Author's note: Thanks for reviewing! So far, everyone seems on board with where we're heading; I'm excited to see what you think about this latest chapter!

There is a moment that happens, when adrenaline is coursing through your body and the uncertainty of survival leaves you momentarily vulnerable, where every emotion and thought running through your mind is displayed if one knows where to look. Caroline watched Klaus' handsome face with interest, detecting the way he clenched his strong jaw in anger from his recent fight with Stefan. His steel gray eyes had grown wide with fear when he registered that his baby brother had put himself in danger. Regardless of his infuriating attitude, he clearly cared about Kol, and therefore she would make an effort to try not to shoot off his little toe in the course of rescuing his condescending ass. Probably.

Surprised and somewhat chagrined by her outburst, Klaus seemed to struggle with an appropriate response as he eyed Caroline and Kol's weapons warily. "I sincerely hope that's not your entire arsenal. Those bloody things will bat them away like they're nothing more than water pistols."

She felt her temper flare, but she refused to compromise the safety of her brother and these civilians as well as her team to put this asshat in his place. "As commander, I will reevaluate tactical supplies with my officers once the threat has been assessed." She briefly allowed herself to enjoy the irritation that flashed in Klaus' eyes at Kol's amused snort.

Turning to Stefan, she asked, "What is the exact nature of the threat? How many hostiles are we dealing with?"

Stefan frowned, fussing with his dark brown locks in a guilty manner that immediately reminded Caroline of when he was in middle school and she'd caught him sabotaging another kid's science fair project by replacing pepper plant seeds with marijuana seeds. "The...hostiles are...exotic animals that were brought to this research facility for scientific inquiry."

Klaus scoffed, "They aren't just animals, you bloody git! I warned you, hell, most of your team warned you," he snarled, gesturing at the group huddled in one corner on the floor, "they possess human-level intelligence."

Caroline glanced at the group in the corner, noting the way they all involuntarily shivered at Klaus' words, but still maintained their shell-shocked, glassy-eyed stares. Who knew a bunch of lab monkeys could cause this level of trauma?

"Bloody hell, all this fuss over a few Curious Georges," Kol wondered aloud, clearly observing the worrying way the group of scientists seemed completely disassociated from their surroundings. "Surely you have a stockpile of yellow hats we can wear while flushing out the hairy little ankle biters."

Clearing his throat uncomfortably, Stefan explained, "They're not primates. They're, uh...werewolves, actually. Two of them."

Dumbfounded, Caroline blinked several times as she tried to come to terms with her brother's baffling words. "Werewolves," she said slowly, doing her best to maintain a matter-of-fact tone as she reminded herself that she was in the field and that lives were dependent upon her ability to keep her shit together. She noticed Kol's eyebrows had nearly crawled all the way up to his hairline and he kept looking around the room as though waiting for someone to explain the joke to him.

"Yes, werewolves," Klaus bit out, glaring at Stefan. "Your gormless brother apparently went chasing after some legend, wasting countless facility resources on his quest to play God."

"And I was right," Stefan retorted, crossing his arms in front of him, muttering under his breath, "And I'm not the only one with a God complex around here, Professor 'Let's Skip To The Human Clinical Trials For My New Gene Therapy Drug'."

She could see Klaus gearing up to argue, and, given the way the steel in his gray eyes glinted, was likely going to punch Stefan again. Holding up her hand, she quickly said, "Stefan, what the hell is he talking about? What legend?"

Stefan awkwardly rubbed the side of his face, grimacing as he accidentally brushed too close to where Klaus had hit him. He looked like he'd have one hell of a shiner, and while she was pissed at Klaus, she couldn't help but admire the technique that Kol was bragging about. Stefan explained sheepishly, "The Mount Lykaion myth. One of our military contracts tasked us with building a superior soldier and I thought it would be easier to start with DNA of a creature that already had superior strength and endurance, so, on a whim, I sent several recon teams out to Arcadia to see what they could find."

The Greek mountain she and Stefan climbed? The place that inspired her calming mantra 'see the blue mist on the mountain peak' also had inspired Stefan to go looking for werewolves. Unbelievable. "Your logical solution to solving a work problem was werewolves," she asked incredulously, "that seemed reasonable to you?!" Rolling her eyes, she couldn't help but add, "This is just like that Kate Beckinsale movie obsession you had in high school. You better not have her stuffed in that stupid black latex suit somewhere around here. That's a deal breaker, Stefan."

