Author's Note: Thanks for the kind words from everyone and thanks for reviewing the story. Here's an extra long chapter for the weekend! :)

Chapter 15

Holding the gun in her hands was a weird feeling for Caroline.

It endowed her with a sense of power that she'd plain forgotten she could even possess.

Growing up as the daughter of a sheriff, she was no stranger to weapons and as much as she would have preferred to be anywhere but that room in that moment, she felt a flood of power surge through her as she pointed the gun at Damon. The sensation bordered on intoxicating.

In the past she'd never felt a lot of affinity for firearms, but suddenly she was starting to like them a lot better.

Well, maybe it wasn't the weapon that she enjoyed so much…perhaps it was the empowerment that it imbued her with.

Taking a deep breath she locked her eyes on Damon. Klaus had inflicted a good amount of damage to the other man's face, which would have been handsome if it wasn't so twisted in bitter rage. If he wasn't such a sadist, she might have felt a little sympathy for the dark haired man. He was clearly someone who'd been warped by the horror of whatever tragedies he'd endured.

Was he so different from Klaus in that way?

They were both men who'd known pain, both men who lashed out at others, both men with a cruel streak that ran deep.

Yet, on the flip side, she'd witnessed flickers of goodness in Klaus but Damon was just the stranger who'd attacked her in her sleep. She couldn't try to see the good that might be lurking under Damon's damaged shell or it would drive her to the brink of insanity.

She had to be cold, just this once.

Caroline swallowed and took a cleansing breath.

The blonde steadied the gun in her hands and glanced over at Klaus, rolling her eyes when she saw him beaming proudly at her.

"That's my girl!" the Brit commented, his hands still cradling his stomach. He turned his attention to Damon. "Seems you underestimated me."

Damon shook his head. "Did I?" he asked arrogantly. "Getting your ass saved by a girl never used to be your style."

"Staying alive is my style," Klaus corrected him. "It's clearly not your style though. Coming here was akin to having a death wish. It's a wish we'll be happy to grant for you."

"You think Barbie has the chutzpah to actually pull the trigger?" sneered Damon, leering at the blonde. "She doesn't seem like the type to kill in cold blood."

"It's more like putting down a rabid animal," Caroline piped up with a detectable tremble in her voice. "You can't just threaten people without consequences."

"You sound like your boyfriend," Damon remarked nastily. "Looks like you've been spending too much time in bad company."

"A few minutes in your company were more than enough, Damon," she snapped back. "You held a knife to my throat and you would have killed me without pausing to think about it."

"You got me there," Damon laughed. "But you can't believe you're destined for a long and happy life with Mikaelson by your side. He'll destroy you like poison, just like he destroys everything he touches."

"Blah blah blah!" Caroline sighed, scowling at the dark haired man. Her expression was colored with revulsion. "You just love the sound of your own voice but I'm bored of listening to you now."

"That makes two of us," agreed Klaus. "The question is…what do we do with him? A quick death is too easy. I say we make him suffer."

"That's the Mikaelson way, isn't it?" jibed Damon, his eyes glinting with malice. "You people are toxic. How many more people do you have to destroy before you're satisfied? Does it end with me? Or will Blondie be your next victim? Come on, Klausy, spill your juicy plans!"

Caroline's finger twitched on the trigger. She was beyond sick of Damon's acerbic remarks. "You'll be shutting up now, Damon!" she warned.

"So go on then," he taunted her, his ice chip eyes locking with hers. "Shoot me. Prove to your sick boyfriend that you're no better than he is. Go on! Do it! Do it, bitch!"

In that moment, as her finger itched to pull the trigger, a thousand thoughts flashed through her mind. She saw her past, the innocence that was rapidly evaporating from her. She saw her future, how it would play out if she allowed herself to become a killer, a true killer who ended life without any compunction.

She didn't like what she envisaged.

It was too bleak to bear thinking about.

In Damon's place, she imagined how she would feel if the brunet was Klaus. Having briefly considered their similarities earlier, when the reality of killing Damon became clearer, she couldn't help but feel a flash of guilt at ending any life, maybe more so because it was the life of a man so completely damaged.

In the back of her mind, the disapproving face of her mother scowled at her, reprimanding her for even considering pulling the trigger and killing a man who had faced neither judge nor jury.

The thoughts bombarded her within a split second.

But split seconds can define everything.

It was only a split second of hesitation that stilled Caroline's finger on the trigger as she wielded the weapon but it was enough for Damon to seize the opening and come barreling toward her.

She let out a tiny shriek as he hurtled in her direction but she was powerless to do anything.

No matter what had happened, she wasn't a cold blooded killer.

It just was not who she was.

Damon tossed Caroline out of the way, slamming her into the wall with tremendous force as he barged past her. She felt a sharp pain roll through her shoulder as it thumped against the hard surface and her other hand immediately came up to cradle it. The gun flew from her fingers, ricocheting against the bottom of the wall.

Klaus watched helplessly as everything seemed to unfold in slow motion in front of him. With his heart lodged in his throat, he glanced at Caroline but he knew that he couldn't focus on her right now. His best chance of keeping her alive was keeping himself alive. There was no way he was going to let Damon win because it didn't even bear thinking about what the embittered man would do to Caroline if she was left in his hands.

Seeing his gun lying on the ground, Klaus launched himself toward it.

Unfortunately, Damon was seconds faster.

Damon's hand closed around the barrel of the weapon.

"Not so fast, Salvatore!" hissed Klaus, aiming a kick at Damon's shin.

Keeling over, Damon cursed loudly, but relinquished his hold on the gun slightly, giving Klaus the opportunity he needed to wrest it from his opponent's grip. Klaus grappled for the gun, whooping in success as he managed to take a firm hold of it. He put a little space between himself and Damon and aimed it at his nemesis, firing off the round.

