Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Klaus left the Academy at the ripe age of seventeen years old.

It had only been six months since Ben’s, death, vicious and violent death, untimely passing away, and he just couldn’t stand any of it anymore. Diego was planning to leave soon for the police academy, Allison had already packed her bags and left to stardom, and Vanya was planning on going to some musical college in the area.

And Klaus, well Klaus had no idea what he wanted to do. Had no plan, little to no money, just the clothes on his back and the items he managed to steal and throw into a bag. He left in the middle of the night, not even bothering to say goodbye to anyone. No one would care that he left, no one would notice except maybe Diego, who would just scoff and secretly worry.

There was nothing to worry about, Klaus was doing fine. Well, that’s if you asked him, Ben seemed to disagree but Klaus was currently pretending his dead brother wasn’t following him around so his vote doesn’t count.

The annoying thing with Ben, is that he never disappeared. He was always there, even when Klaus is out of it, drugged to hell and barely even aware of his own name. Ben was hovering over his shoulder, berating him and going on and on about how stupid Klaus was, even thought Klaus was well aware of that himself.

He had nowhere to stay, little to no money left, and no plan in life.

The next couple of years of his life were definitely interesting. He hated staying still, doing boring mundane things, so his life was filled with impulsive actions and random things he thought would be entertaining in the moment.

Most of it was filled with drugs and alcohol and lots of partying and sex with strangers. But he did some other interesting things too. Joined a gang, went to prison, got banned in a few cities, ran away with the circus, had a whirlwind romance with a clown, and even worked at a nursing home at one point. His life was just one long entertaining story of a fucked-up druggie who had no commitments, a whole lot of time and a penchant for bad ideas.

Ben was there throughout it, his own personal Jiminy Cricket always by his side telling him that he was a fucking idiot and to stop throwing his life away. But really, this was living wasn’t it?

He didn’t want a nine to five office job where he would be forced to be sober and normal, have friends who he would go out and golf with, a pretty little trophy wife or anything like that. He wanted to party, to have no commitments and do whatever the hell he did. Was it dangerous? Hell yeah, he couldn’t even remember half of what he does and he overdoses constantly, not to mention the fact that he has started like three blood feuds under different names who could literally show up to murder him at any point of time.

He was 24 years old and the only home he knew was the streets and rehab centers, sometimes the beds or couches of random flings he picked up. His family knew what he did and hated him for it, all of them somehow managing to find semi normal lives.

Allison was famous, although that didn’t surprise him in the least. He snuck into a few of her movies, she was good at what she did, but he also knew she had to rumor her way to the top. Diego was kicked out of his little police job, but from what Klaus could understand he was off doing some sort of vigilante work or something like that. Vanya was somewhere living in a nice apartment with a stable sad life, and Luther was still at home. Begging for their father’s approval.

Their lives were just as sad and pathetic as his was, and yet they all thought they were better than him.

And you know what, maybe they were. Klaus was just a no-good junkie with five dollars and a lot of drugs to his name and maybe he would never amount to anything in life. But he was living his life the way he wanted to. Sure, he was depressed as fuck and sometimes when it got too hard he would try to end it all, and maybe at nights he wondered what the hell he was doing with his life, and sure he was steadily throwing his life out of the window, but he didn’t care. It was fine. He was fine.

His life changed one January night when he went out to a bar like usual. The bar was crowded, filled with sweaty bodies all either drunk or high, dancing like idiots without a care in the world. This was the place where he felt most alive. Where the ghosts couldn’t reach him and he was free to be whoever the hell he wanted to.

There, he met a girl like him. An addict, used to selling her body for cash or drugs, tortured but just living her life. They talked, he bought her a couple of drugs, she bought a couple for him. Her name was Vivian, the name sounding sharp and filled with edges just like her. They ended up tangled in some random motel room, lost in passion and drunken attraction.

It was not unlike any of the other multiple flings he had ever been through, she was just another face in the passing by of all the others ones. He figured they would wake up in the morning, go their separate ways and never see each other again.

It sort of went that way. The next morning they stumbled out of the motel together, hungover and groaning, high from the pills they both just popped. They went their separate ways, but two days later they found each other again, and again, and again.

After a month, they had been sleeping together fairly consistently. They weren’t friends, hell he barely knew anything about her other than her name. But they stayed together for the most part, because the sex was fucking good and he enjoyed the small amount of normativity staying in the one part of town gave him. Ben encouraged him to actually start a relationship with her, but their attraction was purely sexual, nothing romantic at all.

Sure he cared about her, liked spending time with her even when it wasn’t sex, but she was more a friend, a close friend who he screwed regularly. He knew he would get bored of her soon, and her of him. They weren’t meant to be an actual couple, just some entertaining for a few weeks. They were both fine with that the way it was.

It all came crashing down on his head a month later in November, when she blew into his room, a furious look on her face that made him sit up. He was still high, and so was she, but he could tell this was important, that this wasn’t something they could blow off.

