Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters, ideas and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

A/N: This story starts in The Vampire Diaries, Season 4, Episode 12: A View to a Kill. I will be deviating a lot from Canon & it will have a lot of AU moments. Heads-up from now, Klaus is obviously my favorite character and I hate how he's so misunderstood, so this story will be extremely Klaus-Centric as well as Mikaelson-friendly. There will be a crossover with The Originals characters, so another heads-up. Now, another note: I know I have a lot of stories I am currently writing, but I've been plotting two TVD stories for months now, and I finally came up with many ideas for this one, so I had to write it down and post it up. Do not worry, I will never ever abandon any of my stories! EVER!

Enjoy! XD

Chapter 1:

"He's more myself than I am.

Whatever our souls are made of,

his and mine are the same." – Emily Brontë.

Mystic Falls

Fear was the main emotion consuming him, striking a chord at the center of his very being. Fear being the emotion he detested the most, because one cannot control fear, and he loathed not being in control. He was a man that always had several contingency plans, always ten steps ahead of his enemies; there was always a Plan B, to back up Plan A, and if both failed, then a Plan C, and a Plan D, until he ran out of letters in the alphabet. Now however, he was taken aback, caught by surprise, and he hated surprises, because he loved being prepared for anything if it were to go awry, especially with the endless amount of enemies he had amassed throughout the millennium. His brother's resolute actions staggered him, leaving him unprepared and facing the unexpected and therefore, allowing him no time whatsoever to come up with a remarkable plan and giving him absolutely no choice but to reconsider executing the recurring action he loathed most of all: neutralize his sibling with the dagger and safely tucked away in a coffin, away from harm and the ramifications of acts done impulsively.

But fear gripped his heart, numbing his brain, rendering him speechless, and paralyzing him, for as his widened blue-green eyes discerned the scene by the front door of two of his foes that had been carelessly left ajar, only one sentence kept replaying in his head like a hopeless mantra: He was too late.

Two pairs of dissimilar doe-like brown eyes flickered toward him from the inside of the house, fear and defiance reflecting on their visages, and he ignored the maelstrom of grief, sorrow, misery, and utter wretchedness for being a failure as a form of protection and to hide the weakness that inevitably occurred with the loss of his little brother; he instead welcomed the unadulterated rage that never failed to make an appearance whenever he intended to mask his fear and his humanity.

"What did you do?!" he roared, a gold glint reflecting in his blue-green eyes, alerting his foes to the danger ahead. Tatia's second doppelgänger, Elena Gilbert swallowed her fear and met his furious glare defiantly, "We didn't have a choice. He was trying to cut off Jeremy's arm!"

His expression looked as though it had been carved from stone as his glare traveled to the shirtless Jeremy Gilbert – his tattoo shown for all to see in its newly formed glory – the latest Hunter from the Brotherhood of the Five, the accursed White Oak Stake clenched tightly in his fist. "LIES! He never would've gotten inside if you hadn't have set a trap for him," each word was laced with venom, and the Gilbert siblings had the decency to flinch in terror. They thought him a fool, unable to perceive the falsehoods hidden deftly behind half-truths.

"You said you were going to put him down too," the doppelgänger retorted in defense making him see red. Him? Kill his own brother? His flesh and blood? Either vampirism really did a number on Elena Gilbert and turned her compassion into insanity, or she truly was a daft chit. "I was going to make him suffer on my terms!" the dagger felt heavy in his pocket and he clamped down his grief in preference for unmitigated fury, "I'm going to burn this house to the ground. And then, when you try to flee for your lives, I'll kill you both without blinking," he threatened, and this time it was no empty threat. He had no more use for the Petrova Doppelgänger and the Hunter, and they will pay for murdering his little brother.

The Hunter's eyes glazed with anger, "You kill us, you'll never get to the cure. You'll never be able to make any more hybrids."

As though they wouldn't put up a fight if the doppelgänger was human again – empty words; they all meant nothing to him. Absolutely nothing! They knew nothing of his contingencies set aside in case human doppelgänger blood was no longer available to him. Over a millennium roaming the earth taught him to always be prepared and to expect the unexpected. The second he stepped foot into this one-pony town, he knew… he knew that Elena Gilbert would have a short life that will either end in permanent death, or temporary death, what with her stringing two vampires along and playing with their hearts; death and vampirism, both were inevitable.

"You really think I care for an instant about my bloody hybrids?" he growled, "I want the cure so I can destroy it. I would've killed you all the second we dug it up, but now I'm just gonna watch you burn instead-"his vowed threat was painfully interrupted as he let out a yell of agony, falling to the ground due to the most excruciating aneurysm he ever felt being inflicted on him repeatedly. In the haze of his pain, he could hear, as though standing from afar, the Hunter invite him in after the insistence of the Bennett witch and the next thing he knew, he stood in the living room, the pain ebbing away in the blink of an eye. Sensing dark magic tingling in the ambience, he punched at the air and as just as he predicted, was met with an invisible barrier – he was trapped.

