Chapter 23: Hate in her eyes

Caroline fought her sleep as the car moved forward. They landed in New York a few minutes ago and were headed to Bonnie and the others. They needed a plan before they went back to Mystic Falls. Thanks to her phone call they now knew that Rayna was holding Damon Captive until the phoenix stone was returned to her. She feared what would happen if they gave her the stone and not just because she was marked.

Soon after her phone call from Rayna she received an equally terrifying call from Tristan de Martel, making the same threats as Rayna. He wanted the stone or he would kill Enzo if he didn't get it. It was an impossible choice to make. She and Damon hated each other. He used her when she was human, made her feel like she was useless but over the years they had formed a tentative bond.

Enzo on the other hand was her friend. She was weary of him at first. She had no idea what he wanted from them or whose side he was on but eventually he too became family. He helped protect her and for that she was grateful to him.

She was brought out of her thoughts as a pain coursed through her arms. Caroline shifted in the front seat of the car. She didn't want to tell anyone about why she really desiccated because she knew they would worry and because she herself had no idea what the hell was happening to her. "Are you alright, love?" Klaus asks, taking his eyes off the road to look to her with concern etched across his face.

Ever since he found her lying on the ground half desiccated he had never left her side, watching her intently as though she would disappear if he looked away. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little pain" she lied – the truth was she was in a lot more pain than she was letting on -and that does nothing to settle him. "Maybe she should get you to a hospital or I can call Freya" he says. "I'm pregnant Klaus and human which means I do feel pain sometimes" she teases.

Klaus looked her over curiously. He knew that she was lying. That she was suffering in silence. He told Bonnie and Freya about it before they got on the plane. They said it was probably something to do with the babies and that they could check it out. Caroline had a month to go in her pregnancy but babies came early all the time and from his experience anything could happen in a supernatural pregnancy. He was not about to take any chances. He was not going to lose her. He couldn't.

He takes her hand and squeezes gently. "We'll be there soon" he says comfortingly. Caroline takes their still interlocked hands and kisses the back of his. She shifts to get comfortable in the seat and looks out of the mirror on her side. She sees Elijah, Hayley and Alaric driving behind them. She takes a calming breath and lets the darkness take over, even if it's just for a few minutes.

When she wakes she is in a garage. "We're here love" Klaus says gently. She looks around to see Elijah pulling up next to them. The garage was expansive and housed all kinds of sleek and beautiful cars. If the garage looks like this, she couldn't help but wonder what the inside must look like.

Her excitement was short lived however, when she remembered the circumstances under which they were here. She couldn't help but wonder though, what it would be like for her and Klaus to come back when the world wasn't crumbling down around them. Just the two of them. They could explore the city and he could tell her about the history – supernatural and normal. She would drag him on a shopping spree. He would be annoyed at first but it would be worth it to see the smile on her face. They could have lazy mornings and he could show her his paintings-because he had to have one or two hanging in the city.

All of it seemed so distant to her. Like happiness was nothing more than a fantasy. But she knew that even in the darkest times she had to stay positive. They had to fight for the eternity they wanted to live.

Going into the house, Caroline enters the huge foyer. There is a table with flowers on it and two staircases that wrap around and join together at the top and yet again she was amazed. The house was bigger than the one in Mystic Falls and looked much more modern. "I take it you like the house, love" Klaus says, coming up behind her. "This place is huge" she squeals excitedly. "If you like this then you should see the one in Paris. It has an amazing view of the Eiffel Tower that you would just adore" he replies. "Well then you just have to take me there to see it" she smiles and moves closer to him.

He strokes her cheek gently and moves a piece of her hair behind her ear. "I promise you" he says and captures her lips with his. He moves her against a wall and kisses her more deeply. He moves from her mouth to her neck, kissing the column of the throat. Caroline's head was spinning. Klaus' hands coupled with her hormones were driving her utterly insane. The moan that she let out only urged him on. His hands move under the lose top she was wearing and on her breasts.

Klaus moves back to her lips and kisses her. He slows his frantic pace and it takes everything in him to stop. "As much as I would love to continue this sweetheart, we have people waiting for us" he smirks and she glares at him. "Tease" she retorts. She knows he's right but a part of her is slightly annoyed. Okay, maybe a little more than slightly.

