Songbird

by Scarletborn

She asked for his protection. He gave it to her. But with Klaus Mikaelson everything came with a price and into his web Caroline Forbes went. However that was only the beginning. Mafia!Klaroline. AU/AH.

9. Judgment Day

Songbird

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Summary: She asked for his protection. He gave it to her. But with Klaus Mikaelson everything came with a price and into his web Caroline Forbes went. However that was only the beginning. Mafia!Klaroline AU/AH.

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Chapter IX: Judgment day

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Warnings for this chapter:

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Graphic scenes of violence and abuse. Gore and death. Murder. Some strong language/profanity.

If you cannot manage such themes please do not read.

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...

All the love I have taken, all the hearts I've turned to hate
Hearts are easily broken when you've been made in the shade

So bring on judgment day

...

"Hello brother. It's been a long time."

Klaus gripped the phone so hard that it almost cracked to metal and dust in his hand.

He had expected this phone call for days but even if he didn't he would still recognize this voice. Among thousands, he would know to whom it belonged.

Klaus' face contorted to a mask of absolute hate and rage but the menace in his voice was controlled when after all this time he spoke to….his brother again.

"I will kill you and everyone you ever met."

"I have a deal for you Klaus," Finn cut immediately to the chase not bothering with threats he considered empty, "your head for the girl's life."

Klaus tried not to lose his temper. Everything was hanging in the balance. He would have time to exact his revenge. Soon.

"This is how you repay my mercy brother?"

"I repay it with justice."

"Come and face me like a man Finn," Klaus provoked him, "leave everyone else out of it. Let's end this."

"As tempting as this sounds this time we will play the game by my rules," Finn said before he sighed as if he was bored, "of course I don't need to tell you that there is no point in trying to trace the call, Klaus. The signal will bounce to every end of the earth except the place I really am. The place your beloved Songbird is."

Klaus closed his eyes. He would not give him the mercy of a quick death.

"What makes you think I care for her?"

"Don't you?" Finn asked, his tone amused, "then I guess you won't mind that I have her ex here too. He can't wait to play with her."

Klaus saw red but gulped down his instinctual need to scream at Finn. Finn that killed Kol. That sent Rebekah into a coma. That had Caroline and would not stop until he destroyed them all. Finn that was his older brother. That a long time ago he had spared him because they were blood.

Finn that had forgotten that he never made the same mistake twice.

"Imagine this brother," Finn continued taking advantage of his silence. Of what he perceived as his weakness. "The one person you wanted to protect instead of destroying and you failed. This is what you promised her no? To protect her from Logan Fell? How does it feel to know you broke your promise?"

"How do I know she is even alive?" Klaus bit out and Finn this time laughed.

Finn, the bore that never laughed. This time he laughed and the sound was the most gruesome thing Klaus had ever heard.

"You love her don't you?" his brother mused with a voice filled to the brim with incredulousness and irony, "what will it be, brother?"

"Give me proof she is alive," Klaus demanded, not willing to negotiate any deal before he had solid evidence that Caroline was alive although he knew she was.

Finn wanted his head. He would keep Caroline alive till he would get what he wanted and then he would dispose her body to the nearest ditch next to his bloody head.

Finn laughed again. The bastard was enjoying this because he knew he had finally found a weakness he could exploit. He knew that the fact that he had not hung up yet and was actually bargaining was because he did care.

And he did. He cared enough to tear him to shreds.

"Of course brother. I am a man of honor after all," Finn taunted him and Klaus waited till he heard the incoming bleep. He put the call on hold and opened the video Finn had sent him.

There she was.

Caroline.

His Caroline. Bound, gagged and beaten, thrown on a dirty mattress, wearing nothing but a short skimpy shredded dress. Logan Fell was lying next to her. On her.

He was holding today's paper in front of her chest and was caressing her bruised cheek with the other while pressing his lips and tongue on her tangled hair.

Klaus felt bile rising in his throat and the anger and pain blinded him.

He felt the need to destroy and cause havoc. As much as he felt the need to drop to his knees and cry out and puke.

He swore there and then he would not leave a soul alive except him and Caroline. He would get her back even if he had to obliterate Chicago out of the map.

His eyes turned to slits and tried to look for any other clue in the video but the room was dark. Bare walls, no lights. Nothing to betray a location. Only a mattress on the floor to which Caroline was strapped on.

He knew Finn hadn't sent this as proof of life. He wanted to taunt him. To make him lose his mind. To make him lose all reason.

Klaus' eyes played the video on repeat and he then realized that Caroline was not the only one hurt. Logan's face was also cut and bruised as if someone had bashed his head in a wall.

He smirked at that.

Caroline was looking straight into the camera and her gaze was not one of weakness. It was one of absolute defiance. She was pissed off and he was willing to bet that Logan's face was her own handiwork. She had managed to call him after all. He knew it was her.

'Hold on love. I am coming for you,' he thought before he resumed his call with Finn.

"Don't hurt her," Klaus whispered breathlessly once Finn was back on the line.

"Either you give me my father's kingdom back or I will give you your beloved's heart for you to keep. Always and forever," Finn mocked him, his tone laced with threat and the air of victory, "your life for hers… brother."

Klaus lips twisted at the arrogance and the finality in Finn's ultimatum. He could practically see the scornful smile of his enemy.

"Give me your word Finn," he weakly muttered, as close as he would ever get to begging, "You get me and you'll let Caroline go free. Rebekah and Elijah walk."

"You have my word," Finn promised and Klaus held back the venom he wanted to bathe his brother in. He knew a lie when he heard one and he knew a traitor when he faced one and he didn't even need to face Finn to know that his betrayal held no bounds.

There were no promises between fiends and beasts like the ones that carried their blood.

"And you have mine," Klaus vowed.

---

Caroline felt sick right down to her stomach. She looked down at the bread and cheese they had left for her to eat but today she could not swallow anything down. She knew there was no point in even trying. She would not be able to hold anything down.

Usually, she would force herself to eat since she didn't see a point in starving. Pride and stubbornness would not keep her alive. They wanted her alive to get to Klaus and so she ate what they gave her. It was a risky bet hoping that they would not drug her food but she was out of options now and survival mattered the most. She had to regain her strength. She had to heal too. And she knew that they could also force food down her throat since starvation to the point of death would not be allowed as long as she was needed leverage against Klaus and his family.

But today was different. She kicked the plate away and then pulled her knees under her chin. She was so tired. She was so scared. She was starting to break slowly. She wanted to be strong. She wanted to keep her cool but she could not take this anymore. She wanted to scream.

She knew her time was running out. The video proved as much.

She still remembered the way Sage had caressed her hair almost soothingly when they got what they wanted from her.

'Let's hope Klaus cares enough for you to agree to our terms. Then we won't need to make another short film Miss Forbes,' Sage had told her with a saccharine voice that turned Caroline's stomach to a huge knot filled with bile, "if it gets to that I am afraid the next shots won't be so PG-13."

Caroline had wanted to scream at her but the gag had not allowed her to speak. She wanted to ask which terms Klaus had to agree upon. She wanted to tell that bitch to go to hell. But she couldn't speak. All she could do was watch as Sage got up and pulled Logan Fell with her out of the room as the guards manhandled her back to the basement.

There was no more time left for her now. Every sound, every minute that passed by brought her closer to danger. There was no deal to be made with these people. She knew it very well. They would not honor any bargain. Klaus would know this. And so did she.

Caroline shook her head and tried not to think of what would come next. God, her head was so heavy. She felt so woozy and wobbly. She looked at the bottle of water and the food that was spilled on the floor. They must have been putting something in to keep her subdued. She felt so tired and dazed most of the times and today was no different.

She had to keep her mind clear though. She had to think.

She had to think of what was coming next. Klaus was coming. Deal or now deal.

She knew Klaus was coming for her and this was the only thing that gave her strength despite the terror she felt.

It was as if she could hear him.

"I am coming for you."

His voice was a constant promise in her head.

But the terror was there, gripping her in its unrelenting hold and not allowing her to breathe. It had become a constant companion. Because this is what Finn and Sage wanted. They wanted Klaus to come. They wanted Klaus to be so blinded by worry and rage that would be easy to kill. This is what they wanted. For her to be the perfect bait and for Klaus to fall straight into the trap they had set for him.

Caroline shifted on the dirty mattress and rubbed her face with her hands trying to wipe away the last remnants of the mascara and the lipstick. It made her feel dirty as did the thing they had forced her to wear. And she was stuck with that awful dress now it would seem.

It was either that or nothing Sage had told her, quite nonchalantly, and Caroline knew it was not an empty threat.

Caroline kept replaying those moments again and again in her mind and she knew if she did that then only God knew how Klaus was obsessing and losing his mind over the footage they had sent him.

For days they had kept her in the dark. She had lost all sense of time. She didn't know if it was day or night or how long she had spent in that hole they kept her locked in but yesterday, when they brought her to that red-haired bitch that waited for her in a dimly lit and dusty room, Caroline could tell it was night. Bad things always happened at night.

The guards had handcuffed her hands behind her back as they dragged her by the hair through stairs and corridors before they threw her on the floor right in front of Sage Mikaelson.

Sage was sitting on a chair, dressed to the nines. On the table next to her there was a bag and a gun. There were more guards in the room and Caroline immediately saw the cot they had put in the center of the room and the camera that was set to record.

Sage had then given her a big smile before she threw the bag at her while the guards took off the cuffs from her hands.

The bag had a slutty dress, high heels and makeup in it and Caroline had gritted her teeth when one of the guards pointed a gun at her head and Sage ordered her to wear the dress.

There was no point in resisting or even begging. There was no point in showing weakness either. She was a pawn in this game and Sage had no mercy to give. If anything she seemed to hate the Mikaelsons more even than her husband did.

Caroline had swallowed down her pride and had then turned her back and wore the shredded short dress she was given trying not to break under the filthy gazes that bore holes into her back. The guards getting an eyeful of her ass, laughing and making lewd comments was the least of her problems.

What followed next had been by far the worst. It was all for show but she knew this was intended for Klaus and she felt both ashamed and furious.

In the end, the fury had won. The helplessness only made her angrier. The humiliation made her see red. And whatever was swimming in her system from whatever they were putting in her food and water had dissolved at once.

She should have seen this coming really. For days they had left her pretty much alone in a dark basement with no windows. There was only a rusty hollow metal door that opened twice a day for the armed guards to bring her food and water. Most of the men that guarded her kept throwing her death glares and curses.

She had heard the guards outside her door talking. The goon she had shot when she tried to run and call Klaus didn't die but that obviously didn't make anyone have less of a grudge out for her. It had been worth it though. If that call made it through then it was worth it. But it had not gained her any favors. If anything she was put on a much tighter leash now. More so since everyone here seemed to despise Klaus so by default they hated her too.

Caroline had been terrified of what these men would do to her. She had counted five. Killing her would be the most merciful thing that could happen to her. She was in Klaus' world long enough to know there were worse things than death.

Thankfully it would seem that the men Finn had left to guard her had specific orders. Not to let her out of their eyes. Not to touch her either.

That was until yesterday.

She knew the video they had taken was for Klaus.

Sage had been overly excited and sadistic about it. She had told her that they would need to show to Klaus that she was alive and speed things along.

That was when one of the guards slapped her over and over again until her nose bled and her lip broke. Caroline had not cried. She would not do them that favor. It would take more than a bloody lip to make her even moan despite how her old bruises burned and new ones bloomed. Her ribs still hurt as did her head.

It was not until they tied her to the mattress and gagged her that the real fear started setting in.

But the fear turned to full-blown terror when the door opened and Logan came in. She had not seen him ever since she had escaped after he had tried to rape her. He was in better shape than how she had left him but he still limped and his face was discolored with bruises and wounds. That gave her a rush of perverse joy and a part of hers regretted not killing him when she had the chance.

The glare he had given her, filled with so much hate and anger, filled her with a sense of pride for her handiwork but that emotion was short-lived.

Her blood turned to ice when Logan started removing his shirt.

She only started to struggle against her binds when Logan joined her on the rotten mattress. His legs covered hers and he had wrapped his arms around her and held a newspaper in front of her chest before he started kissing her, licking her face and caressing her body. His breath was suffocating her. His wet kisses made her whole body convulse. It made her feel sick and she almost threw up in her gagged mouth.

The camera was recording and she had wanted to die.

She remembered she had felt her eyes burn. She had closed them, willing herself not to cry. They wanted her to cry and to moan helplessly. They wanted her to look terrified and pathetic. They wanted Klaus to see her like this.

So when she opened her eyes she steeled herself and looked straight into the camera. She didn't move an inch and let Logan have his way. Thankfully this had not gotten completely out of hand but she knew it would be enough for Klaus to lose his shit. She had looked straight into the camera and prayed that he would see in her eyes that she was still in there. She had not given up. She was not weak or defeated. That was the message she was sending him.

But that did not matter now. Klaus must have seen that video by now. He had already lost Kol. He had already lost her. There was no telling what he would do now.

And no matter how much she wanted to remain strong she felt as if she couldn't. She threw her head back and hit the wall behind her frustrated. She pushed her fist in her mouth and tried not to scream or cry. There were so many things she wanted to tell Klaus. So many things she still wanted to do. So many things she still wanted to experience and feel and so many of them she wanted to live them with Klaus. This couldn't be the last thing he would remember from her.

Only Caroline knew that the chances of this ending any differently were slim.

She was as good as dead and this would be the last thing Klaus would ever see from her. Unless they would decide to make another video with her being raped, brutalized or even killed in a live feed.

She angrily wiped the tear the fell down her cheek.

How was she going to survive this?

The key turned and all her thoughts came to a halt.

Her blood turned to ice when the door creaked open. The ray of light that broke through the darkness hurt her eyes and before she could even blink one of the bulky guards had gripped her upper arm and forced her to stand.

She swayed but the man's bruising grip pulled her up.

"Walk," he only growled and yanked her forward.

---

Klaus Mikaelson saw it fitting to use one of Kol's cars.

He particularly chose the armored bulletproof Lexus he had given him for his last birthday. The one with the tinted windows. Kol loved speed and now that he had a deal to honor with his killer he would go in on Kol's wheels.

Or so Finn would think.

As the car left the mansion Klaus knew that not only Finn's men had marked it but the Feds were following it too.

The only thing was that this was war and he was done playing other people's games. It was time for them to play his own.

Chicago would drown in blood tonight. And he would either swim in the oceans of it and rise or would drown with it and fall.

As he got out of the club's back exit he took out his phone.

His orders were given in a curt tone. Nothing betrayed his emotion.

"I have cops tailing the decoy. Get rid of them. I don't care how."

The next call finally set everything in motion.

"It's on."

He turned on the ignition of his bike and drove away.

---

This time they hadn't used handcuffs on her. Her body was so heavy anyway. She felt as if she was floating. Besides, the huge guard could snap her like a twig. He didn't bother worrying about what she could do. He had only grabbed her from her arm and pulled her as if she was a ragdoll. She had lost her shoes somewhere in the way not that it mattered.

Her heart was beating wildly as she was being led up different sets of stairs and through corridors. She was trying to think, to come up with solutions but she was coming up empty. The last time they had gotten her out of the basement was yesterday and that so to make that horrible video. Her mind was barely able to register what was happening now. What was going to happen next. She felt as if she should fight back but she also felt numb. She only looked around almost dazed. Her head pounded so badly. She realized that by not eating or drinking anything today her brain had started waking up from the stupor of the last days but that made her so confused and unsteady. And she was so tired. Maybe starvation would have been a better option after all. Survival was overrated in these conditions anyway.

