Chapter 10

Klaus remained silent as Vanya whined and complained about always being left out of everything, about how all of them were terrible siblings to her, that she never felt included. She despaired that they all got private training while she was forced to the sidelines, a silent observer. Being left out of family portraits, he'd give her, because that was messed up, but the rest was all just petty. Five and Ben had always spent time with Vanya, more than with anyone else. Sure, Diego did his lone wolf thing, and Allison and Luther were constantly obsessed with each other over all else, but she wasn't fully isolated other than when she herself was doing it because Daddy dearest instructed her to. She probably had more positive interaction with their siblings than Klaus had.

The others (excluding Luther who, the longer it went on, awkwardly plopped himself onto the ground cross-legged in a production which took an excessive amount of time and energy) all cajoled her, coddled her. Diego made a formal production of forgiving her for writing her novel. Allison apologized for her role in hiding her powers all these years. Five reaffirmed that he'd always liked Vanya best. Ben talked about how much he had missed talking to her, all those years he'd been dead and out of contact. That he had occasionally separated from Klaus to go to her concerts and that he was so proud of her.

Klaus remained silent, just observing. He clearly wasn't looking for the same thing as the others. They wanted to become a family again (again? They'd never been a family to begin with), he just wanted to prevent the apocalypse.

Vanya was finally winding down with her catharsis, and while there were a few prickles of her power while she vented her emotions, she managed to remain in control enough that Klaus had never needed to step in and take care of things.

He figured with Vanya finally done, that would be the end of it. They could watch her for the rest of the day, attend her concert tomorrow, and then all disperse when the apocalypse never happened. Five didn't seem as onboard with that plan.

"Why don't you go next, Klaus?"

Every eye in the room turned to where he was slouched in his chair.

"Pass. I don't have anything I want to share with the group," he waved a hand dismissively. "Why don't you tell everyone about your problems instead? What was your mannequin girlfriend's name again, Dorothy?"

"You need to tell them what you told me, get it all out there," Five insisted (deflected), and the others immediately looked more curious.

Klaus scowled at the room, and shook his head. "I don't need to do anything. This is for all of you, I don't care what happens after this. I plan to go my own way and never see any of you again once this is all over."

"What are you talking about? We're working on rebuilding here," came from Diego, shockingly. When had he suddenly become invested in the Academy again?

Klaus snorted. "I wasn't a true part of the clique to begin with. If you want to pick up where you all left off, go for it, but don't include me in your plans. I'm out of the Academy, and I'm never coming back. I'm sure Vanya would love to take my old place on the team. You'll still have a full set." (Except for Ben, who couldn't be corporeal without Klaus present, but he definitely wasn't sticking around on Ben's behalf.)

"You can't just quit now," Luther grumbled.

"I didn't quit now, I quit more than ten years ago. Keep up," he rolled his eyes. The others all seemed excessively surprised by the fact that he had no intention of returning. Why? He'd made it clear from the start that he didn't plan on sticking around.

"What was Five talking about? What do you have to tell us?" Vanya asked.

"None of your business!"

"You should talk to them Klaus," Ben spoke up, clearly feeling more confident to speak out when all his siblings were doing the same. Klaus hissed at him in warning.

"Klaus told me that the dead told him we were all terrible siblings and did their best to make him hate us growing up. And it worked. He doesn't think of us as true family," Five contributed.

"What?" rang out in several different voices, even as Klaus glared at Five. See if he ever shared anything with the little shit again after this.

