A/N: Wow, you guys are AMAZING. I received so much positive response to my stories that now I could die happy. I won't, but -hell yeah!- I could:D

Here we go with the last, yes, *sniff* the last chapter, and my shipper heart is breaking because I truly loved writing this story.

Wait, captain! Do I see a sequel on the horizon? Maybe. Wanna one? Let me know, the matter is still open.

Chapter 5

Cooler heads prevail

Caroline was standing in utter shock. Tears rolled down her cheek. It was such a heartbreaking view that her mother shivered and also started to cry.

"D-Daddy?" Whisper escaped Caroline's lips.

The monster was staring at her with his eyes dull, absent, hazy.

"He's not your father anymore, Caroline." Klaus said.

She took a step forward but he grabbed her wrist. She yanked her hand to free herself - his grip only tightened.

"What are you doing?" She hissed.

"You are not approaching him. He's a zombie now."

Bill, or rather what was left of him, growled. He seemed blinded by the lights in the kitchen, so Kol didn't hesitate.

The kitchen was so small that the monster didn't have place to run away.

While Caroline was fighting Klaus holding her, Kol got to Liz and seized the butcher's knife she was holding in her right hand.

"Wait!" Caroline cried. "Don't!" Hot tears flushed down her cheeks. Klaus was holding her by the waist now to make sure she wouldn't escape. Caroline was struggling like a fly in spider's web. He only held her even firmer.

She saw her father attack Kol.

The younger Original dodged him.

Bill launched himself at his opponent, Kol ducked zombie's unsteady blow.

Caroline was crying so hard her eyes were burning. Uncontrollable sobs were slipping out out her mouth.

"Please, don't!" She yelled and shrieked hysterically, "Dad! Oh my God, Daddy!"

Klaus felt so guilty for hurting her, but he knew there was no other way. The consequences of a zombie bite were unknown even to him. He couldn't let Caroline get hurt more than she'd been before.

Then Kol took a swing.

Caroline turned around and hid her head in Klaus' arms. Now her crying turned into a fit of hysterics. No, please, no, no, no, she was repeating in a frenzy, her tears mixed with black mascara leaving a large, wet black smudge on his shirt.

Kol's arm fell down at monster's neck and all they heard was a loud, hollow roar.

And then, a sound of something sharp cutting through tissue.

And the head hit the floor.

"Congratulations," bewildered Kol panted, putting the knife back on a table. His eyes, slightly hazed and off, were wandering absently around the room. "You've just been dramatically slaughtered."

Two days passed with Caroline locked up in her room.

She was either crying or sleeping, and she didn't want to see anyone. Especially not the Mikaelson brothers.

She had seen her father pass away once. Now she did it twice. There was nobody close to comfort her since none of her friends knew what had happened. Nobody knew. Her mother made sure the press got just a statement that the murderer was caught and transferred to a prison in other state. Strangely enough, Kol didn't want the media to know that he was the one that "caught" the killer. He said he didn't want any attention, especially from horny teenagers or housewives. (Well, it must be one of the signs of forthcoming Apocalypse, Klaus said about Kol. There was no other explanation for this loony behavior of his.)

Caroline knew it was the right thing to do, yet she couldn't forgive Kol for killing her father. For letting him die, again.

They had been also affected by Caroline's trauma.

Klaus had felt her pain running through his body that night. He felt sorry for her, even more than when she was dying after Tyler's bite.

Kol grew strangely distant over those days. He remained silent for most of the time, he didn't watch tv, just sat down, staring blankly into space. Klaus thought that whatever seemed to revive his brother's spirits lately, now was turned off again. Probably he shut it off at Caroline's house and it just stayed that way ever since.

"She told me once that she'd let her father go with no regrets. She was very proud of it. Now it all fell apart. That's why she doesn't want to see us, Kol."

"Did you let our father go with no regrets, too?" Kol asked. He surprised his brother immensely. Klaus never expected Kol to ask about their father. Never.

"We didn't part our ways at peace, if that's what you have in mind."

Kol nodded. "Good."

She needed answers but wasn't ready to get them. Such a coward I am, she scoffed.

During another night of her seclusion she found a letter under her pillow. Caroline was 100% sure that this Tooth Fairy that had left it had fair curly hair and piercing blue eyes. And was a male Original hybrid.

Dear Caroline,

I know that you do not want to see me, that is why I have written this letter.

I have answers you probably need to be able to find some peace of mind. The research I have done revealed that your father fell victim to a ritual that he unknowingly performed himself. I checked the dates and everything became clear.

Dying on a full moon night, with vampire's blood in your body, and not going through complete transition resurrects you as a zombie on the next full moon. Because there was no voodoo priest to control him, your father went on the blind rampage. I can only suspect that he killed all those blondes because he was looking for the only person he vaguely remembered, meaning you. Still, he wasn't truly alive, posed a threat to the town and to you as well, for nobody knows yet what a zombie bite can do to a vampire. Zombies are mindless killing machines and we did what was there to be done.

