Chapter 9
And just say the word, we'll take on the world,
Just say you're hurt, we'll face the worst,
Nobody knows you, the way that I know you,
Look in my eyes, I will never desert you, and
Just say the word, we'll take on the world.

The game had started.

"My turn. Umm...Dare!" Kol said excitedly.

"Ooh ooh, can I ask?" Caroline chirped.

"Sure Sis." Kol replied.

"Say I swear I will not sleep with anyone this month or I will let Klaus pound me until I am bruised enough."

"Ha-ha. Good one, love." Klaus snickered.

"Come on, Kol." Rebekah and Caroline chanted.

He repeated with a sorry look on his face.

They all laughed at his misfortune. After all, it was Kol.

Just then, Elijah walked in to the living room. He saw all of them laughing.

"Elijah, join us."

"Unfortunately for you all, I do not participate in meaningless, ridiculous activities." He replied, walking in an awfully fast speed, heading towards the stair case.

He was gone upstairs before they could utter a comeback.

The game was going on like a blazing hot fire.

"Alright, Caroline, you are next."

Rebekah spoke. "Hmmm, I've got one. Have you ever been so drunk you let something stupid happen to you? I know I've."

Klaus glared at her.

Rebekah sighed. "When I was with my nun friends in the church."

Caroline stiffened. Her bright smile faded away as she remembered. The tequila. The party. Her friends. Jesse, her then boyfriend calling her mean things and those words stinging her like a venomous wasp. The woods and the three guys that she did not recognize. She would never be able to forget the dark night as it awaited in her mind to become a darker memory.

Katherine felt her tension and eyed her in a comforting way. She had been there with Elena and Bonnie searching for Caroline in the woods after her missing from the party. She had found Caroline, bruised and clothe-less smelling like sick and wasted. Her face had been swollen and blood pooled between her thighs.

Of course, the three guys were taken care of by Damon, Stefan and Kai but that did not undo anything. They were captured - for a while, but that did not return her stolen chastity.

Katherine cleared her throat. "I'm going to bed. I need my beauty sleep." She said as she gulped down the last of her drink. "Care….? Let's go?"

She desperately wanted to end the game. She did not want Caroline to go through the same horrors again.

"...Yeah, me too." Said a dazed Caroline.

Klaus noticed the slight change of air but he could not quite put his finger there.

Not then, at least.

"Kat, I'm fine!" Caroline complained as her friend played Mom and tucked her in bed. She sat next to Caroline and eyed her, apologetically.

"I really am," Caroline squeezed her hand. "It... happened a long time ago."

"I know," she nodded, forcing a smile on her face. "I was there. We were there."

"Yeah... You were all there." Caroline returned the smile. "Now go and get your beauty sleep."

"You sure you -"

"I am!" She laughed. "Promise."

"Okay." Katherine left.

It was true. They were all there for her back then. Every one of them. She remembered, Elena, Katherine and Bonnie wrapping a blanket around her naked body and hugging her whilst they sobbed as if they blamed themselves for the incident. She remembered the aching pain between her legs and the stinging in the wounds on her swollen face. She could feel the pain of the nails that dug into her flesh as they forcefully held her on the rough gravel pressing against her bare skin, whilst the other did what she had not imagined of.

Caroline was too shocked – she remained still after they were done with her. She felt... numb. She couldn't rven cry. Stefan, Damon and Kai caught the three guys and they beat them up and held them until the police came.

Everyone had stayed at her house for a month, until she recovered from her nightmares. Elena and Bonnie slept on her bed, next to her while Katherine took the small couch beside her bed. The guys, Damon, Stefan, Kai, Matt and even Jeremy slept on the floor and her mother would look at the scene and just smile because everyone was there for her. She would walk into the room, carefully, not wanting to step on anyone, and lean over and plant a kiss on her daughter's forehead and silently leave.

They all took her to school after a week, and tried to create an attuned environment but she was always distracted even when she tried not to be. But as time went by she was improving – or at least pretending to. They all took her out for shopping and to amusement parks and Caroline slowly started living again and returning to her old self – the neurotic control freak self that everyone gravely missed.

