Chapter 33
Breakfast the following morning was rather subdued when compared with the family dinner Caroline had been at the weekend before. A few pieces of bread were thrown between the siblings, but no silverware. Bonnie had stayed the night in a guest room and was enjoying the sibling banter that was taking place.
Elijah finally cleared his throat, which caused everyone to turn their attention to him, even Kol who had been lining up a spoonful of eggs to sling at Rebekah. At Elijah's glare, he slowly brought the spoon to his plate, however, when Elijah moved his eyes off of his younger brother, Kol picked up a small bit of egg and flung it at his sister anyways.
Elijah closed his eyes and seemed to be counting under his breath before he reopened them and began to speak. "I thought it would be a wise idea to talk about the situation with Meredith Fell." The mood instantly became more serious. "After some consideration, I believe that Niklaus was correct the other night when he stated that simply being vigilant about Ester did not work out for the best. I would like to devise a more concrete plan."
To everyone's surprise, Kol nodded. "I've been thinking about that myself, actually. Seeing as how there's no more White Oak trees, is it even possible that she has a weapon that will kill one of us?"
"She might not have any White Oak, but she can kill any vampire with regular wood." Klaus said, his eyes flicking to Caroline. "We need a definitive plan against her."
"I already told my mom that she's the one that was killing everyone." Caroline spoke up. "She had a bunch of information gathered about Meredith because she was a suspect. The station interviewed a bunch of people who were close to her; I'm sure Mom would let us look through it. Plus, her and Alaric were kind of 'together' for a little while, he might know some things about her."
Elijah smiled at her approvingly. "That's a good idea, Caroline. Thank your mother for us, please. Hopefully there will be some clues as to where Meredith might have run off to in those files. As for the matter of what to do when we find her, Kol and I can attest to the fact that she is strong, but untrained. It seems as though Ester had planned on training the young doctor personally, so we have the advantage there. Even though she is technically an Original, she is still a baby vampire when it comes to having knowledge of what skills she possesses."
"I can help to weaken her when we do finally find her." Bonnie suggested. She looked at Klaus somewhat apologetically before adding, "Like I did to you when you were trying to break your curse."
Klaus was about to respond, but Caroline cut him off. "Bonnie, you were barely able to handle that spell with all of those dead witches helping you. I know that you're stronger now, but are you able to do that?"
Bonnie paused before nodding. "I think so. I've had a lot more practice since then, and I'm better at understanding my limits now."
"You would still need to build up to it though, Darling." Kol eyed her warily. "You can't just do a spell like that out of nowhere. I can help you prepare, but it might take a week, possibly two."
Klaus nodded at the information. "We'll keep that in mind. How about you two start preparing for it, but we won't build our whole plan around it? That way, if we end up finding Meredith before you're ready, the plan won't fall to pieces. Now," he reached behind him and pulled out a black cloth. He set it on the table and unrolled it to reveal one White Oak Stake, five White Oak Daggers and a jar of ash.
"Bloody hell," Kol complained. "Do you just carry those around with you wherever you go?"
"That's for me to know, little brother," Klaus smirked.
"Wait!" Caroline yelled out, her eyes fixed on the stake. "Where did you even get a White Oak Stake? You all just said there were no more trees."
Klaus sighed as he looked around at his siblings, hoping that one of them would answer. When they didn't, he took her hand in his. "It was centuries ago." He started softly. "We had a confrontation with Mikael and we managed to steal it from him. I was going to destroy it... but the weight of immortality was heavier then. This is the last White Oak Stake in existence."
All of the Mikaelsons were silently remembering the time when they decided to keep the stake. Caroline and Bonnie nodded in understanding.
Klaus cleared his throat as he went on. "Since Meredith is an Original, she should have the same weaknesses as we do. Ideally, we would be able to stake her during any encounter we have with her. Less ideally, we can dagger her so that she is rendered unconscious before staking her. If something were to happen that resulted in the stake being destroyed, I think we would need to dagger her, and then put her in a coffin. We can encase the coffin in cement and drop it in the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean."
