A/N: It's true, I'm over TWO DAYS LATE with my chapter update. Nope, you guys aren't mistaken. Everything from work projects, personal projects (I just started a new comic series about the life of a Fanfic writer as part of Fanfiction Writer Appreciation Week, among other things), a birthday which involved baking, a close friend leaving the country for good, a stretch of time with no internet and a couple of my first socially distant gatherings with friends led to where I am today. C'est la vie!

As always, LOVE to everyone who commented and engaged on the last chapter. I'm super excited to see some new readers who got to read the entire story so far at a stretch! Thank you, thank you, thank you! You guys keep me going :)

Okay, I'm going to shut up now because yes, I am aware I left on quite the cliff-hanger last week. This was definitely one of the harder chapters to edit and lot of heart went into it and I hope you guys see and appreciate it as you read it.

Disclaimer: TVD, not mine. None of it.

19

Dream a little Dream

There was moment of pause before Klaus responded to what Caroline thought was a pretty straightforward question about someone who's existence had only piqued her curiosity.

"My, my Caroline," his voice drawled and she could have sworn she could hear the Cheshire grin spreading across his face. "How long have you been sitting on that question?"

"Two days, at the very least," she chirped back at him matter-of-factly from behind the door, at which he laughed. "What, you can be nosy about Cory but I can't ask about your love interests?"

"She was more than that," he snapped, his voice suddenly turning hard and taking Caroline by surprise. She had clearly hit a nerve and the abrupt shift in Klaus' demeanor confirmed Caroline's suspicions that there was definitely something deeper there.

In that instant, she was hit by a tinge of guilt and questioned bringing up the subject of Camille in the first place. She didn't know the whole story after all, apart from the snapshot view provided to her by Cami's brother Declan who probably couldn't be relied on to be the most unbiased observer in this particular case. She chewed on her lower lip, her tone apologetic as she spoke.

"I'm sorry, Klaus, I didn't mean it like that," Caroline said sheepishly. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Her words were met with silence but she didn't press for a response.

Almost half an hour passed by with no exchange, the two of them on either sides of the heavy door absorbed in their own thoughts. Caroline's mind fluttered between her children and the story of the Merge while the stillness on Klaus' side told her that he was probably still resting and healing before getting prepared to change again.

"She was special."

Caroline's ears perked up when Klaus spoke. His voice was ruefully soft but it was deafening against the silence that had built up between them. She got up off her jacket that she had spread out on the floor to sit on and scrambled to her feet that were now stiff from being still for so long. She dusted off the back of her blouse and hesitantly looked through the barred window.

Klaus was sitting cross legged on the floor fiddling with the ends of his blanket spread across his lap. He raised his head and looked at her intently through the bars. "Camille was a strong, fierce and intelligent woman I knew," he said simply and Caroline blinked at him.

"Sounds like your type," she muttered under her breath, mildly surprised by the unintended trace of bitterness in her own voice.

"She was a good listener. Granted at first she was compelled to listen to me talk so that probably doesn't count." Klaus let out a low chuckle but Caroline could have sworn she caught a glance of something close to regret in his eyes. "She was smart in her own way and relentless in her pursuit to figure things out when she couldn't understand them. Needless to say all that compulsion I had used on her and the eventual breaking of it backfired."

At this point, Klaus sent at careful glance Caroline's way and she frowned. She knew he was well aware of her thoughts on compulsion and simply pursed her lips together, looking to him to continue.

"Everything I did to keep Camille aloof simply became another reason for her to push back harder, even if she was at times oblivious to the gravity of the supernatural war that was raging around her. Truth be told, my interactions with her only arose from the need to keep Marcel distracted as I strove to take my city back from under him. Over time, I didn't even realize it had grown into something more. She cared for Hope as well when she was just an infant during the time we had to keep her hidden." Klaus sighed, looking away from her.

A fleeting moment of insecurity brought to Caroline's attention that Camille was obviously someone who Klaus thought could be trusted with the privileged information that his child had survived when everyone else thought the baby had died in the witches' sacrifice.

He hadn't told her.

She instantly berated herself for the thought; she had absolutely no right to expect that from him, more so since she was the one who had turned him away and she was busy with her own kids at the time anyway. She shook off the nagging thought and continued to listen to Klaus.

