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He sees the gun, and backs up without thinking, scrambling as quickly as his small legs will carry him. The storm around them offered no mercy, rain pelting down on his face, smearing the blood from the fresh cut on Klaus’s cheek. His father is only further enraged, Mikael’s face twisting into a vicious sneer.
“Scared, boy? Pathetic, snivelling little-”
The gun raises and comes down on Klaus’s head and the boy saw stars, reeling from the hit. He stumbled back, slipping on the wet grass, Mikael’s earlier kicks having already sapped the energy from his body. The barn wall was rough on his back but he curled up on himself against it, trying his hardest to block out what Mikael was saying.
He thought about Elijah and Rebekah and Kol and Finn and Henrik, he thought about his drawings that he hid under his mattress and the last time his mother made him smile. He thought about how sad his sister would be if he missed her birthday next week and wondered what would happen to his brothers if Mikael got drunk and angry and he wasn’t there anymore.
Klaus looked up long enough to see Mikael take a step forward, towering over him, saw his hand raise and squeezed his eyes shut against whatever was going to happen.
“To think I ever called you my son.” Mikael laughed, the sound garbled over the boom of thunder
The gunshot was just as loud.
Klaus waited for the pain.
And waited.
The young boy stayed curled in a ball, giving in to the woozy feeling he’d grown accustomed to after his father’s beatings but thankfully, nothing else happened. The rain continued and Klaus knew he had to move soon. Shakily, he stood up, hoping that his father had given up and gone inside.
He didn’t expect to find his father’s body still on the grass, lying in pool of his own blood.
Klaus stepped forward slowly, not believing what he was seeing. His father didn’t move. The gun lay near him and, dazed, Klaus picked it up, not really believing that it was real.
That was how his mother found him.
xxx
“It’s dissociation Mrs. Mikaelson, the trauma of the…incident.
“He’s not just lying then?”
“I don’t believe so. He may just be blocking out the memory.”
Klaus knew what the doctors said about him, knew what his mother thought when she looked at him, knew what his siblings had imagined had happened.
After a while, he learned not to talk about it at all.
His mother entered the room then, smiling tentatively and crouching down in front of her sullen son. “Niklaus, the doctor said you’re doing very well.”
Klaus nodded, not saying anything. His mother sighed and took his hands into hers.
“You’re not in trouble, you know.”
He knew. He was smart enough to know things like that, and besides, Elijah had already told him that several times. Still, he remained stubbornly silent and Esther pressed her lips into a thin line at her son’s stubbornness.
“You may not tell me the truth Niklaus, but you might try to tell the doctor at least. You don’t want this to burden you your whole life.” Esther managed another smile and rubbed her thumb over the spot on his left wrist, the ‘special spot’, everyone called it.
She rose and left, leaving him to his own thoughts. Esther Mikaelson could never have stomached the thought of scandal and nobody else would ever know the truth of what Klaus had done, but in protecting her family’s reputation, Klaus still wished his mother could have protected him.
In the end, he guess it never mattered. Maybe he’d protected himself after all.
Honestly, Caroline Forbes was way too smart to be seduced by the idea of ‘soulmates’
It was the 21st century for crying out loud, and she was a modern and independent woman, thank-you-very-much, she did not need to turn her life upside down just because of some stupid numbers on her wrist that didn’t even mean anything these days.
“Don’t you think you’re being a little bitter?”
Bonnie had spent years listening to this little rant and Caroline had caught her mouthing along to it more than once. Still, some truth bombs needed to be dropped and she had no problem being the one to do it.
“Do you know how many people have been screwed over by these stupid numbers Bon?” Caroline asked, self-righteousness at an all time high. “A lot of people. There are dozens of reports of people faking ages just to trick someone into thinking they’re your soulmate, parents back in the day would use it to justify forced marriages.”
“Uh-huh.”
“And divorces used to be impossible because no one believed that soulmates could even want those, never mind that it was impossible to know if they were even meant for each other-”
“Yup.”
“And don’t get me started on Elena and her Salvatore fiasco-”
Bonnie dragged a hand over her face and took a long sip of her cocktail, scanning the restaurant to make sure Elena wasn’t about to join them. “Caroline, I was there, I don’t need a repeat-”
“I mean, how was she supposed to know she had met Damon before she actually knew him, and then her whole relationship with Stefan was a big mess because of that and to this day I’m pretty sure she’s still not totally sure who she’s actually in love with-”
“Elena, you made it!”
Bonnie’s louder than necessary greeting covered the last of Caroline’s ramblings as their friend joined the table, smiling brightly. Caroline fidgeted under the weight of her pent up frustrations but a pointed glare from Bonnie kept her quiet and she had to give it to her friend-she put up with a lot of her rants.
“So what’s up?” Elena asked.
“Caroline hates love,” Bonnie replied dryly.
The blonde rolled her eyes, “I do not hate love. I hate antiquated traditions that mean nothing.”
Elena smiled knowingly, “Caroline, have you considered that it could still happen? You could still realize who your soulmate is, and you’ve already met him!”
Technically, Elena was probably right. But it didn’t help matters and it certainly didn’t narrow down who her ‘soulmate’ could be.
Once upon a time, Caroline had wanted nothing more than to be like the princesses she read about in her storybooks, the ones who looked at the numbers on their wrists and knew to ask their Prince Charmings how old they were as soon as they laid eyes on them. They’d ride off into the sunset, white horse and all.
Caroline had believed that, wanted that. She spent the months leading up to her eighteenth birthday hoping for something low like five (she’d met Matt on the first day of kindergarten, how perfect would that’ve been?), or something higher, but in the twenties, so she knew her perfect life plan would still be on track.