He glared maliciously at the doppelgänger, the hunter and the Bennett witch, parting them with a promise, halting their determined footsteps as they turned to abandon the house, "I will hunt all of you to your end! Do you hear me? DO YOU!?"

The door slammed shut and he stood alone, trapped in the tasteless living room of his adversaries with the charred corpse of his little brother he had failed, laying a few feet away from him. The silence threatened to suffocate him as he no longer had anybody to rant and rave at. The chasm he locked all his repressed feelings in suddenly opened up and he was attacked with a whirlpool of pain – emotional pain. He no longer had a distraction to take his mind off the loss of his baby brother, and tears spilled down his face like rivulets as he extended a hand out, trying and failing to reach the corpse of his brother due to the invisible barrier, which only made the tears cascade quicker.

"Kol. Oh, brother, I am so sorry. I promise you, I knew nothing of their plan. My loyalty only ever belonged to you and Rebekah, Elijah, Finn… even if I failed in showing you all-, my intentions were always good, only to protect you and keep you close," he knew that he was allowing weakness to consume him, but there was nobody in the house but him, nobody to hear him pathetically pour his heart out, even if Kol could not hear him or answer him. He needed to say it. "I was a horrible brother, of that I know. But despite my faults and my cruelty, despite the many times I have failed you throughout the millennium, I always meant well. Countless of times I daggered you, I know you took it as a betrayal, you probably thought I hated you… I did it to protect you, I swear it. Father was right all along. I am a coward. Only upon your death I wait to tell you the truth… I love you Kol. Always and Forever."

Niklaus Mikaelson decided it was time to end their childish spat. He needed her, more than he ever needed anybody before. Closing his eyes, Klaus removed the block and allowed his agonizing feelings to flow through the bond, hitting the person on the other side like a whirlpool and causing her to stagger in pain.

He was dead. Actually dead; cease to exist; the end; no more… he was unable to wrap his head around the alarming truth of his demise. Over a millennium of being alive, Kol, in his arrogance, truly believed that only his older brother had the power to put him down, to neutralize him temporarily… he had never been so wrong. To be eliminated by a newbie vampire and a young hunter, well, it was quite-, scratch that thought, it was unbelievably mortifying. His hubris ended up being his downfall… funny – his father always warned him of that.

Disgusted with himself, Kol scrutinized his surroundings and to plainly put it, the Other Side was downright depressing, like a ghost town. Deciding to check on his siblings, Kol stopped by his beloved Bekah first, not wanting to see his bastard of a brother who betrayed him and conspired with the Gilberts into permanently putting him down. Closing his eyes, he thought of Bekah and materialized into her humble abode that she picked out after their bastard brother practically disowned her.

"I don't believe you. Kol's not dead. He can't be!" and there she was; his little sister so predictably in denial and seeking comfort in the youngest Salvatore's arms. Kol stood rigidly in a corner, incredulous eyes narrowing in on his sister's repetitive fling. "Listen, Rebekah, they didn't have a choice. Kol started this when he went after Jeremy. He went after you too, do you remember? I mean, he was never going to let us find the cure." The young vampire spoke with such conviction, that the wildest Mikaelson nearly ripped all his hair off.

"You bloody dick! Pompous, self-righteous… YOU COMMITTED GENOCIDE FOR YOUR OWN SELFISH PURPOSES!" Kol bellowed, incensed beyond belief that they couldn't hear him. Those pricks didn't just murder him, but tens of thousands of vampires as well! For the first time in a long while, Kol actually had good intentions; he was committing a selfless act for the wellbeing of the damn human race! He was protecting all species including the pathetic, undeserving backs of the Scooby Gang of Mystic bloody Falls! Silas will unleash hell on everyone, and they were too selfish to at least research his claims. Let them all rot in hell and suffer the consequences of their greed.

But the wildest Mikaelson was in a world of pain when his favorite sibling, his little Bex, bought Stefan Salvatore's pitiful speech. Pain shone strongly in his mahogany orbs and he shook his head as though batting away the hurt, "Wow, Bex, you got over me quick enough, huh." Not wanting to stick around for what looked like another encore of carnal pleasures, instead of observing his sister avenge him, Kol repeated his previous actions, and appeared before Elijah.

The noble brother ended up being another failure. Looking around the townhouse his eldest living brother took residence in, he was astonished to see him in the middle of a heated kissing session with non-other than Tatia's cheap knock-off and the bane of Klaus's existence.

