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Klaus looked at the photo on the wall, wiping at his eyes. God, he missed his squad. Why the hell did he leave? He should have stayed. He stayed after Alex died, and after Ollie got captured, why’d he go and leave after Dave?
“Hey, guys. This bar? It's for vets only.” said a man from behind Klaus.
“I am a vet,” he replied, tired.
“Really?” he asked, laughing, “Where'd you serve?”
“None of your business,” Klaus snapped at him.
“You got balls comin' in here, pretending you're one of us.”
“Oh, I have every right to be here, just like you. Asshole.”
“Apologize, and leave,” the man demanded.
Klaus smirked. “Alright. I'd like to apologize... that you… are depriving some village of their idiot!” he shouted.
Klaus turned around and continued looking at the photo. He heard someone come up behind him and lecture the other man about how he’s “not the goddamn veteran police,” but ignored it until he heard-
“Azriel?”
Klaus spun around, not believing his ears. It had to be a coincidence, the only people who knew that nickname were-
“Charlie?” he said, his voice wavering.
“Klaus? Holy shit, it really is you,” Charles said, amazed.
“Charlie!”
Klaus threw his arms around the older man, sniffling. Charles wrapped his arms around his friend, crying tears of joy.
“The hell happened, Klaus? You just up and disappeared! We all thought you were dead!”
“Charlie, I told you I was from the future like 7 times. You’ve seen me float and summon ghosts. Why was the future thing so hard to believe, man?”
“Well, I’ll be damned, Klaus.”
“Are any of the others still-?” he asked, pulling away and finding a table to sit at.
“Well, Ed and Will got out fine. Nate got captured, but we found him with Oliver. They’re both good. Jake stepped on a landmine a few months after you left.”
“Fuck.”
“Yeah. I’m really glad you’re good, man.”
There was a moment of awkward silence, which Diego broke by asking, “What the fuck?”
“This asshole,” Charlie said, pointing at Klaus, “saved my ass on multiple occasions. He also was definitely not good for my blood pressure.”
“When did this even happen?”
“1968.” “Like, yesterday.” Charles and Klaus responded simultaneously.
“Okay, what? 1968? I’m going to need a little more of an explanation than that.”
“Time travel,” said Klaus simply.
“So you what, time traveled to the ‘60s?” Diego asked, skeptical.
“The briefcase I took from Hazel and Cha-Cha was a time travel machine. I opened it suddenly I was in Vietnam in 1968.”
“Wasn’t the Vietnam War...?”
“Yeah, Diego. I ended up on the floor in an army tent in nothing but a towel and less than 30 seconds later there were bombs falling all around us,” said Klaus.
“Jesus, Klaus. You can’t do anything halfway, can you?” Diego sighed.
“Hey, do you know where the others are? I’d like to say hi,” Klaus asked hesitantly.
“I can do you one better, Klaus,” Charlie said with a smirk.
He picked up his phone and texted the rest of his squad members, asking them to meet him at the address he’s about to send them in an hour.
“Klaus, what’s your address?”
Klaus told him and he sent it, smiling at his phone when they all just replied okay, not even questioning what was happening.
“Alright. Klaus, they’ll be at your place in an hour, so we should go.”
“Charlie, have I ever told you you’re my favorite?” Klaus asked.
“That’s a pile of bullshit, we all know who your favorite was. Dumbass. Dating in the army in the ‘60s? How much stupider could you get? Y’all weren’t even subtle.”
“You’re still awesome though,” Klaus said, trying to discreetly wipe at his eyes.
“Aw shit,” he said, wrapping an arm around Klaus’ back, “Forgot it was literally yesterday for you. You don’t have to see them today if you don’t want to, ya know. They’d understand if you need time.”
Klaus leaned into him, shaking his head. “No, I want to see them.”
“Alright, then. Let’s go.”
They walked out, Charles offering to give Klaus a ride home. Klaus accepted and Diego took his own car, meeting them back at the house.
Klaus opened the door and let Charlie in leading him to the living room. Judging by the knife in the wall, Diego had already arrived. He didn’t leave his knives out when he wasn’t home.
He and Charles chatted for a while, catching up. After about 30 minutes there was a knock on the door.
“I’ll get it,” Charles said.
Charlie made his way back to the front door and opened it, stepping aside to let the others enter.
“Charlie what the fuck are we doing here?” Oliver asked as he stepped inside, followed by the Eddie, Nate, and Will.
“You’ll see,” Charlie responded, chuckling as he gestured for them to follow him into the living room.
Oliver froze in place, causing Ed to run into him and Will to protectively step in front of Nate.
“Is that-?” said Nate, pushing Will out of his way.
“Hi guys,” Klaus said shyly.
“Klaus? Oh my god, Klaus!” Oliver said, pulling him into a tight hug, practically picking him up off the ground.
“What the fuck?” Nate asked, in shock. “What the fuck.”
“Jesus, Oliver, I can’t breathe,” Klaus laughed, crying from happiness. “Give the others a turn, man.”
