AN: Hey… guess who's still alive after all this time? I realize that an update four years later may involve some rereads, and honestly, I had to do one as well. But I'm back! And her is…

Twelve

Klaus went utterly still and didn't dare say anything. Caroline shifted in his arms, before her hand came up. She rested it over his, and moved them in a stroking motion. Realizing what she wanted, Klaus began to pet her again.

And barely able restrain impatience, he waited.

"Arrows don't often have children. To be an Arrow is to be dangerous. But Ming… Ming wanted someone like my mother."

"Your mother" – Klaus ran his fingers down her arm - "You don't speak of her."

"Not much to speak of." He felt her shrug against him. "She had an extraordinarily powerful combination of J-Psy and Tp-Psy abilities. Not quite cardinal, but thanks to the amplification effect, she might as well have been. She was also insane. I never knew her when she wasn't kept in a special institution, under Ming's supervision."

"Her telepathy drove her insane," Klaus murmured. "I've heard of it happening, even under Silence."

"No," Caroline replied. Her voice had gone flat, the same tone she had used when she had first entered the den, but her fingers clutched his arm, blunt nails threatening to break his skin. The wolf prowled below his skin, demanding that he help his mate, but these were wounds Caroline had carried since childhood, even while becoming Silent. They weren't the kind of hurt that could easily be erased, even by a wolf whose greatest desire was her happiness. "Her insanity wasn't because of her telepathy. Not the way you're thinking. My mother went mad, because her abilities meant she knew if someone spoke an untruth. And sometimes the only thing that keeps us sane is accepting a pretty lie."

Caroline rolled away from him, sitting on the edge of the bed. Klaus didn't want to let her go, but her body thrummed with tension, and his instincts told him to give her space.

"Sometimes… sometimes she would seem almost lucid. I have the faintest memories of my early childhood, and she would stroke my hair. But then as I grew older, those moments became rarer and she…" Her hands dug into the bedding, her knuckles turning white. Klaus hesitantly reached out, and touched her fingers with his. Caroline looked down to where their hands touched and let out a shaky breath. "She scared me, Klaus" – she looked back at him, her eyes meeting his – "she terrified me. She would scream and say things I didn't understand. I would have nightmares about it. Even when I was supposed to be Silent, I would have nightmares. Judd knew, but he never told anyone. And then he was gone too, and I had to learn to hide them myself."

"How did she die?"

Caroline looked away from him again, her gaze turning distant.

"She killed herself. Despite the insanity, she was still an Arrow. It was… brutal."

Klaus moved again, this time to wrap his arms around her, and pull her back into his chest. Caroline stiffened at first, and Klaus rested his cheek against hers.

"Come back to me, Love," he murmured. "Your memories can't touch you here."

"Memories can always touch you," Caroline replied. "That's what makes them so terrible." She gave another of those shaky exhales. "My father was worse. My mother went mad, but she loved me. Bill… Bill was the thing that exists on the Net, the monster we all know is there, but never speak of."

"A psychopath."

"That word is too kind for what he is," Caroline said with a derisive snort. "Psychopath…that word is used for humans. And there was nothing human about my father."

Klaus stroked hair, waiting for her to continue, but she didn't. Instead, she just burrowed her way into his arms and turned her face towards his.

"Kiss me again, Klaus."

She looked so very fragile and lost, that Klaus was helpless to do anything but obey.

(SALVATION)

"What have you done?"

Had it been anyone else, the demand might have been called harsh. But such a description ventured close to the expression of emotion, and everyone knew that Judd was Silent, even if he'd only just officially completed the Protocol Program. He had already been sent on missions, despite his young age.

Caroline needed to be Silent, too.

She stood next to her father and tried to ignore the way the Arrows looked at them. They smelled like blood, but at least she couldn't taste it anymore. Not like she had when –

"Caroline?"

She blinked as Judd knelt in front of her. He wasn't that much older than her, only around a decade, but Ming had put him in charge of her because Caroline's gift was so similar to his. It had made Father angry – not that Caroline would ever tell anyone, because they weren't allowed to get angry – because he wanted her to be like him.