"You really do have backup plans for your backup plans, don't you?" Caroline looked at him in impressed awe. "Even if your backup backup plans are a little bit like Wile E Coyote's."
Bonnie laughed at the comparison while all of the Originals gave Caroline a puzzled look. "It's a cartoon." She waved her hand dismissively.
"Right," Elijah spoke as Klaus handed each of his siblings and Bonnie a dagger. "So we have weapons against her, and Caroline is going to get us some intel on where to start looking for her. As much as I'm not fond of the idea, I don't think there's anything more we can do besides wait."
Caroline noticed Klaus' jaw clench as he nodded. She put her hand over his.
Kol looked to Bonnie. "We should probably get started on that spell, Darling. We can go work in my bedroom…"
Bonnie rolled her eyes. "How about we just go to the sitting room, where we've worked on all the other spells?"
"That's so boring, Bonnie Lass." Kol said, waving his hand extravagantly before grabbing her hand and pulling her out of the kitchen.
"My mom's working the afternoon shift today." Caroline said. "We could stop by the station and get the information from her around two or so."
Klaus nodded in agreement. "The sooner the better, Love. Why don't we go train before then?"
"Actually…" Caroline said, looking at him guiltily. "Rebekah and I need to start her training."
At Klaus' raised eyebrow, Rebekah scoffed, "For the Miss Mystic Pageant, you prat." She rolled her eyes. "It's only three weeks away, and I still haven't even decided which dress to wear, which means my shoes are still completely up in the air!"
Klaus pressed his lips together, clearly trying his best not to laugh or smile. "Of course, how could I be so silly to think about training to defend one's life during a dress and shoe crisis?"
Rebekah glared at her brother. "Piss off, Nik." She stood and began to walk away from the table.
Caroline stood as well, smirking at Klaus. "Yeah, Nik, stop being such a prat." She caught up to Rebekah, linking their arms together. They both shot Klaus snotty looks over their shoulders before running into the hall laughing.
All Klaus could do was chuckle. Elijah took a sip of his tea as he eyed his younger brother. "If I didn't know any better Niklaus, I would say that you are quite smitten…"
Klaus met his brother's eyes seriously. "Your point being, Elijah?"
"Wasn't it you that has kept the motto all these years that love is a vampire's greatest weakness?" Elijah raised his eyebrows.
Klaus finished off his tea before he stood up. "Well, recent events have led me to… reconsider that motto. Perhaps love is a strength, Brother." Elijah seemed surprised with how open his brother was being. Klaus knew he couldn't leave that as his lasting impression before he left the room, so he looked over his shoulder as he reached the doorway. "Or maybe the motto holds no meaning to me because I am a hybrid now. Either way, it was a rubbish saying from the start."
Rebekah and Caroline sped into the Original sister's room and shut the door behind them.
Caroline laughed as she sank into the sofa by Rebekah's closet. "Who knew British slang could be so fun?"
"Oh please," Rebekah said as she dug around in her closet for the dress options. "You Yanks have the worst slang I've ever heard." She appeared with three garment bags that she draped on the bed. "So, I've narrowed it down to three options; all different colors: red, green, or yellow."
"Try the yellow one first." Caroline said. "It's good that you picked ones with color; the girls who wear black and white never win because they don't stand out."
Rebekah smiled and quickly went into her closet to change. When she came out, she was wearing a light yellow dress that had a v-neck made of lace flowers. It cinched at her waist and then flowed to the ground. There was a slit up the left side of the dress that went a few inches above her knee.
Caroline pursed her lips. "It's a stunning dress, but I'm not sure if it's right for Miss Mystic. I think it's a little too risky; if it had just the v-neck or the slit, it would be fine, but both is just too much for this. Safer is the way to go. Gracie Lockwood had a three foot slit her year and practically got laughed off the court. The judges are looking for someone who is beautiful and a role model for younger girls."
Rebekah nodded as she took in every word Caroline said. "Got it; I'll try the green next."
She came back out of the closet a minute later with an emerald green dress on. It had a v-neck, slightly more modest than the yellow dress. The waist was decorated with a rhinestone belt. The rest of the dress was a shimmery green material that draped to the floor.
