Chapter 10

When she was human, time was constant in Caroline's life. There was a set path and a frame of reference for it. Four years of high school, four years of college, marriage by 25, kids before 30. Everything in Caroline's life had a moment in time, even if that moment was far off in the future. When she became a vampire time had a different consistency. She was not held to deadlines of life because life was, for the most part, infinite. As a human, time is something approaching you slowly, then faster and faster until your life is laid out behind you, instead of ahead. Now time was something that Caroline was chasing. How many decades, millennia could she conquer? What changes in culture will she be present for? What wars? What rebellions?

The Michelson's had already experienced the passing of the ages. They had watched civilization live and die for hundreds of years. As vampires they had found stillness in life. Time was not moving quickly at all. They now sat on a flat line. They moved their own clock forward; choosing when to participate, when to be a member of time and when to stand beside it.

These thoughts were running through Caroline's head around noon the day of the full moon. There was fourteen hours between finishing stratagems and the moment of impact. Fourteen hours that felt like minutes to the Originals. They saw that stretch of time as a way to pause and contemplate before battle, just as a runner takes a deep breathe and stretches before a race.

Caroline had not experienced enough life to be able to feel that way about time. She wished she could. She was in the library with Klaus, Rebekah, and Elijah who were all sitting motionless, letting the time pass. Hayley was curled in a corner wringing her hands. She was nervous, powerless, Caroline wouldn't have been surprised if the girl had been chewing her hair.

Caroline, like Hayley, was also nervous. She started quelling her nerves by shaking her foot, which progressed to shaking her leg, then the adrenaline pumped through her skin, in every vein, forced her to her feet.

She paced for a considerable amount of time, back and forth and back again. The monotony did not calm the waters at all. She began wringing her own hands when—"Oh will you calm down! You're a vampire! Stop acting like such a... human." Rebekah was looking at her with intense exasperation.

Caroline had been pulled from her stupor by an angry blonde vampire. She thought about ignoring her, but then reconsidered it: a verbal sparing would be a good distraction.

"Well, I'm sorry that I—"

"Enough!" Klaus yelled, before things escalated. "Rebekah shut up. Caroline come here."

Rebekah rolled her eyes and Caroline took the six steps she needed in order to stand in front of Klaus. He was sitting in an armchair. He looked up at her expectantly. She raised her eyebrows. Rolling his eyes, he grabbed her hand and pulled her onto his lap. She was about to exclaim in protest when he shushed her. "Calm down love. You just need to relax. Shutdown. It's something all vampires need to learn how to do. So just breathe, take a breath." He spoke softly and his hand ran up and down her leg.

With every stroke of his hand Caroline's breathe slowed down. Her body quieted and she found the strange stillness that her vampire cohorts had all seemed to master. In Klaus' arms, she found a blank space in her mind, where she wasn't feeling everything, where everything wasn't heightened, and she could just breathe.

Her senses started coming back to her when she felt a strange humming next to her. She looked towards Klaus, his blood was pumping, his nerves firing at faster and more erratic speeds, and his eyes had a subtle yellow tinge. She stared at him. He was feeling the pull of the moon. He could resist it, she knew that much, but she had had no idea that his whole body was begging him to change every time the moon was full. Hybridity, it seemed, only gave you the ability to stop; it didn't end the craving.

He nodded at her surprised face. She could see the bloodlust in his every expression. He stroked her leg one last time and said, "The wolves will be changing now."

The vampires stood at attention waiting for their command orders. Klaus smiled his small smile, "Places everyone."

They had disbursed amongst the streets immediately surrounding their Mansion. The plan they had was simple in its execution. Each vampire had a ring of protection. Elijah was the furthest out, the first defense and the first to see the wolves.

There were six wolves advancing slowly upon him. Elijah flexed his fingers menacingly, crouching slowly, waiting for them to pounce. He had been instructed not to attack; he couldn't throw the first stone. There was a pregnant pause. All six of the wolves stopped and waited.

The head wolf was a rusty brown color, with flecks of gold in his fur. And it was he who advanced first upon the vampire. Elijah quickly threw the wolf off of him but by then the other wolves were circling him snapping at his ankles.

When the next wolf advanced, Elijah decided to take no prisoners. The wolf went for his throat and Elijah grabbed the dog by its neck. The dog continued to snap at him. Elijah took his other hand and snapped the wolf's neck.

