Author's Note: Sorry about the long wait! I'm so happy for all of the kind words from everyone so thank you for taking the time to leave a couple of words. I'm excited as things start moving for this story. I'm excited to introduce this new character, even if only for a short amount of time, and we are starting to get some answers, I think. Soon enough! Let me know what you think! 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 steps into the school gym, shivering and tired from the run from the parking lot. She wraps her arms around herself, looking down at Bonnie, Matt, and Tyler first. The lattermost of which was laying on his side as if he was asleep, but Caroline knew that there was no way that was true. Caroline felt herself get rooted in place, staring down at the other wolf. He was her friend. They didn't know each other super well, but she did consider him her friend. They were getting close this last month.
And there he was, dead on the floor. Because of her. Because of Klaus's love for her. Because he's worried that she was dying.
"Oh god," Caroline gasps, "Tyler."
Bonnie looks up at her, brown eyes blown wide. "Caroline! Thank god! Make him stop!"
Caroline's mouth drops open, watching as Tyler starts to stir. She can't bear to look at him any longer, she drags her eyes over to Klaus and Rebekah to see Klaus holding Elena's bleeding hand over a simple solo cup and Rebekah has her high heel pressed down into Stefan's chest. As in her heel is piercing his chest and his face is twisted in pain.
"Your timing is impeccable, Caroline," Klaus says easily, dropping Elena's hand and turning around to walk toward Tyler. "Lockwood here was just about to prove a point." He kneels down next to Bonnie, who scoots back a bit, eyeing him worriedly as Tyler blinks blearily up at Klaus as if confused.
"What point?" Caroline asks, her lips numb and barely moving.
"That my mother is a manipulative witch who will stop at nothing to undermind her defective progeny after he finally got what he wanted," Klaus says, smiling accomplished at having figured out the unknown mystery that came with breaking his curse.
Klaus helps Tyler sit up and brings the solo cup to his lips when Caroline whispers, "This isn't what I wanted, Klaus. I never wanted anyone to get hurt. Especially not my friends."
Klaus pauses for a moment, not turning to look at her before pressing the cup close and tipping it up so that he can drink. "I know, love. But this is the only way to know for certain in an acceptable amount of time. It will work. I know it."
"And if it doesn't," Caroline asks, eyebrows pulled together tightly as she wraps her arms tighter around herself, shaking from the cold.
"Then nothing too significant was lost. Just one more werewolf," Klaus says, shrugging his shoulders.
"He's not just one more werewolf, Klaus," Elena gasps, pretty eyes blown wide.
"He's my friend. Or he was, until you killed him," Caroline says, her lips trembling and she's not sure if its from the blasting cold air of the gym coupled with the cold rain or the emotions swirling around inside of her like an angry maelstrom. Even though he's moving now, drinking the blood in the cup, to Caroline, he looks dead. His skin is pale, there are dark circles around his eyes and Caroline can smell death on him. She's never seen someone who was transitioning into a vampire but it seems like they reek of their recent death.
And it makes her sick.
"With Elena's blood, the transition should be completed," Klaus says, watching Tyler with wide, curious blue eyes.
A groaning draws Caroline's eyes toward Rebekah and Stefan, and it's then that she sees Damon just off behind the brown-haired Salvatore, sitting up slowly and rubbing at his neck. Rebekah looks down at him with disinterest as Stefan refuses to break his focus on the Original sister in front of him. Caroline feels bad about this entire thing, even for Damon's healing neck.
"Klaus," Caroline says quietly, feeling herself tremble with the cold and sickness from the situation, never mind that she just went through another difficult full moon and it has worn her body down more than most others. "Klaus," she says a bit louder after almost an entire minute of Klaus and Tyler just staring at each other, no doubt the older of the two looking for signs of rejection.
Klaus smiles, pleased, before patting Tyler's cheek and standing up, looking at Caroline with bright eyes. "Yes, love?"
