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As Luther carries Vanya through the house, Klaus and Diego see him and follow.
"What are you doing? Where are you taking her?" Klaus immediately asks, trying to get in front of their giant brother so he can stop him, but the staircase is narrow and that doesn't seem to be possible.
"She's a danger to us," Luther says after a moment, and then adds, "And herself."
Klaus knows that he's right to a certain extent, but what on Earth was his brother doing? He shares a look with Diego, and number two just shrugs.
They finally get downstairs, and Klaus sees a giant soundproof... prison. He shudders as he remembers his nights spent in the mausoleum. Surely Luther wouldn't..?
Luther puts Vanya over his shoulder and undoes the massive wheel, carefully places her on the ground inside, and then re-locks the cage. Klaus gapes at him, and Diego looks lost for once.
"Let her out." Klaus demands, his eyebrows narrowing angrily. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Ben placing a hand on the glass part of the door, watching Vanya with sad eyes. "Now, Luther."
Luther just shakes his head. "She stays in there until we know what to do with her." He responds, eyes narrowing when Klaus makes a move towards it.
He lets out an angry huff. "She's our sister-"
"She's dangerous." Luther just shakes his head. Then there's a slam on the glass and they all turn to see Vanya begging silently to be let out, tears in her eyes and it looks like she's struggling to breathe. Klaus feels his lungs and heart contract painfully as he remembers the same feelings.
So so cold.
"You locked up out sister because you think she has powers." Diego confirms, almost like he can't believe what he's hearing.
"No, I know she does. Pogo told me. He's always known, and so did dad." Luther replies easily.
Diego puts his hand up on the door and sighs. "Why would they hide this from us?" He asks softly, dragging his gloved hand down the rough metal.
Cold, so cold.
"I mean, am I the only one who didn't know this place existed?" He asks again when no one answers.
"He hid so much from us," Says Klaus, almost a whisper.
"He hid it because he was afraid," A long pause as he walks closer. "Of her."
"Oh, that's ridiculous." Klaus complains, wanting nothing more than to comfort the sister who was begging and pleading to be let out.
"Is it? Dad's lied about everything else. Why is this so far-fetched?" Luther asks now, raising an eyebrow.
Diego turns around to face him. "Well if you're right, maybe she's the one who killed Peabody."
"And cut Allison's throat."
"Whoa, no. Let's- I just- Sorry, just, let's go back, alright? This is Vanya we're talking about, alright? Our sister! The one who always cried when we stepped on ants as kids." Klaus argues, not accepting this one bit.
Let her out let her out let her out-
"Klaus, calm down, it's okay-" Ben tries to sooth him, but is interrupted by Luther who obviously can't hear him.
"Yeah, I know. I know it's difficult to accept-" Luther tries, but Klaus interrupts him.
"It's not difficult to accept, it's impossible to accept!" Klaus yells, turning around to face their biggest brother.
Diego nods. "No, he's right. Look, we can't keep her locked up without proof."
"What more proof do you need?" Luther sputters.
"Why don't we just open the door and ask her?" Klaus suggests, gesturing to the door with both hands.
He tries to step forward and open the door, but Luther smacks his arms away. "No, she's not goin' anywhere." Luther growls.
Klaus shakes his head and walks away from his brothers, muttering under his breath. Diego is saying something in the background but he's not listening. He can't look at her, not when she's like this: begging to be let out, crying and probably screaming.
Please please dad don't leave me here-
"For all we know, she could be struggling with this-this new.. power." Klaus chimes in. "I mean, it must be scary-" An understatement. "Terrifying, really-" He shouts the world and then calms down slightly- "To discover that you can do something that you never thought you could do."
"Look, if what Pogo told me is even half true, then she is not just a danger to us-"
"-I know you said that before-" Klaus complains, borderline hysterical.
Allison walks in. All is quiet, Klaus can see even Vanya has calmed down slightly to see who was there.
Just let him out, please he can't do this again, please dad please-
Allison and his brothers talk, but Klaus is focused solely on Vanya. A hand pressed against the glass, her forehead touching it and her eyes are overflowing with tears.
Allison tries to push past Luther to get to their sister, but he holds her in place. Diego just walks out. She hits his chest over and over, until Luther physically escorts her out. He also grabs onto Klaus's arm and pulls him out of the room.
Klaus can almost hear her screams.
Luther is speaking to them all upstairs, Five just got back and is quite confused, Luther and Diego are fighting again, and Klaus? Well, Klaus is sneaking downstairs.
None of them even notice he's gone.
Klaus gets downstairs and walks quickly through the hallway until he sees her, curled up in a ball by the wall. He hurries closer and pulls and tugs on the wheel, that gets her attention. Her head snaps up and her eyes are bloodshot. She scurries forward and puts her hands on the glass pleadingly. Klaus breathes on the glass to fog it up, and then he writes backwards: 'get you out'.
