4 months had passed since Hayley's death. Caroline and Rebekah had bought a house somewhere countryside in the state of Ohio and made it their safehouse, which was cloaked with a powerful cloaking spell. Klaus was still suffering every full moon due to the 12 moonlight rings that were made with his blood. Klaus and Elijah had kept the communication with Caroline and Rebekah absolute minimum which meant that Klaus and Elijah knew they were alright and nothing else. They didn't even know where they were living.
Somewhere in countryside Ohio.
Because of that, it was a huge surprise that one day, being home alone with Hope, doing dishes, Caroline heard the door bell and when she opened the door, it was Klaus at the door.
"Klaus!" Caroline said as she hugged him.
"What are you doing here? How did you find us. Omg, is the cloaking spell not working?"'
"No it works, I used other ways. Don't worry, no one will find you like I did. I took care of it."
"Okay, come in, I guess."
"Thank you. Where is my dear sister by the way?"
"In the nearest town, but she should be home anytime soon."
Klaus went to see his daughter in the bassinet while Caroline went to finish her task of dish washing.
"So what brings you here, besides Hope I mean? Is everything the same in NoLa?"
"Yes, honey, everything is the same." Klaus answered her.
"Since when do you use words like 'honey'?" Caroline asked and just as she asked it, she froze in place.
'That wasn't Klaus!' Slowly she turned around to see Francesca Correa with a knife in her hand.
Caroline screamed "NOOOOOOOOO!" as she lunged for the wolf only to wake up in the middle of the night, covered in cold sweat.
Her bedroom door opened and Rebekah stood in the doorway.
"Would you shut up already!? You are waking the baby."
"I was screaming in real life?" Caroline asked her.
"First talking. I heard Klaus' name and then you screamed so loud I thought the baby would wake up. Luckily she hasn't. What did you see?"
"Oh, nothing good. Go back to sleep. Talk in the morning."
So Rebekah left her alone and she tried to fall asleep again but the nightmare had frightened her so much, she didn't sleep the rest of the night.
The next morning Caroline went to make herself and Rebekah some coffee after saying good morning to Hope and changing her diapers. When Rebekah was handling rest of the morning routines with Hope, she sat down to enjoy her first cup of Coffee of the day and Rebekah asked if it was the same nightmare again.
"Yeah. The whole dream was exactly the same as the ones I have been having since Hayley. You know when-"
Caroline got sad again thinking about it and was lost to her own world when Rebekah snapped her fingers in front of her face.
"Would you mind helping me?"
"No, what do you need?"
New Orleans
Klaus was having another bad day at the compound, when Elijah came to his studio where he was painting or at least trying to paint. He had dozens of ruined canvases laying around.
"So this should be called your white period."
"What do you want, Elijah?"
"I just came to tell you that I have located all twelve rings."
A huge smile spread across Klaus' face as he said "So the next full moon which is the day after tomorrow we do it."
"When you are the weakest? Are you insane?"
"No, think about it. Francesca Correa won't be expecting it, it's perfect timing. Enlist Marcel's help, we are going to need it."
Suddenly they heard the gate and Klaus flashed there to see that it was Camille. Camille was startled when he flashed behind her.
"Omg, where did you come from?"
"Excuse me, you are the one trespassing. What do you want? You have put yourself in danger coming here."
"I'm already in danger. I have Guerreras following me like it's a police state. The city's being run by gangsters, and you guys aren't doing anything about it. Marcel took them out a hundred years ago without any of you. Don't you think he might be up for lending you a hand?"
"Camille, I have everything under control. You should go, we can't be friends. Not in the times like these."
"What? Why"
"Because it's dangerous for you. I told you. The more you associate with me, the more you are in danger. I'd rather not have your death hanging over me. It's bad enough we lost Hayley and the baby"
"Those deaths weren't your fault."
"I appreciate the sentiment, but they were and I want to mourn in peace. So please go!"
Frustrated, Camille turned to leave and Klaus flashed back to his studio.
The night they had their revenge, Marcel and Elijah took out most of the Guerreras wearing the moonlight rings forged with Klaus' blood. When Elijah went and found Francesca hiding in her home, Francesca was very sure that he couldn't get into the house.
Elijah was in the doorway, talking to Francesca who was surrounded with her brothers.
"My, my, you have a beautiful home, here. I was so pleased when the city took my suggestion to protect its heritage status and invoke imminent domain."
After a little pause, looking on as a smug smile dropped from Francesca's face, "I suppose that means this house now belongs to the public. And, as such, anyone can enter without invitation."
Elijah entered the house and took care of the brothers and while dealing with them, Francesca slipped away, got in the car and drove away.
Francesca had driven for a half an hour when suddenly there was someone on the road. But she didn't stop and kept on driving while the figure flashed away. She kept speeding not seeing another car drive right into her.
She took her gun and crawled out of her car, in total fear. She ran in the woods when suddenly Klaus Mikaelson was in front of her, she began to run in the opposite direction when a female form with blond hair blocked her way. She recognized Caroline Forbes. She again turned around only to be stopped by Klaus again. She was pinned between the two and she knew she was done.
