The Benefactor and Her Charge. Part 1.

Written for the lovely Withyouandthemoon for the Klaroline Winter Wonderland Gift Exchange.

Summary: Takes place just before Klaus comes to Mystic Falls to break his curse. AU. Caroline is not a vampire or from Mystic Falls.

With little to no leads to aid him in breaking his curse, Klaus turned on his charm to seduce a young Irish witch, who's family had been whispered among the supernatural world to know of a spell that could bring him just what he needs to find the doppelganger and finally break his curse. Only once the spell is cast, it doesn't bring him exactly what he expected, but so much more. Things he never knew of or thought that he needed.

Caroline, a mysterious woman from another time and place, had thought her life had been lost to darkness forever. When a shimmering light pulled her from her dark and lonely prison, she never imagined the chance to right her wrongs would bring her the hope and opportunity for a life far beyond her wildest imaginations.

Will Klaus chose power and lose the brightest light to ever grace his life? Will Caroline chose to stay or will she opt to return home and face her past once her services are complete?

Only time will tell if the two will see and take what's standing right in front of them.

.

.

.

Her palms were sweating, her knees trembling as she eased her way into the darkened study. The creature of her nightmares stood before a blazing fire, sipping a glass of whiskey as if he wasn't holding her entire world in the palm of his hands. What was left of it anyways.

"I do hope you have good news for me. It's been quite the trying day." He sighed dramatically as he turned the tumbler in his hand, staring at it as if mesmerized by its liquid catching the light from the fire. "It's put me in a very, shall we say, volatile mood. Fortunate for me, I have just the people to take it out on." His head turned towards her with a vicious smirk, "Though I don't suppose you'll agree with me."

She wanted to sneer at his mocking attempt to frighten her, she wanted to be brave like her Father and Brother who had fought valiantly until their dying breath and now laid dead in the field outside of their home. She wanted to stun him with her magic, race down to the cellar and free her sobbing Mother. But she knew she couldn't. Even as powerful as she was, she was no match for an Original Vampire.

"You'd never make it out of here alive Sweetheart, and neither would your dear Mother." His imposing body flashed in front of her as he guessed her train of thought. She wanted to gag at the fake charming smile on his face, as he continued to mock her while tapping his chin, "Well, perhaps she would be partially alive, just no longer a creature your coven would welcome back home."

She held back her shutter of revulsion, this wasn't the first time Klaus had threatened to turn them if he didn't get what he wanted. A dire fate indeed for any witch.

Taking a steading breath, the young red-haired witch held out her satchel, "I gu…guess then it's fortunate that I have what you've been looking for."

His eyes lit up with such excitement that she could easily remember how he had drew her in and fooled her with his boyish charms. As he began pouring over the strange text, she edged her way closer to the table. "I have to warn you; this spell is nothing like I or the others have ever seen before. There could be drastic consequences to enact it."

Klaus's lip curled, and his eyes flared as he spat, "Don't speak to me of consequences little witch."

Her body trembled under the weight of his glare, her eyes widening as the dark veins slithered beneath his reddening eyes. "I…I understand you wish to find those responsible as well as the things you need to break your curse but this…this spell…" She attempted to get him to see reason, "Opening a portal, crossing realms, pulling something out that has been hidden deep within the very land it comes from, we have no idea what we are messing with. Whatever this thing is you wish to gain, it had to be locked away for a purpose."

Klaus clasped his hands behind his back, a playful grin upon his lips that she knew only meant trouble as she began backing away from his advance.

"Locked away for a purpose you say? Much like the other half of my very being was stripped and locked away from me? Much like your poor, sweet Mother is locked away at this very moment?" His sickeningly sweet breath brushed over her face, bringing a devilish smile to his face as she flinched, squeezing her eyes shut as if it would hide her from a monster, "Where she will stay if you do not preform the spell and bring the artifact to me. And yet…" He brushed a finger down her cheek before humming as he backed away from her, "I think some proper motivation is needed."

