Hello there! If you follow me on tumblr, you probably saw that the reason for the update delay is due to the fact that a lot of stuff that happens over the next couple chapters interweave to come to the first big climax of the story. Can stories have more than one climax? I'm doing it in the fic! Multiple climaxes ;)

Also it's a little shorter, because where I originally cut it off, I ended up deciding it sounded weird so I put that scene in with the next chapter.

A couple more notes to be found at the end, but I don't want to spoil anything by mentioning it before you read.

Enjoy!

"Hello there." Klaus greeted Hayley with a coy smirk as she opened her apartment door. Her face fell at the sight of him, her full lips turning into a distinct frown.

"What do you want?"

"Yes, I would like to come inside. Thank you."

Klaus pushed past the brunette and strolled into her apartment. The girl let out an annoyed huff, slamming the door and turning to follow him.

"I take it your roommates aren't home."

"Well considering one spends all her time at her boyfriend's place and the other hates me too much to actually stick around, no they aren't."

"Can't imagine why they wouldn't enjoy your uplifting company," Klaus said, tracing his fingers across the back of her couch.

He walked around the living room, picking up random objects and setting them down again. There was a glass bowl on the coffee table, a dime bag sitting nearby. The same wolf encrusted lock box Klaus had seen the night of the party was there too. Hayley stood there watching him, her arms crossed.

"So, why are you here?"

"Perhaps I'm bored," Klaus replied.

"I doubt it."

Klaus walked over to her, pulling out his phone, and holding a picture of Connor in front of Hayley's face. He saw her pupils dilate as she registered the identity on the screen, a sign of recognition.

"Friend of yours?"

"I"m guessing you already knew that," she replied.

"What's his name?" Hayley remained silent, pouting, her brown eyes full of fire. "Need I remind you sweetheart that I can always have a narcotics squad banging down your door in less than three minutes, unless you cooperate."

"Sebastian Moran," Hayley bit out. "He buys from me every now and then."

Sebastian Moran. Interesting. So Connor was using an alias. "What does he buy?"

"Heroin, usually. I'm pretty sure he buys it from me and sells it for more money though."

"Why do you say that?"

"He buys enough to knock out a horse," Hayley replied. "And, he doesn't exactly look like a heroin addict. The man is ripped. Nice body. Healthy. Unlike you..." Hayley trailed off and gave him a saucy smirk.

It fit with Grace's earlier story that Connor was not a junkie. Given his reasons for staying away from drugs, Klaus didn't wager that Connor had suddenly picked up the habit. It didn't work like that. His mind pulled forth a detail Klaus remembered reading on the autopsy reports. Each of the murder victims had tested positive for high doses of heroin. The coroner had just written it off since all of the victims were street dwellers. It wasn't too far of a leap to assume that they were all also junkies.

It was possible that Connor aka Sebastian had been pumping his victims full of heroin before killing them. Interesting.

"You know I have things to do," Hayley said, interrupting his train of thought. "Not to mention, you hanging around here all the time is bad for business. No one wants to buy from a dealer who is always getting visited by the cops."

"I'm not a cop," Klaus said.

"Could have fooled me," she replied, spinning away.

Her hips swayed as she crossed over to the breakfast bar. She leaned back against it on her elbows, causing her chest to pop out. From across the room, Klaus's eyes slid from her chest, to her eyes, a little too slowly. Hayley's lip curved into another smirk, having garnered the reaction she was looking for. Klaus stepped toward her, his movements slow, prowling.

"Well I'll leave, if you really want me to."

He stopped in front of her and Hayley pushed off the counter, standing straight in front of him. He stood almost a foot taller than her, looming over her, close enough that the edge of her breasts brushed his shirt.

"I think you're the one who doesn't want to leave," Hayley purred. "Don't you have that little Barbie friend of yours to play with?"

"I believe she's currently with your friend. Tyler?" Klaus snapped back. Hayley's eye twitched and Klaus smiled, knowing he hit a nerve.

