"Yeah, for now, but I think we should go."
When Stefan came to, he was surrounded by the unmistakeable sounds of a two women in an argument.
"How did you do that?"
That was certainly Rebekah's voice. But we couldn't place the second.
"It was Klaus being angry from the other side, but that's not important right now."
Klaus? Why was this person talking about Klaus?
"If you kill me, you kill him. Klaus is gone forever."
Stefan couldn't quite think through the fog still leaving his mind, but wasn't Klaus already gone forever?
"He kept me daggered in a box for centuries, he's hardly at the top of my gratitude list."
Rebekah was talking to the unfamiliar person as though Klaus was not gone forever though, and that made Stefan's heart plummet.
"We came here because we thought you might want your brother back, or might want to help us find a witch who can help."
The unfamiliar voice was, as a matter of fact, quite familiar – though, on his life, couldn't work out why.
"We can hardly use the witch in Mystic Falls."
Mystic Falls? How did this person know where he lived? Was she here for him?
"But apparently we were wrong to think that. If you change your mind, you know where to find me."
With that statement, Stefan felt the person brush past where he was lying, still, feigning his unconsciousness.
As she passed him, Stefan surreptitiously cracked an eye – knowledge was power after all. If Klaus was back in play, the more Stefan knew about those involved the better chance they had thwarting them.
But as the blonde figure walked past him, Stefan's heart sank even further.
It was Caroline.
/
Caroline shut her car door firmly as she slid in, locking it as she went.
She was shaken after her encounter with Rebekah, and yearned for anything that could make her feel more secure.
With her eyes shut tight, Caroline took deep, calming breaths, willing her body to relieve some of the tension coursing through her.
She knew facing the Mikaelson woman wouldn't be a walk in the park, but in her naïveté, Caroline hadn't expected Rebekah to be so violent and unyielding.
When Caroline opened her eyes to reach for a blood bag she had stored in the back, she saw Klaus looking expectantly at her from outside the vehicle. Having effectively shut him out, she leaned over the the passenger seat and opened door, watching him slide in, before shutting it again for him.
"Are you okay, love?" he asked, quietly.
She just shrugged, shoving the key into the ignition of the vehicle, pulling out of the driveway they had only parked in mere minutes before.
"I guess… I don't know – it was just more intense than I expected," Caroline said in a small voice, a few minutes later. "So, it's your brothers and sisters; that she's looking for?"
Klaus sighed.
"Just brothers, Rebekah is our only sister."
"I see," replied Caroline, stumped for what to say.
After the hours of driving, and the intensity of the interaction they just had, Caroline could hardly believe that it was only that morning they were in Mystic Falls starting out on their journey.
"I guess I thought it would take us longer to find Rebekah," Caroline mused. "I wish I had sold a day trip, or an over nighter. Not a road trip!"
Klaus gave her a wan smile.
In truth, he wasn't sure what he expected either, but it hadn't been that. He supposed that maybe he had expected Rebekah to be so desperate to have him back that she would jump at the chance of helping Caroline even if there was little proof of his ethereal-existence at all. It was humbling to consider the fact that Rebekah may not want to help them at all.
"Where do you think we should stop for the night?" Caroline asked him, as though trying to find something else to focus on.
For Caroline, Klaus pulled his mind away from Rebekah, away from the violence and terror their life had been, from their mixed up existence as some of the oldest supernatural creatures on the planet. He did it for Caroline's peace of mind, for her sanity, for her safety. Hell, he did it for her happiness.
From his own dark depths, Klaus pulled himself toward more joyful things. Places he had visited and enjoyed in Kentucky, experiences he wanted to share, food she may like. It was a far more pleasant distraction than he anticipated.
"Well there's a little town maybe 80 miles away?" Klaus began. "I think you'll like it…"
/
"Is it possible," Rebekah squawked, losing her patience with the person on the other side of the table.
"I suppose if all there was a full moon, and there was as much power around as you were suggesting, and if your bother and the vampire were killed and resurrected at just the right time, and the theory about the veil and the anchor are correct. But that's a lot of ducks that have to line up, Rebekah."
The witch was sweating, knowing the gravity of knowledge they were sharing.
"So you're saying that teenager could be telling the truth."
"As I said," they answered. "There are a lot of circumstances that had to be just right, and while I haven't heard of anything like this kind of power being harnessed in my lifetime… yes, I think it is possible."
Rebekah nodded curtly, not sure what to do with this further verification.
She suspected that the blonde from Mystic Falls – what was her name? Carol? Karen? Carolyn? – was not faking the interactions with her bother. There was no way the girl would have known Chapeau's name if it hadn't been for Klaus in her ear.
But Rebekah could not wrap her mind around it!
She had been working through the grief of losing Klaus! How dare this child come along and give her hope that he was still within reach. Still out there somewhere.
So, Rebekah had sought the advice of Harper.
Harper was a witch she had met a in the mid 1800s, just before Klaus daggered her for a few decades. Harper was just like any witch – extremely wary of vampires, purist, a bit morally righteous – but had been ostracised from their community for reasons that seemed so human, in Rebekah's humble opinion.