Her eyes flew open as he snapped his fingers, calling in the vampires who had been waiting just outside the door. The young witch watched in horror as one of them threw her crying Mother to the floor while the other bit into his wrist, grinning evilly as he snatched the back of her Mother's neck and force fed her his blood.

"Well then," Klaus announced with a clap of his hands, as if he was hosting a dinner party and not signing their death sentence, "Now that all our guests have arrived let's begin, shall we?"

She scoffed, brushing past his offered arm and stormed over to the table, her mind cursing all the power she held within her veins as well as the old wives' tales that had been past down through her family from generation to generation. If she could travel through time, she would gladly go back and destroy the strange traveler that had courted and married her great-great-how ever many great's-grandmother. It was he who told the stories of distant lands and far-off realms. It was her very ancestor, and those who had whispered and spread the tales, who had sentenced their blood to death at the hands of the deranged Original vampire.

As she began working the spell, weaving her magics to break the barriers between worlds, a single tear rolled down her cheeks as she realized the truth. She had no one to blame but herself. It was she who had been taken in by Klaus's charm and wit. She who filled in the blanks to the stories and set in motion happenings that she had no iota of what would come to be.

Klaus grinned wildly as a golden spark began flickering in and out of existence in the center of the room, growing larger with each word the young witch chanted and every perfectly timed motion of her hands. He watched for her nod, biting into his hand to toss a few drops of his blood into the golden lights, linking and binding whatever was on the other side to him as the spell called for.

Not a moment later the scent of witch's blood hit his nostrils, calling him to taste her but he held back, knowing there would be time for that later, as she sliced her hand, tossing a few drops of her own blood in to open the strange and bright portal. The odd magic trapped within her veins sent the sparks into a flurry, colors of all shades began to swirl faster and faster, growing larger and brighter, the sounds of it all deafening to even the vampire's ears. A darkened shape, larger than what Klaus had been expecting, fell from the center of the portal with a thud.

The next instant everything stopped.

The room fell silent, with not even the witches' breathing as the light from the fire cast a glow over the space where the portal last stood.

There in it's place was a filthy and unconscious young woman. Her blonde hair, ratted and dirty, her limbs covered in grime and her clothing nothing but old tattered rags.

The elder witch gasped in awe, breaking the silence, "You did it Deirdre. You actually did it. The stories were true. I can't believe they were actually true."

Klaus's eyes flared in anger as he stomped over to the old woman, "You sought to trick me! You were told to bring an artifact that would assist in my quest, yet you brought me nothing but a ragged girl."

The young red-haired witch rushed to stop him as she caught onto his intent, "No! Wait! You don't understand! Please Klaus! Just listen!"

"I understand all too well! And I will hear none of your lies!" Klaus shouted as one of the vampires latched onto the young witch's arms holding her back, "You brought yourself someone to try and help you cause, a sad and pathetic attempt to save your lives seeing as the girl is of no use to you. Well," He sneered harshly, "with the bargain severed, so shall your Mother's heart be from her body."

"No!" Deirdre screamed, fighting wildly against the hold on her as Klaus yanked her Mother's heart firmly from her chest. She ceased her fighting, her mouth opening with a silent cry of agony. She would have fell to the floor as her Mother's dead body did had it not been for the vampire's tight hold around her. Not even the vampire blood in her Mother's system would cure such a malady.

"Get rid of this trash." Klaus sneered at the vampire beside him, kicking the body on the floor as he dropped the heart before strutting his way towards the quivering young witch. "You broke our deal Sweetheart."

Deirdre trembled as she was passed to the Original, knowing full well that she was about to die but welcoming it with open arms. She had nothing left. Her family dead at this monster's hands. A monster that she had unknowingly welcomed into their lives. Fitting for her that she too should meet her end at those same hands.

"Have you any last words little witch?" Klaus asked in a faux soothing tone.

Her green eyes glared at him with what little strength she had left as her fiery hair billowed around her, "I did not fail you, but it would seem my old stories were true. You know very little of what has been brought here, what it shall cost you."

