Here's chapter 21 guys! I hope you enjoy. Leave a like and a follow and a review! I love to hear what you think or what you might want to happen! Read on!
Caroline let out a squeak of joy as she hopped out of the piping hot shower. She closed her eyes and smiled feeling the warm rays of the sun on her face through the frosted glass. While wrapping herself in a white towel and twirling around in her and Kat's bathroom, Caroline planned out the day ahead of her. After brushing her pearly whites and blow drying her golden locks, she heard a ping from her phone. The notification was her calendar reminding her of two things. The start of her 24th birthday and official graduation from the stupid trainee assassin program. Caroline was supposed to graduate two years ago but due to emergency missions and empty threats from The Other Side through Tyler, Esther made her keep going. This time there was nothing. Tyler hadn't said anything in the last two weeks and she was sure there were no last minute missions. Today was so gonna be great, she almost couldn't believe it.
While Caroline applied her makeup and curled her hair, she remembered her last important birthday. Her 21st birthday. It wasn't like she didn't love her past three birthdays, Caroline's birthday was required to be all her friends' favourite day and it was her favourite day as well. Every year after her 21st she spent the morning and afternoon with her mom so that Elena and Bonnie could round everyone up for her party. Then they would party throughout the night and get a text from Klaus right before midnight.
Even though she had fun, the last important birthday was her 21st. Not because Tyler tried to kill her, but because she met Klaus that day. Caroline made her best efforts to keep in touch with him, but he couldn't do that much on his end. Marcel and Camille were convinced The Other Side had to be getting information on TVD from a phone or something. Klaus was constantly worrying that Mikael would find Caroline by bugging his phone so they barely called. Whenever they texted it was always cut short by Marcel calling him in for a meeting or a regular cell phone check. It was like this between him and Rebekah, him and Elijah and him and Kol so Caroline tried not to act like it bothered her.
Now all her friends knew about how she felt about him even though she didn't really talk about him unless she was super sad and needed to rant or she was blackout drunk. Caroline missed Klaus so much and didn't know how long she could get off with her fantasies about him and not the real thing. They all seemed okay and even embracive of her feelings except for Alaric and Matt. Ric didn't like him because he thought Klaus was the reason his last girlfriend died which Caroline could understand. But Matt? She really didn't know. Matt thought Klaus was dangerous, but everyone in this gig was dangerous. Caroline had gone on more missions than she could count. Though she hadn't killed anyone yet, Caroline had kicked a shit ton of ass. But Matt didn't really fit into that lifestyle. She, Stefan, and Rebekah had to help Matt get into the security portion of TVD so he didn't really have to kill anyone. Maybe that was why he still thought Klaus was the worst person on the Earth.
A Sam Smith song broke through her thoughts and she saw Katherine calling her. "Hey Kat! What's up?"
"Happy birthday honey," Katherine began on the other line. "How's the universe treating you on my favourite day of the year?"
"Thanks Katherine. I think it's treating me pretty good this year. No pesky threats from TOS and Esther hasn't called us to go on a long term or overnight mission since last week. I think I'll finally graduate this year!"
"Thank God. I could not deal with being responsible for your ass another year. It gets boring when you don't let me boss you around."
Caroline rolled her eyes and got up to get something other than a towel to wear. "Where are you? Did you stay over at Elijah's because I was surprised I didn't wake up to you two in the middle of the night."
Katherine groaned, "I had to wake up early to get Jeremy and Elena ready for today. Apparently grad's a special occasion and should be spent with family. He came to visit me though. Kissed this gigantic diamond he gave me."
Elijah proposed to Katherine almost a year ago on their official three year anniversary, though they had been messing around for way longer. The only reason they had been holding off the wedding was because Elijah wanted Freya to be there and Klaus as his best man though Katherine acted like she couldn't care less.
"Mikaelsons do like their diamonds alright," Caroline sighed, glancing at the diamond bracelet on her vanity counter.
"Yes they love giving away precious rocks to the ones they love. I think Jeremy got a huge silver plaque just with Kol's name on it." When Caroline didn't reply, Katherine reassured her. "Hey Care, don't worry. Wolfie will be back soon enough. I overheard Elijah talking on the phone. He said that there was something wrong with the mission Klaus is on and they'll be looking over it soon. See if they got something wrong."
Caroline's eyes caught the clock. Graduation started at 3:00pm and it was already 2:00pm. "Seriously? Oh my God I only have an hour left and getting into that second skin they call an assassin suit takes like thirty minutes. Tell Elena and Jer I say hi and can't wait for their gifts and make sure Bonnie gets Enzo there okay?"
Katherine said bye and Caroline rushed to put on a short dress and a jean jacket before running out of her building and towards the underground cell where her ex boyfriend lived.
…
"Tyler," Caroline said coldly as she let herself into the cell. It wasn't guarded by the Mikaelsons anymore because they had bled all the information they could out of him.
"Happy birthday Care," Tyler greeted her with a smug smile that sent shivers down her spine. "What do I owe the displeasure?"
