Author's Note: Thank you to my new reviewers, for their kind words and inspirations. I also apologize for the long breaks between updates- getting these long chapters in takes a lot of work! This may be the longest chapter yet, because it aims to wrap up a portion of the story.
I've got the rest of the story planned out to the bit, so all that remains is a few more chapters and a lot more typing!
For Sam-lovers, don't worry- he'll be here soon. The next chapter should clear up just how Caroline's and Dean's stories fit together on the overall TVD and SPN storylines.
As always, please review, you don't know how lovely reviews make me feel. And also as always, enjoy!
Dean stared at the LED screen of his phone, at the bright light that gave him no new information. It had been two weeks since he had come to New Orleans, two weeks since his father had gone to Jericho. His dad had said he'd let him know when he finished the job, and they could meet up again and continue hunting. But is had been two weeks, and that was too long. His dad should have been in touch by now. Maybe it was time to go looking for him.
Dean sighed. His father would have been a great help at the moment. Another week had passed, and he had found nothing on the angels. Nothing on Kyle, either. It seemed like he had skipped town. The only thing Dean had successfully managed of late was a kiss from Caroline, but nothing had changed between the two of them.
While the rest of Klaus' guests acted like Dean and Caroline had gotten married, Caroline had not changed her attitude towards him. Still friendly, but not overly so. Never mind that Dean couldn't figure how everyone else knew.
"Dean?" Dean looked up to see Elena Gilbert poking her head in the doorway of his room. "We're having lunch, you hungry?"
Dean nodded, letting his phone drop onto the bed before standing up and walking over to the door.
"Uh, what's for lunch?" In the past two weeks, Dean had barely spoken a word to the dark-haired woman, and while she seemed nice, he felt awkward around her.
Elena was focused on the steps she was climbing down, so she didn't face him. "I think soup and sandwiches. Elijah and Stefan went grocery shopping this morning and bought lunch meats."
Dean bit his lip and nodded. Why couldn't he think of something more interesting to say? "So, uh, what do you think about this whole angel situation? Crazy, right?" He bit his lip again, but this time with more force. Why did he have to blurt out things like that?
"Actually, yeah." Elena took a long breath and let it out slowly before continuing. "I mean, the thought of supernatural creatures isn't that strange, but angels? That's a whole another thing. That starts getting into religion. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that."
"Well, I have seen demons. And I've exorcised a few, apparently to hell. But, yeah, it's strange." He shoved his hands in his pockets, following her into the dining room where Klaus was nursing a glass of red wine (which he seemed to drink constantly), and where Rebekah was laying out dishes.
"Here, let me help you." Dean took half of the plates from Rebekah, which had been dangerously unbalanced.
"Thank you." Rebekah set out the plates in her hand. "You're a hell of a lot more helpful than my brother." She didn't even bother to lower her voice, and Klaus just smirked.
Caroline and Stefan carried platters of meats into the dining room, and Elijah followed behind with condiments and breads. Damon came in last, balancing a large, wide tray with two large pots Dean assumed were full of soup.
Dean pulled out a chair next to Rebekah and offered her the nearest bread tray. "So, listen. Did we meet at Twenty the night Caroline found me?" He had been meaning to ask her after what he had learned from the bartender, but it seemed that everyone in this house was always listening. So he had given up trying to ask in secret, deciding instead to make it seem like nothing in front of everyone. "Because I sure would have remembered a pretty face like you, but I don't remember anything."
Rebekah was much harder to read than Caroline. Except for the barest of glances at Klaus, her face didn't change in the slightest, her eyes still cold and hard. "Yes, yes we did. You hit on me at the bar, and I hit you across the face."
"Ooh." Dean let out a nervous laugh that didn't reach his eyes. "Women are tough around here."
"We are." Was all Rebekah said before taking a bite out of her sandwich and ignoring him for the rest of the meal.
Klaus gave him a snarky expression that seemed to be glued to his face of late, but the rest of the company seemed to have ignored the interaction. And so the lunch passed, rather mildly, Dean feeling awkward sitting next to the cold blonde who didn't say another word, while the rest of the company traded pleasantries and occasional barbs.
When the talk seemed to die down for a bit, the silence grew awkward, until Stefan spoke up. "So, Dean, any more developments on the angel stuff?"
Dean shook his head. Stefan had been generously helpful, perhaps most out of anyone beside Caroline. But the truth of the matter was that he had gotten nowhere, and he needed help.
"No. I've looked through all the usual papers and books that I turn to, but nothing. I tried to get in touch with my father, but he's been unavailable." Dean sighed. "Actually, he should have contacted me by now. He said he'd get in touch when he finished the gig he was working, but I haven't heard from him. I think I might head out and see what's going on."
