Vanya woke abruptly. Her eyes were wide open and there's a scream caught in her throat. The cold sweat across her forehead and her back felt icky and disgusting. If it was possible, she would remove the thin blanket draped around her and raise the room temperature at the same time. Maybe it's a request to ask for in the morning.
It's been around three days, maybe four, since they've landed in this mess of an alternate timeline where they have lookalikes, other selves, dopplegangers, who seemed to be better purely because of a good childhood. They were drugged (which made her siblings who went through training a bit embarrassed to admit, but, hey, some of them haven't eaten for days. It's understandable in her eyes.) and brought to this room in the basement.
Well, 'room' was a very kind word for the prison that they were in.
The moment they all started to come to their senses, Vanya immediately recognized the place. With all six of them inside, the room was more cramped and the black spikes running across the walls looked bigger. There was no mistaking it though — this was where she had been locked up when she was younger and after the incident with Allison before the first apocalypse. (Luther, she noticed, quickly recognized it too and looked too ashamed to even meet her eye for a couple of hours after his realization.)
She hadn't realized she was shaking until Allison had wrapped her in a hug and was whispering all sorts of comforting nonsense in her ear to help her calm down. Somewhere deep inside her, she felt her powers stirring, wanting to escape and tear this place down again, but it was blocked.
Stupid timeout. (Or was it helpful and convenient to stop another apocalypse?)
She sat up slowly, careful not to bother her siblings who were sleeping. Allison was beside her, next to Luther who had finally been able to wrestle some sense down into Five to go to sleep with the help of Diego. Their youngest (or oldest, depending on how you look at it) had spent every second they've been there just pacing and trying to get out. But even his powers were blocked.
The glass on the door (which Luther and Diego have tried and tried and tried to break) was a bit foggy, but had no scratches. At nights, it was their only source of light, no matter how small, because the lights within the room would be turned off. Vanya stared at the door, through the glass, and at the dim light from the hallway.
"Can't sleep?" A voice asked, and she turned to see Klaus, who somehow found a way to slot himself between the spikes, using his pillow and blanket to lean on it without getting pierced. (They were each given blankets and pillows of their own. And extra large size for Luther, even. 'The least we could do,' Zero had said with a shrug and a smile before locking the door once more.) She couldn't imagine how it could be comfortable, but he seemed fine, so they all just let him be. "Nightmares?"
She nodded, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes before looking back at him. "The room takes me back. What about you?"
"One of us should stay awake." It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the complete truth either. She noted the haunted look in his eyes as he kept them trained on the door. It seems like she's not the only one who finds comfort from the bit of light shining through. "I should have tried harder to get you out, hmm?"
Vanya had been lost in her thoughts again, she barely heard his words. She had half a mind to pretend she didn't know what he meant, but his inability to even look at her stopped her. She knew what he meant and sighed. The bittersweet, partly hazy, memory of Diego, Klaus, and Allison trying to speak up for her, but ultimately giving up wasn't one she liked to recall.
"No, I… I understand why—"
"Do not defend it." Klaus interrupted, his tone cold and determined. "Vanya, you did not deserve that."
"Technically, I did cause the apocalypse—"
"We pushed you to that. If we hadn't left you behind after all that…" He ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head. "Ben's ranted about it several times when he was mad at me while we were stuck in the '60s."
She kept silent, not knowing what to say.
"He locked me up too, you know? That heartless son of a bitch." Klaus sighed before finally looking at her. "Dad, I mean. Not Ben. Not Luther." He clarified. "It was for my special training. He'd throw me in a mausoleum to make friends with the ghosties who did not exactly want to be friends nor have the best manners, if you must know."
"That's nice," Vanya said, meeting his eyes. "Maybe we could start a support group."
Klaus let out a laugh, quiet enough to not wake the others but loud enough to make Diego twitch in his sleep. "Taking care of our mental health? The old man must have cut his own finger in his barbershop in hell."
"Barbershop?"
"Oh, did I not tell you?" He tilted his head, a half-meant smile on his lips. "I did manage, at some point, to visit dear Papa and I think I met God. Cute little girl, she was."
Vanya raised her eyebrows, but listened. "What did dad say?"
He shrugged. "Said he knew about the apocalypse and killed himself because we'd never have picked up the phone. And let's not forget," he wiggled his finger at Vanya. "I was officially dubbed his worst disappointment. So, I win that title."
"I don't think you're a disappointment."
"Don't lie."
"Hmm. I don't think you're a disappointment anymore." Vanya shrugged. "We were all messed up because of things that happened when we were kids. I think we're all learning, though. Isn't that what's important?"
Klaus smiled. "This support group feels really supportive. We should do this more often." He sat up. "What should we name ourselves? Just to make it official."
"Society of Childhood Trauma."
"Anti-Reginald Hargreeves."
"Anti-Sir Reginald Hargreeves."
Klaus shot a look at her. "We are not giving him the satisfaction of being properly addressed ."
"I'm A Survivor."
"Destiny's Child? I approve." Klaus nodded, humming the tune. "What about 'You're an All-star'?"
Vanya giggled. "I'm an All-star."
"We're all an All-star." They continued in unison, smiling at the dumbest thing ever.
"How about," a tired voice joined in, "'Everyone, Shut Up and Go The Fuck To Sleep'?" Diego glared at them through half-asleep eyes before dropping his head back down on the pillow and continuing his rest.
They stopped talking, but there's a mutual understanding and acceptance that neither of them are going to get a good sleep no matter how much they try. Vanya gathered up the blanket and draped it around her shoulders. Her legs are pulled up with her arms around it and she rested her head on her knees, her eyes closed as she listened to Klaus humming some old song she couldn't remember the name of.
"Thanks, Klaus." She mumbled, not knowing if he understood or even heard it. "Goodnight."
He paused his humming and replied shortly after. "Sweet dreams."