"God, green really is your color." Caroline exclaimed as she looked at her friend. "You look gorgeous, Bekah, really. But… you've worn green to the last two town functions: your ball and the dance. I don't want people to start thinking that green is all you can pull off. Let me see the red before I make a final suggestion."
Rebekah gaped at her. "The judges really take into account what I've worn to other functions?"
"Better to be safe than sorry." Caroline nodded wisely.
She came out for a third time in a beautiful strapless red dress. It had a sweetheart bust line and had ruching along the bodice to the left side. Right where Rebekah's waist reached its narrowest point, it flowed down to the ground.
"Yes!" Caroline said instantly. "Absolutely yes! It's just the right amount of sass mixed with class! You'll knock the rest of them down before they even have a chance to come down the staircase."
Rebekah beamed at her. "This was my favorite too! Thank you so much, Care!"
"Pshh. No thanks needed." Caroline replied. "Let's move on to shoes."
Caroline and Klaus walked into the Mystic Falls Police Station. Several older officers smiled and nodded at her, which she returned with a wave. "After my parents got divorced, Mom would bring me with her to work on the weekends sometimes. I wasn't quite old enough to stay home by myself yet, so I would come here and do homework or something. Some of the officers would talk with me or let me organize their records for them. Deputy Randy always kept coloring books and colored pencils at his desk for me to use. Sometimes he would even bring board games for me to play. A few deputies taught me how to play poker when I was 11. Mom flipped when she found out and made me give back all the money that I'd won."
Klaus chuckled at the image of an 11 year old Caroline beating a bunch of police officers in poker.
When she spotted a few younger officers clearly scanning over her body, she added, "And some of these guys are new. They clearly don't know how to keep their eyes to themselves…" Klaus immediately used the hand that he already had at the small of her back to loop around her waist, pulling her closer to him and shooting the young men a pointed glare. "You don't have to do that," She giggled. "Watch."
She jerked her head in the direction of one of the guys who was still staring at her. They both watched as the young officer was thumped on the back of the head by an older man in a deputy's uniform. They both heard him mutter, "That's Sheriff Forbes' daughter, moron. Keep your eyes on that paperwork you're filling out incorrectly."
The older man glared at the young officer until he grumbled and went back to his work. He made his way over to her smiling. "Caroline! You don't visit… you don't write… I thought you had forgotten about me…"
Caroline stepped forward and gave the man a hug. "Never, Deputy Randy. I've just been busy lately. Dance committee, cheer, college applications. You know how it is."
Randy chuckled. "Thankfully, I don't yet. Kimmy is only in jr high right now. She made the junior cheer squad with that routine you taught her, but she's not going to stop until she's captain of the high school squad and Miss Mystic to boot in four or five years. God help me."
Caroline laughed at the man's response. "She's well on her way. Let me know if she ever needs help with her routines."
"You know I can't do that, Care," Randy laughed. "She'd never let you leave our house."
"Well, still, offer anyways, but tell her that I won't do it unless she keeps her grades up." Caroline responded. "By the way, this is my boyfriend, Klaus Mikaelson. Klaus, this is my favorite deputy, Randy Whitmore."
The two men shook hands. "It's nice to meet you." Klaus said. "Caroline has said a lot of great things about you."
Randy eyed Klaus shrewdly for a few seconds. "Nice to meet you too. Liz mentioned you two started seeing each other, said she hasn't seen her daughter this happy in a long time. That's a high honor coming from the Sheriff. I'm happy that Caroline is letting the right one in. As long as you're better than that Salvatore guy, you have my stamp of approval."
"What?" Caroline asked, tensing up.
Randy scrunched his face up as he realized what he had said. "Right… I thought your mom would have told you…" He turned to face Caroline. "We had a bit of a… chat with him a few weeks ago."
"Uh huh," Caroline said. "I guess I'll just have to ask Mom about it since we all know you won't ever tell her secrets to me."
Randy tried to lighten up the conversation by leaning into Klaus. "She's still holding a grudge against me for not telling her where her mom stashed her Halloween candy when she was 12."