Klaus shrugged his shoulders as his fangs dropped, "It's of little consequence to me. The vile little thing shall meet her end shortly after your dried husk hits the floor."

Deirdre closed her eyes, hoping for peace on the Other Side. Her last thought as she was drained dry was of how fitting it was of her Grandmother to name her after an Irish tale of a tragic heroine. Deirdre of the Sorrows. Aye, she could only hope that even deeper sorrows would meet the evil Original not long after her death.

Klaus dropped the pale, dead girl to the floor, watching as the vampire hefted her body over his shoulder, "You want me to come back for that one?" The vampire asked, nodding towards the newly rousing girl.

Klaus smirked, "No, I shall handle her myself."

The door closed behind the vampire, leaving Klaus and the strange woman alone. Her eyes just beginning to flutter as he began advancing towards her with the intent to get this night over with and kill her quickly. Her eyes locked on his, momentarily rendering him speechless at their swirling, crystal blue depths. His breath left him in a gasp at the beauty she held beneath what looked like years of dirt and grime. His mind screamed for him to stop his course, while his age-old paranoia rallied for him to do away with this unknown and possible threat.

Ever a creature of habit and distrust, Klaus stayed his course, picking back up with his heavy tread to end the girl once and for all.

Caroline's mind foggily came to long before her body caught up with its newly acquired freedom. Last she remembered, what seemed to be decades ago, was when they placed her within her cell deep within the bowels of the Land. Her wrists chained to the thick stones, left with nothing but her magic to sustain her. In the beginning she had been aware of everything. Every little creature that came near to try and nibble on her bare toes, every rock that tumbled in the cave as the grounds above shifted and changed over time. Then her mind began to waver, time was meaningless within her pit of despair. Her only company was her memories, both the good and the horrible, until those too began to fade into the distance leaving her alone to drift in a sea of darkness.

Darkness that was not of her making. Choices that were not of her choosing. Wrongs and rights that she played a hand in, yet had no say nor control over.

In the distance Caroline swore she heard the muffled screaming of a young woman, a young woman who's voice somehow pulled at her heartstrings, yet she had no clue as to why. Voices started to become clearer. A deep and strangely accented male voice bellowed his rage as the young woman's voice trembled in fearful bravery.

The feeling of her body began to come back in slow increments as her mind began to recall the powerful pulling of the swirling vortex that pulled her out of her cage only to drop her flat onto the floor. Where she was she knew not, but she felt the stirrings of the familiar pull of one of her newly appointed Charges.

Hope began to blossom and bloom within her tired breast. She had a chance! A chance to right her perceived wrong doings of the past and make someone's life all the better for it. Whether it was the Grand Dame herself who gifted her with such a chance after so long, Caroline cared not.

This time would be different, this time she would not fail in bettering the life of those placed within her care. This time she would not fall victim to the games some liked to play.

Rolling to her side to face the approaching footsteps, Caroline gathered her strength and opened her eyes to find a man, more handsome than any she had ever set eyes upon before. Her breath caught the moment their eyes met, the same instant his did as well she noticed. She watched with great intent, studying her newly appointed Charge. Gathering what she could from the look on his chiseled face and within his grey-blue depths since she was still too weak to reach out to him with her magic.

A hard look passed over his face, his eyes shutting down with a hard glint. Caroline felt tears begin to prickle within her eyes as she saw a look of determination that reminded her of another from her past.

Was she cursed? Was she cursed to forever be placed with a Charge like Him? One that held so much darkness and pain within his soul? One that would sooner see her spit out and used than to save her, or himself? One that would gladly see her pay for crimes she had not set out to commit?

The reality of her situation became clearer as the man yanked her to her feet, holding her against his body as she swayed against her slowly regaining strength. His eyes reddening, his teeth elongating to form pointed fangs. She braced herself, knowing what was to come as he bent without a word to pierce her neck.