"Shut up," she growled, curling her fingers into his shirt. Klaus looked down at her knuckles.

"I keep telling Caroline, sex is one of the few vices I'm still allowed and enjoy," he said. "I find that civilized society has such an antiquated view on the entire function. It's natural, necessary, and I find it helps me keep a clear head."

"Mmmm," Hayley hummed, moving her face closer.

"I have varying tastes."

Her eyes dropped to his lips. "That's fine."

"And no rules."

She grinned. "Me neither."

"Except one." Klaus returned the smirk and wrapped his hand around hers that was still clutching at his shirt, sliding his thumb into her palm. He pulled her hand away from him and stepped back. "Never, while I'm working."

Hayley's jaw ticked, annoyed. She crossed her arms over her chest, hiding the assets she had been trying to show off only moments ago. "Get out."

Klaus folded his hands behind his back, a look of feigned innocence spreading across his face, and strode towards the door. "Perhaps I'll call again after the investigation has closed."

"Fuck you," Hayley spat at his back.

Klaus reached for the doorknob and tugged at it, throwing her one last look at her over his shoulder. "Not today."

"Class dismissed."

Caroline and Tyler looked over at each other with relief at Professor Shane's dismissal and started gathering their things. It had been a long lecture; one that Caroline spent most of the time yawning through. Normally during Shane's longer lectures, Caroline's would sneak onto her laptop and do some Internet browsing or online shopping while pretending to type notes. But Tyler had sat right next to her that day, so she wasn't as isolated from prying eyes, as she liked to be during class.

The two of them walked down the hall and Caroline stifled yet another yawn with the back of her hand.

"Late night last night?" Tyler asked her.

"Yeah," she said.

"What'd you end up doing after you left the restaurant?"

Last night had seemed like the longest night ever. She had completely forgotten that she had been on a date with Tyler just last evening. Even though the stakeout hadn't been that exciting, it seemed to have eclipsed all other events of the previous evening.

"Um," Caroline quickly tried to come up with an excuse. "Just checked on Klaus. He was having a little bit of a problem he needed to deal with."

"Oh," Tyler replied. "What was the problem?"

"Just-er, a thing."

"A thing? Look Caroline is there something going on with you two?"

"No!" God! Why did everyone keep asking that? Did they seem like a couple?

"Well I just want to make sure," Tyler said. "I like you Caroline. Maybe this is way too fast, considering we've only hung out a few times, but I'm not really into dating a lot of girls at once."

"Neither am I!" Caroline said, then laughed. "Well, guys I mean."

Tyler grinned at her joke and she breathed a sigh of relief that it seemed to have made him less annoyed with her. "Okay. I just want to know if I have competition."

"No competition. Not from Klaus. I promise."

They reached the doors and walked outside. Her eyes snapped to someone walking in her direction, and she bit back a groan. He had to have the absolute worst timing in the history of the entire world.

"Good afternoon love," Klaus greeted her with a dimpled smile. "How was your class?"

"Fine," she grumbled as they stopped in front of each other.

"Tayler, good to see you again mate." Caroline shot him an annoyed look, which Klaus pretended to not see, as Tyler nodded at him. "Do you mind if I steal Caroline away? I have some business to attend to and require her assistance."

"Yeah. I'll see ya Caroline."

Tyler gave Klaus a skeptical glance, not even bothering to look at Caroline before heading off in the opposite direction. Caroline didn't even have a chance to say a goodbye before he was gone. So much for reassuring Tyler that nothing was going on. She turned back to Klaus, who was still had a smug grin on his face.

"What are you doing here? I thought you would still be at the stake out?"

"I got bored and left the surveillance team to it," Klaus replied.

The two of them turned away from the building and started walking down the street.

"What have you been doing in the meantime?"

"I paid our dear friend Hayley another visit."

"Seriously? Why?"

"To find out what she knows about Connor Jordan, which was quite a lot actually."

