Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries or it's characters. If I did, The Originals and Steroline would never have happened, Kol would be alive and happily causing mayhem somewhere, and Klaus and Caroline would be travelling the world and sexing it up.
She wakes the next morning feeling like she's been hit by a truck, the exhaustion in her body bone deep. The adrenaline of being on the run for the past few days, mixed with her confrontation with Klaus last night, has her wanting to roll over and sleep for the next century or so, until this whole mess blows over.
That could be an option. She could get Klaus to get one of his witches to do their witchy voodoo thing, lock her in a shipping container somewhere, desiccated until someone can give her some blood. That would be the easy way out.
With a sigh, she rolls out of bed and plants her feet on the musty carpet, inspecting her surroundings curiously.
She hadn't had a chance to truly explore the hotel they're in, but the suite she's in would have been nothing short of opulent when it was occupied by humans. The glass windows are broken, fallen into disrepair with the neglect of the hotel, but she can still see the beauty in the furnishings, the decorations.
She might have stayed here on a visit, had she had the guts to compel her way into this suite. She runs a hand over the sumptuous covers, sending a silent thank you to the fabric for shielding her from the howling of the wind last night.
It still amazes her sometimes, that she actually needs to sleep. It's such a human action, the lull in consciousness, the opportunity given to the body to recharge itself.
Enzo reassures her that she'll need less sleep the older she gets. She can't help but wonder if Klaus ever sleeps, or if he spends his nights haunting the footsteps of others. Perhaps that was how he got his terrifying reputation, forever hovering on the fringes of the vampire community, using others to do his dirty work for him.
Until recently of course. She supposes that she should be flattered that it was her and her friends that finally forced Klaus out of seclusion and back into the limelight. But it had brought so many complications to her life since.
Their brief dalliance had turned into anything but, and right now, she can't feel like she's stuck right in the middle of some crappy teen dystopian novel.
She pulls the sleeves of the jacket she's wearing, his jacket, down over her hands, tucking them under her armpits to warm up. If that wasn't a cliche she didn't know what was.
In the next moment she's bending down to pull her boots on, tucking her hair behind her ear, wishing more than anything for a toothbrush and some toothpaste. No one ever mentioned that being on the run would suck quite this much.
A gentle tapping on the door startles her from her thoughts, and she freezes as she glances towards the heavy wood. Anyone she's travelling with could probably kick it down without a second thought, but whoever is on the other side is being surprisingly respectful.
"Caroline? It's time." Klaus' voice is muffled by the wood, but she can almost envision the posture he's adopted outside her door- leaning with one shoulder against the wall, booted feet crossed at the ankle, arms crossed over his chest.
"Time for what?" She asks, inspecting her reflection in the mirror. She can almost hear his eyes roll from beyond the wall that separates them.
"Come on sweetheart. We may as well get this over with."
With two steps she's at the door, pulling it open and stepping into the hallway beyond. Klaus is leaning up against the opposite wall as suspected, watching her carefully for any signs that she's freaking out.
To be honest, she is, kinda. Learning that you were the born again ruler of the supernatural world isn't just something that you can process, cool as a cucumber. Point is, she's still trying to figure out exactly what her new status entails, especially since her new supposed 'powers' have shown no sign of even remotely manifesting into something useful that could help them in this war.
Klaus leads the way towards the end of the hallway, where he looks around for a moment before pushing open the heavy fire door, pressing back against the door frame so she'll have to move close by him to pass.
With an exasperated sigh she turns her body sideways, slinking past him, trying to avoid brushing up against his chest. His chuckle echoes in her ears as she moves into the concrete stairwell, clattering down the steps as Klaus lets the door slam shut behind them.
Almost immediately they're plunged into darkness, and she lets out a short gasp as her foot misses the stair and she pitches forward.
The displacement of air tells her that Klaus is on the move, and he's there to catch her before she can fall flat on her face, lifting her down the last few steps and setting her firmly on her feet on the landing.
"Alright?" Klaus asks, voice echoing around the stairwell. She can't make him out in the darkness, but she has an awful feeling that he can see just fine despite the lack of light. Stupid Hybrid senses.
She grips him by the upper arms tightly, fingertips digging into the fabric of his ever present Henley.
"I'm fine. You can let go of me now."
"Hold onto my arm sweetheart, we've still got a few flights to go. I might be able to see just fine in this darkness, but I think you're having a bit of trouble." His voice is low, melodious, and she tries not to think about the dirty things he's said to her previously using that voice.
"Fine." She bites out between gritted teeth.
Klaus pats her hand once before striding forwards, and it takes everything in her not to stumble clumsily over her own two feet.
