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Chapter Text

Six years, five months and two days.

That was the exact amount of time that had passed since Klaus and his siblings had landed in a brand-new, practically perfect timeline, where, as it just so happened, they were blessed with the absence of their powers. In that time, Klaus had managed to only relapse once and stay, for the most part, off the streets, which in his book was a pretty big deal. He jumped between jobs and never stayed at the same one for more than a couple of months, the stability and safety that came with a steady income honestly scared him more than the jobs themselves but he didn’t need to unpack all that. His mind craved the rush of dopamine he’d get while high and even though his physical body lacked any trace of his lifetime of drug abuse, his head was harder to fix. Countless hobbies had been promptly picked up and put down in an attempt to distract himself from the overwhelming withdrawals but it was futile.

As a result, Klaus spent many a night lying awake into the early hours of the day, unable to sleep while being painfully sleep-deprived and all while wishing for some kind of miracle. Maybe that was the reason he’d agreed to entertain Five’s plan when he showed up at his door for the first time in over six years. 

It was a cold Friday night, one where Klaus would previously have gone out to some sketchy party with some sketchy people and done some more than sketchy substances but things were different now. The sudden realisation that he was now fully mortal and that all those ‘close calls’ with death were in actuality not close at all made the man’s anxiety skyrocket. He started carrying a first aid kit on his person and hiding away from other people as best he could. A pair of medical-grade gloves and a face mask to match were his go-to when spending prolonged periods of time in crowded places as getting sick and then having to take prescription medication was out of the question. That night, Klaus had instead busied himself with learning nail art. The first few attempts were, to put it softly, terrible. He followed a simple tutorial that showed a woman painting small, white, sheet ghosts on her nails yet his hands seemed to shake at the worst moments, resulting in what looked like shitty ink blot tests. Very quickly he got bored of the activity but before he had a chance to wipe off his work, he heard a knock at his door. 

At first, he was surprised when he realised that it was around 11 pm, then the panic set in. Why is someone at the door? I didn’t order anything, did I? No, it’s definitely not food or a delivery. His stomach groaned with hunger which proved his point. What if it’s an intruder? No wait, that’s stupid, why would an intruder knock on the door? He calmed for a moment, not remembering when his breathing got so shallow. Unless it’s a trap, and when I open that door someone’s going to have a gun and they shoot me a-and they leave my body to slowly bleed out all alone all while robbing me and-  

He heard the knocking again, this time he could tell that whoever was on the other side of that door was getting annoyed. For a split second, he could even make out the faint call of his name which was highly unlikely as he gave almost everyone he knew a fake name. The only ones who would know Klaus’s name were-

“KLAUS,”

Relief and confusion washed over him as he moved to unlock his front door. Klaus may not have heard from his siblings in over 6 years, but the sound of his little oldest brother was etched into his subconscious. The old wooden door clicked open to reveal Five, Diego and Allison all hovering around his door. Five had a scowl on his face, most likely from Klaus’s hesitation in answering the door, and was wearing a black suit. Diego stood behind him, dressed in a black beanie, jeans and a sweater. The man was in between looking annoyed and surprised as he stopped his pacing. Allison stood with her arms crossed behind both of them and wore a blue overcoat with white boots.

“Jesus, finally. Took you long enough.” Five berated, turning to face the now opened door.  The sight of his sister after so long and after everything that happened certainly put Klaus on edge but was, partially, filled in on what had happened by Five. He explained why the three of them were at his door but frankly, Klaus lost him after the mention of some rip in the fabric of time. Instead, he watched his other siblings carefully.  Diego looked beyond tired and Allison didn’t look much better, he wondered what his siblings had gotten up to in the last few years. Did they finally understand how he had to live for most of his life outside the Academy, cold, alone, with only the clothes on his back and the pills in his pocket? Klaus hoped not, he loved his siblings and they didn’t deserve to go through what he did.

Focusing back on his brother, he picked up the mention of needing the full Academy to fix whatever was wrong with the universe this time around. He remembered back to the first apocalypse when Five had uttered those same few words and they’d actually almost done it. It had been the first time all 6 of them had worked together since Ben had died and he still remembered the shock turned joy at their dead brother’s appearance. 

