Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

...

About three days was all Klaus needed, to decide that time travel was a little bitch.
Perhaps the apocalypse would have been a more preferable outcome, rather than reliving his nightmare of a childhood.

At least he could hug Ben now, that was always a good thing.

"Number Four! Pay attention, need I remind you again, punishment will be executed swiftly." His ass of a father quipped harshly, glaring at him with those unspeakably cold eyes.

didn't miss those.

Standing up as straight as his spine would allow, he gave their father a ‘fuck you’ stare while waiting for the painful lesson to resume.
He grumbled, turning back to the line Klaus was currently standing in.

Ben brushed his elbow with his own, offering comfort in some way.

it wasn’t as if this hadn’t happened before. It was nothing new.

Trying his best to focus and not let his imagination run, Klaus ignored the three corpses walking about in the corner, dull and lifeless. Not to mention the shrill screams faintly echoing throughout the room.

Of course, nobody heard them. Just Klaus. Unfortunately.
Come to think of it, he wouldn't want the others to deal with this.

Their Daddy-dearest cleared his throat and narrowed his eyes. "Now, when in battle, you must strike with absolute confidence, precision, and indefinite speed..."

...

Dinner time was as awkward as ever, none of them were allowed to speak in any way per usual.

Since the awful beginnings of dinner, three new horrifying ghosts had stumbled their way in the room—one, in particular, screaming obsessively over in the corner—and Klaus was determined not to flinch whenever their wails rose three octaves higher.

It was absolute agony.

And that was him being nice about it. Bouncing his foot along anxiously, he looked across at Ben, seeking a comforting smile, or anything else that he had to offer. It didn't really matter to Klaus.

Ben, seemingly reading his mind, looked up in time to give the traumatized boy a delicate smile, and reassuring glance. It didn't last for long, but it was what Klaus needed to calm his nerves slightly.

Poking absently at his food, he stared at the plate while silently battling the tremendous urge to grab the drugs he'd stashed in various places. God the voices were unbearable tonight.

"Children, you are excused. Curfew is 8:00 as per usual." Their father declared finally, standing up while wiping off his pristine suit. Klaus snorted, curfew.

They all stood up in an orderly fashion, taking their plates to the counter. One by one, all the children scattered off to somewhere unbeknownst to Klaus.
All except for Ben. Glorious Ben.

"Hey," he said stiffly, trying not to flinch at the particularly loud screech emitted from a lady with half her face burnt off. Ben brushed away the knotted bangs that were messily draped in front of Klauses down-cast eyes and gave his shoulder a squeeze. "You ok? I know there's probably some here" he breathed in a low whisper, eyes swimming with brotherly concern.

"Just peachy; and yes, there's about six screaming right now...what I wouldn't give for a pill to pop—a blunt to hit--maybe more than just a few of those" he muttered, shoulders sagging hopelessly.

"You can still talk to me, Klaus. I'm still your brother...just because I'm alive now doesn't mean I still won't care about whether or not you accidentally manage to kill yourself" He laughed softly, trying to brighten the mood in his own Ben sort of way.

Klaus chuckled briefly, lightening up a little. Ben always knew how to cheer him up, perhaps because he spent nearly two decades by his side as a ghost. To be honest, Ben is what kept him sane throughout his explosive days. Well...as sane as Klaus could be, that is.

"Awe, you care. I knew down in that tentacle-infested heart, that somewhere, you still loved me." he cooed dreamily while shrugging Bens grip off.

"Asshole" Ben snorted, grinning despite himself.
"Oo, Ben said a bad word father!" he mocked, giving the boy a smirk of his own.
Just like old times. A comfortable silence fell upon the pair, and Klaus nearly forgot that he could still see bloodied dead bodies in the corner. Nearly.

"Wanna go annoy Five?" Klaus asked after a while, mischievously wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. Ben gave him a fond eye roll, grabbing his hand and pulling him up the stairs.

"What's our plan?"

... (8:03 PM) ...

"Where are my headphones?" Klaus muttered aloud to himself, desperately dragging his hands through the endless drawers of his room.

Absolutely nowhere to be fucking found. Great.

"BENNN!" he yelled frantically, ripping the covers off his bed again. Maybe they're just tangled up in them?

Footsteps could be heard echoing through the halls—no doubt it was Ben, on his way like the loyal brother he was. "What? Are you ok?!" Ben asked, out of breath. Klaus turned to him with a desperate look embedded in his eyes.

"I can't find my headphones—how am I going to sleep?!" he cried, overturning a dirty clothes bin. Bens gaze softened, and he knelt beside Klaus to help look through the pile clothes. Once they had been thoroughly sifted through, Ben heaved a sigh as Klaus began to hyperventilate.

"They're here Ben, make them stop. So loud. So loud. tell them to go away" Klaus whispered, shaking violently. He felt the warmth of a tiny hand on his back, and he turned around to throw his weight on him.

"Find them, I can't sleep without them!" he wailed, tears pouring out of his eyes by the gallon. Shoving his head into the crook of Bens' neck, he wondered if he'd ever see his beloved headphones again. His brother held him close, hushing his frantic cries of fear while calming him down "Sh, you're okay...we'll find them. If not, we can borrow one of the others, okay? I know Allison keeps a spare pair..." he soothed in a motherly way.

Sniffling, Klaus wiped his nose and eyes. "o-ok." he breathed, taking big gulps of much-needed air. Squeezing his eyes shut and pulling on the strands of hair, he desperately clawed at his ears to make them stop.

Klaus!

Please help us, Klaus!

Klaus, please!

"But they're so loud. make them stop Ben..." he whispered, curling into his grounding hold.

"I know, I know." Klaus could sense Bens face fall into a sorrowful frown, as he tightened his grip on the struggling boy. "Don't think about it, we'll go get you some music." he cooed, stroking a quivering Klaus's hair repetitively.

"Ok. Thank you, again" He whispered, squeezing Bens hand. He shushed him while rolling his eyes. "Years of dealing with this have made me the expert, I'm just glad I can touch you now," he said while grabbing Klaus's other hand to pull him up.

Klaus gave him a suggestive grin, brightening into his old self confidently. (although his nervous eye flitting and fearful wincing was still there) "Anywhere else you'd like to touch?" he winked and got a punch to the arm.

"Let's just go get you some headphones, creep." Ben, still holding him delicately.

...

"Why do you need my headphones again?" Allison asked, searching through her drawers casually. Ben sighed, looking to Klaus for permission.

He nodded to the boy, nervously cracking his knuckles. Allison made a face of disgust at his loud habit, wrinkling her nose.

"He needs music, noise. To block out the dead and whatnot." gesturing to his ears, Bens eyes searched the ground "Do you even have any?" he added, and Klaus watched with growing dread the way her expression grew more upset with each empty drawer.

"sorry Klaus, I don't think mine are here at the moment. I know Five has his right now—although I don't know how adamant he is on sharing" she frowned at the thought of their annoyingly stubborn, and possessive brother.

"Nothing I can't convince him of, after all, I am his favorite brother!" Klaus boasted cheerfully, bouncing along while blocking out the varying screams from around the corridors of the mansion.

Being sober sucks.

Allison and Ben both let out matching scoffs at his little comment, and the actress shoved them out of her room while pushing the clothes back into their rightful places.

"Thanks sissy—we'll ask Five," Ben said from outside her room. Allison gave them a reassuring smile "Good luck, and good night!" she shut the door softly while backing up into her room.

Ben and Klaus looked at each other, a feeling of dread growing in Klaus's stomach. Surely Five would let him borrow his headphones?

Right?

...

"Ok, sure."

"What? Really?! Oh, little bro, you're my new favorite!!" Klaus shrieked, hugging the little fluff ball tightly, despite angered protests.

Ben gave him a mock-offended look, putting a hand to his chest. Klaus apologetically smiled "Sorry Brother-dearest, I still love you!"

