Chapter Text
CHAPTER 1
Caroline woke up on a cold bench inside a mausoleum. One of the women - or witches as they had introduced themselves to her - whose face she knew but name she couldn’t remember told her, “Get up, princess, he’s here.”
Caroline rubbed her eyes, “Who are you talking about and where am I?”
“You’re exactly where you’re supposed to be and now behave, it’s showtime,” The witch said while grabbing her upper arm and pulling her toward the exit.
“And what am I supposed to be doing when meeting that mysterious Him?” Caroline asked while trying to keep up with the witch.
The woman stopped abruptly and when turning around to face her she said, “You’re supposed to be quiet and just stand there. Do you think you can do that?”
Caroline wanted to ask more but as soon as she opened her mouth, the woman threw her a glance that promised death if she dared to ask anything else.
So she just closed her mouth and nodded.
Apparently, that was something she could manage when enough motivation was involved.
Just then she heard sound carrying over.
“Then I suggest you start talking. What did your sister want with Niklaus?”
Caroline froze.
She knew that voice.
Elijah Mikaelson.
She had only met Klaus's older brother a handful of times over the years, but Elijah Mikaelson was not someone people forgot.
Caroline suddenly found herself wondering what was he doing here, anyway?
The witches had said they were waiting for Klaus, not his brother.
“That’s impossible.” She heard Elijah say.
“That’s your cue, princess.” And the woman started pulling her outside.
“Hey!” Caroline said when she squeezed her too tightly.
Outside it was dark already, Caroline didn’t recognize the cemetery but by the looks of it she was still in New Orleans.
Mr. Saltzman had once spent an entire lesson talking about New Orleans cemeteries.
At the time Caroline had assumed nobody could possibly care that much about dead people.
Now, looking around at the endless rows of above-ground tombs, she was beginning to suspect he'd actually known what he was talking about.
Then they rounded a corner and she found herself face-to-face with Sophie Deveraux and Klaus's brother.
Elijah Mikaelson looked exactly the way she remembered him.
Tall.
Perfectly dressed.
Ridiculously handsome.
Honestly, it should have been illegal for one family to contain that much good-looking DNA.
Especially when it came to Klaus.
Which was exactly why Caroline had spent years chasing after him.
And why, when he'd finally decided he wanted her too, she'd been embarrassingly happy about it.
The morning after had been considerably less magical.
Unfortunately, Elijah didn't seem interested in discussing Caroline's romantic disasters.
He was staring at her.
Not politely.
Not casually.
Staring.
As though she'd suddenly appeared where she absolutely wasn't supposed to be.
What exactly was he so shocked about?
Was it the pregnancy?
Probably not. Human women got pregnant every day.
Was it Klaus being the father?
That seemed more likely. The witches had explained that Klaus being capable of having children was a miracle in itself.
But even that didn't feel right.
This looked less like surprise and more like complete disbelief.
Which left only one explanation.
It wasn't the baby.
It wasn't Klaus.
It was her.
Elijah was shocked that out of every woman in the world, Klaus had somehow ended up with Caroline Forbes.
The thought stung more than she wanted to admit.
Still, she lifted a hand and gave him a small wave.
"Hi, Elijah."
Because standing there in silence wasn't making the situation any less awkward.
Then, as if slapped back to reality, Elijah turned to Sophie and said, “Give us a moment, please”.
**
FLASHBACK
Elijah got home to the mansion Klaus was still in the middle of restoring for the family in Mystic Falls. He walked in and quickly picked up his brother’s and a woman’s voice.
“What if I stayed and helped you figure all that out?” Elijah heard a familiar female voice ask down the hall. He started to walk in that direction.
Klaus chuckled, “I would love that, sweetheart, but unfortunately, you don’t have all the facts and I’m not about to disclose them either.”
"Why not?"
The voice belonged to Caroline Forbes and from the sound of it, she was standing close enough to be in Klaus's personal space.
Most people were careful around Klaus.
Caroline Forbes, apparently, was not most people.
The hallway fell quiet. Elijah stopped for a moment, trying to hear better, but still heard nothing. Until his brother’s voice reached Elijah’s ears again.
"For once in your life, Caroline, take my advice and stay out of this."
Another pause followed.
“But you have proven yourself invaluable. So, I can promise, one day I will tell you if someone else won’t beat me to it.”
