Beauty and the Immortal

Disclaimer: The characters and other things from The Vampire Diaries don't belong to me. Credit goes to the rightful owners

Chapter 3: Far far away

The world was ending. At least that's how it felt like to Caroline. The earth was shaking and she felt like she was being wrapped in a blanket of flames.

"Wake up!"

The voice was urgent but Caroline refused to listen. She wanted to run and hide, find a way to save herself. But the voice was insistent and its owner gripped her by the shoulders and shook her.

Caroline's eyes flew open and found Klaus' staring into her, the frantic energy alive in his blue eyes. Flames licked at the curtains and slowly crept to her bed.

"What is going on?" Caroline said looking around.

"I'm burning the house down." Klaus said quickly, tearing his gaze from her and glanced wildly around them. He moved towards the corner and picked up an old heavy chair. Without much effort he flung it towards the window and shattered the glass.

Klaus held out his hand to Caroline, "Are you coming or would you prefer to be a pile of ashes by sunrise?"

"I thought you wanted me gone? Why are you saving me?" Caroline asked warily.

Klaus looked up and rolled his eyes, stretching out his hand insistently, "Now is not the time to question me. All you need to know is if you want to live, I suggest you get the hell out of bed right now."

Caroline glared at his hand and threw of the covers, running then diving straight out the window. Klaus landed on the ground no more than a second after she did.

"Well, doppelganger or not, you have the stubborn part of Caroline down to an art." Klaus said shaking his head.

"I'm perfectly capable of saving myself, thank you very much." Caroline said falling into step beside him. "I just wanted to know why you wanted to get me out of the place you just burned down."

"Believe me, I want to know the answer to that myself." Klaus said with a tired sigh. "But let's you and I just focus on getting out of here without leaving a trail, shall we?"

"What's got you running, Klaus?" Caroline asked.

Klaus' expression softened for a second when she mentioned his name, hardening once more when they reached the edge of the property. "Mikael."

Caroline felt an ache in her chest, wishing she could ask more about what happened since she last saw him. But she simply nodded in understanding, "Where do we go from here?"

Klaus shook his head, "No details. You are to follow me or stay behind. Those are my rules."

Caroline let out a frustrated sigh and placed her hand in his. "Are you sure this isn't just some ploy to hold my hand?"

Klaus laughed, her comment blindsiding her, "I've lived well past when I should have died as a mortal, met witches and saw magic I only imagined in dreams so my guess is you are either a doppelganger or the very same Caroline I met before, somewhat lost in time. If you are the latter and you know some future version of myself, let me tell you something, love…right here, right now…I've not yet fallen for you."

Caroline smiled, "Whatever helps you sleep at night, Klaus."

Klaus remained silent but held tight as he navigated them through the forest and past a village that slept without even knowing that two vampires passed in the night. They ran for hours. Caroline felt her shoes already begin to thin out, the soles unable to withstand the sharp rocks they passed, which cut through easily and quickly as they kept on at such a speed that did not allow for her to heal.

"Just a little more." Klaus whispered without turning, squeezing her hand gently. Caroline nodded and kept pace with him, biting her lip to keep from complaining.

The sun began to rise over them when Caroline caught sight of a small house, really more a shed than anything, attached to a barn.

"We will stop here for now." Klaus said when they got to the door. "He should still be busy with tracking down clues from the fire."

Caroline winced as she took one step, only to fall against Klaus. He frowned and looked at the pool of blood at her feet. "I'm sorry."

"It's not like I won't heal. I'll be fine in an hour or so, I think." Caroline said, hissing when she tried to stand up straight again.

"Should I just wait for you inside then? Or would you like me to watch you hobble and bleed your way through the door?" Klaus asked deadpan.

Caroline narrowed her eyes at him, prepared to fire back but she didn't get the chance. Before she could speak, she felt the ground vanish from beneath her, strong arms holding her securely.

"This is completely unnecessary." Caroline said, annoyed with herself upon the realization she could not keep the relief from her voice when her feet were no longer under so much pressure.

"I agree." Klaus said as he kicked the door in, rattling the entire structure. "But we don't have time to waste on your pain."

Klaus set her down on the small bed by the window, far more carefully than Caroline expected. He took off the tattered shoes from her feet, his lips becoming a thin line when he examined the damage. "This will take longer than just an hour. You should have said something."

"Stopping might have meant the difference between getting here safely and…not." Caroline said softly.

