Summary: Western AU. Klaus is the town sheriff. Caroline is a pain in his ass.
"Please sir, you don't understand,"
Klaus let out a deep sigh and patted his handkerchief against his forehead. It was a particularly hot afternoon. But the weather wasn't the only uncomfortable thing about the day.
Staring down, at the hunched over an old lady in front of him, who was nearly in tears; he was reminded that this was one of the aspects of his job, that he really didn't love.
"I'm sorry ma'am. There isn't anything I can do. It's the law,"
At that point, the woman did start to cry.
Damon Salvatore who was standing behind them rolled his eyes and scoffed loudly.
Klaus glowered warningly in his direction and pulled out a clean hanky and handed to the woman.
"M-my, h-husband, just… d-died. I don't h-have any m-money," she wept.
Klaus took another deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. He could happily deck Damon's smug face at that moment. Why the hell did he have to get him involved in all of this?
The woman straightened and wiped her face, attempting to compose herself.
"I just- I just need another month. I'll have the money by then, you have my word," she pleaded.
"I'm afraid, Mr Salvatore refuses to agree to those terms, Mrs Mayweather. As the owner of this property, he reserves the right to evict you and take ownership of it. I'm sorry," Klaus explained, somberly.
The woman gave him a bewildered look and then spun round to look at Damon.
The heartless bastard didn't even look up. He kept his head down and fiddled with his nails.
Seeing there was no other way around it, the woman once again burst into a fit of tears. Sobbing into the cloth Klaus gave her and practically drenching it.
Damon let out an irritated sigh and looked up at Klaus.
"Isn't there anything you can do about that?" he said, gesturing to Mrs Mayweather.
"What the hell is going on!?" Came a shrill voice from behind them.
The voice belonged to Ms Caroline Forbes. Daughter of William Forbes, owner of the town's only bookstore; and the bane of Klaus' existence.
She came stomping toward them, with her blonde hair curled in ringlets and adorned in a lovely canary yellow dress which complimented her nicely.
One couldn't help but notice how stunning she was.
Even when she was furious.
"Town business, blondie and none of your business, I might add," Damon fired back at her.
"Now why don't you just turn and head back the way you came and try to stay out of other people's affairs, for once?"
Caroline stopped short and arched her eyebrow at him.
"You may be a very rich man Mr Salvatore, but you've got no business ordering me around. I'll go where I please," she said, haughtily. Sticking her chin defiantly in the air.
"Besides, I was talking to the sheriff,"
Damon snorted but said nothing more.
Klaus couldn't help the smile of admiration that played on his lips. Caroline Forbes didn't any prisoners. She was proud and stubborn and never failed to get the last word.
And for some bizarre reason, he found it utterly bewitching.
"Mrs Mayweather are you alright?" Caroline said, softly to the older woman. Comfortingly rubbing circles into her back.
"Yes," she sniffed. "I will be, dear. I have a sister in Kansas, I suppose I could catch a train out of town and go and stay with her,"
"You're leaving? What for?" she exclaimed.
Instead of answering Mrs Mayweather turned around and shot an accusatory look at Damon, answering Caroline's question.
"You're evicting her!?" Caroline cried.
Damon shrugged
"She's 73 years old! What's the matter with you!?"
"It's my property, Blondie, I'll do what I want with it," he answered her.
"You cannot let him do this!?" Caroline exclaimed, turning to face Klaus.
"I'm afraid it's out of my control, love," Klaus said, placing his hands on her arms gently.
She shrugged them off and glared at him.
"That's bull Klaus and you know it,"
Damon made a loud whooping noise and raised his eyebrows.
"Jeez, language Blondie, there's elderly folk present. You and that potty mouth don't wanna give poor Mrs Mayweather a heart attack. Be a shame if she bit it, the same way her husband did," he quipped.
Klaus turned and snarled at him.
"Shut it Damon! Speak again and they'll be picking up parts of you around town for months when I'm finished with you," Klaus hissed.
"Whatever," Damon murmured but slightly more timidly this time.
"As much as I hate to admit it," Klaus said, turning back to Caroline. "Damon owns the building. I can't stop him from doing what he likes with it. It wouldn't be fair,"
"And it's fair, that an old lady has to end up homeless!?" Caroline demanded. "You're the sheriff, you can veto anything you want. The only person that will be upset if you stop Damon from evicting Mrs Mayweather; is Damon! This building is her whole life. She runs the candy store downstairs and she lives at the top. Everybody loves buying candy here. I've been coming here since I was a kid."