Although you do not believe me, I am truly sorry I let you suffer like this.

Nevertheless, I hope you will not bear a grudge against me and my brother forever.

Yours,

Klaus

Caroline sighed. It was enough unbelievable to happen in Mystic Falls. If you are wise and want to stay alive, you should leave this doomed place.

She couldn't suppress a small, almost imperceptible smile that she cracked when she thought about how old-fashioned Klaus was sometimes. Those letters. She took her phone and typed a short message, then clicked send.

Thank you for your honesty,

Caroline.

The following night she heard somebody knocking at her house door. Who the hell was disturbing her peace and quiet? Caroline looked down at herself.

Pink pajamas? Checked.

Messy hair? Checked.

No make-up? Checked.

Whoever was coming to pay her a visit, would reconsider after seeing her. She looked scary enough to compete with Medusa in a beauty contest. Caroline loved this surprise tactics.

She opened the door vigorously and then almost shut them back. Almost, because somebody's foot effectively blocked the door.

"Please. Go away." She muttered.

"I'm here to talk." Klaus said seriously, his head lowered, his eyes drilled into her. In a leather jacket, black t-shirt and dark jeans he looked like a modern prince of darkness. Even his mood seemed to match that attire.

"You want to talk, go to a shrink." She tried to shut the door one more time, but her uninvited guest pulled her out of the house. They were standing on her porch again, and all she could feel was deja vu.

"I'm here to warn you.'' He said, studying her face. ''Nobody can know about the zombie ritual. It's a secret guarded by the most powerful voodoo priests ever. Don't breathe a word of it unless you want to die in a very painful way. Believe me."

Caroline nodded. "I understand."

"And burn the letter I sent you. It's evidence."

"Already did. No worries."

"Did you?'' He sighed. ''Why are you pushing me away, Caroline?" Klaus asked, shaking his head with resignation. She could hear pain in his voice, but it was probably just frustration caused simply by the inability to get what he wanted. Men. Go figure.

"Because you have no heart, Klaus. And I'm not stupid enough to give you mine." Caroline whispered, staring intensely at the floor. Wood. Interesting.

He took a step towards her, and she took one back, her body now leaning against the front door.

"I won't give you the explanation, like, 'I'm so sorry, you're a great, sweet guy, but there's no chemistry between us." Caroline started.

"I won't say that, because we all know you're not a great, sweet guy. And there is chemistry-" She gulped. Her nervousness rose from level 1 ('I can handle it') to level 8 ('Uh-oh').

"And, I mean, you know, there may be a little, little, tiny... something... uh, between us-"

Klaus raised his eyebrows.

What is it with this neurotic blonde and her never ending verbal diarrhea?

"-but, but... I can't. Sorry." She seemed emotionally exhausted at that moment.

Klaus didn't say a word, just observed her, his eyes burning with some feelings Caroline was afraid to name aloud.

He took another step forward, placed his hands on both sides of Caroline's head, trapping her between the door and his strong body.

He leaned down and buried his face in her hair.

He inhaled her scent deeply, and Caroline thought she was going out of her mind for, like, a thousandth time that month. I'm a pink ball of ugliness this evening, why doesn't it work? She yelled inside her head to no one in particular.

His nose was now buried in the crook of her neck.

She felt her legs mellow.

Klaus' breath caressed her collar bone.

Caroline squeezed her eyes shut.

Nervousness level 10 ('Heaven help me').

His nose touched her nose.

His lips were an inch away from hers. Deja vu, anyone?

Their foreheads were resting against each other.

She was feeling his whole body tense. Caroline on the other hand was melting.

With all her courage and restraint, with her eyes still closed, with her hormones raging and tormenting her, she whispered,

"Pl-Please. Just go."

"She still doesn't want to see us, I assume?" Kol asked, sipping his bloody whiskey.

"No." Klaus sat on the other side of the sofa and poured himself a drink.

This was the way they used to spend the last few days. Drinking alcohol or blood (or both) in the privacy of their own home.

"Well, I don't blame her." The younger Original said, nodding knowingly to himself.

"Why did you do that? The dirty job, I mean. I could have done it myself. She hates me anyway." The hybrid asked, looking down at the golden liquor.

"This is exactly the reason."

Klaus looked confused.

"I don't think I follow your line of thought. Did you do it for me?"

''I did it for her.'' Kol looked him straight in the eyes.

"And now she hates us both equally.'' He continued. ''You should thank me I didn't choose the easier way. I could have, but you saved me when I was daggered at the Grill once. So, yeah, I did it partially for you, too. We have equal scores now. It ensures fair play."

"What play, brother?" Klaus frowned.

"Let's say I prefer blondes now." Kol raised from his place on the sofa and started to walk towards the stairs.

Klaus' eyes widened in shock.

Was his brother telling him that...?

"You're not telling me that-"

''Why not?''

''You must be kidding me, Kol.'' Klaus growled. Little son of a-

"Game on, brother."

And with those words, Kol left.

The End