Klaus filled Caroline in on Hayley's knowledge of Connor's alias as well as his drug purchases. Caroline's annoyance at Klaus showing up out of nowhere disappeared as she became engrossed in the new developments of the case.

"I had Alaric search the systems for a Sebastian Moran. We found a record of a license plate registered under that name and he issued a BOLO on the number. An officer reported seeing an RV trailer with an expired plate with that number. Alaric has a team heading over there now to investigate. We're going to meet him."

"That was fast," Caroline said. "Why didn't you just go ahead? You couldn't call me on the phone and tell me where you were?"

"Battery went flat," Klaus replied, waving the device at her. "Alaric is giving us a ride."

Alaric was down the block in his unmarked car, waiting for the two of them. Klaus and Caroline climbed in the backseat and they headed over to check out Connor Jordan's trailer.

There weren't many secluded, wooded areas surrounding the city, but somehow Connor Jordan had managed to find one and park his trailer there. It made Caroline wonder how the two officers who had reported the trailer had happen to come across it. It didn't seem like a place that many they wouldn't have just had the good fortune to stumble upon.

The trailer was long, and navy blue with quite a bit of wear and tear on the exterior. It wasn't exactly inconspicuous either. Outside there was a small folding card table set up, with one chair beside it and a toolbox on top. Next to the door was a bright red cooler. The cops who had reported in had already made sure that Connor was not around, but they had been instructed not to entire the trailer.

Alaric parked the car and the three of them got out, walking carefully toward the door.

"I'll keep an eye on things out here, if you wanna take a look around inside," Alaric said to Klaus, who nodded. As Alaric turned away, Caroline noticed for the first time the gun that was strapped to his waist. A small jolt of fright hit her, but she swallowed it down and followed Klaus to the door of the trailer.

It squeaked as he opened it carefully, taking a moment to listen before stepping inside. It was messy. Papers covered the small table directly in front of them. Clothes hung haphazardly over the front seats. A small, unmade bunk was near the very back. There was a small coffee pot on the tiny kitchen counter, half full of brown liquid. Just beside it Caroline noticed a spoon, a lighter, and bag of powder. Heroin. Just as Klaus mentioned before. Her blue eyes slid over to him and she saw that his eyes were on the counter, his gaze fixed on the objects she had just seen.

Her hand went to his arm, her fingers giving him a gentle squeeze.

"Klaus," she said in a very calm, yet concerned voice.

"Here," he said shaking out of his trance, "you'll need these."

He passed her a pair of latex gloves, pulling a second set out of his back pocket and snapping them on. Caroline nodded, letting the moment pass, and took the gloves from him.

Klaus began perusing through the mess of papers on the table. Caroline watched him a few seconds more and then turned toward the kitchenette.

"What are we searching for exactly?"

"I find you usually know it when you see it," Klaus replied, picking up a hard drive and turning it over in his hand. There were a few other bits of computer hardware scattered around, but Klaus assumed it was all unimportant. If Connor was a hacker, he no doubt kept his personal laptop with him at all times, and that would be where any valuable information would be held. He took a step to the right and heard a strange click-whir sound. His eyes went wide and he froze, calling out to Caroline.

"Stop! Don't move!"

Caroline's hand stopped as she reached for a cabinet door, her heartbeat speeding up.

"What is it?"

"Stay still." Klaus's eyes moved around the trailer, and then carefully, his head. His gaze travelled down to his foot where he saw a thin, silver wire underneath his shoe. He followed it down and across the room where it hooked into a box like device installed near where Caroline was standing.

Klaus cursed his own stupidity. Apparently Connor Jordan was not only a computer genius, he was also adept at creating homemade bombs and traps. It impressed and annoyed him all at once.

"Don't touch anything else," Klaus instructed. "Don't open any more drawers or cabinets or lift anything."

"Okay," Caroline said, her back still to him.

"Look around at the floor," he continued. "Do you see any more wires?"