She tried not to make any sound of discomfort as she was pulled so harshly. Fear had engulfed her. Where was he taking her? To make another video? Her whole body turned hot and cold at that thought at once. She feebly tried to pull back. Her mind was waking up but that only brought her more pain.

The man that was pulling her didn't give her any time to stop moving or to look around. Instead, he went in front of a door where two other men were waiting outside sitting on a table, playing cards and drinking beers. Their crude gazes turned her stomach as their eyes traveled up and down her barely clad body.

This wasn't good Caroline realized. Whatever was going to happen next was not going to be good. That broke her out of her mental fog.

She started struggling but the man that had brought her here covered her mouth with his smelly palm. He reeked of smoke and alcohol. His other hand wrapped around her waist and arms and lifted her up no matter how much she struggled and kicked.

The other men laughed.

"Did he pay?" the guard that held her asked and one of the other men nodded with a twisted grin.

"He won't have much time until the bosses come. But he'll get the bitch for an hour before they come to get her."

At that Caroline struggled harder but it was of no use.

One of the men got up knocked twice and opened the door and before she could even blink Caroline was thrown on the floor harshly. The door closed behind her.

Caroline grunted. She was on her hands and knees and tried to get up but as she picked up her head she froze.

The whole room was dark and filled with smoke. There were no windows. There was only a fading light coming from a small lamp but it was enough to illuminate her pictures. The whole room was filled with her photos. They were everywhere. On the walls. On the floor. On the bed.

She felt sick as panic started to settle in.

"They know you as the Songbird here."

She froze. She heard the lock turning.

She slowly turned around and saw how Logan locked the door from the inside not allowing anyone of Finn's men to get in. She tensed and swallowed down hard as she heard the men laugh from the other side of the door.

"Klaus Mikaelson's whore," Logan spat as if he hadn't heard them and he probably hadn't. He was in his own world now and there was so much revulsion in his voice that it seemed like a tangible thing. A scary thing that was ready to crash her.

Caroline tried not to give away her fear. She tried not to look at her photos that were pinned everywhere in the room. She was all alone with Logan here. No one was coming for her. And this time she couldn't distract him or fool him.

She realized belatedly that Logan was out of his mind and this was not one of Sage's games to bring Klaus down. This was all Logan. He had paid the guards behind Finn's back.

She looked at his eyes and realized that even if he had promised to Finn's lackeys not to kill her he could not be reasoned anymore.

There was no way out. She was trapped in here with Logan. And she would not make it out on her own and even if she did there were too many men stationed everywhere around. Not just the three outside of this room even though even they were enough.

"They promised you to me," Logan told her viciously and shivers rocked her back and forth. She tried not to make any sudden moves. Not to aggravate him. She felt as if she was shrinking back to her old scared self again.

"It is only fair to collect," Logan taunted and took a step closer to her as she scrambled back trying to cover herself as much as she could but the dress was torn and too short and it was slipping up as she was sliding back on the floor.

Logan was prowling closer.

"When this is all over you are coming with me," he said and looked down at her with hungry eyes.

God, he was so ugly. And terrifying.

Caroline tried to breathe through her fear.

"They won't let me go, Logan," she tried to reason with him but he only gave her a mocking smirk, "they will want to flaunt my dead body to Klaus."

"DON'T SAY HIS NAME!"

Caroline clenched her eyes shut and tried to control her shaking. When she opened her eyes again she realized that Logan had gone to the only table in the room. She stilled when she realized that he was turning on a camera.

"But since you only think of him," he mumbled and Caroline only saw a crazy person as he rocked back and forth and erratically pressed the buttons of the device as he scratched the back of his head with his other hand, "I don't see why we can't leave your asshole with a parting gift. Sage had the right idea after all," he joked before he set the camera and glanced at her before he pointed at the bed.

Caroline screamed when he lunged at her.

---

Finn Mikaelson entered the room, that had become their bedroom for the last few weeks, just as Sage had ended her phone call with her father. Her father was reluctant to send them any more men but she would convince him to come around. They were so close now they could not fail and surely her father could see this.

She didn't want to worry Finn with such folly and spoil his joy. She would deal with her father. So she put on her happy face when her husband came to her and hugged her excited. She sighed in his arms and felt safe and loved. But most of all felt his happiness pouring into her. She was sitting at her chair in front of her vanity mirror and could see the joy in his eyes from their joined reflection in the glass.

"He accepted the deal," Finn announced and Sage beamed, "your brilliant work with Caroline's footage with Fell was what pushed him over the edge. He literally begged."

Sage threw her head back and laughed.

"Told you it would work!" she winked at him pleased and then watched him with curious eyes as his smile grew bigger.

"What?" she asked impatiently as Finn massaged her shoulders.

"I know where they hid Rebekah," Finn finally said and kissed the side of her head.

Sage arched her eyebrow surprised and Finn smirked before he took her brush from the dresser. She smiled at her tenderly and started brushing her hair gently. He loved her hair the most.

"They moved her again," Finn chuckled and Sage laughed as the brush untangled her locks.

"Again?" she snorted, "they are practically killing her just so we won't."

"They are growing desperate," her husband pointed out, relishing at the power he finally held over his traitorous family. His powerlessness against the betrayal of his family was a thorn he could never remove from his heart. She knew that. Finn wanted to avenge his parents and claim what was owed to him and finally, he had the power to do it. All these years of exile and pain finally led him to this moment. Only-

"It could be a trap," Sage warned him but Finn shook his head. It seemed so easy but Finn looked unconcerned and his certainty soothed her nerves a bit.

"Vaughn confirmed it. He had them traced from the start."

Sage smiled at him and nodded pleased.

"You were right my love," he told her, "Caroline was the key. Klaus cannot see straight anymore and Rebekah's death will be the last nail in his coffin."

"What about his network?"

"Most of their men have deflected to other branches and diverged. Marcel has gone underground and Elijah has withdrawn in his attempt to keep his men and save what can't be salvaged. With Rebekah out of the picture, her power is utterly broken. Stefan Salvatore's death added to the chaos and Kol's demise literally splintered them. Their strongest allies stepped back. No one follows a weakling and that's what Klaus has always been," Finn's lips curled in distaste, "now everyone sees it too. It is time."

This time Finn's face was carved in stone. He was serious and ready. The brush stilled in his hand and she gently pried his fingers from the handle and put it back on the dresser as she pivoted in her chair so to look straight into his eyes. Finn leaned down and stared at her confidently.

"We need to gather our forces. I am going after my sister and you need to deal with Caroline Forbes. My brother thinks we'll make the exchange in a few hours. He is walking straight in a trap," Finn smirked before he added, "by the time that bastard realizes the deal was for nothing he'll be dead. With Klaus's head in my hands, everything else will fall into place."

"Maybe we should wait a little while longer," Sage cautioned but she could see in Finn's eyes that there was no more holding him back.

"It is time my love."

Sage got hold of his hands and kissed them softly before she placed her hands on his chest and looked up at him.

"Be careful," she advised him and he nodded with a smile and kissed her forehead before kissing her lips.

She savored that kiss. The next time they would meet he would no longer be just her husband. He would be the King of Chicago and she would be his Queen. This was the last time they'd meet like this.

Sage watched Finn as he left and turned back and stared at the mirror again, she exhaled slowly before she took the hairbrush and finished the work Finn had started on her hair.

She would have to call her father again and deal with Logan Fell and Caroline Forbes once and for all.

Caroline's and Rebekah's loss would be one more victory against Klaus and one more cause for them to celebrate.

Sage smiled at the knock on the door and told the guard to enter. It was time to get this show on the road.

---

"You lying bitch! I gave you everything!"

Caroline struggled back as Logan grabbed her by the hair and then threw her over his shoulder. She yelled and kicked and thrashed.

"Stop!"

She yelled but didn't beg. She would not beg.

When Logan shoved her to the bed she kicked him hard on one of the wounds she had left him with from the last time he had tried to do this.

Logan howled and smacked her. Her vision went black.

He was saying things to her. Vulgar things. About her and about Klaus. About the things Klaus had done to him in prison and how she'd pay for everything. Things about their past too. About his love for her.

But her mind had stopped working. She could barely hear him. All she knew was the terror she felt. This couldn't be happening.

Caroline felt Logan's hands on her body and heard the tearing of the fabric. She tried to knee him only this time he was expecting it and slapped her so hard that she almost lost consciousness.

Everything seemed to turn around as memories returned with full force and she returned back to the past when Logan was hitting her and hurting and she could only curl to a ball and take the abuse praying for this hell to end.

She heaved and panted and tried to push him back. Her hands felt as if they were made from jelly. They were powerless. As was she. Logan pushed his knees between her legs and held her hands so hard she felt as if her wrists were going to snap.

The sounds the photos made under her body were crude to her ears. Logan's hands were everywhere and she wanted to close her eyes and wait till this would be over.

She could dream of Klaus and the nightmare would not last for long.

Only Klaus didn't replace Logan's hands in the dream.

"It is all in the wrist. And in the moment."

Klaus' voice echoed in her ears.

And then it was not Klaus' voice she heard. It was Stefan's teaching her how to defend herself.

"Come on Care," Stefan encouraged "balance."

The last time she had seen Stefan he was laying dead on the club's floor after the bombing.

He had died just like Kol had died.

Kol's voice was another terror in her mind. The kind that broke through the fear she was now feeling.

"Get up… You need to run. Don't stop. Don't look back. Keep running!"

Caroline screamed through the voices in her head and started fighting back. Hard. So hard that she knocked the air out of Logan who looked shocked by her viciousness.

Klaus' voice was becoming louder and louder. She was not weak. She was not breakable. He had taught her better than that.

"Handle your balance like I taught you. Ground yourself."

Caroline opened her eyes and her forehead collided with Logan's hideous face making him grunt in pain. Her legs wrapped around his waist and she then pushed them up. High up. To his ribs and she squeezed. She squeezed so hard till there would no breath Logan's body could take.

"No second thoughts. Just instinct."

She remembered every lesson. She used Klaus' technique and bent her knees generating power from her hips and the muscles of her thighs. She literally lifted Logan up making his eyes pop out. He couldn't breathe. He tried to punch her but the next sound was the crunching of bone as she twisted his wrist.

"Arm your heart and your strike will leave blood. But it won't be yours."

She looked at Logan and smiled. This time her smile was all blood. She looked at his face. He was still bruised from the last time he had tried to abuse her and she had fought back. And she was now bleeding from the way she had headbutted him.

There was no reason to fear him. He was weak. She was not.

She had risen from her ashes long before she had learned how to defend herself. She had sent him to jail in the past when she was powerless. Only now she knew how to fight back. Now she didn't have to be a victim. Now she wasn't prey any longer.

Caroline turned Logan's hands into her own and twisted. Then she used her weight to make them turn. Logan yelled as she pushed him back on his back and straddled him. She still squeezed him between her thighs and this time when she punched his dick he turned blue.

He had not tied her. That idiot probably wanted to prove to her and him that he could still take her on and win. That he was stronger. That she was weak.

She started punching him. Hard. Brutally. She heard the breaking of his teeth and didn't stop. She pounding and hit and scratched and when Logan managed to finally throw her away from him she fell back to the balls of her feet and smiled when she saw the camera.

It had recorded everything. She knew this tape would never make it to Klaus though.

Her smile died out when she noticed the gun next to the camera. Logan was writhing on the bed cursing her and trying to call on the guards as she stood up and walked to the table.

She reached for the gun.

She jumped up when she heard gunshots in the distance and immediately gripped the gun harder.

She closed her eyes. No. This was just her mind playing tricks on her. Her imagination.

Her legs started shaking as reality settled in. The guards outside the door would be coming for her. She could not stay in here forever and there was no other exit. She would not make it out alive.

She heard Logan move behind her.

She closed her eyes and the words that came out of her lips were a reminder to give her the strength and resolve she needed.

"Forget about fire," she reminded herself in a low voice, "this how we put out little candles."

Her finger went at the trigger. She steeled herself. There would be no more weakness. There would be no more shaking. No more fear.

…

Chicago.

November 2013.

Caroline was trying not to show how alarmed she was.

She glanced around at the basement feeling trapped. She had nowhere to run and there was something in Kol's maniacal look that really scared her. The servants and the guards upstairs, despite Klaus' orders, looked elsewhere when Kol linked his arm through her elbow and pulled her with him.

If anything everyone in this house seemed to enjoy Kol's jests as well as being terrified of his bipolar personality. No one would stand up against Kol Mikaelson especially when Klaus was not in the house.

And Klaus right now had gone out with Elijah. Rebekah had sent Stefan to a business and Kol obviously decided it would be fun to show her around and of course as he said it would be a pity if she didn't experience all the Mikaelson hospitality which meant that now Kol Mikaelson had cornered her and walked her through one of his torture sessions in the basement.

And so she was now stuck in this mess. She doubted Kol would actually physically hurt her given how he would still have to explain himself to Klaus but that didn't mean she was actually safe with him. Besides she was on her own now. She was still new to this house. She tiptoed around everyone and everyone viewed her as one of Klaus' newest possessions and so they kept their distance from her. They were respectful and polite but distant. It was kind of lonely and frustrating and she was starting to miss Klaus' presence more and more. And how much more right now that she was here alone with Kol.

Well not exactly all alone with Kol.

In front of her, there was a man tied in actual chains. His naked body was severely bruised and swollen. He had sagged over and seemed unconscious. He was practically dead weight on the chains that held him up from his outstretched hands. It looked painful. As if his joints would pop. His feet barely touched the plastic paper that was placed underneath him and was now splattered with blood and vomit.

So much dried blood had also stained the man's mouth and chin.

It was so unsettling to think about how she was living in luxury upstairs while underneath, a few floors below, people were being tortured to death.

"Why did you bring me here?" Caroline asked trying to sound calm and not convey her fear.

Kol stood behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. Her spine locked.

"I am educating you, darling," Kol whispered in her ear before he rested his chin on her left shoulder and sighed as if he was bored, "Bekah told me about the deal you made with my brother. You sold yourself did you not?" he chuckled making her lips compress into a thin line, "and in exchange of your services, Nik is going to keep you tucked away from the world. Safe and sound in his gilded cage no?"

"Get your hands off me," Caroline bit out and tried to yank his hands away from her upper arms while Kol simply continued pestering her.

His touch had nothing sexual but it was creeping her out big time. She wondered what Klaus would do if he ever saw that and a part of her knew this was a test. She had not seen the Mikaelsons interact that much because Klaus was trying to keep her away from his siblings, obviously for her own good, but from what she had seen Kol loved to rile Klaus up. Caroline was sure Kol wanted for her to go to Klaus and spill everything.

Caroline gritted her teeth. She would not give him the satisfaction. If he wanted to bait his brother he should find another way. She was neither bait nor Kol's sick entertainment.

Caroline stilled when a grunt of pain reached her ears. The man was waking up again. Slowly. Shit!

He looked so much in pain and he was trying to say something but Caroline then realized that they had cut out his tongue. And the noises he was making were as terrifying as that realization sank in.