He guides her up the steps and through the east wing to what she guessed was his room. It was big with a king size bed on one end and a book shelf on the other. She briefly wonders what type of books he reads. The room was seeped with light which made it look timeless. "Alaric has brought your bags out of the car" he says as he moves to the adjoining walk-in closet. She moves to follow him and is once again astonished by it. It was the size of her bedroom back home in Mystic Falls.

Klaus moves to remove his Henley and turns to grab a fresh one. He turns in time to see Caroline gawking at him. "See something you like, sweetheart" he says with a sinful smirk plastered on his face. "You don't get to be all smirky at me. You're the one who stopped our foyer activities. Besides, my hormones are driving me crazy" she points a finger at him in warning. He chuckles at her antics. "Well love you know I always follow through. Which is unfortunately only after we meet with Bonnie and the others" he kisses her forehead. "And when will that be" she says feigning annoyance. "Right now" he says and leads her out of his room and back the way they came.

He leads her into the- surprise surprise - huge living room when she sees everyone. Bonnie moves toward her first and wraps her up in a hug. "I was so worried about you" she says. "I'm fine Bon. I was more worried about you guys" Caroline says, looking around the room. Everyone seems tense. Marcel is glaring daggers at Freya and Freya and Stefan are looking at her with looks that she can't quite determine. "We're all fine. Nothing we cant handle" Bonnie says and moves back to her place. She moves toward Stefan and gives him the same treatment but adding a "we'll get them back" because she knows he's worried about his brother. They've spent years together and then apart but the Salvatore's will always look out for each other.

She turns to see Klaus finish greet his other siblings with hugs and a kiss to the cheek- to Rebekah and Freya- and a handshake- to Kol. "It's good to see you all alive but some one please tell me how the hell they got to all of you" Klaus says in an almost growl, getting down to business. They needed to get a plan in order. "Well brother, since you asked so nicely, we were tracking down the grimore when Rayna Cruz quite literally jumped out of no where and attacked us. We have no idea how. Especially considering we were cloaked. There was no way she would've been able to find us. We barely got away" Kol says and moves his shirt a little to show the mark on his chest. A mark that Caroline knew all to well. A mark that she has on the same spot of her chest.

Everyone one in the room was silent. Klaus looked enraged while Freya and Rebekah looked afraid for their brother and Elijah looked on in sympathy. Caroline could see the guilt in his eyes. He was the elder brother and yet he could not protect his siblings when it mattered the most. She saw Hayley squeeze his hand tighter, no doubt noticing the looks in his eye like she did.

"She came after me. She wanted to kill me but Kol jumped in the way" Bonnie provided and explanation as to how Rayna got to him. "She was strong" Kol adds, " I have no doubt she can take us down."

Klaus, who remained quiet, while listening to Kol and Bonnie's explanations finally looked at them. Caroline saw the sorrow in his eyes at knowing his brother was marked. Kol was the wild card. Always getting himself into trouble. From when they were human and Kol climbed the highest tree in their village and couldn't get down to when they turned and he wanted to face Mikael instead of running – which resulted in him almost getting staked. Klaus and Elijah were always there to pull him out of the fire. "We will not let you spend your eternity running from her like we did with our father. We will face this together" Klaus says determinedly, looking at him and Caroline. "Well lucky for us we already have the answer we need" Kol says, moving past the brotherly moment. He was never the touchy-feely type anyway.

Kol pulls out an old dusty looking book that was lying on the floor. "Behold. The grimoire we need to stop Rayna Cruz" he says dramatically. "How'd you get it?" Marcel speaks for the first time since they entered the room at his place from the far corner. "We tracked down the linage of the shamans that did the spell. The man who had it was a bit of trouble but once we explained that we wanted to right the wrong of his ancestors, he gave it to us" Bonnie explains. "The spell that was used on Rayna was difficult to do and the one we need to destroy her is even more so. I need the stone and her sword. Once it's destroyed then she will be too" Bonnie ends.

This was dangerous Caroline thought. How were they supposed to get Rayna's sword without getting killed. If she could take on Kol with ease then how did they stand a chance? "So what's our plan?" Rebekah asks." We need the phoenix stone" Alaric says and everyone looks to her. She's been denying that she has the stone for so long and it is partly true so they can't be that mad at her. "It's in Mystic Falls. I left it in a safe place" Caroline says, avoiding eye contact with Klaus.

