Caroline was in a state of panic as she paced back and forth, trying to figure out what to do. Valerie was sitting on the couch eyeing her with a look of concern.
There was no way this was possible. She couldn't be pregnant, this was fucking insane. Everything screamed it was a lie but something in her gut told her it wasn't.
"Caroline, you need to figure out what you want to do," Valerie said, coming to stand in front of her. Putting a stop to her pacing.
"Do? There's nothing to do because it's not true," Caroline said, glaring at the heretic.
"You're in denial," Valerie said, sighing.
"I'm not in denial, I'm just not stupid enough to believe magic can just create magical children from thin air," She said, stepping away from the other.
"I understand your fear but denying it will only cause more harm than good," Valerie said as she reached out a hand.
Caroline shook her head, moving further back. "Just stop. This is all bullshit," She fought the urge to punch something.
"Caroline, you know magic is capable of many things most would believe impossible, this is just like all those other times," She said, attempting to convince the younger.
"That's different. Doppelgangers, the other side, Silas, the travelers? That's not the same as making an infertile vampire fertile. I'm fucking dead. You can't change that," Caroline ranted, furiously. "And I never had fucking sex with Kai. None of this is true."
And with that final word, Caroline left, with the intention of ignoring it ever happened. Which ended up being far harder than she expected it to be.
With the whole Elena sleeping beauty situation, Kai was all her friends talked about. Making it far harder to push the pregnancy scare to the back of her mind.
This led to her avoiding her friends, causing Bonnie to be concerned but Caroline got her to think it was just her way of dealing with losing her mom and losing Elena all at once.
Not to say she wasn't upset about that, but that wasn't her current focus. Valarie continued to try and pester her repeatedly over the three long weeks she avoided everyone.
It was a matter of time before she would have to face the heretic but she was going to put it off for however long she could.
Heading to the cemetery, Caroline walked up to her mom's grave. She looked down at it as she ran a hand through her hair.
"Hey mom, it's been a while," She said, a grimace on her face. "I was meaning to come sooner but a ton of stuff has been happening."
Kneeling down, Caroline placed the flowers on the grave and sat beside it.
"I don't know if you know but Jo's dead," She said, sighing. "She was the one that Alaric was going to marry. Kai killed her."
"And on her wedding day too," Caroline shook her head. "Everything is so complicated. Why did they have to pull that move and attempt to trap him in the prison world?"
She looked up at the sky. "I could have told them it was going to go wrong. Kai was the coven leader - that changes everything. It should've been obvious that it wouldn't work."
"I get that Bonnie wanted revenge - if it had been Damon in that situation - I'd want to do the same," She paused, rolling her eyes. "And yes, I know I said I forgave him, but that doesn't mean I don't still have a grudge."
Caroline laughed sharply. "Why am I always seeing underneath the bad guys? Seriously, can't I just hate them like the rest of them. I'd be so much easier."
The wind was whistling, making her smile. Even though she knew it wasn't her mom or a sign of any kind, she could pretend for now.
"Kai had aspd and if I put things together correctly, it was because of trauma caused by his family, or at least, his dad," Caroline said, picking at the cuff of her jeans. "That doesn't make it okay, but it does explain it."
"He was created, not born. And he had the chance to be better. He gained literal emotions from Luke. He could feel guilt for things. That changes everything," She said, frowning. "This could all have been prevented."
Caroline rubbed her face. "If you think about it, his old self was a vampire with their humanity off, while his new self was one with it on."
"I was forgiven for the things I did. So was Stefan. And Damon. And Elena," Caroline said, swallowing. "And I'm not excusing what he did. I'm acknowledging what caused it. And how it could have been prevented."
Caroline looked towards her mom's grave. "If I had to guess, Kai turned his emotions off the second he turned. Why wouldn't he? It allows him to go back to how he used to be. An emotionless bastard."
"Now there's all this shit involving creating babies from thin air," Caroline said, shaking her head.
Caroline leaned her arms on her legs. "It's not true obviously. I don't want it to be," She said, licking her lips.
"I can't be pregnant and I can't be a mom. That was all made impossible when I turned. I don't even know if I'd want to be one."
The very idea was terrifying. Little children that would be so fragile and easily broken. It was something she didn't even want to consider.
She looked at the grave. A thought that she'd rather not even consider was knocking around in her brain. An idea that made her sick to her stomach.
Klaus was a vampire, but when he unlocked his werewolf side, he was able to have kids. The implication that there were loopholes where vampires could be fertile, led to thoughts she'd rather not entertain.
Ever.
But at the end of the day, Hope Mikaelson existed. A child of a hybrid and a werewolf. A natural-born hybrid.
What would that make them, then? Say it was true and she was pregnant. What would the children be? If they had her DNA, they would be part vampire - likely similar to how it is with Klaus' kid.
And they would probably be witches. It was clearly possible since Hope was supposed to be one. Or a siphoner like Kai.
How did that even work? Caroline hated this line of thought. It pushed the idea that it was true and it wasn't.