He ignored the increasingly fervent questioning for a moment, closing his eyes and letting it wash over him, before he finally stood up. "Fine. No, I don't see any of you as actual siblings. And why should I? The girl who just spent ages saying she never felt close to us," he motioned at Vanya, "the person who constantly used her power to shut me up and leave her alone," he pointed at Allison, "the arrogant asshole who needs to learn to keep his mouth shut," he glanced at Five, "the guy who has actually killed me twice now," he stabbed an accusatory finger towards Luther, accidentally putting enough power behind it that Luther scooted several inches backwards, "the ghost who only stuck around because I was the only one who could see him, and even then only ever criticized all my choices," Ben looked away, "and the one who has just never really cared," he had less to say about Diego, to the man's own credit, but that wasn't saying much in this room. "When have we ever acted like family to each other? I experienced more brotherhood from strangers in the Vietnam War than I did from any of you - you, who never even noticed I'd been kidnapped or tortured. Even the assassins had more faith in you than I did, and it ended up being Diego's girlfriend who noticed I was missing and came for me, not any of you!" he threw his hands in the air to emphasize his point, and most of the detritus in Vanya's apartment lifted into the air. He scowled at his own loss of control, and forced it all back down, turning away from the others. "Five thinks that my opinion of all of you is irrational. That I've been too influenced by people that none of you have ever been able to see. Just because they're all spiteful pricks doesn't mean they didn't tell me the truth. I creeped you out. My powers creeped you out. You avoided me, and eventually that turned into dislike. You each had a favorite in the house, and I was never anything resembling a consideration. And you know what?" Klaus turned back to the shocked silent room. "I was better off for it. Clearly. What have the rest of you done all these years? None of you have genuinely accomplished anything for yourselves. Even Allison's whole career is built off her lies, not anything resembling talent, and now it's crumbling around her. We're all assholes, raised by the king of assholes, and that's not something I plan to cling to. Just because none of you have ever had decent support in your lives and want to hold tight to the few memories where you felt you actually accomplished something doesn't mean I want to be a part of it. I won't be a part of it. Our dysfunction caused the original apocalypse. I don't plan to stick around to see if we can start a second."

Klaus realized that he was trembling, and then he realized it wasn't just him trembling but the ground as well. He took several deep breaths, and calmed himself. His powers had always been tied strongly to his emotions, and the new lack of control was just adding to the amplification. The shaking stopped, and so did the silence.

"What the hell was that?" Luther demanded, clearly talking about his powers.

The other's objections were much more personal in nature, so he zoned them out.

"Am I stronger than you remember, Luther? I've been hiding it for so long, it feels good to just let it out!"

"Why didn't Dad know about this?"

"You think I would ever let him know my power was more than just seeing dead people? How stupid could you possibly be? What do you think he would have done, huh? Telekinesis, sure. Immortality? How do you think he would train that? You've killed me on accident, but his actions would be very intentional."

"Dad wouldn't have-" Luther started, but was interrupted by Five's snort. Yeah, they all knew exactly how it would have gone.

"Would the rest of you shut up?" he turned to the others. "I'm not interested in commentary. I don't care if you see the past differently. Sort out your 'family' drama in your own time." He enjoyed the disgusted looks he got when he used air quotes around family. "Actually, you know what, Vanya vented all her emotions without an additional explosion, I think things are fine here. I'm out. I'll check in tomorrow and make sure you haven't screwed up before I leave for good."

He ignored all additional protestations and started for the door.

Luther scrambled up from the floor, and moved to block his path - a human wall. Klaus lifted his hand and pushed Luther aside. It wasn't entirely an accident that a new hole was made next to Vanya's door.

"Send me a bill for the damages," he flicked his Goodbye hand at Vanya. He pushed Luther further down the hall, and strolled out, dropping Ben's corporeality as he went. Ben had gotten too bold. He couldn't trust him alone with them after this.

Klaus was already headed down the street when Ben caught up to him.

"Why did you do that? You could have healed things! You could have joined them again, we all could have been a family again!" Ben was yelling. It had been a while since he'd managed to muster the passion for an actual yell, rather than a subdued whine. It'd be amusing to leech the 'spirit' out of him again.

"You know exactly why. You think things have changed so much in the past week? Nothing has happened to change my mind about them. They've been utterly predictable, and I'm over it."

