Chapter 7

When Luther finally burst into his room to declare "family meeting," Klaus had already been awake for several hours. (Scheming never sleeps!) (Okay, scheming sometimes sleeps, but never for very long.)

Ben had been nagging at him all morning, trying to figure out his whole plan and also trying to change his mind. When he decided that wouldn't work, he progressed to asking more questions about his time travel excursion, about the 173rd, about Dave. Klaus was about five minutes from using his powers to shut Ben up, when he finally asked a question that Klaus was willing to answer.

"Back at the bar… What did you do to Frank?" Ben sounded scared, and slightly sick.

"Why Ben, I thought that'd be obvious! I tore his soul apart!"

"But how? Why?"

"All this time, you've been trying to convince me to get rid of him! I've finally done it! Aren't you happy? Aren't you pleased?" Klaus jumped off his bed and approached where his brother was leaning against his shelves. "The whole time you've been with me it's always been 'don't listen to Frank, Klaus,' 'why don't we go do something else, Klaus,' 'you really need to stop this, Klaus.' Nattering in my ear about how horrible of an influence he is… Well, now neither of us will ever see him again."

"I wanted you to stop abusing your powers like that!" Ben cried out. "To actually do something good for once, instead of following the path he wanted! You could be doing so much better! And then what you did to him… it felt… wrong," Ben let out a shudder.

"Of course it felt wrong to you. You're just a shade, Ben. One of the many dead who never managed to move on. Up until now, if I wanted to be permanently rid of a spirit, my only choice was shoving them through the Veil. Getting the dead to leave when they're so preoccupied with their 'unfinished business' isn't the easiest thing, but it got them off this plane of existence. Now I know that isn't necessary. Death is my domain, I should've known I could grant a more permanent death as well. You - you're just another of the lingering dead. You should be terrified of what I could do to you." He engaged his powers of corporeality for just a split second, so he could pat his brother on the cheek.

"Why did you do that to him?" Ben asked again, still sounding unnerved. "You never explained."

Klaus rolled his eyes, turning away again. "That's because I don't have to explain myself to anyone, least of all you." He tilted his head to the side and thought about it for a moment, and then shrugged. It's not like it was a huge secret, he might as well share. "Frank is a massive asshole, we both knew that. The difference is you hated that he was an ass and I delighted in it. He's been there ever since I was a kid. The first ghost that wasn't a screaming maniac, but just a regular maniac. He taught me things, taught me a new way of looking at things. He's the one that taught me how to use my powers, not Reggie. I always thought it was weird that he wasn't like the rest of the dead - even you were crazy when you first showed up, remember? Didn't realize why he was different until I was sent back in time. He was already dead, but it was the first time I met him. I was the one who restored his sanity, and I told him enough about our lives and my powers that he chose to seek me out as a child. But he didn't create me, I created myself by letting him go even though I knew what he'd do. He made the mistake of forgetting that. It's true that without him I'd be a weak, addle-minded, drug addict, but now I've outgrown him. And as he taught me - always take revenge. He aided in my kidnapping, he's been using me this whole time, so I destroyed him."

He didn't need to go into detail about the malignant spirit thing. Ben didn't need to know what lengths he was truly willing to go to in order to avoid being weak. To avoid winding up like the sad sap in the Commission's files, who'd been homeless the whole time he'd been gone from the Academy, who'd never grown into his potential, who still bowed to the whims of his worthless family.

"Along with everything else, Frank was always a massive narcissist. I'm sure he didn't really expect me to return from Vietnam, which was truly stupid of him, but he probably also had an idea of how it would go. I'd approach him with tears in my eyes, ask him how he did it, why he did it, was everything truly a lie? And he could go into his prepared villain's monologue about how he'd known from the start that I was useless and worthless, and so very easy to manipulate. He would become the focus of my attention again, the focus of my world and my agony, and he could laugh and indulge in it, he'd reveal all the ways he's screwed me over, over the years. And in the end, I'd be too weak to do anything about it, and he'd swan off to go bother some other miserable asshole. Or, even if I took action against him, the worst I could do is send him to the next plane of existence, where he could continue laughing at me from the beyond.

"That was his plan. I know him well enough to know that. So I didn't give him the satisfaction. I can guarantee he'd be completely pissed that I didn't even give him the opportunity to get a word in. I could have drawn it out, could have made destroying him last hours or days, but really that would only have fed into his ego even more and given him a sense of importance he didn't truly deserve. Being treated as worthless was a far greater punishment than any torture I could have devised."

