The Wolf II

by yokan87

The Guerreras' threat still looms over the Mikaelson house as Caroline tries to adapt to life as a vampire, away from her daughter. But an unexpected family reunion makes everything worse, taking away the little peace Klaus, Caroline and Elijah managed to find after the war that nearly broke them. [It's TO S2, but Caroline was a witch, had Klaus' baby and now she's a vampire]

12. S02E12: Sanctuary

A/N: Oof! It's been a while! Sorry about the delay! Life gets in the way sometimes. :( As always, this chapter was not beta'ed and English is not my first language, so I apologize for any mistakes. This chapter has adult content of sorts! Just a heads up.

I hope you guys enjoy it! :)

---

The summer after Bill Forbes walked out on his family, Caroline spent the whole month at the Gilberts' lake house. She got the invite from Miranda, but she knew that the idea must've come from her mother. Caroline was weepy and whiny and moody and the lake house getaway was Liz's way of maybe trying to get her daughter's mind off the whole thing. To make it more interesting, Miranda also invited Bonnie.

Grayson was working, so he stayed back in Mystic Falls with Jeremy, who would rather spend time with his video games than have human interaction anyway, and would only drive over to the lake house on the weekends. Liz popped up a couple of time as well, but Caroline was salty all over and feeling guilty for driving her father away by being such a lousy, disinterested witch, so of course she projected all of her frustration onto her mom.

She was a disaster of a witch and a disaster of a daughter, but at one thing no one could ever beat her: skipping stones. While others' would skip once, twice at most if they were lucky, hers would easily go for three or four skips, time and time again. She had a good eye for the right stone, with the right shape and size and weight, and she knew the exact angle to hit the water to optimize the skipping. It felt great to be good at something, to see the other kids in awe of her mad skill, to be unbeatable . During that summer at the Gilberts' lake house, Caroline got insanely good at skipping stones. She would practice for hours and hours, wishing that her father could see her so that he would know she wasn't a total disappointment, wishing that she could wield magic as well as she wielded stones.

Since those lake house days, Caroline has gotten great at a good many things, even magic, before she lost it. And even though she hasn't practiced skipping stones in years, it's ridiculous how easy it is now. She doesn't even have to concentrate, doesn't even have to find a particularly good stone, and the thing will go skipping ten, twenty times before it sinks. It breaks her little child heart, to be perfectly honest. There's no sense of accomplishment, none of that pride she held on to with everything she had after three meagre skips. This feels like cheating. Like the way she's cheating death by still walking around after getting her throat cut open from side to side. Everything about her is a lie.

How can Jackson expect her to take part in a divulgement ritual when the very fabric of who she is these days is a forgery?

Jackson and a reluctant Mary allowed her to sleep on her doubts over the ritual and see how she'd feel come morning. They offered her the guest room at Mary's cabin while Jackson took the couch, but Caroline didn't get a single second of shut eye. She tossed and turned in bed all night, hoping that the sounds of the woods outside would muffle down the screaming in her head, that panicked voice telling her to bolt. She managed to keep those impulses at bay, though, if anything then out of respect for Jackson. He put his pride and his pack on the line for her; he deserved better than a runaway not-bride.

As soon as dawn started to break, Caroline got dressed and stepped out. She needed to breathe some fresh air - and, well, find breakfast. With her nerves jangled as they were, she knew she would lose it if she didn't sink her teeth into something soon .

A full stomach and the cool breeze by the river didn't offer Caroline the kind of fresh perspective she was hoping for, though. It did, however, bring a certainty: she cannot tell Jackson about Eve. Without discussing it with Klaus and taking all of the risks into account, she just... Can't. This is bigger than her. Bigger than everything.

She's standing by the river bed, throwing stones and trying her best to get them to skip no more than three times to no avail when Jackson comes to find her.

"You scared me," he says as he joins her. "I was worried you'd ran off in the middle of the night." He chuckles, but it's a nervous sound. Like he can read her mind and knows that she really almost did that.

"No, I was just out here, thinking," she answers somewhat dispassionately.

"Everything ok?" Jackson asks, looking away from her, to the river, perhaps already sensing that her discomfort means bad news.

"Jackson... I can't divulge you my greatest secrets. I'm sorry. I just can't."

"You really think there's a secret you have that is so bad you can't tell me?"

"It's not safe."

"When have we ever been safe, Caroline? Look around. The whole reason we're doing this in the first place is because it's not safe , for anyone. My people have been cursed, hunted, exiled, but you and me - we can change all that. We can empower the whole pack. And the cost of that is full disclosure. Full trust. If we don't do that, the transfer power won't work and we're back to where we were."

The expression on Jackson's face is so open and so earnest Caroline can't even look at him, cutting her eyes to the side.

"Look..." he starts once more. "Even if we call the whole thing off... I'd still like to tell you my biggest secret."

"I'm sure you've lived quite the life, Jack, but I doubt your secret is anything like mine."

"There's one. Come with me and I'll show you."

---

Jackson leads her deeper still into the woods until they reach a small clearing that looks a lot like...

"Is this a graveyard?" she asks, taking in all the simple wooden signs marking the graves.

There aren't that many, about twenty or so, but they seem very rudimentary, like people didn't bother giving a decent burial to whoever was laid to rest here. It's far away from everything, in a secluded part of the Bayou, and there are no flowers or candles or anything else to indicate that these graves get visitors.

"This is where wolves bury those that walk away from the pack," Jackson explains. "Traitors, murderers... Like this one." He points to a grave with the initials RXD marked on the wooden sign above it. "Richard Xavier Dumas. He was Mary's husband. My grandfather. He was an alpha of his time, militant, radical, hell-bent on waging war with vampires. When he found out my betrothed's parents and mine planned to merge packs, try for peace with Marcel and his crew, he went ballistic."

Caroline's eyes snap up at him in shock. "He killed your fiancé?"

Jackson nods lightly, his head hanging low. "And her parents. He wanted to stop them, everything they stood for, and he did. He made us weaker than ever, started an in-fight that ended with my own parents dead and half our pack cursed into wolf forms for decades. Andrea was the last of the Lebonair line, the line your daughter was a distant descendent from, Klaus' line. My own grandfather finished them." Jackson goes quiet for a while, his mouth pressed into a tight line as he stares down at the grave. Even so many years later, it's clear this is something he's comfortable talking about. Caroline can see the sting of the tragedy on his face.

"I've only known about this for a little while. I was too young when it happened and grew up having no idea. Mary held on to that secret for over two decades. You're the first person I'm telling all this to. I'm sure some of the wolves know, but... Many weren't alive or old enough to remember, and most of our elders are gone. So I've kept quiet. I don't know what they'll think of me as their leader if they knew my grandfather is responsible for all of our suffering. Don't know what they'd think of Mary."

Caroline doesn't know what to say. She can see in Jackson's eyes how heavy a weight this is for him to carry. He's trapped between a rock and a hard place: come clean, and he risks having his authority challenged by some of the most resentful members of his pack; stay quiet, and the doubt will eat away at him forever, the fear of getting found out always hanging above his head like a guillotine ready to drop.

She gets why he's telling her that. It's a proof of trust. This kind of information could be used to poison Jackson's men against his, it's the key to undermining his authority, maybe even getting him overthrown and banished. By letting her know, he's showing her that he has complete faith that she won't do it. Just like she believes he would never do anything to harm Eve. But even his good intentions might be twisted against him, against all of them.

"Anyway, that was my secret," he speaks after a moment, lifting his gaze back to hers. "I'm an alpha trying to mend the mess my own grandfather made, twenty years ago. Whatever your secret is, if you don't want to tell me, then don't."

She blinks at him. "But... The ceremony -"

"I don't care. If you really think you can't, then you can't. I don't know if I'll ever have it in me to tell the rest of my pack about Richard Dumas. So I understand how you feel. But the ritual is not about truth, it's about trust. And even if you choose not to tell me anything, I'll still trust you. I want you to know that it doesn't change anything, Caroline. I won't think less of you because of that."

"How sweet. Quite the romantic sentiment."

Caroline's gut goes cold as Klaus steps out of the woods and into the clearing with them, her entire body tensing up painfully.

He meets her gaze with an icy, hard shield in his eyes, his expression betraying absolutely nothing. "I wonder if I might impose on this lovely tableau long enough to have a word with Caroline."

Jackson glances at her, obviously suspicious of Klaus' sudden appearance. "It's ok, Jack," she says. "I'll meet you back Mary's."