But then it was the rich laughter she knew all too well that covered the man's pained noses and Kol's excitement. Caroline was used to that laughter. It was shrill and cruel. She had worked for that woman long enough to know that this sound never bode well.

Rebekah Mikaelson laughed as she stepped down the stairs careful not to smear her beautiful shoes with the grime and blood that lingered everywhere in the basement.

"If Nik finds out what you are doing with his toy you will end up counting broken bones Kol," Rebekah warned her brother bemused while still not missing the opportunity to insult Caroline.

"I am no one's toy!" Caroline huffed twisting her head away from Kol's hands that were now somehow fascinated with braiding her hair.

"Feisty," Kol snickered when she slapped his hands away and then he twirled her around as if they were dancing on stage, "what if I don't? Will you tell on me?" Kol taunted her but she said nothing. He frowned at that and then his gaze scrutinized her in a way that Caroline felt as if Kol could read her mind and her fear. "Nik saw a challenge in you but…are you really that weak?"

Caroline pressed her lips at the pity he heard at Kol's tone of distaste.

"I honestly don't see what Nik sees in her," Rebekah whined and Kol smirked.

"I do," the youngest of the Mikaelson brothers drawled.

Kol's gaze was vulgar. Caroline this time stepped away with the intent of actually leaving no matter the consequences but he pulled her back.

"Let me go," Caroline told him, her voice now cold and dry. "Now."

Kol seemed intrigued by the iron in her voice though. Caroline from the corner of her eye saw how Rebekah turned serious at once and shook her head calling Kol's name in warning.

"She is not one of your girls Kol," Rebekah reminded her brother and he snorted.

"Don't get your knickers in a twist Bekah," Kol said and rolled his eyes, "it's just harmless fun."

He then let go of Caroline and gave her a challenging stare.

"Stay darling," Kol crooned and stepped around her going straight for the man. Caroline held her breath as Kol grabbed the man's hair and pulled his head back violently relishing at the pained noise that left his victim's lips. Kol only turned around and winked at her specifically, "stay and learn. This is what my brother's protection means after all."

Caroline swallowed hard and watched as Kol tortured the man.

She had been at the receiving end of torture before but she had never stood by while another human being was been treated like this.

Memories of Logan's abuse started flashing in her mind but for some reason, she remained detached as the screams that started filling the basement were becoming louder and louder by the moment. It would seem that a person could still scream even without a tongue.

Kol Mikaelson was an expert at making others scream. He knew what crippled, what burned, what only caused pain. He knew how to use his hands and he knew how to use blades. He knew how to taunt and he knew how to give a false sense of a reprieve before he cruelly lashed out his sadism. He knew how to dangle someone at the edge of pain and life. Just a breath away from death but not just yet.

Caroline flinched and her skin turned clammy. Kol didn't want any answers from the man. This was just fun for him. Either fun or retribution or both. It seemed pointless to her but it wasn't for Kol.

A part of her, the human part was pulling at her. Telling her to do something. But the practical part knew it would not make a difference.

Somehow this was all about her. Kol's games were testing her. And she knew that should she give up, should she give in, she would lose and she was past beyond that point in her life. She knew what Klaus' protection entailed and she would own her decision. Blood, gore, murder and all.

Rebekah next to her didn't seem to mind. She was checking her nails all bored. It was her that was blanching at the side of all that blood but otherwise, she was not allowing herself to show any discomfort. She wouldn't. She could play this game. From the moment she had signed up for this life she knew this would be a reality and she was not naïve to believe this reality would not touch her.

Kol stepped back from the man and eyed her reaction.

"Impressive," he said and rolled his shoulders before he wiped the blood from his hands with a cloth, "others would have puked by now," he jested and as if on cue the man threw up and Rebekah scrunched up her nose.

Kol simply shrugged at her and went to the other side of the room and took a bat from the wall.

He swung it in the air. Once, twice.

Caroline watched as he expertly gyrated the bat in his hands. His eyes now had a dark gleam.

When she had first met Kol Mikaelson he had seemed young and carefree to her. Now, bathed in blood and with that insane look he looked every inch the monster and for the first time she could see the resemblance between him and Klaus and it left her breathless.

"This is what happens when anyone dares to betray us," Kol stated and the message was clear.

This was what they'd do to her if she betrayed Klaus and their family.

Caroline squared her shoulders as the bat rose and fell on skin and bone. The sound of bones breaking was deafening and the crunching sound had the hairs on the back of her neck stand on attention. But soon that grueling sound became a concert of wet noises. Kol was now beating up mashed up meat. It was inhuman and excessive. It was meant to send her away running in tears. Little did he know that she had heard those sounds before. The sounds of bones breaking. Of skin tearing over and over again. The squishy sounds of blood on torn flesh. Those sounds were every night in her nightmares. An echo on her skin every time she looked at her scars. Every time she relaxed and the ghosts of the past remembered her. She never forgot. It was nothing new. It would not fade away. And it could not scare her anymore.

"I've had enough of this," she tiredly said and turned around ready to walk away. She would not run but she would not play into Kol's games either.

"Leaving so soon?" Kol mocked her and maybe it was his mockery or Rebekah's ironic giggle but the next thing Caroline knew was that she was moving. To the opposite direction from the stairs that she had aimed to go to.

Instead, she strode up to Kol Mikaelson stepping over the blood, not cringing or showing any discomfort. She stood inches away from him and his bat. Rebekah's laughter died and Kol arched an eyebrow at her.

"You think this frightens me?" Caroline sneered as she stood next to the tortured man, "you are nothing but a spoiled child playing with matches but guess what…I've been burned in fire and you have nothing on me," she coldly said and eyed Kol up and down, "and I don't need Klaus to make it clear to you …to any of you," she added glaring at Rebekah too, "that my relationship with your brother is none of your concern so for all I care you can take that bat and shove it up your ass!"

Kol expression was incredulous now as was Rebekah's shocked one but it didn't take long before Kol burst out laughing. Only this time the sound was not one meant to taunt. This time he sounded impressed.

"Would you look at that," Kol mumbled in awe before he turned his attention to his sister, "who knows sister maybe she can be one of us after all."

When Kol faced again this time Caroline faced his seriousness. He stepped into her personal space but she stood her ground. He hummed pleased and gave her a nod.

"I know all about your fire darling," he confessed with a knowing look and Caroline tensed, "so stay," he said again only this time it was not a threat but an invitation, "and see for yourself how our family burns those that dare come against us."

Kol helped her walk to the side. Gently. Caroline blinked as he now treated her like a gentleman and gave her a wicked grin before taking out his gun.

"Forget about fire," he told her and the silver handle of the gun shone in his hand, "this is how we put out little candles like the one that scared you into submission."

Caroline watched him almost mesmerized as Rebekah approached her and whispered in her ear.

"Pay attention little songbird," she confided as if they were friends sharing a thrilling secret, "this is how you bring a man to his knees."

Rebekah's low laugh didn't drown the sound of the firing bullets or of the screams that followed as Kol shot the man in his kneecaps.

This time Caroline didn't even flinch.

---

She fired twice.

Two bullets, two blood-curdling screams; followed by the most pathetic whimpers she had ever heard in her life. Caroline watched Logan fall to his shuttered knees. She hadn't hesitated. She shot him straight in the knee cups as she had seen Kol and Rebekah do countless times with those that opposed them.

And now Logan cried. He cried and cursed and whimpered and she watched him apathetically. It was as if she wasn't in her body anymore. She was somewhere else watching as everything unfolded.

'So weak', she thought without feeling remorse or any other emotion. At least when he was beating her to a bloody pulp she knew how to keep her mouth shut. There was dignity in pain and survival. Logan Fell had none. How was she ever afraid of him? Why? How could she have ever even loved him when he was less than nothing?

The gun felt hot in her hand.

In her mind, she could actually see Kol cheering on her. She could hear Rebekah's voice whispering to her how this is how you indeed bring a man to his knees. She could see her mother teaching her how to shoot long before Klaus came into her life and she could see Klaus smirk at her proudly.

She could see all that and she held the gun tighter as Logan cried and held on to his bloody knees.

Every sound got muted.

She knew there was no way out of this anymore.

The shots she had fired and Logan's screams have made sure that she was out of time and options. There was nowhere left to hide and she couldn't allow them to take her and use her against Klaus and his family any longer. She shook her head. She couldn't allow this to keep going. She couldn't allow Kol's death to be for nothing. One degrading video was enough. Her being bait and collateral damage was enough. She would take charge of her fate.

She gripped the gun with both hands.

Her mind was muddled; the gun was heavy on her hands.

She had shot twice. They must have heard her and the only thing standing between her and Finn's guards was the door Logan had locked. The moment the guards would get in she would face a fate worse than death.

She stilled her trembling and the world came back to focus.

Logan was trying to crawl away. He wouldn't make it far. This all started because he was her nightmare. She asked Klaus' protection because of him. She hid from the world because of him. She ran away because of him.

She changed her skin and became something darker because of him. She lost herself and her innocence because of him and she would lose no more because of him. If she was going to lose her life she would lose it on her own.

And if she was going to go down she wouldn't go down alone. She would take her nightmare with her.

She would point the gun on her next. But there would be no more regrets left in this world from her.

Caroline lifted her chin and with a swift move she targeted Logan's head. His eyes went wide as he realized that she was ready to pull the trigger.

To end it all.

---

The low thrumming woke her up.

When Sage Mikaelson opened her eyes she was in a white room surrounded by her men. They formed a circle around her. It should have been one of protection but she was left lying on a plush red carpet in the middle of what should be her security.

Her hand reached for her neck at once. It burned. She touched the sore spot and tried to bring movement back to her body as she slowly realized what had happened.

The memory invaded her mind but it confused her. It couldn't be right.

She grunted and tried to get up. The rumbling sound beneath her made her realized that she wasn't in a room. She was on a plane.

"What is this?"

Her voice was groggy. Everything turned. Her vision was blurry. Her mind completely fuzzy.

There was no answer from her men. But the voice that responded was polite and had an accent that reminded her so much of her husband's.

"Quite simple really."

Sage stilled. She knew that voice. That composed tone.

She tried to stand up but she only managed to crawl to a sitting position on the carpet. She glanced up and could see the clouds from one of the jet's circular windows.

She shook her head. This couldn't be right. She was hallucinating. It was impossible. Her men didn't seem surprised and didn't move to help her. They still had their guns. They were still in control.

Only she wasn't.

The owner of the voice uncrossed his legs and put down the newspaper he was holding as he got up from his leather plane seat.

Sage saw how her men watched her silently and only parted to let the man pass through them and stand in front of her.

Sage first saw the polished shoes. She lifted her gaze slowly trying to focus. Her eyes focused on the tailored suit. On the refined trousers. On that black tie.

Only he wasn't alone. He had brought along his army of men too that now crowded the chamber she was in.

His men stood back as Elijah Mikaelson crouched down in front of her.

"Divide and conquer," he only said as he adjusted his cufflinks, "what you did to us. Got to love the classics."

Sage watched with wide eyes as Elijah made a dismissive gesture and her men backed down. She couldn't believe this was happening. She tried to call back to her men but they all ignored her.

"How?" she uttered unable to form coherent thoughts.

"They have their orders," Elijah told her and gave the men a curt jerk of the chin and Sage watched them shocked as they left her alone with Elijah and his men.

Elijah got up and went back to his seat. He pointed at one of his men that reached for her and forced her to stand. He held her by the arms and Sage could barely stand how much more struggle. Whatever they had injected her with was still in her system and it burned through her defenses. She could barely keep her eyes open.

"You should have dealt with your family before coming after mine," Elijah pointed out apathetically as he took out his phone from the inside pocket of his suit's jacket.

The man that was holding Sage brought her closer so she could see the screen. Her breath hitched when she realized that she was staring at Troy, her brother.

"Your father just traded your life for your brother's," Elijah informed her in a clinical tone that somehow managed to break through the haziness of the drug in her veins.

Sage saw him as he placed his phone back into his inner pocket and then retrieved the paper he had been reading before she woke up.

"It didn't take much convincing," he assured her, "his heir is more important than Finn's war. A war that cost him money and resources," Elijah stated, "resources that we will, of course, compensate him for."

Sage gave Elijah a murderous look that only managed to amuse him.

"Besides," Elijah Mikaelson pondered, "how long would it take for Finn to decide to usurp his power too? He is surely capable of it," he bitterly acknowledged.

Sage fumed now. It had all been a carefully laid out trap. Elijah hadn't gone underground. He simply followed Klaus' orders.

He literally went under their noises. Elijah's reputation was true after all. He was capable for far more than what Finn believed him to be and that was why Klaus kept him as his second in command and his heir all these years. Still, the fact that they moved so quickly and effectively left her breathless. They must have worked on contingencies for years ever since they drove Finn away.

It was all for nothing. Finn was now on his own. All his years of waiting, all his pain, all the betrayal he felt. He would never avenge his parents. He would never come back to her.

She'd never see him again.

"Finn only claims what belongs to him," Sage seethed and started fighting back against the hold of the man that now forced her on her knees in front of Elijah.

Elijah Mikaelson gave her a scorching gaze. The closest thing to an emotion she had seen of him and it chilled her right down to the bone.

"Then he will claim only death."

Sage swallowed down her fear and tried to command her bravery but it was Elijah Mikaelson's smile that rendered her completely powerless as she realized that whatever Elijah's deal with her father might be it didn't include her. After all, she was just starting to truly realize what Elijah had said. Her family had traded her life for her brother's.

"And as for you," Elijah vowed solemnly with a voice that didn't match the smile of ice on his lips or the vengeance he saw in his eyes, "you should not have meddled with my family's affairs dear sister in law."

Elijah returned his attention back to his paper as she was being carried away.

---

…

So, strike me down, take me away
Debts are due, it's time to pay
Face what I deserve, here comes judgment day

…

---

There was so much noise.

Only Caroline didn't know where it was coming from. Maybe it was the thunderous beating of her heart that echoed in her ears. Somehow it sounded a lot like gunshots fired in the distance. Just outside the locked door.

Caroline watched the door and the key that was still in the lock. Keeping her in. Keeping everyone out.

Logan was whimpering but somehow the world had gone very very silent. And still.

Everything seemed to have abruptly stopped moving. The gun was like a bomb in her hand about to detonate and blow her world to pieces.

Everything crashed and burned in her head. The terror of the last days became cataclysmic in her head. All the blood, the violence, the absolute despair.

She shouldn't be here. She had once been the Sheriff's daughter. She was not meant for this world. What would her mother say? How disappointed would she be?

It didn't matter anymore. She was now the mistress of the King and she was paying the price. And it was so high.

Caroline was still living in the nightmare these monsters had created for her but the aftermath of all this ongoing violence she had already endured and kept on living came in vibrations. She knew the signs. She remembered feeling like this before. Losing her mind. Being at the precipice of surrendering into a haunting abyss. She had been hospitalized and abused and broken and it was happening all over again. She wanted to sink into herself and never crawl out from that mental maze. No one would be able to hurt her there. Only she remembered how that had been too. She remembered how she was pumped with drugs and pills and beaten to submission and they had tried to do that to her again. So to get to Klaus. So to break her.

Logan had tried to do that to her again.

She tried to breathe but she couldn't. The gunshots were coming closer. They were going to get her.

