Altered, Chapter 6: Dawn

Disclaimer: The characters and other things from The Vampire Diaries don't belong to me. Credit goes to the rightful owners.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are, you faceless demon," Klaus called out in a singsong voice, his eyes dark with murder as he searched the woods.

He stopped where moonlight peeked through the trees, taking a second to flip around and whip a stake through the air.

Silas caught it without even blinking, crushing the piece of wood in his hand until the dust fell through his fingers.

"Where is the girl?" Silas asked simply, his held tilted, seemingly unconcerned as Klaus stalked towards him. "Or have you forgotten I have something of hers?"

Klaus stopped in his tracks as Silas gestured behind him as a tower of flame erupted, illuminating Bonnie beside it and a few ways behind her was Caroline's mother, strapped unconscious to a tree.

"I'd kill them myself if it means you have nothing over Caroline's head," Klaus said menacingly but stood in place, "I'm afraid I've had enough of this cure business and of you. This ends now."

Silas laughed, his true voice somehow echoing through the night, not at all sounding like Tyler, whose body he still wore. He was a monster through and through that no physical form could hide it.

"You are but a child, Niklaus," Silas hissed, "A child so hopeful in his own weaknesses that he imagines he can break the mold from which his own evil was born. You are a pathetic fool who fancies himself a martyr for love. Boy, you don't know what it is. If you did you would grant her this and let her be my immortal queen."

In the blink of an eye, Klaus moved with the precision of a trained killer, throwing another stake, this time hitting his mark squarely. Bonnie fell with a pained scream as the wood pierced her leg through, the flames dying as she went down.

Silas growled but the sound was cut off as Klaus plunged his hand into his chest, "I told you, Silas, I created Tyler Lockwood and I can just as easily rip him to shreds."

Blood trailed down his lips but Silas still managed to laugh, "Can you really, Niklaus? Even as she watches? Do you have it in you to break the heart of the one woman who believed that there's still something good left in you?"

A muffled gasp made Klaus turn to his side. Caroline stood, hand over her mouth, eyes wide, tears threatening to fall as she shook her head slowly.

"Caroline…" Klaus whispered. Silas took advantage of the distraction and extricated himself, vanishing from sight.

Klaus faced her without a word, his jaw set as his bloody fist fell to his side, wishing he could close the distance between them to comfort her. But he couldn't move, he didn't want her to see how much blood was on his hands. He opened his mouth but quickly closed it again.

Caroline took a deep breath, a second and then a third before taking a step towards Klaus, her face full of determination. But she couldn't get farther than that.

"Tsk, tsk, that's enough, Caroline," Silas said coming again into view, perfectly unharmed as if the past few minutes never happened save for the gaping hole in his shirt.

Bonnie stood shakily with her arms outstretched in front of her, the fire slowly snaking through the ground until it separated the four of them.

"I've missed you, Caroline," Silas said with quiet desperation, his eyes full of emotion as he turned to her.

Caroline looked at him, her heart aching with the familiar sound of his voice and the words she had wanted to hear for so long. But she willed herself to stay in place, every muscle in her body burning with desire to run to Tyler's arms.

"You don't believe me," Silas said, his voice pained, making Caroline wonder if she should go to him, if somehow it was really Tyler speaking.

"Don't listen, Caroline, please." Klaus said through gritted teeth as he fought invisible restraints, unable to move even an inch and he was forced to watch Caroline take tentative steps towards Silas.

"Tyler?" Caroline asked hesitantly, shaking as she walked.

Silas held out his hand to her, "It's me. I'm really here."

"Caroline! Snap out of it," Klaus said forcefully, fighting his invisible bonds. For a split second, Caroline turned towards him and shook her head once, almost imperceptibly then tore her gaze from his just as quickly.

"Don't," Klaus said in a low voice, almost pleading with her, "This is my fight."

"It's my life, Klaus, let me live it." Caroline said without looking at him. Instead she was wholly focused on getting to the man she loved.

"I knew you'd come around," Silas said, his lips forming a wide smile as Caroline got close enough to touch.

"Let them go," Caroline said firmly, "I'll go with you and stay with you but you let them go now."

"When this is all said and done, they'll be free to roam this earth, I promise you," Silas said.

"Now." Caroline repeated her voice shaking as she put force behind that single word.

"What's the matter?" Silas said pulling her into his arms, "Don't you trust me?"

A single tear fell from her eye as she tightened her arms around him. She let her face rest on his shoulder as her eyes searched for Klaus. When her eyes met Klaus', she saw her anguish mirrored in his.

