Songbird
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.
Chapter X: Beautiful Crime
Warnings for this chapter:
TRIGGER WARNINGS: Graphic scenes of violence. Death. Murder.
If you cannot manage such themes please do not read.
...
We fight every night for something
When the sun sets we're both the same
Half in the shadows
Half burned in flames
...
It was night.
Just like the last time they were here. Only the last time they were here silence prevailed.
Tonight the sounds of pain rose in the dark. Broken whispers of agony and of a heaving breath were chasing away the silence of the night as they lowered Finn's coffin in front of his eyes in the shallow hole they had dag.
Klaus and Elijah Mikaelson stood tall in front of this wretched place they had sworn to return to only to avenge their brother's death. This was the spot they had found Kol's mangled body. This was the place they would bury his murderer.
They'd taken one brother from the pits of this earth only to dispose in it another.
The last time Elijah Mikaelson was here he had been too late. The last time Klaus Mikaelson was here he had taken out the broken pieces of Kol's body from the ground with his bare hands only to deliver what was left to Elijah so that he could wash the dirt and the blood from Kol's horrifically torn flesh in order to give their brother a proper burial.
Those memories would never fade away. They would remain in memory as the mischief in Kol's jesting smirk. They'd go together hand in hand till the time to go meet their brother again would come. Probably in hell. If not somewhere worse. But until then they had places to go, people to kill.
Klaus stared around with a detached gaze. He had felt terror in this place and now he would deliver the same terror.
This was the place Kol and Caroline had been hunted down like animals. The place where Caroline was taken. The place where Kol Mikaelson left his last breath before his body was hacked to pieces and thrown over the other corpses that night had left behind.
Finn Mikaelson now struggled, as much as he was able to, against the hands of the men that carried him here and threw him in front of the hole Elijah and Klaus themselves had dug. His legs were shattered but he was forced to kneel in front of his brothers as they lowered a coffin in what was meant to be his final ground.
Elijah Mikaelson was solemn but Klaus was not. He smiled. Despite the pain Vaughn's gunshot wounds had left behind tonight he stood tall and ignored the burning discomfort. This was a glorious night. That is how Kol would find it and that is how he would treat it as.
He didn't have to glance at Finn to see the defeat that now lingered in his once arrogant and proud gaze. He no longer smiled. He no longer laughed. He was badly beaten. Marcel Gerard had a field day with him and when he had delivered Finn to their hands their brother had been utterly broken. It was a lovely sight but in the end, this was still a family business.
Both he and Elijah had dragged Finn in front of Kol's grave promising him retribution for his crimes. They had tied him there, bound and gagged, for days without any food or water letting him dread his fate as they handled those that had considered Finn Mikaelson as the rightful ruler of the Mikaelson Empire.
And Finn had waited.
Delaying the inevitable was only one more torture he had to endure since he had thrown away the mercy Klaus had once given him. Once upon a time, he had been allowed to walk away. To live. And he hadn't appreciated the gift his family gave him so now there would be no more mercy. No more second chances.
Tonight the inevitable would come to pass. And it would be nothing but the end of the last bloody chapter of their family drama. Tonight that Rebekah had opened her eyes again was the night to close their brother's forever.
Finn Mikaelson watched the coffin in the open grave with dread. He didn't speak. He didn't move. He didn't ask for mercy.
Not yet anyway.
The cold draft that swirled around them made Finn shiver. He was already feverish. Most of his bones were broken. His flesh was swollen and cut. He was starving and the burning thirst should be driving him crazy by now.
And that was only the beginning.
The beginning of the end.
It was not Klaus that gave the order. It was Elijah Mikaelson and Finn's hands much to Finn's surprise were released from the ropes before he was pushed closer to his brothers.
Finn grunted as he was dragged on the mad and turned his crippled body up with so much difficulty that it took him minutes to be able to do so. Before him, the abyss of his grave was calling. He was an inch away from falling. They made him kneel at the edge of his death. They made him kneel in front of his brothers. Defeated. Humiliated.
He didn't look back. He only looked up. At the perfectly composed Elijah and the always arrogant bastard Klaus was. They stood above him. Elijah with his long designer coat over his expensive tailored suit. And Klaus with his black leather jacket above his Henley and dark jeans. Two dark figures of power promising only death.
He stared at his brothers, that loomed above him, with tired eyes. He was exhausted, weak and breathless but still tried to find as much dignity as he could.
He knew these were his last moments on this earth. He should face them with pride and honor. Like his father had done. Deep down Finn Mikaelson knew that his brothers would not grant him the opportunity to do so. But it didn't matter. He would not break any further.
A part of him wanted to plead with them. He knew a quick death would be preferable but he knew it was pointless. He tried to speak but no sound was coming out. He tried again and again till a croaking sound spilled out of his mouth.
His voice was weak and breathless as was the rest of his crushed body.
"You may bury me here but my death won't change the truth. It will haunt you forever," he told his brothers with difficulty before he glared at Klaus, "you are a bastard, Klaus," he croaked, "you can only steal what belongs to others because you have nothing that belongs to you. And you never will."
Klaus didn't seem moved. His lack of response was what surged new life into Finn. It was anger and despair that made him square his shoulders.
"You sit on Mikael's throne. It will always belong to him," he declared and the first darkness passed through Klaus' eyes before Finn added with a fading voice, "To me."
Klaus' lips curled at that and he took a step closer. Finn watched as Klaus crouched in front of him and leveled his gaze with him. Unfathomable and merciless.
"This is what you never understood…brother," Klaus spat the word with distaste and this was probably the only thing they agreed upon, "power is not given. It is taken. Gained only by the strongest. And if you can't hold it then…well, any bastard can take it," Klaus taunted him, his tone laced with wicked pride and scathing irony, and Finn spat at the ground between them making Klaus laugh amused.
"As for what is owed to you," Klaus mused before he braced his elbows on his knees and laced his fingers underneath his chin resting his face on his hands. He watched Finn with a smile, "here we are. This is Kol's debt we are paying back tonight," Klaus said mildly and Elijah stepped by his side placing his hand on his brother's shoulder.
Finn gritted his teeth at that, glaring at both Klaus and Elijah. Elijah always acknowledged Klaus as the King and tonight were no different.
"Poor tribute as it is," Elijah commented coldly and Klaus smirked at that.
"You get more than what you allowed our brother," Klaus confessed before he eyed Finn with disdain, "the very least Kol's died a warrior. A Mikaelson." At that Finn fumed and Klaus extended his arms gesturing at the place they were, "does this place mean anything to you Finn?" he asked and when he received no answer he pointed his figure at him, "this is where I retrieved our brother's body and this is where your resting place will be."
Finn watched as Klaus took some dirt in his palm and let it fall from his hand. Like grains of sand slipping down an hourglass.
"But you are my brother too Finn so I think a parting gift is in order don't you think?" Klaus' tone was borderline kind making Finn looked at him suspiciously with fear and distaste.
The smile that graced Klaus' lips turned feral.
Finn watched as Klaus reached for the pocket of his jacket and the color that appeared in his hand brought the first wave of true panic in Finn tonight. It was not the promise of death. It was not the absolute defeat he had felt.
It was this.
Finn swayed and almost fell back in the grave they had opened him but it was Klaus that gripped him by the neck and pulled him forward.
Finn stared at the red in Klaus' hand.
He had asked for her over and over again before they gagged him. They'd given him no reply.
Klaus' hand tightened around Finn's neck but he didn't bother strangling his brother. It was tempting now that his fingers were wrapped around Finn's throat. He was the one that held him and didn't allow him to fall to his death just yet. Now that he held him though he felt the shivers that passed through his body and watched with delight as all color vanished from his brother's face and hope dissolved in his eyes when Finn saw what he was holding.
That strand of red hair. That silky lock that was wet and its color had deepened. Sage's hair strained in blood tied with a black ribbon. It was the same ribbon Finn had sent him Caroline's hair tied with.
Klaus's thumb caressed the hair with a taunting smile and when Finn gulped he extended his hand and watched amused as Finn quickly fumbled for it. Klaus let him and he saw how his brother held Sage's hair in his hands reverently, his eyes finally begging him.
Klaus removed his other hand from his brother's neck and he put it in his shoulder giving him a light squeeze.
"Soon brother," Klaus drawled comfortingly as he stood up, "soon you and your precious Sage will be together."
Finn was watching the hair in his hands with a vacant lost gaze before he lifted his eyes to Klaus that was now towering above him.
Tears slipped from Finn's eyes bringing immense joy in Klaus.
"No," Finn whispered terrified staring at the red hair in his hands, "please-"
Finn wasn't given the chance to beg. Elijah took out his gun and shot him in the gut.
The burning sensation took over ever raw nerve of his body that screamed in pain. It was fire and yet Finn barely screamed. He only gripped Sage's bloody hair as the world shifted around him and he fell back. Falling straight into the hole behind him. Into the coffin that awaited beneath him.
He writhed in pain and struggled as his body was now sprawled over the white silk of the interior of the casket that was now slowly turning red from the blood that soaked it. His blood.
Finn tried to breathe. He couldn't move. His legs were broken. The bullet that was lodged in his belly made it so that every breath was agony. He coughed blood. His fingers crushing Sage's hair.
Rain splashed over him wetting his face, mingling with his tears.
Only it wasn't rain he realized.
It was gasoline.
They were pouring gasoline all over him and the coffin. He started panicking. They were going to burn him alive. From all the ways to go this was not a good one. He gritted his teeth when he remembered this is what Klaus had done with Mikael. Klaus had stood above their father's corpse and lit it on fire in front of him and all that was left from Mikael was ash.
Only now Klaus wouldn't wait for him to die first.
Finn tried to speak. He splattered the putrid liquid from his mouth and was startled when Klaus threw him a lighter.
Klaus stepped over the edge of the grave. Staring down at him. Like an angel of death.
"Never say I gave you nothing…brother," Klaus taunted him.
"I am granting you this small mercy. A choice. Bleed a slow death or make it fast. Burn alive or suffocate. It's on you. But know this," Klaus said, his voice low and soft bringing chills in Finn.
