Caroline awoke when she heard the captain's voice signaling their landing in New York. She was still leaning against Klaus chest while he held her so she wouldn't fall down while sleeping. She stretched her legs and he lightened his grip around her shoulders but still kept her close to him. He was not going to let of her this quickly. She blinked a few times and then looked up at him. For a short moment there was a small confusion on her face and he was afraid for a second that she might just snap again and forget that she had forgiven him yesterday. But she quickly smiled at him and whispered "Good morning!"

He smiled back and repeated her greeting. She got up into a more upright position and looked at him. "Did you even sleep in the past hours?"

"I rested a little bit. I don't really need that much sleep anymore. I just need a reassuring that everything around me is safe. But having you in my arm definitely helped to keep me from sleeping." He winked at her.

She rolled her eyes but laughed anyway at his joke.

They were know getting closer to New York and had already started to descend down to the airport. When the plane finally landed they were the first ones to leave it and got through the controls easier than Caroline had ever thought they would. Still on the plane they had decided not to waste time but to leave directly to Mystic Falls. Which meant that two hours after they had left the first airplane they were boarding a second one that was bringing them to the airport closest to Mystic Falls. They rented a car which reminded Caroline that she had never seen Klaus driving.

"When did you learn to drive a car?" She asked curiously sitting next to Klaus in the car.

"Shortly after meeting Henry Ford before he founded Ford Motors. He convinced me that it was really the only option and to invest in his company. It paid off."

Caroline looked at him surprised. She had never wondered where the Mikkaelson's money came from although it was obvious that they could not compel everything they had. She had to admit that it was only understandable that they invested in interesting companies.

"Do you do that a lot? Investing in other companies?"

He nodded. "Mostly it is Elijah who makes the investments. He likes business and, as you might have noticed, the business look. Over the years we have invested in many things. Microsoft and Apple, Ebay and Amazon and Google of course. We lost some money in the dot com bubble a few years ago but Elijah keeps the money spread and we never had a serious money problem. There are always the basic stocks of solid companies that we have been investing in for decades like Ford, ThyssenKrupp or Airbus. Therefore we are always financially independent."

"How did you make your money before that? Before big companies and the stock market?"

"We traveled a lot. I brought back silk and other rare goods form Asia, gold and diamonds from Africa and coffee from Brazil. For some time Elijah and I lived in England as lords and were known and feared for our feasts and ruthlessness." He smiled at this memory.

"Don't you miss that?"

"Yes and no. I miss the traveling, the thrill of the good negotiations and the feeling of discovering. But I have become weary of pretending to be someone. I like this century because there are so many people on this earth that they stopped wondering. They don't realize that I don't age and that my name repeats itself all through history. They have stopped wondering and just accept. Which actually makes people more interesting because you can never tell how they are going to react to what you are."

"I still think most people would freak out when realizing what we are." Caroline said lost in the thought of outing herself to people.

"You would be amazed at how tolerant people are in this times. They are so used to having to accept other things that some of them are actually curious." He laughed out loud. "I actually had to remind someone of the fact that I am not like just some gay dude. " She joined in his laughter. He was right they were probably safer in this century then in others.

"On the other hand" he added in a serious tone " people can be much more dangerous in this century because they are not afraid. They think that they are safe of us with their modern weapons and their knowledge. That makes them think they are brave but they are just being stupid and they don't even know it. They are much more likely to hunt down a vampire and you my dearest Caroline can actually die from a stake."

She nodded the light moment having gone. He was right. She could never forget that although she was mortal she was not indestructible like him. Outside they were passing a sign saying "Mystic Falls 15 miles". She sighed.

"Where are we going first?" She asked Klaus.

"I think you should go see your mother. She hasn't seen you in nearly a year and will be happy to make sure that you are in good shape. I will go to the mansion and when you are ready you can follow me there. Then we will visit your old friends and see how they are doing."

Caroline was touched that he thought of that. Now thinking about it she really wanted to see her mother and make sure that she was fine. Klaus stopped the car close to her house and looked at her. He smiled encouragingly and touched her hand lightly.

"Go, you want to see her I know. I will see you later." Caroline surprised him as she lend over to his seat and kissed him lightly on the lips before she got out of the car. A small smile spread out on Klaus lips. He drove away from her house after he had made sure that her mother opened the door for Caroline and, after a small moment of hesitation, pulled her in a close hug.

