10:46pm, Sunday September 8th, 2019
Klaus has traveled through time more than once, fought in a war that took place decades before he was born and is in love with a ghost so he has almost definitely done stranger things in his life than breaking into a thrift store in the middle of the night to steal clothes for his brother's clone, but he'd probably been high as balls most the time and couldn't remember so they didn't count. As such he helps himself to a couple pieces of jewelry and a shirt too ugly to pass up because fuck it, it's been that kind of day. He deserves it.
He almost forgets he's supposed to be getting clothes for Five, too.
He stops and grabs the first thing that looks like it will fit and doesn't bother being choosy because he has no idea what kind of clothes Five would even wear.
Mission (eventually) accomplished he shimmies back out the basement window he'd kicked in and onto level ground, slipping through the alley and acting casual enough that no one would bother to look at him twice. Just another feral child of the city, out for a good time.
He gets back to the restaurant and a quick glance through the window tells him things have gone about the way they usually do when the family gets together. Five is on his feet, arms waving in agitation and Diego looks about ready to throw knives and everyone else has a kinda done expression so he decides to hang out front for a bit until things blow over. Whatever information Five had wasn't critical enough to tempt Klaus to wade into that kind of family drama.
After a moment that's a lot shorter than he'd been expecting everyone seems to calm down, so he takes that as his cue, popping open the door and looking for all the world like he'd just arrived and definitely hadn't been lurking around outside.
"-the only chance we've got," Five finishes and Klaus fixes an expertly crafted look of cluelessness on his face. "The chance to do what?" He asks innocently, "What'd I miss?"
Before anyone can answer Five snaps out, "Do you have my shirt?" bitching at him already and and Klaus flashes him a toothy grin, tossing over his ill-gotten gains.
"Oh yeah- here ya go."
Five strips out of the coat right there in the middle of the restaurant - not that anyone who worked there would care, they'd all seen far worse and Klaus could attest to that personally - but it's still kinda surprising cause his brother had always seemed weird about stuff like that in the past. Or at least, the bit of Five's past that Klaus had shared with him. Well, maybe the old man had learned to loosen up over the years. Judging by the look on Five's face though, he's probably just in a hurry.
Five was always in a hurry.
Which means it's a bit weird when he suddenly stops cold in the middle of changing. "What the hell are you wearing?" he asks suddenly, a funny look on his face that makes the hair on the back of Klaus' neck stand up. But Klaus is a fucking master at ignoring stuff like that so he does, flashing his brother his most exasperating smile and holding his arms out wide.
"What, this? Just picked it up. Like it?" Of course no one liked it. That was the point.
"No," Five says flatly, very obviously not liking it but not in the way Klaus was expecting. Briefly he wonders if the shirt had belonged to any of Five's past victims, someone he'd killed while working for the Commission. There are a number of things wrong with that theory but Klaus doesn't know how else to explain the reaction, the look his brother is giving him. It's not that ugly.
He's almost, almost ready to ask Five what the hell when his brother's face goes from puzzled to panicked, and next thing Klaus knows Five is hustling them all out the door, babbling about having something important to do- which is typical enough for Klaus to feel like his feet are on solid ground again, something comforting about Five yelling at them to 'get moving, faster dammit, you're all useless'.
But for all his bluster he just ends up leading them around the side of the building into an empty parking lot and stopping. "It'll be faster if we jump," he explains without explaining, and Klaus blinks at him.
"I didn't know you could jump with other people" he says, and Five flashes him a look that tells him how little he thinks of his brother's intellect.
"We traveled through time with you, what makes you think we can't travel through space?" he asks, Which Klaus has to admit is a fair point. Five looks at him for a moment, doesn't get a reply and turns to the others. "All right," he continues, "We'll only be able to take a few of you at a time. The time lock is sensitive, and if we tried to bring you all through at once it-it wouldn't be pretty." He glances around at them. "Vanya, Allison, you first."
"Why do they get to go first?" Diego challenges, and Five doesn't even look at him as he replies, "Because you're a dick." Then he's gone, vanishing along with their sisters in a burst of blue light.
"Sure sounds like our Five," Luther mutters.
Klaus opens his mouth to agree when Five teleports back in, grabs both Luther and Diego and blinks away again.
That leaves Klaus all by his lonesome. He starts to sit, body already on a downward trajectory but he never makes contact with the pavement. Fingers lock around his wrist in a literal bruising grip and then he's hurtling through a familiar blue void, energy crackling around him.
"Where are we going?" he shouts but Five ignores him, familiar look of concentration on his face. But this time at least his brother doesn't look half dead and exhausted. Doesn't look worried. Doesn't look terrified the way he did when he was bringing them back to the future. This time his brother has a briefcase to do the heavy lifting.
When they drop out of the wormhole it takes a moment for Klaus' molars to stop vibrating and the static to leave his brain. Then he looks around with interest, eager to see what a time traveling assassin's hidden lair might look like.
It looks a lot like Klaus' bedroom at the mansion.
"What-" he begins but Five quiets him with a hiss.
"Keep your voice down!" he growls in a fierce whisper, shoulders hunched up and body doubled over like he did when he was trying to be sneaky and Klaus gets the feeling they aren't supposed to be here.
"Where are we? Why are we back at the mansion?" Klaus whispers back, then his brain switches on. "When are we?" he demands, because that was always an important question when dealing with Five.
"There's something we need to do," Five answers, and Klaus isn't quite as stupid as he pretends to be so he doesn't miss the fact his brother didn't actually answer the important bit.
"We as in us or we as in you?" he asks again, and Five shoots him an exasperated look.
"Us," he clarifies, which is absolutely not the answer Klaus was expecting.
"Where's Vanya and the rest?"
"They're fine, they're with the twins. We don't need them for this; come on." Five's still talking in half-whisper, leading Klaus out of his childhood room and down the hall and Klaus still doesn't know what 'this' is.
"But you need me?" It's kinda surprising, actually. When was the last time anyone needed him -specifically- for anything? "Why me?"
"Because of your shirt," Five answers nonsensically. "Now, listen carefully, here's what you're going to do..."