"Rest." He sighed but did not argue. Klaus walked towards the window on other side of the room and stared outside. "I'll wake you when we need to leave."

"Aren't you going to get some sleep?" Caroline asked blinking slowly, already giving in to exhaustion. "I can stay up if you need to."

"Haven't you heard?" Klaus said softly. "There is no rest for the wicked. Close your eyes, love. I'll keep watch. You're safe."

"Okay." Caroline mumbled tiredly, letting her eyelids close and falling asleep.

Her dreams were a haze of memories and wishes. She moved through flashbacks of Klaus, Henrik and of her own life back in Mystic Falls. Her childhood with Matt, Bonnie and Elena came into view, all of them laughing as they walked down the street with their arms linked. Caroline saw something and turned to check what it was, pulling away from them but Bonnie held on to her, telling her not to go. But Caroline merely looked at her and smiled, yanking harder when Bonnie wouldn't release her. The sound that caught her attention became louder and she pulled her arm away from Bonnie, who was practically hysterical at this point.

Then Caroline recognized the voice. Klaus. She turned to Bonnie and shot her a look of apology as she broke free from the grasp and ran towards the voice.

Caroline sat straight up in bed, completely disoriented until her eyes settled on Klaus. He was stretched out on two rickety chairs pushed together to form a makeshift bed, tossing and turning as he whimpered, tears falling from his closed eyes.

"No." Klaus whispered in his sleep. "I'm sorry. I did not mean to. I knew not what I was doing. Forgive me. I'm still your son. I'm not a monster. I'm sorry."

Caroline ran to his side, placed a hand on the side of his face. "Klaus, wake up. It's just a dream. Wake up, sweetie. Come on. Wake up."

Klaus' eyes flew open, fear and anxiety clouding them as he searched the room for an unknown enemy. "What…"

"Shhh." Caroline whispered, pulling him into her arms. "Just a bad dream. There's no one here. We're okay."

"Mikael." Klaus said standing up quickly, making both of them lose their balance for a bit. "We need to leave. Right now."

"Klaus—" Caroline started.

"No," Klaus said rounding on her, his eyes flashing. "We do not talk about this. That time in our history is long over. You do not get to lecture me about what demons I should deal with and how I should be with my family. It is not your place. There is nothing to be gained by standing up to Mikael. I am choosing to leave him and his cruelty behind. If you will keep hounding me about my decision then stay here. Wait for death. I care not anymore, Caroline."

Caroline nodded and took a step towards him. "I'm not a doppelganger."

Klaus closed his eyes briefly. "No, you are not. I should only be so lucky to have found another one with exactly the same personality as you."

"I didn't die that day." Caroline said her eyes blurring with tears. "I wanted to tell you. I tried but you know witches and their spells. It took so long but I'm finally going to get to say what I needed to tell you."

Caroline walked over to Klaus and placed her arms around him. "I'm right here, Klaus. I'm right here. And I'm so sorry about all you've lost. If I could go back in time again and save you from all this pain…but I can't…all I can do is be here for you, for as long as I can be."

Klaus shook as he held in his emotions. He closed his eyes to keep tears from falling and placed his hands on her shoulders, putting distance between them. "We need to go. Rebekah has some shoes you can borrow. They're in that closet over there. Put them on and follow. I'll be outside."

Caroline blinked, recoiling as if he shoved her away. She shook herself out of it and did as he instructed. Walking out into the night she found him holding the reins of a horse, not unlike the one he had at his mansion at Mystic Falls.

"I wasn't expecting company so there's only one." Klaus explained. "Mikael tracked me down faster this time so I didn't have time to adjust my plans. Anyway, this is only until we get to—"

"Where exactly are we going, Klaus? At least, tell me the next step."

"Fine." Klaus said, taking her hand to help her up, following once she was securely seated. "We're picking up Rebekah. I'm not taking any chances that Mikael find her first."

"He wants to kill her too?" Caroline asked, as they started off, almost falling from the sudden movement.

"No," Klaus said taking her hands and wrapping her arms around his waist, before picking up the reins again. "But he would not think twice about using his own daughter as bait to lure me in. Elijah can hold his own but Rebekah…"

"And your other siblings…where are they?" Caroline asked.

"Where Mikael can't touch them." Klaus said with steel in his voice. "I'd hold on if I were you. I assure you that if Mikael gets wind of your existence…you'd be lucky if he uses you as bait. He will not hesitate to kill you and send your head to me as a warning."

