"I'm not saying a damn thing until you tell me why you are after them." O'Connor says in-between breaths as Mikael wipes the blood from his knuckles delicately with a white rag afterwards wrapping it around the man's eyes blindfolding him. Mikael just loving the way the hostage squirms slightly trying to remove it from his head. "I don't think you understand who's in power here."

O'Connor grimaces feeling the pain in his ribs as the man hits him once more You are not in charge so get it out of your American deluded mind. Tell me where they are hiding!" he stabs him once more making sure to rub in the salt before taking the towel on his shoulder and wiping his hands down. "Watch him, make sure he stays alive if only barely." The soldier nods and Mikael walks away.

"Can I at least ask if you're alright?" Klaus says feeling woozy as he reaches for his cup of tea missing the cup by a few inches. Caroline catches his hand setting the teacup in his hands she looks at him for the first time shrugging, "So what if I'm not okay? It's not like it changes reality." He nods to her taking a sip of his tea before putting it back on its saucer deciding on how to word his next statement and idly wondering if he has it in him to discuss it.

"Caroline, you may not want to hear it but I need you to know and maybe it's selfish to keep pushing but I don't care. I may die at any moment and I don't want you to be in the crossfire, I want you to go straight home and stay there." He says losing his vindication towards the end his eyes no longer piercing her own. Caroline leans forward, "You're being ridiculous if you think I'm leaving first off. And second I'm the one who was sent here to take care of you and that's just what I'm going to do, especially if it kills me." she says almost spilling her own cup of tea over herself from rage.

Klaus shakes his head keeping his eyes on the cup in his hands, "There are other ways to die love, like sitting in a chair waiting for the one girl who tears your soul up to wake up knowing you're the one that put her to sleep safe in your arms." He hears her scoff at his words and looks up to face her, the anger evident in one another's eyes. "Yeah you waited long, I'm sure you were gone just as soon as you could be Nik!" she says wiping the tears from her eyes she groaned throwing her hands in the air.

The cup rolls on the floor the saucer long forgotten on the ground next to it she stands pacing the front of his bed as she mumbles, "I like you. No matter how hard I try not to like you, no matter how hard I try to erase you…my efforts are so fruitless to the extent that I get angered by it." He smiles wishing he could lean forward to wipe away the tears she would undoubtedly deny having.

"Love, I'm grumpy about a lot of things but I don't want you to be," he says removing his hand from his own cheek feeling the need to shave. He sighs knowing what he has to do and that's push her even further away. "Why is it when you have time to think about stuff you did in a moment of crisis, you suddenly have big regrets and feel… lonely." He says running a hand through his disheveled hair no longer willing to look her in the eye.

"Caroline, listen to me please. No matter what I do or what I say please keep your word about just being her to protect me. To keep me alive long enough to hate me because I'm so terribly sorry you have to know me." She goes to speak but he silences her with his hand on her lips ignoring the sensation tingling throughout his body and blaming it on his medication high.

"Imagine the worst things you think about yourself. Now, how would you feel if the one person that you trusted the most in the world not only thinks them too, but actually uses them as reasons not to be with you." He says keeping his voice light in order to not betray his emotion but looking in her eyes he sees what he fails to conceal, "My father that is, my sister's father taught me that no matter what I did I was never going to be good enough. After a time of hearing you're not you start to believe it."

He puts his tea to the side before continuing, "…I'm someone who's mostly dead inside but still has a little hope for something extraordinary. Which is the worst breed of human because it means I know everything is a lie- Secretly I hope for the day when it might not be. So even if you have already let me go I must tell you that I can do no more for you than what I have done."

Caroline digests his rejection in the extreme swallowing the pain that has lodged itself in her throat she bends down picking up the cup and saucer to keep him from seeing her tears now desperately wanting to come out. "Then I will keep up my promise but not because you ask me to but because I like you. Even though you're family is weird and you talk like the bleakest person I've ever known. I like you." She says standing she squeezes his hand in her own before standing and placing both their cups on the tray. She tries to hold herself together as she turns to head to the kitchen she hears him sigh though she's not sure if it's in relief or dismay.

It's in dismay. He shakes his head readjusting on the bed he switches off the lamp on his right listening to her move around his small kitchen. "I know, I'm not your type – you're not my type either. But, I still like you. I always want to see you. I feel miserable now… but I want to be faithful to my feelings." He whispers to the dark as silence overtakes the apartment until dawn.

The next morning Klaus awakens to happy chit chat between his sister and Caroline coming from the kitchen. He can picture how the scene is set up by listening to them, Caroline is by the table and Bekah is in the kitchen he smiles thankful they're getting along. "Every man I meet wants to protect me. I can't figure out what. From sabotage?" Caroline says lounging in her chair watching Rebekah set the place on fire with her cooking.

He hears his sister laugh, "Oh Caroline, I'm sure my brother only wants to protect you from yourself." She says placing a tray on the table. "Here go talk to him, I have to find his doctor. They probably think he's dead or something." Caroline begrudgingly takes the tray over to his room knocking while balancing the tray on one hand, "Enter." he says his voice still weak even though he refuses to let it show.

"Your sister, she made you some tea. I know it's not much but it's all we have right now." She says putting her hands in her back pockets after placing the tray at his bedside. "Its fine Caroline, you can go now. I know you don't want to be in here." Klaus mutters not even facing her. She looks taken aback for a moment at his words before she nods stalking out. The truth is it stung to have him reject her like that more than she wanted to admit.

She turned back leaning on the frame of the door, "I know you're sorry because you feel it otherwise you wouldn't say it. But what I don't get is why you put yourself in the position to have to apologize. You should've stayed Nik. You should've waited." She says her voice cracking because Caroline knows she's being unreasonable but she can't help how she feels.

Klaus knows he should let those words slide but he growls at her insolence stating, "You think I don't know that? You think I didn't know that then. I would have gladly stayed and died for you if that was what you really wanted but we both know you prefer it this way. To hate me but have me live." He says his voice low full of pain. He hears her sob but he doesn't dare face her, he just stares out the window until he hears her leave.

Mikael eyes the man in front of him, "You've gone through extensive torture for a man who abandoned you to run and hide." He spits on O'Connor laughing manically. "You've gone through a lot of trouble to try and keep your family under your thumb." O'Connor mumbles as the pain becomes more excruciating. "Electroshock is said to clear the mind you know." Mikael says turning up the voltage just a bit before starting the machine up again ignoring the man's comments about his family.

"You don't say," "O'Connor breaths out barely fazed by the higher intensity scorching through him. he holds on for a few more seconds staring into Mikael's eyes waiting for one of them to break. Mikael blinks causing him to smile a bit. "Leave him to die," Mikael yells annoyed about not getting anywhere with this man. Three guards immediately take him off the restraints dragging him into a car. "What happens now?" Esther asks fearfully as her husband grips her jaw in his hands. "You know I'm going to kill him one way or another. Why ask?"

O'Connor is left in a deep whole meant to be left behind for no one to find him. He lets himself sleep finally finding some peace even when he knows he might not wake up. Hours maybe days pass as he rests he wakes to the sound of water sputtering down to where he is, he yells for help. Hearing someone's footsteps he tries to yell louder his voice small and raspy but trying nonetheless.

At last he is heard, he feels something fall in his lap, it isn't water however and he reaches for it. It's a cell phone, immediately he dials Caroline. Every second is an eternity until he hears her vice trickling down the hole along with others coming to aide him. A rope finds its way down already for him to loop himself through which his body is grateful for as he strings himself up for them to pull him out.