Chapter 6: Involved

Big shout out to last week's reviewers: Booklover9477,PainfullyShy, Vamptragic, hopeless637 and EtherealDemon.

hopeless637- You asked me if Elijah doesn't agree with Klaroline. I think that he very much respects Caroline and thinks that Klaus being in love with her is good for him because it taps into his humanity. However, he believes "family above all" and he's seen his family screwed by love one too many times. Seeing as Caroline has given no indication of her romantic feelings (in front of Elijah), he just wants Klaus to be cautious. Also, Klaus is about to be a father; that's kind of a bump in the Klaroline road for him.

A couple of days passed before Klaus heard from Caroline again. He'd spent the past few days agreeing on a deal with Marcel and then talking himself out of the immense hole he'd dug himself into. The witches of New Orleans were not best pleased that he'd agreed to anything with the man they were plotting to kill. In any case, the most communication that had passed between him and Caroline was the occasional text message.

On Friday, he woke up feeling the huge need to see her that day. He spent the morning resolved to not be desperate but by noon, he had reminded himself that he'd been practically stalking her in Mystic Falls. He'd called her. No answer. Texted. No answer. He called again.

"Just go to her place," Elijah told him, growing impatient. Without a word, Klaus grabbed his jacket and strode out the door, down Bourbon and then up to Conti. The landlady told him she wasn't there. Klaus was frustrated now, maybe even a little nervous. Could she have picked up and left? He shook his head. Caroline wouldn't do that without saying anything. Then there was always the possibility that Marcel had done something.

He would have had a witch track her down if he hadn't been going down Dauphine and seen her through the window of the bar. He strode toward her, glaring. "Where have you been?"

"Working," she said, a smile dancing on the edge of her lips. He noticed for the first time that she was holding a tray and wearing a small black apron. Upon seeing his bewildered expression, she grinned. "I got a job!"

"Why?"

"The normal reasons: college, experience, money-"

He cut her off. "Caroline, that's bullshit. You already got accepted into university and you don't really have to worry about money: you're a vampire."

Her smile didn't fade. "In any case, I have a job now. I couldn't exactly just stick around New Orleans during nothing." She'd given in her application to Sophie Deveraux two days ago. Sophie had just glared but luckily the owner had liked the sound of her and had hired her on the spot. Today was her third day.

Klaus was going to retort but he didn't have the chance as Hayley walked into the bar and up to Klaus. "I told you yesterday that my appointment with the OB/GYN was this morning."

"Sorry, love, I don't think I'll be able to make it." Caroline noted that he barely even glanced at her. Hayley looked P-I-S-S-E-D. If he was any normal person, she would probably have slapped him. She flounced out of the bar.

Klaus turned back to her, all smiles and dimples. Caroline frowned and put on that judgey look she'd mastered freshman year of high school. "You can't just let her get the first glimpse of your baby without," she protested.

"I'd much rather spend the day with you," he said. He was intent on making Caroline feel safe in the knowledge that Hayley wasn't a threat to her and wouldn't ever be. His motives were good but unfortunately his strategy was all wrong.

Caroline looked at him seriously, pulling his irises into hers. "Hayley is having your child." He practically rolled his eyes. She spoke softly, "Don't let her make you into the father that Mikael was to you." She could tell from the instant she'd said it that she'd hit a nerve. It was too similar to what she'd said months ago at the Mikaelson Ball. Your father didn't love you so you assume no one else will. How right she'd been!

He sighed, finally relenting, and ran after Hayley. Caroline went back to bussing tables. He'd barely left the building when she felt a presence behind her. She turned around to see Marcel. "How did you do that?" he breathed.

Caroline raised an eyebrow. "Do what? What did you hear?"

"Nothing!"Marcel threw up both his hands teasingly. "But I did see you convince Klaus to go after that girl in barely thirty seconds flat."

"Oh, that," she said, relieved that she hadn't spilled Hayley and Klaus' secret. She shrugged and concentrated on pouring a drink for another customer.

Marcel didn't walk away like she thought he would. Instead he continued, "You said two words to him and he runs after her like a puppy. I've never seen anyone with as much influence with Klaus as you do. You're like the Klaus Whisperer."

She smiled sarcastically. "I don't know. I don't think anyone can convince Klaus to do something he doesn't want to."

"But you can," he retorted. Caroline continued to working. "You know, Klaus wants what I have. He wants New Orleans." Caroline rolled her eyes. This duel between monarchs was getting ridiculous. Marcel looked surprised by her attitude. "So you don't believe in his cause?" he asked.

