"Why do you always have to prove you're the alpha male?" - "I don't have to prove anything, luv, I am the alpha male."
The rising sun drenches the apartment in orange light, shutters throwing shadows on Caroline and Klaus on the bed.
Caroline is dressed in one of Klaus's shirts and a pair of his sweatpants, sitting with her legs crossed under her, waiting silently as she watches him. A frown creases her forehead as she stares at his chest.
Klaus is lying on his back under the sheets, his chest deathly pale and motionless.
At the bottom of the bed lies a pile of empty blood bags.
"Knock it off." Caroline's voice is hard. "I know you're faking it."
Klaus sucks in a breath and slowly cracks his eyes open to peer at Caroline. "What gave it away?"
"You're too obstinate to die." She sits very still, hands clenched into tight fists.
Klaus smirks and slowly starts to shift upright. "I'm glad to see you're b-"
"You stupid son of a bitch!" She cuts him off with a slap upside his head and explodes into a frenzy of words, punching his chest and shoulders for emphasis. "What the hell is wrong with you? Letting me drain you dry? Like this is the first time you had to do this. Do you have any idea how freaked out I was? I woke up in a goddamn bathtub filled with ice cold bloody water and you completely desiccated! What the hell were you thinking? That this was some sort of grand romantic gesture? That I would appreciate you sacrificing yourself to save me? Are you insane? Do you know how heavy you are? Do you have any idea what it took to drag your desiccated ass out of that damn tub, and get those blood-bags down your throat to bring you back to me? I swear, I was ready to stake you if you didn't start drinking." Her eyes are wet with frustration and she sucks in a couple shaky breaths as she stares down at Klaus. "You asshole."
Klaus's smile is bemused as he looks up at her. "What can I say, I prefer-"
She grabs his face with both hands and presses her lips firmly against his. With a couple of quick pecks, she pulls back but doesn't let go of his cheeks. Her eyes are still wet when she stares him down, less than an inch between their noses.
"I prefer you being alive," she says calmly, firmly.
Klaus is dumbstruck. So he nods, once, without saying anything.
"Okay." Caroline nods too and shifts back, sitting up with her legs crossed under her. "Now, there's some stuff we need to talk about." She wipes her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt and takes a deep breath. "Like, how in hell is there a new wolf in town who looks exactly like your older brother?"
When Klaus and Caroline arrive at the plantation a couple hours later, Elijah is waiting for Klaus in the study, perched against the edge of the enormous writing desk, contemplating an empty spot on the floor. All evidence of Katherine's torture has been removed and the room looks as pristine as if nothing ever happened.
Klaus smirks as he takes in the surroundings. "Katherine?" he says levelly.
Elijah's shoulders are rigid as he turns his head to look at Klaus. "Taken care of."
The smirk widens to a gleeful grin on Klaus's face. "Too bad I wasn't around to enjoy the show."
"I cannot say that I share your inappropriate sense of exultation." Elijah's tone is grave and uncompromising. "There was no need for her to die."
Klaus crosses the distance between them and turns to lean against the desk next to Elijah, mimicking his brother's pose, arms crossed over his chest. "On the contrary. She deserved every minute of torture up to and including her miserable demise for what she did."
"How can you say that?" Elijah's gaze bores into Klaus, his lips curled in disgust. "She has given us the opportunity to start anew, rebuild our family. However impure her intentions, we now have a chance-"
"I'm afraid not, brother." Klaus leans towards Elijah with a rueful smirk. "You see, no matter how much we like to pretend otherwise, the truth is that our family has always been built on nothing but blood, violence, and treachery." Klaus sighs. "And I'm afraid your son is proudly carrying on the tradition."
"What nonsense is this? He's-" Elijah trails off abruptly, confusion knitting his brows. "How do you know it's a boy?"
"In the typical fashion of dramatic twists, he grew up to look just like you and showed the unfortunate lack of sense to try and kill Caroline."
"What?"
Downstairs in the drawing room, Caroline sits quietly, waiting for Matt and Rebekah's reaction to her recap of the previous night's events.
Matt exchanges a wordless look with Rebekah.
Rebekah chews on her bottom lip, frowning thoughtfully. Then she exhales and shrugs it off. "I guess that answers my question about raising the baby. But what in the world would make him age so quick..." She trails off with a disgusted noise.
"Magic," Caroline and Matt say at the same time.
