I'm so sorry about how late this chapter is! I got really caught up in Heartbeat and then family stuff came up, so all I can do is apologize!
Also, big thanks to Randi, livingdeadblondegirl, for betaing for me! She is an absolute godsend!

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Diaries.

Chapter Thirteen

"Uh…Caroline? We're here to pick you up."

Caroline couldn't contain her excitement at the sound of her best friends' voices coming through the intercom system. She had wondered for the past few days if she would ever hear from them again; if Mikael didn't catch her, she knew that Klaus had no intention of letting her go. With the small army he housed on his property, there was a very small chance of her actually escaping.

But her friends were just outside, coming to get her as she'd hoped they would.

It wasn't that she needed rescuing; she'd learned how to take care of herself at a very young age. Yet it always felt good to know that someone had her back, that she didn't have to be able to see every enemy as they came at her.

Elena and Bonnie were her partners in crime—like that time in the sixties when they all got drunk and were arrested for hijacking a police horse. Or the other time that they had attacked half a dozen demons just for the fun of it. They'd cleaned countless clocks together in their short lives and it was always comforting to know that they would be there to do stupid and dangerous things with her.

And here they were, once again showing her that they wouldn't let her down. Here to help her steal away in the night—mid-morning, whatever—to go somewhere safe.

The only problem? They had to get onto the grounds first.

Though Bonnie was the prophesied Last Bennett Witch, her power only went so far when it was bound. After an unfortunate—and near apoplectic—accident with a little uncontrolled magic, Bonnie's grandmother, along with the rest of her considerable coven, had put her on magical lockdown. They'd explained that Bonnie wasn't yet mature enough to hold so much power since she always seemed to be playing pranks and getting into trouble.

Even if she was the one that was the most mature out of the three of them.

But that didn't mean Caroline couldn't get them in. Or herself out. All she had to do was book it while Klaus still had that completely confounded look on his face. If she snuck away fast enough, he might not be able to catch her until she was already on the other side of the gate. The Hybrid King wouldn't be able to take on both a highly trained Valkyrie and the most powerful witch of their time, even if she was bound.

At least he probably wouldn't be able to.

Before she could act on her plan, though, Bonnie's voice joined Elena's over the intercom, announcing, "Look, Caroline, you either need to come out here or I'm going to have to tear down this protection spell. We're kind of in a time crunch here."

With those words, everything happened too quickly for Caroline to fully comprehend. Klaus was snarling as he shoved her behind him while at the same time, he was shoutinginto the intercom, ordering all his hybrids to surround the gate and take on the intruders. Lethal force approved.

As his demands sunk in, true fear spread through the blonde. Could Elena and Bonnie take on an army all by themselves? Yes, they had power, but something about the "time crunch" statement made her wary. Had they tired themselves out before coming to the mansion? What if one or both of them were injured?

She couldn't let them go up against all those hybrids! It was one thing to take down a couple at a time, but a full army at once? These creatures were too strong, too fast for just anyone to go after-especially when they had no idea what they were fighting. An immortal had to know exactly what they were up against and have a plan of action before they took on a war-trained hybrid.

"Klaus, call them off!" Caroline demanded, coming to his side to grab his arm. "You can't kill Elena and Bonnie! If anything happens to them, I'll never forgive you, I swear!"

He yanked his arm out of her hold, furious eyes narrowing on her fear-stricken face. After a moment, he lifted his lip in a mocking snarl, answered roughly, "Do you really think I care whether I have your forgiveness or not?" He moved closer to her, looming over her menacingly. "I am an Original; I'm stronger than you are, fiercer. Why should I care what a weak little vampire thinks of me, whether she's to be my Queen or not?" Cornering her into the countertop, Klaus murmured darkly, "I won't be letting you go anytime in the near future, even if it makes you hate me. Because I don't care."

Before she could react to his words, though, a shriek sounded in the distance, catching both their attentions.

