This story is slowly making it's way to the end. Only a few more chapters after this one. Thank to all of you who have been following along, reviewing and reading every chapter even with my slow updates.
Katherine was pacing back and forth in the little hanger at the private airport just outside Mystic Falls.
"They should be here by now." she said, checking the time again.
"Elijah's always punctual." The pilot reminded her. "If they're running late, it's because there were some unexpected complications. They'll be here soon."
"How can you be so calm?"
"It beats being worried every instant of every day. Go make a drink or something, you need to relax." he shrugged.
"I'll relax when Elijah and my brother are back."
The door cracked open.
Katherine jumped up.
Klaus and Caroline walked in.
"Oh, its you." Katherine said, clearly disappointed.
"Nice to see you too." Caroline said, swatting at her playfully.
"What are you even doing here? You were back at their house." Katherine said.
"There was a problem. I needed to get here to warn Klaus, but he figured it out before I got to him." Caroline said.
"I told you to stay put. You nearly got yourself-" Klaus said.
"But I didn't."
"But what if you did?"
"The others aren't here yet." Katherine said quietly.
"They'll be here." Caroline said. "It's going to be ok."
Katherine nodded, but she didn't look convinced.
Klaus tried to swallow back an uneasy feeling. Caroline kept smiling at him, trying to convince him that she was ok after everything that had just happened. In return, he was trying his best to not show his discomfort. There was probably some low grade poison or sedative in the needle. It was something he had built up an immunity to. He just needed to rest and drink some water, it would be out of his system soon. No sense in even mentioning it to her.
"I think we're going to sit in the plane and wash some of this blood off." Caroline said to Katherine.
Katherine's head tilted back, finally stepping out of her own worry to notice the appearance of the two people in front of her. Caroline was spattered with blood and Klaus was practically soaked in it.
"Damon?" Katherine asked.
"I did it." Caroline said, still trying to find the right tone. It was a topic she wasn't used to dealing with. "Klaus started, but I was the one to... end it. I killed him."
Katherine gave her a sad smile and hugged her.
"I'm glad we're on the same team." she whispered in Caroline's ear.
Katherine gave them another nod and went back to pacing the hanger floor while they got in the plane.
Caroline found the little bathroom in the back and started wetting paper towels. She wiped her face off and looked in the mirror at the girl with little red dots across her shirt. So this is what Caroline the killer looked like. She didn't feel like a different person.
It reminded her of high school, of the first time she looked in the mirror after losing her virginity. Looking for something fundamentally different, but finding that she was exactly the same. She was still herself. She felt different in some tiny way, maybe a little stronger, but it wasn't the life altering experience she had anticipated. She felt at peace with it.
Just outside the bathroom, Klaus leaned against a wall to catch his breath. Something was wrong. A strange pain was creeping though him. It wasn't physical pain in the strictest sense. It was more of an uneasy feeling that was snaking through him. He closed his eyes and tried to push it away.
As soon as his eyes closed, Henrik appeared in his mind. He was running from something. A wolf. He tried to open his eyes, but he couldn't. He watched in horror as the wolf caught up with Henrik and tore a claw down his back, knocking him to the ground. Then the wolf was over Henrik, fangs bared. It ripped into his neck and tore into him, biting over and over. His little brother was screaming to him for help. He tried to move but he was stuck. Henrik's eyes went still.
"Klaus?"
He blinked. His eyes opened and Caroline was standing in front of him.
"Sorry?" he offered.
"I was just asking if you wanted me to help you wipe all that off?" She pointed to his face.
"Oh, yes that would be nice." he nodded.
She pulled him into the bathroom, but before she wiped the blood off him she stood up on her toes and kissed him.
He smiled and let the warmth of her lips on his wash over him. She backed away and he looked at her, reaching out to tangle a hand in her hair. She looked exhausted from all that had happened. He felt guilty, something that he didn't like feeling. Guilt meant caring, and caring meant weakness. Damon was supposed to be his to kill. He wanted to take care of it for her, to be the one to protect her. But she had ended up having to do it herself. He was proud of her. She had done so well. But it should never had fallen to her. Mikael was right when he told him that he would always be a disappointment.
"I wish you didn't have to be the one.. with Damon. I wanted to do it for you." he said.
She studied his expression for a minute and gathered her thoughts
"I'm ok with it." she said. "In fact, I think it's better this way."
