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"We need your help."
When Ben got out of bed today in his little shabby apartment, the last thing he expected to see was the Umbrella Academy at his doorstep; well, not all of them, just Five and Diego and Diego's crazy girlfriend.
They invited themselves inside, made themselves comfortable on his couch; almost as if they were all friends or something, almost like he has actually heard from them since they all arrived in this strange Hargreeves-centric world.
Quite frankly, he never thought he'd see any of them again; his only remaining, and missing, sister included.
He was doing so well too, even maybe sorta happy in this mundane powerless stressless life.
But it honestly shouldn't be a surprise anymore when these assholes decide to show up out of the blue to ruin said life. Again.
He was half-tempted to just slam the door in their faces with a fat "No" but… deep down, some little part of him that he's really starting to loathe , felt kind of relieved that somebody still needed him… That they didn't forget about him.
And even if he would rather die than admit it, there have been times where he has been rather… lonely .
But they are still like his least favorite of the Umbrella Posse so who says that he has to be nice?
"How did you find me?" Ben questions flatly, arms crossed as he leans against the wall near the front door just in case he needs to kick all of them out (which, no matter how alone he is feeling, he most certainly will do).
Diego and the crazy girl (he just can't quite recall her name, nor does he care enough to ask for it) both look to Five for an explanation.
The man-child sighs. "You were born here; your mother gave birth to you on the subway nearby. It wasn't that hard to put two-and-two together."
The woman raises her brow at Five, an unamused expression on her face that makes the former time-jumper's jaw clench.
"And, well, because of Klaus," he adds and she smiles in satisfaction.
"Ah, see, now that wasn't so hard; now was it, Fivey?" The ash blonde titters and Five just fixes her with an annoyed look.
"Klaus?" Now that's a name he really didn't want to hear again, mainly because of the fluttering feeling it ignites in his stomach. Ben narrows his eyes; he needs to focus.
"He knew where all of us were born, showed Five the articles about the deaths of our birth-moms in the last timeline," Diego fills in with a small gesture of his head in Five's direction, "Yours, on the other hand, the dumbass actually remembered from an address book back when you were still our Ben."
Ben isn't sure what they want him to say to that, a tinge of bitterness taking a hold on his chest like it always does when he thinks about how much the Umbrellas probably wish to have their Ben back instead (And only a little bit of jealousy when he thinks about much Klaus actually cared for the other version of him. Stupid, but tragic).
His nose wrinkles in irritation. "Alright so you stalked me until you found out where I lived and then cornered me in my own living room; now what the hell do you want?" He wasn't in the mood for small-talk, or for vague requests of help; he trusts these dipshits about as far as he can throw them (and he's sure that he could throw Five pretty far ).
"We're going to take down Reginald Hargreeves."
A dry laugh of utter disbelief escapes the Asian man, his expression only becoming more wry and mocking when he sees how serious they all are. "You're kidding, right? Tell me this is all some hilarious joke," Ben's glare meets Diego's head-on, his lip curling in distaste, "Tell me that you're not going to storm in there with your powerless asses and try to save the world again from another apocalypse when in reality you're the ones who keep causing complete doom, not Dad- Reginald ; tell me that you didn't travel all the way to Korea just because you actually thought that I would be on board with this."
"It's not like we planned for the Kugelblitz, ya wanker," the woman scoffed, "And if your dear old daddy was so perfect then why'd he try to kill us all? Why'd he use our powers to create his own little- little," she waves her hand through the air, a scowl tugging at her features, "Hargreeves empire."
"Yeah and, in our defense, we never had Pogo caring about our well-being enough to give us a life supply of drugs for the crusty geezer." Diego's fingers twitch, his gaze on the wall behind Ben's head like he was imagining throwing a knife there. "We just had to deal with the abuse and trauma until one of us finally broke under the pressure."
"Ah yes, classic argument: blame the parents," Ben rolls his eyes, attention directed to Five since he was the one who initiated the stupidity in the first place, "The world isn't ending; there's no reason to play superheroes anymore. You're only going to make things worse."
