Welcome back everyone! As a rewards for good and patient behavior we have a full chapter of Klaroline! Enjoy!

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Katerina Petrova was alive and with the one girl he started to care for. The warning bells of betrayal and lies filled Klaus' thoughts as he stared down at the little blonde infiltrator. This was some ploy of Katerina's to murder him after having ran for six hundred years and he had to give the winch her credit because he was bloody blind sighted. Klaus' could feel the wolf coming forth from inside him as his double fangs sliced his gums and the tips stuck out, begging to break free. Begging for blood. By the way that Caroline's wide eyes shifted back and forth between his, the color of his eyes must have started to shift to the intense yellow of the beast. Caroline had both hands placed firmly on his chest with her nails slightly digging into his skin and her body was within a foot of his. If this were different circumstances, he would have only pulled her closer after nearly being burnt alive last night but now all he could feel was deception. Klaus stepped forward but didn't remove her hands from his chest as he stood less than a foot from her. Caroline opened her mouth to speak but her cut her off,

"Where is Katerina and I would suggest you to tell the truth because I am in no mood for anymore of your trickery Caroline." His voice was icy and spat her name out as if it was rotten on his tongue.

"I have no idea." She saw his jaw clench and quickly continued, "I honestly don't know where Enzo took her because we weren't exactly anticipating you showing up here. You weren't supposed to know about her until I wanted you too."

Klaus chuckled darkly, "When would that have been? Right before you decide to stake me with a white oak? Maybe that dream we shared was less about Marcel killing me as it was of your betrayal. Tell me, sweet Caroline, where did you manage to find a white oak at anyways?"

"Are you really trying to accuse me of wanting to kill you ... again?" Caroline's composed demeanor was cracking under each accusation he slung at her. She took a calculating step towards him, "What exactly would I be betraying Klaus? But it always has to be betrayals and lies with you isn't it? I don't want to kill you or hate you, Klaus. The only thing that could make that change is oh I don't know you killing one of my closest friends. " He ignored her previous question,

"So is this the point of our conversation that you start begging for her life? This is were you list all of the things that you could offer me in order to keep her safe?" Klaus crept inches closer while placing his hands on her shoulders. "I'll warn you, Sweetheart, there is no amount of bargaining that could keep me from torturing and killing the Doppelganger for her misdeed." He capped his statement off with a smirk.

"Her misdeed?" Caroline removed his hands from her shoulder to take a step back. "You mean her not wanting to get murdered so you could become even more powerful than you already were? How dare her want to live her life filled with free will."

"I can't just let her go free, I do have a reputation to uphold and I wouldn't want to disappoint anyone. She must die by my hand as an example to those who oppose me and what will happen afterwards. " Klaus closed the distance Caroline had put between them. "Why is it you want to protect Katerina so badly? I must say it's quite surprising that you are even companions considering she was the vampire that turned you against your will. You might say that she was the Doppelganger that set your life on the course that it is now, not Elena."

Caroline scoffed at his spot on assumption as she turned towards the empty room she had slept in to search for a place to sit. Across the room of the shot gun house was a smaller nineteenth century white fabric with wood couch that had been covered with a white sheet and she tossed it to the side. She guessed this was one of Elijah's items that he didn't want ruined by his siblings tantrums, although it didn't look so special to her. Caroline sat with her left leg tucked under her on the couch while the right leg sat on the floor. She leaned her back against the armrest as she faced Klaus, still standing where she left him by the door,

"You might as well sit too because I have a feeling that this won't be a short conversation." Klaus moved closer but stopped short a few feet away to stand with clenched fists. She couldn't stop her eyes from rolling, "OK but I'm sitting because I was nearly burned to death last night and I slept like an hour on this crusty floor."

Caroline could have swore she saw Klaus flinch at her words but wasn't sure. His eyes did a small sweep of her appearance and linger on her charred sweatpants. Klaus clinched his jaw but ended up moving to share the couch with her, his body stiff while his white knuckled fists sat on his thighs. "Why are you protecting her. The truth." The words came through gritted teeth.

