the décor which was similar if not the same as the previous room. Classic ornaments lined the mantelpiece but where covered with shining webs whilst the grand throne like chair in the middle of the room was sprinkled with dust.

Caroline followed Klaus into the newly discovered space, her light fell on the piano first. She noted that the keys had been covered yet a music book stood on its stand whilst past era mementos lined the top of the piano. She shone her torch around the room before she moved towards an elegant dressing table which had pearl necklaces and bracelets carefully placed on the surface. A black bow tie hung over one of the mirrors as clippings of a woman dressed in a beaded red dress with feathers arranged in her hair were littered across the table.

"A fashionable era, I guess…" Caroline muttered as she looked over the artefacts, even though she said it to herself quietly Klaus obviously heard and chuckled at her words. The blond closed her eyes in annoyance, why did he always hear her even when she didn't want him to?

"You would have loved the 1920s, Caroline." She heard his silky smooth voice move closer towards her, the hair on the back of her neck stood on end as she felt the air shift behind her notifying her that he was moving closer. "Girls were reckless, fun…sexy." The words rolled off his tongue enveloped in his accent. "They used to dance until they dropped." He whispered into her ear, she could literally hear him smirking.

Klaus allowed his fingers to trace the side of her hip as he let the words wash over her but what he wasn't anticipating was the blond to swiftly turn whilst her golden curls whipped lightly across his cheek. He was met with a raised brow luscious pursed lips. Her eyes were ablaze with fire and curiosity making his fingers itch with the need to grab a pencil and any other material at hand to capture the fire within her.

"And how can you say that with such certainty, hmm?" She kept her unwavering gaze on him as she challenged him. His blue eyes widened causing Caroline to smirk internally realising she got one over him. He glanced at his feet before looking up with a cheeky smile that made his dimples appear.

"I admit love, you've got me," –uhh why did this man have to have dimples- "I read it somewhere and I've always wanted to say it. Though the words shouldn't be lost on you, sweetheart, "-when did he get so close?-"You'd look gorgeous wrapped in a scarlet dress with pearls adorning you neck and feathers in your curls." He gently curled a strand of her hair around his finger before setting it back over her shoulder, his fingers grazed her cheeks as he pulled his hand away-He might as well be pulling the air from my lungs, damn him!- lowering it to his side.

Caroline was speechless, partly by his proximity and partly by his god damn sexy words. Why did everything that came out of his mouth sound like it belonged in heaven? Caroline took in a shallow breath trying to block her mind from his effect, thankfully it worked long enough for her to realise something.

Glancing over his shoulder she saw a portrait of a man sitting on a chair, the chair that was in this very same room. Her eyes ran over the details of the picture. "It's all the same." She said quietly breaking the spell Klaus had set over them. The latter followed her eyes looking over his shoulder to the portrait she was watching. "Every detail of that painting is the same as this room. But the placing doesn't match." She sidestepped Klaus who gritted his teeth, he was so close and yet so far. "Maybe it's part of the game?" She stopped in front of the portrait her eyes picking up the faint name beneath the picture. Malakai.

Taking in a deep breath to compose himself, Klaus turned towards the blond and set his mind on the case. "If it is, what's the next step of the puzzle?"

"Well…everything in this painting is in this room," she bit her lip, "maybe we're supposed to put it all back together like the way it is in the painting?" Seeing the incredulous look on Klaus face Caroline put her hand on her hip as she tilted her head. "What? Have you got a better idea, don't hold back Klaus, feel free to share with the rest of the class."

"Look, if I wanted to rearrange rooms I would have become a furnisher, this is not what I sighed up for when starting this job."

"Well I'm sure Atticus Shane didn't sign up to be murdered when he stepped through the door. Now, have you got a better idea? Yes or no." Klaus scowled as Caroline nodded. "Right, well, let's get to it." Caroline took a deep breath as she walked towards the mantelpiece and grabbed two candlesticks before crossing the room and setting them on the piano like they were in the painting. She stood back admiring the small accomplishment before setting to work again this time being joined by Klaus who helped her.