“And until then?” Caroline’s voice seemed slightly frustrated although she tried to sound enthusiastic.
“Until then, you go home, take a cold shower and prepare to continue to be useful tomorrow at school.”
Another moment of silence followed.
Then Elijah heard footsteps moving away.
Klaus's.
Apparently, the conversation was over.
Elijah quickly flashed upstairs where he continued to watch as Klaus walked to the living room and Caroline stormed out of the mansion.
He watched the front door swing shut.
Interesting.
Once he was in the same room with his brother, he found him leaning against the fireplace deep in thought.
Elijah decided to go straight to the point: “What was Caroline Forbes doing here?”
“She's Elena Gilbert's human friend. Useful girl. Hears things. Tells me things.” Klaus said as he gulped down a chunk of his drink.
“You’re not compelling her?” Elijah asked stunned.
“No. The girl’s crushing on me. It’s all the loyalty I need. And I fail to see the downside.”
“What about you?” Elijah continued to pry.
“What about me?” Klaus asked staring at the fire burning in the fireplace.
“You seemed rather fond of Miss Forbes.”
Klaus laughed.
"Elijah, come on."
"I merely made an observation."
"You are imagining things."
"Am I?"
Klaus chuckled just thinking about it. Then before bringing his whiskey glass to his lips he said, "Only if she were the last woman on Earth."
“Fair enough.” Elijah sighed while turning towards the bar himself. “I trust you to know what you’re doing with her as she is not part of our world. Your world.”
“I know that. Don’t worry. Miss Forbes and I will never have a personal relationship.”
END OF FLASHBACK
Elijah chuckled at the lingering last line from Klaus while watching the girl in question. She was sitting on a bench and looking at him expectantly.
“Hey, Elijah? Did you hear me?” Caroline asked, searching his face.
“Forgive me, Miss Forbes,” Elijah apologized and coming out of the memory trance he asked, “What was the question?”
“I asked what you are doing here? You’re not the brother they told me they were expecting, probably because you are not responsible for this.” Caroline touched her stomach at that. And then added with a smile, “And you can call me Caroline as we’re basically a family now.”
Elijah stared at her and then collecting himself, he said, “You’re right, we are. And I’m here because I’m trying to help Niklaus. If someone is trying to sabotage him, I need to learn everything about it. So, tell me, Caroline, what do you know about all of this?"
“You mean about Klaus being a hybrid of a werewolf and a vampire who after breaking his curse was able to father a child of his own and that happened to be become a reality with me, little miss Caroline Forbes of all people?”
"You misunderstand me, Caroline. That isn't what I'm insinuating," Elijah said. Judging by her response, his reaction to the news had been far more transparent than he would have liked. He continued asking, “So they told you about the supernatural world?”
“Yes.” Caroline quickly answered then realized she really didn’t know much. “They told me the basics, but I still have questions. Like what exactly does being an Original Vampire mean? Does it mean you’re the first, that there were no vampires before your family? What about blood? Do you have to kill humans to survive? What about using people who would give up their blood willingly?”
“I will tell you, Caroline. Everything you want to know. But later, alright?” Elijah said while taking a step close to her. “Right now, tell me what happened between you and my brother.”
“Nothing. Unless you count spending years chasing him, sleeping with him once, and getting thrown out the next morning. I mean I knew there wasn’t going to be sailing into the sunset together, but did he have to be so cruel about it. I gave him everything, he gave me nothing.” Caroline pouted, staring down at her hands. Then glanced back up to meet Elijah’s eyes. “And as I understand, everything now depends on how Klaus is going to take his impending fatherhood.”
“Among other things, yes. Niklaus hates being told what to do.”
“That’s why I included you in this plan.” Sophie said, walking back inside with couple of witches following her. “And that’s why you’re going to do everything you can to make him agree to this deal with us.”
“Come again?” Elijah asked, a small surprise smile forming on his lips.
“Marcel drove the werewolves out of town decades ago. My sister used a spell to make sure Caroline could never leave New Orleans. And if Marcel found out about this, do you really think he's going to welcome a hybrid baby to the neighborhood? Convince Klaus to help us, and no one has to know about the newest member of the Original family.”
“That sounds remarkably like blackmail.” Elijah concluded, not giving away any hint of an emotion behind it.
