Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

In hindsight, getting himself killed in an alleyway after blowing up at his family wasn’t the best of his ideas.

The gravel that lays the ground hasn’t gotten any more comfortable since Klaus’  last visit, the small stones poking at his back and biting his palms as he sat himself up. A bird called from the bird-less sky, and the trees rustled without aid from the wind.

This wasn’t even heaven, or hell, or anything that people came up with for the afterlife. The only one who knew that this place even existed was him, daddy-dearest, and the Little Girl. It was awfully drab for what’s supposed to be his haven after death, bleak and colorless (except the blood that dripped down the side of his head, the droplets twirling in air; vanishing before they could hit the ground that wasn’t fully there).

Klaus groaned, throwing his head back to watch the almost sky as the sound of wheels on cobble made itself known to him. “Y’know,” he started, dropping his head back down, he avoided meeting Her eyes as She stared him down, Her gaze burning holes into his already less-than whole skull. “I’d like to have some more alone time, it really helps the mind. Especially now that there’s no ghastly ghouls screaming at me all the time.” He flicked his eyes up, peering at Her through his lashes “Nice and quiet.”

The Little Girl raised a brow, mouth pressed into a thin line “I can’t do that. I don’t want you here longer than you need to be.” Klaus rolled his eyes, the absolute gall of Her - he just fucking died , have some respect for the recently deceased.

Or don’t, not his problem if the ghoulies screech at the people who bad-mouth them whenever they pass.

“Surely just another hot second alone wouldn’t hurt, you’d barely know I’m here!” He pushed himself to his feet, brushing a hand against the red on his face and noting with amusement the look of disgust She had on Her face as she observed the action. “I’m very good at being sneaky when I want to, once I even managed to throw a bucket of water on Five-y, didn’t even get caught.”

That was a lie, but the Little Girl didn’t need to know that.

“Don’t lie.” Klaus hummed, guess She did need to know that after all. “Your brother can teleport, no matter how fast you are I doubt even you could outrun him.” A smile made its way onto his face, the one that was cold and sharp and tricked people into thinking it was warm.

“Are you complimenting me?”

“No.”

Klaus clicked his tongue, rocking back on his heels. “Oh.” He looked over to the trees, scanning the forest line for the cabin that had been there during his first visit. “You redecorate around here or something? Cause’ I must say, it’s looking awfully plain without Reggie’s Sweeney Todd house in the background.”

“You need to leave.” This again, he was already getting tired of Her getting tired of him, ‘all-loving God’ his ass. Why is She so insistent on him going back, he’s dead. There’s nothing for him there, anyway.

“And why’s that, dearie?”

“Don’t call me that-” She snapped, eyes flashing with nothing and something. Eyebrows drawn taught. Klaus pressed his lips together, warmth bubbling in his throat, She and Five would get along just swell. “And I told you. I don’t like you. I don’t want you here.”

He looked around, tapping a pattern on his Goodbye hand, “I can’t imagine why, I’m delightful company compared to total isolation.”

The Little Girl huffed an angry breath, “You need to leave.”

“I don’t want to.” Not until he could see Dave, or Ben, or Sylvia, or any one of the people he met on the streets who gave him a pat on the back and bid him well.

“I don’t want you here.” She said again, becoming awfully repetitive might he add. “You’re not supposed to exist, and that's a fault of my brother’s. I did not create you, I do not want you.” Klaus let out a breath, getting rejected by a god, a bit of a blow to the ego. “You have a job you need to do, anyway.”

“Says who.”

“Me.” She got back on her bike, ringing the bell as she began to pass him. “Now go away, I don’t like you.”

He looked back to the gravel, sighing softly and closing his eyes. No tearful reunions for him.

☂

Klaus woke up in an alley, blood coating the side of his head with a sharp pain to go with it. He looked around, trying to look past the already collecting mass of ghosts and their screeches.

He swallowed the lump in his throat, no sign of the living amongst the mutilated corpses.

He was alone.

What a fitting job.

☂

It was nearing 3 in the morning when he finally convinced himself to drag himself off the cold ground (it was surprisingly difficult to take care of himself without Ben there to pester him about it). The blood had dried onto his face, leaving Klaus with a crusty feeling face and a headache that refused to go away.

Who would've thought that dying and coming back to life would hurt like a bitch? Well- he did, but he doesn’t count because this was the hundredth time he kicked the bucket. Ben must be rolling in his non-existent grave right now.

