A/N: Just so everyone knows, "present" time is right before the Masquerade Ball in Season 2. In this story, Rose contacted Elijah before kidnapping Elena. Pretty much everything else is canon-compliant up to that point, and it will run along the canon timeline with a few changes until it diverges.
Thank you to Wifey, D, Sophie, and Laine for beta work (especially to Laine and D for the ideas about the shopping expedition).
Enjoy!
-Angie
Richmond, Virginia - Present
"I simply do not understand why my presence is required."
"Because I'm doing you a favor, and therefore you are providing me with your credit card."
"I am sure you are perfectly capable of handing the card to the cashier and signing the receipt, my dear."
"No one goes to the mall alone. It's a group activity," Caroline said. "And besides, I need someone to carry my bags."
"Surely you can handle that with your considerable vampire strength."
"Strength, yes. Arm space for bag handles, not so much."
He saw her suppress a smile as his eye twitched. "I raised you better than to use the embarrassment to the English language that is the current teen vernacular."
"Oh, that reminds me, you're 'Dad' now," she said cheerfully, clearly intending on taking advantage of every aspect of contemporary adolescence that she could to annoy him.
"I beg your pardon?"
"No one says 'Father' anymore, it's weird."
"I refuse to be addressed by such an...an uncivilized title."
She shrugged. "I'd say I'm sorry, but…"
"Caroline, it seems as though you are purposefully attempting to attract my ire."
She gave him a winning smile. "So, ready to go?"
Twenty minutes later, he wondered why he ever bothered having a daughter.
Perhaps that was a bit dramatic, but the mall was loud, and full of rude adolescents, and the scents from the 'food court' were mildly nauseating.
There were malls in every other country they'd traveled to, of course, but he had not been forced to shop, and he was beginning to regret his indulgence of his daughter's whims.
They went to the department store first, and Elijah managed to sit through the hour and a half of "Do you think these heels are school appropriate?" and "Is this cashmere too sophisticated for a seventeen year old, do you think?" before he asked her to bring her items to the register so that they could gather their things from the hotel in Richmond and drive the rest of the way to Mystic Falls.
The look on her face was faintly terrifying, and she shook her head. "Oh, Dad. We're just getting staples. We still have to get my every day clothes."
XXX
Caroline couldn't remember having this much fun in quite awhile. They left the department store with shopping bags and she immediately zeroed in on the telltale blue arches and acrid smell of Abercrombie & Fitch. She walked towards it, and Elijah followed her, wrinkling his nose as they approached.
"What is that?"
"The what?" she asked, knowing perfectly well what.
"That stench."
"That's cologne, Dad."
"Why would anyone use such a scent?"
Caroline shrugged. "I don't question the habits of teenage boys, and you probably shouldn't either."
She smirked when he curled his lip in disgust at the portraits of the male models hanging around the store, and quickly went to work picking out the shortest shorts she could find, shoes, and a t-shirt, and heading into the dressing room, ignoring Elijah's raised eyebrow at her choices. She came out to use the threeway mirror, and as soon as she stepped out of the cube, she heard a very firm, "No."
"Excuse me?"
"Those expose the lower section of your derriere. Even if I were not already incredibly uncomfortable by the sight, I doubt that it would be acceptable according to any school dress code whatsoever."
"I don't dress to keep you comfortable, Dad. I'm an adult, and if I want to expose my ass–"
"Language."
"As I said, I'm an adult. My ass is mine to expose. Or cover. Whatever."
His eye twitched. "I agreed to buy you school clothes. Those are not school clothes."
She shrugged. "Fine. I'll buy them with my own money."
"You're acting like a temperamental adolescent–"
"Which is the role you're forcing me to play. Consider this practice. I'm going to buy these shorts and these shoes, and you can't stop me. I'd slam the door to the changing room if I didn't think I'd knock it off by accident in my show of imaginary anger."
"I shall await you outside."
"Fine," Caroline said with a careless shrug, marching back into the fitting room.
When she walked out of the store ten minutes later, her father motioned for her to walk beside him. "I have found a more appropriate store."