"When this is all over and breath has left your body I will throw Sage's heart over your rotting corpse," Klaus promised and Finn shook his head petrified as the unholy vow of his brother deprived him all voice and breath, "you love her don't you? That way you will be with her...always and forever."
Klaus stepped back just as Finn's pleading was muffled. Kol's men, those that had survived that night, had crawled into the hole and closed the lid of the coffin enclosing Finn Mikaelson in darkness and death. Finn screamed and pounded as they locked the coffin with chains and poured more gasoline over it.
Klaus and Elijah watched as they buried Finn Mikaelson alive.
Dirt was thrown over the coffin covering Finn's screams till they were nothing but hollow whispers in the deep earth. The same earth that had gathered Kol's body.
Klaus took out from the inside of his jacket his metal flask.
He uncorked the container and tossed down a mouthful of Kol's favorite bourbon before he passed the flask to Elijah that did the same.
They drank and then poured one last drink for Kol over the soil that had covered Finn's coffin.
…
We're leaving the things we lost…Leaving the ones we've crossed
I have to make an end so we begin
To save my soul at any cost
...
Matt Donovan buttoned his shirt with a wince. He had signed yesterday and was now waiting for the papers from the clinic. Then he could finally go.
He sighed and felt dizzy for a moment but he would manage.
He had recovered for the most part but his wound still itched and hurt. No vital organs got damaged beyond repair but he had lost a lot of blood. The internal bleeding was the worst of it though according to his surgeons. He had almost died.
That surely put things to perspective.
Matt sat on the bed for a moment to gather his bearings and checked the fancy folder he was given. In it was his medical progress and prescriptions for the meds he would need to take along with a review of the things he would need to do. He would have to follow the instructions of the doctors for the foreseeable future but at least he could leave this place and in a few days, he would also be able to travel. He couldn't wait to leave Chicago. This place was hell on earth if you asked him.
Matt glanced around to make sure he hadn't left anything behind. He shook his head at the extravagance of the room thankful that he would never have to set his eyes on this place in his life again.
After spending so many weeks in the private clinic Caroline had transferred him in once he was allowed to be moved from the hospital he was now more than ready to leave and go back home. This place was more of a luxury suite rather than a sterile clinic room but when Caroline Forbes took over your life you didn't get an opinion on what you were allowed to do or don't.
Especially since Matt knew that the Mikaelsons wanted to keep an eye on him just in case. This was a controlled environment. A fancy way of monitoring him and keeping him on a leash while still pretending to be benevolent and aiming for his gratitude. He didn't care. He wasn't planning on betraying them. He only wanted to be done with this mess and go home.
Of course, the fact that he hated that the Mikaelsons paid for everything didn't seem to matter to Caroline and in truth, this was the least of the things he owed them since it was Klaus' men that had saved him from Vaughn's killers. Just as the gangsters Vaughn had hired were ready to finish him off it was Klaus Mikaelson's men that interfered and saved him.
Klaus Mikaelson. One of the most feared gangsters of the modern age, the King of Chicago, had his back. It was ridiculous really.
According to Caroline, it was Klaus himself that had given the order for him to not get caught in the crossfire and no one was allowed to shoot him if they crossed paths with him. The night Caroline got rescued, as all went down, Matt Donovan was the safest police officer in Chicago. All because he had contacted Klaus with Caroline's location. This had been Klaus' way of getting even and it went to the point where the mob actually saved his life.
They had jumped in just as Vaughn's men were ready to shoot him. They killed them on the spot and then…helped him.
They anonymously called an ambulance for him and secured him till the medics came. He didn't remember much of that to be honest. He thought he had heard a voice telling him to hold on but had lost consciousness long before the ambulance came; somehow he remembered that a huge man looking like one of those angry bikers you saw beating the streets and kept your distance from kept applying pressure to his wound.
When he woke up again he was in a sterile environment hooked on machines that made annoying sounds and an IV drip was placed on his arm. Caroline was by his side. He didn't see her bruises and dark eyes. He only saw her sweet smile and heard her voice telling him to go to sleep again. Telling him he was safe. But it was the relief of knowing that she was safe that allowed to him to rest easily.
The days that followed were a blur.
Caroline stood by his side for days. His friend was safe and sound and had taken over his recovery. She was like a seasoned war general that forced strict discipline and no one would dare go up against her. Least of all him. Caroline, doctors, nurses and private personnel hired by the Mikaelsons looked after him. Of course privately and in secret. They had miraculously drafted an insurance for him that somehow covered for everything. Not that he had ever signed for that but it looked as if he had it for years somehow and was paid by some distant relative. In truth, it was Elijah Mikaelson himself that had arranged everything.
When he complained Caroline glared at him and told him to shut up. The days passed and he grew stronger.
Now he had a clean medical bill and owed nothing.
Literally and figuratively.
He repaid everything in ways that shamed him but were unavoidable. He and the Mikaelsons were even now.
He'd like to think that he did everything for Caroline and not the Mikaelsons. He owed that to Caroline. If he had heard her from the start maybe all this could have been avoided.
He hadn't heard her then so he heard her now.
Lying to the police was the hardest thing he had ever done in his entire life but what was the hardest part of it was that the mastermind that organized everything concerning his testimony and the way everyone reacted and covered the whole thing up was no other than… Caroline.
His mind still couldn't wrap around this no matter how much he had tried to.
…
A few weeks earlier
It was night when Marcel Gerard came to his room.
When Matt opened his eyes he was startled. In the dim light of the room, Marcel was a black shadow looming over him. The pain meds were working in his system but he was still able to break through his mental haze.
Matt didn't know how Gerard was able to move past security without being noticed but he did. No one knew he was here.
And yet here he was.
Matt sat up and stared incredulously at the man that fluffed his pillow with a smirk helping him to get comfortable before he did what he came to do.
Klaus' associate got him up to speed before the cops could come in and get his statement.
When Matt had asked Caroline to tell him more about what had happened and how they would be able to get through this mess she had shut him down telling him that he had nothing to worry about and when the time would come he would be filled in. She looked composed and cold and it had confused him but all he could do back then was sleep.
Now he was wide awake. Wishing he wasn't.
What he hadn't realized back then was that Caroline actually meant that it would be Klaus' right hand that would 'brief' him. And by briefing what she meant was that he had to listen to Gerard, follow their lead and lie his ass off.
In a way, Matt realized that no kindness coming from the Mikaelsons and by extension Caroline was without a price. They took care of him and they expected his full cooperation, no questions asked.
Marcel told him what to say to the cops making it clear to him that it was either him pushing this story to the authorities or their collective end including Caroline's.
Matt was stunned as Marcel laid out the plan for him.
According to Marcel Gerard, everything was taken care off. Klaus' men had cleaned up everything. Every trace. Every incriminating evidence.
There had been an explosion at the warehouse they kept Caroline and only two bodies had been found in it. Vaughn and Logan.
Marcel then continued speaking as if he was talking about the weather. He talked him through what he would have to say to the cops making it clear that it was either this story or Caroline's end.
Matt realized why they had sent Marcel to speak to him. That man had a gift into mingling politeness with underlined threats. It was hard to resist him and he made everything seem simple.
According to Marcel, he would have to testify how he and Vaughn had worked together and had gone looking for Caroline.
Logan Fell had taken Caroline and it was Vaughn that had followed the lead that got them there. Their transmitter got jammed when they tried to call for backup. Eventually, they were able to pass the message through but it was too late.
Vaughn and Logan killed each other in the middle of an uprising in the docks by the local gangs. Logan Fell seemed to have made quite some friends when he escaped. Friends that fired against them and injured Matt Donovan in the line of duty. Agent Vaughn was also reported as a fallen hero in the line of duty too.
It was a weak fib but it would be more than enough.
Apparently, in the place they held Caroline, in the room where everything went down, Logan Fell had left a camera that kept rolling. It recorded everything. Including Vaughn's plans. On top of that, the bug Matt had planted on the Agent was more than just a tracker. Unbeknownst to Galen Vaughn that little chip was a hacking device which he carried everywhere he went for days. It had swept up everything. Every call, everything in his computer, every meeting he had. It had saved the data in multiple sources that somehow had found their way into Klaus' hands.
Long story short the FBI could not afford Vaughn's confession and his illegal dealings, including the way he had freed gang members from prisons by altering state's files, to get out in public.
Marcel told him that part of Georgie's collective data had also been anonymously sent to the Feds as a warning.
It didn't matter how convincingly Matt would lie as long as he would and then everyone could go home. Half truths and half lies were what everyone had agreed upon. It was a convenient situation that favored everyone. It was enough for everyone to get a clean slate. As if this mess hadn't happened. The authorities would look the other way and everyone would get full immunity.
Matt felt as if he was way out of his depth. He looked at Marcel astonished.
What he didn't understand was how it was possible for the Mikaelsons to have their hands on Georgie's files.
"You've contacted Georgie?"
Marcel Gerard smirked at that.
"Caroline did."
Matt's shock seemed to entertain Marcel.
"For you," Matt accused bitterly hating the way they were taking advantage of his friend, "you constructed this plan."
Marcel chuckled and Matt found himself stiffening at the sound. It promised nothing good.
"You've missed the demo, Mr. Donovan. This plan is all Caroline. Right down to the last detail."
Matt's eyes widened and Marcel gave him a challenging look as if he waited for him to disagree.
"We are all simply following her lead and for everyone's shake, including yours, you better follow our example."
Matt shook his head. No. This wasn't possible.
"If this is true why didn't she tell me this herself?"
Marcel arched a brow and Matt almost squirmed uncomfortably on the bed.
"It would be a pity for your friendship to be tainted by such awkwardness," Marcel shrugged, "Ms. Caroline believes it would be best if you heard this from a more neutral source."
If what this man said was true then in truth this could mean only one thing.
A thing that signified a terrifying reality.
Matt gulped down and a part of him didn't want to believe that little voice that told him that Caroline wanted someone else to be able to threaten him in case he wouldn't agree to this plan.