She didn't want to think about it. Entertain it. Or mention it to anyone else. Especially not Damon.
God, if he knew there was a possibility that she was pregnant with Kai's kids, he would immediately use her to draw him back into town.
She wasn't risking herself or - in the event that the impossible happened - the unborn hybrids. Although, a part of her knew that if this went that way, Valerie would protect her from Damon.
And the heretic would definitely win in that situation.
Getting up, she looked down at the grave. "By mom, I'll see you soon," Caroline said, before walking away.
Caroline looked up in surprise at the woman staring at her from the other side of the street. Instantly aware of the bad vibe she gave off, Caroline began walking quickly. She needed to get to her car fast.
She was almost to her car when a man stepped in her path, making her stop in her place. She looked behind her and the woman was far closer this time.
"Can I help you?" She said nervously. Looking between the two, she knew that she was in a lot of danger.
"It's her," The woman from behind said. The man hummed in response. So they wanted her. Something told her the reason wasn't going to be something she liked.
Caroline turned to speed away but found herself surrounded by fire. Witches - she was fucked. She swallowed, looking around frantically for an escape.
"What do you want from me?" Caroline asked, staring at them.
"We're not after you," The man said. He looked down at her abdomen. "We're after them."
Everything Caroline was running from crashed into her at that moment. Fuck. She wanted to deny it as she did with Valerie but something told her it wouldn't go the same way.
Whether she wanted to admit it or not, this was confirmation of everything Valerie said, and it made her sick. It made her feel violated.
Forced into something, she couldn't even begin to understand.
"Why?" She asked, looking at the woman who said nothing. "So what? You're going to kill me because of some hatred of a coven of witches that I'm not even involved with?"
"We never said we were going to kill you," The woman said, sounding almost amused.
Caroline brow furrowed in confusion. "Then what-"
"You have no idea what lives inside of you, do you, vampire?" The man said, eyeing her.
"What does that mean?"
"They're special babies, born with a vampire mother and a witch father," The man held a sliver of longing - greed - in his eyes.
The bad feeling was back, ten times worse.
"Natural born vampire-witch babies, can you imagine how powerful they will be?" The woman was smiling. "Perfect little weapons."
Rage boiled in Caroline's stomach. These sickos wanted to use innocent children as fucking tools. The urge to rip them limb from limb became far more appealing.
"Fuck you," She snarled but the witches just looked amused by their reactions. They looked between each other before the woman raised her hand as if to cast some type of spell.
Before they could, they both fell to the ground with their necks snapped. Caroline gasped, turning to see Valerie standing there with her hand held out.
The flaming circle disappeared and Valerie was beside her in an instance.
"Are you okay?" She asked quickly.
Caroline nodded quickly as she looked down towards her stomach. Then, she looked back up at Valerie, who was frowning as she looked around them.
When her eyes landed on the dead witches, she sped over. Kneeling down beside them, she moved their shirts, revealing a weird tattoo.
Caroline couldn't tell what it meant but it was clear Valerie did if the look of fear was anything to go off of.
Looking away from her, she rested a hand on her stomach. Her heart was beating in her throat. The words that the witches had spoken were ringing her ears. Practically seared into her brain.
After a month and a half of avoidance, she only had one way forward. A single option that she couldn't avoid.
"I think we should go to a hospital," Caroline said, meeting the heretic's eyes as she looked back up.
"Are you injured?" Valerie asked, confused.
"No. I want an ultrasound."
Valerie's eyes widened in understanding.
The two entered the hospital and Valerie quickly compelled a doctor to look her over. Once they were taken to a back room, they had Caroline lay down on the table.
Her hands felt sweaty as Valerie stood beside her. They watched as they set everything up. The doctor pulled up her shirt and applied some gel that caused her to make a face.
Don't judge her. It was cold and goopy.
The doctor placed the ultrasound thingy on her stomach and began moving it around as she looked at the monitor.
Both of the vampires exchanged looks at the confused look on the doctor's face. She turned to look at them.
"Are you certain you're pregnant because there does not appear to be anything there?" The doctor said, frowning.
"Check again," Valerie ordered, her eyes narrowing in confusion as she tried to understand what was happening.
Caroline looked between the two, wondering if she was right this whole time, but that didn't explain the witches coming after her.
She looked at Valerie as the doctor pulled the thing away, shaking her head. "What's happening?" She asked, eyeing her in confusion.
The doctor left the room for a moment, so Caroline put her attention completely on the heretic. Valerie shook her head, looking puzzled.
"It does not make sense, we should be able to see them, I do not…" Valerie paused.
"What? What is it?" Caroline asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Surely not," The Gemini said, looking down at Caroline's stomach. She reached out a hand, pausing as Caroline jerked away. "May I?"
"Tell me what you're thinking," She said, frowning at the heretic.
"I think they may have been hidden so that Kai or any others would not be able to sense them," Valerie said, her gaze not moving from her stomach.
Caroline tilted her head. "Those witches from before were able to," She pointed out.
