Two Lost Souls

Hope Has A Place

"Is everything ok?" she vaguely hears Stefan ask Rebekah through her alcohol induced numbness.

They've been in this shady bar on the outskirts of town for hours, and though she hasn't quite managed to drink herself into oblivion just yet – damn vampire metabolism – she has drank her way through half of the bar's supply. Add to that what she ingested back at the originals' home, and you get a very, very drunk Caroline.

"Yes, nothing to worry about."

Even in her distracted state of mind, Caroline hears the worry in the original's voice, so she's not surprised when Stefan picks up on it as well and cocks an eyebrow at the other blonde, who sighs and shows him her phone while explaining, "Elijah just ran into Marcel. Apparently the 'king' didn't appreciate Nik's little show of force."

At that, Caroline's attention shifts fully to the conversation taking place next to her. While her reflexes and her ability to think are somewhat hampered right now, she does remember how dangerous Marcel is and how bad this could be.

"Does he know it was Klaus?"

"One of his men saw him."

"Crap," Caroline mutters.

"That pretty much sums it up."

"Does he also know why he did it?" she asks, articulating carefully to try and hide the slur in her words.

Her companions aren't fooled, of course, but they take pity on her and don't mention it, nor do they try to keep the bartender from pouring her another shot, one that she tosses back eagerly.

"Elijah doesn't seem to think so. He says he's arranged a meeting with Marcel and his inner circle to talk about it. He's going to try to convince Marcel not to confront Nik directly."

"If he does..." Stefan starts.

"Then he'll probably realize that Nik is emotionless. If he's smart, he'll run. If he doesn't, Nik will kill him. Either way, it will lead to an all-out war. Exactly what we've been trying to avoid."

"Does Elijah have a plan?"

"Why?" Rebekah asks her suspiciously, having noticed the tone of her voice – one that says she has an idea she's not sure she should share. "Do you?"

"I don't know. Maybe?" she half-asks, frowning as she tries to formulate the plan to herself before sharing it with the others. Given how drunk she is, it's harder than it sounds, but she does manage to form a coherent sentence. "He could tell him Klaus did it to get to me."

"What do you mean?"

She was hoping the others would understand where she was going with this so that she wouldn't have to talk more than necessary, but it looks like that's not going to happen. She nibbles on her lower lip nervously and pushes her empty glass away from her on the counter, signaling that she's done for the evening. She grabs the glass of water the bartender thoughtfully placed before her when she noticed how far gone she was and she downs it in a few long gulps. She needs to gather her wits to deal with this new problem. Damn, when is she going to catch a break?

"Ok, so Marcel doesn't know that Klaus has turned it off and he thinks that your brother cares about me, right? That's what I made him think when he captured me. And he knows I'm supposed to be one of the 'good' vampires. All Elijah has to do is lead him to believe that Klaus was trying to make me feel something. Like guilt me into turning my humanity on, because he wanted me back. I'm sure Marcel has done his research, he has to know that Klaus liked me the way I was back in Mystic Falls."

She's rather proud of how sensible this sounds. Not just the idea itself, but her little speech. The other two share a carefully optimistic look.

"It could work," Stefan notes. "Marcel's man won't be able to say with absolute certainty that Klaus was on his own, he could have been trying to shock Caroline. She could have been with him."