Author's note: This is a sequel to Chapter 81: Part 8 Klarosummer Bingo in my Klaroline series, A Beautiful Symmetry. This was written for Klaroline Bingo klaroline-events. Prompt: Working. As con artists, Caroline, Bonnie and Katherine knew the risks, but when the Mikaelson brothers conned them, their fight AND flight response kicked into overdrive.


"It is safer to beg than to take, but it is finer to take than to beg."
― Oscar Wilde, The Soul of Man Under Socialism


Nothing was more satisfying than pushing Klaus' shiny Jaguar over the cliff. It was the final item on Caroline's to do list as she, Bonnie and Katherine left the Hamptons. Caroline stood with her friends, refusing to flinch as the sound of shattering glass and screeching metal collided with the jagged rocks below. She got sloppy. She should've realized a mid-market convertible less than $100,000 would never have been the vehicle of choice for a jet-setting playboy whose family money went back generations.

"Fucking Mikaelsons played us," Katherine snarled, brown eyes flashing angrily. "We set up the perfect con, a final score so we could retire, only for it to blow up in our faces when we found out they were trying to con us!"

Bonnie opened the cooler at their feet, twisting off the top of the beer bottle and taking a deep gulp. "We got them in the end, though. Posted all their fake identities on that stupid Hamptons gossip site. They're burned in the Northeast now — I even tipped off the highway patrol to be on the lookout for Kol's Rover."

"Did we use cornstarch or flour to mimic the coke the cops will find in the back," Caroline asked with a mocking grin, clinking her bottle with Bonnie's in celebration.

Katherine chuckled darkly. "Flour. But only on the bottom. The top are a few kilos courtesy of our old Markos connection."

The women shared a laugh, but Caroline found her gaze straying back to the wreckage below. It had been years since a man had tricked her. Since she'd let a man get close. Still seething over Klaus' betrayal, her tone was fierce as she said, "The Mikaelsons no longer matter. It's time to move on to our next job."


"Working shouldn't be this hard," Caroline muttered, her voice muffled behind her mask as she polished the alabaster jar on the lathe equipment. She carefully smoothed the sides, ensuring the machine work wouldn't be visible.

Green eyes narrowed behind her goggles as Bonnie advised, "You should use the bow-drill next to ensure modern tool marks aren't detected."

"Seriously?!" Caroline rolled her eyes, certain that underneath that mask was her friend's signature scowl. "Do you want to do this instead? It's not like I've ever painstakingly crafted forgeries from five different ancient civilizations. Oh, wait — I have." She hated how shrill her voice sounded and she knew Bonnie and Katherine were dealing with the same anger and disappointment about what happened in the Hamptons. It wasn't fair that she was taking her misery out on them. As Bonnie started to storm out of the workshop, Caroline called after her, "Wait. That was shitty. I'm sorry."

Bonnie sighed, distractedly running a hand through her sleek bob. "You miss Klaus." At Caroline's indignant snort, she shook her head. "Lie to yourself all you want, but I see it and Kat would too if she pulled her head out of her ass. And I miss Kol with his stupid limericks and crazy stories that somehow always start with skydiving and end in the back of a police car."

"Kat's avoiding thinking about Elijah by memorizing campus security and building schematics at Berkeley."

The women shared a look of commiseration, knowing that Katherine's hyper-focusing was almost as dangerous as when she spent too much time at the gun range. She didn't forgive or forget. Elijah was fortunate that were on the other coast.

Picking up a steel file, she carefully ran it across the wide base of the jar. "I trust she's working out the reason why there's a huge lag time in the security guard patrols on Tuesday and Thursday evenings in the Hildegard Building?"

Bonnie chuckled, "Figure drawing classes are on those nights. Nude figure drawing. The pervy old guards are trying to make some Girls Gone Wild fantasy happen."

"Eww. Also, perfect — I can have the other three jars ready by next Tuesday and Kat can make the switch then." Caroline was responsible for the main part of the Berkeley con — carve perfect copies of the ancient Egyptian alabaster vessels that Katherine would swap out for the real artifacts. Bonnie already had been hired by Berkeley to authenticate their latest archaeological find. She'd forged impeccable credentials as an Egyptian art authenticator with an emphasis on Old Kingdom artifacts.

Once Bonnie declared Caroline's work as authentic, the girls would skip town, leaving Berkeley officials none the wiser that their 'ancient Egyptian' artifacts displayed were less than two weeks old. It was a familiar con, one they'd pulled off successfully multiple times across the States. They needed this win. The Mikaelson debacle had shaken their confidence, and the women were desperate to get things back to normal.

"I'll leave you to it, then." Heaving a heavy sigh, Bonnie added, "I should probably go check up on Kat in case she decides setting something on fire would make her feel better."

Shaking her head, Caroline got back to work, fervently wishing she knew what would make her feel better. She kept thinking back to the argument she overheard between Klaus and Kol.

"Don't tell me this is just another job for you," Klaus replied angrily, "You got too close to Bonnie and Elijah's all but forgotten the rest of the world exists thanks to Katherine."

Kol scoffed, "And Caroline? I saw that ring don't think I'm not aware of what that means to you."

She stupidly kept the ring on a long chain around her neck, tucked away under her blouse so her friends wouldn't see. Why did she do this to herself? Because she heard Klaus' desperation. However the brothers' con had begun, somewhere along the way, they'd caught feelings and everything had changed. Just like it had for Caroline and her friends.

