AN: New chapter. I hope you guys got that Elijah was talking about Cami when he asked about Klaus loving 'her'. The thing is Elijah doesn't really know much about Klaus and Caroline because he's seen them together only once at their mothers ball. I hope I made it clear while still adding some sort of drama and intrigue. Anyway, onwards with the new chapter.

Chapter 20: Goodbye New Orleans

Caroline looked in the mirror with a sigh. Her hair was wet from the shower, there were small bags forming under her eyes from the lack of sleep and she could have sworn up and down that she saw a wrinkle or two. A far cry from the elegant Miss Mystic Falls she once was. Although that last one might have only been in her head.

Caroline thought back to earlier that night. She had resigned herself to her fate, to the fact that she was going to die. No, she was not happy about it. Who would be, but she knew it was going to happen. She was human now. It would have happened eventually.

She remembered how she closed her eyes and waited for the piercing of the knife and the kiss of death to finally take her. But he had saved her. Klaus. The original hybrid, pain in her ass had saved her. Like he always does.

Klaus had rushed to her as the tip of the knife grazed the skin of her chest, ready to make its home in her heart. His strong hand caught on to hers and pulled the knife out from her grasp. He then compelled her in order to remove Tristan's compulsion.

As though she was in a daze, the night went by faster than Caroline could comprehend. Soon she found herself all healed thanks to the spell Bonnie, Freya and Davina did. Klaus had left her to herself, giving her some space to shower.

He did not say anything after he rescued her. Simply brought her to the compound while Elijah and Kol took care of the bodies they had left behind. Caroline tried to bury the insecurities that were bubbling at the surface. Instead she focused on her friends.

Everyone was really happy to see that she was alive. They all came to her room to see how she was doing and she had assured them that she was fine. Alaric was the first to make sure she was okay. It was understandable, she was carrying his babies. "I'm fine Ric...we all are" she remembers telling him, her hand gently resting on her stomach.

He was still hovering so she had to politely tell him to "get out". It's not that she was trying to be rude but she really needed her sleep. She was human after all.

She was just about ready to tuck herself in to bed when the was a knock at the door. "Come in"she says as she turns to see who it is.

When Klaus enters his breath hitched slightly. She was alive, standing before him. Her heart was still beating. That's all he cared about in this moment. He ventures in further and looks over her for any hidden injuries.

Klaus' gaze sends a wave of fire through her. It takes everything in her not to move toward him. To kiss those deliciously crimson lips. She shakes her head, trying to remove the line of thought from her head. When he finally speaks she is relieved that the silence is broken. "How are you feeling? He asks. "I'm good. Better than good. That spell really helped me" she says.

"How's Cami?" Caroline asks. Elijah found Cami waiting at the top of the building ready to jump, thanks to Tristan's compulsion. Elijah saved her in time and thanks to the spell she was all healed and as healthy as a horse. "She's alright. Rebekah took her home after I spoke to her" Klaus says.

He wants to tell her what he and Cami spoke about, but something was holding him back. What if she didn't feel the way he thinks she did. What if she just said those things because she was about to die.

They were quite for another moment and she takes in a deep breath to steady herself. It's now or never. "Klaus-" she begins and he looks to her. "The things I said" she continues but he cuts her off. "It's alright love. No need to explain yourself" he says with a hint of a harsh tone.

Caroline looks to him on confusion and then she sees the vulnerability in his eyes. The fear of rejection. He can't still believe that she was going to says those things just because she was dying. Can he?

"No look, need to says this okay" she starts again sternly. "And it's not because I'm dying or because I'm emotional. It's because it's how I feel. And I'm tired Klaus...I'm so tired of pretending that it's not how I feel, because you're supposed to be the bad guy" she whispered as the tears prick at her eyes. "You came into my town and you did awful things to the people that I care about. The people that I love" she continues while moving closer to him. "And I hated you for it. God, I hated you...Until I didn't. Because you showed me your humanity and made me feel strong and powerful and like I could do or be anything. Like I was your first choice and I love you for that" she ends, taking a deep breath after her long speech.

Klaus looks to her in a mix of shock and awe. She opens her mouth to speak again but he gives her no time to speak as he moves forward. His mouth came crashing down on hers. The kiss was passionate and consuming. She opened her mouth to allow him entrance. Their tongues battle for dominance as she lets out a moan.