"Cut the shit Tyler. You know why I'm here." Caroline needed to make sure that there were no empty threats or warnings today. All she, Elena, Jeremy and Matt wanted to do was graduate. Now that this year, graduation landed on her birthday, there was going to be zero tolerance for his bullshit. "Tell me what's going down today? What are you going to prophecy today? How do you want to ruin my life this year?"
Tyler snorted in annoyance, "I ruined your life? I think it's the other way around. You let that monster imprison me for life. I've given your cult of Mikaelsons all I know and all my motives. Now I'm being held here for no reason at all."
Yes, Tyler was no longer needed for information. He had told them all about the assassination attempt on Klaus and that Henrik was with Mikael, but he hadn't been to TOS. He didn't know their location or where Mikael went after the failed invasion because Tyler realized that he would be killed if Klaus found him and started hiding. That didn't mean that he wasn't still a threat. If he escaped, he would find Mikael and tell him what TVD had been doing. He was still dangerous.
"You manipulated and used me Tyler! You tried to end my life and left me with Klaus Mikaelson in the rainforest. I embarrassed myself trying to defend you and because of you, I constantly pushed Klaus away. When I finally realized that I wanted to be with the man who actually treated me like a human being, because of your organization, he left and I haven't seen Klaus in years."
"Don't act like you don't think he's been fucking a new girl every night since he's left. Maybe not even a different girl. Maybe it's Camille. I don't blame him for it seeing you've been whoring around with all the other guys while he's gone. I see the way Matt looks at you."
Caroline forced the tears back into her eyes and channeled her hurt into anger as she grabbed Tyler's chains and yanked him towards her. Klaus could do whatever he wanted. He could do whoever he wanted. She didn't even tell him she liked him so he was free to move on. He moved on from Camille to Caroline so why couldn't he do the same thing to her? She had stayed up at night thinking about it but Tyler had no right to say it to her face. He had no right to tell her she'd been fucking Matt either. They were just friends, nothing else.
"I got the Mikaelsons to stop beating the truth out of you, don't make me take their place, Tyler. Now what are you going to say to Elijah or Rebekah or Esther to make them stop my graduation? You do it every year so why don't you just spit it out?"
"Nothing's going to interfere with your special graduation, Care. You'll complete the ceremony with no interruptions believe me. All the threats I've made in the past have been me messing with your head. Care I still have power over you and you know it. You fear me and what I can say to make Esther to put a stop to everything that is going on. For example, a group of 23 TOS assassins will invade TVD today and finally complete the first to take over your corrupt organization and it's hierarchy."
That's not true. He's playing with you Care, and you know it. They won't hurt Klaus, he's lying. How would he even know this? The only people that see him are me, the Mikaelsons, Elena, Ric and Matt.
Caroline rolled her eyes, "seriously? We're the corrupt ones? Newsflash Tyler, your fellow TOS assassins get hired to kill as many people as we do. All you guys seem to do is terrorize the Mikaelsons because you listen to Mikael who by the way is an abusive kidnapper thinks he can do anything."
Deciding she had wasted enough time on Tyler and would tell Elijah about what he said just in case, Caroline got up to leave but stopped in her tracks when she heard Tyler's chilling words.
"What did you say?"
"You'd be the first step," Tyler repeated as if it was common knowledge. "Think about it Care. Last time we tried to kill Klaus, we didn't really have leverage on him. We could've used Henrik but Mikael wouldn't use the only son he really loved as leverage. But you? You're perfect. They could capture Klaus then capture you. If Klaus really loves you more than his own life like you says he does, then it will be easy to get rid of him. He gives himself up for your safety and then when he dies, Mikeal will kill you. Then the rest of the Mikaelsons will be vulnerable and easily plucked off one by one."
"If you're telling the truth, how could they invade New Orleans today to capture Klaus when they couldn't be sure they'd capture me? Mikael doesn't know me. He doesn't even know I exist. Klaus is making sure that–"
"Caroline it doesn't matter if he's making sure now. For this to go smoothly, this operation had to be in the works for years."
When Caroline didn't answer, Tyler laughed. "You should see the look on your face. If I still cared about what happens to you, I'd tell you not to go to your graduation or tell Esther about any of this. But what do I know? This is just another one of my worthless lies. No one could've told me anything in this little cell of mine. I think you should ignore all I said and go to your graduation. You deserve it, it's your birthday after all. My favourite day of the year."
...
A loud round of applause slapped Caroline back into reality. She had been thinking about what Tyler had said and completely forgot she was standing on a stage in the middle of a football field behind the training building. Hundreds of agents were on bleachers in the audience in front of her, clapping for some reason she had missed. Caroline told Elijah, Kol and Rebekah what Tyler had told her and he said that it was too late to shut down the event. She also mentioned that he warned her not to tell Esther and Elijah decided it was best to wait until after graduation so she didn't overreact. Rebekah suggested extra security at the gate and around the stage and bleachers, but something still didn't sit right with her.
The applause died down as Esther walked up to the podium centre stage. Her black dress trailed behind her and her toned leg flashed through the long slit with every step. She looked flawless as always and a small smile was on her lips. Caroline needed to tell Esther everything right after this. She would know what to do that would be best for Klaus. "Welcome agents. Thank you for being in attendance of our graduation ceremony this afternoon. Before we begin I'd like to offer a special thank you to all the mentors standing by their students. Your time and dedication to nurturing these agents into the best they could be for our organization will not go unrecognized."
