I don't own any of the characters. I'm not that lucky.

Chapter 11: Plans and Discovery

"What the hell happened?" Luke asked staring at the burning house from the car window with wide eyes and a slightly open mouth. How could all of this happen in just a few hours?

"Just a little incident mate, nothing to worry over." Klaus replied helping Caroline into the back of the car before sliding in beside her, Elijah already claiming the front seat.

Caroline mumbled something, a yawn leaving her lips halfway through the broken thanks and Klaus couldn't help the laugh that left his lips.

The sound had Rebekah gawking at him as she got into the car beside him, even Elijah quirked an eyebrow in silent comment.

"Tired love?" Klaus teased ignoring his siblings.

Caroline glared at him in response. Yes, she was tried, her whole body ached and throbbed. She felt as though she had been put through a blender, she was sure she could hear the grating noise in her head any time she moved.

She just wanted to get back to the compound, go for a shower and sleep for the next week.

"Anything on Sophie yet boss?" Luke asked looking back at Klaus quickly through the rear view mirror. Caroline felt pity for him that was instantly followed by guilt. She only wanted a hot shower, Luke was suffering more than she was right now, she had no right to pity herself.

She sat a little taller at that thought and peered at Klaus from the corner of her eye. Anger shifted quickly through his features, but he schooled it into the blank mask she was so used to seeing.

Angry at what, she couldn't figure, but just knowing he was pissed was enough reason to send chills down her spine.

Whoever is messing with his plans for Sophie are in for the second coming of hell.

Caroline didn't like how calm she felt about that.

"She was taken by a very powerful coven; one we assume is in league with Silas himself." Elijah supplied also noticing the ticking in his brothers' jaw and takin it as his cue.

"They took Matt too, don't forget that." Rebekah jumped in going as far as looking at Caroline, knowing that she would at least feel the need to highlight his part in all of this mess.

Caroline nodded warily and glanced at Klaus again, still definitely angry, she decided shaking her head.

"We will find Matt, Rebekah." She stated firmly despite her state and returned the girls stare with a determined one of her own.

"Yes, well… Of course we will." Rebekah said clumsily, taken aback by Caroline. Which would be counted as the first time ever.

"We must return, and gather our information. Perhaps enlist a witch to try a location spell, we will do what we must to find your sister." Elijah swore and Caroline was struck by the enormity of it.

Do what we must.

Her eyes were drawn back to Klaus and this time he was already watching her, the anger still there behind the blue of his eyes.

She sighed and turned away from the heavy gaze.

"Being angry does us no good right now." She said pointedly while staring out the window.

No one dared reply to her, it was clear who she had directed it to.

Klaus hissed slightly and tried not to rip someone's throat out. The options were too limited in the small space. Instead he growled murderously in the back of his throat, shifting to face Caroline.

"I don't believe I asked you." He bit out, glaring holes into the side of her head, daring her to look at him. To talk back to him. Refuse him once again. He needed some kind of outlet for his anger, Caroline was supplying one.

"You didn't need to." Caroline said back, still refusing to look at him, her breath fanning out against the window and steaming it up slightly.

Rebekah sucked in a sharp breath and tried to hide her smile, Caroline sure knew how to make things interesting. She could be a little less revolted in her presence just for that fact.

Elijah on the other hand was trying to hide his bafflement by the whole situation, it was too surreal. He had too many things to contemplate and not enough answers. So, he too stayed quiet and let the scene play out.

"What would you have me do Caroline?"

It was her name that finally made her return his stare. She met him with a steely look and matched his anger with her own fierceness.

She didn't answer straight away; she didn't know how. Her mind was a mess, she forgot the reason she began this petty argument to begin with. All that mattered right now was stopping Silas enter the city and finding Sophie and Matt.

"Find them, then you can be angry and kill every last witch in that God damn coven."

*/*/*

Caroline sighed the moment they entered the compound, her brows furrowing when she realised that she had been longing to return. Almost as if the grand house was her home.

