A/N: It's basically a filler chapter, but it also lays an important background for the next one. I had a lot of trouble with this, so if it sucks, then it sucks. Can't help that. Ye be warned.
Paradise for the Lost
...
for mercy has a human heart
...
(\o/)
For Mercy has a human heart
Pity, a human face:
And Love, the human form divine,
And Peace, the human dress.
—William Blake, Songs of Innocence and of Experience
(\o/)
Caroline is floating in the air with blinding light surrounding her. The light makes her feel warm, it makes her feel... happy. Yes, she's happy. She could be lying like this forever, bathing in the bliss shining right at her, through her, filling her with joy.
Then somebody gently shakes her by the arm, waking her up.
"Caroline? Do you hear me?" A soft female voice rings in Caroline's ears. She blinks, trying to adjust her eyes to the sharp and cold light of a lamp. The walls around her are snow-white, and the woman above her is wearing white too, blending with the surroundings.
"Where am I?" Caroline croaks, her throat dry and sore.
"You're in the hospital. My name's Meredith Fell, I'm your doctor."
"Hospital?" The blonde frowns trying to remember what happened after she went home last night.
"You're yet another victim of an animal attack. It's been happening a lot recently."
"Animal attack?" Caroline raises her eyebrows. Then she remembers. The sketchbook, she freaks out, then Klaus comes home, and they... OH. Yeah. His lips. His hands. His body. His touch. His FANGS. Caroline shivers.
"How did I end up here?"
"You lost a lot of blood. It's a miracle your flatmate found you on time."
"My flatmate?"
"Um, a tall guy with stubble, a posh accent, a weird name—"
"Klaus." Found me on time? Oh you liar. Caroline promises herself to kick his ass as soon as he shows up.
"Yes, exactly. He seemed terrified."
Caroline crosses her arms and pouts. "I'm sure he did."
"I was." Klaus stands in the doorway with a solemn look on his face. Dr. Fell mutters something about taking care of other patients and talking to Caroline later, then leaves them alone. Caroline is fuming, watching him slowly approach her bed.
"Are you going to kill me?" She snaps at him with her arms still crossed. She's looking daggers at him, and Klaus needs a second or two to digest Caroline's anger. He was rather expecting her to scream at the sight of him and flee in panic. But there she is, lying in a hospital bed, barely moving but so furious that she wants to beat him black and blue.
(The hospital robe she's wearing would probably fall off her body leaving her completely na—SHUT UP, Klaus shakes the nagging thought off.)
"Kill you?" He grimaces. The thought makes him cringe. "You think that low of me."
"YES."
Caroline can't believe her eyes—he looks hurt. She would let an evil laugh right now but her throat is too damaged. Klaus does not get hurt. It even sounds ridiculous. He's a demon, a devil, a creature bent on destroying the world for some unknown reasons. He sedates her with a kiss only to attack her a minute later. He does not get hurt by words.
"My apologies. You're what's known as collateral damage."
Oh great, now he says he's sorry he kissed her! It was her first kiss, mind-blowing and knee-melting, and now he stands in front of her, his head hanging low, and he APOLOGIZES because in fact he didn't want to kiss her! Heaven help her or she will rip his head off and hang it on the wall.
(Yes, as you probably notice, Caroline is quick to jump to conclusions. Forgive her, she's still in a state of shock.)
Klaus can't look her in the eyes. Her blood still runs in his system—forget about human blood, it's just ordinary dinner. Her blood, an angel's blood, is delightful. Divine. Feeding on her has been the most amazing experience in his life so far (and mind you, he's experienced a lot).
She's full of light. For a creature born out of darkness it's the most alluring thing in the world. We all strive for balance. Darkness needs a bit of light, and vice versa. Right now he thinks about her delicate skin, her wonderful body, and the kiss that, if he hadn't done what he did later, would have led to things that turn him on instantly at the very thought. He would have taken her right there against the wall, he would have had her moaning under him, screaming his name.
Now she's lying here because of him. Klaus feels a pang of something painful which he would never call by its name.
His hand instinctively reaches to touch her wrist, but she yanks her hand away.
"DON'T touch me." He winces hearing her sharp yet fearful tone. Caroline shifts in the bed and turns on her side, with her back to Klaus, then covers herself with blanket like a moody child. So he sits down on her bed and waits, observing her. His eyes are fixed on her fragile form whereas she keeps ignoring him, obstinately staring at the wall.
Minutes pass, and neither of them wants to break the silence first.
Eventually Caroline gives up. "I'm not talking to you until you explain to me what happened." She mutters.
"What was it?"
Klaus takes a deep breath. "A true face of a devil."
(Well, not exactly a face to put on a GQ cover if you ask her.)
"Not pretty.'' The blonde hisses. ''I won't feed you with 'you look best au naturel' crap."
