Sorry it's been so long :( But here's a new one. I hope you like it. Thank you so much for your reviews on the last one, and as always keep them coming. It's so great to know your feelings before I move on to a new chapter. This one especially has the POVS split between a few people, which I haven't done before, and I'm keen to know your thoughts. Also, this story is almost done! Two or three more chapters and then that's it!


Previously: For Christmas Caroline told Klaus not to buy her anything so he gifted her her bracelet along with the dagger and ash needed to temporarily kill an Original, as well as some of his blood in case of emergency.

On Katherine's prompting, Caroline along with Matt found a way to kill Silas. Caroline accidentally met Adella's niece about whom Adella is so overprotective that she doesn't allow her near vampires. To lure Klaus and thus Silas to New Orleans, Caroline had to disappear; however, she was caught unawares by Tyler being the one to kidnap her. Turns out he's working with Adella to kill Klaus – and is using the blood and White Oak stake Caroline provided to do so. Bonnie had told Caroline not to trust Adella but after finding out about the plan to kill Klaus, neither of them are sure that their contingency plans will work.

Klaus went on a murderous rampage in New Orleans, desperate to find Caroline. Worried, Rebekah called Elijah. Rebekah came to the conclusion that Caroline had left of her own accord, possibly having run off with Marcel, and she was adamant that Klaus accept her theory. Caroline had found a way to avoid and manipulate Silas' mind reading and Tyler asked her to teach him how.


Chapter 23: And We Lost it All Today

Is it me

Have I always been this way

Or did you bring out the power

Was my heart always black or did you swallow it whole

And ink it with your mouth

Did you do it because you wanted to

Or because I pulled you close

And ripped it out

"Please tell me there's coffee."

She was expecting some sort of admonishment from her older brother for not being polite enough, but he seemed to be roused from reverie instead, looking up at her with a frown.

Rebekah mirrored his expression.

"What's that you've got there?"

"Nothing," he shrugged.

Elijah didn't shrug.

"What's wrong with you?" she narrowed her eyes.

The paper he'd been staring at went straight into his pocket before he picked up the box of melba toast on the counter in front of him.

"There is indeed coffee." He met her eyes. "Would you like a cup?"

Relenting with a roll of her eyes, she nodded.

"We're meeting Silas, after all."

"As planned?" he questioned as he poured.

"Yes. Though the witch with the intel is paranoid. She'll give us the true location only once we're in the centre of town."

"I have something to take care of. I will meet you and Niklaus there."

"Something?"

"Yes."

She glared at his back, hoping that he would be very un-Elijah-like and give her at least a little more information than that, but it was in vain.

"Nik won't be happy."

He didn't respond and she couldn't blame him: it was a ridiculous thing to say, really. Klaus hadn't been anywhere even near happy for the past three days since he'd arrived in New Orleans.

"If this, too, doesn't pan out –"

"Please say there's breakfast," Katerina breezed into the kitchen, interrupting Rebekah's hushed train of thought.

Elijah nodded at his paramour before gesturing to the counter laid out with a few breakfast options. It wasn't quite the usual Mikaelson spread, but the household wasn't exactly at its usual point either. And that was counting all their family's various fights, large and small.

"You eat like a cow," Rebekah glared, annoyed at the interruption.

She hardly glanced at the Original sister on her way to the food.

"If you were less blonde you'd know that cows eat grass."

"If you were less alive it would be better for us all."

"If you were less of a moron, you'd see why that statement makes no sense."

"Remind me why she's here?" she glared at her brother accusingly, who had remained uncharacteristically silent during their spat.

Again it seemed she was shaking him out of deep thought and he looked at her with bewilderment.

"Why should she not be here?"

"Because this is my house and I hate her."

"It's Elijah's house. And the feeling is mutual," the brunette spat.

Elijah sighed. "Ladies. Let us keep in mind that tensions are simply running high because we are all concerned about Caroline."

Rebekah stiffened. Why would he say her name?

She shared a look with – of all people – Katherine, before they both stared at Elijah.

"I thought we'd had an agreement?"

Yesterday morning Klaus had gone into a fit of rage when Elijah had innocently mentioned Caroline's name. Later they'd heard crashes in his room and he'd been pacing restlessly in the middle of the night.

Her brother's sanity – whatever had remained – was waning, and fast. The last thing they needed was anything to speed up the process.

"Our brother is being absurd and I will not enable him."

"And I thought you were supposed to bring along the sanity," Rebekah muttered.

Katherine seemed persuaded though, shrugging.

"He's right. Klaus is always throwing his toys. We get it, he's upset. Doesn't mean he has to make the rest of our lives hell."

Despite the source, not even Rebekah could find a way to argue with that.

"He is concerned," Elijah amended. "As we all should be. Caroline could be in grave danger."

Rebekah snorted. "Yes, let's pretend that's what he's concerned about."

"Rebekah," Elijah glared warningly.

"Just curious," Katherine waved around a finger. "Did you actually want there to be a structure left here after we leave, or was the plan to just let anything fall from your stupid lips so your brother will destroy the entire city, like the entitled children you both are?"