Klaus howled in pain just before sinking his fangs within her flesh, her blood which had smelled mouthwatering even beneath her dirt covered skin, now smell rancid like deathly poison. He tossed her to the floor, gripping his head as it felt as if an ax was cleaving it in two.

Caroline had just regained her footing, using a nearby table for support, as he recovered and quickly charged at her once again only to fall to the floor as if he had hit an invisible wall bellowing in pain.

"Stop it you blasted witch!"

Caroline huffed, crossing her arms over her chest "I am not a witch! And if you'd kindly cease in your attempts to attack me, it would stop on its own you blustering buffoon."

Klaus balked from the floor at this young slip of a woman's audacity, springing to his feet, "Why you little bitch!" He shouted as he charged at her once again only to be knocked once more flat on his back, trembling in pain.

Caroline stifled her giggles behind her hand, cocking her head to the side to grin down at him as he glared up at her, "Are you finished yet?"

Klaus nodded reluctantly, flashing to a stand as the pain died down while circling her, trying and failing to ascertain just who and what she was and what on earth was happening.

Caroline for her part watched him carefully as she gathered enough strength to reach out with her magics to feel the air and lands around them. She hid her stun and shock well when she discovered she was no longer in the lands that she had roamed as a young sprite and had once called home. The air and magic here was different, not unlike the Realm she had been working to send…She shook such thoughts from her head as her Charge made his way to the other side of the room with a gruff growl. A knowing smirk growing on her lips at his irritation, no doubt he found himself quite perturbed in his quest to decipher who she was.

As the strange man, no, not a man but a vampire, her mind supplied, poured himself a drink. Caroline daintily cleared her throat to draw his attention, "Is it not customary in this land as well to offer a lady a drink as well?"

His misused and dusty gentlemanly ways kicked in, making Elijah proud no doubt, Klaus thought rolling his eyes as he poured and offered her a drink. His keen intellect picking up on her odd use of the words, in this land as well.

She nodded her thanks as he handed her the glass, Klaus watched her intently as he spoke with a deceptively soft grin, "Please excuse my rude manners Sweetheart. It is not also customary for introductions to be had as well…"

"Yes," She replied after sighing in delight at the sharp and spicy burn of the bourbon, "Introductions would have been had by now, had you not been hellbent on attacking me."

The playful teasing smirk upon her lips nearly brought an untimely, and frankly unwanted, bashful huff from him. Nearly, but not quite. "My apologies Madame. Your presence merely caught me off guard." He watched her carefully as he announced with flare, "Niklaus Mikaelson, at your service. But please, call me Klaus." His brows furrowed as he found not a single shred of recognition on her face.

"Caroline." She offered with a soft smile and a nod of her head before sipping the delicious drink once more.

"Caroline…" He let his voice drag in question, his dimples shining through as he leaned closer to her letting her name purr off his tongue, flirting with her as if he had not tried to kill her only moments before, "And what might your full name be, Caroline?"

"Oh." She blushed prettily in embarrassment beneath her dirt covered cheeks, "One such as myself does not have any other name but the one I was given."

"Alright." Klaus pressed his lips at her odd answer before grinning charmingly, "So, just what pray tell are you?"

"I am not a what, I am a who." Her blue eyes blazed with an icy flame, sparking an odd excitement within his stomach, "And as for just who I am…" She nibbled her lower lip, trying to decide just what to say as well as to cover her embarrassment over his unintentional blunder. It wasn't the first time she had been asked such a thing, and even though she hated when the question was asked, it wasn't his fault. But it was time to test the waters with her new Charge. To see just how far this boyishly charming front could last, "Well it is quite a long story and I'd much prefer to have it after I've been fed and perhaps washed up a bit."

Klaus lessened his eyes at her, his voice hardening from the soft manner he had been speaking, "You shall be fed and cleaned once you tell me who you are and what you are doing here."

"You called me here." Caroline replied offhandedly with a quirk of her lips at how quickly his façade faded.

"What?" Klaus bulked, "I did no such thing."

