"Klaus let me in!" Caroline pleaded from behind the door of his cold dark cell. "Give him a second to breathe!"

Three days had passed since Caroline found Tyler and she could tell from his groans of pain that his interrogation was not going well for either parties.

Tyler's cell was in the basement of the building where Bonnie and the other witches work. Apparently, barely anyone could know there were cells down there or even that there was a basement so the elevator didn't go down there. You had to take the stairs if you wanted to get there, so Caroline used that as an excuse to avoid the situation.

When Caroline was there, all she could hear was the evidence of her boyfriend's misery and one of the Mikaelsons demanding an answer out of him or inflicting pain.

The Mikaelsons had a system where they alternated between each other every hour or two from six in the morning to ten in the night. It was Mikaelson after Mikaelson after Mikaelson after Mikaelson until ten pm. That was the only time they would leave Tyler at all. When three of them weren't working him, they would go and discuss what to do with Esther.

Caroline had a good reason to believe that all of them were anything but gentle with him. She wanted to stay close, to be there for Tyler, but it was harder than she thought. So instead, Caroline tried to keep herself busy with anything else.

She trained by herself a lot of the time, practicing all the things Klaus had already taught her for hours at a time. Caroline worked with Alaric and Elena for some time everyday, it was a lot different than what Klaus practised with her. She worked with Stefan once on the first day back before he and Damon went off on a mission with Bonnie, back to that Nova Scotia place.

With Bonnie gone, Caroline couldn't bring herself to tell Elena about what Tyler did. Elena was already upset with Damon running to potential danger and Caroline decided not to put more on her friend's mind.

She and Katherine cleaned their whole room with Elena while playing truth or dare, being that Elijah, Rebekah, Klaus, Bonnie, Stefan and Damon were all occupied and there was nothing to do. Caroline snuck into the Mikaelson estate to organize Klaus's Henleys as a dare for Katherine. She was very glad she didn't get caught, but she did leave a note for Klaus telling him which one was her favourite.

She did start planning Klaus's goodbye ball though there wasn't an exact date for when Klaus was leaving. Caroline chose to plan for the near future seeing that Tyler was in so much pain, it was obvious he would break soon enough. She wanted him to break so he could rest and she could negotiate what to do with him. Caroline had already decided that the ball would take place in the Mikaelson home for two reasons. It was huge and didn't need to be rented out on a specific date. Plus it was Klaus's home, it only made sense.

Caroline wanted to ask Klaus about the flower arrangements and decorations, —not clothing because everyone would have to wear grey probably— but she was avoiding him too.

Ever since the jet incident, Klaus made her feel… different. All Klaus did was tell her his favourite colour and hold her face, but Caroline wanted to kiss him. The only reason she didn't was because he told her to back to Tyler. When she kissed Tyler, she felt nothing, when Klaus looked at her, she felt everything. Caroline told herself it was just because her reuniting kiss with Tyler was bad, but was it? If that was the reason, why was Caroline avoiding him?

After three days of trying to be away from Klaus, she was in front of the door that lead to Klaus and Tyler. She drove to Mystic Falls with Matt, hung out with him and her mom and before they left, she got Tyler his favourite coffee and chicken alfredo from The Grill incase they had been starving him, which they probably were. Caroline could hear Tyler's heavy breathing, but Klaus was silent.

"Klaus it's dark and I'm freezing–"

The door swung open and Klaus emerged from the cell with a suede jacket in hand, "take my jacket love." Before Caroline could object he was already putting it around her shoulders. Klaus's hands ran down the side of her arms slowly, "what do I owe the pleasure?"

Caroline could feel his breath hot against the side of her neck and to make sure she didn't make a big mistake, Caroline shrugged him off of her and created some distance between them. "I didn't know you could hear me through all of that screaming."

"You are aware it's only necessary," Klaus countered, folding his hands behind his back.

Caroline didn't reply as she observed Klaus carefully. "That's my favourite," she said quietly. "The Henley, I mean."

"I saw the note love and I won't ask you how you managed to break into my house to colour code them. I wasn't sure if you would see it seeing that you've been quite obviously avoiding me until now."

"You're gone all the time," Caroline pointed out, "either torturing my boyfriend or talking to the woman who wants to kill me who happens to be your mom. I'm sorry if I think I should stay away from you for a while."