However, Damon somehow managed to dodge out of the way of the spray of bullets that came his way, a perpetual shower of expletives tumbling from his lips.

"Missed me, motherfucker!" Damon yelled triumphantly, as he realized that Klaus had spent the clip.

"That doesn't mean I can't kill you with my bare hands," Klaus growled, launching himself forward toward the other man.

"In your unfortunate condition?" taunted Damon, evading Klaus' attack. "You can't take me with your injury, Klausy. Just give it up. There's honor in dying with dignity."

From her position on the ground Caroline watched helplessly as the dark haired man barreled into Klaus, his hand twisting at Klaus' wound, specifically aiming for the weak spot.

Gritting his teeth against the pain, Klaus somehow managed to throw the other man off of him, and grabbed for Damon's knife that had been discarded on the ground during the earlier fight. He swiped it across Damon's chest, drawing enough blood to weaken him. Although they both knew that the wound wouldn't be enough to kill the dark haired man, it sent him careening backward, keening like an injured animal.

Clasping the bleeding wound, Damon dodged away from Klaus, finally on the defensive instead of attacking.

"Looks like we gotta take a beat and put this on hiatus for now," he quipped, his eyes darting between Caroline and Klaus.

"Or we could just finish this now," said Klaus coldly.

"I don't think so. See, I'll have my revenge on you, Klaus! For once, I'll be patient," Damon yelled over his shoulder as he scuttled through the doorway before Klaus could stop him. He bolted through the living room and out of the apartment. Apparently, the man was wise enough to know when he was caught up in a stalemate and get the hell out of Dodge.

"Let him go!" yelled Caroline as she saw Klaus following. Her tone left no wiggle room and he stilled at the doorway of the apartment. "If you go after him, you'll end up dead. We're lucky to have gotten away without dying tonight."

"He deserves to be punished," Klaus said, his voice faltering for the first time. He couldn't see her from his position by the door and he was glad for that mercy.

"So why don't we call the cops?" she suggested.

"The cops?" He laughed maniacally. "I refuse to dignify such a stupid suggestion with an answer."

"It's not stupid. He should be locked up. I mean, he's clearly unstable," the blonde said, dusting herself off as she climbed back to her feet. She tentatively made her way over to where Klaus was standing in front of the entrance and slammed the front door. She was still a little worried that he would go running after Damon and it scared her almost as much as Damon himself scared her. Honestly, she wanted to bolt the door with the strongest locks known to man.

"And you and I will be locked up with him. Or have you forgotten what we've done?" he asked her, whirling on her.

"It's kinda hard to forget, Klaus. But..."

"No buts! We're staying far away from the law. We already have enough problems, legal and otherwise." His brother's earlier warning about Agent Saltzman flashed through his mind. In all the commotion, he hadn't found the time to brood on that little wrinkle in his plans yet. "This is not their fight and they cannot comprehend our world."

"Whatever, Klaus. I'm losing the will to care." She sighed, rolling her sore shoulder that she'd bumped when Damon flung her to the ground.

"Are you alright, love?"

"Define alright."

"Well…"

"You know what?" she interrupted, clearly rattled. "I'm not alright. I'm so tired of living on a knife edge. Every other day I almost die."

"That's somewhat of an exaggeration."

"Well, it feels like it," panted Caroline. "Seriously, I miss the days when I didn't have to worry about angry crazies potentially murdering me in my sleep."

"Welcome to my world, sweetheart."

"Maybe I don't want a freakin' red carpet welcome into your world. I never asked for any of this," she snapped. Resentment and anger was bubbling up inside of her and in that moment the only person she could direct it toward was Klaus.

"No one asks for this hellish bloody existence but we don't all have a choice. So suck it up, Caroline. This is how it is and you're a part of it now. I can't deal with your whining on top of everything else!"

She reeled back, hurt by his words and attitude. "Oh my God, how the hell can you talk to me like that? You put me in this position!"

Klaus ignored her and spun away.

The unfamiliar tendrils of guilt were tightening around him, suffocating him, and he despised the sensation. Damon had been right about the fact that his feelings ran deep for this girl but he didn't even want to deal with the ripples on the surface.

Suddenly he wanted to run and never have to see her face again.

He wanted to be the ruthless man he used to be…the man he'd been reminded of by Damon.

With a growl he drew back his fist and slammed it into the wall, sending a shower of plaster dust raining down. He knew that Kol would probably be furious when he saw the carnage in his home, but Klaus could not have cared less. Blood dripped from his knuckles but he seemed unperturbed by the pain.

Maybe he even enjoyed it.

After all it allowed him momentary respite from the plague of his thoughts. Not that they weren't still there, but if he could focus on the physical pain, then the emotional wasn't quite so bad. He had his father to thank for that little lesson, he mused.

Turning to face Klaus, Caroline ran a shaky hand through her blonde curls. "Who exactly was that guy?"

"Did you miss the introductions?" snapped Klaus. "Damon Salvatore."

"Duh, I got that part. I'm blonde, not dumb. I get that he's a psycho enemy who clearly loathes you because you he blames you for…um...Stefan dying," Caroline said, not balking at the scathing scowl he cast in her direction. She took a deep breath, trying to clear her mind. In all honesty, the entire night was clouded by a hazy mist of confusion and she just wanted to set her thoughts straight again. "And you killed some girl, right? But I want to hear your side."

Klaus' face closed off. He was hoping that some of his darker secrets would be able to stay buried. For some reason, he felt a whisper of shame at the idea of Caroline knowing some of the things that he'd done. Never had he imagined that he would now be ashamed of the deeds that used to be his greatest prides.

"Klaus?" prodded Caroline, determination etched on her face.