“Like I said, I'm desperate,” Sophie replied with a shrug.
Elijah nodded looking around and then fixing his eyes back on Sophie, he said, “Well, then, I have my work cut out for me, don't I?”
**
Caroline was standing just outside the mausoleum where everyone had gathered inside to tell Klaus about her pregnancy. She just waited for the right time to make her presence known. And she was more nervous about it than she would have liked to admit.
She hadn’t seen Klaus since that fateful morning and she had the feeling he would not be thrilled to learn about her pregnancy.
“Who cares,” she muttered then and kept listening.
“You know you're famous in this town? Witches tell bedtime stories about the powerful vampire Klaus. We know Marcel was nothing but an orphan street rat, until you made him what he is. And now he's out of control. He does what he wants, he kills who he wants. I'm gonna stop him, and you're gonna help me.” Caroline heard Sophie explain her intentions to Klaus.
“This is why you brought me here?” Klaus asked his voice sounding amused, even superior towards the witches.
“Niklaus, hear her out.” Elijah insisted.
“I don't need to hear her out. I assure you, love, there is not a thing on this earth that will matter enough for me to waste even thirty more seconds of my time.”
That was Caroline’s cue to enter, and the witches pushed her forward as she almost lost her balance while stepping inside the mausoleum.
“Elijah, what madness is this?”
Klaus turned to look at Elijah and consequently noticed Caroline standing there where she hadn’t been before. For the moment Klaus was shocked to see her but he recovered quickly.
“You're all out of your minds if you think this ridiculously insecure little human girl- no offense, sweetheart - means a thing to me.”
Klaus now looked like he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Sophie continued to talk, so Klaus turned to look at her once again.
“Marcel may be able to keep us from practicing real magic in this town, but as keepers of the balance we still know when nature has cooked up something new. For example, I have a special gift...of sensing when a girl is pregnant.”
Even without seeing Klaus’s face Caroline could feel all amusement leaving his system very quickly.
“What?”
“Apparently, they believe I’m pregnant, Klaus. Can you believe it? Because I can’t.” Caroline told him then, making Klaus turn to face her again.
He looked her over once more, eyes stopping at her stomach. Then he faced Sophie once more and shook his head, “It's impossible. Vampires cannot procreate.”
“But werewolves can. Magic made you a vampire, but you were born a werewolf. You're the Original hybrid, the first of your kind, and this pregnancy is one of nature's loopholes.”
Sophie talked like she wasn’t sure what was going on here herself.
Just then everyone was shocked when Klaus walked closer to Caroline, waving his index finger at her face, “You’ve been with someone else, admit it. Who was it?”
“Hey, you can believe whatever you want, Klaus, but there is no one else. I was always too enamored with you to pay attention to anyone else and you know that.”
“My sister gave her life to perform the spell she needed to confirm this pregnancy.” Sophie quickly continued. “Because of Jane-Anne's sacrifice, the lives of this girl and her baby are now controlled by us.”
Caroline looked at Elijah. He was shocked, she should have been too. But for some reason, all she felt was anger at Klaus for throwing accusations like that around.
“If you don't help us take down Marcel, so help me, Caroline won't live long enough to see her first maternity dress,” Sophie threatened.
“Enough of this,” Elijah said, his patience obviously thinning fast. “If you want Marcel dead, I’ll take care of it myself.”
“No. We can't, not yet. We have a clear plan that we need to follow, and there are rules.” Sophie argued.
Caroline’s gaze immediately snapped to Klaus because even she knew that Klaus didn’t stand for being ordered around and manipulated into doing anything. She had learned that the hard way early on.
“How dare you command me… threaten me, with what you wrongfully perceive to be my weaknesses.” Klaus started shouting at Sophie. “I won't hear any more lies.”
Before Klaus had the chance to do anything to Sophie, Elijah told him, “Niklaus, just listen.”
Klaus did. Caroline saw him look at her stomach as he focused on something. She didn’t understand what he was supposed to be hearing, but it only made Klaus angrier.
Because when he turned to look at Sophie, his voice was quiet, so quiet it was eerie.
“Kill her and the baby, what do I care.”
Then he just walked off.
It would have been a lie if Caroline said it didn’t affect her that Klaus was being so dismissive of her and their presumed baby now growing inside of her. But she wasn’t about to break down and cry about it either.
