Change

Caroline thrummed her fingers rapidly on her bare thighs to the rhythm of her flipping stomach as she leaned against the brick alley wall of the local Mystic Falls Grill. Her stomach was twirling in butterflies in nervousness and anxiety over what she was about to do.

Once again, her friends needed her to be the great distraction so they could slip something by Klaus unnoticed.

It just so happened this "something" they were currently taking from under his nose was Elena, her vampire turned best friend gone psycho after she killed Connor, a creepy vampire hunter who was out to get them not too long ago.

She checked her phone for the millionth time in the past five minutes for some sort of encouraging message from her boyfriend Tyler but her inbox was (of course) empty.

Caroline hated being the distraction. It put her in the hybrid's line of fire every time. Not once has anything she done held his attention long enough that actually kept him from continuing on with his evil villain to-do list, and he more often than not ran away from her in an angry storm of murder and blood thirst.

But tonight, she needed him occupied long enough for Tyler and Stefan to get Elena out and safe.

Thus, explaining her bare legs in the middle of December.

When Tyler told her to scurry out of his house and direct Klaus' attention elsewhere, she threw on her skimpiest, most sexually appealing outfit she could find in her closet.

Her unused "adds 3 cup sizes!" bra from the only lingerie store in the Mystic Mall came out of its hidden alcove tonight and her breasts were clad in oversized pillows of cotton, cushion and wiry support.

My boobs look fantastic, he won't know what hit 'em, she thought to herself as she gave her breasts a slight shimmy, causing them to jiggle in place for a few seconds. Her look tonight eased her worrying thoughts over how exactly she'll approach the hybrid's attention, preying on his sexual interest in her would obviously do the trick tonight.

She felt dirty.

The high moon shone brightly overhead, reflecting off her brightly painted red toe nails peeking out of her strappy black platform heels as she listened in to the bartender take Klaus' drink order.

That's my cue, she internally encouraged as she casually made her way to the front of the grill and over to Klaus.

"The place looks pretty good considering your hybrid got blown up in it," she quipped, unable to stop the haughty words from tumbling out of her mouth.

She gave herself kudos for the added sultriness of her voice.

Klaus turned around at the sound of her arrival and watched in rapt fascination as she slowly shrugged out of her jacket, she fought to contain a smirk as she watched him eye her chest. The deep plunging neckline of her black silk romper exposed her cleavage, wiggling beneath the fabrics with every movement she made out of her leather jacket.

Her inner insecurity reveled in his fascination, but another part, a more shy part of her, wondered what her appeal was to the powerful man. She was plain compared to the exotic appearances of Elena or even Bonnie.

"Caroline." Klaus finally hummed, "to what do I owe the pleasure?"

She smiled in faux coyness, further pushing her breasts together as she leaned in next to him to whisper, "I want you to give Elena back."

"Ahh. They sent you to sweet talk me. Well," he paused, trailing a line of fire as his eyes wondered from her hairline all the way down to her toes, "good form, but I'm afraid I'd have to deny."

She clenched her stomach muscle, momentarily dropping the charades. Of course he would see through her sleazy act.

"Why not?" she demanded.

"She needs my help."

She scoffed at his response.

"Look, I'm not going to burden you with the gory details but you've got enough on your plate already." He smirked, implying something between the lines as he smiled innocently up at her.

She narrowed her eyes at his attempt at benevolence, forgetting that she actually still was in a relationship with Tyler and the fake break-up was just a ruse she had to keep around Klaus for the time being.

"My failed relationship is none of your business actually." She snapped.

She flagged down the bartender for a much needed drink. Klaus remained silent next to her but judging by the goose bumps and little hairs standing at end on her arm, he was still watching her every movements.

"Stop staring at me." She hissed, elbowing him in the shoulder as she leaned over to give the bartender her order. "I'll have whatever he's having," she nodded her head in Klaus' direction.

As the bartender poured her a glass of Pinot Noir (of course he would order the most expensive bottle the Grill's bar has to offer) Klaus leaned in to stick his nose, quite literally, into her meticulously curled hair.

"Then why dress so provocatively if not to entice me, love?" he murmured into her ear. She could feel the heat radiating from his face as it hovered near her temple, the shivers rolling down her spine had nothing to do with the cold winter air.

