Author's Note: Hope you're all having a happy June! Usual apologies for taking an age and a half, but I hope you enjoy this one! To everyone who reads and reviews, you are the cream in my coffee, I can't tell you how much I appreciate it.

So you gotta fire up, you gotta let go
You'll never be loved till you've made your own
You gotta face up, you gotta get yours
You never know the top till you get too low

Whispers rippled through the French Quarter. Vampires who were used to talking in broad daylight now kept to the alleyways or corners of clubs, all out of sight. It wasn't that the city had become hostile to the supernatural element – if anything, it was more rampant than ever. But for the first time in a long time, vampires had to be careful of staying out of the crossfire.

The blonde vampire walking down Royal Street might have noticed the tension, if she wasn't so wrapped up in her own world. If she had noticed, she might have realized that no one on the sidewalks looked her in the eye, but they were happy to track her every move. If she had noticed, she might have caught the whispers, heard the rumours that something big was coming. She might have heard the names 'Klaus' and 'Marcel' and she would have realized that an old war was starting again.

She might have noticed that they called her a 'weapon'.

But the blonde vampire who had become the city's biggest problem noticed none of this, and it might have been for the best.

There was no way she could've stopped it.

There was something a little off that morning, but Caroline couldn't put her finger on it. She didn't really have that much time to think about it either, exhaustion weighed on her bones; her nightmares had been filled with dark rooms covered in pictures, and witches coming out of the dark to kill her.

It wasn't any easier in the light of day, and Caroline dreaded going back to that place and having to face the awful truth all over again. But it wasn't going to go away, and if there was anything there that could help them, then she had to face this head on.

The walk into the bayou passed quickly, and Caroline had to appreciate being able to go through it without wondering if anybody was going to jump out and give her an aneurysm for the fun of it.

Snap.

Someone was close by and Caroline was ready to flash off before something caught her back, a hand wrapped around her wrist in a very familiar grip.

"Easy Moneypenny."

She eased up. "Hey, Kol."

The youngest Original brother shot her a dark smirk, falling into step as they both headed into the bayou. A thick silence hung between them, something that hadn't happened in a while, not since the early days and Caroline was surprised by how much she didn't like that. The last thing she needed right now was to be burning the few bridges she had.

"Listen, Kol…"

"If you're telling me to go to hell then I suggest you be more creative," Kol said, voice rife with snark. "Rebekah comes up with at least ten different ways to tell me to fuck off before breakfast, and she has the benefit of eleven different languages."

Caroline didn't rise to the bait, instead searching for the right thing to say. "I shouldn't have taken it out on you," she said finally, not able to look him in the eye. "Everything was spinning out of control and I couldn't handle it. I know the truth would've come out eventually, I just…hated that it had to."

Kol nodded, accepting her brief apology. "It's nothing personal darling, but you weren't around to stand between me and my dagger wielding brother."

Caroline scoffed, feeling at least a little relieved that he wasn't going to hold this against her. "Yeah well, maybe a nap wouldn't be so bad," she said almost wistfully, thinking of how much she'd love to get through a solid eight hours of sleep.

"And miss all the fun? Not bloody likely."

They laughed, slowly coming back to normal. Caroline noticed the bat Kol was spinning in his hands, the same one as hers. "Have you ever cleaned that thing?" she asked, wrinkling her nose at the blood stains that smattered the aluminum.

"Now why would I wash away good memories?" he asked, scandalized. "This is my favourite souvenir!"

"I bought magnets," Caroline said dryly.

"And that's why you're boring."

She elbowed him, and it barely knocked him off balance but it did bring a smile to their faces, something Caroline had missed.

"Hey, where's Enzo?" she asked after a moment, remembering that when she'd woken up that morning, she'd been the only one in the apartment. It was nice to avoid questions, but thinking about what Kol and Enzo could get up to by themselves was slightly troubling.

Kol stayed weirdly silent although Caroline swore he was smirking at some joke she didn't understand. "He's more than fine, don't worry about it," he said cryptically.

"And there aren't any dead bodies I have to worry about?"

"Forget about that, I'm more curious to know what happened after I left you and my volatile brother all alone last night."

Caroline groaned, hanging her head back. "God, I do not want to get into that."

"Oh, night ended badly did it?" Kol asked with faux sympathy. "And here I was hoping you'd both get over yourselves and finally get all that sexual tension out of your systems."

Kol never had any problems being inappropriate but Caroline still wasn't used to it, not when it included Klaus. "Anyway, how about we focus on what's actually important?"

"How much more bearable Nik will be after a good shag?"

"Ew. No, I meant the creepy basement with our pictures plastered all over it!"

Finally the easy smile on Kol's face dropped and he hardened, turning the bat in his hands over, before reaching out and swinging it against the nearest tree, sending a sharp crack echoing through the bayou. He didn't say anything for a moment, and Caroline let him stew in his anger.