Klaus knew she had the stone but to finally hear that she kept it from him out loud made him feel disappointed. Even though their relationship grew over the months she never told him where it was. His insecurity flared at the thought of her not being able to confide in him but he was quick to push it away. There were more important things to deal with. "What about Lucien" Elijah says, moving passed the moment of silence. "No" Marcel growls at Freya and everyone looks to them in confusion. "Before everyone got here Freya did a spell" Rebekah explains with sadness in her voice, "she essentially bound Davina to the house. The ancestors wanted her dead for helping us and killing their kind. As long as she's in the house she'll be fine but if she steps outside she'll be sucked back to the ancestral plane" she concludes.

"Where is she?" Caroline asks. She hasn't seen the teenager since they arrived. "Upstairs. She doesn't exactly want to be around anyone right now" Stefan answers her. "Maybe there's a way to bring her back….for good. A spell or something" Caroline urges Freya and Bonnie. She couldn't let an innocent person suffer. "There probably is" Marcel speaks with hatred in his eyes. "But Freya wants to leave Davina to fend for herself" he adds.

With a sigh Freya moves forward from where she was sitting to address everyone. Even with Marcel growling at her she looked nothing short of regal. She knew exactly who she was in the supernatural community. The long lost sister of the most dangerous family to walk the earth. "The New Orleans ancestors are powerful. I can siphon their power through Davina and use it to turn Lucien back to a normal vampire" she says. "I like Davina but Lucien is the biggest threat to all of us. We need to end him" she adds. "By sending a teenager to a fate worse than death!" Marcel screams and comes up to Freya. She stands toe to toe with him and shows no fear. "This cannot be our only option" he pleads. "There isn't another way and I will go through you if I have to" Freya growls back at him.

"Enough!" Klaus screams, gaining everyone's attention. Caroline look to Klaus to find him already looking at her. In the past she would have probably tried to talk him into making the right decision. She would have fought him tooth and nail if he didn't. But now she knew that he would. He has grown so much since his days in Mystic Falls and the good in him wouldn't allow him to let Freya go through with her plan. "We will find another way Freya" Klaus says in finality and she backs down immediately. Although no one catches the determined look in her eye.

They all go back and forth until hours later they finally leave the sitting room after coming up with a plan for how to deal with Tristan and Rayna. Lucien however was a different issue. Freya was left to look into another way to kill him and Bonnie was with Davina, trying to get her back to the land of the living permanently.

Klaus and Caroline retreated to their bedroom. With a heavy sigh she plops down on the bed. "You alright, love?" Klaus asks. "Would I be terrible if I said I can't wait for this pregnancy to over?" she replies with a rhetorical question. He chuckles at her and moves to sit next to her as she pushed herself up on the bed. "No, that would make you normal. You're almost there. Once this is done we'll leave and it will be just you and me" he soothes and moves a hand up her arm. "Is that what you want?" she asks. He sees the insecurity in her eyes and knows what he needs to say in order to sooth her fears. But he's still fearful of saying it. She will run and he will be left without her. 'No one will want you boy' the spectre in his head of his father rings loud and clear.

Before they have a chance to continue their discussion there is a knock on the door. With a heavy sigh Klaus tells whoever it is on the other end to come in. Bonnie pocks her head through the door. "Am I interrupting?" the witch asks.

"Yes" Klaus growls.

"No" Caroline say at the same time.

Bonnie stands hesitantly at the door look at both Caroline and Klaus. "Come on in" Caroline tells Bonnie while shooting an unamused look at Klaus. "What can we help you with, witch" Klaus smirks. "I need to talk to you both. I didn't want to say anything in front of anyone but this is serious" the look Bonnie gives Caroline is heart breaking. "What's going on Bon? You're scaring me" Caroline squeezes Klaus' hand as a way to sooth her fears.

Bonnie takes a deep, calming breath before she begins. "So when you desiccated Klaus asked me to look into why it happened" she starts. Caroline looks to Klaus for and explanation. "You and I both know that it wasn't Lucien's witches that put a spell on you. Vampires have never been pregnant before now and there never will be one again. We need to figure out what this is before I lose….." Klaus cuts himself off before he could finish his sentence. Caroline sighs in defeat. It was probably a stupid idea to keep it from him. He knows everything about her, knows all her tells. They look at each other for what felt like forever. Conveying how much they love each other. How much they couldn't lose each other. How they will have an eternity together because goddammit they deserve to have happiness.

But why did that seem so out of reach to her.

