Author's Note: I'm sorry for the wait! Thank you all so much for your support for this story! I just love hearing wha tyou have to say, and it encourages me to keep pushing on. I really do hope that you all continue to enjoy!

There is freedom waiting for you,

on the breezes in the sky,

And you ask "What if I fall?"

Oh but my darling,

What if you fly?

-e.h

Caroline looks over Klaus's shoulder to the mirror over the mantle next to where Elijah stood. Her golden eyes stare back at her - her own version of melted gold - but she lacked the black irises that Klaus had. No doubt it stemmed from his vampire nature. Yes, she remembered before he destroyed his curse that blackness was always prevalent in his sclera.

She laughs, a sudden thought crossing her mind. She turns her gold eyes to Klaus. "Blond hair and gold eyes? What an ugly look. At least with your dusty blond hair and black sclera, it breaks the colors up better." Caroline shakes her head. "Got to one-up me again, I see."

Klaus purses his lips in a playful smile. He cups her face to stare down into her eyes, curiously. He looks enraptured by her. "Not at all, darling. I like to think that your eyes are the most beautiful I have seen."

Caroline rolls those 'most beautiful' eyes, letting the energy of the moon out of her pores and she feels the inner shift change her eyes back to their normal blue. The tingling sensation across her skin that she usually only felt when laying with Klaus was brimming lightly beneath the top layers of her flesh, and it fades with the moonlight. She's not sure if it's a conditioned response to Klaus because he's the only person who brings that feeling out in her, or if it's something that the moonlight does to her. She just doesn't know.

"More beautiful than my normal eyes?" Caroline asks playfully.

Klaus flashes a bit of his teeth with his smile. "To me, love, they are both your normal eyes."

Caroline laughs, shaking her head as she pulls his hands from her face. "That was the charming right answer, Klaus. I applaud you."

Klaus laughs softly, eyes crinkling a bit more with his smile. "Thank you, love."

Caroling looks down at his hands wrapped up in her own. She laces her fingers through his before looking between the two brothers, Elijah is still staring at her, but his mind appears like it's elsewhere. He blinks a few times when he realizes her eyes are on him. She says, softly, "So, have you two geezers seen anything like that before? A werewolf who can do that?"

Despite his astonishment, it was Elijah who spoke first. "Yes, in fact. The only werewolf, aside from Niklaus now, that I know of that could partially transform," he looks over at Klaus as if the two were melding minds with just the linking of their eyes, "would be pregnant werewolves. They cannot change on the full moon, but during the night, they are able to partially transform, if my memory serves me."

Klaus nods. "Yes, but that is only on the night of the full moon, not in the days that follow." He turns his blue eyes back to Caroline. "No, what you are doing is... odd indeed, but honestly fascinating."

"But you don't know how this is possible?" Caroline asks.

Klaus shakes his head, still studying her eyes. "No, love, but I am more than happy to see if I can figure it out."

Caroline feels a little bit better knowing that there was someone else out there that was looking out for her. Even if it was to fulfill his own self-interest, Caroline couldn't help but feel better knowing that Klaus was looking into the strangeness too.

"Okay," Caroline says before she remembers the other thing she wanted to show him. "Oh, hey, so look at this. You know about witchy hoodoo voodoo, stuff, right?"

Caroline pulls her hands away from his to kneel down and dig around in her backpack until she pulls out the thin, silver dagger with strange writings on the handle and along the blade that she had wrapped up in a leather bind to stop it from cutting up all of her stuff. She holds it up for him to see. "This looks like something cool that you would like, right?"

Klaus takes the knife from her, pulling off the leather binding to stare at the carvings into the silver metal. His lips part as he turns the blade toward the light of the fireplace. Elijah turns his head a bit, looking at the metal with his eyebrows pulling together.

His dark eyes skim the carvings before looking up at Caroline. "Where did you acquire this?"

Caroline shrugs her shoulders. "Honestly? Someone gave it to me. I helped out this witch from an ordeal and she gave it to me. She said it belonged to a witch of impressive power that lived a long time ago. She said it was blessed by the witch for her werewolf lover or something like that."

Klaus's full lips press together into a thin line before looking back at Caroline. "Do you know what this is?"

Caroline shrugs her shoulders. "Not really, no. But do you?"

Is it just her or do his eyes look like they're misting up a bit? "I do..." he says softly, staring at her. Elijah's eyebrows pull together as he looks at the side of his brother's head.

