I must be nuts for even attempting this but season four is now over and I'm still not quite able to let go, so fanfiction it is. Here's a wee prologue. It has Hayley in it, mea culpa if anyone out there is allergic to her - I should, however, point out that the endgame in this story will be klaroline... but there will plot in between here and there, sorry, I like plot.

PROLOGUE: Knight Takes Castle

Eight weeks.

He had played the role of Marcel's lackey for eight weeks and he still hadn't had a whiff of a word from the Devereux witch about her plan of attack. Patience had never been his forte and, as far as he was concerned, he had waited long enough. It was time to move things along.

They'd probably thought the stench of the swamp would mask their trail but they had underestimated the sensitivity of a Hybrid's nose. He had found the cabin easily and could hear the level breathing of a sleeping werewolf from the moment he stepped into the clearing. He took in the log walls, the rustic porch and tin chimney above, with its thin white-blue whirl of smoke. So this was where they were keeping her; very bijou. He smirked as he climbed onto the porch and tapped on the door. The hitch in her breath told him she'd awoken.

"C'mon, love," he said. "No sense in drawing it out. Besides, it's bad manners to keep the father of your child on your doorstep." Still no answer, he couldn't even hear her breath anymore, just the thud of her heartbeat and the answering echo of the child's. "Do you really think that holding your breath will confuse me, little wolf, I can still hear the patter of your heart. Open this door or I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll-"

The door jerked open as words jumbled out of her mouth at breakneck speed. "You can't come in," she said, stepping back out of his reach. She'd obviously heard about the little incident with Caroline… curious. He leaned against the doorway, giving her his best dimpled smile. Fear tainted her scent even as her chin tilted up.

"No need to be like that, love," he said "I come in peace-" He went still as he realised what was wrong with the picture in front of him; why the terror bled through her pours like a sour wine. He could still hear the infant's heartbeat - even and steady and oh so convincing - but it had been eight weeks since he'd last seen her and twelve weeks since he'd bedded her, and she was still not showing.

"What did they promise you," he asked lowly.

"My brother," she said. "I have a brother."

His lips curled up humourlessly. "A fair exchange, an un-conceived baby for a recently deceased brother."

Her eyes narrowed. "He's not dead."

He quirked an eyebrow at her as stepped down from the porch. "Oh, come on, love. You're not that naive. You had to have known that you couldn't have kept up this charade forever. You knew there'd be consequences."

And there it was, that quick snap of rage in her eyes that told him the wolf was calling the shots. She leapt at him, lips curled back in a snarl…only to be thrown backwards from the door as a threshold barrier slammed up. So somebody had been taking notes in Mystic Falls. He started to laugh.

"Katherine," he said as he slipped away from the reaching light of the cabin windows and into the darkness.

"He's just a kid!" Hayley called after him.

He didn't bother answering. The boy's life was forfeit the moment she agreed to the witch's terms.

As was hers.