Stefan took the journal from under his pillow, he looked around making sure that he had everything and saluted Elijah who just entered the barracks.

Elijah returned the mandatory salute but waited until he was alone with Klaus to speak, his brother was just placing the beloved picture of Caroline and the baby away inside of his leather jacket. "It won't be long now brother, soon you will have them by your side."

Klaus smiled and Elijah truly felt the relief in his ways, he accepted the files that Klaus handed him.

"I finished all the reports and I've added the detailed transcription of the conversation I heard when I was being held."

Elijah smiled. "All of that expensive education that we've provided you with has paid off in the end."

Klaus was a bit surprised. "Do I sense some reminiscent moment approaching Elijah?"

The older man dropped the files on the rack. "We wouldn't have been successful on this tour if it wasn't for you Niklaus. Your team was responsible for ending the most feared cell in this territory and by addition annihilating another terrorist threat. The prisoner broke and we've uncovered the hiding place of important names that are listed daily on all of the agencies that have spent the morning congratulating me for being related to you."

"What's with the feelings exposure Elijah? We both know that I won't be on leave long, I will be called back as soon as I get used to sleeping throughout an entire night." Klaus laughed while picking up his bag.

"Your abilities and your unique approach to missions have been the object of attention from higher ranks even before yesterday occurred."

Klaus grew serious. "Am I finally getting promoted?"

Elijah smiled but it was a sad smile that graced his lips this time. "You will get a visit very soon and it will be up to you the final decision, although I must confess that I will miss having you around me you now have another family and I suppose it's time that I stop being selfish and let Caroline and little Scarlett enjoy your brooding ways for a while."

"Can you try to be a little more cryptic Elijah? I'm having a hard time as it is." Klaus frowned absolutely puzzled by Elijah's words.

"NCIS is looking for a new team and I deem that you will find their proposition appealing."

"What about the rest of them?" Klaus nodded outside where the Wolves were waiting for him.

"I said that the proposition would be alluring, did I not?" Elijah smiled resting a hand on Klaus' shoulder.

Klaus thoughtfully took it all in silently.

"It's your chance to do what you care for without being forced to be away from home and I for one couldn't be more proud that they want you."

"You will find your way to become my Director because you will miss the insolent mood around here." Klaus smirked.

"Keep an eye on the horizon." Elijah laughed.

Klaus knew that the conversation wasn't moving from this, neither of them enjoyed gushing out feelings so he saluted his superior officer.

Elijah rolled his eyes and hauled his younger brother into a tight hug, he placed his hand on the back of Klaus' head with affection.

Klaus answered the hug with a tease. "Try not to get into trouble while I'm away."

"Mind you that I am the older soldier here." Elijah laughed at the same time that he released his brother.

"Older and old… it's possible that you don't recall how to assemble a piece any longer."

"I can still do it in minus 20 seconds." Elijah replied smugly.

"You need a girl in your life." Klaus walked to the exit ready to go back to his.

Elijah ignored him "Send my love to the family."

"I will…" Klaus only stopped for a last word. "Are you entirely sure that you will be all right without me?"

"Do I have to dismiss you officially, Niklaus?"

Klaus was mockingly grave. "Of course not, old man." He smirked.

Elijah held back a smile that only showed up when Klaus headed for the chopper.

Jeremy couldn't stand still on his seat. "I still can't believe that the Wolves own a jet."

"It doesn't belong to the team Jarhead, it belongs to Nik's family." Damon explained.

"Are they that loaded?"

"Yes." Damon left his seat to get a drink.

Jeremy pulled his eyebrows together watching as Stefan and Katherine were clearly avoiding each other, on their way to the airport they had been exchanging looks but now inside the jet they hadn't shared a single gaze.

"Hey Matt… why is there a strict policy inside the team that forbids any romantic liaison?"