"It was my candy! I earned it." Caroline huffed, tossing her hair over her shoulder.
"Of course it was, Sweetpea." Randy patted her on the shoulder. "Liz should be free. She didn't have anything scheduled for this afternoon."
"Thanks, Randy." Caroline smiled. "Say hi to Kimmy for me."
"Will do." He nodded to Klaus before making his way over to his own desk.
"He seems nice, Love." Klaus murmured to her as they began to walk to her mom's office in the back. "Does he know about…?"
"Yes," Caroline whispered back. "He's Mom's right hand guy. He knows just about everything that she does, including me, Stefan and Damon, and a bit about you and your family." She sighed. "Apparently he knows more about Damon than I thought."
"Are you alright, Love?"
"I'm fine. I just thought that was all water under the bridge now. I've been trying to move on and everything, but it's kind of hard when it keeps getting brought back up. I'm going to ask Mom what he meant, and then hopefully that's the last of it." With that, she knocked on her mother's office door before walking in without waiting for an answer. Klaus hesitated before following her inside and shutting the door behind him.
They found Liz sitting at her desk doing paperwork. She looked up and smiled at her daughter. "Hey Honey, I was hoping you'd come by today after we'd talked. Hello, Klaus, nice to see you again."
"You too, Liz." He smiled at her before sitting next to Caroline, who had seated herself across the desk from Liz.
"Hi, Mom. Talked to Damon lately?" Caroline asked bluntly.
Liz froze for a second. She glanced up at Caroline and flicked her eyes to Klaus before she finished signing one of the papers in front of her. She put her pen down and met her daughter's eyes. "Randy blabbed, didn't he? Lord knows that man could never keep a secret from you."
Caroline rolled her eyes. "Yes, he could. He always keeps your secrets."
"Like the Halloween candy." Klaus pointed out, trying to add some levity to the conversation.
Liz rolled her eyes, almost identically to her daughter. "Oh please. He wasn't doing that for me. Who do you think ate most of that candy before I gave it back to you?"
"That traitor!" Caroline said in shock. She shook her head. "That's not the point though, Mom. Why were you 'talking' to Damon?" She used air quotes as she spoke.
Liz sighed. "I was just letting him know what happens when he messes with my family. I couldn't just let him get away with everything that he did to you, Caroline! I can't believe you are so calm about not getting back at him. Klaus, back me up on this."
Klaus looked to Caroline, who had a glower on her face before turning back to Liz. "I'm sorry, Love, but I agree with your mom. Damon did many unforgivable things, and he got what he deserved. I've always believed in having to face the consequences of one's actions, and if you ask me, it's about damn time that he faces his."
Liz nodded approvingly at him. "Exactly. Caroline, I didn't even do any lasting damage. Just some vervain and wooden bullets. I'm your mom, it's my job to protect you and beat off anyone who hurts you. Frankly, I'm surprised you haven't done anything, Klaus."
"Trust me, Sheriff, it's not because I don't want to." Klaus said, his eyes back on Caroline.
"What? Are you two seriously bonding over inflicting pain right now?" Caroline huffed. Both Liz and Klaus chuckled at her, which only made her roll her eyes. "Fine. You did it, he was punished and now it's done. I already told you," she looked pointedly at Klaus, "and now I'm telling you too." She addressed Liz. "I'm finally getting to the point where I'm actually moving forward from all of that. I'm not forgetting it happened or burying it; I'm moving forward. I really would appreciate it if it was just dropped. Thank you for defending me and standing up for me, Mom. I appreciate you."
Liz smiled softly at her daughter. "I understand, Sweety. I'm sorry for not telling you when I did it. I promise to let it go now. I'm not going to be nice to him, but I won't go out of my way to be mean either."
"I might still be a little mean even if it is out of my way." Klaus spoke up; Caroline raised her eyebrow at him. "What? I didn't get to defend you yet. I'm not going to go over to his house and beat him or anything, I might just trip him if I see him on the street or something."
"Yeah," Caroline shook her head. "Knowing you, tripping him would lead to him landing on a tree branch that 'just so happened' to be laying point up on the sidewalk."