“-us, now, come on.” Five spoke with an intensity that made Klaus forget that they’d spent so long apart.

“Wait I-” He barely got a word in before being led into the back seat of Diego’s minivan and an unsettlingly pristine house. 

The rest of his siblings, including Lila, were already sitting in what looked like a waiting room when he arrived. The air was thick with tension and he felt their eyes on him when he walked in on their conversation. Klaus squeezed his hands tightly, digging his nails into his palms to calm himself down and act normal in front of his siblings. No one dared speak after his entrance so Klaus cleared his throat and began, 

“So, I’d love to sit here in complete silence with you guys but no offence, I’ve got better shit to do.” He began to stand but was quickly pulled back into his chair by his brother's hand. Diego scoffed in response to him.

“Klaus, what could you possibly have going on?” Diego’s tone was playful but he had an air of exhaustion around him, they all did.

“Well if you must know,” He let out a dramatic sigh. “I was just learning how to-” 

“Klaus listen,” Klaus’s sentence was cut off as Luther addressed him. His face was slightly apologetic as he spoke and a worried feeling began sprouting once more. 

“Jesus, did someone die or something what’s with the long faces?” He looked around to see a few shared glances, and he sank back into his seat. The silence that followed was tortuous, lasting for what Klaus guaranteed was a few minutes but in actuality couldn’t have been longer than 30 seconds. 

“We need to get our powers back and we need Dad’s help to figure out how.”

Chapter Text

Klaus laughed. It was bitter and unwelcoming but he laughed. He leaned over slightly to avoid anyone's eyes before bouncing onto his feet. Six years. He’d spent six years trying to get his life together since he was free from the shackles of his previous life only for it to what, come crashing down with a single sentence? All his efforts to stay sober and move on with his life were expected to be thrown to the wind and for what, for the good of the world? No. His siblings were morons if they thought he’d be any kind of okay with this plan. Klaus knew it was selfish but fuck him for not wanting the life he once had. The idea of seeing Reginald again after what he’d done made him want to shrink down into nothingness. 

He didn’t notice but his legs had started for the door and his hands were tremoring. 

“-laus” Someone was calling out for him but he wasn’t stopping. It wasn’t until a hand pulled him back did the man blink away the tears clouding his vision. 

“Klaus, will you just hear us out?” Five sounded angry, but then again, when did he not? A grown man trapped in a child's body was something to pity but Klaus was the last person to be giving away pity so graciously. The two met eyes as the sparks within the taller man finally caught ablaze. Klaus disliked yelling, it never got anyone anywhere and only worked to add fuel to the fire. Though maybe, just maybe, the situation he found himself in required a more aggressive persona.

“Hear you out?!” He barked out. A look of anger and disgust crawled onto his face. Anger made him feel so out of his element. He’d grown used to keeping it inside, the bubbling feeling under his skin always stayed neatly out of view. This wasn’t him, he was the fun one, the crazy one, the one that was so very fucked up but in an eccentric way so nobody really gave a shit. If you would’ve asked him in his early 20s what he thought about that synopsis, he’d have giggled and said it didn’t bother him. But that was then and this is now, he knows he’s changed whether he liked it or not. His child-like innocence had died the second he’d stepped foot into the mausoleum and his happy-go-lucky attitude had followed suit when he’d lost his powers. 

“Look,” Diego began as he hovered behind Five protectively. It was funny in a way, Five was one of the most capable people in that room yet some of the others instinctually saw him as their helpless, little brother. “I know how fucked up those other versions of Dad were but he’s different now okay? He’s weirdly calm and quiet and-” Klaus stopped listening to Diego’s rant after that point. He scoffed loudly, finding it so unbelievable that his siblings were entertaining any part in this. How could they be so blind? It reminded Klaus of himself, naive and desperate for Reginald to prove that he was worthy of proper time and attention just for everything to be futile. 

His whole body was shaking, he could feel it. The cause on the other hand was up in the air. Anger? Fear? It didn’t matter much, Klaus felt time pass around him like he himself was a spectre. He must have stayed in his catatonic state long enough to piss Five off even further as he felt the man pull down on his collar. Five’s face was inches away from his own as he spoke.