"Take me home now, please," she begs, tears sliding down her face. She can see the angry eyes of everyone else in the room - aside from Rebekah - looking between them. She wraps her arms around herself. Klaus's smile fades as he stares at the distraught and destroyed look on her face, and it hurts her, even more, to see the confusion on his face like he doesn't understand what he did wrong.
"Caroline-" Klaus starts but Caroline shakes her head, holding her hand up to stop.
"This isn't what I wanted," Caroline says, her voice shaking. "I never wanted anyone to get hurt, especially not because of me. Please, just take me home."
Klaus stands up, walking over to Caroline, touching her bare arms. The heat of his hands helps her realize just how cold she is but before she can even think of anything other than how nice his hands feel on her skin, Klaus removes his leather jacket and helps Caroline into it. She doesn't have the strength to even really move so she just lets him manipulate her body until the jacket is over her shoulders.
"It's freezing, Caroline, and you shouldn't be out of bed..." Klaus says, not looking at her in the eye.
Caroline looks down at the hardwood of the gym, unable to look at anyone anymore. All she can see is Tyler's deathly face and the smell of death in her nose. She did this. Not directly, of course. But this was her fault.
Then again, she did always say that it wasn't her place to apologize on Klaus's behalf, but now she finally understands what Elena meant when she said that she felt compelled to apologize on Damon's behalf, Caroline feels that same way now. But apologizing on Klaus's behalf doesn't do anything for anyone. Yet she feels like she has to, but the words won't come.
Caroline's eyes lock onto Tyler's as he stares back at her. She prays that her eyes can express everything she wishes she could say. This isn't what she wanted. She never wanted anyone to get hurt because of her. It shouldn't have been this way, and as selfish as it is, Caroline knew that those wolves weren't being asked if they wanted to turn, they were being forced against their will. They were no different than Tyler, except for one little thing. Caroline knows Tyler. Caroline likes Tyler. Caroline can see Tyler and talk to him, and she saw what had to be done.
"Come along, dear," Rebekah says, appearing on her other side to walk escort her out with Klaus. The two of them keep close, oblivious to what they have done. Or, perhaps they don't really care. They are thousand-year-old sibling vampires that have hurt and killed so many people over the course of their lives that they probably don't even think twice about it.
It was a good thing that they were basically dragging her along, because she couldn't feel her toes. She's not sure if it's because of the cold, or because of the bile working its way up her throat. All she can see if Tyler's vacant eyes staring back at her. Dozens of unknown eyes of unknown wolves staring back at her as the ritual fails and they die. It must have happened very quickly after the transition because Klaus appeared as though he saw everything that he needed to. Like it all worked out for the better for him and he didn't need to stick around anymore.
Once they make it outside, Caroline steps away from the siblings to puke into the grass. Seeing as she's been out for a few days, it's mostly water and stomach acid. And a lot of dry heaving. In her mind's eye, she can see the vacant look in Tyler's eyes as Klaus slowly pulls him back from beyond death. How in just a few moments he was dead, straddling life and death, and then alive once more.
All for her sake.
She feels Klaus pull her wet hair back and out of the way to try and save it from all the vomit, but Caroline has already resigned herself to taking a really, really long hot shower. Her shoes, sweatshirt, and shorts are completely soaked through because from the borrowed car to the highschool the heavens opened up and it started to pour.
Klaus was rubbing at her back until the dry heaving slowed to a stop.
"That wasn't what I wanted," Caroline says to the mud, rubbing the water from her eyes as the rain slowly starts to let up. She shakes her head slowly, spitting a bit before slowly straightening up to look at the ancient hybrid.
"I know," Klaus says, running the back of his finger up the side of her face, not even pretending that he didn't hear her or understand what she meant. He just scans her face with his pretty blue eyes, nodding slowly. He understood what she was trying to say, but he wasn't sorry for what he did. She doesn't need to study his face to know that.
