Hello my darlings! I know it's been a while...I'm not going to write a long author note so that you can enjoy the story because it's been a really long time since I updated and I'm truly sorry! Thank you for reading and reviewing and please let me know what you think! :D

Klaus and Stefan got out of their car, looking at the time and seeing that they only had 4 hours left to get the 300 pounds and hoping that they would get to finally have Caroline back. Right now there was nothing more important now than getting her back because simply seeing her like that, it was incredibly hard not to be able to do anything to save her from those horrible people.

There was no way to describe the raging fury that Klaus felt then, because he couldn't bear to see his Caroline in such a condition. Just a few hours ago they had been together, laughing and making fun of each other about how they'd be adjusting to their future lives in Indonesia and now…she was held hostage by some animals that Klaus was clearly intending on killing once Caroline was safe and sound.

He couldn't not think about revenge when he saw with his own eyes what they dared to do to Caroline -for merely touching her - and treat her like that only to get to them. He had never thought that this could happen, but he was sure that everything that happened now would never happen again. Not to Caroline…she didn't deserve any of this.

Caroline had never been actually involved in their business and nobody should've taken her. Klaus was fuming, his heart racing and his eyes burning with impending tears - whether they were tears of rage or simply tears of despair- he didn't know, but he swore to never put her in danger again. When all this would be done with and those despicable people would be taken care of, they would go to Indonesia or somewhere else, on a remote island and stay away from all this drama.

His time spent with Caroline had made him loosen up and he changed, he fell in love with the bubbly blonde that always was so keen on making him feel more comfortable and happier. She had managed to break down the strongly built walls that had been carefully built around his heart. Her bright smile and sparkling blue eyes had brought him to his knees, had crumbled his resistance and had made him fall in love with her.

He opened up to her like he had never really done with anyone, not even his family. His brothers and sister had been there for him when he was younger, but they had drifted apart, mainly because he had gone to war and when he had started the drug business, he hadn't wanted to have his family involved in any way so he created the Klaus persona.

He hadn't really talked to any of his siblings in a long while, even if Caroline had been really pushy on that matter, because she hadn't really met them and she wanted to. Klaus understood what she was craving, but he couldn't risk it then. He knew that Caroline's past was a sad one, especially regarding her family issues, but he had hoped to fill that gap in her life.

She told him that he did...he was her family.

And now, he was disappointing her, failing her for not being there for her, for having allowed this to happen - for having put her through such a terrifying time. He dreaded to even think about how she was feeling in that moment. He didn't want to think about what she was doing - where she was held...because Klaus knew that if he did think about those things, he'd lose it. There was nothing good that could happen to her while she was kidnapped so he wanted to keep his mind clear and focus on getting her out, on forming a plan to get her back.

So he did just that - focused on keeping his head in the game. He and Stefan had quickly packed their stuff and piled it up in the back of a van and they were now driving on the highway to meet the people that had taken Caroline. It was nerve wracking to have such little control over the situation that they were both on edge.

"It's next exit. 7 minutes..." Stefan muttered, his voice husky and his tone clearly portraying the stress that he was under.

Stefan was driving and he was clearly too worried to even think about traffic rules, but, still, they couldn't afford to get pulled over for speeding, not with 300 pounds of weed on them because then, they'd never get to save Caroline - they'd end up in jail for a long time... Klaus noticed the many police cars littering the highway so he had to warn Stefan.

"Slow down, mate. The cops are like bees all over." He warned, seeing as a police car was already close behind them. Stefan was already beginning to panic as he saw the car behind them and he slowed down, trying to appear calm and like a normal driver, clearly more than aware of their situation, too.

"Fuck!" Stefan exclaimed as he gripped the wheel even tighter, his knuckles turning white with his strong hold.

"Drive real cool, Stef..." Klaus warned as he pulled out a gun from under his passenger seat, not even thinking twice about his intentions. There was no doubt in his mind that for Caroline he'd damn sure kill even a cop if that would mean that he'd get to her. Stefan was startled, clearly not okay with killing people and not even knowing that Klaus had a gun stashed under his seat.

"Are you crazy? You can't shoot a cop, Nik!" Stefan gritted his teeth together as he saw the gun and he knew that Klaus was acting on impulse, but he didn't blame him. Even Stefan, the calm one, the quiet one was now on edge and ready to do anything to get Caroline back. And Klaus wanted to remind him that.

"Put one big thought in your head: Caroline's not going to die. Forget everything else." Klaus spoke with such fervour that Stefan would've found endearing the way he was so protective of Caroline if it weren't for the fact that she had been kidnapped and that they were driving with 300 pounds, being followed by cops.

"Ok, ok..." Stefan agreed as he gripped the wheel tighter, Klaus' fingers clutching the gun to his chest, hoping that the cops were not stupid enough to pull them over now because he'd not risk it. He'd kill them.

"This is our exit, here..." Stefan said, a breath of relief escaping his lips just as the sirens went off from the car behind them.

"We're dead, mate." Stefan panicked, but he pulled into the exit lane. His heart was thudding, his muscles tense as he awaited the inevitable blow, but it never came because the cops went further down the highway and they exited safely.

"Shit! That was close..." Stefan sighed, both of them relieved as they finally got a phone call telling them to park the car on an alley behind a fish store. It was a typical dark, hidden place, perfect for these kinds of things, but as soon as they arrived and saw that there were two cars arriving, they knew that Caroline wasn't there.

"Here they come. Stay cool." Klaus muttered as four men exited the two cars and rushed to them, pulling them both out of the van and making them stand against the wall.

