.
IV
"Good, you're all here," Silas entered the Mikaelson mansion the following morning.
"Professor Shane? I saw you die! How can you be here?" Rebekah frowned.
"Where's the cure?" he ignored her, and waited for them to answer.
"Even if we had it, why do you think we would give it to you?" Klaus challenged.
"Because I will bring you nothing but misery if you don't," he said, disappearing in thin air in front of them, only to appear behind Klaus, staking him in the back.
"You better give me that cure, Klaus," Silas threatened, now looking like Caroline.
"Silas," the hybrid exclaimed, feeling the pain of the white oak stake ripping his flesh, getting too close to his heart.
"Nik!" Rebekah exclaimed.
"We don't know where it is. We only know who has it," Elijah tried to reason when Silas threw Klaus across the room, Rebekah running to tend her brother.
"Not my problem, bring it to me or all of you will suffer the consequences," the immortal offered still looking like Caroline, before he once again disappeared.
"He broke the stake, part of it is inside me," Klaus screamed in pain.
"But how does he have the white oak stake? I have it!" Rebekah exclaimed going upstairs to check her stuff.
"I can't see anything," Elijah offered as he checked the wound that was yet to heal.
"I still have it," Rebekah ran downstairs, the stake in hands.
"We need to keep it in a safer place. He must have created another," Elijah reasoned, but still there was something that didn't make sense.
"Help me!" Klaus yelled again.
"I can't see it either, Nik," Rebekah offered as she examined his back.
"It's not healing and there aren't any splinters. There's something wrong,"
"I feel them getting closer to my heart," he offered and Elijah and Rebekah exchanged looks.
"We must do something," Rebekah turned to the oldest brother, but Elijah was yet to figure out what was going on.
"Professor Shane had information about Silas in his office, go there, maybe there's something," Klaus gasped, the pain nearly leading him to black out.
"I'll see if Elena and the others know something about it," Elijah offered, but Rebekah looked unsure.
"We shouldn't leave him alone,"
"Go! Find out what's going on!" he ordered, and dropping a tear out of all-consuming pain. Rebekah also felt herself tearing up, but she simply nodded and sped away.
"We'll find a way, brother," Elijah reassured before he also took off.
But they didn't. No one had any information to give Elijah and Bonnie seemed to have forgotten everything since she started practicing Expression. She wasn't even aware of Jeremy's death, and the Original was on his way back to the mansion when he received an unexpected call.
He sent a text to Rebekah informing her he would try to retrieve the cure and that once she was done with her research she should go back and tend to Klaus.
She was on her way when she intercepted the Salvatores. They had a lead on Katherine, and deciding against going back to Klaus she followed them. If she found the cure, they could give it to Silas and he would heal her brother. She'd rather have Nik with her than becoming human.
Hours went by and Klaus could feel the grasps of death encircling him. He was going to die. Both Rebekah and Elijah said they had leads to find the cure, but when they found it, it could be too late. So he did the only thing he felt like he had to do before he finally faced death. He called Caroline. But she didn't answer. He didn't give up, calling her many other times, leaving a few messages for her to come to him, but there was no answer on her part. He was already losing any feeble glimpse of hope when he finally heard her voice.
"Klaus?" she called as she entered the house.
"Go away," he groaned in pain.
"Where are you?" she asked, knowing something was wrong.
"Oh my God, what happened to you?" she asked as soon as she entered the den, seeing him on the floor, sweat covering his entire body.
"Give me more time!" he yelled, thinking it was Silas again.
"But you called me! I'm responsible for three prom's committees, I have a lot to do, trust me give you time it's high on my plans," she offered annoyed, but also worried about him.
"Prove it! Prove that it's you,"
"Are you hallucinating?" she approached him, only then seeing the open wound in his back.
"Prove it!" he yelled.
"Why should I prove you anything?" she challenged back. Why not even when he was in pain he could get out of his way?
"Silas!" he exclaimed, thinking it was indeed the first immortal.
"What about him?"
"He was here earlier, looking like you, so prove me, is that really you, Caroline?"