"Yeah, I just figured that one out, too." She blows a strand of hair out of her face. "So, what happens now?"
Caroline pulls her hair back and looks toward the ceiling. "Now, we get to watch your brother lead my ex's pack and a bunch of local vampires into an all out battle against a pack of redneck werewolves."
"Yay," Rebekah says in a dry tone.
Matt doesn't say anything, his lips pressed together in a grim line.
That same day, the afternoon sun shines brightly above the abandoned amusement park. Two military trucks pull up to the entrance gates. Dozens of vampires and hybrids, both male and female, spill out of the back, heavy boots pounding on the concrete. They carry bats, chains, machetes and brass knuckles, ready for combat.
At the front line are Klaus, Elijah, Marcel and Tyler; but only Klaus steps forward to address the fighters.
"While I'm usually quite fond of rousing speeches, for expediency's sake, I will keep this short."
There are confused expressions among the crowd, while others smirk or chortle; some roll their eyes.
"Kill them all."
Hybrid eyes flash yellow as veins become more pronounced, pumping with stolen blood. Fangs and claws descend. A chilling howl rends the air as the army borne from an alliance of necessity invades the park.
The drawing room at the plantation is eerily quiet. The silence is only penetrated by the steady ticking of the clock on the mantle, and the swish and snap of playing cards being drawn and discarded. Caroline, Matt and Rebekah are gathered around the low coffee table, playing a game of Rummy.
Rebekah wordlessly puts down a set of nines.
Matt follows with a run of spades.
Caroline looks at her cards for a long moment, chewing on the inside of her cheek.
Rebekah sighs. She meets Caroline's eyes across the table and holds her gaze. She rolls her eyes. "Go on then."
"It's just ridiculous!" Caroline drops a set of threes and a run of hearts, discards her last card and throws her hands up. "Are we really going to just sit here, playing cards, and hope they come back?" She shakes her head quickly and gets up from the couch to start pacing.
"We could watch a movie if you prefer." Rebekah's tone is utterly unfazed.
Matt shoots Rebekah a reproachful glance. He gets up and puts himself in front of Caroline, stopping her next lap short. "You agreed to stay here."
Caroline's expression is mulish. "That was before I realized I'd be stuck here for hours, wondering what the hell is happening out there."
Just beyond the entrance gates on the Main Street of the abandoned amusement park, vampires, hybrids, and werewolves are locked in a fierce battle.
A fully grown man flies through the air like a rag doll. Glass shatters as he crashes through veranda doors into a building.
Two opponents hack at each other with machetes, metal clanging between them.
A girl with vibrant red hair jumps onto the back of a thickly muscled man twice her size. He grunts and staggers. She digs her nails into his eyes, screeching at the top of her lungs. He clutches at her hands, grabs her hair with a fierce snarl and yanks her over his head. She lands with a thud and an audible crack as bone snaps. Whimpering, she tries to pull herself back to her feet.
Blood drips down Lucien's face as he goes after her, less one eye, moving past a small group of men brawling close by.
Marcel is in the middle of the brawl, throwing punches and tearing necks. He's focused on the big guy in front of him, trying to avoid a meaty fist speeding towards his face. Two more wolves are closing in, flanking him. His eyes go wide as he is grabbed from behind, arms trapped uselessly at his sides.
The attic room of the Old Ursuline Convent is mostly dark behind closed shutters. Dim light falls on the floor from the wagon wheel window just below the ceiling.
Davina lies on her bed, curled up in the fetal position. Her arms are wound tightly around her knees as she cries into her pillow with big, heaving sobs. Around her body and under her naked feet, charcoal sketches are strewn across the mattress.
The sketches show wolves with haunches twisted in grotesque ways, blood spilling from their broken bodies. They show vampires torn apart, missing limbs lying next to their burnt corpses. Brass knuckles and broken bats smeared with blood. A human heart, grasped tightly in a bloody fist.
A portrait of Marcel. Blood pours from his gaping mouth as his empty eyes stare out into the world. His neck ends in a swirl of messy charcoal lines where it is severed; only stark white paper where it should meet his shoulders.
A petite brunette wolf hurtles through the air. She crashes into a stack of wood pallets. A loud crack as wood splinters. A sharp, broken panel sticks out of her chest. Her head falls listlessly to the side. Her body goes limp.
"Adeline!" Roy's face is smeared with blood, his blond bangs matted to his head. He tracks her fall back to the one who threw her. His eyes flash. He snarls and charges at the dark haired enemy.