“I’m fucking pregnant.” She snarled, and okay well that wasn’t what he was expecting at all.

“Is it mine?” He asked after a minute, because that was really the only thing he could think to ask. He wasn’t an idiot, he tended to use protection, but sometimes they would skip that when they were particularly desperate for human contact. He hadn’t thought that it would lead to anything like this at though.

“You’re the only man I’ve been screwing lately, so yeah it’s yours.” She sighed, collapsing onto their faded couch. He had managed to scrounge up enough money to buy a small rundown apartment for them to sleep at. It helped that the owner wasn’t shy enough to accept a quick blow in the back room as payment either.

“Fuck.” He said, sitting down beside her, she hummed, the two of them lapsing into silence. “What do we do now?” He asked.

“I want to get rid of it.” She declared, and for some odd reason the thought sent his heart stumbling.

“What?” He asked. “No you can’t!”

“What the hell do you mean I can’t!” She snarled and Klaus blinked, fuck that came out wrong, he was such an asshole sometimes.

“I mean, I can’t make the decision for you,” He amended, raising his hands in an attempt at placating her. Her anger burned bright sometimes. “If you want to get rid of it, then go ahead, but well Viv, just think about the possibilities.”

“I don’t want a goddamn kid Klaus. I’m a fucking drug addicted prostitute, I got no time or money for a kid.” She told him with a soft laugh.

“I can take it.” He blurted out, and where was Ben? Why did his brother chose this time to leave for a couple of hours to do ghostly things? Klaus tended to do stupid shit when Ben wasn’t here to act as his impulse control. “I’ll get an actual job, provide for it. Take it off your hands and you’ll never see us again.”

“Klaus-“ She cut herself off with a sigh. “You know what, screw it. I don’t know anymore.” She bit her lip, looking hesitant.

“You can visit, I’ll get clean. Give it a nice life, Viv I know I have no real say in any of this, but I would be beyond overjoyed if we agreed to do this.” He told her, grabbing her hands and squeezing in support. She laughed at him, leaning forwards to capture his lips in a lustful kiss.

“I don’t think I can afford an abortion either way.” She whispered into his lips. “Let’s say fuck it Klaus, let’s have a goddamn child.”

And somehow that how he ended up in the hospital nine months later, holding a tiny baby boy in his hands, clean for close to six months with a fucking steady job and an actual life planned out in front of him.

“I still can’t believe this is happening.” Ben whispered from beside him, his eyes just as wide and awe filled. “Are we really going through with this?”

“Yeah, we are.” Klaus said with a laugh, tears welling in his eyes.

He never thought that his life would ever lead him to this point. Holding a tiny baby boy in his hands in the middle of a crowded hospital.

There was ghosts everywhere, screaming at him and begging for attention, but all Klaus could focus on was the tiny human in his hands, so small and fragile and in that moment Klaus promised that this was it. His old life was over, and he would now dedicate everything to this tiny baby boy who looked up at him with complete trust in his eyes.

The first year was the hardest year of his entire life. It was a struggle to remain clean, and he wouldn’t lie and say that he didn’t relapse every now and then. But more often than not he was clean, holding two separate jobs in order to keep the small apartment that he owned, in order to afford the stuff he needed to provide for both him and his boy, who him and Vivian decided to name Asher, because Vivian’s mothers name was Ash. She tried to get him to name him after his own father, which was a no on so many levels.

But the first year was hard, filled with guilt and worry and learning how to take care of a baby and himself at the same time. He knew he probably shouldn’t be a father, knew many many people would want to yank Asher out of his hands and throw him into some sort of orphanage or something. He couldn’t let that happen, wouldn’t let that happen.

In the span of a year Asher had managed to change Klaus’s entire life. He went from a drug addict who was throwing his life away to what Ben would call an actual human adult, who had jobs and responsibilities and who cared about people.

Klaus found it hard to care for people, the only people he ever tried to love was his family, and most of them sucked. After then it was person after person, no friends, no steady dating. It was Klaus and Ben against the world. Now, it was Klaus, Ben and Asher against the world. Having Asher thrown into his life Klaus learned just how willing he would be to take a bullet for his kid, how willing he would do anything if only his son was safe.

Money was a big concern. He was already working two jobs while having a son at home, during the mornings he was a barista at a local coffee shop, during the evenings he stocked shelves at a grocery store. The teen down the hall was always willing to look after Asher for him, but he worried being so far away all the time. But they needed to money, and Klaus didn’t want to go begging to his siblings.

He would. For Asher he would give up all his dignity and force himself to beg one of his siblings or even his father for some money, for some help so his son would be able to have a good life. Luckily, it never came down to that.

Klaus always managed to scrape by, and with nothing but his own brain cells and Ben to help him through it, him and Asher survived.

Things mellowed out around the first year, and he saved up enough money that he could quit his job at the grocery store and stay home with Asher more often. God did he ever love his son.