Because it wasn't a shriek of pain or fear. It was a Valkyrie war shriek, a sound that could burst the eardrums of anyone within two hundred yards of the Valkyrie. Such a fearsome cry was usually used as a dirty fighting tactic…or a last ditch effort to save their life.

Without a second thought, Caroline ran towards the sound, bursting out of the house in a matter of seconds with Klaus in close pursuit. Her heart beating like a hummingbird in her chest, she called out to her friends, tears blurring her vision. She couldn't lose them as she had lost everyone else that had ever been important to her; she couldn't let her friends be the next on the chopping block.

Just as she caught sight of the horde of hybrids, Klaus caught up with her, sweeping out an arm to pull her against him. The moment his hand touched her side, however, she turned on him, releasing her fury as quickly as her fangs shot out of her mouth. With every ounce of strength she could muster, she swung her fist at his face, not stopping even when he caught her hand.

Eyes darkening with blood, she swept out with her leg, catching the hybrid behind the knee and knocking him to the ground. In an instant, he had her down on the ground as well, yanking her leg out from under her. But she wasn't done yet. No, there was quite a bit of pent up anger and protectiveness that had to be acted on or else she wouldn't be able to live with herself.

So, when he went to straddle her, she rolled away, striking out with her elbow as he followed after her. The sickening crack of his nose breaking filled her with determination and brought her to her feet.

Racing towards the fray, she was so intent on her destination that she didn't hear him crashing after her until he growled, "I'm through with this game of yours, Caroline!" in her ear and had her pinned to the ground with a solid thump. She struggled in vain to get free, but he was too strong for her to overpower; she remained on the ground, wriggling against him.

As she flipped onto her back, intending to claw his eyes out, she thought she heard someone calling her name just before Klaus fell away from her with a hiss of pain. She drew in a sharp gasp of shock as she heard answering cries of pain throughout the army before them. Her head twisted in the direction, her eyes catching with Bonnie's, flooded white with power as her hair whipped in the wind. The witch was murmuring something beneath her breath, obviously a chant with the power to cripple an entire army.

"Caroline!" Elena called out, racing towards her blonde friend to drop at her side. "Are you okay?" At Caroline's hesitant nod, the brunette stopped her perusal of her body for anything broken and grabbed her hand to draw her up. "Good because we have to go. Bonnie took down the barrier—"

The Valkyrie was interrupted when Klaus snatched onto Caroline's ankle, growling brokenly, "Leave…and I will…find you."

Both women were shocked at his ability to move, to actually speak. Bonnie's aneurysms could fell any opponent, make them unable to think properly for days. They had never come up against an immortal with a pain threshold that couldn't be breached by the agony. Yet he was struggling through, fighting to stand and still kept his hand locked firmly around Caroline. Even as she tried to yank away, he was holding her.

"We can keep her safe, hybrid," Elena hissed with a shocking amount of disdain. She stepped away from Caroline then, moving to dig the heel of her boot into his wrist. As he snarled in pain, she said, "We'll keep her away from Mikael…and you."

Klaus growled at that, his hold tightening until Caroline nearly cried out at the pressure. "I will…always find her. I will…protect her…from my father." He released the vampire then, shakily rising to his feet with heavy breaths. He seemed to force himself to ignore the pain, coming to his full height before Elena. "And I will kill anyone that gets in my way."

He struck out with a lightning fast move then, wrapping his hand around Elena's neck and clutching tight. His eyes went to Bonnie, flinching as her hand clenched in the air. As Caroline gasped out a shocked no, he smirked, muttering, "Release me, witch, or I'll separate her head from her shoulders."

As Elena struggled to free herself, trying to take a breath in, Bonnie's hand slowly came down, relenting her hold on the hybrid. But he still didn't let Elena drop to the ground, instead lifting her off the ground even farther.

"Stop it!" Caroline cried, moving to step between them, to force him to release her friend. Before she could, however, a blur of motion slammed into Klaus, knocking him away and forcing his hand to leave Elena's throat.