Five jumps up, hands flying into the air, "Can things really get any worse? Some of our siblings are missing, the rest of yours are dead, we have zero powers, Hargreeves is some influential dictator-like figure and still an alien , and for some reason the whole world reset to where we all exist but don't have any of the wounds or scars or literal mutations that we obtained in the last thirty-plus years of living-"
"Well, I'm twenty-nine-"
" But the point is," the boy hisses through clenched teeth, "that we ultimately caused this. And sure, the world isn't immediately ending, but that doesn't mean it won't be in a year from now. This is why past-me told me not to save the world: because it just turned it into our father's little domain! I don't care if you wanna lay around your crappy apartment in South Korea all day for the rest of your life after this, but at least help us put a bullet through the old man's head. Call it some well-deserved revenge for the total shit-show he's put us through, that he's put you through in both timelines."
Five settles down, taking a deep breath as he smooths out his suit and sits back on the couch; Diego's girlfriend pats him on the back twice with an expression of pride.
"He's an ender of worlds , Ben; he basically told me so when we were drinking to the sight of the universe being Kugelblitz-ed. He needs to be stopped; he needs to pay, not just for using us but also for all the lives that we've lost."
Ben turns his head towards the floor, a reluctant part of him agreeing with the man-child. He knows that their father isn't a good person; he knows that they were all pawns played in their father's game of world-domination chess; he knows that somebody from the Sparrows needs to avenge their fallen; he knows that if anyone was capable of putting a stop to the monster, it would be them.
And he knows that, once again, deep down , he kind of misses being a hero… Being part of a team (maybe even a family ).
He shakes his head, a grim and rather resigned tone painting his voice, "But why ask me? Can't you all just take him on your own? It's not like I have my powers; whether I'm there or not isn't going to make that big of a difference. I have nothing to contribute."
I'm not an Umbrella; and we were never a team.
"Woah there, edge lord," Lila ( ah, he finally remembered her name ) says with a puzzled frown, "You've lost just as much as we have; you went through the same bloody awful experience and had to suffer through the same consequences. I don't see why that'd make you any less worthy of helping us duff up the rat bastard."
"And," Diego sighs heavily, eyes darting from the wall to Ben before back to the wall again, "As much as it pains me to say, you're still… technically… family so…"
Ben scowls, something black seeping into his heart, "No, I'm not. I'm a Sparrow -"
"And the Sparrows are gone, and you were an Umbrella first; there's no use diving into the nitty-gritty."
That only makes the Asian feel sicker. "But I'm not your brother-"
"Oh, trust us, we know ," Diego chuckles in a sardonic manner, making Ben grit his teeth, "But your sister still married our brother so you're at least an in-law."
A brother-in-law . That's the only tie to a family he has left: distant, time-traveling alternate universe dimension-hopping mumbo jumbo, relatives.
What has his life become? Is this their way of including him, of saying they really care?
"We'll… We'll get creamed," he finally settles on, ignoring the emotional turmoil brewing like a storm cloud in his head. "Even with my help, you still won't stand a chance against him. We're nothing without our powers."
Nothing, hopeless, pointless, begrudgingly normal. The only thing he has over other Ben is that he is still alive; is he willing to let that possibly change? No, not really; not again at least when he knows that he's no longer anything special. But, perhaps, he never was… One can only fuck up the position of leader so many times…
"Ha, speak for yourself," the woman scoffs, crossing her legs and slapping a hand down on her lap, "I don't need to bloody copy some sorry wanker's superpower to kill a man, even when I'm pregnant."
A smirk plays on Diego's lips, looking at his girlfriend with a twinkle of adoration in his gaze (Ben is only slightly disgusted but is kind enough not to show it, instantly anyway). "A knife is a knife, and a stab wound is a stab wound. I just won't throw it."
"I've shot plenty of guns in my lifetime," Five reflects like the extremely old man trapped in a kid's body he is. "Of course it won't be as easy, but I'm sure we'll manage."
