I'm sorry. Really. No number of apologies could explain why this took so long. I've been having some writers block. You all have been so wonderful to me, leaving such lovely reviews, and this is how I repay you. I do prefer longer updates but if you guys would prefer shorter updates to hopefully get updates out sooner let me know, I'll give them a shot.

The day was bright and sunny, yet tourists crowded through the New Orleans cemetery in fascination with cameras and off handed jokes. The allure that surrounded New Orleans was plagued with death, deformity, and debauchery. Even in broad daylight the decrepit crypts told more gruesome tales than any ordinary cemetery. In New Orleans cemeteries are adoringly dubbed Cities of the Dead by the humans. If only they knew how wrong they were. They weren't visiting it in a cemetery, the moment they stepped foot in New Orleans they spent every waking hour in the City of the Dead.

Klaus was not the least bit excited to meet with the witches, especially amongst tourism hours. Sophie Deveraux was the witches spokeswoman and Clan Elder. Though her position was monumentally the fault of the Originals and Klaus himself, he still couldn't be bothered to understand why her. Anyone else could have consecrated his mother's bones in the New Orleans cemetery but it had to be Sophie. It took a special man and an excruciating amount of patience, which Klaus had none of, to deal with the Deveraux witch. It's why Elijah tends to these meetings on his own. With the witches allocating the necessities for a spell to bring Kol back and the recent news of the Travelers however, it was imperative that Klaus also be present.

As they walked, Elijah pondered how to broach the question that had been burning under his skin since spying his brother and a miss Caroline Forbes sharing breakfast this morning. Of course over the years Klaus had taken an interest in a number of pretty girls, most of which were never seen again, but there was something different in the way Klaus regarded Caroline.

"If there's something on your mind Elijah I suggest speaking is the best remedy to that look on your face."

Startled, but ever the put together Original, Elijah merely shook his head. "Nothing at all. Simply thinking about our guests."

"Ahh, let me guess," Klaus smiled, crossing his arms behind his back. "You must be wondering why I haven't killed the unnecessary companion yet."

"More along the thought of, why have you been considering killing him?"

"Must I remind you, he is a loose end."

"And Caroline is not?" Klaus visibly tensed and Elijah knew he'd hit the target. Baiting him, Elijah continued. "I assume once they've outrun their use they'll be, shall I say...disposed of, properly."

Klaus' wolf side still startled Elijah on occasion. Now, with a deep growl emitting from his throat as he paused in their walk, was one of them. "Touch a hair on her head Elijah and you'll know the inside of a coffin longer than Fin."

They fell back into step for a few beats before Elijah finally spoke again, duly noting his brother would make do on his threat. "You care for her."

"I'm failing to see the purpose of this conversation."

"I'm failing to see how this isn't a purposeful conversation." Klaus said nothing in reply as they approached the cemetery gates, indicating that however opposed to it Elijah was, the conversation was over. The crypts stood tall and dirty, casting shadows on the dilapidated cobble stone paths. Over the years the Deveraux's became crypt keepers in an effort to remain close to their deceased ancestors. Their home became the epicenter of witch activity despite being precariously close to the French Quarter Marcel once ruled. With the regime shift, Klaus allowed magic in the French Quarter. His punishments for breaking any of his rules on the other hand would make Marcel's scare tactics look like child's play.

Entering the grounds of the Deveraux family home, Elijah and Klaus were met with the sight of the inefficaciously cheerful home amongst the home of the dead. Before either could further announce their presence, Sophie had intercepted them. Nodding in greeting, she stepped out on the front porch, refusing to let them in to their only sanctuary. Klaus stretched out his senses and took note that a few younger witches and warlock's were in her company today.

"How has the research been going?" Elijah asked, skipping pleasantries altogether.

"Slow," Sophie replied, fiddling with her fingers.

"Well maybe we need to supply some encouragement to speed the process up, seeing as it's been going 'slow' as you so articulately put it, for weeks now," Klaus drawled, the picture of patient.

"We're doing all that we can with the grimoires you provided," Sophie rushed, frustration evident on her pale features. "There's only a few of us left. Anything too rash could kill the rest of us. Or worse, do something to screw up the Other Side."

Elijah grimaced when he remembered the dwindling population of witches New Orleans currently had. It reeked of Marcel's tyranny and it created an obstacle for both them and the Originals. Sighing, he finally took the step Elijah knew Klaus would never. "Is there anything we can do to speed the process along?"

"I think we've helped the witches enough, brother," Klaus seethed at their incompetence.

"We're trying Klaus, but the Other Side is complicated. We're looking into something called an anchor. We came across it in one of your mother's grimoires. I think it could help us."

