Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Klaus was not fond of the ghosts, everyone knew that. It was common knowledge. The grass is green, sky is blue, Klaus didn’t like the ghosts.

But then there was one, an old lady with a friendly smile, “Doll, you need to put some protective oil on the back of your neck. It’s the biggest portal of your body you know. It’ll help keep the bad ones away.”

“Oil?”

She frowned at the other ghosts, “Amaranth would work the best but it takes some doin’, doll. You’d have to pull the entire plant during the full moon and wear it under a shirt for protection. In the meantime, maybe go to your kitchen and pour some vinegar in a dish. It’ll get rid of the nasties for a few days when it’s done evaporating.”

Klaus frowned at her, she must be joking.

“You can sneak down and get the vinegar, doll. I’ve seen how your daddy trains y’all. Such a bad man. Also see if you can talk your daddy into getting you some betony. When that’s sprinkled on a pillow it’ll protect your dreams.”

“I doubt I can talk him into getting me any of this, or letting me--” Klaus shrugged. He could steal the vinegar, that was something Grace cooked with sometimes. But the rest? No way would he be able to get his hands on it.

So Klaus snuck down and got some vinegar, not believing this ghost. How would vinegar help at all? He poured a dish and left it in his room over night. She watched over him as he fell asleep, trying to keep ‘the nasties’ away.

When he woke, they were gone.

She was there, along with a few of the other ghosts, but the worst ones, the nasties were gone.

“That’s better isn’t it, doll? We can all hear ourselves think.” The other ghosts nodded and murmured a thanks to her.

She told Klaus to call her Mama.

“Sir?” Klaus approached his father’s office. “I have a request. To help me with my powers.”

“You may enter.”

Klaus did so, not sitting down as he hadn’t been told to sit, just to enter. So he stood in front of the desk, waiting for his father to say something to him. Meanwhile Mama lounged in the chair beside him and blew a raspberry at him.

“Boy, your son has something important to say! You’d better pay attention!”

As Klaus’s foot was starting to fall asleep, Reginald finally looked up, “What is it Number Four?”

“I have been speaking with a spirit who has helped me get some control of my powers. She has spoken about some items that may help me further with controlling them. I was wondering if you could acquire the items for my training, sir.” Klaus hoped his voice wasn’t shaking too much. If he didn’t like this, didn’t like hearing about a ghost helping Klaus, instead of Reginald, he’d throw him back in the mausoleum and there was no protection in those stone walls.

“A spirit? What would she know of your powers?”

Klaus swallowed and glanced at Mama, she shrugged. “I was a well known witch.”

Klaus bit his bottom lip for a second, worrying it. Reginald would dismiss the words of a witch. “She had knowledge from beyond the veil, what with her being a spirit. Sir.”

“And why, Number Four, is she the only one giving you advice?” Reginald leaned forward.

“Most of the spirits have gone mad with the knowledge they’ve gained and cannot safely communicate with me. She had not lost her mind like the others and so she can tell me these things.” He paused, debating the risk before adding, “Sir, she’s already helped me get rid of some of the nasties. Those ones I’ve told you about? Who just scream and yell and never shut up. So now I can, y’know, actually talk to those who haven’t gone mad with that veil knowledge.”

“Doll, you are bullshitting out the side of your mouth,” Mama gave an approving nod. “I think the sucker is gonna buy it.” She let out a loud and proud laugh.

There was silence from Reginald as he stared Klaus down. Klaus tried to not move, and keep his face somber, ignoring Mama making cutting remarks at Reginald.

“Very well. Make up a list of what she suggests and I will endeavor to acquire these items for you, Number Four. Give the list to Pogo when you are done.” He then went back the paperwork on his desk, a silent dismissal.

Klaus scurried out of the room, sharing a grin with Mama.

He got his hands on many flowers, herbs, crystals. He got a window box at first, to start a small garden in his room, not allowed to ruin the garden outside when he forgot to water the plants. Only he didn’t forget to water the plants. He proved he would take care of his new flowers and herbs, Mama then suggested he grow the plants in a certain way, weaving them together in intricate designs, a little extra protection.

It did help his powers. He could focus better on talking to those who could hold a conversation, when he could sleep through the night. The angelica he sprinkled in every corner of the house to create a protective shield.

He really liked angelica, the root was the most powerful. He made amulets with it, made it a powder and used it as incense, put it in his bathwater. Mixing it in with other herbs, other crystals, he made plenty of protective amulets, different teas to drink, different powders to add to his bathwater to help protect him, oils to wear as perfume and keep him safe.

He gave some of his amulets to his family, eyes intense as he handed them over, “Please, please, wear this.”

Luther rolled his eyes, but complied. Diego scoffed and when Klaus tried to take it back, he quickly put it on and glared, Allison said it would match some of her outfits, Five frowned but agreed, Ben gladly took it, Vanya looked surprised at the gift.

“They’re quieter,” Ben whispered, indicating his stomach. “When I wear the amulet.”

“Well yeah. It’s for protection, Benny. Of course it helps you.”

“But it’s just a plant,” Ben said, looking at the amulet. “How is it keeping Them quieter?”

Klaus shrugged, “I wasn’t sure if it’d work on your belly buddy, but I’d hoped. As you are connected in this world, feet firm in it, the world is connected back to you and so the protection given from the world and nature should help.”

Ben looked confused, “You’re weird.”

“Oh.”

“It’s a good weird!” Ben quickly said. “I just don’t understand what you just said but that’s okay.”

The next time Klaus was thrown in the mausoleum it wasn’t bad at all. He had enough protection on him, dried onto his skin with his oils, knew the crystals to wear, the nasties were kept away.

Klaus came out a few hours later, “Honestly daddy, I don’t know why you even threw me in there. Am I still afraid of ghosts? Of my powers?”

“Some of them, yes. You are.” The day before Reginald tried to get Klaus to summon a serial killer, but due to all the protection around the house and on him, Klaus had not been able to do it.

Klaus shrugged, “Nasties are no longer welcome and I am stronger because of it, sir. Are you not in agreement? Am I not now more powerful without them bothering me like gnats who buzz around my head, keeping me distracted from my real potential?”

“Doll, you sure do play him like a fiddle sometimes,” Mama cackled.

“Come along, Number Four.”

It was later when Klaus found he wasn’t walking up stairs anymore. He couldn’t walk up them. He kept running up them, skipping up them. Once he ran up them on all fours. Then they would sit at the table and he would see the salt and pepper shakers, they were identical and he had to count them. Under his breath, “One, two.” Every time he saw them. ”One, two.”

“Mama?” He asked, worried about what was happening.

“I didn’t expect it to get this far, doll. But the power is strong in you. What should have just been protection to keep you safe is making you tap into your powers. No, not your Umbrella powers, but your witch powers.” She frowned, “I hadn’t realized the power in you. I had just wanted to protect you.”

“I’m confused, what do you mean?”

“You have more power than what I know how to handle, doll. It may be tied to your Umbrella power, I don’t know. But you are showing signs of a true witch. I know witchery, yes, and protection, and could do a lot before I died. But you? Doll, you’re powerful. I’m sorry, I can’t guide you farther, if you wanted to learn more.” Mama seemed genuinely sad.

So Klaus found out he had potential, with both of his powers.

He found, when they were thirteen, he started getting a bad feeling for Five. Frowning, he kept waking up at three in the morning, with the need to make him protective amulets. Most mornings he greeted Five as he woke up, handing him another. He’d press it into his brother’s hand, ”Please.”

Five would smile, thank him for the amulet, and let watch Klaus make sure he put it on.

Klaus would whisper to Five what he knew, the crystals, the plants. Not the ones for spirit protection, but general safety and health. “Remember this, Five. Please.”

“Why? Why is this so important to you? It’s not like it’s helping my powers. Mine are based in logic, not nature as yours is.”

”Please, Five.” Klaus couldn’t explain it. He followed Five as he went to his closet, Klaus quickly touching each matching tie and jacket, counting them out loud. When he was done he turned back to Five, “You need to be careful. You gotta stay safe. It’s-- Please.”

“Okay, Klaus. Okay.” Five seemed confused and worried. He actually reached out and put a comforting hand on Klaus’s shoulder, “Okay.”

A week later Five ran out of the house and didn’t come back for 17 years.

Klaus fell into his powers more. Using eyeliner he’d draw protective symbols on his skin, wanting to get them as tattoos as soon as he was able. Would he be able to talk his father into bringing the tattoo artist back in to give them to him? He learned more about how his witch powers could connect to his Umbrella powers.

“I need some labradorite,” Klaus’s left hand clung to the doorway to Reggie’s office as he tilted to the side, letting the hand be the only holding thing holding him up. He hadn’t waited for acknowledgement, for being told he could speak up.

“You need to summon Number Five.” Reggie didn’t look up from his papers.

Klaus blew a raspberry at him, “He’s not dead so no can do. If you wanted I could try to astral project myself to him but I can only do that under a blue moon.” It was a lie. He could astral project some but the nasties were there. He wasn’t protected when it was just his spirit out and about. But Reggie had no idea when blue moons were, possibly not even sure what they were so it would get him off his back.

“If you haven’t tried to summon him, how would you know he’s not passed on?”

Klaus narrowed his gaze, his voice lowered, “Who says I haven’t?”

Reggie actually looked up then, his eyes had some sort of emotion in them, an emotion Klaus had never seen Reggie have before. “Number Four?”

“Five is alive and well, wherever he is. Safe. Safe from you and your dastardly deeds. Like we all should be. I try to protect my family from you and the other nasties, the least you could do is get me the labradorite when I ask for it.”

“Know your place, Number Four,” Reggie’s tone was hard.

“Doll, maybe you should--” Mama started from down the hallway.

”Know your place, daddy darling. The spirits are at unrest near you, y’know? The darkness in you draws the nasties. It is unbecoming of you,” Klaus gave a fake pout at him.

“You do not get to speak to me like this, Number Four!” Reggie stood up, clearly angry.

“My name is Klaus!” Klaus yelled back, his hands turning into fists at his side. He felt the power in him pulse. A wave of blue reverbated from him, making each ghost near them turn blue for a second.

They were frowning, distraught at Klaus’s feelings, at Reggie for being a bad influence on the world. Reggie’s eyes widened, “Number Four--”

Klaus pointed at him, “Labradorite, daddy.” With that he turned and walked away.

Mama fell into step beside him, “Doll, do you know what you just did?”

Klaus felt like he might hyperventilate, “I just stood up to daddy. Oh Mama, he’s gonna kill me.”

“You made me real. You made us real.”

He stopped and turned, “What? No.”

“You did, doll.”

He couldn’t have, could he? Maybe something had happened because Reggie started training him more. In turn, Klaus turned to his witchery more. He needed to keep the balance of his powers.

Then he saw Diego with a ouija board, sneaking it passed Klaus’s room.

“Di? What do you got there?”

Diego paused, turning he looked worried. “Well, we all thought, since you won’t summon F-Five, we’d have a go.”

Klaus sighed, “Please don’t use that. It’s unsafe to use. Tell everyone to come to my room at two thirty in the morning. I’ll do a real séance and you’ll see that Five isn’t dead. It’s not like the Séance would let you hold one without him, hm?”

“Promise?”

“Yes, yes. Just tell everyone else. And if daddy gets mad at you being out of bed after hours don’t come crying to me to save you,” Klaus waved his hand.

“You’re out of bed after hours all the time,” Diego pointed out.

Klaus shrugged, “What’s he going to do to me? I’m more powerful than him and he knows it.”

“But he’s--”

Klaus tilted his head, “He’s not worth our time. And one day I will use his ashes in a ritual and he will be no more.”

“Y’know you say some creepy stuff sometimes, Klaus.”

Shrugging, Klaus said, “You’ll see more creepy stuff tonight. Tell everyone to make sure they take a bath sometime before our little get together. Need all the excess gone so I can start anew.”

That night, they snuck into Klaus’s room. Taking the oil he used for protection, he wrote the most protective symbols on the back of this necks he knew about. Sitting out the nine candles in the middle of his floor, he counted them. They were a new pack, identical coming out. Soon they would burn down, becoming slightly different. In the middle of the ring of candles he sat a bowl of vinegar with hand picked herbs from his garden in his window, his garden around his room.

He’d drawn special symbols on himself in eyeliner as well as the oils on himself. As the medium he needed extra protection. He didn’t mess around much with actual séances, he had been warned they could be dangerous.

“I don’t know about this, doll,” Mama warned from her corner.

Klaus rolled his eyes at her, “Safer me leading them than them trying on their own, no? Think of the nasties they could call forward.” He laughed as the idea.

The others glanced at each other, it wasn’t unheard of for Klaus to talk to people only he could see. But he usually kept fairly quiet.

Klaus then handed out new protective amulets for his siblings, “I can’t promise how this will go, so please keep these on you for at least a week after tonight, in case any lingering nasties come.”

“When did your room become a garden?” Luther asked, looking around.

“Years ago,” Klaus answered.

“And the writing on the walls?” Allison tried to read them all but some were in languages she hadn’t been taught, weird symbols at matching spots across the room.

“Sometimes a proper witch boy needs sleep and betony on the pillow can only do so much,” Klaus lit the candles.

“And you’re a proper witch boy?” Vanya asked hesitantly.

Klaus gave a shark-like grin in response, “I am but one of a kind, as steeped in witchy power as I am linked to the dead. Nature of all type flows through me, from the start of their life to well passed their death. I walk hand in hand with life as well as the dead, oh poor witch boy am I.”

He got them all to sit in a circle around the display in the middle of his room. Making them hold hands, right palm up to signify greeting, left palm down to signify goodbye.

They got started. Klaus called out to the nearby spirits, many of them entering his room, waiting to be called on. Klaus then tried to call out specific to Five. As he expected, Five did not show.

“How do we know this is even working?” Luther grumbled.

“Mama? Would you be so kind?” Klaus asked her. He trusted her the most.

Mama sighed and played her part. She reached forward and flicked Luther in the ear. Klaus giggled, “Mama, that’s not I meant--”

“What’d she do?” Diego asked.

“She hit me in the ear!” Luther yelled.

“You were being disrespectful,” Mama said. The others froze, apparently having heard her.

“I’m sorry, Mama,” Luther said slowly. “I didn’t mean to.”

“Damn right. Doll, you’d best close yourself off. You’re a beacon right now. No need to risk more nasties than you already are.”

“What is she talking about?” Ben looked at Klaus.

“But Five--” Vanya started, clearly worried.

