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January 1815
New York
"Mr Lockwood, you have done us a great service, I cannot thank you enough" Elijah said as he walked up the broad stairs of the Salvatores generous townhouse in New York.
"Please, call me Tyler, I believe we may be past such formality." Tyler said, hiding his nervousness at the request. He had spent a great deal of time with the man over their voyage, and he truly hoped that he could be looked upon as more than a mere acquaintance at this point. Travelling with the Mikaelsons had been a reminder of all the things he had longed for long ago, a warm and caring family, and a certain woman who lit up every room she entered.
Elijah considered it, before inclining his head briefly, allowing it. Tyler had helped them to procure a large townhouse, close to the Salvatores, where they would all stay together, as a family, excepting Katherine, who would remain at the Salvatores, until the dust had settled on their arrival.
Fresh off the boat, they were all glad to be getting settled, and Elijah had only needed to see his sister's face light up at the sight of her fiance to know they had made the right decision. It was a new start for them all.
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"Tomorrow, you shall see them tomorrow darling, but you must sleep now."
"But I'm not tired" Elspeth said as her eyes struggled to stay open. Caroline smiled, stroking her soft hair back, perched on the edge of her daughter's bed. Elspeth had finally met her cousins, and the three were a force to be reckoned with. Hearing her tiny breaths even out, her little mouth dropping slightly open as sleep took her, Caroline stood up as quietly as possible. She walked to the door and went out into the hall, drawing the door closed behind her. Reaching the stairs, she saw Elena come out of a neighbouring room, holding her skirts close to quiet them. They quietly descended the stairs together.
"I see you have not trusted their care to anyone else? Though, I might have expected as much... does society not think it terribly outmoded... caring for ones own children?" Caroline teased as they entered the drawing room.
"Why, yes of course, though I am yet to care..." Elena rejoined with a laugh. Caroline might have guessed that Elena would be a devoted mother, much like Caroline was herself. The drawing room was full of her family, and Caroline knew without a doubt that she was glad to be home. It was so comforting, strangely, and she had not expected that. Perhaps it was because there were no memories of him here, nothing to remind her or perhaps she had grown accustomed to the realisation that he was alive, and had chosen a different life. Either way, she felt more peaceful than she had in a long time.
"Caroline, Tyler Lockwood just left, he wished for me to express his desire to call tomorrow. I told him that it would be fine." Elijah sat from before the fire. Caroline felt for a moment that everyone was watching her, and holding their breaths.
"Tyler? That is a little informal is it not?" Katherine teased.
"I believe it is time, the man has been a great help to us" Elijah announced, watching Caroline's reaction closely.
"Yes, I believe he has. I would be happy to receive him tomorrow. If you will excuse me, I should go to bed, Ellie will be awake as early as usual" Caroline said with a smile, before rising and leaving the room. In her absence, looks were shared in the assembled company, before conversation moved to the proposed hospital.
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Around New Orleans
"Here, take mine." Klaus muttered, shoving his grey bread at the young boy shaking beside him. William eyed it for a moment, about to refuse, when hunger overcame him, and he grabbed at it, stuffing it into his mouth gratefully. The boy was hungry, and Klaus had been longer without food before. Klaus crouched down beside the water bucket, and dipped his hands in it, bringing the stale water up to his mouth, drinking deeply. They had been on the move all night, moving into one bad position after another, and there was no doubt that they had incurred heavy losses. The amount of men the Americans had mustered outnumbered them, and the British were cold, tired and on the edge of giving up completely.
Klaus was hidden behind a low lying hill with the ragged remnants of his brigade, and the grey, pre-dawn light was gradually revealing the desperate situation they were in. Americans were closing in, their position was vulnerable, their back up scattered or killed. William coughed quietly as he forced the last of the dry bread down his raw throat, and Klaus moved to the side to allow him access to their dwindling water supply. He couldn't quite remember when he William had become his shadow, or indeed if he had actually been introduced to him formally. He had broken up a fight onboard the boat, two weeks into the journey. The men were bored and restless for battle, and the long voyage had done nothing to quell their bloodlust. Skinny and young, William had been ripe for torment, and the men aboard had laughed to see the boy, barely a man, with his nose stuck in a book, while they sailed to fight. Klaus had no interest in becoming a protector of the defenceless, however, their cackling and bullying disturbed his solitude too often, and he was forced to step in. Perhaps he might have left it at that, and the men would have carried on their torture more quietly, but for the look in the lad's eyes. It had been so terribly reminiscent of another boy, young and scared, that he had taken care of, protected from harm, made hot milk for in the night, as two little heads one dark, another blonde sat whispering at the table. So, he had warned the men to keep their distance, and they had, without question. The next morning, William had popped up at his elbow, and hardly left it for a moment since then.