Another round of applause started and was quickly quieted down with a wave of Esther's hand. "I'd also like to acknowledge these fine trainees on my right. They have shown the strength and stature to become official members of TVD. In my midst I can see medics, witches as my son likes to say, and assassins that are ready to use their full potential. Now let us begin. One by one, I will call on a trainee by their name and they will approach me with their mentor and I will shake your hand. We will do this until we've reached the last name."
What's irking you Caroline? This is just another one of his threats on New Orleans. And Klaus. And this time you. Is that what I'm worried about? That it was specifically directed to me? Well it's definitely not about how specific Tyler's threat was because there have been ones that were much more specific. It's not that there isn't enough security around. All the guards that could be in the crowd were on the perimeter, Rebekah made sure of it.
"Care?" Elena asked from beside her, grabbing her hand comfortingly. "Are you okay?"
Elena must've caught her lost in thought so Caroline smiled. "What? I'm fine, Elena. Just… nervous."
"You? Miss Drama Major, Miss Lead Role in every school play and Miss Mystic Falls is nervous to walk across the stage? I don't buy it," Elena whispered. "Are you sure you're good?"
"She's fine, darling," Kol rolled his eyes from behind her. Kol seemed to hate Elena with a passion since he and Jeremy started dating. Probably because she didn't like that Kol was a horrible influence on her brother. She has to beg Elijah to get Jeremy to be a hunter or something so that he didn't go on any more missions with Kol. "Now are you going to focus on your ceremony instead of ruining everyone's fun like always? Or shall I stop wishing so hard?"
"When you put my brother's life in danger, yes I do. If you like him so much, why don't you even try to keep him safe?"
"He's been safe his whole life sweetheart, why waste another day being boring? And wonder why he's still breathing? I'm the only person who's keeping his body intact while Jeremy is finally living a little. "
Elena scoffed letting go of Caroline, "the only reason you two are still together is because I'm letting him be happy. Don't think for a second I actually trust you with my little brother."
"Katherine trusts me. You trust Katherine with Elijah. All that's coming out of your mouth is gibberish."
"Kat does not trust you. My twin sister doesn't even trust me! And gibberish? Says you Mr British accent."
"Some people find that quite charming. Evident with your best friend Caroline darling over here and my sweetheart Bonnie."
The two kept on arguing in hushed voices as Esther continued to call names of trainees that joined in the past three years. There were only about 25 of them which was a lot less than Caroline originally thought.
Caroline took the chance to return to her thought process and knew what was irking her. It was that Tyler said that Mikael knew her. Even though Caroline was a nobody. She wasn't known in the assassin world like Bonnie or even close to being known like Klaus. But with what Tyler was suggesting, he knew about her enough to know about her relationship with Klaus. How would he know that unless he was on the inside? New Orleans did think TOS was getting information from a phone tap, but Klaus had made sure his phone was never bugged or anything. Did he tell someone about her over the phone? Okay that's a stretch Care.
"Elena, we're almost up," Alaric commented from behind her.
Her friend was obviously pissed off, but she ignored Kol and turned to Caroline. "If Kol is bothering you, tell me, okay?" Caroline nodded and sighed.
I have to tell Esther she needs to hurry up the ceremony because I need to talk with her and all the Mikaelsons. And Bonnie because she knows about everything. She'll know how to keep us safe. And Damon too because Klaus had told her he knew about Werewolf Venom seeing he almost died from it. TOS used it on one of Marcel's Workers, so what would stop them from using it on her? They needed to call Klaus too.
Caroline felt a hand on her shoulder and saw Kol motioning to the podium. Elena and Alaric weren't beside them anymore. No one was on their right, they were next in line. "We're up, darling," Kol informed her, then sighed after seeing her face. "Are you still fretting those stupid threats made by that mutt? You shouldn't even be seeing him anymore. After this you must spend some time with your friends. No matter how twisted the events after this may be, have fun today? Alright?"
Kol was right, she'd been wanting this day to happen for three years. Now because of some shallow threat, she was all over the place. "Okay Kol, I'll try."
"Lovely," Kol grinned.
"Caroline Forbes," Esther called.
Caroline took a deep breath and put her chin up and gave the audience a pageant worthy smile. She walked up to Esther with Kol trailing close behind her. When they met, Esther outstretched her hand. Caroline took it and leaned into Esther's ear. "We need to talk once this is over. Tyler threatened TVD and Klaus." Esther nodded in reply and Caroline and Kol continued to the other side of the stage.
The rest of the ceremony seemed to zoom by because before she knew it, Caroline was on the grass with Stefan, Elena, Damon, Bonnie, Enzo, Matt and Alaric. "Guys can you believe it! We actually graduated this year! And it's on my birthday! It's like, basically perfect!"
"Basically?" Bonnie asked while raising an eyebrow.
"What? You missing your big bad wolfie friend?" Damon teased with his arm around Elena and she rolled her eyes.
