The whole walk had been quiet, and that didn't change as they entered the gymnasium, as Walker called it.

It really wasn't the typical gym though. It looked more like a boxing arena. Not necessarily as big, but it was used for a show, that was for sure. There were three levels of seating. Actual seating, like where people sat down and watched. Balconies are what the second and third floors looked like. Strangely, for appearing so much like a boxing arena, there wasn't a boxing ring. Just padded flooring, and punching bags that dangled from the ceiling. So it doubled for training and entertainment? Alright then.

The most eye-catching piece of all though was probably the wall stock full of every weapon imaginable.

Caroline's eyes widened at all the metal shining from the fluorescent lighting, wondering how many times Klaus had been here. Was this the place where Walker put him through hell? She looked at him with concerned eyes, unsure of what to do next.

Unfortunately, she didn't have to wait too long to figure that out, because that was when Walker made his appearance. He marched out with his hands behind his back, an eerily calm look in his eyes. Klaus had always described him as strict and everything but calm. So the sight was rather unsettling. It was like he had expected everything to go just as they had. What was his game? Because that what all of this had to be. He had probably been watching…waiting for them to walk in.

Klaus stepped forward, just enough to stand in front of Caroline. Elijah and Tyler both stepped forward as well, standing beside Caroline on either side. It was like they were her personal bodyguard unit. If she hadn't been so scared, she would have told them she could protect herself. Right now, however, their presence was very welcomed.

"Mr. Mikaelson," Walker drawled, a certain friendly vibe dripping from his words. It was obviously feigned.

"Walker," Klaus said curtly.

"What's the matter? Not happy to see your old commanding officer?"

"No. So can we just get on with what it is you wanted me for? Help me understand why I'm needed after you dropped me on my ass when I needed someone? What tests I seemed to have failed during my services?" Caroline was glad she couldn't see Klaus's glare.

"Since that was more than one question, I'll just start from the beginning," Walker waved his hand nonchalantly, pacing in place.

"By all means…go ahead," Klaus said menacingly.

"Thank you, son. Much appreciated," he began sarcastically, before continuing his explanation, "See, I always had faith you would be my best soldier. For a while, after I had some time with you of course, you never disappointed me. It wasn't until your brother over there got to you, that things became a problem. You would never have stayed in the military had he kept whispering promises of a happy and wonderful future. I had to get rid of the problem."

"So you set his death up. That's nothing new. We managed to figure that out all by ourselves," Klaus said, scrunching his nose up.

"Did you know his death doubled as another test though?" Walker said, a smug smirk covering his disgusting face.

Klaus only shook his head tensely.

"That's right. More tests. It's like your back in school, isn't it? Anyway, I had Mr. Lockwood here shoot him. When I saw that rage in your soul, son…it sent my spirits flying! You wanted revenge, and you wanted it then. There was hope for you. Until your episodes began…that is. Boy my hopes were crushed. You had passed every test I threw at you! Now-"

"What other tests?" Klaus persisted. Walker still hadn't answered his question about what specifically were his tests during Klaus's time serving him.

"Everything," Walker said simply, "Killing the two assassins, that village of innocents. You were bloodthirsty, son. Think I didn't know you'd be absolutely sure that place was dust before leaving? That's what I wanted. I wanted to see how committed to the cause you were. Now, the group of twenty assassins infiltrating our camp had been a complete surprise to me, but you handled them with excellence. Then you and Elijah started talking about leaving after you were hurt. More so than I believe you had in the past. After I removed him, I wanted to see if you would be able to channel that anger you had at the swamps toward wanting to learn to be the best. Your revenge was still there, but your mind wasn't. So I let you go. I never completely left you though. I sent your sister's dear boyfriend, Landon, to go and keep an eye on you. See if you ever had the inclination to become that soldier I knew you could be. And while you wanted revenge on Mr. Lockwood, you never really had your heart in it. So there was no point in bringing you back here. And not to mention, having Landon in New York helped me keep Elijah locked up. Couldn't have him escaping and running to tell you all the good news of his survival, now could I?"

"Why such the fascination with me? I mean…you never even bought me a drink," Klaus said sarcastically, acting as if he were hurt. She tried not to smile. He could be so sassy when he wanted to be.

