Hi. Hi Guys! So this next chapter just flew right out of me. Teehee. Don't get used to it. Actually, I take that back, cause the next chapter is going to come flyin' out of me as well! I have a ton of inspiration right now.

Someone asked what Hiawatha means. I believe it's an Indian's name. A movie. All of my Chapter titles are going to be either a Book or Movie, or both.

Some of you are looking forward to seeing who Elijah married. I thought it was pretty obvious, but this chapter clears it up for you. =)

To Izzy - I do hope that you continue to read. I hope you understand that this is a Western, and a period piece and this is how white people treated Indians back in the day. It's not pretty...but it's accurate.

Thanks again to Angel and Mimi, or how I'm going to refer to them from now on, Mingel! =) You two are the best!

Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter. We're getting soooo close to some very lovely Klaroline interaction.

Chapter 7: Rawhide

Apache Camp

"I'm sorry?" she asked, unclear of where his hostility toward her was coming from.

"You! This never would've happened if you just would've behaved," he was pacing back and forth, his hands tied behind his back, kicking and screaming like a small ungrateful child.

"Oh yes, I forgot, it was my intention to get captured," she shouted back at him, her words dripping with sarcasm. She rose to her feet. If they were going to have a row, she would stand up to him, literally. How dare he blame her for all of this. "And might I remind you, that this never would've happened if your filthy brother hadn't kidnapped me to begin with."

Klaus turned and took two large steps toward her and she flinched slightly at his intrusion. He was so close now, his jaw clenched and his breathing heavy against her cheek. He glared down with his maniacal eyes piercing right through her. He lowered his voice to a dangerous tone and whispered, "We should've just let them kill you."

She looked up at him through furrowed brows, doing her best to show she wasn't afraid. She searched his eyes, trying to rationalize why he would say something like that. She understood that they meant nothing to each other now, but it wasn't that long ago that she meant the world to him. "Then why are you here?" Caroline whispered back and shook her head slightly.

The room seemed smaller now as the two of them stood toe to toe. Klaus' fire simmered, and his jaw unclenched. He didn't know why he was there, why he gave in to his brother's ridiculous rescue mission. At the time it was to ensure there weren't any hiccups in his plan but now, as he was looking at her, he couldn't help but think there was a small part of him that wanted to be there. That wanted to help her.

He took a step back from her and the tension in the room breathed a sigh of relief. "You can thank my idiot brothers," he told her and turned to find his own place against the wall. She followed suit and slid back down to the ground.

They sat in silence for some time, watching the fire and sneaking the occasional glance toward one another. It was beginning to get dark outside, the light shining through the opening, not as bright as it once was.

Caroline heard Klaus mumble something under his breath. Something about a "train" followed with "what are we gonna do now?" His anger came in waves, one minute he was still and the next he was up on his feet again pacing and swearing. Clearly this little rescue mission was more than just a small inconvenience to Klaus.

She wasn't brave enough to talk to him. She preferred the silence over the heated argument that would surely take place if she questioned him. She'd had enough of his threats and vicious words. Caroline was brave, but she knew when it was best to just keep her mouth shut and leave it well enough alone.

The fire was almost out, the chill of the evening started to prickle against Caroline's skin. Her hands were sore and she wanted nothing more than to stretch her arms and relieve the tension that had settled in her elbows. Hunger was overtaking her again, and she desperately needed water.

Klaus glanced at Caroline, only now really taking in her appearance. Her clothes were filthy and her blonde hair had fallen out and was cascading down her face. She had been dwindled down to a shadow of the strong and fiery woman he had first encountered. How long had it been since she'd had something to eat?

He knew it wasn't her fault that they were in this predicament. He was doing that thing that Elijah always told him he had a habit of doing. Projecting? Yes, he was projecting his anger on to the poor girl. Though she was still an inconvenience, he began to feel a small amount of remorse for what she was going through.

With this new found epiphany, he stood to his feet and walked to the entrance.

"Klaus, what are you doing?" She heard her whisper.

"Just keep quiet," he spat back at her.

She grumbled something spiteful under her breath causing him to smirk and shake his head.

Seems like the fire hasn't completely dwindled, he reckoned.

He approached the entrance and shouted out, "Hey! Can we get the girl something to eat or drink? You don't expect her to be a cooperative hostage by starving her to death, do you?"

Caroline's head shot up at the sound of Klaus' request. She was certain she'd heard him wrong, but when he turned around to face her he gave a half shrug as if to say, I tried, before he sat back down.