She had chosen Marcel Gerard to play the mediator because he could be civil but he could also not be when needed be.
And Caroline was preparing for any possibility. Matt didn't want to believe this but the more he thought about it...
"It is a pity she thinks you would not take her as seriously as you should especially since she has proven to you that her insight has far more value than what you give her credit for," Marcel told him pointedly before he got up.
Matt was speechless. He watched Klaus' associate zip his jacket and a part of him wondered if he had it all wrong. Was Marcel Gerard Klaus' accomplice or…Caroline's?
Marcel then approached him, pushed his hand on the pillow and leaned over him.
"Caroline cares for you Mr. Donovan," Marcel told him in confidentiality after seeing his expression, "she has claimed your protection," he revealed letting the gravity of the statement register before he continued seriously, "honor this by respecting her intelligence. Follow her plan and before you know it you will be able to return back to your town and the job you so much love without having to face any unpleasant consequences. Legal or …otherwise."
Marcel Gerard stood up and gave him a nod.
"Time to leave this sordid past behind us once and for all, don't you think?"
Matt watched Marcel walk away leaving him alone in the dark room. Lost in deep thought and that pit of uneasiness that threatened to swallow him whole. Because all he could see in the darkness was Caroline's gaze.
How could he have missed it? Her gaze was an abyss and it smiled back to him.
Matt shook his head trying to ignore the chilling sensation that had settled in his mind and heart ever since Marcel Gerard had visited him that night.
He couldn't believe it was Caroline that had arranged everything. He had doubted it until he had seen her gaze the next day. It was cold and determined. He didn't ask anything else. He said nothing more and neither did Caroline.
Some silences were awkward and Matt feared that the innocent bubbly girl he used to know was now gone forever and in her place, there was now a woman that had steel and fire in her eyes.
Not just fire though. There was ice in there too and that not only concerned but also scared Matt.
Girly Caroline was gone. This new Caroline Forbes was neither naïve or innocent. Matt at times didn't know how to react around her but Caroline buried anything that concerned the past and the ordeal they had all been through.
She was always coming into his room dressed in perfection. Rambling and smiling and scowling as she was forcing him to eat his food and follow the instructions of the doctors. She was energetic, optimistic and hyper compulsive and always making sure his room was always filled in sunlight and was properly cleaned.
In ways, she was still the Caroline he remembered. But he knew that the Caroline he remembered would not be the one he was going to leave behind. This Caroline knew how to look after herself. More so in a dangerous world, she didn't seem as if she had any intention of leaving.
He used to believe it was Klaus Mikaelson that had manipulated Caroline and forced her into a relationship with him but now he could see that Caroline was drawn to that man and all that he offered too.
He didn't get it. He probably never would.
For him Chicago was Hell. But somehow along the way he forgot that Hell was also a Kingdom and there was a Throne and a Crown for each Kingdom and something told him Caroline was drawn to that in the same way he was repulsed by it.
He didn't want to believe it. He had to have faith that Caroline would find her way again. She was strong. She has always been strong even when she didn't see it. Even when he didn't see it either. This had been his mistake but now he could see more clearly.
Caroline had been through something extremely traumatic but she had a good heart. It was still in there. Buried somewhere underneath all this horror but he was afraid that if Caroline didn't leave this place she would become part of this horror too and there would be no coming back from it. He wished he could take her away from here but despite the fact that Klaus Mikaelson would never allow such a thing something told him neither would Caroline. Besides no matter, what he believed and wanted for her this had to be Caroline's choice.
Matt got up, zipped his back and gritted his teeth when he tried to lift it over his shoulder.
He sighed and dropped the bag on the bed just as there was a knock on the door.
"Come in," he groused.
A nurse with a wheelchair came in and a man dressed in a black suit escorted her. Matt scoffed at the chair but then narrowed his eyes at the man. He couldn't be more than forty and he wore a formal suit and a tie.
"Mr. Donovan. I have arranged for your discharge papers. Miss Forbes has given specific instructions for your transportation to your hotel. From there all the appropriate arrangements for your return to your hometown will be made at your convenience," the man said and Matt closed his eyes and tried to breathe through his nose.
"Tell Caroline she shouldn't get in all that trouble," Matt said ironically as the nurse approached him with the chair.
"I am good," Matt groaned before he bent down to get his bag. The man quickly stopped him by grabbing the strap of the bag first.
"Allow me to help you," the man insisted politely, "in the parking lot a car is waiting for you," he informed him.
"That won't be necessary," Matt mumbled through clenched teeth.
"Miss Forbes insists," Caroline's lackey persisted and swiftly pulled the bag and carried it, "if you have any objections I could always call her and you can express them to her."
Matt sighed at that. He recognized a lost battle so he followed the man.
He only made it two steps when the nurse made him sit on the wheelchair. Caroline's orders she said.
…
"Here lies Kol Mikaelson.
In hindsight, he could've been nicer to people.
Or at least left fewer survivors."
...
Caroline huffed an exasperated smile when she read what was written on Kol Mikaelson's tombstone.
Today was the first time she visited Kol's grave and from all the possible emotions she had expected to feel the need to laugh surely wasn't one.
But here she was, reading Klaus' latest macabre one-liner at the expense of his dead brother. Some things never changed it would seem. Not in life and not in death.
Some would find this distasteful but Klaus had confided in her that Kol had once told him he was sure he'd die young and had asked him to write something both ridiculous and wise in his tombstone when the time came.
Klaus then proceeded to tell her that what he wrote on his grave was something Kol had actually mocked him with in the past and now it was time to repay him by curving this on his tombstone for eternity. Served him right he had said and despite Klaus' irony Caroline had wrapped her arms around him and held him. She held him despite how Klaus tried to play it cool because she knew that deep down this was one of Klaus' wounds that would never stop bleeding. He would take it to his own grave one day.
No one from the Mikaelsons was talking about Kol these days. It was as if he hadn't died…or hadn't existed in the first place.
Life was moving on but Caroline knew better than to believe that Kol Mikaelson had not left his mark on the world or his siblings.
After being with Klaus for some time had given her perspective. She had grown to know him better. The biggest pain wasn't the one that broke you in crying raging pieces. The worst agony was the silent one. The one you couldn't express with words. The one you kept inside letting it fester till the corrosion would spread over and all that would be left was a spirit unable to mourn, or truly move on. Unable to have peace.
She feared that this was Klaus' true fate. For everything that was done to him. For everything that he had done.
She wasn't going to pretend as if Klaus and Kol, Elijah and Rebekah or even herself were innocents or the victims of this story. They were all the villains. Each one of them in their own way. Herself too since she had sided with them and let them awaken the monster that crawled underneath her skin till it stirred and came to life.
There was justice in this world. If not one brought by the legal system then one brought by life itself.
Kol knew his life had an expiration date that would not grant him a long survival and a good death.
Caroline was surprised at how Kol, despite being the most unhinged and unpredictable of the Mikaelson was also the one that had been the most realistic and insightful. In a way, he had been like the request he had made for his grave. Both ridiculous and wise.
She somehow didn't expect anything less from Kol. He was in free fall ever since she met him. He knew the life he led had only one destination and dying young was written in the stars for him.
She'd like to believe that Kol had left without having any regrets in this life. Caroline only wished that it hadn't been her that sealed his fate though. Kol Mikaelson died protecting her. Kol protected her because he loved Klaus and had given to his big brother his word he'd give his life for her. And he did. Caroline hated the fact that Kol died believing he had failed Klaus and his promise. Believing he hadn't been able to protect her no matter how much he tried.
At the end in the world of villains, one of the worst villains died a hero. Her hero.
And now Caroline understood. Villains or heroes. None of that mattered. What mattered was the ability to protect those you loved. Either you had to be the hero or the villain to do so. And if being the hero meant death and being the villain meant succeeding where the heroes failed then she already knew in which side she wanted to be.
She now perfectly understood Klaus' need to cross every boundary and cross every line to ensure that no one would harm those he cared for. Those he swore to protect.
Caroline felt that desire branded in her skin, in her blood, in every part of her being. It filled her with anger and rage and an indescribable desire to not allow history to repeat itself.
Kol's death could not be for nothing. She would make a lesson out of it and she would never forget it. She would remember him.
He died for her and she couldn't keep pretending she could live this life without honoring these losses.
There were consequences. She had well to remember that now.
Her eyes focused on the tombstone.
…Or at least left fewer survivors….
Yeah. Kol had been right when he had said this to Klaus and Klaus was right when he said marking Kol's grave with this message seemed fitting.
This would serve as a reminder. Fewer survivors to ensure their survival.
Caroline gripped the wooden handle till her knuckles popped out. She held on to the gift she had brought to Kol with her white-knuckled palm and the rush of anger made her want to hit something. Preferably someone.
If they had left fewer survivors long before things went out of hand Kol could have been alive right now. It was as if she could see him giving her a mocking "I know, right?' look.
"Fewer survivors," Caroline pondered and realized she didn't mind the concept. She didn't mind it all.
This kind of epiphany should shock her. She waited for that ghastly sensation to come. She waited to feel appalled for everything she felt and for all she had done.
She now had blood in her hands too. She had left fewer survivors.
She found out the goon she had shot when she had first tried to escape had eventually died. She had killed him too. As she killed Vaughn. As she was ready to kill anyone that would get in her way when she carried a bleeding Klaus outside the warehouse before his men found them and led them to safety.
She had taken over the whole operation. She acted fast.
What Klaus started she finished. She was the one that had realized that Logan had messed up in the same way twice. Years ago back in Mystic Falls she had recorded his abuse and sent him to jail. Now Logan's camera had recorded everything. Vaughn's involvement and his plans. Everything was literally on tape and she got it before she ordered for the whole place to be swept clean.
She even jeopardized Matt's life by delaying calling the ambulance and the cops so to give orders and make the plan that would not just get them out of there alive but would ensure they'd get out of this mess clean and without having to look over their shoulders.
She was the one that ordered the explosion in the warehouse and for Klaus' men to leave no survivors in the premises. No one that would be able to incriminate them or rise against them. She was the one that called Elijah and Marcel and got them to fall in line with her plan as she got Klaus to one of the doctors that worked for his organization to stitch him up.
