Voice Mail

"Caroline, I'm standing in one of my favorite places in the world surrounded by food, music, art, culture and all I can think about is how much I want to show it to you. Maybe one day you'll let me."

Caroline had lost count of the number of times she had replayed Klaus' voice message over the duration of the entire night. It was a surprise she got any sleep at all.

Earlier that evening she had said her final goodbyes to him as they watched his daughter Hope dance with one of the local boys. Caroline had told Klaus about the time she had come running to New Orleans with her little girls during a very scary phase in her life. The look on his face when he learned there was a time when she needed him and he couldn't be there for her was enough to tell her all she wanted from him for now: that he cared.

Not that there was any doubt about Klaus' feelings towards her; even with all the drama going on in both of their lives, if there was one thing that seemed to remain constant throughout with absolute clarity it was Klaus' love for Caroline.

"You weren't the villain of my story," she had told him, emphasizing her words as the point of telling him about her visit from back then. He appeared to be so touched by her words, he came close – so close – that if Caroline had given in just a bit and moved a little closer, she could have had one last kiss.

In hind sight, she had to admit it was unfair that Klaus hadn't been aware of that being their last meeting at the time, since Caroline was supposed to be present when her daughters Lizzie and Josie extracted the dark magic out of Hope and placed it into him.

She was supposed to be there to support him during his very difficult time.

But she just couldn't bring herself to do it.

As much as she told herself she had accepted his decision to take in his daughter's magic and die in order to save her, the thought of just watching helplessly as he walked to his own death was more than she thought she could take.

She lay in her bed listening to his voice recording once more and her brain began to conjure new sets of what-if scenarios for her to cry over.

I wish I could have been there when he took in the dark magic, it must have been so scary.

I wish I had done more to find out other ways to save him.

I wish I had… kissed him.

The last one surprised her; she had never at any point felt that she regretted any of her actions with regards to the way she had been with Klaus so this was an unforeseen emotion. She idly glanced outside her window and saw the sun was starting to come up.

Too bad it's too late now.

Just then Klaus' voice stopped abruptly and her phone began to vibrate. She didn't recognize the number and wondered who it was that was calling her so early in the day.

"Hello?" There was a brief silence on the other end before a voice spoke up.

"Ms. Forbes." Caroline nearly gasped; if there was an Original whose voice, she could unmistakably tell apart from Klaus' it would be this one.

"Elijah?" Suddenly, dread began to creep up Caroline's body as her mind pondered over what the oldest Original possibly had to tell her, much less so urgently. Was it to inform her of Klaus' death? Did he want her to be part of his memorial? Would she have to hold back tears while giving his eulogy –

"Klaus is alive." He said those three words crisp and clear to her ears. And yet she found herself shaking her head in confusion.

"W-what?"

"I tried to stop him from killing himself last night after the spell," he explained. "This was after you informed me about what he planned to do."

"I…" Caroline started, unsure where the conversation was going. "I don't…"

"No need to worry, Ms. Forbes, I have to thank you for filling me in," Elijah stated, "He wasn't listening to me but Hope overheard us and managed to stop him… for now."

Caroline let out a low breath trying to collect her thoughts. "Okay… where is Klaus? Is he okay?"

"He's currently resting in our home," Elijah replied. "We…found ways to make things a little less uncomfortable for him but he doesn't have long. Freya says there's a good chance he may not make it through the night."

Caroline's first instinct was to ask him why he was calling to tell her this. But she knew the answer to that very well and refrained from the question, instead choosing to inform him of one thing.

"I'll be there."

x-X-x

Caroline walked to the Abattoir entrance that had over the past few days become more familiar to her than it ever had been in the time that she'd known Klaus to reside there.

She passed by Elijah on her way upstairs to Klaus' room and nodded at him in acknowledgement. She was actually glad that Elijah's call had brought her here, more so since Alaric hadn't been all too helpful in providing details about what had happened to Klaus after he had taken their girls away to safety.

She gently opened the door to his space, knowing full well that no matter how quiet she was, Klaus' superior Hybrid senses would know of her presence. And yet as she caught a glimpse of his lanky frame leaning against the railing of the balcony, it appeared he was too lost in thought to notice. It wasn't surprising, considering the many things that were probably on his mind right now. She walked up to the balcony door and crossed her arms, resting her shoulder against the frame.

"Don't make me murder you while you contemplate killing yourself."

That seemed to catch Klaus' attention. He slowly turned towards her, the exhaustion on his face more prominent than ever and the pained look he wore broke Caroline's heart.

And yet she marveled at how he found it in him to offer her a smile, a very specific one that she had overtime come to recognize as being reserved only for her.

"Caroline," he spoke softly, "If you're here to stop me…"

"I am here…" Caroline interrupted before he could continue, "… to collect a debt."