A/n: After having been in New Orleans for a few months, Klaus leaves in search for a man threatening to kill Caroline, but what he finds, is more than he ever expected.

ps. Sorry for posting this before In the Midst of War. I'm working on it though, I swear!

At first he only thought it was her.

He'd just left New Orleans, in pursuit of a vampire who knew a little too much about him and his family. They were things that no one was supposed to know, information that dated back to their days as humans all the way to the present.

He would have let him go. The man was just a nuisance who had done a little bit of research. Elijah had convinced him that he was just as obsessed with the supernatural as Atticus Shane was. He only knew the legends. He didn't know the truth.

And he would have let him go.

But there was a moment that changed his mind about everything. It was one threat that made him disregard everything Elijah had been hammering into his brain for the past few months.

"I think you'll pay attention when I drop the heart of your little blonde vampire at your doorstep. Caroline Forbes, was it?"

And it was then that Elijah had agreed to go with him to get rid of the miscreant once and for all.

They found him in Istanbul two days after he made his threat. He was approaching an alley with a distressed face as he looked at his surroundings. He knew he was being followed and he was afraid. He was acting tough to be heard but what he didn't know was who he was messing with. Only a fool would threaten the most powerful creature on earth. And a fool he was.

Klaus approached him and the man froze right in his tracks.

"Good evening, mate." With a smirk, Klaus took a step closer to the man and raised his arm, ready to tear his heart out of his chest. But something made him pause as he looked back out of the alley.

He hesitated only for a moment when he heard her unforgettable laugh stop short.

The man used his hesitation as an advantage and turned to make a quick escape only to find Elijah blocking the entrance to the alley.

"I'm told you threatened the life of someone my brother is fond of." Elijah said, with an impassive look. "I'm afraid that was a big mistake. You see," Elijah paused, taking a step forward with the grace he always walked with and smirked. "You threaten her, you threaten us."

Elijah watched as his brother easily plunged his hand into the back of the man's chest, ripping out the bloodied heart. Both the man and the heart dropped to the ground with a thud.

Elijah reached for the handkerchief that rest in his suit pocket and held it out for Klaus.

There was a look that he saw in Klaus' eyes. Distant, as if he wasn't there. Removed, as if he entered another world. It lasted for only a second though and Klaus grabbed the cloth that Elijah held out for him wiping his bloodied hands clean. He pushed past his brother placing the cloth back in his hands.

He looked left and then right, searching desperately for the face that matched the laugh he just heard. Needing for it to be something other than another hallucination. His hopes came up short and he turned around to walk back to Elijah.

But then it hit him.

First, he was hit with her familiar scent, then he heard another female voice call out her name. He turned around quickly looking past the crowd of people dancing under the lights in the street. He saw her notorious blonde curls flash behind the dancing bodies. Hers being the only body to stand still in a vibrant crowd.

Their eyes met and he released the apprehensive breath he was holding. The breath he held when he first heard her laugh.

There was a clench in his heart that matched the look in her eyes. She looked as beautiful as ever. Her curls, loose and perfect. Her eyes, bright as always. She always stood out in a crowd and always stole his breath away. Her mouth hung slightly open as he stared at her with that same look he gave her the night they first danced together. Like he was really seeing her for the first time. Stunned by her effervescent aura, left breathless from her brightness. It was that breathlessness that made him think, if she were his weakness, he wouldn't mind.

He took a step forward, with the intent of never letting her leave his sight. It was that moment that he decided he wouldn't rest until she agreed to leave with him. But then he blinked as a woman danced across his path blocking his view, and when the path was clear, the only woman he wanted was gone, leaving him in a crowd of faceless people.

He jutted his jaw out, angry at both her for running and at him for being careless.

Elijah came up to his side and placed a palm on his shoulder. "It's a bit deeper than fondness isn't it? The rumors have traveled Klaus. Pretty soon they'll all know about her."

Klaus released an angry sigh and made his way back to the hotel they were staying at. "We'll take the first flight back, tomorrow morning."

Elijah had said nothing to him about seeing her, and he wondered again if it was just a hallucination. Or maybe Elijah was just walking on tiptoes around him again. His deepest desires had been playing tricks on his mind for months now. He cursed the day he had ever saved her. She was becoming one of his biggest weaknesses. The words he told Elijah once so long ago, played on repeat in his head as he walked out of the elevator and down the hall to his room. Love is a vampire's greatest weakness.

He despised that she was all he wanted. He had his family back and the only other thing he could have wanted was her. Caroline Forbes was the only one he truly desired and it was becoming a problem for his sanity.

Klaus opened the door to his room and walked to the mini bar, pouring himself a glass of whiskey. What lay beneath the bottle brought back the feeling that he felt when he first heard her laugh. The aching feeling of hope.

He lifted the bottle and picked up the paper that lay beneath it. It was the picture he drew of her the night of his family's ball. There was a knock at the door and it opened slowly, bringing in her sweet scent into the room.

He set the glass of whiskey down and flipped the drawing over after noticing the imprint of ink on the back of it.

At first he thought he saw her. But now, as he stared down at the words on the back of the paper, now he knew it was her.

Show me what the world has to offer.

a/n: This is horrible. I always have a picture in my mind and then when I actually write it, it turns out horrible. Blegh