Pulling himself from his musings, he sighed, knowing that she wouldn't drop the subject until he told her. "Damon is a man who used to be in my inner circle. I wouldn't say I trusted him, but he was a lieutenant, I suppose. However, due to some disagreements we parted ways."

"Why does he have such a major vendetta against you? Is he working with Mikael?"

"No, Caroline, Damon has his own reasons for wanting me dead. A lot of people do. He was right when he said I destroyed him. I did some things to that man that even a monster like me should never revel in. That's all you need to know. Please don't push this!"

Caroline wanted to probe more deeply but the raw pain that surfaced on Klaus' face stilled her tongue momentarily. Curiosity to know the truth warred with genuine concern for the man who'd turned her life on its head.

"Hmm, well you're not dead, so score one for you," she joked lamely, her gaze fixing on the wound on his hand. "Come on."

Walking over to him, she ushered him over to a chair, instructing him to sit down and not move. Exhausted he didn't bother to argue for once as she padded to the bathroom and returned with towels and a small bowl of water.

"We need to clean your wound," she explained at his confused expression.

"It'll heal," he sighed. "And what about your shoulder? Shouldn't I be the one playing nursemaid and tending to you?"

"My shoulder is fine. I just bumped it a little. Let me deal with your hand. It'll heal faster if you let me clean it."

They engaged in a silent battle of wills for several seconds until he finally conceded with a shrug. "If you're really that determined to fix my boo boos, have at it, sweetheart," he said holding out his injured hand. "This seems to be becoming our thing."

"We don't have a thing," she denied.

"Not yet maybe," he countered. "But give it time, love."

With a shake of the head, she smiled in victory and dropped to her knees to get a better look at the injury, ignoring Klaus' suggestive smirk that her action provoked. She worked quickly but gently, offering him apologies when he winced in quiet pain.

She was pretty impressed that he didn't complain at all but she knew from firsthand experience that he was used to much worse than this. Still, at least the attacker hadn't done much damage. Trust Klaus to inflict more pain on himself than the other man had managed to do.

Klaus let his eyes flutter briefly shut at the feel of Caroline's ministrations. He'd never really had anyone to take care of him before. Even his mother had mostly ignored him before she'd died.

And, in spite of the sharp pain from his cuts, he couldn't help but revel in the sensuality of feeling Caroline's satin skin glide over his calloused hands.

At least this time he wasn't bleeding to death so he could appreciate it a little more.

He couldn't help but wonder what it would feel like if those hands migrated a little lower and tended to more sensitive parts of his anatomy.

Unfortunately, his daydreams came to a screeching halt when she reverted to talking about one of his least favorite subjects.

"So," Caroline said cautiously, tearing the remaining clean towel into strips to bandage his hand. "Why did that doctor woman…um…Meredith…tell him we were here? I mean, I get that she isn't your biggest fan but she helped you, so why does she want you dead? It makes no sense."

"You're rambling, sweetheart." His expression darkened. "That bloody bitch has had it in for me and my family for a long time. That was why I told you she was a last resort. I should've known she'd do something like this. I should have done away with her when I had the chance. She's a coward though. She couldn't kill me herself so she had to employ bloody Damon Salvatore to carry out the dirty work."

Caroline shifted uncomfortably. She hated the way he talked about killing in the same way a normal person would discuss doing the washing up or taking out the trash. "So are you gonna tell me exactly what happened with Damon?"

"I told you enough of the story, Caroline. What part of that's all you need to know failed to resonate with you?" he hissed.

"The part where it's all I need to know. I almost got killed tonight, and you act like it's fine."

"I never said that." He dropped his gaze. "Believe it or not, I was considerably concerned for your well being."

"Then tell me the truth about what happened in the past! Be honest with me. Why does he really loathe you so badly? I mean, I get that you pissed him off with the destroying him…that's what you called it, right? But you seem to piss off everyone you meet, so no big surprise there. Did you murder everyone he loved or something?"

Klaus narrowed his eyes as he looked at her, a little irritated by her flippant tone. He couldn't have imagined that she'd be so free and easy about the idea of him murdering people when he first met her.

Regret pulsed in his chest.

Had he corrupted the girl already?

Had he desensitized her to the horrors of his life by drawing her into his brutal world?

She was like a tiny blonde angel, kneeling before him, washing away his hurt. It was almost a biblical image, but Klaus scoffed internally at the thought. He wasn't one of the good guys.

Of course, she couldn't possibly imagine the true depths of his monstrous nature, so she would never be able to fully understand what he was capable of. She'd seen glimmers of his darkness, but not full throttle. Thinking about it, she'd actually been dealing with Klaus-lite for all intents and purposes.

But, he supposed, maybe it would do her good to know just what she was dealing with.

Maybe it would push her away enough that he could push her away too, out of his mind and heart.

They could just be kidnapper and hostage, as they should have been.

It was strange that such a thought wasn't as satisfying as it should have been, but he couldn't see any alternative. He'd almost lost her because he'd been weak and stupid enough to develop feelings for her. He finally had a soft spot and he doubted that Damon would be the last person to try and poke at that weak point.

She was his Achilles' heel.

He needed to fix that.

He needed to cut her out of him.

"There are several reasons why Damon wishes to end my life. A suppose a part of it is because he holds me responsible for the death of his brother, Stefan. Although I must admit I cannot take the credit for that little misfortune," revealed Klaus after an extended silence.

"So he's crazy? He has some weird vendetta against you 'cause he's sad about his brother dying?"

"Stefan was a close friend. He worked and fought alongside me. He was a good man and I actually put some trust in him. There was a time when I hoped to call him family and I truly believed he was the man who would make my sister happy. But I have so many enemies, sweetheart. Mikael is relentless with the men he sends after me and one day Stefan was unlucky enough to take a bullet that was meant for my heart. I suppose he imagined that my sister would be more devastated to lose her brother than to lose him. Ironic now, considering that fact that my sister hates me. He died in my arms. Damon was never able to reconcile the fact that someone could be selfless enough to sacrifice themselves for another human being."