"What? You're leaving?" Caroline's gaze snapped up from where she had been admiring a chocolate cake intensely moments before.
"Yeah, I need to check in on my dad." Dean took a bite of an apple, concentrating on the apple instead of the angry blonde sitting across from him.
"Dean Winchester. You can't just up and leave when things get tough! You've got to see this through. People are getting hurt, and you are the only one who has any inkling of what is going on."
"Not true." Dean waved the remains of his apple in Caroline's direction. "My father knows a lot about this. That's an understatement. He knows almost everything about this kind of thing. He'd be a great help. Unfortunately, he's been unresponsive."
Caroline just continued to eye him, and Dean couldn't help but think she had a tendency to over-react to things. First with the dead man's blood, and now this. He sighed.
"Look, Caroline. I'll be back. I promise. I'm just not any help to you right now."
She continued to look at him, and Dean could feel the eyes of the rest of the company on them as they all waited with baited breath for her response.
"Fine." Her angry expression melted slightly. "I suppose you want to leave as soon as possible?" She stood up, collecting her plate and Klaus' from next to her. "I'll help you put together some food for the road." She walked off into the kitchen, Dean scrambling to pick up his plate and follow her.
When Dean caught up to her in the kitchen, she was scraping remains of lunch into the compost, not turning as he came in. He set down his plate in the sink and waited for her to say something, but she didn't speak.
"Caroline. Please don't be angry with me. You have to understand that I'm just not going to get anywhere on my own. I've never even heard of angels like these. I need help. And my father's my best bet, but he's not responding—" Caroline cut him off by swinging around and pressing her body and mouth into his.
"I'm not angry." She said when she finally withdrew from his mouth. "I understand. I know you'll be back. I trust you, remember?"
Dean looked at her, down into her blue, blue eyes, her fair skin, her fair hair. She kept saying that she trusted him, but she wouldn't tell him the truth. She had some secret, and she wouldn't tell it to him. "Then why don't you tell me the truth, Forbes? I know you're still hiding something from me."
Caroline looked taken aback. "I told you, I'd tell you—"
This time Dean cut her off. "No. You keep saying that, but it's been two weeks! Tell me, please." His voice grew desperate. What was it that she was so inclined to keep from him?
Caroline watched him for a moment, taking in his expression he knew was probably a strange mix of confused, desperate, angry, and passionate.
"I'll make you a promise, Winchester. If you come back safely from wherever you're going, I'll tell you. On arrival."
Dean looked at her, his arms still wrapped around her slender frame. "I'm going to hold you to that, Princess." He leaned in to kiss her again.
"But—" Caroline pressed a finger to his lips, keeping him from kissing her. "You also have to promise that you won't look at everything like it is black and white."
Dean furrowed his brow. Something about that phrasing should be familiar to him. Something was starting to go off in his head. Pieces were beginning to make sense. But he replied anyways. "Okay."
The two of them looked at each other for another moment, Caroline apprehensive, Dean thinking a hundred miles an hour. Things were starting to make sense. But he ignored it for the moment, leaning in and meshing his lips gently and passionately with hers.
The moment didn't last long.
"Caroline! Bring your little hunter in here!" Klaus' voice broke their kiss. Caroline rolled her eyes at Dean, but disengaged her body from his and strode back into the dining room anyways.
"What, Klaus?" Caroline looked pretty uninterested in whatever Klaus had to say, but Dean could see the look in Klaus' eyes. That slightly evil glint that came with Klaus' strange and twisted adventures.
"Kyle's back in town, little hunter. Your time to shine." Klaus raised an eyebrow at Dean, taking a long, slow sip of red wine before heading towards the door.
Dean looked at Caroline, who looked at him only a moment before looking at the rest of the company.
"Well, wish us luck!" Caroline's voice was fake and cheery, and Dean knew she must be thinking of what happened last time they encountered a person influenced by these creatures.
"We'll go with you." Elena stood, and while Elijah, Stefan, and Rebekah also stood, Damon remained sitting, a most bemused expression on his face. He did not look like he wanted to get his hands dirty.
Dean chuckled. "Sorry, honey, but I don't think this is your thing. You don't look like you've ever handled a gun before."
Stefan smiled a rare smile, brooding brows still in place, however. The edges of Elijah's mouth also turned up, but Damon broke out into a full, deep laugh.
"What's so funny?" Dean was confused. He took another look at Elena. She certainly didn't look like she had any muscle on her body at all.
Elena glared at Damon before composing herself and looking at Dean. "Nothing. I have handled a gun, but not much."