"I'll give them this," he said after a while, acid dropping from his words. "There haven't been that many people in history to make me look a fool."

"Really? And if I asked Klaus, he'd agree?"

Her attempt at a joke fell flat, Kol just picked up his pace, forcing Caroline to keep up with him. "I should've seen them," he snarled. "I should've noticed we were being followed."

"I missed them too," Caroline tried to reason. "It wasn't just you!"

"You were out of your mind half the time," Kol said, waving her off.

"Well thanks for that," Caroline muttered.

Kol rolled his eyes, "Don't pout, you did quite well all things considered."

"Saved your ass more than once."

"And I haven't forgotten."

There was something begrudging in his tone and he sucked at saying 'thank you' but Caroline took it. They were spared rehashing the past when they came across the shack, which somehow looked even more derelict during the day.

"After you," Kol said wryly, extending his bat towards the door. It earned him a massive eye roll but Caroline stepped forward gamely, pushing the creaking door open and heading for the stairs, hatch still flung open from the night before.

"This is such a nightmare," she whispered, as she came into the room again. It was weird but she felt like they had to be quiet, and it sent a flare of irritation through her, like these assholes had some power over her.

"Well, at least we look good," Kol said finally, and hearing his voice at full volume cut the tension, which Caroline was incredibly grateful for. Her skin crawled as she looked over the walls, taking the time to realize just how expansive the surveillance was.

It looked like every single day was on those walls somewhere.

Kol twirled his bat around some more and Caroline knew he was restraining himself from taking it to the walls any second. She bit her tongue but hoped to God that he didn't, no matter how nauseating it was, they needed to keep anything they could, see if something could be salvaged.

(After that, she was all for burning the place down.)

"I don't remember this," Kol said, picking a picture off the wall. He waved it over to Caroline, who recognized the gas station and couldn't help a smile.

"I'm glad you think this is amusing," Kol said, tearing it away.

"I came back and you were passed out, remember?"

If he did, he didn't want to, and they went on to the other pictures.

"Do you realize how much time we spent in crappy motels thanks to you?" Caroline asked, wrinkling her nose at the pictures of burnt out signs and rows of seedy looking doorways.

"And how was I supposed to know what a Princess you were going to be?" asked Kol

"To be fair brother, you never had much for taste."

Caroline and Kol stiffened against the intruding voice, but relaxed almost immediately as Klaus came down the stairs and entered the basement. He scanned the walls distastefully before settling on Caroline, softening slightly.

"Morning, love." He granted her a small smile which Caroline couldn't help but return. Their newfound shyness was weird to her, but she'd take the awkwardness over anger any day.

"Hey Klaus," she replied, finally feeling the weight on her shoulders lift.

Kol swung his head between them, "God this is unbearable. I'll just…give you the room, shall I?"

Klaus didn't move his eyes from Caroline but jerked his head towards the door. "That would probably be for the best."

Muttering acrimoniously under his breath, Kol stalked up the stairs, leaving Klaus and Caroline completely alone, surrounded by the pictures and the millions of unspoken words between them.

Caroline searched for anything to say to him but came up short. They were alright last night, but now there were so many things to say that she didn't even know where to start. Instead, she settled for turning to the walls, suddenly very engrossed in a photo of a Seattle office building.

Klaus mirrored her, going to his own corner to sift through the debris. "Do you know what you're looking for?" he asked after a while.

Caroline didn't hear his question, focusing instead on how much she liked the timbre of his voice and the warmth it brought. "Uh, what was that?"

Klaus smirked, "I was wondering if there was anything you were searching for, love. Otherwise, I can't imagine there's any reason to keep this place standing."

He was angry for her, Caroline realized, and her stomach did a weird flip at the thought. "I don't know what we're looking for," she admitted finally. "But I feel like we have to find something. Otherwise…"

Otherwise, this entire place was nothing more than salt in a gaping wound and Caroline was not going to let that happen. Klaus followed her train of thought and nodded determinedly.

"We'll comb the place through," he assured her. "I could get some vampires to look this…if it bothers you."

Caroline knew he was waiting for her to have another panic attack, but she wasn't about to give into the rising anxiety, and she definitely wasn't going to let anyone else do this but her. Control freak tendencies didn't die so easily, no matter how disastrous her life had become.

They fell into silence, but the hairs on Caroline's neck stood up and she knew Klaus was looking over at her every few minutes. She still regretted the fallout from not telling him about what had happened in Mystic Falls, and he hadn't said a word but he had to be bursting with questions about the pictures and what she'd been up to for the past year.

Well, no time like the present.

"That was in Texas."

Klaus had heard her coming up behind him but was still shocked by her admission. He knew how much it meant coming from her though and turned to the picture again, a slow smile curving his lips.

"And I suppose there's an explanation for that godawful wig?"

