A/N Hey guys! Welcome to my new drabble series. These will all take place in the same universe as Chapter 16 from, "It Would Be Impossible Not to Notice You." I'd love to hear your thoughts on these two wacky lovebirds. Written for Klaroline Valentine's Day Bingo, 2020. Prompt: "We loved with a love that was more than love."

The Demons Down Under the Sea

"But our love it was stronger by far than the love of those who were older than we; of many far wiser than we, and neither the angels in Heaven above, nor the demons down under the sea, can ever dissever my soul from the soul of the beautiful Annabel Lee." – Edgar Allen Poe

As Dr. Klaus Mikaelson stared at the Earl Grey staining his plush white carpet, he silently questioned every decision he'd ever made. He was not amused. Caroline Forbes was the Director of Operations at White Oak Retreat and she was pissed. As her boss, and Clinical Director of the posh Palm Beach rehab, she should have had more respect than to slam his office door open and startle him half to death. She didn't. He'd known she was a spitfire after they'd hit it off after a convention on Dialectical Behavior Therapy. Unfortunately, he hadn't planned on being so stupidly smitten with her that he'd stand there listening to her rant while tea ruined his perfectly good office floor.

"You're seriously going to just stand there and not do anything?!" she shouted, waving her arms emphatically.

The 35-year-old psychologist pinched the bridge of his nose and perched on the edge of his massive handcrafted desk. "What would you have me do, love?" he asked, exasperated. "Would you feel better if I replaced the pilfered perfume?"

The vivacious blonde scoffed, placing her hands on her hips as she continued her tirade. "The perfume was hers, thanks. It was the hairspray that belonged to Vickie, and no, we are not replacing it! This is yet another incident thanks to your loser brother."

Klaus rolled his eyes. They'd been over this before. "Finn does his best. He's simply misguided."

"He's simply stupid," she shot back venomously. "Elena Gilbert almost died last night because of that idiot's negligence."

The director stood up straight and stepped towards her. "Elena Gilbert almost died because she drank a bottle of perfume and chased it with a bottle of hairspray," he said seriously as he held her gaze, the heat in his eyes burning her straight to the core as she flashed back to the weekend following that convention. "She made a decision for which she alone bears the responsibility. My brother is not to blame for her poor choices."

"Oh, what-the-fuck-ever, Doctor Mikaelson," she snapped, rolling her eyes. "Elena is institutionalized because she makes poor choices. She's in here because she's so bulimic she can't survive without someone sitting with her for an hour after she eats. We know her judgment sucks. It's our job to protect her; to keep her from being able to do stupid things. All Finn had to do was search the girl's bags when they came back from pass. It's not rocket science. He's lazy. That's what he is. He's lazy and our patient got hurt because of it. Fire him, Klaus." Before her boss could protest, so held up her freshly manicured index finger and pointed it at him threateningly. "Family or not, he deserves it. We're lucky she's used to throwing up or she wouldn't have come back from the hospital."

Klaus dramatically dropped his eyes to stare at her crimson nail, making her blush when she realized she'd been poking him in the chest. He smirked when she had the good sense to take a step back and couldn't resist taking a step forward. She gulped at his predatory gaze and bumped into the light blue walls of his oceanside office. He placed one palm against the wall just beside her head and leaned in so closely that she could smell his Bulgari body wash. "Any other demands, Caroline?" he asked quietly, the r in her name rolling off his tongue. The things he could do with that tongue... "We both know how agreeable I can be when you ask me nicely," he teased, reminding them both of the time she'd begged him for it. It was the one and only occasion on which she'd done as he'd said, and he had indeed been very agreeable. In retrospect, it was probably because he'd had her tied to the bedpost at the time.

The brilliant and blonde operations manager loved working with her one-time lover, but it made the one-time thing hard... among other things on which she had that effect... because it definitely had to stay a one-time thing. Yes, he was inconveniently sexy, but he was also her boss. Sort of. The best, and worst, part of her day was storming into his office at least once to scream at him. He was brilliant with the patients. He understood the madness within. They loved him. The staff? Not so much. Caroline was the only one he'd never sent crying from his office. It was rare that she left without the answer she wanted. Unfortunately, he was fiercely protective of his family. She got along well with most of his siblings, save Rebekah, who was better known as Barbie Bitch, but Finn was a constant thorn in her side. If Klaus was playing the sexual attraction card, she may as well give up. He was the only man she'd ever met that could leave her tongue tied with just a glance. A smoldering glance with ocean blue eyes that went on for miles, but still. When he looked at her like that, all rational thought was swept away with the tide rolling outside his balcony.

