Hi everyone! I'm not dead and neither is this story! So, in addition to the afore-mentioned needing more time to plan original story content, 2 things have happened:

- After a strangely condensed round of interviews that sucked up a lot of my time, I got a new job! There's going to be a significant commute while I'm in training, but after that it's work from home! I'm super excited.

- I got an awesome beta reader! Her name is kcatdino and she's over on AO3. She mostly writes Klaroline and she has an amazing sense of humor. I highly suggest her stories, so check her out if you ever feel like platform hopping!

So, again, even if updates are slower than I'd prefer, I promise they'll come! Thanks for sticking with me!

Caroline bolted upright with a gasp.

The first place she looked was her shoulder. It was fine. There was no bite, and not even a trace of blood.

A dream. Sighing her relief, Caroline slumped back against her headboard. A weird one.

Tyler didn't bite her, Matt didn't rush her home, and Stefan didn't spend hours comforting her through her hallucinations. Why was Damon even in those? Everyone else was important to her, but Caroline stopped caring what Damon thought of her forever ago.

And Klaus…

Her heart pumped a little faster at everything her imagination had conjured about him. Those looks (had she met a person who looked like that? She was sure she would remember it). That accent. The smell of cedar and something like dark vanilla that cut through the bite. The way he seemed to instantly know what she needed to hear. The fact that he took her free will into account (or was that some kind of act?) And his blood…

Caroline had never tasted anything like it. (Seriously, how did she even imagine a flavor like that?) Was that the difference between vampire blood and human? Or maybe it was because he was an Original or a hybrid?

She'd felt so… connected when she drank from him (the surprisingly gentle way he touched her didn't help). It was like that thing where sometimes you could just look at someone and understand exactly what kind of person they were, only with blood. When she drank from him, she had the sudden sense that Klaus was every bit as savage as she'd heard but also deeply caring, independent yet achingly lonely, thoughtful and impulsive all at once. She just knew. He surrounded and filled her until, for an instant, she forgot what it had ever been like to experience life without him. Was that why bloodsharing was supposed to be some kind of big deal?

Caroline shook her head. It didn't happen. It was something I imagined. But where did she even get all those ideas? There wasn't a person in the world who could be all the things she'd dreamed up. Was she even sure she wanted there to be?

And how the hell did she get home? Caroline couldn't decipher at what point her memories and her dreams were separate. Her stomach lurched as a sudden thought came to her. Did Tyler really break up with me yesterday?

The charm bracelet jingling on her wrist suggested as much.

She needed her phone. Now.

It wasn't on the nightstand where she always kept it. Instead, Caroline found a long, black velvet box with a ribbon and a small note in script she recognized.

From Klaus.

Oh no. Oh no, no, no this is not good.

With a sinking feeling in her stomach, Caroline opened the box.

… Is that? She closed it again with a snap. Took a breath. Opened it again.

It was. A diamond bracelet that looked like it was worth at least as much as her car. But that means… Caroline let out a truly embarrassing shriek at the realization that at least most of what she'd "dreamt" was actually real, accidentally dropping the box and its contents right on the floor in her alarm. The damn thing almost looked more stunning as it glittered up at her from the worn carpet.

"That was Klaus?!" He had no right to ooze sex appeal and charisma like that. "OH MY GOD THAT WAS REALLY HIS BLOOD! AAAAH I DRANK STRAIGHT FROM HIS WRIST!" She thought her normally vampirically-slow heart might beat right out of her chest at the memory of it. And the tender way he'd practically cradled her. That stupid tucking her hair behind her ear to get it out of the way move she'd only seen in movies. His breath on her cheek. Her sudden sense of calm, even before she'd sank her fangs into his skin.

"Nonononono it's Klaus!" Caroline couldn't think like that about him. There had to be something she was missing. Some diabolical plan that included screwing with her head. Right, that was totally on brand. She and Tyler had both crossed him, so now he was trying to come between them. And I almost fell for it!