“Five is alive,” Klaus said, starting to turn the tap to his powers down. He could never turn it off, no, but he could now control it somewhat. He doubted he could ever turn it completely off like his siblings could, but with all his protections it made it easier to control. “As I keep telling everyone. Why no one believes the one connected to the dead is beyond me.” He thanked those who came to the room and then let everyone stop holding hands, blowing out the candles.

The room was now only lit by his fairy lights.

“I hope you all are satisfied,” Klaus looked at each one of them in turn. He’d have to get that ouija board from them so he could properly dispose of it.

The next day, Reggie was frowning at Klaus, “You have become addicted to your need to protect yourself, Number Four. You keep shutting out ghosts and you aren’t reaching your full potential.”

“What have you done?”

“We have stripped your room of your protections. You will now focus on just your ghost powers. Your real powers. Control them without the crutch of your silly flowers and rocks.”

Klaus was shaking. He needed his protections. He couldn’t let the nasties get him. He still had plenty of protections hidden around the mansion, it would keep them away from coming in. Most of them anyway. But he needed many of them on his person. Without his protections it would go back to before.

That night he snuck out, he’d protect himself with something Reggie couldn’t take from him. It took all night for him to find someone willing to tattoo a kid, but he wouldn’t survive without being kept safe. The oils he’d put on earlier in the day were starting to wear off, he still had his amulets he’d been wearing, but he’d have to restock.

He didn’t know where to get it all. So far he’d been giving his list to Pogo and then he’d magically have what he wanted waiting for him the next day.

But the tattoos he could do. He started with the one on the back of neck. The next night he got ones on the bottom of his feet to help protect him from underneath. The night after he got hello and good bye on his palms.

Reggie noticed after the palms.

“You are weak for relying on this, Number Four.”

“You are an idiot for not letting me have the tools I need,” Klaus spat back.

He found a shop then, that could help him. He wasn’t sure how much the shopkeep actually knew about what she sold. She claimed she was knowledgeable but Klaus wasn’t too sure. Mama was hesitant as well. But she still sold him the goods. He started by planting them in the garden out in the courtyard at night. Reggie wouldn’t know them by sight. The dummy. He hid the new crystals he bought with stolen nicknacks from the mansion under the floorboards of his room.

The shop also had new reading material. He was giddy with getting to learn more.

He started going to the shop at least once a week, sneaking out when he could to see what was new, chat to the employees, the other customers. He even found an upside down ouija board in the backroom, laying on the floor. He and Mama shared a look at it.

Not that he needed or wanted one. And he’d safely destroyed the one his siblings had gotten a hold of, he felt he had to buy this one. It wasn’t a good sign, how he found it. And the mansion was probably one of the safest places in the city with all the protections he’d added throughout the years. He didn’t want them to sell this to someone who would use it for a lark.

So the ouija board was bought and hidden in his room.

And then he had another feeling.

Like he’d had with Five. But with Ben this time.

“Number Six, where are you getting these amulets?” Reggie asked once.

“Klaus is giving them to me,” Ben replied.

Reggie’s eyes shot to Klaus who just gave a little wave with his hello hand. “Did you think you could stop me, daddy? Don’t be silly. We’ve been over this, yes?”

“Number Six, you are forbidden to wear those amulets that Number Four gives you,” Reggie’s lip twitched.

Klaus glared, “No. He isn’t. He’s going to wear them, old man. They are there to protect him.”

“You can’t rely on your weak ideas anymore Number Four. And I won’t be having you pull the others into them. Number Six won’t be wearing any of them.”

After that, whenever they went on a mission, Reggie had Grace check all the siblings for amulets before they could leave. Klaus just hoped the oil symbols he made sure to put on Ben before going out would be enough.

It wasn’t enough.

“If you hadn’t been a fucking idiot!” Klaus yelled at Reggie, covered in his brother’s blood. “He wouldn’t have died! I helped protect him from the Horror! And you! You tore away those protections and sent him to the belly of the beast! If only it had gobbled you instead of Ben. Then the world would be a better place.”

“Your so called protections hindered him. Made Number Six believe in a false sense of security. If you hadn’t started that he would have learned to properly control his powers, much like you need to do!” Reggie actually raised his voice at Klaus. Something he rarely did to the children.

Klaus was seething. He had never been tempted to try out a curse as much as he was in that moment. He knew the rules though, a curse would not go well for Klaus in the long run. He had to trust that Reggie would see what was coming to him one day.

He stormed off to wash his brother’s blood off him.

As he lay in the tub, water red with blood, protective herbs floating in it, he wondered if he’d be seeing Ben soon. Would he move on to the afterlife? Become a ghost? What if he was one of the nasties? Could he take down his protections for them to see his brother again? Would he want to see his brother like that? Covered in his death wounds and screaming mindlessly?

“It’s not your fault,” Mama said as he came back into his room, towel wrapped around his waist.

“Isn’t it? I knew something bad was going to happen. And I didn’t help him enough. I hope that I’ve helped Five enough. Fuck, Mama. They’re going to want me to do another séance.” Klaus was shaking.

“Calm down, Klaus,” Mama said. “Sit down on your bed, you’re okay. I’m sorry about Ben, he was a good one. But what happened isn’t your fault.”

“It is,” Klaus argued. “I could have done more. I should have done more.”

Klaus was up all night, reading his books, looking for a way to make this right. To fix it.

He didn’t find a way to fix it, he did find something else though.

It took some time to prepare, and Mama said she wasn’t sure if Klaus should try it. “You could die, doll. If you don’t do this right, or if you don’t have enough power-- it could eat you up. Soul and body.”

“Aren’t you always the one who talks about how powerful I am?” Klaus scoffed.

That night at three in the morning, when the world was the most wild and the veil the thinnest, he did his ritual.

He survived.

It hurt a lot less than he expected. He was shaking again and felt like he might vomit, but he did it.

“See?” Klaus said, pleased with himself. “And you didn’t believe me.”

The next morning he joined his family at the table, before he sat down for breakfast he announced, “I have removed and hidden my heart and now I shall not die.”

His siblings shared some looks of confusion. Luther muttered how Klaus was being disrespectful to Ben’s memory. He’d only died just last week. Reggie rolled his eyes and said, “What nonsense.”

The ritual he’d done was old. Not many witches attempted it. It took a lot of power and it could easily go wrong. Klaus was tempted to do it to the rest of his siblings, now that he knew he could do it. He doubted they would believe him and go through with the ritual and it was not a ritual you did to others without their permission.

As long as no one found and harmed his heart, Klaus would stay alive. Or he’d come back to life? The book was not clear. He had hid his heart in what he hoped was a safe place. He didn’t want Reggie finding it and killing him.

He had no doubt that if Reggie found his heart that he’d hold it against him, or he’d get rid of him.

“Klaus?”

Klaus had been awake, reading more about what he could do with hearts of other creatures when he heard Ben. “You’re here,” Klaus wasn’t sure if he should be happy or not.

“Yeah, um,” Ben shuffled on his feet. “This is weird, huh?”

Ben looked whole. He didn’t look torn apart. He had gotten through the protections. Klaus almost started crying, being able to see his brother again, knowing he wasn’t one of the nasties, kept away from Klaus. “Yeah, a bit weird,” he wiped at his tears.

“Should I go?” Ben gestured to the door.

“No! No! You don’t have to!” Klaus went to get up and grab Ben before he remembered that he was a ghost now. “Um, are you okay? I’m so sorry I couldn’t save you, Benny. I tried, I did.”

Ben sat down on the bed, Klaus followed, “Save me? Klaus, what happened isn’t your fault.”

Klaus let out a wet laugh, “That’s what Mama keeps saying but we all know if I had stood up to Reggie, if I had done more, hidden the amulets or got you the tatts like me--”

“No, Klaus. I don’t think that would have stopped it. Maybe gave me more time, but not stopped it. The Horror was going to do this one day. The two of us knew that. You’d already helped me so much growing up.”

“Then if I had just found out about the ritual before--”

“Ritual? What ritual? Klaus what did you do?” Ben had heard about some rituals, most of them sounded painful, sounded bad.

Klaus shrugged, “I took my heart out.”

“I’m sorry, you what,” Ben blinked, taken aback.

“Yeah, so now I can’t die,” Klaus shrugged, “I want to find a way to help you. To fix this.”

“There is no fixing this, Klaus. I’m dead,” Ben said. “And what do you mean you can’t die?”

“No, I’m going to fix this, Ben. I can’t let you-- please let me try. You don’t deserve this--”

“Don’t I? You’re always talking about karma and stuff like that. Getting back what we give out. Klaus, think of all the people I’ve killed--”

“But that wasn’t you! That was the Horror! That was daddy making you do that!” Klaus argued. “And if I can find a way--”

“Then you’d probably be killing someone?” Ben guessed. He wasn’t sure on how Klaus’s witch stuff worked but he’d heard a lot about nature and balance. “I don’t want that Klaus. It was meant to be. Please, don’t blame yourself for what happened and don’t try to ‘fix’ this.”

“I should have died instead,” Klaus stated.

“Well then making yourself immortal t was an odd choice,” Ben said dryly.

Klaus barked out a laugh. It was nice, being able to talk to Ben.

Klaus decided to move out before Reggie tried to force Klaus to bring Ben back. Some reason Reggie had the stupid idea that Klaus could physically manifest ghosts and he’d hinted that if Klaus could do that with Ben, and then to Five, to bring the full force of the Academy back--

Well.

“I don’t know why he thinks that,” Klaus said, placing a few more protections around the mansion to keep his family safe when he left.

“Because you’ve done it before,” Mama said, sounding bored.

“He what?” Ben asked, alarmed. He’d made fast friends with Mama.

“I have not,” Klaus argued back.

“You have, years ago. You were very angry at your daddy, doll. I told you about it,” Mama said.

“I have never-- No. It’s not something I can do. End of topic. New topic. Think I can get a job at the shop?” Klaus asked, having been a regular customer since he was a young teen. “I’d be the most knowledgeable employee. Actually give the real answers to questions people had.”

“Wouldn’t your daddy just track you down there? Bring you back?” Mama asked.

“Doubtful. He doesn’t know where I get my illecitate items,” Klaus waggled his eyebrows.

So Klaus, after helping himself to some stolen items from the mansion, walked into the shop. He was, for once, in clothes he wanted to wear. A black summer dress, a pentacle harness across his chest, and his best witchy boots.

A proper witch boy.

He got the job.

He kept tabs on his siblings, Ben doing some scouting on them. Coming and telling Klaus about what was going on that the media didn’t.

The first to move out after him was Vanya. Diego was working on getting in the police academy. Allison seemed ready to go to California. Luther was going to stay.

Vanya’s was first, as she got her apartment before Diego.

“Sister mine,” he greeted her.

“Klaus? Come in,” she let him in. “We weren’t sure where you were. You just disappeared and--”

“I know, I’m sorry. But I just couldn’t stay,” Klaus said. “I’m glad you’re out of there. You had no reason to live in that house.”

“Oh,” Vanya frowned, shoulder’s drooping.

“I mean--” Klaus grabbed her hands, “I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant that you didn’t have to deal with the years of abuse and seclusion.”

“Oh,” she gave a slight smile.

“I mean, none of us should have been there, but--” he shrugged.

“Let her know I’m here?” Ben suggested. “That I say hi.”

Klaus sent Ben a small smile, “Ben says hi.”

“Ben?” Vanya’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Yeah? He’s here. Been following me around for a while now. He’s one of the good ones. Not one of the nasties who are kept back with the protections I set in place--”

“He wouldn’t have died if you’d done your protections better.”

Klaus’s heart maybe wasn’t in his chest anymore but he hadn’t felt so hollow before. Her tone had been hateful, blaming him for Ben’s death. It was as if she had slapped him.

“Klaus--no,” Ben said, getting in front of him. “We went over this, remember? It’s not your fault. You are not to blame.”

Klaus swallowed and nodded. He wasn’t sure if he was agreeing with Vanya or Ben. He got up and stumbled to the door, “This has been just lovely, my dear. But I have just remembered I have a previous engagement that I must get to.”

“Klaus-- wait--” Vanya said as Klaus let himself out.

He wasn’t going to wait.

He did let himself into her apartment later and added protections when she wasn’t home. Just because she blamed him--

He wouldn’t let someone he could protect die again. Mama rolled her eyes at how many he put around her apartment, saying he was going overboard, but he couldn’t let--

What happened to Ben would never happen again.

“Of course it won’t,” Ben said, “she doesn’t have a monster living inside her.”

Next up was Diego.

He found out where he’d moved in and he hoped this would go better than his reunion with Vanya did.

Diego shut the door in his face.

“Guess I’m breaking into his place too,” Klaus said, ignoring how Ben and Mama both said he should just try again.

But there was no way to argue about a door being shut in your face. But just because neither of his siblings wanted anything to do with him didn’t mean he wasn’t going to protect them. So, just as with Vanya’s, he added protections to Diego’s.

He didn’t try to contact them again.

He did consistently break in and update their protections and if they moved he redid them all once again. Ben really made keeping track of his siblings easier. He even let himself back into the Academy to make sure Luther would stay safe.

He wished he could do more than keeping their homes safe, he wanted to give them amulets. To keep them safe. He hadn’t been able to keep Ben safe, but he wanted-- he wished--

He thought about leaving some amulets around their house. Maybe they’d wear them. But it would be a sure sign that he’d broken into their homes and that wouldn’t go over well.

Years passed.

Vanya joined an orchestra and wrote a book, Diego got kicked out of the police academy, something happened to Luther and he then went to the moon, Allison was divorcing her husband and wasn’t allowed to see her daughter.

Klaus continued working at the shop, he became known in the community for his knowledge, for his amulets and charms. He didn’t sell them, but he did give them out when people came asking for help. It didn’t seem right, selling protection. Plus he was always awake at three in the morning, making more.

He found out in the break room, the tv on in the background, that Reggie died.

“Guess we’re going to a funeral,” Klaus said to Ben and Mama.

Chapter Text

He had packed two changes of clothes as well as many of his spare amulets. Crystals, oils, herbs, the essentials. He had to be prepared. First, he would be dealing with his family again. Second, he really didn’t want to see Reggie’s ghost.

He put on his mesh shirt, the pentagram harness for a little extra protection, his lace up leather pants and his best witchy boots. His makeup done to how he usually did it. He had to look the part for his siblings. While he knew what they had all been up to due to not just Vanya’s book but whenever someone ended up in the media and of course, Ben checking in on them; none of them had kept in touch with him.