"Camille ended up being another victim of my darkness. Having been dragged into the supernatural world caused her to turn into someone I couldn't recognize… Evidently, vampirism doesn't suit everyone," he said, flashing another knowing glance at Caroline before letting out a deep breath. "She died because of me."

"Klaus…" Caroline tilted her head, looking at him sadly. "Did you turn her?"

"No, but the circumstances under which she was turned, led to a series of events that eventually resulted in her death." Klaus grated his teeth. "And that is something which occurred solely on the basis of the fact that she cared for me."

"That's… terrible," Caroline whispered, her eyes turning sympathetic. "I'm so sorry, Klaus." She watched as he tugged his blanket closer to his body and shook his head.

"I loved her," he said quietly.

Caroline swallowed; trying not to be affected by Klaus' hushed declaration but couldn't stop herself.

"There was a time you loved me too, why was this any different?" As soon as the words came out of her mouth, she regretted it for how petty they sounded even though she was genuinely being curious.

Ugh. Her inquisitiveness could be such a pain sometimes. Klaus, however, didn't seem to be bothered by her question.

"I suppose…" he said looking up at Caroline with a sad smile, "…it was nice to be loved back."

Caroline gasped softly, her eyes squeezing shut from the painful honesty in his words.

Damn, she deserved that. Klaus' candor tugged at her from the inside, leaving her momentarily speechless. As she stood there searching for the right words to say, she heard his rumbling growl and saw he had begun to shift into his wolf form again. She resignedly stepped away from the window and slid her back down along the door till she was sitting on the floor, unable to calm the racing of her undead heart.

Hope tossed and turned in bed, trying to relax. She kept her eyes shut tight in the hopes that it would help her fall asleep but her mind was anything but still.

Her thoughts kept going back to Jake's text. She couldn't help but wonder who the dead werewolves were and who was responsible for killing them.

Normally, she liked to distance herself from all the supernatural drama that occurred in New Orleans and her family wholeheartedly supported her wish to do so. The city had more than its fair share of excitement to begin with and getting involved in that was a black hole there was no getting out of. Besides, she had more than enough on her plate here in Mystic Falls with school assignments and training.

But this seemed like too much of a coincidence – the first time that her father happened to step out and there was suddenly a trail of bodies in his vicinity. She badly wanted to believe that her dad's first act as a newly born Hybrid wouldn't be to go on a killing spree but a small, albeit guilty, part of her wasn't sure what to think. There were just too many unknown factors involved in his return and no one seemed to be all too clear on how he may have been affected – not just physically but mentally too.

Marcel hadn't mentioned anything to her either and Hope trusted him not to keep secrets from her, well as much as she could trust anyone. But she supposed it's possible he really didn't know about the incident at the time she had spoken to him.

And then there was Jake – after days of chatting up a storm he had gone radio silent on her for almost two days… until that one text message. Considering their friendship was relatively new, she didn't want to jump to any weird conclusions but it was hard not to wonder whether there was a connection. She decided she would track him down and have that conversation face to face.

Hope sighed. She was tempted to try calling her father again but reminded herself she had another long day at school to look forward to tomorrow and needed to be well rested.

Wow, Mom would have been really proud that I have my priorities sorted. Hope couldn't help but smile, the image of her mother beaming at her gently lulling her to sleep.

"Not going to tuck me in, sweetheart?" Klaus was in his bed smirking at Caroline as she tossed a fresh blanket at him. He was freshly showered after that night's quota of turning and Caroline was trying not to be overwhelmed by the scent of him that she felt now filled the entire room, the very room in which she was supposed to spend the next few hours watching him sleep.

Come on Caroline, just get through the next few hours without giving in to any weird urges and you can get your well-deserved breath of fresh air after. She shook her head at the dimple show that Klaus was giving her right now and tried not to think about how she wanted to reach out and run her fingers over them.

Stupid weird urges. Forget fresh air, she'll probably need a cold shower.

"You seem to be feeling better already," Caroline looked at Klaus pointedly, raising an eyebrow. She gestured at a chair across the room. "I'm going to be sitting over there and making sure you don't kill yourself so if you need anything…"

"You can sit closer you know; I don't bite."

