A/N: So here we are with the last chapter of The Travelers. I was going to post this on Tuesday, but for a variety of real life reasons I'm posting it early. There will be a sequel. Longer A/N at the bottom, but you should know that this is not the end :)
Enjoy!
-Angie

June 20th, 2013

Tyler's vision was incredibly blurry when he woke, and he ignored the sharp pain in his head when he sat up quickly and scanned the tiny room. It was completely bare, with painted walls and hardwood floors, no windows, and a single metal door on the other side from where he'd been lying. He stood up shakily, walking to the door slowly, but when he touched the handle, he swore as a reasonably weak electric shock pulsed through his body.

The door was unlocked a few seconds later and his uncle walked in.

"What's going on?" Tyler immediately asked.

Mason held up a finger to his lips, propping the door open with a small wedge of wood, and Tyler stayed silent, though his eyes were narrowed in rage.

"Look, you need to get out of here," Mason said, speaking quickly.

"Where's Jeremy?"

"It doesn't matter right now."

"I want to know where he is," Tyler insisted, balling up his fist, prepared to punch his uncle.

"He's safe. I made a deal with Mikael–"

"Mikael? As in Kol's dad?"

"Yes. He said he'd let you go if I helped. Look, I didn't have a choice, all right? He said he'd kill you and Jules...But I have a plan."

"A plan?" Tyler asked, his voice incredulous. "You drugged and kidnapped Jeremy, Kol, and me and you expect me to believe that you have a plan to rescue us?"

Mason huffed irritably, his movements twitchy. "Look, Mikael said you can go under the condition that you didn't return to base."

"But–"

"Tyler, shut up and listen to me. I took your tracker off in the airport parking lot, and Mikael gave me a new one for you so that he could make sure that you didn't go back to base. I want you to leave with it, put it on a moving car or feed it to a squirrel or something, and head straight back to base and tell them where we are."

Tyler's mouth opened and shut before he spoke again. "This makes no sense. Why didn't you just tell us where Mikael was in the beginning? You could have saved us a lot of time."

"Because I didn't know where he was. Look, this is really complicated, and I just need you to trust me."

"Trust you? Are you serious right now?"

"Tyler, you need to leave. Take my advice or leave it, but you need to go."

"What about Jeremy?"

Mason pushed open the cell door and pulled Tyler out of it, pressing a ring identical to what had been his Traveler ring into his palm before pointing down the hallway. "Go, Tyler."

Tyler went.

XXX

Klaus sat in front of his laptop, peeking through his fingers at the scene in front of him. He had been sent a link from one of those self-destructing email addresses that led to a live stream from a camera placed in the room where Caroline was being held.

He had been practically fused to the chair watching for the last three hours waiting for April, Matt, and Marcel to finish tracing the source. She had finally woken up to see his father standing in front of her less than ten minutes before, and he almost couldn't bear to watch the conversation they were having.

"He's going to kill you all," Caroline said quietly, her legs crossed delicately at the ankle, and her handcuffed wrists folded primly in her lap.

Mikael laughed cruelly, leaning against the wall, his eyes fixed on her.

"Who will?"

"Klaus."

Yes, he would. Slowly. He would make all of them suffer. He would string Mikael up by the wrists and burn him alive...

"Do you know who I am?"

Caroline snorted. "Mikael Mikaelson, I'd assume. Also, seriously? Mikael Mikaelson? Were your parents just uncreative or did they hate you?"

Klaus winced. There were times when he appreciated Caroline's sheer nerve, and times when he desperately wished that she wasn't so fond of baiting people while she was in a precarious position. This moment fit into the latter category.

She screamed, Mikael having backhanded her across the face.

"Bastard," she spat, her eyes filled with tears.

"Actually, that would be Niklaus. I was simply the innocent victim of an adulterous wife and a set of unhappy circumstances."

Klaus felt himself roll his eyes in spite of himself.

"You cannot possibly be the victim of anything besides the torment of a shitty gene pool."

He winced as she screamed again.

"What do you want?" she asked quietly, a bead of blood dripping down her chin.

"I want Niklaus to come to try to save you," Mikael said, now staring right at the camera. "Of course, he won't find us in time, I've made sure of it. He has until noon tomorrow before I begin to torture you, and I will kill you slowly and painfully. He will see this video, you know. Do you have anything you want to say to him before you die?"