Klaus' eyes, sharp as knives, never leave hers as they wait for Jackson to get out of earshot. "Look," she starts slowly, scrambling for the right words. She doesn't even know how he found her, but the fact he did cannot be good. "Before you go ballistic -"

"Have you lost your mind?" he seethes.

"I can explain everything if you just -"

"Are you honestly considering this preposterous truth-telling idiocy?"

"I -" Caroline stammers, a line of confusion appearing on her forehead. He's mad about the divulgement ritual? "Actually, I'm kind of on the fence on that, but -"

"Well, allow me to make this simple for you," he cuts her off harshly, staring her down as he takes a step forward. "Under no circumstances will you divulge any family secrets, especially none that would endanger our child," he barks, real heat underlying his words now.

Caroline is a little taken aback. Not by his reaction, because she anticipated a fight over this, but... It's a little unexpected that the divulgement ritual is what Klaus is mad about. Shouldn't he be upset to have found out about the ceremony from someone else? Judging by the hardness in his gaze, she has no idea whether to think this is a good thing or a really bad one.

She decides to go with the flow, though. They really need to discuss this. This is obviously not how she'd want to do it - they should be at home, with a glass of wine to wash down the worst of the anger, not in the middle of a clandestine cemetery for deviant werewolves. But if what he wants to argue about is the secret, then so be it.

"It's not that simple, Klaus," she says, keeping her voice level, trying not to rise to his bait. "You saw what Finn did, how he took all of us out of commission with a simple spell. He's growing more powerful by the day. Right now, he controls over half of the werewolves. This thing could change that."

"The outcome of your strategy is not worth the risk it imposes on our daughter."

"It's not a risk if I trust Jackson." Klaus sneers, a shadow crossing his face as his expression morphs into one of pure rage. "Just think about it for one second. We could have a whole army of super wolves who could protect Eve as one of their own."

"Eve doesn't need a wolf army. I'll protect her myself, and an easy time I'll have of it, too, without you running off sharing secrets and getting married to motley werewolves."

Caroline stops, her eyes wide. "Wait - what? Who said anything about getting married? Who told you about this?"

"Everyone, Caroline. Everyone knows about your not-so-secret wedding," he spits out, words dripping venom. "I was apparently the only one who wasn't informed. Were you planning on not inviting me to your lovely ceremony as well? Afraid I might raise my hand and offer an objection at the wrong time?"

"Whoever told you this was a wedding was wrong, Klaus. Jackson and I are not getting married, this is not -"

"You're absolute right. You're not. Because you're not going to finish these rites. I will not let you tell him anything that could compromise our daughter's safety."

Caroline folds her arms over her chest. "Is that what you're mad about? Someone tells you I'm marrying some other guy and this is what you're upset about?" she asks with a snap, seriously crossed over his reaction now.

Klaus' eyes burn into hers, cold fury shining through with predatory focus. "You can do whatever you want, Caroline, even betray the trust I have mistakenly bestowed upon you. But let me emphasize this one more time: you will not use our daughter as an excuse to marry that mongrel. In this matter, there is no one above my decree, not even you. You will tell Jackson the wedding is off."

Caroline gapes in shock before her face scrunches up as the heat of indignation finally hits her. She knows he's obviously under some kind of misconception here, but still righteous anger explodes like lava inside of her. Each sentence that rolled off his tongue drenched in acidic vitriol was a slap to her face. And it stings , badly.

Like any level-headed creature who's ever tried to deal with Klaus in this history of ever, her instinct is to lash out at the sheer arrogance of his unilateral decision-making about their daughter, especially after she's been postponing this whole thing for over a day just because she refused to do anything without Klaus' consent.

She feels the fire of seven heels coursing through her as she snaps back at him, seething, "It's a good thing I don't take orders from anyone, not even you." Klaus opens his mouth ready to bark some more nonsense, but she puts a hand up and cuts him off, raising her tone. "I'm done listening to you. Let me know when you decide to stop acting like a jackass and have a real conversation."

"Caroline!" he roars as she tries to walk away, grabbing her arm and spinning her back towards him.

"I am not gonna stand here quietly while you make an idiot of yourself, insulting me and telling me what I can or cannot do to protect my daughter!" She yanks her arm free, boiling with rage. "I'm her mother . You are not above me. And your clearly have no idea what I'm trying to do, got some half-story from someone out there and can't even bother to be honest about why you're really throwing a fit! Have you learned nothing ?!" Caroline huffs out, nostrils flaring. "This ceremony can help our daughter. She can come home, to us. The wolves will be on our side, and I will not let your stupid blindness get in the way."

"The wolves cannot be trusted!"

"In your paranoid mind, nobody can be trusted! Not even me! Where does it end?!"

" There is no end! " Klaus snarls furiously. "Need I remind you I killed my own father in order to keep her safe?"

"Is that really why you killed him? Or is it that you're so terrified of letting someone, anyone , in?!" Caroline feels the annoying prickle of tears behind her eyes, but she refuses to cry. Not over this. "I asked you to trust me."

"And then I turned my back and you got engaged to someone else."

"I did not - !" Caroline snaps her own mouth shut, tired of repeating herself. Klaus would rather stick to some absurd hear-say than listen to her. That's his own problem. She's got more important things to do than have a pointless fight with him. "You know what? If that's what it takes to protect my daughter... It's exactly what I'm going to do."

She whirls away from him, stomping off in anger. Klaus flashes over to her, planting himself on her path. "You leave me no choice." Before she can even realize what he's going to do, she feels his hands closing around her neck, that awful, dull sound of bones cracking, and then darkness pulls her in.

---

Marcel comes to with a dull throb on the back of his head. He blinks, slowly, forms dancing out of focus before him. The last thing he remembers is...

Waking up in his place in Algiers, with Gia. Against all odds, they managed to make their way through the hordes of Carillon Eve taking the streets of the French Quarters and make it safely across the river. Marcel didn't see everything because he passed out some time before they left the Quarter. He thought he was dying. Gia and Josh led them all back and carried him themselves. The further away they got from the compound, she said, the less hungry they felt, but the newbies were losing their minds.

That was so close... It could've been a tragedy. He could've ended up dead, if they'd taken just a tiny bit longer to feed him one of the vials of Klaus' blood he keeps stashed at his loft for emergencies. But his guys saved the day. He'd never been prouder of them, never been more certain that he made the right choice with Gia. This girl is going places. She might even be the queen of the Quarter vampires one day.

And then... Someone broke in. They heard sounds of fighting and screaming and when they went down to the first floor, where the guys were raiding his blood stash... That's when everything gets hazy again.

He tries to move, and feels a sharp wave of new pain traveling all over his body. He grinds his teeth together, grunting. The pain brings him sudden sharpness, though, and Marcel realizes he's tied to a chair, ropes wrapped tightly around his midsection and both his legs and wrists. The tiniest move from him and the ropes bite into his flesh like boiling water.

"You can't free yourself," Finn speaks, coming out of the shadows to stand before Marcel. "Those ropes have been soaked in vervain, as I'm sure you've noticed. The more you try, the more it'll hurt. But I did lessen the spell that made you hungry, affording us an opportunity for some civilized discourse." Finn pulls a chair out for himself, sitting right in front of Marcel. "Let's start with my brother's newest pet, Caroline Forbes. Recently, I had a chance to speak with Niklaus and realized his affections for her were perhaps deeper than I gave it credit for. When my mother was still in charge, Caroline was off limits because she intended to use her to bait my brothers into taking her deal, whichever one of them took it first. Now that mother is gone, however... I have no intention whatsoever to rescue their souls from the depths of darkness, so Caroline Forbes could be used to reach my own personal goals. However..." He raises his voice, his eyes sparkling with madness, like he's just had an epiphany. "Caroline is no secret, is she? She might be a clue, though. I got the clear impression that there is something Niklaus is desperate to protect, even more so than the vampire he's so besotted with, and I think that that secret is his greatest weakness. So. Tell me, Marcel. What is it?"

"You really don't know him, do you?" he sneers. "Do you really think he would trust me with anything that can be used against him?"

"You're Klaus' ally. In a thousand years, you're probably the closest he ever got to having a friend. I think you know something."

"You can think whatever you want as long as you don't mind knowing that you are a chump," Marcel spits at him. Almost the second the words are out, he knows it was the wrong thing to say. He can't help it, though. That bastard's smugness just makes him want to punch him so hard until his nose is on the back of his head. The current circumstances, however, are all in the asshole's favor.

