Klaus dragged the knife across the warlock's skin, smirking as the young screamed in pain.

"Now, I'm going to ask you once again." He said, his voice even. "What do you know of the resurrection of Esther Mikaelson?"

"I'll never tell you anything." The warlock spat vehemently.

Klaus smirked because ordinarily he'd find the man's grit admirable, but right now he just needed him to break. He felt a twinge annoyance that it bothered him when he thought about what Caroline would think of his current methods, and knew that she would be upset with him. He shrugged the feeling off, reminding himself that his concern wasn't keeping her happy, it was keeping her alive.

If he'd been overly concerned with keeping her happy, he never would have left Mystic Falls.

He cut the warlock again, "You will… I have all the time in the world."

"Brute force, Niklaus? Really?" Elijah's voice came from behind him. "I would have liked to think you would have had a more elegant plan."

Klaus stiffened at his brother's voice. "What are you doing here, Elijah? You should be with Caroline."

"Caroline is well protected." Elijah said. "I would appreciate if you didn't insinuate that I would put her in jeopardy."

Klaus turned and scowled at his brother darkly, "I don't know that I know what you're capable of anymore, brother, because I never would have imagined a betrayal like this from you. Weren't you the one who swore that family would come first, always and forever?"

"I did, and that has never wavered. I simply made a choice." Elijah said, straightening his tie and smoothing down his immaculate suit. "I chose to protect the portion of our family that most needed my care."

Klaus flinched, because he'd realized that Caroline was more than a passing fancy a long time ago, she'd managed in a few short months to do something that no one else, somewhat excepted on Marcel, had accomplished in over a thousand years. She had become a Mikaelson. She was counted among the handful that was a part of the oath made to always protect one another. He knew he felt that way about her, but he was surprised to hear it from Elijah.

"Yet you leave her to the care of others?" Klaus said, glibly.

Elijah's expression grew cold, "Don't question my commitment to keeping that girl safe. You have no idea what I've sacrificed for her. For you."

Klaus raised an eyebrow, his interest genuinely peaked as he did not know Elijah to show such bursts of emotion often.

"And what have you sacrificed."

Elijah met Klaus's gaze evenly.

"I ripped out Katerina Petrova's heart because she was going to kill Caroline." He tone was collected, but Klaus could she the internal battle raging behind his dark eyes. "We destroyed her and many before her, Klaus and history will not repeat itself with Caroline. I will not allow it."

Klaus scowled, "You won't allow it?"

Elijah drew himself up to stand tall, his posture stiff.

"No, Niklaus… I won't." Elijah said calmly. "And if you care for her as much as I believe you do, you won't either." He searched his brother's face and Klaus knew what he was looking for. The brother he knew before a thousand years had turned them both into something else. "Perhaps it is not too late for either of us to find redemption, brother."

Caroline lay on the couch in Josephine's living room. No one would let her leave the house and she was bored out of her mind. Her hands were resting on her inflated stomach and a small smile played across her lips. She'd been able to feel the twins moving on the inside for quite a while, it had started out feeling like butterflies in her stomach, but now she could feel it from the outside as well, their little kicks kissing the palms of her hands.

"Care?" Bonnie's voiced roused her from her half-sleeping daze.

Caroline propped herself up on her elbows a bit and looked at her friend. She felt a twinge of sadness, because even though they'd grown back together, she felt a gulf between them. Just because she was human again, didn't erase the things that happened between them while she was a vampire. It still stung to know what Bonnie had said about her and it was hard knowing what she thought of Klaus… even though Caroline was incline to agree with her. Falling for Klaus had been a mistake, a stupid mistake, but that didn't change the fact that he was the father of the babies rapidly growing inside of her. As much as she wanted to hate his guts, she knew that he would always be a part of her now, whether she like him or not.

"Hey Bonnie." She made a face as one of the twins gave a particularly sharp kick to her spleen.

Bonnie rushed over to her, "Care, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine." She assured her, waving off her concern. "They're just kicking harder these days."

Bonnie sat down beside her, "Does it hurt?"

Caroline shrugged, "It's a little uncomfortable sometimes. Want to feel?"

Bonnie gave her a surprised look, "Do you mind?"

Caroline shook her head and took Bonnie's hand, placing it over one of the more active areas. Bonnie's brow furrowed and Caroline could tell she was concentrating really hard on trying to feel something. The look of surprise on her face was comical when a sharp kick hit her hand. Caroline laughed and Bonnie gave her an impressed look.

"How are you not black and blue?"

Caroline shrugged, "It's really not that bad… you get used to it."

Bonnie nodded, but she looked skeptical.

They fell into a lengthy silence. There had been a time when they never ran out of things to talk about, but that had changed.

"I looked over Josephine's spell." Bonnie said. "I think you're as safe as you can be."

Caroline nodded, she was never entirely safe, not now that she was human and her blood was the cure to vampirism. She would never have any version of the life she'd wanted as a human or a vampire, but she was learning to live with that.

"Thanks, Bonnie." Caroline said. "You didn't have to come all this way. I know it was inconvenient, especially considering your classes."

Bonnie met her gaze, "I'll always be here for you, Care. We're best friends… not matter what."

Caroline nodded, but it was easy to say, and much more difficult to believe.

"I know." She lied.

Hayley killed time out in the backyard of Josephine's doing yoga. She didn't want to deal with anyone inside, mostly because Caroline was in a pissy mood being coddled like a child and Kol seemed to be going out of his way to annoy Hayley every chance he got. It was sweltering and the humidity was so heavy that she felt like she had to swim through the thick air. She moved into downward facing dog and heard a chuckle. She looked up and saw Kol standing over her.

"What is it?" She snapped.

"Downward facing dog," He smirked, "Just thought it was fitting."

"Ha ha." She said slow and sarcastic. "Because I'm a werewolf." She stood up and rolled her eyes. "You're hilarious."

Kol smirked, "I like to think so, and glad I'm not the only one who appreciates my talents."

Hayley scoffed and grabbed her towel, wiping away her sweat, "Sure… Talents. Like being an annoying pain in my ass? Great talent."

Kol chuckled, "Well, an ass like that deserves special attention, darling."

She let out a low growl of annoyance, letting her eyes flash gold, "Don't call me darling."

"Scary." Kol joked. "You realize your bite can't hurt me, don't you?"

"No, it can't kill you." She glared at him, "But it will hurt like hell."

"Promises, promises," Kol's eyes danced with a nearly manic glee. "But I think you're just going to disappoint me, aren't you?"

Haley scoffed and shouldered past him.

"Next time, darling." Kol called after her.

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