Chapter Text
Caroline woke up with the sensation that her body had detached from her consciousness.
Her limbs felt heavy on the bed, her vision was blurred, and she had to blink several times to orient herself in the room. Wait. This wasn't her bedroom.
Caroline’s eyes widened and she tried to sit up, only to be yanked back down by the black chains binding her wrists to the headboard. The witch remembered the cold touch of the cuffs, it was the exact same feeling that haunted her nightmares from the day Bill decided to rid himself of his witch daughter.
They were anti-magic chains.
It all came back to her now. She had been driving home along the tree-lined road that connected the Mikaelson Mansion when a woman appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the road. A witch, and then... nothing.
Caroline pulled hard against the chains a few times, hearing the clink of metal against the headboard. She grit her teeth in frustration. Of course she had to get kidnapped just days before her dream trip to Europe with Klaus. As if it weren't enough that she had spent the last six months trying to prevent a catastrophe involving the first immortal and the Other Side.
She forced herself into a sitting position, leaning closer to the headboard just when the door opened. A woman with dark hair and light eyes walked in, accompanied by the other woman who had stopped Caroline’s car on the road. The resemblance between the two was striking. The same nose, the same eyes, the same jawline. Sisters, the witch deduced, and judging by their clothes, both were witches.
“You’re awake.” the woman with the long hair noted.
“Look, I don't know who you are and I don't want to know.” Caroline began, her tone overtly hostile and irritated. “But I have a plane to catch in a few days, and I am certainly not going to miss it because two witches decided to try whatever it is you think you're trying. People are probably already looking for me, and if you don't want to end up dead, I suggest you let me go right now.”
The short-haired woman offered a surprised smile and raised her eyebrows.
“Wow. You’re much more spirited than you look.” she said. Caroline scanned her from head to toe with a cautious eye. “I’m Sophie. Sophie Deveraux, and this is my sister, Jane-Anne.”
Caroline glared at the two witches with hostile suspicion.
“Where am I?” she demanded, trying to gather as much information as possible. “Why am I here?”
The woman in the gray shirt, Jane-Anne, stepped closer to the bed with a icy determination that sent a shiver down Caroline’s spine.
“You’re in New Orleans.”
Oh, great, Caroline thought. Now I’m in a bedroom that looks like it barely survived a hurricane in the middle of Louisiana. Simply fantastic.
“And you’re here because we need a favor.” Jane-Anne stated.
Caroline analyzed Jane- Anne's expression carefully. There was a cold resolve in the witch’s eyes, as if she wouldn't hesitate to set a building full of people on fire just to get what she wanted. Caroline immediately knew she needed to tread carefully with this woman, her muscles tensing instantly.
“A favor from whom?” Caroline questioned, holding Jane-Anne’s gaze. “Because it certainly isn't from me.”
Jane-Anne didn't flinch, her eyes reading every inch of Caroline's expression as she answered.
“Klaus Mikaelson.”
Caroline was careful enough to keep her face entirely expressionless as she stared back at the other witch. She wouldn't reveal a single thing until she knew exactly how much these sisters actually knew about her relationship with Klaus. She certainly wouldn't be the one to tell them that he was probably hunting for her at this very second and would slaughter anyone who stood in his path.
Images of Klaus ripping a door off its hinges at the Augustine lab, covered in blood with a severed arm gripped in his claws, flashed through Caroline’s mind. Klaus had a flair for the dramatic, you see.
“You’ve got the wrong person.” Caroline declared, holding Jane-Anne’s gaze steady. “Klaus has absolutely no reason to value my life that much. Sorry, you’ll have to try again.”
But Jane-Anne remained unfazed.
“I know your life has no value to him.” the witch asserted, to Caroline’s internal amusement. “But you are carrying something that does.”
Caroline knit her brows deeply. Jane-Anne’s words tangled confusingly in her mind.
“What?” Caroline asked, unable to help herself.
And then, Sophie Deveraux uttered the words that would change everything.
“You’re pregnant.”
Caroline’s mind and body froze instantly. Every single thought slipped completely out of her reach, and her movements were reduced to nothing but blinking. She didn't even know if she was actually breathing before... she burst out laughing.
The witch's laughter echoed through the room, cutting through the tension between the sisters like a knife. Caroline had only slept with one person during all those months, and he had been technically dead for over a thousand years.
“Oh, right.” Caroline laughed in the faces of a deadly serious Sophie and Jane-Anne. “Is this the part where you tell me you’re actually emissaries from the Wizard of Oz and you’re taking me to the Emerald City?”
“We are dead serious.” Jane-Anne affirmed.
Caroline arched an eyebrow at the witch, wiping away tears from the corners of her eyes.
“This is ridiculous.” Caroline said. “Vampires can’t procreate. It’s impossible.”
Sophie crossed her arms over her chest.
“You’re right. Vampires can’t procreate.” she agreed. “But werewolves can. And from what I understand, Klaus Mikaelson is half wolf.”
Caroline opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Her entire body locked up against her will. She blinked repeatedly, telling herself these women had lost their minds and dragged her all the way to Louisiana for nothing. Yet, a piece of Sophie’s words penetrated Caroline’s shield of skepticism, striking her inner witch. The side of her that understood nature well enough to know there was always a loophole.
“That’s impossible.” Caroline said.
But the statement came out weaker, carrying far less certainty than before. Caroline hated the sound of her own voice.
“A few weeks ago, one of our own had a vision.” Jane-Anne explained, her tone almost placating. “She dreamed of a girl carrying the Hybrid’s child.”
Sophie took a step forward as the shock completely paralyzed Caroline, almost as if she were trying to soothe her.