"Well, well, well, brother. Fraternizing with dear Katerina Petrova behind the back of the brother you are so desperate to save. And they call you noble," Kol spat out with ill-concealed revulsion, "When I needed my big brother to come to my aid, to play referee with our siblings, to SAVE my life from your precious Elena that you seem to respect for some confounding reason, you remain here, shacked up with the manipulative doppelgänger of your first love?!"

He didn't want to witness this any longer. Rebekah barely shed any tears for him, didn't even utter a word of vengeance – his beloved Bex, the one he always protected and defended, cared more about obtaining the blasted cure than her brother. Elijah on the other hand, advertising himself as the noble brother, ensuring he incessantly moralized him, and preached: family above all – he was one to talk; abandoning his family and once again, choosing another Petrova over his own blood.

Nobody cared about him, even in death, they chose to ignore him – he should have gotten used to it by now, but it still bloody hurt… worse than the appearance of Marcellus. Deciding that he couldn't possibly feel any worse than he already is, Kol appeared before his bastard of a brother, confused that he materialized in the location of his demise.

"I will hunt all of you to your end! Do you hear me? DO YOU!?"

Frowning in utter perplexity, Kol gaped at his charred corpse, before traveling his gaze to his murderers and the Bennett witch, their eyes unable to mask the terror at hearing his brother's threat. Once the door slammed shut, Kol scrutinized his brother, unable to comprehend the veracity of what he overheard… Nik vowed to avenge… him? Ignoring his ghastly corpse for the moment, Kol cocked his head at his brother, wondering why he remained rooted to his spot in his murderers' living room of all places. It was when Nik punched the air, that he 'ahhed' in comprehension.

"The witch erected an invisible barrier around you, huh," he chuckled humorlessly, "Bennett most probably bound the spell with the new moon, which means you'll be trapped here for maximum… four days, give or take a …"but his acidic comment died in his throat when he noticed Nik trying and failing to reach out for his corpse, blocked by the barrier. His heart clenched in sorrow; despite Kol's grudge and anger toward his bastard brother, he couldn't pretend to understand what he was currently going through… trapped with his body for three to four days. It was an act of cruelty.

What transpired next stunned Kol to the core; he felt as though his whole world had been turned upside down at the sight of tears – actual tears – streaming down Niklaus Mikaelson's – of all people – face. "No. I won't, you can't make me buy that brotherly act anymore, Klaus. Stop crying!" he venomously spat out, and a little voice inside his head snarkily commented: who's in denial now?... "I thought crying is for the weak, brother! Even in death you try to fool and manipulate me! Well sorry, but it won't work! You never cry. Ever since mother turned us into vampires, you have not once shed a single tear-"

"Kol. Oh, brother, I am so sorry." Kol's mouth hung open in a comical fashion and instead of towering over him, he knelt down to properly analyze his face, only to recoil backward at the genuine sorrow and hurt. He wasn't faking it… his eyes were red-rimmed, his face was tearstained, and his voice was cracking with pure grief. "I promise you, I knew nothing of their plan. My loyalty only ever belonged to you and Rebekah, Elijah, Finn… even if I failed in showing you all-, my intentions were always good, only to protect you and keep you close."

His eyes shuttered to a close, recalling his last conversation with Nik on the phone when he accused him of conspiring with the doppelgänger and her hunter brother. He detected no lie in his older brother's words, none whatsoever. "I was a horrible brother, of that I know. But despite my faults and my cruelty, despite the many times I have failed you throughout the millennium, I always meant well. Countless of times I daggered you, I know you took it as a betrayal, you probably thought I hated you… I did it to protect you, I swear it." Kol scoffed loudly at that, allowing his rage to quash out the hope that was suddenly starting to consume him. Protect him? How the hell was daggering him a form of protection?!

Kol wanted to leave. He didn't want to hear any more lies, and as he closed his eyes to teleport away, ignoring his subconscious claiming him to be in denial, Klaus's next words prompted his eyes to fly open. "Father was right all along. I am a coward."

Why the bloody hell would he bring Mikael up? "You're becoming as mad as a hatter. Stop it!" he spat out.

"Only upon your death I wait to tell you the truth… I love you Kol. Always and Forever."

Silence.

Kol blatantly gaped at his sadistic and usually emotionless brother. Since becoming vampires, Klaus only ever admitted his love to Rebekah, and the amount of times could be counted on one hand. How long had Kol hoped to hear Klaus declare brotherly love? Too long had Kol desired and ultimately given it up as a lost cause, to be included in their bloody Always and Forever pact. But what shocked Kol the most, was that out of his remaining siblings, Niklaus mourned him and swore retribution. Not Rebekah. Not Elijah. Klaus! The brother he somewhat despised at times, the brother who continuously daggered him, the brother he conspired against in 1914 to gain revenge. But in the end, it was that brother that proved his love and unwavering devotion, and vowed to avenge him, it just took him dying to finally hear and see the truth.

