I Think We're Alone Now

by majesticskywhale

Summary:

Had Five noticed Klaus's drug problem when they were children and cared to intervene, what would he have been willing to do to put a stop to his brother's bad habits? Hurt/comfort fic revolving around the two and their evolving relationship as Klaus's drug problem worsens and academy life grows to be unbearable.

Content warnings are tagged chapter by chapter in end notes to avoid spoilers but maintain reader safety

(Eventually will be a series!)

Chapter 1: Wednesday

Notes:

Disclaimer time! I have lots of ideas for this fic, and it's probably going to go a lot of places, many of them dark. I've chosen not to archive warnings so I don't spoil plot points, but will give chapter by chapter warnings in the end notes. (do let me know if I don't put a warning for something you wanted a heads up on and I'll add it!) Viktor will have a coming out at some point, but until then he will still go by Vanya and she/her as he is not out yet. Alright, now that all that is out of the way, it's most likely going to take some time to get the ball rolling so buckle in and enjoy the ride!

      It was a Wednesday. Klaus dreaded Wednesdays. Wednesday was the fourth day of the week, which meant he had special training with dad after homeschool was over. The last one had been pretty bad, but he had a feeling this week was going to be worse. Allison’s had been yesterday, and he’d heard her crying through the wall after lights out. None of them particularly enjoyed their training days except for maybe Five and Luther, but he’d never heard Allison cry like that before. No ghosts had followed her home, so dad hadn’t made her rumor anyone to death. This time at least. Klaus spared a quick glance at Allison’s desk, and the ghost towering over her, angrily staring her down from above. The purple bruises and scratches on his throat seemed fresh to this day, his torn fingernails and various lacerations forever preserved in the afterlife.

 

“Ally what did he make you do?”

 

Allison stared straight through Klaus, as if she weren’t really seeing him.

 

“He took me to this bunker. Some military base out in the middle of nowhere. There was a man there. Dad said he’d done terrible things, that he was scheduled to be executed tomorrow. He told me I should feel no sympathy for him, and we’d been given the opportunity to test my powers on him before that time came.”

 

Klaus didn’t like the way she was talking. It was like she was being forced to recite a particularly uninteresting account of a trip to the grocery store for the hundredth time. Completely detached and devoid of any emotion, clinical and methodical in tone.

 

“Jesus. What did he make you make him do?”

 

“He just made me rumor him to walk in circles, do handstands, that type of stuff. That’s it.”

 

“Bullshit Ally. What. Did. He. Have. You. Do? I know that’s not everything.”

 

Allison paled and swayed on her feet.

 

“Oh god is he here? Can you see him?”

 

Klaus redoubled his efforts to not look at the man with bulging bloodshot eyes looming over his sister, trying very hard to ignore the raspy gurgles coming from his bruised and bloodied throat.

 

“Is who here? I only see us. Why, who would be here?”

 

“Klaus, he made me kill him,” she suddenly blurted out.

 

      A bloody ghostly hand suddenly swipes through his sister’s face, nearly making Klaus break his oblivious facade. Somehow he manages to hold strong. The nails on the man’s hands as well as his fingers are all mangled and torn, as if he’d died clawing at something. Klaus’s growing sense of dread suddenly explodes into full blown horror as everything clicks into place. The bruise patterns, they look the size of the man’s hands, and the scratches look like deep, deep nail marks-

 

“He made you make him kill himself?!” Klaus asks, horrified.

 

“He told me to rumor him to choke himself, and I- I wanted to stop the rumor but Klaus- he covered my mouth when I tried and I couldn’t and-”

 

Klaus doesn’t want to hear anymore, so he wraps Allison into a tight and desperate hug.

 

Behind them, the man gurgles and attempts to strangle Allison, but his hands just pass through her neck.

 

“I think he knew what was happening, he- he- he tried to- tried to stop himself. In his own way. It didn’t work though,” she finished, letting herself go silent.

 

“I don’t see him,” Klaus lied, “He’s not following you. It’ll be okay. Go get some sleep.”

 

“Promise he’s not here?,” Allison asked, lip trembling.

 

Klaus refuses to give any attention to the man’s futile and desperate attempts to throttle his sister.

 

“Promise.”

 

      Klaus snaps himself out of the unpleasant memory. Allison was currently doing her best to look put together, and mostly succeeding, but Klaus could see right through it. Underneath her front, Klaus could pick up some of the same ticks she’d had that night. She was staring at Pogo but didn’t really seem like she was seeing him. She was ringing her hands under her desk, and her knee hadn’t stopped bouncing since class had started this morning. Dad must really have it out for us this week , he thought to himself, Allison didn’t shed a single tear that night. What the hell did dad make her do that had her cry like that? It’s been a full day and she’s still clearly disturbed. God knows why he adopted seven of us if he hates us all this much. I really hope the mission alarm goes off before class is over. Fuck. I can’t believe I’m hoping for a mission, but I’d take that over-

 

“-aus. Master Klaus! Are you with us now?”

 

      Shit. Pogo was currently giving him his patented “I’m disappointed and fresh out of patience” look. It was no match for Five’s version, but still not fun to experience.  What was Pogo asking? Were they still doing math or had they moved onto another subject? Klaus quickly looked around the room for clues, trying not to focus on the disappointed stares he was receiving from siblings in tandem with Pogo’s clear exasperation. A quick glance at the board and he was met with strings of numbers and letters that made little sense to him.

 

Fuck. 

 

“Uh. Yeah yeah I’m listening. I got 12 for X, is that right? Sorry I was taking a minute to finish multiplying and I didn’t get to the other letters ye-”

 

      “Master Klaus, while I commend your effort to attempt to pretend you were engaged, the equations on the board are formulas for statistical equations and analysis. You cannot solve a formula. Something you would know if you paid any attention to the previous portion of class. Secondly, my dear boy, we moved onto the topic of field medicine and survival skills nearly an hour ago. Do try to keep your head out of the clouds, you never know when you or your siblings may need this information in order to survive. I expect you all to be able to rely on yourselves, as well as each other. Now then, where were we… Ah yes, hypothermia. Symptoms and methods of treatment. Survival skills are important children. You never know when an unlikely scenario may rear its ugly head. The difference between life and death may very well depend on what you learn here today. Now that you’ve rejoined us Master Klaus, what would you do if one of your siblings were exposed to the elements and showed signs of confusion, shallow breathing, and reddened skin?

 

“Uh. Run them a hot bath?”

 

A chorus of six exasperated groans surrounded him, and Pogo’s out of patience expression doubled in intensity.

 

Welp. That was clearly the wrong answer. Damn. Oh well. He glanced at the clock. Only ten minutes left. 

 

Shit.

 

“Master Five, since your brother clearly was not paying attention to any of this afternoon’s lessons, what would you do if one of your siblings had been exposed to the elements and showed signs of slurred speech, excessive clumsiness, and shivering?”

 

“Assuming it’s not Klaus, I’d help them out of the cold, or prevent them from having direct contact with the ground if moving indoors was not an option. I’d instruct them to gently remove any wet clothing and provide assistance if needed. Next, I’d cover them with dry blankets or any dry materials available, leaving only the face exposed. I’d provide them with a warm but not hot beverage and monitor their breathing. If it was available, I’d also apply a warm compress from a first aid kit to the neck against the carotid artery. No direct intense heat, unless I was actively trying to kill them,” Five finished, with a pointed look sent at Klaus.

 

“Hmph. Very good. Though I do hope if your brother were freezing to death you wouldn’t leave him alone to die.”

 

“It depends on the day. He’s usually more of a hindrance than a help. It may be beneficial to leave him to freeze to increase everyone else’s survival chances.”

 

Ouch. Just play it off Klaus, play it off like you always do

 

Klaus gave Five his best puppy dog look and batted his eyelashes exaggeratedly, “Aw Fivey, you know you love me! You’d make me some hot cocoa if I were freezing to death, I bet you’d even put marshmallows in it. I know I’m secretly your favorite sibling,” he finishes with a serious expression and a wink.

 

“You absolutely are not. If anything you and Luther are tied for my least favorite. And if you ever call me that again, freezing to death will be the least of your concerns.”

 

“Hey!,” Luther exclaimed, “You can’t seriously put me on the same level as Klaus!”

 

“Luther, what is sixteen times eleven?”

 

“Uh. One hundred fifty two?”

 

“That’s not even divisible by eleven or sixteen you idiot.”

 

“It’s one hundred seventy six,” Vanya quietly chimes in.

 

“Very good Vanya, see? The ordinary one of us has more brains than both you imbeciles put together. Maybe one day, if you train hard enough Luther, you can grow some brain cells instead of muscle mass-”

 

“Shut up! Just because I got one math problem wrong does not make me as much of an idiot as Kl-”

 

“Children! That is quite enough!,” Pogo interrupted. “Master Klaus, as it is the fourth day of the week and therefore your designated training day, please stay back and wait for your father to collect you. I encourage the rest of you to make better use of your allotted free time than childish bickering. Your father and Master Klaus will be home late this evening, so Grace will come collect the rest of you for dinner at six. Dismissed”

      Fuck. His training was extended past dinnertime? This day couldn’t get worse. As everyone else filed out, Klaus thought to himself I’d give anything for it to be a Saturday. Saturdays are so easy. No school, and dad is too busy with getting Vanya to her therapist and doctors to torment us. He thinks back to Allison’s hysterical crying from the night before. I don’t want to do this anymore.

Notes:

Warnings for this chapter: self inflicted suffocation, mild portrayal of dissociation

Chapter 2: The Brown Building

Notes:

So originally this excursion was going to fit into one chapter, but I'm making it two. The location Reggie takes Klaus to is loosely based around some actual history! I'm curious if anyone can tell where they're at. Also! I know this fic is also tagged as Five-centric, and I promise he will be a MAJOR part of the story eventually, but the first few chapters will probably be pretty Klaus centric. Content warnings in the end notes as always, hope you enjoy!

Klaus slowly pulled himself off of the bathroom floor, the disembodied sound of pounding on the door dully registering.

 

“-this instant! This is unacceptable behavior Number Four! There is no excuse for your behavior this evening. Upon our return you will go directly to your room to review what you missed in your lessons today. You will not be allowed supper, and if you are not in the foyer in five minutes I will have you siblings break this door down! See to it that it does not come to that!”

 

     Right. Wednesday. Training. Shit. What was he doing again? Klaus looked down to the floor where the remnants of a joint were smoldering against the tile. Right, right, he was doing his usual training pregaming. Now where did the rest go? He really needed to put his stash away and get going. Last time dad had Luther break down the door, dear old dad had decided Klaus needed extra training. He’d spent an entire month sparring with Five on Thursdays, along with his typical tormenting on Wednesdays. He shuddered, he really did not need a repeat of that month. Five showed no mercy in combat, and healing broken fingers was a bitch. He quickly picked up the smoldering roach pieces and chucked them in the toilet. He scanned the counter, and swiped the remaining pills into the secret pocket he’d sewn inside his academy blazer. Alright alright, one quick spray of cologne and it’s time to get this show on the road. Joy. With that thought, he flushed the toilet, stole a few spurts of Diego’s cologne, smoothed out his hair, and hastily made his way to the front entryway.

 

Yeesh, dad does not look pleased. Oh my god, he looks like Statler from the Muppets. Don’t laugh don’t laugh don-

 

“-or yourself? I’m waiting, Number Four.”

 

Klaus barely managed to hold in a giggle. Oh, this was so not the time for everything to kick in. Oh well, beggars can’t be choosers. Wait. What did dad just ask him? Roll with it roll with it-

 

“I, uh, was just cleaning up before we left.” Don’t laugh don’t laugh-  “Didn’t want to ruin our academy’s pristine image with an unsightly cowlick,” he explained, tone the pinnacle of seriousness. Nailed it.

 

“I have no time for your nonsense Number Four, we are already running late for our scheduled time. Now get to the car so we may embark on our journey,” his father stated, glowering at him with disappointment.

 

Shit, we’re leaving the academy for training? That’s never good , he thought as he trailed after his father.

 

      The drive was rather uneventful, and the screams of those who’d died in various accidents along the highway were blessedly dulled by Klaus’s self medication. As long as he didn’t look out the window, it almost sounded like an excited crowd instead of a horde of restless crash victims, eternally damned to wander the very stretch of road that had stolen away their lives. Geez, that was not a very relaxing thought. One pill and a doobie clearly hadn’t been enough to get himself properly relaxed. Maybe he could take another one if he was sneaky enough-

 

“We’re nearly there Number Four,” his father announced, interrupting his train of thought. “Today, I want you to tell me how any spirits you may encounter at this location died, and the cause of the circumstances that led to their death. You will have to rely on your information gathering and investigative skills to accomplish this task. Once you are able to tell me with complete certainty the history of this building, we may return home. Is this clear to you?”

 

      Well shit. If he wanted to go home in a timely manner it was probably better to only be a little high, not completely blitzed. Information gathering was his least favorite type of training. He had to be coherent enough to understand what the ghosts were telling him, because dear old dad wouldn’t let him leave until he got what he wanted to know. And being sober around the dead was never a good experience.

 

“Yes. Where are we going? What happened there?”

 

“That is your job to find out. We’re here.” With that final statement, his father parked on the side of the road and exited the car, waiting for Klaus to do the same.

 

At least it’s not a graveyard this time , thought Klaus as he climbed out of the car to follow his father, could be worse .

 

They were in downtown Manhattan, close to Washington Square. Klaus tried to keep his eyes down; the amount of mugging victims in big cities always made him overwhelmed. As they rounded the corner onto yet another street of huge looming city buildings, Klaus could hear wails and screams coming from above.

 

Just keep walking, they’re up there you’re down here. Left foot, right foot. They’re up there, you’re down he-

 

“We’ve arrived,” his father said, pulling his attention from the cries.

 

      He looked up at the building they’d stopped in front of. Big mistake. To the typical passers by it wasn’t anything special. Just a typical large office building, older style gothic architecture, and an NYU flag jutting out of its side. To Klaus, however, this unassuming building brought about a nauseating wave of uneasiness. He stared at the uppermost floors in abject horror, where nearly every window had a woman standing in the frame, screaming at him to help them.

 

What the hell happened here? Why were so many ghosts haunting the upper floors? At least he was out of their reach, maybe he could investigate from the ground-

 

      One of the screams pulled him from his thoughts. It was getting louder, and quickly too. The second he realized this, the body of a young woman crashed into the pavement in front of him, cutting off the shill scream instantly. Blood splattered the pavement, and her limbs were splayed in all different directions, none of which looked to be the way they were meant to bend. Klaus paled and froze, unable to move, staring at the macabre scene in shock.

 

“Number Four, what do you see?”

 

      He couldn’t muster a response. He tried to get his mouth to work, but all he could muster was a quiet, nonsensical whine. As he continued to struggle to say something, anything, the woman on the ground slowly peeled her head off of the pavement, blood trickling down her forehead. She turned to stare at Klaus, her gaze off putting and dead eyed, completely devoid of emotion.

 

“Number Four!”

 

He forced himself to make a sound, which at first came out as a wordless whimper. After a minute, he managed to make himself speak.

 

“A- a woman. I think she- think she jumped. Death by suicide,” he quickly spat out. “Can we go home now?”

 

“No. We’re not finished here. Did she tell you why she jumped? How many other spirits are present Number Four?”

 

      The woman slowly forced herself into a sitting position, and started snapping her limbs back into place. The loud snaps and pops reminded Klaus of the noise a particularly large glow stick made when you cracked it. He’d never be able to play with those again. He bent down and heaved, and lost the remains of the lunch he’d eaten earlier during school hours. By the time he pulled himself up to look again, the woman had managed to pull herself to her feet, though one leg was still facing the wrong direction. She seemed to notice this, and gave a small frown to the offending limb. She grabbed it and twisted, managing to realign it with a sickening crunch. Klaus shuddered and heaved again, though there was nothing really left for him to expel. Unfortunately, his battle with his nervous system seemed to have drawn her attention. She focused her gaze on him and flatly stated “I really do have to get going, if I’m late to work again Isaac will have me fired. Excuse me.” She attempted to shove past him, but simply fazed through him and made her way back inside the building towering overhead.

 

“Number Four! Answer the questions! Your behavior today has been nothing but disappointing!”

 

“I- I- don’t know! She’s not here anymore. She left before I could ask.”

 

“You’ll have to do better than this if you want to be home before lights out, Number Four. How many other spirits are present around this building?”

 

      He dared to glance up once more, and saw more of the women balanced in the window frames were starting to shakily step out of the windows, hesitate, then jump, only to slam onto the unforgiving concrete in contorted and mangled heaps. He quickly squeezed his eyes shut. He could still hear the thunderous sounds of soft bodies crashing into solid ground, accompanied by an orchestra of screams that were quickly cut off one by one with each impact.

 

“Around thirty. They’re- they’re all jumping, why-”

 

“That’s what you’re here to find out. It’s time to go inside Number Four. Follow me.”

 

Stepping inside the building was a blessed relief. Whatever had happened seemed to have only affected the higher floors for the most part, so Klaus had a brief moment of blissful quiet. His father briskly led them into an elevator, and pressed the button for floor nine. Dammit. So much for sticking to the quieter floors.

 

“Number Four. For the purposes of today's training, you will only be permitted to investigate floors eight through ten. You must find what drove so many to suicide, the cause of said incident as well as….”

 

      Klaus’s attention was quickly redirected from his father to the distant screaming coming from above them. Screaming that was getting louder, and it was getting louder quickly, in a way that was all too familiar and made Klaus’s stomach turn once again. Suddenly, the sound of an impact from above boomed around them, and the scream was abruptly cut off. His father had no reaction to the cacophony of noises, so Klaus just nodded in agreement at whatever he’d just said.

 

They even jumped down the elevator shaft? Jesus. Seriously, what the fuck were they trying to get away from? Maybe I should just pop the rest of these pills, I do not want to fucking find out.

 

      The rest of the elevator ride his father was silent, during which two more spirits slammed into the top of the elevator in the same fashion as the first. Klaus did his best to hide his reaction, lest his father decide they should spend time investigating the elevator shaft. The ever present wailing that surrounded the property seemed to grow louder the closer they drew to the ninth floor. Finally, they reached their desired floor, and Klaus froze as the door slowly creaked open.

 

      The ninth floor was the stuff of every nightmare he'd ever had coalesced into one location. So much raw panic and suffering concentrated into one place was almost unbearable. The ghosts were absolutely everywhere, and they were all feral in a way Klaus had never seen before. Some were desperately trying to force their way up stairways, already beyond clogged with crowds of more spirits, others were banging at open doorways like they were immovable. Most of these ghosts had broken and bloodied fingernails, much like his sister’s poltergeist. Others were miming trying to shatter windows, and jumping out after some hesitation when it appeared they succeeded in breaking them. The ones that weren’t trying to escape looked as though they’d been cooked alive. Their skin was blistered and bubbling, a mess of char and pustules. Many looked as though their faces had melted off of their skulls, only fragments of cooked flesh clinging to exposed blackened bones. Instead of eyes, a great many simply had empty burned and bloodied sockets, and these seemed to be the only ones not shrieking. Their vocal cords must have been so damaged in life by smoke inhalation and screaming that they only could make awful raspy, gurgling choking sounds in death. If hell exists, surely it must look like this, Klaus thought numbly as his father gripped his shoulder and pushed him out of the elevator.

 

“You have two hours. I will be back for you then. I expect a thorough investigation,” he heard distantly.

 

He whipped around quickly as his father's words registered, just as the elevator slid shut.

 

No.

 

I can’t do this.

 

I can’t.

 

He balled up his fists and started banging on the doors, desperately clicking at buttons.

 

“No no no! Please! You can’t leave me here please! I’ll do anything please please don’t leave me here! Please!” 

 

      To his horror he watched the elevator control panel dim as the buttons lost power. Of course dear old dad wouldn’t leave that on for him to use. He would have probably kept banging on the door in his panicked state, had the ghosts not started to take notice of his presence. To his dismay, three of the women that previously had been trying to get up the stairs were now making their way towards him. Shit. He glanced around frantically. More ghosts were starting to turn his way. If the elevator wasn’t an option, unfortunately the stairs clogged with spirits were his only other choice. 

 

Fuck this, I don’t care anymore. I can’t get up those stairs sober, there’s way too many of them.

      He shut his eyes tightly and patted around the inside of his blazer for his hidden stash pocket. The ghosts sounded like they were getting closer. He shoved his hands desperately into the pocket, fumbling for the pills. Someone was screaming in his face, and he felt a cold sting in his neck as something attempted to throttle him. He jumped, and nearly flung his lifeline onto the floor. He took a deep breath, reached back in, and tried again. With shaky hands he managed to grasp two of the pills and quickly shoved them in his mouth, crushing them between his teeth and swallowing the bitter taste away. All he had to do now was wait. Keeping his eyes squeezed shut, he backed up until he felt his back hit the elevator, and slid to the floor. He pulled his knees in, covered his ears with his hands, and shoved his head down. Please, please, please kick in fast, he thought as he tried to ignore the repeated painful icy swipes of ghostly hands shoving themselves into his body, and waited for the numbness to hit.

Notes:

Warnings for second chapter: mild depiction of drug use, descriptions of severe burn victims, suicide by jumping and description of aftermath, brief description of throwing up, mild descriptions of panic

Side note, are both of the content warnings showing up at the end of chapter two? I'm not sure how to fix it ugh

Chapter 3: Crash and Burn

Notes:

Shoutout to the guest commenter who figured out where Reggie sent poor Klaus! We are indeed located at The Brown Building in Manhattan. Also huge thank you to iL0VEMYLARENTS for being the very first to bookmark! I hope you all enjoy the update, content warnings in the end notes :)

Edit: I am still working on ch 4! Ran into some writers block but working through it, should have it up in a couple days~

      After what seemed like hours of torment, finally, finally Klaus felt the pain of constant frozen jabs from the dead start to dull. Instead of the icy sharp stings that reverberated through his entire nervous system, he now only felt a slight unpleasant chill. It was similar to a cold rain that had managed to soak through his clothes, except rain didn’t chill underneath the skin. He was absolutely freezing, and found he was unable to stop himself from shaking. He wasn’t sure if it was due to the cold, his shot nerves, or too many pills. While drugs seemed to lessen the intensity with which he experienced the dead, they also seemed to dull their experience of him. All he had to do was wait it out. Sure enough, with some time, he eventually felt the uncanny chill fade away.

 

      Finally they lost interest. It's about damn time. He listened carefully, and only registered a quiet, distant, murmuring. Probably as good as it’s going to get, he thought to himself, as he slowly cracked one eye open. Thankfully, all he could make out were a few dozen shadowy silhouettes flitting about the room, though their panicky pace was still a bit unsettling. Most of them were congregating in the stairwell, but not all of them. None of them seemed to be taking an interest in him for the moment, and the ones whose attention he'd drawn earlier had resumed their attempts to force their way up the stairs. He dared to glance at the windows, and slowly let out a breath he hadn’t even realized he’d been holding. If he didn’t look too closely, the ghostly outlines diving through the window frames nearly looked as though they could be shadows cast by birds flying outside. As long as he didn't dwell on any spot for too long, he could pretend most of the undulating voids surrounding the area were simply a trick of the light. He took in another unsteady breath and let it out slowly. Carefully, he pried his fingers off of his shins and managed to slowly relax the death grip he had on his knees. He unsteadily stretched his legs outwards and straightened them against the floor.

 

       Alright, I can deal with them like this I think. Holy shit there’s still a lot of them though. He glanced up in dismay at the still dimmed elevator control panel. So that’s not going to be an option, fuck if I’m following in their footsteps through a window, stairs it is. Fuck dad, fuck training, I’m getting the hell out of here. He stole a glance at the stairwell looming across from him. Both the way up and down were absolutely packed with staticky outlines of vaguely humanoid shapes. They all appeared to be shoving one another out of the way with no sympathy, eternally locked in an unending, desperate battle to be the first to the surrounding floors. However, none of them actually seemed able to get said doors open. They’d probably died trying. He hugged his arms to his chest, gripping his elbows to force the constant tremors to still as much as he could manage. Best not to think about that. Alright, let's get this over with.

 

      He managed to pull himself unsteadily to his feet while supporting himself against the wall. Cautiously, he forced himself a few steps closer to the stairwell on quivering legs. The crowd of silhouettes were seething against each other in one unending mass, and thankfully seemed to not notice or care about his presence. As he crept closer, a side door at the top of the first flight of stairs caught his attention. Only a handful of the jittering shadows seemed interested in it, and were quickly passing through to the other side. They didn’t seem to be returning either. A small sign to the side of the door depicted a stick figure running from a cartoonish portrayal of a fire.

A fire escape.

 

      The familiarity sent a wave of relief through him, and found he was actually smiling.  He’d snuck out using the one outside his window hundreds of times. This was going to be a piece of cake. Well, assuming he didn’t draw too much attention it would be. He nervously glanced back to the faintly murmuring and writhing crowd. They remained manically fixated on attempting to pry open the doors to the surrounding floors. So far, they still seemed disinterested in him. That wouldn’t last though. He realized the path he'd have to take, and the brief spark of hope he'd had popped like a soap bubble. He'd have to go straight through the densely packed crowd, and up the flight of stairs. As appalling as the thought of pushing his way through all of them was, there was no other escape. He absolutely did not want to be here when the high wore off and he started attracting attention again. There was only one viable option.

 

Straight through the crowd, he thought miserably.

 

He attempted to ready himself for the unpleasant task at hand, bouncing anxiously on his heels.

 

      Move you coward, get it over with. Or go back to crying by the elevator, and you'll be forced to really face them once the dope wears off. Dad isn’t coming back for God knows how long, and you're out of options. Just rip the band-aid off. Go already. Go, go, GO-  His feet felt welded to the floor. He drew in quick shallow breaths and realized the tremors he’d willed away earlier were back. He was starting to panic. Not good. Do it now or you'll be stuck with them you idiot. Just run! Go! Go now! Fucking move already! He balled his fists, squeezed his eyes shut once again, and ran for the top of the stairs with a long-winded battle cry.

 

     The second his foot hit the first step he felt as though he'd been plunged into a frozen lake. His whole body cringed inwardly as he forced his way through the foreboding glacial air. He felt the deep icy chill in every cell of his body, down to the very bones. His core instincts were screaming at him to turn back, but he swallowed the panic and pressed frantically onwards. Don't think about it don't think about it right left right left right left up up up- He ran out of stairs and desperately clawed at the wall to his left where the door handle should be. Where is it where is it WHERE- THERE! His hands finally met the cool curve of metal and he latched onto it, yanking open the door like his life depended on it. He quickly thrust himself through the opening and slammed it behind him. He made it. The warm summer air caressed his freezing frame like a soft hug, enveloping him in a comforting embrace. It was quickly interrupted by a bracing chill; a telltale sign he wasn't the only one occupying the space at the moment.

 

      He blindly felt around for a railing, found it, and backed himself into the corner of the escape. The suffocating coldness he detested with every fiber of his being faded away once more. He took a moment to bask in the refreshing warmth of living air, unclogged by the bracing chill of death. How absolutely alive it made him feel. For the first time that night, he took in a deep, steady breath and let it out. He felt his muscles relax as he basked in the warmth of the evening air. Alright, the worst is over. Just get to the street and you're home free. He slowly peaked an eye open. There were still a few featureless shadows bustling by, and he could hear the occasional rumble of their muffled noise as they passed. His breathing grew a little more shallow. Thankfully, all of the spirits out here were attempting to make their way down past him and didn’t seem to care that he was there. He could do this. He braced his now quivering hands on the railing and attempted to still them. He still didn't like being this close to them, but anything was better than the horror he’d experienced inside. Occasionally, another blurry figure would phase through the door he’d just passed through. Relief flooded through him when he realized they weren't interested in him, their only focus seemed to be to get to the street below. He peeked over the edge of the railing, trying to gauge the best way to make his great escape without too many of them phasing through him on the way down.

 

      A few floors down, he noticed the slightly sharpening outlines seemed to congest together and were unable to complete their descent to the street. The spaces they forced themselves into seemed to suggest that once upon a time, the fire escape had been much more narrow than it now was. There wasn’t enough room for the amount of figures currently occupying it to make their way all the way down in a timely manner. In fact, if it was that narrow, Klaus wasn’t sure it could actually support that many people-

 

He’d forgotten one glaring piece of information that should have been obvious.

 

If they were here, then they didn't make it.

 

This was where they'd died.

 

       He watched in horror as all two dozen of the increasingly clear figures seemed to grab for a railing he couldn’t see, and hold on for dear life. They were all tilting and swaying in synchronization, as if the escape were slowly peeling itself from the building. With one final sickening lurch of the specters, the chatter he’d been starting to hear again grew to a muffled roar. With absolute terror he watched as they all plummeted to the street below and smashed into the concrete like hailstones. Klaus felt the world tilt with the ghosts, and nearly lost his footing himself.

 

      Their screams of terror were absolutely awful. It was only after his throat began to burn that Klaus realized they were coming from his own mouth. He felt the cold of the fire escape's steel grating dig painfully into his flesh, and noticed he’d somehow ended up falling to his knees. When had that happened? His eyes had once again squeezed shut, this time purely on instinct. He didn’t want to open them. He didn't want to get up. But he absolutely, undeniably, did not want to be on this rickety fire escape for one second longer. More than anything he wanted to be on solid ground, away from the freezing pain of the bracing cold he could feel start to pass through him again. Distantly he realized that the slight shaking he'd had before had turned into violent tremors. 

 

His hands retreated inside his blazer and pried open the hidden pocket. His fingers quickly dove into it, frantically feeling around until they finally felt one small capsule hiding in the folds of the hand sewn seam.

 

Only one left, fuck if I'd known what I'd be facing I'd have packed heavier. Oh well, at least there's one. Small mercies and all. With trembling fingers he brought the pill towards his face-

 

-and fumbled it.

 

His eyes shot open.

 

The gentle tink, tink, tink he heard confirmed his fears. It had fallen through the grating of the floor down to the street below. His high was wearing off, he had nothing else on him, and if he wanted to escape he was going to have to make the final stretch mostly sober. If he didn't want them to notice him, he was going to have to move fast.

 

I don't know if I can make it down I can't I can't I can't- The sounds of quiet yelling slowly on the way to becoming fully audible screams interrupted his thoughts. He squeezed his eyes shut so he didn't have to see what he knew was coming. Within a minute, they'd all been abruptly cut off one by one once more. What an awful existence, reliving the fall that killed you, over and over and over until the end of time. Fuck. When I die, it better be in my sleep-

 

He felt a painful burst of ice force its way through him, yanking him from his thoughts. They'd started running down the stairs again. He needed to move, he had to get down to the street. There was no way he was going back inside. He absolutely was not going to stay here until all of the dead surrounding him took notice of the only living one among them. He was going to have to climb down while sobering up, absolutely terrified out of his mind.

 

Fuck.

 

He opened his eyes for a quick peek to gauge his surroundings. The now almost fully defined ghosts were once again grasping for an invisible railing, trying to balance themselves in an endless battle with gravity that they'd never win.

 

      He snapped his eyes shut again before he could see them plummet for a second time. He did his best to ignore the roar as they fell, and the fact that it was getting louder every time he heard it. It took him a moment to reduce his tremors to something somewhat manageable. It was time to move. Slowly, slowly, he felt behind himself for the railing, and pulled himself to his feet once he found it. Ignoring the quaking in his legs, he inched along it ever so slowly, feeling in front of himself with his foot. His abused knees were throbbing with every beat of his heart, and he timed his steps with the pain to give himself something tangible and living to focus on. There it is, he thought as he felt the first step. Okay, easy now- He shuddered as a sudden invasive cold passed through his body. He drew his attention back to the rhythm of his own blood painfully pulsing towards his battered knees. Bah-bum, bah-bum, bah-bum. Left foot, right foot, left foot…

 

Onward he pressed blindly, making slow but definite progress. The frequent icy sting of the dead running him through made it difficult to count the amount of turns he'd made, but surely he must be getting close-

 

"Number Four! What on earth do you think you are doing up there?"

 

He jolted violently at the unexpected shout, and lost his grip on the railing.

 

      He spun towards the direction his father's voice had come from, and without thinking opened his eyes in the process. He stumbled backwards, as he found himself face to face with a young girl.  She couldn't have been more than a year or two older than him, and he was just a smidge taller. She was looking right at him. Her hideous face contorted in anger, one side caved in and oozing blood from the temple. It was likely the injury that claimed her life. She raised her clearly shattered arms to grab at him, and he pitched unsteadily backwards to avoid her shattering touch. He lost his balance, and pinwheeled his arms in an attempt to regain his footing. She lunged forwards, screaming into his face so loudly he could feel it reverberate through his skull. He flinched hard as her frigid hand thrust through his chest. His internal organs screamed for warmth, and he stumbled backwards hard into the railing-

 

-and straight over it.

 

His hands flailed out wildly, desperately searching for something, anything, to grab onto to stop his fall.

 

But he just

 

Wasn't

 

Fast

 

Enough.

With a sickening lurch he felt the world tilt on its axis as he flipped upside-down and sailed through the air. Before he jammed his eyes shut for the millionth time that night, he caught a glimpse of the street below. There was only one floor left, I was so close, he thought hysterically as he slammed into the concrete below.

Notes:

Content warnings for ch 3: drug use, descriptions of panic, descriptions of falling people

Chapter 4: Thursday

Notes:

I'm back! Sorry for the wait, this chapter gave me so much writer's block but I powered through it! Five is finally has a chapter! Content warnings in the end notes, hope you enjoy~

      Five woke with a start as the slam of the front door echoed through the academy. The disoriented feeling that came with being roughly pulled from sleep quickly dissipated as he pulled himself upright in his bed. The sound of Pogo’s cane thumped past his door, followed by the gentle clicking of a pair of heels. Grace. He stole a glance at the red glow of his alarm clock. Half past eleven, way outside her normal operating parameters. If she wasn’t charging at this hour, then someone had been hurt, badly enough that her intervention was needed. A sense of unease crept up on him as he quietly made his way to the door. He carefully pressed his ear against the cool wood and held his breath as he listened.

 

He couldn’t quite make out what was being said, but could pick out the muffled sound of Pogo talking. His tone was worried. His father’s unintelligible reply was steady, followed by Grace’s softer, concerned voice. Just under the rumble of the muted conversation he could hear muffled crying.

 

Klaus.

 

      The pang of worry that had been steadily growing quickly dissipated. He sighed in annoyance as the barely audible voices grew distant. What had the idiot gotten himself into, honestly? All he had to do was talk to people. That’s it. No quantum physics or equations or potential for miscalculations. Sure they were dead people, but really, how hard could training be with a pointless power like that? How do you even injure yourself while interrogating someone with literally no ability to lay a finger on you?! Probably got a boo-boo trying to turn tail and run while high like a coward. Idiot. Damn him for making me lose sleep the night before training, he thought as he stormed back to bed. He threw himself on the mattress and pulled the covers over his head. After a few hours of tossing and turning, he finally managed to slip into blissful unconsciousness once more.

 

      Yet again, he was torn mercilessly from his slumber, this time by the blaring of his alarm clock. In his enraged and drowsy stupor, his body acted before his mind. Before he knew what had happened, he’d grabbed the screeching black brick from hell and hurtled it directly into the wall. The plastic casing shattered, and a cascading shower of screws and bits of plastic shrapnel flew in all directions. He lowered his gaze to his dirty traitor of a right arm, still frozen mid-air.

 

“Who’s the idiot now?”, he mumbled as he shoved his face into his already extended palm and roughly ran his fingers through his hair.

 

      With a huff he fought his way out of the cocoon of blankets he’d built around himself and stretched, attempting to force away the desire to crawl back into it. He still felt exhausted. I swear if Klaus was only injured because of his own stupidity, I’m marching straight to his room to stab him and finish the job. With that thought in mind, he trudged towards the mangled alarm clock dangling from the wall to inspect the damage. He picked his way through the destruction, chucking broken plastic in the garbage with one hand and hunting for loose screws with the other. Once most of the detritus was taken care of, he plucked what remained of disfigured torture device from the wall. Could have been worse, this is fixable, he thought as he examined it. The circuit board had been exposed when the casing shattered, and a few of the components were damaged.

 

      He moved to his desk, deposited the abused clock on top of it, and pulled open his junk drawer to rifle through it. After some searching, he found the magnetic tray he’d been looking for, as well as most of the parts he needed. He was just short one transformer and a diode. It should be easy enough to sneak to Ben’s room after class; he’d started taking an interest in circuitry as well recently. He probably had some spare parts lying around somewhere. Five chucked the screws in the tray and placed it on the desk next to the clock. Now that that was taken care of, he spared a glance to the new hole in the wall where the clock had hit. That was fixable too, he’d seen Diego cause and repair worse with his knives without dad finding out. Alright, Diego’s room for spackle and paint, then Ben’s for parts. Should be able to get everything during lunch. Piece of cake.

 

      The soft clack of Grace’s heels moving down the hall interrupted his train of thought. They were headed down the stairs to the main floor, and followed by a much smaller set of footsteps. Diego, ever the shameless momma’s boy. He better not “help” her by burning the eggs again , Five thought as visions of gleefully forcing whatever charred concoction Diego birthed straight down his throat danced through his head. Great, if she’s already starting breakfast with Diego in tow, then cleaning that up took longer than I thought. Better start getting ready, I am not showing up late still in pajamas like Klaus. He quickly threw on a uniform, checked his reflection in the mirror, straightened his tie, and stepped into the hall.

 

Before he could even manage to pull the door closed behind him, something large, clumsy, and stupid collided into him and nearly threw him off balance.

 

“Jesus Luther, watch where you’re going! What is wrong with you?! I know you must’ve killed off what few neurons you were born with by running into everything, but I’d prefer to keep mine intact so pay better attention.”

 

Luther’s bewildered expression quickly turned to annoyance.

 

“Maybe if you woke up at the proper time like the rest of the team, you’d already be downstairs. I’d think the one of us who can teleport would have the easiest time being punctual.”

 

“Oh yeah? Then why, of all people, is our “fearless leader” Number One in the hall instead of sitting at the table? Were you too busy this morning trying to read the numbers on the measuring tape you keep under your pi-”

 

      Five easily dodged the obvious punch Luther threw at him, blinked behind him, and twisted his massive arm behind his back painfully. Luther grunted and wrenched his arm free with much more force than was necessary. Five regained his balance, clenched his fists, and readied himself to blink onto Luther from above. He waited for his mammoth of a brother to face him, but hesitated when he saw the look of panic on his sibling's face as he did so, gaze trained to the space just behind Five.

 

“Children! What is the meaning of this?!”

 

Shit.

 

He felt his face burn at being caught in a petty squabble, and he quickly willed away the blue glow pooling in his clenched fists. He adamantly refused to turn and face the scowl of disappointment that was surely painted on their father’s face, instead electing to exit the situation as quickly as possible.

 

“Nothing. We were just getting to breakfast. I was simply demonstrating one of the holds I learned in training. I’ll go help Grace set the table.”

 

      With that, he quickly felt for the gravitational pull of the matter downstairs, calculated which spaces were currently unoccupied, and blinked just outside the dining room. While he'd probably be reprimanded later, he knew his father wouldn't miss Herr Carlson to yell at him for minor disobedience. Five would much rather face repercussions during his private training than in front of all his siblings.

 

Or three of them, he thought as he rounded the corner to the dining room.

 

Klaus's seat sat empty, along with Luther and Diego's.

 

Luther was on his way downstairs, Diego was most likely in the kitchen wreaking havoc, but Klaus… Five thought back to the sounds of the night before. He'd been not quite fully awake, but he swore he'd been able to make out the sound of someone crying, so Klaus had definitely made it back to the academy.

 

So why isn't he here? Did he just wake up late again?

 

He looked back to the hall where he could see Luther making his way down the stairs, their father not far behind.

 

No, if that were the case dad definitely would have had Luther break down the door by now.

 

"Five honey, can you help me finish setting the table please?" Grace's soft voice pulled him from his train of thought.

 

"Right, yeah of course Grace. I'll go finish up."

 

He looked to the table. She'd already done most of the work for him since he'd been late, only a few dishes were missing. He avoided his father’s gaze as he neared the dining room with Luther and quickly made his way to the kitchen. As he rounded the corner he found Diego angrily scraping the charred remains of something into the garbage.

 

"You know, our fireplace runs off the gas line. We don't need to make charcoal for it," he quipped as he gathered stacks of dishes from the cabinets.

 

He felt the pull of something making its way towards him quickly, and managed to blink away just as the fork curved to embed itself in the cabinet door he'd been in front of not a moment before.

 

"Is that really the best you can do?", he asked while rolling his eyes and continuing to collect dishes.

 

"Sh- shut up Five! I'd like to see you- see you do better!"

 

"If you'd have enough patience to actually let things cook instead of cranking the heat all the way up to do it faster, you might actually be able to make something that would pass as technically edible."

 

He ducked as another fork slammed into the wall just above his head.

 

"Have fun repainting that by the way, I hope Grace did most of the cooking or we're all going to starve."

 

"At least I actually helped her, unlike you! It's not often that Mr. Perfect is late. You know she did your- did your job for you right?"

 

Five bristled. Just as he was about to wrench the fork from the cabinet and fling it back at Diego, he heard the sounds of Herr Carlson drift into the kitchen from the dining room. He already had one strike against him, Diego wasn't worth a second.

 

"At least I know how to cook, you'd starve to death if Grace didn't take care of you like an incompetent toddler," he spat out as he made his way back towards the dining room.

 

"Sure doesn't look that way, you look like a damn walking toothpick," Diego quipped as he returned to scraping the blackened mess.

 

Thankfully his brother's attention was on his futile attempt to save the desecrated pan, so he missed the slight pause in Five's stride.

 

He quickly shook off the ridiculous sting of self consciousness that came with his brother's insult and continued to the dining hall.

 

Just finish setting the table already, it doesn't matter.

 

As he set about handing out the missing dishes to his siblings, he noticed their eyes drifting to Klaus's empty seat. Now that Luther had seated himself they were likely coming to the same conclusions he’d had earlier. However, with their father present no one dared to interrupt the sounds of Herr Carlson permeating the room. 

 

So they don't know anything either then. Wonder if Vanya heard anything, her room is right above the infirmary.

 

He glanced across the table at his sister. She didn’t seem to notice his presence, her eyes were cast downwards and she was busy fidgeting with her fingers. She jumped as Five placed the last plate and bowl in front of her.

 

Definitely more on edge then normal. What did she hear?

 

      At that moment Grace exited the kitchen with Diego in tow, both carrying platters piled high with a variety of breakfast foods. As Diego teetered towards the table with the mountain of dishes, Five watched his foot catch in the rug and smirked. Serves him right. Diego fell, and hard too. Before he'd hit the ground, Five had already blinked over and caught two of the three platters, the third shattering on the floor. Fruit pieces and ceramic shards flung out across the floor as Diego glared up at Five, not bothering to wipe his now bloodied chin. Five shot him a smirk.

 

"Well, you did say you wanted to see me do better than you. Somehow I continue to underestimate your inadequacy Diego."

 

"Five if you don’t-"

 

"Number Two! Number Five! I hope you are quite finished disrupting the peace. You are interrupting Herr Carlson. Find your seats immediately and eat”, their father’s commanding voice interrupted their bickering.

 

Diego set his jaw and marched to his seat while Five busied himself with setting what food he'd salvaged onto the table. Once his hands were emptied he blinked to his seat, ignoring the headache he was getting from using his powers so much before eating anything.

 

"Show off", muttered Diego.

 

Five gave him his best teeth baring smirk as he sat down, willing away the black dots swimming in the corners of his vision. His gaze drifted to the empty seat to his right and his smirk shifted to a slight frown.

 

He shifted his gaze to Vanya, staring until she noticed his expectant expression. Once her wide eyes met his with confusion, he looked to Klaus's empty seat, then back to her, raising an eyebrow in inquiry.

 

She paused for a moment, then tilted her head in the direction of the infirmary.

 

Still? What the hell happened last night?

 

      Grace finished serving their father, and moved to dole out their predetermined portions. As she passed out plates to his siblings he felt his stomach rumble in anticipation, but prepared himself to be disappointed. Grace skipped Klaus’s empty seat, and placed a plate piled high with bacon and an obscene amount of eggs in front of him. He stared in disbelief, and after a split second of confusion remembered what day of the week it was.

 

Right. Thursday. Training.

 

He quickly lost his appetite, and grimaced at the plate of food. 

 

      His siblings had already started eating, they never had need to worry when they’d be allowed a proper meal. Luther was a tried and true daddy's boy, happily doing anything to please their father. He always had access to large, well rounded meals to fuel his super strength, a luxury Five was not often afforded. He clearly had no desire to shirk his title of Number One, lest he disappoint daddy dearest. Their father never had need to question his loyalty, and enabled anything that would increase the effectiveness of his strength. 

 

      While his other siblings were far from idolizing their father like Luther, they were still kept under his thumb in different ways. Diego detested training, but had become addicted to the thrill of saving civilians from danger. While he had no love for their father, he did love being the public’s hero and the praise that came with it. Turning against his own father would ruin his darling superhero image, so his rebellious streak was rather muted. Allison’s rumors could have been a thorn in their father’s side, but much to Five’s disappointment her infatuation with Luther kept her from using them against him. Klaus craved chaos for the sake of chaos, but posed no real threat to their father. He was too scared of everything to run away on his own, and his powers were essentially useless, especially with his poorly hidden drug habits. Ben’s distaste for their father was similar to Five’s, but he struggled to control the horror even at the best of times. He never willingly let it out, and often cried after missions when he’d had no other choice. Five knew he feared losing control of it, and hated being around the public for too long lest he slip up. There’s no way he’d work up the nerve to leave, much less try anything of substance. Vanya didn’t need to be controlled, she had no power and nowhere else to go. She was of no use to their father and even less of a danger than Klaus, and that was saying something.

 

      Five however, was different. He questioned everything their father said, and disobeyed often and loudly. It was clear to his siblings he had no loyalty or love for the man, though he maintained a believable enough façade for the public. His power allowed him an incredible amount of freedom, with the ability to teleport away the second he found something disagreeable. No one could tell him what to do, and he was a liability to their father if left unchecked. Unfortunately, his one fallacy was his ability to blink required an incredible amount of energy to use, especially in rapid succession. His powers needed a fuel source, something his father had quickly figured out years ago. Because of the threat he posed to the academy’s reputation as the most likely and able to defect, he was only afforded decent meals right before a mission or on training days. He’d often thought of taking the opportunity to run on these days, but had never been able to go through with it. As Five detested his siblings at times, he couldn’t bring himself to leave them alone with their father.

 

So he’d stayed compliant. For now.

 

      He stared down the mountain of eggs as Grace swept up the fruit behind him. Thursdays always filled him with dread, but none of his siblings needed to know that. He willed away the unpleasant churning in his stomach and forced himself to eat. He’d need the energy later. He tried to ignore the wave of nausea that rolled through him, and instead focused his attention on Herr Carlson's aggravatingly bland voice as he shoveled eggs into his mouth. Anything to distract from the unpleasant possibilities facing him after the school day was through. He ate until he was on the verge of being sick, leaving only a few pieces of bacon unfinished.

 

As Grace cleared his plate, Pogo entered the dining room to collect them for class.

I hope the mission alarm goes off before school ends, he found himself thinking as he stood to follow his siblings.

Notes:

Chapter 4 warnings: forced restricted diet

Chapter 5: Detour

Notes:

Commenters pulled me out of my writer's block and I managed to write an entire chapter first thing in the morning! I'm hoping I don't lose the brain worm for a while as I have a pretty good idea of where I want the next couple of chapters to go. Warnings in the end notes, hope you guys enjoy!

      The first half of the day passed in a blur, Pogo’s organic chemistry lesson was so basic Five couldn’t understand why the rest of his siblings were struggling so much. If they’d just read the chemical formulas and pay attention to what compounds they’d been given, the experiment was easier than mixing cake batter. Aside from Five, Ben was the only other to complete the experiment successfully in a timely manner, though he’d made quite a mess in doing so. It had taken him two attempts while Five had gotten it on his first try, but at least Ben seemed to be able to read , unlike the rest of his idiot siblings. Vanya was close, and he watched as she got it on her third try. As Pogo praised her he gave her a thumbs up and earned a small smile in return. He gave Vanya a little more slack than the others since she was ordinary. She had no need to attain the skills they did, though he respected her for trying. Allison succeeded shortly after Vanya, and Luther and Diego were entirely hopeless. Luther was flipping through his textbook with a befuddled and desperate expression as Pogo attempted to help him through the experiment. He always was the brawn, never the brains. Diego, however, was by far fairing the worst. Had Klaus shown up to class he might have been the second worst performer, but their chaos-loving brother was still noticeably absent. Diego had somehow managed to blow up not one, not two, but eight test tubes by setting the burner too high. Unlike anything Klaus blew up, Diego definitely wasn’t doing it on purpose, which only made his performance more disappointing. How his brother hadn’t stabbed his eye out with his own power, Five honestly didn’t know. He probably would have gone for number nine, had Grace not interrupted to tell them to clean up and get ready for lunch.

 

      Five rose from his seat to follow Grace, not bothering to wait for his siblings to clean up. He’d already finished and tidied up hours ago to give himself a head start. The time it would take his siblings to bring their workstations back to order should give him plenty of time to make the detour he’d planned this morning. Once he was out of sight of his siblings and Grace had made her way to the kitchen, he felt for the layout of Diego’s room. As he sensed the push and pull of matter he rolled his eyes. Diego really needed to clean, his few mostly unoccupied landing options felt like they were littered with soft heaps, likely dirty clothes. Most of which were also peppered with harder metallic objects of some sort, probably knives forgotten in worn and discarded uniforms. Preferring not to shank himself with a poorly planned blink, Five settled on the best option: a few inches above the smallest metal free heap near the bed. With a quick surge of blue lightning and a brief flash of cyan, he landed perfectly on top of a rather beaten pillow that had been unceremoniously thrown onto the floor.

 

      Five fought the immediate pressing urge to tidy his brother’s room. Or light it on fire. He wasn’t really sure which he’d prefer. The floor, as Five had suspected, was littered with lumps of dirty clothes and a wide variety of sharp weapons poked from many of the pockets. There had to be more uniforms on the floor than in his closet, and the bed looked as though a tornado had slept in it instead of a stab-happy thirteen year old. Old balled up homework assignments were overflowing both the trashcan and the top of Diego’s desk, the surface of which was covered in hundreds of old stab marks that varied in size. Two drawers had been left open, and were stuffed to the brim with disorganized writing utensils, scribbled notes, and rumpled folders. The wall however, was fairly immaculate.

 

Bingo.

 

      Five stepped off the pillow, quickly fluffed away the indentation his feet had left, and forced himself to place it back on the ground where he found it instead of on the bed where it belonged. He weaved his way around the heaps of clothes and scattered weaponry, pausing at one pile to pull a rather well made switchblade from the pocket of a discarded blazer.

 

Finders keepers Diego, not like you’d notice it missing with your room in this state, he thought as he slipped it into his own pocket.

 

      He continued plodding along until he reached the closet and nearly pulled it straight open, thought better of it, and stepped to the side before doing so. As he pulled the door open he focused on the gravitational field of the objects within for movement, and caught the knife Diego had rigged with a modified crossbow before it had a chance to hit the wall behind him. Curiously, he turned to the patch of wall it was aimed at, and noticed the subtle signs of repair. The texture was slightly too smooth compared to the rest of the wall, though the paint was an exact match so it was hard to tell unless you were looking for it.

 

Five was sure he could do better and leave no trace at all if he had the same supplies. Now that the booby trap was disarmed,  he moved back to the front of the closet to begin his search.

 

No wonder he doesn’t keep any clothes in here, Jesus Christ Diego how many weapons does one person need?

 

      The majority of the space inside was occupied by a variety of weapons including throwing knives, butterfly knives, throwing stars, hunting knives, daggers, and small metal darts. He also had quite the selection of arrows, quivers, and bows. Among the ridiculous arsenal his brother had built were a few pots of spackle, and a large can of paint wedged in the corner.

 

Perfect. I’m sure he won’t notice they’re missing for at least a day, I can always blink them back tomorrow morning before breakfast.

 

      He grabbed two of the pots of spackle along with the can of paint and set them on the floor behind him. Carefully, he rearmed Diego’s trap, fed the tripwire through the door as he closed it, and reattached it to its anchor point just the way he found it. He glanced around the room to check his work, nothing seemed out of place. He stole a quick look at Diego’s clock for the time before he jumped to his room, since his was still out of commission at the moment.

 

Alright, eleven forty-five, fifteen minutes left. Ben’s room should be way easier, he keeps his things organized unlike this idiot. As long as I’m quick about it, I’ve got plenty of time.

 

Five grabbed the paint and spackle, quickly sensed for his room, and blinked right to the side of his bed. He shoved the spackle and paint underneath it, crammed his newly acquired knife inside his pillowcase, and felt for Ben’s room.

 

Much to his relief it was unoccupied, and seemed to be in much better order than Diego’s. He quickly blinked to what felt like the center of the room. 

 

Why couldn’t the rest of his siblings be like Ben.

 

      The room was tidy and well organized, and while Ben’s bed was also unmade, the trashy sci-fi romance novel left open on the bed made Five smile. A soldering iron sat on his desk, along with a disassembled Teddy Ruxpin. When did Ben steal Allison’s teddy bear? And what the hell was he doing to it? He crept closer and noticed that Ben had rewired the audio output from the tape deck to what looked like a custom voice box. As much as he wanted to know what his brother was trying to make it say, it wasn’t worth the risk to play sound and draw attention. He redirected his attention to his self-given mission and started pulling open drawers in search of spare components. He almost felt bad stealing from Ben, but it was a necessary evil. Thanks to Ben’s stellar organization, he quickly found the diode and transformer he was missing.

 

As he closed the drawer, he heard the door creak open behind him.

 

Shit.

 

“Five! What the h-”

 

Taking a risk, he quickly jumped to the same spot in his room he’d blinked to previously without feeling out the matter of the area. Thankfully, it was unoccupied.

 

He could hear an angry set of footsteps marching towards his room.

 

Great. Just great.

 

He’d been too sloppy. He should have just focused on the task at hand, there was no need to get sidetracked by Ben’s project. He quickly threw the scavenged parts on his desk and braced for impact.

 

Predictably, the door flew open to reveal an aggravated Ben behind it.

 

“Really?! You’re gonna just blink away from me and pretend I didn’t just catch you rooting around in my room? Are you serious right now? What the hell Five!”

 

“I just needed some parts. You’re the only other one that knows anything about soldering, it was faster to borrow them from you than it was to root through the garbage for something to dissect. That’s it. Happy?”

 

“Don’t just blink into my room and help yourself! Ask me for help Five! Is that really so hard for you?!”

 

Five felt a strange sting at Ben’s choice of words.

 

“I don’t need your help! I don’t need anybody’s help! I can take care of myself, unlike you idiots! Next time I’ll just root through the garbage and hope there’s something compatible if it’s that big of a deal to you, alright? Happy Ben?”

 

Ben’s expression softened slightly as he eyed the mangled alarm clock on top of Five’s desk and noticed the obvious hole in his wall.

 

“Five. It’s okay to ask for help. If you’d just asked me for parts I would have given them to you. Next time just-”

 

Five was entirely fed up with the conversation, and fairly certain he was late for the second time that day. He felt out the area of the first floor for unoccupied space, found a suitable target, and blinked directly to the left of Diego in the dining room.

 

“Jesus!” he yelled as he threw his sandwich in the air in surprise. It quickly fell, hitting Diego square on the head. Five smirked at Diego as mustard dripped down his face.

 

“Always expect the unexpected Diego, always expect the unexpected.”

 

As he made his way to Grace for his own lunch, he felt the remains of the sandwich flying towards him and caught it without breaking his stride.

 

“See Diego? That’s why you’re never able to get the jump on me. You’re very predictable. Unlike you I actually take my training seriously.”

 

      Ignoring Diego’s attempts at insults, Five threw away the remains of the sandwich and took his lunch from Grace. He refused to acknowledge Ben’s irritated glare as he entered the dining room, choosing to blink to a quiet spot to enjoy his lunch away from everyone else. Once he settled in, he was surprised to find not only a sandwich, but also an apple, muffin, and fruit snacks, along with some orange juice in his bag. Usually it would just be the apple, maybe the orange juice too if he was lucky.

 

Right. Thursday.

 

He grimaced and glanced at the grandfather clock looming against the wall.

 

      Just under three hours until training. There was still time for the mission alarm to go off and save him, but it was growing more and more doubtful. Most crime tended to happen either earlier in the day or late at night, past training hours. He was likely going to have to face whatever his father had in store for him, not to mention he’d already irritated him twice today.

 

      With that thought, the task of eating lunch seemed entirely impossible. His nerves were shot as the endless terrible possibilities floated through his mind, turning his stomach to lead. He forced himself to chug the orange juice at least, then quietly crept fully out of sight and blinked to his room. He might not want the meal now, but hell if he was going to waste it. He unwrapped everything and stuffed the trash back in the paper sack as he carefully stacked the food in his closet. As long as he brought the wrappers back, Grace would think he’d eaten everything and wouldn’t report him to dad for saving food for later. He’d only made that mistake once. Though his father had been the one to dole out the punishment, he’d quickly figured out Grace was the only one who would have had the opportunity to notice anything amiss. If she were human he’d be angry with her, but she was just a machine, a surveillance tool built by their father, no matter what Diego thought. The parameters of her tasks weren’t her fault, just an extension of their father’s cruelty. It was no use placing blame on what was essentially a highly advanced security system following its programming to report an anomaly.

 

      He needed to get back quickly, before she noticed his absence. He really did not want a third strike against him before the day was half over, especially on a training day. He felt for the movement of his siblings and Grace downstairs, found the spot he’d just left was still unoccupied, and blinked back to the same hidden corner of the foyer he’d started in. With a quick glance around he confirmed that no one had noticed his disappearance, and made his way back to the kitchen to dispose of the garbage. It seemed his siblings were also finishing up, and Five could hear the thump of Pogo’s cane coming to collect them for the remainder of the school day.

 

Pull it together. After today he leaves you alone for a week. Just get through the day, take whatever beating dad has in store for you, and get it over with. Stop dwelling on it, it’s not a big deal.

 

Five ran a hand through his hair, adjusted the tie on his uniform, and followed his siblings back to the classroom.

Notes:

Chapter five warnings: mild discussion of food hoarding due to forced dietary restrictions

Chapter 6: Crunch Time

Notes:

I really thought we'd get back to Klaus this chapter, but it's coming soon I promise! I hope everyone enjoys the update, and thank you so much for almost 300 hits! :D Warnings in the end notes~

      Unfortunately for Five, the rest of the school day passed rather quickly and uneventfully. The end of the day had flown by with no interruptions, and before he knew it he was waiting in the foyer for his father to retrieve him for training. He refused to let his fear show, instead choosing to lean against the wall with a relaxed stance and crossed arms. He forced his expression into one of bored contemplation as his father descended from his study to collect him.

 

“Number Five, today you will be training in the courtyard with Master Watanabe, a tenth level Kyusho master visiting from Japan. He’s waiting outside for us to join him, let’s not keep him waiting. I expect nothing but your best performance.”

 

“Yes sir.”

