Two hours. It only took Kat two hours after they left to wake up. When she did, she shot out of bed and over to the corner of the room. Her eyes were wide as she looked around, finally stopping when she saw Five standing beside the bed with his hands up.
"Katherine? Kat, it's me, Five. You're okay, you're home. You're safe now." he said in a calm, quiet voice.
The look in her eyes absolutely shattered him. He would have rather spent a million years alone in the apocalypse than ever see that look on his sister's face. She looked as though everything inside her had been broken.
"What happened?" she asked quietly. "After she shot me, what happened?"
"Diego found you at the motel. He brought you to your apartment and him, myself, and Luther cleaned you up."
"Where is he?" Her eyes flit around the room searching for him.
"He' not here. But he'll be back soon, I'm sure. He wouldn't leave you for long."
"Klaus?" she asked next.
"He's here. Made it home not long ago."
Kat practically bolted from the room, down the hall to where Klaus's room was. Five hurried after her, watching as she stood frozen in front of the door, her hand raised to knock.
"Kat?" Five asked, worried.
She shook her head, then knocked quietly. On the other side of the door, Klaus groaned.
"Come in." He called.
Katherine slowly turned the knob and opened the door to see Klaus sitting on his bed, head in his hands. He looked up to see who was entering his room and gasped quietly. He stood slowly and held out his arms, waiting for her to make the first move. She felt tears stream down her face as she carefully approached him, her own arms wrapping around his waist.
"Holy shit. I thought you were dead for sure." Klaus whispered, stroking her hair.
"I was so scared. I didn't know if you got away or not. I knew that I had to try to keep you safe." she explained through her tears.
"You did, Kat. You saved my life yet again. You keep saving me." he said, tears of his own building in his eyes.
A knock on the door frame caused them to pull away and look over to see Five standing awkwardly in the doorway. "You okay?" he asked Klaus, knowing already what Kat's answer would be.
"Hey. Yeah, I just...long night." Klaus said, sitting down and patting the bed for Kat to join him. He held her hand tightly like he was afraid to let her go, and she gripped him much the same.
"More than one, from the looks of it." Five said.
"Yeah."
"Don't remember the dog tags."
"Yeah, they belonged to a friend."
"How about that new tattoo?"
"You know, I don't totally remember even getting it. Like I said, it was a long night." Kat knew that Klaus was lying, she just wasn't sure why.
"You did it, didn't you?" Five said, his voice filled with accusation.
"What are you talkin' about?"
"You know, I can recognize the symptoms, Klaus."
"Symptoms of what?" Kat finally asked.
"The jet lag. Full body itch. Headache that feels like someone shoved a box of cotton up into your nose and through your brain." Five listed.
"Klaus, what's he talking about?" Kat asked, growing more worried every second.
"You gonna tell me about it?" Five asked, ignoring Katherine.
"Your pals, when they broke into the house and they couldn't find you, they took Kat and me hostage instead." Klaus said, causing his sister to cringe and shudder.
"And in return, you stole their briefcase." Five figured.
"Yeah. I thought there was money in it, or I could pawn it, you know, whatever. And then I opened it."
"And the next thing you knew, you were where? Or should I say when?"
Kat's eyes grew wide. Klaus had time traveled.
"What difference does it make?" Klaus mumbled.
Five looked appalled. "What diff- Uh-."
Kat cut him off. "How long were you gone?"
"Almost a year." Klaus admit quietly.
"A year? Do you know what this means?" Five exclaimed.
"Yeah, I'm ten months older now." Klaus said as if it were the obvious answer.
"No, this isn't any sort of joke, Klaus. Hazel and Cha-Cha will do whatever they can to get the briefcase."
"NO!" Katherine exclaimed, placing herself defensively in front of Klaus. She refused to let them get near him ever again. Five may not have been able to see it, but Kat could see the brokenness in Klaus's eyes. The mischievous twinkle was gone, his spark dimmed to the point of nearly being extinguished.
Five was shocked by the feral look his sister had. Something inside of her had absolutely changed. It had made her fiercer. More protective of their brother at the very least, if not all of them.
"Where is it now?" Five asked carefully.
