A/N – So, what is this? Well this is an alternative ending to The Cold Trail. I'll have you know I was tempted to have this as the actual ending, but I thought you'd all burn me at the stake, so this is the alternative ending. I leave it up to you guys to decide which ending you want to think of the real one. Or you can have both.

I wrote this for Caryn, (Gendryaslove – Tumblr and mytraitorousheart - FF). It is her birthday today, and this is my (awful) birthday gift to her. I hope you like it girl, you're one of my closest friends I have, and I love you!

Klaus felt like he'd been running for ages, his thighs screaming in protest as he took the stairs two at a time and his chest heaving with every labored breath. But he pushed the pain, or fear away. Only one aim in sight; getting to Caroline before she ran out of air, and hoping and praying that she hadn't already run out of air. He burst through the door in a blur, the first thing he saw when he walked out was Katherine's face staring back at him.

He tried to run past her, pushing against her when she placed her hands on his shoulders to stop his mad dash. "Caroline," he muttered breathlessly, trying to catch his so he could frame a sentence, "He buried her..."

"Klaus, listen to me.." Katherine said, in an all too calm voice that terrified him.

"She's here somewhere..." he spoke over her, still trying to move past her but she wasn't letting him.

"Klaus, look."

"I have to find her," he stated frantically, looking right at Katherine with such pain and vulnerability in his eyes that it made her give him a small sad smile.

"Klaus," she said again, with the same infuriating smile, "Klaus look. Look."

So he looked. Right in front of him, merely 10 feet away, Caroline sat in the backseat of his SUV, disheveled and battered, but alive. Very much alive. Dexter stood next to her, helping her with the oxygen mask. She was alive, right here, within walk-able distance. He'd found her. Relief flooded through him, a surge of reprieve settling into his bones, rendering him utterly and thoroughly exhausted. He was so tired. Every limb ached, screamed and protested against all the abuse he had put them through in the past few days.

But he didn't care, because along with the relief came pure, unadulterated joy. He could breathe easy now, he could stop. He'd readily lay down and let death take him with a smile on his face, if the last thought he'd have was the knowledge that she was alive. But then fear gripped him, his tired and overworked mind going into overdrive, prodding him to think that his life wasn't easy, that his head was playing tricks on him. Involuntarily, his left hand came up to pinch his right palm.

A soft chuckle broke him out of his trance, leaning closer to him, Katherine whispered, "It's not a dream."

And then he was walking, or running, or flying, he couldn't tell you which. If it wasn't a dream, then he had to know, he had to touch her, let his rough fingers graze against her soft cheek, to know, know with surety that he wasn't just losing his mind. He'd been here before; dreams of almost finding her, dreams of almost having her had plagued him far too many times. He was a cynic now, only when he'd feel her, he'd believe it.

She looked at him, her eyes widening and softening at the same time, as she removed the oxygen mask and spoke in a croaky voice, "Klaus, hi." It was the lamest thing anything could ever say at such a point, but right now the one small 'hi' from her felt like an undying declaration of love signed in blood and witnessed by the gods themselves. Dexter moved aside almost instantly, almost anticipating what was to come.

Klaus didn't say a word, didn't reply to her casual greeting, but in a flash of a second she was completely obscured from view. Klaus wasn't really a hugger, but right now he was holding onto Caroline like she was the only thing keeping him bound to earth. She fit perfectly in his arms, like she'd been made just for the purpose to fit into him. She softly laughed into his shoulder, bringing a hand up to sift through his unruly hair and that only made him hold her tighter. He wasn't a man of words, and he wasn't about to start now. But he made up in gestures what he couldn't put into words. And his intentions were pretty clear; he was never letting her go again.

He's woken by the sounds of a blaring alarm, its monotonous ring rousing him from his hazy dream. The crisp, white sheets fall off his body as he pushes himself up with his elbows, his lean body dangling half off the cot and half in as works to get to his feet. His chest tightens instinctively, his eyes close in pain; somewhere out there, even above the loud morning alarm, he can hear a man screaming. Loud, painful screams are reverberating in his ear, and he can feel that person's pain, he can feel how the screams erupt from the soul, the raw hurt and agony filtering through the man's screams.