"Hey, I made a hot redhead!" Caroline cried indignantly, grabbing the picture from him and missing the way his smirk widened, eyes raking over her appreciatively.

"Personally, I'll always prefer your natural look," he murmured, reaching out to tug at a loose curl. Caroline stuttered when she noticed how close he was, but didn't back away. She was almost surprised by how much she didn't want to.

"We were near San Antonio and we thought we had a lead," Caroline explained, voice going soft again. "But there was this vampire…some old friend of Kol's that he'd screwed over a century ago, apparently."

"That does sound like my brother."

"Well, he said we had to go unnoticed. We didn't want anyone noticing Kol Mikaelson was alive again and start talking…or getting word back to Louisiana." She winced as she said the last part, knowing that being left out of the loop was still probably a sore spot.

Klaus nodded stiffly, trying not to focus on the thought that they'd been close by and gone under the radar. "Well, I still hope you'll be forgoing disguises in the future, love," he said teasingly. "A chameleon, you are not."

She nudged him playfully and looked past him, pulling off another picture. "This was in California," she said, almost wistfully. "We went to the beach after - well, it was a bad night."

No matter how open she was suddenly being, there were still things that Caroline was keeping to herself and Klaus chafed against the feeling that she didn't trust him enough to share the full story. But before he could say anything about it, Caroline guessed his thoughts.

"It's not you, Klaus," she said softly, trying to muster a smile. "Promise. There are just some things that I did that I haven't really processed."

Klaus softened, reaching out to squeeze her hand briefly, a rare gesture that he couldn't hold back. "It's done with now. You're safe."

She was, and he was a large part of that. Caroline just wished it was easier to believe him.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

JULY 2014

There's an old Katy Perry song dancing around Caroline's mind as she stares at the palm trees lining the street, bright sun overhead and the Pacific Ocean shining in the distance. They're a million miles away from dank hospital basements and the pain of her hometown that's it's easy to forget the bigger picture and just live in this one moment of sunshine.

"Gone dumb Sweets?"

Right, Kol's still there.

"I'm trying to have a moment," Caroline muttered, pushing all thoughts of evil witches from her mind and wondering if she could get a beach day in somewhere between their wild-goose chase. She didn't know how long they'd be in Los Angeles or California, but with the way things were going, she probably didn't have too long, so she resolved to enjoy whatever she could.

Honestly they deserved a little break. That night at the batting cages was fresh in her mind and she was still a little worried that she'd wake up and find Kol gone, and taking it out on something way worse than a few baseballs. If they didn't find anything useful here then she didn't know what they'd do next, but LA was big enough that Kol could do some serious damage without being too obvious.

She tried not to think about the fact that she had her own issues to watch out for, but her mind was distracted all the way to the hotel, right to the point where Kol threw her suitcase at her to get her attention.

"Oi, earth to Blondie!"

Caroline managed to catch the case before it sailed out a window and set it down carefully, turning to face Kol with her best unimpressed stare. "Was that necessary?"

"Completely. Get dressed, we're going somewhere."

She didn't question him the entire drive to what had to be an abandoned warehouse, all the way to the dark alleyway he dragged her into, and just when her foot stepped in a puddle of what she seriously hoped was only water, a plain steel door opened up and Kol pulled her into a dark nightclub, the thud of the bass speakers immediately cluing her in.

"Where are we?" she yelled over the thick crowd, forgetting for a moment that Kol could almost definitely hear her.

"One of LA's premier vampire haunts," he explained over the din, pulling her around the crowd, and into a side hallway. There was the usual lineup for the restrooms but Caroline noticed locked doors further down and if the faint smell of blood that permeated the air was any indication, she had a pretty good guess what was going on.

"What is it with vampires and clubs?" Caroline asked, wrinkling her nose as some drunk girls bumped into her.

"Old habits die hard and easy hunting grounds make good business," Kol said with a shrug.

"So what, you just wanted to go clubbing?" Caroline asked, skin starting to itch under the pressure of the crowd nearby, and filled with several vampires, all of whom would make really appealing snacks. She'd filled up recently but this was so not what she signed up for.

Kol just ignored her discomfort; eyeing some brunettes who were giggling at him and sending them an easy smirk that had them preening. "I've got things to attend to," he said vaguely. "Get a drink, enjoy yourself."

He was off with the girls in a flash, heading down the long corridor before Caroline could call him back. She tried to resist stomping her foot in frustration, but it wouldn't do anything. Kol was unpredictable, she knew that, no matter what they went through, she never really knew what was going on in his head and she was pretty sure that he'd tell her eventually, but it would only be when he wanted to.

She was totally yelling at him for ditching her when he came back, though.

So, all dressed up and nowhere to go, Caroline strolled back to the edge of the dancefloor, considering taking Kol's advice and getting enough alcohol that the pull of fresh vampire blood abated. Halfway through calculating the easiest way to get around the crowd with the least amount of booze spilled on her, she was knocked into the wall by a couple of clubbers, vamps by the smell of their blood and definitely in need of manners.