With a growl Rebekah darted forward, but was met with Elijah's chest instead of Katherine's carotid.

"I hope, for the sake of my sanity, that we are able to find Caroline, so she can resume preventing the two of you from murdering each other. However, how she managed that for any sustained amount of time is utterly beyond me."

The blonde could tell from the look on her brother's face that he wasn't amused in the slightest – in fact he looked furious. Even Katherine seemed to gather as much.

"I'll be on the balcony," she shrugged, grabbing her breakfast before sauntering away.

Elijah sighed and shot Rebekah a look she knew meant that she ought to be capable of better behaviour.

She folded her arms.

"You better get going if you intend on making the meeting. Though you still haven't said where you're going."

"Do text me the location," he replied, his mind clearly already somewhere else.

She opened her mouth to reply but then he was gone, along with his suit jacket that had hung on the back of one of the chairs.

She let out a huff then turned to eye the brunette on the balcony.

Again suspicions darted around in her mind. And, for the first time, a new idea joined them.

"Not to quote Mariah Carey's worst song, but why are you so obsessed with me?" Katherine asked, not even turning around when Rebekah sped out.

"Fuck you, Katherine Pierce," Rebekah spat.

"Oh I bet you'd love to," the other woman drawled.

Rebekah glared at the back of her chair, but decided to let it go. For the moment there were more important things.

"What did you say to Caroline?"

For the first time Katherine looked genuinely offended, jumping up.

"Excuse me?"

"Tell the truth: did you two plan this together?"

Katherine's eyebrow shot up.

"What, exactly?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. Caroline running off; driving my brother insane. It's precisely your type of revenge plot."

Katherine stepped closer. "That man slaughtered my entire family in cold blood," she growled. "I've forgiven him – despite the moment I found their corpses haunting me every day of my life – for Elijah. And yet I'm the one whom that continually gets thrown back at."

"You're the miserable grudge-keeper."

Katherine snorted. "If you think that's not all of us, you're even more delusional than I thought. By nature, we're vampires. Nothing keeps us warm at night like a good grudge. You should know, with your determination to prove Caroline guilty of something."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"That you're just mad she disappeared on your watch. And that it may have something to do with your ex. That if she was in trouble she didn't confide in you."

"It's just something you said earlier."

"You'll have to refresh my memory; I've said many things today."

"About betrayal."

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"I know enough," Katherine countered. "You think you're so much better than Klaus but you two are exactly the same. Possessive, jealous and selfish to a fault. Everything is always all about you, boo hoo hoo; who cares what the fuck is actually happening to Caroline."

Rebekah rushed forward, stopping an inch away from the human.

"Stop deflecting, Katherine. For once in your miserable life, tell the truth."

She rolled her eyes. "I still don't know what you want me to say."

"She lived with you for weeks. Then she leaves Nik the very next day after they made up, to come here with us and suddenly poof, she's gone…"

"So we, what? Concocted a plan for her to pretend to forgive Klaus, so she could come here on a vacation on his dime then seduce his usurper and run off into the sunset with him?" Katherine mocked. "Trust me, darling, if that had been what had happened I wouldn't be here right now trying to help you people find her, because that sounds amazing. Certainly can't be worse than this shitshow of a family; and I hear Marcel is fine as hell."

Quick as a whip Rebekah grabbed her by the throat.

"Tell me what you two cooked up together," she growled.

"No-thing," Katherine said slowly.

"I could always compel you to tell me the truth," the blonde said through her teeth.

"You could. If you're ready to bleed me dry and then deal with Elijah sticking a dagger in your chest. Go ahead," Katherine smirked. "Just remember he isn't the only one who loves a human. Unlike Matty Blue Eyes, though, I can't die from any supernatural intervention. And anyone who knows anything about Elijah knows Klaus isn't the only vindictive son of a bitch in the family."

Rebekah was about to hiss a reply when suddenly a muted voice came from behind her.

"Are you ready to leave?"

Instantly she dropped the doppelganger, turning to face her brother cautiously.

There was never any telling what mood he would be in these days. Or, to be more accurate, which shade of murderous.

Her gaze swept over him.

Klaus' pupils were blown and he looked like he hadn't slept in days, but otherwise he looked better than she'd seen him in a while. This meeting with Silas was one pinprick of hope in what felt like forever. Every hour with Klaus without Caroline was a decade.

"Yes."

She stood still, waiting for him to pass some kind of comment or judgement on what he'd obviously just witnessed a part of.

But his eyes only slid from one woman to the other before returning to his sister.

"The car is waiting."

"Alright." She stepped forward. "Elijah said he would meet us there."

She expected some sort of remark expressing ire that Elijah had prioritised something else, but he barely seemed to care.

Somewhere along the line her brother had lost all the fight in him and, swear to god, that scared her more than anything else.

He looked at Katherine in a type of greeting then twisted around and made for the front door. With a scathing last look at Katherine, which was eagerly returned, Rebekah followed him out.

He held the door for her when they climbed into the SUV but there was complete silence between them, even as the driver pulled out onto the street.

It was strange. Now that it seemed her brother had accepted her hypothesis, she wished she hadn't told him.