"We should go," Rebekah says, glaring up at the sky as if it was offending her by raining. "It's cold out here and Caroline shouldn't be out of bed as it is. I can't believe the Elijah let her leave while the weather was like this."
"He woke me up," Caroline says, straightening up completely and rubbing at her face, hoping there wasn't any vomit on her chin. "He told me what you guys were doing. But he had to leave. He... had to meet a contact about something." Caroline pushes the wet blond hair out of her face, turning her sad eyes toward Klaus. "I think he's gone for now. You'll have to call him if you want to talk to him, I guess."
Klaus nods, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and leading her toward his car. Despite the torrent of emotions inside of her, she leans into his side and follows after him. She's exhausted and cold and she's always at her weakest following the full moon and this was no exception. She didn't have sex before, and she didn't really do anything strenuous as a wolf, she can't begin to understand why this transformation was so much harder on her than any of the others when it shouldn't have been.
The only thing that she can rationalize is maybe, just maybe, Klaus wasn't wrong. Maybe Elijah was right when he said that Klaus feared these attacks, her transformation... it was all shortening her life. That's the only rational thing that she can think of. The only thing she doesn't understand; is why. Why would she be capable of shifting into a werewolf every month, yet for some reason, it's killing her.
Maybe she could reach out to her cousin in New Orleans and see if she's learned anything more. But later, though. She's too tired to even think now.
She barely manages to keep awake while Klaus drives them back home in relative silence.
The steaming hot shower that Caroline takes after she gets home, and laying in bed with Klaus wrapped around her all night wasn't enough to stave off the cold that she catches. She was stuffy and tired the next day, having Klaus dote on her despite barely speaking with him, and then coughing all night. Rebekah saw to her when she didn't have the strength to keep pushing Klaus away. Despite him spending all day trying to explain to her why - which she understood, she just couldn't acknowledge - and doting after her to somehow make up for it, she just didn't know what to do. She didn't know what to say to him.
She couldn't tell him that it was okay, and she wasn't sure if she should say whether she forgave him or not. It didn't feel right. All she could think about was her friend being hurt - dying - because of her, even if he came back due to Klaus' and Elena's blood.
Rebekah spoke to her too. Told her again why they did it. Explained why they felt like they had to. That they loved her and did what they did because of their love for her.
She is humbled by their love for her because despite how she feels about the situation, she is thankful that they are both still there for her. She knows that she is thankful to have them and while she is mad at them for what they did, that evil little voice in the back of her head wants to forgive them because she loves them too. She hated what they did because of her, but she didn't hate them.
She wanted to. Her life would be so much easier if she could just hate Klaus. But no, she doesn't. She knows that sooner, rather than later, she would speak to him again. But a part of her knows that she needs to talk to him. She needs to explain to him why this is so wrong, but she can't find the words when she looks at him because all she can see is her friends suffering, is Tyler dead.
"My brother loves you," Rebekah says softly, handing her a glass of water to drink.
She does before passing it back to the older woman to place onto the night table next to her bed. "I know," Caroline says softly, rubbing at her face as she struggles to breathe. "I know because he told me. That doesn't... it doesn't... justify what he did. What either of you did."
Rebekah sucks in a deep breath, letting it out slowly. She looks out the window to the darkness beyond for a long moment, before turning slowly to look back over at Caroline. "My brother loves you, Caroline, and take it from me, we all do strange things for those we love. My brother is no exception. In fact, if nothing else, he's probably the worst amongst us. But he does love you, Caroline. More than I have ever seen my brother love another outside of our family."
Caroline sinks into her bed a bit, feeling a fresh wave of heat wash over her.
She doesn't know what to say to that. She obviously didn't know of Klaus before she met him, but she does know how he is when she isn't around. At least somewhat. She knew that he wasn't the same kind, gentle man with others that he was with her. She knew that he could be cruel and unforgiving to others because not only did he have the power to do it, but he also cared so little for what they wanted that it didn't matter.