"Well…not long after I let you go, I found a new trainee. He was all too willing to let me train him, mold him, and make him better. And after I found him, I knew I couldn't bring Landon back just yet. That is why I kept him in New York. To bring you back when the time was right."

"And when would the time be right? Hmm? When I had started moving on? When I had sufficiently been broken enough? I DID EVERYTHING I WAS TOLD!" Klaus shouted, visibly shaking from anger, "Why couldn't you just leave me alone?"

"Ah yes, we have this sweet girl to thank for that, don't we? I apologize for taking you, by the way. I told my men to take Niklaus, but they just grabbed you out of convenience, I'm afraid. It worked though. Our Klaus is here, and that's all that matters. But Klaus…I could never just leave you alone. I'm invested."

"Why am I here, Walker?" Klaus said through gritted teeth, his patience running thin as he continued to shake.

"Another test," he said calmly, a smile tugging at his lips.

"Aren't we done playing childish games yet? My brother and I just killed your men. I think we're all agreed that I passed the test."

"Yes, you passed that test. Had to make sure you hadn't lost your touch. But the test I want you for isn't actually for you. I have to put my man against the best. And right now, that's you."

"What's this all supposed to mean?" Klaus asked quietly.

"It means you fight my soldier, or everyone you love dies…and in some cases… that means again," Walker said smugly. Caroline furrowed her brows. How dare he rub Elijah's death like that into his face?

"How do you plan on doing that, exactly?" Klaus asked.

That was the moment Caroline felt an arm go around her throat. That was when she felt the gun go up to her head. That was when she was being yanked away from the three men.

"By taking your girl from right under your nose," Walker said with a smile.

All three of them turned around as they heard her try to scream. It was only muffled though, by the man's arm covering her mouth. Elijah began to raise his gun, but then he dropped it. She knew why too. He couldn't risk trying to shoot the man holding her, because then he might hit her. Of all men, Elijah could probably make it, but the risk was too much. Walker chuckled triumphantly while the soldier took her to the second floor, to watch the proceedings below.

"Toss the guns down, boys…you won't need them," Walker commanded. Slowly, and reluctantly, Tyler and Elijah put their guns on the floor before backing up. Two other soldiers had appeared from the entrance and took the guns.

Great. They really were stuck.

Klaus quietly watched every movement going on around him, before his gaze landed on Caroline's. He turned back to Walker, his decision made. She knew by the way he looked at her. And Caroline didn't like it.

"Where is your new soldier?"

Walker smiled, and marched over to the opposite end of the training grounds. He knocked on a pair of double doors before walking over to the stairs and going up to the third floor.

Caroline felt the soldier release his grip then. Her brows furrowed in confusion. Wasn't she a prisoner? She turned around and saw a very unexpected face.

"Carter?" she hissed quietly. He gave her that shy smile. Oh thank god he hadn't died in the massacre that had happened when they arrived.

"Sorry about that," he whispered. "I had to do what he said. Otherwise he would think I'm not working for him anymore."

"Wait…" Caroline said, her smile growing larger as his did, "You aren't..."

"You were right. None of this is right. I'm sorry it took me this long to realize that. But you needed someone on the inside to help you too, so I couldn't say anything until now. You want this to be over for good, right?"

"Of course!" she said quietly. He nodded slowly.

"Then we need to think of something while he can't see or hear us. Walker will be too preoccupied with the fight to worry about us. He thinks I have it under control."

"Well, what do we do? Apparently we didn't kill all the soldiers when we came through."

"Walker still needed some for his protection, so there are the two with the guns down there, and then me. That's it."

"Really?"

"Yup. Besides that it's just Walker and-"

"Remember Klaus," Walker said through the speakers, "Any weapon on the wall is fair to use. But no guns allowed. Although, it's not like you have access to any," he chuckled.

"Fine. I don't need your guns anyway," Klaus shouted pacing around the middle of the training arena. Caroline looked around the place, a thought coming to her.

"Why are there seats for an overly decorated gym?" she asked quietly.

"Walker has to get funds for this somehow. He hasn't been with the military for a long time. They didn't exactly approve of his methods and intentions. So he took some men with him, and went off on this separate project of training an ultimate soldier. Walker had to get money somehow though. So he found a source. The group that funds him comes every once in a while to see the progress he's made. They always have a comfortable chair."