"Actually, we don't know that. And that's exactly why I'm here. Freya said you had nightmares last night too. Hopefully tonight will be less violent. Just close your eyes and go to sleep already!"

"Why Caroline, I like it when you take control like that."

"Oh my God, Klaus!" she groaned, trying her best to keep a stern face and reprimand him but barely able to resist the smile on her face from his relentless attempts to flirt with her. "Just…" she scuttled to his side and adjusted his blanket, almost jumping when her fingers brushed his bare chest as she did so. "Get some rest," she chided him. Ugh, why do you have to sleep without a shirt, again?

"I didn't see the point if I was going to end up tearing it apart anyway," Klaus spoke with a glint in his eye and Caroline's face turned scarlet with mortification as she realized she had said that last part out loud. She opened her mouth to protest but thought better of it and moved to step away from the bed, when Klaus suddenly grabbed her elbow.

"Thank you for being here, Caroline," he said softly, his eyes not budging from hers. "I know it was something you were uncomfortable with owing to any awkwardness it might create between you and… your human. I just…" Klaus sighed. "After last night I think I got the absolute clarity I needed on where we stand and I will respect that so I just need you to know you have nothing to be uneasy about." Caroline felt the warmth from her face slowly extend to her arm but simply looked back at him with a hasty smile.

"Yeah, sure," she said, gently pulling away and proceeding to make herself comfortable in her chair. "Good night, Klaus," she muttered, her face already hidden from Klaus' view in a book.

"I'll see you in the morning, love."

Klaus' breath was coming out in short, heavy, bursts as he dashed through the forest as fast as he could. It was getting dark and all he could see were the trees that brushed past him as he kept moving through the woods like he was running for his life.

He couldn't explain it but the whole scenario felt familiar to him. Maybe it was all those years of running from Mikael that were coming back to him in traumatic flashbacks. Choosing not to dwell on that thought, he kept pushing forward, only coming to halt when he arrived at a clearing that had opened up before him.

He spotted an old house, recognized it even.

The Old Witch House… if he remembered correctly it was built on the land where all those witches had been brutally burned to death in Mystic Falls so long ago. This was the same place where Stefan had kept his family coffins hostage while trying to get him to rid the town of his Hybrids.

Why was he here? And more importantly, how did he even get here?

He walked into the house and a torrent of whispers surged in the air, the spirits of a hundred dead witches agitated by the presence of a Hybrid creature intruding upon their resting place. Klaus mentally prepared himself for an onslaught of pain inflicted by them but was surprised to be met with a familiar voice.

Klaus…

The sound was but a whisper that seemed to echo across the house. Where was it coming from? Was one of the witches trying to reach out to him?

Klaus…

The whisper got slightly more prominent to his ears, the tone progressing into one that sounded almost like music to his ears.

It was beautiful.

"Klaus."

Klaus' eyes jerked open as he felt a soft touch on his arm and was met with a pair of very concerned, blue eyes. "Caroline?"

"You were shaking."

Klaus blinked at her and slowly sat up, his body still sore from last night. "What time is it?" he asked, attempting to stretch.

"It's pretty early, but you actually managed a few hours of uninterrupted sleep. That's progress." Caroline spoke to him in a tone that was cautiously optimistic. She looked exhausted, the deep red of her floral blouse making her skin appear paler than it was.

And yet Klaus thought she looked as beautiful as ever.

"I…I remember," he said, looking straight at Caroline, her eyebrows furrowing as her look of worry turned to curiosity.

"What?"

"I remember the dream," Klaus clarified. "The past few nights it's purely been nightmares with no memory of what I saw after I woke up. But now I remember… at least more than I've been able to recollect before." Caroline raised her eyebrows.

"Oh," she said, frowning. "Okay so… I'll get Freya, you can tell her about it and maybe she'll know what to make of it and I was leaving now anyway so –" Caroline stopped when Klaus grabbed her wrist as she started to walk away from the bed.

"Don't go." Klaus looked at her almost pleadingly and Caroline hated that his wolf puppy dog eyes made her want to melt into a puddle.

