Work Text:
1.
It was about two in the morning when Ben heard something knock against the bedroom window. He sat up instantly, preparing for an intruder, but one look at the empty bed across the room made him go reeling back into the mattress with a sigh. Klaus had snuck out again, no doubt to a club or a bar. Number Six has shared a room with his brother for nearly 11 years and although he tried his best to discourage him from his bad habits, he had become quite accustomed to a drunken Klaus stumbling through their window in the dead of the night.
Six groaned in annoyance as there was another, more obnoxious, rap of knuckles upon the glass. 'I'm too nice', he thought as he got up and exasperatedly threw open the window. Klaus fell in shortly after with a clumsy giggle.
"Danca Benny boy~" Four hummed as he stood up not-so-gracefully, "Knew I could count *hiccup* on ya."
"Shut up and go to sleep," the Asian replied as he crossed his arms with a glare.
"Aww come on, don't be like that," Klaus whined, reaching for his brother's cheek, "I'm not even high, jusss a lil' tipsy, that's all."
Ben scoffed, "You can barely stand up straight." He sounded irritated, but Four knew better. There was a hint of fondness in his eyes as Klaus now had both hands on either side of his face.
"How could I climb *hic* the tree then, hm Benji?"
"Don't call me that."
"Benji, Benny, Bennykins-"
"You're drunk-"
"-Benny, Bunny!"
"B-Bunny..?" Six choked out, pulling away from his brother like he had been burned as his face flushed, "T-That... sounds kinda cute..."
Four grinned widely, his eyes twinkling. He wandered over to his brother's bed and collapsed onto the sheets. "My Bunny is the cutest," he cooed.
"H-Hey! That's my bed!"
But it was too late, Klaus had already passed out. The nickname caught Six off guard; all he could do now is flusteredly wait for Klaus to wake up or lay next to him like nothing ever happened.
He chose the latter.
2.
Rained poured down from the sky as the dark clouds seemed to swallow all of the light from the world. Ben sat on the base of "his" statue, watching his brother, for the fourth time this week, lay on the cold muddy ground. Klaus was on his back, staring up at the sky with rain obscuring the tears dripping from his face; black eyeliner swirled upon his cheeks and there was a half empty bottle of whiskey in his hand.
It broke Ben's heart to just watch, but he was completely powerless to do anything else. Klaus was too far gone; between grief, denial, alcohol, and harder drugs, he has yet to notice his dead brother's presence. It had only been a few weeks, but Klaus was taking it a lot worse than the others. He barely ate, didn't speak, and couldn't sleep with the empty bed across from his.
The ghost sometimes had to sigh and walk away, knowing that he couldn't bare to observe it go on for much longer. He wanted the best for his brother, not to watch him slowly kill himself.
The first couple of times, Ben had tried to plead "Please get up, Klaus. It wasn't your fault," but his brother never heard him; and if he did, he wrote it off as the drugs talking. So Six would drift back into the void, unable to stay strong and collected like he imagined his first meeting with Klaus should be. He'd slip out of the realm of the living and curl in on himself within the dark nothingness: wanting to cry but willing no tears, wanting to scream but unable to muster a sound. Watching Klaus, that's all he could do. And it crushed him. It crushed him bad. And Klaus couldn't see that side of him; no, he had to be his brother's rock now more than ever. If Klaus was to ever move on, Ben would need to accept his fate as well and be there for him. This was his resolve and he knew that when Klaus sees him, he'll be ready.
But on this fateful encounter, nothing could have prepared Ben for his sad Number Four's broken whisper of "...Bunny?"
Six couldn't handle it, he couldn't even look him in the face because he knew that the minute he saw those bloodshot vapid eyes, he'd break down; his resolve would crumble. So like the coward he is, he slipped back into the void, leaving Four to sob over his new found grief.
3.
"You shouldn't be here," Klaus growled, eyes locking with the glaring phantom in the corner.
"And neither should you," Ben replied coldly, crossing his arms, "Do you even know this guy's name?"
"I don't have to know his name."
"But you should, he's gonna learn a lot more personal stuff about you real quick," Six scoffed with a roll of his eyes; there was only the slightest bit of jealously tingeing his tone.
"Oh shut up," his brother snapped, sitting up with a snarl, "No one said you have to stay and watch."