A smile ghosted Klaus's lips and Caroline snapped her eyes away from them, "I think it's good you're getting use to me not being around considering I won't be around for much longer–"

"I'm here to see Tyler, Klaus," Caroline interrupted wanting to forget about Klaus leaving.

"There's a window right over there," Klaus walked her over to a small opening at the top of the door. "It's quite the view isn't it?"

Tyler was chained to the wall with a ledge on it. He shirtless and his chest along with the rest of his body was bloody and bruised. When Tyler glanced up at her, he looked totally defeated.

"Oh my God…" Caroline gasped and reached to open the door. "I have to talk to him."

"I'll come with you," Klaus suggested.

"No. I'm going alone. He doesn't need you looming over him for the only second he has to breathe. Tyler needs a little comfort," Caroline held up the coffee and takeout box. "Maybe this way he could tell me something important, then you could stop hurting him."

Klaus held onto her arm as she tried to open the door again. "He could hurt you and I don't intend to be responsible for an 'accident' waiting to happen."

"Tyler's chained up, what's the worse that can happen? I have to try for Tyler and your family's sake. Just trust me and don't hang around listening to us. I'll be out soon." Caroline didn't let Klaus answer as she slipped through the door and shut it behind her.

As Klaus's footsteps receded, Tyler spoke up. "I thought you forgot about me."

"I've known you all my life Ty, how could I?" Caroline answered as she made her way towards him until she sat down in front of him. "I made a promise to be here for you and I'm not going break it."

"And I yelled at you after. I thought after you ran to Klaus crying, you'd decide otherwise," Tyler added sarcastically.

Caroline sighed, ignoring his comment, "we all have our moments. I brought this for you, from The Grill." Tyler tried to subtly nod as she handed it to him, but Caroline could tell he was excited about the food. "Have you eaten at all?"

"Only enough to keep me awake or alive," Tyler answered as he began to eat. "Only Elijah gets someone to give me a cap full of water. The rest of those monsters didn't care enough."

Caroline looked at Tyler, chained up and bruised with cuts and scars of gashes covering his body. "Do they hurt?" Caroline asked after a minute of silence. "The bruises?"

Tyler finished a mouthful before answering, "yeah, they do."

"What do they do to you?"

"Everything," Tyler motioned towards a table covered with different knives and sharp pokey things. "Kol likes to try everything on me as much as he can, Rebekah usually sticks to one knife. Elijah spends more time asking questions than he does hurting me, but he refrains from using tools, there's more chance of his hands getting dirty. Elijah likes kicking me until I bleed."

"That sounds awful," Caroline commented grimly. They really were a family brutal killers with no remorse. "You must be lightheaded from the blood loss. How do they control that?"

"Bonnie gave them pills to give me," Tyler muttered lowly, "helps me stop bleeding quicker. It makes it easier for the Mikaelsons to torture me. Especially Klaus…"

"How did you get here, Ty?" Caroline interrupted, changing the subject because she didn't want to talk about Klaus. "How did you get involved in all of this? I know you're not an assassin and you just got caught up in something but in order to–"

Tyler stopped her and dryly chuckled, "what do you mean you know I'm not an assassin? Care, not only am I an assassin, I'm a hybrid. Same as Daniel and a whole lot of others. Handpicked by the almighty. I thought you already caught on since everyone else from Mystic Falls is here."

Caroline should've guessed it. It was stupid to believe he was in the dark like she was. Just like everyone else, Tyler was just like everyone else. She couldn't believe he didn't tell her. They were dating, Caroline thought there were no secrets between them. There should've been no secrets, assassination organization or not.

"What do you mean I should've caught on?!" Caroline fumed frustratedly. "Are you seriously telling me you wanted me to expect the worst of you? I'm sorry I was trying to be optimistic, I'm sorry I decided to trust you."