He searched his pockets for a cigarette, wanting at least something to take his mind away from the pain in his skull, his darling siblings wouldn’t be all too happy if they caught him taking painkillers.

Not like they seemed all too happy to be around him when he’s sober, either. But, c'est la vie and what not, wasn’t his problem if his siblings didn’t pay attention to his efforts (it was most definitely his problem, he was one more ghoulie away from overdosing on as much heroin as he could get his hands on).

Speaking of his oh-so loving family, he has no fucking clue how he’s gonna avoid him when he gets back to their apartment, the only hope he has is that they’re all asleep, but with Five seemingly only sleeping when he collapses? Not an entirely probable thing, he can’t exactly judge the old man anyways, not a fan of making a hypocrite of himself.

Klaus turned to the Ben that wasn’t there, the question on his tongue dying when he was met with nothing but empty air and the smell of rotting corpses. He tried to see Ben, he did, but the Little Girl who he decided wasn’t cool enough to be God wouldn’t let him (maybe Her brother would be more lenient?) all because She found him too ‘annoying’.

He was definitely tired of people saying that about him, would it kill them to try and say something nice for once? Maybe compliment his eyes, or wit? Maybe get his family to stop looking at him like he didn’t deserve to be there?

Klaus bit back a sigh, running his Hello hand through his hair, it was sticky with blood and (possible?) brain matter, frustration bubbling up. He needed to stop thinking about things like that, ghosties already deprecate him enough without his own input.

He was lucky that there weren't many law-abiding citizens around this part of town during the early hours of the morning, saved him a good deal of worried stares and unwelcome questioning. 

Sadly for him, all good things must come to an end (and if he was willing to ignore the fact that the only good things that happened to him are both dead - which he was, can’t be traumatized if he refuses to acknowledge the trauma), and the rundown complex was staring him in the face.

Klaus rocked back on his heels, sending a glance towards the sky and begged the Little Girl who didn’t want him dead that his siblings would be asleep.

Chapter Text

Five had been pacing around the kitchen for the past four hours and thirteen minutes, worry gnawing at him as his siblings waited in the living room.

At first he had thought Klaus was just being dramatic, storming out with a slam of the door and some choice words in a language Five wasn't exactly sure of.

Then the first hour passed, and Five just thought he was being a brat. But Diego didn't seem worried, and Diego (as much as Five hated to admit the fact) seemed to know Klaus better then the rest of them. So he pushed away the thought of Delores clicking her tongue and gently chiding him ("Last time he was gone he was kidnapped and tortured, Five. I'm not above favoring Klaus over you if you let that happen again.") and avoided glancing at the rotting door every few minutes.

But then one hour had turned into two, and then soon into three and four. Anxiety was grabbing at him, dragging it's cold nails down his back and swirling around him. Diego didn't seem worried, Klaus would be fine, he managed to survive this long while as high as a person could physically get and then some - a few hours alone couldn't do much harm.

He lifted his mug, chugging the long cold coffee with a grimace. The not-ghost of his wife whispered to him, "A few more hours, just a few." Five nodded, setting the mug on the table with a dull thud.

He jumped, hands warm and tingling as he landed on the couch the next room over. Diego looked over to him, shoulders drawn up as he stuffed himself in the corner "Would you mind giving us a little warning next time?"

Five raised his eyebrow, "No."

Diego pushed himself back up, resting his elbows on his thighs. Five rubbed his eyes, pressing his mouth into a thin line, "Has Klaus come back yet?"

Vanya glanced up from her clasped hands, blinking at him with tired eyes "Unless he learned how to teleport, no." He clicked his tongue, drumming his fingers on his thigh. Five blinked to his feet, making rounds around the old table.

"Are you sure?" He asked, ignoring the soft sigh from the not-Delores, "He can be stealthy if he really wants to- maybe he went through a window?" Diego groaned, running a hand down his face as he watched Five ramble - which was fucking dumb if you asked Five, Diego was the one who looked at Klaus the same way he looked at Grace, not him.

"Calm your ass down Five," He snapped his head towards the couch, eyes narrowed with tension coiled around his bones "It's barely been four hours, he's fi-"

Five perked up, the front door opened with a dull thud, followed by quiet footsteps (Jesus, why did Klaus walk like that- he had to stain his ears just to be able to hear the soft padding on the hard floor). Klaus leaned on the doorway, hand rubbing at the side of his head with a frown.