"And wait for another scumbag to take advantage of you? Not a chance," Ben countered stubbornly. He tucked himself further into his hood at the slight embarrassment of being called out.
"Christ, Ben, I don't need a fucking guardian angel! Get lost!"
"No."
"Go! No one wants you here!"
"No."
"I swear... if you don't leave...!"
"If I leave, you might lose count of how many pills you've taken and overdose!"
"I might just start pounding pills right now to at least force you to disappear from my sight!"
That comment made Six flinch. Would Klaus really risk overdosing just to make him vanish? He tried to swallow around the lump in his throat.
"Y-Yeah, well, y-you'd still hear me," the ghost shakily mumbled, his hands gripping the leather on his forearms in a desperate attempt to anchor himself.
The sight made Klaus clench his jaw, frustrated with the stupid words he had just sputtered in complete disregard for how they may affect his passed brother. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that... Bunny, please just-"
"Don't call me that!" Ben shouted, tears welling in his eyes, "Only the silly ghost-seeing boy I fell in love with can call me that! And he's- he's about to give up his body and soul to s-some random dealer off the streets!"
"Well it's not like I could ever do it with you!"
The words stung, but awakened a rage of envy, "Well it seems you couldn't even remain faithful if you tried! Saying you love me, ha! What bullshit, I really was easy and naive as a kid, huh?"
"You asshole, you know that's a bunch of bull! Trying to guilt trip me now? Your life is over," the medium spat venomously, his eyes narrowed as he stared down the angry ghost, "Don't stop me from living mine."
And with that, the dam broke. The tears fell yet Six couldn't feel them trail down his face, he couldn't hear them drip onto the floor. Ben could only grind his teeth together and mutter a weak, "I hope that the regret and guilt eats you up" before joining the void once again.
It wasn't until Ben returned in the morning, seeing his brother's shaking form in an alley littered with nasty bruises and puffy black bags under his eyes, that he regretted those words. Klaus couldn't move, his clothes were torn; Ben felt like if he were alive again, he'd die right there from the enormous weight settling on his chest.
Klaus tried to call it off, the man didn't listen. Safe words were screamed and ultimately ignored. And in the end, what should have been a blissed-out heap of limbs high off of afterglow, was instead a sniffing shaking hollow shell of a man who hated himself more than the bad luck that followed him. And Ben, the always quiet and contemplating Ben, could only blame himself for ruining what could have been a good time.
He really was a drag on his brother's life, wasn't he?
4.
"Diego? Is that you?"
Said man froze at the familiar voice, his shoulders drooping in defeat as he hesitantly turned towards the speaker. Ben frowned, thinking that Diego could at least try to be a little more subtle about his discomfort.
"Uh, h-hey Klaus! How've you been?"
"Just peachy, thank you. I see you've been busy!" he chirped in reply, eyeing the police academy uniform. 'Lies,' Six wanted to say to their symbolically older brother, 'He's depressed, lonely, homeless, and living off of scraps from dumpsters.'
"Yeah, I've been a full-time student for awhile now..."
'He wouldn't know that you idiot', Ben wanted to hiss, 'He ran away years ago.'
"Oh, really? Where has the time gone..." Four hummed, but there was a hint of sadness to his reminiscent tone.
Two's brow crinkled slightly, his fingers fiddling with what Six could only assume was a knife hidden within his belt loop. "Would you... um, like to join me for breakfast?"
Klaus smiled at the invitation, knowing but not really caring that it was forced since he stopped his brother right as he was about to open the cafe's door. "I would love too."
Ben's frown deepened as Klaus anxiously bounced his leg, noting the way Diego kept glancing up from his menu to see that Klaus still hadn't picked up his.
He subconsciously scooted a little closer to Four on their side of the booth. "He's wanting you to order something," he explained softly, looking at his partner with gentle eyes.
Klaus glanced at the ghost, then at the menu, and then back at him again. "I've only got a dollar..." he mumbled.
Two looked up from his menu, his nose wrinkling ever so slightly in unamusement. "Don't worry about it," he replied, "It's on me."