He’d stayed out of the media, kept to himself. He had a little apartment, he’d rebuilt his garden in it. It was better than the one Reggie had destroyed. He still worked at the store he’d gone to as a teen, buying his magic items there. They were good to him, and he knew his stuff.

Most ghosts would come and go, the nasties always kept away. Ben and Mama were always by his side. He could rely on them, trust them. They helped protect him like he’d failed to do for them. He’d never had the chance to protect Mama, her having died before he was born but he’d failed Ben. Everyone knew it, even when they said different. Everyone knew.

He showed up at the Academy, for once not having to sneak in to help protect it.

He was still going to renew all the protections he’d let slide after Luther left. It wasn’t like he was interested in protecting Reggie. When he was done with that, the first place he went to was his garden. Grace or Pogo had managed to keep it from getting overgrown. The plants he’d snuck in were still there, still thriving. He smiled at them and greeted them with a soft, “Hello.” Touching each one he felt better for doing so. It helped ground him. He didn’t want to get lost in his thoughts here. That wouldn’t be safe.

In the years since he’d left, beyond the one time trying to contact Vanya and Diego, he’d had no letters, calls, face-to-face with any of this living siblings. It didn’t mean he didn’t love them, it just meant they didn’t love him. He understood.

He’d failed them.

He’d failed Ben.

The first one he ran into in the Academy was Allison. She rounded the corner as he was in the hallway. He’d been talking to Ben and Mama, Ben asking if they could go through his room. He wanted to grab some of his posters and pictures that Klaus could hang up in their apartment. Mama thought that was a great idea, pointing out it wasn’t the first time Klaus was back in the Academy, Ben should have asked sooner if he’d wanted this.

“Mama, calm down. Maybe Ben hadn’t thought about it. Anytime I was here he knew I wanted to be in-and-out as quick as possible. Probably was worried about what would happen if Reggie saw me skulking around.”

Mama rolled her eyes as Ben nodded, “Sure. I mean I didn’t really think about it before? Life was more, y’know, Alive and Academy and then Death and Klaus. Didn’t really think they could coexist.”

Klaus cackled, “It’s as if I wasn’t around when you were alive, Benny boo.”

“You know what I mean.”

That was when Allison had come around the corner. She smiled at him, “Klaus, you look well.”

He grinned at her, “So you do you, sister mine. Oh, I am the biggest fan, think I can get an autograph before you leave?” He batted his eyes.

“I’ll see what I can do,” she let out a slight laugh.

“Oh, speaking of what we can do,” Klaus reached around his neck and took off one of his many amulets. He held it up, “Please?”

Her smile wavered a bit, “Of course.” Ducking down, she let Klaus put it on her. She touched it gently, “I wasn’t sure if you were still--”

“A witch?” Klaus raised his eyebrows. “Of course.”

He watched as she glanced at all the other amulets around his neck. He had one for each sibling, and then his own that he always wore. It was a lot of necklaces at once. Then she frowned, eyebrows drawing together, “Klaus, your chest.”

Maybe he shouldn’t have worn his mesh shirt. He hadn’t thought about it, hadn’t thought about his scar from when he took his heart out. During the ritual he’d done his best to heal it quickly and without much scarring but it had hurt and he hadn’t done his best. He knew that if he did the ritual again, he’d be able to do it without leaving much of a scar, if any.

He had also forgotten that between taking his heart out and leaving the Academy they’d all only seen him in the Academy uniform.

“Oh, yeah,” he shrugged. “Don’t worry, I’m fine.”

“But what happened-- is everything okay?” She reached out and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

He wanted to lean into her touch, get a hug from his sister. “Yeah, it’s from when I took my heart out. Left a scar.”

“I’m sorry, but what?”

“Remember, about a week after Ben, I came down at breakfast and announced I took out my heart? This is the scar from that,” he explained. Frowning, he looked down at the amulets he had left on his person. There was one that was supposed to help memory, taking it off he placed it around her neck as well before giving her a kiss on the cheek. Hopefully the amulet would help her with her memory problems.

“Wait-- Klaus, you actually took out your heart?”

“Why would I have lied about that?”

“Because it’s impossible?” She took his hand and felt for his pulse, “You’re crazy, Klaus. Your heart is still in your chest.”

He rolled his eyes, “No, it’s just still beating.” Moving her hand he put it to his chest and pressed firmly, “You can feel my pulse as it is still working and I am still alive, but it’s not in my chest anymore.”

She frowned, looking very confused, ”I-- What?”

“What are you doing, Klaus,” Luther said, coming up from behind Allison. He eyed the way Allison’s hand was on his chest, covering the scar. She quickly took it away. Luther’s eyes didn’t leave his chest.

“My eyes are up here,” Klaus gestured to his face, fluttering his eyelashes.

“Klaus, what happened?”

“How ‘bout you big guy?” Klaus looked Luther up and down, he’d gotten bigger. “I’ll tell if you tell,” he winked.

“He says it’s from when he took his heart out,” Allison cut in.

“It’s amazing how none of you were worried back when I had made my announcement, nor worried since I left, but now that you see the rather old scar, you go and want to protect me,” Klaus caught both of their gaze with his, ”I’m the one who protects.” With that he took two of his amulets from around his neck and gestured for Luther to lean down. Luther did as Klaus silently asked and Klaus put them around his brother’s neck.

Klalus was already feeling better, more at ease. He hadn’t realized how much he ached, knowing his siblings weren’t properly protected. And it seemed like Luther could have used it.

He couldn’t wait to find Diego and Vanya and give them their amulets.

With that he blew them both a kiss and continued down the hallway to Ben’s room.

“Luther sure got big,” Klaus said, gently taking down some of Ben’s posters.

“I wish I knew what had happened,” Ben lounged on his bed. “I checked up on him not long before he left for the moon and he seemed fine.”

“Remember that accident?” Mama pointed out. “It was in the newspapers.”

“What? No,” frowning, Klaus turned to look at her.

“He was on a mission for your daddy, doll. Said he stopped the baddies but got injured. Figured if it was bad enough to put in the newspaper, it was probably bad.”

Klaus and Ben shared a look, “I don’t remember this.”

“I would have checked up,” Ben sat up.

“I had figured you had,” Mama said. “I’m sorry I didn’t say anythin’ at the time, sugar.”

Klaus clicked his tongue, “Nothing to be done now. And not sure what we could have done at the time.” He paused before adding, “Well I could have helped him heal from whatever injuries--”

“Don’t be blaming yourself for this too, doll,” Mama scolded. “If you gotta blame someone, you blame me.”

But it wasn’t Mama’s fault, Klaus knew that. If he’d kept better tabs, or ever taken up scrying. He was not good at seeing the future, that was not where his power lied. With the exception of the two times he knew something was going to happen to his family. Neither time being able to help much, if at all. He knew he hadn’t been able to help save Ben. Klaus could only hope that he had helped Five enough, wherever he was.

There was a light knock at the door, “Klaus?”

Klaus looked up to see Diego standing in the doorway. Last time there was a doorway between them it was Klaus knocking and Diego shutting it.

Klaus took Diego in. More scars, black shirt, harness with knives (very different than Klaus’s harness), and-- was that-- Klaus quickly crossed the distance between them and reached out, grabbing at the amulet that Diego wore around his neck.

“I made this three weeks ago,” Klaus whispered.

“Oh, uh. Yeah, you probably did,” Diego scrubbed at the back of his head, looking away.

“Diego?”

“Look, sometimes I help out people who have-- I recognize your amulets, okay? How can I not? And so after I help them sometimes I ask if I can have it. Not that I want to take their protection. But they always say you gave out the amulets for free and you’ve got new ones everyday,” Diego mumbled out.

Klaus took a moment to think this through. “So, instead of coming to me for amulets you got them from strangers?”

Did Diego not want to see him that much?

Klaus swallowed heavily. He wanted his protections but his hatred towards Klaus outweighed seeing him.

“Shut the door in his face,” Ben said, voice cold.

“Klaus,” Diego said, reaching out and putting a hand on his shoulder. “Listen, no. Whatever you’re thinking right now it’s wrong. I just--” Taking a breath he said, “Klaus, when you came and knocked on my door I was angry. Some of it was misplaced towards you. But you had left. We’d just lost Ben and then you were gone two weeks later. And the shit dad said after you were gone-- Even though I hated him and didn’t want to believe him, some of the lies he said were pretty believable. It felt like you gave up on us, bro. So when you showed up, I was mad. Plus I expected you to show up again the next day to bother me. You’d never given up before so I didn’t think you’d start with me.”

Klaus let out a chuckle, tears threatening to mess up his makeup, “I didn’t give up on you, you idiot. Your home is protected to hell and back.”

“What?”

“I constantly break into your house to put protections in it.”

”Of course you do.”

“Next time you want a new amulet just stop by,” Klaus knocked his fist against Diego’s shoulder. “The shop, my apartment. Whatever. I’ve got amulets I made just for you sitting at home not doing their job.”

“Yeah, the first one I questioned about where they got one of your amulets said you still get up at three in the morning to make them,” Diego said, sounding almost fond.

Klaus nodded, “Hard to break the habit. If I’m going to be up during the witching hour I may as well do witching.”

They smiled at each other before Diego frowned suddenly, “Wait, did you say you break into my house?”

“Oh would you look at the time,” Klaus glanced at his bare wrist. “One must go commune with the spirits and nature of the world and it is witching hour so--”

As Klaus ducked under Diego’s arm he heard his brother call out, voice fading as Klaus walked away, “Dude it’s not three in the morning! Klaus! That’s the only witching hour right? Right? Klaus?”

“Well that went well, doll,” Mama said as Klaus sat down in the main living room. “Told you that you shoulda went back to see him.”

Klaus shrugged, “Alright, you were right about that. But that doesn’t mean you’re right about everything. Don’t be thinking this means you get to start bossing me around.”

“Anymore than she already does?” Ben snickered.

Klaus gasped, “Rude!”

“But did you hear what Di said?” Ben sat down next to Klaus. “How he felt like you abandoned them? And how Reggie told them lies?”

Rolling his eyes, Klaus said, “Gee thanks, broseph. Really making me feel great about getting the hell out of dodge.” He tried to not let the hurt seep into his voice but learning that had hurt. He had royally messed up with his family, leaving them in Reggie’s clutches.

“That’s not what I mean,” Ben’s voice was soft. “I was pointing out that it helped explain Vanya.”

“I think her book explained Vanya well enough,” Klaus mumbled.

Vanya’s book had not spoken highly about Klaus. She had many things wrong of course. Her sections about Klaus at first spoke well of him, about how he gave her amulets as well, wanting to help her out like the other siblings. He hadn’t forgotten her. But then it turned spiteful. About how his silly protections meant nothing. They didn’t work.

Five was still lost, Ben still died, everyone still got injured on missions. Klaus couldn’t protect them from Reginald. His ideas of protections was silly and stupid and a waste of time, only making everyone feel hopeful and having it taken away from them again and again.

He was crazy, in her eyes, thinking he was a witch. His powers were to talk to ghosts. That’s it.

And then he’d left them. Run away and taking his stupid necklaces with him. It was better with him gone. No longer did he wake people up at three in the morning with noises from his room, no longer did she have to hear him count identical objects or run up the stairs.

No more false hope for her siblings.

If they didn’t have that false hope during missions maybe they would’ve paid more attention and never gotten hurt. Maybe Ben wouldn’t have died if they hadn’t thought that Klaus’s fake powers would help.

If Klaus hadn’t have lied to them-- to her--

“But how much of that did dad put into her head?” Ben explained.

“It doesn’t matter,” Klaus shrugged. “It’s what she thinks. Changing it would be hard and if she’s unwilling to listen--” he let the sentence hang.

Slowly the family filtered into the room, an unspoken family meeting going to happen to discuss what was next for them all. By the time Vanya showed up the only seat left was next to Klaus.

He pretended it didn’t hurt, how she barely looked at him.

There was no way she would accept an amulet from him, not like the others did. Either with humoring him or actually believing in his magic. He pretended to stretch for a second, before sneaking an amulet into her pocket. Hopefully she wouldn’t find it for a while.

Luther stood up, explaining the memorial service being planned. Klaus was getting ready to get up and move away from Vanya, maybe go see his plants again or track down his mom or Pogo. Raid Allison’s closet. Then Luther said something that caught Klaus off guard, “Still some important things we need to discuss, alright?”

“Like what?”

“Like the way he died,” Luther said, somber.

“And here we go,” Diego scoffed.

“I don’t understand,” Vanya said slowly. “I thought they said it was a heart attack.”

“Yeah, according to the coroner,” Luther agreed. The way he said that put Klaus on edge.

“Well, wouldn’t they know?” Vanya supplied. As much as Klaus didn’t agree with a lot of what Vanya had to say, he did agree with her on this. He pointed at her and gave Luther a look.

“Theoretically,” Luther hedged.

“Theoretically,” Allison questioned.

Luther was getting defensive, “I’m just saying, at the very least, something happened.” He then started to explain his theory that something had happened to their father. Turning to Klaus, Luther said, “I know you don’t like to do it, but I need you to talk to dad.”

Klaus raised his eyebrows and gestured to himself. At Luther’s nod, Klaus said, “I can’t just call dad in the afterlife and be like, ‘Dad, could you just stop playing tennis with Hitler for a moment and take a quick call?’”

“Since when? That’s your thing,” Luther frowned. “If we have to wait til that witching hour or whenever it is, we can wait. Full moon? Whatever. This is important Klaus.”

“Oh no, you misunderstand,” Klaus said, leaning forward, his amulets clanking against each other. “I don’t talk to the nasties. And while daddy is maybe not one of the nasties per say he’s still nasty. If you know what I mean.”

“This is important,” Luther said. He then brought up the fact that Reginal’s monocle was missing.

“Where are you going with this?” Klaus asked.

“Oh, isn’t it obvious, Klaus?” Diego was staring Luther down. “He thinks one of us killed dad.”

Luther did not deny it.

“You do?” Klaus questioned.

“How could you think that?” Vanya said, hurt evident in her voice.

“Besides all that,” Klaus started, waving his hand in front of his face, “No one gets murdered in this house.”

“What?”

Rolling his eyes, he tried to ignore how Vanya would take the news, “Do you have any idea how many protections I have here? People can get hurt, sure. Murder? Not so much.”

“Klaus--”

“No! Listen,” Klaus leaned forward, staring right at Luther, “I snuck in here over and over again after I left to keep you as protected as I could. While you were here you were safe. As safe as I could make it, anyway. My magic and only do so much to fight off the physical powers of some shithead fathers. I wasn’t about to leave you here with him without something in place. No murders. I wasn’t going to let him do something that could result in your--” he swallowed. ”No murders.”

