It had been a few days since Caroline and Klaus decided to go ahead with their road trip.
Liz had been somewhat reticent in letting Caroline go alone, but Caroline had reasoned with her mother that while she was technically still 17, she was also an undead vampire, and she was just going to clear her head so she would be ready to tackle senior year.
When Liz had agreed, Caroline packed a big bag, loaded it into the car, along with Klaus and a ton of road trip snacks, and was on the road before quite realising she didn't have a clue where to head.
The most recent intel on the location of Rebekah and Stefan had come the day before, when there had been a vicious 'animal attack' somewhere near the border of Tennessee and Kentucky in which three people were killed. Klaus had a suspicion that if it was Rebekah, then she may be headed to an old hang out of his, which was about a hundred miles north of the Kentucky border.
It was far from concrete, but the attack had occurred in the general direction it was thought the missing vampires would be heading, and without anything else to go on, both Klaus and Caroline agreed it was worth a shot.
"So what is this 'old hang out' you have us checking out?" Caroline asked about an hour after they began driving. "Some whorehouse you used as a blood bank?"
"Hardly," Klaus smirked, amused. "Just a whorehouse."
"Klaus!" Caroline gasped. "How could you!"
He shrugged nonchalantly, no bemused by her outrage.
"It was a different time back then, love," he said. "There's a lot I am. But most constantly I am, at every point, a product of those times, and all the times I experienced before it."
Caroline set her jaw, trying to process his words. She'd heard that sort of argument before to excuse inexcusable behaviour of older generations. But, Caroline reasoned, a thousand years was a long time…
She was saved from thinking up a response, as they passed a statue of a cow with a sun hat on on the side of the road.
"Klaus, look!" She shrieked, beginning to pull over. "I just have to take a picture!"
"Do we have to, Caroline?" he sighed.
"I've got to sell the single-girl road trip fantasy! Can't have anyone getting suspicious of my intentions!" Caroline laughed, as she exited the vehicle briskly.
And that's how it was for the next 300 miles. Anytime Caroline felt so inclined she would excitedly pull over, take a million pictures, search statistics of the area, insist she needed another snack, before piling back into the car with a huge smile on her face.
He thought the truncated nature of the journey would bother him after a while, but he couldn't bring himself to mind. Not when Caroline's smile was so big.
After thirty solid minutes of driving, and no photo attractions for at least another 40 miles, Caroline broke their companionable silence.
"Are you ever going to tell me what Rebekah is looking for?"
"Hmm?" Klaus grunted, as though he didn't hear her.
"Don't play dumb with me, Klaus," Caroline chided, turning down her music. "We've been talking around the subject for weeks. You always reference Rebekah's search, or what she's looking for, or that she hasn't found it yet. But you've not told me what it is."
Klaus looked out the window, contemplating whether to tell Caroline or not; whether he could trust her. He supposed it would probably be helpful in negotiating with Rebekah if Caroline knew. But there was something in him that just couldn't tell her. He couldn't bare the thought of the information making it to the wrong people. He just couldn't risk it.
"I can't tell you," he said, breaking his silence.
Caroline's brow furrowed.
"You don't trust me?"
"It's not that, sweetheart," he said, searching for the right words. "If I told you, and the wrong person found out you knew, there would be a target on your back. And for my own existence I have a stake in keeping you as safe as possible."
Her brow furrowed deeper.
"Is that all I am to you?" she asked warily. "A ticket to a continued existence?"
"No, not at all!" he began but she cut him off.
"I just find it funny how we're looking for your sister, to help you, and you know what she's looking for. But I'm the one in actual danger, I'm the one who will have to face her with absolutely no backup, without even having a trump card of knowing what she's looking for."
"Caroline, love, you have to understand –"
"And like if you truly were worried about my survival, you'd have considered that maybe your sister will try and kill me for saying I can see visions of her dead brother."
"Sweetheart, it's just –"
"Like if my mom died, and then some random nobody rocked up and said 'Hey Caroline, I see your dead mother' I'd probably clock them if they didn't have some kind of proof."
"Are you quiet finished?" Klaus asked, curtly, as Caroline seemed to finish her spiel.
"I suppose," she replied, waspishly.
"I don't feel comfortable sharing with you," he said stiltedly. "It's very private, and not very pleasant."
Caroline frowned some more.
"It can't be that bad, Klaus."
"What is more, I don't think you will understand, and I don't want to have to explain."
"You're really going to have to do better than that Klaus," Caroline said, giving him a stern side eye.
"My family is exceptionally complicated, Caroline," he said. "And if Rebekah is searching for… what I think she's searching for… I'd like to know her intentions before I aid her in her quest."