The morning of her eighteenth had come, and all she got was a lousy ‘ten’. She racked her brains, wondering if she’d met anybody when they were exactly ten, but came up with nothing. And how awful would it be now, to run into some ten year old boy who still thought girls were icky, but was destined to fall in love with her in a few decades when it wasn’t grossly illegal?
Yeah, soulmates were ridiculous. She’d shelved that idea long ago and focused on sensible things like college and moving to the city and dating men who occasionally weren’t complete losses.
There was no denying that when their numbers weren’t compatible, some of them just gave up on the idea of committing long term. But Caroline was nothing if not an optimist and so many people had long, loving marriages with incompatible numbers, she wasn’t about to give up on the life plan just yet.
Elena, on the other hand, was a hopeless romantic. “Just think, you run into some guy, you hit it off and it turns out you bumped into each other when you were kids but never saw each other again, only to meet now and fall in love.”
“Pretty sure that’s a lifetime movie,” Caroline remarked and Elena rolled her eyes.
“Fine, but when it happens, you owe me fifty bucks.”
“I’ll take that action,” Caroline said confidently.
“I want in on this,” Bonnie added, “And Caroline will definitely be able to pay up because of her brand new job!”
The topic of soulmates was forgotten and Caroline beamed, practically bouncing in excitement. She’d done her work in college, risen through the ranks at every entry-level and internship position she’d had since she graduated and now she was finally reaping her reward.
“To our very own time-traveller,” Elena said, raising her glass in toast. “May she not accidentally screw up all of history.”
“Ha-ha,” Caroline said dryly. “Could you keep your voice down? I haven’t even signed all the paperwork yet and I’m not supposed to be gossiping.”
Like any government job, bureaucracy was a pain in the ass. The Tempus Division was no exception, but even with their insane rules Caroline knew she wanted to work there, had wanted it for years.
“You’re gonna be great Care,” Bonnie said proudly and they laughed and drank the evening away, thoughts firmly set towards the future.
In retrospect, Caroline had always imagined time-travel to be a lot more glamorous.
She’d expected a lot of holograms and glass doors and, for some reason, a lot of people wearing white, but the Tempus Division headquarters in New York was a lot like other office buildings. If it wasn’t for the tile inlay depicting a giant clock in the lobby, Caroline could’ve been working for an investment firm.
The people weren’t much of an improvement.
Her boss Alaric was great, a history buff from what she could make out and that was the reason he joined, but it seemed like even he didn’t get the chance to go out into the ‘field’, regulated mostly to the massive amounts of paperwork it took to make sure that any and all time-jumps were being done properly and that the course of history was in fact not in danger from someone who decided they wanted to be a tourist at a Beatles concert.
Aside from him though, she probably could’ve gotten her coworkers from any other office in the city. It didn’t help that at the moment, her job was literally just that-an office job. She was Alaric’s underling, which meant putting together the approval reports for jumps and researching the locations to make sure all field-agents knew what they were going into. Time-travel was research, mostly. Research and paperwork and boring.
“It always sounds cooler than it is,” her cubicle neighbour Enzo had said on her first day. “But could you imagine what would happen if we just let people run around time?”
Caroline had to admit he was right, and honestly it wasn’t so bad, overall. She put her nose to the grindstone, impressed Alaric, and she knew that a promotion was coming her way soon.
Every now and then she let Enzo and some of her other coworkers pull her away from her desk for after-work drinks, and got the gossip on the time-agents who actually did get to do the fun stuff.
“They’re bloody uptight if you ask me,” Enzo said one night.
“Please, you’re just bitter because Rebekah Mikaelson keeps turning you down for a date,” said Katherine smugly.
“Mikaelson…there are like, four of them, right?”
“Yup,” Katherine nodded. “Elijah’s a handler, Klaus and Rebekah are agents and their brother Kol is a rookie like us.”
“My ears are burning Kitty Kat, thinking about me again?”
A tall twenty-something man shoved his way into the booth, shooting a grin at Caroline and appraising her quickly. “Now darling, what’s your name?”
“Don’t start Mikaelson, go find some other newbie to harass,” Katherine snapped, shoving him away.
“Ah, ah, ah, Kat, don’t want to spoil your chances of promotion now do we?” asked Kol, waggling his eyebrows.
“Why, what have you heard?!” Katherine asked, unable to hide her excitement.
“Let’s just say Elijah might have accidentally let it slip who the next agent is going to be,” Kol replied, losing his smug grin when Katherine nearly took his ear off in her squeal of excitement.
“Just wait gorgeous, it’ll be us soon,” Enzo said, winking at Caroline while Katherine and Kol bickered across from them.
Caroline grinned and clinked her glass with him. Paperwork was boring as hell but he was right. She just had to put in the work and her time would come.
Turns out, their time came in five months.
“And that is my last piece of paperwork as a rookie!” Enzo rolled his chair back and held up a hand for a high-five which Caroline happily returned.
“Lucky. I have to drop these off with Alaric and then I’m done.”
“Drinks to celebrate?”
“Definitely. See if Katherine can join?”
“She was doing some work in Pre-Revolution France but I’ll text her.”
She bade him goodbye, grabbed the stack of files on her desk and made her over to Alaric’s office, knocking softly.
“Hey Caroline. Excited for tomorrow?”
She nodded eagerly and he chuckled, “I just hope the next recruit is as good at paperwork.”
She couldn’t help feeling proud as she dropped the files on his desk and made to leave, only for Alaric to stop her.