She threw that thought far from her mind and turned to the matter at hand.

Damon.

"So, let me guess. Family reunion went wrong?" He asked meeting them in the hall with a glass of bourbon and a smirk that was his trademark,

"Didn't Stefan tell you?" Caroline asked quirking an eyebrow at him in disbelief.

"Oh. Sure. I just figured that was all a ploy so you and the hybrid over there could finally get it on in peace." Damon replied grinning at her glare and Klaus's muttered warning.

"Damon Salvatore, don't think I can say I've missed you. Where's your brother?" Rebekah asked strolling past him, heading to the kitchen.

"Out, Elena wanted to sightsee." Damon said with an eye roll to Caroline, despite herself she repeated the motion and smiled.

"Well, haven't you changed. Not worried he might take her back?" Rebekah asked with a devious smile over her shoulder.

"He wouldn't, and neither would she." Caroline said shaking her head, already heading up the stairs. Tired of the bickering already.

She heard Rebekah scoff, but she was already out of sight so didn't bother retorting. Damon gave her a thankful smile though, and she tiredly returned it.

"I want to have a word with you love," Klaus called after her just as she reached the top of the stairs.

She stopped for a moment to look down at him.

"Shame, my shower wants far more appealing words with me;" she replied with a lazy smirk and turned to head to her room.

"One hour Caroline." She heard him say in a warning tone.

At that moment she decided to take a nap after her shower too.

*/*/*

Klaus paced the small study with an angry set to his mouth and a crease between his brows.

He was missing something. Something he knew should be important to all of this mess, but, for the life of him, he could not put the missing piece together.

A small knock at the door interrupted him and his pacing.

"Enter." He said reaching for the bottle of scotch that lay half full on his desk. Elijah entered, his usual stern look on his face and a worrying glint in his eyes that only Klaus could pick up on.

"What?" He demanded instantly, anger rippling through his body.

What could possibly be wrong now?"

"There was another attack at the border, we have five dead. It was a group of witches. Seems our coven are getting closer to home." Elijah said watching Klaus carefully.

Klaus clutched at the glass bottle in his hand tight, his knuckles turning pale. Silently he poured himself a glass of the amber liquid and brought it to his lips with a sigh.

"Then what? Have they been sighted since?" He asked pouring another.

"It seems they vanished after the attack, quite strange." Elijah informed him, confusion flashing across his face.

Klaus got that same nagging feeling that he was missing something.

The witches knew of Sophie, kidnaped her, used magic beyond what he has seen in centuries and now attack randomly at his borders?

"Any word of movement from Mystic falls?" Klaus asked trying to fit the piece in.

Elijah raised an eyebrow, hiding a smirk.

"Silas, you mean? Still not yet, but I do know the coven has been sighted there today. Our assumptions are correct on that part at least."

"We also have to assume that we are being gathered here, otherwise Rebekah's busboy would have been left alone. Now why?" Klaus mused drinking from the glass with a contemplative look.

A sound from above had him pause in his musings. Caroline was waking. Elena had finally arrived from her trip and went straight to see her, the two were talking about the events.

He had told her an hour, yet it had nearly tripled that and he had allowed her to go unharmed. Caroline always was the exception. Anyone else would be dead by now, he knew that and so did she. It was a game to them, to see how far she could push his limits.

"The main thing is getting Sophie back, the rest we can figure out brother. I'm working on pinpointing their location." Elijah said unsure of the answers to his questions.

"Then it seems we really do need to have a family meeting. There's only one way we are going to find her. And Rebekah is not going to like it." Klaus said with a sinister smile that even Elijah couldn't deny was evil.

*/*/*

Caroline still felt as though she could sleep for another week, but being with Elena and surrounded by empty blood bags and junk food packets she found herself smiling and enjoying herself. Letting loose.

"There is this little clothes place down the road, I need to take you Care! You would love it." Elena gushed as she bit into her Oreo with a grin.

Caroline knew she was worried. She could see it in her slight stammering and occasional lip biting, but she also knew she didn't want to talk about it yet. Caroline had filled her in and that was it. Elena knew all she wanted to.