"Do you want it?" Caroline asks. He looks like he's in pain. So many emotions flicker in his eyes and Caroline feels like he's afraid. Like he wants it but doesn't want to put into words that he wants it. She's not sure why that is, but there was still so much about him that she didn't know. Klaus was very old and is a very complex person. She could tell he wanted it, but couldn't find the words for it, so she asks, instead. "How about we make a deal, then?"

His eyebrows pull together a bit. "What sort of deal?"

"I'll trade you that knife for a place to stay for a few days," Caroline says, shrugging her shoulders. Elijah gives her a sideways look, at first confused, and then it seems like he realized what she was doing.

"Caroline," Klaus says, finally looks away from the knife to the girl in front of him. "I was going to let you stay, anyway. You don't have to barter your way into staying here."

"You know I don't like handouts," Caroline says, keeping her voice light like she didn't really care one way or the other. "So how about it? Fair trade? I get a couple of nights free to stay over and you get to keep that old knife?"

Klaus considers for a moment, looking down at the knife for a moment before nodding. "Yes. That's a fair trade." He stares at her for a moment, thinking about something before looking back down at the knife.

"If you guys don't mind, I think I'm going to shower and get some sleep before it gets too late, I'm exhausted." She looks between both brothers. "Enjoy your new knife. Goodnight!"

"Goodnight..." Klaus says, walking over to the couch to sit down, still looking at the knife.

"I'll show you to your room," Elijah says pleasantly, casting one more look at his brother before gesturing for her to follow him. He leads her back to foyer then to the stairways and leading her up one side. Once they reach the hall at the top, he leads her past a few rooms before opening one and stepping aside. "Here we are, hopefully, it'll be comfortable for you."

"Elijah, I'm used to sleeping on a bench or couches of party friends," Caroline says easily, placing her backpack onto the ground next to the bed before turning to look at the polished vampire standing respectfully just inside the doorway. "So, anything with a touch of padding would be a blessing."

"Why do you choose to live like that?" Elijah asks, eyebrows pulling together. "Niklaus fancies you. I'm sure he would allow you to stay here free of charge."

Caroline waits a moment, hoping that Klaus wasn't listening in, which he wasn't she could hear him pouring himself a drink down in the other room still. She lowers her voice and says, softly, "I... know. I know he would. But..." she steps closer to him. "Klaus has been so nice to me. He's really been helping me out when he didn't have to. I'm selfish enough to ask for a few nights, but not to make him feel like he has to keep helping me. I'm not sure if I sound foolish for saying this, but he's... well, he's my friend. I don't want to make it seem like I'm using him."

Elijah's eyes narrow slightly, not in anger or annoyance but in curiosity. "You... are an interesting person, Caroline. I thank you for being so thoughtful with my brother. He's a complex individual that doesn't make friends easily or for long, but you have proven to be very kind. Perhaps kinder than my brother deserves, but I thank you."

"Trust me," Caroline says, shaking her head. "I'm getting more from our friendship than he is."

"Monetary things perhaps," Elijah agrees placatingly. "But you offer my brother something I don't think he's had in abundance for a long time. At least not since he and I went our separate ways." Caroline raises an eyebrow at him, curiously. Elijah elaborates, "Companionship. Decent human companionship."

Caroline gives him a look. "I'm not sure that I would call it that."

"Your relationship with my brother appears to be complex," Elijah admits, carefully dancing across the fact that it's obvious that the two of them were in a sexual relationship that is starting to expand into an actual friendship. But they weren't exactly hiding it. Just not outwardly addressing it. "But I would like to think that I'm a good judge of character, although there are parts of my life that prove otherwise, most of the time it's pretty spot on. As I see it, you are welcome in this house with our family."

Caroline feels a strong emotion well up in her chest that she quickly stomps down. "Thank you, Elijah, but I don't want to wear out my welcome. I know that our relationship - Klaus and mine - really works because we don't spend enough time getting on each other's nerves. We stay together just long enough before we start to get those annoying snippets of each other and move on. It works."

"But aren't you tired of running?" Elijah asks softly, brown eye kind.

Caroline sighs, staring back into his eyes. "Yes," she admits. "I am so tired of running all the time. But I don't have anywhere to go. I can't go back to Cassie's house, not without her. And I can't go back to live with my parents, not as I am. And to be honest, it's been long enough that I don't really remember where they live anymore." Caroline shrugs her shoulders before crossing her arms over her chest. "As dumb as it sounds..." she says softly, avoiding Elijah's eyes. "All I have now is Klaus."

