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This chapter was definitely one of my favorites, if not my favorite, that I have written in this 'verse! Hehe, I am actually kind of nervous what everyone will think of it.

Disclaimer: Don't own TVD.

Chapter Nine

Closer, Closer Still

Dover, England 1560

"Nik?" Rebekah asked as she entered his chambers. She had only just received the news of what had happened and had ridden to her brother's estate as fast as she could. The entire Forbes family. Slaughtered. Rebekah was not one to get upset over the deaths of humans but for the Forbes family to have to die… She was only relieved that both Richard and Caroline managed to avoid it.

"Nik?" She called again, looking around, finding nothing. Where is he? The servants had said that he had yet to leave his rooms, but she supposed no human could truly track. Sighing, she went off in search of the one place Niklaus would be, the place he always was during times of high distress; his studio.

When she found his studio, Rebekah was relieved to see that she had been correct in her assumptions.

"Nik." The odd thing was, he wasn't painting or sketching or anything of the like, as she thought he would have been. No, he was simply sat there, his head in his hands, hair disheveled. All around him were his art supplies and various pieces of work. Only, they weren't strewn on tables or on easels as they usually were. Instead they were thrown all over. Glass jars were shattered, paintings were torn in half. Rebekah tried to contain her worry, but it was in vain.

She hadn't seen her brother such a mess since Katerina.

She was hesitant as she approached him, stepping carefully around the broken objects that covered the floor. Once she stood in front of him, she gently tapped his shoulder. This seemed to bring him back to life as he suddenly stood up, bewildered. Now that Rebekah was closer, she could see just how tired, broken Niklaus looked. Broken like the things on the floor.

"Niklaus?" He didn't reply. "Brother?" She tried again. This time he glanced down at her, his eyes dark and full of turmoil. "What is the matter?" She looked around, finally noticing just what was missing. "And where is Caroline?"

"Gone." Nik growled out, his voice haggard. He looked away from his sister, his eyes far off.

"What do you mean gone?" Rebekah could feel her stomach sinking. Please tell me you didn't…

"I mean I sent her away." He yelled, turning an angry gaze on her before sitting back down in the same position as before.

"Oh, Nik." She whispered. "What did you do?" Do not tell me you have decided that now, of all times, was the moment to begin being honorable?

"I did what's best." He replied, his voice barely reaching her ears. "I sent her away."

Rebekah, not knowing what to do, simply placed her hand on his shoulder, trying, in some small measure, to provide comfort. She knew it wouldn't do any good, either way.

Oh, you poor, poor fool.

Mystic Falls, Virginia 2010

Rebekah sighed as she made her way into the high school, her annoyances a mile high. Honestly, why didn't Stefan just tell her and her brother that the doppelgänger was still alive? Oh, right, because he loved the girl. Rebekah tried to ignore the sting she felt knowing that he had never truly loved her that way.

Well, at least now all would be taken care of. She was going to help Nik in his little mission and, after that, they could both leave and Rebekah would never have to look at another doppelgänger again.

Unfortunately, as she just realized when she heard the voice echoing down the halls, she would first have to face someone she really didn't think was a good idea to see again. Rebekah had been their the first time Klaus lost Caroline, she wasn't sure any of them could take it again. Yet, some small part of her couldn't help but wonder what she was like now. Had she changed as much as Stefan? Though she'd never say it out loud, Caroline had been a sister to her at one point, albeit a very distant sort of sister, and Rebekah would be… disappointed if the other blonde vampire lost her spark.

She sighed, but followed the voice, anyways.

"I'm worried about Matt, he hasn't been himself, you know?"

Rebekah soon rounded a corner and found the owner of the voice standing next to an unfamiliar male. There you are, Caroline. Already, she could see the small differences that age had brought to the Forbes vampire. The naïveté she had formerly had was all gone now, replaced with a sort of wisdom.

