Thank you to shadowfaxangel, elijahlover, BlueJean452, LorenaLaufey, Bell16, Sci-fi Christian, StefanxKlaus14, chillwithJyl, nicaha23, deceptivedecadence, Garota, ILoveYou1978, angel1725, SweetyK, PsychVamp, and DawnWalnut for reviewing. And, of course, thanks to you subscribers ;)

Just to clarify, this is entire story is set BEFORE the epilogue of TLTLB, which is where Robb dies. It is set in the nine-year break between the last chapter and the epilogue, so, here, everyone is still alive. The same is not true for The Silence Not Seen, however, as it is set AFTER.

I hope that's cleared up any confusion :)

This is based of 3x03, I just felt the need to add this in the AU because it was such an important part in Caroline's storyline and development.

Disclaimer: No TVD for me… darn...

Part II

Robb

London, England 1556

It had been six years since Robb last returned home, six long years since he had seen his parents and his youngest sister, Laura. The last time he had returned to London proper was when he needed to fetch Caroline for her beginnings as a Forbes servant and now Robb was finally done with his own service.

He was going home. At least for a little while, until he could stand on his own feet, find good work. He had money, to be sure, and no small amount of it. However, it was still not enough to begin a new life.

Now he stood facing the door, the gateway to his new, or well, old life. He just had to face it head on and grow accustomed to it, as all the Forbes' must. Besides, he had his family, did he not? It was not as if he was completely abandoned.

Taking a deep breath, he took the brass knocker in his palm and hit the door three times in rapid succession. When the door opened to reveal his youngest sister staring at him with a big smile, Robb thought perhaps this change would not be so very bad.

Robb sighed in relief as he returned to his childhood bedroom. The conversation with his parents had been tiring and difficult, nothing like the easy talks the eldest Forbes child remembered having as a boy. Oh, it had started off quite normally, with talk of the last six years spent apart, the usual formalities quickly dealt away with as they delved into deeper, more personal topics. That is, until he mentioned something that shocked and somewhat angered both Lucile and Edmund Forbes. Alas, this occurrence was not entirely his fault. After all, it had been Caroline's decision to neglect telling her parents of her turning into vampire.

And now that harrowing task had fallen to her older brother.

If only Robb had known Caroline hadn't told his parents, then he would not have said anything either. But, he had assumed she had already told them, after all, family meant everything to the Forbes'. Robb knew his sister probably had good reason for not telling the rest of their kin, mayhap she had been scared, worried of their reaction… But couldn't she have told him of her decision so he could have avoided this situation?

He couldn't help the resentment bubbling in his stomach. He wasn't angry, per se, just annoyed. And worried.

The reaction of their parents wasn't exactly promising.

"Our daughter? An abomination?" Robb shuddered at his father's words. They were cruel, unnecessary but the man was long set in his ways.

"My poor girl. I always knew the Lord Niklaus would not be a good master to her." Even his mother's words had been harsher that he had ever heard them. At least they were not directed towards Caroline, however…

The worry stayed with him throughout the night.

A week after his arrival, Robb awoke to the instinctive feeling that something was wrong. Terribly, utterly wrong. The last time he had felt such a way was almost exactly five years ago. The day the London estate was attacked and his little sister had died. He was quick to stand from his bed, pulling on his clothes in a rush before heading downstairs, his feelings of worry and alarm rising.

Glancing around the parlor, he noticed no one was there and quickly turned to go to the office room. Again, no one. His heart beat faster.

When he entered the eating room, he froze in place, his panic leaving him for a moment and turning into sweet relief. There sat his mother and Laura, eating their morning meal. Thank the Lord…

"Robb! You're finally up, brother." Came little Laura's greeting as she smiled at him brightly. He took a deep breath to calm himself, reassured that neither family member was in immediate danger. Perhaps it was a falsehood…

And then he noticed.

"Mother, where is Father?"

Caroline felt the burn, the deep, horrifying burn, her skin blistering. She couldn't feel anything but the pain, and she could smell her charred flesh, the odor poisoning her nose. She screamed loudly, her voice hoarse and full of uncovered agony. She cared not of appearing strong; she just wanted the pain, the burning gone.

And that same pain only hurt more in the realization that it was her father who was torturing her so. Somewhere deep in her mind, Caroline understood that her father thought that he was helping her to learn control. But no immortal could deny the vampire in themselves, it was defying one's nature. Yet her father could not see, or would not see. He only saw his daughter turned into the monster he feared, hated and respected in equal measure for the entirety of his life… and he thought that his methods would save her, the abomination.

"Please stop! Please stop…" Her cry was desperate as tears of pain filled her crystal blue eyes, making them shine with grief and sorrow. "Please." She sobbed.

And then there was no more sunlight, no more burn and no more agony. She let out a sob of relief, even after noticing the fact that her wounds were not healing as they should have been. It occurred to her that she was starving. She would not be able to go on much longer in this condition.

"Please, Father." She whispered, looking down at the ground as he stood beside her in the old dungeon. It had been part of an old Mikaelson estate that had been abandoned sometime ago, only very few members of the Forbes family still remembered its location and the torture chambers situated beneath the ground level. "Please," Caroline continued. "I don't hurt anyone, I swear it."

There was no response from her father as he stared down at her in pity and, surprisingly, hurt. How could he be the one to hurt?

"I have learned control." She tried again, hoping her voice sounded convincing. She was telling the truth, she had learned control, but it had taken time and one too many mistakes.

"If you had done so, this would not be happening, child." Father said, holding out the tantalizingly goblet filled with blood. Caroline could not help the fangs that slipped passed her lips in reaction. Suddenly, the goblet was pulled away.