"Next time, I promise, Lena," Caroline said tossing another blood bag to the side. She had been allowing herself to indulge, it had been too long since she could drink blood so freely.

Elena nodded and began telling her about all the places they had to visit together in the city, Caroline found her mind trailing.

Unlike Elena, she couldn't push away the trouble that was coming for them. She had to make sense of it all, no matter how hard the puzzle pieces refused to click together.

What exactly was Sophie in all of this? If only Klaus would tell her…

Sighing she chewed on her lip with a heightened sense of confusion.

"Sorry to interrupt, but we are being summoned. And I don't think we have much of a choice to refuse." Stefan suddenly said appearing in the doorway with an apologetic smile.

Caroline groaned and rolled her eyes at him.

"All of us?" Elena asked stupefied as she got up from the bed.

Stefan just nodded and shrugged, not really knowing what was going on either

"He gets off Lording around Elena, but we might as well go down. Never know, we might learn something important." Caroline said in a bored voice as she stood from her own position on the bed. After her shower she changed into soft cotton bottoms and a baggy jumper, she was in no mood for dressing up.

When they arrived in the lounge everyone was already gathered. Rebekah sat on one of the sofas, an annoyed pout on her perfect face when Caroline entered. Caroline narrowed her eyes at the original sister but otherwise ignored her. She nodded at Elijah, still a little freaked by their previous conversation, he was standing by the fireplace with his usual stern look that seemed to mask out his inner thoughts from the rest of the world. He smiled carefully in return and she felt herself relax a little.

Klaus and Damon were by the drinks cabinet, each holding a glass in hand and smirks lightening their faces as they talked amongst themselves. Caroline caught snippets and found herself grimacing before tuning them out.

"What's going on?" She asked the room, though her eyes flicked towards Klaus for an answer.

"I did say we needed to have words." Klaus said drinking from his glass with a small smile.

Caroline refrained from rolling her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest instead.

"With me. Yes. Not all of us, what's going on?" She asked again, this time directly at him. Her eyes clashing with his as she demanded an answer. She didn't like the hungry look she got back in return.

"My brother has an idea on how to find Sophie," Elijah finally said, interrupting their game of 'don't blink.'

Caroline turned to Elijah with raised brows, wasn't that a good thing? Why did he look so tense?

"Something tells me this is going to suck." Damon said moving to stand by Elena. Klaus barked out a small laugh and raised his glass to Damon in mock appreciation.

"Probably. It involves Marcel after all."

Rebekah was the first to react with a scandalised yelp leaving her lips. She turned in her seat to glare at Klaus with a fire she rarely let loose on him in fear of being daggered.

Klaus took the heat with a small sigh. He didn't like that idea any more than she did.

"What does Marcel have to do with anything?" Stefan asked trying to move the plot along.

Caroline watched Klaus begin to pace, the glass in his hand now empty. He would look at Rebekah then quickly dart back to Elijah. Her stomach flipped, whatever he had planned was risky.

"He has a very powerful witch in his grasp. I would wager she is powerful enough to do a locator spell on Sophie and lead us right to them." He began stopping to turn his fierce gaze on all of them. His eyes lingered on Caroline for a little too long.

"First, we would have to either kill Marcel and make her cooperate, or deceive Marcel into trusting us and the witch would willingly help us. I prefer the first, Elijah doesn't."

"What does this have to do with us?" Elena asked frowning.

Klaus couldn't control the flicker of anger and Caroline found herself shooting him a warning glance when she noticed. He sighed.

Elijah quirked his eyebrow at this, fascinated again by the way she could centre him like so.

"You are in my city, under my roof… I'd say that was warranted some cooperation when needed." Klaus said in a low voice, dangerous: warning.

Elena's eyes widened, her hands balling into fists. They had only just gotten away from all the mess Silas had created, and yet, here they were again. It was a never ending curse. One they would endure for as long as he was alive.