"Okay, you win. Let's get this over with."
"Over with? So anxious to die already, Francesca?" Klaus asked with a smug expression on his face.
Caroline came to stood beside Klaus as she said, "But we were just how beginning to have so much fun. Right, Klaus?" Caroline turned to smile at Klaus.
"Yes, I haven't had this much fun for months." And then he hit her in the face, "Four months with out seeing my daughter." Then it was Caroline's time to hit her, "Four months since you robbed my daughter of her real mother. Who was by the way our good friend and do you know how she died, Francesca?"
"I'm sorry, Francesca said," as she had fallen on her knees.
Caroline hit her again and said furiously, "She died in total agony and she never even got to hold her baby."
"And you are going to die worse way then she did. We are going to kill you, but not till it's light out here." Klaus told her.
"So I guess that leaves us plenty of time to torture you, dear Francesca." Caroline added.
When it was finally dawn and Francesca was dead on the ground, Caroline and Klaus were digging her grave.
"'My daughter'? I like how that sounds."
"I'm sorry if I overstepped, calling her that but-"
"No, it's okay, like I said, I like the sound of that." He smiled and she smiled back. But still tears were streaming down her face.
"Hey, hey, come her." Klaus dropped the shovel and pulled her into a hug. "What's the matter? Is everything okay with her?"
"Yes, she's great. Absolutely perfect. I was just thinking about Hayley, how Hope will never know her and that just makes me so sad."
"She will, because we will tell Hope all about her and in some ways, Hayley will always be with Hope. Don't worry."
Caroline broke the hug and they continued digging.
When Klaus got back to compound, a furious Elijah was waiting for him, "Niklaus, Why was Rebekah calling me that Caroline took off in the middle of the night, destination New Orleans."
"Relax she didn't come to New Orleans. We took out Francesca a bit outside of town. And the only person who saw her is dead now. Dead after hours of torture, mostly done by Caroline. It was glorious." Klaus smiled smugly.
"Brother, are you insane? Why did you get Caroline involved? She and Rebekah were suppose to stay away from all of this."
"She called me, told me about not being able to sleep, seeing horrifying nightmare about Francesca Correa, said she wanted to kill Francesca herself. I couldn't say no, I owe her everything."
"No' is exactly what you should have said to her, Niklaus. You two put everyone in danger, including your daughter."
"Oh don't be so overdramatic. Nobody saw her, nobody followed her, nobody knows she was here last night."
"You don't know that!" Elijah almost yelled at his brother.
Klaus just sighed in frustration.
"You took her out for torturing somebody? She isn't the kind of vampire who loves killing and maiming. It's not her."
"It's not. But she can't continue to be soft anymore, it can cost her her life. Or even Hope's life. And she knows that. That why Rebekah's been teaching her fighting skills for the past months."
"What?"
"Oh, don't sound so surprised. You should have seen her last night! Covered in blood and smiling from ear to ear! She is embracing this. A little less criticism from you, and Caroline will be just fine."
"Niklaus! She deserves much more than just fine. Don't turn her into something she's not."
Klaus took his drink and left the room, being frustrated with his brother.
In Ohio countryside
Few days later, Caroline and Rebekah, who had finally forgiven Caroline for ditching her like that, had fallen back to their regular schedule of taking care of Hope and teaching Caroline to fight and defend herself.
"Your punch is still too soft. Strong for a human, yes, I could put you into a room filled with few trained muscular men and I would know that you'd take care of them. But putting you into room with few vampires, I would say your chances are 50/50."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, I guess." Caroline said in between the lesson, taking a sip of water.
"This is not about stroking you ego. It's about getting you ready for whatever comes next. Ok, lets continue, come at me with your full strength and don't forget what we talked about."
After the lesson, Rebekah was in the nursery, when Caroline looked out of the kitchen window as she suddenly saw a car she didn't recognize pull up in front of the house. She knew all the closest neighbours and this car didn't seem to belong to any of them. She was alarmed but didn't call for Rebekah, she just decided to step outside to go talk to them. It was stupid and dangerous but it would have been even more stupid to let them walk to the door, so she stepped outside and saw a man come out of the car. It seemed, he was alone. 'Ok, one man I can deal with', she thought to herself.
"Hello!" She greeted the strange man with a smile.
"Oh, hi, excuse me, I thought that nobody lived here at the moment." The man walked closer and Caroline also stepped forward a few steps.
"My name is Tom Walker, I am currently searching for a house to buy in the neighbourhood and I thought it was for sale so I came to see the house from outside before I called the owner."
"I'm sorry I just bought the house. I honestly don't know why the ad would still be active, because I have lived here for months."
"Oh that's just unfortunate. For me," he laughed. "Just you alone? Living here?"
Caroline knew that she should say that with her sister and her child, like they told everyone else, but something about that man seemed very strange so she decided to tell him another story.