Ten yards from where the Valkyrie dropped to the ground, sucking in hard breaths as she rubbed her neck, a dark haired male had Klaus pinned beneath him, raising a fist to pummel the hybrid. He was quickly overpowered, though, and tossed away as Klaus rolled to his feet, his face changing as the veins darkened underneath his eyes. His thick fangs grew, a warning of the violence he was about to unleash.

When Caroline finally got a good look at the vampire's face, she realized it was Blue Eyes—the vampire trying to claim Elena as his Bride. How the hell had he followed them all the way here?

"I was going to kill you back when we first came to blows," Klaus growled, stalking forward as the vampire rose to his feet, "but now is as good a time as any." He moved so quickly that he couldn't be seen towards Blue Eyes, only to lunge at empty space.

How had the vampire outrun an Original?

In an instant, the vampire was crouched down beside Elena, gently tucking her hair behind her ear. Caroline saw the way Elena looked up with gratitude, wondering what she had missed to make the Valkyrie so accepting of the male's touch.

There was a burst of energy behind them and Caroline twisted to see Bonnie's eyes glazing over once again, locking on something just beyond her blonde vampire friend. That strange power started to wrap around her once again, white bleeding into her irises.

Jesus, what have I been missing out on while on kidnapping vacation?

Following the LBW's gaze, she saw that it had fallen on the Naughty Prince himself. He looked furious, his fangs slowly sprouting from his gums. His own eyes were narrowed angrily on the witch, as if she had done something that he would never forgive. When Caroline glanced back at Bonnie, a fireball was growing in her palm.

Just as Bonnie released it, sending it hurtling towards Kol, he was on the move, easily dodging the continuing attacks until he was toe to toe with her, snatching her hands behind her back so there was nowhere for her to go.

All around Caroline, there were battles—Elena and her vampire versus Klaus, Bonnie and Kol going at it—and the hybrids were beginning to rise around them as well, coming to their feet with stunning resilience. Soon, everyone would be fighting amongst themselves, no doubt drawing the other two Royals out of the house. They all seemed to forget one particularly important fact about the time they were wasting—Mikael would be able to get on the grounds. With the barrier down and his knowledge of where they were hiding out, he could fall upon them any minute.

"Stop!" she shrieked, barely catching the eye of any of them. Klaus made a noticeable attempt to ignore her as he threw Damon away from him and caught Elena in the face with a backhand strike. Bonnie was attempting to use electrical shock to get Kol to let go of her, but he merely took the pain, shuddering but not releasing her.

None of them cared that they could be in very big trouble in just a few moments. They weren't thinking about the possibility of being caught with their pants down. All they could focus on were their own petty problems—things that could definitely be put off.

But Caroline wasn't able to voice any of this. She was just watching it all unfold around her, unable to move or think. With everything so disjointed around her, panic was beginning to set in, her instincts telling her that someone was watching them, someone they didn't want to see anywhere near them.

-.-.-.-.-

After a shockingly powerful fist to his chin from the Valkyrie, Klaus spun quickly around to return the strike into her male's stomach, sending him flying even as the hybrid's leg struck out to knock the female away. He knew that she would soon draw the katana strapped to her back, so he had to have one of the two creatures down and out before then. Though he was used to taking on more than one assailant at a time, the male and female attacked with strangely synced movements, as if they had fought side by side for centuries, something he'd never encountered.

Valkyrie were so few and far between, he had forgotten what it was like to go up against one. They were trained from when they could walk to be warriors. Considered one of the most slaughter-happy factions of immortals, they were at the forefront of every war, stories written about them. Well-known Valkyrie included Helen of Troy—who had actually fought in the war, despite the stories said about her—Joan of Arc, and Cleopatra herself.

And for her to have a male vampire obviously used to fighting dirty at her side…it was enough to make Klaus break a sweat. If this wasn't such a dire situation, he might have even enjoyed the exercise, battling against a fierce vampire and his even fiercer Valkyrie Bride.