As the tips of her brother's ears turned red while Klaus and Kol failed to fully contain their chuckles, she realized her innate need to be the overbearing big sister was getting their mission off-track. Clearing her throat, she resumed her commander persona and asked, "How many civilians are left and what are their injuries?"

"There's the five of us in here and only some superficial lacerations and bruises. Three were killed when the werewolves first escaped," Stefan told her, glancing over at what remained of his coworkers.

Klaus wearily added, "Matt and Alaric got separated from the rest of our group during the mad dash after the emergency lockdown protocols were initiated. I saw Matt get knocked about when one of the werewolves took a swipe at him, but I wasn't able to see the extent of his injuries."

She and Kol exchanged a look, and after she nodded, Kol tapped his earpiece, broadcasting, "Mischief Maker, online. Fearless and I located five civilians barricaded in Northeast corner office on first floor. Superficial injuries only."

Katherine's normally tenacious voice had a nervous edge as she answered, "Tomb Dodger, online. In third floor control room with Lab Rat, Spell Slinger and two civilians. One seriously injured with broken arm, deep puncture wounds and severe blood loss."

"That must be Matt," Klaus interrupted, stepping forward, "I need to get to him — I was in med school before I switched to biomedical engineering and genetics."

Reaching a decision, Caroline announced over the earpiece, "Fearless, online. Understood, Tomb Dodger. Keep your group together and I'm heading your way with medical help." Addressing those gathered before her, she asked, "What can you tell me about the creatures' weaknesses? Light sensitivity, poor peripheral vision — anything like that we can use to fight them?"

While Klaus and Stefan seemed to consider her question carefully, one of the huddled scientists seemed to break out of her stupor to regard Caroline with terrified brown eyes, her high-pitched voice testing Caroline's patience as she shrieked, "They don't have any weaknesses! They're monsters and they killed our friends and now they're hunting us and they'll find us and kill us and we're dead! We're all dead!" She burst into tears, racing toward Stefan where she threw herself into his arms, sobbing uncontrollably.

Caroline raised an eyebrow when she heard her brother murmur gently, "It's ok, Elena, everything will be ok. I'll protect you." So, this was the innocent little lab assistant that Stefan had mentioned before. Not a huge surprise that her cocky brother would gravitate toward the simpering fangirl-type. With the way she was staring up at Stefan with her watery, adoring eyes, Caroline figured she was almost ready to tattoo Stefan's Bunsen burner on her ass.

Klaus fortunately interrupted her sarcastic thoughts, telling her, "While we could do without Elena's hysterics, she's not entirely incorrect; we've yet to fully map their DNA structure. If I could just get to my research, I may be able to help you find a way to put them down for good."

"Ok, then," she nodded, turning to Kol as she commanded, "Klaus and I will rendezvous with Katherine's group where Klaus will provide medical aid. Then, we will proceed to his research to determine how we can take out the werewolves. In the meantime, you will stay here with this group and examine facility schematics with Stefan to determine an exit strategy."

Kol nodded his agreement, stepping off to the side to speak in a hushed tone to his brother. Caroline pulled Stefan away from his starry-eyed fan club, wrapping him up in the fiercest hug she could muster. Blinking away her sudden tears, she whispered, "It's good to see you, baby brother. Maybe next time we have a less crazy reason to hang out, huh?"

His voice was muffled in her thick blonde plait, but it seemed like he was choking back emotion as well. "You're here. I couldn't let myself believe that you'd get here in time. But of course you did — you're my big sister and there's nothing you can't do."

She sniffed, stepping out of their embrace to elbow him in the ribs as she replied, "Except teach you how to block a punch, apparently." At his good-natured chuckle, she resisted the urge to close her eyes and pretend they were anywhere but here, somewhere safe and happy and warm where she didn't have to consider the possibility that her brother might die.

Caroline caught Kol's eye and told him solemnly, "You take care of my brother."

Kol's voice carried a hint of steel as he replied, "Likewise."

Squaring her shoulders, feeling the familiar, nervous energy that always appeared before she started an operation, she handed an uncertain Klaus her SIG service pistol. And hoped like hell he was up for this reckless mission.