The second that Oliver put him down, he was swarmed by the others. He hugged Ed, awkwardly patting him on the back. Will pulled him into a tight hug, letting go after a few moments, unlike Oliver. Klaus looked at Nate, who was crying into Oliver’s shirt, and sat down on the couch.
“Nate!” he called, “C’mere.”
Nate sat next to him and he pulled the man into his side, wrapping his arms around him.
“You- I thought- didn’t you die?”
“Time travel,” he said, rubbing circles on the younger man’s back.
“Klaus, what the hell?” Allison yelled from the staircase.
“Allison! Look, I have friends!”
“Klaus, what is happening?”
“Many things, and if you wish to know more, you can go find Luther, Diego, Five, and Vanya!” Klaus said cheerfully.
Allison looked around the room and realized that there was no way she’d be able to make sense of this on her own. She sighed and walked back up the stairs, pulling an air horn out of her purse and pushing the button.
The others had been expecting it, but Nate wasn’t and tried to drop to the floor.
“Shit. Hey, Nate, it’s fine, kid. Just an airhorn,” Klaus said soothingly, keeping him from falling off of the couch.
Nate blinked at him and leaned back against Klaus, still trusting him with his life.
“Allison, why the fuck do you have an air horn in your purse?” Klaus shouted.
“Because it makes Luther angry!” she responded vindictively, still not having forgiven Luther for how he’d treated Vanya.
The rest of their siblings came tumbling out into the hallway and followed Allison down the stairs, saying variations of “The fuck, Klaus?” as they took in the sight in the living room.
Five popped into the living room, making Klaus and the rest of the veterans in the room jump.
“I swear to god, Klaus, if you fucked up the timeline…” Five said angrily.
“Five, what are you even talking about?” Vanya asked, taking a seat.
Everyone followed Vanya’s lead, sensing that this could be a long discussion.
“Five’s talking about my friends, Vanya!” Klaus said.
Vanya was shocked, she hadn’t seen Klaus this happy in years.
“Klaus, I think everyone here needs an explanation,” Five said, resigned.
“Well, long story short, I stole a time traveling briefcase from Hazel and Cha-Cha, our two favorite time traveling assassins, and ended up in 1968.”
“Okay, but where did these people come from?” Luther asked, his patience running thin.
“God, Az, stop confusing them, Oliver said, chuckling. “He time travelled to 1968, but not to the United States. He ended up in motherfuckin’ Vietnam.”
“Klaus was in a war? That’s a good one,” Luther said.
“He was,” Charlie spoke up. “He saved my ass more times than I can count, and everyone here can say the same.”
“Who are you people?” Luther said rudely.
“Staff Sergeant Charles Delmany, commanding officer of Squad 1 of the 173rd Airborne Brigade and this is Sergeant Oliver Ellis, Corporal Edward Langer, Private William Burter, and Private Nathaniel Greenwood,” Charles responded, pointing at his squad members as he listed them. “And your brother? Corporal Klaus Hargreeves, the best damn shot in the squad, possibly in the whole brigade.”
“Wati, are you guys serious?” Luther asked incredulously.
“Why’s it so hard to believe?” asked Eddie, glaring at Luther.
“Well, he’s kinda useless in a fight.”
The soldiers all burst out laughing.
“Useless? That's a good one. You’ve clearly never seen the angel of death at work. I’ve seen him shoot down 50 moving people because they shot his little brother and summon over a hundred ghosts of American soldiers to kill a group of Vietnamese soldiers that killed off nearly two whole squads,” Will explained, snorting.
“Are you sure we’re talking about the same person? Also, what do you mean, the angel of death?” Luther asked.
Vanya facepalmed in the background, shaking her head at Luther’s idiocy.
“Yep, and Klaus earned his nickname. The first time we saw him actually go all-out, Dave gave him the nickname Azriel, the Angel of Death.”
“I think that you should stop underestimating Klaus, Luther,” Vanya said.
“Why thank you, Vanya! You’re pretty awesome yourself,” Klaus cheerfully responded.
“But-” Luther began to say, only to be cut off by Allison slamming her hand over his mouth.
“Luther, I swear to god. If you don’t shut up, I will rumor you into sewing your mouth shut.” Allison hissed, surprising everyone. “Let’s go.”
Luther complied and the others all followed, not wanting to get on Allison’s bad side. Vanya smiled at Klaus before leaving and he smiled back.
“Well, that’s my crazy family…” Klaus said.
“Jesus, man, when you said crazy you meant crazy,” Eddie said, somewhat shocked.
“Yep, but they’re family, so I love them anyway. Except Luther, sometimes, because he knocked Vanya out and locked her in a cage in the basement, but I love the others.”
“He what?”
“We already had a talk about that. He thought it would prevent the apocalypse, but it actually almost caused it.”
“Okay, you know what? It doesn’t even matter right now. I’m just glad you’re fine,” Oliver said, they others nodding empathetically.
“I’m glad you guys are okay too.”