Ben didn't get a chance to respond to that before Luther interrupted their little heart-to-heart.

Klaus dutifully trudged downstairs, Ben following at his heels as always. He hadn't spoken again after Luther left, but he was clearly excited. He remembered Klaus' promise - a chance to speak to his family again. He didn't know why Ben was looking forward to talking to those assholes so much, but then, they'd always liked Ben more than him. So long as Ben remembered the ground rules it would work out. No sharing more information than Klaus offered, and definitely no personal details. He could confirm that Klaus was telling the truth, but he couldn't offer more information. He definitely couldn't talk about what Klaus had been doing all these years, and if he so much as tried, he'd be incorporeal before he could even blink. In fact, if he said anything at all that Klaus didn't like, he'd be invisible again. (They had a bet going on about what Luther would do if he found out about Klaus' source of income. Klaus was pretty sure Luther would either kill him (again, although he left that unspoken) or try to lock him up. Ben said his brother would never do something like that to a sibling. Klaus just laughed.)

They made their way into the living room where only a few days ago they'd been discussing their father's funeral, and then whether to turn off Grace. The others were mostly gathered already, the only ones missing were Five and Vanya. Five was presumably with the Commission still, but Vanya… she definitely needed to be here for this, or it wouldn't be nearly as much fun.

As soon as Klaus entered the room, Luther attempted to begin.

"The world's ending in three days," he started.

"Three days?" Allison responded in disbelief.

"That's what Five said," he agreed.

"Yeah, that's great and all, but you really shouldn't start a family meeting until the family's all here," Klaus interrupted.

"Five is missing again. We are all here. Now-" Luther continued dismissively.

"Actually, I was talking about Vanya. You know, our other sister. She should be here for this," Klaus interrupted him.

"This is an Academy matter. She isn't part of the Academy."

"Really? Only, a second ago you called it a family matter," Klaus smirked.

"I'll fill her in afterward," Allison contributed.

"Wow. I thought you were trying to repair your relationship, be a better sister, all that jazz. 'Fill her in afterward,' you're hilarious. That'll just make it more clear you don't think of her as worthy to be a part of the meeting. Rub it in her face that you were here and she wasn't even invited." Klaus knew that it wasn't Luther he needed to convince, but Allison. Luckily she was easy. "Didn't you say something about no longer excluding her?"

Allison paused for a moment, then finally sighed. "As much as I hate to say it, Klaus is right. We should wait for Vanya."

"And how long is that going to take? We need to start this meeting, now!" Luther grumbled.

Which, that was the exact wrong thing to say, and Allison was in defensive-sister-mode now. "You didn't even call her like the rest of us! At least let me phone her!"

Luther was never able to say no to Allison, even when she wasn't using her powers, and it didn't take him long to acquiesce. Allison went for the phone in the hallway, and returned a few moments later.

"She didn't answer, but I left her a message, let her know we were meeting and that we want her here."

"Fine. Can we get started now? As I said, Five mentioned the apocalypse."

"Yeah, but can we trust him? I don't know if you've noticed, but Five's a little," Allison made a whirling motion with her finger.

"Our little psycho," Klaus smirked.

"He was pretty convincing," Luther stated. "If he wasn't trying to stop an apocalypse, those lunatics wouldn't be chasing him."

"That's why they were after him?" Diego questioned, looking worse for the wear after yesterday. He had a sling on the arm that had gotten shot.

"Yeah," Luther nodded.

"What did Five even see?" Allison asked, leaning closer to Luther.

"Uh... Apparently, we all fought together against whoever was responsible." Luther sounded extremely hesitant and was definitely leaving something out. Klaus was pretty sure he knew what. "Okay. So, here's the plan. We go through Dad's research-"

Allison was the one to cut him off this time, "wait, what?"

"Hold on, hold on," Diego added.

"Wait a tick, wait a tick, wait a tick," Klaus contributed to the protests, looking forward to seeing how Luther would handle the protests. "What actually happened the first time around?"

"Yeah. What are you not telling us?" Diego picked up the line of questioning, just as Klaus knew he would. "Come on, big boy, spit it out."

There was silence for several moments, before Luther finally answered. "We died."

"What was that?" Allison asked. Luther had moved far enough away from her before he answered that she probably hadn't managed to hear him clearly.