"My, my." Rebekah found herself saying. "Look who's all grown up! Though, I have to ask, Caroline, what have you done to your hair?" The Original smirked, crossing her arms. The other vampire, for her part, looked at Rebekah with an incredulous expression, shocked how that she was able to sneak up on them.

"Do we know you?" She asked, cautiously. Well, at least she's finally learned… Rebekah thought, remembering all those times when Caroline had ignored the fact that her brother was dangerous and simply gone ahead with her heart. I hope she's not a bore now though…

"No, but you used to." Rebekah sighed before giving a slight shrug. "But I suppose that's all ruined now, isn't it? No matter, there are other things that must be attended to." She now looked at the one standing next to Caroline, her gaze scrutinizing him. "You're Tyler, the werewolf." She stated with a self-assured smile. Well, found what I was looking for… She glanced back to the other blonde for a brief moment. I'll have to take them both down, she noted, a small tone of regret in her thoughts.

"Wait, who are you exactly?" Caroline asked, suspicious now as she shifted so she was in front of her little werewolf friend.

I bet she knew Nik by his reputation alone, Rebekah thought sulkily, no one knows how to identify class anymore… Instead of voicing all of this, however, the Original simply smirked eerily like her brother.

"You'll find out soon enough." Then her fangs descended and her lips widened. "I'm sorry for this, my sweet." She added before darting forward and sinking her teeth into Caroline's throat.

Klaus smirked as he introduced his sister to the Gilbert girl and her little friends. Things were finally going according to plan. Now that he knew what had caused his failure in turning the wolves, he could fix it. Stefan really should not have thought he could lie to me… Still, he supposed he had had some revenge when he went about breaking the younger Salvatore's neck over and over. And then Rebekah wanted to have her revenge as well… His sister, always so fickle.

Things were finally going to plan and Klaus was feeling triumphant. The witch would figure out how to fix his little hybrid problem and they could be on their merry way. So, yes, he was feeling the energy of it all, sinister as it was.

That is, until Rebekah told him about her.

"Caroline's here." She spoke to him softly, as they were sat in the bleachers of the Mystic Falls High gym. He froze from where he was observing the proceedings on the gym floor. He didn't move to look at his sister though, refusing to let her see any sort of weakness.

"Is that right?" He asked lowly, trying to keep his voice even. A small part of him had hoped he would see her again when he came to town. Another, larger part, wasn't quite sure what to do with this information. He didn't want to see her and yet he did. Was she still his Caroline? Is she still my Caroline? That thought had been flying around in his head ever since he had left Mystic Falls a few months previous.

"You could have warned me she might be here, Nik. All I knew was that she was in Mystic Falls, I didn't even know she was allied with doppelgänger!" Rebekah hissed, annoyance in her voice.

"Come now, sister, what would be the fun in that?" Klaus replied automatically, though even he could tell his voice was too tense to be believable. Luckily, Rebekah decided to let it slide and just scoffed; Klaus surely wasn't up for any of her tantrums.

Of course Caroline would be here tonight. Of course I can't avoid her. His thoughts were scathing as he continued to look upon and the witch and the doppelganger along with their friends panic when they looked at the very dead (for now) Tyler. Caroline was never one to stand back he supposed. No, that would make her even less her.

"What did you do with her?" Klaus suddenly asked, finally turning to glance at his younger sister.

"I had to put her down momentarily." When the hybrid glared angrily, Rebekah simply rolled her eyes. "Come on, Nik, what else could I do? I could hardly stake her."

Well, she does have a point.

"At least tell me you put her somewhere safe."

"Safe as she can be here." She replied promptly.

Despite this knowledge, Klaus couldn't help the near growl that bubbled from his throat. He heard Rebekah sigh, annoyed, in reply.

Why did she have to be here today? I can't afford distraction…

Then it's time to speed up the plan.

He looked back to Rebekah and nodded, causing her to smile predatorily. He felt himself give her a sinister smirk in return.

