A/N: It's still Friday for me, and since Friday is an update day for a fic, here's an update for a fic ;)
Thank you so much for the follows, favorites, and reviews! I'm so glad you guys like this story.
Thank you to justanotherfiveminutes and CKhybrid for beta work.
Enjoy!
-Angie
"I don't know what to do, Elena," Caroline groaned, burying her face in her hands.
Katherine considered her options. She could tell the blonde to go for it, but that seemed strangely out of character for Saint Elena.
Then again, she couldn't pretend to be Elena for the rest of her life, or she might go batshit.
Well, more batshit than she already was.
She was very self-aware, thank you very much.
She had to make sure that it was both completely impossible to return Elena Gilbert back to her body (which she was 99% sure was already done), and also ensure that Caroline cared about her enough to not let Klaus kill her when the time came to come clean.
"Make a list."
Caroline gave her an odd look, and Katherine just gave her what she hoped was a cheery smile. "Make a pros and cons list, Caroline."
"Why did I not think of that?"
"Probably because you're afraid that the pros will outweigh the cons," Katherine said dryly.
Caroline tilted her head, giving her an assessing look.
"What?"
Caroline shrugged. "Nothing. Don't worry about it. Do you have a pencil?"
Within twenty minutes, Caroline had made an extensive list of pros and cons while Katherine watched over her shoulder and occasionally contributed points.
The end result was a long list of very small pros and three very important cons (he is not afraid to kill people I care about, he has done terrible things, and my mother hates him).
"He makes you happy," Katherine said, trying to sound resigned and like she was playing devil's advocate rather than impatient for Caroline to get the fuck on with it and put the guy out of his misery so she could go the fuck to New Orleans.
God, she missed Elijah.
"Look, I don't need anybody to make me happy, okay Elena?"
"Yeah, not any body, except Klaus's," Katherine said, resisting the urge to give Caroline a wink and a smirk, and instead settling for a giggle.
"Since when are you Team Klaus?"
"Since I realized that you sacrificed a huge amount of your personal comfort when I dated Damon, and I should do the same for you. Even though Damon and I didn't work out, you were there for me, and you wanted me to be happy, and I should do the same for you," Katherine said, pasting a sickly sweet Elena-smile on her face.
And it was true, too. If Katherine had the motivation (and enough fucks to give), the pros-cons list she could make for being Saint Elena's friend would make anyone come to their senses and ditch the bitch.
Well, except Damon, but really he'd just been looking for a replacement for her the entire time. Sadly for Damon, no one does Katherine Pierce like Katherine Pierce.
"Here he is," Rebekah announced, dropping Kol's body rather unceremoniously on the ground in the middle of the pentagram. "Get to it."
"We need blood," the head of the coven said shortly, and Rebekah rolled her eyes, slashing her own wrist and letting the blood drip onto Kol's body.
She stared at the coven leader expectantly, who immediately began to chant, her coven members following her.
Rebekah watched in morbid fascination as the ash marks of her brother's grey skin faded into his natural creamy hue. There were whole chunks of his body that regrew before her eyes, and she almost felt herself choke up as the chanting of the witches faded, and Kol's eyes flew open, red, bloody, and hungry.
Rebekah immediately thrust a blood bag at him, which he sneered at before grabbing the nearest witch and draining them dry within seconds. Once the surrounding witches had realized what happened, Kol and Rebekah were screaming on their knees.
However, what Rebekah knew and the witches did not, was that Kol had one of the most absurdly high pain tolerances of anyone she'd ever met.
And she was an Original.
Aneurysm spells by definition disabled vampires. The blood vessels repaired themselves even as they were damaged, leading to unbearable pain that never ended, even causing the vampire to get weaker over time. If the witch was strong enough, they could easily desiccate a vampire by forcing them to use all their energy to heal themselves. However, though the spell was unbelievably painful, it wasn't disabling if you could stand it.
She saw her brother breathe deeply before pushing off the ground, snapping three necks and draining the last witch of the five, throwing her to the ground in disgust and wiping his lip with the back of his hand.
"Took you long enough."
Rebekah didn't make a habit of crying.
Sure, she shed tears every so often when something didn't go her way. She threw tantrums or she got her feelings hurt, and tears fell (and hearts left chests).