Logan was bleeding on the ground trying to slither away. Where exactly? There was no escape anymore. Only a dead end.

Caroline turned her gun back at Logan.

His eyes widened. He looked at the barrel of the gun with horror. He knew how it was to be shot now. But he didn't know how it was to die. She'd gladly teach him that too.

"Caroline don't-"

His voice aggravated her and she shot the floor an inch away from where he stood before she pointed the gun straight at his head making him shut his mouth at once.

Maybe it was that she almost shot him again. Maybe it was the shaking of her hands. Maybe it was the way she looked at him. Logan looked at her mortified.

Only it was as if she was drowning underwater and everything, including Logan, was a blur.

Tears blinded her eyes. Her finger caressed the trigger. But all she could feel, all she could see was her mother's eyes. Her mom would hate what she had become. This was not how she had raised her.

But there were dark things in the world. The things her mom was trying to fight from the side of her moral code. Only Caroline knew different now. She knew how it was to be chewed by the darkness and spat out.

And yet. Even so. Her finger grazed the flat trigger but stilled. Logan was only one shot away. One shot away from ending this nightmare once and for all.

And yet her finger was frozen. She had never killed anyone before. This would not be self-defense. Not really. It would be murder. Cold-blooded murder.

She remembered everything Logan had done to her. Just earlier he had tried to rape her. Again!

And yet she was so weak. She used to believe humanity was strength. Now it was a mortal mistake.

A deadly mistake.

She cursed through her teeth. She was trapped in her own skin.

"Come on do it!" she hissed and saw how Logan paled more. His mouth was moving, pleading, swearing, but she couldn't hear him.

Killing Logan would not be enough. She would not be able to kill her way out of this mess. The bullets left in the gun had her name on them.

She didn't want to die. She wanted a life. She wanted to be with Klaus.

She held the gun with both hands trying to stop the shaking. She wasn't a murderer. She wasn't a quitter.

Logan's head snapped at the door. Caroline shook her head and pointed the gun at him making him freeze once more.

What would Klaus do? He wouldn't hesitate. He would have killed that son of a bitch already. And if he couldn't get out of this alive he wouldn't think twice from going kamikaze on his enemies and taking down as many as he could.

She closed her eyes for a second. The pressure was breaking her but was also bringing images in her mind and heart. She thought she heard Klaus' voice calling her through the door.

Her heart sped up. It was just her imagination…he couldn't here…

The only thing left for her was to steel her heart.

She gave Klaus Mikaelson a silent goodbye ready to pull the trigger.

---

Bullets ricocheted on metal. Followed by an explosion.

So loud.

The door was blown off its hinges. Caroline bent over to cover herself from the debris only to immediately whirl around pointing the gun at whoever barged in the room through the smoke.

They must have heard her shooting Logan and burst in to save him.

She was too late. She had hesitated. Having mercy and fear was her fatal flaw.

Caroline pointed the gun at the dark shadow that entered the room, wild and vengeful, with determined eyes bleeding murder.

He was pointing his gun at her as she pointed her gun at him.

Time stopped. A tightrope stretching between their guns that aimed at each other.

She knew those eyes. She knew that gaze that had marked her from the first moment he had laid his eyes on her. Those possessive blue eyes that now stared her back with such rage and… relief.

There was so much emotion in those eyes. It was impossible. But it couldn't be her imagination. It would be so cruel if this was a trick of the mind when he looked at her in awe and with so much hope. So much love.

Caroline blinked…he was here…he was really here.

Klaus.

Caroline opened her mouth trying to breathe, to make any sound, to convince herself that he was real. That he was here. In all his glory, dressed all in black, drenched in blood, carrying blades and guns. He had come for her.

"Klaus?"

One word. His name.

She uttered it.

As she whispered it every night in the basement they kept her trying to draw strength from it. This time his name was not a prayer. This time it was the answer to her wishes. It was a whisper. A death sentence to everyone that would dare take her away from him.

Calling his name broke the enchantment that kept her in another reality. It brought her back into this world. Into this dreadful painful world.

Both she and Klaus immediately lowered their guns when they finally realized they were targeting each other.

One breath. One more. She heaved. It was too much. It was unreal. He had come. It was as if her mind was playing tricks on her. The last time she had seen him she left him behind in the middle of a shooting in the burning club. The last time she had heard his voice in the phone Kol's car was pushed off the road with her in it.

Caroline kept her gun down, tight by her side and gripped it hard looking at him as if he would disappear at any second.

She took a step back when he moved closer.

"It's me, love."

His voice was so familiar. So soothing.

His voice was home, and safety and everything Klaus was.

It brought tears in her eyes. She couldn't look away from his face. From his tentative smile. From the encouraging nod he gave her.

An incoherent sound escaped her throat and she ran to Klaus's arms. His embrace was one of absolute safety. It was her safe haven. His scent was familiar. Heavenly. It felt like warmth and a lover's touch. The gun she held fell from her hand. It dropped down with a thud but she didn't care. It was no longer her saving grace. Klaus was.

Caroline held on to him so tightly she felt as if she would be forever glued on his body.

He was holding her just as tight. As if to prove to himself that she was indeed in his arms. Safe. Alive. His.

He was caressing her hair and kissing her face. He was gentle and soft, tender and intense and caged her in his arms that enclosed her in a cocoon that made her tremble more as she pressed her face in his neck and sighed.

"Shh. You are safe. I am here."

His words were like a balm. He was saving her very soul.

The world vanished. There was no more danger. No more pain. No more death.

He pulled her back and framed her face with his hands. His thumbs wiped her tears. He looked at her with so much adoration that it broke her heart only to mend the pieces back together.

"It's over. You are safe."

"You came for me," she mumbled and hugged him back hiding her face in his chest.

"I'll always come for you," he promised her again and kissed the top of her head.

Klaus smelled her hair and Caroline wrapped her hands around his waist. She anchored herself to him. She knew they couldn't stay here for much longer. It wasn't safe. But at that moment there was no other place to be.

Klaus let his breath out slowly and then inhaled deeply. Caroline was alive. She was in his arms. She had slumped against him, holding on to him for dear life. He hid his face in her hair and tried to bring her closer. She was shaking so hard. She was ice cold. His hands rubbed her back.

He had to get her out. He had to get to safety. He had to-

It was the slightest movement. That pained sound. A man's grunt.

It caught his attention and he opened his eyes. Caroline stilled in his arms and his arms tightened around her protectively. Seeing her again made the world so small. It erased everything else that existed in it. His whole world, the only thing that mattered was her. But they weren't alone.

He had killed everyone on the floor they were in. Everyone except Caroline and-

Klaus spared the man on the floor a glance and every muscle in his body locked.

Logan Fell was bleeding only a few steps away from where he and Caroline stood.

Klaus didn't let Caroline go but from his angle above her shoulder, he stared at that piece of shit.

The relief he felt started turning to poison as reality crashed over him. They had locked Caroline in this room with Logan Fell.

He should have killed the guards outside the door far more brutally. They had locked her inside with Logan Fell.

Klaus had called to her but she hadn't responded. He had heard the gunshot before he went ballistic shot and eventually blew off the door.

Seeing her again, alive, was what made him breathe again.

But now he saw all of Caroline's scattered photos in the room. The camera. The wrinkled sheets. The blood on the bed.

A growl left his lips.

"Oh, shit," Logan Fell groaned through his broken teeth when their gazes clashed and he realized who was staring him back with controlled fury.

Caroline's ex writhed in pain trying to move back and Klaus' lips twisted. His eyes turned murderous and Logan Fell stopped moving completely.

He gently pushed Caroline a few steps away to look at her. He saw the state she was in. His eyes checked every detail now.

The black circles under her puffed red eyes. The bruises. The handprints on her neck and arms. The dried blood. The fresh blood that leaked from cuts and wounds. Her torn lip. Her swollen face. The marks and scratches on her body.

Her torn clothes.

That fucking thing was what she wore in the video they had sent him and it was now ripped in pieces hanging from her almost naked body.

He was too late.

The anger that blazed inside him now was nothing he had ever felt before. It was overwhelming.

With harsh movements, he took off his jacket and quickly wrapped it around Caroline. It draped over her and covered her in its folds. Caroline gripped it and pulled it over her body, her hands fisting the leather.

She looked down. She looked ashamed and that infuriated him more as did the tears that dropped on her cheeks.

"Are you okay?" he asked her, his voice controlled and cold.

Caroline said nothing. She only pulled his jacket tighter around her body.

Despite his need to ravage and destroy he kept his touch soft as he cupped her chin and moved her head up. His breath was caught in his throat as he asked.

"Did he-"

He didn't need to finish his sentence. She shook her head hastily.

"No."

He stared in her eyes. Intently. To make sure she wasn't lying; and when she found the courage to stare back at him her eyes were honest.

"He tried," she said, "he couldn't... I didn't let him."

Klaus smiled at that and wrapped his hand around the back of her neck and brought her in his arms again. He kissed her head.

"That's my girl."

He ran his hands up and down her upper arms again and let her go only when he was sure she was able to stand on her own without needing his support. He gently pulled her to the side and when his hands left her Caroline knew that Klaus was no longer a dream of safety. He was no longer a soothing touch, a shield of protection. He was all vengeance. He was all a promise. A promise of death.

"I assume there is no need for an introduction Mr. Fell. You've already heard of me."

Caroline held her breath just as Logan did. She saw the absolute terror in Logan's functional only eye as Klaus watched his broken bleeding knees and smiled.

It was a terrifying smile. Klaus cast her a questioning gaze and gave her a loving stare when he realized she was the one that had done this to Logan fell. His chuckle was one of pride and delight and Caroline found herself giving him a hint of a smile. It was a twisted moment that made Logan's fear churn more. His deformed face, Klaus' courtesy which Logan knew all too well, had turned white as milk.

Caroline watched mesmerized at the helplessness that appeared in Logan's features when Klaus turned his attention back to him.

Logan that only moments ago was begging her not to kill him. Logan that had screamed when she shot him in the knees and cried. Nothing of that compared to the absolute panic and horror that had stuck on his features now.

Only God knew what Klaus had truly ordered to be done to him in prison. What it was had not only left him physically deformed but had turned Logan meek and now that he faced his worst nightmare in person it had turned him into an exposed nerve that felt only agony and terror.

Klaus approached him slowly. Relishing in drawing out the moment. Logan meekly whimpered as Klaus towered over him. Covered in blood and dust.

Caroline could see on Klaus pieces of flesh and blood. He had paved his way through the bodies of his enemies. He came to her massacring everyone that stood in his way. As a matter of fact, in the far distance, it still sounded like a warzone outside. His men must be having a full-blown war with Finn's men and yet Klaus had come here alone. A one-man army.

He was dressed in black but Caroline knew a military gear when she saw one. Klaus was now the menace everyone bowed too. The King of Chicago. The warrior. The one without mercy.

"You know who I am," Klaus addressed Logan with an impeccably cordial tone, "you've dreaded my name for years now."

Caroline swallowed down hard, a shiver passing through her. The politeness in his manners was in contrast with what Klaus said. With the murder that gleamed in his eyes.

This was not the man that read poems to her and painted her in vibrant colors and pencil sketches. This was not the artist or the lover that held her close after making love to her. The man that made her laugh and blush and took her to museums and the opera. This wasn't the gentleman that promised to show her the world and protect her till his body would draw its last breath.

This was the monster. The beast that swore to avenge her pain. The nightmare that made all her nightmares pale in comparison. He was a shadow of death that didn't promise the sweet relief of it. Instead, Caroline knew that Klaus would make Logan cry, pray and plead to die. And Logan knew it. Klaus right now was dread in flesh. Logan's worst nightmare coming to life.

And that didn't make her shy away from Klaus. Her eyes remained glued on him. She took him all in. In every detail. She took in the savageness, the murder, the cruelty. This was the mob boss. The worst sadist of them all.

And he was hers.

And yet despite his intimidating and terrifying posture when he knelt in front of Logan and watched him with those unfathomable eyes his voice was soft. So soft. Accented with honey. A lilt that one could mistake for forgiveness.

It was a false safety net made to allure. One last game the predator played with its dying prey. And those that would be stupid enough to fall for it would then march to their death with a smile of gratitude.

Klaus clasped his hands together, his head lowering slightly so to level his gaze with Logan's.

"You should have stayed in prison. You'd have fared much better."

Caroline watched Logan's broken appearance with aversion and fear soaked her insides. That prison must have become Logan's personal hell and yet Klaus promised of a fate worse than that. It was a chilling statement and Caroline almost felt sorry for Logan…almost.

Logan recoiled with a flinch when Klaus put his hand over his shoulder and gave him a friendly squeeze. It would seem as if Logan had turned so meek and powerless now. He wasn't making an effort to defend himself even in the least. He was paralyzed by the fear now that he was face to face with Klaus.

"I promised to Caroline I would make you suffer," Klaus told him and pressed his lips almost with sympathy at the way Logan shivered. He then turned solemn. "I always keep my promises mate."

Caroline watched.

She watched as Klaus' face transformed. One second there was grave solemnity and the next as Logan tried to detach himself from his grip Klaus gave him a smile full of teeth.

"Easy there. Don't hurt yourself," Klaus said and sighed, "my girl here did a number on you," Klaus clicked his tongue and turned pensive.

"I don't usually go after broken things. I prefer a challenge," Klaus said and straightened Logan's blouse as he looked at him with a gaping mouth.

"You don't though. You like them defenseless don't you?"

Caroline winced at that. Even her heart clenched as Klaus shook his head.

"You are not even worth it," Klaus pitied Logan and let him go.

Logan somehow seemed to ease at his words thinking that maybe he would get a chance to get away. To buy some time. Maybe Klaus would go easy on him. Or at least spare him an easy death.

Caroline knew better but even so her breath hitched. Her mind couldn't understand how a human being could snap so quickly and so hard in a split second. Her eyes were focused on Klaus but she was barely able to catch his movement even though she was expecting his outburst.

It was like a Cobra striking. Completely inhuman.

Caroline could only watch. As if this was a movie and not real life. She was almost fascinated. And a part of hers felt at peace. This was justice. This was what she had once dreamed of.

Klaus started punching Logan over and over again.

Logan's screaming was like mewling to her ears. He was trying to move away only he was caught. A defenseless mouse in the teeth of a mountain lion.

Caroline lost count of the hits Klaus delivered and each one was becoming more and more brutal. It turned her stomach.

Caroline realized that this wasn't what dreams were made of. This brutality wasn't justice.

There was so much fury and so much rage in Klaus that Caroline stumbled back. She had never seen him like this. She had seen his bad temper and his outbursts. He had never hurt her but she had seen him torture people. She had seen his lack of mercy. She had seen him bathed in blood. She had seen his dealings and how everyone feared him. She had seen the show he would make for dramatic purposes and for instilling fear to his enemies but she had never seen this.

Never this.

Klaus's hands were now balls of steel that pounded on what used to be Logan's face. He kicked him and kneed him and hit him with his head.

Klaus was not there. He poured out all his darkness, all his wrath. He kept beating Logan as if he was not a human thing that was dying under the assault of his hands. He was hitting Logan's head on the floor. Could a human skull not break like this?

It didn't matter. Logan didn't matter. He didn't exist. He was everyone and no one.