"How is this going to help me talk to her though?"
"When we get to where we're going, if she's there, I will lead you to something that only she and I know about, which should help persuade her of your honesty."
"And what will that be?" Caroline probed, almost annoyed at how cagey he was acting.
"All in due time," he replied.
"Uh-uh, Klaus, not good enough, I'm not going in armed with an 'all in due time'."
"Fine," he conceded, rolling his eyes. "We're going to an old brothel, as I mentioned earlier. I think it's now local drinking spot, as it were. It was built on top of a cave which I have historically used as somewhat of a storage vault. A good portion of Rebekah's Victorian-Era garb is in there. It's magically sealed, and only a verbal password will open it. Rebekah knows it exists, but also knows that only I know how to get in. She is likely going there to see if what she's looking for is hidden there. And to see if she can guess the password. She will not succeed."
"Okay, I'm okay with that information," Caroline nodded, satisfied. "How long til we get there?"
"Only about three more hours, if you don't stop for every photogenic shop front between now and then."
xxx
"Petals? Ringworm? The Breakfast Club? Mikael sucks? Always and forever? Uh!"
Rebekah flung herself backward, landing dramatically on the strategically placed armchair behind her.
"How is my brother the most irritating, even in death!"
"Rebekah we've been at this for two days, can't we just give it a rest?" Stefan said, bored, from his place leaning against the rock wall.
"Stefan, you know our deal as well as I do, if I don't find what I'm looking for, you remain my tethered to me forever."
"I don't trust you to break the compulsion anyway once you're done," he said, coolly. "So forgive me for not caring about 'our deal'."
"You should be nicer to me, Salvatore," she replied, sulking. "I'm not lacking in intelligence, like that thing of yours in Mystic Falls, I will work out how to get what I want."
"Well, right now you're trying the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, that sounds a little lacking in intelligence to me."
Rebekah, who had just about had it with Ripper-Stefan's snide commentary, flashed over to him and snapped his neck, releasing his body to thwap unceremoniously to floor.
"Thank god he's quiet," she muttered, before defiantly turning back to the door she was so ardently attempting to open.
"The Lake? Rebekah Mikaelson is the best sister? I hate summer? I hate fun? I am –"
"Ms Mikaelson?"
Rebekah's latest slew of password attempts were interrupted by a small voice from the top of the passage way, and Rebekah nearly screeched in frustration.
"I thought I told you not to interrupt me!" she snapped.
"I wouldn't have Ma'am, but, there's someone here to see you, says his name is Klaus Mikaelson."
xxx
"This is the place?" Caroline questioned nervously, as they pulled up outside an old, shabby looking building.
"This is the place," Klaus replied. "It was much fancier when it was first built."
"Mmm," Caroline hummed.
Anxiety knotted her stomach, and suddenly she wasn't feeling so confident about the trip. She even caught herself hoping that Rebekah wasn't there.
"What now?" she asked, still rooted to her car seat.
"We go in, love."
With a resolute nod, Caroline found her courage to disentangle from her seatbelt, and stride in. Klaus smiled a half-smile at the look of determination on Caroline's face, it was rather adorable.
He stopped in his tracks, as Caroline rocketed away from him.
Adorable? Since when did he find her adorable?
Caroline glanced over her shoulder to find him not right behind her, and glaring, jerked her head for him to follow before disappearing into the bar.
Inside was cold, and a little musty, but had the feeling of any good rural drinking spot. Behind the bar was a tall man who was polishing glasses and chatting to one of the few customers drinking in the mid-afternoon.
Perching herself on one of the bar stools, Caroline waited to be served.
"I'm going to need to see some ID," the bartender asked.
"That won't be necessary," Caroline said, staring deeply into his eyes, letting her pupils dilate.
"That won't be necessary," the man repeated back to her.
"Good," she said, as Klaus slid into the seat next to her. "I need you to tell me if you've seen Rebekah Mikaelson recently. I have it on good authority that she would have stopped by here."
"Ms Mikaelson?" the bartender questioned, almost dreamily. "Ms Mikaelson is here."
"Perfect, go fetch her," Caroline pressed. "Tell her Klaus Mikaelson is here to see her."
Without further prompting, the man lethargically walked away, into the back of the bar.
"She would have the help call her Ms Mikaelson," Klaus said, fondly. "Though an oversight on Bekah's part to not have the help on vervain."
Caroline inspected his face, noting the wistful look to it, but was stopped from commenting as she was unexpectedly slammed against the nearest wall.
"Who do you think you are?" screamed a female voice into her ear, so loud that Caroline could hardly hear own voice.