"So, what do you say? I shall take the 50 on the left, you the 50 on the right" William whispered, and Klaus gave him a smile in return. He was afraid, it radiated off him, and why shouldn't he be? Klaus reasoned, it was normal to fear death, to want to live. He tried to remember when he had been as young as William, in the Navy, facing foreign shores and bloody battle sites. Had he feared death? He couldn't recall. There was only one thing he could remember fearing the loss of, and he knew it was not his life.
"I prefer the left..." Klaus muttered, seeing the young man's need to distract himself. William laughed, pressing his trembling hands together.
"Very well, you chose first, you are the veteran." William chattered on, and Klaus nodded occasionally, his mind going to the battlefield. They would not win, he was sure of it, how many would die was the only question that remained.
"Should you fall... I will find her, your Caroline, and -" William was saying, snapping Klaus back to reality suddenly. He turned to him.
"What?" he asked roughly. William gulped, seeing the fierceness come to his mentors eyes.
"I will find her... your lady, and tell her about your braveness, and courage..." William said hesitantly.
Klaus recalled the first night he had spoken of Caroline to his new friend. They had been aboard the ship, and William had been talking about his family in America, and in particular his cousin, far removed, whom he had been close with. A shy girl, not pretty or pleasing enough for society, she and William had been in correspondence for quite some time. He hoped to travel and visit her, after the battle. Klaus had been quiet, listening to the boy's hopeful plans. Suddenly, without warning, he had started to speak of Caroline. It had started innocently enough, just a mention of family who were settling in America, but before he'd realised it, he had become absorbed with telling William all about her, the woman he would hold his heart forever. Speaking about her, sharing his memories, made them fresh again for him, and he felt as though he had relived each one during that long sea journey.
"There is no need... she would not believe it" Klaus said, coming back to the present.
"I would make her believe" Klaus chuckled and dropped his head.
"Some things are beyond even you. Now, are you going to be quiet, and plan how we are going to get out of this mess" Klaus muttered, seeing a messenger running along the lines.
"We cannot know for sure. We need a scout." The officer muttered, looking at his bedraggled band of men. There were shots being fired all over, gun smoke lay thick in the air, shrouding the low lying hills, imminent death heavy as a mantle.
"I'll go" one man said, standing up in a crouch. The officer looked him over, he was not sure of his man, but the way the men deferred to him, he suspected he outranked him. The young officer gulped.
"No, I should go" he started, but the man cut him off with a gesture.
"Not necessary. I will gather information and return presently." Klaus said, his tone brooking no disagreement. He had thrown himself into the path of bullets often enough, and half suspected that it was his destiny to live forever, unscathed, desperate for release from his emptiness existence. He did not fear death.
The young officer finally nodded, his relief palpable. Klaus took the opportunity to go, seeing William engaged elsewhere, cleaning his gun. No need for the young boy to die too, he thought. He started around the base of the hill, keeping low, crouched. He travelled far in that way, always out of sight. Dropping to his stomach and remaining unmoving for long periods, sometimes hearing America voices pass him by. They reminded him of the Salvatores, and Tyler Lockwood. As he lay flat at one point, listening with interest to a solider describing the American defensive positions, a sudden hand on his arm prompted him to pull his knife, never far from his hand and roll over aggressively. With a snarl already on his lips, the knife bore down on his attacker's neck, his young body already crushed beneath Klaus's, he realised his identity only moments before it was too late.
"William, what the bloody hell are you doing? I could have killed you" Klaus whispered angrily.
William's eyes were wide, terrified.
"They told me you went to scout..." William stammered, and Klaus resisted the urge to drop his head in his hands. He rolled away from him, and started back.
"Where are we going?" William asked, once again at his elbow.
