Wednesday, 8:15 am
Thea sat in the living room surrounded by the whole family, minus Five and Vanya.
Her stomach was healing nicely since yesterday's excursion and she could now move around without pain as long as she didn't push herself. She'd been greeted by a tight hug from a worried Allison. Apparently, the others hadn't bothered to tell her what happened and so Thea had sat through one of Allison's infamous rants to a sheepish Diego and Luther. Thea had tried talking to Klaus since he'd left the night before, but he always managed to avoid her. She wasn't sure what was wrong but she guessed it had something to do with his time-travelling and so she gave him his space. It hurt her more than anything because, for her, it'd been less than a day since she'd almost died and lost him for good.
She wanted to look into his head and see what he was going through, but she dismissed the thought before she could truly consider it. I have to be understanding and just wait until he comes to me. Thea also missed being able to hear Ben. She could only hear him if she opened her mind up to Klaus' thoughts, but she couldn't filter what she heard and so didn't take the chance no matter how tempting it was to hear his voice again.
She knew enough about time-travel to understand that Klaus had lived a whole year since the kidnapping, and he'd probably thought he was never coming back. So she couldn't fault him if he didn't seem as shaken as she was. I can give him the space he needs. No matter how much it hurts.
Luther had called a family meeting, and so there she lay on the sofa surrounded by her siblings. Allison handed her a coffee with a smile and a kiss to the head. Thea gave her sister a grateful smile.
Luther had told them what Five told him about the apocalypse. Thea was saddened at Five's disappearance. She'd had to go back to Pogo as her stitches had re-opened after finding Klaus and she only later found out that they'd all – minus Allison – gone on some adventure with Five to lure his old boss out. Thea just hoped he'd come back this time.
The world was apparently going to end in three days. She just hoped to see him before it did.
"Three days?" Allison asked as she handed out coffee to everyone.
"That's what Five said."
"The old bastard did mention the apocalypse, come to think of it. He just left out the part about how soon." Klaus commented from his position of the floor. Thea leaned into Diego who sat beside her. He hadn't left her side much since he'd found her at the hotel. Thea just thought it was his way of saying thanks for saving his 'girlfriend'. Thea was just happy he still had the person he clearly cared for.
Thea thought about the world ending in three days and couldn't contain her slightly delirious giggle. They all turned to her in confusion. "Thea, you okay?" Luther asked.
Thea looked up to see everyone staring at her in concern. "Sorry, sorry. I'm just laughing at the irony of it all. I'd accepted that I was going to die when I got shot but I was saved. Now I find out I'm going to die in three days anyway, so what was the point?" she let out another bitter laugh.
Diego nudged her, "Hey, don't say that." Thea just shrugged, "Why not? It's the truth. Maybe it would've been easier to have just gone then, is all I'm saying." Klaus had his head down at the reminder of her near-death experience whilst Allison and Luther looked at her with pity.
Allison coughed before trying to change the subject. "Well, can we even trust him? Five? I don't know if you've noticed, but Five's a little..." she whistled while pointing at her head.
"Our little psycho..." Klaus chuckled.
"He was pretty convincing," Luther murmured. "and if he wasn't trying to stop an apocalypse from happening, those two lunatics wouldn't be chasing him."
"That's why they were after him?" Diego asked. "Yeah."
"What did Five even see?" Allison asked.
"Uh, apparently," Luther stuttered, "we all fought together against whoever was responsible." He nodded before pausing awkwardly. He got up and walked away, "Okay. So here's the plan-"
"Wait, what?" Allison asked stunned. Everyone murmured their agreements to Luther carrying on his story. "What actually happened the first time around?" Klaus asked.
"Yeah, what're you not telling us?" Diego muttered, "Come on, big boy, spit it out."
Luther looked down at his coffee before murmuring quietly, "We died."
"What was that?"
Luther shuffled awkwardly. "Uh, I said, we died."
Thea raised an eyebrow at everyone's stunned expressions. Sure, she already knew because Five had told her, but what did it matter if they died? Did they not understand the meaning of apocalypse? Y'know, where everyone dies.