“I have the gift of sensing when a woman is pregnant.” Sophie’s eyes met Caroline’s, which were rapidly welling up with tears. She almost found comfort in the witch’s empathetic gaze. “The magic doesn’t lie.”
The magic doesn’t lie.
Caroline knew that. She had been a witch of nature long enough to understand the signs magic offered, but this... This shouldn't even be possible. How...
Caroline could barely breathe normally. How could she be carrying a life inside her and not even know it? Her body should have dropped hints, right? Her period...
It was late by at least two months, she remembered.
Caroline had assumed it was just a side effect of the intense stress she had faced over the last few months. It had never crossed her mind that... that she could...
Oh my God.
Oh my God.
Tears began to cascade from Caroline’s eyes in a torrent she couldn't contain. This couldn't be happening. It just couldn't be happening.
Sophie touched her arm gently, as if Caroline were a startled animal that might strike at any sudden movement. She looked up at the witch in front of her, tears tracking down her cheeks.
“Hey, I know it’s hard, but you need to calm down.” Sophie requested gently. “Your stress can affect the baby.”
Caroline forced a sarcastic smile through her tears of pure despair.
“I’d actually find that sweet if you hadn't kidnapped me and chained me to a bed.”
Sophie offered a sad smile, and Caroline saw genuine compassion glinting in her light eyes.
“What can I say? You’re not the only one who’s desperate.” Sophie shared, giving Caroline’s arm a comforting squeeze. “I’m going to get you some food. You’ve been out for two days.”
Sophie left the room, leaving Caroline alone with Jane-Anne. The woman looked at her with a restrained sense of sorrow.
“Looks like you’re going to have to miss that plane after all.”
__________
Caroline asked Sophie to bring her every single pregnancy test she could find. And she did.
There were twelve in total. Caroline methodically took each one, only to have them confirm what she already knew deep down inside. The witch spent days obsessing over the odds of how this could have happened.
She spent the first two days convincing herself that it was impossible to have foreseen this. Klaus had died a thousand years ago, for God's sake. The next three days, Caroline spent crying for herself and all the plans she would have to abandon.
She was supposed to go to college. She had been accepted to NYU and Whitmore. Caroline was supposed to be executing those plans and having the time of her life with Klaus across Europe, but reality was harsher and uglier than the dreams she had allowed herself to cling to.
She was too young. Too vulnerable.
She was a hostage to an entire coven of witches who wanted to use her to control Klaus Mikaelson, her infamous “it’s complicated.” Not that any of them knew that. As far as the New Orleans witches were aware, Caroline was just a one-night stand of the Original, and the true value lay solely in... the child she was carrying.
Caroline could barely put her name in the same sentence as “baby” or “child” without spiraling into a panic.
However, on her sixth day of captivity, she decided to reclaim her dignity. She would deal with her condition later. First, she needed to survive the New Orleans covens.
It was on this day that Jane-Anne performed a linking spell.
“Elijah is on his way, Sophie.” she said. “It’s now or never.”
Caroline knew very little about linking spells, and the one Jane-Anne performed to bind her to Sophie was far from the simple ones the witch knew. However, Caroline’s sharp mind memorized every detail of the spell and every word that left Jane-Anne Deveraux’s mouth.
Her life depended on it.
“Be careful.” Caroline warned, the chains rattling as she shifted. The sisters paused. “Messing with Originals only ever ends one way. Death.”
That was all Caroline would offer the Deveraux sisters. A single warning in the name of witch sisterhood. The two left the room without another word, and Caroline wondered how long it would take for Elijah to arrive.
From what she gathered by listening to snippets of conversations through the door, Sophie had sent messages to her mother claiming Caroline had decided to start her vacation early, and her friends... well, her friends had no reason to miss her yet. Stefan had left town, as had Bonnie, and Elena was spending the summer with Damon in New York.
Caroline wasn't stupid. She knew Klaus must have been looking for her for the past week, but she doubted any locator spells could find her in the heart of the legendary New Orleans covens. Thus, her only hope of escaping this hole rested on Elijah Mikaelson.
Caroline could only pray he arrived soon.
_________
Elijah set foot in New Orleans with the immediate urge to leave.
The city was riddled with dubious memories and melancholic thoughts of a time when his family was regarded as royalty in these streets. Elijah could still recall the blueprints he had approved and the buildings he had commissioned, turning a village of beggars into a monument to be respected.
However, Elijah preferred to leave the past untouched in its place of memory. He had only dared to enter New Orleans because one of his contacts in the vampire underworld informed him that a certain witch named Jane-Anne Deveraux possessed something that could be of interest to his family.
Elijah would not have given it a fraction of his attention under any other circumstance, however the witch belonged to one of the nine covens of New Orleans, and Elijah would be a fool not to at least verify the accuracy of the information.
Yet, upon arriving in the city with the appropriate amount of discretion, Elijah discovered that Jane-Anne Deveraux was dead. The Original’s curiosity was replaced by an unyielding suspicion that led him straight to her sister, Sophie Deveraux.
She was crying in an alley behind a bar of questionable quality when two vampires cornered her, questioning the woman about her sister. Elijah didn't have the patience to compel the two creatures who made him wonder why his family had not been more selective about whom they turned.
So, he opted for the easier choice, abandoning subtlety in the name of urgency. Elijah tore the heart out of the first vampire as swiftly as a shadow. The second didn't even have time to scream for his life before Elijah impaled him against the wall, using a wooden accent piece from the side of the bar as a makeshift stake.
Sophie Deveraux gasped in terror as she watched the dead vampire’s body slump against the wall.
Good.