 

      Just one person? Was that really going to be a fair fight?, he thought as he trailed behind his father. He’d had a fair amount of martial arts training, and won several fights against a variety of high level masters trained in different arts. Sure they usually got a few hits in, but even great masters couldn’t keep up with teleportation. Usually he faced several at once due to his abilities, only one opponent was strange. He’d never heard of Kyusho, much less sparred with someone skilled in it, but he was no stranger to having new styles of fighting sprung on him with no preparation. Something about this situation didn’t feel right. He forced the rising uneasiness down, and once again pulled a mask of apathy across his facial features as he followed his father to the courtyard.

 

      Master Watanabe was waiting just ahead of them. He was an older Japanese man, though it was clear from both his stance and build that he’d spent a lifetime honing his craft. While he was likely well into his sixties he had a well toned physique, and something about the way he held himself demanded respect. If this was his only opponent, the match was going to be over rather quickly. Even if this master was extremely skilled and managed to get a few good hits in, Five was no stranger to taking punches. So why couldn't he shake the feeling that he was missing something? As he and his father approached, the man turned to face them and bowed, a motion which Five quickly reciprocated out of courtesy while avoiding eye contact.

 

“Number Five, Master Watanabe. Master Watanabe, Number Five.”

 

Five forced himself to meet his opponent’s eyes as his father introduced them. There was a hint of surprised confusion to them, which Five tried not to smirk at. Their father typically failed to mention his age to his opponents, and often they were hesitant to fight a child with the full force he demanded. Any desire to hold back due to his stature was usually crushed rather quickly though.

 

“In order to hone your abilities to handle a real life combat situation, the match only ends when one of you is physically unable to fight. No pulling punches, no stopping the match for any reason. Number Five, you are free to use your abilities as you see fit, no restrictions this time. I expect both of you to fight as though your lives depend on it. Is that understood?”

 

Five nodded curtly as Master Watanabe began to object.

 

"You did not tell me my opponent would be a child. This match is inappropriate, you do understand I could kill him, yes?"

 

"I assure you Number Five will prove a worthy opponent."

 

Five felt a grin creep across his face at the unexpected praise. It wasn't often his father complimented his skills.

 

"If you recall the terms, should you choose to refuse the match, you will forfeit your payment along with facing appropriate repercussions from my associates. Are you quite sure you want to make that choice?"

 

Master Watanabe paled considerably.

 

"Have we come to an understanding?"

 

"Yes. I'll do it."

 

"Good."

 

His father backed away a few paces.

 

"Begin!"

 

Five instinctually moved his left foot forward, bent his knees slightly as he lowered his head, and held his palms outwards in a typical Krav Maga stance. Master Watanabe quickly dropped into his own fighting stance, though Five could still see an immense amount of hesitation in his eyes.

 

He held steady, waiting for the master to make the first move.

 

As Master Watanabe took his first step toward him, Five stretched his fingers and gave his open palms a twist as he felt lightning trickle through his fingers. He quickly re-materialized behind the master, swept his leg out from under him, and smirked as he fell.

 

Way too easy, he thought as he looked to his father for approval.

 

He felt a sting of disappointment when he noticed his father was busy writing in his journal, eyes never leaving the page.

 

He wasn't even watching?

 

Whatever. It didn't matter.

 

Five blinked to the side of the master while maintaining his stance, and went for a knockout shot the temple.

 

However, the finishing move he'd intended never landed.

 

      As the palm Five had been intending to strike with drew close to his opponent, Master Watanabe quickly struck upwards and jabbed him in the sternum with the boney party of his hand. Five felt himself lose his sense of balance, and hit the ground hard as his left arm dropped to his side like a stone. Immediately he noticed the whole arm had gone numb, and realized with horror that he was unable to move it.

 

What.

 

      Master Watanabe was staring up at him from the ground, mouth agape in surprise. His retaliatory strike must have been mostly on instinct. Usually Five found the moment his sparring partners realized their opponent could teleport hilarious, but the only thing he could focus on was his desire to not lose more control of his body. He tried to blink away, and quickly discovered he was only able to draw the familiar blue glow to his right hand, but not the left.

 

Shit.

 

      He felt his growing panic almost overtake him, but managed to force it back down. He was going to have to do some quick guesswork with his jumps, unless he wanted to lose more bodily function. Master Watanabe's shock at his abilities being revealed had bought him some time, but not much. He was already starting to pull himself up from the ground and regain his footing. Five had to move, and fast. He'd never tried to blink with only one hand before, but Master Watanabe was already back in an offensive stance and starting to advance towards him.

 

Stupid, why had he never practiced that? What if he’d been incapacitated similarly in a serious fight? Was he trying to get his siblings killed with his inattentiveness?

 

       His eyes tore around the vacant courtyard for the safest looking landing zone, and he pooled as much energy into his right hand as he could manage. He made an attempt to compensate for the unbalance in his power, and clumsily made the jump. Quickly he figured out he'd overshot the height, and braced for landing. He'd blinked several feet above the grassy patch he'd been aiming for, instead of the few inches he'd intended. His stomach dropped as he fell, and he tucked and rolled as best as he could. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about his dead arm as he plummeted to the ground.

 

As he hit the grass hard he heard a crunch that made him grimace. Thankfully he couldn't feel it yet, but his wrist definitely wasn't supposed to bend like that.

 

Always expect the unexpected, take your own advice idiot, he thought to himself, seething with rage at his own incompetence. You never should have given him an opening to retaliate, what were you expecting? Now look at you, he's disabled you with one strike. This is pathetic. Stop running from your problems like Klaus and get it together. Finish the damn match already before he can do more damage.

 

He looked to where he'd just blinked from. Master Watanabe was still a few yards away, but beginning to close in now that he'd noticed where Five landed.

 

Get a move-on idiot and do something already.

 

He grit his teeth and quickly tore off his academy blazer. He swiftly tied it into a makeshift sling and threw it over his good shoulder. With a grimace he grabbed his injured wrist and yanked the bone straight, biting back a pained cry as he did so.

 

Oh, fucking perfect. What a great time to start regaining feeling again. Couldn't have done that a few minutes ago?!

 

He gently tested the movement of his injured arm, and got only a pathetic twitch in response. He growled in annoyance as he ran his good hand through his hair roughly. He used his right arm to shove the left inside the sling, ignoring the agony the jostling caused. He felt tears prick at the corner of his eyes from the pain, and angrily wiped them away with the back of his good hand. 

 

Stop being so pathetic.

 

Master Watanabe was only a few paces away. Five tore though the space in front of himself to land right behind his attacker, this time calculating the landing for a one-armed jump much better than his first attempt. With no hesitation he struck the back of the master's neck as hard as he could with the bone of his palm.

 

Unfortunately for Five, it wasn't enough.

 

The master stumbled hard, but didn't go down. Five just didn’t have enough strength left to hit him with the force required to cause a knockout. Master Watanabe quickly whipped around and slammed Five in the chest, right between his ribs. It was a perfect hit, yet again clearly done on pure instinct that only came from a lifetime of practice.

 

Distantly Five registered that he'd flown backwards and landed prone on the grass.

 

But that didn't matter.

 

He couldn't breathe.

 

He couldn't breathe.

 

He tried desperately to get a breath, but all he could do was click his throat uselessly as he tried anyway.

 

He tried again.

 

And again.

 

And again.

 

No air filled his lungs.

 

Just as he started to see black spots dance across his vision, he remembered his training.

 

He stopped trying.

 

He forced himself to count to ten and relax his muscles.

 

He felt his diaphragm decompress, and the tightness in his chest lessened.

 

He bolted upright as he painfully drew in too much air at once and choked on it, doubling over in an awful coughing fit. Breathing was incredibly painful, but he didn't care. He greedily drew in breath after breath, shaking violently from the adrenaline spike.

 

Someone was patting him on the back and speaking to him softly.

 

"-t's it kid, there you go. You're alright now, the match is over."

 

Once he'd finally gotten his breathing to level out into something more steady, he tried to remember what he’d been doing. He looked behind himself to see who was rubbing circles on his back.

 

No.

 

He quickly tried to stand and run, but toppled over pathetically instead.

 

No.

 

Master Watanabe held out his hands outwards towards him in a show of peace.

 

"Kid, I'm not gonna hit you, it's alright-"

 

"No! No, you don't understand! The match isn't over! I can still fight!" Five shouted with rising panic.

 

Master Watanabe slowly approached with hands still outstretched, as though Five were an injured deer he was trying not to spook.

 

"Kid, it's okay, you don't have to-"

 

His father's commanding voice cut off the master's gentle tone as he stalked across the field. "Number Five is correct. The match isn't over. Finish it."

 

"But clearly he's-"

 

"Finish it. Now. You know the terms. I won't ask again."

 

Master Watanabe turned slowly to face Five, features twisted in an agonized expression.

 

Five felt himself finally loose the battle he'd been fighting internally as he tried to scramble backwards in a panic.

 

"Sorry kid," the master said softly as he advanced on Five and rapidly jabbed him hard in several places along his neck.

 

Mercifully, the world quickly faded to black before he could feel any of the pain.

Notes:

Chapter six warnings: description of broken bone

Chapter 7: Pretty In Pink

Notes:

I had most of this chapter finished yesterday and wrapped it up while I was at work, I hope you enjoy! Content warnings in end notes~

      Five groaned in pain before he could stop himself as he regained consciousness. He peeled his eyes open, and hissed at the bright infirmary light glaring above him. Quickly he slammed them shut once more as he took stock of his injuries. His wrist was throbbing painfully, and the arm felt oddly heavy. The rest of his body ached terribly, though his neck in particular felt as though someone had gleefully stomped on it several times. He attempted to lift his left arm to his face and was relieved to find that he'd finally regained control of its functionally.

 

He forced his eyes open to inspect the damage and-

 

What the fuck.

 

Grace had given him a pink cast, and someone had covered it in heart stickers, doodles in all different colors and- was that glitter glue?!

 

He heard something move in the bed to the left of him.

 

He turned to the source of the sound, only to find Klaus sitting in the bed next to him, with a shit eating grin plastered across his face.

 

"Klaus. I am going to slit your throat while you sleep", Five threatened, tone even and pointed.

 

Klaus's grin stretched wider, and Five realized something was wrong.

 

His brother looked like he'd gotten braces, but that wasn't quite right. It looked a bit different than that.

 

Klaus noticed his confused expression and dramatically held up one finger to tell him to wait. As he dug through the blankets for something, Five noticed his brother had a pink cast that matched his. It too, was covered in a horrendous amount of glitter and doodles.

 

"Seriously Klaus, what the hell-"

 

Klaus held his finger out again in emphasis as he produced a notepad and began to scribble madly on it.

 

"Klaus! Enough! I don't want to play your stupid game-"

 

Klaus quickly spun the pad towards Five, shoving the hastily scrawled message in his face.

 

Can't talk. Fractured jaw. Wired shut. Broke wrist too. Now we're twins!

 

There was an obnoxiously large smiley face covering the rest of the page.

 

He glanced back to Klaus, who barred his wire covered teeth in a toothy grin.

 

Five paused to ponder the situation.

 

After a moment, he decided the possibilities were too endless when it came to Klaus and gave up.

 

"Why? This is absolutely hideous Klaus, truly your worst work," he said, gesturing to his own garishly decorated cast.

 

His brother quickly scrawled another message.

 

Got bored. Thought you could use more pizzazz.

 

"Pizzazz" was surrounded by several doodled stars and hearts.

 

Five groaned loudly, which only made Klaus's grin wider.

 

Too wide in fact, as he winced and dropped the goofy expression.

 

"What happened?" Five asked, gesturing to Klaus's face and arm.

 

Klaus stilled for a moment, then again began to scribble on the pad with a more serious expression. After a moment, he turned it to face Five once more.

 

Wore Grace's heels to training. Looked amazing. Tripped down stairs. Gravity sucks.

 

Five rolled his eyes.

 

"So you're telling me you literally fell on your face so hard you broke it. Nice one Klaus."

 

Klaus glared at Five, then wrote yet another message.

 

He presented the note with eyebrows raised inquisitively, but his expression was one of mockery.  

 

Did someone finally try to strangle you to death for being such an asshole?

 

      Five felt his stomach drop. The memories of his training session came back to him in a rush, and he felt his face burn with shame. Had he really acted that childishly at the end of the match? He quickly snatched a mirror from a nearby medical cart and studied his reflection. Sure enough, his neck was covered in a rainbow of various shades of blue, green, and purple bruises. Master Watanabe had knocked him out expertly, and he'd done absolutely nothing to stop him.

 

Great, just great. You're as much of a coward as Klaus, and now you're paying for it.

 

      He ripped the IV drip Grace had given him out of his good arm and eased himself out of the bed. He willed away the shakiness in his body and focused on keeping a steady stride as he stormed over to Klaus. He snatched the notepad out of his brother's hand, and tore it promptly in half. Refusing to look his brother in the eye, he pulled his collar up to cover the myriad of bruises, and blinked directly to his room.

 

It had gotten dark outside, he could see the starry night sky through his bedroom window. He had to have been out for a few hours at least, which only made him feel worse. He felt his way to the desk and clicked on the table lamp, only to be greeted with the sight of his still broken alarm clock. He stared at it dejectedly, yet another example of his failures.

 

The wall can wait until tomorrow, but I have to rewire that before bed if I want to wake up on time.

 

He let out a sigh and moved to the closet to dig out his soldering iron. He felt exhausted, and wanted nothing more than to get this over with as fast as possible so he could crawl into bed. As he opened the door he noticed the stashed lunch he'd left for himself earlier in the day. His stomach growled, and he realized he’d slept through dinner.

 

At least he’d done something right.

 

He quickly wolfed down the remains of the now tepid lunch and resumed his search for the soldering iron. He quickly located it, along with a spool of filament.

 

Perfect.

 

He returned to the desk and plugged in the soldering iron so it could warm up. As it did so he picked most of the stickers and glue off of his arm, though there wasn't much he could do about Klaus's doodles.

 

One scribbled message amongst the chaos caught his attention.

 

Love you Fivey, get well soon! Team pink for life!

 

Below the message was a crude drawing of two stick figures holding hands, one with a smiley face and the other with a grumpy frowny face.

 

He chuckled despite himself and shook his head. Klaus was the biggest idiot he knew, but he was still his brother. He should check on him in the morning, something about his eyes when Five asked how he’d injured himself didn't sit well with him. Klaus may or may not have actually tripped in heels, but one thing was for sure.

 

He was definitely not telling the whole truth.

 

Why?

 

      The heat indicator lit up red as the soldering iron reached a proper temperature, and Five swiftly gathered the rest of his supplies as he sat down to work. Once the replacement components were in their respective places he discovered it was extremely difficult to solder one handed. After a bit of fumbling around he managed to find a position that worked well enough, though it was still inconvenient. He had to brace the circuit board against his cast to keep it steady and twist his spine uncomfortably to achieve the leverage he needed. It wasn’t ideal, but definitely doable. He began to solder down the pins, albeit a bit clumsily due to the awkward positioning of his limbs. He jerked the iron back as he felt a sharp pain shoot through his other hand.

 

He'd burned himself with the iron.

 

He'd actually burned himself .

 

On accident.

 

Couldn't he just do this one thing right? Just one thing?

 

He readjusted his position and continued tacking down the pins of the components, bracing his working arm on the desk to steady the shakiness of his hand.

 

Fuck!

 

He dropped the iron and quickly tore at the bead of molten metal he'd dripped onto his left hand.

 

This shouldn't be this fucking hard! Just solder the pins and clean up the connections! Why can't you just do it right?!

 

He angrily picked up the iron, ignoring the new scorch mark on his desk, and finished attaching the last component.

 

He wasn't crying.

 

He wasn't.

 

He cleaned around the components and jammed the circuit board back inside the clock. After he shoved the mangled casing back together he did his best to melt the cracks together with the iron.

 

It looked like shit.

 

He could have done better.

 

He resisted the urge to huddle it back into the wall and forced himself to replace the screws instead. He plugged it in, fully prepared for the screen to remain blank. Thankfully, the red LEDs lit up, rapidly flashing the number twelve. He let out a small sigh of relief.

 

Right, I just need to reset the time. At least I didn't fuck up the internal mechanisms. It doesn't have to be pretty, it only needs to tell time and wake me up. It doesn’t matter how it looks.

 

He still felt irritated with himself.

 

Deciding the glow from blinking around a dark house would be too noticeable, he decided to just creep outside his room for a quick peek at the hall clock.

 

He eased the door open, and nearly stepped directly onto a plate holding a sandwich.

 

Vanya.

 

      He smiled, and felt himself relax a little bit as he bent to pick up the plate and raise it to his face. Peanut butter marshmallow. His sister may be ordinary, but she had an uncanny sense for when he'd had a bad day. She also knew he wouldn't want to talk about it, so this was the next best thing. He should thank her someday, but had never been able to bring himself to do so. Surely she knew it meant something to him though, or she wouldn’t keep leaving them outside his door. Plate in hand, he softly crept down the hall until he could just make out the numbers of the clock on the wall.

 

2:37

 

Was it really that late? 

 

He felt all of his previously forgotten frustrations rapidly resurface, and he had to stop himself from hurling Vanya’s sandwich down the hall.

 

If I hadn't let fear take control of me like an idiot, I would have won the match and that clock would have been fixed ages ago. Not to mention I wouldn't have to sport this stupid thing for God knows how long.

 

      He glanced at his pink clad arm dejectedly. He hated how obvious it was going to be to his siblings that he'd been injured during training. His other hand ached, and he realized he was gripping the plate so tightly his knuckles were turning white. He relaxed his grip, and turned back towards his room. Maybe he could convince Grace to let him cut it off and just wear a splint instead. For the time being though, all he wanted to do was go to bed and get what little sleep he could. He padded back to his room and punched the time into his reassembled clock, leaving the sandwich on his desk to eat in the morning.

Notes:

Chapter seven warnings: negative self talk

Chapter 8: Brothers

Notes:

I got so excited from getting sweet comments and wrote a whole chapter at work, thank you guys so much! Warnings in the end notes, enjoy!

      Klaus had never seen Five hurt before, not like that at least. Whenever his brother got scraped up or injured on a mission it never seemed to phase him. He always walked it off, snapping at anyone who dared to ask if he was alright or needed help. This was different. Before he'd woken up fully he'd been screaming in a semi-conscious state, begging for whatever he'd thought was happening to stop.

 

Klaus didn't think he'd ever even seen Five cry, much less scream. Five didn't beg. Ever. It just wasn't something that was possible. Yet he'd witnessed it himself. He didn’t think his brother had even been aware he was doing it. The sheer wrongness of seeing him like that still disturbed him.

 

What the hell did Five do for training anyway?

 

He'd always envied his brother and his power. It must be so freeing to go wherever you wanted, whenever you wanted, in the blink of an eye.

 

Never be able to be cornered or surrounded, always able to escape any situation quickly.

 

Never having to see twisted, mangled visions of the dead, or hear their unending screams and pleas.

 

He used to wish he could trade powers with Five, his training must've been so much easier given his abilities.

 

Now he wasn't so sure.

 

"Klaus honey, how are you feeling this morning?

 

He gave Grace a thumbs up with his good arm as she entered the infirmary, and pointed to the torn notepad on the floor.

 

"Oh dear, why on earth did you do that sweetheart?"

 

He shook his head and held up five fingers to her.

 

She glanced at the now deserted bed Five that had abandoned last night and sighed in exasperation.

 

"I see. You children are always squabbling, why don't you all try to be a little nicer to each other, hmm?"

 

She produced another brightly colored notepad from her apron, along with two new sticker sheets, and handed them to him with a wink.

 

Klaus's eyes lit up in delight. He scribbled a quick note, slapping one of his new heart stickers on it before he turned it to Grace excitedly.

 

Thanks mom! You're the best! Can I pretty please have more stickers?

 

She smiled and shook her head as she passed him three more sheets.

 

"Alright, those are the last ones though, I mean it."

 

Klaus gave her his best innocent look, which only made her smile more.

 

"Now then," she said, clapping her hands, "your father-"

 

Klaus immediately dropped his silly expression and froze.

 

"-has dismissed you from training until your jaw is fully healed, but still expects your full participation in the classroom. It should be about eight weeks until you're well enough for training again."

 

No way.

 

 "You can skip class for today, but your father expects your attendance on Monday. If you'd like, you should be okay to move back to your room today if you w-"

 

He leapt from the bed and hugged Grace tightly, spinning her around in a circle excitedly.

 

"Oh dear, if I'd known you missed your room so much I would have let you go back last night. Do you need any help-"

 

He pulled away briefly to shake his head, and buried his face back into her side once more. He didn't know when he'd started crying, and quickly used Grace's apron to wipe away the tears.

 

"Oh honey, I promise you'll be okay. I know the wires are scary, but they're there to help you. I know you can be brave for me, would a milkshake help you feel better? Don't tell your siblings, they might get jealous now," she said, giving him a conspiratorial wink.

 

She didn't understand, but that was okay. He still loved her anyway.

 

He released her from the hug and looked up at her as he nodded.

 

"Well alright then. What flavor does my brave little man want?"

 

He enthusiastically scribbled a reply.

 

Strawberry banana with rainbow sprinkles! Can I have whipped cream? I love you mom!

 

"No sprinkles hon, remember?" She tapped her jaw. "I think we can make the rest happen though, I'll be right back, ok?"

 

He nodded, and Grace left to make his drink.

 

Once he was alone, he noticed his hands were trembling. The start of a headache was biting at his skull, and a familiar itch spread throughout his body. He realized it'd been two whole days since he'd last been able to get high. He loved Grace, but he hadn't been able to indulge himself for far too long due to her attentiveness.

 

She is occupied at the moment…

 

He could hear her humming to herself in the kitchen as various cabinets opened and closed. She must be busy looking for ingredients to go in his smoothie.

 

Well then! No time like the present!

 

He glanced around the room, eyes zeroing in on the unattended medicine cabinet. Quietly he crept towards it, and noticed a small padlock securing the doors together as he drew closer.

 

Simple enough. Now where's something to pick it with…

 

He searched a nearby cart for options, and removed a paper clip from a stack of medical charts. He unbent it, inserted it into the lock, and fiddled around until he heard a soft click.

 

Score!

 

He eased the door open and scanned the labels on the first shelf.

 

Amoxicillin, cephalexin, ibuprofen, no, no, no…

 

He heard the whir of a blender from the kitchen drift through the air.

 

Shit! Not much time left. Come on come on come on-

 

Aha!

 

He grinned as snatched a small bottle labeled oxycodone from a lower shelf with shaky hands. He softly popped the cap, trying hard not to draw attention to himself. Thankfully the bottle had recently been opened, so he didn't need to worry about covering his tracks. It was mostly full too, so he allowed himself about twenty pills. He shoved them into his pockets and popped the top back on. Not enough for Grace to notice anything amiss, and just enough to get him through nearly a full week.

 

Perfect.

 

The blender stopped, and Klaus quickly replaced the bottle and clicked the lock back into place. He'd dove back onto the bed and reclined the headrest just as Grace rounded the corner, pink shake in hand.

 

"Here you go sweetie, let me go clean up real quick and I'll be right back to give you one last checkup. After that you can head back to your room if you want, ok?"

 

He nodded as he took the whipped cream covered concoction from her.

 

"Are you feeling any better?"

 

He reached for his notepad to write a reply, trying hard to keep his tremors hidden.

 

Lots and lots! Thank you mommy! I love you so much!

 

He slapped several stickers on it before he turned it towards her.

 

She smiled wide.

 

"I'm so proud of you for being so brave! You're such a sweet boy, I love you too."

 

She gave his hair a quick ruffle, then made her way back to the kitchen.

 

As soon as she left he fished out two of the pills, crushed them against the armrest of the bed, and stirred them into the shake.

 

Finally.

 

He downed the whole shake and waited for Grace to return, hoping nothing would kick in until after her exam.

 

She didn't take long to clean up, and luck was on his side as the brief exam was rather uneventful. He decided to stay in the infirmary and doodle for a bit, but ended up taking a painkiller induced nap instead. His siblings stomping up the stairs pulled him from slumber, and he peeled his face off of the notepad he'd fallen asleep on top of.

 

School must've just let out.

 

He really should get back to his room so he could check on Five before bedtime.

 

He stretched the stiffness from his muscles and clambered out of bed, notepad in hand, and made his way upstairs. All of his siblings must've already gone to their rooms for free time as the hallway was empty leading to his room. He opened his door, excited to get back to his drawings-

 

Well. That's a new one.

 

Klaus waved as Vanya fell over on the floor in surprise, a mortified expression on her face.

 

Was she digging through my closet? What on earth did she-

 

No.

 

No God please no.

 

She couldn't be like him, she couldn't.

 

She was ordinary, she had a chance at a normal life, unlike him.

 

Please don't be looking for-

 

She was staring at him in terror from the floor, looking like she wished she were anywhere else. He should write something, and fast. He quickly flipped to a clean page and scrawled out a hasty explanation.

 

Can't talk. Jaw broke. Training accident. He drew a frowny face and faced it towards her.

 

She relaxed a tiny bit ,and slowly pulled herself to a sitting position. Now for the question he wasn't sure he wanted an answer to. He continued writing.

 

What were you hoping to find in there? I'm not mad.

 

She still looked a bit anxious, but her demeanor softened considerably as she read the last words.

 

"Um. Can I- can I borrow some clothes? I don't think that- I mean I- I don't like mine very much."

 

Relief poured through him.

 

Clothes? She wasn't hoping to self medicate? Oh thank God.

 

He quickly wrote a reply.

 

Sure! Want to play dress up? I have tons of skirts and dresses, they're really pretty!

 

Her face dropped in disappointment.

 

"No! Well yes but- do you- do you have any boy clothes? I don't want to wear skirts anymore, I hate them!" she spat out finally, with a vicious tone.

 

Her sudden outburst surprised him. His sister was never vocal about anything, especially that bluntly.

 

He thought for a moment, then wrote a response.

 

Clothes are just clothes, I like frilly things, so that's what I have more of. Do you want to be a boy?

 

She froze in fear, looking like a deer in headlights.

 

He added to his message, taking his time. Vanya seemed to grow more anxious the longer he wrote, so he pushed himself to write faster.

 

It's okay if you do! Sometimes I don't want to be a boy, but I don't think I want to be a girl either. I think I'm somewhere in between? B en might have clothes that suit you more if that's what you want. He has a secret stash too, but he likes leather jackets and jeans instead of frills. I love you no matter what okay?

 

Their eyes moved over the paper, and they burst into tears.

 

Shit shit shit-!

 

He rushed over to hug his sibling tightly, rubbing their back. What he wouldn't give to be able to talk right now-

 

They hiccupped and burbled, hugging Klaus back tightly.

 

Eventually Vanya cried themselves out, and now that they had calmed down somewhat Klaus released his hold on them to write another note.

 

So do you want to be a boy? I’d love another brother! I don’t care who you are either way, Hargreeves stick together no matter what!

 

Before he flipped it to Vanya he stuck several of the heart stickers he’d gotten from Grace onto the page.

 

His new brother laughed, and sniffed away the last of his tears as he nodded.

 

Klaus clapped excitedly and gave him another tight hug, then once again let go to scribble another message.

 

Do you still want to be called Vanya?

 

His brother pondered the question for a moment, then shook his head.

 

“No.”

 

Klaus scribbled again.

 

He speaks! Do you have a name in mind yet?

 

“Vi-Viktor. Don’t tell the others though! I’m not- I mean I don’t- I just w-”

 

He held up a finger to silence him and scribbled furiously.

 

It’s okay if you’re not ready to tell everyone. Your secret is safe with me until then, promise. Go to Ben for clothes when he's back from training, he’ll help. You don’t have to tell him why, just say you want to play dress up with me. Can I call you V if you don’t want everyone to know your new name? I don’t want to call you Vanya anymore, it feels wrong since I know it’s not you now.

 

Klaus had never seen a smile so big on his brother’s face before, and this time Viktor was the one suddenly hugging him tightly.

 

He quickly reciprocated the embrace, until he heard a soft voice mumble from where it was buried in his now damp chest.

 

“I’m glad I’m your brother Klaus, V is perfect. You're the best.”

 

Klaus hugged him closer, grateful that his brother trusted him to love him as he was.

 

Checking on Five was going to have to wait until tomorrow, because he wasn’t letting go of Viktor anytime soon.

Notes:

Chapter eight warnings: drug use

Chapter 9: Out of Hand

Notes:

Quick note! While Viktor is now out to Klaus (Yay finally!) he's not out to anyone else. His other siblings will still refer to him as "Vanya" and use feminine pronouns unless he comes out to them or a situation arises where it's obvious he's not Vanya. Warnings in the end notes~

Five opened his eyes, realized the sun was up, and bolted upright in bed. He tore his gaze to the slightly melted clock atop his desk.

 

8:47

 

He’d woken up late.

 

Did my alarm not go off? It worked yesterday morning! How did I manage to mess it up so badly it only worked for one day-

 

Oh.

 

Right.

 

Saturday.

 

      He relaxed a bit, and slowly began to get dressed. He hadn’t set an alarm because he didn’t need to. Usually he would have set one anyway, but after staying up late again to patch his wall he’d decided to allow his body to wake up naturally for once. In fact, his siblings typically slept in much later on their free day, save for Luther. He should have plenty of time to clean up in the bathroom before someone interrupted him. Once dressed, he moved to the desk and fished around the drawer for the makeup he’d lifted from Klaus’s room during lunch the day prior. 

 

Good thing Klaus’s skin tone is similar to mine, Allison’s would have never worked.

 

      After some shuffling around he finally located it, felt for the bathroom, and found it was unoccupied. As soon as he blinked inside he quickly spun and locked the door behind himself, then made his way to the mirror. His obnoxious pink cast seemed to mock him, and he resolved to practice blinking with one arm later. He’d been able to channel his power to his injured arm since he’d woken in the infirmary, but what if someone attacked him like that again? With a grimace he pulled down his upturned collar to inspect the bruising on his neck, and noticing with defeat that it had gotten darker. He had to be better prepared in the future, never bothering to train one handed was inexcusable. He’d gotten what he deserved for his inattentiveness, but he wouldn’t let it happen again. He searched for a cloth from under the sink, and began to apply a thick layer of foundation all around to cover the worst of it. Once his whole neck was liberally coated he capped the tube and started to color correct the unnaturally smooth areas he’d created. He added a bit of shading and contouring where needed, spinning around to examine his work. He fixed a few spots as he went, until he was satisfied with the final result. He closed the small tin of powders and tucked the makeup back into his pockets.

 

Perfect, no one will be able to tell.

 

He glanced back at the neon pink plaster stuck on his reflection’s arm.

 

Much to his dismay, Grace had refused to cut the cast off early. He’d woken up early Friday morning and blinked directly to the kitchen in his pajamas, hoping to have it off before his siblings had a chance to see. 

 

“Honey, you need that so you can heal properly. If I removed it early your wrist would never be the way it was before. I know it’s not your favorite, but it’ll be off before you know it. I know you can be brave for me!”

 

He’d never felt so humiliated, and had blinked straight back to his room in defeat.

 

Of course, his siblings had immediately made it a big deal. Everyone pestered him about what had happened, except for Vanya, who’d just stared at him with a concerned expression.

 

That had almost been worse than his other sibling’s reactions.

 

He’d gotten through the day by hurling insults at anyone who dared to question him, refusing to talk about his arm for the entire day. After glaring daggers at his siblings and dodging questions for hours they’d finally relented and given up on getting anything out of him. 

 

He let himself out of the bathroom and made his way back to his room, pausing to pick up yet another sandwich that had been left at his door. He inspected it with confusion.

 

…were those rainbow sprinkles mixed into the peanut butter? And gummy worms? The hell?

 

As he lifted the plate, he noticed a folded note had been left underneath it.

 

Hey Fivey-o! V wanted to make you a snack and I helped! Hope you are feeling better, love you! Your favorite brother,

Klaus

 

“Klaus” was written in loopy cursive, and the paper was covered in smiley face stickers and glitter.

 

      He smiled, shaking his head as he let himself into his room. The sandwich was an absolute abomination, but he’d need the energy if he wanted to practice his jumps. Dad never allowed him breakfast on Saturdays, so he really shouldn’t complain. He managed to force it down, placed the makeup back into his desk, and grabbed Diego’s knife from his pillow before heading downstairs. Luther was talking to Grace in the dining hall, and he crept quietly towards the back door. He laid his hand on the knob just as he heard the sounds of his other siblings beginning to stir above him, barely managing to go unnoticed. He slipped outside and made his way to the courtyard garden, hoping he’d remain uninterrupted for a while. The area had more obstacles, which would force him to pay more attention to the accuracy of his jumps.

 

He scanned for a place to blink to, and settled on a section of path a few yards away from a large gaudy fountain. He pooled energy to only his right hand, aimed to land just an inch or two above the ground, and leapt through the flash of blue.

 

Shit-!

 

He twisted in the air, narrowly avoiding dunking himself straight into the bubbling water of the fountain, barely managing to tuck and roll unceremoniously to his feet at the last second. Frustrated, he blinked back to his starting place using both hands. He tried a right handed jump again, this time landing a few feet farther to the side than he’d been anticipating.

 

Useless! No wonder he’d failed so miserably in his training session. How had he overlooked this for so long?

 

He tried blinking just a few yards one handed, and again landed just a bit more to the right than he’d been aiming. He thought back to the successful one handed blink he’d done purely on instinct during training, and how it’d felt. He remembered aiming not quite behind Master Watanabe, but just slightly to the left of him.

 

Alright, if I pull more to the right when using only my right hand, then…

 

This time he zeroed in on an empty patch of grass, but instead of targeting it directly he shot for a lamppost just to the left of his intended destination.

 

Here goes nothing-

 

He pulled the blue glow to his hand once again, and jumped. He landed softly in the grass, just like he’d been hoping for. A grin spread across his face in triumph.

 

Finally! Alright, now for the left. If jumping right handed pulls to the right, then logically the left should pull left. Simple enough.

 

      This time he chose a shady space under a tree, aimed a bit to the right of the shade, and blinked again. He wrinkled his nose in disgust as he landed perfectly underneath the tree. It smelled like a skunk had recently been in the area, and an angry one at that. He jumped away with his right hand, ping ponging around the courtyard a few times while switching hands. Once he felt comfortable with compensating for the unbalance at greater speeds accurately, he blinked back to the grass and pulled Diego’s knife from his pocket. A headache was beginning to pinch at the bridge of his nose, but he needed to finish what he’d started.

 

Now for the real test…

 

He flicked the blade out, threw it straight up in the air above him, and blinked away with his right hand a split second before it embedded itself in the ground. Technically he’d managed to avoid the danger, but was definitely a few inches farther to the right from where he’d been aiming for.

 

You’re useless in a fight if you can only manage accuracy with no pressure, what if you’re injured on a mission? What if your brothers and sisters are depending on you?

 

      He blinked back to the knife and yanked it out of the ground, immediately throwing it up in the air once again. As it fell, he tried to picture it coming from an unseen assailant. He jumped again, this time landing where he wanted to just as the knife stabbed into the earth. His head was throbbing now, and he knew he’d burned through what little energy the sandwich had given him. He made his way back to the knife, this time on foot, and pulled it from the soil once more. He closed his eyes, imagining the expressions of terror he’d seen on his sibling’s faces during particularly ugly missions, and chucked the blade into the air for what he hoped would be his last jump. He made himself wait with eyes still closed, sensing the blade’s momentum as it fell. He felt it closing in, waited for it to be only a few inches from his face, and leapt for the safety of the shade once more. Just as he landed, he registered something else soar straight towards his head. He yanked himself back into the blue glow, using only his left hand on reflex.

 

The hell was that?

 

      He looked back to the tree, where a bug-eyed Klaus was staring at him with a mix of confusion and worry. The mystery object turned out to be a balled up wad of paper, which had landed on the ground where he’d been moments ago. He stared at his cast covered arm, realization dawning on him that he’d avoided the thrown paper not only one handed, but had course corrected perfectly without having to think about it. Black spots were swimming in the corners of his vision, but he didn’t care. He’d finally gotten used to jumping one handed, albeit a bit clumsily. A new thought occurred to him, squashing his triumph immediately.

 

How long had his brother been watching him? How much had he seen?

 

He thought back to the skunk he’d smelled earlier, and immediately shoved his face into his palm.

 

Of course. Of course his stupid brother had gotten up early to get high. He’d seen everything then, including his close call with the fountain. Dammit.

 

He felt a bit lightheaded from jumping so much, but he was not about to let his brother catch on to how tired he was. He stalked back towards the tree, jerking the knife from the grass on the way. He paid close attention to his pace, making sure he wasn’t lilting to one side or the other as he stormed towards his brother.

 

“What!? What do you want Klaus?”

 

His brother hurriedly wrote a reply.

 

Why the hell are you throwing knives at yourself?!?!

 

“I’m practicing using my power, something you might benefit from. Now, are we finished here?”

 

Klaus only looked more concerned as he scribbled a reply.

 

No! Why do you need a knife to practice with?! That’s way too dangerous!

 

“Klaus, news flash, danger kind of comes with the territory of having superpowers. Unlike you, I actually face it head on instead of running from it. You should try it sometime. Now, unless you have something profound to write on that pad of yours, I’ll be going now.”

 

As he turned to leave, he sensed Klaus’s hand move to grab his shoulder and stop him.

 

He blinked away from his brother’s grasp, and felt his vision blur as he lost his balance mid jump.

 

Shit not now-

 

He must’ve blacked out for a second. He regained his senses and found he’d landed hard on the ground after exiting the jump. His knees ached, and his palms were scraped bloody. Klaus was right next to him, looking down at him with a horrified expression.

 

He moved to write something down once he saw Five was aware of his surroundings again.

 

Five quickly scrambled to his feet, managing to only sway a little. He smacked Klaus’s notepad out of his hand and quickly wiped his palms on his pants.

 

“Don’t. I’m fine. Just leave me alone.”

 

He trudged back towards the academy, ignoring the balls of paper thudding into his back as he went.

 

He’ll give up eventually.

 

He stomped into the academy and up the stairs, hoping Klaus would take the hint.

 

Klaus did not take the hint, and followed him all the way to his bedroom.

 

He whipped around angrily to face him as he opened the door to his room.

 

“Klaus! Enough! For fuck’s sake stop following me around like a lost puppy! I am fine! Go away and leave me be!”

 

As he entered his room he slammed the door loudly in his brother’s face. Just as he was about to get into bed for a nap, a single sheet of paper slid under the door. He heard his brother’s footsteps move down the hall and into his own room. With a sigh Five walked to the door and picked it up, eyes scanning the page.

 

You don’t have to be fine. It’s okay, I’m not either. I’m here if you want to talk. Love you Fives, get some rest ok?

 

Normally a message like that would make Five’s blood boil, but something about reading it through a note instead of hearing it from someone who expected a response made it almost bearable. He folded up the note and dropped it onto his desk before slipping under the covers for some much needed sleep.

Notes:

Chapter nine warnings: over exertion, self deprecation, implied drug use

Side note, while I was editing this the chapter was called "chapter captain overexertion" until I was able to come up with an actual title haha

Chapter 10: Haunted

Notes:

We hit 600 hits somehow?! Thank you guys for all the love, you have no idea how much your comments make me want to keep writing this <3 <3 I'm so glad so many of you are invested in this! :D

Content warnings in the end notes~

Edit: came back to fix a minor continuity error at the end of the chapter, nothing else changed

      Klaus was worried about Five. Really worried. Clearly something had happened during his training session, but getting Five to tell him anything was next to impossible. He held his ear to the wall they shared, relief flooding through him when he heard his brother's soft snoring. He grinned as he remembered telling Five once that he slept like a wood chipper, and the rare look of mortification he'd gotten in return. Ben had overheard and added that their brother sounded more like a dying motorboat, and both of them had fallen to the floor in throws of laughter when Five had blinked away. Once they'd finally caught their breath they'd looked at each other and immediately lost it again, unfortunately leaving them unaware of Five's sneak attack. Unbeknownst to them, their brother had blinked upstairs, stolen two bottles of Allison's nail polish, and promptly dumped them directly onto their heads. It had taken both him and Ben weeks to get the blue out of their hair, and plenty of time to bond over complaining about it.

 

Five had been too smug in his triumph to realize that Ben knew how to play the long game.

 

      It started small, with Klaus leaving a piece of gravel in Five's bed every day. Once they heard their brother open the window every night to throw it out, they knew they had him. Klaus stopped leaving gravel, and Ben started leaving rocks of steadily increasing size. Five refused to say anything to anyone despite his obvious agitation, and both of them kept their mouths shut. It may have started as Ben's idea, but Klaus to this day was proud of himself for the finale. Once the rocks started to be a little heavy for Ben to carry upstairs by himself and he’d wanted to call the whole thing off, he'd told Ben they should get Luther to help with their little scheme. It took some convincing, but their tank of a brother somehow managed to carry an entire boulder up to Five's room, leaving it smack in the center. The scream of pure rage Five let out when he'd found it had been absolutely glorious.

 

Klaus winced as he grinned a little too wide at the memory.

 

Ben. Ben would know what to do.

 

Ben was tied with Five in intelligence, with none of the arrogance. Surely he could come up with some way to get their stubborn brother to talk to him. He grabbed his notepad and let himself into the hall, creeping slowly past Five's room so as to not wake him.

 

As he approached Ben's door he heard something… strange. Underneath the bizarre unintelligible din seeping through the wall he could make out another sound, one that made his heart stop.

 

…was Ben crying?

 

He hesitated, then lifted his good arm to rap gently on the door.

 

The howling noises within grew louder at his interruption, and his anxieties only multiplied. Below the rising cacophony he heard a sniffle, and then a reply.

 

"Who's there?"

 

Damn his stupid jaw.

 

He scrawled a quick message and shoved it under the door.

 

It's me, can I come in?

 

He heard timid steps approach the door, the shuffle of paper, and finally a soft click as the door opened.

 

And oh, how he wished it hadn't.

 

Ben stood before him, eyes ringed in red. Clearly he'd been crying for some time, but that wasn't where his attention was drawn.

 

His brother wasn't alone in the room.

 

      Behind him were what must have been the victims of his last training session, and Klaus immediately understood everything. There were four of them, screaming an ear piercing hollow wail of eternal torment. All of them were missing various limbs, which looked like they'd been ripped from their bodies while they were still alive. What few extremities were still mostly attached had large chunks of flesh torn from them, exposing sinew and the shattered bones that weakly held them to what was left of their bodies. Every square inch of semi intact flesh that remained was covered in perfect, circular bruises from where the horror's tentacles had latched on to them to throw them around like rag dolls. The amount of blood they were collectively hemorrhaging was enough to bathe Ben's room in an alarming shade of red, painting the interior like a macabre Jackson Pollock painting. It was a truly grotesque display, but the viscera wasn't even the worst part.

 

All of them were missing their eyes. It was evident from the holes bored through their skulls and horribly disfigured faces what had happened.

 

The horror had wound its tentacles in through their eye sockets, and pushed them straight out their skulls through the other side.

 

      Klaus doubled over, immediately feeling the overwhelming urge to vomit. He only barely managed to suppress it as a sharp pang of fear shot through him. He pictured himself choking on his own puke, unable to unhinge his wired jaw and turning a violent shade of blue. The disturbing image of slowly suffocating to death on his own bile gave him the strength to swallow back the churning in his stomach.

 

After a moment, he forced himself to meet Ben's eyes.

 

Ben had paled considerably, and was swaying on his feet dangerously. After what felt like an eternity he finally spoke in a shaky whisper. Klaus could barely hear him over the begging, pleading cries of agony behind him.

 

"They're here aren't they? Klaus please- I don't think I can- can you…."

 

Ben trailed off, staring past Klaus's shoulder like he wasn't actually seeing anything. 

 

He's going to faint -!

 

Klaus did his best to ignore the writhing specters behind his brother, and reached out a trembling hand to steady him.

 

At his touch, Ben jumped and snapped his gaze back to Klaus with a jarringly serious expression.

 

"Did you know we share a nervous system? Everything it does, I can feel it."

 

Klaus felt his blood turn to ice in his veins.

 

"Not a brain though. It does what it wants, no matter how much I try to stop it!"

 

Ben's expression cracked as he let out a hysterical manic laugh that absolutely terrified him.

 

Klaus wanted to speak so, so badly, offer his brother words of comfort, something, anything .

 

But he couldn't.

 

Instead, he pulled Ben in and squeezed him as tightly as he could with one arm and a cast, hoping his actions would speak louder than the words trapped behind the wires that damned him to silence.

 

Ben began sobbing quietly into his shoulder at his embrace, and his shirt was soaked through in seconds. He knew Ben wouldn’t want anyone else seeing him like this. He gathered what little courage he had, and led them into the room with eyes glued to the floor. 

 

He couldn't look at them again.

 

He just couldn't.

 

      Inside the room the shrieks of the horror’s victims were absolutely deafening, but he pushed onward for Ben’s sake. He noticed as he guided them along that his bedroom was absolutely trashed, something that would usually drive his brother bonkers. Ben and Five were similar in that way, both of them needed structure to thrive. The fact that his brother's room was in such a state only spoke to how truly not okay he was. Several books had been thrown on the ground hard enough to crack their spines, and clothes were strewn about the floor messily. He walked Ben to his unmade bed, rubbing circles into his back as they crossed the room. As they approached the bed, he noticed a balled up academy uniform had been crammed underneath it.

 

It was absolutely drenched in old dried blood.

 

He sat them both down, trying not to think about what was under them, and let go of his brother to quickly scribble a message.

 

Do you want to talk about it?

 

Ben shook his head fiercely, eyes cast downward.

 

He penned a response.

 

Can I do anything to help?

 

And oh, the look of pure desperation his brother gave him as he finally met his eyes made his heart ache-

 

“Can you- can you make them go away? Make them leave me alone?”

 

-and shatter into a million pieces.

 

He couldn’t. He’d tried and failed, tried and failed, for years with not a single success to drive even one away. Once a spirit was latched onto something or someone, there was no getting rid of them. None that Klaus had figured out, at least.

 

But.

 

Ben didn’t have to know that.

 

He gripped his brother’s hand tightly, and nodded.

 

The relief that flooded Ben’s eyes made him feel like absolute shit, but he couldn’t leave him in the state he was currently in.

 

He wouldn’t.

 

      He closed his eyes tightly, and put on a show of waving his hands around in nonsensical motions while feigning strenuous concentration with furrowed brows. It was hard to keep up the act with the ghost’s endless wailing stabbing into his eardrums, but somehow he pulled through. To top off his performance he hummed what he hoped sounded like an other worldly chant, and finished with a loud clap that made Ben jump. Before he opened his eyes he mentally prepared himself for what he was going to see, and lifted his eyelids.

 

      One of the spirits was right in front of him, screaming directly into his face. It honestly looked more like a sentient pile of oozing hamburger meat than it did a person at this point. He nearly blew his cover immediately by flinching backwards, but barely managed to cover his reaction by clearing his throat loudly and stretching. He looked to Ben, who was watching him with wide hopeful eyes.

 

“Are they gone?” he asked timidly.

 

The ghost hadn’t stopped screeching at him, and still remained mere inches from his face while doing so.

 

He nodded, forcing what smile he could muster and giving Ben a thumbs up.

 

Ben tackled him in a bear hug, knocking them both off the bed and onto the floor.

 

“Thank you”, he heard Ben whisper in a tone thick with emotion as he squeezed him tightly.

 

He hugged him back, trying not to feel guilty. He might not sleep tonight, but at least his brother would.

 

“I think I want to lie down for a bit if that’s okay. I just- the last couple days have been a lot, you know?”

 

He did know. God, did he know.

 

He wrote Ben one last message, punctuating it with a few hearts before he held it towards him.

 

It’s not your fault. Don’t blame yourself. Get some rest, and don’t forget I’m your favorite sibling now. Love you Benny-Boo.

 

      He earned himself a small laugh from Ben, and let himself back into the hallway as he waved goodbye. As soon as the door clicked shut he lost all the bravado he’d been able to summon for his brother’s sake. His posture immediately slumped in exhaustion, and he wanted nothing more than to drown out the torrent of screams that were now likely to be a permanent fixture in the academy.

 

He needed to get high. Like, really high.

 

      He made his way back to his room and shut the door behind him. He hurriedly dove for the loose floorboard under the bed where he’d hidden his stash, prying it up with shaking hands. The small tin inside only contained two blunts and twelve of the oxycodone pills he’d stolen from the infirmary. Given the ghouls that were now attached to Ben he was definitely going to need to go on a supply run soon. Not now though. Right now, he was going to get very very high, and forget the events of the past twenty four hours. He grabbed four of the pills and crushed them into the glass of water he'd left next to his bed the night before. He could still hear the screams of the ghosts haunting his brother, even from two doors down. With that unfortunate realization he added another two pills to his concoction, closed the tin and tucked it back into its hiding spot. He downed the mixture with a grimace, hoping it would keep the academy's new residents at bay for a while. He’d never taken a dose this large before, but he didn’t really care. All he wanted to do was make the noise stop, and didn’t care how that was achieved. He dragged himself into bed to wait it out, shoving a pillow on top of his head for good measure.

 

As soon as the pills kick in I’ll go check on Five. So much for Ben helping, poor bastard. God, we’re all so fucked up.

Notes:

Chapter ten warnings: gore descriptions and substance abuse

Chapter 11: Shattered

Notes:

Quick reminder that this fic is tagged as M since we've had a lot of fluffy chapters in a row. Now that we've gotten some character development a lot of the coming chapters are going to be delving into some serious topics. I don't tag warnings through ao3's system to keep certain plot points hidden, but encourage you to check the end notes for content warnings if you need to. On another note, holy crap we already passed 700 hits since the last update! Thank you guys so much! <3

      Five woke feeling somewhat refreshed, and lazily glanced around the room as he awoke. Eventually his gaze landed on a familiar piece of paper still perched atop his desk, and the events prior to his slumber slowly came back to him. His face burned red as he buried it into his hands in frustration and shame. Had he really been so weak he’d collapsed in front of Klaus? 

 

You can blink one handed now, great job Five! That’s going to be really helpful when you’re passing out in the middle of a fight when everyone is counting on you. Maybe if you get one of your siblings killed, Klaus will still let you talk to them on occasion.

 

He roughly rubbed the sleep from his eyes and stood to retrieve his brother’s note. He unfolded it carefully and reread the hastily scribbled message.

 

You don’t have to be fine. It’s okay, I’m not either. I’m here if you want to talk. Love you Fives, get some rest ok?

 

       Unlike the first time he’d read it, this time he only felt white hot rage at the soft words. He was absolutely, completely, fine . He didn’t need to talk to someone like his timid sister, he didn’t run from his problems like his brother, and he sure as hell didn’t need anyone else’s help. He was fine . He angrily balled up the paper and threw it into his wastebasket with more force than what was needed. As much he wanted to crawl back into bed and forget everything, one thing spurred him into action.

 

      He knew his brother, and that idiot was absolutely going to rally the rest of his siblings to “help” him through whatever “problems” he thought he was having. He needed to get to Klaus before Klaus got to their siblings. How long had he been asleep anyway? He glanced at the clock, and felt his heart sink.

 

Four hours?! It’s almost dinnertime! How did I sleep for that long?!

 

      He scrambled out of his dirty uniform and into a fresh one, hoping against all hope that he wasn’t too late. He checked his appearance in the mirror as he straightened his tie and fixed his disheveled hair. Thankfully Klaus’s makeup was still holding up rather well, so he didn’t need to waste more time touching it up. Once he looked considerably less exhausted than he felt, he yanked open the door to find his imbecile of a brother.

 

        He stalked his way down the hall until he reached Klaus’s room and rapped sharply on the door. He heard shuffling from within, the sound of glass breaking, and finally a loud bang as something crashed to the floor. He listened, waiting for the sounds of his brother making his way to the door. When no other noises occurred, his simmering rage steadily bled away into a rising wave of anxiety. Visions of his stupid brother being held up by some unknown assailant breaking in through the window danced though his mind, and an icy twinge of panic shot through him. He blinked into the room without a second thought, and immediately felt the world collapse in on itself.

 

Blood there’s so much blood what- Klaus!

 

      His brother was face down on the ground surrounded by broken glass, though the window was intact. He was bleeding badly from several scrapes and gashes, and appeared to be unconscious. There was no assailant to be found as Five took in the scene and attempted to piece together what had happened. He rolled his eyes as he started to get an idea of what occurred. It appeared that his walking disaster of a brother must have heard him knock while he’d been asleep, and jumped out of bed to answer the door. Somehow the idiot had managed to break the glass on his nightstand in the process, and slipped and fallen directly onto the shards. As if that wasn’t enough, on his way down he’d bumped his head on the table and knocked himself out cold.

 

Five sighed and made his way to Klaus while shaking his head, fully intending to stem the bleeding before he woke up. Some of the cuts looked pretty deep, and should probably be tended to sooner rather than later. As he drew closer and reached to pull a shard of glass from his brother’s arm, he noticed something that made his heart skip a beat.

 

His chest isn’t moving. At all. He’s not breathing-!

 

Five dove to the floor, ignoring the searing pain of glass imbedding itself into his knees. He felt for a pulse and barely managed to find one, as it was incredibly weak. He held a shaking hand in front of his brother’s face to sense for air flow, and felt nothing. 

 

No-

 

      There was no time to get Grace. He shoved Klaus onto his back and opened his airway, beginning CPR compressions while running on pure adrenaline. Five swore he’d never take Pogo’s extensive medical training for granted again. He winced from the sensation of his brother’s ribs cracking under the force of his compressions, but willed himself not to think about it.

 

Come on Klaus, come on, just wake up-

 

He kept at it, hoping someone, anyone had heard Klaus’s fall and would barge in to investigate, someone who could go get mom-

 

Klaus please-

 

It was getting hard to see, and distantly he realized he’d started crying at some point. His arms were burning from over exertion but he forced himself to keep going. He’d been doing compressions for a while, and as much as he wished he could he couldn’t keep going forever. Klaus was running out of time.

 

Maybe I can blink us to the infirmary or get mom or-

 

Just as he was about to risk a jump with his unconscious brother in tow, Klaus’s eyes shot open and his face twisted in agony as he sucked in a ragged desperate breath.

 

Oh thank god.

 

Five collapsed against the nightstand and buried his face into his hands as Klaus continued to wheeze on the floor. The tears were coming faster, and he could feel his shoulders shake as he fought to control himself. 

 

He woke up. It’s fine, he’s going to be fine, get it together already.

 

      Eventually he managed to get his breathing under control, and raised his head to check on Klaus. His brother was staring at him wide eyed in disbelief, though clearly still in a lot of pain. Five realized he must be in quite a state, and quickly wiped at the remaining tears staining his face as he tried to mask his emotions. He couldn’t make himself meet his brother’s gaze, instead choosing to stare at his own bleeding knees and pick bits of glass from them. After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence he gathered his courage and forced himself to make eye contact. The brief sense that everything was going to be alright shattered as he stared into his brother’s eyes, and Five felt his stomach drop. His pupils were absolutely miniscule, had he been deprived of oxygen for too long?

 

“Klaus! Klaus, can you hear me?!”

 

His face was still contorted in pain, but he managed to give Five a weak thumbs up with a bloody hand.

 

“Do you know who I am?”

 

Klaus held out all five fingers shakily.

 

“Good. What’s three plus three?”

 

This time he got a trembling middle finger in return.

 

Okay that’s a good sign, no obvious brain damage. Then why-

 

Five stilled, and took a better look at his brother. Both the nails on the hand he was flipping him off with and his lips were tinged blue. He was breathing on his own again, but it was incredibly shallow and labored.

 

Five felt his heart sink.

 

He knew his brother had an unfortunate drug habit, but this, this was different. He thought back to the note his brother had left him earlier that day.

 

“You don’t have to be fine. It’s okay, I’m not either.”

 

No, no he hadn’t had he? He didn’t- Did he?

 

“Klaus,” Five said in a soft voice so unlike himself that it wiped the annoyed expression right off his brother’s face, “where’s the rest?”

 

He saw recognition in his brother’s eyes, and then fear as he squeezed them shut tightly and shook his head aggressively.

 

No. No no no no-

 

“I’m going to get mo- Grace. I’m going to get Grace. I’ll be right back. Don’t… do anything stupid. I mean it Klaus.”

 

With that, Five blinked to the kitchen where Grace had been starting to prepare dinner. She turned to face him as she heard him land behind her.

 

“Oh dear! You’re bleeding sweetie, what happ-”

 

He quickly cut her off, not wanting to leave Klaus on his own for a single second longer than what was absolutely necessary.

 

“Klaus needs you. I think he took something. A lot of something. I don’t know if it was an accident or if he…”, he couldn’t finish that sentence, he really couldn’t. He forced himself to state what facts he knew to be true instead. 

 

“He hit his head. Passed out. He wasn’t breathing. I did CPR and he’s awake but I cracked some ribs and he’s bleeding. He needs medical attention. We’re in his room. Please hurry.”

 

He didn’t wait for a reply before he blinked straight back to Klaus’s side.

 

He was not going to let him be by himself right now. Thankfully his brother didn’t seem inclined to do much of anything for the time being with the state he was in.

 

“Grace is coming. I know I’m an asshole most of the time, but I don’t- I don’t ever want to see any of you die. I don’t want to see you die. I can’t. I won’t . You better not have been trying to do what I think you were Klaus.”

 

Klaus’s eyes shot wide open to meet his as he quickly whipped his head back and forth with a horrified expression.

 

“It was an accident? You didn’t mean to?”

 

Klaus looked away, clearly uncomfortable, but nodded.

 

Thank fucking god. I can work with that, I can fix this.

 

Gently, he kneeled and took his brother’s bloodied fingers in his own, and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.

 

“Good. I’m glad.”

Notes:

Chapter 11 warnings: drug overdose, suspected suicide attempt

Chapter 12: Search and Destroy

Notes:

I have the worst cold right now and stayed home from work, which means I wrote another chapter so yay! I can't believe how many people have read this fic, you guys are awesome! Hope you all enjoy the update :)

      Five didn’t know what to do, he really didn’t. His worst fear had always been someday having to watch his siblings go out in some idiotic blaze of glory during a mission, powerless to stop it. He’d never considered the possibility that they were stupid enough to bring about their own ends, intentionally or not. Klaus’s drug habit was inconvenient for all of them, but he’d never realized it might be putting his life in danger. No matter how hard he tried to push it away, the sight of his brother’s lifeless body, unbreathing and painted in red, intruded on his thoughts often. He wished he could forget it, but he couldn’t. He wanted to kick himself for not trying to put a stop to his drug usage sooner, for not realizing how much damage it was doing. He’d blinked back to Klaus’s room late that same night, hours after Grace had cleaned away all the blood and glass. It hadn’t taken him long to find the loose floorboard under the bed, and even less time to hurl the contents of the small tin inside out the open window. He’d rifled through everything, making absolutely sure that there was nowhere else Klaus could have hidden anything.

 

He hadn’t searched hard enough.

 

      Come Monday morning when they’d all returned to class, Klaus had clearly been strung out on something or other. His head had been lolling side to side as he looked on with glazed over eyes that focused on nothing. He’d failed to pay attention to even the simplest portions of their lessons, and didn’t appear to even register when Pogo was speaking. His other siblings didn’t seem to notice anything amiss, though they were unaware of their brother’s close call over the weekend. Five hadn’t exactly volunteered any details on the events of that night, nor did he plan to. The thought of enlisting their help had crossed his mind briefly, but he’d quickly dismissed it. They had a nasty habit of mucking things up by fighting amongst themselves over what the best course of action was, instead of actually formulating a coherent plan. Not to mention Luther would take it right to dad, which Five knew would only make things worse for his brother. It would be much easier to get Klaus sober if he was working alone.

