Victor assured Klaus. "He is on his way."

Klaus nodded, intrigued when Victor did not immediately leave.

"May I speak frankly, Niklaus?"

The man's formal manner required a formal answer. "You may." Klaus was really curious now.

"You do not do Stefan a kindness by forcing him to return to his brother and the doppelganger. I know that he loves them, but it is still torture for him to be around them. A reminder of his failings, of his weakness."

Klaus mulled the words over in his mind, impressed in spite of himself by the truth of Victor's words. "You care for his well being then?" Klaus finally asked.

Victor searched his feelings before answering. "I admire him. He fights a constant battle; a battle he cannot win, but still he continues fighting. Yes, he threatens to give up, to die, but he does not. He fights against all odds; fights when he knows he must lose the ultimate battle."

Victor paused before saying, "If we had met in another time, an earlier age, I would have sacrificed his heart to the Gods in the hope that I would absorb his courage."

Klaus nodded thoughtfully. "I understand you." He waged and finally overcame a brief inner struggle and threw the concerned vampire a little bone. "You don't need to fear for him."

Victor glanced sharply at Klaus and what he saw in his face seemed to answer a question for him. He smiled at the hybrid, despite himself. "You are a crafty one, Lord Niklaus."

Victor gave a short ceremonial bow and left. He was careful however to not take his eyes off the hybrid; a fact which did him no harm in Klaus's eyes. He would have been stupid to do otherwise.

Klaus did not have to wait long before Stefan arrived, escorted by two vampires, each with a firm grip on an arm. Stefan had blood on his lip and trailing down from his nose, a good indication that he hadn't come willingly.

Klaus nodded at the escorts. "Leave him with me."

As they left Klaus offered him a handkerchief. "Clean yourself up."

Stefan at first showed no gratitude, but as Klaus patiently held it out he eventually sighed and rudely snatched it out of his hand. He quickly wiped his face and tried to hand it back.

Klaus gave him a speaking look. "It's yours now."

A chauffeur came around and politely opened the door, standing next to it. Klaus indicated Stefan should get in first, and he immediately slid in after him. The door was quietly closed, and they were soon moving.

The limo was luxurious, and Klaus immediately set about making himself comfortable. He reached forward and filled a flute of champagne resting it next to his right arm. He kicked off his boots and pulled out paperwork from a leather satchel that Stefan hadn't noticed when he got in.

As the limo drove to the airport Stefan, keeping his torso facing straight ahead, surreptitiously moved his hand to test the door handle.

Klaus hearing the tiny sound didn't bother to look up from the papers he was studying. "The child locks are on, Stefan. I have learned something about you."

"I can't go back there." Stefan sounded desperate. His voice changed to pleading. "Please don't make me go back there."

Klaus eyes focused on the page held up in front of him nonchalantly said, "We're not going back to Mystic Falls."

Stefan, locked in his own train of thought, continued, "I can't do it, I can—" He stopped abruptly as Klaus's words finally penetrated through his obsessive rant.

He turned to stare at Klaus calmly reading a document and comparing it to a paper on his lap, legs stretched out, casually crossed at the ankles. Stefan twisted on the seat so his body faced Klaus. "What did you say?"

When Klaus didn't respond Stefan reached a hand out to clamp on Klaus's arm. "What did you say?" he repeated.

Klaus, a sly smile on his face, finally looked at him. "I said we're not going to Mystic Falls."

He turned back to his documents as Stefan absorbed the impact of what he was saying. "Why?" His first question was immediately followed by a second. "Where are we going?"

Klaus sighed and lowered the manuscript to his lap. "What a chatty annoying pest you are?" He mock scolded, but there was no real anger in his voice. "We are going to Italy. I promised a certain blonde vampire that I have been secretly courting for two years that I would show her the private vaults at the Vatican. One of my paintings is there." Klaus leaned back and smiled fondly. "Said blonde insisted that you accompany us."

Stefan was stunned speechless. The word courting brought back his youth when a suitor would sit in his best clothes in the family front parlor and make laborious conversation under the careful eyes of a parent or elderly member of the family. As he mulled it over in his mind, he was startled to find that he was not appalled by this. Caroline being courted implied that she was treated with a reverence he felt she deserved.

Klaus shot a quick glance at him from under his brows. "Do I take your silence to mean that you don't object?"

Stefan rubbed a hand over his face. His voice was hesitant. "I don't know what to think. You surprised me."

Klaus put down his papers, turning in his seat towards Stefan. "She does not approve of certain of my actions. But as a certain hybrid became more unpredictable and started to come apart, it became harder for her to find the differences between us. To say with certainty he was good and I was bad. The line became increasingly difficult for her to draw. We did the same deeds, just for different reasons."

Stefan looked troubled now.

Klaus was hopeful that Stefan's distress would work to his advantage. He and Caroline had many heart-to-heart discussions over the past two years, and he was privy to the talks the two had about the differences between them and Klaus. Or even more importantly was there really a difference. "I have never made a secret of the fact that I fancy her. But I want her to trust me before we go further. I want a family, Stefan. I'm tired of being alone." Klaus was pensive. "I can't trust my siblings, and they've deserted me anyways. My hybrids weren't what I thought they would be." Now his face was haunted by old failures. "You accused me of trying to create servants. Maybe I was. You can tell me I told you so."

Stefan took no joy in his obvious pain. He hung his head before confessing, "Nope. I can't trust the people I thought I could either."

"Two lost souls." Klaus sighed. He looked again at Stefan. "There was a time when I called you brother. I can't tell you how much that meant to me. I'm sorry I had to ruin it."

Stefan looked up to meet the hybrid's eyes. His own green eyes were filled with sorrow. "I betrayed you, too."

Klaus smiled sadly. "You did it all for love."

Stefan's laugh was bitter. "Yeah, for love. I did so much for love. Lost myself, my soul, my self respect. Love is not all it's cracked up to be."

"Have you given up on family totally?" Klaus asked.

Stefan tilted his head, not sure what Klaus was getting at. "My brother and the girl I loved betrayed me. I want nothing to do with them."

"How about giving family another shot? Caroline and I want you as brother, as friend, as family. We're all seasoned veterans of the love wars, the family battles. I think we're all ready for a little peace."

Stefan looked at him for a long time, searching for sincerity. What he saw in Klaus's face seemed to reassure him. A little smile broke out on his face. He leaned back and kicked off his boots. "How about sharing that champagne, brother?"

~ FIN ~