#limitknown

        ❛  are  you  lost,  hun ?  ❜   it  wasn’t  exactly  an  event  to   bring  children  to,  and  even  if  he  did  seem  old  enough  to  behave  himself,  whoever  he  came  here  with  shouldn’t  have  left  him  wandering  around.   ❛  where  are  your  parents ?  ❜

I just died in your arms tonight / very selectively accepting / @limitknown

Vanya destroys the world, and Klaus doesn’t die. Well, not at first anyway, and not completely. Certainly things go dark for a long time, but there’s still something there, some part of him drifting but still vaguely aware. Sometimes he thinks he hears a voice, young and bossy telling him not yet, and you still have something to do first. Vague flashes of a black and white world, a young girl frowning at him and pushing him backward. Klaus learns to hate her-he just wants to sleep. Time passes. It could be hours or years, he doesn’t know. Eventually the young girl gives him a pat on the back, it’s time, she says, just do this and then you can stay here, I suppose, if you must. 

Opening his eyes is far more difficult than it should be, and even when he manages that the world remains little more than a grey mess. Everything hurts in a way he never knew it could-like all of his bones are being broken over and over again without pause. Every breath rattles painfully in his lungs and he considers just closing his eyes and passing out again. Whatever She wants him to do here, surely it can’t be worth this? And that’s without mentioning the ghosts, thousands of them, a whole cities worth wailing and screaming. Something like a whimper falls from Klaus’ lips; he’s certain he would cry if he had the energy left for it. 

When Five comes into his line of sight, Klaus almost laughs although all he can manage is a few wheezing huffs of air. End of the word and he’s finally seeing his brother’s ghost, of fucking course he is. Never mind that he’s been trying to find him for over a decade now, although, this is kind of weird if he manages to think about it. Five still looks the exact same as he did when he left the house all that time ago, and Klaus is certain (if he’s coherent enough to be certain of anything right now) that Five hadn’t died that day, or any of the days following. When Ben had died Klaus had felt it, like his heart being torn out of his chest. It was the same when Diego fell, and Luther-all of them being crushed by the weight of Vanya’s anger at them. He never felt that for Five, never felt the exact moment his life was ended and his ghost came to call him an idiot, which he probably would have because Five is like that. Yet here he is, looking a little worse for wear but not a day over thirteen. There’s something important about that, but Klaus can’t quite grasp it. 

“Five,” he forms the name with his mouth but no sound comes with it. Another breath makes his lungs rattle and suddenly Five is there, kneeling next to him with terrified eyes, his hands on Klaus’ shoulders and he is far too solid to be a ghost. Maybe, thinks Klaus, maybe he did die after all and this is what hell is-unending pain while your thirteen year old brother cries and watches. That seems about right. Five is talking, his voice high and frantic as Klaus has ever heard it but the words wash over him without any meaning. He needs to tell him, the kid deserves an explanation of what happened here even if Klaus has no idea what’s going on or how he’s here. 

“Five-” this time he manages though it’s little more than a whisper, the world keeps sliding out of focus but he grits his teeth. It figures, he keeps wanting to stay dead but now that he wants to talk to Five everything is fading away faster than he can keep up with it. Maybe this is just God playing a trick on him. “Vanya-is she-?” because okay maybe she caused this, but she’s still his sister and if she did somehow survive then Five might be in more danger than he knows. He wheezes, tries to speak again but can’t force the words out. He feels Five’s hands, one gripping his and one on his shoulder. If he didn’t know him better, Klaus could almost swear that Five was begging him to stay, but the thought is ridiculous enough that he dismisses it. This is probably all just some weird hallucination or something anyway.

