Author's note: Mob boss Klaus was having a rough week — an annoyingly rude but attractive blonde, a retaliatory hit, and then he took a vase to the temple — wielded by the same cantankerous blonde.

"You can get much further with a kind word and a gun then you can with a kind word alone." — Al Capone

So many delightful dancing jewels. How to choose, Klaus mused from the VIP balcony overlooking his nightclub. It had been an especially productive week for the family — his top earners had brought on board some rather unique investment opportunities and he'd taken care of a bothersome rat in his circle. And now he wished to cap off his good mood with an amusing bit of fluff.

Peering along the crowd of gyrating bodies, he was captured in an instant by a stunning blonde. While the group she was with danced provocatively, she stood out for the sheer joy she seemed to radiate with her graceful movements. With a decisive nod to his associate working the floor, he indicated his selection for the evening.

Feeling absurdly pleased with himself, Klaus adopted a stance while leaning against the stylish brass railing that he was certain exuded the perfect blend of casual confidence and power that had ensnared many a beautiful creature just like the little blonde below. To his associate's credit, he approached the woman with the same deferential demeanor as he had all the others — engaging in friendly banter laced with a few compliments, but it was when Tyler gestured toward Klaus and made the offer with a charming smile that things took an unexpected turn.

The blonde carried a look of disbelief across her lovely face, and then began to giggle. By the time she lifted her piercing blue gaze to the balcony where Klaus began to shift uncomfortably, her giggles had become a great belly laugh of mockery. Impudent tart. When she finally straightened, whatever dismissive comments she gave to Tyler made him pale considerably. Scowling at the blonde's obvious indifference as she disappeared into the crowd once more, Klaus impatiently waited for Tyler to return.

"Well?"

Gulping, his associate mumbled, "She said that anyone who orders a bedmate like he's ordering a pizza is either a lazy fuckboy or an impotent serial killer."

The words stung unexpectedly, but rather than raise his ire, Klaus felt an unexpected desire to prove himself worthy of securing a conquest even more gorgeous than the venomous blonde. Waiving off a trembling Tyler, Klaus returned to scouring the masses from his balcony, searching hungrily for a more suitable companion in which to spend the evening. Exquisitely toned bodies writhed seductively on the dancefloor, with long, flowing locks that gleamed in the lights and framed the faces of statuesque beauties. They all seemed to beckon hungrily with arched backs and wanton smiles.

He turned away in irritation, as there were none who captured his interest.

The vase that shattered against his temple sounded expensive. Elijah always did like to pamper that vengeful harpy of his. He felt a hint of regret about such uncharitable thoughts given that Katherine was dead and he'd never seen his brother in such a despondent state before. But then the blinding pain brought him back into the moment, and he leapt back, rubbing his head and cursing, "Bloody hell!"

The bronze chandelier flickered on, bathing the foyer in a soft glow as a startled gasp accused, "You! What the hell are you doing here? Ugh — I knew you were giving off more impotent serial killer vibes than lazy fuckboy vibes!"

Klaus blinked in confusion, vision still swimming as he took in a familiar blazing blue gaze. It was the tactless blonde from his club. It had been a week since he'd laid eyes on her and she was still just as radiant as he remembered. She quickly tossed aside the ruined porcelain pieces, and much to his amusement, leveled a stun gun at his chest. He nudged one of the gilt-edged shards on the marble floor, noting with distaste the gaudy pattern of posies. "Louis XVI Sèvres vases. Hardly a surprise — Katherine always did have rubbish taste."

The blonde gaped at him, doing a peculiar little wiggle with her stun gun as though concerned he hadn't seen it. Despite his aching skull, he couldn't help but be charmed by her endearing rambling. "Ohmygod are you following me you creeper and how did you know Katherine or maybe you don't you're just some meth-addled JUNKIE breaking in to score a quick fix except that's a REALLY nice suit for a junkie so if you're just some rando who knew Katherine then you're gonna need to prove it you know because this is SHADY AS HELL that you just show up here, you know?"

"Klaus Mikaelson. Katherine and my brother were...involved and her death has left him unusually distraught." Bowing his curly head, he felt an odd tightness in his chest when he recalled the utter devastation on Elijah's face when they received the news about the Salvatore Family's retaliatory hit. "I thought that bringing back a few of her things would ease his grief."

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously, only slightly lowering the stun gun. "You're Dick with Dimples? The one who kept trying to sabotage Katherine's relationship with Elijah?"

Klaus couldn't help the snort of amusement at her words. Katherine may have been a gold-digging whore who was completely wrong from Elijah, but she always knew how to liven up their stuffy family dinner parties.