“Klaus I swear to God, if I can’t stop whatever’s going to happen and save all of you because of your narcissism, I’ll kill you myself.” His brother growled through clenched teeth. Five had always and remained the easiest sibling to enrage. Klaus had learnt from a young age what buttons to push and what levers to pull to make his little brother crazed. Staring back into his, now almost 60-year-old, little brother's eyes, he spat between manic giggles.

“Eat shit, Number Five.” His laughter held no joy or good intention but years of pain and anger he’d kept locked up. Five’s face contorted to confusion at what Klaus assumed to be his psychotic laughter. What followed suit happened so fast, he’d barely any chance of grasping it. Klaus heard a murmur behind him before his siblings yelled out. They were so synchronised you would’ve thought they’d prepared for this. He felt Five reach out for whatever was behind him but it was too late. Klaus caught his breath before working out what his siblings were crying out.

“DAD STO-”

The sharp, unforgettable stab of a needle pierced Klaus’s neck. He had no chance to fight back before the chill of a foreign substance slithered through his veins, rendering him immobile. The man’s neck froze up, soon followed by the rest of his body before his vision grew cloudier. He lost consciousness after a second but before that, saw the outline of one Reginald Hargreeves standing over him, needle in hand. Klaus always knew the old man would be the death of him, of all the kids, who knew it’d be over 20 years after they’d all left that place and in the presence of all his siblings? He scoffed to himself, You really were useless ‘till the day you kicked it huh? Well, I guess people don’t change, do they? Hey, at least you and the old man have that in common, right? Different timeline, same waste of a person. 

The sudden change in scenery didn’t shock the man too much, the void was and would always be his home. Klaus let out a deep breath he didn’t even realise he was keeping. His body stayed splayed out on the pillowy field for a moment longer. Without the chance of the little girl on the bicycle coming to boot him back to his little hell on earth, he was free to lay for as long as he wanted, and that was exactly what he was planning to do.

Chapter Text

A soft wind woke Klaus up from the nap he didn’t even realise he was taking. His body felt ache-free for the first time in a long while as he stretched the fatigue out of his bones. The lush, pillowy ground below him felt different from his other visits to his home away from home but he supposed it was meant to be different, he was really dead this time. He couldn’t help the small smile that crept onto his face. He was finally free. Free of Reginald, of his powers, of everything. All those times he’d beg the Little girl to let him stay just a moment longer, to not force him back to the land of the living, were in the past. Now, he was free to spend the rest of eternity in his own personal paradise. As he picked himself up, Klaus spotted a little dirt road up ahead that seemed to lead to something. With little to do, he followed it. 

He thought about the Little girl on the bicycle as he walked, normally she’d never let Klaus be alone here for so long, either because she hated his guts and assumed he would mess something up or because she was especially amused by the man’s company. Klaus always leaned toward the latter. His train of thought was interrupted by something in the corner of his vision. As he looked over, he saw the slight flicker again. For a split second, one of the distant trees looked as if it were floating, the trunk hovered over the ground with nothing keeping it up. Then, just as fast as it appeared, it was back to normal. Klaus was perplexed, his eyes must have been playing tricks on him. He rubbed at his eyes before continuing down the path. 

The road led the man further and further into a heavily wooded area. A wide array of earthy scents filled the air and became stronger the further he travelled. Klaus didn’t mind, quite the opposite in fact. The pleasant aroma of nature contrasted starkly with the rancid odour of the city he’d gotten so accustomed to. After spending so many nights passed out in some alleyway, he knew he could get used to this. Klaus stopped for a moment to take his shoes off, the profuse growth of moss beckoned for him to lie down for a while but he had a mission. Shoes were never something Klaus found particularly comfortable and opted out of wearing them at every opportunity, it was a strange quirk that just happened to follow him to death. 

Klaus’s trust that his newly found ‘purpose’ had any sort of substance wavered a smidge as he walked for what had felt like 20 minutes until his eyes fell upon a wooden signpost that was mounted at a dead end. Strangely, the sign was etched with his own initials and an arrow that pointed towards the direction he had just journeyed from. On a neighbouring wall, another sign had some sort of initials as well, only this sign pointed towards a wall of shrubbery and was caked with grime to the point that the writing was nearly illegible. All he could make out was the arrow and the top of the set of initials. R.H? P.H, maybe?  