Logan was everyone that had ever hurt Klaus in past. Logan was Mikael. He was Esther. He was all the pain and weakness. Logan was Finn. Logan was Kol's dead body in pieces.

Logan was the promise he hadn't been able to keep. He hadn't kept her safe. He hadn't protected her. Logan was the one that had hurt her. That had broken her. That had taken her light and tarnished it. Logan was the thing that scared her at nights. Logan was the reason she sought his protection and his comfort. Logan had abused her, beaten her. Logan had tried to rape her.

And Klaus was right now her nemesis. Klaus was now keeping his promise. Only this wasn't what he had promised.

Klaus' screams were louder than Logan's. Klaus' pain was agony. He completely lost it. He was like a wild animal, breaking even his own hands in those punches. He punched Logan countless times and many times Klaus' fists hit flesh and sometimes they hit the floor underneath and he kept going and Logan was still breathing.

God, he kept breathing!

'Please stop breathing,' she prayed in her mind but her prayers were not answered.

Caroline covered her mouth with her hands.

...

Flashback

"… there are those other times where I hold the knife. And the blood that runs is not mine and the voices in my head seize," he revealed to her and she saw the madness that reflected in his eyes. It was poison and venom and it had latched into every part of him. And it had made him strong and it had killed him.

"You will get to hold the knife when the time comes but what you will do with it will be up to you sweetheart. Maybe your wounds will close one day," he murmured and Caroline looked at him sadly.

"Yours can too," she softly said and Klaus snorted.

"I don't want them too."

Caroline gaped and gave him an incredulous look and Klaus' lips curved into an unsettling grin.

"I don't want to forget. The more I remember the more powerful I get," he explained to her.

And Caroline noticed the edge in his voice. He was not battling his demons. He was letting the demons battle inside him and reign over him. He was using those demons for their wings and their horns and hooves and their power. He was feeding them with his anger and blood. The more blood he was giving them the more they grew inside him. It was more than just survival for him Caroline realized. It was a homage to murder and power. She might have gambled with her life but Klaus has gambled his soul.

"Powerful enough to not let anyone hurt me or anyone I care for ever again," Klaus told her decisively and the pride in his voice shone covering the vulnerable infinitesimal trembling of his vocal chords.

...

Caroline ran to Klaus. Telling him to stop. Telling him it was over.

Klaus kept punching Logan until his face became an unrecognizable mass of blood, bruise, and bone.

...

Flashback

"…Can you tell me that there will be a day that you will be able to give me more than this? To give me yourself without holding back? Scars and wounds and all? Even healing? Can you tell me it is worth the wait? Should I even wait?" she asked shedding her armor down for the first time in years. This was her. Bare and honest. No pretenses. No middle ground. She wanted everything. She wanted him. But she did not want to let go and turn to a shade because of love. That kind of love was not the kind she wanted. And if this was the only thing he could give she would not take it. And she would not allow him to pretend that he was giving her what she wanted either.

Caroline faced him and raised her chin up. Her heart was pounding so fast and so hard.

"Above your Kingdom and your crown. Above everything you hate. Can you care for me more than that?"

Klaus lips compressed to a thin line. She was asking too much. More than he could give. Things he did not even know if he had to give.

...

The man that was in front of her, losing himself into this hate and this rage, would never be hers. He would never love her more than he hated. Because the man that she wanted was swallowed by the monster that hated for her. In her name. He had given in to the hate to save her. To avenge her. And so now he hated.

And love…love would not survive in this hate. Nothing could. Not even Klaus.

Logan had gone still under Klaus and Klaus' punches had lost so much of their power but Klaus couldn't stop.

Caroline screamed at him to stop when he took out his serrated knife and started hacking Logan in places that wouldn't kill him but would cripple and torture him. He was gutting him.

Caroline pulled him back with difficulty.

"Klaus stop!"

Klaus tried to push her away. To bounce back to whatever was left of Logan.

Logan that was still breathing but his breaths were shallow. His chest was rising and following weakly but there was so much blood. So much blood everywhere. Under his cracked skull. Over his torn body. His insides were out drenched in blood. In a pool of blood that was still flowing.

Her ex was unrecognizable. Logan's face was no longer a face and Caroline knew this image would haunt her forever.

Klaus fell on the floor and panted. The knife slipped from his hand.

Caroline looked at his eyes and it was as if he was gone. His eyes were not blue anymore. They had gone so dark they looked black.

'Come back to me,' she begged him in her mind and watched as his shoulders sagged for a moment.

Caroline stared down at his hands. Smeared with wet hot blood. His knuckles were bruised and swollen. She held on to them as if they were made from glass.

She looked up. Tears had made streaks through the blood that looked like war paint on Klaus' face. Even his mussed hair dripped with blood.

She didn't care. She cupped Klaus' face and forced him to look at her.

"I don't want him to suffer," Caroline said and Klaus' face didn't change.

It was still a mask of pain and anger but there was a shadow of guilt that flashed through his eyes that made her heart ache. She knew that Klaus didn't regret almost killing Logan with his bare hands. She knew that what he felt shame for was the fact that she had seen him lose control like this. That she had seen his monster. She saw how he believed that she would be disgusted by him but she wasn't. For some reason, she was not repulsed or scared of him. She only feared the damage this would do in his soul rather than anything else. She didn't believe that there was good in him she had to save. But there were human parts of him that belonged to her and she wanted those. She had claimed those and she would not lose them.

She looked at Logan. It would be a mercy killing now. But this was a chapter that had to end. And she would leave him completely behind her. She already had.

"I want him to die," she simply said and Klaus blinked at what she said. At her calm tone. At her decisiveness. At the simplicity of her claim.

There was no guilt or reprimand in her words. There was no blame either for none of them. She had come to terms with this.

Klaus exhaled and rested his forehead against hers. The blood was hot in his skin and smeared on hers. She didn't care.

All that she cared for was the way Klaus breathed her in. She only cared for his sanity that slowly resurfaced.

"Let's end this. Let's go home," she whispered and helped him up.

When they stood they both heard the sharp intake of breath Logan took. Caroline bit her lip when she saw Logan's eye flutter open.

How could he have survived this? How could he still be alive?

It didn't matter. He would die anyway. It was a matter of time. No human being could survive this.

Blood gurgled in Logan's mouth.

Klaus watched with cold eyes and Caroline gripped his hand in warning. She didn't want him to lose his control again. She meant what she said. She didn't want Logan to suffer. She wanted him to die.

Klaus stared into her eyes and whatever saw in them was enough for him to draw his gun and give it to her.

She stared at it and then at Klaus.

This was her choice. He had promised her it would be.

She took the gun from Klaus' hand and pointed the barrel at Logan. She found holding his life once more at the edge of her fingertips.

She was at ease with her choice but her hand, that traitorous hand, started trembling again.

She forced herself to remember. She forced her eyes to tear up making her vision blurry as she remembered what she owed Logan Fell. What that monster had taken from her. What he had deprived her of. She remembered every hit, every scar, every ache.

All the memories, all the pain and she still couldn't pull the trigger.

Logan coughed and spat blood and broken shards of teeth. Caroline didn't feel sorry for him but she felt sorry for her weakness because she couldn't kill Logan. She couldn't kill anyone. It was a line she couldn't cross.

This was Klaus' world and she was still trying to navigate it without shedding any blood. There was no middle ground. This was what Kol had told her. This was why he had given his life to protect her. But she still couldn't pay what she owed in blood.

She wasn't a killer.

Klaus saw her struggle and her humanity. So he calmly took the gun from Caroline's hand and promptly shot Logan in the head.

There was no hate this time. There was no rage. Klaus didn't blink or care. If anything he just took what was left of a broken thing out of its misery.

This was it. Just a debt being paid, a promise fulfilled.

This was just the end of the story.

Something stirred and came to life inside Caroline. It was something locked in her bones that now crawled and pulled.

Caroline watched the blood and the brain splatter everywhere. She should be abhorred but instead, she was mesmerized.

She was relieved.

It is over. Finally, it was over.

One bullet, a broken body and years of torment came to an end.

Klaus killed Logan.

---

Taking out Klaus' security was a piece of cake.

Finn Mikaelson straightened the lapels of his suit and smirked as he walked down the empty corridor of the clinic they had registered Rebekah in under a different name.

Three of his guards followed him. He had let the rest deal with Klaus' men.

He was one step closer. One step closer to avenging the death of his parents. His traitorous siblings would pay what they owed him. They had sided with the bastard of their family and turned him away. They took everything from him. His pride, his position, his power.

And sweet Rebekah had stood by Klaus the most. Along with Elijah. But Finn knew the Mikaelson princess was Klaus' favorite. Her death would break him. By the time he'd realize there would be no deals to be made he would offer him Rebekah's heart on a platter right before ending him.

His men had already called him. Klaus Mikaelson was about to arrive at their rendezvous point and he was going in alone, honoring their deal. It was only a matter of time before he would be captured and brought to him. He would throw Rebekah's dead body at his feet and kill Caroline Forbes in front of him before killing him. Kol was already dead. Elijah would be the last to go. He'd make him think he would send him in exile as they had sent him in the past but instead he would send him to join the rest of his beloved siblings.

Then he and Sage would rule and he would restore the Mikaelson name to its former glory. He would create a new family. One where Mikael would have been proud to call his own.

He finally stood outside Rebekah's door. It was unguarded as he made sure it would be.

"You stay here," he said his men that they took a step back.

He closed his eyes and remembered Rebekah's smile and her laughter. They never got along as kids. Their age difference didn't allow them too. Neither did their characters. But once upon a time, she had been his little sister.

Once upon a time.

Finn slowly turned the handle of the door while his other hand caressed the gun at his side and slowly unholstered it as he entered his sister's room.

He kept his gun at his side. His sister was already in a coma. He'd be doing her a favor really. She wouldn't feel a thing. She'd die by his hand. It was an honor.

The room was dark. There was a curtain in front of her bed. The machines they had Rebekah hooked on were beeping rhythmically.

Finn pulled the curtain and pointed his gun at the bed.

Empty.

The bed was empty. Rebekah wasn't here.

His heart started beating frantically.

He immediately turned around and drew his gun at the shadow that moved at the entrance of the door.

There was a twitch of growing uneasiness that made his eye tick.

Marcel Gerald was leaning against the doorframe.

"Looking for someone?" Klaus' lackey asked him flatly and Finn felt his palm sweating around the pommel of his gun.

Marcel did not bother drawing his gun. That should have been a clue. That and the fact that his men didn't stop Marcel Gerard or made any sound.

Finn didn't wait for an explanation. He fired.

The gun went off. The silencer killed the gunshot sound but the smoke of the bullet filtered in the air.

Marcel smirked. Finn blinked.

Impossible.

"Neat trick right?" Marcel chuckled as Finn looked at his gun in shock as Klaus' right hand moved from the door and gave him a mocking glance of fake surprise, "it is as if someone switched your bullets."

Blanks, Finn realized.

"What is this?" he muttered and only then noticed the men that started gathering in the corridor outside the room. It was Klaus' men. And…his men.

"How?" he uttered and Marcel closed the door. Finn instinctively moved behind the bed. It was a flimsy obstacle between him and Gerard.

"Magic," Marcel joked.

Finn took a step back. He's been betrayed.

"You won't get away with this. None of you will!"

Marcel gave him a look of pure irony as Finn refused to lower his gun. His mouth went dry as Marcel Gerard's hand moved.

He stumbled back in fear but Marcel didn't go for his gun. Instead, he took out his phone and casually unlocked the screen.

"Before you waste your breath with empty threats you may want to answer that first," Marcel told him and threw the phone at the bed. At the empty bed. The bed where Rebekah should have been.

Finn didn't take his eyes away from Marcel and didn't drop his gun or his defenses down. He very carefully took the phone and brought to his ears.

What he heard, that weakened voice filled with defeat turned his blood to ice.

"Sage?"

His legs couldn't support him. He sat on the bed.

He felt crushed. He didn't understand.

...

A few hours ago.

"It is time my love."

Sage got hold of his hands and kissed them softly before she placed her hands on his chest and looked up at him.

"Be careful," she advised him and he nodded with a smile and kissed her forehead before kissing her lips.

Finn looked at Sage again and smiled at her. The next time they would meet he would give her a crown and a Kingdom.

But for now, he still had things to do. He had siblings to kill.

He left their bedroom and with quick steps he went to his study.

A man of Sage's security was waiting for him inside.

"Is something the matter?" Finn asked the man.

"Mrs. Sage' father called me. He'd like me to inform you he will send you more men if you'd like. Anything to assure his daughter's safety."

Finn smirked. His father in law may have not congratulated him yet for his success against Klaus but he surely knew that his support would gain him a strong ally. In truth, once he would take over Chicago he'd be far more powerful than the old man. And he knew it.

"I'd appreciate it," Finn said to the guard and then walked at his desk. He opened his drawer and took out his gun. He swiftly slid the gun in his shoulder holster and pushed two more clips in the back cases of his belt.

"Is there anything else I can do for you Mr. Mikaelson?" the man respectfully questioned with his eyes at the gun.

"Never enter my office without my permission again," Finn said coldly before he approached him and stared him down.

"After tonight things will change Jerome. I will no longer be Sage's husband. She will be my wife. And if you want to continue working for me you'll have to start treating me with the respect I deserve."

Finn waited for the guard to fall in line. He was sick and tired of being treated as his father's in-law charity case.

Sage's guard bowed his head.

"Yes, Sir."

"Go to Sage. She'll need you for moving the Forbes girl. She'll let you know when to bring her to the location we have agreed upon."

"Of course Sir."

Finn watched as the guard walked away to obey his orders and let out a long breath. It was time to go visit his dear sister.

.

.

.

Sage smiled at the knock on the door and told the guard to enter.

She looked up from her mirror when she watched one of the guards her father had insisted on bringing along in Chicago with her. Jerome was one of her father's most trusted men and part of his personal security.

Sage knew Jerome was her father's ears and eyes. Finn knew it too and despite not liking this he had agreed because they needed her father. Truth was that her father had given Finn the resources and the men he needed. With the promise of future power. With the promise, they'd share Chicago. Her marriage with Finn was meant to seal the deal after all.

Sage knew that things would change. Finn loved her but he was still a Mikaelson and Mikaelsons didn't share power.

In time her father would see this was for the best. He'd still have an ally and his daughter would be the most powerful woman of the Outfit. That alone should be enough.

"Jerome. Get the car ready."

Sage's voice was filled with authority and her brows bunched together when Jerome only approached her without giving her any verbal response.

He came close. Too close.

He was always a strange man but this was not acceptable.

Before she could reprimand him for his strange behavior and for not obeying her order she saw the glistening shine of a syringe's needle. Her eyes widened.

"What the-"

Before she could finish her sentence or make any move Jerome had wrapped his hand around her mouth and pushed the needle in her neck.

Sage tried to fight him off. She screamed but her voice was muffled. She tried to push away his hands only for Jerome to pull her from her chair. She tried to reach anything to hold on but the burning sensation that streamed in her veins made her body not respond to her mental commands. She grabbed the first thing she found only it felt too heavy and fell from her hand.

As Jerome lifted her up she saw her hairbrush falling on the floor.

This had been Finn's gift she thought before her world went black.

---

Elijah had Sage.

The phone dropped from Finn's hand and Marcel walked with ease around the bed and retrieved his phone. He ended the call and Finn looked up at the man that now stared him down with a delighted smile. His white teeth gleamed in the darkness.