"Why does this group even care about Walker creating a super soldier?"

"They want to rid the world of their enemies. Who those enemies are, I don't know. I just know they're powerful people. That's what I've heard, at least. They pay him to train a man who will eventually do jobs for them too."

"So it's the community project basically."

"Exactly."

"And this new soldier?"

"He's finished his training. Klaus is his last test."

"So we have to kill him, and Walker, and make sure this building can't be used for future…experiments?"

"You catch on quick," Carter said, obviously impressed. She grinned. Caroline was learning to catch on to the oddities of Klaus's past.

"Where is this new guy then?"

"He…likes to make an entrance," Carter said, embarrassed. She really didn't understand why a guy like Carter had worked for a monster this long.

"How long do we have to come up with something?" she asked.

"I don't know. Depends on how long Klaus can hold him off."

Suddenly, a door slammed open below them. Caroline and Carter looked over the ledge to see that the double doors had opened, and revealed the man Walker wanted to test on Klaus. He was very large. His wavy black hair went down to his shoulders, and he had a clean-shaven face. He held himself in a haughty manner. Like he knew he was the best, and this was just the final obstacle to get what he wanted. His body was covered in scars, and quite frankly, it looked as if he had gone through a lot of trouble to get pass those obstacles. He was dressed in a black tank top and black pants.

"Nice of you to join us, Kane," Walker said through the speakers.

Caroline watched Klaus's face become horrified, and Elijah's did the same. The two brothers shared a look, but she didn't understand what was going on. Klaus only held his knives, that he presumably got while she wasn't looking, even closer.

"Who is that?" she asked Carter.

"Kane Ashmore. Also known as 'The Bloody Wolf' by most. Meanest man I've ever met. Cocky too."

"We should probably figure out a way out. Soon," she said shakily, worried more and more by the second about what this man could do to Klaus.

"How in the hell are you alive?" she heard Klaus yell. Caroline watched him look at the bear in astonishment.

"You didn't think it'd be so easy, did ya? I survived that little explosion. Found Walker and with his training, I became what you couldn't be!" Kane yelled back, his voice deep and weirdly jovial. Did everyone in this place deserve to be in an insane asylum?

Klaus went into a defensive stance as he eyed Kane warily, his knives at the ready. Kane was wielding…was that…was that an axe? This really was a special kind of hell for Caroline, wasn't it? She began shaking, and Carter quickly tried calming her down, rubbing his hands up and down her arms.

"Come on, you may not want to watch this. We'll think of something while they duke it out."

Caroline watched Klaus glance up at her, and she knew she couldn't do what Carter was suggesting. She had to watch…for Klaus. Caroline had to support him in the only way she could. And that was going through the torture that was to come. She gave him a simple nod, and he returned the gesture, facing Kane again.

"We can plan and watch at the same time," she said quietly, and with certainty. Carter looked at her with concern, but he nodded, coming over to the ledge with her and leaning over it.

"Okay, that's what we'll do."

"You may begin at will," Walker said calmly over the speakers.

While Klaus and Kane sized each other up, Caroline took the time to look around the room for any means of escape. The only people they needed to worry about were the two soldiers watching Elijah and Tyler, Kane, and then Walker. It was nearly impossible to kill one without alerting another though.

"So if we kill the two soldiers," Caroline began.

"Then Walker would know what we're up to," Carter finished.

"And if we snuck up there to kill Walker?"

"That would be a start, beginning with the highest chain of command. But our friends down there would do something to Lockwood and Mikaelson."

"It's a start then. What about Kane?"

"That's up to your boyfriend. No one can shoot at him without possibly hitting Klaus."

Dammit. Carter was right. So what did they do? It would help if Elijah and Tyler had their guns, but Caroline couldn't get them the weapons. Not from where she was. Her only chance was getting to Walker. He was the only one close enough. The guards below wouldn't be watching her, since they were focused on Tyler and Elijah. She just hoped they stayed that way. And Kane was obviously busy with Klaus. So Walker was her only chance.

"Then we go for Walker," she said with finality. Carter nodded, but both were frozen to their spots as the fight below them began with a loud thud.

Kane had swung his axe, but thankfully missed Klaus. He had chopped into a punching bag instead. The fight had definitely started.