She had a niggling feeling that it would end up being Land's End or something, but was almost pleasantly surprised when they ended up in front of American Eagle. He gestured to the models on the large posters. "These appear to be young high-school aged women, and the clothes are apparently considered stylish by the youth of this time period. I suggest we peruse your options here."
Caroline shrugged and walked in, heading straight to the sundresses, and was interrupted a moment later by Elijah tapping her on the shoulder. She turned and immediately shook her head.
"Those don't even match."
"Everything goes with denim. It's a neutral."
She looked pointedly at his suit. "You have never worn jeans in your life. And no. At least, not with blue. Those jeans aren't even my size, anyway. They'd be baggy."
He frowned at the outfit in his arms and wandered off, ostensibly to return the items to the appropriate racks. She sighed and shook her head, turning back to the clothes in front of her.
Three hours later, they were exiting the mall, Elijah laden down with shopping bags, and Caroline with a Victoria's Secret bag (that Elijah had narrowly avoided carrying by hiding in the coffee shop) and a milkshake.
"I'm so excited! I don't think I've actually been to high school since the seventies, have I? I wonder how everything's changed."
She knew that her father was tuning out her chatter, but didn't mind, as it was much more fun to insert random statements in to see if he caught them. "They probably didn't change the history curriculum. Do you think they talk about the great war between the platypi and the chipmunks to take over the wastelands of Neptune?"
He gave a predictable hum of affirmation, and she grinned, humming to herself as he unlocked the car and put her bags in the trunk. "Thanks for taking me to the mall."
"You're welcome," he said dryly, closing the trunk of the mercedes and gesturing for Caroline to get into the passenger seat.
"So, you told Rose not to take the girl, right?"
"That's correct. Her orders are simply to linger in town and observe. Your primary job will be to ingratiate yourself with the girl and her friends. She has told me that there are three vampires already residing here."
"So wait, why am I supposed to be friends with the girl-Her name is Elena, right? Okay, why am I supposed to make friends with Elena? Why couldn't Rose just have taken her? Isn't she human?"
"I have my reasons," Elijah said simply.
Caroline side-eyed him before it dawned on her what it meant. "You think that Katerina's here."
He remained silent, and Caroline took that as an affirmative. She sniffed haughtily. "Well, I hope our house is big enough that if you soundproof your room I still won't hear the thumps."
He winced. "I purchased a small suburban home. It will be much less conspicuous than if we moved into a large mansion when there were only two of us. We shall cause enough gossip as it is, I'm sure."
"Okay," Caroline said, staring out the window.
"I appreciate your help, my dear," Elijah said slowly, shooting her a small, genuine smile.
She shot him a slightly exasperated look, giving him a small smile. "We're family, father. Family helps family. Always and forever."
"Always and forever," he repeated, patting her hand lightly before returning it to the wheel.
Mystic Falls, Virginia - Present
"It's just the start of the Spring Semester, of course, so I'm not sure that the dance team has spots, but I'm sure Caroline will be very happy here regardless," the principal said, shuffling some papers as he smiled kindly at Elijah and Caroline.
"I'm sure that they'll be able to find a spot," Elijah said lightly, laying a hand on Caroline's shoulder.
The Doppelganger, or "Elenaganger" as Caroline had taken to calling her privately, was captain of said dance team.
"I'm fairly sure that the roster is full, but–"
"Caroline may have a fair try-out, I'm sure, and when the captain sees how good she is, she'll take the spot of the least skilled dancer," Elijah said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world (which Caroline suspected that to him, it was). He'd never had much patience for people telling Caroline 'no', especially when he also wanted whatever she was after, and she knew he was this close to compelling the principal.
Sure enough, he leaned forward. "You will agree to my proposal."
The principal frowned, not looking the least bit compliant. "I'm sorry sir, but I don't see why the rules should be bent."
Caroline shrugged. She'd find another way to meet Elena, but Elijah seemed set on her getting a spot on the team. "It's all right, Daddy," she said soothingly, and she saw Elijah practically choke on whatever words he was about utter, shooting her an irritated look and nodding.
"If that is your wish, my dear."
"It's fine. I can always change my mind."
"Well, looking forward to having you here tomorrow, Caroline."
"Thanks Principal Fell."
She and her father walked out of the school side-by-side, and he frowned. "The principal could not be compelled."