Sitting beside his older brother, Kol sadly watched him shudder with violent sobs as he grieved over his death. "I love you too, Nik. Always have, always will."

Italy

The second the clock struck 3 AM, a strangled, bloodcurdling scream echoed in a prestigious penthouse situated in Via Palatino, Milano, awakening the butler, the maids, and the chef and instigating bedlam out of fear for their employer. The owner of the penthouse stumbled blindly out of her majestic king-size bed, crumbling onto the ground as a maelstrom of agonizing emotions and tormented hurt inflicted her mind, heart, and soul. Tears streamed down her tightly clenched eyelids, sliding down her neck like torrents, and two dainty, French-manicured hands clutched both sides of her head in excruciating agony, her parched throat tearing apart as she screamed.

Suddenly, tender hands wrapped themselves around her waist and the affectionate voice of her favorite elderly maid, Lucile, murmured in her ear words of comfort in rapid Italian and only once her breathing returned to its regular pace, did Lucile start barking out orders to the other maids for a glass of water. Gratefully downing the refreshing liquid, red-rimmed and watery forest-green eyes slowly fluttered open.

Never before had she felt such unbearable and unadulterated fear and grief through her bond; nine times out of ten, negative sentiments were purposely blocked, and besides, those sentiments were never even expressed in eighty-six years, since the bond's inauguration. Counting backwards from a hundred as a method of meditation, she began planning out her next course of action. The bond could not be ignored, because she could not ignore him. Never!

Able to think clearly now, the mistress of the penthouse ignored Lucile's concern and began barking out orders to arrange her suitcase for travel and to reserve her the earliest airplane ticket, with no intended return date. The penthouse was a flurry of activity as the maids acquiesced to her demands, giving her the opportunity to communicate with her second-in-command. Disregarding the late hour, she impatiently tapped her foot against the carpeted floor and after five rings a groggy, irritated voice answered the other end, "Che cosa?"

"Viggo! Chiedo scusa, but due to an urgent matter I am leaving to Milan Malpensa Airport," she sternly spoke up, sensing her second-in-command's complete attention as he dismissed the last remnants of sleep. "You are responsible for the pack in the meantime, you hear me, Viggo? I want no cock-ups, nothing! If you need to contact me, you have both, my Italian and American number. Capisci?"

The subservient reply was instantaneous, "Perfettamente. I won't disappoint."

"See that you don't. Ciao!" Ending the phone call, she spared the grandmotherly Lucile with a gratified smile and allowed her to escort her to the driveway, where her personal chauffeur awaited, while conversing in fluent Italian regarding the maintenance of the penthouse in her absence. After an affectionate farewell, she arrived at Milan Malpensa Airport at post-haste and boarded her flight, comfortably seating herself in the first-class section and finally allowing herself to react to the many negative emotions she had felt through the bond.

I am coming, my love. And I promise you, those responsible for meting out such pain out of you, shall suffer my wrath and beg for death!

Mystic Falls

Gilbert Residence

Klaus spent the entire night staring at Kol's corpse. This was his torment, his karma and every second that ticked by was agonizing. He wasn't even given the opportunity to grieve in peace. No. Tyler Lockwood, his first sired hybrid who should be thanking him for freeing him of a lifetime of pain where he would have to transform and break every bone in his body, benevolently stopped by to taunt him and gloat over Kol's death. Of course, wherever the mutt went, Caroline Forbes never strayed too far behind.

A tortured expression materialized on his face once the blonde vampire covered up Kol's body with a table cloth, but it was of no use – the image of his little brother was seared into his brain and would haunt him for the rest of his eternity. Come hell or high water, he will bring Kol back. He just needed to bid his time until the accursed enchantment broke and then he shall wreak havoc on this town and those that played a role in his death. He won't hold back any longer – Klaus allowed the supernatural inhabitants of Mystic Falls to cross him time and time again, but no more. He shall give them the true taste of the many repercussions that befell anybody who dared harm a member of the Original Family. Witches, Werewolves, Vampires; they all used to quake at the mere sound of his name, back when Klaus was a shadow, a myth, and a whisper that evoked fear.

"Tyler's mother is dead," Klaus started, speaking up for the first time since their unsolicited arrival, "So is my brother. We're even," he turned to address Caroline, "Call Bonnie. Get her to let me out of here."

Caroline glared at him, and if looks could kill, Klaus would be ten feet under, "I will never, ever, help you!"

Anger and venom pooled out of his voice, "How quickly you forget the part where I saved Tyler from the misery of being a werewolf. Or the night your mother invited me into her home to save the life of her precious daughter!"