"I see." She said, already sounding defeated as her shoulders slumped.

Klaus nodded, a smugness emerging from his otherwise blank face.

"Am I missing something here? Or did we already discuss how we are doing this without killing that bastard?" Rebekah spat still glowering at Klaus.

Klaus smiled and Caroline felt her body go cold.

In that moment Caroline had no doubt who the devil was.

"Easy, you bait him out. And persuade him with those charms that he so easily fell for long ago."

Rebekah was lunging for him before she knew how dangerous that could be for her. Klaus reacted the moment she moved and had her pinned against the nearest wall with a loud thump that cracked the plastering.

Elijah called his name angrily, but his release on Rebekah's throat was unrelenting.

Caroline watched with mild boredom. This was a scene she had been expecting from the start after all. The Originals never knew how to play nice.

"Oh put her down, how will she be able to do anything if you rip her head off." Caroline said crossing the room to sit on one of the sofas with a scoff and a shake of her head.

Klaus looked at her, his hand still holding tight, and gave her a quick glare. A warning that she had seen many times.

"You are not helping." He said in a hushed voice.

"Well, neither is holding her against that wall. In about two minutes Elijah will intervene and we will be no closer to having a plan. But go on, keep squeezing." Caroline said beginning to get irritated by his childish reactions.

He was towering above her in a flash and she held her breath in wait of his response.

Anger rolled off him in waves that crashed against the calm that she fought to remain in place, perhaps this time she had over stepped the freedom she had with him.

"I'm warning you love, learn when to stay quiet or we will have a problem." He ground out before stalking off to pour another drink while Rebekah fought to regain her composure.

Stefan took the seat beside Caroline, his eyes searching her face for the fear she was cleverly hiding. She wasn't stupid, she knew to be afraid of Klaus, she also knew he wouldn't really hurt her. Not much anyways.

"How are we going to do this, not that I doubt you, but can't you see how this is all going to hell already? Damon asked slightly standing in front of Elena. Caroline knew it was a subconscious thing by now, all of their time on the run Damon had developed the habit.

"Rebekah and Marcel used to be… An item? Well, so they thought. We can use that." Klaus said with distaste.

Rebekah sucked in a sharp breath at his words and slumped in the sofa again, this time choosing to stay quiet.

"Marcel doesn't seem like the type to fall for that kind of thing." Elena finally said resting a hand on Damon's arm.

Damon laughed and pointed at Klaus with a hidden smirk.

"Unlike you." He said still laughing.

Caroline shot him her worst glare. The blonde distraction. Her part in the plans that the mystic falls group would always come up with. Her eyes met Klaus' head on and was surprised to see him smiling. It was small, almost none existent, but it was there. Just in the corner. She looked away and glared at Damon again.

"Thanks for your input Damon. Really." Caroline grumbled.

Elijah coughed, unsure of the situation, and straightened out his sleeves once more.

"Yes, well, we must try. Rebekah, tomorrow you will go into town. Meet him. Don't lie, I think it would benefit us from this point on to let him know Sophie is not in our custody. Find out what you can about the witch." Elijah said turning to look into the flames, hiding his emotions from all.

"Of course I will. Doesn't matter that they have God knows what kind of creatures on their side, I'll just stride into their turf without a care in the bloody world. Good plan brothers. Marvellous." Rebekah finally blew, thumping her balled up fists onto the sofa. It creaked in protest of her vampire strength and shook when she stood up far too quickly.

"There's a good girl." Klaus said sarcastically raising his glass to him in a mocking toast and drank.

"I'll go with you." Stefan said giving Rebekah a soft smile that broke her from the need to kill her brother. Again.

Caroline tried not to act surprised by this, her eyes darting between the two as something changed.

"How does that help anything?" Elena asked, a slight bitter tone to her voice that Caroline hadn't heard in a long time.

"At least she won't be alone." Stefan replied in a way that left no room for argument.

"And what happens if this does all go wrong?" Caroline asked. There were too many holes and no real substance to this plan. She could see it failing from the get go.