What can Ben even do without the eldritch being? Is he really… that useless?
The boy's voice again is what pulls him from his thoughts, "If you're nothing without your powers, then you don't deserve to have them. Powers make you super, but they don't make you a hero."
Feeling rather defensive and indignant, Ben growls, "Are you implying that you are all better than me?"
Five gives a wicked smile. "I'm implying that you should use this opportunity to prove us wrong ."
This- This pompous pint-sized dickhead. They think that they have it all figured out; well, he's going to be the one laughing his ass off then in heaven (or hell, whichever) when they all end up dead at Sir Reginald's tentacle-wielding feet for not being good enough at basic human combat training.
Ben was at least better at that… Right?
"Fine, I'm in; but only because I've seen your fighting skills and, news flash, they're not that good."
"Wonderful," Lila chirps sarcastically with a clap of her hands.
Diego gives him an entirely fake smile. "Welcome aboard to you too, pendejo."
~⋋(•⌔•)⋌~
"This is… it? " Ben mumbles to himself at the sight of their sorry excuse of a team, embittered as he counts only five faces and comes to the realization that maybe only seven of them could survive (but wait… who exactly is he missing here?).
He flops down in the only empty seat off to the side of them all; he knows better than to get chummy. They don't like him and he's well aware of the fact (they didn't even invite him to the bachelor's party. Him : Ben Hargreeves, the life of the party. But it's ok, he tells himself, he doesn't like them either ).
He glances at Viktor with a jeering expression. "So I take it you never found Allison."
The short man rolls his eyes, a small huff leaving his thin lips. Luther is the one who answers for him, though.
"And we take it you never found Sloane-"
"Or even tried looking , for that matter," Viktor mutters.
"Fuck you," Ben hisses but he's aware that he can't say any more than that because it's 100% true . He already hates it here.
Diego smirks; Lila and Viktor high-five.
They are all so quick to defend each other, to act like a family and gang up against the common enemy (in this case, the enemy being him ); this is why he finds himself frowning at the thought that the only malicious and cutthroat sibling is ironically the one missing.
He wasn't pouting , just a smidge disappointed that there was no longer a source of quarreling entertainment; and he felt maybe a bit awkward because normally the stupid green-eyed soft-hearted begrudgingly- fun paranormal weirdo would have said something by now to break the tension but it still hasn't come. And Ben starts scanning the room for that familiar face yet-
"Where's Klaus?"
At that, everybody seems to turn to Luther and Viktor (except Five who unsubtly sighs as he collapses into a chair); there is an odd churning in Ben's stomach, and he knows for a fact that it isn't an eldritch monster.
"Well," the tall man shifts, not quite meeting the Asian's now very intense stare, "Me and Vik tried talking to him, but he didn't-"
An unbridled sense of protectiveness and fury consumed Ben, snapping before he could even stop himself, "You all were just going to leave him?!"
"-Want to listen to us so we thought that if anyone would be able to convince him," Five tacks on with a warning raise of his eyebrows, jaw tightly clenched in irritation once more, "it would be you ."
The fight leaves him; his body feels utterly blank. So that's how it is, huh? They didn't want him , they just wanted Klaus ; they only included him because of Klaus ; they only needed his help because in some alternate timeline, he (as their dead brother ) was the closest to Klaus .
They never cared about him since the beginning; they care about their team , their family .
He’s just a convenient in-law to have at the moment; and then they'll throw him away when they get what they came for.
Yet… despite this realization, he honestly would rather have this than be alone. If they are all thinking that he's just oblivious and not stupid or desperate , so be it. He’s not really being used… right?
"What makes you think that he'd listen to me?" Ben asks rather solemnly. He already knows the answer; he's not sure why he wants to hear the stinging words anyway.
"For some reason beyond this world's level of understanding," Lila quips, hand flapping in the air, "The lovable but irritating little bugger trusts you."
Diego rolls his eyes as he grumbles beneath his breath, "Can't imagine why."
