A/N: Thanks so much for reading, following, reviewing! I hope you enjoy this chapter and the bit of surprise that waits at the end of it :)

Caroline felt like she had stepped back in time, back into an era regulated to movies or maybe museums, but one that she shouldn't be able to breathe in, one that she wasn't supposed to be able to run her fingers over and see with her own eyes. This was different than the castle they had stayed at in England, mostly because this one was Klaus'. He owned the land, the property, all of the furniture that was being uncovered and placed around under compelled guidance and labor.

These were all pieces of a life he had known, pieces of his past and she felt as though every little thing revealed a different aspect of the Hybrid. She was already well aware that she knew parts of him that her friends were oblivious to, that most likely very few in the world ever saw in him, but she almost felt as though she was intruding as she wandered through the chateau.

He had brought her there though, told her to have the compelled humans move furniture as she saw fit while he brought the hybrids out onto the vast estate to work on honing their skills. It was an opportunity that she probably should have balked at, thrown back at him and refused to accept, but the idea of arranging the house how she wanted was something she couldn't quite turn down.

Klaus was giving her control over something and Caroline was desperate for anything that she could have even the tiniest bit of order over. Her life seemed like it was spinning away from her, things she had known to be absolute truths had been turned upside down in front of her, feelings that she'd worked hard to obliterate were coiling deep inside of her, demanding release. So she wasn't going to balk at this task. She was going to embrace playing interior decorator and allow the order she could create with it to soothe her troubled mind.

Or at least that was the plan.

The furniture was easy to figure out, to be detached from. While it was all beautiful and she was awed to be in its presence with how old some of the pieces were, it was just wood and material. Even with the finely ornate designs it didn't screw with her mind. Some things only reminded her of just how long Klaus had lived—like the suite of armor, a tapestry, some of the statues that were being placed back out—but it was the paintings that were being hung that were throwing her for a loop.

She might have only seen glimpses of his artwork at his studio back in Mystic Falls and whenever she saw pieces he was working on as they traveled, but it hadn't taken Caroline long to realize that every painting that was being hung was done by his hand.

Caroline had heard once that people used to believe that photographs could capture a person's soul but she was certain that she glimpsed a piece of Klaus in each painting that was unveiled and placed before her. She didn't want to see these parts of him bleeding out in the multitude of colors, didn't want to let those pieces linger in her mind and cast her further into uncertainty.

"Just hang them wherever for now," she muttered quickly as the man placed the last one down before she turned and headed out of the room. People were fluttering around, washing the floors and walls, getting everything into pristine condition and she needed to get away from the silent workers.

She headed down the stairs and out into the fresh air, letting the smell of the forest that surrounded the chateau soothe her a bit. It reminded her of Mystic Falls, though the scent was different. Not the same trees as back in Virginia but they offered a bit of familiarity that she was desperate for, hoping it would ground her again.

Caroline had gotten Klaus' cell from him before he'd headed out to work with the hybrids. The fact he had so easily given it to her, that level of trust that he didn't expect her to do anything nefarious with it, had pleased her at first before adding additional stress to her mind. She needed to use it now though, considered calling her mother, but no, she didn't want her mom to know how confused she was about everything. What would her mom think of the fact that she was developing feelings far from loathing for Klaus? How could she rationalize that to her very human mother?

There was always Elena but she didn't want to talk to her when Stefan and Damon were no doubt hovering nearby and would take over the conversation anyway.

Tyler was out of the question as well. The last call she'd done with him hadn't gone well at all and she didn't want to add fuel to the fire.

That left Matt and Bonnie.

Her fingers were already dialing the long distance number before she'd even consciously made a decision. "Uh. Hello?" Matt's voice answered his confusion evident.

She listened to it for a long moment, not uttering a word, before he hung up, muttering to someone in the background about a wrong number. Matt would have been the safe, easy option and while her fingers had easily made the choice to contact him she knew he wouldn't really be able to help ease her mind any.

Caroline dialed again, deliberately this time, and waited for her best friend to pick up. "I swear if this is Damon trying to reach me on another phone," Bonnie started in greeting, annoyance obvious and Caroline couldn't help but wonder what the older Salvatore had done to her friend.

"No. It's me." Caroline heard Bonnie gasp at her voice, could practically see how her friend's eyes widened in realization.

"Caroline!" there was relief in the witch's voice, mixed with worry, before she started again. "I'm not supposed to do a locator spell. Damon actually threatened my mother. Can you believe that? Said it was your decision to be all noble and that we have to work on the Alaric threat instead. But I don't care. I'll find you right now if you want me to and get you back here."

