Some Angst

The Unmaking

She felt it.

Sitting in her car just outside the city limits of New Orleans, her head tipped back against the seat.

He was gone.

A tiny, hysterical giggle (sob) caught in her throat. Surely, it couldn't just be her that felt the change of his absence? The most powerful creature in the world, as he once said.

And all those years and miles between them: twisting and turning and slowly, elegantly going to twine their lives together.

All of that, so it could end like this.

Her fingers curled, white-knuckled around the steering wheel, her head tilting forward.

No.

She wouldn't let it.

For a woman that planned out the vast majority of her life, there was a distinct lack of such as she rushed to fix this-this travesty. It was a desperate, selfish feeling that swelled and consumed her from the inside-out. A feeling she couldn't call anything but love. Ironic considering how long she spent running from such a label.

But she knew with a deep, long buried instinct exactly what she could do, as though through a veil of dreams old knowledge and memories resurfaced. They had been lost to her for a long time. Not blackened and suppressed like compulsion, but rather dimmed to something forgettable and unimportant.

See, on her dresser there was a beautiful music box. She had carried it with her from her childhood home to her dorm and on and on to each place she lived. Subconsciously, she had held it close even when she had forgotten its meaning.

And while hers was white and gold and sleek lines, delicately painted and carved with flowers and butterflies, her father's had been a small, intricate thing. Burnished gold filigree and encrusted with tiny emeralds. It had led his heart to Steven, granted courage when he would have been cowed by small town judgement. Granted knowledge of how to protect all that he held most precious to him.

A vague niggling in her brain reminded her too of her grandmother's, her father's mother. How Nana's had been deceptively plain, though sturdily made of a handsome wood. Whatever gift it had granted to her, Caroline could not recall, but she knew each of the Forbes line, back and back across countless generations carried one with them until they needed it most.

Once more the irony was near overwhelming. It had not been the innumerable disasters and dramas of Mystic Falls that triggered her remembrance, but Klaus. Klaus and the wild, powerful emotions that dwelled in her heart.

The drive from NOLA back to Mystic Falls was a blur, a blitz down the highway that she could barely recall. And as if on autopilot, Caroline stepped purposefully toward her room once she arrived. To where the music box sat, as it always had.

With delicate fingers, she cracked open the lid and slowly wound its key. Listened to the clicks of the gears. And when she released it, magic sung through the air. It wound itself around her figure, the sheer force unmistakable for all that its touch was gentle. The world shuddered and shrunk around her. Time and space and reality itself unwoven. Threads pulled loose and returned to the ether, ready to be twined together once more.

The Reforging

When the world came back into focus, Caroline found herself stalking away from the school. The transition was extremely disorienting, expecting it or not, and she was thankful that the current (past?) version's memories were at the forefront of her mind.

Her eyes widened as she processed them, her body blurring into motion, a thousand thoughts whirling in her head. The cancellation of the 1980s Decade Dance, for all that it vexed this Caroline, would have been a mere blip on her radar. However, there was a different set of events that happened today. Events that she recalled far, far move vividly.

As she raced across town toward the Gilbert's house part of her was thankful for the essence of world altering magic that lingered within her. Not only did it grant her memories of The-Future-That-Never-Was (now at least, and hopefully never will be), but also her strength. And sure a decade or two extra meant little in the grand scheme of vampire strength, but right now any advantage helped.

Splitting her attention, Caroline fumbled for a moment to grab her phone as she ran, hesitated a split second before settling on texting Klaus. (Ignored what it meant that she had his old number memorized). She was fairly certain she could get the jump on her friends, considering this would be an utterly unexpected and seemingly out of character move. Still, it wouldn't do to accidentally alert more people's suspicions than she had to with a call. Klaus would certainly be challenge enough.

Said Hybrid was fuming in the cellar of the Salvatore's basement, only a fraction of his attention paid to snark at the elder Salvatore of all people. He was far more restless than he let on, sensing something was wrong, but not knowing what. Having long learned to trust his instincts, it was frustrating to be uncertain where to point them.

When his phone vibrated in his hand, he looked down eager for news, and saw the last person he expected to be texting him.

[Caroline Forbes] 4:12 PM: klaus this is caroline

[Caroline Forbes] 4:12 PM: get to the gilberts house

[Caroline Forbes] 4:12 PM: NOW

[Caroline Forbes] 4:12 PM: trust me pls!

He abruptly stopped talking as he peered down at his phone, wondering when Caroline learned his number, wondering if he could trust her as she requested. As she near begged him to really. And it was that note of pleading, present even through the pixels of his phone that settled the matter for him. Without so much as an acknowledgement or good-bye, unless one counted snapped necks, Klaus sped up the stairs.

Halfway to his destination, Klaus' phone rang, Kol's name on the caller ID. His eyes narrowed, instincts flaring, and he moved even faster as he answered the call.

"Well, if it isn't the happy homicidal maniac," he taunted, digging for the truth as he riled his brother.

His brother that was certainly not abiding by their normal script as he snarled back, "Did you know that your darling former blood bag and her brother are trying to kill me?"

