Author's note: Thank you for all of your kind reviews and encouragement with this story! I love reading your theories — keep them coming! Also, thank you ilovetvd — your thoughtful review really inspired me and I came up with some added plot elements I hadn't considered before — so watch for those in the next chapter!
Warning: Violence. And death. And emotions. Lots of emotions.
When the shot rang out, Caroline froze, hating how she forgot every bit of military training she'd ever known to stop in the middle of the corridor, listening frantically. When Klaus tried to speak, she quickly shook her head, trying to concentrate. She still wasn't sure what she was hoping for in this moment of rage and pain — for Damon to finally be put down? Or, for him to escape once more? How much longer could they go on like this?
Stop it. You can't save everyone. Your brother is a monster.
Which brother?
She hated the bitterness of her inner thoughts, but steeled herself as she heard loud cursing followed by the unmistakable sound of the werewolf's claws scraping the floor as it retreated. She met Klaus' gaze briefly, the concern in his gray eyes making her heart stutter, and she quickly blinked back tears as she shook her head roughly. This wasn't the time. She promised herself to have a good breakdown once this was all over.
Klaus paused outside the battered main door to the northeast office, visibly wincing at the deep gouges Damon's claws had scored into the thick metal. He squeezed her hand reassuringly, silently communicating his support as they cautiously stepped into the room. The familiar sight of the short-barreled submachine guns briefly trained on their entrance soothed her, and she acknowledged both Bonnie and Kol with a short nod, not bothering to look at Stefan when he said her name with a sigh of relief. From a cursory evaluation of her team, both were visibly tired, but devoid of major injuries. While she was pleased to see them unharmed, now wasn't the time to let down her guard. Not when she was so close to breaking.
Head held high, her tone was authoritative as she commanded her team, "Report."
As though picking up on her distress, Kol's voice was tight with tension as he explained, "I arrived with Stefan in time to aid Bonnie in fighting off the werewolf. It had breached the main door to the office, but I got off a shot of the nerve agent in its direction, causing it to temporarily flee. Unfortunately, no direct hit. I've no doubt it will return before too long."
Tapping her earpiece, Caroline announced, "Fearless, online. I'm with Spell Slinger and Mischief Maker in the northeast office of the first floor along with two civilians. One creature retreated and Spell Slinger is no longer in danger. The other creature was eliminated by a civilian using a nerve agent called VX."
She swallowed the tremor that made her words want to break when she delivered news of her father's death. She and her team didn't have secrets from each other, but she couldn't do what needed to be done if she'd given voice to the awful truths she'd just learned. "We'll join you at the rendezvous point shortly once we've finished up here."
Katherine's reply was brief, but she too seemed to detect Caroline's underlying anxiety as her team's captain told her, "Understood. I'll initiate White Oak Protocol."
As the communication ended, Stefan rushed at Klaus, bellowing, "You stupid son of a bitch! What the fuck were you thinking, destroying one of our specimens?! Of all the reckless, useless things you've done —"
"Enough," Caroline growled, putting herself between her brother and Klaus, pleased to see that whatever Stefan read in her menacing glare had him back off immediately. She faced Kol and Bonnie, doing her best to remain calm as she told them in a voice threaded with steel, "Give me and Stefan the room."
She noticed that Klaus and Kol wore the same concerned look on their faces as they filed out after Bonnie, glancing back over their shoulders at her before taking the stairs to the lower level that the office overlooked. Once she and Stefan were alone, Caroline ripped out her earpiece, hurling it across the room and feeling a small sense of satisfaction at the broken crackling noise it made as it bounced off the far wall. Everything was broken.
"I don't understand why you're bent out of shape here, Caroline," Stefan snapped at her, fists balled up in anger. "If anyone should be pissed, it should be me — my idiot sister apparently just stood by and let millions of dollars' worth of research be destroyed!"
She impatiently pushed her hair away from her face, the blood on her hands momentarily distracting her as she wondered if it was hers, or Klaus', or one of the creatures'. Creatures. Her father. Her brother. Which one had attacked her? Had she stabbed and shot at both of them? Just one repeatedly? They were answers she'd never have. But that wouldn't stop her from wondering for the rest of her life.
"I know what you've done, Stefan," she finally confronted him, proud of the way her voice didn't waver despite her heightened emotions.
"What have I done? I serve science, Caroline. Not some mythical moral code you and your toy soldiers like to hide behind whenever it's convenient. Those were my experiments! Mine, damn it! And Klaus had no right to —"
Stefan's flippant attitude was her undoing and she quickly cut him off with a snarl, "You had no right! Those creatures weren't experiments; they were our father and brother. You did that to our blood, Stefan!"
