Enjoy!

Chapter 37

A Streetcar Named Desire

When the last brick was in place, K felt herself waver. She let out a soft gasp and found herself leaning against the wall of the tomb. Klaus turned and looked at her strangely. His brows came together. She met his gaze.

"You feel it too?" he asked softly.

K nodded and clutched her chest.

"What is it?"

"I don't know." Klaus offered her his hand. "Come,"

K took the offered appendage and followed him out of the crypt. They used one another for support. It helped when they neared Stefan. Neither wanted the younger –and in turn lesser- vampire know they each felt weak.

The moment he was gone, however, each let out a breath of release. Freya noticed their mirrored behavior and stared at them both solemnly. She began to wonder just how strong the connection between them had become.

"What's happening to us?" he asked his elder sister.

"The spell took a lot of energy." She explained. "It took a lot from you, but a little rest and the two of you should be just fine."

"Good." K sighed. "I feel like I've run a marathon wearing a thousand pound weight."

Freya gave her a light smile. Together, the three of them left the cemetery in favor of heading home.

Later that night, when things had finally settled, K and Klaus were in his room. Klaus was in the middle of changing into something to sleep in when K approached his side. She handed him a glass filled –nearly to the brim- with blood and bourbon. He smiled, tossed his shirt over the back of the nearest chair and took it from her with a thankful nod. She had a glass of her own filled with the same thing. It looked like she split a blood bag between the two and spiked it with just a hint of liquor.

Each took a sizable drink.

"The sooner this bloody hangover ebbs, the better." He sighed. Klaus reached the side of his bed and tenderly set down the glass.

"Agreed." She said in the same heavy voice as she mimicked his actions.

Together, they slid into bed and immediately sank into the mattress. It was difficult to explain the exhaustion each of them felt. It was deep, in their bones, and pushed them into sleep faster than they assumed it would.

Neither thought again about the immense amount of energy that had been taken. Perhaps it should have bothered one of the pair, but neither knew it was strange. No one had ever broken a sire-line before, so perhaps this was simply how things were? They didn't know Kol was alive.

~!~

When K awoke, her head ached. It was an interesting sensation she didn't experience often. She hated it no less every time.

With a groan, K pressed her hand to her forehead to try and ebb the pain of it. She rolled onto her stomach and buried her face into the pillow. The light coming through the veiled windows wasn't helping her in the least.

"Still a bit like a hangover," Klaus said softly. She opened the one eye not covered by the pillow and looked at the man beside her. "Isn't it?"

"Yes," she mumbled into the fabric. "You know," K took a breath and sighed as she adjusted the pillow to better speak. "One would think our healing factor would kick in any moment now."

He smiled crookedly at her.

"Magic lingers longer than alcohol, I'm afraid."

K groaned loudly, stuck out her tongue and made a noise like a child showing their displeasure before burying her face in the pillow once more, completely this time. Klaus kept his sarcastic grin and raised a single brow as he looked curiously at her.

"Perhaps something to eat?" he offered. K nodded her head, but didn't remove it from the pillow.

"Fresh." She said into the fabric. "Not recycled."

Klaus chuckled lightly and nodded his agreement. K barely felt him leave the bed, but she definitely smelled the blood when he returned, even through the pillow. When she pulled back and looked up, she was glad to see him holding a glass filled with beautiful red. With a relieved sigh, she thanked him and immediately drank her breakfast.

Not long after, Klaus made his way to the bathroom to shower. K found herself staring at his phone. It was resting on his end table, plugged in to charge, and just beckoning for her. Eventually, she crawled closer, unplugged it and sifted through his numbers to find one.

The phone rang for a moment or two before being answered.

"What do you want Klaus?" an irritated, but familiar voice answered on the other end of the line.

K felt her breath flee her lungs and her eyes instantly welled with tears. She found it difficult to speak at first.

"Are you there?" she snapped.

"Bonnie," K finally muttered.

The line went completely silent. K waited for the young witch to say something because she wasn't sure she could.

"K?" Bonnie barely spoke the name.

K's brows came together. She slammed her eyes shut and released the few tears that had gathered.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked. "Why didn't you tell me you were alive?"

"How…" Bonnie hesitated briefly. "How'd you find out?"

"That's what you have to say to me?" K couldn't hide her agitation.

"Well what do you want me to say?" she shot back defensively.

"How about you explain why you've been alive for the passed couple years and decided never to tell me."

She heard Bonnie sigh on the other end of the line.

"Because I knew you'd come back here." She said. "I knew you'd come back to Mystic Falls and hover and keep looking after me, and you don't have to. I mean, you've spent long enough looking after this family. You can have your own life now."

K chewed on the inside of her cheek.

"You still should have told me you were alive." She mumbled. K didn't want to comment on the fact that the young witch was right.

"I'm sorry." Bonnie replied. There was another silence. Neither knew exactly how to proceed until Bonnie eventually spoke again. "So, I heard you're living with Klaus. How are things going there?"

K didn't immediately answer. She thought about everything surrounding them, the hell, the prophecy and the constant threat of death. She thought about all of it for awhile before the only rational thing she could say left her lips.

