Chapter 21

Caroline was supposed to be doing the inventory at the Mystic, but she couldn't concentrate. She'd felt tense the whole morning. Maybe the atmosphere outside was getting to her, she kept telling herself trying to get back to work.

But when Klaus stormed into the bar, the lines of his face stretched with tension, she knew it was more than that. She looked as he passed behind the counter and took out his gun. For just a moment her mind went blank thinking he knew about her and was there to kill her.

"Caroline. You need to listen to me very carefully." He turned a deadly serious gaze upon her snapping her out of her daze.

"Are you expecting trouble ?"

"Yes." He began checking the gun.

"What the hell is going on ?" Caroline thoughts were racing.

"Some men will come here to talk, but they'll try to kill me. It's your job to keep that from happening."

"You could have given me some warnings."

"I'm doing it now. And I expected Gloria to be here."

"She's not, I'm doing most morning inventories nowadays. Shouldn't your brothers be here ?"

"I'm supposed to meet Silas Salvatore and a few of his men here, alone. And you get to be the one giving me a hand today Love."

"And barmaids don't count." Caroline said as a picture began forming in her head.

"Barmaids don't count. Now, you'll be hiding in the back room, I'll be sitting here. When I raise a toast you'll come out with the gun, you don't shoot, you just point, I'll do the rest." He explained seriously pointing and pacing.

"You'll kill them." It wasn't a question she knew the answer to that, but Klaus still gave her his own.

"Depends on if the police keep their words."

"The police know about this ?" She was surprised, she'd heard nothing.

This time instead of answering her he slipped behind her, put the gun in her hands. One hand raising hers to show how to point the gun, the other one staying on her waist, burning her through her dress although her mind was wholly focused on the danger ahead.

Soon enough, she was hiding in the back room, gun in hand, taking steady breaths to calm herself.

Klaus was sitting at the only table out in the middle of the room, a bottle and glasses on it.

Only a few minutes passed like this in tense silence before the Mystic door slammed open and three men stepped inside. Silas Salvatore was leading, followed by his two men.

Confidently Silas walked to the table where he sat down as if owning the place. Klaus narrowed his eyes.

"Klaus."

"Silas."

"Let's dispense pleasantries."

"But pleasantries are so nice, wouldn't you say so. Then again, you are quite the barbaric fellow." Klaus smirked.

"Listen well, I was already at the top when you were still a snivelling boy cowering under Mikael thumb. It's time for things to go back to their proper order."

"How about a toast."

-O-

Caroline took deep breaths while trying to be the quietest possible, even as she felt the pounding of her heart would give her away to the men in the next room. She pressed the gun in her hands to her chest as if in prayer.

Peeking from the crack of the door, she waited.

Although she could not hear the two dangerous men discussing she could well imagine the barely veiled insults and threats that would fly in their exchange.

And then Klaus raised his glass in a toast and she knew it was her turn to act, however she hadn't taken a step out of the storeroom she was hiding in, the cold glint of Silas's knife was slashing through the air for Klaus throat, who barely avoided by leaning as far back as he could and jumping out of his chair making some space between them as Silas prepared to strike again.

With no time for hesitation Caroline barged out of the storeroom gun pointed before her, but even if three of the men were surprised they still advanced on Klaus, ignoring what they did not perceive as a threat. Silas's two minions were closing in to flank Klaus, mind going blank Caroline pulled the trigger.

A deafening bang echoed in the room as the bullet pierced one of the men's shoulder, at the same time Klaus pulled a small pistol from his jacket and shot another man in the head. He was dead before even falling, but in his fall, he stumbled back into the man Caroline had wounded and as he fell he hit his head against the hard wood of a table corner, a pool of blood seeping from the wound on the floor under him as life left his body.

Even during all that Silas did not spare a glance for his subordinates, his focus all on killing Klaus. He managed to knock the gun out of Klaus hand after he'd killed the minion, but Caroline fired a shot at him, it missed, a slight tremble wrecking through her hands. However, it gave enough time for Klaus to go on the offensive with Silas. The two men grappled with each other, exchanging blows. Silas's knife had been lost during the struggle and Klaus while slightly leaner than Silas, fought dirty, he grabbed the ashtray from the table and slammed it hard on the italian's head, Silas struggled more even as he let a pained shout, but Klaus slammed the hard object again and again on the other's head until his own face was sprinkled with blood...