She rolled her eyes, taking a sip of the deep red liquor as she plopped down on the barstool next to his. She watched Klaus slither back into his seat, eyes never leaving hers as his infuriatingly smug smirk lit up his face beneath the bar's dimmed lights.

There was a moment of companionable silence before Klaus broke it. "Just know that if Tyler were still sired to me, he never would have hurt you."

She turned her head to stare at him, confusion painted on her face clear as day as she looked at Klaus, as if staring at him long and hard enough would unravel the secrets he kept behind his serious gaze.

"I wouldn't have let him." He finished, his dark blue eyes boring into hers as if to drive some sort of point home.

The anxiety, the anticipation, the restlessness she had felt before over her aversion to being 'the distraction' fled her mind and uneasy stomach as she stayed locked in a stare match with him. She rested her heeled feet on the metal bar underneath Klaus' seat, her ankles crossed between his stretched out legs as they unknowingly leaned closer to one another.

To a random passerby, they would have looked like a young couple, flourishing in the mystery and allure of their lust.

She stiffened and sat back quickly, bringing her legs back to her own chair as she quickly crossed them away from him.

Klaus seemed unperturbed by her sudden retreat, probably accustomed to it by now. She sneaked a peek at him from behind her curtain of hair and frowned in confusion as she watched him smile to himself happily, he might have been just as surprised as she was at the position they were unknowingly in.

A vibration from her cell in her jacket pocket reminded her of her mission and why she was there in the first place.

She unlocked the text, keeping sure Klaus couldn't see the screen.

From: Stefan

- I lost Elena.

- I need a vampire to kill. I'll turn someone if I have to.

- Get an answer. Now.

Caroline shakily put away her phone, wary about what she was about to do. She looked up, surprised Klaus was already watching her, an expectant smile on his face.

She knew better than to assume he was actually relaxed. His hardened eyes told a different story.

So much for keeping him distracted, she thought, wincing at what she was about to do.

She clicked her tongue and sighed, "so here's the thing…" she began, smiling brightly at him, hoping it would ease his imminent wrath. "I didn't just come here to try to get you to release Elena."

"You don't say." The relaxed smile freezing on his face as he watched her with wide expectant eyes.

"I came here to distract you so that Stefan could gotoyourhouseandbreakherout… which he did…" she grimaced as she watched him swallow, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down as s hurt frown crossed his features. "And don't get mad…but then… he… lost… her…"

Klaus flew up, his seat screeching behind him with the sudden movement. Caroline ran behind him, grabbing her things as they exited the Grill at supersonic speed, "Klaus!" she called after him, already halfway into the thick of the woods.

"Caroline, you're beautiful, but if you don't stop talking I will kill you." He turned back around to the direction of his mansion but her arm shot out, stopping him.

Immediately, she knew it was the wrong thing to do because she found herself face first into the tree next to her, Klaus pressed firmly along the length of her back. Her hair was being swept into her face as his slow breath brought the loose fringe to blow gently against the movements. "Caroline, give me one good reason–"

"They figured out how to stop the hallucinations." She gasped as he twirled her around quickly, slamming her, albeit it gently, against the same tree trunk.

"Okay. You have ten seconds to tell me." He ordered gently. His dark blue eyes stormed over in the darkness as flecks of gold and black simmered out from his soul to the surface.

She struggled to find words as his constricting grip on her upper arms stressed the danger she was currently in.

"10… 9… 8…"

"I don't exactly know…" she mumbled honestly. Klaus' eyes were now almost vibrating in his quick anger, "but Stefan said something about needing a vampire to kill! He knows what to do!" she rushed out before he could do something he might regret.

"Great. We can use you and rid my life of your deceptive ways." He picked her up and the world swirled around her, faster than she could ever attempt at going the trees blurred by her in indistinguishable flashes of morphed browns and greens. Before she knew it, she was standing in the middle of a room in his mansion.

Elena's scent was heavy in the air. This must have been where he was keeping her "safe," she thought to herself as she took in the various artworks, marble statues and neatly made bed.