She was now. Her hands were covered in blood, and she could feel some drying on her face as well. Her throat hurt, because she had screamed. She hadn't been Silent, when she pleaded to not have to do it, but…

"You need to wash up, Caroline." Judd's voice was flat, but there was something soft about his eyes. Caroline wouldn't tell anyone that, either. Not because she was afraid of Judd like she was Father, but because she liked that softness.

Caroline opened her mouth to agree, but all that came out was the ghost of a whimper, and she snapped her lips shut again. She could feel Father's glare like a brand on her back. He wouldn't like her showing weakness like that.

"Go," Judd ordered again, before he got to his feet to stare Father down. Caroline wanted to stop him – Judd was so young, like her - but she wasn't brave enough.

As she stood in the shower, she held her hand over her mouth, so no one could hear the agonized whimpers that she couldn't seem to stop.

(SALVATION)

When Caroline and Klaus entered the meeting room, the first thing to catch their attention was Enzo waggling his brows. Caroline frowned at him, while Klaus gave a low growl.

"Don't, Lorenzo."

"That's rude, Klaus. You don't even know what I was going to say!"

"Please," Katherine snorted. "Everyone knew what you were going to say."

"I didn't," Bonnie piped up from across the table. Katherine looked at her with a bright expression, as though Christmas had come early. Next to Bonnie, Kol gave a huff and leaned down, murmuring into her ear. Bonnie's eyes widened almost comically. "Oh… oh. I… oh."

Klaus looked down at Caroline, ready to exchange a smile at Bonnie's expression. But his mate was clearly a thousand miles away. He reached out and took her hand, and she jolted, turning her gaze to him.

"Are you all right, Caroline?" It was Elijah that asked the question, and Klaus thought the Arrow might actually be showing concern, in his own way.

"If I'm not, will you try to keep secrets from me again?" Caroline asked coolly. "Perhaps you've been keeping my mother hidden away as well?"

Elijah's spine went rigid, though it was just the slightest stiffening of his body, and Bonnie seemed to sink into her chair. Kol let out a low growl, his wolf leaking into his eyes, and Klaus' wolf responded in kind.

"Don't," Bonnie said to Kol, resting a hand over his. She looked at Caroline, her Cardinal eyes holding something close to pain. "Breaching Silence isn't easy, Caroline. Not for anyone, and especially not for Arrows. We didn't want to hurt you."

"You didn't know," Caroline replied to her fried. "Elijah did."

Elijah's eyes flashed with warning, while Bonnie's brow furrowed.

"It's because I… knew, that I kept silent. You aren't capable of being impartial about William, Caroline. You weren't, even when you were meant to be Silent-"

"Did you think I would set out to kill him?" Caroline cut Elijah off, her voice as cold as the day she'd arrived in RiverForest. "I went Rogue to save my E, Elijah, but even with a broken Silence I'm not an idiot. My father has taken enough from me. He doesn't get my life."

"You are angry," Elijah said levelly. "Until you cal-"

It was Katherine who interrupted him this time, her boot swinging out to kick him in the shin, the surprise of the act silencing him.

"Stop talking," she advised. "Whatever your argument is about, you're not winning. And going around in circles isn't helping us protect our people." She turned her eyes to Caroline. "You father – how dangerous is he?"

"He's a psychopath with high gradient Tk powers," Caroline replied simply, and it was that simple. Everyone present knew what Tks could do. Still, there was more to Bill, and Caroline knew they needed to know. But it was difficult, to speak of the darkest parts of her history, even if it wasn't in detailed terms.

"I'm here, Sweetheart," Klaus murmured against her ear. "Whatever it is… I'm here."

"He likes it to be messy," Caroline said at last, focusing on Klaus, holding his gaze with hers. It made it easier, when she could imagine it was just the two of them. Mates didn't have secrets, not from each other, and Klaus… Klaus would still love her. It was an incredible realization, but she could feel his love, like she felt her own heartbeat. He wouldn't blame her for the monsters in her past. "He likes it to be messy and painful. If he sets his sights on any of you, it won't be a quick death, but you will die. He made a study of how to do it."

"And the Arrows let him?" Enzo demanded, finally drawing Caroline's gaze away from Klaus.

"Ming let him," Caroline corrected. "And the rest of the Squad…"

"If we don't have our loyalty, we have nothing," Elijah finished, and when Caroline met his gaze, he bowed his head slightly. "I did not mean it as a betrayal, Caroline. However, you do… matter."