20 minutes later…

"Everything's the way it's supposed to be." Caroline stated as they both stood at the foot of the chair and looked between the portrait and room.

"Maybe we missed something." Klaus said as he looked around but found nothing out of place from the picture. "There's got to be something else or we just wasted our time." He stared intently at the portrait when realisation hit him. "There's only one thing missing." He told Caroline who looked at him wondering what it was. She watched as he moved closer to the chair and turned locking his eyes onto Caroline as he sat down crossing his legs just like Parker had in the portrait.

They both gasped as a clink was heard and the rattle of a chain sounded, part of a wall the same size as a door opened beside them, they shared a triumphant look as Klaus got up but the expressions faltered as a pungent aroma filled the air. The stench of burnt copper mixed with the muskiness of wood crawled up their noses.

"Burnt flesh…" Caroline whispered, Klaus moved quickly towards the blond as she walked towards the opening. He grasped her wrist and pulled her back behind him. "Hey!" She hissed as he kept her behind him whilst he edged closer towards the opening, she saw his eyes widen, "What is it?" She asked with a hint of worry before she edged past him and her eyes fell on the same sight Klaus was observing. "Oh my God…" she covered her mouth and nose with the sleeve of her jacket whilst Klaus mimicked the move making sure his airway was covered as they both moved further into the opening which was a small cubicle like room. The walls were a metallic silver with no other openings except for a copper vent near the top of one of the walls.

Klaus and Caroline kept their eyes on the body laying at their feet, the corpse was placed in the foetal position but their head was slightly raised. Klaus raised his torch shining it on the dead person's face as they both looked on in dismay of seeing the burnt flesh covering its features. The skin had begun to peel whilst white liquid lay at its mouth.

"Could this be Marcellus Gerard?" Caroline asked as she looked at Klaus.

"If it isn't…then we've entered a whole 'nother game indeed…"


45 minutes later…

Clicks echoed against the metal walls as Caroline photographed the body as Klaus watched over her whilst Matt entered the room with raised brows. "What is this place?" He asked shining his torch along the metal walls.

"Whatever it is, it burned the victim alive." Klaus replied as he ran his gloved fingers along the corner of the far wall.

"Marcellus Gerard?" Matt asked as he placed his evidence box down and eyed the corpse.

"Well, it's hard to confirm without an autopsy but according to his driver's licence Gerard is an African-American male." Caroline said as she set her camera aside.

"Vic's burned to the core, I'm thinking…300 to 400 degrees Fahrenheit minimum, "Caroline shook her head, "he died from a pulmonary oedema," Matt continued as he spotted the white liquid laying at the corpse's lips, "yeah, his lungs filled with fluid. He drowned before he burned."

Caroline stood from her crouched position as she eyed the victim, "How did he get in here without playing musical furniture? We had to rearrange that entire room before the door opened." Klaus pressed his hand against one of the metal walls.

"There's got to be more than one way in." He said earning a nod from Caroline who used her torch to light up the metal walls looking for any signs of another entrance whilst Matt pressed his fingers against the wall trying to find an entrance by chance. Klaus did the same as Caroline, his curiosity piqued as his torch lit up a small cubby hole in which an antique telephone was attached with the receiver lying on the ground. He pressed his hand against the wall as he leaned closer to the telephone trying to find any sign of evidence that could point them closer to the answer. He froze as he felt a ridge under the palm of his hand, pulling it away slowly he saw a tiny crack in the wall which ran vertically down the metal.

Caroline watched Klaus as he grabbed a lever from his kit and proceeded to wedge it into the crack, as he put pressure on the handle and forced the crack apart, he pushed harder and half of the wall gave way to slide aside and opening a path. Caroline immediately stepped round the dead body and moved towards the path, she let out a disbelieving scoff as they stepped through and emerged into the utility room that had magically appeared out of thin air (going by Stefan's opinion) and been explored thoroughly.

"Stef and I were in here right at the start only we came through that," she pointed at the magically opening that Stefan had told them about, "door instead."

"Well that's how the victim got in," he looked back at the exit they had just taken, "but why couldn't he get out?"