And she hadn't just told him, had she? She'd begged him to accept it. Accept that yet another person had left him willingly; that someone else he loved hadn't thought he was good enough.

Possessive, jealous and selfish to a fault. Everything is always all about you.

"Nik." She turned to him. "I'm sorry."

He looked at her as if to ask for what, but even that seemed to be too much effort.

He turned away, staring back out the window, and after a few seconds she did the same with a sigh.

That was what had really appealed to her about being human. To humans life meant something. When humans apologised, their slates were cleaned because life was too short for anything else. But in her family mistakes just got added to the ever-growing bill. In her family 'I'm sorry' was what you said to make the road less bumpy from here to the next fight.

Still, this was different to any other fight or transgression. This was about Caroline.

And perhaps that was what had made her particularly acidic about the entire situation. Caroline Forbes, the only woman in a thousand years Niklaus had loved more than her.

"You know," he said suddenly, thoughtfully, still turned away, "it's alright to admit that you miss her."

Or perhaps it was that.

Perhaps it was a mix. Perhaps it was that, for indestructible creatures that could have whatever they wanted, they were entirely incapable of remaining happy for any extended period of time.

Perhaps she missed her family as it had been with Caroline in it – even marginally getting along with Katerina. That they'd all been so content, so at home, and now it felt like that was all about to be permanently altered yet again.

She'd spent her whole life running; darting from one life to the next. From one city, boyfriend and personality to the next and the next and the next. And through it all – one constant.

Without a word she slipped her hand into her brother's and, to her surprise, he held it.


"Did Elijah say he would meet us here this century, or at all otherwise imply some notion of time?"

They were at the town centre with Silas, still missing a witch and a brother, and Klaus was becoming antsy.

"I could try calling him again?" Rebekah suggested.

Klaus sighed. "Because the three hundred and fourth one he'll definitely answer."

He shrugged, though, and she got out her phone to try their brother once more. Really it was the only thing they could do, and Klaus harboured a special kind of hatred for being trapped in unproductivity. In actuality there was no vital need for Elijah, but he had a phone whereas the witch who was vital didn't, so calling their brother at least imitated productivity.

In reality Klaus felt as if he were going out of his mind. The only thing that calmed him even slightly was that Silas seemed almost as unhinged.

He still hadn't been able to figure out why the immortal cared so much about the White Oak stake, but he kept pushing the train of thought to the wayside. Even if Silas' plans were nefarious, he didn't care. As long as he helped find Caroline, what happened next was irrelevant for the moment.

He had to know she was alright.

Even if it meant his death, he had to know Caroline was alive.

"I hope she will appreciate that sentiment," Silas muttered, half joking and half annoyed.

He'd quickly grown irked with this search. As a mind-reading magic-wielding immortal, Klaus assumed Silas was used to getting precisely what he wanted even faster than the Original hybrid himself. This, however, had taken plenty of legwork and patience, and they still had next to nothing to show for it.

Or, if this witch ended up not showing, precisely nothing.

"She'll show," Silas argued through his teeth, though it wasn't clear which of them he was trying to convince.

"Still no answer," Rebekah sighed, for something to say.

They felt like sitting ducks with no purpose. He was beginning to think this witch was taking them for a lark.

"She'll be here," Silas countered.

Klaus scoffed. "I certainly hope your success in villainy so far hasn't rested entirely on the power of positive thinking."

"Actually, it has. That and master manipulating."

"I wouldn't really call it master manipulating, considering Atticus Shane was certifiable."

"I got free, didn't I?"

"Still took two thousand years, mate."

"Oh, god," Rebekah complained. "If that's the sort of wait we're in for here I wish someone had told me to bring a snack."

Riled up, Silas was about to burst when suddenly his entire frame went rigid, Stefan's stolen face screwing up into confusion.

"What? Is she here?"

Klaus surveyed the area but didn't see anyone out of the ordinary.

"Someone's thinking about Caroline," Silas murmured.

Just like that Klaus froze too, ice seeming to crystallise in his very veins. There was something about the way Silas had said that…

"What are they thinking?"

"They have her," he relayed. "They're holding her hostage. She tried to escape."

Silas' eyes closed as he tried to focus on the images rushing through his mind and Klaus in turn focused on him, nothing else. The solution; the way he would find and save her.

Not on what her captors had likely done to her. Not on how she might have given up hope on him finding her. Not that she'd been in danger while he worried that she'd left of her own accord.

He would find her and save her now. That was all that mattered in this moment.

Except Silas wasn't bloody speaking.

"Who is it, you imbecile?!" he roared, casting his eyes about. "And where the bloody hell are they?"

Silas was quiet for a moment longer.

Then his eyes snapped open.

"It's Tyler."


Had he ever hated the mutt quite as much as in this moment?

For several facets of a reason: Tyler had eluded him for months and now here he was, in his own city. And he'd taken Caroline.

Not only that, but he'd become bloody good at elusion.

But when he caught him – and he would catch him – Klaus wouldn't rip him to pieces. No. No, that was for any usual enemy.

When he caught him, the Original was going to turn him inside out. He wanted Tyler's insides on the outside; on display for his amusement and peace of mind – Caroline would finally be safe.