He cocks an eyebrow at her. Did she just tell him that he's, kind of, ugly? A wicked thought runs through Klaus' mind, and he grins like a shark that spotted a nice tasty human in the sea. He slightly leans forward like he was about to tell her a secret, and she stares like hypnotized at his lips. When her face is close enough he whispers,
"Not everyone can be as beautiful as you, love." Tit for tat.
That cocky smirk of his will render Caroline speechless for at least an hour.
(\o/)
Kol's head pops up from behind the door frame. She waves at him, happy to have someone to keep her company. Klaus left her for a few hours (okay, she asked him a favour because he SO wanted to make up for biting her) and she must admit that resting here is getting boring. How long can you watch The Bold And Beautiful before you become a psychopath? Ridge is going to marry Brooke for the thousandth time, and Caroline won't bear such a heartbreak again.
"Hi." Kol comes in, carrying four bags. "I brought you cookies."
Caroline's smile widens instantly.
"Really? You're my hero!" She beams at him.
"They probably told you to eat healthily, but I'm sure that cookies will revive you sooner than vegetables." He snorts. Then he takes a closer look at Caroline. Pale, with dark circles under her eyes, she looks like many customers that hang out at his bar till the early hours.
Then a familiar voice (to both of them, yet for different reasons) resounds in the room.
"Caroline, do you have a minute? I want to—OH NO." It's Dr. Fell, suddenly losing her spirit at the sight of Caroline's visitor.
"YOU." Kol mutters under his nose, his lip curling upwards.
You probably assume that a doctor, a responsible person would rather stand there with dignity, have a grown-up conversation (whatever it means), and then go their own way like a serious adult should do. Of course there must be some exceptions, and Meredith Fell is one of them.
She turns on her heel and starts running away, trying not to rouse any suspicions at the same time. Without a word Kol rushes after her, also slowing his pace only to avoid getting caught by the hospital security. And so Meredith runs down the hall with a guilty expression on her face being followed by frowning Kol and his silent rage. She's trotting while Kol's marching, her small steps against his long strides. Down the hospital corridor, turn left, turn right, then they brush past a group of nurses throwing them off balance (sorry!), she almost slips on a wet floor while Kol almost runs into a patient on a wheelchair.
Fellow doctors raise their eyebrows at the chase they are witnessing, some of them even making bets who's going to win. Meredith has never felt so embarrassed.
"What do you want?" She snaps when they get to her office. "What a nerve!"
"I should be saying that!" Kol huffs. "You yell at me for no reason, pour champagne onto my head, ignore me on the street, and now you run away!"
"How can you stalk other women when you have such a nice girlfriend!" Meredith is shaking with anger. Her stalker looks at her like she's at least mad.
"What? Now you also ascribe a non-existent girlfriend to me? You can't be right in the head!"
"Don't lie to me, Caroline doesn't have many visitors!"
"She's my flatmate for goodness sake, woman!" Kol's patience has just waved him goodbye and sailed away on a sinking ship. "But now I see why your ex left you! You are worse than a Protestant witch hunter!"
His words must have stung her because for the first time she doesn't bark back at him. Her chin quivers a little, her eye twitches. Before he can take his words back a pair of big brown eyes gets hazy with tears. Oh no, Kol thinks, it's coming.
"Hey, I'm sorry, okay? Please don't—"
Too late.
(\o/)
When Klaus said he wanted to acquit himself he didn't expect her to order him to go to a DVD shop. Come on, she could have asked him to cook for her (which he can't do but women are that cunning and thirsty for revenge), to give her tired body a nice massage (he would love to, if you know what he means), or at least to carry her in his arms (mostly because she's still weak, but also because he likes having her body against his). But no, Caroline wouldn't be herself if she didn't ask him to join her for a movie marathon. He knows her taste in movies is a far cry from being perfect (i.e. being his own taste), and they have nothing in common when it comes to the cinema in general.
He spends more than thirty minutes searching for the right films. Finally he finds them... not surprisingly in a 'chick flicks' section. When he gets a better look at the covers he understands what torture she's prepared for him.
''You must be kidding me.''
He swears a solemn oath to punish Ryan Gosling for existing.
(\o/)
Klaus finds Caroline sitting in her bed surrounded by empty cookie bags. Soap operas tend to have that effect on you.
"Kwauf." Cookie crumbs fall out of her mouth, she's stuffed like a hamster. He sits down on the edge of her bed making her feel incredibly uncomfortable again. Caroline is staring at her hands while Klaus is staring at her.
After swallowing the rest the angel clears her throat.
"Why didn't you kill me?" She asks still avoiding his gaze, fidgeting with the white blanket covering her legs. Her hair is a total mess, her lips seem swollen (guess why?), her hands are shaking—barely but visibly. Klaus thinks he doesn't like her like that, hurt and trembling. It makes him feel guilty. He'd rather bicker with her bright and optimistic self, rolling his bored eyes at her but smiling inwardly with contentment.