She'd originally thought Kol had been lost forever. She'd locked herself in her room for three days straight after staging a pointless fight with Klaus (not that she had fooled anyone) just lying in the dark mourning her brother. She'd stayed up at night sometimes talking to him, hoping he was watching her from the other side.
Klaus had always been her favorite brother. He had taken the time to indulge her silly girlish fantasies as a child while making it clear that that's what they were. He drew her pictures and protected her from the 'big bad' boys of the village. He'd made her feel safe.
Kol, on the other hand, had played with her, made her laugh, and practiced magic with her. He'd supported her through the hard times. He'd left them to go out on his own, it was true, but he always returned to them. To her.
Yes, Klaus was her favorite brother, but Kol was her best friend.
She was in his arms within moments in an uncharacteristic show of weakness, tears falling, blubbering out sounds that weren't close to any language she knew, and he just held her.
And she could have sworn that he shed a tear or two as well.
"Witch!"
He heard Priscilla's faint sigh of irritation from the next room as she hobbled in. "Can I help you?"
"I want to know if it's possible to turn a vampire into an Original. Actually, I just want you to do it. I don't particularly care whether you think it's possible or not."
"For your mate?" Priscilla asked.
"Obviously."
She pressed her lips together. "Well, what were the components of the original spell?"
Klaus gave her a pointed look. "You are sworn to secrecy, of course."
"Obviously."
"The blood of the doppelganger was required and made into an elixir. As I have managed to gather, there were two other ingredients, which determine the loopholes of the spell. One was the ground ash of the anchor, which in this case was the white oak tree. The spell was also bound to the tree, although I suspect very strongly that the tree was just a convenient natural anchor, rather than having a larger significance. The other was vervain powder. The amount of the elixir does not matter as long as the proportions stay equal in that each of the three ingredient portions must have exactly the same weight."
Priscilla nodded once, a serious look on her face. "And are there any other parameters?"
"Yes. It must be done during a solar eclipse. I checked before I arrived. The next one is on May 20th, and rather conveniently can be seen from Virginia. We need to be ready by then."
"So, if I understand correctly, the only things that are even close to complicated are finding the blood of the doppelganger and deriving a new incantation for the spell, as the old one most certainly will not work on vampires."
"Yes."
"What do you know about doppelgangers?" Priscilla asked.
"Almost all there is to know, I believe. After all, I did look for them for over a thousand years. Though it is a common myth that doppelgangers descend from a family line, therefore implying that if a doppelganger does not have children there will be none left, the truth is that doppelgangers may appear at any time in any place, and are always born shortly after the last doppelganger dies. I would wager that there is already a year-old doppelganger baby growing up somewhere."
Priscilla nodded. "Excellent. So then you know what you must do."
He resisted the urge to groan. This "find the doppelganger" bullshit would never leave him alone, would it?
"Nik!"
Klaus's head snapped up at the familiar voice, and he turned to see his little brother enter the room. "Kol," he greeted, trying to keep his voice neutral, but not succeeding.
Rebekah had called him earlier that week and told him that Kol had returned, and Klaus had even spoken to him briefly, reassuring him in as few words as possible how happy he was to have his brother back.
He and Kol didn't often get along, but as Elijah and Rebekah often said, it was because they were more similar than different. When Kol had died, each of them had dealt with it in their own way. Rebekah had staged that ridiculous fight with him, and he and Elijah had heard her sobbing for hours in her room, both wanting to help but too drained themselves to bother. Elijah had thrown himself into organizational tasks. Klaus honestly dreaded the day that his brother and Caroline were stressed at the same time, because there would be a war of epic proportions about the best way to clean everything. Honestly, he'd bet on Caroline.
And it wasn't even because he was biased, which he'd freely admit he was. Caroline was simply a force of nature.
He had been devastated when Kol had died.
"Are the rumors true?"
"What rumors?" Klaus asked slowly, knowing very well exactly what Kol was talking about.
"That tasty little blonde from the bar. Is she really your...ahh...mate."
Klaus honestly didn't see much point in lying.
"Yes."
"Excellent. When do I get to meet her?"
"You've met her."
"Yes. Before she decided that she'd give you a chance. Before she said she'd rather die of thirst, remember?"
Yes, he remembered that moment very well.
"She didn't decide to give me a chance," Klaus pointed out, rather reluctantly.
"Well, she also said that she was too smart to be seduced by you, and look how that turned out," Kol said cheerfully.