"Damn, thought you guys would be asleep by now." Klaus didn't move from his spot in the doorway, gazing at them with a far off look in his eyes (Five didn't match his gaze for long, unwilling to look at the silhouettes in those pretty green eyes).

"I don't know why you'd think that." He drawled, and ignored the burn in his eyes and the building headache in his head. "At least one person seems to be up at all times." Klaus hummed, not moving his hand from his head as he looked back down the hallway.

"Yeah, you're not wrong." Of course he isn't, "As lovely as it is to see you all worrying your pretty little heads off about me-" Five's eye twitched, Klaus' tone seemed off, almost mocking (and why hasn't he taken his hand off his head yet?) "Being concerned doesn't make any of you interesting so I'm just gonna- yeah." He tilted his head towards the hallway, tugging at his hair and staining the tips of his fingers a pale red.

And-

Was he bleeding?

Allison was already moving towards her and Vanya's bedroom, their sister following on her heels and irritation was building in him. Their brother came back bleeding and they didn't even notice?

(There was blood on the floor, staining the soft carpet with droplets of red.

Dolores told him to follow the trail, her soft voice leading him to his little brother, standing in the middle of his room looking so, so lost. Delores clicked her tongue, a quiet "Talk to him, darling."

He bit the inside of his cheek, knocking on the open frame. "You okay?" He had asked in what he wished was a gentle tone, but it was hard and not cold enough to be thought of as warm.

Klaus stole a glance over his shoulder, fear coiled tightly around him. "Hey-" Klaus looked to the side, eyes flickering down as he shuddered. "Yeah, I just…" Five didn't say anything, leaning against the frame as he racked his head for something that would help. "Long night." He had finally said, voice void and sad and nothing like the Klaus Five knew from 45 years ago.

Five chuckled, faint and nervous, "More than one, by the looks of it." Klaus looked back to the ground, shrugging on a shirt that hung off his shoulders, plain and so very much not like Klaus.

"Yeah."

"Don't remember the dog tags."

Klaus made a sound in the back of his throat, low and hurt and almost unheard by Five. "Yeah, they belonged to a friend."

"And the new tattoo?" He had asked, excitement and pride bubbling in him and taking over the worry clawing at him. Delores sighed in the back of his mind, a small shake of her head and he opted to ignore the disappointment coming from her.

Klaus laughed, sad and unconvincing "You know, I don't totally remember getting it." It looked to healed to he fresh, Five had thought, no plastic sheen covering the ink and no newly inflamed skin surrounded the skull - a military tattoo he his mind supplied (and he ignored the painful similarity it bared to the man from the Sky Soldiers he had killed) "Like I said, it was a long night.")

Five felt his palms heat up and before he registered what he was doing he was standing in front of Klaus, grabbing at the wrist of the hand he still held to his head. Klaus licked at the corner of his lip, eyes darting around the room to stare at figures he couldn't see. "Vanya, Allison, sit back down." He could hear their footsteps halt, Allison pausing in the threshold of their room.

"Five it's like, four in the morning by now, Klaus is back, he's fine." He looked over to his sisters, Klaus' wrist still held tightly in his grip because he wouldn't put it past him to make a run for it while Five was distracted.

"Sit. Down."

Vanya sighed, a soft let's just listen to him was uttered to Allison and they were soon both back on the couch, staring at him with unimpressed eyes. Diego was staring at the clock, drumming his fingers on the arm of his chair and not even paying attention to what was happening.

"What's your deal Five?" Luther spoke up, rubbing at his eyes and glaring up at him (why wasn't he looking at Klaus? Why was Five the only one who bothered with sparing their little brother a glance and why was Klaus bleeding and not saying anything about it why why why wh-).

Five tugged at Klaus once, a meek warning before they landed on the couch Diego was perched on. "Five the fuck did I just say about warnings-"

"You're bleeding." Five cut Diego off, staring at Klaus who seemed awfully uncomfortable in his grip. "Why are you bleeding?"

Klaus clicked his tongue, panic building in his eyes as they darted around the room in search of something before focusing back on Five for a brief second. "Wouldn't you like to know weather boy."