"Forgive me." She whispered. "Forgive me." Her father bent down in front of her, at eyelevel now.

"I am helping you, daughter. You will become stronger for this. In time, you will begin to associate vampirism with pain and cringe at the sight of human blood." His sincerity was almost wounding. Oh, Papa, don't you see? You are dreaming a fool's dream.

"It will never work, Father. I am sorry." She stated, looking at him with sorrowful eyes, knowing that he would not take her word for it. "I won't be changed, I cannot."

He stared at her for a second, before narrowing his eyes in determination. "You will. It will work."

"No." Caroline said, watching as her father approached the ominous lever that would open the shutters to the deathly, burning sun. "No. No, no, no, no… No!"

Caroline screamed as the light hit her once more.

Robb rode faster than he had ever before, the carriage behind the horse nearly breaking at the rough and bumpy road. After he had his asked his mother that fateful question, they had both come to the same horrible conclusion.

But they would do something about it.

Robb's father may have been their kin, but so was Caroline, vampire or not.

Hold on, Care.

"When your brother told me of what had happened to you, I had never felt such pain in my life." Caroline looked to her feet at her father's words, sniffling. The sun had finally gone down, she knew, but they were far from over.

"Please, Father. I need not be corrected, there is nothing to correct. I am still the same Caroline as I ever was, if a little stronger…" She said, her voice quiet, breaking. Klaus, where are you? She had never more regretted getting into an argument with her partner and running off to cool down for a few days.

"I have taught you to strive for perfection, and now you must do the same as you always have." He held out the goblet again. Caroline tried, she really did, she tried to keep the vampirism in but… it couldn't be done and soon enough there was blood rushing to her eyes. Her father sighed sadly, radiating disappointment. He stood, brushing her hair from her face, before turning away.

"We will continue on the morrow." The elder Forbes stated, face and voice revealing nothing as he pushed the great iron door open and left.

I don't want to be here anymore….

Please…

Robb sprinted down the stairs, his mother surprisingly close behind him for a women of her age, they both held their crossbows close to their chests. It was ironic, if one thought about it. The crossbows had been made for the purpose of killing vampires, not saving one. And yet, this wasn't really just any vampire, now was it?

No, this was Caroline Forbes.

As they reached the bottom of the steps, Robb found his father staring back up at him in surprise and caution. Robb glared back, too angry to give a damn of what the older man's opinion was of his only son. As his mother joined him on the steps, Robb held up his crossbow and aimed straight for the man that fathered him.

"Move." He snarled.

"Son. Put it down, this is none of your concern." Edmund replied, looking at him steadily.

"Or course it is of his concern, husband." Lucile interrupted before her son did anything without thinking it through. "Caroline is his sister, our daughter." She said, her voice filled with barely-concealed disgust towards her spouse.

"You must let me do this… I am doing this out of love for our daughter, not for fear of a monster." Her husband almost pleaded, hands held out in a placating gesture. Lucile's eyes turned cold, not even considering the possibilities behind the words of her spouse.

"Robb." She stated, indicating he should go in. Robb did not hesitate, going straight for the iron door and pushing his father away in the process. He tried the door but immediately noticed it was locked. He turned to the man beside him with a heated glare, holding out his hand expectantly. "Give him the keys, Edmund." Robb's mother commanded.

As soon as they were placed in his hand, Robb unlocked the door and headed inside the dungeon room. What met his sight made him inherently sad and he felt the grief in his heart. Caroline sat weakly, shackled to an iron chair at both her hands and feet. There were viscous burns all over her upper back and her head hung low.

He approached quickly and the second he touched her, her head whipped up in wide-eyed panic and fear. Then her blue eyes seemed to recognize his and she let out an unintelligible sob. "Robb…" She whispered.

"I'm here, Care. All will be all right now, little sister." He told her, trying to give her some measure of comfort as he unlocked her shackles one-by-one. When he went to take her from her chair, she stopped him with a motion.

"My ring." She whispered, pointing to the silver thing on the ground. Robb immediately grabbed and slipped it on her finger. When he picked her up from her chair, he was aware there no way to avoid touching the massive burns and his heart tightened at her whimpers of pain.

He walked her out of the dungeon, holding her as gently as he possibly could. He passed by his parents without a thought, too concerned over his sister as he was. They were quiet for a while until Caroline began gasping.

"I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry. I didn't want to be this." She shuddered as she let it all out, her voice breaking and hiccupping.

"Sh… It is not your fault, Care. If anyone should be sorry, it is I. I told Father of your turning, I am sorry." Robb said, looking down at her with sad eyes. He was relieved to see they were close approaching the carriage. Maybe she could find a less painful position in there. He was startled out of his thoughts by a gentle hand on his cheek. He glanced back down, meeting Caroline's gaze with his own.

"No your fault." She whispered, adamantly. Seeing he still didn't believe her, she continued. "Not your fault." She repeated.

Robb nodded and placed her gently in the carriage.

When Caroline had returned to her estate, newly healed and exhausted from the traumatic events, she didn't even remember what she and Klaus had fought about in the first place and headed straight into his arms. Klaus hadn't questioned it and instead held her tightly to him, sensing she had had a hard time.

Of course, when he noticed her state, he couldn't help the growling and questioning. Caroline only told him the bare basics, and had managed to convince him not to go on a killing rampage. She could not hate her father, no matter what he had done.

She didn't downplay how Robb had saved her though.

She would never downplay that, nor would she ever forget.

Thank you, brother.

Now to go work on The Scare Not Seen… Sorry for the late updates everyone, was on a school trip last week.

Let me know what you think!

RW

(P.S. Expect ch. 2 of The Scars Not Seen within the next few days!)