 

That’s what he’d thought at least, but Klaus was proving to be much more resourceful than he’d given him credit for.

 

      On Tuesday his brother had been more doped up than the day prior, and even their dimwitted siblings took notice. Ben had at least tried to talk to him, though Klaus had closed his eyes and shook his head violently, refusing to even look at him. None of the others seemed to want to deal with the situation and had left him alone, much to Five’s disappointment. If Klaus wasn’t even willing to talk to Ben, he was going to have to take matters into his own hands. He ended up blinking to Klaus’s room during their lunch break, determined to put a stop to his brother’s habits once and for all. He’d flipped the room top to bottom and searched everywhere, hoping to find where he was keeping his stash. The empty tin under the loose floorboard had been relocated, something that didn’t surprise Five in the slightest. He’d torn apart everything, checked every drawer, vent, nook and cranny he could think of. His search had ended rather disappointingly, much to his frustration he’d turned up nothing for his effort. He’d run out of time and been forced to reset the room and leave empty handed before he was missed by Grace.

 

      Today he’d taken the search to the rest of the academy after class let out, deciding after his previous attempt that there was no way Klaus was keeping anything in his room anymore. He scoured every dark corner of the endless twisting halls and imposing rooms, growing increasingly aggravated as he failed to find anything. His hands found their way into his hair and tugged in frustration.

 

Where the hell is he keeping his stash, and why can’t I just find it?! It has to be here somewhere, it has to be-

 

      Just as he’d been about to give up and go get ready for dinner, a slight rustling from inside the infirmary caught his attention. He slowly crept closer, sticking to the wall in order to remain out of sight. He carefully craned his neck past the door frame ever so slightly, and peered towards the source of the noise.

 

      Klaus was inside, and currently preoccupied with picking the lock to the infirmary’s medicine cabinet. After a few tries he managed to jimmy it open, pumping his fist in the air in celebration as it clicked open.

 

When did Klaus learn how to pick locks? Of course he’s stealing from the infirmary, I’m an idiot. I should have started here in the first place. Oh well, better late than never. Got you now though, you moron.

 

      His brother eased open the doors with practiced hands, barely making a sound. He scanned the contents of the cabinet in search of whatever poison tickled his fancy, greedily snatching a few bottles from the shelves and popping them open. He was being careful, only taking small calculated amounts from each of his selections in order to avoid detection. Five frowned as he watched him tip the stolen pills into a hidden pocket sewn inside his blazer.

 

He keeps them on his person? Why didn’t I think of that, no wonder I haven’t been able to find anything.

 

      He studied Klaus as he placed each bottle back inside the cabinet, methodically spinning the labels to the front and leaving no noticeable trace of his intrusion. It was a little eerie to witness, he’d never seen Klaus put this much effort and care into anything before. Five was slightly disturbed that his brother could only seem to muster this level of ambition and attentiveness in order to get himself high. Klaus softly shut the cabinet, and Five pulled his head away as he heard the lock click back into place. His brother’s footsteps moved towards the door, and he blinked back to his room before he had a chance to catch him spying. 

 

      He had to be careful how he approached the situation. He didn’t want to get his brother in trouble with their father needlessly, corporal punishment only seemed to drive Klaus to pursue his antics with more fervor than before. If it were Luther it’d be different, but his brother would never willingly give this up, no matter what their father did to him. The only sure fire way to stop him was to force his hand. If he uprooted the problem from the source and took away his supply, Klaus would have no other choice than sobriety. The infirmary needed to be rendered inaccessible to him, which meant his only option was to get Grace involved.

 

      Five never really trusted Grace. She may play the part of a loving mother believably enough, but she was a creation of their father despite her nurturing demeanor. Anything he told her would be shared with him, so he had to choose his words carefully. It was likely after the events of the weekend she’d put two and two together and figure out Klaus was the thief anyway, but if he played his cards right that wouldn’t matter. Grace, no matter how she looked, was a machine. As long as he phrased his message carefully, her programming would focus more on securing the infirmary than on pursuing the culprit. The best course of action would be to tell her just enough to spur her to his desired course of action, without allowing her the opportunity to question him further. Deciding to take a page from his brother’s book, he dug through his desk for some paper to pen a message.

 

Grace,

 

Medical supplies from the infirmary are being taken unnecessarily due to ease of access. We are encouraged to take our well being into our own hands, but accidental over medication could prove to be dangerous to the academy. Some of the other academy members know how to pick locks, and are determined to treat their own injuries without your assistance. In order to prevent further incorrect usage, I heavily suggest relocating all prescription drugs and narcotics to an inaccessible area with stronger security measures. This should prevent anyone attempting to self treat an injury in the future from over medicating themselves without your guidance.

 

-Five

 

      Satisfied with the message, he moved to the mirror to touch up the makeup covering his remaining bruises before dinner. Most of them had faded away, but some of the darker ones would take a few more days to heal completely. His training day was tomorrow, and was determined not to let himself be as much of a disappointment as he’d been the previous week. Once he was content with his appearance, he left his room and headed straight for Grace’s charging station. She’d be occupied in the kitchen cooking dinner for the time being, so now was the optimal time to leave her a message. After a quick glance around the area confirmed he was alone, he tucked the note into the frame of the painting she always stared at as she powered down for the night. There’d be no way she’d miss it, and he’d be in bed long before she found it. It would go against her programming to wake him up for anything other than an emergency or oversleeping, so she’d have no opportunity to interrogate him. Computers always took the most direct course of action when presented with a logical problem, and Grace was no exception. By making himself inaccessible, the easiest pathway forward was to simply secure the infirmary and consider the problem solved.

 

      All that was left was getting what pills Klaus had away from him, which shouldn’t be too difficult now that Five knew where he was keeping them. Sure, getting them from his uniform might be a bit of a challenge, but his brother had to sleep some time. It wouldn’t be very hard to sneak in and out of his room at night, and once the last of the pills were gone that’d be the end of it. No more drugs, no more risk of overdose, no more chance of death. For the first time in days, Five felt the weight of seeing his brother’s near death lessen just a little as he made his way downstairs for dinner. Klaus would never have another close call like that again if he had anything to do with it.

Notes:

Chapter 12 warnings: drug abuse

Chapter 13: Breaking Point

Notes:

So imma let you guys in on a secret, if you want more chapters faster leave me comments I'm an attention whore x) Brain worm got fed by two super sweet commenters so I got inspired to write another chapter first thing after I woke up~

Warnings in end notes, this chapter is a little heavier so I encourage sensitive readers to double check <3

      Klaus had come to class high as a kite yet again, and Five felt guilty for not staying up late to get the last of the drugs away from him. He’d thought about it, but had ultimately decided that getting rest before training took precedence over his brother getting his fix one last time. He couldn’t afford to perform poorly two sessions in a row, it was simply unacceptable. Though having to sit next to Klaus as he floated through the day, drool dribbling down his chin and entirely unaware of his own surroundings, felt like its own special brand of failure. He should have just stayed up anyway and just gotten it over with, training be damned. Sure he would have been too exhausted to perform well, but his brother’s well being should’ve come before his own wants.

 

      Now I’m going to have to do it after training, which is definitely going to be easier, he thought bitterly as he followed after his father. As they walked he eyed his neon pink cast and thought back to when he’d woken in the infirmary next to his brother. His gaze lingered on the two stick figures Klaus had drawn of them holding hands, and the message just above it.

 

Love you Fivey, get well soon! Team pink for life!

 

      Five closed his eyes and sighed. He couldn’t keep watching his brother kill himself slowly. It doesn’t matter what condition I’m in later. Klaus is getting clean tonight, whether he wants to or not. I have to finish what I started, enough is enough.

 

      He was pulled from his thoughts as they neared the courtyard, where five men armed with shotguns were spread out across the grounds waiting for them. They stood at attention and saluted his father as they drew closer. Five felt a pang of fear shoot through him, but quickly squashed it back down.

 

It’s fine, you’re fine. You can blink and they can’t, you can do this. The less injuries you sustain, the easier it’ll be to jump around later. Klaus needs you, so just suck it up and get this over with as quickly as possible.

 

He pulled in a deep breath, and forced his body to steady itself as his father began explaining what his training would entail this time.

 

“Number Five, these gentlemen here are the nation’s leading champions in skeet shooting. They’re all extremely practiced marksmen who specialize in hitting moving targets. Today you will be attempting to disarm all of them and render them unconscious. They will be working as a team to bring you down by any means necessary. They’ve all been armed with rubber buckshot, which can still be quite deadly at close range. I suggest you strategize accordingly. Do you have any questions?”

 

Five swallowed the lump in his throat, and shook his head.

 

“Excellent! Well then gentlemen, begin!”

 

As his father strode away, he heard several clicks as the marksmen disengaged their safeties and swung their weapons towards him in unison.

 

Shit, time to move-!

 

      He just barely managed to blink away in time as the first shots rang out, landing directly behind one of the men. The man quickly spun to face him, mouth agape and a look of shock painted across his features. Using his surprised stupor to his advantage, Five swiftly moved to yank the weapon from his hands, kicking him in the chest when his grip tightened and he resisted. After a brief struggle he finally succeeded in prying the gun from his grasp, and slammed the butt of it into his temple. He crumpled to the ground in a heap, eyes rolling to the back of his head as he fell.

 

One down, four to go-

 

A loud crack echoed through the air, and white hot pain erupted though his side. He jumped away in a hurry, abandoning the weapon in his haste. He stumbled out of the jump and his good hand flew under his shirt to inspect the damage.

 

No blood, that’s good. Man that hurts like a mother fucker though-

 

      He glanced back to the remaining four men, zeroing in on the one most separated from the other three. Ignoring the pulsing ache permeating his side, he pulled for the cool blue glow once again and leapt into the light. This time he chose to land directly in front of his target, and with no hesitation palm struck him directly in the windpipe. As the man struggled for breath he kicked his gun away, then spun around and cold clocked him squarely in the nose, knocking him out fully. He winced as he felt the bone break where his fist collided, it was uncomfortably close to the sensation of his brother’s ribs cracking under his hands when he’d given him CPR. As blood poured down the man’s face, Five felt himself freeze. Instead of an unconscious marksman sprawled on the grass, all he could see in front of him was his bloodied and unconscious brother, not breathing and surrounded by broken glass. He reached out a trembling hand, unsure what he was trying to do, and called out softly.

 

“Klaus…?

 

      He was violently brought back to reality as his legs erupted in agony. He jumped again, running purely on adrenaline and putting no forethought into where he was going to land. He limped out of the jump, and came face to face with two of his assailants. There was no time to think, he blinked again and landed on one of the men’s backs, instinctually throwing his good arm around his neck and pulling him into headlock. The man tried to throw him off, and without comprehending what he was doing he tightened his grip and pulled harshly to the side.

 

      There was a sickening crunch as the man’s neck broke cleanly, and time seemed to slow to a standstill. Everything fell silent, and the only thing Five could hear was an ear piercing whine that was steadily growing louder. The sun was too bright, the colors of his surroundings too vivid. Seconds felt like hours, and distantly he registered that the other man was swinging his weapon in his direction, and that he was still falling to the ground with the body of the man he’d just killed.

 

He’d just killed someone.

 

All at once, time sped back up and the sounds of the world returned in a deafening crash. He twisted off the dead man’s back, and blinked as far away as he could manage in his shaky state. The second his feet hit the ground he bent over and heaved uncontrollably, hurling the contents of his stomach into the too bright grass.

 

He’s dead I killed him I just KILLED someone-

 

      His shoulder exploded in agony, ripping him from the panicked state he was unwittingly spiraling into. The two remaining men were back to back, taking turns aiming at him and switching positions when one needed to reload. Five gathered his courage, willed away his trembling, and managed to bring his breathing under control enough to blink away from the incoming gun fire. He came out of the jump right next to the men and quickly bashed their heads together harshly, knocking them both out simultaneously. He pulled himself upright, panting in exhaustion, as he heard his father approaching him.

 

“Well done Number Five. I hope for similar results next week. You are dismissed.”

 

      He made his way back towards the academy in a haze on unsteady feet.  As he reached for the handle of the oversized door he hesitated and stopped himself from opening it. Walking through the academy halls, bruised, battered and covered in dirt was not a great idea. His siblings did not need to see him like this, there’s no way they’d just leave him alone for once. He was not in the mood for the barrage of questions they’d be sure to berate him with. He pulled his hand away from the door and blinked straight to his room, choosing to avoid the prying eyes of his brothers and sisters. 

 

    As soon as he looked around to confirm that his room was indeed unoccupied, he collapsed to the floor and felt tears start to streak down his face. As he brought his face to his knees he realized his legs were flecked with rubber buckshot and welts, some of which were bleeding slightly. He angrily dug at the skin, tearing out what bits of rubber he could find. It should hurt, but for some reason his body wasn’t registering the pain. He threw off his blazer and yanked off his shirt, staring at his reflection in the mirror from the floor. His left side was an ugly mix of black and blue, and his opposite shoulder was an equally unsettling shade of purple. He felt the fatigue creep into his bones, and he tore at his hair with his hands. His entire body ached, and yet nothing felt real. He pinched at his skin, trying to convince himself of his own existence as his breathing grew more and more ragged.

 

I was just supposed to knock him out, what the hell happened?! I killed that man without thinking about it, there’s no taking that back! I’m a murderer.

 

The word echoed through his head, blocking out all other thoughts. He hugged his arms to his chest, digging his nails into his arms roughly.

 

Murderer.

 

He squeezed his eyes shut against the tears.

 

Murderer.

 

He was sobbing now, and tried to keep himself quiet as he pulled in wet garbled breaths.

 

Murderer, murderer, murderer murderermurdermurDERMURDERER-

 

He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t breathe, Master Watanabe had knocked the air from his lungs and he was going to die die die dieDIE-

 

      A loud banging on his door snapped him back to reality, and he managed to pull in a loud, ragged breath. He desperately gulped down air in thick painful gasps, trying to regain control over his body. He noticed he’d managed to scratch at his arms hard enough to draw blood, and yanked his discarded shirt from the floor. He pressed it to his arms to stem the bleeding, and focused on regulating his breathing. Before he could open his mouth to tell whoever was outside to go away, the door flew open much to his dismay.

 

Klaus looked absolutely horrified as he barged his way inside, and shut the door behind him.

 

Fuck.

Notes:

Chapter 13 warnings: discussion of drug use, panic attack, disassociation, self harm

Chapter 14: Running on Empty

Notes:

Two chapters in one day?! It's more likely than you think! I couldn't leave you guys on a cliffhanger like that haha, hope you enjoy :D

Content warnings in the end notes~

      Klaus was starting to come down from his fourth high of the day, and was beginning to take notice of some rather odd noises coming from Five’s room. For the life of him he couldn’t think of what could be causing what he was hearing. It sounded like his brother was currently occupying himself by pacing around while gargling water, which just didn’t make any sense. He thought he’d heard his brother blink to his room earlier, but he hadn’t been entirely sure. Lately he’d been taking higher doses of the infirmary’s pain killers to cope with Ben’s new entourage, so it was difficult to focus on much of anything these days. Now that he was sobering up a bit, something about the situation was starting to feel oddly familiar, and not in a good way. 

 

      He pressed his ear to the wall he shared with Five and listened. The strange gurgling noise was getting louder, and under the sound of the pacing he could make out something else. It sounded like someone was… coughing? No, that wasn’t quite right. He listened a little more, trying to pick out the quieter sounds that were muffled by the strange garbling noise. He heard a sniffle, and the soft gasping noises he’d picked out earlier started to get louder and more desperate sounding. Fear shot through Klaus like lightning as he recognized the voice of who was making the sounds.

 

Shit, is Five choking?! Who’s in there with him, and what the hell are they doing to him?!

 

      Wasting no time he sped out of his room, nearly tripping over his own feet as he skidded to a stop in front of Five’s door. He raised his good arm and banged on the door sharply with a closed fist, stilling as he heard his brother struggle violently to pull in a breath from inside. He hesitated for a moment and listened, knowing Five would be beyond pissed if he was overreacting. As he heard Five attempt to draw in another shuddering breath his mind was made up, and he pushed open the door.

 

Oh Jesus what the fuck-

 

      He quickly shut the door behind him as he took in the scene. His brother was huddled on the floor shirtless and shivering, absolutely covered from head to toe in bruises. He was actively avoiding making eye contact, preoccupying himself with maintaining pressure on his bloodied biceps with his removed shirt. His face was red from both embarrassment and crying, as evident by the wet tracks leading down his face. 

 

God, he’s so small without his massive ego to hide behind.

 

      Klaus’s feet began to pull him towards his brother before he fully processed what he was seeing. Five looked absolutely miserable huddled on the floor, injured and bleeding all by himself. Before he’d even made it halfway across the room, he froze in his tracks as he noticed what was lurking behind his brother.

 

They weren’t alone in the room.

 

      He gazed up in terror at the absolutely massive man towering over his brother, wishing that his high hadn’t worn off so soon. The man was clearly dead, as his neck was lolling about his shoulders unnaturally, swinging from side to side every time he moved. He kept swiping his hands through Five, hissing and gurgling angrily every time he failed to touch him. After a few attempts he’d give up, return to pacing about the room, then come back to try again.

 

“Stop staring and get out Klaus. Now.”

 

       Five’s softly spoken words, though heavily tinged with malice, snapped his attention away from the ghost and back to his brother. He’d managed to pull his blazer around his shoulders, but was still sitting on the floor and dabbing at his arms pathetically under its cover with his soiled shirt. Klaus hesitated, then took another step towards him.

 

 Five flung the blazer off of himself and shot to his feet, chucking the bloody shirt at Klaus’s head as he angrily stomped closer, stopping only mere inches from his face.

 

“I said get the fuck out! Are you deaf?! Leave me the fuck alone Klaus, I’m fine! Just get out already, I don’t want you here!” he shouted furiously, punctuating his words by shoving him backwards roughly with his good hand several times.

 

      The dead man watched their altercation from the corner, garbling something incomprehensible at them both throughout the whole affair. Klaus wanted nothing more than to leave, to run from the dead man, to run from Five. Seeing his invincible brother in such a state for the second time in a week was harrowing to say the least. Five had never cried, never panicked, hell he wasn’t sure the prick even felt pain. The only time he’d ever heard him scream he’d been unconscious, and that almost didn’t count. Seeing Five break down while fully cognizant was just disturbing.

 

Maybe it’s best if I just go, seeing him like this just feels wrong…

 

Klaus cast his eyes downward, fully intending to leave quietly, until his eyes landed on the hand Five was pushing him towards the door with.

 

Wait, why is there blood under his nails…?

 

      He flicked his gaze to the bloodied scratches that had been dug into his brother’s arms, and realized with mounting horror that the patterns matched up with Five’s own hands. Without thinking he grabbed Five’s hand and pulled it closer to his face to examine. There were small flakes of skin mixed in with the drying blood, confirming his fears. His brother froze like a deer in headlights, and he swiftly pulled him in for a hug before he had the chance to resist. He winced and closed his eyes, bracing himself for the inevitable outburst as his brother stiffened in place. The seconds ticked by, with Klaus waiting for him to start screaming and kicking, throw a punch, toss him out the door, something. Really anything was possible when it came to Five. What he didn’t anticipate though, was to feel a timid pair of arms wrap their way around his waist shakily, and return the gesture.

 

Okay, now I’m really worried.

 

After what felt like hours, but in reality could have only been a few minutes, Five finally pulled away and shoved his hand into his pants pocket.

 

“That never happened, and if you tell anyone I’ll kill you, do you understand me?” he muttered while averting his eyes.

 

He felt a smile tug at his lips as he mimed zipping them shut, and gave Five a wink as he threw away the proverbial key.

 

“Good. Now make yourself useful and toss me a clean shirt from the closet.”

 

Klaus did as he was told, turning his back to give his brother some privacy as he got dressed and collected himself. He did his best to ignore the ghost as it started to shamble its way closer to him. It swatted an arm though him, and he forced himself not to react to the stabbing cold that came with its touch.

 

Five does not need a haunting on his conscience. I don’t think he’d fall for the show I put on for Ben. Just grin and bare it, grin and bare it…

 

“You can look now.”

 

      He spun back towards Five and away from the specter, much to his relief. Aside from the disheveled hair and slightly uncomfortable expression, Five looked the same as he always did. Prim, proper, the perfect poster boy of the Umbrella Academy. There’d be no way to tell how injured he actually was from the way he was carrying himself, a realization that Klaus found a bit distressing.

 

Does he always just walk off whatever damage is done to him and lick his wounds in private? God, and I thought I was messed up.

 

“Look, I’m fine, alright? Do you remember when I thought- when I asked if you meant to- if you were trying to- you know?”

 

He did. He did know.

 

He nodded.

 

“And you weren’t. You didn’t mean to. It just kind of… happened. And this-”, he gestured to his upper arms, now covered by his shirt and blazer, “-just kind of happened too. It wasn’t on purpose. It was just an accident. I don’t want to talk about it. Now, are we good?”

 

He mimed writing something in the air, and pointed to Five’s desk.

 

Five let out a frustrated sigh, but acquiesced his request and passed him some paper and a pen.

 

Klaus took a moment to think, then began jotting down what he wished he could say.

 

Five, please for the love of everything that’s holy, just come find me if it ever gets that bad again. I won’t tell anyone, not even V, I promise. I know you hate when people are affectionate towards you, but so help me God if I catch you having a breakdown alone again I will get Luther to bust your door down. You don’t have to be alone, you’re a good brother and I love you. Please don’t kill me in my sleep for saying so.

 

He scribbled a few hearts under the message before passing the paper and pen back to Five.

 

Five scanned the page with furrowed brows, relaxing a bit as he reached the end and letting out a small chuckle.

 

“No promises Klaus, no promises. Now seriously, get the hell out. I just want to sleep, alright?”

 

He squinted, scanning Five up and down with his eyes.

 

“Klaus, you’re pushing it. Out. Now.”

 

Klaus shrugged and wiggled his fingers at Five, smiling as he left the room and shut the door behind him.

 

Holy shit I hugged Five and didn’t die. If I could I’d go buy a lottery ticket.

 

His good mood was immediately soured as he heard the wails of Ben’s ghosts drift down the hall to join the muffled gurgling coming from Five’s room. I need to get high, he thought as he retreated towards the safety of his own room. As his door clicked shut behind him he felt inside his blazer, and froze.

 

No.

 

His pills were gone.

 

No no no no no-

 

He tore off his blazer and looked inside the pocket. It was empty.

 

NononoNO-!

 

      He ripped open his door and scrambled in the direction of the infirmary, hoping that Grace was still occupied in the kitchen cleaning up from dinner. As he drew closer he could hear the sounds of pots and pans being washed floating through the air, giving him the all clear. He crept his way towards the infirmary, and slipped silently inside. He made his way to the medicine cabinet, and upon closer inspection fell to his knees. All the pill bottles had been replaced with bandages, antiseptics, and various other useless medical equipment. There were no drugs left in the academy, and if he wanted a fix he was going to have to sneak out.

 

Shit.

Notes:

Chapter 14 warnings: aftermath of self harm, drug use

Chapter 15: Calm Before the Storm

Notes:

Enjoy the fluff while you can, next chapter is gonna be a doozy

      Klaus made a stop in the upstairs bathroom after school Friday when dad left with Ben for training. He searched under the sink, sifting through his siblings various toiletries, until he found what he was looking for. He pulled out an empty shampoo bottle and shook it, smiling when he heard the contents clunk against it.

 

You’ve still got it Klaus, you’ve still got it.

 

      He twisted it apart at the barely noticeable seam he’d cut into it ages ago, and retrieved a burner phone from inside. He reassembled the bottle, shoved everything back under the sink, and made his way to his room. Once he’d shut the door behind himself he plugged in the phone, searching through his drawers for anything of value while he waited for it to boot up. He’d been sober for over twenty four hours, and it’d been absolutely awful . He’d wanted to go out Thursday night so badly, but he hadn’t been able to tear himself away from the wall he shared with Five. 

 

      He’d ended up falling asleep with his ear pressed to the wall, waking every now and then to make sure he could still hear his brother’s snoring. A few times woken he’d thought he could hear Five crying, but he wasn’t sure if he’d imagined it or not. It was so hard to tell which noises were coming from who, with the cacophony of Ben’s ghosts wailing from further down the hall mingling with the gurgling of Five’s new roommate it was a near impossible task. Every time he’d been about to get out of bed to check on him, he’d pick up the rumble of him sleeping again. It was probably just the noises of the dead and not his brother, but he hadn’t been able to be sure until now. With Ben out of the house it was much easier to tell, and as he pressed his ear to the wall he could hear Five whistling out of tune along to the radio as he worked on something at his desk.

 

He heard the chime of the phone go off as it finally gained enough juice to turn itself on, and he picked it up to scroll through his contacts.

 

Danny, no, Alex, also no, come on where are you… ah ha!

 

      Most of the dealer's numbers he’d collected wouldn’t sell to kids, but he’d found a way around the problem by going to someone closer to his age. Joey was a bit of a delinquent, but had a decent supply of cannabis and had no qualms about selling to kids a few years younger than him. He clicked on his contact and shot him a quick text.

 

Hey man, been a while. Got any greenery in stock? -K

 

After a moment, he got a reply.

 

Sup dude, this is J’s older brother Cody. J got pinched for selling plants after school, so I’m taking over his garden for the time being. All out of greenery but I have other options. Interested?

 

Damn, Joey was his only consistent dealer, hopefully his brother wouldn’t give him crap for being so young.

 

Sure, can you meet up tonight? Could really use a last minute bouquet. -K

 

The phone vibrated again.

 

Can do, park next to Griddy’s still work? I take cash or alternative payment, whichever suits you. Be there at 8.

 

He reread the message, trying to make sense of it. The hell is alternative payment? Whatever, doesn’t matter. He shot back one final text, and set about changing out of his uniform and into civilian clothes.

 

Works for me, see you then. -K

 

      As much as Klaus wanted to dress to impress, it was better to remain lackluster in appearance for these types of excursions. It pained him, but he passed over his initial choice of a silky pink button down and long black skirt in favor of a simple band t-shirt and blue jeans instead. He winced as he lifted his arms to change shirts. The drugs had not only kept the ghosts at bay, but also the pain from the ribs Five had cracked. Now he was feeling the full extent of his injuries, and it was not a pleasant sensation. He finally managed to pull the fabric over his head, threw on the jeans and checked himself over in the mirror. He frowned at the glaringly obvious academy tattoo on his wrist, and added a hoodie to the ensemble to cover it. Satisfied that he now looked like the average boring American teenager, he tucked what cash he’d been able to scrounge up into his pocket and headed to the window. 

 

      As he pulled it open and looked out to the fire escape, he realized he hadn’t snuck out since his last training session. It was a bit chilly out too, and he pulled the hood of his jacket up. He peered downwards, and the sight of the ground so far below him made him sway on his feet and feel a bit queasy. A loud gurgle from Five’s room made him jump, and he shoved away the uneasiness that had been creeping up on him.

 

He did not want to have to keep listening to that at all hours of the night.

 

      With his mind made up, he gathered what little courage he had and eased himself through the window, closing it softly behind him. He tried not to look down as he did his best to make his way down the escape as silently as possible. He slowed down and took his time as he passed under Five’s window, knowing if he took one wrong step the bastard would catch him in an instant and haul him straight through his window without another thought. It was a good thing he was currently distracted by music and whatever schoolwork had been assigned to them today. Usually it was pretty hard to pull Five away from something once he was invested in it, something he was heavily banking on working to his advantage. He ducked his head down low and meticulously placed his feet on the least creaky portions of the escape, easing himself forward bit by bit.

 

Left foot scoot, right foot scoot, careful careful, left, right, left… home free!

 

 As he made it past he let out the breath he’d been holding, and pressed onwards. One flight of stairs later his feet touched pavement, and he relaxed immensely at being on solid ground again. He made his way to the street, avoiding the light from the streetlamps, and headed in the direction of Griddy’s diner.

 

      He arrived just after six, much earlier than when Cody was supposed to show up across the street but that was alright. Being early meant he had time to make a detour. He merrily skipped his way inside the dilapidated diner, the ring of the bell as he opened the door bringing back all sorts of memories. He’d never taken any of his other siblings here, no, Griddy’s was his own secret safe haven. A home away from hell, open twenty four hours and always there for him after a bad day. He took in the smell of fresh donuts longingly, and waltzed up to the counter to place an order. He really wished he could have one, but a hot drink would have to suffice. The waitress made her way over to him, but was a bit confused by him waving a phone in her face. Eventually got the idea that he was trying to get her to read what was on the screen, and stooped down to read his message.

 

One hot chocolate with no sprinkles please! And can I have a straw? Sorry I can’t talk, my jaw is wired shut. Thanks! :)

 

He smiled at her and pointed to the wires laced across his teeth to emphasize the point.

 

She gave him a sad smile and nodded.

 

“Sure thing kid, I hope you heal up real soon. I’ll be right back with that.”

 

      She left to make his drink and he riffled through his pockets for change, dumping a few of his crumpled bills onto the counter. As she returned and placed a steaming mug in front of him, she pushed the wadded up money back towards him and he looked up in confusion.

 

“On the house hon, now drink up. It’s cold out tonight. You be sure to get home safe to your parents now, okay?”

 

      He smiled and nodded, giving her an enthusiastic thumbs up in thanks. He took small sips through the straw, feeling the warmth of the drink spread through him as he tucked the money back into his pants. Maybe he’d make an exception and bring Five here sometime, he was the only other one of them to have a rebellious streak to rival his own. He liked to pretend for the press that he was a goody two shoes who followed the rules, but Klaus knew he was really a hellraiser at heart. It takes one to know one, and he’d probably love it here. He’d come up with a way to convince him to come along with him someday. The straw made a loud slurping noise as he finished the last of his drink, and he glanced at the clock as he remembered the real purpose of this particular excursion.

 

Ten till eight, perfect timing. Let’s get this show on the road.

 

      He pushed away his empty mug and stood to leave. The waitress looked up as the bell rang when he pulled open the door once again, and he waved goodbye to her before shutting it behind him. He stuck to the shadows and made his way towards the park, searching the area as he drew closer. It was pretty empty, except for a man sitting alone on a bench. He looked to be in his late twenties, and had a small paper bag sitting in his lap. For some reason he felt a bit uneasy. Not wanting to chance anything, Klaus pulled out his phone and shot Cody a text.

 

Here, that you on the bench? -K

 

The man pulled out a phone of his own, looked at the screen and then around the park.

 

Klaus’s phone buzzed, and he glanced at the text he’d received.

 

Yep that’s me, I brought a whole selection of flowers for you to build a bouquet with. Come on out and you can pick which ones you want.

 

He snapped the phone shut, and stepped out into the light.

Notes:

Chapter 15 warnings: talk of purchasing drugs

Chapter 16: A Night to Forget

Notes:

Another two chapter day?! I go back to work for the weekend, so don't get used to it haha. Also sorry in advance.

(this chapter is pretty heavy, end notes have full content warnings for those that want them)

The man, Cody, stood up from the bench and laughed as Klaus timidly drew closer and came fully into view.

 

“Man, I knew my little bro sold to his classmates, but you’re a tiny little thing. There’s no way you go to the high school with Joey, ya from the middle school next to it? How old are you anyway kid? Eleven, twelve?”

 

He froze mid stride as a wave of uneasiness washed over him. Cody tucked the paper bag into his coat and raised his hands in a gesture of peace, slowly closing the gap between them before he spoke.

 

“Alright alright, just didn’t know Joey did business with the middle school kids. Didn’t mean to freak ya out or nothin’. You’re a lot younger than my usual clientele is all, it’s a bit weird.”

 

Cody lowered his hands and eyed Klaus suspiciously as he continued to speak.

 

“You haven’t said a word to me kid, what’s the matter with ya? You a mute or something? ”

 

He hesitated, then nodded.

 

“A mutie middle schooler who wants to buy flowers on a Saturday night. Alone. In an empty park. Forgive me kid, but your story isn’t exactly adding up, and I’m no chump. You’re not wearing a wire by chance are ya?”

 

Klaus shook his head vigorously.

 

“Sorry bud, but I can’t really afford to take ya at your word. Go on, pull that shirt up and do a little twirl for me doll, or no sale.”

 

Klaus grimaced and did as he asked, feeling incredibly uncomfortable as Cody’s eyes raked over his exposed torso.

 

Cody let out another small chuckle and reached back into his coat for the bag he’d stashed away earlier.

 

“You’re a cute little thing, you had me scared there for a minute. Now, what can old Cody do for ya sweetheart? I got all sorts of goodies in here,” he said, shaking the bag in emphasis.

 

He tugged his shirt back down, feeling absolutely mortified. Joey may be a delinquent, but his brother was downright creepy . Klaus was definitely going to take his business elsewhere in the future, but he’d come this far. There was no sense in turning back now without what he came for. He pulled out his phone and typed a quick message.

 

You said you were out of bud so got any oxy? Or something close?

 

Cody squinted as he stooped to read the message.

 

“Nah, fresh out of oxy too I’m afraid. I do have some zannies or valium though if that tickles your fancy?”

 

Klaus shrugged and nodded. It wasn’t his first choice, but it would get the job done.

 

“Alright, ten zannies will run you eighty, or I can do ten of the valium for sixty. They’re both in ten milligram tablets. What’ll it be sweetheart?”

 

He bristled at Cody’s words, but pulled out the wadded up cash from his pockets nonetheless. He unfurled the bills and smoothed them out one by one, counting as he went.

 

Ten, fifteen, sixteen seventeen, twenty seven, and thirty seven. Shit.

 

He sheepishly held out the rumpled bills to Cody, who took them from his hand and counted them for himself. He let out another chuckle as he finished flicking through the meager amount of cash.

 

“You’re a bit light there kid. Tell you what, since you’re a first time customer to me I’ll cut you a break, just this once. I’ll take this for the valium, and I’ll even throw in a little something extra for free. Sound like a plan?”

 

He nodded, wanting nothing more than to get this over with quickly so he could just go back home and get high in peace.

 

“Alright alright! Here’s your pharmaceuticals”, he said, passing him a small bag containing ten peach colored tablets. “Now for a toast, to new friends!” Cody produced two small shot sized bottles, and handed one to Klaus.

 

Not wanting to make the man angry, he clinked his bottle against Cody’s and downed the shot. The liquor burned a bit on the way down, but it was a pleasant feeling. Cody smiled at him, and Klaus gave him a thumbs up.

 

Huh, there’s a bit of a salty taste to this drink. I wonder what kind of-

 

He woke in the bushes, stirring at the sound of birds twittering through the trees.

 

Ow, my head. Fuck that hurts, why is it so goddamn bright -

 

Wait.

 

Bright.

 

      He shot to a sitting position, immediately wishing he hadn’t as his vision swam and his head exploded in a fresh burst of pain. He clumsily laid himself back down and closed his eyes again, waiting for the pounding in his temples to fade. His chest was burning in agony too, whatever the hell happened last night had clearly jostled his still healing ribs the wrong way. He brought his good hand up to his chest, and his eyes shot open.

 

Where the hell is my shirt?!

 

He looked down at himself, and felt sick.

 

      He quickly yanked his jeans back up to his hips with trembling hands, trying to forget the large fingerprint shaped bruises that were covering his thighs. He just wanted to go home. He tried to pull himself to his feet, and immediately crumpled to the ground again as a wave of dizziness washed over him. His nervous system seemed to remember every injury he had as he hit the ground, and he curled in on himself as he felt an inferno of pain burn its way through his body. Everything, everything , hurt. His cracked ribs, broken arm, throbbing head, bruised limbs, and places he didn’t even want to think about.

 

Everything hurt.

 

      He noticed his hoodie, covered in mud, had been shoved under the bush next to him. Pushing away the images of how it may have gotten there, he rolled over and dragged towards himself. He felt a tear slip down his cheek, and clutched the soiled jacket to his chest. He curled around it tightly as a sob escaped from behind his wires and through his trembling lips. He squeezed his eyes shut, and buried his face into the filthy fabric to muffle his cries.

 

It took a long time, but after a while he felt the tears come to an end.

 

He didn’t feel much of anything else.

 

      He slowly raised his head from the fabric, and pulled himself to a sitting position. He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. He glanced around, searching for any clues of the events of the night before. The soft ground around him had been trampled and worn muddy, and he averted his gaze in disgust. In doing so his eyes landed on his missing shirt, dangling from a nearby tree branch and haphazardly fluttering in the early morning breeze.

 

It was torn in several places.

 

Klaus felt himself heave in revulsion, and fought with everything he had in him to force away the overwhelming urge to vomit.

 

You’ll choke you’ll choke no no noNO-!

 

      After a moment he managed to collect himself, barely winning the fight against his clenching stomach. He pulled his mud covered hoodie delicately over his aching and bruised torso, taking care not to cause any more damage to his already abused ribs. As he finished putting it on, he noticed the small bag of pills were still in the front pocket. He felt a flicker of relief, and absolutely hated himself for it. The thought of using the drugs he’d gotten from Cody made him sick, but he knew he was going to do it anyway. 

 

      He managed to pull himself to his feet successfully this time, and began the walk back towards the academy on trembling legs. The streets were mostly empty, and if it was as early as he was hoping he might still have a chance to make it back before anyone noticed he’d been missing. Just to be safe he stuck to back roads; he wasn’t in the mood to be seen by anyone at the moment. All he really wanted right now was to get home unnoticed, throw away his solid clothes, and take a hot bath.

 

      After what felt like an eternity he finally saw the academy come into view, and carefully picked his way towards the fire escape. As he cleared the first flight of stairs he stopped, clinging tightly to the railing. Something about coming home made the events of the night before feel more real, and he realized he didn’t know what he was going to do. Nothing felt okay anymore. Half of his siblings were already being followed by ghosts, his only way to reliably escape them had been ripped away, and in six weeks time he’d have to go back to training. Back to being surrounded by ghosts, only to come home to more fucking ghosts, with no safe way to escape them.

 

He’d give anything to make it stop, to be ordinary like Viktor.

 

Anything.

 

      He sucked in a breath, and started to plod up the final flight of stairs. Halfway up, he thought back to the night before and stumbled as he tripped over his own feet. He fell backwards, tumbling down the stairs and crashing hard into the grating of the escape landing he’d just left.

 

Ghosts were pushing through him, around him, filling every square inch of the escape as they desperately tried to force their way to the street. One of them pulled away from the writhing mass and began shambling closer to him.

 

-aus-

 

She bent over him, and he could see her mangled face clearly. Her temple was caved in and bleeding profusely. Her face contorted in anger, and she reached towards him to strangle him-

 

-et up-!

 

No, it wasn’t a young girl, it was Cody, grinning down at him. He was standing over him, tearing off his shirt-

 

-ome on-

He could hear them all scream in fear as the escape finally gave way under their weight, he was falling with them too. He was falling, falling, fa-

 

Something hit him in the face, hard. He was sitting on the fire escape of the academy, not the Brown Building. He hadn’t fallen several stories, just a few stairs. He raised his good arm to touch his smarting cheek. It was damp from his tears, and he looked up to the source of the impact.

 

Five stood over him with a concerned expression, his gurgling ghost in tow behind him. He extended his cast free arm out towards him to help him up.

 

“You with me now Klaus? Let’s get inside, okay?”

Notes:

Chapter 16 warnings: non consensual drug use, assault of a minor, assault is not depicted. aftermath is briefly described, but not in graphic detail.

Chapter 17: Two Steps Back, Two Steps Forwards

Notes:

I think this is the longest chapter I've posted so far, I hope you all enjoy it <3

Content warnings in end notes~

Klaus started to reach a timid hand for Five’s, and yanked it back as the ghost shoved a fist through his brother’s chest roughly. He slammed his eyes shut as he scrambled backwards in terror.

 

No more, no more please I can’t-

 

“Klaus, I’m sorry I hit you, but you weren’t hearing me. If we don’t get inside right now , someone is bound to hear us”, his brother hissed out. “Now get up, please.”

 

He kept his eyes stubbornly closed and shook his head violently back and forth as he heard the garbled noises of Five’s ghost grow closer. He whimpered as an icy jolt shot through him, and his entire side went numb with cold.

 

“...please don’t make me carry you. I’m not leaving you out here. Just, take my hand and I’ll get us inside. Okay? Come on Klaus, please.”

 

He flinched as something gripped at his arm and hauled him to his feet. It grasped at his hand firmly and suddenly tugged him towards it.

 

No no no no NO! Since when could the ghosts touch him, pull him, hurt him-

 

He forced his feet to move to keep himself from falling as the thing yanked him up the stairs. He wanted to fight back, to get away from it, but he had no energy left. He slapped at it and dug his nails into it, but its vice like grip was unrelenting. He tried to yank his hand away, but its warm grip only tightened around his fingers.

 

Warm.

 

It was warm.

 

Whatever was touching him was warm, alive, not dead.

 

He opened his eyes, daring to look down at his hand, at whatever was dragging him all around.

 

It was a living hand, though a bit bloody and covered in scratches. The fingers were threaded through his own, and holding on so tightly the knuckles were turning white. He looked up, and immediately burst into laughter at the ridiculous scene in front of him. He must be dreaming, because there was no way what he was seeing could be real.

 

      Five was holding his hand with his good arm, gritting his teeth while trying and failing miserably to open his window with the other. The neon pink cast was doing him no favors, and Five was growing angrier by the second. His expression was contorted in a level of frustration Klaus had never seen on him before, and his face was rapidly turning a brilliant shade of red. At the sound of his muffled giggling, Five whipped his head around from where he was fiddling with the window to face him with a bewildered expression.

 

“...please tell me if I let go you’ll stay put. Please.”

 

      He managed to pull it together just enough to give a small nod, before immediately devolving into another fit of laughter. Even the ghost gurgling next to them couldn’t diminish the comical picture before him. Five sighed as he released the iron grip he had on his hand, wiped the blood from his own hand, then quickly pulled open the window to his room.

 

“Come on you idiot, before the rest of our siblings notice”, he said, motioning for Klaus to follow as he clambered into his room.

 

He managed to stifle his laughter, and followed after his brother once the ghost had phased through the wall ahead of him. Five pulled the window shut behind them after Klaus found his footing, then looked him up and down with an inquisitive look.

 

“Where did you go last night? You look like shit Klaus, what the hell happened?”

 

The smile instantly dropped from his face, and he averted his eyes as a fresh wave of shame washed over him. He shrugged and started to walk away, hoping Five would just let him go back to his room in peace.

 

No such luck.

 

A hand gripped his shoulder, and spun him back around. The ghost gurgled behind them.

 

“Klaus, I know something happened. You were crying out there all alone, you’re covered in mud and you-”

 

Five froze mid sentence, gazing at Klaus’s neck with an open mouthed look of horror. He felt a pang of fear shoot through him, and slapped his brother’s hand away. He couldn’t bring himself to meet his eyes; whatever it was that he saw, he didn’t want to know.

 

“Klaus… Why are there bruises on your neck? Did someone… Did someone hurt you?”, he asked softly.

 

      He squeezed his eyes shut and tensed his jaw, trying to keep in the tears that threatened to spill out at his question. He couldn’t hold them all, and felt a few slip their way down his cheek from behind his tightly shut lids. He shoved his good hand into his jacket pocket, clutching at the small bag of pills hidden inside tightly while he shook his head. He flinched as a stabbing cold pain shot through him, and he tried to ignore the gurgling noise next to him.

 

“...please tell me what happened. We can go after them, me and the rest of the academy, make sure they can’t-”

 

He couldn’t hear Five anymore as thoughts of what that might entail overcame him. 

 

Luther punched Cody in the gut so hard he flew several feet through the air, before skidding to a stop several yards away. He pulled himself upright, and two of Diego’s knives slammed into his chest. Five blinked behind him and kicked his legs out from underneath him, and he crumpled back to the ground.

 

“I heard a rumor you couldn’t get back up!”, cried Allison.

 

Cody latched onto Five’s leg, digging his nails into his flesh and drawing blood. Five kicked him in the face hard, blinking away as blood poured from his now broken nose.

 

“Now Ben, finish it!”, Five shouted.

 

Ben sobbed as the horror tore Cody to pieces while the rest of their siblings cheered him on. Five stomped on the mangled pieces that remained of him afterwards, and Cody’s disfigured ghost rose from the surrounding gore. He began screaming into Ben’s face, but none of them noticed his furious cries. His siblings congratulated each other on a successful mission, unaware of the shrieking banshee trailing after them.

 

They’d all come up to his room together, to reassure him that he had nothing to fear now that the Umbrella Academy had saved the day once and for all.

 

And Cody’s ghost would be right behind them, staring at him and grinning wide.

 

“Hey sweetheart, miss me already?”

 

He was on the ground, heaving and trying to catch his breath between the sobs that were wracking his body. Someone was hugging him tightly, and it made his ribs burn painfully.

 

Five.

 

Five was hugging him.

 

“-and out Klaus, in and out. You can do it, just breathe with me. In for three and hold, then out for three. Can you do that for me?”

 

      For the second time that day he wondered if he wasn’t actually just dreaming, and tried to do as his brother asked. He shakily drew in breath after breath, eventually managing to bring his breathing mostly under control. He reach out to return his brother's embrace, and smiled to himself as he felt the fabric of his blazer. Only Luther and Five would bother to be in uniform early on a Saturday. Klaus only bothered to put his on so he could keep his pills close-

 

His pills.

 

No.

 

He thought back through the events of the week. Five had definitely found his stash can and emptied it after he’d collapsed, that he was sure of. It didn’t really matter though, it was easy enough to resupply at the infirmary. Or at least it had been until recently. He’d floated through the rest of the week on consecutive highs, only stopping the night he came down to the sound of Five struggling to breathe in his room. He’d barged in to see what was going on, and Five had looked so broken , sitting there on the floor all by himself. He was bleeding and covered in bruises, and had definitely been crying. He’d nearly thrown him out on his ass after he’d broken in, but somehow he’d managed to calm him down-

 

No he wouldn’t-

 

-by hugging him. He’d wanted to get high afterwards, drown out the sounds of the academy’s ghosts once again. Once he'd gotten back to his room, he realized he’d somehow managed to lose the rest of his stash during that time.

 

Or they’d been stolen.

 

He would. He did.

 

Klaus saw red, and shoved Five away from him with all the strength he could muster as he shot to his feet. Five peered up at him from the ground with wide eyes, looking absolutely mortified.

 

“Sorry! I thought you-”

 

      He stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind him before Five could finish his sentence. Whatever it was he had to say, he didn’t want to hear it. He quickly found his way to the bathroom, pressing his back to the door and sliding to the floor as it clicked shut behind him. He pulled his knees to his chest and buried his head into them as he began to shake.

 

If Five hadn’t stolen from him, then Cody wouldn’t have ever-

 

      He knew that wasn’t fair, but he couldn’t stop himself from thinking it. Slowly he pulled himself from the floor and forced himself to look in the mirror. His hair was a mess, flecked with dirt and leaves and sticking out in every direction. His clothes were in a similar state of disarray and, as Five had so eloquently put it, he looked like shit. He felt like shit too. He turned around, and winced at the sheer amount of mud plastered on the back of his hoodie. The worst thing by far though, was his neck. Five had only been half right in calling the markings that peppered his neck and collar bones bruises, but Klaus knew what they really were.

 

      He shut his eyes, and gripped the counter tightly. He needed a bath, right now. He needed to wash himself of everything that had happened. He turned away from the mirror before he opened his eyes again, quickly turning off the light as he began to get undressed. He'd already gotten a good look at what Cody had done to him when he'd woken up, he didn't want to see it again. 

 

      He fumbled around in the dark, feeling for the countertop as he dug out the small baggie of pills from his pocket. He placed it delicately next to the sink, then removed his socks and shoes. With those out of the way he tore off his jacket and pants as fast as he could, kicking the bundle of fabric into the wall for good measure. He felt a small amount of satisfaction at the thud they made as they connected with the plaster, and he felt his way towards the tub. He prodded along the porcelain until he found the drain, and pushed it closed. He reached upwards and found the knob for the water, turning it to the highest temperature it would go. As he waited for the bath to fill, he shuffled his way back to the sink meekly.

 

       He batted around the counter until his hand connected with the bag of pills, which he gripped onto tightly. With trembling hands he pulled it open and shook two of the tablets into his palm, stopping himself from taking out more. He was going to have to cut back; it wasn't going to be as easy for him to get more as it used to be. He zipped the baggie closed and set it down, then crushed the two pills into dust on the counter. He swept the dust back into his hand and sprinkled into his mouth, using a handful of sink water to wash it down.

 

He remembered where the pills had come from, and took in a shaky breath.

 

Don't think about it don't think about it don't-

 

He thought about it.

 

      He scrubbed at his face as tears burned their way down his cheeks, and tried to stay quiet as his breathing grew ragged. He did not want Five to feel the need to blink in here to check on him. He didn't know what reaction he would have, and he sure as hell didn't want to find out.  He stumbled his way back towards the tub to turn off the water, and dipped a toe in. It was absolutely scalding, but he didn't care. He stepped in slowly, relishing the feel of the burning water against his aching body. The heat was such a juxtaposition to the touch of a ravenous ghost, it made him feel real, made him feel alive. He sank down into the water, dunking his head underneath and giving his hair a quick scrub. He burst to the surface then lowered himself back down, stopping as the water lapped at his ears. He draped his cast over the side of the tub, and felt his aching muscles relax one by one. For the first time in days, he felt somewhat at peace.

 

Can't breath can't breathe-!

 

He shot out of the tepid water as he sputtered and choked, hacking up the lungful of liquid he'd taken in.

 

Fuck, when did I fall asleep and how long have I been out for? Ugh, I should get back to my room, it's probably afternoon by now.

 

      He pulled the drain and cautiously stepped his way out of the bath, being careful not to slip and fall on the damp tile. It wasn't easy in the dark, but he managed to navigate around the bathroom to the towel rack. He took three of them, wrapping one around his waist, one around his chest, and one around his hair. Five had already seen too much, and he didn't know if he could take it if the rest of their siblings started questioning his appearance as well. He snagged the bag of pills from the counter and tucked them into the towel swaddling his hair. He drew in a breath, and flicked on the light as he faced the mirror.

 

      Right. He forgot about the hickeys. He readjusted the towel around his chest to cover his neck and shoulders as well, and stepped into the hall. Thankfully it was deserted, and he quickly ducked into the safety of his room. As he closed the door behind him, he noticed a folded piece of paper sitting atop his bed. Confused, he walked over to the bed and unfolded it.

 

Klaus,

 

I don't know exactly what happened to you last night, but I'm sorry I grabbed you like that. I thought it might help, but clearly it didn't. I can help you hide the bruises if you want. Just bring some makeup to my room when you're ready, I'll show you how.

 

-Five

 

      His heart clenched at the words on the page. He couldn't stay mad at Five, he just couldn't. He knew there were good intentions behind why he did what he did, but god did he wish his stupid brother had just minded his own business for once in his damn life. He'd just have to make sure to do a better job of keeping his drugs out of his brother's hands in the future, though staying one step ahead of Five was going to be a monumental task. Though, he was learning his brother wasn't the immovable force he'd once believed him to be. He thought back to the battered state he'd found him in on Thursday night.

 

Why the hell does he know how to hide bruises with makeup? How often does he get beaten black and blue that he has a routine for what to do after?

 

      He wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer to that question. He placed the note on his desk and searched through his closet for some clean clothes. He peeled the towels off of his body while actively avoiding the mirror, and eased himself into a pair of academy pajamas. Like hell am I wearing a uniform on a Saturday , he thought as he plucked the pills from the discarded pile of towels, tucking it into the waistband of his boxes.

 

Not this time Five, even you wouldn't go that far. Suck it.

 

He snickered to himself as he rifled through his desk and grabbed his makeup.

 

Wait, what the-? Oh, you little shit. You absolute bastard.

 

His poor palette was absolutely mauled, half of the colors were mixed together and most of them were cracked. Someone , it was a real mystery who, had clearly used it without his permission and quietly returned it to his desk. He rolled his eyes as snagged a tube of concealer and headed for Five's room.

 

Asshole.

Notes:

Chapter 17 warnings: descriptions of marks left by assault, assault not described. dissociation, intrusive thoughts, drug use.

Chapter 18: Alarm Bells Ring

Notes:

Holy crap, we're past a thousand hits and nearing eighty kudos! Thank you so much! Please feel free to talk to me in the comments whether you're a new reader or you've been here since the beginning. I love hearing what you guys think when I add a new chapter, and my few regular commenters absolutely make my day every time I hear from them <3

Content warnings in end notes~

Why?! Why the hell did I grab onto him like that?! What is wrong with me, how was that supposed to help anything? I'm a fucking idiot, no wonder he ran off. Fuck!

 

      Five glanced at the clock as he paced back and forth in his room. He's been in there for nearly three hours, dammit! That’s it, if he's still in there in twenty minutes I'm blinking in there. He steered himself to the bed and forced himself to sit. He really, really didn't want it to come to that; he'd already invaded his brother's space enough for one day. Leaving the note in his room after he’d run away was already pushing it. His face burned hot as he remembered the way Klaus had thrown him bodily to the ground, like an unwanted ragdoll. As much as he’d wanted to charge after him after the shock of being thrown to the floor had worn off, he knew his brother needed space. He knew from personal experience that nothing good came from chasing after someone who didn’t want their pain to be seen, so he made himself wait it out. His leg bounced up and down restlessly as he sat, keeping an ear out for any signs of distress coming from the bathroom. Not knowing what exactly happened to his brother was absolutely maddening, and he only barely managed to keep himself seated. He needed to know he was okay. He needed to. For the hundredth time he strained to hear something, anything from the bathroom down the hall, and for the hundredth time he heard nothing but silence.

 

He just needs space, just give him some time and be patient-

 

The seconds continued to tick by, and Five dug his nails into his jittering knees to stop himself from just blinking to the bathroom anyway. He’d already waited for several hours, he could wait a few more minutes. A jolt of pain shocked him out of his thoughts, and gazed at the scratches he’d made on his knees in annoyance. He pulled his hands away and placed them on the mattress instead, kneading at the sheets with his fingers anxiously.

 

A loud splash from the bathroom made him leap to his feet, and the sound was quickly followed by several shuddering wet coughs. Just as the blue glow reached his fingertips he heard Klaus hack one final time, and it was quiet once more. He unclenched his fist and willed away the energy pooling in his hands, choosing instead to check on his brother a bit more subtly.

 

He left his room quietly and crept up to the bathroom door, pressing his ear softly against the wood. The tub was draining, and a tidal wave of relief washed over him as he picked up the sounds of Klaus shuffling about inside. He pulled away, frowning as his gaze dropped to the gap between the door and the floor. It was dark.

 

Why doesn't he have the light on?

 

As soon as the thought had formed, the light clicked on inside.

 

Shit-!

 

      He hurried back to his room, barely repressing the urge to just blink back as he remembered how noisy his power was. Klaus did not need to catch him creeping around, he’d already tested his boundaries enough for one day. He yanked open the door to his room, throwing himself inside haphazardly before easing it closed behind him. As he steadied himself he heard the bathroom creak open, and the pitter patter of Klaus's gentle footsteps in the hall outside. There was a squeak and a click as Klaus entered his room, and Five leaned into their shared wall to listen. If Klaus had another break from reality he needed to know so he could pull him out of it. There was a rustle of movement, then the quiet crinkle of paper being unfolded. He’d completely forgotten about the message he’d left behind. His heart started hammering in his chest as he tried to picture the expression on his brother’s face as he read it. Would it be one of relief? Annoyance? Disgust? He worried at his lip as he considered the possibilities.

 

Should I have just left it alone? No- no, he looked so…. so sick when I asked about those marks.  Surely at least not having to answer anyone else's questions or look at them as often will give him some peace of mind? Shit, what the hell happened to him last night?

 

      He froze as he heard Klaus fold the paper back up, then walk to the opposite side of his room. It was followed by the sound of his wardrobe opening and closing, then the shuffle of fabric as he got changed. A moment later he heard him pull open his desk drawer, and winced as he heard an exasperated sigh. He hadn't exactly been careful with his brother's makeup, and though he’d tucked it back where it’d come from, it was definitely noticeable that it had been used.

 

Nice one, Five. It’s definitely not going to bother Klaus that you’ve broken into his room not once, not twice, but at least three different times that he knows of. That’s sure to help smooth things over.

 

      The drawer was shut again, and he could hear his brother leave the room. He leaned away from the wall as the footsteps padded around outside, and jumped when a soft knock tapped against his own door. He made his way towards it, drawing in a breath to steady himself before he pulled it open. Klaus didn’t waste any time with pleasantries, quickly shoving past him into the room with an armful of makeup. He closed the door behind his brother and turned to face him. He was standing in the middle of the room awkwardly, staring at the floor and avoiding Five’s eyes.

 

“Um… Do you want me to get you some paper? So we can…talk?”

 

He shook his head, continuing to bore holes into the carpet.

 

“...Okay. I see you brought what I asked, do you want me to cover those for you?” he asked, gesturing to the bruises around his neck.

 

Without looking up, Klaus extended his arm and shoved the makeup towards him. As Five reached out to take it from him, he noticed a large purple ring around his brother’s wrist, along with a smattering of smaller bruises along his arm.

 

Fuck. Someone definitely took him somewhere against his will, and not very gently.

 

He averted his eyes from the marks as he took the makeup, not wanting to make Klaus any more uncomfortable than he already was. Klaus lowered his arm and marched to the bed, sitting down stiffly and continuing to avoid eye contact.

 

“...Can I sit next to you?”

 

He nodded, not raising his head to look at him.

 

Five shuffled over, easing himself onto the bed a few feet from Klaus. As he sat down he noticed the specs of moisture dotting his brother’s pants, and realized there were tears silently streaming down his face. He placed the makeup to his side and reached out a hand, then thought better of it and lowered it back down.

 

“...Hey. I’m sorry I.. that I… scared you earlier. I didn’t mean to.”

 

Klaus finally met his eyes with a furrowed brow, and an utter look of confusion painted across his tear stained face.

 

“For… you know…”

 

His brother squinted at him, clearly not understanding. Five tugged at his hair nervously before continuing, “For...grabbing you like that.”

 

Klaus’s lost expression softened as Five spoke, then shifted to one of bewilderment as he processed his words. 

 

“I don’t know what came over me! I was just trying-”

 

He shook his head back and forth aggressively, and scrambled over to Five and threw his arms around him.

 

“- to help.” he wheezed out, as the air was squeezed out of his lungs by his brother. Klaus’s cast was digging into his side painfully, but he didn’t care. His brother was shaking like a leaf as he buried his face into his shoulder, continuing to whip his head back and forth. Not knowing what else he could do, he timidly wrapped his arms around him in return. He felt Klaus start to relax, and held on awkwardly. After Klaus’s tremors had diminished considerably, he spoke again with a desperate tone.

 

“...Can I please get you some paper? I don’t know what you want.”

 

He heard a muffled giggle as Klaus pulled his face from his shoulder and nodded, a grin plastered across his stupid face.

 

He smiled back and shook his head as he stood, relieved to finally see the old Klaus starting to return.

