A/N: Did I mention we already passed the halfway point of this story a chapter or two ago? At least I can say that based on the layout I have for now.

I realize I tend to break up big chapters instead of posting one big chapter, sorry if that bothers you!

Thought I'll do a special shout-out to my guest reviewers:

Chloe, thank you for being the first reviewer to the last chapter which assured me that I might be doing something right! :D

NG, I missed your kind words but I'm glad you got to enjoy the last three chapters at a stretch! Thank you for your continued support.

Okay then, let's get to the actual fic, shall we? Heads up, this one is quite plotty but it's required. A lot of information coming your way.

Disclaimer: I don't own the TVD universe.

Additional Disclaimer: I'm super sleepy, pardon any weird words on your screen.

18

The Merge-y Workaround

Leaving a tirade of voice messages and texts asking Klaus to call her back is not how Caroline had planned to spend her morning. It only took about seventeen odd unanswered calls that got her to finally accept the fact of the matter – Klaus was ignoring her and vehemently so.

Scoffing as another call went unanswered, she put away her phone and decided she should instead focus on what she could actually do something about – finding Sylvia.

Caroline wasn't too worried about the 'finding her' part of her plan – she figured she could easily walk into St. James Infirmary and catch her at work. She wasn't sure about how shifts worked in a bar that was open 24/7 for the convenience of all the supernatural creatures that frequented the joint but it seemed like the logical place to start.

She stood in front of the vintage building that was St. James Infirmary and mused at all the things the sturdy old structure must have been a spectator to in the history of the city. Why, barely twelve hours ago there had been a massacre of sorts in the adjoining alley… a massacre that she held herself responsible for.

The fact that she had killed three wolves hadn't slipped her mind as easily as she had let it appear to Klaus. He hadn't pushed her on it either but she somehow doubts Klaus was fooled by her self-confidence being that he had the annoying ability to see through her. Caroline knew it was self-defense but that didn't diminish the reality that she had taken three lives and that weighed on her.

The worst part is she hadn't even intended to kill them. She had applied aspects of her training but even the exercises at school were always focused on defense, not causing harm to opponents. It was just the sad reality that as a vampire, snapping necks now came as a knee-jerk response to putting another supernatural creature down.

Too bad the result wasn't the same for werewolves as it was for vampires; at least the latter would wake up an hour later. She couldn't believe she let herself make such a reckless mistake in the heat of the moment.

And then there was the issue of the lone survivor, another unintended outcome. As glad as Caroline was that she didn't have the girl's death to add to her conscience, the possible consequences of letting her go free made her anxious.

Did the girl go home and tell her pack about it? Did she return with back-up to finish her and Klaus once and for all? Here Caroline was, back again at the scene of the crime; what if the wolf-girl and her friends were lying in wait inside to attack her?

Caroline resisted the urge to take a peek into the alley and check if the bodies she had pushed to the side still remained there. If they had been moved, she would have known if the story has broken among the supernatural community but right now, she needed to distance herself from the spot for her own safety.

She walked into the club and noticed the place wasn't as crowded as it was last night but that was expected since she was walking in during breakfast hours…well, human breakfast hours. She idly wondered if there had been any witnesses to last night's events and what the chances were that they were still hanging around.

She decided she had spent way too much time here already worrying over what could be the repercussions from last night and time was of the essence if she wanted to follow through her lead and leave as soon as she could. This is why the too-young cocky vampire that was manning the counter was starting to get on her nerves when she enquired about Sylvia and he seemed to show no interest.

"Are you going to tell me where she is or not?"

The bartender simply shrugged at her and Caroline scoffed, her patience thinning. If only he was human, she could have just compelled it out of him and gone her merry way.

If Klaus was here, he could have compelled him anyway. Stupid Original perks.

Wait, did he even have Original perks anymore or is he just a Hybrid? Okay, not just any Hybrid more like the only Hybrid –

She shook the distracting thoughts off; annoyed with herself that Klaus had once again managed to sneak into the forefront of her mind. "Where can I find her?" Caroline asked, "I just want to talk." She figured if she kept her tone neutral he wouldn't see her as a threat in case he was protecting her. The bartender responded with a look that gave Caroline the feeling she was not going to like what he's going to say. He scratched his chin like he was thinking hard.