He didn't bother asking how Kol knew that. Eavesdropping was a favorite pastime of his brother's.
He made a low humming sound before changing the subject. "Kol, I have a request."
"What else is new, Brother?"
"I understand that we haven't exactly got on well in the past–" Kol snorted, but Klaus continued as though he hadn't heard, "-But I was hoping I could ask for your help."
"With what?" Kol asked warily.
"I have some things to take care of–"
"Oh no, Nik. If you're going to ask me for my help, I'd like to know the full extent."
Klaus regarded his brother with serious eyes. "All right. I need you to understand how absolutely serious I am about this, Kol. Family, always and forever, right?"
Kol nodded.
"Caroline is a part of this family."
Kol gave him a look not unlike the one Elijah gave to suspicious looking stains on couches in hotels.
"Go on."
"I have plans to create a spell to change her into an Original vampire, so that she can't be killed," Klaus said slowly.
"Which means that you need to acquire doppelganger blood, which means you need to find the doppelganger, and I'm assuming that you don't want to bring your girl along because that would mean showing her off to lots of people that could kill her pre-ritual."
Klaus had to hand it to his brother; he'd always been intelligent. Although, this particular situation most likely had more to do with Kol's witch background than anything.
"So, let me guess," Kol continued. "You'd like me to locate the doppelganger and bring her back."
"No, actually," Klaus said slowly, mindful of the fact that Kol now looked twice as dubious of Klaus's motives as he had before. "Have you ever thought of going to college, Kol?"
"No. Absolutely not," Kol said immediately. "I am not going to escort your girlfriend everywhere like a bodyguard."
"Kol, if you want to earn my trust–"
"If I want to earn your trust? Really, Nik? If anything, you should be trying to earn mine. You have done nothing but berate me, isolate me, and dagger me for centuries. Why on earth should I want to help you?"
"Because you're family and she's family."
"Not enough," Kol said plainly.
"And because she's best friends with the Bennett witch."
He was almost certain he'd never seen such a bizarre mix of anger and resignedness. "Fine. I'll protect your girlfriend."
"She's not my girlfriend, she's my–"
"Mate. Whatever," Kol said irritably. "Tell me you're not expecting me to go with her everywhere?"
"No. But you'll live with her in the apartment. Perhaps you'd like to study something. Might I suggest musical theatre?"
"You're hilarious, Nik. Really."
"I think you'll find that it's right up your alley."
"You've already signed me up haven't you."
Klaus gave his brother his version of a helpless shrug, which probably would have looked genuine had it not been for the shit-eating grin he knew was stretched across his face.
"Joy," Kol muttered.
"-A silver ribbon on the waves...leading directly to me and you...nothing is too wonderful to be true," Caroline finished, bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet as she smiled at the director.
"We'll email you if you got a call back. I highly suggest that in the meantime you learn the songs for the part you're auditioning for. Thanks for coming," he said shortly, making her frown slightly.
"Thanks."
She jumped about a foot in the air when she found Klaus lurking in the hallway, and felt the familiar tug of arousal in her lower belly at his proximity. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to even her breathing, before she spoke. "Seriously, Klaus?"
"How did it go?"
"Pretty sure you heard the entire thing. Also, why are you here?"
"You were anxious."
"Yeah, because I was about to have an audition, which I'm sure you knew anyway because you're a creepy stalker."
He shrugged. "Actually I didn't. You asked me to leave you alone."
"And you listened?" she asked, completely floored.
"Well, it is my goal to keep you happy. You are unhappy when I attempt to control your life. Therefore, I am not attempting to control your life."
"Umm... Well, thanks then," she said awkwardly, now feeling oddly off-kilter.
"So? How did your audition go, love?"
She decided to humor him. "Well, I think. I nailed the high notes, and Bonnie said I wasn't pitchy when she helped me out with it last night."
"The Bennett witch sings?"
"Yeah. We went to musical theatre camp every summer together. She was my best friend. Before I turned, Elena didn't like me all that much."
"The doppelganger didn't go?"
Caroline snorted derisively. "No. That was the only thing I had on her growing up hands-down. I love Elena, really, I do, but that girl cannot carry a tune to save her life."
"I'm sure you had many things 'on' her growing up, love."
Caroline shrugged. "I don't think you would have liked me when I was human. I wasn't a very pleasant person."