 

“You’re so weird”, he said, passing him a pad of paper and a pencil from his desk as he sat back on the bed.

 

Klaus scribbled a message, then passed it back to Five.

 

You’re the weirdo, weirdo. I’m not mad at you for hugging me you idiot, but steal my makeup again and I’ll get Allison to rumor you to do my chores for a month. Go buy your own, this stuff isn’t cheap. Now help me cover these already, I don’t want dad or anyone else to see. Before you ask, I’m not talking about it. Please don’t ask.

 

“Okay, I can do that. Do you… um… do you want me to only get the ones around your neck? Or do you want me to get the ones on your arm too?”

 

Klaus’s expression drooped and he scrawled a reply, turning it to Five with unsteady hands.

 

All of them. Whatever’s obviously visible. I’ll get the ones you can’t see after you show me how to do it.

 

Five read the message, dread creeping into his veins at the words. The ones I can’t see? What else is there that I can’t see?! He forced the thought away, and nodded as he picked up the makeup.

 

“Okay, Klaus. Okay. Do you… have a preference where I start?”

 

He penned a response and spun the pad back to face him once more.

 

The arm I guess, that way I can see what you’re doing.

 

      “Alright, give it here then”, he said, pulling a pillow into his lap and motioning for Klaus to set his arm on top of it. His brother complied, and he adjusted himself to get a better angle on what he was dealing with. The dark ring around his wrist was the worst of it, though there were several fingerprint shaped bruises peppering the rest of his arm as well. If I ever figure out who did this, I’ll make sure they pay , he thought as he started lathering everything in a thick layer of concealer. He talked Klaus through the whole process, showing him which shades of eyeshadow to use to make the pasty color of the concealer appear more natural. After an hour or so of work his brother’s arm appeared unmarred, and Klaus stared at in amazement.

 

“It’s not permanent, and it’ll get messed up if you touch it too much or get it wet. So if you want it to last-”

 

For the second time that day he was cut off mid sentence as the air was crushed out of his lungs by Klaus latching onto him over enthusiastically. He felt the ghost of a smile twitch at his lips as his brother pulled away, a grin stretching across his face as wide as the wires would allow.

 

“Want me to finish the rest? Or do you want to try?”

 

Klaus pointed at him and pouted.

 

“Fine, but if you wanna keep them covered you’re going to have to practice. I’m not going to do this every day for you until they heal.”

 

Klaus made a face, and Five rolled his eyes in return.

 

“Get over here so I can get the rest. Here, lean back against the wall, it’ll be easier.”

 

He acquiesced, scooting backwards and tilling his head to the side. Five leaned in to inspect the damage, and felt his stomach turn to lead. Holy shit, those aren’t finger marks. Those are- oh God no.

 

“Oh Klaus. This is- Fuck. Fuck! I’ll fucking kill them! What did- How-”

 

He hadn’t even meant to say anything, much less shout. The words had angrily come tumbling out of his mouth of their own volition. Klaus stiffened and went pale, slamming his eyes shut and meekly shaking his head back and forth in defeat. He forced himself to lower his voice and speak in a more even tone before he opened his mouth again.

 

“Please. Please at least give me a name, or a description, or something . I won’t tell the others if you don’t want me to, I’ll take care of it myself. Please Klaus, let me help.”

 

His brother yanked the makeup from his hand, and scrambled off of the bed.

 

“Klaus I-”

 

Both of them jumped as the deafening sound of the mission alarm began to blare through the academy, cutting off the conversation abruptly. Klaus quickly made his escape into the hall, and Five pulled at his hair in frustration as the alarm continued to screech.

 

Right now?! Really?

 

He yanked open his desk and grabbed his mask, slamming the door behind him as he made his way downstairs to join the rest of his siblings in the foyer.

Notes:

Chapter 18 warnings: brief non graphic mention of self harming tendencies, description of some bruises that were received from an assault

Chapter 19: Lost And Not Found

Notes:

If we cross 2k hits this week I'm going to shit myself. Thank you all so much for the love <3 <3

 

Edit: this fic is not abandoned! I hit a writers block wall and I'm working on the next chapter, let's hope it's up sometime soon :)

Content warnings in end notes~

      Klaus darted out of Five’s room quickly as the alarms blared all around him, wanting nothing more than to not have the conversation his brother had tried to start. He ducked into his room and threw the makeup onto the bed to deal with later, closing his eyes for a moment to steady himself. The alarm was absolutely deafening, and he could hear the chaos coming from the rest of his sibling’s rooms as they scrambled to get ready. A loud hammering on his door forced his eyes open, and his stomach plummeted to his feet.

 

Go away Five, please-

 

“Klaus!”

 

It wasn’t Five after all, he realized with confusion as Luther’s commanding voice boomed from behind the closed door.

 

“Dad still wants you on lookout duty, so suit up and get downstairs!”

 

A fresh wave of anxiety rose, and he glanced to the mirror where the hickeys still ringing his neck seemed to mock him through the glass.

 

Fuck.

 

He threw open his wardrobe, chucking clothes in every direction as he panickedly searched, hoping he had something that would cover them buried somewhere.

 

T shirt, no, lace top, definitely not, no, no, no! Come on, I have to have something !

 

      Just as he was about to give up he spotted the turtleneck sweater Grace had knitted him for their last birthday. It was too old school and not at all his style, but he’d kept it anyway because she’d made it for him. He yanked it from the heap of clothes and quickly stripped out of his pajamas, avoiding the mirror as he did so. He shoved himself into an academy uniform, forgoing the dress shirt and tie combo in favor of the sweater. He turned back to the mirror and pulled the neck of the sweater up a bit before doing a twirl, checking to make sure he was presentable. By some stroke of luck, the neck of the sweater was just the perfect height to hide the marks Cody had left on him.

 

Another loud bang on his door made him flinch, and he rolled his eyes at Luther’s stupid Number One tone of voice.

 

“Klaus! Hurry up, the rest of the team is waiting on you! You’re holding everyone back, get down here already!”

 

      He sifted through the rest of his closet, eventually finding his mask and finally making his way downstairs. His siblings were already lined up, and he jogged to his empty place in the lineup while avoiding Five’s piercing gaze. Much to his dismay, he realized that the small dose of valium he’d taken earlier was definitely working its way out of his system. He’d still been a bit high when he’d gone to see Five, and his brother’s ghost had just looked like a fuzzy shadow at the time. Now he could hear the quiet rumblings of the crowd of ghosts haunting his siblings, as well as make out a few of their features. Viktor was watching him from the landing above, and Klaus smiled and wiggled his fingers at him to distract himself. It earned him a small smile, which quickly disappeared from his brother’s face as their father shouted at him.

 

“Number Four! What on earth do you think you are wearing?”

 

Klaus stiffened, then wrapped his arms around himself as best he could and shivered.

 

“You’ve already missed the briefing, so unfortunately there’s no time to correct your attire. You will face repercussions after the mission for your antics, and I expect this to never happen again. Now children, move out!”

 

Relief washed over him, and he followed the rest of his siblings to the car. As he did so, he heard Five whisper behind him.

 

“I’m not letting this go Klaus, we’re talking later.”

 

He winced, then clambered in behind Allison into the car.

 

      During the short drive he learned from his sibling’s chatter that they were on their way to a bank robbery. It was hard to understand what they were saying as the ghosts got louder, but it sounded like there were several gunmen holding a group of bystanders and a few tellers hostage. The FBI was already involved, and there was suspicion that they were part of a larger mafia organization. As they approached the bank he could hear multiple police cars pass them by with sirens blaring, as well as the sound of a helicopter overhead. He peered out the window past Five and Ben, grimacing as one of their ghosts jabbed him in the gut. Even the thick sweater couldn’t protect him from that kind of cold, and he shivered at the freezing intrusion. From what he could see, they were pulling up next to a large police van where three officers were huddled together around a table wearing headsets. One was currently speaking into a phone, and a few ghosts were also milling about around them, seeming to take the most interest in the one doing the talking. The man hung up the phone looking exasperated, and all three of the officers took off their headsets to confer with one another.

 

Must be the negotiation team. Don’t suppose they’ve already convinced them to come out with their hands up so we can just go home…

 

      The car slid to a stop, and his siblings started piling out of the vehicle hurriedly. Klaus hung back, wishing that he’d just taken some of his pills before he’d left his room. He still had them tucked into his boxers, and if he could get a moment away from everyone he’d have time to crush up a few. He did not want to deal with ghosts on top of everything else that had already happened today. He tugged at his sleeves nervously, waiting for everyone else to get out. He felt someone squeeze his hand, and looked up to see Five staring at him with a look of concern. His ghost was behind him, gurgling at full volume as he shoved his hands aggressively through Five’s torso.

 

“...Come on Klaus, we have to move. It’ll be over fast, just keep watch and let the rest of us take care of it, okay?”

 

      He let out a sigh, and climbed out of the car after his brother in defeat. He plodded along behind him, wincing as they drew closer. One of the ghosts ambling around the officers was particularly vocal, and he trailed alongside the officer who’d been speaking on the phone as he stood to greet them. As they approached him, Klaus realized two unfortunate things simultaneously. Firstly, the ghost following behind him hadn’t died in a way that impeded his ability to speak. There was a bullet hole straight through his forehead, but no other obvious injuries. Secondly, he hadn’t died very long ago, and was still aware enough of the material plane to form coherent sentences instead of the torrential wails and screams of older spirits. He averted his eyes, trying to tune out the cacophony of clashing information being spat out at him as the negotiator began the debrief.

 

“-lied to me you bastard! You said you’d help me you fucking liar! You fucking-”

 

“-eard a lot about you kids, it’s a real pleasure. Enough with the pleasantries though, let’s get down to b-”

 

“-was all bullshit! And you don’t even care! Such a smooth talking piece of-”

 

“-then he pulled a gun, and his buddies stormed in. There’s six of them total, first guy was the-”

 

“-kiss your wife with that mouth?! Huh, do ya? I’ve seen it, I bet she gets with the mailman when you-”

 

“-inside the vault. You’ll have to get them out safely, then we can move-”

 

“-never even gave me a chance! You just fucking told them to take the shot, take me down like a rabid bitch! If I ever fucking-”

 

“-ght be more at play though. We’re not really sure, and the bast- err, bad guy, isn’t giving us much to go on. So if you kids can get any-”

 

“-through your ass! And next I’ll rip your fingernails off, one by one! When you’re pissing yourself on the floor, begging for mercy, I’m gonna-”

 

“-be great. Now, any questions?

 

As he raised his gaze to look at the officer, the ghost locked eyes with him. A pang of fear shot through him, and the spirit began to advance towards him.

“Hey! Hey kid! You can see me can’t you? Do me a favor sweetheart, take that nice man’s gun from him and BLOW HIS FUCKING BRAINS OUT!!!”

 

The ghost was roaring in his face, and Klaus felt his blood turn to ice in his veins. He squeezed his eyes shut and violently shook his head back and forth, trying to force away the memories of Cody intruding on his mind.

 

“Alright, well good luck kids, and stay safe!”

 

“We will sir, thank you.” replied Luther. “Alright, everyone huddle up. Klaus, you’re on lookout duty. I want you posted-”

 

“Don’t you fucking ignore me kid! Do it! Grab his gun and shoot him in-”

 

“-by the back exit. Ben, you escort the hostages out to Klaus while Five-”

 

“-his smug fucking face! Then, I want you to-”

 

“-takes down the main triggerman. Allison, you’re on rumor duty for the rest of them. I don’t care what you tell them to do, just keep us-”

 

“-bash his skull in with his own gun! Do you think-”

 

“-safe. Diego, pick off any runners, but try not to hit anything vital. They want as many of them alive as possible. I’ll-”

 

“-you can do that for me sweetheart? Or are you too FUCKING STUPID TO-”

 

“-handle the talking, see if we can just get them to come quietly. Everyone-”

 

“-UNDERSTAND ME?! I could gut you like a fish kid, ring your scrawny little neck-”

 

“-know what they’re doing?”

 

“-like a damn dinner bell! Do you hear me, you little shit?!”

 

Klaus stared at the asphalt beneath his feet and nodded.

 

“Alright! Then let’s-”

 

“Then fucking do it already you little twerp! Just march over there and-”

 

“-move out!”

 

“-blow his head off!”

 

As Luther stepped in the direction of the bank, Klaus reached out to tug on his blazer.

 

“What, Klaus?”

 

He pointed to himself, then to a porta potty that was set up in the parking lot a few yards away.

 

“Fine, take a quick bathroom break, but the rest of us are going inside. You should have a few minutes to do your business before Ben gets the first hostages outside, but hurry. I mean it Klaus, we need you to help them to safety. No ducking out on us.”

 

      With that, Luther turned back around and marched towards the bank. Five was up ahead, watching the exchange with a dismal expression on his face. Klaus turned the opposite direction and sprinted to the toilet, ignoring the string of expletives the ghost screamed at him as he ran. He slammed the door behind him, and scrambled to fish out his pills from his boxers. He ripped open the bag desperately, and tipped three of the remaining eight tablets into his trembling palm. He resealed the bag and tucked it away with one hand, crushing the pills together into dust with the other. The portable bathroom had no water, so he sprinkled the dust into his gums and waited for his saliva to dissolve it. He knew he should leave, get into position like Luther had wanted, but he just couldn’t bring himself to open the door. He slid to the floor and tucked his head into his knees, trying to find the courage to do as he was asked.

 

He tried, he really did.

 

But he just didn’t have it in him.

Notes:

Chapter 19 warnings: brief mention of bruises from an assault, drug use

Chapter 20: Do or Die

Notes:

Writer's block hit me hard guys, sorry I kept you waiting! I think I worked out where I want the next chapter to go, so it may or may not be a two chapter day today ;) I make no promises though haha, hope you enjoy <3

      Five watched as Klaus hurried to the restroom, feeling a strange mixture of pity and sorrow. His brother shouldn't be here right now, he definitely wasn't in the right headspace to take on a mission. At least he was only on lookout duty, hopefully that should keep him away from the fire fight. Luther jogged back towards the bank, clapping him on the back as he passed.

 

"Come on Five, let's go get these good people out of here. Klaus will catch up in a minute."

 

He raked a hand though his hair and let out a sigh.

 

"Fine. Let's just get this over with."

 

With that, he tore his gaze from the bathroom and followed after Luther in resignation. The others were huddled just outside the entrance waiting for them, and Diego glanced behind them with a look of confusion.

 

"Where's gimpy?" he hissed out.

 

"Bathroom, he should catch up in a minute," replied Luther. "Now let's-"

 

      They all jumped as a gunshot rang out from inside, followed by muffled yelling. Luther began again, clearly trying to maintain his confident Number One demeanor. The rest of his siblings didn't seem to notice, but Five could hear a slight unsteadiness creep into their brother’s voice as he continued.

 

"Let's get inside and help these people. Allison, you keep their guns off of me however you can and I'll draw their attention. Five, you blink in there after I start talking and take care of their leader. Make sure he can’t get away, it's integral to the success of the mission that he’s brought to justice. Diego, you're on damage control. Keep the rest of the bad guys from making a break for it. Ben, once it's safe you run the tellers out to Klaus, then double back for the hostages in the vault. Everyone clear on the plan?"

 

      Five nodded along with his siblings, sensing that nothing was going to go the way his brother was hoping. Thankfully Grace always made sure he had something to eat before they left for a mission, so he should have plenty of fuel to blink around with if things went wrong. Luther barged inside with Allison in tow, hollering something about stopping in the name of the law as they made their entrance. He rolled his eyes, then felt for the layout of the interior of the bank. There was a lot of movement inside, and without seeing who he was dealing with it was hard to discern the hostages from the gunmen. Diego scooted past him with several knives in hand, and Ben followed after him timidly. He continued to scout the area, searching for a landing spot. One space had fairly little activity, save for one person. It was a raised surface, likely the teller's counter. Someone was currently standing on it, and brandishing something metallic at the entrance where his siblings stood. He smirked as he felt the energy begin to spark between his fingers, and leapt into the familiar blue glow.

 

Gotcha.

 

      He landed on top of the counter, right behind the man standing on it. He appeared to be the one in charge, and he was currently barking orders at the other gunmen to get Luther and the rest of their siblings into the vault. The other gunmen were closing in on them as Five's feet thudded against the countertop, altering the man to his presence. He quickly swung his gun towards Five's torso, bellowing at him as he did so.

 

"Where the hell did you come from?! Hands on your head, now!"

 

He couldn’t afford to worry about his siblings right now. He blinked away from the man’s line of fire, landing in a lounging position behind the man as he opened fire on the now empty air.

 

“Or what? You're gonna shoot me?”, Five asked, sarcasm dripping from every syllable.

 

The man spun around, turning to face him with a bewildered expression.

 

"Who the hell are you?!"

 

Five twitched his fingers around a stapler behind him, and spoke to keep the man's attention off of what he was doing.

 

"Me? Oh buddy, I’m your worst nightmare.”

 

      His fingers closed around the stapler as the man trained his weapon on him, and he leapt into the electrifying blue light as more shots rang out. He materialized behind the triggerman and waited for an opening. As the gunmen realized the space was unoccupied and stopped firing, he switched the man’s weapon for the stapler with some quick sleight of hand. He dropped the gun behind the counter and out of reach, noticing for the first time that there were four tellers huddled behind it, covering their heads in terror. They looked up to him as the gun clattered to the ground, and he averted his eyes from their shocked faces. Diego may thrive in the role of being the people's hero, but Five had never enjoyed the limelight. The notoriety and praise that came with saving the day always made him uncomfortable, and was something he preferred to avoid if he could help it. He made one last jump, landing face to face with the criminal once more. The man angrily whipped the stapler towards his face, clicking it uselessly as Five grinned at him.

 

“What the-?”

 

“That’s one badass stapler!” he exclaimed in mock fascination, before slamming the still extended stapler straight into his forehead. The man stumbled backwards, and one final blow to the head sent him toppling off of the counter unconscious. Five peered down to where he’d fallen, noticing movement behind the counter. One of the tellers had retrieved the gun he’d dropped earlier, and they were aiming it shakily towards the now unconscious man.

 

“Do you even know how to use that?” he asked, unable to keep the exasperated tone from his voice.

 

At the sound of his words the teller jumped and froze, looking up at him with wide guilty eyes.

 

“N- no. No I d-”

 

“Then don’t. Just stay here and let us handle it. Don’t do anything stupid, you’ll just get in the way.”

 

      He turned his back on the teller to check on his siblings. Diego was currently trying to pin one of the thieves to the wall with a variety of sharp objects, and the man seemed to realize he was outmatched. He made an attempt to run, but his brother was faster. Diego hucked a knife after him expertly, curving it through the air unnaturally until it embedded itself into the man’s shoulder and knocked him to the ground. His brother grinned triumphantly and added a handful of throwing knives to the mix, pinning him to the floor. Ben was busy creeping his way towards the back of the bank and trying to go unnoticed, presumably to ready an escape route for the hostages. Their sibling’s chaos was drawing all the attention, and he was having no difficulty sneaking across the bank. Five leaned back over the counter and snapped his fingers in one of the teller's faces. They all jumped at the sound, and turned to look at him.

 

"See him?", he whispered while pointing towards Ben, "He'll help you out. Go follow him."

 

They looked to where he was pointing, then slowly nodded.

 

“Thank yo-”

 

“Don’t talk, you’ll only draw their attention. Just go.” he hissed out, looking away from them and turning his focus back to the fight.

      Luther was grappling with another of the gunmen for his weapon, and Allison was busy rumoring another two. One of the men Allison spoke to suddenly shot the other, and a shower of crimson splattered across her face as his head snapped backwards. Allison’s hand flew to cover her mouth in horror, and Luther immediately lost his focus. He turned his attention towards Allison, and the gunman he’d been wrestling with immediately seized the opportunity. He pulled back from Luther and slammed his head forwards, bashing his forehead into his brother’s face hard. A vibrant stream of red began to pour from Luther’s nose as he resumed the fight, fumbling for the gun clumsily as he continued to glance between Allison and the gunman.

 

Five huffed in annoyance as he jumped to his brother’s side. Luther definitely had the strength to overpower the man without his assistance, but was too afraid of injuring anyone with his strength to do so. The gunman gawked at his sudden appearance, and Five wrapped a hand around his weapon. He blinked behind him, yanking the gun away in the process. He bashed the butt of it into the man’s skull as he landed, tossing it away in frustration as he stalked up to Luther.

 

“Five, what the hell?! They want them for questioning, we’re not supposed to-”

 

“He’s not dead you idiot, tell that to Allison! You can’t be afraid to hurt them or you’re going to get us all killed!” he spat out. “Just go help Ben, I’ll get Allison.”

 

“Five! That’s not-!”

 

He blinked to Allison’s side, not giving Luther a chance to finish his sentence. Allison nearly fell over as he materialized, stumbling backwards in a panic.

 

“Five! Oh God I didn’t mean to! I just wanted him to-”

 

      As she spoke, the remaining gunman’s white eyes started to regain their natural color as the rumor dissipated. The man looked down to his weapon in confusion, and leveled it with Allison’s head. Five latched onto Allison’s arm as a pang of fear shot through him, and yanked her into a blink as a shot rang out. They stumbled out of the jump a few yards away, Five landing himself between her and the gunman. He quickly looked her over as their feet hit the ground and the blue glow faded. She was shaken, but didn’t appear to be injured. Her eyes widened at something behind him, and he spun back towards the thief. Before he could do anything else, Allison screamed out a rumor.

 

“I heard a rumor you can’t move for twelve hours!”

 

The man froze in place, and Five winced as he realized the gunman had been aiming straight for his heart. He stepped to the side, forcing away the uneasy feeling as he did so.

 

“...thanks, Allison. We don’t even need to restrain him now, that was smart.”

 

“I wish- I wish I’d thought of that sooner.” She looked to the sprawled out body of the other man, sprawled across the floor. Blood was dripping from his temple, and beginning to pool under his head. “I had to come up with that in training this week, I should have remembered.”

 

Five grimaced, not liking the implications that came with his sister’s words. He wiped some of the blood from her face as Luther sprinted towards them.

 

“It’s fine. Let’s just finish this.”

 

      He scanned the room for his other siblings as Luther comforted Allison. Diego was busy ushering the terrified tellers out the front entrance, puffing out his chest as he waved at the press. He was clearly enjoying himself a little too much, but at least he wasn’t afraid. Ben and Klaus were nowhere to be found, likely busy freeing the hostages from the vault. It was also very possible that his brother was still hiding in the bathroom to avoid the mission, but Five didn’t really care this time. Normally he’d be furious at his brother’s ineptness, but all that mattered to him right now was that he was safe. He had to get to Ben, make sure both him and Klaus were out of harm’s way and accounted for. He felt for the vault, frowning when he found it occupied by several people.

 

Ben should have been able to get them out by now, something’s wrong.

 

The vault was densely packed, but one corner had just enough empty space for him to fit.

 

“Five, I think we should-”

 

      He ignored Luther’s words and jumped, landing in the back of the vault loudly. He drew everyone’s attention with the bright blue flash of his power, and immediately felt his stomach drop. There were about a dozen frightened hostages huddled around the room along with two gunmen, and a terrified looking Ben. Klaus was nowhere in sight, but he had bigger problems to worry about. One of the men had Ben in a tight chokehold while the other trained his gun on the crowd. Five stiffened as Ben met his eyes, shaking badly as the man holding him pushed the barrel of a gun against his head. The man led Ben backwards toward the wall of the vault, pressing his back against it as he pulled Ben along with him.

 

“One wrong move kid and I’ll blow his brains out. I know what you can do, so don’t even try. Hands where I can see them, now!”

 

He tightened his jaw and held his palms out towards the man in surrender. The other triggerman trained his gun on Five, finger hovering over the trigger.

 

“Ben, it’s gonna be okay. Don’t-”

 

His brother closed his eyes, and he noticed a sheen of sweat across his skin as he furrowed his brow in concentration.

 

“Five, I can’t hold out for much longer, you have to get them out, please!”

 

      The fabric of Ben’s shirt shifted, and Five felt his blood turn to ice as he understood what was happening. His brother didn’t like to talk about when he lost control of the horror, but Five had seen the aftermath before. He needed to get the hostages out, now . A tentacle slowly crept out from beneath his brother’s blazer, quietly winding its way around the man holding his brother hostage. He made himself wait, keeping his hands raised and holding his breath. The gunman laughed at his brother’s plea, and the tentacle slithered further upwards towards his gun. Five glanced between the two gunmen desperately, trying to find a way to diffuse the situation without getting him or his brother killed. Ben caught his gaze with panicked eyes, and mouthed a single word.

 

Run.

 

And all hell broke loose.

Notes:

No content warning this time! Just an action packed chapter with mild violence and brief mentions of blood

Chapter 21: Jennifer

Summary:

No way we're almost at 100 kudos and 2k hits, thank you so much! <3 <3 Welcome to any new readers, say hi in the comments! Also a special thank you to the handful of people who've been reading and commenting since the beginning of this fic, you guys give me so much encouragement to continue this and it means the world <3

Content warnings in end notes~

      Five winced as the horror ripped the gunman’s arm from its socket, tossing it into the wall with a wet thud. The man screamed as Ben dropped to the floor away from him, beating his remaining fist against the writhing tentacles in a vain attempt to free himself. As soon as the arm restraining him was torn away, Ben scrambled towards the wall and pressed himself against the concrete. As the horror continued its tirade he wheezed and coughed, clearly having difficulty taking in air. The other gunman dropped his aim from Five’s head, leveling the barrel of the gun towards Ben’s shaking form instead. His finger twitched towards the trigger, and Five blinked in front of Ben without a second thought. Pain exploded from his shoulder as he stumbled backwards, barely managing to regain his balance and keep himself upright. Ben jerked as the loud bang reverberated through the small room, eyes widening as he looked up at him. He said something to him, but Five couldn’t hear it over the white hot anger that coursed through his veins.

 

If he’d been a second slower, Ben would be dead right now.

 

Ben.

 

Dead.

 

      He grit his teeth and blinked to the man’s side as his vision blurred red. He threw him to the ground before either of them knew what was happening, sending the gun flying across the floor. Something snapped under his foot with a crack as he came back to himself, and realized what he’d done. The gunman was sprawled on the ground prone, fingers stretched towards the weapon that had skidded just out of his reach. Five’s foot firmly was pressed to his throat, and he wasn’t breathing. He raised his foot slowly and suppressed the urge to vomit as he felt the trampled flesh shift beneath his heel.

 

He would have killed Ben. It doesn’t matter. He would have killed Ben.

 

      He swallowed thickly and clenched his fist as he forced his eyes away from the man’s corpse. Most of the hostages had already fled the vault, and he could hear Luther and Allison doing damage control outside. His sister was rumoring the panicked ones to calm down, and Luther was directing everyone else towards the exit. As long as they were busy outside, the horror couldn’t touch them. There was no sense asking them to put themselves in danger when he could handle the situation by himself. Only three civilians remained in the vault, trapped between Ben and the door. They were staring at the horror in terror, unable to look away as it raised the gunman it had grabbed into the air. Five found himself similarly entranced by the grisly display, and he watched as the man was pulled higher and higher into the air. 

 

      The gunman was hemorrhaging blood from the cavity where his arm used to be, but had somehow managed to remain conscious. He tore at the tendrils ensnaring him with his remaining arm, but that only seemed to anger it. It yanked the man’s head backwards, ripping his ears on at a time. Blood spattered across the remaining hostage’s faces as he screamed in agony, twisting from side to side as a tendril hovered above him menacingly. His howling cries were abruptly cut off as the horror rammed its tentacles down his throat, resurfacing moments later with several of his organs clutched tightly in its bloody suckers. The horror gleefully threw the organs it retrieved against the wall with a wet smack while the gunman convulsed violently. They slowly oozed down towards the floor, leaving behind a trail of glistening red on the concrete as the man’s twitching body finally stilled. 

 

Ben sobbed uncontrollably as he begged the horror to stop through garbled words, and a sudden shriek pulled Five from his stunned stupor. The horror seemed to have grown bored of the gunman, and had begun to wrap its way around one of the hostages as it tossed the mangled corpse aside.

 

“No! No please! Five don’t let it get her, I can’t- I can’t stop it!” Ben wailed as he frantically pressed his shaking hands against his torso.

 

Five tore his gaze back to the terrified woman, and watched as the horror’s tentacles began to drag her closer to Ben. 

 

Fuck-!

 

      He jumped to her side and latched onto her arm, yanking her from the horror’s grasp as he blinked them outside of the vault with his broken arm. She screamed as the tentacles ripped away from her flesh, collapsing to the ground in a sobbing heap as they landed roughly. Five fell to the ground with her as Allison sped around the corner, drawn by the sound of her crying. Five released his grip on her arm and quickly looked over her injuries, hoping he hadn’t been too slow. Her flesh was covered in several circular bruises, and some of the skin had torn away when he’d blinked her out of the horror’s grasp. She was bleeding in several places and absolutely terrified, but none of the damage that had been done was life threatening. He let out a relieved sigh and slumped forwards as Allison rushed to his side with a worried expression. She hesitated, then offered a hand to help him up from the ground.

 

“Five, are you okay? What happened to you?”

 

“I’m fine, just help her get outside,” he said as he slapped away her hand and pulled himself to his feet.

 

 “What the hell is going-”

 

“I can handle it, you’ll only get in the way. Now go.”

 

      He blinked back inside the vault before Allison had a chance to respond. Dark spots swam across his vision as he stumbled out of the blink unsteadily, and he realized with dismay that his energy reserves were running dangerously low. If he had to keep jumping around like this for too much longer he might pass out, leaving him completely at the horror’s mercy. He shook his head to clear the blurriness and looked towards the writhing mass of tentacles sprouting from his terrified brother. The last two hostages were a man and a woman, likely a couple. It was toying with the man as it held the woman captive near Ben, and she was shrieking hysterically as she watched the horror swing the man through the air relentlessly. Ben was babbling incoherent apologies to her as he tugged at the tentacles in a vain attempt to contain them. The horror held the man by his clearly dislocated leg, whipping him back and forth across the room mercilessly. He was out cold, likely passing out from the pain. Five studied the man’s limp body as it flew though the air, hurriedly trying to calculate the velocity and arc of his movement. He tracked the tentacle as it swung back around, waiting for an opening. It paused briefly in the air as it changed direction, and Five leapt into action. 

 

       He blinked himself into the space above the tentacle, falling out of the blue glow close to the ceiling. His stomach lurched as he plummeted downwards towards the man, digging the nails of his good hand into the fabric of his jacket as he collided with him. He felt one of the horror’s tentacles slap against his cast as he clung tightly to the man, and some of the plaster tore away as he yanked the unconscious man into a blink. They tumbled across the floor unceremoniously as Five blinked them to the safety of the hallway, which was thankfully unoccupied. He really, really didn’t need any of his siblings to see him like this, there’d be no stopping them from trying to help if they knew what was happening. He was the only one who could get away from the horror in an instant, the rest of them wouldn’t stand a chance. He quickly extricated himself from under the man’s limp body and pressed two fingers to his neck in search of a pulse. Just as he felt the beat of the man’s heart beneath his fingers, he heard an agonized wail tear through the air from within the vault. He scrambled back to his feet and drew the cobalt glow back to his clenched fists, throwing himself back into the vault as his vision swam.

 

Shit not now, get it together-!

 

      He careened from side to side as he barely managed to keep his balance, nearly toppling over as he willed himself to stay upright. Another shriek pierced his ears, and he forced himself to take in his surroundings as he blinked away the dark spots swimming across his vision. Ben was turning red as he desperately tried to reign in the horror, and his attempts only seemed to make it angrier. It had turned its wrath on the woman he’d left behind, and it had been busy since he’d been gone. Her scalp was absolutely caked in blood, tentacles weaving their way through what was left of her ponytail. Her upper body wasn’t in much better condition, and it was clear from the bloodstained floor that the horror had dragged her across the ground several times by the hair. It pulled her backwards to the end of the room, and Ben cried out in despair.

 

“No! Just let her go! I don’t want to do this, please just let her go!”

 

      The woman screamed incoherently as she was yanked across the rough ground once more, and Five sprinted towards her with as much speed as he could muster. He dodged the horror’s tentacles as they shot out towards him, not wanting to blink unless he absolutely had to. If he overdid it and passed out, then they’d both be dead. He felt a tendril wind its way around his ankle, and yanked his leg free from its steely grip with a grimace. The woman let out another shrill cry, and Five pressed onwards. Ben screamed his name as another tentacle shot towards him, and he barely managed to pull his already crumbling cast out of the horror’s reach in time. The horror slammed the woman into the wall, abruptly silencing her shrill cries. Five wasn’t entirely sure if she was still alive or not, but he had to hope that she was. The horror released her hair and wound its tentacles around her limbs, clearly through with the theatrics now that its victim was unresponsive. Five risked a blink to get her side, wrenching his head backwards as he landed and narrowly avoiding losing his own ear to the horror. Time seemed to slow as the tendrils that wrapped around the woman constricted and started to pull her in different directions.

 

It’s going to tear her apart-!

 

      Distantly he could hear Ben screaming, and he dove towards the woman as the horror squeezed her tightly. He knew what was going to happen, but there was nothing else he could do. It was either this, or leave her to be torn apart by the horror. Five wasn’t really sure which was worse. He closed his eyes as his hand collided with her shoulder, and as he pooled the last of his energy into his fists he had time for one final thought.

 

I’m sorry.

 

He felt the energy crackle between his fingers and ripped what he could away from the horror, leaping into blue glow with eyes tightly squeezed shut.

Notes:

Chapter 21 warnings: violence/gore

Chapter 22: An Arm and a Leg

Notes:

Holy shit! We crossed over 100 kudos and we're sitting at nearly 2k hits! Ahhh! Thank you so much! To anyone new to this fic: it's probably going to be long as hell, I have like 5 or 6 story arcs in mind and we're still on the first one haha. This chapter is a pretty long one, I hope you enjoy!

      Five felt the horror pull the woman’s body in one direction as he yanked her in the other, just barely managing to keep a hold on her with his good hand. The staticky blue glow encircled them both and he clung to her tightly, closing his eyes in resignation as he felt the horror tear away what pieces of her were still clutched in its unforgiving tentacles. They crashed into the floor outside of the vault unceremoniously as they exited the blink, finally skidding to a stop when they eventually collided with a wall. He landed on top of her roughly, and regret shot through him like a hot knife. A sickening warmth seeped through the layers of his academy uniform, right down to the skin of his torso. Without thinking he released his steely grip on her and reached up to yank his tie from his neck, trying to ignore the unpleasant stickiness coating his fingers as he did so. He set his jaw and opened his eyes, knowing he wasn’t going to like what he saw.

 

Oh fuck, oh FUCK-

 

      The woman was still mercifully unconscious, and Five gaped at the mangled stumps where her right arm and left leg had been only moments before. A pool of dark crimson began to form beneath her, and Five looked to the tie clutched in his trembling blood soaked fist. The sight of the cherry red liquid dripping down his fingers made his stomach turn, but he forced himself to look at it nonetheless. 

 

You weren’t fast enough.

 

“-ive!”

 

You weren’t fast enough and now she’s going to die. Her blood is literally on your hands-

 

“-ve! Look at me!”

 

      Luther’s shouting pulled him from his spiraling thoughts, forcing him back to the present. He shook his head and braced himself against the wall, quickly shifting himself into a better working position. He lowered his good hand and began to wrap the tie around what remained of the woman’s bicep, gritting his teeth as blood pooled all around him. His brother had dropped to his side at some point, both of his hands currently occupied with applying another tourniquet to the woman’s leg with his own tie. Luther paused briefly to snatch a pen from the woman’s front pocket, gaze shifting to Five as he shoved it into his tie and twisted.

 

“You with me now Five? We need to move fast, she’s lost a lot of blood but there’s still a chance.”

 

      Five fumbled with his tie, doing his best to thread it around her torn flesh with his one good hand as he nodded. He switched hands, awkwardly holding the tie in place with his broken arm as he used the good one to pull the woman’s name tag from her uniform. He stole a quick glance at the engraved lettering as it tore away from her blouse.

 

Her name was Jennifer. Jennifer Langston. She was a mortgage consultant.

 

      He quickly shoved it into the ends of the tie, using the small plastic clip as leverage to twist the fabric with his good hand. He grimaced as he wrenched the tie tighter and tighter, until finally the blood gushing from Jennifer’s mangled bicep slowed to a steady drip. He held it in place and looked to Luther, who was holding the other tourniquet steady with one hand as he checked for a pulse with his other.

 

“She’s alive,” he said triumphantly as he pulled his hand away and sighed in relief. Five let out a breath and closed his eyes, letting his weight drop onto the wall behind him.

 

Alive. But at what cost?

 

“What happened in there Five? Why didn’t you let us help? If Allison hadn’t come to get me-”

 

“Where’s Ben?” Five interrupted.

 

“What?” Luther asked, clearly confused.

 

      Now that the adrenaline rush was beginning to ebb away, Five could feel the throb of the bullet wound in his shoulder. The stinging reminder of yet another of his shortcomings in battle infuriated him, and he angrily blinked away the tears that prickled at the corners of his eyes.

 

“Ben. Where. Is. Ben?” he enunciated slowly, venom creeping into his words.

 

“I don’t-”

 

      Allison burst through the back exit of the bank with several paramedics and a stretcher in tow, cutting off Luther’s words before he could finish. Her eyes widened in shock as she took in the scene, and her face paled considerably as her gaze froze on Five. He stilled and looked down at himself for the first time since he’d blinked from the vault, realizing how ghastly his current appearance must be to her. His uniform was soaked in a mixture of his own blood and Jennifer’s, his cast had several chunks missing from the garish pink plaster, and there was a glaringly obvious bullet hole through his uniform. She rushed to his side as the paramedics hurried to take Jennifer away, and Luther busied himself with helping them get her onto the stretcher once his hands were free. Allison collapsed to the floor next to him as Five let the paramedics take over holding his tourniquet, and before he could stop her a rumor came flying out of her mouth at him.

 

“I heard a rumor you weren’t in any pain anymore!”

 

      Normally he’d be furious, but he decided to let it go just this once as the throbbing sensation of the bullet he’d taken, along with the other aches and pains plaguing his body, faded away to blissful nothing.

 

“Thanks, Allison. I’m fine though, most of the blood wasn’t mine. Please don’t rumor me unless I ask you to though.”

 

“ Most of? Five, what hap-”

 

“Doesn’t matter. Have you seen Ben? Or Klaus?”

 

“No. Why? Were they hurt?!”

 

“I don’t know,” he grunted as he pulled himself to his feet. “I’m going to find them. Stay here and help Luther.” He turned back towards the vault and began to walk away, only to be held back as Allison grabbed onto the back of his bloodstained blazer.

 

“No! You’re not running away from me again! I heard-!”

 

      He yanked himself into a blink before she could finish, slipping his arms from the jacket and leaving it behind as he went. He stumbled his way out of the jump and into the vault, immediately noticing that all the lights had been shattered. It was pitch black and eerily quiet, save for a quiet sobbing coming from somewhere to his left. The blue glow of his power had illuminated the room briefly before it dissipated, and Five carefully picked his way around the corpses of the gunmen towards the source of the cries.

 

“...Ben? It’s me. Please come out.”

 

He heard the crying stop, only to be replaced by shuddering breaths and wet sniffles.

 

“She’s alive Ben, she’ll be okay. It’s over.”

 

“Don’t lie to me Five,” Ben replied wearily from somewhere in the darkness, “I know what it did to her. Her arm, her leg, it fucking ate them. I could- I could feel- ”

 

He stopped talking abruptly, and Five could hear him heave several times before it was finally followed by the sound of his brother vomiting onto the floor.

 

“...Ben…”

 

His brother coughed and choked as Five felt out in front of himself, trying desperately to locate him in the darkness of the vault.

 

“...She is alive. I don’t- I don’t know if she’ll be okay. That’s the truth. I’m sorry I lied, now please come out.”

 

He flinched as something latched onto his ankle, and he quickly forced away the thoughts of the horror latching onto him that immediately sprang to mind.

 

“...Promise?” he heard Ben say in a quiet, raspy voice.

 

“Promise,” he said as the hand detached itself from his leg and he slowly lowered himself to the ground.

 

Ben leaned against him in the darkness, still sniffling but starting to regain his composure.

 

“...It’s over?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“...Can we go home now? I just- I just want to go home, Five.”

 

“Yeah. We can go home. Luther and Allison can handle the press, I’ll get you back to the car. Sound good?”

 

He sniffed one final time before replying.

 

“...Okay. Th- thanks for- for coming back for me. I don’t really deserve it, but-”

 

“Ben.”

 

“I don’t Five! I could have killed you and-”

 

“You didn’t. Just shut up and take my hand.”

 

“...fine.”

 

      He rose from the floor and felt for Ben’s hand in the dark, pulling them both to their feet as he felt trembling fingers encircle his own. The time he’d spent comforting Ben had allowed him to recharge a bit, giving him enough energy to blink them outside and away from the prying eyes of the public. He felt for the area surrounding the bank, trying to pinpoint their father’s car amidst the crowd of ogling bystanders drawn by their theatrics. After a moment he finally found it, relieved to find it safely tucked away from the crowd behind several barricades.

 

“Hold on tight,” he mumbled as the blue glow sparking from his cast-clad hand dimly lit the room. Ben said nothing as the light faintly illuminated the corpses of the gunmen along with several puddles of old blood, but Five felt his weak hold on his good hand strengthen. Once he was sure Ben had a strong enough grip on him he pulled him into the light, blinking them both behind their father’s car. Ben immediately released his hand and braced himself on the car, doubling over as he hugged his arms around himself.

 

“I- ughhhhh. I’m gonna… Oh, I’m gonna throw up. I forgot what that felt like, just no . That just feels so wrong. Blughh.”

 

Ben heaved as he banged a fist against the car, and Five let out a small chuckle in spite of himself. Ben met his eyes with a weary look of annoyance painted across his queasy face.

 

“Oh, so this is funny to you, is it?”

 

 Five felt a grin stretch across his face and he nodded, barely managed to stifle another laugh. Now that Ben was away from the vault he was quickly returning to his normal sarcastic self, much to Five’s relief. His brother straightened his posture and pointed a finger towards him, smirking and shaking it in his face as he spoke.

 

“Don’t you forget that Klaus and I managed to get a boulder into your room without you noticing, asshole. I sleep right next to you buddy, and I’ve got nothing but time.”

 

Five’s expression fell at the mention of his other brother’s name, and a look of confusion crossed Ben’s face.

 

“Ben, was Klaus… with you? Before?”

 

The glint of mischief disappeared entirely from Ben’s eyes, replaced by an air of worry.

 

“No. He never came to his post. He wasn’t with the rest of you?”

 

Shit.

 

“No. He didn’t come in with us. Ben, are you okay if I-”

 

“Go. I’ll be fine.”

 

“Let me borrow your jacket. I don’t want the press to see me like this,” he said, gesturing to his bloodstained shirt and tattered cast.

 

      Ben dropped his gaze and refused to look at Five as he sheepishly shrugged off his blazer, holding it out towards him with a wobbling hand. Five took it from him and put it on, eying Ben warily as he did so.

 

“Ben… are you sure you’re-”

 

“Just go find Klaus. I’ll be fine.” 

 

“...Okay. Just stay here and don’t go anywhere. We’ll be heading home before you know it.”

 

Ben said nothing, and he hesitated briefly before he made himself turn away.

 

Deal with it later, find Klaus now.

 

      On a hunch he began to walk in the direction of the restroom he’d seen his brother disappear into earlier, hoping his assumption was wrong. He tried to feel for the area around the bathroom, but it was a bit too far away for him to sense. He let out a frustrated huff and raked his hand through his hair in annoyance as he quickened his pace. As he drew closer he began to make out the muffled sound of someone yelling angrily. He strained to make out what they were saying, and realized that the voice was familiar.

 

…Diego?

 

      Now that he was closer to the bathroom he could sense the matter around it, and he took a moment to assess the surrounding area. Someone seemed to be trying to.. carry? No, drag someone out from inside of the restroom. Two smaller figures stood behind the first, one of which was pacing around in circles and gesturing to the other. 

 

Shit. Klaus, please don’t be doing what I think you’re doing-

 

He blinked behind the two smaller figures, and felt his heart sink as his fears were confirmed.

 

“-asn’t so fucking selfish, then Ben would have been just- Jesus Five! Fuck! A little warning!” yelled Diego as he jumped at his sudden appearance. 

 

      Allison startled as well, though Luther was too occupied with trying to force Klaus out of the bathroom to notice. Five grimaced as he took in his brother’s appearance. He was clearly high, head lolling from side to side and giggling softly through his wires as Luther attempted to gently pry his fingers from the doorframe.

 

“Klaus, enough. I’m in charge, and you need to let go of this door. Now.”

 

      Luther was trying to use his Number One voice to intimidate him, but it only made Klaus’s stupid grin wider. He immediately let go of the bathroom door and dropped to his knees in front of their brother, placing his good hand against his cast clad one in a mock gesture of prayer. He shook his joined hands at Luther as he looked up at him with puppy dog eyes, blinking them rapidly. Five noticed with dismay how small his pupils were and averted his eyes in discomfort.

 

“Enough with the theatrics Klaus, just get to the car.”

 

“Where were you? Is Ben okay?” Allison asked him as Luther tried and failed to pull Klaus to his feet.

 

“He’s fine, he’s waiting by the car. The press?”

 

“Taken care of. Are you-”

 

“Fine. I’m fi-”

 

“Oh for fucks sake, enough!” yelled Diego as he stormed over to Klaus.

 

      Their brother was currently rolling in the dirt and laughing as Luther’s face turned darker and darker shades of red. Diego grabbed the center of Klaus’s shirt with both hands and hauled him to his feet, shoving him roughly into the wall of the port a potty as he began to yell into his face. With every emphasized word he slammed Klaus angrily into the wall, and his brother’s grin quickly slipped from his face.

 

“Ben got taken hostage because you were out here , getting high instead of helping us!”

 

“You can’t even talk to the hostages, all you had to do was sit outside and point where to go. People almost died because you. Weren’t. There !”

 

“Diego, enough!” cried Allison as he slammed Klaus against the wall one final time. “Enough. Let’s just go.”

 

“Fine,” he mumbled. “Fine.”

 

      He yanked his hands from Klaus’s sweater, and Five could see a single tear slide down Klaus’s cheek. He angrily scrubbed it away, and flipped Diego the bird with his one good hand. His sleeve was pushed up a bit, and Five could see where the makeup he’d applied that morning to cover the bruising on his wrist had stained the fabric.

 

“Alright, that is it-”

 

“Diego no-!”

 

      Diego wound up for a punch and Five quickly blinked between him and Klaus before he realized what he was doing. White hot agony exploded from his shoulder as the blow landed directly on top of his fresh bullet wound, sending him stumbling backwards into Klaus. His brother shoved him forwards again in surprise, and somewhere in between him and Diego he managed to regain his footing.

 

So much for Allison’s rumor, it was nice while it lasted, he thought as he grit his teeth in pain. Diego stared at his clenched fist as it came away bloody, tearing his gaze to Five with mouth agape.

 

Damn. So much for keeping that hidden.

 

“F-F-Five! What ha-happened to-”

 

“Nothing,” he hissed through clenched teeth, “I’m fine, just-”

 

“Children! What is the meaning of this?”

 

They all froze as their father approached, and Five shrunk back as he noticed the furious expression on his face.

 

“Not only have you failed to complete your mission in a satisfactory manner, but you can’t even retreat from your own failures in a dignified manner. Truly disappointing, all of you. This is not the standard you should be setting as members of The Umbrella Academy. Number Three, follow me. Your abilities are required elsewhere. See to it that the rest of you get to the car in a more civilized fashion. Dismissed.”

 

      As Allison followed their father, Five grabbed Klaus’s good hand and shoved passed Diego, yanking him along behind him as he stormed back towards the car. His shoulder was screaming at him from where Diego hit it, but he didn’t care. He pressed onwards, refusing to look back at Klaus. He didn’t want to see the glazed over look in his eye. It reminded him too much of that night, the night he’d found him lying there, the night that he’d thought he’d lost him. 

 

“It’ll be okay Klaus, it’ll be okay,” he mumbled as he tightened his grip and continued to pull him along.

Notes:

Chapter 22 warnings: Blood and severe injury, drug use

Chapter 23: No Choice

Notes:

We're getting closer and closer to a plot point I've had planned since chapter one, I'm starting to regain some steam writing this again to reach it! Y'all remember when I said enjoy the fluff while it lasted? Yeahhhhh it might be a while until there's another cute chapter like that. Hope you enjoy the emotional roller coaster we're boarding, the ride isn't stopping for the foreseeable future <3

      The car ride home was quiet, and that was just fine with Klaus. He was starting to come down from his high much to his disappointment, and while he didn’t remember how he’d gotten to the car it was obvious no one was happy with him. Diego had been glaring daggers at him for the entire ride, Five refused to even look at him, and Luther and Allison seemed content to just avoid him entirely. Ben had snuck a few not so subtle glances of concern his way, but after the third or fourth one he’d realized he was actually looking at Five, not him. Both Five and Ben were covered in a fair amount of dried blood, though it didn’t seem like most of it belonged to them. He could see a few shadows flitting about the car around his siblings, mumbling softly as they darted between the seats. He eyed the blood staining his brother’s uniforms, dreading the moment the quiet murmurs would once again turn to full fledged screaming and begging.

 

How many more? How many more ghosts are you bringing home this time? How long until there's so many that I can’t even hear you over them anymore? How long until every room of the academy is packed full, and there’s nowhere left to run?

 

      He closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the headrest of the seat, trying to ignore the incessant babbling of the dead around him. A sudden jab of cold pierced through him, and he squeezed his eyes shut harder as he shivered at the intrusion.

 

Please, please get home soon. I can’t do this sober anymore, there’s way too many of them now. Please.

 

      Another raw stab of freezing pain shot through him, and he curled in on himself in a vain attempt to protect what little warmth he had left. The air from his lungs turned to ice as yet another spirit crashed into him, taking the last of his body heat with it as it passed through him and chilled him down to his bones. He couldn’t stop himself from shaking, no matter how hard he tried to. To his left he began to make out the tell-tale noises of Five’s ghost gurgling, and to his right he could hear Allison’s ghost making a similar racket. He kept his eyes closed and jammed his shaking hands over his ears, desperately trying to stop himself from having to bear witness to the torrent of suffering spirits trapped in the vehicle with him. It helped a little, but not very much.

 

      After what felt like an eternity, Klaus finally felt the vehicle slow to a stop and he lowered his hands from his ears. The ghosts weren’t quite deafening yet, but they were well on their way. His ears were greeted by a cacophony of guttural noises, quiet pleading, and muffled shrieking and crying. He slowly opened his eyes, trying his best to keep them focused on the door of the car. The ride had been absolutely miserable, and he was now completely numb with the cold of the dead. Ben reached for the handle of the door and hopped out, with Five following after. Klaus scrambled out of the car after Five as the rest of their siblings piled out of the other side of the vehicle, and he quickly ran past him and Ben. He was desperate to get away from their ghosts as quickly as possible. He dashed towards the academy before they could stop him, not wanting to give their father a chance to exit the car. He frantically tried to put as much distance between himself and his siblings ghosts as he could, not caring what consequences he might face later. Someone, though dead or alive he wasn’t sure, was yelling at him as he ran, which only made him quicken his pace. He burst through the doors of the academy, fully intent on escaping to the safety of his room, only to be intercepted by Grace.

 

“Oh! Welcome home sweetie! Your father instructed me before you left that everyone would need an after mission check up once you all returned home. Please head to the infirmary to wait your turn with the rest of your siblings, I’ll be ready for you soon.”

 

Wait? With everyone else, and their ghosts?

 

He grimaced and pointed to the bathroom upstairs, hopping from foot to foot as he did so.

 

“Alright, but don’t take too long hun. I expect you downstairs before it’s your turn, so be fast.”

 

      He nodded enthusiastically before he dashed up the stairs, slamming the bathroom door behind him as he heard the chatter of his siblings begin to drift through the academy. He dug out the small baggie of pills from his boxers and shook two of the pills into his hand, setting the bag down on the counter as he crushed up the pills. He sprinkled the dust into his gums and quickly washed away the bitter taste with a handful of water, letting out a sigh of relief as he finished. He picked up the baggie to put it away, and froze as he lifted it closer to his face to inspect.

 

There’s only three left? No. No, that can’t be right! This was supposed to last all week, how can there only be three left?! Did Five somehow- no, he would have just taken them all. Then how-?

 

      He mentally took stock of how many pills he’d taken in the last twenty four hours, and realized with dismay that he hadn’t lost any after all. He’d burned through nearly all of the tiny supply he’d gotten from Cody in less than a day. At this rate he needed to go out again tonight to keep up with his usage, a thought that absolutely terrified him. He slammed the bag back onto the counter in frustration. After Cody- after last night- he never wanted to speak to another drug dealer again. Ever. But, he wanted to see the ghosts even less. He needed something to take the edge off, he couldn’t stand to be around his siblings sober anymore. Especially with the amount of enraged spirits they had attached to them now.

 

Dad has a liquor cabinet, maybe that will work? But I can’t take that on the go with me! Oh God, what do I do?

 

He clenched his good hand tightly before slamming it into the counter as several tears slid down his face.

 

What can I do?

 

       He only had a few choices, and none of them solved any of his problems permanently. Getting sober wasn’t a choice, he wasn’t willing to live with a bunch of demented apparitions taunting him at every waking moment. Liquor was an option, but it wouldn’t help him any if they were sent on a mission. His only choice was to find another dealer and hope that they weren’t- that they didn’t-

 

The room felt like it was closing in on him, sucking the air from his lungs as the walls collapsed in on him. He squeezed his eyes shut and gripped the counter tightly, trying in vain to steady his uneven breathing.

 

They’re not going to stop bringing ghosts home. Ever. And none of them are ever going to leave them alone. It’s only going to get worse, your only choice is to keep doing this until someday it kills you-

 

      He wheezed and coughed as he frantically tried to draw in a breath and failed, sinking to the cold tile of the bathroom in the process. Terror shot through him as he tried again, clicking his tongue uselessly as he failed to pull in any air. He clawed desperately at his throat as his diaphragm spasmed wildly-

 

A harsh knocking on the door shocked him out of his panic, and he finally managed to suck in a shuddering, uneven breath.

 

“Klaus! Get out of there already, Mom’s waiting on you! Allison already finished and Five had to go before you! Hurry up and get your ass downstairs before she gets to Ben!”

 

      Klaus hacked and sputtered as he choked on the air, and Diego’s angry footsteps faded away down the hall. After he’d somewhat composed himself, he slapped his good hand up onto the counter and used the leverage to drag himself back to his feet. As his breathing began to even out he turned on the tap and quickly washed his face, dabbing away the tear tracks gently with a clean towel. He stole a glance at himself in the mirror and winced at his harrowing appearance. His reflection looked so, so, tired. The bags under his eyes had bags of their own, and his skin had taken on a sickly yellow pallor. He grimaced as he noticed a hickey peeking out from behind the fabric of his sweater, and he yanked the collar up a bit higher. He looked away from the mirror and plucked the small baggie of pills from the counter, tucking it safely back into his waistband. He patted it gently through his clothes before turning towards the bathroom door. He laid his hand on the doorknob, hesitating for only a moment before he forced himself to twist it and push the door open. Before he could change his mind he stepped into the hall, leaving behind the safety of the small quiet room.

 

      He hurried downstairs, hoping to avoid Diego’s wrath and get his exam over with quickly. Once it was finished, he’d have plenty of time alone to rest. As he rounded the corner to the infirmary he noticed Ben sitting outside with his head bowed down towards his knees. Thankfully the pills seemed to be doing their job, as the few staticky outlines pacing around his brother were blissfully quiet and mostly tolerable. He sat himself next to his brother, who raised his head to look at him with tired eyes.

 

“I get why you do it Klaus. I didn’t before, but I do now,” he said as he looked him up and down. He lowered his eyes again before he continued. “I just- I wish we didn’t have to do this. I wish we were ordinary like Vanya. You know?”

 

      Klaus stared at Ben in shock. After a moment, he wrapped his cast covered arm around his brother and pulled him closer, dropping his head onto his shoulder as he did so. Ben stiffened but didn’t say anything, eventually relaxing into his touch as he let out an exasperated sigh. Klaus felt a small smile pull at his lips as he thought of how Five had reacted similarly. He and Ben were so much alike, it was almost funny. If Five ever lost his ego when they got older they’d practically be twins. He sat with Ben in silence, hoping he was able to find some comfort in his presence. Time passed, and eventually Five burst through the door of the infirmary, looking happier than Klaus had seen him in days. Both he and Ben raised their heads to look at their brother in curiosity. He’d removed his jacket, and his injured arm was now in a sling instead of a cast. A few bandages peaked out near his shoulder from beneath his dress shirt, but Five didn’t seem to care about whatever new injury he’d obtained during the mission. He grinned and held out his bloody blazer towards Ben triumphantly.

 

“Here Ben, sorry about the-”

 

He faltered briefly as he noticed Klaus sitting behind Ben, the chipper expression dropping from his face as he continued.

 

“-blood. Thanks. For letting me borrow it. Here.” he finished awkwardly as he thrust the soiled jacket in Ben’s direction.

 

“No worries. Thanks for… you know. Earlier. I don’t get it, but thanks.” he replied as he took the jacket from him.

 

A worried look crossed Five’s face and he looked like he was going to say something more, then he glanced to Klaus and his expression tightened.

 

“....Take care of yourself Ben. It wasn’t your fault.”

 

Ouch.

 

Five turned and walked away as Klaus heard Grace calling his name.

 

“He’s here, he’s coming!” Ben yelled for him. 

 

      His brother lowered his eyes back to the floor as Klaus stood, clearly not wanting to address the questions that Five’s comment had raised. Klaus drew in a breath and walked into the infirmary, closing the door behind him.

 

“There you are sweetie! You’re late mister, you were supposed to be back before your sister finished.” Grace scolded as he hopped onto the examination table.

 

He shrugged at her and pulled a sheepish expression.

 

“Now then, I’ve heard from your other siblings that you weren’t exactly involved in the mission-” 

 

He averted his eyes as she continued, ashamed that he’d let Ben fend for himself against several armed men with no lookout.

 

“-but were you hurt anywhere while you were out?”

 

He shook his head as he continued to stare at the paper of the exam table.

 

“Well that’s good! Let's see how everything else is healing then, okay?”

 

He nodded and dared to meet her eyes, relieved to find them free of judgment.

 

“Your brother’s arm is healing a bit faster than I was expecting, maybe you’ll be just as lucky.” she said as she gave him a playful wink.

 

      God he hoped so, not being able to speak was absolutely infuriating. He hopped off the table and shuffled over to where Grace had set up the x-ray machine, raising his arms as she draped a lead vest over his head.

 

“Alright, strike a pose for me and hold it, let’s see how that arm is doing.”

 

He twirled dramatically before placing his good hand on his hip and pointing to the ceiling with his cast covered arm.

 

“Ooh I like it!” Grace said as he heard the click of the machine. “Now let’s see what we’re working with here… Well, it looks like you’re in luck mister! Those cracked ribs are nearly healed and you should be able to lose the cast in a week or two. Now let’s get a look at that jaw. Get nice and close for me and give me a biiiiiiig smile!”

