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When the bell rung for dinner, Klaus shut his eyes tight, hoping that mom would leave him alone and give his father an acceptable excuse as to why he was missing.
Or, at this point, he wasn’t even limiting it to an acceptable excuse. He would take whatever punishment the old man dished out rather than head to dinner with…
With the god damn dead.
They wouldn’t shut the fuck up.
No matter what Klaus did, the dead just loved to scream. Six deadly demons regularly followed him around the Academy and, without the drugs, they were never quite.
Klaus longed for the days where Ben was always next to him; he longed for the heroin that drowned out the dead and made him numb to everything around him. Why did Five have to return him to his stupid, sober thirteen-year-old self.
One soul let out a loud howl, interrupting his thoughts – always interrupting his thoughts.
“Shut up!” He whispered vehemently, clasping his hands over his ears. “Just shut up!”
However, they continued their lament, screaming his name nonstop. One ghost, half of her face missing from a gunshot wound, had the audacity to reach for him. No matter how many times he told himself that she couldn’t touch him, he flinched away and closed his eyes.
Cold washed over him, bringing goosebumps. He hated how cold he always was.
Klaus felt a desperate need for the days of mind-numbing drugs – he ached to no longer feel and hear the stares of the dead.
“Klaus, sweetheart,” He heard his mother call, stopping his thoughts. Taking a breath of air in, he tried to look normal. “Dinner is almost ready.”
“Coming!” He called, lightly slapping his own face. He could handle this. Just ignore them.
Klaus shakily got from his bed and made his way down the empty halls, hot on Grace’s heals. The closer he was to a living person, the less likely a chance a spirit would try to touch him. The dead, after all, hated every living soul except his.
At his footsteps, Ben turned around from his designated spot to look at him. He smiled at him discreetly, relief in his eyes. Klaus couldn’t greet him whole-heartedly – ghosts right on him – but he managed a delicate, bro shoulder touch that didn’t last longer than two seconds.
A new system – Ben liked being reminded that he was alive, and Klaus liked the physical contact that came with him being alive.
Ben, meanwhile, looked – well – alive . Though Ben had told him many, many times that he still cared about Klaus, being alive meant learning how to live without quite literally being attached at the hip.
Klaus didn’t take it well, but that could be because of the mix of sober and their asshole father being back.
Klaus walked to his designated chair and stood behind it. Behind him, the same lady that tried to touch him before decided that she wanted a second try.
Klaus shivered violently, heart pounding as her arm went straight through his chest. He wanted to say that was the worst, but the inhuman wailing in his ear had him twitching away, nearly onto Five’s shoulder. He resisted the urge to clap his hands over his ears.
Ben stared at him, tilting his head. There was something in his eyes, but Klaus didn’t have the energy to understand it.
“You look like shit, bro,” Diego ( Not Two – Not Two. They were not kids.) said, “You good?”
Klaus didn’t have the energy to dignify that with a response. Instead, he flipped him off.
“He’s fine,” Number One ( Luther. He’s Luther. But he sounded and looked and breathed and loved dad way more than he ever loved useless Number Four) “Besides, we have bigger things to worry about.”
Allison glared at Luther, slightly affronted that Luther would dismiss Klaus. Klaus, however, expected it and therefore said nothing.
Five muttered something – something about timelines and ‘idiots’ – but it was lost as he continued scribbling furiously on his notepad. He, like everyone else in this hellhole, would do practically anything to go back to their time.
So far, it wasn’t looking too good.
“Are you really okay?” Vanya, sweet little Vanya, asked, looking at him with actual concern in her eyes, “You look pale.”
“I’m peachy, ” Klaus told her, putting everything into being normal Klaus, “loving being a pre-pubescent teen. Hurray, hormones!”
Allison scrunched her nose, showing her distaste for such a comment. Vanya, also, looked slightly uncomfortable. It was almost relieving to see them give up on him so easily.
Ben, however, continued staring at him. Klaus could never hide anything from him. “Are they loud?”
