He spends several days in Alaric's body, in his life. It's not something he enjoys, and teaching teenagers history is dull. Why anyone on this earth would choose to do such a thing is beyond him. And since he's forced to interact with Damon Salvatore on a far too regular basis, he wonders if it would be a favor to just put the man out of his misery.
Nonetheless, he does follow Caroline's notes diligently- after all, neither of them are strangers to taking roles or lying. She's doing her part, he's doing his.
He's in the middle of grading papers. Again, not something he enjoys, but something he has to do. Honestly, he is appalled with the state of writing these days. These kids' writing- it's so formulaic it makes his head spin. He can remember reading letters from lords and princes and kings, filled with poetry, perfectly poised. Though he supposes nothing compares to simply getting your point across. As he reaches for the next stack, his phone rings, and he picks it up, pitching Alaric's voice just right as he says "Hello?"
"They're already trying to kill you, eskelde," Caroline says. Music is playing loudly in the background. She must be at the Salvatore House, where she has been able to snag a room. And someone must be there.
"Well, that's faster than normal." he comments. Though he's not surprised. The Damon boy seems quite invested in his brother's girl. An interesting development. He can use that. However, he is surprised that Alaric has been kept out of it as long as he has. He assumed incorrectly that they would want every bit of backup they could get. However, this kind of arrogance works in his favor, so he's not complaining.
"Yeah, well, they think they're safe," she says. "Elena owns the Salvatore House now, you can't get in in your body."
"But you can?" He deduces.
"I can get almost anywhere here," she says. "Besides, they gave me a room, I couldn't exactly refuse."
"So how exactly are they trying to kill me?" He asks. "They haven't exactly given Alaric all the details."
"They think that if their witch channels enough power they'll be able to do it," she says. "But what she's kept from the others is that she'll die from the effort. She's told Jeremy, but no one else."
"So have her kill me in this body," he says. "Burn her out."
"Do you really think killing you will take that much power?" She asks. "We need her dead, out of the way."
"Well, would you like me to remind you that we're immortal, love?"
"You're going to, anyway," she says. "Well, since we're doing this, the decade dance is as good a time as any."
"Any reason why you want to jump the gun?"
"Full moon's coming soon," she says. "Might as well get out of it as fast as you can and prepare."
"I don't know, I kind of like this body."
"Well, I prefer the original model." She says, and he can imagine the way her hips would pop to the side and the fake-serious look she sends even if he can't see it. "I'm calling in your body from London. Do you want me to bring the other coffins too?"
"Can't lose track of those," He says. "Bring them here."
"By the way, once the witch dies, Katherine will be free to go from the tomb. What are you going to do?"
"Well, you did say I couldn't touch her, sweetheart, and your wish is my command," he says.
"She'll try to barter for her freedom," she says.
"Then let her try. Though I suppose I can't do that in this body now can I? It's not a threatening one."
"So you are going to the decade dance."
"Were you giving me a choice, love?"
"Nope," she says cheerfully. Honestly, it's amazing what they let each other get away with. "So are you ready for some fear tactics?"
"Let's see how much it will take to scare them," he says in reply. "Do you think I should start big, or will subtlety be our modus operandi this time around?"
"I don't think you can handle subtle right now, eskelde."
"Subtle it is, then."
Caroline is in the lunchroom, trying to tune everyone else out. She tries to seem engaged in whatever Elena is talking about at the moment, but honestly, she couldn't care less. However, she is well-practiced in acting.
"Hey, Elena!" a girl Caroline has never met walks up to them, smiling.
"Hey, Heather," Elena replies. Caroline files away the name for future reference.
"So, there's this new kid at school, he's totally hot, and he asked me to ask you to the dance." Caroline begins to tune her out. Just another boy falling for Elena Gilbert. "His name is Klaus."
Elena and Bonnie gasp sharply; Caroline has to stifle a laugh to imitate them.
"I know, weird name. But I promise, he's cute. And he asked for you to save the last dance, isn't that sweet?"
"I think you can stop talking now," Caroline says, playing the protective friend and pushing Heather away. She turns to Elena and Bonnie. "So Klaus is going to be at the dance tonight?" It is so strange, calling him Klaus. Her husband will always be Niklaus to her.
"I'll get Alaric and Damon to chaperone," Elena says. "They'll hold him off while Bonnie takes him out."