And at night, they would all go back to her home and Matt and Tyler would bring movies and they would all watch it together at night after Liz cooked dinner for everyone, with Miranda's help... If Caroline fell asleep on the couch, one of the guys would carry her to the bedroom and they would turn out the lights and sleep in her room.

If Caroline needed to talk about anything, her girlfriends were always there for her.

And when Jesse came to meet her at her house any day, Damon and Kai would scare him off and they pretty much threatened him not to speak to Caroline ever. And even if he wanted to apologize, he never got the chance to.

During those days, Tyler started feeling things for her, seeing her in a different way and cared for her in a different perspective. She wanted time and he understood. But when time went on, Tyler and her developed something special she thought would last forever.

But it was this tragedy that had completely changed her. She felt poweless at times and there were times when she thought she could never be in control ever again. Caroline also started seeing herself as a 'dirty object' and she tried so hard to surpress it from others. She always sensed that there was something wrong with her, like she had no purpose, no use. She felt worthless. Like no one cared for her, despite everyone around her. She was nothing, in her point of view. She felt like she was losing her mind. She couldn't let anyone touch her for a long time, and the first time with Tyler - she had a panic attack. Tyler consoled her, and they went on like that for a year before she reached a stage where she could let him and as time went on, it got better and better. She got better, but the way she felt about her after the rape, remained the same. She was still worthless to everyone in her eyes. She couldn't see how much they loved her - that part had been shut closed.

Caroline sat on her bed, the blanket covering her body, and all the lights were on. Klaus walked in, without knocking, with a confused smile daubed on his face.

"You're still up."

"I am…" She uttered, focusing on an empty space in the air between them.

Klaus nodded silently, sitting next to her like he did earlier that night. He touched her shoulder and she suddenly flinched making him pull away his hand, regretfully.

"What happened?"

"…Nothing."

"Caroline… I saw you the other day when you asked me why I didn't do anything whilst you being in a drunken state," He continued. "And tonight... What was it?"

She kept slowly shaking her head and drew her lower lip between her teeth.

"What happened to you?"

"I don't wanna talk about it…"

"Did someone hurt you?"

She remained silent. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, staring into nothing.

"Tell me…"

"...Why do you wanna know, Klaus?"

"Why? Do I need a reason to care?" He said softly. "Tell me."

"I was… " she inhaled, hugging herself tightly and squeezing her eyes shut.

"Someone... Raped you?"

She nodded.

It kindled a new fury in him. How could someone even dream about hurting such a delicate person? A person who cared about others – put everyone else before her almost all the time? What did she ever do to deserve such a brutal treatment from a man worth calling an animal?

"What's his name?" He asked, his voice suddenly heated.

Caroline scoffed, meeting his eyes and letting him study her sadness. "Don't you mean names?"

Klaus frowned before he acknowledged it. It wasn't just one person it was a gang. How many of those must have forced themselves over her? And why? His stomach churned from the thought of her pain and all he could think about was making them suffer in unimaginable way.
And now he understood something about her. Why she wasn't that afraid of him at the beginning and even after. She had gone through the worst kind of trauma a human could possibly endure and because of that, she was strong, fearless. This was the reason.

"I was seventeen. It was… That night we all gathered to see a comet and… My boyfriend, for some reason called me, shallow, stupid and useless and it really hurt me because… Part of me knew it was true… And then I was like, 'okay, Caroline. Let's get drunk because that'll make things better'." She smiled to nothing. "I… I was on my way to the washroom when the three men grabbed me… and… I couldn't do anything. Even if I wasn't drunk I couldn't have stopped it… Or the beating…" She gritted her teeth, letting out a hasty breath, as she relived the moment again. "I was so aware of everything that was happening and all I wanted was to make it stop but they –"

Klaus quickly embraced her, wrapping his arms tightly around as her body sank into his brace and he lightly stroked her arm.
"Shh… It's okay, you don't have to tell me, love." His chin rested against the top of her head as she slipped one arm around him

Caroline lifted her head up to meet his eyes and she didn't know why she said the words that came out of her mouth. "Will you? Until I… Fall asleep?" She pulled him closer and asked him sincerely.