Caroline smiled, though it wasn't her usual bright one. It was cold and venomous.

"I have lots of things to say, but I can just tell him in person tomorrow after you're dead."

Yes, that was his Caroline.

He would find her, of course. He had a few ideas already of where to look. His cell phone started vibrating next to his keyboard with a call from an unknown number, and he picked it up.

"Klaus?"

"Lockwood?" he asked, slightly confused, before his heart started pounding in his chest. "Weren't you kidnapped with the rest of them? Were you in on this–"

"Klaus, Mason kidnapped us all, but apparently he made a deal with your father to let me go, and he told me to tell you where we were. I stole this phone from someone on the street, and I'm going to break it after we finish talking, so don't call it back."

Klaus knew that time was of the essence, and to let Tyler get out all of his information. He'd have one of the security team find the location on satellite just to make sure.

"Go on."

"They're being held in New Orleans. Here, let me text you the address." There was some shuffling and a few clicking noises before Klaus's phone chimed and Tyler spoke again. "Should I wait here or head back to base?"

"Why are you asking me?" Klaus said irritably, already planning how long it would take to get to New Orleans.

"Um, aren't you in charge of the mission?"

Yeah, he supposed he must be.

"If you're sure that they're not tracking you, go to the base in New Orleans. Otherwise, use your emergency card and get a hotel room close to their location, but far enough away that you'll have a head start if needed. Get two beds, as well."

"Got it."

"Do you have any other information?"

"I'd assume you know, but it's your dad that has them. I didn't see any sign of anyone else helping, but I'm sure he has other people. Anything else you need me to do?"

"No. I'll be in touch," Klaus said, hanging up.

XXX

Caroline glared up at Mikael, who hadn't shown any sign of leaving yet, though they'd both been sitting in silence for what felt like hours.

She wasn't sure what to do. Her hands were cuffed in front of her, and her waist was tied to the back of the chair. Her ankles were tied down to the chair legs, but there was enough slack in the rope to be able to cross them. From what she could tell, she had nothing to use to help her break out. He'd taken everything away besides her top and skirt-even her wedges. She still had her underwear on (thank god), but couldn't feel the pocket knife she always kept in the bra cup under her left breast.

She felt violated and dirty (and not in a good way), but there were bigger things to worry about than her boyfriend's abusive step-father groping her to remove any weapons she might carry around with her.

Well, when she put it like that…

She heard a click and her head snapped up to see Mikael turning the doorknob. "I'll be back soon. Don't try anything," he said simply, before leaving, closing the door behind him.

She wriggled around, trying to figure out how exactly the ropes were tied around her ankles. The ropes gave her about eight inches of slack total between the two of them, and seemed to be tied tightly. The rope around her midsection rubbed uncomfortably against her skin under her top. She bit her lip and shifted slightly, making sure the rope would move with her body, and when it did, she carefully gripped it with her handcuffed hands, pulling it around the chair like one might with a belt, ignoring the burning sensation it made against her abdomen, until the knot was at her front.

She felt like it was too easy. This kind of escape meant a trap. It would probably give him the excuse he needed to torture her early or something.

She studied the knot made in the rope, and undid it, before re-tying it in a similar, but sloppier way. She pulled the rope around so that the knot was in the back again and experimentally leaned forward, smirking when it fell away, landing across her lap.

She doubted that he would check for the knot if he found her in the same condition as when he'd started. She didn't know how much time she had, but she bent down to attempt to do the same thing to her ankles, managing to re-tie the ropes satisfactorily before she re-did the one around her waist quickly after hearing footsteps in the hallway.

She needed to make Mikael think that she was unable to defend herself. He had been an agent, and had years of training over her, but he also was older, and probably would run out of energy faster. He entered the room with a small bowl of cereal with milk, and she pressed her lips together as he dipped it in, realizing that he wasn't going to untie her to let her feed herself.

"I'm lactose intolerant," she immediately burst out as he pulled the spoon up, blurting the first stall tactic that came to her mind.

"I think I can handle a little gas."

"I throw up."

He wrinkled his nose. "Though disgusting, I fail to see what that has to do with me."