Marcel Gerard was a predator through and through but Finn didn't understand. Klaus and Elijah would never allow anyone outside their family to take him out.

This was family business.

How did this happen? How could he not have seen this coming?

This was worse than when they chased him off Chicago. At least back then they had treated him as a Mikaelson.

...

A few hours ago

Marcel watched Klaus and for the first time in his life, he felt humbled.

"I am not part of your family Klaus. Are you sure you want me to handle your …brother?"

Klaus Mikaelson's face twisted at the mere mention of Finn being his brother.

"Finn won't expect you," Klaus shrugged but Marcel saw the rage that simmered underneath his control, "he'd never believe that after Kol's death and what he did to Rebekah and Caroline either I or Elijah would step back and let anyone else go after him. He will feel safe. He will let his guard down."

Marcel nodded and Klaus's eyes turned sharp. Marcel felt almost conscious under his invasive scrutiny.

"Besides…" Klaus mused in an alarmingly soft voice, "Rebekah loves you and you love my sister don't you?"

Marcel felt as if he was treading dangerous waters now but his voice remained steady and unyielding.

"I do."

Klaus walked at him and Marcel straightened his spine. He held his breath when Klaus Mikaelson placed his hands on his shoulders and gave him a curt nod.

"Welcome to the family Marcellus."

---

Finn's shoulder's sagged and he let down the gun with the blanks. His men had changed sides. Jerome had swapped his gun. They had taken Sage.

Which meant that Klaus was never going to surrender himself. They fed him lies about him reaching their place of meeting. Which meant that Klaus Mikaelson now had probably saved Caroline Forbes and taken out the mercenaries and the few of the men that might have still been loyal to him and Sage.

He had lost.

This trickery was history repeating itself. This reeked of Klaus and Elijah working together. They'd found a way to infiltrate his forces. Probably through his father in law. One more betrayal from his family.

Marcel's voice claimed his attention back.

"Since you haven't asked about your sister," Marcel said in a seemingly sympathetic tone, "she is in a coma…she had massive internal bleeding. Multiple broken bones. Brain injury," the man in front of him counted jovially, "she has been through multiple surgeries so far and she will go through more in the future."

"All and all," Marcel concluded, this time for the first time with a voice that promised danger, "she is …alive."

Finn swallowed at the darkness that took over Marcel's face and cringed when Gerard cracked his fingers.

"Now. My orders are very specific. I am to hand you over to your brothers…alive," Marcel told Finn Mikaelson with a smile full of teeth before the smile vanished and all that was left was his vengeance.

---

Caroline stared down at Logan's corpse. It was a gruesome sight.

It was also the end of her nightmare.

Only thing was that…She felt nothing. No pain, no guilt, no relief. She felt a weird kind of emptiness that resembled a lot how peace should feel like only it was not quite like that either. She literally felt nothing. How weird was that?

It didn't matter, she thought. It was over.

The only thing that mattered was-

It suddenly dawned on her. What was she thinking? Was she thinking? It was not the time for silly sentimentalisms.

She whirled around to look at Klaus and let out a soft noise when his hand cupped her cheek. Her eyes closed and she found herself leaning to his touch, almost content.

They'd have time for that later. She pushed him back, her heart pounding in alarm.

Reality had rushed back. It all came back to her. This was either the time or place to linger. Her breath became erratic.

"God. We have to go!" she urged Klaus fearfully, "you can't be here! Finn is behind everything! He wants you here, he-"

Klaus' bloodied thumb touched her lips effectively silencing her rambling with a tender touch. His eyes appraised her and his touch was almost like a drug. It made her dizzy and it excited her.

"I know sweetheart," he assured her. His voice was a soft melody meant to pacify her and make her fear disappear, "I know."

...

A few days ago

"It is a pity Kol is not here to see how all this plays out. After all, this has mostly been his work," Elijah commented dryly but Klaus only stared at the fresh dirt that still covered the spot Elijah had buried Kol in.

"When this is all over he'll need a headstone. Preferably with a ridiculous saying on it," Klaus mumbled distractedly and started walking further in the garden. He stuffed his hands in his pockets while his brother followed him.

He would not mourn Kol yet. He didn't know if he ever would. There was no time in life for mourners. What he would do was avenge him. And what better way to do this by changing the game and turning the tables in Kol's hunting ground.

Getting his hands on Sage's brother wasn't hard. His reach extended far beyond Chicago and that foolish boy loved New York and Kol's hookers. It was only poetic for Troy to get caught by Kol's men in Kol's territory.

Finn's brother in law has always been their insurance policy. Finn's marriage with Sage has always been a potential threat so they had crafted a contingency plan in case they'd ever need a backup plan. What he would never forgive himself for was not seeing this coming despite how they had prepared for this possibility.

Kol had hooked Sage's brother on drugs and his girls from early on. He had stood in the shadows as his people worked their magic. Even Troy's girlfriend was one of Kol's working girls working undercover for them.

Snatching him had not been difficult.

Arranging the deal with Sage's father was another story altogether, however.

Klaus and Elijah walked at the car and Elijah gestured for his driver to get to his seat instead of opening the door for him.

"You'll need to fly to New York and from there to Sage's father."

"I am leaving in an hour," Elijah only said and buttoned his jacket.

"This is not a negotiation Elijah. I have neither the time nor the patience. Do what Kol would do if you meet resistance. Start hacking."

"Sage's father is a reasonable man Niklaus."

"She is still his daughter," Klaus pointed out and then let out a hint of the anger he had locked in, "I want her Elijah. I don't want just to snatch her. I want her given to me as a gift. In a bow. As they delivered Caroline's box. Make it happen."

Elijah nodded and moved elegantly into the backseat of the car.

"You shall have her," he said and closed the door.

Klaus waited till the car left the premises.

Yes. They'd definitely need to order a headstone.

Some more coffins would come handy too.

---

...

They had all moved houses.

Finn believed him to still be secluded in his mansion. He believed Elijah had deflected and chosen to stay neutral in an attempt to survive and keep some of his power and that Marcel had gone underground choosing to become autonomous.

Klaus now resided at the basement of a club he had raided years ago.

He had set a board of chess in front of him only he hadn't put any pieces on it.

There was nothing on the surface but Caroline's notebook and her bracelet.

Klaus watched both items as if they had a life of their own. And in a way they did. They connected him to Caroline. He felt her through them and all he felt was that she was alive.

It was only a matter of hours until she would be back' in his arms.

So he waited. Patiently he waited.

He had done all he could. He had tortured and killed and turned the streets red.

Now he had to wait. And play it smart.

After Caroline's call, he had limited the places Caroline could be. They had to have moved her fast. They didn't have many options. And they wouldn't be able to keep this for long when they had nowhere to move or go. He had made sure of that. He had turned Chicago into a trap.

Now all he had to do was not let his frustration overcome his logic. He had to remain detached. He would get her back. But he could not rush things. He could not gamble her life.

He could divide his forces but he'd rather not risk Caroline's safety when he could either trade her or have her returned to her from the inside. Not that it'd matter. He would kill everyone that had a hand in her kidnapping either it was them that brought her back to him or anyone else.

Klaus leaned back and closed his eyes. He had already set the board. Now he had to sit and wait as everything unfolded. This was the worse part. Waiting.

He had sent some of his men away. It was time for the theatrics. He had already disposed of those that considered betraying him and those that were loyal would now act as if they weren't.

Soon the news would reach Finn's ears and then, predictable as he was, he'd call to blackmail him with Caroline's life. Then he'd go after their weakest link. Their sister.

His hands turned to fists at the mere thought of Finn laying his hands on Rebekah.

The phone rang and Klaus picked it up at once.

Elijah gave him the news he waited and he smiled. One more pawn was moved in the right direction.

His fingers traced the infinity symbols of Caroline's diamond bracelet. Soon. Soon he'd get his Queen back.

Because Sage Mikaelson would soon be in their mercy.

"How long till you have her?"

---

…

A few hours ago

He wanted to smash his phone. Knowing he had to wait and actually waiting were two different things.

His days were long. His nights were sleepless. He had remained sober but his bloodlust was taunting him. The longer he waited the longer Caroline was in the hands of his enemies.

"Is it done?" he asked Elijah, letting some of his impatience show.

He bit out his tongue to stop himself from yelling. He wished he was the one making contact with Sage's father but he had to stay put. He had to make Finn believe he was trapped and defeated.

He knew Elijah was just as good as him for this job though. If not better.

Still, that didn't make him any less erratic and angry.

Sage's father was still holding on the information on Caroline in an attempt to manipulate him. Klaus knew these were good news but he could barely stand the long wait. In truth, he was one step closer. Because this only meant Caroline had value and valuable things had importance to those that aimed for a trade. Valuable things were kept in one piece.

Sage's father would give him Caroline's location and would withdraw his men just as he would return his son back.

Sage was just an added bonus. But he would have to wait till he had Caroline back to exact his revenge on his sister in law. All in good time. He couldn't risk losing Caroline only to scorn Finn and get even with Sage.

"Remember we need her as backup brother," Klaus ordered Elijah and picked up his gaze as Marcel entered his study, "we may need to have more leverage for an exchange. You know what you need to do," he said and ended the call before he turned his full attention to Marcel.

Marcel gave him a full report for the way he handled the gangs in the streets and Klaus listened carefully.

"We can still use the element of surprise," Klaus finally told Marcel that arched an impressed bow.

"How?"

Klaus smirked and started explaining his plan to Marcel.

"If he thinks we are fractured he will gain confidence. He will move things along."

"And do the mistake we need," Marcel realized.

"He's been cooped up with Sage. I only need him to decide to handle things on his own and step out of his safety net while still feeling safe. Finn has been patient for years but all this patience can turn to impatience when you are so close to getting everything you wanted for so long," Klaus remarked while he tried to control himself and not do the same mistake he expected his brother to make.

"We can use this against him," Marcel understood pleased and Klaus nodded.

The moment Finn and Sage parted ways was the moment he'd take them both.

"He will strike at our most vulnerable. Having Caroline is just a psychological war. He doesn't plan to give her back or honor any deal that includes her. This is just his little game for dramatic purposes and leverage," Klaus grit out, "he is setting a trap since he perceives her to be my weakness but his main goal is still our family. Not just me."

He studied Marcel Gerard and waited until the fear appeared in his eyes.

"Rebekah," Marcel mumbled as he realized what was going to happen next. What Finn was about to do, "he will go after Rebekah."

Klaus gave Marcel an approving hum.

"She can't defend herself in the state she is in and Finn knows it. Rebekah is his next target. Which is why we need to move her," he shrugged and Marcel shook his head and rose up from his seat to defy him.

"No, we can't! She is too weak and we have already moved her once. She won't make it, she won't-"

"She won't," Klaus agreed, making Marcel blink.

Klaus then smirked, "but we are desperate," he told Marcel with a tone laced in irony.

Marcel frowned as he started connecting the pieces, "or so Finn needs to think," Klaus concluded with a knowing look and waited till Marcel saw the whole picture.

"Sit down Marcellus."

This time Marcel didn't curse at the way he called him Marcellus and didn't disobey him. He sat down at his chair and Klaus walked around the desk and walked towards the bar with the bottles.

He poured himself a drink and filled one more glass.

He then walked at Marcel and offered him his favorite bourbon. He saw how the man slowly took it. As if he was considering it was poison. Ever since Marcel Gerard had confronted him with his love for Rebekah he had reverted to caution. It was as if he was waiting for the other shoe to drop. In another time maybe it would have.

"Finn won't lay a hand on Rebekah. Not as long as I draw breath. Never forget that she is my sister Marcel."

Marcel nodded and Klaus played with his own drink.

"My sister is your blind spot," Klaus commented mildly and arched a brow challenging Marcel to deny this.

Marcel leaned back in his chair tiredly. No point in arguing against the truth.

"When they sent me the box with Caroline's hair and clothes you've been brave enough…or foolish enough…to try to contain me. You were right when you said Finn expected anger to blind me. He expected me to make a mistake. Thanks to you and Elijah I haven't. It is time to follow your advice now," Klaus advised him.

"I expect you to be at the top of your game, Marcel," Klaus carried on with a tone of authority, "which means that you need to stop worrying about Rebekah and start acting like my second in command."

"I don't think that's- wait…what?"

Klaus's lips curled at the way Marcel watched him with wide eyes.

"You heard me."

Marcel gulped down.

"Second in command?"

"We are long due for an upgrade," Klaus gibed. They were coming shorthanded after all. Kol was dead. Stefan was dead. It was a bloody funeral all around. And he hated funerals. He much preferred what led to the funerals of his enemies instead.

Marcel drank a few generous mouthfuls of his drink and cleared his throat. Klaus almost snorted when Marcel finally found the courage to face him but instead of thanking him and accepting his new position he made only one declaration.

Which was also his condition too.

"Rebekah is my first priority."

Klaus rolled his eyes.

"You really thought you could keep your dalliance with my sister hidden from me," Klaus scoffed and then added with a shake of his head, "for a man who played hide and seek out of fear for years you are sure jumping into proclaiming your love for her right and left now."

"I lost enough time as it is," Marcel admitted.

"Wait till she wakes up," Klaus told him seriously, "until then get your mind in the game."

Marcel lowered his head and stared at what was left from his drink without saying anything but Klaus saw the way the liquid rippled in the glass. His hands were shaking.

"She will wake up Marcel," Klaus insisted confidently and then smiled, "my sister is a fighter and you wouldn't want her to kick your ass when she does wake up would you? I assure you should she learn you wallowed and turned to a lovesick puppy in her absence she will."

Marcel chuckled at that and then Klaus let out a long breath and stared at Caroline's notebook at the desk.

"You and I will make sure she'll wake up in a safe world where nothing will ever dare harm her again," Klaus vowed and Marcel accepted this and gave him the same promise.

"Not her or… Caroline," Marcel added, "we'll get them both back."

"Love is a weakness isn't?" Klaus mused and twirled the bourbon in his glass.

Marcel said nothing at that and Klaus smiled.

Only this time his smile had nothing comforting or nice about it. This time it was deadly.

"It is," Klaus stated as a man that had come to terms with that simple fact.

Klaus then let the alcohol burn his throat, "let's show Finn exactly how much of a weakness it can truly be. Shall we Marcellus?"

Marcel smirked as they clinked their glasses.

---

...

Klaus ran a hand through his hair.

This was it.

Every piece was set on the board. All Finn had to do was move on his own and he'd call checkmate soon enough.

Only it wasn't soon enough.

This delay was enough to drive him mad. And yet he had to wait. He had to be strategic. He had to be careful and patient and in all of this, he had to trust that Caroline was strong and held on. She couldn't crack under pressure. She had to wait for him and survive. She had to do anything she could to survive and he'd come for her. He'd always come for her. He had promised her. He would never break his promise.

He'd get her back even if he had to bury what was left of his soul to do so. He'd kill anything that moved. Anything that hurt her. Anything that laid hands and eyes on her. He'd make them suffer.

He had never hated like this before. He thought he knew what hate was. Mikael had raised him after all. Esther had been his mother. He had hated ever since he remembered himself.

Only this time his hate had another kind of potency.