The other wolves were enraged. And now, instead of only one, there were five wolves on him. One grabbed his leg with its teeth. Elijah screamed with pain and bit the wolf closest to his mouth. The wolf howled and scampered away. This gave Elijah the opportunity to rip the heart out of the wolf on his leg. The two wolves remaining retreated away, howling and crying for their fallen brethren.

Elijah could feel the werewolf venom coursing through his veins. This couldn't kill him, but it hurt like a bitch and slowed him down. He reached into him pocket for the vial of Klaus' blood and drank it quickly. He wanted to damn his brother. Will there ever be a moment when he is not reliant or compliant to Niklaus? But, Elijah could pontificate later. This was not over. He pulled out his cellphone and dialed, "Six in all, I took out two. One is injured. No sign of Lockwood."

Three blocks closer to his home, Klaus hung up the phone with Elijah. As he heard the wolves approaching he let his own wolf come closer to the surface. His eyes yellowed, werewolf venom filled his mouth, his fangs became more pointed, and his bones were just on the edge of snapping. Caroline was wrong about one thing; he wasn't formidable with his family. He was formidable. The most powerful creature alive. Nothing was going to stop him from taking or keeping what he wanted. When the first wolf made an appearance Klaus sprang into action. This wasn't Elijah, waiting, calculating, Klaus was ending this before it got to her.

Klaus had been in this situation before. He couldn't help but draw the parallels as the first wolf ascended. He had spent a night ripping apart the supernatural. Fortunately for them, he was indifferent to these creatures whose lives he was ending. There was no betrayal here, like there had been with his hybrids, no need to prolong their torture. Their deaths were quick and sharp. He snapped necks, he drained them dry and he did so in such a blur that it wasn't until his onslaught of attackers ended that he counted the bodies surrounding him. Eight. Elijah had said six attacked him. He killed two, which meant that there should only have been four wolves attacking Klaus. The wolves were moving in separate packs. Coming from different angles at the vampires stationed around New Orleans. He hadn't ended it after all.

He cursed as he grabbed his phone, "Rebekah, No sign of Tyler, Elijah should have run his perimeter by now. I am coming back to the house. Hold them off. I'll be there soon."

"They're already here Klaus," she said. "They've got me surrounded." She was standing on the front porch of their mansion. With twelve wolves circling her. None of them attacked her they just kept circling. She darted out to the right trying to distract the wolves. They pounced on her, scratching down her arms, pushing her back onto the ground. She felt one wolf stamp his paw onto her hand, holding her down. She threw him away from her, but the second that wolf was gone another took his place. His claws were digging into her skin. This continued to happen, different wolves pouncing on different body parts. No matter how hard she struggled she couldn't fight this many at once.

She felt crushed beneath the weight of these angry dogs. None of them were using their teeth. She felt their paws though. Everywhere there were wolves, and she struggled pathetically until she felt a hybrid approaching her. She was so relieved, Klaus was here and he would help her with these mutts. She yelled out to him and caught a glimpse of a man much darker than her brothers. He walked straight into the house. Once he walked inside, the wolves started using teeth.

She felt the first bite of venom almost softly at her ankle, the pup hadn't bit down hard, but the poison slowly burned up her leg. The pain started to radiate into her other limbs. But there were other bites to worry about. On her chest, her arms, the flesh of her shoulder, nothing seemed to be off limits. The wolf standing on her chest stared into her eyes. She could tell, in his eyes, he was human. And that human barred his fangs, growling slowly and menacingly, before her throat was clenched between his teeth.

Rebekah writhed in pain, seeing spots; she felt the sounds of her screams gurgle in her throat. Just before the world went black she felt the wolf being ripped away from her and caught a glimpse of her brother above her.

Hayley had been sitting upstairs in the library staring at the item in her lap when she began to hear them howling. This moment was completely backwards. To be frightened of a wolf cry. To be protected by a vampire. By a group of them. It didn't make one bit of sense, and yet, here she was. Sitting in a chair, letting her fingers feel smooth metal, in a house, surrounded by their scent, feeling horribly uncomfortable, and strangely safe.