Five vibrated with the anger of Satan, pushing Klaus away. "Off! It's only because I know the voices can get to be too much." the smaller teen dusted himself off stiffly, giving Klaus a disdainful but fond look. He turned to Ben as both seemed to telepathically communicate;

"Understatement of the year—no, decade. No, just ever."

Five handed him the black headphones, an impatient look painted on his face. Klaus beamed, giving the glorious device a fond stare while running his hands along the smooth black headband.

"Just—don't break them please, they're quite useful. Return them tomorrow morning Klaus" Five pinched the bridge of his nose exasperatedly, shaking his head.

Klaus looked up to see Ban giving his shoulder a squeeze "Thanks bro, and don't worry. I'll make sure he doesn't break em'"

Giving ben an offended gasp, he woefully draped his hand over his forehead dramatically. "You wound me brother!" he cried, fake sobbing into his hands.

"Truly hurtful, I know. Can we just leave Five alone now?" Ben crossed his arms and stepped out of the room. Klaus followed suit, giving Ben a playful push while stalking out of the room extravagantly. He winked at Five, who returned it with a brutally cold stare.

"Toodles, oh bother of mine!"

...

"All settled in?" Ben inquired, fitting the headphones over Klaus's ears nicely. The plagued boy just nodded while giving Ben a thankful stare.

"Thanks, Ben. For everything. I don't know how you put up with me—I'm a mess" he muttered, looking away.

Ben ruffled his hair, smiling at Klaus with the love of a brother, "I know, but that's ok" he assured, patting the boys head with care. Klaus smiled at him, nuzzling into the touch.

"Good night, Klaus."

"Night!" he singsonged back as the door was closed slowly with a creak.

"Thanks" he whispered, staring at where his faithful friend had just stood.

Hitting shuffle on his iPod, he nodded his head along to They might be Giants.

"Istanbul to Constantinople" he hummed dreamily, only partially hearing the wails of dead corpses from inside the house.

... (5:00 AM) ...

"Number Four"

no

"Number four"

too early for nightmares

"Number four!" a hand grabbed Klaus's arm, squeezing it hard while he was shaken awake abruptly. Slowly sitting up, he rubbed the spot that his dad had grabbed so harshly.

"Whaaaaat?" he groaned, searching for his headphones. The man just stood rigidly, glaring down at him.

"It is time for your training number four, or had you forgotten?"

shit

fuck

no, no no no NO

"No...Dad, please I can't go in there again..." He whimpered, an icy feeling of pure dread washing over him like a dark tidal wave. Pushing away from him, Klaus shuffled frantically to the headboard while muttered nonsense.

"NO" he screamed, the tears already pouring down his face in buckets. dad heaved a sigh, grabbing his arm and dragging Klaus off the bed despite all his efforts.

I can't go back there again, please fucking god save me I can't go there again
"HELP ME—PLEASE SOME—" Dad slapped his face coldly, but the surprise and shock only lasted for about a second before Klaus started back up again, but even worse.

"Sedate him" dad hissed through gritted teeth.

Klaus continued to shriek and cry, even as the fuzzy mindset and staticky vision fell upon him in a dark haze.
He cried and clawed weakly at the arms dragging him away, desperately trying to free himself of this nightmare.

"no.....plea...."

... (Bens POV) ...

"Has anyone seen Klaus?" Ben fretted, walking down the hallway and poking his head in everyone's room. Sunlight filtered into each of them beautifully, but none revealed to have his brother in them. Mom pushed him around the hallway, trying to get them all to the breakfast table successfully.

"Now now Ben! Time to eat, you know how your father feels about breakfast!" she cheerfully told him while gently shoving him along.

He nervously peered into every room he could, looking for his missing brother.

"Seriously, has anyone seen Klaus?!" he yelled, searching for the others as well. A cold feeling of anxiety grew in his stomach, but he was determined to stay positive. Klaus could have gotten up early? Yeah, that was it.

All of them met up in the hallway, walking in their pristine line to get to the table. All but Klaus.

Then, they were at the table. And there he was.

oh no.

"Klaus!" he cried, running up to the boy. He flinched violently upon Bens arrival, looking around in fear with his hollow eyes.

"God, he put you in there again, didn't he?" he whispered in the traumatized boys ear, hugging him softly. Klaus whimpered, nodding his head as he leaned into bens shoulder while crying silently.

"Sh, I know. It'll be ok." he murmured, hugging him back. Klaus shook his head frantically, quivering all over. Ben looked around for their father, luckily, the kids were the only ones (other than mom) in the dining room at the moment.

Looking back at the rest of them, Ben glared and nodded to the shaking kid he held in his arms.

Allison, like the amazing queen she was, rushed over once she saw the state her brother was in. Next was Diego, Vanya, Five, and Luther. All crowded around an absent Klaus with matching looks and varying degrees of concern.

"Klaus? Is he ok?" Vanya inquired nervously, giving Five and Allison worried glances. Allison reaches out a tentative hand, but when Klaus flinched back she recoiled.

Ben scoffed "No he's not ok! Do you see him? He was trapped in the mausoleum all night!" he yelled, rubbing Klaus's shoulder when he squeezed his eyes shut in pain. At that, everyone's eyes widened.

Luther blinked "What? Who put him in a mausoleum?" he bent down to Klaus's level to inspect his condition. Shying away, ben shielded from Luther's gaze. "Who do you think?! it was Dad!" he snapped, holding Klaus closer. Vanya gasped, covering her mouth "It's like what happened to me" she softly said, reaching to stroke Klaus's hair. Diego shoved through Allison and Five, earning an indignant 'hey' from both. He gave Ben a nasty scowl and jabbed his knife at nowhere "Where's the bastard, I'll fucking kill him!" he yelled angrily, immediately putting on his protective brother stance. It was appreciated, but not needed at the moment. Ben rolled his eyes, shoving him away. "stop that, all you're doing is scaring Klaus...put those away!" he watched Diego step away with an impatient grumble, but cast Klaus multiple brotherly looks of worry.

Five crossed his arms "Is this the first time it's happened?"

The room quieted until Moms tuneless humming could be heard clearly from the other room.

Ben sharply narrowed his eyes at the rest of them. Finally, they realized what his brother--their brother--had been going through all his life. "This was happening since he was 13–Dad would lock him in there for 3 to 10 hours at a time. Every time, he would come out scarred...sore throat from screaming for help." He paused, staring at the blank look in his eyes, "I don't know if you guys ever noticed..." he fixed his face to glare at everyone. Vanya sighed "I know how he feels"

Allison blinked, shaking her head "Oh my god guys....this was his childhood here...don't you understand? None of us cared! He was a drug addict to get rid of his trauma—Klaus, he's been struggling with PTSD his whole life—" Five cut her off, his voice dripping with guilt.

"And we did next to nothing"

Ben felt a strange sense of gratitude and fulfillment. of course, it wasn't necessarily Ben they needed to apologize to.

"Poor Klaus..." Vanya whispered to herself while briefly sharing a guilty look with the others.

Everyone crowded around Klaus, muttering apologies.

Five shoved Luther and Allison away harshly, "Listen, give the poor guy some space ok? We need to focus on helping him. He clearly can't go back in there—I mean, look at him! He looks like he's been possessed!" he gestured to Klaus, who had fallen absently silent over time. All that was left was a hollow mess of a person. Ben shuddered, thinking of all the lonely, horrific nights his brother had spent in that glorified graveyard.

"Klaus, you should eat something...Do you want bacon? I smell mom cooking bacon..." Vanya murmured, looking to the kitchen where mom was quickly working.
Ben nodded thoughtfully "Five and Vanya are right—we focus on Klaus"

Luther coughed, giving Ben a skeptical look "Are we sure Dad would do this? Surely he's seen the effects it's having on Klaus...he isn't that horrible..." he trailed off, looking away. Everyone else rolled their eyes, and Five muttered "Classic Luther"

Even Klaus looked up to give him a skeptical stare, craning his neck painfully just to do so. Ben let him go, returning to his seat right next to his brother. "Klaus, are you going to be ok during breakfast?" he muttered, watching as the others all followed suit, and sat down in their rightful spots. (Except for Digo, he briefly stalked about before finally settling down)

Klaus shook his head silently, sighing in exhaustion and pain.