"Yes, you did." Caroline held up a single finger, stopping him from speaking as she gulped down the last of her drink. Setting the glass to the nearby table, she pointed at him, "You preformed the ritual, you freed me from my pris…" Clearing her throat, she smoothed over her misstep, "You called me to your side to assist you with something." She studied him closely, reaching out to feel his most sought-after desires with her magic, "Something you need. Almost desperately I think." She mused aloud as she felt his emotional turmoil over this yet unspoken need of his, yet finding parts of his very being blocked from her. She found this new development quite odd since that had never happened to her with any of her other Charges before. It was almost as if the other parts of him were not only blocked from her, but from him as well. "Strange." She muttered, unable to ascertain just why this was.

"If you are here to help me then why attack me with your magic?" Klaus deflected with an accusatory tone, feeling strangely venerable at her uncanny ability to see through him. It felt as if she was peering into the very depths of his soul.

"Okay point one," Caroline narrowed her eyes, counting on her fingers, "you were coming to attack me. And point two, if you had not have done that; you never would have been hurt."

Klaus scoffed, "I was hardly hurt."

"Oh please!" Caroline tossed her head back with a laugh before looking back at him while snickering, "You men are all the same no matter the time or place. All ego. I saw you rolling around on the floor with my own eyes Klaus. Heard your cries of pain with my very own ears." She placed a hand on her jutted hip while pointing at her ear with the other.

Klaus tampered down the unusual reaction he felt within his chest at the sound of his name upon her lips. As he opened his mouth to offer a rebuttal, finding that he quite enjoyed their banter, a brisk knock came at the door, interrupting them as it cracked open to reveal one of the vampires, "Sir, I am here to collect the body…" The vampire's eyes widened when he found his Master sharing a drink, and not of the variety he assumed that would be had, with the decidedly not dead girl.

"Never mind that." Klaus waved his nameless minion off, "See that a room is readied for my guest in the East wing and a meal prepared for after she has had her bath."

The confused vampire left the room, closing the door behind him and flashing off to do his Master's bidding. He knew all too well the fate that would befall him should he not follow through or make an offhanded comment about Klaus's ever-changing moods.

Caroline scoffed crossing her arms while giving him a scolding glare, "You could have at least said please. Or even thank you."

"Why on Earth would I do that?" Klaus bulked at her, staring at her with wide eyes as if she had sprouted two heads.

"Um, because it's the nice thing to do? You have heard of the term, correct?" Her waving hand fell to her side with a sigh, "By the look upon your face I would take a wild guess to say that nice isn't in your vocabulary, is it?" At his unamused glare Caroline sighed heavily, muttering under her breath, "I thought not. Looks like I have my work cut out for me then."

"What work?" Klaus asked, narrowing his eyes at her pressed lips as he realized she had evaded most of his questions while getting him to give her exactly what she had requested, "Don't think for a moment that you have pulled one over on me Caroline. You will not get away with avoiding my questions."

"I promise to answer all your questions later. For now, I'm hungry and filthy and am in no mood to answering the million questions you will undoubtedly have after I tell you the answer to your first."

"The room is ready Sir. The meal should be finished promptly after the lady is washed and dressed."

Caroline smiled longingly at the promise of comfort that the voice that sounded through the door brought with it, "Now if you will excuse me."

Klaus latched onto her arm as she made to pass him, noticing that nothing happened to him as he held her back. Interesting. His mind quickly caught onto why that was. Since he had no intentions to harm her, only hold her here for a moment, it seemed as though whatever parlor tricks she held didn't flare up.

Caroline huffed, turning to glare at him as he demanded, "You will answer one question before leaving this room. And know that I only grant you this small reprieve because I will not have you fainting due to malnourishment or the smell of your own filthy skin during our pending conversation. I will have all my answers before this night is through. And if you even think of escaping…"

Caroline rolled her eyes at the loaded threat his silence implied, "I wouldn't dream of it. But would I warn you, my answer may shock you and will only bring on more questions." She narrowed her eyes at him, cutting off whatever he was about to say, "You have your demands and I have mine. I will answer one question now, but no more. Not until I've had a proper bath and we are seated for our meal. Deal?'