"I said, uh, we died."

As the others started to immediately ask more questions and demand answers, Klaus turned his head to the second story. The nanny ghosts were getting irritable. Vanya must be in the house. Wonderful. The real meeting could start very soon.

He remained in the periphery of the conversation as Vanya found her way to the sitting room, and curiously, she wasn't alone.

"Hey," Vanya finally gathered the others' attention, but Klaus was more interested in the guy next to her. There were a few different ghosts following him, but two were the most obvious. One was clearly the guy's father, and he was ranting angrily about how 'Harold had always been a bastard, first he'd killed his mom, and then he'd killed him, his father. He should have drowned him when he was just a child, should have taken him out when he had the chance.' The other was still Harold's, but she was circling Vanya, saying she hadn't needed to get her boyfriend to kill her if she wanted first chair so badly, did the conversation in the dressing room piss her off so badly?

"It's a family matter," Allison finally responded, eyeing the interloper.

"A family matter," Vanya scoffed. "So you couldn't bother to include me?"

"No, it's not like that, we were-" Luther tried and failed to handle things, as usual.

"Don't let me interrupt," Vanya turned to leave, and Allison moved towards her quickly.

"Wait, we tried to call. You didn't answer your phone. This is important, and we want you here. Maybe… not Leonard, though."

"You called?" Vanya sounded shocked.

"I told you… it's a family matter. And you're family. But it's also time sensitive. We couldn't wait any longer."

"Wait, who is Leonard?" Klaus asked.

Vanya looked away from Allison for a moment, then back. "Leonard is my boyfriend. Leonard, these are my siblings." she motioned between the guy and the rest of them.

"I hate to be the one to tell you this, but his name definitely isn't Leonard. It's Harold," Klaus shrugged. "At least, that's what his ghosties are saying. Killed your own father? Nasty business."

"What are you talking about?" Luther demanded in his Leader Voice, and the others also looked sort of appalled.

"I'm talking about the ghosts following him around. His victims."

"Stop making things up!" Vanya said in a startlingly loud voice. "We all know you haven't been able to use your powers since you got into drugs!"

"Yes, convenient, that. Everyone knows so it must be true, so no one thinks to question it. It's been useful all these years, but it's kind of pointless now, with the apocalypse coming and all," Klaus smirked.

"What are you saying, that you've just pretended to be an addict this whole time?" Luther snorted. "Yeah, right."

"None of you have even seen me since I left this place. Why do you think you know who I am? And anyways. If I didn't have control of my powers, would I be able to do this?" With a twist of his hands, and a blue flash, Ben was suddenly visible to the whole room, not just him. He had been leaning against the counter where the others were gathered, trying to feel like part of the conversation even though he was a step separate from it. Diego was the first to notice him.

"B-B-Ben?" his voice cracked along with the stutter, a sure sign Diego was feeling extra emotional.

"They can see me now?" Ben asked Klaus, who nodded even though the answer was obviously yes.

"Oh my God, Ben!" the others immediately crowded around him, reaching out to touch him, to make sure he was real. Klaus on the other hand, made a 'go on' motion at his sibling. Go on. Fulfill your purpose here.

"Klaus was telling the truth. He probably has better control over his power than any of you do. And that guy Vanya is with does have dead people following him, and they're calling him Harold."

Vanya reached out a hand, gripping Ben, then turned back to look at her boyfriend. "What are they talking about, Leonard?"

The guy held up his arms in a defensive position, but was clearly stalling, thinking up some excuse she would believe. They were all interrupted by a flash of blue light that didn't come from Klaus this time.

Five thudded down onto the table, clutching a briefcase. He was dirty and obviously had been fighting, still panting from the exertion.
"Jesus!" Allison exclaimed, throwing herself backwards.

"Five! And just in time, too. We were holding a family meeting," Klaus smirked. "And now all of us are here."

Five groaned and rolled off the table onto the floor, Luther and Allison reaching out to catch him.

"Five, where have you been?" came from Luther (he definitely hadn't developed any better bedside manners in recent years).

"Are you alright?" came from Allison (who clearly had).

"Who did this to you?" Luther asked, catching on that his first response hadn't been the best one (who said an old dog couldn't learn new tricks?).

"Irrelevant," Five responded, grabbing what remained of Allison's coffee and chugging it while everyone watched with varying degrees of interest.

"So the apocalypse is in three days," Five began, turning to face the group, but then he broke off. "Ben?"