He was still moving forwards, when suddenly it felt like all sound was extracted from the world. He stopped, and looked around. Ben was still whining, but everything else had stopped moving. It was like he was in a frozen moment of time.

He silenced Ben with a thought, and caught the sound of footsteps, booming compared to the quiet.

Klaus turned around, and paused at what met his sight. The newcomer was shaped like a human, but rather than a head, it was just a fish tank with what appeared to be a goldfish inside. He was dressed in a long, black trench coat, boots, and gloves, with a tiny, round hat perched on the top of the domed glass.

"Who are you? What are you?" Klaus asked, as Ben finally caught on that something was happening.

"Klaus Hargreeves," the stranger said instead of answering. It was a distinctly masculine voice with an echoing mechanical quality. The pattern at the bottom of the bowl appeared to be a speaker. "You have certainly caused quite the commotion. I admit, we didn't really expect this outcome."

"You're Commission," Klaus recognized. "What, intergalactic goldfish division?"

"I don't blame you for not recognizing my species, considering yours lacks for advancement. My name is Carmichael. I am a Shubunkin. And yes, I work for the Commission. Did you think we would not notice the destruction of the 50's outpost?" Klaus squinted at the… man? Fish? Agent? Whatever. He stared at the potential enemy, searching for his dead, but whatever this time bubble was, nothing had followed him into it. He assumed that if Ben hadn't been so close to him when it was activated, he'd be frozen too. Interesting.

"Maybe I was counting on it. You must be upper management, no? I was wondering how to get access to you. I have a bone to pick, you see," Klaus reclined against the front of the closest building, an electronics store. The fish guy probably thought it was quaint, considering the technology he'd brought with him.

"Yes, we looked into that. Your case was badly handled. You were very misjudged. Your threat rating should have been much higher. If you had not already taken your revenge, I can sure you a great many of their number would have been punished for their inattention. One of the first lessons we teach our number is that any interaction in the time stream causes ripples. Your case was more like a wave."

Klaus crossed his arms. "So what, you would have done things differently if you knew how I'd react to Dave's death?"

"Of course. You see, I have done my research. A man of your talents, of your… enterprising personality and liberal morals… You would have been a great asset. You still could be." The agent's movements were weird. He was human-shaped, but used very different body language. He spoke American English, but the accent came out wrong, like it was being strung through … well. A goldfish bowl. He was moving his arms while he spoke, although the movements looked uncomfortable rather than fluid.

Klaus sneered in disgust. "You think I would ever do anything for one of you, after what your people did? You try to divorce yourself from them now, after it's already been done. It's a case of too little, too late."

"You haven't even heard my offer yet," the fish spread his arms wide, like a showman. That was certainly a gesture Klaus recognized.

"What could you possibly offer me?" Klaus demanded. "The only thing I want is already gone, because of you people!"

"What if I told you that we could save him? We could bring him back for you."

"What?" Klaus stalked forwards, abandoning the building. Everything was already still, but it felt like his whole world had narrowed to the being in front of him.

"Klaus, don't listen to him. He has to be lying!" Ben exclaimed.

"You've seen the extent of our technology," he gestured at the world, frozen around them. "Reviving one human after something as simple as a gunshot wound? Easy. Normally we wouldn't bother with something so trivial, but…" Carmichael trailed off.

"What would you want in return?" Klaus read between the lines. Everything came with a price.

"We bring David Katz back, and you trigger the apocalypse. Once it is certain that all life on Earth has truly been eradicated, we will return him to you and you can live out the rest of your natural lives either in the time of your choosing, or on one of the planets under Commission control."

He ignored Ben's protestations, and took a moment to truly think about it. Dave, alive and whole. He didn't care where they were, so long as they were together. They could even go right back to the moment everything went wrong, live out the life they had planned together… They would have just enough time for a full life before the end of everything. "How could I be sure you would fulfill your end? I'm not Five. I don't intend to live in the aftermath and scavenge for scraps."