She protected her own. She ordered a bloodbath. She counted bodies.
And now as she stood in front of Kol's grave and realized what the alternative was she felt serene.
She tried to fill guilt.
She tried but the remorse, the cold and the shame wouldn't come. She felt nothing.
She actually kept waiting for the guilt to hit her for quite some time now but somehow she only found herself feeling relief.
Relief for all that was won and rage for all that was lost.
And maybe…just maybe…if she had come to terms with this revelation sooner maybe she'd have fewer graves to visit today.
...
Flashback
"…what will you do about it?" he asked her solemnly and for the first time Caroline saw Elijah and Klaus in him. Kol was stern and serious and expected an honest answer. He had turned into the protective sibling out of nowhere and Caroline knew that she could not mess around with this. Kol was the most volatile and violent of the three Mikaelson brothers. He even surpassed Klaus because Klaus had a temper but he was not extremely sadistic or sociopathic.
"I don't know," Caroline whispered holding her breath in. She did not bother acting as if she had not understood what Kol was asking. But truth was that this was the only answer she could give. She did not know. She did not know how to be with Klaus with no borders between them. She did not know how to care with him without walls and without holding back. She did not know what kind of commitment she could freely give to him. Klaus had her loyalty and her presence in his life. But she did not know if she could give him her heart and Klaus would not settle for anything less than that. That much she knew.
Kol's gaze was intense as he inspected her. His eyes delving deep into her fears. Something that made her feel extremely uncomfortable.
Kol then hummed as if he had gotten the answer he truly wanted.
"You better find out," he advised her and Caroline saw that underneath all the juvenile behavior there was a man hidden. A man that despite his young age had seen a lot and lived a lot. "You can't have it both ways. Either you are in or out. There is no middle ground in this family darling," Kol simply said and Caroline swallowed down hard.
He was right and they both knew it.
...
"You were right," Caroline mumbled leaving the bat she had brought with her at Kol's grave.
"There is no middle ground," she whispered and walked away.
Outside of the Peninsula Chicago a cab was waiting to take Matt Donovan to the bus station. He had already checked out from the Hotel and it was time for them to say their goodbyes.
Caroline had insisted for one of her cars to get him there but Matt was having none of that.
She was now pouting at him and moving her weight from one leg to another almost childishly making Matt smile fondly at her. She would miss his goofy smile the most.
She hadn't wanted him to get hurt but she had missed him. Taking care of him the last weeks brought in a weird way a sense of normalcy to her. Matt was a piece of home and now she'd let go of it. Of him.
"Seriously Matt?" she huffed indignantly, "the bus? I can arrange for you to-"
Matt raised his hands at her almost in dread.
"No Care. Just please!" he practically begged and she giggled and gave him a hug.
It was spontaneous and she smiled when Matt wrapped his hands around her and hugged her tighter.
"I am going to miss you," she mumbled resting her head against his chest. He had taken a bullet for her. She had almost lost him.
"I wish you would just come home with me," Matt seriously said and Caroline inhaled deeply before she gently detached herself from his embrace.
Matt would never stop trying to get her back to who she used to be. To the girl that dreamed of the small-town life and the white fence in the same way he did. The girl that won the pageant competition and dreamed of becoming a soccer mom that would remember that moment as the highlight of her entire life. Matt wanted that girl to come back. He was her anchor with the past.
Only her future laid elsewhere now.
Caroline gave him a soft smile as she put some distance between them ignoring what he had just said.
They both realized the distance between them was far bigger than the two steps she had taken back. They were miles away. And if they were honest they had been miles away for years now. Even before she left Mystic Falls.
Mystic Falls that was Matt's safe haven and Mystic Falls that could never contain her. Their paths had just diverged.
"Be safe Matt."
Matt watched her for a few moments before he sighed and gave her a nod.
They smiled at each other and Caroline felt a wave of sadness when Matt pushed his bag over his shoulder and then turned around ready to leave.
He made one step and then and he stopped.
Caroline tilted her head when Matt turned around and faced her again with an inquisitive gaze.
"I just have to know…how did you contact Georgie?" he asked, his voice burning with curiosity.
Caroline pressed her lips to stop herself from smiling but couldn't help the mirth that forced her lips to curl. No matter how much Matt had tried he had never been able to find out who Georgie really was. He couldn't put the pieces together and Caroline could tell this was killing him.
"My mom got you in touch remember?" Caroline shrugged avoiding to give him a straight answer and Matt narrowed his eyes at her.
"You know who he is?"
...
New York.
A few weeks earlier
Caroline entered the quaint little coffee shop and her heels clicked on the stone floor until she finally approached the remote small table at one of the furthest corners of the establishment. The person she was looking for was there hidden from prying eyes, sitting behind the screen of a laptop. Fingers typed fast. The hot coffee was misting its scent in the air but it was the muffins that waited for her that brought a bright smile on Caroline's face.
Blueberry chocolate chip muffins. Their comfort food since they were children.
All her childhood memories came back to her engulfing her in a sensation of familiarity.
She pushed her sunglasses on the top of her head and smiled.
"Hello Georgie," Caroline playfully intoned as she sat at the chair opposite from the beautiful hacker with the chocolate skin and green eyes.
Her friend lowered her laptop screen and Caroline faced a gaze filled with mischief as Bonnie Bennett laughed.
"Matt thinks you are a guy," Caroline laughed along and Bonnie smiled amused.
"Voice modulator! I made it! Can't tell the difference," Bonnie bragged and Caroline shook her head laughing.
It has been a long time since they had seen each other face to face. Bonnie had left Mystic Falls long before her mother died and she had been the one that had helped her leave that small town after her mess with Logan Fell. Bonnie had created new papers for her and covered her traces as she ran away. When she eventually got to Detroit it was Bonnie who helped her create her new Songbird persona. Ever since she had been living with Klaus Bonnie had been able to sneak through his communication systems and speak with her undetected. Klaus still had no idea and Caroline would ensure this would remain so. Bonnie was a genius and the last thing she wanted was for Klaus to decide to recruit her as one of his people.
Bonnie Bennett was hers. She had claimed her and the people she claimed she protected.
In hindsight, she should have asked Bonnie to help her trace Logan but she didn't want to involve her with this. Not when she had run to Klaus. Not when Bonnie was one of the few people that had been kept out of this mess. A part of Caroline connected Bonnie with her childhood innocence long before Logan Fell tainted it and she had wanted it to remain so.
She and Bonnie were friends since they were kids. Her friend's grandmother, Shiela, used to work for her mom and Bonnie took after her grandmother. She was brilliant with computers and programming. Bonnie's real hacking alias was the Witch. She traveled the world. A free spirit that could bring down every system imaginable if she only had a keyboard and WiFi at her disposal. Bonnie was one of the best hackers in the world. And despite owning her Witch persona she also at times used Sheila's codename too. Georgie. And since Georgie has been working for Elizabeth Forbes for certain cases in the past Bonnie reached Matt as Georgie too, making him believe she was the same person. Not that Matt would ever bother checking beyond the obvious.
When Caroline's laugh finally died out a soft smile took over her features.
She wanted to meet Bonnie for some time now but she had to wait for the bruises on her face to fade. At least long enough for the makeup to cover them. She didn't want Bonnie or anyone to see her as anything else than the women she now was and while that woman wore those bruises as proof of victory the world would always frown and pity her at the sight of them. She knew this from the past and she was never going to allow anyone to watch her with pity when all she felt was pride. She had won.
But Bonnie was different. Bonnie would worry. She would see her battle scars and they would twist her heart and Caroline didn't want that. She saved those scars for her mirror and for…Klaus. Klaus shared the same scars with her. He could caress those scars and soothe their ache. She could do the same with his scars. They were the same now. In ways both beautiful and ugly.
But she wouldn't share that ugly with Bonnie. Not when she owed her so much.
Agent Galen Vaughn had found Bonnie's tracker but had believed it was a simple bug when in reality it was loaded with multiple viruses. Bonnie had swept up everything. The longer Vaughn carried the tracker to play Matt the longer Bonnie hacked everything he owned and by everything she meant…everything. Things the Feds would never allow to get out in public. Not just things Vaughn was guilty off. Things that should be left hidden and unspoken.
"Thank you, Bon," Caroline gently said, her voice filled with gratitude and squeezed Bonnie's hand on the table, "for everything."
"You came all this way for a thank you and a muffin?" Bonnie joked but squeezed her hand back.
Caroline sighed and pulled her hand away. She took one of the muffins and played with its wrapping at the bottom.
"I need a favor."
Bonnie closed the lid of her laptop and sat back on her chair.
"As long as I don't get deep with the Mikaelsons," she warned Caroline with a strict voice.
'So cautious and judgmental,' Caroline thought. Not that she could blame her. She was probably right. Well…not probably. She was right. Full stop.
"You won't," she assured her, "if anything they'll owe you one. To collect whenever," Caroline promised. Her voice was both serious and tempting.
"Is that so"? Bonnie arched a brow.
Caroline pinched a piece from her muffin and almost moaned when it touched her tongue. How much she had missed this.
Flavor alone evoked memories and feelings. So many warm feelings. And yet now those feelings felt different. Probably because she was a different woman. She had changed. She had grown and she had her taste of war. It matured her and altered her.
"I have it on good authority," she confided chewing her bite playfully.
Bonnie watched her for a few long moments. Some time ago that inquisitive stare would have her fidgeting. Now Caroline simply kept eating her muffin.
"I still can't believe it Care!" Bonnie exclaimed before she looked around and lowered her voice as if she was afraid that even saying his name would invite a demon into the world, "Klaus' girl?"
"Get it right Bon," Caroline scoffed, correcting her, "he is my guy," she claimed Klaus with an unyielding declaration while taking a bite from her muffin this time chewing it provocatively.
Her voice held possession in it and accomplishment. It made Bonnie's brows lift.
"Klaus freaking Mikaelson… Care-bear's guy," Bonnie muttered shocked and reached for her muffin, "damn."
