"Ben!"
Number Six sighed, gripping his book tighter. He swore to God if he heard that bonehead call his name one more time…
"Beeeeeeeeeeeeeen."
Ben shoved the book down on his bed and swung his legs over the side, rushing across the hall and bursting through his Klaus's door to yet again, an empty room.
"For fuck's sake…" Ben muttered, looking around for any sign of Number Four. It was just as it had been the last three times his brother called him in there though- vacant. This was the last time, Ben promised himself. Whatever game Klaus was playing at, he was done.
That's when he heard giggling… from above him.
"What the-"
Ben turned his eyes up to see his train wreck of a best friend sitting, upside down on the ceiling. His hands covered his face as he tried not to burst out laughing but he was failing miserably.
"Your face…" He managed to choke out before bursting into giggles again. His shirt was raised slightly from his waist from the gravity, his hair disheveled in the same fashion. Ben shouldn't be surprised by anything anymore but… What the fuck?
Turns out Klaus can levitate or something. His powers had been coming in the longer he stayed sober which meant that all six siblings had to deal with moments like this. Ben was happy for him, really… but at what cost?
"Wait- wait… Tell Diego to come in here."
"No."
"Diego!"
Klaus's plan didn't go as smoothly with Number 2 though. As soon as Diego came in, he lost his… whatever force was holding him up and came tumbling down. With a yelp, Klaus took both of them to the ground, immediately bounding back up and out of the room because he knew Diego would be out for blood.
"What the hell, Klaus?" Two jumped up and moved his shoulder around, grimacing from the pain before taking off to chase the laughing menace around the house.
Moments like these made the Academy feel like they never left their 13-year-old days, especially since Klaus was basically still a child and brought out the same type of behavior in others.
They saved the apocalypse from happening (no biggie) and managed to jump forward in time to their 30-year-old selves again… Ben included. He didn't know why it worked or why he didn't turn right back into a ghost when they transported back, but he had a sneaking suspicion that Five had something to do with it. Their brother seemed to have an alternative mission the whole time that they were back in 2002, muttering things about altering the timeline for that 'fateful day'.
He didn't ask. He knew Five liked it better that way. The 58-year-old psycho knew how much Ben appreciated it, as well as all the others.
Ever since then, Ben was just eating life up as much as he could. He felt like if he didn't he would be deemed unworthy and have to relinquish himself to the unchanging prison that was ghost-hood.
The only negative part was that their fix to the timeline in order to prevent the worldwide destruction… Well, it created some "quantum, spatial, time… whatever" complications. Basically, there were instances of these black-hole-like anomalies arising around the world. Five said they should fade out eventually, but for now, they were unpredictable, dangerous, and caused mass panic:
The perfect climate for the world to need the return of the "great" Umbrella Academy.
These instances had been their missions lately- An anomaly arose, Five jumped them all there, they saved everyone they could from being swallowed by a giant, freak of nature hole that ripped through the deepest caverns of time and space.
No one could leave now- they couldn't split the team up amidst the sporadic chaos. The world once again needed the Academy… and for once, not one of them were really complaining. In fact, Ben felt like they were all relieved to have a reason to stick together.
Even further on the subject was Klaus and Ben's relationship. It was just understood that they were a package deal at this point- after 17 years of sharing a life… and a death… Well, Ben just continued to stick to Klaus like glue and vice versa to keep matters short. It was just natural.
"You know you're not tethered together anymore." Allison said one morning upon coming down to the kitchen to find Ben casually eating cereal on the couch while Klaus splayed across the cushions, legs comfortable stretched onto Ben's lap.
"You guys are in one of those grossly cute but low-key unhealthy, dependent relationships that people are just too scared to talk about." Diego said, taking a bite of his pancake. The room turned to him, taken aback by his very uncharacteristic, teen-girl-like comment. "What?"
While some things were the same in this regard, there were some things that were different… Ben just couldn't quite place his finger on it. It was Klaus- there was something going on with him that he wouldn't outwardly say and without the ability to follow him around 24/7, Ben wasn't quite sure what it was.
They were small details- the falter of his smile and the darkening of his eyes when laughing with his siblings. His sometimes-quiet daze during dinner that no one else noticed amongst the chaos of seven ravenous siblings newly-returned from a mission. Sometimes he'd get so jittery that he'd tear up the skin around his fingers and bite away his nails. Sometimes he'd stay in his room just a bit too long for Ben's liking, only relinquishing to society when Ben pulled him out to do something.