"Uh, watch it!"

"Fuck off," one of them muttered, not even sparing a glance. He and his friend each had at least several inches and fifty pounds on her but Caroline knew she was irritated enough to take them, and she almost considered it.

Until they both went the same direction as Kol.

It could've been a coincidence. Chances were, it was definitely a coincidence. But these days, Caroline was too paranoid to believe in coincidences.

So she did the only thing she could. She followed them.

"Caroline? Love?"

The blonde was snapped out of her thoughts, realizing that she'd been quiet for the better part of ten minutes, sifting through her memories of her year on the road. "Sorry about that," she muttered sheepishly, but couldn't miss the deep frown on Klaus's face.

"Really Caroline, if this place bothers you-"

"Evidence of being stalked for a year across the country? Of course it bothers me," she answered dryly and the bybrid's frown just deepened. Caroline sighed, she didn't want to take this out on him and snapping just made it seem like this place had power over her.

She refused to give these assholes that.

Summoning every bit of her old pageant training, Caroline painted on a perfect smile, hoping it reached her eyes. "I'm fine. I'll manage."

Klaus would've loved to believe her but the brittle edge to her reassurances made them fall flat. "Try again sweetheart," he said rigidly. His tone brokered no argument, and he cut off her fast rebuttal. "Don't bother, I can tell when you're lying."

He could, she knew it, and she wondered if she'd gotten that bad at lying to everyone or Klaus just knew how to read her that well. And honestly, she didn't know which one of those scenarios scared her more.

"You don't have to hide it," he said quietly. "I wouldn't expect you to."

Caroline nodded, looking around the room to avoid staring at him. A lump formed in her throat and she wrung her hands, but Klaus spared her any further commentary. She knew that she didn't have to pretend with him, but it was second nature at this point, though keeping it up was driving her to the point of exhaustion.

For his part, Klaus wished there was anything he could say that make her feel better, but nothing came to mind. This was not his forte, offering 'comfort'; he was more used to causing the chaos people needed comfort from. But for Caroline, he almost wished he was the sort of man that knew what to say and how to act, besides letting a suffocating silence fall on them once again.

"Why do it?" he asked impulsively, hoping that she didn't run from this.

Thankfully, Caroline considered his question for a moment before answering slowly. "Denial is…a really good coping mechanism," she explained. "And I got really good at it."

It was the first bit of unfiltered honestly in a while, and as hard as it was to get out, Caroline felt the weight on her chest lessen ever so slightly. Klaus was clearly buoyed by this, and came closer, but it was with the same caution that you would approach a frightened animal with and for a moment Caroline wondered if people would ever stop treating her like something to be scared of.

Klaus inched closer, opening his mouth to say something else when a sharp ringtone cut him off, dispelling the mood in an instant. Caroline's face fell, ever so slightly, the pull of the outside world was something she didn't want right now, she wanted this little bubble with Klaus. No matter how painful it was, it was just her and him and she realized that she wanted that to last.

Klaus finally bit the bullet and answered the call, nearly taking his older brother's head off for the second time in a few days. "What the bloody hell is it, Elijah?!"

Whatever Elijah started on, Klaus decided to listen upstairs. With a parting glance at Caroline, he flashed out of the basement, leaving her to her own devices. Without Klaus, it was easier to focus on the task she'd come for, to find something in this hellhole that could actually be useful. It was possible that this entire place was nothing more than a message, but if they'd gotten even the slightest big sloppy, they were going to use it.

Footsteps echoed down the stairs but Caroline didn't bother looking up from a stack of photos from somewhere in Indiana. "Everything okay?" she called out.

"Peachy Gorgeous, though I can't say that's lasting."

Caroline turned around, thrown to see Enzo standing there instead of Klaus. "What are you doing here?"

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but that was the course of action, no? At least, that was what Mikaelson told me."

Caroline cocked her head to the side, "What were you and Kol up to?"

"Mischief, mayhem, the usual," Enzo said, waving off the question. "He upstairs with the infamous hybrid, they're both arguing on the phone with the other brother, the one who looks like a bit of a prick."

She snorted inelegantly, "You should really learn their names if you're staying."

"Who says I am?" Enzo asked with a wink. "Anyway, there are too many of them."

"No arguments from me," Caroline said, not able to help a smile. She turned back to her work, letting Enzo take in the full scale of the room himself, letting out a low whistle.

"Hell, they didn't hold back, did they?"

Caroline shook her head ruefully. "It feels like everything's here."

"Everything…including some good old fashioned murder sprees?"

She turned to ask him what he meant but stopped short at the photo he was holding out, one with her covered in blood in front of Dawson's diner. Caroline winced, remembering the day too well.