But when Klaus was 25 out came this oh so wonderful book written by none other than his sweet little sister Vanya. It outlined every single fucked up thing they did as children, the secrets spread open wide for everyone to see. Honestly, Klaus didn’t hate her for writing things about him. They definitely deserved it, being sober helped him realize what assholes they were to each other, and this was a such a ballsy move for her. He was proud of her for finally getting that last ‘fuck you’ out to them.

He was mad at her because suddenly he had people recognizing who he was. People who walked up to him and recognized him as Klaus Hargreeves, the druggie who could see ghosts. There was suddenly people out looking for him, people who might have grudges. He realized just how fucked he was. He hated her for writing that book because suddenly he was terrified for his son, who was only a year old and so vulnerable.

So he filled out the forms and went to court and within three months him and Asher had legally changed their last names Sauer and moved out of their apartment, making sure that no one would be able to say he was a Hargreeve. He quit his job and managed to get a job at one of the donut shops him and his siblings used to go to as children. It was close to the Academy, but it was somewhere he knew his father or siblings would ever go.

Luckily, after all of that no one ever was able to relate him to his past, and him and Asher were safe from Klaus’s dark past. The months continued to move and suddenly Asher was a year older and so much had changed.

Two years old and Asher was already so smart. He could walk and talk like a natural, often content to sit in Klaus’s lap and read through children’s books to pass the time. Vivian came once every few months, delighted by how smart Asher was and how big he had gotten. Asher and him would often go down to the park, play around with the other kids or the toys in the park. Asher was just as social as his father was.

Klaus hoped to a god he couldn’t prove existed that his powers weren’t tranpherable. That Asher would be able to live normally, that he wouldn’t develop some sort of magical ability that would ruin his life. Klaus figured he was good after four years without any signs of anything funky. But well, there was always something a tiny bit off. With both Vivian’s and his drug use, Asher should have had some sort of learning or birth defect, something both him and Vivian feared. But the kid never showed any signs of one, and the doctors said he was one of the healthiest babies he had ever seen.

The kid never got sick, never caught any colds, never seemed anything but perfectly healthy. Did it mean anything? Probably, but Klaus just took it as it was, a blessing. His boy was healthy, and that was all that mattered at the moment to him.

Then the accident happened.

Asher was four years old and Klaus had to leave for work. He left him at home with a babysitter, a young girl who was only 15 years old. He only had to be gone for two hours before he could come pick him up, but he got a phone call only one-hour in.

The girl went to go use the washroom while Asher took a quick nap, and while she wasn’t looking he managed to fall down the stairs. She found him at the bottom of them, his head dented and covered in blood.

He was rushed to the hospital and Klaus never thought he would feel fear like he did that day. Sitting in that hospital waiting room while his son was in surgery, wondering if he was going to live or not. The doctor called him into his office after seven hours of worrying and pacing and crying as the image of Asher covered in blood filled his mind.

Asher survived the fall, but he was in a coma and they didn’t know if he would pull through. And if he did, the doctor said he would have 90% hearing loss.

Klaus spent the next week Asher was in the hospital learning ASL and how to properly parent a kid who was deaf. Asher miraculously woke up after seven days in a coma, apparently perfectly healed other than his ears.

Ben told Klaus that this was something he had to look into, there was no way that Asher should have recovered that quickly, the doctors called it a medical miracle. Klaus was just glad to have his son back, even if he was confused to why he could no longer hear his father's voice.

The hardest part was paying the bills and moving on. Asher learned how to manipulate his tiny fingers into signs, learned how to lip read, and Klaus was right beside him. After a year the two of them could perfectly communicate again, and life was somewhat back to normal.

Things seemed perfect, but of course they weren’t.

Klaus struggled, a lot too. Being sober was required for his child, but sometimes when the ghosts got bad it was hard. Times like those he would clutch Asher tight or simply watch over his kid, reminding himself over and over again that this was beyond worth it. That Asher deserved a good father. Ben helped him through a lot of it too.

Often times when he got a really bad craving the choice came down to getting drunk and/or high or being able to feed his son dinner. The choice was never a hard one to make, no matter how loud the ghosts got. So he managed to survive, learned to deal with the ghosts and the craving and put Asher before his own selfish needs.

There also came times when Klaus would sit down and wonder what the fuck he was doing.

He wasn’t a good father; he had no clue what he was doing for goodness sakes! His father was a grade A asshole, and his mother was a robot. He had no clue how to be a father, and Asher deserved better than a recovering addict as a father. He deserved a parent who could look after him, who knew how to treat a kid. Klaus was many things, but the last thing he ever wanted to be was his own father.

He knew that if he ever treated his son like the way Reginald treated him, he would willingly hand Asher over to a suitable family and then throw himself into traffic or something.

