A/N: Another chapter! I'm trying to get them all up and finished by Christmas for you all! Only another 3 to go!

/

Elijah smiled wearily as he saw Katherine enter his office, it was early morning and Klaus' trial was due to start in a few hours. Katherine instantly dropped her smile, noticing Elijah's dishevelled appearance and ruffled hair. It was clear he hadn't slept all night and she would guess he had spent the hours at his desk trying to dig up any last minute information he could to help Caroline win Klaus' case.

She dropped a coffee onto the table in front of him, "Drink that." She ordered, "You're going to need it today."

"I could use something stronger." He admitted as he placed his hands around the paper cup, the heat felt soothing against his palms but the hand Katherine placed on his shoulder was better.

Katherine gave him a small smirk, "Alcohol at 9 in the morning? I'm a bad influence."

Elijah gave her a half-hearted smile. If it was any other day he would normally have gone along with her teasing but not today. Katherine seemed to understand perfectly.

"I dropped Liam off with Rebekah this morning. He knows something is wrong. Caroline and I are a mess." Elijah said after a moment, "He could lose his father today. Not for the first time."

"He won't." Katherine insisted, she moved round the desk so she was closer to him, their faces on the same level, "You and Caroline won't let that happen, Elijah."

Elijah sighed, "With Mikael's interference there might be little we can do to stop it."

"Well, maybe it's time you showed your father what you Mikaelson's are made of." Katherine replied, her smirk bigger this time.

Elijah smiled this time, his eyes softening slightly, "Thank you for being here, Katherine. I don't know how I would be holding things together without you."

"Your family is important to you, Elijah. You would fight with everything you have to protect them." She replied, "So let's go to war."

He took the hand Katherine offered to him, placing a kiss on the back of it before standing up. "We need to stop off at mine before we head to court," Elijah said, "I need a fresh suit."

/

"Caroline!"

The blonde spun round at the sound of her name, her eyes narrowing as she saw Jesse rushing up to her. He looked flushed, his breathing heavy as he stopped next to her.

"I don't have time for whatever you want to say, Jesse. I need to get to court." She said curtly. Caroline didn't want to deal with Jesse at all but especially not today. She knew Elijah had spoken to him about keeping his distance and Caroline was thankful Jesse was smart enough to respect that because she couldn't even look at the man she once considered a friend without feeling dread seep through her at his betrayal.

Jesse moved a hand out to stop her walking away, "Please, I just need a second."

Caroline's eyes narrowed slightly but she nodded, crossing her arms over her chest as Jesse started talking.

"I'm resigning. I handed in my letter of resignation to Elijah yesterday and he accepted it. I helped do this to your family, Caroline and I will never be able to tell you how truly sorry I am for that. Marcel was my family and I think we both understand the lengths we will go to for family." Jesse said, "But what I did was wrong and I am sorry for every bit of pain I caused you and Liam. I don't deserve your forgiveness, Caroline but I owed you an explanation."

She unfolded her arms then, letting them drop to her sides, "You've resigned?"

"Effective immediately." Jesse nodded.

"You love being a lawyer, Jesse. You were the most passionate person we interviewed for the job."

"And I have no right to keep it." He replied, "I lost the right to be a lawyer when I helped Marcel destroy Klaus. Lawyers are meant to be good people, they help others. I don't see myself as that man, not right now, not anymore."

Caroline sighed, "You can't punish yourself for what Marcel did. I'm not saying I forgive you but I would have done the same if it would have protected my family. You worked hard to build a life for yourself, Jesse. Don't throw that away."

"I can't work with you and Elijah anymore, not after this. I can't look you in the eye and pretend I haven't had a hand in causing this."

The blonde tilted her head to the side, "We aren't the only law firm around." She pointed out, digging into her bag for a piece of paper and a pen. She scribbled furiously before handing the paper over to Jesse. A string of numbers were written in blue ink, "That's the number for Katherine Pierce. Give her a call, tell her I sent you. I think you would go far as a prosecutor."

"Thank you." Jesse replied, his brown eyes searching her blue ones, not sure what to say.

Caroline gave him a smile, "You're not a bad person, Jesse. Remember that, okay? Who knows maybe I will see you in the courtroom one day?"

Jesse smiled, "Good luck for today. I'm rooting for you."

Caroline didn't reply, instead she moved to squeeze his arm gently as a gesture of thanks before brushing past him.

Jesse smiled brightly as he walked in the other direction, the piece of paper still clutched in his hand.

/

The courtroom was one Caroline had been in hundreds of times on hundreds of different cases yet it was this one, this case, Klaus' case, that had her feeling nervous. The room as empty as she ghosted down the pathway, getting a feel for the room like she did with all her important cases. She had to appear confident and strong and to do that it was important she knew the room she was dealing with.