 

Klaus took a few steps closer and grinned as wide as he could, holding the awkward expression until he heard another click.

 

“Perfect! Let’s see… Oh wonderful! You’re making a speedy recovery, much faster than I expected. We can probably take these out in a week or two, you’ll be back to training before you know it!”

 

      And just like that, the first burst of hope he’d had in days was immediately drowned in a tidal wave of dread. He swallowed away the fear and nodded, giving Grace a shaky thumbs up as he did so.

 

“Well that’s all I had for you, but your father wanted to see you after your exam. Head on up to his study after you send your brother in here, okay sweetie?”

 

      Her words hit him like a punch to the gut, and he couldn’t even fake a smile for her as he forced himself to pull off the lead vest and hand it back to her. He made his way towards the infirmary door, shoulders slumping in defeat as he pushed it open. Ben was still sitting with his eyes glued to the floor, and Klaus was just barely able to make out the wispy humanoid shapes circling around him. He wasn’t completely sure, but it seemed like there were more ghosts attached to Ben now than there had been before they’d left for the mission.

 

  Lovely. I hope I’m never sober enough to find out for sure , he thought hysterically.

 

      The door closed behind him with a click, and Ben looked up at the sound dejectedly. His brother’s eyes met his, and Klaus jerked his head back in the direction of the infirmary. Ben sighed in exasperation as he rose from the bench and made his way inside, pulling the door closed behind him.

Now for the really fun part , Klaus thought to himself bitterly as he began the long climb up the stairs to his father’s study.

Notes:

Chapter 23 warnings: description of panic attack, drug use. Super brief implied recollection of an assault (not described)

Chapter 24: Entombed

Notes:

I'm not dead! Holy shit this chapter gave me the WORST writer's block, to the point that I skipped over it and wrote the next chapter out before I finished this one lmao. Luckily for you readers, that means there will definitely be another chapter posted sometime tomorrow afternoon :D Also! Oh my god! There's been over 500 new hits since the last update, huge huge HUGE thank you to Kaufmann for helping me out with tags <3

Klaus stood outside the door to his father’s study, fist raised in hesitation for a moment before he finally made himself knock softly against the wood.

 

“Come in, Number Four.” came the stern reply from within.

 

      He pushed open the heavy door with a grimace, unable to quell his creeping sense of dread. His father was sitting at his desk, somehow still managing to be imposing even when his attention was entirely focused elsewhere. His eyes were locked onto one of his leather bound journals as his hand moved across the page. He continued to write without pause as he spoke to Klaus once more.

 

“Not only were you out of uniform in front of the public,” he began, looking away from the journal briefly to eye Klaus’s sweater disapprovingly before returning his gaze to the small book, “but from what Number One told me in his report, you did not even participate in today’s mission. I expect you to hold yourself to a much higher standard as a member of the academy. This juvenile behavior is inexcusable Number Four, I will not have it.”

 

      His father suddenly snapped the journal shut and stood, making Klaus flinch. He averted his eyes as his father strode towards him, not wanting to face his ire. Hopefully he’d run out of steam soon and let him leave, there were only so many ways to tell someone they were a disappointment. All he wanted was for this lecture to end so he could crawl into bed and try to forget everything that had happened over the last few days.

 

“I’ve allowed these childish fears of yours to run rampant for far too long, but no more. Tonight, it ends. Come.”

 

Shit.

 

      He marched past Klaus without another word, swiftly making his way down towards the entryway of the academy. As much as Klaus wanted to just run away to his room and slam the door shut behind him, he knew it would only make everything worse in the end. He really, really , didn’t want to find out what his father had in store for him, but he didn’t have much of a choice. After a brief internal struggle he trailed after his father in resignation, doing his best to not think about the possibilities of what awaited him.

 

     Much to Klaus’s dismay his father ended up leading him outside, right back to the car he’d already run from once today. He eyed the vehicle warily, frowning slightly as bits and pieces of the return trip to the academy earlier came back to him. Everything after Luther dragged him out of the bathroom was still a blur, though he did recall Diego screaming in his face at one point. He had no memory of how exactly his brothers had managed to cram him inside of the car, and he really didn’t care about the details at this point. Sometimes it was easier not knowing everything.

 

     His father cleared his throat and glared at him expectantly, snapping him out of his thoughts. He realized he’d been standing frozen in a daze next to the car, and quickly made himself pull open the door. He did not want to test his father’s already non existent patience any further tonight. He clambered inside the vehicle, grimacing as the familiar interior brought forth even more details of the ride home with his siblings. He shivered at the memory of the relentless cold that had pierced through him, the stabbing kind that only came from the unpleasant intrusions of the dead. He’d been unable to do anything to alleviate their frigid touches or steadily increasing wails, shivering from the cold as panic had begun to overtake him. He was pretty sure he’d shut his eyes and covered his ears at some point, but that had never really helped much. There was no way to drown out everything the dead threw at him without some sort of pharmaceutical aid. The only thing that had kept him somewhat grounded throughout the whole awful ordeal had been the warmth of Five and Allison sat beside him.

 

Five.

 

Right.

 

He was angry with him now, he was pretty sure.

 

     He still didn’t know the exact details of what his siblings had been through on the mission, but it was clear that something bad had happened. Probably multiple bad things. Ben definitely wasn’t in a good place when he’d sat with him outside of the infirmary, and though he’d tried to comfort him, the way he’d been talking had scared him a little. There’d been a fair amount of blood on him, which meant he’d probably been forced into a situation where he’d needed to use The Horror. Klaus knew his brother hated his power almost as much as he hated his own, and his poor brother wasn’t always the best at controlling the monster that lived within him. Five’s words to Ben as he’d come out of the infirmary had only further confirmed his suspicions.

 

“Take care of yourself Ben. It wasn’t your fault.”

 

       The way Five had looked at him after he’d said that made him want to cry. He knew Diego was furious at him for disappearing, but Five blaming him for whatever had happened with Ben made him absolutely miserable. He knew he deserved it though. A good brother would have been there for his siblings instead of running away to get high. 

 

     The engine hummed to life as his father turned the key in the ignition, wordlessly backing them out of the academy’s long driveway. The tires crunched on the gravel as they pulled away from the academy’s looming presence, and Klaus tried his best to not think about anything related to the mission. He stared out the window silently as the city lights began to pass them by, agitated by his inability to ask where they were going. It’s probably for the best, he thought in defeat, it’s not like dad would actually give me an answer . He’d always been a nervous talker, something that never failed to infuriate his father. He stared through the glass up at the stars, losing himself in the beauty of it all. Despite his current circumstances, Klaus had always found an odd sort of comfort in the night. The sheer vastness of the night sky, full to the brim with twinkling stars, always filled him with a sort of melancholic wonder. There were so many different planets and galaxies, so many different faraway places.

 

And yet, he was stuck here .

 

On this shitty planet, in this shitty academy, with his shitty power.

 

      He let out a frustrated puff of air as he glanced up at the moon, taking in its beauty. Surely there’s no ghosts all the way up there , he thought wistfully. Up there, up there I could be free. He closed his eyes and imagined himself dancing across its surface, a long skirt swishing around his ankles as he twirled around in the blissful silence. He closed his eyes and quietly hummed to himself, losing himself completely in the fantasy. He’d find the biggest crater he could and build himself a small house, hidden away from the rest of the world.

 

“-our!”

 

How nice it would be, being the only one alive or dead for miles. No more jabbing dead hands, no more deafening wails. Maybe he’d explore the rest of its surface, see what hidden treasures there were to find.

 

“-t once!”

 

No academy, no missions, no ghosts. Just him, alone. What he wouldn’t give to have an entire planet all to himself, to be able to finally get away from the dead once and for all-

 

“NUMBER FOUR!”

 

      His father’s shout rudely pulled him from his daydream, thrusting him abruptly back to reality as he was yanked from the car. He kicked his legs out wildly as he scrambled to find the ground, barely able to keep his balance as his father shoved him forward roughly and released him. He glared down at him as he slammed the car door shut, and Klaus just barely managed to regain his balance. Once he found his footing he glanced around at their surroundings curiously. They were in a quiet part of town, there were a few small shops, a church, and-

 

No.

 

Please no.

 

He looked up at his father in terror, trying desperately to convey with his eyes that he’d learned his lesson, he’d do better next time, he’d be good , just please don’t make him go in there -

 

      His father, unmoved by his silent display, grabbed him by the shoulder and steered him in the direction of the cemetery. As they drew closer Klaus could hear the deafening chorus of hundreds, maybe even thousands, of the dead babbling and wailing incoherently within. He tried to twist away from the hand on his shoulder, but his father’s grip only tightened. As he pushed him forwards through the entrance Klaus raised his hands to cover his ears, but his father quickly batted them away.

 

“Enough of that nonsense! Tonight-”

 

“Where’s my husband?! Have you seen my husband?!”

 

Klaus flinched as a woman screamed in his face and thrust an icy hand through his chest.

 

“ -ct you to face your fear-”

 

He shut his eyes as a particularly grotesque specter crossed their path, chattering to himself absentmindedly as his blood seeped into the stone walkway behind him. 

 

“Oh Myrra, forgive me honey, I had no choice-”

 

“-pathetic excuses! No more-”

 

The shrill voice of what sounded like an incredibly irate elderly woman pierced his ears, though he didn’t dare open his eyes to look. 

 

“-just a fuck up like his father, I should have written him out of the will years ago, but no-”

 

       A frigid touch suddenly burned through his upper body and straight down to the bone. She must have attempted to grab him by the shoulders and shake him, and he tried again to twist away from his father’s hold on him. Unfortunately his father yanked him straight through her as he held fast, and freezing cold shot through every nerve of his body like lightning. He shivered as he forced his feet to keep moving, wrapping his arms around himself as best he could to try and preserve what little body heat he had left.

 

“-Number Four, this behavior is-”

 

“-time it is? I have to be back by eight, if I’m not then I’ll miss the train-”

 

“-last time. Do you understand?”

 

      He nodded, not having the faintest idea what his father had just said. Hopefully just agreeing with him would get him home faster. They were treading across a flatter surface now, and the cool breeze of the night vanished. Their footsteps echoed around them, giving the impression that they were no longer outside.

 

“-just want to go home! I want my MOM!”

 

Klaus winced. This voice sounded particularly young, and the sentiment was definitely something he could empathize with for once.

 

“-we are. This will be-”

 

“-just a whore, she deserved what she got. In fact, she should’ve-”

 

His father finally stopped walking and released him, and Klaus tried his best to pick out his words over the senseless din of the dead.

 

“-your sleeping quarters for this evening.” 

 

Wait.

 

What?!

 

      Surely he hadn’t heard his father right, surely he didn’t expect him to sleep here of all places. His eyes shot wide open and his gaze darted around wildly as he took in the small room he found himself in. It was rather small and made mostly of stone, with dozens of small plaques covering the walls. He looked closer at one of them, and realized with mounting horror that each one was a tombstone. This was some sort of crypt, packed tightly with the dead of an entire family line. 

 

“I should expect that will be-”

 

“Who are you?! You don’t belong here!” 

 

 “-an adequate amount of time to cure you of this childish fear of yours.”

 

“Get out! Get out get out get OUT!”

 

“Farewell Number Four.”

 

“YOU DON’T BELONG HERE, GET THE FUCK OUT!”

 

No. No noNONO-

 

      He whipped his head back towards his father to plead with him, to find some way to convince him to not leave him here alone, but it was too late. His father had already made his way back outside of the crypt, and was pulling the gate shut behind him. Klaus quickly scrambled back towards the entrance, noticing with dismay that his father was chaining it shut. He slammed his good hand against the gate, yanking at the bars in vain as he met his father’s cold stare with pleading eyes.

 

“That’s quite enough Number Four! If your-”

 

“Oh thank god, you have to help me!”

 

“-fear is not cured by morning, then I will be forced to resort to other methods.” 

 

He clicked the lock shut, and Klaus felt his heart sink as his father turned and began to walk back towards the car.

 

“Look at me! Just look at me damn it!”

 

He jumped as an biting chill tore through his torso, and slowly slid to the ground in resignation. He watched his father’s figure slowly fade from view, then quickly fished out the pills hidden in his waistband.

 

      Fuck, three is definitely not enough for this shit , he thought dejectedly before crushing the few remaining pills to dust inside the bag. In the corner of his eye he noticed the woman who’d been screaming at him earlier was now towering over him, and he braced himself as she tried to haul him to his feet. Her frigid hands swiped though him uselessly, making him drop the bag and curl in on himself at the unpleasant sensation. She let out an ear splitting howl of anger as he scrambled for the bag, pawing at the concrete desperately until he finally gripped the small square of plastic tightly. He tore it open and dumped the contents into his mouth, barely managing to get it around the wires holding his jaw shut. He didn't ever like to burn though his supply completely, but the screams coming from deeper within the tomb were unbearable. Klaus knew it was only a matter of time before the more of them realized they had company and joined in on tormenting him. He squeezed his eyes shut and covered his ears, hoping the pills would numb him to the ghosts’ presence quickly.

 

Please, please just be enough to get me through the night. Please.

 

He pulled his legs to his chest, dropped his head onto his knees, and began the long wait for morning.

Notes:

Chapter 24 warnings: drug use

Chapter 25: Fissure

Notes:

Ah I'm so glad I dug my way out of my writer's block, this chapter was so fun to write x) I actually managed to squeeze in a bit more fluff before I full send the angst train, hope you guys enjoy! <3 <3

Where?! Where did he get more?

 

      Five buried the fingers of his good hand into his hair and tugged at it in frustration as he paced back and forth across his room. Grace had heeded his warning and locked down the medications in the infirmary, and he’d stolen the last of the pills off of Klaus only a few days ago. He’d thought that that would be the end of it, and yet somehow his idiot brother had found some other way of getting his fix. To top it all off, he was fairly certain that his brother had snuck out yet again after they’d come home. He’d heard Ben return to his room almost half an hour ago, and Klaus still hadn’t made his way back despite going into the infirmary first. Whatever had happened to him when he’d snuck out to resupply last time clearly wasn’t enough to deter him, which meant his dependency was much worse than Five had originally thought. Those hadn’t been just bruises around Klaus’s neck, someone had-

 

      He froze mid step and shook his head. He really didn’t want to picture the possibilities. There’d be plenty of time to track down the perpetrator later, but for now he needed to figure out what to do about Klaus’s addiction problem. He would not watch his brother drown himself in drugs until it killed him. He wouldn’t . Before he could resume his frustrated pacing, he picked up a muffled sound that sent a pang of dread through him.

 

One of his siblings was screaming, and it sounded like someone was trying to keep them quiet.

 

Ben.

 

      He didn’t have much strength left after the mission, so it took him a moment to pool enough energy into his hands for a jump. He closed his eyes and sensed for Ben’s room, desperately searching for his assailant while he tried to find an adequate place to land. After a moment, Five furrowed his brow in confusion. There was no attacker. Ben was alone in his room, laying on his bed and… holding something? Five sensed Ben move his head slightly, and as another muffled scream rang out he understood exactly what was going on. He grimaced and opened his eyes, letting the blue glow dissipate from his palms.

 

Ben wasn’t under attack, he was crying.

 

     Five let out a sigh, feeling a bit guilty for catching Ben in such a state without his knowledge. He started to pace once again, doing his best to not listen too closely. Ben valued his privacy just as much as Five, and he did his best to give his brother space after a particularly rough mission. Before he could recollect his thoughts, a knock at his door stopped him once more.

 

“What!?” he spat out, not having any more patience for the rest of his siblings today. It was likely their fault Klaus had run off yet again. Honestly, was there any way they could have handled the situation worse?!

 

“Your father instructed me to bring you all dinner after everyone’s checkups were completed, shall I leave it outside your door?” came the chipper reply.

 

Oh.

 

“No- no, I’m coming!”, he called out, quickly scrambling to open the door. Grace smiled her too perfect smile at him as he sheepishly took the silver tray from her hands.

 

“Thanks, Grace.”

 

“Anytime sweetie, don’t forget to brush before bed now!” she said, giving him a wink.

 

He felt a smile start to creep across his face before he forced it away.

 

She’s just plastic. A camera with a voice, nothing more.

 

“I won’t. Goodnight Grace.”

 

“Goodnight pumpkin,” she chirped, ruffling his hair before he could stop her.

 

He rolled his eyes as she turned away, shutting the door behind her. He carried the tray over to his desk and sat down, bracing himself for disappointment before he pulled off the cloche.

 

….seriously?

 

      His expectations had been low, but this was just sad. Beneath the cloche sat a small bowl of translucent broth, along with a single granola bar. The glass of water that accompanied the meal probably had a similar nutritional value to that of the soup. Five quickly drank the broth and unwrapped the granola bar, leaving the trash on the tray before he replaced the cloche. He stashed the bar inside the desk before he stood and stretched. Most days he had the fortitude to put up with his father’s starvation diet, but tonight was not one of those nights. He’d have to be careful though, he didn’t want to put any of his siblings in the line of fire again with his own disobedience. Last time he snuck out he’d been caught, and his father had made him spar against Klaus every Thursday for an entire month. He’d warned him that if he thought he was holding back for even a moment, he’d choose a different sparring partner for his brother.

 

      Klaus had so little skill in combat that it was just sad. Five had resorted to breaking his fingers to end the matches quickly, something that he still wasn’t proud of. He never wanted to be forced to inflict that kind of pain on any of his siblings again. Hearing Klaus scream out in pain every time he’d bent a finger out of place had been more than enough to deter him from trying again. Tonight though, Five really wanted a distraction. He had no idea what to do about Klaus, and everything else that had happened tonight only added insult to injury. A night out would help him to clear his head, he just needed to be smart about it.

 

He walked to the mirror to inspect his reflection, and was relieved to see that the bruises Master Watanabe had left around his neck were completely healed. The academy sweater vest definitely stuck out a bit too much, though. He moved to pull it off, wincing as he lifted his arm too quickly.

 

Right. Fucking bank robber shot me. Forgot about that.

 

He tried again, this time moving more slowly. He carefully peeled up the fabric with his good hand, taking care not to jostle his still healing arm or now injured shoulder.

 

At least he shot my bad side, could have been worse.

 

      He tossed the sweater into his hamper, opting to snag Diego’s knife from his pillow as well. He flipped it in his hand a few times before tucking it into his pocket and walking back to the mirror. His sling made him stick out a bit as well, though it was leagues above the neon pink cast Klaus had covered in graffiti. He wished he could just tuck underneath his blazer like he usually would, but there was no way he’d be able to wear anything with the academy insignia on it in public without getting recognized. When he was younger Five had always thought that the masks were a bit over the top, but now he was grateful that no one outside of the academy knew his face. He straightened his tie and tucked in his shirt, mostly satisfied with the final result. He turned away from the mirror and walked back to his desk to retrieve his empty dinner tray. 

 

Best not to give Grace any reason to come in here tonight.

 

He carried it to his door and placed it outside, turning off the light as he shut the door. He made his way to the window in the dark, sensing for the matter of his surroundings as he went. As he laid his hand on the window latch he paused, a stifled sound from his brother’s room catching his attention.

 

Is Ben… still crying?

 

     He lifted his hand from the window and crept towards the wall they shared, gently pressing his ear against the cool plaster. For a moment he thought he’d heard wrong, then winced as a choked sob was cut off by his brother pressing something against his face. He raked his hand through his hair, hesitated, then quickly rapped on Ben’s wall before he could change his mind.

 

--. --- .. -. --. - --- --. .-. .. -.. -.. -.-- ... ... - --- .--. .-- .- -. - - --- -.-. --- -- . --- ...- . .-.

 

Going to Griddy’s STOP Want to come OVER

 

He heard Ben sniff, then the squeal of mattress springs as he sat up. After a moment, he heard a soft tapping in response.

 

... ..- .-. . --- ...- . .-.

 

Sure OVER

 

He really didn’t want to risk Grace catching him in the hall after hours, and the broth had given him a small amount of energy back. He tapped back a response.

 

-... .-.. .. -. -.- --- -.- ... - --- .--. -.. --- -. - .-- .- -. - --. .-. .- -.-. . - --- ... . . --- ...- . .-.

 

Blink ok STOP Don’t want Grace to see OVER

 

--- -. . ... . -.-. .-.. . -- -- . -.-. .... .- -. --. . ... - .- -. -.. -... -.--

 

One sec lemme change STANDBY

 

      Five leaned against the wall as he waited, listening intently to the quiet rustling of Ben moving about his room. It seemed like he’d finally stopped crying, much to Five’s relief. After a few minutes he heard Ben shuffle back towards the wall and tap out another message.

 

. .- --. .-.. . .. ... -.-. .-.. . .- .-. ..-. --- .-. .-.. .- -. -.. .. -. --. --- ...- . .-. .- -. -.. --- ..- -

 

Eagle is clear for landing OVER AND OUT

 

      Five let out a small chuckle as he felt for Ben’s room, zeroing in on several possible landing spots. He pooled the staticy blue into his palms and jumped, choosing to land perched atop his brother’s desk with his legs crossed.

 

“Really Five? Get your ass off of my homework, now!” hissed Ben.

 

He looked down and found that he had indeed, landed ass first on Ben’s open notebook.

 

“Oops,” he said with a smirk as he hopped down to the floor.

 

      The wiry smile dropped from his face as he glanced around the room. Several soiled uniforms were crammed under his brother’s bed, many of which definitely had old blood on them. The space around his bed was surrounded by multiple books that had been haphazardly discarded, and the only piece of bedding atop it was his pillow, crumpled and damp with tears. Five glanced around the room in confusion. He quickly noticed where his missing blanket had gone; Ben was using it to cover up his mirror. He tried to think of something to say, though much to his surprise a quiet snickering broke through the awkward silence. Five looked at Ben in bewilderment, completely losing his train of thought.

 

“What’s so funny?” he whispered.

 

Ben barely managed to stifle his laughter long enough to wheeze out a reply.

 

“You look just like Richie Rich! Like, straight out of the newspaper Five. Please tell me that’s not your normal teenager disguise.”

 

Five frowned in confusion as he compared his outfit to his brother’s. Ben was dressed in a simple red hoodie and black jeans, along with a brown beanie perched atop his head. Sure his brother’s outfit was a bit more casual than his own, but was that really such a big deal?

 

“...This is what I always wear outside of the academy. What’s the big deal?”

 

“No no no, last time I went with you you ditched the shorts and borrowed one of my jackets, I remember. You almost even passed for normal. Almost.”

 

“...It was snowing Ben, I didn’t really have a choice. Anything with the academy logo is a dead giveaway!”

 

Ben stared at him for a moment with a shocked expression.

 

“Didn’t have a choice ? You mean you actually like to wear these stupid uniforms?!”

 

Five’s jaw tightened as he stared Ben down, unable to think of a witty retort in time.

 

A wide grin slowly stretched across his brother’s face as his eyes lit up with glee.

 

“Ben-”

 

“Oh my god you do! I knew you were a dork but this is a new low, even for you.”

 

Five felt his face burn red, which only infuriated him further. He turned away from Ben and marched towards his door.

 

“Shut up Ben. Never mind, I’ll go by myself. Forget it.”

 

     A hand grabbed onto his uninjured shoulder, stopping him from leaving. He immediately wanted to shove it off and blink away, but another part of him remembered the subdued sounds of his brother screaming into a pillow. He thought better of his initial instinct, instead choosing to stand still and stay put. Ben released him as he stilled, taking on a slightly gentler tone as he spoke once more.

 

“Five, come on. Even you can admit we look way too different from each other if we’re going together. At least borrow one of my jackets so you don’t stick out like a sore thumb.”

 

“....Fine. What do you suggest?”

 

“Well, most of my stuff will be a bit big on you-”

 

Five felt his eye twitch in irritation.

 

“-but there’s probably some older stuff in the back that might fit. Go on and have a look.”

 

      He let out a huff and walked over to his brother’s closet, pulling it open in resignation. After a bit of rifling around he found a few stacks of clothes crammed in the back of the wardrobe, though something on top of the stacks caught Five’s eye. It was a large leather jacket, definitely way too big for Ben and just a bit too small for Luther. He pulled it out and faced it towards Ben as he quirked an eyebrow.

 

“...Why do you have this? It’s way too big for you.”

 

Ben was the one flushing red now as he quickly tried to yank the jacket away from Five’s grasp. Five ducked under his brother’s arm and held the jacket out of his reach as he grinned.

 

“I just… I thought it looked cool, okay? I’ll be able to wear it eventually when I’m older, just put it back, alright?”

 

Five let the smile drop from his face and looked at him with a solemn expression.

 

“Ben, you will never be cool enough for this jacket. In fact, I think even the academy uniform might be too cool for you.”

 

“Five!”

 

He laughed and carefully folded up the jacket, placing it back in the closet as he pulled out one of the stacks of clothes as he shook his head.

 

“And you said I was the dork, honestly.”

 

      Ben continued to glare at him as he thumbed through the different options, finally settling on an unobtrusive plain black jacket. He carefully removed his injured arm from its sling and gently threaded it through the sleeve, gingerly placing it back into place once he’d tugged the fabric down far enough. He shoved his other arm into the remaining sleeve and zipped it up before turning back to face Ben.

 

“There, satisfied?”

 

“... That looks fucking weird with shorts and long socks.”

 

“Seriously?!”

 

“I guess it’s fine… if you wanna look like a dork.”  Ben said with a smirk.

 

Five hurled one of the jackets he hadn’t chosen at his brother.

 

“I’m just being honest!” Ben cackled as he dodged the jacket, quickly ducking as Five hucked a second one towards his head.

 

“You are by far my least favorite sibling now, even below Luther, who until recently was only Number One at being insufferable. Now a new champion has risen. Congratulations Ben, that’s quite an achievement.”

 

Ben leapt to the side, narrowly missing being hit in the face by a pair of pants as he doubled over in laughter.

 

“You- hahaha… you should see your face right now Five- haha- oh my god you look so- augh!”

 

Ben suddenly went pale and clutched both of his hands to his stomach, knuckles turning white from the sheer amount of pressure he was applying.

 

Five dropped the wadded up shirt in his hand to the floor without another word, quickly blinking to Ben’s side.

 

“...You alright?”

 

Ben drew in a shaky breath and slowly removed his hands from his torso.

 

“Yeah, I just- it was- Yeah. It stopped. I’m fine.”

 

Ben stared at the floor with a troubled expression. Five stayed silent, knowing there was more his brother wanted to say.

 

“Five, can I- can I ask you for something?” he finally asked softly as he stared at the floor.

 

“Of course, Ben. What do you need?”

 

“If I- if The Horror- if it- if I lose control again like I did today, and I can’t get it to stop- I don’t want to hurt anyone like that again. Ever. So if- If it happens again, will you stop it?”

 

What kind of a question was that?

 

“Ben, of course I’ll get people away from-”

 

“No! No Five!”, he shouted before bringing his voice back to a whisper, “I mean stop it. Stop it for good.”

 

Five felt his heart skip a beat.

 

No, surely he doesn’t mean-

 

“Ben, you better not be asking me to do what I think you are.”

 

“Five please, you have to promise that if-”

 

Fuck, that is what he’s asking.

 

“No! I’m not doing that, Ben!”

 

“-if it’s out of control you have to, please-!”

 

“No!”

 

“I can’t lose control like that again, please Five!”

 

“No.”

 

Tears were silently streaming down his brother’s face, and Five looked away as he felt his own eyes begin to burn.

 

What the fuck Ben?! How could you even ask that?

 

“...Fine. Griddy’s then?” eventually came a quiet mumble from his brother, reminding him of why he’d come to his brother’s room in the first place.

 

Five coughed to clear his throat and forced himself to walk to Ben’s side.

 

“...Yeah, Griddy’s. Is a blink going to… or would it be better to use the fire escape?”

 

“Urgh, fire escape. I am not letting you yank me around again, I’ve had more than enough of that for one day.”

 

Five felt a small smile tug at his lips as he moved towards his brother’s window.

 

“Fine, be that way. Fire escape it is, come on Ben.”

 

He pulled open the curtains, unhooked the latch, and slowly eased open the window.

Notes:

Chapter 25 warnings: passive suicidal ideation

Chapter 26: Backwards Thinking

Notes:

I blacked out and wrote notes for like the next five (hah) chapters, so hopefully there'll be several updates this week :D

Also, to the person who bookmarked this and just tagged it as "Loooove <33" I see you and that gave me so much life <33333

      Ben was quiet during the walk to Griddy's, which gave Five plenty of time to scan the streets for Klaus as they plodded along. Only a handful of people were milling about at this hour, and all of them were clearly adults. He let out a frustrated huff as the familiar flickering lights of Griddy's diner came into view in the distance. He'd known it was a long shot, but he'd really hoped that Klaus hadn't wandered too far and he'd be able to spot him along the way. Ben suddenly broke the silence as Five began to tug absentmindedly at his hair.

 

"What're going to get Five? I'm thinking pancakes."

 

"Uh… not sure yet," he lied as he dropped his hand back to his side, "definitely some coffee though."

 

"Ugh, this late? Why?"

 

"...I like coffee, and dad never lets us have it."

 

Ben let out a small laugh as they approached the diner. 

 

"Fair enough, I guess. You're so weird Five, he said as he pulled open the door, the familiar ding of the bell bringing a smile to both of their faces.

 

      He rolled his eyes in response as he caught the door and followed Ben inside. The sweet, bready smell of fresh baked pastries smacked him in the face as he entered, and he immediately became aware of exactly how hungry he was. How long had it been exactly since he'd had a decent dinner? Three weeks? Four? Longer?

 

      Griddy's was usually fairly deserted at this hour, and tonight was no different. The only other patrons were an elderly woman doing a crossword puzzle, and a grungy looking man in coveralls. Five peered towards the counter as he followed Ben, trying to catch a glimpse of who was on shift tonight. The kitchen door swung open as they sat themselves at a booth, and Five was relieved to see Agnes step out from the back. She'd only asked where his parents were the first time he'd come in alone, and had long since stopped asking why he was always out so late at night. Now she'd only engage in small talk if he initiated it first, which suited Five just fine. It wasn't often that he was in the mood for casual conversation, but on the rare occasions when he was, Agnes was a surprisingly decent listener. Five watched her grab a couple of menus from behind the counter before she glanced in their direction, then put one back as her eyes passed over him.

 

Huh, so she still remembers me, Five thought as a smile crept across his face. I'm surprised, it's been a couple of months at least.

 

She swiftly made her way over to their table and placed a menu in front of Ben as she spoke.

 

"Hey kid, haven't seen you come in for a while, much less with a friend. You having your usual?"

 

Ben peered over the top of his menu at him with a quizzical expression as he responded.

 

"That'd be great, thanks Agnes."

 

"No problem kid, I'll go get that started while your friend here looks over the menu. Can I get you something to drink while you figure out what you want, hun?"

 

"Um… I'll have a hot chocolate please," replied Ben.

 

"Sure thing, coming right up. I'll be back in just a minute boys, just sit tight."

 

Ben continued to stare at Five intently as she turned back towards the kitchen.

 

"What, Ben?!"

 

"Since when do you have a "usual"?" How often do you come here?!"

 

"Uh… Maybe once or twice a week? I stopped going for a while though."

 

"... And you order the same thing. Every time. Seriously?"

 

"...Yeah?"

 

"Why. Just…why."

 

"Is that a crime?!"

 

"It's boring is what it is, you really are a fucking dork."

 

"You're still winning the competition for most insufferable sibling Ben, there's no need to continue fighting for the title. You've already won it by a landslide."

 

"Asshole," Ben huffed as he shook his head and smiled.

 

      Five grinned back at him, thoroughly enjoying the banter. He typically made his excursions to Griddy's alone, though he had brought Ben along a handful of times before. Having company was a nice change of pace.

 

"Make up your mind yet?"

 

"Mmm…. I'm thinking blueberry pancakes and bacon, or maybe some waffles. Huh. I can't decide, which is better?"

 

"Not sure, I've never had either here.” 

 

“Right, I forgot you’re a fucking weirdo. Ugh.”

 

“Just order both, my treat."

 

Ben eyed him suspiciously.

 

"... Okay, first of all who are you and what have you done with my brother? Secondly, how do you have enough money for that?"

 

"What Diego doesn't know won't hurt him, and it's been a rough couple days. Consider it an after mission pick me up."

 

      Ben's confused expression quickly shifted to one of discomfort as he stared down at the table and fell silent. Five mentally cursed himself for bringing up the mission and tried desperately to think of something else to say. 

 

Shit, why did I say that? That’s the last thing he needs to be thinking about. What the hell is wrong with me?!

 

      At that moment Agnes re emerged from the kitchen and waltzed back to their table. Five was pulled from his thoughts as she plopped a full pot of coffee and an empty mug in front of him, and a hot chocolate next to Ben.

 

"Food's still cooking but it'll be ready soon, you figure out what you want yet hun?

 

"I'll just have the cocoa, I'm not very hungry. Thanks though," replied Ben in a monotone voice as he continued to stare at the floor.

 

"I think I'll add to my order though,” Five blurted out, “I'll take a stack of blueberry pancakes, side of bacon, and waffles with… uh… strawberry jam. Please and thank you."

 

Agnes let out a small chuckle as she scribbled down the order.

 

"Sure thing kid, coming right up. I'll go add that to the first half and have everything out in a jiffy!"

 

 She gave a knowing smile to him as she tucked away the order and returned to the kitchen once again.

 

".... Did you just order me waffles with jam on them?" Ben mumbled as Five poured himself a cup of coffee.

 

“...Yes?”

 

He took a long pull from his mug, savoring in the warmth and bitter taste of the drink.

 

“....And your usual order involves drinking an entire pot of coffee, with no sugar or cream. Are you actually a psychopath?”

 

      Five ignored his brother for a moment as he drank the rest of the mug’s contents. It really was a shame their father never allowed coffee in the house, caffeine did wonders for the energy reserves of his power.

 

"Is everything I do weird to you?" he finally replied as he set about pouring himself a second cup.

 

"Yes."

 

      Five let out a frustrated huff and groaned in exasperation, bringing the ghost of a smile to Ben's face for a brief moment before it quickly faded. Ben furrowed his brow and Five sipped at his drink patiently, knowing his brother would eventually break the silence once he'd collected his thoughts.

 

"Do you ever- do you ever wish you could go back in time and tell yourself to do something sooner? Or to not do something at all? Like, stop yourself from choosing one option over another now that you know the outcome?" he finally said as he took a sip of his cocoa.

 

Five felt his grip on the mug tighten as he froze mid sip.

 

      Time travel had always been something he'd dreamed of distantly, but had never really taken the time to seriously entertain working towards. The fact that it would eventually be possible had to be enough for him for now. Though he loathed to admit it, he knew he still had a long way to go in order to fully harness his power. Training with his father was already an ordeal, and that was without throwing the quantum mechanics of time travel into the mix.

 

But.

 

But.

 

      If he couldn't stop Klaus from furthering his addictions in the present , maybe the answer was in the past . If he could figure out how to travel backwards in time to prevent his brother from ever becoming addicted in the first place, it would fix everything. It was so obvious that Five wanted to smack himself for not thinking of it sooner. How had he allowed himself to ignore such a huge aspect of his power for so long?

 

“Five?”

 

He jerked the mug back towards the table and set it down a little too hard, causing some of the coffee to slosh over the side and onto the countertop.

 

“Shit!”

 

Five yanked a napkin from the dispenser on the table and blotted at the spill as he responded.

 

“Uh… yeah. Yeah I do, Ben. Why do you ask?”

 

“If I’d never gone on that mission, if I’d just… not been there… then those people would have been fine. They’d have-”

 

“Ben. It wasn’t your fault. You didn’t know what the horror was going to do, you couldn't have. It’s not your fault,” interrupted Five.

 

“I just- I really wish I could go back and tell myself not to go. Tell mom I had a fever, throw my mask out the window, something. Hell, I’d even tell myself to go hide with Klaus and get high in the bathroom. Just… anything to stop myself from walking into that bank.”

 

“...I know Ben. I know. I’m-”

 

Five cut his sentence short as he noticed Agnes approaching their table, with several plates balanced precariously atop her arms. She placed everything Five had ordered for Ben in front of his brother with no hesitation, giving him only his usual spread. Ben perked up a bit at the arrival of the food, and stared at Five’s plate in amusement.

 

“You kids enjoy now, let me know if there’s anything else I can get for you, alright?”

 

“Will do, thanks Agnes.”

 

“Anytime kid.”

 

“Five, what the fuck is that?”

 

“What?”

 

“ That . Who the hell puts marshmallows on toast? And is that peanut butter? Seriously, that’s an abomination.”

 

“Hey! I got eggs and hash browns too! That’s pretty normal.” Five said as he reached for a bottle of ketchup and began to dump it on top of his plate.

 

“Yeah, if you weren’t drowning everything in ketchup I’d be inclined to agree with you. Seriously though, what the fuck is wrong with you?”

 

“Says the guy who won’t eat jam on his waffles.” he replied as he capped the bottle and replaced it on the table.

 

“That’s fucking weird and you know it.”

 

“Is not! Just shut up and try it Ben, it’s good.”

 

“Ugh, fine. But only because I’m not the one paying for it.”

 

“Well, technically speaking, neither am I.”

 

“Right, I forgot. I really should thank Diego for his generosity when we get back.”

 

“...You wouldn’t dare.”

 

Ben grinned at Five and waggled his eyebrows mischievously.

 

“Ben.”

 

“Mmm?”

 

“I can and will tear that leather jacket to shreds. Plus, in my defense Diego completely deserved it.”

 

“You know what? Fair enough. To Diego, may you never realize who keeps emptying Mr. Wiggles,” Ben declared as he raised his mug towards Five.

 

“Mr. Wiggles? He named his piggy bank?” Five asked as he clinked his own mug against Ben’s.

 

“Sure did, overheard him once asking Grace if he could do some extra chores so he could, and I quote, “have something to feed Mr. Wiggles”.” said Ben with a straight face as Five took a sip of his drink and met his gaze.

 

      Five stared at Ben in disbelief for a brief moment, and then finally broke as Ben grinned at him. He tried and failed to contain a laugh, coughing and sputtering wildly as the liquid spewed out of his mouth and unceremoniously into his lap. Ben cackled as Five banged a fist on the table and tried to get himself under control.

 

“I fucking-” Five stopped to let out another loud coughing fit before continuing, “I fucking hate you. You’re the worst,” he eventually managed to wheeze out.

 

Ben smirked at him as he cut off a chunk of waffle and popped it into his mouth.

 

“Huh. This isn’t actually half bad.” he said finally after he’d eaten a few more bites.

 

“The. Worst.” Five carefully enunciated before digging into his own meal.

Notes:

No warnings this time! One more fluff chapter, as a treat <3

Chapter 27: Nitimur In Vetitum

Notes:

Guess who forgot what day of the week the story was on canonically and drove the plot with characters who wouldn't have been home and had to rewrite the whole thing? It meeeeee oops. Shitting myself that we crossed over 3k hits, thank you so much! Also one of you found me on tumblr, feel free to message me about the story on it if you want! (same username as ao3 ^~^)

content warnings in end notes

      Five had originally been set on waking up early, but as his alarm clock blared to life and rudely yanked him from the depths of sleep he immediately regretted his decision. He’d wanted time to speak to Klaus before he began his research, but none of that seemed even remotely important at the moment. With a groan he rolled over and slammed his fist down on the screeching clock to silence it, before eagerly retreating under the covers once more. He and Ben hadn't left Griddy's until around three in the morning, and his brother had adamantly refused Five's offer to spare them the trek back home with a few jumps while he had a full stomach. Once they'd made it back to the academy though, Five had insisted on blinking them inside instead of taking the fire escape again. It just wasn't worth the extra risk, the last thing either of them needed was to be on their father's bad side. With the walk home and time he'd spent talking to Ben after they'd gotten inside factored in, it was likely he hadn't gone to sleep until well after four. He still felt exhausted, and he cursed his past self for staying out so late. Deciding it was more beneficial to tackle both Klaus and quantum physics with a fully rested mind, Five allowed himself to drift back to sleep for some much needed rest.

 

      He jolted awake for a second time, this time to the not so quiet sound of pop music blaring from the room adjacent to his. He grabbed for his pillow and promptly shoved it over his face with a groan.

 

Klaus truly has the worst taste in music.

 

      Though annoyed at being woken so abruptly, he cracked a slight smile in spite of himself as he sensed the interior of his brother's room. He was always able to get a bit more detail after a trip to Griddy’s, and Klaus seemed to be having a rather good time on the other side of the wall. He was currently dancing around his room rather enthusiastically, and appeared to be thoroughly enjoying his own antics. It was a very welcome change considering his disposition yesterday, along with everything else that had happened this week. Five had been set on talking to him before he left to study, but decided right then that it could wait until after. His brother deserved a moment of peaceful solitude for once, and he wasn't about to take that away from him. Now that the irritation from being so rudely awakened had worn off, Five found that he actually felt rather well rested for once. He needed to get to the library and make the most of his time, it wasn't often that he had this level of energy to work with.

 

      With his mind set on a course of action, he slowly peeled the pillow away from his face and eased his eyes open, wincing as the brightness of the room assaulted his eyes. A spark of panic shot through him and he bolted upright in bed, grimacing as the bullet wound in his shoulder screamed in protest. The sun was much higher in the sky than it should be, which meant he'd overslept by several hours. Five ran a hand through his hair roughly as he forced himself to look at the clock.

 

Twelve thirty?! No no no, that can't be right- shit!

 

      He hurled the covers off of himself and stumbled out of bed, cursing as he frantically set about getting out of his pajamas. He’d slept through breakfast and lunch, though thankfully family meal attendance was optional on Sundays for everyone except Luther. Regardless, he was still irritated with himself for wasting so much time.

 

Shit shit shit! I should have just gotten out of bed the first time-!

 

      He yanked open his closet and scrambled to get dressed, nearly tripping over himself as he attempted to pull on a pair of pants while simultaneously scanning his closet for a tie. He slowed down for a moment to gingerly lift his injured arm and carefully thread it through a shirt and vest, then delicately laid it back into its sling before resuming his frantic pace. He shoved his good arm through the shirt and into an academy blazer, tucking the sling away out of sight inside it as he pulled it around himself. Eventually he managed to locate a tie and quickly looped it around his neck, pausing slightly to check his appearance in the mirror as he tried and failed to knot it. His hair was sticking up in every direction, his uniform was crooked, and somehow he’d managed to put his pants on backwards. He let out an irritated sigh as he tugged at the crooked fabric and stepped out of his pants, trying in vain to smooth out his hair as he righted them and pulled them on once again. Unfortunately his hair was in no mood to be tamed, and he quickly gave up on fixing it with a frustrated huff. He didn't have any more time to waste if he wanted to be able to check on Klaus before dinner, it was already likely he was going to have to cut his study session short. As much as he loathed doing anything half assed, it just wasn’t worth the effort. He squared his shoulders and adjusted his blazer one more time before he resumed the infuriating task of tying his tie. It was irritatingly difficult to accomplish with only one hand, but after several fruitless attempts he finally wrangled the slippery fabric into an acceptable knot. Not wanting to waste any more time, he hastily grabbed some supplies from his desk and felt for the interior of the library. Thankfully it seemed to be unoccupied, save for Vanya reading a newspaper at one of the tables. He zeroed in on a spot just beside her, and made the jump.

 

“Hey Van, mind if I join you?”

 

She jumped violently and raised her head at the sudden sound of his voice, but quickly recomposed herself.

 

“S-sure Five. Go ahead,” she said before dropping her gaze back to the paper.

 

She motioned to a chair across from her, which Five promptly sat himself in as he set down his belongings.

 

“Anything interesting?” he asked, pointing to the paper in her hands.

 

Her face flushed slightly as she sheepishly peered around the side of it and turned the front page towards him.

 

Harper Street Bank Heist Gone Wrong: Umbrella Academy Heroes Save the Day!

 

Five cringed at the title and motioned for Vanya to pass it to him. She hesitated for a moment, then finally held it out towards him with an embarrassed expression. He quickly pulled it from her hand and began to scan the page.

 

On Saturday evening, the staff and clientele of Harper Street Bank were busy going about their business, and being held at gunpoint was the furthest thing from their minds. Unfortunately this tranquility wouldn’t last, as both patrons and faculty alike were unexpectedly taken hostage by several armed assailants. “They crammed most of us inside the vault… no one knew if we’d ever see the outside of that bank again. We would have all been goners if it weren’t for those Umbrella kids.” said one man shortly after being led to safety by one of the academy members. The majority of the hostages escaped relatively unscathed, though several still remain in the care of Saint Mary’s hospital. The extent of their injuries has not yet been released to the public, but one woman was willing to share her account of that night with us.

 

Five braced himself as he turned the page and continued reading.

 

It was so surreal, one minute I was refinancing my home, the next I was staring down the barrel of a gun. They forced all of us into the vault to get us out of the way, and the majority came quietly. Once the door sealed behind us though, one of the other hostages tried to fight back. He tried to get the gun away from one of them, but he was quickly overpowered. I don’t know what he was thinking, there were two of them. Maybe he thought one of us would stop the other one, but nobody even tried. He was no match for them, and before any of us knew what was happening they threw him to the ground and broke his leg. They probably would have done more had his wife not been in the vault with us. She rushed at them in a blind panic, throwing punches and trying her best to haul them off of her husband. It was no use though, and now that two of us had tried to fight back they decided to make an example of her. They beat her nearly into unconsciousness, but none of us made a move to stop them. We all just… watched. I think everyone was too scared to do anything. When one of them pulled out a knife though, I knew I had to do something. I didn’t even know what I was doing, but I couldn’t just sit there and watch them kill her. I didn’t even make it halfway across the room before one of them stopped me. I tried to look away from her, but that monster held a gun to my head and told me to watch. The other one he… he cut off her arm. And her leg. It wasn’t- it wasn’t a fast process. She passed out eventually, from either the pain or the blood loss, or maybe a combination of both. They started on me next, but thankfully they didn’t get very far.

 

He paused and furrowed his brow in confusion. That… wasn’t what happened. Ben had been a hostage too, and the horror had inflicted all of the injuries she’d described, not the gunmen. As far as he could tell, they hadn’t actually injured any of their hostages themselves. A picture of the woman’s arm accompanied the article, and Five studied it closely. He definitely recognized her injuries, she was the first person he’d managed to blink away from the horror.

 

The only one he’d been able to get to safety relatively unscathed.

 

What if his other siblings had been in the room? Would he have been fast enough then? How many of them would lose their limbs, or worse?

 

He set his jaw and kept reading.

 

It was incredibly painful, and if those Umbrella Academy boys hadn’t stepped in right then, I don’t think I’d be alive to tell my story. It was like nothing I’d ever seen, tentacles started taking down our assailants, and there was this bright flash of blue. Suddenly a boy was next to me, telling me to take his hand, which I did. One moment we were in the vault, and the next we were in the hall outside it. He told me to wait for another member of the academy to come get me to safety, and in the blink of an eye he was gone again. It was absolutely incredible, the descriptions of those kid’s powers are nothing like seeing them up close.

 

Five felt sick. He wished it had been the gunmen who’d inflicted those wounds, but it wasn’t. He simply hadn’t been fast enough, and the hostages had paid the ultimate price.

 

What the hell is this woman’s motive? Is she lying just to get her five minutes of fame? No, I know those wounds, she was definitely there that night. So why-

 

Five felt his blood run cold as everything clicked into place.

 

Allison. 

 

Dad took Allison away for a while right before we left.

 

Shit.

 

He turned to the next page and kept reading.

 

When asked if she had anything to say to the academy members if they were to read this article, our witness had this to say:

 

I just want to thank them for stopping those monsters. I’d never witnessed such inhuman cruelty before, and without their help many of us would have died in that vault, myself included. The courage those kids have to face this stuff all the time, it's absolutely incredible. The Umbrella Academy truly are a heroic bunch, something this world really-

 

Suddenly, someone yanked the paper out of Five’s hands. 

 

“Hey-!”

 

He stopped himself mid sentence as he glared up at the perpetrator.

 

Ben.

 

      His expression softened. Five hadn’t even heard him enter the library, he’d been so engrossed in the article that he’d managed to tune out the rest of the world. Ben’s eyes darted across the page, and Vanya flicked her gaze between the two of them with wide eyes. His brother’s expression was stoney, and Five wasn’t sure exactly what reaction he’d have to the article. As he got further down the page his jaw tightened, and Five cursed himself for not noticing his presence sooner. His brother had been through enough already, he didn’t need to know that their mission had not only made the front page, but been skewed by Allison as well.

 

Ben reached the end of the article, and promptly tore the paper in two without uttering a single word.

 

“Hey! I wanted to keep that!” Vanya protested as Ben turned to leave.

 

“Well don’t.” Ben said flatly as he balled up the halves of the paper and walked out of the library, tossing the remains in a garbage can as he left.

 

     Vanya looked to Five with pleading eyes, and he grimaced as he struggled to come up with something to say. He didn't couldn't tell her what actually happened, Ben would never forgive him if he did. 

 

"Just…let him go. It was a really stressful mission, sometimes it's hard to remember what happened," he said finally.

 

She frowned.

 

"I just wanted to see how you rescued everybody. It sounds so cool and exciting!"

 

She grinned at him, and Five found himself slightly irritated.

 

 "You wouldn't understand Vanya, you weren't there. It wasn't like that," he spat out.

 

She dropped her gaze to lap and awkwardly tugged at the hem of her skirt.

 

"Because I'm ordinary," she mumbled quietly.

 

Shit.

 

"Vanya, that's not what I-"

 

"Just don't Five. Just.. never mind."

 

"Vanya, wait-!"

 

She quickly stood from her chair and averted her eyes, not daring to meet Five's pained expression as she hurriedly shuffled out of the library and ignored his protests. 

 

Fuck! Was that supposed to help?! What the hell is wrong with you?

 

      He let out a defeated sigh as he angrily ran a hand through his hair. He really hadn’t meant to snap at her, but everything about that article had rubbed him the wrong way. With a final huff he stood from his own chair and made his way towards the nature and science section of the library. His words had come out more blunt than he'd intended, but she'd get over it eventually. Klaus though, Klaus needed him. If Five didn't put a stop to his drug habit soon, it was going to get him killed. He knew this. Once he managed to crack the code to time travel, he could fix everything. Including whatever had happened to him Friday night. He’d never seen any of his siblings look so… broken.

 

      Five's blood boiled at the thought of whoever had laid their hands on his brother, and his first clenched involuntarily as he perused the endless shelves of books. He’d wanted nothing more than to blink outside of the academy and hunt down the perpetrator the second he’d seen those bruises. His sibling’s lives took priority over everything else though, and until he knew Klaus safe, even from himself, nothing else mattered. Even hunting down that piece of shit, no matter how much he wanted to. If Five got his way he'd have an infinite amount of time to attend to everything else, and the second he got Klaus clean he’d be paying his assaulter a visit. He pulled several books from both the physics and mathematics sections, blinking from shelf to shelf and back to the table when he couldn't carry any more.

 

Alright, this should give me a decent idea of where to start. Time to get to work.

 

He dropped back into the chair, cracked open his notebook, and began pouring over the contents of the first book with pen in hand.

Notes:

Chapter 27 warnings: mild gore, brief mention of a previous assault with no details given

Chapter 28: Thorn In The Paw

Notes:

Should this have probably been two separate chapters?

Yup.

Did I know where to split it?

Nope.

Bon appetit.

Update: I will come back to this story I promise! I am traveling at the moment so it's on a small hiatus. Next chapter will likely not be posted until mid May. I might write while I'm in the airport, so a multi chapter update may happen when I get back. Not making any promises since I am bad at keeping them <3 I will still respond to comments while I'm abroad though! :D

“I am… sorry you were made to spend the night in that place. I know it wasn’t easy, but your father always has his reasons.”

 

      Klaus scoffed at Pogo’s words and stared out the window dejectedly as the early morning light bathed the city in a gentle glow. He’d finally come to retrieve him just as the sun had begun to rise, several hours after the drugs had completely worn off. By then his entire body had gone numb from the cold and he couldn’t walk on his own, which meant Pogo had to carry him back to the car. His head was still throbbing from listening to the screams of the dead all night, though he’d regained just enough feeling to pull himself to a sitting position inside the car. This time he was grateful the vehicle was devoid of his siblings, he didn’t think he’d be able to deal with being trapped in the small space with their lifeless entourage at the moment.

 

Pogo took the hint, and the rest of the ride passed in blissful silence. 

 

      By the time the academy eventually came into view, Klaus had finally regained most of the feeling in his limbs. The car slowed to a stop, and he quickly threw the car door open and slammed it shut behind him. He really wasn’t in the mood for any more of Pogo’s awkward attempts to justify his father’s actions, the only thing he wanted to do was to crawl into bed and sleep the rest of the day away. He always felt a certain level of tiredness thanks to the company that came with his power, but this was a new level of exhaustion, even for him. How long had he gone without sleeping for? A full day? No, it was definitely longer than that. He yanked open the door to the empty academy and trudged up the stairs, incredibly relieved that all of his siblings seemed to still be asleep in their rooms. He sighed in relief as he finally reached his room and quietly eased the door open, he did not have the energy to deal with them or their ghosts right now. As he softly clicked the door shut behind him, something sitting on the bed caught his attention. Confused, he stepped closer to investigate. He was sure he hadn’t left anything there, so what-

 

He froze.

 

No.

 

Neatly folded on top of his bed were a freshly laundered hoodie, and a pair of jeans. Grace must have washed them and returned them to his room after he’d left them in the bathroom yesterday.

 

      He couldn’t seem to tear his gaze away from the pile of clothes, and his feet carried him towards them before he realized what he was doing. He reached out a shaky hand, and lifted up the clothes. He hadn’t noticed it before, but the neckline of the hoodie had been stretched wide open and several of the stitches had been torn. His vision blurred as the fabric slipped from his hand, and the room spun. He wheezed uncontrollably, but no matter how many times his lungs spasmed, he just couldn’t seem to draw in enough air. Suddenly he found himself sitting on the floor, and his mouth tasted like salt. The collar of his sweater felt like it was tightening around his neck, and he clawed at it desperately as his lungs fought with the air. Distantly he could hear the moans of the dead through the walls, and he squeezed his eyes shut. 

 

He didn’t want to feel their piercing touch again, please, just anything but that.

 

He scrambled backwards until the icy cold concrete of the tomb pressed into his back, slowly sapping the warmth from his body. He knew they were closing in on him, he only had a few seconds at most until they jabbed their frigid fists through him, over and over and over-

 

He strained again to pull in a breath as he shivered, but his still healing ribs only exploded with pain.

 

It was no use, his father had locked him in. There was nowhere to go.

 

Resigned to his fate, he lifted his hands to cover his ears, but paused when a strange noise cut through the air, even louder than the dead’s awful gurgling.

 

Was that.. Five? Is he… sleeping?

 

      That didn’t make any sense. Despite the impossibility, another loud rumble carried across the tomb to confirm his suspicions. That was definitely his brother’s snoring, Klaus would recognize that sound anywhere. He slowly lowered his arms. If Five was here, then he couldn’t be in the tomb. His father always made him face the dead alone, which meant those had to be the academy ghosts he was hearing. He finally sucked in a breath, then a second and then a third. He tried to match the rhythm of the din coming from his brother next door, eventually managing to bring his breathing under control.

 

Right. The academy. Pogo just drove me home.

 

Once his racing heartbeat slowed to a more even pace he eased his eyes open, grimacing as the sight of the clothes sprawled across the ground greeted him.

 

      He quickly pulled himself to his feet and marched over to his window, grabbing the clothes off the floor on the way. He yanked it open and chucked everything over the top of the fire escape, watching with a strange sense of satisfaction as the clothes tumbled out of sight. He immediately felt the need for a hot bath, sleep be damned. He slammed the window shut and riffled through his desk for his walkman, then hurried towards the bathroom as he shoved the headphones over his ears.

 

      He left the light off upon entering, turning the water to the highest setting as he began to get undressed and sway to the sounds of the music. Allison had made him a mixtape for their birthday one year, and it was still his favorite thing to listen to when his supply ran dry. Somehow she’d known exactly which songs he liked, though she’d added a few of her favorites as well. It might not keep the ghosts at bay in the same way the drugs did, but not having to hear them definitely made things somewhat better. Klaus turned off the faucet and stepped into the tub, hissing as the scalding water hit his clammy skin. He slowly eased himself into the bath and laid his head against the cool tile, sighing in relief as the hot water sapped some of the tension from his aching muscles. He sank lower into the water, though it was a bit awkward with his cast hanging over the edge. He closed his eyes and lost himself in the music, savoring the soothing sensation of the warmth pooling around him.

 

      He wasn’t sure when he’d drifted off, but he was rudely awoken to a loud pounding on the bathroom door. He jumped at the sound and banged his head against the tile, letting out a groan as a familiar voice yelled at him from the other side of the door.

 

“Klaus! Get the fuck out, I know it’s you! Stop hogging the bathroom and get your ass out of there!”

 

Ugh. Diego.

 

       Klaus banged on the wall twice to convey he got the message, and pulled the drain as he rubbed his forehead. The bath had long gone cold anyway, it wasn’t worth the fight. As the gurgling sound of the water draining filled the air, Klaus frowned and clicked at his walkman blindly to rewind the tape. It sounded way too similar to some of his sibling’s ghosts for his comfort, and they were the last thing he wanted to think about while alone in the dark.

 

“You’ve got five minutes Klaus, but only because I don’t want to see you naked. You better be out when I get back!”

 

His brother banged on the door one last time before Klaus finally heard his footsteps recede.

 

      With a sigh he pulled himself to his feet and stepped out of the tub, feeling along the wall for the towel rack as he went. Eventually his fingers collided with soft fabric, which he then wrapped around himself. He took extra care to make sure both his neck and shoulders were well hidden, then wrapped one last towel around his hair before flicking on the light. He gave his reflection a quick glance as he stooped to retrieve his dirty clothes, pausing briefly to readjust the towel around his shoulders before opening the door. 

 

“About time! Geez, what the hell do you do in there? Wait, don’t answer that, I don’t want to know. Now move!”

 

      Diego quickly shoved past him and slammed the bathroom door shut in his face. Klaus rolled his eyes as turned back in the direction of his room. His brother was so melodramatic, always acting like the world would end if he didn’t get his way right then and there. It was hilarious to watch him implode from a distance, but down right irritating when his tirades were directed at him. He entered his room and pulled off the headphones to get dressed, then winced as the unpleasant moans and garbled noises of several ghosts assaulted his ears. Both Allison and Five’s ghosts were being particularly vocal today, much to Klaus’s dismay. He rummaged through his desk for the cord Ben had given him to connect his walkman to his speakers. He was not about to listen to that cacophony while he put together an outfit. A loud snore rang out, and Klaus froze as his fingers closed around the cord. He’d accidentally woken up Five early on a weekend once before, and it was not an incident he wanted to repeat. He looked at the clock to check the time and raised his eyebrows in surprise.

 

Shit, Five is still sleeping? Should I wait? No, it’s after twelve, he never sleeps this late. I guess he… overslept? I… didn’t know he could do that. He’ll probably be more mad at himself than he will be at me, and I do not want to hear anymore fucking gurgling today.