Finn' face darkens as he rubs the tips of his fingers together and Marcel is hit by a wave of excruciating pain, his entire body suddenly put through a meat grinder.

He throws his head back, screaming, and the ropes tighten around him, making everything worse.

Almost as soon as it starts, however, it stops, and he sags limply in his seat, trying to catch his breath. He can see how this is going to be one very long day.

Finn leans forward on his chair, gritting out at him, "Tell me what you know."

Marcel draws the air in slowly, lifting his head to meet the other man's gaze levelly. "I'll tell you what I remember. Two centuries back, I was just a kid looking through the compound. I found a coffin. Klaus catches me, and he says, 'That's my brother Finn. We keep him like that because he's such a bore'."

Finn's lips twist angrily and then he's rubbing his fingers together again.

If he's going to be tortured for a secret he doesn't even know, he might as well annoy the hell out of that motherfucker.

---

What a precious lad, Jackson Kenner... Washing the dishes for his Nanna while she sharpens a wooden stake. Klaus has to smile; that old rag has got more of a backbone than her grandson. Caroline should perhaps look into espousing her, not him.

It would be so very sad if Klaus was to snap her spine in two like the brittle twig that she is.

"What is that for, Mary?" Jackson asks her.

"For Klaus, in case he comes back."

"Speak the devil's name, etc., etc." Klaus appears at the door, watching with satisfaction as both grandmother and grandson visibly tense.

"Stay out, vampire!" Mary grits out, pointing that stake of hers at him.

"I'm a hybrid, dear," he says, with a mock-hurt expression. "Half wolf. You and I could be distant relatives, for all you know. In fact... It seems I have a lot in common with your grandson." His eyes cut to Jackson, sharp and menacing. "I wonder if Jackson can come out to play."

"It's ok, Mary," he says, putting his grandmother's arm down and stepping in front of her. "Where's Caroline?"

"Resting," he says nonchalantly. "She was exhausted after your grueling day of wedding preparations, poor thing."

"Wedding? Is that what you think we're doing here?"

"What I think is that it's about time you and I have a little chat ."

Jackson hesitates. "I want your word that this is between you and me."

"Why, of course." He puts a hand on top of his heart, stepping aside so Jackson can walk out of the house. "You have my word as a gentleman."

He glances back at his grandmother. To her credit, Mary doesn't seem even remotely as terrified as Klaus imagined she would be. The woman really does have some balls. Under different circumstances, he might be amused. Right now, however, all he wants is to tear Jackson's lovesick eyes from its sockets and feed it to her.

As soon as Jackson is standing before him, the smile on Klaus' face turns predatory. "Brave lad."

He wraps his arms around Jackson none too gently and drags him into the woods, further away from the cabin. They should have this conversation in private, without any interruptions. When he deems they've gone far enough, he throws Jackson on the ground. He rolls around a few times, grunting, until he finally manages to pull himself up.

"Klaus! You wanna fight me?! Come on!" he snarls, teeth bared like a little puppy trying to look feral. How adorable.

"You mistake my intentions," he says mildly, hands in his coat pockets. Jackson whips around to him, anger burning behind his eyes, and yet somehow Klaus can already tell it'll never be enough for the Crescents' alpha to have even a slight chance in this fight. Not that he ever would. But with the rage Klaus has boiling through his veins like poison... Jackson won't last a minute. "I haven't come here to fight you, not at all. This is to be an execution." Jackson's eyes widen for a brief second before his face sets to determination once more, mouth pressed into such a fine line his lips disappear.

Klaus opens his arms. "Let's face it, I should've done this a long time ago. I believed you would eventually serve a purpose. Clearly, I was wrong. I've been wrong about a good many people lately, and I do not fancy that at all. Your downsides far outweigh any benefits of keeping you around. As a courtesy to Caroline, I will ask you this: how, exactly, would you prefer to die?"

Jackson, bless his golden boy heart, might actually think he has a chance, because he launches at Klaus, trying to tackle him. Either that, or he wants to die a painful and slow death. Well, nobody can say he didn't offer to be merciful. Personally, he prefers it this way, too.

Klaus barely has to think before dodging his clumsy moves. And yet Jackson keeps on coming. Each time he does, Klaus waltzes out of his path and punches him into the ground. He grunts, he bleeds, he rolls over and picks himself up, ready to try again. He does it once, two times, three. By the fourth, he's pretty certain the wolf's got at least a few severely cracked ribs, maybe even some internal lacerations. There's an ugly bruise covering the side of his face. And still he keeps on coming, each time a little more unsteady, a little more limited by the injuries, but he just won't give up. Klaus hasn't even broken a sweat yet.

"Most of my victims start screaming about now," he says conversationally as he dodges yet another failed attempt at a punch and hits Jackson across the jaw, sending him down on his knees. "I'd prefer if you spared me the tedium of any last words, but if you are so inclined, now would be the time."

Jackson spits blood on the ground and then looks up at him, one of his eyes starting to swell closed. "Go to hell, you bastard!"

"Bastard! Yes. That is exactly what I am, made so by your precious mentor, Ansel. I'm curious. Did he teach you to regard me with such loathing, or is that bias all of your own?"

Jackson's face scrunches up into an even more daunting grimace than the one he's naturally sporting, his whole body quaking. For a second Klaus thinks he's crying, but then he realizes he's actually... Laughing. Must have hit his head one too many times. With a hand across his abdomen and a pained groan, Jackson stands to his feet, wobbling a little.

"Is that what this is about? You're jealous I got to spend time with your daddy? Or are you mad that he's the one who told me about the ritual?"

The rage flares up anew as jealousy and chagrin spreads to permeate every inch of him. So Ansel told Jackson about this wedding ritual. I want to protect the things you love, I'm your father , and then, behind his back, pushes his favorite pupil towards marrying Caroline, knowing all the while exactly who she was and what she meant. Liar... Just like the rest of them.

Well, suddenly Klaus doesn't feel so bad about having killed him after all.

"You were his most prized pupil, the benefactor to all of his wisdom." Klaus flashes forward to Jackson, punching him in the stomach. The man doubles over, blood oozing from his mouth. "Look all the good that's done you."

He pushes Jackson down once more. He gasps harshly for air, but almost immediately he's scrambling to get back on his feet. He just. won't. stop.

"Well, you..." he speaks through grit teeth, heaving. Each time his chest rises, a scratchy noise comes out of his throat and he winces just a tiny bit, but he refuses to back down, his unflinching stare glinting with anger. Klaus has to admit... He's not exactly impressed, but... Somewhat taken aback by Jackson's resilience. "You could've learned from him... Yourself... If you... Hadn't killed him."

Klaus kicks him on the knee and, when he drops, kicks his side, sending him rolling over on the ground.

"I see you've mastered the self-righteous air of all hypocrites. The truth is, you're worse than me, using Caroline's best intentions for your own self-serving power grab."

"You're wrong!"

"You want her power so you can wage wars and win territories. After all, that's what wolves do. You're barbarians, with your primitive traditions. Or are you so in love with her you'd take advantage of her despair and her kind disposition to tie her to yourself? That's even more pitiful." He approaches the other man, looking down at him. "She does not love you, Jackson," he speaks slowly, voice drenched in bitterness. "And she never will."

Jackson tries another attack, but Klaus is punching him down before he even gets a chance to properly get up. "You don't know a damn thing about me or about being a wolf!" he man snarls, blood dripping from his mouth.

"No. I don't. I never had the luxury to live among my kind nor the chance to truly know my father, but you knew him. Perhaps he saw in you the son he always wanted. I'm glad I was spared of such a sorry fate."

Klaus wraps his hand around Jackson's throat and lifts him off the ground, slamming him hard against a tree trunk. This time, when he slides to the floor, he stays there, whining painfully.

He's had enough of this. Time to end this foolishness once and for all.

---

Marcel has completely lost track of time. Has it been a day? An hour? Two? It feels like decades. Even after the torture stops, his whole body still aches, the pain lingers, burning under his skin. His head lolls, heavy, chin to his chest. He can't even keep it up. The vervain on the ropes is but a distant noise, he can barely feel it at this point, can barely remember his own name. He doesn't know how Finn expects to get anything out of him like this.

The man puts a hand under his chin, forces him to look at him. All Marcel sees is a blurry figure shrouded in darkness.

"I'm convinced. You know nothing." He drops Marcel's head again. "Which means that whatever Klaus is keeping secret is so secret he won't even share it with you. Perhaps I should change my target, after all."

"No..." Marcel mumbles, clenching his jaw for strength to lift his face. "Leave Caroline alone. Haven't you done enough to her?"