"He was trapped, there was no way to escape." Caroline replied pitying the man who had died within those four small walls. She looked towards the wall that was directly behind the tiny room they had found the body in. It had a fireplace inserted which seemed to be the main feature of the room, shining her torch on it she looked down to see pipes running from the fireplace back into the wall. "It runs off gas," she moved swiftly back into the tiny room where Matt had begun processing the body, "and this," she shone the light to the wall which seemed to be a coppery brown instead of metal like the others, "is our heat source from the fireplace in the utility room." She moved the light up catching sight of the vent that had been placed at the top of the copper wall.

Caroline squinted at the vent, something just didn't simply sit right with her and glancing at Klaus she could see he felt the same way. "Somethings wrong here."

"Apart from the corpse?" The blond rolled her eyes at Matt who quickly went back to collecting evidence.

"Yes, apart from the corpse." She focused on the vent, "Parker was a meticulous planner it's clear to see from the way he designed the place. Surely even he would know the basic principles of science." She gestured towards the vent.

"Heat rises." The blond nodded at his words, "If he was using forced air he'd put that vent closer to the floor."

"Exactly. So there's got to be something else that we're not seeing." Caroline swiped at her dry lips as she tried to think through the puzzle logically. Meanwhile, Klaus grabbed the material analyser Matt had brought with him. Pursing his lips he aimed the analyser at the metal wall besides the opening they had found, it beeped and noted the material before the blonde did the same to the other sides and the copper coloured panel. He grinned to himself as he looked at the results.

"Care to share?" Caroline asked.

"I'm always happy to share," he winked at her, "And since you asked so nicely, love, of course."-Why did he always have to be such an ass…

"'Lena, you could have just told me that over the phone."

"Yeah, I know, but what I thought you'd find really interesting is the fact that she had sex within the hours before her death." Elena stated as she held a microscopic slide to the light.

"Sex?" Caroline asked.

"I'll explain how that works late." Klaus murmured at her earning a glare from the blond. Elena rolled her eyes at both of their antics but put focused back on her findings.

"Might even have been a few minutes of the murder." Caroline nodded but shrugged her shoulders.

"So what's the evidence of sex?"

"Traces of spermicide," Caroline furrowed her brow as Elena sighed, "The guy wore a condom."

"Wow, it has been a long time for you hasn't it?" Klaus asked teasing her as Caroline took a deep breath and counted to ten in her head. There was no way she would let her annoyance get the better of her- "Don't worry love, I may just allow you a sample of me to tide you over for a bit." – She was seriously going to kill him.

Klaus tapped the metal walls, "These sidewalls are made of a lead-steel alloy-"

"They keep the heat in." Klaus smirked knowing she had caught onto his train of thought.

"This middle panel," he gestured towards the copper coloured side, "is copper. A heat conductor."

"Parker's intent was to cook his victims to death." Caroline realised, her eyes fell to the body at her feet.

Matt took a scalpel and carefully sliced the skin off the fingertip from the man's index finger, he gently placed it on his handheld fingerprint machine to be scanned into the system.

The Lab…

Kol dragged the scanned fingerprint from Matt's scan against the fingerprint of Gerard which they already had on the system.

Confirmed Match

"I guess they found you, Gerard." Kol murmured to himself before comparing another print lifted from crime scene to Gerard.

No Match

"Woah, woah, woah…what?" Kol re-ran it but it there was no match between them.

Well, shit.


Klaus and Caroline made their way through the lobby following the trolley carrying Gerard's body. "How about a coffee, love?"

"At 4 in the afternoon?" She asked raising her brow as he grinned.

"Well you never know when you'll have to stay up for a while." He said giving her a dirty smirk, she suppressed the tightening in her stomach and instead forced herself to roll her eyes.

"Guys, guys, wait." They both looked towards the brunette jogging towards them.

"Kol, what are you doing here?" Caroline asked him as he came to a standstill in front of them.

"I don't think we're finished here." Klaus rolled his eyes.

"We found Gerard, brother-"Kol cut him off.

"Yeah, yeah I know. But I think someone else is trapped up there." Caroline sighed.