"Gone. I destroyed it. Poof." Klaus said, putting a cautious hand on Kat's shoulder.
"What the hell were you thinking?"
"What do you care?"
"What do I care? I needed it, you moron, so I could get back. I could start over. It could be like I never left." he explained, looking at Kat on his last sentence.
Klaus stood up, and Kat looked up at him.
"Where you going?" she asked, panic edging into her voice.
His gaze softened and he sighed. "I just need a few minutes, I promise not to leave the main areas."
She nodded, standing up and crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm going to go wait for Diego in his room."
Klaus looked at Five and shook his head. "Interrogation's over, just leave."
Once he was gone, Kat kissed Five on top of the head and hugged him. "Thank you for taking care of me." She said quietly.
"Of course, You've always taken care of me, why wouldn't I do the same for you?" he said, carefully hugging her back.
She stepped away and gave a forced smile before walking out of the room.
She slowly made her way to Diego's room and opened the door, yelping in surprise when she saw him sitting in the floor in front of his knife case. He whipped around to see her standing in the doorway with her hands covering her mouth. He put the knife in his hand down, stood, and started towards her, causing her to stumble backwards. He stopped, a look of hurt spreading across his face.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. It was just the fast movement, I panicked. It's not you, Diego." she said, her words flowing out so fast he could barely understand her.
He shook his head, the look of disappointment quickly leaving his face. "I should have been smarter about it. It's my fault." he reassured her.
She slowly approached him, her hand reaching up towards his face. He stood still, allowing her to gently place her hand on his cheek. He closed his eyes and leaned into her touch, basking in the moment.
"I'm sorry about Patch. I tried so hard to keep her from getting hurt" she apologized.
He shook his head and scrunched his brows. "Thank you, but I have to be honest- I was so damn scared to see you lying on the floor there, K. I saw you laying in that pool of blood, and my heart stopped. I thought...I thought you were dead." He said, his voice breaking.
"I'm not. I'm right here. I promise I'm here. And I healed up. I'm okay." she said, wiping a lone tear from his cheek with her thumb.
He locked eyes with her and frowned. "What the fuck did they do to you, beautiful?"
"Terrible things. Things that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemies, and things that I can't bring myself to burden you with. But I did what I had to do to keep everyone else safe. I would do it a thousand times more if it meant keeping anything from happening to my family." she said, her voice empty.
He could tell that she had been through something traumatic, and he knew that even though her body could heal in a matter of hours, her mind would take much longer.
"I know you need time. But I'm here whenever you need me." he promised.
She looked up at him and nodded, then gently pressed her lips to his. "I love you." she said, her voice sure for the first time since she had woken up.
"I love you, too." he said softly.
She stepped around him and warily eyed his knives.
"I was just getting everything together so I could take it along. If it's an issue, I can absolutely-."
"No." she said quietly, wrapping her arms around herself. "You gotta get your knives, I get it. I'll just, uh, stay over here." she said, Her brain replaying scenes of what the last knives she encoutered had done to her. She shook her head and inhaled sharply.
Diego was quick to lock up the case and get the knives out of sight. "Hey, you're okay. They can't hurt you as long as you're with me. I promise.
She nodded and took his hand as he held it out. They descended the steps to find Klaus standing in front of the fallen chandelier.
"You look like shit." Diego said, passing him.
"Why, thank you. Hey, where you going?" Klaus asked.
"Nope."
"What?"
"I'm not giving you a ride."
"Oh, come on, man. You know I can't drive."
"Two minutes." Katherine interjected. Diego looked at her, resigned. Klaus simply looked thankful.
"Okay, great. I'll just get my things. Two minutes." Klaus promised, running upstairs.
Diego looked at her, the unspoken question lingered in the air.
"Klaus was there. When they couldn't find Five, they took us. After a while, I couldn't just sit and watch them hurt him anymore. They made him watch everything. I made him leave when I knew things were going south. I just don't want to be away from him for too long." she explained. Diego just nodded in understanding.
"You won't hear any arguments from me if that's what you need to feel safe and comfortable." he assured her.
"Thank you." she said, squeezing his hand. Klaus came bounding down the steps and held Kat's free hand.
"Let's go." she said, letting Diego lead the way to the car.