Notes: This chapter did not want to be written! And should be subtitled, 'Once again, Laine cannot stick to an outline.' Thanks to those who've reviewed! I do enjoy reading your thoughts. I'm still avoiding dark!Caroline on the show so consider this is AU after she initially flips the switch.

Part Three: Mice and Cats

Caroline's got a stake in her purse, a vampire on her trail and a plan to manage an annoying hybrid pain in her ass.

She feigns an interest in a window display and clearly her stalker hasn't been paying enough attention. Does she look like the kind of girl who would pair zebra stripes with mustard yellow? Yuck. She'd rather walk on the beach at 2PM without her daylight ring.

She can see the reflection of her pursuer in the glass. He's across the street and about a half a block down, acting like a clueless tourist with a map out. Once again she marvels at the fact that she didn't catch on sooner.

Sloppy, Caroline. Very sloppy.

She'd grown complacent, sure that she was lost in the masses of humans in New York City. She hadn't focused enough on her surroundings, too busy trying to sort out her inner dissatisfaction.

Wasn't the point of flipping the switch to end such a thing? She'd signed up for good times and inner peace, thank you very much. What she's gotten has been a little different. Oh, she'd never admit it out loud, but in the privacy of her own mind, Caroline recognized the feeling for what it was. Boredom. Crushing, all consuming, never ending, boredom.

Six days ago had marked five months without humanity. A milestone deserving of commemorating, Caroline had thought. She'd asked the concierge at the five star hotel she was staying at where he'd send a girl looking for liquor that tasted like candy and he'd directed her to a swanky little lounge a few blocks away. She hadn't noticed it then, but the vampire currently tailing her had been seated in an armchair, reading a beat up paperback, at her hotel that day.

The lounge did serve amazing martinis. She'd indulged in several of the pink lemonade variety (super delicious so good job concierge!). After her third she'd met a German architecture student named Tobias, who had very pretty blue eyes, and smelled like oranges and mint. After her seventh she'd put her hand on his crotch and asked him where he lived. Tobias had been as tasty as his scent had suggested, and more than willing to let her pin him to his bed. It was only after she'd discovered he was a cuddler (which ew, no) and had to make a getaway.

She'd rolled off of him and then went to compel herself a present. Cobalt blue Giuseppe Zanotti sandals. Plus lingerie and a bracelet to match.

God, it was going to suck shopping at the mall again once she was back to normal and morally against using compulsion for non-essential personal gain. Life without La Perla was going to be bleak. Caroline was stocking up now, while her notions of right and wrong were still bendy. She'd pretty much started as soon as she flipped the switch.

Caroline had vamp sped out of Mystic Falls two days after her mom's funeral with nothing but her purse and the clothes she'd been wearing. The cell phone had been ditched immediately and she'd found a trucker more than willing to stop for a pretty blonde with her thumb out. He'd been a bit of a perv, but he'd gotten her to Richmond, and she'd compelled him forget her (and also to never pick up another hitchhiker, the gross loser) when he'd started to hint about all the ways she could repay his kindness.

If Stefan and Elena had half a brain between them (doubtful, sometimes) they would have known Richmond would be her first stop, so she didn't stay long. Just long enough to do a little shopping and find a ride out of town. Hey, if HumanityOffElena got a wardrobe upgrade Caroline thought she deserved one too. Initially, she'd channeled Katherine with her picks. Caroline had stolen all things black and tight and bad girl sexy. It had been kind of fun, slipping into that skin. Katherine might have been a mega bitch but she was tough, and in the end, had done Caroline a favor by killing her. Katherine had also relished in vampirism, the only female acquaintance of Caroline's to ever do so (if you didn't count that moron Ivy, which Caroline did not) and that was what Caroline wanted to do for her year of freedom.

But she was still Caroline under it all and drawn to bright colors and patterns. And since the point of turning off her humanity was to do whatever the fuck she wanted to she decided to go with her gut, after a few months. Plus, heading into summer, she might as well mix it up. Leather was gross when it got sweaty.