The werewolf and the vampire were vehemently taken aback at the malice in his nuance and his eyes. While they had many violent confrontations with the Original Hybrid, and while he never masked his distaste to a certain few from their group, Caroline had always been excluded from facing his ire. Shock quickly melted away, and her face was shrouded with utmost disbelief, "How delusional are you? You killed his mother. And let's not forget that we're standing in a house where Elena's aunt Jenna used to live. Or did you think that your charm would make us forget how you killed her, too? No. I am not going to engage in this. You are not even worth the calories I burn talking to you."

There was a ringing silence in the room, and finally, Klaus snapped. The Original Hybrid's speed was no match for the novice vampire and hybrid, and before they could even do so much as blink, Caroline was impaled by a floor lamp and Klaus swung her forward to his side of the magical barrier, her neck a hairsbreadth away from his venomous fangs.

"NO!" a panicked Tyler yelled.

Klaus froze; he was attacked by reassurance and love from his bond, the emotions overwhelming him and engulfing him like a blanket of comfort. A quivering Caroline was suddenly hurled across the room, and she landed gracelessly by Tyler's feet, the two novices staring at him with wary and terrified expressions – even trapped behind a magical barrier, and he easily bested them. "Leave! If I were you, unless you have the means to get me out of here, do not return or I won't be as lenient. LEAVE!" he roared. As they scampered out of the house, Klaus slumped against the wall and returned to staring at Kol's covered body.

He only managed to nod off for three, maybe four hours some time after the sun rose the next day. By early afternoon, Tyler and Caroline defied him yet again – not that he was surprised – returned, and this time, they did not come empty-handed. Blue-green eyes narrowed dangerously at the strangely shaped bundle in Tyler's hand, and the gold glint of his inner wolf made a brief appearance when he undid the blanket and proudly exhibited the Hunter's Sword.

"Well, well, well. I didn't peg you two down for petty theft," Klaus snarled. Tyler merely smirked and brandished it around in a smug demeanor, "Found this in your attic."

The Original Hybrid's lip twitched into a bitter smile at the solid proof of Stefan Salvatore's betrayal, for he was the only one who knew of its exact location. The urge to rip his head off was tempting, unfortunately, that was a line he could never cross since he long-ago promised to protect the blasted Salvatore brothers, hence, the only reason why they still breathe the same oxygen as him no matter how many times they continued to defy him.

He spent the next hour leaning against the wall, impassively watching the vampire and the hybrid try to decode the Hunter's Sword, tinkering with the turning device, to no avail. Aggravated, Caroline gave up on her futile attempt of imploring the stoic Original with her eyes, and joined her boyfriend's side by the ground, recognition the main emotion on her visage, "It's called a cryptex!" Tyler looked at her with a raised eyebrow, and Caroline sassily pointed out, "I've seen the Da Vinci Code. You turn the different sides to the different symbols to get the translation on the other side and with the magic of the internet, Elena sent over these," she turned to the table and held out a few print-outs of Jeremy's completed tattoo. "So now all we have to do is cryptex away," she exuberantly clapped her hands together and turned to her laptop and after a moment of hesitation, sent a biting remark to Klaus, "If you happened to want to help, we wouldn't stop you."

Klaus gritted his teeth; the audacity of her. Such impudence! Caroline Forbes was testing the last dregs of his patience. He had officially given up on messing with her head, like he had been doing since he healed her of Tyler's hybrid bite a few months ago. However, he chuckled at their expense, knowing that without his aid, they would fail to receive the answers they seek. "Right. Well, might I suggest using the magic of the internet to purchase an Aramaic-to-English dictionary from your nearest retailer," he smirked down at them, knowing that for all the usefulness and wonders of the internet and Google, the dead language was not accessible.

Tyler turned to Caroline with confusion etched on his face, "What's Aramaic?"

"It's a dead language. It hasn't been used since, like, biblical times," Caroline huffed, biting her lower lip in frustration. Klaus truly was enjoying watching them flounder around – a mental kind of torture until he was released from the Bennett witch's enchanted imprisonment. "Qetsiyah's native tongue, I'm guessing," Klaus smirked malevolently in response to their vacant stares, "You know, even if you had the best dictionary in the world, it could take days to translate. Perhaps weeks." He made himself comfortable on the armchair and smiled like the cat that caught the canary, "In bas so-teen-too ara-ma-eet."

Caroline exchanged a glance of trepidation with Tyler, and warily drew out her next words, "What does that mean?"

But it wasn't the smugly smirking Klaus to deem them with a response. A sinuous, appealing voice spoke up clearly from behind them, the lithe woman with illegal curves sauntering toward them with confident footsteps, "If only you spoke Aramaic."