He worried he would be a horrible dad, that he would fuck everything up, that he was just a disappointment. But then Asher would look up at him with those beautiful brown eyes (eyes from his mother, hair and face from his father) and whisper a soft “I love you papa” and all those worries would dissipate.

He loved his son, and the two of them fought through the years until suddenly Klaus was 30 years old and Asher was six years old and Klaus wondered where the years had gone. It seemed like only a week ago Vivian ran into their apartment telling him she was pregnant.

He was working the day he found out his father died.

Asher was fooling around in the back kitchen, Maddox teaching him where all the different pastries went as Klaus cleaned tables and pretended like the other man wasn’t feeding his child a bunch of sweets. Agnes, his boss and owner of the shop, loved Asher and was always willing to have him hang around the coffee shop when Klaus was working and Asher didn’t have school.

The tv in the corner of the room was droning on and on as Klaus half listened as he wiped the table down. It was almost the end of his shift and it was getting late, there was likely no one else going to come before his shift ended.

He glanced up to the television and he swore his heart dropped into his stomach.

Billionaire and founder of the Umbrella Academy, Reginald Hargreeves, found dead in home.

He didn’t know how to react. Should he be happy because the man was finally gone? Should he be sad that his father had passed away? He found that all that he could feel was relieved.

His father, the man who had tormented him for years, who shoved him into his drug abuse, who treated him and his siblings like shit, was finally dead. It had always been a concern of his, having his father suddenly turn up at his door and demand to take Asher away, that Klaus wasn’t fit and his son was best with him. Klaus knew that it would never happen, but just the thought of his father even knowing Asher existed? It made his skin crawl.

He didn’t have to worry about that anymore apparently.

“The old man really kicked it huh.” Ben whispered from beside him, staring up into the tv in disbelief.

“I thought he was an immortal.” Klaus admitted quietly.

“Hey Klaus?” Maddox asked, looking worried. “You good man?”

“My father just died.” He replied airily, making Maddox gasp and stare up at the tv. He knew he wanted to ask questions, but thankfully the man got the message and didn’t ask.

“Shit man.” He breathed out, a hand running down his face as he walked closer to Klaus.

“That’s a bad word Uncle Maddox.” Asher scolded, walking out from behind the counter, his face smeared with icing. “Is something wrong Papa?”

Klaus leaned down, tugging his son close into his arms and kissing the top of his head. “It’s going to be alright Baby.”

Asher immediately fussed, pulling away from the affection with a frown on his face, he was just getting to the age that he only wanted his father’s full attention when it meant he could get something out of it, the age where he started to pull away from the touchy feely stuff they used to do.

“You're sad though.” He pointed out. “We can go steal some donuts! Aunty Agnes says that they make everyone feel better.”

Klaus smiled, ruffling his sons’ unruly black curls and chuckling slightly.

“Sounds great kiddo, go pick me out your favourite.” He said, watching as Asher ran off to the back room to bug Agnes, who was probably making the last batch of donuts to last them through the night.

“Everything going to work out?” Maddox asked when Asher was out of earshot. “Is there going to be a funeral?”

“Knowing my father?” Klaus laughed, remembering the protocol whenever one of them died. Three days to get back to the house before the funeral was to take place. “I’ll get three days before I’m back to that hellhole, all day service and catching up with people who don’t want to catch up with me.”

“I can cover your shift for you.” Maddox offered, and Klaus was never more grateful for the fact that his co workers happened to be such amazing people. Really, between Maddox and Agnes he had really lucked out on this job. The three of them were practically one large dysfunctional family at this point, being the three who had stuck around the longest.

“What am I going to do with Asher?” He asked out loud, his gaze flickering over to Ben, who was standing off to the side, still staring at the tv in shock.

“If you need someone to watch him, Agnes and I would be glad to let him stay here for the day. I’m sure you wouldn’t want him over there; he didn’t know your father right?” Maddox offered, gently grabbing Klaus’s arm and leading him to a booth.

“Nah, no one in my family knows of him. We aren’t close.” He told him, and Maddox hummed in understanding. Klaus never talked about his past in fear that someone would connect the dots, but he found he trusted Maddox enough to talk about it a bit.

Maddox had been hired only a month before him, the two of them working alongside each other for the four years that Klaus had been working there. They were close enough to be brothers at this point.

“Then take the day off, Agnes and I can make sure Asher gets to school and gets back and he can wait here until everything okay.” Maddox said, smiling like everything was alright now.

“Thanks man.” Klaus whispered, his mind already running a thousand miles per hour. He didn’t want to go back and see all his siblings; didn’t want to relive the past he had worked so hard to get rid off. But he didn’t have any choice, and it was one day. One day and then he would never have to see them again.

“Don’t mention it.” Maddox said, reaching across to hit Klaus’s arm lightly. “I adore the kid, practically a favor to me to spend the evening with him.”

Klaus smiled, watching as Asher ran out of the kitchen, clutching a pastry.

