The day Caroline met my family

Caroline stared at the huge manor perplexed. "I should have suspected something fishy when you picked me up in a car instead of your shiny dangerous bike."

Klaus went around the car and held out his hand for her. "Every time that I'm back from a tour, my family hosts a big dinner."

Caroline looked at him pulling her faultless eyebrows together. "This is our first date and you bring me to your house for a family dinner?"

"Technically…" Klaus smiled. "… our first date was at the coffee shop." She smiled but he could tell that she wasn't too at ease so he showed his dimples. "You don't have to be concerned love, they are going to love you."

Caroline chuckled. "Everything comes so easy to you…"

He nodded and made way up the porch stairs taking her with him. "Life is too short love and I know exactly what I want." He squeezed her hand trapped in his.

She shook her head, her long hair moving in waves as she did so. "I've never met anyone like you Nik…"

He flashed an even bigger smile and opened the front door for her, Caroline was in awe of how big and luxurious the mansion was, it was actually a bit too much to absorb at first.

"I suspected it but… you are like a millionaire, aren't you? With the cars and the bike and the expensive clothes and the gigantic house and the old family name…"

She was glaring at him with an eerie expression which made him laugh. "How did you phrase it sweetheart? I was just being modest."

Caroline opened her mouth but steadily punched him in the shoulder instead of speaking.

"Now that's the perfect girl for you." A woman with red hair approached them.

Klaus rolled his eyes. "Of course that you would support someone with a good fist."

The beautiful elegant woman looked at Caroline. "He needs someone to keep him in line."

Caroline blushed awkwardly, in her head she was looking for a way out of this but Klaus soothed her by gently touching her back with his hand.

"I'm Sage." The other woman smiled to sooth her as well.

Caroline seemed to breathe unevenly. "Caroline…"

"Is my car safe?" a man joined them and laced his arm loosely around Sage.

"Yes, I can drive a car unlike what everyone in this family states." Klaus replied annoyed.

The man gave him a look not really convinced about it, he then looked at the blonde silently watching them. "I'm Finn, his older brother and married to the stunning woman next to me."

Caroline smiled a little more at ease. "You are the police officer, right?"

Finn nodded amused that Klaus had been so quick to share the family details with her.

"And what did he say about me?" A smiling beautiful blonde bounced down the staircase to meet them.

"Rebekah?" Caroline ventured.

The girl was impressed and stopped next to Klaus. "She is very pretty."

Caroline felt her cheeks burn again but was a bit confused when a young man joined them, he smiled at her expecting her to say his name since she seemed to know about everyone else. "I don't know who that is." she whispered embarrassed at Klaus.

"He is not important." Klaus assured her.

Kol pouted while everyone else laughed.

"Let's move to the balcony while dinner isn't served." Sage gave Klaus a judging look and took Caroline away, gently placing her hands over the blonde's shoulders.

Caroline looked back at Klaus smiling and this time she looked relaxed.

Kol's hard strike in his arm pulled him away from the gazing at the stunning woman.

"You didn't tell her about me? The first girl you bring home to meet the family and you didn't tell her that you had a dashing and irresistible brother?"

"I did tell her about Elijah." Klaus answered serious.

Kol punched him again and Klaus was ticked off instantly, he wasn't enjoying the free punch Klaus' day.

"Judging you." Kol dropped upset and left.

Rebekah was twirling her long braid with a big grin.

"What?" Klaus was cautious.

"So that's the girl you've been so excited about."

Klaus licked his lips. "I fancy her."

Rebekah released her braid with a loud laugh. "Nik… you fancied Hetal and Romi, Sam… Julia… it's a small list but still I only heard of them. Caroline is the first one I physically meet so don't tell me that you simply fancy this one, there's something substantial about this new infatuation of yours."

Klaus looked away in that cute way of his, clenching his teeth when he was embarrassed and avoiding a direct confrontation. "There's something about her that makes her intriguing and fascinating to me."

Rebekah grew stiff.

"I better go see to Caroline, the poor girl probably is impaired to breathe while everyone is hovering over her." he quickly ended the vulnerable moment.

Rebekah smiled at him but he left reluctantly feeling that she was a bit hesitant about his new girl.

The amazing laughter that came from the balcony set his heart racing, how he loved a good laughter and Caroline's was authentic and sweet.

"I came for the rescue but I don't deem you in need of one." Klaus said surprised.

"I was just being informed that there are a lot of cute baby pictures."

"I see… five minutes in the house and already you are chasing her away." Klaus gave Sage and Kol a scowl.

"It's only fair that she receives a full download of your background." Finn joined them with a glass of bourbon in his hand.

"Stop treating me like I'm one of your suspects, brother." Klaus was starting to think that this wasn't exactly the best idea he ever had.