“Before you leave, could I ask a quick favour?”
The office was entirely emptied out, but as much as Caroline wanted to get out and celebrate, she knew it wouldn’t kill her, Alaric had personally recommended her for agent status. “Sure.”
Alaric reached into the top drawer of his desk and pulled out what looked like a black watch. “Take this to R&D would you? It’s malfunctioning, sent Kol Mikaelson to Germany, 1939, instead of England last week.”
Caroline snorted, “Bet he loved that.”
Alaric laughed and handed her the watch. Caroline stepped out of his office, inspecting it carefully. This was a CRONOS timepiece, the devices which made it all possible, and finally holding one in her hands seemed surreal.
Now, Caroline had been doing the gruntwork on jumps for months, she knew the protocols like the back of her hand.
So really, she should’ve known not to start pressing buttons.
One second she was stepping into an elevator, the next, the ground lurched and she was pitched forward, knees sinking into…grass?
The cool air-conditioned office gave way to frigid rain driving into her face. Loud thunder boomed overhead and Caroline gasped, her stomach twisting into knots, the nausea she’d heard agents talking about hitting her in full force.
Trying to gulp down deep breaths, Caroline attempted to stand, only for her legs to give way and her stomach to give another unpleasant lurch. Before she could stop herself she was heaving, bringing up the contents of her lunch on the wet grass next to her. When she was finally done and feeling somewhat steadier, she finally managed to lift herself up, wiping her hand against her mouth in disgust, wincing at the sharp aftertaste of bile.
God, did she actually want to do this for a living?
The rain continued to beat down on Caroline’s face as she tried to get her bearings. It looked like she’d landed in someone’s very, very large backyard, although that was an understatement. Grounds, would be more accurate. There was a large house nearby, but there was no way she was interacting with people, god knew where she was. One wrong move and she could end up back home only to find that penicillin had never been invented.
The possibilities for disaster were endless.
Aside from the house, she could at least make out that there was some kind of shed nearby, and if nothing else then she could at least find shelter and figure out how to get herself home. Having settled on a plan, she moved towards the shed, only to fling herself back when two people came into view.
Caroline ducked behind a nearby tree, grateful for the power of the storm which hopefully hid her. She was close enough to see that there was some kind of fight happening, between a grown man and… was that a kid?!
A clap of lightning covered her gasp as she saw the older man raise a gun and bring it down on the boy’s head, sending the poor thing reeling back until he hit the shed.
“No no no no no,” Caroline muttered, heart pounding in her eyes.
Do not interfere.
Do not interfere.
Do not interfere.
Every single rule she had learnt was pounding in her head but the small boy couldn’t have been older than nine or ten and he’d curled up on himself, trying to shield himself from whatever was coming.
The man was stumbling slightly and if Caroline had to guess she’d say he was drunk and she couldn’t hold in the wave of fury she felt when she saw the jackass laugh at the kid, raising the gun again.
Do not interfere.
But how could she live with herself if she let some kid die?
Her legs were moving and before she knew what she was doing Caroline was standing next to the man, grabbing the gun out of his hands. He was too shocked to stop her, and his laughter faltered, eyes widening in shock.
One second and his shock started to turn into anger.
One second and Caroline had squeezed her eyes shut, pulling on the trigger.
Nothing happened.
Caroline’s eyes flew open and she stared at the gun, then back at the man who was slowly realizing that she was a threat and his mouth twisted into a snarl taking one step forward-
BANG
Whatever had jammed the gun before gave way, and Caroline dropped it to the ground. The man was on the ground, blood pooling out of a stomach wound and Caroline reeled back. She cast one look at the little boy but he was still curled into a ball and didn’t appear to be moving. She wanted so badly to check on him, but she had just killed someone.
She’d taken a life. Broken one of the most fundamental rules of time travel.
This wasn’t just a ‘lose-your-job’ offense, she might have just endangered the entire fabric of her future.
Caroline spun on her heel and ran for the trees, not stopping for a good ten minutes. When she was deep into the woods and satisfied that no one was following her she slumped against the tree and sank to the ground, the weight of what she’d just done settling on her shoulders.
The rain was slightly lessened under the canopy of the trees but the thunder still rattled her and Caroline didn’t know how long she sat there on the forest floor. Finally, she raised her wrist, staring at the CRONUS and praying silently that she could figure out how to get home.
Luckily for her, the malfunction hadn’t affected the return protocols. She fumbled her way through some commands but with another unpleasant jolt she was miles away from a cold forest, instead, curled into a ball on the hard floor on an elevator in Tempus Division headquarters.
She could hear how ragged her own breaths sounded but she couldn’t bring herself to get up. Outside the elevator, everything could be different, and she couldn’t bring herself to get up and find out.
As it turned out, she didn’t have to.
The elevator doors slid open and suddenly there was someone crouching down next to her, warm hands travelling down her arms, pulling her upright.
“Love, are you alright?”
Caroline found herself staring into a pair of blue eyes, framed in a handsome face, full lips and dark gold curls. She’d appreciate the picture (and the accent) so much more, but she could barely get words out.
“What the bloody hell happened to you?” he asked, a little more insistently when he took in her damp clothes, and shaking hands.
“It malfunctioned,” Caroline whispered, “The-the CRONUS.”
The blonde man noticed the timepiece on the floor and he cursed, picking it up carefully. “How did you get this?” he asked, deadly serious.
Caroline gulped down air, trying to steady herself. As she did, she figured that she had to assume not much had changed and she had to act as if nothing major had happened if she wanted to avoid life in jail.