This is exactly why you need to leave, Caroline.

"Klaus, Freya will know what to do. My being here is not helpful to you in anyway right now."

"Caroline, I just got my first few hours of relatively undisturbed sleep while you were here so you'll have to pardon my slight apprehension in letting you go so easily." His hold on her wrist softened and shifted to her fingers as he gently ran his thumb over the back of her palm.

Caroline hated herself for wanting him to keep doing that.

She hated that she didn't want to immediately swat his hand away, even as he slipped his fingers between hers.

She hated that she didn't have the heart to turn him down at the moment.

"Fine," she agreed, dropping herself on the edge of the bed by his side. "I'll sit right here just a little longer but you've to promise me you'll get some more rest."

Klaus sent a dimpled smile her way as he slowly shut his eyes. "I promise."

Their hands were still intertwined.

Soon enough, Klaus had drifted into what seemed like a peaceful sleep. Caroline had begrudgingly let go of his hand and flashed out of the room.

She needed to get away from there, if only for a moment.

Away from him.

Away from that space which felt so saturated – albeit wonderfully so – with the feel of him. Caroline idly wondered if this was what Klaus was referring to when he talked about her essence hovering over him and haranguing him.

I just need a break.

I'll be fine.

He needs my help and it's not like I'm going to fall back in love with him or anything.

I have a wonderful life and I'm not going to take that for granted or act upon anything that might tarnish that.

He said so himself, I have nothing to be weird about around him.

She marched into the Abattoir's dining area to find Freya and Keelin sitting with their breakfast. "Freya, Keelin, hi."

"Caroline, is everything okay? Is Klaus alright?" Freya started, the concern for her brother evident on her face.

"He's fine. He's actually managed to get some sleep so I let him be. You should go talk to him when he wakes up though. He said he remembers his dream."

"Oh. That's actually a good development. Knowing the landscape of his dream might give us a clue that might help point us towards the reasons he's having them in the first place."

"Good." Caroline smiled at Freya, almost awkwardly. "I'm just going to head out so…"

"Why don't you stay and have some breakfast with us?" Keelin offered. "If you prefer a more liquid kind of meal I'm sure there's a chiller with blood bags in the house somewhere."

"Thank you," Caroline said politely. "I'm just a little tired and I have a long day ahead of me so I'm just looking forward to going back to the hotel and freshening up."

"Understandable." Keelin nodded.

"Thank you for doing this Caroline," Freya said, "We really appreciate it."

"Don't thank me, I pretty much owe Klaus at this point," Caroline said with a smile.

"Right. The Gemini lead." Freya looked like she wanted to say more but she didn't, which worked for Caroline since she was in a hurry to leave anyway. She nodded at the two of them and moved to walk out. Just before she reached the door, a thought struck her and she turned around to look at them.

"You know what, I'm only here for another three nights anyway so I was thinking that maybe… I could handle the night shifts. You know, just while I'm here…" Caroline never gave a second thought before offering help to others but as soon as those words slipped out, her mind went berserk.

What are you doing, Caroline?

You were the one who wanted to keep your distance.

Yes, Klaus has agreed to respect your decision but it's not him you're worried about, is it?

"That sounds great, Caroline. Thank you," Freya smiled and Caroline shrugged.

"Yeah well after that he's all yours – being here, this is the very least I can do."

Right, he gave you a way to possibly save your children and that's huge so you just want to repay him.

Caroline started to wonder if it's possible for her inner voice to have embraced sarcasm.

"He's going to be happy to hear it," Freya said, the hint of a very familiar smirk appearing on her face. Caroline rolled her eyes.

"He's always happy for a chance to annoy me," she muttered and turned to walk out of there, unable to help but smile at that thought.

"What's this I hear about Caroline Forbes signing up for night shifts with you, Nik? Voluntarily, no less?" Rebekah flashed a smug smirk at Klaus who was sitting across from her at the table in the atrium.

"It was actually her idea," Freya added, throwing a glance at their brother from next to him with a teasing smile on her face. Klaus rolled his eyes at his sisters.

"It would appear you two seem to have forgotten what a 'night shift' entails. I know the words sound similar to you, Rebekah, but it's not exactly the same as date night or nearly as pleasurable."