It confused the man until his eyes met with what he once swore was an impasse and was greeted with an open field and another sign. Klaus wasn’t too rattled by the change in the world around him. In previous visits, the void bent to his will, most likely unconsciously but that was irrelevant, changing environments quicker than he could think them up. That would probably explain his almost instantaneous next steps towards the new sign. 

As he reached the next step in what was starting to feel like a wild goose chase, his eyes took in the details of the next wooden sign. This time, it was posted into the ground in the middle of a large open meadow. Klaus swore the rolling hills and the fresh, dew-covered grass never ended, his vision was filled with a monochromatic scene. Taking a better look at the marker, he could tell the wood was most likely from a nearby tree, the grain curved and contorted into a beautiful piece of art upon the post and the pale brown colour felt warm and inviting. The man's eyes widened and his body froze as he saw an arrow pointing leftwards and read out the same set of initials as on the last sign, only this time the letters were clear as day.

“B.H,” Klaus’s voice came out as something more than just a sound, it was a realisation. His mind began connecting the pieces.

‘The previous sign had the initials ‘K.H’ and pointed to where I had stayed the longest, so if ‘K.H’ stood for my name then ‘B.H’ should be-’

His, frankly, impressive train of thought was cut off by the land around him changing rapidly. The once expansive set of hills to his left side shifted as if someone were moulding them out of clay, the malleability of this plane of existence, or non-existence, was something that brought forth such a sense of peace. He felt so at home in the void, a way he’d never felt when he was alive. It was hard to describe. Klaus felt content for the first time, all his life he’d been chasing something, whether that be drugs, Dave, or even just a purpose in life. Honestly, it was exhausting, he was so glad he was finally dead. 

As Klaus looked over at the beautiful terraforming job, dark puffs of smoke drifted over the trees and towards the sky. They acted as a trail for him to follow as they were in the right direction according to the sign and the dirt path no longer guided him. 

The walk over was nothing compared to the trek he had taken to get up to this point yet the elephant in the room weighed on his mind and seemed to make him walk a fair bit slower. Did the sign really mean what he assumed it to mean? Klaus staggered slightly, the piercing déjà vu struck him more than he expected. Memories of the Little girl lulling him into a false sense of security, warping his mind to believe his one true love was waiting patiently for him, only to be met with the venomous presence of his dead ‘father’ strobed in his head. No. It would be different this time. This time, he was expecting the worst of it. You can’t be disappointed if the bar is in hell right? With that, he kept moving. He was adamant that he wouldn’t let the Little girl trick him any longer so he snuffed any hope of seeing his long-dead brother. 

The smoke trail led Klaus to a cozy little wood cabin. As he walked past the hip-high fence, the gentle aroma of fresh flowers and dirt washed over him. He scanned over the medium-sized garden to see a sea of different colours and species of flowers. They left almost no room for any other vegetation to grow, planted to be snug against the house too. His eyes were led up and along the exterior of the house by the mosaic-like vines that cloaked the stone walls. As he took in every aspect of the house, Klaus hadn’t noticed that he had made his way to the front door. It was odd, one second he was at the front gate, the next he was at the door. He chalked it up to just be his conscience being impatient and wanting to know who laid inside the house. Time seemed to slow and his heartbeat rang in his ears as he took in what he was about to do. Fear began to creep through his mind like the vines that covered the very house he was standing in front of. No. He had come too far to turn back and the realisation that the man who had raised him may be stood behind the door was no longer enough to send him away. For the first time, he was ready for whatever lay behind the door.  

Klaus grabbed his own shaking, outstretched hand, soothing it. He wasn’t just a scared little kid or a trauma-riddled adult, powerless against the great force of Sir Reginald Hargreeves. He was confident and powerful in a way Reginald had never let him be. Klaus inhaled sharply, holding the sweet air in his lungs until his hand touched the cold metal doorknob. His eyes were shut tight but as he exhaled, turned the handle, and forced the door open, they opened.