“It’s from Alaric Saltzman, I’m supposed to take it to R&D. It, uh…sort of acts on his own.”
“Well that would be a problem, wouldn’t it?” Klaus murmured, smirking down at her as he helped her to her feet. “Klaus Mikaelson, by the way.”
“Caroline Forbes. I know your brother, Kol.”
“Sorry for that,” he said and Caroline smiled, in spite of everything.
“I should really get that thing to R&D,” Caroline said, holding out her hand for it.
“Wait a moment-what happened to you?” Klaus asked, serious again.
Caroline’s mind raced for a plausible story and settled on one that was close to the truth. “I don’t know where it took me, one minute I was in the elevator, the next, I was in someone’s backyard, near a forest. It was the middle of the night, pouring rain, I didn’t see anyone.”
Klaus raised his eyebrows, “Well thank god for that.”
Caroline nodded, hoping he didn’t pick up on how nervous she was. Unfortunately for her, Klaus seemed inordinately interested in her, standing close in front, still holding her elbows to keep her steady. It was impossible not to notice how the Henley he wore suited him very well, a few necklaces peeking out from under the collar.
“Let me guess, first jump?” Klaus said, slightly pitying.
“I’m an analyst,” Caroline said, by way of explanation. Well, technically an agent now, but she had a feeling her promotion may be rescinded over this.
“Time travel isn’t for everyone,” Klaus said, annoyingly smug, and Caroline couldn’t stand the condescension in his voice.
“Guess not,” she said sharply, stepping away from him, CRONUS in hand. “Look, I should really get going, this could send us both into the middle of a warzone.”
“I’d protect you!” Klaus called after her as she quickly strode away and if she wasn’t still rattled, Caroline would take the time to come up with a witty retort, but was not in top form. It didn’t help that he was irritatingly hot and she’d allowed that to fluster her.
Still, that wasn’t what she should be concerned about. One hot guy was the absolute least of her problems. The CRONUS was dropped off at R&D, with a hurried explanation to a young tech named Davina who looked very confused at why Caroline was soaking wet in the middle of the day.
Once she’d managed to get out of there, Caroline made a beeline back up to her cubicle, shoving her things into a bag, making a hurried call to Enzo to tell him that she wouldn’t be showing up to drinks after all and she’d explain it all tomorrow.
The ride on the subway was the same as always, her neighbourhood was the same, her apartment, the city, all of it was exactly the same. The farther away from headquarters she got, the more it all seemed like some surreal dream and when she’d successfully eaten half a carton of ice cream and downed some whiskey she’d stored away for emergencies, Caroline could finally accept that nothing about the world had changed.
She hadn’t committed treason against humanity.
That didn’t change the fact that she was a killer.
Still, that man was going to kill a little boy. At least something good had come out of this, she told herself. If this was something she had to live with, then she was going to learn to do that.
For now, she had to focus on her own future.
Caroline’s heart pounded as she made the walk to Alaric’s office, thumb absentmindedly rubbing her wrist. This was something she’d done a thousand times, but it had never seemed so long. She risked a glance at her old cubicle, hoping that she wasn’t going to be regulated to it for the rest of her time here.
She faltered outside of Alaric’s office but knew that other people were going to think something was seriously wrong if she didn’t move. Sucking it up, she knocked on the Alaric’s door, stepping inside at her boss’s invitation.
“Hey Caroline, ready for your first day?”
So apparently, no one was getting fired.
“Totally ready!” Caroline replied forcing a wide smile on her face. Some of her earlier excitement came back and Alaric smiled gently.
“At least the first time won’t be such of a shock for you,” Alaric said, a little sympathetically.
“Sorry?”
“Well after what happened yesterday-”
“You know?!” Caroline cried, alarmed.
Alaric laughed, “Relax Caroline! It was just a malfunction, you got lost in some woods, it was dark and you didn’t see anybody. No harm done, right?”
Caroline stood there like an idiot, her mouth opening and closing silently. “Right…” she said weakly. “No harm done.”
She tried to calm the pounding of her heart, until another thought occurred to her. “Wait… how did you know all of that?”
Alaric grinned, "I was told about it when I was briefing your new trainer.”
Caroline’s eyes had just widened into saucers when the door opened and the condescending-yet-hot Klaus Mikaelson from the day before stepped inside, smirking at Caroline.
“Mikaelson, just on time. Caroline and I were just discussing her jump yesterday.”
“Ah yes, I remember.” Klaus turned to Caroline, appraising her carefully. “You know love, you really don’t have to take on agent responsibilities if it’s not to your liking.”
“I can do it,” Caroline snapped back, anger flaring.
Alaric looked between them uncertainly, but decided against saying anything. “Right, so I’ll just let you guys get to work.”
Klaus held the door open for her, permanent smirk now seriously grating on her nerves. Caroline strode out, faltering when she realized she didn’t know where to go.
“Follow me sweetheart,” Klaus called out over his shoulder, already walking towards the elevators. Caroline frowned and hurried after him, stepping into the elevator heading up.
“Why did you think I wouldn’t want to be an agent?” she asked when the doors had slid shut.
Klaus looked over at her, thinking about his answer. “Truthfully, you looked like you’d been to hell and back yesterday,” Klaus explained. “And you were gone for less than half-an-hour, in some forest, without anything else happening. If that’s too much for you…”
He let the insinuation hang in the air and Caroline bristled under his words. On one hand, she couldn’t very well tell him that part of her panicked state was because she’d committed a murder, on the other hand, she wanted to punch him in the face.
