"We're out of fruit; we're damaged goods. What the hell? We've got nothing more to lose," - Radiohead, Backdrifts
19
Suspect
"Okay, not that I don't feel bad about the loss of another innocent life," Caroline began when they all entered the house to collect in the study, "But this one really isn't on me. I don't even know who Aiden is!"
"To be fair," Elijah responded, "Did you know any of those men you killed in Atlanta? What about the drug lord whose penis you bit off, do you remember his name?"
Caroline glared down at the floor flushing in embarrassment and shame. Of course that would be the kill they most remembered. Was she ever going to live this down?
Klaus could sense her growing discomfort and it made him angry. How dare Elijah make this any harder on Caroline than it already was? He was at her side in the next second, lifting up her head softly by her chin.
"You have nothing to be upset about right now; you didn't kill that boy Aiden," Klaus assured her before turning to Elijah with a menacing glare. "And before you continue these needless accusations brother, you will remember that Caroline has an alibi. She hasn't even been in the city the past few days. Aiden was found, what? A few hours ago?"
Elijah nodded his head in confirmation.
"Yes, I understand the situation Klaus," he replied. "Nevertheless, just because we knew Caroline was no longer in the city does not seem to ease everyone else's suspicions. Caroline has built a lot of ill will towards herself here."
Klaus paced away from her, suppressing a groan. It was true. Caroline had burned some bridges. And now, even though he had her back, it wasn't going to be easy to keep her safe… particularly if Dahlia was really planning to reappear and fight for Freya. And, unfortunately as soon the thought had crossed his mind, Elijah confirmed the fear.
"And, as you've both been kept so preoccupied with Caroline's little charade as of late," Elijah continued, "There have been a great many problems that we've all been left to deal with on our own here."
In truth, Klaus had been more involved that he let on. He and Aiden had made a pact with one another shortly before Caroline had arrived… agreeing to help him replace Jackson as pack alpha in exchange for his loyalty. Jackson and some others had been surreptitiously been keeping tabs on everyone involved what was going on. But, to be honest, not much had changed despite the supposed Dahlia threats.
"Dahlia," Klaus said immediately and Elijah nodded grimly. "She's still just after Freya is she not?" Klaus asked. "I'm quite sure I would have been informed if further threats had been made on my daughter who is now safely returned to our home…" He growled out the last part as more of threat.
Because god knew if anyone had kept something from him while he was distracted by Caroline…
"Wait a minute," Caroline interrupted. Despite being in her own self-centered universe while her emotions had been off, Caroline had also spent a great deal of her time listening in on whatever secret Mikaelson conversations she could. She believed she vaguely remembered something about Klaus's newly returned immortal witch sister trying to escape an evil aunt… or something crazy. In fact, hadn't she snapped the girls neck? "This is about your sister Freya? Your evil aunt is coming after her?"
"That's about the jist of it," Klaus replied, almost shortly. He really didn't want to be dealing with this. "Though Freya seems to being attempting to gain our help by a ridiculous manipulation tactic… suggesting Dahlia might be after Hope."
"Good lord," Caroline sighed. "Why would she be after your daughter?"
"Dahlia invented her own practice of magic," Elijah explained. "Freya calls it a means of linking to other sources of power. First she linked to Freya's power and now she may be after Hope's. She has a tendency to pursue the firstborns in our family line because they will help her to achieve immortality."
"The firstborns?" Caroline asked, a frown descending over her features, "But couldn't that also be…"
"What love?" Klaus implored when she trailed off. Not only was Caroline back, from second to second she was displaying how truly she'd returned… and specifically to him. Now she was coming up with theories on his behalf? He could still barely believe it was happening. "Please tell me whatever you're thinking, you always can."
Elijah had to hold back a smirk. They'd been trying to engage Klaus about Dahlia and Freya for weeks with no successes. The moment Caroline Forbes stepped in with even a minute amount of interest, that all changed. He could see how Caroline's aid would be beneficial in making Klaus reassess his priorities going forward. That is, if she truly planned to stay.
"Well, I don't want to drag up in unnecessary past family drama but you all… you guys…. um, you and Freya-" Caroline was gesturing awkwardly between Klaus and Elijah, not knowing how to continue this conversation gracefully.
"Niklaus does not have the same father as Freya or myself," Elijah finished smoothly for her.
Klaus seemed unperturbed by the blank factual statement so Caroline nodded her thanks to Elijah for guessing what she had to say and continued.
"Right so, in a certain sense, even though Freya is the firstborn of Esther and Mikael's line…" Caroline trailed off again.
"I may be the first born of Esther's line with the werewolf she cheated on Mikael with?" Klaus questioned, trying to finish her thought for her.
