"Klaus..." Ben got up, his chest filling with joy and relief, Klaus could see him.
He had spent the last few days sitting Klaus' side in this tiny cell, invisible even to his brother. He'd tried to go out and find Five and memorize an escape route in case Five figured out how to help Klaus escape, but when he tried to cross the wall, he found himself preventing a barrier.
This was the first time Ben touched something and did not cross it, which left him shocked for a few seconds, but he managed to recover after a while, feeling frustrated and confused at not being able to cross the wall. The Commission surprised him more and more, Ben didn't know what they had done with the walls and doors, but he was trapped in this room.
He'd watched Klaus fight the withdrawal alone for the first time since Ben died, and every time Klaus woke up panting from a nightmare, eyes full of tears, Ben wished he was there to calm him down, but all he could do was watch Klaus have panic attacks and flashbacks without being able to do anything to help him.
When Five finally appeared, Ben saw that his presence calmed Klaus, even if just a little. The meeting had been intense, and Ben wished to be visible for the thousandth time, never feeling so invisible.
At that moment, he thought he might have some hope, Klaus could see him after so long, maybe they could do something. But when he was about to tell his brother what he knew, his eyes fixed on his brother's downcast state, it looked like he'd been hit by a truck.
Of course, Klaus always seemed like a disaster, especially in the last few days, but now he had reached the limit.
Klaus was shirtless. That was the first thing Ben noticed, because he remembered that Klaus was taken with a shirt. He looked more dejected than ever and his limbs trembled every five seconds. But the worst part was the mess of bites and hickeys scattered all over his chest, the worst on his neck. Ben knew exactly who did it, but...
"Klaus, what happened?" He asked, approaching. Klaus shrugged, entering the bathroom.
"Oh, you know" He had a false smile on his face, which barely held "I was tortured again and a lady finds me very attractive" Klaus laughed, a broken and hysterical sound "But also, who would resist this beauty? My body is a temple, Diego doesn't know what he's talking about."
"Klaus, stop" Said Ben, at the bathroom door. Klaus gave an animated leap, an expression on his face that frightened Ben.
"Oh, don't you want to hear the sordid details, Benny? Ooh, because I have a lot of material to share with the class, I bet Five would love to participate too!"
"Klaus!" Ben shouted, but Klaus ignored him, finally looking at himself in the mirror, his eyes wide, the mask of indifference abandoned "Klaus, please tell me what's going on!"
"Dave" Klaus said. Ben stared at him, confused.
"What?"
"Dave's dog tags are gone!" Klaus shouted, turning to Ben "She's took them!"
"Who took them, Klaus?" Asked Ben, although he already suspected someone.
"The Handler!" Klaus looked like a killer as he turned around and went to the door he had entered and started to hit it "Hey, motherfucker! Return my dog tags!"
He continued to punch the door, shouting to the other side, but there was no answer and Klaus collapsed on the floor, crying, his hands in the empty space where the dog tags were supposed to be.
"Dave, Dave, Dave, Dave" He repeated, swinging back and forth, leaning against the door.
"Klaus, breathe" Ben crouched in front of his sobbing brother "Come on, breathe like we practiced. One for Luther and his muscles. Two for Diego and his knives and hugs. Three for Allison and her soft words of comfort. Four for you and your wonderful fashion sense. Five for Five and his fierce protection and strange consolations. Six for me and my sense of humor. Seven for Vanya and her beautiful songs that drown out the ghosts"
After Ben repeated their numbers a few times, Klaus began to calm down, although his hands were still together in the space that the dog tags should be.
"Ben, I know I never said that, but thank you, I don't think I'd still be alive if it wasn't for you" Said Klaus, with a bare voice. Ben smiled softly, sitting next to Klaus, his shoulders almost ringing.
"I never thought I'd hear you say that." Laughed Ben. Klaus smiled.
"Yeah, well, enjoy, I won't say it again"
"Thank you, Klaus, those years haven't been as bad as I thought they would be" Said Ben, laughing when Klaus raised his head, an expression of false offense on his face.