She frowned. "But he mentioned some girl. He kept saying that he blamed you for taking away his love."

"Well yes. He's rather annoyed at the fact that I murdered his girlfriend in cold blood," he added, the callous truth rolling from his tongue like tar. He knew he was hitting the self-destruct button right then and there but he wanted to do that. The events of the night had brought it home to him that she was getting too close and it was making him sloppy. There was no way to sugar coat this.

He'd allowed her too close.

He had to push her away.

Caroline felt ice settle around her heart at his confession. "Why did you do that?" she stammered, her stomach clenching as the reminder of his true nature slammed into her.

When he was being charming and sweet it was easy to forget that he was a killer.

It was easy to unwittingly allow him to wedge himself into her heart, like embedded shrapnel that didn't sting as badly as it should.

And the reminder of who he was made her shudder in almost physical pain.

She'd allowed him too close.

"She betrayed me," Klaus admitted coolly. "Katherine, Katerina, was a two-faced bitch who did what was advantageous to her own selfish desires. While she was in a relationship with the Salvatore boy she was also involved with several other men including one of my brothers."

"What a peach!" Caroline remarked with offhanded sarcasm.

"I think the word you're searching for is whore, love. It was an indiscretion on my brother, Elijah's part that I didn't approve of and I tried to end their…alliance. Thanks to my brother's unusually verbose pillow talk, Katherine was aware of the threat that my father posed to me so she alerted Mikael as to my whereabouts. And my father happily dispatched a team of his minions to come after me without any delay. I disposed of them with ease but that wasn't a balm for her treachery."

"Why would she do that?"

"Perhaps she did it to remove me from my brother or maybe it was just to spite me. We didn't exactly get along seeing as how I was never willing to crawl between her legs and allow her to manipulate me. When I found out what she'd done, I made her pay for it. No crime goes unpunished, love."

"So you…killed her? Just like that?" Caroline gasped in horrified disbelief. She couldn't deny that this Katherine's behavior was awful, but surely it didn't justify her losing her life.

Klaus nodded, unaffected by Caroline's disgust. "I don't take betrayal lightly. I'm nobody's punching bag, love. She wanted me dead so I responded in kind. And I didn't just kill her. I bloody well prolonged her suffering for many days before I put her out of her misery. I slit her throat, felt her life drain from her as her blood coated my hands. And Damon watched helplessly as the light in her big brown eyes flickered and extinguished."

"You tortured her," Caroline realized flatly. "You tortured and murdered the girl. And you enjoyed it."

Klaus drew breath sharply, letting his mind flicker back to the day he stole Katherine's life away from her. "Pleasure is subjective, love. But destroying Katherine was one of my greatest achievements. The truth might hurt, but you should know what I am. You should know the man whose wounds you tended. You should know the real me! So here is the real me, Caroline, without the candy coated shell."

Klaus wiped his bloodied hands on the front of his jeans, studying the mess of a girl in front of him. The formerly beautiful brunette was little more than a tangle of bruises and ruined flesh. Her arms were pulled painfully behind her, shackled to the wooden chair. She was the perfect canvas on which to articulate his fury and pain. The only sign she was even still alive was the frenzied rise and fall of her chest, desperately drawing air into her lungs.

Approaching her, he bent over and slapped her cheeks, rousing her from near unconsciousness. "Katerina!" he called menacingly. "Wake up! We aren't even close to finished here."

Her eyes fluttered open, unfocused and pained. "Klaus, you've had me here for days. You've tortured me, beat me. What more do you want from me?" she hissed, making a concerted effort to even voice her thoughts.

"I want you to feel the same pain I felt when you betrayed me to Mikael. My brother's girlfriend conspiring against me with my most hated enemy in a pathetic attempt to bring me down. That stings!"

"You deserved it!" she spit defiantly. "I was trying to do Elijah a favor. He deserves better than you. He should have people in his life who love him. All you do is to drag him down. You're his curse. I knew that freeing him of you was the only way to save him. Now, he'll be lost."

Anger flared in Klaus' tempestuous eyes, like a bolt of lightning as he drove a fist into the restrained woman's prone stomach. "Another outburst like that and I'll tear your tongue from that overexcited little mouth of yours, Katerina."

"So do it!" the bound woman scoffed, her taunting words belying the flash of fear that flickered in her eyes. "You can't do anything that'll make me feel worse than you feel. I know you're gonna kill me and you know what? I…don't…care! When you kill me you'll just ensure that Elijah hates you forever."

"Elijah will forgive me. He's always cared about family above all else. I'm his blood and you're nothing! He'll forget you faster than it takes to mourn you."

Crumpling her face, she spit at him, smirking when he reached up to wipe away the blood tinted saliva from his eyes. "He'll forgive you but he'll never forget. You'll be one step closer to pushing him away, like you've pushed away everyone else in your life."

"Shut up!" he commanded. "Or I'll make you regret it. I'll make you sorry!"

"You think I should be sorry? You want me to apologize? Maybe I should apologize for the fact that people like me fuel your desire to keep on fighting. Without enough hatred in your veins you'd just curl up and die, but I've given you purpose, haven't I? Destroying me, defeating Mikael…that's what ignites the spark in your soul…if you even have a soul. So maybe you should be thanking me."

"I'm not Elijah, so your twisted logic doesn't work on me. I would never have gratitude toward a treacherous whore. I don't wish to hear another word."