That was exactly the reaction Elijah wanted to elicit from her. Jane-Anne Deveraux had summoned the Originals to the city, it was best everyone knew exactly whom they were dealing with.
Elijah stopped a few feet away from Miss Deveraux, looking impeccable as he wiped his blood-stained fingers with a handkerchief, while the witch stared at him with ill-concealed dread.
“I believe you know who I am.”
Sophie Deveraux nodded, swallowing hard. Elijah could hear the erratic thumping of her heart.
“Elijah.” she recognized.
“I am here because your sister sent me a message.” Elijah declared slowly. “I imagine you possess something my family has an interest in, so why don't you show me what it is before my patience expires, Miss Deveraux?”
The witch nodded, trying to mask her own fear.
Poor child, Elijah thought, playing with forces much larger than herself.
“Come with me.”
_____________
Caroline ran her chained hands through her hair, trying to fix it into something presentable.
She might be pregnant and currently a captive, but she wouldn't let her hair turn into a bird's nest. Caroline had access to a bathroom, which kept her clean and preserved a shred of dignity, but Sophie hadn't granted her the luxury of a curling iron.
Caroline was also wearing borrowed clothes. A simple pair of black pants and a light lilac blouse that offered some comfort, the handcuffs, on the other hand, had become permanent accessories. No one trusted her enough to leave her unrestrained, and to be completely honest, Caroline would seize any opportunity to bolt.
She wasn't the type to sit around and wait for the Original Charming.
Even so, he arrived.
Caroline was brought to a mausoleum in what looked like a massive cemetery. Ancestral Magic, she recognized. It had to be sacred ground for the New Orleans witches.
She entered the mausoleum, flanked by a few coven members, when she saw him. Elijah. Perfectly tailored in a three-piece suit full of sharp angles and precise cuts. His dark eyes landed on Caroline’s face, a flash of something akin to surprise crossing them.
The emotion vanished just as quickly from his stone-carved face as he turned to Sophie.
“Are the chains truly necessary?” Elijah inquired, a look of clear distaste directed at Sophie.
But Caroline could admire Sophie's effort as she held the thousand-year-old gaze of Elijah.
“They’re a precaution. She’s powerful.” the witch attested without breaking eye contact with the Original. “My sister felt the magic of our Ancestors in her. We can't risk letting her loose on sacred ground.”
Caroline’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. The magic of their ancestors? New Orleans magic? The witch connected this tiny piece of information to a name that echoed through her mind once more.
Eddie.
However, Caroline hid her shock quickly before either of them could notice.
“Which is probably smart.” Caroline interjected.
Sophie twitched the corner of her lips at Caroline, almost as if she admired her resolve even after a week in chains. But Elijah was not satisfied.
“Don't your Ancestors object to harming a sister?” he pressed.
“She ceased to be a sister the moment she aligned herself with vampires.” interrupted a dark-skinned woman, stepping into the mausoleum and standing beside Sophie.
“Sabine...”
“What? It’s the truth.”
Caroline resisted a massive urge to roll her eyes. She wasn't going to get much witch sisterhood around here.
“May I at least request a private moment with her?” Elijah requisitioned, the order thinly veiled as a request. “I will accept no terms without first asking my own questions.”
Sabine was about to say something when Sophie cut her off.
“Of course.” she conceded.
Sophie practically ushered all the witches out of the mausoleum, leaving Caroline and Elijah alone beneath the torchlight.
The Original stared at the witch for a moment, measuring her with his analytical dark eyes.
“How?”
It was the only word that left his lips. Well, Caroline would love to know that too.
“I don't know.” she answered honestly. Caroline brushed a stray lock of hair from her face, the chains clinking with the movement. “They said it was a loophole in nature.”
Elijah observed her in silence for a moment. There were emotions in his eyes that Caroline couldn't quite read, but from what she could tell, he was accepting all of this with far more control than she had. I mean, Caroline had been a nervous wreck for a week.
Elijah stepped closer to her, his presence simultaneously intimidating and comforting.
“Miss Forbes, are you absolutely certain that the child you are carrying belongs to my brother?” he questioned.
That was the question Caroline had been expecting. Elijah must have thought, just like all the witches, that what happened between her and Klaus was a one-night thing. But there was no judgment in Elijah’s dark eyes, only expectation, awaiting confirmation of something he already sensed.
She sighed, resting her hands on her hips.
“Look, Elijah, we didn't really get a chance to know each other very well, so I'll give you a pass on that one.” Caroline began, impetuous as ever. “But do you honestly think I would spend an entire week chained up in a mediocre little room in the middle of a cemetery in freaking Louisiana if I weren't sure?”
Elijah’s eyebrows raised for a fraction of a second. Something resembling amusement crossed his eyes, his lips curving into a near-smile.
“Point taken, Miss Forbes.” Elijah affirmed, his rigid posture softening into something approaching gentleness. “Forgive me for asking.”
Caroline sighed again, this time more out of exhaustion. She rubbed her face in frustration.
“It’s fine. Honestly, sometimes even I don't believe it.” she admitted. “All of this seems completely insane.”
Elijah granted her a compassionate look. The warmth melted the rigidity in his dark irises.
“Yes, I imagine it hasn't been easy for you. I am deeply sorry for the position my family has placed you in, Miss Forbes.” Elijah squared his shoulders and lifted his chin, resolve radiating from him like a freshly mapped objective. “I will accept the terms and contact Niklaus. I intend to get you out of this mediocre little room as soon as possible.”
The air escaped Caroline's lungs in a wave of relief. If she had to spend one more week counting the cracks in the wall paint of her room, she would definitely lose her mind.