A little pink skirt here, an orange dress there. She started to mesh a bit of Katherine style with Caroline style. It ended up being more revealing than what she would have worn back in Mystic Falls (where there was always an old lady offering to pray for you if you flashed too much thigh) but a little more true to the real Caroline. And still pretty damn hot, if she did say so herself. The real Caroline would appreciate the new wardrobe eventually. If nothing else the closet reorganization would keep her busy. When she had a closet again. Hell, when she had a home again, because the house she grew up in should have been long sold by the time the year was up (should have, because she'd left it up to Damon, and who knows what he would do).

But that wasn't worth thinking of, at the moment. Caroline needed to stop thinking about the future. Until the week she'd allotted to make plans for where she'd be when she flipped the switch back on started, she didn't intend to think about plans beyond the next four hours or so.

In her present she had few worries, even if it wasn't the gleeful good time she'd imagined, and she liked it that way. She'd take a little boredom over the alternative. The rules for operating without humanity were limiting, and perhaps abandoning them could have alleviated her overwhelming apathy, but Caroline would stick to them. Even if she might be bending them occasionally. Example A: Klaus (and she still maintained that the loophole was pure brilliance, thank you). Example B: the cocky wannabe NASCAR driver in Indianapolis who she'd compelled to be more considerate of future sexual partners because he hadn't seemed to grasp the fact that swallowing was always optional for a lady (the broken fingers she'd caused, wrenching his hands out of her hair, would serve as an object lesson). Example C… well, she didn't feel like making a list just now.

Lists were kind of a specialty of hers, after all, and she could be at it for hours. She'd have plenty of time to make one entitled 'Things Caroline Should Feel Guilty About' when guilt was actually a thing she was capable of. She suspected that it would be a much longer list than the 'Things Caroline Really Does Feels Guilty About' list and the 'People Caroline Needs To Apologize To' list in the end.

She's sticking to cities. They make it easier to feed and they don't remind her of her mom. Liz Forbes had been small town, and content with that. The post college graduation mother-daughter road trip Caroline had been planning on badgering her mom into taking was filled stops at B&B's, national parks, and little out of the way towns that boasted weird museums or cute tourist attractions.

The last thing she needed was for her humanity flip back on before she willed it to, leaving her a sobbing mess in a public place, surrounded by strangers, so small towns were out.

The way she's seeing the cities, though? Makes them all blend together. It's all dinner at fancy restaurants, drinks at trendy bars. She peruses expensive shops and finds beautiful, tasty humans to sustain her.

Music, art, culture? Not so much.

Human Caroline had wanted to be small town, wanted to fall into a fairy tale kind of love, have kids and grow old with her best friends. Vampire Caroline couldn't have any of that, couldn't stay in Mystic Falls with a face that would be seventeen forever. But it had made her better. She'd worked her ass off to like herself more than she wanted others to like her and, along the way, a bit of wanderlust had grown.

Encouraged by people like Klaus. Enzo, who'd driven with her out of Virginia for her very first, non-parentally accompanied, trip. And her mother, who thought she was extraordinary, and wanted her to live an amazing life.

Sometime since she'd died in that hospital bed Caroline had decided that she would see the world, and that she wanted to. But she knew she shouldn't do it with her humanity off. She wouldn't grasp the beauty of it, or even appreciate the ugliness, in an authentic way, and it would taint the experience.

So she lived a shallow existence. Catered to her impulses. Fed from the vein. Compelled her way into owning any shiny, pretty thing that struck her fancy. Drank too much, ate dessert for breakfast and breakfast for dinner. Had sex when she wanted it, how she wanted it, and didn't apologize to anyone.

It had been exhilarating and liberating but the novelty was beginning to wear off.

It just didn't quite fit. With her humanity on Caroline liked people. With it off she had little use for them outside of blood and various services (mixing drinks, baking triple chocolate cupcakes, fetching those heels in a size 9).

Humanity having Caroline loved projects. She enjoyed parties, but she adored planning them more. Humanity off Caroline slept in late, snacked on the help at the hotel, wandered around stores, returned to her hotel, got decked out to lure in the prey, danced, drank, went home with a stranger, fed, fucked.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

It got dull, was all. And she'd needed a diversion.

Luckily, one had been provided for her in the form of a vampire in his early 20's (scrawny, unfortunate nose, orange hair) she'd noticed tailing her three days ago, the one she'd sharpened the stake in her purse for, who was going to lead her to Klaus.

