sixthiterationlogs | 01.01: Impending horror

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01.01: Impending horror

WHO: Ben Hargreeves
WHERE: The Bunker
WHEN: Sunday 21st
OPEN TO: Closed to Diego (and probably Klaus pretty quickly)
WARNINGS: Abusive upbringing and past death discussed

The blessing was that he was unconscious at the time.

Had he become conscious in water, there was every chance he would have inhaled on reflex, old, forgotten reflex that he hasn't needed in a long time. He may easily have not remembered how to swim, how to make a body do what he wants when he hasn't had one for a very long time.

But he's not conscious. He's pushed into the tube and it closes behind him and he floats there, peaceful and pale. There's no marks even suggesting his horrific end and nothing roiling unpleasantly under the scrubs top, like it's trying to squirm free.

The readout flares up with his vital statistics (alive, healthy, things he shouldn't be) and his name underneath.

Ben Hargreeves.

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After finding Klaus there in the tubes, Diego has been spending much more time down there. He knows it might be staggered, that he came in and then Klaus, so there was a chance that the others will appear. Eventually.

Not that it's not boring as hell, but he uses the time to work on his telekinesis so that he doesn't lose control and hurt himself or others. Especially the others, since he's knicked himself a time or two, and has wraps on his fingers and wrists showing that.

He's actually not entirely paying attention when things start lighting up. Glancing over, blinking when he realizes this is it, someone is there, and the knife he's been floating in the air hits the ground with a loud clatter of steel on concrete.

Instantly going to the display, staring at the words as if he can't believe it, as if his mind is playing tricks on him.

Moving instantly to the tube, having studied it since pulling Klaus out and knowing more what he's doing as he undoes the latches and moves to try and haul Ben out of the tube and get him on the ground.

The tube drains and then opens, releasing the still unconscious Ben to collapse into his brother's arms, a sodden dead weight.

He reflexively brings up the oxygenated fluid he'd been breathing, coughing it free without really coming to yet, just flopping helplessly.

Diego is so stunned as the weight of a body falls into his arms. A heavy, wet body that drenches his clothes and is solid and fully formed in his arms.

"Oh Jesus," he whispers, moving to try and lowering him to the floor. Stripping off his coat to get it laid over Ben, using his brother's backpack as a pillow for his brother.

"Oh shit, Ben. Fuck. How," he mutters, not having a clue what to think in that moment. Moving to turn his brother's head, making sure he doesn't choke too badly, stroking his hair back. And then, unable to help himself, his hand dropping to his brother's stomach. Hesitating there, not touching him but wanting to, wanting to check. He doesn't have his abilities. Klaus doesn't have his.

How could this place not only take that away from Ben, but make him alive as well?!?

It only take a few moments for Ben to start shivering as the chill of being wet settles in and it's that as much as anything else that has Ben's groaning and starting to wake up. He coughs roughly, hand coming up to rub at his mouth and his other hand dropping to his stomach on reflex, to soothe the horror with gentle warmth.

His eyes open and focus slowly, looking at Diego, but he doesn't say anything. He gives a small sigh and his gaze moves on, looking about. "Klaus?"

"He's here," he assures him, not thinking about the device yet, just wanting to make sure Ben is okay. "He's nearby. Kind of. It's a walk," he assures him, smirking at that in a wry way. He's not close but he's in this world.

"Maybe you shouldn't move," he says, considering him. "Not until we talk. What do you last remember?"

Diego speaks in response and Ben freezes. He stares up at Diego with comically wide eyes and then reaches out very slowly with one finger to try and poke Diego in the arm.

His finger touches.

Ben recoils as if burned and scrambles to push himself up to sitting and backward, away from Diego, looking around frantically.

He feels... cold.

He doesn't feel anything.

But he feels cold.

"Klaus?! What did you do?!"

"Hey. Hey. Chill out. Jesus, man." But he backs up, hands up. He's armed to the teeth, but he's trying to look nonthreatening. Sorta.

"He didn't do shit. We don't know who did, but it gets weirder so I need you to calm down," he says, still standing there, hands up. "Also, I guess... Welcome back to the land of the living. We missed you," he says, now remembering and moving his hand to tap at the device.

Need you at the bunker. NOW! -D

"I'm trying to get Klaus here, okay? So chill out and... well, breathe. You might wanna breathe."

Diego never looks threatening to Ben. He's seen his brother crying in Grace's lap, it's hard to be menaced after that.