Deep breaths. In, two, three, four, out, two, three, four. The air slipped cool through her nose and out warmly from her parted lips.

Once she'd sufficiently calmed down (sort of), she found her phone plugged into the wall on the far side of the room, and apparently on silent. Did Stefan do that for me? That certainly didn't seem like something her mom would think of with her daughter's safety and work on her mind.

Caroline was surprised to find she had quite a slew of notifications, including nineteen missed calls and a bunch of texts from Elena.

Elena

Stefan just said something about you and Tyler and sped off, but then he never came back. Is everything ok?

Elena

Care?

Elena

Hey

Elena

Did Klaus do something?

Elena

Stefan's not picking up either

Elena

Call me alright?

Elena

?

Elena

Get back to me please

Elena

This isn't funny. I've been sitting around worrying all night

Elena

Is Stefan still there?

Elena

Caroline Elizabeth Forbes if one of you doesn't call me in the next hour I'm tracking you down

Caroline checked the timestamp. That was twenty minutes ago.

Unsure of whether this level of sudden attention was flattering or annoying, Caroline sighed deeply and went through the rest of her texts.

Damon

Do I have to say it, or can you fill in the blank?

Damon

I told you so. There said it

Damon

Why don't you ever listen to me?

Damon

Call Elena btw. She's driving me nuts

Matt

hey let me know what u want for dinner and ill drop by after work. Glad your ok

Bonnie

Did something happen after we left last night? I just ran into Matt at the Grill and he's out of it. All he'll say is ask you

Caroline had specifically saved the one she wanted to check the most for last.

Tyler

I am so sorry.

Yeah, well, sorry doesn't cut it, does it?! But, leaning against her windowsill and staring at the single line of text, Caroline found her anger slowly dissipating.

He couldn't help what he did. It was Klaus' fault, not his. But if he's so sorry, where is he now? Why isn't he here?

The answer came in the form of a handwritten note, which she noticed tucked halfway inside the unlocked window.

Really?! Why can't he just text like normal people?! Then again, Klaus didn't have her phone number, did he? Or maybe he did and he just thought an old-fashioned letter made more of a statement. That sounded about right. Even the perfect stupid lettering of his handwriting was another testimony toward just how superior he thought he was.

Caroline,

I've given it some thought. Consider our little disagreement settled.

That said, I'm afraid I need Tyler for the next couple of days. There may be periods of time where he's truly unavailable, but if he remains unresponsive beyond that, it has nothing to do with me.

Panic immediately bubbled it's way through Caroline's entire body. Is he torturing Tyler?!

"What's with that face? I'm guessing it had something to do with all the screaming a few minutes ago?"

Caroline nearly jumped at the sound of Stefan's voice from where he leaned against the doorframe. "W-What?! Why are you here?!"

Stefan shrugged. "I slept on the couch." Not very well, or very long from the look of it. He had ugly dark circles under his eyes and a kind of slouch to his posture. "So, what's that?"

"A letter from Klaus."

Stefan raised a brow. "Another one?"

"Yep." And it started pretty similar to the last one, too. "One sec, I was actually halfway through."

Frowning, he gestured at her to keep going and crossed his arms. Caroline continued reading where she left off.

For the record, the only price he paid for my intervention last night was a bit of his pride. This is an entirely unrelated matter I've selected him to handle as he's nearly as invested in the outcome as myself.

So not torture. That was a relief, at least.

Do feel free to reach out if you find his absence too much to bear. I can guarantee a more than satisfactory solution, though I should warn you, it's impossible to content yourself with mere buttered toast once you've tasted caviar.

- Klaus

Caroline re-read the last three lines like three times. "Wait. Wait, wait, wait."

"What?"

"Did I just get propositioned by Klaus?!"

"Hold on, let me see," sounding dead serious, Stefan held out his hand. Caroline passed him the letter.

