Fair warning, this chapter hurt. That's all I have to say about it.

Chapter 24: Some Trust

Fake you're full and you feel tomorrow coming

And you gotta do what you can do to get away

With everything you want and still get what you need.

So you're slowing down 'cause you've done it before,

You look at the floor and you wonder when it's gonna

Come on up over your head, you can get some rest.

Some trust in love and some trust in hatred

Some trust in fear and some in violence

Some trust in faith and some trust in fortune

Some trust in God and some just get away

A quick glance towards the car through the shop window tells her that Klaus is leaning against the hood and paying no attention to her whatsoever, so Caroline quickly takes her cell phone out of her pocket and starts typing even as she chooses from the assortment of sweets before her. She makes it brief, knowing that it will look suspicious if she takes too long.

Klaus and I are coming. Get Damon out of town. Now!

She hits the send button and puts her phone away, sighing in relief when another look confirms that Klaus doesn't seem to have noticed anything. She's been looking for such an occasion since they landed, but couldn't find one until they were almost into town.

She really hopes Elena will do what she's asked without questions, and that she will do it quickly. If Klaus can't find Damon now, he won't be able to hurt him. And he needs to be back in New Orleans soon, so with a little luck, he won't have time to track him down before he's thrown back into his war. She doubts he will just forget about him, but she'll cross that bridge when she comes to it.

She gets out of the shop, munching on a chocolate bar, and silently offers one to the hybrid, who declines before opening her door for her. Smiling, she slides into the passenger seat. She drove most of the way from the airport, but the closer they get to Mystic Falls, the more agitated she gets – her friends' reactions and Damon's safety only two of the thousand things on her mind – and when she stopped to get some gas, she announced her intention to rest for the last short part of the trip.

They've been back on the road for less than 40 seconds when her phone rings. Frowning at the timing, she checks the screen and her heart skips a beat when she sees Elena's name flashing across it.

She can't take that call.

Elena is most likely calling to ask for an explanation about the weird text she just sent her, and Caroline doesn't want to have this conversation with Klaus within earshot. However she tries to phrase her answers to Elena's questions, he will put 2 and 2 together. Not to mention her friend is probably not going to be subtle in her interrogation. Damn supernatural hearing.

Still, she's so surprised that Elena called instead of texting her back that she hesitates. Something must be wrong.

Her thumb hovers over the screen, going back and forth between the decline and answer icons. She unconsciously takes a peek at Klaus' face, trying to decide what to do. It barely lasts for half a second, but it's enough for him to turn to her and throw her a knowing smirk.

"You should answer that, love."

His voice is perfectly normal, but his expression is too smug for her liking, and she suddenly feels unnaturally cold. The phone is at her ear before she's consciously made the decision, something primal in her reacting to the danger he's suddenly radiating.

"Elena?"

"Care!" her friend exclaims, and Caroline feels another terrified shiver running through her at the panic she hears in her voice. "What was that about? Do you know where Damon is? Do you know what happened to him?"

At a loss for words, her suspicion confirmed, Caroline closes her eyes in despair and frustration. When Elena calls her name again, clearly getting even more worried with her silence, the blonde vampire shakes her head to gather her thoughts and swallows hard.

"He's gonna be fine. I'll call you back in a minute, Lena."

She hangs up before the other girl has a chance to protest. When her phone rings again almost immediately, she turns it off.

Taking a moment to compose herself, she opens her eyes and focuses on Klaus, unsurprised to see that he's very pointedly ignoring her.

"What did you do?" she asks, her voice coming out as a strained whisper rather than the strong accusation she was going for. When he doesn't answer right away, she manages to sound firmer. "Klaus. What. Did. You. Do?"

The damn smirk is back in place as he spares her a glance before focusing back on the road.

"Come on, love. I could see the wheels turning in your mind as soon as we agreed on my coming to Mystic Falls with you. Did you really expect me to sit back and wait while you tried to hide him?"