He nodded pulling her closer.

At three fifteen in the morning, something woke him up. He had fallen asleep.
At first it was surprising to wake up next to her, her in his arms and then it felt scary. In a good way and it made him smile like an idiot. Klaus laid right next to her, snuggling her into his arms and staring at her just breathing. He couldn't take his eyes off her sleeping form. She was a work of art. Art that draws him in every time he looked at her. Art that makes him find himself and lose himself at the same time.

He pulled her a little closer and kissed her forehead.

"When I first met you," he scoffed lightly. "At the bar, you ignited something in me and in that moment, I just... Knew something about me had instantly changed. It was definitely the beginning of something..." Although I was in denial, he added to himself, slowly tucking her hair behind her ear. "I was a box full of darkness and until now, I didn't realize, you were all the light that I ever needed to be saved. If it wasn't for you, I would have never known I had good in me. You found a part in me, that I wanted gone, Caroline. And you have no idea, how thankful I am for that..." He caressed his thumb against her cheek, a ghost of a smile across his lips. "I haven't been in love before, but I know that I will always and forever feel this way, despite the complete different paths destined for you and me. If I could change anything at all, I would wish for a life together but that's not possible..." he whispered, his eyes teary. "You are miserable here." He had seen the genuine laughter and joy she shared with Katherine whilst reminiscing about their past and Klaus hasn't seen her that way ever. "You deserve all the happiness in this world far away from misery... the betrayals and the lies and revenge... The life you were supposed to have. The one meant for you. You should not be caught in the middle of this mess. Which is why… As much as I don't want to, for many reasons, I have to... Let you go."

He slowly got up from the bed and put the blanket over her nicely. "But first," he said to himself in a harsh whisper, gritting his teeth and balling his fists. He stole a glance from her before leaving the room quietly.

On their way back to Mystic Falls, they had asked Matt to gather up all that he could about the mysterious yet wealthy Dahlia in Russia as she was the last to have seen Freya Mikaelson – the eldest of the Mikaelsons who inexplicably disappeared. They were hoping that Dahlia could reveal more information about the Mikaelson family and maybe they could get to the eldest sibling and use her as leverage and negotiate a 'family member for Caroline' truce.

They found quite a lot about her. She had the license to operate the Strip Club and according to the documents there weren't any illegimation in her business which seems to have been going on for twenty successful years. The ecdysiasts were brought in the legal route and no suspicion arose about any prostitution issue as everything had gone pretty smooth with no complains about any such. Even then, operating one strip club had that woman put on airs and luck sure had been going her way. The number of customers each day was enough evidence for that!

They weren't interested in her business, rather the sibling that she 'took' years ago and since she never returned to Mikael and Esther, the fact that she would know about Freya Mikaelson was befitting as the lack of any death certificate or any other for that matter proves that she might just be alive. They were hoping for it to be. After all, family seems to be very important for Mikaelsons – they will surely agree to trade.

"Well, that was Matt," he wiggled the phone in his hands, before dropping it to the couch. "I just filled him in about every little detail we found about Mesthreya."

"It all sends us back to Dahlia, doesn't it?" Tyler asked, peculiarly and shrugged.

"Maybe there's a way to find out," Jeremy suggested, picking up the picture of the Strip Club that Dahlia owned.

Before Kai and Tyler could answer Carol barged in to the study with a befuddled look on her face. She darted her eyes all around the room and then at the three young men who stood at their positions, not moving a muscle, trying to play dumb. She was a little horrified as they had made such a huge mess.

"What is going on here!?" She asked in an upsetting tone, shaking her head. "Tyler!?"

"Oh, hello, Mrs. Lockwood," Kai waved at her. "Good –" he looked down at his watch. "Morning...? It's 3:32 AM!? Oh, wow."

"Hey, Mom," he leaned against the table still in act. "What's up?"

Her eyes were sleepy and her hair was messed up. She wore her pajamas and held a jug in her hand. Carol's eye widened, as she moved towards and glanced at the picture that displayed on the laptop screen - Mikael Mikaelson and it was then when she finally discovered what they were up to.

