So this chapter has a lot of heavy plot points to cover with minimal Klaroline. But it really needed to be done to actually get things going! This covers through 3x05 - when Klaus, Rebekah, and Stefan return to Mystic Falls during Senior Prank Night. I hope you enjoy!
Caroline turned off the engine and let her head fall back against the headrest in exhaustion. She, Elena, and Damon had only gotten back from Chicago a few hours ago. She had texted Tyler that she was back but just wanted to crash.
They had a full moon tomorrow and she really should be well rested. Yet the young vampire couldn't sleep. So she had headed over to the Lockwood mansion. It was three in the morning so sneaking into Tyler's room probably would end either one of two ways and she really didn't have a preference right now.
She got as far as three feet from her car when the front door opened revealing a very alert Carol Lockwood. Caroline froze in her tracks.
"Um, hi Mayor Lockwood."
"Caroline." The older woman crossed her arms. "It's a little early for house calls. Don't you think?" Her tone was heavily laced with dislike – and jeeze, she knew the mayor wasn't overly fond of her and trying to sneak into her son's room in the wee hours of the morning didn't look that good, but it was like the woman wasn't even trying to be subtle.
"Uh, yeah," Caroline laughed uncomfortably. "I'll just be going then." The second she turned the blonde felt something sharp hit her back, and then her body hit the pavement.
The last thing she heard through the burning in her blood were heavy, booted footsteps.
Bill Forbes observed the unconscious vampire through the bars of her cell. When Carol Lockwood had called to tell him Caroline, his sweet Caroline, had been turned – it was like the whole world had ended.
No. Not his baby. Please not his baby. His wonderful, smart, beautiful girl. Caroline was the only good thing that came out of his marriage to Liz.
If only he hadn't left Mystic Falls; he could have been there to protect her.
Liz was adamant that Caroline be kept as far away from Council business as possible. She had never been the most open or emotional woman, but Liz loved their daughter, and believed that throwing herself into making the town safe was the best way to protect their baby. If Liz had her way, Caroline would spend her life blissfully ignorant of the supernatural dangers that surrounded her – have a long, normal life.
Why did Liz have to be so goddamn stubborn! And so goddamn blind!
And if Liz knew that Caroline was a vampire and did nothing – well, then it only proved that his baby needed him now more than ever.
He didn't want to do this. But the only other option was to kill her – and he just couldn't.
"Hello?" Bill heard the vampire call. "Mrs. Lockwood?"
The man steeled himself and entered the cell. "Hello, Caroline."
"Daddy?"
Caroline only knew how many hours had passed when her father opened the shutters and she didn't feel the incomprehensible searing over her back, up her neck, down her arms.
But that was nothing – nothing – in comparison to that tattered thing in her chest.
She had been tortured before, by Damon, by werewolves, she had been confused then, as to why they were doing this to her – she had done nothing to them. But they were just too cruel – hurting her because they could, because it made them feel good.
Monsters.
But none of them had damaged her like this.
Even when she thought she loved Damon – she shuddered at the memory – she had risen above him. Now he was nothing to her but the asshole she barely tolerated.
But her dad.
Her father who had always been her champion, her emotional support where her mother failed, who understood her – was torturing her.
He hated what she was so much he was trying to burn it out of her.
To say her heart was broken wouldn't do the pain justice.
There were no words to describe this.
"-I sat down and cried." He was slumped in the corner now, talking about his pain.
Should she care?
"It's ok, we'll try again tomorrow." He said it so gently, so soothingly - like he was helping her with her algebra homework. Like they were at the kitchen table and not in the Council's vampire torture dungeon.
She'd cry if she had the energy.
Caroline didn't watch him leave.
All she wanted to do was pass out. She almost did until a gunshot jolted her awake.
That horrible iron door creaked open and then-
Her mom was here! And Tyler! They came for her! She was safe! She was ok!
Caroline could barely croak out that she needed her ring before Tyler picked her up out of that awful chair – the wounds that had numbed slightly in her sedentary state reopened, making her hiss and whimper in her friend's arms.
"Mom," the vampire sobbed.
"It's ok, sweetie," the sheriff soothed, still aiming her gun at Bill. "Take her home," Liz ordered Tyler.
The werewolf was barely half way up the stairs before Caroline lost consciousness.
Liz Forbes was not a woman that was shaken easily. But when Tyler called her – no – now wasn't the time. She had a sick bastard of an ex-husband to deal with.
"Liz," Bill started.
"Don't," she bit out, "get in the cell." Bill didn't move. Liz's finger twitched on the trigger. "You tortured my daughter. Do you really think I don't want to shoot you right now? Move."
Bill had never seen a look of pure, unadulterated hatred on his ex-wife's face before. Not during their many screaming matches, not when he came out, not during their divorce – he turned and walked back into the cell.
"Sit." Liz nodded to the chair, pushing down the nausea knowing that the fresh stains on the back and the restraints were from Caroline. "Strap your legs and arm in." Once Liz strapped in his remaining arm, she stood, staring at her ex, pressing the nose of her gun to his temple. She hoped it was still hot enough to burn.