Let's go.

Klaus walked into the classroom without so much a glance in her direction. No distractions, even if it was a beautiful and tempting one. It pained him that she was so close and yet so far.

You could end this all now. Give her back her memory. Bring back your Caroline. That tiny voice in the corner of his head kept telling him. But, no, he wouldn't. He had already sworn to himself and he couldn't break that promise, no matter how much he wanted to.

He quickly explained to Rebekah the solution to his hybrid problem, still not looking, not wanting to know what he would see there. Rebekah immediately understood what she had to do, though, and grabbed Caroline, making sure that he could do what was necessary. What was best…

He gave Tyler Elena's blood and watched.

Only, as he watched he could hear Caroline screaming, protesting. His heart, black though it was, could hardly bear it. It reminded him too much of that awful night that he lost everything he held dear. That awful night he let it all go. So he turned to her and met her eyes for a brief night, only to see the pain there that he wanted her to avoid. So, surprising even himself, he gestured for Rebekah to let her go.

And then he stepped forward and took his sister's place. He pulled Caroline tightly into him, holding her still so she could not intervene. He tried to ignore the familiar feeling of her body and the feeling of home that came with it.

"It's going to be ok, sweetheart." He whispered to her, looking down at her as he held her hands trapped against her stomach. Her eyes were glued to the wolf boy struggling on the floor. He tried to ease the pained light in her eyes, his hand subconsciously stroking her arm in some rare form of comfort. He felt her relax the tiniest bit. "It's going to be ok." He reassured, his voice a whisper.

It was only when he heard her gasp that he looked away from her voice. His eyes met the golden ones of the now fanged boy and Klaus smirked. Yes.

"Now, that…" He whispered to her. "…is a good sign."

It worked.

He looked away from his first hybrid only to find that Caroline was now staring at him. Her eyes were surprisingly without anger. They were confused, yes, and somewhat desperate. But there was also a curious light there, an edge of wonderment there.

He knew in that moment that soon he would not be able to resist any longer. He needed to get out of there and so he, finally, let her go.

"Until next time, love." He stated quietly, his eyes still on hers. Then he suddenly turned and, grabbing the rest of Elena's blood, blurred away, his sister following close behind.

It was only a few days later that, Caroline, having spent a week in deep contemplation mixed with a perpetual state of freaking out, went home to find Elena and Bonnie seated in her living room, looking at her as if they were about to interview her for a job. At the morgue.

"Hey guys, what's up?" She asked, looking at her friends with caution, putting her bag slowly down at the floor. She hung her coat up on the rack before looking back at them, crossing her arms. "Is it my birthday or something? Seriously, what's going on and why do you both look like someone kicked your puppy?" She tried to diffuse the tension with humor but failed miserably as they continued with their serious looks.

"Sorry for springing on you like this, Care." Elena broke their silence. The brunette smiled at the blonde in a comforting sort of way, but her eyes expressed a worry that could not be ignored.

"OK guys, you're starting to freak me out. Tell me what's going on." She sat down in one of the sofas, leaning her elbows on her knees.

"Why don't you tell us, Caroline?" Bonnie replied sharply, her eyes narrowing.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She replied, affronted.

"I don't know, maybe it has something to do with the fact that you have been hiding the fact that you know Klaus." The accusing tone in Bonnie's stung Caroline. I knew I should have just told her sooner…

"Oh." Was the oh-so-eloquent reply she came up with. She couldn't deny it.

"Yeah, oh." Bonnie's reply was scathing and Elena looked at her as if to say that's enough, before glancing back to Caroline with a question in her eyes.

"Look, it's not what you think…" She started, uneasily. How on earth was she supposed to explain this? "I mean, I didn't even know that I knew Klaus until a few months ago."

"Your memory…" Elena whispered, immediately making the connection.

"Yeah." When Caroline confirmed it she saw their looks begin to turn a little guilty.