"I'll be just peachy" he mumbled, casting a solemn glare at his empty plate. Ben took his hand and squeezed it tightly, vowing silently to not let him go in that death trap anymore.

Ben turned his attention to the stairs, where their dad was descending cautiously to meet the seven children. "Morning Children, hopefully, you all slept well?" he tutted while setting his cane down next to his seat at the head of the table.

"Klaus didn't"

"What was that Number Five?" he quipped, pointedly glaring at the grumbling teenager. Five didn't respond, only staring begrudgingly at nothing.

When the breakfast came out, hardly any of them touched theirs. Klaus was still on all of their minds as well.
Everyone would occasionally sneak glances at the trembling boy, noting the dark circles under his eyes, and the...scratch marks on his arms?

Bens eyes flitted to his sleeves, a shocked look crossing his face.

"Klaus..." he hissed through his teeth, trying to get his attention. The boy turned his eyes to bens, giving him a dull questioning look. Ben pointed at his sleeves with an inquiring look, trying to signal for him to pull his sleeves up for a better look.

Klaus shook his head slowly, turning away to prod at his bacon mindlessly.

"Number six!" their dad snapped, clearing his throat. Ben glared hatefully at him. Who was he to lock his brother in the mausoleum? He was fully aware of Klaus's fear of his power. Who the hell did he think he was? Clearly, he could see the haunted look in their brother's eyes!

How dare he.

how dare he.

"If you have something to say boy I suggest you spit it out!" he quipped, setting down his fork and knife. Pushing against the table, Ben scowled, looking at Klaus who was shaking his head frantically. Ben clicked his tongue, trying to restrain the monster—it was getting restless.

Fine.

"Nothing, Father," he muttered. A collective shut of eyes and relieved sighs could be heard from around the table.

"As I thought number 6" He settled, returning to his food.

... (Klaus's POV) ...

It was nice of Ben to try and stand up for him. Nice, but stupid.
Klaus 'finished' his food and cleaned up his spot. One hour of free time.

One hour of sulking in his room with the music blasting.
When he disappeared to his room, he didn't expect anyone to follow him, much less try to talk with him. Alas, a family could surprise you sometimes.

Actually, he barely heard the knocks over his song, but eventually, Five just appeared in his room and opened his door for everyone. Klaus lay curled up underneath his blankets, staring at the wall.

Sitting up, he watched as everyone filed into his room and shut the door. Ben sat on his bed and looked at him with concern-filled eyes. The good thing was that they blocked out the four other dead people stumbling about and mumbling. The bad part, the disturbance alarmed them so they began to shriek and mumble faster.

One man with a blown out eye even ran up to him and began to scream his name violently in his ear. Flinching away, he buried his head in a pillow and rocked himself calm, they all would eventually go away.

Ben tapped his shoulder and pulled him into a quick embrace.

"Aw, I knew you cared" he weakly joked. The boy rolled his eyes "Klaus, are you ok?" he asked for the fifteenth time. Klaus pondered the thought, going over everything he'd been through in his life. Settling on what to do for an answer, he snorted.

"Does this look ok to you?"

Pulling up the powerful blue storm inside him, he willed it to move to his fists and reveal everything his siblings couldn't see (luckily).

Everyone immediately flinched away from the rotting corpses, covering their ears at the moans and whines. The one that had been trying to communicate with him began to wail again, causing Klaus to lose his focus and stop revealing them. He relaxed with a violent shudder into his comfortable bed.

They all rushed up to him, blabbering apologies and if they could help.
"Does that happen all the time?" Allison gaped, horrified. She looked around cautiously at where the bodies had all been.
"A-Are those creeps always here?" Diego stuttered, pointing his knife about as if he could somehow protect Klaus from ghosts that only he could see. Vanya rubbed Klaus's shoulder, nervously flitting her eyes around the room. Five glared at him "Why didn't you say anything?! We could have done something, you idiot!"
Klaus sighed while preparing to say what he'd wanted to for so long, but Ben beat him to it.

"Would any of you have believed him? Or would you think he was just high?" he chastised, eyeing everyone in the room skeptically.

"But... I would try?" Luther shifted on his feet, nervously defending himself.

Klaus scoffed "Please, Luther you wouldn't. When I told you I couldn't contact dad, you choked me against a wall. You also threw me out of the room for good measure." everyone turned their eyes to Luther accusingly, Allison hitting him on the back of his head like a mad mother. "Luther!" she yelled.

"Not to mention, when you were getting high and grinding up on some furry—Klaus here" Ben gestured to him "—Was trying to save your sorry ass from some guys, and ended up dying in the process!" he huffed, jabbing Luther in the chest. And now Ben was angry, great. Klaus didn't really like it when Ben was mad.

"Christ Luther, you call him your brother?!" Five shouted, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Diego threw a knife next to him, only just missing his neck and lightly grazing his ear. He pointed a knife at Luther's throat, threateningly glaring "Y-you wan-nna ap-pologize?!" he hissed, gritting his teeth menacingly. Vanya put a hand on his shoulder, but he just shrugged her off.

"Wait—are we going to mention the fact that Ben just said Klaus Died??" Vanya said, pushing herself between Diego and Luther forcefully.

Both stopped, and fucking Christ, every pair of eyes in the room turned to him at once. Even the dead ones!

He shyly ducked away from their stares, eyes nervously looking away. Ben glared at everyone sharply, and they all turned their gazes to each other rather than him.

thank god for ben.

Diego and Luther continued to fight, that is until Allison pushed Diego away, fuming "Seriously? This isn't going to help you two. We should be figuring out how to help Klaus!" She crossed her arms and set her fiery gaze to ben.

Five nodded along, scoffing like he usually did "Thank god I'm not the only one here with half a brain cell to spare."
Allison grinned at him, putting her hand on her hip.

Klaus frowned, they shouldn't be getting involved in this. It was his problem. Not Bens, Fives, Vanyas, Diego's, Luther's, or Allison's.

"Guys, I'm fine. You really don't have to worry about Lil' old me!" he tried lightening the mood but to no avail. Ben silenced him with a look that could kill more than the hentai porn that resided in his stomach.

"Fine. I don't know what you plan to do about it though," he grumbled, crossing his arms.

Five shifted, revealing a clipboard that he had been holding apparently the whole time, and Ben saw it too. Everyone turned their attention to the small terror, listening with pricked ears.

"I...actually might have a few ideas."

...

Chapter Text

... 

There stood all of his siblings, each with matching looks of concern, concentration, or anger (Diego).

"Guys, I really hope this works," Klaus said warily, knees shaking.
Allison and Five shared a look, nodding once Klaus sat on his bed and got under the covers. Sitting up, he searched for a bit of needed assurance on their faces.

"It'll work, I promise." Allison said, determined "And if it doesn't...we'll find another way" She frowned, somehow knowing exactly what to say. Klaus was grateful for that sort of friendship. "Why wouldn't it work? Do you doubt me?" Five huffed, crossing his arms and sipping his tea, cringing at the watery taste. "Stupid old man, why doesn't he like coffee?" Five muttered bitterly, eyeing his tea with a scowl.

Klaus rolled his eyes. Dad would take him tonight, he knew. Hopefully, the plan would work though, and if it didn't...

He didn't like to think of that.

"Ok, the only person that I need here is Five and Ben...you all should get to bed" he sighed, sitting up straighter. Allison nodded, and multiple good night wishes were murmured as most filed out of the room.

"Ok, so Five...you promise you won't fall asleep on Klaus?" Ben questioned once everyone was gone. Five hissed and gave him an offended look "Of course I won't! Do you think I'd leave Klaus in there?" he half-yelled. Klaus shook his head, trying to stop an angry Five (those were very hard to deal with).