Caroline didn't mean to laugh, but it was just so nice to hear Bonnie's voice, to hear the concern there that she couldn't help it. "I'm okay. Like really okay. He's not hurting me at all or anything. We're just…seeing the world." Creating hybrids. Trying to get her to give into her vampire side, to further give into him. He was pretty much succeeding on all three things but there was no point in voicing any of that. "Is Alaric causing a lot of trouble?"

He wanted the Originals though, right? So surely he was leaving those in Mystic Falls alone. Right? "He vanished and I can't get a location on him at all. Probably Esther's doing," Bonnie grumbled, before focusing back on the rest of what Caroline had said. "You didn't have to bargain with Klaus, Caroline. We could have figured out another way."

"He was draining Elena, Bonnie. I had to do something," Caroline protested, remembering the anger and fear she'd felt seeing their friend tied up and hooked up to tubes.

"I just don't understand why you were even there," Bonnie murmured, and Caroline frowned at that. She had gone to thank him for coming for her and saving her from Alaric.

"It doesn't really matter. I made my decision and it's better for everyone this way. Elena is safe. We're far away from Alaric." Hopefully. Though she had a feeling it'd be hard for the former teacher to get to Europe without a daylight ring at his disposal. "So we don't have to worry about him killing any of the Originals and bringing about my death or the others' deaths. And I'm good. I'm seeing a lot that I'd probably never have gotten to otherwise." And I think I'm falling…no. Definitely not bringing that up.

"What about your mom?" Bonnie asked and Caroline couldn't help but frown at that.

"What about her?" She thought she was okay. Caroline knew that Liz had been freaked out at first, but they had talked, she called her every so often and things seemed to be okay.

"She's worried about you. She misses you," Bonnie told her, and Caroline's gut twisted at that. "We both do."

"It's just a year, Bonnie," Caroline murmured, but doubt lingered in her mind about that. It was only supposed to be a year but there was a nagging feeling every time Klaus looked at her lately that told Caroline it would never be over. That a year would span into ten and then into forever before she knew it.

"Let me find you," Bonnie protested and Caroline sighed at that.

"And then what? Stefan and Damon will come over and get themselves killed?" If they even ventured to find her. She seriously doubted that Damon would since Elena was safe now. "Or you will. Or Elena will. And then you'll both get hurt. Or Alaric will find us somehow because of it and then more people just end up hurt. I'm really okay. I just wanted to see how you were doing. And who took over the prom committee."

Bonnie didn't reply for a moment. Caroline could hear her other friend breathing and knew she was still there, no doubt weighing everything that she had said in her mind. "Shelley did," Bonnie finally told her, bringing about a loud groan from Caroline.

"Ugh. Nothing is going to go right then," she muttered, wondering which tacky colors and themes the girl had come up with.

"You're going to miss graduation, Caroline," Bonnie started and Caroline sighed at that, hating that the statement was true.

She had been looking forward to that milestone for a while. She wasn't going to be valedictorian now. Wouldn't throw her cap in the air. "Maybe not. It's still a few months away." And she could always compel her positions back if she really needed to.

Caroline blinked, shocked at how easily she had considered compulsion to be an option. "I need to get going though, Bon. I'll call you again soon, okay?"

"If I don't hear from you in a week I'm doing the spell," Bonnie warned her and Caroline grinned at that.

"Deal."

She hung up with her after their goodbyes and looked around. She had apparently been walking through the woods while talking and had no clue how far away she was from the main house any longer. She couldn't see it through the trees but figured she'd head back eventually. If she tuned her vampire hearing she could make out Klaus speaking to his hybrids in the distance and even the humans that were still bustling about inside the manor.

Maybe a walk in the forest would do her some good. Talking with Bonnie hadn't really cleared any of the tumultuous thoughts from her head so hopefully the sounds of nature would do that instead.

The Bennett witch.

Klaus glowered at the tree line that Caroline had disappeared into, his attention drawn from the hybrids he should be training. He couldn't help but listen into their conversation, his mood darkening with every word that came out of the witch's mouth. He would not allow her to put doubts into Caroline's mind, not with all of the progress he'd made in the last week or so. She was good at doing that all on her own, no need to allow others to help it along.

Eventually they would step foot back in Mystic Falls, he knew that. There was no way his girl would stay away from her mother for eternity and so Klaus meant to ensure Caroline's loyalty to him, get her to love him before ever nearing that annoying little town ever again. He wouldn't walk into it without knowing for certain that she would be walking back out with him.

His siblings would come and go through his life, never quite gone but never quite there either it seemed, and the hybrids would do as he told them, sacrificing their lives when needed, but he meant to ensure that Caroline was by his side always. Alaric would be dealt with in time, the lingering threat of his mother's disposed, and then all that would lie before Klaus would be an endless amount of time.