"Help you how?" Elijah asked.

"Well most spells, big ones at least, are anchored to something. The Other Side is just a veil, it's a big spell so it has to have an anchor, something keeping it together. Maybe even acting as an entrance where both sides meet or something."

"And where can we find this anchor?" Klaus asked slowly.

"We don't know yet," Sophie replied softly. "We're looking. It's old magic so no one's heard of or seen it for centuries."

"You should know Sophie that if you cannot obtain the means to bring my brother back I have other avenues which would render you and your lot entirely useless," Klaus replied after a short moment of silence.

"Other avenues?" Sophie asked incredulously. She doubted any clan of witches would help Klaus out of the kindness of their hearts. However, as a clan elder, she knew having the Originals indebted to any clan was enticing enough for any witch.

"A clan called the Travelers. Darker magic, effective nonetheless," Klaus quipped. Without having spoken to the Travelers, Klaus was still confident he could obtain their assistance. If not, at the very least the mere mention to Sophie of the possibility of her clan not repaying Klaus' kind move of freeing the witches would speed things up.

"The Travelers?" Sophie asked in disbelief. "Do you even know anything about the Travelers? Like how much of a bad idea it would be to bring them to New Orleans."

"We know enough, Sophie," Elijah interjected. "Whether or not their presence in New Orleans is good or not is not our concern right now, though I can't seem to find a viable reason why it wouldn't benefit us. Our concern is our brother."

"They have a vendetta against all other witches," Sophie explained, ignoring Elijah's gentle warning to stay on topic. "They have a plan and every witch knows they're getting really close to seeing it through."

"Pray tell, what is this plan?" Klaus mused. The Originals had heard every rumor on the mill about the Travelers. Only a few held remotely true in their eyes.

Sophie, however, floundered, her face paling before flooding with color. "We're not sure but it's some sort of attack on magic. There's always whispers of it on the Other Side."

"Well maybe," Klaus smirked, stepping forward and invading her personal space, "you should be listening to the whispers about resurrecting Kol before I decide you are entirely useless."

Clearing his throat to prompt his brother to step away from the witch, Elijah spoke. "I believe our deadline hasn't changed. The blood moon it is still?"

"Yes, we'll look into the anchor to the other side. The night of the blood moon is our best chance, it's when the veil is the weakest."

"Since you appear to be dillydallying, I'll contact some old sources about this anchor. You have mere days." Not saying any more, Klaus stepped off the Deveraux porch, expecting his brother to follow him. Their meeting was intended to be a status update but Sophie, left standing on her porch in a daze, couldn't help but think it was more of a threat.

After finishing breakfast on her own, Caroline made it her priority to discover Rebekah's whereabouts before seeking out Enzo. When one of Klaus' minions mentioned she'd left for breakfast and a stroll around the quarter, Caroline let out a breath of relief. While discovering this, it seemed Enzo was intent of finding her first. The Mikaelson home was large, but not large enough for Caroline to keep dodging him.

"Morning blondie," Enzo finally greeted her across the courtyard after catching up to her. Before Caroline could even respond, Enzo continued. "It's been a solid two seconds, have you forgotten where the door is? Or are you done running at the sight of me?"

"I'm not running at the sight of you," Caroline scoffed. "I just had to make sure there weren't any Original vampires in the house," she added, her voice softer.

"Ahh, I take it we have some things to discuss then." Without further ado, Caroline stepped out of the courtyard, expecting Enzo to follow her. The first room with a door she found looked like a parlor or study of some sort. With the amount of rooms in the house she didn't care what it was called, just that the door closed tightly behind them. She sighed heavily before turning to face Enzo.

"I lied to Klaus."

"I was there."

"But then I told him the truth."

"All right."

"It was just easier that way. Immediately telling Klaus we were in town to kill his hybrid making blood bag wasn't exactly a good plan."

"I agree. So?"

"So? So what?"

"So what is our plan?"

"Oh," Caroline replied. "Right. The plan for now is to let Klaus try and barter with the Travelers. I need him to believe that I want Tom alive because it will help keep Stefan alive. It will make the whole second part of the plan easier."

"Right, so the second part of the plan would be to find Tom while Klaus and the Travelers have their little dance of dominance?"

"Okay ew. There were so many ways that sentence could have been said."

"Speaking of innuendos–"

"–We weren't speaking of innuendos–"

"You failed to mention your relationship with the big bad," Enzo continued as if Caroline hadn't spoken. "Now I know we're partners here but really gorgeous, you've got to give me a little more to trust you on."

Caroline internally cringed and outwardly scoffed at the adjective turned pet name. Crossing her arms, Caroline finally conceded. "We had a thing. A very small thing I can't even begin to describe."

