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Anton Chekhov once said that having dissatisfaction with oneself was one of the fundamental qualities of any true talent. he would agree, but having interdimensional monsters inside of him gave him a reason to not be dissatisfied with it but to detest it with every pore of his body.

While he was deemed 'useful' by the others, the nauseating feeling remained with him days after his missions. No matter how hard he tried, he could not satisfy them. They wanted more. They always wanted more.

(At night, he would dream of hands constantly soaked in blood that wouldn't come off and he would scream for his dad or his siblings, just anyone to wash it away. The dream recurred every night.)

He wished on every birthday to be born with no abilities, to be someone so mundane it would make him smile from the sheer fact that he's now ordinary. Not The Horror, and certainly not one of the 43 children. Just Ben, a boy full of youthful guilelessness & expertise in the western and eastern canon. It never came true. It was at the age of ten that he stopped wishing altogether.

At least he had someone like Klaus. He listened, despite him being fucked up. He reminded him of Gregor Samsa: an insect who was seen as a burden to his family members, but he was there for him. It was always Klaus and Ben, Ben and Klaus, and he was okay with that.

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𝘖𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘣𝘦𝘳 6𝘵𝘩, 2000. 𝘌𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯-𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳-𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘉𝘦𝘯 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘵 2 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮 𝘮𝘶𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘬. 𝘔𝘰𝘮 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘗𝘰𝘨𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘳. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩. 𝘏𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧, 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵.

"𝘉𝘦𝘯?"

𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘥, 𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘥, 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘬 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘦𝘴. "𝘒𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘴, 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵!" 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘺 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳. "𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱, 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵! 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘺." 𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴.

𝘉𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘥. 𝘏𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩, 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳."𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘯, 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘬. 𝘐𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘴."

"𝘍𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘬. 𝘈 𝘴𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘺, 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺."

(𝘈 𝘴𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘺 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥.)

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"It has to be here somewhere," Klaus muttered, digging through the trash pile. Ben rolled his eyes at Klaus' stupidity, which reared its head more times than he could count.

"Oh, don't look at me that way, Ben! At least I'm trying to find this thing!" It was true. Klaus often learned from the error of his ways and did right by his siblings, even though they were apathetic towards him. That showed its ugly head more times than he could count.

"I would ask you what you're doing, but then I remembered that I don't care."

"Five, dear brother! How delightful to see you? How's the future?"

"What exactly do you want, Klaus?" asked Five, eyes narrowing.

"Why, to spend quality time with my dear brother, of course!" Once again, Ben rolled his eyes at that statement. Was he not his brother as well?

"Don't give me that look!" Klaus hissed. Five followed his hands confusedly, trying to decipher him.

"Fine, you can tag along," Five sighed. "As long as you don't embarrass me or do anything stupid."

"Me? Embarrass you?" Klaus howled dramatically. "What am I, a charlatan? A fool? The hoi polloi-ow!"

"One more word out of you, Klaus, and I'll teleport you to the bottom of the river." said Five sternly. Klaus scrambled out of the trash pile while Five was mumbling something about a woman named Dolores and how he couldn't trust anyone. A typical family conversation, if you asked him.

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"𝘈𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯! 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮?"

𝘖𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘍𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰, 𝘉𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘥𝘭𝘺. 𝘏𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘩𝘶𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦. 𝘍𝘪𝘷𝘦'𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦. 𝘏𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘉𝘦𝘯'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵.

"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘋𝘳. 𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘪𝘯," 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘭𝘺. 𝘍𝘪𝘷𝘦'𝘴 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱.

"𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥? 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘤?"

"𝘍𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭, 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘦."

𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘨𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘥, 𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮. "𝘐𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘶𝘳, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘐 𝘢𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘮𝘦."

"𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘍𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭. 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦, 𝘴𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩."

𝘍𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴. "𝘐 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧 𝘢 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘝𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘢."

𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘣 𝘍𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦, 𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘯.

!!

"I sure hope Vanya's okay."

"I know, I know. Even though she wrote that fucking book, I still want to punch the son of a bitch for hurting my sister."