"Ok, this better be good Kol."

"Would it be anything but?"

"Kol." The brunette raised his hands in surrender.

"Gerard's fingerprints didn't match the prints we picked up on the static lift when we first entered the house."

"It could be another person living here." Klaus suggested but Kol shook his head removing that theory.

"Yeah, I already thought of that, I compared the prints to everyone in the building but there weren't any matches. Then I thought about Gerard, I checked his phone records and it turns out he called his own house before he called 911. Check it out:" He played an audio recording from his PDA.

"Honey you've got to help me, I'm trapped, I can't get out. You've got to get here as soon as you can or I'm not going to make it."

Kol stopped the recording and spoke instead, "Alright, he lives with his adoptive daughter Davina Campbell, we tried tracking her down but she hasn't shown up for college classes or work, she's missed her lunch and two other meetings."

"You're thinking she responded to his call for help."

"There's no evidence suggesting she's up there." Klaus said stating the obvious, if this was another one of Kol's pranks he was definitely going to burn all his baseball bats for wasting his time. His train of thought was broken when his phone rang.

"Hello."

"Niklaus, do you recall seeing any water leakage at the penthouse." Klaus' brow furrowed at the unusual question.

"No, Elijah, why?"

"I'm here with a downstairs tenant who's complaining about a water leak which is coming from above her."

"A leak?" Both Kol and Caroline turned to him, "Water's been shut off in that penthouse for years."

"Huh? Alright, Niklaus, I'll look into it."

Klaus lowered his phone re-running the conversation in his head, "Wait…" he murmured to himself as he looked down the lobby towards the elevator they had just exited from then back to his phone.

"Nik?"

"Death by knife, death by fire…" he looked up meeting Caroline's eyes, "Davina Campbell is up there…and she's drowning…"


"Ok, I'm sending you the blueprints over now, these are of the apartment you guys are in right beneath the penthouse."

"Got 'em, thanks mate." Kol spoke as he looked at them and back to the damp ceiling corner where drops of water were originating from.

"Water from a place of no water," Stefan said as he stared at the liquid which continued to fall to the ground, "I'm no plumber but is that even possible?"

"Well, according to the original blueprints, there's no plumbing on that side of the building." Kol nodded following Damon's words whilst he grabbed a petri dish form his kit and moved closer to the water droplets.

"Maybe the chemical breakdown of the water could help us locate the source," The brunette Mikaelson held the petri dish closer to the ceiling catching a few droplets before he pulled the dish away and placed them under an analyser, Stefan shifted coming to stand beside Kol as the chemicals came up on the little screen.

"Anything?"

Kol sighed and shook his head slightly, "Oxygen peak looks extremely low," he glanced back to the damp, "it's like the sample hasn't been exposed to the atmosphere in a very long time."

"How long we talking?"

"I don't really kno-"

"Being a geology major and doing a whole load of field study work, Oxygen depleted water is most likely from an aquafarm. I've studied some that haven't been touched since the 90's." Kol's lips spread into a grin as he heard his beautiful damsel's voice.

"Bon, Bon, nice of you to finally join us darling." He smirked wider when he heard her exasperated sigh over the phone.

"One, don't call me Bon-Bon and two, wipe that grin off your face, Mikaelson."

"Or what?"

"Or I might just slap it off you instead."

"I'd be opposed to that if it didn't mean you'd be coming down here to see me. You know I would never miss a chance to-"Stefan pinched the top of his nose as he heard Kol.

"Knock it off, Kol, we're on a case. Both of you just quit with the flirting."

"I'm not flirting-"

"Step aside, witchy." Kol and Stefan shared a look as they heard a quiet tussle in the background before Bonnie cleared her throat.

"As I was saying, the only explanation is that the penthouse above you where the leak is coming from must have its own water supply. Something like a-"

"Tank." Kol completed as Stefan furrowed his brow.

"Yeah."

"Whatever it is, its above us right now…" Both brunettes looked up at the never ending droplets that continued to fall…


"Nothing." Klaus said in an exasperated tone as he spun round in a circle. "There isn't a drop of water in this room let alone enough to cause a leak downstairs."