Rebekah was sitting across from her, waiting until she needed to go outside and protect the home. She was quite calm which was helpful, but Hayley couldn't help herself. She resented the bitch sitting there. She had the luxury of being calm, which was more than Hayley could ask for. Rebekah was in control, she had power, she was alone. Hayley could only dream of a life where she had all of that. Hayley had been powerless since she got pregnant, she had lost control when Klaus came to New Orleans, and she was living in a house constantly occupied with vampires, not to mention the other being living within her. She moved her hand to her lower stomach. She did love her baby, as frustrating as it was, as out of control it made her, she loved that damn thing inside her. It was part of the problem.

If only the baby weren't Klaus'. If only Tyler hadn't found out about it. If only.

"Its time for me to go now" Hayley looked up at the Original sitting next to her. "They're approaching."

"Weren't you supposed to wait for Klaus' call?"

"Yes, but things never do go according to plan, it seems like they incapacitated my brothers, because the wolves are coming towards the front of the house as we speak." Rebekah gave her a small smile, which did nothing to quell her gathering nerves. If the boys failed, what did that mean for her?

She looked down again at the thing Klaus had given her before he left. She didn't like it very much, but understood the necessity. She felt the trigger of the gun, moved her finger down the barrel, and thought again about power. There was such a lot of force within such a small object. She hoped it would be enough.

Rebekah had been right. It was only a few minutes after the vampire left that Hayley heard the wolves moving closer. She heard growling and the snapping of teeth, and horrifyingly, she heard the front door open and close. She stood up preparing herself, clicked the safety off of the gun the way that she had been shown and let her hand fall to her sides. Breathe.

He rounded the corner, his wolf eyes staring her down. Hayley had never felt Tyler was the most loyal person, but at one time she thought she might be different beneath his tough exterior. He just seemed so strong to her. He had fought the sire bond, he had survived, and she had admired that.

"Hello, Hayley."

"Tyler."

He walked towards her slowly. "I'm surprised they left you alone. They really don't do much to protect you here, do they?"

Hayley just sneered at him. Let him think what he wanted. This would work.

"They are protecting me. From you. Don't act like they are the bad guys when you are who I need protecting from Tyler."

He just stared at her. Still glaring, still full of anger. "I'm not discussing this with you." He walked towards her with determination. He was stopped when she raised the gun in her hand and pointed it at him.

"Don't move an inch."

He stopped, smiled a small smile. "Okay Hayley. You can shoot me. I am a hybrid. It will only slow me down, you can't stop me from doing this."

"Sure I can." She said, and pulled the trigger.

The shot rang out, it hit the wall behind Tyler's head. And the moment she missed was his moment to attack. He shot forward, grabbing Hayley by her arms, knocking the gun out of her hand. He tried to throw her over his shoulder, but she kicked and fought her way out of the hybrids' grasp. When she had her arms back to herself, she swung out at Tyler's face with all of her strength. She felt the punch in her shoulder. It stung down her whole arm to her fragile fingers. She swung out again, this time hitting his nose. He must be human, she thought, he bleeds.

Tyler adjusted to being hit by a girl, and he started to swing back. He knocked her down, kicking her in the stomach as she lie there. She grabbed him by the ankle and kicked out at his knees. He was down on the ground in a moment. He was bracing himself, she was going to hit him again, when he felt two other hands grabbing him by his shoulder and throwing him onto his back. He looked up at the blond vampire in disgust, "Caroline."

She had taken her place, just as Klaus commanded. She hated her role in this, but it was the only way that Klaus would agree to her being near Hayley. Caroline was on the roof. She watched as the dogs approached Elijah slowly. He held his own. If he was unable to handle it then it was her job to alert Klaus. But no alert was needed. She saw more wolves approaching Klaus, more wolves than expected. They were coming in waves. She assumed that even more wolves would approach the house.

Klaus was annihilating the wolves. He was so swift, so powerful. He worked quickly. They all died, but he also offered mercy, in that they died quickly. She knew that he could prolong their suffering. She was almost surprised that he chose not to. She was impressed by his humanity, however slim it was.

She was so enamored by the sight of him that she had completely missed Tyler walking into the house. She was completely jarred away staring at this powerful angry man, when she heard a gunshot ring out.

She let her senses feel what was happening with Hayley, and discovered that Tyler was there. "Dammit, I am the worst lookout ever!"

She jumped down from her perch to the balcony a story below. She saw, through the glass windows, Tyler and Hayley fighting on the floor. She ran into the room, grabbed Tyler by his shoulders, pushing him back onto the floor. She then immediately took a step back and put her hands up defensively. She was ready to fight him.