"I'd rather not rehash that," she said shortly, but Enzo just looked over the picture carefully.

"I take it there are not a lot of those episodes you'd like to remember," he said carefully.

Caroline couldn't see where he was going with this. "What's your point?"

"I have some experience on that score. It's usually best to accept your actions and move on."

"Yeah well, I'll let you know how that goes."

Enzo nodded, not minding her obvious sarcasm. "If you could…make yourself better, would you?"

"I'm doing a lot better now with Klaus's blood-"

"I don't mean controlling the bloodlust," Enzo said, suddenly very intent. "I mean getting rid of it altogether."

A spark of something flared in Caroline but she killed it immediately, not daring to believe what he was getting at. "Like - a cure?" she whispered. "There's not- Enzo, it's impossible."

Enzo took a deep breath. "Here's the thing-"

"Oi! Both of you get up here!"

Kol's voice was sharp and after glancing at each other, they rose to follow it, flashing upstairs to find two Mikaelson brothers looking murderous.

"We have to go back into the city," Klaus spat, shooting Enzo a venomous glare.

"Elijah's being a prat," Kol explained. "Says somethings going on in the French Quarter and we have to be on hand to see exactly where it is."

"I could stay," Caroline offered, but the glare Klaus gave her nipped that idea in the bud.

"Not without proper protection."

"I'd stay with her," Enzo offered, but the glare turned on him and became even more acidic, if possible.

Kol stifled a groan at his brother's antics. "We're all going, don't whine about it," he said shortly. "And Elijah better hope to god there's decent booze ready."

A massive rager was underway at Rosseaus, vampires and witches packed the bar, leaving almost no room for anyone to get through. New Orleans might have been known for a good party but this was out of control even by the city standards. Most everyone was too out of it to pay attention to them, so they slipped in easily enough but there was still something ominous in the air that Caroline was immediately wary of.

"There you are!" Rebekah pushed her way to the entrance, Elijah following her. She looked highly irritated, though that seemed to be her default setting these days, Caroline thought, suppressing a smile at her own joke.

"Not that I don't love a good party, but is there a good reason for this?" Enzo asked.

Rebekah just turned up her nose at him, addressing Klaus. "Something's happening here, there's been a rumour all day, but no one's entirely sure what it is."

The hybrid barely held in a growl, brushing past his sister to go deeper into the crowd, presumably to find someone he could bully into giving him more concrete answers. Rebekah followed, Kol and Enzo just looked towards the bar.

"Drink?" asked Kol.

"Man after my own heart," Enzo replied. "Coming Gorgeous?" he called over his shoulder as they disappeared into the din.

She didn't know who she was better off following but before Caroline could decide, an arm wrapped around her elbow, tugging her back outside. Every sense went on high alert as Caroline mentally calculated how much she could take without snapping and massacring the entire party, but thoughts of a fight died when she realized who had her by the arm.

Elijah had been so quiet that she'd forgotten he was there too, though that might have been by design. The eldest Original led her outside, not roughly, but there was something firm in his grip that told her this was a confrontation she was having whether she liked it or not.

"Elijah, what the hell?" she asked, trying not to cower under the stern glare he sent her.

"A moment if you please, Miss Forbes," he said stiffly, readying himself for what he had to say.

"I'm sure you've noticed that ever since you and my brother came to this city, you've caused a certain disruption in the lives of not only my family, but several others who live here for the safety it affords them."

Caroline had never actually gotten a lecture from her school principal, but she suspected it sounded a lot like this. She stayed quiet and Elijah went on.

"I do recognize how difficult the past year has been for you, and I don't doubt the validity of your claims that the Silas Cult is a serious enough issue to warrant our concern. But at the present, we have more pressing issues, and as much as you may have disturbed the status quo, there's no reason why that should continue."

"Elijah, what do you want from me?" Caroline asked slowly, feeling the hairs on the back of her neck rise.

He considered her question for a moment before answering. "I suppose, Miss Forbes, I want you to see things from my perspective."

It was an order, thinly veiled as a request. And it wasn't something Caroline was about to follow. "I'm going inside," she said shortly, doing her best icy glare before turning on her heel, only to walk straight into Elijah, who looked much less agreeable than a second earlier.

"Think before you act, Caroline," he said, her name rolling off his tongue with just a hint of disdain. "You come into a new city, you bring nothing but disorder and you won't even consider the long term ramifications of your actions? I don't believe you to be an arrogant girl, but do you really refuse to face the facts?"

Caroline pursed her lips, debating if she could somehow slip around him, but this was Elijah, no matter how benevolent he seemed next to his chaotic family, he'd have no problem snapping her neck and throwing her in a dungeon somewhere if this ended badly. She wanted to believe Klaus wouldn't let that happen…but between her and his brother, she wasn't sure which side would win out. She couldn't take the risk.