"It doesn't. It's just gross. And I don't know about you, but I don't like being covered in vomit. Would you do me a favor and get something else?"

"You aren't exactly in a position to make demands, little girl."

Her nostrils flared at being called 'little,' but she decided not to comment. "I'm not. I'm asking nicely. I'll even say please."

She had to struggle to keep the sarcasm out of her voice, and she wasn't sure it had worked, but Mikael snorted in laughter. "I see why my son likes you. He always preferred the fiery ones. Much more fun to break."

"How would you know? You left when he was a child."

"Did you think that I wouldn't check up on my children over the years?"

She shrugged. "Well, you don't exactly seem like you're in the running for 'World's #1 Dad' or anything, so excuse me for assuming the worst."

His lips quirked in a dark smile. "Fine, I'll humor you for now."

She felt a cold feeling creep up in her bones. For some reason the phrase, one Klaus used often, gave her the chills coming out of Mikael's mouth.

"Thanks," she mumbled, suddenly feeling like she was in way over her head.

XXX

Klaus was fidgeting impatiently in his seat, starting to wish he'd chosen to use the Travelers' jet. It was true that under the best circumstances, it would have taken about an hour and a half longer to fly the Travelers' jet to New Orleans instead of buying last-minute tickets on a domestic flight, but Murphy's Law had a way of interfering with things, and the flight had been delayed by half an hour before they'd even gotten to the runway.

Damon, Stefan, and Rebekah were all shooting him wary looks from the other seats in the row, and he knew that Finn must be doing the same from the seat behind him. Matt and Vicki Donovan were both seated in the row behind Stefan and Rebekah, deep in a whispered conversation.

It had been decided that the group should take Matt just in case they ran into tech problems, and they had been about to leave when Bonnie had hesitantly suggested she go just in case something went wrong and they had injuries.

This idea was immediately vetoed by Sage, Sheila, and Ayana, who had been at the meeting. Bonnie was too valuable in medical research to lose.

Vicki had the unfortunate honor of being a bit more expendable, so she'd been sent along with the rest of them, medical kit in hand.

It had been silently acknowledged by the group that some of them might not come back alive, and they were all on edge.

When the plane finally started down the runway, Klaus could almost hear the collective sigh of relief, and Finn leaned over the aisle as soon as they were in the air so that Matt could explain the plan for entrance more thoroughly, nudging Vicki when he made a point relevant to her, but mostly letting her stare out the window.

Stefan and Rebekah were silently clutching each others' hands, knuckles white, and Klaus realized that this was the first time they'd been on a mission together.

It startled him when he realized that he genuinely hoped that all of them made it out alive.

The flight to New Orleans was tense, but Tyler met them at the airport, tossing the keys to the van to Finn, who drove them all to the hotel that Tyler had gotten for them.

"I scouted their location a bit," Tyler said, throwing an exasperated look at Finn as the man prepared to tell him off for going out without orders. "Look, my boyfriend is in there, and he could be dead. Kol is basically guaranteed to come out of this fine, and Katerina is involved with Elijah, meaning that Mikael will think twice about killing her. He's keeping Caroline alive for obvious reasons."

His voice seemed to be rising steadily in anger, and Matt laid a hand on his friend's shoulder to try to get him to calm down. Tyler took a deep breath and continued in a more steady voice at a normal volume. "Jeremy is the only one in there that he'll see as expendable, okay? I need to get him out of there, and I had already told you guys where we were. I couldn't just sit around and do nothing."

Klaus was about to tell him that sitting around doing nothing would have been the best option, but stayed silent when he heard Matt speak. "I checked it out through satellite, and the map you drew us is mostly on-mark. We didn't know that there was a basement either, so thanks for that. There are security cameras stationed around the property. I managed to get the feed, but I can't control them. Their security is good, really good."

Klaus nodded, having expected this.

"The plan is to wipe out the location. We need to get the hostages out and eliminate any other survivors, including hostages that aren't ours. Is that clear?" Finn said in his quietly serious voice.

All the agents nodded.

"Rebekah and Tyler will go try to eliminate anyone who's outside the base. Keep guns to a minimum, guys. The more silent the kill, the better."

Klaus reflected that in some ways it was good that Caroline wasn't at the meeting to hear Matt talking about killing people silently in such a clinical tone. Rebekah and Tyler nodded together, sharing a significant look.