"Yeah, that was weird."
He pressed his lips together. "It seems the situation is a bit more complicated than we assumed."
"I guess so."
He opened the passenger door for her and she slid inside, twisting her hands in her lap. Was vervain available in the town? How many people were on it? Did the people know about vampires?
She voiced her concerns to Elijah, who pressed his lips together in thought. "It's possible. It would be the work of the vampires here, I suppose, though I wonder why they'd feel the need to protect the humans."
Caroline shrugged, looking out the window. "Can we be serious for a few minutes?"
The question was a pointless one, as her father was never anything less than serious, but it did let him know that she wasn't joking, which was really the important thing.
"What is on your mind?"
Caroline sighed. "I understand that the doppelganger is important, and I know that Uncle...well, your brother is attempting to break the curse he's been under for a thousand years. The thing is, I don't understand why you couldn't have just killed him. Why now?"
"There are multiple reasons. The first is that if we do not strike now, he will be nearly invincible once the ritual is complete. The second is that he is much more vulnerable while under the ritual than at any other time."
"So, the plan is to kill him while he's weakened by the ritual?"
"Yes. He will be weak during the phase of the ritual where the curse is being removed from his body. At that point I will kill him."
"And you're sure you'll be able to do it?" Caroline asked nervously. "Don't you love him?"
"I do. He is my brother."
"Then how–"
"Because I also loved Rebekah, Kol, and Finn," he said simply.
Caroline let out a shaky breath. "You'll be the only one left in your entire family," she whispered.
"Not at all, my dear. I'll have you."
She shook her head, feeling her throat close up at the stabbing combination of the genuine, heartfelt tone of the words and the sheer low-grade children's movie content of them.
"That is the most cliché thing I have heard in my entire life."
"Are you sure? Your life's been rather long."
"Not as long as yours, father. You're already the oldest person in the world," she said, half-teasing, her smile falling when he shot her an uncomfortably stern look. "What?"
"There's something you should know, Caroline."
She froze. Bringing out her full name was never a good sign. "What?"
They pulled into the driveway of their tiny suburban home, and she sat down on the couch, smoothing the skirt of her dress and looking at him expectantly. "What's going on, Father?"
She steeled herself for whatever horrible life-altering truth was about to come out.
"I know that I have always told you that I would never lie to you, Caroline, and that has so far been the case. I have, however, omitted certain things that you did not need to know of, and considering that a great deal of my animosity towards Niklaus has to do with this, well..."
"Well?" Caroline prompted impatiently.
"Our father...Well, technically my father, though Niklaus was raised by him...Well, I have told you the tale of my mother's betrayal before, I suppose, but you see…" he trailed off, looking like he was at a bit of a loss as to how to continue, and Caroline resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
"Just tell me. Please."
"Mikael is alive."
Caroline nodded slowly. "Your father? Who's been trying to kill you for a thousand years? That father?"
Elijah nodded. "Yes. That father, although I wasn't aware that I had another."
"This isn't funny."
"I'm aware."
"Well, where is he?"
"I do believe that the mother of a student here, Abigail Bennett, desiccated Mikael and locked him in a coffin not far from here."
Caroline frowned. "So what's the problem?"
"There isn't one. Yet."
"Then why are you telling me this?"
"Well, if I were to reinforce your misconception that I was the oldest being in the world, that would have qualified as dishonesty, and as I have promised to always tell you the truth, I felt that-Do not roll your eyes at me, Caroline."
Her lips twitched and she hugged Elijah, who stiffened and then patted her lightly on the back (it had been more than eighty years, and he still "didn't do" hugs), before pulling away. "Thank you for being honest with me, Father. Next time, can you please not act like you're about to drop some life-altering truth bomb on me?"
"You are very welcome," he said, looking vaguely amused. "Truth bomb?"
"I'm trying to be hip with the kids," she said teasingly, giving him a small helpless shrug and turning to walk up the stairs, ignoring his soft chuckle from behind her.
It didn't occur to her until an hour or two later that he hadn't told her exactly how he was planning to kill his brother, but she decided that it probably didn't matter.
After all, with their combined anal-retentiveness when planning something, it would basically be 100% foolproof.
Niklaus Mikaelson would be dead by the next new moon.