"I would like to know a little more about the suspect before I agree on a second date with him." Caroline sipped on her glass of wine.

Klaus gave her a dismayed look. "And you are inquiring my biased family?"

"It was your idea to bring me along for dinner with them." she replied innocently.

"Uh, I like her." Rebekah's comment arrived with a smirk.

"Are we having dinner sometime during this century?" Klaus asked Sage.

His sister-in-law laughed. "Patience is not one of your virtues Nik."

"Or driving a car." Kol said resting against the balcony with a chuckle.

"And he's not very keen on showing his feelings… the L word is very hard to dig out of him." Rebekah was quick to jump in on teasing party.

"Unless he's painting, there he becomes all emotional and… raw." Kol pushed the conversation and Klaus' buttons on the way.

Klaus forced his lips tight upset.

"So the suspect has a thing for the fast vehicles that are only to be appreciated by himself and he likes to immerse himself in the introspective world of the arts, he isn't very patient and he doesn't like to be around many people. He is sort of a loner then." She glanced at him with a rebel smirk.

"That was very observant, you should consider a life in the force since you evidently know how to make an accurate profile." Finn mused.

Caroline laughed. "I'm happy being a writer. By the way, I'm working on something right now, it's a novel about a man who has been on the run for years and the lead character is a female detective who is romantically involved with him oblivious to his true identity. I really could use some help with the technical stuff."

"Will you mention me in your book? A small stellar appearance perhaps?" Finn asked with a smile.

"I could add something along those lines." she returned with sweetness.

Finn moved his hand towards the big living room. "I'd be delighted to help."

Caroline followed Finn engaged in a very intense research for her book.

"Your husband is going to steal away my girl." Klaus told Sage incredulous.

She laughed. "I forgot to add to the list jealousy."

Klaus dryly sneered. "You are all on a vicious mission."

"Don't worry those pretty little dimple of yours, she likes you." Sage interlocked her arm with his.

They left Kol and Rebekah in the balcony shoving each other and trying to hit each other like the two big kids that they were.

"How do you know about what she feels?" Klaus asked Sage in a slow manner.

"I'm a woman, we know these things." she whispered.

"And this baby that Rebekah told me about?" Klaus asked as they reached the hallway.

Sage smiled sadly. "We've been trying for so long…"

"I'm positive that sooner than later there will be a child re-coloring all of my paintings." Klaus comforted her.

She gave him a big wink. "Careful what you wish for Niklaus."

He smiled in response.

"I'm going to check on that dinner." she said letting his arm go.

Klaus looked at Caroline and caught her already looking at him, he loved the way they shared a long look but soon she focused on Finn and his big words again and Klaus decided to go get a drink.

On the way to it his phone started ringing and it was just the person he needed to talk to. "I will never listen to you ever again." he said upset and closed himself inside the library.

"Nonsense… I'm the voice of reason."

"You are the voice of doom." Klaus hissed. "They are all hogging her, I haven't been alone with her for five seconds since we arrived."

"That's a good thing, it will keep her distracted from your unique personality."

There was a long silence, Klaus wasn't answering that one.

"It was a joke Nik…" Stefan said.

"This was a mistake… I should have taken her to somewhere exquisite where we would be alone."

"Your family means everything to you, she will love that, trust me."

"Remind me again of how many girlfriends you had?" Klaus asked with a sting.

Stefan laughed dryly from the other side of the line and ended the call.

Klaus stared at his phone, it was the last time that he was listening to Stefan and his romantic advices.

There was a soft knock on the door and Klaus expected someone announcing dinner to be ready but not the blonde smiling at him.

"Hi… you disappeared."

Klaus showed his phone. "My brainless friend Stefan called."

Caroline slowly came inside the room. "It's not very wise to leave me alone with your brother Kol, he wanted to show me something called the Gumpert... I was afraid to ask what it was." she winced scared.

Klaus sighed. "It's his new car... you have to ignore him. He likes to spend the family's fortune in cars and women but he's afraid of me so he won't try anything fancy with you."

She touched a few books of the vast collection at display. "This is by far the biggest house I have ever visited."

"It's just a house… believe me, the majority of the days I would have traded all the pleasantries that money brings for the love of a father I never had."

Caroline stopped looking at the books and faced him wanting to latch on to that low-guarded moment. "It can't be easy to have a father who lives for his country, who loves his platoon more than his family."

"My father raised us all like soldiers, he never showed an ounce of love or kindness to any of us. Of course that having a son who enjoyed the arts was a huge offence to him and at some point I wasn't manly enough in his eyes so he decided to teach me some manners. Quickly the occasional beating turned into a frequent outlet of his rage."