She has never wanted to hit him more than she does in this instant, and given how their relationship started, that's saying something. Different scenarios of what he could have done to Damon, of what Damon could be going through right now, run through her mind, and suddenly her head is spinning. As the 'Welcome to Mystic Falls' sign comes into view, she grips the door handle to try and anchor herself before her fear for the elder Salvatore and her anger at Klaus' too pleased demeanor can overwhelm her.

"Stop the car." He does, pulling over on the side of the road without question, and she jumps out before it's even come to a full stop, whirling around to pounce on him as soon as he opens his door, glowering at him over the roof of the car. "How did you do it?"

"Does it matter?" When she narrows her eyes in annoyance, he relents, though she suspects it has more to do with showing off his scheming abilities than with actually wanting to satisfy her curiosity. "I called Rebekah while you were sleeping last night and told her to come to Mystic Falls. I gave her our landing time and asked her to grab Damon a couple of hours before our arrival. I assume Elena's panic stems from the mess my sister must have made at the boarding house when she kidnapped him."

She's speechless for a second, caught between her fury and the tiniest bit of admiration at his ability to anticipate her actions. Her fury wins out, of course, because no matter how good of a planner he is, now is not the time to feed his ego.

"Damn it, Klaus! Elena must have been scared shitless! And who knows what Rebekah is doing to Damon while they're waiting for you?"

"She's not supposed to touch him, but you're right, with her, you can never know," he admits offhandedly. "Although I can assure you that whatever she does to him will just serve as a nice warm-up for what I have planned."

Her eyes flash in anger at his callousness.

"You can't just…"

"You know," he cuts off, his voice suddenly colder than she's heard it in a while, "Not to be self-righteous, but I do believe I'm the one who gets to be angry here. You tried to break our agreement. I merely made sure you couldn't go back on your word."

"So what, I'm supposed to be okay with this just because you have a serious case of paranoia?"

It's his turn to lose his temper. In a blink, he's standing right in front of her and he has her backed up against the car, his hands on either side of her waist keeping her trapped in. They're not touching, but she can feel the tension coiling in his body and her breathing gets labored as she realizes that despite his apparent calmness up until now, he's making a conscious effort not to lash out. How did she not notice it before? She takes the fact that he's not trying to keep away from her even in his obvious anger as a small progress. The last time they fought, he stepped back before she could try to push him away.

"I don't think you can call it paranoia when my fears were very much founded," he points out, the words dangerously low. "Besides, even if they hadn't been, always anticipating betrayal has gotten me this far."

"Betrayal is a strong word," she mutters, shoving him back to get some space, because as glad as she is that he doesn't feel the need to give her some, she still needs it right now.

He lets her and they both turn around to face each other again, only now their positions are reversed. He's leaning back against the car and she's looking at him, though she's nowhere near as close as before. He arches an eyebrow at her comment.

"Is it? What would you call asking for my trust and then going behind my back the first chance you got?"

She blanches. Actually, visibly blanches. She didn't even know it was possible for vampires, but she can see it in her reflection in the car's window. His words strike a chord. That's not what she did, is it? It was certainly not her goal.

"I… That's not what…" she stammers.

"That's what it looks like from where I'm standing, love," he says, and his voice is softer now, his expression slightly less furious, like he understands that this was not her intention and he doesn't want to fight, but it still hurt and he wants her to know it.

And she gets it, she really does, because how are they supposed to ever make any progress if they don't tell each other when something goes wrong, if they don't try to get the other to see things from their perspective?

Still, she thinks he's making a bigger deal out of it than it is. It's not like she purposely went and stabbed him in the back. She just acted out of a need to protect a friend, surely he can understand that? And okay, she may not have considered all the consequences or stopped to think about what it would look like to him, but how can anyone argue that trying to keep someone from being tortured is the wrong thing to do?

"I'm not going to apologize for trying to protect my…"

"Your what? Your friend?" he scoffs, and she doesn't think anyone has ever managed to inject that much disdain in one single word. "Damon is not your friend and he certainly doesn't deserve your protection."