"Ben! How you dare!" Then, instinctively, without thinking about what he was doing, Klaus reached out to slap Ben in the arm, waiting for his hand to go through his brother as usual, but was surprised when his hand connected with his brother's arm and Ben shrank.
"Ugh!" Ben exclaimed, then the two stared at each other, eyes wide open.
"What— how—" Klaus began babbling, looking at his hand and extending it to Ben's arm again, but this time it crossed over, Ben waving in blue where his hand passed. Klaus looked at his brother "How did you do that? How did you get corporeal? "
"Klaus, I– I think it was you, with your powers" The two looked at each other in shock.
"But how is that even possible?! Dad spent seventeen years trying to train my powers, how it just happened now?!" Klaus walked back and forth in the small cell, and if Ben were alive, he'd be dizzy by the amount of laps he saw Klaus take.
"I don't know" Said Ben, shrugging "Well, this is the first time you've been sober since you were thirteen, and you've never had many ghosts that you wanted to make corporeal, and I'm your brother. Besides, you were very emotional at the time, maybe your powers are controlled by your emotions."
Ben was trying to repress the anxiety and happiness he felt about it. It was the first time he had been touched by another human since he died and he longed for more, but he wouldn't pressure Klaus on it.
"Maybe, maybe" Grumbled Klaus, continuing to walk from side to side "But I don't understand, why didn't that show up when I was younger and totally sober?"
"Perhaps because you were too young, and your powers were still developing" Ben shrugged. Klaus lay on the bed, looking at the ceiling.
"I guess" He sighed, curling up in a ball, his hands groping the place where Dave's dog tags should be. Ben looked at his hands and sat next to him, the two falling into a silence.
Klaus and Ben were talking quietly about random things to distract themselves from the reality of the situation when the door Klaus now knew opened into the hallway buzzed and opened.
"Hargreeves" Lila said. Klaus was getting up from bed when she raised her hand "Sit down, let's have a talk"
Klaus cautiously sat on the bed, pulling his knees to his chest. Ben sat next to him, which Klaus thought was comforting. Two men showed up at the door holding a chair. When the chair was positioned next to the bed, they came out and closed the door.
Lila sat in the chair, looking at him with her arms folded.
"My mother did a number in you, huh" Klaus' blood cooled down and he contained a shudder.
Ben approached and their shoulders touched, which relaxed Klaus, although he was still freaking out about making Ben corporeal.
"My mother has always been of the predatory type, and although I've seen her do something like that, she's never been so deep, you must be special, although I don't know what she sees in you, you're not that attractive"
Klaus didn't answer, and when he finally opened his mouth, he said "I want your mother to give me back my dog tags"
"Awn, they're important to you, aren't they? They have the name of your beloved soldier, David, don't they?" Provoked Lila, laughing. Klaus gnawed his teeth, squeezing his arms around his knees tightly. He wanted to yell at her so badly, but Ben gave him a look, warning him.
"Klaus, answering will only keep her going, be quiet"
"Aren't you very talkative today? I read in your file that you're an annoying beast, never shutting your mouth, but honestly, you look like a puppy who broke his neck" Lila pouted, laughing after.
"Why are you here?" Klaus asked, not biting the bait.
"Because I'm bored. And also because I'm curious" She looked at the marks that were not hidden by Klaus' knees and arms "However, you are inadequate" She stood up, opening the drawer embedded in the wall after pressing her hand on the panel, picking up a gray shirt identical to the one she had picked up days ago, throwing it at Klaus, who quickly dressed it, curling up again.
"Now that you're properly dressed, let's get started"
"You have a lot of potential, you know that? You could be powerful if you tried harder." Lila said.
"My father always said that, but I was never anything, but his greatest disappointment" Klaus replied, shrugging. Although it still hurt the fact that he was still considered a disappointment by his siblings, he stopped caring about his father's approval years ago when he was eight and Reginald had begun to lock him in the mausoleum and he'd decided he hated his father.
"Well, but it's true, you have more potential than you think" Lila leaned forward "You are very valuable to the Commission, perhaps as time, you understand, and we can be allies"
"Fuck. You" Said Klaus, narrowing his eyes to Lila, who smiled.