Caroline gulped down loudly and pulled the sleeves of her shirt up. "That's why you stayed in London…"

"It broke me apart at the time because it forced me to leave Rebekah and Kol with him but I just couldn't take it anymore…"

She smiled at him without patronizing or showing pity but offering him her honest sympathy for the way he didn't allow his father's cruelty to destroy him and instead became a better man than his father ever was.

Klaus stumbled upon a moment where he was speechless, he had never been this open about his past with anyone else, he couldn't quite explain why she was so effortlessly making him unravel his life to her just by smiling at him and listening to every word with such an open heart.

"For what I saw they all love you. Everyone has very strong personalities but I can sense how tight you all are as a family. It's even fascinating to see the dynamic of it all."

"I'm closer to my other brother Elijah to be honest, he is sort of a father to me. I wish you could have met him."

"Is he away on a tour?" she asked him quietly.

"Yes, he won't be back before the end of the year."

"I suppose I will have to wait until then to meet him…"

At first Klaus thought that he was listening to things that weren't there. "Is that your way of saying that you agree to see me again, after today?"

She kept her eyes on him. "It's my way of saying that if you tried to kiss me right now, I wouldn't say no."

"You are very unpredictable Caroline."

"The good or the bad kind?" she asked with a hint of a smile dancing on her lips.

"The unpredictable kind." He lowered his chin with a powerful look at her.

She laughed with will, her body shook because of it. "I can see that becoming a problem for someone so used to be in control of everything."

Klaus squinted. "It's not a problem, it's a challenge."

Caroline bit her lip probably keeping the answer he deserved to herself but she was in control, not him.

Katherine was hitting that punching bag like her life depended on it, she used her right hook and then her left one and then she went back to her right one.

"Someone should tell the bag not to mess with you when you are upset." Stefan said from his corner, he was writing on his journal and sitting on his bed.

Katherine smiled and kicked the bag as high as her leg would go. "Maybe you should write the warning down on your diary."

Stefan continued the detailed report of his thoughts in his beautiful handwriting. "What do you suggest that I write?"

Katherine punched the bag really hard and caught it as it came towards her. "Dear diary, I wish that I was as strong as Kat, she can beat the hell out of me and assemble her gun at the same time, and that scares me."

Stefan's lips turned into a smile and he closed his journal. "I will need proof of that."

"Are you up for the challenge Salvatore?" she moved away from the swinging bag.

Stefan started pacing around her, sizing her. "I can take you Katherine."

She smiled innocently at him and placed her hands behind her back. "I will let you have the first swing."

Stefan laughed and raised his hands in the air, turning them into fists. "Like the gentleman that I am… the first punch is yours."

Katherine smiled hugely and swiftly kicked the bag, he had to doge it and that was all she needed to show up behind him and snake her arm around his neck.

Stefan smiled and grabbed her arm, he was fast and strong and she was propelled over his shoulder, landing on the floor in front of him.

She crouched facing him. "Nice moves baby Salvatore."

He didn't have time to answer her because she moved like a cat and was up already fighting him like an equal, the first blows were easy to dodge but he tasted blood inside of his mouth when she hit him right across the face.

He was upset because she was smirking about it and quickly grabbed her hand when she came at him again, he turned her and his arm was around her neck this time, her body was pressed against his. "Not bad Kat…" he whispered in her ear.

Katherine was breathing hard, her back was pressed against his really defined and firm body, for a moment she forgot what they were doing in the first place.

"But I got you now." he whispered but his voice wasn't as determined as they both expected it to be.

Her slim body was warming his and her natural scent was making him falter.

"Stefan?" she asked slowly.

Stefan couldn't help himself, his other arm was around her waist and he moved his hand over her stomach slowly. "Yes?" he asked a bit too close to her cheek.

He closed his eyes because her amazing dark curls tickled his face.

"You will have to work harder than that to have me." she seductively told him and he felt a pressure below his waist.

He slowly looked down and saw the small knife she was holding against some sacred parts of him. "I see…" he said letting her go.

She was wicked and swiftly used her trained techniques to pull his leg and make him fall backwards, she straddled him and rested the blade against the side of his neck. "Why do I have the feeling that you aren't fighting me as well as you are able to?"

"Maybe because all I want right now is to roll over, pin you to this floor and kiss you."

Katherine was serious, she wasn't expecting his words and her firm hold of the small knife vacillated.

He was serious as well, he was attracted to her and it wasn't a big secret between them, still, this was the first time that he ever acted on it.

She heard someone approaching and she switched back into her Wolf mood. "You lost Stefan." she said a bit louder now.

Damon rolled his eyes. "I give you the pride of my family."

Stefan and Katherine laughed pretending to be really into the fight and broke away.

"Has the Lt. returned?" Katherine moved farther away from Stefan.

"No… they are still out there." Damon laid on his rack oblivious to everything.