"Caroline Forbes," she told him curtly, waving the stun gun once more before dropping it into the bag on the gold leaf table near the double front doors, warning him, "But just so you know, my stun gun can make an whole watermelon smoke and peel."

"Duly noted. I'll certainly avoid coming at you with a watermelon."

Her surprised laugh was immensely appealing as they wandered past the carved archway and into the living room. "How did you know Katherine," Klaus asked curiously. There was no mistaking the sheen of tears that threatened to well up as her gaze strayed to the photo of Elijah and Katherine at the family's vineyard in Provence.

She was quiet for a long time, staring off into space. "Fuck drunk drivers," Caroline said unexpectedly.

For a moment, he was confused by her vitriol, but then quickly rearranged his expression into one of understanding. Thanks to a few cops on the family's payroll, the official cause of death had been ruled as a car accident in which a drunk driver had hit Katherine. Just the cost of doing business in this city.

Heaving a great sigh, Caroline finally revealed, "I run a women's shelter and Katherine was our biggest patron. She was a rare, generous soul and we bonded over bullshit government red tape and the ridiculous place settings our foundation members kept fighting over."

With a faraway look in her eye, she mused, "Katherine was this force of nature who crashed into your life and demanded you love her. I was completely in awe of her the first time she burst into my office wearing this glamorous faux fur coat and enormous sparkling rings, plopping down this check stuffed with a ton of zeros and told me to 'do up the place right.'"

He was surprised and somewhat humbled by Caroline's admission. Perhaps Katherine hadn't been the worst thing to have happened to his brother. A bit late for that revelation, mate. She'd been an unfortunate casualty of the Salvatores' fury over Stefan's death. Their youngest had been a rat, feigning loyalty to Klaus' organization, and Klaus did not regret the hit he ordered. Until now.

"But you're not here for mementos," he said, surprised at the gentleness in his voice. He was not a gentle man. However, from the steel he saw in Caroline, she didn't appear to need gentle in that moment. "Katherine was quite tight-lipped about her life outside the family. She guarded your friendship with the utmost care. You must've been very special to her."

Caroline impatiently brushed aside a tear, but remained stonily silent as she sat down on the ostentatious pearl-framed sofa.

Cocking his curly head to the side, Klaus cajoled, "Tell me why you're here, sweetheart. I'd like to help if I can." She clearly felt indebted to Katherine and wanted to settle her unfinished business. When your marker's called.

She lightly traced a nail along the tufted cushions, biting her lip as she replied uncertainly, "Katherine told me how you run your family's import-export business. An antiques dealer can't help me with what I need to do for her."

Klaus felt inexplicably giddy at the realization that Caroline was completely ignorant of his family's true dealings in this city. He could be anyone he wanted to be with her. Between the heartbreak clearly etched on Caroline's face and the way his brother shuffled about the family compound as a shell of his former self, Klaus found that he actually meant it when he told Caroline firmly, "You'd be surprised at my connections. Please let me help you, love."

Thinking very hard about something, Caroline seemed to relent as she nodded slowly. "Alright. It's...delicate, ok? As a teenager, Katherine had a daughter she gave up for adoption. She confessed that she'd been trying to find her and I knew she'd put together some files to start her search. I was hoping to find them here and carry on the search for her." Giving Klaus a tremulous smile, she told him, "There's a teenage girl out there somewhere that needs to know what an amazing woman her mother was. She deserves that and so does Katherine."

Klaus was drawn to her fire and found himself readily agreeing to helping her search. Caroline was a pure spirit, a rare individual who'd not only captured his interest but also could inspire him to be...more? As ludicrous as it sounded, he couldn't deny the funny tweak his heart gave when Caroline favored him with her lovely smile.

The condo had been swept for bugs earlier that day, but Caroline wasn't taking any chances. The stakes were too high, she grimly reminded herself as she pulled out two different scanning tools and thoroughly ran over everything once more. It had been a near miss at Katherine's place, and she was sure her cover had been blown when Klaus showed up. The bloodthirsty mob boss had amassed a deadly reputation in this city and while the Bureau had trained Caroline for numerous scenarios, he'd still managed to surprise her with the compassion he'd shown for the woman he'd clearly despised.

Poor Katherine — too blinded by love to see Elijah as the violent criminal he was. She was just the latest in a long line of casualties as the Mikaelsons and Salvatores turned the streets into a warzone. Caroline had sworn to bring down both crime families and get justice for their victims. Pulling out her phone, she felt a grim satisfaction that Klaus had texted her a surprisingly sweet goodnight message. Taking a breath, she stubbornly ignored the odd feeling of guilt that washed over her.

Time to get to work.