Their progress is slow, debris and broken pieces of furniture littering the stairwell. Whatever had happened here hadn't been pleasant.
"How are you even seeing right now?" She voices, fingers still curled tightly around his shoulder as they walk.
"Hybrid vision. It's sort of like night vision goggles that humans use." Klaus replies immediately. "Debris to your left." He says, just as she trips over something, pain lancing up her leg.
"Son of a bitch." She hisses, bending over to massage her shin.
"Well love, that's not very nice, even if my mother wasn't the most pleasant of women." Klaus muses out loud as he lifts his head. "Come on then. Only a few more steps to go and we're there. You might want to cover your eyes at the bottom."
"Now why would I want to do that- shit!" She yelps as Klaus pushes his shoulder against the door, sunlight streaming suddenly into the stairwell.
It's enough to almost blind her, her eyes adjusting to the light as quickly as she can, stumbling forwards into the hallway as Klaus lets the heavy fire door slam shut.
"You should listen to me more carefully sweetheart." Klaus says with a self satisfied smirk as he strides past her, towards the end of the hallway.
There are two standing on either side of the double doors, and they look slightly surprised to see her. Perhaps they weren't expecting her to have such power, perhaps it was the presence of Klaus at her side.
The two vampires locked eyes with Klaus briefly, before the one with the dark hair straightened, rolling his shoulders.
"Welcome. Genevieve is within waiting for you. The Hybrid will have to wait outside."
Klaus smiles to himself. It's pleasant, almost disarming. The two vampires exchange uncertain glances at the sudden switch in Klaus' temperament.
"Actually lads, The Hybrid will also be entering. Unless you'd like to try and stop me? You can't be what, more than 400 years old combined?"
Klaus steps up to the dark haired vampire so they're standing nose to nose, the full force of Klaus' gaze pinning him to the spot. It wasn't compulsion, just a good, old fashioned dose of masculinity and superiority that seemed to roll off Klaus in waves.
She can't help but roll her eyes a little, tapping her foot against the floor.
"If you're done with your pissing contest and the theatrics gentlemen, I'll be walking through that door and taking Klaus with me. You can thank me later when you still find all your limbs attached."
She flicks her hair and steps towards the doors, the two vampires finally stepping aside for her and Klaus.
Putting two hands on the double doors, she gives them a large push, stepping into the room beyond.
She's surprised at just how young Genevieve is. She's not quite sure what she was expecting, but Genevieve couldn't be more than 25 years old, if that.
The girl clearly commands the room, an odd assortment of vampires and humans, possibly witches lining the walls as she and Klaus pause in front of the chair she's sitting on, upon a raised dais.
"Caroline Forbes." The girl drawls, leaning forward in her chair.
A dark gaze lands on her for a moment before sliding to where Klaus stands, a few steps behind her.
"I thought I gave instructions that the Hybrid be left outside."
Klaus remains silent behind her, and she balls her hands into fists at her side, realising that she would have to answer for him, make excuses for him.
"I thought it be best that we avoid blood shed this morning." She finally replies with a tilt of the chin.
She hears an amused noise from somewhere to her left, glancing sideways long enough to see Elijah leaning languidly against the wall, Katherine beside him with her arms crossed over her chest.
Despite her not trusting either of them as far as she could throw them, it was somewhat comforting to have both of them there if it turns out that she had walked into a trap. She'd seen first hand what Elijah was capable of, could only imagine what Katherine was like when her back was against the wall and she had limited options.
"I can't have someone who can't control their temper staying here with us. You'll leave by sundown and you'll leave this room now." Genevieve directs this to Klaus, looking over her shoulder.
She can't help but turn her head to see his reaction to this turn of events, wondering how powerful Genevieve must be to even think of doing this.
Klaus looks serene, and that worries her.
She turns back to Genevieve just as Klaus smiles, which honestly does nothing to assuage her nerves.
"If you can remove me, I'll go."
Genevieve stares at Klaus for a long moment, eyes narrowed in concentration. It's a look she's seen on Bonnie before, when she was using her powers to deliver a particularly painful vampire aneurysm.
Then, to her surprise, Klaus begins to laugh.
"You think your parlour tricks will work on me? I'm a thousand years old girl. I'll not be intimidated by an upstart witch on a power trip."
His voice has dropped, a dangerous quality to his tone that makes many of the vampires in the room shift uneasily.
Elijah smirks, but does nothing. Kol on the other hand, looks absolutely delighted at the turn of events, Rebekah instead choosing to bury her face in her hands like this is a regular occurrence.
"Remove yourself Hybrid, or you'll be removed. Final warning."