Bonnie cleared her throat just as there was another knock at the door. "Enter" Klaus says, his voice weak and almost broken. Alaric steps through and looks at them. "Sorry, Bonnie said she wanted to see us" he explains his appearance hesitantly. "Um, yeah I guess she has to tell us something about the babies" Caroline whispers. "Is everything okay?" he asks her and honestly how does she answer that.

Bonnie looks to Ric as he moves closer into the room. "I've been looking up Caroline's pregnancy. I couldn't find much obviously but I do know about the Gemini coven. There……There siphons,Care. They suck magic out of everything. You have magic in you" tears slip from Bonnies eyes.

"And there it is" Caroline whispers to herself, her voice hollow. She knew that there was a reason happiness seemed so far away. Even as a vampire she couldn't out run death and maybe she just wasn't meant to. She was supposed to die in that car accident but Damon healed her- even if it was for his own selfish reasons. She was never supposed to be here. "But if they siphon her then she'll just be a vampire again" Ric tells Bonnie, hoping he was right. "No…. " Caroline take a moment to compose herself. "No, magic made vampires. It's the same magic that runs through my veins. The same magic that they can siphon" Caroline's voice is almost inaudible. "I won't be a vampire...I'll be dead."

"Get out!" Klaus, who has been silent throughout says with a vicious growl. They look to him and see that he is speaking to both Bonnie and Alaric. They look to her with concern and she nods at them that she'll be fine. "Care, I…. I'm" Alaric begins but Klaus cuts him off. "I said leave, or you will find that your children will grow up without a father."

They both leave at Klaus' words. At the sound of the door closing he gets up from his place next to her and starts pacing. "Klaus" she says quietly, trying to get his attention but he doesn't hear her. With difficulty she moves off the bed and draws closer toward him. She puts a hand on his shoulder and turns him toward her and in that moment she has no idea what to say. There are no words that come to mind that she thinks will comfort him. She can't say it will be okay when she knows it will not. She can't tell him that there will be a plan when there is no time for one and even if there was there's never a guaranty that it will work and she will not have others suffer for her.

So Caroline does the only thing she can do. She wraps her arms around him and holds his shaking body as close as she can. He tries to pull away at first. He could pull away if he really wanted; after all he is much stronger than her. But he doesn't. He holds onto her with everything he has. How cruel his life turned out to be. Born to a father that didn't want him, to a mother that was ashamed of him. Ever since his mother cursed him, he thought all he wanted was to break his curse.

When he finally did, there was still something missing. He didn't realise it until he walked into her bedroom that night. He did didn't realise how tired he was of the darkness until he met her. Her light was all consuming, her bravery was astounding and in that moment Klaus knew that he couldn't let her die. In all his years he never knew anyone like her. With fierce loyalty and a heart of gold. He wanted to be a part of her light and now that he finally was, she was going to be ripped away from him.

No, he couldn't let this happen. Never the one to give up without a fight, Klaus steps away from Caroline to resume his pacing, missing the pained look in her eye at the abrupt move. There were always loopholes with magic. His daughter was proof of that. Hell, even this magical pregnancy was proof of that. "There has to be a way to save you" Klaus looks directly at her. "I won't lose you Caroline" he adds and moves closer to her.

Her heart beats rapidly in her chest. How could this happen. Now. When they were so close. But she knows there is no way out of this. "Klaus you heard Bonnie…." Caroline begins her voice barely a whisper as tears form in her eyes. "We'll speak with Freya. My sister is the oldest witch alive. She will know of a way" he all but growls out at her, not accepting that her fate is sealed.

"Klaus it's okay" Caroline begins, and now the tears are falling freely. "Maybe this was just meant to be. I mean I'm not even supposed to be alive right now. Maybe this was a part of god or the universe or whatever's plan for me" she ends. "You truly don't expect me to believe that do you, sweetheart. That you are just meant to be dead." Klaus growls at her. Why was she so willing to end her life and leave him alone? Did her life mean nothing to her? Did he mean nothing? "Don't you think if there was a way that Bonnie would have found it" she asks him. "You put too much faith in your friend. She is still young and has much to learn. She couldn't even sense that there was a binding spell on you" Klaus retorts. If they spoke to Freya then maybe she could find a way. Something that could make her strong enough to live through this pregnancy.

And it was with that line of thought that Klaus realises that there could be a way to make her stronger than she was in her human form. "You have a binding spell on you" Klaus looks to her with hope evident in his eyes. "Yeah, I know. What does that have to do with this?" Caroline questions, unable to connect the dots considering she had no idea how powerful werewolves truly were. Caroline –given her personality went into full on research mode after she came to terms with being a werewolf. She hounded both Klaus and Hayley about everything from what it was like to turn, to pack hierarchy and everything in between. But she would never truly understand. Not until she experienced it for herself.