"What I told you before wasn't a lie, I did meet her fifteen years ago and I certainly did hate her when we first met again. Katherine found me and Enzo while we were travelling while she was on her death bed due to the cure." She stole a glance at Klaus and his face appeared to know what she was talking about so she continued, "She wanted me to find her a witch to undo the effects of the cure and also wanted to used my extra strength or abilities as her bodyguard."

"And what happened to not letting anyone use you anymore?" Klaus questioned.

"Oh believe me, I was more than ready to rip out her heart and let it wash away in the sea but I didn't. For my protection and use of my abilities to find a trustworthy witch, she gave me something of hers that could be useful at a later date. Something I had not really thought of until about a year ago." Her tired eyes met his, "It's hard to believe but Katherine actually became a good and loyal friend of mine. Something I haven't had in a very long time, apart from Enzo, something that I didn't know I had missed. I'm the one and only person alive that knows every dirty, dark secret that is inside of Katherine Pierce's mind, things that she never even admitted to herself. I also saw how incredibly alone she was and how she spent centuries running from you, always looking over her shoulder and never settling... apart of me could sympathize with that."

"I don't believe I have ever heard Katerina Petrova and loyal used in the same sentence before." Klaus interrupted.

"I'm sure people could say the same about you." Caroline tilted her head as Klaus silently nodded.

"It's extraordinary how you can be surrounded by people but still fight loneliness." Klaus added, his coal black eyes bored into hers and he was using severe strength not to leave this house. "She has to die Caroline. I was forced to spend another six hundred years with my true form suppressed because she decided to turn herself into a vampire and I was owed a Doppelganger. Whomever had to pay the price would do so and did with Elena."

"Yes and you've been a Hybrid for what three decades? Why does it matter so much that every supernatural creature fear you even more than they already do? Will you killing Katherine really stop Marcel from wanting to kill you or your family so he can stay King of the French Quarter because I doubt it. You thought she was dead for the past fifteen years, just let it go and move on."

Caroline's voice held a pleading undertone and defeat was creeping in. She leaps to her feet, not giving Klaus time to respond and started paced the bare room with her hands on her hips. She felt herself lingering on the edge of insanity and her sleep deprivation was taking it's toll. This was now or never for her and she needed to say what was on her mind before she shut down again. Caroline had to know if what she was feeling towards Klaus could be a lasting thing or just a fleeting moment of passion. Klaus had confessed in his subtle way last night the feelings he carried for Caroline while she built her brick wall back up. She didn't want to change the man that was in front of her but Klaus had to know right from wrong when it came to her. Before she could let her fear take over and push him away like she had tried to do this entire week, Caroline stopped in front of Klaus just a foot away from his sitting position. A finger was extended towards him, her voice stayed strong,

"You want to kill Katherine but are you willing to risk everything to do so? I meant what I said when I don't hate you Klaus and I don't want to kill you. If you go after Katherine, I will leave New Orleans this instance with her and I will never see you again. I don't care that Marcel is still King of New Orleans or that my plans have been ruined, I will leave and never look back."

Caroline could feel her eyes start to well into tears as she spoke her next words and looked over to a random blank wall. She couldn't just cut Klaus out of her life but it had to be everything that reminded her of him because there was no way to forget about someone with their face staring back at you. The hardest part was when that face was two of her closest friends that would leave her at the same time. Katherine would stay by her side as they ran together, ran from Klaus or hunters or anyone else that would get in their way.

"Are you willing to let your sister loose the only true friend she has had in centuries so you can have your revenge? And just so you know, I'll loose Enzo in the process because he was wanting to stay with Rebekah's as a real partner after all this New Orleans stuff was over with. Despite what Enzo might try to cover up, he really does care about your sister and I wouldn't want to stand in the way." Caroline crossed her arm over her chest and stared down at her feet but forced herself to look at Klaus, eyes still filled with unshed tears, "I couldn't see Rebekah again because the only thing I would see when I looked at her face was yours and it would break my heart every time I did. Not only that but it would put Rebekah in a position to know where I, as well as Katherine, would be so I wouldn't want to put more secrets between family." Klaus stood at the end of her words and walked less than a foot away from her, his mouth part to speak but no words came out.