They all gathered around the bar talking over Luther's dramatic reveal. Thea just laid on the sofa, too tired to bother. Of course, she wanted to help stop the apocalypse, but she felt pretty useless right now and felt like wallowing in some – in her opinion – well-deserved self-pity.
Thea spotted Vanya and a man she didn't recognise walking through the entryway and sat up to greet them. Thea grinned and waved at the two, even if she didn't know who the man was. Vanya gave her a small smile back before announcing her presence to the others. "Hey."
They all turned to look at her. "What's going on?" she asked. The man beside her stood with a smile on his face. He seems nice enough. Is he a friend of Vanya's?
"It's a family matter," Allison answered. Thea looked at her sister in shock, "I thought you said Vanya was busy?" Thea had brought up Vanya's absence alongside Five's. They'd told her what happened with Five and said that Vanya was 'too busy.' Thea turned back to Vanya, "You weren't too busy?" she asked just to make sure.
Vanya looked at Thea in consideration before shaking her head. Thea looked back at her family. "Why did you lie? And why can't she be included when it's so important?" Thea looked to Diego and Klaus and then back at Luther and Allison. When no one responded she shook her head.
"A family matter," Vanya continued. "So you couldn't be bothered to include me."
Luther stood up, "No, it's not like that-"
Vanya scoffed, "Oh please, don't let me interrupt." She began to walk away, and Allison hurried to catch up with her. "Vanya wait. I'll fill you in later when we're alone."
"Please, please don't bother. And I won't either."
"Vanya, that's not fair." Allison said. Thea cringed at her choice of words.
Vanya gave her a look of disbelief. "Fair? There's nothing fair about being your sister. About being apart of this family. I have been left out of everything for as long as I can remember. And I used to think it was Dad's fault, but he's dead. So it turns out you're the assholes." She turned and walked away, and the man followed suit.
"Ouch," Klaus muttered sarcastically. Thea gave her twin a sour look before turning and limping out the room after Vanya.
She passed the mystery guy on her way but paid it no mind. She caught up to her sister just as she walked out the door. "Vanya wait." Vanya turned at Thea's shout. Thea huffed and held her side in pain at the sudden fast movement. "Are you okay?" Vanya asked in concern.
Thea looked up at her sister and gave her a small smile. "Yeah sorry, I got shot after some guys attacked the academy and it's starting to hurt because I'm moving too much."
Vanya was surprised at this news. "You got shot?" Thea looked at her in confusion. "Yeah, you didn't know? Didn't anybody tell you? I mean, I would've told you myself but, you know, I was kinda too busy dying." Vanya was hurt. She could accept the others hadn't told her about this family meeting, it happened enough that she was used to it. But to not tell her about her own sister being shot?
"I-I didn't know, Thea. I swear. Otherwise, I would have come straight away." Vanya said sincerely. Thea smiled at her, "I know you would, don't worry. I just assumed you didn't visit because you were busy with being an amazing violinist." Thea grinned mischievously, "You couldn't take time out of your busy schedule to come see the lowly Thea Hargreeves now, could you?" she winked.
Vanya laughed at her sister's dramatics. She was glad Thea was feeling well enough to joke around, at least. "I um, I actually made it to first seat. In the orchestra I play in, I mean."
Thea grinned at Vanya and wrapped her arms around her neck in a hug. "Congratulations! I'm so happy for you! I have no idea what first chair means but I bet it's awesome!" Vanya laughed at Thea's comment. She was happy one of her siblings was proud of her.
"I was always so jealous of the way you played your violin. Whenever I tried, Klaus would always come running in demanding why I was torturing a cat." Thea laughed at her own joke and Vanya laughed too.
Vanya remembered when Thea had asked her to try her violin when they were younger. The two had been sat in Vanya's room after Thea had come in asking her if she was okay. At that age, Thea couldn't control her powers and so she ended up knowing what everybody was thinking and feeling all the time. It annoyed everyone and they all shared a sigh of relief when she learned to control it. Vanya had admitted to Thea that she was jealous of how powerful she was. Vanya could remember the sad smile Thea had given her before telling her something she'd never forgotten.