In synchronization, Klaus, Caroline and Tyler pivoted around to get a better look of the intruder. She looked utterly breathtaking and simply otherworldly in terms of her unsurpassed beauty; in estimation, the girl looked no older than twenty, maybe even nineteen; thick strawberry blonde waves cascaded down to her lower back, the latest Dior sunglasses perched at the top of her head; her eyes were distinctively big and almond-shaped, a forest-green color that sparkled back at them with so much life and fire and passion; she had naturally pink, plump, full lips that looked edible and extremely seductive, a petite straight-sloped nose, an ivory complexion, and a round face. She had a devious smile on her face, portraying dimples indented on either side of her cheeks. Caroline gaped at her expensive outfit, noticing that the stranger was covered from head to toe in designer clothing and accessories, and nothing but famous brands that were to die for. She simply screamed billionaire and she had an intimidating and oppressive air about her.

"Who the hell are you?" Tyler rudely barked out, unwilling to be distracted by her otherworldly beauty. But the woman had eyes for no one but Klaus, Klaus who was staring back at her in awe, marveling her as though she were his lifeline, his anchor. He whispered her name in hope, wonder, and so much devotion that it brought a gobsmacked expression onto Tyler's face, and made Caroline weak in the knees.

"Azalea?"

The stranger – Azalea? – beamed so brightly, she put the sun to shame. She approached the Original Hybrid with tantalizing steps and paused just outside of the erected barrier, her eyes blazing in anger as she finally comprehended the situation she walked in on, and that Klaus was trapped at his enemies' mercy. "My Love. Trouble seems to follow you, hmm?" she cheekily grinned, prompting Klaus to fondly roll his eyes and for his face to break out into an honest to god genuine smile.

"My Love? Listen up lady, you can't just waltz in here like you own the place! Who the hell do you think you are?" Caroline growled; deep inside, she admitted that she was probably a teensy weensy bit jealous… or, okay, very, very, very jealous.

The woman arched an eyebrow at the newbie vampire, amusement coloring her features, "Touchy, touchy. You must be Caroline Forbes, Miss Mystic Falls, hmm?" and while the question was rhetorical, Caroline dumbly nodded in affirmative, rendered speechless over how much the stranger knew about her. Her thick, glossy waves of strawberry blonde hair flew wildly as she let her head tilt backward as she emitted a bubble of melodious laughter. "Oh, I see what you meant, Nik. Miss Forbes here does have a fiery spirit. Such a lively little thing, a remarkable plaything," she grinned roguishly as she spewed out her last words.

Caroline's jaw dropped open, horror-struck and severely insulted, "Plaything!"

Tyler growled at her, insulted on his girlfriend's behalf, "Watch it!"

"Or what?" the woman dared him, "If I were you mutt, I'd keep your tail tucked between your legs before I shut you up with a muzzle. Got it?" And without another word, she stepped into the barrier and threw her hands around Klaus's neck, grabbing a fistful of his hair and pulling his head down to meet her lips, capturing them with hers in searing, passionate kiss filled with love and lust and desire. Automatically, Klaus's arms circled her illegal curves and he molded her body into his, attacking her lips fiercely.

God, how much he missed her. Despite the fact that he had last seen her two months ago and before that, he hadn't seen her for another two months, he was not used to her being far apart from him for more than a week, maximum two.

Tyler uncomfortably cleared his throat, trying to no avail to capture their attention. He grimaced at the scene, wanting nothing more than to clean his eyes with bleach to erase the image of his hated enemy making out with some hot babe. However, it was Caroline's envious shriek that succeeded in detaching their lips, "Klaus!? What the hell? Why are you playing tonsil hockey with… with her? Who is she?" she demanded.

The woman's currently bruised and swollen lips curved into a sweet smile that was so obviously fake, displaying a set of perfectly straight pearly teeth, "Oh, how rude of me. I forgot to introduce myself. I mean, it's only fair since I know basically everything about you and your inconsequential lives due to Nik's many updates. I'm Azalea Mikaelson, but most people call me Zoe."

"Mikaelson?" Caroline weakly uttered.

"As in your…" Tyler didn't dare say the word, it could not be true. No way in hell!

Klaus smirked as though reading the mutt's thoughts, "Mikaelson, as in my wife."

"I've been looking forward to meet you all. We're going to have so much fun together," and the way Zoe said it, it meant nothing good for the Mystic Falls Gang.

It has been two hours since the wife bomb was announced, and Tyler and Caroline secluded themselves in a corner trying their utmost hardest to decipher the Hunter's Sword. In the meantime, Zoe was being updated by her beloved husband over everything that befell him in the last two months. Forest-green orbs sparked dangerously and her eyes bore a hole into the corpse of the brother-in-law she never had the chance to meet – retribution echoed in the recess of her mind; oh, they would all suffer for their sins.

Klaus's voice dropped an octave, ensuring the baby vampire and the traitorous hybrid wouldn't be able to eavesdrop on their private conversation, "Love, why have you yet to obliterate the barrier?"