No, she thought. Can't be...
And all her sleep had disappeared.

Kai quickly bent over the chair and shut the screen down in a bolt, although he realized it was too late and they were sure Carol had seen it. Her appalled look and pale white skin was enough justification for that.

"What the hell do you all think you're doing?" She raged inside, giving each of them a look filled with anger and disgust.

"Oh, you know, Mrs. Lockwood," Kai spoke up fast. "Just... Hanging out, right guys?" He fake smiled at both Jeremy and Tyler before continuing. "Since we are footloose and fancy free at the moment... and haven't –"

"Tyler," her voice had a sudden intentness in it. "Tell me," she walked towards the table, slammed the jug on it and picked up Mikael's picture. "You are not doing this!"

"Okay," he shrugged. "I'm not doing that," he pointed at the picture in his mother's hand. Kai and Jeremy snickered.
She let out an unhappy cry, as she threw the picture onto the table and walked towards her son and gently held his shoulders.

"What are you trying to do?"

"We are trying to find the truth. Truth about the whole 2000 incident. You know the one that all of you keep hiding from us," Tyler crossed his arms, his eyes reflected how stubborn he was.

"With good reason!" She said.

"Why?" He asked. "What happened, that was so bad that you had to make fake medical reports about their deaths, Mom!?"

Her mother's eye widened. "How... did you know that?"

Kai and Jeremy exchanged astound glances. Their suspicions about the reports weren't just a heroic hunch. Reports were indeed fake which means there was more to the story than everyone was letting on. Perhaps what the whole world knew about that night was not what truly happened. And this conversation had just proved everything they knew about the night was a lie.

Tyler scoffed. "You know we thought it was just a gut feeling but now I am damn sure!" He yelled.

"Ugh, Tyler," she continued. "Let it go."

"Tell me what happened," he said, firmly. "Or I'll find it either way."

"I'm doing this for your own –"

"I don't care! It's Caroline!" He yelled. "She's in danger Mom! What is more important than her right now!?"

She knew how to save Caroline and yet the hesitation wasn't allowing her to pay the price. She knew exactly what the Mikaelsons wanted but she didn't want to give it. Because the price to free Caroline was her freedom. But if it was… Why were the Mikaelsons demanding Bill Forbes? Maybe they wanted to take down one by one... She shuddered.

"I – I –"

"If we don't know the truth, how are we supposed to help her!?"

"We'll get Caroline back –"

"How!?"

There was silence. Mayor Lockwood, bit her lower lip, as tears flowed down her cheek.

Kai slowly walked towards Carol and placed a hand on her shoulder, with an apologetic look.

"Mrs. Lockwood," he began. "Caroline has been gone for almost a five days now... She was kidnapped. We don't know how she is... We don' know what she's going through."

"And we have to find something – to help her. Just in case Katherine's plan doesn't work. So please –" Jeremy was interrupted.

"What?" She asked hastily. "Wh - what do you mean Katherine's plan?"

"They all came up with a plan to send Katherine to the mansion in person," Tyler explained. "In fact, she's been there for two days and everything seems normal and going according to the plan. But we can't get carried away if she gets caught, who knows what they'll do to Caroline and Katherine?"

"Oh, my god, Tyler..." Carol felt her knees losing its strength as she let herself think of what just happened.

"I know it could be dangerous but…" Kai said. "Kat was our best option because –"

"You – sent Katherine to the Mikaelsons?" She shook her head in dismay as the rest of them looked at her intensely, waiting for her to say further. "Oh god..."

"Alright!" Klaus said, barging into the guest room and startling the guest enough to give her a heart attack.

"Oh, jeez," Katherine pressed her palm to her chest and squeezed her eyes shut. She was in front of the mirror, tying her hair up, wearing her blue tank top and matching shorts.

"I need you to give me some information –"

"Well, I'm about to go to bed so, this conversation about a silly little rock – think we can have it tomorrow."