Three days ago she'd just finished up a kickass cheeseburger and was considering what she wanted to do with the rest of her afternoon. She'd just about exhausted New York City and was mulling her next stop. Caroline was leaning towards going south, before it got too hot, so maybe she should get some bikinis? Not noting her surroundings, she'd turned a corner, bumped into an extremely tall woman wearing a questionable seersucker pantsuit, and dropped her bag. A guy had turned the same corner shortly after and stopped dead upon seeing her throwing her belongings back into her bag. He'd kind of twitched when she'd asked him what his problem was (because seriously, a polite guy would have helped, not gawked). He hadn't replied, just walked around her and fled, a touch too quickly and smoothly, in a way that was unique to vampires. She'd shrugged it off at first, but when she spotted him again at the club she went to that night, then thought back over the last few days and realized he'd been around far too often for it to be coincidental, she knew something was up.

Now, she'd gleaned enough about vamp etiquette from Damon, Stefan and Katherine (mostly Katherine, to be honest. Damon was altogether useless as a sire, not to mention a dick, and non-ripper Stefan was too self-loathing to have spent much time in vampire communities. Katherine was chock full of fun facts, in comparison) to know that she hadn't offended anyone in New York. She healed and compelled when she fed. She didn't steal more than one or two things from a given boutique and didn't use any vampire abilities in ways that would be noticeable to humans. Not that New Yorkers were much for noticing, she'd found.

But the fact remained that none of the native vampires should be out for her head. So the logical conclusion was that GingerVampGuy was one of Klaus' lackeys.

This one was pretty sneaky too. She actually had no idea how long GingerVampGuy had been following her (seriously, so humiliating). Apparently Klaus had compelled vampires with more brains this time, if less pleasing to the eye (deliberately, she'd guess, because he probably didn't approve of her banging his flunkies). She really shouldn't have expected anything less. There was a reason Klaus was still kicking, despite the fact that he seemed to piss off supernaturals more easily than most people breathed.

Discovering that she'd been made had left her with a quandary, and three viable solutions. First option: kill GingerVampGuy. Klaus' minions were always older than her, true, but not seriously hurting her seemed to be a key part of the compulsion they were under, which had allowed her to best them in fights. Caroline had already dispatched three of Klaus' Caroline Stalking Squad ™ and she was pretty sure she'd feel terrible about that later, despite the fact that she'd been clear on wanting to be left alone, and even clearer that there would be consequences should she not be.

It was also possible that Klaus had changed their marching orders, which was totally her own fault. She maybe shouldn't have gone straight to witch roofies and bondage last time. Klaus had been caught off guard in Vegas, never suspecting that she'd drug him or even that he could be drugged. He wouldn't make it so easy on her a second time.

Also, he was probably pissed.

Klaus might have been relatively relaxed when she'd waltzed out of that hotel room. And she'd sent someone to release him as promised. But she first might have sent another someone to gather her belongings and ship them to a PO Box in Missouri first. Hey, she'd only taken one little bag, and she wanted to keep some of the other things strewn about that hotel room.

And that first maid might have been compelled to snap a picture of Klaus, tied up and aroused. His abs still covered with the slick remains of her orgasm. And to text her the picture.

She couldn't resist, okay? If one of the hottest, non-sex, sexual experiences of her life wasn't a Kodak moment, deserving of immortalization, what was? It's not like she was posting it online or anything.

She was pretty certain Klaus wouldn't quite agree with her justification though. He was super into his 'Big Bad Original Hybrid' persona and that picture did not support said persona.

And so, despite considering it, she had decided to avoid direct confrontation with GingerVampGuy, because it was entirely possible that her actions had pushed Klaus too far and she'd end up with a snapped neck, and in a cushy cell.

The next option to be considered was simply bailing, covering her tracks and picking a new city, forcing Klaus to start tracking her all over again. Rationally, she knew this was the best option.

But again…

She. Was. So. Fucking. Bored.

And Las Vegas had been stimulating, to say the least. It just wasn't fair that despite having some truly excellent sex these last few months that the experience with Klaus stood out as a highlight, when he hadn't even touched her. So she decided to go with option three and wait for Klaus catch up with her again. See what happened.