Caroline watched in horror as Klaus skillfully dodged and ducked, not making a move quite yet. How was he supposed to when Kane had a freaking axe? Klaus hopped on top of one bag, jumping from the top of that one to another in one swift move. Right as Kane went to swing at the bag again, Klaus jumped over him like some acrobatic kangaroo. What the hell kind of skills had he been taught again?

Klaus quickly sliced down Kane's back with both of his knives, eliciting a primal yell from the larger man. Two long, bright red gashes could be seen from where Caroline stood. Kane swung around, the axe going with him, to retaliate. Klaus had jumped back just in time, but not fast enough to avoid a cut. A horizontal slash was made across Klaus's stomach, the blood trailing slowly down his body.

The two men looked at each other then. Kane unexpectedly tossed his axe to the side. Klaus seemed to nod in some kind of agreement, and tossed his knives aside too. Caroline's face contorted in utter confusion.

"What are they doing?" she hissed.

"Strictly hand-to-hand combat. Both of them could snap each others neck. No use for weapons."

"How do they know the other won't just grab a weapon? That's so stupid."

"Honor," Carter answered simply.

"I think honor flew out the door with everyone's sanity," Caroline muttered to herself, "There's no honor in any of this."

"They're soldiers. Kane may be the meanest asshole you ever laid eyes on, but he's a soldier at heart. Honor is programmed into their system."

"And you?" she asked quietly.

"It's programmed in everyone. Why do you think it took me so long to turn my back on Walker?" he said sadly. Caroline rubbed his shoulder comfortingly. That, unfortunately, did make sense.

Klaus and Kane had gone back at it now. Kane's fists swinging while Klaus continued his dodging. Klaus managed a roundhouse kick, hitting Kane in the chest. The force only made him wobble a little. He quickly recovered, sending another kick Klaus's way. Klaus only pulled a Matrix move, bending back so as to miss it. Kane wasn't having that though. He hastily went for a nearby punching bag, launching it in Klaus's direction.

It hit him square in the chest, sending him flying backward. Caroline, Tyler, and Elijah both reacted to the impact, jolting up a little from where they all stood. Everyone was watching as Klaus got back up, wiping some blood from his mouth, and running toward Kane. Instead of running straight to Kane, like she had thought he would, he ran up a punching bag instead, swinging from the chain as he circled around it. His foot came right across Kane's face as he went, forcing the brute to spit out a chunk of blood. She was pretty sure she saw a tooth fly out as well.

Caroline smiled, jumping a little as she saw that predatory look in Klaus's eyes. He was stalking his prey, and she'd be damned if that wolf he was fighting got a chance to take a bite out of him before she did something. Her head whipped to the man standing beside her.

"We need to take out Walker."

"Got a plan for that?"

"Do you have anything besides a gun on you?"

"Like a knife?" he asked, patting himself up and down in search of something.

"Anything that wouldn't make as much noise."

"I'm not sure if…wait. Here's something," he said, taking out a small pocketknife. It wasn't as well crafted as Klaus's had been, but it would have to do.

"It'll work."

"Good, because I think you just gave me an idea. I'll take you up there like you're misbehaving. If you get close enough, you should be able to stab him with it. He's too sure of himself to think anything would go wrong."

"It'll have to work for now. That way the guards by Elijah and Tyler won't suspect anything if they look this way."

"And Klaus and Kane are too busy with each other to notice anything."

"Good…because I don't want Klaus to do something stupid," Caroline said, looking down at Elijah and Tyler. Carter's arm went back around her throat. She saw Elijah's gaze immediately snap to hers, but his expression and movements didn't convey any of his emotions. He just stood completely still. Tyler was too focused on the Klaus and Kane fight to notice anything.

Without any warning, Elijah had moved to pin Tyler up against the wall. Caroline looked wide-eyed at him, but then Carter spoke.

"Relax. If what I hear about Elijah is true, he's caught on. He's helping."

"How do you know?" Caroline asked frantically.

"Because I just thought of a story to tell Walker. It'll be believable, but we gotta go up there now. Elijah and Tyler will have their guns soon enough," he said urgently.

Caroline nodded, allowing Carter to take her toward the staircase, and up to the third floor. The knife was hidden in her waist, since she wasn't wearing any sleeves long enough to hide it there. She hoped whatever story he came up with would work.