"Is that a daylight ring?" he asked suddenly, nodding at the chunky lapis lazuli band on her finger.

Caroline frowned, glancing at her hand and back at him. "Yeah, so?"

"How about this…I tell you where she is in exchange for that ring? If you're a friend of Sylvia's I'm sure she can just make you another one."

"Oh wow," Caroline scoffed, shaking her head in disbelief, "We're bargaining now? Why do you even need a –" She stopped before completing her sentence and blinked in understanding. "You don't really work here do you? You're just stuck here."

Ryan gave her a lopsided grin without denying her observation and Caroline had had enough.

This was a waste of time; some random kid at the bar was wasting her time.

"You know what? I think it's better I come back later when Sylvia's on her shift," she sniped at him, whipping away from the bar. She was nearly at the door when she heard a familiar voice.

"Caroline?"

She turned around to see Sylvia ushering Ryan away to a dark corner of the bar and waving at her to come over. Caroline frowned, slowly walking back to the bar and Sylvia looked at her apologetically.

"Nightwalkers," she explained, "Some of them are still around. The really young ones tend to party too hard at night and forget to get home in time for sunrise." Caroline raised her eyebrows at her and having felt like she had lost enough time already, got straight to the point.

"I need to speak with you," she said, reaching into her bag and pulling out the piece of paper that Klaus had given her. "I need to know more about this. Klaus told me to –"

"Whoa, keep that away," Sylvia whispered firmly. "Come into the back with me and we can talk." She threw a quick glance around the bar and went through a door behind the counter and Caroline followed her. They walked past the kitchen and into a small back room which appeared to be Sylvia's private office space. It was a little cramped and most of the space was taken up by the grand looking desk and the chair while the walls seemed to be lined with either bookshelves or locked cupboards containing what, Caroline could only speculate.

"Have a seat," Sylvia gestured at Caroline as she took her place on her chair behind the desk. "Can I get you anything? Wine? Blood?"

"Erm, no. Thank you," Caroline declined politely and placed the worn piece of paper on the desk between them. "Where did you get this?"

Sylvia looked straight at Caroline and let out a deep breath. "It's mine."

Caroline's eyes widened. "What?"

"Actually that very precious piece of paper is a page out one of my ancestors' journals. And I'd very much like it back if you're done with it."

"Oh," Caroline faltered, immediately straightening out the piece of paper gently. In all the excitement of noting the text, she'd overlooked the actual piece of paper itself and the value it could hold. Having read it enough times that she had the scribbled lines memorized anyway; she supposed it was only fair she gave it back to Sylvia, considering it belonged to her.

Only now truly understanding its seemingly high value to the witch, Caroline wondered for a brief moment how Klaus had convinced Sylvia to part with it in the first place.

"How is this yours? How are you connected to the Gemini coven?" Caroline asked. "You're not…"

"I'm not some long lost surviving member of the coven, if that's what you're thinking," Sylvia said, letting out a short laugh. "No, that entire line's been wiped out – well, apart from your girls and that one crazy guy locked up in a prison world." Caroline listened, not even bothering to question how Sylvia had this information. "We have our own circle. Besides the Gemini coven was not exactly the most inclusive kind; you pretty much had to be born into it to be a part."

Caroline snorted. "Yeah, describing them as rigid would be an understatement. Clearly someone thought it was okay to pit the Coven's oldest twins against each other like freaking gladiators just so they could pick a leader and they followed the stupid practice almost religiously, no questions asked."

"Didn't you ever wonder why that is? That they continued to follow such a grim tradition despite the fact that it meant losing another member of their community? Like you pointed out yourself, almost religiously?"