Vanya nods, fresh tears running down her pink cheeks, and Klaus nods, his smile is watery.
He looks at Ben and nods his head before stretching. They both put their hands on the wheel and Klaus pushes while Ben pulls, Klaus's determination to get her out is feeding his ability to make ghosts corporeal.
Vanya watches in fascination and a hopeful look blooms in her eyes. It takes a lot of effort, but finally they get it un-jammed and it slides open. Klaus drops to the ground and catches her in his arms. He grabs the back of her head, cradling it as he hugs around her waist, pulling her into his lap protectively.
She quickly dissolves into sobs.
He continues to hold her though, Ben and Five once did this for him, and this was Vanya, his sister, he wasn't going to let that douche of a brother touch her ever again.
"You're okay now, you're not going back in there, ever again." He whispers gently, combing his fingers through her hair. This only makes her cry harder, burying her face in his neck just so she can be close to him.
Thinking back on it, he'd never held any of his siblings like this (sans Ben) and comforted them. Had anyone done this for Vanya before? Maybe, but highly probable they hadn't. He vows silently as he makes eye contact with his deceased brother that he's going to protect and be there for Vanya as much as he can.
Then there's footsteps in the hall. Vanya tenses in his arms and he wraps them tighter around her smaller body, looking over at the entrance.
Luther, Diego, Five, and Allison all stand there, watching them.
"I told you not to let her out-" Luther starts but Klaus scoffs and cuts him off.
"Oh fuck off, Luther." He laughs, pulling Vanya to stand up with him, but he takes most of her weight. "This is out baby sister, she's confused and doesn't know what's going on. Dad tricked her- and all of us- into believing she didn't have powers, so of course she won't be able to control them!" He yells, taking a step back when Luther tries to come forward.
"Klaus-"
"Shut up! You don't know anything! You don't know what it's like to be forced inside a cage by someone you should be able to trust- yeah, you got sent to the moon. Big whoop." He says when Luther opens his mouth, the larger quickly shuts it and looks away bashfully. "Dad may have sent you to the moon, but you were an adult. You had options, you could have said no."
There's a long stretch of silence.
"But when you're ten, and you're afraid of the dark, and you can see dead people." He's getting choked up, he clears his throat. "It's a fucking nightmare being forced into a dark, cold, mausoleum. Filled with dead people- a-all because your dad thinks he knows best! And thinks this will help you hone your powers! Well it doesn't. What it does do is- it helps you lose faith in those you thought you could trust. You go crazy, all alone, so dark and cold. So so cold." Klaus shivers, clutching Vanya tighter.
"When you beg to be let out, that you're terrified, and you're sorry you're not like your siblings, and he still doesn't let you out?" Klaus goes quiet, just staring blankly at the floor.
"You're exactly like the old man."
Silence fills the room, almost like time has stopped, but it hasn't because he can still feel Vanya shaking in his arms, and he can hear them- hear the ghosts walking around them. So many of them. He looks up and notices the terror and shock on their faces as their eyes dart from ghost to ghost.
But they aren't supposed to see them..?
He looks down and sees his hands glowing blue, he quickly calms down and they all lose their blue glow, but he can still see them, still hear their screams.
"Y-you.." Luther gasps, looking around at a now-empty room. The others are in a similar way, but Klaus just pushes past them, half carrying his sister in his arms, a new found strength inside him.
He ignores them and their shocked whispers as he takes his little sister upstairs. Away from the cold, dark, cage.
They're leaning against the wall upon Klaus's bed, Vanya is snuggled up into his side, they're sitting in silence, but it's comfortable. Then Vanya breaks it, "Why did you let me out?" Save me, isn't said, but Klaus understands.
"You're my little sister. Sweet little Vanya," Klaus mumbles with a smile. "I know what you were going through. I couldn't bare to see you like that, I'm sorry I couldn't get you out sooner- or just not let him have put you in there to begin with." There's an apology on the tip of his tongue, but Vanya shakes her head.
"Thank you," She whispers, tears still clinging to her eyelashes. Klaus nods, and Ben watches them with sad eyes and a loving smile; Klaus smiles back.
"You don't need to thank me, sis. I'll never let them touch you again." He says, a threat clear in his voice. Vanya smiles sleepily and yawns, hugging him tighter when he moves. "I'm not leaving. Let's lie down, you honestly look like you haven't slept in a week." He pulls her down into his arms and pulls the blankets over them.
Vanya cuddles up into his arms once more, and Klaus presses a kiss to her hair. "I'll protect you," He promises, and the sleepy smile on her face is worth any backlash he'll get from this.
She will never feel like he did, never again. He swears it.