Just like last time, his eyebrows traveled further and further up his forehead the more he read. Caroline hardly breathed the entire time, until he disbelievingly pronounced, "I think maybe you did..."

"He almost killed me!"

"Technically, Tyler almost killed you."

"Stefan!"

He just shrugged.

That doesn't make any sense. Klaus has to be messing with me, right? It's a classic ruin-the-couple by seducing one of them scenario. That had to be it. There was literally no other explanation. "How is this my life?!"

"Beats me." Stefan was being way too calm about this. That is, until his gaze shifted to the floor and was apparently caught by the glittering bracelet Caroline hadn't gotten around to picking up yet. "Is that…?"

"YES IT IS!"

He just stared dumbly for a while.

Finally, he settled on "huh," and then mercifully left the room with some kind of statement about it obviously being a comfort food for breakfast kind of morning.

"Comfort food" for Stefan apparently translated to "a massive spread of at least ten days worth of calories from Chick-fil-A." It was like Tyler's bachelor/athlete diet on steroids. Caroline found it more than a little intimidating until Stefan reminded her that she was stuck with her 17-year-old cheerleader body forever, so she'd might as well enjoy the perks.

It turned out, a lifetime of worrying about her caloric intake was a hard habit to break. Still, Caroline humored him and indulged in more than she usually would. "Thanks for this," she said, leaning back and patting her stomach.

Stefan fidgeted a bit with a chicken-egg-and-cheese sandwich wrapper, avoiding her eyes. "Yeah, well… You're still recovering. You've got to take care of yourself."

It was almost cute that he thought greasy chicken with a side of fried potatoes was taking care of yourself. Boys. "I'm pretty sure blood would have been enough."

"... I wasn't just talking about the wound."

What the heck, Stefan?

Maybe it was the crazy in her, but this silence felt more agonizing than his usual brooding. Finally, he said "About last night…"

"Huh? What?"

"I'm not sure how much you remember, but you were talking a lot through the visions. And I just… There was one that kept coming up that… Did, um…?"

"Did what?" Oh God please tell me I wasn't going on and on about his brother feeding off me. That's so over and it's definitely, totally not something I need to keep bringing up to Stefan of all people! Damon practically paraded her in front of Stefan in the beginning to torment him with even more guilt than he usually inflicted on himself.

"Never mind," he said hurriedly, like Caroline had given her response too much time even though it felt like he never finished the question. Even so, he plowed awkwardly on. "You can talk to me about anything, okay? Even if… uh, if it seems like maybe you can't. For any reason."

"Um. Sure." Caroline wanted to ask what he felt like she needed to talk about. Instead, she helped him move the empty boxes and wrappers to the trash, and the leftovers to the fridge. Still, it felt like she had to say something because he was giving off some serious nervous energy (almost as much as Caroline imagined she usually did), so she settled on "Thanks."

With a nod, and a request that she text him if she needed anything, he all but ran away.

Caroline spent the next few hours alternating her time between trying to get in touch with Tyler and catching everyone else up on what happened. Even Liz, who usually didn't take calls at work, wanted Caroline to check in at some point and let her know how she was feeling. It was nice to have so many people worried about her, but the process itself was exhausting.

Particularly this call, in which Damon had grabbed the phone from a semi-hysterical Elena (who had apparently been filled in by Stefan at this point) to capitalize on all of the Klaus hate the event stoked and insist on another assassination meeting.

Something about talking to him today didn't just grate on Caroline's nerves; it set her entire body on edge, a lot like those gut feelings that lingered past his compulsion when she was a human. But Damon stopped being a threat to her a long time ago. Maybe it's just a side effect? It's not like anyone's ever recovered from werewolf venom before, right? "Look, Damon, I'm all for the whole 'let's kill Klaus' thing, but give me like a day to myself. I'm exhausted!"

"Suck it up and get your ass over here. Elena did after Big Bad bloodjacked her, tried to kill her brother, and got her guardian instead."

That was true, but Caroline didn't feel like dealing with Damon today, and she still had things to figure out with Tyler.