Five closed his eyes and counted to four, trying to stomp down the frustration building in him, "Yeah, I would." At least now his siblings were more focused on Klaus, the not-Delores told him.

Diego leaned towards Klaus, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder and still managing to startle the Medium. Concern was slowly making its way across his face, "You alright bro?"

Klaus hummed, eyes still not focused on one thing and his hand slightly dipping. Five ignored not-Delores' warnings and yanked the hand the rest of the way down, his grip on Klaus' wrist tight and almost bruising. Five paid no mind to Klaus' sounds of protest, bringing his other hand up to tilt his little brothers head to the side to see what the fuck was wrong and-

"What the fuck." He muttered, eyes wide and voice quiet. Diego was moving over to Five's side, and something Five couldn't place made it's way over his eyes.

"Did you get shot?" Diego's voice was barely a whisper, his brows creased and his hands hover nervously over Klaus. And what kind of question was that? Was he dumb or did he just not want to register the bits of brain stuck in Klaus' hair (and fuck oh god fuck fuck fuck that wasn't natural that wasn't good or okay or anything resembling normal-) and the shiny metal embedded in his skin.

And Klaus-

He just raised a brow, something playful and real and completely fake pulling at his lips. "What makes you think that Di?."

"What m-makes me think- Klaus have you fucking looked at yourself? You have a bullet in your head."

Five stole a glance over at the others, unsure of what to do. Allison was tense, eyes flicking over Klaus again and again before looking over to Five, meeting his gaze with horror in her eyes. 'Should I take the others away?' She mouthed to him, nodding her head to Luther and Vanya (and fuck, they looked ready to be sick and so was Five).

He nodded deftly, they didn't know how to help Klaus (not when he's like this- insisting he's fine and uninjured while it was glaringly obvious to all of them that he was very much the opposite). Allison got up, moving over to pull at One and Seven incessantly before they got the memo and stood on unsure legs.

Diego was still prodding at Klaus, his voice shaky and growing louder. "What does it even matter?" He heard Klaus say, and focused his attention back on Four with a sharp breath.

"Because I'm not sure what a bullet to the head looks like to you, Four, but it sure as hell looks like you died to me." Five let anger wash over him, voice raising into a shout with a sharp glare to go with it, and a pang of regret shot through him when saw the hurt in Klaus' eyes.

"Jesus Five, you don't have to y-yell at h-im like that-"

"So what if I died." Klaus turned away from them, his voice sharp and soft, staring at the hallway with his legs curled into his chest, tension making itself obvious in him. "S'Not like I stayed dead anyway, I don't get why you're makin' such a big deal about it."

That-

That hurt, holy fuck it hurt.

Five let out a breath, anger simmering out and he exchanged a glance with Diego (who's eyes had gained a wet sheen to them and Five hoped he didn't look the same), "what?" He said, his voice small and shaky and Five desperately wished that Klaus understood what he was trying to say.

Apparently Klaus didn't, because he curled in on himself even more, a blood covered ringlet falling in front of green eyes paired with a sad puff of breath. "Look I'm sorry I yelled at you guys and I'm sorry you guys have to see" He paused, waving a hand at his head "that. But I was hoping you guys wouldn't be up so I could just shower and forget about it."

"You weren't gonna tell us." Diego croaked out, a hand resting on one of Klaus' knees.

"Would you have believed me?"

Five let out a shaky sigh, eyes burning with something other than sleep deprivation and he tugged Klaus' legs down. His brother - his little brother who he was supposed to protect - finally looked at him, blood bubbling up on his lip from where he was biting at it and Five's chest hurt.

He grabbed at Klaus, wrapping an arm around his much too-skinny waist and pulling towards his chest. Klaus' breath stuttered at the contact, and Five desperately hoped that he wouldn't be pushed away.

Klaus (who seemed so small in that moment) finally exhaled, moving his head into the crook of Five's neck and grasping lightly at his blazer with a soft sob. Five bit at his lip, not-Delores was quiet, not giving him any helpful commentary and looked at Diego, nodding slightly at Klaus.

Diego shuffled forward, hesitantly placing a hand on Klaus' head and running his hand through the damp ringlets, detangling the strands and doing his best to ignore the red beginning to stain the tips of his fingers.

He looked back at Five, tears looking ready to spill over and he gently shushed Klaus, leaning forward the slightest bit with a whisper of it'll be okay.

And Five so, so badly wanted to believe him.