One statue in particular stood out from the rest, but she ignored her curiosity as she caught sight of Stefan, standing with his back to them in front of an empty fireplace. "Jeremy's on his way."

Klaus remained silent, regarding Stefan as he kept Caroline in his clutches.

She noted the way Klaus was standing. Defensive and ready to attack.

She shook off the feeling of regret and shrugged out of his grip, Stefan's words distraction enough to get him to loosen his hold on her.

"Why, pray tell, is the Gilbert boy coming here?" Klaus demanded, stepping forward to attack if need be.

"Because he's a potential hunter." Stefan supplied, finally turning around. His curious eyes met hers and she nodded at his silent question. I'm fine, she thought, sending him a small reassuring smile. "Jeremy needs to kill a vampire in order to activate his hunter's instinct. Once it's activated, Elena will be released from Connor's curse."

"And you need a vampire for him to kill." He narrowed his gaze. "Fine. Take your pick, there's a whole town filled with people to choose from."

She turned to Klaus, wondering why he wasn't serving her up on a silver platter for Jeremy to take like he was so ready to do before.

"You can't do that." She interrupted as Stefan was about to agree with him. "There are innocent people here, you can't just–"

"There's no time, Caroline, Elena has a foot in death's door and we can't just hunt down some hard cold criminal at this time. We need someone fast. Jeremy's on his way to the grill. Don't worry, Caroline" he tried to reassure, "I'll make sure it's not a complete innocent." Stefan said as he ran out of the house without another word. She turned to run after him, but Klaus' arm shot out to stop her.

"I rather like his plan." Klaus smirked down at her.

She gasped as suddenly a new, better, plan began forming in her mind so fast she had no time to ponder the ramifications of it. "Use Chris!"

Klaus raised a brow at the familiar name. "My hybrid?"

She hesitated, before throwing all caution to the wind. "You can use Chris! I mean he was the one to lose Elena… he's obviously not following orders correctly. Besides…we both know he's not innocent. Isn't it better killing someone to free them of your evil clutches forever than ha–"

"Tread carefully, love, you're still in rocky waters with me." He growled, insulted by her insinuation of killing his hybrid to free him from his 'evil clutches.'

"I heard he was leaving town tonight," she supplied, silently hoping the angels in Heaven had a soft spot for a pretty conniving blonde cheerleader like herself.

She wouldn't fit in in Hell.

She was desperate for him to cooperate with her strategy. She slowly backed away from him, fully expecting a major hybrid freak show to ensue from his wrath at her insinuations.

"That's unfortunate." He murmured, stepping towards her like a cat towards a fearful mouse.

"Okay then, I'll beg then!" she clasped her hands together and rushed towards him. "Please, Klaus. Please. Please don't let Stefan turn an innocent person, damn it! Please!" She whispered. Her first and only attempt at formulating a new plan of action backfired completely and she was in even hotter water with him than ever before.

He remained silent as he regarded her carefully, watching her red lips pout together. She was well aware with the way her hands were clasped, that her upper arms were pushing her breasts together.

Caroline hoped now than ever before that Klaus was forgetting that he was a first class gentleman and let his male hormones run wild.

"Go out with me." He supplied suddenly.

Her nervous trembling immediately stopped as her brows flew into her hairline in disbelief.

"Excuse me?" she snapped, unable to completely hide her shock and revulsion at the idea of going on a date with him.

"What could it hurt? Jeremy can have my hybrid, you get to keep a guilt free conscious, and I am finally permitted my long overdue chance to show you a small fraction of what this world has to offer you."

Caroline stared at him with wide eyes, a small bubble of laughter escaped her mouth and she soon couldn't stop the hysterics from bursting through.

Judging by Klaus' irritated frown, he was not as amused. She took a minute to actually think about what he had just said. If she went on this date… he might keep up the ruse that she was indeed broken up with Tyler and that he and Hayley had moved on…

But… "Not a chance." She said finally once she composed herself.

Klaus gave her a cool smile in response. "Quite alright. I'm sure Stefan's already found a–"

"I hate you." She spat, taking his hand and shaking it in agreement before he would change his mind. She watched in a mixture of relief and dread as he brought his cellphone to his ear and relayed the new plans to Stefan.