"I believe that there is no such thing as a king in the United States. Equality and justice for all and all that jazz." She mimed jazz hands.

"So wouldn't be opposed to convincing him to let my kingdom be?" he asked.

Caroline shook her head. "I couldn't do that."

"You underestimate yourself." As she placed a glass onto a tray, he took her chin and moved her face so that she looked straight into his eyes. His usually jovial face turned serious. "I think that Klaus is madly in love with you and I think he'll do whatever you say when you say it."

Slightly spooked, she replied trying to sound as calm as possible. "It's impossible. Nobody's worth as much as his need for power." Her voice was chilly.

"Help me to dissuade him from this stupid plotting of his."

"Why should I?" she challenged.

Cool as anything, he said. "Clemency. If Klaus does something foolish, I give you my word that there won't be any consequences for you." Caroline tried to push past him but he stopped her, grabbing her arm. "If not, you can bet you'll be caught in the cross-fire." He left the bar.

Caroline felt as if her veins had turned to ice. What the hell had she gotten herself involved in?

She decided this was as good a time as any to take her break. She went into the kitchen to get herself some water. "Hi," she said to Sophie, who was manning the grill.

"Was that Marcel I saw out there?" the witch asked. Caroline nodded. "Be careful."

Caroline rolled her eyes and mumbled a "Yeah, I got it." She turned to walk back into the bar but Sophie caught her hand.

"I mean it, Caroline. Marcel's bad news and we're nowhere near close enough to killing him. The only person who's powerful enough to stand up to him is Klaus. If he was after me, I'd get as close to Klaus as possible."

Caroline crossed her arms and fixed Sophie with an intense stare. "Why do you care anyway?"

Sophie shrugged awkwardly. "I guess it's because Klaus is, like, obsessed with you." Caroline grunted, annoyed at yet another person telling her that Klaus liked her. Sophie softened. "And you're not a bad vampire." It was true. Sophie had been watching Caroline for the past few days and hadn't even seen her tempted by bloodlust. Even better, she was staying out of Klaus' war with Marcel.

The blonde bit her lip guiltily at the other girl's praise. She knew she'd made mistakes and didn't really deserve it. She confessed quickly, "I killed twelve witches a couple of months ago."

Sophie turned back to the grill, where her burgers were charring. "You thought I didn't know? News travels fast among the witch community. Look, if Jane-Anne was about to be murdered by twelve witches, I would have killed them too."

Caroline smiled. This was the first time anybody had been understanding towards her actions during the third massacre of Mystic Falls. She flung her arms around Sophie and hugged her tightly. Then she went back to serving tables.

Klaus was sitting in the waiting room of the most discreet obgyn in town, bored out of his mind while Hayley, totally unfazed by his attitude, flipped through a magazine. He started fiddling with his watch. Absentmindedly he said, "Do you think I'm a good person?"

Hayley snorted. "No! Are you kidding? You killed 12 hybrids just for breaking out from under your thumb, you sacrificed three women so that you could become a hybrid, you corrupted Mystic Falls' golden boy, you-"

"Ok, that's enough," he cut her off. "My, Tyler did keep you well-informed." There was a hint of condescension in his voice.

"Don't use that tone with me when we both know you're trying to steal Tyler's girlfriend!" she retorted.

"Caroline's not his girlfriend anymore," he growled. A few moments passed before he asked her another question. "Does she like me?"

Hayley thrust her magazine down impatiently. "We're not going to sit here and braid each other's hair and talk about our feelings." She pursed her lips, considering his question. "I think she likes you. I mean, she came all the way here. But she won't do anything about it, you know that. She's way too good for you."

Most people would probably have gotten their throat torn out for that but carrying his child made her annoyingly exempt from that rule. Plus, she was right about everything. He smiled to himself, thinking about how she'd said that Caroline liked him. He didn't need to focus on her not being able to take a chance on him yet. It was inevitable.

"Mikaelson?" a middle-aged doctor called from the door of her office. Hayley got up and went inside, followed quickly by Klaus.

After her shift had ended, Caroline, still anxious from her encounter with Marcel, went back to the bed and breakfast, packed her stuff, left her rent money with the landlady and went outside, only to see that it had started raining hard onto the roofs of the French Quarter. She made her way down the streets of New Orleans but she got lost at least twice and was startled by having three encounters with feeding vampires, all of whom were older, stronger and more intimidating than she was. Finally she found Klaus' building. She rang the doorbell.

Elijah answered. He was wearing a crisp brown suit with his hair perfectly combed as usual. He seemed a little startled to see her at the door, particularly since she was sopping wet and holding two suitcases. Nevertheless, he greeted her politely, "Hello, Miss Forbes, what can I do for you?"