He knows what is to come next, and hopes it happens fast. It's getting harder to listen to the man scream. It isn't uncommon to hear such wailing in the Sacred Heart Mental Asylum, it was almost a common recurrence, but that didn't make it any less sad. He feels his knees give out, his chest gets tighter and tighter as the screams get louder, now aided with the sound of loud banging and incoherent words. He waits for what he knows will come soon, and just as he feels a prick in the back of his neck, and two pairs of strong hands grasp him, darkness envelopes his thoughts, and finally, finally, the screams stop.

It's only when he collapses to the ground from the sedative that Klaus realizes; he was the one screaming.

This time when he wakes, his limbs ache, his head throbs and his tongue carries the bitter aftertaste of the sedative. The white, crisp sheets falls off him as he sits up on his bed, his hands resting on the thin cotton material of his shorts as he attempts to get to his feet.

Tap tap tap. An incessant tapping catches his attention as he stumbles to his feet, making to follow the noise. The white walls of his room spin with every step he takes. His vision blurs, his head screaming in protest, but he can make out figures outside the glass window of his room. With every step forward, his head aches but his vision improves, until he can make out the face of his stern yet warm nurse tapping her knuckles from the outside of the glass window. He thinks he knows her name, he should know her name, she's been his nurse for so long. But he can't place it, he knows she's old, he knows she'll be retiring in a few years; he knows she's Mexican, he knows she has two sons and one daughter, but her name evades him.

Next to her stands a tall, thin woman. Her brown, curls shorter than he remembers, but her chocolate brown eyes the familiar mixture of pity and warmth. A man much taller than her comes into view, his sandy brown hair tussled up as he folds his arms over his light pink shirt. As Klaus wobbles to the window, he recollects the words his doctor imprinted into his head.

These are your friends, Klaus. These are my friends. Dexter is your oldest friend, Klaus. Dexter is my oldest friend. Dexter is one of your only friends, Klaus. Dexter is one of my only friends. Katherine is also your friend, Klaus. Katherine is also my friend. You do not hurt your friends, Klaus. I do not hurt my friends.

Katherine takes a step ahead, walking up to the glass and placing her hand on the glass. She looks like she's going to cry, her brown eyes shining in the dim light of the corridor as he reaches the glass partition as well. Instinctively, he smoothes his hand over his plain, cotton t-shirt. Do I look so pathetic? He wonders as he watches her give him a small, sad smile.

He knows what to do next; it's like reflex by now. Like he has every week for the past 5 years, Klaus places his palm against the glass, fitting it against her outstretched palm. She tilts her head at him, smiling a little more widely and mouths 'Hello'. Blinking for a few seconds, he does his best to attempt a smile in response. She knows it's forced, just like he does. For she's a mirror of reality to him; of what occurred and cannot be revoked. No matter how much they hoped it could.

But he tried and tried and tried. And he still tries and tries and tries. The knowledge of its irrevocable status is what brought him here, and is what will keep him here.

There's a standing instruction to every employee of Sacred Heart Mental Asylum. Patient number 137, one Niklaus Mikaelson; shall never have a blonde nurse, doctor or handler. The hospital learnt this on the first day they housed the patient. He started out as a voluntary inpatient; convinced by his closest friends and confidant that he needed to get help. His 72 hours evaluation period began with a simple medical check-up to be conducted by a nurse.

Her name was Nora; she was 42 years old, married for 20 years with 3 children.

They found her smothered to death in his arms. His vice like grip leaving her no space to breathe. Overpowered by his delusion he had believed her to be someone else.

It was only after they heard his story, they realized that in his delusion, he hadn't been trying to kill her; he had been trying to save her.

His vision is hazy, black spots dancing in his sight and his head spinning with the extra mild dose of sedative they gave him. Katherine sits in front of him, her back straight, her hands delicately folded in her lap, and a constant small smile present on her face. Dexter leans against the wall of the visiting room, his arms crossed against his chest and uneasiness evident on his face. He is as awkward in social situations as Klaus is, one of the first reasons they became friends. He sees Katherine turn to look at Dexter tentatively, her eyes wide and confused, and when Dexter slowly nods as if in approval, Klaus wonders how their relationship has grown over the years. He wonders how the tides have changed, Dexter used to be his friend, Katherine used to be his acquaintance. Now even without him present, they have managed to become a lot more to each other than he ever anticipated. He wonders if he should feel bitter, but he finds that he feels nothing.

"How are you?" Katherine question catches him unaware, his eyes squinting in the bright light of the room and his ears drumming. He shifts in his chair, the metal restraints on his hands clinking together as he sit himself straight, to face Katherine. They call them precautionary measures, not handcuffs, even shape them differently. You are not prisoners, they tell them, these are not handcuffs, they tell them, they are just restraints, they tell them, to protect you and others, they tell him. And yet, it doesn't stop him from feeling like a criminal, feeling like he did something wrong.