"Fine." She lied. "How are things there?"

Bonnie paused briefly too.

"Fine." She replied. They both knew each other was lying.

~!~

An Old Friend Calls

Season 3, Episode 15

There was a weight over the manor. No one wanted to address the real concerns they felt and chose to ignore them, if even for a moment.

Klaus had been stoic and silent the majority of the day. He was looming and lurking and barely engaging with anyone as he sank deeply into his thoughts. His siblings left him primarily to himself. They weren't sure what to do with him.

Eventually, however, as it tended to be, his brooding didn't remain a solitary affair for long.

K and Freya were in the study with Elijah. Hope was on the floor playing with her aunt while Elijah and K sat in their respective seats to read. Hayley had disappeared again to the bayou leaving only those four in the home.

As K sat in her high-backed chair, her legs tucked beneath her and her head resting in her propped up hand, she felt something 'itch'. She ignored the sensation at first, but it was persistent. K twitched as it grew more pronounced, but again tried to ignore it. She'd been feeling it all day, but the strange feeling had become background noise. Now, something changed. Something was pushing it forward.

Elijah noticed movement and looked up through his lashes to the young woman sitting across from him. His eyes narrowed when K twitched and rolled her neck. It was… strange, and held his focus.

K twitched again. Her eyes fell shut, her jaw clenched and when she rolled her head again it was rigid and tight. She looked like she was becoming annoyed, or in pain.

"Kali?" he asked softly. His voice caused Freya to look up, but it was the other vampire's strange movements that drew her eye.

"Damn it," K hissed. Without warning, she slammed her book shut and pressed her fingers to her temples.

"Are you alright?" Freya asked with concern.

K didn't reply. She kept trying to drown out the incessant noise, but it had gone from a soft murmur to a thunderous roar. Her eyes shot to the ceiling and her face twisted into a scowl. Both Elijah and Freya skeptically followed her line of sight. He pressed his hearing, but heard nothing out of the ordinary.

"He's thinking too loud." She growled.

Before the others could ask what she meant, K pushed herself out of the chair and headed for the door. She was gone and on her way upstairs when Elijah and Freya finally looked at one another.

"Did she say he's thinking too loudly?" Freya asked her brother.

"I believe so." He replied. Both of them knew what she'd said.

"Oh dear," she mumbled. Freya felt like she was suddenly getting a glimpse of what she'd done when she strengthened the bond between her brother and K.

The vampire burst through the doors to Klaus' room. He was sitting in a chair in the corner, leaning on an elbow propped on the arm and running his fingers over his lips as he thought. He didn't even look like he saw her.

"Enough," she snapped in an exhausted voice. Klaus looked up, but said nothing. "You have got to stop dwelling on this."

"It's only a matter of time." He replied. Klaus didn't seem to realize she had jumped into a silent conversation. "They'll all come for me now." He slid out of his chair and headed into the other wing. He kept his back to her as he rested his hand on the footboard post of his bed. "There's nothing to save me from the armies of my line. Now that they've abandoned me," he turned to look at her, "they'll kill me."

K's brows slowly pulled together. She knew he believed his paranoid ramblings because she could hear it in his head, and that broke her heart.

"Oh Nik," she sighed. K stepped forward and closed the distance between them. She gently took his hands in hers. "They don't matter. Let them come. They will fail."

He wanted to smile, but found the action difficult. A thought crossed his mind and it was one that forced the pit in K's stomach to grow. Her brows tugged together again. K leaned forward just enough to press her forehead to his. Their eyes drifted shut. K reached up and tenderly cradled his jaw.

"I'm not leaving," she whispered softly.

Klaus wouldn't admit it out loud, but he felt immediate relief. And as the emotion washed through him, K felt it radiate through her as well.

He dipped down and kissed her softly. K returned the sentiment as she laced her arms around his neck. As he kissed her, Klaus lifted K into the air. She instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist and smiled to herself as he headed for the bed.

They tumbled easily onto the mattress. As they kissed one another passionately, Klaus slid his hand beneath her shirt and up her side. His hand burned against her skin. K began to unbutton his shirt.

Klaus didn't know if he clung to her out of his love for the woman in his bed, or out of his selfish need to hold onto the last thing he could call his own. Whatever the true reason, he didn't care or let himself dwell on it. He only prayed it was love and not possessiveness.

K cried out softly when Klaus began to move. She wrapped herself around him completely and cradled the back of his head as he continued. Stripping one another of clothes never took long because they wanted to get to the fun stuff quickly.

Her nails dug into his shoulders as their actions intensified. Her head fell back and she gasped when he bit into her skin. Her grip tightened and soon she felt her pointed, acrylic nails pierce Klaus' flesh. He didn't even pause.

Within a few short minutes, each reached their inevitable end. It truly never lasted long, but neither did the breaks in between. It was hours before either was slated and let themselves slip into slumber.

~!~

Elijah walked into the bedroom to retrieve his brother. He hadn't bothered knocking, though when he found them, he realized he should have. Elijah immediately spun on his heel and turned his back on what he found, but he didn't leave.