“I was just…taken by surprise,” she said through gritted teeth. “I’ve wanted this job for years. I can do it.”
Klaus pulled a face quickly, like he didn’t quite believe her, but Caroline caught it out of the corner of her eye and he smoothed his face into a mask of indifference.
“If you say so love.”
“Caroline, my name is Caroline,” she said, irritated.
Klaus just chuckled in response as they arrived at their floor and he led her to the end of a hallway, pulling open the door and leading her inside the corner office.
“Impressive,” Caroline said,looking through the floor to ceiling windows to the city below. She regretted the compliment immediately when she saw how smug he looked.
“Comes with the territory of being one of the best.”
God, this guy was an asshole.
“So where do we start?” asked Caroline, fidgeting slightly.
Klaus smirked as he took a seat behind his desk, motioning for Caroline to sit. “We start with the paperwork.”
She couldn’t keep in her groan, after months of the stuff, she’d hoped she’d never have to fill in a form again, but Klaus just dumped the heavy stack of paper in front of her. “You know the rules, love.”
She wanted to snap back at the continued endearments but she figured that pissing off her new trainer would only go badly in the long run, so she settled for her best death glare and held out a hand for a pen.
Klaus obliged and set to work explaining the liability forms, while Caroline signed her name on every dotted line. As she got to the end, Klaus fell silent and she looked up to see him staring at her left wrist.
“Something wrong?”
“Nothing at all,” he replied smoothly. “Childhood sweetheart then?”
Noticing the numbers was common, and when people saw Caroline’s they usually expected some sort of story. It was so tedious though, to go through the same conversation a million times.
“Nope, I’m don’t know who it is and at this point I’ll probably never figure it out.”
She braced herself for one of the usual pitying remarks but Klaus just looked at her like he was trying to figure out a puzzle. “You don’t sound very disappointed.”
Caroline snorted, turning her attention back to her twenty third signature. “Please, it’s a stupid, outdated tradition that never made any sense. “
“You should tell my sister,” Klaus replied, watching her carefully. “Shame, though.”
“What is?”
He grinned wolfishly and held up his left wrist, tugging down the sleeve of his jacket just enough that Caroline could see the clear little ‘25’ on his skin.
She was a little ashamed to say that her mouth ran dry and heart thudded in her chest for just a second before reality and common sense caught up with her.
“Yeah, well, unless you used to hang around small town Virginia as a kid, I doubt we’re going to be on the ‘Soulmates of New York’ facebook page,” Caroline said, recovering quickly.
Klaus shrugged, “Unfortunately my mother only moved us across the Atlantic when I was fifteen.”
“Well, there you go.” Caroline put down her pen and pushed the stack back to Klaus, who didn’t even bother to flip through it. Instead, he pulled out a white box from his desk and opened the top, taking out a CRONUS and placing it in front of Caroline, who couldn’t help her wide smile of excitement at finally, finally getting her one of her own.
Still, she hesitated just before picking it up. “This one works, right?” she asked.
Her trainer just smirked, and Caroline remembered that he was probably looking for signs that she wasn’t cut out for this like he seemed to believe, so she sucked it up and took the watch, snapping it around her wrist and staring at her reflection on the empty screen.
“Well, you’re not going anywhere if you don’t turn it on,” Klaus remarked, and Caroline nearly jumped when she realized he had gotten up to come stand right next to her.
“Ready when you are,” she said confidently, smile just a little too sharp to be kind.
Klaus recognized the challenge, stepped a little closer and Caroline fought to keep her head straight.
“Alright love. Let’s see what you’re made of.”
“Seriously? I had him and you know it!” Caroline flopped down at her desk, watching Klaus through narrowed eyes as he took a seat at his own, far too nonchalant for her liking.
“Sweetheart, when someone saves your life, the polite thing to do is thank them,” he drawled, smirking at her like a cat that had the canary.
One year of this and he was still like this, the smirks, the petnames, the ridiculous innuendos at the worst possible moments. Unfortunately, he was still a damn good agent and Caroline had to admit that him training her was probably part of the reason she’d done so well on her performance review and the reason she’d been assigned to keep working with him as junior partner. She’d expected Enzo or Kat or hell, even his slightly loony little brother, but Elijah was under the impression that Klaus and Caroline made a good team.
She wondered if he’d still think that if Caroline finally gave into impulse and strangled his brother in the middle of a jump.
“I wasn’t in any life-threatening danger, Klaus,” Caroline said, slightly exasperated that she had to explain this to him. “If you weren’t so busy watching me, the other guy wouldn’t have gotten away!”
Klaus’s smirk dropped then and he looked weirdly serious. “It’s my job to look out for you sweetheart, Get used to it.”
“I’m not a rookie anymore!”
“Like that matters?”
Caroline couldn’t figure out where this was coming from and she tried to reason with him with logic. “Klaus, catching illegal jumpers is more important than making sure I’m okay.”
His lips pressed into a hard line and he genuinely looked pissed at what she said, but Caroline was not about to forget the rules that he had spent so long instilling in her. Then again, maybe they’d just had a long day and needed to come back at this with clearer heads. They were a good team but that meant a heavy workload, and too many jumps had a way of disorienting people.
“At least it’s Friday,” she said, after an awkward silence.
Klaus nodded, suddenly more interested with his desk than her. Caroline frowned, searching for something harmless they could talk about to ease the suddenly sour mood. “Hey, you’re going on a date with that redhead from HR, right?”
