AN: Been a while, but here's a new update. We actually begin to see the stirrings of action in this story, as people actually start to make their moves. Check out the song from the quote, just cause all the song quotes I use come from great songs.

Eight. Shake It Out

"I am done with my graceless heart, so tonight I'm gonna cut it out and then restart." ~ Shake It Out, Florence + The Machine

Rebekah had received a call. Caroline didn't know who it was from, or what it was about, but it resulted in her sitting alone in Klaus' study with strict orders not to leave the house while Rebekah tore off to… somewhere.

Caroline had been surprised that she was being left alone, only then Elena arrived, poured herself a glass of bourbon and sat on the couch to stare at her.

"What are you doing here?" Caroline asked the brunette.

"Babysitting you," Elena replied. "Damon was all in a lather about something, I don't know what. He called in the Originals, and they sent me over here to make sure that your crazy doesn't mean you do something stupid. I'm not sure what stupid they're expecting, but such is life."

Caroline opened her mouth to give a scathing retort, but then she snapped it shut again and eyed Elena critically. Elena without her humanity is a stone cold bitch, but she's also a stone cold bitch willing to get shit done.

"I want to shove the cure down Silas' throat and kill him," Caroline said after a long moment of contemplating her choices. "You want to make sure that cure won't be used on you, right? So, why don't we help each other."

"Please," Elena scoffed. "The cure is within Klaus' reach. With you being all sad and tortured and without your humanity there is no way I'll be getting the cure forced on me anymore. No, that's far more likely to happen to you." At Caroline's surprised look, Elena snorted. "Didn't think about that, did you? Klaus has a neat little cure in his hand that will bring back his bubbly little cheerleader, and k never thought he might use it to do so?"

Caroline considered Elena's theory. It was true, that giving her the cure would force her to feel again, but Caroline can remember Klaus' words the day that Tyler ran. When he said they were alike, and that she didn't want the cure. He was right. She liked who she was, or at least she had, before Matt and her mom had died. That was the difference between her and Elena; Elena hated being a vampire, when she was capable of hating anyway. That's why no one had any problem shoving the cure down her throat, because they figured she'd want it anyway if she was in her right mind.

"I like being a vampire," Caroline said. "Klaus knows that. He won't make me take the cure."

"Correction, you liked being a vampire, before you ripped out Matt's throat and your mom died. Now you're Silas' broken little toy, and Klaus has a roll of duct tape in a handy cure. What's to stop him from giving you the cure and then turning you again once he's sure you won't try to commit suicide by way of ancient warlock?" Elena shrugged and took a sip of the bourbon. "Let's face it, Care. You're not the same girl Klaus became obsessed with. Now, he'll either decide to bring that girl back, or he'll decide you're not worth it and walk away. Either way, he doesn't want you. He wants her. The girl you were."

"Projecting much?" Caroline responded, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall. "You turn off your humanity and not even Damon wants you anymore, so you decide that everyone is like that. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, sweetie, but the reason no one wants you like this is because there already is one Katerina Petrova. Katherine is better at being her than you ever will be, so why would either of them want a cheap imitation? At least with your humanity you engaged a verbal filter."

"Big words for someone that had to be saved from a vampire younger than you. I could have killed you once. Do you really think I can't do it again?" Elena sneered. "So keep on prattling, Caroline. It's the only thing you're good at."

Caroline stared at Elena with narrowed eyes. This wasn't going at all as planned. Caroline had planned to bring Elena to her side and, by default, the Salvatore brothers. Obviously that wasn't going to work. Still, Caroline hadn't been lying when she called this Elena a cheap imitation of Katherine. Katherine, who had given Elijah the cure, which meant that Elijah knew how to contact the elder Petrova doppleganger. And Elijah was currently gone to places unknown with his siblings, which meant that his belongings were free to be snooped through. Assuming, of course, that Caroline could ditch the unwanted babysitter.

