Hey guys! So if you've been following me on tumblr, you know that I'm super nervous about this chapter. I've rewritten it twice. Special shoutouts and kisses and hugs to Kady (klausykins) and Bliss (Blissinator) for helping me out with this one. You two are invaluable.

And just a note...I've changed canon slightly here and there going forward. But basically you can assume that most of the event in Chicago still took place. That Klaus revealed everything to Stefan about their history together. The only major thing that didn't happen was Caroline getting kidnapped by her dad and thrown in the dungeon.

So enjoy my twists and turns and...

~~~~One Week Later~~~~

Klaus sat in cab of the semi truck that he had been using to cart around his precious coffins. Elijah, Finn, and Kol were tucked safely away, along with the Ripper, who had thoroughly pissed him off. Stefan was currently out of commission, due to Klaus's temper.

Next to him sat Rebekah. He had awoken his sister again, after nearly a century in her coffin. Things had been a bit rocky at the start, but Rebekah was acclimating well. She had already proven her loyalty once again by sniffing out Stefan's lies. There was something the Ripper was hiding from him.

Now they were back in Mystic Falls, where all roads seemed to lead, to find out exactly what Klaus seemed to be missing in his quest for his hybrid army.

"Will she be there?" Rebekah asked. "Caroline?"

"I don't want to talk about Caroline," Klaus said, shutting her down.

"Oh come on Nik," she coaxed, "you never talk about her anymore."

"How would you know? You've been asleep for the past hundred years."

"Whose fault is that?" Rebekah countered. "Is she already dead then?"

"You're sensitivity knows no bounds, Rebekah," Klaus glanced over at her quickly and then away again, "yes, she is dead now. I saw her the last time I was in Mystic Falls."

Rebekah knew the story. Klaus had told his sister every detail the last time he had awoken her from her daggered sleep. The night of Caroline's death.

Rebekah had always harbored a jealous yet endeared curiosity about her. In the beginning, she would bother her brother with questions about the girl who stoles her dresses and slept in her bed, but Klaus made it known that after their initial conversation about his short time with Caroline, he had no desire to speak of it ever again.

"So, what's the plan then?" Rebekah asked changing the subject.

"Come on you guys! We have to be making memories!"

It was after dark and they were at school. It was weird, to say the least, but it was tradition. Caroline stood in a classroom, surrounded by her friends, trying to convince them to get into the grand tradition of senior prank night. Elena, Matt, Bonnie, and Tyler were not nearly as excited, as Caroline wanted them to be.

For the past week Caroline had thrown herself back into the excitement of their upcoming senior year and she was dragging all of her friends along with her. She had shelved the whole Klaus thing for the time being. It wasn't that she was giving up on him. She just couldn't do it, not now. Her loyalty had to remain to her friends. As much as she missed him, and wished she could at least let him know she was ok, there was just no way that was possible in the present.

For now, the present meant school, extra curricular activities and senior prank night.

"Fine," Elena said hopping off the desk at the front of the classroom, "I'm going to go super glue Alaric's desk shut."

Caroline beamed at her. "That's the spirit!"

Matt and Bonnie headed out to toilet paper the school swimming pool, which left Tyler and Caroline alone.

"So…"Tyler said, walking up to her, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

"Wanna help me put honey on the classroom doorknobs?" Caroline asked waving a bear shaped plastic jar in front of him.

Tyler chuckled. "Sure."

Klaus left Stefan and Rebekah outside behind the school, near the dumpsters, where no one was likely to find them. The ripper was awake again and well aware of their return to his home. Klaus smirked to himself; the look on his face had been priceless. It gave away everything. Not only did Stefan not want to be in Mystic Falls, but he also looked downright terrified that they had returned. Klaus realized that Stefan had been trying his hardest to keep him away from Mystic Falls and if Stefan was trying to keep him away, that could only mean one thing: The doppelganger was still alive.

After checking things out at the Gilbert house, it only took a little bit of questioning around town for Klaus to learn that it was Mystic Falls High School senior prank night. All of the seniors would be participating in the time-honored tradition of wreaking havoc over their hollowed school grounds. Really, it worked out perfectly, all of his favorite people in one place just made things easier.

Klaus sauntered through the school, a few female heads turning in his direction. He stopped one of the girls and flashed her a charming smile.