XXX
Caroline closed her new locker, straining her ears for any interesting snippets of conversation or gossip while she walked to her first period class.
In order to be near Elena, but less conspicuous, Caroline had been placed in most of the same classes, but not all.
Amber Jensen, one of the girls on the dance team whose father worked for a private accounting firm was offered a promotion by a headhunter that was too good to pass up as long as they moved immediately.
Elijah may or may not have had something to do with it.
Anyway, Caroline was fairly sure that try-outs for a replacement would be held very soon, and she had every intention of making it on the team. First though, she had to ingratiate herself with Elena, as well as the girl's circle of friends.
She had smiled hesitantly at Elena that morning in class and approached her after the bell rang.
"Hi. I'm Caroline. Caroline Forbes," she said, inwardly wincing at the use of her birth name (but it was necessary to keep her from being connected to the Originals).
"Elena Gilbert. This is Bonnie Bennett," Elena introduced, gesturing to the girl next to her, who gave her a small smile, which Caroline returned.
Fuck.
If Bonnie Bennett was best friends with Elena Gilbert, that meant that the witch could easily get a read on her if they touched skin to skin. "It's nice to meet you," Caroline said, a smile plastered on her face. "Do you know where U.S. History is? It's my next period."
"Yeah. We're in that class, actually. You can walk with us."
"Okay. Thanks."
Elena gave her a large smile, though Bonnie shot her a suspicious glance before following her friend towards the history class. The teacher, Alaric Saltzman, seemed nice enough, and Caroline was slinging her backpack over her shoulder to head to her car after her last class when Elena tapped her on the shoulder.
"I know it can be hard moving to such a small town. The annual Masquerade Ball is this Friday, and we were all planning on going together. I'm happy to introduce you to everyone?"
"Sounds great," Caroline said, smiling, before letting her face fall.
Elena cocked her head to the side. "Is everything okay?"
"Is the ball super fancy? I don't think I have a dress."
Bonnie and Elena exchanged small smiles. "Well, we could go shopping tomorrow after school?"
"That would be great," Caroline said happily. "Thank you so much!"
Maybe this would be easier than she'd thought.
XXX
"Father?"
Elijah looked up from his book as Caroline walked in, setting her bag by the door. "Yes, Caroline?"
"There's a Masquerade Ball on Friday, and the doppelganger asked me to attend with her and her friends."
"That sounds like it may be a trap."
"Or she's simply naive," Caroline countered.
"Perhaps. I assume this means that you need a dress?"
"We're going shopping together tomorrow after school."
She suppressed a smile when she saw the flash of relief pass over Elijah's face as he pulled out his wallet, rifling through his cards before pulling one out and handing it to her. "Please refrain from buying something exorbitantly expensive. We are, after all, trying to, ah...fly under the radar."
"Why, father, did you just use 'uncouth adolescent slang'?" Caroline asked in mock surprise, sticking her nose in the air and adopting a snooty accent for the last few words.
"You are not the only one who wishes to be up to date with contemporary vernacular."
"If you say so, Daddy."
He scoffed, making a shooing motion with his hand, and she kissed his cheek and walked up the stairs.
"Do you not have homework?"
"Nothing I can't do in a few minutes tomorrow. It's French and a few worksheets."
"Perhaps you should take care of it now, so as not to have it hanging over your head for the rest of the night."
"You're taking this 'Dad' thing really seriously, aren't you?"
"If you insist on acting like a common teenager, I insist on acting like the parent of one."
"Whatevs."
She saw the slow turn of his head to face her, and instead of preparing herself for what she privately had named her father's You're Acting Like A Peasant Stare, she sped up the stairs and flopped onto her bed, grabbing her laptop to email Lara, her witch friend who was still in Switzerland.
Hey Lar,
Finally got settled in Virginia. I should be back by next month, and if I'm not I can compel you a flight here if you'd like. The local high school is throwing a masquerade party, and I'm going shopping with the Bennett witch and Elenaganger tomorrow for a dress.
Sorry about ditching on the movie. Should still be out next month, right?
xoxo
-Care
XXX
"What are you doing here?"
Caroline squeezed her eyes shut, counted to ten, and hoped that it was just Elenaganger mistaking her for someone else that she hated before slowly turning around.