Klaus tilts his chin defiantly but stands his ground, crossing his arms over his chest as he raises a single, insolent eyebrow.
Four vampires step forward, each of them looking like they could have been a bouncer in a previous life. They're massive and burly, corded muscle evident on their arms.
Klaus just sniffs disdainfully as one of them lays a hand on him. Of course, seconds later that hand has been removed from both Klaus' arm and the owner's body, the detached limb twitching on the floor as the vampire in question screams in agony, falling to his knees in front of Klaus.
The second vampire looks uncertain as Klaus turns a cold gaze on him. The remaining two move to block her as she moves towards Klaus, and it's then that she realises that she's pissed off.
She hisses, gripping the arm of one of the two vampires in front of her, clutching tight enough to grind bones together.
She's surprised then, when the other vampire groans, going stiff as he begins to desiccate in front of her very eyes. She glances downwards, looking for the telltale sign of a wooden stake protruding from his chest, but sees nothing.
The room erupts into noise, Klaus realising first what's happening as he launches himself towards her, tearing her away from the other vampire. She pushes at his chest, Klaus stiffening under her hands as the veins in his neck start turning to black.
"Stop, Caroline." He tells her through gritted teeth, the unrelenting march of decay creeping up around his throat and chin.
Horrified with herself she steps away, staring at her hands in shock as Klaus slowly returns to his previous state, all signs of desiccation slipping away with every passing second.
She feels cold, a strange feeling as she sways on her feet, darkness blurring at the edges of her vision as she looks around the room.
The expressions range from sheer horror to intrigue, but it's Elijah that finally, finally steps forward, a significant look over his shoulder to Katherine, who nods and begins to head towards the exit of the room.
"Come. Let's get you back to your room." Elijah murmurs to her in a soothing tone as she leans into him for support.
He doesn't seem scared of her, and for that she's grateful. She tries to seek Klaus out, tries to apologise, but he's not looking at her, instead rubbing thoughtfully at his neck with an uncertain expression on his face.
Elijah half drags her from the room as they stumble along, the weakness that she's feeling from whatever had just happened in there threatening to pull her under.
She's trembling, and it's only when the heavy doors have closed behind her that she allows the blackness to overtake her.
Judging by the light, it's hours later when she finally opens her eyes, the rays of the setting sun casting eerie shadows against the wall of her bedroom.
She's flat on her back on top of the duvet, Elijah apparently having helpfully removed her boots before leaving her to sleep off whatever the hell had just happened downstairs.
She takes a breath in, letting her hands hover in front of her face, as if that would give her the answer to all of the many questions that had now sprung up as a result of earlier.
Was that her power that had done that? That had almost desiccated that vampire, had almost desiccated Klaus? And how was it that she possessed the power to apparently incapacitate or kill Klaus when there were very few objects on this Earth that had the power to do either?
Pushing those thoughts out of her mind, she takes another breath, squeezing her eyes shut. Obviously her power had shown up for perhaps the first time. And it had happened when she'd been threatened, when she'd been angry.
Could it be that it was connected to her emotions? That it would only manifest when absolutely needed? And if she could do that to vampires, what about witches, humans, and werewolves?
She sits up finally, running a hand through her hair with a shaky sigh. She feels drained still, out of sorts, every muscle in her body sore and weak.
As if sensing her uncertainty, there's a gentle knock on the door before Elijah is poking his head into the opening. He looks undisturbed by whatever had just happened, the very opposite of Klaus. It was enough to reassure her slightly.
"Excellent, you're awake. How are you feeling?" Elijah asks, his tone business like as he strides further into the room. He's holding a blood bag in one hand, and she's reaching for it before he can even think to offer it.
Elijah gives her a wry smile as he passes it over.
"Thanks." She tells him with a quick smile of her own. "And to answer your question, I feel like I've run a marathon. Want to tell me what the hell happened in there?"
"I believe that was your power doing the talking. We'll discuss it a little later, when you've had a chance to regain your bearings. In the meantime, there's a visitor here for you. Shall I show him in?" Elijah asks with a raised eyebrow as she frowns at him.
She's not sure if she's ready for a tete a tete with Klaus, considering she almost murdered him.
"I think you'll find that this visitor is most welcome." Elijah clarifies at the look on her face.
She uncaps the blood bag and takes a pull from it, the tangy liquid washing over her tongue and slipping down her throat.
"Fine."
Elijah takes his leave of her, and she can hear him murmuring to someone just outside of the room. She looks up at the sound of footsteps, her mouth falling open in shock at the sight of the familiar face.
"Stefan?"