“Thank you, Elijah.” she said sincerely.
He regarded Caroline, his expression solidifying into utter seriousness. His eyes took on a solemn connotation as they locked onto hers.
“I am going to protect you, Miss Forbes. You and the child you carry.” Elijah declared with the gravity of someone who carried vows as ancient as himself. “I promise you.”
Caroline accepted that promise with a distinct warmth in her chest. She hadn't realized how much she needed someone’s backing until Elijah offered it so freely. She had been entirely alone since discovering her miraculous pregnancy, so lonely that she had found comfort in the food cooked by her kidnapper just to keep functioning.
The witch fought back her tears and managed to crack her first genuine smile in a whole week.
“You can call me Caroline.”
The corners of Elijah’s lips tugged into a faint smile.
“Very well, Caroline.”
__________
Klaus cursed the day cell phones were invented.
What was the point of having them if the people who owned them didn't answer the bloody thing? Well, Bonnie Bennett owed him that explanation, considering all twenty-seven of Klaus's calls went straight to voicemail.
Caroline had vanished.
He knew it as surely as he knew his own wolf. His instincts warned him that something was wrong, the beast inside him snarling with every passing day that yielded no answers. Klaus had mobilized two witch covens who owed him favors to track her down, and yet, the result was the most resolute nothing. No one could locate her.
One of them had dared to tell Klaus that Caroline was dead. The beast within him nearly lunged outward, desperate to rip the bastard's tongue out. However, there was no time for massacres. He needed to find her.
Klaus had just received his tenth negative response from his witches when he got a call from Elijah. He would have rejected his brother’s cryptic words about New Orleans without a second thought, but he had insisted it was a matter of extreme urgency. And Klaus respected Elijah’s declarations when he deemed a matter to be of family interest.
His brother had stated that the New Orleans witches possessed something he would find highly interesting and were demanding a deal. Thus, Klaus stepped outside the Lafayette Cemetery with an unmistakable impatience clouding his features. What could be so important, Klaus didn't know, but Elijah had guaranteed its authenticity, so he set foot in the city where he had lived his golden years. The city that Mikael had ripped from him, just as his father did with everything he ever loved.
A dark-skinned witch appeared at the cemetery entrance and allowed him to enter the sacred ground of the infamous New Orleans covens. She guided him through the tombs to a mausoleum that had seen better days, where his brother and what he deduced to be the famous Sophie Deveraux awaited him.
“Well, I certainly hope this is importante.” Klaus stated, entering the space with a calm, dangerous smile on his lips. “Or everyone here will pay the price.”
Klaus had no time to waste and certainly wouldn't let those who squandered it walk away unscathed. Elijah dismissed the threat with a brief wave of his hand toward the witch.
“Miss Deveraux has a rather fascinating story to share.” Elijah declared, his eyes shifting to the woman. “Isn't that right, Miss Deveraux?”
Sophie Deveraux tried to stand her ground before the two Originals, but it was easy to see how much her composure was cracking under their gaze. One only had to look at the slight tremor in her hands. How cute.
“We need your help to take down an old friend of yours.” the witch began, her desperately determined eyes landing on Klaus. “Marcel Gerard.”
The name made Klaus freeze completely. Perplexity gave way to rage beneath the mask of impatience he wore.
Marcel.
The boy he had raised like a son had survived and let him believe he was dead. Klaus suppressed a bitter smile, the betrayal infuriating the wolf inside him.
He had fed him, taught him, and cared for him. He had protected the boy in a way Klaus himself had never been protected. Every smile from that child had been a light that illuminated his darkest moods, softening his sharp edges, if only momentarily.
Marcel had been his son, his protégé, his best friend. Someone who represented a part of Klaus his siblings thought had died with his werewolf side the moment the curse robbed him of a piece of his soul. And who had ultimately met his cruel end in a fire set by Mikael during the inauguration of the building Klaus himself had designed.
“He rules New Orleans with an iron fist.” Sophie continued, anger lighting up her eyes. “We, the witches, are not permitted to practice magic in the Quarter under penalty of death. And somehow, he always knows our every move.”
Sophie took a step forward, staring at Klaus with a desperate resolve that almost made him laugh.
“We know you built this city, and that Marcel was nothing more than an orphan before you turned him into what he is today.” Sophie said, causing the corner of Klaus's lips to lift. “Marcel has crossed the line, and someone needs to stop him.”
Learning of Marcel’s betrayal cut a fraction deeper into Klaus's already mangled heart, he had to admit. However, there was another person who had made it beat with an unknown force ever since Klaus had awakened to his immortality. A person he had promised to protect.
Someone who needed him.
Caroline.
Klaus smiled at the sheer audacity of the witch, implying that he would do anything for her and her band of desperate souls. As if Klaus would abandon everything to simply plot his revenge like a blind fool, used by the New Orleans covens like a bloody puppet.
No.
Klaus Mikaelson did not have time for this.
“And you think that someone is me.” Klaus concluded. The rage coiled within him beneath his smile. Not only had Marcel survived, but he had also claimed the city his family built for themselves. The betrayal filled him with a profound fury that would rot inside him until bloodshed finally appeased it. But now was not the time. Not yet. “I’m sorry to disappoint your expectations, darling, but I have far more pressing matters to attend to.”
“Brother...” Elijah tried.
“Add a betrayal to the family’s lengthy list, Elijah.” Klaus cut him off, his voice definitive, carrying the perfect dose of venom. “See you at the next tragedy.”
Klaus had already turned toward the mausoleum entrance when Sophie took a desperate step forward.
“Bring her in.” she commanded.