"I am perfectly happy with you guys who are right here in front of me," Caroline beamed. "Group hug!"
Stefan shook his head, "I don't really hug."
"Don't be such a stick in the dirt mate," Enzo smirked and gave Caroline a friendly peck on her forehead before bringing in the hug. "We must respect our precious birthday girl's wishes."
Caroline did wish Klaus was there with her, holding her closely or brushing her hair out of her face with his calloused fingers. She wanted him to make stupid, dirty comments and call her beautiful and smile at her to show off those beautiful dimples. She missed Klaus. Now that Tyler said they might attack him, she was worried out of her mind for him too. At least for now, her friends were all safe.
"Caroline! Bonnie! Damon" Rebekah yelled from the top of the hill in front of them. "Sorry to break up the fuzzy display of affection down there but Esther needs to talk to you. I wouldn't keep her waiting if I were you."
...
Caroline stopped the recording of Tyler's confession before the embarrassing parts about her relationship with Klaus started and everyone in the room was quiet. They had all heard it before but this time it was different. Caroline had no idea how Tyler's threat from today could connect to his confession from years ago, but they needed anything to confirm this as a real danger. They being Esther, Elijah, Kol, Rebekah, Bonnie, Damon, Caroline and Silas on the phone.
"Well if we're going to sit around and look at this bloody tape recorder, it is not going to help Nik!" Rebekah shouted in frustration. "Call him again Caroline!"
"Hey Sexy Bex? Calm your tits," Damon rolled his eyes making Rebekah fume even more while nearly hissing at him.
"My brother could be captured and then our best friend could be as well. Tyler said my father would use Caroline as bait to murder him then kill her right after. How do you expect me to calm my tits? Imagine if it was Stefan."
Damon stayed quiet for a second before sighing. "What we need to do is find out if Tyler has any idea of what he is saying. Who he's seen and if there's a leak. Let's start with you Mommy Wolf. Is Tyler's cell locked every second of every day?"
"No," Esther said, clearly unamused, "it's not."
"Well when is it locked lady?"
"When Miss Forbes or the Mikaelsons wish to visit."
"How about when Tyler needs to eat? We both know that our little Care Bear is the only one who pities him enough to give him food," Damon turned to her and raised an eyebrow, "but you haven't been the only one feeding him."
Caroline shook her head, "I think Matt brings him food."
"So if I'm correct, the only people with access to Tyler's cell are Mommy Mikaelson, Mr. Noble Mikaelson, Kol the teenage boy, Klaus Barbie Number One, Klaus Barbie Number Two, and the busboy. Those are our candidates for who the mole is."
"I can say with confidence it is not any of my siblings or Caroline," Elijah commented.
Esther narrowed her eyes, "how can you be so sure that Miss Forbes hasn't been betraying us like I suspected from the beginning Elijah? Would you like to explain?"
"There's no need to explain. Just listen to the rest of the tape mother."
Caroline shook her head again. If they listened to the end of the recording, everyone would hear her embarrassing words about Klaus. "That's not necessary. I don't say anything about being in cahoots with Tyler on here, I swear."
"Just play the tape Care," Bonnie sighed. "For all of our sakes. The faster we get through this, the faster we can figure this whole issue out."
Reluctantly Caroline handed the tape to Elijah who smiled before pressing play. It continued from where they had previously stopped and she winced as she heard the conversation. Tyler was yelling at her, telling her she spread her legs for Klaus. At the time Caroline obviously didn't, but now she kind of wished she had. Masturbating to memories of him wouldn't even come close to masturbating to Klaus touching her, but that's besides the point. Now she was yelling at Tyler, telling him about how Klaus actually loved her. Soon enough it ended and Caroline's face was burning up.
"I have listened to this tape multiple times but even from the first hearing anyone could figure out that she cares for our brother. As you could most likely tell, Caroline is in love with Niklaus," Elijah stated, his eyes meeting hers for less than a second. They were smiling at her, assuring her it would be okay. "There is not the slightest chance she would conspire to harm him."
"Alright then that leaves Esther and Matt," Bonnie realized.
"There's no way it's Matt," Caroline noted. "He doesn't have the resources or the time to be plotting against Klaus."
"Or the balls," Damon added.
"He may not like Klaus but there is no way he could pull that off. So that leaves…"
Esther glared at them, "I would never work with the monster who stole my child."
"Then who is it?" Kol asked. "No one else visits the mutt."
Caroline bit her lip as the deafening silence took over Esther's office. She looked outside of the window. Maybe she was being paranoid. There was no leak. Tyler couldn't have gotten that information from a reliable source. It was all made up like the ones before. Then why do I feel like this?
Her eyes wandered the office before closing in defeat. Everyone looks either puzzled or completely over this dumb threat. Except for Silas of course. We can't see him but Esther seems to trust him so much. If he's the co-head of TVD, where is he when we need him? Well I mean other than with Esther on the phone every second of the day. Caroline's eyes shot open. She had remembered it before, why did it take her so long to put it together!
"Silas!" Caroline shouted, grabbing everyone's attention. "Oh my God it's fucking Silas! Esther give me that phone right now!"
