Chapter Text
Chapter 1:
Klaus groaned, touching the ground. His head felt like it was full of cotton, his body itched all over. It felt like he was run over by a truck. With his eyes still closed and groaning from the pain, Klaus tried to get his bearings.
Waking up confused was not a new thing. Waking up with the mother of all hangovers, also not new. Feeling like his body wasn’t his own… that one was new.
All of sudden his memories came crashing back to him. Vanya. Ben. The Moon. Oh, god the apocalypse.
Klaus jolted up, eyes crazed as he looked around. Sitting up, he pulled his knees up to his chest and hugged them, rocking back and forth a bit as he grabbed his head. He moved too quickly, everything was spinning.
Flashes of sound and light hit him as he remembered their final moments in the apocalypse. Were they dead? Had Five’s plan worked.
Groaning, he lifted his head up from his knees and squinted, looking around. He was outside, it was cool but felt warmer than March. There was a group of people around him, but he didn’t recognize them. They all looked so young.
He was with his sibling before, so where w…
Apprehension bubbled inside him and he felt a prickling at the back of his neck. He could feel goosebumps tingling across his skin. He looked back at the kids strewn around him.
He knew these faces, these bodies. But it wasn’t right, nothing was right. He pulled at his hair in confusion and froze. His hair was shorter, softer, curlier, not as greasy. This wasn’t right.
He brought his arms down in front of his face and studied the back of his hands. They were so much smaller, his skin, for the most part so much smoother. He turned them over and studied his palms. Continued down and saw the angry red marks littered across his wrists and forearms.
He moaned, shaking his head muttering “No, no, no, no” as he stared at his arms in shock physically pulling away from them.
His eyes were wide and panicked as he looked around at the kids, no his siblings, again, breath coming out faster in shock.
Too many questions, his head was pounding. He could feel the start of a panic attack. He flopped back down to the ground with a loud grunt as he tried to control his breathing and center himself.
“Ugh, w- w- wh- what happened? Are we dead?” Klaus heard the voice of someone who only could be Diego, with that stutter, groan near him. His voice was so so young. From the ground, not moving his head, Klaus looked over at him.
“Not lucky enough for that” Klaus groaned, still trying to get his breathing under control, surprised at the high pitch of his voice. He did not like that. Puberty had been a bitch and he was NOT looking forward to it again. He rolled over into the fetal position as he tried to calm himself down more.
“Time travel. It’s a bitch” Five grunted. Klaus didn’t realize he was awake.
“What?!” Diego yelped (no too loud, Klaus thought groaning) quickly sitting up and looking between Five and Klaus. His eyes bugged out of his head when he saw Klaus, Diego sputtered “Y-y-y-your… what happened? Why? Klaus, why? Five, what happened? Klaus, are we dead? Oh god, we’re dead aren’t we?” Diego was spiraling and pacing. It wasn’t helping Klaus’ current predicament, but he had finally gotten control of his breathing.
“Why don’t you ask our dear old brother. Lay it on us, old man. Where are we? Or more apropos when are we?” Klaus, finally having calmed down, had turned over and was laying flat on the ground.
“Calm down, we’re not dead. I told you it didn’t have to be the end. I may have miscalculated some numbers, but we didn’t have any time,” Five explained, clambering to his feet and dusting off his uniform, he looked up to the sky squinting, “There never was enough time,” he sighed, shaking his head.
“I was trying to buy us some time. I just bought us too much time” he looked over at Diego and smirked. “Delores was always right, my math is always worse under pressure.” He gazed wistfully away, a haunted look in his eyes.
“Aw good ol’ Delores. Such a babe. Such a genius,” Klaus quipped from the ground.
“God, can you stop talking in riddles for like five minutes,” Diego snapped, looking between Klaus and Five exasperated, “What. The. Hell. Happened?” He growled out. Only it didn’t really come out as a growl. Sounded more like a whiny, petulant child. Klaus snorted, covering his eyes with his arm to block out the sun and the sound. His head still felt like cotton.
“The apocalypse,” Five said glancing at Diego, “or don’t you remember the Moon exploding?”
Klaus remembered it, he thought, drowning out the bickering voices of his siblings in present-day. He remembers standing around in formation with his siblings, even after all those years training still kicked in. He remembers grasping Dave’s dog tags, wanting to hold on to what he loved before he died.
But, he also remembers Five’s crazed look as he explained that it didn’t have to be the end. Klaus wonders if it would have been better if they had died. Maybe he’d be with Dave again? Or maybe God would continue to play a fast one on him and stick him with Dad until the end of time. Klaus shivered at the thought. He laid his arm back down, opened his eyes and glanced up at the sky as the sounds of his sibling’s voices started to drift back to him.