He got up, feeling anxious. He started to walk away. When Luther called after him, Klaus yelled back, “Sorry I’m just going to go on a killing rampage. Mom’s up first!”

He later was pacing the kitchen, “Can you believe him?”

“He didn’t know that you kept up your magic after you left,” Ben commented, bored. Klaus had been ranting for a while now, mostly about how Luther should have known and didn’t Luther know Klaus still loved him? God he wished he could do murders in the Academy. Wished he could have murdered Reggie ages ago.

Hearing Luther’s music almost felt like an apology.

The sudden rift in the backyard was just weird though.

He watched as his brother finally came back after 17 years of being gone. He fell from the sky, in a suit too big for him, amulets around his neck.

“Does anyone else see little Number Five, or is that just me?” Klaus asked. He’d never seen a ghost appear like Five just did, but considering his powers, Klaus wasn’t going to assume anything.

The family soon found themself in the kitchen, listening to their older brother discuss time travel. Klaus couldn’t stop staring at the amulets around Five’s neck. They were old, worn, some didn’t radiate power anymore. But they were ones Klaus had kept giving Five when they were thirteen. Over the years Five had lost some, but he had let Klaus put as many as Klaus wanted on him, hiding them under his uniform when Reggie had been around. He’d shown Klaus when he could that yes he was still wearing them so calm down.

But now they weren’t hiding under his clothes.

And yes he was still wearing them.

So Klaus should calm down.

He should also pay more attention to what Five was saying. But before he could focus on that Five disappeared again, leaving them alone one more. This time he’d only walked out the room though, so Klaus wasn’t worried that he’d time traveled again. He was always leaving them, apparently. Not that Klaus blamed him. After all, Klaus had been the second one to leave.

“I hope you paid better attention than I did,” Klaus whispered to Ben.

“I always do,” Ben replied.

By the time the funeral was happening, it was raining.

There was power in storms. Untapped and wild. It was not the type of magic Klaus was good at, and he didn’t want to risk learning it. It wasn’t the type to be harnessed by anything other than itself. He always respected wild magic, letting it do what it wants.

Mama once told him he was probably powerful enough to become a wild witch, but it wasn’t something he wanted. He had enough problems balancing his two gifts without adding wild magic to it.

They gathered in the courtyard, near Ben’s statue.

Klaus looked at it fully. He had glanced at it earlier in the day when he’d visited his garden. It had seemed untouched but he was starting to feel anxious. The type of feeling he associated with knowing that something bad was going to happen. Ever since Five came back-- no, before that; when he saw Vanya. An unease was settling in his bones, making it known to the marrow.

Nothing good was going to come from this.

Ben’s statue looked undisturbed. But Klaus had to wonder. Possibly Reggie had known, had figured it out-- But no.

Ben’s statue still stood strong.

He was safe.

But then the funeral started. They watched as the ashes fell down into the wet ground, Klaus winced.

“Probably would have been better with some wind,” Luther commented.

Before too long, Luther and Diego were starting to argue, a storm building between them, drawing some of the wild magic to them. The real storm relishing in the power of the argument.

Klaus shared a look with Five.

The first punch was thrown.

Klaus, always wanting to help protect his siblings, put an arm in front of Five and ushered them back. Five let himself be moved, but batted at Klaus’s arm.

He then watched as One and Two fought. He figured it had been years, a lot of pent up energy between them. And the storm didn’t help, pulling at their emotions, wanting chaos. The wild magic called to Klaus, as it sometimes did. “Hit him! Hit him!”

The fight raged on.

“We don’t have time for this,” Five walked away with a frown.

Klaus kept watch. He didn’t want either of them to actually get hurt, just let off some of their energy. Only then Diego ducked and Luther’s fist connected with Ben’s statue.

Klaus felt fear crawl up his throat, “Oh.” The statue broke apart, falling down. The storm sang, the magic dancing in the air and Klaus’s anxiety grew.

It was close.

It was all too close and building up and he had no way to stop it.

“And there goes Ben’s statue,” Allison said, almost sounding bored.

“I never liked it that much anyway,” Ben said, not noticing the state Klaus was in. Not that he had any reason to check on Klaus.

Mama however kept a close eye on him, “It’s fine, doll. You’re fine.” She escorted Klaus to sit on a bench, even though it was soaking wet. He didn’t care. He just had to watch as, hopefully, the fight would stop.

It was on pause at least.

Klaus waited for everyone else to go inside.

After Diego escorted their mom inside, he circled the statue. Everything seemed fine. When he was done checking it over he walked over to the ashes, “I bet you’re loving this, hmm?” He took a small vile out of his coat pocket and collected some of his dead father, “Team at its best. Just like old times.” Walking back in he shared a look with Ben and Mama, “Best funeral ever.”

It was later, from the window of his bedroom, that Klaus watched as Five drove off in the car. He wondered where his brother was going, wishing he’d been able to replace Five’s amulets before he had left.

Ideally the ones he had on him would continue to protect him over night, but Klaus was still feeling the growing unease. Something was going to happen. And soon. But for once, he wasn’t sure who it was going to happen to.

Before he could worry too much, Diego knocked on his door again. “You need a ride?”

“It’s a peace offering, doll. I’d take it,” Mama nodded.

“It’ll be easier to take my stuff home if you get a ride with him vs the bus,” Ben pointed out.

Klaus grinned at Diego, “Fabulous. I’ll get my things.”

While Klaus no longer had a reason to return to the Academy the next day, the feeling of unease hadn’t lessened during the night. He couldn’t even blame the wild magic of the storm, that having passed and things went back to being calm. So he went back.

And he immediately ran into Five.

“Klaus,” Five said, getting his attention and directing him to sit.

“Brother mine, so lovely to see you again,” Klaus said with a smile. It really was. He’d done something right and had been able to protect Five with wherever he had gone in the future. He reached out and touched the amulets that Five still wore. They were soold. He had said he was gone for longer than 17 years. Klaus took the amulets that no longer worked off Five and then put some new ones from his person on Five, “All better now.”

Five reached down and gently touched the amulets, “These really were a big help, Klaus. Thank you.” Taking a breath, Five narrowed his eyes at Klaus, “How far into witchery did you get?”

Klaus raised his eyebrows, letting out a quiet hum, “Pretty far. For why do you ask?”

“What can you tell me about any rituals that involve human hearts,” Five asked, eyes intense. His hand reached out and grasped Klaus’s arm, holding tight.

“A number of things, if I’m honest. You can do a lot with someone’s heart. Or even a creature’s heart if you’re doing the ritual correctly. Overall, my dear, I have not dabbled into hearts.”

”Overall,” Five swallowed. “Klaus, what does overall mean?”

“Well why are you asking?” Klaus leaned forward, closer to his brother. “If you are wanting me to use my powers to harm someone-- Five I don’t do that. I do more healing and protection.”

“No, no. If anyone needs hurt I will be doing that.” Five closed his eyes for a second, muttering to himself before looking back at Klaus, “If I tell you something, will you believe me?” He seemed hesitant, as if he had a bad experience opening up to someone before.

“I have no reason not to.”

“When I jumped forward in time, I ended up at the end of the world. Something had happened, killing everyone in the world. I found you all dead. Luther, he had an artificial eye in his hand. That’s my main lead to stop the apocalypse. I have to find out who owned the eye. But you-- Klaus you had a heart in your hand. A human heart with one of Diego’s knives in it.”

Klaus felt cold all over. His 13 year old brother found himself in hell and somehow pulled himself back to the rest of them. To try and save them and the world, Klaus suspected. The eye was clearly the main lead, which meant there was another lead. “You want to know about hearts, thinking I was doing some sort of ritual.”

“Yes. It could help us figure out what you were trying to do, so we know more of what was actually happening,” Five stated calmly. He was being much too calm for this type of conversation. But he did live through it, decades ago. Possibly he’d processed it already, but chances where he had locked the feelings away in order to try and stop this outcome from happening at all.

It would break Five, to learn that the heart had nothing to do with the end of the world. Just the end of Klaus.

“I’m sorry, but that’s probably not--” Klaus swallowed. “Was I by Ben’s statue?”

Ben, who had been quiet to this point, quietly asked, “Klaus, what does that matter?”

Five frowned, “Yes.”

Klaus nodded, “The one time I have done a ritual that involved a human heart was when I cut mine out and hid it. As long as my heart was unharmed, I would still be alive. I will still be alive. It sounds like what you found was my suicide.”

“No,” Five said quietly, shaking his head.

“I’m afraid so,” Klaus wrapped a comforting hand around his brother. “Chances are, between the ghosts and knowing I was the last one alive-- I’m sorry you had to find me like that. Find us like that. That I couldn’t have protected you from what happened to you. My silly amulets can only do so much.”

“They did a lot,” Five said, leaning into the hug. “I kept surviving things I shouldn’t. Sometimes after I got sick or took too long finding water or whatever, one of the amulets broke. I assume it used up its power. Your power. There was a point when a building fell on me-- I’m certain that if I hadn’t had an amulet I would have had to amputate my arm. A chunk of rubble fell right on top of it, must have weighed a hundred pounds. But because of you the amulet broke instead of me.”

“I’m glad I could help. If I had known you were going to appear via time travel I probably wouldn’t have killed myself,” Klaus said. “So you’re already changing the order of things from last time. Plans are in motion and new paths are being created. The world needs balance and hopefully it chose you to keep it in line so that the end doesn’t come. It does like itself too much to allow everything to become undone.”

Five let out a fond chuckle, “Sometimes I forgot how you could say the weirdest shit.”

Klaus grinned, giving a short bow, “My speciality.”

“Klaus?” Ben asked, cutting in when there was a pause. “Where is your heart? God, why have I never asked.”

Klaus glanced at Ben, giving a hesitant smile.

But it seemed as if Five was wondering the same thing, “So you took out your heart?” Five frowned deeply, “And it’s what? Under Ben’s statue?”

Klaus had never told anyone alive or dead where his heart was. It wasn’t safe. Mama knew because she’d watched him take his heart out, watched him dig in the dirt with his bare hands afterwards, leaving his blood in the dirt, leaving his heart, wrapped in an Academy coat, where Ben’s statue was to be put a day later. Ben hadn’t been around to see, he came later, after the statue was put up.

It seemed like the place to keep it.

He’d failed to keep Ben alive, but he’d trust Ben to keep him safe. And if he wasn’t meant to be alive, Ben’s statue would see to it that he wouldn’t survive.

Klaus just turned to Five and kept his mouth shut.

He knew he could trust Five, of course he could, but--

It was his life.

He couldn’t just hand that over to anyone.

Five gave a curt nod at Klaus’s silence. He knew, obviously he now knew, but he’d keep it a secret.

Also Klaus should maybe think about moving it.

Five then patted Klaus on the knee, as if he was a grandpa talking to their grandkid, “Okay.” He then looked Klaus up and down, “Do you have anything else to wear?”

Klaus looked down at his black lace up pants, his shirt with a moon who was giving a flirty wink. In a fancy script it said, Baby, you’re out of this world. Wanna see my milky way? “What’s wrong with this?”

Turned out respectful men who could have a 13 year old son by the age of 29 didn’t wear outfits like that. They also maybe didn’t tend to punch their son, break a snow globe against their head, and spout some nonsense that sounded like a real curse and only threatened to remove it if the man being threatened helped them find out information about the artificial eye.

But Klaus didn’t know much about respectful men so he figured it was okay that he got all that wrong.

Five however, was very upset that the eye hadn’t been made yet.

“We’ll just keep an eye on the place,” Klaus leaned into Five. “Get it?”

Five did not find the joke as funny as Klaus did. Giving a look, Five quickly teleported himself to a taxi that was driving away. Klaus stuck his tongue out at him as Five waved.

He felt better about being apart from Five now that he’d changed the amulets he wore. Five was safer now. Safe again.

Everyone was safe.

Or so he’d thought.

Klaus had been relaxing in the bath. He was feeling so anxious, the build up about the end of the world being a good reason why. It didn’t make him feel better, knowing why he was feeling this way. So he was going to hang out at the Academy as much as he could to help keep an eye on everyone during the next week.

Getting into his stash of oils and homemade bath tea, he hoped it would help settle him.

The flowers, oils, herbs in his bath was a way to let the protection seep into his bones. He wished he could get his siblings to take baths like he did, soaking in the magic, but he knew he was lucky getting them to wear his amulets.

He put on one of his favorite playlists and let himself relax. He wouldn’t be any good to anyone if he was too stressed to help.

Only then, after his bath, before he was dressed, before he had his extra protections and amulets on his person, someone came and took him.

He woke up later, head aching, duct tape over his mouth, towel around his waist, in the trunk of a car. When the trunk opened he was greeted with two masked figures as well as Ben and Mama looking worried.

He tried to fight them off as they dragged him into the motel. This was not a good sign. The air was still, devoid of any forgiveness for him. A sign that he wasn’t going to escape easily. And while he knew he’d survive whatever they had planned, his heart still safe under the statue, his tattoos of protection on his body, he didn’t really like the idea of being tortured or used against his family in any way.

It wasn’t long before he was tied to a chair being strangled, questioned about Five. They had already cut at him, punched, burnt cigarettes into his skin. He was surrounded by their ghosts, the nasties howling from outside the room. At least his small amount of protections was still keeping the worst ones away.

The ghosts were taking bets, to see how long he would last, on what technique would be next.

The woman backed off, annoyed.

“Nothin’ like a little stranglin’ to get the blood flowin’, am I right?” Klaus gasped out. “Helps connect you to everythin’. Blood, magic, energy all flowin’.” He laughed.

They did not like that he was laughing.

“You just spent the last ten hours beating me senseless, and you’ve learned absolutely nothing,” He laughed again. “I mean, you could at least bring out your big guns. All your buddies here, they’ve got bets goin’. What’s next? Hm? Waterboardin’ like Zeke here? Allisa is bettin’ on my nails.” He closed his eyes and took a breath, “I for one, can’t wait until you give up and shoot me. Always wanted to see how my ritual worked. No one ever tried to kill me before.”

“You are a sick fuck,” the woman commented.

“Oh, why thank you.”

The two went off to have a meeting in the bathroom, the man hitting him in the head as he passed.

“They’ll notice, bro,” Ben said. “They’ll come and get you.”