"Maybe you're not looking hard enough." The blonde replied as she leaned over the bed looking underneath it, Klaus tilted his head as his eyes caught sight of Caroline's round behind, his fingers itched to trace the curves that her body made. "Stop checking out my ass, pervert." Caroline hissed as she flipped back upright and glared at him.

"I can't help it if you keep displaying, sweetheart. I'm an admirer of art." She rolled her eyes accompanying the gesture with a scoff.

"That is the worst pick up line I have ever heard. And I've heard quite a few." Klaus couldn't help but narrow his eyes wondering where and how many lines she heard.

"A few, huh?" He asked walking around the four poster bed to her side as she hopped off the cushiony mattress. She didn't give him a reply but instead flashed him a sultry look.

"What?" She shrugged her shoulders giving him an innocent smile before she turned away and continued to search the room for clues.

"Minx." He whispered under his breath but she heard it nonetheless, the smirk across her lips clearing showing it. He moved towards the chest of drawers he spotted. "Ok, I can't see anything that could be part of this game. There's no rearranging or puzzles to complete." Klaus pulled out the drawers from the chest but the movements didn't cause any new discoveries so he pushed them back in.

Caroline flipped her hair over her shoulder but quickly stilled as she saw the chandelier her strands could have been caught on. "Odd." She stated as she looked towards the door. "Very odd." She walked towards the doorframe and tilted her head.

"What's wrong, love?"

"This." She gestured from the chandelier to the frame of the door, his brow peaked in curiosity as he failed to lock onto her thoughts, "Maybe we should be focusing on what we don't see," she sighed before tapping at the frame and pointing towards the small plain white, rectangular panel next to the frame. "Light switches. There's a big giant chandelier in the middle of this tiny room but there isn't a light switch to turn it on."

"Another piece of the puzzle." Caroline scratched lightly at the white panel before looking at Klaus who glanced at the chandelier, he saw Caroline look over his head and followed her gaze before raising his brow, "That's an odd size and place for the only window in the room, don't you think, sweetheart?" Klaus murmured as he moved back towards the chest of drawers above which a silhouette of a hexagonal window was outlined behind a drawn down blind.

"We need a ladder." Caroline quickly said before Klaus halted her attempts to call down help.

"Parker wouldn't have had a ladder." He looked down from the window, his eyes fell back onto the chest of drawers. He moved closer and pulled the bottom one out slightly followed by the one on top, the small wooden arm rest on each step seemed to act like-

"A step." Caroline pointed out as she watched Klaus align the next drawer. "Who needs a ladder when you've got stairs?" She quickly removed the items on top of the chest and helped Klaus pull out the drawers until they fully aligned as steps. Glancing at Caroline, the dimpled Mikaelson cautiously stepped on the first step letting the dull creak resounding from the wood settle in the room. He took another step hesitantly before releasing a breath and continuing to climb to the top as Caroline moved back to observe the scene.

Klaus pinched the cord of the shade between his thumb and finger, he scanned the room before his eyes settled back on Caroline who gave him a slight nod. The anticipation buzzed through both of them as Klaus slowly pulled the cord bringing the shade down slightly, he released it allowing it to snap to the top revealing the small hexagonal window.

"Nothing." Caroline whispered in a defeat as she failed to spot any changes in the room.

"Well that was anti-climatic." Klaus murmured as he glanced up at the window with a glare, his eyes turned back to scan the room but nothing had changed. Not a single thing.

"It's got to mean something," she gestured towards the window, "It's got to be all about the widow, the steps lead right up to it as does the missing light switch."

Klaus nodded in agreement, Caroline is right, it definitely has to be something about the window. His eyes led him to the chandelier hanging motionlessly in the middle of the room then to the absence of the light switch until he looked up at the window. "That skyscraper wouldn't have been there when Parker designed this place." He murmured yet it was loud enough for Caroline to hear.

"It's blocking the Sun." Caroline replied as she tilted her head. Klaus grinned as the puzzle began falling back into place.