…

Klaus never knew ghosts could cry real tears. It was obvious from the hoards he’d seen in his life that they were capable of yelling in pain and the like, but crying was something he’d never seen. In the more than a decade Ben had been by his side, he’d only seen Klaus cry a handful of times. On the flip side, Klaus had never once seen the apparition of his dear brother shed even a single tear. 

The man let go of the door handle as he had taken a step into the house. Now, his feet were firmly planted on the ground, reluctant to move an inch in case the figure in front of him was to disappear. He blinked after a prolonged period at the sound of something hitting the ground. Looking down, his vision blurred and he saw two small droplets on the nice wooden flooring. His hand reached up to touch his wet face only for him to figure out that he was the cause of the noise.

He was crying. Klaus was crying and for once in too long of a time they were tears of pure joy. He blinked hard, cursing the water for clouding his vision. The figure in front of him laughed. It was breathy and had a hint of something that let him know he was never going live down his little scene. But above all else, it was the memories that awoke from that sound that overwhelmed him the most. Klaus opened his mouth to speak, his lip was quivering but after a second to compose himself, he whispered the words that fell off his tongue more naturally than his own name,

“Hi Ben,”

The laugh filled his ears again and as his brother spoke, he lost all the composure he kept until that point.

“Hi Klaus,”

Chapter Text

Klaus stared at his brother for a moment longer before enveloping him with a hug. He buried his face into Ben’s jacket, letting the last of his tears drip gently onto the cold leather. Time must’ve worked differently in the void, Klaus felt like he’d been standing for less than a minute until he felt his brother squirm, alerting him to release the man from the hug they’d shared for the last 5.

“Sorry,” Klaus chuckled. It was warm and sincere, in a manner Klaus hadn’t spoken in for too long. Ben responded by inviting his brother further into his humble abode, which Klaus very quickly noted as being much nicer than the shitty apartment he’d been living in. The walls varied in material, texture and colour in a way that perfectly captured Ben. Warm-toned woods and cobblestones worked together to tie elements of the house together. Under Klaus’s feet, the beautiful woodgrain danced across the fir flooring. From the individual fibres to the eye-catching knots, each plank that his eyes fell on told a story. A story of life, a story of hardships and a story of joy. 

Ben managed to pull him into a small office space before the onslaught of conversations they desperately needed to have spilled over. But as they both found themselves in comfortable seats, Klaus on Ben’s one and only spinning office chair and Ben, reluctantly, on the couch, Klaus couldn’t stop himself from falling into old habits. 

“Ok, out with it Klaus. I can literally see you buzzing to say something, so?” Ben dragged out the last syllable into a curious tone.

“Well Benny boy, maybe I’m just a little surprised that you scored a place like this. I love the whole,” He gestured in a flowy manner at the room. “Off-the-grid, serial killer vibe, I hear houses like these are to die for, y’know.” Klaus spun on his chair, not missing the eye roll he received as a reply.

“Yeah right, like you’ve ever stayed somewhere nicer than this. I don’t think someone who’s lived in multiple apartments that were infested with black mould and several trap houses really has room to judge here.”

“Ouch, now that one hurt.” Klaus stopped his spinning to throw an exaggerated look of hurt to the other. “And here I thought double death would make you a little nicer to tu hermano. I guess they let just anyone upstairs nowadays huh?”

He almost missed it, but the way his brother shrunk down onto himself at the mention of heaven tugged at something in Klaus. A piece of his core twisted at his brother's reaction to what was meant as a harmless comment. He fell so naturally back into their, sometimes catty, teasing that the words fell off of his tongue before he had a chance to think them through. Surely his brother knew he was joking right? Yet the nearly decade of time they had spent apart may have caused a rift between them. Maybe Ben had finally realised what a shitty person Klaus really was, how he sucked the joy from the people around him and left them to deal with the consequences of his childishness. Klaus hoped his brother wasn’t alone in the afterlife, he didn’t deserve to be held back by his useless junkie brother anymore and he earned the chance to make real bonds with people that weren’t his siblings. A shooting pain in his head and the sound of his name being called brought him back to the moment at hand.