"Hey," Liz chimed in, "it's not Klaus' fault if Damon lands on a tree branch that goes right through his dead heart. Karma is karma."
Klaus had a 'cat that ate the canary' smile on his face as he looked from her mother to her. "See, Love? It would just be karma that did the little weasel in."
Caroline eyed him. "No killing the weasel. If you really feel like you need to trip him whenever you see him, that's up to you." Klaus smiled as if he had won. She rolled her eyes before looking back to her mom. "Didn't you have some files for us about Meredith?"
Liz's eyes lingered for a few seconds on Klaus before she gave a single nod, seemingly in approval. She turned around to grab a few files off of a shelf behind her desk. "Here is everything we gathered on her. These are copies of our files, so you can take them with you, but don't go spreading that around. Also, bring them back here for shredding when you're done with them. The biggest takeaways we got from our search into her was that she frequented a bar in a neighboring town. She lived alone, so she's probably still able to get into her apartment too. I doubt she's stupid enough to go back there though. There's a few interviews in there from her coworkers and friends as well. It's not much, but maybe you guys will have better luck than we did."
Klaus took the files from her, nodding his thanks.
Caroline was looking at her mother in panic. "Oh my God. I can't believe I forgot. With everything going on, it just totally slipped my mind. Mom, you have to be careful. When Meredith was explaining everything to us, she specifically mentioned you. She said that if she knew that you were at Miss Vanessa's that night, then she would have killed you too."
Liz grimaced. "I assumed as much. Even though she had that phony hospital log as an alibi, we never fully crossed her off of our list. She knew I saw her as a person of interest. It goes along with my job, Honey."
"No." Caroline said firmly. "I mean it, Mom. I don't want you going on interviews or missions or stakeouts alone anymore, no matter what case it is. Someone also needs to walk you to your car on your overnight shifts or anytime that it is remotely dark out. Promise me that you'll at least take Deputy Randy with you?"
"Caroline, he has his own work to do. He can't be with me all the time." Liz tried to protest. "I'll be fine."
"I'm not chancing it." Caroline said. She turned to Klaus. "Maybe Josh or one of the other hybrids could help us out in their spare time if they wouldn't mind?"
"I can probably arrange that, Sweetheart." Klaus said, taking her hand in his.
"Hello?" Liz waved her hand at her daughter. "I'm a grown woman, Caroline. I carry a gun and wooden bullets with me all the time. I don't need a hybrid or Randy to babysit me."
"Mom, we talked about this." Caroline looked at her pleadingly. "We protect each other."
Liz saw the fear on her daughter's face. "Alright, alright. I'll see if I can arrange for my shifts to be on the same schedule as Randy's, at least for most times. He doesn't work overnights though. When I do those, I'll let you two know and you can see if one of your hybrids is free to watch over the station."
"Deal." Caroline looked relieved before rounding on Klaus. "And when you said you can 'arrange' for your hybrids to do that, you meant that you would ask them if they are available, right? Not demand that they do it?"
"Of course, Love." Klaus nodded.
"Good." She turned back to her mom. "Now that all of that is settled, we have some files to go through. Are you working overnight tonight?"
"I am." Liz nodded. "I would prefer it if you didn't stay at home by yourself…"
"She can stay in our guest room again." Klaus offered.
"Thank you." Liz nodded.
"Now who's getting who a babysitter?" Caroline raised an eyebrow at Liz.
"Are you really complaining about getting to stay over at your boyfriend's house?" Liz raised her own eyebrow. Again, Klaus marveled at how similar their gestures were.
"No, ma'am." Caroline mumbled.
"I thought not." Liz smirked. "See you tomorrow, Caroline."
"We'll get one of the hybrids to stand guard here tonight. Bye, Mom." Caroline turned to leave the room.
Klaus held the door open for her. After Caroline walked out of the office. Klaus faced Liz and quietly said, "Thank you for shooting him."
Liz smiled. "It was my pleasure. Thank you for protecting her."
"The pleasure is mine." With that, they both nodded to each other before he closed her office door behind him.