"I mean, I'm not entirely sure how magic witchy-genealogy works but it's a theory anyway," Caroline finished.
Klaus threw his head back in genuine raucous laughter. His shoulders were shaking from it. Caroline rolled her eyes in Elijah's direction, knowing that he wasn't laughing at her. Klaus was laughing at the concept that Dahlia might be a threat to him, of all people.
"I'd like to see her try to come after me," Klaus growled.
"Would you, Klaus? Because both Hope and I are here now and Elijah seems to think Dahlia is a legitimate threat," Caroline said. "What if she does more than come after you? What if she finds a way to make you come to her?"
Klaus snarled in terrifying earnest at that suggestion.
"She wouldn't dare try," he hissed.
"Alright, sure," she chided sarcastically. "Cause the last time I was dealing with an immortal witch, my life definitely wasn't threatened."
Klaus knew she was referring to everything that had transpired with Silas and Qetsiyah.
"Look, be as stubborn about this as you want, Klaus," Caroline continued, "But I'm going to be looking into this as long as I'm here. It's the smartest thing to do."
Privately, Klaus more than agreed. Also privately, he was thrilled by the prospect of working alongside Caroline in her element - scheming. It also happened to be his element and he knew from experience they worked very well together; he was sure that their partnering abilities would only have become more valuable now that they were true allies. Nevertheless he had just gotten her here. Sure, he'd technically had her for nearly two weeks now but that hadn't been her. Was it so terrible that he wanted to just shove all the Dahlia nonsense aside to bask in a honeymoon period for a little bit now that Caroline was finally, willingly his?
"I completely agree, Miss Forbes," Elijah told her. "But, unfortunately, until we can convince the rest of the supernatural population of New Orleans of your innocence, I fear your presence will be more of a distraction than an asset."
"Are you asking me to leave?" Caroline responded. As she had told Klaus before, she had every intention of staying with him now but, if her presence was a threat to the safety of the rest of the city - or god forbid Klaus himself - she wouldn't hesitate to return to Virginia.
"You most certainly will not be leaving," Klaus spat, pulling her harshly to his side and clutching her around her waist with near-bruising possessive force. Caroline could not help at all how she swooned inside at the feeling. She'd spent so much of her time hemming and hawing about hating the alpha-male aspect of Klaus that she had nearly overlook how sexy it was and how confident it made her feel.
"Of course that was not what I was suggesting," he replied easily. Caroline could tell it was taking a lot of willpower for him not to roll his eyes, an expression he likely considered extremely gauche. "But I do think it would be best if you stayed at the Abattoir until we can clear your name at least for this particular crime."
"Alright," she conceded with a resigned nod. "But please tell me that's not gonna be long."
"Elijah, I assume the body has already been recovered but I want Freya taking a look at it to see if she can assess what happened," Klaus ordered. "In the meantime, Caroline and I have been waiting for a moment to discuss a great many things in private. We were headed off to do just that when you interrupted, brother."
Finally, Elijah did roll his eyes. And the look was so absurd on him that Caroline noticeably choked back a laugh.
"Yes, Niklaus, because a discussion is exactly what it looked like I was interrupting," Elijah replied sarcastically before turning to head off in search of Freya. "My sincerest apologies!"
Caroline snickered at his retreating back and Klaus glanced down to her at his side, lovingly.
"Now, where were we?" he asked before leaning down to steal another kiss, grasping her chin in his hand as he did.
He didn't waste any time in flashing them up the stairs, carrying her bridal style which Caroline couldn't help but feel enamored with, before tossing her gently onto his bed and beginning to crawl over top of her with a playful growl. She let him start to kiss her, almost losing her train of thought when her hand automatically crept up to caress over his shoulders and down his back.
Klaus was positioned in between her legs even though they were both still fully clothed and he pulled a move that he had doubtless learned was very effective on her at this point - he ground their cores into one another, enough so that he knew the fabric of her jeans and panties would be brushing up against her skin with sinful friction. The feeling made her moan out harshly and Klaus didn't even bother trying to hide the lust-laced laugh provided in response. Pulling the move a second time. God he loved the feel of her rutting up against him like that.
"Klaus!" she cried out, attempting to prompt him into cooling down for a second but he misread her cry as one of pleading to keep going and she felt him reach down between them to begin undoing the button of her pants. "No, Klaus, wait-"
"Now, darling, you know I have a very particular order in which I favor seeing you come undone, I promise I'll let you dictate next time but for now-"
"No, it's not that," she interrupted, reaching down with her own hand to stop his. He immediately pulled her hand up to his lips to press a gentle kiss to each of her fingers.