"Then we move the Sun…"


"Here we go…" Kol murmured as he switched on the specialized light which was directed towards the chandelier. "Well?" He asked as Stefan, Caroline and Klaus looked at the chandelier which now had light shining through the glass pieces.

Klaus and Caroline moved closer towards the Chandelier, their eyes fell on one of the small diamond shaped glass piece hanging standing out from the rest as the sun-mimicking-light passed through it.

"The color of that light look familiar to you?" Caroline said keeping her eyes on the aforementioned piece which became outlined in violet as the rays bounced off it.

"Huh." Stefan hummed as he spotted it, "That looks like that light you guy use." He murmured having no idea what it actually meant, Kol rolled his eyes at the brunette's simple statement before he looked at Klaus.

"Parker turned the chandelier into a primitive UV light." Klaus said before he was interrupted by the younger blond.

"There's something written on the wall." Caroline pointed out, the faded murky green wallpaper was marred in a ghostly purple writing, shadows of the crystal spinning moved across them but the writing still remained. "I search my face for a four-part song…" she lightly traced the next words with her finger, "…my heart keeps pace eight days long."

They all looked at the writing trying to figure out what it could possibly mean, "Should we look in the mirror?" Stefan suggested as he looked at the two detectives in the room before Kol jumped down from the step-ladder he had used to arrange the specialized lighting, he moved towards the bed and tapped the bedpost.

"A four-part song could be referencing the four bedposts." Both Klaus and Caroline shook their heads.

"It's a riddle, a face for a four part song and a heart that only beats for eight days." Klaus' voice trailed off as he saw Caroline determinedly move out of the room back into the main room they had previously been in.

"It's not literal. The heart doesn't beat for eight days, Klaus." She rounded the corner, her lips turned up into a smirk as she observed the sight before her, the others followed closely wondering what she was doing. "It's a clock." She stated proudly before moving closer, "The riddle's about a grandfather clock."

"How?" Kol asked, his confused expression similar to the others.

"Eight days long. That's the length of time some grandfather clocks run before needing to restart." She gestured towards the ticking hands, "It's hands search it's face." She tapped the glass casing pointing towards the number 3, "It finds it's song on the quarter hour when it chimes." She then proceeded to open the little door at the front of the wooden clock, "That's a four part song, and its heart is the pendulum that keeps pace."

"Ok…now what?" She picked up a tiny key sitting under the pendulum and placed it into the middle of the clock face before winding it up. The hands moved round coming to stop on the number 12, she released her grip on the little object allowing it to begin ticking.

"We start time."

Almost immediately a loud whirring sound hit the room, they all looked around them trying to find where it originated. Caroline and Klaus' heads snapped up as a dull clunk echoed in the room before it crawled along the ceiling picking up pace as the now clunk-turned scratching moved back to the room they had just come from.

Caroline jumped into motion as Klaus determinedly strode past her following the scratches, "Can I just say, I'm not liking this at all. Mystery water coming from nowhere, a mummified body, loud creepy noises. Anyone else feel like they're in a horror movie?" Kol asked as he slowed to a halt following his brother's actions. The scratching grew louder until it turned into a deep rumble originating from behind the four poster bed.

"Um, is that water?" Stefan asked incredulously as he pointed towards the huge waterfall painting hanging at the wall.

"Of course its water, it's a waterfall!" Kol exclaimed before Klaus shushed him and all eyes turned to what Stefan had actually been referring to. The bottom corner of the painting had water droplets dripping off it, they watched fascinated as liquid began seeping from behind the painting coating the murky green wallpaper in an even darker colour.

Before anyone could react, the painting slid open allowing a rush of roaring water to burst through the opening behind the picture, the liquid pounded against the bed as it charged to the ground throwing itself around the floor.

"Shit." Klaus hissed as a large mass was thrown to the bed and forced onto the floor, they all rushed towards the brunette girl who gasped for air.

"Davina?" Caroline asked as she grabbed the girl's arm and dragged her out of the way of the flowing water, the girl continued to gasp but gave a nod nonetheless. "Get a paramedic." The blond exclaimed towards Stefan who was already racing towards the entrance to get help. "You're going to be find." Caroline reassured the girl as her body continued to shake from the cold.