She nodded once and closed her eyes as she whispered to the man in her embrace, "I'm sorry, Ty. I'm sorry I never even got to say goodbye. I'm sorry I couldn't save you."

Silas started to pull away, his mouth halfway open to question her words but Caroline's hands were quick and sure as she pulled out a stake and plunged it into his heart.

The world stilled at Silas' howl of pain. Bonnie faltering as the sound ripped through her. It was all Klaus needed. He sprang into action and moved towards Caroline but Silas stood up.

"Don't you love me anymore?" Silas said in a broken voice. "I'm still in here, Caroline. Why are you trying to hurt me?"

"No," Caroline said through tears, "Tyler is dead. You killed him. If he were still alive there somehow, he would have fought this. He wouldn't have let you take my mother and my friend. But you know what gave your lies away? He would have told me to run as far away from him if it meant saving me. "

Silas' tone changed as he stood up and pulled out the stake, his rage barely controlled as he spoke, "Bravo. At least I no longer have to pretend to be that pathetic creature. He was so easy to push aside and eliminate. I wish you could have watched him perish but I'll have to settle for letting you see your mother die."

"No!" Caroline screamed in horror as Silas threw the stake straight for the unconscious woman.

Klaus had no time to think. His mind shut down and he wasn't even aware of changing his direction or making the decision to save Sheriff Forbes. The next thing he was aware of was the blinding pain as the stake shot through him, just a hair above his heart.

Klaus fell to his knees, laughing hysterically as he lifted his head to face the dark sky.

"Is that all you've got? Is that all?"

"Klaus—" Caroline got out before Silas gripped her tightly by the shoulders, holding her in place.

"Enough." Silas said cutting her off, "Bonnie, begin."

Bonnie nodded and raised her hands to the heavens, her voice gaining strength as she went on. The world around them shifted, a moving picture out of focus. Caroline watched numbly as her friend slowly unmade the world.

Another voice joined the fray, clear and strong. Jamie stood directly in front of Bonnie, his eyes blazing with power.

Silas' head whipped angrily at the newcomer. Caroline was quick to see the opening and hit Silas as hard as she could, knocking him back then struck his leg hard enough that the bone cracked with the force.

"Get up, Nik," Rebekah said, pulling up her brother. Klaus stared at her in wonder, the fog slowly lifting from his mind. It was then he noticed the other vampires who have come to join them—Stefan, Damon, Elena and even Katherine. "We don't have much time, look."

Klaus turned just in time to see Caroline stop midstride, light filling her, lifting her from the ground. Silas watched in awe, a mixture of triumph and desire on his face as he pulled himself towards her, dragging his injured leg behind him as he moved.

"Move!" Rebekah said, propelling his brother into action.

In the next second, Klaus was standing above Silas, his eyes dark with anger. Without warning he stepped on the broken leg, crushing it entirely before plunging his hand in Silas' chest a second time. He pulled out the heart and threw it in the fire in front of Bonnie.

"Silas!" Bonnie screamed, her hand shooting out, pointing accusingly at Klaus. It was as if her fingers gripped his throat and pushed him to the ground. Instinctively, Klaus' hands went to his throat, grasping nothing and unable to make it stop. From somewhere, he heard his sister scream out for him but someone stopped her. Katerina? Yes, she told Rebekah to let it play out.

He continued to choke and the edges of his vision started to darken, shrink and it when it was so close to being completely gone he began to see a myriad of images. There were thousands of pictures that moved too fast for him to recognize anything, shoving everything in his head, pushing everything out. His hands moved to his head, as if clawing at it would make it all stop. There was a pain he couldn't describe, that felt like it would never leave. Klaus wanted to give up. Yes, that's what it wanted. Klaus recognized it and it urged him to do so.

"Oh no, you don't," a voice said from somewhere above him, "I didn't get this far to just have all my enemies come back into my life. Where the hell is that damn cure?"

The owner of the voice had her hands on him, feeling around for something and placed whatever it was in his hand and ordered him to…drink? That didn't sound right. Klaus blinked and for a split second he saw another woman, floating above them, like an angel. But the angel was in pain, she was in tears and her tears were made of blood.

Caroline.

Her name snapped her mind into focus long enough to recognize Katherine and the cure that she pressed into his hand. She couldn't wait and watch him actually take it as she joined the fray.

Klaus poured the liquid into his mouth and swallowed. Warmth coursed through him, burning him from the inside out. The noise in his head dulled and slowed but something else was building. He was running out of time. Silas wouldn't be kept down for long.

"Kill…kill me," Klaus struggled to say, "Make this end."