"I'm sure Caroline can find ways to make it pleasurable for you." Rebekah wiggled her eyebrows at him. Klaus shook his head and turned to Freya who had burst into laughter watching their exchange.

"Is this why you called for a family lunch, Freya? So you and Rebekah could rib me about my friendship with Caroline Forbes?"

"Oh, so it's friendship, now?"

"Rebekah…"

"Actually Brother," Freya cut in before he could snap at Rebekah. "I was curious to know how you managed to get so lucky with finding Caroline exactly what she needed for help with her daughters." She narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously.

"Yes, Nik. Your precious Miss Mystic vampire has been searching for a solution for quite some time now and then you return from the dead and magically appear to have just the thing she's been looking for." Rebekah's face turned serious. "Please tell me this is not another one of those situations where you withhold things so you can whip them out as per your convenience to suit your real-life chess games… because that's just cruel. These are her kids' lives you're dealing with."

"Don't be ridiculous, Rebekah. I would never do that to Caroline," Klaus glared at his sister and she rolled her eyes. "It's exactly what Freya said… I got lucky." Freya raised her eyebrows at him and he explained. "Caroline and I were talking about the Merge and her daughters' plight when Sylvia happened to overhear the conversation."

"Really?" Freya questioned. "And she just what, volunteered that information to you out of the goodness of her heart?"

"Sylvia is an ally with a certain set of… skills that have proven useful over the decades, one of which is being an excellent judge of character." Klaus shrugged. "I suppose she figured Caroline was someone who deserved what she had to offer."

"She was your ally? Now I'm seriously questioning her judgment of character," Rebekah muttered.

"Nevertheless," Klaus continued, choosing to ignore Rebekah's comment, "she was only open to talking about the contents of the page. It took a little persuasion from my end to get her to part with the actual sheet of paper itself."

"I'm surprised she even gave it to you at all, witches aren't really known for sharing items that could hold supernatural value to them," Freya remarked.

"I guess that would depend on Nik's idea of persuasion."

"I simply explained to her that the page wasn't of any real value to her now since the Gemini coven is basically extinct anyway and that if any good was meant to come out of it, it would in the hands of Caroline."

"And then you just gave it to her? Nothing in exchange, no date in return for information… I'm almost impressed, Nik."

"If it makes you feel any better I didn't just give it to her, I snuck it into her bag to deal with later because I was having a nice evening and didn't want any distractions."

"Now that sounds like the Nik I know."

"Of course, we all know where that evening led us," Klaus frowned.

"I still can't believe that little minx killed those three wolves," Rebekah shook her head in disbelief.

"Do you think they'll try again?" Freya asked Klaus, worry etched on her face.

"I doubt it. If not the Mikaelson name, Caroline would have scared some sense into the lone survivor. Besides, we've always had enemies so this is nothing we haven't dealt with before."

I guess you're right, Brother," Freya nodded and looked straight at him. "Do you think Hope knows about any of this?"

"I fail to see any reason why this information would come to her attention."

"I know, Dad."

"Pardon?"

"I know about the three dead wolves," Hope clarified.

At the end of another very long day at school, she had finally gotten the chance to call her father back to grill him on the happenings in her hometown.

After a moment's pause, Klaus responded. "Who told you?"

"That doesn't matter," Hope huffed. "The fact is I know and I… just wanted to make sure that you're okay."

"I'm perfectly fine, Hope," her father's voice reassured her. "I'm a Hybrid now, remember?"

Hope sighed, a little nervous to ask her father what she was most curious to know. "Dad…"

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"Did you… did you kill those wolves?" She heard a deep sigh on the other end.

"No Hope, I didn't."

"Why were they even there in the first place?"

Klaus' silence confirmed Hope's fears.

"There were there to kill you… weren't they, Dad?"

"Sweetheart… you knew there would be ramifications from my return. We have accumulated generations of enemies over time so the odds of something happening –"

"So they were there to kill you?" A moment of silence was followed by a single word from her father.

"Yes."

And you thought I didn't need to know this? That my own father was nearly killed when he went to visit a bar in the city?"

'Hope, you really don't need to concern yourself with this. Everything is under control and I just want you to focus on school, is that clear?"