"Me? No. I'm afraid mother did. Not that I feel sorry for someone who is so blind that she'd get to the point of carrying my brother's offspring. No morals or principles whatsoever, that one."

"She has more principles than you could ever hope to have," Marcel grits out, his voice coming out scratchy and dry. "Maybe that's what makes you and your mother so mad. To know that a vampire is a much better person than all of you. So good indeed that she earned the admiration of both Klaus and Elijah, something neither of you ever had."

Finn sneers. "I don't want to be admired by the likes of my brothers. But you are right in at least one aspect... What happened to her was so very sad. Losing a child the way she did, and then losing her life... She was a witch, and then she was turned into a monster. I know what that feels like." He approaches Marcel again, pulling his head back. "I wonder if there are other ways you can be of use to me..."

The front door creaks open and Kol walks in, a crooked smile on his face. Marcel gets that stab of anger inside of him again - he knew that little son of a bitch was not to be trusted. But by the look on Vincent's face, he was not expecting his little brother to show up either.

"What are you doing here, Kol?" Finn demands.

"I heard a rumor that you'd taken Marcel prisoner," he says, bobbing his head towards Marcel. "And it just so happens that I owe him one."

Kol takes a knife out of his jacket and drives it through Marcel's hand, pinning it to the chair.

Marcel screams in pain, grinding his teeth so strongly they almost crack. "I'm going to kill you!" he yells. "I'm going to kill both of you!"

Finn waves a hand in front of his face, and then Marcel sees nothing more.

---

"I've dragged this out for long enough. But you can hardly blame me, can you?" Klaus says while Jackson struggles to stand up again, struggling with broken ribs and maybe even a punctured lung. He has stamina, at least. Back when Klaus was still mass-producing hybrids, a specimen like Jackson would've been perfect . He should've come to Louisiana to recruit. "I find the sheer audacity of your plot quite offensive. Caroline is a part of my family now, and you would seek to use her for you petty ambitions."

"I'm not using her!" Jackson growls.

"Just admit your true intentions for this farce of a wedding and I will grant you the mercy of a quick death."

" It's not a wedding !" Jackson tries to stand, but his knees give in, and so he stays down, eyes - well, one eye, the other is swollen shut - feral. "When I told Caroline about the ritual..." he stops, drawing a ragged breath in after every few words. "I didn't expect her to want to go through with it. And she didn't. Not until she figured out a way to hijack the ceremony so that we could... Have the union... Without the wedding. Your brother... Kol... He's the one who told her it was possible. Only once she was convinced, she sought me out and asked if I'd be willing to do it... To go against the traditions of my people... To break our sacred rules... In order to protect the pack." He huffs out a laugh that sounds a lot more like a sob. "I would've married her in a blink. She's... A good person... With a good heart... She fights for what she believes in, for the people she loves... And she is loyal . You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

Klaus is momentarily stricken, that fiery anger inside of him suddenly doused. "All your followers are calling it a wedding," Klaus counters with a grumble.

"Because Aiden is a dumb fuck!" A huffing sound escapes Jackson's throat, more a sob than a laugh. "We asked him to spread the word... Do you know how many times Caroline emphasized that he could not ... call it a wedding? And do you know why? Why she didn't want to marry me? Why she wouldn't do it unless there were no marriage vows, no marriage promises and no... Marriage ceremony? Because of you , you son of a bitch. You ! She was thinking of you . And where is she now? What have you done to her? Did you even listen to what she surely tried to tell you?"

If what Jackson is saying is indeed true... If they were never going to get married... Then Klaus just got himself into a whole lot of trouble. Not that he'd be fine with this either way. The mere fact Caroline came upon this idea and didn't feel like sharing it with him when apparently all of New Orleans had already gotten an invitation tells him there was something off with it from the beginning. From his exile Elijah had gotten wind of this, and he was also under the impression that it was a wedding ceremony. Moreover, she was going to tell Jackson about Eve. That, in itself, is a betrayal. She could never do that behind his back. She couldn't have done any of this without telling him, wedding or no wedding.

And yet... If Jackson is not lying to try and save his own skin...

Caroline's wrath will be of biblical proportions.

"For the life of me..." the wolf starts talking again. "I can't understand... How someone like her would have feelings... For someone... As putrid... As you. You don't deserve her."

He may have been misinformed about the wedding situation, but that is not to say his desire to put an end to Jackson Kenner was ever misguided. He never liked the man. From the day he appeared, he's been a thorn in Klaus's side. Now that he's started, he might as well finish it.

Klaus grabs a branch and snaps it in two, keeping the sharper end as a stake. He grabs a fistful of Jackson's hair and pulls his head back, exposing his neck, angling the stake right at his throat. Despite the obvious agonizing pain he must be in, Jackson's eyes never waver. They burn like flames; fierce and completely unafraid. It's not every day Klaus finds someone so brave in the face of death.

"You told me once that my people were yours, too," Jackson speaks. "If you kill me now... Promise me... That you will help Caroline set our people free. Promise me !"

Klaus hesitates, the stake dropping for a bit. This is... Not what he was expecting by means of final words. Instead of cursing him to hell, he wants to make sure that his pack will be taken care of. It's infuriatingly noble of him.

His moment of distraction turns out to be his undoing. Caroline flashes out of the woods like a missile, tackling him to the ground. She wrenches the tree branch off his hand and throws it away, climbing on top of him when he tries to stand up. With a loud, angry growl, she starts punching Klaus' face, over and over, with all her might, barely giving him a second to react. She truly is stronger than he gave her credit for, because those punches bloody hurt.

Klaus grabs her wrists and shoves her off of him. Caroline rolls once on the ground and, in a second, is already up on her feet, standing between him and Jackson with bared teeth and murder in her gaze.

The look in her eyes is wild. Dark. Hard. Hurt . He doesn't think he's ever seen her this angry before. Shame rears inside of him, but he keeps his expression firmly unaffected.

"You're not going to touch another hair on his head," Caroline growls, her voice low and dangerous. "If you want to kill him, you're gonna have to go through me first."

If Klaus says it does not make his heart lurch painfully to see her being this protective of someone else - someone who would like to marry her - he'll be lying.

"You truly believe he is worthy of your trust?"

"Yes," she replies, not missing a beat.

Klaus shakes his head. "You are stubborn. And so is he. Perhaps you were meant for each other, after all," he says. Caroline's eyes narrow at the venom in his voice.

His regard for Jackson Kenner hasn't grown in the slightest. Klaus would still very much prefer to get rid of him. But, after beating him within an inch of his life, he can at least respect the man's resolve. Whatever he might be - and he is a good many terrible things - he is loyal. And it seems like Caroline is someone he's decided to bestow his loyalty upon. Klaus still hates the way he looks at her, the way he talks of her, the way he's always so conveniently right there whenever she needs him to be, offering her shelter or a magical binding ritual to solve all her problems. But he can at least believe his word. Only someone desperately devoted to his people would ask the man about to take his life to care for his pack. And to that, at least, Klaus can somewhat relate. There aren't that many people out there he would sacrifice for, but one of them is the woman standing before him, glaring at him as though trying to set him on fire with her eyes.

"Go on, then," Klaus tells her. "Tell him. Have your ceremony . Save your wolves. But mark my words." He cuts his eyes to Jackson, still kneeling behind her. "If you ever betray her, I will find you and I will deposit your head on the end of a spike and leave it on your grandmother's garden."

Klaus spares Caroline a final look, registering all the acrimony and the rancor carved onto her face, before he whooshes away into the woods.

---

"Niklaus knows you trapped Rebekah, and yet he hasn't tracked you down to torture her location out of you?" Finn asks, his eyes narrowed like he's trying to solve a particularly hard equation in his head.

"Well, I'm smart enough not to be found," Kol offers. Finn laughs at him.

Truth is, Kol hasn't a single idea what he's supposed to be doing here. Winning his brother's trust back, probably. But he hasn't got anything to offer but his infectious charisma, and that kind of thing has never scored very high with Finn.

He didn't even want to come here in the first place. Kol has got more important things to do, like take care of keeping his own ass safe from Nik and Elijah, rather than finding new ways to risk it by testing Finn's patience. But what won't he do for Davina when she comes pleading with those puppy eyes of hers? Bloody hell... What was he thinking, getting involved with that girl? Her super hero streak is way too strong, and Kol can't just bloody well let her get herself killed trying to face his wretched brother on her own, now, can he?