From the corner of his eyes, he saw Elena manage to knock Bonnie unconscious. The witch fell to the ground and a second after Caroline followed, falling ungracefully on the earth. Klaus watched Caroline crawl across the ground towards him, her breath shallow and pained.

Silas was growing stronger, knocking down walls in his mind but Klaus fought hard as he watched Caroline get closer to him until she finally placed her hand in his.

"Do it now, Caroline," Klaus rasped out, "White oak stake…hidden…boot…we don't...have…much time."

Caroline pulled out the weapon he hid in his boot, but she struggled with it, unable to grip it properly, her hand shaking violently.

"Please, love." Klaus said urgently even as his voice weakened, "You have to…or I'll end up killing you…can't let that happen…don't want to hurt you…ever."

"I can't…" Caroline said sobbing, her hand shaking still.

Klaus tried to smile, lifting his hand to her face, "Come on, love, how hard can it be to kill a monster?"

"Give me that, " Katherine said pulling the weapon from Caroline's hand and without warning she staked Klaus in the heart.

Klaus closed his eyes and listened to Caroline scream. It drowned out everything, even the explosion in his head as Silas succumbed to the fire of the white oak along with him. The last thing he felt was Caroline's hand in his then everything went dark.


Caroline stared in shock the hand she held went limp. Without thinking she pulled out the stake from his chest and placed her hand over the wound, wanting to believe it would reverse things, undo his death.

"No, no, no," Caroline said over and over, "Wake up. Wake up, damn it."

"Caroline," Elena said gently, placing her hand on Caroline's shoulder, "Let him go. It's over."

"No, it's not!" Caroline said frantically, "Where's Bonnie? She can help. I have to…"

Caroline looked around desperately but only saw Rebekah who knelt beside her brother's body sobbing quietly. Caroline watched Rebekah shake her head as she placed her face in her hands.

"You have to let him go," Elena said trying to pull Caroline away but failed as her hand was flung away.

"This isn't over. You got rid of Silas. Bonnie is free. You're all free. You've even gotten your emotions back. But this isn't done. It cannot be done." Caroline spat out as she clutched Klaus' hand to her chest, "Either help me or get away from me."

"Oh for the love of…" Katherine said pushing Elena to the side, "I can't believe I'm doing this. Make sure you tell that bastard I helped and this doesn't come cheap. I want my freedom."

Katherine leaned in and knocked Caroline unconscious. "There she should be halfway there by now. The part of the spell that she needed to walk on over to the other side was completed so she should be able to get to Klaus. Getting out is another problem I'm lucky I don't have."

"Now what?" Damon asked as he and Stefan walked up to stand next to Elena.

Katherine straightened up and stared at the unconscious pair on the ground, "So now we wait. Anybody brought a blood bag or something…or can we snack on the witches?"


Caroline fell hard on the ground, pain jolted through her when she tried to stand. "When I get my hands on her…" she thought as she brushed herself off.

She straightened up and looked around, completely surprised by the silence. She was in the middle of a street and that seemed normal under daylight. Caroline was drawn to the house in front of her and started walking towards it.

Caroline went up the porch steps, a strange feeling coming over her. She shook it off and lifted her hand to knock but the door flew open before she could do anything.

"Hey, I didn't realize you left. Were you about to knock? Did you forget your keys again, love?"

Caroline's mouth fell open in shock.

Klaus frowned and placed a hand on her forehead, "You feeling alright, Caroline?"

"I—you…you're…what?" Caroline said waving her hands in front of her until Klaus pulled them in his.

"Let's get you inside…" he said worriedly as he ushered her in.

Caroline nodded, completely dumbstruck as she followed him without a word. She was verging on calm when a she noticed a series of pictures that lined the hallway.

She stopped in her tracks and pulled her hand from his and lifted it to one of the photos. It was a picture of her, smiling—no laughing, without a care in the world as Klaus held her, his own happiness radiating from the frame.

She looked around and then at Klaus, "There's so many of them."

"I know, sweetheart," Klaus said confused, "You made me put them up and rearrange them about a dozen times over until they met your impossible standards."

Caroline's head whipped to the side when another picture caught her eye.

"That's a wedding picture," Caroline said accusingly, her eyes narrowed to slits as she inspected it up close. The dress was breathtaking and the makeup was flawless… as was the groom—her groom it appeared.

"Again, stating the obvious," Klaus said clearly worried, "What has gotten into you?"

Caroline felt her world spin and she headed straight into the living room and sat down, holding her head in her hands.

"This isn't real, this isn't real, this isn't real," Caroline repeated to herself.