It had nothing to do with the fact that every time she thought of Klaus she kept remembering their too-intimate-for-comfort meeting and then glancing at the diamond bracelet and weirdly flirty letter on her nightstand. Suspicious and way, way too intense for comfort? Yes. But he was far more human than she'd expected after all the stories of Klaus the hybrid monster. And there were just these images of the way he looked at her and physical impressions of the way he felt against her she couldn't shake, no matter how hard she tried to bury them. It all screamed safety and familiarity that made even less sense than how Caroline felt about Damon this morning.

In the background, Elena took the break in the conversation as a chance to weigh in. "Tyler broke up with her, then tried to get back together and bit her instead. A werewolf bite, Damon! If Klaus hadn't offered his blood, she would have died while we were asleep and we'd be having a completely different conversation this morning. Imagine dealing with all of that in one day. Her birthday, too! I know you want to get rid of Klaus, but I think that can wait a little longer, don't you?"

"Yeah, well…" Damon paused, for once seeming to come up at a loss. "Okay, fine. Get some beauty sleep or whatever. See you bright and early tomorrow, Blondie."

"I never said-"

But the line had already gone dead.

All this time, and Damon still treated her like his stupid lackey. It was infuriating. Caroline was half tempted to just not show up tomorrow, but she didn't want to be left in the dark again.

She took a short break in her calls to heat some blood.

It tasted bland. Almost like cardboard.

Unbidden, a line from Klaus' letter came to mind. It's impossible to content yourself with mere buttered toast once you've tasted caviar.

"Oh my God, don't tell me I'm some kind of blood snob now!" That was the last thing she needed.

Stupid Klaus ruining her stupid diet.

It will be fine. She gagged the (cardboard-tasting) blood down anyway (it was for sustenance, not pleasure).

Break taken, Caroline called Tyler for the fourth time that day. As always, it rang out. This time she left a voicemail. "Tyler, I swear to God if you don't stop dodging me and face the music, I'm never going to speak to you again!"

Ten minutes later, her screen lit up.

Tyler

Sorry busy now. I'll call later okay?

Klaus did say Tyler would be busy for parts of the day.

Even though on a scale of one to ten Caroline's emotions were dialed up to twenty and she totally wanted to just lie in bed and cuddle for the rest of the day (and no, no, no, she was not thinking of the way Klaus' hands felt in her hair or that noise he made when she bit him), none of that was as important as making sure Tyler was okay and figuring out what was going on with their relationship, in that order.

Caroline

Sure. Thanks

In the meantime, some tv and maybe a nap sounded like a great idea.

Klaus ducked smoothly behind a tree. Not even a leaf fluttered behind him.

One of the hybrids he was trailing (Nathan? Nathaniel? Definitely n-something) looked around and sniffed. By design, Klaus was downwind. Still, they were entirely too dependent on their sense of smell; they should have been able to hear his heartbeat and immediately recognize another of their kind lurking about.

Honestly, he needed to put some more effort into training them. Assuming he wasn't forced to kill them today.

With Tyler out of town rounding up the inept henchman who kidnapped Caroline for the sun and moon ritual, and a clear plan in the wings to deal with the so-called father who apparently tortured her, that only left one item of business to attend to: figuring out what in the world his hybrids had been sneaking around doing.

Klaus had been worried that all activity would cease with Tyler's temporary absence, but it seemed the others were determined enough to continue without him. Was I wrong? Was he not the leader? Somehow, he doubted Tyler would have had the foresight to enact some kind of contingency plan.

"What's up?" Another hybrid asked the suspicious one, who shook his head in response.

"Thought I heard something. Guess I was wrong."

"You say that every time," Mindy stated with a quick shove. "If you're this scared of Klaus, leave."

"You're not?"

"We'd be idiots not to be afraid of him," Everett, the previous alpha stated. The semi-joking atmosphere completely vanished at his pronouncement.