Matt folded the Sports' newspaper that was entertaining him and leaned over so that he could talk without the others listening in. "When we first formed the Unit, there was another girl who was here before Kat and she was Damon's girlfriend, her name was Rose and he asked the Lt. to bring her on to the team. She had chopper training and she was a really sweet girl but during our second mission, she got caught by a bunch of rebels and Damon literally lost it. The Lt. wanted to act after having a solid plan to rescue her but Damon couldn't stand the idea of all the things that they could do to her so he disobeyed a direct order and went rogue. He tried to rescue her alone and got shot in the process, she died during the crossfire and Stefan had to pull him out of a fire before Damon died. After that, the Lt. wanted Damon out of the team but Stefan took his side and eventually the Lt. gave in. It was easier to find one substitute instead of three."

"Wow…" Jeremy mumbled baffled. "I had no idea."

Matt smiled. "A lot of the things that happen inside of this family, stay in the family."

"The Lt. established that rule after you lost Rose?"

Matt glanced back at Stefan and Katherine. "Actually… it was Stefan's idea, it was a condition to prevent Damon's deranged behaviour if he ever fell for another soldier. It's somewhat ironic that his idea would backfire on him later on."

Jeremy rested back on his seat watching the couple, it was more than obvious that they felt something for each other and that they were fighting hard against it.

Caroline twiddled her fingers in a twitchy mood, she huffed and decided to grab a magazine, she went through the pages without really paying actual attention to any of it and quickly tossed it to the side uninterested.

"You are making me nervous Care…" Kol complained from the other couch while answering a text message from Bonnie.

Caroline stood up trying to have a better look at the arrival gate, a few small jets were pulling over but she didn't have access to the runway and through the glass casing she didn't see him among the people arriving.

She played with her wedding ring on edge. "What if he didn't leave? Maybe Elijah sent him on a last minute mission and he couldn't get the word out… maybe he's still stranded there." she looked at Kol for an interaction.

The Mikaelson was busy with his phone. "I'm sure that he's just about to…" he looked at Caroline who smiled and left the little VIP waiting room in a hurry. "… arrive."

Caroline aggressively made her way through the small crowd with a race. "Excuse me… coming through." she rushed bumping into a few people who gave her an annoyed look.

She started running faster towards the dirty-blonde haired man who finally saw her, she was laughing in a jittery way as she realized that the gap was shortening between them.

Klaus dropped his bag smiling at the woman running in his direction and caught her as she pounced into his arms, he laced them tightly around her, her body was shaking with laughter that he foreshadowed as imminent tears.

The rest of the team didn't stop to interrupt the reunion and had a cheerful talk with Kol instead.

Finally Caroline unglued her cheek from his and pulled away to have a better look at him, instantly she frowned upon finding the deep cut over his eyebrow.

"You should have seen the other fella, sweetheart." he said with an appeasing smile.

Caroline stroked his neck slowly. "I missed you so much…"

Klaus leaned over and kissed her, deeply showing her how much he missed her.

"I'm going to rent a car and I'll bring it to the front door so that you don't stress the lazy leg." Damon teased Stefan.

Stefan handed him his bag. "I'm going to get some coffee while you choose the car."

Damon wasn't too happy because he suspected his brother's intentions but he wouldn't act on it now. "If there's a Camaro I'm renting it."

Stefan nodded. "I will meet you up front in ten minutes."

Katherine was waiting for her ride, Matt and Jeremy had shared a cab to the train station and she was by the bar making time.

"Can I have a black coffee to go?" Stefan asked the pretty girl behind the counter.

Katherine looked at him by the corner of her eye while sipping on her cup of coffee.

After paying the girl Stefan looked at the Katherine. "Probably we won't see each other for a few months Kat… is this how you want to part ways?"