"Everyone stays but the hunter and I." Klaus came back into the room.
"Nik, Elijah and I could be helpful." Rebekah protested. At the same time, Caroline protested.
"Klaus, I'm not going to just sit here and wait for the two of you. You won't protect Dean. You don't care about Dean."
Klaus clenched his jaw, looking between the two blondes. "Fine. Caroline, you come. Elijah, you too. Everyone else stays."
"But, Nik—" Rebekah came around the table, making her way towards her brother, who had already started out of the room again.
"No buts, little sister. You can stay and protect Elena and the Salvatores." Klaus didn't even turn, just waving a hand as he walked out into the entryway.
Rebekah looked angry, Elena looked used to it all, and Stefan just looked broody. Damon, on the other hand, just put his feet up on the seat next to him and dangled a piece of bacon over his mouth. Dean looked at them all, still wondering why they allowed Klaus to have such a large amount of control over them.
"Come on, Dean." Caroline's voice brought Dean back to the present, and he realized he had been over-thinking things. Which he usually never did. That was Sammy's department.
When Dean walked outside in the pouring rain to his car, he saw Caroline, Klaus, and Elijah all already waiting by the car, Klaus and Caroline having an argument in facial expression only. He opened his mouth to ask for an explanation, but then bit his lip and sighed. This sort of exchange was becoming all too familiar to him. And that made him smile. He was building a sort of family, even in this short time he had known these mysterious people.
Sliding into the car after Klaus and Elijah had climbed into the back, Dean's smile slipped into a frown. These people might be starting to feel like family, but that only made him vulnerable. Everyone he ever started to care for got hurt.
The car ride passed in a blur, Klaus directing Dean to a cluster of woods on the edge of town, the pouring rain making it hard to see very far in front of where he was going.
"He's in here?" Dean raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Hiding in the woods?" He was concentrating so hard on trying to see through the rain that he almost missed Caroline and Klaus exchange a glance in the rearview mirror.
"Hybrids are…" Dean watched Elijah clench his jaw in the rearview mirror. "…best described as primal creatures. Strange, even."
Dean nodded as if in understanding, though he didn't understand at all. Caroline was so particular about these creatures being somehow human, but Elijah's description didn't fit at all.
"Alright. Everyone out. Watch your backs, stay close, and keep the gun I give you at the ready." Dean swung out of the car and held the seat forwards for Elijah and Klaus to get out, the last of which snorted.
"What's so funny? Would you like to die?" Dean got straight up in Klaus' business, staring down into the slightly smaller man's face.
Klaus snorted again, before stepping back and clasping his hands behind his body. "Not particularly, little hunter. I just find it amusing that you think a gun will provide any protection from my hybrids."
That word again. Dean only had moments to process the several things that Klaus was saying. What first caught his attention was the use of the possessive word. Everyone seemed to refer to these creatures as Klaus'. The second part that caught his attention were his words about guns.
"If guns won't, what will?" Dean opened the boot of the Impala with more force than was perhaps necessary, unlatching the false bottom and surveying his inventory.
Klaus came around the back and peered over Dean's shoulder for a moment before sliding his arm beneath Dean's and pulling out an item. "These should do nicely."
Dean eyed the machete in the foreign man's hand. He was handling it in a way that screamed superiority and ease. When Klaus started lazily swinging the machete and testing for balance, Dean opened his mouth to warn him to be careful. However, he didn't even get out a sound before Klaus had thrown the blade in his hand to Elijah, and had picked up two more, tossing the spare to Caroline.
Dean's mouth gaped open like a fish, and Klaus raised a singular eyebrow before parading into the woods, swinging his machete, Caroline and Elijah reluctantly following.
As Dean shut the trunk and locked up his car, he blinked in confusion. Caroline and Elijah had caught the blades from a few feet away like experienced hunters. With a little warning, Dean probably could have caught the blades, but Caroline and Elijah? Klaus' ease with the blade also had him stumped. The strange man handled the machete like he'd been an experienced swordfighter.
Dean would have definitely advised against Klaus' methods for finding Kyle as well. While Dean would have slowly watched his surroundings while trying to be as quiet as possible, Klaus and Elijah were striding non-chalantly through the forest, making a lot of noise. Klaus was even going so far as to call out to the deranged hybrid.
"Kyle, oh Kyle! I know you're here!." Klaus paused in a clearing, and Dean noticed Caroline cringe next to him at Klaus' blatancy. "I was told by Evan. I've been waiting for you." As he said those words, he spun in a circle, pacing around himself, amused almost.