Stefan Salvatore looks like he's aged at least a couple of decades, which is no mean feat considering his vampirism. It's not so much the physical changes, but the tired lines around his eyes, the way he holds himself, like he's about to fall apart if he has to go on for much longer.
"Hey Care." Stefan gives her a wan smile before sinking wearily down onto one of the lounge chairs at the foot of her bed.
"What are you doing here? I thought you were in Alaska?" She questions, setting her blood bag aside momentarily, perching on the lounge next to him.
"We were." Stefan replies wearily, swiping a hand over his face. "Do you have something to drink?" He asks, almost as an afterthought.
She has a feeling that he's not talking about blood, and moves to the sideboard against the wall, to where the alcohol was.
She uncorks the glass stopper and pours out some brandy into a pair of glasses, handing one to Stefan once she's settled back into the lounge.
"No ice, sorry." She explains as Stefan swishes his glass around for a moment before taking a sip.
"Figured that would be a given." He replies with a shrug.
There's a long pause as she tries to gauge him, tries to figure out what to say or what he's going to say. She's surprised when Stefan lets out a bitter laugh.
"Well the world certainly has gone to shit, hasn't it?"
She looks at him in surprise.
"That would be the understatement of the century. Has this ever happened like this for you before?"
"Not to this extent." Stefan answers, draining the rest of his drink and rolling the glass between his fingers.
"So…" She begins, glancing at him sideways. "How was Alaska?"
Stefan seems to slump, and she quickly sets her drink on the floor as she reaches out to grip him on the arm. Stefan's glass drops to the floor as he buries his face in his hands.
"They took Elena."
It doesn't take a genius for her to realise who exactly Stefan is talking about. And if it's true, then this is bad.
"What?" She asks hoarsely. "Why Elena? How did this happen? You were supposed to be safe!" Her voice rises on that last statement, and Stefan looks at her in alarm.
"I don't know how they found us Caroline, but they did. Damon and I couldn't stop them, we were lucky to get away without being taken ourselves."
"But where have they gone? Where have they taken her? How do we know if she's even alive?" She gets to her feet, pacing back and forth in the short space in front of the lounge.
"I don't know. That's why Damon and I came here."
"You and Damon." She repeats, letting out a sigh. The thought of avoiding the SRA with Damon in close proximity made her skin crawl. Whether Stefan liked it or not, everything was going to change now if the Salvatore brothers stayed with them.
She and Damon had always danced around what had happened when she'd been with him for those fleeting few weeks as a human. It had been rape, plain and simple, all of the memories crashing back into her once she'd turned and become a vampire.
She'd contemplated staking him so many times, more so when he began to use her as bait for Klaus and his siblings, putting her in the kind of danger that no one else ever questioned.
The quiet resentment had quickly blossomed into all out hatred, and she'd had a few choice words to spit at him before she'd left Mystic Falls in her rear view mirror, and had left Elena and the Salvatore Brothers in her past, in the dust where they belonged.
The only reason she had left him alive was because of Stefan, and even now looking back she questioned that decision every day of her existence.
"I know that you don't exactly want us here." Stefan interrupts her train of thought, his tone patient with her. "But I didn't know where else to go. I thought that Klaus maybe might be able to help us."
"Then you're a fool." She tells Stefan, watching the hurt expression on his face as he meets her eyes. "Klaus is never going to help you, not when Elena is involved. She's tried to kill him on so many occasions. Why would Klaus do something for her in return?"
Stefan looks uncertain as he gets to his feet, hands held out in a placating gesture.
"We thought if you maybe asked Klaus…" He trails off, unsure as to what to say next.
She doesn't give him the chance, striding furiously over to the door and yanking it open.
"This conversation is over." She bites out through clenched teeth. "Get out."
"Caroline." Stefan steps towards her, a pleading expression on his face.
"God, and here I thought that things had actually changed, that you stopped seeing me as an Original groupie that you could leverage for their help. Get out, and if you know what's good for you, you won't try this again."
She holds herself tall as Stefan steps past her, an apology on his lips that never comes.
"It's good to see you Caroline. For what it's worth."
Stefan flinches as she slams the door in his face.
A/N: Happy New Year to you all! I hope 2017 is rewarding and fruitful for each and everyone of you. There was a bit of exposition in this one as we drive the story forward, and a surprise appearance from one of the Salvatore brotherss.
So it turns out that part of Caroline's power is that she can desiccate people with her touch, hence the whole Dealer of Death thing. Time will tell if this is a universal thing across all species or if it's just limited to vampires.
Next chapter, Caroline finds out about Bonnies betrayal, Klaus finds out something about Damon and Caroline, and Caroline discovers more about her powers as she gets a visit from an old friend.