Caroline almost cringed at the too-fake cheerfulness in her voice, and especially at the fact that out of everything in the world, she decided to bring up his dating life. She and Klaus had gotten…closer, over the past nine months. There was no way they could avoid that. They had inside jokes and even though he pissed her off almost constantly, she was reluctant to admit that he’d wormed his way under her skin. Whenever the cockiness faded there was excitement, enthusiasm, and genuine passion for the places they went and the things they saw. He’d tell her stories about cities and art and he made time travel the amazing adventure she’d always imagined it to be, past the rules and the paperwork that could suck the life out of what was an amazing experience.
So yeah, Klaus wasn’t all bad. And it didn’t help that as they got more comfortable, his undeniable good looks might have caused her to stare just a little longer than necessary when she wasn’t paying attention. And when he told her stories, the way his accent wrapped around the words (and god help her, her own name) might have gotten her heart beating just a little faster than normal.
But it was unprofessional and Caroline had not worked so hard only to blow it. Besides, Klaus was still a private person, and there was a whole lot she didn’t know about him. Including his love life.
He had a bit of a reputation, but that was just office gossip. And if the weird look on his face now was any indication, maybe she shouldn’t have listened to it.
“You know I’m going on a date?”
Caroline winced, “Uh, I might have heard it from Kat, who heard it from Enzo, who might have overheard Rebekah mentioning it to Elijah.”
Klaus rolled his eyes, “She really needs to learn to keep her mouth shut.”
He didn’t seem too irritated at her and Caroline was immensely glad for that. “Hey, lighten up! Have some fun, you deserve it.”
She barely even registered what she was saying, but Klaus looked oddly touched by what she said. “Thank you, Caroline. What about you?” The smirk was back, along with a little gleam in his eye. “Any special plans?”
Caroline ignored what he was really asking. “Actually, some friends of mine are having a party to celebrate me reaching full agent status.”
Klaus smiled proudly. “You deserve it.”
Caroline matched his smile, suddenly a little bashful as she blushed under his praise. “Thanks, Klaus. Hey, you should drop by!” She blurted out her invitation, and continued as his eyebrows raised in surprise. “Just, you know, if you have time after your date.”
Klaus nodded dumbly and Caroline hoped she hadn’t made things awkward again. They were friends, but aside from celebratory post-mission drinks, they’d never made house-calls on each other. Well, first time for everything.
When they’d finished their briefings for Elijah, Klaus and Caroline went their separate ways, and Caroline let herself get swept up in the well-wishes of friends, coworkers, and the copious amounts of alcohol that they’d so graciously provided. Everyone was having a good time and Caroline giggled as she watched Kol Mikaelson unabashedly try to flirt with Bonnie while Elena, Enzo and Katherine took bets on how long it would be before she threw her drink in his face.
“That’s it, who had fifteen minutes?” Katherine called out, leading to a drunken whoop from Enzo.
“Was this a great idea or what?” he asked, raising his glass. “To gorgeous, the best junior time agent who isn’t me!”
He got at least a few disbelieving scoffs from the others, but the mood was light and Caroline laughed happily.
“Hey Care, who are you waiting for?” asked Elena.
Caroline cocked her to the side, “What do you mean, I’m not waiting for anyone.”
“You keep looking over at the door.”
Had she been doing that all night? All her friends were here, there was no one that she was expecting to show up-
Well. Maybe one person.
“I know who it is,” Katherine said, smiling wickedly. “Her hot partner-slash-boss.”
“You fancy Mikaelson?!” Enzo asked, a little too loudly for her liking.
“Could you keep your voice down,” she hissed, “And no,” she said pointedly to Katherine. “I am not waiting for Klaus to show up. I may have invited him-’
“Ha!”
“But only because it was polite. He trained me, he’s the reason I”m an agent in the first place.”
“Any chance you met him before you worked there?” asked Elena, trying and failing to sound casual.
“No Elena, I didn’t not meet Klaus when he was ten,” said Caroline rolling her eyes. “Can we move past this?”
“I hear you fancy my brother?” A posh drawl joined the conversation and Caroline groaned, not willing to put up with Rebekah Mikaelson’s scruinty on what was supposed to be a fun night.
“No I do not,” Caroline said through gritted teeth. “We’re professionals.”
The blonde looked highly unimpressed and Caroline got the impression she didn’t believe a word of that.
Thankfully someone up there was on her side because their attention was suddenly captured by the sharp sound of a slap and they turned to see the latest development in Kol’s pursuit of Bonnie. The issue dropped, but stayed on Caroline’s mind through the party, even when the others had left her alone in her apartment as they staggered home.
Klaus was her boss, her partner (at work), and her friend. He was also currently on a date so there was really no point in even entertaining the possibility that would’ve shown up.
Ding-dong.
Honestly, she knew who it was before she even pressed the buzzer to ask who it was.
“I know it’s late, any chance you’ll let me up?” The voice was familiar even over the static and Caroline buzzed him up, waiting with baited breath for the knock on her door, nearly jumping two feet in the air when it finally came.
“Sorry I missed the party, may I come in?”
Caroline considered the consequences, but honestly, the few margaritas she’d had earlier were still with her, and Klaus was smiling in that way of his and it honestly didn’t seem like such a bad idea.
“How was your date?” she asked, if only to be polite.
“Not terribly exciting. I won’t be doing it again,” he said. He scanned her apartment, and if this were nine months ago, Caroline would’ve thought he was being critical, but honestly, he just seemed really interested. His eyes lingered over her photos, over the old quilt on her couch, the little knick knacks she’d collected. He looked like he was drinking it all in, storing it away for some reason she couldn’t guess.
“Can I get you anything?”
