A/N: Here is chapter three; introducing Klaus! Let me know what you think! :)

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of TVD.

Heartbreaker

Chapter three

Klaus wasn't sure what it was that had made him snap that morning at work. Perhaps it was the lack of sleep he'd gotten the day before or the fact that his colleague continually attempted to be flirtatious—despite his plain disinterest. Or perhaps it was the middle-aged woman who was eyeing him expectantly, sitting in the chair across from the counter he was currently hiding behind. For whichever the above reasons, possibly a combination of the three, Klaus found he was unable to disguise the irritation in his voice as he answered an incoming call from his little sister.

"Yes, what is it, Rebekah? You know it's long-distance," he said abruptly.

"Hello, Nik! Are you at work? No one appreciates a grumpy doctor, you know," the patronizing sound of his sister's voice came through the speaker.

"I really don't have time for pleasantries this morning because, yes, I am at work. So if you wouldn't mind..." he replied, glancing at his wristwatch knowing the gesture would be lost on her since she couldn't see him. Klaus still had two patients waiting to be seen and another three to send home before he could call it a night and hand over to the oncoming staff. It was all he could do to thank heaven above that he hadn't had a resident over night; working the graveyard shift in a busy emergency department was hard enough on your own. Klaus wasn't usually miserable at work, but the past night had been draining. All he wanted was to shed his disgusting scrubs and hit the pillow. The last thing he needed was another one of Rebekah's problems.

"I'll just be cheery for the both of us in that case," she said, choosing to ignore his irritation, "Anyway, big brother, I am in need of a favour from you."

"A favour?" he repeated. A favour could mean a lot of things to Rebekah.

"Mmm, alright, perhaps two favours," she said, not sounding reserved in the least.

"Two favours?" he echoed again. Klaus could already sense that his day was about to turn to shit, "Alright, out with it then. I have other pressing matters to take care of, Bekah."

"Oh good," she replied even though he hadn't actually agreed to anything yet, "Because the thing is, I'm about six hours away from landing in the city and I need you to pick me up from the airport."

"What do you mean you're arriving in the city? Here?" he said more loudly than expected, earning a surprised look from the patient waiting in the chair.

"It means, Nik, that I'm going to be in town and I need you to pick me up. Oh, and I plan to stay for a while, so I'll be living with you, as well," she retorted. Why did she have to inherit the family gene of extreme stubbornness?

"Oh, well, thanks for giving me a whole lot of notice, Bekah. Or choice for that matter—but that would have been too courteous for you, wouldn't it?" he said, his mood descending quickly to hell. She would pull something like this, and just when he'd been thinking he hadn't heard from her recently. "How long is a while?" He asked unsure if he wanted an answer.

"Mid-fall, I suppose," she said whimsically.

"I beg your pardon? You do realize it's only May? Why the hell should I let you—" he stopped himself before he could make a scene and finished by saying, "You know what, Bekah? I have to go. Call me when you land." He ended the call and thrust his phone back into his pant pocket. Now if he could just remember what he was doing prior to the call...?

"Dr. Morgan! Dr. Morgan, there you are!—We need you to see the new patient STAT. Looks like an acute asthma attack," a nurse told him hurriedly before rushing back. Sighing, Klaus dropped whatever it was he had been trying to resume and stood to follow. Would this night never end?!

Klaus exited the hospital after his shift finally finished, and though he might have been refreshed by the morning air, he only felt hungover, pissed off, and tired. The vein throbbing in the front of his head was almost enough to warrant his own emergency visit—or at least some Advil. Quite simply, Klaus needed his bed to appear in the middle of the sidewalk, a glass of bourbon in his hand, and his sister to hop on the next return flight to London. But pigs weren't about to start flying now were they?

Instead, Klaus exhaustedly trudged back to his condo building about four blocks away. Not even remembering the walk home, he finally turned a key into his place and entered. Any other day he would have taken a moment to admire his space; it was a beautiful three-bedroom condominium with wall-to-wall windows, decorated to the nines in his personal style, and an amazing view of the city. Today he didn't even care to glance outside, but quickly turned down the shades and shuffled into the master bedroom. Frank, his three year old English foxhound, didn't even raise his head as Klaus reached down to pat his head. He seemed to sense his master was in no mood for play this morning. Klaus made a mental reminder to take him out after he slept. Finally, with his bed in sight, he took off his work clothes and allowed himself fall face first onto the mattress, not having the energy to shower off all the germs. Not another thought could form before consciousness slipped away and he was drawn into a peaceful darkness.