“Chocolate!” He declared, shoving one at Klaus and Maddox and keeping the last for himself. “Agnes said it would help keep the dementors away, but I don’t really know what that means.”

Klaus smiled, taking a bite of his donut and knowing that he would be able to get through this, that he would be able to soldier through the next couple of days and he would hold Asher a bit tighter as they read their bedtime story. Then life could move on as it always did.

Asher was rambling on and on about some random thing he learned in school and Klaus half listened, mostly just studying the lines on his son’s face.

He hoped to any real or pretend God that he would never lose his son and that his son would never have to lose him.

_______________________________________

A few days later Klaus was pulling up to the Academy in a taxi, the looming building standing gracefully in front of him and the dark doors seeming like a gateway to hell.

“Never thought I’d be here again.” He muttered to Ben, who nodded in reply. His brother had been oddly silent since his father died, still processing the fact that the old bastard was actually dead.

He pushed the doors open and walked inside, not really believing that he was actually here. He was way too sober to be back here. He wandered down the empty halls, knowing some of his siblings were probably scattered around but to tell the truth Klaus wasn’t really ready to interact with them yet.

So instead he decided to walk up to his father study, a giddy feeling rising into his chest as soon as he stepped foot inside it. His father couldn’t yell at him now could he?

He walked over to the desk, picking up a random thing that looked expensive. It was technically wrong to steal from his dead father, but him and Asher were barely scrapping by and well his father owed him for the years of trauma and abuse. So he shoved the random thing into his jacket, wandering around finding things that looked expensive enough for him to pawn off so that he could take his son our somewhere special. Maybe to the zoo, Asher loved looking at the elephants.

Ben was watching him with a judgemental look on his face, silent but his disapproval shone deep in his eyes like always.

“Where’s the cash dad.” He muttered opening a drawer. He could see it, hundreds of bills for him to grab, maybe he could treat Agnes and Maddox to a nice dinner or something with it. Or maybe he would be selfish and buy himself something nice, a new outfit maybe.

“Klaus?” A voice startled him, causing him to jump and stare at his sister, Allison of course. “What are you doing here?” She asked.

“Oh Allison!” He exclaimed, smiling widely. He wouldn’t lie, he really had missed his sister all these years. They were never overly close, but well they had their moments. And they were the only one of the siblings with kids, so maybe they could bond over that at some point.

They hugged, Klaus rambling on about not seeing her and getting her autograph and all that crap. He had gone to see her latest film with Asher, his kid not believing that his Aunt was an actual actress.

“Just out of rehab?” She asked, and Klaus frowned slightly before quickly covering it up with a smile. It wasn’t wrong of her to ask, as far as she knew he was still fucking himself up with drugs nightly.

“No, no no.” He said, batting a hand. “I don’t do that stuff anymore.” And it was the truth, he didn’t. He was proud to say he was officially two years sober after his last relapse when a particularly nasty ghost managed to touch him and he freaked out over it.

He could see the judgement in Allison’s eyes and he knew she didn’t believe him. He found he didn’t really care. Honestly, didn’t care at all. Not one bit.

The sharp sting in his chest was just the product from something he ate last night, was he too young for a heart attack?

He deflected again, going on and on about his father and the stupid room they were never allowed to step foot into. He was in the middle of mocking his father when Luther stepped in and wow he had filled out quite a bit.

He pointed it out, but the big guy apparently still had a massive stick up his ass so it didn’t really go over well. It ended up with Luther making him drop all the visible things on his person which was kind of annoying, but Klaus still had enough that his rent would be a lot less stressful this month.

He wandered around, dropping through the window and out, hoping to go pawn this stuff off before his siblings could catch him with any of it.

He was halfway down the fire escape when he slipped, his feet hitting a slippery rung as he fell backwards, pinwheeling for a couple seconds before he fell backwards landing in a soft mound on garbage.

He sat up, ignoring the smirk Ben was giving him.

“Oh shut it.” He snapped, and Ben’s smile grew.

“I didn’t say anything.” He said innocently, and Klaus flipped him off, standing to his feet and cursing when he noticed all his loot had fallen out of his waist band and was all over the garbage.

He leaned over, muttering cursed as he picked it up to the best of his abilities. One of the lavish boxes had popped open, but Klaus didn’t care enough to go sorting through the trash to figure out where it fell. The box was the important part, with gold and silver and pearls, he would get a solid 250$ on the thing.

He hoped out of the can, shaking off the remaining garbage and running to a pawn shop, stuffing the money he got into his pants and quickly making his way back to the house. He stank like garbage, so he quickly changed into some random skirt he managed to find in Allison’s closet and wandered back downstairs just in time for the rest of his siblings to gather in the living room.

None of them had really changed. Luther was obviously huge now, but he still had the same look of a kicked puppy mixed with an asshole who had his head stuck up his ass and couldn’t see the facts laid in front of him. Allison looked a lot more expensive but she held herself with the same confidence as before. Diego still looked angry and like he was constantly brooding, and Vanya curled into herself like she’d rather be anywhere else but here.