Caroline put her muffin down and dusted her hands.
"I need everything you've collected on Vaughn and I need you to reach some people but only if you are able to do it without leaving any trace," she asked Bonnie in a commanding voice. And even though she used her no-bullshit tone her voice carried a warning.
They had to be extra careful and she didn't want to involve Bonnie in problems with the authorities. But she couldn't solely rely on Elijah to run interference. Not when the Feds wanted to take down the Mikaelsons for years. She couldn't take any chances. She would make sure this would end here.
Bonnie snorted. As if the insinuation that she couldn't do it or faced any danger was outrageous.
"You offend me."
Bonnie Bennett ate her muffin and waited for Caroline to give her the particulars of what she wanted to do for her.
"Vaughn's superiors," Caroline revealed with a cold voice, "I want to send them a message."
Bonnie frowned and swallowed down carefully.
"What message would that be?"
Caroline's smile chilled Bonnie. But the most unsettling thing wasn't that smile. It was the way Caroline's features hardened and for the first time in her life Bonnie was sitting opposite to a woman that may shared the same face with her childhood friend but in truth, Bonnie had never met that person before. A person determined and…dangerous.
Caroline laced her fingers over the table and leaned forward. The iron of her voice had nothing gentle or nice.
"Hands off."
"I can't give you a name. It is not my secret to tell," Caroline simply said making Matt give her a sullen glare that made her laugh.
"Georgie does send you…his regards though," Caroline played along almost biting her tongue to stop herself from bursting into fits of laughter especially at the way Matt now sulked, "although if you have anything else to ask for…it won't happen without charge," she pointed out giving him a funny "ouch" grimace which Matt returned with a shake of his head.
"I think I'll stay on the side of the law from now and on."
Caroline rolled her eyes condescendingly at that before she could stop herself. Matt was so honorable but that hadn't stopped him working with the mob to get her back and following their lead the last weeks. He reaped the benefits of those connections in the last weeks that lived in luxury. Not that she would have allowed him to deny all that she offered him. It was not optional.
But he was right. Matt didn't belong to this world or any world that included anything illegal. Matt was made from what her mother was made from. If anything Caroline in a way was proud that it would be Matt that would follow her mother's footsteps and honor her legacy.
"Good for you."
Matt looked at her and this time the smile she gave him was genuine.
"And you?" he wondered and maybe Caroline would have gone to defensive but there was no accusation in Matt's question. He waited for a sincere answer and he really cared. That alone softened the roughest of her edges.
Caroline lifted her shoulders casually.
"Lawless is the new black they say," she only half-joked.
Caroline could see that a part of Matt obviously did not want to believe that she wasn't joking but she could see that he was conflicted. She didn't press this anymore. What would be the point? They would never see eye to eye and Matt would never understand. In many ways, she couldn't understand herself either.
"Seriously Care," Matt insisted, "what will you do now?"
Caroline pushed her hair back and watched at the passing cars on the road before she faced him. She remained calm and composed. Her gaze marked with finality.
"I will stay."
Caroline saw the way Matt swallowed as if he couldn't push air into his lungs. His expression was pained. He was afraid. She looked at his long face and waited for him to try to change her mind. She could see that he wanted to shake her, to make her see reason. What he believed to be reasonable anyway.
The only thing was that he would probably be right if he was addressing the old Caroline he knew. The one that eventually he would have to mourn and set free. Because that girl existed only in his memory now.
The person she was now didn't belong to his world. And he didn't belong to her world either.
Caroline waited but Matt didn't object. Instead, he gave her a warning.
"You will never get out if you do."
Caroline smiled deliberately at his grievous tone.
"I may not want to do that."
Matt's eyes filled with something akin to pity and Caroline pressed her palm on his chest.
"I have no regrets, Matt," she told him and waited until her words would set in. Her hand fell to the side and she memorized his face knowing that she would not see him again for a very long time. If ever again. "our paths have parted a long time ago. Go home."
This time she didn't wait to see him leave. This time she turned around and walked away knowing that this was one chapter of her life that had finally closed.
Matt Donovan had a chance to a normal life. Back in Mystic Falls.
Back home.
Caroline pushed her hands in the pockets of her coat and looked up at the cloudy sky. Every step she took was confident as she put more distance between her past and all that Chicago had to offer her now.
Mystic Falls was her home too. Once.
Not anymore.
…
If I could take your hand
If you could understand
I fear the fall and where we'll land
.
Take what you need say your goodbyes
Say you'll still be by my side
…
Caroline kept walking down the street.
She needed some time to clear her head. She was warm enough inside her knee-length coat and she knew that she was safe enough.
She knew her men always watched her from a distance. She hadn't want Matt to see her like this. She wanted their last farewell to be as normal as possible so she had ordered her men to blend away and not make their presence known.
Only she could tell when she was being followed now. When she was being watched. She could tell when the eyes that fell on her belong to friend or foe. It was like a seventh sense. She used to mock Klaus' paranoia but now she realized it was just instinct. It only needed honing and after everything that happened she had started cultivating hers.
Having a security detail didn't feel so constricting anymore.
She didn't mind. It had become part of her reality and everyday life now. It was normal. As was the gun she carried in her purse.
This was her life. It has been for some time now.
Although things have admittedly changed somewhat. Now Klaus' men, her me, obeyed her commands. She was not naïve to believe they were not reporting back to Klaus but they were first running everything by her. Even the report they'd give to Klaus should she deem it necessary.
This was not Klaus ordering her protection and her having no say on it or being ignorant of the specifics. The deal between them was null and void now. So they had drawn a new one.
One of the things their new contract included was how she was the one to choose the men of her protection team. Her security was answering to her now. She took Klaus' advice when it came to who was the best and most efficient for the job but she was the one that approved every last one of the candidates in the end.
It was not the same as having Stefan ghosting her though.
Caroline abruptly stopped walking and shook her head. She forced Stefan's smile to vanish from her mind. Dueling in such thoughts was counterproductive.
She stared down at her feet and her teeth played with her lower lip. Screw this. Those heels were not made for walking. It was a sacrilege to treat them like this.
She took out the phone and called her driver to come.
And yet no matter how much she tried she couldn't get Stefan out of her head. He had died in the shooting too.
And now he was just…not there.
That was the worst part of losing someone. The absence. The routine that was not the same anymore. She was always half expecting Stefan Salvatore to drive her where she wanted to go. She expected to see him brooding or being awkward at her demands. She was used to him training her how to fight along with Klaus. He had become her friend and confidant and now he was gone.
They had avenged his death and yet Stefan was still gone. As was Kol. As was her mom.
Caroline frowned. Her stomach clenched. She felt empty in ways she hadn't felt before. There have been parts of her that feared that maybe she would lose herself again. She feared that she could break down and be lost in depression as she had in the past.
Only that moment never came.
She hadn't shed a tear every since she killed Galen Vaughn. She had not mourned anyone because the feeling of grief was absent. There was only an ache of melancholy lingering but what she truly felt was strength. It hummed in her blood. It was waking. Taking over.
Her control wasn't slipping. In fact, she was in control.
And she didn't regret it.
Caroline tilted her head when she realized that her driver wouldn't come.
A few blocks away from where she said her farewell to Matt a sleek, black limousine was parked, waiting for her.
Her pace remained confident. She approached the car and stood. She saw her reflection on the shine of the limousine before Klaus opened the door for her and shifted a bit to the side as she climbed in beside him. She shut the door and just a second later the limo began driving.
Caroline sat silently in the backseat next to Klaus.
She watched the city become a moving slideshow of a blur outside her window feeling Klaus' intense gaze wash over her. He looked at her for a long moment.
"You didn't leave," Klaus finally broke the silence between them and Caroline realized he had half expected her to leave him.
She leaned back in her seat and didn't avert her eyes from the window. If she stared long enough she could see Klaus' reflection staring back at her. Eyes filled with something jaded and dark. Something passionate and so penetrative that stirred all the shadows inside her. It made her feel alive as much as it killed her.
"I have nowhere else to go," she replied distractedly and closed her eyes.
Klaus said nothing at that. And Caroline knew he didn't have to.
This wasn't the same as her wanting to stay by his side. But it would do.
...
A few weeks later
Shadows were dancing in the dark.
Klaus was staring at the ceiling. Through the windows, the weak shine of the moonlight was casting shapes on the walls.
Caroline's soft breath was wafting over his chest. She was soundly sleeping but he couldn't rest. He couldn't find peace. He couldn't close his eyes.
He tried to make himself comfortable but stopped moving when Caroline's body tensed. He let out a breath when she relaxed again and forced himself to remain still. She had turned him to her pillow and he didn't want to disrupt her sleep.
Maybe it was the bed. He wasn't used to it yet. Although it was Caroline that redecorated the bedroom so it would fit her standards and chose the new mattress and the sheets that somehow had the perfect count thread according to her.
The whole environment felt off to him though. He hadn't left Chicago but he had moved into a townhouse he used for cover. He owned every house in the neighborhood and the general area including the blocks that surrounded his residence. He had increased all security measures and no one knew where he was.
Till everything settled and they could weed out all the traitors and bring them to heel they had all moved to their safe houses. Elijah had moved to New York and Marcel was moving between New Orleans and this place since Rebekah was recuperating here with him. He was adamant on keeping his sister with him. He wouldn't have it any other way. She'd be safer by his side until she completely recovered.
He had of course taken Caroline with him too. He wouldn't let her out of his sight until this was over.
If it was ever over.
This life never had an expiration date.
Klaus wrapped his hand tighter around Caroline's waist wanting to feel her skin on his own. Wanting to feel her heartbeat drum against his chest. Caroline moaned in discomfort and he loosened his hold until her breathing eased up again.
He should be content. Despite their losses, they had won. But no matter how much he tried he couldn't understand why he was so much on edge.
He looked down at Caroline and his fingers gently caressed her hair.
He had told her he loved her. When they faced Logan he made that confession and it wasn't what he said but also what was left untold between them that now created a restless need inside him. Caroline never mentioned anything concerning his declaration. She felt it was part of the ruse to distract Vaughn and she moved on. She had no desire to revisit this or stir anything between them.