Caroline rested her face on his back and wrapped her arms a bit tighter, "What do I have to do with any of this?"

"It's his mission to kill me or at the very least make sure I lead a miserable existence, devoid of any kind of happiness." Klaus said narrowing his eyes, watching the road with such focused intensity. "Your presence will make the first quite difficult to achieve since you can hold your own in a fight as you're not a frail mortal. And well…the second is quite impossible when you are around."

"Seriously?" Caroline asked, trying to peek around at him. She felt laughter rumble through him even before she heard the sound.

"Yes, seriously." Klaus answered without taking his eyes off the road. "We walked out of a burning house, my own lest you forget, and I laughed because you thought I did all of that just to hold your hand. Caroline, I haven't laughed and meant it for over a century.

Without warning a small boy ran in front of them and Klaus pulled on the reins hard. The horse threw them both off and stomped around wildly.

"Check on the boy!" Klaus said as he tried to get control of the animal.

Caroline ran towards the small boy who stared at the horse in shock. "Hey there, are you okay?"

The small boy nodded and looked up at her without a word. Caroline knelt down so that she was level with him. "What's your name?"

The boy stayed silent and looked past her shoulder. Caroline turned around and found a man walking out of the shadows.

"Mikael," she whispered. Klaus noticed him at the same time and immediately moved in front of Caroline, trying to shield her from view.

"Quite the unpleasant reunion, isn't it?" Mikael said leaning to the side to meet Caroline's stare. "Isn't it a shame that protecting people isn't Niklaus' strong suit? By the end of tonight, you'll just be another one he cannot save. Isn't that right? But it won't make a difference because he will join you in death."

"Fight me." Klaus said shakily. "That's what you want, right? Then stop talking and have at it."

"Alright." Mikael said pointing the sword at the boy. "You—it's time to leave. Thank you for your services…you don't need to see this."

Without a word, the child ran from Caroline's side and out of sight. Before she could react, Klaus had already retrieved his own weapon sheathed on the side of their horse and blocked a blow from Mikael. Father and son danced to the rhythm marked by the clash of steel, following a beat that she feared would not end in their favor. She glimpsed a stake tucked in Mikael's jacket, the one that was made out of white oak she assumed. When the fight seemed to sway to Klaus favor, he made the mistake of turning away for just a brief second to check on Caroline.

"Klaus, look out!" Caroline screamed. Klaus turned around in less than a second but it would have been too late had his horse not moved faster to take the fatal hit, its head severed cleanly by Mikael's sword.

Caroline fell to her knees in shock. Klaus blinked, rocked to the core by what his father had done. Mikael was unrelenting and struck again but this time Klaus was filled with a fury that cleared his mind, his sword catching the other midway and giving him an opening to throw a dagger clean through to Mikael's chest.

Klaus walked away from the fight, knowing with certainty his aim was true as he stalked towards Caroline. "Get up. We need to run. That won't hold him for long."

"The horse…"

"Will still be dead whether you stare at it or run from it. So unless you would like your own head to be severed from your body, get up now and run." Klaus said almost pleading with her to move.

Caroline got up and ran with him. This time she didn't bother counting the minutes or hours, or notice the pain. She was numb. She couldn't feel anything except his hand in hers as they put as much distance between them and Mikael.

And when she didn't expect it, Klaus just stopped and fell on his knees, head down. His shoulders shook with dry sobs and Caroline sank to the ground beside him. She wrapped her arms around him and let him rest his head on her shoulders.

With tears in his eyes, he pulled away and looked at her. "I am not weak. I am undead. I take blood when and how I wish it. I have killed my way through towns because I can. I am not afraid. I am not weak."

Klaus took Caroline's hand and placed it on his chest. "My heart does not beat. It does not feel anything. It does not care. It cannot love."

"But it can lie." Caroline said gently.

"I know." He placed a hand on her cheek and let his face be stripped of all its masks. "And such beautiful lies they are. It makes all of this so much easier to bear. But when it falls away…there's only pain, fear and everything else I hid away. So I can't fall apart."

Caroline touched his forehead with hers, "Let it all go. No one is watching. It's just me. Only me."

Klaus nodded and looked at Caroline as tears blurred his vision, wishing she could feel his gratitude as he let himself fall apart in her arms.