Prompt: This is the much requested sequel to Reflection, where Caroline went undercover and fell in love with mob boss Klaus Mikaelson. He's led away in cuffs, and she's left to pick up the pieces of her broken heart. (Sequel to Chapter 29, "Reflection")
The pearls hung heavy in her ears as she finished her makeup, the harsh lights of the bathroom exaggerating her pale complexion. Her reflection stared back at her, and Caroline morbidly wondered if this what she would look like at her funeral - beautiful, sallow, dead inside.
A knock at the door distracted her from her musing. With a deep breath, she turned off the lights and mentally prepared herself for Stefan's worried expression. "I'm ready," she sighed, opening the door to find her handler nervously pacing the hallway. "Calm down, Stefan, the trial's over. It's just the sentencing today."
"Are you sure you want to go," he asked, running a hand through his hair. "Rebekah-"
"Can't do anything to me without adding 'assault of a federal officer' to her list of impending charges," Caroline pointed out, locking her apartment behind her.
Shaking his head, Stefan made sure to keep close as they joined the sidewalk traffic on an otherwise normal Tuesday. "Klaus confessed to everything, meaning the family won't be charged," he revealed, making Caroline stop short. "Rebekah Mikaelson is a free woman with a nasty vendetta against you."
The initial debrief of her mission took longer than Caroline expected. It was nearly forty-eight hours before Alaric released her to go home. She hadn't been to her apartment in months, having used a decoy in Tyler's neighborhood as her in to the Mikaelson mob family; her townhouse was supposed to be safe.
Caroline sighed heavily as the cab stopped in front of her brownstone, stumbling to get out. In her exhaustion, she didn't notice the blonde woman standing on her doorstep until the cab had already left. She could always walk away, but Caroline figured it was better to get the confrontation over with. "Rebekah," she greeted coolly, crossing her arms.
The other woman ignored her, though, in favor of inspecting the townhouse where the doom of her brother lived. "Once we knew you were FBI, tracking down an address wasn't difficult," she explained, finally turning to face the annoyed agent. "You look tired, Caroline. Betrayal hasn't been kind to you, has it?"
Arching an eyebrow, Caroline refused to rise to the bait. She knew what she did and destroyed herself in the process, but she'd be damned before she let Rebekah gloat about it. "If that's all, I'd like to be left alone now," she said crisply, moving past the angry blonde on her stoop.
"You broke his heart," Rebekah seethed, "and you think you get to walk away scot-free? I don't think so."
Caroline couldn't take it anymore and whirled around furiously. "It kills me that Klaus is locked away for crimes your family bred him to commit," she violently whispered. "I fell in love with him, for all you'll believe me now, and I will never forgive myself for ruining the trust we built." Suddenly bone tired, she sighed. Her heart was broken, too. "Go ahead and hate me," she said. "I do."
Without another word, Caroline turned to unlock her door and leave the world behind for a while. Rebekah was quick to speak before she could shut herself away, though.
"I've half a mind to put you out of your misery," the irate Mikaelson warned. "But I want you to live with the pain, until I can tear out your heart myself."
It was a bodily threat, which Caroline should have documented with her supervisors as another strike against the mob family. As hollow as she felt, Caroline silently closed her door in Rebekah's face instead.
She couldn't kill what was already dead.
They only found seats in the courtroom because Stefan flashed his badge; the press had crammed in to watch the kingpin of the Mikaelson crime family sentenced for his crimes. Caroline wasn't prepared for all the attention, but Klaus seemed calm at the defendant's table.
She couldn't take her eyes off him. The dapper suit he wore fit him perfectly, but it was the light blue shirt he wore underneath that caught her attention; Caroline had bought him that shirt. She remembered complaining about his neutral-only closet, and it was her first attempt to broaden his fashion sense.
It was the first time she treated him like a boyfriend and not a mark.
As though sensing her gaze, Klaus turned his head to find her staring. The cameras went nuts for the first sight of his face, but Caroline ignored the shutters in favor of examining him. He had a few healed scrapes, probably due to the volatile jail population awaiting trial. She could barely sleep at night, knowing he was stuck in a box with hardened criminals - momentarily forgetting that her former lover was the worst of them all.
Klaus's eyes snapped back to the front when the judge called the room to order, and Caroline felt immediately cold. She wished she could talk to him, if only for one last opportunity to apologize. Fairly straightforward, she barely heard the judge read out the convictions and lay three life sentences before Klaus was hustled out of the courtroom in handcuffs.
He glanced to her one last time before he disappeared through the door. Caroline's heart clenched painfully as her memories took her to the last time she spoke with Klaus.
Stefan had tried to talk her out of it, but she insisted on the need for "closure." It was the perfect argument to use against her handler, even if it was complete crap. She didn't need to close this chapter of her life, she needed to prove that it was real. Rebekah's threat still rang in her ears, but Caroline was more concerned that Klaus was too brokenhearted to protect himself while in custody awaiting trial.