This was a peculiar turn of events, Caroline thought. Why the sudden change of heart? Her over enthusiastic optimism had her perking up. Perhaps Klaus wasn't as dishonorable as he wanted her to think.

A moment later, the flaps opened and Elena walked briskly toward her, offering the same sweet smile from earlier and knelt down beside her.

"About time," Klaus grumbled.

Elena reached around and loosened Caroline's ropes and Caroline ran her hands down her arms allowing the blood to flow properly through her weakened body. She offered her hand to Caroline and said, "Come."

Caroline stole one last glance at Klaus who remained silent but stared intently as the two women exited the tepee. It was only after they left she heard Klaus holler, "I'll just stay right here, then!"

(***)

Ten Miles East of Abilene

The Demon Dogs were set and ready for the impending heist. Raised up on higher ground so they could see the train tracks below, the Salvatore boys, Lexi and Rebekah were all anxious and excited to get the job done.

"Where the hell are they?" Damon huffed. "They should be here by now!"

"I'm sure they're coming, Klaus has been planning this heist for too long to just not show up," Stefan said.

"And what if they don't?" Lexi added, her horse restless and stirring in place. "The train's gonna be here any minute." Just then the sound of a whistle echoed and a cloud of smoke billowed in the distance.

"Goddammit! Klaus where the hell are you?"

"I think we should just go back. Maybe there's a new plan," Rebekah suggested.

"Or maybe something happened to them and they're dead, either way I think we should keep with the plan."

"Damon, it's suicide, there aren't enough of us," said Lexi.

"There's a shit load of silver on that train, and I want it!" Damon didn't wait, he kicked his spurs in to the side of his horse and road off at top speed.

Stefan and Rebekah took a final glance at each other, "Well, here's to nothin'," and followed after Damon.

Lexi stood back, she scanned her surroundings one last time to make sure the others really weren't coming. "This is a bad idea," she said and dashed off.

Apache Camp

It felt like hours before someone returned to the tepee where Klaus remained hostage. He wasn't about to let anyone know it, but he was also beginning to feel the fatigue of no water or food. He also didn't want to admit that he was beginning to worry about Caroline. She had been gone for too long.

It was completely dark now, the fire long burned out. His shoulders sagged as he thought of his treasure of silver whisking by him, Mikael's train making it to Abilene, and all of his hard work going up in smoke. Months of planning gone all because of the Mikaelson men and the woman that distract them.

Not to mention months of having his poor sister infiltrating that filthy brothel. It was her idea, of course, and he hated the idea of any man making his sister their plaything. He had suggested Lexi at first, but she was persistent. He knew she could handle herself, always could, but now it was all for nothing. The thought was sickening, and all he wanted to do was slit every throat of every man that placed a hand on her.

He just hoped the Salvatores and the girls headed back to the cabin. They needed to be very strategic about their next move. The silver was still under the custody of the Mayor, surely it would be in a bank or possibly at the Lockwood Manor, just in his reach. It was going to take a lot more planning to pull off their next move.

He could hear the low mumbles of the Natives scurrying outside, and shadows formed on the tepee walls as a fire was clearly blazing just beyond the tent. He stood up and stretched his shoulders back and pushed them forward, trying to stay awake, when Elijah entered and threw a torch on the fire.

"Elijah, its about goddamn time!"

"Yes, well negotiations with Inyuk-Chuk took much longer than I anticipated." Elijah untied Klaus' wrist, but hours in a dark, cold tent didn't exhaust Klaus the way it had intended. The moment his hands were free, Klaus brought a hard right hook into Elijah's chin.

Elijah stumbled back. The punch wasn't enough to knock him down, but he rubbed his jaw and opened his mouth to ensure it was still in place. "I'm sure you think I deserve that."

"Damn right you deserved it. What the fuck is going on, Elijah?"

Elijah ran his fingers through his mustache, twirling the tip; a nervous habit he had acquired. He wasn't sure where to begin, so he decided to let Klaus take the lead. "What do you want to know?"

"For starters, why don't you tell me who the lucky lady is?"

"I'm sure you saw her, she came to collect Caroline earlier in the evening. Her name is Elena."

Klaus remembered her. She certainly was beautiful, Klaus could see why his brother would want to bed her, but marry her? "Okay, so what's with the marriage? Why not just fuck the squaw and go along with your day?"

Klaus didn't see it coming. Elijah's fist flew straight at his nose, with no time to defend himself. He heard the bone crack and he dropped to his knees, which elicited a plethora of choice words.

"I would advise you again, dear Brother, to not speak of my wife that way," he said threateningly.