Carmichael tilted his head, then nodded. "I am a man of my word, and I will take you for a man of yours. If you agree, we will pull Katz from the timeline now, and you will accompany me to the facility that will revive him. You can see that he is truly alive, and then we will return here, to this moment. If you do not fulfill your end, I can assure you his second death will be significantly messier than the first."

Klaus pretended to think it over for several moments, careful not to look too eager. Ben was trying to state all the reasons it was a horrible idea, and told him that he couldn't do it, but Klaus had years of experience at zoning him out. His decision had been made the moment he heard that they could save Dave.

"Are there any specifications on how this extinction event needs to occur? Does it have to be Vanya, like the original timeline?"

"A man of details. I appreciate that in our agents. No, it is not necessary that she be the bomb. In the original timeline, she was the easiest of you to trigger. This time around… I'm sure you'd make an equivalent event."

Vanya's powers were explosive in their very nature, it would be so easy for them to turn outwards for decimation. Klaus' … well. Death was death. He'd used the dead for his own purposes for years, but something like killing billions of people… He wasn't sure that would be enough. Maybe he could inhabit Vanya and trigger her powers himself? Or apply the extra strength his recent death had given him, and use his telekinesis… Could he trigger an earthquake large enough to rip the tectonic plates apart?

"And the others?"

"What others?" the agent seemed confused.
"My so-called siblings. Do you have something in mind for them? They already know the apocalypse is meant to happen tomorrow, and Five can jump through space and time without one of your little devices. They also might be prepared for me. I can be responsible for almost 8 billion lives… I can't guarantee they'll all be killed in the event."

"You're not bartering for their lives?"

"There's only one life I care about, and you've already promised it to me," Klaus shook his head.

The fish-man thought for a moment before speaking again, raising a finger to tap on the glass of the bowl like a man might tap on their chin. "If they escape, it's no great loss. We will already be working to rebuild a facility on Earth, one less accessible this time. They can take up the task of following your siblings, if they make it out."

Carmichael seemed to recognize that his decision had been made, and extended a gloved hand.

Klaus left it hovering for a few moments, then grasped it firmly.

He would do anything for Dave.

Dave Katz's body went missing en route to the main base where it would be prepared to be shipped back to America. Klaus was gratified to see that his instructions had been listened to - someone remained with him right up until they loaded him onto the truck with all the other casualties of war. The device Carmichael used was much more sleek than what Earth's outpost had. It was a disk on the front of his life support suit, and once both Klaus and Dave had contact with it, they flashed away.

The Facility was built out of a material Klaus didn't recognize, but it was alien, so that wasn't too surprising. Dave's body was delivered to what he could identify as an operating room even if he didn't recognize the implements. No one forced him to leave the room while they worked, which was good. He would not have allowed himself to be moved.

He wasn't sure how long he stood there, Carmichael an immovable object beside him, before the instruments picked up a healthy heart beat. Dave was alive.

The doctors and technicians confirmed that the operation was a success, and that was when a hand pressed heavy against his shoulder, and he found himself in his hotel room back on Earth.

"Wait!" he cried, but it was too late.

"Remember the deal," Carmichael spoke. "We've done our end. He's alive, and he'll be waiting for you once everything is over. If you change your mind, or back out, or begin to consider double crossing us, consider this," he held up a small box and pressed a button.

"Please, why are you doing this to me?" A female voice rang out. "I don't understand… P-please, I haven't done anything wrong!"

"Why should I care about your hostage?"

"Because right now I've got two agents with their weapons trained on Katz's biological mother, two days before she is to give birth. You screw this up, we won't just kill the guy sitting in our labs so that you can have a merry ghost reunion. We'll make it so he never even existed at all." The alien nodded with a distinct sense of finality, and then he was gone too.

Klaus stared at the space where he had disappeared, and then sat heavily on the bed. He was sitting in the dark, no lights on in the room, and no light coming in from outside - it was evening now.