He went straight to his house on the outskirts of town and parked the car in the huge garage next to it. He didn't expect anybody to be home and he was right. He hadn't heard from Elijah in a very long time and actually considered calling him for a second but then he reminded himself that Elijah would appear when he felt like it. His brother was not a person to be rushed. He put his baggage in his own room and left Caroline's in a smaller room right next to his.

He had just sat down on the couch with a glass of Bourbon in his hand when the doorbell rang. He assumed that Caroline would not be back this quickly. Therefore he got up slowly and walked in a moderate pace to the doorbell. Already before opening it he heard the voices outside and seriously considered just not opening the door. He was in no mood to deal with the Doppelgänger and his least favorite Salvatore. But he had to keep up appearance and was not going to hide from them.

As he opened the door both of them, who had been talking, turned their face towards him and stared at him angrily. It was Damon who spoke first. "Where is Caroline?"

Klaus looked at him surprised. Only then he realized that Caroline had not contacted her friends since they had left Brazil although they could not know that Caroline and him were traveling together. He kept a pokerface and only smiled a little bit. "Why would I know that? I just came back to this godforsaken town."

Elena looked at him suspicious. "If you hate it so much then why did you come back?"

"How is that any of your business?" He asked her sharply.

"If it involves Caroline it is my business."

He rolled his eyes. "Why do you think my coming back involves Caroline? Maybe I have my own schemes and I am just not interested in discussing them with you. Now if you have nothing else to say to me." With those words he slammed his door in their faces. He heard Damon exclaim a loud "Hey!" but he didn't care. He sped up to his bedroom where he was sure he could talk without being overheard by the two vampires in front of his door. He dealt Caroline's number.

"Hello love, guess who just showed up on my doorstep."

"Hello" Caroline hesitated for a short second "Daniel. Nice of you to call me."

"Caroline, this is Klaus, who is Daniel?"

"Oh, yes I am fine. I am just sitting with my mother in the kitchen catching up."

He finally understood and felt like an idiot. He could imagine her rolling her eyes at him. "I just called to tell you that Elena and her manly knight have just passed by my house to say hello and to inquire about your whereabouts."

"Really? That is absolutely fascinating. I am so glad for you."

Klaus chuckled. "You should have become a spy, love."

"Yeah, you too. Okay, I'll call you later. I really have to talk to my mom I haven't seen her in so long. Thank you so much for calling and sharing your exciting news with me. Bye then."

"Goodbye Caroline, I'll see you later." He hung up and smiled at himself. She was really something.

Caroline shut of her phone and smiled at her mother. "Just an old friend of mine checking how I am."

Her mother nodded. "You must have met a lot of interesting people in South America."

"Yes, so many. Like that one guy who showed me all these nice places to eat. We literally ate at different places every time we met. It was so cool." She kept blabbering on and told her mother about her time in São Paulo. Luckily she didn't have to exclude Klaus from the conversation since she could not remember being there with him but only now she realized how many times she must have been out with him because on a lot of experience she only remembered herself being there.

The meeting with her mother had been only slightly awkward. When Liz opened the door she had stared at her daughter for a few seconds before she pulled her in a close hug and stroke her hair. Caroline had forgotten how good it felt to be held by her mom again. Her mother's natural authority always calmed down Caroline and she enjoyed the moment they shared. The sheriff had ushered her in the kitchen to make some coffee and listen to her talk on and on about her trip. She didn't ask how long Caroline was going to stay and Caroline assumed that she simply didn't want to know. Caroline herself wasn't so sure when they would be leaving again. She realized that if Klaus wanted to leave Mystic Falls again that she would go with him no matter where he was leading her. How she would explain that to her mother was still a mystery.

The doorbell rang and Liz got up to get it. Caroline took a short breath when she heard Elena and Damon outside the door telling Liz that Klaus was back in town and that they were sure he knew where Caroline was. Liz interrupted them and Caroline heard her say: "But Caroline is sitting in the kitchen. She just arrived and we were talking." Caroline heard how pushed past her mother who jumped to the side with a short exclaim and then Elena burst into the kitchen. She ran to Caroline who had gotten up in time, and pulled her in a tight embrace.