"I saw him standing there in front of you, and I heard the shot. I thought..." he swallowed and blinked the image away.
"It's ok. It's over."
"I thought it was you. And it would have been all my fault. You were standing in front of him because of me. All I do is cause you pain."
"I was there because I chose to be. I went against what you told me to do. And yes, it was because I needed to be here to warn you, because I couldn't risk losing you. But it was my decision. It wasn't your fault."
"Caroline, you can't ever have a normal life with me. Now that he's gone, I understand if you want to stay here, patch things up with your mother. I can leave some guards with you."
"Why are you trying to talk me out of this? I want to be with you. I don't care about normal."
He nodded and pulled her close, hugging her tight. The wet patches on his shirt smeared against hers, leaving dark patches on the light fabric, staining it forever. He would always be destruction.
Henrik flashed in front of his eyes again. A wolf clawed his chest.
"Henrik?" he asked Caroline.
"He's ok. We'll see him as soon as the plane lands."
"I have a bad feeling. I keep picturing things happening to him. Are you sure nothing happened to him?"
"Things did happen. But he's ok now."
Klaus nodded. He was being irrational. This was the weakness of feeling. You let a little in and it all comes pouring out like a flood.
She kissed him again.
"Just... You seem a little not ok right now, and if you're worrying about me and what happened today, please don't." she said.
He nodded and turned to the sink, splashing a handful of water on his face.
When he looked in the mirror, blood was dripping off Mikael's face.
He screamed and lurched back, hitting the bathroom door and stumbling back into the aisle.
Elijah walked through the doors first, followed by Jeremy and Rebekah, who were leading Matt. Matt was still blinking furiously, trying to get the tear gas out of his eyes. Kol followed, glancing behind them every few steps.
Katherine ran across the hanger to them, first tackling Elijah to the ground.
Elijah's tried to maintain his dignity as his guards and pilots watched in amusement at the tornado of a woman flinging herself all over him, kissing him and chastising him for making her worry.
"What is this?" Rebekah asked, motioning to Katherine's presence among their group.
Katherine dusted herself off and hugged her brother.
"You ok, Jere?" she asked, noticing his eyes were red.
"Just a little tear gas. Elijah's got some glass in him, though. We'll need to get it out on the ride back. And Matt here's gonna be blind for another hour or so. He took a full hit in the face so he could chuck the cans away from the rest of us. Probably the reason we weren't too blinded to escape." Jeremy said.
"Elena?" Matt asked, turning towards Katherine's voice.
"Nope, you've got the evil twin instead." she joked.
"Hey, Kat." he smiled goofily, eyes still closed.
"How long has Matt been involved?" she asked Jeremy.
"Just now. He's.. uh, he and Rebekah, um." Jeremy tried to find the right word, unsure of the seriousness of the relationship.
"And what are you doing here?" Rebekah said, eying Katherine up and down. "Who invited you?"
"Bekah, we're being followed, perhaps once we're in the air?" Elijah offered. "Unless you'd like us to ask Niklaus his opinion on you bringing your boy back with us?"
"Fine." Rebekah muttered.
"You're with Matt?" Katherine asked, eyeing Rebekah suspiciously.
"Why are you even here?" Rebekah asked. "We looked into you and your twin. You weren't as useful as your brother. How did some pathetic druggie vagrant like you end up with us?"
"Elijah. You need to talk to your sister." Katherine said, never taking her eyes off Rebekah.
"Elijah, tell me you're not. Her, Elijah? Not you too." Rebekah said.
"Like you're one to talk." Kol snorted.
"Klaus and Caroline are already on board." Katherine told Elijah, ignoring Kol's remark.
"He's still with that one?" Rebekah sighed.
"What's Caroline doing here?" Kol asked.
"Something about warning Klaus about something." Katherine shrugged.
"Is Nik ok?" Rebekah demanded. "What happened?"
Elijah glanced around the hanger.
"I'll get you caught up once we're in the air, Bekah. Right now we've got to get going."
Caroline got down on the ground in the aisle of the plane next to Klaus.
"What happened?" she demanded.
He gasped and scrambled back until he hit the seat behind him. He was breathing heavy, eyes wild with fear.
"What is it?" she asked, carefully putting a hand on his shoulder.
He flinched.
