Colder Weather

Requested Angst. Set in an AU of 4x22. I'm just going to say character death and things get a little violent.

Caroline walked back into the Grill after a quick trip to send out her graduation announcements, surprised to find the restaurant empty. "Matt?" She called, looking into the back room. "Elena?"

No one. An uneasy feeling filled her, but she pressed on. "Rebekah?"

She walked into the back office, wondering if they had by chance gone there; she would admit that by this point she was scared, desperate. She turned back, pulling out her cell phone. "Caroline, there you are."

Her head shot up, finding that her ears hadn't deceived her. And her eyes didn't seem to be either. A familiar sight met her; black jeans, tight henley, jacket covering the ensemble, necklaces that begged to be tugged on. A face she couldn't forget, head covered by curls just growing back in, curls that she had missed. Curls she had had fantasy after fantasy of pulling on in a heated moment. "Klaus." and then reality caught up with her and she remembered that she had already been tricked once before. "Is it really you?"

"Of course it is, love. Who else would it be?"

Despite his words, something was off with him, and even though she wanted to believe him, she couldn't deny that her uneasiness only grew in his presence. Because, it wasn't him, and she could pinpoint the tiny details that revealed that to her. His stance was off, for one; Klaus stood tall, proud, and strong. This man in front of her who wore Klaus' face stood with shoulders slumped; something about him screamed humility to her, a sense of submissiveness. And the way he was looking at her; it wasn't Klaus' piercing gaze, the way he seemed to see straight through her, and yet still revealed the emotion he felt for her. This man had no emotion in his eyes; she saw nothing there. Silas.

She was running through the stock racks then, pushing them behind her, only hoping to get out of the room, somewhere safe. Caroline could see the door, it was right in sight. She would be fine; everything would be fine. She would call Klaus and tell him to get his ass back here and help with the Silas problem and she would pretend to be angry at him when he came back, because of course he would come for her right? And then they would smile and laugh as they inevitably did, and maybe this time, after everything she would act on her feelings for him and finally kiss his lips as she'd been longing to do, because immortal or not life was too short and she wanted that before-

A death grip on her arm, pulling her back around. A hand on her throat, squeezing, and she could feel her windpipes begin to collapse in protest, her breathing growing shorter. She clawed at the hand on her throat, but he was too strong. And she wanted to cry to beg, to even ask him to not kill her using the face of the man she almost loved, but no sound would leave her mouth. Until a metal rod from one of the racks was stabbed through her stomach, and she cried out in pain when he released her throat, her body fighting to heal itself even as the rod exited through her back and was lodged into the wall. His leg connected with her knee, and she screamed with the crunch of her own bones.

Then his hand was at her throat once more, another gripping her wrists as she tried to rip the pole from her stomach, and she turned her head from his face, much as she had that day in the woods. "Bonnie has been lying to me again Caroline. She does it for you, you and your friends that it. Mostly Elena, but you already knew that. No one really wants you, Caroline. You have always been, and you always will be second best. Think about it. Your father left you for Stephan, your mother chose her job over you, Damon used you to get to Elena, Stefan chose Elena over you, Bonnie chose Elena over you, Tyler chose Hayley and his pack over you, and Klaus chose New Orleans and his life there over you. You'd be doing everyone a favor if you died."

She squeezed her eyes shut, fighting back her tears. Something about his words, the words that had played over and over in her own head, said through Klaus' lips in Klaus' voice, cut her straight to the bone, worse than any physical damage ever could. "No, no, no, no."

"No?" Silas asked, laughter in his voice. "And whyever not?"

Her eyes flashed open, staring him dead in the eye, and she tried to gather every last bit of hatred in her, put all that venom into her words. "They love me, I know they do, in their own messed up ways, they all care for me, and I will never give up living."

Silas laughed again. "I can see why Klaus loves you. Such inner fire. Too bad that you don't really have a say in whether you live or die any more."

Caroline Forbes. Eternally seventeen. Vampire barbie. Strong, fearless, full of light. Loved by one of the most powerful creatures on earth. And she felt every second of what followed. The hand pressing into her chest. His cruel eyes as he stared at her, her mouth gaping open as he squeezed her heart. The laughing sneer on his face as he twisted the organ, and as he pulled, she drifted, until finally, she was no more.

A welcome surprise amidst all the other surprises. An invitation to Caroline's graduation. One of the most important days of her human life, one of the last few experiences she would be able to have with her mother, her still human friends and family. And she wanted him there for the experience.

Klaus was in a word, happy. The last time he had been happy, truly happy as he would define it, was when she had come to him for a prom dress. Another human experience that he knew was important to her.

So of course he made plans to leave New Orleans, only for a day, but he would be there for her. She wanted him to be there. She wanted him there. Maybe, maybe it wasn't as he feared. Maybe he had a fighting chance.

"Klaus, what are you doing back in Mystic Falls?"

He turned at the sound of his old friends voice, smiling slightly in his direction. "Caroline invited me to her graduation, and I wanted to be here for her." And he watched, his earlier happiness turning cold at the expression on Stefan's face.

"You don't know, how would you? Silas, he found her alone Klaus. He killed her."

No. His mind screamed in protest. It wasn't possible. She couldn't die. He still had to, he had to show her the world. He had to show her the art, the music, the food. He had to tell her that she was right, that he loved her. He had to know if she would ever love him. He had to hold her, kiss her, love her body, not because of lust but because he wanted, he needed, to know her in every way possible. He would show her that blood sharing wasn't something to fear, that it could bring immense pleasure. He would, he would introduce her to everything, everyone, and she would know that he loved her. She would know just how beautiful she was to him. She couldn't be dead.

"Of course I'm not dead Klaus."

He could breath again then, because there she was. Standing in front of him, whole and beautiful as ever. "Caroline." He sighed, better, whole again, because of course Stefan had been wrong.

"But did you ever think that I could really love you? After all you've done to me, to everyone I love and care about. You can't be loved Klaus."

His heart squeezed painfully, but a part of him didn't care in that moment if she ever loved him as he loved her. She was alive, that was all that mattered.

"You weren't here Klaus. He chased me. He hurt me, he almost killed me, and you weren't here. You were off with Hayley, making plans for more babies I'm guessing."

"What? How do you-" But she couldn't. He hadn't told her about that, not wanting to lose her, not willing to explain quite yet. And he was sure no one else would have. His mind raced, to the oddities in how she was speaking, that Stefan had disappeared when Caroline had appeared. "Silas."

"Oh very good. Not nearly as fast as your girl here. You know, I like her form, it distracts you quite well. She's really dead you know. I killed her, wearing your face."

He moved forward, knowing that he couldn't kill the immortal, but wanting to cause some damage.

A laugh sounded all around him on the deserted street. "You're not nearly fast enough for me Klaus." A metal rod shoved through his stomach as he groaned in pain. He ripped it out quickly enough, but the pressure on his knee, breaking the bone stopped him for a moment, his breath gasping at the pain. It wasn't extreme, he had felt far worse pains, but something, something about Silas-

"Those are the same wounds I gave her. Before I ripped out her heart of course, but I can't really do that to you, now can I? So I'll leave you here, and you can know that you left her vulnerable, alone, open to attack. And she's dead now, just like everyone you've ever loved, anyone you love, anyone you will love will end up. Enjoy your loneliness Klaus. It suits you."

And he was alone then, as he had always been, as he always would be. And for the first time in a long time, he longed for death.