"We are going back... you will be killed out here" Klaus muttered, making sure they stayed down. It took longer than before to reach their position again, as Klaus waited more, hesitated more, knowing that the young man behind him would not take as many precautions as he should, but would follow him blindly. Finally, a familiar rise came into view, and they made their way toward it. As they came closer, Klaus felt his skin prickle. Something did not feel right. They slowly approached. Klaus gestured for William to stay behind him, and on his stomach, crawled around the hill. The sight that greeted him almost made this empty stomach heave. The men's bodies were lying in disarray, a mass of twisted limbs, glazed eyes and drying blood. 20, maybe more, shot down, the bodies peppered with the spray of grapeshot. Klaus felt William come up behind him,and wished he could spare the boy what he was about to see. He moved forward, rising to a crouch, as he shuffled amongst the bodies, looking for unspent gunpowder. He heard William emptying his stomach of his meagre breakfast behind him, and did not look back, did not shame him. He picked the weapons from some of the bodies too, unwrapping fingers that were tight as claws. He suddenly realised that one body amid the others wore a different uniform, American. He glanced down at the solider, little more than Williams age, before turning away. So many lost, for nothing.
He did not feel the man move, did not hear it, his ears too stunned from the prolonged booming of the canons and muskets. He did not feel how close the musket's blade came to his back. All he heard was William's shout of warning, and then he was falling forward. He landed hard on dead mens' bodies, instantly rolling over to defend himself. He saw the American solider, risen up on one knee, his musket buried deep in another.
"No!" Klaus shouted as he started forward, his hands going to the American's neck, as he twisted it violently, a crack sounding, before the man fell backwards, drawing his musket, and William with it. Klaus took William's shoulders, and turned him over, as he slid off the blade, seeing the blood come coursing from his chest. William coughed and wheezed, his hands going to Klaus's shoulders, clutching at them.
"What were you thinking? You damn fool!" Klaus demanded, pressing his hands over the hole in the other man's chest.
"Not thinking..." William spluttered, blood welling out his mouth.
"William... no, it should be me... I should be the one..." Klaus muttered, tearing a strip from his coat to tie around the wound. William's fingers stopped him, and Klaus forced himself to look at the young man's face.
"Stop... leave it... it is done. It is a good day to die... is it not?"
"No, it is not... you shouldn't die... you have a life ahead of you... people waiting for you." Klaus muttered, a knot in his throat that choked his words.
"As do you..." William said. Klaus shook his head slowly, sadness overwhelming him.
"Promise me... something..."
"Anything... friend, anything" Klaus said, and saw how his words warmed William's eyes.
"Friend" he whispered, closing his eyes briefly, before opening them again, and looking at Klaus.
"There is a letter... in my pack... for Hayley. Please give it to her... please."
"Of course." Klaus murmured, squeezing his hand as tremors shook his thin body. William tried to take a breath and coughed again, it sounded wetter and more awful by the moment.
"Mikaelson -"
"Nik..."
"Nik" William said, with a ghost of a smile.
"Promise me... don't wait until it is too late to live again" William said thickly. Klaus couldn't speak, as he felt tears well in his eyes. He nodded silently, seeing William's eyes begin to lose their focus. He started to mumble incoherently, gripping onto Klaus's hands. Klaus watched him, was there with him, supporting him, until the strength of William's hands faded, and the light in his eyes went out. Klaus slid down in the mud and blood that had collected in the alcove. He gently closed his friend's eyes, making a silent promise to deliver his letter to his cousin, to help someone remember him. He did not know how long he sat there, his eyes blank and empty, as all that filled them was death and destruction. An unknowable time later, he numbly rose, and went to William's pack, digging through it, he came to the said parchment. He stuffed it into his own, and turned, casting a last glance at the brave boy that had delivered his unworthy self from harm. What a waste, he thought as he started over the hill.
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May 1815
New York
"It must be perfect. Goodness knows, I have waited long enough." Rebekah exclaimed as they walked to the dress maker. Caroline sighed internally as they navigated the busy shopping streets before coming to the most exclusive dress maker in the whole of New York. Rebekah was proving to be difficult to please in her wedding preparations, and Caroline was starting to feel the strain of it. Inside the exclusive boutique was surprisingly bare and free of adornments. It was reserved for only ladies of the highest class, and everything was made to measure, therefore there were only sketch books of styles that the designer might suggest. Caroline settled in to watch and give her opinions to Rebekah, letting her mind wander slightly.
Elspeth was enjoying their new city, her new cousins to play with, the hospital was already under way, and Caroline would soon move into her own townhouse in the city, doors away from her family. It was time, and there was no point delaying it.