"Anything goes wrong, anyone follows us...the girl dies slow." One of them threatened and Klaus gritted his teeth and clenched his fists as he fought the urge to attack them. How dare they threaten Caroline?

Before Klaus' temper could get too out of control, the men had scurried away, taking the van and one of their cars, leaving the other one, an SUV for Klaus and Stefan. They made their way over there, their rage reaching a new level because they hadn't gotten anything about Caroline...on the passenger seat of the SUV there was a briefcase with the exact amount of money that the 300 pounds were worth and a phone.

Stefan climbed in the driver seat, raising an eyebrow at Klaus, seeing the phone, but also because they certainly didn't expect to be paid for the transaction. They were both defeated in that moment, both angry that there wasn't anything else that they could do.

Suddenly the phone rang and they looked at each other with wide eyes, not even thinking twice about answering.

"Yes?" Stefan asked as he put the phone on speaker, Klaus' heart thudding as he waited for the 'boss' to say what they wanted next. He hated feeling so helpless and without control, feeling so used, knowing that Caroline was hurting.

"We're happy to see you've learned to honour your partnership." The voice of a woman mocked back followed by a long pause in which both Klaus and Stefan rolled their eyes at the superior tone.

"What do you want from us?" Stefan asked, trying hard to hide his utter disgust as Klaus tried to not snap at the caller.

"The same things we agreed upon. Three years. Except...now it's 70 -30. The first payment you've received." The woman said, both Stefan and Klaus taking notice that it was a rather old woman judging by the voice and they also noticed the distinctive English accent. They weren't expecting that when they saw how gory the scenes on their laptop had been, but they really didn't care. There was only one thing that they both wanted.

"And Caroline?" Stefan asked, aware that Klaus' efforts to keep in check were tremendous.

"Caroline will be away for one year..." The woman said, which made them both snap. Klaus was already about to jump from his seat and tear up the woman's throat through the phone.

"One year?!" Klaus gaped at Stefan, trying to keep his voice to a mere whisper, but his eyes clearly reflected the full range of emotions that he was feeling: from blinding rage, consuming fury to utter despair. There was no way that he would agree to that. No way in hell!

"At the end of that year she'll come home. Fail at any point to meet the terms of our partnership and the girl will die very badly..." And the phone call got cut off, without allowing Klaus to actually give her a piece of his mind and explain that they would not leave Caroline for a year.

Dread gripped at his insides as Klaus thought about how to solve this problem. He couldn't even consider accepting the idea, he wouldn't risk her life like that. He would do anything...everything just to get her somewhere safe and far away even if it meant that he'd have to leave her, at least she'd be safe.

"One year?" Klaus asked incredulous, seeing as Stefan was as disturbed by the idea as he was, but Salvatore kept his cool better. Klaus was too much of a short tempered man to stay calm in the situation of having the woman he loved god knows where...

Klaus didn't want to admit it...he didn't even want to think about it, but deep down, his life experience and knowledge of this type of people led to one conclusion, one goddamn awful, horrible conclusion that his mind refused to acknowledge, but that his mouth seemed to be unable to hold back.

"Caroline wouldn't last a year...she won't make three weeks, Stef!" Klaus exclaimed, his eyes downcast as he felt numb, the only thing that clouded his mind was fury and despair. He saw Stefan shake his head at hearing his words, clearly knowing that he was right, but not being able to accept it. He was in denial, too.

"What if we offered them cash? Right now!" Stefan offered, his eyes boring into Klaus', both incapable of coming to terms with the real situation. They had been always close as friends and even though they had never been through anything like this, they could still sympathise with each other because they both wanted Caroline back, they wanted their light back and they were still staring at each other, panic evident in their eyes as the tears burned their eyes, but they didn't let them fall.

Being the pessimist that he had become over the years and after enduring such horrors at war, not having his light with him to make him be better, Klaus was starting to picture the worst case scenario. It was such a strange thing for his to have to feel so utterly helpless and so worried that he was about to break. His thoughts were taking a turn towards the dreadful and he hated feeling so miserable, to have such awful thoughts about Caroline, but his fighter instincts told him one thing...from what he knew of these people...they were far worse than they've thought.

"Why would they pay us if it was money they wanted? They're savages, Stefan...they will kill Caroline..." Klaus yelled at his friend, not being able to keep it together any more. He wanted to throw a punch, to kill each and every one of those that had laid a hand on Caroline -slowly.

"Don't fucking say that, Nik!" Stefan snapped, his calm starting to dissipate as he saw Klaus' outburst and knowing how only Caroline could make this all better, he had to come up with a good plan to get her back as soon as possible.

Whether he liked to admit it or not Nik was the one that came up with better plans, but now he knew that he needed to be the one to keep his cool and handle the situation.

"We'll get her back, Nik... and I'll drag you both on the island and listen to your declarations of undying love while I try to keep my hero hairdo in that tropical heat..." Stefan tried to lighten the mood, but the only response he got form Klaus was a longing look and a ghost of a smile. They needed to find Caroline and take her back safely or there will be a huge bloodbath to come...

Ok...so I am so sorry for the long wait! I've had my finals and I started writing another Klaroline story...based on the awesome scene in 4x23 and continuing with lots of smut. Also...I had a bit of a writer's block with this chapter.

I know it's not much and that it's a bit short, but I decided to update it as it is because I know I'd like to read something even short rather than not having anything.

No Caroline in this one, but the pregnancy is something I have to read about and think about and I promise there will be more from her in the next one! And...that, on the phone was NOT Katherine...any guesses as to who it really is?

I would love to hear some suggestions because it would be really nice to have some extra inspiration! So please REVIEW!

Anyhow...thank you so much for your patience!

Xo Rose