Klaus put his hands behind his back, flashing is evil smirk. "As a matter of fact, we need to get back on that. But first things first… Caroline isn't here to rescue you unlike earlier today, so you best answer me quick and I disrespect liars, but you knew that already, didn't you? Unless of course, you respond better to torture, I'm more than happy to try that."

Katherine crossed her arms and cleared her throat. "What do you wanna know?"

"About... the three sadists back from Mystic Falls."

"What – sadists?"

"Shall I put it as rapists for more clarity?"

Katherine slouched. Caroline had told him? It was unlikely that Caroline would speak about herself to total strangers. Maybe there weren't... What was going on between the two of them?

"Why... why do you wanna know?"

"I'm the one asking the questions here." He smirked again.

"If Caroline had told you the whole story and left out the bastards sickening names out of it," she continued. "I'm gonna respect that. Why do you need it anyway?"

He took two steps towards her and stopped.

"Very well," he said in a carefree voice. "Are they behind bars?"

"No... Their rich Daddies saved their asses. Twice."

"Hmm... How unfair..." he kept going. "Don't you think? I mean, their lives should be made into an unending sequence of agonizing torture, right? That's what they deserve after what they did to her and I can make it happen."

He was right. It wasn't fair. She remembered the beating Caroline had taken. And after that, the suffering she had endured for a long time. Because of the three men. Klaus was right; they cannot roam around freely as if nothing had happened. They had destroyed someone's life and that's what should happen to them.

Katherine narrowed her eyes at Klaus, as she thought.

"Well," she said. "For starters, they are not from Mystic Falls. They are from Charleston. Their names are, Noah Castle, Ambrose Avery and Jay Karen. Waste of spaces."

"Well you remembered them all too well."

"How could I not?" She said. "I saw Caroline in the woods after we figured she was missing. She was all bruised and – bloody. God, that's an image I'll never get out of my head… I've never seen anything like that and it scared me to the core... I…" She looked up at Klaus and she could sense his tautness. Why was he so upset about all this…?

He could quite imagine the whole scene and it made him angrier. He was going to find them. And when he does, he'll make sure they spend the rest of their mortal lives in exquisite agony wishing for a merciful death and they will wish they never even laid eyes on Caroline. They had messed with the wrong girl.

"Where do you think they are now?"

"How –?" She gave him a bewildered look. "How am I supposed to know?"

"Fine. I'll find them." He said walking towards the door. He came to a halt, holding the door half open, once Katherine's question startled him.

"Um… Why are you so keen on making sure they suffer, again?" Katherine asked quickly.

Because, he thought to himself. I want to end everyone that's hurt her in anyway, destroy everything that frightens her and protect what she holds dear and above all, keep her safe and – happy. That's what I wish for her. That's all I want for her.

But out loud, he had absolutely zilch to say. Nothing seemed to come out of his mouth. He couldn't utter a single thing. It was then when Katherine solved a part of the puzzle – his silence was a missing piece. She had found it strange that Caroline felt so comfortable with the Mikaelsons and why Klaus let her go when Caroline did nothing more than just ask. The look he gave Caroline earlier that night and now he wanting to make the three men suffer… They all fit to the puzzle perfectly drawing a picture and yet the answer was still indistinct.

"You… You care about her…? Like – you totally like her? Oh, wow!" She questioned, under her breath. "I… Really? That's kinda weird because... You are the kidnapper."

"I'm well aware of that, Miss Petr – Katerina," He turned around, his eyes glaring at her once again. Klaus had barely spoken to Katherine while her service at the Mikaelsons years ago, and yet sometimes her name came up whilst everyone teased their big brother about her, as Elijah had taken a liking to her in a way.

"Katherine." He eyed her.

"I don't give a lick about your concepts, whatever your name is; what matters is our common interest in making them pay for their sin," He said austerely, still on his spot. "And this time, no one can save their arses."

Without wasting any more time, they drove to the Salvatore house and barged in without bothering to ring the bell. They didn't need to wait for an invitation any longer as they have known each other for so long that formalities among that were considered as absurd.

Luckily for them, almost everyone was in the living room. Bonnie was on the couch and Elena was coming down the stairs wearing her blue tank top and cotton pajama pants.
"Did hope but wasn't expecting this," Kai said. "What are you guys doing up so late?"