Soon, Rebekah would go to live with Damon. Kol and Bonnie needed a place of their own, and Katherine, who was presently staying with her sister, would soon move to a place with Elijah, following their wedding. The little townhouse was small, but comfortable, and it had a beautiful terrace that she would enjoy sitting on, and watching the world pass from. She was no longer the scared girl who had had had given birth 5 years ago, and had leant of her family as though they were the very air she breathed. It was time to stand on her own, and release them from the burden of her, and let them make their own stories.
Elijah had questioned whether she would need her own house, and Caroline had seen the unasked question over Tyler in his eyes. She had replied that she would like to retain her independence, until she was ready to give it up. Elijah had accepted her excuse and begun the lengthy process of acquiring it for her.
Tyler Lockwood called on her, with increasing frequency, and she allowed him. Klaus had made himself a new life, even after he was able to come back, after he had known from Elijah their intentions to travel to America, he had refused. There no plainer terms to see his feelings toward her stated. She reminded her self of that, at times when Tyler sat close to her, or his hand brushed hers when she passed him tea. She fought down her reaction, for it was wrong to dwell on the past.
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Hayley Sewell had been far lovelier than Klaus had expected, and he had felt once again, a push against that wall inside, as he had hand delivered the letter in his care. Seeing her read the last lines William would say to her, Klaus had been reminded with force, the power of love, how it healed and how it tore. He saw her disappear before his eyes, and go to where he was, and say goodbye. He felt humbled by the experience.
The journey North had been arduous, and he could not escape the words of William, his final words, his gift to him. Reminding him to try to live again. He was right of course, and he had made a promise to his young friend that he would, and he hated to break his word. Before going to see Hayley, he had found a guest house, cleaned up. He looked at his face in the mirror, revealed to him in it's entirety for the first time in so long. Who was that calm and remote man? He wondered. He looked like a man who had seen much, and lived to tell of it. He looked like a man who had nothing to lose, and had made his peace with that.
He couldn't escape the feeling of her, here in this city, somewhere, as though she were a beckon that he was irresistibly drawn to. As he walked the city at night, he wondered where she was, if she was awake, or asleep, if she was happy.
As he left the Sewells's modest house, he turned toward the city centre. There was another place he wanted to visit. He had heard tell of a new hospital, built by generous new benefactors who had moved here from London. He wished to see it, to find out what Elijah had made of the Mikaelson name.
As he approached, he could see the work was ongoing. People were coming and going, dust filled the street and Klaus could see it was to be a grand site indeed. He stayed a while, leaning against another building, watching the work, his mind lost in the past. He noted a carriage drawing up, and saw none other than his elder brother step down from it. Elijah walked onto the work site, confident and sure of himself, and Klaus envied him so in that moment. He had a place, he had a life. Turning away, he returned to the boarding house.
The humble little place, small room and sparse furnishings were what he needed, after so long lost, so long tumbling in the wind. He got used to shaving each day, to changing his clothes, and sleeping on a bed. Sometimes he made conversation about the weather with the proprietor. He slipped into the role, and tried to remember how people spoke, how people made light remarks, and laughed at polite jokes. He tried to sleep without his knife by his hand. It was a time of adjustment, and often he felt he was playing the role of a man, rehearsing his manners, walking upright, like a beast who imitates that which he can never be.
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August 1815
"If you know he is there, why do you never speak to him?" Katherine demanded angrily as she piled the handwritten invitations to her engagement party to the side. Her hand cramped from the calligraphy, and she wondered why Elijah insisted she did it herself. He was still so controlling, and she enjoyed every moment she got to fight him on it. She turned to see her fiance leaning back in an armchair, his look contemplative. She sighed and went to him, sitting on his lap, and pulling his chin to tilt his face toward hers. Her position pulled him from his thoughts.
"Katherine, you mustn't." he scolded, trying to move her, as she held on.
"It is only Elena and Stefan..." she said, wriggling more securely into his embrace. He gave up fighting, and rested his arms around her.
"I am starting to see that America is undoing all the good that England ever did" he muttered.
"Aren't you glad... you have so many more things to chastise me for" Katherine teased, biting her lip slowly, suggestively, holding Elijah's gaze captive. As he leant forward to meet her lips, Katherine suddenly stood, moving away from him, and his groan of frustration.
"So, tell me... what are you going to do about your no good brother?" she asked.
"What is there to do? He will come when he is ready..."
"And Caroline can wait without end... that is ridiculous! They are supposed to be together..."