Caroline knows this. Knows that Klaus really just does what he wants with little to no regard for what anyone else would want, but it's hard to know that some of these bad things are being down on her behalf. She never ever would have wanted anyone to be hurt on her behalf. The reality of what happened to Tyler is hanging over the top of her head, and she feels terrible for it.
"I love him too, Rebekah..." Caroline says softly, rubbing at her face slowly, before locking her eyes with the older woman's. "I've been fighting myself with trying to explain it away to myself. I don't want to be in love with him. I'm terrified of being in love with him, but I fear that I might be unable to fight it."
Rebekah looks at her with blatant understanding written across her face that is a relief to Caroline on so many levels.
"I understand," Rebekah says softly. "Nevermind your own issues with trust and emotion confinement, but my brother..." she sighs, rubbing at her forehead. "Nik makes it hard, sometimes, to love him. He does cruel, unforgivable things... and then I forgive him against my better judgment. But I suppose that's love for you. Even having lived a thousand years still the complexities of love allude me."
Caroline turns slowly onto her side, struggling to breathe but not having the strength to turn around again. "I'm scared to love him, Rebekah..." Caroline whispers softly. "I've never loved anyone like I love him... and he really isn't that great of a guy."
Rebekah's lips quirk a bit in a mirthful smile. "Not to others, no. But he is to you, isn't he?"
Caroline nods, coughing a bit. "Yeah. He's wonderful to me. It's just hard that he isn't so wonderful to everyone else."
"Is that a deal breaker?" Rebekah asks softly, reaching out to lightly caress Caroline's face before just running her fingers through the long blond strands. "Is it impossible to be with him because of that? Keep in mind, love, while he is my brother and I do love him, I also know what a pain he is. You aren't wrong in walking away from him."
"I think it's too late," Caroline says, closing her eyes, too tired to keep it open any longer. "I think it's too late for me to run away from him."
Rebekah doesn't respond to that, just continuing to pet down her long blond hair as she slips into slumber. It feels like she was only asleep for a moment before her mind pulls a bit into consciousness just enough to realize that she was resting on Klaus's chest as he talks softly to Rebekah. Her stuffy nose can't pluck his beautiful scent from the fog in her brain but his warmth feels so wonderful. She curls closer to him, not wanting to separate from that warmth. She was mad at him and knew that they really needed to talk.
But she also found comfort in just him being there.
"Werewolves shouldn't be getting sick like this, Rebekah," Klaus says softly, kissing her forehead while rubbing her back, while trying to pull her closer.
"I thought that was unusual," Rebekah comments slowly, "but then again it seems like everything about Caroline is unusual."
There is a long silence before Klaus says, so softly that she barely heard him, "It's killing her, Rebekah. I'm convinced now more than ever before. Somehting has to change. Of that, I am certain."
Rebekah doesn't respond for a moment, considering, before she says, "You're right. Elijah has gone in search of a contact in the Stryx that hopefully has some answers, so hopefully he'll have news within the next day or two."
Klaus pulls her closer still and she starts to slip back into slumber once more.
Werewolf vitality kicks in a few days late, but by the time she woke up in the morning, she was ready to take on the world. She showered for a really long time, then changed into some really comfortable shorts and graphic t-shirt before bouncing downstairs to wolf down three bowls of cereal in time for Klaus and Rebekah to emerge from their separate corners of the house.
"Good morning," Caroline says through a mouthful of cereal, offering a little bit of a wave. Admittedly, she didn't feel all that great. She felt sluggish and weak and tired, but she was no longer stuffy or sickly, so in her own way that's about a thousand percent better than where she was yesterday. Even if she wasn't back to completely normal just yet, she is willing to accept this for now.
Rebekah come over and sits down next to Caroline. "Good morning, love," she says, resting her chin onto her fist, looking at Caroline. "How do you feel? You're definitely more lively now than you've been the last few days."