Ben wanted to shout that Klaus didn't need his brother's charity, that Klaus was trying to be polite and not take advantage of his financial position, but on the other hand, Klaus needed this meal. He REALLY needed this meal. So when Four looked at him as to say 'Well? What do you think?' Ben just nodded and crossed his arms as he leaned back in their seat.
The waitress arrived shortly after, Klaus ordering a plate of waffles as Diego ordered an omelet and a coffee. The menus were taken and they sat in awkward silence for awhile.
"So... What have you been up to Klaus? I haven't seen you in what.. Two years, three years?"
"Four," Klaus corrected with a downcast gaze, "Four years and 167 days..."
Ben scooted even closer; if he was alive, their thighs would have been touching. Klaus ran away a lot growing up, but left permanently two months after Ben's death and never looked back.
"O-Oh..." Diego cleared his throat uncomfortably, "I didn't realize."
Ben snorted, rolling his eyes. 'Of course you didn't, you probably didn't even realize he left until Reginald mentioned it.'
"That's alright, it was a rough time period for all of us... But since you asked," Four shrugged as he folded his slender fingers under his chin, "I've been up to the usual. Just a little less restrained now."
Two winced at the comment, knowing exactly what 'restraint' his brother was alluding to. "I never got a chance to say this but... u-uh, I'm sorry man; I know you two were close and I felt weak for not being able to protect my siblings and so I just blocked out everything to focus on training and-"
"Please stop," the medium interrupted as his eyes were tightly clenched shut. He took a deep breath before continuing. "The past is the past. I don't need the pity party."
Diego frowned, "Dude he was my brother too. So are you, let me care-"
"You didn't care then. Why should I believe that you care now?" he bit out, his eyes opening to stare with a fiery green intensity. Ben felt a pain in his chest, knowing that Klaus was struggling to keep his composure.
"Don't say that Klaus, of course we cared-"
"No you didn't," He let out a dry laugh, "You guys just felt guilty for letting him die! None of you took the time to know him, to know me. Nobody seemed to even remember him after the funeral-"
"S-Shut up! Just because we didn't leech onto him for drug money doesn't mean-"
Klaus stood abruptly, his breathing heavy as he glared at Two with teary eyes. "I never asked Ben to fund my drug habit. Ever."
Ben growled under his breath, seeing guilt flash across Diego's eyes before being replaced with anger. Two was always too stubborn to back down from a fight.
"He was the only one that pitied you enough to help you. His heart was too big, too soft; he didn't deserve how you took advantage of him. You are just as selfish now as you were before," the knife-wielder sneered, his chest puffing out in challenge, "Poor Klaus, Everyone's out to get Klaus... You always thought you had it worse than everyone else but Ben was never close with you like your fucked-up head might have believed. He just put up with your bullshit unlike the rest of us and you ran away hoping we'd too take pity on you, huh? The only one who's having a pity party is you."
If Ben had corporeal hands, he'd lunge across the table and punch Diego right in the face. He didn't know shit but kept talking like he did. And all he was doing was hurting Klaus and filling his head with lies. Ben was enraged that Diego assumed he knew all the things Ben felt, that he assumed he had the position to put Klaus down like a self-absorbed junkie. Four had a kind heart and he always brushed off the insults and downgrading because deep down, he already hated himself. It was too much effort to try and convince people otherwise, let them assume what they want. But Klaus never let anyone talk about Ben, or any misconceptions they may have had about him and Ben. Call it superstitions of talking wrong about the dead, but if you ever wanted to set Klaus off... this was the way to do it.
The medium looked seconds away from screaming in his brother's face, seconds away from totally losing his shit but instead he swallowed, closed his eyes, settled back in his seat, and took a deep breath. "He's not worth it, Klaus," Ben grumbled, wishing he could hold his brother's hand and tell Diego that he doesn't know anything. But he couldn't, so he just looked at his companion with pleading eyes.
Klaus smiled, an empty and disappointed smile, but a smile nonetheless that made Two's skin crawl. "Whether it be no years, four years, or even thirteen," he glanced at Six before facing the man across from him again, "None of you will ever understand me because you make your own assumptions and nothing I could say would ever change your mind. And you can go ahead and make false accusations about me, I don't care, but don't you ever think you know Ben; you don't and now you never will. But unlike you, I hear his voice every night and I see his face everyday and we know how we feel and that's honestly all that matters. I never wanted your pity, I wanted a family I could rely on; a family that seeks refuge and comfort in each other when going through hard times... but eventually I realized I was never gonna get that. At least, not without Ben."
