Sorry for the delay. To be honest I was deciding between winding the story up and continuing..My heart's not really been in it due to some personal issues, but I'd like to continue, and take it a little darker. I'm trying to get back in the swing as I enjoy writing it so much! Let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Diaries.

The kiss was nothing like she'd been expecting. After all the build up, her pounding heart made her mouth tremble. And the strangest thing was... she could have sworn his did too. The man who kissed her didn't seem so much like a 1000 year old immortal, who had had loved and left (alive hopefully) countless girls before her. It wasn't intimating, it didn't make her feel amateurish or young. It made her feel powerful... equal. And, after all this time, wanting him, denying the need, pushing him away...it felt like coming home.

She softly parted her lips, and waited a beat before touching her tongue to his. His hands tightened on her shoulders and but he let her lead the way. She ran her hands up his arms and stroked the back of his neck, pulling him closer, wanting more pressure, more of him. She ran her fingers over his stubble as the kiss gently ended, she leaned away and their eyes met. His were dark and he took a deep breath, before smiling, lighting up his whole face, his eyes creased at the corners,

"Thank you" he murmured, resting his forehead on hers. Caroline leaned away and looked up at him,

"Thank you? What kind of response is that?" she cried, pounding a fist on his chest, he sat up in surprise and looked at her innocently.

"A proper one, that was some kiss." he smiled at her out of the corner of his eye and she pounded on his chest again, earning a look of genuine surprise.

"Something bothering you love?" he asked and as she scowled at him.

"That's it? After all the waiting and build up... a 30 second kiss and goodnight?" she demanded and watched his eyebrows raise.

"Well, it is rather late." he chuckled as he watched her expression turn thunderous as she pushed his hands away from her and stood, yanking the covers back on the bed and getting under, turning from him she pounded the pillow a couple of times.

"Goodnight then" she said tersely, hiding her flaming face in the pillows. Great, now she seemed like she was begging for it. She felt him shifting around a little, lifting the cover on the other side.

"May I?" he enquired.

"Whatever." she said and closed her eyes as he got into the bed, under the covers, and was immediately at her side. His body was close to hers, and he leaned up and stoked her hair on the pillow, before lowering his mouth to her ear,

"Caroline" he whispered, sending endless shivered through her and her skin to prickle all over her body.

"It's not that I don't want to sweetheart... it's quite opposite... I want to be lost in you... that's the problem, if we start, I might not be able to stop."

"You'll be able to stop. Anyway, I'm not going to break you know." She reminded him, turning to face him, her head slotting into the crook of his arm.

"I know, I know... I guess I'm just a little old fashioned." and raised his head to look at her as she snorted in response.

"Yeah... just a little" she teased, then quickly fell silent as he leaned up over her, a challenging look in his eyes. Pinning her with a stare, he slowly leaned in and captured her mouth with his. This kiss was not gentle, it was demanding and searing and she felt the full force of his desire for her. His tongue plundered her mouth, his hands were lost in her hair, tilting her head back to take the kiss deeper. She lost sense of time and could only feel his face next to hers, his lips, his hands trailing fire as they slid down her arms and moved over her smooth stomach, gently slipping under the fabric and making contact with her skin...

Suddenly she was pulled back from the brink of control as his lips were gone, and she opened her eyes to meet his.

"Better?" he asked, settling down into the bed with her head cradled on his chest.

"Definite improvement." she confirmed as she felt sleep tugging her.

"I know this is a hard time. I know you're scared and you're worried about your friends and family. That's why I don't want to push you right now. But I want to be honest with you Caroline. I want you to look at me like you did when you thought I was Tyler. I want to show you so many things, to show you the world, to see it through your eyes. It would make me immeasurably content...making you happy, everyday." her eyes widened as she returned his intense gaze, before breaking off and laughing nervously,

"That's a little overwhelming right now" she said and was reassured by his smile.

"I know. I know it's bad timing. I just wanted to lay my cards on the table. I'm not going to push you right now. We have more important things to worry about. But, know this. When this is over, when you can breath again... I will do everything in my power to make you mine."

"Is that a threat?" she asked teasingly, her heartbeat jarring in her chest.

"It's a promise" he whispered, pulling her closer, he stroked her hair and she abandoned her mind to the silence of the house, the velvet of the night, the stillness of the man holding her and let the darkness take her into a dreamless sleep.

He dreamt of her. Hardly surprising, though he hadn't realised how much seeing inside her dreams would haunt him. He saw Caroline being tortured again, being burned, shot, manipulated, and once again he could do nothing. Then he started to see her in other situations, not from her dreams... but from his memories. Things he'd done... awful things.

Now the girl who ran from him was Caroline, golden hair flowing in the wind, terrified gasps, agonising tears, it was all Caroline and he was the relentless monster who kept pursuing her.

