A/N: I'm the worst (sorry about the wait) and I need a beta (sorry about any mistakes). Anyway, things to keep in mind: the Jeremy in this fic is not Jeremy Gilbert, it's a different, original character with the same name. Little Gilbert will not be in this story. Caroline's mother is not Liz from canon, but Eliza from my imagination. I recreated her. (disclaim disclaim disclaim blah blah)

IV:Repetitive Motion:IV

Take a deep breath, suck the water in my chest
Cross my fingers and hope for the best
(Florence+TheMachine)

Caroline woke with a start. As she sat in the bed trying to calm her labored breathing she went over the events of the unusual dream she had just come from. She did not remember much. Her mother had been there, as well as her father, and Stefan- but there was something about his face, it had been shadowed from her view. She remembered feeling torn. And then falling. Falling? Yes, falling. There was an earthquake, and a split in the ground between herself and her father, and Bill was telling Caroline that she had to throw Stefan in. Caroline could not understand why, but he said it had something to do with the way his face looked. Bill kept telling her, "You have to throw him in!" But Caroline could not do it, she could not send someone she had once considered such a close friend to his death. Bill told her to throw Stefan in once more, and once more Caroline refused. And then she was falling, down into the crack, because she was pushed- by her father.

For the next several hours, Caroline sat in her temporary room, doing and redoing the few knots she knew. In her time with Trevor she had learned three- the whipping knot, the fisherman's knot, and the gallows knot. The whipping knot was used to keep rope from unraveling. The fisherman's knot was to combine two pieces of rope together. The gallows knot was relatively self explanatory- used for hanging. For hours, she lay on her back, tying, untying, then tying again, and then untying again. She focused on the loops, the length of the short rope. She focused on the twists of the hemp. The roughness of the material. She focused on how sore it was making her hands, the hurt. Anything to stop her focusing on the thoughts she fought to keep pushed away. The things that actually hurt.

Caroline did not think of her father. Cross over to form loop. She did not think of her mother. Tuck end under. She did not think of Mystic Falls- loop over cross- or the feel of dry land under her feet. Tuck under loop. She did not think of the forest just outside of town- loop under cross- or the caves and tunnels that ran through the underground. Bring end up through cross. She did not think of Elena, or Bonnie, or even Damon. Pull to tighten.She did not think of Elijah, of how comfortable she felt around him. She did not think about the fact that she felt compelled to believe that he was a good, honest man, because how could he be? He was a pirate, and her father had taught her what it meant to be a pirate, and what kind of daughter would she be if she disregarded her's father words upon her first opportunity for an unexplainable feeling that held no formidable grounds? No, she did not think of that.

Then- tug- and the whole knot unravels, ready to be done again, and again, and again, until every loop and cross is so ingrained in Caroline's mind that her hands could very well continue the pattern even in death.

But she doesn't ready the rope for another knot, she doesn't loop, or tuck, or cross. Because of all the things she is not thinking, there is one thing that she is thinking- that keeps popping to the forefront of her mind that she can't ignore.

Where is Stefan?

The last time she saw him was yesterday, after Klaus pulled her from the water. Stefan had brought her to this room, held a very brief conversation with her in which he promised she would be safe, then left. Stefan. Caroline could hardly believe he was here, her old friend whom she had missed sorely since his disappearance four years ago. She wondered how he had even ended up here, on a pirate ship. Was he a prisoner as well? Similar to her? Had the men on this ship been responsible for his father's death, and then kidnapped Stefan as well? If so, then that would mean Stefan had been a hostage for four years. Four years. The thought unsettled Caroline; she did not want to be held captive on this ship for that long. Was that her future as well?

As Caroline thought back, it was brought to her attention that Stefan had been very vague in their short conversation last night. He did not explain much of anything and left very quickly. At the time, she had been in a bit of shock, and had been very numb to everything happening around her. But now that she was thinking more clearly, she found his distance strange. If she had been hostage for four years, and a close friend suddenly appeared in her place of captivity, she would spend as much time with that person as she could. Caroline would have so many questions, so much to say. Yet Stefan was very brief, and asked her no questions of his home or his brother before leaving her.

Now, Caroline could only assume it was nearly midday and she had been sitting down here on her own since she woke. Caroline thought he would have come see her, whether just to check on her, or to talk to her, or... anything.

