AN: For klarolinegivesback project on tumblr (you should totally check it out if you haven't - it's for Doctors Without Borders, a great cause!), prompted by wonderful misssophiachase.
"Notorious bank robber Klaus Mikaelson didn't expect to meet the woman of his dreams during a bank heist. Although here he is stuck in a bank vault with his gorgeous blonde captive…"
There was something simmering in the air. The blood pumping in his veins, heart beating just a little faster than normal, adrenaline overflowing his body. He looked across the street to the getaway car where tinted windows shielded Elijah, now busy with hacking the bank's security system if everything was going according to his plan, that is.
Though with the Mikaelsons, there was no other option but according to plan.
He took a glimpse of the main entrance where Rebekah and Kol were ready on their position to make a grand spectacle. Kol caught his look and smirked at him confidently, they had done it a hundred times before but the mirth in his brother's eyes was just as fresh as during their very first job.
Klaus connected with this feeling well, he loved the theatrics of it, of a well-executed heist, this moment of silence as they entered the bank right before the panic set in among the crowd. He thrived off it, this sicken energy people emitted as they realized today might just be the day they took their last breath.
Though most of their jobs were clean and they tended not to leave any fatal victims, there was just something about this power one held while pointing a gun at someone's head that Klaus craved and the gory galore of this job never once ceased to fascinate him.
Today however, shaped out to be somehow different as the plan was for Klaus to infiltrate the bank through the back door and go straight to the vault while Kol and Rebekah were to create a distraction at the front, engaging the security guards so he could empty deposit box in peace.
It wasn't how they usually went about things but a few weeks prior, Elijah hacked into the Richmond Bank's logs and discovered a very intriguing deposit had been made by one of the most prominent families in Virginia, the Salvatores. The Eye of the Storm, a ruby-diamond necklace worth millions, a center of an over-century long feud between Forbes and Salvatore families.
To be quite blunt, Klaus had no interest in where the rightful ownership of the necklace lay, for it was soon to be in his possession anyway.
He observed his siblings stepping into the bank with determination, creating well-calculated chaos as planned and, after having waited a few minutes, he slipped on the mask and slowly got inside.
It was on.
Striding through the empty corridors towards the vault and taking a careful look around, he noticed with satisfaction that the plan indeed worked and no one was around.
Bloody fools, the thought crossed his mind. How could they think he was after the mere money when the real treasure was hidden right here?
"We've got a problem, brother," he heard Elijah's tense voice in his earpiece.
"What is it, Elijah? You assured me you'd be able to open the door, let's not disappoint now, how about that?" he bit out angrily.
"That's the problem, Niklaus. I hacked into the system and disabled the cameras but it seems the vault's just been opened. Someone's there already."
"Bloody hell," Klaus swore under his nose, swiftly drawing out his gun and reloading it while he approached the vault's door carefully.
"Don't leave a mess, I beg of you, brother."
"No promises, Elijah," he said quietly as he slowly opened the door.
"But…"
"Over and out, brother," he whispered, slipping through the door and taking in his surroundings, senses on high alert. He welcomed the tension and thrill that came with hunting someone down, sometimes, that was part of the job as well and he lived for it.
Nothing seemed out of ordinary as he examined the room, rows of lockers with security deposit boxes ahead of him, though his unexpected intruder might have hidden somewhere among them. He took off his mask and slowly strode towards the alley where the necklace was kept, moving quietly as not to alarm anyone of his presence but in this silence surrounding him, the sound of his steps seemed to reverberate across the room anyway.
Just as he approached the right row and was about to dive in, he heard a noise of someone running behind him. He quickly turned around and raised his gun, ready to kill whoever it was but all he saw was a blonde lithe figure rushing towards the vault's door and he decided to check who this woman that dared to disrupt his plans was first.
"Stop or I'll shoot you," his menacing tone carried a promise of just that and the girl paused, her muscles stiffening visibly.
"Turn around," he added almost jovially, although he admired the sight of her long lean legs clad in tight jeans, he was even more curious to find out who she was and what she was doing here.
Sighing heavily, the woman twirled around gracefully to face him and Klaus had to summon all his control not to show any reaction towards her.
She was simply stunning. Fair ivory skin, ocean blue eyes and gorgeous blonde hair coming down in gentle waves down her neck, V-cut top exposing her collarbones.