But Caroline was the one at risk here, not his cardio. He was going to destroy them and take his mate somewhere else, somewhere that he knew they would never be able to find—no one would be able to. He wouldn't allow them to.

So, as the female and male started to move even faster around him, striking out whenever possible, he decided enough was enough. He was sick of the game and ready to end it. Lethally or not.

He attacked blindly, catching the nearest one around the neck. Realizing that it was the Valkyrie, he ripped her katana out of its sheath, snatching it against her throat and stopping the vampire in his tracks. As the other male seethed, Klaus smirked, saying, "Now that we've come to an understanding, I want you to leave. Take the witch with you. Otherwise, I'll cut off the Valkyrie's head, making your last sight her lifeless body dropping to its knees."

The vampire snarled, his eyes darkening and his fangs lengthening. Poised to pounce, he was looking for an opportunity that would never arise to grab her back. Klaus's hands were steady, able to detect any movement that might throw him off and was ready to counteract any of them.

"Let her go, hybrid," the vampire growled, taking a slow step forward, only to stop when Klaus tightened the blade against her neck.

Now he could see the fear and affection behind the other male's eyes and couldn't help wondering what it would be like to have the situation reversed. What would he do if a creature had Caroline pinned, holding her life in the balance? Knowing that there was nothing he could do to stop them should they decide to take her neck?

A pang of pain in his chest had his eyes searching her out, finding her frozen in the midst of all the chaos. The hybrids were beginning to rise and would attack the intruders…but she was still terrified. Something had spooked her and he felt the wolf inside him rising with a sudden need to protect. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end as lightning fired in the sky, making him want to release the Valkyrie and just steal Caroline away.

Before he could, however, the female murmured, "Bonnie will get away from Kol, then she's going to knock you out. We'll get Caroline away, give her a cloaking spell. You will never find her."

Since his attention had slipped, the woman was able to dive from him, flinging herself away with great flare. As the wind picked up around them, caused by the storm she was bringing down upon them, her sleek, dark brown hair whipped against her, though she didn't seem to notice. Her eyes began to glow the color of a sky during a thunderstorm, her feet seeming to beginning to raise off the ground.

He almost felt a twinge of fear, but his knowledge of his own strength gave him confidence in any battle that he could be a part of.

He wouldn't let Caroline get a cloaking spell; he knew what it would do. It was a spell meant to twist perception, making it impossible for someone to remember exactly what she looked, smelled, or even sounded like. And his mate was perfect in every way, from her glorious blonde hair to the lightly floral scent that wafted after her to the way she spoke so articulately. He wouldn't lose that when he hadn't even gotten the chance to get used to it.

He had been given a beautiful specimen for his Queen and he would be damned if anything would take her away from him.

Just as he prepared to attack, the sound of Rebekah and…was that Katherine? He swore he heard twin feminine shrieks from within the house. Almost immediately afterwards, he heard an inhuman bellow of rage and the sound of crashing furniture came soon as well. Klaus's attention was instantly on his family's home.

His eyes widening as he caught sight of the smoke billowing from the mansion, any thought of fighting with the Valkyrie or vampire disappearing. Instead, panic set in as he tried to listen and watch for his siblings to emerge.

They didn't.

As he jumped into motion, he could have sworn that he heard Caroline cry out for his sister, which spurred her other two friends to help her. But that didn't matter to him; all he could think about was getting his remaining siblings out and finding out who was responsible.

"Klaus, stop!" Caroline called from somewhere behind him, fear obvious in her voice. Yet he kept going, running as fast as he could towards his family. "It's not safe! That's not a normal fire! I think that was started by Mi—"

But he wasn't listening. Instead, he ran head on into the burning house, calling out for Elijah and Rebekah as his voice went hoarse.

Thank you all for being so patient with me! I hope this was worth the wait.

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