"Now, now Mr. Mikaelson. You shouldn't pound on Mr. Lockwood like that. Play fair," Walker chided through the speakers.

Walker was watching the two soldiers fight below him when Caroline and Carter turned a corner, and saw him standing with his hands around a microphone. Carter shoved her into the area Walker stood, looking out over the ledge.

"Sir, this one was giving me problems too. I don't know what's going on, but I think they want to fight back."

"Fight back, hmm? You mean you couldn't handle this child?" Walker drawled, setting the microphone down. "And the only ones who should be fighting are Kane and Niklaus."

"I didn't know what to do with her, sir," Carter said, his hands firmly on his gun.

"It's alright, son. You did good bringing her up here," he said calmly.

"Thank you, sir. Is there anything else I can do?" Carter asked.

"No, you may leave. I'll take it from here," he said, tugging on Caroline's arm and bringing her close to him. She caught Carter's slightly worried gaze whenever Walker wasn't looking at him, but then turned to leave as instructed. It was all up to her now.

"Let me go," she said through gritted teeth.

"So spirited. Are you sure you should be acting so…rudely?"

"You can't control me," she said firmly. He had the audacity to laugh.

"Oh, but I can."

And then he rapidly wrapped one of his arms around her throat, and without wavering once, took the knife from where she had it hidden. It was up to her throat within seconds. Well…shit.

"You didn't think you could outsmart me, did you? Carter is too big of a softie to say no to such a beautiful girl. I knew you would be planning something. I just didn't think you had the guts to come up here and try for me."

"You're going to die. You can't beat, Klaus."

"Oh…but I have his weakness," Walker said triumphantly, dragging her over to the ledge. Caroline saw that Elijah and Tyler had managed to successfully steal their guns back, and kill the guards without her hearing a word of it. Huh. Guess Carter was right. Elijah did have a plan.

"So that everybody here is clear," Walker said sternly into the microphone, holding her tighter as he did, "This is what happens to those who don't do as I say."

The knife was no longer at her throat as she watched his hand move away. Then she felt something slide through her stomach in one, quick motion. The object left just as fast as it had gone in.

"NEXT TIME," he shouted through the speakers, "IT'S HER HEART!"

"CAROLINE!" she heard Klaus scream. Elijah and Tyler both had their guns at the ready, although Tyler didn't look quite as steady as Elijah did. They couldn't shoot though, because Walker was using her as a human shield still.

Klaus…well…he was livid.

Caroline watched as the honor Carter spoke of dissipated, and he lunged for the long forgotten axe. Kane saw his movements, and was right behind him, both now running right for the weapon. Klaus was much faster though, and he slid for it, picking it up, and swinging right as Kane came running up behind him. She watched as the axe met Kane's neck…and kept right on going.

Oh was it hard not to gag at the sight. She found herself doing so anyway, but mostly from the little bit of blood that was rising in her throat. Caroline knew she had to do something now. Walker wouldn't be happy that his prized soldier was in two places at once. Her gaze met Elijah's and Tyler's, and she knew that they would know what to do. With Klaus's anger…he wouldn't be happy until he had plunged a knife in his heart. Or done worse to him.

With a lot of quick thinking, and silent communication between Caroline and the boys, things began moving in an instant.

Caroline took advantage of Walker's physical shock over Kane's death, and forced herself to the side as far as she could. She managed to release herself from his grip, his body instinctively trying to grab her again when she was out of it.

A single gunshot rang out, a bullet zipping into Walker's shoulder and catching him off guard. He staggered back, but Caroline crawled over to him as fast as she could, and pushed him toward the ledge, until he eventually fell over. Caroline pulled herself up, so that she could look over and see what happened next.

She saw Elijah and Tyler already running to the stairs, Walker looking around in a daze on the padded flooring, and Klaus stalking over to him with the axe. Walker was clutching his shoulder, rocking back and forth at the wound. She scoffed. Now who was the weak one?

Klaus looked up at her, and a mixture of emotions passed over his face. The two major ones she recognized were rage and distress. Without wavering at all, she watched as he swung the axe up. It came down with a deafening slice, Walker's death matching Kane's. Blood spattered over Klaus's body and face as he tossed the weapon away. As if the murdering device burnt his hands to touch.