His hands moved to her curls and tugged them gently, allowing her neck to be exposed to him. He leaves a trail of hot kisses down her neck as his hands move down her back, causing her to shiver in anticipation. "Klaus" she moans out and how he loves to hear his name fall from her lips. He moves his hands to the back of her thighs and lifts her up, her legs wrapping around him perfectly.

Klaus moves with her toward the bed and deposits her gently on it. Her hands still wrapped around his neck. He moves away and looks down at her. Marveling at the beauty that she was, taking in every tiny detail.

He's on her again as his hands and mouth explore her body again as the sun kisses the horizon.

,KC*

Bonnie sat in the large library in the originals compound. The library was like Disneyland to her, having found books that contained some of the oldest spells in existence for various things. Some exciting and some dark.

Not that it was surprising of course, the originals were the oldest supernatural creatures in existence and their mother had been the original witch.

Bonnie had to remind herself of the reason she was in there to begin with. After she, along with Freya and Davina had completed the spell they all took a break, needing to regain their strength.

Once Caroline was back in the compound and safe she had dove back into research mode. She had to make sense of what the witches in the ancestral plane had told her.

She knew that Lucian was one of the originals first sired. Klaus' if she remembered correctly. However she had no idea what he was planning or where to begin looking for the grimiore that was supposed to help them destroy the Phoenix stone.

Bonnie heard the heavy door to the library open and looked up to see who it was at the door. "And how did I know I'd find you here darling?" Kol spoke, the signature smile to plastered on his face. The one that all the originals seemed to have.

"I need to figure this out" she says with a sigh. She was no closer to getting answers as she was when they first got here. "What you need is food and some sleep" Kol says while handing her a cup of coffee. "You're no good to us if you're burnt out" he adds. She rolls her eyes at his statement even though she knew he was right.

"I'm fine" she says and takes another book to open. "I'm not done, so you can either help me or leave" she says. "You're quite the spirited lass, aren't you" Kol smirks as he takes a book.

They sit in silence for a while reading and sneaking glances at one another, little embarrassed smiles playing on their lips as one catches the other staring.

Bonnie pushes a book harshly aside after a while in frustration. "This is no use. There's nothing in here that can help us" he complains. "First of all darling, as much as I love being rough these books are are quite old so you might want to try a more delicate approach and second of all maybe we're looking at this all wrong" Kol starts.

"Sorry" Bonnie apologizes sheepishly while ignoring his little statement of being rough. "So what now?" she asks.

Kol moves from his position next to her and walks around. "What exactly did the witches say to you?"

Bonnie runs her hand through her hair trying to calm herself. Maybe Kol's fresh take on things could help. "Just that we should protect Davina and Caroline and that we should look for the grimiore. That's it. This would have been so much easier if they just told me where to find it" Bonnie says.

Kol moves forward and smirks at her in an infuriating yet charming way. Wait. She did not just think that. "Where would be the fun in that darling" he says. "Alright so Lucien obviously has something going on with the witches in this city" he starts pacing. "More like the ancestors" Bonnie corrected and Kol looks to her for an explanation.

"Well the witch that wanted to attack me hated vampires and I know that it's in every witch to hate vampires. Their very existence disrupts the balance of nature but I've learned that not all vampires are monsters. I mean look at Caroline. She was the most in control vampire I knew. The hatred in that witches eyes was something different" Bonnie ends.

Kol looks to her for a moment contemplating her words. It did make sense that the ancestors would help Lucien. They were more powerful in death after all. But why would they help a vampire.

Unless he was forcing them to. But again how would he be doing that. Kol's mind went back to something he read earlier. That he forgot about in his thousand years.

He moves toward the table and opens a book and Bonnie leans over curiously. "I think you're right darling. Witches are quite powerful when they die. But why would the ancestors help a vampire?" He questions.

Bonnie thinks that they would have no reason to. Unless... "They have to" Bonnie realizes and Kol smiles at her. "So what are you looking for?" She questions.

Kol keeps flipping through the the grimiore while answering her. "Back when my siblings and I were still running from my vile father we needed a place to hide. Eventually we came across this place. My siblings built New Orleans from the ground up. I was tucked nicely in my box of course" his voice held hints of bitterness as he continued. "When I was finally out I came across a witch. She was powerful, showed me all kinds of fun tricks. One in particular stuck with me" he says.