"Miss Forbes–"
Caroline didn't waste anymore time. She grabbed the phone from the centre of the table and repeatedly smashed it on the edge of the hardwood. It eventually broke into two pieces and in the motherboard was a bug. Everyone in the room was completely speechless until Kol couldn't hold back his laugh. "Did you go into Tyler's cell with Silas?" Esther nodded slowly, her expression twisting into one of fear and realization. "When was the last time you saw Silas? Face to face."
"Five years ago. He was forced into hiding by The Other Side to protect his family."
"Katherine said that TOS was most likely getting all our information from a phone tap, right Elijah?" He nodded. "Esther you went down to Tyler with this phone, maybe left it there accidentally, and they spoke. By they, I mean Tyler and Mikael. Not Silas. Whoever this Silas person is, is either working with Mikael or is gone. Either way, he isn't the person you thought he was and now he knows all our secrets from who knows how far back."
"Bloody hell…" Rebekah groaned.
"What the fuck are we supposed to do now? How the fuck are we supposed to tell our brothers in New Orleans that we've leaked all our information to TOS when our only connection won't pick up his goddamn phone." Damon growled before turning to Bonnie. "Bonbon you gotta have something. How do we tell them they need to go on lockdown." Bonnie didn't answer immediately, her eyes were glued on the tape. "Bon?"
Bonnie turned to Elijah, "play that tape again. The part right after Care told Tyler she didn't love him."
"Of course," Elijah answered and rewinded the tape to the exact part Bonnie needed.
"–but I'm sure as hell I don't love you!"
"Kiss my ass Care! You think this is over? You think you can walk out of here and be free of me? Then you're blind. We have ears on the inside, we're closer to you than you think! You guys are looking in all the wrong places and when we strike, you won't know what hit you."
"We have ears on the inside?" Kol repeated, asking Bonnie if that was what she was looking for.
Bonnie shook her head, "we already know that much. Elijah go back to the part right after that." Elijah followed her orders and the recording began to play again.
"–side, we're closer to you than you think! You guys are looking in all the wrong places and when we strike, you won't know what hit you."
"Care what did Tyler say to you about capturing Klaus and using you to kill him? In his exact words please."
"He told me I was perfect for the operation. I remember him saying that the last time they tried to kill Klaus, they didn't really have any leverage on him. He said they could've used Henrik but Mikael wouldn't let them use Henrik because he was the only son he actually loved. But before all of that, Tyler said 'you'd be the first step.' He said it twice like I was supposed to know that–"
"Esther call New Orleans, Caroline call Klaus again."
"What is it–"
"You Caroline, you're the first step of the plan to take down TVD. He told us we're looking in all the wrong places. We put our best chance out of our reach and they knew we would because they've been listening to us! They're not coming for New Orleans, they're coming for you!"
A loud explosion sounded from outside and Caroline's eyes widened. Her friends were still out there!
"Fuck, Elena!" Damon yelled, rushing to the door.
"Stefan!" Rebekah gasped and followed Damon out.
"Enzo!" Bonnie shouted, right on Rebekah's tail.
"Jeremy," Kol remembered and was out of the door as fast as Elijah did after he whispered Katherine's name.
"Matt…" Caroline trailed off, looking at Esther who was shaking her head, warning her not to leave the room.
"Caroline you will not leave this room without protection–"
"I have to make sure he's safe." Caroline was out of the door and down the spiral staircase. She burst through the front door and ran like her life depended on it. After all it did. Her lungs felt like they were about to burst, but she wasn't planning on stopping until she was reunited with her friends.
While Caroline was sprinting towards the big hill she decided to call Klaus again. She dialled the number she knew by heart but all she heard was the tone. "Fuck–" Caroline was cut off by a hand over her mouth. She started struggling but stopped when she felt the cool metal of a gun pressed against her spine and the sharp blade of a knife against her neck. Shit, I'm not armed. God seriously? How could you be so stupid Care?
"Remember me Caroline?" A female voice asked harshly.
Caroline scoffed, "maybe if I could see you it would jog some memories. I obviously can't because you're holding me at gunpoint." The blade pressed further into her skin and Caroline squeaked before shaking her head. Maybe being snarky wasn't the best idea. "No I don't remember you, okay? I don't usually focus on voices!"
"Think harder! You don't remember when you and your fucking Mikaelson friends broke into our hotel and took Tyler? You fucked over our friend Daniel Warren and got your boyfriend to kill him!"
Fuck it's what's her face? Jules! Shit I totally fucked over Daniel Warren, but I didn't tell Klaus to kill him!
"Now it's your turn–" A gunshot cut Jules off and Caroline gasped, waiting for the pain, before realizing that there was none. The knife dropped to Caroline's feet and she whipped around to see Jules gagging on her own blood.
"That isn't how I remembered the story. What about you love?"
Her heart stopped at the voice that echoed through her ears. Caroline looked up and met his beautiful blue eyes and her heart nearly shattered at that dimpled smirk. "Klaus."
Klaus smiled at Caroline in all her glory. She wore the tight black assassin suit his mother required everyone to wear when they graduated. Her blonde curls bounced above her shoulders as she ran towards him and proceeded to give him the tightest hug he had ever experienced. Klaus stroked her hair and held her lower back while she stayed silently squeezing him. The feeling of having Caroline back in his arms was indescribably incredible. She was so beautiful and it had been so long since he had seen her face. "Hello to you too Caroline."