"Then what is it, love?" he asked, his blue eyes boring into hers with intensity she wasn't sure she'd ever stop feeling intimidated by. "Nervous about our first time since you've admitted your feelings for me? I promise it will be so much better..."
Caroline scoffed at him, slapping his touch away jokingly. Truth be told, she was worried how intimate it was going to be. It had already been so intimate that year before in the woods and she hadn't even been in lov-
She cut herself off with that sobering thought. Too soon, like, way too soon. Right? He had been her trigger.
Not now, stay on task!
"No, I just think… given how much history you and I have, we'd be doing ourselves a disservice not to talk a few things over first," she finished.
Klaus sighed at that statement, knowing she was right. He hauled himself off of her and pulled her sitting up so they could tuck into one another on the bed affectionately.
"Alright, love, I agree," he said. "You seem like you have somewhere you want to start."
Caroline grew a little tense knowing where she wanted to start too damn well. Elijah had reminded her of it. It was going to be uncomfortable but she chugged ahead anyway, determined to make this work.
"You have… a baby, with Hayley," she said, frustrated. "Why does every guy I like either end up fucking Hayley Marshall or Elena Gilbert?"
The question was obviously rhetorical so instead he responded, "You like me?"
She had been avoiding his eyes by staying curled into his side while they sat at the edge of the bed but, now, she stared back at him, unamused by his gentle teasing, "Klaus, I think you know I a lot more than like you."
He couldn't help how his heart soared when she said that. Part of him wanted to push her, to shake her, even, and beg for her to finally come out with it. I love you, he screamed at her internally. Tell me you love me too. But he'd waited this long — still less time than he expected in the scheme of things; he'd always expected it to take a century at least for Caroline to come around. So, he could continue to wait to let her say it in her own time.
"Well," he said, trying to make her feel better. "Just because Hayley and I shared a drunken tryst doesn't mean she was ever truly my lover. I'm not Tyler Lockwood. And I've no plans to share a bed with Elena."
The thought of Tatia, one of Elena's doppelgangers, flashed through Caroline's mind but she chose not to bring it up.
"I'm not joking Klaus," Caroline said. "This is hard for me. Hayley and I have a terrible history that's only gotten worse recently."
"I know... of course I know," he replied. "After I slept with her all I wanted to do was take it back because I worried you would see it as a betrayal. And when I found out she was pregnant I was sure I'd lost you forever."
"Why did you sleep with her?" Caroline asked. "When you knew how much I hated her?"
"Because I was alone and you didn't want me and she was there and…" he trailed off. "Did I mention that you didn't want me? It hurt, love, what else can I say? I was trying to dull the pain and it didn't work."
Caroline could understand that, of course. She knew all too well what it was like to feel unloved and unwanted. And now that her feelings had grown so intensely for Klaus, she was feeling more than slightly abashed about how long she'd played blind to her own feeling for him… which truly had been there in some form all along.
"Alright, I get that," she said, sighing when she felt him kiss the top of her head in pure gratitude in response. "But it's not going to be easy. Me here with her also here. Dahlia or not, Hayley and I are not friends."
"Considering my own more than contemptuous relationship with her, I doubt that will be too much of a problem," he replied with a chuckle. "But more importantly, love. My daughter. Hope. I know you still haven't even really met her but… where does a baby factor into your life plans?"
His voice was raw with emotion at that question and Caroline knew now was a time she could not mess up her answer. Pulling away from his side, she knelt in front of him on the bed, taking his face in her hands, and peering softly into his fraught eyes before responding. She wanted to give his answer proper consideration.
"It is a lot and it is happening fast," she said. "After becoming a vampire I never thought I'd have children. I'd always wanted kids as a human but… eventually. Not while I was still in college."
"You're going back to school?" he asked, startled. He didn't think she had plans to return to Virginia.
She placed a hand over his, smiling at how flustered he became. "Tulane has a drama school, Klaus," she explained. "I'm transferring, relax."
He smiled, relieved but feeling almost foolish. Only Caroline could do that to him. She'd told him again and again now that she planned to stay and he needed to begin trusting her. He leaned over to kiss her sweetly, a hand pressed into her cheek. In the midst of this type of conversation, it was hard to pull apart, while they were both being so gentle with one another.
When they pulled apart she said, "Honestly, though, Klaus… I've never been more excited. After I lost my mom I had no family."
"She'll grow up thinking of you like a mother," Klaus said. "If you want her to. If you want to think of her as your daughter… nothing else in the world would make me happier."
Caroline was more than touched by his offer. Klaus would give her the world if he could, she knew that. He would give her anything it was in his power to grant her.
But she'd never thought one of those things could be a child. Nevertheless, she doubted everyone would be quite so on board with this plan.
"Please, as soon as she's only enough to talk, Hayley's going to have her chanting 'Kill Caroline!"" the blonde fussed.