"Vanya, I wish it were as easy as just being powerful. These powers come with a cost and trust me, they aren't worth it. I know it's easy for the one with the power to say it, but I wish I didn't have them." At Vanya's questioning glance, she'd explained further. "These powers make me feel terrible. I feel guilty whenever I hear something I shouldn't and the thought of controlling anyone, to take away their free-will...it isn't something I would choose to do. It scares me what I could become." She'd looked down in sadness, "Plus, do you really think Klaus and Ben would agree that their powers are worth the stress and anxiety it puts them through? Klaus can't sleep for nightmares of the dead and Ben's terrified of what's inside him. I can't speak for Luther, Diego and Allison, but I know that the three of us – me, Klaus and Ben – we wouldn't wish these powers on anyone."
Vanya had never forgotten Thea's confession. After the rather sombre conversation, she had asked Vanya to teach Thea her own 'power', which Thea insisted was being the best violinist. Thea had continued to play it even after it was obvious she was terrible and had no ear for music. Thea had laughed and pointed out that this 'proved' it was Vanya's power. Vanya had a suspicion she just did it to make her feel more special. To feel that she was actually good at something. Even better at something than someone considered No.0 in the house. Vanya was always grateful for Thea's actions, even if Thea didn't realise just what she was doing.
"Yeah, you always were a little tone-deaf." Vanya joked. Thea turned to the side and pouted childishly, trying and failing to hide her smile. "Ha-Ha, very funny."
The door opening broke the two sisters of their moment and Thea turned to see the mysterious man walk out holding his coat. "Uh, hi." He said awkwardly.
Thea grinned at him and held her hand out to shake, "Hi. I'm Thea Hargreeves, Vanya's sister."
"Leonard Peabody." He replied, taking her hand. "You were, um, one of them, right? No.0? The Divine?" He stared at Thea intensely, like he thought she'd disappear into thin air. Thea was surprised he knew her old code name but smiled nonetheless.
"Yep. That's me. But I prefer if people just call me Thea. Especially friends." She looked over at her sister, "Besides, any friend of Vanya's is a friend of mine." She declared. Leonard grinned back at her when she mentioned 'friends'. He's sweet, just right for Vanya.
Vanya smiled at the two of them, thankful for Thea's naturally easy-going personality. Leonard stared at Thea for a few more seconds before smiling and turning to Vanya, "Ready to go?" Vanya nodded. She looked at Thea, "See you soon?"
Thea smiled brightly at the two, "Of course! You're always welcome here, Vanya. You're my sister, and it's your home too. Plus, you know where I live, come over any time. That's a given." She looked towards Vanya's friend, "and you too! I'm always looking for new friends!" Thea really wasn't, but she wanted to put in the effort for someone Vanya was close to. It was the least she could do.
Vanya was still smiling as she walked away with Leonard and Thea was glad her sister had somebody who was taking care of her. Maybe he'll be good for her.
She turned back to the house and walked inside with a smile.
She entered the living room to find it empty. Where did everyone go? They were all here a minute ago? She decided to look upstairs first and found Diego struggling to fasten the laces of his boots. Thea knelt down and gently took them out of his hands and began looping a knot.
"Thanks," Diego said quietly. Thea hummed in response.
She was fastening the second boot when Klaus came into the room behind her carrying rope. He shuffled his feet awkwardly before talking, "I need someone to tie me up." Diego gave him a weird look, but Thea just hummed again and tapped Diego's finished boots. "All done. Don't worry, I'll take care of this."
Diego glanced at Klaus then looked at Thea in concern, "You sure?" She just nodded. Diego got up and gave her head a gentle pat before walking out of the room.
Thea turned to her brother. He was sweaty and looked worse for wear. She took the rope from his hands without question and began following him to one of the spare rooms. Once there, he sat down on a wooden chair in the middle of the room. Thea continued to watch him in silence, not knowing what to say. Klaus had been avoiding her since the kidnapping and Thea didn't know what to do to make things right.
Klaus stared at his sister and he could tell she was sad. It only worsened his guilt and as he glanced to the side of the room where Ben sat staring at Thea forlornly, he felt even worse. Thea stared back at him with a blank expression, waiting for him to begin. Klaus took a deep breath, "I need you to tie me up, on this chair."