She kept her eyes on the nearly empty cup in front of her. "I heard the Lt. speaking to Matt, he wants to meet with the team in two weeks so we will see each other then…" she faintly smiled before she stood up grabbing her things, she gave him a last look holding the bag and her coat folded over her arm. "I didn't want things to be like this Stefan but I didn't plan to fall for you like I did. Still, regardless of my feelings for you I love being part of this group more. I worked really hard to get here and I'm not going to throw it all away now based on an attraction."

"Do you think that I want to leave? He is my best friend, he's like a brother to me and I would be heartbroken to leave now that Nik is contemplating adding Jeremy to the squad. We have a really good pack and things work because of it."

She kept her carriage like the tough soldier that she was. "Nothing has to change because nothing out of the ordinary happened." She smiled at him, it took everything in side of her to pull it off but she still managed it. "I look forward to defeat you during another man to man fight, 1st Sergeant."

Stefan gave her a forced smile in response. "I'll try to work on my technique, Sergeant Pierce."

She gave him a small nod and left to wait for her ride outside and she almost made it to the front door when she heard him calling her out.

She had a deep breath and slowly faced him. "Yes?"

Stefan pulled her to a hidden corner near them.

"Stefan… what do you want now?"

"This isn't us…" he confronted her icy posture with a squint.

She looked at the ground. "If you don't get out of my way I will kick your bad leg."

He chuckled while cupping her face. "Now that sounds more like us."

She looked at him fiercely. "You want to flirt and you want the sassy comments but that's not enough for me anymore Stefan."

He slowly lowered his hands from her face.

"That's what I thought." She started moving away from him.

"Wait." Stefan asked her.

When she looked at him he simply cradled her face and kissed her.

Katherine gasped when she tasted the heat from his lips pressing hers and dropped her things so that she was free to touch him and moved her lips against his.

Stefan broke away slightly from her, he traced his lips with his tongue so that he could fully keep her taste with him and then pushed her against the wall as he pressed his body to hers, she moaned the second that his tongue touched her bottom lip.

He was looking for a permission that she gladly gave him and when their tongues met, she forgot about the tension that had been brewing between them for months and she forgot about all the reasons why they hadn't act on it.

It was a long passionate kiss until reality came creeping its way up loudly.

She pushed him back harshly ending the kiss and searching for air, clarity was lacking in spades as well but she ruthlessly stopped him when he came at her set on having a second sinful kiss.

She felt his hard chest with her palms making it all even more confusing. "No…" she fought everything and she fought his advances, she moved fast, picking up her things from the ground and aiming at her swift escape.

"Kat please…" he acknowledged that things might have been a bit rushed.

She shook her head. "One of us needs to leave the team."

"Don't be so hasty." He whispered.

"We can't take this mistake back now."

"I know…" He said in a low voice.

"Then we will pretend that this never happened." She harshly tried to show regret although it had been a perfect kiss.

"It's easier to say than to do…" He kept his voice low and tried to touch her hand.

Immediately she denied him the contact. "We are soldiers, we do what it takes." She left without meeting his eyes again.

Stefan pressed his fist to the wall keen on punching it but one wounded leg was enough.

Rebekah hugged Klaus so tight that he was afraid she might hurt herself.

"I'm so happy that you are here." she mumbled against his chest.

Klaus laughed. "I can tell… every time I return home you treat me like I'm a giant Panda bear."

She laughed loudly before she unlocked her arms from around him.

Sage was next in line and hugged him in that maternal way of hers. "It was about time to have you home Niklaus."

He smirked because she insisted on calling him by his given name, like a mother would.

It was funny how these things happened, she was the only girlfriend that Finn ever had, they were high school sweethearts and when she married him everyone placed her in that role that was vacant since Esther had lost her life giving birth to Rebekah.

In a way Sage was the only mother Kol and Rebekah knew but the same applied to the others as well.

Kol arrived with Bonnie who was has happy as everyone else to see him.

"Welcome back Tin man." she playfully told him.

It made him laugh like all the other times that she called him that. "Hello Bonnie."

She gave him a quick hug. "I swear that you get bigger every time that you return from a long tour."