"Had?" Enzo asked skeptically, his eyebrows rising.

"Yes, had," Caroline fired back, her arms dropping to her hips in annoyance.

The smile that graced Enzo's face was grating against Caroline's frayed nerves. He continued to speak though as if nothing was wrong. "And this thing, it entailed?"

"It entailed thing-stuff," she trailed off, not wanting to talk about it anymore.

"It had to be some pretty intense stuff for the bloke to be in love with you."

"He is not in love with me!" He was. Caroline knew it. Caroline knew it before Klaus himself knew it. But now was not the time for the truth or emotions or truthful emotions for that matter.

"Don't be such a blonde, blondie. You already know he is. Just admit it."

Huffing in frustration, Caroline was at her wits end with this conversation. "We slept together, once. No love. Just a messy hook up. Now I'm done having this conversation."

Just as Caroline headed for the door it swung open, revealing an immaculately dressed Rebekah Mikaelson. "Good, I don't much want to hear more about yours and my brother's love life. Though I must say, that does explain his uncharacteristically good mood after visiting Mystic Falls. And here I thought it was simply the death of the doppelganger whore that caused so much joy."

"Rebekah," Caroline greeted, hoping the Original didn't hear the spike in her heart rate.

"Caroline," she responded, giving her an appraising look. "And this is Enzo," she finally addressed, eyeing the brunette from head to toe. "Right, why are you here again?"

"I believe I'm here trying to save Stefan's life."

Rebekah's unnerving gaze fell on him one more time when she realized that's not what he said last night. "Why would you care about Stefan?" she finally asked.

"His brother is my friend," Enzo replied monotonously.

"Damon? Salvatore?" Rebekah asked incredulously. "He has friends?"

"My thought exactly," Caroline murmured under her breath. When the Original's eyes fell on her, Caroline stood a little straighter and spoke louder. "What do you want Rebekah?"

Instead of mentioning that Enzo did not mention saving Stefan last night as his reason for presence, Rebekah filed it away and moved on, her entire demeanor changed. "What's going on with Stefan." It wasn't a question.

"I already told you, he turned himself over to the Travelers to help save Damon and Elena's life."

"Yes, yes, the tragic love story, I got that part," Rebekah quickly brushed off. "I mean what do they want with him."

"To find Tom-"

Huffing in deep annoyance, Rebekah cut her off once more, "Yes, but for what?"

"I don't know," Caroline exclaimed. "I'm here to save Stefan, Rebekah. I don't really care what the Travelers want."

Before anyone else could say anything, Klaus and Elijah quietly entered the room. "Unfortunately love," Klaus announced, "we may have to care about what the Travelers want."

"We've hit a snag in our plans with the witches," Elijah elaborated. "They're looking for some sort of anchor. God knows how long it could take them."

"Yes, and since the Travelers need to be dealt with, best kill two birds with one stone I say."

"An anchor?" Caroline asked, her skin going paler than usual. "Did they say what it was or anything?" Breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth, Caroline willed her heart rate to decrease, now. She could not get Bonnie involved in this. Not when no one from Mystic Falls, not even her mother, knew she was here, in New Orleans. This had to be dealt with here, quickly, so she could go home and pretend like nothing ever happened.

Klaus eyed her curiously before answering her question. "Only that it is presumably what is keeping the Other Side together. Possibly acting as an entrance."

"Yes, in which case," Elijah added, "it is imperative we find it. I assume Kol is not going to materialize in thin air."

"Yes, and I'm sure your New Orleans witches are capable of finding something that old," Rebekah spat. "Mother used to speak of it. She didn't know who or what it was, only that every supernatural creature that died passed through the anchor."

"Ergo, they must pass through to come back," Klaus finished for her sister, his tone determined now. "So I think Caroline love, it's time we had a little chat with the Travelers."

It took Caroline a full few seconds to realize she was being spoken too. Her mind was a mess of protecting her best friend. Bonnie had been through enough. She'd died for Gods sakes. Caroline would do anything to keep Bonnie out of this but it didn't seem the universe had that in store for her. Acting quickly before anyone noticed her stuck in her reverie, Caroline pulled her cell phone out of her back pocket and called Stefan's phone.

Propping the phone on a side table and turning the speaker function on, Caroline waited for Sloan to pick up, not that she wanted to hear her snarky voice. "If he's not dead yet Caroline, Stefan will be," she greeted.

"How wonderful to hear your voice too," Enzo muttered under his breath behind her while Elijah and Rebekah's eyes flew to Klaus. Instead of explaining, he simply nodded his head as if the matter was already taken care of.