"Let's be real, Care. It's stupid of you to not have thought about it–"

"N-no one told me," Caroline countered defensively. "No one said anything. If everyone said nothing, why would I even dream to think that you were an assassin? Bonnie didn't say anything, Alaric didn't say anything, Stefan didn't say anything, even Damon didn't say anything–"

"Bonnie and Alaric weren't there when I was. Bonnie was with you and Elena at Whitmore. Alaric was teaching at Whitmore. Stefan and Damon came right after I left and I'm guessing that dick pried it out of Klaus somehow and was sworn to secrecy." Tyler sighed, "honestly, I don't want to deprive you of your optimism. It's all Klaus's fault like usual–"

"It is not all his fault! Stop blaming Klaus for every knot in our relationship Ty! You should've told me once you started!" Caroline shot back, "we're dating, we don't have secrets! We're not supposed to! It's supposed to be us as a team. You know everything about me and I guess I know nothing about you…"

"I was protecting you! I didn't want to drag you into this!"

"So compulsively lying is the only way you could protect me? If you didn't notice, we're literally in a dungeon owned by assassins! So nice going Tyler. You did a real great job of protecting me."

"What about Klaus?" Tyler questioned. "You guys are such good friends, why didn't he tell you?"

Caroline remembered the jet ride back from Brazil. Klaus wasn't telling her about Tyler because he didn't know if she loved him enough to overlook all the things he's done. Now that Caroline already told Tyler it was dumb that he was protecting her by keeping this from her, how was she supposed to answer the question Tyler asked?

"Klaus should've told me, but he didn't because he–"

"He was protecting you?" Tyler scoffed, "do you understand what you're saying? Care we have the exact same explanations, you're such a hypocrite! Why the hell are you choosing Klaus over me–"

"No," Caroline hissed, "because he thought I didn't love you enough! He thought I couldn't handle the truth."

Tyler nodded, "so still in a way, protecting you from me."

"Oh my God…"

"Why do you even trust anything Klaus says? Do you know anything about him?"

"I do," Caroline stated firmly.

Not before three days ago you didn't.

A laugh escaped Tyler's lips, "what, like his favourite colour? Or how old he is? What about his family? Not his siblings but his parents? His dad? What about how many people he's killed? How many families he's hurt?"

Caroline knew Tyler had a good point. She still barely knew anything about Klaus, but she wasn't about to back down. "What about you Tyler? You hurt his family! I'm trying to help you fix it so you don't wind up dead!"

"He hurt my family too!"

"How on Earth did Klaus hurt your family, Tyler?" Caroline let out a noise of frustration and sighed. "You have to accept that you stole something from the Mikaelsons for no reason and aren't giving it back so I can get you out of this."

"He killed my mom Care!" Tyler yelled so loud Caroline froze in place, not even daring to breathe. "He killed my mom and I rightfully retaliated! So no, I don't think I'll be giving your best friend what he wants!"

No, no, no. Klaus killed Tyler's mom? That's impossible. She drowned because she got way too drunk at a Christmas party, right? It said so on the death certificate. Unless Klaus drowned her… That was more than possible. So on the jet, Klaus just let me tell him about Tyler's mom and her dying without batting an eye? So what if Tyler's mom was a huge bitch and disrespected my mom and disapproved of me and Tyler's relationship? That doesn't mean she should've died. His mom was all he had left and Klaus purposely took that away from him.

"Didn't know that, huh?" Tyler shook his head and growled, "Come back when you've learned anything about Klaus. Then maybe we can talk."

As an angry blonde stormed up the hill towards Klaus, he wondered what Tyler had said about him to irritate her so greatly. It had been two hours since Klaus left Caroline to converse with Tyler to see if she could find anything out. He severely doubted it since he caught her furiously stalking out of the building not more than fifteen minutes after.

Klaus would've confronted her then, but he, his siblings and his mother needed to have a meeting about the Tyler situation. Esther suggested that if Tyler did not reveal anything by the first of November, they should resort to other tactics such as harming loved ones. Since Tyler's mother and father were both quite frankly dead, Klaus was aware his mother was referring to Caroline. All of his siblings caught on as quick as him and refused to harm Caroline in any way, which he was secretly grateful for.

Esther brushed off their disagreement, knowing it would be difficult to argue off all four of them at once, but said that she had already talked to Cami and decided that Klaus should be ready to go to New Orleans by the end of the first week of November, mission accomplished or not. He told himself he would find him before he left, but with such little time and such a stubborn little dog, he wasn't so sure.

Klaus sighed as he stood up to greet her, mentally preparing himself for an over dramatic lecture about who knows what. "Hello Caroline, how did your chat with Tyler go? Was it as horrific as mine?"