"Well, apparently not having a surviving leader meant that the rest of the coven would die and I doubt anyone wanted to test that theory at the time so they had to do it. It's almost…" Caroline thought for a moment and looked up straight at Sylvia, "…like they didn't have a choice…"

"And that is exactly what this journal entry proves," Sylvia said, pointing and reading out a line in the page. "…he pronounced the act not to be a tradition but a curse…that's the key right there."

Caroline frowned in thought. This wasn't news to her, it was the same inference she had made when she had first read the lines on the page. What she really needed confirmation on now was something else entirely.

She needed to know if the words had any truth to them. If there was any hope of taking the first real steps towards dealing with the Merge she had to be sure this information had come from a reliable source. Caroline cleared her throat.

"Sylvia, you still haven't told me how you're connected to all this," Caroline started. "I mean, who's journal is this and how did you end up with it? Who is the 'he' that's being referred to in this passage? I need to know because right now, to me this is just a handwritten note that's giving me something dangerously close to hope that there might actually be a way to save both my girls from the impending Merge."

"I understand," Sylvia nodded at her and stood up. "I'm going to tell you everything but let me get you a drink first."

"I already told you, I don't –"

"Trust me, you want the answers to all your questions then you're going to be here a while. I'm just going to assign someone to handle things up front and I'll be back." And with that she stepped out of the room, leaving Caroline to wonder about what exactly she was going to hear.

Klaus groaned as he sat up from his bed. His second night of turning and the aching aftermath didn't seem to be going away. After Freya's examination the first time it happened, they had concluded it was probably a reaction to his body going through so many rapid changes within such a short span of time. It had only been two days since he started turning but instead of getting stronger, it felt like the pain was getting worse.

Perhaps he needed to give it more time, he thought. His Hybrid eyes blinked at the bright sunshine flowing into the room and he guessed it must be around noon.

"I never thought I'd get to see Klaus Mikaelson look like he'll need to take a sick day."

Klaus looked across the room to see Marcel sitting on the edge of chair. He had a slight smile on his face but his creased eyebrows betrayed a hint of worry. Klaus chuckled.

"Feeling nostalgic for the time you had me chained up for five years with a dagger in my chest?" he taunted making Marcel narrow his eyes at him, "Or just reveling in the chance to play the very human role of the son sitting at his old man's deathbed as he slowly edges closer to his demise from a long-suffering disease?"

"You're not dying, Klaus."

"Well, I certainly don't feel like I'm getting any better," he growled, his body feeling stiff and his chest heavy.

"Here," Marcel said, tossing a blood bag at Klaus. "Maybe this will help."

"Well, now I'm genuinely feeling a sense of déjà vu, aren't you?" Klaus smirked, "I'm only relieved you aren't rationing the blood this time." Marcel didn't respond, quietly watching as he drained the bag and tossed it to the side. Feeling slightly better, Klaus then realized something. "Where's Rebekah, thought it was her shift."

"She was here until a while ago; she needed a break."

"I see, tending to her ailing brother not entertaining enough for my dear sister, is it?"

"She just couldn't bear to see you like this."

"And I suppose you must be relishing it."

"Better me than her," Marcel said quietly.

"Touché," Klaus agreed, absently scratching at his chest and looking out the window. They didn't speak for a few minutes until Marcel spoke up.

"Did something happen last night?" Klaus turned away from the view to face a curious looking Marcel and raised an eyebrow.

"You might have to be a little more specific, Marcellus," Klaus said, smirking. "Last night was…quite eventful."

"Three bodies were found in the alley next to St. James Infirmary, the very place that you and Caroline happened to visit last night. Three wolves from the same pack. Do you happen to know anything about that?"

"Simply old acquaintances holding a grudge. They only have themselves to blame for standing on the war path of an angry blonde vampire."

"Caroline did this?"

"You should have seen her, Marcel, she was glorious," Klaus spoke with pride in his eyes as Marcel looked at him incredulously. "I would have spared her from having to do the deed hadn't I been held back by an inconvenient sire-bond induced handicap with regards to fighting those wolves."

"Only you could be this turned on by your girlfriend spilling blood," Marcel said, shaking his head unable to resist a tiny smile. "And what do you mean sire-bond induced handicap?"