As if something flipped a switch in her brain, Caroline jumped off of him to compose herself. "Hi. I didn't expect you to be here at all. I thought you were in New Orleans with Marcel and Camille and Tyler was saying that The Other Side was coming for you. But he actually meant that they were coming for me to use as bait for you so they could lure you in and kill you. I was so worried, we were trying to warn you. I was trying to warn you, I thought they were going to take me to watch you die–"
"You're rambling love," he laughed.
"Oh, sorry."
"You look stunning in uniform love," Klaus commented as he moved closer to her, desperate to feel her again.
Caroline's breath hitched as Klaus' fingers slightly brushed on her sides. She was clearly uneasy and still shocked at his being here. "I bet you say that to all the girls back in New Orleans."
"You bet wrong," Klaus smirked as he cupped her cheek. She still had the faint white line on her cheekbone from Tyler throwing a glass at her. The thought of Tyler almost made him scowl. It still angered him that Lockwood had stolen his brother and given him to Mikael even after Klaus had confided in him. Klaus had spent the past three years looking for Mikael and Henrik with Camille, his elder sister Freya, King of the French Quarter Marcel and newly crowned Queen of the Wolves Hayley.
Freya was family, Klaus was obligated to inform her about Henrik though she had a painfully different experience with Mikael. Freya loved Mikael as her father and Mikael loved Freya as his daughter. They had a loving relationship until Esther sold her to Dahlia. She almost didn't believe Klaus until Marcel confirmed his story.
Marcel was always at Klaus' side and already knew of Henrik's disappearance and wasn't too shocked when Klaus told him Mikael was behind it. He knew how horrible he could be.
Then there was Hayley. She herself was an orphan and confessed to Klaus that at times she thought that anyone who hated their parents were ungrateful and that she had never thought that there could be awful reasons behind their hatred. They were all now working together along with his other allies, Vincent Griffith the genius, Davina Claire the unexpectedly powerful brat, Marcel's newly wedded wife Eva Sinclair, Joshua Rosza the awkward intern type and Jackson Kenner Hayley's husband and the father of her unborn child. Everyone in TVD submitted to his power and Klaus flawlessly became king once again, but it wasn't the same as before.
Unlike everyone in the French Quarter had thought, Klaus was unsure of continuing his reign unless a certain blonde agreed to join him. When Klaus was last in New Orleans, he had his right hand man Marcel at his side, countless allies willing to blindly serve him and Camille, the woman he loved. Now he only had two out of three of those. Camille was still with him but now she was merely a friend. They were no longer in love for Cami had seemed to have taken a new interest in Vincent and Klaus had fallen for Caroline. His mind never strayed from her once even though Klaus had the constant fear that Caroline hadn't done the same. There was no way he would live in New Orleans without her. On top of that, he was obligated to make sure Tyler was taken care of once and for all, his family was reunited and Mikael was a corpse.
"Is Tyler still in the cell?" Klaus asked and Caroline shrugged.
"I don't know, they might've broken him out and even if they haven't, Klaus that cell doesn't do anything. Tyler knew everything Klaus, he chose to stay in that cell so he could get information and give it to Mikael! Speaking of Mikael, do you know Mikael is Silas? Or Silas is Mikael? I don't know the order but it was super creepy and I figured it out! I was the one who–" Klaus playfully raised an eyebrow and she shut her mouth. "I'm rambling, I know but I'm not used to you being right here in front of me."
Klaus' eyes softened, "I know, but there's no time to catch up now love. I'd like nothing more to stay and chat but I have to wreak havoc on the rest of my Hybrid traitors. You need to get to safety."
Caroline furrowed her brows and stepped away from Klaus, "no. I have to fight these agents off or make sure Tyler is not going anywhere. I'm not going to sit around and do nothing."
"The Other Side assassins are very dangerous. Jules had nearly slit your throat before I luckily intervened. Jules might be one down, but twenty two more assassins are still searching for you and I intend to kill every single one of them, but I cannot do that if I don't know you're out of harm's way."
"Remember the last time you thought something was too dangerous for me and I proved you wrong? That was when I beat up your Hybrid three years ago and I barely had any training! Thirty minutes ago I just graduated after two extra years of learning how to kill people, I'm coming with you."
A smile tugged the corners of his lips as he watched Caroline try to stand her ground. "Your bravery is flattering but you must go back to the main building and hide. I'm sure my siblings will be there as well on orders from my mother. They are not cowards for hiding, they are being wise. All our assassins know to go on lockdown and I expect you to do what's best for your safety."
"Klaus, I'm not going to go hide when I'm the reason they're here. What good am I going to be if I lead then to my friends? I'm worried about them, I'm worried about you. How are you going to single handedly fight off twenty two assassins? I can't sit back and watch you get hurt. I just got you back, I can't lose you."