As close an admission of emotion as Elijah had ever come, and though Caroline's anger didn't disappear, it did cool somewhat.

"We're partners, Elijah. I need to know you trust me to make the intelligent call. Emotion hasn't destroyed my capabilities to think." Caroline ran a hand down her face. "Did you at least tell Vasic and Aden?"

The two men had left earlier, Caroline knew. Neither liked to be far from their own mates for long, and with Vasic's ability they were but a second away. The thought that Aden – her leader – would have so little faith in her ability to handle emotion was a dull ache in her chest.

"They knew nothing," Elijah admitted.

Caroline stared at him, her mind whirring with confusion. If he hadn't told any Arrows, then that meant that no one but Elijah and Bonnie – an E with very little offensive power – had known the extent of what they were facing.

"You planned to do it all yourself," she murmured after several long moments. "That is… breathtakingly arrogant of you. And… stupid."

And something that had to be driven by emotion, because there was no other explanation for it. Though they shared an Arrow's training, her father had years of experience on Elijah, and a complete lack of morals that meant no act was too low or vicious. Elijah might have succeeded, but it was just as likely, perhaps even more so, that he would have wound up yet another dead body.

"Okay," she said after a moment. "So, we're not doing that plan. It's terrible. Instead, we'll come up with another one. A smart one."

"I think you've made your opinion of my plan quite clear, Caroline," Elijah said, and he may have sounded a little irritated –perhaps his Silence wasn't as pristine as he would wish.

"Have I though?" Caroline snapped back, beyond irritated herself. "Because I don't think I have. My father has a complete lack of morality, Elijah, and is incredibly cruel. My issues have issues because of him, and every single one of those issues has the name of a damn murder victim. So no, I don't think I've made my opinion of your plan quite clear!"

When she was done, the room was completely silent, and Caroline was standing, glaring at Elijah, her hands fisted on the table. She might have been bellowing by the end of her speech, but he deserved it.

Elijah was smarter than that.

"Well," Katherine said slowly, looking somewhat impressed as she eyed Caroline, as though waiting for her to blow up again. "I'm going to agree with the girl that knows this crazy guy best. So if Mr. Silent here can't take him on his own… how do we do this?"

"Before we do anything, we must find him," Elijah retorted, a slight narrowing of his eyes the only acknowledgement of Katherine's Mr. Silent poke. "It's very likely he's gone to ground. William Forbes is not a foolish man. Hunting Mikael may be the better option. He could have information."

The Lieutenants began to argue with Elijah over their tracking abilities, the Arrow countering their arguments with a cool distance that had to be making the emotional Changelings grind their teeth. His arguments made sense, except for one fact that Elijah wasn't taking into account, too focused on still viewing William through his role as an Arrow.

"He took Bonnie."

The Lieutenants continued to argue, and Caroline sighed, rubbing her temples in an attempt to ward off the headache that was beginning to form there. Klaus ran a hand over her hair, pausing a moment to entangle his fingers there, before he stood. The motion made everyone else, even Elijah, stop talking.

"My mate has something to say," Klaus said in a tone that should have been agreeable, but instead just sent a shiver down her spine. "Do shut up and listen."

All of the gazes focused on Caroline, and she let herself don her Arrow's skin. This was just another debriefing; she had taken part in them a hundred times, and this was no different.

She would face this as she did every Arrow meeting.

"He took Bonnie," she said again, surveying each of them with a cool gaze, already calculating how best to use their resources. "They may have wanted to experiment with an E, but I don't believe for a second that my father had someone kidnap my E just by coincidence."

"You think Bonnie was targeted," Kol said, his body turning into Bonnie's, his gaze sharp and dangerous. "Because of you."

"Kol," Bonnie hissed, glaring at him, and Caroline loved her friend a little bit more for that.

But it didn't change the truth of Kol's words.

"Yes," she replied simply. "My father has only had one goal since I was born. To make me like him."

"It obviously hasn't worked," Marcel commented, leaning back in his chair, propping his feet on the edge of the table. "So what's his game plan now?"

Caroline scowled at the table, tapping out an erratic rhythm with her fingers.

"It hasn't changed," she said at last. "He still wants to make me like him."

Even if it meant killing everyone in the room one by one. Caroline wouldn't let it happen.