"Aye." Klaus nodded, releasing her from his hold as he asked, "How did you stop my attacks if you are not a witch?"

"I did not stop you from attacking me, you did. Tut-tut-tut," She waved a finger in his face as if scolding a child with a teasing smile, "The deal has already been struck. But as I am a benevolent being," She giggled at overly dramatic eyeroll, "I shall leave you with this dear Klaus so that you may rest your head easily and, so I may also enjoy my small reprieve in peace. You and I have somewhat of an accord here. For you see, I cannot harm you anymore than you can harm me. I am here to help you gain your most sought after desire."

Klaus watched her walk to the door, confusion coursing through his entire being at her answer, as well as the million more questions she promised her answer would bring. Her hand paused on the doorknob as he breathed, "Why?"

Her bright and beaming smile lit up her dirty face as she glanced at him from over her shoulder, "Because my dear Klaus, I am your Fairy Godmother."

Klaus sank to a nearby chair, where he sat with her words ringing loudly in his ears long after she left the room, unsure whether to laugh hysterically or yank her out of the shower upstairs and demand the truth.

The truth.

The truth, as hard to believe as it was, had shone clearly in her eyes and voice. The picture of it running through his mind over and over again causing him to jump up from the chair and pour over the texts left unwillingly behind by the dead witches.

He was ashamed to admit that the majority of the wordings were lost to him, written in a language he had never came across before meeting Deirdre. But with what little she had taught him during his manipulative courtship of her and paired with the fact that all his years upon this Earth had helps him become quite the scholar, it allowed him to understand bits and pieces of the text and it's meaning.

Bound by blood. Called. Interwind. Crossing Realms. There were other's as well, ones that held a foreboding quality to them, ones that told a story much like the one the naive witch had spilled to him of a powerful object locked away within the dirt and stones, never to see the light of day. To be bound to the darkness for all time. Too powerful to be let free. Set to be punished within a prison unless a precise spell was cast.

The way the witch had told it, he had assumed the object locked away to be a powerful tool to aid in his quest to break his curse, not a young slip of a woman claiming to be his Fairy Godmother of all things. Klaus recalled that Deirdre had spoken of a terrible and dreadful curse placed upon this forbidden object. That it was said to be filled with such darkness that it had to be locked away forever.

Klaus glanced to the ceiling, his mind wondering how someone as bright, for even he could see it beneath her dirt and grime, and full of life could be considered too dark to be allowed to roam free.

What had she done to give others cause to lock her away? Just how long had she been there? And what was this curse that was supposedly placed upon her lovely head?

Klaus pondered such things and the many more questions that arose as he went to check on the preparations of their meal. Each time he recalled her words, claiming to be his Fairy Godmother, he found himself caught between the absurdity of it all, feeling as if he was trapped within a strange dream and the heavy yet welcomed weight that settled over him when she had declared it.

Whatever the answers would be, there was something powerful about her.

Caroline.

Klaus grinned wickedly as he leaned against the wall, overseeing the setting of the dining table. With her at his side he would make an even greater force to be reckoned with indeed.

He heard the shower turn off upstairs, smiling as he felt the odd sense of rightness and excitement that had begun to blossom within him as he began to accept her appearance in his life.

With Caroline at his side he would break his curse before the year's end. He could feel it deep within his bones, nearly taste it on his tongue.

.

.

.

I hope you all enjoyed this odd little story. My lovely giftee had put this idea in my head mainly as a joke but of course I ran with it! There is more yes! As with most things, I planned to have more finished by the upload date for this gift exchange, but the Flu decided to make its way through my house. Starting Christmas Eve with my daughter, poor thing. Then as soon as I thought I was out of the woods…BAM! Down I went too. I just came out of the worst of it yesterday. I hate that I lost just over a week but I am slowly on the mend and getting back to work on my stories. Stay tuned for more updates here and in my other stories soon!