He still couldn't fathom how a small town mutt had bested him, but he was damn well going to find out, likely with his fist inside Tyler's intestines.

"Can you bloody say something?" Rebekah bit out, growing as irritated as her brother. "Which direction next?"

Silas' jaw clenched. "I will, when I have something!"

"You can read minds," Klaus growled. "What can the hold-up possibly be?"

They came to a stop and Klaus had to remind himself that they needed the immortal to find Tyler. It was the only reason he was crawling along at Silas' pace, as well as why he hadn't yet stuck his hand straight into his chest out of sheer frustration.

"He's employing some sort of…"

"What?" both siblings shouted.

He seemed to break from his train of thought.

"It doesn't matter. The point is it's more difficult than usual, so if you two want to find him, I'd suggest patience."

"I'd suggest my foot up your arse," Rebekah muttered under her breath.

Suddenly the immortal frowned deeply.

"What?" Klaus barked.

"I see a cave… or tunnel, of some sort."

Klaus' mind spun with possibilities.

"Describe it."

"It's close. Very large. Many caverns."

A rush of relief swept over the Original.

"I think I know the one."

He was about to speed off but Rebekah grabbed him.

"Nik."

"What?" he snapped.

"We can't just run into whatever trap Tyler is obviously setting."

"I'm the Original Hybrid, Rebekah."

"Something Tyler knows, as surely as he does that you would come to Caroline's rescue."

He seethed.

"Then what is it you suggest I do?"

"We do," she corrected pointedly. "There are three of us and Elijah is still on his way."

He considered, noting the plea in her eyes.

For once she had no hidden agenda – she was simply determined to help him. He glanced at Silas for a second, who had been almost as resolute as he since they'd arrived in New Orleans.

"Alright. But we aren't waiting for Elijah any longer."

She nodded gratefully and he turned to Silas.

"You."

"What?"

"Run."


They made it there within ten minutes, Silas huffing and puffing a little and the Originals sufficiently annoyed with him.

"You should look into vampirism," Rebekah suggested. "Same necessity for blood. More perks."

Silas glared at them both.

"Are we at the right place?"

They were inside a building which, though many citizens weren't aware, housed an elevator that went right down to underground tunnels.

"You tell us, mate."

At that Silas straightened up and concentrated. A moment later his eyes rounded.

"He's here."

Klaus was stepping forward, ready to enter the elevator, when Silas was suddenly before him.

"Oh, now you're capable of moving quickly," the hybrid scoffed. "Get out of my way."

"I'm going first," Silas countered, not smiling.

"You just bloody regained your ability to breathe! I think that says a lot about who's the most capable here."

"It's like your sister said. Whatever trap is inside there is for you."

"And just when did you begin caring about my wellbeing?"

Silas was opening his mouth to answer when suddenly from behind Klaus came a shout of surprise.

He spun only in time to see a blur rush off.

The blood drained from his face when he saw the reason for Rebekah's cry: there was a dagger in her chest.

The horror at seeing it in her own chest seemed to bloom on her face in slow motion and Klaus dashed forward to catch her in his arms as she collapsed to the ground.

"Rebekah…" he murmured, perplexed.

Her eyes were beginning to dull; however, answerless.

Klaus' eyes moved from the veins beginning to creep up her neck to her chest, where the dagger protruded.

A new sort of horror began to dawn on him when he examined the handle.

It was the one he'd given Caroline.

"Just pull it back out!" Silas ordered.

Klaus blinked.

He'd had the dagger spelled with Caroline's blood. She was the only vampire who could wield it against an Original without dying.

That meant either the fastest-moving human in existence had just stabbed Rebekah, or… it had been Caroline.

Relinquishing Rebekah's body, he stood.

"No. We should leave her."

"What?!"

He didn't reply, walking past Silas and stepping into the manually-operated elevator.

"You can do it, or you can come with me. This elevator only comes back up with someone in it."

Silas hesitated for the quickest of seconds before following the Original in. The hybrid quickly got to work on the pulleys that operated the shaft, moving them downwards.

He tried to concentrate on only it, not thinking at all, but once again he was incapable of hiding his thoughts from the immortal.

"You think that equates to trust," Silas scoffed. "It's stupidity."

Klaus didn't reply, only pulling harder and faster. It was a long way down.

"Unless you know something," he continued thoughtfully. "Unless you know you can trust her." He came to stand in front of the Original, making unavoidable eye contact. "What's going on here?"

"I don't know," Klaus replied, and it was probably the most honest thing he'd ever said to him.


She felt a hand on her arm.

It was Tyler. She didn't move or open her eyes to acknowledge him at all.

She was sitting on the ground, curled into taking up as little space as possible. It wasn't difficult, with the way everything about this situation and her own body felt alien. Early this morning Adella had brought her shampoo, bodywash and clothing items carrying a stranger's scent.

The witch hadn't needed to explain. Klaus could pick Caroline's scent out of a hall filled with people.

Tyler squeezed her bicep then let go, sitting down beside her.