Dean turned his back to Caroline's, trying to get a better panoramic view of the forest around him. He felt strangely uncomfortable with only the machete; normally he would have gone into a situation like this with some salt, dead man's blood, holy water, and his trusty Colt 1911.
Nothing happened for what seemed like forever. Dean's eyes darted around the clearing, and he had to keep wiping his eyes from the rain that poured into them. Klaus' short hair was almost unaffected, and Elijah's hair was mostly slicked back anyways, but turning, Dean could see the weather was frustrating Caroline.
Not expecting Kyle to actually show up, Dean slackened, turning to face Caroline instead of away from her. The water from the sky had not only flattened her hair into sheets of glowing blonde, but also soaked her denim jeans tucked into her rain boots. Luckily, she had smartly shoved on a raincoat before exiting Klaus' mansion, but she looked more off put by the weather than the situation that they were in.
Dean was just about to slip into a thinking mode, trying to piece together the pieces of the puzzle that was Caroline and her friends when a deep voice caused him to spin around, machete at the ready, knees bent.
"Hello, Klaus. How nice to see you." A tall, dark haired man walked into the clearing, a red-headed woman to his right. Dean scanned the area around him again, heart sinking into his stomach as he counted the numbers of presumably hybrids closing in on the clearing. A dozen, at least, coming around from multiple directions, men and women.
"Klaus." Caroline's voice trembled in warning. But Klaus seemed unconcerned. He just clasped his hands behind his back, machete dangling uselessly, pacing slowly towards Kyle.
"Hello Kyle. I see you've brought some of my hybrids with you."
The red-head snarled. "We aren't yours, Klaus. We've broken the sire bond." Dean frowned at the words. He didn't understand half of this hybrid jargon.
Klaus tilted his head to the side as the hybrids closed in around the four before speaking. "Ah, Audrey. You always were such a firecracker. I knew I should have killed you when I had the chance."
"Not if we kill you first." Dean watched, captivated, as Audrey's pupils turned amber, her whites turned redder, and the veins around her eyes turned dark, coupled with huge fangs that protruded from her mouth.
"Wait." The enclosing hybrids halted at the cool voice of Elijah. "We don't want any trouble. We just want to know about the angels."
At the mention of the supernatural creatures, the hybrids all seemed to relax, much happier expressions on their faces.
"Yes. The glamour angels." Kyle's voice had become syrupy, almost.
Dean glanced at Caroline. Glamour angels? Her face showed just as much confusion as his probably did. At least he had more information now to figure out what was going on, assuming he could get out of here alive.
"What about these glamour angels?" Klaus tilted his again, this time in the opposite direction.
"They take away memories. But it feels good. But then they make us promise to kill people. Especially supernatural creatures. It's a better death now than if we wait and let the angels kill them." Audrey's face had transitioned from complacent to vengeful as she finished speaking.
"And all of you? You've all been affected?" Klaus pivoted to look at the hybrids around him.
"Yes. All of us. We're going to take out the supernatural creatures, and the humans, and then ourselves." Kyle's voice had a trance like quality that scared Dean. What scared him almost more was the fact that he was having a hard time following what was going on.
"Well now." Klaus chuckled. "I can't let you do that now, can I?" Dean only had enough time to see him raise an eyebrow before Klaus suddenly appeared in front of Klaus and Audrey, slicing both their heads off in one single swipe.
Dean didn't even have time to marvel at Klaus' ability to move so fast, because the clearing erupted into chaos.
Everything was blurry, and Caroline's warmth had vanished from his back. He was standing alone, he knew, but for once, he was petrified. Everything here seemed to be supernatural but him. And suddenly, one of those supernatural things tackled him.
"You're pretty, I'd hate to mess up that face." A dark-haired hybrid had him pinned down, stroking his face, the machete thrown out of his hand and into the mud a few feet away. Dean could feel the dull, throbbing pain of an injury in his arm.
"Good thing you won't have to." Dean plunged one of his spare knives into her thigh, causing her to roll off him, giving him enough time to make it to his machete. Turning, he swung out with the blade, hoping it would make contact. And contact it made. The blade sliced through the brunette's neck, at an uneven angle, causing the blade to get lodged in her shoulder.
While this hybrid was dead, there were more, and Dean was having a hard time pulling his machete out of the dead body. He groaned, trying again, but unsuccessful, he turned around, only to see a blonde-haired male hybrid making his way towards him.
A blurry figure smashed into Dean before the hybrid could get close to him, pulling him out of the clearing within moments. Dean couldn't see much, but when he finally stopped moving, he could tell he was not in the clearing any more. He couldn't even hear the sounds that should have been coming for a fight.
Dean had to shake his head for a second before his vision steadied enough that he could see the figure cradling his head in its arms.