(SALVATION)

"Your precision is an art."

Caroline said nothing in response to Ming's praise. The leader of the Arrow's hadn't come here to comment on her ability to kill.

He didn't care if she was precise, as long as the proper people ended up dead. Vasic could clean up if a mess was left – how many times had he cleaned up after her father?

Who had cleaned up after her? Or had the families of those she killed returned to the nightmare she had created?

She had never been able to ask. Once she was old enough to be of value to Ming, the question had no longer mattered.

He might not care what William Forbes did in his spare time, but he wouldn't let the man continue to drag Caroline into it when she held value for the Squad. It was perhaps the one good thing Ming had ever done for her.

She wondered if that's why he was here. To speak to her of her father. She had felt him die, and her legs had nearly given out, yet it still didn't feel real.

"Walk with me."

Caroline got to her feet and fell into step next to Ming. He surveyed the building as they strode down the hall, like a Lord overseeing his kingdom. Caroline remained silent, and tried to see the building as Ming might, but found she couldn't put herself into his mind.

"Your father is dead."

Caroline froze for just the slightest moment, and she knew Ming noticed, though he didn't comment. She didn't fool herself into thinking it was due to some sort of kindness; Psy as a species didn't know what kindness was, and even if they did, Ming Le Bon would not. He was waiting for her response, making this some sort of test.

She had known William was dead, but only now that someone else had said the words did it truly seem real

"How did it happen?" she asked at last. "My father was well trained."

"The Mikaelsons were powerful," Ming replied. "He must have underestimated them. But they still died. Your father went to his grave without failure."

Only the Psy would consider a psychopath without failure.

"Do you need me to assist on follow up?"

"No. I merely came to inform you of the death."

Caroline decided the words didn't require an answer, remained silent. Ming watched her a moment longer, then turned on his heel and left.

Caroline continued her day, and it wasn't until much later, when she finally locked herself in her room, that she let her body slump to the floor, let her breath come in deep, gasping pants.

A panic attack… she had read of them, recognized the symptoms, yet it made no sense.

Psy didn't have panic attacks. She repeated that as a mantra, until she had convinced herself that this was just a natural reaction. Psy didn't have panic attacks.

But for nearly an hour, Caroline Forbes did, until panic became tears that streaked down her face in silence as she realized that after those long, miserable years… she was finally free.

(SALVATION)

"There's been an attack."

Klaus cursed at Enzo, making sure that a sheet was covering Caroline, but not particularly caring about his own nakedness.

"Knock, Lorenzo!" he barked out. Enzo tossed him his pants, and turned his back to the bed.

"I'm sorry, oh great Alpha, but Grayson called. Damon apparently stumbled too close to our Psy friends. He may not make it."

Klaus growled, because of course Damon would potentially screw up a plan before it could even be enacted. On the rare occasions Klaus had imagined finding his mate, he had thought they would spend the ensuing weeks in bed learning each other. Instead, his mate was walking an emotional tightrope while enemies lurked in their forest, and what little physical comfort he was able to give Caroline got interrupted by God. Damn. Damon. Salvatore.

"What happened?" Caroline asked, already sliding on a t-shirt. She tugged at her hair, wrinkling her nose, and Klaus stepped up behind her. It was natural, to stroke a brush through it, and carefully begin to braid it, even as they both listened to Enzo.

"They tried to take his mind. It didn't work, because Alaric was right there, and he's in a particularly vicious mindset because of Jenna. But they got a pretty good hit in - Telepathy, they're guessing."

"Not my father, then. Elijah was right; Mikael must have stuck around too. I wish we knew if they were still working together."

"Grayson's pack?" Klaus asked as he quickly tied off the braid, then ran his hand down Caroline's back. She seemed more centered than she had after the revelations of the previous day. He liked to believe the sex had something to do with that, though it was likely the solid seven hours of sleep they'd managed prior to it.

"They're out for blood," Enzo replied, falling in step next to him as they left the bedroom for the meeting room.

"We need to calm them down," Caroline said grimly. "If they end up targeting my father, there won't be a near miss. They were lucky Damon encountered Mikael's people instead."

The next hour was spent in a blur of phonecalls and video conferences with Grayson. His pack was out for blood, and it took Elijah and Caroline, doing her best impression of still being Silent, to convince him that these were not Psy that anyone wanted to hunt while caught in a blood rage.