"Oh, come on." Tony tapped his folded arm. "He's not all that bad once you get to know him."

Thank you, Tony. Klaus made a mental note to maybe not slaughter him with the others.

"That's the sire bond talking," Everett retorted without a shred of uncertainty.

… And Klaus made another mental note to kill the fallen alpha quite publicly.

Tony's mouth pinched as he thought it over.

Apparently in speech mode now that he had the limelight, Everett addressed the group. "Remember this, all of you: we're free from turning and Klaus has done what he can to ease our transitions, but we were still killed, uprooted, and turned into gofers. What kind of future do you think we have? Look at Tyler. He's still in his hometown, with friends, and family, and a girlfriend, but is his life anywhere near normal? No. It revolves around Klaus. It will always revolve around Klaus, for as long as the sire bond is intact. I, for one, don't want that. Do you?"

A few of the others scuffed at the ground or averted their eyes.

"Then we're agreed. And how do you think Klaus will respond if he finds out we're not blindly grateful in spite of it all? There is no denying that he is our alpha and sire, but make no mistake, he is not our friend. We're endangering ourselves simply by being here."

Klaus didn't understand the point. Yes, he expected service and loyalty in return for immortality, in fact, he had even made that bargain with a few mortals he had turned into vampires over his long life. Why did it suddenly seem to be such a problem?

"Is that it?" Tony asked. "Are we grateful because we're bonded, or are we bonded because we're grateful? I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure that feeling's mine."

Klaus had been wondering that off and on himself ever since he made the discovery. A bit of a chicken and the egg conundrum.

"That's what Tyler thought, too," Mindy said. "Last I heard, he bit his girlfriend 'cause Klaus told him to."

A chorus of alarmed cries all sounded at more or less the same time.

"Bit his…?"

"The vampire?!"

"That's awful!"

"Is he okay?"

"Is she okay?"

"Isn't that a death sentence?!"

Had Caroline even met his hybrids? Because it sounded like at least a few were worried for her. Klaus shook his head in disbelief. How does she manage this so consistently? What he'd give to…

"Your guess is as good as mine." Based on the dark tone she took on, Mindy didn't seem as unaffected as her body language suggested. "I tried asking, but he's suddenly on some kind of special assignment. Convenient timing, if you ask me. But the point is, Klaus isn't above using the sire bond to punish us."

"And don't forget what it made Tyler do to us," N-something added. "You really wanna be the next one to underestimate this thing and hurt someone over it?"

Just don't step out of line and I'll have no reason to exploit the bond. Why was this such a difficult concept? They were his pack, and he was their alpha. Even without the sire bond, they should feel some kind of kinship.

"How could Klaus do that to him? Aren't they friends or something?"

Friends? Klaus let out a little huff that was almost a scoffing laugh. Being friends with someone implied believing them worthy of respect, or equal in some way. What little use I have for him is servantile at best. If anything, Tyler had become more like a pet Klaus kept around for his mate's sake.

"I'm not sure that guy has any friends," a girl who hadn't spoken yet stated, sounding almost like she pitied him.

It was like all of the confidence Klaus had gained over the last thousand years came rushing right out of him, and he was just that silly, lovesick boy waiting for Tatia while she attended her secret rendezvous with Elijah (or was he the secret? Klaus had never figured that out for sure). The one who didn't belong anywhere. Not with the hunters, or the craftsman, or even his own family. Even in his afterlife, he was neither a vampire or a wolf. An outsider everywhere he went.

"Gee, I wonder why that would-" Everett cut Mindy's sarcastic retort off with a hand over her mouth. His eyes narrowed toward Klaus' general direction.

At least one of Klaus' hybrids wasn't entirely witless.

"Come on. We shouldn't be talking about all this out here."

Mindy nodded, and the group quietly filed further into the woods.

By now, Klaus knew exactly where they were going, so he allowed them a wider berth and caught up when most of them had already entered the Lockwood cellar.