"Ho-how did y-you f-find m-me?" She trembled, she sighed with a hint of relief as she felt Caroline's arms wrap around her trying to preserve some heat.

"Let's get you out of here first, Davina." Caroline murmured into her ear as Kol took off his jacket and wrapped it around the brunette girl that continued to shiver like a leaf.

"Thank y-you." Davina murmured before setting her face in Caroline's neck

"Shhh…" Caroline hummed as she rubbed her hands up and down, "You're going to be fine…"


"Good job," Alaric said with a hint of pride as he closed the case. "I'm impressed. You found the missing man and another victim of this death house."

"All that's left is figuring out how Shane died all those years ago, we better get started if we-"

"Actually, you won't be working this case." Alaric suppressed the smirk that threatened to reveal itself as he looked at Klaus and Caroline. "Both your holiday forms have been approved so I guess all there is to tell you is to enjoy your week off." He shrugged sliding the folder to the edge of his desk. "Mikaelson, where are you going?" Klaus instantly replied.

"Flying back to England, I haven't seen my youngest brother in a few weeks." Alaric nodded before he looked at Caroline who gave him a tight smile.

"And you Forbes?"

"Gonna' go visit my dad, it's been a while."

"Well, you're both off duty from the moment you step out of the precinct so enjoy, I'll see you both in a week detectives." Caroline and Klaus nodded before leaving the office.

They walked towards their desks in silence to grab their bags before simultaneously moving towards the elevator which they entered together. Klaus pressed the button and the doors closed.

"Sweetheart?" He murmured softly as he stood motionless beside her.

"Hmm?" She hummed gripping the handle of her bag tightly, her skin burnt as she felt him move closer.

"I told you not to wear that thing when we're working." Caroline looked at him innocently as she bit her lip.

"What thing?" He smirked tilting his head, his fingers ran up her back and stilled on her shoulder where he brushed her golden strands back, she saw his eyes dilate as they caught sight of a scarlet red strap peeking from beneath her shoulder.

"This little daring ensemble." He whispered softly, his accent rolling around the words. He leaned down pressing a searing kiss against her shoulder before he moved along the column of her neck.

"We're not out of the precinct yet…" she whispered, her voice breathless as she lost herself in his touch, her bag slipped from her fingers as she reached up and curled them around his jacket.

"Hmm, well rules are meant to be broken, are they not, love?"

"Hmm," she lost all sense of reality as he wrapped his hands around her waist turning her to face him fully.

"It's been 6 hours since I've last had the chance to taste you, my love, don't punish a man any further…" he murmured brushing his nose along her jaw and peppering kisses against skin.

"I wouldn't dare, Nik…" she pulled his face up and pressed her lips against his momentarily before pulling away, "Do you think the others have realised yet?" Klaus grinned as he brushed a curl back behind her ear.

"I'm sure Alaric's suspicious, but the other…of course not, love." He pulled her tighter against him, "Now…just a little taste…" he whispered against her lips, the light touches pleasantly burning both of them.

Ding!

"Sorry, love…" She murmured as she pulled away from him completely and grabbed her bag, a few seconds later the doors opened, "I guess you'll just have to wait to get home…I might even let you have a look at the full ensemble…" she leaned closer, "but only if you're a good boy…" she winked at him before striding out of the elevator, Klaus grinned as he ran after her but still allowed himself to ogle her ass thoroughly. "Stop checking me out, Mikaelson." She reprimanded with a light hint of amusement.

"We both know you love it, sweetheart," he fell in step beside her, "we both know you'll love what I'll do to you once we get home even more…" they both shared a teasing smirk as they left the precinct side by side.

So...how was it?

Sleep deprivation + work = Mistakes

Sorry if there are any mistakes :)

I've already got the next oneshot planned out in my head and I think it's going to be angsty so prepare yourself, or I might get too emotional whilst writing it and change the ending of it (Yeah, that's the over emotional kind of person I am, but I love it).

Spoliers: Castle season 4 episode 23..."Four years, I've been right here..." wink wink.

See you next time...