"Maybe I should join the army as well." Kol commented on the affection ensuing in front of him.

"I see that nothing really changed around here." Klaus whispered amused.

"He's jealous of his own shadow, I have no idea why I'm still with him." Bonnie rolled her eyes.

"Because you love me?" he asked appalled.

She raised her eyebrow. "I often tend to forget."

"You cause a scene every time that a lass gazes in my direction." he snapped.

She scorned him. "Not even close Kol."

Klaus looked away used to their spats and noticed Caroline coming down the staircase with their little girl in her arms, he waited with bated breath for the moment she reached him.

Scarlett was sleeping and Caroline moved so that he could take the baby into his arms, he licked his lips nervously and it made Caroline smile because he looked terrified of hurting the fragile body between them.

She nested the baby's head on his arm and fixed Scarlett's beautiful white dress, she looked at Klaus whose eyes sparkled in wonder and sheer fascination for the little beauty he was cradling.

Scarlett made a little sniffling noise and slowly stretched her tiny arms, she waved her legs a little and opened her eyes lazily.

Klaus smiled like a blind man watching the sun for the first time. "Hello little Scarlett… do you remember me?" he whispered.

Scarlett parted her perfect rosy lips and her tiny pink tongue peeked followed by a smile for the man holding her.

He moved his fingers along her soft face, touching her gently and Scarlett reacted by smiling wider and waving her tiny hands in little fists energetically.

Someone was happy to have her father back.

Klaus brought her closer to him closing his eyes and inhaling her sweet baby scent, he kissed her forehead lovingly and the baby made a loud squeal, she also pulled his hair which made him laugh.

Scarlett then smiled at the dangling shiny thing in front of her and eagerly grabbed his army tags happy that she found a new toy.

Klaus was in heaven holding his baby girl and in awe that she was so wonderful.

"Ugh, stop making me cry..." Sage turned around leaving the room to clean her emotional tears.

Rebekah followed Sage so that Klaus could share this moment with Caroline alone.

"I want one of those…" Bonnie told Kol sweetly.

He smiled happy about it. "A boy and a girl."

"In… five years or so…" she quickly redeemed herself.

"No… we should start on a Kol junior right away." he said most serious.

She huffed leaving the room.

"Bonnie?" he went after her but she was shutting him down already.

"Drop it, daddy."

Klaus was ignorant to everything that was happening around him, he was too interested in Scarlett and smiled like a little boy at Caroline when he felt her hand on his cheek.

He looked at her speechless and she smiled stroking his stubble. "I know Nik…"

Klaus kissed her while Scarlett made happy noises watching them and chewing on the shiny tags.

Finn popped another bottle of wine while they all laughed and ate happily.

"So the good son returns." he said serving Klaus. "I long for the day that I have all my brothers around the same table." He missed Elijah as well.

Klaus lifted his glass. "That will be a happy day for all of us."

"I think that the only time that happened was when we got married." Caroline said sitting at the table.

Klaus looked at her with inquiring eyes.

"She's sleeping." Caroline assured him. "She does that a lot." She giggled happily.

He hadn't been too cooperant when she took Scarlett from his arms so that she could feed the baby and put her to sleep but he would make up later for all the time he had missed with her, for now he wanted to focus on the other stunning woman in his life.

Klaus took Caroline's hand smiling and she looked down on the table reacting to the touch, strongly closing her hand around his.

Dinner went on normally and everyone tried to put Klaus up to speed with the news in the family.

Like always he was mostly disconcerted when Rebekah tried to defend her right to a boyfriend, preferably if he was her everlasting crush named Damon Salvatore.

"I might as well take a vow as a nun..." she grabbed her wine angry after he denied her the chance to even access Damon's phone number.

Klaus laughed. "You are far too pretty to be a nun Rebekah."

She gave him a half-smile. "And you are far too charming to be a soldier."

"I'm not a soldier at home." he corrected her at once.