There was a dark, feral part of her that wanted to pull the trigger, end the monster that hurt her child – but she backed away, knowing that no matter what he had done, Caroline wouldn't want Bill dead.
Liz left without a word, taking great satisfaction at the threatening sound of the cell door being locked in place.
It wasn't until she reached the surface that the fury subsided – the sheriff collapsed.
The terror. It had gripped her so tight when she got that phone call.
Terror that Bill had taken her out of town.
Terror that Caroline was in pain.
That she was dead.
She had failed at so much.
At being a support system.
At showing love.
At protecting her daughter.
At being a mother.
Caroline had become a vampire, and she didn't even notice.
She couldn't protect her daughter from the supernatural, from pain, from her own parents –
Liz fell forward until her forehead hit the grass, and wept.
So apparently her dad couldn't be compelled.
Of course he couldn't.
And of course she had to go to the Lockwoods' and smile at Carol like she hadn't shot her in the back with a vervain dart.
All in a day's work for Miss Mystic Falls.
Bright side: she got to kick Damon's ass.
And that felt so unbelievably good.
That almost made the whole soul-hollowing day worth it.
And now standing in front of her father as he prepared to leave – without saying goodbye or an apology or anything – she just –
She felt angry and wounded and heartbroken and threaded through all of this was the daughter she was before, who wanted her dad to love her and be proud of her, as twisted as it was, and so her voice came out soft and cloying –
"Daddy? I'm going to be ok."
He stops, walks back to her, Bill Forbes' face soft and open like it was when he was just her dad – and hope fluttered, tentative but bright in her chest.
"You're a vampire sweetheart," the man says, still in his soft, kind voice, "I don't think you'll ever be ok again."
Caroline's throat closes up, even as she searches in vain for some sign of love on his face, and his shoulders sag - like he's just so disappointed.
But instead of where there would be a cold, ragged hole in her chest, the self-deprecation, the ever cruel voices that told her she wasn't enough, she was small and lacking and no one would ever love her or pick her or think she's good and worth it – was a man in a bar who had been a vampire for a thousand years who didn't think she needed fixing, thought she should revel in what she was –
(and the truth, even from the devil's mouth was still the truth)
- so instead of just watching her father, her torturer, just drive away from her, something strong and solid formed in her chest and she called out, "No. You're wrong."
Caroline turned and let him watch her walk away.
Tyler was infinitely grateful for Senior Prank Night if only it was the first time he had seen Caroline genuinely smile since he held her while she sobbed out that her father hated her.
And fuck – he thought his relationship with his dad was messed up.
Bill Forbes took it to a whole other level.
Her mother had tried to reassure Caroline as best she could that what she thought wasn't true – because it hadn't even seemed like Caroline was angry with him. Like she still loved her dad just as much as before.
Hell, she beat the crap out of Damon to save him at the end of the summer founders thing.
(Though Tyler thinks any opportunity to beat the crap out of Damon is a good one.)
It was her heart. Her big, unfathomable, beautiful heart – the one who had her stay in that cellar with him, holding him through the agony of transformation even though one bite from him would kill her, even though he had never done anything to deserve her loyalty. The heart that had forgiven him when they were chained up waiting execution, though he didn't deserve that either.
He doesn't care if he sounds like a lovesick idiot that he used to make fun of. Caroline is definitely worth it.
The young vampire is booby-trapping the classroom door handles when Tyler wraps his arms loosely around her waist and just prays it's the right move. They haven't talked about that night – the night of Elena's party. After the Chicago rescue mission failed and being abducted and tortured by her dad mere hours later, there hadn't really been a good time to bring it up.
But Tyler's pretty sure he's in love with her, has been for a while, and he just wants her to know that – that he's here.
The few seconds she stiffens in his arms are long and painful. But she softens and leans back against him and the werewolf let's hope rise in his chest.
Caroline sighs softly, finally content after so much turmoil. Tyler is just so warm, and she feels so safe surrounded by him – when was the last time she really felt safe? When have any of them?
She thinks of Elena and Matt – fragile, sweet, human Matt. Elena has her and Bonnie and Alaric and even Damon all looking after her, but what about her ex?
"Do you think Matt's going to be ok?" Tyler is Matt's best friend after all, despite the awkward almost love triangle; he would know better than anyone what's going on in the quarterback's head.
The young werewolf wants to smack his head against the wall. Of course it's Matt. God, he's so stupid. Of course she just want to be friends and that night was probably some drunk vampire-werewolf hormone thing and Matt's the good guy and he's just some fuck up that drinks too much and has anger issues and daddy issues and who turns into a fucking venomous wolf every month that could kill her – god, he's such an asshole.
Tyler doesn't know if he physically tenses or if it's just Caroline's uncanny ability to get inside his head, but she turns and places her hands softly on the sides of his neck, thumbs brushing his jaw line, calming him.
"Hey, I'm just wondering if our friend, that we both love is ok."
Tyler isn't going to say that her emphasis on friend didn't make him happy. And maybe he really is an asshole if that's the first thing he thinks instead of actually being worried about his best friend.
"I think he probably doesn't have a lot of people to talk to anymore. I think he's struggling more than he lets on."