"You called me a bajilion times, I think that would make me, me?" she answered slightly annoyed. She a lot of things to do instead of hearing his craziness.
"Not enough, maybe you have her phone,"
She gave it some thought. She would have to say something that happened before Silas had been resurrected. But what?
"I've always dreamed of becoming a journalist. I've planned my whole life around it, and while it would have been hard to achieve, it's now impossible because I have a face that will never change and at some point people will start noticing," she said a few moments later.
He looked confused, and she offered him a smile.
"I never really answered your question that night," she said coyly.
"It's really you," he whispered, and she nodded.
"Did Silas do it to you?" she asked, although she was positive it had been Jeremy's killer.
Klaus nodded, grimacing and then groaning loudly in pain, moving his fingers inside the wound, trying to remove what his siblings assured him it wasn't there.
"What did he do?"
"He attacked me with the white oak stake and left a part of it inside me, but I can't remove it,"
"Why did he do it?" she asked, and although she knew she should leave him there to hurt, a part of her was sad to see him like that. He didn't deserve her mercy or even her pity, but she was Caroline Forbes, the compassionate girl with the gold, big heart that couldn't see someone hurting like that and feel no sympathy. Even if it was Klaus. Even if he deserved the pain. But did he deserve it? The automatic answer was yes, but when she stopped to really think about why he deserved it, she realized that most of her friends would deserve the same, as they killed too many people in the past and even recently. Klaus' brother being one of them, and leading to the death of many others with him. An entire bloodline. And she didn't think Jeremy deserved to die like he did, and she definitely didn't think Elena deserved to die either. So why thinking Klaus deserved it was the first thing in my mind? She felt disgusted by herself with that thought alone.
"He wants the cure," he mumbled, breathing heavily, stopping her thoughts.
"Do you want my help?" she asked wondering why he called her.
"No, my siblings are trying to retrieve the cure from Katerina,"
"What do you want then?" she sat by his side, keeping some distance between them.
"To say goodbye,"
"What?" she asked visibly affected by his words, but trying to cover it the best she could.
"I know I don't have much time, and if Elijah and Rebekah don't come back soon with the cure, the wood will reach my heart," he said with difficulty, stopping between coughs and groans of pain.
"Why didn't they remove it first?" she asked, looking closer at the wound.
"They can't see it. I can feel it moving deeper in my body, but no one can see it,"
"But the moment you die, we all do as well," she said almost like an afterthought.
"I know, I'm sorry about that," he looked at her, and despite the pain overwhelming his features, she could see the genuine sorrow in his face.
"So this is the end?" she asked feeling surprised by the beat her heart skipped. Why did his prominent death cause her to react like that? Because all of your friends, your ex-boyfriend and yourself will die along with him, she tried to convince herself, but she knew that wasn't the real reason, or at least not the only one.
"I'm afraid so,"
"And you called me because you wanted to say goodbye? Even after you tried to kill me and effectively sent my boyfriend away?" she deflected from the thoughts crossing her mind. It was better to be angry at his audacity rather than the sting she felt inside.
"I thought we were becoming friends," his voice changed suddenly and despite all the physical pain he was bearing at the moment, somehow she knew that it was the emotional pain that was causing him to sound so broken.
"You thought wrong," she looked away, dismissing her own emotions and pain. He didn't deserve her affections, regardless. Although she knew she was feeling much more than that, but she would continue to pretend otherwise.
"I saved your life, twice!" he yelled, while his body started shaking uncontrollably.
"Because you put it in danger, twice!" she challenged back, but she could feel her resolve dying. It was painful to watch someone hurting like that. She would feel bad for anyone in his position, but she was feeling especially bad for him. If there was anything she could do to stop his pain at that moment, she would. And that comforted her because it proved her humanity was still a big part of her.
"So are you still pretending you don't feel anything for me?" he asked, as if he could read her thoughts.
"I don't need to pretend. I do feel, though. I despise you, I feel sorry for you," she couldn't face him as she said those words.
"Really? So you've never felt the attraction that comes when someone who is capable of doing terrible things, for some reason, cares only about you?"