He was still in the same position when the annoying vibration of his phone brought him back to the world of the living. It stopped briefly and he settled back onto the pillow to fall back asleep. Then it started again. And again. Refusing to open his eyes, Klaus groped the side table blindly for his phone when he realized it remained in his pants' pocket, which meant he would have to get out of bed to answer. When the buzz still refused to stop, Klaus rose from his bed and managed to find his pants and phone in the dark. He didn't have to see the caller display to know exactly who would be calling.

"Rebekah, I do hope you don't incessantly call your boyfriends like this. It is rather annoying and one might think you were clingy," he answered groggily.

"Ha-ha, Nik. You're not so much of a charmer either," she said sarcastically.

"Just so you know it's only noon and I did work last night. Have you landed?"

"Yes, just got past customs. My, my, you Americans are more paranoid than I remember," she commented, "Thank goodness they didn't want to search my luggage—that would take forever!"

And it literally would. Rebekah didn't know the meaning of travelling lightly, especially since she planned on staying several months. Although, perhaps if they did search her bags, he could get some more sleep...

"Anyway, Nik, I'm about to pick up my things. How long do you need to come get me? I'll be ready in thirty minutes," his sister continued.

"I can probably make it in forty-five, Bekah. Buy a coffee while you wait and I'll text you when I'm there," he said and hung up. Well, so much for catching up on sleep. Frank's walk would have to wait, too. Klaus would much rather deal with the puppy eyes Frank made at him than a temper tantrum by his sister. He jumped into the shower, taking no more than ten minutes to wash and dry, before quickly throwing on a clean white t-shirt and jeans. His next swift movements toward the front closet must have alerted Frank, because he came barreling towards him excitedly. Poor guy, he really needed his morning walk. Klaus pulled on a light jacket and knelt down to pat him on the head.

"Sorry, Frank," he said, "I promise we'll W-A-L-K when I get back. You know Bekah really doesn't like dogs." An evil idea struck him, causing a wicked smirk to spread across his mouth and even the dog seemed to share in his delight as he wagged his tail. "Though I can't see why. On second thought, why don't you join us for a ride, Frank? Now where did your leash get to?"

Klaus, with Frank in tow, drove his Land Rover into the airport and stopped near to where his sister had specified. Pulling out his phone, he texted her and then got out of the car to help her with her bags. A moment later he saw two men pushing luggage carts toward him with a woman following behind, carrying nothing but a purse. Instinctively he knew it was Rebekah and he rolled his eyes at her melo-drama. As they approached his car, Klaus pulled out some cash for the poor guys doing all the work and thanked them politely.

"Oh Nik! It's so good to see you!" Rebekah exclaimed and quickly embraced him, complete with kisses on either side of his face.

"You too, Bekah. Did you really have to bother with the fancy entrance?" he said laughing and returning the hug.

"What entrance?" she asked, chuckling. "How have you been Niklaus? I feel like it's been a century since we visited."

"I've been fine, Bekah; no need to worry about me. Besides, it's only been about a year since the last family reunion," he said opening the trunk door.

"Try two years last Christmas!" she said loudly, clearly not happy that he didn't remember. She looked on as he began loading the bags into the truck. "And what is that, Nik?! A dog!" she said pointing at Frank who was tongue-out, panting excitedly from the backseat.

"Yes he is a dog, and his name is Frank. Rebekah—Frank. Frank—Rebekah," he responded gesturing between them, "I do hope you'll get along, but I suppose we'll know for sure once we all start living together." He gave her a pointed look and shut the trunk door.

She crossed her arms and looked completely unapologetic. "Nik, I—" she started, but he held up his hand.

"You can explain this preposterous idea of suddenly coming here at lunch. Now, let's get in the car," he said slowly, leading her to the passenger side like a child.

"Should I fasten your belt for you as well, sister?" He said cheekily.

"Oh shut it!" Rebekah snapped back and he laughed as she shut the door more forcefully than needed. He rounded the car to the driver's side and climbed in.

"Ugh!" she huffed beside him.

"What is it?" Klaus said.

"If you want me to play nice with Hank, can you please tell him to cease panting dog breath over my shoulder?"

"It's Frank," he replied, starting the engine, "And he's been behaving quite well actually." Klaus shifted gears and made to merge with the rest of traffic. Now what did he feel like for lunch...

"Ahhhh!"

"What now?!"

"Your filthy beast; he just licked my face!"