"I enjoy you." He admits, his eyes fixed on hers. At least she deserves the truth. "You're beautiful, you're strong, and full of light. You're not what I thought you are, not at all."
At first she gasps and blushes, but then her brain starts processing the data. Finally he trusts her enough to have an honest conversation. Maybe it's her chance, maybe it's the breakthrough she was waiting for.
"Well," she gulps, "I'm not as strong as you may think." Her tentative gaze meets his surprised one.
"I give up. I know I can't beat you. The world's going to end."
Klaus shakes his head like she's telling him a bad joke. "You talk like it's just your problem. I know there's a whole army of angels out there ready to help you." He argues. "Not that they can beat me either, but I know you have a backup."
"You don't understand." She sends him a faint, resigned smile. "It's my fault. I saved Kol when he was a baby. Now the whole world will face the consequences of my great act of mercy." She clenches her fist around the hem of the blanket.
''It was you?'' Klaus stares at her with his jaw hanging low. Did she just tell him that she risked her life to save his brother? To preserve a ticking bomb instead of disarm it? Does she know how much he owes her now? Much more than just Apocalypse. Much more than just his brother's life.
He owes her the key to boundless power.
"So I decided to make my own bucket list." She goes on.
"A bucket list?" He frowns. He doesn't have any idea what she's talking about. Does she collect buckets? What can you do with buckets? How can you find buckets interesting? Is there a bucket fetish?
"Um... A list of things you have to do before you die?" Caroline explains. "In my case it will be a list of things I want to do and see before the world ends."
Klaus' jaw tightens and he knits his brows as her words slowly make sense to him. He never looked at death and destruction from this perspective. Nothing ever was about to end for him. Now he sees Caroline making plans for her last days on Earth, and no matter how much he dislikes this world, he just can't help but admire her.
He still owes her pretty much everything, even if she doesn't know about it.
"I'll help you." He says, his eyes honest and shining. "Wherever you want to go, whatever you want to do. I'm old enough to know this world like the back of my hand."
"I don't need your pity." Grandpa. Caroline bites her lower lip. Did an anvil fall on his head? Mr. Bad is offering his help? Um, hello? Are they going to play little explorers, or what?
"I feel no pity, Caroline. I'm a devil. I'm just offering you some entertainment for the next three weeks."
"Have you ever felt, like, anything?" She narrows her eyes at him. It is really curious, she thinks, usually a stone shows more emotions than Klaus.
"Fury, hate," he murmurs, and Caroline tries to picture a furious stone in her head. "Lust." The last one sends shivers down her spine. She did feel his lust towards her once or twice. It was dark and hungry and overpowering, awakening something wild inside her. It attracts her like a candle attracts a moth.
"What about happiness?"
"I'd call it satisfaction."
"Love?"
"I hate to burst the bubble you live in, but there's no such thing as love, sweetheart."
"You know that's not true."
"There's just ownership based on manipulation and lust." He explains, and the worst thing is that he believes every word he's saying.
''You say so only because you have never seen Ridge and Brooke together.'' Caroline sighs, and decides to take him up on his offer. If he's ready to show her the world before it goes poof, then she will let him.
She's not the only one that needs a bucket list.
(\o/)
"HOW COULD YOU, CAROLINE!" Elena's being dramatic again. "You've just let him think he already won!"
"Trust me, Elena, I know what I'm doing." Caroline tries to appease her friend. Good luck trying to stop a volcano from erupting. "I'm just asking you to give me the benefit of the doubt. Please."
"Doubts are all I have right now." Elena pouts.
"When you met Elijah, did he believe in love? Or happiness?"
Elena sighs. The time she spent with Elijah was exceptional yet she had her duty to fulfil. She never regretted anything so much.
"I don't think so. My betrayal didn't help, I'm afraid." She wasn't just sleeping with Elijah. The hardest part for her was admitting that they did share a special bond, the most regrettable—breaking it forever.
"Did he ever talk about Klaus?" Caroline continues, hoping to learn some secrets. She doesn't know much about her enemy, and they are running out of time. Everything counts as useful.
"Not much. But they did argue about their father. I had an impression that Klaus and Papa Devil didn't get along well."
"That's interesting." Caroline's brain is doing its best to sort out bits and pieces of information.
"Are you sure you know what you're doing, Care?" Elena's voice sounds sceptical.
Caroline nods, more to convince herself than anyone else, "You know what they say, keep your friends close, but your enemies closer."
…
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A/N: Told ya, but hey, the next chapter will come sooner. This one is more serious partly because you can't just fool around all the time, and partly because some not-that-funny stuff has happened lately and I need a moment to restore my good mood.
Curious what Klaus really owes her? Stay tuned!
See you soon my Dear Readers!