The breath of air that Klaus had been holding was released; it pushed itself out of his lungs and turned into nearly a giggle. “Louder than ever!” He said, trying to sound enthusiastic and failing miserably, “Like a party! Me, the lovely lady who can’t keep her hands to herself, and the wailing of the dead.”
Ben looked so sad – Like someone had kicked his metaphorical puppy. Metaphorical, of course, because their father had never entertained the idea of a family pet. Attachments being a weakness or something.
Before anyone could comment, they heard the footsteps of their father. The conversation stopped immediately as their mother put food on the table. At least, today, Old Hargreeves had mercy on them and decided not to play his records.
Their father sat down without a glance at them. Klaus, back straight and staring at nothing but the pale, dead figures around him, waited for the command to eat.
“Sit!”
They did, nearly in sync as each of them pulled out their chair. Klaus, feeling nauseous, took only a little of everything, even if mom’s cooking was the best.
He tried to stop shivering, but it was nearly impossible when another ghost – this one with a rather gruesome open and bloody chest wound that looked like it came from a machete – joined in on the lady’s goal to get Klaus to pay attention to her.
Their voices combined had Klaus slamming his eyes shut. He kept his head down, trying to hide his discomfort from his father. It would be used against him.
Too scared that asshole of the year dad would notice his pain, he forced himself to open his eyes and take a bit of his food. It tasted like ash.
Klaus shivered, unable to stop himself, as the man left his hand on his arm.
“Number Four!”
Klaus’ head whipped to his father’s gaze automatically – it was as if someone had taken control of his body.
“You will stop that incessant movement at once!”
Klaus clenched the fork that was in his hand, but the cool of the metal did nothing to stop the burning he felt in his chest. Without another word, he turned away from his father’s glare and stood up from the table. “Fuck this.” he muttered, throwing the fork messily onto the table.
“Number Four!”
“What!” He cried, turning towards their bastard of a father, “No, go on! Please, I would love to hear what you have to say – eagerly waiting for it!”
Maybe it was the hours of sleep that Klaus lost due to his new nightly terrors or maybe it was the fact that he was sober. But when Klaus looked dad in the eyes, something flickered in them that had Klaus smiling from ear to ear.
His father said nothing – The only thing that changed was the temperature in the room.
Klaus laughed. He swatted at the man who was once again touching him without a thought, “What? Don’t like it when one of us fights back?”
“Klaus.” Ben groaned, exasperated.
“Oh, please!” Klaus continued, “Like any of you wanted to continue on this bullshit .”
“That is enough. ”
The words only made Klaus laugh harder – tears were in his eyes at the idea that his father had any control over him anymore. Klaus was about to comment again, but the lady who was constantly in his way screamed at him, directly in his way.
“For fucks sakes!” He screeched, side stepping her without a thought. She stayed where she was, but the others followed, blocking his path to the door.
He growled at them, beyond pissed off. “Move. ”
And for once, they did. The group of horrors moved out of the way without another word.
“Klaus!”
Ben’s voice made him turn around. He realized, in that moment, that something was terribly wrong.
The entire table was looking around at the room, horror in their eyes. Ben, even, looked just a bit more traumatized by them than usual. Allison had Luther’s arm in a death grip and had a hand over her mouth, no doubt covering a scream. Luther, meanwhile, was frozen in his seat.
Five was out of his chair. He had no doubt phased away from the ghost that was closest to him. He was in front of Vanya, trying to protect the wide eyed thirty-going-on-thirteen all powerful apocalypse creator.
The best, however, was the great Reginald Hargreeves. His posture was impeccably straight and tense, while he eyes were wide. He didn’t look scared, but it was taking everything in the old man to keep it together.
Klaus glanced down at his hands, not surprised to see ethereal blue; his powers spread from his hands and to the entire room, giving a blue aura to each of the undead – somehow, it only further highlighted their gruesomeness.