"Yes, well, he has it!"

"Why?" he asks, and she thinks she can detect the slightest hint of real, almost frantic curiosity beneath his coldness, as if he's really trying to understand but he just can't make sense of what she's trying to say.

"Because it doesn't matter what he's done. All that matters is the here and now, and he hasn't so much as tried to hurt me in ages."

"But he never paid."

"So? Why does it matter so much?"

"You have to be joking."

"I'm not. I really don't see what this will accomplish. It's not like it's going to change what happened or make me feel better."

"It'll make me feel better."

"Why?" she asks loudly, her control slipping in her desperation to get some answers.

"Because it's the only thing I can do!" he shouts, making her jump in surprise. Her mouth falls open in astonishment and she just stares at him, noting the way he closes his eyes, like he's once again said more than he intended to, but when he opens them again, there's a new determination there, and she knows by the way he relaxes ever so slightly that he's just decided to confess everything that's on his mind. "I wasn't there to protect you then. And if the only thing I can do for you now is get some kind of justice and make sure he knows never to touch you again, then that's what I'm going to do."

"That's not justice. That's revenge."

"Funny how blurred the line often is between those two concepts."

"Klaus…"

"You owe me this, Caroline."

She instantly bristles at the notion. And to think she was starting to calm down after his outburst, to get where he was coming from. Well, that statement certainly put a quick end to her sympathy.

"I do not owe you anything," she hisses, articulating each word carefully.

"You owe me this," he repeats. "This one thing. We compromised, remember? You were supposed to…"

"Don't tell me what I'm supposed to do! I did what I had to do. And you don't really have room to talk, you know."

"In this instance, I think I do."

"Oh come on! You went behind my back too!"

She's grasping at straws, even she knows it, but he just shakes his head calmly, and suddenly she wishes he would get angry, really angry, like about-to-go-on-a-rampage angry, because angry Klaus she's seen more than enough of in the time she's known him and she knows how to handle him, but this quiet resignation is new and out of character and terrifying and more than a little depressing.

"No, I didn't. I'm still going to play by your rules. I just took a few precautions to make you honor our agreement. I was really hoping they wouldn't prove to be necessary."

There's not much she can say to that. She's in the very unique and uncomfortable position of having to either admit that what she did was wrong and apologize to him – which would all but legitimize his use of torture, so no – or stay on her high horse and hurt him more than she already has – which she really doesn't want to do, so no. Honestly, she would probably be able to make a decision or even think of another solution if her head was clear, but she's still reeling from his assumption that she owes him anything and that he gets to tell her what she should and shouldn't do, not to mention mad at herself for the way she let him outsmart her. She hates to admit it, but her state of mind isn't the most stable at the moment.

"Care?"

She jumps a little at the sound of her name, but Klaus doesn't react, probably because he felt the presence before she spoke. Turning her head, she finds Elena staring at them with a hard look in her eyes. The brunette is out of breath, her hair slightly disheveled, and Caroline realizes that she must have vamp-sped all the way here to find them instead of doing the sensible thing and taking her car. It says a lot about her emotional state. She feels the hybrid tense beside her. Instinctively understanding his worries – he hasn't really talked about it, but she knows being in Mystic Falls is hard for him, he's just waiting for her friends to step in between them and convince her that she's better off without him – she gives him a quick, reassuring smile even though they're nowhere near okay right now. He nods in acknowledgment of the gesture and of the intent behind it but doesn't really relax.

"We'll talk tonight, alright?" she says, her voice somehow both hopeful and exhausted, knowing that they can't continue this conversation right now.

"As you know, I'm going to be very busy tonight."

"Klaus…"

"I'll see you tomorrow, Caroline."

The way he says this is so different from the last time he uttered those words, when he'd just coaxed a date out of her for the Miss Mystic Falls Pageant, his voice then full of promise and light teasing, as opposed to his current weariness and disappointment, that for a second, she doesn't know how to respond. It must be one second too long, because when she does find something to say, he's gone, the car key that is now in her hand the only proof that he was standing here only a heartbeat ago.