"No matter, the situation is wrapped up for now. A wolf girl escaped but I doubt she'll be worth any trouble. We'll deal with any fall out when we have to." After a moment lost in thought, he turned to Marcel. "I need to speak to Freya. Where's my phone?" Marcel looked at Klaus, disbelief on his face.

"Your phone's with me," he said flatly, fishing the phone out of his jacket pocket, "But I gotta say Klaus, I don't think the situation is wrapped up just yet." Klaus raised his eyebrows.

"What are you on about Marcel, spit it out."

"Your phone had fallen under your bed after your nightmares had you thrashing about last night. The only reason I even found it was because of it going off all morning from what I later found out were Caroline's repeated calls." He waved the screen in Klaus' face. "Clearly, there's a problem."

That's when last night fully came back to him, how it had started one of the most pleasant evenings he had the pleasure of enjoying since he came back to life and how things had taken a bad turn. Based on his last conversation with Caroline, he didn't think she would want to speak to him again anytime in the near future.

Unless she had found the little surprise he had left for her in her bag. Klaus shrugged at Marcel, feigning indifference.

"If Caroline called, it isn't about the dead wolves. You see, we had a bit of a falling out last night… well, more of a tough conversation really. Strong words were exchanged; things that needed to be said were said and it was mutually decided that there was nothing more to talk about between us. If she seems to be bent on breaking that rule, far be it from me to let that happen; you know, for the sake of our mutual decision." Marcel looked at him strangely as Klaus took his phone and began to scroll through it.

"Hope had called too, to say hi. I told her you'd call her back when you woke up." Klaus simply nodded and Marcel stood up. "I'll get Freya," he said, flashing out of the room, leaving Klaus to stare at his phone screen filled with notifications from Caroline. His finger hovered over the 'Delete' button for two seconds too long.

Moving on from Caroline was not going to be easy. But if she was truly being honest yesterday, he owed it to her to try, for both their sakes.

He sighed, cleared his phone's notifications and dialed Hope.

"So this is not a page out of your family's books. It's from a journal that belonged to another witch Marissa who was a friend to one of your ancestors, the witch named Iris?" It was almost noon and Caroline was trying to piece everything together out loud as Sylvia went along narrating the story of how that single piece of paper ended up in her hands.

"Yes," Sylvia clarified. "Marissa began writing in her journal soon after she was finally admitted into the Gemini coven, a very rare occurrence by itself. She continued to maintain limited contact with Iris even after that. The story goes that she's the only outsider to ever have been made an exception to the Geminis' rule of keeping relations within the coven and this was mostly because a man named William from the coven was madly in love with her and he had managed to convince the leader at the time to let her in."

"Just that tiny part of the story and I have so many questions," Caroline exclaimed, shaking her head.

"It gets weirder," Sylvia warned, "A couple of years after Marissa was taken into the coven, she actually died…under very mysterious circumstances."

"Oh my God, do you think she was…" Caroline gasped. "Did William…?"

"Actually that man's love for her is probably the one sure thing in this story," Sylvia said, feeling the paper in her hands, "Apparently after Marissa's death, he was the one who tracked down my ancestor and handed her a box full of Marissa's possessions… all that remained of it anyway. This page was a part of it, although the fact that the rest of the book wasn't in there was a glaring question."

Caroline huffed, shaking her head. "This sounds like a cover-up."

"Spoken like a true sheriff's daughter," Sylvia said with a small smile and Caroline once more ignored the urge to ruminate over how Sylvia may have known that. "My family thought so too; they believed that Marissa had found holes in the Merge story and had wanted to go public with it in the hopes of preventing anymore unnecessary deaths. They even confronted the Gemini coven at some point."

"But why was Marissa, a regular witch, so invested in the Merge? She was accepted into the Gemini coven, happy and in love with William…what else could she…" Realization dawned on Caroline. "William was a twin."

"Yes, he was," Sylvia said sadly. "The day after he gave Marissa's box to Iris, word spread that a Merge had taken place bringing a forth a new leader in the Gemini coven. William didn't survive."