"Couldn't sleep…..!" Elena whined out, collapsing next to Bonnie who played with the blanket wrapped around her. By seeing Kai, Jeremy and Tyler's unease looks, all their attention turn to them.

"What's wrong?" Bonnie asked getting up and concerned.

"We made a mistake by sending my sister over there," Jeremy informed them in a mild tone.

"What are you talking about?" Damon exclaimed, filled with confusion. He joined next to Bonnie, followed by Stefan and Elena.

"They all know her," Jeremy went on, his tone reflected anger. "The Mikaelsons know her."

"That's not possible." Stefan replied, giving the rest an anxious look.

"Yeah, because Katherine's –" Elena trailed.

"Elena," Kai said with an eagerness. "Mrs. Lockwood told us that... Giuseppe Salvatore made her steal something from them in 2009," Kai shot an apologetic glance at Damon and Stefan "And... Well she didn't exactly know what she was doing at that time since... Mr. Salvatore made someone lie to her about it and apparently she thought she was doing the right thing."

Tyler swayed on his feet, his hands tucked into his pockets, "And she didn't know she was robbing the Mikaelsons..."

Elena sighed, rubbing her temples, processing. She felt her knees weakening and she sank into the couch, not knowing what to think. Stefan went to her aid, holding her shoulders, trying to sooth her.

"We should have –" Damon was interrupted by the anger boiling inside of Jeremy.

"What!? We should have waited a little longer? Checked more about the Billionaire family that has our friend kidnapped!?" He screamed, moving towards Damon. "But, no! You just had to send her away didn't you!? You hate her so much that you wanted to get rid of her! If anything happens to her you'd be enjoying at a wake wouldn't you!?"

"Jeremy," Elena said, standing up and walking towards her little brother. "This isn't Damon's fault."

"She's right, Jer," Bonnie intervened. "You know that."

"Look Jeremy," Damon began, trying to calm the youngest Gilbert down. "You're right, we should have waited –"

Jeremy punched Damon in the face, before he could say anything else, knocking him down.

"Jeremy!" Elena scolded him.

Damon got back up, his nose bleeding, and gave Jeremy a stare that almost looked like he was going to hit him back. But instead he grunted, as Stefan walked in between them, slightly pushing Damon aside.

"I'm not losing her, again." Jeremy announced.

"You won't," Elena said. "I promise." But before she could reach up to him, he rushed outside slamming the door behind him making Elena flinch.

Tyler nodded at Elena and decided to go after his friend. "I've got it." He then left.

As Klaus walked to the kitchen, he could hear two male voices chattering ceaselessly.

"You're up already," He said to Kol and Elijah who were seated across each other, enjoying their tea. Kol was wearing only his Calvin Klein pajama pants and his hair was a bit messed up as he sipped down his cup of tea. Elijah, was decent - but when has he not been? Then again, it was weird to see him in his blue shirt that was nothing closer to a suit that he would usually wear.

"And so are you, Nik, which is obviously surprising." Kol looked at him as he joined them, pouring himself a cup of tea. Klaus narrowed his eyes at Kol's comment. Usually Klaus too woke up around four in the morning. "Oh and by the way, did you enjoy your sleep? I honestly thought you'd stay in bed for a long time. I guess one year of living as a celibate has driven you crazy." his mischievous look made Klaus uncomfortable as it was followed by matching a matching smile curving up on his lips.

Kol opened the door to Klaus' bedroom as he called out his name. The lights were on, his bed was made and there was no sign of him which was weird. Because soon after the game had awkwardly ended, everyone went upstairs.
He then decided to ask Elijah about it but as he crossed Caroline's room to which the door was cracked opened a bit. He decided to shut it close but then he saw Klaus. Cuddling Caroline. He walked a little closer and looked at the calmed look on their faces, especially his brother's as he held her so closely. Kol smiled. And then he silently shut the door close behind him.

"Shut up."

"Now, what is this, Niklaus," Elijah asked not making eye contact with Klaus. "We haven't called Mrs. Forbes in two days and I no longer understand what our plan is."

