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Five sat curled in the corner of his room, sweat streaked hair strands falling forward on his forehead and obstructing his line of vision. He was too tired to brush it away, body too bruised and battered for him to even attempt. All he could do was swallow another whimper and press his back forcefully against the corner of the room, body shuddering with each breath that brought even more pain.
“Hey, little bro? Where are you?”
Five closed his eyes slowly once he heard the familiar voice of Klaus.
Normally he put up a front of annoyance when he was anywhere near his extroverted brother, though it was more out of amusement than anything else. He would never admit to that, obviously, but he had a feeling that Klaus was partly away of it. Besides, his brother never seemed to let up, even when most people would’ve given up on attempting to break down Five’s walls by now. That just wasn’t Klaus and part of Five would be thankful for that.
Unfortunately, now wasn’t one of those times.
Five stayed tucked where he was, hoping that Klaus would lose interest when he couldn’t find him and would go bother another one of their siblings. Klaus’s attention span wasn’t exactly lengthy and Five was hoping to use that to his advantage.
A soft knock on his door had Five freezing, shoulder pushed even harder against the wall. A small yelp let his lips as the radiating pain traveled all the way down to his fingers from the meager touch.
“Five? That you? Are you okay in there?”
Knowing that Klaus knew damn well where he was and that hiding wouldn’t be a solution for much longer, Five gave in to answer.
“Go away, Klaus.”
There was a brief pause on the other end and Five prayed that Klaus listened for once.
“You don’t sound so good in there.”
Annoyance fluttered in Five’s chest at Klaus’s words. “I’m fine,” he shot back, cursing his voice as it crackled at the end.
There was the sound of a knob jiggling, and a moment later the door was pushed open with Klaus appearing utterly pleased with himself. “I didn’t know I could still pick a lock that quickly.”
Five glared at him, furious that he had let himself in without his permission. “I said I’m fine,” he snapped with as much strength as he could muster. “Get the fuck out.”
The blood drained from Klaus’s face when he caught sight of his smallest sibling. Five was clustered in the corner of his room, hair drenched with sweat and coated in a wide variety of bruises carrying from dark blue and black to yellows and purples, and that was just what Klaus could see from where his uniform wasn’t covering. One of the worst appeared to be on Five’s face so that his left eye was nearly swollen shut with a split lip to match. Dried blood shone around a ghastly gash on his shoulder through his sleeve, skin and bits of fleshing hanging off.
“Oh, Five.” It was the only thing that Klaus could think of saying, partially because whatever else he said he worried would scare Five away. Whether or not he could blink away was out the question once Klaus took a step towards him and his brother didn’t immediately vacate the premise. That would be the typical Five response, and happened in most situations.
Fire burned in Five’s gaze when he looked at Klaus before lifting his knees up toward his chest, head buried into his folded arms that were rested on his knees. This was the only position that wasn’t excruciating.
“What happened?” Klaus took another step forward.
“Stay back!”
Klaus jumped in alarm at the sudden roar of intensity in Five’s voice. He was used to his brother’s snarky sarcasm, sure, but this was quite different.
Although Klaus was normally more than happy to push boundaries, defy rules, and do what he wanted, he also knew when to push and when not to.
“Alright, okay, I won’t get any closer. Is it alright if I sit here? My knees hate when I’m in this position.” He motioned to how he was crouched, attempting to spark some kind of reaction from Five.
Unsurprisingly, Five didn’t so much as glance his way. “Fine, just don’t come any closer.”
“That I can do.” Klaus sat back and crossed his legs in front of him as he sat, keeping a close eye on Five. He noticed when Five took in any sort of breath, he winced, brow knitted together until the exhale. The muscles in his legs were constricting on their own, forcing Five to flex his feet downwards to combat the tremors. He didn’t make a noise of pain, though his eyes said it all.
“Are you bleeding from anywhere,” Klaus asked.