Cooler heads needed to prevail, because even if Mikael fell victim to his own rage, William wouldn't. At least that was what Caroline said in a cool, flat voice that made Klaus' wolf growl. It was almost as if they'd stepped back in time, to when she first appeared with an emotionless expression, willing to slice her own carotid if it meant saving Bonnie.

"We're running against the clock now," she said, the cold expression replaced by a grim one once Grayson ended the call. "The only reason his pack hasn't gone on the hunt already is because they respect their Alpha too much, and he's giving us the benefit of the doubt. That's not going to last past another attack."

"It will not," Elijah agreed. One of his fingers tapped on the tabletop. "What do you suggest?"

Caroline pulled one of her legs up, resting her chin on her knee. The other remained on the floor, spinning her chair back and forth. She bit her lip and stared at the screen where Grayson had been, eyes unseeing.

"We have to lure him out," she said at last. "My father. Taking the children was a desperate move. Mikael will make another mistake. Bill is the bigger danger right now."

"That's a great idea," Marcel said from Klaus' other side, "but how are we supposed to do it? You've convinced me that your dad is some sort of psychopathic mastermind. Not someone who is easily lured."

"He's incredibly easy to lure," Caroline replied, with the determined expression of someone who had made up their mind. She dropped her leg back to the floor, her spine becoming military stiff. "We just need the right bait."

"Not an option," Klaus replied, because he was just as stubborn as she was, and he didn't need the mating bond to know what she meant by the right bait. "You said yourself – he doesn't get your life."

"He doesn't," Caroline agreed. "But that doesn't mean we ignore that I'm what he wants. It can be the most obvious trap in the world, and he'll fall for it if I'm in the middle. I'll do this without you Klaus, but it will be a lot easier to stay alive if I have you on my side."

Klaus' growl began as a low grumble in the back of his throat, until it came out as a vicious snarl right in her face. He was on his feet, the wolf riding him, before the man could really catch up, his hands braced on the arms of her chair, looming over her. Her back stiffened even further, if such a thing were possible, but her expression went flat and cold.

Silent.

"Don't do that!" he growled angrily. "You can't just hide your emotions the second anger comes into play. That's not how relationships work."

"Klaus-" It was Enzo who tried to speak, only to be silenced with an even angrier growl. A powerful blow knocked his chest, and he caught himself on the table, glaring at Caroline the second he realized the attack had come from her. She had taken the opportunity to get to her feet. Her face was still cold, but her fists were clenched.

"If I don't get to just shut down, then you can't do this!"

"Oh? And what is this exactly, Love?"

"Go all Alpha! You don't get to growl and shove around your weight. Enzo wasn't doing anything wrong; he just didn't want you to do something… you are so frustrating!"

Emotion broke through, making her eyes flash and her cheeks flush. His Psy was beautiful when she was angry – fiery and passionate. He'd known it was there, hidden beneath her Silence, and the reality of it was breathtaking.

And directed at him, which just fueled his own anger.

"Well, Sweetheart, excuse me if I go all Alpha when you've made a decision about what you're going to do without so much as asking my opinion!"

There it was again, that flinch when he yelled, and seeing it made his growl even fiercer.

"I'm not going to bloody well hurt you."

"I know that," Caroline blurted out without a thought. Her hand tangled in her hair, and she looked at a spot over his shoulder. "Of course, I know that. You're changing the subject."

"You flinched."

She stiffened and gave an uncomfortable shrug.

"We're not getting anywhere with this conversation," she said at last. "We should… not talk right now. And cool down. And just… not talk."

He stared at her back, as she turned on her hell and left the meeting room, and Klaus, entirely. He stared at the empty space where she had stood, and then slowly turned his head towards Katherine when she let out a snort of laughter.

"Did she just leave?" he asked her, not quite believing that he stood there, his mate gone.

"She did," Katherine replied with a faux solemnity that Klaus didn't particularly appreciate.

"She can't just leave! That's not how a fight ends."

"Hey" – Katherine raised her hands, leaning back in her chair – "I know how you like to end fights. Apparently she doesn't know that though."

"Well, she'll damn well learn."

Muttering darkly, Klaus left the room, following after Caroline's citrus scent. If she thought she could simply walk away, they would have to have a very serious discussion.