However, Katherine was not deterred. She knew she really did have nothing else to lose. "You know what Mikael told me when I contacted him? He said he wished he killed you in your sleep when you were just a baby. He said that the only good thing about you still being alive is that he still has the pleasure of ending you to look forward to. You're worthless and alone, and you always will be. Poor Klaus…so unloved."

Feeling rage tingle in every cell in his body, from his head to his toes, he drew back his hand and slammed it down across Katherine's smirking face."How dare you presume to try to analyze my life, Katerina! Perhaps I should draw out your suffering indefinitely just for that. I could keep you alive for years, locked up without any companion other than your own infinite and ceaseless pain. Finally you'd beg for release from the harsh torments of this mortal coil, but even then I'd simply smile and prolong your hardships. Does that sound good to you?"

A single tear escaped from one eye, mingling with crimson blood as it trailed helplessly down her cheek. Her hate-filled gaze locked with his but underneath the contempt he could see a hint of surrender.

"You already know the answer to that," she whispered.

Klaus' smile was sickly and gloating. It was the smile of a victor who'd won at a game that usually only spawned losers. However, his smile morphed into a grimace as the door crashed open, revealing a dark silhouette in the doorway.

Klaus rolled his eyes as they landed on the newcomer.

"Damon," he chuckled, placing a hand on Katherine's shoulder. "Fancy seeing you here! You're just in time to join the party. You do realize that it's BYOW…bring your own weapon…and you seem sadly unarmed."

Damon ignored Klaus, his gaze shooting to Katherine. "Are you okay, baby?"

Katherine swallowed and tried to smile although it came across as more of a grimace. "You know me…I'm Katherine Petrova. Nothing can keep me down."

A laugh bellowed from Klaus' twisted lips. "Isn't this sweet?" he mocked. "It's such a pity that this sickeningly saccharine lovers' reunion must be cut so short. Alas, Katerina has an unfortunate date with her maker. And by maker, I mean Satan, of course."

"You'll have to go through me if you want to hurt her," Damon declared resolutely.

However, Damon's impotent posturing only served to amuse Klaus. "Really? I seem to have hurt her already and you weren't here to protect her, were you? She owes me a debt for her betrayal, Salvatore, and I intend to collect. So why don't you just toddle away with your tale between your legs and keep your nose out of the things that don't concern you."

"Pretty sure that seeing the woman I love being tortured is my concern," seethed Damon.

"Well aren't you just the very picture of the knight in tarnished leather! Oh, Damon, you should save your chivalry for someone who deserves it. Katherine is certainly not that someone. She's nothing more than a whore who shags her way through life thinking that her charms can get her everywhere. Unfortunately for her, the only place it's gotten her is…here. And now it's about to get her dead." Cold cruelty descended over his face. "Thanks for stopping by but now you need to leave."

Damon shook his head. "I'm not going anywhere without Katherine!"

"Fine!" Klaus replied airily. "You can take her body with you when you leave."

"No! This ends now."

The darker haired man took a step forward, swinging at his adversary, but Klaus was too fast for him and sidestepped Damon's punch. Stumbling, Damon was forced to steady himself against the wall. However, Damon was not prepared to concede so easily. Launching himself at Klaus again, he threw another punch, clipping Klaus' cheek.

"Sorry, mate. That didn't even sting," Klaus sighed. "Although you're right about one thing, for a change. This does end now."

Stepping up his game, Klaus bunched one hand in the front of Damon's shirt and drove his other fist into Damon's nose, unfazed by the crunch of bone. Smirking, Klaus thrust Damon against the wall with such force that a dusting of plaster rained down on the pair of them. Damon's head cracked sharply against the unyielding wall and his hand shot out to cradle his shoulder, the joint having taken the brunt of the dull impact. He slipped down the wall, gasping hard for breath. After delivering a swift kick to Damon's middle, Klaus danced back over to Katherine.

In the seconds that it took for Damon to recover, Klaus held her in a vice-like grip again. "You need to work on your technique, Salvatore. You're lacking. But I suppose that's the problem in a lot of areas. That's why Katerina turned to my brother, Elijah, isn't it?"

Panting and clutching his stomach, Damon glared wildly. "I'm gonna get you!"

Klaus laughed, throwing his head back. "And my little dog too?" he mocked. "Face facts. You can't take me in a fight. You're not as strong as me, and your pathetic lack of preparation has sent you running in here like a headless chicken. That's always been your downfall, Damon. You act without thinking. You're too driven by emotion. I'd at least expect you to be armed, but sadly you just didn't plan this out."

"You're not all-powerful. Even you have soft spots," he said, glaring up at Klaus.

"Pray, tell me what they are?" taunted Klaus.

Damon's mouth flopped open and shut like a fish as he searched for a response, but he didn't truly couldn't answer. A man without a heart was without also a man without an exploitable weakness.

"It's a shame that our time together has come to such an abrupt end," Klaus lamented, lowering his lips to Katherine's ear. "But your lackluster excuse for a white knight seems to have forced us to hurry our conclusion, Katerina."

Laughter sparkled in his eyes as he clenched his fingers around Katherine's hair, yanking her head back at an uncomfortable angle. She struggled but that only forced him to tighten his hold. Klaus knew that if she'd been at full strength she'd have been screeching like a banshee, trying every trick to get out of this.

But he'd bled all the fight out of her.

She was a broken shell.

His gaze locked with Damon's frantic blue eyes as he positioned the knife against the young woman's prone throat. He could feel the slight tremble that ran through her, even though her face remained stoic. He supposed he had to admire her for her courage in the face of death.

"Don't!" Damon begged, stilling Klaus' hand momentarily. "Don't kill her."

"She betrayed me, Salvatore. She sold me out. I'm not so sure why you want to save her anyway. Does it not rankle with you that she allows any and every willing man to crawl into her bed?"

"I love her!"