"Hi Five, it's good to see you," Ben smiled shyly.

"What, how are -" Five looked around the room again, then back at Ben. "How are you here?"

"That would be me," Klaus smiled, waving his Hello hand at Five. "As I was saying just before you jumped in, I'm not a drug addict, and I do have control of my powers. Anyways, you were saying, about the apocalypse? That's what this meeting was supposed to be about, how we're going to stop it."

"I was," Five stopped again taking a deep breath. "The only chance we have to save our world is, well, us."

"The Umbrella Academy," Luther sounded smug, even as Vanya frowned.

"Yes, but with me obviously. And to give us a fighting chance to see next week, I've come back with a lead. I know who's responsible for the apocalypse. This is who we have to stop," he handed Allison a slip of paper.

"Harold Jenkins?" Allison asked.

Klaus burst out laughing. Vanya's boyfriend, who had been slowly trying to edge out of the room while they were all distracted (first by Ben, then by Five), froze at the sound of his name.

"Who the hell is Harold Jenkins?"

"I don't know, yet," Five tossed the coffee cup aside before turning to where Klaus was laughing. "I'm sorry, is this funny to you?"

"Oh it's hilarious. What are the odds that the guy who starts the apocalypse is in this very room?" He pointed at the man in question. "Vanya's boyfriend is the trigger for Five's apocalypse!"

Five doesn't hesitate, immediately flashing over to the man and shoving him against a wall.

"Wait! That can't be true! Tell them it isn't true!" Vanya cried out, also moving towards her boyfriend.

"I told you already, he lied about his name. And according to Jenkins Senior over there, this is exactly who we're looking for," Klaus nodded.

"They're lying, please Vanya, you know me!" Harold pressed against Five's grip, but was no match for the trained assassin.

Ben moved closer to Vanya, carefully grabbing her hand. "I'm sorry Van, he's telling the truth. That really is Harold Jenkins. I can see his dad too."

"Was it all a lie, then? Why me? Why did you - you've been manipulating me?" Vanya demanded, sounding more distraught than Klaus had heard her in years.

"No, that's not true," the guy immediately stuttered out, then groaned as Five thrust something sharp at him.

"Tell the truth. What's your real name?" Five sounded somewhat deranged, but he supposed having the thing he'd been desperately searching for all this time right in front of him would do that to anyone.

"Come now, Harold, no need to lie when we already know the truth. You saw me materialize Ben, do you want me to bring your dad into this conversation too? He's pretty pissed about the hammer, would love the opportunity to return the favor." Klaus grinned at the man, and saw him pale.

"Okay, yes, fine. I changed my name. I didn't want to be connected to him anymore! Harold Jenkins, he's… a lonely boy. An outsider whose family was cruel to him. All he ever wanted was to be heard, to be loved."

"Allison was right about you all along," Vanya backed away from him, while Allison moved forwards, reaching for Vanya.

"Which leads to the question, why Vanya?" Five demanded. Harold groaned as Five drew blood. "What did you want with her?"

Harold wasn't very smart, so he just shook his head, refusing to answer. His father had no such compunctions.

"According to Jenkins Senior, he was obsessed with us as a kid. Had all the action figures and comics, even built himself a little costume. He wanted to be us. And then he killed his dad and got sent to prison, and now he just wants to destroy us. He thought Vanya would be the easiest way in after he read her book - thought since she'd been pushed to the side too that she could be his foot in the door," Klaus contributed. "Did you think we wouldn't find out, Harold? You thought you could destroy us? That's hilarious."

"What are we going to do with him?" Diego asked.

"We could turn him into the police," Luther suggested.

"On what grounds? He hasn't done anything yet," Allison looked at them.

"But we know he's going to! Five could get proof," Luther sounded stubborn on the point.

"They don't arrest people for crimes they might commit, Luther," Diego rolled his eyes.

"We could just kill him," Klaus suggested.

Luther immediately protested, "we don't do that!"

Klaus scoffed, nearly laughing again. "Don't do that! How many people did the Academy kill, when we went out on missions? 'Well those were just bad guys, enemies, they don't count,'" he mimicked Luther. "Well apparently, this guy is going to cause the apocalypse and kill billions. Pretty sure that's the kind of thing that gets someone the death sentence."

"I… agree," Diego said. "We don't know exactly how he's going to cause it, just that it's him. Better safe than sorry."