Klaus stopped dead in his tracks, watching immovably as four witches brought in the very person he had been tirelessly searching for all week.
A brief flash of relief erupted in his chest at finally finding her, but it was instantly swallowed by pure fury. Caroline was chained, her eyes bearing an obvious exhaustion when they met his, hope glinting in those blue irises for a split second.
Klaus heard his wolf snarl. If those witches thought they could lay a finger on Caroline to control him, they were about to meet their ultimate fates beneath his claws.
Nobody touched her.
___________
Caroline stared at Klaus as if he could tear her out of this nightmare, before remembering that things were never that easy.
She was still pregnant with a baby he probably didn't want, and if Caroline had spent a week spiraling over it, Klaus would spend the next decade. He didn't exactly scream family man.
And Caroline couldn't even blame him for that, because she had no clue how to be responsible for the life growing inside her.
Caroline watched emotion flood Klaus's eyes the moment he saw her, the rage burning in his irises as he noted the chains binding her wrists. She recognized all of those feelings because she knew him well enough to discern the smallest micro-expressions on his face.
She saw the exact instant his jaw clenched, that precise second where she could read the immense restraint Klaus was forcing upon himself. Then, he laughed. A mocking sound that seemed to echo through the mausoleum, causing Elijah's expression to tighten in disapproval.
“Oh, so now you’re going to try and use a little one-night stand against me?” Klaus mocked, turning back to Sophie Deveraux. “What earthly reason would I have to care about the girl?”
Caroline knew what he was doing. It was the exact same thing she had done all those days ago. Downplaying her importance to Jane-Anne and Sophie, trying to convince them to let her go. But that tactic hadn't worked back then, and it certainly wouldn't work now.
“You know, we might not be allowed to practice magic in the Quarter, but we are still keepers of nature, some of us have gifts.” Sophie explained, her face deadly serious. “Mine is knowing when a woman is pregnant.”
Caroline saw his face darken instantly. All the feigned amusement drained away, replaced by a murderous expression. Caroline braced herself for the absolute worst reaction imaginable. She just hadn't prepared herself for...
“My sincere congratulations.” he conceded with a bitter smile. “Who’s the father?”
Well, there was that.
Caroline’s lips parted instantly, her eyebrows arching in pure indignation. Sophie paused, perplexed, and Elijah looked upward as if begging the heavens for patience.
“What?” Caroline demanded.
Did he seriously think she had cheated on him? It wasn't possible, was it? But when Caroline caught the flash of hurt in his eyes, she got her confirmation. How could Klaus think that of her? Before Caroline could slap him, his brother intervened.
“You are the father of the child, Niklaus.” Elijah clarified.
The sentence hung in the cemetery air with the crushing weight of something that would alter the course of everything. Klaus became terrifyingly still. His eyes remained locked on Elijah as his jaw tightened, and everything inside him seemed to shatter, even if to everyone around him he appeared perfectly controlled.
“What?” he asked, the rage causing his voice to drop several octaves. “This has to be a joke, Elijah. Vampires cannot procreate.”
The Original stepped closer to his brother. His serious gaze bore into Klaus with the absolute weight of truth.
“You are part werewolf.” Elijah countered, sternly. “Nature found a loophole.”
A devastating emotion surged in Klaus's eyes, almost as if it could rip him in two.
“That is impossible.” he declared, still in deep denial. “This is nothing but a trick to use us against Marcel, Elijah.”
The Original took another step toward Klaus, commanding his entire attention with the raw truth etched into the hard lines of his face.
“Niklaus, use your senses.” Elijah ordered, his voice deep. “Listen to the heartbeat.”
Klaus froze once more, presumably taking Elijah's advice because he turned back to Caroline, completely incredulous. His eyes searched hers as if begging for confirmation, as if only Caroline could tell him whether this was a setup or not.
Caroline was swept up in a hurricane of emotions upon seeing something akin to desperation in Klaus’s eyes. She had felt exactly like this when Jane-Anne told her she was pregnant, as if the ground had dissolved beneath her feet.
“It’s true.” Caroline confirmed, her voice sounding steady, yet low.
She clenched her fists to hide the slight tremor in her hands. Everything had suddenly become so glaringly real right in front of her. When only Caroline knew about her pregnancy, she could almost pretend everything was fine, that she just needed to survive another day of captivity. But now... Now that Klaus's eyes were on hers, absorbing the truth that changed everything, her situation assumed increasingly concrete contours.
Caroline was pregnant.
Pregnant with Klaus Mikaelson's child.
The realization hit her full force, her heartbeat accelerating. It was the truth, wasn't it? Caroline couldn't run from it for much longer.
But before she could say anything else to Klaus, he lunged toward Sophie. His fingers clamped around her throat, and it felt to Caroline as if he were squeezing her own skin.
“What’s stopping me from killing you and ending all of this right now?” Klaus demanded.
The air vanished from Caroline’s lungs. She gasped, trying to keep her balance, but her knees gave out. Elijah was at her side in a second, catching her firmly and preventing her from crashing to the floor.
“They’re linked, Niklaus.” Elijah informed him urgently. “What happens to one happens to the other.”
Klaus quickly ripped his hand away from Sophie’s throat and took a few furious steps back. Caroline drew in a sharp breath, feeling relief flood her airway the exact moment Sophie stopped suffocating. Klaus looked at her with a mixture of concern and regret that ached in her chest.
He turned back to Sophie, his fury crackling around him like an uncontrollable wildfire.
“You’re going to die.” Klaus stated, the rage echoing in his raspy voice.
But Sophie didn’t back down.