"Love? There's that vulgar word again." Klaus scoffed. "It's a worthless emotion that can turn many a man into a pathetic, simpering mess. I suppose I should be grateful to be unburdened by such annoying trivialities."

"Yeah, 'cause you're the pinnacle of human perfection!" scoffed Damon.

"Oh, Damon, don't make me kill you too. You know the only reason you're still alive is because of a promise I made to your brother that I wouldn't end you. But he's not around to shield you now."

"He's dead because of you. You got Stefan killed!"

"Stefan's recklessness got him killed, not me. He never had the self control to know when to hold back, and apparently that's a common trait among members of the Salvatore family. Now do you have any more recriminations? Perhaps you have Maury Povich waiting in the wings so we can chat out our problems and try to find some kind of happy resolution? If not, I'd like to get on with this." His fingers twitched around the handle of the blade.

"Just wait. Take me instead," Damon implored Klaus, desperation visibly welling up inside of him. "Just let her go."

"I could do that. I could let her go, allow her the second chance she covets so deeply. As old Willie said…the quality of mercy is not strained. It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven," quoted Klaus, tracing Katherine's blackened cheekbone with his fingertips. "But unfortunately, my heart just isn't that poetic. If I let her go, what message would that send? People would not see mercy. They would see weakness, and I am not weak."

Klaus relished the pain that was evident on Damon's face as his fingers tightened around the knife in readiness. He watched Damon for a second, smirking when he realized that the dark haired man was paralyzed in indecision and helplessness.

With a flourish, he drew the blade across Katherine's throat, cutting easily through her skin and tearing open her artery. A horrible bubbling sound oozed from her lips as the blood gushed out of the deep wound.

His indifferent icy blue eyes watched Damon slump to his knees and cry out like a wounded dog. For a second his pondered how terrible it must be to care so much about someone that it physically hurt to have them ripped from your life.

He could only be thankful he'd never experienced such a thing.

As the thick ruby liquid coated Klaus' hands, the smell assaulted his nostrils. It actually made him feel a little nauseous. Death took several moments to carry away Katherine's spirit but when her head lolled limply against her chest he knew it was done.

It was a strange feeling, seeing the life seep out of one of the most vivacious women Klaus had ever known. He waited for the euphoria that inevitably flooded him when he got revenge but it never came. Instead he felt a peculiar kind of emptiness in the pit of his stomach. He didn't regret his actions but for some reason, he could muster any genuine celebration.

Stowing the knife in his back pocket, he wiped his hands down on his pants and watched dispassionately as Damon crawled over to the lifeless woman, her name a whispered prayer on the brunet's lips.

Sauntering to the doorway, he paused for a moment.

He glanced back at Damon who was on his knees beside the dead woman.

"I'm letting you live so you may spread the word, Salvatore. Mercy is nothing more than weakness and now you know that it's a deficiency I don't possess. Anyway, I suggest you clear away the evidence. Take her body and bury it or keep it. I don't care. But neither of us wants the cops to get word of this, do we? And I wouldn't want Kol to come home to such a nasty mess."

"You're a monster," Damon hissed.

"You're not wrong," agreed Klaus flippantly.

Swaggering away he left a grieving shell of a man worshipping at the cold body of the woman he loved.

In that moment, Klaus determined never to become so pathetic.

He would never open his heart to anyone.

He would never be crushed by such a loss so completely.

He would never fall in love.

His eyes landed on Caroline's horrified face as he finished recounting the story. In his chest, his heart skipped a beat. Her beauty and goodness were blindingly painful to behold in that moment as he remained steeped in the darkness of his past misdeeds. He briefly wondered what his past self would have thought about him now. He could never have anticipated someone like Caroline bursting into his life like the first rays of the rising sun.

She was everything that he could never be, everything that he never knew he wanted. In fact, she had fast become everything to him.

"How could you do that?" Caroline gasped, startling him from his thoughts. She had taken several minutes to digest the story but whatever way she looked at it, it sickened her to her core.

"Which part?"

"All of it! How could you hurt that poor girl so terribly and kill her without any hesitation? I know she betrayed you but she didn't deserve to pay with her life. She didn't deserve to be tortured and murdered. No one deserves that."

Klaus shrugged. "That's who I am, sweetheart. I'm the demon that revels in the pain of others. Schadenfreude, I believe they call it." His voice dropped to a husky whisper. "It satisfies my soul. Her screams made my blood pump around my body like white water rapids. It made me feel alive. Katherine Petrova's death was my most shining trophy."

"Wow, you really need to get a hobby," Caroline snapped. "Ever thought of taking up golf?"

"The last time I wielded a golf club was to beat a man to death, Caroline. The sport itself doesn't really appeal to me."

She shuddered again at his admission.

She wanted to find some good in him so badly, but every time she saw a glimmer of goodness buried deep within him, he quashed her hopes with some murderous tirade. On balance, the bad in him certainly seemed to outweigh the good. Still, it was almost as if he wanted her to hate him right then. Like he was doing everything he could to goad her into condemning what he'd done. As if he wanted her to be some makeshift conscience for him. It was unnerving at best.

But she couldn't help but rise to the bait because she did feel the need to condemn him.

She was disgusted, and it bled into her angry words.

"I was starting to think that maybe there was something worth saving in you, Klaus. I figured maybe you covered it up with aggression and anger, lashing out because you've been hurt in the past. But it's like you get off on other people's pain."

"Perhaps you're right," he agreed flatly, masochistically enjoying her vitriol. Self-sabotage was one area where he excelled. "Some people are just too lost to be found."

His easy agreement angered her and her contrary nature soared to the surface. "But I've seen the good in you."

"That's a rather quick change of heart. Wasn't I Satan incarnate moments ago?"

"You lash out when you're hurt and you do bad things but that doesn't make you fundamentally bad. I can't let myself believe that. You don't have to be that bad man anymore, not if you choose to change."