The sound of the door handle, deep in the dark downstairs, softly turning, was what pulled him from his nightmares. It was turning very slowly, someone was trying to be quiet. Then he heard the footsteps. Soft as a whisper they started on the stairs. Gently disengaging from a sleeping Caroline, he flashed to the door and peered out a small gap. He could see the person, slowly and quietly making their way up the broken staircase, surveying the damage. The dark shape was suddenly recognisable.

"Rebekah." he said quietly as he stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him.

"Your handiwork I presume" she said, glancing at the stairs.

"Why are you here?" he asked bluntly.

"Because you've both turned your phones off" she said crossly, then continued, her hand reaching into her back pocket, pulling out a photograph.

"And because of this..." she showed him a picture, it was Caroline and her parents. Her mother's face had been marked by blood. His brow creased as he studied it.

"I went over to Caroline's house, to check on her mother, and it's all I found. I checked the whole house, nothing seems out of place, she's just gone."

He stared at the picture, his mind whirling over the possibilities, a bad feeling starting to creep in.

"It's not the first..." Rebekah said quietly, trailing off as her brother's stormy eyes met hers.

"When I went over to her house, after the meeting, I saw another one. It was hidden in her drawer, and it was the same picture, but with her father's face smeared in blood." Klaus felt irritation build in his chest as he looked at his sister, standing there so indignantly.

"And it didn't occur to you it might be a good idea to tell me?" he bit out, watching as Rebekah threw her hands up in a staying out of it gesture,

"It wasn't my secret to tell. So... what do we do now? Should we wake Caroline and talk to her?" Rebekah asked, making towards the bedroom. Klaus's hand shot out and stopped her.

"No" he said quietly as he guided Rebekah's arm towards the stairway as they descended and moved into the living room, to avoid waking Caroline.

"This is all part of his plan to get to Caroline. She's still the only supernatural one he knows about. And he wants her. The most important thing is keeping her away from him and Mystic Falls."

"But what about her mother?" Rebekah whispered almost noiselessly, shooting her brother a warning look.

"You, Elijah and Kol are going to get her mother, call the Salvatores to help if you want."

"What about you?"

"I have to stay here. She's only protected if I'm near her." lighting candles they sat down, Rebekah took one of the blood bags from the cool box and they began to strategise.

They didn't hear the slight change in breathing of an awakened dreamer, or the increased heartbeat of a daughter afraid for her mother. They didn't hear the crackle of paper as it appeared magically on the bed upstairs, or the response it invoked.

So absorbed in their conversation were they, they didn't even notice the faint sliding sound of an old window as it opened and closed, or the way the rustling of the wind grew for a second, before the night fell silent again.

She'd felt him move, but only vaguely, she was so exhausted from her earlier dreams. Then the murmuring. It dreamily occurred to her that someone must have come here. That pulled her out her sleep a little, and she had listened a little, her tiredness falling away as she heard the words, her mother... gone.

She lay there paralysed in the darkness, listening as Rebekah explained about the first picture and realising what Klaus must be holding in his hands right now. Fear blossomed in her belly as she though about her mum, and frantic thoughts started to tumble and collide against each other. She had to go and get her, they had to save her, they couldn't waste any time. Just as she was about to stand and join the conversation she heard Klaus warning his sister not to wake her, and how he wasn't going to let her go. A flutter of paper suddenly appeared from no where, right under her hand. She picked it up and started at it.

"Want to trade? Come alone." it said in a scrawl and she felt cold like ice hit her stomach. It must have been sent magically, like they'd once managed to do with Elena, when Rose and Trevor kidnapped her. She listened intently to the siblings downstairs, it was hard to make out, but it seemed that they were planning a rescue attempt without her and Klaus, and Klaus wasn't going to be easily persuaded to let her go alone.

Her thoughts were careering around her head, her heart was pounding and all she could think about was her mother, alone and afraid, perhaps even hurt in some dark and awful place. Without another thought, she let instinct override all her objections and she quietly got up, slipping on some clothes. She moved soundlessly to the window and slowly pushed it open. It made a scrapping noise and she held her breath, waiting for Klaus to come bursting through the door.

But no one came, and taking a last deep breath, she cast her eyes back to the bed they had shared and wondered if he'd ever forgive her if she got herself killed. Quietly she climbed down from the porch, no longer able to make out what Rebekah and Klaus were saying, she started off into the night. First she'd get to the nearest town, then figure it out from there. But most importantly she had to get away from Klaus before he could stop her. He would stop her, keep her prisoner if he had to, she had no doubt of that, and would do whatever he thought was best. Sending off his siblings and the Salvatores to save her mum... it was just too dangerous, she'd seen enough of their plans fail to trust them.