She kept her feet planted, looking around. About two feet away from her, in front of the bathroom, there was a small thin wire barely visible in the beams of light pooling through the trailer's cheap blinds.

"Over by the bathroom," she said to Klaus.

"Stay away from it," he said.

Caroline nodded, even though he couldn't see her. Her eyes followed the wire to the device it was hooked up to. Another wire extended from it and stopped under Klaus's foot.

"Klaus what is that?"

"It's a bomb."

"A bomb?" She squeaked.

"Yes. I'm going to need you to disarm it."

Caroline's eyes went wide. "What?"

"If I move at all the wire will trip and the device will go off," Klaus said, his voice edgy with forced patience. "I'll tell you want to do. It will be simple, I promise."

"I-I can't do this," Caroline said, her curls shaking around her face. "I've seen The Hurt Locker. You need like giant suits and robots and stuff for this."

"Not for this kind of bomb, sweetheart," Klaus replied. Caroline's brow furrowed and Klaus craned his neck to see her. "Look at me. I wouldn't tell you to do this if I didn't think you could."

Caroline looked into his eyes, gathering her nerves, and nodded. "Okay," she said. "What do I do?"

"Do you have your phone with you?"

"Yeah."

"Take a picture of the device, so I can get a better look at it."

Caroline did as he said, snapping a few pictures from different angles so Klaus could get a clearer idea of what kind of bomb they were dealing with. She passed her phone to him and he scrolled through the pictures. Upon closer look Klaus realized they weren't homemade bombs at all. They were military grade weapons, that he supposed Connor purchased off the black market. Connor had refashioned them into a crude, yet useful way to keep intruders out of his trailer and potentially destroy anything they might be looking for, while doing considerable damage to the intruders themselves.

"You see this wire," Klaus said pointing to the phone. "It's connected to a grenade inside this case. As soon as it's jostled, the pin is removed, and the device holding the hammer releases. It's easy enough to disarm, you just need to get inside the case. Find something you can use to unscrew the door."

"Okay," Caroline said, remembering Klaus's earlier instructions about not opening any of the drawers. How was she supposed to find a screwdriver or some other tool to open on the case? Then she remembered the toolbox outside. Telling Klaus she'd be right back, she rushed outside to search for a screwdriver. She found one and ran back into the trailer, careful of anymore trip wires. With extra care she set about unscrewing each of the four screws holding the case shut.

"Be careful when you open the case," Klaus said. "One of the grenades may fall out."

"Great," Caroline mumbled as she twisted the knife awkwardly around. She tried not to think about explosions and fiery death as she twisted the screws loose. "You know, disarming bombs was never in the job description. I think I should charge Elijah extra for this."

Klaus chuckled. "I don't disagree."

"Okay, last screw," Caroline announced, her hand holding the front of the case in place as she finished removing it. "Now what?"

"Take off the door," Klaus said. "Slowly. Got it?"

"Yeah," she sounding more confidence than she felt. "Alright, now what?"

"Can you tell which of the grenade's is hooked up to the wire I'm standing on?"

"The right one."

"I want you to slide your hand in and grip the hammer."

Caroline held her breath and did as he instructed. It was harder to squeeze than she thought it would be, her small hand doing everything it could to hold on.

"Okay."

"Okay. Don't let go."

Klaus carefully removed his foot from the wire. As expected it snapped up and dropped to the ground, the pin falling free and making a tinkling as it fell to the trailer floor. Thanks to Caroline's grip though, no explosion occurred.

"What was that?" He stepped over to her and stood in front of her. "What are you doing?"

"It's alright," he said, his voice low and steady. "Don't let go of the hammer. I want you to pull the grenade out of the case completely."

"I can't hold it much longer," she said.

"You can do it, Caroline," Klaus said. "Just hold tight and pull it out."

She yanked forward, carefully, removing the grenade from the case. The weight surprised her and she gasped, afraid she would drop it. But Klaus's hands were there, wrapping firmly around hers and helping her hold everything in place. She looked up and their eyes met. He offered her a dimpled smile, a more encouraging one than she was used to seeing from him.