Staring at the empty space he left behind, the blonde vampire takes a deep breath, bracing herself for the accusations that are sure to be coming her way. After what just happened, she's really not in the mood for a lecture, but she knows there's no putting it off. When she turns to face her friend, the two girls just look at each other for a few tense seconds before Caroline suddenly finds herself in Elena's arms, the brunette engulfing her in a bone-crushing hug. It takes her a few seconds to realize what just happened and to get over her shock, and when she does, she wraps her arms around her friend as well, returning the embrace.

"I'm so glad you're back."

She's not sure if the sound that escapes her is a laugh or a sob, but God it feels good to let it out.

"Brother."

In spite of his current turmoil after his confrontation with Caroline, Klaus' lips twitch up into a hint of a smirk at Rebekah's casual greeting, like she doesn't find it odd at all that after two weeks of radio silence, he called her only to ask her to come back to their birthplace and kidnap a vampire they all thought they could forget about.

"Sister," he replies in the same tone, taking the full glass she's handing him and settling on the chair across from her. "How's our guest?"

"Not missing any important parts."

"Good."

"I figured you'd want him whole for what you have planned. Can I stay and watch?" He just shrugs as he takes a sip, neither accepting nor refusing, but she must take it for an authorization because she seems placated. They both drink in silence for a while, Klaus still trying to calm down and Rebekah clearly waiting for the right moment to blurt out whatever it is he can see is eating at her. She seems to end up deciding that there is no right moment and in true Rebekah fashion, she just says it. "So I'm guessing Caroline told you about him?"

Klaus frowns, the question reminding him that she didn't, not really. He guessed, and while she didn't try to deny it, she didn't exactly talk to him either. She said she would, but then she's already broken one promise to him.

"Not exactly. Wait. You knew?" he asks abruptly, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

Rebekah seems to sense the danger, because she straightens up almost imperceptibly, clearly ready to take off should he make any move in her direction. Her voice is unexpectedly soft when she replies.

"You're probably the only one who didn't, Nik."

"And why is that?"

"Because everyone knew how you'd react. To be honest, I'm surprised Damon isn't dead yet." His lips tighten in annoyance as he remembers that he won't get to kill him. His silence is enough for Rebekah to put the pieces together. "She asked you not to kill him, didn't she?" Clearly, he doesn't need to answer that, because she doesn't wait for him to even open his mouth before she chuckles, shaking her head. "You must hate it."

"You have no idea," he admits, knowing there's no point in denying it. "However, killing him is not the worst thing I could do to him."

Rebekah's eyes light up at that and her lips form a cruel grin. She knows what he's capable of – hell, she's quite imaginative herself when it comes to inflicting pain – and it seems she's all for making Damon suffer. The thought brings a small smile to his lips, the knowledge that someone approves of his plan to make the eldest Salvatore pay pushing his argument with Caroline to the back of his mind for the time being.

"Shall we get started, then?" she suggests with no small amount of gleeful anticipation.

"With pleasure."

Once Caroline's eyes are dry and Elena's hold on her loosens, the two girls break apart, sharing a tearful smile before the brunette breaks the silence.

"Damon?"

The blonde vampire runs her hands over her cheeks to get rid of the remaining wetness and gives a firm nod, preparing herself for this conversation.

"He's going to be fine, I promise."

Elena sighs in relief. She already told her that on the phone, but a rushed comment before hanging up is not exactly soothing.

"You know I need more than that, right?"

Caroline sighs and motions towards the car, signaling that they should get in and drive into town. She takes the wheel despite her previous resolution, deciding that she's probably more in a condition to drive than her anxious friend at the moment. She's not quite ready to face the memories attached to her mother's house – even if it's a large part of why she wanted to come in the first place – so she takes the direction of the Salvatore boarding house. Stealing a glance at Elena once they're on the road, Caroline bites her lip, trying to figure out how to talk to her.