Caroline stopped two feet in front of him, careful not to come any closer. When Klaus sae the look on her face, he grew a bit concerned. Caroline's expression was full of frustration, confusion and betrayal. For a second, Klaus wondered if it was Tyler who caused her to feel that way.

"What's wrong love?" Klaus asked, his voice a bit softer than before.

It was silent for more than a moment as Caroline avoided looking at him directly, as if she was searching for the right words. "Tell me you didn't do it," was all she said, her irritation radiating off her.

So it wasn't Tyler. It was him, as expected.

"That answer might require what 'it' refers to love. I've done a lot of things, but most definitely did not steal your little yellow agenda disguised diary," Klaus sarcastically avoided her eyes. "Now that would be rude."

"It is an agenda! I stopped keeping a diary once I hit the ninth grade! An agenda has plans, and my schedule and my to-do list. It just has a few little heartfelt notes when I get down or have no one to talk to. How do you even know about my agenda–" Caroline looked like she was about to explode in annoyance when she saw his smile out of the corner of her eye, immediately causing her to stop rambling. "Stop trying to throw me off guard!"

Klaus slowly made his way towards her until they were inches apart, causing Caroline's breath to hitch the way it always did around him since the rainforest. "Of course love. You have all of my attention. We both know how cross you get without it."

Though Caroline's ears got a bit red, she refused to break eye contact with him and took a deep breath before finally speaking again. "Klaus, please tell me that you didn't kill Tyler's mom?"

A smug smile returned to his face, "so what if I did?"

Caroline immediately shoved him away from her and he groaned, nearly rolling his eyes. She could be so overdramatic at times. Klaus thought Caroline wanted not to fight on his last days here. "Why the hell would you do that to him?!"

"So I'm guessing Tyler didn't reveal any coordinates…"

"Why should he Klaus?" Caroline hissed, "you killed his mom! His own damn mother! Are you completely out of your mind?!"

So Tyler informed Caroline about him murdering Mayor Lockwood. The reaction seemed well over the top for someone that's been dead for years and wasn't even remotely related her. Carol was but only her boyfriend's mother.

Klaus folded his hands behind his back, "believe me love, all was completely fair. I murdered her for a very good reason."

"What could possibly let you off the hook for this?! She was all Tyler had and you ripped it away from him! His dad was dead, his uncle was dead too, his mom was his whole family! How would you feel if Tyler took away your whole family?"

"Love–"

"No Klaus! No, no, no, no, no! None of that now!" Caroline paused to breathe, calming herself down before continuing. "No love, no sweetheart, no pet names. I stood up for you against him and you made me look like a total clown for it."

Klaus smirked, "what were you defending me for?"

Caroline sighed, "he said it was all your fault that I didn't know that he was an assassin. I disagree."

"Well thank you for your statement," Klaus joked.

She glared at him before adding, "It was partly your fault, but Tyler was the one that should've told me. He's my boyfriend and we were supposed to have no secrets. Tyler told me he was keeping it from me to protect me which I called total bullshit, but then he got mad when he thought you didn't tell me about him working with you for the same thing."

"I did do it to protect you partially. I also did it to save your already crumbling relationship with Tyler out of the little goodness in my heart and you being quite angry with me heavily impacted my decision. I wanted and still want you to create and form your own opinion on him without me influencing you too much. If you ever allow yourself to feel for me, I would want you to want me not because of what Tyler's done, but because you've realized what you really desire."

Caroline hesitated a second before regaining her composure, "well that's what I told Tyler and he got even more mad and asked me why I trusted you and if I even knew anything about you."

"Trusted?" Klaus inquired while raising an eyebrow.

"Yes trusted as in the past tense of trust," Caroline confirmed. "Tyler is right about that. I barely know anything about you. Like your family or your life. What you've done and what you want to do. On the flight home from Brazil, I talked to you about Tyler's mom and I couldn't even tell that you were probably remembering how you killed her in cold blood! If you constantly keep things from me, I can't trust you Klaus."

Klaus's eyes darkened as his patience thinned. He kept things from Caroline either because of her safety, or her 'happiness' with Tyler. "If that is so, why don't you go break your lover out of his cell?"

"I would but I can't!" Caroline exclaimed exasperatedly. "Tyler said that I should only come back when I know what he stole from you which might never happen because you're so good at sharing things."