"And yet, I am sure you were much more interesting and likeable than the doppelganger."
She snorted. "You should tell that to 99% of the residents of Mystic Falls."
"I don't have to. If they don't know that by now then they're not worth attempting to convert."
She felt a laugh bubble up in her. "If you say so."
"I do. Were you hoping to get a specific part?"
"Yeah, actually. I was really hoping to get–Hey. You're not allowed to compel me a part."
He put his hands up, palms out. "I didn't say I would."
She glared. "You were totally thinking about it."
He shrugged. "Of course I was. But if I did, you'd spend the entire time inwardly debating about whether you should have taken the part or not, and if you really deserved it. I think you would be happier knowing you got it fairly."
"You're really thinking these things through."
"Well, you like it when I–"
She suddenly felt a surge of anger. "Stop. Your world doesn't revolve around me and what I want. I don't want you to base every facet of your life around what I want. Is that what this stupid mate thing does? Do you really like me Klaus, or is it just this stupid link? Because honestly, it seems a bit like a sire bond, and that is the creepiest thing ever."
His face darkened slightly and he grabbed her hand, the skin to skin contact making her pussy ache in complete contrast to how absolutely angry she was feeling, pulling her to a nearby office and shutting the door behind them, locking it.
"I want you to listen to me very carefully, Caroline. This link is a two way street. You are my mate, but I am just as much yours. If I had a sire-like connection to you, you would have one to me as well. If the bond was forcing feelings on me that I didn't have, they would be forcing you."
"But what if they're forcing feelings in both of us?" she asked, trying to ignore the insistent tug of arousal every time he called her his mate. Hell, every time he spoke. His proximity was making her skin prickle.
"Are you saying you have feelings for me, Caroline?"
"Is that really what you got out of that? Of course I have feelings for you, you jackass. I told you that in the woods, remember?"
"Which was before I claimed you, and therefore before the bond really took hold," he pointed out.
She took a deep breath, trying to steady herself. "Right. Okay. Fine. But I'm not...I'm not your fucking world Klaus. I can't be the center of your universe."
He shrugged. "Of course you're not. I would do almost anything to make you happy, because you are my mate, and I love you, but I do make my own choices, love. I have free will," he said, a bit too matter-of-factly for a love confession, in her opinion.
"Okay."
They were quiet for a moment, and she felt her body becoming more insistent the longer she sat there with him. "I need to go."
Before I jump your bones.
"Wait, Caroline. I actually have to talk to you about something."
"What?" she asked irritably, her nipples brushing almost painfully against the rough fabric of her bra as she attempted to take deep, calming breaths.
"I'll be going on a bit of a trip for the next few weeks."
Caroline nearly sighed of relief. She would have a few weeks of not having to think about Klaus and his annoying arousing presence.
"For what?" she asked, curious.
"I have business to take care of."
She narrowed her eyes. "Isn't this supposed to be a partnership? Like, you know, where you tell me things? And trust me?"
He smiled, somewhat bitterly. "I love you very much, Caroline. More than you can even imagine, I'm sure. But nonetheless, no matter how much I love you, you still have proven time and again that I cannot trust you. Until that changes, I'm afraid that there are some things that I cannot tell you."
The door was open and he was gone before she could blink, and she had the strange urge to burst into tears, mostly because it was true. He loved her, and she had thrown it in his face multiple times, and used him for the benefit of her or her friends. Why should he trust her?
She didn't know what scared her more: the fact that she desperately wanted him to trust her, or that she already knew that she would trust him with anything.
Still trying not to sniffle, she grabbed her bag and threw it over her shoulder, walking back to her dorm room at Whitmore, nearly shrieking when she saw that it was practically empty with a large stack of cardboard boxes.
"What the–"
"Trust me, Darling, this is going to be about as much fun for me as it will be for you."
"Kol?"
A/N: So, what do we think about Caroline's new roommate? How are we feeling about the development of Caroline and Klaus's relationship?
This fic will have a sub-plot revolving around Caroline's college experience. I'm a theatre person, and I thought it would be fun to explore the fact that the characters do, in fact, attend school :P
I also really wanted to acknowledge that Kat Graham is fabulous and should get to sing somewhere, haha. The song that Caroline auditioned with was "Nothing Is Too Wonderful to Be True" from Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, which is NOT the musical she'll be doing.
Hugs!
-Angie