Mama did not look as convinced, “Doll, you gotta make us real. Like you had before--”

“I can’t do that,” Klaus whispered, trying to keep the whine out of his voice. He was trying to hold up as best he could, he’d been trained to withstand torture growing up but ten hours and counting, surrounded by past victims, was not ideal. “Mama, please don’t bring that back up. I can’t-- I can’t do that.”

“You can. You have before. I promise you that you have,” Mama said. “If you make either of us, or all of us,” she gestured around the room, “you’ll be free. We’d get’cha out of here.”

“I can’t, it’s not something I can do. Mama--”

“Oh look,” the woman said, back in the room. “See? We’re getting somewhere with him. He’s begging for his mom.”

The torture continued.

“Draw on this, doll,” Mama coached. “Feel the power in you. Not the power I’ve helped you strengthen, but your natural born ability. You’ve got this. Take your emotions and help us help you.”

The two living ripped, tore, hit.

He hurt. The pressure of the torture, of the dread he felt in his being, it was building. In a few days the world would end and he won’t have been able to help. He couldn’t protect his family, why did he think he could help protect the world?

He’d failed over and over, it made sense that when it mattered most he’d fail again.

Only then a new feeling, something almost familiar, came to him. A flash of blue, screams from his masked friends. Mama and Ben jumped up, coming to his rescue. He was soon free while the other ghosts held the other two hostage, some ready to kill. “Do what you want with them,” Klaus said.

He could hear the nasties outside the door, banging to get in. They wanted in, they wanted their revenge like the more sane ghosts were getting. He couldn’t escape out the door, not while he kept ghosts manifested. He then spied the vent in the room.

May as well exit through the gift shop.

A briefcase blocked his way, so he grabbed it and ran as fast as he could. He wasn’t sure how long he could let the other victims stay manifested, he’d never done this before. (Mama said he had, but he’d remember it, wouldn’t he?)

“You did it, doll!” Mama cheered.

“I didn’t--” Klaus shook his head. “I don’t know how--” He was having trouble breathing and not all of the reasons were physical. The weird glow about his hands, about Ben and Mama had faded. He figured it was done. Overwith.

He felt drained.

“Get on a bus, you gotta go somewhere safe,” Ben suggested.

Klaus nodded, letting Ben and Mama guide him. He was soon sitting on the bus, briefcase in his lap. He wondered what was in it. It had to belong to the masked people. What was so important that they had to hide it?

“Let’s see, eh?” he waggled his eyebrows to Ben who rolled his eyes.

“Doll, maybe not on the bus, maybe--”

He never heard her finish her sentence.

Chapter Text

The air felt different. Heavy, waiting, hungry. It was the first thing he noticed. When he’d gotten on the bus the air had felt stale. This? Was new. It crackled with wild magic, dancing at his feet. Thankfully the protective tattoos he’d gotten on his soles kept his soul safe from the grasping magic.

He’d felt wild magic many times, but not like this.

Then he realized Ben and Mama weren’t there, it was night, men were sleeping all around him.

He wasn’t in Kansas anymore.

He could hear a lot of screaming. Not that he could explain how, but the screams of the dead always sounded a little different, more hollow. Wherever he was, they were the ruling population.

The next thing he saw was a man waking up, as if he had been kissed by Klaus’s magic, awoken at the end of a fairytale and the beginning of a happily ever after.

But then: a siren sounded, the other men woke up, Klaus suddenly had a pair of pants shoved in his hands then he was given a gun and he knew for sure this was not a happily ever after.

This was war.

Vietnam War.

He should have known that the briefcase was a time travel device. He knew the two masked friends he’d made were time travelers, he’d seen and heard enough from the ghosts who were around them. And of course they’d hide their machine in the vent, for safekeeping. He’d been so dumb to open it. He should have known.

He should have known.

Klaus was distracted, the way the air on the bus was trying to get out, to be free. Klaus hunkered down, trying to escape the notice of the wild magic that was all around Vietnam. All around the war.

Over the years he’d felt the connection with his magic grow, as that grew so did his ability to feel the wild magic. He’d never tried to learn it, he’d ignored Mama when she said he could master it.

He may have to rethink that.

The way it called to him.

A hand touched his shoulder, just for a second, “You just get into the country?”

Klaus turned and saw the prince charming from the tent. “Oh, uh,” he swallowed, trying to get the hang of everything, “yeah.” He smiled and prince charming smiled back.

“Yeah, shit’s crazy. I know,” he looked away for a second. Klaus took a moment to wonder if he felt the magic wanting to escape the bus, “You’ll adjust.”

His name was Dave.

When they shook hands, skin on skin, Klaus felt the magic around them dance around their skin.

Seemed a possible friendship was approved.

Klaus survived his first battle. He wasn’t sure how. He hadn’t known what he was doing, just following Dave’s lead. It seemed like the fight had lasted for a long time while he was in it, but afterwards it felt like no time had passed. It was like his mind wasn’t letting him come to terms with the war, time travel, torture, loosing Ben and Mama.

When he was first able, Klaus went to open the briefcase, but it wouldn’t open. The latches stayed shut and nothing was getting them undone.

Maybe it had a cooldown before it would open again.

He needed to get the briefcase open. He was without most of his protections. There were too many ghosts clamouring to get him. Ghosts he could accidentally make real, apparently. He had to keep them back, the nasties. They screamed so loudly. They were always there.

But so was Dave.

“Hey, Dave,” Klaus said, leaning forward, towards his friend. “I got a weird request.”

“Weird? You?” Dave snorted, amused, “I can’t imagine.”

Klaus winked, “Oh baby, no need. It’s all real and right here. Anywho, there are some items I’d just die to get my hands on.”

Dave sighed, “Drugs?”

Klaus’s eyebrows raised, “No? I need crystals and herbs and special oils? I’m listening to myself right now, David, and let me reassure you, it’s not drugs. Or a sex thing.”

“I am very reassured,” Dave said dryly.

“It’s a witch thing,” Klaus said.

“What?” Dave narrowed his eyes.

“I’m a witch. And apparently I’m going to be here for who knows how long and so I’d like my supplies to do my protections. Alas, I was snatched without any of my amulets or supplies.” Klaus took a breath and Dave mouthed snatched to himself, as if questioning it. Which seemed fair. Most people weren’t snatched into war. “Ideally I’d like a big town to restock but we seem to be in a jungle. Which I am not enjoying. The bugs, David. But if there are even smaller towns where I could ask around to find some basic supplies? Fucking hand over my heart for some vinegar.” Klaus giggled at the idea.

God.

Where even was his heart?

He put his hand to his chest absently, touching the scar. Was his heart back in his chest? Still under Ben’s statue in the future? Did it travel back but just stay underground? He was in a war now. Not being able to die could come in handy.

“We are going to Saigon in a few weeks,” Dave said slowly. “That will be a big town to restock in.”

“And in the meantime?” Klaus couldn’t help but glance to the side. The nasties were getting closer. They wouldn’t be able to get close enough to touch him, not with his tattoos, but they would be able to get too close.

Much closer than he’d like.

“There is a group of houses close by?” Dave hedged. “They can maybe help? Not sure when you’ll be able to go see them--”

“Oh, as soon as I can scamper on over there,” Klaus answered. “It really is a must. So, just point me in the direction and then the leaves will help keep me on track.” The wind rushed up, the wild magic picking up some leaves that must have fallen recently and made them dance around Klaus in agreement.

At least the wild magic seemed to like Klaus. That was a plus.

Dave eyed the leaves as they floated away, ”Okay that was--” he shook his head. “I’ll escort you, I don’t want you getting lost, or going on your own. It’s dangerous and you’re new here.”

Klaus tilted his head, small smile gracing his face, “My own prince charming.” He chuckled at Dave’s blush.

It was after dark, when Klaus snuck over to Dave’s cot, “You still want to come?”

Dave blinked heavily, “What? Now?”

“Yeah, ASAP, Katz. I said as much. If you’re too tired or decided to not join me, I get it. That’s a-okay with me, bud. I can find my way,” Klaus shrugged. He really hoped that Dave hadn’t changed his mind. Going along, while not ideal, was still better than going another day without his protections. Even small ones he could add.

He also wanted to be able to help his teammates. Teammates? Squad? The gang? Whatever term was used for his new army friends.

During the fight he’d been roped into, a few of the others had gotten hurt, and had died. He wanted to help him as best he could, with what materials he could find, while he was here.

“No, don’t go alone,” Dave let out a yawn and sat up. “Give me a few, okay? And I’ll take you.”

Klaus waited, bouncing on his toes, feeling the ghosts pressing in. He watched closely as Dave got ready, and at Dave’s nod, Klaus grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the tent.

“Calm down,” Dave tried to soothe. “We’ll be there soon.”

Klaus nodded. But he couldn’t calm down. Not yet. Not when the wild magic was so close to him. He always felt different when it got close, almost like a high from a drug. It was powerful, he could be powerful. He didn’t want to be powerful. He just wanted to survive.

The wild magic wanted to eat him up and gobble him whole; the big bad wolf.

The big bad wolf seemed to really enjoy the brutality of war.

“Hopefully we can find someone who speaks english,” Dave commented. “This town is usually fairly friendly to us, but Charlie could have moved in.”

“I can speak some vietnamese,” Klaus commented. “I’m not great at it, but I should be able to get by.”

“You can? Did you quickly learn some before being sent over?” Dave asked.

“Oh, no. I’m fluent in a number of languages and can get by in a few more. Handful I know key phrases. Mostly pleading for help,” Klaus shrugged. Sure, those were from the nasties, who weren’t ever allowed in his house or close to him, but he still heard them. He was nearly 30, that was a long time to slowly pick up languages from the dead. Even now, the nasties were being kept away, but they were still close enough for him to hear them scream.

He wanted them kept farther away. He knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep with how close they could be.

“Daddy taught us all some. I got extra tutelage under him in languages beyond that my brothers and sisters got. Not all ghosts will speak english, Number Four. I mean, he was right so I can’t argue there. But I learned just as much from the nicer ghosts as I did him. Mind, some of my lingo is a bit outdated. Or was outdated? What year is it again?” Klaus glanced at Dave.

“Uh. 1968,” Dave said slowly. “Ghosts?”

“Yes, that came before being a witch. The witchery is just a way to help me deal with the ghosts,” Klaus said. He hadn’t put much of a thought of hiding his powers from Dave, or the others he would be serving with. He’d never hidden his powers. Sure, it was easier in the future, he’d been a child superhero. But being able to see ghosts, to talk to ghosts, to be a witch, it wasn’t new when he was a kid. There had always been people who supposedly had been able to do what he could. Maybe not as well, but it wasn’t like he’d invented talking to ghosts.

”Oh,” Dave said. “Okay then.”

They entered the small village, Klaus was able to ask around and was giddy to find that at the edge of the town was a ‘witch’. When he led Dave over to her home, he mentioned some plants and crystals he’d love to get his hands on, but he doubted he’d manage that in Vietnam. Surely the plants didn’t necessarily grow here, and if this witch had crystals she probably didn’t have any to spare.

Indeed, she did not have the same plants as he was used to, but she did have new ones. She had raised her eyebrows when she saw him, spoke of knowing as soon as she saw him that he was powerful, and would gladly help someone such as he. “My magic welcomes you and yours.”

So Dave dozed in a chair while the lovely new friend went over the new local plants for Klaus, teaching him how to see them in the wild, how they grew, what they did. He left with a few dried herbs in his hand and a kind farewell. He knew that if he managed to get an amulet made before leaving the area, he’d bring it to her.

They left his new friend at three am.

Klaus led the way back, jittery as he often was a three in the morning. Dave kept giving him weird looks, “You seem different now, from just before?”

Klaus nodded, “Oh yes. Well, I got my supplies, so that’s already helping. Those nasties farther back, quieter. Plus it’s witching hour. The veil is thin and you can make backroom deals with devils before drinking angels under the table. Anything can happen, if you have the power, if you believe enough. The world is more alive then ever, in tune with itself like it can’t be during the rest of the time.”

“Why?”

“Why what, dear?” Klaus asked.

“Why is it three am when all this happens?” Dave wondered.

Klaus paused, coming to a halt and thinking, “I don’t know. Possibly it's when God made the universe? Whichever god you prescribe to? Or when she is asleep and the others to get come out and play? All I know is I fear I shall never sleep through witching hour again, haven’t since I was very small. And it's the ideal time to do most of your spells or rituals. They work better, last longer, less likely to fail.” Klaus shrugged and then started moving again.

Dave gave a nod, “Alright. That makes some sense.”

“Does it?” Klaus blinked. He was used to people not understanding, not unless they were in the know as well. “None of my siblings or dad ever fully understood. Usually when I talked about my magic they just rolled their eyes. Daddy often said it was a bunch of nonsense. But he did actively fight me doing my magic after a bit so that’s not surprising. My father? Grade A asshole. You understand? A very bad man. And he’s gone now!” Klaus clapped.

“You aren’t worried about his ghost?” Dave questioned.

Klaus shrugged, “Well no. I’m not going to go try to find him and if he’s one of the nasties he won’t be getting close to me. And he hates me so why would he come and try and talk to me?” Plus he was currently alive. But Klaus thought that mentioning his magic, ghosts, and time travel all one night might be too much. The other two weren’t unheard of, but time travel was harder to grasp.

And so it started. Klaus checking the briefcase daily, but it never opened. Instead he kept an eye out for the plants his witch friend suggested, he made a few amulets when he could, giving Dave the second one he made. He passed the others out to the rest of his squad. Most wore them, saying that they’d take any luck they could get, some saying that they believed him about his powers and welcomed the protection. A few refused to wear them.

Klaus would slip some into their packs they carried.

He and Dave grew closer. Dave, somehow, only questioning him about his powers to learn more. Not because he didn’t believe, but because he was interested.

“So what's the craziest thing you’ve done?” Dave asked one night, the two of them on patrol. “With your magic,” he quickly clarified.

Klaus laughed, “Oh it’s good you’ve clarified that because I’ve lived my life.” He gave a saucy wink. “But when I was much younger, after Ben died, I did some research on human hearts and well-- basically through a ritual I found in an old book I made myself functionally immortal. I took my heart out of my chest and so as long as nothing happens to that I’m supposed to be able to not die.”

“Supposed to?” Dave said, a tone making it clear he didn’t like the sound of that. “Took your heart out?”

Klaus nodded, “Listen, I’ve never been injured enough to test it? And the book claimed there were no limits to what you could survive, but the book was old and now there is like, guns and grenades and landmines. Modern day weapons are much more impressive than at the time the ritual came from. And yes, my heart is hidden and as long as nothing harms it, I’ll survive. No biggie.”