"Careful Caroline…"

"It's your fault Tyler stole it! You went and killed his mom, you took away all he had left! His joy and happiness and part of his humanity! It's only logical he took some object or artifact your family liked in return!" Caroline eyes met his with a stare that looked more disappointed than angry. "Klaus, I hope you realize it was your own fault that Tyler stole whatever is was from your family! Can you even imagine how Tyler felt like–"

"I don't need to imagine," Klaus cut in, wanting to hear no more of how he wronged Tyler without reason. "You've got the wrong story love–"

Scoffing, Caroline's eyes widened in utter disbelief. "Are you seriously going to turn this on Tyler?! You killed his fucking mom! You two are more alike than you think and not in the good ways for that matter!"

"I'm not turning this on Tyler, he turned this mess on me!" Klaus yelled, making Caroline snap her mouth shut. A flicker of fear flashed through her eyes cause Klaus to instantly regret raising his voice. He closed his eyes for a second calm himself down. "He came for me first."

Caroline opened her mouth, most likely to make a quick, snarky remark, but closed it soon after. She broke away from his gaze, sighing as she sat down on the grassy hill. More than a moment of silence passed and Klaus unsurely took a seat at her side.

"I-I don't want to be biased," Caroline told him, "so would you like to tell me how?"

"As you know, Tyler was a Hybrid," Klaus started, "one of my most trusted ones at that. He was given all the perks. I allowed him to blow off tons of missions every month so he could go visit his girlfriend at Whitmore, increased his salary graciously considering what he earned previous to my knowledge of his existence. I let Tyler in on my family's secrets and well being… I talked to Tyler about my father, I even once payed him out of my own pocket so he and his girlfriend could go somewhere nice. She had never been out of the state."

"Tyler barely visited me while I at Whitmore," Caroline commented. "He came maybe once or twice a year. I saw Damon more than him."

Klaus nodded, "after the following incidents, I found out that Tyler had been plotting with The Other Side behind my back. They planned to convert all my Hybrids to their side so they could all attack and kill me. It was all for a bigger scheme of course. My mother and the rest of my family would be devastated at my death, giving The Other Side an opening to strike at a moment of weakness. I myself, of course wouldn't be there to help because I would be six feet under."

Caroline sighed, "two birds with one stone. But why would Tyler do that? He's… he was loyal. Why would he just try to kill you out of no where?"

"I am unaware of that, but have no doubt that all will be revealed with time. With myself being unsuspecting, all of my Hybrids cornered me in an old underground cellar one night, excluding Tyler and attempted to kill me. They did anything but succeed and that's why I set the place on fire, thinking I killed all of them. I assume Tyler figured something was wrong, since he wasn't waiting where he said he would be and was gone. Little did I know he hadn't left empty handed."

"What did he take?" Caroline asked, curiosity lacing her serious question.

Klaus hated remembering this, it made him weak and angry and vulnerable. "My mother was at an overnight conference across the country, Elijah, Rebekah and Kol were all on missions elsewhere I was the only one home and I should've been more careful," Klaus's voice cracked and he cussed himself out mentally.

"Klaus?" Caroline questioned as if she was making sure he was okay. She slowly took his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Tell me what happened."

Klaus looked down, refusing to let Caroline see how weak he was. "I got back at past two am and went on with my life. It was only in the morning when I went to go wake him up, I found out that he was no longer in his bed."

"Who? Who wasn't in the bed?"

"Henrik. My youngest brother."

A confusion filled Caroline's words, "there's another Mikaelson?"

"Perhaps there's one less," Klaus remarked. "I asked my whole family that morning, none of them knew where he was. I scoured the entire place without end, blindly interrogating any innocents in arms reach. Henrik was only ten, it was simply impossible he could've have gotten far on his own and there was no reason that would trigger him to run away. Then everything clicked when I discovered a note telling me that Tyler had taken Henrik."

Caroline softly gasped, "oh my God…"

"My younger brother and I were very close, it wasn't hard to believe after attempting to kill me didn't work, Tyler would try to make me suffer and feel pain as if I was dying," Klaus forced out, his voice breaking at the end of his sentence. "So you see, Tyler stole my joy, my happiness, a part of my humanity as well, I simply returned the favour when he denied my many attempts of peaceful negotiations."