Her uncle wanted her, just her, and he'd let Liz go, and Caroline was more scared for her mother than she was for herself. As she speed through the night, she thought how Klaus was going to feel, after what had just happened between them, and now an almost immediate betrayal. Then she forced it from her mind. Her mother mattered more than anything. The dark shadows lined the road, but the moon was bright, so bright she decided to travel long the road, just off in the trees. Running as fast as she could, she felt like she was moving backwards and she urged herself on, setting a relentless pace. She didn't look back.

The grey dawn filtered threw the dusty window panes and filled the room with murky half light that perfectly suited his mood. He finally put the photograph down and massaged his temples, hours of staring and lack of sleep were not leaving him feeling great. His sister on the other hand seemed not to have the same problem.

"Rebekah" he said as he stood and stretched, watching as the blond pulled an old cushion over her head before instantly throwing it across the room.

"Urgh, how old it that thing, and what's living in it... it reeks. This whole place does." she whined as she blinked against the watery light. He stretched his arms up and systematically cracked his bones into place, bending in a particularly wolf-like way, watching as his sister wrinkled her nose at him.

"Can you not do that? I've never wanted a dog as a pet."

"I'm not in the mood for your idea of humour this morning. I'm going to check outside, wake Caroline up will you? But, don't say anything yet." he reminded her as he headed outside. As he walked the grounds, he asked himself once again if he was doing the right thing. Caroline wouldn't like it, he already knew that. And he didn't want to take her choices away from her... but she was too important to risk. At the back of the property he looked out over a lake that belonged to the house, the garden that ran into it had grown wild, and he thought about how the place had looked when he had first come here. The manicured lawns and flowing fountains. The airy and beautiful house, full of light and laughter. He hadn't belonged here then, he wasn't able to be part of it. But now, he felt the urge to restore it to it's former splendour, it would be their place. Where she had finally let him in, the start of their story. And whether she knew it yet or not, it was going to be a long story.

He smiled to himself as he started back towards the house. Seeing Rebekah at the window of the bedroom he frowned, reminded again of the circumstances surrounding their stay. Liz Forbes, Caroline's mother. Family was important, he knew that for himself, and he knew how vital it was that she be recovered unharmed. That uncle was going to pay for all of this, Klaus promised himself as he entered the house, seeing Rebekah coming down the stairs.

"You're not going to like this" Rebekah stated matter of factly, but Klaus detected a quiver in her voice that betrayed her worry already. Instantly on alert, he moved to her side, taking the paper she was holding out to him.

Skimming it, he raised his eyes to his sister's,

"Where is she?" he asked flatly and saw the answer on Rebekah's face, he turned silently to the stairs and kicked the base with all his frustration and fear.

"NO!" he shouted as the rest of the crumbling structure shuddered, before collapsing completely.

"Why wouldn't she tell me? Why would she run away?"

"When clearly you would have taken it so well" muttered Rebekah, dusting off her trousers from the settling marble dust. One murderous glance from Klaus shut her up completely.

"Let's go" he said shortly, his frustration dialed to simmer as he turned away from her and started for the door.

Mystic Falls hadn't changed much she thought wearily as she headed toward her house, keeping low in the car she'd borrowed from some poor guy who'd been unwise enough to hit on her at a bar on the highway. Although she'd made excellent time back to town after she'd worked out where they were, Klaus would definitely be on her tail, if he hadn't a;ready beaten her back.

Traveling down the sunny tree-lined streets, she thought about how he might be feeling about her running off, and decided he wasn't going to like it. He had controlled everyone in his life for so long, this would be a tough pill to swallow. Then, brushing the thought aside, Caroline gripped the wheel with renewed determination. She was strong and independent, and it was her mother who was at risk, she had every right to do whatever she thought best. Her house came into view at the end of the street and she made for it, pulling into the drive way she shut off the car and listened as the silence surged in. Her house, usually so familiar and comforting, seemed so empty now, sitting in the shadows. Steeling herself she stepped out the car, tensing nervously. She looked around, but there was no one around. Walking up the steps to the front door she found the door unlocked, and walked warily in. It was quiet, too still almost. Dust motes swirled in the air caught on a shaft of sunlight as she walked the quiet hallway, almost at the kitchen door when she smelt it. Blood. A lot of blood. Rushing to the kitchen, she threw the door open and gasped at what she saw.

The room was painted in blood. The walls dripped, the floor swam, dozens of empty blood bags lying discarded. She wrinkled her noise in disgust as the stench of old blood overwhelmed her. Covering her mouth she made toward a window to open it. Her attention was caught by the one non red object in the room, propped on the fridge, held by a magnet, another picture, this time her face was barely visible under the blood... all her family with their faces obscured by blood.

The vervain dart hit her in the back suddenly, she barely had time to turn before the all too familiar groggy sensation overcame her. The last thing she remembered was black boots walking toward her, with dried strings of blood sticking to them and the particular squelch they made as they stuck to the pools of blood.