She pulled her hand away, startled by it. She watched as he blinked several times, slowly pulling away from whatever had spooked him.
He swallowed and looked over at her.
"Caroline?"
"Yes?"
"Caroline. You're here."
"Klaus, what are you talking about?"
"Do you swear that Henrik is alive? That you're not just saying that to keep me calm?"
"I swear. You'll see him. We'll go straight to him when we land."
He nodded, but she could tell he didn't believe her.
She carefully approached him again, slowly scooting across the floor with her hands in front.
He watched her, looking at him like he was broken. He needed to prove he wasn't. He pushed away the images swimming in his head.
"Come here." he said, pulling her in to him.
She exhaled with relief and curled against him.
"I'm mad at you." he said quietly.
"That's my line." she joked.
"You put yourself in danger."
"You needed my help."
"I got to him before you got a chance to help, sweetheart."
"I didn't know that you would. I couldn't just sit and wait."
"That's exactly what you should have done."
"So you get to protect me but I don't get to protect you?"
"You won't need to. I can handle myself. I can't handle you jumping into dangerous situations without training."
"So train me. Or have one of your family members do it."
"No."
"Why not?"
"I don't want to share you with them. I don't want you running missions and getting into situations that put your life at risk. You've had enough of that."
"Let me decide for myself what I can handle."
"Let me keep you safe."
"Why?" She asked "Why is that so important to you?"
"Because I've never done anything good. And you are so much more good than I am. I don't want to take away your light or your kindness by bringing you into this work."
"Do you not like me anymore? Now that I killed Damon?"
He looked stunned.
"Of course I still... I... I love you."
"Then why?"
"Because I want you to love me too. And you'll grow to hate me if I let you into this business. I won't. I can't let you do what I do. It's not right."
"And what else am I supposed to do? I can't go back to Mystic Falls. I want to stay with you, and I can't just be some useless person."
"We'll find something. You can help, just not in the field. Not where there's.."
"Where there's real danger? Because I didn't shoot someone in the neck today? Because I didn't survive a plane crash and several days without food in islands and caves? I survived you. What else do I have to do to prove I can do this?"
"It's not about can. It's about should. And you don't get to be the angry one right now, love. I get to be mad at you this time."
"Mad at me for trying to save your life?"
He sighed and laced his fingers with hers.
"Yes. Furious."
She looked him up and down, then smiled, draping one leg across his and shifting her way into his lap.
"Are you?" she asked, trailing a row of kisses up his neck.
"Yes. Very angry." he said.
She kissed him deeply, sucking gently on his lower lip.
"That's not going to work." he hummed.
She kissed him again, tracing the seam between his lips with her tongue while she shifted in his lap. His hands landed on her hips, fingers pushing roughly against her skin.
"Still mad?"
"Yes."
"What are you going to do about it?" she challenged.
She rocked her hips against him again, feeling him grow harder underneath her.
He swallowed, trying to maintain control.
"I'm going to ... punish you?" he said, not intending it to come out as a question. He knew what she was hinting at, but she couldn't be playing this game with him. She was too sweet. She was about to slap him and yell at him.
"Yes." she breathed. "And how are you going to do that?"
He swallowed and tried to keep calm. His hands slid around her, moving across her behind.
He looked to her. She couldn't be serious.
She nodded.
"Go ahead." she said.
He took a deep breath.
"You've been very bad."
"Yes, I have."
A series of metallic pings echoed from the stairs leading to the cabin of the plane. He groaned and leaned his head against her shoulder.
"Just when we were getting to the good part."
"I promise we'll continue with the good part later." she whispered.
Several people were barging into the plane.
"How nice of you to show up for my rescue." Rebekah said, glaring at Klaus.
""Nice to see you too Bekah, I see you're well."
"No thanks to you, Nik."
"Believe it or not, we did have other business in town, Bekah."
"Like what?" she challenged.
"Like getting rid of a few loose ends. And, as it turns out, Saltzman was one of them."
"What did you say?" asked Elijah, shuffling closer to Klaus.
"Did he say Saltzman? Alaric?" Kol shouted from the front of the plane. "And how did Caroline get here?"
"Get everyone seated." Elijah shouted back at him "I'll have Niklaus explain it once we level out in the air."
"What is that?" Klaus said, pointing at Matt.
"Not a good time." Elijah warned him.