It didn't feel entirely real. The knowledge that Dave was out there, and alive. For the first time since he had witnessed Dave's death, he reached out and tried to grab Dave's spirit. His power spread further, and further, reaching, grasping, but coming up empty. Dave's spirit wasn't on Earth or in the Afterlife.

Klaus had an apocalypse to plan. Maybe he could use a timeless classic… make humans go the way of the dinosaurs.

April 1st. The perfect day for the end of the world. Honestly, who would believe it? What came first, the decision to end the world on this date, or April Fool's Day? He could ask Carmichael later. (Although… they'd never really discussed how Klaus would be leaving the planet after everything was over. Would Carmichael pop in once things were set in motion, or would he wait until Klaus was dead too? He didn't really want to see how he would come back from a planet-destroying catastrophe. Fatal wounds being the only thing to recede left quite a bit of room for error. He had been so busy thinking of Dave that he'd forgotten to think about himself. The sensation was… novel.)

He waited until noon before he left to meet back up with the others. They would be his biggest obstacle if they caught on that his goals had dramatically altered. He needed to keep up appearances, and keeping them close was his best choice at the moment.

Ben still had not rejoined him, so he assumed his wayward brother had gone back to Vanya's. He had probably spent the night screaming futilely in their siblings' ears.

It wasn't a very long walk, and on the way he watched as everyone went about their day. They had no idea it was their last. He wondered if they would make different choices if they knew. Like the couple standing in the middle of the sidewalk, arguing over expenditures, or the man hiding a wedding ring behind his back as he flirted with a much younger woman. The teenager leaning against the counter of a convenience store, bored out of their mind at the lack of customers. The older woman, limping her way down the sidewalk with a heavy bag in her arms, people swerving around to avoid her. The beggar, holding out an empty palm as people turned their eyes away. The dealer, lurking in an alleyway. Humanity.

He reached Vanya's apartment building and chose to stop thinking about it. He was just glad no one in the Academy had mind reading as a power.

He made his way up the stairs, and he could hear them before he even reached the door. They had used a blanket to cover the Luther-shaped hole in the wall, but it did nothing to block out sound.

"How can we be sure that you're right?" that was Vanya speaking.

"We've been talking about this for hours! Eudora wouldn't lie about what she heard!" came from Diego.

"What she claims Ben heard, you mean," was that anger in Vanya's voice. "Why would he change his mind?"

"There's only one thing he cares about right now, and we aren't it," Five's tones of superiority rang out. "We already knew that. He only hopped on the apocalypse train because the Commission took something from him. If they managed to convince him they could give it back…" he didn't finish.

Shit.

"It doesn't matter why, only that we need to stop him," Luther spoke.

"And how do you plan on doing that? You've seen how powerful he is now," he could practically hear Five roll his eyes.

"Whatever it takes," Luther grumbled.

Klaus felt enraged, and when he opened his eyes again, he was over a foot taller.

"My name is Luther, and I'm against murder, except when it's someone I claim is my brother. I want to try killing him a third time, just for funsies!"

He cancelled the connection as the others all turned to look at him in shock.

"Wow, Luther," Klaus walked in through the unlocked front door. There was no point in locks when there was a massive hole right next to the door. "Tell us how you really feel!"

"What - I didn't - that wasn't," Luther stuttered out, before turning to glare out Klaus. "You!"

He'd never actually pulled that trick without killing the person he'd controlled, so he wasn't entirely sure what Luther had experienced, but he was pretty sure that Luther didn't actually know so much as suspect based on comedic timing.

"Me what? It seems I arrived at the perfect time!" he glanced around the room, and saw the positions were fairly similar to how things had been the previous day. The only difference was that Patch was back. He knew he had been forgetting something. Ben was standing next to her, his arms crossed as he glared at Klaus. He cut the power he'd forgotten he was channeling into her. That had certainly been a massive oversight on his part.

"How did you do that?" Luther demanded. "That wasn't me talking!"