"Stefan will go this way and Damon will go this way," Matt said, gesturing to two entrances marked on the map. "You need to try to find where they're keeping everyone and get a feel for the situation. Kill anyone you see, and try to stay out of sight. Keep us posted."

"Got it," Damon said quietly, Stefan nodding along with his brother.

"Klaus, since it's pointless to give you any other mission, you're going to find Caroline and get her out. Kill Mikael on the way, if possible."

"Of course."

"Vicki, Finn, and I will be here," Matt continued, circling a location on the map. "That's where we'll meet up. We'll tell you if anything changes. Are we ready?"

Matt took a deep breath as they all nodded.

"Let's go."

XXX

Mikael had been gone mere minutes before the door creaked open again, and Caroline looked up to see a middle-aged woman with her hair pulled back into a severe bun walk in, her eyes sharp and calculating.

"Who are you?" Caroline asked.

The woman held a finger up to her lips, and closed the door behind her before immediately pulling out a key and unlocking Caroline's cuffs.
"What's going o–"

The woman slapped a hand over Caroline's mouth, and Caroline frowned.

"I'm not going to hurt you," the woman said in a sharp whisper. "Let's get you out of these ropes."

Caroline simply tugged herself free, and the ropes fell to the ground. The woman raised an eyebrow before speaking again. "I'm going to take my hand away. Speak very quietly."

"Who are you?" Caroline asked in an urgent whisper as soon as the woman's hand fell away.

"My name is Esther, and I am here to help."

Caroline bit her lip. "Esther like, Klaus's-mother-Esther?"

The woman nodded silently, pulling a knife out of the back of her pants and thrusting it handle-first into Caroline's hand, ignoring the beads of blood that ran down her palm from the movement.

"I am going to take you out of the building, but I can't go any further than that."

"Can't you come with us?" Caroline asked in confusion.

Esther grabbed her arm firmly and steered her out of the room, pulling her gently down the hallway.

Caroline knew that she shouldn't trust the woman, but her gut feeling was telling her that Esther really didn't intend to hurt her. That she wanted to help. Esther smiled softly and shook her head. "No, I can't."

"But we can help you," Caroline insisted.

Esther stopped suddenly, going very still and pulling Caroline against the wall with her. Caroline listened hard and heard heavy footsteps approaching. "I need you to run when he gets here," Esther said harshly.

"What? I can't leave you here. Won't he kill you for helping me?"

"Yes."

"Then I definitely can't leave you."

Esther smiled softly, her whispered response slow and oddly comforting. "You cannot save everyone, dear girl."

The footsteps were becoming louder, and Esther gestured down the hallway, in the direction opposite from the way the footsteps were approaching from. "Run."

"Thank you," Caroline said quietly, before starting off quickly in the direction indicated, her footsteps silent, pausing quickly when she heard Mikael spit out about ten different incredibly insulting swear words at Esther, followed by her harsh yell of pain.

You cannot save everyone, dear girl.

Caroline ran.

XXX

Klaus pushed through the door to the office building, running as fast as he could while staying silent. He didn't know where Caroline was, but he needed to find her. He paused as he heard rushed footsteps coming from his left, but they were too heavy to be Caroline's and they faded quickly, so he continued on in the direction he'd been going.

What he saw down the next hallway made him stop in his tracks. He approached the body slowly, taking note of his surroundings before getting close. It was his mother.

He knew that he should feel some sort of sadness, but he just felt strangely empty. He'd really never known the woman, and now he never would.

What was important was knowing why she was dead. He looked around and noticed that the door to the room at the other end of the hallway was slightly open, and he approached slowly, his hand on his gun.

The scent of Caroline's perfume hit him as he put his head in, and he saw the chair he'd seen her tied to over the livestream.

Could his mother have helped her escape?

He walked out of the room again, leaving the door as it had been, and walked back the direction he'd come, realizing that he must have either just missed her, or she was on her way out.

He'd only taken two turns before he heard the click of a gun behind him.

"Niklaus. To be honest I didn't expect you to make it, but I'm rather glad you managed to. Put your hands up and turn."

He did so, turning slowly to see Mikael a few yards away, his poised to shoot.

"Where is she?"