"Amore, patience," Zoe stroked the sculptured curves of his face, a mischievous sparkle in her entrancing eyes, "You can say it is the same reason why you have yet to inform anyone that there is only one dose of the cure," she smirked, only to be met with an identical glint from her husband.

When Klaus traveled to Italy to retrieve the Hunter's Sword from Alexander's grave, he spent the weekend with Zoe. Klaus had long-ago educated Zoe in miscellaneous subjects he had learned throughout the millennium; therefore, she was friendly with the dead language. The devious spouses spent less than half an hour decrypting the Sword, and decided to keep their discovery a secret for their own selfish reasons. Klaus feared the cure would be used against him by his long list of enemies; Zoe however, she feared the emergence of Silas. But it was too late for both of them – the motley crew were at Nova Scotia were the cure would inevitably be ripped from Silas's calcified hands, and the only way to obtain the cure, was by awakening Silas and de-mummifying him.

Klaus observed as his wife became lost in a trance, and he grew deeply concerned, "Love, what is bothering you?"

Shaking her head, Zoe plastered a smile onto her face that Klaus easily saw right through, "I'll tell you once we leave from this garish house, amore. I promise. I think it's time we lend them a helping hand, don't you think amore?" she winked. An evil grin materialized on Klaus's face, capturing her lips once again in a kiss, "God, I love you."

"Right back at ya, handsome," Zoe laughed, the sound drawing Caroline and Tyler's attention onto them. Klaus took the opportunity to state in a drawling nuance, "Requires a powerful witch and a hunter in full bloom. Silas rests on the far side, the means of his destruction at hand."

"What are you doing?" Tyler frowned, unconvinced they were helping them with the decoding out of the goodness of their hearts. Zoe lazily rubbed her manicured nails against the ribcage of her navy blue dress, "We don't need to explain ourselves to the likes of you," she sneered, "Now, why don't you be a dear and call your ragtag group so we could get this over with, hmm." Caroline glared at Klaus and Zoe in suspicion, her hand hesitating on her phone. Zoe burrowed her head in the crook of Klaus's neck and snapped, "We won't offer our services again. This is your last chance. Don't make me repeat myself, because I loathe repeating myself. You've got perfectly good hearing what with your vampire blessed senses, so hop to it, Forbes!"

Caroline really, really HATED that girl! But nevertheless, she obediently dialed Rebekah's number, seeing no other choice. After two rings, Rebekah's voice pervaded the Gilbert's living room, "Hello?" Klaus had to physically restrain Zoe from bouncing giddily in his arms at the sound of her best friend's voice; in her defense, It has been ninety years since she last saw her and eighty-nine years since their last conversation since Nik daggered her in 1922.

"Hey, it's Caroline. We have the translation of the tattoo," she nudged her head toward Tyler who nodded in affirmative, "We're emailing you pictures of the map and the instructions right now-"

"Actually, it was me," Klaus interjected, drawing a sharp intake of breath from the other end of the phone call. "Nik, you helped?" her voice was coated in plain disbelief. Klaus rolled his eyes, "You sound so surprised, little sister."

"Shouldn't I be?" Rebekah scornfully demanded, "I mean, you don't want me to be human. You don't want any of us to be human. Why would you help us find the cure?"

Deciding it was time to make her presence known, Zoe piped up, "Oh, quit being dramatic, Bex. How many times must I tell you, that kind of behavior suits you ill." There was a deadly silence on the other end; Rebekah's breathing sounded erratic to those with uncanny hearing and when she finally spoke up, her voice was choked with tears, "Z-Zoe? Is that yo- it can't be. Nik, he told me, Nik told me you were dead. Nik, this isn't funny!"

"It's really me, Bex. I told Nik to spread my death for the time being. It's a long story, we'll catch up once you return," Zoe genuinely told her, knowing that while Rebekah would detest them for lying to her about her only female friend's death, she would later understand their reasons.

Tyler and Caroline were intrigued at the startling change in conversation. This Zoe girl obviously faked her own death… the question was, why? Why would Klaus's wife take such drastic measures?

As expected, Rebekah was conflicted between exuberance over her best friend being alive, and fury over mourning her best friend when she had been perfectly alive the entire time. "Fine! You better have a good reason, Zoe, or so help me, I'll throttle you!" she acidly retorted. Klaus decided to cut the conversation short, a smirk on his face, "There is one more thing, Rebekah. There is only one dose of the cure. You need to find it first and take it. It's the only way you'll-"Tyler recovered from his shock and hastily ended the call, both him and Caroline gawking at the smug couple in horror.