Five cocked his head quizzically, taking a moment to listen to what Klaus was saying. Thoughts were difficult to string together, though Five supposed that could be because of the repeated blows to the head he sustained. He knew a concussion when he felt one and he was certain that was what was blossoming behind his eyes and around the back of his head.
“Hmmm, probably. A little hard to tell at the moment.” Five moved less than an inch and immediately sucked in a sudden breath, teeth sinking into his bottom lip.
Klaus reached out his hand, keeping his end of the bargain not to get any closer, but the thought was still there. “Hey, hey! Maybe don’t move or something if it clearly hurts. Shouldn’t you want to do things to....you know....not make yourself hurt?”
Five huffed out a tried laugh. “A little late for that, I’d say. Doesn’t matter if I move or don’t, it’s not exactly going to go away anytime soon, not at least until I’ve drank myself to forgetting.”
“Coming from someone who does that on the regular, I’m not sure I’d recommend it right now,” Klaus pointed out, tapping his chin with his pointer finger. “I think you could use some Tylenol maybe or something.”
“That shit isn’t going to help.” Five let out a soft scoff. “Nothing is going to help. I got myself into this and I’ll get myself out. You don’t need to waste your time with me.”
Klaus’s eyes stretched wide. He wanted nothing more than to sail forward and wrap Five in the biggest hug he could muster before telling himself that would probably be one of the worst things that he could do. “It’s not a waste for me to be here. I want to be here with you!”
Although Five had spent decades away from his family, he could tell that Klaus wasn’t lying. He may be able to spin tales and stretch truths, but in this moment, there was no benefit for him lying. He had no idea what Klaus could possibly want by spending time with him when he was in that state, but then again, when did Klaus ever truly make any sense?
“Your loss.” Five’s chest heaved in a sudden cough, entire body jarred from it. His eyes squeezed shut, yet tears still began to leak from them.
Against his better judgement, Klaus scooted over to Five’s side and sat beside him. He noticed Five immediately stiffen and a blue haze show around his wrists. That was the farthest he got to jumping despite frequent attempts. He was stuck there and with Klaus too close for comfort.
“Do you want some water or something?” Klaus knew that he was grasping at straws, but he had no idea what to say.
Five kept his eyes closed a moment longer. When he finally surfaced, tears clung to his eyelashes and threatened to roll down his face.
The last thing that Klaus wanted to make things worse for his brother, but comforting someone wasn’t exactly his forte either. He cared for his siblings, sure, but saying the right thing or offering comfort wasn’t his thing. It was really none of their things if you got down to it, though Klaus was usually the one that was getting comforted instead of doing the comforting. He tried to think back to what Diego or Allison did to make him feel better. However, Diego telling him to sometimes suck it up and sleep it off may not have went over the best with Five in the current situation.
“Did I say something wrong? Can I do anything? Shit! Ben!” Klaus looked over his shoulder, searching for his dead brother. Normally Number Six would be behind him, whispering in his ear, or at the very least offering him advice whether he asked for it or not. “Ben, come on. Now isn’t the time to go all radio silent.”
Five let out another ragged pant when his head dropped forward, the pain causing a wave of nausea to churn inside of him. He had felt pain before, just not this widespread.
Klaus swore under his breath. Ben, for some reason, couldn’t be reached, and that meant he would have to use his limited knowledge to deal with an emotional Five.
“Oh, uh, Five, it’s okay. Is there anything I can do?” Klaus worked his hands in front of him, fingers chipping away at the nail polish that was already peeling.
Whether it was exhaustion or agony, Five found himself slumping to the side, forehead rested against Klaus’s shoulder. His brother was boney and didn’t offer much in the way of heat. The fluffy coat that he wore mainly for style brushed against Five’s cheek, the scent of Klaus’s stale cologne flooding his senses.
Klaus momentarily stiffened, waiting for Five to push back or demand that Klaus leave; that was usually what happened once Five showed any sort of emotional vulnerability in anyway.