“No biggie?” Dave let out an amused laugh. “Only you, Klaus. Only you.” He sounded fond.

KIaus was fond of Dave. Soon they would be going to Saigon, and Klaus intended to make a move, if Dave didn’t first. He was more than certain that Dave liked him back. They’d flirted enough, and with the way things were in the 60’s he doubted a straight man would flirt back like Dave did.

And then they were in Saigon and Dave was drawn to Klaus as Klaus was to him. Dave reached out, and met Klaus before Klaus could. He pulled him close, kissed him gently, they went to the hotel together.

It was after, when they were cuddling and Dave had his head on Klaus’s chest, ear over where his heart should have been, “How come I can’t hear your heart? Is the scar blocking it? Shouldn’t I hear it through the scar tissue?”

Klaus chuckled, “I told you. My heart isn’t in my chest. Thus the scars. I didn’t do a great job closing it up, but to be fair, I didn’t know what I was doing and it hurt a wee bit.”

Dave sat up, “But you have a pulse. I’ve felt that.” He was referencing a few times when at night, Dave had a nightmare and needed to feel Klaus’s heartbeat under his fingers. An action that Klaus did back when he had nightmares and needed to sure Dave was alive.

“Sure, my heart is still beating. It just isn’t in my chest at the moment,” Klaus shrugged. “So you can’t hear it.”

“Well,” Dave said, voice a whisper, “you can have my heart.”

“Aw, so sweet,” Klaus kissed him. When he pulled back he put his hand to Dave’s chest, “Also? Can I?”

Day one of Saigon was falling in adoration, if not love, with Dave. Day two was collecting the supplies in back allies he needed for his daily magic as well as the ritual he somehow talked Dave into. Day three was more prep for the ritual, along with, at three in the morning starting the ritual, and then at three forty three in the morning, finally holding Dave’s heart in his hands before quickly stitching up and healing the wound and handing the heart over to Dave by three fifty nine.

Four in the morning, Dave handing it back, “I said you can have my heart.”

After that, Klaus hid Dave’s heart with the briefcase, wanting to keep them both safe. Enough protections on them that he felt if a nuke came down, those two items would survive. He wasn’t going to let anything happen to Dave.

Especially as they grew closer together.

Somehow, Klaus was growing to like Vietnam. He didn’t check the briefcase as much, finding he didn’t want to go home. He had Dave, his squad believed in him, he was happy. He missed Ben and Mama, of course, but for the most part the rest of his life was going better than ever.

‘For the most part’ because the wild magic that delighted in war was always pestering him. Even when he wore protections to fight against the wild magic. But it was powerful, more powerful than Klaus had ever known it could be. He wasn’t sure if it was because of where he was in the world, or if in the past it was more prevalent, or if it was the war, but he had to do something.

He started to work with it. Listen to it more, let it guide him. He fought with it less and asked it’s for help. Klaus wouldn’t be able to describe what it was like, learning how to control wild magic-- no, not control. No one could control something like that, but help guide it.

“Try? For me, my heart?” Dave asked, always questioning how his magic worked.

Klaus let out a thoughtful hum, “There is no controlling wild magic, not like the one I harnessed at a young age. But you can guide it. As if it’s a river and I can lay down rocks to make it flow where I desire.”

Dave nodded, “You are so wonderful, Klaus. One of a kind. I’m glad you’ve become my heart.”

“Who needs a heart when I have you?” Klaus responded, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend.

That line gave Dave pause, Klaus could see it in his eyes, “Do you not know where your heart is?”

”Well,” Klaus started. “It’s a bit complicated.”

Dave took the news about time travel as well as he had taken every other surprise Klaus dropped in his lap.

Dave was something Klaus never thought he’d find. And the fact that he had to time travel to find him; to Klaus that could only mean that they were meant to be together than anyone else. He loved everything about Dave, even the parts of him that Dave didn’t much like. And Dave? Loved him back.

He’d dated some previously, but no one had felt right.

Dave felt right.

Life seemed nearly perfect. His squad wore his protections, keeping them as safe as he could. They’d mentioned that the death rate had lowered dramatically since Klaus showed up. He helped a few of the men heal quicker, at a noticeable rate. They trusted him, his family trusted him.

He hadn’t felt that trust since he was young.

Before Ben died.

But he should have known it wouldn’t last. It was all going to explode on him one day.

They were walking through a field, on the way to a new camp. Most of them relaxed, or as relaxed as you could be while at war. A few were on look out, not expecting to see any enemies but still needing to be wary.

But nothing could have warned them.

Warned him.

True, the ghosts could have, if they had known. His magic maybe, but his own magic wouldn’t have foreseen this and wild magic was very temperamental. He was getting better with it, both being able to trust the other more, but it was still a wild thing.

So he froze when he heard a ’click’.

The others near him froze as well. They knew that sound.

Everyone knew that sound.

Klaus sighed, looking down. “Everyone get back! And watch where you step!”

“No, Klaus--” Dave started.

Klaus shook his head, “Dave, please. We can’t risk you either.” He gave a nod to one of their friends, who pulled Dave back.

“No! I won’t leave you!” Dave struggled. The pain in his voice almost made Klaus’s knees buckle. He didn’t want to do this to Dave. Couldn’t imagine having to live through it if roles were reversed.

“You have to,” Klaus told him. “But don’t worry, your heart will be safe.”

If he was talking about Dave’s actual heart, kept safe through his magic; or if he was talking about himself, kept safe through his magic, he wasn’t sure.

He also wasn’t sure if his magic-- if the ritual-- if he could survive a landmine.

“I love you,” Klaus said towards Dave, unsure if he could be heard at this point, before taking his foot off the mine.

there was

pain

unspeakable

which he didn’t have a mouth did he

he wasn’t sure what was happening he couldn’t remember all he had ever been was in pain

he was

in bits

how strange

to not be a person

to have never been a person

surely he’d never been a person had always been in pain

but that singing towards him

that felt calming

when the singings started

the pain was less

he began to remember

first was dave

then came klaus

that was fitting

dave should come first

the singing got louder

Louder

LOUDER

breathing

Breathing hurt, blinking hurt. He was still in bits.

Disconcerting.

The wild magic, singing to him, helping him. It got in his bits, in his marrow, sinking into his skin. Never to be parted. He didn’t want to be parted again.

Explosions were not fun.

His stomach grumbled. The jungle around him, helping him survive. Water rained gently into his mouth when he couldn’t move, bugs crawling in, letting themselves be eaten because the wild magic called to them, was looking out for him.

He knew

He knew that his own magic, with his heart somewhere, somewhen, kept safe-- he would have pulled himself together. He laughed at the idea, the sound incomplete to his ears. But with the wild magic there, he got better faster.

Then one day

He Woke.

Sitting up, Klaus was whole again. He looked down at himself, tested his toes, his fingers. His nails were even as long as they had been before, his tattoos as if nothing had happened. He was the same, he survived, he was alive.

However;

Very thin scar lines littered his body. His eyes followed the lines, faint, silver marks, zigging and zagging and making it known that something had happened.

Klaus let out a giggle, a landmine. A fucking landmine. His giggles became sobs.

He wasn’t sure how long he cried. He wasn’t sure how long it had taken him to pull himself together. He wasn’t sure of much.

He was certain that Dave was close.

Getting up, he stumbled. Muscles unused to walking.

It wasn’t hard, to find a body along the way, to take his clothes, take his boots, take his gun.

Giving a quiet thanks to the wild magic as it danced around him, leading him towards his camp, towards Dave, towards his heart.

It was dusk when he arrived. Gun strapped to his back, hands up, Klaus cautiously got close. Getting shot would suck now. Not when he was finally put together again.

“Stop!” a familiar voice of a friend called out.

Klaus stopped, hands still up, “Lil’ Jamie? It’s me, Klaus!”

“Whoever you are! You sure ain’t him!” Jamie was walking closer, his gun pointed at Klaus. “So try that again, mother fucker!”

“It’s Klaus Hargreeves. I’m serious!” Klaus yelled back, waiting for Jamie to get close enough.

Eventually he must have, ”Klaus?”

Klaus slowly lowered his hands, “Hey, Jimmy.”

“Mother fucker!” Jamie ran forward, wrapping his arms around Klaus. “What the fuck? How-- We saw you-- you were-- Fuck you!”

“Nah, I didn’t. Landmine just threw me back. Got injured. That’s all.”

“Liar!” Jamie hit him gently on the arm. “You fucking liar. God, Dave’s gonna--”

“Dave, is he okay?” Klaus asked, grabbing Jamie so that he had to look Klaus in the face. “Tell me.”

“He’s fine. Well, no. Because you’re fucking dead, you zombie. But he’s alive. Been goin’ through the motions,” Jamie sighed. “Okay, you’re coming with me. We gotta-- gotta have the doc look at you or-- fuck Klaus. You were dead.”

Klaus let himself be led into camp, “No, I told you--”

“You told me a fucking lie, you zombie. We saw your fucking bones, blood, brains. God are craving brains now? Shit.”

“I’m not a zombie,” Klaus rolled his eyes.

As soon as he entered the camp, he was swamped with the rest of the guys. All of them cheering that he was back. His family had missed him. His family had been mourning him. He wished he hadn’t had to put them through that.

(He wondered if his siblings were missing him. Were they mourning him?)

It had been just over two weeks.

A surprisingly short time to recover from a landmine. The doc said he was healthy, nothing wrong. “But if you notice anything, scar face, you come here.”

Klaus let out a chuckle, “I didn’t think that movie was out yet.”

“What movie?” the doc eyed him.

“Uh, Scarface?” Klaus gestured. “You just said--”

“Well what else am I gonna call you, Hargreeves? You looked in a mirror yet? Hell, anywhere on your body? I wasn’t referencing some movie that only you’ve seen.”

“Oh, right. Sorry,” Klaus shrugged. “Hey, you know where Dave is?”

“He was on a patrol. Should be back soon.”

Klaus went to his tent. He wanted out of the gaze of his family. While he was glad to see them, having them stare at him as they were was not comfortable. He hoped that by next week it will have died down. He also needed to check on the briefcase and Dave’s heart.

They were safe.

He was safe.

Dave was safe.

He knew exactly when Dave arrived at camp. The guys outside bombarded him with comments, questions on if he knew Klaus was back, yes Klaus was back, he’s in the tent, is he a zombie now?, careful he may eat your brains.

Dave burst into the tent, stopping just inside. ”Klaus,” Dave whispered.

”Dave,” Klaus went to get up but before he could, Dave was right there, wrapping his arms around him.

They were both crying, clinging to each other. Dave sat down beside him, “I thought-- I thought I’d lost my heart forever.”

“Going to take more than that to keep me from you,” Klaus smiled.

Dave reached out, gently tracing the new silver scars, “Klaus. I can’t-- You are beyond special. If I had fallen in love with anyone else, if you were anyone else, I’d have lost you. I thought I had. We don’t know where your heart is and we didn’t know if the ritual worked with the worst weapons and you had-- We saw you-- You were dead.”

Klaus took Dave’s hand and put it to his wrist, so Dave could feel his heartbeat, “Still strong.”

“Yes you are,” Dave held him close.

That night no one bothered them.

Somehow, after that, things went back to normal. Or close to it anyway. The guys didn’t comment on the now, very clear, relationship between Klaus and Dave. A few comments here and there, but then they would see the new scars on Klaus, stitching him together, and they stopped. He’d gained his new nickname, the zombie comment, the scar face comment, both becoming new monikers for him.

He still was up at three in the morning, Dave often up with him, watching him commune with the world. The ghosts were quieter than ever, Klaus needing less of his usual protections. He thought that it was wild magic, soaked into his skin. It was easier, guiding the wild magic to help him. “Of course it likes you,” Dave commented one day, “why wouldn’t it. It can sense how special my heart is.” He winked.

They talked some, about possibly going to the future.

Klaus didn’t really want to step on another landmine. It wasn’t at all fun. And he knew that if Dave should follow in his footsteps, it would take longer than two weeks. While the wild magic approved of Dave, it didn’t dance or sing for him. Dave would have to heal the long way and Klaus had no idea how long that could take.

But they also didn’t want to leave their friends. Now, more than ever, they accepted Klaus’s protections. He’d gained their respect. The new guys often commented and how other Klaus was. His friends from before didn’t really notice. Dave said it must have grown slowly, his otherness. “Could be the scars, could be the wild magic? You were always a bit odd, but the way it sounds is it’s grown.”

“Well I do need to get back to the future at some point,” Klaus commented on night during witching hour. Only the two of them awake. “Five said the apocalypse was coming and I think, more than ever, I could help stop that.”

“I’m sorry. What?”

Klaus then told Dave on what Five had told him, how Five had found him dead in the future. How he wanted to help stop it, to save his family, to save the world.

“That does seem more important than this war,” Dave said dryly. He’d asked Klaus how the war turned out. He hadn’t been happy with the news.

But then no one was.

So now whenever he tried opening the briefcase, it was the two of them trying.

“We’ll be allowed to go when it’s ready. When we are supposed to go,” Dave soothed Klaus’s fears. “If we get the end of my tour and we still haven’t gotten it to work we’ll spend our time trying figure it out. War is not the ideal place to spend time trying to figure it out.”

Life continued. The squad not losing people, they would also survive. Sometimes they were injured enough to be sent home, but they didn’t die. No one died. Not under Klaus’s watch.

He knew to remember some of the names of the local plants, liking them some more than his ones back home. He’d have to see if he could grow any at his place. They were powerful. He wasn’t sure if they were always this powerful or if the war’s wild magic was making them so. Either way, he’d give it a try. After all, if they made up amulets so powerful that no one died during a war?

But then there was one morning.

Klaus woke up with the feeling towards Dave.

“You did the ritual, you’re my heart now,” Dave soothed. “I’ll survive.”

“Sometimes surviving could be worse,” Klaus muttered, quickly making a few more amulets to pile on his boyfriend. “Five and the 40 years or so in the apocalypse for an example.”

Dave kissed his temple, “I’ll be okay, Klaus. You’ll make sure of it.”

”Damn right I will.”

And then, that night--

“Christ on a cracker! That was a close one, eh Dave? Dave?”

Dave wasn’t moving.

dave

wasn’t

moving

Klaus turned him over, blood flowing freely. “Medic! Medic!” Swallowing, Klaus felt his hands cradle Dave’s face, “Hey, Dave. Look at me. Look at me, okay?” Dave swallowed, his eyes meeting Klaus’s. He was choking on his blood, “Oh damn it.” He called for a medic once more.