Caroline slid down the wall, right as Elijah and Tyler reached her. Elijah quickly scooped her up in his arms. Klaus was turning the corner as she tried putting her arms around Elijah's neck. Apparently he hadn't lost that gazelle like speed of his.

"Who shot him?" Caroline asked with a small smile.

"Tyler did." Elijah said quietly. A small smile of his own tugged at his lips, comforting her just a little. She looked over to her best friend.

"Good job."

"It's the only thing I could do to show I'm with you guys," he said quietly. Caroline rubbed a hand across his cheek.

It was then that her gaze caught Klaus's. God did he look absolutely heartbreaking. His body was covered in blood, that large cut was still across his stomach, and his eyes couldn't stop looking at the wound on hers. She reached for his hand, and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"I'll be okay, but we have to get out of here. Where's Carter?"

"Who?" Elijah asked.

"Carter, the soldier who took me up here. He's on our side. Where is he?"

"We didn't see where he went," Tyler said sadly.

Luckily, they didn't have to wonder long. Carter came running up. His expression was mixed with glee and with sorrow. How one managed to look like that, she had no idea. Klaus still didn't move, even when Carter stopped running to speak to them.

"I found a way out of here for you guys, so listen to me very carefully. I made a call, and my brother's coming to pick you guys up. He knows the guy who dropped Klaus and Tyler off here. Don't ask me how, that's just what he told me. Said something about them meeting at his bookstore. Anyway, he knows how to fly a helicopter."

"You're brother works at a bookstore, but knows how to fly a helicopter?" Caroline asked in disbelief.

"He's older than me, and before he realized he didn't want to be in the air force, he had taken flying lessons. If it goes up in the air, he knows how to fly it. But that's besides the point!" he said, getting frustrated. "He's on his way as we speak to pick you guys up."

"You guys…" Caroline said, trailing off. She didn't like where this was going.

"I told you this place has to go away, Caroline. No one can use it in the future. I set up everything to do that…but it has to be set off manually. I…I can't come with you."

"No…" she said, tears running down her cheek. She was so tired of crying. So tired of feeling helpless. He just gave her a comforting smile.

"It's okay, I came to terms with my death when I first joined. It was only a matter of time. I told my brother already when I made the call, so you don't have to worry about breaking it to him. Okay? And I want you four to take this," he said, handing Tyler what looked like a flare gun.

"What's this for?" Tyler asked.

"To alert me when you guys are off the premises. There is a small army jeep stowed away in the facility's garage. Just go down that corridor, and then turn right. You guys kind of took out the security cameras, so I can't see when you leave. But set this off, and I'll see it through the window, and know when to press the button."

"Carter…" Caroline whined. Carter just shook his head.

"It's okay," he said softly, "I owe you for showing me what was the right thing to do. You guys just go, okay? Tell my brother I love him, and go!" Carter prompted them, running back the way he had came. Caroline buried her head into Elijah's chest as they all started toward the hallway.

"Don't cry, darling. We don't want that wound to bleed any more than necessary. Especially since we don't have anything sterile to wrap around it," Elijah reminded her. She nodded, taking deep breaths to calm herself. Tyler and Klaus were on either side of her, all of them hurriedly going toward the jeep Carter had pointed them too.

Once they were there, Tyler walked around to the passenger's side, while Klaus hopped into the back, waving for Elijah to hand him Caroline. She reached for Klaus as Elijah gently placed her in between his legs, resting her head on his chest. He hissed a little from the pain he no doubt felt in his stomach, but he never objected.

"Hey, I found a first aid kit up here," Tyler said, tossing the box to Elijah. He caught it, and handed the medical kit to Klaus.

"Patch her up while I get us out of here," Elijah told Klaus quietly. Then he turned to Caroline. "Hang in there, alright? We'll get to a hospital as quick as we can."

"Okay," she said meekly, relaxing into Klaus as Elijah ran around to the driver's side, and eventually took them out of the small garage. Klaus began rifling through the box as they rode, looking for god knows what to help the wound.

"Stay with me, sweetheart," he said quietly, pulling out a small, white cloth from the box. It was the first time she had heard him speak since seeing her.