The problem with that plan popped up within a day. Klaus didn't find her. And now, days later, she was still waiting on him. Seriously, Klaus had been on a flight mere hours after confirming her identity in Las Vegas. GingerVampGuy had been following her like a puppy for who knows how long, so what exactly was Klaus' problem?

Today, she'd woken up and decided she was done with waiting, and that she would mount an offensive, avoiding direct confrontation be damned. She kept up her usual routine, GingerVampGuy in tow, though he didn't know that she knew he was following her, and still, not a peep out of Klaus. Last night she'd gone out of her way to find a guy who looked kind of like him (a little shorter, green-eyed not blue, and he'd been from New Zealand, so the accent was wrong) in the hopes of sparking some jealousy, but nada.

Maybe he was over her. She was almost offended.

If he was over her though, he could damn well stop having vampires follow her every move, something she would be sure to tell him. And if he wasn't over her, well, she had plenty of ideas about breaking down his pesky unwillingness to jump into the sack with her in her present, switch off, state.

First, she had to figure out where the fuck he was. GingerVampGuy and the stake in her purse would help with that.

Klaus hears the sharp click-clack of high heels on hardwood first. He brings his hand up to catch the iPhone that is thrown with great force, and deadly accuracy, at his face, second. And third, he puts his sketchbook aside, leans back in his chair and says, "Hello, Caroline."

"Klaus. Your minion said you were expecting me."

"Indeed I was, days ago."

Caroline seats herself on the chair across from him, "Ugh, you're a jackass."

"I've been called worse, love."

Caroline snorts, "Yeah, by me."

Klaus nods his head in acknowledgement, but does not reply. He studies her, notes the hints of pale pink in her ensemble, when she'd been clad all in black before. The photos had picked up the change of course, but he does like to look at her.

She tilts her head to the side and studies him right back, waiting for him to speak. But Klaus has lived for thousands of years and while patience is not in his nature, he can call upon reserves when the situation calls for it.

The silence stretches, grows strained. Klaus lifts the glass of scotch he'd abandoned before she'd walked in and takes a sip.

Caroline lets out a tiny impatient huff and Klaus resists smiling. She's not a particularly patient person either, and five months of constant instant gratification has not improved that quality. She toys with the hem of her skirt and re-crosses her legs before apparently resigning herself to losing their little battle of wills, "Not offering your guest a refreshment? That's rude."

"I think I'm exempt from offering courtesies considering you arrived uninvited, and tried to brain me with your cellphone upon entering, don't you?" he said and tossed the device back to her.

Caroline caught it and then waved a hand at him dismissively, "You'd have been fine."

"Mmm. The principle remains, I think. But do help yourself. You know there's little I would deny you."

Her lips twist wryly, "Funny, I remember you denying me something, at our last meeting." Again, Klaus refrains from commenting.

There's a tray on the coffee table between them, a crystal decanter and three tumblers on it. Caroline hesitates, as she should. The last time she'd provided a beverage for him he'd ended up shackled to a bed and she's right to think he hasn't forgotten it. Still, he'd never be so uncreative as to directly copy her moves and she must reach the same conclusion. She pours a generous helping of scotch and leans back in her seat. "So how'd you find me so quickly this time?"

"I never lost you this time, in point of fact." Klaus tells her and watches her digest it, little flickers of surprise and curiosity crossing her face but not taking root.

"Huh."

"Is Arnold alive?" Klaus asks, though he truly does not care either way.

"GingerVampGuy's name is Arnold? Ugh. God, he must hate his parents."

"We've never discussed it."

"Yes, I'd imagine you don't spend much time talking about the childhoods of the vampires you compel to stalk me."

"Or the ones I compel to do anything, really."

Caroline rolls her eyes, "What's your deal, Klaus?"

Klaus maintains the unconcerned façade he's been affecting and pretends he doesn't know what she means, "My 'deal?'"

She's becoming irritated, the heel of her shoe grinding into the hardwood as their back and forth continues and she grows tense. Klaus will have to remember to get the floor fixed, lest Elijah have a fit next time he comes to New York.

"You've been here for a week and I haven't seen a glimpse of you."

"Actually, I've been here for twelve days, love. I arrived the shortly after you did."

"My point exactly!"

"Perhaps I was waiting for an extraordinary moment."

