We Are Both
Request: Past Klaus is sent to the present by his enemies so they can kill him.
(Sorry, I changed up the request a little from what was originally asked and went where inspiration took me).
"I think you're forgetting that I am him Caroline."
His words rang in her head as she tried to avoid his gaze. It was so hard to think of them as the same man; they were so crucially different.
"I remember you now. I remember everything we said, everything we did. If after a thousand years I am still in love with you, more so because I have fallen in love with you twice, don't you think that proves something? You yourself said I was capable of being saved."
Caroline should explain. The past forty eight hours had been a whirlwind of events and emotions that she still was having a hard time wrapping her mind around.
She had been hunting in the woods, and who should she find but Klaus. Except this wasn't her Klaus; his hair was long and his clothes were different. Still, in the moment she had not noticed those details. He was being attacked by a vampire and all she could think in that moment was that she needed to help him.
Later she would justify the action; the blood clause was the reason that she leaped in front of him, baring her fangs and attacking. Only after the vampire was dead did she turn back to him, about to berate him for not helping her, but the fear in his gaze stopped her. She listened closely and there it was. A heartbeat.
He was human.
Caroline didn't give anyone else who wanted to kill him a chance to appear. She grabbed his arm and ran, as slowly as she could so that he could keep up, to Klaus' mansion. She stormed inside, intent on finding him, knowing he would forgive the intrusion when he saw his past self, but he was not there.
She sat them down in the art room trying to understand what had happened. Niklaus, as he introduced himself, had been hunting in the woods, and a flash of light had appeared, and the next thing he knew the man she had killed was standing in front of him. He wasn't looking at her in fear anymore, a fact for which she was glad. That had hurt her, more than she thought it should.
He asked what she was and she explained as best she could. For a moment after she was done, he sat in silence, looking at the art he would one day create, before his gaze landed on hers once more. Sheepishly, such an uncharacteristic move for the Klaus she knew, he admitted that he had found her to be rather beautiful with her face like that, but he liked her more like this. She smiled before offering to make him something to eat, and he agreed.
Caroline dialed Stefan's number as soon as she was downstairs, and when he answered she only said that she needed Klaus number. She called him, but he didn't answer, and she left a voicemail telling him to call her as soon he got her call before finding the large kitchen and scavenging for some actual human food. There was none, but that was what take out was for.
She called the grill, and specifically asked for someone who wasn't Matt to come. She wouldn't even know where to begin to explain this to any of her friends. And she was sure that Klaus would not approve, not that she cared about that really, because she didn't.
Food in hand finally, she walked back to the room to find Niklaus touching some of the items in the room she had not noticed before. "Henrik carved this."
Her heart clenched; there was no sadness in his voice, only love. Henrik had not yet died then.
They ate and Caroline told him some of what she knew of his life, leaving out the curse and Katherine and Elena, and he in turn told her some things about himself. About Tatia, the girl he was apparently dating, and she fought down the jealousy that she never thought she would feel for him.
She looked up into his questioning eyes; she hadn't realized how close they had gotten, but their lips, if she moved forward just a little their lips would touch. Niklaus was nice, normal, and she found herself associating her latent feelings for Klaus on him. It was easier; Niklaus hadn't done any of the things Klaus had. Caroline was about to press her lips to his, because she wanted this so badly, but with a bang the door flew open and Klaus looked on in shock that swiftly changed to anger.
He sped over, and Caroline was not quick enough in her own reflexes to stop him from gripping Niklaus by the throat and shouting "What is this?"
"Klaus stop!" She tried to pry his arm away but he was having none of it. "He's you!"
"Oh, is that what he told you? Well then, what is the name of my brother that died before Esther and Mikael came to the New World?"
"Runolf." Niklaus choked out, and Klaus loosened his hold, staring hard at his mirror image before letting him go completely.
Caroline quickly explained the situation, edging her body to stand protectively in front of Niklaus.
They called Bonnie, seeing if she knew any way to rectify the situation. She didn't but she promised to look into it.
Niklaus nervously asked her to stay with the two of them and she agreed quickly. She did not want to leave him alone with Klaus, not after what he had nearly walked in on. There was an awkward tension in the room, till finally Klaus' phone rang and he was called away.
It was a blur after that; Niklaus was... amazing. He was sweet, and kind, and attentive, but sometimes, sometimes she could see with utmost clarity Klaus in him. She was falling in love with this side of him. He kissed her, once or twice, oh so gently, hesitantly, before quickly pulling away, apologizing for his actions.
Secretly she thought of the kisses her and Klaus had shared when he was in Tyler's body... how much more passionate that had been.
And then, it was time for him to go back; Bonnie had found a way to send him back, erasing his memory in the process. "I love you." He murmured as the tears started to fall down her cheeks and Klaus scowled at the pair of them in the corner.
Then he was gone, Bonnie leaving apologetically and Caroline sinking into the couch as she cried.
"I think you're forgetting that I am him Caroline."
His words rang in her head as she tried to avoid his gaze. It was so hard to think of them as the same man; they were so crucially different.
"I remember you now. I remember everything we said, everything we did. If after a thousand years I am still in love with you, more so because I have fallen in love with you twice, don't you think that proves something? You yourself said I was capable of being saved." He paused, and she flinched at the sound of his fist going through the wall. "What will it take to make you care for me Caroline?"
"I already do." She admitted in a whisper.
"What?" Klaus' voice had grown much softer, and he approached her, crouching down, lifting her face to look at him.
"I care about you. I realized that... that I thought Niklaus was the type of man I wanted. Safe. But he wasn't you in the ways that matter. He wasn't you in the places that I've come to love. I fell in love with the human side of you that he showed me, but I've been falling in love with you for a while now."
Klaus stilled in shock for a moment, and then his lips were on hers, burning, creating fire, and that was what had been missing in NIklaus. This burning desire that went along with the attraction. His pushed her down into the couch, hovering his body over hers, still kissing her, thrusting his tongue into her mouth as his hips ground into hers. She gasped at the feeling, the desire that flooded her.
Yes, she had made the right choice.
A/N: Yay! I wrote a happy thing! Thank you for the request!