"Please, Rebekah," Caroline choked out, through the arm pressing on her windpipe. "I have to tell you something."
"Oh yes, and what could you possibly tell me?" the other woman said snidely. "Who even are you?"
For the first time, Caroline considered that Rebekah probably didn't know who she was, as she was dead on the forest floor when Rebekah had made her entrance.
"My name is Caroline, I'm from Mystic Falls," Caroline said, the pressure on her neck mounting. "There's something you need to know about Klaus' death, and I want to tell you but you have to put me down."
Rebekah looked fiercely into Caroline's eyes for a few moments, still trapping her against the stone wall, but relented, flashing away to sit at the bar, leaving Caroline to crumple on the floor.
"What a welcome," she muttered, throwing Klaus an eye-roll as she picked herself up.
"That's my little sister," Klaus said, proudly, triggering a second eye-roll from Caroline.
"So you're from that hick town that murdered my brother, and turned a second brother against us?" Rebekah said coolly.
"In fairness," Caroline said. "Klaus did actually also murder me and a bunch of people from my town. Tit-for-tat is a real thing."
"How on earth are you here if my brother murdered you then?" Rebekah spat scathingly. "And why would you come here to give me information on his death? How did you know about this place anyway?"
Caroline took a deep and heavy breath, not answering straight away, instead signalling to the terrified looking bar tender for a drink.
"My friend Bonnie, the witch who weakened Klaus to kill him, resurrected me," Caroline said, taking a large swig from the bottom-shelf whiskey that had been placed in front of her. "As to why I'm here, I promise I'm here with good intentions, and no one else knows I'm here."
"You're not here with Stefan's dolt of a brother? He's tried to get Stefan back so many times this last summer, it's a wonder he hasn't given up yet. He can't beat me."
Caroline smiled bitterly, she should have known Damon wouldn't be forthcoming about his attempts to track down Rebekah and Stefan.
"You're going to think I'm crazy, but I'm here for your help," Caroline said calmly.
"Can't you people just leave me alone," Rebekah spat. "You killed my brother, and daggered another. All I want is the rest of my family together."
"The rest?" Caroline queried. "There are more of you?"
"Oh as if you didn't know," Rebekah said, rolling her eyes.
"I didn't," Caroline said quietly, turning her head to look at Klaus, who was looking pale, and a little guilty, but whose eyes were fixed on his sister.
"You have other siblings beyond Rebekah and Elijah?" Caroline asked quietly. "This is what you didn't want to tell me?"
"What are you even saying?" Rebekah asked disdainfully. "Yes, I have other siblings beyond Niklaus and Elijah. Who are you talking to?"
Caroline gave Klaus a meaningful look, but he just avoided her eyes, so she turned back to Rebekah.
"I'm talking to Klaus," she said, a little awkwardly. "When I died… or when I was brought back… I don't know, our… spirits – or something – must have linked, because I can see him, and he talks to me, and I came here to you, because Klaus thinks we can trust you to help us find a witch who will be able to bring him back."
Rebekah sat stock still, her mouth agape, her face slowly transfiguring from disbelieving to disgusted.
"How stupid do you think I am?" Rebekah screeched, springing up from her stool. "More of you Mystic Falls people playing your little games, I've had it!"
"Caroline, look out!" Klaus yelled, able to predict his sister's movements.
But before any of them could move, Rebekah had jammed her fist into Caroline's chest, squeezing her heart. Caroline gargled in pain, wondering whether these were her last moments.
"Give me one reason why I shouldn't end you right now," Rebekah said coldly.
"Tell her how to open the vault!" Klaus said.
In the last hour of the car ride, Klaus had told Caroline the phrase that unsealed the vault. It was a phrase Klaus came across many centuries ago, and it was one of the only things that succeed in making him feel mortal.
"I know how to open the vault," Caroline garbled, struggling to remain conscious.
"You what?" Rebekah asked menacingly.
"I know how to open the vault," she repeated. "Let me go and I will tell you."
With Caroline's heart still in her grasp, and without any acknowledgement, Rebekah flashed the two of them to the still stubbornly sealed door.
"Do it," Rebekah said. "If it doesn't open, you die."
"Momento homo quia pulvis es, et in pulverem reverteris," Caroline said, praying that she got the Latin first time.
After a long pause, a loud thunk echoed around the stoned cavern, and the door swung open.
Almost as though burned, Rebekah dropped Caroline abruptly to the floor for the second time in as many minutes.
"How did you know that?" Rebekah breathed.
"I told you, I can see him, he's here with us," Caroline gasped, her healing not going quite as quickly as she hoped.