"Hello! You're holding me on gunpoint, least you could do is say something, instead of gaping at me like some creep!" he heard her clearly annoyed voice and it broke him out of his thoughts as he chuckled at her audacity.
"Well, forgive me, love, I couldn't help myself, you do look so ravishing," he said as she huffed angrily, crossing her arms around her waist in a defensive stance.
Intrigued, he took a step closer and surprisingly, she didn't flinch from his proximity, even when he took her by the arm and pressed his gun to her side, maneuvering her towards the Salvatore deposit box. Beautiful she might be, nevertheless, he still had a necklace to steal and couldn't ignore the fact she had seen his face. And then there was a whole issue of her being here at all.
"Besides, sweetheart, please do enlighten me as to why you are here, in a secured vault? Sounds quite scandalous, don't you think?"
"Well, that's quite none of your business, don't you think?" she retorted, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
Smiling dangerously, he turned her around and pushed her to the nearest locker, pinning her hands above her head with one of his, entrapping her with his body.
"Let's get one thing straight, love. It just so happens that I haven't shot your pretty head right away but that doesn't mean it's not in the cards for later. So answer me and I may reconsider it in your favour," he let out angrily, his eyes locked with hers as her breath hitched and her gaze turned fiery.
"Why should I, I've seen your face, I know how it goes," she said, defying him yet again.
Caroline couldn't believe her luck. Or lack thereof. Everything was going so smooth but of course someone had to intercept her right before she made her escape - even if it was a hot stranger, she realized as she raked her eyes over him, taking notice of his sandy curls and raspberry lips that could only be described as sinful. Even if he wasn't her captor, that man spelled trouble. Big time.
"Such a brave little love. Just the same, we're kind of on a clock here and I'd like an answer," the man demanded while putting the gun back on safety and hiding it inside his jacket, as if to squander her doubts somehow. Caroline quirked an eyebrow in response to convey she remained unconvinced of his good intentions and then her mouth widened in an amused smirk as she answered.
"Well, I suppose I'm here after the same thing as you, aren't I? The necklace?"
This time Klaus was unable to hide that she surprised him, his gaze hardening as she mentioned his prized goal.
"How can you possibly know what I'm after? And how the hell do you know about the necklace?"
"Please," she huffed, "We both realize there isn't anything worth stealing in those other deposits. And if you wanted cash, there's plenty of that in the front, no need to trouble yourself with breaking into the vault. And I know because it's mine," she finished fiercely.
"So you're a…"
"Forbes, yeah."
"I'm sorry to be the one to burst your bubble, sweetheart, but it's not exactly yours."
"Like you care," she bit out, rolling her eyes at him.
"Maybe I do," he whispered, trailing his fingers through the smooth tresses of her hair, unwillingly admiring this girl for her determination. Their gazes locked and it was as if the world stopped for a second, a silent understanding surging between them. The girl bit her lip, buried in thoughts, and then her resolve seemed to melt.
"It was my mother's. Her great-great-grandmother had got it as an engagement gift from Giuseppe Salvatore and when it was broken off, he let her keep it. It switched hands through the years and then, after my mother's death, my father had a brilliant idea to sell it to Damon Salvatore. It was mine and he took it from me. So I stole it," she confessed, the edge of her voice giving Klaus a fairly good impression of how much it meant to her.
Still, there remained the fact he craved the necklace for himself. It wasn't even the matter of money or pride for him, just the simple notion that it was a crime to store something that exquisite in a filthy deposit box. But then again, it wasn't about money for this girl, either, though he wasn't particularly willing to ponder over that right now.
"How did you get in here?" he asked instead, "It took weeks for my associate to break down the security system and the diversion in the front to engage the guards."
At that Caroline just laughed. He wanted to know her technique right now?
"Seriously? Because all I had to do was forge Damon's signature on a document authorizing me as his proxy and bat my lashes at the bank director as I explained how I was in such a hurry. Would've been in and out of here before they managed to check the proxy, hadn't it been for your stupid robbery. No mess, no fuss."
"I must say, I'm impressed, sweetheart," he said, tightening his hold on her while his hand glided down her body cautiously, "So judging from your rush to escape, I'd be right to assume you managed to retrieve the necklace?" Klaus asked as he shifted his hand towards her ribcage, his touch almost caressing as he heard her breathe in loudly, her muscles flexing in response.