"Of course I don't doubt you, little bro!" Klaus smiled, reaching to ruffle his hair. Five leaned away and swatted his arm away.
"I told you to stop calling me that" he grumbled.
"When do I ever listen?" he cooed, tilting his head to the side innocently. Ben coughed meaningfully, pointing to five "Ok, Klaus, you're going to be stuck in there for about five minutes before Five comes in and fishes you out. Cool? Cool. Simple!" he added nervously, giving Klaus a serious look.

"Just don't panic, you won't be there for long." Five assured when saw his face fall. Klaus felt skeptical, but who was he to doubt Fives ability?

"Alright, stop fussing you grandmas, I'll be ok!" Klaus assured, but he doubted that too. Five shrugged, disappearing out of the room in the blink of an eye, with a flash of blue. It was just Klaus and Ben left now.

"You gonna be ok?" Ben asked cautiously, looking him up and down like he might shatter at any moment.
"You ask me that too much, stop worrying! I'll be fine brother dearest" he reprimanded. I'm so tired of people asking me if I'm ok. I'm obviously not, why bother asking?
Probably because he cares, ugh.

"Klaus? Snap out of it" Ben snapped in front of his face, startling him out of his thoughts. Klaus shook his head and laid down onto the bed, curling up into a ball with his back facing Ben. Soon, he'll be here. "Sleep tight, don't let the ghosts bite" Ben joked stiffly, patting his shoulder and standing up. With Klaus's back facing him, he casually sighed and his face morphed into that of exhaustion.

"Not like I have a choice"

... (2:55) ... (Fives POV) ...

"Pogo, have the narcotic ready. We may have to use it" came a whisper from the hallway.

 God, Klaus better thank me for staying up this late. 

He was still 56 years old after all. 

Wait—that's your cue to pay attention.

A door creaking could be heard from outside Fives room, and following it came Klaus's blood-curdling shrieks and whimpers...shit, the poor guy.

Five wanted desperately to burst out and uppercut the old man, stealing his traumatized brother back and hiding him from any prying ghosts (or insolent fathers, it seemed) but he was forbidden. They couldn't mess up the timeline too much, there were only allowed to be here for so long.

He waited for a few minutes until Klaus's whimpers, shouts, and bangs could only just be heard. He took that as his signal to follow them until he was led to his brother's nightmare, staying tactfully far away from their Father.

Creeping down the stairs, he headed out in the direction the faint noise could still be heard. He was led outside to the side of their mansion...since when did they have a mausoleum outside their house? Five didn't know.

He hid around the corner until the old man's steps (along with pogo) were heard reentering the house and shutting the door. Five took the opportunity to look at the concrete building in all its notorious glory, and inspect it for half a second.

It certainly looks creepy.
He shuddered at the thought of being locked in there for hours on end and teleported into the building.

Damn, I can see where he gets his nightmares.

Once inside, the most prominent thing was the reverberated whimpers and sobs of Klaus huddled in the corner (and the musty, suffocating scent of death). Through the greenish darkness, he could just make out the boy shivering and grabbing his arms in a fetal position.

"Klaus!" he called, trying to get him to calm down. A faint hiccup responded as Fives eyes tried to adjust to the low light.
"Klaus!" he tried again, finally earning a real worded response.

"F-Five? Did it work?!" the dark silhouetted head shot up and he scrambled up with lots of shuffling noise. Five stepped towards him but stopped when he saw what his brother was acting like.
Constantly shoving his hand at things that weren't there, and brushing invisible stuff off of him. We're the ghosts...touching him?

"No...get off me, get away..." He mumbled, shaking his head and pulling at his ears desperately. "I can't help you! I'm sorry!" he sobbed, stumbling over to give and practically falling into his arms limply.

Five had always been a pretty ok brother, he liked to think. Help when needed, save the world two or three times, time travel everyone back to when they were teens...Pretty ok brother stuff right?
Well, perhaps the single thing he was the worst at was comforting a crying brother. Much less one in his arms.

Normally Five would've shoved him away, and he was kinda itching to push him away—he wasn't used to human contact. decades of no human contact can really fuck someone up—but something felt painfully right about this...Five pulled Klaus in awkwardly, patting his back in what he hoped was a soothing manner.

"Let's get out of here..." he muttered, willing them both outside of the building—that door would not be opened by him and his scrawny arms.

A flash of blue, a second of disorientation and dizziness. Suddenly both collapsed onto soft grass with startled yelps. Klaus curled into Fives hold, shivering and sniffling.

Five smiled rarely. Normally it was a small smirk or a cocky grin—mostly when he one-upped Luther—but this time was different. What? So, he felt needed...it was a nice feeling to have someone cling onto you as if you were their only savior in a screwed up world.

In a way, Five was. And Ben. And Vanya, Diego, Allison...Luther was kind of a jerk to him, but they were still brothers. And brothers looked after each other. They all did.

"It worked...five, you saved me...f-from absolute hell..." He whispered, pressing into Fives chest. He shivered at the unexpected, rare contact and rolled his eyes fondly.
"You big baby, of course, it worked. What do you take me for, Luther?" he cracked a joke, earning a small smile from Klaus's dimly illuminates face.

"Of course, what was I thinking? Were you sent to the moon? I think not. Nobody could go through such agony" Klaus said extravagantly, laughing even more at Fives little comment.

 
"Now, I know you'd love to hold me in your arms all night...but we've gotta get up little bro" Klaus smirked, and give shoved him away. "You ruined it." he deadpanned, getting up and dusting himself off.  "I ruin a lot, you get used to it," Klaus responded happily, popping up into the air like he wasn't just locked inside a mausoleum. Five looked him up and down, making out what he could under the shimmering moonbeams. He looked like shit to be honest...and was that blood? Klaus frowned when he saw Fives concerned face.

"What?"
"I'm not going to ask if you're ok because you're not...obviously. But how come you never told us? How come we didn't notice how horrible you looked at breakfast?" He paused, looking away with a puzzled face, "Were we really that bad?" he murmured to himself. Klaus placed a shaky hand on his shoulder, smiling softly. "No...no no no, I was just really good at hiding what I really felt. And it doesn't matter—you're helping now." Five looked at his miserable face and analyzed it. Why did he look concerned for Five? It should've been the other way around.
He shrugged, thinking over the past...well, 58 years. Still feeling the slight tremble of Klaus's hand told him that he still wasn't completely fine, but it was good enough.

"I'm sorry, by the way. I didn't know what you felt with—and here I thought none of you understood anything." he looked into Klaus's eyes, perhaps in a search for the unknown. Pulling him into a very quick, un-Five-like hug. Klaus stiffened in surprise, but eventually, he squeezed him back.

"It's ok, sorry for not really taking the end of the world seriously," Klaus whispered, standing back to look at the thirteen-year-old.
Five shrugged again "You didn't know very much about it, but apology excepted."

He and Klaus walked back to the steps of the mansion in silence, enjoying the quiet chirping of crickets and flickers of fireflies that danced in the wind. It was a peaceful serenity.

"I suppose this is our stop" Klaus breathed, eyes flitting around anxiously to unseen dead people.

Five nodded, taking his hand and picturing their rooms. A flash of blue, and they were stumbling into Klaus's. "I don't know how you do that all the time..." he mumbled after regaining his balance. Five chuckled softly.

"Sorry, your brain cell might be too small to comprehend"

Klaus gasped, holding his 'wounded' heart. Five rolled his eyes, snorting disdainfully at his childish behavior. "Such a rude boy!" Klaus said in a harsh whisper, pouting through the darkness that shrouded them.

"Alright, time to go to bed drama queen" He sighed, pushing him towards the plush, and quite messy bed. Klaus collapsed onto it with a huff, and the bed gave a small creaky protest to the new-found weight (as if he weighed anything at all).

"Night brother!" Klaus chirped softly, snuggling into his cave of blankets after a short while of getting situated.

"Night Klaus" he murmured, flickering a momentarily blinding blue and steeping through to his room, settling in for much-needed rest.

He hoped he could fall asleep after their little adventure.

... (Vanyas POV) ... Two days later ...