Klaus was seeing stars and blood was running from his nose. In one quick movement he cracked his nose back in place and let out a furious roar. Typically he would keep fighting, but he rarely saw his brother like this and didn't want to fuel his anger any further. Elijah may be The Gentleman, but he was a nasty SOB when provoked.

"Okay," he continued and spat out the coppery flavor of his own blood, "How did you end up being married to the girl?"

"Remember the Amarillo job?"

"How could I forget it, that's where I got this." Klaus placed a hand on his stomach. "Bullet lodged in to my ribcage, thought I was gonna bleed out for sure. Spent a month laid up in that damn cabin."

"Yes, and some months before that I had been making a few square deals with this tribe. It led to me spending quite a bit of time with them."

"I get it. Pretty Native girl," was all Klaus added, and didn't need more explanation than that. He sniffed and rose to his knees. "But, don't these people have a say in who their women marry?"

"Not the Apaches, the woman choose who they want," Elijah said.

"And she chose you?"

"And she chose me." Elijah hid his expressions well with his stoic demeanor, but Klaus could hear the smile in his voice. He nearly rolled his eyes. Klaus was a firm believer that love was an Outlaws greatest weakness.

"So what does that have to do with Amarillo?"

"Well you don't think you got better all because of me, do you? Elena is also the daughter of the Medicine Man. She taught me a few things, it's what saved your life. If it wasn't for her knowledge, you wouldn't be alive today."

Klaus didn't like the sound of that. He hated being indebted to people. He hated even more the idea of being indebted to the Apache. "I suppose I owe your wife a thank you," he offered begrudgingly through clenched teeth.

"Not necessary. She wouldn't understand why you would need to thank her. You are family to her now."

"Fine, probably better that way. So what negotiations were needed to be made?" He continued with his next question.

"Although she was able to marry me, the Apache's don't take their women being married to an outsider lightly. I owe them a gift. I was going to give them a part of my earning after the heist today."

Klaus scoffed at this. "Well that's not much of an option anymore, is it?"

"No, it's not."

"So what now?"

"We wait. They'll have to get their bounty at a later time."

"And they're okay with this?"

"They understand." Elijah headed for the exit, and Klaus knew that was all the information he was going to get from Elijah today. "Come on, there's food and drink available outside."

The tribe had gathered around a large fire in the center of their camp. The drums had began and subtle chanting filled the night. Klaus scanned the crowd. The Indians held the two white men under a watchful eye as they approached, and Klaus returned the stares defensively. No matter how close his brother had become with the tribe, he wasn't about to let his guard down only to let them get the jump on him. He was still an outsider.

In the mix of dark hair, feathers and buckskin, she stuck out like a sore thumb. A wave of blonde hair, and pale white skin that reflected the yellow flames from the fire. She was sitting with Elijah's new wife and after two days of glowers and anger, it was nice to see that Caroline was smiling and laughing. When she glanced across the crowd and made eye contact with him, her smile vanished. She quickly turned toward Elena and giggled, whispering something while pointing at her nose.

Caroline obviously found his appearance entertaining and Klaus brought his sleeve to his nose to remove more of his blood. He deserved her chortles, he knew it. He hadn't been the most delightful company, ruthless really. But, what did she expect from him? He wasn't a gentleman. He wasn't some knight and shining armor. He was a bandit. A killer. He would never change or apologize for it. He shook his head, trying to decide if the girl deserved an apology. Of course she did, but it was more a question of him being able to offer the apology.

When he caught her gaze again, she gave him a small smile. He wasn't sure where the sudden change of heart came from, but he didn't take any time to figure it out. Klaus started toward her, keen to make at least one wrong right, when the same young Indian from before, Taza was the name Elijah used, approached Caroline.

He handed her a plate of food, and she bowed her head in thanks. He gestured to the seat beside her and when she nodded and he sat, Klaus' jaw instinctively clenched. The idea that Caroline would tolerate that savage made his blood boil. He tried to tell himself it wasn't Taza warming up to Caroline in particular, but that he would feel protective if it were any Indian trying to cozy up to any white woman. That just wasn't natural. But it was no use, he knew he simply wanted her for his own.

"Seems Caroline is getting along with the Natives," Elijah's voice interrupted his trance.

Klaus just rolled his eyes, knowing very well what Elijah was implying. He ignored his brother and walked briskly to where Caroline was sitting. If anyone was going to cozy up to the blonde, it was going to be him.

Seriously? I could've kept writing, but I decided this was a good place to stop.

Let me know what you think! I really do appreciate your reviews so so soooo much!

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