They could hear the elevator coming down, being manually pulled down towards the tunnel where she waited. In her mind she imagined Klaus putting all his strength into it; unaware that there was a different entrance to the tunnel. An entrance that just happened to be in Adella's backyard.

Tyler's job was done. Now it was her turn.

Daggering Rebekah had been the easiest part, and god knew it hadn't been easy at all.

Her breath caught when she heard the elevator come to a stop and she had to suppress a cry for him when she heard Klaus speak.

"He's down here?"

Finally she looked at Tyler. His brow was furrowed; his eyes closed in desperate concentration.

"He has… faded," Silas replied uncertainly, and Caroline let out a tiny breath of relief.

Without a mind-reading immortal there to test Tyler out, she'd had no idea whether her instruction had done any good. But now it seemed her teaching had paid off – Tyler was concealing his thoughts from Silas well enough.

"But he was here."

They began moving and Caroline swallowed, anxiety coiling in her stomach like a black hole of duty.

"Klaus!" she heard her voice shout out.

"Caroline!" Klaus responded immediately.

She turned to meet Tyler's eyes and they both nodded pointedly. The recordings were working. Immediately the two men began moving in the direction where several more tape recorders with timed recordings were placed to lead them in the perfect direction.

"Klaus, help me."

Her voice sounded breathy and helpless, even to herself, and she couldn't help thinking that that was exactly how she still felt.

"Where are you, love? Are you alright?"

"I'm right here, Klaus," the voice answered. "Be careful."

"Keep talking, Caroline."

The real Caroline shut her eyes tight, listening to the fear and anger in his voice.

This morning, while making the recordings, she'd had to anticipate his questions and responses, but not even in her imagination had he been as furious as he sounded now.

"It's Tyler, Klaus."

She shivered. That was the second last recording. They were seconds away.

"I know, love."

She drew two long breaths.

Ten steps.

"I knew you would save me," the recording breathed.

Six steps.

She felt Tyler's hand on her arm again and this time she turned to him.

I love you, he mouthed.

Two steps.

She felt frozen.

You can do this, Tyler finished.

She closed her eyes. Breathed.

Yes, she could.


God, he was beautiful.

She'd almost forgotten. Almost forgotten the sheer effect just his presence had on her.

"Klaus."

It was the first thing that slipped from her lips. The only thing she was about to say that wasn't scripted.

He met her eyes with something like awe and she knew her expression was a mirror.

Then his gaze slipped to the rest of her body, no doubt taking in the unfamiliar clothing. Her eyes almost slipped closed in humiliation, hating that she had to have him see her like this – covered in three days of terror and tears; utter shame.

"Are you alright? Did he hurt you?"

"Klaus, there's something you should know."

Her throat felt like cotton wool.

His eyes searched her face curiously.

"I was kidnapped," she said carefully.

"You need to keep them distracted for four minutes," Adella said. "Think you can do that? four minutes."

"But that doesn't mean I didn't want to be taken."

Klaus' eyes widened in bewilderment.

"What do you mean?"

Finally she managed to drag her gaze away from him; to look at the immortal who had ruined her life.

"I couldn't let him get away with it. I had to kill him."

Both men gasped and she forced herself to maintain eye contact with Silas, even as he no doubt probed her mind.

Keep thinking. Keep talking.

"So I left. After I'd found a spell."

"A spell…" Klaus repeated. "To kill him?"

"You bitch," Silas growled, making to step forward, but Klaus held him back.

"Yeah," she breathed. "Klaus, there's something you don't know about Silas."

The Original's eyes darted toward the immortal suspiciously before returning to her. Silas himself was staring at her, too, half-frozen. She hoped that meant he was getting nothing from her mind.

"What?"

She swallowed. Facing Klaus was even more difficult than she'd thought it would be.

Slowly, almost imperceptibly, she took her first step back as she spoke.

"He linked himself to you. With a spell. This whole time he's been siphoning power from you."

"What?" Klaus growled.

"How do you know that?" Silas spat.

She ignored him, taking another step back.

"You're linked. That's why it's impossible for you to hide even a single thought from him; why he's been able to torture you the way he has, getting into everything you see and think."

"No," Klaus shook his head in denial, but she could see realisation dawning in his eyes.

And then, quickly, betrayal.

He turned on the immortal with a growl and she stepped further back, enough to gain both their attention.

"Where are you going?" Silas accused.

She looked at him again.

"You know which spell I found, don't you?"

His eyes hardened – a confirmation.

Klaus was still in the dark, though.

"What are you talking about?"

She blinked rapidly, trying to stave off tears before returning her gaze to the man she loved.

"Klaus, he's linked to you. He needs you and your power. That's part of the reason why he followed you here. Which is why I needed to be kidnapped... I knew you would come," she admitted shamefully.

Klaus drew a breath.

"…What's the other part?"

"The thing that can kill you…. it can kill him, too."

The hybrid took an involuntary step back, his eyes rounding.

"The White Oak." He blinked. "That's why you took it."

"Yeah," she nodded. "But that's not all. The spell, it needed the blood of the person he's linked to."