Now here he is, keeping Finn distracted while she went in through the back door with Aiden, trying to rescue Josh. Marcel is gonna be a whole different matter... Finn has plans for him. He's being kept separately and under close inspection. Davina should say her goodbyes and prepare a nice black dress to wear on his funeral. Kol is definitely not putting his ass on the line for Klaus' favorite little pet, that's for sure.

"And Elijah also knows Rebekah is missing," Finn continues, going back to his crazy calculations. "And yet he remains unaccounted for. Despite my power, I've been unable to locate him, which suggests he's gone to great lengths not to be found, and Elijah hides from no one... Unless he's keeping something hidden."

"Wow, Finn. You sound like Sherlock Holmes after one too many tequilas."

"And you act a fool to dare think that I wouldn't know about your little friends in the back," he snaps. Finn waves his hand in the air and Kol is pushed down on his knees. The bastard is channeling their parents, which makes him nearly untouchable. His magic is way too strong to be resisted. He doesn't even need enchantments anymore; just a flick of his wrist and voilà. "Allow me to send a message to your little girlfriend." He waves his hand again with a malicious smirk on his lips.

"What did you do?!" Kol demands.

"Oh. Nothing much. The vampires in the storage were all sleeping... And I've pulled them out of their slumber, increased their hunger a little bit. Now... Are you quite done with this ruse, brother?"

Kol stands to his feet, his heart beating manically in his chest. He needs to get to Davina. She's not gonna be able to fight all those vampires on her own, even with Aiden. Bracing himself for courage, Kol casts a quick spell under his breath and sends a shelf tumbling over Finn. It's not going to cause him any damage, but it's enough distraction for Kol to run. He goes straight to the back door leading into the storage, but when he pushes the door open, the vampires are all facing him, their fangs out. Davina and Aiden are nowhere to be found.

Suddenly, all the vampires drop down asleep again, and when he turns, Finn is there, blocking the door. "Seems your little friend Davina has absconded with one of my prisoners."

"Finn..." he starts, taking a step back and putting his palms out in surrender. "I didn't come here for a fight, brother. The little witch, she asked me to distract you. She can be quite pushy when she wants to be, you know?"

"Don't you see, Kol? We were given a gift. Rebirth unfettered by vampirism," he prowls towards Kol. "We were cleansed, and all that was asked was pittance in return, and you could not even give that. You're no better than Niklaus or Elijah."

"Finn, you're angry, and when you're angry, you don't think straight. We can talk this through, ok? Just give me a chance -"

"You don't deserve another chance, Kol!" he slams. "So I'm going to give you one thing I know you fear most... Death."

"No, Finn... Please, no, don't. No!"

Finn puts both his hands on Kol's head and starts chanting. There's an insane pressure inside his skull, like it's going to explode. Kol screams, mashing his eyes shut against the dizziness and the throbbing ache.

When Finn stops chanting, he draws in close, locking his eyes on Kol's. "I curse you to this body, unable to jump to another. Over the next few days, I want you to contemplate what's to come. A meaningless, lonely death and the darkness to follow. Clock starts now. Be sure to say your goodbyes. Go, brother. I will not miss you."

Kol doesn't know why hearing that from Finn hurts, but it does. His own brother, cursing him to death.

He's nothing. He's always been nothing to his family.

Kol stands to his feet, still feeling a little wobbly, but when he tries to walk out, Finn, simply steps aside, allowing him to pass.

---

It's hard to tell what Caroline wants to do most: crawl under her bed and stay there until she dies or kill Klaus. Maybe both, not exactly in that order.

As she carried Jackson back to Mary's cabin, she kept mumbling I'm sorry after I'm sorry after I'm so sorry , until her words were so mangled they barely sounded coherent anymore. She didn't know what else to say. Nothing she could ever say would be enough to excuse or justify his swollen eye or his bruised ribs or the fact he almost died at the hands of the psychopath for whom Caroline made Jackson break all of his people's traditions.

She kept saying I'm sorry as she let Mary take him inside to see to his wounds. As she stepped back outside. As she ran away from the cabin until she realized she had no idea what to do. Then she stopped, sat down with her back against a tree and cried the angrier tears she's ever cried in her life.

Caroline wants to dig up a hole and bury herself in these woods until everything goes away - the purple on Jackson's face, Klaus, his stupid family - but she knows that will solve nothing. Doesn't matter how much time she spends hidden away in the Bayou, the world is still gonna be catching fire out there. People are still gonna be trying to find her daughter. If everything else fails, Caroline has to, at the very least, go back to Eve.

She's not sure how much time has passed by the time she finally makes her way back to Mary's cabin. She doesn't want to face Jackson, not really, doesn't think she has the guts to do it, but she owes him more than an I'm sorry . Even if he never wants to see her face again, which she can totally understand, he deserves to hear the whole story.

Caroline stands at a distance, watching as Mary cares for her grandson's injuries as they both sit on the little porch outside, facing the river. The swelling has gone down considerably, and Jackson seems to be sitting straighter as well. He's a werewolf, he'll heal, but not fast enough. If she was still a witch, she could at least take away his pain. Then again, if she was still a witch, they wouldn't be in this mess to begin with. Every day gives Caroline a new reason to miss her powers a little bit more. She's useless as a baby vampire. Useless to protect her daughter. To protect her friends. To keep Klaus from acting like a complete lunatic. Just useless.

Mary stands up, leaving Jackson to his own thoughts, and then she spots Caroline, half-hidden behind a tree like the coward that she is. The look in Mary's eyes is piercing , hard as a rock. Caroline dips her head, her stomach curling in on itself. With slow, tentative steps, she approaches the Kenner-Dumas matriarch, the apology ready at the tip of her tongue.

"Mary, I'm so sor -"

"For what?" the older woman cuts her off, harshly, but not with anger, not accusing. "Knowing a monster? Having baggage? We all got that. Some worse than others." Caroline's face falls when she puts a soothing hand on her shoulders, an impossible understanding passing between them. She's suddenly reminded of the story Jackson told her, about how his grandfather killed his fiancé, all her family and caused the downfall of the entire pack. Mary knows . She understands. "When Jackson was down, you fought for him," she speaks with a gratefulness Caroline doesn't think she deserves, and then walks back into her house.

When she turns back to Jackson, he's staring right at her. Caroline fights the urge to look away, takes a deep breath and strides over to him, lower lip worried between her teeth.

"You ok?" she asks quietly.

"I'll live."

"I know what you're going to answer, but... Don't you want to take my blood?" Jackson merely fixes her with a look. "I had to ask."

She sits down beside him, a careful distance between the two of them, her feet dangling off the edge of the porch. It's starting to grow dark, the sun almost set in the horizon, and the chilly breeze is the only thing filling the uncomfortable silence for a while. Caroline almost wishes Jackson would yell at her, that his eyes would burn on her with the rage he's entitled to feel, that he would tell her to leave and never come back. Instead, he is... Calm. As warm and open as he's always been.

"I understand if you don't want to go through with the ceremony anymore."

"Why would I do that?"

She looks up at him, blinks. "Are you serious?"

"I didn't just get a concussion to give up," he says softly, with a smile.

Caroline shakes her head. "How can you be smiling right now?"

Jackson shrugs. "I don't know. I have a concussion."

"I should take you to the hospital."

"I'm a lot tougher than I look, Caroline. I'll be as good as new by morning. I was half expecting Klaus to have some kind of disproportional reaction. At least we got that out of the way. But... I can't figure out why he didn't kill me."

"Klaus is afraid of trusting other people. I think he must have realized that not trusting you would be worse. He'd end up with nothing but enemies. Alone. I've got half the mind to kill him myself after what he did."

She doesn't really know why Klaus didn't kill Jackson either; he had all the time in the world to do it. Instead he stalled, toyed around with him for no reason and hesitated when he had Jackson on his knees, completely beaten. What Caroline does know, however, is that if Klaus had done that, if he'd murdered Jackson out of some petty jealousy he couldn't even admit to, that would be the last time he ever saw her or Eve. Klaus is many things, but he's not an idiot; he must've known that too.

"He thought we were getting married," Jackson says. Caroline faces away from him, guilt clawing at her insides. "Why didn't you tell him?"

"I don't know. I was afraid of how he'd react, kept telling myself I should have everything figured out before I presented the case to him. But things moved faster than I anticipated, before I knew it..." Caroline sighs wearily. "Klaus is exhausting."

"You know he doesn't deserve you, right?"

