Author's note: These were a series of drabbles I created for the 12 Steps for Klaroline Xmas event – I hope you enjoy them! Please let me know if any catch your fancy that you'd like me to continue (as always, please let me know if any of my other chapters spark your interest enough to need an encore!)


Author's note: This was created for the 12 Steps for Klaroline Xmas event (Step 4: Forbidden Love).

Her mark burned, but Caroline bore the familiar sting with only a slight furrow of her brow. It was a warning. They were coming. Klaus tentatively traced the dark lines of the triangle on her bare shoulder, the mark of her people. "All of this is because of me," he told her bitterly.

It was an old argument, well-worn and oddly comforting. Caroline was a gorgon, part of a fierce race of immortal creatures cursed by petty gods. Her people sought vengeance against the gods by terrorizing mortals, hunting them nearly to the brink of extinction. She'd never given much thought to mortals; they were merely an instrument to harm the gods. Until Klaus. The moment he foolishly crossed into her territory, she'd been captivated by the arrogant soldier hell-bent on destroying her.

"No," she told him with a quick kiss, "the burden is mine. I knew the risk but I was too selfish to care." They warily watched the valley dotted with temple ruins, their hidden cave in the side of Mount Lykaion providing the perfect vantage point for the impending battle. She impatiently plucked at her bowstring with one sharp claw, the familiar hum echoing against the rock walls.

"That was the first image I have of you, love," he told her fondly, "aiming an arrow at my heart with the certainty of a warrior. It was in that moment I knew I'd found a kindred spirit."

Willing her snakes silent as they rustled along her crown, she sighed, "My instincts demanded I set my gaze upon you until you were stone, but for the first time, I found myself doubting my people's quest for vengeance." It was rare that one of her sisters would fall by the blade of a mortal, but when it occurred, it was said that carving out their eyes as trophies bestowed the victor with foresight. This was the reason Klaus had sought her out. Or so he'd been told.

"When my mother's infidelity was revealed, Mikael charged me with reclaiming honor for myself and our family by battling a gorgon and claiming her eyes," Klaus reminisced, lacing his fingers with her claws as he pulled her close.

Caroline's scales took on a faint glow the color of a sunset as she recalled her anger at discovering Mikael's true plan for the young man he'd once called 'son'. "He sent you on a fool's errand, thinking you'd be killed to restore your family's good name. He was a fool to not see your worth," she reassured him, her snakelike pupils flashing a dangerous gold.

But Caroline had known. She'd felt the weight of his soul and knew the fates had established her visceral connection with Klaus for a reason. Perhaps their love was destined to change the world. Unfortunately, her people believed their love to be unnatural, an affront to their beliefs. Her sisters decreed that she spill her soldier's blood — or they'd quench their blades with hers.

Caroline trusted in the love she felt for Klaus, and as she watched the initial phalanx of the formidable gorgon army converge upon the valley, she could only hope the fates knew what they were doing.


Author's note: This was created for the 12 Steps for Klaroline Xmas event (Step 6: fantasy/fairy tale/ mythological).

When the snake spoke to Klaus, he felt the pull of archaic magic from a powerful bloodline, the likes of which he hadn't sensed in centuries. Since his wolf was stolen from him. "Doppelgangers are not nearly as hard to find as you think, Klaus Mikaelson."

He didn't bother pretending to search for a more likely owner of the voice. The cold, inhuman tone with the slight softening of certain sounds could only belong to the gleaming red and black coils delicately draped along a low branch.

He failed to keep the fleeting look of surprise from his face, and the snake observed knowingly, "Of course I know who you are. I've made it my business to learn all I can about my enemies' greatest enemy. I want to make a bargain with you."

Raising an eyebrow, Klaus clasped his hands behind his back, quietly studying the enigmatic creature with the fierce red eyes. "I must admit that in my years in this world, this may be my most unusual encounter. Care to tell me who you really are? You wear the scent of twisted sorcery like a snug skin."

A narrow red tongue flicked in and out, and there was a faint hiss to its reply, "My name is Caroline and up until a few weeks ago, I was a human. I crossed paths with a psycho vampire who tried to turn me into a snack, but instead I staked him and set him on fire. So, then his equally twisted brother and the insecure girl they're both creepily obsessed with took it personally. Long story short, they convinced a witch to turn me into this."

Klaus was fascinated as he watched Caroline silkily uncoil part of herself from the branch to regard him at eye level, her piercing red eyes carrying a fierceness that intrigued him. "They thought they'd won, that I'd just slither away. Idiots. Instead, I hid away in gutters and trees and carefully listened to every whispered conversation. Noted every fear. That's when I learned about you and I made it my mission to learn everything I could." A cold hiss escaped her as she added darkly, "It turned out I actually had the bargaining chips to make a deal with you all along."

Smirking at her, Klaus replied, "You mentioned doppelgangers, so you must know something of the curse I'm trying to break. Tell me why you think your bargaining chips are enough to convince me to help you."