Bonnie looked to him in intrigue as she waited for him to continue his story. "You see she didn't like that vampires ruled the city and as powerful as she was she couldn't go up against the original family on her own. So she descended into dark magic" Kol states and turns the book around so she can see it.

Bonnie looks over the spell and looks to Kol in confusion and apprehension. This looks like a normal spell. One that any witch could perform. "It's a binding spell" she says and he nods and explains it to her. "It may look like that's all it is darling but I assure it's not. You see this is the grimiore of the witch is was talking about" he says.

Bonnie knew that she was not going to like whatever Kol was about to say next. "Its sacrificial magic you see. Killed a bunch of children to perform it."

Bonnie takes a deep breath. What kind of monster would kill innocent children. "What exactly does the spell do?" Bonnie questions. "It can bind the dead to you" Kol states. "One of the few ways you can get them to do your bidding. It can be a disaster if not done correctly or if the dead person your binding yourself to doesn't do what you want. It can rip apart entire plains" he ends.

Bonnie take a much needed breath of air as she digested this new information. She was about to speak before she heard a loud noise. Both Kol and Bonnie look to each other as they make their was out of the library to investigate.

,KC*

Caroline adjusts her position on the bed as her eyes remain closed. She turns over to bump into something hard. She growls out in frustration as she peaks through one eye coming face to face with Klaus' chest.

She looks up to see him smirk at her. "Do you even sleep" she asks as she moves her head to rest on his chest. The sheets strewn all over the bed as their legs tangle with each other. "You'll find that I don't need as much sleep as you would think" he states. "Right. You're old" she says and he scoffs at that.

He moves his hand along her arm and into her hair, playing with her long blonde tresses. "How are you feeling" he asks while his other hand draws patters on her leg. "I'm fine. Great actually" she looks up and catches the smirk on his face.

She slaps his shoulder playfully and he just pulls her in for a kiss. If anyone had told her a month ago that she would be lying in bed with the original hybrid she would have thought they are crazy.

But right now she did not wish to be anywhere else. She felt safe in his arms. It felt right.

Caroline tried not to drive herself crazy about the fact that he did not say the 'L' word back. She would just live in this moment for now. No craziness that they need to worry about. Just them.

"What about..."Klaus begins as he looks to her stomach. This was not a situation he had been in before. It unnerved him. She was pregnant. The woman that he...what did he feel for her. Did he love her?

He had said before that love was a weakness. But in this moment he did not care. He would protect her. He would tear apart anyone who dared touch her. But something was holding him back from saying those words.

"I'm good. And if you ask me that again I'm going to have to kick your ass" she says and he chuckles. She lets a moment of comfortable silence pass but he can tell she wants to say something but does not push her to do so.

Caroline looks up to him and prepares herself for the conversation that they are about to have. "I know that this was not something you expected" she begins to ramble and does not look at him. "I mean I'm pregnant. It's something that I never thought would happen after I turned. But I just... I want you to know that it doesn't change the way I feel and I totally get it if you want to take a step back or whatever until after I have the babies but I just think that-" she's cut off as his lips descend on her.

He kisses her slowly and she lets out a moan as his tongue explores her mouth. He moves away from her and she wants to whimper at the loss of contact. "This isn't the most ideal situation love, but we can get through this and everything else that's thrown our way" he says and she knows he not only is talking about the enemies they are facing but her new human status as well.

She gives him a quick kiss on the lips. "I'm hungry" she states and he smiles at her. "Well then love, lets get you fed" he says and moves to put on his discarded clothes.

He makes his way out of the room and Caroline takes a moment to herself. She knows she has to get out of bed but she does not want to.

She wants to stay like this. Happy. Where no one is after them and they be content. With a sigh she heads toward the bathroom.

After a few moments she she was changed and refreshed. She walked out of the room and was about to go down to the courtyard to find Klaus when she heard a child giggle.

Caroline was curious so she turned and entered the room. When she entered she sees Klaus looking down into a crib.

She stood by the door not wanting to interrupt the moment but Klaus, of course knew she was there. "I got your food love, but I got a little side tracked" he says and turns to look at her. "That's fine" she smiles and moves further into the room.