"Right. Alaric's training," Caroline agreed, nodding her head sagely in remembrance. "It, of course, had nothing to do with the fact that I still cared and you didn't. Nope. Totally Alaric's training."

Caroline pulled out a handgun loaded with wooden bullets and shot Elena twice, just to the right of her heart. While Elena stared at the wounds in shock, Caroline unloaded another bullet into the brunette's head, and then ditched the gun altogether to flash behind Elena and snap her neck.

"I also didn't have a gun at the time," Caroline commented to Elena's collapsed body. "Apparently Alaric's training wasn't that great after all."

Caroline retrieved her gun, engaged the safety, and put it back her pants waistband. Then she abandoned Elena in favor of ransacking Elijah's room.

The Petrova dopplegangers were exchangeable for everyone else. Why not Caroline as well?

Bonnie woke in the catacombs where Silas had kept Caroline. She recognized them because the bloody spots where Liz Forbes and Matt had been slain were still there, a haunting memory of what Silas had put Bonnie's blonde friend through.

"Ah, you've awoken. Excellent. That means we can get started." Silas stepped into the stone room and clapped his hands together. He was wearing Caroline's face once more, but Bonnie had no trouble telling the difference. Silas was incapable of passing for Caroline because he was incapable of expressing the humanity that made Caroline so strong. The humanity Silas had stripped from her.

"I won't do your spells," Bonnie said, glaring at the warlock. "I won't let you hurt Care again."

"You really need to get over this blind loyalty thing you embrace, Bonnie," Silas drawled, sauntering to where he had chained Bonnie to a chair. "The Caroline you knew is dead. I know this because I worked very hard to ensure it was so. All that's left is a shell who only wants revenge against me, and she won't care who she sacrifices to make it so. Forget about Caroline Forbes, and consider your own situation. You are trapped. As the only witch in your group, no spells can be used to trace you. The only thing keeping you alive is that you are useful to me. I happen to know you have a cousin who still lives. Defy me, and I'll kill you and find her. And if you are about to tell me to go ahead, then tell me this—if you die, who will protect Caroline from me? As I said, you are the only witch. So consider all your options, Miss Bennet. I'll be back to talk with you again. I do hope your answer is the right one."

"Why are you taking on her form?" Bonnie called at Silas' retreating back. The question caused the warlock to pause, so Bonnie continued. "Does it give you some sort of sick kick, to take on her form?"

"It is a lovely body," Silas murmured, running his hands down the sides of his Caroline form. "That's not the reason why I find Caroline so very tempting, of course, but it doesn't hurt. There are very few in this day and age who can compare with her. But if you're wondering if I'm getting some sort of pleasure out of taking on her form and doing naughty things to it in private, the answer is no. The illusion doesn't extend to me. When I look in the mirror, I do not see Caroline. I see me. The reason I appear to this to you, is to remind you that you have so much to lose, Bonnie. I've watched your group since I was released. At first I thought to take on the lovely Elena's form when approaching you. You all fall over yourselves to please her. Then I realized that wouldn't work, because while you would die for Elena, you would kill for Caroline. And for a witch, that is a far larger sacrifice. Three hours, Bonnie. That's how long I'll be gone."

Then Silas was gone, and Bonnie was left to consider her options.

She didn't have many.

When Elijah returned to the manor with his siblings, he knew immediately upon crossing the threshold that something was wrong.

"Something is wrong," Rebekah said, echoing Elijah's thoughts. Niklaus said nothing, instead flashing into the house. They had been called to the Salvatore boarding house ninety minutes earlier, because Stefan had discovered that Bonnie Bennett had gone missing. That Silas was loose and a Bennett descendant missing had sent alarm bells ringing in everyone's minds, and so the Originals returned home on high alert.

And now something was wrong.

Rebekah and Elijah followed Niklaus and entered the study just in time to witness him throw an empty glass against the wall in a rage. On the floor, Elena Gilbert gave a low groan and began to slowly push herself off the floor. A handful of wooden bullets lay on the floor beneath her.