"Yes, but they were a different situation," Valerie said, something unreadable flickering in her eyes, and Caroline was reminded of how afraid when she saw the tattoo on the witch.
"Ok, so what? There's a spell hiding that I'm pregnant," Caroline asked with uncertainty.
"Yes, either they cloaked you before they died, or did it from beyond the grave," She said, then she reached out and placed her hand on Caroline's stomach.
A glow formed and a twinge of pain went through her. Suddenly, she felt like the wind was knocked from her lungs as two small heartbeats filled her ears.
Grabbing the thing the doctor used before she pressed it to her stomach. Running it along, she looked at the monitor and immediately noticed a difference from when the doctor did it.
She couldn't see anything that looked like babies but two little orb-like things were there when they weren't before.
Caroline was pregnant and she had no idea how to feel about it as she turned to look at Valerie, who rested a hand on her arm.
The drive to her dorm was silent as Valerie kept sending her concerned looks. When they reached Caroline's room, she collapsed on her bed.
Valerie sat down beside her.
"Are you okay?" She asked, turning to look at her.
"I don't know," Caroline said, shaking her head. "I don't know how to feel."
"It's understandable if you do not want them, Caroline," Valerie said, reaching out for her hand. "If you do not desire to have them, you do not have to. You were forced into this, but it is your choice if it continues."
Caroline sat up and looked at the heretic. "I know. And I don't know. I don't know if I want to be a mom, but I also don't know if I don't," She said with a sigh.
"You have time to think, but not a lot." At those words, Caroline looked at Valerie in confusion. "Those witches that came after you aren't witches."
"What do you mean?" Caroline said, narrowing her eyes.
"They call them mages," Valerie explained. "They are a group of witches that experimented on themselves with the desire to be able to control the elements."
"Can't witches already do that though?" Caroline said, cocking her head.
"Not to the extent that they wanted to," Valerie said, sighing. "They wanted to be able to cause a tsunami, a hurricane, an earthquake, a tornado - all with a wave of a hand."
Caroline hummed, inquisitive. "Something went wrong, didn't it?" She asked.
"Yes. They lost their witch sides and each of them gained the ability to minimally use one of the four elements," Valerie said, letting out a breath.
"And you just killed two," Caroline said, contemplatively.
Valerie shook her head. "No, they are only temporarily dead," She said, at Caroline's confused look she explained. "A dark witch owed them a favor and fulfilled it by tying their lives to that of a vampire, so they cannot die until that vampire does."
"Why are you afraid of them?" Caroline asked, looking at her.
"Because they were given weak control over their elements, but once a month on the full moon, if they are together, they get an incredibly big boost," Valerie said with a grimace. "And they have a grudge against the Gemini coven."
"What happened?" Caroline asked, feeling her stomach twisting.
Valerie sighed. "As children, Gemini's were told the story of how they stopped them. They told us that they wanted to take us away to experiment on," She said, eyes growing distant.
Take them away. What did these people want with witch kids?
"We were told that when they came after us, they stopped them, by putting a sleeping spell - similar to the one placed on the Gilbert girl - and they would not wake back up until the entire coven died."
"Oh shit," Caroline whispered in realization.
"Yeah," Valerie said in agreement.
"Why did they come after the Gemini Coven?" She wondered aloud.
"Because of siphoners," Valerie said, shrugging.
Caroline froze and looked at her in shock.
"They had a theory that if they did the experiment with a witch that had no magic, it would be a loophole that would allow them to get what they were originally going for," Valerie said, leaning her elbows on her legs."Creating powerful weapons that they could control."
"But why come for - you know?" Caroline asked, swallowing.
"I do not know. Maybe to do the experiment just to spite the Gemini Coven - or the babies might be…" Valerie trailed off as she glanced at Caroline's stomach.
"You think they're siphoners?" Caroline asked, placing a hand on her stomach,
"Potentially," Valerie said, nodding. "Their father was, so there is a higher chance of that."
Well, that was good to know.
"So what do we do now?" Caroline asked, nervously.
"We must leave, if they find you, I do not wish to imagine what they will do," Valerie said, giving her a concerned look as she rested her hand on the vampire's arm. "But that is only if you keep them. If you do not, you have no worries from them."
Caroline looked down. "I'm scared and I think this is going to go terrible, but I want to try. This is my one chance to do this. If I don't have them, I can't go back on it later."
"You want to keep them," Valerie said, squeezing her arm.
Caroline gave a nervous smile. "I think I do," She said, meeting the other's eyes.
"Okay, then we have to move quickly," Valerie said, pulling her up. "Grab anything you need - then we start driving."
"Where will we go?" She asked, hesitantly.
"As far away from them as we can get."
Caroline paused in consideration. "How about New Orleans?" She asked, saying the first place that popped into her mind.
"That would work I suppose," Valerie said, nodding. "However, we will need to go some other places first, to throw them off our tracks."
"Okay," Caroline agreed, the sound of the heartbeats being the only thing she could focus on. She had no idea how this was going to go.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed. Would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks for reading!