His brown eyes were crazed as he boasted, "They weren't our family, Caroline! They were useless until I came along and gave them purpose. They finally contributed something to society because of me!"
Caroline looked at him in disbelief. How could her brother believe these terrible things? She couldn't reconcile who she thought her brother was with what she saw now. Her voice was cold as she told him, "Regardless of who they were to us, they're still people. And you took away their choices."
Before she could continue, vicious snarling caught her attention, and her heart began to pound as she watched the creature Damon had been turned into suddenly burst through the door on the lower level. To her team's credit, they sprang into action, covering Klaus as they fended off the beast, but Bonnie wasn't fast enough to dodge the fourth swipe of those powerful claws, and she was swept to the side with enough force to leave her temporarily dazed.
Kol quickly fired, the nerve agent burying itself into the beast's cheek, causing it to rear up and violently snap its jaws at Kol, who cursed as he rolled away. Klaus found himself cornered, and while he raised his gun, Caroline was afraid the werewolf would overtake him before he could fire a shot. She didn't have enough time to race downstairs and realized what she had to do. She briefly touched the large glass window that overlooked the lower level, judging that one sharp kick would shatter it with minimal projectiles.
As though realizing what she intended to do, Stefan quickly grabbed her arm, trying but failing to get her to face him. "No! Don't you dare," he angrily hissed.
Her body reacted on instinct, snapping back her elbow directly into Stefan's nose, causing him to let go as the blood spurted. Not bothering to glance back at her brother who continued to curse her, she delivered a roundhouse kick that shattered the window and caused Damon to stop advancing on Klaus long enough to bellow in her direction.
In that split second, she searched the beast's dark eyes, desperately looking for signs of humanity. Searching for Damon. But all that remained was a monster and if she didn't stop him, he'd kill Klaus. Already, she saw the way its muscles bunched, ready to attack. She took a calming breath, repeating her killshot mantra: See the blue mist on the mountain peak. Her arm was steady as she raised the gun, squeezing the trigger to launch the VX cartridge.
The nerve agent pierced the werewolf's eye, blood and viscous fluid immediately pouring from the ruined socket. The creature let out a final, plaintive roar as it collapsed to the concrete floor, muscles seizing as it gasped for air. Goodbye, brother.
Swallowing back a sob, Caroline raced downstairs, no clear plan in mind as she stumbled onto the lower level. Kol and Bonnie had positioned themselves on either side of the fallen monster, ensuring it was dead. She noticed their body language remained tense, as though they knew the real danger hadn't passed. Klaus reached for her, and she willingly let him sweep her into his arms as she breathed in his comforting smell underneath the sweat and fear that hung heavily in the air.
"What did you do?! Goddamn it, Caroline," Stefan screeched, stomping into the room as he pushed her out of Klaus' embrace. As her team started to step forward to deal with her brother, she sternly shook her head, signaling them to remain where they were. This was her fight.
"Your sister saved all of us, you ungrateful prick," Klaus shouted, still a bit unsteady on his feet as he leaned against the wall for support.
"What she did was set back my research for decades," he hissed, "my father and brother were wastes of space and a drain on society!" Jabbing a finger in Klaus' direction, he told Caroline, "It's easy to find second-rate geneticists like Klaus, but it will take me years to find viable specimens to recreate this experiment!"
Bonnie and Kol's stoic expressions remained unchanged; Stefan's revelation about the werewolves' origins not causing a flicker of emotion as they maintained their positions. They were waiting for Caroline to choose. She briefly closed her eyes, summoning what remained of her strength. See the blue mist on the mountain peak. Her reflexes were almost imperceptible to the untrained eye as she tugged on the canvas strap across her shoulder, whipping up the barrel of her submachine gun. The sharp crack filled the room, her body absorbing the familiar recoil as she watched the bullets hit their target. Her brother.
Caroline finally allowed her knees buckle under her, weapons slipping from her grasp as she fell in a heap. As the tears began to fall and sobs shook her body, she still couldn't give voice to her despair. Betrayal was etched on Stefan's face, his brown eyes flat as his life drained away. She'd betrayed her baby brother. And he'd betrayed their blood.
Damon was crumpled across the room, the beast's jaws open wide as though still gasping for air. She'd done that to him. Her brothers were dead by her hand.
She felt a warm hand rest on her shoulder, and she looked up through her tears to find Klaus kneeling beside her, murmuring words of comfort that she wasn't quite ready to hear.
She found herself wondering where they went from here.