"Caroline."

"Tyler." She replied almost as disgusted as he was. She positioned herself between him and Hayley. He started to stand up and she kicked him back down. "Hayley, are you okay?" She heard the affirmation and breathed a sigh of relief. "Plan B. Okay?"

Tyler glared at her. "You taking orders from Caroline now Hayley? Or are you both taking orders from Klaus?"

"Shut up Tyler."

"You do not even realize the hold he has on you Caroline. Look at yourself, your protecting Hayley? You're leaving all your friends, all of your loyalties behind for what? For him?" He shook his head.

"I said shut up Tyler." Caroline stepped towards him and kicked out again, this time making contact with his face. Once he had recovered from the hit, Tyler glared up at her, he was starting to go wolf. She couldn't let him. He stood up and advanced towards her.

"I don't want to do this Caroline," he said. This was it; this was why she needed to be here. Tyler would have attacked Klaus by now, or Elijah, but with her he would try to make her find reason. He would talk it out with her. Unfortunately for Tyler, she wasn't in a listening mood.

"Then walk away, Tyler." She commanded.

He just shook his head. "I can't do that."

"Well, I can't let you continue." Caroline said. Hayley started getting up behind her. She was hurting, Caroline could tell, but she was alive, and that counted for something.

"Don't make me do this, Caroline."

"I am not making you do anything!"

"You're NOT!" he screamed. "You're HERE. You chose Klaus. You chose him because of what? HER" he pointed at Hayley. "Your loyalties lie with a man who's tried to kill you and the offspring he conceived? Why? Is he a good lay? Does he fuck you harder than I did?"

She looked away when he said that and he advanced, he was within inches of her face. "You are making me do this. Don't pretend that you are not. You chose to be here, to be his whore."

Caroline slapped him.

Tyler's head snapped. He looked away for a second and a smile crossed his face.

"Fine, Caroline. Be that way." And the boy she had loved pulled his arm back and punched her square in the face.

And Caroline attacked.

Tyler took hits to his entire body. She was punching everywhere. And he was fighting back. He grabbed her arm and threw her over his head. The paneling in the wall broke when she hit it. Her disorientation was what Tyler needed to make his move on Hayley.

She had run towards the door when the former lovers had begun fighting. After he threw Caroline, Tyler ran to Hayley, grabbed her from behind and threw her onto the floor. Hayley scrambled back when she saw Tyler pull out a knife. Caroline was starting to get up so he had to move quickly. He pushed the pregnant girl back down and forced the knife into her stomach. Hayley twisted and the knife went in towards her side, he drew the knife out and stabbed her again. Blood gushed from her belly. And that's when he felt Caroline grab him from behind and bite down onto his neck.

She was trying to rip out his jugular. He could tell that much, but from her strange angle she was having a hard time doing it. He grabbed her and flipped over his back. She was flat on the coffee table and Tyler brought the knife over her throat.

Klaus came barreling into the room. Tyler had a knife to Caroline's throat. Hayley was bleeding on the floor. And Tyler knew he had the upper hand. His wolves might all be dead, but he had Caroline and Hayley, and the Original Hybrid could do nothing about that.

Klaus seemed to realize that too, because he paused and slowed his movements. He glared at this presumptuous werewolf. "I would let the girls go if I were you, Tyler."

Tyler actually smiled. "I don't think I'll do that. I think were gonna play a game called, I Hold a Knife to Your Girlfriends Throat While The Mother of Your Child Bleeds Out in Front of You. Because if you come near me or Hayley I'll remove Caroline's head from her shoulders and no vampire on earth could survive that."

Caroline was absolutely still. Klaus had replied to Tyler's threat, the boys were going back and forth but there was white noise in her ears. A constant buzzing and swirling stopper her from hearing them battle out her fate. She looked over at Hayley, bleeding, eyes wide. The girl was terrified. Caroline reached out to the girl and Hayley, in a moment of camaraderie and weakness took the vampires hand. She squeezed.

Caroline felt a tear fall down her cheek. She didn't know what it was for, but she assumed it had something to do with sisterhood and family. Two things she did not seem to have anymore.