"I am," she assured him. It was, however, becoming more and more difficult to do so. "How is your wound?"

"It's fine, don't worry. Nothing very deep, just a big cut. Here…I need to lift your shirt up to see the wound better. I'll try not to get anymore dirt on it than is on your shirt already."

She nodded, letting him pull her shirt up. Caroline didn't know why he was asking her. He had seen her completely naked for crying out loud. But she figured he was trying to be a gentleman, so she didn't say anything about it. Caroline just let him apply pressure to the wound.

"Try and sit up a little, Caroline," he coaxed her sweetly, helping her up a little so her head was more on his shoulder. He retrieved some tape from the box, putting it on her to keep the cloth attached.

They both turned their head as soon as they heard Tyler release the flare. The red signal flew high into the sky, causing a tear to fall down Caroline's cheek. She knew what was coming next. Klaus put his arms around her securely, trying to soothe her for the next, and hopefully last, big event.

The explosion that came next rumbled right through her chest, as the booming noise pierced her ears. Klaus hugged her as close as he could, protecting her from anything and everything around them. The longer he kept her there though, the more she realized that it was because she was finally in his arms. That's why he was hugging her so close. Caroline wanted so badly to return it, to show that she was happy to be back with him, and that they were both escaping that awful place. But the pain in her stomach was too overwhelming, and she didn't want to risk it bleeding more.

The jeep pulled up to the clearing finally, coming to a screeching halt at the outskirts of it. The helicopter was running, having beaten them to the location. Carter's brother must have been close by or something. She'd be sure to ask later.

Elijah and Tyler were both out in a flash. Klaus slowly pried himself away from Caroline, rubbing his tear stained cheeks as he got out. He was now able to get a better grasp on her, and scoop her up into his arms. She put her arms around him, holding on for dear life as the four of them made their way inside the copter.

"Are you Carter's brother?" Tyler yelled over the sound of the running blades.

"Yea! Matt Donovan, here to help! Bookstore owner by day, pilot whenever my brother runs off to his death."

"He was a good man!" Tyler told him as Matt began ascending.

Caroline didn't listen to the rest of their conversation, because she was too focused on the pain. Klaus was holding her just like he had been in the jeep, but it wasn't helping. It still hurt like hell for her to make any kind of movement. He stroked her hair gently, holding her hand with his free one.

"We made it, love. We made it out. Just stay with me until we get to the hospital. Please…please stay with me," he whispered.

"I'm trying," she squeaked out.

Caroline really was trying her best. Her eyelids felt heavier than they had when they were in the jeep though.

"Keep trying. You have to stay awake, Caroline," he kept whispering to her. Everything started to fade as time went on, however, and her eyelids closed. It was so hard to stay awake. So very, very hard right now.

"I'm tired," she said softly. The last thing she remembered feeling was Klaus shaking her tenderly. The last thing she remembered hearing was Klaus's soft, heartbreaking pleas. It would have made her cry had she not been so tired.

"Caroline…Caroline, please," he choked out, his voice cracking near the end, "…Caroline?"

A/N: I know, cliffhanger. Don't ya just love them? Btw, I am almost certain no one will guess what is to happen next chapter. Mwahaha. Could be good, could be bad. Never know.

Hint: I may or may not be stretching some limits to make it happen. ;)

And okay, gonna come back and say this now because it apparently will need explaining. I know you guys aren't thrilled with Carter dying, but sometimes, things are unavoidable. Don't forget, there is a group who funded Walker's project. How long would it be until they found out about his death? How long before they would send someone else back to the facility? In this case, no one could risk it standing for any length of time. Yes, I could have gone another way with this, but everything is how it is because that's what was planned. I just stuck to it. It'll make more sense next chapter I hope.

I liked him, but I hadn't planned on him being a big character. He died a hero's death though. Not to mention Klaus, Elijah, and Tyler didn't even know he was on their side until the very end. So they weren't attached to him like Caroline was, and they didn't come up with something else to save him since they were concerned with getting her, and everyone else out of there. They were running just a bit low on time, considering her stab wound and all. I apologize for hurting everyone's feelings, but it's just how the cookie crumbles in this case. Please don't hate me for it, and I hope this will all make a little more sense after this explanation, and the next chapter. =]

Now. Until next time!