"I don't know," MIkael said carelessly, shrugging. "Your bitch of a mother helped her escape, but she's served her purpose. Now I have you here, and I can do what I've been itching to for years."

Klaus absently reflected that as the motives of villains went, trying to kill your bastard son was a rather weak one, but decided that now was not the appropriate time to question Mikael's priorities.

"Any last words?" Mikael asked, grinning darkly. "I was going to make this a long, drawn-out torture session, but if you're here I assume that means that others are as well."

"I have said everything I needed to say," Klaus said quietly, hoping that Caroline had managed to get out of the goddamn building alive.

Mikael raised an eyebrow. "You really do love her, don't you?"

Klaus's breath caught. He was selfish, he knew. He valued self-preservation above everything. It had always been that way. He very much enjoyed being alive, and he'd never had any reason to think that there would be a day that he'd be willing to give up his life for anything, whether a material possession or a person.

He would die for her, though.

"Yes."

He heard a series of gunshots, and closed his eyes, prepared for the hit, but it never came. He opened them in confusion to see Mikael's bloodied corpse on the ground and looked up to see Caroline breaking her stance, calmly putting the safety on the gun and tucking it into the waistband of her skirt.

"I wonder how many movies it'll take before villains stop gloating before they kill the hero and give them time to be saved."

"I'm not a hero," he pointed out weakly, his lips twitching at her eyeroll.

His heart was still beating incredibly quickly, and he wasn't sure if he'd ever processed so many different feelings in such a short length of time in his life. He wasn't even sure if he could accurately identify them all.

But Caroline was suddenly clinging to him, her face buried in his shoulder, just breathing him in, and he decided to think more about feelings later, and for now just enjoy her warmth pressing against him.

June 21st, 2013

"Oh, thank god you're okay!"

"Mom, get off me," Jeremy mumbled half-heartedly, letting Jenna pull him tightly against her.

"Your dad would be so proud of you, you know," she said tearfully.

Jeremy froze. Jenna didn't often talk about his biological father, Grayson Gilbert, but when she did it was always to say how proud he would have been of Jeremy.

He didn't know much about Grayson, only that he had joined along with his brother John, Elena and Katerina's father, and that Jenna had met him when her older sister Miranda had been his handler.

Frankly, Jeremy was rather fuzzy on the details, but the point was that Grayson died when Jeremy was very young, barely a year old, and Jenna had been a nineteen-year-old single mother locked in an organized crime ring.

He honestly felt like people underestimated his mother's strength. It couldn't have been easy.

Then, of course, Jenna met Alaric when he was transferred to Virginia, and the rest was history with them. Summer Saltzman, Jeremy's half-sister, had been born a little more than two years before.

Jeremy was the last of the Gilberts.

"This was not my first mission."

"Yeah, but it was the first one that you were in danger in, and from what I've heard you handled it well."

He shrugged, and Jenna sighed. "How's Tyler holding up?"

"Not well at all."

Jenna grimaced. "Well, I guess that's expected, really."

"I guess."

He'd found Tyler a few doors down from where he'd been kept, kneeling over his Uncle's dead body. Tyler hadn't cried or screamed. He'd just been strangely silent the whole ride home, clutching the note Mason had with him in his hand that he wouldn't let anyone read.

When they had returned to base, Tyler had been sent to meet Jules and Silas at his office, and when Tyler had come out, he had told Jeremy that the Lockwoods were blacklisted. They'd been forced back to the bottom of the totem pole of the organization. They both knew that the consequences could have been a lot worse, but Tyler had still excused himself to be alone for a while, which Jeremy understood.

"I'll text him later after we've both gotten some sleep."

Jenna nodded. "Yeah, that sounds like a plan. I know you must want to get to bed, but I was hoping that you wouldn't mind staying with us for the night. I can make up your old room…?"

Jeremy nodded, fighting down a slight smile.

XXX

Tyler,

Your parents would have been incredibly proud of you if they were still alive. Carol and my brother loved you very much, and they were taken much too soon.

They would be less than impressed with me, however. I am a coward, and I have paid the price for it. They gave me the responsibility of raising you should they pass, and I've been a shit role model. The only favor I can do to myself is to end my life quickly and painlessly, since the execution that Silas would order for me would be neither.

You're hardly an adult and you're already a better man than I.