"You should've told us Caroline." Bonnie sighed, her voice still somewhat apprehensive. "You left us in the dark for months and you've been acting weird. We thought… I don't know, we thought it was all just getting to be too much for you."

"We were worried about you." The other brunette added in, reaching forward to place her hand on Caroline's.

"I'm sorry. It's just, we were all going through enough crap without me adding my issues to it. I couldn't put that on you." She admitted.

"Couldn't or wouldn't?" Seriously? Come on Bonnie, that's such a clichéd line!

"Look, I really am sorry." Caroline started, getting angry now, frustrated because they didn't know what hell it had been for her lately. "But I needed time to figure it all out. Don't you realize how scared I've been? How confused? Klaus, the Original, the freakin' daddy hybrid knows me. I mean, he has let me live I don't even know how many times and the way he talks to me, looks at me… And, he is so familiar. It's like the person you knew and you just can't place them." She knew she was panicking as she stood, but, damn it, she needed to rant. The emotions had been inside her for so long and she just need to let them out. "I would give anything to remember but every lead I get it is either a dead end or goes straight back to Klaus and he won't tell me crap, okay? So I'm sorry that I didn't tell you, I was too freaking busy going insane because I can't put the pieces together!"

Finally Caroline stopped, taking a deep breath and a moment to calm herself down. When she took in her friends' shocked faces, she decided she better do some damage control.

"Sorry… I just… Sorry…" She flopped back into the sofa with a heavy sigh.

"It's okay, Care." Elena was the first to talk, looking slightly ashamed of herself. "We shouldn't have doubted you. I'm just sorry you've been going through this on your own… We should've been there for you." Bonnie nodded in agreement, her eyes swimming a bit as the guilt shone through.

"No, no, you guys are the best friends I could ask for." Caroline reassured quietly. They were her best friends, mortal friends that is. And she couldn't be more grateful to have them.

"From now on though, we won't be so quick to jump to conclusions and maybe you should tell us how you are every once in a while." Elena replied with a soft smile.

"Yeah." She chuckled self deprecatingly back. "Thanks you guys… Now what do you say we put away all the drama for a night and-"

"-slumber it out?" Bonnie guessed with a laugh, taking the words right of the vampire's mouth. "Well, I'm up for it. It's been way too long since we've had a girl's night."

"Definitely." Elena smirked.

"Great!" Caroline enthused, locking her worry away for the moment. "I got a bunch of new DVDs I haven't seen yet…"

As they looked her extensive DVD collection, Caroline couldn't help but notice how relieved she felt finally getting all of that off her chest. If only the rest was so easy.

Caroline had never been a big fan of witchcraft. She saw its uses and all, but in her experience, there were always way too many complications and consequences that came with it. And now with the ghosts in town, well, it was safe to say that she was not feeling safe. She loved Bonnie but after she sent Vicky away, she just made a whole mess of things and now she has given all the ghosts in Mystic Falls physical presence.

Sometimes Caroline felt like she was the only one that could see the danger of it all. Spells and magic and the like.

Still, that didn't mean she didn't see how happy Bonnie was when her Grams appeared. So, Caroline, being the friend she was, decided to give them some room, and was currently sitting outside 'the creepy old house' as she liked to call it. She remembered a time, though, when a house like this would have been taken care of. It would have been painted white, she imagined, with blue shutters, and a family of wealth would have lived there.

Living as long as she did, she was sad to see how things could change and wither away so quickly. Sometimes, though very rarely, Caroline wished she could remember less, still have some of the innocence and optimism her friends did.

There were times, all those years ago, that she had lived in houses like these. In moments like these, however, that she missed those days. Not only the whole ghost thing but… well, everything. All of their issues were crashing into their lives and shattering them, unraveling them. And at the center of them was Klaus

Klaus was a wrecking force, she had decided.