"FAMILY MEETING" Diego screamed up the stairs harshly.
Vanya winced at the loud echo of his voice—the walls were thin, why did he have to scream it?
The only reason he was screaming, however, was because Reginald decided that today was his day off (and the children's too, but he probably wasn't thinking of them when he left the house). So, he took his cane, his fancy silk coat, and was off to wherever. It was irrelevant to Vanya.

Sitting down on the dusty old chair in the attic, she instinctively placed her feet flat on the floor, and he back straight as a ruler. An unintentionally instinctive thing on her part; years of practicing the perfect violent posture had trained her for the better (worse?).

First came Allison, ever the put together one, then Luther, Five, Diego (who was most likely rounding up everyone), And always last (always together); Klaus and Ben.

Diego nodded once everyone had sat down in their seats of choice, starting the meeting from his red-velvet chair.
They gathered in the unused attic because there were no cameras planted there, and they knew mostly because everyone scourged the place for hidden cameras. The kind of information they revealed could not be seen by anyone.

"Everyone here? Good. I bet you're all wondering what I called you here for—"

"It's for me, Diego. We all know, I don't know why you have to be all Judge Judy about it." Klaus yawned, stretching nicely. Vanya mentally brightened, it was good to see he finally got sleep. Ever since their little plan with Five was pulled off (before Reginald could go to retrieve him, Five teleported him back into the death-cage), everyone was in high hopes. None more then Klaus himself though, and that was a definite welcome change.

She smiled at his comment, chuckling softly despite herself. Diego just frowned, narrowing his eyes at him in irritation. "Ok, why don't you start the meeting then genius?" he hissed, giving Klaus a dirty look.

"My pleasure!" Klaus cleated his throat and adjusted his rumpled shirt, smoothing out the wrinkles in its fabric. "Four-score and seven years ago—"

"Meeting in session! Let's discuss now!" Five huffed, cutting Klaus off impatiently. Vanya smiles at their brotherly antics, it was rare they acted as a real family should. Friendly banter and casual remarks were what she missed most as a child. Good thing they were fixing her...earth-destroying tenancies...right?

"So, we obviously can't keep this up right? Five can't stay up until 4 AM each night for Klaus—although I'm sure he'd be willing to." Luther spoke, ever the serious one. Taking a deep breath, he rubbed the space between his eyebrows sluggishly. "So...I  suggest...we go to the mausoleum today." he winced, eyeing everyone's (no-doubt explosive) reactions.

"The fuck?" Surprise surprise, it was Ben who had the most problem with this. Vanya agreed with him, the sickly pale look that appeared on Klaus's face spoke wonders to what he thought of Luther's mind-shattering revelation.

Vanyas head fell into her hands as many voices bubble up in protest at his request—all very justified. Well, except for Diego who threatened to slice his throat if Luther kept spouting nonsense ideas.

"Hold on guys, let's hear him out ok?" Allison said, looking anxious to see where he was really going with this.

"You know, what did we expect? Here's the guy who locked Vanya in a vault when he first found out about her powers" Diego sputtered, glaring daggers (haha) at Luther.

Vanya's face contorted into one of mild surprise at his little comment—she truly thought everyone forgot about that—Was Diego defending her?

"Diego!" Allison yelled, staring pointedly at him. Vanya rolled her eyes, of course, they couldn't have one family meeting without everyone breaking out into complete chaos.

"Guys, seriously... I'd like to hear him out please?" she spoke softly, earning the attention of nearly everyone in the dusty old room. Luther cleated his throat, throwing her an apologetic frown. She nodded back, accepting his unspoken apology.

"I mean, during the day...what if, Klaus uses his powers so we can see and touch them...we go in, clear the place, and bing bang boom he's not afraid when he goes in there anymore?"

Everyone held their breath...that certainly wasn't what Vanya was expecting. Perhaps something more like 'let's lock him in there until he gets over his fear!' But no, looks like Luther could have good ideas too. Rethinking her train of thought, Vanya mentally scolded herself for that tactless insult, frowning when she realized she was turning into Diego.

"He could be onto something..." Five started, breaking the still silence that had unknowingly fallen over the time-traveling kids.

Everyone murmured their agreement, brothers and sisters looking at each other with thoughts and feelings silently exchanged.
"I think we can work with that" Vanya followed up with while nodding her head steadily, the others joining in. It made her stomach full with a warm, nice feeling. People were listening to her? That was a first.

Everyone's eyes turned to Klaus, who has so far been silent in the debate about him. Vanya's smile fell when she inspected his face—he didn't look very welcome to the idea.

"Ok, we'll think of something else Klaus. You didn't have to do anything you don't want to" Luther started, a guilty look crossing his face.
Klaus shook his head, nodding slowly "No, it's a good idea... I just..." he paused, and Vanya gave him what she hoped was a comforting smile to continue. "There are so many things that could go wrong" he muttered, looking away from Vanya. Ben placed his hand atop him, comforting him like Vanya wished she could at the moment.

"Ok, let's hash out the finer details." Ben started, eyeing everyone with a face that said to continue with the discussion.

So they did, and eventually, they came out with a set plan that they would put into action letter that day when the sun was high in the air and peaking. 

The perfect time.

...

Chapter Text

(Klaus's POV)

The umbrella academy, true to their inexplicable name, was standing outside a large building with (you guessed it) umbrellas in their hands.

Not for rain, of course, but for the blinding sun that would either give them 3rd-degree burns, or an eye injury. Klaus shivered violently, even though it was above 70 degrees out, he was just nervous. Of course, he was standing in front of the cause of his nightmares with his family, waiting for Luther to open the door with those no-longer-monkey arms of his.

A shaky breath escaped him as they all stepped back to give Luther the room to work his magic. Vanya suddenly appeared right beside him, startling him into a confused tizzy with the hand she placed on his shoulder.

"You ok?" She murmured, eyes trained on him rather than the wide-open void of the mausoleum. The gateway to his deepest fears had just been opened, and he was most definitely not ok.

"Peachy, darling little sissy" He settled for his usual comedic genius, but Vanya was apparently having none of it. Perhaps it was the way his voice shook, or the nervous flit of his eyes from side to side; examining the mutilated ghosts that had taken notice of the seven. Maybe it was the way his legs bounced and trembled uncontrollably. Who knew? It could've been some sixth sense that only apocalypse-causing sisters had.

She glared at him, rolling her eyes and fondly stroking the soft coat he had on at the moment. He missed his old feather boa of course, and his eccentric crop-tops, but at least the drab clothes he currently wore were nothing but comfortable. A would-be calming thing, if it wasn't linked to so many traumatizing childhood memories.

"Klaus!" A shout shook him from his spiraling thoughts, and his head snapped up to whoever called him from the realm of the mind space. Also known as hell (at least in his case). Come to think of it, hell was anywhere he was. The tortured ghosts and shrieking demons made that quite apparent over the many, many years.

Shaking himself from his thoughts this time, he stumbled his way over to the looming entrance, nervously eyeing the tall pillars and cracked cement.

"Are you sure I have to g-go in there?" Curse his weak stuttering, he was nothing but a coward. Ben and Vanya were faithfully on his side, slowly pushing him towards his inevitable doom. It was hard to ignore the snort of impatience that emitted from Luther, the bastard. He would've made a snarky comment if he could get two words out. The only thought that ran rapidly through his head was 'im gonna die' and 'please no'

The first one seemed, honestly, comforting. (He kind of enjoyed the little girl's odd, proper little voice. Perhaps he could actually see Dave!) But he knew that Ben would miss him, and maybe Vanya. Diego too. (being really honest, God would just send him back again.)

Allison exchanges a nervous look with Luther, steeping into the musty room. Diego and Luther followed suit, the knife-expert turning back to give him a brotherly, nervous look. Klaus nodded at Five to go ahead before him, he was also staring at him with a nervous expression. What was with everyone and staring at him?

"Here we go, ready?" Ben whispered in his ear.
Klaus nodded solemnly, eyes darting around him to spot several decaying bodies watching them intently.

He took a deep breath and stumbled into the darkened room.