He stared at her and, for the first time, betrayal began to creep into his eyes while they were directed at her. She'd confessed to lying since the beginning, since admitting to wanting to be kidnapped, but now he was actually beginning to put it together.

"The blood I gave you."

"For Christmas," she nodded, and his jaw clenched.

She checked on Silas but he was still staring, waiting for the rest too, and she returned her gaze to meet Klaus'.

"We found a witch to do the spell."

"We."

God, she couldn't breathe.

"Tyler."

Again her gaze darted to Silas. Thank god he didn't have heightened hearing. He would hear her heart all but taking a bound straight out of her chest.

"The thing is… there was something else about the spell."

"Caroline," he growled.

He hated when she buried the lede.

"It would affect you," she swallowed. With a long breath she gathered her resolve. "It would turn you into a normal vampire… who didn't need the White Oak stake to be killed."

A little laugh of surprise came from Silas' lips but she couldn't even force herself to pay attention, focusing on Klaus' eyes. Focusing on the hate there.

"Four minutes then straight to me, doll. You got that?"

"I've got it," Caroline agreed.

With one last ragged breath she dragged her gaze from Klaus' and sped away.


"CAROLINE!" Klaus bellowed.

He spun around, searching the cave for any sign of her, but she'd effectively disappeared.

He was about to rush after her when suddenly he was shoved into the cave wall.

"What are you doing?" he snarled at Silas.

"Well, see, I actually brought this for your pain in the ass girlfriend." From behind his back he produced a wooden stake. "I thought your sister had it right – that Bondie McBitch had run off by herself – and, turns out, I bet on the winning horse."

His arm pressed down harder against Klaus' windpipe.

"I didn't know she was planning on killing me, but actually everything turned out rather fortuitously. Because now I can kill you, with just this, and she'll die right along with you. As well as all her friends. And then I'll go back for her pretty little mother," Silas grinned.

Klaus struggled, trying to push the immortal off him, but immediately there was a blinding pain in his head and he gritted his teeth, his knees struggling to hold him up with the intensity of the pain.

"I hate you cockroaches," Silas seethed, right up against Klaus' ear. "At least your power was helpful to me, once upon a time. Good thing I'm all charged up – I don't need you anymore."

With that he drew back and forcefully stabbed the stake into Klaus' heart.

Klaus stared helplessly with wide eyes, wondering if this was when his life was supposed to flash before them.

But all he could see was Caroline, even though she remained nowhere to be found.

In his mouth he tasted blood but only vaguely, in a far off portion of his mind, did he realise that it was because he was choking on his own blood.

He was dying.

A thousand years spent trying to become stronger, immortal, indestructible; building an army and a city – and now he was about to die because of a common household piece of wood. Pierced right through a spine built of steel and the bones of thousands of lives, was a bloody toothpick.

With a look of satisfaction Silas stepped back to admire his work, as Klaus' knees gave out and he slid to the dirty cave floor.

He continued to stare as Klaus spat blood over the front of his Henley, suffering, but…

Not dying.

"What's happening?" the immortal exclaimed. "That's supposed to work! I saw it in her mind!"

Bloody-lipped, Klaus smiled and managed to speak through the blinding pain.

"Seems she found a way to trick you, mate – even with her thoughts."

With that he gripped the stake and pulled it out of his chest, coughing as Silas fumed.

"Why didn't it work?!"

"I think I have an idea."

Silas spun around to face – Caroline.

She was there.

With steel and death in her eyes.

"Wrong brother," she informed him.

Without hesitation she plunged the White Oak stake through his chest. The force audibly cracked his ribs and Klaus watched as she didn't even blink.

The immortal's eyes were round as saucers. Wordlessly he staggered back. His limbs began to fail and in seconds he was on the floor with Caroline towering above him.

"Die knowing everyone in this life hated you and that there's no one waiting for you on the Other Side," she spat.

He tried to say something but only blood spurted from his mouth.

With every passing second his skin became more translucent and powdery and she stared as his insides became vaguely visible.

Then his eyes stilled and she heard his heart stop.

It was over.


She rushed over to Klaus.

"Are you ok?"

Her hands fluttered over his body but the bleeding had already stopped, his wound healed.

"Thank god," she breathed, her head falling onto his shoulder automatically.

He rested his against her, too, and for one quick second everything was some sort of ok.

Before he spoke, softly.

"So all of that – it was all lies to trick Silas?"

Her body stiffened.

Quickly she drew away, wanting to cry at the hope in the blue eyes that looked up at her.

"Not all of it."

Confusion darted through his eyes but she shook her head. Now wasn't the time.

"Are you sure you're ok?"

Why was he still slumped on the floor? They had to go.

He exhaled.

"Weak."

Damn.

"It's Adella's spell, it broke the bond between you and Silas."

Pro: she knew Silas was really, once and for all, dead. Con: they couldn't speed right out of here.

"Adella?" he questioned, seeming worried.

Shit. Shit shit shit.

Could she carry him? Could he walk? She could support him.

She was about to ask when he suddenly muttered something and she had to lean in to catch it.

"The White Oak."

She spun around to Silas' body but her heart dropped into her stomach when she saw that it was too late. Tyler stood there holding the only thing in the world that could kill Klaus. Klaus, who was currently weaker than even her.