"No, but it's what you were thinking, isn't it? Come on Luther, finish your original thought! Whatever it takes! You didn't want to kill the stranger that we knew was going to start the apocalypse, but when you suspect something about me, it's the first thing you jump to! You're a massive hypocrite!"

"Why don't we all just calm down, and you can tell us whether Ben heard right," Diego suggested, standing and moving over to him. "You're not actually planning on starting the apocalypse, are you?"

"Don't be crazy," Klaus shook his head. "Why would I do something like that? You heard me yesterday, I'm only here to make sure it doesn't happen." He was a very good liar at this point, he knew that, and he could see hesitation spread across his siblings' faces. Not Five's though.

"Patch said they promised you your boyfriend back. She said Ben told her you left with the agent they sent," Five spoke.

"And I told you that the dead are awful, spiteful creatures. They crave destruction, they don't try to prevent it," Klaus shared. And generally, that was true. He turned to where Patch was still standing, unseen by the others. "What the fuck?" he demanded.

She looked smug. "Ben found me right after you left. I was still at the station… they were strangely reluctant to listen to me identify my own killer, but finding the gun on the guy's body helped. I assume that you leaving is what made it so no one could see me again, but later that night, presumably when you came back, so did my ability to touch things again. We came back here and told them everything."

He had honestly entirely forgotten about Patch. Under normal circumstances, if he was making a ghost solid, he felt it as a constant drain. With the new well of power… he hadn't even had to think in order to maintain it, no matter the distance. Apparently, going to a different planet was too far, but on Earth… How far was his limit now? It'd definitely be something to experiment with once this was all over.

Allison waved a hand, catching his eye, and she held up her notepad. "IS IT TRUE?"

Looking around the room, he knew even if he said no they wouldn't just take his word for it. Not at this point. Five and Luther were convinced, and they would always be bigger obstacles than the others, albeit for very different reasons.

"Is it true? Am I actually planning on causing the apocalypse when only yesterday I was glad I had managed to stop it?" he paused dramatically. "Okay, fine. So what if it is true? What are you going to do about it? You could do as Luther suggests, take extreme action against me. You work together, somehow manage to subdue me or get a lucky shot in, and I wind up dead. Then I get up, extremely pissed off, and you're right back where you started, only I have more of a reason to want you dead."

"You're actually-"

"What the fuck-"

"How could you-"

"I told you-"
"Oh shut up, all of you. If it wasn't me, it would be someone else. You should know that better than anyone, Five. There's no truly stopping the apocalypse. What's meant to be is meant to be, as the Commission is so fond of saying. The apocalypse is always going to happen, was always going to happen. At least this way I'm getting something out of it," Klaus waved a hand dismissively.

"How could you even say that? How can you be so -" Diego's voice cut off, his emotions getting the better of him.

"You have to know that they won't follow through on their promises...how could they?" Five stated.

"And that's where you're wrong Fivey, they've already given me what I wanted. Dave is alive and well, and he's waiting for me on the other side," Klaus gave his brother a genuine smile.

"And you think he would be okay with this, with you destroying everything on his behalf?" Ben asked.

"Shut your piehole, Ben," Klaus rolled his eyes.

"Why are we even still talking about this? We won't let you do this," Luther crossed his arms.

"And what, you're going to stop me?" Klaus snorted. "As I said, good luck. You'd be better off using this time to say your goodbyes. I was planning to wait until Vanya's concert, let her have her big moment, but I can start sooner, if you like."

"You're going to kill everyone, kill all of us, for some guy? How long did you even spend with him? There are other people out there! You could find someone else!" Vanya was crying, and a light bulb burst in one of the lamps.

"I'd rather have one more day with him than a lifetime with the rest of you," Klaus laughed. "But hey, I did ask, and none of you specifically have to die. I mean, it'd be easier for you to escape if you hadn't destroyed the mansion and the two time travel devices inside it, Vanya, but Five might still be able to take at least one or two of you along with him. You should be fighting over that instead."