"She is too hurt... and he is too broken. Let Caroline move on..."
"With Tyler Lockwood?" Katherine said with a sneer.
"Perhaps..."
"I did not do what I did years ago for her to end up with Lockwood after all"
"Please, Katherine, do not talk to me about your misguided ideas of grand love and mad plans." Katherine scowled at him, and looked away, toward her engagement invitations. Slowly she turned back to her fiance, a smile played around her lips, one which made Elijah nervous.
"Does Caroline know that Klaus is in New York?" Katherine asked.
"No, I do not see why I should tell her."
"No reason, I suppose, though I should suspect the shock of running into him in the street, or at a party, or even just hearing that he is here, from another would be quite terrible" Katherine continued, and Elijah nodded slowly.
"Well, what would you have me do?"
"Well you might prepare her for the possibility at least, then she will be better able to decide what she would say, how she would act... what if Ellie were with her?" Katherine said, her tone so reasonable Elijah started to see her point. He thought it over a moment, before nodding.
"You are right, my dear. It is dangerous to keep this from her. I will tell her."
"I think it for the best, my love." Katherine said, turning away, her hands, their fatigue forgotten, already planning the words to use.
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It became his routine, after calling on the Sewells, checking on the progress of the building, watching Elijah work, and Kol sometimes, when he came along. His desire to go to them and speak with them, go home with them, sometimes was overwhelming, yet he resisted.
He was not sure how long it had been exactly, before he received the hand written invitation. Lord Elijah Mikaelson invites you to his engagement celebration. He sat and stared at it for a long time. Before folding it up and placing it in a drawer. Inside the drawer, was one other object, the child's toy. He had stared at it, and pondered over it day in and day out since that fateful meeting in Liverpool.
Who was the toy for? He had wondered to begin with, and then remembered that Elena Salvatore'd had a child, probably more than one by now, and of course there was Jenna Saltzman, the birth of whose child had set off that chain of events that had finally brought Caroline and he together. Each day afterward, he drew the letter and stared at it, before hiding it again.
Dear Niklaus,
Brother, I do not pretend to know why you are here in New York, or what brought you. I suspect it is not your desire to see your family again, as you have not made your presence known, and yet you come to observe us anyway. Family is insidious in that respect.
I am writing to ask your attendance at my engagement party. Five long years I have waited to marry Katherine Pierce, and I would have my brother there, as that driving desire finally comes to fruition. If you worry over seeing Caroline, fear not. She knows of your intentions to stay by your word, and has accepted it. In fact, she has grown close to Tyler Lockwood of late, and we do our best to encourage her in this. Caroline is someone who deserves to be loved and cherished, as I am sure you will agree.
The last years have left a bitter mark on our family's history, and I long to put it behind us. Why not come and pay your respects to those that love you, those that never stopped caring for you, those who mourned your passing with such heartache.
I include details of the venue and dress code. I hope to see you there, for all that we once were, and in the name of the family we used to be.
Your brother,
Elijah.
He knew what it meant, seeing Caroline again. He could hardly avoid her at the engagement party. It was folly to even consider, yet his brother's words were like a spell that lured him in, whilst it shamed him. Five long years... everyones' lives had been on hold, because of him. To see them all again, to speak to his family, to her. That wall that he held onto so desperately seemed to have developed holes in it lately, and his desire oozed through. He read the description of the dress code, snorting, thinking Katherine had surely had a hand in it. It wouldn't be so difficult to procure... he supposed, if he were to go. Not that he was going, but if he were...
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"Why? Why now?" Caroline asked, and was proud how her voice did not shake.
"I admit I do not know..." Elijah said, leaning forward, his elbows to his knees, watching her. Caroline sighed, and fell backward in the chair. She looked at Elijah and they shared a long moment before she spoke.
"He is going to find out about Ellie" she murmured, her heart beating strangely at it.
"Yes, I suspect he shall, there is no preventing it." Caroline nodded, her mind already drifting to that confrontation. It had almost been a year, a year of knowing he was alive, a year of unconscious waiting. But there was no point in waiting, she reminded herself. He ad made his choice.
"I should tell him, myself... except, I am afraid he will not give me the opportunity" Caroline said with a bitter laugh. Elijah looked away, anger once again rising up.
"He is a changed man, Caroline. I felt it when I spoke to him. He is... a broken vessel, empty and hollow inside." he said.
"Aren't we all?" Caroline replied.