She loved him, and he deserved that truth.
Nervous, her hand shook as she tried to sip her coffee while waiting for him to arrive. As an FBI agent, Caroline was able to bully herself a interrogation room for the visit. The door opened to a haggard-looking Klaus in an orange jumpsuit, the stern guard refusing to remove the handcuffs in exchange for Caroline's request for privacy. The guard left, slamming the door behind him.
They were alone for the first time since that awful night.
"Hi," she said softly, setting down her coffee. He had a bruise on his cheek, a scrape or two, but otherwise he looked fine. The fist in her chest loosened a bit with that reassurance.
Caroline had planned this conversation a hundred times over, but nothing prepared her for the cold indifference on his face, which made the apologies and explanations seem worthless. Instead, she opted for the situation she could control. "Rebekah's been making threats, not that I blame her," she said. "I'm not worried for myself, but I don't want to be responsible for putting your sister behind bars."
"I'm the lucky one, then," he answered, suspiciously courteous. She knew it was how he detached himself from his more uncomfortable duties, and Caroline hated that he used it now with her. "Bekah's too smart to get caught, especially since she's been living with an FBI agent for months without charges being filed."
Nodding, Caroline took a deep breath. This was even ground she could work with, leading to the conversation she wanted to have - the one she needed to have. "I know you hate me," she acknowledged. "But everything I told you, everything I shared with you, it was real."
His snort of incredulity was to be expected, but it still hurt. Nevertheless, Caroline persevered. "My name is Caroline Forbes, of Mystic Falls, Virginia. I planned events in my hometown before going to Whitmore College as a drama major, which Tyler confirmed. What he doesn't know is that after my mother passed away my sophomore year, I transferred to one of the best criminal justice programs in the country."
Klaus arched an eyebrow in intrigue, yet he remained silent.
"My mother was a Sheriff," Caroline explained. "She was shot in the line of duty, and I didn't want her life of dedicated service to go unnoticed. I made it my mission to protect people like my mother did, which is how I ended up in Quantico."
Sighing, Caroline didn't think the particulars after that mattered to the man sitting across from her. "I didn't expect to fall in love with the criminal mastermind I was assigned to investigate undercover, but here we are. I don't expect you to forgive me, but you should know that it was real for me."
She stood from the table, wiping at the lone tear that managed to fall from her eye. Before she could open the door for the guard, though, he spoke quietly.
"Would you have said yes?"
Her heart clenched, knowing exactly what question he was talking about. The image of him on one knee would forever be burned into her brain as one of her greatest regrets thanks to the bust she helped orchestrate.
Unable to face him, her tears fell harder. "A pack of wolves couldn't have stopped me from marrying you," she admitted. "I love you."
At his silence, Caroline left before she gave into looking at him again. She wasn't sure she was strong enough to see his hatred again.
Finally shrugging off Stefan's attempts at support, Caroline left the courthouse alone. She used the walk in the brisk air to clear her mind. Klaus would be serving three life sentences in a maximum security prison; she would never be allowed to see him again, she was sure. Not only would her visits be a matter of record the FBI would probably find in a heartbeat, Klaus would have some say over his list of visitors.
She had just convinced herself that would be okay when she finally reached her stoop, only to find her front door kicked open. Without her firearm, Caroline considered calling Stefan for backup, but she couldn't hear anyone inside the house. "Hello," she called, turning on the lights.
The place had been ransacked. Everything was overturned, some pillows torn apart. None of her valuables were stolen, though. The television was still there, her laptop sitting in plain sight. If the break-in wasn't for a robbery, it could only be a message; the thought was reinforced when she found her picture frames in a pile of broken memories. Her face had been marked over with a red X in each one.
While she was lucky whoever did it only ruined the frames, Caroline also took it for the threat it was. She pulled out her phone, feeling utterly defeated.
"Alaric, hey," she sighed. "I need a CSU team at my place, I think Rebekah Mikaelson paid a visit."
Alaric arrived with the crime scene unit, noting the violence it took to carry out the attack on her apartment. He immediately ordered her to give a statement at the office while the team did its work. "You should rest," he said with a paternal concern. "At least you'll be safe at the office."
The seemingly benign observation felt ominous surrounded by her destroyed apartment, and Caroline felt a chill run through her spine. It wasn't until she followed Alaric's orders and sat at her desk that she found the cause for her unease.
She was staring blankly at her computer when Stefan ran up to her. "Caroline," he called, looking worried.
Meeting his gaze with a neutral expression of her own, she nodded. She had no idea how she was supposed to react, the emotions too jumbled to give Stefan whatever answer he was looking for in her face. "Klaus escaped," she finally said, the headlines plastered all over the Google search she automatically ran on his name every day.
"Your apartment," Stefan reminded her.
"I've got to go," Caroline said, leaving her handler behind to get some answers. The Mikaelsons broke their brother out of custody during his prison transfer, yet they clearly had time to rough up her place as an intimidation tactic.