"Caroline?" Dean's eyes crossed as he tried to focus on the blonde above him.
"Dean." Caroline's worried face turned up into a smile. "Are you okay?"
"Uh." Dean stuttered, trying to process what was going on.
Caroline watched him, scanning his body, waiting for him to speak when she gasped. "Your arm!"
Dean looked at his right arm, which had been throbbing when the brunette hybrid had pinned him down. Focusing, he saw a long vertical slash running down it, blood flowing out at a dangerous rate. But he didn't care. He wanted to sort out what was going on.
"What are you?" Dean's voice came out in gasps as he tried to ignore the pain.
Caroline looked at him with pity, before biting her wrist and pushing it to Dean's mouth in motion faster than he could process. Although Dean fought her wrist, he caught the darkened veins around her eyes as hey receded. When she moved her wrist, he groaned, her blood spilling from his mouth.
"Vampire."
She nodded. "And I'm sorry for lying. I'm sorry for not telling you everything, Dean. I promised I would tell you when you got back from finding your dad, but I had to save you so that there would be something to look for his dad." She paused, concentrating on the rain washing away her wrist bite and healing itself.
"I'm also sorry for what happened when you came to New Orleans. How Rebekah fed on you. How I fed you my blood to heal you. How Rebekah erased it all, so you wouldn't remember."
Dean couldn't speak for several moments. "Then why am I not a vampire?"
"Excuse me?" Caroline looked as though she had not expected that in the slightest.
"When vampires feed blood to humans- that's what turns them." Dean tried to sit up, already feeling the pain in his arm subside.
Caroline laughed, a sad laugh really. "No, silly. You have to die first."
Dean took a moment to process everything before speaking again. "So. All of Klaus' guests. All vampires?"
Caroline nodded. "Are you surprised?"
Dean's answer was about to come straight and fast, but not true. He checked himself before speaking slowly. "No. I don't think so. I think I suspected there was something supernatural about you and your friends already." Because he had. And in the last moments before the hybrid encounter, he had begun to fit it all together.
Which reminded him. "What about Klaus and Elijah? They were facing all those hybrids?"
Caroline helped Dean to his feet, leading him back in the direction of the clearing. Miraculously, his arm had almost ceased to feel painful. "Klaus and Elijah and Rebekah are Originals. The first vampires. They don't die very easily."
"Damn it. I was kind of hoping to gank Klaus." Dean attempted to be funny, and although he knew it wasn't really, Caroline laughed for him, a gesture he appreciated.
"Let me assure you, little hunter, that is a task that has been attempted many times, by many parties, yet has never been successful." The Original Vampire himself and his brother walked up to Dean and Caroline, both soaking wet and covered in blood.
"What happened?" Dean noticed Caroline covering her nose and mouth to prevent from vamping out at all the blood.
Klaus just looked at her for a moment, long and hard. "They're all dead. All insane." He clenched his jaw, wandering off towards the direction of the Impala before whipping around to vamp over to Dean and pin him against the tree.
"I will not tolerate any more hybrid deaths, do you understand? You will determine the origin of these angels, and you will exterminate them." Klaus dropped Dean and vamped off, Elijah casting a pitiful glance at him before vamping off as well.
Caroline offered a hand, but Dean refused it, instead leaning against the tree to draw himself up from the ground. Neither of them said a word, slowly making their way in the direction Klaus and Elijah had vamped off.
"So I suppose you're still leaving?" Caroline's voice sounded lonely and dissapointed.
"Yeah." Dean ran a hand through his hair. "Look, Caroline. I understand why you didn't tell me anything, but you need to give me time to absorb this. You're still a supernatural creature, the thing I hunt, even if I really liked human Caroline."
Caroline stopped in front of him, tears beginning to cloud her eyes. "Dean Winchester, this is why I didn't tell you. Not because you wouldn't believe me, but because you, like my father, don't seem to understand that human Caroline and vampire Caroline are the same. I haven't changed just because I've grown a thirst for blood, stayed seventeen forever, and been able to compel people." She let out a nervous laugh, and even though every fiber in his body screamed for him to walk away from this creature, or kill it, he pulled her into an embrace.
"Just give me time, Caroline. Give me a week to mull things over, to find my dad and bring him back here, so we can finally take out those angels." He pulled her slightly away from him so he could meet her eyes. "Trust me, okay?"
Caroline looked at him for a few more seconds, eyes spilling over, before she buried her head in his chest. And in that moment, Dean Winchester, in the pouring rain, in the forest, consoling a vampire in his arms who he might actually love, wondered how on Earth his life had grown so twisted and strange.
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