"I'm not trying to make this some ultimatum, pick me or pick Katherine but me letting you know straight away how this is going to be. This way you know that not only will you be hunting Katherine but you will be hunting me as well." Caroline paused to close the remaining distance between them to place her hands flat to his chest. "Despite what ridiculous things you have accused me of or the insults you throw at me, I still care about you. I can see past layers of the egotistical Hybrid that must have everyone fear him to see the person that I want to spend time with. I can still see the person that cared for his siblings and kept then safe for a thousand years while he ran for his own life. Not many people can understand the reasoning behind the things you have done over the centuries but I can. Even you wanting to kill Katherine has some sort of justification but that doesn't mean I can go along with it. So if you can live with those consequences for eternity then so can I. "

Klaus was still frozen in place as he listened to the little blondes words and her soft hands on his chest. Words that threatened to warm his cold heart and he would have done anything to hear last night. But those words were too good to be true and she would certainly leave him at some point, same as his siblings. "I can tell that Caroline cares about you and if all goes well for you the next few weeks then I honestly don't see her wanting to leave your side. " Enzo's incites from earlier crept into his mind which only further divided him. Anyone that went against him was punished to the severest extent and no mercy was shown.

"You want me to forgive Katerina for all wrong doings and let her roam free?" His voice was strangled over each word,

"Forget not forgive. Hate her all you want just don't kill her and I will personally make sure she stays as far away from you as possible." Klaus was so close she could feel his breathe on her cheeks and there was still one more detail she needed to tell him, one that would probably help Katherine's fate. "I also should tell you one more thing before you make your decisions."

Annoyance rose in Klaus, "What do you know, there's more. What are you hiding now?"

"It has to do with the plans I talked about last night at the club." Caroline cleared her throat and dropped her hands from his chest to sit back on the edge of the couch and Klaus turned to face her. "In exchange for my protection, Katherine gave me something of hers that turns out to be quite useful..."

Klaus cut her off with chuckle that held no humor, "You are not about to ask me to team up with Katerina Petrova because I might have to cut out your tongue for just speaking the words."

Caroline pressed her lips together to keep her anger in check, "If I could finish please ... No I am not that stupid to think you would be anywhere near Katherine to even work with her. I'm pretty sure she would rather burn in the sun then work with you. When Katherine found me fifteen years ago she offered me something that turned out to be more useful than I originally thought it would be. And just so you know, I am not using this against you so you can free Katherine because I had originally planned on finding you so we could work together."

Klaus' confusion and curiosity only grew as he took a seat next to Caroline on the couch, his body angled towards her, "What could you possibly need my help with that you would seek me out after decades of silence?"

Caroline starred down at her fingers as she spoke, "When a Doppelganger is a vampire her blood isn't of much use to anyone, it can still be powerful but for the most part it isn't different from any other vampire. Katherine gave me her human blood to do with as I choose and I figured that I could bargain it to some witch for a spell one day. It didn't even cross my mind that you of all people might want it and I can guess that Katherine didn't either."

"You have human Doppelganger blood?" It was like a light bulb went off in Klaus' head as her words finally came together and he lifted her chin to meet his eye line. "Please tell me what you are planning to do with it?"

"Hybrids. I wanted you to help me with turning loyal werewolves into Hybrids." Caroline swallowed as Klaus let out a genuine laugh at her words.

"I hate to break it to you Love but the last time I made hybrids it ended with them all being decapitated by my hand. So if this was your grand plan to kill Marcel, start thinking of another one."

"You missed the key word in my sentence, loyal." Caroline shuffled on the couch to pull her legs forward and lay her hands in her lap. "From what I heard, that was your problem last time you wanted hybrids. You didn't ask people if they even wanted this life, you just snapped necks and ask questions later. That's why Tyler unsired all your hybrids and had them try to kill you afterwards." Klaus almost growled at the mention of Tyler's name.