"You know exactly why," Five hisses with a fierce glare.
Ben stays quiet, just watching the exchange detachedly. He sees Luther frown at him, obviously in pity, but he can't muster a scowl in that direction; nor can put on a brave face as Viktor stands with the car keys and gestures with his head towards the door.
He follows him to the vehicle outside; and as he gets in and buckles his seatbelt, he wonders, distantly, if Klaus will be happy to see him.
⋋(•⌔•)⋌
"Ah, welcome back. I just made some lemonade with a splash of tequila; you're welcome to have some," the former medium greets without turning around as they walk through the front door of his run-down trailer, holding a half-drank glass in one hand and a freshly-lit cigarette in the other.
Klaus weaves his way to another door near the back of the kitchen, leaving without another word.
Viktor and Ben exchange a look.
"He…" the shorter man sighs, shrugging with a weary glance at his shoes, "He gets like this sometimes, flighty; he probably feels bad for practically kicking me and Luther out earlier. Just try your best; I'll be waiting in the car."
"You're not coming with?" Ben blurts, a tickle of betrayal that he's being sent in to do the dirty work when it's their sibling, not his .
"I- I don't think I'm the best person for this; Me and Klaus were never close," Viktor says uncertainly, eyes darting between the tacky decor and the nearest exit. The Asian isn't sure if he's the problem or if Viktor truly isn't sure how to approach their craziest sibling, but he huffs in annoyance all the same.
Ben's lip curls. "You've known him your whole life ; I've known him for two days ."
Viktor shrugs again. "Right, so, good luck.”
I hate all of you , the former Sparrow internally curses as the other flees back to the car.
He accepts his fate, though, when he grabs a glass and pours himself some of that tequila concoction; Klaus gets easier to talk to the less sober you are, after all.
~⋋(•⌔•)⋌~
"Tastes like shit," Ben says with a grimace but takes another sip anyway, flopping down onto the neon pink plastic lawn chair that laid beside Klaus's own.
The former medium stiffens momentarily, taking a glance over his sunglasses. "Is that you, Benerino?"
He glares at him but the I told you not to call me that confoundingly dies on his tongue at the look of genuine surprise on Klaus's face.
"Who else would dare drink your alcoholic death traps?" He replies with less bite than he meant to.
Klaus just smiles and the silence stretches between them like taffy pretending to be bubble gum: easily chewable but under the illusion that it can't be digested. It's… new territory for Ben: he doesn't think that there has ever been such a time where the slightly-more-tolerable-than-the-other-umbrellas has willingly let the conversation die between them.
He's unsure how to proceed from here, but he watches the pack of cigarettes resting innocently halfway under the small of Klaus's back and he has a temptation to snatch one before the former medium would notice.
Or so he thought. Despite Klaus's eyes being closed and his body in a reclined image of utter relaxation, he was somehow still ever observant.
"I was saving the last one for a rainy day but…" Klaus chuckles, "Help yourself."
So Ben does, his fingers purposely brushing the sweaty skin of the man's back as he grabs the box (and biting his inner cheek to suppress the smirk that threatened to overcome him at the sight of Klaus's poorly hid shiver). He shakes the cigarette out, puts it to damp lips.
Klaus leans over and lights the end for him.
And then they lay in their chairs again.
This time though, the former medium breaks the silence unprompted. "I never thought I'd see you again."
"I would say the same but you're kind of like an onion: a bad taste that never really leaves."
Klaus huffs a laugh. "Calling it the end of the world gets to be pretty misleading after the first time. You'll get used to it."
"That's not what I meant."
He cracks an eye open.
Ben sits up, peering down at the other. "You're like a cockroach; no matter how hard I squish you, you keep coming back."
Klaus raises an eyebrow and the Asian man mentally face-palms. Right, I came here…
"You're… like a tattoo that I got when I was super drunk-"
Both eyes are staring at him now, expression unreadable. "That you otherwise never would have got but now you're stuck with it?" Klaus airily supplies and Ben nods his head rapidly.