Klaus looked down at his cup and said nothing for a while. And then he closed his eyes. "Neither do I, brother. I mean... I didn't plan to..."

"Plan to what?" Elijah asked in a concerned tone, demanding to complete the rest of the sentence. Somehow, Elijah knew what he was going to say, but Klaus needed to admit to it himself. He was no going to help his little brother - not with this. This was something he needed to do himself.

"Look, Elijah, Kol," he gave each of them a look and Kol was no longer carrying his smirk. He had turned serious. "I will never give up on Finn. That is not going to happen, not even if hell freezes over. What I'm saying is... Maybe there's some other way to... You know... I don't want her to be in the middle of this."

"Sure. There were other ways," Elijah said. "But it was you who chose this way because you wanted Bill Forbes to suffer."

"I – I know. It's just... That..." He looked at both of them, their eyes wide opened. He flinched. "Don't look at me like that."

"Then tell us what you're trying to say, for God's sake!?" Kol complained, gesturing.

"I'm not trying to say anything, I am saying it. We need another plan..." Klaus said.

"Like busting Finn out?" Kol asked. "Or the other one?"

"Maybe the other one." Klaus had mildly suggested the idea a day ago to his brothers. Making a deal with Bill Forbes to let him frame someone else to save Finn. In that case both Finn and Bill will have their freedom. But one doesn't deserve it. Not after all the pain that he's caused.

"Sure," Elijah said. "But do you mind telling us why we're aborting the current mission?" He smiled sarcastically, s and this made Klaus narrow his eyes in annoyance.

"You know, you're turning into Kol," He pointed at Kol who raised his eyebrows and held out his palms, proudly. "And that was not a compliment."

"Thank you," Kol muttered under his breath.

"So tell us, brother?" Elijah asked, stubbornly ignoring all else, and making a steeple of his fingers.

"Alright," Klaus said. "If you want me to say it out loud so badly... I fancy her."

Kol almost choked on his tea and then looked from Klaus to Elijah and then back to Klaus. He started laughing as Elijah sat there with a wide smile on his face.

"What's – so funny, Kol?" Klaus glowered.

"Oh..." He sat gasping for air in between cackles. "There's something I swore I'd never hear you say even though we all knew... Damn, now I owe Bex a trip to Nova Scotia..." He wailed out. "Wait - fancy? Fancy as in what? As in love?"

"Maybe." He said in a husky voice. "Kol? You won't say a word of this to anyone, do you understand me?"

"You haven't -"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Does there need to be reasons for everything that I do?" Klaus slammed the cup on the table.

"Do you intend on telling her?" Elijah asked, in his calm tone.

"No. And neither of us will speak about this ever again."

"Why won't you consider telling her, brother? This is the first time you've ever felt connected to someone besides family. I'd like to believe it's a good thing."

"If we're talking about connection, Lijah, should we talk about your conversation with the pregnant lady upstairs?" Kol teased. "You both looked pretty connected to me –"

"Kol, enough with the nonsense," Elijah replied with a sheepish stare. "I was just having a civil conversation with the opposite gender, which you are clearly unable to do, if it weren't for sex."

"Okay, that's enough talk about that," Klaus banged his hand on the table. "I need your help in finding three men in Charleston. Noah Castle, Ambrose Avery and then there's Jay Karen. This is extremely important."

"What?" Kol was obviously confused.

"Who are they?" Elijah asked.

"Just some men I've been looking for." Klaus replied, inattentively.

"Since when?" Elijah asked.

"Who are these people?" Kol joined in.

"Since now. People who wronged m - well -"

"Wronged you? When was that?"

"It'd really help the situation if you all would minimise the amount of questions asked here. Will you help me? I need them here as soon as possible."

"Fine."

Mesthreya: Mikael, Esther and Freya.

TVD finale left hope for Klaroline but that is the beginning of another story - Congrats to our Klaroline Family!
I guess it's the reward for never losing hope. You know what they say, good things come to those who believe, better things come to those who are patient, and the best things come to those who don't give up!