"I won't be fighting by myself and I don't have to kill all of their agents. If I do, I have reasons to believe that they'll be sending my Hybrids to finish the job. At the moment, I have my people, who are already destroying the competition. This won't take too long. I'll meet you in less than fifteen minutes, love."
Caroline bit her lip indecisively and the small action nearly made him groan. "Are you sure? Promise me you'll come right back to us? Us as in me and your family."
"I will return to you. I give you my word, Caroline. Now go." Caroline nodded and hesitantly ran off in the direction of the main building of TVD. Klaus watched her go and almost regretted telling her to leave. Now more than ever before, he wanted her. Klaus wanted to claim Caroline in every way humanly possible, but first he had to deal with The Other Side.
"Who is that?" His best friend asked with an audible smirk from behind him.
"Marcel, that was Caroline Forbes. The Other Side is after her to get to me because I'm in love with her. How many have we taken down?"
Klaus turned to see Marcel shaking his head with a gun in hand. "Freya got four, Camille got three, I got three and Hayley got two. I see you took care of this lady on the floor so that brings our total to thirteen. The good news is that we're over half. Bad news is that Cami checked the cell and Lockwood's gone."
"The Hybrids," Klaus muttered under his breath. One of them probably snuck into the building to free him on Mikael's behalf. "How's Hayley?"
"She's fine," Hayley answered from beside Klaus with a male body dragging behind her. "Other than the fact that she just snapped this man's neck because he called her hormonal. I'm not sure if it was because he was right or wrong."
Klaus put his hand on her baby bump and grinned as the baby kicked. Though Hayley and Klaus had a very strained relationship at first, seeing she nearly shot the love of his life, they grew closer over the years. After she and Jackson finally got pregnant, he was elated and failed to hide his excitement seeing he would soon be the most fun adult in her child's life. "How's the little Niklaus? Kicking ass just like mommy dearest?"
"The little Niklaus is a little Nicki and she is mad that I'm not at home relaxing with her daddy," Hayley growled, dropping the body and picking up it's gun. "How many more agents are there?"
"Eight more to go if Freya and Camille haven't killed anymore of them," Marcel replied.
"Where's your little princess, Klaus?" Hayley smiled sarcastically as her green eyes gleamed, "did you have a romantic reunion? Did you finally kiss her or is she still rejecting your ass?"
"She's safe," Klaus shrugged, ignoring the rest of Hayley's questions, "but all we need to worry about now is destroying those pests from The Other Side."
...
Klaus silently slid into the metal crate room that had a hidden passageway that lead to the underground chambers. He was relying on Caroline's knowledge from training to get her to safety. His blood stained henley was slightly unbuttoned and Klaus guessed his hair was wonderfully a mess. Klaus ended up obliterating the remaining eight agents. He killed a few with his bare hands when they said something about Caroline. She was his and he wouldn't stand by and let them slander her name without being punished. Now it was guaranteed the Hybrids would be back.
Hayley and Marcel were a little ways behind him while Freya and Cami were taking another route that led directly to the Mikaelsons' safe room. Klaus wanted to take the passageway that Caroline went through incase something had happened. He couldn't lose her again. The three wove through the metal crates of various sizes so quietly, you could hear a pin drop. His hand was resting on the gun in his jacket pocket to be ready for an ambush. Though all of The Other Side's agents were scattered around dead, his Hybrids could already be on their way to seize both him and Caroline.
The three assassins were nearly at the trap door before Klaus paused and put his hand out behind him, signalling Hayley and Marcel to stop. Something had clattered on the metal floor behind a crate and familiar voice let out a quiet curse under her breath which nearly made Klaus chuckle. He'd recognize Caroline's voice anywhere. He moved slightly and could see her back facing him. She was scrambling for her gun that she had dropped.
Swiftly and silently, Klaus came up behind her and put his hand over her mouth before she could scream. "Shh, shh, shh, it's just me love. Don't be scared, you're safe."
Caroline whipped around and let out a sigh of relief before hugging him. Klaus heard another noise from behind Caroline and got ready to protect her. It was possible but he doubted the Hybrids would be here this early. "Oh God Klaus I thought you were some creepy TOS agent coming to take me–" Caroline was cut off when Klaus abruptly pulled out his gun and pointed it towards the man he had just noticed behind the metal crate. The male's hands shot up and Klaus pushed Caroline behind him.
He wasn't a Hybrid but was oddly familiar. Perhaps he had ran into him in a fight before. "I thought I had killed you all," Klaus growled but before he could shoot, Caroline had jumped in front of him.
"No Klaus! He isn't an assassin, he's with me." Caroline took the man's hand and he held her close as if he was the one protecting her. Their entire upper bodies were glued together. Klaus felt his blood boiling at the sight of the two so close. Now that he was back Caroline was his and his only once he got her to get rid of that parasite Tyler Lockwood which wouldn't be a challenge seeing that Tyler had been a big part of having her kidnapped. No man other than him should've been embracing her that way.
"This is Lorenzo St. John. Enzo. Remember? He works with TVD. He runs the Armoury, you can't hurt him."