"Hello."

The brown haired girl smiled back at him. "Hi," she returned.

"Do you know where I might find Elena Gilbert?"

The girl's posture sagged a bit and she replied. "She's in H hall, one of the classes over there. I'm not sure."

Klaus smiled again and strode off in the direction the girl had pointed.

"Why is it every hot guy that walks into this school always goes straight for Elena Gilbert?" He heard the girl mutter under her breath. He chuckled to himself. If that girl only realized the kind of monsters the doppelganger attracted, she might change her tune.

He navigated his way through the school. It wasn't difficult to discern the layout halls. Klaus stopped at the entrance to the hallway labeled "H". Through the small window he could see the doppelganger walking toward him, an innocent smile playing at her lips. She was completely unaware of his presence. Rage and joy flashed through him simultaneously. She pulled open the door and stopped short, seeing him standing in front of her.

Klaus smirked at her horror-stricken expression. "There's my girl."

Caroline and Tyler walked through the dark hallways together, taking turns pouring honey on each doorknob they passed.

"This is kinda nice," Tyler said as he passed Caroline the jar of honey again.

"What is?"

"Having you back. The old you."

Caroline spread some more honey across yet another doorknob, licking the excess off her fingers. "What do you mean the old me?"

"The Caroline who actually gives a damn about things."

She turned toward him then, frowning. "You mean things that don't involve finding Klaus. Or Stefan."

"Yeah," Tyler said, "that's what I mean."

Caroline sighed. "I just want to be happy. I want everyone else to be happy, in spite of everything."

Tyler took a few steps toward her, coming closer and looking her straight in the eye. "Are you happy though?"

She shrugged. "As happy as I can be. Fake it till I make it, right?" She attempted a laugh but Tyler didn't return her humor. "What about you? Are you happy?"

"I was," he said, "until I found out my best friend was in love with an evil fucking hybrid, that doesn't deserve her."

Caroline pushed off the wall and walked away from him. "So that's what our friendship is going to be now? You constantly holding this over my head? See, this is exactly why I didn't want to tell anyone, because I knew no one could understand."

"Hey," Tyler said running after her. He grabbed her arm and spun her back in his direction.

"What?" She asked exasperatedly.

"I care about you Caroline, ok? I don't think you should be giving up your life and all of your friends for him."

"I don't want to," she said, "so I'm here. Now. That's what I've been trying to do, just live in the moment."

Tyler reached up and brushed her hair behind her ear, cupping the side of her face. "So then be here."

Tyler leaned forward, lowering his lips to kiss her. Caroline watched him for a moment, holding her breath, before pushing him away gently. "Tyler don't."

"Why not? Look I—"

"You two are really starting to get boring," a female voice said from down the hall.

Caroline turned in the voice's direction. She saw a tall, blonde girl step out of the shadow and into the light of the hallway. The girl had a confident saunter, crossing one foot in front of the other as she stepped toward them, a lazy smirk stretched across her face.

"Do I know you?" Caroline asked, taking a step forward and putting herself between the girl and Tyler. Something about the look on the stranger's face told her the girl wasn't to be trusted.

"I'm the new girl in town," the blonde smirked, her accented words rolling smoothly from her lips. Her eyes flicked past Caroline to Tyler. "She called you Tyler, right? You must be Elena's friend. The werewolf."

"Who are you?" Tyler asked.

The blonde smiled sweetly. "My name's Rebekah."

She lunged forward then, going for Tyler, but Caroline knocked her back against the lockers. Caroline bared her fangs at the blonde vampire, showing her that she wasn't about to let this Rebekah girl, mess with her friend.

Rebekah tsked. "Didn't anyone ever teach you any manners?"

She shoved Caroline back, grabbing her by the neck and slamming her head against the lockers. Caroline stumbled, stars filling her vision. Before she was able to regain her bearings, her head took another blow against the metal lockers, hard enough this time to knock her completely out.

Klaus had cleared the rest of the teenagers out of the gym. He stood in the darkened room, with the doppelganger, and two of her schoolmates, while he waited for his sister to begin part two of their plan.

The gym door opened and Elena turned to see who was there. Klaus smiled when he saw the familiar face.