"Don't worry love, I'll have people stationed nearby." Klaus said glad that the conversation was finally going his way.

"This is not going to end well." She warned rising from her seat and heading to the door. She wanted to return to her bed, she could feel her eyelids drooping and her body protesting her usage of it.

"Where are you going?" He asked just as she reached the door.

"Aren't we done?" She asked in a slightly confused voice. She didn't see any reason to stay any longer.

Klaus frowned and then glared, annoyed that she couldn't wait to leave his presence.

"No. I told you, we need to have words. I mean it Caroline. Everyone else is free to leave, Stefan we can talk more about this tomorrow." With a wave of his hand he dismissed them all. Elena dragged Damon away before he could say anything that would rile the hybrid even further, giving Caroline a sympathetic smile as they passed her.

Rebekah was all too happy to leave her brothers little meeting. Not once looking at any of them as she left, an angry scowl emended firmly in her expression.

Stefan hung back for a bit. His eyes darting to Klaus then to Caroline. When he realised there was nothing her could do; he left: telling Caroline he would talk to her later as he passed her.

Elijah was the last to leave. Not liking being put out because of some female vampire he barely knew. Granted, he was glad Nicklaus was finally caring for something again, someone, but his behaviour was too odd. He was worried that he was being misled by the young woman. That this could destroy his brother even more.

Klaus looked to his brother and very subtly nodded. If Elijah hadn't been searching his brothers face he would never had noticed, it. Keeping his stoic stance, he left the room not looking back.

"Alone at last." Klaus teased moving to stand by the fireplace in Elijah's wake.

Caroline bit her bottom lip and hesitated. He seemed to be in a decent mood at least.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" She asked walking back to the sofa and sitting down.

His eyebrow pinched together as he thought over exactly what he wanted to say.

"You done a very stupid thing this morning Caroline."

She instantly knew that she should have left. He was using her name: this was not going to be pretty.

"What are you talking about?" She asked, trying to keep her voice calm for now.

Klaus stood in front of her again, a dark look on his face as he slowly crouched down so that their eyes were level.

"You could have died." He said, stressing his point by grabbing her shoulders and squeezing.

Her eyes widened, her mouth opening slightly. This is what this is about? Seriously?

"The house was on fire, I had no choice Klaus." Caroline said shaking her head and trying to move out of his grasp. His grip only got tighter, she could feel the bruises forming and healing in a repeated pattern.

"I warned you what would happen. You shouldn't have gotten mixed up in this." He pressed, not listening to her.

She pressed her lips into a thin line her eyes closing as she regained her thoughts.

"You still would have come back here and told us everything. You needed Stefan to agree so that Rebekah would want to go." Yes, she figured that little bit of his ridiculous plan out. He thought he was so cunning.

"I'm proud of you, doesn't change the fact that you need to promise me you won't do something so stupid ever again."

Her eyes searched his face and a scoff left her lips before she could stop it. He was serious. How could he be serious?

"I was saving myself. I honestly don't see the problem. I am alive aren't I?" Her tone was condescending and she roughly pulled away from him, giving him a quick shove.

He grabbed her hands and held them against his chest, his eyes burning holes into her soul.

"You are not allowed to die." He said vehemently.

She stopped breathing, her mouth opening slightly as she took in his words. The brutal honesty behind them.

"I'm not planning on it." She finally said, relaxing in his hold and giving him a radiant smile. He blinked and suddenly let her go, stepping away.

They exchanged a few unsure glances before she gained the courage to stand.

"Not quite a promise love, but I guess it will do." Klaus said moving back to the fireplace, a safe distance he decided.

She laughed quietly and walked back to the door. That could have gone a lot worse.

"We are going to get them back Klaus. Aren't we?" Caroline asked quietly her hand resting on the door frame.

He looked at her for a long moment before turning to look at the painting above the fireplace.

It was abstract, black and grey made with fury and sadness, Caroline just knew he had painted it.

"I'm Klaus Mikaelson. What do you think?"