He could tell Five was going to move before he actually did, and he spun around with a hand extended, freezing Five in place. He had a knife pointed towards where Klaus' back had been.

"Actually trying to stab me in the back, bro? That's hilarious."

That seemed to be the cue for the rest of them to move as well, but he caught them with his telekinesis before they even got close. He could feel them push against his control, but they were no match for him.

"Is this going how you expected, Luther? How are you doing, Number One?" he patted Luther's cheek, even as he clenched his teeth and tried again to shove himself forwards. "What use even are you, big guy? You couldn't keep the original team together, you won't have the opportunity to reform the new team, and Dad didn't just send you to the moon to get rid of you, he also killed himself to escape you. You're a failure. You've always been a failure. You aren't Number One because you were the best of us, you were One because your mother gave you up the easiest. The first baby Hargreeves acquired. Maybe she knew what the rest of us now know - you're worthless." Pushing Luther through one wall hadn't been enough to sate his anger. It took very little thought before he was flying out of Vanya's apartment again, only down into the street this time. He was super resilient in addition to super strong, so he didn't think a fall from only two stories would do too much damage (more's the pity), but it got him out of this room at least. "There are things I could say to the rest of you, too, but we covered all that last night. I don't care enough. Luther will die here with everyone else, but if the rest of you want to try Five's powers, now's your chance to decide."

Klaus left the apartment, not releasing his grip until he was already gone. Instead of going down, he went up, to the roof. From the edge, he could see Luther pulling himself to his feet, looking determined. That wouldn't do. He pulled Luther into the air, up, up, up, then dropped him again. The concrete cracked, even as bystanders began to gather and point.

So much for waiting until evening.

Oh, well. Carmichael had never specified a time.

Klaus reached for his power, seeking out the place the Veil used to be. It came to him as easily as it ever could have. He could feel the dead, even now - especially now, and they were delighted. He wasn't exaggerating when he said they craved destruction, and they could feel that was his intent. He had never truly struggled with his power over them, but it was entirely different to feel that they were facilitating his purpose. He hadn't entirely decided how he was going to do it, figured that the way would become clear once he was in the moment, and he was right. As he reached further into himself, he could feel a place he hadn't known existed. It was very similar to the aspect of Vanya's power which had destroyed the mansion. He had reached out to undo the damage then, but now he would be doing the same thing, on a much larger scale.

"For you, Dave," Klaus whispered, as he closed his eyes and unleashed the wave.

Klaus opened his eyes. The world was entirely white around him, blinding. He couldn't orient himself, he was floating, suspended in space. There was no end or edges in sight.

"I warned you," a young female voice echoed throughout the space. "I told you! You broke the balance!"

He… he recognized that voice. "Are you still using the same form as last time? You really liked being a little girl that much? Because I have to tell you, it wasn't one of my favorites."

"Shut up!" The voice was much louder, and he had to work to prevent himself from wincing. "You've ruined everything! This isn't how things were supposed to go!"

"You're the one who gave us free will. Technically, that makes it your fault," Klaus shrugged, lacing his fingers behind his head as though he were reclining comfortably.

"You can't do this."

"From where I'm sitting, it looks like it's already done."

He reached for his power, prepared to break back out of this space and return to his body like he had last time, but froze in shock when he came up empty. There was nothing there.

"What did you do?" he shouted, demanded. "Where are we?"

"We're in my realm, this time. Not yours. This was your idea, remember?" She sounded smug.

"So what? Why am I here? What is your plan? You can't keep me here forever - you don't like me, remember? How long do you think you can stand my presence before you want to kick me out?"

"I don't plan to keep you here forever," She sounded angry. "Just long enough to fix things. To fix what you broke."

"Oh yeah? So what, you're team anti-apocalypse? Because I have to tell you, I shouldn't be your target, the assholes at the Temps Aeternalis should be."

"This isn't about the apocalypse," She yelled, and wow, ow, that hurt. "This is about you and your complete lack of control! Your abuse of your power!"

