So, weird story, I was panicking because in my mind I thought this chapter was only going to be like 200 words long and then on the page it turned into almost 4 000…

The long wait has been on account of me having to force myself to sit down and re-watch Caroline's parts in the episode and S5 is just kind of painful all-round so that was hard to do, heh. But here it is!

When I asked what y'all wanted me to address, Klaus' reaction to the news about Stefan came up a few times so this has that in it. Please forgive me re-writing that scene in the episode. I know quite a few readers of this story didn't even watch Season 5 (an excellent decision) so I just felt it necessary to add even more context than I usually do in every chapter. Also I quite liked being able to explain some of Caroline's actions and reactions. Hopefully it's still interesting to read even for those who have watched the scene; I tried to write it thus.

Important: Episode 5x21 contains two nights, the second of which continues into 5x22 before another day. That makes three nights in total. In this chapter I address the first night and write the second night, and in the next chapter I'll write what happens the last night.

Enjoy :)

Chapter 10: Promised Land

He helps

Ignoring me, love?

I'm not ignoring you, I'm busy.

Too busy to text?

Seriously? How are you even more of an annoying smartass through text?

Is that your way of admitting to have been caught?

NO because there's nothing to be caught for. I'm trying to intimidate my bodysnatched ex into helping us by giving him the silent treatment + death glare. It isn't exactly very scary if I take a phone call in front of him.

Bodysnatched? Travellers, I'm guessing?

YES. Now go away, the whole death glare thing only works if it's being directed at him and not my phone.

I love it when you glare at me. Very sexy.

I'm turning my phone off.

Easy, love. Bodysnatched boyfriend explains today but not last night.

I went to bed early.

I was tired and traumatised from watching Damon torture a bank manager.

There's no need to avoid me.

I'm not avoiding you. But I am busy.

Very well. We'll speak later.

Tell the Traveller he's an improvement on that body's last resident, though I confess that's no recommendation in particular.

Caroline bit at her lip to keep the spreading grin on her face at bay as she read through the text messages her and Klaus had exchanged that afternoon. Even his thinly veiled dig at Tyler made her want to smile.

"What's that about?"

Caroline broke away from her daze, automatically locking her phone as she turned to Stefan.

"Uh, nothing important."

"It wasn't Bonnie, was it?"

She shook her head and Stefan continued surveying the campus as she went back to internally swooning.

On the one hand Klaus had been right with his not-so-subtle hints that she'd been acting different ever since the other night.

Like, could she reasonably be expected not to act differently?

She'd practically told the guy that she loved him but he'd stopped her. And while his reason had been understandable, it had still left them stuck on the precipice of somewhere awkward, unable to move forward or back.

Not until they met again in person.

Her mind drifted to the last time they'd spoke.

"Not over the phone."

She smiled to herself, her heart calming as she thought about one day getting to say it to him in person.

"Ok. Night, Klaus."

After his goodnight she ended the call, staring at her phone with a half-smile.

"I love you."

For a second she just smiled dopily, revelling in the novelty of getting to say it aloud. Then with a light self-chastising laugh she shook her head at the fact that she was whispering to herself.

Caroline placed her phone on her bedside table then settled in to sleep.

"It's getting late," Stefan observed from beside her, sounding worried.

She nodded, thinking about finding somewhere to settle for the night and the fact that Bonnie was taking forever even as the spell kept spreading from Mystic Falls.

Stefan drummed his fingers against the car door and it gave her some more time for her mind to wander off. Of course it went where her mind always seemed to go these days when it had more than a minute off – Klaus.

Because there was also the other hand. The part of her that wasn't awkward and didn't care about the fact that she'd almost proclaimed her love for him over the phone.

There was the part of her that couldn't help acknowledging the unavoidable thrill that came whenever he called her love, even if it was only through texts. The part of her that flushed a deep pink – half embarrassed, half flattered – when he did stupid stuff like call her glare sexy.

I love it when you glare at me. Very sexy.

Suddenly Caroline became incredibly aware of how ridiculously hard she was trying not to smile and though Stefan wasn't paying her that much attention, she tried diverting her own by thinking about all the scolding she'd be doing when Klaus called tonight.

Except – oh.

The plan was for all of them to get as far out of town as possible to escape the spreading spell. Her, Bonnie and Stefan could be roadtripping all night or indefinitely, for that matter.

Caroline began to wring her hands. No way was she taking Klaus' call in the car with Stefan and Bonnie, but if she resorted to texting again then he was going to be convinced that she was avoiding speaking to him. Not to mention how suspicious her friends would become if she kept furiously texting and blushing.

Caroline had practically chewed through her lip by the time she remembered her roadtrip with Enzo. All she'd had to do was get him to stop for gas and snacks and she'd called Klaus then to give him a heads-up. She could do the same thing with Stefan.