"If we unbind you then you will be a hybrid. You will be strong enough to survive" he grabs hold of her shoulders, willing her to understand. "That….that won't work. I have the cure in my system and so does Elena and there is no way I'm going to hurt anyone just because I want to live" Caroline says firmly.

"You won't need Elena. The spell your grandfather put on you is not like the one my mother put on me. She wanted to punish us so she used doppelgänger blood. Elena was a fail safe. If she died hybrids would never be created. Your grandfather however was trying to help your family. All we would need is a werewolf and a vampire" Klaus urges her. "Yeah, a wolf and a vampire that we have to kill. I won't let anyone die for me" Caroline says determinedly. "Then you will die!" Klaus screams out to her, the gold in his eyes shining bright with anger and his tall frame hovering dangerously over her. "Then I will die" she screams back to him, "but I will not kill anyone just so I can live"

They both look at each other, their chests heaving in anger. Of all the things Klaus had imagined for her future, for their future, he did not think that this was what loving her would come to. That this was how they would end- with death. Without spearing her a second glance he turns to leave the room. "Where are you going?" Caroline calls after him with a trembling voice. He hesitates for only a second although for Caroline it would be the slowest second of her life. A second where they lived and lived for another thousand years. "We're done here" he says and slams the door behind him. Caroline falls to the floor, the tears are relentless as she cries for the life she wishes she could live and the love she knows she will have to let go of.

Klaus walks to the far corner of the house toward the library, searching for only one person. He pushes the doors open roughly startling the person in the other side. "We need to talk" he demands.

;KC;*

It takes forever but Caroline finally falls asleep, allowing the comfort of darkness take over her. She dreams of her mother that night. Although there is something about this dream that feels unmistakably different. She is back in Mystic Falls, sitting on the island in the kitchen as her mother burns their dinner. "You're terrible at that" she laughs. "Oh, and I suppose you can do better" Liz challenges playfully. "Probably" she smirks and hops off the island, walking toward the stove. They stay silent as Caroline tries to save their dinner. "I miss you mom" Caroline whispers, not looking away for the stove. "I know honey, I know" Liz strokes her hair. "But this is a part of life. Sometimes we lose people we love" Liz explains. "But they're always apart of who we are. We carry them with us through time. They shape who we become."

"Maybe I'll get to see you after I..." she stops herself. At least there is one upside to all of this Caroline thinks. "Oh honey" Liz looks at her daughter with sad eyes. "you have your whole life ahead of you. There is so much out their waiting for you. I love you so much and I am so proud of the woman you've but you won't be able to see me for a while. You have to go back sweetie" Liz cries.

There is a loud scream as Caroline wakes from her slumber. Without hesitation or thought of her odd dream she moves toward the door, paying no mind to the pain shooting through her arms. She moves as fast as as she can toward the study. When she gets there she sees Klaus on his knees clutching his head in pain. Elijah is on the opposite end of the room holding Marcel firmly against the wall while Bonnie looks to be trying to stop Freya from what ever she was doing. "Freya stop this!" Klaus yells to his sister.

At first the scene in front of Caroline didn't make any sense. But now it becomes clear as she looks at Davina's terrified face. Freya grabs hold of Davina and begins to chant as the young girl screams for Marcel. With one last look to Caroline, Bonnie steps into the circle. "No!" Caroline screams, moving forward trying to aid her friend. Klaus-having been released by his sister, grabs hold of Caroline to keep her away from danger. She struggles against him, screaming for Bonnie and Freya to stop. They look on as a Mikaelson and a Bennet go head to head. The room around them vibrates as Bonnie chants in defense of Davina. Their voices grow louder as the lightbulbs flicker and eventually shatter with a surge of energy. "I'm sorry" Freya says as a blinding white light engulfs both Bonnie and Davina.

A deafening silence follows as Caroline looks on at the empty space. Klaus lets go of her and all Caroline can can see is Freya. Her best friend is gone. She was innocent and yet she was ripped from this world far to soon. She can't bring herself to feel sadness or even grief. No all she can feel is an all consuming rage. Something she has never known she could feel. It's blinding and white hot and she lets the emotion root itself deep within her as she steps toward Freya with death in her eyes.