Nope. Elena would never wear that dress. Ever.
"Katerina," Caroline greeted warily.
"It's Katherine, and I asked you a question, sweetpea."
"I'm here because Father brought me here to stop his brother."
"Elijah wants to kill Klaus?"
"No, he wants to give him a hug, buy him a pastry, and forgive him for killing the rest of their family," Caroline said sarcastically.
"Wouldn't put it past him, to be honest," Katherine muttered, making Caroline huff and roll her eyes.
"Look. I just need to know why you're here."
"Keeping an eye on Elenaganger."
Katherine raised an eyebrow. "Hmm. Funny. For once. Who knew?"
"Bitch."
"Thank you," Katherine said, her smile all teeth. "So, what do you say we work together on this sweetpea? Or interests align. I want Klaus dead, Elijah wants Klaus dead, we're on the same team."
"Yeah, until someone else makes you another offer and you leave to save your own ass," Caroline spat bitterly.
"Oh, is someone still a little bit sensitive about that?"
"You took off in the middle of the night without telling Father where you were going. He was devastated."
"You should've been happy. You've always hated me."
"Father doesn't. He would have protected you."
"No, sweetpea. He would have protected you. And you know my motto."
"Yeah. Save your traitorous, slutty ass before anyone else."
"Hey now, let's not point fingers here, little girl. There is nothing wrong with having a healthy sex life, and there is also nothing wrong with having a decent sense of self-preservation."
"Using sex as a weapon is wrong."
"In your opinion. But, even if you're right, which you aren't, it's better to be wrong and alive than a dead saint. And anyway, that's not exactly how I'd put my attitude toward life."
"Fine, how would you say it? Because pretty sure mine was just about spot-on."
Katherine pressed her lips together, her eyes shooting daggers. "Better you die than I. But really, let's get back to the matter at hand. Seeing Klaus die benefits both of us, so let me help."
"And let you break my father's heart again? Hardly."
"It would be a lot easier for him if he'd just stop rebuilding it," Katherine said, her throaty voice cold. "And either way, if Klaus dies, I'll stay."
Caroline shifted her gaze to the other woman and laughed. "That is the most bold-faced lie I've ever heard."
"If Klaus is dead, I have no reason to leave. Despite what you seem to believe, I love your father. I always have. I probably always will. The reason I run is because his brother tries to kill me every time I settle. If he dies, there's no reason to run. Not anymore." Caroline narrowed her eyes, and Katherine huffed. "You don't believe me, do you? Well, let me put it this way. Worst case scenario, Klaus dies and I'm lying and run off again, leaving your father no worse off than he was before. Best case scenario, Klaus dies, and I don't run off. I stay. Like I always promised."
"No, worst case scenario is that you betray us," Caroline said quietly.
Katherine gave Caroline a small shrug of her shoulders, tossing her hair. "Fine, don't believe me. Either way, Klaus will die."
Caroline bit her lip, considering Katherine's offer. The other woman was right, and both of them knew it. All Caroline had to do was put her pride aside and allow her to help them. And really, though Caroline didn't know the details, she did know that the situation was serious enough that they'd need all the help that they could get.
She might even score some points with her father in the process if she wrangled Katherine onto their side, which was always handy for when she wanted something and the pouty lips and puppy eyes didn't get the desired results.
"Fine. What's the plan?"
"Saint Elena is here, I found out that Tyler Lockwood is an untriggered wolf, I'm planning on taking care of that tonight, and I'll have the moonstone in my possession. The only thing missing would be–"
"A vampire," Caroline finished. "And this town seems to have quite a few spares."
"That it does," Katherine agreed, a small smile curling her face. "All we have to do is keep them alive until Klaus arrives. It shouldn't be too difficult, the Salvatore boys are obsessed with her."
Caroline nodded, filing away that bit of information for later. "So, priority order is Elenaganger, the werewolf boy, and a vampire."
Katherine nodded. "So, why don't you go keep the girl busy, and I'll go trigger us a werewolf."
Caroline nodded, turning to walk over to Elena, who gave her a huge smile, making Caroline's gut tug at the impending betrayal she was about to perform to what seemed like a perfectly nice teenage girl.