This what he wanted too. So why did he feel so irrationally angry about it?
Their lives were back on track and Caroline was so…calm. So comfortable and at ease. Like nothing had happened.
She had agreed to stay by his side. She wouldn't leave him. There were no more deals with an expiration date between them. Caroline had come into his life to stay. She knew he'd never let her go but she had chosen him and this life. She had put the past behind her and now she was there to share her future with him. Without looking back. Without having any regrets or second thoughts. She was all in.
He should be grateful. It was all he had ever wanted and now he had it. He had her.
Maybe this was too good to be true. Maybe he was waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Only that wasn't that either. Not exactly.
Klaus exhaled harshly and when his breath tickled Caroline's hair her body wrapped around him like a blanket and in the darkness, a soft smile appeared on her lips and Klaus blinked.
He breathed in and then out.
He was suffocating for some reason.
He was as if he waiting for something. Something that wouldn't come. He licked his dry lips. It felt like standing next to a ticking bomb waiting for it to go off only to realize that the bomb wasn't even there to begin with.
It should be there. But …it wasn't.
And instead of relief, he felt as if all his instincts were wrong.
Caroline was sleeping so soundly.
She was safe and she didn't seem to have any lingering trauma.
He had seen countless people crumble and break after such trials and horrors and Caroline bounced back stronger than ever.
She had already adjusted to the changes. She had been more concerned about his gunshot wounds rather than anything else. She oversaw Matt Donovan's and his sister's recovery and she hovered over him constantly and took charge when they moved to this house and made herself comfortable with her new environment in ways she had never done when she had moved into his mansion.
Caroline Forbes was the lady of this house. She had chosen her own security team. She knew how to move undetected and how to create a strict order where his personnel obeyed her every command. She multitasked and she thrived. She had even traveled to New York to meet with Elijah and go shopping. She was chipper and energetic.
Overall she seemed…happy.
He hadn't expected this.
When Caroline had first asked his protection he had already known about her past but his heart ached every time he had to help her through the nightmares he couldn't make go away. Back then it had been such a revelation to him that he would even bother. He knew all too well what it was like to be tormented by nightmares that had taken residence in your very soul but he hadn't been used to help people overcome their terror. If anything he was used to inflicting that terror to others but Caroline had moved something inside him and he couldn't stand idle watching her suffer.
When Caroline had first moved in with him she had kept her distance. But when they started sharing the same bed she couldn't hide her trauma and her fear. There had been many times where she had struggled in his arms as old memories were returning to haunt her. Her soul had been bleeding. Her heart had been torn apart and she'd seek refuge in his arms and no matter how much he would try the nightmares would always come back.
Only now there were no more nightmares. There were no sleepless nights.
No sleepless nights…but his.
...
Several months later
.
After months spent on brutally taking out rival gangs and opposition, they had finally returned back to the mansion.
Klaus had spent the last weeks ensuring what happened with Finn wouldn't happen again. He re-established his reputation as one of the worst monsters to be born into Chicago's underbelly. Blood had flowed. He bathed in it.
He inspired a new kind of terror no one could imagine existed and he was not done just yet. Mothers and fathers and children grieved and more would shed bloody tears by the time he was done.
The only reason as to why Finn's plan had some success was because he had been a Mikaelson. There were those that believed him to have been the rightful ruler and that fallacy was what Finn himself had believed in and why he had faith in his plan and bought without doubt that Klaus lost his power so easily at one fell swoop.
Finn had been wrong. But that didn't mean that there weren't still weaklings out there that would have preferred any other order but the one he enforced. Those had to be dealt with once and for all. By the time he was done no one would remember Mikael's and Finn's names. No one would dare stand against him and his family. They would all pay the price. He was done dealing with warnings. He was now passing judgment. Unforgivable and horrific.
And Caroline was making it easy on him.
At first, he had been worried that she would be repulsed by all the things he would have to do. By him.
But she stood by his side. Every step of the way.
He hid nothing from her. He gave her the brutal truth and she didn't shy away from it.
Klaus had always seen her light but now he had seen her darkness too. There was a monster underneath her skin. Bathing in the surge of her blood that pumped hotter and faster the more that monster was fed and acknowledged.
It was then that he truly realized that Caroline's light wasn't based on her goodness alone. It was based on her shadows and her ability to shine even in the darkest of darks.
"Caroline is proving to be quite the entrepreneur."
Klaus lifted his eyes from the latest Harlem reports he was checking with a keen eye. He didn't need to be told of Caroline's successes. He knew them all too well.
However, he hadn't expected Elijah to come all the way here to tell him this when he should be flying back to New York instead.
Klaus watched his brother as he unbuttoned his jacket and straightened the fabric before he took a seat and reached for the teapot.
Elijah dismissed one of the servants that came to help him and served himself meticulously. He poured the steaming water in a cup before he stirred a tea bag in it.
Klaus almost rolled his eyes at his stalling.
Elijah was trying to make a point. He expected a reaction. Instead, Klaus turned his attention back to his laptop screen as Elijah added a teaspoon of sugar in his tea and swished the spoon back and forth.
"Despite Rebekah's absence we haven't had any decline," Elijah commented after taking a small sip from his tea while holding the saucer under the cup. His perfect manners never failing, "Detroit's profits are actually rising. Miss Forbes is great with numbers and quite creative."
"I have noticed," Klaus said as he typed.
"It is a good thing she is on our side," Elijah eventually said and put his cup down. "Given the time and the experience she will be a force to be reckoned with," he predicted, "As Kol would say. She has the blood for it if not the heart."
Klaus' fingers stilled on the keyboard. The fact that Elijah would go as far as to mention Kol to him spoke volumes.
Fine. He got his attention. If that was what it took to get rid of him faster.
He pushed down the laptop lid, pushed away the device and laced his fingers on top of the glass table surface.
"Where are you driving at Elijah?"
Elijah stared at him solemnly before he rose from his seat and buttoned his shirt again. Klaus watched him as he turned around and walked at the balcony's marble balustrade.
The elevated patio was overseeing the gardens. This why Klaus had chosen to work here today.
Elijah watched at the distance and saw what Klaus had been glancing at constantly.
Marcel and Caroline were helping Rebekah walk through the gardens. Next to them was one of Rebekah's nurses and her physiotherapist. Rebekah's recovery was slow and strenuous and demanded a lot of exercise and effort. It would be a long time until she would be able to reach a full recovery.
Klaus couldn't see Elijah's expression but he could see the tension on his shoulders and his rigid stance.
"You know she stays by your side out of gratitude and guilt," Elijah said and Klaus' jaw clenched.
However, his voice was steady.
"I know."
He didn't let any emotion show. He sounded as if he didn't care.
He shouldn't care. He got what he wanted. He got more than he wanted. He had everything.
And yet-
'I have nowhere else to go.'
Caroline echoing words haunted him.
He just couldn't understand why. This wasn't that different from when she had asked his protection. That has been their deal. She had nowhere else to turn back then either and he had snatched the opportunity and never looked back. This was who he was. This was who he always had been. Selfish. Unredeemable. Greedy. As long as his needs were met and he got what he wanted he never cared for anyone else but himself.
'I have nowhere else to go.'
His fingers balled to a tight fist.
His brother turned around and gave him a questioning look. He was solemn but his concern seemed genuine.
"Is this the way you want her Klaus?"
Klaus exhaled slowly through his nostrils forcing himself to remain in control.
'I have nowhere else to go.'
"As long as she remains by my side why should I care about how I get her to stay?" he shrugged and Elijah smiled at him. It was a smile of pity and put Klaus' teeth on edge. He felt the need to let his temper out. To destroy and ravage and burn the world to cinders.
"You care."
Klaus didn't dignify Elijah's assumption with a response. He gave his brother an unimpressed look meant to ridicule this foolish declaration but Elijah was not deterred.
"For the first time you care for someone outside our family," Elijah stated and Klaus could see there was nothing he could do to destroy his belief.
It would be pointless anyway. It would be like denying gravity.
When it came to Caroline he was transparent and that was one of his worst weaknesses. It made him want to lock her up and never let her out. He wanted to hide her from the world and keep her only for himself. He wanted to make sure no one else would see how she was his Achilles heel. That way no one would be able to ever use her against him. That way he would be able to sleep at nights again.
Klaus remained silent but the concern in Elijah's eyes grew.
Elijah stepped closer to the table and leaned over it. His palms resting on the glass. His arms extended. His gaze leveled with Klaus'.
"Two nights ago Caroline oversaw one of Marcel's interrogations with me," Elijah said. His grave voice forewarned of nothing good, "she didn't even flinch. She only asked more questions."
Klaus clenched his jaw.
"When Marcel disposed of the bodies she returned to check on the club renovations and ordered the hit for two more storages that served as Finn's hideouts without caring for the collateral damage," Elijah carried on before he made a poignant pause only to add a few moments later what he expected to shock him. "At all."
Klaus understood what Elijah meant. Caroline's instructions created more collateral damage. Something she knew it would happen and yet gave the order anyway.
And the fact that she did it now meant that she was ready. She was ready to take her place in the chain of command. This was a message for him. Caroline knew Elijah would report back to him. She made it so that the court was in his own court now. It was time for the truth to come out.
Klaus leaned back in his chair and his expression was blank of emotion. Elijah was sounding an alarm but the sound wasn't as deafening as his brother would have hoped.
"There have been three civilian casualties we had to cover up but she didn't even blink," Elijah pressed with urgency trying to break through to him, "she only oversaw the cover-up."
Klaus said nothing. He only saw past Elijah. He stared at Caroline as she was holding his sister from the waist encouraging her to take one more step. To move forward. To stand on her own feet.
To rise. To win. To survive.
...
A few months earlier
"This will definitely leave a scar."
Klaus shrugged not bothering with what she had just said but Caroline was fussing.
She was helping him change his bandages. By helping he meant that she took over the whole procedure and acted as if he was an invalid.