Because Elijah was not going to let it stay that way, she knew him that much.
And she was right.
“No one touches the girl. I'll fix this.”
Those were Elijah’s last words before he too disappeared into the night.
**
Elijah was standing on the balcony of the Abattoir overlooking the inner courtyard. It was filled with people who enjoyed the music and the atmosphere it created. He had followed his brother there and now he watched as Klaus entered the courtyard, waiting for Marcel to receive him.
And Marcel did. As soon as he noticed Klaus, he came over with a huge smile on his face.
“Hey, man, where'd you run off to?”
Once he realized Klaus was anything but in a party mood, he dialed back his glee.
“Someone put you in a mood. What can I do?”
“What you can do is you can tell me what this thing is that you have with the witches.” Klaus hissed at Marcel.
Interesting.
Five minutes ago, Klaus had made a grand show of not caring what the witches wanted.
Now he was demanding to know everything about them.
Elijah continued to listen.
“When I left 100 years ago, you were just a pathetic little scrapper still trembling from the lashes of the whips of those who would keep you down, and now look at you – master of your domain, prince of the city.”
The music stopped as Klaus had gotten everyone’s attention around him.
But he didn’t care, he just finished with, “I'd like to know how.”
“Why? Jealous?” Marcel’s smile only grew wider. “Hey, man, I get it. Three hundred years ago, you helped build a backwater penal colony into something. You started it, but then you left. Actually, you ran from it. I saw it through. Look around. Vampires rule this city now. I got rid of the werewolves. I even found a way to shut down the witches. The blood never stops flowing and the party never ends.”
Now Marcel’s arrogancy knew no limits. Just like someone else Elijah knew all too well.
“You wanna pass on through? You wanna stay a while? Great. What's mine is yours, but it is mine.” He emphasized with a hiss. “My home, my family, my rules.”
“And if someone breaks those rules?” Klaus continued to provoke Marcel.
“They die. Mercy is for the weak. You taught me that, too. And I'm not the prince of the Quarter, friend. I'm the king! Show me some respect.”
Elijah shook his head in annoyance. Marcel knew he couldn’t defeat Klaus even on his best day, yet he demanded respect like he deserved it by default.
Klaus took all of it in for a few moments, then he flashed towards one of Marcel's men, bit him viciously in the neck and then dropped him. Then he spoke without bothering to wipe his mouth clean.
“Your friend will be dead by the weekend, which means I've broken one of your rules. And yet I cannot be killed. I am immortal. Who has the power now, friend?”
To a stranger it might have looked like Klaus had completely lost it. Making things worse with Marcel when he needed to gain his trust above all.
But Elijah knew better.
Klaus was many things.
Reckless was rarely one of them.
As Elijah watched Marcel gather around the dying vampire, a small smile touched his lips.
Elijah was quite sure Caroline would be with them before clock stroke midnight that night. And he was right.
**
Elijah stood in the doorway separating the study from the adjoining living room.
Caroline sat behind a desk with a notepad open in front of her and a glass of water at her side. Every few seconds she would scribble something onto the page before stopping again, staring at her notes as though trying to remember what she'd forgotten.
The pencil disappeared between her teeth while she thought.
Elijah watched her quietly for a moment.
Whatever she was writing seemed to require an extraordinary amount of concentration.
“What are you doing?” Elijah finally dared to ask.
Caroline was startled by that as she nearly jumped in her seat.
“Elijah!” Her hand flew to her chest.
“Apologies, I didn’t mean to scare you.” Elijah said, walking further into the room.
“Well, you have all those vampire advantages, including sneaking up on your prey so I shouldn’t be surprised that you are actually using some of them occasionally.”
Elijah had to bite down a laugh.
“Don’t worry, Caroline, I don’t usually go after pregnant women when hungry.”
Not looking at Elijah, she continued writing and murmured, “Good to know.”
Elijah moved next to her chair and looked down to read what she was writing.
“Prenatal vitamins, a pregnancy pillow, maternity clothes…” he read from the notepad.
“Yeah, I already made a list of groceries we should get, including a few cravings I've already discovered. Now I’m making a list of things I’m gonna need along the way.” Caroline replied. “Also, I want to go to see a real doctor to confirm this pregnancy and make sure everything is fine with it.”