❛    𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓'𝐒   𝐍𝐎𝐓   𝐎𝐊𝐀𝐘   .    ❜        𝐁𝐔𝐓   𝐋𝐘𝐃𝐈𝐀   𝐃𝐎𝐄𝐒   𝐍𝐎𝐓   look   up   from   her   notebook   ,   from   the   mess   of   sketches   she   can’t   quite   make   out   .   it’s   frustrating   ,   doing   this   and   knowing   nothing   .   trying   to   piece   together   parts   when   you   don’t   even   know   what   they   are   ,   if   they   fit   .   she   couldn’t   sleep   ,   either   ,   left   in   some   half  -  dreamed   state   where   she   is   more   banshee   than   girl   .        ❛    you   need   actual   rest   .    ❜        lydia   leaves   out   brain   development   is   crucial   during   this   age   because   it   makes   him   touchy   ,   and   she’s   too   tired   ,   for   once   ,   to   bicker   .   lydia   sighs   ,   loud   ,   lets   the   pages   fall   shut   .        ❛    want   anything   ?   i’m   hungry   ,   i   could   go   get   some   tea   ,   too   .   a   soothing   kind   .   it   could   help   .    ❜

   in all honesty, she’s not sure why she’s coming to five with this. maybe it’s process of elimination, having already gotten into a fight with both vanya and diego, and feeling too embarrassed to bring this to luther. maybe she just needs someone to listen. anyone. so she stumbles through her question, eyes averted. ❛❛ I DON’T KNOW, but you know more than i’ll ever know in my lifetime, so tell me, am i a terrible mother? ❜❜  the question echoes and a bubble forms in her throat as tears start to well up in her eyes.   

          although  they  had  talked  about  the  possibilities  of  a  bullet  rupturing  their  skin  multiple  times  during  training,  no  one  prepared  ben  for  how  painful  it  actually  was.  it  had  been  a  mistake  :  no  one  saw  the  last  guy  had  a  gun,  and  he,  in  a  panicked  state,  fired  aimlessly  to  try  and  get  out  of  there,  and  the  bullet  hit  ben  on  the  leg.  it  burned,  before  he  realized  what  had  happened,  and  then  he  couldn’t  think  of  anything  but  the  hole  on  his  flesh.  blood  was  pouring  down,  messily,  staining  his  shorts  and  his  socks,   and  then  the  ground  under  him.  the  rest  of  his  siblings  acted  accordingly :  they  had  strict  instructions  to  follow,  when  this  happened (  first,  disarm  the opponent.  make  sure  they  won’t  be  able  to  hurt  you,  your  siblings  or  any civilian,  then  aid  whoever  needs  it ).  he's  actually  pretty  good  at  staying  calm,  sitting  down  and  putting  pressure  on  the  wound,  until  they  are  done  and  everyone  clutters  around  him  to  help. 

          the  second  his  siblings  pay  attention  to  him,  he  starts  crying.  ben  tries  to keep  it  inside  for  longer,  remembers  how  dad  used  to  talk  about  how  important  it  was  to  not  let  panic  control  you,  but  blood  can  be  terrifying   when  it’s  coming  out  of  you,  and  he’s  a  kid.  ‘ i’m  going  to  die, ’  he  whimpers,  decidedly.  allison  pats  his  back  in  what  he  supposes  is  a  comforting  gesture,  and  he’s  barely  aware  of  luther  leaving  to  find  dad.  no  one  seems  to  know  what  to  say :  logically,  they  know  he’s  not  going  to  die  from  this,  they've  all  been  hurt  on  a  mission  before,  himself  included.  it’s  just  that  it  has  never  been  like  this  and,  well,  they  don’t  know.  not  really.  he  could  die.  when  five  talks,  loud  and  so  sure  of  what  he’s  saying ( you’re  not  going  to  die! ),  it  surprises  ben  enough  that  he  stops  crying.  not  entirely,  he  still  sniffs  a  bit  and  frowns  to  make  sure  no  more  tears  will  spill,  but  the  panic  subdues,  and  if  five  says  it,  then  it  has  to  be  true.  although  they  are  all  the  same  age,  five  has  always  seemed  more  mature  than  him  ( almost  like  an  older  brother,  but  not  quite ),  so  his  words  comfort  him  more  than  his  sister’s  hand  on  his  back  or  dad’s  approaching  figure,  and  he  nods.  he  won’t  die,  five  is  right :  he  can’t  leave  his  siblings  alone.