The solitary nature of Harper's magical practice made them a solid ally for Rebekah, because without a coven and centuries of ancestors whispering in their ear, Harper saw Rebekah for who she was. A weary and ancient woman struggling with carrying the weight of a thousand years of life.
"Do you think it's possible to bring him back?"
The tenderness of Rebekah's voice caught Harper. It wasn't often the layers of Rebekah's toughness peeled away.
"It could be possible," Harper mused. "If I were to investigate, I would be dabbling in magic beyond that I know though, Rebekah, I need you to know I might not be the right choice for this."
Rebekah gazed at the witch.
Over the years, the two had grown close. Both outliers in within their species, both without someone to look for themselves in. They shared a friendship and loyalty both protected secretly and fiercely, even if they went a decade between visits.
"You are the only choice," Rebekah stated, reaching to grab her friend's hand to give it a squeeze. "Only if you're up to it, of course. But I can't trust anyone else with Klaus."
Rebekah paused for a few seconds, seemingly fighting to keep her tears to herself.
"I don't want to have to lose him again."
/
Stefan wasn't sure where they were.
The previous evening, after he had let Rebekah know of his return to consciousness, the Original had promptly snapped his neck again.
When he had come to from that bout of unconsciousness, Rebekah had swiftly compelled him to sit still in the car until her return. Which he obviously had.
His surroundings were unfamiliar, but did not seem like the vegetation that had surrounded the place in Kentucky they had been for the few days prior.
It was a few hours before Rebekah's return, and when she did, Stefan was relieved that he could move somewhat freely again. Rebekah could be so cruel.
"Where have you been?" he asked, faking his disinterested tone.
"You would ask such a mundane question," Rebekah snapped.
"Well you have left me in a pretty mundane environment for hours," he replied sardonically. "Punishment fits the crime."
"Just shut up, Stefan, do not speak unless you're spoken to."
Stefan was taken aback. Rebekah had compelled him to be quiet.
The two of them had been travelling for months now, and aside from Rebekah's initial compulsion that he was to stay with her until she completed her quest, that day saw the first and second compulsions since then.
He was alarmed.
Maybe Rebekah was taking Klaus' seeming return seriously.
Maybe he should as well?
Stefan still could not, for the life of him, figure Caroline's role in it all either.
More than ever, Stefan's resolve to find a way back to his family and friends in Mystic Falls strengthened.
He had to let them know.
They had to know that Klaus was back, and that Caroline was keeping the secret.
/
Liz Forbes was sitting her favourite arm chair as she heard her daughter's car pull up in the driveway.
Caroline had left for her solo trip a few days ago, and if Liz was being honest with herself she was the smallest part disappointed Caroline was home again. She really had enjoyed her time in the house alone.
Crime was down, so was supernatural activity, and Caroline was occupying herself better than the previous summer. But in spite of this, over the past few weeks everything in her work life just seemed overwhelming. Working, life-duties… motherhood.
She was misplacing things, forgetting to turn the lights off around the house, hearing shuffling in the kitchen when she was sure Caroline was tucked away in bed and no one else was there.
Part of her thought she only agreed to Caroline's solo trip because then she'd have one thing less on her plate. And it had worked wonders too; she had felt more on top of things, more in control. She'd slept better, been more amiable around the office. She had even let Carol Lockwood talk her into being involved in some summer day and night carnival or some other clichéd name the Mayor had come up with. Maybe it was the time to herself, maybe it was the different energy in her home, but it had just been nice.
She was glad that Caroline was now home safe, of course she was. But she was also just hoping her few days of respite would have lasting effects; keep her in the headspace of work and home, and all the bits in between.
Though, only time would tell, she supposed.
/
"Home again!" she sighed, happily. "We had a nice trip, for sure, but I'm looking forward to my own pillow!"
Klaus smiled genuinely at her.
Over the past few days, the two of them had just existed together. Klaus showed Caroline a number of places he had been to and enjoyed in the past. She talked at length about her goals and plans for after graduation, and here and there he peppered stories about his life in. They talked deeply about the philosophy of the society and the ethics of vampirism. They created inside jokes that, as was the nature of inside jokes, weren't particularly funny unless you were there.
Caroline found herself rather content with Klaus consistently by her side. It felt quite natural to have him there, and their existence alongside each other was always companionable, even if they made no moves to converse with each other.
"You're my buddy, Klaus," Caroline smiled at him, as she considered how lovely her last few days had been – after the horribleness of Rebekah, of course.
"I suppose you're my buddy too, Caroline," he replied jovially. "Does that mean we need a secret handshake?"
In lieu of an answer, Caroline just laughed and made moves to pull herself from the car.
As she skipped through the front door of her childhood home, calling for her mother, Klaus smiled softly after her, glad that, if he was to be stuck in the realm of the non-living, then he sure was glad he was stuck with her.
/
Have a double update team! This chapter, while does some heavy plot lifting, still feels a bit filler-y. Plus Klaroline AU Season is happening over on tumblr, and this week's theme is canon divergence. This story fits! Let me know what you think!