It was a dangerous thing to give hope to a monster like him. To give him love. To give him happiness. Only to deprive him of those things. No one could know what this could do to someone like him. No one knew what he was capable of when someone dared to take this away from him.

Only he knew.

He known heaven so know he would let them know hell.

Because this was his promise.

He was coming for Caroline. But in doing so he was coming for them all. He was coming for everyone that hurt her. For everyone that took her away from him.

He was coming for them.

Klaus braced himself against the desk. His hands resting over the map he had laid out. His eyes trained on the last place Caroline had been kept in. She had been there. She had called him. He had known in his gut it was from Caroline but when he picked it up the line had gone dead.

He had traced the call but by the time he had gotten to the location….they had moved her. They had moved her but she was alive. He knew it. The important thing was that the trace was no longer cold.

He would find her. He was so close he felt it. He had already leads tied to that place. Caroline wasn't there but there were traces of men that worked for the highest bidder. It was a start. All he had to do was crack some heads and get people talking.

Only there was also something else his instincts were telling him.

Today.

Whatever was going to go down was going to happen today. He felt it in his blood. Everything molecule in his body told him to prepare. He felt it in his bones. It was the calm before the storm. War had a smell. It smelled of blood long before you shed it and now the air reeked with it.

He trusted his instincts on this. He always did. It was what kept his alive for so long.

The one and only time he ignored his instincts was when Finn attacked. He wouldn't do the same mistake twice.

He took out his knife from the back of his jeans and with a swift move, he embedded it on the desk. The blade cut through the map and the wood and stuck in the spot Caroline was last seen.

"I am coming for you," he whispered.

The door opened so fast it startled him. Immediately he reached for his knife, pulling it from the table.

Marcel strode in, practically running to him.

"We don't have to wait for Elijah to get the information from Sage's father. We have Caroline's location!"

Klaus' heart stopped.

"Where is she?"

Marcel's finger touched another spot on the map. Klaus saw where he was pointing at.

He was afraid to hope.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. I already sent some of my best men. Finn's men have the place surrounded. They are armed to the teeth."

"She is there," Klaus exhaled and tried to compose himself. He had to think. His gripped his knife.

He looked at Marcel in question.

"How?"

"Courtesy of Matt Donovan," Marcel told him and Klaus straightened up.

"Tell me everything."

"When you went to retrieve Caroline's notebook I salvaged Stefan's phone from the club wreckage," Marcel revealed and Klaus frowned.

"Rebekah would want to have Stefan's personal items and him to have a decent funeral. I made it happen."

"And?"

"Caroline's deputy friend called with the info."

"He called Stefan," Klaus realized.

"He didn't know he was dead."

Klaus narrowed his eyes. Something didn't add up.

"You trailed Salvatore," Klaus suddenly grasped and Marcel drummed his fingers on the map.

"I have trust issues," muttered with a condescending smile, "Especially where your sister is concerned. I never understood her attachment to the Ripper but I kept a close eye on him. I already knew he had made contact with the cop. I kept his phone charged just in case."

Klaus pinched his lips.

"He had dealings with Caroline's ex?"

"Not exactly."

A moment of silence passed between and Klaus put his knife down.

"She had," Klaus discerned.

"Your girl wrapped your minion around her little finger. Stefan helped her approach Donovan in secret. Given Caroline's involvement, I waited to see exactly what was going down before I gave you the scoop."

Klaus stared at Marcel and looked deceptively calm. He didn't want to lash out just yet. Marcel was smart and devious. He held leverage against Stefan and Caroline. He would have probably used it in due time. He had taught him that. Information was power. He couldn't blame his student for taking his lessons at heart.

What mattered to him now was Caroline and everything that concerned her. There were only but a few people that had her best interest at heart left. Matt Donovan seemed to be one of them. And Caroline knew it.

"She tried to protect Matt Donovan. To get him out," Klaus said without needing further explanation.

He knew how Caroline's mind worked. She was loyal to Matt Donovan and even though this felt a bit like a betrayal he also knew she was loyal to him too. He remembered how she had warned him to stay away from her friend. She took things in her own hands. And she had managed to gain the trust of his most trusted men that ended up working for her instead for him. He didn't know if he wanted to laugh or swear. He felt both pride and anger. She was manipulative and conniving. She was just…like him.

He had to get her back. Her and her brilliant mind.

"Finn has been working with that FBI agent that had brought Caroline down at the precinct for interrogation," Marcel revealed and Klaus pinched the bridge of his nose. He knew that cop was dirty but he could now connect the dots. This was how Finn had managed to get the upper hand and organize this under their noses.

This was the piece he had been missing.

"It wasn't all for show," Klaus muttered starting to see red, "he had marked her that night for Finn's men. Finn set the whole thing up through him and we didn't saw it coming," Klaus cursed.

"We could wait," Marcel proposed somewhat uncertainly which put Klaus on edge, "…but from what my men saw and what we already know Finn didn't trust Sage's father completely. He got mercenaries to guard Caroline along with Sage's men. We can wait for Finn's men to fall on our side but those he paid don't have allegiances and Caroline-"

"Will get caught in the crossfire," Klaus finished for him.

"They must know already who she is to you. They may decide to use her and fish a better price from you."

"That's not an option," Klaus spat realizing how Caroline's life was hanging in the balance. It changed the whole picture.

This wasn't good. It could go either way. These men had no ties and if they panicked…

No. He couldn't wait any longer. He couldn't.

Marcel slid his hands over the map almost eagerly. He loved a good bloodbath just like him.

"Time to repay the favor then. He won't see us coming either. We have a lead. We have Caroline's location."

"I am going in," Klaus only said, his eyes on the map. On where Caroline was. He didn't have any more time to waste.

"You?" Marcel exclaimed watching him as if he had gone mad, "alone?"

"Not alone Marcel. I'll rain down on them with heavy fire."

"Let me back you up."

Klaus went to his safe locker and started taking out guns and blades.

"I'd like you to but as it happens I have another job for you," he told Marcel tersely as he started gathering ammunition. He felt his blood starting to pump hot in his veins.

He went into soldier mode. There was no time for emotion. He would have to get in and get out. He would have to kill his way through. Leave no one alive. Get Caroline and get out. It would have to be fast and clean. No matter the carnage he would leave behind. This was a retrieve/take no prisoners mission.

He had to organize everything and fast. Call Elijah. Gather his men. Lock down the city. Circle the warehouse. Make sure everything would go as planned.

This was it. He was getting Caroline back. He could not fail. He would not fail.

He was about to give his orders to Marcel that stared at him dumbfounded. He hadn't realized yet what he wanted him to do.

He was going after Caroline and he would leave Finn to Marcel. As far priorities went Caroline was his only one.

Just as he was about to tell Marcel this his phone rang.

Klaus stilled.

Unknown caller.

Klaus held his breath. He didn't need to answer to know who was calling. Finn.

He was right after all. His instincts never failed him. Today. It was happening today.

Now.

He stared at Marcel mutely and gestured for him to stay silent.

He then answered the call and heard Finn's voice for the first time in years.

"…Hello brother. It's been a long time."

---

Caroline looked at Klaus amazed. Everything seemed like a whirlwind to her.

Klaus knew. He knew everything. And somehow despite his losses he managed to get one step ahead if not more.

She relaxed and smiled at his confidence and his assurances. I was truly over. He had come for her. They had won. They could go home.

It was as if Klaus could read her thoughts because he nodded at her.

"It's all going to be okay," he promised, "you are safe."

She felt her eyes burn as tears of relief threatened to spill. She realized they were alone now. The danger had passed. She could not hear anything either. The drumming of gunshots had stopped. The only thing that lingered was silence. Soothing silence.

Caroline intertwined her fingers with Klaus'. She didn't mind the blood. She didn't even care for the emotional and physical exhaustion they both felt. It was finally over.

She stood on her toes trying to minimize the distance between them. She touched his chest and felt the steady rhythm of his heart under her hand. The bulletproof vest underneath his black blouse couldn't hide the thrum of his pulse.

It was all that she needed. All that she had dreamed of and wanted for all these days she had been trapped in this hell.

Klaus smoothed her hair tenderly and she pushed herself more on her toes. Her lips touched his. His mouth was so soft and warm. It contrasted so much with the killer instinct his eyes carried and the blood that had covered every inch of him.

She needed that kiss. She gave her breath into that kiss.

"We need to go," she whispered against his lips and Klaus hummed, his breath warm over her mouth.

"I'll go first. You stay behind me," he instructed and she smiled at the demand she heard in his voice.

"Okay," she only said and Klaus kissed her again.

It was a quick kiss. It was also the only thing that could bring Klaus Mikaelson to his knees. The only thing that could make him lower his guard.

Her kiss. His weakness.

Klaus didn't hear the threat that ambushed them and by the time he heard the gunshot, it was too late.

The shot shone like lightning striking and Caroline felt Klaus' weight pushing against her. He tried to protect her only the bullet was never meant for her.

It had his name on it.

By the time Klaus reached for his gun, he had fallen on the floor taking her down with him.

Caroline yelled at the sound of pain that left Klaus' lips. He had hunched over her. Blood was streaming down his arm. The shot had found him where his vest was not covering him.

Caroline could only watch with wide eyes as Klaus rolled over her, making his body a shield instead of shooting back and this time the next bullet slashed his leg making him growl in pain and rage.

Klaus' dropped his gun when the third bullet lodged in his forearm.

"Stop!" Caroline screamed at the threat she couldn't see as she was trapped underneath Klaus.

She tried to support Klaus' weight. He was so heavy. He was an easy target and she could barely lift him up. She pulled up on her knees and despite Klaus' protests she yanked his hands away and pushed her body forward shielding him as much as she could.

He was bleeding so much.

Caroline stared back at the man responsible for this. All color drained from her face.

Agent Galen Vaughn was pointing his gun at Klaus and her.

…

Some minutes ago

From a safe distance, Agent Galen Vaughn watched the confrontation between Klaus' men and Finn's men unravel. Klaus had amassed his forces and they were opening the way for him.

Vaughn was actually impressed by the way they all descended on every guard in the premises. Klaus brought his best and deadliest for this mission.

Galen watched everything through his goggles while eating his snacks and waited patiently. Klaus Mikaelson had not been seen yet.

He would be here soon enough though. His men had called him a few minutes ago to inform him that Klaus Mikaelson was driving away and that they had lost him.

They had asked him if they should send out a signal to track him down and he forbade it.

'Wait for my call,' he had told them knowing all too well that tonight every police officer would have a busy night and tracking Klaus Mikaelson would not be a priority.

But even if that wasn't the case he had not come this far to let Klaus out of the hook. He'd let him free to come to save his damsel in distress.

Caroline Forbes.

That was the one and only predictable thing he could rely on when it came to Klaus Mikaelson. He really should thank her.

So, for now, he ate his chips and waited.

Oh yes, he waited.

The sun was dropping in the horizon and the drums of war had already started playing.

Chicago was a warzone tonight. Klaus Mikaelson had created too many diversions for them to be a coincidence. His fool of a brother couldn't see it but tonight there were too many gangs creating havoc. It was madness out there. There were ambushes everywhere. Too many hits and run attacks. Raids and sabotages.

Finn Mikaelson believed this was happening because Klaus had lost control of his Kingdom and now every little and big fish was out to get power.

He knew better. It was the exact opposite. It was a red herring. Klaus men had certain spots they hit. They were closing Chicago in tonight. No one could get in or out. In the chaos, Klaus would be able to move undetected while trapping his enemies in a circle of fire.

On top of that, all eyes would look elsewhere and Klaus would be able to do exactly what he wanted without any unwanted interference or the authorities bothering with him at all.

He had studied Niklaus Mikaelson's profile for years. The King of Chicago was always many steps ahead because he knew how to evade. He knew when to be direct and when not to. He knew how to play the waiting game. He knew when to keep his rage on a leash and when to unleash it.

If anything Agent Vaughn could recognize Klaus for the mastermind he was when it came to war.

What was happening tonight was guerilla warfare.

If you asked him Klaus Mikaelson hadn't even been in his mansion. He had created an illusion for Finn and Sage Mikaelson.

Vaughn lowered his night goggles and rolled his eyes at the shadow that slowly advanced towards him.

He didn't react when he heard the cocking of the gun.

"Easy there, officer," Vaughn smiled and turned to look at Matt Donovan.

"She is in there isn't she?" Donovan asked him about Caroline while pointing his gun at him.

"She is," he nodded.

His response seemed to anger the younger man that now glared at him.

"And you knew!"

"So did you," Vaughn shrugged and threw at Matt the tracker he had been tracing him with for the last days.

Matt blinked and Vaughn watched him keeping his relaxed pose.

"Didn't you think it was too easy to track me down?" Vaughn mocked him and Matt stiffened but kept targeting him with the gun.

It was almost comical.

Matt Donovan was a parody. He really should have stayed in his little town Vaughn thought.

It was the small hints and clues in his behavior after the mass shooting that gave the boy away. He knew things he shouldn't and his behavior was off. He didn't even stop to consider that breaking into his office had been really easy.

If anything it only confirmed what he knew deep down.

Matt Donovan was an idiot. An idiot that believed in duty and justice. But even so, he cared the most for his blonde friend. Matt cared for saving Caroline but Vaughn cared only for catching Klaus and since Klaus had not made an appearance yet he did not want to blow up the element of surprise and lose the chance to catch Klaus with incriminating evidence.

If anything Matt worked for him these days. He just didn't know it.

Matt's desire to save Caroline Forbes clouded his judgment. Instead of going to his superiors he called the mob. That was why he hesitated to call for backup now.

"And since you are keeping a bad company these days…you did tell them where she is, no?" Galen guessed pleased making Matt almost stagger back. "that's why you came alone and called no one right?" he laughed.

"Don't move!" Donovan warned him as he shuffled his bag of chips.

Agent Vaughn rolled his eyes when Matt reached for his transmitter and then ate one more salted snack.

"Wouldn't do that if I was you," he warned the deputy, "truth is you did exactly what I wanted you to. We are all good," he taunted Matt that seemed to grow more and more confused by the moment.

"If you wait just a little bit longer you may actually save your girl," Vaughn told him and Matt's breath hitched in uncertainty. His hand stilled and didn't call for backup.

"Think Mr. Donovan. You call the cops now and you deprive Klaus Mikaelson the element of surprise. If the cops come here his men will fall back and he won't be able to save his whore."

Matt lips curled in anger at the way he spoke of Caroline and Vaughn saw how his finger moved on the trigger.

"Sorry, sorry! The love of his life, his beloved, the sweet girl whatever," he amended ironically and then pushed the chips to the side.

"She is a loose end," he reasoned with Matt, "she is alive as leverage but those that have her would never allow her to give them to the police. She knows too much. She is Klaus' weak link too. Calling the cops is as good as killing her now."

Matt gulped down and looked at the war that was unfolding at the distance.

"Stay down with me and wait. Klaus goes in. Saves the girl and we take him down," Vaughn proposed and clasped his hands in joy startling Matt, "we don't even have to wait for much longer. Look. Right on cue."

Both of them watched as Klaus joined the fray. Vaughn shook his head when he noticed that Matt was ready to go in after Klaus. Not to arrest anyone. Oh, no. He was ready to go join Mikaelson so to save his friend.

Honorable fool.

Vaughn drew his gun before Matt could react. Matt cursed lowly as they now were in a stalemate and aimed their guns at each other.

