Set during 3x21 and then becomes AU.

This was inspired by a tumblr prompt that I received and apparently wants to become a full-fledged story. I caved to peer pressure.

Enjoy.

She probably shouldn't have been doing this, shouldn't have been anywhere near the Mikaelson mansion, let alone heading inside of it. Caroline felt as though she needed to do more than a quickly whispered 'thank you' in a hallway after all that happened. She'd gone home as directed and showered, drank a blood bag or two to get her strength back up, and then sat on her bed, waiting for someone to fill her in on what had happened.

Her phone never rang, there were no text messages waiting for and no one was answering any of the ones she sent off either. She knew the others had to be looking for Elena, that Alaric was still out there, and considering she couldn't locate where Bonnie, Stefan or Damon even were right then, Caroline had figured that maybe Klaus had some idea on Alaric's current whereabouts. Or maybe he even knew where the others were. After all he had gone into the school to get Elena out, had used the word 'we' and that had to mean he was working with the Salvatores and Bonnie. At least she hoped that was what it meant. Obviously her friends weren't answering because they were too busy completing the next step to whatever plan they had come up with and she was supposed to be resting and recouping after being tortured for most of the afternoon.

Whatever Caroline had expected to see when she meandered through the mansion, looking for someone to get information from, it wasn't Elena strapped to a chair. Her friend was barely alive, and she saw the IV's inserted in her arms, collecting blood. Too much blood by how bad her friend looked.

"Oh my god," Caroline gasped, flashing right over to her.

"Caroline?" Elena's voice was barely audible, her breathing going much too shallow for Caroline's liking and Caroline looked down at the IV's. She knew she wasn't supposed to just rip them out, had remembered that from some random documentary she'd watched late at night when she was home alone and couldn't sleep. But obviously they needed to stop doing what they were doing or she had a feeling Elena was going to bleed out on her.

"It's going to be okay," Caroline tried to reassure her friend, biting down into her wrist and pressing it against Elena's mouth. That should give her friend added strength and now if she ripped the IV's out the wounds should heal up right away. She fed Elena a little bit more of her blood before carrying out her plan and ripping the ropes off the chair as well.

"Klaus," Elena murmured, and Caroline nodded, moving to help Elena stand so she could get her the hell out of the house.

"I kinda figured he's the one who did this to you," Caroline sighed, wondering how he could go from helping her out in the school to doing this to Elena.

"No," Elena tried again, slumping against Caroline as the vampire blood worked at healing her body.

"I think what she means, love, is that I'm standing right behind you," Klaus said and Caroline held onto Elena a little tighter, loosening her grip again when Elena groaned in pain. "Might I ask what you're doing?"

"Actually," Caroline bit out, turning to face him as she kept her hold on her friend. "I'm pretty sure that's supposed to be my line. What the hell do you think you're doing? The amount of blood you're taking from her will kill her and then where will you be with your little hybrid army."

"He doesn't care," Elena murmured, and Caroline could hear a bit more life to her friend's voice so her blood was definitely doing its job. Of course there was the new added issue that Klaus was kind of blocking their exit.

"Not even a tiny bit," Klaus agreed, his smug expression causing shivers to creep down Caroline's spine at the callousness of the situation. "I'll have my blood and perhaps the number of hybrids I can create will be limited, but I think the world could stand to have one less doppelganger in it." He took a step forward and Caroline took one back, bringing Elena with her. "Not to mention I believe my siblings would see it as a sign I'm evolving and no longer so fixated on creating my own army."

"Except you already have how many bags of her blood collected?" Caroline kept moving, trying to keep Elena out of his path, but she knew he was backing them up to a wall.

"I always did appreciate having a number of backup plans in my arsenal," Klaus replied with a shrug and Caroline didn't like the sudden widening of his smile as he focused his attention on her and stopped hedging his way towards her. "I'm also one who enjoys using the opportunities that unexpectedly present themselves."

Caroline gave Elena a gentle squeeze, not sure what Klaus was going on about, but from the way he was cocking his head and looking her over she knew she wasn't going to appreciate whatever he said next. "I take it that you'd like Elena to remain alive?" Klaus continued.

"Do I seriously need to answer that?" Because seriously? How was that even an actual question? Of course she wanted her friend to live. What the hell was the point of the last year if Elena didn't live? What was the point of all of the sacrifices and changes and everything that all of them had endured if Elena died? Life could not be that cruel.

Klaus arched a brow and Caroline huffed, realizing he wanted her to answer the question. "Yes, I want her to live."

"Then she lives," Klaus replied, moving to sit down in the chair that Elena had been occupying. He still looked too smug, as though he was about to win the lottery based on whatever was happening and Caroline didn't understand why he looked that way. Or why he was so easily giving her what she wanted when he'd obviously been all for Elena's death five seconds earlier. "Of course there are conditions."

"Of course," Caroline muttered, wondering what they were even if some part of her had an idea. Though she was unsure if she was currently fearing or anticipating what they would be and didn't want to analyze that too closely.

"My siblings and I are leaving, the bags I already have will be coming with me, and so will you," Klaus informed her, and Caroline stared at him, not at all surprised that was in the stipulations.

"You can't be serious," Elena snapped, her grip tightening on Caroline who hadn't said a word in reply.