"No, we are not doing this," Luther protested. "Allison?"

"He's going to start the apocalypse… kill everyone. Kill Claire," she sounded apologetic as she looked at Luther.

"No! I forbid it, I'm Number One!"

"Well, luckily I don't need your permission," Five responded, even as Harold's body hit the ground. Vanya let out something which might have been an aborted sob, clinging more tightly to Ben and Allison. Harold's spirits dissipated, their unfinished business fulfilled, even as Harold's stepped out of his body.

Harold's ghost saw Klaus watching him, and rushed forwards, obviously pulling back an arm to try to hit him. Klaus laughed, both at him and at Luther's statement, and pushed Harold away even as he turned to look at Luther. "No one cares about the numbers anymore except you, Luther. And really we should talk about that, next. I have some news you'll all definitely want to hear."

Five knelt over Harold's body, and there was a weird squelching sound for a few moments, before something was tossed on the floor. Then Five grabbed his fake eyeball and shoved it into the now-empty socket. Diego looked like he wanted to throw up, even as Five grinned.

"Same eye color, same pupil size. Guys, this is it. The eye I've been carrying around for decades has found its rightful home. We got the guy we needed to kill to stop the apocalypse," Five looked more youthful with that one smile than in the entirety of the time since he'd come back.

Klaus had thought that with the official end of the apocalypse, he would feel more victorious, but he was still kind of empty. Well, there were still Hazel and Cha-Cha to take care of. It wouldn't be truly over for him until their deaths.

"Right. As I was saying," Klaus continued. "There are a few more things we should talk about at this family meeting, since we're all here."

"I'm not done talking about what just happened!" Luther sounded angry now, which was always fun.

"I conjured Dad," Klaus said the thing he knew would immediately drain the wind from those sails, and he was right.

"What? When? Can you bring him here now, like Ben?" Luther was very forceful, taking a few menacing steps forward.

"When? Doesn't matter. Could I do it again? Sure. But why would I want to? He was a Grade A asshole and I'm glad he's gone. But there are a few Hargreeves family secrets which should come out now. And trust me, you'll want to take a seat."

Five had zapped over to the bar, and seemed to be mixing margaritas. He was clearly still in party mode. Ben and Allison seemed to still be comforting Vanya, but all three looked up at his words.

"What did the old man have to say?" Diego was the first to ask.

"There's no easy way to say this, so I'm going to just spit it out."

"This is a bad idea," Ben contributed, then looked slightly shocked when everyone looked his way. Seems he'd forgotten he was visible. Klaus would have to keep an eye on that.

"Anyways. I summoned Dad, and he gave me the usual lecture about my appearance and my failures in life, yadda yadda yadda. No surprise there. Even the afterlife couldn't soften a hardass like Dad, right? But he did mention something about his murder, or lack thereof, because...he killed himself."

"I don't have time for your games, Klaus," Luther looked angry again.

"I'm not lying. It's the honest truth. Ben was there," he pointed, and Ben nodded.

"Why'd he do it, then?" Five asked, sipping on something green.

"Because he was a complete idiot who apparently didn't know how to work a phone," Klaus laughed. "He said it was the only way to get us all together again."

"No way," Diego's expression mirrored Luther's.

"No. Dad wouldn't just kill himself," Luther was still in denial.

"You said it yourself," Five contributed, "he was depressed. Holed up in his office day and night."

"No. There weren't any signs. Suicidal people exhibit certain tendencies, strange behaviors," Luther started listing.

"Like sending someone to the moon for no reason?" Klaus snorted. "Oh, yeah, and there's that. Apparently Diego was right all along. There was no mission on the moon, no research he needed done. He just wanted to be rid of you. He never even looked at all the stuff you sent back."

"You're wrong," Luther protested.

"Unfortunately," Pogo interrupted, suddenly entering the room, "Master Klaus is right on both counts." Pogo was studiously ignoring the body on the floor to face the group. "Regretfully...I helped Master Hargreeves enact his plan."

"What?" Luther sounded aghast.

"So did Grace. It was a difficult choice for both of us. More difficult than you could ever know. Prior to your father's death, Grace's programming was adjusted so that she was incapable of administering first aid on that fateful night."

"Sick bastard," there was a lot of vitriol in Diego's tone, but then, he'd always been closest to the robot.

"So the security tape?" Allison asked.