Klaus picks Hope up and turns toward her. The baby immediately reaches for his necklaces and stuffs it into her mouth. Caroline laughs as she takes another bite of her sandwich. "She's got you wrapped you around her little finger" she says and moves toward them.

Caroline reaches her hand out toward the baby and tickles her tummy. Hope laughs and wiggles in klaus' grasp. "She's not the only one" Klaus replies and Caroline smiles up at him.

A few years ago he would never admit to such a thing. He would never allow such a weakness but he did now. He would admit it without any prying eyes.

"Caroline..." Klaus looked to her while she was still busy playing with the baby, who was trying to grab hold of her blonde locks.

"Hmm?" She says, her eyes never leaving Hope. "I know this is not what you expected..." he began and Caroline cut him off, immediately knowing where the conversation was heading.

Caroline kissed his cheek and looked to him. "We'll get through anything thrown our way" she says, echoing his words form earlier.

Klaus puts Hope back in her crib and moves closer to Caroline. His hands lace around her waist. "What now" Caroline asks. "What's the plan for Rayna and the heretics and everyone else."

Klaus knew that Bonnie was busy trying to find a way to destroy the Phoenix stone. Once she does there was one less thing to worry about. "Well no doubt Tristan will want revenge for his sister. He would be a fool to attack us now though when his forces are weak. As for Lucien, we've not heard from him yet" he says.

However before she could reply a loud noise erupted from downstairs. Klaus and Caroline looked to each other and moved toward the door, Klaus first looking to make sure Hope was okay.

Once they were in the courtyard Klaus saws Bonnie and Kol come through from the other end. Soon Elijah and Rebekah came into the courtyard as well. They looked to see Hayley peering down from the first floor balcony near Hope's room ready to protect her daughter from any danger.

"What the hell was that" Caroline turns to see Damon and Stefan enter through the other side of the compound with Enzo and Alaric.

"No bloody idea" Rebekah says. As she vamp speeds toward the balcony to look through the window. "You have got to be kidding me" she says in an annoyed tone at the sight before her. "Lucien" she says and vamp speeds back to the courtyard.

Klaus moves closer toward Caroline at his sisters words. They could all protect themselves but she was human now. She was vulnerable.

"They can get in" Hayley says in worry. Freya steps forward and begins to chant. "It's a protective barrier" Bonnie explains, "but she can't hold it up forever. We have to get out of here" she adds.

"It's not going to be easy" they all turn to Damon, who had spoke from his place next to the window. "Looks like the heretics decided to make their presence known" he says.

Damon grabs a chair that's closest to him and breaks it, making a make shift stake. He throws one to Stefan who moves next to him.

Damon throws Caroline a stake as well and she catches it easily. "They have white oak" Elijah says says and Klaus becomes tense.

That was no one but two of their enemies that have a weapon that could kill him along with his siblings. Lucien knew of the bloodlines but he was from Klaus' sire line. Which meant Elijah, Rebekah and Kol were fair game. He would not let his family get hurt. He would destroy Lucien.

He moves toward a window and looks out toward Lucien. "Ah my sire. How lovey to see you again" Lucien says. Klaus can hear him perfectly thanks to vampire senses, so can the other vampires in the compound.

"Do you really believe that this little hoard can defeat me. Clearly you have no idea what you're up against, maybe you should ask dear Aroura" Klaus taunts.

He knew Lucien was in love with the redhead and must have heard about Aroura's demise.

"I may not be able to kill you but I will take everything you hold dear" Lucien says and moves forward. "Well than come meet your maker" Klaus smirks and turns back toward the rest of the occupants in the compound.

At the other end of the compound Damon sees Lilly lead the heretics. "Ah mommy dearest. I would say it's good to see you but I'd be lying" he says. "We just want the Phoenix stone Damon. Give us what we want and we won't have to do this" she says.

Damon looks to Stefan who is standing next to him. He can see that his little brother his having more trouble than he is.

Stefan always wanted a relationship with their mother yet what they got was something far from it. "Come and get it" Stefan says with a determined look in his eye.

Klaus and Caroline move toward each other. His hand moves around her waist and he kisses her deeply. "Stay close" he whispered and looks up to Elijah who is standing next to Hayley in front of Hope's door.