"But –"

"Is that clear?"

Hope scoffed. When did Klaus Mikaelson turn into a hands-on father?

"Yeah, Dad." Her defeated tone clearly wasn't missed as Hope heard a sigh on the other end of the line.

"Hope, if there's something really wrong and we're having trouble dealing with it, I'll tell you about it. I promise. I'll even let you help."

Hope frowned, surprised at her father's show of good faith.

"Okay."

"Alright, then. I need to go sweetheart, your Aunt Rebekah is waiting to escort me to the basement for tonight's round of turning… need to be done before Miss Forbes arrives for watch duty."

"Okay… take care, Dad."

"I love you, Hope."

"Love you too."

Hope tossed her phone to the side and lay flat on her bed, staring at the ceiling.

Those wolves were there to kill her Dad. She knew she could expect enemies to come out of hiding once they found out the 'Great Evil Klaus Mikaelson' was back but she only now realized… she wasn't prepared for this as much as she thought she was.

Her father had stepped out of their home for the first time in months. How did those wolves even know where to find him? Who even –

Hope gasped. There was only one person she had happened to tell about her father being at St. James Infirmary that night, someone who also happened to be a werewolf himself.

Jake.

Hope shook her head in disbelief as the realization dawned on her.

She really needed to find him. He hadn't returned any of her calls so she decided to drop him a text.

H: Jake, we need to talk.

Klaus was running as fast as he could. It was almost dark and all he could see were the trees that brushed past him as he kept moving like he was running for his life.

Wait, had he been here before?

Before he could take a moment to ponder over that, he came to a halt at a clearing that had opened up in the woods before him.

He knew this place; he could see the Old Witch House before him in all its gloomy glory.

He walked in and the spirits of a hundred dead witches began chattering all at once with his presence having seemed to disturb their peace. Klaus mentally prepared himself for an onslaught of pain but was surprised by a familiar voice.

'At last, you're here. We don't have much time.'

Klaus froze, he was sure he would never have to hear that shrill voice again. He let out a low growl in frustration.

'Well, if it isn't Mary-Alice, the lesser Claire witch."

'That's a nice way to greet someone who brought you back to life and is still trying to save your behind.'

'What is going on here?' Klaus hesitated for a moment. 'I am still dreaming, aren't I?"

'Yes, it was the only way I could reach out to you. It took me a while to get the technique right though, it was going so wrong these past few days...'

'You are the one responsible for my nightmares? For me almost tearing my chest out every night?'

'Not exactly but that's why I'm here. I'm only going to say this once because we are low on time and you may wake up any moment, so pay close attention."

"Speak."

"So, it turns out my spell to get the Hollow out of you… didn't completely go through."

Klaus felt a chill go through his body; he wasn't sure if it was real or still part of the dream.

'WHAT?'

'Don't get me wrong, my spell was perfect but being the powerful magic it is, there's actually a tiny part of it that still lingers within you; which is why your subconscious mind has been trying to claw it...'

'…out of my chest…' Klaus finished for her, his eyes widening upon taking in this new information.

The chill he felt earlier had now progressed into that familiar sense of dread that came from having the Hollow haunt one from within, a feeling he remembered all too well. He was so caught up processing the news; he only realized a few moments later that Mary-Alice was still talking.

'…which in turn has been causing some imbalance in the Ancestral Plane as my whole spell was dependant on getting that magic out of your system.'

Klaus couldn't care less about the impact the witch's spell on the Plane; he only needed to know one thing.

'How do I get rid of it?'

"There is an extraction spell in my Grimoire but that's been lost for over a century. Luckily, it's a spell everyone in our Coven was taught so you should be able to find it any Claire witch's Grimoire…'

'Davina.'

'Yes. It's quite a potent spell so you need to be at your strongest to be able to withstand it… you can't have things like a sire-bond holding you back.'

'It's almost broken.' Klaus muttered.

'Also, you'll need a powerful witch on your end to perform the spell, ideally a Claire witch, because tackling magic like this requires all the power that can be spared.' Klaus scoffed, knowing there was no way Davina would ever do a favor like that for him, even if Kol asked her to. 'It has aspects of a linking spell since a witch from the living side will be connecting with one from the dead side.'