Her hand traveled to his chin in long seconds and she turned his face towards hers. Undeniable electricity pulsed through his veins from Caroline's simple touch and he saw her swallow before letting out a shaky breath.

As their eyes locked, Caroline returned her hand to his. "I know it doesn't help at all but I'm so sorry Tyler did this to you. It's so horrible and I can't believe he'd ever even think of fucking kidnapping your little brother! It's completely up insane and totally unacceptable!"

Klaus smiled a bit at Caroline's anger for him and gave her hand a squeeze which she glared at him for. "Killing his mom as a retaliation was wrong and way out of line too, so don't think for a second I'm not still mad about that. Either way, I'm going to make this right. I don't care if you're off in New Orleans by then or not, I will find Henrik and bring him back to you, no matter what."

"Thanks for all being here," Caroline started, not letting any notice how nervous she was. "It means a lot."

In front of her were her Mystic Fall friends. Elena, Bonnie, Stefan, Matt, Jeremy, Alaric, and Damon. Caroline had already told Katherine three nights ago while Bonnie and the Salvatore brothers were gone.

After coming clean to Katherine and Rebekah about what her and Tyler's relationship looked like, everything he said to her, everything he did to her, they convinced her to tell her friends from Mystic Falls what was really happening between the two.

Caroline wasn't sure at first, all Tyler had did was lie to her and… abuse her, but once she heard about him kidnapping a ten year old kid because he couldn't kill her best friend, that was where he crossed the line. Well, not best friend. She was really mad at him for killing her boyfriend's mom, no matter the reasons. Even if Caroline wasn't mad at Klaus, he wasn't her best friend. Maybe a good friend or just a friend…

Caroline didn't want to get herself too attached to him after the jet looking in each other's eyes thingy. Even when she confronted Klaus about the death of Tyler's mom yesterday, a deep sense of need lingered within her. Caroline wanted to slap him so hard, he wouldn't be able to see out of his left eye, but she was afraid if she did that she might also rip off his clothes and let him fuck her right there.

To keep herself from doing that, Caroline left him with her promise and had been avoiding him since.

Now that she promised to find Henrik, she needed all of her friends' help. Rebekah and Katherine had already agreed, Caroline guessed it wouldn't take Elijah or Kol very much convincing, but the Mystic Falls gang? There was no reason for them to help. That was why she needed to tell them about Tyler and everything he's done. That they couldn't let a child pay for his evil deeds. Caroline wasn't going to put him on death row, she still loved him. Very much. He was her boyfriend after all.

"Yeah Caroline, it's no problem," Jeremy answered, "but why the hell are we in Bonnie's penthouse instead of you and Kat's place?"

Caroline rolled her eyes at the little Gilbert for asking such a stupid question. "Bonnie has way more space here than I do at my place. Plus, Katherine and Elijah are occupied…"

Everyone in the room groaned at the thought and Caroline grimaced at the reaction. "Don't they have a room to themselves?" Alaric asked. "I'm pretty sure your building is the one with thicker walls."

"Well Katherine does have her own room, but they also tend to move around a bit, I think they like to get creative…"

The groaning started again before Stefan stopped them. "I think that's enough of Katherine and Elijah sex for tonight. What's up Care?"

"Yeah," Damon unnecessarily added while he put his arm around his girlfriend who was subtly cuddling with him on the couch. "I'm pretty sure Elena and I have many things to be occupied with as well, barbie."

Jeremy shook his head disapprovingly as Elena giggled and told Damon to stop. "I didn't need to hear that, dude. She's my sister."

"Neither did I," Matt agreed, "dick."

"What so our blonde bombshell over here gets to talk about your other sister slutting it up with Elijah but when I barely say anything at all and Buffy and Ken, the fool and a half, get mad at me?"

"Damon!" Elena scolded as she sat up. "Katherine may be your ex, but that doesn't make her any less of my sister. She isn't 'slutting it up' with Elijah. They're practically married from what she tells me."

"Please." Damon rolled his eyes sarcastically. "We all know Kitty-Kat is a psychotic, evil, vampire slut."

"Don't be a green eyed monster, Damon." Bonnie crossed her arms as he sat up immediately, "you just sound like you're jealous of their relationship. If you're going to have that attitude, you can forget about your little pancakes and vinyl records breakfast with me on Sunday."