But she also kept recalling little details that she should've picked up on, things that could've unraveled Klaus' con sooner had she not been so distracted by how she felt about him.

With a dimpled smirk from Klaus, Caroline kept forgetting she was in the middle of a con. Despite his seductive smiles, she couldn't help but notice the genuine excitement he showed when she surprised him with a trip to the art museum. From her extensive research into his background, she knew he had an affinity for art, including a graduate degree in art history. "Isn't it breathtaking," she asked, pointing out the beautifully preserved Madonna and Child canvas.

"It's an impressive Caravaggio," Klaus said dismissively, already eyeing the next exhibit.

Frowning, she asked, "I thought this was a Verrocchio? You'd mentioned he had been your focus when you studied Italian Renaissance art?"

A slight flush creeped up his neck, and he kissed her knuckles as he purred in his accented voice, "I appreciate a woman who can identify the rebirth of classic antiquity." There was an endearing hesitancy in his tone as he said, "Actually, I'd like to share my latest passion with you." With an excited twinkle in his eye, he guided her toward the next gallery, one filled with vibrant colors and bold brush strokes that instantly captured her attention.

"These are powerful," she murmured, admiring the series of abstract portraits.

He squeezed her hand, whispering excitedly, "I discovered GyoBeom An at a low point in my life; his work is an explosive blend of constructing and deconstructing images using a bold, contemporary palette. Even though the brush strokes are strong, almost violent in places, to me, it feels like the art reveals what's hidden in a whisper rather than a shout."

His impassioned speech struck a chord with her, and she was alarmed to realize she'd started to tear up. There were so many things she was hiding from Klaus. So, she told him the only thing she knew to be true. "I'm honored you'd share this with me."

Klaus looked nervous, but the sincerity of his tone seemed genuine. "You're special, Caroline. I wouldn't share this with anyone else." And then he kissed her until they were both breathless.

It was a beautiful memory. And it was all a lie. Just two cons lying to each other, Caroline thought bitterly. She pushed aside the flood of memories that kept trying to break free, and instead bent her head to her work once more.


Caroline's expectations for the buyer went up a notch when she got her first look at The Bitter End over on Clement Street. Not only did the bar's name match her mood, but the grimy, threadbare atmosphere made her feel at home. Better than the pretentious clubs in the Hamptons. Her contact informed her that the dive bar was in a quiet neighborhood away from tourists — the perfect spot to negotiate terms.

The con was nearly complete — Katherine effortlessly swapped out the ancient artifacts for Caroline's forgeries and Bonnie had done such an outstanding job 'authenticating' that Berkeley had offered her a coveted spot on their latest dig in Karnak, examining a newly discovered series of tunnels underneath the Temple of Amun-Ra. (Katherine was still trying to convince them it was a sign they should take their skills to the exclusive spa in nearby Luxor and run either the Heiress Special or the Desert Rose cons.)

She crossed the threshold, eyes quickly adjusting to the dim light inside the dive bar. She was there to settle the final part of their con — agree on the price for the ancient Egyptian alabaster jars. Something brushed across the back of her neck, and she turned sharply, ready to deliver an elbow to whichever drunk decided to get too gropey. But no one was there. Suddenly on edge, she headed toward the back booth, where the buyer waited in the shadows.

The scent of leather and cedar flooded her senses, making her heart pound. He was here. Bonnie would tell her to run. Katherine would tell her to break his nose and then run. Caroline's curiosity was piqued as she contemplated a third option.

"Hello, sweetheart," Klaus greeted her, lovingly caressing the syllables of her name with that seductive accent of his. "Are you armed?"

"Perhaps. You?"

Gray eyes twinkling, he replied, "Only with righteous indignation. My brothers and I nearly emptied our bag of tricks calling in favors to make that spot of trouble with the police and the coke disappear." Leaning forward, his lips curled into a dimpled smirk as he added, "And then there was that unfortunate accident. Going after the car — you certainly know how to cut a man to the quick."

Arms crossed in front of her, Caroline asked defiantly, "Clearly, you scared off my buyer, so you must want something — what is it?"

"Answers. From you and your cohorts' actions, it was obvious you figured out what we were up to. You three don't strike me as cowards — why not confront us?"

She scowled, not appreciating how close he'd become. He was trying to force a connection. Bastard. "A good grifter knows when to cut her losses. It turned out we were all just con artists trying to scam each other. There was nothing to be gained from staying."

A hint of steel entered his gaze as he growled, "Or, there was everything to gain. I thought I fell for a woman that forever would be beyond my reach. The little fictions we told each other gave way to something real. And then we discover we're even more perfectly suited than we could've imagined."

Blue eyes widened at his words. What Klaus was suggesting was insane — there could never be trust between cons. "Seriously?! Are you out of your mind? We'd constantly be suspicious of each other, waiting to be screwed over."

"Details," he answered with a careless shrug. "Tell me you haven't missed me every day since you ran off."

"I haven't," Caroline answered flatly, refusing to give into this insanity.

She was prepared for him to lash out, but instead, he flashed her a knowing smile while digging in his pocket. Suddenly, he dangled her long silver chain between them, complete with the beautiful ring he'd made her. That he'd stolen right off her neck.

Klaus' desire-filled gaze was intense as he told her, "Good thing for both of us you're a terrible liar."