Six couldn't help but feel like he was being pushed away from his brother. It was understandable- they couldn't be together every waking moment now that Ben had his own life to live, but he was worried how that might affect the same person who could barely tie his own shoes. It wasn't that he didn't have faith in Klaus but with his destructive history, these little, worrisome moments Ben was noticing could lead to any number of big catastrophes in the future.
The only thing was, every time Ben tried to bring up his concerns to Klaus, Four would push him away like he pushed away everyone else. Ben didn't want to become like everyone else though. Klaus told him everything. Would having life really change that?
One particular evening, they were returning from a mission all the way in Bangladesh. It was specifically horrific when they arrived, a group of good Samaritans trying to pull a half-mangled woman from the destructive grasps of a temporal anomaly. That was just the beginning of it too.
"Anyone need a drink as much as I do?" Five asked bitterly upon coming home through the Academy doors, sounding exhausted as Ben felt. His abdomen felt like someone had punched it on repeat for a couple of hours. It never felt great after having to use his power- physically or psychologically.
"Me."
"Me."
"Yep."
"Whatever your making, I'm drinking."
Very strange having a 13-year-old kid as your bartender. Ben hadn't even had a drink before last week when Klaus took him out for his first one (after promising to only order a sprite for himself).
Speaking of Klaus…
"Where'd Klaus go?"
"Oh shit, we jumped him back right?" Diego asked, jumping up.
"Yes, he was on my left. I'm not an idiot." Five countered from the bar, easing their minds in a rude fashion as Five typically did. No one seemed to have a good answer from there, so Ben went upstairs.
He came across Klaus's closed door, giving it a few raps.
"Hey. You in there?"
He heard a crash but no verbal answer. Ben frowned and gingerly touched the doorknob, not sure if there was going to be some kind of situation where he'd need to burst in. Who knows with Klaus?
"Klaus? You okay?"
"Uh… Yeah. I'll be down in a second."
Ben lingered. There was something in his voice… For as frequently as he did it, Klaus had never been a very good liar.
"You sure?"
No answer. Instead, there was a hurried ruckus that was muffled by the barrier of the door. Ben could tell he was rummaging around though, and that wasn't what you wanted to hear coming from a previous-junkie's room.
"Shit… Klaus! Hey, whatever you're doing-" Ben tried to call out. His hand gripped the doorknob and he said a little prayer of thanks that Klaus didn't lock it. He pushed into the room to find the whole place turned upside down. Pillows torn, chairs overturned, teapots scattered… Klaus himself was hunched over his bed corner, fishing for something underneath the mattress.
"Hey!" Ben yelled, jumping forward and pulling him back by his shoulders. Klaus whined and stumbled to a stance.
"No, no, no…"
"What the hell are you doing?"
"I can't do it, Ben. I can't, I can't, I can't." He rushed back forward towards his bed but Ben grabbed his wrist and yanked him around quickly. Klaus groaned and put his hands on Six's shoulders, leaning into him with pleading eyes. "If I just do it once, I'll get it out of my system." Klaus tried to convince him, gripping at Ben's shirt desperately. "I can just-"
"No! Absolutely not."
Klaus rolled his eyes and theatrically collapsed on floor. He sat back against his bed frame, his head falling back onto the mattress. His "Goodbye" arm raised up and flopped across his face.
"Beeeee-heh-heeeeen." He continued to whine tiredly.
"Oh, woe is you." Ben rolled his eyes, reaching forward and taking his brother's wrists again but pulling him up much more gently.
"Stop manhandling me."
Ben ignored him.
"Let's go downstairs, yeah? Get your mind off of it."
Thank goodness that they had already cleared Klaus's room out a couple of weeks ago when they returned to the present. The sheer number of places he was hiding emergency drugs was insane. Ben made a mental note to do a second search when Klaus was out sometime. If he was willing to hide baggies of pills in stuffed animals, Mom's shoe boxes, and pickle jars, who know where there still may be some hiding.
"Okay, but-"
"Klaus."
"Fiiine."
He didn't move though. Klaus stood in the middle of the room with his shoulder hung sadly and his face frozen in lost thought. Ben put a hand on his shoulder and shook him lightly.
"Klaaaauus."
"What's wrong with me?" He asked quietly, his tone completely shifted from the frantic pleading from five seconds ago. Ben would've thought he'd prefer for Klaus to approach this whole thing seriously, but after hearing the break in his voice like that… He almost preferred the incessant begging.
"Dude, it's totally normal. You're doing great. Seriously- seventeen years of constantly being high as all hell and then quitting cold turkey-"
"Yeah, I am pretty great." Klaus snapped right back into his normal diva persona. Ben smirked and walked around behind Klaus so that he could place sturdy hands on his shoulders and force him to start walking out of his room.