She didn't even notice he didn't bother to let go of her hand.

She stood at the edge of the Lockwood property, shuffling her feet on the mossy ground. If she had a working heartbeat, it would be shuddering in regret at the sound of the happy goodbyes between Tyler, Chris, and Hayley from inside the house. They had no idea one of them was going to die.

Klaus stood next to her, waiting for an opportune moment to show up at the doorstep. Stefan was not far off, giving Jeremy an encouraging pep talk on how to kill Chris correctly.

"After Klaus' signal, I'll stake Chris. Klaus will make sure Tyler and Hayley back off long enough so you can use this to take his heart out. Got it?" Stefan relayed as Jeremy nodded back uncertainly as he took a small axe from Stefan's outstretched hands.

She fought off lingering apprehension at the situation she was in, she had spared an innocent human's life, only to lead Chris to the slaughter.

Tyler's front door opened, golden light illuminating the dark front lawn, and Klaus used it as his cue to flash to the doorway.

She began to hear arguments, screaming and trashing as Klaus yelled at Hayley to mind her own business.

Caroline turned around, walking back through the forest toward Klaus' house where she had left her jacket, keys, and cellphone in her haste to follow him to Tyler's. She didn't want stand there in the darkness and listen to them pleading for their friend's life.

She was no different than Klaus, she realized as she entered through his unlocked front door. Using people for some sort of gain, it was like rule Number 1 in a Monster's Guidebook.

She sat down on the bed in the same room Elena had been occupying and dropped her head onto her shoulders with a weary sigh. She needed to fess up to Tyler. He would be devastated if he found out Chris' blood was, to an extent, on her hands.

Caroline got up to grab her things when the sound of the front door slamming shut alerted her to someone's presence. Before she could even turn around, a masculine and spicy scent attacked her airwaves as she was being pushed into a wall.

"Seriously? Haven't you had enough pushing me into things?" she fought against Klaus' grip on her arms, restraining her from moving further.

"You have no idea how hard it is to be the leader of these good for nothing hybrids." He spit as he released her grip. She turned around ready to smack his hands away. He was too close to her liking and it was messing with her senses.

"Day in and day out I provide them with a roof over their heads and my protection. I give them the gift of immortality, of no longer being slaves to the full moon, and for what–" he spits, angrily kicking the feet of an ornate pedestal near him, the priceless artwork toppled over and fell to the floor with a loud crash.

What once was a beautifully crafted marble sculpture of a woman's bust, her hair decorated in a halo of marble lilies, was now broken beyond repair.

They didn't spare a glance at the ancient white stone, littering the floor in several broken chunks. They didn't notice two dark green orbs lighting up and spilling from the cracked eye sockets. They didn't notice the small spheres float away from them, dancing in graceful circles low on the ground to stop and hide in a dark corner of the room to remain unnoticed.

They didn't see it. But even if they did, nothing would have stopped the events of what was to happen later that night.

"–to have them spit it back in my face. Is asking to obey me, to serve me, too much of a bloody hassle?" he roared, swiping his elongated claws over the large painted canvases along the wall behind her.

She let out a soft squeak as he flitted along the room in his rage. He flipped a leather reading chair with a roar into the air, it flipped before crashing into the shaking wall. She watched as several hung paintings swung in their place, falling loudly to the floor. A million wooden chips scattered along the floor and to her feet as the ornate frames bent and broke from his over reactive assault.

Frozen and too terrified to move, she watched as he bit into a decorative pillow in blind abandon, tossing the string remains into the air to strike at something else.

White feathers floated onto the hardwood floor, scattering onto the litter piling up in his wake as he flew around the room like the Tasmanian devil in an angry haze.

Suddenly, he stopped in front of her and she was mildly impressed with herself that she did not flinch.

He was huffing, breathing deeply, trying to control himself as he watched her passively.

"And you knew." He accused finally. "You knew your dimwitted mongrel of an ex-suitor was unsiring Chris right beneath my nose."

She stood her ground, squaring her shoulders and pointing her nose up in false confidence. "Perhaps."