Everett stopped N-something with a hand to his shoulder. "Neal, you're on point today."

Neal. He'd been close enough.

"Oh man," Neal whined loudly. "Why me?"

While Everett completely ignored the complaint, Tony shook his head at the dramatics. "You'll be fine. Nothing ever happens anyway."

"Yeah, but what if it does?"

"Coward," Mindy growled between her teeth, stalking after the others. The door slammed and bolted shut behind them.

Klaus waited until the tell-tale glazed look of pure boredom had settled over Nate's features before slinking his way up behind him (which was far easier than it should have been, even considering the difference in their ages) and slipping a hand over his mouth. Terrified eyes met his. For a moment, Klaus nearly forgot this was a hybrid, top of the food chain. "Now. What have you and your friends been up to, hmm?"

It took even less effort to force himself into Neal's mind than Tyler's. Near-instantaneously, Klaus found himself inside some past version of the Lockwood cellar.

Tyler stood in the center of ten or so recently turned hybrids. Based on the body language around the room, some of them were less receptive than others. Everett's eyes were rimmed with gold and his rather large arms crossed in front of his chest.

"Speak," the former alpha commanded. "What do you want?"

"Freedom."

Three of the others perked up a little at that. Tyler looked around with a heated gaze. "I was turned against my will, just like you. I had no idea what was going to happen. Hell, Klaus had no idea what was going to happen. After that… things weren't the same. What I did? I'm sorry. I am. But, give it time. Every one of you will figure out that you would have done the same. I didn't have a choice, and neither do you!"

There were a few cries of indignation, but Everett looked moderately queasy and averted his gaze. The gold in his eyes faded slowly as his thoughts turned inward.

"This isn't a life," Tyler continued. "We can't just sit back and let this happen to us. I've been on my own with this, and I don't know what to do. So, I thought if we all put our heads together, we might be able to figure something out to break the sire bond."

"Sire bond?" Nate asked.

"It's a vamp thing. The emotions you would have had get amplified when you turn. I'm guessing we're all grateful, and that binds us to him in a way we can't fight."

"And why do you know about it? Did Klaus tell you?"

Tyler shook his head. "My girlfriend."

A wave of unreserved pride surprised Klaus at the revelation. Clever. His smart little mate had figured it out before him and incited a revolution in his ranks without triggering his suspicion. Klaus found he couldn't even be mad.

"And the other vampires in town agree with her. It all adds up. I'm sired to Klaus. I'm guessing you all are, too."

"Other vampires?!" one of the hybrids asked. "You're dating a vampire?"

There were a few other murmurs and judgy looks amongst the others.

"We're part vampire, too." Tyler fixed the room with a hard look that brooked no further argument. "We'll live forever, and so will they. Forget all those old grudges or you're in for a rough time. Trust me on that."

If there was one small bit of credit Klaus had to give Tyler, it was that he'd come to consistently defend his relationship with Caroline, however much resistance he met over it (although, it had taken far too long to reach that point, if you asked him).

Klaus considered watching the rest of the scene, but he'd likely already gleaned what he could from this particular meeting, and the more time he spent in Neal's memories, the higher the risk that he would be discovered by the other rebels. As Klaus had suspected for some time, Tyler had been searching for allies. And found them, from the looks of things. It was time to direct Neal's subconscious forward. "How are your efforts going so far? Have you discovered anything?"

Everything shifted. It seemed to be daytime. Mostly the same people were in the cellar, but the tense atmosphere had changed to one of semi-boredom. Many of those in attendance were chatting amongst themselves (Klaus even caught a pair on their phones in the corner playing... was that Mariokart?) while the more proactive members brainstormed. Klaus recognized Tyler's outfit as the one he was wearing when he stayed over last night.

Yesterday, he concluded.

"That's a stupid idea!" Mindy roared. "How would that fix anything?!"

Tyler was unphased. "The bond formed after we drank his blood and died, so maybe if we drank someone else's blood and had our necks snapped or something the bond would transfer to them?"