Just look at Stefan. Her oldest friend had turned off his humanity and it devastated Caroline. At first, she had been happy to have him back in town but then she realized. He wasn't the same man who called her bella or was always there to comfort her. He wasn't even the same guy who had gone off the rails in the twenties. No, this version of Stefan was completely different. Cruel to a point she thought him incapable of.

There had only ever been one person that could fix Stefan when he was like this, and that was Lexi.

Caroline liked to think she was a tough cookie, that it took a lot to make her flinch and back down. Seeing her friends tortured into submission was one of those rare things that she could do that. She could keep Stefan on track fine, but getting him there? That had always been Lexi's job. And with good reason.

She just wished Stefan was Stefan. They needed him. Damon was trying his best at being the good Salvatore but they all knew that even he needed Stefan back to refill the role.

It wasn't only Damon that needed him, though. She needed him too.

He was the closest thing she had to a brother, after all, and she needed that brother desperately.

Suddenly, as she was thinking, a person just materialized in front of her. Caroline was immediately ripped from her thoughts and stood up, ready to attack. She lunged, opting to act first and ask questions laters. Only, when she lunged, he suddenly disappeared again, only to reappear right behind her.

"What the hell?" She exclaimed, turning to face him.

One thing was sure, this man was most definitely not alive. If the whole disappear-reappear act wasn't enough proof, then the clothing sure gave a clue as she scrutinized him, tense in her spot. He wore an old-fashioned doublet that fell open slightly at his throat, the fell blue color bringing out even bluer eyes and making his brown curls look darker in comparison. If she had to guess, she's say his attire was from around the 16th century.

If that wasn't a big enough of clue that something was out of place, though, then scars that marred his throat were. They were scars that only fangs could make.

Then it occurred to her.

Was this one of my victims?

"Woah." The stranger said, lifting his hands in a placating gesture. "I am not here to harm you, Caroline." He smiled at her slightly, his eyes a bit watery. He knows my name? Unfortunately, she didn't even manage to ask him how he knew her name, the shock making her stick her foot in her mouth.

"You're dead." She stated instead, her eyes wide as she suddenly thought how stupid that comment sounded.

"Yes." The stranger, the ghost, confirmed, cocking his head slightly. "I have been for a very long time." Then he smiled again. "I cannot believe it is actually you, Care. You are still so beautiful."

"Who, who are you, exactly?" She asked. At this the stranger's face fell and his expression turned sad, disappointed. For some reason she felt a little guilty for causing that reaction.

"Yes, I suppose you wouldn't know, would you?" He muttered to himself, shaking his head ruefully. "Damn that vampire."

"Hey!" Caroline exclaimed, indignant. The childish reply came automatically and it made her wince internally. What is it about this guy that has got me acting like a kid?

"Oh, no, no, I didn't mean you." The stranger suddenly glanced back at her, one hand going to the back of his head as he chuckled ruefully. "I suppose I am going about this incorrectly, aren't I?" He gave her a self-deprecating smile. "It's just been too long a time, little sister." His blue eyes were warm as he stared at her.

Too long a- wait. Little sister? No, that couldn't be…

But his eyes were warm and they were so, so blue. The very same shade, she knew, as her own.

Tha-That's impossible…

"Let me begin again by introducing myself." The stranger-ghost continued, bowing abruptly. "My name is Robb Forbes."

Forbes…. Holy mother of…

He straightened back up. He walked a little closer to her. His eyes met hers.

Blue eyes.

"I'm your brother, Caroline."

Huh?

:D :D :D You CANNOT believe how long I have been wanting to publish that scene, eheh. Yep, I know, evil cliffy, but I can't do without them ;) More will be explained next chapter! Um, before I go, I didn't really have time to go over this chapter so if there are too many typos for the read to be enjoyable, let me know and I will get to that ;) As you probably also realized, this chapter focused mainly on 3x05 and 3x07 and was a bit more Original-centric than some of the others.

Anyway, as always, thank you for reading and let me know what you think!

RW