 

      He jammed one end of the cord into the walkman and the other into his speakers, and pressed play. The sounds of Tiffany Darwish filled the room, and Klaus felt a grin stretch across his face as the snoring abruptly stopped. He waltzed around the room to the song and retrieved a decent outfit from his closet, pausing briefly to pull it on before jumping on top of his bed and continuing the dance. The song was halfway over and Five hadn’t blinked into his room yet to hurl his speaker through the window again, so Klaus assumed he was safe. He jumped on his enthusiastically as the song ended and a new one began to play, frowning slightly as he felt a familiar itch course through him.

 

      It was the last day of the weekend, and he needed to find a way to resupply. He wouldn’t get another chance for a while, and there was no way he was going through the week sober. He’d burned through the drugs he’d gotten from-

 

He shook his head.

 

      He’d gone through everything way too quickly, he needed to score much bigger this time. All he had to do was find a decent source of cash, there were a few dealers in town that would probably overlook his age if the price was right. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him.

 

If Diego is in the bathroom now… then he’s definitely not in his room.

 

      He smiled widely at this revelation and leapt off of the bed to do his makeup. Thankfully the… bruises that he’d gotten Friday night seemed to be fading quickly, but many of them were still decidedly noticeable. He covered them up with concealer and a bit of eyeshadow in the mirror the way Five had shown him, then moved to the speakers and unplugged his walkman. His ears were immediately assaulted by the sounds of Ben’s ghosts loudly wailing from down the hall, and he quickly shoved the headphone jack back into the walkman and jammed them over his ears.

 

Nope nope nope, don’t need any more of that today.

 

      He unpaused the music as he crept out of his room and towards Diego’s, lifting one side of the headphones up briefly as he walked. He heard the distant sound of the shower turning on from down the hall, which meant he still had a pretty decent window of time to ransack his brother’s room. Diego always stayed in there until the water ran cold, so as long as Klaus moved quickly he should be able to get in and out undetected. He lowered the headphones back over his ear, as he reached Diego’s door, glancing around the hall briefly before he eased open the door and shut it behind him.

 

Jeez Diego, tidy up a bit. This is way too messy, even by my standards.

 

      His brother’s desk was covered in a mix of textbooks and old homework assignments, along with a rather large knife that had been wedged into the wood. Several crumpled uniforms were strewn about the room, many of which had a variety of weapons peeking from the pockets. Klaus’s jaw tightened as he took stock of exactly how many sharp things were scattered haphazardly around his brother’s room.

 

Shit, definitely need to move fast. Now let’s see…

 

      He scanned the room wildly, hoping to spot something of value before his brother came back. Nothing immediately caught his attention, but he wasn’t about to give up that easily. He inched his way towards the bed and shoved his hand into his brother’s pillow case, instantly regretting his decision as something inside of it sliced into the palm of his hand. He recoiled with a hiss, shoving the cut against his lips as he gingerly peeled back the fabric to reveal an entire set of throwing knives nestled within the pillowcase.

 

Overkill much? Seriously?

 

He readjusted the pillow and its contents back to the way he’d found it, then stooped to peek under the bed.

 

Christ, how many damn knives does one person need?

 

      He carefully shoved away the small arsenal his brother had constructed underneath his bed, hoping his intuition was right. Just as he was about to give up and head back to his room, he spotted it.

 

      In the very back, hidden behind several layers of knives and a rather suspect pile of magazines, sat a particularly ugly and battered looking piggy bank. It was cracked in several places and someone had drawn a monocle on its face, which Diego had clearly tried and failed to remove completely.

 

Jackpot.

 

      Klaus warily threaded his good arm around his brother’s various stabbing implements, slapped his hand onto the piggy bank, and dragged it towards himself. As he triumphantly lifted it into the air though, he felt his excitement dissipate.

 

No, come on-

 

He gave it a shake to make sure, and frowned in disappointment.

 

It was completely empty.

 

He wiped away the small amount of blood he’d gotten on it and pulled himself to his feet before kicking it back under the bed in defeat. Diego would be out of the shower any minute, he needed to get out of here and find some other source of cash. He carefully picked his way around the minefield of knives and clothing, and stepped back out into the hall-

 

-just as Diego opened the bathroom door and locked eyes with him.

 

Shit-!

 

     He tried to run away, but before he’d even taken two steps a knife soared through the air and pierced his shirt, pinning the fabric to the wall behind him. He winced as he felt the sharp sting of a small cut open on his shoulder.

 

Fucking asshole, I liked this shirt! He even takes knives with him to the bathroom ? Seriously?

 

He reached up to pull the knife from the plaster, but thought better of it as a second one embedded itself into the wall mere centimeters from his outstretched fingers.

 

“What the fuck Klaus?! Why the hell were you in my room?!” Diego bellowed as he stormed towards him.

 

Klaus glared at him and shrugged.

 

“Don’t think you can get away with whatever you want just because you can’t talk! I know you’re the one who stole my money last night, so where is it asshole?” he spat out as he waved a knife at Klaus’s face.

 

Okay, now he was confused. He hadn’t even been home last night, but clearly his brother was under a different impression.

 

These stupid wires-!

 

      He let out a sigh and pointed first at himself, then in the direction of their father’s study. Next he used two of his fingers to mimic a walking motion, then raised his cast clad hand towards his good one and tilted them from side to side to like he was steering a car. Finally, he clasped both of his hands together and laid his head against them, closing his eyes and pretending to snore. He cracked open an eye, and Diego was staring at him with a complete look of utter confusion.

 

“...What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

 

Dammit.

 

 Seriously Klaus, if you already spent it I swear I’m gonna-”

 

“Boys, what’s going on? Oh Diego! Honey, I thought we talked about not throwing knives in the house anymore.”

 

      Klaus grinned smugly as Diego froze and flushed red, yanked the blades from the wall, and turned to face Grace with a sheepish expression as he tucked them away. With his brother’s attention elsewhere, Klaus seized the opportunity to step away from him and get behind Grace.

 

“S-s-sorry mom. He was just sneaking around my room while I was in the shower and I-”

 

She raised a finger to stop him as her gaze flicked downwards to the cut on Klaus’s shoulder, and a small frown crossed her face.

 

“I understand you’re upset, but that does not mean you get to throw knives at your brother. I think both of you should give each other a little space right now, why don’t you go and play outside for a bit?”

 

“...Okay. But he-!”

 

“-needs to stay out of your room without permission from you, yes I understand. I promise your brother and I will be having a conversation about that. Now go on outside, I’ll take it from here.”

 

Klaus took a step backwards to make sure he was out of Grace’s sight, and promptly flipped Diego the bird.

 

“Why you-!”

 

“Boys! Enough! Diego, go outside. Klaus, please stop antagonizing your brother,” she said sternly as she looked back at him. “Come on, let’s go get that cut taken care of.”

 

Diego stomped away, and Klaus let out a pained hiss as Grace took his hand to lead him away.

 

“Oh dear, how did you manage that?” she said as she gently pulled his hand closer to her face to inspect the cut he’d gotten in Diego’s room. “Well, I suppose that’s what you get for nosing around in your brother’s room where you don’t belong now, isn’t it?”

 

Klaus stared down at the floor with a frown.

 

“Honey, you know you weren’t supposed to be in there. I think your brother taught you enough of a lesson for one day though so I’ll let it go, but just this once.”

 

He slowly raised his head to meet her gaze, and she gave him a small smile.

 

“Come on sweetie, let’s head downstairs and get you patched up.”

 

      He nodded and offered his cast clad fingers to her instead, which she let him wrap around her own hand as she led him in the direction of the infirmary. As they passed by the library, Klaus noticed with amusement that Five was sitting inside with Viktor, face completely buried in a newspaper that he seemed to be thoroughly absorbed in. His stomach turned as something moved behind his brothers, and the grin quickly dropped from his face. Five’s usual ghost was behind him, no surprises there. What he hadn’t immediately noticed though, was that he wasn’t alone anymore. Much to his horror, it seemed that Five now had a new shadow accompanying him. It was obvious that this man had died of a broken neck, just like the first. He paced around behind the table Five was sharing with Viktor, head lolling from side to side unnaturally with every step. He made the same garbled noises as the other, and Klaus suddenly realized why the dead had seemed so much louder this morning.

 

They weren’t louder, there were just more of them. Lovely.

 

“Klaus honey, you can go join your siblings in the library soon if you’d like, but we really need to get those cuts taken care of first, okay?”

 

      He hadn’t even realized that he’d stopped walking. Viktor locked eyes with him as Five turned to the next page, and Klaus forced himself to smile and wiggle his unoccupied fingers in his direction. Viktor returned the gesture, and Klaus just barely managed to catch a glimpse of the front page title before Grace pulled him ahead.

 

Harper Street Bank Heist Gone Wrong: Umbrella Academy Heroes Save the Day!

 

Great. We made the front page. Fucking super.

 

They finally reached the infirmary, and Grace let go of his fingers once they entered.

 

“Alright, why don’t you hop up on the table there and I’ll see what kind of fun bandages I can find. How’s that sound?”

 

      He gave her a thumbs up and set his walkman off to the side before he boosted himself onto the exam table with a huff. Not only had Diego’s room been a complete bust, but his stupid brother had wasted even more of his afternoon by catching him in the act. He only had a few precious hours of daylight left now, and not one single clue as to where he could get the money he so desperately needed. Even from all the way down here he could still pick up the distant wails of his siblings ghosts coming from upstairs.

 

He shoved his face into his hands.

 

It’s never going to stop, is it? We’ll go on mission after mission, they’ll bring home ghost after ghost, and I’ll be stuck here with all of them.

 

He felt a tear slide down his cheek, and quickly scrubbed at his face as he heard the sound of Grace’s heels clicking against the tile once more.

 

“Oh honey, I know it hurts. Come here, let me clean you up.”

 

He sniffed and looked up at her, and suddenly the answer to all his problems was quite literally staring him in the face. He nodded, and let her dab away the tears and blood he’d smeared across his face.

 

“There, is that better?”

 

He nodded again.

 

“Well good. Now, which ones do you want?” she said with a wink as she held out several brightly covered bandages.

 

He tugged at his lip as he thought it over, then pointed to one with hearts and another covered in stars.

 

“Alright, I think we can make that happen. Let’s get your hand clean first though, give it here.”

 

He held it out to her, wincing in pain as she dabbed at the wound with an alcohol pad.

 

“Oh I’m sorry sweetie, I know it stings. We don’t want it to get infected though, do we?”

 

She quickly finished cleaning the wound, and gently placed one of the bandages over the cut.

 

“There! All done with that one, let me just get your shoulder and you’re good to go.”

 

As she leaned over to clean the wound, Klaus wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a hug instead.

 

“Oh my, it has been a rough day for you hasn’t it?”

 

You have no idea. Sorry Grace.

 

“Don’t worry, these will heal up before you know it. Let me finish up and you can go join your siblings, alright?”

 

He held onto her for a moment longer, then let her go so she could finish patching him up.

 

“Now stay out of trouble, you hear me?” she said sternly as she pasted the second bandage onto his shoulder.

 

He grinned at her mischievously and shrugged and she sighed, though Klaus could see the hint of a smile tug at the corner of her mouth.”

 

“At least try to stay out of trouble. Alright, go on and join your siblings, but give your brother some space for the rest of the day, okay?”

 

He nodded, but found he couldn’t quite bring himself to look at her as he collected his walkman and stood to leave.

 

He sped out of the infirmary with his fist tightly clenched, but the pain of the earring’s stones pressing into the cut on his palm barely registered.

 

He’d done it.

 

He’d finally gotten the money.

 

Surely this would get him enough drugs to keep the ghosts at bay for quite a while.

 

So why did he feel so... empty ? Shouldn’t he be... happy? Relieved? Something?

 

      He tried not to think about it, and jogged up the stairs to the second floor. He passed the library again, and snickered as he glanced inside. Viktor appeared to have left Five to his own devices, and his brother was rapidly blinking from shelf to shelf with an absolutely absurd amount of books balanced in his good hand. His ghosts kept trying to push the stack over, and only seemed to grow angrier with every failed attempt. Klaus let out a soft chuckle as Five added yet another book to his precarious tower, then blinked away to a different shelf.

 

Fucking nerd.

 

      He shook his head and headed for his room, grimacing at the noise coming from Allison’s room as he pushed the door open. From the sound of it Ben was in the room with her, along with all of his ghosts. It was hard to tell over the noise of the dead, but it almost sounded like they were fighting about something. If Five was busy in the library and Allison was distracted… now was the perfect time to make his escape. He walked over to the window and eased it open, then clambered out onto the fire escape as quietly as he could manage. He froze as his sibling’s voices stopped for a moment, then let out a sigh of relief as they continued at an even louder volume than before.

 

Yup, definitely fighting. Lucky me, he thought as he carefully made his way down the escape.

 

This time he managed to make it all the way to the ground without looking down, and let out the breath he’d been holding as his feet finally touched the ground.

 

Alright, now that the hard part is over, where to next?

Notes:

Chapter 28 content warnings: panic attack induced by seeing clothing related to an assault, no details of assault described. Brief non detailed mention of marks left from an assault.

Chapter 29: Jumping at Shadows

Notes:

Heyyyyyy did I say mid May? Whoops! Took me a lot longer to get back into the flow of writing than I was expecting, to any of my og readers that are still here, thank you for sticking around <3 I hope you guys enjoy the chapter, and hopefully the next update won't take two months haha

     Klaus anxiously fidgeted with Grace’s stolen earring as he crept through the side streets of the city.  His phone had gone missing after the… events of Friday night, and unfortunately he hadn't noticed its absence until early the next morning. He really, really didn’t want to go through the process of scouting out a dealer in person after everything that had happened, but what choice did he have? Try to get through the week completely sober? What a joke. Given the recent additions to the academy courtesy of his siblings, Klaus was fairly certain he wouldn’t even be able to last a full day before he’d risk anything for even a single moment of blissful silence. With the infirmary locked down tight, the only thing he’d even have a chance of getting into was their father’s liquor cabinet. He’d figured out alcohol dulled his powers somewhat when he was younger, but the discovery had come at a cost. To this day he still had nightmares about the training session he’d been made to endure after their father had found him passed out in the foyer, and it wasn’t something he wanted to repeat. Drinking himself numb wouldn’t get the results he was looking for, not to mention the meager payoff definitely wasn’t worth the risk. Being drunk only distorted the dead ever so slightly, while narcotics almost made them vanish entirely. The choice was clear, so he forced himself to keep searching.

 

     Starting from square one wasn’t a process Klaus particularly enjoyed, even before everything with Cody. Finding the right crowd was always easy enough, but convincing anyone to give him what he wanted was another matter entirely. Most of the drug dealers he’d encountered before were irritatingly uncomfortable selling to children, something he’d always found ironic considering their line of work. Occasionally he’d been able to talk his way around their discomfort, but-

 

     He stopped mid stride as it dawned on him that he’d be forced to carry out the entire exchange exclusively through awkwardly scribbled notes, which brought his chance of a successful score down to pretty much zero. He wanted to scream in frustration at the realization, but only a small puff of hot air came from between his lips. Klaus wasn’t good at much, but he’d always been proud of his knack for getting himself out of trouble, even if he was the one who’d gone looking for it in the first place. He glanced down at his cast dejectedly, and for the first time he realized why Five had hated the damn thing so much. Klaus knew he was useless, but looking the part made it even worse. Five had always been obnoxiously cocky and sure of himself, no wonder he detested letting his injuries show so much. It was one thing to know you were broken, and another entirely to look the part.

 

If I hadn’t taken that fall, if I didn’t have these fucking powers-

 

     A small stone caught his attention, and Klaus kicked it with as much strength as he could muster. It skipped across the pavement a few times until it finally rolled to a stop several yards away. He stalked after it and reared up for another kick, but stopped short as a shrill cry rang out from somewhere nearby. The flash of anger he’d been filled with rapidly dissipated as cool unease blossomed in its place. Ghosts were an unfortunate eventuality of this side of town; he'd slipped past at least a few dozen already. So far he’d managed to fly beneath their radar by keeping his distance and staying quiet, which was something he’d forgotten during his momentary outburst. He shoved his good hand into his pocket and quickly headed in the opposite direction of the unpleasant keening, hoping that he hadn’t managed to draw any unwanted attention to himself. A hysterical laugh from an alley to his right made him flinch as it mingled with the wailing, though he forced himself to feign some level of calmness and keep walking. 

 

A normal kid wouldn’t react at all, just hold your ground and maybe-

 

     Another scream cut through the air, and Klaus only just managed to suppress the burning urge to break into a run. He reached a trembling hand towards his headphones and pulled them over his ears, hoping the music would be enough to keep himself sane.

 

Just keep calm and drown them out-

 

He wasn't sure if he was imagining it or not, but the laughter seemed to be growing louder.

 

Don't think about it don't think about it don't-

 

     He clawed at the buttons on the walkman desperately, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't seem to steady his fingers enough to get them to cooperate. Whether the tremors were from fear, withdrawals, or some awful combination of both he wasn't sure, but he did know he was running out of time. The disturbing cackling was definitely following him now, and if he didn’t get himself under control soon it’d probably follow him for the rest of the afternoon. His fingers traced along the walkman’s casing in search of the right button as he tried to maintain an even pace. Just as the deranged laughter turned to frantic gibbering, he finally managed to jab the rewind button. As the button clicked into place the tape whirred to life-

 

-and filled Klaus’s ears with a sudden unbearable squealing as the tape snapped and pooled pathetically around the rollers inside. He scrambled to yank the headphones off as quickly as possible and tossed them away instinctively, the cord pulling the walkman from his pocket as well. They both clattered to the ground in an unceremonious heap as Klaus winced and rubbed at his defiled ears with a groan.

 

Goddamn it, can one fucking thing go right? Just one?

 

After a moment he stooped down to retrieve the walkman from the ground, grimacing as he noticed a large crack running down the side of the player.

 

Oh come on! Please don’t be broken, please-

 

As his hand hovered mere inches above the cassette player, he realized something that made him freeze.

 

Something was right behind him, and it was laughing.

 

     Something shoved an icy hand through Klaus’s chest, knocking the warmth from his body and the breath from his aching lungs simultaneously. He shivered and clumsily stumbled away from the burning intrusion, tripping over the cord of his headphones and trampling the walkman in the process. He nearly fell flat on his face as he hurriedly kicked away the cord and scrambled to get away, just barely managing to regain his balance at the last second. He immediately broke into a run, abandoning the battered walkman without a second thought. All that mattered now was getting away, and getting away fast. By now it knew he knew it was there, and if he was lucky maybe he could lose it before it got too attached. Countless streets and alleyways blurred together as he ducked and weaved through the city, but the demented chortling behind him didn’t sound like it was getting any further away. He couldn’t bring himself to turn his head and look to be sure though, whatever it was that was chasing him, he didn’t want to know what it looked like. If he didn’t know, he couldn’t think about it later. A painful twinge in his side reminded him that his body wasn’t exactly in the best condition at the moment, and he suddenly realized exactly how ragged his breathing had gotten. He wouldn’t be able to keep this up for much longer, which left only one other method of escape. If he couldn’t outrun the ghoul, he’d have to outsmart it. Klaus searched his surroundings wildly as he forced his legs to keep moving, eventually zeroing in on an alleyway up ahead. 

 

There! Don’t be a dead end, don’t be a dead end-!

 

With the last bit of his strength he pushed himself forwards and skidded around the corner of the alley, and stared in dismay at the barbed wire fence ahead of him. 

 

No no no! There has to be something here, there has to be-

 

     He spun in a circle desperately, eventually resigning himself to the only option he could think of aside from just giving in and waiting for the ghost to catch up to him. He dashed over to the nearest dumpster, heaved open the lid, and hurled himself inside as he yanked it closed behind him. It slammed shut with a thunderous boom, plunging him into complete darkness as his back collided with something damp. He held his breath in the rancid air as the spirit’s jabbering grew closer, not daring to make a sound. The thudding of his own heartbeat running rampant seemed deafeningly loud, loud enough to give him away for sure-

 

-and yet, somehow, against all odds, the horrific cackling that had been chasing after him seemed to be moving past the alley. Klaus slowly let out his breath and sunk his weight into the garbage behind him as the ghoul’s din grew further still. Suddenly the laughter stopped, and was quickly followed by a furious howl. Under any other circumstance the unexpected cacophony would terrify him, but this time Klaus grinned in triumph. Whatever it was that had been chasing him, he’d actually managed to get away from it. He’d beaten it. Another angry shriek reverberated through the air, wiping the smile from Klaus’s face. Thankfully it still seemed to be going in the wrong direction, but it was best to move on before that changed. It would circle back for him eventually, and it sounded pissed . He cracked the lid open and peered out at the surrounding area. It seemed rather deserted save for a few passers by, which was fine by him. He carelessly threw the lid all the way open, the loud clang of it banging against the back of the dumpster drawing a few disapproving looks from the surrounding pedestrians walking past. Klaus awkwardly clambered out, though he paid their glares no mind. No one could out match his father’s glare of disapproval, which left him rather invulnerable to judgment from anyone else. As Klaus’s feet hit the ground once more, he noticed a rather worn looking backpack he hadn’t seen before leaning against the side dumpster. A quick glance around the alley confirmed it was in fact abandoned, and he crept closer to investigate.

 

If there’s enough money inside, maybe I don’t need mom’s earring after all.

 

After a brief moment of hesitation, Klaus knelt down next to the bag and unzipped it.

 

Clothes, more clothes, water bottle-

 

     He took each item out and set it to the side as he searched through the bag, hoping something inside would be of some use. He shoved his hand to the bottom of the bag, and froze as his fingertips brushed against something familiar.

 

No way. No fucking way!

 

     He excitedly upended the bag and shook the remainder of the contents onto the ground, not daring to get his hopes too high. A few toiletries and balled up shirts came tumbling out, followed by two plastic baggies full of little blue pills. He stared in disbelief at the small pile for a moment before quickly snatching up one of the bags to examine the pills. All of them were stamped A-215, which he quickly recalled as a type of pain medication.

 

Thank you Pogo!, he thought ecstatically as he kissed one of the bags before shoving one into his pants and the second into his jacket pocket. Guess your field medicine classes ended up being useful after all.

 

     Klaus couldn’t believe his luck. Each bag had well over fifty pills in it, which meant the backpack likely belonged to a dealer who’d had to dump it and run. He hastily began shoving the rest of the contents back into the bag, whoever had left it would definitely come back for it, and it was best he was long gone before-

 

“Hey kid! What’re you doing back there?! Hey! That’s my stuff! Hey!”

 

Well. Before that.

 

Damn it.

 

     He stilled as he put on his best pathetic orphan face, and closed his fist around one of the energy bars inside the bag before he stood and turned to face the voice. A rather grungy looking man in his mid to late thirties was staring him down angrily, not to mention he was easily three or four times Klaus’s size. Klaus held up his hands and started to back away, a rush of panic shooting through him as his back collided with the wire fence behind him. 

 

Can’t run can’t run cAN’T RUN-

 

The man dropped his gaze to Klaus’s cast, then to the granola bar clutched in his fist. His gaze seemed to soften a bit, though Klaus was still extremely wary.

 

“Hey kid, you just hungry? You can keep the granola bar if that’s all you were after,” the man said as he held his palms out and took another step forward.

 

     He pressed himself further into the links of the fence, wincing as the links dug painfully into his shoulder blades. Distantly he could hear the fence shaking, and suddenly he realized just how badly he was trembling.

 

Go away go away go awAY-

 

“Whoa kid, I’m not going to hurt you, just pass me that bag and I’ll be on my way, alright?”

 

The man took a step back, and held out his hand expectantly for the bag.

 

Klaus felt his heart flutter wildly in his chest as he struggled to control himself, and tried to recall exactly what angle he’d been trying to go for. 

 

Right, right, hungry street urchin.

 

     He tightened his grip around the energy bar and pulled away from the fence. Thankfully, his panicked tremors coupled with the thin layer of garbage he found himself covered in seemed to be helping him to sell the poor starving child act quite well.

 

Focus! Come on orphan Annie, just hand him the bag and you’re home free. Come on, you can do this!

 

     Without taking his eyes off of the man, Klaus switched the granola bar to his cast covered hand, then knelt to pick up the bag. He held it out to the man who grabbed for it eagerly, but when he attempted to take it, his hand only phased through it.

 

No.

 

“What the fuck?”

 

No no nO-!

 

The man swiped at the bag once again, only to get similar results.

 

“Kid, please tell me you’re seeing this too. What the fuck is happening?!”

 

   The bag slipped from Klaus’s still extended hand as panic shot through him. He searched the alley wildly for a means of escape, and noticed something he hadn’t before. Inside the open dumpster he’d been hiding in only moments before, a pale hand was poking up from between the bags of garbage within. The man's ghost turned to follow his horrified gaze, and only then did Klaus notice the large knife protruding from between his shoulder blades.

 

“Kid-”

 

The ghost turned back towards him, but Klaus had already managed to climb to the top of the fence by then, despite only having one good arm to do so with. Adrenaline really was one hell of a drug, and he barely felt the barbs of the wire dig into his skin as he vaulted himself over the top.

 

“Hey wait!”

 

He tucked and rolled as he landed roughly, immediately forcing himself back to his feet despite his body’s loud protests.

 

“KID!”

 

Like usual, Klaus ignored the cries of the dead, and ran.

Notes:

Chapter 29 warnings: descriptions of panic

Chapter 30: Family Divided

Notes:

See, I told you the next update wouldn't take two months! Also, I have a question for you all. Is one long ass fic preferable, or a series so you can skip to different arcs of the plot easier? Everything posted so far would be one arc, and in maybe 10 to 15ish chapters will be the start of the second arc. In my head I have around five (ha) arcs vaguely plotted out, so when I say long fic I mean looooooooong. Ty so much for any feedback you have, and I hope you enjoy the update! :D

     Five glanced at the clock and let out an irritated sigh as he slammed the quantum physics book he’d been leafing through shut in defeat. It was half past four and though he loathed to admit it, he was starting to run out of steam. The equations he’d begun to construct had started out promising, but now they were starting to blur together into one unintelligible mass of numbers and variables. There were few things Five hated more than leaving something unfinished, but even he knew his limits. He hadn’t eaten anything since last night, and he’d been at this for hours without taking a single break. It was probably best to stop for now, there’d always be time to hit the books again after dinner. Besides, while his work was still far from finished, he’d managed to make some serious progress. He now had a fairly decent understanding of the basic theories of time travel, though avoiding creating accidental paradoxes still seemed a bit daunting. He stood and stretched before setting about cleaning up his work space, wincing slightly as his body rudely reminded him of exactly how long he’d been sitting with bad posture. Once all of the books had been returned to their shelves, Five gathered up the rest of his notes and blinked back to his room.

 

     He immediately regretted the decision as he stumbled out of the jump with a smattering of black spots blossoming across his vision. The world tilted unpleasantly from one side to the other, and Five felt his stomach lurch in protest. He immediately threw his notes to the ground, only barely managing to keep himself upright by gripping the back of his desk chair with his good hand. He clutched at the wood of the chair as he waited for the wave of nausea to fade, then gingerly stooped down to retrieve the papers.

 

Ugh, should have just walked back. Damnit, I really should’ve taken something home from Griddy’s last night for later. Oh well, probably wouldn’t have been worth the risk anyway. At least there’s still some time to talk to Klaus before dinner.

 

     Five slowly stood back up and stashed the notes he’d taken in his desk to look over later. He hadn’t exactly had a chance to speak to Klaus since the mission alarm had gone off, and those marks around his neck…

 

     Even though he didn’t know the exact details of what had happened to his brother, every scenario his mind came up with made him sick. He still couldn’t get the image of Klaus tugging absent mindedly at the neck of his sweater in the back of their father’s car out of his head. Usually his brother was so full of life, always doing everything in his power to be the center of attention. That night though, he’d been so withdrawn into himself that he’d seemed like an entirely different person. Even with his jaw wired shut, Five had never seen him be so… quiet. Once he’d seen him walk towards that bathroom, a part of him had known what he was up to. While Klaus sneaking off to get high before a mission wasn’t exactly new, something about this time had felt different somehow. It didn’t seem like Klaus was doing it for the high, it was more like he was running from something. And that, that was the scary part. The path his brother was going down wasn’t a good one, and Five was worried about where that road would end.

 

Really worried.

 

     He tried to feel for Klaus’s room, and sighed in defeat at the undefined lumps of matter he sensed around him. It was no use, he simply didn’t have enough energy left to get a clear picture of his surroundings. Five left his room and walked over to his brother’s door, hesitating for a moment before he forced himself to knock on the wood. He had absolutely no idea what he was going to say, but he knew he had to do something. Whatever had happened that night, Klaus clearly couldn’t deal with it on his own.

 

     There was no indication his knock had been heard, and Five internally debated whether or not he should leave his brother to his own devices. After a few minutes of silence made up his mind and knocked again, a slight sense of unease beginning to creep up on him.

 

“Klaus? Are you in there?”

 

He pressed an ear to the door and strained to hear any signs of life from within, but all he could make out was the muffled sound of a gentle breeze.

 

No. He didn’t, did he? Not after-

 

“Klaus, I’m coming in, okay? If you don’t want me to, just bang on something and I won’t.”

 

He waited a moment for a reply, then laid his hand on the knob when he heard nothing in response. He drew in a breath before twisting it and easing the door open, hoping his hunch was wrong.

 

“Ok Klaus, I’m coming-”

 

The window had been left wide open, and Klaus was nowhere to be found.

 

“-in. Shit.”

 

Maybe he’s just helping Grace with dinner and forgot to close the window. Please just have forgotten to close the window-

 

“Hey Five! Is Klaus in there? It’s almost dinnertime and I haven’t seen him all day.”

 

Shit.

 

“No Luther, he’s not. Have you asked any of the others?” Five replied as he pulled the door to Klaus’s room shut.

 

Fuck, he looks exhausted. Does dad make him throw around train cars or something?

 

“Diego said he caught him sneaking around his room earlier, but he hadn’t seen him since Grace broke them up and took Klaus to the infirmary.”

 

“The infirmary? Seriously? Does that idiot know how to solve any of his problems without violence?” Five sighed as he ran his good hand through his hair in irritation.

 

“Apparently not. Well, if you do see him will you tell him to get to the dining room? I’m really not in the mood to go chasing after him today.”

 

You and me both Luther, you and me both.

 

“Sure thing Luther. I’ll go check downstairs and see if I can find him.”

 

“Thanks Five.”

 

     Five made his way to the stairs, the pit in his stomach only growing as he descended to the main floor. He knew there was next to no chance that Klaus was actually downstairs, but it seemed like Grace had been the last to see him. If he hurried, he’d be able to catch her before dinner started. She probably didn’t even know that Klaus had left the academy, though it was best not to leave any stone unturned. He passed through the dining room on his way to the kitchen, and was grateful to see Diego preoccupied with setting the table. It would be much easier to talk to Grace alone, especially considering the altercation Luther had mentioned.

 

What did Klaus want in Diego’s room anyway? A knife? No, that doesn’t seem right. Does Diego also- no, that doesn’t seem right either. So what then-

 

“Five sweetie, do you mind taking this to the table for me?”

 

He’d been so lost in thought he hadn’t realized he’d entered the kitchen, much less Grace’s presence.

 

“Sure. Have you seen Klaus around today by chance? Luther was having trouble finding him for dinner,” Five asked as he took the salad bowl from her hands.

 

“Hmm, well your brother got himself in some trouble with Diego earlier, but I haven’t seen him since. He had his tape player with him though, maybe he lost track of time and didn’t hear Luther calling?”

 

“Hmm, maybe. Thanks, Grace.”

 

“No problem hun!”

 

Wait, why is she missing an earring? Klaus was looking for something in Diego’s room before he got caught, which means-

 

“Is there something else you need, sweetie?”

 

“Uh, no. Sorry. I just remembered, Klaus said he was going to take a nap earlier. He probably just overslept. I’ll go see if he’s in his room after I set this down.”

 

Damnit Klaus, really?! Were you seriously that desperate for a fix?

 

“I hope you find him, I’m sure he’s tired of drinking protein shakes for every meal, but he needs to keep his strength up if he wants those wires to come out any time soon.”

 

“Yeah, definitely. Don’t worry, I’ll track him down eventually.”

 

“I’m sure you will hun, good luck,” she said with a wink.

 

      Five exited the kitchen and dumped the salad bowl in the center of the dining room table before finding his seat. It was no use trying to search for Klaus until after dinner, there was no way he’d be able to leave the academy undetected until after the meal was over. His sisters had already sat themselves as well, though Diego was still hurriedly darting around the table to set everyone’s places before their father joined them. Allison seemed to be lost in thought about something, and Vanya refused to even look in Five’s direction. He still felt a bit guilty for how he’d spoken to her earlier, though it was clear she was in no mood to talk to him at the moment. The floorboards creaked above them as Luther stalked around upstairs looking for Klaus, but Five already knew it was a lost cause. Ben walked into the dining room shortly after Five sat down, and Allison immediately stiffened at his appearance. His brother seemed to be actively ignoring her existence as he took a seat next to Five, choosing to look anywhere else but in her direction. Allison’s face burned as she looked away from them both, and Five found himself wishing he were anywhere else. Clearly Ben had words with her after reading this morning’s paper, and judging by Allison’s demeanor it’d probably gotten ugly.

 

Can this family just get along for one goddamn day? Just one?

 

     The familiar thump of a cane echoed from down the hall, causing all of them to quickly adjust their posture as Diego swiftly placed the last few dishes down and scrambled to his seat. Luther jogged down the stairs and glanced at Five desperately. He shook his head somberly in response, and Luther’s expression fell in resignation before he too sat down. Their father rounded the corner and entered the dining room, immediately zeroing in on the empty seat beside Five.

 

“Number One! Where is Number Four?”

 

Luther jumped up from his seat to stand before responding.

 

“I uh- I looked for him but I couldn’t find him anywhere. He has to be somewhere outside the academy, I searched everywhere I could think of but-”

 

“As the leader of this academy, I expected better from you. How disappointing. The other members are your responsibility, Number One. I’d hoped I could count on you to keep your team organized at the least, but it seems I was wrong. Now sit down, it’s nearly time for Herr Carlson’s evening program, and I’ll not miss it to hear your incessant excuses for your gross ineptitude.”

 

“Yes Father,” Luther mumbled as he returned to his seat.

 

“But what about Kl-”

 

“Silence Number Seven! The next one of you that speaks out of turn goes to their room without dinner, am I understood?”

 

All six of them averted their eyes and nodded.

 

“Good.”

 

     The rest of the meal passed rather uneventfully, save for the drone of Herr Carlson’s voice floating across the room. Five was thankful for that despite the tense atmosphere, and even more thankful to find that he’d been allowed the same meal of potatoes and chicken as his siblings, albeit a much smaller portion. He resisted the urge to blink away to his room the second their father dismissed them, instead forcing himself to climb up the stairs like the rest of his siblings. None of them dared to speak a word to each other as they all retreated to their own private corners of the academy. Five yanked open the door to his room and quickly shut it, letting out a sigh of relief as it closed behind him.

 

Well, that couldn’t have gone worse. Even Klaus isn’t stupid enough to miss dinner when dad’s home, so where the hell is he?!

 

     He strode over to the window and pulled back the curtain, hoping against all odds that he’d catch his stupid brother scrambling up the fire escape and be able to call it a night, but no such luck. Something moving in the distance caught his eye though, and Five squinted to make it out. A jacket seemed to be caught in a tree about a block away, and a gentle breeze caused it to flutter in the branches. Something about it was familiar, and Five felt his stomach drop.

 

Is that… Klaus’s?

 

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, he knew it was. He’d been wearing it Saturday morning, the same morning Five had hauled him off of the fire escape in a near catatonic state.

 

Fuck.

 

He sucked in a breath, and blinked down to the street below to investigate.

Notes:

Ch 30 content warnings: mention of past drug use, brief mentions of under eating

Chapter 31: Needle In A Haystack

Notes:

Ya'll got me so excited with your lovely comments that I'm posting this on my phone while at I'm still at work, so apologies if there's any weird formatting errors. Hope you guys enjoy, and also sorry for where it ends. The chapter was getting too long, I had to, I swear! If you want a song to vibe with while reading, I had Dog Days Are Over by Florence and the Machine on repeat while writing this <3

Edit: did a big overhaul of the description of this fic to better reflect the direction this arc of the story. Don't fret over things that may have been removed, those elements will still be appearing in the second work ;D

     Five blinked into the branches of the tree above him to retrieve Klaus's jacket, just barely managing to awkwardly land atop one of the thicker limbs. He carefully shuffled towards the jacket, wincing as the branch crackled beneath him. 

 

Come on, almost there-

 

     He dared to inch just a bit closer he stretched his good hand towards the fluttering fabric, nearly brushing against it with his fingertips when-

 

CRACK!

 

Shit-!

 

     The branch snapped suddenly beneath him, and he made one final grab for the jacket as he lost his footing and tumbled towards the ground. His hand collided with fabric, and he quickly twisted his fingers around the jacket before blinking back to the safety of the pavement below. The branch fell to the ground beside him, cracking in half on impact. 

 

Well. That probably could have gone better, he thought as he dusted himself off and began to inspect the jacket.

 

     It definitely belonged to his brother, though how it had ended up in a tree, Five had no idea. Oddly it seemed rather clean, like Klaus hadn't worn it for very long before he'd lost it.

 

Hmm. Strange.

 

     His fingers worried at the fabric, and he grimaced as he noticed the stretched out neckline. He glanced back at the academy, then to his brother's still open window.

 

Klaus… shit.

 

     As far as he could tell, there were no other clues to his brother's whereabouts in the area. However, that didn't necessarily mean that Five had nothing to go on. Klaus had definitely left the academy in search of drugs, that much he was certain of. His brother was a simple creature; retracting his steps shouldn't be too difficult.

 

     Hmm, if I were Klaus and I snuck out for an afternoon, where would I go to get a fix? He definitely wouldn't have gotten far from the academy on foot, so he's probably somewhere in walking distance. That leaves… the library, the theater, a few neighborhoods and restaurants, and downtown. Hmm. If it were any of the others, I'd bet on the movie theater, but this is Klaus we're talking about. It's possible to stumble across a drug dealer outside of a theater, but not probable. Downtown it is then.

 

     He blinked back to his room for a quick change of clothes, leaving the jacket beneath the tree he'd found it in.

 

     Five began his search by scouring the most heavily traveled areas of downtown, hoping he'd catch his brother's messy head of curly hair amongst the passers by. Unfortunately though, he had no such luck. Time felt like it was slipping through his fingers, and still there was no sign of Klaus anywhere. After nearly an hour and a half of fruitless searching, Five finally realized his mistake. He immediately buried his first into his hair as he marveled at his own stupidity.

 

Fuck, there's no way in hell Klaus went this way, he didn't sneak out to sight see or window shop! This area is way too populated for any drug dealer to hang around. If that's what he was after he probably went somewhere more secluded, not the main streets.

 

     He immediately redirected himself towards the side street behind the strip mall he'd been searching. Upon entering he noticed someone sleeping in front of one of the shop's back entryways, though Five was certain from their build that it wasn't Klaus. He quietly crept past, doing his best not to wake them. Most of the buildings in the area seemed to be connected through a few different alleyways, though none of them appeared to be very well traveled. Five peered down alley after alley, the frustration at his lack of progress growing exponentially with each one. He turned down yet another back road, and froze.

 

     In the middle of the sidewalk sat a very familiar looking pair of headphones connected to a walkman, both completely covered in stickers.

 

It looked like someone had stomped on it.

 

Fuck.

 

     He blinked over to the cassette player and quickly snatched it and the headphones from the ground. The tape inside had snapped at some point, and the stickers were covered in scuff marks. Some small part of Five desperately hoped this didn't belong to his brother after all, that he had just forgotten what Klaus's walkman looked like. He squinted to read the words on the label of the tape, just barely managing to make out the faded writing.

 

"Happy birthday Klaus! Love, Allison"

 

Shit.

 

     Klaus's walkman wasn't something he'd part with lightly. Neither was this tape, which meant something had given him cause to leave both behind. Five sighed and turned the player over in his hands a few times before finally tucking away in his pocket.

 

Damnit Klaus, what did you get yourself into now?

 

     The sound of a distant siren drew his attention, and Five felt his stomach drop as it drew closer and closer. Suddenly it fell silent, stopping only a block or two away from where he was now.

 

Only a block or two away from where Klaus had felt the need to run from something.

 

Fuck.

 

     He hurriedly wrapped the headphones around his neck and jogged down the street after it. It wasn't long before a second siren's wailing began to chase after the first, which only made Five run faster. Building after building passed by him in a sickening blur, until finally he spotted a familiar combination of red and blue lights up ahead. There were two cop cars parked in front of an alley, along with an ambulance off to the side.

 

Shit. Is he hurt? What the hell happened?

 

     He watched from a distance as the scene unfolded, not wanting to draw any attention to himself if he could help it. Police appeared to be blocking off the entrance to the alleyway, and a woman was speaking to an officer nearby. An EMT led them both towards the ambulance, though as far as Five could tell she didn't appear to be injured.

 

Either she's a victim, or a witness.

 

He crept a bit closer, hoping he might be able to glean some insight-

 

"Hey kid!"

 

Shit. Just keep walking and maybe-

 

"Hey you, stop! Come here!"

 

God damnit.

 

     He fought back the immediate urge to simply blink away from the officer flagging him down, no matter how tempting it was. Five was in no mood to waste even more of his time being lectured by a cop for being alone in the city at night. Be that as it may, it simply wasn't worth giving away his identity to escape. He begrudgingly approached the officer, noting the sternness in his tone.

 

 I don't have fucking time for this-

 

"Look, I know where I'm going, okay? I'm on my way home now, so unless-"

 

"Whoa whoa woah," the cop interrupted, holding up a hand as he spoke. "I'm gonna stop you right there kid. Did you pass by this area earlier today son?"

 

"Uh, no. No, I didn't," replied Five after a brief moment of confusion.

 

"Can your parents attest to that?"

 

Shit.

 

"Yes."

 

"Alright kid, I'm gonna need your parents names and home phone, then you're free to-"

 

"Deputy O'hare do you copy? Over."

 

"One second kid," the officer said before reaching to answer his radio.

 

"Yeah, go ahead. Over."

 

"The coroner is going to be a bit late, they just called dispatch. They blew a tire on their way to the scene, but they're changing it now. New ETA is in about thirty to forty minutes, give or take. Over."

 

No. He's not- He can't be-

 

Suddenly, the broken walkman in Five's pocket felt like a lead brick.

 

"Copy that, over."

 

I heard him in his room just this morning, he can't be–

 

"-id?"

 

"Huh?"

 

"You alright? You're looking a bit pale there."

 

Five realized his fingers had crept up to grip the pair of headphones around his neck, and he forced himself to relax his fingers and lower his arm.

 

"I'm fine. Can I just go?", he replied stiffly.

 

"Look, I'm gonna take a guess and say your parents don't know you're out this late, and you'd like to keep it that way. Am I close?"

 

Five stayed silent.

 

"Tell you what, if you're willing to let our witness take a look at you and she can confirm that you weren't involved, that's good enough for me. Sound fair?"

 

He nodded.

 

"Alright then, this way please."

 

     The officer led him towards the ambulance where the woman he'd seen earlier was still seated. She'd been given a blanket, and was nursing a cup of coffee as another cop took her statement. As they got closer, Five began to pick up their conversation.

 

"-just so strange, I think he was hearing voices or something. He was acting like someone was talking to him, but there was no one else there."

 

"And that's when you went to investigate?"

 

"No, I watched him for a few minutes before that, I thought he might need help. Something set him off, but nothing looked out of the ordinary to me. Whatever it was though, it had him absolutely terrified. After that he climbed over the fence back there somehow, but why he didn't just leave the way he came, I have no idea."

 

"The fence? The one with barbed wire at the top?", the other cop replied, failing to keep the skepticism from his voice.

 

"Yes! I already told you all of this! His arm was injured, I really didn't think he'd make it over, but somehow he did. Ran like a bat out of hell the second he hit the ground too. Poor kid, he had to have been on something from how he was acting, and I'm sure finding a body-"

 

Did she just say-

 

The officer that led Five over cleared his throat, cutting off the conversation.

 

"Sorry to interrupt you ma'am, but is this the kid you saw fleeing the scene earlier?," he said, cocking his head in Five's direction.

 

She glanced at Five for a moment, then quickly shook her head.

 

"No, definitely not. The kid I saw had a cast, not a sling."

 

"...Are you sure it wasn't a sling?"

 

"Absolutely, it was bright pink. Kind of hard to forget that, plus his hair was a lot curlier."

 

Alive he's alive-

 

"Huh. I thought for sure when I saw his arm- oh well. Sorry kid, looks like I had you confused with someone else. You're free to go."

 

"Fantastic," Five replied dryly as he walked away.

 

    He sensed for the area behind the blockade as he left, hoping that maybe, just maybe, Klaus might be hiding somewhere nearby. Unfortunately it seemed as though no one else was in the area, save for the emergency responders. He could feel the fence at the back of the alley the woman mentioned, and thankfully the opposite end of the street appeared to be unoccupied. Five ducked out of sight, checked his surroundings to make sure he was unobserved, then blinked to the other side of the building.

 

     He landed near the opposite entrance to the alley, though he could hear a couple of cops still milling about inside it. Five did not want to draw their attention for a second time, so he elected to search the surrounding area instead. After a quick glance around his surroundings, his eyes eventually landed on something laying in the middle of the sidewalk a few yards away.

 

Bingo.

 

He walked towards the mystery object, furrowing his brow in confusion once he realized what it was.

 

Is that… a shoe?

 

He picked it up and turned it over in his hand, heart hammering at the familiar umbrella insignia stamped on the heel.

 

Definitely academy issued, there's no mistaking that craftsmanship. Shit.

 

    Five continued in what he hoped was the direction Klaus had gone in, and it wasn't long before he came across another matching shoe. 

 

Okay, at least I'm clearly going the right way, he thought as he bent over to pick up the second shoe, seriously though Klaus, what the fuck.

 

     He pressed onwards, pausing his stride as something crunched beneath his feet. Upon lifting his foot, Five noticed several small pieces of glass glittering back at him.

 

Shit, if he didn't have his shoes when he ran this way, then-

 

     His stomach turned at the thought, and Five carefully knelt down to examine the ground. Several beer bottles had been carelessly tossed onto the sidewalk, then shattered on impact. He poked at the pieces, hoping that Klaus hadn't come this way after all-

 

Fuck, that's blood. Damnit Klaus!

 

     Five followed after the trail of reddish brown spots dotting the pavement, frowning at the sheer amount of broken glass that littered the sidewalk. The dots grew bigger in size as he pressed onwards, and eventually Five was able to make out the shape of a footprint.

 

He has to be close, he has to be-

 

     Eventually the trail ended in front of a rather dingy looking twenty-four hour laundromat, which Five cautiously entered. The flooring inside was so filthy that if Klaus had tracked in any blood, it blended seamlessly with the mystery grime caking the area. It seemed to be a self service type of establishment, and was currently unoccupied. Five paced up and down the rows of washing machines and dryers several times to be sure, but there was no sign of Klaus anywhere.

 

He had to be here somewhere, he has to be-

 

     He zeroed in on a small bathroom at the back that he'd somehow missed, and quickly blinked to the door. As Five laid his hand on the handle, he realized that it was locked from the inside.

 

Please-

 

"Klaus? Klaus, you in there?", he asked as he anxiously rapped on the door.

 

No response.

 

He sensed for the interior of the restroom desperately, and found no relief at what he felt. There was definitely someone inside, but they seemed to be sprawled out on the floor.

 

And they weren't moving.

Notes:

Ch 31 warnings: brief mentions of blood

Chapter 32: Can't Run, Can't Hide

Notes:

I'm back and I'm here to hurt your feelings! :D Have a longer chapter since the last one ended on a cliff hanger, I definitely wouldn't do that to you twice...

Song recommendation for reading this chapter is Voodoo Doll by The Funeral Portrait, hope you enjoy!

Content warnings in the end notes~

     Five blinked into the restroom without hesitation, instantly feeling the meager contents of his stomach revolt as he took in his new surroundings.

 

Fucking hell-

 

    Dozens of little blue pills were scattered all across the bloodstained floor of the small bathroom, along with several crimson stained wads of toilet paper. Face down in the middle of the mess was Klaus, unconscious and absolutely covered in smears of his own blood. His feet were covered in a multitude of lacerations, and Five wasn’t sure if he was breathing or not. 

 

Pale he’s so pale is he-

 

     His brother’s shoes slipped from his hands with a loud clatter as Five fell to his side and scrambled to roll him over. He shakily attempted to check Klaus for a pulse, but was unable to hold his one good hand steady enough to get a proper reading.

 

Shit! Why can’t I just-

 

     He tried again and again, then stilled as a muffled giggle suddenly came from beneath him.

 

…For fuck’s sake Klaus, really?

 

     Klaus struggled to right himself as Five withdrew his hand and released him, eventually managing to pull himself to a sitting position by awkwardly slumping against the bathroom wall.

 

“Klaus. Just… what the fuck. I mean that seriously, what the fuck.”

 

     His brother only grinned back at him in response, then made a weak attempt to jab him in the side with his non cast-clad hand. The action nearly sent him toppling over, and Five grabbed his wildly flailing wrist to steady him.

 

Great, he’s alive. I’m going to kill him.

 

Five’s eyes drifted to his brother’s outstretched hand, and he grimaced at the sight of his raw skinned palm. 

 

Did he fall down-?

 

Klaus yanked his wrist from Five’s grasp at his gaze, averting his eyes as the goofy smile quickly dropped from his face.

 

“...Do you want to tell me what happened? I can go get some paper-”

 

He shook his head, still refusing to make eye contact.

 

“...Fine. I’m going to get you cleaned up, then I’ll get us back home. Any objections?”

 

Klaus gave a weak shrug.

 

“I’m taking that as a no,” Five sighed as he eyed his brother’s damaged feet. “I need to go get something better than toilet paper to clean you up with, though. I’ll be right back, just leave the door locked so no one else comes in, okay?”

 

     His brother nodded, then closed his eyes as he leaned his head against the wall behind him. Five quickly took inventory of his brother’s copious scrapes and bruises, then stood and blinked out of the bathroom without another word.

 

There has to be something I can use out here, there has to be-

 

     Five desperately ransacked the laundromat for anything useful, but the pickings proved to be incredibly thin. After twenty minutes of manic searching he finally gave up, having only a half empty bottle of hand sanitizer, a notepad and pen, and an old t-shirt to show for his efforts.

 

It’s not ideal, but it’ll do for now. Besides, Grace will fix him up properly once I get him back to the academy.

      He blinked back inside the bathroom, eyes widening in disbelief as he stared at his brother in disappointment. It appeared that in the brief time he’d been gone, Klaus had made it his personal mission to recollect as many of the pills strewn about the floor as he could before he came back. He startled at Five’s sudden appearance, sending the few pills sitting in his palm scattering across the floor as he jolted upwards with a guilty expression. He slowly scooted back towards the wall, and Five noticed his not so subtle attempt to conceal something with his leg as he went.

 

“Seriously, Klaus?”, Five mumbled as approached his brother, “Give it here, now.”

 

Klaus stubbornly refused to meet his gaze, instead choosing to focus on toying with the hem of his shirt.

 

“I’m not going to ask again, don’t make me take it from you,” Five demanded as he set aside his meager supplies and held out his hand expectantly.

 

His brother’s fingers froze on the hem, then after a moment he closed his eyes and slowly straightened out his leg with a defeated sigh.

 

“Jesus Klaus, look at yourself. Do you really think these are a good idea at the moment?”, he said as he plucked a rather sizable bag of pills from behind Klaus’s leg. 

 

     Five dumped the contents into the toilet and flushed, finding himself oddly transfixed by the pills swirling around inside the bowl. A bittersweet feeling washed over him as they finally disappeared from sight before a quiet sniffle brought him crashing back to the present. He turned back to face his brother, immediately noticing the tears streaming down Klaus’s face that he vainly attempted to hide by scrubbing at his face with his sleeve.

 

“...Why do you do this to yourself Klaus?”, he mumbled as he wet the corner of the shirt he’d found in the sink.

 

His brother stilled, then lowered his arm with a shrug.

 

“You don’t know?”

 

He shrugged again.

 

“Fine. Whatever. Let’s just get you cleaned up so we can get going.”

 

     Klaus held out his hand to Five without looking up, keeping his eyes cast downwards to his lap. Five let out a defeated sigh as he began to gently blot away the blood from his brother’s hand. As he cleaned more of the smears of blood from his skin, it quickly became apparent that Klaus wasn’t nearly as injured as he’d first appeared to be. The majority of the mess seemed to have stemmed from his brother’s clumsy attempts to staunch the bleeding from his feet, not a multitude of open wounds. His knees were both skinned and he’d sustained a few minor scrapes across his torso, but those would all heal within a week or so, much to Five’s relief. His feet though, those were going to be the real challenge.

 

“...Fucking hell Klaus. Why didn’t you just stop to pick up your shoes?”

 

Five propped the first of his brother’s feet on his lap to better inspect the damage.

 

“Well, it looks like the bleeding stopped, that’s good at least,” he said after a moment as he continued to tilt it from side to side. He gingerly began to dab at the blood, instantly causing Klaus flinch and hiss in pain.

 

“I know, I’m sorry,” he said as he stopped what he was doing to meet his brother’s eyes. “I have to get it cleaned up though, I need to be able to see if there’s any glass still in there before I wrap it.”

 

Klaus nodded solemnly, then banged his head back against the wall with a clenched fist as Five wiped another of the cuts clean.

 

“Here, hold on,” Five said as he paused to rifle through his pockets, “I grabbed some paper while I was outside, let me know if you need to take breaks,” he said as he pulled out the notepad and held it out to Klaus.

 

His brother slowly raised his head, then took the pad from his hand and began to scribble something.

 

“Did dad send you?”

 

Five stilled.

 

“No. No, he didn’t.”

 

Klaus scribbled a reply, flipping the paper back to him with a confused expression.

 

“Then why are you here?”

 

“...You didn’t show up for dinner, so I came to find you.”

 

A grin stretched across his brother’s face as he hurriedly wrote a response.

 

“Aw Fivey, you were worried about me? You do have a heart somewhere behind that brooding exterior after all!”

 

“...Shut up Klaus.”

 

     Five studiously resumed the delicate task of removing the rest of the blood from Klaus’s feet, refusing to encourage him any further. It was slow going, but Five eventually managed to complete the job with minimal objections from his brother. Once his feet were clean he could see several jagged cuts running across the soles of both, but the left foot was far worse than the right one.

 

“Hey Klaus?”

 

“Mmm?”, he replied, raising his head up from the paper he’d been busy doodling on.

 

“Your right foot is good to go, but the left still has some glass stuck in it. I’m going to have to pull it out.”

 

Klaus paled a bit as his grip on the pen tightened.

 

“...I know, I’m sorry. I’ll try to get it over with quickly,” Five said as he pumped some of the hand sanitizer onto his good hand.

 

     Klaus gave a curt nod, and Five hesitantly pinched at the rather sizable piece of glass protruding from his brother’s heel. The second his fingers brushed against it though, Klaus let out a muffled yelp and reflexively pulled his foot away.

 

“It’s gotta come out Klaus, I know it hurts. It’s just that one piece and then we’re done,” Five lied.

 

Klaus whimpered, then slowly replaced his foot in resignation.

 

“Ready?”

 

His brother squeezed his eyes shut and nodded as his knuckles turned white around the pen.

 

“Alright. One, two-”

 

He quickly yanked the biggest of the three pieces of glass from his brother’s heel, wincing at the unpleasant sound Klaus made as finally it clattered to the ground.

 

“-three. There we go! It’s bleeding again so I’ll need to clean it up a bit but-”

 

A wet sniffle interrupted him, and Five paused as he pressed the t-shirt against the bleeding gash.

 

“You okay?”, he asked, forcing himself to meet his brother’s puffy eyes.

 

Klaus flipped to a new page, then shakily wrote a reply.

 

“Break”

 

“Okay. Can I wrap up the right one at least?”

 

Klaus nodded.

 

Five pulled the t-shirt away for a moment and tore in two with his teeth, then ripped the cleaner of the two pieces once more.

 

“Here, hold this steady for a minute,” he said as he pressed the remainder of the shirt back to Klaus’s heel.

 

His brother complied, and Five carefully tied one of the smaller shirt pieces around his other foot before putting his shoe back on.

 

“Alright, that’s one down. Ready to finish up?”

 

Klaus shook his head, but handed the cloth back to Five nonetheless.

 

“I still need to clean it up a bit, so this might sting a little. The worst is over though,” Five murmured as he carefully dabbed away the remainder of the blood. “What were you drawing earlier, Klaus?”

 

     His brother’s eyes lit up a bit as he eagerly flipped back through the pad of paper, and Five seized the opportunity to quickly pry out the smaller of the two remaining pieces of glass while he was distracted. Klaus barely seemed to notice, only flinching slightly as he held up the notepad triumphantly towards Five.

 

“Is that… supposed to be Diego? …With poop on his head?”

 

Klaus grinned and nodded enthusiastically.

 

“Huh. Well, he always has been a shithead, so spot on,” Five replied as the ghost of a smile tugged at his lips.

 

    He heard a muffled laugh in response, which Five used as cover to swiftly pry out the last piece of glass. Klaus let out a pained yelp and yanked his foot back again, staring at the sliver of glass in Five’s hand with betrayal.

 

“Sorry. That really was the last one, for real this time. All that’s left now is to bandage it, promise.”

 

Klaus clutched at his foot and eyed him suspiciously, but eventually relented and returned his foot to Five’s lap.

 

I’m going to have to blink us back to the academy, there’s no way he’ll be able to walk very far like this , Five thought as he finished bandaging Klaus’s foot and passed him his other shoe.

 

“Here, can you stand?,” Five asked, offering his hand to Klaus to help him up. With Five’s help he barely managed to pull himself to his feet, though he was putting nearly all of his weight on his right foot while using Five for balance.

 

“I’m going to blink us home, but it’ll take a few jumps. Ready?”

 

Klaus threw his arm around Five’s shoulders and nodded.

 

He took a moment to feel for the area surrounding the laundromat before zeroing in on an empty alleyway a few streets over.

 

“Alright, hang on tight then.”

 

One flash of blue later they found themselves outside, and Five reflexively yanked Klaus upright as he tripped and swayed dangerously to one side.

 

“I know it’s a bit disorienting, sorry about that.”

 

Klaus let out a giggle as he readjusted his grip with a wide smile.

 

“Oh, so you think it’s fun, huh? Well that’s a first, Ben almost always throws up. Ready for round two?”

 

He felt his brother’s grip tighten once more, and Five felt around the area for another landing spot.

 

Looks like there’s an empty parking lot over there, perfect.

 

They jumped again, and this time Klaus managed to land a bit more gracefully. Black dots started to creep across the edges of Five’s vision, but he quickly shook them away.

 

Shit, not now! We’re halfway there-

 

“You’re actually starting to get the hang of this, nice job.”

 

Klaus beamed at the praise, then latched back on to Five’s shoulder.

 

-just a few more, come on-

 

He sensed around for their next target, eventually settling for a deserted bus stop on the outskirts of town.

 

-come on-

 

      He leapt into the electric blue current with his brother in tow, and nearly sent them both spilling to the ground upon landing. The black spots immediately came back with a vengeance, causing Five to stumble out of the blink unevenly. Had Klaus not managed to wrap his cast around the frame of the bus stop at the last second while still holding onto him, they both would have likely face planted directly into the concrete.