... (Allison's POV) ...

Allison liked to consider herself a calm, modest individual. The kind that tackles a hard situation with a bright heart, and a wayward smile. Optimism and clarity.

Naturally, due to the universe hating her family, she had to be thrown off guard again.
Honestly? Nothing could prepare her for the way Klaus was acting...and come to think of it, Vanya seemed to be having some sort of PTSD with the whole 'enclosed space' thing. It most-likely reminded her of the dungeon she was trapped in.

Allison glared at Luther for that once more.

Meanwhile, Klaus was shivering and shaking like there was no tomorrow...she could visibly see the sweat pouring out of him, as well as the insane, hollowed look embedded in her dear brother's eyes. Usually alight with child-like joy.

Luther scratches the back of his head and gave Allison a nervous look, she responded with a raised eyebrow.
Bending down to Klaus's level, she squeezed in beside Vanya and Diego, adding her hushed voice to the murmured of calm coming from her brothers and sister.

"Five, did you know this was how he acted?" she whispered to the time-traveler, surprised to see a sheen of anxious sweat reflected off his usually calm, or smug face.

He nodded solemnly, never taking his eyes off of their Brother, who had begun to hyperventilate intensely. Allison fretted, should she use her power? Rumor him to a quiet peacefulness?

No, he needed to do this without the aid of her power.
Klaus muttered quick prayers, and a colorful array of curses at seemingly nothing. He was desperately clinging onto Bens' arm while trembling in a fetal position that shook Allison to the bone.
Grimacing, she caressed his cold cheek while shivering at the cold breeze that blew into the room. Could it be a ghost?

Turning to Luther for advice, he blinked profusely and stared blankly back at her.

"Useless moon-baby" she hissed under her breath, earning a snort of amusement (agreement?) from Diego. Turning from the shaking mess that was her brother, she pulled Diego up with her "What do we do? this clearly ain't working—all we're doing is putting him through more pain!" she erratically shifted her weight around, tapping her foot. It was absolute torture to listen to Klaus shriek and whimper. If only she knew what he was seeing, then she could truly be of help.

Deigo shot Luther a look from behind Allison, narrowing his eyes to a hateful look.
"Clearly, this was a mistake. What did we expect from moon-baby?" he hissed, eyes shifting to the curled up form of Klaus in the corner.

She shushed him "It's not his fault, we just approached this wrong I think. A little at a time would've been more helpful I think."

"You think?"

Turning from Diego, she tentatively reached out to grab Klaus's arms and drag him to the light of the outside world. Five appeared and helped her stiffly, earning a slap from their crying brother.

"D-don't touch me! Stop touching me!" he screamed, sobbing into his arms. Allison felt tears slip down her cheeks, but she pressed on. This would be good for him one they accomplished their goal.

five nodded at her, counting to three under his breath. With a swift tug, he pulled Klaus to the entrance by about one foot. Slow and steady.

Their next attempt didn't have the desired effect however, when a blinding flash of blue doused the room, revealing everything they wished they'd never have to see.

First, it was silent, and they were given speechless time to take in the number of ghosts that crowded them. One shoved Allison into Luther, who had appeared at her side, and stumbled to her brother and draped herself over another ghost.

Two more stood in the corner, glowing a bright blue and holding their intestines in by their hands. Allison quickly turned away, resisting the urge to throw up.

Then, the noise started. First, it was gradual, a steady whisper of two of Klaus, but it grew. It grew tremendously. The shrieks and screams, the piercing cries of the dead reverberated off the stone walls and echoed into Allison's brain. She covered her ears and looked at the others, who also had their ears covered.

God, it was a nightmare. All of them calling his name, their shrill voices bouncing around Allison's head, driving her insane.

is this what he deals with every day? All the time? I knew it was bad...but not this bad.

Holy shit, he was stuck in this death-trap his whole childhood. Jesus Christ. Klaus.

Her thoughts spiraled, and she pushed Luther to their brother. "get him out of here!" she yelled over the voices, shoving her way through the grotesque figures—to the light—she would have giggled at her own pun, were it not for the fact her brother was practically dying.

Bursting out into fresh air, she joined Vanya and Ben on the ground, sitting next to a standing five. Everyone looked around, and there were probably about 30 dead ghosts walking around, some with maddened faces and mangled body parts. Some were children, some old. The part that scared her most was that when Allison accidentally caught their eyes, and all began to swarm the children and bombard them with questions—pleas—noise.

She covered her ears and pulled Vanya into a protective hug, and each rocked in fear. Suddenly, the blue Flickered—once, twice, then...silence. Beautiful, marvelous, absolute serenity.

Allison looked around, her first thought of her siblings. Assessing everyone, it looked like they were all a bit scratched up, or traumatized, but not hurt. Vanya has a particularly nasty scratch on her arm, but they could worry about that later. She spotted Luther and Diego on their way out of the Mausoleums entrance, number 1 carrying a limp, pale version of their brother. All of them crowded around, eager to know the current state of the poor boy.

Diego pushed everyone away, earning multiple protests. "Diego, let us see him...he's not—" Allison started, but she couldn't finish for the life of her.

"No, he isn't. Luther here," he pointedly glared at the blonde, "Thought the b-best approach was to knock him out c-cold. With luck, he'll g-get a few hours of sleep" Diego informed, squeezing Klaus's shoulder.

Luther put him on the grass gently, heaving a sigh of relief, and exhaustion. Allison felt his pulse, quick, but there none the less. Sitting back, she glanced around at all her other siblings (Vanya still curled in her arms).

Ben huffed a sad, exasperated sound while running his hands through Klaus's scraggly hair. "I bet none of you knew what that was like." he bitterly said, looking at the unconscious, tortured form before him.

"Wait just a minute, Ben. You've been dead for—" Luther started. Allison shook her head, even she knew that it was a bad idea to provoke Ben with stupid questions when he was (rarely) angry.

"exactly. Dead! the one thing you morons keep forgetting is that our darling brother here can see the dead. Why is that so hard to comprehend? It's not like he was lying about his powers!" Bens eye twitched, and he narrowed his eyes at Luther. "I can't believe, that after all you just saw, you still have the fucking audacity to question Klaus. Or doubt him. Or do anything but respect him!"

Allison shared a look with Vanya, as well as Five. This wasn't going to go over well...

Luther sputtered a defense for himself, which that in itself, what quite pathetic.

"You don't get to treat him the way you used to. None of you could understand what he went through. Did it ever occur to you that the only reason Klaus was a druggie, was to suppress all the shit you just witnessed?!" he yelled, fuming now. Allison recoiled, she's actually figured that out by now. She had no idea if the others realized it though.

Of course, the only one confused by that was Luther (naturally). He scratched his head, a look of confusion settling on his face.

"Christ, Luther at least say you're sorry!" Five piped up all of a sudden, glaring at the blonde.
Luther backed up, seemingly sorry for once.

Ben nodded, giving him an expectant look.
"I'm...sorry Ben. And when Klaus wakes up, I'll apologize to him too."

"Finally, h-he manages to be a g-good brother" Diego half stuttered, half hissed under his breath. Allison rolled her eyes, Diego could be so full of it sometimes.
"We should all apologize." Allison quickly spoke to avoid the two fighting. Usually, it was either her or Luther's word that was final. Everyone turned to her, and she glanced down at Vanya, who was still laying on her.

"Except for Vanya, she did next to nothing." Five added, and Allison noticed the way his eyes still flitted from side to side; perhaps scoping out the area for any more dead corpses. Good thing she wasn't the only one still shaken up about that.

Everyone nodded their heads, each apologizing to ben as well as agreeing to show their guilt to Klaus when he woke up. Vanya shifted and slid out of Allison's grasp to stroke her brother's curly hair.

"Are we going to address it?" she murmured, low so everyone leaned in to hear her properly. Luther, for once caught up with what was happening, coughed and nodded "Yeah, I suppose we should."