"Sounds worth a try to me," Tony said with a shrug.

"Only because you're an idiot!"

"Isn't bloodsharing between vampires, like, a serious thing?" Nate asked. "I swear I heard something like that once."

"What's the big deal?" Tyler asked. "We drink from people all the time."

Klaus grimaced. It looked like he needed to add vampire sex ed to his immediate to do list.

Mindy wasn't having it, it seemed. "No! Not this time. I'm out! If it's not a big deal, pick someone else."

"Fine." Everett stepped forward. "Let's get this over with."

Surely they're not…

But it seemed they were. Tyler pulled the collar of his t-shirt down and tilted his neck to the side to give a very resigned-looking Everett better access. Mindy looked like she wanted to tear her eyes away but couldn't, and the room fell uncharacteristically silent. Klaus was pretty sure that noise from the racing pair's phones was them running off the track, but they didn't even seem to notice as their former leader leaned forward to drink from their current leader.

"That's enough of that," Klaus said quickly, unsure whether he was horrified or amused, but absolutely certain he didn't need to see what came next.

As soon as he snapped out of Nate's memories, Klaus arrested his gaze. The fear radiating from the (quite young, now that he looked at him) hybrid almost made Klaus feel sorry for him. "I was never here. Your watch went smoothly and there's nothing to worry about. As far as you know, I'm completely ignorant of your meetings. If any significant progress is made in the future, you will report it to me and then forget having done so."

Nate's entire body relaxed along with his expression. Klaus considered adding something to his compulsion about keeping the others chasing their own tails for as long as he could, but he honestly wasn't sure anyone could do a better job of that than they were already doing themselves. At this rate, Klaus was more worried for his wayward pack members than about them. Then again, what was I expecting with Tyler as the mastermind? All bravery and no brains.

Klaus took Nate's temporary daze as his opportunity to exit unnoticed.

Who do you have other than those whose loyalty you've forced?

Rebekah. Klaus had one person who had chosen him of her own free will. She would never completely understand him, as she only shared half of his nature. That was unfortunate, but fine. What plagued him more was the memory of her pained cry as Mikael dragged her by her hair. That feeling of helplessness as he stood in the doorway fearing he would suddenly lose her.

Klaus' supposed pack, the only beings in the world who might have supplied him with that sense of belonging he'd always been missing, but more importantly, were meant to serve as an army to keep his siblings safe, couldn't be trusted. Their obedience was an illusion. The sire bond was all that kept them from betraying him, and they were actively trying to break it.

Forced. Forced. Forced.

Klaus growled lowly as he pushed a low-hanging branch away from his face. It was like his father was haunting him from beyond the grave and he couldn't do a thing about it.

The worst part was how often the doubts Mikael's memory dredged up seemed to be right.

Tyler finally called back. Caroline picked up on the second ring and Tyler just barely had time to get out the "I'm" (hopefully for another "I'm sorry" because anything else was unacceptable) before she practically steamrolled him. "Why are you doing Klaus' gruntwork?! Again?! Is this another freaky sire bond thing? Is it some kind of punishment? Was having you bite me not enough?! I don't want you to owe him anything for me, got it?"

"No, look, it's nothing like that." Tyler sounded haggard, like he'd been expecting something like this but still wasn't quite prepared to deal with it. "I get what he's trying to do this time. I… agree with him, actually."

"And what is he trying to do, Tyler? Because Klaus and his stupid evil plans always go so well for us as a group!"

"Remember that time we got kidnapped for his ritual?"

"... Sure…"

"Well, that wasn't supposed to happen. Someone screwed up, and Klaus is out to get them."

It took a little longer than it probably should have for what he was saying to sink in. After a stunned silence, Caroline finally managed to bark out a "What?!"

"He couldn't get around me being his backup werewolf, but he didn't plan to use me unless something crazy happened, and you weren't supposed to be there at all."