"I've been better," he manages to croak out. His voice is throaty and strained, probably because he hasn't said a word in three weeks. His doctors tried to force the medicines on him, he fought them off, but he didn't forget. He refused to speak to anyone, like a child, he sat dumbly and gave scornful looks, but refused to utter a word, even when Katherine and Dexter came to visit.

Katherine laughs softly at his response, turning to raise her brows at Dexter, and Klaus wonders just how crazy they think he is, if they think he can't notice their secret silent language.

"It's Tuesday," Klaus mutters, remembering the marks he had made next to his bed.

"Yes," Dexter nods, as if all Klaus wanted for a confirmation of the day.

"It's Tuesday," Klaus repeats, "Not a Thursday. Why are you here? You only come on Thursdays."

Now Katherine looks positively panicky, shifting uncomfortably in her chair as she glances at Dexter who only shrugs his shoulders. "I have to tell you something," Katherine says hastily, her voice getting more excited as she continues, "I got promoted at work. Finn says in two more years, I could be running missing persons."

"That's great," Klaus responds, his voice uncaring and unrelenting. He cocks his head towards Dexter and adds, "Did you get promoted too?"

"I'm the blood guy," Dexter states blatantly, "There is nothing to be promoted to."

And it's in moments like that, that Klaus thinks he really misses his friend.

"Your doctor called us," Katherine finally relents, fidgeting nervously with her hands, "He says you've been refusing your meds."

"I don't want them."

"You might not want them, but you need them." Katherine says pleadingly, and Klaus stares at her, her face clearly telling him that he should be find reason in her words and agree accordingly, but he doesn't. Instead he goes on a tangent he does every Thursday.

"I had a dream." He says, his head jerks when Dexter lets out a loud sigh and hangs his head in defeat. "I found Caroline," Klaus adds, his voice getting dreamier with every word, "She wa-is alive, I found her. I have to find her."

"Klaus, stop it..." Katherine warns, looking down at him with stern eyes.

"Di-did you speak to Kol," Klaus demands, beating his palm against the other in haste and tapping his foot incessantly, "You have to... you have to speak to him. He will know where Caroline is..."

"Klaus, don't..."

"I can't... you have to find her, you have to get to her."

"Klaus enough!" Katherine screams, banging her fists onto the table, and instantly Dexter moves ahead, his wide eyes trained on Klaus as if afraid he was going to get violent. But Klaus practically shrinks at Katherine's outburst, something in her voice, her face scares him, renders him completely blank as he stares at her.

"You are not crazy," she hisses, making motions around her head with her hands, "All these people think they know you, but they don't know you as well as me and Dex. They think you're in here because of your delusion. Because you still think Caroline is alive." Klaus blinks at her, his whole body twitching as his lifeless eyes stare back at her incensed ones.

"You're in here because you know Caroline is dead. You can live with the delusion Klaus, you can't live with the truth." Katherine declares. "You're not crazy Klaus, you're just broken."

"No, no, no," Klaus repeats pathetically, like he's begging Katherine to believe him, he brings his hands to his ears, placing his palms over his ears and thoroughly shaking his head in adamance."You believe me... you-you always believed me. You have to find her, please."

Katherine sits motionless for a second, her eyes pooling with tears, until she slowly leans forward and whispers in a bitter voice, "I found her Klaus. Should I remind you of that day? Because I found her Klaus, I found Caroline."

"Katherine don't," Dexter admonishes, walking up to her and placing a hand on her shoulder, but she shrugs it off, her face fiercely set and her eyes crazed as she continues speaking.

"You came running out of that fucking dungeon, panic plastered on your face when you realized Caroline was buried. You tried to get past me, Klaus, remember..."

His lungs burned, his thighs screamed and his heart sunk to his stomach, as he desperately tried to get past Katherine, struggling against her weaker grip, as if he knew what was to come, but he was unable to make it past her as she kept telling him to look. Look, Klaus, look.

"I told you to look."

So he looked. He looked, and looked, and looked, until his vision was obscured by his tears and all he heard was the blood-curling scream that left his lips.

"We dug her out; Dex and me, but she was already dead. She had been dead a long time. I wanted to hide somewhere and cry, but I couldn't, I had to tell you first."