"That's not dumb," Elijah disagrees, and he sounds genuine about it. "My brother... he bonds with people in a way I don't understand. But I like you, Caroline. And I don't think this can be considered using Niklaus and believe me, no one can pressure him to do anything he doesn't want."

Caroline smiles at that. "Yeah, he's pretty headstrong."

Elijah smiles lightly back at her. "You could say that." He looks down at his suit, straightening it out and removing invisible dust from it.

"I don't know what to do," Caroline admits. "Maybe I'll think more about it. For now, a few days. That's all I'll ask for."

Elijah tips his head respectfully. "I can respect that. Rest now, Caroline. I shall leave you."

He turns to do just that when she calls out to him. "Elijah, wait." He does, turning to face her once more. "That knife. Was it alright to give it to him? Klaus, I mean. He looked so sad."

Elijah considers for a long moment before nodding. "Yes. It was right for him to have it. That knife appears as though it belonged to our mother." Elijah stares off for a moment. "And gifted it to Niklaus's true father."

Caroline opens her mouth, wanting to ask for more, but realizes that Elijah isn't the one she wants to ask. She wanted Klaus to tell her about it, but only because he wanted to. He confessed to being the product of adultery from his mother and one of the hated werewolf neighbors. But he didn't say much more about it. So, she closes her mouth and nods.

"Thank you, Elijah."

"You're welcome. Thank you, Caroline."

With that, Elijah leaves, and he kindly enough closes the door for her behind himself.

Caroline waits a moment, mind whirling about a lot of things. Klaus's family, his mom, dad, and brother. The chances it was for her to be gifted with something that once belonged to Klaus's mother. Meeting Elijah and him turning out to be really nice. Having run into Klaus out of pure luck. The fact that even Klaus's brother was okay with her just freeloading off of Klaus.

She lets out a long, drawn-out sigh, turning to admire the room and attached bathroom. No matter how much time she spends with Klaus, she simply can't get over the constant lap of luxury that he lives in. It's so different from the two other sides of her life. Living homeless on the street and living as lower, middle class with her aunt. She walks around the room, admiring it all for a few minutes before finally turning on the shower.

She looks into the mirror at herself. Her long blond hair pulled up into a messy bun. Her blue eyes are slightly bloodshot from inadequate sleep. She is wearing Klaus's long sleeve henley that she stole from him the first time that they were together. It's much more worn out now. It's fraying a bit around the hem, but she loved it.

Maybe if this doesn't work out and she decides to leave again, she'll steal another one of his shirts.

Caroline opens her eyes, seeing the moonlight filtering in through the curtains. She's tired, but it doesn't feel right, being alone in this room. She's been tossing and turning since she collapsed into the soft bed. She slowly pulls the covers off of her body and walks to the door, opening it up and looking into the dark hallway. She listens to the quiet house, honing in on the other two other heartbeats and breathing patterns, straining her ears until she can hone in on Klaus's.

She's spent many nights listening to the sound of Klaus's breathing. Now she can separate it from Elijah's. She walks down the hall, slowly, following the sound of Klaus's breathing all the way to his bedroom. Naturally, it's probably the largest in the house and actually decorated compared to the one that she occupies that is set up more for aesthetic, rather than because someone was actually living in it. Klaus's room holds his personality. Small little things scattered about that accented Klaus Mikaelson.

Caroline stops at the door, staring in at his sleeping form. He's lying on his back in bed with the moonlight turning his already pale skin paperwhite across his bare chest. She can see his chest rise and fall, and hear his even heart beating.

She blinks a few times, returning her senses back to normal. She opens her mouth, about to call out to him, when he speaks first, "Come to me, little wolf, I can't very well sleep with you tossing and turning so far away."

Caroline closes her mouth, closing the door behind her softly before walking across the room slowly and lifts the silken sheets and lays her head down on his shoulder, curling around him. And it's different. He feels like Klaus, except now, he's burning hot. His body is on fire. Not slightly cold like she was used to. He was warmer than even she was.

Maybe it was his hybrid nature that makes it so.

At first, Caroline wondered if the heat would burn her alive, but then she wrapped herself around him like she always did and it felt perfect. He turns onto his side, wrapping around her too, burying his nose into her hair and breathing deeply. And so does she. She breathes him in deeply. He took a shower before bed, too, she can smell his body wash and shampoo. She presses her face into his chest, letting her hand run up and down the smooth plains of his back. She feels a rumble in his chest as he pulls her closer.