But no. She had been alone for hours, no visitors. Caroline supposed she could leave her room; she had not been locked in. But she did not know her way back to the deck, and she did not like the idea of turning the wrong corner and finding herself cornered by the immoral men that inhabited the ship. Yes, both Stefan and Elijah had promised her safety. However, had that not been just moments before she found herself hanging overboard, supported by her wrists? Caroline's shoulders were still sore, sorer than she had ever been in her life. When she tried to lift her arms that morning, she found she could not raise them higher than shoulder-height without experiencing unbearable pain. She also had bruises on her wrists in the shape of Klaus's hands, and she could not see her neck, but assumed that there were likely marks there as well.

But Caroline could not simply sit in this room anymore. This enclosed space, with nothing to pass the time but a piece of rope. So she looked around the room and, spotting a large knife that lay on the desk, picked it up, testing the feel of it her hands for a moment. Caroline had never held a weapon before, but she supposed this would do just fine. Mind you, she had no intention to use it; Caroline was not sure she could bring herself to stab someone. She really only felt the need to carry it in attempt to try and scare anyone from even trying to harm her. So she held the large, curved blade by the handle and put her other hand on the doorknob. Just two seconds later, Caroline could have thanked her nerves for causing her to have such a tight grip, because when an unexpected knock came from the door, she nearly dropped the deadly blade on her foot.

Opening the door cautiously, Caroline saw standing on the other side a man of very dark skin with a red cloth wrapped around his head. She remembered him as the man who had brought her to this room after her unfortunate meeting with Klaus. He stood there with an apple and three biscuits.

"I saw that you had not come from your room, and no one else had been down to see you. I thought you must be hungry," he said in his accented voice.

"Oh," Caroline said. She had not known who she was expecting to be on the other side of the door. Perhaps Klaus, or Stefan, maybe even Elijah. "Thank you."

His eye's drifted down and she followed his gaze to the knife in her hand. She flushed in embarrassment, "That's, uh, I was just-"

"I am not here to hurt you, Caroline." Jeremy interrupted, understanding why she might be holding onto the blade. "I just wanted to bring you food."

Caroline thought back to the night before, and the fact that he had carried her to this room. He had not made her walk, despite that she was weak and tired. He had carried her, and without her even asking. She figured he must not be like Klaus- someone who enjoys seeing other people hurt- and chose to believe him.

"Ok," she nodded, and opened the door further so he could step inside. He sat the food on the desk, and Caroline put the knife down on her bed. "Thank you... Jeremy," Caroline said, remembering the name Klaus had called him by. "I know I already said that but, it was very nice of you."

Jeremy shrugged, "Of course. Well, I have work to do."

"You're leaving?" Caroline winced internally at the desperation in her voice, but she was so terribly bored, and Jeremy did not seem too awful. She would not have minded his company.

"Yes," he responded, and noticing the disappointment on her face added, "but I can come back later once I'm done."

"Actually," Caroline said, another idea coming to mind, "could I go with you? I mean, out there." She pointed past the chamber's door. "If I stay in this room any longer I may suffocate."

Jeremy chuckled, "Yes, you can come. I don't know that you will be much more entertained up there than you are down here."

Caroline smiled widely, overjoyed that she was finally getting out of this space after hours in the cabin alone. She glance nervously to the blade, wondering if she should take it along.

"I don't think you'll be needing that," Jeremy chuckled. "Everyone is under strict orders to treat you properly. You have nothing to worry about."

Caroline frowned, recognizing the words that had already been recited to her twice before, "Right, nothing to worry about. Except the evil, violent, malicious man you all serve."

"Yes," Jeremy sighed, leading Caroline out of the room, "except him."

Thankfully, Klaus was not out on the deck as Caroline watched Jeremy do his work. She neither knew nor cared where Klaus might be, as long as she was as far away from him as possible. At first, Caroline wanted to help Jeremy with what he was doing, but it wasn't before too long that the ropes left her hands raw and burning, so she resigned to simply watching and listening to him explain. Caroline only saw Stefan once that day, and when she approached him, he quickly said that he had duties to attend to on one of the lower decks, and walked away briskly without another word.

Later that day when Elijah emerged from one of the lower decks and saw Caroline smiling and trying to learn the words to a song Trevor was singing, he came up to her, questioning her mood.

"I don't understand. How can you be so positive? You're away from your home, your family. You're being held as a hostage, and yet you smile and sing."

"You're right," Caroline responded. "I'm away from everything and everyone I hold dear, with no inkling as to what my future holds for me. I could die tomorrow. I could never see my home again. And I could sit in that dark room and cry over it, but the fact is, the sun will shine whether I come out to see it or not. So why not enjoy it while I can?" Caroline added gently, "And I don't believe that you don't understand that. I think you do, better than most."

"What makes you say that?" Elijah inquired.