Caroline, for her part, is having a rather difficult time trying not to laugh or smile. What will Damon do against Niklaus? But she nods along seriously, pretending that yes, this is a plausible idea. She is not going to ruin the plan.
"So, that's it?" She asks. "What if it doesn't work?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, what if Bonnie can't do it?" She asks. If she can derail the plan entirely, then that makes things so much cleaner. And she likes clean plans.
"I can do it," Bonnie assures her, and she sounds so confident for a second she forgets it's a lie. "Besides, Klaus doesn't know I have magic."
"Well, what if I do this?" Caroline's hand moves in a blur towards the witch's neck. An aneurysm rips through her head, and she flinches at the suddenness, her head flicking to the side as if she had been slapped.
"He won't be able to touch me," Bonnie says, her jaw set.
"Are you sure you can channel so much power?" she asks, sounding genuinely concerned.
"The witches from the burn site want Klaus dead as much as we do," Bonnie assures her. "We'll be fine."
Elena nods, not aware of what Bonnie is risking, and that is that. For now. Caroline lets them enjoy this last day together. After all, she's given that favor plenty of times before.
England, 1492
"Elijah," Caroline says, getting up in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"I was taking Katerina out into the town," her brother-in-law says. "Before…"
"Tonight." she finishes his sentence. "I know."
"I simply do not understand why Niklaus is so callous to Katerina's plight," Elijah says, pacing. "Is he really so far gone?"
"The wolf is part of him," She says. "We need to get it back."
"You refer to his purpose as yours," Elijah notes.
"I'm the one who stayed with him all these years," Caroline reminds him. "I'm the one who knows how much the wolf means to him." She swallows. "He thinks becoming a wolf will protect us from Mikael."
"Mikael is a threat, no doubt, but this is obsession."
"Like your pathological fondness for the doppelgangers?" Elijah looks sharply at her. "Don't think I haven't noticed." She gets up. "Now, believe me, I pity the girl for more reasons than you know, but the ritual will happen."
"You would hold his life over this innocent girl's?" Elijah asks incredulously.
"We've all killed when it's suited us Elijah, don't act as if you have the higher ground here." Caroline crosses her arms over her chest, making eye contact. "I know you've found a way to bring her back."
"And if the elixirs do not work?"
"Then another human life will be lost, trampled under the feet of a thousand yet to come," she says. "What are we to do about the inevitability of their deaths?"
"You sound remarkably like him," Elijah says, and with that, he turns to go. "I will find Katerina, and give her this last day of peace. If you'll excuse me."
"A pleasure as always, Elijah," she calls to him, struck by his tone as he compares her to his brother. "Keep her alive until tonight, will you?"
She will defend Niklaus with her dying breath, but Elijah is right. This is an obsession. One they have worked on for five hundred years of their immortal lives. And will all be worth it by tonight.
Mystic Falls, 2010
The house is empty, which means free conversation with each other.
"Seriously?" She bursts out, shutting the door to her room behind her. One of the only benefits in this body, as Alaric, is that he can get into this house without anything looking out-of-place.
"You didn't enjoy Heather's little show?" He asks innocently.
"I just wanted to hear you say 'cute,'" She says in her normal voice, leaning her head against her the door, shaking her head with laughter. "You should have seen their faces. Gods, at the sound of your name they just looked like someone would fall down dead."
"I trust you didn't laugh. I think that would ruin the effect." He replies, approaching her.
"I'm the actress here, not you," Caroline reminds him. "And what effect are you speaking off, exactly?"
"Why, the effect you have on people," he says, placing his forehead against hers. "Even me." His hands go up her sides, thumbs brushing her breasts.
She lets out a little sigh, but as he goes in for the kiss, she stops him. "You know I hate it when you do that in another body."
"Well, more incentive, then," he says, leaning back, putting his hands behind his back, the way he does when he doesn't know how to use them in a non-threatening manner. "Did you get the coffins?"
"Should arrive by tonight," she confirms. "Just in time for the dance. I texted you the address. You know the plan, yes?"
"Wouldn't dare forget it," he says.
"Just make sure Maddox is at the ready," she says, "In case something goes wrong. And Greta will be at the warehouse to do the spell."
"And if the witch doesn't kill this body?"