"I'm not gonna try to justify him, or myself. After what he did... There is no excuse. But..." Caroline pauses, swallowing thickly. She shifts a little so that she's facing Jackson, and when she meets his eyes, she tries to make herself as open as she possibly can. There's a knot of apprehension at the pit of her stomach, a tiny fear of doing what she's about to do. But Jackson deserves to know the truth. He's earned the right to know exactly what he's getting himself into. "Klaus wasn't just angry about me. He was angry because of the secret that I didn't want to tell you... But that I'm going to, now." He shifts towards her as well, paying rapt attention. "Jackson... I want to tell you a story. About a beautiful little girl... And the parents who swore they would die to protect her."

---

Marcel blinks lazily awake for what it's like the millionth time. His throat feels coated in cotton as he tries to swallow the thick saliva in his mouth. He's hungry, weak and aching all over. Still tied to the chair with the vervained ropes, but the knife Kol had stabbed through his hand is gone, his wound already closed.

"Good, you're awake," Finn says with a level of excitement he can't even process in his current condition. "I've just one more question for you."

"Ok," he breathes out, his voice no more than a rasp. "Let my guys go free and I'll tell whatever it is you want to know."

A wolfish grin creeps onto Finn's lips, his eyes glinting with malice. "How selfless... But we've already established that you don't know anything of consequence. However, while you slept, I've been thinking." He taps his chin with his fingers, narrowing his eyes as his considers Marcel. "It's a common belief among the werewolves that you were the last person to see Niklaus' child alive. You were in possession of the baby's corpse. And it's funny, but I've heard absolutely everything about that awful tragedy, except for one kind of major detail. So, tell me, Marcel, how exactly did the baby die?"

Marcel opens his mouth, the answer at the tip of his tongue, but nothing comes out. He has this consolidated fact in his mind - Klaus' baby died; I was the last person to see her - but when he tries to recall the moment... He comes up empty. The memory dissolves like a sand castle in the wind, blurred into forgetfulness, a frame missing from the sequence of events.

Finn's smile grows triumphant and cruel. "You don't remember, do you? You don't remember because you were compelled to forget. Why would Niklaus compel away the truth from the vampire he thinks of as his adopted son? What... Besides a desire to protect his daughter?"

Marcel stares at Finn, a cold settling between his shoulder blades as something clicks in his memory. He can't remember it, not exactly... But all of a sudden, he's certain he's seen the baby alive. That he held her in his arms. He knows her eyes were blue, that she looked like her father. But he can't, for the life of him, figure out where or when or how. He just... knows.

There's only one reason Klaus and Caroline would stay in New Orleans without their daughter, go through all that trouble to fake her death, even compelling Marcel to forget about it: if they thought they had absolutely no other choice. The little girl must've been in danger then. And by the covetous look in Finn's eyes, things are about to get a whole lot worse.

"She's alive," Finn says, his voice thrumming with elation. "And now you and your vampires are gonna help me find her."

---

Klaus is still riding out the high of his anger when dawn breaks. He demolished an entire bottle of bourbon overnight and it has barely dulled the edges of his temper. The fact Caroline decided to spend the night away from home isn't unexpected, but it only adds to his mounting list of grievances.

He is dreadfully reminded of why he spent such a long time loathing the prospect of ever developing foolish human feelings for another being. Why the people that have passed through his bed over the centuries have been nothing more than fleeting indulgences - too many and too insignificant to leave a dent in his unflappable armor. Life was infinitely easier before. At times, so quiet he could hear the rattling of his own solitude inside of him. But Klaus Mikaelson was afraid of nothing. He thrived amid chaos and destruction. Never wavered. Never hesitated. Anyone who dared to cross him was mercilessly crushed; anyone who would stand in his way got trampled over. Klaus was feared. Revered. A legend.

And then in had to come Caroline Forbes, with her smile like sunbeam, and her hair the color of wheat, and those eyes that are the exact shade of the cerulean blue he strived so hard to achieve with his paints and never quite did, the color of the infinite sky in Klaus' dreams. Caroline with the laughter that lights him up like firework. Caroline who dominates his every thought, his every breath and every heartbeat. Who held the pendulum of his insanity in her hands and became his place of calm, a beacon of peace in the never-ending turmoil of his soul.

Caroline, who gave him something to lose, therefore showing Klaus to a whole new depth of pain and fear like he'd never known before. A thousand years hiding under the shroud of eternity, using it as a shield against all manner of mundane afflictions, for a small-town beauty queen to make a face at him and cause the earth to buck under his feet.

Klaus suddenly missed the point of his own existence, only to find it hadn't been lost, but merely misplaced. It is now in her, the only thing that insists on eluding his control. There's irony in there somewhere, he's certain of it. Not that he finds it amusing, especially not in the mood he is in.

Guilt trickles in just at the edge of his conscience, but Klaus throws it away almost as quickly as it comes. He feels no remorse over Jackson. His jumping to conclusions wasn't brash as it was only natural. Every single person he spoke to mentioned the word wedding or ceremony . What was he supposed to think? Caroline goes about town giving out RSVPs and deliberately forgets to mention to the person she had been sharing a bed with that she was about to bind herself to another man for life in a sacred, ancient ritual. One that, incidentally, was passed on to Jackson by his briefly resurrected father. And then he finds the two of them in the middle of what sounded an awful lot like a nauseating, saccharine love declaration, with Caroline just on the verge of revealing the truth of their daughter to that scoundrel - without ever telling him a thing .

And somehow, he is the bad guy.

It doesn't matter that they were never going to tie the knots. That's all beside the point. What hit Klaus first, at full force, was that they were engaged to be married and he was apparently the only person left out of the loop. And once the thought registered, it latched, rooting itself in the depths of Klaus' subconscious, taking over every fiber of his being like a disease.

Jackson got exactly what he deserved. That beating was long overdue, if you ask him. Getting his nose where he is not needed. Meddling in Mikaelson business. Making those pathetic puppy eyes at Caroline. He is a nuisance, and one that is apparently obsessed with Klaus. He wants his girl. His father. And now he'll certainly want his daughter as well. Klaus is only sorry that the wanker's werewolf gene won't allow him to be in agonizing pain for long.

The sun is barely out when Caroline finally decides to grace him with her presence. Her angry stomps reach him almost as soon as she enters the compound. Klaus' fingers tighten around his glass, his lips twitching distastefully. He doesn't look forward to living through what are likely to be excruciatingly long minutes of a hideous conversation - although conversation might be a generous stretch; a brawl might be more appropriate - but he knows the pain needs to happen or else it won't ever go away.

Caroline storms into the room, blocking his view of the window as she plants herself right in front of him. She folds her arms across her chest, her eyes like flaming embers drilling holes into his.

A spike of rage rekindles inside of Klaus with a will, but he calmly sips from his drink, keeping as straight a face as his dark mood will allow. "Back so soon?" he asks conversationally. "I thought your prenuptial games would take longer." Caroline doesn't say anything, but her silence is positively hostile. Klaus' poise wavers under that unnerving gaze, annoyance seeping into his voice as he barks, "What?"

"I'm waiting," Caroline replies, white hot anger blazing underneath.

"Whatever for?"

"For you to get your head out of your ass and grovel , if you've any interest in one day, maybe , being granted a pardon."

Klaus laughs, a grinding, mirthless sound. His first instinct is to go for the bite, use his harshest words and draw blood. Hurt as much as he's been hurt. But even in his state of disgruntlement, he knows that is a destructive path of no return. Confrontation and aggression come as naturally as breathing to Klaus, which is why he constantly needs to curb his knee-jerk reactions, at least where Caroline is concerned.

He's learning his way through the murky waters of what he reckons falls into the category of a romantic relationship much like a blind man, fumbling in the dark. Instead of allowing the rather rich chain of words clawing its way up his throat to shoot out like daggers, Klaus swallows it down and opts for the righteous attitude - which, in a rare turn of events, he feels he's genuinely entitled to boast.

"You would like an apology?" he knocks back the rest of his drink tastelessly before standing to his feet, meeting her eyes head on. "Here's my heartfelt apology. I am so terribly sorry, Caroline, that I was the last person to be informed of your plans to wed Jackson Kenner in a traditional, ancient unification ceremony. I am sorry I didn't kill him sooner. And coming to think of it - I am also sorry I didn't leave those werewolves to become food to Marcel's vampires. I should've drained them all myself. How about that?" He punctuates his rant with a bitter grin that does not meet the venom in his eyes.

Annoyance tugs hard at her lips. "Call it a wedding one more time and I will make it one," she mumbles darkly.