“Maybe.” the witch agreed. “But if I die, I’m taking the girl and your child down with me. Consider it insurance. You take down Marcel and his vampire followers, or the three of us are going to end up buried in this very cemetery.”
Caroline saw the fervent determination shining in Sophie’s light eyes. A icy shiver traveled down the witch’s spine.
“My sister died to perform this linking spell, I am more than willing to do the same.” Sophie stared at Klaus without shaking this time, without a shred of hesitation. Caroline was entirely at the mercy of a woman who would do absolutely anything to get what she wanted. Even take her own life. “So, do we have a deal?”
Klaus glared at Sophie with a hatred so profound that, for a brief instant, Caroline thought he wouldn’t accept. For a moment, she thought that, for the first time, Klaus was going to abandon her to her own fate. He hated being controlled. Even more so for a child he didn’t even want.
But just like every other time, he saved her without hesitation.
“Yes.” Klaus finally answered. “We have a deal.”
Sophie nodded and gestured to the witches behind Caroline. Elijah remained faithfully by her side while one woman approached and unlocked the cuffs from the witch's wrists, and another handed over her phone. Caroline sighed in relief as she rubbed the skin of her wrists with her hands for the first time in an entire week.
The skin was red and severely irritated but they were intact. And more importantly, Caroline was free. Well, as free as a pregnant witch magically linked to someone with suicidal tendencies could be.
“You can go.” Sophie said.
She didn’t have to say it twice. The first thing Caroline did was turn her back on the emotional disaster behind her and head toward the cemetery exit as fast as she could. The witch had been locked away by witches for several agonizing days. She was desperate to breathe air that didn’t smell like incense, candles, and death.
The moment Caroline crossed the threshold of the cemetery, she let out a deep sigh of relief. Her hands ran through her hair in pure satisfaction.
“Thank God.” she murmured.
“You’re thanking the wrong guy, love.” Klaus’s voice echoed behind her, dark and heavy.
Anger ignited in Caroline’s veins as she spun around to face the two Originals. She could still feel her blood boiling just looking at him and remembering what Klaus had insinuated back in that mausoleum.
“We need to talk.” Caroline declared, definitive.
She wouldn’t take no for an answer.
Klaus nodded, rigid. His dark expression matching the atmosphere. His eyes seemed lost in thoughts that Caroline couldn’t reach.
“I agree.” he said. “But first, I need to greet an old friend.”
He turned to Elijah, deadly serious.
“Watch over her.”
And he vanished.
Unbelievable.
Caroline let out a frustrated groan. Was he seriously running away from her? Oh, for the love of God. Elijah watched her in silence, and Caroline could feel the weight of his analysis upon her.
She still didn’t know how to feel about the Original. All she knew about him was that he possessed the calmest temperament in the family and was a man of his word. Elijah had been kind to her when all she had were chains, an unexpected pregnancy, and a coven of witches keeping her captive.
Perhaps Caroline could allow herself to be open with him. After all, she had trusted and saved Kol Mikaelson’s life without a second thought in the name of their common interest. Elijah’s apparent goal was to keep her alive, so maybe she could trust that.
“Allow me to take you to a safe place, Caroline.” Elijah suggested, trying to adopt a slightly gentler posture. “You must be exhausted.”
Caroline nodded.
Elijah guided her to a black car, and the two drove through the city.
____________
Elijah took her to a property on the outskirts of New Orleans.
The plantation house sat on a massive plot of land surrounded by woods. The house was white, built in the old style of Southern rural estates. It was beautiful on the outside, but inside it was almost simple. The furniture was covered in white sheets, and there were no decorations on the walls, as if the opulence of the exterior was lost within the building's inner walls.
It was obvious that no one had lived in that house for a long time. Decades, maybe nearly a century. Caroline didn’t know. She wrinkled her nose at the smell of dust and abandonment while Elijah turned on the lights.
“It’s an old family property.” he said. “It’s not in the best condition, but that can be arranged in a few days.”
Caroline really wasn’t in a position to complain. Her wrists were still sore from the days spent bound by chains.
“It’s better than a cemetery.” the witch affirmed, analyzing the landscape of a painting above the fireplace.
She didn’t need anyone to tell her that Klaus had painted it. Caroline recognized his brushstrokes with just a careful glance.
Elijah walked deeper into the house with the precision of someone who knew exactly where he was going. He had spent time here before, Caroline realized.
“You must be hungry.”
Caroline had spent the last few days feeding on the food Sophie prepared. It was very good, she had to give her kidnapper credit for that. Caroline had discovered that Sophie was a chef at a bar called Rousseau’s and would have to attest to the quality of the food there.
However, she hadn’t eaten anything since lunch, and judging by the darkness of the sky, it was already the dead of night. She could officially consider herself starving.
“Yes.” Caroline agreed with a tired sigh, following Elijah through the house. “Yes, I am.”
She walked into the kitchen right behind Elijah and immediately headed to the first stool she found against the counter. If Caroline could, she would dissolve into that seat. The stress of the past week had destroyed any and all facades of self-control she might have built up.
“I asked for some groceries to be brought over since we will be staying here indefinitely.” Elijah explained, opening the refrigerator and pulling out a few tomatoes and an onion. “Do you like spaghetti?”
Caroline blinked in surprise as the Original placed the vegetables on a wooden cutting board taken from one of the cabinets.
“You... cook?” Caroline questioned, failing to hide her own perplexity at hearing a thousand-year-old Original offering to cook spaghetti for her.
The corner of Elijah’s lips twitched upward in amusement at Caroline’s surprise. He removed his suit jacket with precise movements and an intricate elegance born of centuries of practice. The Original set the jacket aside and unfastened his cufflinks, skillfully rolling up his sleeves.