Stefan sighed, "in their defence Damon, Katherine is not a vampire or psychotic. Completely psychotic I mean. In his defence, Katherine is an evil bitch."

Damon nodded at Stefan in agreement before turning back to Bonnie. "First of all, don't nickname, Witchy. That's my thing–"

"Of course Stefan is defending whatever Damon says," Matt muttered under his breath.

"Okay Matt," Stefan started, "I know you don't like me because I kill people for a living and that's not exactly living up to your code of chivalry and I also stole Elena from you, but why wouldn't I defend my brother?"

Caroline spotted Alaric glancing at Jeremy before handing him his flask and she let out a noise of frustration that no one seemed to hear.

Elena cut in before Matt could answer, "let's not bring that up. That was in high school and now we're all done college, except for Jer, but we're all training to kill people for a living, so now is not exactly the time to be judgmental."

"Sorry," Matt apologized half heartedly, "I'm still trying to get used to it all."

"Well join the club," Damon told him, "there's about eight of us now."

"Stop! Okay?!" Caroline's words silenced them as she took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "I got you all here because, I love you. All of you. And I need your help, but before I get into that, I need to come clean about something."

Her audience was now silent and Caroline took another deep breath as she considered backing out. Bonnie gave her a slight nod of reassurance and she smiled gratefully.

"I've been lying to all of you for a while, about me and Tyler and our relationship. I know we– I mean I acted like I was okay, Tyler was totally fine, but I wasn't." Caroline saw everyone's interest piqued and she continued. "Our first year together was fine, great actually. I had everything I wanted, until year two. Tyler started to get really mad and frustrated and I was the easiest target for him to take his anger out on. First he just slammed doors and yelled at me, then he started cornering me and banging on walls beside my face. Then he actually started hitting me, and before I knew it, I had become his personal punching bag. Tyler used me to take out his physical frustration and soon enough, sexual frustration or in other terms, he raped me, on too many occasions." Caroline rambled quickly, not wanting to realize and come to terms with what she was saying.

"I know what you're all thinking so before you ask, here's why I didn't tell you. I didn't want you to hurt him and I still don't. I also hate playing the victim card, this whole situation sound like total bullshit." Caroline laughed dryly, "this was partly my fault. I was so blinded by my love for him, the thought of leaving Tyler never crossed my mind. I also didn't want the most important people to me, see me as weak. The thought of being looked at and treated like damaged goods scared and revolted me, but here I am now. I'm sorry for lying."

Elena stood up from her seat and walked slowly towards her. Caroline was afraid Elena was going to slap her and start crying that she accused her childhood friend of rape, but instead she hugged her. Her huge brown eyes were a bit watery as she held Caroline. "Oh my God Care, you should've told me. I can't believe I just let Tyler do this to you right in front my eyes. I'm a horrible best friend, I can't–"

"This isn't your fault Elena," Caroline reassured her as Elena lead her to sit with her and Damon. As she saw Elena's reaction, she felt tears well up in her eyes. "Don't start crying or I will."

Bonnie got up and sat on the other side of Caroline, taking her hand and squeezing it. "Don't worry, we're all here for you. Right guys?"

Stefan sighed as he stood up from his seat, "I'm leaving."

Caroline nodded slowly. She thought maybe Jeremy or Matt would be the ones to hate her after this, not Stefan. "I'll see you later then."

"Yeah, where exactly are they keeping Tyler and how many torture devices can I use on him at once? Or can I just kill him?"

Damon grabbed his arm and pulled himself to his feet, "no need to get antsy Stef. While you calm down, I'll go kill him myself."

A small laughed escaped her lips before she sniffled and warned the Salvatores, "guys. Alaric, Matt, Jer?"

"I think that because he did that to you," Alaric started after taking his flask from Jeremy, "Tyler's a bigger dick than Damon and that's saying something."

"I second that," Jeremy agreed. "I'm not going to go kill him, but Tyler's a dick for pulling that shit on you Care."

Caroline gave them an appreciated look, "what about you Matt? I'm not asking you to hate him or kill him or shun him, I just wanted to stop keeping this from you."

Matt scoffed, "I thought we got rid of the Tyler that screwed my sister and made out with my mom once he started dating you. I guess not. I'm sorry for all that you went through Care."