The slightest hesitation and Elijah pressed on, hoping to land something in her head that would bring her around. "It can't have been easy," he said, more diplomatically, "becoming a creature that so many others fear and loathe. I understand you want to get better, I can only assume you'd want to make amends somehow."

"And how's that supposed to happen?" Caroline asked bitterly, looking down as she aimlessly kicked at the pavement.

"By helping my brother remember his duties," Elijah replied. If anything could make inroads with her, he hoped it was whatever relationship she shared with Niklaus. "He's forgotten what it takes to run this city because his mind had been - distracted- recently. But you and I together could bring him back; make him see that he shouldn't have to lose the one place our family is able to call home."

He shouldn't have to lose his home over some girl is what Caroline hears, but Elijah knows how to couch his demands, and he's good at it. It almost makes Caroline give up and give in, but something keeps her holding her head up.

"Quick question," she said with a fake smile. "What about Kol?"

There was a hint of a smirk on his lips and he looked so much like an older version of his youngest brother then. "Don't worry about my brother, Miss Forbes. I have my own methods of dealing with him and it's none of your concern. Consider it strictly family business."

God, he was such a patronizing dick that Caroline almost wished she could tell him where to stick it without provoking him into tearing out her heart. A 'thanks but no thanks, jerk,' was on the tip of her tongue, but before anything could be said, they were pulled back into the fray inside the bar where the main event had finally arrived.

"Welcome one, welcome all!" A booming, charismatic voice rang out and Caroline's stomach sank, in the next five seconds she had a pretty good idea of what was about to happen. Marcel's tall frame rose above the crowd as he hopped up on the bar top, playing into the cheers and whistles he got before motioning for them to settle down.

"Now I know there are questions," he said in a big show of seriousness. "Vampires are dying, our friends, our family is under attack."

The crowd ate up his words, anger rippling through it. Again, Marcel motioned for silence. "And the King of this city doesn't give a fuck!"

More anger erupted and Marcel ate it up with a wide grin. "But I'm here to tell you that it's time we take our city back!"

It was more than a little cliché in Caroline's opinion, but the guy knew how to win a cowd, she'd give him that. They were almost in frenzy now and Marcel fed into that, booming voice rising over the melee, talking about how the French Quarter was supposed to be safe for them, and that the Mikaelson family had failed them all. Caroline wanted to get out of there as fast as possible, but she was suddenly very aware that Elijah was still behind her, solid and unmoving, and if she had to guess, she'd say that he wanted her to hear this.

Finally, finally, Marcel neared an end. "We're going to take our city back," he said with a broad smile. "And when that happens, I'm gonna be the king you deserve."

"Oh bravo!"

The room fell deathly silent as Klaus strode forward, parting the crowd like the Red Sea. Caroline couldn't tell if Marcel expected Klaus to be there or not, but he didn't falter, just jumped down from the bar to meet his sire face to face.

"Problem, Klaus?" he asked, smirking.

Caroline expected Klaus to be fuming, but the hybrid just seemed amused, like this was the funniest joke to him. "Not a problem at all, my old friend," he said, reaching out to clasp Marcel on the shoulder. 'If anything, I have to thank you for providing the most entertaining sight I've seen in months."

Marcel didn't rise to the bait. "It's the truth Klaus," he said plainly. "You don't care about this city and I'm taking it back."

Klaus nodded, backing away slightly as some of Marcel's flunkies came around to circle him. They probably thought he was backing down, but Caroline watched with baited breath. Klaus Mikaelson didn't back down from anything. Instead, he considered the people around him, one by one.

"By all means Marcel, give it your best shot," he said with a dismissive wave, almost bored. "If nothing else, at least I'll get a laugh." He knew for a fact that no one could do much damage that night so he turned on his heel to leave, but stopped shortly.

"Oh, I almost forgot." In a second Klaus had ripped into the chests of the two vampires closest, pulling out their hearts, a third one rushed him but was caught by the throat, and had a double set of fangs buried in his neck a second later. Klaus pulled away, eyes glowing golden as he let the body drop to Marcel's feet. "Remind the rest of your little band what happens when you disrespect me," he said, still amused and Marcel could only glare back hatefully.

With a final glance at the carnage, Klaus spun away to leave and the crowd started to disperse, nervously tittering.

"Oh my god, do you think he's going to use that girl now?"

The whispers reached Caroline though she was pretty sure no one had actually noticed her standing at the back of the crowd and she realized this was not a place to hang around. Klaus was coming closer and she was ready to follow him but Elijah had her by the arm again, steering her away from the crush of people flooding the street.

"I don't think you want to be seen right now," he said, and Caroline might have appreciated the concern if it wasn't obvious that he was gloating on the inside. That might have been unfair, he did a very good job of getting her out of the path of the crowd but there was something smug and self-satisfied about the way he looked at her that told her this was exactly how he wanted the situation to play out.