"Not if I have anything to say about it. Hayley may be her mother but I have final say on whoever is or isn't in Hope's life," he said. Caroline had to bite back a laugh. Klaus was always the control freak, using his I'm-a-deadly-serious-Original-Hybrid voice and everything.
But then he grew softer again, looking up at her with a trace of nervousness.
"Give Hayley time," he said. "You don't have to be friends but she'll see you're good for Hope eventually. No mother wants their child to have less love in their life."
Caroline supposed this was true. Liz Forbes had a notoriously awful relationship with her sister-in-law, who had died not too long before Liz herself. But, even after Bill had left them, Caroline's aunt loved her fiercely and Liz respected that. She respected that, despite her own spite for the woman, she knew Caroline cared for her. If Hayley was a good mother, she'd make similar sacrifices for Hope.
But watching Klaus watch her, with such a look of contentment on his face, she couldn't help but cock her head at him and study him briefly in return. She couldn't believe she was having this conversation with Klaus. About a baby and living with Hayley, no less. Sometimes it felt like she was living in a parallel universe. But fatherhood had undoubtedly matured Klaus, given him an entire new side. She thought maybe it had been his development of compassion that had finally gotten through to her while she'd had her humanity off.
It was all enough to almost make her tear up, so she deflected an episode of crying with a joke, "Yeah well we're definitely never gonna be friends," she said, referring to Hayley.
"Mmm, I think I would be disturbed to hear anything different," Klaus joked lightly, reaching up to cup her face again, noticing the pure emotion in her eyes. He'd missed that so desperately.
"Well, we don't have to figure out all the logistics right now," she demurred finally. "At least it's good to know we're on the same page about most of this stuff."
"Yes, except about Dahlia is would appear…" Klaus trailed.
"Except about that," she agreed, wincing. All she could think was that if Elijah was worried, they definitely needed to be worried.
"Love you know almost nothing about her, do you really think she could be a threat?" Klaus asked.
I know a lot more than you realize, she thought as she remembered all her time spying while she'd been stuck in the guest room to keep her from doing any more damage.
"I don't know," Caroline decided to tell him instead. "But I'm concerned about it."
"Well, then, let's go," Klaus ordered, standing up and reaching for her hand. "If you're worried then it's my job to assuage all of your concerns."
"Where are we going?" she asked, following behind him with their hands clasped together.
"Do you remember the first time you met Gia?" Klaus asked, seemingly out of the blue.
"Of course, she's just another person I have to make amends with, right?" she asked. "At least I didn't physically harm her."
"I'm not bringing this up to further rake you over the coals about your past indiscretions, love," he assured. "Do you remember when she asked you if I'd taught you how to fight? As Elijah did for her?"
"Yeah," Caroline replied, still not understanding where he was going with this. "I told her that I already knew how to fight which, maybe you didn't notice while I had my humanity off but, I can."
"Well, while I'm sure your man-to-man combat skills are quite formidable," Klaus continued, "It doesn't hurt to see if they're still as fast as they were when your humanity was off. Not to mention, have you ever had any training using magic?"
Well everyone, we have officially reached the final story arc of Demeter's Daughter. I know I'm always apologizing for the delay but, now that we're in roughly T-minus 5 chapter or less till this is finished, I should be updating more. Plus, a reader on Tumblr mentioned that rather have shorter more frequent updates rather than longer more spaced out ones so… I'm officially putting less pressure on myself to keep these at 4,500-6,000 words. Shooting for a bit less than that as we wrap up this fic should help speed up updates.
And yeaaaah, we're doing a fight training scene next. Cause everyone loves those. Right, not just me? They're a particularly lovely trope within the Klaroline ship and I can't keep myself away!
Anyway, apologies in advance for anything off about the Dahlia plot. I know I said initially I wasn't going to touch that plotline with a 10 foot pole but, I ultimately came up with a fun way to work Caroline in. That being said, the actual Dahlia plot on the show confused the hell out of me so I'm not sure everything will line up or be explained exactly right. That's mostly okay because, now that Caroline's involved, it's all going to play out very differently. Oh, and still no… "drop everything to save the baby!" plot. Dahlia is not primarily here for Hope in my story. I'm not dealing with the rescue Hope nonsense. The only way I'll be addressing Hope, for the time being, is as a baller grown-ass woman and post-apocalyptic fighter in my other story Inferno. (Have I sufficiently plugged that yet?)
Anyway, so considering how close to finished this is and how the last several chapters will be a bit shorter… my plan is to have this finished by mid-November if possible. If anyone is even still reading this thing anyway. Are you still here? Hellloooo? Does anyone even remember what's happening? Where are we? When are we?