"You're too honest, Elijah, too good. I have hardly spent any time with you and already I can see that. Am I to believe that you chose this life of dishonesty and thievery? No, I believe that you live this way for Klaus." Elijah was stunned by her observation, and found himself speechless at her deductions. She looked at him sympathetically and glanced to the floor, adding softly. "I know what it means to feel caught between your love for someone and your disapproval of everything they are."

Before Elijah had the chance to ask Caroline to elaborate on what she meant by that, he was called away by an agitated-sounding Klaus.

Caroline spent the rest of the day with Jeremy and Trevor, and was introduced to a few of the other crew members. Everyone followed their apparent orders, and treated her properly. They were even friendly. Everyone except Kol, that is. The one time Caroline encountered him that day, he sneered at her and was very crude in his remarks. Caroline suspected it had everything to do with the fact that she was occupying his room for the time. Aside from that, Caroline's day went by without any disturbing or frightening occurrences. The men of the ship were full of intriguing stories, and whenever they weren't talking, they were singing. Caroline tried to keep up, but there were so many songs. She wondered how they could possibly remember the words to all of them. The food was far from the prepared meals that she grew up on, but the spirited banter of the men was enough to distract her from the bland fare.

As the sun went down, Caroline made her way back to her cabin. Now that she felt confident no one would harm her, she was no longer afraid to walk alone. There was only one person she had to fear, and seeing as he was captain, no number of escorts could protect her from him. She spotted Elijah walking towards her and waved politely.

"Caroline," he smiled.

"E-li-jah," she sang, skipping to the tune that the men had been singing as they all ate their supper, and Elijah laughed lightly at her little dance.

"Are you laughing at me? How rude," she teased, playfully.

"Forgive me," Elijah said, ceasing his laughter but still smiling, "I'm just in complete awe of your spirit. I am still shocked by it."

"Yes," Caroline agreed, her smile slipping from her face as her hand came up to absently hold the pendant at her neck, "so am I."

"What do you mean?" Elijah asked.

"Have you seen Stefan today?" Caroline inquired, ignoring Elijah's question. She did not want to voice the conflicting thoughts she was having at the moment.

"Er," Elijah blinked, confused by the sudden change of subject. "I suppose, I've crossed his path a few times today. Why do you ask?"

"I have the strangest feeling that he is avoiding me." Caroline murmured, looking into the distance as the tried to figure why Stefan would be doing such a thing, continuing to toy with her necklace as she thought.

"Why would he do that?"

"I haven't the slightest. How did Stefan come to be on this ship?" She asked, "If he is a prisoner as well, then perhaps he is being kept away from me."

"Well," Elijah answered, "I can assure you he is no prisoner. He is a free and willing member, just as everyone else on this ship-"

Aside from me, Caroline thought.

"But as for how he came to be here," Elijah continued, "you would have to ask Niklaus. I do not know the specifics, only that Niklaus brought him aboard several years ago."

"Hm," Caroline hummed, trying to figure out the years of Stefan's life after his disappearance, but finding she did not know anything except that he was here now, and had been for the majority of the four years since she last saw him. "Speaking of avoiding people," Caroline shifted topics once more, "where have you been all day?"

"Niklaus has kept me unusually busy, with a series of trivial and mundane tasks since he called me away from you earlier today."

Caroline nodded, understanding that Klaus must have done this just to keep Elijah away from her. Whether just to annoy Elijah, or Caroline, or because he was still worried about her creating a rift between them, she did not know.

By now, the pair had reached her bedroom, and bid each other goodnight before Caroline retreated inside the room and Elijah walked off to his own.

That night as Caroline lay in bed, she wrestled with her thoughts. Yes, she had enjoyed her day. Actually enjoyed it. That very enjoyment was the point of cause for the conflict she was feeling now. She should be disgusted by these men. She should be cursing them until her voice was gone and her throat raw. But no, she sat with them, talked with them, listened to them. And in listening to them she learned about them. She learned that more than thieves and murderers, more than horror stories recited to her as a child, they were people.

And there lied the second point of conflict. Yes, they were people, but still pirates.

So was she to treat them as such? As the criminals they actively were? Or was she too choose to see more?

Despite the warring taking place inside Caroline's mind, the day had tired her, and she soon slipped from her thoughts into a deep sleep, never quite coming to a settlement on how she felt.

Next- Chapter 5: The Modern Prometheus

A/N: Wow short chapter. But fear not I'm almost done with the next so it should be up in no time at all. As always, thanks for reading and please review. Your comments fuel my fire! And if you like you can find me on tumblr at curtlemons. tumblr. com

foreshadow: to show or indicate beforehand *wink wink*