"Tell me you didn't pick up another-"
"Not a good time, Niklaus. The council's closing in and we can't afford to waste any time getting in the air."
Klaus glared at Rebekah. "We're going to have words about this." he said, motioning to Matt.
Everyone got to seats as the engines whirred and the plane started to roll out of the hanger and down the airstrip.
They had been in the air for an hour.
Caroline had helped Rebekah flush the remainder of the contaminant out of Matt's eyes. The two girls had an uneasy alliance, they would play nice if they had to, but they weren't anywhere near friends yet.
Matt was asking questions and Caroline felt a pang of guilt, being part of it now. He got dragged in.
"So then Kol will be training you and-" Rebekah started.
"Training me?" Matt asked.
"Well, yes. You came with us, so now you need to be trained to do what we do."
"Rebekah, I came with you because I was blind and you dragged me on a plane. I didn't agree to this."
Caroline backed out of the room trying not to overhear the rest of their argument.
Rebekah was slamming things around on the countertop, obviously hurt by Matt's less than enthusiastic reaction. "You said you wanted to be with me, well this is what it is to be with me."
"So what? Now I'm just part of this? I don't get a choice?"
"You said you didn't mind, you said you liked me still."
"Yeah, you. Not them."
"You said it didn't matter."
"Yeah, like it doesn't matter if I like my girlfriend's family, because you see them on holidays or birthdays and you pretend to get along for a few hours."
"That's not really how my family operates."
"I don't know if I can do this." he said. "I just want to be normal and live my life."
Caroline walked down the aisle of the plane. Elijah was standing along one of the rows, holding on to a seat to keep his balance as Katherine picked pieces of glass out of his side. A paper cup in her hand held a tiny pile of bloodied shards.
"Trouble in paradise." Katherine remarked, motioning to the bathroom.
"It wasn't my idea to take him." Elijah grunted as Katherine pulled out another piece of glass.
"He'll come around." Katherine said. "He's just one of those people who always wanted normal, you know? White picket fence and kids and a golden retriever. It's hard on him to feel like that's all been taken away."
"Sounds like someone else I know." Elijah said, glancing back to the bathroom.
Rebekah had spent a lifetime wondering what it would be like to be normal. She never got the chance. Being born a Mikaelson meant having to give up dreams of a normal civilian life.
Caroline looked at the pieces still embedded in Elijah's skin. Katherine was slowly getting through all of them.
"That looks bad. Can I get you anything?"
Elijah glanced around the plane, his eye catching Klaus in conversation with Kol and Jeremy on the other side.
"Come closer." he whispered.
Caroline leaned in.
"Something's going on with Niklaus. He's not well." Elijah said.
"I know." Caroline agreed. "He needs to see Henrik as soon as we get back. I think he won't be convinced he's ok until he sees him."
"He's been jumpy. Acting like he's seeing things." Elijah said. "Did he mention anything unusual to you?"
"Just that he wanted to see Henrik. He was worried."
Elijah nodded. "He's hiding something. He does this, taking it all on himself so we won't worry. Something's not right."
"I don't know what it is." Caroline said. "One minute he's fine, and the next he's completely out of it."
"I think he might have been injured and he doesn't want us to worry. If it's getting infected he'll need to get help before he gets blood poisoning."
"He's not bleeding." Caroline pointed out. "It's Damon's blood all over him."
"Just... see if you can get a closer look. I know my brother. He's hiding something."
Klaus was laughing with Kol, swapping cards from the pile in front of them.
Suddenly the energy in the room shifted.
Klaus felt heat.
Fire.
Flames crept across the floor, making a path towards Kol.
Klaus looked around. No one else saw it.
Jeremy got up to grab another beer. Klaus watched in horror as Jeremy walked right though the path of flames that burned across the floor of the plane. They weren't real. Jeremy didn't react to them.
"It's not real." he said quietly.
"What?" Kol asked.
"Nothing. Ah, hand me another card?"
Kol passed him a card and as soon as their hands broke apart the flames met Kol's foot and snaked their way up his body.
Kol's eyes widened in panic. His body was being consumed by the flames. His skin was bubbling and melting.
Klaus stood up and screamed. He could smell Kol's skin burning. Kol was flinging himself against the walls of the plane, trying to put out the flames.