"Is your loyalty to her more important than your duty? Are you literally ready to sign up with the mafia now?" Vaughn disapproved but Matt stood his ground.

"I am not going to sacrifice innocents!"

'Your friend isn't one," Galen reminded him and Matt's gaze darkened.

"You aren't one either."

"This is why I am offering you a chance to help yourself…and her. Isn't that what you want?" he tempted him, "to save her? Save her from this life too then. With Klaus Mikaelson out of the picture she'll be able to live a normal life."

Matt seemed to be conflicted at that. He glanced back and forth trying to decide what he should do.

The only thing was that it wasn't a smart thing to get distracted when someone pointed their gun at you.

Vaughn didn't blink when he shot the young officer that fell on the ground with so much force that the gun was knocked away from his hand.

Galen went at him and kicked the gun further away.

"Did you really think it would be this easy?" he sighed disapprovingly at the young man. The moron hadn't even considered wearing a vest.

Vaughn knelt by his side and quickly snatched away the transmitter from his shoulder before Matt could call for help. Quickly he closed the device without sending a dispatch. He searched Donovan to see if he carried any other guns and took away his phone too and turned it off.

Matt writhed in pain. Blood started pouring out of his mouth.

"I am sorry mate but I've been after the Mikaelsons for years. I can't let go of the big fish for your pretty blonde bitch," Vaughn told him almost sympathetically.

He patted Matt on the shoulder making him moan and watched as Klaus Mikaelson finally went into the building to save his lover.

It would not be long now.

He used his burner phone to call some of the mercenaries Finn had hired. He had just happened to have made a better deal with them.

It didn't take long before two of them found them.

Vaughn got up and pointed at Matt as he crushed the tracker Donovan had planned on him under his shoe. He then gave the men the gun he had shot Donovan with. He had got it from the black market and since he wore gloves he hadn't let any fingerprints on it.

"Make it quick but make it look like he got in the crossfire. When you are done let me know and I'll call for help from the transmitter," Vaughn told them and then turned his attention back at Matt that was trying to breathe through the pain, "officer down, I repeat officer down," he laughed at Matt.

"You won't get away with this," Matt coughed and spat more blood. His hands were holding his belly trying to stop the blood from coming out.

"I don't want to get away Donovan. I want to get promoted."

Vaughn walked away leaving Matt with his killers. It was all going smoothly.

He'd wait till most of the gang members have killed each other or were busy with killing each other. Soon one of his inside men would call him to tell him the progress with Klaus Mikaelson.

All he had to do was wait. Wait for Klaus Mikaelson to kill Logan Fell and save Caroline Forbes. Wait for the right moment to ambush him and take him down. Sneaking in after him would not be that hard. Klaus had made sure of that.

Klaus' plan was to able to get in easily enough and that ironically paved his way too. More so since Klaus would be killing anyone in his way in so he wouldn't have to worry about that either.

Then all he would need was a chance. Klaus Mikaelson would be distracted enough.

Killing him would be a piece of cake if he played his cards right and he intended to do just that. It was worth the risk.

He'd let the dust settle and only then he would call for 'help'.

By the time back up would get here Matt Donovan would have bled out and Klaus Mikaelson would be dead. It would all be over and he would be ready to get his promotion.

'Excellent,' he thought when it was finally time to move. He took out his gun preparing himself to get in.

"Time to bring the house down."

---

"How about that," Agent Vaughn snickered, "the King of Chicago is finally on his knees."

Caroline helped Klaus sit up in a sitting position and she felt as if her heart would burst out of her chest. Klaus' breathing was pained. The FBI agent had shot him three times and Caroline whimpered at the side of all the blood that was gushing from his wounds. He needed medical attention. Fast.

Klaus' face darkened and his lips twisted. Caroline knew that he was about to try to get a hold of his other gun but she also knew that he didn't want to put her in danger. She was slowing down.

It would seem Agent Vaughn knew it too. He pointed his gun at them and clicked his tongue with a self-satisfied smirk.

"Drop your weapons," he ordered Klaus, "all of them. Kick them away."

Klaus' lips compressed in a thin line and Vaughn smiled before he turned his gun solely at Caroline. Klaus stiffened in her arms.

"You are fast but not fast enough to save…her," the agent warned him and Caroline bit her lip as Klaus despite the pain did as he was told.

He relented so easily because the gun was directed at her. She was his Achilles heel.

Caroline frantically looked around as Klaus threw his guns and blades away towards the agent and far away from them both. The clatter each weapon he surrendered made on the floor had Caroline trembling. She kept supporting Klaus' weight while her eyes kept darting around. This wasn't good.

She tried to discreetly check the jacket Klaus had put on her but it was of no use. Klaus always kept his weapons on him. On holsters and belts and on skin.

"All of them Mikaelson. No tricks."

Caroline gulped down and held Klaus tighter as he gently pushed her hands away. She gave him a look of despair and he only gave her a sad smile.

"It is okay sweetheart," he assured her and grunted as he carefully and very slowly reached for the hidden gun at the inside holster around his ankle and at the knife at the sole of his shoe.

Caroline knew he also had a tracker there. She didn't know if it was of any use though. It would seem as if Klaus's men and Finn's men had destroyed each other. It was an eerily silent chaos out there and the clock was ticking away now. They were on their own.

Caroline fisted her hands and tried to brace Klaus' body that was now in a kneeling position next to her. She looked down at his leg.

'God, don't let that be a major artery.' she prayed as she saw how much blood he was losing.

He had bleeding wounds on his arms but the one in his leg looked by far the worst. Klaus' was becoming weaker and weaker and he had become so pale. He still held himself up and refused to give in to the pain.

They were defenseless. She had truly been his weakness. If he hadn't come for her, if she wasn't here slowing him down and becoming his weak spot he wouldn't be in this position. Galen knew this. Otherwise, he would have never caught him off guard. Klaus would have been able to defend himself if he wasn't thinking of her. If he wasn't trying to save her instead of fighting back.

She had literally brought him down to his knees. The King of Chicago had fallen. Because of her.

"How should this go?" Galen Vaughn prattled snidely as he circled them, "should I report your murder first or hers?"

Klaus let out an angry sound through his clenched teeth.

"Leave her out of this. Caroline never did anything wrong," Klaus growled and pulled her behind him.

She refused to shy away from Vaughn and resisted Klaus that now glared at her too and tried to make her hide behind him.

Klaus wanted her to cower and let him handle this. He wanted her to run. To do anything to survive. To cross any line. He wanted her to give up. To give him up. And she wouldn't. She couldn't. Never again. She would never leave him back again. She had done this when they bombed Loup Noir and she would never do it again no matter the consequences.

Klaus realized this as he looked at her and she saw the lines of worry that appeared on his face. She didn't mind the anger in his eyes. It was the fear and the pleading she saw that she hated.

"Maybe she didn't. But you did," the agent reminded Klaus sardonically.

"So how does it go?" Vaughn let out a low chuckle still threatening them with his gun playing with them as a cat would play with its food.

"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney," Vaughn taunted Klaus reciting his rights and Caroline hated the amusement in his voice that was so grating on her nerves.

"Ah yes, an attorney," Vaughn spat, "like Elijah Mikaelson."

Caroline held her breath as the agent moved closer. Klaus narrowed his eyes. The gun a constant threat. A reminder they were out of time.

"If I arrest you now and you go to jail you will be out in months or a couple of years. In the brig, you will be treated like a King. It won't do any good. Pieces of shit like you always get away with everything," agent Vaughn sneered.

Caroline saw the way Klaus looked around subtly. They really were out of options. They were not faster than Vaughn's bullets.

Caroline glanced at Logan's unrecognizable corpse. They'd end just like him in a few moments.

"But if you were to die now," Vaughn continued, "your empire will fall. Your family is already counting down victims and without you, the rest won't be able to keep up."

Klaus did not relinquish his pride or his control but Caroline saw how his shoulders slumped a bit. He swayed at one side. He was trying to keep focus but he was losing so much blood. By the time any back up would come, if any, Klaus could be dead.

Dead like her. Dead like Logan. She couldn't take her eyes off Logan.

Only then she realized she wasn't staring at Logan at all.

Her heart started beating faster.

"Finn can have what's left," Vaughn shrugged.

"You can't do this!" Caroline shouted trying to buy some time.

The more Galen talked the more he gave her the opportunity to get as far to what he hadn't seen. There was one more gun. The one she had shot Logan with and held when Klaus had entered this room to save her. The one she had dropped when she had hugged him.

There it was. Next to Logan's corpse. In the pool of its blood. Waiting for her.

It was close. Close enough.

Not close enough.

If only she could reach it.

She had to distract Vaughn. She remembered how he liked to talk ever since he had brought her in for questioning in the precinct and had tried to intimidate her into betraying Klaus and getting into a witness program.

"And you will have your promotion I assume," Caroline spat making Vaughn chuckle.

"You assume right. With honors."

"Honor is not the word I'd use," Klaus muttered, "you'd fit more in my side Agent."

"Dead don't have sides," Vaughn drawled and aimed his gun at Klaus' head making Caroline blanch, "any last wishes?"

Klaus didn't say anything to Vaughn. He turned his body with difficulty at her.

"Go, Caroline," Klaus told her and Caroline felt excruciatingly vulnerable for the first time since she had met him. His superior attitude was gone. He was beseeching her to leave him but he was so calm. As if he had accepted defeat.

"No!" she refused, "I won't leave you!"

"It's okay," Klaus encouraged her with a smile and she shook her head until she realized what he was doing. There is something in his eyes. A silent message. He wouldn't go down like this. He would take his enemies with him and would keep her safe. He'd keep their bargain till the end. He'd protect her.

He was telling her to leave. To leave him behind. Like he had done in the club the night of the shooting.

Only this time there would be no way out of it. He would die to save her. Or to at least give her a fighting chance. He'd do what Kol did for her. And he expected her to let him.

But she couldn't. She couldn't let him fall.

"No," she whispered and turned back to Vaughn.

"Please don't do this. Please," she begged and moved a bit to the side. Let Vaughn think she was weak.

"Caroline stop," Klaus mumbled and she faced him.

This time her eyes flared up with something different than fear and pleading or defeat.

Something that only someone that knew her, that truly knew her, could translate in her gaze.

Klaus frowned and then saw what she saw. She noticed the delicate movement of his throat as he gulped.

Their gazes locked. They were in sync now.

"I love you, Caroline," Klaus confessed. As if they were the only people left in the world. All alone.

His voice was so quiet and low. So sincere.

It sounded like the truth. So real.

Caroline felt her heart expand despite knowing this was part of the illusion as Klaus's hands went for her hair. In what would seem like a farewell touch. Klaus bent down in pain and almost fell. She caught him and stared at the gleam of his eyes. It felt like a real declaration. It made her ache.

"It will be alright," Klaus promised, his mouth settling over hers. His lips coaxed and teased. The kiss was slow and despite the danger, they were in Caroline felt as if her bones melted into that kiss. Klaus moved closer, a moan of pain escaped his lips and his hand slid at the nape of her neck so to hold on to her and not fall down.

Or at least that was what it would seem to anyone looking.

A last kiss. A desperate goodbye. Something pained from a bleeding man. Nothing but a proof of defeat.

Agent Vaughn let them have their last goodbye.

Caroline felt Klaus' muscles hardening. He was back in soldier mode. Pushing through the pain and the loss of blood. He was ready to jump into action. She felt adrenaline pushing into her veins. She was counting back the time. If he could do it she could do it. She would.

Klaus' body had given her the cover she needed. She moved to support him up. The important thing is that she moved. Her knees had glided over Logan's blood. She was closer to his corpse and to the gun. While looking as if she was only moving to help Klaus hold on to her. Kiss her for one last time.

Maybe. Maybe they wouldn't make it. Maybe this would be their last kiss.

Caroline slowly detached her lips from Klaus'. His eyes were staring at her intensely. There was comfort and courage in them. He believed in her. He had taught her. She was strong. Just like him. They were the same. She could do this.

"Please," she whispered looking at Klaus before she turned her attention to Vaughn again. Her eyes begging the agent.

Vaughn pointed the gun at them once more making a cooing sound as if Caroline's begging amused him. As if the kiss he had seen was pathetic and one more proof that he had won.

Good. Let him underestimate her. He wouldn't be the first. He wouldn't be the last. He would only be dead.

"Please," she repeated again and Galen Vaughn sniggered as Klaus tried to protectively shield her again.

Blind. He was so blind. But it was still a risk. It wouldn't be long since Vaughn would see what they were doing.

Could she be faster than what he could see? She was closer to the gun. If Klaus could reach it maybe they'd have better chances but she knew this wasn't going to happen. His responses had slowed down. He was further away from the gun than her. He was bleeding out. Still, Klaus shielded her more with his body giving her the chance to finally reach for the gun.

"How cute," Vaughn yapped in a mocking tone that made Klaus turn his head back at him and give him his most lethal glower.

"Let Caroline walk away," Klaus hissed, "you have me."

"Sorry can't do," Vaughn smiled darkly, "can't have any witnesses now can I? Your beloved has to bite the dust. Logan Fell killed her and you killed him and I killed you in self-defense? How about that?"

Klaus moved at that. As if he had forgotten his injuries and Galen's upper hand. As if he was staring death in the eye at the barrel of a gun. As if he wanted to tear the agent in pieces for daring to threaten her but Vaughn pointed the gun at Caroline.

"Move Caroline!" Klaus hollered. "Now!"

Everything happened so fast. All in between one heartbeat and the next.

Klaus pushed her with so much strength that knocked her to the side as if she weighed nothing.

The bullet that left Vaughn's gun sliced the air but Klaus had been faster and it ricocheted on the floor between them where she should have been. She rolled in Logan's blood. Her hand stretching.

Vaughn pointed his gun for another shot just as Klaus tried to reach for one of the guns he had kicked away. It made no difference if it was a reckless move or a chance to distract Vaughn. It gave her the opening she needed. Vaughn was startled. He turned his gun at Klaus. It was her chance.

And it turned her blood to ice knowing it was a matter of seconds before Klaus was shot.

Klaus jumped for one of his guns but it was too far. Vaughn was ready to pull the trigger just as both she and Klaus reached for their weapons.

Vaughn was faster than Klaus but what Klaus couldn't do she could.

The gun at Logan's side was no longer in her reach. It was in her hands. She turned her body using Logan's corpse as her cushion to steady her and balance her mark.

Stefan and Klaus had taught her how to shoot to kill.

But it was her mother that had taught her how to draw a gun fast. So fast than even the one pointing a gun at you would not see it coming.

And Agent Vaughn never did. And he if did it was one second too late for him.

This time Caroline was not shaking. This time there was no hesitation.

This time… her bullet went straight to the head.

…

Standing at the gate, ready to meet my fate

Cleanse my soul it's not too late

…

---

.

.

.

The fear washed away and took all the madness with it. Caroline's mind was clear, her heart was calm. They made it. She made it. Now that the danger passed away she barely remembered all the reasons that had held her back.

What was it that she had thought?

Oh, yes.

She wasn't a killer.

.

Wasn't she?

...

I won't run, the guilt is mine
Too long denying all my crimes

Crossed every line, broken every boundary
And now it's retribution time

.

Cause the church that I went to it ain't that holy

...

---

Song: Stealth - "Judgement Day"