 

Great, because what Klaus really needs right now is a concussion , Five thought bitterly as he pinched at the bridge of his nose to get rid of the unpleasant dizzy feeling plaguing him.

 

“Sorry, lost my footing for a second. Bringing another person along throws off the balance of things a bit, it won’t happen again.”

 

Klaus eyed him skeptically before he hesitantly grabbed onto him once again.

 

Okay, I can finally feel the clearing behind the academy. Two more jumps, you can do this-

 

He pulled Klaus into the blue-

 

-you have to.

 

     Suddenly he found himself looking at a sky full of stars, and a very wide eyed Klaus shaking him by the shoulder. Five felt his cheeks burn hot as he quickly sat upright, instantly regretting the action as a wave of nausea made his head swim. He fisted his hand in the grass beneath him and squeezed his eyes shut, willing the sour feeling to pass. Someone started patting his back, and Five immediately blinked away from the touch as a pang of fear shot through him.

 

The match isn’t over and I can’t breathe, it isn’t over and I can’t breaTHE-

 

He choked on the air like a fish out of water, wheezing as he tried and failed repeatedly to draw in a breath. Something rustled nearby, and Five clawed at his neck desperately.

 

He’s coming he’s comiNG-

 

He flinched as something hit him in the face, and waited for the blissfulness of unconsciousness to wash over him.

 

It never came.

 

      He coughed and hacked as his lungs finally decided to cooperate with him, eventually managing to take in his surroundings as his breathing slowly began to return to normal. He was in the clearing behind the academy, with Klaus, who was currently sat cross legged in front of him with an absolutely terrified expression. Five whipped his head from side to side in search of whoever had attacked them, jumping slightly when he felt Klaus latch onto his hand. He jerked his head back in his brother’s direction, hoping he had some idea of what had happened to them. Five was surprised to find him clumsily attempting to write something with a pen in his mouth while precariously balancing a pad of paper on his knee. Klaus looked up at him for a moment and caught him staring, then spat the pen out and pushed the pad towards Five with his cast encased hand. As Five picked it up, he noticed a piece of paper matching the color of the pad sitting balled up in his lap.

 

Was that what hit me-?

 

“U R OK” was scrawled across the page of the pad in barely legible letters.

 

Slowly Five remembered where they were, and exactly how they’d gotten there.

 

Fuck, did I pass out- damnit! Did I drop him!?

 

“Sorry I let you fall. Are you okay?” Five mumbled as he passed the pad back to Klaus and released his hand.

 

Klaus looked at him in disbelief for a moment, then began scribbling furiously.

 

We were so close, just one jump away-

 

His brother thrust the pad back at him, staring intently as he read.

 

“Are you okay? You just fainted Five, what’s wrong? Should I walk back and get Grace?”

 

Five forced himself back to his feet, doing his best not to wobble as he shook his head.

 

“No, absolutely not. I’ll be fine Klaus, I can get us back to the academy from here. Grab on, let’s go,” he muttered, holding out his hand.

 

Klaus looked up at him with a sad expression and shook his head.

 

“Klaus, I am fine . We need to get inside before we’re missed, now come on.”

 

His brother shook his head again, this time with more vigor before he made an unassisted attempt to stand on his own. Klaus let out a pained hiss as he tried to balance himself, but only ended up falling back to the ground the second he tried to put any weight on his right foot.

 

We don’t have time for this-

 

Five quickly stooped down, grabbed onto Klaus’s arm, and hauled him through the blink before his brother could object.

 

      He’d been shooting for Klaus’s room, but his brother’s defiant flailing had thrown off his aim a bit. Instead, both of them tumbled unceremoniously out of the jump onto the floor, right outside of their father’s study. Five stared up at the camera pointing down at them in horrified disbelief as the dark blobs in his vision rapidly began to multiply.

 

“Goodness! What on earth have you boys been up to?”

 

Grace.

 

“Klaus’s hurt,” he managed to mumble before the blackness finally overtook him.

Notes:

Ch 32 content warnings: drug use, descriptions of glass being removed from a foot, depiction of flashback induced panic attack

Chapter 33: Waking Nightmare

Notes:

Did we all survive the outage? How's everyone coping? Whoever managed to give me kudos in the middle of that whole ordeal, you are amazing. Also! Holy shit! We're about to hit 5.5k hits and 250 kudos!? Thank you guys so much, I never expected this story to get so much love <3 The last person who bookmarked this managed to dig me out of my writer's block, your footnote is amazing lmao. Sorry/not sorry for making you cry and yell while reading haha

Content warnings in end notes~

     Klaus was running as quickly as his aching legs could carry him. He couldn't recall exactly what sort of specter was pursuing him, but he definitely didn't want to find out. Judging by the way his surroundings swirled and blurred around him, he was fairly certain he was pretty decently inebriated. The lapse of memory alone wasn’t all that concerning to him, losing time to drugs wasn’t exactly a new experience for Klaus. The thing behind him let out a deafening shriek as it tore after him, the noise sending a shiver up Klaus's spine as he forced himself to move faster. That, however, was absolutely terrifying. Living people didn’t sound like that, which meant he shouldn’t be able to hear whatever that was given his current state. 

 

Which meant the drugs weren’t working anymore.

 

He had no escape anymore.

 

     The air around him suddenly grew thick and heavy. It clung to his skin like molasses, strangling his frantic sprint down to a positively agonizing crawl. His whole body thrummed painfully from over exertion, yet he ignored his muscles cries and desperately tried to keep moving. Klaus had finally managed to put a decent distance between himself and the thing thudding after him; he wasn't about to let it catch up now. He slowly pressed onwards in spite of the cloying atmosphere, but it wasn’t long before a shooting pain in his foot made his knees buckle and sent him spilling across the pavement. His palm slammed into the ground and he hissed in pain at the sensation of several tiny razors embedding themselves into his palm. He noticed that the entire walkway appeared to be littered with thousands of shards of broken glass, and apparently he'd been running barefoot for who knows how long. Exactly how and where he’d lost his shoes, he had no fucking idea. The bellowing behind him was growing louder and louder; it was only a matter of time before that thing caught up to him. Tears began to stream down Klaus's face as he struggled to stand, but no matter how hard he tried he just couldn't seem to summon enough strength. The more he moved, the more the air seemed to condense in on him. The hollering behind him was growing closer, and he thrashed harder as panic began to set in.

 

      Suddenly the pavement beneath him trembled violently, and Klaus stared down in disbelief as fine cracks began to knit their way across the ground. He scrambled backwards and tried to scream as the sidewalk slowly disintegrated in front of him, but no sound came forth. Larger and larger pieces fell away, eventually revealing an endless ravine of jagged glass spires jutting out of the earth far below. A painful chill abruptly pierced his chest, and was quickly followed by an ear splitting shriek. He lurched forwards without thinking, unwittingly sending himself careening off of the edge in the process. His arms pinwheeled frantically in some vain attempt to save himself as he plummeted towards the razor sharp wasteland below-

 

      Klaus bolted upright, heart pounding wildly in his chest as he spasmed and hurled off his bedding.

 

Not real just a dream, not real just-

 

     Something moved in the corner of his vision, and he quickly snapped his head towards it.

 

"Oh! Good morning honey, how're you feeling?"

 

Not a ghost, just Mom.

 

     He warily glanced around the room as he tried to reorient himself. Right, he’d spent the night in the academy infirmary. A hazy memory of Grace wiping away his tears while she dutifully stitched him back together surfaced, and Klaus glanced down at himself to inspect the damage. She'd properly cleaned and stitched the gashes on his feet, along with the dozens of smaller nicks and cuts scattered across his body. As a result his limbs were covered in a smattering of colorful bandaids, though even the cheerful colors failed to brighten his mood. He grimaced at his gauze wrapped knees, the sight immediately bringing back more details that he’d rather forget.

 

That dealer, he was-

 

"Sweetie?"

 

He forced himself to look away from his battered legs to give her a thumbs up in reply.

 

"I'm glad to hear it hon. What on earth were you and your brother up to last night? Neither of you are in any condition to leave the academy, much less unsupervised. Your father was quite displeased," she tutted as she bent down to retrieve Klaus’s duvet from the floor.

 

     Shame flooded through Klaus after a brief moment of confusion as he recalled exactly who had gotten home last night. He'd crammed himself inside yet another bathroom and gotten blitzed out of his mind, swearing that he’d never risk talking to another stranger sober again. Five had somehow managed to track him down and drag him back home, though Klaus still wasn’t sure why he’d bothered. He couldn't remember much of his brother's reaction, but he was certain he'd been in quite a sorry state by the time Five had found him. There’d been blood and pills scattered everywhere; honestly he was surprised he even remembered that much. He wasn’t sure exactly how many of the dead man’s pills he’d choked down after he’d locked himself inside, but it was definitely more than a few. Five gotten him cleaned up, then-

 

     A memory of trying to comfort Five as he hyperventilated behind the academy flitted through Klaus's mind, quickly followed by the image of his brother's small form sprawled unconscious on the academy floor.

 

What happened?! …I… I can’t remember. Why can’t I remember?! Did he… get hurt trying to get me home? Was I too out of it to even help him-

 

   Klaus's eyes darted wildly around the room as he began to panic, his gaze eventually freezing on a disheveled empty bed across from his own.

 

What happened where is he where is he-

 

"Sweetie? You look a bit peaky, are your stitches hurting you? I can get you some numbing cream-"

 

     He quickly shook his head, then mimed with his hand as if he were writing on something. Grace got the message, and promptly produced a pen and paper from her apron once she finished tucking Klaus's blanket back around him.

 

"Where is Five?" , he scribbled hastily before turning the pad back towards Grace.

 

"He's… in class with your siblings right now," she finally said after a brief moment of hesitation. "He was supposed to stay in the infirmary today so he could regain his strength, but you know how your brother is. I'm sure he'll be alright, provided he doesn't push himself too hard."

 

Yeah, fat chance of that , thought Klaus bitterly.

 

     Grace seemed to sense his concern and gave him a half smile as she gently took his hand in her own.

 

"Your brother never likes to listen to others, does he? He'll be okay honey, really. He just overdid it a bit, that's all. It's not the first time it's happened, and I'm certain it won't be the last. He always manages to shake it off though, so try not to worry so much, okay?"

 

Her words only raised new concerns, but Klaus nodded nonetheless.

 

"Alright then. Now, how about I get you something to eat? You slept right through breakfast and most of lunch, it must've been some adventure to tire you out that much, hmm?"

 

He shrugged and nodded.

 

“Do you want strawberry again sweetie? Or would you rather have chocolate?”

 

Ugh, neither. Anything but another protein shake-

 

He sighed and held up two fingers in defeat. 

 

“Chocolate it is then! I’ll be back in just a second- Oh! I just remembered, Pogo left some classwork for you to complete today so you don’t fall behind your siblings in school. Everything you need is there on the table next to you, why don’t you get started on it while I make that shake?”

 

     He glanced to his right and sure enough, there were several textbooks with a stapled work packet sat atop his bedside table.

 

Oh goodie, just for me? Dad, you really shouldn’t have.

 

He leaned forward and plucked the packet from the table with a huff as Grace left the infirmary to make his meal.

 

“On the diagram below, please mark the body’s weak points and list three ways to hit each in a combat scenario.”

 

He turned to the next page.

 

“Please describe four ways to disarm an opponent that is significantly larger than you without the use of your powers.”

 

Ugh, I’d rather let Luther pick my next outfit than do this , Klaus thought as he flipped through the remainder of the packet before finally tossing it back onto the table. 

 

     He glanced up as the distant sound of his sibling’s chatter began to fill the silence of the infirmary. Unfortunately, their voices were mostly drowned out by the absolute cacophony of their undead counterparts. One of his sibling's particularly lovely haunts seemed to have resorted to shrieking incessantly in some futile attempt to get their attention. Fortunately for whichever of his unlucky siblings it was following, they were completely deaf to its unending torment, unlike Klaus. A particularly loud shriek sent him scrambling to cover his ears in a futile attempt to block out the noise. His eyes darted wildly around the room in search of his walkman, but it was nowhere to be found. It dawned on him that it must've fallen out of his pocket at some point the night before and his heart sank. That was rather unfortunate, he absolutely adored the tape that Allison had made for him. He flopped back onto the bed dejectedly, resigning himself to his fate. It seemed like his siblings were content remaining on the first floor, much to Klaus's dismay. His head was already throbbing in time with the howls reverberating throughout the academy, though he was fairly certain his chances of sweet talking Grace into giving him any sort of painkillers were slim to none. He groaned and shoved his pillow over his face, brow furrowing in confusion as he felt something pressed tightly against his hip. 

 

No, there's no way-

 

      He quickly shoved a hand down his pants to retrieve the mystery object, heart hammering in his chest. He knew he shouldn't get his hopes up, he was certain Five had taken away his stash long before they’d gotten back to the academy, and yet-

 

     As he withdrew his hand, he stared at the bag of little blue pills clutched tightly between his fingers in disbelief.

 

There’s no way, Five definitely flushed these down the toilet, so how-

 

     The familiar sound of heels clicked their way towards the infirmary, and Klaus hastily stuffed the pills out of sight behind his pillow.

 

That's right, there were two bags! Five must’ve only found one of them !

 

     Klaus couldn't believe his luck. He couldn't remember his brother ever overlooking anything . A grin stretched across his face as relief flooded through him. He still had a way to shut out the dead, at least for now.

     

“Well, you certainly look like you're feeling better!”, Grace chirped upon reentering the infirmary, “How’s the homework going sugar?”, she asked as she set the shake down next to Klaus.

 

He shrugged and grabbed the shake, forcing himself to take a few sips to humor her before setting it back on the table.

 

Ugh, it’s like drinking flavored concrete. If I never have to choke one of these down again it'll be too soon. How the hell does Luther manage to chug these things every morning-

 

“Klaus. Homework. Finish it before you go to bed, alright?” Grace chastised with a raised eyebrow.

 

He nodded with a sheepish expression.

 

"Anything you need before I start cooking dinner for your siblings?"

 

He thought for a moment, then shook his head.

 

"Alright sweetie, make sure you drink all of that okay? I know you're sick of them but you really need to keep your strength up. It shouldn't be for too much longer, your jaw seems to be healing up nicely. I think we can have those wires out by next week if all goes well. How's that sound?"

 

     Klaus stiffened as a strange mixture of emotions coursed through him. Solid food, singing in the shower, even just being able to vocalize his own thoughts again. God, he missed it all . More than anything though, he really, truly, missed the ability to interact with his siblings fully. Talking to them, laughing with them, even crying with them. What he wouldn't have given to just be able to speak to Five last night instead of being forced to communicate through hastily scribbled notes that his brother clearly hadn't been in the right mind to even attempt to read. It was so hard being alienated from them, no wonder Viktor always seemed so somber. It must be so strange to be the only ordinary one in the academy. He resolved to spend more time with him the first chance he got, and it suddenly dawned on Klaus that he still hadn't spoken his brother's new name aloud yet. He wanted to be the first of their siblings to address him properly, even if it was still a secret that only they shared. The idea that that moment might come sooner than he thought filled him with joy, but also dread.

 

If his jaw was fully healed, then his father would expect him to resume his training regime again.

 

No.

 

"-ny?"

 

I can't.

 

"-a bit pale-"

 

Not that, anything but that, I can't do it I can't I CAN'T-

 

A gentle hand on his shoulder brought him crashing back to the present.

 

"Why are you crying sweetie? What's the matter?"

 

Am I?

 

     He dabbed at his cheeks with the sleeve of his shirt and sure enough, the fabric came away damp. Grace brushed a stray curl out of his face as she carefully swiped her thumb under his eyes. As much as Klaus just wanted to beg her to not let his father ever force him to endure the dead again, he knew it wouldn't do any good. It was by design that her programming simply wouldn't allow her to object to their father's wishes. It wasn't her fault though, so Klaus loved her all the same. He hugged her tightly and let himself cry, closing his eyes and sniffing into her blouse as she rubbed circles into his back. The furious howls of the academy's ghosts suddenly seemed so much louder than they had before, and Klaus  struggled to control his breathing as he pressed his face deeper into the fabric of her clothes.

 

"It'll be okay honey, I know surgery is scary. I promise you won't feel a thing and life will be back to normal before you know it."

That's what I'm afraid of, he thought to himself.

Notes:

Ch 33 warnings: drug use, brief moment of dissociation

Chapter 34: Tempus Fugit

Notes:

We are SO close to a chapter I have been waiting to write since the beginning of this fic, ya'll have no idea how excited I am to hurt everyone's feelings hahaha. There's still some filler chapters to go though, so until then I hope everyone enjoys the snowballing angst that's coming your way <3

     Five slammed his anatomy textbook shut as he finished answering the last question on his worksheet. Their schooling for the last two days had revolved solely around combat strategy, which Five was certain was no coincidence. He stretched his arms above his head before picking up the packet to review his answers. Grace had finally allowed him to remove his sling after waking in the infirmary Monday morning, yet he still found himself unable to shake the creeping sense of dread he'd felt since returning to the academy. Their father never let any insubordination go unpunished forever and in Five's experience, the longer the wait, the worse the retribution. It was already late Wednesday evening and their father had yet to utter a single word about the events of Monday night. Klaus had eventually been discharged from the infirmary tonight in spite of the rather noticeable limp he was walking with. The suspicious timing made Five certain their father intended for his brother to join him for training tomorrow, regardless of what condition he was in. He twirled his pen anxiously as he forced himself to scan the page in front of him. Normally enjoyed perfecting his work, but this particular assignment set his teeth on edge.

 

"Mark on the diagram which bones are the easiest to dislocate on an opponent in a hand to hand altercation."

 

     He circled one more joint for good measure, trying not to think of the way Klaus had screamed when he’d broken his fingers the last time their father pitted them against each other.

 

"When striking an opponent, which points on the body may lead to loss of consciousness when struck correctly?

 

     Five quickly skimmed the list he'd written before tossing the packet back onto his desk in disgust. He knew his father didn't care that Klaus was still healing, he'd expect Five to not hold anything back regardless. If he didn't obey, then things would only get worse. Their father always seemed to know when he was pulling punches. As much as Five despised it, it was probably for the best if he simply took Klaus out as quickly and humanely as possible. The thought caused him to recall the way Klaus had looked when he'd found him sprawled unconscious inside of that disgusting laundromat bathroom. He’d been so pale and still- 

The pen slipped from his hand and clattered to the floor unceremoniously.

 

It wasn't something he was looking forward to.

 

     His fingers tugged at his hair absentmindedly as he stared blankly at the battered walkman atop his desk. He really, really hoped that his hunch was wrong, that he wouldn't be made to fight his brother when he'd barely had any time to heal. Klaus had just been so…fragile as of late. Five had noticed his brother's not so subtle drug habit a long time ago, but he'd never exactly felt the need to intervene until recently. What concern of his was it if his idiot brother thought sneaking off to get high every now and again was a good use of his time? Lately though, the situations Klaus was willing to put himself in just to get a fix absolutely terrified him. It seemed like his brother simply didn't care what happened to him provided the end result kept him high. Five was certain that if he didn't find a way to get his brother clean soon he'd likely end up getting himself killed. Unfortunately, keeping Klaus sober was proving to be a much more arduous task than Five had originally anticipated. His brother was surprisingly resourceful when he set his mind to something, much to Five's annoyance. He suddenly realized that he somehow missed the obnoxious wild card that his brother used to be. Klaus had been so… distant ever since that morning on the fire escape. So… subdued. His incessant chatter and stupid jokes always used to drive Five absolutely insane, but now he'd gladly endure the torment if it would get his brother to act like himself again. Besides, a quiet Klaus was just unsettling, no matter how many sticker-covered notes he wrote. 

 

     Five reached for the walkman and turned it over in his hands absentmindedly. The casing was badly cracked in several places, but thankfully the internal components appeared to be relatively unharmed. It was nothing a smattering of duct tape couldn’t fix. On the other hand, the cassette within seemed to be in need of some serious repair. He popped open the tape deck and ejected the tape to get an idea of exactly what he was working with. The ribbon was snapped and had gotten a bit mangled when it crumpled in on itself, but Five was fairly confident he could salvage the majority of the tape with minimal damage. He pulled open several of his desk drawers and rummaged through the contents in search of what he'd need. After a few minutes he’d managed to find the right sized screwdriver and a pair of tweezers, but realized he had no exacto blade to properly splice the tape with.

 

Ugh. I bet Ben has one I can borrow though…

 

     Five sensed for his other sibling's room and let out a groan when he found it occupied. He was really hoping he’d be able to blink in and out of Ben's room without having to explain himself. Unfortunately his brother seemed to be rather focused on whatever he was doing at his desk, so it wasn't likely he'd be leaving the room any time soon. After a moment of quiet contemplation, a smile slowly stretched across Five's face. Ben was just a little too engrossed in what he was working on, and Five simply couldn't resist the opportunity before him.

 

He zeroed in on the bookshelf beside Ben's desk, and jumped.

 

"Hey Ben, can I borrow-"

 

"AUGH!!! Five fucking WHY - Oh shitshit shit -!"

 

Five barely managed to suppress a laugh as Ben jolted violently at his sudden appearance, then somehow managed to tip himself out of his chair and onto the floor.

 

"You. Fucking. Asshole. Why ?", Ben hissed in annoyance as he glared up at Five from the ground.

 

Five snickered and gracefully leapt down from his perch atop the bookshelf, trying his best to maintain an innocent demeanor.

 

"Well, you did say if I needed to borrow anything from you that I should ask you in person -"

 

"Oh ha ha , very funny shithead."

 

"I certainly thought it was."

 

"Drop dead."

 

"You wish," Five replied with a smirk as he extended a hand towards Ben.

 

"Ugh. You're the worst," Ben grumbled as he clasped Five's hand and let him pull him back to his feet, "why can't you just knock like a normal person?", he groaned.

 

"Well, your room is really far away and I just wanted to save some time-"

 

"Our rooms are literally next to each other-"

 

"...and?"

 

"And I hate you."

 

Five only grinned at him in response.

 

"... So what the hell do you need to borrow now?" Ben finally relented with an exasperated sigh.

 

"Got a spare exacto knife? I'm trying to fix something and I can't find one."

 

"Ugh, fine. Lemme look."

 

     Ben shuffled over to his desk in defeat and began to pick through the contents of his drawers. Five glanced curiously at the open sketchbook beside him as he searched. Ben was a fantastic artist, though he was usually too embarrassed to willingly share any of his work. Five quietly crept closer, hoping to sneak a peek at whatever he was working on while his brother was distracted. 

 

 As the page came into view, he immediately wished he hadn't.

 

Jennifer.

 

     His brother's drawing was beautifully detailed, yet utterly terrifying. Jennifer’s expression was just the way Five remembered before she’d lost consciousness: panic-stricken and utterly horrified. Ben had even taken the time to accurately shade where the horror’s tentacles constricted around her arms to accurately depict the loss of circulation. Several chunks of flesh were missing from her forearms, and the horror’s blood slick tentacles were so well done that it almost looked as if the paper itself was glistening. Five would honestly be impressed by the level of detail his brother had managed to achieve if he weren't so disturbed. His eyes darted to the pile of crumpled and torn out sketches that littered the tabletop, and felt his stomach twist. This wasn't Ben's first, second, or third drawing of her.

 

Or even the twentieth.

 

"Aha! Found it! Now, what do I get in-

 

The smile fell from Ben’s face as he turned back to Five and noticed him gawking.

 

"-exchange?", he finished lamely, the triumphant tone instantly vanishing from his voice.

 

Five coughed awkwardly as he forced himself to tear his gaze away from the unsettling portrait, immediately realizing that he should probably say something to clear the air.

 

"Ben, I- You, er, did you- I mean-"

 

"No need to thank me, did you need anything else?", Ben mumbled, interrupting Five’s failed attempt to salvage the conversation and offering him the blade while avoiding his gaze. Five gingerly plucked the knife from his brother’s hand and watched as Ben scrambled to snatch the sketchbook from his desk and promptly snapped it shut.

 

"Ben-"

 

"Well? Do you?"

 

Ben quickly tucked the sketchbook into one of the desk drawers and shoved it closed.

 

"I… er… No. No, I guess not.”

 

     Five shifted uncomfortably on his feet as he fidgeted with blade in his hand, trying desperately to find the right words to say. He knew he and Ben were similar in the way they preferred to handle their problems alone but this, this was…. different.

 

“Then please get out. I’d… rather be alone right now.”

 

Five really didn’t want to leave Ben by himself after what he’d seen, but he couldn’t come up with a good enough reason to blatantly disregard his brother’s request.

 

“...Okay. It… It wasn’t your fault though, Ben. Jennifer, I mean." he finally forced himself to say.

 

He blinked back to his room before his brother had the chance to reply.

 

   Five let out a shaky breath as he landed. He wasn't exactly sure what to think about what just happened, so he simply…

 

…didn't.

 

     Instead, he sat down and busied himself with repairing Klaus’s walkman. It was nice to have something simple to focus on for a change. Five loathed to admit it, but he definitely needed a break from the academy library. He’d spent the last two evenings pouring over the inner workings of quantum mechanics, then drafted multiple pages of equations that were just a little too theoretical for his liking after Grace sent them all to bed. The work was absolutely maddening ; the more he seemed to understand, the more he realized he had wrong. Though he was finally starting to make some headway in correcting his theorems, it was much slower going than Five was comfortable with. Klaus only seemed to be getting worse as of late, and Five felt as though he was working with borrowed time. His initial calculations still had several major kinks that needed to be worked out, though a few trial jumps in the near future would likely simplify things immensely. A short break to complete a menial task was just what he needed to clear his mind before hitting the books again. Repairing a cassette was sure to be less taxing than calculating how to safely rotate his physical being around an axis of the fourth dimension.

 

     He grabbed the screwdriver from his desk and removed the small screws from the corners of the tape, taking care not to damage the ribbon within as he eased the plastic shell apart. The interior was a tangled mess, but it seemed like the majority of the tape would likely be salvageable. Five meticulously unfurled the two halves of the ribbon with the tweezers he’d set out earlier. Thankfully, it looked as though only a small portion of the recording was too damaged to be saved. He slowly rewound the undamaged section of the tape back onto the roller with a pencil, then carefully trimmed away the irreparable portion where it’d snapped with Ben’s exacto knife. One piece of tape and a quick trim later, and the tape was whole again. Five tightened the ribbon and reassembled the casing, then clicked it back into the walkman and pressed play.

 

     The familiar melody of Allison’s favorite song filled his ears as he pulled on Klaus’s headphones, and Five smiled at the sound.

 

Of course she’d put this on a tape for Klaus’s birthday. I’m pretty sure even Diego knows the lyrics to this by now, even if he won’t admit it.

 

     He listened to the entirety of the song as he secured the shattered walkman casing with several layers of duct tape. Five only let it play to double check his handiwork, not because he’d ended up caught in the nostalgia for memories of simpler times that the tune brought forth.

 

Definitely not.

 

     Five glanced at the clock as the song faded and eventually cut to one of Klaus’s trashy pop songs.

 

7:48, should be just enough time to get this back to him before Grace puts us all to bed. Perfect.

 

He stopped the tape to sense for Klaus’s room, and frowned.

 

Oh come on-

 

It was empty.

 

Goddammit Klaus, you’d better be in the shower-

 

      He hurriedly pulled the headphones down around his neck and tucked the walkman into his pocket before leaving the room. It didn’t take him long to find Grace, she always tidied the second floor right before their bedtime.

 

“Don’t forget to brush your teeth before bed sweetie, I think your brother is almost done if you’re ready for your turn?”

 

Five glanced towards the closed bathroom door at the end of the hall.

 

“Uh, yeah I guess I’ll go-”

 

Diego exited the bathroom as he spoke, and Five felt his heart sink.

 

“-next. Have you seen Klaus around anywhere? I borrowed his walkman earlier, he probably wants it back by now.”

 

“Oh dear, you just missed him sweetie! He only left with your father a few minutes ago, so it’ll probably have to wait until tomorrow.”

 

“Oh,” he heard himself say distantly, “I guess I’ll just hang onto this for now then.”

 

Shit.

Notes:

Ch 34 warnings: brief description of gore contained in a picture

Chapter 35: Hide and Seek

Notes:

Heeeeeey it's been two months and I'm not dead! Sorry for that! Klaus is always the one to give me writer's block for some reason. Next update shouldn't take so long but I'm gonna stop making promises hahaha. Also! Holy shit! We crossed 300 kudos and are on the edge of 7k hits! Thank you so much! Extra love to my og readers that stuck through every writer's block hiatus, ya'll are the best <3 <3

If you want a song to go with the chapter a lot of this was written to Dark Divine - Terrifier

Hope you enjoy!

“You will spend every night here until you overcome this ridiculous fear, Number Four. It’s up to you how many nights that will take.”

 

     Klaus shuddered as he remembered his father’s words in the mausoleum the night before. It was a good thing he’d gone out for more pills when he had, otherwise he wasn’t sure how he’d have been able to cope. He still hadn’t been able to sleep, but at least the pills had kept the dead out of his sight. Small mercies, at least. There’d be no more late night excursions until he could convince dear old dad of how brave he wasn’t. With a little luck the drugs would make him believable enough, but unfortunately for Klaus their father had a keen sense of smell for bullshit. Not to mention his safety net was only useful for as long as he was able to keep it out of Five’s destructive little hands.

 

This is such a stupid fucking plan-

 

     Klaus flinched as something soared past the window behind him and briefly blocked the sunlight streaming in from outside. His heart hammered in his chest at the movement, but a quick glance over his shoulder showed nothing amiss. He let out a sigh of relief and turned back towards the wall. Having a brother that could teleport in at any moment to catch him red handed was just unfair.  

 

Probably just a stupid bird. Now then, where were we…?

 

     Klaus resumed wiggling the baseboard he’d been picking at for the last twenty minutes. Under normal circumstances he’d just pry the thing off with a butter knife, but unfortunately Five was way too observant for that. His brother would definitely notice the damage it’d do to the paint, and then it’d be bye-bye sweet relief. Klaus found that he’d actually had to “think ahead” and “consider the consequences of his actions” this time like Luther had always nagged him to do. 

 

Ugh.

 

There was nothing worse than Luther being right .

 

      Keeping his stash here of all places was going to be an absolute nightmare, but Klaus hadn’t been able to come up with anything else, no matter how hard he’d tried to. Five would inevitably find and trash anything kept anywhere else for God knows what reason, so it was a necessary evil. Honestly, why his brother was so hellbent on making his life even more difficult, Klaus had no idea. Didn’t the little gremlin have better things to do with his time? He let out a frustrated huff as he continued to rock the board back and forth.

 

Nearly there, come on-

 

     The bird flew past the window once more, causing the shadows around him to twitch and distort unpleasantly. Klaus squeezed his eyes shut and silently wished that he could risk turning on the light. The movement was uncannily similar to the way the dead’s silhouettes flickered in and out of his vision when he was just on the cusp of sobriety, when he couldn’t quite distinguish reality from the world of the dead anymore. He let go of the board and hurriedly felt for the inner pocket of his blazer. He absolutely hated being alone in the dark, but the light simply wasn’t worth the risk with Five training outside in the courtyard. Turning it on now would just be suicide by pissed off homicidal teleporting brother. He grasped at his bag of pills like a lifeline and quickly yanked them out of his pocket. Recently he’d decided to try to reign in his consumption a bit so he wouldn’t have to go out again for a while, but the academy ghosts had just been so obnoxious and loud lately. Besides, there were enough to keep the dead at bay for quite a while, so what was the point? There’d be plenty of time for him to find a reliable supplier before his supply ran completely dry. Klaus reopened his eyes as he tucked the bag against his cast and awkwardly began to fumble with the zip. He already had to worry about Five popping in at any second, adding ghosties to the mix was absolutely out of the question.

 

A pair of heels clicked towards the room as he struggled to open the bag, and Klaus froze. 

 

 Shit, is it time already?! Fuck-!

 

     The clacking continued past the room without pause, and Klaus sighed in relief. He was still riding out the tailend of the high that had gotten him through the school day, hopefully the ghosties would stay away for just a little while longer. Being tormented by the dead at every waking moment may be its own special kind of hell, but the thought of having to explain himself to a seriously pissed off Five was somehow worse. Klaus honestly wasn’t sure which he’d rather face.

 

Let’s not stick around long enough to find out, just get this done and get the hell out. There’ll be plenty of time for extra curricular activities later if all goes well.

 

     With that thought in mind, Klaus set the baggie aside and yanked at the board with all of the strength he could muster. It finally pulled free from the wall, and immediately sent Klaus toppling backwards. He narrowly avoided smacking the board into his face as he fell, then stared up at the ceiling in a daze for a moment before scrambling back upright with a grin.

 

Hell yeah baby, now that’s more like it! Let’s see what we’re working with here…

 

     Klaus reached into his blazer once more, this time to retrieve the knife that Diego had left behind at lunch. Honestly it was his own damn fault for leaving the things everywhere, Klaus highly doubted he was the first of his siblings to pocket one of their stab happy brother’s toys. He shoved the board aside and prodded at the exposed section of unfinished wall with the tip of the blade. It sunk into the wood like butter, and Klaus smiled as he began to carve a small hole into the wall.

 

Thank you Diego! Looks like your weird fetish for sharp objects came in handy for something after all. 

 

     A few minutes of sawing later, and he had a decently sized hole to show for his efforts. Klaus flicked the blade shut and clumsily tore open the bag of pills he’d set aside earlier. A few dozen should keep me going for a couple days if it has to, though with some luck I’ll be able to refill tomorrow before breakfast , he reasoned. He hurriedly shoveled a handful of pills into his inner blazer pocket before resealing it and cramming it into the wall. Klaus carefully wiggled the baseboard back into place, then leaned back to inspect his work. Nothing appeared to be out of place, but the real test would be after Five finished training. He struggled to get back to his feet, wincing and stumbling as he stood upright. The soles of his feet screamed in protest, and Klaus clutched at the windowsill to regain his balance. It still hurt to walk after his escapade a few nights ago, but the drugs tended to keep the worst of the pain at bay. Who knew, painkillers could actually be used to manage pain and not just to medicate the dead away? What a revelation that had been! Judging by the way the dull ache in his feet was steadily growing to an agonizing throb though, the dead were likely to rear their ugly heads any minute.

 

      Almost as if on cue, a muffled gurgle drifted through the academy from the direction of Ben’s room. Klaus shuddered and readjusted his weight against the windowsill before he began to paw at the pocket inside his blazer. 

 

I have so earned a little pick me up after all of that, Five be damned , Klaus thought as he glanced around the room anxiously, No way am I letting the ghosts of Christmas past ruin the rest of my night-

 

     He jerked away from the window in terror as a body suddenly soared past the window and quickly fell out of sight. Klaus stared through the glass in horrified disbelief while his heart hammered erratically in his chest.

 

Those clothes-

 

That was an academy uniform.

 

If the drugs were starting to fade, then-

 

     He scrambled back towards the window and pressed his face against the cool glass. Klaus knew that their father had no love for them, but surely he wouldn’t push any of them so hard that they’d-

 

That they’d-

 

Klaus quickly shut the thought down before he could finish it.

 

     His eyes darted wildly around the greenery beneath him in search of a body he hoped he wouldn’t find. There were a few staticy outlines that he could just barely make out milling about the courtyard, but that was relatively normal. He yanked open the window and cautiously peered over the edge. If one of them had fallen

 

Or jumped-

 

-off of the roof, then there’d be… evidence left behind. When he looked downwards however, the patch of grass below was completely devoid of any signs of disturbance. Klaus barely had time to hope that he’d simply been imagining things before a familiar form soared past him.

 

Five? What the fuck- is he wearing a blindfold?! 

 

     Klaus tightened his grip on the windowsill as he watched his brother’s vain attempts to right himself while his small form quickly plummeted towards the ground like a stone.

 

What the hell is he doing?! Blink to safety already, blink you idiot!

 

     Suddenly Five vanished into a flash of blue, and he let out a shaky breath as his grip on the sill relaxed.

 

Jesus that was way too close-

 

     Klaus anxiously tapped his nails against the glass as he waited for his brother to reappear. The few shambling figures peppered across the courtyard were growing clearer by the second, not to mention the muffled gurgles he’d heard before were quickly multiplying into a deafening torrent that was absolutely impossible to ignore. 

 

Ugh. Lovely.

 

He hated being sober.

 

     It wasn’t long before a familiar flash of blue spat Five out a few yards above the courtyard. Klaus felt his stomach tighten as he watched him scramble to yank off the blindfold and hurl it away.

 

Isn’t that still a bit high-

 

     His brother seemed to quickly come to the same conclusion once he freed himself of the cloth and immediately clenched his fists to blink away. Klaus watched in horror as Five’s hands repeatedly sparked and fizzled uselessly over and over again.

 

Oh fuck, he didn’t mean to. Shit, he’s not going to make it-!

 

Five moved to cover his head, and Klaus slammed his eyes shut.

 

He couldn’t bring himself to watch. Not when it was Five.

 

Grace was outside just a minute ago, he rationalized, if he’d- if he was- she wouldn’t have been wandering around upstairs would she? Surely she’d have been in the infirmary?

 

     A furious howl cut through the air from outside the room, and Klaus eventually gathered the courage to reopen his eyes. He stared numbly at where Five’s sprawled out form lay in the grass, a small trail of red slowly streaking its way down his face.

 

He wasn’t moving.

 

     Klaus forced himself away from the window and sprinted out of the room before he could change his mind. There was nothing he wanted to do more than to crawl back to his room and down every last pill he had on him after what he’d just seen, but he refused to give into the urge. Five deserved better than that. He tore down the hallway in a frenzy, nearly barreling straight into Diego as he hurled himself down the stairs.

 

“Hey! Watch where you’re going idiot! If you want to fall down the stairs running from your own shadow again that’s fine, but don’t take me with you!”

 

      Klaus stopped to shoot a glare back at his complete asshole of a brother, but froze when he instead made eye contact with the man trailing behind him.

 

Well.

 

Partial eye contact, at least.

 

The large blade jammed deep into his left eye socket made it a bit difficult to meet his gaze fully.

 

“I hope he fucking does, I’d love to watch that scrawny neck snap like a twig,” the man spat out as he stared down at Klaus with a malicious grin.

 

Jesus Christ Diego-  

 

“For fuck’s sake Klaus, are you high?! Stop gawking at me like that, it’s creepy.”

 

“Go on, push the little psycho. Come on Klaus, I know you can hear me. Do it!”

 

     His blood ran cold as the ghost tried and failed to grab Diego’s shoulders, then let out a familiar angry bellow. Klaus felt his stomach churn as he shook his head before turning to run the rest of the way down the stairs.

 

“You’re so-

 

“GET BACK HERE KLAUS!!! PUSH HIM!”

 

“-fucking weird Klaus!” Diego called after him as he raced through the academy.

 

Please-

Please don’t be one of them , Klaus thought desperately as he finally reached the courtyard door and threw it open.

Notes:

Chapter 35 warnings: mentions of drug use, person jumping off of building

Chapter 36: Hop, Skip, And A Jump

Notes:

I got excited to hurt everyone's feelings again so I finished editing this directly after a night shift~ Hope you all enjoy and don't forget to yell at me in the comments! <3<3

Songs for this chapter if you'd like: First Love/Late Spring - Mitski and The Contortionist - Melanie Martinez

This chapter is a bit heavier than the last few, full content warnings are listed in end notes

"Again, Number Five."

 

     His head was absolutely pounding, but Five blinked back to the roof of the academy without protest. He wasn't sure exactly how many times he'd thrown himself off now; he'd lost track somewhere around twenty. Five shook his head in a futile attempt to rid himself of the imminent migraine and stepped closer to the edge before angrily yanking his blindfold back down. The sensation of the world tumbling around him repeatedly was absolutely horrendous, but he wasn't about to give his father the satisfaction of seeing him squirm.

 

Five leaned forward, and let himself plummet.

 

      He forced away the immediate instinctive urge to jump right back to where he'd fallen from. Instead, he focused on the feeling of the ground quickly rushing up to meet him, then leapt to the safety of the springboard set up beside his father at the last second. He stumbled a bit as the momentum from his landing caused the platform to shift slightly, but quickly managed to recover. A stopwatch clicked beside him, and he removed the blindfold once more.

 

"How disappointing. You're blinking away too soon Number Five, not to mention your continued failure to land properly. Again."

 

He forced himself to bite his tongue and returned to the top of the academy without a word.

 

It wasn't worth the possible consequences.

 

     Five wasn't exactly sure what their father had done with Klaus last night, but the gaunt look in his brother's eyes at the breakfast table this morning was enough to keep his mouth firmly shut. He'd stayed up for hours revising equations and sensing for Klaus's room after talking to Grace, but Five didn't remember ever feeling him return. Eventually he'd woken still seated at his desk to the blaring of his alarm clock, face buried in his notes.

 

      He sensed Klaus in his room by then, though he had no idea what time he'd finally come back. Five should have been relieved, but he only felt  disgust at what was likely to come after their school day. He spent the afternoon watching the clock tick closer and closer to the end of the lesson, dreading the moment Pogo would tell Klaus he had to stay after class.

 

Surprisingly, it never came.

 

     Pogo released Klaus from class alongside the rest of their siblings like normal. Five couldn't believe it. He didn't even care that it was his training day anymore. The weight he'd been carrying for days melted away the second his brother scampered out of the classroom. 

 

It didn't matter that Five had barely slept since Monday night.

 

It didn't matter how exhausted he was.

 

All that really mattered was keeping his brother safe, even from himself.

 

Besides, their father's attention was focused on him right now, not Klaus.

 

The longer he could hold it, the longer his brother was out of the line of fire.

 

His muscles were on fire from overuse of his power and his head was splitting, but that didn't matter.

 

It didn't . 

 

He tugged the blindfold back over his eyes, and leapt. 

 

     The earth flew towards him once more as he plummeted, and again he blinked back to the springboard just before it was too late. This time he was somehow able to stick the landing in spite of his painfully throbbing temples. Five grinned triumphantly and lifted off the blindfold as his father's watch clicked next to him.

 

"Again."

 

Oh come on-

 

     His expression fell, and Five blinked back to the academy roof for what felt like the hundredth time in the past hour. A sudden spell of dizziness washed over him upon landing, causing him to sway slightly as he crept towards the lip of the roof. He jerked the blindfold back into place before throwing himself off the edge once again. The world spun rapidly around him, and he suddenly came to the terrifying realization that he could no longer accurately sense exactly how far from the ground his body was. Panic shot through his veins and he reflexively yanked himself into another jump before he could stop himself. Five tore off the blindfold upon exiting the emergency blink, heart hammering against his chest as the grass far below him came into view. He'd overshot the jump and ejected himself a few yards above the ground.

 

Shit shit shit-!

 

     He desperately pulled for his powers again, but his hands fizzled out uselessly as his vision blurred into one unpleasant color. He hurriedly raised his hands in an attempt to protect his head-

 

-and smashed straight into the ground.

 

     His back collided with the earth first, immediately knocking the air from his lungs upon impact. He didn't have a chance to even attempt to draw in a breath as he tumbled across the academy lawn, knees slamming against his face all the way. Eventually he came to a stop, though it took several frenzied breaths for Five to fully register that he was no longer moving. He gagged and coughed as an unpleasant coppery taste filled his mouth and spat into the grass.

 

The glob of red glistened in stark contrast against the well-tended academy lawn, and Five looked away.

 

It doesn't matter.

 

      He rubbed at his face absentmindedly with his hand, wincing when his fingers came away red as well. He hurriedly swiped the back of his hand across his lips, then shakily pulled himself upright and blinked back to the platform. The watch clicked, and Five's face burned in shame as he vainly attempted to stem the bleeding from his nose with his sleeve.

 

"Truly disappointing, Number Five. I had dearly hoped that you would have better control over your abilities by now, but it seems I was wrong. What a shame. Again."

 

     Five's stomach lurched at the thought, but he dutifully blinked back to the academy roof regardless. He absolutely refused to give his father the satisfaction of asking if he could stop for the day. It'd never worked before; Five doubted today would be the day that changed. He shuffled closer to the edge, then made himself tug on the blindfold after a brief moment of hesitation. The blood from his nose immediately soaked through the fabric but Five did his best to ignore the uncomfortable dampness. He tried to feel for the ground below, but it was much too far away for him to reach. His energy reserves were nearly depleted and his senses completely shot. He wasn't sure how he'd be able to find his way back to the springboard, but he'd manage somehow. He leapt off without a plan, before he had the chance to change his mind. Five spun through the air sickeningly, his stomach twisting in knots as he plummeted. His instincts screamed at him to just blink back to the safety of the roof, but he still fought viciously to repress the urge.

 

Unfortunately, it wasn't an argument that his body was willing to let him win, and he found himself beneath a tree before he realized what he was doing.

 

     The churning of his stomach intensified exponentially as he stumbled a few steps forward, then immediately crumpled to his knees. He hurriedly threw an arm up to brace himself against the tree before doubling over to vomit. The worst was over rather quickly, but his wouldn't allow him to stop heaving. His nostrils and throat were in absolute agony as he gasped for breath between spasms, yet his lungs stubbornly refused to cooperate.

 

I'm  going to fucking die choking on my own spit up , Five thought hysterically.

 

What a pathetic way to go.

 

      He nearly lost his balance as his vision grew hazy from lack of oxygen, but someone clamped a hand onto his shoulder to stabilize him just in time. He leaned into the touch as he choked and sputtered on his own bile, too exhausted to even attempt to piece together what was happening. The hand clapped him on the back hard twice, and suddenly his diaphragm stopped spamming long enough for him to suck in a breath. Five greedily drew in lungful after lungful in spite of the way his throat burned in response. The hand patted his shoulder gently as he somehow managed to bring his breathing under control. He hacked for one final time, then wiped his mouth clean.

 

"Number Four! What could possibly be so important that you feel the need to interrupt Number Five's scheduled training?"

 

What?!

 

     Five stiffened and quickly spun around to face the person who'd been holding him upright. Klaus's eyes widened substantially as Five finally met his gaze, and he instantly felt his blood run cold.

 

Why the hell-

 

     His brother released his hold on him for a moment to stick his thumb in his mouth, then gently dabbed away a streak of blood from Five's face. He quickly smacked away his brother's hand when he noticed their father towering over them, trying his best to ignore the flash of hurt that crossed Klaus's face. His brother scrambled to pull a pad of paper from his blazer while patting his pockets frantically in search of something to write with.

 

Damnit Klaus-

 

Five saw it coming, but he still flinched when the pad was torn from his brother's hand regardless.

 

He hated that he flinched.

 

"Get back inside at once, Number Four."

 

     Klaus froze and stared at his empty hand for a moment before lowering it back to his side. Five noticed his brother glance at the pile of sick beneath the tree with a conflicted look. He was definitely scared, but something in his expression hardened when he shifted his gaze back to Five. Eventually his brother looked back at their father, and he felt his stomach drop as Klaus slowly shook his head from side to side.

 

     He looked away when he saw his father's hand raise. It took every ounce of self control Five had left in him to not grab onto Klaus and blink him away right then and there.

 

He wanted to stop it.

 

He could have stopped it.

 

But he didn't.

 

The resounding smack that quickly followed made him squeeze his eyes shut tightly.

 

It would have been worse for him if you did , part of him whispered.

 

You let it happen, why didn't you do anything? , a louder part of him screamed.

 

He opened his eyes and dropped them to his shoes as Klaus sniffled quietly next to him.

 

"I will not entertain this any longer, Number Four. Get. Back. Inside.", their father spat out, emphasizing his last words pointedly.

 

"I'll be fine Klaus, go back inside," Five finally managed to choke out in a raspy voice.

 

Fuck, do I really sound like that?

 

He couldn't quite make himself raise his eyes to meet Klaus's as he said it.

 

Please just go-

 

His brother didn’t move.

 

Five drew in a breath, and forced himself to look at Klaus.

 

He was clutching at his reddened cheek with tears pricking the corners of his eyes, yet still he held his ground and continued to stare their father down defiantly.

 

Damnit.

 

"I said go away Klaus, I don't want you here! Just go!", Five yelled desperately, not caring how the words burned his still raw throat.

 

Klaus instantly snapped his head towards him, and his expression crumpled as the tears began to stream down his face before he finally ran back towards the academy, limping all the way.

 

It’s for the best, he thought.

 

Five stared at the ground.

 

He can’t make me hurt him now.

 

"I expect you back here tomorrow afternoon for additional instruction after that pathetic performance, Number Five. You will assist Number Six with his training after school, see to it that you don't disappoint me again. You're dismissed."

 

No.

 

Not Ben.

 

Please, not Ben.

 

Five felt what little bile remained in his stomach rise up to his throat, but he quickly made himself swallow it back down.

Notes:

Ch 36 Warnings: Low self worth, lack of care for well being, throwing up, bloody nose, brief physical abuse of a minor (non sexual), self blame relating to a sibling be abused, brief mentions of panic, jumping from buildings non suicidally

Chapter 37: Knocking On Heaven's Door

Notes:

Happy whumptober, I have returned to hurt everyone's feelings once again! Ya'll are scaring me with how fast the hit count keeps going up, thank you guys for giving this story so much love! I hope you guys enjoy the update, content warnings in end notes as always <3

Song rec is Sedated by Hozier :)

"I don't want you here Klaus, just go!"

 

     Klaus had almost taken enough pills to forget Five's words before his father had inevitably come to collect him for the night.

 

Almost, but not quite.

 

      He stared out the car window dejectedly as the city lights passed by in one big colorful blur. It wasn't the first time Five had yelled at him and it certainly wouldn't be the last, but something about this felt… different. His brother had gotten heated with both him and their siblings plenty of times in the past, but never like that .

 

Not to the point where his voice cracked from how absolutely furious he was.

 

I had to, Dad would have made him keep going until passed out , he reasoned with himself. If he’d lost consciousness midair, then he might have-

 

     Klaus immediately felt his heart rate increase as the car slowing to a stop in front of a familiar cemetery pulled him from his thoughts. The mausoleum loomed ominously over the endless sea of headstones protruding from the ground like broken teeth, almost as if it had been eagerly awaiting his return. He sucked in an unsteady breath as he anxiously drummed his fingers against the glass. 

 

Fuck, I don’t want to do this. Not again. 

 

"Stop stalling Number Four, I've had quite enough of your nonsense for one night. Remember; it's up to you how long we have to keep this up for. Now stop stalling and get out."

 

         Screw dad, screw Five, and screw this , Klaus thought as he eventually forced himself to exit the car. I don’t even care anymore . He bit back the sudden intense urge to slam the car door shut behind himself. As gratifying as the reaction from his father would be, it definitely wouldn’t be worth the repercussions. Klaus trudged solemnly behind him with his eyes firmly glued to the gravel walkway crunching beneath his feet. It was hard not to feel the hundreds of dead eyes on his back that must be watching them pass. Whether they were visible or not, the uncomfortable feeling of always being watched never quite seemed to fade. Thankfully the thin veil of narcotic induced euphoria that came with a dose high enough to keep the dead out of view made everything just a bit easier to cope with.

 

     Out of sight out of mind my ass. You know what? The second he leaves I'm taking every pill I have left on me. I don't even want to be able to think straight, I just want to coast through this tonight. Maybe if I'm still blitzed enough come morning he'll think I'm not afraid anymore. Well, probably not. Definitely not. I can still hope, though. 

 

     They eventually reached the mausoleum gate, and Klaus felt his chest tighten at the sound of screeching metal on concrete as his father pulled it open. The darkness within the crypt looked as though it might swallow him whole if he dared to step foot inside, though unfortunately it didn't seem like he had much say in the matter. His father tapped his cane against the ground impatiently, and Klaus found himself wishing that his power had been invisibility.

 

"I don't have all night, Number Four."

 

      He swallowed thickly and forced himself to step inside without further protest. He knew if he continued to prolong the inevitable it would only make things worse. Klaus pressed his back into the marble wall and slowly slid his way down to the cold floor. He pulled his knees to his chest as the gate clanged shut loudly behind him. The darkness surrounding him was absolutely suffocating, and the sound of the lock clicking into place shortly after only served to exacerbate his already unbearable sense of claustrophobia. Klaus sucked in a breath and slowly let it out as his father's footsteps eventually faded into the distance.

 

Well now, I think it's high time I focus on more important matters… 

 

      He quickly shoved his good hand inside his blazer and retrieved what few pills he had left. He’d already taken most of them earlier once he’d made his escape from the courtyard, and god had he needed it. Diego had certainly been busy during training this week, and he definitely hadn’t been merciful. The sheer amount of viscera that had been absolutely pouring out of them-

 

     Klaus shuddered as the image of the bloodstained courtyard came back to him while he pulverized the pills against his cast. It’d taken everything in him not to run, to stay for Five’s sake despite the dead’s furious screams and chilling blows, but it hadn’t mattered. He was pretty sure his brother despised him now for daring to interrupt his training, not to mention his father’s ire at his blatant disobedience of orders.

 

     Whatever, doesn’t matter now , Klaus thought as he snorted the powder off of his neon pink cast. The sensation was unpleasant and burned like hell, but he'd recently discovered that the high seemed to hit harder this way. That sounds a lot like a later me problem. He rubbed his nose and raised his eyes to the small patch of sky visible through the mausoleum gate with a sigh. Could be worse, at least I can see the stars tonight. Five or Ben would probably be able to accurately point out the constellations above, but for now he was content to make up his own. Klaus balled up his blazer into a makeshift pillow to get a better view of exactly what he was working with. Last night had been a bit too overcast, not to mention he hadn't quite brought enough pills to last until morning. It had been a rather…unpleasant experience, to say the least. He shuddered at the thought and tried to focus his mind elsewhere.

 

     Klaus half-heartedly began to trace out a few shapes when a familiar sense of weightlessness started to spread through him. His worries seemed to drift further and further away with every pattern he mapped out, and fuck did it feel so good to not give a single shit about anything for once. It had been a long time since he’d had a high this good thanks to Five’s constant prying. The tips of his fingers slowly grew numb in the chilly nighttime air, and Klaus eventually lowered his arm to tuck it behind his head.  It suddenly dawned on him that he was shivering, but he’d be damned if he was going to give up his pillow for a bit more warmth. He was not about to wake up with a sore neck from sleeping on concrete. He sighed and let his eyelids flutter shut, hoping he’d at least be able to get a few hours of rest before the dead reared their ugly heads again.

 

     The warmth of the sunlight kissing his face eventually woke him, and Klaus scrubbed at his eyes with a groan. Why was the sun so damn bright -

 

     Bits and pieces of the night before began to come back to him, and he immediately sat upright. He'd done it. He'd finally done it! Sure it may have taken a bit of chemical aid to accomplish, but he'd slept through the whole night! Surely his father would-

 

     He froze as he finally noticed his surroundings. He… wasn’t in the mausoleum anymore. Where the hell was he? Klaus glanced around in confusion at the seemingly endless meadow of wildflowers that covered the ground beneath him in a thick carpet. All of them were strangely devoid of color from stem to petal, and nothing, not even a single tree, seemed to be around for miles. He cautiously pulled himself to his feet and stared up at the cloudless grey sky above in a daze. The place felt like a still from an old black and white hollywood movie, completely devoid of noise and utterly motionless. There wasn’t even a hint of a breeze in the air and he couldn’t spot a single insect among the unnaturally perfect blossoms. He bent down to gingerly pluck one of the flowers from the ground and cautiously brought it up to his nose. At first he thought it had no smell, yet the longer he examined it the more he swore he could catch a hint of sweetness. Suddenly a vibrant green began to seep into the stem from where it was pinched between his thumb and forefinger. Klaus twirled it around and watched curiously as the wash of color shifted and bled into the pale white petals, staining them a deep royal purple.

 

"Stop that. It's not ready yet."

 

      The stern reprimand was like a gunshot in the eerie silence, and Klaus nearly jumped out of his skin as he dropped the flower in his hand. He quickly spun towards the source of the voice and was shocked to find a small girl around his own age scowling back up at him. He had no idea where she could have come from, he'd been absolutely certain he was completely alone only a moment before. She had shoulder length black hair, covered by a large sun hat that paired nicely with her striped dress. Both her and the outfit were just as colorless as their surroundings, and Klaus was certain she wasn't exactly… human. Normally he’d just assume she was another lost soul damned to wander the material plane for all eternity, but something about her was… off. He couldn’t quite put words to it, but he somehow knew she’d never even been alive to begin with. 

 

"Look at what you've done. I'm going to have to start over now, you've gone and ruined it. Again."

 

     Sheer exasperation dripped from her every word, a tone which Klaus was rather familiar with as of late. He glanced down at the flower he'd dropped earlier guiltily and noticed that the color was beginning to ooze into the others around it. The ground beneath their feet was steadily becoming a rather chaotic and beautiful smattering of every color imaginable. He looked back at the girl and shrugged sheepishly as she stepped over the vibrant perennials with disgust.

 

"You can speak, you are not restricted by the confines of your body here. You know this," she said with an irritated sigh.

 

He did know. He didn't know how he knew, but he knew.

 

"Why?”, he finally forced himself to say after a brief moment of hesitation. Her piercing glare was intimidating to say the least, maybe even more so than Five's.

 

She rolled her eyes.

 

“Why what.”

 

“Why can’t they have color? That’s boring.”

 

"Because they’re not ready yet. Now get out, I don't want you here."

 

Klaus flinched at her words. 

 

"I don't want to. Can't I just stay here?" he mumbled quietly.

 

"No. You ruin everything you touch," she chastised while scowling at the vibrant pool of color steadily growing closer to her, “Besides, I don’t like you very much.”

 

"I didn't mean to,"  he huffed.

 

"Stop stalling, Klaus Hargreeves. It's time for you to go back. You don’t belong here."

 

"...do I have to?"

 

She stared at him coldly, then roughly jammed a finger against his forehead without warning. He stumbled backwards and tripped over his own feet, arms flailing wildly as he lost his balance-

 

Cold he was cold and oh god he couldn’t breathe -

 

     Klaus bolted upright and clawed desperately at his throat. Something wet and unpleasant stuck to the back of his hand when he swiped it under his nose, and he realized with mounting horror that he must’ve thrown up in his sleep. He tried to force himself to swallow the blockage, and almost immediately gagged at the texture. It took him three god awful attempts to successfully choke down the mouthful of bile blocking his airway, all the while ignoring the abuse hurled at him by the dead. He’d never really left the mausoleum after all, no matter how real that dream had felt. The frigid jabs of the mausoleum’s ghouls chilled him to the bone as he desperately drew in lungful after lungful of air. His ears were ringing, his chest was on fire , and his head was already pounding from the deafening cacophony surrounding him. Klaus stared numbly at the rest of the graveyard though the bars on the mausoleum with bleary eyes. The sun may have risen, but he knew there’d be no feigning bravery when his father came to get him. No, he’d be brought right back here tonight, and the next night, and probably the one after that too. He curled in on himself and buried his face back into his wadded up blazer, trying his best to cover his ears and block out the screams with it and his one good hand. God he couldn’t wait to get back to the academy, he really needed another hit, and he needed it badly .

Notes:

Chapter 37 warnings: Drugs used to numb feelings, drug overdose, mentions of vomit

Chapter 38: Boxed In

Notes:

heyyyyyyyy apologies again for never being able to keep a constant schedule, it probably won't get better. Huge huge shout out to my long time readers that I haven't scared off yet with my inconsistency <3 Friendly reminder that subscribing to the story is probably the best way to be notified when there's an update, hope you guys enjoy!