"The way I see it, you are creation, but I'm destruction. I was only doing what I was built for."

The space dimmed slightly, and Klaus thudded to where a ground now existed. Rude. God was now standing in front of him in a physical form, the one he was expecting.

"Your domain is death, not destruction. Each of the 43 was given a domain, although not all of them survived to maturity. You, however, are the only one who overreached. This version of you. I never liked you, but this version is by far the worst."

Each of them had a specified domain? "So, what? Five's has to be space, Ben had his Lovecraftian horror connection, Vanya's is sound… Luther is what? Physical strength? Allison alters reality itself with her rumors… what's Diego's?"

"Does it matter?" She scowled.

Klaus shrugged. "No, not really. I'm more interested in going back."

"You can't go back. There's no back to go to."

"Right, Earth's destroyed. So what? Send me straight to Commission headquarters. You get rid of me, and I get to see Dave more quickly."

"You're not getting it. You didn't just break one planet. You poured the realm of the dead into the realm of the living. They were separate for a reason. You didn't destroy Earth, you destroyed the Balance. You broke everything, including your precious Dave."

"No… That's not possible," Klaus felt cold all over.

"I warned you," Her face was twisted into an awful grimace, and normally he would crack a joke about it getting stuck that way, but for once he didn't feel like joking.

"But… But you're fixing things, you said," he exclaimed. "How are you fixing things?"

She crossed her arms. "I've had to start over. Start it all again. Only this time, the world will exist with one less bloodline, and you will never have the opportunity to turn into," she waved a hand at him, "this."

"You're going to write me out of existence?" he demanded.

"Not you. You were created for a reason… The 43 were created for a reason. It was a… venting, of sorts. A release."

"Then what? Not… Not Dave?"

She shook Her head again. "You'll be as you originally were, had you never met Frank."

"What, so my life - I won't - I won't exist anymore? I'll be that sad, pathetic thing from the Commission's files? I don't want that!"

"You're the one who started this! You don't get a choice. It's already done. You won't even remember. Now, get out of here!" She pressed Her hand against his chest, and shoved.

Klaus groaned, rolling almost off his bed entirely.

"You alright?" Ben asked.

"I had the weirdest dream. Sobriety sucks!"

"You're doing this for a good reason, so you can see Dave again. Why don't you go downstairs and join the others? They're all celebrating. We made it to April 2nd!"

Klaus rolled his eyes, his hands going to the dog tags hanging from his neck. It had been a nice dream, until the end. Actually being powerful, being in control. If only his own power was more than being tormented by the wraiths who delighted in screaming his name.

And speaking of - one of the nannies was outside his door, her voice reaching an octave that shouldn't even exist. Klaus groaned in pain, pressing his hands hard against his ears.

"Shut up!" he yelled, and a pillow went flying from his bed, impacting the door.

Klaus and Ben both stared at it in shock.

Huh.

A/N:

Carmichael is a character straight from the comics. And that was all she wrote. This is all I have planned for this series/universe. There's a few alternate endings/outcomes that I might post at some point, if there's interest (like, what if he HADN'T torn his way out of the realm of the dead? Who was waiting for him? How could things have gone?), if there's interest. I'm also definitely willing to take prompts/whatever, if you have something you'd like to see. But for this specific series? This is The End. I do have other UA ideas that I might also publish at some point, like a Hazel/Klaus ship I just can't get out of my head, or a story where Klaus's ability to not die is discovered by the Handler pre-2019, and he's recruited by the Commission in exchange for a solution to his ghost/addiction problem. ((There's also a Misfits/UA crossover I'm not entirely sure where I'm taking, because Klaus and Nathan absolutely need to meet, but with those two involved? What even is a plot?)) But I like a story to at the very least be mostly written before I post it, so as not to disappoint readers with lack of updates. Anyways. Thank you to everyone who has made it this far. Thank you for all the kudos, and comments, and bookmarks, and really just all of the love everyone has shown me. Love you all.