"I feel a lot better," Caroline says, forcing herself to stop eating, knowing her stomach is going to be hurting really bad later for all of this. "Man, I honestly can't remember the last time I felt sick like that."
Rebekah smiles lightly at her. "I understand."
Caroline looks over at Klaus, who was standing in the doorway, one hand holding the wrist of the other in front of him. His blue eyes watch her carefully, looking concerned enough to twist his pretty features.
Caroline spares Rebekah a look, knowing that she needs to talk to Klaus. Rebekah nods a bit, understanding without words, as Caroline stands up and makes her way over to the Hybrid, grabbing onto his hand and leading him out of the kitchen and into one of the sitting rooms. She sits down on the couch, pulling him down next to her.
"I'm sorry," Caroline says, turning to look at Klaus. "I could have handled everything a little bit better than I did, but I need you to understand how unhappy I was by what you did."
Klaus sighs, looking down at their hands, as he wraps his around her own. "I know. Elijah gave me an earful. I understand that it wasn't what you wanted, or how you would have wanted to go about it, Caroline, but understand that I did it for you."
Caroline looks down at their hands, frowning deeply. "Trust me, I understand that well."
Klaus sighs again, gripping her hands tighter. "I knew it was going to work. It all made perfect sense. I know I shouldn't have done it to your friend, and I am sorry for that, but I just wanted to make sure that I got to keep you with me for as long as possible. It was bad, Caroline. I just want you to be okay. Perhaps it wasn't the right way of going about it, but there isn't anything I can do about it now."
As true as that was, it is annoying to hear him say it like that. Caroline gives him a look that he at least has the decency to look like he feels at least a little bad for what he did.
"You can apologize," Caroline advises, watching as it looks like he's about to protest. She squeezes his hand to make him stop before he can say anything. "Not that I'm sure that will do anything, but at least make a conscious effort. You did scare the pants off of them and you killed Tyler. The least you can do is apologize."
Klaus stares at her for a long moment before sighing again. "Very well, Caroline. I'll give them some time to calm down and then I will go and apologize to Elena and her friends."
"How about I go with you?" Caroline offers sternly. It wasn't really an offer though. She's not sure she can trust him going by himself and not causing a bigger problem than the one they already have. No, she's going to go with. Help smooth things over if she can. She knows she shouldn't have to, but she feels like she needs to talk to Tyler and apologize to him especially. Elena and the rest of her friend may have been hurt and scared of Klaus, but Tyler actually died. He lost his life, all because of Klaus's actions on Caroline's behalf. She has to apologize for the part she played in it, no matter how minute.
Hopefully, in time, her friends can come to forgive her. They can forgive her and Klaus, and they can all move on and put all these terrible things behind them.
"Mr. Mikaelson?"
Elijah turns slowly to look at the well dressed man in front of him. His face is stoic and guarded, but there is a tension to him. He knows who he's standing in front of and is rightfully wary and afraid. He swallows slightly before nodding, more to assure himself than any real gesture toward Elijah. "Athena will see you now."
Elijah nods, following after the man through a long series of halls filled with carved marble statues and paintings of the greek gods and goddess, some he could name off the bat with a single glance, and others he glanced at the carved stone pillars next to them to recall their name. Big, small, famous, obscure. This place really transported Elijah across the world to a prominent museum in Greece with its architecture and interior design while not having actually left the United States. And honestly, he's impressed, but then again, this is Athena he's come to see.
The man leads the Original into a large sitting room filled with throw pillows and blankets of reds, purples and golds. There is a benchseat circling the room at at the far side, drinking leisurely from a wineglass is none other than the greek goddess in the flesh. Beautiful Athena. Beautiful dark brown hair, darker eyes and soft dark skin that stands out against the crisp white of her dress.