The way she was protecting him made Klaus want to tear Enzo's heart out even more than the TOS assassins, but because of the pleading in her eyes he reluctantly lowered his gun. He vaguely recalled briefly speaking to him at his goodbye ball three years prior to this. The man exhaled and so did Caroline, but they didn't let go of each other. Klaus was about to rip Caroline away from Enzo's grasp before Marcel and Hayley arrived, weapons drawn.
"What's going on here Klaus? Are you hurt?" Marcel asked before locking eyes with Caroline who looked just as confused as Marcel. The two hadn't met before, but Caroline and Hayley on the other hand…
"Marcellus meet Caroline, you've heard much about her," Klaus introduced. "Caroline meet my right hand man Marcel, which I've informed you about prior to my leaving. Hayley, Caroline are already well acquainted I'm sure."
As Klaus watched Marcel shake hands with Caroline awkwardly, Hayley groaned from behind him. Klaus immediately put his hand on her bump, worried about the baby's safety. Perhaps it wasn't the best idea to bring Hayley with them. Jackson would go ballistic if she went into labour here of all places. "Hayley?" Klaus asked, holding her up cautiously. "How is she? Is she alright? Is she coming?"
"What the fuck is she doing here, Klaus? How do you know she's not here to save Tyler." Caroline scoffed, before her eyes landed on Hayley's abdomen, wide with disbelief. "Is she pregnant?!"
Hayley threw Klaus off of her in annoyance, whispering she was fine. "What does it look like blondie? And I'm not here to save Tyler."
"So first you're going to sleep with my boyfriend then get pregnant with Klaus' child?!"
This was a disaster. Caroline was impulsively making assumptions that couldn't be further from the truth.
"Look it's been years since Tyler and I were together. Today I came here, risking my life and my baby's life to protect you so your long distance boyfriend's wouldn't be paranoid out of his mind. You're lucky enough I care about Klaus enough to save both of your lives from your ex's little scheme! Get over yourself princess, nobody cares!"
"Klaus isn't my boyfriend," Caroline muttered under her breath.
"Then why are you jealous?" Hayley growled, "you can't have them all sweetheart. Grow up and pick one."
There was an earsplitting silence throughout the room that seemed to last forever. Caroline was glaring at Hayley who was glaring back at her with just as much intensity. Hayley was not pregnant with his child, but even if she was there was no reason for Caroline to be jealous. Not with her new arm candy Enzo.
Marcel cleared his throat and announced he was taking Hayley to the safe room to meet up with Freya and Camille so she could rest. Klaus nodded and as his two comrades disappeared, Enzo put his arm around Caroline to lead her into the passageway. Klaus didn't let him go two steps before grabbing his arm. "Let her go," Klaus ordered in a low voice.
"You think I'm going to hurt her?" He questioned in a challenging tone.
"I certainly do not trust you with her. She has a very poor taste in the ones who she keeps close to her. They're always a danger to her wellbeing."
"I was the one comforting her every night when you were gone and refused to answer the phone. When the anxiety of you being gone was too much to bear. You're the only one hurting her Klaus Mikaelson and if you do it again, you'll have more than your relationship dramatics to worry about."
"Enzo…" Caroline sighed as she watched him leave through the trap door, leaving her alone with Klaus.
Klaus knew he was right. It wasn't his fault that he was unable to contact Caroline at all times but maybe he should've never left. He should've listened to her. The Other Side was coming for Virginia anyways. His leave did nothing but strain his relationship with Caroline. "He's right."
Caroline shook her head, "how could you Klaus? You got Hayley pregnant?! You were there when I found out she was sleeping with Tyler. You saw my heart break first hand. Now I know she was sleeping with you too!"
"And if I am sleeping with her, what of it?" Klaus challenged.
"'What of it?' When you left me on the plane tarmac, your last words were that you loved me! I know it's been three years and things change over time and I know I'm being selfish, but I thought you meant it. You may not love me but you don't have to sleep with the girl who ruined my life!"
"I do love you! But that obviously didn't matter much to you, seeing you have a new boyfriend now," Klaus hissed in pain. "It didn't take you long to move on from Tyler Lockwood. Have a newfound knack for accents hm? You seem like the perfect pair."
"Well at least he didn't get my mortal enemy pregnant!"
"Neither did I!" Klaus yelled making Caroline flinch. He sighed as she looked away from him, seeing her upset was the last thing he wanted. Klaus carefully put his hands on her waist. "The baby isn't mine, it's Hayley's husband's. I never slept with her, love."
"Oh," Caroline whispered. "She's married… She has moved on from Tyler and is not out to get me. I feel really dumb right now. Enzo is Bonnie's boyfriend. Not mine. We're just friends."
Klaus let out a breath that he didn't realize he was holding. Though that meant she was still with Tyler, it was reassuring that he didn't have to compete with a decent man. He held her chin and gently tilted her head up to him. "Positive?"
She nodded, "it's our first day back together and we're already arguing, Klaus. I hate fighting with you. I almost lost you and I don't want to push you away because I'm–"
Cutting her off, Klaus hugged Caroline, "I know love, I know. You'll never lose me. I won't leave your side as long as you'll have me. I still fancy you more than you can fathom."
"I know, thank you." And maybe it was Klaus' imagination, but he could've sworn he heard her reply, "I feel the same way."