Grinding her teeth so hard Caroline felt like she'd cracked her molars only to feel them re-heal before she spoke. "Put Stefan on the phone."

A few moments of rustling later, his voice came through the speakers. "Caroline?"

"Stefan?" Caroline asked worriedly. "Are you all right? They're not doing that mind meldy thing anymore are they?"

"No, not anymore," he groaned. "They do however have taken a liking to my blood or something. Anyways, how's the 'find Stefan's doppelganger' mission going?"

"Well for starters," she began while glancing around the room, "I was right."

"So you found Klaus?"

"Hello Stefan," he greeted, a small smirk on his face.

"Klaus," Stefan replied. "I'd say good to hear your voice but I'm guessing you're unwillingness to give up Tom is the reason I'm still being bled."

"I'm hurt Stefan," Klaus answered. "Here I am about to save your life and–"

Before Klaus could finish his sentence, Caroline butt in. "Okay enough. We've got more important things to worry about that you two chatting it up like old friends."

While Klaus did shoot her a glare, he agreed. Instead of having the opportunity to speak, Sloan decided it was her turn. "Speaking of, why isn't Tom dead yet?"

"I'm working on it Sloan," Caroline shot back. "In fact, the man holding your precious doppelganger captive wants to have a word with you."

"Sloan, is it?" Klaus greeted, sitting himself in an armchair and propping his feet up. "How nice it is to speak to you."

"What do you want Hybrid?" Sloan inquired, skipping all pleasantries as usual.

"Well I want you to let go of my friend," Klaus answered pointedly. "But we both know it isn't quite that simple. See, I have a doppelganger in my possession that you want. I'm not quite ready to bring him to the slaughter. There is however something you can do for me that could persuade me."

"I don't need to persuade you. I need Tom dead."

"But that's where you're wrong," Klaus answered slowly, leaning forward in his seat. Caroline watched his every move and realized Klaus emanated every bit of danger the world imagined in him. "Caroline and Enzo, no one for that matter, will come near Tom without my consent. Their assassination plot is put on hold, you see. "

There was silence on the other end before Sloan's deadly voice came through the phone. "I am older than you Hybrid."

"Yes, that you are," Klaus conceded. "But you're a witch who doesn't practice traditional magic. Or is it, you can't access traditional magic?"

Klaus was toying with her. Rebekah and Elijah who were terribly used to this found themselves staring at their nails in boredom while Caroline and Enzo clung to every word. It didn't help that the mystery that surrounded the Travelers wasn't new to the Originals.

There was silence once again before Sloan spoke, "What do you want?"

Smiling, Klaus met Caroline's shocked gaze and sent her a wink. "I'm glad we can see eye to eye on this. Now down to the matter of import. I'm sure you're aware that my siblings and I are woefully two Originals short. Well we're endeavoring to remedy that situation with the return of one."

"You want us to bring back one of your brothers?"

"It's quite simple really. Return us one of our brothers. You take Tom. We are returned Stefan. And Caroline and Enzo are free from doing your bidding."

Rebekah stood and met Elijah's eyes upon hearing that. Could her brother really be giving up his life's work for Stefan? For Kol? Klaus shot his siblings an imperceptible glare only they could see indicating he had a plan and they were not to ruin it.

"You want one of your brothers? That is all?"

"Yes."

More silence on the phone before Sloan spoke lowly. "We have a deal. There are conditions however."

Sighing, Klaus took the bait. "And they would be?"

"We will wait until the blood moon, it will easiest then." Klaus cursed under his breath at the Travelers insisting on keeping to a timeline he didn't want to wait for.

"Done. And?"

"We will need the blood of Stefan and Tom. Doppelganger blood is powerful. Meaning, Tom will be present at the time of resurrecting your brother."

At this Klaus ground his teeth loudly, his feet beginning to pace in front of the end table that held the phone. "Fine."

"And Caroline?" Sloan asked, pausing everyone's mindless actions and forcing their eyes to her. Like a deer caught in the headlights, Caroline nearly lost her voice. Thankfully, she didn't need to find it before Sloan continued to speak. "Bring the anchor. Or we will." It was a threat. A threat on Bonnie's life. Of course. Save Stefan's and now she had to save Bonnie's.

There was a click from the phone and Sloan was gone. In the place of her voice was silence. All eyes were trained on Caroline. Her heart rate picked up and she cursed herself for being so shocked she'd forgotten her breathing technique.

"You know what the anchor is." Rebekah finally spoke, her tone accusatory.

Elijah came up behind his sister and amended her statement, "You know where the anchor is."