"What?" He growled, the pieces easily falling into place with Caroline's own texts from mere moments before.

"Don't pretend like you're not in on it. Your obsession to find the cure clearly trumps any sibling loyalty you once felt."

There's so much Klaus wished to say, most of which he swallowed to save for their upcoming confrontation.

"You are an utterly reckless fool, Kol, but you are my brother first."

His words seemed to fall on deaf ears. "I'm going to rip off Jeremy's arm and kill Elena just for sport. Then I'm coming for you."

The call ended before Klaus can retort. Though with the house mere streets away he could hear the fighting. Once this little problem was dealt with, he and his brother could have a proper chat.

Caroline came disastrously close to colliding into Bonnie in her rush. Though it took little time to turn it into something fortuitous, memories of a spelled cage and a furious Hybrid in her mind. Offering up a mental apology, Caroline gently knocked the witch out, setting her down swiftly, but carefully on the Gilbert's front porch when she reached it.

Even from outside, Elena's, Jeremey's, and Kol's fighting was glaringly obvious. Sounds of their shouts and the destruction of furniture carried down from the upstairs. Caroline rushed in, all but flying towards the sounds of their conflict.

It was sheer luck that had her appearing as Kol vanished to chase Jeremey, Elena's head conveniently bowed as she struggled with the stake in her leg. Another mental apology and another unconscious friend later, and Caroline's obstacles were dropping by the second.

Thankfully, her luck continued to hold as she flashed after Kol and Jeremey .And when she came upon them Jeremy was still dazed as he was dragged upright by Kol. Being a Hunter and in an Original's grasp, Caroline couldn't afford to be as delicate as she was with Bonnie. She slammed the poor boy out of Kol's arms and used the momentum to smack his head onto the counter, being extremely careful not to kill him, though she feared he'd likely need some blood when he came to.

She then rapidly backpedaled as Kol snarled at her, confusion slightly softening his otherwise fierce expression.

"What is this?" He hissed. "Here to protect him? I'm afraid I can't allow that, Darlin'."

He took a menacing step towards her as she raised her arms in placation, even as she prepared to dodge his blow.

"Take another step and I'll tear out your liver."

Caroline didn't allow the sound of Klaus' voice to soften the wariness in her spine, no matter how much she longed to. She also didn't take her eyes off Kol, even as he turned to sneer at his brother in the doorway.

"Don't you have any original threats, brother. First daggers now my liver. Besides-" his slight pause was all the warning she had, and thankfully all the warning she needed. She just managed to dodge his blow, though he was uncomfortably close as he snarled, "you're not invited in."

Flashing closer to the entrance, she was able to hear every bit of menace in Klaus' voice. (If both monster and woman were a bit flattered by his protectiveness… well she ignored that for now too).

"Do you think I've forgotten how to dismantle a house until ownership means nothing, because I assure you, Kol, I have not."

Kol chuckled darkly. "And in the time it takes you to do so? What do you think shall happen to this tasty little thing, hm?"

Caroline still wasn't looking at Klaus, but she felt the way the air shifted. Suspected that his eyes were burning Wolf gold behind her.

"Nothing," he uttered with a frightening matter-of-factness, "if you don't wish to be begging for a dagger by the time I am through with you."

Something hateful shifted on Kol's face and despite how all her instincts screamed at her to stay silent, Caroline knew she could not. Not when they were on the verge of dangerous escalation.

"Enough!" She yelled, startling both brothers, for all that they were partially arguing about her. Steadied herself as both their regard shifted. "There are far more important things we should be discussing."

"Oh? And what things are those, Darlin'."

It was obvious Kol wasn't taking her seriously in the slightest. Irritating though unsurprising. That quickly changed when she uttered her next words.

"Things such as Silas."

There was a moment of stunned silence before both Mikaelson's spoke. Kol now serious and mildly suspicious. Klaus incredulous.

"However did a baby vampire from Mystic Falls learn anything of Silas?"

"Sweetheart, you can't believe such utter rot."

With both Originals now clearly hungry for answers and the mounting list of things Caroline knew she must do, she almost regretted stepping in to save Kol.

Almost.

For all that she had never met the man prior, despite the apparent witchy shenanigans involved in his resurrection, most people agreed that he was a bit of a psycho. And this demonstration certainly did nothing to help his case. However, he was also Klaus' brother, and Caroline well remembered the devastation on his face when Kol had died. How Klaus lashed out. How she was honestly stunned in retrospect that he hadn't massacred the town in vengeance. And more than that it was the right thing to do. If not for Kol than for the thousands of uninvolved vampires that would have dropped dead with him.

Still, all that didn't make what she needed to say, eventually needed believed any bit easier.

Caroline took a breath, dearly wishing to rub at the tension in her face, but knowing better than to drop her guard.

"Look, it's a long story and I'd rather not be here when my friends wake up. There'll be enough yelling as is, so if we could maybe move this little powwow elsewhere that would be great."