"Prove it," Rebekah said contritely.
"More than opening that unopenable door?" Caroline shot back sardonically.
"What is the name of the poodle we had when we lived in Paris in 1783?" Rebekah asked.
"Chapeau," Klaus answered.
"You lived in France and named your dog the French word for hat?" Caroline said, incredulously.
"What can I say, love, it looked cute in the hat," Klaus shrugged.
"I can't imagine you finding anything 'cute'."
Rebekah watched Caroline converse with seemingly thin air, and wondered if maybe she was telling the truth.
"The dog was Chapeau, because it looked cute in the hat."
"Okay then, how many siblings do I have?" Rebekah asked.
"There are six of us, only five vampires."
"Six altogether, only five turned," Caroline repeated.
"Name of the boy we adopted in New Orleans?"
"Marcel."
"Marcel."
Rebekah sighed, and narrowed her eyes calculatingly.
"You wait here," she hissed, as she turned on her heel and disappeared into the vault.
Caroline let out a relieved breath and looked over at Klaus.
"So that's your sister?" she asked.
"That's her," Klaus replied, a wry, fond smile back on his lips. "She's quite the brat."
Caroline let out a little laugh, before scanning the room around her.
"Oh my gosh! Stefan!" she cried, scrambling over to where her friend lay motionless. "Stefan, can you hear me? Is he dead?"
"Sweetheart, he isn't desiccating, I would assume he got a little mouthy for dear Bekah, and she shut him up for a while," Klaus said calmly.
"Right, right, makes sense," Caroline said distractedly, still trying to find signs of life on Stefan's face. "What now?"
"I'm not sure, love."
"Now, you tell that weasel brother of mine to tell me where he's hidden the bodies of our siblings or else."
Rebekah was back, and made a menacing figure framed by the foreboding stone of the vault. She was quivering with poorly suppressed emotion, and Caroline could see the mix of despair and anger twinkling in her eyes.
"I can't tell her," Klaus said quietly.
"Can't or won't," Caroline muttered.
"Caroline, please, there are things you don't know about our family, none of them will be safe if Bekah lets them out, you won't be safe," Klaus pleaded.
"I suppose he's saying no one is safe unless they're hidden," Rebekah said, scathingly. "Or Mikael will find us and finish us once and for all!"
"Who's Mikael?" Caroline asked, as she saw Klaus flinch at the name.
"Oh please, as if my brother hasn't sulked at length about father dearest," Rebekah said, taking a few threatening steps forward.
"I'm warning you little sister," Klaus said lowly, as though she could hear him through the ether.
"Niklaus, I want my family back," she continued, talking to the room at large as she stepped into Caroline's personal space, her eyes turning black. "I want them back, now. And I will not hesitate to destroy anyone or anything that stands in my way."
"You will not harm a hair on her head!" he snarled, his rage mounting.
"Including this little puppet of yours," Rebekah hissed, and for the second time that day her hand punched through Caroline's chest.
"No!" he roared, and lunged at his sister.
Just as he had knocked Bill away from Caroline in the cellar all those weeks ago, Klaus' rage broke through the magic keeping him away from the physical world, and threw his whole body at Rebekah sending her crashing to the wall.
The Caroline crumpled to the ground again, clutching at her fast healing chest, her fear-filled eyes snapping up in search of Klaus.
"Are you all right, love?" he asked, gently, all traces of fury racing from his face, as he knelt tenderly beside her.
"Yeah, for now, but I think we should go," she said, before turning to Rebekah.
"How did you do that?" Rebekah asked, incredulously.
"It was Klaus being angry from the other side, but that's not important right now," Caroline replied, calmly. "If you kill me, you kill him. Klaus is gone forever."
Rebekah narrowed her eyes again.
"He kept me daggered in a box for centuries, he's hardly at the top of my gratitude list."
"We came here because we thought you might want your brother back, or might want to help us find a witch who can help. We can hardly use the witch in Mystic Falls," Caroline continued, picking herself back up off the ground as gracefully as possible. "But apparently we were wrong to think that. If you change your mind, you know where to find me."
With that Caroline flashed away.
Klaus left at a slower pace, but before he did so he placed his hand on Rebekah's shoulder and squeezed it.
"If you're really here brother," she said, feeling the faintest of pressure on her shoulder, in much the same way Klaus would have comforted her. "Riddle me why you were always so obsessed with breaking that damn curse. All it did was drive us apart. You chased it so much it killed you. Why weren't we enough? Why wasn't I enough?"
Klaus saw a tear run down Rebekah's cheek, and wiped one away from his own.
"I'm sorry little sister," he said.