"I just might kill him, you know." Klaus said, finally calm enough so he wasn't expelling huge gusts of air from his lungs. His eyes were still hard, golden as his vampiric veins pulsed beneath his eyes. A long distinct vein bulged along his neck and she worried his artery would burst.

"No, you won't." She sighed, relaxing her shoulders and hesitantly bringing her hand to his bicep. "We still have that date to go on, and until then… you won't be killing anyone. Got it?" she demanded.

Klaus' left eye twitched in his visible effort to not throttle her where she stood. She stood her ground though.

"You best be on your way, love" he muttered darkly, staring around his demolished room in defeat, "leave before I begin to question my newfound sympathy for you."

The clock read 3:14 AM as Caroline lied asleep in her bedroom that night. She was unaware of the dim green orb mysteriously floating through her closed door only to stop and begin slowly circling over her slumbering body.

Her bed sheet was strewn haphazardly at the edge of her bed, tangled along her feet as she slept uneasily. In the depths of her unconscious mind, she was plagued by fear ridden dreams of tonight's deceit, past horrors, and Klaus' volatile reaction. Her legs twitched uneasily every few moments.

Her eyes fluttered frantically beneath her closed lids, breaths coming in soft pants as she fought off whatever demons plagued her nights. Her hands clenched and unclenched into her pillow as her body stewed in its own cold sweat.

Nightmares weren't a regular occurrence to her… but when they came there was no escaping them.

Her clock's bright red numbers ticked as 3:14 turned to 3:15.

The orb took a life of its own, contorting itself and lengthening to the very shape of her curled body before vibrating and morphing into her.

She was too lost in the torment of her night terrors to hear the eerie feminine whispers emanating from the opaque floating sphere, quietly echoing around her room as it embedded itself into her very skin.

Suddenly, as the orb disappeared completely into her body, she stilled, uncurling herself from her fetal position and lying rigidly onto her back, suddenly, loud snores reverberated throughout the small room. Her hands unconsciously clasped together onto her breasts, her light pink babydoll camisole bunching up with the action. Every so often, soft mumbles would tumble out of her mouth. Unintelligible and garbled, slow tufts of air released from her lungs rhythmically. The perfectly controlled rise and fall of her chest ticked with the sound of an ancient metronome only audible to her ears.

At that exact same moment, the very same thing was happening inside of the Mikaelson mansion.

A similar orb, eerily whispering ancient words into the stillness of the night, gracefully morphed into Klaus' stiff body.

Even in sleep, he was on the defense. His back was rigid against the mattress. His arms were knotted together onto his chest, protecting his exposed torso against anyone foolish enough to attack him in his sleep.

As the orb lost itself completely inside of Klaus' body, his rigid back relaxed as he curled in on himself into a comforting fetal position leaving his bare back exposed to the open expanse of his suite. He kicked his black satin bed sheets off of him to tangle against his feet. His loud booming snores quietened as his legs twitched and kicked out, nightmares of untold horrors brought him to a cold sweat as he gripped his pillow in his clenched hand.

When the sun rises, Caroline and Klaus will be in for a very, very interesting morning...

A/N: Well, that's one chapter down! Forgive me for the resuse of TVD dialogue, it was a necessary evil just this once.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything revolving around The Vampire Diaries. I'm just borrowing the characters for my own follies.

This idea came to me suddenly. I don't remember what my train of thought was, but all I had going in my mind was "wow, I haven't found a story where Klaus and Caroline switch their – OH MY GOD" and then I was writing ideas for future scenes in my notebook like a madwoman, and I eventually shaped the skeleton for this fic. When I got home and began writing this chapter pretty much wrote itself.

I'm very proud of what I have in mind and I hope my writing does my imagination justice.

I'd like to read your opinions, your reviews will help me shape this… and what's the point in reading other than to read something you want to read? I want to know what you guys want, and hopefully I'm brave and strong enough to put them together into words you want to see.

The title "Change" comes from the song Change by Kopecky Family Band. Give it a listen and try to figure out why I chose it specifically. ;)

Thank you for reading. Please, please review.

***My tumblr is: itskathybabe – on there you can find my Twitter as well, you can reach me at whichever site you feel comfortable with. Feel free to give a friendly "hello!" I don't bite and I'm always open to making new friends!