"What is it you suggest I do, host a tea party and accept applicants? Apart from my siblings and of course yourself now, most people aren't very found of me not to mention they wouldn't want to be sired. Word spreads easy in the supernatural community and any werewolf pack worth turning has heard of me killing all my hybrids."

"And that is why I am already one step ahead of you." Caroline smiled and watched Klaus' eyes light up with a hundred different questions. "Before coming to New Orleans I lived in Atlanta for over six months and do you know that there is a werewolf pack that likes to camp out in the Georgian swap?"

Klaus couldn't keep the smirk from his lips as he turned to mirror her position on the couch, leaning his arm across the back of it. This was why Caroline had attracted his attention all those decades ago, she was so much more than just a pretty face. She was cunning and had intelligence that far exceeded her born mental capabilities.

"You already have a pack?" Klaus finished her previous thought. "Please tell me how a group of werewolves would even consider being loyal to a vampire."

"Enzo found the pack before I met him while he was still after his revenge on Damon kick and went to search for him back in Mystic Falls. Years later I remembered him talking about a pack that turned near the swamps and he had befriended one of the local girls so that was my in. I convinced Enzo and Katherine to follow me to Atlanta and when we got there the pack had it's own problems to deal with. A rival pack had move into their lands and they couldn't fight them off on their own. I help eliminate the other pack and gained loyalty at the same time." Caroline stated with a shrug of her shoulders, "They also have my protection if another pack comes along."

"The loyalty you see in them is enough for them to want to die and become sired to me for eternity? Given my experience, I must disagree."

"That's one of the conditions of our deal we need to discuss in great length and preferably after I have slept more than an a hour. You need trusted and loyal werewolves ... You need to unsire the wolves we do turn."

"Caroline what is the point .."

"They won't be your slaves either Klaus to fetch your laundry and fluff your pillow at night. They will be given the advantages of a Hybrid while they still keep their free will and still get to live their lives as they please. They will be loyal to both of us so that when the need comes for them to stand in line to fight they will."

"And I blindly agree to your many demands, more that I haven't even heard of yet. You dangle making hybrids in my face as if I'm a dog that should beg for a treat. I will not be manipulated." Klaus glared at her from his spot next to her on the couch.

"I wouldn't try to either. There pack has twenty two werewolves and I have read every thought in their minds about their transition and what it is like to turn on a full moon. Nearly every single one of them stated they would give anything to be a hybrid but none of them would because they would have to be bonded to you. If you won't even open your mind to think about breaking their sire bond then there is no point in discussion this further."

Caroline scooted herself closer to Klaus as she shifted her legs under the arm that was still slung across the back of the couch and their faces were much closer now. He eyed her closer position and the tension in his body eased slightly at her contact. She dropped her voice to speak soft,

"If you don't want to do this then so be it, I can't force you. The blood has a preservation spell along with a cloaking spell so it isn't going anywhere. Sleep on the idea a night if you want to because I can only guess how surprising this is for you. The only thing I want to know is that you are not going to kill Katherine, at least not for tonight until we can talk more." Her eyes darted between his confused eyes, "You tell as many or as few people as you want about this and I would ask it be your most trusted allies. Enzo doesn't even know the blood exists and Katherine has no idea this is what I'm planning to with it. She would never agree to give you this much power."

"But you trust me... with this much power?" The double meaning in the question didn't go unnoticed.

"Yes, if you will listen and work with me not against me on this them I will. Maybe you could get everything you ever wanted after this is all over." Caroline bit her bottom lip a brief moment and Klaus' eyes immediately feel to them and back up.

"How do you supposed we convenience Katherine to let you use her blood for my advances? You already stated killing her is out of the question and that is the best way to eliminate the problem."