Ben sighed, perhaps knowing that he would need to answer whatever probably naive questions the bunch threw at him.
"Is that always what is like...?" Vanya started shyly, glancing at Klaus, who's body had started rising and falling evenly instead of hyperventilating at an alarming rate.

Ben shook his head slowly "It's not always that...hectic....but he's been sober for quite a while, and it was at his childhood nightmare building, and we were all there..." he settled down, a quizzical look crossing his face with a frown.
"I don't think he's ever done the whole blue light thing though. This might've been the first time since we arrived that he's done it. It's an emotional response, I know. Much like Vanya's actually" he concluded, skeptically glancing at Vanya herself. Said girl inhaled sharply, looking at Klaus with even more pain-filled eyes than before.

"You have a lot in common, you know." Ben spoke quietly "Both traumatized the same way in your childhood. Both ignored, although Klaus to a lesser extent. Uncontrollable powers, emotional, using drugs as a suppressant—whether it be willingly or not—you're practically the same person, how have neither of you explored that yet?" he wondered aloud, and Allison looked expectantly at Vanya.

It was true, she thought. Head spinning still, she began to think over every instance she knew of—and both Klaus and Vanya related in some aspect.
Even their powers were somewhat similar, at least, out of the seven of them.

"Well, we'll all just need to make an effort to know Klaus better." Allison murmured. Vanya agreed solemnly, and one by one, everyone nodded their head slowly.

Allison reminisced over the times she wished she'd had a real sister to spend time with, before. Realizing now that when Klaus would insist on her painting his nails neon-green and other absurd colors, all he wanted was a sister too. She chuckled at the memory of Klaus picking cherry red, moss green, and a sunny yellow. All for the same hand. Frowning, she remembered why they stopped. How foolish she felt for taking out her frustrations at him, all because of the gender.

In reality, she got something better than a sister.

She decided, that as soon as he was better, her, Vanya, and Klaus would all have a huge sleepover. Pain nails, gossip, maybe have a pillow fight. Everything they missed before, they could accomplish now.

"Anyways, now that the whole guilt-fest is over with" Five started, "I say we go back inside and give Klaus to grace, she'll know what to do." Everyone silently agreed, all too stunned to really respond to him. Numbly, they began their traumatized trek back to the house (not like it was far).

Luther heaved himself to a kneeling position, scooping up the alarmingly thin boy in his arms carefully.
Everyone shakily followed suit, Allison helping Vanya up hesitantly.

"You ok?" She whispered to the frightened girl. Now was the time to put her sister skills to the test.

"I'll be ok. I just can't believe all this time, me and Klaus could've had a bigger connection." she paused "We could've helped each other" She shivered, rubbing the red scratch on her arm. Allison grabbed her hand, forcing away "Don't touch that, it could get infected." she softly scolded in a motherly way.

The violinist just sighed miserably, walking stiffly inside.

...

It always made Allison a bit envious when she saw Grace. Her pristine, golden locks. unwrinkled dresses, unblemished skin. Perfect posture, beautiful cherry-red lips, complete with a dazzling smile. But of course, she realized that her mother was a robot, she wasn't an idiot. Mom was simply designed to be more exquisite than any other woman, that was fact.

Watching her delicate hands sew up a nasty red gash in Klaus's frail leg, Allison sucked in a hesitant breath along with her siblings. All of them were waiting in painful anticipation for their mom to finish patching him up. With bated breath, all (except for Diego) watched the needle with varying degrees of cringe.

Surely he would be ok? Why wouldn't he be?

Allison guessed that the biggest of his problems would be the absolute exhaustion he'd face for the rest of the...week.

"He's gonna be so tired in training." Vanya voices her thoughts, causing everyone to turn their heads in expectance. "What? Discovering a new-ish power is exhausting. Completely draining, I was so tired after I nearly caused the apocalypse" she said a matter of factly. Allison smiled, it was good Vanya was coming to terms with what she did. Every time someone brought up the end of the world incident, the guilt would seep onto her face. (It wasn't a good look on her, Allison decided.) Nobody responded, turning back with eager faces to the status of their brother.

Grace hummed a little tune and cut the special thread, smoothing out her skirt and taking off her nurses hat. Everyone peered in closer, carful to not get in the working mothers way.

Smiling softly to herself, she pressed a loving kiss to Klaus's forehead and patted his shoulder. Allison leaned in anxiously, checking the heart monitor for the fifth time. It was still beeping at a steady pace, that was a relief.

"Your brother will be ok, but you children must stop being so rough with each other! We don't want anymore accidents like this, now do we?" she chirped, skillfully maneuvering around all the equipment surrounding the scene.

Diego smiled sadly "D-don't worry, we'll be careful mm-mom" he stuttered nervously. It was odd to hear him stutter again, Allison hadn't heard it in a while. But then again, they hadn't been 13 in a while.

"Aw, Diego. It means a lot to hear you say that." She cupped his cheek, perking up and clicking her heels together.

"Come along now children, your brother will be up in an hour or so!"

They walked out of the white room in their ordered line, each giving Klaus's limp body worrisome glances until he disappeared around the corner.

Chapter Text

The first thing Klaus registered was the tense silence, as well as the insufferable smell of chemicals and cleanliness.

Then, he felt the absolute exhaustion radiating through his body. He was also in quite a deal of pain, but that was nothing new. He resisted the urge to open his eyes and face the brightness that lay beyond his closed eyelids, but eventually, he knew he'd have to face it.

cracking open his eyes, hyper-focused and he and bright, he realized exactly where he was.

Fuck. What happened?

The steady beep of a heart monitor, unfortunately, made it known that he was still alive, and Klaus shifted his head to the side. Ben was there, sleeping right beside the white hospital bed he lay in, in what looked to be the most uncomfortable chair Klaus had ever laid his glorious eyes upon. Looking past the sleeping boy, he addressed all of his other siblings.

Five was frowning intently in his sleep, muttering and spastically kicking out his foot in his sleep. Klaus smiled sadly, he looked so upset—still in the older brother mindset, he wished he could wrap the 'youngest' in his arms and carry him away to safety.

He moved down the line of anxiously sleeping siblings.

Allison had her arms crossed, leaning up against Vanya in her chair. The two wore matching looks of fear and discomfort—Vanya looking a bit more stressed. The concentrative strain on her face said it all, perhaps she was having a bad dream? Something along the lines of the apocalypse or that fuck-monkey Lenore? Harold? He had virtually no idea, and he didn't care to be honest.
Diego was twitching like he normally did, probably fighting something intensely as he slept. Even when he rested, he fought. Klaus sighed, what would they do with his violent tendencies?

Luther was completely out of it, slumped over in his chair. Klaus felt his heart swell, even Luther was worried! Moon-crazed, slightly annoying, thirteen year old blondie Luther!
Looking closer, he noticed faint tear tracks running down his cheek—actually, they all did! Even little, stone-cold Five. He actually felt a little bad about feeling so gleeful, but it was good to know they cared enough to cry.

Frowning, he analyzed the situation—why were they crying over him? What did he do?
He then focused in on Bens' face, so close to his own. He would get his answers from a reliable source.

Blowing in his face, he awaited Bens awakening with a classic Klaus-cocky smile.

"Wha—Klaus?" he muttered, shaking off the weary drowsiness that still clung to him. Klaus nodded, reaching up to poke his forehead.

"The one and only" he whispered, trying not to wake the others. Not that he didn't want to see them, but a few moments alone with his favorite sibling was more than what he needed.

And yes, Ben was absolutely his favorite sibling. Next to Vanya. Or Five. Or Diego. Or Allison. Or really, just any of his siblings. He loved them all!

"Are you feeling ok? I'm sorry we made you go there, it was an idiotic idea" He ruefully cursed, rubbing the dark bags under his eyes. Klaus tsked, shaking his head slightly.
"You worry too much" He chastised, although happy to know he cared. "yeah, it was kinda awful, but at least they tried? it's more than they've done in the past, and I respect that"

"As long as you're ok now." He sighed, sitting up and stretching in his chair. Klaus propped himself up as well, still blinking away the heavy exhaustion that pulled at his eyelids. Ben went to wake the others, turning on his heel and reaching out to poke the closest—five.