Klaus and K were lying in bed together as he assumed they might have been, but Elijah also assumed they would have been clothed as well. They weren't. Klaus was on his back with his arm around K, who was curled to his side with her head on his chest. Each was naked, but thankfully the lower half of their bodies was covered with a blanket and K's chest was pressed against Klaus. At least there was nothing too 'indecent'.

He wished he could have been surprised there was dried blood smeared across their visible skin, but he wasn't. Elijah knew how common it was with their kind, and besides, K and Klaus were always a bit more vicious with one another. Biting made even more sense with them.

Elijah cleared his throat. Neither of them woke. He looked over his shoulder at the pair and cleared his throat louder than before. K flinched and Klaus took in a long breath. He rubbed his eyes with his free hand before opening them and seeing Elijah.

"Something I can help you with," he asked with a voice clouded by sleep, "my dear brother?"

K opened her eyes and noticed Elijah too. She immediately looked down to make sure she wasn't entirely exposed and while she wasn't, she still pulled the blanket up just to be sure. When she had, Elijah turned to face the pair completely.

"Perhaps it's time for us to finally discuss the pressing matters?" Elijah asked calmly.

"You mean, we should discuss my inevitable assassination?" Klaus asked too smugly for anyone's liking. He propped himself up against his headboard. "Yes, I suppose that would be the wise thing to do."

Elijah gave his brother a small, curt smile before turning his attention to K. She had sat up and pulled her knees to her chest to better hide beneath the blanket. She met his stare.

"Talk to him." Elijah said before leaving the room.

K sarcastically saluted Elijah as he walked away, but that didn't make his 'demand' any less true. After hearing the door close again, she looked over her shoulder at Klaus.

"That was a bit uncalled for." She told him.

"He rudely woke us." Klaus leaned over. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her back to his side. "And for that," he nuzzled into the nape of her neck. "He can wait."

While she was more than willing to slip once again into their fun, Elijah was right. It was time to start forming some kind of plan for the inevitable attacks. Everyone felt themselves pulled away from Klaus the moment his line broke free. Everyone.

K flew to her feet with the speed and agility of her species. Klaus was annoyed when he looked up at her through his lashes from his leaned over position on the bed.

"Elijah's right," she told him.

K headed for his bathroom to clean the blood from her skin. Klaus growled his agitation, but stood too.

~!~

It didn't take long for the tone of the morning to take on a more ominous feeling. The moment Freya asked if Klaus had any idea of who may come for him, K could feel the apprehension and worry that came from the hybrid.

"You collect trophies from all your victims." Freya couldn't hide the judging and mild discomfort she felt when she spoke.

"Letters to their loved ones," Elijah said disapprovingly from his seat, "To be more specific."

"It was a phase." Klaus muttered as he eyed the ancient pieces of parchment.

"A phase in which we were forced to learn a different kind of stealth." The elder brother continued. "You see, over time, Niklaus' enemies grew so numerous that we had no choice but to artfully withdraw… from the world… and then…" Elijah lost himself briefly in thought as he remembered Klaus systematically daggering his siblings. "Well," he snapped himself out of it, "I wouldn't exactly call our time here in New Orleans discreet, would you Niklaus?"

"We all saw the White Oak destroyed." Klaus said with an edge. "Plus, this city was crawling with vampires who had no choice but to shield me from potential foes, for if I were to die, they would die too. I couldn't have been more safe. Now my sire link is undone. Those very foes will come for me. Like never before."

"Oh it's only been a few days since the link was broken," Freya sighed, "must you jump into crippling paranoia already?"

"It's a default setting." Elijah replied in the same annoyance as his sister.

"And with good reason." He growled at his brother.

"Is it truly paranoia," K said loudly enough to interrupt their bickering. All three Mikaelson children turned to look at the young woman leaning against the far wall with her arms crossed over her chest, "If there is a basis for it?"

"You see?" Klaus motioned to K as though to show his siblings he was right.

"You too, Kali?" Freya asked with a heavy sigh.

"Freya," K said with an almost 'maternal' tone that didn't go unnoticed. "I respect that Nik is your brother, but if even a fraction of the things you've heard about him are true, then you know we have reason to worry." She looked directly into the blonde's eyes. "Do you think any of the stories are true?"

Freya didn't immediately respond. Instead, she glanced briefly to Klaus and felt her stomach drop. She heard many things about the Mikaelson brood throughout the centuries during her year awake with Dahlia and even if she hadn't, she'd seen how Klaus acted now. The more terrifying thought came when Freya knew –thanks to Elijah- that Klaus' behavior in New Orleans was on the 'tame' side.

"Well," Elijah slid gracefully out of his seat and stood before his brother. "If it offers you any solace, we've ransacked Aya's belongings, torched Aurora's hunting grounds and obliterated every last sliver of the White Oak."

Klaus fought back the growl of anger, but his voice still held a stern edge.

"I'd be mad to believe that."

"When has this family ever been so fortunate?" K asked. Klaus' daringly looked at her as she stared only at Elijah. "Does anyone here think it's that simple?"