Outside, a group of police officer had been at the ready since Silas group entered into The Mystic, they waited tensely until they heard a bang but the officer in charge still did not give the go.

"Shouldn't we go arrest Silas Salvatore now ?" A newly minted officer asked.

"Better if they take out each other, then we can round them up if Salvatore still alive." Brady O'Leery was the officer put in charge of this operation, he'd been recommended by Inspector Coleman when he'd learn of the whole affair but couldn't do anything more about it as orders came from above. However, he'd been told as such by the Inspector before leaving, and O'Leery had become a loyal dog of Coleman in the time since he'd come to Chicago and was privy to a few of his guarded plans, like the identity of the spy planted here.

The officer shut up and the group continued to wait for the signal.

Klaus finally stopped hammering the half caved in head of Silas Salvatore a while after he'd ceased moving and got up, swaying a bit and breathing hard. During the fight as he was fighting for his life memories of his childhood and Mikael came to the surface sending him into a blood rage. But now that his head was cleared, he stiffened, remembering he wasn't alone. He turned to look at the blonde standing a few feet from him, gun still poised to shoot and shock written all over her pretty face. The blood had drained from her face completely and her big blue eyes were widened, giving her a look of vulnerability. Klaus wondered if that was the first time she saw someone die in a passing thought.

Her eyes meet his and he waited for the shock to make place for the fear and revulsion. But instead she swallowed and lowered the gun to dangle at her side, her eyes never leaving his face, as if drinking him in. Want coursed fiercely through him as he reached her side with a few steps and sliding a hand through her hair, dyeing the fair color with red, he pulled their foreheads together as he breathed her in and she slid her eyes shut for a second doing the same. It felt as if nothing could enter their bubble, even as blood and gore surrounded them. He could feel the tremble in her body because of the events that had just happened.

"Shh. It's okay, you're safe." He whispered as if to reassure her.

Caroline opened her eyes again and wondered if she was imagining the near vulnerability in his eyes and the tenderness in his voice.

Before she could speak the door was banged open and a group of police officer barged in observing the situation inside, Caroline was seized with panic as they separated but Klaus remained calm as he squeezed her hand and took the gun before storming to the officer in the front.

"You were supposed to come in five minutes after Salvatore came in !" He was furious.

"There was some delay. And you seem to have been able to hold your own Mr Mikaelson." Officer O'Leery didn't back down but eyed the gun warily.

Klaus wanted to rage some more, but he knew the officer was just waiting for the excuse to call the deal off and take him in and throw him in jail so he swallowed back his temper and snorted.

O'Leery gave the signal to his men and they began taking the corpses away.

"What the hell is going on here ?!"

Caroline turned to see Gloria coming in from the back entrance, a pissed off expression on her face.

Klaus went to meet her and they began to whisper furiously to each other. Meanwhile, Caroline was still a little dazed as she turned back to the officers clearing out the scene. Her gaze met the officer in charge and with a disdainful expression on his face he sneered at her.

"Whore." He didn't talk loud enough for anyone but her to hear, but she stiffened at the insult, did he know something ? Did he think she betrayed Inspector Coleman ? Or worse, that she was using pillow-talk to pry information from Klaus Mikaelson ?

Her mind was still reeling as the officers departed and Gloria came to her, gently putting a comforting hand on her arm.

"Are you alright ?" The older woman somberly asked.

"I'm not hurt." Caroline forced a smile.

"That's not what I asked." Gloria said knowingly.

"I'll make sure Caroline gets home and is alright." Klaus interjected at that moment and came to stand at Caroline side, putting a hand on her lower back. And it was a possessive gesture that anyone not blind would recognize, but damn she actually found the weight and warmth of his hand comforting.

Gloria didn't spare a glance at Klaus keeping her eyes on Caroline waiting as if, if she gave the slightest hint she did not want that she'd tell Klaus bloody Mikaelson to go the fuck away. Caroline felt a rush of warm feeling for the eccentric bar owner, but she smiled and nodded, she wasn't sure she wouldn't let out the beginning of an hysterical sob if she opened her mouth again so that's all she could do to reassure Gloria she was okay with Klaus taking her home.

Gloria seemed to understand and she nodded.

"Send word if you don't feel like you can assure your shift tomorrow."

"I'll be there." Caroline had to force the words out but her eyes were determined.