"Yes, I'm alone here, I used to have a family home in the neighbourhood, so I just felt nostalgic when I saw the ad. And as I work from home, I decided to take a break from my usual routine and move here for a couple of years"
"Oh, I see," the man said as he kept staring past Caroline and into the house, like searching for something. "So you are not planning to stay here for long?"
"I don't know yet, I might decide to rent it out later, but right now, this is where I'm living." She fake-smiled him, hoping he would get the hint.
Which he did, luckily, and after Caroline had waved the man goodbye as he drove away. She took out her untraceable phone from her back pocket and called her emergency number which was Klaus's.
"What's wrong?" Klaus said as he picked up.
"I'm not sure. There was this strange man here just now, asking about the house. Said he wanted to buy a house in the neighbourhood and that he saw an ad for the house but I know for a fact that we had the previous owner delete all ads for the place."
After a short pause, Klaus told her, "Start packing now, I'll make the arrangement for a new place for you and I'll text you the direction to start driving. Caroline, what did he see and what does he now, as far as you know?"
"I told him that I lived here alone and he didn't see anything. We don't have Hope's things in the garden and Rebekah was in the back with Hope."
"Why, I thought we had a deal that you lie that-"
"That I live with my sister and her child but think about it Klaus… if he knows anything about a child, how soon he'll figure out that I'm hiding your child…um, " she lowered her voice to a whisper as she said, "our child in here. I thought that if I'm discovered, then at least I'm alone in that. Do you get my logic at all?"
"Yeah, yeah, smart thinking, thank you. But start packing now, love."
And he hung up.
"Great," Caroline muttered to herself.
As she got inside, she went straight to the nursery where Rebekah was sitting in a rocking chair, watching Hope sleep.
"Rebekah, We have a huge problem."
New Orleans
Just as Klaus texted Caroline to start driving toward Arkansas, he received a letter from the forth Harvest girl, Cassie, who wanted to meet with him in the cemetery. So he called Elijah, told him to meet him there and took off.
In the cemetery, he met Cassie, surrounded by a pack of wolves who were wearing moonlight rings.
"Nice to see you here, Niklaus. Care to join me for a tea? It's chamomile, you'll love it."
Inside one of the tombs, there was a table set with a tea set and they sat down for a drink.
"I must offer my condolences on the tragic loss of your child." Cassie started first.
Klaus asked unamused, "Wasn't it your coven who threatened her life?"
"Hmm, I have to ask, Niklaus. "The girl you were sleeping with previously, Caroline was it?"
"What about her?" Klaus asked impatiently.
"I find it rather curious that the night your child and her mother died, she fled the city and now I hear that she's living somewhere in Ohio?"
Klaus took that information in. 'So that man who visited Caroline was really one of Cassie's spies' Klaus thought to himself.
"I don't keep tabs on her but If you are in any way threatening her-"
"Niklaus, I'm just making conversation. Genevieve told me how much you care for her. I just find it odd that she didn't go back to her home town but bought a house in Ohio countryside. What is she doing there?"
"The hell If I know, we didn't separate In the best of terms. How did you find her?"
"I didn't. But someone did and not using any kind of magic. Just your regular detective work. I guess she's not that smart, if she leaves obvious traces behind. Just your kind of girl, Niklaus"
Now Klaus lost his temper and attacked Cassie, pinning her to the wall, "I have had a lousy day so killing you would be the highlight of my evening."
He couldn't say or do anything more as a group of werewolves surround them.
"It's okay. Niklaus was just leaving."
"I will happily kill them all!"
"Then, you will have murdered members of the very pack you still hope to someday lead. Besides, there's no need for bloodshed. We can always resume this discussion another day. Goodnight, Niklaus. We will speak again soon."
That night Elijah and Marcel went to help Davina in a bar where she ran into trouble with locals who were attacking her. Unknown to them was the fact that Davina had a secret weapon she called to save herself and when Elijah and Marcel got to the scene they found out that the weapon was actually a person – Elijah's father Mikael in the flesh.
Later that night Klaus and Elijah got together to discuss day's events.
"Caroline has been discovered, she's coming back."
"How do you know? What about Rebekah and the baby."
"I don't know, I think they are in the clear. Thanks to Caroline's quick thinking."
"So how was only Caroline discovered? It doesn't make sense!"
"Maybe Caroline got careless and did a miss step, maybe called home, I don't know. But she redeemed herself by not giving Rebekah and Hope away, so there's that."
"So where are Rebekah and the baby."
Klaus gave Elijah a side glance.
"You are right, the less people know, the better." Elijah understood.
"I have something to tell you, Niklaus."
"Me first."
And so Klaus told Elijah that he thinks Cassie isn't just guided by their mother. She WAS their Mother. And Elijah in return told him about his encounter with their Father Mikael.
The next day, Caroline barely got to the courtyard, when Klaus flashed to where she was handling her bags.
Klaus instantly took the bags and carried them inside.
When he turned around to face Caroline, she had tears in her eyes as she closed the distance between them and walked into his embrace.