Thea blinked twice. "And for what reason, exactly?" she responded dryly.
Klaus looked away, not really wanting to share. It wasn't that he didn't want to confide in his sister, he just didn't feel like burdening anybody else with his problems, especially Thea. She'd already been through so much and she didn't need to see her brother so weak. "I need to conjure someone."
Thea gave him a blank look, "Then do it. Why do you need to be tied down?"
'Just tell her what happened. She'll understand.' Ben said. They both glanced to Thea expecting her to react to his voice, but she just continued to stare at Klaus. Ben's face fell, and Klaus felt even worse.
"Well, as you know...the pesky thing doesn't work unless I'm completely sober. I-I need somebody to take the decision away from me." Thea gave a deep sigh before starting to wrap the rope around him. She circled the chair as the rope wrapped around Klaus' body.
"Y'know, I've been told that I'm a pretty good listener," she said casually.
Klaus kept silent. Thea bit her lip and continued to wrap the rope.
Klaus was in turmoil, he wanted nothing more than to comfort his sister and tell her everything that he'd been through, but he also couldn't let himself be so selfish and put even more stress on her.
Quiet sobs made him look up and his heart broke at the sight. Thea stood in front of him, the rope clutched tightly between her hands, with tears running down her red cheeks. She was biting her lower lip harshly to muffle her cries.
"W-why won't you tell me anything? I waited until you were ready. I-I thought that if I gave you space you'd eventually come and talk to me, but-but you've hardly looked at me since we got kidnapped." She sobbed. Ben had moved closer and was watching the girl in sadness.
"I-I even blocked off your mind completely, so I could give you p-privacy, and I'm s-sorry if I did something wrong, but Klaus, Klaus please talk to m-me." She crouched down and put her head between her knees. "I m-miss Ben. I wanted to hear his voice again, b-but I thought you'd be mad if I l-looked."
Klaus' chest ached at the sight of Thea sobbing on the floor. I've been so stupid. Of course, pushing her away wasn't the right thing to do... Thea looked up at Klaus from the floor, "You can t-tell me anything, Klausy. You know I won't h-hate you, right? I won't hate you if you forgot me whilst travelling. I wouldn't hold anything against y-you."
"Thea," Klaus tried speaking over Thea's cries. "Thea. Thea, listen to me." She quieted down. Klaus sighed, "I didn't forget you. How could I ever forget you, Thea? I just- I just lost somebody important and didn't know how to deal with it," he whispered. "I thought keeping you out of my problems would be for the best, but I realise it only made things worse. I'm so sorry, Thea. I'm-I'm sorry, please forgive me." Klaus began crying into his chest. Thea leapt from the floor and wrapped her arms around his neck, hiding her tear-stained face into his neck. She sobbed even harder.
"Oh, Klaus. I'm so sorry you had to go through that, I'm so sorry, I should have never made you go first- none of this would have ever happened if I'd have just found a better way out." Klaus shook his head in denial. "No. It's not your fault, and besides, no matter how much losing them hurt, if you hadn't have made me go first with that briefcase, I would have never have met them in the first place."
Thea leaned back to look at her brother's tear-stained and sweaty face. He looked awful and she probably looked just as bad. She leaned in and kissed him lovingly on the cheek. "I love you so much. I've missed you. I've missed you b-both so much."
Klaus leaned into Thea's warmth, his arms still tied by his sides with the rope. Ben watched them both and gave Klaus a small smile. Klaus took a shaky breath before speaking quietly. "Y-you can open the connection again, Thea. It's okay. Ben misses you." She laughed shakily at his comment, "I miss him too." She looked up at Klaus for confirmation, "Are you sure?" He gave her a nod.
Thea was about to open the connection when she stopped. "Wait," she said. "Tell me about them first. I want to hear about it from you directly if you don't mind," she asked shyly.
Klaus smiled fondly at her hopeful look. "Well, his name was Dave." He looked over for Thea's reaction and she gave him a loving grin, "Go on," she urged.
Klaus laughed and carried on. "We soldiered together in the A Shau Valley in the mountain of the Crouching Beast." Klaus had a faraway look on his face. "He must have been lovely," Thea said quietly. She looked up at him from under her lashes, "Only the best deserve my brother."