Caroline quickly averted her eyes from Elijah’s ridiculously muscular arms. God, did vampires even work out?
“I’ve been told I have a talent for the craft.” Elijah shared, beginning to dice the tomatoes like someone who knew exactly what they were doing. “Let’s see if I can win your approval.”
A soft smile spread across Caroline’s lips with a comforting ease. She rested her arms on the counter facing Elijah and leaned her chin on her fist.
“So, who is this Marcel?” Caroline asked. She noticed the way the knife descended more slowly into the tomato, but she didn’t back down. If her life was at risk because of this vampire, Caroline needed to know who he was. “I heard he banned witches from practicing magic in the French Quarter.”
How, Caroline didn’t understand. But she had overheard their conversation back in that mausoleum, and Marcel always had a way of finding out when someone was practicing magic. The witch was fully aware that Jane-Anne Deveraux had died as a consequence of that linking spell, and that Sophie was desperate enough to threaten to kill herself just to get him out of the way.
She didn’t know the guy, but he didn’t seem very witch-friendly. And, well, Caroline was one.
“Marcellus was someone deeply loved by our family.” Of course he was, Caroline sighed. “But no one loved him more than Niklaus.”
An ironic smile curved Caroline’s lips.
“I can see the resemblance.” she commented.
Marcel used force to control the Quarter’s witches. He fed on the fear he generated to keep covens as old as the city itself from performing magic. Caroline recognized his modus operandi because it had Klaus Mikaelson’s signature written all over it.
Elijah tilted his head slightly in agreement.
“Niklaus found him when Marcellus was just an enslaved boy and raised him like a son.” Elijah continued, focused on his task of cooking for her. “We thought he had died a long time ago, when Mikael found us here.”
Caroline fell silent for a moment, trying to comprehend the nature of Klaus’s relationship with Marcel, the depth of it. The New Orleans covens might be desperate, but nothing good would come of this. They were using Klaus’s unborn child—and she couldn’t believe she was admitting that to herself—to bring down the man he had actually raised as one.
Caroline wouldn’t have imagined in a thousand years that Klaus was the fatherly type. Yet, Elijah had just told her that, a long time ago, he had adopted an enslaved child who now ruled the city that had once been their home.
“Klaus told me you were happy here.” Caroline shared, remembering that day in the woods. She vividly recalled the taste of the wine and the laughter at sunset. It had been a perfect date. Caroline couldn’t feel further from that moment than she did right now. “He seemed to hold good memories of this place.”
Elijah turned from the stove in a smooth motion. His dark eyes settled on Caroline with surprise and analysis, as if the Original were suddenly revising his conceptions of her.
But whatever questions he had, Elijah kept to himself.
“We built this city to be a home for our family.” the Original said, pouring a portion of pasta onto a plate, followed by the sauce. The scent dominated the air with a comforting aroma of homemade food. “And it was. For a time.”
Elijah placed the plate in front of Caroline along with the utensils. It looked like a dish from a gourmet catalog. How did Elijah manage to turn even a simple spaghetti into an elegant delicacy?
“Until Mikael arrived.” Caroline concluded, picking up her fork.
There was a deeper story than those mere words, Caroline could see in the sudden blankness of Elijah’s eyes. However, she knew this wasn't the moment, and truthfully, she didn’t even have the strength to ask.
Between discovering a magical pregnancy at eighteen and being chained up for a week, Caroline had no energy for any supernatural drama beyond what she already had on her hands. God, she didn’t even know where to begin.
“Yes,” Elijah agreed as Caroline ate. “Our father had a certain reputation for destroying our happiness.”
Caroline nodded, raising her eyebrows with memories of the Blood Moon.
“He certainly was horrible.” she affirmed.
The good news was that he was dead, and the Other Side was still intact to harbor his bitter soul.
Elijah furrowed his brow slightly, resting his gaze on Caroline as he leaned his hands on the counter.
“Forgive the intrusion, Caroline,” Elijah began. “But did you know him?”
The witch nodded, stopping her eating to look the Original in the eye.
“The last time we met, I told you I had an apocalypse on my hands.” Caroline said, and Elijah nodded, appearing to vividly remember the conversation that day in Pennsylvania. “Well, during that apocalypse, the veil between the living and the dead fell in Mystic Falls, and Mikael was there.”
Caroline shot a meaningful look at Elijah, who seemed to grasp the entire situation instantly. His lips curled into a cold rage for a brief moment before returning to normal.
“He tried to kill you.” he deduced in understanding.
Caroline agreed.
“It wasn't a very pleasant experience.”
Elijah watched her eat in silence for a while. Caroline felt the weight of his scrutiny upon her, but she didn’t have the strength to care. Whatever judgment was crossing Elijah’s mind, Caroline had already accused herself of it during all that time alone in that room.
But Elijah wasn't judging. He was calculating.
“Caroline, might I ask what the nature of your relationship with my brother is?”
Oh. So that was it.
Suddenly, Caroline totally lost her appetite. A week ago, Klaus and she were about to spend a summer traveling to Europe in something that closely resembled a real relationship. However, Caroline would never use that word to describe what was between them. It was too strong, too intense. The word relationship felt simple and small to name it.
But now... Now, she was pregnant, and that changed everything in a way Caroline still didn't comprehend. There was a life growing inside her. The witch could barely process that part, let alone her relationship status with Klaus. It was possible he wouldn't even want to look at her face anymore because it was too difficult to handle.
It was possible he had only saved her out of obligation to what they had once shared, which was now over forever.
“It’s complicated, Elijah.” Caroline finally answered, using the same words she had said to Enzo during her time in the Augustine lab. Back when she was certain Klaus would come for her.