"I did once when I thought he was worth it," she answered honestly. She did think he was worth at some point, then he killed Carol Lockwood and it was too much for even her overlook his actions. Then he tried to kill her and he sent her boyfriend away. He shouldn't get anything from her. Then why some part of her seemed to disagree with those words?
"You can leave now," he turned away from her, walking dejectedly in pain.
Caroline didn't know what to do or to think. She should hate him. But there was something preventing her from doing so.
When she came and showed some concern about his condition he thought he was right after all and she really felt something for him. Even if the smallest of the feelings. But now seeing her denying it without flinching, with easiness, just proved him that he was indeed a fool. He didn't need her to inflict more pain on him in his last breathing minutes. He'd rather be alone, die alone, as he should. As he deserved, he thought.
"I said leave," he yelled, but the moment the last word left his mouth he fell on the floor, seizing violently.
"Klaus," she cried, walking to his spot, moving her hands everywhere, but not touching him because she didn't know what to do.
"Just leave," he managed to say, his voice just above a whisper, "I deserve to die alone,"
"I should have turned my back on you ages ago," she said finally touching him, feeling his skin burning because of the fever to stop the convulsions.
"No time like the present," he said, coughing hard, drops of blood staining her dress.
"No one deserves to die alone," tears filled her eyes quickly and soon after it they broke through her eyelashes.
"I don't want your pity,"
"You thanked me once for being honest with you,"
"Please, Caroline, leave," he begged, his voice vulnerable and pleading in a way she never heard before. He'd rather have her hate than her pity.
"And I'm being honest, not because you're dying, but because I don't want to lie anymore,"
Klaus wished he could say something as she reached his face, cuddling it with her hands.
"I'm sorry," she said and he seemed to frown at her words, but his body calmed completely at her actions.
"For what, sweetheart?" he asked weakly, and she actually wondered how it would be to never hear him calling her sweetheart or love again. She hated it, as she hated most things about him, but her characteristic compassion was still part of her, a significant part, and she couldn't bring herself to be cold to a man in his bed death. No matter all the bad things he did before.
"For your pain,"
"You didn't cause it. Now I can't say the same about me and your own pain," he turned away from her, coughing again, before he yelled in pain, the splinters grazing his black dead heart.
"No one should go through this," she reached for her scarf and untying it from herself she used it as a cloth to dry some of his sweat and clean some of his blood.
"You were right, Caroline," he closed his eyes, both at her touch, but also because of the all-consuming pain.
"I'm always right, you should know that, though I wonder which part you mean," she tried to joke, the tears falling freely from her face. It was so sad so see a man like that, especially a man like Klaus. She got used to see him as a strong, fierce, invincible, tough vampire. An Original. A hybrid. But now he looked like a shell of a man.
"I fell for you," he admitted, doing his best to bring the corners of his mouth up. It was a feeble attempt, but it was the best smile he could offer at the moment.
"When did I say that?" she asked confused, having no recollection of such thing, although she had her suspicions confirmed by his words.
"I guess you'll never know," he whispered, the broken smile fading as she felt his face becoming heavy on her hands.
"Klaus? Klaus? Wake up!" she asked, feeling nearly desperate. The feeling of having someone dying in your arms – whether or not by your hands – was still a terrible one.
Although she should think about Tyler at the moment, when she realized the man in her arms was dead, all she felt was pain and grief. The most powerful creature in the world had just died, confessing his love for her as his last words. The man who didn't know how to love. The man who didn't allow himself to have any weakness. The man that was ruthless and never showed mercy to anyone.
"It was all for you," the words burned in her mind.
He was right. She did feel the attraction of having someone like him to care about her. A man that only allowed himself to feel hate and anger. A man that showed mercy to no one. A man that didn't think twice before killing anyone if he needed. The same man who should have killed them all – and would have – ages ago. But he didn't and according to his own words it was because of her.
That was something that not even Tyler had done for her. Yes, her ex-boyfriend had broken the sire bond because of her, but it wasn't exclusively for her sake. And Tyler was a good person. He had his bad moments, but with Richard as his father, who could blame him? But then she remembered how Mikael did everything in his power to kill Klaus for ten centuries. Tyler and Klaus were different people and a sacrifice coming from her ex couldn't compare to any display of mercy coming from the emotionless Original.