"Do you know what Damon's planning to do with this place once he kicks her out? He's gonna turn it into a casino," she stated, nodding as a matter of factly.
Damon's mouth dropped and he stepped forward.
"That's a dirty lie! Where the hell did you hear that!?" he demanded.
Suddenly he found himself facing the barrel of Klaus' gun. He lifted his arms and started to back away.
"I told you, to keep that scumbag mouth of yours shut," Klaus said, through gritted teeth. "I will decipher what is fact, from what's fiction. Not. You. Are we clear on that?"
Damon nodded wordlessly and shrank against the wall.
Klaus calmly faced Caroline once again.
"Is that true?" he asked.
"Yes, Stefan told me himself. He heard Damon on the telephone with some man from Texas, talking about it."
Damon's face was flushed and guilt was plastered all over it. Although he was attempting to look neutral.
Klaus looked back at Damon.
"Assuming any of this is true, then your gonna need a gambling license and presumably, a liquor license to go through with this. Unless of course, you were planning open your business without one?" Klaus said, slowly striding toward Damon.
Damon said nothing in response and only shot Caroline a filthy look from where he stood.
"That sounds like a lot of shenanigans going on in my town Damon. So I think, just as a precautionary measure, that I'm going to put you under surveillance."
"On what grounds!?" Damon worked up the courage to ask.
"On suspicion of attempting to set up an illegal gambling house under my nose. My advice to you, Mr Salvatore, would be to refrain from conducting any business for the next… oh let's say 4-6 weeks"
"You can't do that! You can't stop me from earning a living!"
"You're being put under legal surveillance Mr Salvatore, so I'm perfectly within my rights. Besides, what with you being the owner of the majority of establishments in this town, I think you'll survive for a couple of weeks on the money you have," Klaus insisted.
Damon looked livid. His face now resembled a beetroot in colour.
Klaus turned to Mrs Mayweather.
"You have an extension of a month to get the money. Mr Salvatore won't be bothering you till then," he assured her.
She gave him and Caroline a few hurried thank you's and rushed back into the shop as if she was afraid it would grow legs and run away from her.
"I'm not gonna stand for this," Damon insisted, bravely stepping forward and meeting Klaus' eye.
"Well that's a shame, because last time I checked; I was the sheriff around here. So if you don't like it, you know what you can do, don't you?"
He stared him out, until Damon lost his nerve and turned to leave
Swearing crudely under his breath as he did.
When he'd left, Caroline looked up at Klaus and beamed at him.
"Thank you,"
"Don't thank me just yet. Mrs Mayweather has a month. No more, no less. After that, there's not much I can do for her,"
Caroline shook her head.
"Don't worry, that won't be a problem,"
Klaus grinned, at the pensive expression on her face.
"No doubt you're thinking about all the various fairs and charity auctions you're going to plan, in order to raise the money,"
"Mrs Mayweather's a good woman, she didn't deserve what Damon was about to do to her," Caroline stated, in response.
"That may be true but you have to understand, Caroline, that I'm not here to make sure everybody plays nice, so we can all hold hands and sing around the campfire; I'm here to uphold the law,"
"Well, you go ahead and do your job. And I'll be right here behind you, making sure everyone plays nice," she said, flashing him a saccharine smile.
"Caroline," Klaus growled.
"You cannot keep undermining me in public, not matter how right you think you are," he said, in a more pleading than demanding tone.
"Number 1: I don't think I'm right, I am. Number 2: I wouldn't have to undermine you, if you just agreed straight away,"
With that, she spun on her heel and started to walk away from him.
She felt his hand around her wrist and in an instant, he spun her back around and pulled him close to her so that their bodies were pressed flush against one another.
"What am I going to do with you?" he murmured, bringing his face close to hers.
Caroline felt her breath hitch in her throat. His hand circled around her waist and his nose brushed against hers.
It had been a long time since they'd been that close.
As Klaus' eyes were drawn down toward her lips and he tilted his head; Caroline quickly recoiled and stepped away from him.
"I uh- have to go into town. I'm… I'm uh- meeting Elena," she stammered.
Klaus gave her a dimpled smirk.
"Travel safely sweetheart. Are you sure I can't give you a ride?"
Caroline certainly did not, miss the hint of suggestion in his tone and firmly shook her head.
"Goodbye Klaus,"
"Goodbye Caroline,"
He stood, smiling fondly at her as she left.