"How else am I supposed to call it, when that's what everyone else is saying? The Bayou folk, Kol -"

"Kol? He's the one who told you, wasn't he?" She curses hotly under her breath. "I should've known he would do that. He knew exactly what I was planning and he promised to help me. All he asked in return was to trick you into thinking I was getting married because he wanted to see the look on your face. I told him no, of course, but I knew better than to trust that asshole." Caroline shakes her head, biting on her lower lip. And then she seems to catch herself, steeling her gaze once more. "But that does not excuse what you did. Beating Jackson to a pulp? Threatening to kill him? Snapping my neck ?" she asks, voice escalating into a shout.

"I did what I had to do. You were acting foolishly."

"Oh, so I was the fool? I figured out a way to free the werewolves from your brother's control, get them united under Jackson to protect our daughter, which you had been trying - and failing - to do since you set foot in this town, by desecrating the hell out of an ancient matrimonial ceremony so I wouldn't have to marry him, and I'm the fool? You made a mess last year because you thought you saw Elijah and I kissing. Remember that? I asked you to trust me -"

"Like you trusted me?" he snaps, voice ringing loudly with fury. "Tell me, Caroline. What would you have me do, when Kol tells me something that everyone else corroborates?"

"Not kill an innocent person, for starters!"

Klaus sneers. "Please. That man is hardly innocent ."

"You should've come to me ," she gesticulates frantically. "You should've asked me ."

"That is grand, sweetheart, to demand blind faith from me when you never showed me the same. Trust, Caroline, goes both ways. You didn't come to me, never asked for my opinion - you went to Elijah, to Aiden, to bloody Kol , but not to me ." Caroline clamps her mouth shut, something like guilt marring the angry lines of her features. "Why didn't you tell me? Why was I the last to know, if you're so certain your actions were so pure?"

"I was going to!" she fires back, defensively. "But I knew how you'd react. I was waiting for the right time - for you to be in a good mood, for us to have the whole ritual figured out, but things moved way faster than I thought, and then Jackson pulled me into these rites and then you showed up like a freaking psycho!"

Klaus scoffs derisively at her feeble attempt at an excuse, tempted to put an end to that useless argument right there so he can retire once more to the company of his drink. If that's the best she can do, this spat is bound to last till nightfall. But then Caroline's eyes are burning into him with that righteous indignation once more. "You know what's worse? You threw that ridiculous tantrum and you couldn't even be honest. Showed up yelling at me, ready to murder Jackson, claiming that it was because of our secret ."

"You don't think I'm concerned with you spreading the news of our daughter to those bog mongrels?"

"Oh, I know you are. I am, too. I delayed the entire thing for over a day because I couldn't tell Jackson, not without talking to you first. I even called you, but you conveniently didn't answer your phone. But that was not what all that was about, and you know it." Klaus shrugs nonchalantly, pursing his lips with disdain. Caroline swells with irritation, her eyes spitting fire at him. "So you don't mind if I marry someone else? Your only issue with that whole thing was that you didn't want me to tell Jackson your daughter is alive? You just really don't give a damn? Because if that's the case, then why the fuck did I even go through all that trouble? Hell, I'll just drop the whole thing right now! I'll call Jackson and tell him we don't need to put our trust in Kol anymore, we'll just throw a big wedding party and get -"

Klaus isn't too sure how it happens. One second, Caroline is standing right before him, huffing out anger twists from rage as her complaints blow into full-on rants. Her outrage brushes up against his own anger as she elaborates on marrying Jackson, sending a thunderous charge jolting down his spine. And then he retaliates by shutting her up with his mouth.

He kisses her with no meekness at all. It's hard, teeth against teeth, mouths sliding together in a devouring dance. Caroline grunts indignantly after a moment, wrenching herself away from him. She's stricken, her face laced with fiery indignation as she tries to regain her breath. For a split-second, Klaus thinks she's going to slap him. With reason, perhaps. A beat goes by, then another, Klaus' heart pounding loudly in his ears, and then Caroline cuts the space between them, flings her arms around his neck and mashes their lips together once more.

Her fingers dig into his hair as they stumble blindly around the room until he hits the couch. Caroline straddles him, grinding down onto his lap. Klaus moans loudly into her mouth, already half-hard, his hands sliding up her thighs, to her ass, pulling her closer still. All that animosity of before explodes into irrational need . Klaus buries his face on her neck, grazing her skin with his human teeth, though the desire thrumming through him is quite feral. He wants to claim her, mark her, make her scream his name as she's done so many times now.

You're mine , he says with every bite, every kiss, every blazing touch of his tongue. You're mine , and her breath catches as he tears her shirt off her. You're mine , when she writhes and begs and cries out in arousal.

You're mine, Caroline. Only mine. And I'm not giving you away.

---

This is not how things were supposed to go.

There was supposed to be yelling. Hurtful words would certainly be uttered. Fingers pointed, accusations exchanged. Caroline was going to make Klaus grovel for the chance to be forgiven, and he'd have to work for it.

He did work for it; hard . Just not... The way he was supposed to.

She has no idea what happened. They were in the middle of the heated altercation she anticipated, she was snarling at his face, anger taking over, and then... All of a sudden, her clarity was replaced by muddy, irrational desire. She doesn't know where it came from, only that it hit her like a freaking tsunami and she was as good as gone.

It doesn't help much that Klaus is always ahead of the curve in matters of sex, what with his thousand years of gathered experience and all. He does things to her body that should be outlawed, sparks flying inside of her like it's the damn 4th of July. Caroline comes undone in his arms in a way she simply cannot help and doesn't really want to try. Each touch, each kiss, each wet hot brush of his lips leaves a smoldering trail that tingles, making all the hair on her body stand to attention. The way Klaus looks at her, the way he handles her, even as they lose themselves to the heat and the friction, their heightened senses feeling like a blessing rather than a curse, it's reverent. Worshipful. And it makes her feel absolutely everything .

They have groping, smashing-together, sizzling angry sex. And it is... Quite something. She doesn't think she's ever felt this emotionally drained after sex before, like she poured everything out on those two stellar orgasms. All that carefully constructed reproach was completely wiped off her mind. They lie together in a messy tangle of limbs for a while after, doing their best to fit in the narrow couch. Caroline is half on top of him, her head resting on his chest, while Klaus has one arm around her shoulders and the other folded under his head.

She shuts her eyes, trying to gather her bearings, listening to the soothing sound of his steading heartbeats, his chest rising and falling in tandem with his breath. Slowly, though, as she comes down from the blissful perfection of the afterglow, the thrum of temper begins to flare up once more, its rougher edges dulled at how spent she is.

Caroline shifts a little, looking up at him. Klaus remains undisturbed, with his eyes closed. She studies his thick lashes, his lips, still bruised from the brilliant work they performed, the hollows of his cheeks where dimples cut when he smiles. She admires the ridiculousness of his hair, hopelessly mussed-up by her hands. It still strikes her how insanely handsome Klaus is. Someone as dangerous as him should not be allowed to be so beautiful; it's the perfect trap. How many people has he made dinner of after luring them in with that mouth and those cheekbones? Caroline was certainly guilty of having inadequate thoughts of him back when it was still taboo. Although - strangely, Klaus never really weaponized his looks around her. His demeanor was almost... meek, if that's possible. He tried to win her over by showing he wasn't just evil in a flashy package. Not that the flashy package was ever an issue. Far from it. It's hard to stay focused when he fixes those stormy blue-grey eyes of his on you. Still, Caroline thinks she likes him most like this: bared of any masks or pretense, devoid of the smugness and the bitter traces of his volatile temper.

And yet, right now, that serenity is so at home on his face that Caroline has to resist the urge to smack it off. He shouldn't be allowed this kind of peace of mind after what he did.

"You're staring love," he says lowly, his voice hoarse and lethargic, not even bothering to open his eyes.

"I'm not staring, I'm waiting," Caroline replies.

A smug and lazy smile tugs at his lips. "What more could you possibly want?"

"A sincere apology for how much of a delirious, rabid psycho you were today."

"I don't see why I should apologize. I'm not sorry for what I did. In fact, I'd been wanting to do that for ages."

Caroline props herself up on one elbow, looking down at him. "How can you say that with a straight face? You tried to kill Jackson."

He shifts a little in what she assumes is meant as a shrug, dimming the humor in his voice. "If I'd wanted Jackson dead, you'd be weeping at his funeral now."