Caroline smiled awkwardly. "Um, is Klaus here?" she asked.

"No," he said, still eyeing her up and down. "Do you want to come inside to wait? Maybe change?"

"Thanks," she said gratefully. She came in and put the two cases down side by side, opened one and fished out a pretty babydoll dress she'd bought a few days ago. She went off to search for the nearest bathroom. When she came out again, Klaus was sitting on the couch. He looked up as she walked in.

"Hi," she said quietly, looking directly into his eyes. Then she noticed Hayley, who was standing next to the fireplace, hand on her stomach and with an oddly peaceful expression. "How's the baby?"

"Fine," replied Klaus. He passed her the picture of the ultrasound the doctor had given them. All Caroline could do was stare at it. It was so small and perfect. Klaus was asking her, "What brings you here?"

Before such a cosy and familial scene, Caroline felt that she couldn't just ruin it with her problems. She said simply, "Nothing important. Tell me about the check-up."

"No, tell me about how you showed up here with two suitcases." Caroline shook her head, indicating the two other people in the room. "Do you want to talk about it in my studio, sweetheart?" he asked. Caroline followed him into the art studio. It was filled with Klaus' paintings, all of whom were in different styles and probably from different eras. She would have loved to explore the room but Klaus was looking at her expectantly. "What happened?"

"Look, it's really not a big deal," Caroline started, getting a reproachful look from Klaus. "After you left the bar, Marcel approached me. He seemed to think that I could influence you into stopping your crusade against and when I didn't really want to get involved, he threatened me. I guess I just kind of got scared."

Klaus looked really mad but he refrained from taking it out on her. "Does this mean you're accepting my offer to move in?"

"If you're still open to it, yeah I guess."

Klaus was grinning. Without further ado, he went back to the living room, picked up her suitcases and brought them into one of the two guest bedrooms. Caroline waited with Hayley until he came back. When he did, they both sat down on the couch and started discussing the baby. "Is it a boy or a girl?"

"A girl," he said wistfully. A small smile appeared accompanied with his familiar dimple. "Rebekah will be pleased. She's always said we needed more women in the family."

Caroline grinned back and asked, "Do you know what you'll do when the baby starts to age?"

"I was thinking about trying to contact Esther and seeing if we can get the spell she used to turn us all into vampires, but that would require the doppelganger's blood, which we unfortunately don't have access to. Same goes for turning her into a hybrid."

Hayley, who'd been standing by the fireplace looking jealously at the whisky bottle, spoke up. "You are not turning the baby into hybrid," she said fiercely.

Klaus looked annoyed by her intervention. "That's the point, love, I can't. No doppelganger, remember?"

That didn't discourage her one bit. "But if you could, you would!"

"Yes, I would," he stated.

Hayley scoffed. "Of course you wouldn't have any problems with turning your own kid into one of your own minions!"

Caroline tried to mediate. "Hayley, if it's between that or the baby dying... a parent shouldn't have to bury their own child," she reasoned.

"How can you defend him after what you saw Tyler go through?"

"It's not the same and you know it and besides it doesn't matter because that's not in the cards right now."

Maybe it was hormones or maybe she didn't like being surrounded by vampire. Either way, Hayley was furious now. "Don't worry, Caroline, he'll be back to caring only about you tomorrow. The only thing he sees in that baby is power," she spat.

"OK, that's it!" Why did everyone try to get to her by talking about Klaus' infatuation? Worst still, why did it work? Frustrated, she stood up, meaning to get some sleep but Klaus gently pulled her back onto the couch.

He said, "You obviously overestimate the power of the child. I saved both of your lives because I wanted the baby and because I couldn't persecute it the way my father did me." He was talking in a low, dangerous voice as if daring anyone in the room to try and use his vulnerability against him.

Throwing her hands up in the air in irritation, Hayley stormed out of the flat.

Two hours later, Caroline was asleep on the couch. Her head was in a rather comfortable position as it was on Klaus' lap. He didn't mind one bit. Before closing his eyes to seek rest, he whispered to her, "I love you."

Awww... Sorry, I just had to throw that last bit in last minute! So what did you think? Are you excited that Caroline's moved in with the Mikaelson brothers? I almost put in a scene where Klaus startles Caroline in the bathroom, naked. It didn't fit but if you guys are interested, I can throw it in, in another chapter. Also, I need baby girl names (and stories on how the baby would get her name).

Next chapter, we'll see Hayley and Caroline become better acquainted and a field trip to Mystic Falls for Klaus and Elijah.

Thanks!

Brianne