He was wrong about her feelings, she felt anything but pity for him at the moment. She related to him as her father had tried to fix her as well. She felt sorry for him, not because he looked weak or pathetic. She felt sorry for him because she could feel his pain and he had died thinking nobody ever loved him. Even if he had never said the words to her, his actions spoke volumes. She knew why those hybrids were so important to him and why he had killed them all when he found out about them planning his dismissal. She knew why he had used the daggers on his siblings and she had seen firsthand how he felt about losing Kol.
"Goodbye, Klaus." she gathered the little strength she still had and moved him to the couch.
It didn't seem appropriate to leave him there, and bringing him to her arms again, she walked away from the den, towards the second floor.
She didn't have a clue of which door led to his bedroom, but she knew when she opened the right one she would have no doubts about it and after a few of them she was positive she was in Klaus Mikaelson's bedroom. It was dark, but not too much, not as much as she expected. Well decorated – although the whole house was – but there was something that screamed his name. And then there was his unique scent filling the place. It was completely neat, and she smiled slightly, maybe because she expected him to be a little bit messier.
She moved him to his bed, and lay him down carefully, taking special care with his head. She didn't know what to expect now. She knew vampires either turned into ashes, consumed by fire or became gray. He wasn't any of those things at the moment, but she was still convinced he was dead.
"I don't hate you, and maybe with time, I could even like you, love you as a friend. I was already headed there. I spent a lot of time knowing for sure you didn't deserved to be saved. Damn it, I even thought you couldn't be saved. I was wrong, and I'm sorry I let you… go thinking otherwise," she reached for his now dry forehead, stroking his cold as ice skin for a moment.
"Rest in peace… Niklaus," she offered, replacing her fingers for her lips, prolonging the contact of her skin with his forehead for a little while.
Suddenly everything was too overwhelming and she stood up quickly, turning around and running to leave the bedroom, her emotions all over the place.
"Caroline!" she heard his energized – but still alluring – voice call her name and she wondered if she was now hallucinating as well, but turning around again she saw his eyes opening.
"It's gone," he whispered, and she moved slowly back to the bed.
"What?" she asked confused by what was happening.
"The pain… the pain is gone," he offered, sitting up on the bed, reaching the wound that was starting to heal.
"It was… it was never there," he concluded, leading her to be even more confused, "He got in my head, Silas got inside my head," he desperately pointed his finger to his head.
By then Caroline was already by his side, and standing up quickly he frightened her, before he reached for her hand.
"You took my mind of it. I could hear your words, even though I felt like I was already on the other side," he looked deep in her eyes, and she actually gasped at the intensity of his eyes on hers and the impact of his words. "You brought me back, Caroline," the words leaving his lips in a tortured way. And even though she should be worried about Silas and his power at the moment, all she could think was the meaning behind his words.
AN. I'm going crazy. I was positive I had posted this, but it's been written over a week and I haven't posted because as I already covered, I'm crazy.
It's been a busy week because I need to finish the second part of my monograph to finally finish my major, but I haven't written much because well, I procrastinated :P I'm sorry it took a while to update and it may take a little longer than usual again, but I'll do my best to write as soon as I'm free again.
Thanks a lot for the reviews, I really appreciate them. And just to clarify a couple of things: the fact that Caroline relates to Klaus about a few things doesn't mean she's anywhere close to forgiving him or even becoming his friend. He's got under her skin (in my universe), but she still can't overlook his bad actions, especially killing Carol. It won't change fast (in the story time line, though for readers it won't take long).
Have a nice week and make sure to watch the backdoor pilot. I'm a huge KC fan and I really want Caroline to go to the spin off in case it's picked, but we shouldn't boycott it if she doesn't go. First because Klaus' presence in TVD doesn't mean KC, second because she could be send there for good at any given moment, third and most importantly, Joseph Morgan deserves this.
Love you all,
Babi