DISCLAIMER. not mine.

CHAPTER. daddy dearest.

SETTING: 90 years in the future.

T-H-E-V-A-M-P-I-R-E-D-I-A-R-I-E-S

Klaus jerked awake, his eyes flying open but his body otherwise remaining still. He took a second to process what it was that had caused him to awaken - it was the middle of the night, after all, and he had been sound asleep in his own bed - when he heard a soft, pained moan from the woman lying next to him. Klaus sat up and leaned over Caroline, shaking her gently. "Caroline, wake up."

"Noooo," Caroline said, still trapped in her nightmare.

Concerned, Klaus shook her harder and his soft voice turned into a sharp bark. "Caroline!"

Caroline's eyes opened. They were blind with pain and fear for the briefest of seconds, until she realized she had been dreaming and was actually safe in bed with Klaus. She sat up. "Sorry," she whispered.

Klaus ran a hand up her arm reassuringly, ignoring the pang of hurt when she tensed up before relaxing and letting him put his arm around her. "Why are you apologizing, love?" he asked.

She shrugged, looking down at the bed covers. Klaus cupped her chin, forcing Caroline to meet his eyes. "Bad nightmare?" he prompted.

Slowly, Caroline nodded. "My father," she said.

Klaus' thumb stroked her cheek. He remembered when Caroline's father had chosen to die rather than become a vampire like his daughter. "I'm sorry you had to watch him die," Klaus said sincerely.

There was a pause, and Klaus' hand stilled when he saw a look of hesitation on Caroline's face. "It wasn't that," she finally admitted.

She looked down at her lap again as she said, "The nightmare was about when he tried to fix me."

Caroline peeked up at Klaus to see him looking at her with a worried curiosity. "Caroline, what do you mean by that," he asked seriously.

Caroline spoke haltingly. "You know when Tyler left Mystic Falls to break his sire bond?"

Klaus nodded, not knowing where this was going. He and Caroline never talked about Tyler. "We went to my dad when Tyler wanted to break the sire bond. Damon tried to compel my dad once, and it didn't work. He'd conditioned his mind so he couldn't be compelled. So we thought – "

Tired of hearing Caroline refer to Tyler and herself as we, Klaus interrupted. "You thought your father could teach Tyler mind control."

Caroline nodded. "Yes. So he worked with Tyler, explained how he could help fix him. He said if Tyler voluntarily went through the pain of turning into a wolf – if he did it over and over again, feeling that pain, breaking every bone in his body, that it would…help."

"Pain as a way to teach yourself control," Klaus summarized.

"Yes."

There was a hint of horrified disbelief in Klaus' eyes. "Caroline, what did your father do to fix you?"

Caroline's eyes were sad. "When he found out I was a vampire, he chained me in a dungeon below the house and tortured me. He didn't want me to have vampire urges. He said he wanted to fix me."

"Oh, sweetheart," Klaus said, his expression sympathetic.

He pulled Caroline into his lap and was pleased when she curled into him, seeking comfort. Klaus felt as if his cold, dead heart warmed a little bit. "You don't need to be fixed, Caroline," he said, his mouth against her ear. "You're beautiful and perfect just the way you are."

Caroline turned her face into his chest. "It weirds me out when you're sweet," she said, her voice muffled.

Klaus let out a short laugh. "What if I told you I'd never let anyone hurt you, because I'd rip their hearts out first?"

Caroline pulled away slightly so she could look at him. "That sounds more like you."

Klaus brought his hand to her face again but this time his grip was gentler. He leaned in and kissed her, then rested his forehead against hers. "You never told me this about your father before," he said.

"I don't like to talk about it," she replied.

Caroline touched his hair, running her fingers through his curls. "Besides," she added. "I'm not the only one with daddy issues."

Klaus couldn't help it; his whole body tensed at the mention of Mikael. His "father" had been dead for almost a century, but sometimes it seemed like just yesterday Klaus had been on the run from him. "Mikael's gone," Klaus said shortly.

Caroline gently scratched his scalp, not saying anything. They sat in silence for a moment, simply absorbing warmth and comfort from each other. "Mikael loved my mother very much," Klaus mused aloud. "And he had so much pride. Knowing she had been with another man – I think it broke him."

Caroline snorted. "I didn't like your mother, but it's not her fault Michael spent centuries hunting down their children."

Klaus rubbed his hand up and down Caroline's back. "He loved her and she betrayed him. If I had irrefutable proof that you had been with another man, I would – "

Caroline put her hand over his mouth. "Don't," she said seriously. "I wouldn't do that to you."

Klaus' eyes met hers, and she lowered her hand. "Do you swear?" he asked.

Caroline put her arms around his neck. "I swear."

Klaus gave her one of his genuine smiles, and Caroline couldn't help but smile in return.

fin.