"Oh, that's not very kind" She said, then stood up "Listen to what I'm saying, Hargreeves, you and your powers are valuable, we couldn't risk losing you" Lila laughed "I'm excited to what we're going to achieve! Have a nice day, Hargreeves!"
A man came in and took the chair, and Lila left, the door closing and the lock locking with a click and a buzz.
"What a bitch!" Exclaimed Klaus after a while of silence, not caring if Lila or Handler herself could hear him.
"Although I don't like to encourage you to swear, I'm inclined to agree, Lila is a bitch" Said Ben, his face so serious that Klaus began to laugh.
"Ben! I was a terrible influence on you! All these years with me have polluted your mind! Where's that quiet, shy Ben we've loved and met? "
"He's gone, you're going to have to put up with me now" Said Ben, smiling at Klaus, who laughed even more.
"Oh, no! I corrupted Ben! What would our siblings think?!" Klaus shouted, putting his hands on his cheeks.
Hours later, after Klaus took the longest shower of his life, rubbing every dot of skin that The Handler had touched until he was red-skinned, he and Ben were talking when men opened the door, and with no word other than to have him turn around to secure him with handcuffs, they dragged him down the aisles to the other building where they entered the big room and they opened a door, which gave to an empty room. They took Klaus' handcuffs and threw him into the small room.
Klaus fell to the ground, scraping his hands, and turned to the men at the door.
"Ouch! Where's your education?! Didn't your moms teach you that it's rude to throw people on the ground like that?!" Klaus shouted, rising, and staring at the men, who turned around and closed the door, leaving him alone. Klaus wide his eyes and ran to the door, slamming it with his fists.
"Hey! Let me out! Let me out!" He looked around discreetly, nervously. There were only a few ghosts in the room, they were silent, but when they realized Klaus could see them, they would start screaming and Klaus didn't know if he could handle it.
He walked away from the door, taking a deep breath. 'Calm down, Klaus' he said to himself. Klaus looked around discreetly, looking for Ben, but his brother was not in sight.
Klaus! Klaus!
Help us, Klaus!
I'm going to eat you alive!
Oh, my son! Where's my son! Mathew!
They killed my daughter and then me!
Klaus! Klaus!
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no" Klaus put his hands in his ears, taking faltering steps back as the ghosts in the room surrounded him.
"Hello, Four!" It was her, it was The Handler! The voice came from some voice device because she obviously wasn't in the room. Now that Klaus observed better, there was a one-way glass on one of the walls, and Klaus assumed she was watching him from there "Welcome! Today we want to try something different! We realized that your Number Six brother finally showed up, and that you apparently managed to make him corporeal. Oh, that's great! Well, that's why we want you to make the ghosts of this room corporeal and visible, we know you can!"
"No! They're going to eat me alive!" Klaus screamed at the glass, walking from side to side to ward stooge away from the icy hands trying to touch him.
"Well, I'm sure you'll stop them before it gets to that" Said Handler, and Klaus could imagine the smile on her face "Now do that, I have a meeting with Five later and you wouldn't want me to be late, would you?" Her tone was sweet, but Klaus knew what a threat was when he heard one, but he couldn't make these ghosts corporeal and visible, what would they do if they could touch him? The lights went off and Klaus freaked out.
He went to one of the corners of the room, pressing himself against the wall, not wanting the ghosts to surround him from behind.
"Go away! Let me out! Please! Stop! I can't help you!"
His father locked him there again, he would open the door just to say 'Three more hours' and leave him in the dark with the ghosts, and the ghosts would kill him, Klaus would die and his father wouldn't care, he would die, he would die, die, die, die, die...
He was there for hours and a voice was telling him to use his powers, but Klaus couldn't do that because then the ghosts would tear him apart and he would die... blood, blood, blood... Dave, Dave, Dave...
"PLEASE LET ME OUT! I'LL BE GOOD! I'M NOT AFRAID ANYMORE!"
Klaus! Klaus!
Help us, Klaus!
I'm going to kill you!
KLAUS!
KLAUS!