“-laus? KLAUS?!” Ben sounded distraught. To a normal pair of siblings that probably would’ve been valid, Klaus had just gone unresponsive for who knows how long, but they were far from a normal pair of siblings. The only times Ben ever sounded that scared were when Klaus was getting the lights knocked out of him or when he was in a particularly suicidal headspace so hearing that tone put him on edge. 

They met eyes and Klaus immediately put his doubts to rest. At a second glance, Ben looked nothing more than slightly annoyed at his brother's tendency to drift off into thought. A tendency that had managed to follow him to death. 

“Sorry, whatever you were saying must’ve been so nerdy it almost put me to sleep.” Klaus faked a yawn and was swiftly kicked in the shin.

“All I said was I was surprised when you showed up around here. Last time I checked up on you, you were getting off some elevator with our siblings and didn’t show any signs of trying to get past the pearly gates.” Ben looked his brother up and down, scanning over the long-tiered skirt and plaid grandpa sweater until he met his eyes. “What happened?” He sounded like he was talking to an animal that was easily startled which Klaus didn’t hold against him. Serious conversions were never his strong suit, much preferring to keep everything to himself until he either lost his shit, got high enough to forget, or let it kill him. 

“That’s a really open-ended question Dr Benjamin,” The man got up from his chair and stuck himself between the arm of the couch and his, now very squished, brother. “I think we need to go back to the day the old bastard decided he needed an army of child soldiers to really answer that.”

Ben looked unimpressed by his brother dancing around the question but it was nothing new.

“Klaus your feet are disgusting.” He pushed the other’s, frankly very, grubby feet away from himself before trying again to get an answer. “I’m serious though since I stopped ‘haunting your every move’ you seemed to be,” Ben hesitated, carefully considering his choice of words. “Better?” He tried.

Klaus inhaled dramatically while stretching his limbs which were spilling off the sides of the couch. He looked willing to talk and let his brother build up hope and after a beat of silence, he spoke. 

“Where to begin? When we figured out none of us had powers anymore it was kinda ‘every man for themselves’. I felt the best I had in a long, long time but I did what I always do and made a couple shitty decisions that made me a teensy weensy bit scared of meeting the Little girl just in case she got sick of my shit and kicked me to H-E-double hockey sticks.”

Ben held his breath, Klaus almost never talked about his problems and even less of the time he was meant to be the main audience so he didn’t dare interrupt the ramble.

“I was doing fine until Five and the gang showed up at my door and told me their fantastic plan of getting their powers back by, get this, working with dear old Reggy.” He waved his hands around. “Well, one thing led to another and the old fart killed me.” Klaus sat up from his previously slouched position. “But hey, forgive and forget right? I’ll probably never forgive him so let’s just forget about it.” A smile flicked onto his face as he stopped talking. Under any other circumstance, it would’ve been cheery and joyful yet all it did in that moment was hide the hurt he felt.

“Klaus…” Ben slowly tried to keep the conversation relevant, this was the most open his brother had been in far too long but he was no match as Klaus slouched back down, clearly done with their little heart-to-heart. 

“So what have you been up to all this time? I guessed it had something to do with that massive bookcase and cute little garden outside but I don’t wanna assume anything, hey maybe my little brother got into fishing after he double-died.”

Klaus saw the way his brother proudly looked out the window at the bountiful garden he had cultivated for himself. He was happy for him, truly. Ben craved the ability to interact with the world around him and he finally had that, no strings attached.  

…

The two caught up with each other for what seemed like a few minutes but realistically was a few hours judging by the soft orange glow that lit the room Klaus was currently in. After a while of talking, his curiosity got the best of him and he forced Ben to give him the tour, though Klaus swore he could see his brother light up when he talked about everything he had built for himself. The man showed off his extravagant library with a type of joy he hadn’t seen in a while emanating off him, it made Klaus realise just how much of a cavern Ben had left within him.  