"Bonnie, get out of here!" The doppelganger shouted, but Klaus was in front of the witch before she could even move. The dark girl jumped, her breath leaving her lungs in a sharp gasp as her hands flew up to defend herself.

"I was wondering when you would show up," he smiled. "I assume you're the reason Elena's still walking around alive?"

"That's right," Bonnie glared at him, a bit of her bravery returning, "if you want someone to blame, blame me."

Klaus chuckled. "This isn't about blame sweetheart. It's just your witchy interference seems to have caused some unwelcomed side effects and since you caused the problem, it will be up to you to find the fix."

The gym doors opened again. This time it was Rebekah, carting in Elena's werewolf friend, Tyler. The poor boy struggled and grunted against Rebekah's iron grip.

"Get off of me," he protested, his arms flailing about.

"Hush now," Rebekah shot back, giving his neck a firm yank.

"I'd like you all to meet my sister, Rebekah, a little warning; she can be quite mean."

"Don't be an ass," Rebekah retorted, shoving the wolf boy at him.

Klaus grabbed Tyler by the neck like a pup and walked him to the center of the gymnasium, into the natural spotlight provided by the moon. "Every time I attempt to turn a werewolf into a vampire hybrid, they die during the transition. It's quite horrible actually."

He raised his wrist to his mouth and sunk his teeth into his own flesh, opening a vein. Then he pressed the wound to Tyler's mouth, forcing the boy to ingest his blood. Tyler choked and sputtered against his arm. The group around him stared on, mouths slightly open, trying to figure out what he was about to do so they could get the upper hand. But there would be no escape for them this time. No bargains or spells or loop holes. Things would happen the way they were meant to this time. No mistakes.

"I need you to find a way to save my hybrids, Bonnie," he said," And for Tyler's sake, you better hurry."

Klaus wrapped his hand around Tyler's chin and pulled, snapping the werewolf's neck and letting his corpse flop to the ground. Elena and her friends gasped in horror as they watched Tyler's lifeless body bounce onto the wooden floor.

"You killed him," the blonde boy said coming forward and kneeling next to his friend.

"No," Elena said, "Klaus fed him his blood. He'll wake up and turn into a vampire."

"And if Bonnie is successful, then Tyler here will survive his transition. So go on then. Run off and collect your grimoires and enchantments and whatnot. Don't worry, I'll watch out for Elena."

Klaus grabbed hold of Elena's arm and Bonnie looked at her friend. Elena nodded at her reassuringly. He watched the witch nod back and take hold of the blonde boy's hand, and rush out of the gym.

"So this is the latest doppelganger," Rebekah purred over Elena's shoulder. "The original one was much prettier."

Klaus knew his sister was jealous; jealous because of her history with Stefan. Love didn't die at the drop of a hat. Rebekah had been in love with Stefan when she had been daggered, and she had awoken still loving him. But he had moved on, to the doppelganger. Of course, part of it had been Klaus's fault, for erasing Stefan's memory of them, but Klaus didn't see the point in reminding her of that. It still proved how fickle love could really be.

"Enough, Rebekah," Klaus chided, "take the werewolf away would you?"

Rebekah flashed the doppelganger a stiff smile and walked over to the dead wolf. She picked him up by the arm and dragged his body unceremoniously out through the double doors.

Klaus was alone again in the gym, with the doppelganger, and the two school chums he had been torturing before. Elena sat in front of them, trying to comfort them, and Klaus fought the urge to roll his eyes. He walked over to the bleachers and climbed a few steps before sitting down.

He surveyed the room. His hands folded under his chin, elbows propped up on his knees. The room was dark, dust motes swirling in the beams of moonlight coming through the windows high above. Hundreds of paper cups lined the floors, part of the pranks the kids were staging. In the middle was the Timberwolf mascot, growling up at them all from the wooden floor.

"What is this place?"

"It's home," Caroline smiled. "It's my high school gym."

"So this is what the future looks like."

"Yep, care to see the rest?"

Mystic Falls had looked brighter then, in the dream-memory, when Caroline had stretched out her hand for him to take. Maybe it was the dream and maybe not. Perhaps all the light had left the world when she did, and Klaus was the only one that seemed to notice.

Stefan chose that moment to enter the gym.