"Where are we going?" He asked begrudgingly, taking heavy, resistant steps forward and letting Ben guide him.
"Shut up and stop whining."
Ben ended up sitting him down on a kitchen chair despite his tired protests.
"Stay there."
He left to go find Diego. If he wanted to distract Klaus, he needed to get him out of the house and the fact that neither of them could drive kind of posed some obstacles with that. As soon as Ben explained his reason for needing a quick road trip, Diego was immediately on board. He knew he had always been wildly supportive of Klaus staying clean and adopting a healthier lifestyle. Diego didn't need convincing.
When they walked back down to the kitchen to grab Klaus, there was already a scene of chaos in just the short minute that Ben was gone. Klaus was trying to get to a cupboard but was hindered by Five who just kept reappearing in the same spot every time Number Four shoved him aside.
"You're not going to get anywhere like this." Five said, irritated. Klaus kept persisting though, shoving his brother aside harder and harder than the time before.
"Hey- Hey!" Diego yelled, pulling them apart. "Klaus, take a chill pill."
"I'm TRYING to."
"Wh- No, no… Bad analogy. Calm down, alright? Let's go for a ride. Five- you coming?"
"Where are you going?"
"I don't know. Nowhere. Everywhere."
"Why would we drive without a destination?"
"For fun. Or don't you know what that word means?"
Five shot Diego a dirty look. "I can have fun."
A chorus of "Nah…" "Mm..." "Yeah, okay…" erupted as Klaus, Ben, and Diego alike all doubted this statement.
"Screw you guys. Fine. I'll come on your pointless drive to nowhere. It'll be 'fun'."
Diego slung an arm around Klaus's neck and started dragging him out of the room playfully.
"Maybe some tacos, yeah?" He asked, squeezing Klaus's shoulder.
"Not from Willie's."
"Agreed."
Ben glanced back at Five who had turned his back.
"You coming?"
Five held up his finger, telling Ben to hold on. He moved to the cupboard he was guarding, digging around a bit before opening a box of dish soap and pulling out a little baggie with white pills. He shook it in the air, examining them in disappointment.
"I swear…" He mumbled, moving to the sink and dumping them into the drain before letting the water run.
"We should probably do a search of the house again soon." Ben said, watching as Five turned the faucet off and joined Number 6 in following their other brothers.
"Burn it down, more like it. There's no way we'll ever find everything he's hid over the years."
Ten minutes later, Diego sped down a country road, turning up the radio just a bit louder, as if it wasn't already blasting the whole city away. Ben sat behind Diego, leaning back with his knees propped up on the driver's seat. Klaus was beside him, also in the back and Five was in the passenger seat being jostled around violently by the dipshit behind him.
"Taaaake onnnnn meeeee." They all yelled in unison but not at all in any particular key. Klaus had Five's shoulders tightly in his grasp and was shaking the kid back and forth to the music. A reluctant-at-first but genuine smile broke out on the assassin's face. Ben couldn't help but laugh at the odd sight.
"Take meeee onnnnn. I'll beeeee gooooonneeeee!"
At the falsetto, Klaus literally fucking screeched like a little girl in an ax-murder, horror film. Five quickly covered his ears, flinching away but chuckling. Klaus ruffled his hair before letting Five go.
They got through plenty of other rock anthems from the 60s, 70s, 80s… Ben had always wanted this. Admittedly, he often found himself thinking about it especially when he was newly dead. He loved these moments with his brothers where for once, no one was talking about the next mission or the next fight. They almost felt normal.
Klaus was doing noticeably better. He had his normal energy and bravado… for the most part. There were subtle moments where Klaus would suddenly be absent from singing or absent from the conversation. Ben would glance over and his knees would be pulled up, his fingernails digging into the skin of his ankles with his gaze set nervously out the window.
Ben would nudge him back into reality, but not without a fleck of turmoil still in Klaus's irises. Six just hoped that these were only passing moments of weakness. He knew that the timing wasn't great- right as Klaus was trying to tough through sobriety, Ben gets his life back and can't be there every lingering second.
He hoped his brother wasn't pushing him away.
He hoped this wouldn't be a bigger issue than what they bargained for.
But it was.
Welcome back Klaus fanatics! It looks like this story will end up being fairly long now that I've outlined it out. Hope you like the first chapter and are in it for the long haul! Let me know what you think- I LOVE hearing from you guys. Also, bonus points if you can guess what inspired the story title.