“- well, trying to time travel is tricky business alone. But, with five -”
“Six” Ben’s voice corrected him.
“Ah, Benny you followed,” Klaus glanced over to him and sending him a warm, languid smile.
“B-b-b-ben?” Diego questioned looking around, his eyes landing on Ben. He clambered up to his hands and knees and wobbled over to Ben, pulling him into a hug. Ben melted into it; how long had it been since he felt another person’s touch? He didn’t realize how much he was craving it.
Klaus’ brain stopped working as he watched Diego look straight at Ben too. Ben was really here? He watched in disbelief as Diego pulled his brother into a hug. He heard Five mumbling to himself, “Six, really? Extraordinary.”
Klaus breathed in shakily, standing up, his eyes never leaving Ben and Diego’s embrace. “Ben” he questioned as he stood all the way up, hands reaching out toward the two. He took a step forward as the world pitched to the side. He crumpled to the ground on his hands and knees laughing deliriously. Ben glanced at him over Diego’s shoulder in worry.
“I just, I just assumed you were still a ghost” Klaus’ voice shook, the emotion overwhelming him as his whole body began to shake.
“Yea man, I’m here. In the flesh” Ben laughed shakily as he and Diego split apart, Diego patting him on the shoulders and back, not wanting to fully let go.
Klaus snorted, “Nice one” his voice sounded wet as he sniffed, sitting on his knees with his legs underneath him. Ben grinned at him and winked. Klaus grinned back in awe, his eyes gleaming with unshed tears as he laughed.
“Hmm” Five mused, interrupting the touching moment -- Rude, Klaus thought. “Somehow we brought your consciousness back to your current present day body”
“Well, when I saw everyone holding on, I just… I just realized I had to join. I mean, usually, I can’t actually hold on to anything, ghost you know,” Ben explained, joking as he looked between his siblings, “But, this time I realized I could. I don’t know if it was just leftover from Klaus’ power or what. But, I found I could hold onto Klaus instead of just phasing straight through him.”
“I never thought I’d see you again,” Diego said, still grasping Ben’s shoulder “Man is it good to see you again”
“Heh, well can’t say the same to you” Ben joked. Diego sputtered, “What?” confusion coloring his face. Ben looked over at Klaus, mirth in his eyes as they looked at each other and laughed like there was some universal inside joke he wasn’t apart of.
“No, no, man I’m so glad to see you and be alive. I just… man, I’ve been around the whole time.” Ben explained smiling wistfully.
Diego looked between Ben and Klaus. Understanding beginning to dawn on him. All those times he caught Klaus speaking to himself. He was… damn, was he really speaking to Ben that whole time?
“I thought you couldn’t see ghosts when you were high,” Diego asked in confusion staring at Klaus like he was seeing his brother in a whole new light.
“I mean, yea usually” Klaus joked, finally managing to stand up without swaying, as he leaned back to crack his back, “Ben here always was the exception” he smiled and winked back at Ben.
Diego looked back over to Ben, needing affirmation. Ben nodded and shrugged, as if saying ‘yea, what can you do?’
“So that whole time… you weren’t just hallucinating and speaking to the air. You were… you were actually speaking to Ben? He was there that whole time?” Diego asked stunned, a heartbreaking expression on his face as he looked at Klaus again.
Klaus was leaning forward, his arms reaching down toward the ground in a full body stretch. He glanced up at Diego, “Yep” popping the P.
“Why, why didn’t you tell us?” Luther demanded, his voice drifting over to the group. He was sitting up against a tree a couple of feet away. Allison laying next to him with Vanya in her lap. “Why’d you let us assume that you were just crazy?”
“You did all the assuming yourself, oh fearless leader,” Klaus quipped. Stretching his sides and standing straight up. He felt around his neck and found the familiar weight of the dog tags still there. He grasped them, closing his eyes and thanking god (such a weird little girl) for small mercies.
“You could have explained yourself,” Luther continued, “It was almost like you wanted us to think you were crazy.”
“Hey man, you don’t have to jump down his throat” Diego countered, hackles raised and coming to stand in front of Klaus.
“Now’s not the time” Five interjected, glancing at all of them, his gaze lingering on Klaus as he titled his head to the side for a moment. Analyzing him, “We’ve got bigger issues”
“Yea, like why we’re all 11 again” Diego pointed out.
“Thirteen,” Klaus said, opening his eyes up toward the sky, shading himself from the sun with a hand. “At least, we’re at least thirteen”
“How do you know?” Luther demanded, still sounding annoyed.
“Dad started training us more at Thirteen and this body has got the scars to prove it,” Klaus said rubbing his hand against his wrist. “So yea, we’re at least thirteen”
“As surprised as I am to say this, Klaus is right. Somehow instead of jumping back 7 years, I jumped us back 17 years.” Five said.