Klaus knelt down in front of her, lifting her chin with a finger, forcing her to face him, "You're scaring me, Caroline. What is going on?"

Caroline placed her hands on his face, surprised that she could feel every curve, every twitch of his muscle, "I don't know what kind of twilight zone Katherine sent me to but you feel real. It's really you, isn't it?"

"Katherine?" Klaus asked, genuinely confused, again placing a hand on her forehead.

She swatted his hand away, "Will you stop that! I'm not running a fever. I can't. Literally. I'm a vampire, hello, undead?"

Klaus laughed at that, stopping only when she raised an eyebrow at him, "I'm sorry but out of everything, that was really the last thing I was expecting to hear."

"Sweetheart," Klaus said as he took her hands and placed one on her chest and the other on his, "Can you feel that? It's pretty impossible to be impossible and have a heartbeat, right?"

Caroline pulled her hands away as if she touched fire and stood up to pace. She walked back and forth in front of him, muttering over and over. She took a deep breath but pulled up short, realizing that she actually needed to take that breath. It wasn't out of habit. No, she physically needed to do that.

"Daddy?" a small voice called out from the hall, sounding worried.

Caroline turned slowly, afraid of what she would find and that her guess was right.

"Is Mommy okay?"

Klaus walked towards the little girl but not before giving Caroline a hard look, silently telling her to keep it together. Caroline drank in the tiny figure, blond hair, blue eyes, probably three or four years old. The child lifted her arms in a silent request to be picked up. Her father obliged and gathered her in his arms.

"Why don't you ask her, princess?" Klaus said out loud in response to a question whispered in his ear by the child he carried towards Caroline.

The little girl reached out to Caroline with her arms, who looked to Klaus for direction. Klaus merely nodded encouragingly and Caroline took the little one from him.

Small arms wrapped around her neck, a soft voice asking her directly this time, "Are you okay?"

Caroline choked up, unfamiliar emotions catching in her throat as she looked for the right words, "Yes, baby, mommy is okay."

She tightened her hold as Klaus tilted his head, gesturing for her to follow him up the stairs. Caroline carried her daughter up the steps and followed Klaus into a bedroom. Gently, she placed the child on the bed, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ears.

"Why don't you take a nap?" Caroline said sitting on the edge of the bed, holding her daughter's hand.

"Will you be here when I wake up?"

Caroline's heart broke, wishing that what she was about to say was true, "Of course, sweetie. Mommy will be here."

With a tired smile, the little girl went to sleep. Caroline let go of her hand and fled the room, fighting back tears.

She ran down the stairs with Klaus on her heels, whispering fiercely for her to stop. But she couldn't. She kept walking, angry that somehow she knew where to go, that some part of her believed that this was really her home.

Caroline walked into the kitchen and straight to the counter, pulling open drawers.

"Will you please turn around?" Klaus said, his voice edged with frustration that was slowly giving in to anger, sounding much more like the Original she knew, "Caroline!"

Caroline turned and threw a knife at his head. Klaus' hand shot up and caught the knife neatly by the handle.

"What the hell!?" Klaus yelled, "You could have killed me."

"You caught the knife, Klaus," Caroline said matching his tone, "I'm not batshit crazy! Listen to me—none of this is real! I don't know what mind mojo Silas left you with as a parting gift but let me tell you this is all some crazy delusion."

Caroline closed the gap between them and placed a hand over his heart, "No matter how much you wish it were true, it's just not real."

"That knife doesn't prove anything," Klaus insisted, "I got lucky."

"Do you really need me to throw it again, maybe a hundred times? It's going to be the same," Caroline said, "Snap out of it, Klaus. Come back to me."

Klaus stepped away from Caroline, letting her hand fall, "I…Please stop saying that. All my life, all I ever wanted was a family. I have that now. And you're telling me that this is one giant lie?"

"Caroline!"

They both turned to the sound of the voice and found Bonnie standing in the middle of the room.

"There's more proof—or do witches just randomly appear from nowhere in this world?" Caroline said to Klaus.

"Caroline, it's time to go," Bonnie said pulling Caroline along, practically dragging her, "I can't keep the veil up too long. We need to get back now."

"Wait," Caroline said stopping to turn towards Klaus, "Hey, you heard Bonnie. It's time."

Klaus walked up to her and smiled as he pulled her into his arms, "You are the love of my life and as much as I trust you, as much as I want to believe you and follow you to the ends of the earth, I'm not leaving this place. I can't leave our daughter, real or not."

"Leave him," Bonnie said harshly, "This is our chance to finally get rid of him. Katherine confirmed it—he's not the sire of your bloodline. He can rot here. Let's go."