He didn't mind her care despite how he had already told her that it wasn't the first time he had been shot. It would probably not be the last either. He knew the drill.
Whenever he reminded her that it earned him one of her adorable glowers as she kept checking his wounds over and over for any sign of infection.
Vaughn had missed his femoral artery by a hair's breadth. And Caroline was obsessing over it. Of course, the fact that he had almost bled out on her hands and she had to carry him out wasn't helping his case any.
Sometimes he felt as if she was chasing after him with new dressings and antibiotics. She had hidden every bottle of alcohol she could find much to his dismay because she found everything.
She was stern and harsh attitude wise but her hands and care were soft and gentle.
Caroline Forbes could destroy a saint's patience and he was not a saint by far. She was suffocating him and he would never admit to anyone that despite her neurotic behavior he had become comfortable with her ministrations. He loved getting pampered by her. He had never lived anything similar before. And maybe he would be enjoying it more if she would let him touch her and make love to her but until she was convinced that his wounds would not get irritated and possibly reopen she was keeping him at an arm's length.
His eyes now followed her. Her gaze was locked on his arm, her hands focused on the task. He leaned forward wanting to inhale her in, to take in that alluring fragrance that was so very Caroline and he wanted to commit to it memory. He wanted her scent to stick on him. He wanted to carry it everywhere he went. Like a brand.
Caroline lifted her gaze and met his. She had felt him move and she noticed the abrupt intake of his breath.
"Are you in pain?"
"You have no idea sweetheart," he flirted with her in a low voice and his lips curled at the blush that spread on her cheeks despite the way she rolled her eyes.
Caroline tried to get up but he pulled her on him. He made her sit on his uninjured leg despite the glare she gave me.
"You can't do that! Be careful!" she protested afraid that her weight could hurt him.
She tried to get up but he only held her tighter refusing to let her go.
"Is it wise Caroline?" he pondered out loud making her frown, "telling me what I can or can't do," he warned her, his mouth close to her ear and was pleased to see how she was not unaffected either. Desire flowed between them. Always, "especially where you are concerned, love."
"Klaus-"
"Really love," he purred biting her earlobe gently in the way he knew would turn her on and the way she shivered in his arms made him smile against her heated skin that now pulsed in a wild throb, "not a smart thing to deny me what I desire the most. I want you, Caroline. With me."
"I am right here," she whispered and at the breathless echo of her voice, he pulled back just enough to look at her and his eyes darkened. His thumb fingered the fading bruise on her cheek and he wished he could kill Logan Fell all over again. This time more brutally. This time he'd make him suffer more.
"Are you?" he wondered and Caroline became a block of ice in the circle of his arms.
Klaus' lips turned to a pale line when he heard her sigh. She pushed his hands away and got up. She was unsteady for a moment there and that alone made him grab his shirt from the mattress so harshly that he almost tore the fabric.
Caroline put some distance between them and he couldn't have hated it more.
He clenched his teeth and pulled his shirt over his back and shoulders, not flinching at the sharp pain that passed through his wounded arms.
He started buttoning the shirt as Caroline smoothed her hair back while she paced back and forth.
He got up not minding the pain he felt when he stepped closer to her. He wasn't even limping. He pushed past the pain.
After all, pain only meant that he was alive.
He didn't want to pressure her but he was ready to commit any crime, any sin, any action imaginable to keep her by his side. One way or another.
Caroline rotated her body and she found herself just an inch away from his body. She lifted her chin and her eyes held the kind of defiance and determination that had made him fall for her in the first place.
"It is over."
He froze. He couldn't move. He couldn't breathe.
His defenses were lowered against her and the despair and anger that rose were ready to consume him and everyone around him.
But Caroline rested her palm on his cheek and her caress was soothing. He leaned against her touch. It tamed the beast inside him.
"Our deal is over," she whispered and Klaus cupped her hand with his. He couldn't let her go. And yet he couldn't speak. He couldn't utter a word. Because he knew that if she wanted him to let her go he would.
"I am willing to strike a new one."
Klaus stared at her in awe. From all the things he had expected.
His head tilted more in her touch and his eyes searched hers. There was something dark in the depth of that green shade he hadn't seen before.
Caroline dropped her hand and he felt the absence of her touch. He felt cold.
"I don't need or want your protection anymore," she declared and Klaus narrowed his eyes. His instincts were waking up and firing signals of danger left and right. He didn't know what to make of this. The only thing he knew was that he had never gotten such vibes from Caroline before.
It was a sinister feeling and it called to him. Even more than her light. He found himself drawn. It was so magnetic and yet it made him feel as if he was standing at the precipice of chaos.
Klaus watched her face again. This time the bruises she carried didn't provoke anger or sadness in him.
This was Caroline's pride. In the same way, pain made him alive. In the same way, he survived so did she and this was nothing but a battle scar.
She rose from her ashes and now he was facing another creature. One that was not here to negotiate or compromise.
"What do you want then?" he questioned carefully feeling as if he was treading dangerous waters and watched Caroline with caution as she prowled closer. He felt like prey and the predator had his heart. It was beating outside his chest and now its captor had a smile that triggered a fire inside him that promised him of things none of them had experienced before.
They could have the world. They could ravage it, they could own it, they could burn it and watch the flames. They could have everything. From devastation to glory. They could have the stars.
Should she want it. Should she claim it.
And with an intimate kiss and a whisper against his lips she did.
"I want all in Klaus."
Klaus thrummed his fingers on the glass.
The memory was as vivid as was the payoff of his new deal with Caroline that Elijah was only just starting to experience in all of its devastating glory.
And this was only the beginning.
"I know all this Elijah," Klaus' lips curled to an unsettling smile before he simply drawled, "I was the one that gave her the green light to make such decisions. In fact, I've given her unrestricted autonomy to do as she pleases."
Elijah Mikaelson frowned at Klaus' revelation. At the fact that he would allow Caroline such power and so many liberties.
Most people believed that Caroline was nothing else but a mediator for him. As alien as her interference was it was nothing but a whim to them. Inconsequential at best.
For them, she was just a pretty mouthpiece and he just allowed her to play around and have some harmless fun until things would get back to normal in the way they were before the shooting. While in the meantime he was using his mistress as a cover-up for PR and making her a mindless soundboard. Her presence was trivial.
Those closest to him like Marcel and Elijah had been ready to be kind to Caroline's ignorance and her attempt to recover from her ordeal while becoming one more pawn they could use. One he was using too for convenience.
On the other hand, those that were not that close to him saw Caroline as nothing but a fluke or an insignificant blonde toy. They underestimated her while she was digging their graves with a smile and a giggle.
Fools. All of them alike.
It was right then that Klaus saw his brother finally connecting the pieces.
Klaus smirked at the crack that appeared in Elijah's perfect armor. It was very rare for anyone to catch Elijah Mikaelson off guard and yet the slight narrowing of his eyes showed that he wasn't as composed as he'd like others to believe.
That was probably because Elijah now understood what was left untold and Klaus didn't bother denying it. He hadn't given anyone the slightest warning and now Elijah was in front of a fundamental change. One he didn't know how to cope with.
Klaus gave a definitive nod to Elijah that now straightened his spine as if he had swallowed a burning rod.
This was happening for months under Elijah's nose and he hadn't seen it.
Klaus, for months now and in privacy, had taken Caroline under his wing and had been training her as he had once done with Rebekah, Kol, Stefan, and Marcel. More than that he was also letting her fly on her own, testing her in dark waters leaving on her own to either sink and drown or swim and emerge victorious.
The fact that no one else knew what was going on meant that no one could set traps to Caroline or…help her in any way. She was on her own.
And many times both he and Caroline had gone undercover on their own. It was the only way for her to truly learn.
And Klaus wasn't just allowing Caroline to participate. He was grooming her. He was preparing her to rule.
Elijah sucked a breath when he realized that Klaus intended to give Caroline Kol's position. And that as a starting point.
In a way, it was fitting. Kol had given his life for Caroline. To save her. To ensure her survival. So now she would step in his shoes and fill the void he had left behind.
It was an honor and…punishment. Because Kol had died for Caroline and there was a price to pay for that loss. And it would be everlasting.
Elijah watched Klaus almost horrified now as he realized that Caroline Forbes was now more than the mistress of the King.
Klaus was giving to Caroline power that only belonged to a Mikaelson. To one of them. To…family.
Only in Elijah's eyes, this wasn't a fate that suited the girl. It was damnation. And should Klaus damn Caroline in such destiny both of them would be lost.
Despite his ruthless pragmatism Elijah Mikaelson was a romantic where his family was concerned and Klaus knew that deep down Elijah would only see him as his little brother. The brother that was in dire need of redemption.
Klaus almost laughed at the stunned away Elijah looked at him. There was so much worry and fear in that look.
Yes. Elijah was right to be afraid.
Klaus has been the King for a long time and was now set in creating his own Queen of darkness but Elijah with his moronic dreams of redemption always expected Caroline to pull him to the light instead of him pulling her in the dark.
And now he was seeing all of his hopes destroyed as Caroline took her place by Klaus' side instead of pulling him to hers.
Elijah was afraid he was corrupting her but he failed to see what lied underneath his nose.
Caroline had taken the reigns of her own destiny now. She was in control and he only gave her what she needed to continue being in control.
Truth was that first, even Klaus had his doubts. But they all disappeared when he realized how good Caroline was. It had been a revelation. He already knew how clever she was but she truly had a knack for this. She was good. A natural. In time she could become almost as good as him. If not better.
Caroline lacked the sadism and cruelty but she made up for that with brilliance and unyielding determination. She was strategic, clever and insightful. She was a neurotic control freak but that made her focus on every detail. She was a perfectionist and was unpredictable in the way she brainstormed. She could outmaneuver anyone should she put her mind to it. Caroline Forbes was able to think outside the box. She had been a pawn but that was due to circumstance because she truly wasn't one by nature. Caroline was seeing the strings and was able to move them in every player. She was a puppeteer. One that most people underestimated which was their fatal weakness.
Out of all the people he had mentored Caroline was one of the best if not the best. In another league altogether. Her potential was breathtaking.