"Stefan," Elena breathed rising up off the floor.

"Come to save your damsel mate?" Klaus mocked.

"I came to ask your forgiveness and pledge my loyalty to you," he replied, "Elena means nothing to me."

Klaus scoffed. He knew that Stefan's declaration was the furthest thing from the truth. For some insane reason, Stefan loved the doppelganger. It was tragic, and unfortunate. But still, Klaus could teach the ripper a few things about star-crossed love and suffering.

"Very well," Klaus said hopping down from the bleachers and walking over to where Elena stood with her friends, "let's drink on it. Kill them."

Klaus motioned to the two nameless humans cowering on the gym floor.

"No Stefan, don't do it," Elena pleaded. Stefan hesitated at the edge of the court. Klaus could see the war in his eyes, his lust for blood versus his constant need to cling to his humanity.

"What are you waiting for? Do it." Klaus goaded.

"Stefan don't listen, he's just—" Klaus swung his arm back, hitting Elena in the face with the back of his hand. She spun from the force of his hit, falling to the ground. Stefan lunged forward then, Klaus finally getting a rise out of the ripper. He tried to attack, but Klaus pushed him off and grabbed him firmly by the throat. Stefan's fingers grasped at Klaus's forearm, trying to gain release.

"She means nothing to you?"

Stefan yelled. "I'll do anything, you have my word!"

Klaus was tiring of the ripper and his lies. The anger was boiling inside him. Anger with his old friend and what he used to be, anger at the doppelganger, and anger at having to come back to Mystic Falls and be reminded of things he didn't want to remember and the feelings he didn't want to feel.

"I've lived by your word all summer," Klaus growled, "without having to resort to this." His pupils dilated, letting the compulsion take effect. "Stop. Fighting."

"Don't do this," Stefan pleaded as his arms dropped helplessly to his sides.

"I didn't want to but you leave me no choice. All I wanted was your allegiance. You will do exactly as say when I say it. You will not run. You will not hide. You will simply obey."

"No," Elena whispered as Klaus's compulsion over Stefan took hold.

"Now, kill them," Klaus gestured again to the spare humans, "ripper."

Stefan's eyes glazed over with bloodlust, turning black, the veins spreading across his face. Klaus smiled, satisfied, as Stefan lunged forward and savaged the humans; first one and then the other.

"It's always nice to see a vampire in his true element," Klaus said stepping closer to Elena. "They've becoming such a brooding lot."

"No," Elena said, her eyes glued to her ripper love, "you did this to him."

"I invited him to the party love, he's the one dancing on the table."

"Nik!" Rebekah shouted bursting back into the room. Klaus spun as his sister ran up to him, she was holding up someone's mobile phone with a picture on the screen for him to see. "It's her. She has the necklace."

Klaus grabbed the phone. "Where did you get this?"

"Stole it off the blonde that was with wolf boy," Rebekah answered continuing to glare at Elena.

Klaus zoomed in on the picture of Elena and there on her neck he saw his mother's necklace. The one thing he needed to figure out the solution to this entire ordeal. He glanced over at her neck, hoping to see the necklace in front of him, but she wasn't where it. It wasn't there.

"Where's the necklace, Elena?"

"I don't have it," she said.

"Liar," Rebekah screamed lunging forward and grabbing Elena by her hair, "make her tell me where it is Nik!"

Klaus ripped his sister away from the doppelganger. "That's enough," he shouted, turning to face Elena, "tell me where it is. Be honest."

"I'm telling the truth," she replied, "Katherine took it."

Klaus felt the urge to laugh. "Oh Katerina. An eternal thorn in my side," he began pacing back and forth, "I should have killed her when I had the chance," he mused, "well that's unfortunate! If we had the necklace it would make things easier for your witch. Well since we're doing things the hard way let's put a clock on it. Twenty minutes. If Bonnie doesn't find the cure in twenty minutes then Stefan I want you to feed again. And this time, on Elena."

When Caroline regained consciousness, she found herself laid out on one of the black lab tables in her biology classroom. Her head rolled to the side and she saw Tyler, passed out on the table next her. She slid off the table quickly and ran over to him, pressing her ear to his chest. There was no heartbeat. She gasped as tears welled in her eyes. Where was that blonde bitch and what had she done?