"Here's the thing, I technically don't need her to use the blood." Caroline let a tiny smirk play on her lips. "It took us months to find a witch and just as long to create the spell to reverse the cure so we have numerous bags stashed away. Part of our deal was to split the bags and we each hide one half of them without telling the other. It was a kind of insurance policy to ensure the wrong person didn't get the blood or if one of use were to betrayal the other, we still had our share. Enzo was never told about it because the less that knew the better. I have dozens of bags just waiting for me to pick them up."

"Now what would your friend say about you choosing to use the blood without her and with yours truly?" Klaus let his evil smirk show through. The tension had not gone completely but it was starting to fade. "I imagine she wouldn't be very please with that."

"I'm sure she will respond in true Katherine form which would involve a little bloodshed and broken bones." Caroline paused to meet his eye line with her voice barely above a whisper, "Are you going to kill her." There was a long silence before he spoke,

"I'll wait twenty four hours to decide her fate."

Klaus spoke with grit in his voice and Caroline couldn't help but feel relief slid past her shoulders. There was a small part of her that thought if he was willing to wait one day to decide if he was going to kill Katherine then maybe he wouldn't at all. The fact that Klaus didn't automatically chase after her earlier spoke volumes. But that was the wonderful thing about the Hybrid, his moods changed on a whim and he could wake up tomorrow morning to slaughter all of them. They need trust if they were going to move forward and work together with not only hybrids but whatever the growing emotions were between the two of them. He broke her racing mind with more questions,

"Why is it you want hybrids? You are as indestructible as I and you can kill anyone that gets in your way."

"What does a thousand year old indestructible hybrid want with an army?" Caroline tilted her head as she tossed his question back at him and it broke a smile to his face.

"Protection." He stated simply.

"I want to live, Klaus. I want to be able to stay in a city longer than a few months before a local hunter figures out who I am or one of them picks back up on my trail and I have to kill, again. Just because I can kill anyone who attacks me doesn't mean I want to." Caroline's gaze swept across the room before returning to his, "All those hunters, vampires, or witches I have killed over the years had families or children that will never get to see them grow up. Some of them I'm sure don't even know where there families bodies are buried. I know human lives mean nothing to you but after everything I have done, it still matters to me."

"After each century it becomes less significant, Caroline. You do what you must to keep yourself alive." Klaus offer his words but she hoped they wouldn't be true.

"I hope not." Caroline laughed without humor. "I want a home again. Mystic Falls was where I was born but that will never be home, not after everything that has happened there. Everyone needs a place that they can come back too where they feel safe and at peace." Caroline was starting to ramble but couldn't stop herself, "Plus lets face it, Marcel is only the start of what lies ahead for my future. First it was the hunters that wanted to just kill me and now vampires are learning about my capabilities so they will try to use me. Then there are the witches who are no stranger to hating vampires, especially one that could be a imbalance of nature. Witches just love balancing nature out."

"That they do." Klaus was finally calm enough to notice the dark circles under her eyes and remembered her tatter clothing from the fire. She needed to rest and he had already regrettably agreed to not killing Katherine until the next day so whatever else she had to offer could wait. He rose from the couch to extend his hand towards her and she wouldn't be Caroline without some resistance. "Time to head Sweetheart."

"Whose home?" Caroline crossed her arms and didn't move.

"Do you really want me roaming these streets alone possibly crossing paths with your Doppelganger? Someone has to keep me in check don't they?" He added more once he saw her anger resurface, "Rebekah also wants you there and she won't give up until she gets what she wants. Enzo was on his way here earlier to convenience you to come back with him and it would be lie if I wasn't here to do the same. It's the best place for you while Marcel is still in power."

Caroline scoffed at his accusation but Klaus felt his lips twitch upwards when she moved towards the door.


Author's Note:

So what do you think? Can they actually work together and move forward or will Caroline's plans make her fall flat on her face? I know alot of you were probably expecting bloodshed this chapter but I'm not finished with Katherine yet and for my story this is what fits best. If you are wondering, Marcel's party will most likely start in Chapter 20. Good news tho, I have a big chunk of the next chapter written already.

Please review and follow :)