Every inch of her body feels like it's on fire. They bonded so well together before he awakened his werewolf blood, but now that he has, she feels like they are two puzzle pieces that fit perfectly together. Something about being with him felt so perfectly right. That tingle that she felt before is now a thousandfold stronger. Perhaps she is the only one that feels this way, but honestly, she loves this feeling. Perhaps it's a werewolf thing.

"Klaus," Caroline whispers, snuggling into his chest, her body being blasted with that wonderful scent that is making her feel dizzy.

"Caroline..."

"I know this is going to sound weird but I have to," Caroline says, feeling like she could finally fall asleep. "You feel amazing."

Klaus's laugh is soft and breathless in the quiet night as he presses full lips against her forehead before relaxing against her as the sleep begins to claim both of them. Just as Caroline is about to fall asleep, listening to the sound of Klaus's heart beating, she hears him softly whisper into the night, "And you, little wolf, feel absolutely divine."

"You want to take me on a date around Mystic Falls and you're inviting your big brother to come with?" Caroline asks, her eyebrows raising toward her hairline as she gives the hybrid a sideways glance.

"Don't mind him, love, my dear brother simply doesn't trust me to uphold my end of our bargain," Klaus says flippantly, casting a high browed look of his own toward his brother.

Elijah looks over at his brother in a manner that wasn't so amused. Caroline rolls her eyes, wondering what it was that they were talking about but decided that it probably wasn't any of her business so she lets it be. She looks around at all the little shops of downtown Mystic Falls.

Caroline looks over at herself in one of the shop windows, feeling pretty in her high waisted jeans that were torn at the knees, sleeveless yellow shirt and worn sneakers. Klaus's top level of vanity - or perhaps it's something his female friends left behind - but she found and straightener that she used to artfully curl her mid-back length hair.

She didn't have to carry around a huge backpack and she felt crazy light and pretty for the first time in a long time. Klaus got her one of those phone covers with the little slot in the back for I.D and a card, she felt the lightest she's ever been. She is used to carrying her entire life on her back. It's only with Klaus that she can leave her entire life somewhere and trust that it's going to be stolen.

"I'll be okay," Caroline says, looking over at the two brothers. "If you have something that you have to do, don't let me get in your way. I'm just going to explore a bit. I'll call you if I get lost." She looks in a few different windows of the shops as they pass.

"Have you been here before?" Elijah asks.

The question kind of surprised her. "No," she says, then admits, "Well, I don't think so. I've been so many places that everything starts to kind of blend together when you haven't the time to really take it all in. This place is somewhat familiar but that could be because I've seen a dozen like it."

"That makes sense," Elijah says carefully, "but I don't know how I feel about leaving a young girl alone in a strange city."

"I'm not a young girl," Caroline says automatically. "I'm seventeen. Which I know is basically nothing to the two men who watched the first sunrise that there ever was, but I'm basically an adult in today's day and age."

She catches Klaus's wily smile in the reflection of one of the shops and she had to face forward to hide her own.

"Yes, well, you are still young to human standards, and the world is a dangerous place. Why, Niklaus, if you so fancy Caroline, do you allow her to wonder about the streets? She's a young werewolf."

"And I have offered many times for her to simply stay with me, but I have this terrible nack of losing her when she wishes to leave," Klaus says. "What would you have me do? Tie her down? She doesn't wish to stay so I won't force it."

"Now is the time that you show temperance in the form of your controlling nature?" Elijah asks in disbelief, shaking his head as he neatly folds one of the rolls of his sleeves to make them equal again on his forearms. Klaus watches the motion with pursed red lips, looking annoyed.

"He called you out on being an ancient, impulsive control freak," Caroline jests, grinning at the annoyed look pointed in her direction now.

Klaus huffs, looking like he's trying to decide which point he's going to argue about. "Would you have me force you to stay? Strip away your freedom you covet so closely?"

"No," Caroline admits, feeling claustrophobic just thinking about it. "And I know that you could so thank you for not." She hesitates a moment, considering something before turning to look at Klaus. "Do you want me to stay? To hang around for a bit?"

Klaus opens his mouth, ready to continue to defend his uncharacteristically noble position when he processes her words. He blinks a few times, licking his lips stained red with new blood flowing through his system before saying, "Yes. I would much like for you to stay." He narrows his eyes, walking closer to her to stare down into her eyes. "Why? Are you thinking about staying for a while?"