"No," Klaus whimpered softly, quietly. He lowered his head in embarrassed shame.
Bens eyes softened, rolling his eyes as he turned back to him. Klaus scooted closer, patting next to him.

"Please?"

Nodding knowingly, Ben walked around the equipment stealthily and hopped in to spoon him from behind. Klaus nuzzled into him, contently relaxing as the 'horrors' skinny arms draped around his waist lazily.
Klaus missed this; When they were kids, Ben would always be up for a good snuggle—often sneaking out of his room at night to be with his frightened brother.

He was sure Ben missed it too, being a ghost for so long was bound to cause some touch-starved issues. So when they went back in the past, Klaus hugged Ben something like every other five seconds. The others questioned it, sure, but they didn't know what it felt like to be a ghost.
Neither did Klaus, but he got close enough.

Well, closer than most.

Although Ben always protested when he was tackled by the panda that was his brother, Klaus knew he secretly loved and missed the contact. Sometimes he would catch Ben running straight into a wall, completely forgetting that he was now alive and solid.

The discouraged, insecure look that would take over Bens' face, however—that was horrible to watch. So, Klaus made sure to remind him whenever and wherever that he was real and could always ask for hugs if he wanted the reassurance.
The ghost-whisperer knew first hand how hard reaching out was, so he helped out whenever he could, always the first to hug, and last to let go.

Ben returned the favor by never giving up on Klaus for all those years, and he was still returning the favor even now when he had the freedom to leave.

Completely tranquil, Klaus sighed and fluttered his eyes close, content enough to fall into a peaceful sleep.

...

"Shhh!—wake—th—five!"

"—I'm not—Klaus—are"

"Look what—did—he's up!"

Allison? and five?
Klaus shook his head, shifting back into Ben. That was what he remembered. Ben and him hugging, then Klaus falling peacefully asleep (for once).
"Five and Allison—fighting over me? I hate to disappoint, but Ben is my favorite" He quipped lazily, sitting up in the hospital bed; Ben shifted beside him, waking up groggily as well,

"Not fighting over you, just fighting ABOUT you. Allison thought we should let you wake, and I thought that we should wake you." Allison rolled her eyes, glaring at Five as he spoke. "Turns our we woke you anyways, sorry" she apologized, kind as ever.

Luther pushed the two fighting siblings away from Klaus's bed, smiling as he made eye contact.
And, in a stroke of what Klaus thought was his imagination, apologized. He turned to Ben and they shared a glance of surprise.

"I never got to say this to you after—the mausoleum" He paused, scratching the back of his neck. "But, I'm sorry. For hurting you, and not acting as a leader should. I'm sorry for Everything I've ever done to harm you...and I never considered that you weren't just some junkie deadbeat...and I'm sorry for that"
Klaus was taken aback, he didn't think Luther could even be that sincere! Searching his mind for a proper response, he turned to Ben, then back to Luther.

"It's alright Luther, I...forgive you? Is that what you say to these things?" He said, giving Luther a small, toothy grin.
Moon-child beamed back at him and scooped the recovering sibling up into a bone-crushing hug.

"Oh, ok...we're doing this now?" He gasped, searching for air.
Moon-baby let go and say back down in his seat with a creak, still crookedly grinning. It was kind of charming, the kid-like nativity of Luther.

"Who's next?" Klaus jokingly said, keyword: Jokingly. He didn't expect Vanya to stumble her way up to him miserably. He frowned, pulling her closer "Vanya, I don't know if you knew this but I survived! No need to be so depressed my dear, destructive sissy" he assured her in his own way, ignoring the look he got from everyone when he called her destructive.

Vanya, however, giggled weakly. A beautiful sound Klaus always enjoyed hearing. Too bad it never happened very often.
"It's funny, is all. You and I have both been locked in cells of unimaginable torture—"

"Amen to that" He praised, smiling while holding up his hand for a high five. Vanya returned it eagerly, shying away for a millisecond.

"—and yet we never even talked about our forced trauma!" She finished, frowning. "We could've been so much closer than we were" She added in a miserable whisper, glancing at Klaus's stitched up leg. He smiled in sympathy, pulling his distressed sister into a hug that one could never replicate.

"Oh little number 7, don't worry yourself. We'll have time to catch up and bond over our miserable childhoods," Klaus looked at the rest of his siblings, "we all will."

Everyone beamed back at him, and Allison stepped up to the plate.
“Batter batter swing!” Klaus laughed, admiring her well-put together stance or assured self-reliance.

She covered her giggle, suppressing it. “Anyways, I’m so sorry we never believed you about Ben. And just how we treated you in general,” she nervously laughed. “I have a daughter Klaus. And if she ever had to go through that, or was ever treated like that...”

Klaus smiled “You’d go full Mama Bear mode? Sounds like quite the spectacle.”

She grinned, flashing her perfect smile at him. “Exactly. She always loved you, yaknow. Whenever I talked about when we would paint nails, and how flamboyant you were; Claire’s face would light up. She’d always love your part on the stories.” Allison woefully looked away, “She said that whenever you two met, she would ask you to conjure up her dead Kitten Muffy. Have you give her a message.” She sadly smiled, tearing up at the memory or her not yet born daughter, Claire.

Klaus’s heart ached with love for this girl, and he hadn’t even met her yet!

“She sounds wonderful, Allie. Truly, someday she’ll get to see Muffy again. I promise.” He drew an X over his heart to prove it.

“She would love you.” Allison breathed, pulling Klaus into a tight hug. He wiped a tear from his eye and whispered into her ear;

“You remembered our nail sessions?”

She nodded, pulling away. “I wouldn’t forget for the world.”

He put a hand over his heart, looking up at her with genuine thankfulness. Allison was always such a sap, it was tear-jerking.

Five scowled and pushed his way through to give his own little-brother speech. Klaus was being honest, he knew to would be the short but sweet type; that’s just who Five was. Nothing too sentimental, but it was Klaus’s job to understand the true apology behind it.

“I’m sorry. For everything.” Five started, shoving his hands into his little shorts. “For only give a fuck about the apocalypse—“

“A fair concern, if you ask me brother” Klaus interrupted, grinning slyly at the already frustrated coffee-lover.

“Ahem.” He cleared his throat meaningfully. “I’m sorry for being a prick, and I’m sorry for what you had to go through. Including Vietnam.” He added, knowingly looking at Klaus.

“How—?”

“Dog tags” Five stated, leaving the other siblings in a confused puzzlement.
“Ah.” Klaus nodded, feeling the beloved sting behind his eyes as he thought of his long-lost lover.

Dave.

Oh how he missed his knight in shining armor. Noticing the crestfallen look that came upon Klaus, Five patted his shoulder stiffly and gave him a short, bone-crushing hug, startling the grieving boy. It wasn’t often that you received a real hug from Number Five himself.

“I know.” He muttered in Klaus’s ear.
He simply nodded, and Five pulled away without any further contact.

After a moment of silence, an atmosphere or clarity fell upon the group, and Ben, who he’d forgotten was still there, sat up and shuffled to the opposite side of the hospital bed.

“Thanks you guys, It’s been a while since I’ve talked about this to anybody, really.” Klaus sighed, scratching the back of his neck.

“You mean it’s the first time you’ve ever talked to anyone.” Ben added, in his own motherly way.

Klaus glared at him, hissing in his usual fashion at the smug teen. “I don’t need that attitude mister” he muttered under his breath, crossing his arms and legs.

“Anyways, i was thinking breakfast at Griddys? For old times sake?” Allison started, ignoring the two.
Everyone murmured their approval, Five grumbling something about shitty coffee, because the kid needed a caffeine addiction. Even if that wasn’t a thing.

“Sounds great” Klaus said, throwing his legs over the side of his bed. Everyone rushed to help him up, insisting he would hurt himself. Looking around the room at each of his siblings, Klaus pondered the possibilities.

They were truly there for him, weren’t they?

Always.