“The last thing is going to be a problem.” Elijah replied.
“Nonsense. My child will have the best medical care.” It was Klaus who appeared at the doorway.
“Niklaus, Caroline can’t leave New Orleans and Marcel has ears everywhere in the city.”
“Don’t you worry about that, brother. I have everything figured out.”
Elijah rounded the desk to stand in front of Klaus, “You have? Please do share with the room how are you going to make something like that possible.”
“It’s quite simple actually,” Klaus smiled. “I’m going to distract Marcel with something he will love to have. Once he has that, he will trust me and not try to follow me around.”
“And what is that something so valuable you are going to give him?” Elijah asked, being intrigued.
“You.”
Before Elijah could react, a sharp pain exploded through his chest.
He looked down.
The dagger was already there.
**
FLASHBACK
“Who’s that?” Caroline asked Bonnie while looking at a handsome guy who had just entered the party, looking around and smiling at the scene. He was gorgeous and sexy which was exactly her type.
Bonnie who was standing next to her, turned to look over her shoulder to what Caroline was looking at and shrugged.
“No clue. Haven’t seen him around before.”
“No kidding, he’s not a teacher, too young to be a parent, which only leaves him being someone’s plus one.” Caroline smiled as that really wasn’t an obstacle. It’s not like being plus one meant the same as being someone’s boyfriend.
Already her feet were moving at the handsome stranger’s direction as she told Bonnie, “I’ll see you later.”
“Caroline, don’t!” She heard Bonnie say, but Caroline wasn’t hearing it. She couldn’t let an opportunity like this go to waste.
When she reached him, she noticed that he was scanning the room, obviously looking for something or someone.
She stepped in front of him, blocking his view. Caroline smiled as she was asking, “Looking for me?”
The guy gave her a quick once-over from head to toe, but then his attention was back on the room.
“No, absolutely not.”
His British accent seemed to be completely authentic which only made him even more desirable.
As he was looking past her, Caroline moved her head to block his view once again and asked, “Are you sure?”
Caroline watched as he rolled his eyes and then grabbed her shoulders and looked straight at her and asked, “Tell me where Elena Gilbert is.”
The answer left her mouth before she even realized she was speaking, “Elena and Stefan haven’t arrived yet, they’re still on their way.”
“How do you know that?” He continued to ask impatiently.
“Elena just called Bonnie to let her know. Bonnie is Elena’s best friend and also mine.”
“Interesting.” He said, looking over her shoulder. Then he turned his attention back to Caroline, looked straight at her again and said, “Move along now. You have overgrown your usefulness.”
“Rude.”
That was what she thought, but she couldn't stay even if she wanted to. Her feet carried her across the room.
Only once she was safely away did she regain control of herself.
Caroline looked toward the spot where Bonnie had been standing moments earlier, but her friend was gone.
And so was the hot guy.
END OF THE FLASHBACK
**
Caroline looked up just in time to see Klaus stab Elijah in the heart with something smaller than a knife but equally as sharp.
She was up in an instant as Elijah’s body went limp and Klaus caught it easily while saying, “Forgive me, brother. There’s no other way.”
Caroline screamed, “Klaus, what are you doing? You can’t kill your own brother!”
“I’m not killing him, Caroline. Not really.”
“You just stabbed him in the heart. How is that any different?”
“It’s called daggering. Elijah will be in deep slumber, in a coffin. Which I’m going to deliver to Marcel as a way to cement my place in his inner circle.”
“He won’t die?”
“No. As long as the dagger is in his heart, he’ll just be comatose.”
Caroline sighed dramatically, “I hope you know what you’re doing, Klaus.”
Then she started to leave the room.
Klaus used the chance to step in front of her and stop her.
Caroline looked up as he looked down and their eyes met. Caroline couldn’t understand the look in his eyes. It was searching for something in hers but it was only a moment and then it was gone.
He grabbed the notepad from her hand.
“What is this?”
“Just some things I’m going to need due to being pregnant. Groceries and some other things.”
Klaus spent few seconds quickly scanning through the list and then taking his brother’s body, he started carrying it away. Before walking away, he just said, “You’ll have everything in this list”.
Once Klaus was gone, Caroline looked at the closed door and folded her arms.
"Figures you would run the moment you're left alone with me."