"I don't know," Caroline admits, she reaches up, twirling one of the blond curls and Klaus's eyes watch the movement for a moment before returning to her own eyes. "I am honestly worn down, Klaus. I want to find my aunt. I'll never stop looking. But I'm coming to face the very real reality that I might be running around in circles looking for her and missing very important leads because I'm all over the place." Caroline blinks a few times, feeling her heart rate pick up. And judging from the way that Klaus tilts his head, he must have heard it. "I'm scared," she admits, "because I'm considering staying for a bit. But it's got to be on my time, Klaus. I could up and leave whenever, but I know that it makes you made when I just go."

Klaus sucks in a deep breath, saying evenly, "No. I don't like it when you just up and leave, but at least I don't hold you back."

"I know," Caroline says softly. "Thank you for that. But will you be able to let me go in a month when I have to go? Or in a year? We've been keeping our time together manageable. Will me offering to stay longer ruin that?"

"No," Klaus says right away, then a small half-smile graces those full lips. "I think we'll be fine."

Caroline hopes that he believes that as much as the swell in her chest makes her believe it, even if only for a moment. Her heart is pounding her chest and she places both her hands over it hoping to smother the noise a bit. "I'm scared. We have something really good. You'll tell me to go if you feel like I'm ruining it, right?"

"You're not going to - "

Caroline looks into his eyes. "I know what you are trying to say. But promise me. I like what we have. I like the closeness. I like the realness of it. The genuine feeling. I like the way that you look at me. I don't want anything to change that. So please, promise me."

Klaus looks like he wants to argue, but decides that it's easier to just agree. So he nods. And rolls his eyes, looking annoyed, but she chooses to ignore the rest of that. When she gives him a look, he says, "Fine, Caroline, fine. I promise."

"Good," Caroline says, clenching her hands tighter over her shirt, praying that her pounding heart would start to slow down. She takes a few deep breaths turning slowly to see a man standing next to her.

She nearly jumps out of her skin, gasping loudly and almost falling into Klaus next to her. Thankfully the scream that wanted to escape her came out more like a violent, choking gasp. And the second one kind of hurt. She'd have preferred the shrill shriek. But she would probably have been the only one.

"Are you okay?" The man asks Caroline, casting a mistrusting look Klaus's way, despite the cordial smile that crosses the latter's face.

"Stefan," Klaus says, placing a hand on Caroline's lower back to keep her steady. "Fancy seeing you here."

The man, Stefan, gives Klaus another look before turning green eyes toward Caroline and asking again, "Are you okay?"

"Yes," Caroline says, finding her voice. She rubs at her chest for a moment before pulling her shoulder out of Klaus's chest and giving him a bit of space. "You scared the hell out of me."

"Is he hurting you?" Stefan asks. His dark hair is styled up, making him appear young but Caroline is can tell that he's not only a vampire, but he's got quite a few years on him. Hanging around with Klaus is really starting to help her pick up on vampires. Thankfully she doesn't have to worry about this one killing her in front of Klaus. But she'll still have to be careful.

Caroline's eyes flicker over to Klaus as her eyebrows shoot for her hairline. "Wow, whoever he is, he is not a friend of yours."

"Quite the contrary, love, Stefan is a very old friend. From the twenties."

"Ahh," Caroline says, dropping her hands to her side. "Elijah mentioned something about it being hard for you to keep friends for long."

That comment looks like it put both her and Elijah in the dog house. She mouths an apology to the oldest of them right after the scathing look Klaus sends his way. Elijah accepts both of them with dignity.

"I'm fine," Caroline says.

"I could tell you were uncomfortable," Stefan says, and there is genuine kindness in his eyes. "Your body language," he elaborates when she just stares at him. Maybe he doesn't realize what she is, or he simply doesn't care. Either way... kindness was the least of her expectations.

Caroline nods slowly. "Well, thank you, Stefan, was it? But I'm okay. Just awkwardly bearing my soul out on a bright sunny day. But, uh, thank you for checking in. That was sweet of you."

"I think he did more so because I was here than your supposed body language, love," Klaus says, giving Stefan this look she doesn't recognize, a dangerous gleam in those blue depths.

"Calm down, Niklaus," Elijah says diplomatically. "Ah, hello, Elena."

Caroline's eyes flicker over to the pretty brunette walking up from across the street with another man at her side. Tall, dark hair and the bluest eyes Caroline has ever seen. And she's seen her fair share of pretty blue eyes.