“Okay,” Klaus got closer to Dave, “Look at me. Hey, hey, hey, hey.” Was this worse? Dave choking on his blood, being kept alive by Klaus’s magic. His stupid ritual making Dave suffer.

But also keeping him alive.

“Hey, it’s okay. Hey, hey. You’ll be okay, right?” Klaus cooed. ”You’ll be okay, okay?”

No medics were coming and Klaus was wishing that Dave passed out soon. He didn’t want to see the hurt in Dave’s eyes. But also, in his gaze was trust and love. Klaus let out a sob, pulling Dave closer. “Okay, I’m going to get you out of here. Okay? Okay.”

He cried out, pleading with his magic, with the wild magic, to help protect them. Picking up Dave, Klaus fought against the mud and the bodies to get Dave to a medic. He would live, Klaus had made sure of that, but he needed medical help.

He wouldn’t get healed instantly.

He just wouldn’t die.

Klaus had almost dropped Dave, but he’d managed to get him out and away and to a form of safety. He kept up a reassuring commentary as best he could.

Dave hadn’t stopped choking on his blood.

Fuck.

Somehow, someway, Klaus got Dave to the medic’s tent.

They were amazed he was still alive.

Dave got sent as soon as they could to the nearest hospital.

This couldn’t be as bad as Dave had felt, thinking that Klaus was dead. At least Klaus knew Dave was alive and would stay that way. But he wasn’t by his side. He wasn’t helping heal him with his magic. He would be healing at a normal rate.

If Klaus could get to the hospital--

He’d taken out Dave’s heart and healed it nearly instantly--

If he could get to him, if he could help him, if he could--

If he got injured enough to ideally end up at the same hospital--

“Hargreeves!” Sergeant Warson grabbed Klaus’s gun from him. “What are you doing?”

Klaus sighed. He should have known. It was a stupid plan, “I need to be with Dave.”

“Idiot. You come back to life with half your brain?” Warson growled. “I’ll grant you leave to see him.”

“You will?” Klaus asked, surprised.

He would.

Dave hadn’t woken up since Klaus got there. His injuries were bad enough that they kept him so drugged he wouldn’t be awake for much of the day. That night, at three in the morning, when his magic would be strongest, he healed Dave to the best of his ability. He waited until witching hour so that he could work in peace as well as being able to make sure his magic was at the most powerful.

By mid morning, Dave was almost healed.

He was a medical miracle.

And he was pushed out of the hospital as soon as they could, needing his best for the next wounded.

That night, they held each other close. Klaus tracing Dave’s gunshot scar. Dave tracing Klaus’s landmine scars.

“I can’t go through that again,” Klaus whispered. “I knew you’d live but I--”

“I know, trust me. I know,” Dave smiled sadly.

“I think I’m ready to go back home,” Klaus said. “If you are?”

“Well getting shot was not something I want to experience again,” Dave commented and then he hushed Klaus as he started crying. “Sorry, it’s too soon to-- Sorry, my heart. Forgive me?”

“Always,” Klaus said.

He made sure to leave all of their amulets, their extras, notes on how long they should last, how many to wear, how much he would miss them, please forgive him for their squad.

That night, during the witching hour, Klaus’s favorite time of the day, they tried the briefcase.

Klaus showed up in the future via lightning from a briefcase, a heart in his hands, and a stranger by his side.

Chapter Text

The air danced around him, welcoming him back. That was the first thing Klaus noticed. How the wild magic had missed him. Well not him as he’d been here, but this version of him. The one that was so connected to magic that it was in his marrow, having helped rebuild him. The second thing he noticed was the hand resting in the middle of his back, it was warm and it held him steady as the wild magic rushed to greet him.

Blinking heavily, Klaus leaned into the hand, “Welcome to the future, Dave.” They were on a street, a bus drove by, people walked past, ignoring them even though they appeared out of lightning.

“Doll--”

“What the hell, Klaus?” Ben yelled, talking over Mama.

Klaus laughed, “Hi, Ben. Hi, Mama. Missed you both.”

“Whose heart is that?” Ben asked, tone worried, eyes already on the heart in his hands. “Yours is still under my statue, right?”

“Doll,” Mama’s voice was soft, she reached out and went through him as per usual. As if he’d never made her corporeal, a skill he didn’t practice in Vietnam. She didn’t seem sad about it, she seemed sad about something else though, “Your scars.”

“Dave, meet Ben and Mama,” Klaus said, gesturing to them. Dave said a quiet hello even though he couldn’t see them. “And this is Dave. My Vietnam soldier boyfriend from 1968.”

“And how did you get a Vietnam soldier boyfriend from 1968 in the few hours you were gone?” Ben asked, head in hands.

“It was a bit longer than a few hours,” Klaus said, starting to walk forward, towards the Academy.

“And how long is that?” Ben asked.

“Ten months,” Klaus answered with a shrug. “Ten months in the Vietnam war. That’s how I got a Vietnam soldier boyfriend from 1968. Don’t doubt my abilities to do wild things like that.”

“Speaking of wild,” Mama started with a knowing look. “I may be dead but I can still tell how much the wild magic likes you, and doll, it really likes you.” With a gesture to his scars, she said, “Did it do this to you?”

“No, a landmine did that to me,” Klaus said. Dave let out a pained noise and wrapped his arm around Klaus. “The heart ritual works pretty well.”

“Jesus,” Ben swore.

“I mean it took me two weeks to come back to life, not three days,” Klaus joked.

“My heart--” Dave scolded, voice unhappy.

“Sorry, sorry,” Klaus replied. Sighing, he gestured down the street, “Let’s go to the Academy. Dave, we can have a real bath. And hide your heart somewhere safe. Maybe dig mine up and rehide it? I think Five found out where it was? Is that right, Ben? Am I remembering that right?”

Ben ran a hand through his hair, “Yeah. He figured it out. Wait, that’s Dave’s heart?”

“Hm, he agreed to the ritual really early in our relationship,” Klaus commented. “I’ve never thought about it, but we hadn’t known each other long and you let me cut out your heart?”

Dave shrugged, “It’s hard to describe, but there is something about you. I knew everything you were saying was true, that you could do the ritual. I won’t say I wasn’t scared as you were straddling me in the most unsexy way, knife in your hand, ready to cut into my chest, but there is something about you. I was under your spell.”

Klaus stopped walking and turned to Dave, “You do know I haven’t cast a love spell on you, right? Please tell me you-- I don’t even know any, Dave.”

Dave smiled, reaching out and gently cupping Klaus’s head in his hand and rubbing his thumb over his cheek, “I know. I never thought that. You’re just so amazing and I felt drawn to you. As soon as I saw you, I knew you would be the most incredible person I’d ever meet.”

They continued walking towards the Academy, Klaus answering questions for Mama and Ben. A few times Dave had a question and they’d answer him. But before too long they had arrived. Dave whistled when he saw the building.

Klaus opened the door with his freehand, still keeping Dave’s heart close, protecting it. Sure, Reggie was gone but he was still worried that someone would snatch it away and harm Dave. He couldn’t let that happen.

There were voices coming from one of the sitting rooms.

Luther’s voice rang out, Klaus stopped to listen, “Okay, we have a few things to discuss. Most important is that Klaus is still missing. Five says the two people after him were dead when he got to the motel, so we can assume he got out but he hasn’t come back yet. Then we have to deal with the fact that Vanya has powers.”

At that, Klaus quickly went forward into the room, “She has what?” He looked around the room. Luther stood in the center, the others around him on various furniture. Diego was cleaning under his nails with a knife, Allison had a drink in her hands and lounged on the sofa, Five looked tired and worn out. And then on the coffee table was the ouija board he had found many years ago upside down on the floor of the shop he now worked at.

He’d hidden it in his room, under protections.

Klaus turned to said, “Here hold this.” He handed the heart over to Dave so that he could give his siblings his full attention. He went to face them again. “Where did you get that?” he gestured to the board.

“Klaus, what the fuck.”

“Someone needs to answer one or both of my questions. Preferably both. Now, please,” Klaus snapped his fingers.

“Is that your heart?” Five asked, head tilted. “Did you dig it up?”

Klaus pointed at Five, “That isn’t an answer to my questions.”

“Who is that?” Diego gestured to Dave with his knife. “Did he help save you from Cha Cha and Hazel?”

“I also want to know more about the beating heart you were just holding,” Allison said, eyes going to his chest and flickering back up.

“No, this isn’t about me right now. Vanya has powers? Why do you have that cursed thing just sitting on the table,” Klaus said.

“How about we sit down and all calmly discuss this instead of talking over each other?” Dave suggested, hand on Klaus’s shoulder and guiding him to a spare sofa.

Klaus grumbled but let himself be led. “As long as we answer my questions first. They’re more pressing.”

“More pressing than, again, a beating heart in your hands?” Allison posed.

“Yes,” Klaus hissed.

“The answers to your questions are tied together,” Luther said. “Uh, earlier today Allison had breakfast with Vanya to check up on her and tell her you were missing. While there she remembered when we were small and Dad had her Rumor Vanya into thinking she was ordinary. We don’t know why she remembered this right now, and we aren’t sure what is dampening her powers. She needed some time to process this and we also suggested she stay with a friend because some other people may come after Five and we don’t want her to get kidnapped like you were.”

Klaus nodded, glancing at everyone to see their faces. When he looked to Allison he saw the amulets around her neck still from the day before? Whenever it was that he gave those to her, “One of your amulets are for a better memory.”

“What?” Allison reached up and touched them.

“That’s why you remembered about her powers. It's supposed to help jog your memory because you forgot about me taking my heart out,” Klaus said.

“But you didn’t really do that,” Allison replied. “Right?”

Klaus scoffed, “I did come in here holding a heart and you still don’t believe me?”

Dave shook his head while Five murmured a confirmation on the heart ritual.

“So that’s your heart?” Diego asked, eyeing Dave who was still holding it.

“What heart? There isn’t a heart here,” Klaus said, trying to get them to ignore the fact that Dave’s heart was right there. If any of them wanted to they could harm him. He couldn’t let that happen. It would be best if everyone forgot about it. He really shouldn’t have brought it up.

“You just said--”

“Nothing about a heart.” Klaus paused then, “Okay, so we’ll come back to Vanya having powers, the ouija board?”

Luther shrugged, “We thought we’d contact dad and ask him about her powers. Diego had been walking past your room and it was sitting on your bed.”

“It was what?” Klaus frowned. It should not have been on his bed. That damned thing.

“We figured you’d gotten it out, intending to talk to dad like I had asked,” Luther said, looking around for reassurance.

“No one touch that thing, alright? I’m going to have to bind it again,” Klaus sighed.

“Your turn in this show and tell,” Diego said. “Who is he? What's with the heart? Where have you been?” He then squinted, “Are those scars?”

“You time traveled,” Five said. “I can spot the signs.”

Klaus nodded, “Got ahold of the briefcase. Found myself in 1968 Vietnam, met Dave. Everyone, this is my boyfriend, Dave.” Dave waved. “They are scars, yes.”

“And the heart?” Luther pressed.

Klaus locked eyes with him, “What heart? There isn’t a heart.”

“You have blood on your hands,” Luther frowned. “Also we all see it. Still beating.”

Klaus waved his hand around, “No heart.” Dave snorted, Klaus ignored him. Hopefully his family would drop the subject.

“Scars from what?” Diego pressed.

“I was in the Vietnam war, you figure it out,” Klaus sighed, not wanting to explain the landmine again so soon. Dave’s arms wrapped around him, the heart being held in front of his chest. Klaus reached up and held into Dave’s hands, Dave’s heart beating in both of their grasp.

Klaus then quickly looked away from the heart, “Wait. Vanya isn’t at home?”

“No, we thought she would be safer at a friend’s. Harder to find,” Allison said.

“She would be safer at her home,” Klaus said desperately. “I have so many protections set up there.”

“She has some amulets on her person,” Five said. “She had found the one you snuck onto her and set it on the table. I then put it back on her. And then asked her to wear one of the ones you’d given me. While she maybe took it off, she was wearing it when she left to indulge her long lost sibling.”

“Good, that’s good,” Klaus nodded. “Okay, Dave and I are going to get cleaned up. If you guys could figure out where Vanya is at for sure, I’d appreciate that. I need to make sure she’s protected enough. Haven’t done the ritual on any of you so no one is allowed to get shot or step on a landmine. Got it?” Ignoring their questions, he stood up and pulled Dave with him. With a glare he picked up the ouija board and took it with them upstairs.

“Got to rebind this thing, ugh,” Klaus commented after they were cleaned up (after he had to count the matching buttons on Dave’s borrowed shirt) and he picked up the ouija board again.

“Why not just destroy it? Like the one from when we were kids and tried to contact Five?” Ben asked.

“Well this one is full of bad energies,” Klaus sighed. “Destroying it would let them out in the world and it would contaminate anything it comes in contact with. While it is true that most everything should be free to help keep the balance of the world, this shit is nasty.”

Dave snorted, sitting on Klaus’s bed. He glanced at his heart, sitting on a nearby table. “So what's the plan?”

Klaus shrugged, “Make sure Vanya is safe and protected and then see if they know anything more about the end of the world, I guess. That didn’t really get touched on in our family meeting. I maybe derailed it by showing up, oops.”

“I think it’s easy to get derailed by you, my heart,” Dave said in a fond voice, trying for a compliment.

“Yes and I like to get railed by you,” Klaus winked.

“Gross,” Ben said dryly. “Keep it in the bedroom.”

Klaus laughed, “Benny boy! We are in my bedroom!”

After putting some basic bindings on the ouija board and then some protection around Dave’s heart and hiding them both in very seperate places, they went back downstairs.

The family meeting had continued without him and had turned into a yelling match. Klaus was unsurprised but ultimately disappointed. He couldn’t even tell what they were arguing about. He quickly cleared his throat, somehow heard by everyone who stopped and turned to him.

“How’d you do that?” Ben asked, impressed.

“I’m something very new and different now, Benji,” Klaus shrugged, unsure on how he did that. But he wasn’t going to dwell on it. “Did you find out exactly where Vanya is?” he asked the room.

No one met his eyes.

He sighed, “Fine. I’ll keep her safe myself.” He closed his eyes and tilted his head, calling to the wild magic that pranced around him. He needed help finding his sister. Since coming back the dread he’d felt since seeing her was upon him again. He knew it was important, as did the wild magic.