Jeremy fondled with his pockets, he was leaning against the Humvee watching Klaus lying on top of a small cliff, he had been there for over an hour now.

Doing nothing but looking at something through the binoculars and then without them, he didn't really move, he was just there staring at something.

Jeremy was starting to become worried about the vital point of this day, it looked to him that it was a wasted day more than anything and he looked at Matt who was wrapping something in wire.

For the time being Jeremy was more interested in this than watching Klaus, for all he knew the Lieutenant could be staring at birds or something. "What are you doing?" Jeremy asked Matt picking up one of the little black boxes that Matt was wrapping up.

"Don't even breathe." Matt said serious.

Jeremy froze. "Why?"

"Because that is a sensitive…" he took back the box carefully. "… bomb."

Jeremy gulped down. "Is it a good idea to be handling these right now?"

"I know what I'm doing… you on the other hand, Jarhead…"

Jeremy sighed. "And the Lt.? What's he doing there?"

Matt smiled. "Why don't you go over there and ask him?"

"Between the crazy man who makes bombs like McGyver and the one who looks able to kill with only his look? I take you… for now at least until I get sent home."

Matt laughed. "Already ready to give up?"

Jeremy pressed his lips into a straight line. "I'm not very welcomed here and it's been 20 days already."

"When I first joined the Wolves, I thought that I would never belong or that I would make it into the team. Don't lose hope Jarhead, the Lt. hates quitters, besides, what's 20 lousy days? The rest of us have been stuck in here for over five months now."

He tapped Jeremy's arm supportive and then went to Klaus, he got on the ground and crawled stopping by his side.

"Anything we can use Lt.?"

"They have five men at the gates. They have changing shifts every hour which means that they are keeping something big in there."

Matt looked at the camp at the bottom of the hill, it was heavily guarded and surrounded by a high barbed wire wall. "Located in the middle of the desert and so heavily guarded… what do you think Lt.? Are they keeping war prisoners in there?"

Klaus showed him the picture in front of him, it was a satellite location that Jeremy unlocked for them. "No heat." he said looking at Matt.

Matt scanned the picture that had no red marks in it. "No human heat inside… then what are they keeping in there?"

"I think it's something more down your lane Donovan."

Matt's eyes widened. "Weapons? Did we just found…"

"Their arsenal? Yes." Klaus left and went to the car.

Matt rushed after him. "Sir… you have that crazy look…"

Klaus smirked as he jumped inside the Humvee.

Matt leaped to the driver's seat fast. "Oh no…"

Jeremy was clueless in the back seat. "What happened?"

"The Lieutenant has that crazy look in his eyes and he just added the smile… whenever you smile like that…" Matt was worried.

So was Jeremy. "I don't understand what's going on."

Klaus took his shades from the pocket and placed them calmly. "I just found a way to end this mission fast so that we can all go home."

"You have lost your mind!" Elijah said sitting on the edge of the table, he signalled the other soldier in the tent to leave them alone.

Klaus sighed knowing that his brother was against his plan. "It's a madcap plan but I know that it will work."

Elijah shook his head vehemently. "It's too risky… I can't let you do this."

"I was sent here to disable as many cells as I could. So far we have been busy swabbing the small pools, I've decided to stop playing a child's game and bring down the big river."

"We don't have enough intel about this location."

"I'll give you a full report when I'm back from destroying it to ashes." he said determined.

"Now it's not the time to start thinking with your heart Lieutenant Mikaelson." Elijah was stern, he rarely used his pattern and superiority with Klaus which meant this was grave.

Klaus clenched his jaw angry. "If that was the case Lieutenant Colonel, then I would remind you that since my daughter was born I held her for exactly two hours before I was forced to leave her. That is 178 days away from my baby girl but I'm not allowing that to cloud my judgement or the fact that I miss my wife so much that I dream about her every night. I could let all this blind me but I dare you to find someone better at this job than me, Sir."

"Niklaus…" Elijah tried to make amends at once.

But Klaus wasn't having any of that. "I will have a full detailed planned mission on your desk in one hour." he saluted his superior but left without waiting for his permission to dismiss.

He was upset when he came inside their quarters but he wasn't surprised to find his team already working on the plan, by now Matt would have filled them all on it.

Stefan handed Klaus all they had gathered so far. "Destroy a bunker full of weapons and take down a small army on the way… you sure know how to make things interesting." he mumbled.

Klaus eased up into a smile. "As my best friend I expected you to know already that I hate being average and dull."

Stefan stretched the maps over the table, holding them down with the bullet casings that they had around. "How do you plan to do this?"

Klaus shrugged. "The easiest way, right through the front door."

Stefan looked at the others and then back at Klaus, hoping that he had heard wrong.

Klaus' dark shimmering smirk told him otherwise.

Soundtrack:

Drops of Jupiter - Train