[Mission Accepted:
Objective: Remove Henrik Mikaelson from fatal timeline and relocate to stable future.
Method: Temporal Extraction
Required Item: Vortex Manipulator – Doctor Who
Cost: 450,000 SC
Secondary Objective: Establish long-term guardianship.
Reward: 50,000 SC]
Caroline didn't hesitate to make one more purchase after the Vortex Manipulator.
[Ability: MCU: Asgardian All Speech: 100,000SC]
It integrated immediately and she knew she was ready to go to the past to save a little boy that had died in every other timeline.
---
The Vortex Manipulator warmed against Caroline's wrist.
She stood very still as the forest resolved around her—pine, frost, blood-scented air, and fear so thick it tasted metallic.
Two heartbeats ahead.
One frantic.
One already resigned.
Then the wolves came into view.
Henrik stumbled over a root and nearly went down.
"Henrik!" the older boy shouted, grabbing his arm. "Run!"
Caroline stepped out of time.
Not dramatically.
Not with light or thunder.
Just there.
Klaus skidded to a halt so fast dirt sprayed up around his boots. His breath hitched, chest heaving, eyes flashing gold for a half-second before he forced it down. His wolf had not activated yet but he still sensed her.
"Who—" His voice cracked, furious and confused. "Get away from him!"
Caroline didn't look at the wolves that were quickly approaching.
She looked at Klaus and spoke to him in All Speech.
"I will take him somewhere safe."
Klaus stared at her like she'd just spoken in a language his bones recognized but his mind couldn't place.
"You can't," he snapped. "You don't know—"
A snarl cut him off.
A werewolf burst from the treeline, mid-shift, jaws snapping.
Henrik screamed.
Caroline moved.
She grabbed Henrik's arm and said calmly, "Close your eyes."
The world folded in on itself.
Henrik hit the carpet barefoot and hard.
He scrambled away instantly, back hitting the wall, chest heaving so violently Caroline worried he'd pass out.
"No," he sobbed. "No, no, no—send me back. You have to send me back."
Caroline dropped to her knees in front of him.
"I can't," she said quietly.
Henrik's eyes snapped to hers, bright and furious through tears. "You lied!"
"No," Caroline said, steady. "I protected you."
"You stole me!" His voice broke. "My brother—my mother—my—"
His breath collapsed into a sob.
Caroline didn't touch him.
She waited.
When he could breathe again, she said gently, "Henrik, listen to me. You were going to die tonight."
"That's not true," he whispered. "They would've—Klaus would've—"
"They wouldn't have made it in time," Caroline said. No softness. No cruelty. Just truth. "You were always meant to die in that moment."
Henrik shook his head violently. "Send me back."
"I can't." She leaned forward slightly. "The only way to change your fate was to remove you from it entirely."
His fists clenched in his shirt. "Changing fate is impossible."
Caroline tilted her head. "Nothing is truly impossible. Just highly improbable."
Henrik laughed once, broken and sharp. "You sound insane."
"That's fair," Caroline said calmly. "I just kidnapped you through time."
That startled a wet hiccup out of him.
She took that moment.
"I know I'm not your family," she said softly. "And I won't pretend I can replace them. I won't lie to you like that."
Henrik swallowed hard. "Then why am I here?"
Caroline met his eyes fully.
"Because someone has to keep you safe until I can find a way to let you see them again."
He stared at her.
"You… promise?"
"I don't promise things I can't deliver," Caroline said. "What I can promise for right now is this: I will protect you. I will tell you the truth. And I won't abandon you."
Silence stretched.
Finally, Henrik whispered, "I don't want to be alone."
Caroline nodded once. "You won't be."
A pause.
"…Can you show me where the water comes from?" he asked quietly.
Caroline smiled.
"Yeah," she said. "I can do that."
---
Later, after she ordered clothes and stood outside the bathroom while he figured out the shower—
Henrik cracked the door open.
"…Caroline?"
"Yes?"
"Are there monsters here too?"
Caroline considered that.
"Yes," she said honestly. "But fewer than where you came from. And the rules are clearer."
Henrik nodded slowly. "Okay."
---
Liz Forbes stared at Caroline.
"A twelve-year-old with no records?" she said flatly. "Caroline, honey, that's not how this works."
Caroline sat at the kitchen table, hands folded. "It's how it needs to work."
Liz sighed. "Where is he from?"
"Far away."
Liz gave her a look. "That's not an answer."
"No," Caroline agreed. "But it's the only one that keeps him safe."
Liz studied her daughter's face—the stillness, the certainty.
"…He's been through something," Liz said finally.
"Yes."
"And you're not telling me everything."
"No."
Liz leaned back, rubbing her temples. "God help me." She looked up. "Does he need a home?"
Caroline didn't hesitate. "Yes."
Liz exhaled slowly. "Then we'll figure it out."
---
Six months later, the judge signed the papers.
Henry Forbes.
Henrik stood stiffly in the hallway afterward.
Liz smiled at him. "You okay, kiddo?"
"Yes, ma'am," he said politely. He still used simple English not completely used to it, he still lapsed into old Norwegian when he got anxious about something and Liz would look in shock as her daughter would reply back calmly in a tongue she had no idea how she learned.
She nodded, satisfied enough.
That night, Henry knocked on Caroline's door.
"…You didn't lie," he said.
Caroline looked up from her laptop. "About what?"
"About staying."
She smiled softly. "I told you."
Henry hesitated. "You're… my family. Right?"
Caroline closed the laptop.
"Yes," she said. "I am."
He nodded once and went back to his room.
Caroline leaned back in her chair as the system chimed.
[Mission Complete:
Reward: 50,000 SC]
[Timeline Divergence Confirmed]
[Found Family Established]