Klaus lunged towards him but he couldn't reach. There was some invisible barrier blocking him. He screamed for help. Kol's eyes rolled back as he collapsed on the floor, charred and burnt.
Klaus felt something hit him in the face and he was being pushed back into his chair.
Kol was standing over him, holding him down.
He was fine. Not burnt, not hurt at all.
Kol slapped him across the face again.
"Nik? Niklaus? What the hell?"
Rebekah and Matt had run towards them to see what was the matter.
"What were you screaming about?" Rebekah asked.
Klaus panicked, trying to find a way to patch it up. He couldn't be crazy. It was real. He could feel the heat of the flames. He knew the difference between real and fake. But here was Kol, right in front of him and he was just fine.
Elijah gave Caroline a nudge and she nodded, moving quickly up the aisle.
"Come with me." She said, grabbing Klaus's hand and dragging him into the bathroom, shutting the door behind them.
Klaus leaned against the sink, breathing heavy.
She rested against the door, watching him. His eyes were flickering back and forth, as if he was trying to sort though something.
"What happened?" she asked.
"Nothing."
"It didn't look like nothing."
"I'm fine."
"No, you're not."
"Did Elijah tell you to ask me? I saw you talking to him."
"Yes." she said. "He's worried about you."
Klaus shook his head and laughed. "Worried about me."
Caroline crossed her arms and waited for him to explain.
Something clouded behind his eyes. It was the same shift she had seen earlier when he was asking her about Henrik. Something wasn't right.
"Just go back to Elijah then." he said, his voice dripping with venom.
"What?"
"I don't care! It's always been him, from the very beginning, hasn't it?"
"What are you talking about?"
"You never cared about me, you were just using me to get to him! You wanted to make sure if you were marrying into the Mikaelsons you'd at least get a real one, isn't that right, Tatia?"
"Klaus, it's me. Caroline."
"You think you won? You think you can hurt me by going behind my back with my own brother? You mean nothing to me!"
"Stop!"
"You're nothing!"
She slapped him hard across the face. It seemed to work for Kol, and she didn't have time to try anything else.
Klaus snarled at her, taking a step closer, teeth bared. He looked savage, not even human. She recoiled, waiting for him to bite her. For the first time since the beginning, she didn't feel safe with him.
Then he blinked. His eyes went back to normal. He blinked a few times more, clearing his head. A look of horror washed over his face.
"Caroline?"
"It's me." she whispered, still shaken by the way he had charged at her only a moment ago.
"Oh no." he whispered. "Caroline, did I... did I do something?"
"No."
He nodded, not entirely believing her. His hand shook as he reached out to her, , tilting her chin, checking her neck and shoulder for evidence of an attack.
"You called me Tatia."
"I thought she was here. I thought you were her."
"What's going on?"
"I don't know. Kol was on fire. It was real. I felt it."
"Klaus, there was never any fire. We were all here. No one saw fire."
"It felt real."
She moved closer.
He put his hand behind his back and locked them together. He looked fearful as she tried to approach him.
"I saw her, she was here."
"No, she wasn't. And Kol wasn't on fire."
He shook his head.
"What aren't you telling me?" she asked. "What happened?"
"I'm not crazy." he said.
"what's happening?" she asked.
"Nothing." he shook his head. "I just need some rest. Everything's fine."
"No it's not. And you're covered in blood."
"It's not mine."
She motioned for him to move his arms so she could pull his shirt over his head.
"Yeah, we're going to have to burn this or something." She muttered, tossing the shirt that had become stiff with dried blood into a trash bin. "Do you have anything on the plane to change into."
"Probably. Elijah always overpacks."
"There's blood in your hair too." she said and turned on the sink.
He leaned over the faucet to try and clean it, but he couldn't see what he was doing so she stood next to him to get the back of his head.
Her gut twisted.
"What's that?" she asked.
"What's what?"
"Your back."
"We've already had this conversation."
"No, I don't mean that." she said. "Up by your shoulder. What happened?"
"Nothing. It's fine."
She looked at the raised bump with a red dot, like an infected bug bite. Around it bruising and broken veins moved in every direction. Scratch marks broke skin all around it, as if he had been itching at it.
"What is this?"" she asked, touching the skin next to it.
He flinched and moved away.
When he looked back up at her, the darkness had returned.