'So essentially a living witch tosses you a rope, you grab hold and tug the magic out. And I'll be done with the Hollow once and for all?'

'Well, I haven't yet worked out how to absorb it into the Plane but as long as it's out of you my problems should be solved." Impatience flashed in Klaus' eyes.

'What do you mean? If it won't be absorbed; what happens to the magic?'

'Poof, simply gone. And besides, as long as it's out of you I don't –'

'You were the one who told me magic like that doesn't just disappear,' Klaus' voice grated out, his temper rising.

'It may be powerful but it's a very small part of the Hollow, not nearly strong enough to absorb itself into an unwilling host. For all you know it will find a home in the nearest jar of cookies and…'

Klaus began to feel that burn again; the Hollow pulsing within him like cold flames licking the insides of his rib cage. He needed to get it out. Get it out. Get it out!

"GET IT OUT!" Klaus yelled.

"Klaus, wake UP!" Caroline tried to steady his convulsing body that was fighting back with full Hybrid strength. He had already hurt himself, having self-inflicted multiple gashes across his arms and chest while under the influence of his dream. His Hybrid fangs had dropped and she pressed down on his shoulders when –

"Ow! Klaus will you just –" In the struggle, his sharp teeth had scraped across her arms, stinging her as any werewolf bite would, only this felt worse. She pulled herself free of his grip and without another thought, threw a hard punch across his face.

There was a loud thwack as her fist met his cheek and with an aggravated roar Klaus' eyes snapped open, flashing electric blue for a second before returning to their original cobalt shade.

Caroline stared at him anxiously, watching as he blinked and began to regain his senses. When he saw her, a look of relief and joy washed over his face… until he noticed her arms.

Two large slashes stretched in a line across her wrist in one arm and her elbow on the other and they were already starting to look infected from his venom. His eyes widened in horror.

"Is that… did I…"

"Relax, Klaus, I'll be fine. It's nothing you haven't done before," she teased, wincing slightly as she tried to lighten the mood looking at Klaus' horrified face. "Besides, you're the antidote, remember? I'd prefer a glass this time though," she clarified and Klaus couldn't help but let out a low chuckle.

"You know it is best straight from the source, sweetheart," he said, curling his lips. Caroline rolled her eyes, biting back a smile as she shoved an empty cup into his hand.

"Tell me what happened," she demanded in a firm tone. "Was it the same dream?"

Klaus smirked and slowly bit into his wrist, letting it bleed into the cup while he licked his own lips, not taking his eyes off Caroline for a second.

Caroline swallowed, oblivious to the fact that her lips had parted slightly as she observed his actions. He raised the semi-filled cup to her face, looking pleased.

"To answer your question, sweetheart… yes, it was the same dream."

"Oh?" Caroline took the cup and grasped it with both hands, her blue eyes wide.

"Except this time, things got really interesting…"

A/N: PHEW, finally! So what did you guys think? The chapter was as long as any other update but a LOT of things happened story-wise. I also played around with the writing style a bit here and there when switching between Klaus and Caroline's perspectives, giving a voice to Caroline's thoughts now and then. Fun!

As always I try my best to stay true to the characters' voices and personality and keep things as canon as possible - I think this is where a lot of my time goes when I'm writing chapters, every time I visualize a shot and it doesn't read the way I see it, I have to edit. Hope that hard work comes through!

SPECIAL NOTE: I finally got to deal with the Camille aspect with Klaus and Caroline in this chapter and took great effort to make sure I did it justice and gave all three characters the respect they deserve.

I've always maintained that even though I'm a Klaroline shipper I respect where the writers went with the story, irrespective of whether it went my way or not. They are the writers after all and for everything else we have fanfiction :)

I just wanted to say I still get saddened by the toxicity that I come across with the whole Klamille VS Klaroline thing. It's simple: it's either your ship or it isn't, there's nothing to gain from one upping each other and putting the other down. As fans, it's up to us to dilute this toxicity and keep things respectful and friendly so let's do that!

Did I ask for reviews yet? No? Okay, please share your thoughts on the story because I LOVE hearing from you all! Cheers.