The tour ended with Klaus being given his own room to stay in while he figured the whole being dead thing out. Ben retired to his living room to read while the fireplace crackled in front of him, the warm air filled the house quickly and made short work of the approaching nighttime cold. The nice thing about the void was how easy it was to manipulate, Klaus practised focusing the power he had over his current plane of existence and was content with the closet full of clothes he now had the option to pick from. While the feat was impressive, Klaus needed to work on his precision as most of the clothes he now had were more adjacent to things he would’ve worn in his younger years. He chalked it up to his conscience being a bit of a mess at that moment but managed to pick out something more comfortable. Klaus was lying on his new very pillowy bed when he heard a faint knock at the door. Out of instinct, he yelled out, asking if Ben was getting it and was met by the sound of his brother shuffling off the couch and opening the door. 

He fell back onto his bed and relished in how amazing he felt. Sure the reset took away the years of abuse his body had gone through but the stuff in his head was never really fixed, honestly he wasn’t all too sure it could be fixed. He’d wake up from time to time in a cold sweat and unable to keep enough air in his lungs. When he closed his eyes right then though, even if it was just for a moment, it was different. His mind was like playdough and he was determined to smooth out the imperfections he’d gathered over the years. The man opened his eyes and scanned over the blank ceiling in front of him. Mentally, he made a note of things to buy for his room, he had no plans of leaving his brother so soon but the emptiness of the walls made him antsy. This was supposed to be his home now, his real home. The type of home he’d never had yet the one he, and all his siblings, deserved. One thing that Klaus craved throughout his childhood was those glow-in-the-dark star stickers. As silly as it sounded, he found freedom in rebelling against Reginald in any way he could, one of those ways just happened to include room decor. All the children were banned from expressing themselves, which meant no outlandish displays of their identities. This applied to things from the ways they were permitted to dress, to look and even to how they chose to present their rooms. 

Klaus always kept some kind of light in his room, when the ghosts around him were too unbearable to sleep through he’d spend hours staring at the soft glow of his fairy lights. When those ran out of battery and he repeatedly forgot to change their batteries, the stars outside his window were a perfect substitute. They kept the same soft glow but were laid out as patterns right in front of his young eyes. He’d track each constellation and star cluster until he found the strength to drift off to sleep or pass out from exhaustion. 

A gentle creak and his brother’s cough made Klaus leave that chapter of his life he had begun to unfurl in his head. Ben stood hovering next to the door frame with a look Klaus couldn’t quite pinpoint. He was obviously hiding something as his face betrayed his excited body language.  

“Wow is my room service here already? I’m fine for refreshments but I could use a few warm towels.” Klaus sat up, rubbing the drowsiness from his face.

“Klaus there’s someone here for you, someone important.” Ben smiled, it was downturned and unlike how his brother ever smiled throughout their time together. It confused the other. Who could be at their door at this hour and have the power to change his brother’s deminer like that? A sick feeling was squashed down before it could grow into anything but a passing thought. Klaus trusted that Ben didn’t want him to get hurt and Reginald was still kicking it that last time he’d checked. Even though he was slightly curious, his heavy eyelids and foggy mind told him to rain check with their mysterious late-night visitor. 

“Well they're shit outta luck mon frère, I was just about to take a nice long, hot bath to recuperate after the whole getting murdered thing. Why don’t you tell whoever it is to come back tomorrow? Or I guess whenever the sun comes up again,” His brows furrowed as he tried to make sense of how the void really worked. “Y’know I don’t think I really understand how time works around here so-” 

“Klaus shut up and go see who it is.” Ben cut his brother’s ramble short and gestured to the entrance of the house before turning to leave. “I’ll be in my room if you need me.” 

With that, Klaus was left to either figure out who exactly was important enough to barge over in the middle of the night, or completely ghost (pun intended) his first dead person. Not wanting to make any enemies after only being dead for half a day, he picked himself up and made his way to the door. Mentally, he hoped it wasn’t one of his siblings, obviously because he didn’t want them dead but the more selfish reason was that he just couldn’t handle them right now. He left the land of the living on a less-than-ideal note and his siblings got caught in the crossfire of his emotional outburst.