Suddenly Tyler gasped, waking up. He sat up and began coughing.

"What? Where am I?" He asked as his eyes tried to focus on Caroline.

"Shh," she said, "it's ok it's me. Tyler what happened? I thought you were dead."

He shook his head to clear his thoughts. "I don't know."

"What's the last thing you remember?"

Tyler's eyes moved back and forth, staring into the air, trying to piece together what had happened to him. "We were in the gym and Elena and Matt and Bonnie and then…"

Caroline watched Tyler's eyes widen. "What Tyler?"

"Klaus. He's here."

Caroline felt like she had been staked. "Klaus? Is here? In Mystic Falls?"

Tyler nodded. Klaus had really returned. Which meant he knew that Elena was still alive.

"He forced me to drink his blood and then he must have snapped my neck. I remember feeling a crack and then everything went back."

"He's turning you into a hybrid," Caroline realized, "you're in transition."

"Klaus said that the hybrids weren't surviving the transition though. That's why he's here. He's forcing Bonnie to figure out why it's not working."

Caroline could see the fear in Tyler's eyes, the fear that he wasn't going to make it, that he was really going to die. She thought of the transitioning hybrid she had seen in the woods, the blood coming from his eyes and the howling and the look of agony and felt her own panic rise up in her chest. That was what Tyler was in store for if they didn't figure out how to fix things. But Caroline knew Bonnie wouldn't let that happen. She wouldn't let that happen. She needed to get to Klaus, to stop him from whatever he was about to do, but right now she could see that Tyler needed her. She pulled him into a hug, running her fingers soothingly through his hair.

"It's ok Tyler. Bonnie will figure this out. You're going to be ok."

Caroline felt Tyler gulp and nod against her neck. She didn't know whom she was trying to convince more; Tyler, or herself.

"Nik where are you going?" Rebekah called after him as he walked into the parking lot.

"Nowhere," Klaus replied over his shoulder, "just need a little break."

"What is wrong with you?" She asked, finally catching up with him. "You've been acting like a lunatic since we crossed into town. Well, more of a lunatic than usual."

"I can see your hundred year nap hasn't robbed you of any of your cheek."

"This has to do with more than hybrids doesn't it? This is about Caroline."

There were times when Rebekah's intuition came in handy, and other times when it was utterly annoying.

"Nothing is about Caroline anymore. She doesn't matter. She doesn't exist. She's dead remember?" He snapped.

"Wow Nik. Your sensitivity knows no bounds."

Klaus was about to yell at his sister when he heard voices from across the parking lot. It was Bonnie, she had returned. Rebekah opened her mouth again but Klaus slapped his hand over it, motioning for her to be silent as he listened.

"The original witch said that the only reason Klaus can't turn hybrids is because Elena's still alive," Bonnie said.

"So, it's Elena or Tyler? What are we going to do?" Her male companion asked.

"I don't know."

Klaus smirked, removing his hand from his sister's mouth. Rebekah was already smiling.

"So we get to kill the doppelganger then?" She asked perking up.

"Not quite," he replied, "I have another thought."

Klaus strode back toward the gym, Rebekah following behind him. As he entered, he heard the tail end of an argument between the ripper and the doppelganger over if she should try and make a run for it.

"Enough," Klaus shouted, tired of the lovers' theatrics. "Rebekah darling, bring me my hybrid, it's time for a little experiment."

Rebekah spun at Klaus's order and left the gym once again.

"Stefan, why don't you take a break mate? Have a seat."

Stefan backed away from Klaus, his eyes locked on him, and took at seat at the bottom of the bleachers. Klaus grabbed Elena and pulled her forward.

"Now, the original witch seems to think that my hybrids aren't transitioning because you are still alive, but since the original witch hated me, I don't entirely trust that, so, Elena sweetheart, I will be requiring a little blood donation."

"You can go to hell," she spat at him.

Klaus chuckled. "I thought you might say that."

He grabbed her forearm and pushed back her sleeve sinking his fangs into her arm. After no more than a second, he pulled away licking her blood clean from his lips. Klaus gave her arm a good squeeze, letting her opened vein drain into a vile that he had pulled from his pocket. He heard Stefan rise behind him and growl, but Klaus spun around before the ripper could make a move.