How the fuck is he high again? How?!

 

      Five’s brow furrowed as he took in Klaus’s slack jaw and glazed over eyes that seemed leagues away. He only barely resisted the urge to slam his fist onto his desk in frustration.

 

“-ster Five?”

 

     He zeroed in on the thin trail of drool slowly dribbling from the corner of Klaus’s mouth and onto his arm, and felt his brow furrow in agitation as he drummed his fingers against his desk impatiently. What he’d missed? Clearly his brother was a few steps ahead of him, and it was absolutely infuriating . In spite of his fury, Five had to admit he was also a bit impressed. It wasn’t often any of his siblings out performed him, especially Klaus .

 

Dammit! Dad’s been taking him for training again almost every night this week! When the hell is he finding the time to go out for-

 

“-ve?”

 

Wait-that’s it! He doesn’t have the time! Whatever is left, it still has to be here, at the academy-

 

“Master Five? Are you feeling alright dear boy?”

 

Five jumped as Pogo laid a hand on his shoulder, face immediately flushing in embarrassment once he repressed the urge to blink away and met his concerned gaze.

 

Shit! How long has he been trying to get my attention-

 

“Sorry, Pogo. Lost in thought. What was the question again?”

 

Five shot a glare at Diego as he spun around in his chair to snicker at him.

 

“I asked if you were feeling alright, shall I fetch Grace for you?”

 

“No no, that’s not necessary,” he replied, hating himself for being so oblivious, “What was it you called on me for?”

 

Pogo studied him for a moment with a skeptical expression, then eventually relented and moved back to the front of the room.

 

“One of your sibling’s has been injured during a mission, upon closer inspection you are reasonably certain that they have broken their leg. How would you proceed?”

 

“Hold their injury as steady as I can and blink them to a safe location to await medical assistance.”

 

“And in a situation where assistance isn’t a viable option?”

 

“Apply even pressure while realigning the bone to the best of my ability. Assemble a makeshift splint from what materials are at my disposal and brace the leg accordingly.”

 

“Acceptable. Now then, Master Diego,-” 

 

Now it was Five’s turn to snicker. Pogo may have a much gentler disposition than their father, but that didn’t mean he suffered fools lightly.

 

“-since you seem so eager to join the lesson-”

 

Much to Five’s disappointment, the school bell interrupted Pogo just in time to save Diego from their instructor’s ire. Pogo sighed in disappointment as Diego quickly leapt out of his seat and made his escape before the bell had even finished chiming.

 

Damn.

 

“Well then, I guess that will have to do for today. Master Five and Master Ben, your father is expecting you in the courtyard for training this afternoon, please head there straight away. Dismissed.”

 

And just like that, Five felt the amused smirk drop from his face in an instant. Right, training. He’d been so focused on Klaus’s obvious incoherence that he’d all but forgotten what the end of the lesson would bring.

 

Shit.

 

Five glanced at Ben, who was currently staring at Pogo with an odd combination of dread and utter confusion.

 

Well, there’s no use stalling-

 

“Come on Ben, let’s go,” Five said, rising from his seat and heading for the door without another word.

 

“Hey-wait up! Why are you coming too? Did dad say why?”, Ben asked as he scrambled to catch up with him.

 

Because he wants to punish me for failing to meet his expectations.

 

“No idea Ben, maybe he just wants to see a teleporting squid.”

 

“Ugh, don’t say that. Your blinks are the worst , I don’t know how you can stomach it.”

 

“Practice. Which, if you’d like some, then I’d be happy to-”

 

“Oh hell no, don’t you fucking dare-”

 

     Five quickly spun around to latch onto Ben’s forearm with a mischievous grin, then felt for the grounds of the academy. Upon doing so, he discovered something… strange. He could sense most of the courtyard, but there were several odd blind spots scattered around the grounds outside. Sensing them was unpleasant to say the least, their presence felt like having his own senses thrown back in his face. He stumbled forwards and severed the connection, only barely managing to catch his balance due to his grip on Ben’s arm. His brother quickly seized the opportunity to twist out of Five’s grip, seemingly unaffected by whatever had caused his momentary loss of balance. Worse still, this was a feeling he knew, though it wasn’t something he’d felt for a long time. 

 

It wasn’t exactly something he enjoyed remembering.

 

      When he’d been much younger it’d taken a lot of trial and error before he’d been able to blink on command, and even longer to do so with any real accuracy. That hadn’t been enough for his father. Eventually he’d simply taken to locking Five in a small lead lined padded cell on one of his training days, with the expectation that the lesson would end once he managed to teleport himself out. The process had been absolutely terrifying, and he’d spent countless hours feeling nothing but the agonizing presence of the four walls around him reflected back a thousand times over every time he tried to feel for a way out. The sheer disorientation had almost been akin to having his eyes knocked out of his skull with an ice pick. The only way he felt any relief was to not use his powers at all. He’d begged his father to come up with another way to train him, his senses were what kept him safe, kept him from colliding with anything when blinking. Only being able to rely on his eyesight alone had been so jarring it was like he’d lost a limb. His father, however, had been rather unmoved by his pleas. After nearly three days of confinement, Five finally had enough. He worked up the courage to force a blink in spite of everything in him screaming that to do so would be a death wish. He’d been starving and alone, wanting the experiment to stop, no matter the consequence. He remembered seeing the familiar flash of blue arc across his fists, a brief spark of triumph, then utter agony quickly followed by complete darkness. Vanya had apparently stumbled upon him passed out in the upstairs bathroom, though he had no clue how long he’d actually been there before she’d found him. To this day most of the details surrounding that day were rather hazy, aside from the frankly horrifying realization that the bathmat had melded with some of his skin once Vanya had tried to help him stand. Years later Five had hypothesized that the high density of the metal must affect his powers in a way similar to radiation; his senses were simply unable to penetrate it like they did other matter. His father had thankfully not repeated the experiment, much to Five’s relief.

 

However, whatever was out in the courtyard right now, it gave him the exact same feeling as that room had, though not nearly as intense. Worst of all, those little unpleasant pockets of nothingness were moving .

 

What the hell is out there-

 

Five brought an unsteady hand to his chest. His heart was pounding wildly, and he suddenly felt as though the walls of the academy hallway were entirely too small. 

 

“-uck yourself! I don’t want to go into training nauseous you ass- uh, Five? You with me?”

 

“Something’s wrong.”

 

“Shit, I knew you were off in class! Just wait here and I’ll go get Grace-”

 

“Damn it, no! Something’s outside and it’s wrong , I just felt it. Or didn’t feel it. I’m not entirely sure which to be honest.”

 

“You… what? Are you sure you don’t need-”

 

“No I don’t need- would you just listen?! Fuck, how do I explain this to you- I was going to blink us to the courtyard, but when I was getting ready to make the jump I felt something off out there. Whatever dad has out there, it’s not playing nice with my sense of direction. Please tell me that made some sort of sense to you.”

 

Ben quirked an eyebrow at him and made a seesawing motion with his hand.

 

“Kind of? So you can’t blink around with whatever Dad has set up out there?”

 

Five recalled the agonizing hours Grace had spent methodically tweezing fibers of bath mat from the flesh on his back and winced.

 

“I mean, I think I can if I really tried, but I doubt it’d be pleasant.”

 

“Ha! All I’m hearing is you’re finally getting a taste of your own medicine. I’m failing to see the downside here,” Ben replied with a grin.

 

“It means that whatever dad’s planned for us this afternoon, assuming he’s not just going to pit us up against each other the second we get out there, I’m not going to be much help as I’d like to be. He wants you to use the horror, and he doesn’t want me to be able to intervene.”

 

Ben paled considerably and the taunting smirk quickly dropped from his face.

 

“...Shit,” Ben eventually mumbled quietly in reply.

 

“Now you’re getting it.”

 

“Do you really think he’d- that he’d- expect me to… use it against you?”

 

This time it was Five’s turn to avert his gaze.

 

“I… wouldn’t put it past him. He’s done worse before.”

 

Ben stared at him in horrified silence for a moment before an odd sense of determination crossed his face.

 

“I won’t do it. I’ll just take whatever punishment he doles out, I don’t even care what it is. I’m never going to let the horror out around any of you. Never .”

 

Damn it, I should’ve just kept it to myself-

 

Five grabbed his brother by the shoulders and shook him. “Yes! Yes you are Ben! He’s only going to keep pushing both of us harder if you refuse! It’s best to just get it over with now, before he ropes the rest of us into whatever he has planned.”

 

What if he decides to put him up against Klaus, what if he’s too high, he’d never stand a chance-

 

“It could kill you, absolutely not Five! I can’t control it, and if you can’t blink to get away in time-!”

 

“I will be fine . Now stop worrying and come on, we shouldn’t keep him waiting. Let’s go.”

 

     Five released Ben and continued walking in the direction of the courtyard, hoping he’d follow after him. After a moment he heard a set of footsteps fall in line behind him, and he breathed a quiet sigh of relief. As much as he hated to admit it, Ben wasn’t exactly wrong. Dealing with the horror without his powers functioning properly was sure to be a dangerous mix, but it didn’t matter. Ben would never forgive himself if it killed one of their siblings, and at least Five knew he stood a chance against it. A day or two spent in the infirmary seemed inconsequential when compared to his siblings' lives. All he had to do was keep his wits about him, stay out of the horror’s way, and hope that’d be enough. He’d still be able to blink if he really had to, though it definitely wasn’t something he wanted to risk.

 

That, or he could just knock Ben out before the horror had a chance to catch him.

 

     Five swallowed thickly and forced himself to push open the door to the courtyard. Neither option seemed particularly appealing to him. 

 

     His eyes landed on their father first, but Five’s attention quickly refocused on the six other people scattered around the grounds. They were dressed in army fatigues and armed with what looked stubby little black and yellow guns. However, what drew his attention more were the thick gloves they all had on. They were black, but the sunlight sparkled off them strangely for fabric.

 

There must be a bit of lead woven into them, Five realized, no wonder I was having trouble getting my bearings.

 

     He set his jaw and strode towards their father while trying to maintain an air of indifference for Ben’s sake. Five spared a glance in his brother’s direction, and the expression on his face gave him pause. Ben was staring at the weapons with an odd intensity that Five didn’t particularly like. It seemed that the lead based game of tag wasn't going to be their only problem.

 

Wonderful.

 

“Children! You are fifteen minutes late, explain yourselves at once!”, their father chided, snapping his pocket watch shut with a click.

 

“Sorry sir,” Five replied curtly.

 

“I asked for an explanation, not an apology Number Five.”

 

Somehow he found his father’s ire at their mild tardiness more irritating than it should have been.

 

“Can we skip the lecture and just get on with today’s training?”, Five snapped back before he could stop himself. Color immediately rose in his father’s cheeks, and Five cringed internally. 

 

“Number Five, for your insolence you will spend your free day tomorrow training instead of engaging in childish endeavors. Am I understood?”

 

Damn it! That leaves me with no time to search the academy-

 

“Yes sir,” he forced himself to spit out before staying silent could get him in more trouble. Training for three days in a row was going to be hell . Why? Why had he thought provoking him was a good idea?

 

Maybe he’ll pay more attention to my performance instead of Ben’s. Maybe it’ll be worth it.

 

“Good. Now then, since you’re so eager Number Five, on to the topic of today’s training. Our guests are here as an additional obstacle for you two to overcome while attempting to achieve your own goals. You may deal with them however you like.”

 

Five eyed the strangers in the courtyard warily as they drew their weapons and slowly began to encircle both him and Ben.

 

“Number Six, your goal for today is to successfully incapacitate Number Five. Number Five, your goal is to successfully incapacitate Number Six. You may begin.”

Notes:

Chapter 38 content warnings: very brief body horror mention of bath mat fusing with skin

Chapter 39: Two Birds, One Stone

Notes:

GUESS WHICH FIC ISN'T ABANDONED

THIS ONE

(wow was the last update really in December? Oops...)

Big big BIG thank you to the regular readers that left comments during the hiatus, it definitely helped me find the motivation to come back to this <3 <3

next chapter will be a Klaus pov, let me know your thoughts in the comments! I read them all :D

     Five averted his gaze as an unpleasant look of horrified disbelief overtook Ben’s face. He knew exactly how his brother felt, not that he'd ever let it show. Maintaining an air of detached indifference around their father was usually the safest bet, especially when it came to his siblings. Though, if Five was being honest with himself, it probably didn't make as much of a difference as he hoped. Their father possessed an uncanny knack for sniffing out any weaknesses like a bloodhound and laying them bare in spite of any attempts to mask them. He really shouldn't be surprised at his orders, although a small and disgustingly naive part of him had been holding out hope for a slower paced training session since Ben was involved.

 

Ha, as if. He should have known better.

 

      Five eyed the six men in fatigues scattered around the courtyard cautiously, and felt his heart rate spike. All of them were beginning to stare down the sights of their strange stubby guns, though they seemed to be keeping their distance for now. He wasn’t sure how much time they had before shots started flying, but he really didn’t like the way Ben had been staring at their weapons earlier.

 

If I can just end this quickly enough, then maybe dad will call those assholes off before they have a chance to fire at Ben.

 

Maybe.

 

     His eyes flicked back to his brother for a moment, and he swallowed thickly. Ben’s focus was entirely on the men surrounding them, leaving him utterly and completely vulnerable to Five.

 

Prolonging the inevitable won’t change anything, just get it over with-

 

     Five drew in a breath, then forced himself to throw the first punch before he could change his mind. 

 

     His fist collided with Ben’s jaw hard, and Five’s stomach churned at the way his head snapped backwards at the blow. Ben stumbled as his hand flew to his face and oh , the confused betrayal painted across his features now was so much worse than the look of fearful trepidation he’d worn before. Distantly Five could feel his hand throbbing as he reflexively assumed an offensive stance. Ben awkwardly followed suit, though Five could immediately see his brother’s clumsy form left much to be desired.

 

Damn it all, this isn’t even a challenge. This isn't even close to an even match. Why did it have to be Ben-

 

He attempted to kick Ben’s legs from beneath him, but his brother barely managed to avoid him by just a hair.

 

     He pondered what exactly their father might hope to get out of this as he and Ben circled each other. If he’d really wanted Ben to improve his hand to hand combat, then Klaus would have made a much more sensible sparring partner. Unlike himself, Ben typically avoided physical confrontations whenever he could, though he was still a bit more skilled than Klaus when forced into hand to hand combat. However, what he lacked in brawn he definitely made up for in brains, and his quick thinking had gotten his siblings out of many a tight spot on missions over the years. Five was undoubtedly the smartest on the team, but his brother was a close second. Unfortunately, as they’d all seen at the bank, brains alone only got Ben so far.

 

     His brother aimed a punch at his head, and Five easily evaded the blow. Without thinking he used Ben’s own momentum against him to spin him around and twist his arm behind his back. Ben let out a pained hiss and Five instantly relaxed his grip a bit. His brother quickly seized the opportunity to elbow him in the face and wrench himself from his grasp, and Five grinned at him as he felt a small trickle of blood begin to stream from his nose. Maybe he’d underestimated his brother after all.

 

     Ben’s expression suddenly hardened, and Five realized his brother’s gaze was no longer on him. He quickly risked a glance over his own shoulder to follow Ben's line of sight, and with dawning horror he realized that every one of their father’s hired lackeys now had their weapons trained on his brother. Five’s presence clearly didn't matter to them; Ben was definitely their prime target.

 

What the fuck-

 

     One of the men suddenly let out a shrill whistle, and a shot rang out from across the courtyard. Five latched onto Ben’s shoulder and tried to blink them away on instinct, and was instantly reminded why he’d been avoiding using his powers in the first place.

 

     Energy briefly crackled between his fingertips as the world seemed to tilt on its axis when he felt for a landing point. Five stumbled forward and just barely managed to keep his balance as the blue glow fizzled out. He spun to face their attackers, and time seemed to slow as he watched his brother crumple to the ground. Five leapt forward and instinctively fumbled to catch him in spite of his disoriented state. Ben began to seize in his arms, and Five thought he might be sick. 

 

Shit, where did he get hit?! Dammit, why didn’t I just yank him to the side instead-

 

     He cursed himself for relying too heavily on his powers as his hands scrambled along Ben’s torso desperately in search of an entry wound.

 

He’s not bleeding there’s no blood so what the hell-

 

Eventually his hands brushed against a small metal barb embedded in Ben’s shoulder, along with a thin wire that presumably connected back to the gun it had been fired from. 

 

They shot him with a fucking taser, seriously?! As if this wasn’t already enough of an unbalanced fight-

 

     Manic relief flooded through him at the blessed realization that Ben hadn’t been mortally wounded, and Five honestly wasn’t sure if he wanted to laugh, cry, or scream in anger. None of those would be very productive, so instead he forced himself to focus on the problem at hand. His fist closed around the barb-

 

-and the next thing he knew, something slammed into him hard , hard enough to knock the breath from his lungs, and hard enough to send him careening wildly through the air.

 

      Five gasped for breath and reflexively felt for his surroundings, but the presence of the leaded gloves caused his senses to be flooded by a painful cacophony of everything surrounding him to be echoed back a hundred times over. Whatever was going on, this bout of dizzying disorientation was much stronger than the first. Someone was screaming, and it took Five a little too long to confirm that the noise wasn’t coming from his own throat after all. Just as the panic of being flung several stories into the air without being able to rely on his powers to get him back to safety began to set in, something wet, slimy, and familiar roughly snatched Five from the air before he had the chance to hit the ground. As the tentacle squeezed what little breath he’d been able to take in from his lungs, suddenly everything made an awful sort of sense.

 

This training session wasn’t about improving Ben’s hand to hand combat.

 

It wasn’t even about punishing Five for yesterday’s mishap with Klaus, not really.

 

This was about the Horror.

 

If Ben had been refusing to let the Horror out during his training sessions, then of course their father had found a way to force it out instead. How many methods had he tried on Ben before he’d landed on something that worked?

 

     Five bit back the urge to vomit as the Horror’s grip around his waist tightened and whipped him manically through the air. Suddenly the Horror’s tentacle spasmed around him then went slack, and Five quickly seized the opportunity to wriggle himself free, gravity be damned. Being restrained by the Horror was unpleasant at the best of times, but absolutely terrifying when he wasn’t able to rely on his powers for an instant escape. The ground rushed towards him, and Five noticed one of his father’s idiot lackeys attempting to take another shot at Ben down below. He slammed into the man with no remorse, and they both tumbled to the ground in an unceremonious heap. Five hurried to extricate himself while aiming a few well placed blows at his temple, smirking when he slumped over unconscious with a groan. Unfortunately, his triumph was quickly overshadowed by the return of the unpleasant screaming he’d heard before. 

 

     Five spun around to face the source of the sound, and despite the distraught look on his brother’s face, the view of the Horror dragging around their father’s goons was rather satisfying. It’d managed to grab two of them, one of which was almost certainly dead judging by the angle of their neck and the steady trickle of blood leaking from their mouth. Five might have been disturbed at the display under other circumstances, but any empathy he’d had for these men went flying out the window the second they started shooting at his brother. Upon closer inspection he noticed a rogue taser gun flying around in tandem with the Horror’s movements, wire likely still attached to a barb embedded somewhere in one of its tentacles.

 

One of them must’ve gotten another shot off at some point, that would explain why it let me go…

 

     A small portion of him was saddened by the realization. He’d thought Ben had been able to get the Horror to release him while maintaining its hold on the others, but now he wasn’t so sure. He knew his brother’s sway over the Horror’s actions was rather weak at the best of times, but did he really have absolutely no control over it whatsoever? Five stared numbly at Ben as the Horror whipped the two men around mercilessly, then managed to latch onto a third. Ben was screaming almost as loud as the men caught in the Horror’s clutches, although it wasn’t long before it slammed them into the ground and silenced them forever.

 

No wonder their father had taken such extreme measures with Ben’s training.

 

     He certainly didn’t agree with his methods, but if Ben never learned to control the Horror, then his power would only be a danger to the academy instead of an asset. What if it grabbed one of his siblings? He and Luther would likely be able to hold their own and escape, but what about Klaus and Allison? Would Diego be able to cut himself free in time? What if it got out around Vanya ?

 

Five blinked away an unpleasant image of his sister torn to bloody chunks and watched one of the two hired goons still left standing dropped their weapon and run. The other seemed to be frozen in place, mesmerized by the carnage.

 

     Five stared in disbelief as the Horror began to tear the men in its grasp limb from limb, bathing both the courtyard grass and Ben in a disturbing shade of crimson while his brother continued to scream in vain for it to stop.

 

It was all too easy to picture the broken bodies before him as his siblings.

 

The Horror tore a head from one of the men’s shoulders and popped it like an overripe watermelon. Five felt a few warm droplets splatter across his face, and finally lost the battle he’d been fighting with his stomach. As he hurled what little food he’d gotten at lunch into the grass, he silently resolved to find a way to help his brother gain at least some sway over the Horror as soon as possible. He'd only briefly played around with interdimensional physics before choosing to focus on the quantum mechanics of time travel, but Five was relatively confident he'd be able to come up with something that would make Ben's life at least a little bit easier. Dealing with both Klaus’s drug habit and finding time to work out the equations for taming the Horror wouldn’t leave him with much free time, but it was doable.

 

“-ive!”

 

Anything to keep his siblings safe, even if it was from themselves.

 

“-ook out!”

 

“Shit-!”

 

Ben’s yelling pulled Five back to the present, and he hurriedly wiped at his mouth before attempting to blink away from the tentacle hurling half a body towards him.

 

Big mistake.

 

     Blue sparks once again lit up his clenched fists, then pure, red hot agony instantly flooded Five’s nerves when he pulled for his surroundings. His head swam and his ears rang, but somehow between the pain and disorientation he was able to remember the reason he'd tried to blink away in the first place. He threw himself to the ground in a less than dignified manner, just barely avoiding being hit by the battered corpse headed his way. A sharp cry rang out across the courtyard, and Five instantly bolted to his feet, blurry vision be damned.

 

That was Ben’s voice-

 

     Several wet smacks reverberated around him, and as his vision readjusted Five realized the Horror must have grown tired of toying with the mangled pieces of the men it had torn apart. An ear and half of a leg slapped against the ground in front of Five, and he quickly pulled himself to his feet while doing his best to ignore the sudden wet warmth that spattered across his cheek. His brother was at the epicenter of the carnage, twitching erratically as viscera rained down all around them. The last of their father’s men had somehow managed to shoot his brother in the shoulder, which would explain why the Horror had finally let go of its play things. 

 

     The man’s sense of self preservation was understandable, but the sight of his brother covered in a combination of blood, sweat and his own tears immediately turned Five’s fear to pure, red hot anger. 

 

The Horror’s tentacles twitched in tandem with his brother’s spasms, and the man didn’t seem inclined to release the trigger anytime soon.

 

     Five sprinted in his direction without another thought, trying to stay upright and ignore the world warping unnaturally around him. He smacked the gun from the man’s hands and kicked his legs out from beneath him, sending the weapon skittering across the grass. Five leapt onto his chest before he had the chance to react, landing blow after blow against the man’s face. All of the noise around him slowly faded to a quiet hum, save for that of his own pulse. Blood blossomed between his fingers with every hit, but his fists felt as though they were moving of their own accord. Distantly he could feel his knuckles throbbing painfully with every blow, but he just couldn’t seem to make himself stop. 

 

     Eventually, after what could have been hours or mere minutes, the choice was made for him. Something forcefully yanked the long unconscious man from beneath him, sending Five toppling backwards. His back slammed against the ground, and the sounds of the world around him suddenly returned in a deafening rush. Five watched in stunned disgust as the Horror swiftly drew and quartered the unconscious man it’d snatched up, his innards scattering through the air like wet, bloody confetti. Several pieces slapped against the ground in front of him, and Five stared at them blankly.

 

“-up please get up Five you have to run please it won’t stop get up- LOOK OUT FIVE-!”

 

Shit-!

 

     Five hurriedly rolled away from the Horror’s incoming tentacle, only barely remembering to resist the impulse to blink himself away instead. One of the man’s legs hit the ground nearby with a hollow thump, and Five’s eyes zeroed in on a particularly jagged rock just behind where it landed. As the Horror’s tentacle reared up for another attack, he quickly dove towards it with outstretched hands while the slimy appendage soared after him.

 

“No no NO! PLEASE NOT FIVE DAD-”

 

Ben’s scream abruptly turned to a pained cry as Five dodged the Horror’s attempt to grab him,  and stabbed the rock directly into the center of one of its blood covered suction cups.

 

Sorry Ben, I don’t have a choice-

 

     Five tried and failed to ignore the sound his brother was making as he twisted the rock deeper into the Horror’s flesh. The tentacle slithered away from him, and Five sprinted towards his Ben before another tentacle had the chance to retaliate.

 

And before he had a chance to change his mind.

 

     He leapt at Ben, quickly putting him into a choke hold before his brother had the time to realize what was happening. Ben let out a grunt and clawed at Five’s arm desperately, but it was no use. He was outmatched, and they both knew it. The Horror’s tentacles writhed in fury around them, but its movements eventually began to grow sluggish as Five applied more pressure to Ben’s neck. He blinked back tears as the Horror stilled before it slowly began to retreat back into his brother, and Ben’s struggling lessened as he started to lose consciousness. Five gently lowered his brother to the grass, and quickly searched for a pulse. He breathed a sigh of relief as he found it, and muttered a quiet apology to Ben’s unconscious form before standing to glare at their father.

 

“Acceptable, Number Five. Go inside and fetch Grace. Dismissed.”

Notes:

Ch 39 warnings: gore

Chapter 40: Hidden In Plain Sight

Notes:

Surprise! Somehow I wrote an entire chapter during my shift. We'll see how long the inspiration stays before it inevitably gets scared away again. Also! Holy shit! We crossed over 10k hits! Thank you so much!!!

Yell at me in the comments, it fuels my urge to further hurt everyone's feelings <3 <3

Content warnings in end notes

     Klaus glanced at the small handful of pills he'd retrieved from his stash before carefully easing the baseboard back into place with a huff. As much as he'd like to take more, he knew he was burning through what he had faster than he'd like. He also knew himself, and knew he had absolutely zero control once the pills were easily in reach. While being so blitzed out of his mind that he couldn't even think straight for the entire week sounded absolutely amazing , he really, really did not want to go through the trouble of sourcing more pills any time soon. The last few times had been… less than ideal. No, it was better to leave the majority of them here, no matter how much it painted him to do so.

 

A pair of footsteps sounded out from down the hall, and Klaus froze as they drew nearer.

 

No way he forgot something, Mr. Perfect would never-

 

The steps passed by Five’s door without pause, and Klaus slowly let out the breath he'd been holding. 

 

Okay okay okay, that is so my sign to get the fuck out of here. 

 

     Klaus shoved the pills into his blazer and pulled himself to his feet, glancing back at the baseboard one last time. Nothing seemed out of place, so he crept back towards the door to his brother's room and pressed his ear to the wood for a moment before easing it open.

 

Fuck yeah, coast is clear!

 

He quickly slipped into the hallway before quietly pulling the door closed behind himself.

 

Klaus one, Five zero. Mission: accomplished!

 

     Klaus smirked as he waltzed back into his own room. He dug out most of the pills from his blazer, making sure to leave three or four in his pocket for Five to find whenever he felt the urge to search him again. It sucked, having to waste perfectly good drugs to keep his brother off his tail, but it was better to sacrifice a few pills here and there to keep him from going completely nuclear. For some reason he seemed annoyingly intent on keeping him clean, and Klaus knew his brother. He would absolutely tear apart his room if he couldn't find anything, consequences be damned. He sighed and threw two more pills into his pillowcase, another into his desk drawer, and three into a shoe box in his closet. 

 

There, that should placate the asshole brother for a while. Now then, I think it's time for a little relaxation after all that excitement.

 

      He tipped the rest into a small plastic baggie and tucked it into his pocket before grabbing a towel and heading for the bathroom.

 

     Klaus double checked that the lock was clicked shut behind him, then pulled his shampoo bottle from its hiding spot underneath the sink. He retrieved the bag of pills from his pants, opened the bag and set three of them on the counter before resealing it, then unscrewed the cap and frowned. Someone had been using his shampoo again , and he was fairly certain it was Allison. Okay, so she had more curls than him and the academy standard goop didn't exactly do any favors for voluminous hair, he should know, but it wasn't often he was able to convince Grace to buy him the good stuff. He let out a frustrated huff before shoving the pills into the bottle and replacing the cap. As annoying as it was, he wasn't about to get rumored just to have the satisfaction of confronting her. Allison always got what she wanted one way or another, and Klaus knew his sister would almost definitely make him forget that he'd noticed anything amiss at all. Hell, she’d probably just make him give her the whole damn bottle of shampoo anyway. And if that happened, then his pills would be dust in the wind. Now that would be a real tragedy. He just hoped she wouldn't notice his goodies nestled inside the next time she pilfered his belongings. After a brief moment of consideration he snatched up his sister's poorly hidden bottle of lavender bubble bath and spilled a sizable amount of it into the tub before placing it back behind Diego's disgustingly strong cologne.

 

An eye for an eye, dear sister of mine. An eye for an eye.

 

     He turned the bathwater on high, then began to get undressed. As he undid the last button on his shirt and began to shrug it off, he realized his mistake. 

 

He'd forgotten to turn off the light. 

 

Shit.

 

He froze with his shirt halfway off of his shoulders, swallowed, then dared to risk a glance at the mirror. 

 

They were gone. 

 

Every last one.

 

All of the bruises Cody had left on him were fucking gone .

 

Finally.

 

The shirt fell from his hand, and Klaus felt a smile stretch across his face as he finished undressing.

 

Now this calls for a real celebration , he thought to himself as he felt for the joint he'd taped under the sink ages ago. 

 

Damn, where the hell-

 

He stooped to get a better look, and rolled his eyes when he noticed the single ripped piece of tape still left clinging to the underside of the basin.

 

God dammit Five, why do you hate fun so much? 

 

     Defeated, Klaus turned off the water and stepped into the lovely mountain of bubbles he'd created. He took his time washing himself, fully ignoring the couple of times one of his siblings interrupted him by pounding on the door. This was the first time he'd felt clean in weeks , and he was going to fucking enjoy it. His brothers and sister could walk their happy asses to the downstairs bathroom if they really needed to go that badly. He sighed and leaned against the cool tile behind him and closed his eyes. 

 

He hadn't felt truly relaxed for a long time, it was nice to finally-

 

Psst! Hey! 

 

His eyes shot open and Klaus quickly scrambled to cover himself, then his brow furrowed in confusion. 

 

He was still alone, so who-

 

I know you can hear me you dipshit, don't pretend you can't-

 

He let out a groan, then pulled up the plug to drain the bathwater. Whoever's voice that was, it was only a bit louder than a whisper for the time being. However, it was definitely time to towel off and top off before that changed. He hopped out of the tub and hurriedly dried himself off before snagging the pills from the counter and quickly gathering his dirty clothes under his good arm. His stomach grumbled loudly as he made his way back to his room, and it suddenly dawned on him exactly how long it'd been since his last protein shake.

 

      God he was sick of those things. No matter how many different flavor combinations Grace had tried, they all tasted the same. What he wouldn't give for a stack of waffles drowned in an unholy amount of syrup instead. He chucked the dirty towel into his hamper and shimmied into a clean uniform. A quick glance at the clock confirmed his suspicion that it was getting close to dinnertime, and he shoveled the few pills he'd hung onto back into his blazer. With a little luck he might catch Grace early enough to have his smoothie made before they all had to be seated. Then he'd have a chance to get the pills into his drink beforehand, and Klaus had always found family dinners to be much more tolerable when paired with a little pick me up. He left his room and skipped down the stairs in the direction of the infirmary.

 

Eh, the banana split flavor almost tasted different, maybe I'll see if she'll make it again.

 

     He enthusiastically pushed open the door to the infirmary, and immediately felt his heart drop to his feet.

 

Why is there so much blood everywhere-

 

      His eyes snapped to the incredibly still form of Ben laying in one of the beds, then to Grace as she tucked a blanket around his brother. Her eyes rose to meet his as the door creaked closed behind him, and she must have sensed his mounting panic as her worried features quickly softened. 

 

“He's okay honey, just overdid it a bit at training today. Are you alright sweetie? What do you need?”

 

She dug in her apron for a pad of paper and a pen and passed them to him.

 

      Klaus eyed the slight bruising around his brother's neck, then the bloodstained uniform crammed into the trash can behind her warily before writing a response. 

 

What happened to Ben? Whose blood is that? 

 

He passed the pad back to her and pointed at the crimson spatters scattered across the infirmary floor. 

 

“Oh! It's not your brother's blood honey, he just lost consciousness during training this afternoon. He'll be just fine, I promise.” She passed him the pad once more. “Now then, what did you come in here for sweetie?”

 

      That… didn't really answer either of his questions in the slightest, but Klaus wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know more. Judging by the state of his brother's soiled uniform, the academy probably had a few new ghosts, which was just lovely . He tapped the pen against the pad for a minute while debating if he should press her for more details, but ultimately decided against it. She said Ben would be okay, and that was the most important thing.

 

Hungry , he finally wrote, can I have the banana split flavor again?  

 

He flipped the pad to face her, and she smiled at the scrawled message. 

 

“Sure sweetie, I was just about to start making dinner for your siblings. I need to get that started first, but just wait here and I'll be back before you know it. Sound good?”

 

      Klaus nodded, then sat himself on the counter next to Ben's bed as Grace headed out of the infirmary. He glanced down at his brother's unconscious form, and breathed a sigh of relief. While the bruising was more than a little concerning, he didn't see any other obvious injuries on Ben aside from a few minor scrapes here and there. He flinched as a pained gurgle sounded out from somewhere in the infirmary, and it was quickly followed by another. Klaus glanced around the room, and something flickered in the corner of his vision before disappearing from sight once again. His hand flew up to his blazer pocket subconsciously, and he forced himself to suck in a breath before lowering his good arm back to his side.

 

Welp, so much for slipping these into a smoothie. Guess water will have to do instead. 

 

     He hopped off of the counter to grab himself a paper cup, and accidently knocked a metal tray to the ground in the process. It crashed into the floor with a loud clatter, and the noise woke Ben up with a start. His brother bolted upright in bed with a look of crazed desperation as he took in his surroundings, and Klaus watched as his expression turned to one of barely subdued panic. Eventually Ben’s eyes landed on him, and his presence seemed to help his brother calm down just a little bit. 

 

“...Klaus? How- why am I here?”

 

He winced at how raspy and weak Ben's voice sounded. Whatever had happened during his training session, it clearly wasn't good.

 

Dammit. Guess the drugs will have to wait then.

 

Klaus awkwardly reached behind himself for the pen and pad he'd left on the counter to answer Ben's question. 

 

Grace said you passed out during training. That's all I know. 

 

The noises of the dead were definitely getting louder, and though he was trying his best to tune them out, they were getting rather hard for him to ignore. However they'd died, it did not sound pleasant.

 

He flipped the paper towards Ben and watched him carefully as he scanned the page.

 

“Klaus, please tell me you've seen Five recently,” his brother suddenly blurted out with an air of fear that made Klaus’s blood run cold.

 

A figure flickered briefly in and out of his view as it shambled from one end of the infirmary to the other. It wasn’t even close to Five’s size, definitely bigger than his brother, and yet-

 

Grace hadn't told him whose blood it was. Why wouldn't she tell him? 

 

He shook his head, and Ben paled.

 

“Find him. Please. The Horror was- and I don't- I mean Five, he- I don’t remember what happened. Klaus please go look for him- just- I need to know, okay? Just find him. Please.”

 

He nodded, and shared a look of shared dread with his brother.

 

Fuck. 

 

Five hadn't been in his room earlier. 

 

Had Klaus gone in there while they were still training, or after? He realized he couldn’t remember.

 

He’d been too high to know for sure.

 

Shit.

 

Klaus sprinted out of the infirmary, ignoring Luther's protests as he barreled past him on his way towards the stairs.

 

“Hey! Slow down Klaus or you're going to fall down again! And don’t be late to dinner!”

 

He raced down the hall to Five’s door and pounded on it with more urgency than was probably necessary, and waited.

 

He's fine, I'm sure Ben is just freaked out from training-

 

And waited.

 

Please be fine.

 

No answer.

 

He’s fine he’s fine he’s fine-

 

Klaus reached for the knob, hesitated, and flung open the door.

 

The room was completely empty.

 

He felt his heart rate spike as he pulled the door shut in defeat.

 

Okay, that doesn't mean anything. So he's not in his room, so what? He’s probably already downstairs at the table for dinner.

 

     Klaus forced himself to turn away from his brother's room and began to make his way back downstairs. As he grabbed onto the staircase banister, he paused as a familiar thwooping sound drew his attention from a bit further down the hall. 

 

Please tell me that noise is what I think it is-

 

Klaus hurriedly backtracked down the hall towards the noise, and stared in disbelief as he reached the library.

 

Oh for fuck’s sake, what the hell is he doing-

 

     Klaus watched as Five struggled to balance several rather beefy looking math textbooks on his head with one hand, blink over to the nature and science section to add a book on squids to his already precarious stack, then blink back to the table he'd been working at to dump them next to a pile of scattered notes and H.P. Lovecraft novels.

 

What. The hell. 

 

Klaus didn't even want to know.

 

      He sighed and turned back towards the staircase, then nearly jumped out of his skin as something absolutely freezing slammed through his body before screaming directly into his ear. With eyes firmly planted on the ground, Klaus quickly retreated to the safety of his own room while refusing to acknowledge whoever was currently attempting to deafen him.

 

The screamers were always the worst.

 

Okay, fine. No water then, straight up it is. Like I haven't already had enough nose bleeds this week.

 

He dug the pills out of his pocket, slammed them onto his desk, and promptly crushed them beneath his thumb before snorting up the powder.

 

     As soon as these start to kick in I’ll head right back to the infirmary. Good news Ben! Our brother actually isn’t currently being digested by you, he’s just busy having another episode in the library. Oh! I forgot to mention, but I’m pretty sure whomever you two mutilated during your playdate with daddy latched onto you and they’re intent on following you around until the end of time! Isn’t that just fantastic? Don’t worry though, only I get to deal with them. You all can just carry on like nothing’s changed!

 

He shivered as he felt a pair of incorporeal arms faze through his torso, and flinched as the ghoul began yet another tirade of screaming.

 

What he wouldn’t give to have never been born with powers, and just be ordinary like his brother.

Notes:

Ch 40 warnings: mention of bruising from a past assault, drug use

Chapter 41: Caught Between A Rock And A Hard Place

Notes:

One of you guys posted a very nice fic inspired by this story for the masked author event on Tumblr, if I've done everything right on my end it should be listed under inspired works. Please give it a read, it features Klaus and Five having a very cute run to get some new clothes together. (they uh, probably get more comfort in it than will be coming in the next few chapters...) Huge HUGE thank you to the author, (who posted anonymously, so I won't name them unless they reveal themselves in the comments) it's an amazing gift to have someone be inspired enough by your own work to go create their own <3

     Five pushed the small portion of chicken and vegetables Grace had served him around his plate, trying his best to ignore the empty seat to his left. 

 

Ben hadn’t come to dinner after their training session together.

 

       He shoveled a spoonful of peas into his mouth and tried to swallow it, but he may as well have been eating a handful of hot gravel. The food felt like it was fighting against him, and it took several attempts to force it down. He coughed a few times before setting the spoon down next to his plate. Ben’s absence from the table was already enough to ruin his appetite, but Klaus slurping and drooling all over the straw of his milkshake certainly wasn't helping either. That coupled with Herr Carlson’s monotonous droning on in the background made him want to shove a fork into his ear.

 

He really, really wanted to be anywhere but here.

 

     He sighed and pushed the plate away in defeat. Normally he’d be starving after a training session, but at the moment the idea of eating anything more made his stomach turn. He knew he'd probably regret the decision later, but he just couldn't find the energy to care.

 

“Done already sweetie? You barely ate a thing, Five.”

 

Gee, thanks Grace. As if I didn't already know that-

 

He could feel several pairs of eyes bore into him, but he refused to acknowledge his sibling’s stares.

 

“I… have a headache. I'd rather just go to bed early if that's alright. May I be excused?”

 

Grace glanced up at his father, who wordlessly waved his assent without raising his gaze from the evening paper.

 

“Alright then, get some rest honey. Luther, do you want more chicken?”

 

     Five reached for his room upstairs and blinked away before his father had the chance to change his mind. He let out a breath and felt his jaw unclench as he collapsed into his chair. However, the brief feeling of respite he'd had at the instant wave of silence quickly faded. The pile of reference books and scribbled notes he'd left on top of his desk looked like a mountain, and he let out a groan before burying his head into his hands. His ever growing list of problems was quickly turning his room into a library, and it felt like he never had enough time to make any real progress. Klaus clearly still had a hell of a lot more pills squirreled away than he'd thought, the Horror was a ticking time bomb with no easily obtainable solution, and Five himself was fucking exhausted. Time travel would be great right about now, except he hadn't quite figured that out yet either. He let out a long breath before raising his head and forcing himself to thumb through the notebook with the few equations he'd managed to put together before dinner. Everything he’d written was still incredibly theoretical, and there was still a long way to go before he'd have anything tangible enough to be worth testing. His eyes narrowed as he reread one of the equations, and he felt his cheeks grow hot. 

 

That decimal point should be one place to the left.

 

He'd made a mistake.

 

Even worse than that, that particular equation had been the basis for all of the ones that had followed it.

 

Which meant all that time he'd spent in the library after training had been for nothing.

 

God fucking damn it-!

 

Five tore the page out along with the two that followed it and angrily balled them up before hurling the wad into his wastebasket.

 

How did I miss that, how?! 

 

     He curled one hand into his hair and snapped the notebook shut in frustration with the other. It was such a simple mistake, one that was most definitely beneath him.

 

And yet, he'd made it anyway.

 

Maybe I just need a change of scenery, he eventually reasoned as his fingers tugged at his hair absent-mindedly. He loosened his tie and shrugged off his blazer while he half-heartedly straightened the pile before him. The academy walls had been especially suffocating as of late, and Five definitely wouldn't say no to a strong cup of coffee right about now. With his mind made up, he quickly shoved the remainder of his notes into a bag beneath his desk, along with a few other things from the pile atop his desk.

 

Hmm, a dress shirt and slacks are probably too formal for a late night study session in a diner, he pondered as he pulled off his academy sweater and tossed it into the hamper. As much as he hated to admit it, he had drawn much less attention when he'd listened to Ben's fashion advice.

 

I could ask him to borrow something, he probably wouldn't mind-

 

     Five reached out his hand and began to tap in Morse code on the wall they shared. It wasn't until halfway through the message that he remembered exactly why he'd been drowning himself in a sea of textbooks and numbers this afternoon. 

 

Ben was in the infirmary, and he'd been the one to put him there.

 

Five lowered his hand and swallowed thickly.

 

He should blink downstairs to check on Ben, it's what a good brother would do. 

 

But the idea of having to look Ben in the eyes after everything that'd happened during training-

 

It was weak, and selfish, and Five hated himself for it; it made him feel like Klaus , running from his problems like a damn scared little kid-

 

He just couldn't bring himself to do it.

 

He couldn't face Ben.

 

Not tonight. 

 

He just couldn't . 

 

I'm sorry, Ben-

 

Five clenched his fists and blinked next door before he could change his mind, and sucked in a breath upon landing.

 

     His brother's room had been a bit out of sorts the last time he'd been here, but it seemed like things had only gotten worse since then. Ben's blankets had been thrown across the room, dirty uniforms and empty snack wrappers littered the floor, but the general disarray was negligible when compared to the unfinished works Ben had left atop his desk.

 

     There must have been close to fifty different sketches, some crumpled or balled up while others were delicately set to the side. Many depicted the bank they'd had their last mission at, though a few featured the Horror’s tentacles coated in a gruesome amount of viscera. It looked like the one Ben had put the most work into was a portrait of a rather terrified looking woman, though it was still mostly unfinished. The shadow of the Horror's tentacles was visible in the foreground of the picture, which would explain why she seemed to be cringing away from the viewer. Five gingerly picked it up to get a closer look. For some reason she looked oddly familiar to Five, but he wasn't sure why.

 

It made him incredibly uneasy.

 

He eyed the drawing for a moment longer, and suddenly he realized why he'd recognized her face.

 

She'd been the woman he'd blinked away from the Horror on their last mission.

 

Well. 

 

Most of her, anyway.

 

     No wonder he hadn't recognized her at first, Ben had drawn her when she still had both of her arms attached. Five carefully set the drawing back on top of Ben's desk, and in doing so he noticed a newspaper clipping that had been tucked beneath it. He picked it up, and felt his stomach drop as he began to read. It appeared to be part of an obituary. 

 

Langston, Jennifer. Age 35.

 

      On Tuesday morning, Mrs. Langston's family made the difficult decision to remove her from life support. Jennifer lost both an arm and a leg in the attempted robbery of Harper Street Bank earlier this month, and had been attempting recovery at Saint Mary's hospital since. Unfortunately, due to severe blood loss, doctors recently declared her brain dead via cerebral hypoxia. She passed late Wednesday evening, and is survived by her husband Tom, who was also held hostage during the attempted robbery. Tom had this to say about his late wife: 

 

“She wouldn't want to be remembered for what those monsters did to her in that vault. Her end was tragic and ugly, but her life was so vibrant and full of joy. She loved to cook, and her favorite flower was an orchid. I loved her more than anything, and I want people to remember who she was, not what became of her. I hope the criminals who took her from me will never see the light of day again, as they have taken away mine.”

 

There will be a service for Mrs. Langston held downtown next Saturday at the city’s cemetery. All are welcome, and the Langston family would like to extend their thanks to Sir Reginald Hargreeves for his generous donation that made-

 

The rest of the article was torn off. 

 

Five gingerly slid the clipping back under Ben's drawing where he'd found it.

 

Jesus. No wonder he’s been refusing to use the Horror. Shit.

 

     Five forced himself to push away all thoughts of Ben and the Horror while he busied himself with rifling through his brother's closet. He really didn't want to be in here any longer than necessary, especially after reading…that. Eventually he settled on a simple black hoodie and matching pair of jeans that would fit him well enough with a belt. Satisfied with his selection, Five blinked back to his own room to change. The sound of his siblings stomping up the stairs announced their dismissal from the dinner table, and Five quickly began to trade his clothes for Ben's. They were a bit big on him, but it wasn't terribly noticeable. Hopefully, at least. He swung his bag over his shoulder, turned off the light, and blinked himself down to the pavement behind the academy.

 

Is that… Klaus? And Dad? 

 

     Five quickly ducked out of sight behind a tree, and cautiously peered around the side of its trunk. He watched as their father impatiently tapped his foot while waiting for Klaus to get to the family car. Klaus took far too long to crookedly stumble his way there, though he did eventually make it. His brother hesitated for a moment before pulling open the door and flopping face first into the back seat. Their father wasted no time in slamming the door behind him, and Five raised an eyebrow as he climbed into the driver's seat.

 

Again? Where the hell does he take Klaus at this time of night?

 

     He watched as the car pulled out of the academy and drove away into the night. Five wasn't sure what to think about his father’s latest excursions with Klaus. A sleep study wouldn't be that odd, Five himself had been made to endure several, but conducting it away from academy grounds was more than a little strange. Usually their father kept his experiments in house, though there were occasional exceptions. He made a mental note to check if his brother's room was still empty once he got home. If Klaus was going to be gone for the whole night, then it'd be the perfect opportunity to find whatever he still had stashed away. 

 

     The rest of the walk to Griddy's was quiet and uneventful, which was a welcome reprieve from the week he'd had. Five felt the ghost of a smile tug at his lips as the telltale aroma of freshly fried donuts wafted towards him once the familiar neon sign came into view. His stomach rumbled, and Five was grateful he still had a bit of money left over from the last time he'd visited.

 

Thanks again Diego, may you never stop being an idiot. 

 

      He pulled open the door with a ding, and heard Agnes call out from somewhere in the back to seat himself. Five found himself a booth and did just that, slipping off his backpack and tossing it onto the seat before plopping down next to it. As he unzipped his bag and half heartedly sifted through the contents, he decided it was probably for the best to take a break from interdimensional physics for the night. He’d already scraped most of his work from this afternoon, and right now the idea of redoing it all made him want to slam his head into the table repeatedly. Though if he was being completely honest, it was more so that he really didn't want to think about anything to do with Ben for the time being. His brother's drawing had disturbed him more than he cared to admit, and their training session made it difficult to check on his well-being casually.

 

     Instead he dug out the notebook that contained his work on time travel and began to reread the last few pages he'd written. Five felt like he was so close to understanding everything, and if he could just tie everything together then he'd be able to finally put some of his theories to the test. He sifted through his bag for the relevant textbook and quickly flipped to the section he'd left off on. He'd read it enough to have most of the information memorized by now, though figuring out how everything fit together in terms of his power was another matter entirely.

 

Now, if this theorem is accurate, then jumping forwards should be relatively similar to a blink, at least hypothetically. Getting back is what's going to be harder, but if I can reverse engineer this part here-

 

He jumped as Agnes set down a pot of coffee with an empty mug in front of him with a clatter.

 

“Oh, sorry hun! Didn't peg you as the jumpy type. Having your usual?”

 

“Sure, that sounds great, Agnes. Thanks,” he replied, quickly composing himself. Five set the notebook aside to pour himself a cup of coffee.

 

“Exam season tough this year? You look stressed kid,” she said, eyeing the textbook in front of him.

 

“... Not exactly”, he eventually responded after taking a sip from his mug. It was bitter and strong, just what he needed. “I just… have so much to do, and never enough time for it all. You know how it is.”

 

“Oh, I sure do kid, I sure do. I'll be right back with your plate hon, don’t work too hard now.”

 

     Five smiled as she shot him a wink and headed back towards the kitchen. Agnes was a good listener, plus she never asked too many questions. Why couldn't more adults just be like her? He downed the rest of his coffee and poured himself a second mugful before cracking open a second textbook. It was starting to feel like he could read every book in the world, and he still wouldn't fully understand what everything meant when it came to his powers.

 

     It wasn't long before a hot plate of food was set before him and, unlike earlier that evening, he found himself absolutely ravenous.

 

“Making any headway kid?”

 

“Less than I'd like, unfortunately. I feel like all of the pieces I need are right in front of me, but I still can't see the big picture. It's…incredibly frustrating.”

 

He gulped down another swig of coffee before beginning to dig into the platter of food in front of him.

 

“Hmm, have you asked your teacher for help? You can only learn so much by reading, hun. It might be you just need an expert on the subject matter to get you out of your rut. Books will get you pretty far, but nothing makes things click like hands on help.”

 

Five set down the fork full of eggs he'd been lifting towards his mouth.

 

She was right. 

 

     He’d made a fair amount of progress on his own, but what he couldn't make any headway on was how to apply everything to himself . There were no books on how exactly his powers worked, and no written documentation on the capabilities of one Five Hargreeves.

 

Except, he realized with a growing sense of dread, that wasn't exactly true.

 

There was one person who had studied exactly that.

 

He was going to have to ask his father for help.

Notes:

Chapter 41 warnings: none this time!

Chapter 42: The Garden, Once Again

Notes:

Update! I edited chapters 38-41 to retcon a few minor story beats I had planned that ultimately didn't work. No major changes, though the most edited chapters are chapter 38 & 39. Go back to chapter 38 and go from there if you want to read the changes for yourself, notes on what was changed are in the parenthesis if you just want the cliff notes version (lead suits were changed to gloves and some verbiage changes to emphasize the lead affects Five's sense of direction, not his ability to blink. Also, Five and Ben were not grounded by Reggie, but Five was sentenced to an extra training day on his leisure day for mouthing off. This means he has to train the day immediately after his showdown with the Horror, and will have been training for three days in a row.). Sorry it's been almost a year, not gonna lie I wrote myself into a corner and have been avoiding continuing this fic because of it. Thank you to the person who asked if there would be an update even though it's been almost a year, it inspired me to actually tackle the edits that needed to be made! We'll see how long it takes me to be killed by writer's block again :')

Other disclaimer: I haven't actually seen season 4 of TUA after hearing how badly it was received by the fandom, so if things greatly differ from cannon stuff that was revealed in season 4 later on that's why.

Content warnings in end notes~

“You have to stop coming here.”

 

Klaus jumped slightly before dejectedly looking up from the colorful daisy chain he'd been working on. He'd been hoping that She wouldn't show up again, but deep down he'd known it was inevitable.

 

“Why? I like it here.”

 

“I've told you already, you don't belong here. You need to go back.”

 

Klaus stuck out his tongue at the little girl towering over him. Well, not exactly a little girl, but he wasn't quite able to put into words exactly what She was.

 

He wasn't sure anyone could. 

 

“I could belong here, you just won't let me,” he mumbled in response. 

 

“It is not your time yet,” she replied with an exasperated sigh, “besides, I don't like you very much.” She glanced down at the multicolored flowers threaded between his fingers with disgust. “You ruin everything you touch.”

 

      Klaus refocused his attention on the daisy chain. He didn't want to go back yet. Maybe if he ignored Her, She would leave him alone. A warm breeze tickled at his skin, carrying the sweet floral perfume of the blossoms around him with it. He could hear Her dress flutter in the wind, along with the impatient tapping of one of her pristine black Mary Jane shoes.

 

Klaus was sure She’d get along great with his father. They had so much in common; both of them seemed equally disappointed with his existence. Yet again he found himself wishing he'd been gifted with the power of invisibility instead of the curse he’d never quite found a way to run away from.

 

“Klaus Hargreeves, you need to go back. Get out of here. Now.”

 

Klaus flinched slightly at the tone in Her voice, and began to hum a nonsensical tune to himself. She was getting angry, but he found he didn't have the energy to care. What could She do to him that the dead hadn't done already? He picked another flower from the grass and spun it between his fingers. This one's petals turned a brilliant shade of cobalt blue as he braided it into the chain. He never could be certain what color they'd turn until he touched them, but he hadn't been disappointed yet.

 

“Klaus!”

 

He hummed louder while reaching for another, marveling at the twinges of violet that bled into the petals where his fingers brushed against it. He plucked it from the ground-

 

“ ENOUGH !”

 

     Klaus quickly dropped the flower and scrambled to cover his ears as the girl's voice exploded around him a thousand times over. The ground around them shook with the thundering boom of the word layered over itself again and again, Her voice screaming at him infinitely from every direction. His hands did nothing to protect him from the cataclysmic clap of the one word endlessly erupting from the heavens. He scrambled backwards as a spiderweb of hairline cracks suddenly shot open beneath her feet, spiraling outwards and splitting the earth into a chaotic maelstrom of ugly crevices. Some of the crevices quickly grew to chasms, and Klaus screamed a soundless scream as he rolled away to keep from falling in. His head was exploding from the sheer magnitude of the noise mixed with his panicked attempt to keep from falling, until suddenly the world fell utterly and completely silent. The cacophony felt like it had lasted for what felt like an eternity, and Klaus was fairly certain it would have shattered his eardrums under normal circumstances. Upon shakily removing his hands from his ears, the impatient tap tap tapping of Her shoe was the only thing that confirmed he still could hear. As he slowly raised his gaze to meet Hers, he noticed that for as far as he could see,all of the flowers had been torn from their stems and completely flattened away from her, almost like a bomb had gone off. 

 

His poor daisy chain was nowhere in sight, and She looked absolutely livid .

 

She'd definitely get along with his father.

 

“Why can't I just stay?” he asked timidly, “I don't belong there either. You know I don't,” he whined. He could feel tears prickling at the corners of his eyes, but refused to let them fall.

 

She glared down at him for a moment before replying.

 

“You’ve yet to fulfill your purpose, Klaus Hargreeves. Now get up, it's time to go.”

 

He dropped his gaze to his lap. In the corners of his vision he could see brilliant shades of green seeping into the flattened stems that brushed against his legs.

 

“No.”

 

He could feel his heart beating erratically in his chest, but he refused to meet Her eyes again.

 

He couldn't go back.

 

He couldn't.

 

He’d rather face Her wrath than deal with the dead for the rest of his days.

 

“We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. You will go back, you will do as you are fated to do. It's up to you if you’re going to do it with dignity.”

 

He snapped his eyes up to stare back at Her once more.

 

“I said no. I don’t give a shit about fate. You can't make me leave. I'm staying right here.”

 

Somehow he was able to keep his voice steady in spite of the terror flooding his veins, though he did finally lose the battle he’d been fighting to keep his tears from spilling. Why the hell was he doing this?

 

“You will see everything to the end, no matter how often you try to run from your destiny. It is already decided.”

 

“Fuck off. I'm not going back,” he spat out before he could stop himself. 

 

Shit.

 

He should not have said that. 

 

He flinched as Her hand reared back and flew towards him, and Klaus turned his face away on instinct.

 

It was only a moment too late that he realized that She wasn't trying to slap him like he’d grown used to expecting under other circumstances.

 

She was shoving him.

 

Her hand slammed into his chest and God did it burn , red hot like a stove, he was sure the pattern of Her unforgiving palm must be branded into his skin now. He screamed from the pain as he toppled backwards from the impact, and suddenly there was a loud cracking behind him and he was falling falling falling-

 

     Klaus shot up from the cold ground of the mausoleum, his one good hand shooting up to claw at the place where Her hand had seared into his flesh. 

 

His heart beat wildly in his chest as he struggled to tear open the first two buttons of his uniform with panicked fervour, breaking several nails in the process.

 

His chest appeared to be unmarred.

 

God his head hurt -

 

He flopped back onto the stony floor of the tomb he’d been locked into for the night and stared blankly at the ceiling.

 

Number Four! Hey! Over here! Four!

 

     He let out a groan and squeezed his eyes shut. The voice was quiet, almost as soft as the breeze There had been, but it wouldn't be long before whoever was in here with him got much louder.

 

And more…visible. 

 

     Klaus shuddered as he hastily rebuttoned his shirt and pulled himself up back into a sitting position before digging in his blazer pocket for the remainder of his pills. For once he was actually glad his father never called him by his real name.

 

Four! Hey! Number Four, don’t be a bore! Hey!

 

 He swallowed thickly. Number Four was still a bit… uncomfortably personal, but ignorable enough. If the whole graveyard started screaming “Klaus” at him though, he might actually lose it. 

 

      Well, more than he already had at least. But hey! He hadn't downed all of his pills at once like he'd wanted to, he'd actually had enough self control to drop a few back into his blazer pocket this time. 

 

He was trying, okay?

 

Though he clearly had taken a few too many, he only ever saw Her when he'd overdone it.

 

     Klaus quickly pulverized the remainder of the pills and snorted the powder from his open palm, wincing slightly at the burning sensation in his nose. It wouldn't be long before the sun rose and his father came to collect him, and there was no way in hell he was sobering up for their trek back through the graveyard.

 

He scrubbed at his nose with his good hand and grimaced when it came away smeared with blood. 

 

     Klaus absentmindedly wiped his palm on his blazer before shakily crawling his way over to the mausoleum wall and leaning his weight against the cool stone. 

 

He was likely doing irreparable damage to himself, but he couldn't find it in himself to care.

 

It hurt much less than what the dead took from him every time he was sober.

Notes:

Chapter 42 warnings: implied drug overdose, drug use, self destructive attitude