I don't have much else to say, except that I don't want you to fester on this. I am not so self-centered as to think that you'll let my bad decisions influence your life, and I hope that you know that.

The Lockwood name will be blacklisted for this, but I know that you will make an excellent Gilbert (or addition to any other family, should it not work out with Jeremy).

I love you, kiddo.

XXX

"I'll have to keep you here until it heals," Bonnie said, trying to keep her voice from shaking as she put the needle down on the tray.

"Of course, Darling."

She gave Kol a watery smile and ran her hand gently through his hair, her eyes still glued to the large wound in his abdomen.

"What's wrong? I'm all right," Kol said, frowning slightly as Bonnie started crying.

"Yeah, but what if I hadn't finished the serum in time? You'd be dead."

"But you did finish the serum," Kol reminded her gently.

"But–"

"Bonnie. Stop fretting, please. I'm alive, healthy, and in love with you. What more could you want?" he asked teasingly, giving her a charming smile.

She hiccuped out a laugh, rolling her eyes and sinking down in the chair next to him, holding his hand.

"Bonnie?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm hungry."

She huffed. "Of course you are."

"Like, really hungry."

She nodded. "That's completely normal. Your body is using a lot of energy to heal your wounds as quickly as the serum allows. I really should have called for food as soon as you woke up. What do you feel like?"

"I could go for a steak right about now. A big one. With wine glaze and scalloped potatoes and broccolini, and–"

"I'll call Stefan," she interrupted, pulling out her phone.

XXX

Stefan huffed as he put away his phone without answering the text, cuddling a very naked Rebekah against his chest. "Can you please tell me when I became the on-demand chef for the entire base?"

She laughed. "Just say no."

"But Kol's sick."

"Then you'll be the on-demand chef for the entire base as long as you keep letting it happen."

He snorted. "Yeah, I guess. After this I'll be done with it."

Rebekah opened her mouth and then shut it again, apparently deciding not to comment on the promise they both knew he wouldn't follow through on.

Stefan took a deep breath, knowing that he had to ask her the question sooner rather than later, and inwardly preparing for the rejection. "So, Silas is thinking about transferring me to Italy."

Rebekah snorted. "Yes, Caroline told me. And I think she's right and it's a load of bull, just so you're aware. Unless you've talked to him and he said–"

"I did."

Rebekah's mouth snapped shut. "Did you?"

Stefan nodded. "Yeah. He's not sure yet, obviously, especially since he doesn't really want to break up Klaus and me, and we both know that Klaus would refuse to leave if Caroline couldn't come, and she wouldn't want to leave without April, and Silas would have to accommodate that because Klaus would probably use a 'Caroline-is-happy-or-I'm-not-doing-it' ultimatum, and then that would just turn into the entire base moving to Italy."

Rebekah nodded slowly. "So it's not set in stone."

"No, it's not. But I'm having Caroline work on Klaus not throwing a fit at us moving in together. That is, you know, if you want to."

"So basically, you're asking me to move in with you just in case Silas decides to transfer you to Italy, in which case you'd want me to come with you there?"

"Just about, yeah."

Rebekah was silent for a moment before she sighed. "Let me think about it."

Stefan nodded.

"Fair enough."

XXX

It was well after sunrise when they'd finally made it back to base, and Caroline felt like she could sleep forever. She wasn't quite sure when she'd started sleeping at Klaus and Stefan's house more often than not, but there she was, watching Klaus rinse off his toothbrush and set it back next to the sink, moving sluggishly.

"So, now that Mikael's gone-" She began as he came back to the bed.

"Caroline, love, can we talk about this later?"

Under normal circumstances, she would have assumed he was just putting it off, but she suddenly realized just how tired he looked.

"Yeah. Of course."

She slid under the covers, and cuddled into him when he did the same. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"Finding me."

"Always."

They were silent for a moment while Caroline decided how to word what she was about to say.

"I need a favor," she said, deciding to keep it casual enough that he could laugh it off if he didn't want to do it.

"Yes, love?"

"Can I borrow a house key? Indefinitely?"

He laughed quietly. "Funnily enough, I was going to offer you one tomorrow, though I would have used the word 'have' rather than 'borrow'."

"I'll agree, but I have a few conditions."