"Stop," Klaus ordered and Stefan, still under compulsion, had no choice but to obey. "I'm not going to kill her. Not yet. Not until we find out if I'm right or not."

Klaus could see the rage and fear flashing across the ripper's face. His eyes gleamed with tears as he looked at Elena in Klaus's grasp, bleeding, hating himself for being too powerless to do anything about it. Klaus recognized that look. The way Stefan held his breath; afraid any wrong move he made would be the end of it.

He let go of the doppelganger and walked up to his friend. Looking him straight in the eye, taking his focus off of the girl behind them.

"I will hand it to you my friend. This intrigues me. It seems that the only thing stronger than your bloodlust, which is quite strong by my account, is your love for this one girl."

"I keep telling you, I'll do anything—"Stefan broke off.

"And I keep telling you, your words, your promises, your oaths of loyalty mean nothing to me anymore," Klaus replied.

"You don't understand," Stefan rumbled, his breathing shallow.

"Oh I understand. Better than you ever will," Klaus said gripping Stefan's shoulder, "I loved a girl once. She was beautiful and strong and full of light. All the qualities I'm sure you see in my doppelganger here. Maybe you're strong enough this time, to fight through the bloodlust and compulsion, maybe this time true love conquers all but it doesn't work forever. The years will go on, you'll watch her brush death time and time again thanking your lucky stars every time she comes back to you. But your luck will run out my friend. And then you're left with nothing but centuries of pain and regret."

Stefan's face contorted in confusion at Klaus's speech. Klaus immediately regretted every word. He was showing his weakness. Rebekah was right. Being in Mystic Falls was messing with his head.

The sound of a phone ringing broke the tension between the two men. Klaus realized the noise was coming from his pocket. He had forgotten about the phone that Rebekah had stolen and passed to him earlier. After seeing the photo of the doppelganger and the necklace he had slipped it in his pocket without a second thought.

It continued to ring incessantly and Klaus groaned, pulling it out of his pocket to silence the damn thing. But he paused when he saw Damon's name flashing on the caller ID. Klaus smirked and waved it in front of Stefan's face.

"Ah, it's your brother," Klaus smiled. He turned away, glancing briefly at the doppelganger, who was still bleeding out onto the floor and pressed the answer button on the phone.

"Caroline?" Damon yelled into the phone as soon as Klaus answered. "What the hell is going on? Why isn't Elena answering her phone? Caroline?"

The cocky smile fell from Klaus's face at the sound of Caroline's name. He pulled the phone quickly away from his ear as if it had stung him. He ignored Damon's voice on the other end, still yelling out for an answer, and quickly flipped back to the photos on the phone.

He scrolled through seeing photos of Elena, the one of Elena and Stefan, another of the witch, and then there she was, mid-laugh, wearing her cheerleading uniform, her arms wrapped around her friends. Caroline, happy and alive.

The phone rang again, making the picture disappear, flashing Damon's name yet again. Klaus stared blankly at the tiny electronic. When he had answered, Damon had asked for Caroline. He had expected Caroline to be on the opposite end. This was her phone. But that was impossible. Caroline would have been back in the past already. Would be dead by now. Klaus racked his brain. Who had Rebekah said she had taken the phone from?

Stole it off the blonde that was with wolf boy.

Suddenly there was yelling, Rebekah burst through the gym doors, the hybrid in her hands, tossing him forward into the gym. He rolled over to the center of the floor, coughing and sputtering. Just behind Rebekah, came an angry flash of blonde, yelling at Klaus's sister about not hurting her friend; demanding answers that Rebekah continued to withhold . Klaus's arm fell to his side, the phone slipping from his hand and crashing to the ground.

The clattering sound of the phone hitting the ground echoed across the gymnasium. Time slowed to a stop as Caroline's eyes met his, and he knew. This was his Caroline standing before him. She wasn't looking at him with fear or loathing. There was fear there, but a different kind. She stopped her yelling and stood there, under the spotlight of the moon, her bright blue eyes staring back at him with a look he never dreamed he'd see again.

So I know you guys have been waiting so long for the Klaus/Caroline reunion. You probably want to kill me don't you? Well if you die, you'll never know what happens ;)

Hope you enjoyed. Let me know your thoughts!

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