She sits high on a throne of pillows that looks like it could be the throne of Olympus and when her eyes meet his, she smiles with her lips painted red, making her look like the goddess she is named after. At least, to Elijah, if he had to wonder what a true goddess looked like, he would guess a lot like the woman in front of him.
"Hello, Athena," Elijah says cordially, walking into the room and kissing her hand when she offers it to him.
"Elijah Mikaelson," Athena hums before sipping at her red wine and glancing at spot next to her on the bench. She waves her fingers slightly and the man leaves the room without delay, no doubt relieved to be freed of the expectation when dealing with a Mikaelson. "To what do I owe the honor?"
"I am in need of your help, Athena," Elijah says, unbuttoning his suit to sit down more comfortably next to the greek woman.
She gives him a sideways look. "Very well. What can I help you with?"
"Niklaus has befriended a werewolf that is having some issues I was hoping you would be able to help out with."
Athena stares back at him for a long moment. "Are we no longer fighting with Klaus?"
Elijah smiles thinly. "In a manner of speaking, yes. My brother has been on his best behavior since I've joined back up with him." He thinks about Elena Gilbert and her friends, and no doubt the mayhem his siblings have caused. "At least, mostly."
Athena's perfectly sculpted eyebrows tick up toward her hairline. "I see," She says. She stares back at Elijah for a quick moment, as if able to read his mind. "So, this werewolf must be good for your brother. Who is he?"
"Her name is Caroline. Caroline Forbes."
Athena smiles suddenly. "Don't tell me your little brother is smitten, Elijah."
Elijah laughs, feeling himself relax a bit. "Oh, he's smitten, Athena. You wouldn't believe your eyes."
"I bet not," Athena admits, swooshing the contents of her wineglass around for a moment in careful contemplation. "So what is wrong with this mysterious werewolf girl? Aside from the fact that she can tame that wild brother of yours."
"If only," Elijah murmurs to himself, wishing that were true. "She is... unlike any werewolf I've ever met. She activated her curse as a young girl, before she was ten years old. Her demeanor is not aggressive in the slightest and she is able to shift outside of the full moon. At least partially."
Athena's eyebrows tick again. "Well, I've been hearing stories that werewolves the closer they are to the full moon, the more that have shown the ability to do a partial transformation. Eyes and claws sometimes, from what I hear."
Elijah looks interested. "I hadn't heard that before."
"Not at lot, that I know of," Athena admits, "but I hear that it has been cropping up in packs in the area. Especially in the last few years. Werewolves believe that they are getting stronger." She shrugs her shoulders. "I'm not sure how or why, but within the last ten years, the werewolves have been growing... agitated? I'm not sure. It's interesting. As for the lack of aggression, well, as unusual as that is for a werewolf, temperament still belongs to the person. Perhaps simply by nature she is more tempered than your average wolf. I'm not an absolute expert but that doesn't seem too odd to me."
Elijah considers her words carefully, able to easily agree with her. "There is a few other things."
Athena takes a sip of her wine. "Go on."
"Her mother by blood is a police officer, and in the line of duty, has had to kill before and never triggered the curse. However, her sister by blood, has, as did Caroline. And not only that, but... leading up to the full moon sometimes she goes through these terrible... events..." Elijah hesitates, not sure how to explain what happens. "Her bones break across her whole body before sealing back together only to break again. For hours on end. Not on the night of the full moon, but within a few weeks of it."
Athena stares at him for a long moment, digesting that information before looking down at her glass of wine, lowering it to her lap. "That is quite unusual..." she says softly. Her eyebrows pulling together tightly, her mind working through something troublesome.
"And after the night of the full moon she will be trapped in her bed, so physically exhausted that she isn't able to leave for at least two or three days afterward, which is not normal as far as I know," Elijah says slowly, watching the darker skinned woman's face get more and more troubled. "Have you ever heard of anything like this before?"
Athena looks around the room, trying to work something out in her mind before looking over at Elijah, her face set in worry and concentration. "I need to see this werewolf, Elijah. Take me to her."