She dismissed his words, although she knew that he made that distinction very strongly, he left the blood and the cruelty of war back where it belonged; at home he was the brother who nagged her to eat her veggies and he was the husband that every woman dreamed off.

Rebekah knew that he was going to be an astonishing father as well.

"I made strawberry cheesecake, someone's favorite…" Sage said while leaving the table.

Finn rubbed his hands together happy, he loved big meals because Sage always made the real good stuff for dessert, he launched a lazy look at her when she arrived with the last course of dinner and she shook her long red hair caught on the side with the pin made of diamonds that he gave her for her birthday.

"Stop looking at me like that…" she whispered at him.

But Finn only smiled finishing his wine.

Rebekah looked around the table, Sage was obviously sweetening Finn's desires for other kinds of dessert, Bonnie was making little circles on her glass teasing Kol who played with her hair eager to take her up to his bedroom and Caroline and Klaus were on a world of their own.

They were glued together and staring at each other, Klaus was leaving random patterns on her shoulder and they would sneak a tender kiss from time to time, retrieved to their corner of happiness that she envied so much.

She sighed into her glass of wine, she was in need of a boyfriend, urgently.

"We are out of wine…" she said adding gloom to her situation because the bottle was empty.

Caroline smiled. "I'll go get another one from the cellar."

"I will accompany you." Klaus dropped the napkin on the table and followed her fast.

By the staircase she became aware of his cunning smirk. "Nik…"

His arm was like a deadly snake circling around her waist. "Yes?" he pinned her to him and started kissing her neck.

"Your sister… the wine…" she blanked on how to connect words into a proper sentence because his stubble was tickling her skin.

He stroked her chin. "My sister can fetch for her own wine, I miss my wife…"

Caroline's legs went wobbly, his eyes were so blue and bright with love and desire and his heat was covering her body and by God, she missed him.

She pressed herself to him and kissed him thoroughly, the kiss was just raw and rough, it was as if they didn't even touch the stairs as they went up to their bedroom with battling lips.

Caroline moaned when his hands swiftly pulled the zipper of her dress down, they reached the bedroom but the wall next to the door was their first stop.

Klaus kissed down to her neck, pushed her purple dress just a bit up her leg so that he could feel her skin and he made a sound of pleasure when she found her way inside of his shirt.

She touched his chest, it felt better than she remembered but she wanted a lot more and moved her hand opening the door.

Inside the bedroom Klaus pressed her against the door closing it with the motion, she stripped him of his shirt while he lowered her dress slowly down a faultless body that his hands curved languorously.

Her lips looked for another kiss that he answered whilst picking her up, her legs laced instantly around his waist and this time the kiss was slow, long and a wonderful paced battle for dominance.

Caroline's fingers messed his hair, stroked his neck and they stopped to take in the moment before it all became a rush of lust and desire.

"I love you." he whispered with a candid smile.

It was perfect, like everything always was when she was with him.

She rested her forehead against his with her emotions at the surface. "I love you Nik…"

He kissed her lips only softly this time and took her to bed eager to make love to her.

Caroline woke up blissfully tired, she was covered in a sheet but she was cold, the feeling was too familiar and she searched for him, when she didn't find him next to her in bed, she rested on her elbows searching the room.

Klaus wasn't in bed or inside the bedroom.

She looked at the baby monitor and there was no movement, Scarlett was sleeping.

Caroline grabbed her robe and left the room, Scarlett's bedroom was across hers and she found it strange that the door was open.

She was quiet as she walked towards the bedroom and she halted before going in, the image would forever be imprinted in her mind.

Klaus was standing by the window bathed by the full moon, barefoot and wearing nothing but his low waist Jeans and holding Scarlett in his arms, silently making a promise to always love and protect her.

And the baby girl slept peacefully while clutching his tags, how could she not?

When her father was Niklaus Mikaelson.

Soundtrack:

I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing - Aerosmith