"Caroline! You are okay! We were so worried." She let go of Caroline and smiled at her. One look at Damon who had entered the kitchen as well told her that he was not as happy as Elena to see her again.

"I am fine. I just stayed in a few areas where I had no internet access and I wanted to surprise you guys. And you know me, I can never keep a secret." She smiled at Elena.

"So Barbie, since we know that you can't keep a secret you could just tell us what Klaus wants back in Mystic Falls." Damon interrupted their happy moment slightly annoyed.

She turned to face him. "And why would I know that?"

"Well, you turn up mysteriously on the same day he does. Keeps me thinking, maybe you came together?"

"I am always glad when I keep you thinking. It is something you should do more often." She countered thinking that attacking was the best defense. He looked actually surprised. Maybe he had underestimated her. "So, what is the big plan?"

"I don't know." Caroline lied. "I just arrived here, you were the first ones to tell me that Klaus is back in town." Technically, Caroline thought, that wasn't a lie. They were indeed the first ones to tell her.

"By the way, where is Stefan?" She decided to change the subject.

Elena's face turned darker. "Shouldn't you know better than us? He left with Rebecca without a warning saying that he was not interested to live under our judging eyes anymore." Although she would never have said it out loud Caroline understood Stefan. Who were they to judge him? Elena was dating his brother and had broken his heart countless times. He had every right to be happy.

"I haven't heard from him in a while." Caroline said truthfully, at least as far as she could remember.

Damon muttered something so low that even Caroline's ears had a problem understanding it but what she heard was something along the lines of I hope she eats him. Obviously they still had a problem with each other.

"By the way, where is Bonnie?" Elena and Damon exchanged looks that made Caroline already think about bad things especially after Elena's face turned even darker.

"She is gone."

"What do you mean, she is gone?" Caroline asked worried that something had happened to Bonnie.

"She left a few days ago with Professor Shane. He was absent from the city for a while and then came back roughly ten days ago. The next day Bonnie called me and told me they were going on a quest to find something to protect all of us."

"And you didn't stop her?" Caroline cried out.

Elena looked slightly guilty. "I didn't know that she left until she called me and they were already on the road. I haven't heard from her since and she has turned off her cel. But I received an e-mail from her yesterday that she is fine."

"An e-mail? The easiest to fake way of communicating with someone and you are convinced that she is fine?" Caroline wanted to hit Elena in the face. Of course she didn't know what Caroline had found out during her journey with Klaus but it was still obviously not the ideal situation to let Bonnie travel with a man who was clearly not absolutely normal.

Damon shrugged and put his hand protectively around Elena's shoulders glaring at Caroline. "I think we should leave and maybe meet later again to talk about our next step."

"Next step doing what?" Caroline inquired.

"Now, that Klaus is back in town, we know he wants something and since you don't know what it is we have to figure it out ourselves." He explained impatiently. Caroline wanted to roll her eyes at him. Elena was in no danger anymore and he should just leave Klaus alone but of course she couldn't just say that. So she nodded and let them out of the house. She told her mother she would rest for a few hours since she was tired from her journey. Her mother assured her that she had to go to work anyway and gave her a small kiss on the cheek before leaving the house.

Caroline climbed up to the room and opened her door slowly. Everything was in the exact place as she had left it as if her mother had never entered the room. The only thing that was different was the hybrid lying on her bed.

"What are you doing her? I thought we said at your house later." She said getting closer to her bed.

He smiled at her and answered. "Well, I wasn't sure if your friends would not leave someone at my house so I decided to better keep our little secret I should come over. Unless you want to tell them about us?"

Caroline sighed and stopped at the rim of the bed. "No, I can't tell them. Elena was already super mad about Rebecca and Stefan and this would definitely overstep her border for tolerance."

She thought she saw a small shadow wander over his face but then he got up and knelt on the bed in front of her so his face was close to hers. "That means that I have to use the time I can kiss you when there is no one around." He cupped her face in his hands and she smiled into the beautiful kiss he gave her.

A/N: Next chapter we will see what happened to Bonnie and what their "next step" is. This fic is getting closer to it's end. I am planning on roughly five or six more chapters and maybe some smut extra that may add something about to that count. Reviews are always welcome! Love, Santavica