All in all, not much had changed with them all. Klaus pulled out a cigarette, one vice that he let himself retain from his earlier days. Luther was going on and on about the funeral and Klaus butt in every now and then, seeing just how much he could annoy his family before a fight started.

Unsurprisingly, it didn’t take long, but it’s fair to say Klaus wasn’t expecting Luther to accuse them of murdering their own father. Patricide was not a nice thing to accuse people of.

And even better, Luther wanted him to summon and talk to dad. Like literally pull that asshole from the depths of hell and ask him how he died. Klaus could, he knew he could. His powers had been growing ever since he was sober, and if he tried hard enough he knew that he could summon dad.

But then what? Would the old man haunt him? Klaus had worked so hard to keep his son from his father, and inviting his dad's’ ghost to haunt him and see Asher was the biggest no he had ever heard.

So Klaus stormed out, not really wanting to sit around and deal with his siblings anymore, his siblings who thought he was still high despite him saying he wasn’t, his siblings who rolled their eyes every time he talked, his siblings who were too much of idiots to even pretend to be civil at their father’s funeral.

His small burner phone started to ring as he walked into the downstairs kitchen, his father's’ ashes in hand.

He flipped it open, not even bothering to check the caller before pressing it up to his ear.

“What’s up?” He greeted, setting his father's ashes down and hopping up onto the counter beside them.

“Klaus!” Agnes greeted, Klaus’s melting slightly at her warm tone. He may currently be in a place that held so much trauma for him, but Agnes always had a talent at making people feel better. “I was just calling to check in on you, Asher just called form lunch and everything going good for him.”

“Awesome, thank the heavens for you Agnes.” He told her. “There better be a million donuts waiting for me when I get back.”

“Oh, is it that bad dear?” She asked, and Klaus scoffed. “Well I’ve already been accused of murdering my father so it’s going just as well as I thought it would.” He said joyfully.

Agnes was quiet for a long moment, processing that statement.

“I’ll make a double batch just for you.” She said finally.

“You are the entire reason I now eat my feelings and I am eternally grateful for you, you wonderful woman.” He deadpanned, smiling at the musical laugh Agnes gave him.

“Oh you flirt,” She laughed. “I have to go now, there’s a customer coming in. I’ll call you when Asher gets here okay?”

“Sounds wonderful Agnes.” He told her. “I’ll treat you to a treat when I get the time.”

They said their goodbyes and Klaus laid back, dramatically throwing an arm over his face.

“How pissed would they be if I left right now?” Klaus asked, turning his face to look at Ben, who was somehow now sitting on the fridge.

“Super pissed.” He replied without hesitation. “Agnes wouldn’t be happy either.”

“I think she’s incapable of being mad or disappointed in anyone.” Klaus noted, trying to think of a time she was. Nothing came up.

“Fine, I guess I will stay.” He sighed, sitting up and climbing to his feet. “Is it worth it to even try and communicate with this asshole?” He asked, staring at his father's remains.

"No." Ben said, so he decided to do it either way.

“Alright you stubborn bastard!” He called out, waving his arms wildly like he was trying to do something important. Ben snorted at his behaviour. “You gonna manifest or are you going to continue being a stubborn asshole all the way into death?” He asked, waiting for a second.

Nothing happened. Of course it wouldn’t, he wasn’t actually putting much real effort into this whole thing.

“Man I could use a drink.” He sighed, reaching out and hitting the urn over, the ashes spilling out all over the floor. “Fuck!”

“Nice one Klaus.” Ben commented, hopping down from the fridge. “You just spilled dad.”

___________________________________

After an improv to dance party with his father's’ ashes and Ben, there was suddenly a giant thunderstorm, which was odd because well it was clear as fuck out before.

And then they ran outside and there was for some reason a giant blue hole in the sky, which was weird and he didn’t really know what to do with that, other than throw a fire extinguisher into it, because hey points for trying you know?

And then fell out good old Number Five, looking the same as he did the day he left. Man Klaus whispered he was drunk at this moment, or high. Both would be preferable to dealing with whatever the hell this was tuning out to be.

He sat on the table, watching as Five, yes little thirteen-year-old five who has been missing for seventeen years, wander around the kitchen and make a disgusting marshmallow disaster.

“What’s the date?” He asked, turning around. “The exact date.”

Vanya answered him, and Five explained himself, well sort of explained himself.

Turns out their sweet little brother was actually their older brother, had gone to the future and came back and was still a massive condescending asshole. Good to know some things never changed.

Then the funeral happened, and the most eventful thing was Luther and Diego deciding to fight it out just like that, right there over dad’s ashes. Klaus knew this would be an eventful funeral. He cheered them on, because if he was going to be stuck here he might as well have some fun with it.

An hour later, Klaus was sitting alone in the kitchen, clutching a random guitar and wondering if he should call a taxi or if Diego would actually show up and give him a ride back to Griddy’s.