"Even better," she says. "And once the ritual is done I can get out of this Salvatore-doppelganger love triangle hell-hole."
"I don't know how you do it, love," he says, shaking his head. He's been watching Damon brood and drink over Elena for a week, and he is quickly losing patience.
"I'm just that amazing." She goes over to the desk and sits on top of it. The desk, is of course, perfectly organized. He's not surprising.
"That you are," he says.
"You're too kind, eskelde," she says.
"You might be the only person to ever say that to me," He says lightly.
The door to the house opens and closes, and they fall silent. Klaus leaves the room as silently as he can, taking up the guise of Alaric again.
"Well, we have a dance to chaperone," he says to Damon as he walks past, injecting the right amount of sarcasm in.
"Well, Klaus will be there, so expect some entertainment."
"Are you seriously going to say that this is entertaining?" Klaus asks, thinking this is something Alaric would say.
"Well, it's going to be." Damon says, shrugging.
Klaus sighs with Alaric's lungs and screws his eyes shut the way Alaric would, but on the inside, he is agreeing.
The dance is a tacky affair, old songs blasting from speakers and teenagers flailing in uncoordinated masses, simply wanting contact with each other. But for those who know what a battlefield this will be are on edge.
Caroline dances in the crowd, but maintains a faintly suspicious disposition. After all, wouldn't want them to think she was being too casual, would she?
"I can't spot anyone new in this crowd," Elena says, frantic.
"Then where is he?" Caroline asks, mimicking the panic.
"This song is dedicated to…Elena Gilbert," The kid at the speakers says, and the band starts singing. "By Klaus."
The terror on Elena's face is obvious even as the spotlight shines on her, she barely bothers to hide it. Damon is moving through the crowd towards her, and Caroline can see Niklaus smirking. He makes a swift exit through the doors and keeps them open- an invitation.
Bonnie follows after him, thinking that Alaric has found something, but Elena stays behind. Still in the dark, she sees. She continues to dance, entertaining some boy as she rubs against him flirtingly. She keeps an eye on Elena, hoping that she will stay out of the way. They need her intact.
Jeremy is walking up to Elena and speaking quickly. From the worried look on Elena's face and the way they both hurry off, the brother has spilled the beans. She has to follow them.
She pushes off the next guy to try and dance with her in favor of going after them, plastering on a concerned look.
"Alaric?" Elena calls out to his back. "Did you find something?"
"You know," Niklaus says, turning around. "I severely overestimated my acting skills. Or perhaps your knowledge of the man."
The realization dawns on their faces quickly.
"Klaus," Elena breathes out.
"Right on target, love," Niklaus says, striking a sarcastic pose.
A twist of Bonnie's hand, and he crumples, his kneecap shattered. He screams out in pain, and Caroline has to restrain herself from snapping Bonnie's neck. This is part of the plan, she reassures herself. He'll be fine. She is obviously a big threat, and she should be taken out as quickly as possible. This is the time.
Still, Niklaus' bones snap and crack and Bonnie throws him through glass cases and into the empty cafeteria. She locks herself in, the lunchroom becoming a hurricane of sparks and flying papers. Caroline can hear Niklaus' screams through the door, and it takes every ounce of her monumental self-control not to charge ahead. Elena has no such self-control.
"Bonnie!" Elena screams, banging on the doors with all of her pitiful human strength. "Bonnie!"
The witch turns around, blood flowing freely from her nose, before collapsing. The spells on the doors break, and even Elena is able to push through them, kneeling over her friend. Caroline lingers behind, muttering under her breath, "Push me up against the wall."
Niklaus tilts his head in response, but speeds ahead, pushing her up against the wall, their faces half an inch apart.
"Caroline!" Elena yells as well, sounding devastated, and Caroline thinks for a moment, oh look, she cares.
"Now snap my neck and take me to the warehouse where the coffins are," she says into Niklaus' ear.
"I'm not going to snap your neck, Caroline," he says.
"Do it," she says, letting her vampire features drop, snarling at him. "And put on a show."
He does it quickly, so that he can't change his mind at the last second. He knows she'll give him hell after this. He smiles ferociously at the doppelganger as she screams, her life falling apart around her. Then he leaves in a blur, carrying Caroline's limp body with him.