No one dared to move. Klaus, even, was frozen, surprised that his powers had somehow just…Happened. It had always been his greatest struggle to get his powers to work for him – of course they would work the one moment in his entire life that he didn’t need them to.
“Holy shit ,” Klaus muttered to himself, heart pounding in his chest and the ghosts began to slowly make their way towards him. He shook his hands at his wrist, trying to stop whatever was happening. Instead, his hands continued glowing.
“Klaus, ” they wailed, creeping closer and closer to him, “Klaus-Klaus-Klaus!”
Klaus expertly danced out of reach, still shaking his hands like a maniac, “What’s the off switch?” He cried, feeling just a big hysterical. “Come on!”
“Just focus, you idiot,” Five complained, once again phasing away from a particularly nasty demon with only the top half of him left, “Stop being you for two seconds and use your brain!”
“Right!” Klaus said, completely ignoring the insult, “Brain power! Okay!”
Klaus closed his eyes, trying to focus on whatever was happening to his hands. But he didn’t feel anything physically wrong with him – in fact, he felt better than he had in months! He tried thinking about the ghosts disappearing or being less real or whatever it was that was his normal but it did nothing.
Ben had made it back to his side. He was glaring at the same lady with the gunshot wound, pushing Klaus lightly every time she got to close.
“Oh, fuck off!” Klaus said to the woman, who didn’t stop in her slow stride, “Go haunt your dead ex-lover or whoever killed you!”
“Klaus!” Diego said, holding on of his knives in his hand. He had obviously figured out that physical objects had no effect on these monsters, “Could you please just focus?”
Klaus groaned, “Focusing is not the solution here, bro!” he said eventually. When he looked at his hands, he realized that the blue of his powers was now at his elbows. What did that mean?
“Control yourself, Number Four!”
His dad’s voice broke through the haze of panic around him – the ghosts around him stopped their cries for a brief moment.
Reginald Hargreeves got up from his chair almost silently and stopped in front of Klaus. He raised his eyebrow at him – the familiar scowl of disappointed – and repeated his instructions.
Klaus had always hated training. Before his father came up with the trauma inducing mausoleum, there were days of putting Klaus in a small space with barely any sound and of bright lights and phantom pains.
There were days when his father forced ear plugs in his ears and watched his eyes dart about the room - electrodes taped onto his head. There were days upon days of leaving Klaus alone with the dead and trying to get more out of him, even when Klaus knew deep down that his powers were just generally useless.
There were beatings and pain and loneliness. There were tears and screams and isolation. There were his siblings, some more haunted than others, of awkward smiles and commissary.
So, when Reginald draw his arm back, Klaus couldn’t move. In a quick motion, his father slapped him across the cheek with the back of his hand. Klaus cried out, stumbling into Ben at the force of it.
But it wasn’t the usual fear he felt at the beating. Instead, a fire that he didn’t recognize before filled his chest once again.
He was furious.
Klaus felt the same warmth from before in his chest. It wove its way around his arms and, finally, to his hands. The blue of his hands glowed brighter, nearly blinding.
He glared at Hargreeves, feeling justification at the fact that the man finally looked properly scared. Klaus instinctively put his hands in front of him, letting go of what was building inside of him.
The room exploded. Klaus watched as Hargreeves was thrown into the air and into the back of the living room couch, where he stayed, unmoving. Around him, the ghosts that had been haunting him since they returned vanished in a haze of blue light before his eyes.
Klaus collapsed onto his hands and knees, feeling weaker than he ever before had. He was taking deep breaths of air, trying to process what the fuck he just did.
“If he’s not dead,” Ben said, “I’ll kill him myself.”
Klaus laughed breathlessly. He rolled himself onto his back, staring at the ceiling above him. There was no way that was what killed their father. In fact, if that was it, Klaus was positive that the old man would already be haunting him.
He touched his face where his father had hit him. Not only was it already sore, when he pulled his hand back, his blood was on his fingertips. Of course the asshole had a ring on his finger.