Caroline tried to hide her body's reaction to his touch. She was aware he was only searching for the necklace, though she felt the heat of his gaze burn on her skin so it wasn't as if he remained unaffected. Wherever his fingers flicked across her body, it sent shivers down her spine. Why would she react like that?
"It's Caroline, not sweetheart. Or love," she countered, her voice strained, "And why would I tell you?"
"Caroline," he tried it out, the name rolling off his tongue with ease. It was fitting for this woman, he thought, the invisible strength it carried so very appropriate.
"I believe I could use someone with your expertise, love," he teased her more, longing to see her react and he was not disappointed when her cheeks flushed with anger at his refusal to stop calling her that.
"You don't like the idea? I would think it was better than killing you and taking the Eye for myself," he dug in deeper, though as the words left his mouth he realized he wouldn't be able to kill her now. It just didn't sit well with him.
Caroline realized that much herself, recognizing the empty threat. She didn't know how but sometime during their conversation something shifted and there came the understanding that if he hadn't killed her immediately, he wouldn't do it now. Though it was still stupid idea to antagonize him, yet she seemed unable to stop herself.
"One, I'm too smart to be seduced by anyone, least of all the guy holding me captive so you can stop with the groping," she scoffed, "Two, your cute English endearments are annoying as hell."
He leaned his head even closer to hers, their foreheads almost touching now and cast her a predatory glance. She met him head on, never lowering her gaze as their breaths melted together. She wasn't scared of him and that unnerved him. She was magnificent in her fierceness and Klaus found himself thinking he did not want her to be afraid of him at all. Which, of course, unnerved him even more.
"Are they? Or maybe you're just worried you're already fond of them just a little too much, Caroline?" he taunted while his hands roamed over her body, his lips formed in a victorious smirk when his fingers grasped over the hard surface of diamonds, Caroline's breath becoming ragged at this moment just as his was.
He didn't know at this point whether he was more turned on by her proximity or the fact that he got the necklace.
Well, that was a lie. He knew very well which was far more alluring.
"Three," she continued, "You want me to work with you but I don't even know who you are."
"Klaus Mikaelson." Having decided to take a leap, he answered, placing the necklace in her hand and taking a step back, "My family and I run this little business, you're welcome to join. Tick-tock, Caroline. We need to get out of here, it will only take police so long to get here. Decision time."
Caroline traced her fingertips against the ruby in the necklace, the colour resembling these lips in front of her that formed such a tempting smile. The Eye of the Storm. How appropriate. She looked at this stranger, Klaus, who turned her world upside down in a matter of minutes.
She might have been an idiot but she felt as if she could trust him, those stormy blue eyes of his told her he wouldn't hurt her. And really, what could she do after getting away with the necklace? Everyone would realize it was her who took it, she would have to be on the run anyway, even got a plane ticket to the first no-extradition country she could think of a few days ago as her contingency plan.
She might very well regret this later on but it was time to decide. Take a leap or flee.
"Fine," she let out and she couldn't help the rush of excitement speeding through her body, "I'll go with you. But I have conditions."
Klaus grinned satisfied as he replied, "Of course you do. We'll discuss it all later. Now come." He took her free hand in his interlacing their fingers together and rushed her towards the exit but then he felt Caroline push him against the door and locking her arms around his neck, capturing his mouth in a hot fiery kiss.
He reacted almost immediately, his hands drawing her even closer and fingers digging into her hips, their tongues crashing together until she pulled away from him ending the kiss as abruptly as she initiated it. But God, she needed to taste those lips, they called to her just like the necklace did before she decided to steal it.
"Come on," she quipped with a teasing smile, "You said it yourself, we need to hurry."
Klaus was stunned for a second but then he smiled back at her as they got out of vault and ran down the corridor to the back entrance where Elijah was certainly already waiting. The midday sun shone through her hair as they got outside and he couldn't help himself but steal at least one quick kiss from her.
"You're quite the mystery, Caroline Forbes," he whispered while tucking a loose curl behind her ear, "And I feel like I'll have a splendid time uncovering you, piece by piece."
It was definitely on.
So what did you think of this one? Do you like bank robber Klaus? I really enjoy reading about criminal!Klaus and writing about him was so much fun! Feedback really appreciated :) And big thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed, faved so far, you guys are great!