When that didn’t immediately happen, Klaus tested the waters by lifting am arm and wrapping it around Five’s shoulders to hold him close. He was careful not to rest the palm of his hand on any of the bruises or wounds, which was difficult considering it seemed like Five was just one large bruise.
“Alright, it’s okay, little bro. It’s alright,” Klaus soothed as Five leaned into his touch more than he expected, arms wrapped around Klaus’s midsection. “I got ya. Nothing is going to hurt you, at least not now. You’re safe here.”
That was all it took for Five to latch onto harder to Klaus so that there was no room for escape. A tiny grunt left Klaus’s lips. He didn’t doubt that his smallest sibling was strong, but not quite this strong. It didn’t match his size in the slightest.
“It’s okay,” Klaus continued to murmur softly against the top of Five’s head. “You’re safe now.”
Five began to cry harder, attempting to suppress the sound as much as possible. Throat spasming, Five pushed his head down farther against Klaus as though that would stop the walls from coming down and the emotion that he had buried for years from coming to the surface.
Klaus craned his head over Five’s, noticing the spasms. “Dude, it’s okay to cry. Do you know how many times I’ve cried? Or how many times I cry in a month? A week? A day?! It’s not a bad thing to cry.”
“Don’t want to,” Five choked out as tears actively rolled down his face.
Klaus pressed his lips together to emit a low hum. “I think that your body begs to differ, and your mind. For once they’re actually in agreement, so I would try to listen to them.”
Five shook his head, though it was still slightly buried in the soft thickness of Klaus’s jacket. “Won’t stop once I start,” he confessed.
A pang settled deep in Klaus’s chest, nearly taking his breath away in the process. This was one of the first times Five had let anyone in and was actually serious about something without adding a sarcastic hint to everything. Klaus wasn’t sure this was a break though or a sign of something more sinister.
“And is that such a bad thing?” Five managed to look up momentarily with a look of confusion on his face. “I just mean that maybe that’s what you need. You’re clearly in physical pain and emotional pain, so why not at least see where it gets you? It’s not like it can hurt.”
Five appeared reluctant when he flopped back down against Klaus. “You sound like Delores.”
“Then it’s two against one! So, we say you need a good cry. Besides, I really don’t think you have much say in this,” Klaus pointed out, motioning to Five’s tear streaked face with a finger.
Five would’ve battered his hand away if not for the fact that he was still quite content to latch onto Klaus for dear life.
Klaus suddenly wondered how much Five had desperately needed some sort of affection from his siblings, or really anyone when he was growing up during the Apocalypse. There was no way that he had gotten any sort of touch by anyone except Delores and although Klaus felt she was a very special lady to Five, he was still missing that human connection. How long had Five been craving any sort of touch and not been able to receive it? That was a question Klaus didn’t want the answer to.
Silence fell over the room, disturbed only by a light sniffle from Five. Klaus waited patiently a moment more, arm still wrapped around Five’s shoulder, when Five’s breath began to hitch and his face crumpled. Hot tears streamed from his eyes and left his entire body shaking with each strangled sob that left his body.
It was much louder than Klaus expected and was taken aback by the almost keening wail that left Five’s throat. Klaus continued to offer reassurance, whispering in his brother’s ear and resting his chin atop his head to show him he was there and he wasn’t leaving.
“It’s going to be okay,” Klaus found himself repeating on an endless loop.
But was it?
Klaus realized a moment too late that he was making a promise he may not be able to keep. Their lives were one whirlwind after the other and shit always seemed to be hitting the fan. How could Klaus promise that everything would be okay when clearly things had not been okay so far?
Klaus chased the thought away, stomping it down into oblivion. Pessimism had no place at the moment. He could ponder his choice of words later when Five wasn’t present.
The two stayed where they were while Five sobbed, releasing the pent up stress, anger, and heartbreak that he had experienced for the last couple decades. It may not be a complete fix to what had happened, or clearly what was still happening, but at least it was a start.