"Excellent work."

"Now what?" She asked, his warm hands still clasped firmly over hers, making her feel strangely comforted.

"We're going to take it outside and get rid of it."

Caroline didn't bother with any more incredulity. She just nodded and followed Klaus's movement as the stepped toward the door, both holding onto the grenade. Alaric came around to them as they walked outside.

"What is that?"

"It seems our suspect as a penchant for booby traps," Klaus explained. "I unfortunately discovered this the hard way."

"Is that a grenade?"

"Caroline was quite lovely about defusing the situation." He smirked at his own pun which made Caroline roll her eyes. Of course he would make a joke at that moment. Klaus instructed Alaric to keep his distance and they walked further away from the trailer into the woods. He stopped them and looked around, gauging the area. His eyes finally landed on Caroline, who was doing an excellent job of holding back her obvious fear.

"When I say, you're going to drop the grenade into my hand and then run as fast as you can and duck behind the car. You'll have about four to six seconds to make it. Understood?"

"What about you?"

"I'm going to throw the grenade," Klaus said, "And then I'll be right behind you."

It seemed almost impossible but Caroline's eyes went even wider at hearing Klaus's plan. A quick breeze blew a stray curl into the middle of her eyes and she blew at it, to move it out of the way. With a deep breath she looked over at Alaric's black car, knowing that her runner's legs could carry her fast enough to it in time, but those extra couple of seconds could cost Klaus.

"Caroline," his voice brought made her turn her head back to him. "Are you ready?" She swallowed and nodded, her feet shifting from side to side as she prepared to let go and run.

"One..." he said.

"Two..."

"Three!"

In the blink of an eye the grenade fell from Caroline's hands and into Klaus's. Her legs were pumping hard as she made a mad dash for cover. Behind her, she heard the metallic snick of the hammer releasing and Klaus's grunt as he threw it as hard as he could away from them. He aimed for a mound of dirt in a larger clearing of trees, hoping to minimize the damage caused by the explosion.

Caroline felt like she was in one of those dream sequences, where she was trying to run, but her legs wouldn't work right. She knew she could run and run fast, but an invisible thickness in the air was holding her back. Each second felt like a year.

One...

Would she make it?

Two...

Was Klaus behind her?

Three...

Please let him be behind her.

At four she slid behind the cover of the car, gravel and twigs crunching under her and digging into her bare legs. Her body tensed as her arms went over her head, waiting for the sound of the explosion.

Five...

And then she heard the boom. It was loud and violent, ripping through the treed area and shattering the natural peace. At the same time she felt a pair of arms wrap over her, another body shielding her from the blast. Bits of wood and branch rained down around them.

The dust settled, birds tweeted their discontent at the upset, and Klaus unwrapped his arms from around Caroline, moving back to look at her.

"Are you alright?" She asked, her blondes waves in wild disarray around her head. Klaus reached up and brushed them away from her face with his hand.

"I'm always alright," he said giving her a slight smile.

"Good," she nodded. Her eyes flicked around as they stayed crouched on the ground, her brain trying to catching up with her body as the adrenaline flowing through her system began to subside. Her head continued to bob up and down. Klaus wrapped his hands around her arms, giving them a gentle squeeze and calling her focus back to his face.

"Hey. Hey." He said to her. "You did well."

Caroline let out a breath that was half relief, half laughter and smile. "I'm definitely charging Elijah extra for this."

Note: I did a bit of research on bombs/gernades and the police jargon used in this chapter, but I'm sure I got things wrong.

*Sebastian Moran (Connor's alias) is a homage to an original Sherlock Holmes, as well as BBC Sherlock. And speaking of, if you watch BBC Sherlock, now having that clue you might be able to guess where this all could be headed.

Seems like Klaus and Caroline are getting a little bit closer now. Near death experiences might have that effect right? We can only hope.

Let me know your thoughts!

follow me on tumblr at hybridlovelies