Five and Allison entered, and suddenly Five was gone on his valent search for coffee somewhere else. Klaus figured from a fatherly standpoint he shouldn’t let the thirteen-year-old kid drive, but from a sibling standpoint it sounded like something he wanted to see happen.

Diego of course entered, telling them he was leaving and then being a massive asshole to Allison, which actually made Klaus bristle because he had heard what happened to her. If someone managed to take Asher away like Claire was taken away, well let’s just say he wouldn’t have acted as civilly as Allison acted.

Either way, he managed to corner Diego as he was leaving, asking him if they were leaving.

“I’m leaving, me, alone.” Diego grumbled, but Klaus could see in his eyes that he didn’t really mean it.

“Great!” He said, clapping happily. “I’ll go get my stuff.”

He could hear Diego groan loudly as he ran upstairs grabbing his soiled clothes and a few more articles of Allison’s clothing. She wasn’t going to be using it anymore, and if she really wanted it she could go buy some more with her endless amounts of money.

He sits in the back, because Ben was in one of his moods again and Klaus wanted to spend some time with him. Diego barely spoke to him, but the two of them haven’t spoken since eight years ago when Diego was vigilante-ing and broke up a party he was at.

Klaus just wants to go back to Griddy’s and complain to Agnes and eat the donuts, talk to his son and maybe he would let Asher skip school tomorrow and they could go to a movie, get some ice cream or something like that.

Diego, of course, decided to stop at some river for some quality brooding time, which was inconvenient.

“Agnes better be making me food.” Klaus grumbled, looking over at Ben, who said nothing in return. “I’m thinking, eggs.”

He frowned, shaking his head. “She won’t make me eggs. How about waffles?” He turned to Ben. “You like waffles?”

Ben nodded slowly, and Klaus laughed. “Of course you like waffles, everyone likes waffles.”

He leaned out the door to yell at Diego again to hurry up. He had a long day and he just wanted to go and see his son and eat some stupid waffles and donuts.

Diego turned, grabbing the little radio of the top of the car and slip into the car, an intense look on his face.

“Diego!” He cried dramatically. “Thank you for joining us.”

“I’ll drop you off at the bus stop.” Diego interrupted. “I’ve got to get back to work.”

“What, breaking bones and cracking skulls?” He asked, only somewhat sarcastic.

It was worth it to see the slight upturn of Diego lips.

“Saving lives baby.” He quipped back, getting ready to head out.

“That’s great and all.” Klaus continued. “But I need you to drop me off at Griddy’s, it’s closer and where I currently need to be. Save me a bus ticket.”

Diego went oddly silent for a moment, his face freezing and his eyes widening from what Klaus could see under the stupid mask he wore.

“I can’t take you there.” Diego said slowly, his voice deepened.

“What do you mean?” Klaus snapped. He didn’t want to go to the stupid bus stop when it was literally five minutes further than Griddy’s. He wanted to go grab Asher and go home. “Why can’t you?”

“There was a shooting there, it’s where I’m heading after.” Diego said, but Klaus suddenly couldn’t hear.

His heart dropped down a thousands feet and it felt like the air had been sucked out of his lungs. A shooting at Griddy’s? Asher was there. Fuck, he needed to get there now.

“Diego,” He growled, cutting Diego’s half formed words off. “Drive as fast as you can. I need to get there now.”

“Klaus I’m not driving you to the place of an active shooting, it’s too dangerous.” Diego was lecturing, and Klaus couldn’t care. His heart was pounding and fear was choking him up, making his heart pound and his breathing quicken.

“I don’t care!” He snapped. “Get me there now.”

Diego must have seen something in his eyes, because his brother put the petal to the metal, speeding through the streets towards the diner.

Klaus was pulling his phone out, dialing Agnes number and holding it up to his ear, praying for the older woman to answer and assure him that everything was fine, that Diego had gotten the wrong location.

No on answered.

“Fuck!” He cried, shoving his phone into his pocket and taking a deep breath, tears stinging the back of his eyes. If anything had happened to Asher while he was out? He didn’t know what he would do.

“Deep breathes Klaus, you need to stay calm.” Ben said lowly, but Klaus could see the panic in his own eyes building.

“Klaus, what’s so important?” Diego asked, but Klaus didn’t answer, only snapped at him to hurry up. Diego took the hint and didn’t ask again.

The dinner came into view, the windows still lit up and the sirens of police cars were filling the distance. The car had barely slowed to a stop before Klaus was throwing the door open, stumbling out and towards the establishment, ignoring Diego cries from behind him.

“Asher!” He cried, running towards the diner. There was no one inside, other than a shit ton of blood. It made him want to puke. “Agnes! Asher!” He flew through the door, Diego a half step behind him.

There were bodies everywhere, at least five men, shots in their heads and torsos, leaking blood everywhere. Honestly, it didn’t phase him much, he was used to seeing corpses all the time. He was just looking around to see if he recognized any of the bodies on the ground.