"No." Caroline said firmly, "I'm not leaving without him. I've lost too much and I'm not letting go of anything that I still have a chance of saving."

Turning to Klaus, she places her hands on either side of his face, "This isn't the last dream of your soul, a dream that ends in nothing. I won't let that happen. I've lost too much and I can't lose you too. Not when I haven't even figured out what you are in my life. You asked me before where I want to go, the places I want to see and you're going to take me, show me the world. You're going to do everything in your power to get me to fall in love with you and I won't stop you. Because we need to be there for each other when we miss our little princess and mourn the fact that as much as we love her, she doesn't really exist. I need you, Klaus. Come back with me. Come back to me."

On instinct, she leaned forward and pressed her lips on his, gently at first then deepened the kiss when his hands wove around her hair, pulling her closer until the walls around them fell away, revealing they were indeed on the other side, with haunted creatures all around them, slowly becoming aware of their presence.

"Bonnie?" Caroline said worriedly as she clutched Klaus' hand tightly, "Anytime now would be good."

"Are you sure you want to take him with you?" Bonnie asked, staring hard at Caroline.

"She's made that pretty clear, witch." Klaus said eyeing the growing number around them warily, "We've overstayed our welcome, you included, Bonnie. Or have you forgotten the enemies you've made of your ancestors when you tapped such dark powers?"

Bonnie glared at him, "I see you're back to your old evil self. Just be grateful I'm not leaving you behind."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, witch. I'm fairly certain you're doing this out of guilt because for once I wasn't on the wrong side of things while you let Silas brainwash you into being his puppet." Klaus countered even as Caroline glared at him to shut up.

"This isn't the time for this. When we get home, you two can sort it out and throw plates or something at one another but not now. I don't know about you but those stares are bordering on creepy to threatening and I don't want to find out how they'll look once they're closer." Caroline said edging closer to Bonnie.

The witch ignored them both and started chanting. Slowly a seam formed in front of them, a rip that slowly grew into a small hole they could pass through. Bonnie went through followed by Caroline, who pulled Klaus along.

But just before they got out completely, Caroline felt Klaus let go, pulled away by something she couldn't see.

"No!" Caroline screamed, "Klaus!''


Caroline sat up, finding herself back where the ritual took place, where they had killed Silas. Everyone watched her, concerned, asking her a hundred questions at once. Was she okay? Can she stand? Does anything hurt?

Caroline looked for Bonnie in the sea of faces and once she did, she opened her mouth to ask if Klaus made it but couldn't find the words.

"I don't know." Bonnie said softly, answering the unspoken question, "I swear I tried to get him out but I don't know if…"

Caroline turned to Klaus' unconscious body and clutched his hand, "Wake up. Please. Please."

She laid her head on his chest, saying his name over and over, asking him to wake up. Rebekah sat next to her, sharing her hope and desperation as the seconds turned into minutes then hours until the dark night began to fade and they were still waiting.

"You were supposed to wake me up with a kiss not drown me in your tears," Klaus whispered as sunlight hit his face. He groaned as Caroline nearly knocked him back down when he tried to sit up.

Caroline punched him on the arm, "What the hell took you so long?"

"I didn't exactly stay to party, love. It took a while to get through when I lost you in there. It's not as if the witch was helpful enough to leave a map. There was also the matter of all my old enemies back there who were intent on keeping me there to exact various forms of revenge on me." Klaus pointed out.

Caroline narrowed her eyes at Klaus, looking him over, knocking on his head.

"Have you lost your mind?" Klaus exclaimed.

"Are you absolutely, 100% sure that Silas is not in your head anymore?" Caroline asked suspiciously.

"Really? After everything back there, you're asking me that now?" Klaus said

Rebekah smirked and stood up. She held out a hand to help Klaus up then embraced him. "Glad to have you back, brother. Always and forever."

"Always and forever," Klaus repeated to Rebekah before turning to Caroline who now stood beside him.

"What proof do you need, Caroline?" Klaus asked

"What's her name?" Caroline said softly, knowing somehow that even if she never said it during her brief time on the other side, she knew the right answer and she needed him to say it.

His jaw tightened and his blue eyes clouded over with pain as he leaned forward to whisper in her ear, "Emma. Our little princess is called Emma. And I miss her."

With his words, Caroline broke down in tears, the pain of all they went through, all they lost, washed through her, cleansed her and as the sun rose above them, it gave her hope that today and everyday after would be better.


A/N: Took a while to update but I hope you enjoyed that :) Will post the epilogue soon as I can. Thanks for reading!