Klaus hummed in content, "Yeah. He was kind and strong, and vulnerable, and...beautiful. Beautiful, and I was foolish enough to follow him all the way to the front line." Thea listened to Klaus talk, letting him get it all out. "The war couldn't take enough bodies...even his."
Thea's chest ached at her brother's heartbroken tone. She knew what it felt like to lose someone you loved. Someone you were in love with. She wouldn't wish it on anybody.
Thea let a minute pass and bit her lip. "Well, from one person who lost their soulmate to another, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry Klaus."
Klaus' hand squeezed hers. He hadn't thought of that fact. In all his reasoning he'd never thought of how Thea would understand his heartbreak better than anyone else. Not just because she was his twin, his literal other-half, but because she'd experienced the same heartbreak and devastation when she lost Ben, as he did with Dave.
"It's okay, sis. I'm just hoping to conjure him now. I need to," he whispered. Thea nodded in understanding. That's what Klaus loved about his Thea, she never pushed for answers and supported you no matter what. "Thea," Klaus caught her attention.
"Yeah?" she asked.
"You can open it now. I'm ready." Thea looked into Klaus' eyes before closing hers in concentration. A couple of minutes passed before they snapped back open and she jumped to hug him again. "Klaus. I'm so sorry you had to go through all that, god, you must have been so scared. I'm so proud of you."
Thea had seen flashes of what Klaus had experienced and she felt lightheaded from all the new information.
'Are you okay?' Thea heard Ben's soft voice and laughed in relief.
"Yeah, I'm good. Especially now I have my two favourite boys back." Thea gave her brother another kiss on the cheek, "I love you guys so much. You both know that, right? So much that sometimes it hurts."
Klaus hummed and rubbed his cheek against her own whilst Thea heard Ben laugh softly from somewhere beside them. 'I know. I love you too, Thea.' Thea grinned happily at that, her eyes sparkling in happiness. She leant her forehead against Klaus'.
"Please don't do this to me again, Klaus. It doesn't matter if it was only for a short while but living without you is painful. Please don't shut me out." Klaus nodded in reply, "I promise, Thea. I promise I won't."
Klaus broke the serious moment by glancing behind her and pretending to whisper in secret, "You know, Ben keeps looking at you like such a sap it's beginning to make me gag." Thea stared at him in shock before she burst out laughing. 'Klaus. Shut up!' Thea laughed even harder at Ben's outrage. Her arms were still wrapped around Klaus' neck whilst she sat on his lap.
Her giggles died out as she looked down and frowned at the ropes wrapped around Klaus' body. "This would look very weird if someone were to walk into the room without context." Klaus looked down at them both before laughing himself.
He felt better laughing. He should have known that talking things out with Thea would've made him feel better. He hadn't laughed properly in so long that he'd missed how good it felt. Klaus winked at Thea before looking over to Ben with a smirk on his face, "Oh, but I'm sure someone would like it if he were in my position instead." Ben glared at Klaus and Klaus just threw his head back and laughed. Thea turned bright red at the insinuation and slapped her brother's chest. "Shut up!"
For the next few minutes, the two giggled at each other and just basked in how nice it felt to be together again. Thea pushed herself off of Klaus and picked up the fallen rope, before carrying on her walk around his chair with a new determination.
"What are you doing?" Klaus asked.
Thea gave him a blank look, "Tying you up like you asked, you weirdo. It's time for you to make a call with lover boy." Klaus understood and gave her a grateful smile.
Once she was done, Thea took a step back to inspect her handiwork. "Not bad," she muttered. "Anyway, I'll leave you to it, give you two some privacy. I hope it goes well, Klausy." Thea gave him a last kiss on his forehead and after getting a nod from Klaus, made her way out of the room and down the stairs, not before muttering a "See you soon, Ben." as she left.
A heads up for the next chapter, as this is technically the episode 'the day that wasn't' I've changed some things, and everything that happens in this chapter WILL be remembered next episode in 'the day that was'. The beginning of the next chapter you'll see how. (Five might not have travelled back to as early in the day as he'd originally planned.)