“Shit, Klaus.” Diego muttered. Klaus couldn’t see him, but he imagined that he was looking at the destruction that he caused.
Behind him, he heard the footsteps of Luther. No doubt the big guy was checking on dad – of course he was checking Hargreeves before himself. Mom’s heels were right besides Luther’s. But, instead, of stopping at their father’s still form, mom continued over to Klaus.
“Oh dear,” His mother said, head tilted in concern, “That’ll need ice.”
Perfectly, mom get up from the destroyed kitchen and opened the refrigerator. In his shock, Klaus pushed himself into a sitting position and watched as she grabbed a kitchen towel and filled it with ice.
“I think dad has a concussion.”
Without a pause, Ben replied, “That’s all?”
Vanya, of all of his siblings, snorted. In fact, this action was so out of character for her that everyone turned to look at her.
“What?” She asked, blushing under the attention, “It was funny!”
“Come on, guys!” Luther complained. Klaus wondered if he ever had an independent thought - was every word he ever said programmed to follow dad’s orders? “This is serious! Five, you told us we couldn’t change anything!”
“That was before I realized how much of an asshole our father was,” Five grabbed his cup from the table and took a long drink of whatever was in there. No doubt Five wanted something stronger, “Besides, Klaus already fucked the timeline up by doing...This.”
Klaus shrugged, not really seeing a point in defending himself. Again, it wasn’t like anyone wanted to continue living this way. Mom, still with her perfect smile, handed him the towel.
“Now, dear, hold it there for at least fifteen minutes.”
Klaus nodded, feeling a surge of love for his mom. He didn’t realize how much he had missed her. Even though she wasn’t technically, well, real, she still loved them, no matter what Luther said about her.
His mom putting a loving hand on his shoulder, squeezing it slightly. With that, her smile fell slightly, less real, and she moved over to Hargreeves’ side.
“Do we have a plan?” Allison asked, easily gliding over all the objects that had fallen, “We look like kids. Even if we somehow get some cash, no one is going to give us a room.”
“Not if we take mom.”
Even though they’d all seen how much Vanya had grown as a person in the month they had been back in the past, it was still always a surprise to hear her voice her opinion without stuttering through it or ask her to speak up.
“Excellent idea, sis!” Klaus said, truly meaning it. It was also because he too could never stand awkward silences long - he especially didn’t want to see an uncomfortable Vanya.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this,” Five complained, “But I’m with Klaus. That could work.”
Their mom had laid dad on his back. She had, too kindly, slide on of the pillows from the couch under his head. She, to Klaus’ surprise, didn’t bother wiping the blood off of Hargreeves face. Luther, meanwhile, was glaring at them.
“We can’t leave!”
They all waited for a reason why, but Luther said nothing - it was as if he thought that was their responsibility to stay. Well, knowing Luther, that was entirely possible.
“Hey, Deigo, dear,” Klaus called, completely ignoring Luther and looking only at his brother, “Could you be a sweetheart and help me up?”
“Call me dear again and I’ll throw a knife at you.” But Diego said it without menacing. Diego and Ben walked over to him. Ben took the towel from his hands, wincing at no doubt the ugly colors of red, purple, and blue coloring his face.
“Gonna be a nice one.” Ben commented, trying to make light of the situation. However, as being attached to the hip their were, Klaus could still see the anger in Ben’s eyes.
Klaus hummed, but it ended up turning into a yelped when Diego grabbed his hand and yanked him up from the ground.
“Gentle! Gentle!” Klaus complained, “I’m delicate!”
And he was - in fact - delicate. Stars danced before his eyes. Without realizing it, he plopped himself down onto one of the dining room chairs, taking deep breaths of air. Klaus felt someone’s hand on his shoulder, shaking him just a little bit, but Klaus couldn’t respond.
He groaned, feeling a headache coming on. This was almost as bad as that first time he overdosed.
“-Gotta eat!”
That was Five’s voice.
“-I would know!”