Elijah looks to Rebekah on the opposite end of the balcony and Kol standing next to the Bennett witch down below as he looks toward his brothers and sister. Freya stood in the middle of the compound looking to them. Still chanting silently. A silent looks of understanding passed between the five remaining Mikealson's.

They have been alive for a thousand years. Fought many battles, some even against each other. Even though they were indestructible, they always fought each battle as though it was their last.

This very well could be. Lucien had white oak that he could plunge into their hearts. "They're breaking through" Frey says and her chants become louder, trying to keep up the barrier.

Caroline looks to Bonnie who is standing next to her and Stefan who's on the balcony. She hopes that she can convey everything she wants to say. A silent 'fight as hard as possible' and an 'I love you.'

She turns toward Klaus and puts her hand in his. He looks to her and she knows this is the last chance she is going to get. "I love you" she says as the doors slam open.

Vampires come rushing in, wasting no time. Enzo-who is standing in the front of the courtyard, rips out a vampires heart and moves on to the next. The ones that pass him run toward Bonnie.

She chants out loud, bringing them to their knees as Kol severs their heads form their shoulders.

Close by klaus' eyes turn gold as he plunges his hand into a vampire and pulls out his heart. Caroline stands behind him as a vampire runs toward her. She brings her hand up to block the vampire as she plunges the stake into his heart.

Caroline looks up toward Hayley. She latches on to a vampires throat with her toxic hybrid teeth and pushes him over the rail, letting him fall to the ground.

Elijah stands back to back with Hayley, much like she and Klaus is. He grabs hold of one of the witches that's on Lucien's side and quickly severed his head.

Rebekah punches one of the vampires on the other end of the balcony and rips her head off. She looks to the opposite end toward Elijah and sees he is taking on three vampires as Hayley is taking on two. She grabs a stake and uses her strength to throw it across the compound, effectively taking out one of the vampires Elijah was taking on.

He looks to where the stake came from and sees Rebekah smirk at him and go back to the task at hand. Killing as many vampires as she can.

Damon breaks the window he was standing at and throws his stake out with his vampire strength. The heretic he was aiming at - Mary Louise avoided the stake narrowly.

Damon took another and aimed at her again at the same time Stefan did. She dodged the first one but the second went straight through her heart.

Nora screamed at the sight and started chanting. The compound shook violently as Freya and Bonnie tried to combat it, all the while trying to protect themselves.

Alaric, being the vampire hunter that he was always carried around weapons. He threw vervain bombs and used his crossbow to kill any vampires he could.

The more vampires they killed the more entered. "We have to get out of here" Freya shouted as Lucien entered.

Kol was the first to him as they fought against each other. Lucien punched Kol and he fell to the floor.

Klaus saw what happened and rushed to his brothers aid. Klaus moved forward and drove a stake through Lucien's shoulder.

He was going to finish the foolish vampire off but he looked up to see three vampires heading toward Caroline.

She tried to punch one but the vampire caught her hand. She expected it and used her other hand to plunge the stake in her heart.

She turned around to find two more behind her. She was ready for them to attack but instead they fell to the ground.

Klaus stood behind them with their hearts in his hand. He grabbed ahold of her hand and looked to Hayley. She caught his eye and nodded.

Hayley moved toward Elijah and they both went to retrieve Hope. Everyone moved further into the compound and toward the garage.

Bonnie an Freya chanted as they put up another barrier. It would not hold for to long but it would have the desired effect. It would allow them to get away.

Once they were in the garage everyone got into different cars. "Marcel is waiting at the edge of the city" Rebekah says while getting into the drivers seat of her car and starting it.

Klaus, Caroline, Hayley and Elijah were in another car with Hope. Alaric and the Salvatore's would follow behind them and Enzo, Kol, Bonnie and Freya piled into another car.

They all speed off into different directions. They would meet at the edge of the city but first they would have to lose anyone who would follow.

A few hours later they were at the edge of the city. "We can't stay" Marcel says. "I got word from my guys. Vampires are flying in from all over. We have to get out while we still can" he adds.

Klaus hated running. This was his city. Under different circumstances he would kill every last one of them. But he had to protect his daughter and Caroline.

He knew that they all would not leave together. It would be to easy of a target for all of them to stay together. By the look on everyone's faces, they were all thinking the same thing.

One thing was for sure however. They had to say goodbye to New Orleans.

AN: thanks for reading. Please review and let me know what you guys think.