Her brows furrow, "That's gibberish. What does that even mean?"

"The Art of War, Caroline. Ever read it?"

"No. I had exactly zero patience for the pretentious unwashed hipsters in the Philosophy department at Whitmore."

"You should, love."

"I'll make a note," she declared sarcastically. "It sounds super fun. Are you going to answer my question?"

"About my 'deal?'"

"Duh."

Klaus shrugged, "It's been awhile since I've been to New York."

"And yet you happen to own a very fancy apartment?"

"To be fair, it's more Elijah's place than mine."

Caroline surveys the room, in all its dark wood, and navy accented glory, "I can see that actually. It's very… there's a lot of… books," she settles on.

"That is his aesthetic, yes."

"So, Elijah Mikaelson: snappy dresser, terrible interior designer?"

"Quite," Klaus agrees, with a smile.

One corner of her mouth ticks up, for just a moment, and Klaus wishes fervently that he could make her smile for real. It's the funny thing about this humanity switch business. Some describe it as being without emotions and though Klaus has never experienced it personally, he does not think that's accurate. He's seen vampires with the switch off but still gripped with rage, jealousy, bitterness. They feel things, the darkest things, the emotions that humans have such difficulty letting go of. The positive emotions are harder to grasp, and easily chased away.

"Do you honestly expect me to buy that you're here coincidentally?" she questioned, her tone dripping doubt.

"Of course not. I have far too much respect for your intelligence to think you'd believe something so obviously untrue."

"Then why are you here?"

"To keep you safe, Caroline."

She leans towards him, slams her glass on the table, does not care that there's now liquor on her hand as she balls her fists, "I do not need you to keep me safe, Klaus."

Klaus does not react to the sudden burst of anger and replies evenly, "And I do not think you're in the right state of mind to decide what you need."

"That's paternalistic bullshit, first of all."

"Do spare me your feminist diatribes, love. I've listened to an endless amount of them over the years from Rebekah."

Caroline wipes her hand on the chair; Klaus suppresses a wince, because he'll have to replace that, too. And knowing Elijah it's probably exceedingly overpriced.

"Apparently, none of them managed to penetrate your stupid thick skull if you think you have the right to tell me what to do," she spits the words at him venomously. "You're not my boyfriend, Klaus."

"I'm aware of that, love," he replies, still the picture of reason, "And when, pray tell, have I tried to tell you what to do?"

"You…" Caroline opens her mouth to reply but he cuts her off.

"I have not, and you know it. You have remarkable control, Caroline, especially for one so young and it's a true testament to your strength. But slips happen, and I'll do anything in my power to prevent them for you."

"Oh please, I'm not suddenly going to go on a murder spree and piss off the local vamps, Klaus. I don't think they'll care if I eat a human or two, as long as I clean up after myself. I'll stick to tourists. Isn't that how you do it in New Orleans?"

He's surprised she has that information, and wonders where she'd gleaned it. "I'm not worried about other vampires hurting you," Klaus tells her, but leaves off the part where he would kill anyone who tried. "I'm worried about how you'll feel when your year is up. Processing the death of your mother will be a heavy enough burden, and you've already killed three times in the last five months, that I know of."

"Four," she corrected him.

"Arnold?" he asks.

"No. I just snapped his neck. He's in a dumpster two blocks from my hotel."

That she didn't kill Arnold despite having done so to the previous vampires he's sent after her tells him that his suspicions are correct. Living with the switch off is grating on Caroline. That she keeps track of her kills is an indication that she will carry the guilt heavily when she's herself again, and solidifies his resolve to stay with her, "Four, then. I remember how devastated you were after you killed those witches, even if you might not right now."

She lets out a cold laugh, "Funny. I distinctly remember you not giving a fuck about how devastated I was."

Klaus wants to shake her because he knows she is not that dense. She'd seen through his well-honed defense mechanisms from the start, when she'd prodded him about his father at his family's ball. He had been desperate to comfort her that day, despite how she'd spent it throwing poisonous barbs at him, and had very nearly called her back when she'd flashed away from him.

But his anger will only fuel hers and would be counterintuitive to the strategy he's employing. So he forces a light tone and comments, "Ah, but we weren't friends then, were we?"

"Friends? Please. I didn't hear a peep from you for more than a year. Not even when my mother died."