"Okay, so the thing is… Klaus kinda found out about me and Damon," she starts tentatively, unsure how the information is going to be received. When the only thing that passes Elena's lips is an uncharacteristic curse, Caroline goes on, "I managed to convince him not to kill him, but I had to make some concessions."

"Concessions?"

"Yeah, he… huh… He gets to keep him for a whole day. Not sure what he's got planned for him, but he did promise not to cut off anything." Elena's silence is making her nervous, so Caroline tries for a joke. "I'm sure it's nothing he can't handle. I mean it's Damon, he gets tortured at least once a month, it'll be like a walk in the park." Elena huffs, the sound more disdainful than amused, and the blonde tenses up in reaction, the mood shifting from uncomfortable to downright hostile in the blink of an eye. When her friend doesn't say anything after a while, Caroline asks, "What?"

"Are you sure you tried that hard to protect Damon?"

Her foot slams down on the brake pedal so hard that the tires screech for a few seconds before the car comes to a full stop. Uncaring about traffic laws, Caroline doesn't bother getting the car off of the road before she puts on the handbrake and zeros in on Elena. Noticing that the brunette is not even looking at her, Caroline spits out an indignant, "Excuse me?"

"We all know what you think of him. I find it hard to believe that you actually fought to spare him some pain that I'm sure you think he deserves."

"Are you kidding me right now?" she exclaims, unable to believe that she really did just say that. Sure, she's never made a secret of her disapproval of Damon, but when has she ever wished pain on anyone? "I did everything I could. Hell, I did more than I should have."

Elena finally turns to her at that, her eyes narrowed.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I lost every inch of ground I've had to fight for to try and protect your boyfriend, Elena!"

"Yeah… Every inch of ground you'd won with Klaus!"

Right. Looks like it's time for that conversation. Yippee.

Caroline forces her grip on the steering wheel to relax and takes a deep breath to steady herself.

"Yes. With Klaus. I'm guessing you have a problem with that."

"What do you think?" Elena shoots back, the words shaking with her barely concealed hatred for the hybrid.

"I think you're high on your fear for Damon right now and a reasonable discussion is not going to happen."

"Reasonable?" Elena scoffs, but Caroline stands her ground.

"Yes, reasonable. As in me telling you that I care about Klaus and you being disapproving but understanding."

"Understanding? Caroline, he killed…"

"I know who he killed," she snaps. "I know what he's done. I know who he is. I know how awful I am for feeling the way I do about him. I know how hypocritical it is of me to want to be with him after the hell I gave you about your relationship with Damon. But you of all people should know that I can't ignore the way I feel. Honestly, I don't want to," she adds, her voice softer on those last words.

"You don't? You're not even going to try?" Elena asks, and the blonde shakes her head, unable to hold back a sad smile.

"I did try, Elena. You have no idea how long I've fought this. But after everything… God no. I don't want to. Not with what this could be."

"What this could be?" the brunette repeats after a while, a note of curiosity and – is that understanding? – in her voice.

Caroline gives a casual shrug that fools exactly no one in this car, especially given that she's very visibly fighting down unexpected, emotional tears and that when she manages to speak again, her voice comes out small and almost apologetic.

"Epic."

The silence that falls over them at that is thoughtful, but not nearly as tense as Caroline feared.

"You love him," Elena says after a while, her voice awed, like she can't wrap her head around the notion.

The blonde chooses not to answer directly. No one but Klaus has a right to know what it is exactly that she feels for him. But her friend needs to understand how serious this is.

"Did you think that I hadn't thought this through? That I was risking every single one of my friendships for a quick fling?"

Elena is shaking her head before the last words are out of her mouth.

"No. But I did think that you were confused. That what you had with him while you were both emotionless was clouding your judgment."

"It's not. All the whole thing did was give me a nudge in what I hope is the right direction."