And she was the only thing between them.


"Adella!" Tyler called out.

Finally the witch materialised from behind a cavern wall, where she'd gone to hide and set up her table for the spell during the four minutes Caroline had acted as a distraction. Where Caroline had sped to to get the White Oak stake after Adella had spelled it.

"Ready," the woman's voice boomed.

"What did you do?" Tyler accused, his brow furrowed. "That stake should've killed him."

"Does it matter? You have the White Oak." Moving backwards till she was up against Klaus' body like a shield, she met his eyes. "Tyler, please don't do this."

Adella began chanting over the rest of the blood Caroline had given her, beginning the spell to unlink Klaus from his bloodline.

Tyler gritted his teeth.

"I have to."

"You don't. Please. You just said – you just said you loved me."

There was a growl from behind her and suddenly Klaus was on his feet. He rushed at Tyler, ready to grab the stake and his throat, but Tyler easily dodged, grabbing Klaus by the throat instead.

He pushed him up against the cave wall with a snarl.

"You're done. As soon as that spell is done, so are you."

Klaus struggled against him but it was useless. His strength was slowly returning, but he didn't have enough of it back yet.

Starting to scramble to her feet, Caroline cried out.

"Elijah!"

Both men looked confused; distracted. Klaus repeated his brother's name questioningly under his breath.

Then the eldest Original appeared, not too far from where Adella stood.

Except he wasn't alone.

"Eva!"

Adella's lips were parted, but no longer to chant. Now they were parted in utter terror, the blood draining from her face. Because there stood her ten-year-old niece, whom Caroline had met in a fun yellow dress, with her fragile neck in Elijah's hand.

"Elijah." The witch's eyes darted to the Original. "Elijah, please. She's just a little girl."

Elijah's grip tightened.

"Stop the spell. Destroy the blood."

"She has nothing to do with this!"

"Stop the spell."

"No!" Tyler screamed. "Keep going!"

The woman looked torn.

"This is our one chance, Adella. Please!"

Elijah tutted. "And people say our family is dysfunctional. Tell me, would you really sacrifice this innocent human girl to your revenge plot?"

"You're supposed to be the honourable one!" Adella screeched, furious.

Elijah smiled pleasantly. "I am. And it will be very honourable when I rip her head from her shoulders."

A shiver ran down Caroline's spine. Sometimes it was easy to forget that Elijah, with his pressed suits and melba toast, was just as ruthless as his siblings.

"You know," he continued, "I'm told that blood is like a fine wine – it gets better with age. I'm not convinced by the science of that statement, however. Fortunately, this seems like the opportune situation to prove it wrong."

The girl's lips were beginning to turn purple and Adella's breath left her body when she noticed the same thing.

"Ok! I'll stop the spell, just let her go."

Elijah released his grip minutely but he wasn't about to be fooled.

"Destroy the blood. Then come take her hand and lead her away."

Adella's eyes burned.

Then she looked over at Tyler, mouthing 'I'm sorry', before overturning her table, the blood along with it.

Elijah took his hand off the girl's throat and rubbed at her back as she coughed and sputtered. "There's a good girl."

Adella ran over but the Original easily caught her by the arm before she could reach her niece.

"Take the girl and run far and fast. For if a single member of my family ever crosses paths with you again, you will not receive the same mercy you did here today."

The witch, the most powerful of her kind in New Orleans who had withered Caroline with a look, trembled beneath Elijah's gaze, her lip quivering. His gaze flicked over her once more, determining her resolve perhaps, before he let her go.

The witch immediately picked up the girl and started running.


Elijah met her eyes and a grin of relief immediately transformed her features.

"Thank you."

He nodded. "Of course."

"You planned that?!" Tyler growled.

She turned to him.

"Yeah. Now put down the stake, Tyler. You've been beat."

But even though she said it, she wasn't so sure. The resolve was still there in his eyes, mingling with desperate tears, and it scared her.

"He has to die!" he yelled, spit flying as his eyes shone.

"No, Tyler. But you can live. Just give me the stake and run."

He lifted the stake, aiming it at Klaus' heart.

"He doesn't deserve to live!"

Klaus was trying to back up but there was nowhere to go. In his eyes she saw fear and it made her own multiply.

"Tyler, killing him is killing you, me and all our friends!"

He finally looked at her – truly looked at her – and she could read it all from his eyes. She'd just taken everything away the last thing he'd held onto. Now he had nothing.

With a hollow breath he dropped the stake and Caroline didn't let herself think – immediately she grabbed it up before speeding to the spot her and Bonnie had agreed on. Carefully she laid it down in the little carved out portion of the cave wall.

She waited but nothing happened.

"Bonnie, come on."

She knew her best friend must have been battling the Original Witch and she bit on her bottom lip as she waited for anything to happen.

Hearing scuffling, Caroline remembered with a curse that she'd just left Klaus and Tyler alone together.

"Shit!" she said again, half-turning away; conflicted.

At that moment she noticed the silver around the stake begin to gleam and she let out a sharp breath.

"Bonnie, you're a rockstar."