"Did you plan this?" she blurted out impulsively.

Elijah raised an eyebrow, looking almost pitying. "I'm sure you'd like to believe that, but no, this wasn't my doing. I knew it was coming, however. I've known something like this was bound to happen the moment my brother compelled Marcel and the two of you lured us into that graveyard. There was a system in place, Miss Forbes, and now my family's work is being dismantled piece by piece. Innocent people are going to fall, and I think you may want to ask yourself what your place here is."

If he wanted to get under her skin, he succeeded and the familiar sting of guilt crashed down on Caroline. It seemed so unfair, that after everything she was still the cause of chaos, but the truth was out and now she had to face it. "I don't want anything to do with a war," she insisted, but Elijah clearly didn't care to listen.

"You don't seem to understand, this is out of your hands," he explained, speaking slowly as if to a child. "My brother doesn't have the control he thinks he does and if he doesn't regain his hold on things soon, then he'll lose this city and the safety we've worked hard to maintain will be compromised. You may not want a place in all of this but you've earned one through your actions, and hiding will do you no good."

Caroline took a deep breath, fighting between hearing him out and running for the hills. Elijah let her stew for a moment before continuing, attempting a kinder tone.

"As I said earlier, this doesn't have to be difficult. Work with me, help me make my brother see sense and this can end quickly for all of us. You can leave the city in peace, with as little blood on your hands as you wish."

There it was, two paths laid out in front of her. Fall in line or get the hell out. Caroline bristled, against both of them. Elijah looked down at her expectantly, waiting for an answer. He'd thought he'd won this, and if this was one year ago, he might have. If this was a few nights ago, he might have. But right now, Caroline was so sick of other people controlling her life. So, she gave Elijah her answer.

"Fuck off."

Elijah dropped all pretenses of niceties, staring down at her with contempt. "If that's your final decision," he drawled sarcastically.

"Yup," she said, holding her head high and crossing her arms to hide how her hands were shaking. It didn't escape Elijah's notice though and he smirked, no humour in his eyes.

"Well if that's all," he said, turning to leave, but left her with some parting advice. "Be careful, Ms. Forbes, before you cause damage you can never take back."

Kol came to slowly, regaining every sense one by one. He could barely see a damn thing and his hearing was muffled, but there was noise at what sounded like the end of a long tunnel. It got clearer, and as it did, he smelled the blood in the air.

As much as he liked fun, he really preferred to be conscious for it.

"What in god's name…" After a minute he managed to raise his neck, take in the poorly lit room, one that was supposed to cater to a certain ambiance that probably didn't anticipate murder along with sex. Well, at least he'd had some fun before he blacked out. It was embarrassing really, but as he sat up on the unusually large leather couch, he realized his partners were in no position to be picky. Hard to be when you were dead.

Shame, they'd both been very talented with their mouths.

A high pitched shriek drew his attention and he stood up, swaying slightly and fixing his half-off clothes. Following the sounds of a struggle he stopped in the doorway and was met with at least five dead vampires, with one more caught up in the grip of the blonde who was tearing viciously into his throat.

"Oh darling, what've you done now?" Kol asked, and Caroline startled, dropping the body and turning to face him, eyes wide and wild.

"Dawsons."

Kol flashed forward and snapped her neck without preamble, catching her limp body and getting them both out, intent on going back to the hotel to put this place behind them. He was halfway back when she stirred, hands rubbing her sore neck as she sat up in the passenger seat.

"What happened?" she asked, disoriented.

"We're almost back to the hotel," Kol said, staring out at the thick LA traffic. "And really, I should be asking you that."

Caroline sighed, leaning back in her seat and squeezing her eyes shut. "There were these guys that looked like they were trouble, I followed them. Then more joined…they were after you. They got inside and I thought you'd just kill them-"

"I passed out," Kol remembered.

"They killed the girls you were with," Caroline said. "And when they went after you, I started killing."

Kol couldn't be sure what he felt then, but he suspected it was gratitude. "Well done and all that," he said fondly. "I knew you'd come in handy."

Caroline snorted, massaging her temples. "I so don't want to keep doing this," she admitted. "I feel like some freak weapon. I hate it."

Kol couldn't understand why she didn't see the benefits of the conditioning which made her such an asset, but she was young, perhaps big picture thinking wasn't her style.

"Why were they after you?" Caroline asked quietly, after a minute. "Did you piss them off?"

"Oh I suspect I know why," Kol said with a dark smirk. "They were protecting their territory."

"What?"

"Well, I passed out and missed the speeches but it wasn't really about me-those girls though, they were witches."

"Seriously?!" Caroline cried. "You didn't even know them!"

"Didn't have to," said Kol cheerfully. "I've always had a thing for witches, call it intuition. I knew they'd be able to give something up. They did, and the things that they could do with their tongues-"

"I don't need details!" said Caroline hastily. "Just…tell me you got something out of that."