Liz Forbes knew how to follow tracks. The path was clear, shoe marks stamped into the dirt, leading into the paths through the woods. They never wavered.
It was long strides for Caroline. She must have ran almost the whole way. There was a break in the tracks, smudges and indents in the leaves. She bent down and looked closer. Caroline had laid down here, for who knows how long before getting back up. But the tracks continued. There was no blood.
She could find her daughter. She could fix this.
Caroline had every right to run. The last time they spoke, it haunted her.
She had yelled at her daughter, scolded her for ruining things with Damon. That was before she knew.
Now all she wanted to to was hug her baby.
Say she was sorry.
She should have seen it. She should have known.
She should have looked closer.
But it was too late for what she should have done. All there was left was now.
And now her daughter, presumed dead by most people who knew her, had switched to the other side. A life long enemy she never knew was always lurking in the shadows had become her ally. And Liz only had herself to blame. She had been the one to keep it from her. If Caroline knew what was really going on, maybe she would have chosen differently. If Liz didn't constantly force the Damon issue, maybe Caroline would have been more attached to home.
But things didn't work out as planned.
She had gotten off work and planned on showering before sleep.
Then she heard someone slip in.
Caroline ran off with the gun.
She tried to catch her, but she was already gone.
When she went back in to put some clothes on and dry her hair, the text messages were already piling up.
There was an attack on the hiding spot. Rebekah Mikaelson had been rescued. There was no hostage left to barter with.
Something else came up next.
A. had returned after a very long stint undercover. She didn't even know his name or face. Only the Salvatores knew him by sight, and Dr. Gilbert through correspondence. Even important players like herself and the Fells were kept out of the loop for this one. A mole on the inside was risky as anything, but it could be exactly what they needed to tip the balance. He had spent over a decade winning their trust before the old tutor had a 'heart attack' and someone needed to step up to teach the youngest Mikaelson whelp. By that time he had already earned Esther's trust many times over. A. was in. She thought it would be several more years before they acted on it.
But he had come back. Word was he had to get to Damon. Some kind of emergency. Damon was the only one he had direct contact with. Liz assumed at first that Damon asked for help with his Liz Forbes problem, but then the Mikaelson girl escaped, and Caroline showed up.
They were all here.
They were here, and they had her daughter with them.
She followed the tracks.
They led further into the woods.
A body was on the ground.
Liz ran to it, fearing what face she would see when she kicked it over. It was Damon. The entire area showed signs of struggle. Things were thrown about, tracks everywhere. A glint of metal among the dirt caught her eye.
The bullets scattered across the ground, the components of her service weapon flung on the ground near them. She put it back together. Only one bullet missing. She glanced back at the wound in Damon's neck.
The stairs led down into the cold stone room. She followed them and found another body on the floor. This one was stabbed. She looked him over and didn't recognize the face. He wasn't any council member she knew and he was no Mikaelson. He might have been the mysterious A. that Damon had talked about.
She ran her hand over a small table full of tools. Blood stained half of them. Knives and blunt objects were coated in rusty grime. A needle sat on the edge.
She picked it up, looked over the label. One of theirs. And she knew exactly which one it was.
"No." she whispered.
Liz tried to push away her fear, but Caroline had been here, and someone had taken the needle. Most of the serum was gone. She could already be dead.
She checked over both the bodies, but couldn't find any puncture wounds consistent to the needle. It wasn't in them. It was in someone else. She needed to reach her, to warn her.
She ran home and found the phone that could reach her daughter.
The bathroom door flung open and Caroline stumbled back.
She sprinted down the aisle of the plane and stumbled on a patch of turbulence.
Kol caught her before she fell, but another bump sent him flying back with her landing over him.
Elijah stood up, studying her face.
"What's going on? What isn't Niklaus saying?"
"He's just... one minute he's fine and then something happens and it's like he's talking to someone else."
"What?"
"He kept calling me Tatia, then he punched the mirror, and something about Mikael. And his back. There's something on his back."
Elijah nodded and moved back to the bathroom.
Klaus was leaning against the wall, looking down on his bloodied hands. A fragment of the mirror dangled off the edge of the sink, swaying back and forth a few times before crashing to the floor and splitting into smaller pieces.
"It's my fault." Klaus said, not bothering to look up.
"What's your fault, Niklaus?"
"Henrik's dead and it's my fault. The wolves. I should have protected him."