“Ok, so we know when we are… God,” Diego said, awe and frustration coloring his voice, “But where are we? Last thing I remember we were in the music hall” Diego looked around as if reaffirming to himself that they were not in the music hall… the sky alone did that for Klaus.
“I think we’re in the courtyard,” Luther mused, looking around.
Klaus glanced around too and realized Luther was right. How did he miss that? It most definitely was the courtyard at the academy. It just looked livelier, healthier. There were more trees in the courtyard and the planetarium in the back was in mint condition. He glanced over to the side and realized there was no statue of Ben. Made sense, since Ben hadn’t died yet.
He looked around back at Luther and his sisters. Allison was beginning to stir but seemed like Vanya was still knocked out. As he was looking at Allison, her eyes opened and met his. He could tell the moment her brain kicked on -- her eyes widened, her mouth opened as she gasped in confusion. She looked to her right at Luther and stopped, reaching out a shaking hand to brush hair out of his face.
“Hey sis,” Klaus said, “Glad to see you’re with us.”
Allison glanced away from Luther looking at Klaus again in confusion. She started feeling the ground around her as she searched for her notepad, but it was nowhere to be found. She looked up again at Klaus, unshed tears in her eyes. He could tell she was frustrated that she couldn’t communicate.
“Everything’s alright Allison,” Luther explained calmly, grabbing one of her hands in his, “Five was just explaining that he jumped us back in time. We’re 13 again and we’re in the courtyard at the academy.”
Allison looked at Luther, eyes darting all over his face as she listened to him explain when and where they were. The realization dawned on her that traveling back in time meant she had left Claire, that Claire and Patrick must have died in the apocalypse.
A low keening sound spilled out of her as she sobbed and gasped. Her siblings watched on as she shook uncontrollably, sobs wracking her frame.
Luther reached out a hand in comfort, but she shook him off in anger. Klaus figured that Allison remembered that Luther was part of the reason the apocalypse happened in the first place.
Klaus surprised himself when he moved on autopilot over to his sister to comfort her. He never could stand to hear her cry. He moved behind her to pull her in an embrace, as he rocked them both back and forth. Soothing her and brushing her hair, as he whispered to her that they would figure this out.
Luther glanced at the others in shock and confusion, not knowing how to provide any support or what to do. It wasn’t often that he felt useless, but it was a feeling he hated that he was getting used to.
Five interrupted Luther’s musings -- “We need to get a move on”
Diego glanced at him in confusion, “What for?”
“I’ve got no idea if the Temps Aeternalis are going to try and follow us here. I don’t think they can since I destroyed their time machines, but underestimating them is not how I want to die.”
Klaus continued to rock Allison back and forth as he listened to Five, wondering what he expected them to do.
“So, what do we do?” Diego asked, “How do we stop them or fight them? I could barely figure out how to walk over to Ben, let alone fight someone. It’s like I’m remembering how to walk again.”
“That’ll pass,” Five said, offhandedly. “Your mind is trying to move a body it’s not used to. It’s like riding a bike though, it’ll remember and your depth perceptions will equilibrate in about a day or so.”
“Yay,” Ben said sarcastically, glancing at Klaus.
Diego looked over at him exasperated, “Yea, I don’t find that particularly comforting”
Ben laughed, “I forgot you guys can hear me now,” he explained, “I’ve spent the last decade or so only being able to talk with Klaus… so, this is all new to me.”
Klaus laughed, oh that was going to be fun, he thought. Klaus was still rocking Allison back and forth. She had seemed to calm down a bit. He could tell from her small hiccups that she was still silently crying, she seemed to slowly be tapering off.
“What’s your plan then, Five?” Luther asked, relinquishing his role as leader to Five. Klaus focused again on the conversation and Five’s plan.
“I think the best course of action would be for us to follow this timeline, to not raise any alarm or suspicion,” he explained.
“And, how do we go about that?” Luther encouraged Five to explain. But, Klaus had already caught on. He was looking at Diego and Ben who also seemed to have understood what Five meant.
“He means that we should go back to Dad, grow up again, not do anything to change the timeline,” Allison quietly said. Surprising herself and her siblings with her voice. It made sense if they all were back in their thirteen-year-old bodies that her throat would be healed. She sounded resigned to their fate.
“Not exactly,” Five acquiesced, “ Yes, we have to keep up appearances, but we need to train Vanya. We all can do things better this go around.”
Klaus had let go of Allison and was leaning next to her now, Vanya half on him and half on Allison. He was rubbing the inside of his wrists, feeling the shallow cuts, some felt so new. He reached up to the inside of his elbow, felt the start of a bruise and wondered if maybe it was too late for some of them.