"Yes, exactly-"
The former medium furrows his brow. "Ah, I see."
Ben blinks. "You do?"
"Yeah, sure, Benny," he closes his eyes again, "A lot of people regret meeting me. You're nothing special."
Shit wait-
"That's… God dammit that's not what I meant-"
Klaus sighs. "Why are you still here exactly? Not that this chit-chat and catching up isn't oodles of fun but…" He chugs the rest of his drink and then tosses the glass aside, "if I wanted company, I would have joined the lovely Viktor in the car."
Fuck, he knew about that too…
But there's a twinge of jealousy that hits him; why would Klaus prefer Viktor's company? What's wrong with Ben's?
Why does nobody like me?
"Even you, huh," he growls, fist clenching around his cup and accidentally crushing the cigarette, "Should have known…"
"Known what?"
"That- That you don't want me either! We were having a good thing and then of course you just have to go and ruin it!"
"Moi?" The former medium sits up as well, tugging his shades down to hang off the bridge of his nose and now Ben can see that there is some anger in those olive-green orbs. "I've ruined it?" A wry laugh escapes him. "There was never a good thing, there was never a we," he adds in a mutter, "You made sure to remind me of that."
The Sparrow opens his mouth to speak, a venomous retort ready to be spewed at the rejection, but then Klaus throws his hands in the air in a rantish manner. "Also, out of the two of us, you have made it very clear that you don't want me . Nobody ever wants me; how did dear ol' Reggie put it? That I'm more trouble than I'm worth? Ah yes, yes that's it! And nobody in this God forsaken family wants more trouble; they have enough baggage as is. You're not even here for me , because you wanted to see me; you're only here because they sent you." His voice turns jeering, eyes wide and dancing with impish interest, "What I would like to know is what you get out of this; how much am I worth to my family, hm Benny boy? Love and acceptance? A place in the mighty Umbrella Academy ? Or maybe you still just can't help taking orders from someone-"
That strikes a nerve, Ben's pride being wounded in the worst way possible: with his biggest insecurities being thrown so carelessly right into his face. "I don't take orders from anybody ," he seethes, "They didn't force me here, they're not using me; nobody uses me!"
"Ah, you poor thing," Klaus tsks condescendingly, shaking his head in faux pity. "Babe, everybody uses you."
"No, they don't -"
"They do . And when you've served your purpose and they get what they came for, they discard you like sexy trash; and it hurts you, it really does because you try so hard to be the best, so hard to be at least a single individual's number one but in the end, those efforts are in vain. And you wanna know why? Because the world is full of selfish dickheads and maybe, just maybe , you might know this already yet you're so desperate for company that you stick around despite knowing that they're gonna just keep using you." Klaus gives a tight-lipped smile, bitter and knowing , and Ben feels his heart pounding painfully in his chest, feels a pressure building behind his eyes. The brunette takes a drag from his cigarette, blowing smoke up into the sky. "So you go around using people too, people you see as weaker and more gullible than you, to make yourself feel better. And then when you get what you want , because they willingly offer it to you," Klaus sends him an insipid glance, "you discard them like trash too . Circle of life, baby; circle of life."
An emotion, that suspiciously seems like shame, wells in Ben's chest; like his kimono was splayed open for all of his deepest darkest secrets to be seen. And he didn't like it, not one bit; was he that transparent or was Klaus just deceptively good at seeing straight through people?
Did he… use Klaus? His memories are fuzzy from that night; he thought that two of them agreed that they didn't remember anything that occurred. He was shit-face drunk, but maybe Klaus wasn't… as drunk. The man seemed to have an ungodly high alcohol tolerance.
He just remembers what he felt ; it was fun , he was sorta happy . He felt seen and free; no obligations, no expectations, no roles or duties or responsibilities. He could just be himself and he thought that… Klaus liked his true self.
And then the man just had to go and bring up his dead brother again the next morning and ruin everything. He's not that Ben, he will never be that Ben ; if anything, Klaus used him to assuage his own grief over the loss of his brother, right?