However, if asked to choose between her father and any other person, no matter who they were, she'd choose her father every time.
"Hey, Caroline! I want you to introduce you to a few people. This is my boyfriend Stefan, and his brother Damon," she said, her smile faltering a bit on the second name as she gestured to the two men beside her. Caroline nodded politely.
"It's lovely to meet you."
Damon winked at her, and Caroline felt a bit queasy at the predatory nature of his gaze. She knew that the brothers were vampires, but hoped that there were enough heartbeats in the room to conceal her own vampirism. If there were not, she'd need to think up a story.
In any case, she asked Elena to show her around, and the other girl agreed, taking her arm and leading her off to the hallway, leaving Damon and Stefan standing by the punch bowl.
XXX
"Won't she be back soon?" Katherine gasped out as Elijah pressed her against the wall.
"She has extra-curricular activities after school every day," Elijah said quickly. "I do not wish to speak of Caroline right now, Katerina."
Katherine moaned and nodded as Elijah's lips brushed over her jawline, wrapping her legs tightly around his waist, her head thrown back. "So lovely and wet for me."
He pinched her nipples harshly, his hips moving more quickly as Katherine's gasps of pleasure slowly escalated in volume, and both froze immediately when the front door slammed. "Daddy?"
Elijah's eye twitched, and Katherine suppressed a laugh.
"I see that Caroline has skipped her 'extra-curriculars' in favor of annoying you."
"I am not surprised. She is attempting to irritate me as revenge for my request that she attend the local high school," Elijah said, already buttoning up his shirt and straightening the cuffs.
Katherine pushed herself away from the wall, walking to the bed and pulling on the short silk robe that had been discarded across the comforter, and Elijah opened the door as Caroline approached. "What's the problem, my dear?"
"Just wanted to tell you that Elena invited me over for dinner tonight. I knew that if I didn't come home to tell you in person, you would have sent out a search party."
Katherine walked to see Caroline in a sundress, a backpack slung over one shoulder, and the other girl's lip curled. "Katherine."
"What's your problem? We're supposed to be on the same team, here, remember?" Katherine asked bitingly, and Caroline scoffed, turning on her heel.
"I'll be home late."
"Be safe, my dear."
"Bye, Daddy!" she said, obviously just attempting to annoy him, and she saw Elijah's rare eyeroll.
She probably should have felt privileged. Seeing Elijah roll his eyes was just about as common as seeing a unicorn.
She helped Elijah with his shirt, undoing the buttons again carefully, and reaching down to unfasten his slacks, gripping his halfhard cock in her hand, stroking him slowly.
"You like that?" she asked when his breath caught.
He nodded.
She dropped to her knees, a smirk curling over her face, and swirled the tip of her tongue around his cock, making him groan softly. "Take me in your mouth, Katerina."
"Of course, Daddy."
She had never seen him redress so fast in all their time together, his eyes squeezed tightly shut, and she restrained a genuine bubble of laughter.
"Something wrong?" she asked, sauntering over to him, still nude.
"Yes," he said quietly, rubbing his palms over his eyes.
She pouted, trailing a finger down his chest. "What's wrong, Da-"
"I will gag you," he threatened, and she could tell that he was completely serious, making a stab of arousal hit her in her core.
"That could be fun."
"I didn't mean sexually," he said. "That was a threat."
"Well, mean it sexually and I'll take it as a promise," Katherine said lightly, trailing her fingers up his shirt to stroke his neck, pressing herself against him.
His eyes darkened, and she gave him a smug smirk, moaning as he pushed two fingers inside her still-soaking pussy before he bit her ear.
"Be silent, Katerina," he mumbled, his lips curled into a smile.
"I don't know if I'll be able to."
"I'm sure we can find a way…"
XXX
It was only hours after Caroline had left the house to attend the dinner at Elena's, and after Katherine had announced her intention to dig a bit more on information around the town and left, Elijah had decided to use the time to visit the informants that brought him to Mystic Falls in the first place.
"Rose-Marie," Elijah greeted, lingering in the doorway to the small apartment.
The woman nodded, her eyes cast down in respect as she stood aside to let him enter. "Welcome, Elijah."
"Thank you for the information on the doppelganger. It has been useful."