"When did this become me asking you?" Klaus asked, his lips twitching in amusement.

She just smirked. "I want the whole closet."

"Done."

"And you have to do dishes."

He grimaced. "Fine."

"And you will be completely okay with Stefan moving out to live with Rebekah, or at least act like it."

He glared at her. She just smirked at him, knowing she'd won.

"Agreed."

"Good."

He pulled her closer, burying his nose in her hair.

"Klaus?"

"Yes, love?"

"I love you."

She felt him stiffen next to her for a good ten seconds before he relaxed against her, his body molded tightly to hers.

"As I, you, Caroline."

Almost six months later...

January 5th, 2014

"Happy Birthday, Klaus," Caroline mumbled into Klaus's neck as she slumped against him, pleasantly sore already from their morning.

"Thank you, love."

"I still haven't forgiven you for not telling me your birthday last year when we were together during it."

He chuckled quietly. "It wasn't important."

She glared at him, though she knew that he couldn't see it, and sighed. "Yeah, well, I organized a party for you."

"Of course you did," he mumbled, shifting out from under her to lie on his side, with her pulled against him.

"It'll be fun," she said happily.

"When is it?"

"Tonight."

XXX

Caroline giggled at Elena's joke, the other girl holding Nadia against her shoulder. She didn't think that Elena had stopped smiling in the past month or so, and it was nice to see the other girl so happy.

Damon was leaving for his first mission after Nadia had been born the next week, and Caroline knew that Elena must be nervous, though the other girl was good at not showing it.

Stefan was still waiting anxiously to see whether he'd be transferred to Italy, and Rebekah was still pretending that it wasn't happening. April had been keeping an eye on Stefan as much as possible, trying to keep him from spiraling, and Matt would just watch her fuss, a small smile on his face.

Katerina and Elijah were getting married in less than a month, and everyone could tell that they were both over the moon (or as over the moon as Elijah allowed himself to be in public).

Kol and Bonnie were on the other side of the room glued to the television, both with their fingers flying over the XBox controllers, Jeremy and Tyler playfully fighting about who would play the winner.

And Klaus just sat beside her, his arm around her waist possessively, ignoring the fact that the party was for him, and let his thumb stroke her waist, as though just to reassure himself that she was there.

Caroline hadn't been on a field mission since the one that she'd gotten injured on, although she'd been cleared by everyone with the authority to clear her.

She frankly felt that she'd had enough killing and maiming for one lifetime, thank you very much, and was perfectly content to let Klaus handle all of it.

Not that she was just sitting at home. After a long conversation with Silas about options, she'd seriously considered what she'd wanted in life pre-Travelers, and had come to the conclusion that though she couldn't earn her degree in international relations (and save the world), she was still a people person.

Silas might run the organization, and Elijah and Elena might handle the contracts and liaise with clients, but Elijah had once off-handedly commented that he didn't know how they'd survived without her as a recruiting agent before.

She tracked down people that had potential and convinced them to join, and her recruits so far had some of the highest training scores for the past few years.

She was good at her job.

And it didn't even require killing people.

A/N: And that's a wrap. Thank you so much for all your reviews, follows, and favorites. This was a blast to write, and I am so happy you guys enjoyed it. If you haven't checked out my other stories, I hope you do, and I hope that you enjoy them ;)

The sequel to this fic, The Road Less Traveled, should be out soon-ish. I'm working on some other stuff right now, but I hope to put it out as soon as I can. It will pick up almost as soon as the end of the mini-epilogue, so around mid-January of 2014. It's only very roughly outlined right now, so please feel free to give me ideas (though I can't guarantee I'll use them all). There are a lot of unresolved hints that I dropped and sub-plots that I left open-ended, and that's for a reason (which is that they'll be picked up in the next fic). An example of this is baby Nadia.

You can, as always, follow me on tumblr at thetourguidebarbie, polyvore at zarialk, and twitter at AngieWritesKC.
Thank you so much to wondygal, justanotherfiveminutes, and CKHybrid for being fabulous and beta-ing the story at various points. You all are the most amazing people ever.

Please, PLEASE, let me know your thoughts. I depend on your reviews to know whether you guys liked the story and how my writing can get better. I am so much looking forward to any and all feedback you guys are willing to give me.
All the hugs!
-Angie