A few moments later (after another call to security had been made; this time to rectify the 'mistake' and make sure that they didn't come storming in and ruin this whole charade), Ben found himself perched atop another surface in a very feline manner as he watched both of his brothers strong-arm the middle-aged doctor towards the filing cabinets (on which he currently sat) and watched as he nervously searched through them. Currently, they were onto the fourth cabinet of files (mostly because the serial number on the back of the eyes was so degraded that it was hard to make all of it out) and Five was get antsy again. Ben could almost hear the sound of his brother's teeth degrading as he ground them together.

After they'd left the doctor's office, they had been led towards the area where several of the filing cabinets had been shoved into one corner. Ben, who had remembered that their nephew was supposed to be filing things away, looked for the curly-haired boy. But he wasn't there. Instead, Ben spotted a small splotch of purple out of the corner of his eye; which, when he looked, turned out to be the very boy who he was looking for (and a couple of his peers).

Together, they followed after some nondescript teacher in a duck-themed tie, into an equally bland conference room for what Ben could only assume was further lessons not pertaining to the medical building they currently occupied. (Ben couldn't help but coo at the scene of the impromptu classroom and Klaus, the heartless bastard, had rolled his eyes at Number Six as he trotted after Five and the doctor. Leaving Ben to melt, turning into a cooing puddle on the floor). Curiously though, Theodore almost seemed to resolutely avoid their gazes as they passed (not Ben, because obviously he couldn't see him), almost as if were afraid of them—Klaus especially. Ben had to wonder what had happened to make him flinch away from his lanky brother like that; particularly as he was so open and smiley, only an hour or so earlier.

"…Oh" Dr Big blinked dumbfoundedly at the file in his hands, shaking the ghost boy from his stupor. His gaze zeroed in on the doctor's shaky hands, which was understandable considering that both Five and Klaus could be scary in their own individual ways. Which was why Dr Big's hands shook with nervousness as he thumbed through file after file in search of the serial number (or something close to it) in the records; although that could've also been due to Five's hundred yard glare, Klaus leering down at him from on high or the notion that the he was breaking every conceivable confidentiality law for them), "Here it is"

"What?" Five demanded, all but leering over the top of the waist-high cabinets as Klaus settled in next to Ben, one leg thrown over the other. Ben wasn't sure if it had been a conscious action or not to keep their smallest brother on the other side, furtherest from the doctor. Either way, Number Six found himself revelling in the way his older brother looked like he was visibly hold himself back from launching across the furniture and search through the files himself. They were damn lucky that they had been able to get this far without security needing to be called again; but that might've had something to do with Klaus' lack of awareness around personal space and the doctor's fears about his image than anything else.

"Uh, the eye…"

"What about the eye?" Five sounded like he was about to start hissing or yowling like an irate cat.

"That—that eye was purchased about three years ago, by a minor"

"Which minor? We need a name!" The 'you idiot!' went unsaid, but they'd all heard it anyhow.

"There—there isn't one"

"What? What do you mean?" Klaus (who had a Disney princess-themed bandaid slapped to his forehead where he'd cut himself earlier during that stupid power/ego move with the snow globe) queried, as he disembarked from the cabinets, only to hover almost on top of the doctor in an attempt to read over his shoulder. Klaus never did have a sense for personal boundaries.

"Well, uh, minors' names are redacted to protect their identities, for—for legal reasons" Dr Big replied, "But, uh, our logs say that the eye with that serial number…this can't be right…!"

"Oh just spit it out already!" Ben rolled his eyes, more than done with the doctor's dramatics. At his feet, Klaus' lips twitched with mirth and tilted upwards at the corners.

"It says here that the eye was only purchased three years ago thanks to the results of a domestic dispute" Dr Big replied, brows furrowed in confusion. No matter how much wear and tear a prosthetic may have received over time, the one that Five had brought in physically could not have been only three years old. "How old did you say that eye was, again?"

"Tch…!" Five clucked his tongue irritably. He looked more than ready to punch something at the news. Ben wasn't sure if Klaus would be able to hold back their time travelling brother if he decided to rampage.

"…Well" Five sighed heavily in irritation as he slumped down on the front steps of Meritech Industries, running an exasperated hand through his hair and down his face. His earlier interest, the one that had been peaked thanks to the revelation of Theodore's glass eye (one supposedly several years older than the on they had in their possession), had been dashed in favour of the dismal situation he now found himself in. A look of utter despair flittered across his face, if only for a moment as his heart swelled with defeat. This one lead—this one connection to the past—the thing that he had put so much faith & hope into, this sacred talisman which had brought him through so many years of heartache and pain was a dead end. He felt like giving up."This is not good"

"I was pretty good though, right?" Klaus preened, unaware of his brother's inner turmoil. He danced about the steps of the medical building, after having waved farewell to both the doctor, who had been more than happy to see them to the door and their nephew you refused to meet their gaze.

"Yeah!" Klaus giggled drunkenly, "What about MY consent, bitch?' Hehe~!"