Caroline opens her mouth, a snappy retort ready to fire, but then she closes it back shut, considering. As outrageous as that sentence might be, Klaus is not lying. She has been so mortified at what he did , she never stopped to think of what he didn't do, and why.

"You were testing him, weren't you?" she asks, narrowing her eyes at him. "You cracked his ribs just to see how far he'd go before he gave up on the deal."

"You were going to tell him about Eve, someone had to. Now you know," he says, unrepentant.

Irritation spikes through Caroline once more, and she sits up, collecting her panties from the floor. It's so unbecoming to have an argument while naked. "I never needed a test to know." She finds her shirt, which Klaus destroyed as he tore it out of her. Huffing in annoyance, she puts on his instead. "Jackson is an ally, a friend , one who's trustworthy and loyal, which is a rare commodity in this city. And one who will do everything in his power to protect Eve."

"You trust him. I don't."

"Well, you should," she snaps, shuffling on her seat so she can look down at him. "He's never done anything to make us doubt him or his intentions."

Klaus' lips curl almost imperceptibly. "He tried to marry you."

"Oh, so now you're upset."

Klaus' eyes flit open, thunder crossing his expression. "Any dimwit with half a mind has noticed the way he looks at you. He used Finn's influence over the wolves he wasn't strong enough to lead as an excuse to tie you to him."

"No, he didn't. He didn't even want to tell me about the ritual. I grilled it out of him."

Klaus' eyebrows fly up to his hairline. "Oh, so you're the one who wanted to push for the wedding ritual? That's much better, then."

"Oh my God, I cannot believe I am attracted to you!" she grits out with a frustrated grunt.

He smirks, the bare edge of teeth underneath. "Well, clearly..."

"You're so infuriating!" she fires back. "You know what? I am glad I did this. It's our best shot, and as far as I can tell, our only shot. I spent three days with our daughter, Klaus, and it is hurting me now more than ever to be apart from her. I don't want her to disappear in the world with Rebekah again. I want to be able to bring her home, raise her myself. I've missed out on too much already."

"I want our daughter here just as much as you," he says, serious now, pushing himself up into a sitting position. For a second, Caroline sees a flicker of hurt underneath his mask of righteous indignation, but then he blinks and it's gone. "But make no mistake, Caroline, I won't let you get married to someone else, if that's the last chance we have to take back the reins over the wolves. I'd rather kill the lot of them altogether and leave my brother with no one to command than watch you walk down an aisle towards Jackson Kenner - better yet, I'll kill a thousand incarnations of Finn with my own hands if I must before I willingly resign to let you attach yourself to that man for the rest of his pathetic life. I refuse to give you up," he says, a steely edge on his voice, face set to determination.

"Was that so hard?" Caroline retorts with a pout, folding her arms across her chest. "Maybe lead with that next time so we can have an honest discussion before you start throwing punches."

"Forgive me for being hurt when I was the last to learn of something I should've been the first to hear about!"

"Well, forgive me for being hurt when you didn't show an interest! I went above and beyond to wriggle my way out of that wedding and still keep the benefits because of you . Because I didn't want to give you up either and you wouldn't even give me the benefit of the doubt! It doesn't hurt to admit that you have feelings, Klaus. Sometimes, that is all you have to do."

Klaus locks his eyes on hers, his expression softening as he reaches out, stroking her cheek with his knuckles. "What part of my love for you is still not glaringly obvious?"

"The part where you'd think for even a second that I would marry someone else and not tell you about it."

Klaus drops his hand with a disgruntled huff. "I don't find that reassuring in the least, love. You should've stopped after someone else ."

Caroline's gaze slides from him, to her hands, folded on her lap. "You sacrificed something huge when you killed your father to keep her safely hidden. We all have to make sacrifices."

Klaus is quiet for a spell. "It was an impossible choice, how much I wanted to trust Ansel versus how scared I was that his knowledge would be stolen from him and used against us despite his best intentions. But I could ultimately make a decision because there was an obvious choice. Between a man I never knew and my daughter, I would choose Eve every single time." He pauses, tongue darting out to wet his lower lip. "But I don't think I could choose between the two of you."

Caroline feels a familiar flutter in her chest, a little bruised, perhaps, but as strong as ever. She is transported to the days following her transition, when she would be relatively fine for hours, and then all of a sudden she would snap, overwhelmed by her emotions again, overrun by hunger and crushed by how much her life had changed, and how much she'd never be able to get back. She would cry for hours on end, until her eyes were burning. Klaus never left her side, not even when she lashed out or screamed at him to go away. He was unusually quiet and hurting himself, but he was patient and caring with her during the worst parts of her adaptation. He would calm her down, bring her to bed and hold her until she stopped quaking.

Klaus gave her strength when she had none, believed in her when she would doubt her own shadow, loved her fiercely when she was broken. He is impossible and exhausting and, at times, inexcusable, but that's not everything he is. Sometimes it's a struggle to reconcile all the aspects of his personality - the bloodthirsty monster and the artist; the ruthless dictator and the kind, thoughtful lover; the selfishness and the willingness to sacrifice everything for the ones he cares about. It seems impossible for all of that to coexist in just one person. Maddening, even. She's seen all of those sides of Klaus, the parts he keeps closer to his heart like a secret, bits he's tried to bury for so long, afraid of his own vulnerability.

Some days are tougher than others, but that's something she's come to accept. When you live with the Mikaelsons, you're expected to overlook certain things and add a certain range to your moral compass. Which is not that different from what she had to do back when she was still in Mystic Falls, it's just the scales that have changed. The lines between good and bad are not as sharp as she used to believe. She can see that more clearly now that she's a vampire herself, and one who was forged out of anger and pain and loss.

Despite all his flaws, which are plentiful and quite dramatic, Caroline loves him. Even when he drives her out of her mind, when he breaks her heart, she still loves him.

"Well, you won't have to choose," she replies after a moment. "Because I figured it out. Jackson and I have completed the trials - don't glare, Klaus, it was nothing. Just a bunch of truth-telling games. I told him about Eve. And he swore to protect her. Now we'll have the ceremony, which will be conducted by his grandmother, who was not a fan of me to begin with, and now that you beat the crap out of her grandson, is even less happy to let him stomp all over their clan's traditions. And we're also going to need Kol."

Klaus scoffs. "I definitely don't trust him ."

"Well, we're gonna have to. He'll make the ceremony stick without the need for vows and marital bonds. And then every single werewolf who swears allegiance to Jackson will get my vampire powers. And I might inherit a few werewolf traits myself."

"You'll become one of them?" he asks, the creases on his brow deepening.

"Not exactly. I won't be able to turn, I won't get toxic bite, but everything else is game. I'll be as strong as a hybrid, and daylight won't burn me anymore. Next best thing under the sun besides you, wasn't that what you said?" Caroline cocks her eyebrows, a smug little grin dancing on the corner her lips. She waits a beat to hear a congratulations or an admission of guilt, but when Klaus' expression remains just as impassive and unrelenting, she stands to her feet. "Wow, Caroline," she starts in a butchering of his posh accent. "You truly are a gem. I am so astounded by your incredible, superior intellect. You are amazing and I am so lucky -"

In a blur, Klaus is behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her into him. "Nobody likes a bragger, love," he whispers in her ear.

"Well, you do," she says, casting him a glance. "Obviously."

Klaus buries his face on the curve of her neck, biting her softly with his regular teeth, feigning a roar. Caroline chuckles, turning her face and lifting his to capture his lips in a proper kiss. Klaus' hands immediately get smart, one sliding down to her hips while the other runs up to cup her breast. She's about to suggest they should move to the bedroom for round two when they're cut off by an intruder.

"Oh, bloody hell!" the woman curses with a horrified look as she turns her face away, putting her hands forward to block her view.

Klaus instantly tenses, pulling Caroline behind him, unashamed despite the fact he's the one who's stark naked.

"Who the hell are you?" Caroline demands. She's never seen this person before in her life and, these days, strangers are more likely to be enemies than friends.

"Someone who's already had the worst week ever and cannot handle seeing her brother's parts . Cover yourself up, Nik, will you?! Goodness!"

Caroline frowns, blinking slowly. "What?"

Klaus' grip on her arm slackens and she feels him sagging in relief in front of her, a smile as big as the world breaking onto his face.

"Rebekah."

TBC

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WELL. 😂 Looking forward to your thoughts on this chapter! I love my boy Jack, but I kinda enjoyed this chapter a lot and have to say that Klaus' monologue by the end was one of my favorite bits to write.

Are you still here? Wow, you're a champ! Thank you for coming this far! :)