"Henrik's fine."
"I just saw it. I saw him die."
"No." Elijah said. "What's going on? What aren't you telling me?"
"She thinks she can just walk in here and expect me to trust her. As if I could. After everything that happened."
"Who?"
"Tatia won't just leave me alone. I know. You're right. I'm the one to blame here."
"I never said that."
"I should just disappear. That would really be best for everyone."
"Niklaus?"
"I tried... the mirror wasn't sharp enough."
"Tried what?"
"She thought I was punching the mirror because I was angry. I just needed to get a sharp edge of the glass. And I wanted her out of here. She shouldn't watch."
Elijah just stood there, dumbfounded by the conversation his brother was carrying on singlehandedly.
"You're right, Elijah." Klaus nodded. "Let's try again, shall we?"
"What?"
Klaus felt along his neck for a vein and brought a shard of glass up to it.
Elijah realized what he was trying to do just as it pierced skin.
A loud crack vibrated though the plane.
Caroline ran back, sniffing as she wiped a few stray tears.
Elijah was standing over Klaus, who was half conscious on the ground. A tiny trickle of blood went down his neck from where the glass had just managed to break skin.
"What did you do?"
"I didn't know what else... I punched him and he hit the wall, I just needed to stop him."
Kol peeked in.
"Handcuffs." Elijah said.
"For Nik?" Kol asked.
"Something's wrong. He just tried to open a vein in his neck. We need to sedate him."
"Good fucking luck, he's been training himself to take enough to put down an elephant."
"Then strap him down before he comes back to his senses."
Klaus woke up screaming, chained down to one of the chairs with Kol's handcuffs. With clouded eyes, he cursed all of them and threatened to kill every last one unless they released him. He didn't stop until Kol headbutted him, effectively knocking him out.
Rebekah decided they should hold off on trying to sedate him until they had to move him off the plane. Until then, it wasn't worth the risk. They knew he had something in his system, but there was no precedent for this. They had found the injection site, but there was no clue as to what could make him react like this. It was something new.
He went in and out of sleep, half the time waking up and seeing the world as it was, and half the time seeing people who weren't there, ghastly images of pain and betrayal. It started out as fear or anger but always escalated to attempts at self harm. He would fight and pull at his restraints, insisting that he deserved to die. He twisted and pulled, desperate to end it all.
Elijah added additional restraints every time Klaus drifted back to sleep. Most of the time he spent sleeping was marked with whimpers and flinches that indicated he wasn't finding any peace in dreams.
Caroline had spent the better part of an hour arguing with Elijah, but he finally allowed her to sit next to him. With a set of cuffs on every limb and eight rows of plastic zip ties up his arms, Klaus was now restrained to the point that all he could do was move his neck.
She sat and watched him finch and cry out in pain as something chased through his dreams. His body would tighten like he was reacting to a punch, over and over again.
His eyes opened.
"I remember you." he whispered. "I watched you die. It was years ago."
"Years?"
"I think so. There was no way of measuring time. But it felt like years. It's been so long. I've been running ever since."
"What do you think happened?"
"We were being chased. My fault. They came for me and took you instead. I tried to stop it. They held me down and made me watch. Your death lasted from sunrise to sunset. I couldn't save you. I failed."
He tried to reach to her, but his hands were held back by the restraints.
"I can't believe I'm seeing you again, after all these years. I never stopped loving you. Why did you wait so long to visit my dreams?"
"It hasn't been years. It's only been a few hours. that wasn't real. This is real."
"No." he shook his head. "You're not real. You died a long time ago. I try to join you, every day. But it always goes wrong. It's like I'm immortal. All I want is to die and see you again. Something won't let me die."
"You can't. Because I'm not dead. I'm here and I need you here. We're going to fix this. Rebekah and Elijah are already making phone calls. Kol's going to find a place to keep you safe. We can fix this."
He looked at her, taking her in and not hearing the words, just enjoying the sight of her.
"The light, even here. Caroline, it's you. I've missed you so much." he said, trying to absorb every detail of her, lock her in his mind.
"I didn't leave. I'm still here." she said.
"I'll find a way to meet you. Soon. I'll find a way." he said.
"Klaus, no. You can't. This is real. Don't you dare try to-"
"It's been so long. You're just as I remembered."
Then he drifted back into sleep.