"... I was… captured by accident?! Because someone's an idiot?! That wasn't just Klaus being like 'screw your rules I'm the almighty Original soon-to-be-Hybrid grrrrr'?!" Well, that certainly messed with part of Caroline's first impression of him. Not that it offset any of the other things he'd done since. Like stealing her boyfriend, taking control of her party, hurting Elena, and being the reason Caroline had been the first ever vampire recipient of a nasty hybrid bite (at least, she hoped she was, because seriously, no one deserved that!)

It was probably a good thing Tyler couldn't see her brain going a million miles a minute trying to re-process everything she thought she knew. As it was, he just plowed on with the conversation. "Nope. An accident. Klaus is pissed. And so am I! You should be, too! Everything that happened that night was because of this guy!"

Well, that was better than Tyler continuing to blame himself, but still, Caroline had so many questions. Why now? What did it matter if that truce they'd been relying on was completely shattered to pieces? Was this some sort of stupid revengey thing? What was Tyler's role in it? But most of all… "How the heck did this come up? Were you just, like, sitting around talking about me after I almost died?!"

"... Um… Kind of?"

Caroline's face ran hot at the idea of her boyfriend spilling all of her secrets to that guy, whichever one he was (she still couldn't connect the idea of petty Regina George Klaus with the guy she met last night, try as she might). "Tyler! I don't care if you're sired to him or not, do not talk to the bad guy about me! Ever! In fact, don't talk about me behind my back at all unless it's to be like 'why yes, I do have the smartest, prettiest girlfriend of all time and I love her very much, thank you!'"

"... Girlfriend?" Unlike the first time she'd foot-in-mouthed her way into a relationship talk with him, Tyler didn't sound particularly pleased.

Oh God, he broke up with me and I just said… There was no graceful way to backtrack here. "I… I mean… Um, pretend I never said that! So much happened yesterday, I just kind of… forgot…"

"You forgot I broke up with you?" Tyler practically growled into the receiver.

Instead of backing down like she probably should have, Caroline bristled right back. "Well excuse me for getting kind of overwhelmed! I dealt with hours of pain and hallucinations where everyone I care about told me how worthless I am, and to top that off, I didn't even know there was a cure until right near the end, so I thought for sure I was dying, and then I was rescued by Klaus of all people at the last second! Don't even get me started on how monumentally weird that was! A lot happened between point A and point B, Tyler! I don't think you're the one who gets to be mad here!"

She was greeted with silence. A long silence she absolutely refused to break. It turned into a kind of furious stand off that felt like it stretched forever while she glared at his name on her screen since she couldn't glare at him directly and hoped he could somehow feel the weight of her anger.

Tyler took an audible breath. "I've gotta go."

Of course he does. "Don't you dare hang up on me, Tyler Lockwood! Are we single? Are we dating? Are we on a break? I feel like my relationship status is kind of my business, don't you think?!"

"We can talk when I get home. I have to focus right now."

Caroline stared blankly at her phone and the little "call ended" icon. He hung up on her!

"Augh!" In a mild fit, she chucked her phone at her pillow and it bounced safely onto the mattress. Still, it made her feel a little better. Better enough for rational thought.

I guess I did kind of run out on him for the same reason after the first time we had sex… And Tyler never even called her out on it. Instead, he came to save her from the seriously nightmare scenario of being kidnapped by his mom and tortured by her dad.

Fine. She would just wait.

But that didn't stop her from pouting.

Well, that's it for now, but obviously this particular arc isn't over. There's still a lot of fallout from bite night for us to explore, like Tyler's mission for Klaus, Klaus' plans to get on Caroline's good side, and Caroline sorting out her muddled feelings. The wait for this chapter was a lot longer than I was okay with, so thanks again for hanging in patiently!

Kyra: Thank you! I agree that Caroline is far too forgiving as a character, buuut what are you gonna do, that's just who she is. You may notice, however, that I am laying the groundwork for her to get close to characters with tempers, so... =)