How could all of that turn into one massive doubt in her chest?
“I understand.” Elijah offered, respecting her vague answer.
It was another kindness he willingly granted her, seeking to make Caroline comfortable in such a delicate situation. She understood and appreciated it with a warmth in her heart.
She raised her eyes, meeting his for a moment. Caroline wanted Elijah to see the sincerity in her eyes.
“Thank you, Elijah.” the witch began softly. “For the food, for the understanding... For everything. I spent all that time alone, completely desperate and afraid. You were the first person to try to help me, even if it’s not exactly for my sake.”
She wanted him to see it. She wanted him to hear the honesty in her voice and understand what those simple actions meant to Caroline.
“I appreciate it.” the witch declared.
Her emotions, intensified by the damn pregnancy hormones, blurred her vision, and Caroline tried to compose herself. She had already cried too much that week.
“You are no longer alone, Caroline.” Elijah stated, his eyes carrying a weight that went far beyond those words. “And as long as you carry an offspring of this family, you never will be again.”
Caroline understood what Elijah was telling her right there. The Original was giving her a guarantee. That even if Klaus abandoned her, he wouldn't. Elijah would protect her no matter the circumstance.
And as much as Caroline knew he was only doing this because of the child carrying the Mikaelson name inside her, the witch could finally, after all this time, feel safe. Elijah was throwing her a lifeline in the middle of a shipwreck, and Caroline could feel grateful to leave the sea that had threatened to drown her.
But before Caroline could say anything, the front door burst open and Klaus walked in like a hurricane.
“I have good and bad News.” he began rapidly, drawing Elijah and Caroline’s immediate attention to himself. He seemed a bit more agitated than usual, his eyes gleaming with danger. “The good news is that I discovered Marcel has some kind of secret weapon that informs him of every magical move the Quarter's witches make.”
“What kind of secret weapon?” Elijah questioned, rounding the counter.
“I was getting there, brother.” Klaus cut him off, impatient. “The bad news is that no one seems to know what it is. However, with a visit from an old friend, perhaps Marcel will open up a bit more.”
Elijah crossed his arms, entirely unimpressed.
“Your mere presence in New Orleans is a threat to his regime, Niklaus.” the Original argued. “If you taught him well, Marcel will put all his vampires on high alert. You won't be able to wrench anything from him with your theatrics.”
Klaus smiled diabolically. Caroline could almost see the strategies spinning in his eyes. Klaus was in his element, she realized, he was a master at bringing down his enemies. How his adopted son had become one, Caroline wasn’t sure she wanted to know.
“Then I just need to prove that my stay in New Orleans comes in good faith. I already have something prepared for that.” Klaus almost seemed amused as he laid out his plans. “In the meantime, we need to keep Marcel distracted. It seems our dear sister will have to end her vacation early.”
Elijah let out a sigh as if searching for patience.
“Niklaus, putting those two together again could be dangerous.” the Original warned, making Caroline furrow her brow deeply. Wait. They weren't saying what she thought they were saying, right? “Marcel might suspect something if he knows our family is back in town.”
Klaus shrugged, but his eyes held a wild, only partially contained rage.
“He already suspected something the exact second I set foot in his deplorable party.” he countered. “Our dear sister can finally help us with something by distracting an ex-lover while we destroy his reign.”
Caroline froze in complete shock.
“Wait.” she interrupted, raising her hands. The two Originals turned to her, pulled from their machinations by her voice. “Are you telling me that Rebekah, your sister, had an affair with your adopted son?”
Her eyes darted between Elijah and Klaus several times.
“And everyone thinks this is normal?” Caroline questioned, incredulous.
“That was exactly my argument at the time.” Klaus agreed with an ironic smile, turning his eyes back to Elijah. “But I was thrown into the fire for destroying our little sister’s dreams of love.”
“You daggered her.” Elijah stated. “Several times.”
Klaus shrugged, careless of the gravity in Elijah’s eyes.
“It was a test for Marcel.” he said. “He failed. There is nothing more to comment on.”
“So your plan is to gain his trust and destroy his reign from the inside. Brilliant, Niklaus.” Sarcasm dripped from Elijah’s voice as he stared at his brother as if seeing far beyond what he was saying. “Aren't you forgetting to tell us an important part? The part where you take the city for yourself.”
Any trace of amusement vanished from his face. Klaus’s expression became hard, and rage flared in his eyes. Caroline already knew where this was heading.
“We built this city, Elijah.” Klaus asserted, his voice raspy with a rage that extended past that conversation all the way to the French Quarter. “And now Marcel sits on my throne, in the house I built to be a home for our family until Mikael ripped everything we had away from us. I am not going to let Marcel profit off what we created.”
“The key tense in that speech is the past, Niklaus.” Elijah stated more intensely, his words coming out with conviction and a hint of anger. “New Orleans was our home. Don’t you think you have other priorities besides reclaiming some kind of glory from a dead and buried past?”
Like a child.
The two Originals seemed to become terribly aware of Caroline’s presence in that conversation. She understood it was her cue to leave because, frankly, she didn’t want to hear what would happen after that.
“I’m going to get some air.” the witch announced, sliding off the stool and starting to cross the room. “You know how it is, nothing like a little time spent in chains to make you appreciate freedom.”
Caroline passed Klaus on her way to the door. He looked as if he wanted to say something, but she didn’t stop. The weight of everything seemed to suffocate her. She needed to get out of there. She needed to escape whatever his answer might be, knowing it would probably determine her future.
Klaus and Elijah could fight as much as they wanted in there. It was their business now.