Caroline reared back with a flash of small fangs, her fury at his condescending tone amused him. "I know everything about your curse, you ungrateful asshat! You need the human doppelganger, a vampire, a werewolf and the moonstone to free your wolf." Flicking the point of her tail in irritation she taunted him, "And I know where all of those ingredients are."

A flicker of surprise registered in his gray eyes before he smoothly said, "Impressive, sweetheart. But how can you trust that I'll keep my word and have one of my witches restore you to your former self once you've revealed where my ritual components are? Surely you recall from your past unsavory experience how untrustworthy vampires can be."

Klaus swore if a snake could form a cunning smile, that was the expression that crept across her scaly face. And it galled him when he realized the depth of his fascination. "Because I have one more bargaining chip, Klaus. And I won't give it to you until after I'm back to normal."

"Do tell, love," he humored her, curious to learn what Caroline thought he'd value as much as his ritual ingredients.

Tightening her coils along the thick tree branch, her red eyes reflected a smug satisfaction as she revealed, "The vampire that you've been hunting for centuries — I know the location of Katerina Petrova."


Author's note: This was created for the 12 Steps for Klaroline Xmas event (Step 10: Holiday Volunteering). It's a sequel to Chapter 57 - Part 3 - Klaroween Bingo, "Vampire that loves Italian food", found in this series, A Beautiful Symmetry.

The bells on her elf hat jingled angrily as Caroline chopped through the thick carrots with a large chef's knife, not bothering to hide her vampire speed since it was just her and one other person in the kitchen with her. One annoying, dimpled hybrid asshat person. It was the holiday season, but she couldn't be further from a festive mood ever since Klaus Mikaelson, CEO of Hybrid Industries, invaded her life when he bought the block where her Italian restaurant, Vesta, was on, transforming decades-old Mystic Falls businesses into luxury lofts.

At first, she'd tried to compel him, but when she discovered he couldn't be compelled, she modified her plans and sought out Elijah, the most sensible of the Mikaelsons and head of Hybrid Industries' legal department. After showing him Vesta's solid financials along with detailed records of how her sound business strategy had evolved over the decades, she could tell she was close to winning over the skeptical Original. But she really sealed the deal with she provided a detailed estimate of how her business plan could bring in additional revenue from the loft residents on the block, securing their investment for years to come.

As Caroline finished splashing olive oil and balsamic vinegar on the vegetables to roast for the antipasto platters, she recalled how Klaus had been impressed rather than furious that Elijah had sided with her. He'd commended her on outmaneuvering him and had shocked her when he'd invited her out to dinner as a peace offering. Still pissed at all the Mikaelsons for trying to ruin her neighborhood, she'd scoffed and told him where he could shove that no doubt expensive-yet-subpar dinner.

Still, the hybrid had been persistent in trying to make amends, from sending her contractors to remodel her kitchen to celebrity chefs to host theme nights, that she'd all sent back with a stern warning to him to stop trying to buy her forgiveness. (She may have kept some of the white truffles he'd sent though — imported from the forests of northern Italy, they sold for thousands of dollars a pound and their flavor made egg- and cheese-based dishes taste like they were made of stardust. After all, she was vindictive and bitter — not crazy.)

Despite her refusal to accept Klaus' actions as genuine, he stubbornly insisted on volunteering at the Holiday Dinner for the Hungry event she was hosting. Knowing that she couldn't turn away help regardless of how irritating she might find the volunteer, she rolled her eyes and picked out an apron with the ugliest food stains she could find to make him wear while he helped her start the food prep.

They had two more tables of main entrees to finish prepping before the local shelter brought over their temporary residents to take part in what Caroline hoped would be a meal they'd remember. Glancing at the clock, she hurriedly finished grating the parmesan and carefully mixed it with the whole milk ricotta she'd insisted Klaus go back to the store to purchase when he had the nerve to defile her kitchen with part skim ricotta. "No one will be able to tell the difference," he mocked from across the long steel counter, finely dicing the basil and rosemary to add into the marinara.

Rolling her eyes, Caroline stomped to the rack where the fresh-baked Tuscan boule sat, wielding her bread knife almost like a chainsaw in her irritation. She slathered several thick slices with the ricotta cheese mixture she'd blended and used her wooden pizza paddle to carefully slide them to the edge of the wood-burning oven to toast. She scowled at the way Klaus watched her movements with amusement, and was determined to wipe that smirk right off of his stupidly attractive face. When she pulled them from the oven, she added just a hint of cracked black pepper and wordlessly shoved a slice at him.

Klaus' evolution from polite amusement to mild surprise to absolute delight was hilarious to watch. "That is absolutely superb, sweetheart." She did her best to ignore the sensual way his tongue peeked out just a bit to catch the remaining crumbs on his lips.

But that became even more difficult when he brushed against her to grab the dried mango strips from her leftover breakfast and some apple cider vinegar. At her skeptical look, he murmured lowly in his seductive accent, "Just trust me, love."

And that was how Caroline and Klaus almost burned down her kitchen. Well, the first time, anyway.