When she was the first to avert her eyes, he knew he had her beat. Smirking, he took a step back. He walked over to his reverse osmosis water purifier and filled a glass for her. She took a sip and glared at him menacingly. "You are not cute," she lied, narrowing her eyes at him.

The director flashed her his adorable dimples and shrugged. "And you're not firing my brother," he obnoxiously replied in his silky British accent that drove her to distraction day in and day out. He smiled at her and opened the door to his office. "So, unless there's anything else..." he trailed off, gesturing out into the hallway.

Regaining her composure, she kicked it shut with the back of her stiletto. "Yeah, there's something else," she countered aggressively, "and don't even try it with the flirting again," she warned him, pointing her index finger in his direction. "Seriously. This is important."

Klaus smiled again, amused. Whatever it was, he'd probably give it to her when she looked at him like he was dinner. He knew all about what she liked in her mouth... He crossed the room to his luxurious desk chair and leaned back, gesturing for her to take a seat across from him. "What can I do for you, sweetheart?"

Caroline eyed him suspiciously before sitting down. Sometimes their power dynamic shifted so rapidly it gave her whiplash. She sipped her water again to buy herself some time to compose herself. Klaus and his stupid dimples. So not fair. She set down the glass and straightened her spine. "You can refer out Damon Salvatore," she said authoritatively.

The handsome psychologist groaned and leaned back in his chair to stare at the ceiling. "He's here on a court order. If I refer him out, he's facing prison. Before you start," he said, sitting upright and holding up a hand to halt the tirade he knew was coming, "no, I don't think he's a particularly good person, nor do I agree with the way he's manipulating Elena, but she plays a role, too. She's an adult. While we all know her decision are terrible, they are hers to make."

"He isn't just manipulating her," the 28-year-old spat, shooting the doctor a withering look. "It's like he has some sort of evil mind control thing going on. It isn't normal."

The sandy-blonde haired man rolled his eyes, something he'd picked up from his one-time lover. "He's hardly a magician, love. She's borderline and he's-"

"A predator," she finished for him with a huff as she crossed her arms over her chest. Her silky blue button-down blouse rode down just enough for the black lace of her bra to peek out, taunting him. "And spare me the diagnostics. Antisocial personality or not, he's a creep and I want him gone."

Klaus looked at her, his expression blank as his patience waned. "Caroline, sweetheart, if I referred out everyone you didn't like, I'd go out of business."

The young director had the good sense to pause and reflect on his words. He was a legitimate genius. He'd gotten his PsyD from Tulane at 23 and quickly risen as a leader in the field. She was a former beauty queen who'd had to fight tooth and nail to be taken seriously. He tilted his head to the side and gazed at her softly. She reluctantly met his eye and uncrossed her arms, leaning forward to rest her elbow on his desk, cradling her porcelain cheek on her palm. Klaus had always taken her seriously, had never questioned her intellect, had never doubted her talents. As much as she disagreed with him, which was often, she knew he was forever on her side.

"Am I really that bad?" she asked with a sigh.

That was a loaded question. He examined her carefully as he pondered how to respond. The way his eyes kept falling to her lingerie wasn't lost on her keen eye. It made her blush knowing how badly he wanted her, but it made her heart warm that he respected her enough not to push it... at least, not too much. He loved to push and prod, but he knew when to stop. He leaned back in his chair and folded his hands over his abdomen, the navy-blue cotton of his Henley perfectly molded to his toned muscles she tried so hard not to think about. He was the only doctor she knew that could pull off jeans and Henleys while still commanding the respect of both his staff and their patients. He exuded confidence and pheromones, although she liked to lie and say he was just cocky.

Klaus eyed her speculatively before finally replying, "You haven't taken a vacation in over a year."

"I have responsibilities-"

"You have an overdeveloped sense of responsibility stemming from your childhood spent caring for an ailing father and mentally ill mother," he observed as professionally as he could when he wanted to clear off his desk and show her all that life had to offer. She looked away but didn't deny it. Her mother had been unwell for as long as her daughter could remember. Caroline had grown up cleaning up her messes while her father suffered from a neurodegenerative disorder that had taken him from the world far too early. Their relationship had been rocky at times, but she'd let him go with no regrets. The best part of Klaus' offer had been that it was far, far from Mystic Falls and her hopelessly dramatic mother and hellcat of a boss. "The sun will rise without you telling it when to shine," he said sagely, earning him a brief glance as she leaned back in her chair and let down her long blonde curls with the pull of a well-placed bobby pin.