England, 1492
She runs her hand over the coffins. One for Finn, one for Rebekah. One, spelled shut, for Esther. And another, smaller than the rest, and much more elaborately carved.
Niklaus was an artist long before he was a killer, and no amount of effort was spared on this carving. Their son's name is carved into the wood in runes, and the rest of the panels are covered in knots and spirals. At each of the corners a stylized dragon, like the ones on her father's ships, looks down.
Perhaps, after tonight, we can free the rest of them, she thinks, brushing her fingers over the familiar runes. But not you. Never you.
She hears Niklaus roaring from the castle above. He's angry.
Her brow scrunches in confusion. He was supposed to be getting ready for the ritual. Why hasn't he?
She makes her way up, resolving to compel anyone who interferes because of her perceived station. Something can't have gone wrong.
"What the Hel have you done?" She asks Niklaus, seeing him holding up Elijah.
He drops his brother, and she can practically see the steam rising from his ears.
"The doppelganger is gone," he says, and he is frowning, the only way he can keep himself from screaming as he had before. "Elijah told her what was going to happen and she escaped."
"What?!" She asks, looking at Elijah in shock. "What do you mean she escaped? You can track her down, can't you?"
"She's been turned into a vampire," Niklaus says, his face screwed up, his infamous rage roiling under the surface. "Her blood is useless now, and the line is ended with her." He turns to his brother furiously. "All because you can't just trust that my plan WOULD WORK!"
"NIKLAUS!" She bellows. "Elijah wouldn't tell her, he already had a plan! It was someone else. The boy who brought her in, he fancied her, he probably got her out."
"Is this true?" Niklaus asks Elijah, pointing a shaking finger at him. "Take care with your words, brother."
"It wasn't me," Elijah says, shaking his head.
"Then we will track her to the ends of the earth," Klaus says. "I have waited too long for this damn curse to be broken. She will be punished for it."
There have been very few times where Caroline has truly been unaware of what her husband was about to do. But this was quite possibly the most volatile she'd ever seen him. She has no idea whether he'll kill or feed or rant or storm out.
Instead, he plans, and that is just as terrifying.
Mystic Falls, 2010
The address where the coffins are being kept is a warehouse a half an hour west of Mystic Falls. By the time he gets there, Caroline is already stirring in the front seat of the car.
"That hurts like Hel," she says, rolling her shoulders.
"Any particular reason why you wanted me to do that?" He asked brusquely.
"Well, I'm here to make sure that Greta girl doesn't screw anything up, and this is the only way that doesn't seem suspicious." She cracks her neck.
"You're mad," he says, shaking his head.
"Said the psychopathic killer," she says, kissing him on the cheek. "Let's get you back in your body and can do more than that." She opens the door and swings her legs out before jumping onto the ground.
He speeds out of the car and finds Greta already there, setting up the spell. She smiles wickedly as she looks at him seductively through her eyelashes. "Nice body. Ready to get back into your old one?"
Caroline looks at him out of the corner of her eye, and he smirks. "Practically begging, love."
Caroline scoffs. "Get in the chair, Niklaus."
He sits, and she begins to tie him up so that when Alaric wakes he will not be able to escape. They wheel Niklaus' body into the room and set it upright. Niklaus' temporary coffin is utilitarian- he has never even bothered making one for her or him. It's battered- he hasn't had to use it in a while.
"Go ahead," she says to Greta, "Get it done."
Greta seems reasonably cowed before she begins to chant the spell, her hands on either of Alaric's head. It is a long chant, but it is one Caroline has seen done many times, by a variety of witches. She knows when it's being done right.
Alaric groans as he regains consciousness, and the lid for the box opens, revealing the body she knows and loves.
Niklaus quirks an eyebrow. "Like me now, love?"
"Now that's more like it, eskelde," Caroline says, pulling him down for a long kiss.
Can I just say it is super hard to describe Klaus' facial expressions? Joseph Morgan, WHY MUST YOU DO THIS TO ME?
Honestly, season two's not my favorite, but it's almost over, anyway. So we'll soon get to see more Originals, hurrah! I'm definitely going to start deviating more from the canon. And with that comes longer times in between updates, so be prepared for that.
On a completely different note, all your reviews are great, so keep them coming. Definitely tell me if you think I'm doing anything wrong.
-PhoenixCycle