It was hard to imagine Klaus would be on trial, this case meaning more to her than all her other cases put together. This one was personal and she couldn't afford to lose it.

Mikael would be in the gallery as Damon predicted but she wouldn't focus on that. Caroline had no idea what the jury would be like but she was only thankful she knew the judge well. Alaric Saltzman, a friendly face in an unknown crowd. He had been the judge on many of her other cases and she knew Ric a little outside the courtroom. He was a nice guy, a fair judge and she could only hope he would be lenient in this case. Knowing Ric helped Caroline with her strategy, playing on Klaus' protection of his family would appeal to Ric. He was a family man himself.

A cough for the doorway pulled her out of her musings causing Caroline to spin round to face the newcomer. Her face turned into a scowl as she saw who had interrupted her.

"I heard you were defending." He replied, clicking his tongue, "Didn't anyone ever tell you not to defend a personal case. They can get messy."

"Tyler Lockwood." She greeted, "I didn't know you were back in town."

"I wasn't but I couldn't resist prosecuting the case of the Hybrid. That's a career maker." Tyler replied with a smirk as he walked further into the room.

Caroline kept her scowl in place, "What makes you so sure you'll win?"

"The same thing that made you realise you don't stand a chance." He said, "All your evidence is circumstantial at best. I'll have your defence unravelled by lunch."

Caroline quirked an eyebrow, "I don't know where you get your information from but you need to check your facts. My defence is very compelling as I'm sure the jury will agree."

"I guess we will have to wait and see." Tyler smiled. "Klaus isn't innocent, Caroline, not by a long shot."

"Neither are you, remember?" Caroline replied, "Hit and run when you were 16. You'd been drinking. No charges thanks to your father for paying off the victim's family."

Tyler lost his smile, "I'll see you in court."

"I look forward to it." Caroline said sweetly.

/

Klaus was being held in a secure holding cell beneath the docks, he would then be taken from his cell to the stand where he would stand trial. This was a familiar process to him now and he hated that fact. There was a sense of realism as he changed into his suit, today was a defining point for the rest of his life. Either he won and was a free man who got to enjoy his family and watch his son grow up or Mikael won. Klaus would lose everything and it was his fault for going along with Marcel's schemes in the first place. He should have noticed sooner, he should have seen Mikael's involvement.

He heard heels on the stone floor by his cell and a flash of blonde hair caused him to look at. Caroline's blue eyes searching for his own. He walked over to the bars hastily, his large hands enclosing over Caroline's smaller ones as she gripped the bars tightly. She smiled at him leaning her head against the metal. Klaus followed suit, their foreheads barely touching.

"Hi." She said softly, her eyes still locked with his.

Klaus squeezed her hand, "Hello, love." He said with ease, the words rolling off his tongue.

"We will be starting soon, Elijah just arrived and Damon is handling Stefan's case. It's not until next week as I need him as a witness." Caroline rambled, her voice barely above a whisper.

Klaus smiled gently, "Breathe. I trust you with my life, Caroline. I have no worries about trusting you with my freedom."

"I just want you home. Liam wants you home." She replied.

Klaus sighed, "Is he okay?"

"He's confused. He knows there is something I'm not telling him and he misses you." Caroline replied, "I miss you."

"I miss you too, love. You have no idea." He said softly, his eyes down.

Caroline smiled at that, "Liam wants us to do Christmas properly this year. A big family thing, it's more important to him with you here now."

"Caroline," Klaus started, "If things don't work out today…"

She cut him off, "Don't you dare."

"I don't want Liam to see me in prison. That's no place for you or our son."

"He won't see you in prison, Nik. It's not going to happen. You're coming home." Caroline insisted.

Klaus nodded, " I'll do whatever it takes to get back to our family, sweetheart but if I can't I need you to do something for me."

"Klaus…"

"I need you to be happy, Caroline. I need you to raise our son and do whatever you have to do to be happy. You need to move on from me, you deserve that." Klaus said softly, his hand moving to her face.

Caroline shook her head, "You don't get to do this to me. God, I wish I could slap you right now."

"I'm trying to be practical." Klaus tried to reason.

"You are getting out of here and you are coming home, that's practical. We are going to raise our son together and have more children and be happy together." She insisted, "I can't be happy without you, Klaus. That's not even an option."

Klaus smiled, "More children?"

"You have a big family, I thought you would want more children."

"With you? I want a full soccer team." Klaus replied.

Caroline smiled then, "You hate soccer."

"I love you." He smiled, "With everything I am."

"Good answer." She whispered, leaning to kiss him through the bars of his cell, "I love you too."

/

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Next time we see the trial begins! Sophie and Stefan take to the stands!