"That bitch," the doppleganger snarled. "She shot me!"

"Be very careful," Klaus warned, turning slowly to Elena, "very careful, before saying another word about Caroline. You were tasked with one job: to keep her safe and here, and you failed, so think. Because I have every reason to rip your head off your shoulders. Do you really wish to give me another?"

"She's not home, anymore," Elena shot back. "The Caroline you got all obsessed over died with Matt and Liz. Is the fact that she shot me not proof enough of that?"

"She didn't kill you," Elijah mused, noting the holes in Elena's shirt with interest. "She could have. I have heard that you would have killed her, and her mother, had Stefan not interfered, yet when given the chance, she chose not to kill you. Those wounds are precise. Any further to the left, and you would no longer be standing here. I didn't realize that Miss Forbes was such a sharpshooter."

Both Klaus and Rebekah stared at Elijah, and Elena looked down and fingered the holes in her shirt with an odd expression on her face.

"I didn't know she was, either," the brunette admitted, her fingers clutching the material over her chest. "She never mentioned it. Never even hinted at it." Elena met Elijah's gaze, but her expression remained internal. "Me. Damon. Even the three of you. She could have killed all of us at any point. She had one of the white oak stakes. Turn that into a bullet, and she could have killed everyone, and we would have never suspected it, because she didn't tell anyone." Elena's expression became troubled and her gaze on Elijah's face sharpened. "Why didn't she? She had every reason to kill Damon. I always assumed she didn't because he was so much older. Me? She had the gun pointed at me, and she didn't put one into my heart. And you?" her gaze turned to Klaus. "If she's such a crack shot, why didn't she kill you then, before we knew about the bloodlines?"

"I would guess that she didn't want anyone to know," Rebekah replied. "Caroline wanted normal. She wanted human. A gun toting cheerleader isn't normal. A gun toting vampire is neither normal nor human. Without her humanity on, she no longer cares. She must have taken them from her mother's house. When I was talking to Nik she went downstairs. She must have taken the gun and bullets while I was distracted."

"None of this matters," Niklaus snarled, breaking into the conversation. "What matters is where Caroline is. What did you do, that caused her to shoot you?"

"We were having a very frank discussion about our new realities. Caroline didn't care for the truth, and then she shot me. Called me a Katherine imitation while she was at it," Elena looked particularly miffed about that. "Said why would anyone want a cheap imitation when Katherine is better at it. I'm not fucking Katherine!"

"No, you're not," Elijah agreed, thinking of the sultry Petrova he had gotten close to in the last months. He considered Caroline's words. "What else did you talk about?"

"What do you think?" Elena replied. "She's obsessed with killing Silas and wanted me to help. I refused, and that's when we got into it."

Caroline wanted help with her suicidal scheme, but no one would give it to her. Because they all feared Niklaus.

But there was someone that would love to stick it to Niklaus, someone that wouldn't care if Caroline had to get hurt to do so. Elijah flashed out of the room and to his own quarters.

They had been ransacked.

The cure? Gone.

The cell Elijah used to contact Katerina? Gone.

The scent of Caroline? Permeating the air.

"Where is Katerina, brother?" Niklaus asked softly from the doorway. He had followed Elijah upstairs, and had obviously connected the dots as well.

"By now?" Elijah replied, looking back at his brother helplessly. "I imagine I haven't a clue."

AN: And there you have it. Caroline utilizes her shooting abilities and decides to get some help from an unexpected source. Silas lays it out to Bonnie, because someone really does need to remind her that she needs a sense of self-preservation (not that it really matters now in canon-verse), and the shit is about to hit the fan at the Mikaelson home.

Thank-you for everyone who has reviewed, and please continue to do so. If you have any questions, ask and I'll answer them in a PM if you have an account, or in the next chapter, if you don't.