Ben turned to him. "See? You're a good person. You care for Vanya, unlike everyone else in this damn household."

"You're almost there with the cursing, but I don't think of myself as a good person, honey."

"Really? That's all you have to point out?" Ben shook his head. "Klaus, you have more morals in your pinkie than Luther's whole body."

"That's mainly because he's got the hots for Allison, but even he still wants to do the right thing. I love your pity, but it won't work today."

"Well I don't care. Our relationship may be tumultuous as Sal and Dean's, but you're a good person in my eyes, and you can't change my mind."

"I have no idea as to who those two people are, but suit yourself then. Now come on, Five and Diego are waiting."

!!

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘚𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘉𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦.

𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤 𝘥𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦. 𝘚𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴, 𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳.

"𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘈𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘵𝘪𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 - 𝘰𝘩."

𝘉𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦. "𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘚𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘵?"

𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. "𝘠𝘦𝘴! 𝘔𝘰𝘮, 𝘗𝘰𝘨𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘰 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩!"

"𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘒𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘵. 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘍𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘴 𝘉𝘶𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘋𝘢𝘺 𝘖𝘧𝘧 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘍𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘥𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 '𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘮𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩'."

"𝘜𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘮 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘶𝘩?" 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘸𝘬𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘭𝘺.

"𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥," 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳. "𝘕𝘰𝘸, 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘙𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳?"

!!

Ben couldn't help but smile at those flashbacks. All those moments spent with his favorite siblings allowed him to cling to the fantasy that he's not actually dead, just in limbo. Running along the hallways with Klaus. Comparing theories with Five. Conversations with Vanya over the literary and cinematography that compromised the twentieth-century. He learned how to cherish those little moments. Especially when the apocalypse was looming like a lost ghost. Pun definitely intended.

"Come on Klaus, stop messing around. We know you're high and all, but you don't have to go and drag Ben into this whole thing."

"I'm going to have to agree with Luther on this one. What makes you so sure that Ben is here with us at this very moment?" wrote Allison rather distastefully, gesturing to her notepad. (It was at this point when Ben wanted to Patrick Swayze the both of them.)

"How do you even know if he's real, anyway?"

"I know he's real because he is! Ben, catch!" Tossing the pink bowling ball, he attempted to catch it, hoping that they would now see him, that Klaus wasn't just some junkie who no one took seriously. As always, his siblings were proven right.

Shaking his head in disdain, Diego muttered something about disappointing the real Ben and walked off. Luther and Allison shared a look, while Five rolled his eyes. Klaus looked so upset that everyone once again dismissed his statements as attention seeking.

It didn't matter anyway. There were intruders at the bowling alley and they're not planning to discuss this any further. Besides, they had Vanya to stop.

!!

"Is she still breathing?"

Five leaned down, pressing his fingers to his neck. "Yes, she's still alive."

"Thank God for that." He couldn't help but say.

"Ben," Luther breathed. The others, sans Vanya, turned to see him, pale and well, ghostly. Taking in the shocked stares and unblinking eyes, he silently thanked Klaus for bringing him back just to show them his unscratched potential.

"Ben, it's so good to see you!" said Diego, clapping him on the back.

"So you've been talking to him the whole time, huh?" Klaus nodded. "I missed you. I spent 3 years in the apocalypse looking for you. And then I realized-" Five trailed off, wiping at his eyes. "Glad to see you."

Surprisingly, Ben accepted his half-hearted apology, even more so than Luther's. Partly because Luther's apology was simply a 'sorry' and Five may have been a fucking asshole, but he cared in his uniquely Five way.

"We have to time-travel. We take Vanya back with us, grow up, and stop the apocalypse." Five stated matter-of-factly.

"Wouldn't the Commission be after us? Unless we went to a timeline so insignificant they wouldn't track us." said Ben introspectively.

"That's why you're my favorite, Ben!" Five shouted, before opening the portal.

As he watched his siblings de-age slowly, he laughed loudly, screaming an irrevocable 'fuck-you' to the timeline, Father and everyone in it. This time, everyone heard him.