(SALVATION)

"You're afraid of me."

Caroline had been cleaning Liz's small room – a job she didn't need to do; the facility made sure the room were kept incredibly clean – and she paused at her mother's words.

Liz hadn't been particularly talkative, but she had been lucid since Caroline's arrival, and she didn't know what to do, to ensure that the lucidity remained.

"Not at this exact moment," she said at last, straightening the flowers that had been placed on a table. Caroline didn't know who had put them there; Psy didn't usually care about such things, but maybe it was a new form of therapy. They were quite bright and attention grabbing.

If it had been anyone else asking, Caroline would have lied. There was nothing to be gained by telling the truth in their scenario, and Psy, particularly not Arrows, weren't meant to feel anything, including fear. But Liz would know, and lies only sent her into the depths of anger. That's when she screamed the loudest.

Caroline hated those screams.

"You can't trust them," Liz said, her gaze distant as she looked out the window. "You can't trust any of them."

Those were the last words that her mother ever spoke to her.

(SALVATION)

Caroline managed to make it just past the White Zone when Klaus caught up with her. She considered going on the attack when he grabbed her wrist and whirled her around, but the wolf was bright in his eyes, and it had her biting her tongue.

"You're my mate," he said to her, pulling her into his chest so he could wrap an arm around her, holding her body tight to his. It made her feel heated in a way that probably wasn't at all appropriate, but Caroline was still getting used to the human contact thing. Something of her desire must have shown in her face, because he swooped in to press a hungry kiss to her mouth.

The next several minutes were spent in a fierce kiss, where they each tried to one up the other, until they finally broke apart, and Caroline found that she was trapped against a tree by Klaus' chest.

"You're my mate," he said again. "Everyone – everything – else can burn. I'll burn it down myself, as long as it means you survive."

"You don't mean that," Caroline replied. "You're an Alpha, Klaus. We both know that I'm not everything. I can't be."

His expression was implacable, and Caroline pursed her lips. She knew there had to be some way of getting through the over-protective nature of his wolf, to make him realize that she was their best chance, and that working together was their only chance. But she didn't understand the Changelings well enough to know what those words were, and it made frustration well inside of her.

It made her want to hurt someone, to lash out with her emotions. She'd never wanted to do that before. Every time she'd hurt someone, she had either felt sick or felt nothing. She'd never wanted to do it before.

"I don't like this," she said to the air over Klaus's shoulder, feeling her body slump back against the tree.

"What don't you like?"

"This. Being ruled by emotion. Not being able to make you see sense. I'm not easy prey, Klaus. And treating me like I'm delicate and need to be protected… that's not what I need."

"You don't know what you need."

"Maybe not. But I do know it's not that."

He glared at her, and Caroline just stared back, no longer quite able to work up the anger to glare back. Klaus opened his mouth once, but then he stiffened. He slowly released her, and turned to look into the depths of the forest.

"What is it?" she asked, peering into the trees, trying to see what had drawn his attention. He closed his eyes, and took a deep breath in.

A scent.

"Stay close," he said, his fingernails becoming claws, his eyes glowing with his wolf. "And stay alert. If you sense someone that shouldn't be there, kill them."

The order spoke directly to the Arrow within her, and as they moved further into the trees, Caroline slowly scanned the area around them, searching for something that didn't quite belong. She thought for a moment, that she might have felt something, but then it was gone.

And they walked into a bloodbath.

"I can't be everything," she said again, as they stood shoulder-to-shoulder and stared up at the matted fur strung between two trees. She didn't know what kind of animal it belonged to, but she was pretty sure whatever it was, had been a Changeling. "This is what he'll do to all of you."

"You don't know that this was your father."

"I know," Caroline replied, with bone deep conviction and a fear so old that she was positive it would never go away, even if all that remained of Bill Forbes was dust and bone. "This is his message to me. I know how I'm going to answer." She turned her head to look at him. "I need your help, Klaus. I don't want to die."

Klaus' expression was grim as he looked up at the pelt, and turned somehow even more so when he looked down into her eyes.

"How do we stop him?"

AN: And there it is. A bit of Caroline's backstory, a bit of plot movement. And a big question: who does the pelt belong to?

This chapter was self-edited, so please excuse any mistakes.