The story made Caroline's heart feel heavy, more so because it made her think of her daughters and how they would one day be in that position. Just thinking about what would happen if she wasn't able to save them made her feel like she was choking. "Why didn't they listen to her?" Caroline's voice croaked. "Shouldn't the Gemini coven have been happy that Marissa found a way to get rid of that terrible tradition?"

"You said it yourself, Caroline. They were a rigid bunch of people – they truly believed they had to keep following the ritual in order to maintain the balance in nature, especially since the off chance that they were wrong in believing Marissa meant the entire Coven would die altogether. My coven believes she was killed to keep her from going public with the truth."

"Wha– that's insane!" Caroline exclaimed. "Why haven't I come across this story in any of my research so far? I've met so many people and spoken to so many supernatural creatures and they could barely provide anything more than what I already knew. How do you know these things? Is there a book I should be reading?" Sylvia shook her head.

"Strictly word of mouth, these are just some of the stories passed down for generations within our family and the coven," she said solemnly. "My family also believes that around the time of Marissa's death there was a spell cast worldwide that would prevent anyone from reading anything that exposed the truth of the Merge; this probably explains why you haven't had too much success so far."

"World wide? But that's –"

"That sounds impossible but you should know better than anyone what the signature spell of the Gemini Coven is, Caroline."

Caroline blinked in understanding and it suddenly seemed less impossible. "Cloaking spells."

"That's right. So you'd have all your general information available to everyone but the things alluding to the Merge being a curse were magically invisible to people's eyes. William probably had something to do with this page here being the only thing that bypassed such a powerful spell."

"Wow." Caroline drained the rest of the bourbon from her glass and ran her fingers through her hair. "That's a lot of information to process." Sylvia nodded and Caroline looked back with a frown. "Did anyone ever try to break the curse… or the cloaking spell for that matter?" she asked hopefully.

"Why would they? No one kept any ties with the Gemini Coven considering they kept to themselves. And if they didn't care about the curse, none of the other covens had any reason to be bothered by it." Sylvia looked at Caroline pointedly, "As for the cloaking spell, never mind breaking it I didn't even have any reason to talk about it with anyone until Klaus mentioned the reason you were in town when we were catching up. You got lucky."

Caroline gave a small smile and glanced at her phone. "I should go," she said with a sigh. "I appreciate you taking the time and telling me all this, Sylvia. Seriously, thank you."

"You should be thanking Klaus Mikaelson, I don't give away something so valuable to just anybody."

"I'd been meaning to ask, how did he convince you to do that? And how is it that you seem to know so much about me when I barely know anything about you?" Sylvia smiled at her.

"I've known Klaus Mikaelson a long time, Caroline. I've seen many people come and go in his life and sometimes he likes to talk about them when spending time here at the bar, you know, collecting info."

"Yeah he mentioned you were something of an informer to him."

"Oh honey, I'm much more than that." Caroline knew Sylvia was talking about her value in strategic terms but couldn't a strange unpleasant tingle from within when she wondered if it was beyond that. "I'm sure you know how he feels about witches – apart from his sister and daughter of course – but surprisingly he placed his trust in me and I occasionally ended up being a confidante."

"Klaus trusted someone? Wow, that's new." Sylvia laughed at Caroline's comment.

"In hindsight, it was probably the fact that he couldn't compel me to not spread his secrets that kept things exciting. Either that or he thought he could just kill me anytime he felt I stepped out of line." Caroline rolled her eyes, imagining Klaus was totally capable of doing something like that. "Klaus Mikaelson spoke about many things; he had a millennium worth of stories to tell and I was curious to listen. But when he spoke about you, Caroline Forbes, it was something else." Caroline's eyes shot up to meet Sylvia's. "You do realize he's always been in love with you, right?"

Caroline swallowed and felt something warm inside upon hearing that but didn't respond. She simply smiled, stood up and picked up her things. "Thanks again for everything." Sylvia took the hint and didn't push the topic any further.

