Notes: I've been churning out mini drabbles in hopes of getting my writing brain back on track. Here's the first one!

Enemies Question You

(Prompt: Caroline seeks refuge Klaus's place while her friends fight the latest big bad. (She's sooo done with that mess). Klaus is in Europe and Rebekah leaves him ambiguous texts about a 'surprise' . Girls night fun + Klaus coming home to find Caroline sleeping in his bed. :D. Rated K+)

Caroline knocks, again, smashing the ornate knocker (that she's pretty sure is actually gold, not that she's surprised) against the door hard enough that the sound echoes. If Klaus can afford door bling, shouldn't there be a butler or something around to answer the door if he couldn't be bothered to do it himself?

She's going to have to memorize his number. For emergencies. She'd left her place in Miami in a hurry, had lost her phone at some point when she'd been trying to lose her tail. Since the vampires who'd so rudely busted in the door of her condo were looking to use her for leverage and it was technically Klaus fault she'd figured he could lend a hand. She needed a safe haven and she'd need him to activate some kind of evil vampire text chain to put the word out that no, he wasn't handing out prizes for captured doppelgängers these days ASAP.

If he wanted to provide beignets and good booze and a continuation of the tour he'd taken her on fifteen years ago her ire could maybe be cooled.

Providing he snapped his fingers and got a minion to fix her trashed apartment, of course.

She hears footsteps on the other side of the door, a voice belonging to an individual she'd really been hoping to avoid, complaining stridently about her evening being interrupted.

Caroline pastes the politest smile she can manage on her face, quickly smooths her wrinkled sundress, knowing it's not going to do a lick of good. Rebekah's a bit unsteady on her feet when she throws the door open, and not her usual perfectly coiffed self. Caroline assumes that the heavy crystal bottle in her hand, only a quarter full, can be blamed. "Well," Rebekah drawls, looking Caroline up and down, "isn't this a surprise." Her head tips to the side, her nose wrinkling, "Or wait, did Nik know you were coming? Have you two progressed to clandestine meetings already? If so, I'll owe Kol a large sum of money and a very annoying favor and I'll be most displeased."

Caroline considers asking for more details, decides she probably doesn't want to know. "No, Klaus has no idea I'm here. I would have given him a heads up but I couldn't."

"Ah, that makes more sense," Rebekah says the words quietly, more to herself than to Caroline.

"Is he home?" Caroline prompts, when Rebekah doesn't seem willing to do the polite thing and invite her in. "Or, if you'd point me in the direction he's gone I'm sure I can find him." He'd expressed some definite opinions the last time she was here and he wasn't the kind of guy who changed his mind. His snobbery about the quality of liquor he could deign to be served was bone deep.

"Fraid not. He jetted off to Italy this morning. An auction, some pieces he's been trying to obtain for decades. It was so important he be there that he left me behind when I was eight minutes late. As if it wasn't a private plane."

Crap. If Klaus was out of the country that made things more difficult. Caroline casts a glance over her shoulder, confirming that nothing behind her has changed, that there's no one closing in. When she turns back Rebekah's nose has wrinkled, "You're acting awfully shifty, Caroline. Makes a girl suspicious. Will your little friends be popping out of the bushes? The Bennett witch is getting a bit old for futile battles, isn't she?"

Well, that was an offensive assumption. "I haven't tried to kill Klaus in like forty years. Why would I start again now?"

Rebekah lifts one shoulder, takes a hefty swig from the bottle she's clutching, "I didn't say I was judging, did I? He can be such a trial."

"True, and I guess that's kind of why I'm here. Some nutty vampires are hoping to use Elena to get Klaus to give them a pony or something. Bonnie's warded Mystic Falls against vampires. My place? Not so much. They followed me home from a meet up in Richmond, thought lil' ol' me would go quietly."

"You, quiet? Hardly."

Caroline doesn't take offense, not even to the derisive snort. "I figured Klaus owed me a comfy place to lie low but if he's not here I guess I'll try my luck on the road. After I stop for a drink. Is Marcel still around? I could go for some tension busting karaoke."

She takes a small step back, watching Rebekah carefully, crossing her fingers behind her back that Rebekah will call her bluff. It's a calculated risk – she's reasonably certain that Rebekah doesn't actually hate her, not anymore. And she's entirely sure that Klaus would be displeased to find out that Caroline had been sent away with a target on her back – hence the not so subtle allusion to making her presence known by popping into The French Quarter and checking out the places she knows are vampire friendly. Klaus, paranoid megalomaniac that he was, has eyes and ears everywhere.

She doesn't need to take a second step. Rebekah tosses her hair back, her sigh dripping annoyance, "Oh, just come in already. I really hate that you're not as stupid as you look."

Rebekah's already whirled away so Caroline doesn't try to hide her triumphant smile.

"We're going to Rousseau's. I'll lend you something less tragic to wear. We'll help ourselves to Klaus' bar tab. Another bottle or two and I might actually find you tolerable"

Caroline trails behind as they mount the stairs. She mentally pats herself on the back because it's surprisingly easy to brush off Rebekah's petty jabs. She's proud of her own maturity. "Not that I'm not usually always down for a girl's night out but I'd really rather not end up kidnapped."

"Don't worry. It's been ages since I've gotten to kill anything that could fight back. Might be fun. Your pretty blonde head will be perfectly safe. It'd be a dagger in my heart when Nik returns if you got snatched or tortured on my watch."

They stop in front of the door Caroline knows is Klaus' and she hesitates. Rebekah's smile turns a smidge mean, "Don't pretend like you've not enjoyed the comforts of Nik's room before. I remember having to vacate the premises to get away from the sounds."

It's on the tip of Caroline's tongue to point out that this is an entirely different situation – somehow more intimate, with Klaus gone – but Rebekah's watching her with a clear air of challenge and Caroline knows that if she asks to be pointed to a guest room she'll have lost.

And losing wasn't a thing she liked to do. Especially to Rebekah Mikaelson.

"Give me a half hour to clean up," Caroline says, twisting the doorknob.

Rebekah doesn't reply, turns on her heel and makes her way back to the staircase. She's got her phone out, muttering in a tone that makes Caroline hope it's not her she's plotting against, distinctly devious and smug.

If they run into Marcel Caroline's going to have to ask to borrow his phone. Just in case.