"Or maybe I am just pure evil," he countered. "You may fool yourself into believing I'm a lost soul with issues that can be solved and fixed but this is who I am, Caroline. I'm a man who kills and tortures and enjoys it. If you can't accept that…well, that's up to you."

"How am I supposed to just accept that? You find pleasure in taking lives, in destroying people. Katherine could easily have been me. If things had worked out differently, how do I know that I wouldn't be tied to a chair right now, with you holding a knife to my throat?"

"Maybe you would. You're beautiful, Caroline, but you're right when you say you could easily have become just a faceless victim to me. Some of the people I've dispatched barely even register in my memory. That could have been you."

She gulped down the lump that clogged her throat. No longer could she pretend to herself that he wasn't fundamentally bad. Whatever good was inside of him, he didn't want to embrace it. Maybe he'd never embrace it, no matter how deeply she wanted him to. Living in denial was easier, but it seemed that a billion neon warning signs were flashing in front of her face.

How could she ignore that?

"I've gotten caught up in this…mirage that you're not as bad as I thought you were." Caroline felt a single tear trace a path down her cheek. "But that's all it is, isn't it? Just a mirage, a fantasy that I constructed."

The disappointment on her face was more painful than the agony in his abdomen or the stinging in his knuckles. It was something that cut him to his very core and it caused genuine fear to flare up in the pit of his stomach. Only moments earlier he'd wanted to push her away, scared that she was getting to close to him. But the reality that he might have achieved his aim gnawed at his entire being like the most corrosive acid.

He didn't want to lose her.

He couldn't bear the thought that she would despise him.

It was an abhorrent idea.

"I suppose you're right in some ways, Caroline," he admitted carefully. "I am bad. I'm inherently evil. I don't deny that and while perhaps there's some good in me, it's never going to be the dominant trait. But you're wrong when you say that what we've shared is a fantasy. In fact, it's the most real thing that I've ever experienced. You've given me hope and I never dared to allow myself such a luxury before. Perhaps I'm the blackest darkness but you're pure light. You make me better. Don't give up on me, sweetheart. I know there's a part of you that's drawn to me, and if you can learn to accept the bad parts, then you can shine light into my dark."

Her cheeks puffed out with an exhausted sigh.

Could she really accept Klaus for what he was?

No doubt he could be charming and sweet to her but when it came to the rest of the world he would happily cut them down without a second thought. Being with him was like being on a carousel that never stopped spinning and she was getting dizzy from it.

She couldn't deal with this now.

It was too much to process.

Her default instinct to avoid confronting the issue kicked into overdrive.

Rising to her feet, she cast a final glance at his now expressionless face. "I can't discuss this right now. I'm going back to bed."

"So you're just walking away from this? That's what you seem to do best, is it not, Caroline? Why can't you face talking this out with me?"

"I didn't say we won't talk about this, Klaus. But right now...I just...I can't! It's been a stressful night, Klaus. You know, some of us aren't used to the kind of trauma that comes from almost being strangled to death by a vengeful maniac."

"Really? I thought you'd be used to it by now seeing as how you almost get killed every bloody day when you're in my company," he deadpanned, earning him a vicious glare.

"Well, I'm not used to it and I don't ever want to get used to it," she growled. "All I wanna do is sleep."

"Are you sure you wish to be alone?"

"Why? Do I have to worry about somebody else attacking me tonight?"

Klaus shook his head. "They won't attack again tonight. Damon is a lone wolf right now and I hurt him badly enough to put him out of action for a little while. But I thought perhaps you might prefer not to be on your own after…all that occurred."

"You thought wrong," she informed him harshly, surprising herself at the coldness in her voice. "I need to be alone right now."

"As you wish," he replied, his voice equally devoid of emotion. He wanted to demand that she spend the night curled up next to him, but he was truly scared that if he pushed her too far, he might lose her completely.

"Thanks," she sighed, turning away from him.

Sadly she returned to her room. With Klaus it seemed like every time she took a step forward they took two steps back. Being with him was like fighting against a tidal wave and she wasn't sure if she was riding the wave or sinking and drowning. It was tearing her apart from the inside out.

And she was really starting to tire of it.

Caroline felt like something had to give…something had to change.

She just wasn't sure she was prepared for the consequences when that change came.

"Goodnight, Klaus," she whispered, not looking back at him.

He swallowed as he watched her walk away to her bedroom, his heart heavy with the feeling that her goodnight was more of a goodbye. Maybe not a literal goodbye, but definitely a figurative one, and it pitted his insides.

Unfortunately, he was too selfish just to let her leave him.

Maybe she didn't realize that she was his now.

She would always be his.

Until death…and beyond.

xxxx

Meredith tapped her fingers repeatedly on the kitchen countertop as she waited to hear news of what had transpired. If Damon had been successful then Klaus Mikaelson would be nothing more than a mass of mangled flesh and bone by now.

She screwed her eyes shut and prayed that he'd gotten the job done.

The moment a pounding sounded on the door of her apartment she flew over to it and wrenched it open, stumbling as a battered young man barged through. Blood stained the front of his shirt, dried to a crusty brown.

"What happened?" she asked Damon without preamble, narrowing her eyes at his bruised face.

"Oh, I thought I'd try out for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. It was fun, lots of fans cheering for me. They even gave me a nickname. Damon the Destroyer. What do you think? Too obvious?"

"Damon, I don't have time for your annoying dumbass comments. What the hell happened?"

"You got the hell part right. An evil bastard from hell is what happened, Merry. Damn Klaus and his newest play toy, Slut Barbie, is what happened."

"Please tell me that they look worse than you right now."

"They look worse than me right now."

"Is that a lie?" she hissed through gritted teeth.