Klaus ignored Elena's response, his gaze fixed on Caroline. "For one year, though I'm quite certain after that year you'll have no desire to return to this small town and its limited dreams. One year where you let me show you what precisely the world has to offer."

A silent 'what I have to offer' passed between the two of them and Caroline looked away, contemplating the terms. "And if I agree, Elena lives and you won't try for revenge on any of my friends or my mom."

"Caroline, you can't—" Elena started, but Caroline couldn't look at her friend, even as she held her a tiny bit tighter. Couldn't Elena see that she was doing this for her? For all of them? None of them would need to worry about Klaus trying to interfere with their lives any longer. Wasn't that worth one year of her freedom? What was one year in the grand scheme of things? She was a vampire, she'd have plenty more of them to live.

"I can promise that I will not nor will any in my employ do anything to your friends or mother. I cannot say the same for my siblings. Though I doubt any of them will bother returning here once we leave in the next hour." Klaus stood up, walking over to them but unlike the previous times, Caroline didn't step back. She stayed rooted to the spot, watching him extend his hand toward her. "Do we have a deal, sweetheart?"

"Caroline," Elena protested, but Caroline ignored her, reaching out and taking hold of Klaus' hand.

"Yes." Caroline agreed her stomach sinking as Klaus swept his thumb over the back of her hand in a gentle caress. She wrenched her hand away then.

"I suggest you get Elena back to her house or wherever you think she might need to be. Say goodbye to your friends and mother as well. I'll be by to collect you in an hour," Klaus told her, already heading to leave the room. "And, Caroline, if any of them try to stop me the part of not harming them becomes null and void, so perhaps you might want to explain that to them."

He was gone before either girl could respond and Caroline released her hold on Elena, knowing she was healed enough to walk on her own. She wasn't sure how Elena would fare if she flashed them out of the house and her car was in the driveway, waiting to be used.

"You don't have to do this," Elena told her as they piled on in. "Caroline. You can't do this. He's a monster. How do you know he'll even let you go after a year? Or that you'll even survive a year with him?"

"We can't defeat him," Caroline replied, steering the car in the direction of the boarding house. "Even if they do desiccate him then we have to always watch the body, secure it somewhere safe because really, the ocean? Who's' to say someone won't fish it out and kill him?" She wouldn't put it past Alaric to try and do that considering how screwed up he was now. "Look, this gives you guys a chance to come up with a better plan. To deal with Alaric and maybe with all of the Originals gone and Klaus not looking to drain you dry at any second, you can have a normal life again."

Though, loving two vampire brothers kind of killed that whole normal life dream but at least the threat of death wouldn't be hanging over their heads every day? At least that's what Caroline hoped.

"And what about you?" Elena demanded. "What about your chance at a normal life?"

"I'm a vampire, Elena." Her father's words echoed in her head, telling her she'd never be okay again. And while maybe he had changed his mind on that before he died, Caroline felt it made sense in a way. The normal that Elena could have was something that Caroline would never be able to achieve. Not for long. Not when neighbors would start to notice she hadn't aged in a few years. "I don't really get normal anymore."

No matter how hard she tried to cling to it at times.

Silence fell between them and Caroline knew that Elena was trying to come up with more reasons she shouldn't go, with a plan to stop Klaus, with anything to get Caroline to reconsider her mind. Caroline also knew that the others would do the same. That they would probably try their current plan and maybe they'd succeed, but she knew it wouldn't last for long. Not with Klaus' siblings still out and about. No doubt they would try to fix their brother if Bonnie did succeed.

Caroline parked the car in the driveway and got out with Elena. She didn't walk after her though and Elena stopped once she realized that, turning to look questioningly at her. "Tell my mom I love her and I'll call her as soon as I can," Caroline told her friend, flashing away before Elena could protest.

She found herself on the Mikaelson mansion steps and didn't even need to knock, the door opening before she even raised her hand. "It's not quite been an hour, love." Klaus arched a brow at her, though for some reason she felt he knew she'd be back as soon as she had been.

"Let's just go." Caroline headed down the steps before he answered, not surprised when he was bounding down them with her. She reached the bottom, not entirely sure how they were leaving Mystic Falls when Klaus nodded toward the garage.

"Don't look so glum, Caroline," Klaus told her as he headed to the Aston Martin that parked in the front. "You're about to have all of your dreams come true. Traveling, seeing the world."

"Except for the fact that I'll be doing it all with you," Caroline snapped as she got into the passenger's side.

Klaus simply smiled, turning on the ignition. "Buckle up. You're in for quite a ride."

Caroline didn't reply, leaning her head against the window as she watched the only home she had ever known fly by. Her phone vibrated against her leg, no doubt every single one of her friends trying to get hold of her, to stop her from leaving with him, wanting to tell her that there were other ways. She fished the cell out of her pocket and pushed button to roll down the window, letting the phone drop onto the asphalt as Klaus continued to speed them away. She didn't need the phone, didn't want to see the texts or hear the voicemails. Her decision was made and she knew her mother's number by heart so Caroline figured she didn't need the extra weight holding her down.

Klaus didn't comment and Caroline wouldn't dare look at him, her focus on the road as she tried to calm her nerves. For once she had no idea what the future had in store for her and she wasn't sure if she was frightened or elated at that prospect. All she did know was that Klaus was right; she probably was in for quite a ride. She just hoped that she survived it.