This is Not a Fairytale (but it is a love story) [One-Shot]
This is Not a Fairytale
By tenshinrtaiga
Disclaimer: I don’t own TVD
Warnings: Spoilers for 4x01.
Summary: The best love stories are really bloody tragedies. Written for lynzie914 at the Team Barbie Comment Ficathon.
Prompt:
Klaus/Caroline, I want people to tell their children terrifying stories about the things we did for love.
Tyler dragged her from the wreckage. She was weak, the vervain still making its way through her system. But she paused when she realized that Tyler wasn’t behind her. He was talking to Rebekah, but didn’t appear to be helping her escape. Caroline wondered why Tyler wasn’t helping the Original, but took the opportunity to breath in fresh, vervain-free air.
Caroline looked around and her eyes began to widen. Surrounding the toppled van was complete and total chaos; carnage really. Cop cars were totaled and beginning to burn. She could practically taste the blood of the dead, it was so thick in the air, and the smell of flesh burning as the cars were consumed.
She felt tears prickle at her eyes. These were people she knew; friends of her mom. And Tyler did all of this for her. To save her. Because he loved her.
Of course, it wasn’t until later that she realized it had really been Klaus.
~
“Why are you doing this?” Klaus asked wearily, his hand reached up to clench at his bleeding stomach, his other arm wrapped around Caroline’s shoulders.
“I don’t know,” she admitted honestly. It was one of his favorite of her many traits. Her arms were wrapped around him, underneath his arms as she helped him to maneuver through the dense and dark woods. “You saved me from the Council. I owed you one.”
“Is that all this is?” Klaus murmured, pausing in his movements to look at her.
Caroline paused as well. Slowly, she turned to face him, her bright blue eyes meeting his. A moment of intensity and honesty passed through them without any need for words. “I don’t know,” she finally murmured once more, her eyes dragging to his lips.
Taking it as a cue, Klaus leaned over and allowed their lips to gently meet. It was their first real kiss - the ones exchanged using Tyler’s body didn’t count. It was soft, but confident. And chaste, which was not something she expected from Klaus.
Their moment was all too quickly interrupted as their sensitive ears made out the sounds of humans traipsing through the woods, intent on hunting the two vampires down.
Caroline drew back, her eyes wide in surprise. That had been completely unexpected and she wasn’t quite sure what it meant. She wished that she had time to figure it out, but she didn’t. The hunters would be on them soon and it wasn’t safe for anyone to be in Mystic Falls anymore.
“I think now is a good time to remind you of Paris,” Klaus said with a smile, a great deal happier than he had been a moment earlier. “I believe I promised you the world, Miss Forbes. I intend to make good on that.”
~
Caroline felt cold. It was an entirely internal chill because it was summer in South America. Despite the fact it was still quite a bit before sunrise, the weather was still warm enough that she should be swimming or taking a walk along the beach.
But Caroline felt cold.
She watched with dead eyes as Klaus dragged Damon by his arm outside of the house the brunet had been staying in. If the angle of his arm was any indication, Klaus had both broken and dislocated it before using it to drag the man.
Klaus sat him in the middle of the street, facing Caroline. Then he squatted in front and lightly slapped Damon until he regained consciousness. Damon was bloody and bruised and for a moment, Caroline genuinely didn’t recognize him. But then he opened his eyes and Caroline would know that bright blue gaze anywhere.
“Welcome back, mate,” Klaus laughed.
Damon glared, but kept quiet. Then he turned his glare onto Caroline. The minute he did, Caroline flinched, looking away to keep from meeting his gaze. She didn’t like the judgment there; the betrayal. Despite Damon’s many faults, he was her sire… and her friend. Or at least, she thought he was. He didn’t get to be the one feeling betrayed.
Noticing Caroline’s reaction, Klaus frowned in anger and punched Damon squarely in the cheek. A crack echoed indicating a broken bone, but Klaus had beaten the younger vampire up so much already, that his vampire healing was failing to kick in at its normal speed.