"Klaus—!" Five scolded as he jumped to his feet and stomped over to where Klaus stood, in an attempt to get his wayward brother to understand. "It doesn't matter!"

"What—What? What's the big deal with this eye, anyway?" Klaus whined childishly as he continued to pick the glitter off that was stuck to his face.

"There is someone out there—a child!—who lost their eye three years ago!" Five paced along the sidewalk, visibly agitated, "And now they're gonna bring about the end of life on this Earth, as we know it! The world ends! That's it! All of it! Gone! Just like that! Poof!"

("Whoa, dude" Ben whistled as he watched his brother pace as he ranted).

"Hehe~" Klaus giggled quietly at Ben's remark (something which irked Five greatly), before he replied to his still living brother, "Look, if it really is a kid, then it's probably one of those LANE kids"

"One of the LANE kids?"

"Yeah, y'know, the ones with superpowers that are all over the news and stuff. Y'know, like Vanny and Theo?"

"Hm…" Five hummed, brows knotted in thought. It seemed that these 'LANE' kids were more involved in this version of the timeline than he first thought. And they were quickly becoming an unforeseen nuisance.

"…Yeah…" Klaus licked his lips; tasting both the metallic iron of blood, the sweet tang of chlorinated water and the plastic taste of glitter that clung to everything it touched. "Can I get that 20 bucks, like now or what?"

"Your 20 bucks?" Five spun on his heel, brows raised in exasperation and disbelief.

"Yeah" Klaus nodded, "My 20 bucks"

"The apocalypse is coming and all you can think about is getting high?!"

"…Well, I'm also quite hungry" Klaus grinned, blinking ever so innocently. "Tummy's a-rumblin'! Grrr!"

"…You're useless! You're all useless!" Five threw his hands up in the air in exasperation.

"Oh, c'me on!" Klaus rolled his eyes, "You need to lighten up, old man!"

"Heh…" Five heaved a put-upon sigh as he returned to his seat on the front stoop.

"Hey, y'know, I've just now realised why you're so uptight!" Klaus turned, eyes bright with mirth. "You must be horny as hell!"

("Gross" Ben deadpanned).

"All those years by yourself" Klaus grinned as he joined his brother on the front step, flipping Ben off as he went. "It's gotta screw with your head, being alone"

"…Well…" Five swallowed thickly as he found himself unable to look his brother in the eye. Instead, the two watched the horizon like there was something interesting in the cars passing by. "…I wasn't alone"

"Oh? Pray tell"

"…Her name was Dolores. We were together for 30 years"

"30 years?!" Klaus exclaimed.

("Awwww!" Ben, ever the romantic, cooed. "That's so sweet! Five's a married man!")

"Oh wow! God!" Klaus blinked, trying to fathom just how someone could stand another person—the same person—for such a long period of time. Well, there was Ben, but that was a different story. "The longest I've ever been with someone was…I dunno, three weeks? And that's only because I was so tired of looking for a place to sleep…"

("—Klaus—!" Ben tried to warn the oblivious Number Four as Number Five left them behind. Again. But Klaus was oblivious to anyone else but himself; as per usual).

"…He did make the most fantastic osso buco though. It was—" Klaus turned to where his time travelling brother once sat, only to find his ghostly brother instead. "Five?"

("Told ya so" Ben smirked, hands shoved into his pockets as he bared the weight of Klaus' stink eye).

VROOM~! VROOM~!

("There he goes…" Ben mused as he watched his older brother disappear down the road in an orange-painted taxi. The driver bore an odd expression that was both confused, startled and uncaring—he was likely not paid enough to care—That or he thought that Five was one of those aforementioned LANE kids who could take both of them out without even breaking a sweat; or so said the news and all those propaganda sites).

"Five?" Klaus' brows furrowed as he tried to figure out how his brother had disappeared from beside him and reappeared inside the moving vehicle. "Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! What about my money? Five!"

("Annnnnd…he's gone" Ben hummed, almost amused as he watched their smallest brother wave them away, before flipping them off until he was no more than a blip on the horizon.

"Thanks for your help!" Klaus sniped, turning on his brother with a snap. Ben, of course, was used to this sort of attitude from his brother (not that he enjoyed), and gave it right back to him.

("Oh what? For not fuelling that drug habit, you call a hobby? Don't act like you didn't just pawn some of Dad's stuff, dickhead!")

"That was different!"

("Oh yeah? How?")

"I—I—wha—uh—it just is!"

("Wow…Brilliant argument there, top of the class")

"I don't need your sass!" Klaus flipped his brother off as he soon began to make his way back down the street, likely returning to the Umbrella Academy where he had commanded one of the couches instead of returning to his childhood bedroom. Ben suspected that his brother couldn't quite bring himself to return to their shared space just yet.

("IT'S NOT SASS IF IT'S TRUE!" Ben called after his retreating brother. Klaus just flipped him off. Y'know. Ben thought, For people brought up in an academy about umbrellas, we sure do like the birds).