Caroline knew the two Originals could hear the tinge of exhaustion underlying her tone, watched as they leveled weighted glances at both her and each other. Thankfully, curiosity won out, and she could feel tension dissipating from the air. Eagerly, took the opportunity to duck out of the entryway, unable to help the way she relaxed ever so slightly now that no barrier stood between her and Klaus.

In fact, it was unconscious on her part that she settled at his side, the apparent oddity of it registering in her brain only when she felt the heavy weight of the Hybrid's gaze. She glanced up at him, reading the flickering of curiosity and suspicion in his eyes.

He voiced none of it though, gesturing her forward with a sweep of his arm. "After you, sweetheart, it seems we have much to discuss."

"Quite." Kol's voice was sharp and far closer than expected. "Do keep up, brother."

A growl sounded in the distance as wind rushed by her ears, Caroline's form stiff as the most unpredictable of the Originals yanked her across town. The world blurred by faster than her enhanced senses could track, and before she could get her bearings everything was abruptly still once more.

Caroline stumbled back a step from the Mikaelson Mansion's front entrance. Not even a split second later Klaus was there too, slamming his brother against one of the stone columns. He didn't say a word, perhaps the most frightening thing he could have done when every line of muscle and sinew screamed menace.

She could just make out Kol's face beyond Klaus, something savage, primal in his expression. His lips pulled back in a smirk and a bearing of teeth as he hissed something she couldn't understand. Clearly, it meant something to Klaus who froze for several long moments and then released his brother. Stepping back, he turned to look at her as if nothing had happened.

"Apologies, love. Please, come in."

She glanced between them warily. Of course nothing could be simple. She hadn't even begun to explain what made her situation complicated, let alone their display of a millennium of issues. Even so…

Caroline straightened her spine and walked in with her head held high.

There had been stilted silence as everyone brooded over their respective thoughts. The three of them settling in one of the sitting rooms, each swirling around potent alcohol in crystal glasses. With a bracing sip, Caroline set her glass down with a quiet clack, eyeing each brother who turned to look at her.

"So…what do you know of Silas?"

Kol lounged across a settee with all the grace and air of a panther as he regarded her with half-lidded eyes, his lashes doing little to hide their gleam. "No, no, sweetcheeks. The question is what do you know of Silas."

Klaus didn't voice his incredulity again, though it was painted clearly across his face. If only his disbelief could prove true.

Caroline sighed. "More than I'd like and unfortunately less than I need to." Before either Mikaelson could grumble about her non-answer, she continued. "Love triangles are apparently as old as the universe and their consequences decidedly more troublesome when magic is involved. Silas…he's somewhere around two thousand years old, twice as old as even you guys. Truly Immortal outside of Curing him and in possession of frighteningly powerful illusion and psychic abilities."

Even she could read the note of shock on Kol's face, though Klaus spoke before first.

"Caroline, you can't truly believe such nonsense?" He asked with a slight snort.

Her temper sparked, not having the patience to deal with his somewhat condescending dismissal. Especially not when she was right.

A sharp pivot allowed her to stare him down, eyebrows arched. "Nonsense, seriously? What makes his legend any less believable than yours? A thousand year-old werewolf-vampire hybrid? Sounds like the plot of the latest teen romance book."

His face had instantly contorted at her comparison, disgust clear. Though he also didn't have a strong rebuttal. "Wherever has he been then, Caroline? If you are so assured he exists, why has there been nary a trace in all this time?"

Her eyes flicked to glance at Kol, his expression intrigued, hungry even for the information and their quarrel. Looking back at Klaus, she met his eyes squarely. "If you ask your brother I'm sure he can tell you of all the traces there have been. But you want to know why there haven't been more. Simple, really. He did what most men do, something idiotic. Like going behind his partner's back and sleeping with another woman and pissing her off royally. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned and all that. Qetsiyah surely invented that expression." Caroline shook her head. "It's all quite convoluted and messy, really. But the short answer is she locked him away. Immortal, but dessicated."

Klaus was many things, but an idiot and a fool were never among them. Caroline's easy recitation of details lended credence to her story but also his suspicion. It certainly didn't help that the more time he spent in her presence the more he noticed how very unlike herself she was acting. Not just in knowing things he was quite sure she hadn't known the day before, but her mannerisms, her speech patterns. It was as if someone took all that was Caroline and moved it slightly to the left, similar, but off. Different.

So he skipped past the currently unimportant questions of who and how and why Silas was being freed from his eternal prison.

"As fascinating as this tale has been, love, I must ask, what happened to Caroline Forbes?"

She jolted at his unexpected question, the silken menace in his tone. A tone that had never been directed at her before, not really. And her stupid heart didn't know whether to feel fright in the face of it or flattered that he so rapidly noticed how different she was. Not that she had been particularly subtle, but it was more that there had been no doubt in his tone.

It made it the perfect moment to explain, explain everything. She needed to. But the words caught in her throat.

"What is she doing here?!"

Caroline almost broke into hysterical laughter. God, who knew a day would come when she would feel grateful to hear Rebekah's voice.