"Klaus, I-"
"So good luck in the police academy, brother dearest. I wish I could say that this reunion has been delightful, but then I'd be lying." He turned to the waitress arriving with their meals, "Can I get a box, darling? Thanks."
"I'm proud of you, Klaus." The medium turned towards his ghostly brother, continuing his walk down the street with a box of fresh waffles in his hands.
Klaus smirked at the adoring grin on his companion's face. "What for?"
"For being the bigger, more mature person... I never thought I'd see the day!" He wiped an imaginary tear from his eye.
"Aw fuck you, I try," Klaus whined, although his eyes appeared pleased with the compliment.
Ben laughed before freezing as his hand phased through Four's, snapping him out of the fantasy that everything was perfect. Not having a body was not perfect, being dead was definitely NOT perfect. The Asian shook his head as he muttered, "And that's why I'll never give up on you: because even though you're a fuck up, you still try."
The Seance halted his stride, the joyous expression wiping from his face as his unruly hair fell into his emerald green orbs. "You know... Diego's right about one thing: I really don't deserve you, Bunny."
5.
'Number Four was always the weakest among the powered children. He was terrified of his abilities and purposefully acted out to draw living attention to him rather than the dead's. He was odd and never really fit in anywhere, always mumbling to things that no one else could see and crying at night thinking that nobody else could hear. He wasn't a fighter and much too flamboyant to be associated with the other males in the house; he made most of them uncomfortable, they had very conservative views like our father. But not all of them ostracized Four, Number Six was different. He was the only one who'd put up with our brother's bizarre behavior and seemed to actually enjoy his company at times; we all thought it was because they shared a room for so long but even when they were offered their own rooms, they chose to stick together. Younger, I didn't think much of it at first; but as the years went on, I began to suspect that they were a lot closer than the typical siblings should be and with Klaus's defined sexuality, I wouldn't be surprised if their bond was beyond being roommates and close friends... Of course, these speculations couldn't be explicitly confirmed without addressing the elephant in the room and making it awkward. After Ben's death, it wasn't really a shock to everyone when Klaus began disappearing for days and coming back high and drunk. He got into harder drugs then and would stay laying on the ground next to Ben's statue for hours, weeping in despair. My question was answered then: he was a heartbroken and grieving boy, just like any other kid would be if they lost their first lov-'
Klaus shut the book with a dramatic thwack before standing up and briskly walking back to his room.
"Klaus? Where are you going? I wasn't done reading yet-"
The door slammed in the ghost's face and Ben could only huff at the rude gesture before passing through the obstacle with ease.
"What gives? You didn't even finish the group therapy session," Six questioned as he crossed his arms. He silently made his way to the form laying on the bed with his back to him.
Four remained silent, ignoring his brother as he stared at the wall.
The ghost became concerned with the lack of commentary, sitting next to his brother's feet as he asked softly, "Hey, are you alright? You can talk to me."
It was quiet for a few moments before the medium whispered, "How could she say all that? About them? About you? About 'us'?"
The Asian's lips pursed as he felt a familiar bitterness bubble within him. "Nothing she said wasn't true..." he mumbled.
"But who gave her the right?!" he cried, sitting up to whip around towards his brother, "She basically just outed you to the whole world!"
Ben looked away, saying, "They would have found out eventually if, you know, I was still alive."
"Stop defending her," Klaus growled, "You were the one most afraid of everyone finding out about us but now you're ok with her implying it for literally anyone to read?"
"Of course I'm not ok with it but I'm dead so it doesn't really affect me. I'm more worried about you; she said a lot of horribly honest stuff about you... and we didn't even finish the chapter."
The medium placed his head in his hands. "They would have found out eventually," he quoted with a wry smile, "Although I'd rather not have everyone know about my weaknesses and fears; not ideal for a retired superhero, eh?"
"Not at all," Ben said with a content sigh, lowering his head to be eye level with his brother's partially covered face,"I guess we weren't very good at keeping secrets anyways, huh? If Vanya knew we were sneaking around, then the others definitely noticed."