"I hope you find what you're looking for."

"I hope so too, for my children's sake." Caroline stepped out of the office and made a beeline for the exit before any of the other patrons noticed. Once outside she saw the streets of New Orleans were just starting to fill up with the evening tourist crowd. As if on cue, she dialed Klaus once more in the hopes that he may have awoken and calmed down enough to answer her call.

Straight to voicemail again. Caroline had just about had it with Klaus' sulking but being the ever resilient one she wasn't going to let a few unanswered calls and texts stop her. She dialed again, a new number this time and the person on the other end answered on the first ring.

"Hello?"

"Freya, it's Caroline. Where the HELL is Klaus?"

"He's home. Why, what's wrong?" Sensing the worry in Freya's voice, Caroline suddenly felt embarrassed about making a fuss.

"Nothing, I just…" Speechless Caroline was not something that occurred often but she figured the best she could make of the situation was shift the focus to something else. "How was last night for him? Is he any better today?"

"It was pretty bad," Freya's tired voice came from other end of the line. "His nightmares are making him more dangerous to himself and those around him; I'm not even allowed to take the night shift anymore," she added, alluding to her pregnant state. She paused a moment before asking, "Are you okay?"

"Who, me? Yeah, why would –"

"When Klaus got home last night, it looked like something had gone down between you two…I don't want to pry, I just wanted to know if things are okay." Caroline sighed, letting out a short laugh.

"At the risk of sounding all too much like the seventeen year old that my body is cursed to look like for the rest of my life, I just want to say HE started it." Caroline could hear Freya's light chuckle and continued, shaking her head, "But I didn't make things any better either. Not to mention he had to go ahead and turn out to be the most helpful ass on the planet when I was just pissed at him –"

"What are you talking about?"

"Klaus gave me a lead about the Gemini coven that might actually save my girls," Caroline explained.

"Really?" Freya sounded surprised. "When did this happen?"

"Last night."

"I see."

"As much as I hate to admit it, I owe him an apology and a huge Thank you. But the proud wolf won't answer my calls so…you think it will be okay if I took the night-shift tonight? It's literally the least I can do to help him out."

"Yeah, that would be great," came her response and Caroline could hear the smile in Freya's voice. She couldn't help a smile growing on her own face when she whispered into the phone.

"Don't tell him that I'm dropping by."

Hope stared at her phone screen and read the text from Jake for the third time.

J: Wolves found dead at St. James last night. Wasn't your dad there?

She wasn't sure what to make of the text – whether he was just informing her or if he was wondering if her father had something to do with the deaths. Either way she wasn't sure if there was a response that didn't involve her getting angry.

Hope had spent all day busy with her school work and away from her phone, except for when her father had returned her call from that morning. Funny, she thought, he had conveniently failed to mention any such incident when talking to her about last night. She had half a mind to call him back and yell at him but she knew it would pointless to attempt contacting him now – this time of night he would be in the basement wolfing out.

She decided not to respond to Jake's message until she heard what her father had to say when she called to confront him about it tomorrow.

Klaus tugged at his shackles and let out another blood-curdling roar as he shifted back into his human form for what felt like the hundredth time to him. He could never really be sure in his animalistic state and usually had Freya or whoever was on the other side of the door keeping track for him.

Just as he was about to turn again his Hybrid ears picked up a murmur of hushed voices in conversation. He assumed it was Rebekah or Marcel dropping by to keep Freya company and turned to look through the bars in the small window. Sure enough he could see Freya's blonde head nodding at someone… another blonde that had to be Rebekah.

Except it wasn't. Even in his wolf stupor, he would recognize that golden head of hair anywhere.

Caroline.

But there was no way she could be here – no after the last conversation that had last night. He was clearly hallucinating; his mind conjuring images that he wanted to see in an effort to abate the pain and weakness vibrating through his body. If he was so far gone, he figured it would be wise to stop for today.

"Freya!" he called out so she could come let him out of his chains. He was grabbing his sheet and draping it around his waist when the doors swung open and a very furious blonde who was definitely not his sister, stomped right in.