She looked down and saw a jagged piece of wood inches from her wrist. She brought the inside of her wrist to the wood and began dragging it across the sharp edge. She felt the rough edge of the wood, like she was giving herself splinters at first, but she pressed down harder, until there was a fresh stream of blood from her wrist. She once again put her hand out to Hayley. When she felt the blood, Caroline saw a light in her eyes. And she brought her hand repeatedly from Caroline's wrist to her mouth. Small amounts of blood were not enough to heal her, but they were enough to staunch the sickening flow of blood from her stomach.

It was also enough to distract Klaus and Tyler from their pissing match. Tyler turned to see what Hayley was doing, lessening his grip on Caroline and the knife to her throat. Klaus threw Tyler across the room.

Now that she was free, Caroline bit into her wrist and immediately fed Hayley her blood. The flow of vampire blood would hopefully stop any more damage to Hayley's body. Caroline cradled the girl's head in her lap while she fed and looked up just in time to see Klaus' hand push into Tyler's chest and grab his heart.

"KLAUS STOP." She screamed.

He looked at her like she was insane, but he stopped. "He tried to KILL YOU. He tried to kill Hayley. Do not ask me to stop."

"You promised me!" She begged. "You promised that you would not kill Tyler if you had another choice. You have another choice here."

He shook his head, and gripped the wolf's heart tighter in his chest. Tyler winced and screamed out loud. He was in pain. It was oddly satisfying. Caroline didn't want him to die, but she enjoyed him receiving some of the pain he had brought upon in the past year.

Hayley had stopped drinking, she had needed a lot of blood and Caroline was feeling weak. But she still walked over to Klaus and put her hand on the arm that was inside of Tyler's chest. "Please Klaus, we don't have to let him go, but we also don't need to kill him."

Klaus grimaced. He was shaking, struggling. He didn't move his arm, He was fighting with himself and he hated it. He knew that he should rip the heart from Tyler's chest; he had only stopped because of the tiny blonde vampire holding his arm.

He saw Elijah walk into the room. He needed to make a decision. He didn't like that such a small creature could stop him, that his choice was dependent upon her approval. He clenched his jaw and turned to his brother.

"Glad you could make it. As you can see, I have incapacitated this young hybrid. I would like you to take him to the crypt so we can drain him of any vervain in his system and compel him to leave and never return."

Elijah smiled at his brother's restraint, "That sounds like a good plan C, brother."

Elijah moved closer and Klaus visibly relaxed. His hand moved out of Tyler's chest. Elijah moved in to incapacitate him, Tyler grabbed Caroline by the neck and bit her, she screamed out and kicked behind her, hitting Tyler and pushing him backwards. She advanced upon him before either of the Originals could and punched him twice before snapping his neck.

"Okay, now put him in the crypt and drain him dry," she said wryly.

They were all seated around the fireplace. The four vampires were celebrating their victory. With the help of Klaus blood, Caroline and Rebekah's wounds had healed. Klaus had put Hayley to sleep after he had ensured she was feeling better. He could still hear the faint beating of his child's heart, so he assumed that Tyler's knife had missed his mark, or Caroline's blood had healed not only Hayley, but the baby as well. They were sipping champagne, silently contemplating the day's events. They had each compared tales, and apparently while Caroline, Klaus, and Hayley fought it out in the library, Elijah had slaughtered another dozen wolves. All while Rebekah lay bleeding.

Caroline was the first to stand up. She said her goodnights and walked into Klaus' room. For the first time, she felt awkward about the prospects of sleeping there. It was one thing to fall into bed with Klaus and crash there after some magnificent sex, but tonight she was in no mood and didn't know if that meant she should sleep elsewhere. She wasn't surprised when he walked in to his room. He walked towards her solemnly. He leaned down to kiss her and she pulled away.

"I'm sorry," she said, "just not tonight."

Both of his hands were cupping her face. "Its okay love. I just want to kiss you."

She looked at him confused, but let herself be kissed. It was intimate, personal. He kissed her lips softly, then her eyelids, her nose and he pressed his final kiss to the pulse point at her neck. "Let's get some rest love."

They were lying side by side. Klaus took her hand under the sheets, entwining his fingers with hers. He was asleep beside her when Caroline felt a jolt, and for the first time since she was a vampire, she felt the ticking of the crocodile following behind her.

A/N: I am sorry it took me a while to update. I really wanted to do this chapter justice and it is longer than usual :) Let me know what you think.

Read and review please!