"It was meant to further the murder mystery. Your father hoped that being back here, solving it together, would reignite your desire to be a team again," Pogo revealed.

"And to what end?"

"To save the world, of course," Pogo sighed.

"Well, we've already gotten that over with," Klaus pointed towards Harold's body.

"And the moon mission?" Luther wasn't done. "'Watch for threats,' that's what he told me. And then the apocalypse… Surely it had something to do with my research on the moon!"

"Your father was many things. Forthright was not one of them," Pogo at least had the decency to sound apologetic. "After your accident, he wanted to give you purpose, Master Luther. He felt that was the only way."

"What? Shanghaiing me on the Moon for four years? I wasn't a good enough Number One? That's what it was? I couldn't cut it? So he sent me away?" Luther went from angry to distraught very quickly, Pogo's words having an impact that Klaus' hadn't managed (maybe it was the fact they came from a trusted source?). Allison left Vanya to Ben, and moved over to give Luther comfort instead.

Klaus watched all of this in amusement, even as the others all had their own reactions, and then spoke again. "But wait, there's more!"

"What else could there possibly be?" (Which is more important than me and what I just learned, Luther didn't add. But they all heard it.)

"This secret isn't for you, Gorilla Boy, but for our dear sister Vanya. Dad was hiding a lot of things, but I think this is probably the biggest." (He'd conveniently leave out the alien thing. They wouldn't believe it anyways so there was no point.)

"What?" Vanya asked.

"Well. Forty-three kids born in mysterious circumstances, and only one of them doesn't have special powers? Does that sound very likely to you?" Klaus asked.

"What are you saying?"

Ben looked like he wanted to protest, to get Klaus to do things differently, but he also knew his current position here was contingent on not ruining Klaus' fun. He'd been a very good boy so far, remaining quiet and everything. Maybe he'd actually make it to the end of the meeting.

"Vanya, you have powers. You've always had powers. But you were more powerful than the rest of us, and you knew it. You wouldn't let Dad control you, so Reggie decided you shouldn't be allowed to keep them. They locked you up in a tiny room under the house and drugged you until you could no longer access your powers. They told you it was for your anxiety, but technically it was for theirs. He was scared of you, of what he couldn't control."

"No," Vanya was crying, "What? How… Why? I've had powers all this time? I was special, like the rest of you? Why would he do that?"

There was an odd rumbling in the house, as Vanya continued to vent her emotions, like something was shifting the foundations. It sounded like there was rain pouring outside the windows, but Klaus knew it had been completely dry only a few moments ago. Huh.

"Oh my god," Allison suddenly froze. "I understand now. When we were four, Dad told us you were sick. You had to be isolated. We were so young...None of us knew to question it. But then he asked me to do something I never understood... until now. He made me an accomplice."

"You did this to me?" Vanya sounded as though her voice was coming through a tunnel.

Bad timing, Allison. Really. Choosing to give her a different outlet for her anger, to provide herself as an outlet? Not very smart.

"You knew this whole time?" Vanya yelled, and it was like the ground was shaking. She had brushed Ben off and was now directly facing Allison.

"No, no! I didn't really understand! Until today, until he told us!"

"Well, now it all makes sense. This is why you never wanted me around," Vanya scoffed.

"What? No!" Allison was still protesting. Luther stepped up behind her, rested a hand on Allison's shoulder, but that just made things worse. Made it clear it was them against her. Klaus watched with glowing glee, hoping to see Vanya kick Luther's ass. That would certainly be a sight to see.

"You couldn't risk me threatening your place in the house, your - your dominance!"

"That is not true."

"You couldn't handle the fact that Dad might find me special!" Seems she'd already forgotten that it was their father who'd ordered the rumoring in the first place. Again, good job, Allison, giving her a new outlet.

"You are special, with or without powers." Allison looked as though she wanted to reach out, to touch her sister. Klaus could have told her that was a bad idea. Ben looked terrified, but Five looked intrigued. Of course he would. He probably wanted to know what she could do. Diego, too, looked incredibly interested. It looked like neither had really noticed that Vanya's powers were already acting up (he honestly hadn't really planned on that, but hey, it just made things more interesting!)

"We have a chance to start over," Allison was saying.

"You destroyed my life!"

"Oh, please, Vanya. Everything is out in the open. We can move on!" Wow, Allison. No people skills whatsoever, apparently.

Vanya thought the same, and it looked like something was beginning to flicker under her skin, and a breeze was starting to kick up around the room.