Tyler turns just in time. Claws and fur barrel into him. He grunts with the force of the impact. His back hits the ground, air knocked out of him. Fangs sink into his hand with a crunch, blood squirting on his face. He screams, pummeling the muzzle with his other fist. Eyes ripped wide and turning yellow. Bones cracking to shift into his wolf form.
Screams and grunts turn to growls and snarls. Fangs rasp through fur and muscle. A squelch, and more blood gushes from a severed paw.
Klaus's face is awash with the revelry of carnage. He cracks bone and rips fur, tearing through his opponents. His eyes keep searching the enemy faces, discarding one after the other. He snaps another neck and sweeps his gaze across the battlefield. His eyes stop. His lips pull back in a snarling grin as a growl rumbles deep in his chest. He disappears with a whoosh of displaced air.
Benjamin is standing on the corpse of a vampire, his boot crushing the bloody remains of the man's skull. His face is manic with glee until something pounds into his chest. Ribs crunch with the blow, forcing the air out of his lungs with a gasp.
As the afternoon sun brightens the plantation grounds, Rebekah sits quietly on the large patio at the west side of the mansion, overlooking the well maintained garden and the beautiful marble fountain in its center. Her head is canted lightly to the side, only half listening to the conversation taking place inside the drawing room.
Matt reaches out to place his hands on Caroline's shoulders, his brows creased in concern. "As much as I hate to agree with him, Klaus was right. You're not a fighter, Caroline. You'd only make things more difficult for everyone if you went."
Caroline roughly brushes off his hands."Great. I'm not just useless, I'm a liability now!"
"That's not what I meant."
"I get it." Caroline presses her lips together, crossing her arms. "That doesn't mean I'm any less pissed off about it." She shakes her head and turns to leave. "If you'll excuse me, I'll go be useless somewhere else."
Matt watches her go with a pitying frown before he goes to join Rebekah on the patio.
Caroline stomps up the stairs, looking around aimlessly once she gets to the second floor. She takes a few steps forward and down the first hallway. She passes door after door, barely paying attention to where she's going, following the embroidery lines on the edge of the carpet.
When she finally stops and looks up, a surprised laugh bubbles out of her throat. She wipes a hand over her face and shakes her head. Then she opens the door to Klaus's rooms.
In the center of the plaza, surrounded by dozens of other fighters, Klaus and Benjamin clash.
A heavy strike clips Klaus's temple. His brow bursts, blood splattering his face. He groans, brings his hand up to cover the gash. Blindly thrusts his leg out, heel first into Benjamin's stomach.
Benjamin grunts, staggers back, clutching his stomach. He wheezes and coughs, eyes trained on Klaus as he regains his footing and charges.
The two are relentless in their attack. Groans of pain puncture their steady gasps for breath as fists, elbows and knees pound into unguarded body parts. Hands smack on sweat soaked skin, grappling for purchase. A perfect match in strength, neither one is willing to give an inch.
One moment, a careless step on blood soaked ground. Klaus loses his balance. Impossible to avoid the crunching kick to his kneecap. He drops to his knees with a bark of pain. Hands clap around his ears with a crushing grip, squeezing, pulling. Klaus's fingers clench around straining forearms as he raises his eyes defiantly to look up at Benjamin.
Benjamin's face is triumphant, teeth bared in a snarl. The sound abruptly ends with a gasp. His jaw drops, his face a mask of shock and disbelief. His hands scrabble at his chest as he jerks forward. He stumbles, his legs crossing awkwardly as he turns to face his attacker.
Elijah's expression is strained, every line a sharp gash on his blood spattered face. The muscles in his arm strain with the effort to hold Benjamin upright in his embrace.
Benjamin's eyes are wide open. Confusion furrows his brows as he looks into a reflection of his own face, before his gaze turns blank and lifeless.
In the trembling grasp of Elijah's right hand rests the bleeding heart of his only child. He presses a kiss to Benjamin's brow and slowly lowers him to the ground.
The fall of Benjamin goes unnoticed as the battle rages on.
Elijah's troubled expression slowly becomes smooth. The heart slips heavily from his fingers as his eyes turn blank to the carnage around him.
Klaus takes a shuddering breath as he watches his brother turn and walk away from it all. He struggles to get on his hands and knees, blood dripping from his mouth onto the dirt. His eyes turn feral as he pushes himself back on his feet with a roar.