"Elena, wonderful to see you," Klaus says, smiling charmingly at the girl, despite the weary look she sends back at him. And then Caroline feels it. This strange, angry green feeling that she has never felt before. But she doesn't know what the word is for it. But for a split second, Caroline wanted nothing more than to use her enhanced werewolf strength to shove this beautiful girl as hard as she could back across the street where she belonged.

The feeling came on so fast and filled her with such a terrible ache in her gut that it felt like she was stabbed about a thousand times when the girl turns pretty dark brown eyes toward her and asks, kindly. "Are you okay?"

And Caroline hates herself.

She's not sure where that feeling came from or why it came on so strong, but she stomps it down deep into her gut and prays it never resurfaces again. "I'm okay," she chokes out. "Thanks."

"He's not hurting you, is he?" She asks.

Caroline looks over at Klaus to see he looks just as annoyed as she felt. She turns her blue eyes back to the girl. "No. He didn't. Why do people keep asking me that?"

"Uh, because Klaus is Satan," the blue-eyed man says, shrugging his shoulders. "And everyone he comes into contact with dies. Horribly, I might add."

"Watch your words wisely, Damon, I'm having a good day and your voice is wearing down on my nerves," Klaus growls. Caroline looks at the man next to her to see his features darken with anger and annoyance.

Damon doesn't look afraid, stepping closer to Klaus with narrowed eyes. Klaus's hand that was on Caroline's back slides around to her stomach and pushes her back against the glass of the shop behind her and out of the way. Caroline realizes at that moment, the sweet smell that Klaus has been giving out since she met him yesterday vanished completely.

Somehow she knew it was because he'd been... what? The werewolf equivalent to courting her. Impressing her wolf with this sweet scent he was giving off, even if he didn't know it. Because she was doing it back to him and she didn't even know it. But her aunt had mentioned something about the wolves being able to communicate using pheromones that their human brains could only partially decipher. Because that sweet smell is gone, his wolf must have turned off the charm and turned on the anger.

Because Klaus is looking mad.

Elijah and Stefan both step in to separate the two men, though Stefan looks like he's doing it more for Damon's sake than for Klaus's but then again maybe the same can be said for Elijah. No doubt Klaus has at least a few hundred years on Damon being an Original, and in the vampire world, that is a significant amount of power.

"Damon, stop," the girl says, eyebrows pulling together tightly. "Not here. Not like this."

"He's dangerous," Damon argues. "I thought you were leaving town, Klaus. What are you still doing here?"

"I don't feel the need to keep you informed of my plans, Damon," Klaus growls.

"Hey! What is going on over here?"

The sound of another voice seems to clog than angry, male vampire testosterone that was flooding Damon and Klaus's brains and pull everyone's eyes over to a petite blond woman walking across the street away from a police cruiser, dressed as an officer of the law. Strange, Caroline has never really been in trouble with the law. She's managed to stay out of their line of sight even while on the road, yet social norms make her nervous once the woman approaches.

"Damon?" The officer asks, looking at the dark-haired man. "What's going on?"

Damon glares at Klaus for a split second longer before smiling chillingly and turning toward the officer. "We were just arguing over a bad poker game last night, Liz."

The officer gives him an odd look, definitely like she doesn't believe him when the girl says, "Everything is okay, Sheriff Forbes. We were just leaving."

Caroline's heart tries to launch out of her chest but ends up slamming painfully against her breastplate. The action was so loud that all four enhanced vampires turned to look at her as her throat closed up, staring at the woman in front of her. She dimly heard Elijah call out to her with an, "Are you okay?" as Klaus touches her arm, but she couldn't pull her eyes away from the officer. Those blue eyes. That blond hair. That voice that now sounds so painfully familiar she has no idea how she couldn't have just automatically known who she was.

"Liz" Caroline rasps, pulling the woman's curious eyes over to her. "Elizabeth Forbes?"

Now everyone was looking at her oddly and for a moment, when the woman's name left her lips, she expected that same feeling that Caroline had to cross over this woman's face. The remembrance. The realization. But it didn't. It was just met with open confusion.

"Yes?" Liz says slowly, looking Caroline up and down but not even a flicker of recognition crosses her face. And it hurts Caroline. It shouldn't she knew that this was a very likely outcome yet still this hurt more than she thought was fair. "Do I know you?"

"I should hope so," Caroline says bitterly, feeling wave after wave of pain and frustration slam into her chest, making it hard to breathe. "It's me. Caroline. Your daughter."