As that happened, it became clear to the rest of the Academy what was happening, or rather, that Vanya was happening.

Pogo actually looked rather terrified. Funny. He should. He helped suppress her powers in the first place. If Klaus were her, he'd be one of her first targets.

"Are you okay?" Allison wasn't the only one to ask, the others approaching them.

"Leave me alone!" Vanya yelled, and then it wasn't just a ripple under her skin, but the entirety of her body. She was bathed in a white shine, and the subtle rumbling of the house turned into something almost equivalent to an earthquake.

"Miss Vanya! Stop this at once!" Pogo shouted, even as he braced himself. "I understand how upset you are. But I can assure you that none of your siblings bear any responsibility for what happened to you as a child."

Everything went deceptively still as Vanya turned to look at Pogo. Klaus noticed her eyes had changed, were some kind of creepy white-blue. Cool.

"Did you know?"

"Your father discovered that you were capable of great things. Much like your brothers and sister. But your powers were too great. He only wanted to protect you from yourself. As well as your siblings."

Wow, Pogo. Apparently he's where Allison got her communication skills from.

"Did. You. Know?" Vanya demanded again. Klaus thought that answer was pretty self explanatory, but he figured she wanted a direct answer as opposed to the waffling mess she'd just gotten.

"Yes, Miss Vanya, I knew."

Vanya screamed then, and Klaus was somewhat surprised when he was thrown backwards along with everyone else.

It looked like Vanya's power was overloading her, like she couldn't control it. The light under her skin was building, building…

Klaus reached out with his telekinesis and found that he was fighting something for control… He was fighting Vanya for control. Her power had wormed its way through every inch of the Academy… the whole building was being held together by her right now, and the moment her power became too much for her, it would collapse.

Klaus strained against her, and while it seemed Vanya had significantly more raw power at her disposal, Klaus was much better trained. It felt like for every inch he took, he was prying away at a tightly clenched fist, but Klaus had never been a quitter. He grit his teeth, stretched out his hands, and held tightly to the building.

And then-

A wave of power exploded out of Vanya, throwing everyone and everything back. Klaus managed to maintain his grip on the house itself, but all the contents of the rooms were too much. With Vanya's grip gone, Klaus alone was the only thing holding the house together. He'd probably just saved all of their lives.

Vanya was on the floor, crying, and the others seemed at least moderately okay, some bruising the worst damage done.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Vanya was saying, over and over again. Ben was the first one to make it to her side, to start reassuring her. Allison wasn't far behind.

"What the hell was that?" Luther demanded as he pulled himself to his feet. Allison shot him a dirty look over her shoulder.

"I'd say that was Vanya's powers, obviously," Diego also stood. Five pulled himself up from behind the counter of the bar.

Klaus remained on one knee, his arms raised, balancing the weight of the building. He wasn't really sure where to go from here… If he let go, they'd all die, himself included. While he would probably survive that, being buried under tons of concrete definitely wouldn't be a great way to go, and he'd have to actually be dug out for his survival to mean anything. But he also couldn't stay like this forever… He was strong, sure, but this was an entire city block. He could already feel the fringes of the building start to fall apart. Which, whatever, that was definitely less important than the part of the building they were all in, but it also wasn't a good sign. He would need the others to get him out of here. Could he trust them with that? (He couldn't trust them at all.)

"That's not what I meant. You knew this would happen?" Luther whirled on Klaus, and either didn't notice or didn't care about his physical state.

"Well, not this exactly, no," Klaus managed to force the words out. "I knew she had powers, I didn't know she was off her pills. I figured the worst that could happen would be a few ripples. Instead she nearly took the building down."

Luther stomped towards Klaus, and he was pretty sure he knew what was going to happen before the others did. He'd made a promise that he wouldn't let Luther throw him around again, but to stop Luther, he'd have to let go, and if he let go…

"Luther, stop! I'm warning you! I'm the only thing keeping this building from collapsing!"

Luther either didn't care or didn't believe him, because he still grabbed Klaus around the neck and slammed him against the closest surface.

"Luther, he isn't lying, let go of him!" Ben jumped to his feet.

Klaus was impressed he managed to hold onto the Academy even with heavy gorilla hands around his throat.

"Luther, stop," Klaus gasped out, but he couldn't grab at the hands, and the next thing he knew -

Klaus opened his eyes in a grayscale world, and screamed.