There was no more striving to break his curse. No running from Mikael and trying to determine a way to destroy him. His father was dead, his mother as well again, and the threat of Alaric would be dealt with as well.

Building an army of hybrids would sustain him for a while but Klaus knew that would only prove enjoyable for a brief amount of time—maybe a hundred years if he was lucky. He'd built vampire armies before, cultivated networks of spies all throughout the world, forced others to ally with him and charmed others, playing on their dark desires to see things his way. It was amusing but after so many decades it grew to be a bore and he'd move on even if Mikael wasn't nipping at his heals.

It would be different with Caroline at his side. He knew it would be. These hybrids were already different than the first lot. A loyalty running through them that he didn't quite feel from the others. All of them loyal because of the sire bond, but these ones had eagerly wanted to become hybrids, the others he'd forced without any care for their lives. It made them more valuable, more useful, but he refused to let his guard down around them, to truly trust the lot of them.

Trust allowed for vulnerability and that was something Klaus couldn't afford to have in his life.

"Go eat," Klaus snapped at the hybrids, nodding toward the house that was bustling with humans. He ignored their enthused chatter and headed in the direction that Caroline had gone, stopping when he reached the edge of the wood. She would be annoyed if they returned to bloodshed. "Do not kill any."

It was a quick addition and upon noting all of them nod in understanding he flashed off in Caroline's direction. She was standing just inside the woods, staring out into a clearing at a red deer that was currently grazing. The creature looked up as he approached her, no doubt sensing the predator inside of him. Klaus was surprised it hadn't gotten the same instinct to flee from Caroline. The deer sprinted off as she looked back at him, sighing in annoyance as she looked back and watched the creature leave.

"You frightened it," Caroline murmured and looked back at him, lips twisting.

He wanted nothing more than to coax them apart. To nibble on them, to draw blood and watch her eyes darken with desire, with a need to let her own monster come out and play. "It should have fled already with you here, sweetheart."

Did he simply ask how the conversation had gone with her friend? The fact he'd deliberately overheard would only annoy her further though and that wasn't what he wanted. Klaus wanted to continue to progress, not take three steps back. Compulsion was such an easier tool for getting things to going his way but it was one he couldn't use in regards to her and that created obstacles he didn't' like to deal with.

It wasn't as though he wasn't charming, that he wasn't unable to seduce whoever he wanted into his bed. That was an easy task. It was setting roots in Caroline's mind, making a lasting impression on her heart that he had no idea how to do. The unknown left him weak, it left him vulnerable, and yet he couldn't cut it out of himself like he'd done so many times before in his life. Doing so would mean losing her and Klaus refused to allow that to be a possibility.

"Did you do all the paintings?" Caroline asked, breaking the silence. "The ones at the house."

He hadn't expected that question. "I did." Hadn't quite expected her to pick up on that either but it seemed she was learning bits about him just as he was her.

She simply nodded and Klaus watched her, wondering what was going on in that head of hers. "How is Ms. Bennett?" he tried not to let his temper show in his tone.

"Eavesdropping is beneath you." Caroline glared at him and then shrugged. "She's fine. Not doing a locator spell on me, so you'll be happy to know that."

"Do you want her to, Caroline?" Klaus watched her closely, trying to figure out the confusion in her features before she shook her head.

"No. I don't need her to do that," she told him and he waited for the usual 'because in a year I'll go home' to come next, steeled himself for those words to leave her mouth and damper his mood further. But she simply stared at him for a long moment before brushing a stray hair from her face. "I don't mind being here."

Such a simple phrase shouldn't fill him with such joy. It shouldn't have his lips curving into a smile as he looked at her, it shouldn't broaden because she reciprocated it.

It seemed that the roots were already beginning to grow inside her, tying her to him just a little further. When she took his hand and started tugging him back toward the manor Klaus realized that they were already thriving inside of him in regards to her. Part of him wanted to dig them out, to destroy the bits of vulnerability that were going to tie him down, but the side that wanted to let them bloom to their full potential won out, letting him squeeze her hand instead.

"You said we were still going to go out and see things. I'm guessing that you're done the whole training regime for the day so I want to go out to eat!" Caroline told him and Klaus nearly ran into her as she abruptly stopped and eyed him carefully. "Food. Not people."

"I'm sure I can find a place for us nearby," Klaus replied, amused by her need to add that last bit.

She simply nodded, not letting go of his hand as they headed into the manor.

Funny how two words could send everything spiraling downward.

"Hello, brother."

Klaus grimaced at the familiar voice. It had all been going so well. He really should have known that the other shoe was going to drop sooner rather than later.

"Kol."