Four laughed as he gave a sad smile, "It was fun though, wasn't it? Naive kisses in the closet, slipping into each other's beds late at night, secretly holding hands on our way to missions, subtle glances when we thought no one was looking..."
"Yeah," Ben replied quietly, noting the longing tone creeping into Klaus's voice, "It was..."
A comfortable silence settled between them, Klaus turning his head in his hands to face the ghost patiently observing him. "I miss you, Bunny," he whispered, pain apparent in his eyes.
"I know," was all Ben could get out as his nonexistent heart pained in a way no words could describe. His expression grew grim and bitter, knowing that those short but perfect moments would never exist again.
"I love you."
Ben swallowed the sob that wanted so desperately to escape from him. He closed his eyes as he took a shaky breath that he didn't actually need. "I know."
+1.
The first thing Ben noticed when he opened his eyes was that his body ached. He sat up slowly; the sky was too bright, the world was too loud, the ground was too soft- Wait the ground too soft? He looked down at his hands, his delicate fingers threading themselves through the vibrant grass, gasping softly at the feeling of dirt being entrapped beneath his finger nails. He felt tears well in his eyes, really FELT them trickle down his cheeks; really FELT the cool oxygen filling his burning lungs as he forgot to breathe for a moment in his epiphany. He could breathe. He could feel. He could touch- He could touch... He could touch!
Immediately, Six's eyes darted around in search of a familiar face. He saw Allison staring at him in shock; Diego was trying to control his quivering lip; Luther was following Allison's gaze before his jaw dropped; Five was sitting up hesitantly before giving a smug grin. But Ben couldn't see Klaus. Where was Klaus?
That's when he heard it, a groan of "Geez Five, bit of a rough landing, don't ya think?" coming from behind him.
Ben felt his whole world stop as he listened to the rustling, waiting for his brother to sit up and grasp the situation. He couldn't turn around, he wanted to so bad but he was scared that if he reached for him, the dream would fade and his hand would go through. That's what this is, right? A dream? This couldn't really be happening, right? He doesn't really get a second chance at life, right?
"What?" Four asked from behind him, "Why are you guys staring at me?"
"N-N-Not y-y-you..." Diego stuttered out, wiping furiously at his eyes.
Seconds ticked by but it felt like hours to Ben. He needed the confirmation, he needed his brother to assure him that this was real and this was happening. Finally, Klaus whispered, "Can you... can you all see him?"
Six heard his heart thump loudly in his ears.
Five chuckled, placing his hands on his hips as he replied, "I didn't know if it'd work for sure, but I thought that I should at least try."
"I don't understand..." he sounded choked up, Ben could imagine the tears welling in his eyes, "Are you saying that- that B-Ben is... alive?"
Thump, thump.
Allison smiled and nodded her head, tears trailing down her cheeks; Luther grinned; Diego looked away to hide his tears; Vanya was still laying unconscious on the floor; Five simply said, "Yep."
Thump, thump.
More silence. Ben gulped; he could feel the gaze burning a hole into the back of his head.
Thump, thump.
"Benny?"
Thump, thump.
Ben slowly turned around, not even caring about the snot and tears gushing down his face, not even caring about his wide and hopeful eyes, not even caring about his opened but not speaking mouth.
Thump, thump.
"K-Klaus?"
Thump, thump.
"Bunny!" Four cried happily as he launched himself into Six's small form, his cool to the touch skin snapping Ben out of his frozen state. The Asian buried his head into the other boy's chest, sobbing as he wrapped him in a hug so tight, his bones might pop.
"I love you," Ben blubbered, feeling Klaus smile against his forehead, "I love you I love you I love you I love you."
"I love you too, Bunny."
"Say it again."
"Say what again?"
"Say it."
"I love you too, Bunny?"
"Again."
"No," Four laughed, "I'd rather do this."
Ben lifted his head curiously. "Wha-" But then their lips touched in a sweet, gentle, but nonetheless loving kiss and Ben felt his newly alive heart explode; and it wasn't in pain this time, it swelled with relief and adoration. Because in that moment, just the two of them, none of the others existed. Nothing they thought mattered. He was happy and enamored and nothing could ruin this perfect moment.
It was just Four and Six.
The Seance and The Horror.
Klaus and his Bunny.