“Asher!” He called again, desperation and fear tinging his voice.

“Papa!” His son cried out, his tiny body flying out from the back room, tears running down his cheeks as he flew into Klaus’s arms.

“Asher.” He sobbed, clutching onto his child, relief burning bright through him, causing a few tears to slip down his face. He could hear his kids heart pumping under him, proof that his kid was alive and not just a ghost coming to haunt him. “Asher.” He repeated, squeezing his son harder.

“Papa.” His son sobbed to him. “The men suddenly came in and they were so loud and mean, they shot at the other boy here and Agnes told me to hide before I could see anything else. It was so loud Papa I was so scared.” Asher dissolved into sobs again, clutching onto him even harder.

“Let me see you baby.” Klaus said, peeling his son off of him. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

He ran his hands up and down his son, checking for any blood or cuts or bruises or really any mark on his boy.

“I’m okay.” He said, his small hands clutching onto Klaus arms like he was afraid to let go. “Am-am I still alive?” His son suddenly said in a small voice.

“Of course you are baby, your fine.” He cooed, and Asher shook with more tears.

“I was scared that only you could see me, that I was just a ghost.” Asher whimpered, and Klaus’s heart broke even more, and he pulled his son into him again, falling back onto his butt so he could pull him onto his lap, letting his son sob into his jacket.

He rocked him back and forth, his own eyes shut tightly as he tried not to cry. He took a deep breath, opening his eyes and taking everything in once again. Ben was hovering beside them, his hand resting just over Asher’s back, unable to touch but yearning to be able to. Diego was standing in the midst of the wreckage, staring at Klaus like he grew another head, and Agnes stood in the kitchen’s door, her uniform askew and looking pale and flustered.

“Agnes!” He cried, carefully wrapping his arms around Asher’s body and heaving him up into his arms, walking towards the older woman with his six-year-old still clutching onto him like a monkey. “Are you okay? What the hell happened?”

Diego chose that moment to step forwards, clearing his throat and bringing attention to himself.

“I should ask the same question ma’am; can you tell me what happened here tonight?” Diego asked, his mask suddenly gone and an open sympathetic look on his face. It was fake.

“Are you part of the police?” Agnes asked, sounding confused as her eyes flickered between Klaus and Diego.

Diego nodded, opening his mouth and something inside Klaus just bubbled up and over the top. He had been through a lot today, gone back to the place where him and his siblings were abused, saw his brother who had been missing for seventeen years come back randomly, and then thought his son had been shot and now Diego wanted to lie to the woman who gave him a job and a home when he had nothing else.

“No, he is not.” He interrupted, glaring Diego down even when the other man turned to glare right back. “This is my brother Diego who is very much not a detective.”

The silence hung over them for a long moment, tense and you probably couldn’t break it with the strongest hammer around.

“Diego?” Asher muttered, raising his head from where it was tucked into Klaus’s neck. “Like uncle Diego?”

“Yes buddy,” Klaus said, softening immediately. “Uncle Diego.”

“Are we going to talk about this Klaus?” Diego asked, his eyes now boring into Asher’s body. Klaus fought the urge to hide his son from his brothers view.

“No, your going to leave now.” Klaus told him. “Bye bye.”

He waved a hand in his brother’s face, plaster a bright smile on. He grabbed Agnes’s arm and gently lead her to a table, she looked ready to fall over.

“What happened?” He asked again, ignoring Diego who went to stand at the door, waving to a bunch of police officers who just arrived.

“I was just serving this nice man and his kid, I went to the back and suddenly these men were everywhere, with these giant guns and they were just shooting everything. I got Asher and he crawled to the back. I don’t know what happened then, I was just making sure he was alright.” She told him, her voice wobbling as she spoke.

“Thank you so much for keeping him safe Agnes.” He whispered, clutching his son tighter. He seemed to be falling asleep in his arms. “I don’t know what I would do if he-“ He cut himself off, and Agnes cooed at him, reaching across the table to grab his hand.

“Go home Klaus.” She whispered. “I’ll talk to the police. Work is obviously canceled tomorrow.”

He thanked her again, slipping out the back door as they started cleaning up the bodies. Asher was now asleep n his arms, tired out from the crying and the stress form the night. Klaus felt the same himself, he could barely stay awake. His eyes were drooping and he couldn’t wait to just go sit around at home and fall asleep and pretend this day never happened.

He didn’t even bother turning on his apartment lights, instead quickly changing into some sleep clothes and softly changing his son into some too. He knew Asher wouldn’t want to be alone when he woke up, so he put them both into his own giant bed.

He slipped under the covers, his son immediately moving to cuddle up to him, Klaus smiled down at him, kissing the top of his head and carefully unhooking his sons hearing aids and putting them onto the nightstand.

He was asleep almost instantly, exhausted beyond measure.