Caroline knows it probably isn't very healthy, but she feels guilty about that anyways. Tyler shakes her out of her melancholy with a playful sway of his arms around her accompanied by an equally playful grin.
"So friend, huh?"
"Yeah," and answering smile spreading across the baby vampire's face, "friend." This was good, this felt good, Tyler felt good. Didn't they deserve this after everything?
"You two are adorable."
Caroline registers the British accent before the feminine voice. For a split second it's Klaus that's here, shooting adrenaline through her entire system.
The couple turns to see an attractive blonde girl sauntering towards them. As relived as Caroline is that it's not Klaus, she's not about to drop her guard.
"Do we know you?"
"You're Caroline, Elena's friend, which makes you Tyler. The werewolf."
"And who are you?" Caroline doesn't believe in coincidences this big; a stranger with a British accent asking about werewolves – she places herself between the newcomer and her friend.
The girl just smirks. "I'm the new girl."
The throbbing from having her neck snapped is not doing anything to improve Caroline's mood.
She hates Klaus. She just hates him.
Tyler, sweet Tyler is convulsing and shivering as she tries to soothe him, carting her fingers through his sweat damp hair. And it's all his fault.
How could she have ever thought even for a millisecond the Klaus was even a little bit charming? He was nothing but- but- UGH!
There weren't even words for a thing like him!
And his bitch of a sister, just sitting there on the counter playing with Elena's cell phone, like she didn't have a care in the world.
How Caroline wanted to scratch her eyes out.
The girl's seething was interrupted by Its presence barging in to the science lab.
It had the fucking nerve to grin widely at her.
"Hello again, Caroline," he says so casually, so warmly, as if she isn't comforting her dying friend. "My apologies for the circumstances, but this hybrid problem of mine is quite pressing." The Original turns his attention to Tyler at the same time Rebekah flashes over and grabs her in a vice like hold.
"Le me go!" Caroline struggles as much as she can against the other blonde.
At the sound of her distress, Tyler snarled and pushed himself off the lab table. Klaus chuckled as the werewolf collapsed back against the desk when his feet touched the ground.
"Well points for effort, mate." The hybrid held up a vile of blood. "Here you go, blood of the doppelganger, this should fix you right up. That, or you'll die a slow, horrific death, either way," Klaus said with a casual shrug.
Tyler was dying, he knew it. He had never felt this kind of acidic pain, not even during the full moon. And through all of it there was this insatiable, burning need for what Klaus held in his hand. Everything else fell away except the pain and the hunger. Even Caroline's cries, his desire to rip her away from the vampire that restrained her, were muted.
So he gave in – of course he gave in – and snatched the vial away from the hybrid and downed it.
"Tyler!" Caroline thrashed even harder, clawing her nails into the other blonde's arms, drawing blood.
"AH!" Rebekah screeched indignantly. "Nik! This brat scratched me!"
Klaus didn't even look up from his observing Tyler seize on the floor. "Caroline, love, calm down." Tyler stopped convulsing and reared up, black and gold eyes, fangs barred. The older hybrid grinned. "Well that's a good sign."
He glanced up at the female pair, glad to see the younger vampire had stilled, it really wouldn't do for Rebekah to kill her. "Sister dear, would you let Caroline go check over her friend."
The Original scoffed but released her all the same. The young vampire quickly knelt beside the new hybrid. "Tyler? Are you ok?" she asked softly.
"Yes, Tyler," Klaus interrupted, earning a glare from Caroline "tell us how you feel."
"I feel… fine," Tyler replied, disbelief coloring his tone. "Actually, I feel great."
Klaus clapped his hand together before spreading his arms, face lit up in a triumphant smile. "Congratulations, mate, you're a hybrid now." The boy looked up at him, face confused, searching, "You're no longer a slave to the moon."
Tyler knows he should be angry, feel used, something, but with Klaus' words all he feels is a sort of all consuming relief and gratitude washing over him.
Finally, Klaus thinks, some appreciation. "Well, Rebekah, now that my little experiment is over it's time to go; there's work to be done."
The tall blonde flips her hair over her shoulder, looking down her nose at the couple still in the floor, and strides past her brother.
Klaus just grins at Caroline, ignoring her vicious expression, and tilts his head forward in a little bow. "I'll be seeing you again, sweetheart." He then vanishes out the door after his sister.
"Care?" Tyler stands, bringing his companion with him. "What did Klaus mean by that?"
Caroline huffs, annoyed. "Thank is so not important right now." Her tone softens as she places a hand on his shoulder. "Are you sure you're ok?"
The new hybrid smiles widely. "I wasn't lying, I feel great!" He picks her up bridal style and spins the out of the room, laughter peeling out of Caroline and echoing down the halls.
Klaus' ears perk at the sound of delighted, girlish laughter.
Caroline.
It had felt surprisingly good to see her again.
But now wasn't the time for distractions. He has his army to build with the doppelganger's blood - not to mention a ripper to corral. The hybrid picked up the bleeding girl off the floor and headed out into the night.
And next time we get to see ripper!Stefan - and if this time Klaus has any special instructions regarding Caroline.