"Oh I did," Kol said. "But we'll have to tread carefully. There's a system in place in this city, I'll tell you all about it." He shot her a smirk, all mayhem. "What do you say Sweets, up for some fun?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Not really."

"Then I'm in."

Caroline kept her head down, moving through the crowd and hoping none of them recognized her. She'd never be much for hoodies but she'd consider it if she could hide herself whenever she walked outside. Or maybe she'd revisit the redhead wig again, visit an actual salon to see if she could make it work.

Someone came up next to her and for a fleeting moment Caroline thought Elijah was back to make good on some of his veiled threats and she was ready to put up a fight, only to be met with the Mikaelson brother she most wanted to see.

"Are you alright love?" Klaus asked lowly, darting glances around him. "I think we should get you back to your flat, we don't need people getting any ideas."

Caroline nodded mutely and let him lead her in the right direction, mind racing. She pulled out her phone and sent a quick text, hiding her phone from prying eyes, but when she looked up, Klaus was quick to act as if he wasn't curious.

"What are you going to do?" she asked.

Klaus laughed, "About Marcel? He's throwing a tantrum, this is nothing."

He was dismissive, and it would've been easy to buy his reassurance, but Elijah's words rang in her mind. For a second Caroline thought about telling him about her fight with Elijah, but decided against it. Enough trouble had been caused, she wasn't about to drive a wedge between the brothers.

"What happened, sweetheart?" Klaus asked, stopping for a moment and gently bringing her in front of him. "You're not worried about this are you?"

Caroline didn't know how to respond so avoided the situation entirely, instead continuing on the path to her apartment, Klaus following close behind. "I don't know what's going to happen with Marcel," she admitted, as she unlocked the door. "But I'm going to focus on things I can control."

They entered, only to be met with a familiar face lounging on the couch. "You rang?" Enzo asked.

Klaus almost snarled but Caroline squeezed his arm, smiling gently.

"Were you serious?" Caroline asked Enzo, small flicker of hope sparking to life again.

Enzo caught her meaning immediately. "I was. And I think I might be able to find it."

"Find what?" Klaus snapped, looking between them.

Caroline took a deep breath, almost scared to say the words out loud. "A cure," she told him, finally. "Enzo thinks the Augustine Society might have started working on one."

Klaus stared at her, realizing the weight of her words. Caroline wanted to keep her hopes down, she knew this was a long shot in the dark, but the chance of going back to some kind of normal was too much to turn down.

"Find out whatever you can," Caroline told Enzo. "It could be nothing, but if there's even the slightest chance you find something that could work…"

"You'll be first person to know," Enzo said, standing up and coming over to her. "Relax Gorgeous. This could work." He gave her a quick wink and with a mock bow to Klaus, sped out of the apartment.

Caroline released a heavy breath, facing Klaus again. No matter how much she didn't want to hope for something that would likely never happen, she couldn't help the smile on her face, feeling almost giddy as she thought about what this could mean.

Klaus couldn't help but share her happiness, but something nagged at him. "Why did you need me here?" he asked, "not that I'm complaining, of course."

It had been an impulse decision, but Caroline was glad she made it. "I didn't want to leave you in the dark with this," she said, a little shyly. "You've been helping me with the whole 'blood freakouts' thing, I thought it was right that you knew what I was doing about it."

This was her making amends, in other words.

"Thank you," Klaus said, softly and sincerely.

Caroline grinned, the spark of hope flaring into something even bigger. "Also, I was thinking…I never told you how the Texas thing ended."

Klaus chuckled, "Yes, I'm very curious to know what happened to the wig."

Caroline pulled him over to the couch and they continued to talk well into the night. Whatever friendship had been strained over the past few days, she wanted to think that it was finally back, and this time, it was going to last. And if nothing else - she finally got to tell someone what Kol looked like as a blonde.

"I thought you might want to know I'll be leaving the city," Enzo fell into step next to Kol who was heading back to the Mikaelson compound. "I'll be searching for that cure after all."

Kol groaned. "Well, I'll miss the little ripper, but I suppose it couldn't last forever," he groused. "If I ever come across a situation where I could've used her, I'm holding you responsible."

Enzo shrugged, hardly caring. "What's the point of complaining? It's my last night in the city."

Kol considered him for a moment. "You'll be back soon enough. Wouldn't want to disappoint Blondie and my brother."

He was right, but the night was young and there was fun to be had. "I can start searching for wild geese in the morning," Enzo said with a grin. " Let's see where the night goes."

Life isn't always what you think it'd be
Turn your head for one second and the tables turn
And I know, I know that I did you wrong
But will you trust me when I say that I'll
Make it up to you somehow, somehow

And that's all she wrote. Have a good week!

Chapter title and songs lyrics from 'I'm So Sorry' by Imagine Dragons

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