He shook his head, “I don’t want to impose, I know it’s late. I just…wanted to give you something.”
Caroline raised an eyebrow, “What is it?”
Klaus reached into his jacket, pulling out a small box and handing it over. Unable to control her curiosity, Caroline pulled open the top, and gasped at the small necklace she found inside. It was a fine gold chain, and dangling from it, not bigger than her fingernail, was a small gold pendant of an hourglass.
“Congratulations on everything, Caroline. You’re one of the best.”
There wasn’t a trace of humour in his voice, in that moment, Klaus was completely sincere. Caroline could only stand there like an idiot, mouth agape until she found words.
“Klaus..this is beautiful, I can’t accept this.”
“I think you’ll find that you can,” he said, and some of his arrogance was back. Klaus always got what he wanted. “It’s just a token of appreciateion…and of apology. Consider it my way of saying sorry for underestimating you.”
Well, Caroline could really say he was wrong there. Still, this was too much, too intimate for what they were.
What were they, again?
“Thank you,” she said softly, throwing good caution to the wind. Klaus smiled at her acceptance, taking the necklace from her fingers.
“May I?”
Caroline nodded and turned, sweeping her hair to one side so that Klaus could fasten the clasp around her neck. She shivered at the warmth of his fingertips, goosebumps breaking out along her skin and her breathing stuttered.
“You were wrong, you know.” His voice was so close to her ear. “When you said that catching jumpers was more important than making sure you’re alright.”
Caroline turned to look up at him, close enough that they were practically pressed up against each other.
“Nothing is more important to me than making sure you stay safe and get home alive.”
In retrospect, she didn’t know if he leant down to her or if she rose to meet him, all Caroline knew was that the last remaining space between them was gone and his lips were pressed to hers, arms winding around her waist while her hands found their way to the back of his neck. He pulled her closed, kissing deeper, and Caroline felt the months of pent up frustration give way into something amazing.
Before she could get too lost though, the realities of why she didn’t think her and Klaus could ever be a thing caught back up to her. “Wait,” she whispered, pulling back. Frustration and rejection flashed across his face for just a moment, but Caroline knew that she didn’t want whatever, this was to be something that she regretted.
Determinedly, Caroline took Klaus by the hand and led him over to her couch, sitting down and inviting him to do the same.
“Klaus, we barely know anything about each other.”
“I beg to differ.”
“Fine then, I don’t know anything about you.”
Klaus frowned, wondering how true that was. “What do you want to know?”
Caroline shrugged, not even really sure what she was after. She just wanted something to even this field, while Klaus may have been memorizing all the details she knew she let slips when she rambled, he’d remained so tight-lipped about himself.
“Tell me a secret,” she suggested, feeling a little juvenile.
Klaus watched her carefully for a moment. “I killed my father.”
He could’ve physically knocked the breath out of her and it would’ve had less of an impact. “You…what?”
His face shuttered over, warmth leaving completely. “I was a child. My father Mikael was an abusive bastard, and used to take great pleasure in taking out his anger on me.”
Caroline couldn’t help by reach over and squeeze his hand, gratified when he interlaced their fingers. “Klaus, I’m so sorry, I didn’t want to make you relive something like this, you don’t have to tell me anything.”
He shook his head. “You might as well know. One night, during a storm, Mikael dragged out of our house, far enough where my siblings and mother wouldn’t be able to interfere. He had a gun with him, something he used to to scare me with. It was never loaded. But that night, I suppose…”
He trailed off, lost in memory. If he hadn’t been, he might’ve noticed that all the blood had drained from Caroline’s face and she looked very, very close to passing out.
“I don’t remember the incident very well. The doctors call it dissociation, because of the trauma of the incident. I’d hit my head, and thought I was nearly passing out, but at some point, I grabbed the gun and shot him.”
“You…you’re sure…”
Klaus nodded, eyes pressed shut. “It was only me, and the only explanation.”
He looked over at Caroline then and noticed her pale face, mistaking what it meant. In one swift movement he stood, regretting his candor immediately.
“Wait!” Caroline shot to her feet, taking his hand again. “Klaus, you don’t have to leave.”
“Don’t I?” He smiled bitterly. “This is probably more than you bargained for.”
Oh, he had no idea. But Caroline fought through her own panic, needing him to realize that she didn’t hold this against him.
How could she?
“This doesn’t change what just happened,” she said finally.
Klaus faltered, hope rising once more. “Don’t say anything you might want to take back,” he said finally. “Take the weekend. I’ll see you Monday morning.”
He walked to her front door and Caroline was left in her living room, trying to process what had just happened.
She’d killed a man and that man happened to be Klaus’s father.
She’d saved him before she even knew him.
“Klaus!”
He turned just before the door shut. “What is it?”
“When…when it happened, how old were you?”
“I was ten.”
If Caroline rubbed her skin any harder, it would be raw. As it was, the patch of her wrist around the number ‘ten’ was an angry red. She hadn’t been able to sleep, barely ate, just paced up and down and up and down, coming to terms with what she’d learnt.
She’d killed a man.
She’d saved Klaus.
The first time she saw Klaus had not been in an elevator when he was 29, but as a scared, ten year old boy.
Oh, she was so screwed.
Somewhere, fate was laughing at her, she knew it.
After a solid forty eight hours of panic, she was left with only one conclusion: she had to tell Klaus.
The thought of him hating her for this was huge, but there was no way she could justify letting him live with the knowledge that he’d killed his father when it was actually her fautlt. This had shaped him, changed him and she was to blame for all of it.
Monday morning came and she nearly threw up under the stress of what she had to do. She called in sick, hoping no one asked any questions, postponing the inevitable for just a little longer.