Caroline Forbes was taking all the pain she had endured and all the blood that had swallowed her and was creating darkness and light out of it.
She started by taking Rebekah's responsibilities in Detroit. It was a temporary situation much to Rebekah's dismay. But it would continue to be so until his sister would recover and would be able to resume her responsibilities again.
Rebekah's and Caroline's rivalry hadn't changed in its core but Caroline had stood by Rebekah's side and by their family now that they needed her the most and Klaus could see that this earned Rebekah's begrudging respect. He was afraid that Rebekah would hate Caroline more and blame her for Kol's death and maybe in a way she did but at the same time, Rebekah never had a friend or a sister. She never had another girl to hold her hand when she was down. To encourage her. To bathe her. To help her with her makeup and to make her look good while she was still in the hospital. Caroline did all that and more.
And after he had allowed Rebekah's relationship with Marcel to flourish his sister was grateful and was capable of showing more leniency to Caroline that supported her romance with Marcel as if it was a fairytale story.
Caroline and Rebekah had started bonding. It was a tentative start but Caroline was smart enough to entice Rebekah by asking her advice on every decision she had to make when it came to Rebekah's division.
Caroline was not only taking his lessons at heart but she was running her ideas with Rebekah and looked up to her. Sometimes she was even going to his sister before she would come to him which instilled a sense of importance and pride in Rebekah that Caroline was totally taking advantage off.
Klaus could see what Caroline was doing and he always wanted to laugh at how conniving and wily she could be to get her way.
Caroline was a manipulator. The more she cultivated that trait of hers the strongest it was becoming. Her devious personality was a sight to behold as was her joy when she was succeeding at the tasks he was handing at her.
Seeing her clap and jump up and down when she helped him with his deals and shipments and upped the numbers was adorable despite the fact that at the end of the day most of the things she did were illegal.
She was helping Marcel and Elijah with the numbers and the practicalities and was using her organization skills. She was unstoppable. Gory details and all.
And she was good at it. So good.
More so she was enjoying herself in ways he hadn't see coming. In fact, she was renewing his own excitement and made everything a challenge that thrilled him.
Caroline thrived in his world and it didn't terrify her. She had power. Close to absolute power. And eventually, she could achieve even that. In time. With him.
Klaus' only worry had been that she would realize that the path she had chosen while gave her freedom it still lacked the sense of freedom she had once wanted and wished for and a part of him couldn't help but wonder if this was the kind of freedom still parts of her missed. It didn't look as if that was the case though.
And yet he was afraid that she had learned to lie with the truth all too well. She had learned how to manipulate and evade and who was to tell him she wasn't doing that with him too?
No.
He wouldn't think like that. His sleepless nights would never end if he got himself sucked in that suspicious way of thinking.
There has always been a complicated honesty between them and despite his paranoia, he found that he had faith in that. He believed and trusted Caroline.
He had never felt like this before. If anything this was new territory for him. He was treading uncharted waters and in that way, Elijah was right to be concerned.
The chair rattled when Elijah dragged it and carefully sat on it. Klaus watched as his brother straightened the white napkin that was placed next to his stainless tea cutlery.
Elijah was trying to gather his thoughts.
He eventually schooled his features to an unreadable mask. An ability of his Klaus almost envied.
"Why?" Elijah asked and Klaus faced his brother's sharp focus. The one that was like getting an x-ray. A very dangerous lethal x-ray where your life depended on its outcome.
Klaus reached for the pencil next to his notes and tapped it on the table while never taking his eyes from Elijah.
"She asked me to," he shrugged waving off his brother's concern while not showing how his third degree of interrogation annoyed him. But he wouldn't allow Elijah to see how much this bothered him.
Elijah arched his brow and hummed as if he had gotten the answer he wanted.
Only Klaus knew his brother's tactics all too well. This was just a prelude before he would twist his knife deep where it would hurt the most.
And so he did.
"Out of choice or obligation?"
The rhythmic tapping of the pencil against the glass surface of the table stopped.
Klaus felt Elijah's poison infiltrating the best of his defenses. His brother astute way of seeing right through him was convenient when they could silently communicate and play their enemies but in such instances, it tempted Klaus to limit his siblings to just one sister and be done with it. Elijah knew it but he didn't seem to care.
Klaus refused to take the bait despite the fact that this particular bait was one of the reasons as to why he couldn't sleep at night.
This wouldn't do.
He wouldn't be weak.
Elijah wasn't the only one who knew how to compose himself. Klaus was trained to do so too if the situation called for it.
So he shot Elijah a glance devoid of all emotion.
"Does it matter?" he evaded and it was a struggle to remain impassive at the taunting smirk Elijah gave him.
"You tell me."
Klaus gripped the pencil so hard. He almost broke it in half. The crunching sound the stick made in his hand elicited a challenging response from Elijah that arched his brow and waited.
"I tire of your games brother," Klaus spat and threw the pencil on the table as he got up and turned his back on Elijah.
He didn't leave.
He walked to the balcony's rail. His eyes were solely focused on Caroline. She was laughing at something Marcel had said. Even Rebekah was smiling despite the painful efforts she was making with each step she was taking.
Caroline's dedication into helping Rebekah was admirable but he knew better.
There was lingering guilt underneath the surface. Elijah called it obligation. Klaus could see that for Caroline it was a sense of accountability. She saw herself as a liability and was trying to fix herself. She was answering for her crimes. In a macabre way of entering a life of crime to ease her conscience. This would be ridiculous if it wasn't so infuriating.
Caroline was indeed a revelation to him. There were not enough superlatives to describe her. But despite the strides, she was making she was coping in the wrong way.
Kol had died for her and Caroline felt responsible. He had protected her too and even though their deal was over and even though she repaid him by killing Vaughn deep down Klaus could tell that she still felt that she owed him.
Killing Vaughn had killed something inside Caroline. It also started a chain reaction.
It wasn't only obligation. It wasn't even guilt. Caroline was in a free fall. She had let go. And he let her because as she was falling she was falling straight into his world. Into his hands. And he knew there would be no going back once she would pass the point of no return.
And so he was letting her fall. It was her choice after all.
Only it wasn't.
Not in the state her mind was. This was what Elijah was trying to make him see.
Klaus wasn't influencing her decisions but in a way, he was and he wanted to scream as he felt that in that way he was the one that Caroline shouldn't trust and it wasn't the other way around.
They had always been a certain kind of honesty between them but was he honoring it now?
Klaus closed his eyes. Even watching Caroline was painful.
Her light was fading.
His heart skipped a beat when Elijah gripped his shoulder. This wasn't a game. Elijah was becoming his pillar of strength now but he couldn't help him.
He was lost. He had been lost for such a long time. And anything he touched would lose its way too.
"Brother. Don't do this," Elijah reasoned with him in a soft voice.
This was a warning. A pleading. Elijah was becoming the voice of his conscience. It made his insides turn to lava. He was trapped in an inferno of his own making. The fires were licking his very soul setting it on fire and each passing day was becoming more excruciating than the one before.
Klaus' head hung down. He had won. So why was he defeated?
Elijah's squeezed his shoulder comfortingly. Like he used to do when they were kids.
"I won't take this choice away from her," Klaus said in a low voice that almost didn't make it out of his lips.
"Even if it's wrong?"
"Even then," he admitted feeling as if the world had turned so small that didn't have any more air to give him. He was suffocating.
Elijah sighed and let him go. He then took a step and stood by his side.
"Best to give her a real choice then," Elijah advocated for Caroline and Klaus felt his chest tightening.
He tried to strangle all those toxic feelings. To make them go away. He used to be able to do this so easily in the past.
How hard would it be to pretend once more?
Why would he care if caring would not get him what he wanted?
He was always a heartless bastard after all. This is what he did.
Only…Caroline wasn't. They were the same but she wasn't like him. Not yet. She wasn't that far gone yet.
Yet.
But if she didn't stop, if he wouldn't stop her, she would be. Maybe not today, or tomorrow but eventually she would.
Klaus watched Caroline again.
Did he want a heartless Caroline by his side?
Truth is he wanted her in any version of her. He'd cherish her anyway. She'd be brilliant anyhow. He wouldn't mind and there was always going to be a heart left in her.
But he couldn't shake away the nagging feeling he had.
...
Flashback
"But when all is said and done your forever is me becoming the mistress of the King and I do not deserve this. You know I don't," Caroline urged him and then took in a sharp breath expecting from him a truthful answer.
"So can you tell me that there will be a day that you will be able to give me more than this?"
...
Klaus stared at the way the sunlight bounced on Caroline's hair. It was as if she was catching all the light. She was taking it in. She was bathed in it.
"I do not deserve this… You know I don't."
"You have a choice to make too brother."
Elijah's counsel had his best interest in mind but it still hurt.
"You have seen the danger she is in already but that's not even what matters here," Elijah told him solemnly, "this life can kill one's soul. It should be her choice to stay by your side without anything influencing her decision."
Klaus said nothing but Elijah wasn't done trying to save not only Caroline but his soul too.
"She deserves this brother," Elijah pressed knowing that if Klaus would yield it would be only for Caroline's sake, "and so do you."
"I do not deserve this. You know I don't."
Elijah's words collided with the echo of Caroline's words and it drove him mad. There was no rhythm or rhyme in the way every memory and every desire, every longing and guilt assaulted him at once driving him insane.
All voices seized when Caroline turned around and their gazes met through the distance. He swallowed down hard. The corner he was in just became all the more tighter.
And then…all it took was a heartbeat and he was free.
The brilliant smile Caroline gave him was like a spell that broke every curse that was ever cast on him.
There really wasn't a choice to make was there?
Caroline had made her choice.
And so had he.
He just hadn't realized it. Not until now.
...
We can't look back for nothing
Take what you need, say your goodbyes
I gave you everything
And it's a beautiful crime
This darkness is the light
...
Song: Tamer - "Beautiful Crime"
Author's Note: Songbird is slowly coming to an end. There are two chapters left, one from which will be the epilogue. Thank you for reading and supporting this story for so long.