"Thanks, all of you, but there's more. It's about Klaus." Groans echoed around the room and Caroline sighed out an apology.

"Don't worry blondie, I got you." Damon winked at her quickly, "by the power rested in me, I give you my blessing to get the fuck out of Tyler's grasp, and into Klaus's. From one overly possessive alpha male to another."

"No," Caroline glared at him, "at the moment, I despise him just as much as some of you do and I'm sure this won't help with convincing you to help me, but Klaus murdered Tyler's mom. Yeah, I know and I absolutely hate him for it so don't think that this is charity work because he was my friend. But, the reason why he killed Mrs. Lockwood was because Tyler converted all of Klaus's personal assassins and trainees to TOS and convinced them to kill him. It didn't work so Tyler kidnapped ten-year-old Henrik Mikaelson, Klaus's brother."

After a long, drawn out, dreadful silence, Bonnie spoke up. "So what is this favour?"

"I'm going to find him," Caroline stated firmly, "and I'll need all of your help."

Matt shook his head in confusion, "c'mon Care, be rational. Why should we help the murderer of our friend's mom?"

"I am being rational Matt! Henrik is a kid, he shouldn't be the collateral damage! He should be like twelve or thirteen now, he's been away from his siblings for years, his mom for years just because Tyler couldn't kill Klaus."

"At least the guy has a mom," Jeremy commented. "Carol was the only family Ty had left. Henrik has a mom and too many siblings to count."

"Care, this isn't exactly a place for a kid to grow up," Bonnie added.

Caroline scoffed as she stood up abruptly, "seriously guys?! How can you think that Henrik living in some crappy jail cell for the rest of his life, which is ticking down by the second now that we captured Tyler, is better than here?! He deserves to be with his family. If you guys have kids, would you think them being kidnapped was a better fate than this? We're not here by choice and neither was Henrik. I'm sure if we find him, we can make a small part of this hell into a heaven. Plus he's a Mikaelson, he's already used to this."

Elena nodded slowly, "I don't really know Klaus. All I know is his family is much bigger than mine and he loves them more than anything, he killed Tyler's mom who was a very important person in all of our lives, and that he has been in the worst pain ever since his brother was kidnapped. When I thought Jeremy died in the house fire that I caused, I felt like I had died a hundred times and he must've been feeling that for years. I want a kid of my own someday and I wouldn't stop at anything to find them. I'd rather them here with me, than with anyone else. I'm in Care."

"I hate Tyler, I didn't care for Carol, what's keeping me from finding Klaus's baby brother? On top of that, where my lady goes, I go. Rules to keep it simple," Damon stated.

Stefan smiled at Caroline warmly, "and I follow my brother to keep him out of trouble. Henrik is innocent, unfortunate collateral damage. That doesn't sit right with me. Rebekah must be hurting too and I'd like to stop that."

"Like Elena said," Alaric shrugged, "if Meredith and I had a kid, I'd like them here too. In a place where, they're not being hurt. I'll do what I can to help."

Bonnie crossed her arms, "I'm in too, seeing that I'm the only one qualified enough to find him, but we have to make a space for him and all future kids to come. It wouldn't be a surprise if Henrik could throw a knife better than me, but for others? They'll have to ease into this assassin deal."

Jeremy sighed, "Kol's my best friend and despite Klaus, that's Kol's brother. I'm in."

"So am I," Matt put in. "Tyler's an ass, mother or not. Kidnapping kids because you couldn't kill a guy isn't okay."

"Yay, goodie!" Caroline exclaimed clapping her hands excitedly. "Time to make a plan!"

"–But how do we know the kid's not dead already?" Matt asked.

Caroline paused, thinking for a second. "Tyler would've told Klaus to spite him… but why do they want him alive? Someone at TOS needs Henrik alive for something."

"Maybe for bargaining purposes?" Bonnie suggested. "Gives them something to threaten the Mikaelsons with."

"That makes sense," Caroline agreed while nodding, "but why would they wait so long instead of making the trade immediately? All TOS wants is to take over TVD right? I wonder what's keeping them…"

"At least we have more time to look for him," Stefan commented and Caroline nodded.

"Okay, you guys brainstorm and I'll go find Bonnie's big white board." Though she seemingly shrugged the question off, but it lingered in Caroline's mind. Was there a bigger reason Henrik was being kept there, and if so, what was it?