"Why the HELL have you been dodging my calls all day? We have fought many times before, Klaus, but I didn't think you were the type to ghost me –"

"What the bloody hell are you doing here? I thought I told you not to come see me."

Hearing those words from Klaus hurt for reasons Caroline couldn't explain. "You weren't responding so I came to check up on you," she said, her voice softer now. Klaus sat cross-legged with nothing but the blanket on him and spread his shackled arms out.

"Well, as you see I'm perfectly fine; so off you go." Caroline narrowed her eyes and kneeled down next to him.

"Since I'm here anyway I might as well stick around to the end of this horror show," she muttered and moved to take off his chains. Klaus snatched his hands back.

"Don't. I can do a few more turns."

"You were yelling for Freya to take your chains off literally two minutes ago."

"That's when I thought I was hallucinating seeing you here after I specifically told you to stay away!" he shouted. Caroline stood up and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Then you're lucky I don't give up that easily." She stepped away from him and flashed out of the room, slamming the door behind her. "I'll be right here, just let me know when you're done." Klaus could hear the rustling of fabric indicating she had seated herself on the floor against the door.

He wanted to argue but the harsh reality was that he was simply too tired. Hoping Caroline would take his lack of response as an affirmation to the arrangement, he began to turn once more.

A little over an hour later, just as he was about to go into his final transformation for the night, he heard Caroline shift about outside the door. He wasn't alarmed by it, simply surprised considering she had been still and quiet all this while, which Klaus thought was a new record for the bubbly Caroline Forbes. He figured the least he could do was offer conversation every now and then.

That was definitely a more plausible reason than the fact that he liked the sound of her voice and hoped it would provide some reprieve from the painful situation he was in.

"Everything alright, love?" he asked, his voice shaking slightly from the toll his body has taken all night. He heard her move around some more, but she didn't bring her face to the window.

"I just realized I never thanked you." A tiny smirk came on Klaus' face as he knew that she was referring to the page he had left for her in her bag that night at Rousseau's. However, he enjoyed teasing her simply for the fact that he found angry Caroline incredibly sexy with all that passion she would exude through her eyes and her actions… and even though he couldn't see her he couldn't help himself.

"For what, sweetheart?" He asked innocently and heard her scoff as clear as day.

"You know very well, for what." She paused for a moment. "Thank you, Klaus," she said genuinely. "You might just have saved my children."

"You know my services are always available to you Caroline. It just amazes me how you don't really take enough advantage of the fact…"

"Well maybe I didn't WANT to be serviced by you," Caroline bit back, her eyes widening immediately as she realized her words came out sounding wrong. She could feel her cheeks burn up and was suddenly glad that Original Hybrids didn't have x-ray vision to see her bewildered expression through the cell door. "I didn't mean…"

"Someone needs to get their mind out of the gutter," Klaus teased, chuckling. "If my naked form is forcing you to have wicked thoughts about me you might want to rethink your role here, sweetheart. I only want to help."

"Klaus just take my thank you and keep it, okay?"she said shortly. She could hear Klaus trying to muffle his laughter.

"Very well, I'm just going to take a little break before my last turn," he said, groaning as he sat on the floor with his blanket. "So if there's anything else you'd like to tell or ask me, now would be the time." He shut his eyes and took a few deep breaths, trying to relax his body before he had to break his bones all over again.

"Klaus?"

"Mmm?"

"Who's Camille?"

A/N: Oooh, that's really the question to ask isn't it? Looks like Caroline's curiosity finally got the better of her :)

As I mentioned in the earlier chapter, I will be taking some liberties in terms of setting up the base for the Gemini & Merge story line since it hasn't been covered on Legacies in that much detail yet. As always, I've stuck to canon as far as possible but I hope you guys like what I did with it anyway and that it makes sense.

Thoughts about the Gemini history? Theories about how Klaus will tackle the Cami topic? Doubts about whether Jake is accusing Klaus or just worried about Hope? I'm up for anything, I just love hearing from you guys!