The problem was that they would've had to have made it significantly far before she could reasonably ask them to stop, and with it getting later and later and Bonnie seriously taking freaking forever, Caroline was starting to flip out just a little bit.

She turned to Stefan in exasperation. "Where is Bonnie? She was right behind me."

Stefan straightened from where he was leaning against the car. "I'm gonna find out what's taking so long."

He made to walk away but suddenly Tyler approached them. Well, technically, Julian.

"I'm looking for Maria. I heard she brought you back to Mystic Falls."

Crap. Caroline felt awful. Stefan had told her how the witches had caused Julian's wife's death and she felt terrible because both Travellers had tried to help her friends.

Not knowing what to say, she turned to Stefan who looked like he felt equally as terrible.

"Uh, yeah she did," he confirmed.

"Did she tell you where she was headed? Because she can't stay there, the town's completely overrun."

There was something so straightforward and business-like about Julian that freaked Caroline out considering he was wearing Tyler's body. And the fact that Tyler might be gone forever weirded her out even further.

Both those emotions, however, were trumped by the stifling awkwardness in the air right now.

Stefan looked down and Caroline swallowed, her throat feeling dry. If she could've helped her friend out she would've, but right now she had no more idea about what to say in this situation than Stefan did.

"What's the problem? Did she tell you where she was headed, or what?" Julian pressed, still completely oblivious.

Caroline looked to Stefan again who sighed uncomfortably.

"Listen, uh, you're not gonna see Maria again."

Julian frowned. "What are you talking about?"

Stefan stepped forward with another heavy breath. "She's dead. I'm sorry."

He tried to reach a comforting hand over to Julian but he recoiled.

"Don't touch me."

Feeling she had to step in since the younger Salvatore always did a reprehensible job of defending himself, Caroline finally found her voice again.

"It wasn't Stefan's fault."

Julian didn't seem to care either way. She supposed irrationality was a trait Tyler and his bodysnatcher shared.

"She saved your punk-ass," he hissed, glaring at Stefan.

"I wasn't the one who killed her – the witches did," Stefan explained.

"Well someone's gonna have to pay for it," Julian threatened before shoving Stefan.

"Hey hey hey hey, whoa. I'm in no mood to fight tonight, alright?" Stefan said calmly.

Caroline realised that Julian had lost it. The best thing to do right now would be to remove him from the equation for the moment so they could find Bonnie and get the hell out of here.

Carefully stepping behind Julian, it occurred to Caroline that that plan was a lot like one Klaus may have come up with.

Using only her eyes, Caroline signalled her plan to Stefan and he nodded almost imperceptibly.

"Look at me!" Julian demanded. "My wife's dead. I'm in somebody else's body. I've got nowhere to go because my own people are trying to kill me."

Caroline felt a terrible pit in her stomach. He had a point. Julian hadn't really asked for any of this but now he was stuck right in the middle of it all.

She saw Stefan put on his best negotiating face and its accompanying reasonable voice.

"Listen, we're gonna find a way to stop this spell."

She knew this was her queue; knew that Stefan was talking Julian down as a way to distract him. Caroline took a quiet breath before stepping forward.

Stefan was still talking. "Even if Mystic Falls is gone, we're gonna find a way to save ourselves, right – "

She placed her hands on Julian's neck and was ready to twist and break it when Stefan's words after she'd been unable to kill Tom suddenly popped into her mind –

Not that you couldn't do it. That you wouldn't do it –

It distracted her, causing her to hesitate for a split second in uncertainty.

She recovered immediately but it was too late. Julian turned and growled at her, his eyes turning hybrid amber. Caroline gasped, taking a step back.

With a jolt she realised that the only good she could accompany those eyes with was the day Klaus had regarded her with them as he'd appraised her naked body. With Tyler it had always meant fear and death but with Klaus it had been entirely different.

Unfortunately at this particular moment it had the bad kind of shivers running through her body.

Before she could react, Stefan sped up to Julian from behind and grabbed him, speeding him to the car and pinning him there. Caroline hesitated, unsure whether to try and help or not, but after a second it didn't matter.

Stefan lurched backwards and with widened eyes Caroline saw her friend's heart in Julian's hand. She gasped, putting her hands to her face as her own heart sped in panic. She wanted to act or move or do anything but she was rooted to her spot in utter shock.

She tried to convince herself that she wasn't staring at Stefan's heart in the hands of her ex-boyfriend; that Stefan wasn't dead.

But the veins ran up Stefan's neck, his eyes wide, and he dropped to the ground.

Julian sneered at the Salvatore's dead body. "There. Dead doppelganger. Stopped the spell."

He tossed Stefan's heart then walked away.

Caroline's knees felt weak. "Oh my god," she whispered. "Oh my god!"