Elena nods in quiet understanding. She's been through this, knows the clarity that comes from shutting off your humanity, knows the devastating whirlwind that comes afterwards, knows how it can either destroy you or help you put things into perspective.

Feeling that the worst of the storm has passed for now, Caroline puts the car back into drive. They drive all the way to the boarding house in silence and exit the car with barely a glance at one another. When they get inside, the blonde surveys the damages in the entryway, shaking her head at Rebekah's antics. She could have taken Damon without making such a statement about it. She's an original, a hundred times stronger than he is, she could have easily snuck up on him and snapped his neck, but no. She had to go for the full blown fight. Noticing her disapproval, Elena snorts.

"Yeah, you can see why I was in panic mode."

Caroline nods and decides to reassure her once more.

"He'll be fine."

"I hope so," she says, her voice hardening with a hint of a warning that Caroline chooses to ignore, knowing how hard the situation is for Elena, who can only sit back and wait, unable to do anything to help the man she loves.

"Don't worry. Klaus is… Well, it doesn't happen too often, but he kind of has the moral high ground right now and he's going to want to enjoy it for as long as it lasts. And he can't do that if he kills Damon."

"Klaus has the moral high ground? How did that happen?" Elena asks with an incredulous sneer as she takes two blood bags out of the fridge and hands her one.

Caroline gives her an appreciative smile, the blood welcome after the long flight and emotional rollercoaster that being back here has been – and it's only been an hour.

"Long story," she sighs, unwilling to get into it when she hasn't solved the issue with Klaus yet – or even so much as admitted to him that she shouldn't have gone back on her word.

They slump down on opposite chairs in front of the fire and start sipping their blood in silence, until Elena tentatively says, "So… Klaus."

"Klaus," Caroline confirms, not giving anything more than that, deciding that she's said enough for now and waiting to see where her friend is taking the conversation.

"Epic? Really?"

"Maybe. I don't know. That's kind of the point. I won't know unless I give it a shot. And that's the kind of regret I don't want to live with."

"Do you have any idea what a relationship with him is going to entail?" Elena asks after a minute, and contrary to what she expected, there's no judgment left in her voice, only genuine concern, so instead of getting defensive, Caroline nods solemnly, feeling like they're on the right track.

"Ruined lives, bloodshed. What can I say? No one writes songs about the ones that come easy," she mutters, holding her breath as she waits for Elena's reaction to that little tidbit of wisdom, knowing that the next few seconds are going to be crucial in the saving or destruction of their friendship.

And then a giggle falls from the brunette's lips, and Caroline feels her whole body sag with relief.

"You did not just quote that show."

"Why not?" the blonde asks mock-defensively.

"It's been off the air for like ten years."

"Seven. And there's a movie now. I'm allowed to fangirl."

"Right," Elena concedes, shaking her head in amusement. "So… What now?"

"Well… Clearly Klaus doesn't want to see me until tomorrow." She doesn't add the implied 'and it's not like your boyfriend is going to be keeping you busy', knowing that no good will come out of her making such a comment. What she says instead is, "And while there are dozens of things I need to do here, I really don't feel like getting started now. So I'm free tonight."

"Girls' night?" the brunette guesses, her face lighting up at the prospect.

The blonde nods eagerly, and if Elena's first reflex is to call Bonnie to ask her to join them, she quickly squashes it and swallows back her tears, just like Caroline did. They share an uneasy smile, both knowing where the other's thoughts just went, before Caroline jumps to her feet with a little too much enthusiasm, breaking the moment.

"Let's raid those famous Salvatores' cupboards."

She has a feeling they're going to need it.

TBC…

Quick reminder: I started this story before season 5 began, and Bonnie wasn't brought back to life.

I think the reviews are going to be divided between Team Caroline and Team Klaus and I'm impatiently waiting to see which side wins out, though I do have my suspicions.

PS: I'm not fangirling over the Veronica Mars movie. I'm not fangirling over the Veronica Mars movie. I'm not fangirling over the Veronica Mars movie. I'm not… Anyone actually believes that?