Klaus finally decided to take them to a park nearby his condo to grab a bite to eat so that he could walk Frank. Much to Rebekah's displeasure at not eating in one of the city's fancy cafés, he couldn't bear to leave his poor friend in the car while they enjoyed a meal. They made it there with no further mishaps from Frank, aside from the occasional sniff of his sister, which he felt was justified since she had decided to dump a bottle of perfume on herself before the flight. They headed straight for one of the food trucks because by this point, both were starving. Later, as they sat on a park bench, Klaus took the moment of silence as his queue to figure out what the hell Rebekah was doing in the city. She was avoiding his eyes, avoiding the inevitable.

"So, Bekah..." he began, "Why the sudden trip?"

"I just wanted to see my brothers, that's all," she said.

He snorted in response, "Like I'm going to buy that. You'll have to think of something a little bit more convincing."

"I'm taking a break from work," she offered.

"A break? Here?" he questioned.

"Well, why not?" Rebekah crossed her arms and looked away from him.
"You love London, Europe in general. You hate the States," he told her, trying to bring some rationale into their conversation.

"I just don't know if I like my life there anymore!" she snapped. She finally looked at him and he felt guilty for prying. He could tell by the expression on her face she wanted to cry, but was holding her emotions in.

"What happened?" he asked softly.

"I don't know," she said, "I've lost my passion for my work, for my life there. I just needed a break."

Klaus put his arm on her shoulder consolingly, giving her time to continue if she wished. She didn't, so he asked, "How are you able to stay for such a long time? How did you convince your boss?"

"He said he didn't have a choice. After our last case, the department shrink said I wasn't fit to return to work yet. He's given me a year's leave to get past my issues," she said bitterly, "But I don't have anything to do at home. And I need to be busy...So I thought if I came here I could find something to do."

Klaus felt the weight of what she had said and sympathized with his sister's pain. He still didn't understand why she came to the States, though. With everything Europe had to offer, he was surprised she chose to make the trip at all with her year off.

"Do what exactly?" he asked, but they were interrupted by his phone ringing. Quickly bringing it up to his ear, he accepted the call.

"Hello?"

"Niklaus, it's me."

"Brother!" he said surprised, shooting a glance at his sister, "I haven't heard from you in a while. This doesn't have to do with Rebekah's arrival, does it?"

"What? No, I had no idea she was coming." He replied.

"Yeah, just flew in today. We're free if you want to meet up," Klaus offered.

"I can't today, but we must make up a time soon. I thought you, Kol and I could meet, but with Rebekah here as well, it will be a Mikaelson reunion!" He could tell his brother was really happy about the idea from his tone of voice.

"So what is it you called me about then?" Klaus asked.

"Right. I just wanted to confirm our appointment next month; I know you have those on call shifts. Has your schedule changed at all?"

"No, still good for the day we agreed on," he said.

"Perfect. You know, I only want it to be done right."

"I know, I know; get that stick out of your arse or that will be the least of your worries. Everything will be fine," he said, feeling Rebekah's stare that was burning a hole in the side of his face. "Listen, I've got to run. We'll catch up soon though."

"Great. Talk to you soon, Niklaus." The call ended and he re-pocketed his phone.

"Which brings me to the real reason why I'm here," Rebekah said suddenly.

"I beg your pardon?" he said turning to her again. Clearly he was missing something.

"Didn't you hear him? Even I can tell our poor brother is a wreck. He certainly needs my help if we have any hope of this thing panning out as perfectly as he wants it to," Rebekah said seemingly recovered from her melancholy.

"There are plenty of other people helping, I'm sure," he said.

"I'll wait to see for myself and then decide if there is enough help or not," she huffed.

"He's the only one of us who's had any success thus far with this type of thing, you know," he reminded her.

"Hah! Not for lack of trying, on my part! It's not my fault that you and Kol would prefer to be alone forever!" she exclaimed.

"You're right; it's a choice. And for your information, Kol and I are perfectly happy with our respective lives at the moment. C'mon, it looks like it might rain soon and I want to give Frank a bit more exercise," he said, effectively closing the subject before Rebekah could further explore it; women and relationships were the last thing he wanted to discuss with his nosy sister. He could hear her grumbling something behind him as he began walking away from the bench, most likely derogatory comments about his pet, but she rose to follow anyway. Damn, the next few months were going to feel longer than the wait time his patients complained to him about.

A/N: There is chapter 3. It's going to take a bit to set the stage for the main plot, so the Klaroline moments will come in bits & pieces for now. Once we get there, there'll be tons of Klaroline and Mikaelson mayhem! Stay tuned and share your thoughts/plot bunnies!