Klaus grits his teeth, feels the grip he has on his own glass tighten to the point where he's about to break it, so he sets it down, "Because you asked that of me, Caroline. Not because I wanted it."

"Because you've always been so willing to do what I wanted," she countered immediately.

"We made a deal, love. I might not be the honorable one in my family but I've always held up my end of my bargains with you."

Caroline relaxes back into her chair, crosses her arms in front of her, "You want a bargain? Fine. What can I do to get you to stop being my shadow?"

"Absolutely nothing, I'm afraid."

"Seriously?"

"As I've ever been, love. Besides, I rather think you like that I'm here," Klaus tells her.

Caroline is quick with a denial, "Um, no. No I do not."

"Oh? Let's think about this for a moment."

"Sounds thrilling."

Klaus ignores the derision and continues, "You discovered I've been having you followed. When was this again?"

"Three days ago," Caroline admitted.

"You could have left, still laboring under the delusion that you were several steps ahead of me, but you did not. You stayed and you waited for me to come to you. And why is that, I wonder?"

"To get you to leave me alone, you creep."

"Mmm. I don't think so. You wanted to see me."

"Holy ego, Batman," she said.

"I'll not deny I'm egotistical, love. But be honest. You've been fucking any human who's crossed your path at the right time, any time you've been horny or hungry, and you've enjoyed it, I'm sure. But not as much as you enjoyed it when you made yourself come all over me. Do you want me to tell you why that is? I have some ideas."

Using her vampire speed Caroline was out of her chair and streaking towards the door. Unfortunately for her, he was faster. He caught up and spun her, catching the back of her head in his hand before he slammed her against the wall,

"Not so fast, love. I wasn't finished."

Caroline struggled for a moment before realizing it was futile, "I don't have to listen to this, Klaus. You're boring me."

Klaus chuckled, "But I'm not boring you, and that's the problem, isn't it Caroline? You're boring you."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"I told you once that you were full of light, do you remember? That's why you're struggling. For someone like The Ripper, who hates what he is, the switch is a relief. But not for you, sweetheart. You're an optimist. You feel things deeply. You take the pain thrown at you and you come out stronger for it."

"I'm sick of being strong!"

Klaus gentles his hold, "Maybe. But you can't help it. That light that's in you. Call it your heart or your soul. It's such a part of you, whether you like it or not. You've been like this for five months, Caroline. Can you stand seven more?"

"I guess we'll see," she bites out.

"Yes, we will because I'm not going anywhere. At least until you're yourself again."

"What, do you think I'll ask you to stay, when this is done? That I'll be grateful for whatever freaky savior complex you've developed, cry into your chest about my dead mom? Do you want me to owe you, Klaus? To spread my legs in gratitude?"

Klaus fought not to react as the vicious taunts landed, right where she wanted them to. Caroline has always been able to hurt him and without her usual compassion was even more willing to go for the throat, "You'll owe me nothing, Caroline. If, when this is done, you tell me to go, I'll go."

"I repeat, I guess we'll see."

Klaus nodded once and backed away from her, "Well, now that we're on the same page, let's go out tonight."

"I'm not going to date you, Klaus. I don't really date right now."

"I've noticed. You shouldn't play with your food, love. You've left a trail of human boys pining after you."

Caroline shrugged, unconcerned, "Their own fault."

"I do pity them, a bit," Klaus mused aloud. He was sure he knew how they felt, "but no, not a date. Simply two old friends catching up. We've much to discuss, don't you think?"

"You're not going to accept a no, are you?" Caroline said and heaved a long suffering sigh.

"Not a chance."

"Fine. I got invited to an art show by this guy who lurks at the coffee shop I go to. You can tell me if he's any good because from what I've seen of his sketches he sucks."

"I look forward to it, love."

"Yeah, yeah. Pick me up at eight."

Klaus watched as Caroline flounced out the door. There was a decent chance she'd make a dash out of the city when she left his presence, and he'd have to chase her again. But he was banking on her interest in the little game they were playing. She was tiring of what she'd been doing with her life, and the pieces of her that were intrinsically Caroline, that having her humanity switched off could dim but not demolish, were itching for a new challenge. He just hoped he'd properly laid the groundwork.