It was late evening when her door buzzed and Caroline prayed for Elena or Enzo or Bonnie, but no such luck.
“Caroline, let me up.”
She didn’t even respond, but let him up, waiting for his knock like she had three nights ago. How things had changed since then. When she swung open the door he didn’t wait to come inside, he’d clearly come straight from work and he looked more frazzled than she’d ever seen him.
“Are you avoiding me?” he asked finally.
Caroline ducked her head, unable to look him in the eyes. “Yes.”
Klaus sucked in a breath, and Caroline finally raised her head to see that she had caused that look of hurt on his face, hating herself just a little more.
“We can’t be together, Klaus,” she started, voice small.
“I see,” he said coldly. “Because of what I told you?”
Caroline shook her head. “No, because of what I’m about to tell you.”
His eyebrows raised in confusion and Caroline tried to find any words. “You didn’t kill your dad. I did.”
The silence hung between them like a chasm.
“What did you say?” he asked, hoarsely.
“That day in the elevator when the CRONUS malfunctioned, I lied,” Caroline admitted through a sheen of tears. “I was in your backyard that night, I took the gun from your father, I shot him.”
Klaus reeled back, collapsing on her couch, staring up at her like he was seeing her for the first time. “You…you killed Mikael.”
Caroline nodded, “I’m so sorry.”
They sat in silence, Klaus holding his head in his hands while he thought over everything he’d ever believed about that night.
“I need to go back.”
Caroline snapped her head up in shock. “Are you sure?”
He nodded grimly. “I need to see it with my own eyes.”
“You’ve never thought about doing it before?” she asked softly.
Klaus dragged a tired hand over his face. “I never wanted to have my worst fears confirmed.”
Caroline nodded. “Alright. I’m coming with you.”
Klaus pulled back in shock. “Why?”
She stepped forward, tilting her chin up in determination. “Because I don’t want you to have to deal with this alone.”
The rain pounded, the thunder boomed, Klaus and Caroline kept their positions steady out of the line of sight of anyone there that night. Caroline kept shooting nervous glances at Klaus, but his eyes were fixed on the shed, waiting for what was coming. They were close enough to have a good vantage point, Klaus’s memory of his childhood home being their greatest advantage.
“Here he comes,” Klaus said bitterly. They watched as Mikael strode into view, a vice-grip on young Klaus’s arm, the boy twisting futilely to get away. Caroline had to physically bite her tongue to keep from screaming when she saw him lash out and hit his son across the face and she couldn’t fathom how her Klaus could stand to watch this.
The thunder rolled overhead as Mikael produced the gun, bringing it down on the boy’s head and even from where she was standing Caroline could see the blood as he reeled back, hitting the shed and curling into a ball.
She scanned the edge of the backyard and saw her own past self a few yards away, thankfully too shaken to be paying attention without the benefit of proper training.
“Here I come,” she muttered. As if in slow motion, the scene played out like she remembered it. Mikael raised the gun and Caroline watched herself run across the clearing and twist it out of Mikael’s hand, shakily holding it in front of her.
Like before, the man stumbled, like before, past-Caroline closed her eyes, raised the weapon and pulled the trigger.
When nothing happened, Klaus stiffened next to her.
“It’s jammed,” Caroline muttered. “I’m going to fire again.”
“It’s not jammed,” Klaus said, eyes wide and frantic. “It’s empty.”
Caroline barely had time to recognize what he had said, when Klaus stood, reaching into his jacket for his own service gun and firing one shot.
And just like before, Mikael fell in a pool of his own blood.
Caroline was numb, but Klaus’s hand was on her wrist, adjusting her CRONUS and before she could say a word she was back in her apartment, sprawled on a heap on the floor.
A seconds later Klaus joined her, and they didn’t say a word. The silence stretched between them.
“So I killed him after all,” Klaus muttered, after a while.
Caroline pushed herself into a sitting position, reaching out to grab his hand. “Klaus…I’m so sorry. All of this, it’s because of me.”
Klaus watched her carefully, reaching forward to push a damp piece of hair behind her ear. “All of this is because Mikael was a violent bastard who met the end he deserved.”
“You grew up thinking you killed your father!”
Klaus pressed his lips into a thin line. “I’ve spent years dealing with my past Caroline. And I like to think I turned out well enough.”
“Klaus…if you’re just trying to spare me…”
He shook his head. “I’m glad I did what I did,” he said finally. “But thank you for being by my side.”
His thanks was the last thing Caroline thought she’d be receiving that day, and she nodded mutely, squeezing his hand.
As she looked down at their intertwined fingers, Caroline remembered something else.
“Klaus, you were ten.”
“I’m aware, love.”
Caroline shut her eyes, not for the first time in the past few days, feeling everything she ever thought about soulmates and fate changing in her head.
“Klaus, when I first saw you, you were ten years old.”
His eyes widened comically and it was the first time Caroline felt like smiling.
“But then…”
“We match,” Caroline said with a small smile.
The darkness that had covered his face lightened and Caroline didn’t even try to hide her relief that the possibility of being each other’s forever didn’t make him recoil after everything they’d been through.
“It’s not a sure thing,” she said, teasing him only slightly. “We might not even be soulmates.”
Klaus didn’t let her go on, dragging her forward until their lips met, holding her close until she relaxed into his warmth.
“Don’t fight fate Caroline. You won’t win.”
He kissed her again, and again, and once more after that, and Caroline rubbed the skin on her wrist, feeling like for once, she was willing to let fate do its own thing.