"You're welcome," Rose said quietly.
"You are pardoned in my eyes, though I cannot say the same for my brother's."
Rose nodded slowly. "I appreciate your leniency in any case."
"Where is Trevor?" Elijah asked abruptly.
"He is in place at the doppelganger's house, awaiting orders to capture the girl."
"There will be no need for that," Elijah said quietly. "Please tell him that his presence is needed here."
"Of course."
Trevor arrived a few minutes later, and Elijah immediately had him pinned to the wall by his throat. Rose screamed, but Elijah ignored her, instead catching Trevor's eye. "You will do whatever is necessary to protect Caroline's life, even if it is certain you will die in the process," he said quietly, and Trevor repeated the orders as the compulsion took hold, looking confused.
"Who is Caroline?"
Elijah's mouth thinned into a stern line. "You failed in protecting Katerina. Let us hope that your track record will be better with my daughter. As for you, Rose-Marie, I would like you to tail Elena Gilbert. Get to know her and those she surrounds herself with. My daughter is already familiarizing herself with the girl and her human friends, but I need you to ingratiate yourself with the Salvatores. My daughter told me moments ago that both brothers seem enamored with the girl, though you may have better luck with Damon, the older brother."
"Better luck in what?"
"Obtaining information. Their habits. Likes. Dislikes. Weaknesses. I will return in two days time, Rose-Marie, and I expect information on these things. Trevor, you will stay in the shed in the backyard of the home I've purchased. Caroline is to be protected at all costs. I shall reinforce the compulsion when we arrive. Is this understood?"
"Yes," Rose said quietly, and Trevor simply nodded.
Elijah's phone vibrated, and he pulled it out, reading over the text from Caroline and suddenly feeling as though he'd been doused in ice.
[Caroline]: Salvatores took Katherine and locked her in a tomb by the falls. I couldn't ask for more info without sounding a bit too curious. Heading home now. Meet me there?
Elijah texted back an affirmative and looked up to see Rose and Trevor looking at him with nervous eyes. "It seems that I am needed at home. Trevor, please accompany me. Remember, Rose-Marie, two days."
"Two days," she repeated, watching him warily as he left with Trevor, closing the door softly behind him.
London, England - Present
"There's someone here to see you."
Klaus looked up from his drink as he lounged on the couch, his boots resting on the antique coffee table. "Thank you Greta. Please, show them in."
Greta left and returned a few moments later with a young, dark-haired woman, who stood with her hands clasped in front of her, eyes lowered.
"Leave us," he ordered Greta, who nodded and left, closing the door behind her. "What's your business with me?" he asked shortly, giving the woman who'd entered a once over.
"I know where the doppelganger is," she said quietly.
She was pinned against the wall in an instant, Klaus letting his fangs drop. "Tell me what you know."
"Katherine Pierce asked me to bargain with you for her freedom."
Klaus laughed cruelly, letting the woman fall in a heap on the floor. "She did, did she? Where is Katerina?"
"She found the doppelganger, and she wants her freedom in exchange for the girl, the moonstone, a vampire, and a werewolf."
"Does she now?" Klaus asked, his voice soft and dangerous. "And she's sent you to bargain for her?"
"Yes."
He had to hand it to the woman, she was brave. Stupid, but brave.
He grabbed her and pulled her to him, his pupils dilating as the compulsion took hold.
"You're going to answer all of my questions with complete honesty."
She repeated the compulsion back, and he smirked, stepping away and falling back onto the couch, his boots scratching against the priceless coffee table as he carelessly let his feet fall against the surface with a light thump. "Please, take a seat."
The woman did, and he gave her a small dimpled smile, taking another sip of brandy before setting the glass down and narrowing his eyes.
"Well, first thing's first. What is your name, love?"
"Isobel Flemming."
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. What are our thoughts on Elijah and Caroline's relationship? Elijah and Katherine? Katherine and Caroline? Do you think Elijah will be daggered as he was in the show? How do you think this timeline might differ from the one on the show?
I don't know if I warned you guys before, but this story's going to be a pretty slow burn. Not dragging-it-out slow, but there's-a-lot-of-plot slow.
Let me know what you think.
Hugs!
-Angie