With that she sped away, coming to an abrupt stop before the pair of hybrids.

Klaus had his hand inside Tyler's chest and was digging deep, clearly enjoying Tyler's suffering as he struggled to keep his chin up.

The first thing that registered was that Klaus had finally regained most of his strength. The second was that he was using to it to kill Tyler.

"Klaus!"

Both heads turned to face her. Tyler's eyes were exhausted and vacant; Klaus' mutinous.

She let out a breath.

"He's one of my people."

She watched both men frown in confusion.

Then realisation seemed to dawn on Klaus as he remembered their agreement.

No killing my people. And I reserve the right to label anyone as my person.

Klaus gritted his teeth, hesitating, before his hand squelched its way out of Tyler's chest.

Tyler dropped to the ground but neither blond noticed, their eyes boring into one another's.

He was mad, she knew – and not half because she'd chosen her ex-boyfriend as the first person to award immunity to.

Unwilling to give more thought to what he was thinking about her right now, she dragged her gaze to Tyler, whose wound was healing as he sat on the floor.

With vampire speed she grabbed him by the throat and pushed him up against the cave wall, his feet dangling above the floor.

He looked utterly perplexed and she shoved all her guilt down to the bottom of her stomach. There was plenty of that to deal with – but now wasn't the time for it. Not yet, anyway.

Knowing his strength, she switched to using her forearm to pin him to the wall instead of her hand and positioned her other arm against his body to prevent him pushing her off.

"What are you doing?" Klaus asked from behind her, sounding puzzled.

She ignored him, wetting her lips to prepare herself for what she was about to say.

"I just saved you, I hope you get that," she said, her blue eyes boring into his dark brown ones. "Because I still care about you."

Tyler's words echoed through her mind: After everything he's done only a monster could choose him.

She tightened her elbow at Tyler's throat and he choked as she leaned in close so he was forced to meet her eyes.

"But trust me when I say this: if you ever so much as think about even hurting Klaus again, I'll kill you myself."

Tyler's eyes widened. She could see disgust whirl through them. There was fear, too, but mostly utter repugnance.

"I choose him," she breathed, before swallowing. Her throat felt dry as cork. "I always will."

She pulled away and he dropped to his feet.

He shot her one last look, laced with so much betrayal it almost made her recoil, before speeding away.

He seemed to take all of her energy with him, her entire body sagging the second he was gone.

It was over – really, this time.

Except, as her eyes made it up to Klaus' face, she remembered it wasn't actually over. Perhaps the worst had yet to come.

"So you were working with him," the hybrid muttered and there was even more betrayal in his eyes.

Her lips parted, her throat trying to make a sound, but she found that she had no idea how to form a reply.

Suddenly Elijah was beside them.

"Now is not the time for this." Then, at Klaus' wild glare: "Our sister's corpse is vulnerable upstairs as it awaits us."

Klaus' gaze rose upward for a quick moment of remembrance. Then he nodded quickly, the objective seemingly re-invigorating his desire for anything but answers from her.

"Help me with the body," he instructed, and Elijah nodded.

With sympathetic eyes the elder Mikaelson nodded at her.

"Meet us in the elevator."

Thank god for Elijah. She, too, had clearly needed the reminder that there was more than this, more than this moment; more than Klaus. She needed to move; couldn't remain trapped in her shame as if stuck in molasses.

Slowly she moved one foot and then the other and within a few seconds her limbs seemed to remember how to move; how to propel her body forward. Not quite at vampire speed, but at least a little faster than a human being.

On autopilot, she made her way toward the elevator, forcing the gate then the door open before making her way inside.

As if that had emptied the very last of her energy reserves, she slumped into the corner of the elevator, leaning all her weight onto the wall of the old elevator as she waited for the brothers.

A minute later they approached and her eyes widened a little – she'd heard Klaus speak, but it hadn't registered.

In their hands, they carried Silas' bloated, translucent corpse between them.

Unceremoniously they dumped the immortal on the floor.

Klaus immediately pulled out his phone as Elijah closed the gate and doors. The elder brother began working on the pulley as Klaus barked orders over the phone, making some sort of arrangements – she listened, but none of the words made sense to her brain.

For a second she almost deliriously wondered whether she'd gone deaf somehow. But there had been no gunshot – only the blunt force of her own bad decisions, still ringing around in her ears.

She noticed Elijah staring at her and it was only then when she realised that she was staring at Klaus. She realised, in the elevator's harsh light, that she'd missed a few things in the tunnels. He was still beautiful, yes – but it was in a harsh sort of scruffy way. All the lines of his face were exaggerated; the sockets of his eyes deeper. His jaw that she loved so much jutted out, daring you to say anything about his heavily creased Henley and get your heart ripped out.

He wasn't looking back at her, though – almost deliberately he avoided her eyes as he spoke to his lackeys on the phone then helped Elijah, getting them back to ground level. He was good at it, pulling and not looking at her; staring at the door and the cave walls beyond the gate – anything but her.

Finally, the elevator stopped and, for the quickest of seconds, his so hard-earned determination seemed to slip. His gaze slid to meet hers.

As if burned, she looked away.