He's tired of being manipulated.
"Well if- if others are too stupid to realize that they are being used by me, then that's on them!"
"But it's not about stupidity , darling, it's about giving into weakness and letting you ."
"Oh so you're saying you let me use you?" He snapped, a mean smile on his face, "How noble of you; and by noble, I mean delusional . What possible use could you have for me?"
Klaus exhales, exhaustion tugging on his features. "I think… I think I would have given you everything if you asked for it," he looks over at him, Ben uncharacteristically caught off guard, "I have a bad habit of dealing out scoops to people I know will never return them."
“But I…” Ben’s brow furrows, unsure and therefore defensively hostile, “I never did ask for it… I never asked for you …”
“Nope,” the sunglasses are pushed back to their proper place, “I suppose you did not; verbally, anyway.”
The other narrows his eyes. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“Actions speak louder than words, mi compadre. Or, lack of action, so to speak.”
“I don’t-”
“Who am I to kiss and tell?”
Air temporarily leaves his lungs. “We… what ?”
“We danced, we laughed, we smiled; you even took me by the hand and pulled me close under the apocalyptic sky at one point. Later we kissed, it got heated, you passed out… And then, the next morning,” Klaus takes another drag, “you did nothing but push me away; and when the world was no longer ending , you never spoke to me again. So excuse moi for saying there is no we or a good thing ; there was only desperation, only using and being used in return.”
Ben can’t recall the exact moments described, but he once again remembers the feelings of warmth and contentment, of tingling lips and chilled skin and curious fingers. “I… I shouldn’t have done that…”
“Yes, yes; I’m an onion, and a cockroach, and a tattoo- and whatever. You made your point-”
“No I… I shouldn’t have pushed you away when you were the only person who was…” His voice drops to barely a mumble, hands clenched in his lap as he glares a hole into the ground, “ genuinely nice to me…”
Klaus shifts, his head tilted at an angle that allows for him to get a glimpse at Ben's face. "Is this… the Sparrow's legendary Number One actually apologizing ?"
The Asian's ears flush, trying and failing to school his expression into something other than a kicked puppy. "No…" he grumbles with a small frown, "I don't apologize. I'm just saying that it… won't happen… again…"
He doesn't dare meet the former medium's eyes, not wanting the mockery, but he doesn't expect a half-smoked cigarette to be pressed between his fingers.
"Good enough for me," Klaus says, "Do you keep your word?"
"Of course I do!" Ben stammers in frustration, stealing a glance and seeing an unconvinced smile, "When it's… convenient for me…"
"And is it? Convenient, I mean."
The Asian man sighs. "Well if I'm going to be stuck with a group of irritating, powerless, and stupid time-traveling weirdos until we kill our alien overlord of a father, then… You better be stuck there with me."
He waits and then Klaus yawns rudely, stretching his arms out over his head, and Ben finally looks up to glare at him. "Excuse me asshole, am I boring you?"
"No, definitely not," the former medium grins, a wild light igniting in olive green orbs, "I was just thinking: they brought you here to get me, and they only want me because I'm the first to have regained my powers (the Void runs parallel to this universe, after all; it only took me dying to get them back)."
"You what -"
"So I guess we're both letting those endearing dipshits use us, huh?" He chuckles and claps Ben on the shoulder, the sudden force pulling a grunt from the younger man. "Ah this family never changes; like father, like children. Might as well have some fun with it though. Let's go give them some hell; whad'ya say?"
He's going to regret this, he knows he is but… being more than a technical brother-in-law sounded kind of… nice. And being included by at least one person, even a 'person' about as crazy as an immortal séance, would be even better.
He doesn't have to be alone.
"You're a menace."
"Well, my dear Benerino," Klaus stands and holds out a hand that ironically says hello , "Hell is empty and all the devils are here. Where's the harm in joining them?"
And Ben, for the first time in a long time, lets himself truly smile.