His eyes scanned across trees and blue sky until they landed on a figure sitting on the ground, his khaki pants ruined by the mud and his head buried in his hands, his shoulders shaking. Next to him, lay a body; her hands tied by ropes, one of her leg twisted below the other, her eyes open, remnants of her tears lingering on her cheek. Even in death, his Caroline was beautiful.

"You started walking towards her, and I thought you were going to pass out then and there."

His body felt numb, his limbs yearning to be relieved of the pain, his head aching to be relieved of the pain, his heart begging to be relieved of life. He heard the sound of sirens in the background as he neared the body. It was when he noticed her face, that he broke down. She had died in mid-scream.

"You fell to your knees."

He felt his knees hit the ground, pain searing through them, but he paid no heed. His hands reached for her; she was so cold in his arms, so small, so light, like she hadn't even been there to begin with. Just a cold, lifeless body left of the woman she used to be.

"You screamed and you screamed and you screamed. Until today, those screams haunt me. You held her to you, so tight, so close; it was like you were trying to give your life to hers."

"Katherine stop!" Dexter pleads, squeezing her shoulder when she wipes the tears off her face. Klaus sits with his head in his hands, adamantly shaking his head, muttering under his breath. She wants to comfort him, she wants to reach across the table and hold his hand, to tell him that she knows he hurts, that she knows he lost everything on that day, but that he still has a life, that he can still have a life, if only he works to it.

"You're not delusional, Klaus," she says, slightly jerking back in her chair, when he looks up from his hands and glares at her, "You know she's dead, and you can't deal with it. It's easier to live in your delusion that in reality."

"So?" Klaus sneers, arguing back at her, spittle flying from his mouth and banging his fists on the table.

"You need to take your meds," Dexter says, bending forward on the table, trying to make eye-contact but Klaus keeps looking down at his hands.

"Your dreams fuel your delusion Klaus, they're the reason you're here to begin with." Katherine tries to reason, trying desperately to get him to look at her, "They trigger your erratic violent episodes. These medicines stop them."

"Your doctors want me to enforce my rights as your guardian, Nik," Dexter says with a loud sigh, "They want me to sign off on allowing them to force feed you the meds."

"Don't," Klaus begs, his voice low and pleading, his hands folding in front of his face as he turns to look at Dexter, "Please, please don't... don't do it. Don't let them take her away."

Dexter sighs and closes his eyes in defeat, and yet nods solemnly, resigned to his promise of not forcing anything on Klaus he didn't want. But Katherine makes an indignant noise, looking from Dexter to Klaus before saying, "Don't you get it Klaus? You won't ever get out of here if you don't take the meds, if you don't even make an effort to get better."

"Don't you get it?" Klaus snarls, pushing forward in chair, his face menacing, his eyes blazing with unbridled fury and his hands shaking with the urge to hit something, "I am never getting out of here. I am going to die in the painfully white walls of my room."

"This is where I end." He adds in conclusion, like it's an irrefutable fact, as unambiguous as the earth revolving around the sun.

"I know you think your life is over," Katherine pleads, inching her hands to move over his, but Dexter catches them and warningly shakes his head at her, "But it isn't. You can still have a life, once you get out..."

"Caroline will still be dead if I get out." Klaus brashly says.

"Caroline is still dead with you in here," Katherine spits back.

"No, no." Klaus says, his eyes unfocused and his voice suddenly gaining an excited tinge, "Out there," he tilts his head indicatively, "Out there, it's real. Its-its..." he searches in vain for the perfect word, like that one word would convince them of his views. Finally, he closes his eyes and says, "Out there it's finite. In here, I can pretend. In here I can dream."

"I need to dream," he says, with a small dark laugh as he moves forward in his chair and brings his hands up to his temple, tapping his forefinger to the sides of his temple he says, "In my dreams I can see her again. I can... I can re-write the story. In my dreams I can change the ending."

He tilts his head, looking at his two friends pityingly, his only friends, as Katherine softly cries and Dexter swings a hand over her shoulder. He pities them, hopes they didn't have such faith in him, such hopes that'd he'd ever be normal again after Caroline's death. He hopes that one day they understand, just like he understood, that without Caroline he is nothing. Just a shell of a body who once housed a man.

A smile forms on his face, as he leans forward, gingerly placing his hands over Katherine's and Dexter's joint ones, as he says

"In my dreams, I can be her falcon."

No format here, I just want to know what you thought of it, and which ending you liked better!