She knew she should try and go after Julian but instead she ran to Stefan's body, lifting his head.

"No, no no no no no," she repeated to herself.

This couldn't be it. Stefan couldn't just die like this because of some idiot Traveller. He didn't deserve this.

But she hadn't stopped it and now there wasn't any denying it – as she stared at his lifeless vein-covered face, she realised that Stefan really was dead.

"Oh my god," she breathed out, dragging her hands through her hair.

She felt something bubbling up in her chest that she hadn't felt in a long time – not since her father and Bonnie. Why did everyone have to die on her?

"God, help me! Please!" she screamed, knowing there was no one to hear her pleas.

Knowing there was no one who could help her.

"Oh my god, oh my god! No."

She was on her knees with Stefan's head on her lap and desperately she rocked back and forth.

"Somebody help!" she screamed, beside herself.

She wasn't sure what she was doing anymore, only that she couldn't handle this – not this too. She couldn't lose any more.

"Please," she cried. "Somebody help!"

It was the only thing she could think of to say. She couldn't deal with this alone.

Oh god, she couldn't deal with this at all.

"Please please please," she sobbed, bending over his rigid form, "please help me, please."

She almost jumped out of her skin when against her leg something began vibrating furiously.

It took her a second to realise that it was her phone and another to realise that it was Klaus.

Her hands shaking as she frantically reached inside her jeans' pocket, she pulled out her phone and noted with relief that it was indeed his name on the Caller ID, before hastily answering the call and putting her phone to her ear.

"Oh god, Klaus, oh god."

Klaus stood, on immediate alert.

Caroline sounded genuinely distraught and he couldn't fathom what the matter could be. Just a few hours earlier she had been playful and teasing with him.

"Caroline, what's wrong?"

"Klaus," she repeated, nothing more coming through other than unbridled sobbing.

Klaus had heard Caroline scold and tease and chastise and beg for more but never had he heard her crying. It was a raw and broken sound and he loathed it. It ate at his nerves and felt like acid through his veins.

He sat back down, his mind racing for a way to calm her.

"Caroline, love, concentrate on my voice, can you do that?"

Caroline nodded, focusing on calming her breathing, shutting her eyes as she listened to Klaus' calm husky voice laced with that accent she loved so much.

"I need you to calm down and think about something else; anything else."

She nodded again, her thoughts turning from Klaus' voice to the lips it came from and the way they felt against hers.

"Just calm down, love."

Gradually her breathing slowed and she felt completely at ease as behind her lids she watched Klaus give her a genuine heartwarming smile right before speeding her up against that tree.

"Are you alright?"

She nodded. Then, finally realising that Klaus couldn't see her, cleared her throat. "Yeah, yes. I'm fine."

"You're sure?" he asked in concern.

"Yes, I'm completely unharmed," she assured him, her eyes still closed.

"Ok," Klaus nodded, allowing himself to breathe freely again.

Caroline was unharmed. That was the most important thing. Knowing that, he could handle anything else.

"Alright love, what is it that upset you so much?"

Just thinking about it had Caroline's heart speeding up again but she nodded, willing her lips apart.

"It's Stefan."

Klaus frowned. Stefan?

"He's dead. Julian killed him."

Klaus' eyes widened and his free hand curled into a fist. "What?"

"He's dead, Klaus," she whispered.

"No," he shook his head.

She didn't reply and he ground his teeth against each other. He didn't want to believe it but there didn't seem to be a choice in the matter – Stefan's death was one of the few things that could explain Caroline's current traumatised state.

"Who in the bloody hell is Julian?" he growled.

"The Traveller in Tyler's body," she explained softly.

Klaus wanted to crush something between his very fingers. Naturally that hybrid was still getting in his goddamn way. Why he hadn't just killed him the many times he'd had the chance, Klaus would never know.

"Where is he now?" he asked through his clenched jaw.

"Klaus… it won't help to hurt him," she rationalised.

"Oh I intend on doing much more than that, love," he promised darkly.

"It's not gonna bring Stefan back. He's dead. He's lying in the middle of the road with his heart on the ground next to him and killing Julian isn't going to help!" Caroline shouted hysterically, her voice having climbed higher and higher as she spoke.

Her eyes flew open and she was hit anew with the view of Stefan's lifeless eyes and rigid body against her; the spidering purple veins everywhere.

"He's dead, oh god, Stefan's dead," she began to cry again.

Caroline's high-pitched voice and ensuing sobbing brought Klaus out of the revenge-filled haze he'd been in.

He dragged his mind away from the loss of one of his best mates – a man he'd once regarded as his brother – to concentrate on the blonde he was in love with. She needed his help. He couldn't be there with her in person but he had to pretend as if he were.

"Caroline, I need you to listen to me."

When she didn't reply through her sobbing, Klaus gritted his teeth. "Caroline!"