“You do not look at her,” Klaus growled, reaching out to grip Damon by his hair, yanking his head so that he had no choice but to stare up at the angry hybrid. “You do not speak to her.”
Damon scoffed, but wisely kept his mouth shut.
“I made a promise to Stefan that I wouldn’t hurt you and I have kept that promise until now,” Klaus began. “But there are lines, Salvatore, and you have flagrantly danced over every single one. And I have forgiven it because, well, to be honest, I’m not sure. Call it an uncharacteristic show of patience.” Klaus paused as he looked at Damon for some sort of reaction. This was typically the place where Damon would butt in with a sarcastic remark. But he remained silent, so Klaus continued. “But that’s over now. You have gone too far.” Klaus looked down once more, a smirk on his face. “And I think you know it.”
Damon’s continued silence was the only indication given that Klaus’ remark was accurate.
Klaus reached out, but instead of striking out like Caroline and Damon both expected, he reached down and pulled off Damon’s daylight ring. Damon’s eyes widened in horror as he realized Klaus’ plan and that this time, he wouldn’t be making any sort of miraculous escape. Caroline, however, merely swallowed thickly. She had already known how this would end.
“You should be thankful that Caroline begged for mercy on your behalf,” Klaus said idly, as he stood back to watch as the sun rose above the nearby buildings. “If it had been up to me, your death would have been much more painful and prolonged.”
~
Up on a tall hill in Scotland, stood a statuesque blonde. She watched below as people fled from their homes, crying out in fear and horror. She watched as the flames consumed homes and animals and even people. She listened as children screamed for their parents and people left their families behind in the haste to flee.
Like animals, they ran with no clear destination and no true hope of escape.
And it all started with a single spark.
She had watched as the nearby manor went up in smoke and as the fire soon spread to the nearby town. Sure, there were fire trucks but even they couldn’t put out the fire as fast as it was spreading.
“I’m impressed, luv,” a familiar voice said from behind her, causing a small smile to escape her hardened face.
“You’re late,” Caroline replied without turning around.
“I got busy,” he said as he came up behind her to wrap his arms around her. “There were a lot of people running around panicking. It took me a minute to escape and find a quick bite to heal.”
The blonde vampire hummed in understanding, but said nothing more as the two watched the devastation. This was how far Caroline was willing to go to save Klaus; to be with him. And now the whole world knew it. And they may very well burn for it too.
~
Caroline woke with a gasp, her eyes wide with terror as she looked around her, trying to determine her surroundings. Her hands shook as she tried to sit up.
“Shh, luv. It’s alright. I’ve got you,” a familiar voice cooed from behind her.
She turned around to find Klaus. He was holding her in his arms, his grip too tight to be considered comfortable. “Where am I? What happened?” she asked as she looked around. They were in a damp room; maybe a cellar of some sort? There were candles everywhere and Caroline noticed a woman passed out in the middle of some sort of painted symbol on the ground. “What did you do?” she asked in realization. This was magic. And dark magic at that, Caroline realized as she listened to the room. The witch wasn’t just passed out; she was dead.
“What do you remember?” Klaus asked instead.
“We were at home. In Singapore,” she clarified as they had many homes now. “It was the middle of the night. You heard a sound. You went to check it out. Then…” Caroline trailed off as her hand went up to rest over her heart, her eyes widened in fear. “Oh, Niklaus,” she whispered, one of the rare times she used his full name. “What did you do?” she questioned once more, despite already knowing the answer. She had died that night, she knew it. She could still feel the stake pierce through her heart as if it had just occurred.
Klaus hugged her tighter, drawing her into his body as he relived that night over as well. “Oh, sweetheart,” he murmured into her hair. “You know I could never let you go. I will never let you go,” Klaus promised darkly into her blonde locks. They would be together for eternity; he would make sure of it.