"Yup. They're pretty much fine and I look like I went eight rounds with Mike Tyson on a bad day. And I feel like it too. Bloody bastard cut me open and it winded me. Don't worry though, I'm sure I'll live," he said sardonically. "Please don't trouble yourself and offer me your medical services, Doc."

She casually waved away his whining. "How are they not dead? You were supposed to be able to do it. You promised me, Damon."

"Cool it, Doc. I'm not in the mood for the newest episode of Damon's A Screw Up. You know that evil dick has a bunch of tricks up his sleeve. I'll get him next time."

Anger colored Meredith's face. "Next time? Are you freakin' kidding me? He'll be prepared for you next time. He was weak from his wounds and tonight was the best chance you'll ever have, Salvatore. You had the chance to take out Mikaelson and you failed! That makes you weak!"

"Hey!" Damon retorted defensively. "You had an even better chance to end the bastard and you chose to help that dick. You could have given him a shot of cyanide or, hey here's an idea, just refused to treat him. Mother Nature could've done the job all by herself. So pull that stick out of your ass."

"Look I had to help him. Klaus has ways of being very persuasive. But I couldn't kill him, Damon. I don't get my hands dirty. I never have before and I'm not about to start now."

He scoffed, throwing his hands out wide. "Is the poor little doctor afraid of getting a little blood on her hands, huh? Suck it up, Doc. You chose this life and you can't just pick the parts that give you the warm fuzzies."

"I didn't choose this life, Damon. I chose to be with Stefan and I was prepared to take anything that came with that…the good and the bad."

"That didn't stop you from riding Kol Mikaelson's dick though, did it? Was it the thrill of his money that magically made your legs open? Or are you just a little whore who can't keep her panties on."

"I was grieving! I lost the man I loved and I turned to Kol because I was lonely and sad."

"Letting a Mikaelson touch you was the greatest betrayal of my brother's memory, Doc. If Stefan knew what you did, he'd be disgusted with you. He'd see you for the nasty piece of trash you are."

Rage welling up inside of her, Meredith slapped Damon clean across his face, snapping his neck to the side. "Fuck you, asshole! You're really one to talk after sleeping with Katherine when she put out for anything with a heartbeat. You're a desperate loser who can't get over a dead slut."

She panted wildly as he turned back to her, his eyes dark and stormy with fury.

"You bitch!" he yelled, narrowing his gaze. "Maybe, seeing as how I'm such a loser and so weak, I should practice exactly how I'm going to kill Mikaelson and his whore. A little murder before breakfast always sets me up for the rest of the day."

Backing away she raised her hands to defend herself as he crept closer to her, like a feral animal casing its pray. He was close enough so she could faintly smell the booze on his breath.

"What are you talking about?" she gasped.

"Don't you get it? Come on, Doc, you're familiar with medical experimentation. Just see yourself as my guinea pig."

"Listen Damon, just stay away from me."

But he didn't heed her warning.

He couldn't.

A switch had been flipped in him and he'd passed the point of no return.

As if a red haze had descended over him, he unleashed the first crushing blow to the side of her head. With a shriek she tumbled to the ground, trying to shield herself from the tirade of punches and kicks that he rained down on her. Ignoring her pained screams, he tore apart her tender flesh and shattered bones until her cries melded with the howling inside of his own head.

"You should have helped Stefan," he yelled between blows. "You could have helped him, gotten him away from that sick fuck. You're just as guilty as Mikaelson for letting him get away with it."

His boots connected with her ribcage, turning it into pulp, every kick only serving to incense him more. "You had the chance to save Katherine. She was everything to me, but you valued your walkin', talkin' Mikaelson-shaped sex-toy more than you valued my girl. You're just as much a part of the reason she's gone."

He loved it, the feeling of power that came from having ultimate control over the life of someone else. It was a pity that the pretty doctor was the one to fall foul of his wrath instead of his true intended victim, but it was only a matter of time until he made Klaus pay for his sins.

And inevitably his thoughts turned to the one man he knew Klaus feared.

Mikael.

Stefan, the brother he still mourned, had mentioned that Mikael was a force to be reckoned with and Damon knew he had to put that assertion to the test. He knew what working with Mikael had done to Katherine but he didn't recoil at the thought of this being a suicide mission now.

It was time to take things to the next level to see Klaus Mikaelson dead. For too long he'd wallowed in his own self pity, but his spark had been reignited tonight. Even if he didn't personally get the pleasure of the kill, the only thing that mattered now was destroying the bastard who stole his girl and his brother away from him. Even if this resulted in his own demise, it would be worth it.

There was only focus in his life…and that was to end Klaus's life.

He didn't even realize how long he'd been destroying Meredith's body until his cold, unfeeling gaze landed on his own pulp covered hands.

"So messy!" he tsked, padding into the kitchen to look for a dishtowel.

As he wiped his hands clean, a smile appeared on his face. He suddenly realized that he'd rediscovered his purpose again in life. Long ago he'd crawled into the bottom of a bottle and he'd been happy to drown there. But remembering the thrill that the kill brought out in him was euphoric.

"Oh baby, it's time to get on the midnight train to Funville. Or should that be Murderville?" he gleefully said to the empty room.

Killing really did make him vibrate with pleasure, but he couldn't leave any loose ends. He scanned the room for Meredith's cell phone, smiling when he saw it lying on the countertop. Picking it up, he erased any evidence of his contact with the dead doctor to ensure no one would be able to link him to her murder.

Glancing down at the mangled mess of a corpse that used to be Meredith Fell, Damon rolled his eyes.

"You didn't wanna get your hands bloody and look what you've gone and done now, Doc. Every part of you is all bloody."

He chuckled at his own joke as he strode away.

This was surely just the start.

"One down…"

I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter...let me know what you think! x