"You played us. The entire time, you've, you've always known there was enough for one person!" Caroline yelled, her fists clenched and raised in the air. Gone was the arrogant mask and the smug smirk, replaced by a menacing glare directed strictly toward Tyler, "Do you honestly think, mate, that I'd allow a bunch of young vampires to risk my existence? Come now, Tyler, how many times must I tell you, I'm always ten steps ahead. Always. Did you ever wonder why I never responded to your many idle threats in regards to shoving the cure down my throat?"

Tyler backed away, terror the main emotion on his face. While Klaus gave the newbies a nice tongue-lashing, Zoe subtly placed her hands on a corner of the barrier and began siphoning the powerful magical barrier, recognizing it to be Expression Magic and knowing that the Bennett chit had an inevitable demise due to the wildness of this brand of magic. Zoe stepped out of the barrier and ripped off the table cloth that was cloaking Kol's charred corpse, "You can come out now, Nik."

"With pleasure," he smirked, grinning as Caroline and Tyler gaped in shock.

"B-But h-how-"

Zoe harshly cut into Caroline's stammering, "I decided it was time to cut our tête-à-tête short, pumpkin. I'd like to have a more passionate reunion with my husband, if you know what I mean," she lewdly winked, prompting Caroline to flush at the innuendo, "I mean, come on, sweets, you thought I was about to leave my husband with the likes of you? I drained your witchy friend's barrier. The only reason we are letting you live, is because once Kol returns, I'm sure he'd love the challenge in pursuing your little friends that murdered him. You can pass on the warning."

"Kol's dead!" Tyler snarled, eliciting a subtle flinch from Klaus, whose eyes glowed gold and he took a menacing step forward. Zoe rolled her eyes lazily, "Seriously? You were dead too, once upon a time, and you came back. In the world we live in, anything is possible!"

Caroline had had about enough of the bitch. In an act of impulsiveness, fueled by anger, fear and envy, she flashed over to Zoe's side and curled a hand around her neck, but before she could add pressure and properly strangle her, Zoe placed the palm of her hand onto Caroline's forehead. The blonde vampire released Zoe as if she had been burned and her lips parted in a silent scream; her pale skin turned gray and her body went rigid before she collapsed onto the ground – desiccated.

"Caroline! What did you do?" Tyler's fangs extended but before he could pounce, Klaus slammed him against the wall, "You dare threaten my wife. Word of warning mate, I will not tolerate anybody to touch her. Azalea is OFF LIMITS!" and without further ado, he violently smashed his head against the wall, creating a deep hole.

Zoe sashayed toward his fallen form, her face contorted in hate and anger, "You might want to stock up on your blood supply to awaken your little blonde bimbo, Tyler Lockwood. And when your friends return, you make sure to tell them, that not only is there a new Mikaelson is town, tell them that they shall all face the consequences for killing Kol and the clock starts now. I'll be seeing you real soon, mutt."

Klaus stepped forward and snapped Tyler's neck before he delicately picked up Kol's corpse and together, he and Zoe departed the Gilbert House, the front door slamming shut with an ominous thud.

Hell hath no fury like a Mikaelson scorned.

A/N: Well, I hope you enjoyed my new story? XD

Translations: Che cosa? – What? / Chiedo scusa – I apologize. / Capisci – Do you understand. / Perfettamente – Perfectly./ – If the translations are incorrect, I do apologize, these are taken from Google Translate.

1) Azalea "Zoe" Mikaelson is portrayed by Holland Roden (her real hair color is strawberry blonde BTW, she just keeps dying it apricot red). 2) BTW: I'm sure some of you noticed the slight Caroline bashing and attack of her character. Caroline Forbes is my favorite female character from both TVD & TO combined, so I promise that is not the case. Some characters will be slightly OC, but not too much. All my characters will be portrayed in both, a positive and negative light. For example; I wrote Caroline in a bad lighting, but next chapter or maybe five more down the road, she'll be portrayed in a good light again. I might attack Elena and then later compliment her, same goes for Elijah when I point out some flaws, and then show him as a knight in shining armor. So do not get insulted or disheartened if I end up attacking your all-time favorite characters, this is not a Bashing story at all, and it won't be filled with a string of attacks towards specific characters. I promise. 3) Also, I hated the lack of proper mourning for Kol. HATED IT. (Other than Klaus) but still. So, he will be avenged! I also understood Kol's reasoning for acting out: he wasn't included in the Always and Forever and his siblings showed more favoritism toward Marcel (even after his betrayal became known), and that is completely unacceptable! LOL! I'm sure Kol-Fans agree… XD 4) Can anyone guess what Zoe is? How she's been alive for decades and still has the appearance of a 19/20-year-old? I look forward to reading your theories and the answer will be given as the story continues. 5) Let me know your opinion please, and I'll try and have the next chapter updated soon. Also, this story will be having AU moments and I am going to deviate A LOT from canon! Adios! ;)

R&R.