His voice snapped her out of it and Caroline sat up straight again, wiping the tears from her cheeks.

"What?"

"Did you say Stefan was lying in the middle of the road?"

"Yes," she nodded, sniffing.

"Ok," he nodded resolutely. "We need to make sure no one sees you two. Where are you?"

"Outside Whitmore."

"Good," he acknowledged. "I know this won't be easy," he winced, "but you're going to have to carry his body inside your dormitory."

"W-what?" she stuttered, eyeing Stefan's body.

"You have to move him, sweetheart," Klaus repeated softly.

There was a bad taste on her tongue and suddenly an image flashed into her mind: Damon carrying Jeremy's lifeless body down the staircase and laying him on Elena's sofa. She'd felt dejected then and she'd known that Stefan, standing beside her, had felt the same.

Standing beside her.

Now he was lying before her and Caroline wanted to hurl rather than move him, especially in any way that was undignified. But she also knew that Klaus was right. She wasn't sure she'd be able to deal with anyone who may come along and ask questions. Besides, she wasn't sure there was anything more undignified than lying in the middle of a street with your heart in a bloody clump beside you.

"I should call Elena," she realised. "They didn't leave that long ago, they can come back."

Klaus sighed in relief. Caroline sounded more focused and in control.

"Yes. Take his body inside, speak to Elena and then call me right back."

She nodded, absorbing Klaus' instructions as she lowered Stefan's head to the ground and stood. She could do this.

"Ok, I'll do it," she agreed with a heavy exhale. "But Klaus?"

"Yes?" he frowned.

"Don't go anywhere." She sucked in the icy night air. "I need you."

Klaus was stunned into silence for a moment but he recovered and smiled.

"I won't, Caroline."

Taking one last calming breath, Caroline ended the call, re-placed her phone inside her pocket and bent down to pick up Stefan's body.

Giving Stefan's rigid form on the sofa one last glance, Caroline headed into another room, dialling.

He picked up on the first ring.

"Hey," she said, her voice low.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah," she smiled tightly. "Just carried my dead best friend's body into my common room. No big deal; just a normal Saturday."

Klaus exhaled heavily. "What exactly is going on in Mystic Falls, Caroline? Why did the Traveller kill Stefan?"

Caroline opened her mouth to explain then realised that she felt exhausted – not a single cell in her body contained the energy to contribute to explaining it all.

"I don't feel like talking about that right now." Her eyes widened. "I should go find Bonnie! She said she might have a plan to bring Enzo back."

"Wait, Caroline," Klaus said hastily. "Are you telling me there may be a way to bring Stefan back to life?"

"Yes!" She frowned. "Maybe. I don't know. She didn't seem very sure."

Suddenly her phone buzzed in her hand.

"Hold on."

She looked at the message, noting that it was from Elena.

Be there in ten.

"Elena's almost here," she informed Klaus. "Oh god, how am I gonna explain this?"

"Caroline, I need you to listen to me," he said, his tone turning grave.

Swallowing, she nodded. "Ok, I'm listening."

"You're going to get Stefan back and nothing is going to stop you. Certainly not your friends."

She shook her head in confusion. "Klaus, they'll want him back just as much as we do."

Klaus scoffed. "Your friends are consistently willing to sacrifice whatever pleases them whenever it pleases them. You can't trust them, Caroline, but you're strong and you can do this."

A lump formed in Caroline's throat as she considered Klaus' words. Was he right? Was there anything that could make Damon or Elena not want to bring Stefan back? She was sure that Elena loved Stefan but she was also in her Damon-phase at the moment – maybe Klaus was right, maybe she couldn't be completely sure.

"What are you suggesting, exactly?"

"When Damon and Elena arrive you need to be as upset as you were when you called me."

Considering the quickening of her heart just thinking of Stefan's body on that sofa, Caroline figured that wouldn't be too hard.

"Ok… but why?"

"Because if they believe you to be emotional then they won't suspect how focused you really are."

Caroline bit the inside of her lip. She wasn't sure she wanted to be that duplicitous.

Then again, Klaus wasn't asking her to rob a bank. He was encouraging her to get her friend back. All she had to do to ensure that happened smoothly was to be securely on her own team. And if there was anything she'd learned from living in Mystic Falls, it was that that was the best way to play.

She took a resolute breath. "Ok."

"You do anything it takes, do you hear me, love?"

She nodded, envisioning Stefan's surprised but impressed and infectious smile when he found out that her and Klaus had conspired to get him back. A slow grin took over Caroline's lips.

"I'll call you after I get him back."

One more chapter left! Any predictions about how this'll end?

P.S. For those who didn't watch the episode, I took the whole 'do anything it takes' thing from the fact that Caroline snaps someone's neck in the finale in order to manipulate a witch into doing the spell that would get Stefan back!