Turning his gaze towards her, Klaus demanded an answer. Caroline didn't have one. Hiding the truth about Bonnie would leave her defenseless against the Travelers who would eventually come for her. Telling the truth about Bonnie would drag her into this mess Caroline could barely keep her head above. In a second she chose, what she hoped was, the lesser of two evils.

Sighing in defeat, she shook her head silently and spoke. "Bonnie died. For months. And we didn't know."

"As hard as I will try to be sorry about your friend dying Caroline, but what does this have to do with the anchor?" Rebekah asked, her patience already thin.

"To make a long story short, Qetsiyah used doppelganger blood to make Bonnie the new anchor."

"The new anchor?" Elijah asked, puzzled.

At the same moment, Klaus spoke up. "Qetsiyah? Qetsiyah is dead."

Shaking her head at how out of the loop the Originals were, Caroline begrudgingly continued. "Qetsiyah came back before Bonnie lifted the veil to the Other Side and died bringing Jeremy back to life. Her death freed Silas. And we learned about Amara, Silas' one true love and the anchor to the Other Side. Qetsiyah desiccated her and anchored her to the Other Side in revenge because she loved Silas and never wanted Silas and Amara to be together."

There was silence for a moment before Enzo's eyebrows lifted up to his hairline in shocked. "Wow. Talk about a crazy ex-girlfriend."

"Wait," Elijah spoke, even more confused. "Doppelganger blood? Who's doppelganger?"

"Elena, Katherine, and Amara."

"Amara?" Rebekah asked in disbelief. "Don't tell me she started the whole line of doppelgangers?"

While everyone else accepted the information and let it stew for a few moments, Klaus however was seething. "Silas, the oldest and most dangerous immortal to exist, came back to life and none of you bothered to tell any of us?"

Caroline shot him a glare after seeing his mood gone sour after listening attentively. "I'm pretty sure you made it clear you wanted to leave Mystic Falls to get away from our drama. And now you're upset that we didn't tell you about it? Seriously?"

"Should I have added a clause to my goodbye?" Klaus asked incredulously, stepping closer to Caroline.

They'd quickly gotten so wrapped up in each other they didn't notice Enzo mutter something about a lover's quarrel or see Rebekah role her eyes as Elijah ushered them out. The eldest Mikaelson knew all he needed to know for now. He'd let the two have at each other for a bit before seeking Niklaus out again for a plan.

"Klaus, you left!" Caroline exclaimed. "There's no need for clause's or amended goodbyes. Silas came back and we handled it."

"Silas came back, Qetsiyah came back, your best friend became the bloody anchor to the Other Side and you couldn't let me know?"

"What would you have liked me to do Klaus? Should I have called you? What would our conversation been like? 'Sorry to bother you but Silas isn't dead anymore, his psycho ex-witch fiancé is back, and he's pretending to be Stefan half the time'. There was a lot going on and as I recall, you had a freaking war going on here!"

Her words silenced him and she mentally patted herself on the back. Except his teeth ground together tightly and she knew she wasn't going to like what he said next. "You lot were lucky to survive! Will you be so lucky the next time that silly Bermuda triangle of a town is hit with the supernatural?"

"Right, just like we were lucky to survive the Original vampires taking residence in town?" Caroline asked, her frustration sizzling on her skin and burning through her eyes. "I don't need luck. You may be the big bad hybrid and all but you don't have the right to demand to know everything about a town and people you walked away from."

"I have every right to know when it's supernatural and your life could be in danger!" Klaus exclaimed, his eyes flashing the briefest of yellow as they stood toe to toe.

Caroline took a moment to regard his angry features, their heavy breathing, and their proximity. His blue eyes looked at her in that way only he ever did, like he was literally seeing through her. "I don't need saving, Klaus," Caroline finally said, her voice softer. Before Klaus could counter with any of the replies he had prepared, Caroline was walking away from him, exactly as she'd always done.

So the ending kinda blew up in my face. I didn't really see that coming. it wasn't planned so I just let Klaus and Caroline say what they wanted to say, I didn't question it too much. sorry if it seems OOC but I keep remembering how much Klaus cared about Caroline, how he saved her, how he took shit from no one but her, and they'd been cutting off their little disputes really early on in the previous chapters so I guess it had to go somewhere. i really want to post this update so I can't promise that I won't go back and make changes. Also, it's 4:30 AM, I've been writing all night (i added 2,000 words in four short hours, that's a lot for me)so please excuse any minor errors. if they're major let me know asap. I also can't promise that I won't wake up tomorrow and hate this, delete, completely re-edit, and repost but that's only a minor possibility and only if i'm feeling crazy

Other please review! And let me know what you think about smaller updates. If enough people want them I'll consider giving it a go.