His feet felt weighed down as he walked but as his eyes shot up and he took in the scene in front of him, suddenly the weight of grief and longing sat on his shoulders. It threatened to consume him and for a moment, he wished it did. For the second time that day, his eyes blurred and his hands were impossible to keep still. Yet this time, everything was different. He was stuck in place, a voice in the back of his head refused to even register the person in front of him as genuine. It warped reality to make Klaus the butt end of someone’s idea of a joke because he knew what that had been like. The memory played back in his head and it was like he was back with that twisted old man, the wound laid as fresh as when he had woken up from it. Was he really about to go through this again? Would he have anything left in him if it was a trap? Klaus’s attention was caught by the figure in the door stepping forward. 

The moonlight bounced off the man’s face, a face Klaus remembered holding so dearly and a face he was only allowed the freedom of seeing in his memories. A million words played in Klaus’s head yet they all fell short of what he was feeling. No words would be able to grasp the beauty of the man stood before him so he let himself bask in the silence for a moment longer. Maybe it was the suspicion that his mind was creating a false reality for him to thrive in because he literally had control of the world around him but he savoured the moment until the other spoke.

“Klaus, do you remember me?”

“I never forgot.”

Dave smiled in a way that made the other forget everything shitty he’d ever been through. It altered the hurt Klaus carried with him to something pure and infected his own face in the process. His hair was longer than he remembered it being but being dead probably had something to do with it. Dave stepped further into the house and the two wrapped each other in a tight embrace. Klaus buried his face in the other’s shoulder, taking in the smell of his lover. He had lost the bitter scent of war in place of something that was more like the man he was always meant to be. The two separated for just a moment to look into each other's eyes, taking in the opportunity before it was stolen from them. They closed the space between them and rested foreheads on one another.

Now that Klaus could see, could hold, could touch the one he lost so long ago, the questions he first inquired took front stage in his mind. His mouth opened but he was beat to it when Dave’s own question left his lips and struck him in the heart.

“Can I kiss you?”

Klaus chuckled before nodding rapidly as if the moment would slip between his fingers. Their lips met and he was taken back to all those months they spent together in Vietnam. This was why he was so reluctant to go back to his life of misery and why he stayed so long in a literally active warzone. The way he felt with Dave was like nothing he’d ever known and something he’d never have again, until now.

When the two had first felt sparks between them, things were complicated . The 60’s were a different time both in a literal and metaphorical way. The mere speak of same-sex couples was more than enough to stir up the amount of trouble it took to keep Klaus closed off about his feelings. Any sort of physical affection the two shared was done behind closed doors with no exceptions. Dave knew what was at stake for him if his family caught wind of what he was doing so he was extra reserved. Klaus had less to lose if he was outed but he understood he wasn’t just gambling his own life. God, Dave always brought out the best in him. He’s never put anyone’s needs so far above his own yet there he was, in the US Army and in a secret relationship that he knew had the chance to always stay hidden.

 Klaus remembers the day when the others around them figured out why the two were always so close together, it was nothing like he or Dave, had anticipated. There was no blood, no tears, no harsh words that left them both feeling broken, it was almost underwhelming. Other than the few expected disagreeable homophobes, no one in their squad even said a word. It was nice, the feeling of being free from the weight of judgement was so addictive. Slowly, most people Klaus was close with started treating the couple like, well, a couple , when they were away on leave or forced to share accommodation, Klaus and Dave were always seemingly placed together.  

“You don’t know how much I’ve missed you, Love.” Klaus’s voice was weak, be it because of how tired he was or how much was going through his head.

“I’m sorry I left you, Klaus. Seein’ you mourn me but being powerless to help you was the worst thing I’ve ever gone through, I’m so glad we’re together again.” Dave spoke with a thick accent, maybe thicker than Klaus had remembered but time was meant to do wicked things to the mind. He brushed it off before intertwining hands with his lover, leading him through the house and back to their room. 

“Well shit, you’re probably wondering how I ended up here, huh?” Klaus looked away from the other sheepishly when he was met with a concerned look. “It’s a long story.” He tried as they sat on the edge of the bed. He didn’t want to be a bore or worse, disappoint Dave with the person he’d become after he got back to 2019 so he aimed to change the subject. The warmth of Dave’s hand brought their eyes together as he spoke and chased away Klaus’s worries. 

“For you, I’ve got all the time in the world.”