The air got dense, electric as it thought about his request. He waited patiently. You couldn’t rush wild magic, you had to let it take as much as it needed. If you pushed too hard it could turn against you. He felt like it wouldn’t, not with how it helped save his life, how it sunk into his own self, but he didn’t want to risk it. It could possibly literally tear him apart from the inside.

The others in the room became silent, Klaus couldn’t even hear them breathing, like they were waiting just as much as he was for the answer.

Then the magic pushed away from him, throwing the door open as it went looking for Vanya.

The room took a collective breath.

“See ya later, bitches,” Klaus gave the room a peace sign before grabbing Dave’s hand and pulling him along.

“Wait! What was that?” Luther yelled after him.

Klaus ignored him and continued out the door, going where his feet led him. He couldn’t stop to explain if he wanted. Which he didn’t really want to explain, they’d never properly believed in his magic anyway. Other than Five and Ben. He always felt like Luther and Allison just dealt with him while Diego indulged him but didn’t fully believe.

Klaus and Dave talked some on the way to wherever Vanya was, Klaus pointing out and explaining a bit more about the future at first. It then turned into him trying to explain the pull he was feeling in his chest, dragging him forward, to Vanya.

He had to find her.

And soon.

Thankfully they were both used to walking for long bouts of time, as he was led closer to the suburbs, farther from the heart of the city, from the Academy.

He stopped in front of a house.

Peabody was the name on the mailbox.

Klaus shivered as he read the name.

The wild magic pulsed around him, getting worked out by where they were. Because they found Vanya? Or from whatever was inside?

“She’s in there?” Dave asked.

Klaus nodded jerkily. He swallowed, unhappy with what the magic was trying to tell him, “We need to get in there soon.”

Dave wrapped an arm around his shoulders and walked him to the front door, knocking and ringing the doorbell.

A frumpy looking man opened the door. Klaus stepped back, knocking into Dave. He had to get away. Get out, get out, get out. He was rotten, he was unsafe, he had ill intentions. He was going to do something bad and he didn’t care. He’d done something bad and didn’t care. Klaus choked on his tongue, unable to ask for his sister, to help get her away.

Thankfully Dave was there, “Hi, is Vanya here? There is a family emergency and we were told she was here.”

The man gave a smile, Klaus shivered at the sight, “She went out about twenty minutes ago, violin practice.”

Lie, lie, lie.

The wild magic pushed the door open more.

Klaus saw a ghost with a bashed in head in the background.

Fuck.

Twisting out of Dave’s grasp, Klaus ducked under the man’s arm and let himself into the house. She was here, he knew she was here, what had this man done to her?

The man yelled after him, but Klaus didn’t stop. He went through the living room, through the kitchen, to the back porch where Vanya was practicing violin.

He’d also met another ghost, a woman this time. Also murdered.

Klaus quickly looked Vanya over, worried she was like the two other ghosts. But she seemed alive. She wasn’t dead. He hadn’t lost another sibling. She had her volin in her arms, her eyes closed as she practiced. Around her neck was an amulet.

“Hey!” the man said, pulling Klaus back, away from the door.

“You said she was gone,” Dave’s voice was cold.

The man still had a hand on Klaus. It was bad, he needed the hand off him now. He was finding it hard to move while the man gripped him. As if his ill intentions were tainting him. Making him move slower, as if he had to fight against restraints made of tar.

Vanya looked up, “Klaus? You’re safe?”

No.

He wasn’t.

Not anymore.

The two ghosts screamed.

She put down her violin and joined them in the kitchen, “Klaus? Are you okay?”

The air pressed in around them. The wild magic dancing, unsure on the outcome but excited to find out. It pulled at him, it pulled at the man. It had found her! It had also found the man. Wasn’t Klaus happy?

The others picked up on the magic, not understanding it like Klaus did, but there was no denying it.

Dave started to reach out, Vanya started to reach out, the man had already reached out

and grabbed a knife.

“Leonard!” Vanya gasped as the knife kissed Klaus’s throat. “What are you doing?”

“What I have to, Vanya!” Leonard yelled. “You won’t-- I can’t let you get away. You are going to stay with me, okay Vanya? You can’t go back with them. Weren’t you just telling me how they treated you even though you did have powers, just like them? And yet they shut you out? I’d never shut you out Vanya. He wants to take you back. Mistreat you. I’d never mistreat you.”

“No, you’ll just murder her brother,” Dave supplied, voice hard.

Klaus couldn’t move.

He

couldn’t move.

What about Leonard touching him made it so that he couldn’t move. How was he leeching the ability to be himself from him? Did he also practice magic? The bad kind? Or was this just meant to be? Fate looking upon him and making it so that he couldn’t do anything to fight Leonard off.

“Let him go!” Vanya yelled.

The wild magic crawled up him, pressing in, sinking into his skin. As if he was wanting to help give him their power, to help fight Leonard off.

But it wasn’t working.

The knife dug in, sliding, his blood helping it glide smoothly.

He fell.

Vanya screamed, a blast coming from her, her powers fighting off whatever had been dampening them now that she knew about them. Leonard flew past him, the knife in his hand twisting as he flew, the cut going up at the end. Dave was also pushed back, into the other room.

Klaus was reminded of after the landmine, when he didn’t fully have his lungs, not all of his throat there, trouble breathing.

Only this time he felt his blood pulsing out of him, choking on it. Was this how Dave felt when he was shot? The feeling of blood going into his lungs, up his nose, spilling and flowing with his heartbeat. As his heart beat far away from him.

Would he pass out from blood loss? Dave hadn’t.

He could move again, with Leonard no longer holding him. He found himself swallowing, trying to say something, anything. He saw Vanya over him, her hands going to his throat, trying to stop the flow as she said something but before he could comfort her that he would be fine, Leonard’s hands wrapped around her arms and he took her away.

Time passed.

Then Dave was there, blood near his temple. He was cursing and holding a towel to Klaus’s throat. Klaus wouldn’t tell what he was saying. He couldn’t hear it over the sound of the howling the wild magic was making.

No more singing and dancing for him.

It was in an uproar.

It twisted in his skin, where moments before it had seeped in. He felt it rushing to his injury, trying to race past his blood so it could help. He tried crying out as it stitched his skin back together.

It hurt more to breathe, Dave’s hands were pressing down to try and stop the blood without choking him, his skin itched and ached as it mended itself quicker than it should.

Then it was over.

He locked eyes with Dave and gently pushed his hands back. Dave trusted him enough to let Klaus do as he liked. Dave let out a gasp as the towel left his neck, uncovering a new giant scar that started out horizontal over the front of his neck, then it jerked upright on the left, til it was just below his ear. Klaus reached out and felt the ropey new scar, so different than the ones from the landmine that were thin silver etchings.

“Thank god,” Dave gathered Klaus in his arms. “My heart, I thought I’d lost you again. I know you came back from the landmine but I just couldn’t help but think that this was different.”

“I’m sorry,” Klaus said, voice a touch rougher than before. He didn’t let himself sit in Dave’s arms for long.

“We have to find Vanya,” he said as Dave helped him get up. “He took her.”

Dave nodded, “Let’s go.”

Klaus didn’t even have to ask the wild magic to help him this time. It wanted to find Leonard as much as he did. He felt how angry it was that this mortal had tried to take away one of his favorite witches.

Possibly it’s favorite witch still alive.

It pushed at him, a wild drumline of magic, ready for a war. Ready to fight back.

Klaus felt like the bit gathered around him was lesser than before, as if some had followed Leonard and Vanya.

Klaus and Dave would be walking into a storm, created by wild magic.

The wind whipped around them, tousling their hair, pushing them forward, forward, forward. It pressed in on them, the urgency of the situation, as if they didn’t know.

They found Vanya yelling at Leonard, in an alley nearby. He was yelling back at her, but her eyes were white and the wind rushed past her. Klaus was glad to see he no longer had his hands on his sister.

The knife that had cut Klaus’s throat was between them on the ground.

Klaus watched, too far to do anything to help, as Leonard went to dash forward and grab the knife. The ghosts around Leonard reached for him, trying to stop him.

Why not let them?

With no trouble in the moment, still unsure on how he did it, Klaus called upon his Academy powers and made the two ghosts real. They grabbed him and held him still as Vanya let out a yell at seeing the ghosts, at seeing Klaus and Dave show up.

The knife on the ground flew up, appearing as if her powers were causing it to fly as it raced towards Leonard, hitting him in the eye.

The ghosts dropped him, his body fell face first, knife digging deeper into his face.

Klaus ran past the body, letting the ghosts go back to normal, gathering Vanya in his arms. She sobbed and tugged at him, pulling him closer and repeating how she was sorry. He told her it wasn’t her fault, he was okay, Leonard wouldn’t bother them anymore.

After he and Dave calmed her down, they made their way back to the Academy.

When they got there, her crying still, Dave keeping a protective hand on Klaus, Klaus covered in his own blood, he realized that the dread feeling he’d been having since Reginald died was gone.

The three of them stumbled into the Academy.

Somehow the family meeting was still happening? That or it was a new one. Klaus heard something about Five now looking for a guy named Harold Jenkins. Ben made an aside of Mama, making her laugh. A dry remark from Allison, Diego’s scoff, Luther’s quiet reply.

The male ghost that had been following Leonard said, “Harold was my son.”

“What?” Klaus asked, waving off the questioning look Vanya and Dave gave.

“Leonard was a fake name he made. Harold Jenkins was my son.”

“Oh.”

Klaus thought he’d make quite the scene. Grinning to himself, he led the three of them into the room, “Oh? Harold Jenkins? I can report that he’s dead. Hope you weren’t wanting to question him.”

The room erupted in questions. How did he know, is he okay, whose blood is that, what happened to his throat, is Vanya okay, what do you mean Jenkins is dead?

Klaus gestured for quiet and the room did so. “I recently had my throat slit open and the blood on me is getting itchy. Dave and Vanya can answer some questions but I am going to take a second bath of the day. Toodles.”

He turned and Dave grabbed him, “I’m going with Klaus, you can question the two of us after.” He then followed Klaus upstairs, “As if I’d let you out of my sight again.”

After cleaning up, he double checked the ouija board and Dave’s heart, they were both where he’d left them. “Let's go face the wolves, eh?”

Vanya was crying, Allison hugging her, Five had a margarita with an umbrella in it, Luther sat and stared at the fire, Diego paced the room while twirling a knife. Ben and Mama watched over them.

Klaus cleared his throat and winced at the noise it now made when he did that. He idly wondered if his voice would now be rougher than before, his vocal chords could have been cut and now were scared as the rest of him.

“I saw Helen,” Vanya whispered, the first to speak as Klaus and Dave sat where they had earlier in the day.

God, earlier in the day. So much had happened.

“Lady ghost?” Klaus asked.

Vanya nodded, “I worked with her. She recently stopped coming into work and I got her job, I--” She let out a sob.

“You are not to blame,” Klaus said, leaning forward, his amulets jingling against themselves. “You didn’t ask him to do anything to her, or to me. He had a seed of evil deep in his soul that you didn’t plant. You cannot blame yourself for how twisted he was, unwatered by love and light. You made it out of his wicked grasp, things not as bad as they could have been should he had been able to hold you down and bring you to the depths of his soul.”

“You’re certain this Leonard was Jenkins?” Five asked, loudly sipping on his drink.

“The other ghost said that was his real name,” Klaus shrugged. “I have no reason to not trust him. Why were you looking for him?”

“He started the end of the world,” Five locked eyes with Klaus.

“Well that explains why everything is now so much calmer,” Klaus said. “The wild magic is even resting, the tiger stretching out in the afternoon sun.”

“Are you really okay, Klaus?” Allison asked, hands running through Vanya’s hair. “Vanya said Jenkins hurt you.”

His hand ran over his new scar, “I’m fine. I can’t die, remember? My heart is safe and will continue beating. Thankfully it was me he hurt and not Vanya or any of you.”

The meeting continued. Klaus explained how he survived the attack, how he had made the ghosts corporeal. Vanya described how she was feeling both times that her powers went off, amazed at how she was connected to them.

A few of the others made quiet comments about how they wished they’d been there to help. The world got saved without them? That seemed unfair.

They hesitantly ended the meeting after more questions on how Vanya met Jenkins, she said she’d been wary of him when she was in her apartment but whenever she wasn’t at home she didn’t feel the same. Klaus said that was probably all the protections he’d set up in her place. Then a few more questions about Klaus, his magic, Dave, the ghosts. Ending with them debating Vanya’s powers, still unsure on what was keeping them quiet.

“I have been taking less of my pills. The ones I carried on me got lost,” Vanya said slowly. “Or taken? If Leonard-- If Jenkins was trying to manipulate me maybe he took them? That’s the only thing that has changed for me, beyond remembering I have powers.”

“That could be it,” Five said. “You’ve been on the medicine since I can remember. That might be what's holding you back. Would you be okay if we tried slowly lowering your dosage to see if that lets you access your powers?”

“You all want me to have access? Dad had locked me away, aren’t you scared?” Vanya asked. “I-- Jenkins died because of me.”

“You’re a hero,” Allison said. “If he was going to destroy the world somehow, you’re a hero.”

She started crying again, Allison holding her tight.

The outlook for the world was positive. They were on edge as the date the world ended came up, but they continued with their lives. Vanya had her first concert that night, the family all went to support her.

From there the family grew, much like the plants in Klaus’s garden. They thrived under the attention of each other, actually growing closer together. Vanya’s powers were coming through, she safely started to lower her medicine as Five started teaching her how to control them. Luther discovered the truth behind Reginald and how he hadn’t opened any of the moon research, but he was healing from the pain with his family helping him. Allison split time between the Academy and fixing her relationship with her husband and daughter. Five began to calm down, said something about having taken care of the Commission as well as saving the world.

Klaus had Dave. Ben and Mama by his side, sometimes Klaus brought them forth so that they could talk to the rest of the family. Dave greeted him every morning with a smile and loving kiss. His plants blossomed under his care. He was still awake at three am every morning, during witching hour, making amulets. The wild magic danced and sang for him, keeping him on his toes, never knowing what hyjinx it would cause next. He dug up his heart and reburied it somewhere new, alongside Dave’s, the two hearts beating together.

But things still weren’t right.

Not until he gathered his family up a few weeks later, during witching hour, grinning as wild as the magic that surrounded him, a vial of ashes in his hands as he performed the ritual he promised Diego he would do many years ago.

“Time for us to be able to heal and fully move on, daddy’s ashes will be no more, nor will he. Not even the wind will be able to carry his name, we will be able to mend and grow from the pain he caused all of us. No longer is Reginald needed. We have each other.”

The ritual was complete.