Caroline Forbes was no one's victim.
She stormed angrily down the sidewalk, the "don't mess with me" vibes clearing a path through any foot traffic opposing her. Going to the Mikaelson mansion after everything would be nothing short of suicide, but she needed to end the madness. Wasn't a broken heart enough retribution?
Despite the people jumping out of her way, a tall brunette had planted herself directly in Caroline's face. "Excuse me," Caroline snarled, annoyed with the slight delay. It only got worse when the other woman deliberately blocked her dodge. "Can I help you?"
"Depends," the brunette drawled, smirking. "Are you the famous Caroline Forbes that brought down Klaus Mikaelson?"
The question was like ice in Caroline's veins, but arms banded around her from behind before she could respond.
"Hayley, get her legs," a gruff male voice said at her back, and the woman quickly complied. Caroline thrashed against their hold, but she was at too much of a disadvantage. The block they were on was almost deserted, the few bystanders happy to leave Caroline to her doom rather than join her. The only sound was her own grunts of frustration as she fought.
Then, a click signaled the pull of a gun's hammer.
"Set her down, or pay the price."
Caroline's heart rose and fell at the familiar voice, the accent low and dangerous. She was just able to turn her head and see Klaus pointing an ancient-looking revolver at the man holding her. He once told her the story behind the gun, passed down through the Family for generations, only used to protect its members.
He fired before she had the opportunity to parse that in her head.
For a terrifying second, she thought Klaus shot her. When the guy holding her torso fell, leaving her to awkwardly land on his dead body with the woman still holding her legs, she realized Klaus was protecting her.
"Hayley Marshall," Klaus sneered, turning the gun on the woman. "Tell your bosses to give up before I make it my mission to exterminate every last member of the Wolves."
The gang was familiar to Caroline, but she was more focused on kicking her legs free than the intricacies of illicit warfare. The woman growled in anger, but she released Caroline and ran from the scene.
Gasping as she hit the ground, Caroline was shocked to find Klaus pulling her up. "Get in the car," he muttered, pushing her toward a black sedan she hadn't noticed idling.
"How di-"
"I'll explain in the car, love," he said, urging her inside. They both climbed in the back, Klaus whistling to the driver.
The car lurched forward as Caroline finally registered that she was in a small space with Klaus Mikaelson, escaped convict. Taking his face in her hands, she tried to process what it all meant. "You're here," she whispered, questions filling her mind. "You saved me? Why were the Wolves after me? You haven't left the city? Does your family-"
"Sweetheart," he interrupted, taking her hands. "I'm getting out of town, but I needed to see you first."
She scooted closer, stroking her thumbs against his hands that held hers. "You saved me," she whispered again.
"Do you really love me?"
"Yes," she answered automatically. Caroline had learned to forgive herself for loving him; if seeing him murder someone right in front of her didn't shake her feelings, nothing would.
"I hated you," he admitted softly, staring at their joined hands. "Rebekah wanted your head, and she wouldn't shut up about your schedule, chances she'd have to follow through on her plans. As much as I hated you, I hated her more for daring to take you from me altogether."
"My apartment-"
"Was her version of a temper tantrum," he said with a chuckle. "Destructive, but not dangerous to you. Your safety was never a question for me."
Caroline watched him carefully, but she saw none of the rage he once directed at her. "How can you forgive me?" Her voice was small, scared. It felt like rug was about to be pulled from underneath her feet. "I ruined everything."
"I'm the one running a criminal empire, love," he corrected. "If anything, your undercover operation was the best thing to ever happen to me, even if it took me some time to realize that."
Hope threatened to choke her, but Caroline did her best to swallow it down. "What does that mean, then?"
Leaning his forehead against hers, Klaus closed his eyes. "That means I couldn't carve this devotion I have for you out of my chest, no matter how hard I try," he answered. "This car is headed to a private airfield, where a jet is waiting. The only question left is whether the passenger manifest should list one false name, or two."
At Quantico, they cautioned all recruits to learn the balance between training and instinct. Everything in Caroline's education told her to flee, to turn Klaus in and move on with her life. With a home in shambles and a promising career tainted by a mission gone too personal, Caroline's heart won the upper hand. She was nodding before she even realized the decision was made.
"Where are we going?"
With a brilliant smile, Klaus opened his eyes and cradled her face in his hands. "Where the sun always shines," he promised, peppering kisses along her cheek to the corner of her mouth. "Are you sure, sweetheart?"
Smiling through happy tears, Caroline remembered asking him a similar question before everything turned horrible. "If I were to live a thousand years," she croaked, "I could never change my mind about you."
Finally, finally, Klaus pulled her in for a kiss. So used to his passionate personality, the gentleness in his embrace completely disarmed her.
For the first time since she watched him dragged away in handcuffs, Caroline felt like a living, breathing person again. She was alive, and she was in love - everyone else be damned.