She exhaled loudly and ran her fingers through her hair. "What's your recommendation, doc?" she asked as her ego deflated. He was right. She was an epic control freak who sublimated her inner turmoil with stress cleaning and Cherry Garcia ice cream straight from the carton. When she started to lose her cool, a pint of Ben and Jerry's mysteriously appeared on her desk. It was Klaus' covert way of telling her to take the rest of the day off. Days off didn't exist in her world. She was constantly on call and had little to no social life beyond the office. The one and only time a date had come to take her to lunch, Klaus had nearly broken the man's wrist when they shook hands. He was fiercely protective of her, too. His overt feelings for her were hard to ignore, and sometimes, she didn't want to.

"There's an EMDR workshop in New Orleans next month," he began carefully as he gauged her reaction. "You've long since run out of excuses for why you aren't using your clinical license. You've wanted your certification for ages. I'll have no problem handing over the trauma department once you have it. Take a week off and come with me and leave your Galaxy behind. You need a break from this place. Your team runs like a well-oiled machine. The patients will be fine."

Caroline narrowed her eyes at her boss. "You already booked the tickets, didn't you?"

A sly smirk spread across his face, his dimples hiding behind his ever-present stubble. "I might have," he replied evasively with a shrug. His features blossomed into a Cheshire cat grin at the accusation behind blue eyes. "Alright, so I did," he confessed with a chuckle. "Consider your tuition and accommodations part of your benefits package."

Before she could tell him what to do with his package, there was a loud commotion in the hall followed by a banging on Klaus' office door. He shot out of his chair, strode purposefully to the door and yanked it open, his annoyance at the interruption barely contained within his lean and muscular frame. Finn stormed in holding a pair of bloody pliers. "It wasn't my fault," he spat rapidly when he saw the death glare coming his way from the Director of Operations. It wasn't a secret she wanted him gone and had for a long time.

"What happened?" she demanded, eyes shooting past him to the young girl sobbing at the end of the hallway.

"Damon ripped out his molars so he could go to the dentist and get hydrocodone," Finn answered in a rush.

"Jesus fucking Christ," Caroline exclaimed with a grimace. "How the hell did he get in the maintenance shed? Didn't you check the freaking locks on your rounds?!"

"He's a career thief," the older Mikaelson sibling defended himself. "He must have picked the lock."

"It's a biometric lock, you bloody idiot," Klaus interjected before his favorite employee could tackle his brother. "Find an emergency oral surgeon and go with him. If they give him a script, rip it up and bring him back with ibuprofen."

"Seriously?!" the young blonde shrieked incredulously as Finn bolted down the hall, blood dripping on the plush carpet. "You're still letting him-"

"Not now," the director gritted out between clenched teeth as he cocked his head towards the young woman tearfully approaching them.

"You can't kick Damon out, Dr. Mikaelson," Elena Gilbert cried, chest heaving hysterically. "He was impulsive and reckless because that's who he is, but I know he's sorry. Just give him a chance to apologize," she begged pathetically, tears streaming down her face.

"Oh, please," Caroline snorted, rolling her eyes. "There isn't an apology in the world that encompasses all the reasons he's wrong for you."

"You don't understand," she whined. "He's been a terrible person and he's made all the wrong choices, but I love him! I love him, Caroline. I love him," she sobbed as she began hyperventilating. "He loves me, too. I know he does. He's selfish, I know, but he's always loved me, even when I was dating his brother. We loved with a love that was more than love." Her words trailed off as she suddenly buried her face in Klaus' chest. He looked at the blonde with wide eyes, silently pleading with her to get the crazed brunette off of him.

Caroline released a long-suffering sigh as she pulled Elena away and guided her down the hall to the psychiatrist's office. "Come on, Annabel Lee. Let's go see Dr. Bennett. I'm sure she's got some quetiapine stashed in a drawer somewhere."

It was with a groan that the doctor closed the door, leaving him alone to ponder the choices that had led him to this moment. Sedating Elena Gilbert with a heavy dose of antipsychotics was the best idea he'd heard all day. He sat down behind his desk and stared out the glass sliding doors of his balcony at the waves crashing against the burning sand. Part of him really didn't know why he didn't pack up and leave all these crazy people and their infinite self-imposed drama behind. He was fabulously wealthy and had the means to travel the world discovering great cities, and art, and music, and he could have all of it. Of course, that meant leaving a certain blonde behind.

Klaus sighed when he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. The psychologist reluctantly pulled it out, dreading what fresh hell was unfolding on the floors below. He felt his spirits lift considerably as he read the text on the touchscreen. It was from her. A smirk curled his upper lip as an entirely new set of plans began to form in his mind as he read her message over and over. Caroline alone had the power to make his heart pound in his chest with four small words.

"When do we leave?"

A/N Please let me know what you think! The next installment will feature a very special guest straight from our very own KC Fandom. Stay tuned!