Suddenly, food was shoved under his nose; it smelled like a granola bar. When Klaus had enough energy, he yanked it from Ben’s grasp and shoved it in his mouth. Who was he to turn down free food?
“You feeling alright?”
Klaus hummed in agreement at the voice. He opened his eyes, blinking as the lights only gave him a slight headache instead of a piercing migraine.
“You reached your maximum.”
Klaus looked at Five. Apparently, at Klaus’ dramatics, all of them had ended up hovering around the dining room table. “I did what now?”
“Your powers, dipshit,” Five continued, somehow perfectly balancing arrogant and caring in only way only Five could do, “All of us have limits. You just met yours. And, usually, you end up weak afterwards, so you have to eat.”
“Awesome.” Klaus breathed, talking with his mouth full of granola, “Really riveting, honestly.”
Five rolled his eyes.
“Dude,” Ben said, looking around at the room, “This wasn’t just ghosts. I mean, you were moving things. I saw a plate suddenly go flying!”
Klaus finally looked around at the room. Ben was right - it was destroyed. Everything on the dining room table was either a mess on the floor or cracked and broken on the table itself. The painting that their dad loved so much were also in shambles; some of the frames were laying in pieces on the ground.
Klaus had done some serious damage. There was no way to credit the ghosts for all of it.
“Guys!” Luther said, completely interrupting Klaus’s fascination with his powers, “We should focus. What are we going to do about dad?”
“I know dad has a lake house in Pennsylvania,” Vanya said, “I overheard him talking about it to mom.”
“I’m in.” Ben said immediately, taking a glance at Klaus.
Klaus didn’t even hesitate, “Right in one, Benny!”
“Same here,” Vanya said, looking past them all and at their still unconscious father. “I don’t want to stay another minute in this house.”
“I’m with Vanya,” Allison said, giving Luther a look.
“We can’t-”
Everyone in the room groaned, “Just say yes!” Klaus begged, impatient, “Come on! Rebel a little! Be your own person!”
“Are you kids leaving?” Mom asked suddenly, tilting her head in confusion. She looked worried, “I’ll pack your things! I don’t want you to forget anything!”
Diego smiled gently at her, “Okay, mom. Can you wait for us by the front door?”
Mom smiled right back, “Of course, dear!” Mom’s heels clicked as she walked away and up the stairs. It looked like their idea was somehow coming together.
“Diego?” Luther asked, looking disappointed, “You can’t be for this!”
“Look at his face!” Diego told him, gesturing to Klaus. In all the excitement, Klaus almost forget that he had gotten slapped, “That’s our brother. Our f-f-father did that! Are you still telling me you want to stay here?”
Luther opened his mouth, but then he looked at Klaus.
Klaus was used to attention - he craved it most of the time. Physical contact - eye contact - Klaus would bask in it. He enjoyed have people’s attention on him. But with Luther? It was as if his brother was looking for something more.
“Alright,” Luther said finally, deflating, “Let’s go.”
Everyone cheered. Five was gone first in a flash of blue light. Vanya and Allison left next, looking just a bit too excited at leaving their childhood for it to be healthy. Luther followed behind. Diego gave him an infamous bro nod and then followed the rest of his siblings.
Ben stayed with Klaus. “Knew you could do more.”
Klaus looked at him, raising his eyebrow, “No one likes a braggart, Benny.”
Klaus looked around, finally noticing the relieving, beautiful absence of the ghosts that had haunted him for a month. The silence was perfect .
Klaus got up from his chair and swung an arm around his brother shoulders, “Come on, let’s go pack! I have just the outfits for you! We’ll get you out of that uniform and I’ll introduce you to primary colors!”
Klaus was expecting Ben to protest. Instead, Ben allowed Klaus to drag him up the stairs.
None of them looked back a Reginald Hargreeves.
When they all piled into the car, the rest of his family had so many questions about his powers that it had his head spinning. Yet, as the buildings passed them, Klaus could only smile.
Sometimes, his family was pretty great.