But the fact that Diego is clearly interacting with him finally sinks in. His fingers dig into his stomach and it hurts, and there's nothing grasping back and nothing fighting him for control, to eliminate the threat that isn't there but is making him panicky.

He was breathing fine until Diego mentions it and suddenly he realises he's breathing and he hasn't done this for over half his life, so naturally, he starts hyperventilating, forcing in too deep breaths and heaving out half choked pants.

Klaus wasn't exactly being productive or anything, he was just trying his hand at cooking something in the kitchen of their shared house, without much great success. Now that he's sober, he has to keep his mind occupied to avoid giving in to the cravings and distract himself from the skin-crawling need that sometimes washes over him in waves and leave him feeling devastated and empty, like there's a big hole in his life that he can't ever fill up with anything else.

It's kind of a relief when Diego texts him saying he's needed at the bunker.

His first response is to shiver at his memories of that shithole. His second response is to feel flattered and strangely elated that Diego needs him.

on my way. sup?

Klaus is already on his way, sliding on his lame hiking boots and booking it to the pod that he and Diego had used to get back from the bunker before. Klaus might not be very strong, but he's fast and has a lot of energy, so it doesn't take him too long to get there. After a short hesitation in front of the entrance to the dark, underground space, he shivers and pushes himself to go inside.

The voices are easy enough to follow, and he moves quickly, one hand trailing along the wall to keep him grounded in reality, to reassure himself that they aren't closing in around him. It's good when he has something to focus on other than the dark and the damp of the bunkers, and he comes in through the door in a rush, almost tripping over his feet.

"Hey Di, what's the big-"

And that's when he sees him there. Ben. Soaking wet and hyperventilating and clutching at his stomach. And ghost Ben doesn't do half of those things. Ghost Ben doesn't get wet. Ghost Ben doesn't breathe.

"Holy shit. Ben?"

You need to see this. Hurry.

Well shit. Damn, he's not good at this, and he knows it, but he didn't mean to scare him. Even if this is a bit more than telling Klaus that he's not going to be seeing ghosts from now. It's one thing to have lost their ability, but for Ben this is so much a whole new world, and Diego might have eased him into it better.

Moving to drop down before Ben, kneeling a few feet away, staring at his brother. Staring. At. Him.

"Come on, Ben. I need you to try and breath," he says, drawing deep, steady breaths and letting them out slowly. Because that's going to help. "Shit, Ben, I didn't mean to..."

And then he hears Klaus someone coming, and so glad for the back up. The back up that would know how to handle Ben. He hopes.

"So... I know we were hoping for siblings but... How?"

Not that he's upset! He's glad. He really is, but how the fucking hell even?

Ben keeps staring at Diego, not speaking to him, because although Diego is looking at him and speaking to him and they've touched (however briefly), this has not managed to process into 'I can interact with Diego' yet.

He's wet and he's cold and his chest burns, but his stomach feels oddly hollow and empty and still.

When he fears he's near passing out, his body seems to take over and start breathing in more even patterns, slower and sinking into something like normal.

Footsteps make him look and then his expression melts into one of naked relief and hope. "Klaus! I'm cold and I'm wet and Diego keeps talking to me..." He reaches a hand out, shaking with too many things at once.

It takes a few seconds for his brain to catch up with the situation - Diego looks like he's been slapped or something, wide-eyed and hopeful; Ben is curled up and away from Diego as if Diego is gonna bite him or something. It doesn't make sense. All of them, except maybe Luther, trust Diego. Diego was the only one Klaus felt okay telling about the whole hotel torture thing, but Ben is staring at him and hyperventilating like he's having a panic attack.

Klaus isn't known for his quick thinking, and for good reason, but his brain manages to triage the situation, and he heads over to Ben when his brother says he's cold and wet and Diego is talking to him, crouches down beside him and reaches out, cautiously, pressing his hand against Ben's shoulder and smiling a little at the solid warmth.

"Hey. C'mere."

Carefully, he slides his arm around Ben's shoulders, taking it slow in case he scares Ben too.

"I think you're alive again, Ben, so you gotta breathe okay?"

Klaus looks over at Diego, his own expression a little shell-shocked, green eyes wide, and shakes his head.

"I don't know. Ben's alive though. He's..."

And suddenly there's tears spilling down his cheeks, and he looks over at Ben again, "Diego's talking to you cause you're alive, Ben, so breathe okay?"

"Holy fucking shit."

Ben is alive. Ben who had died so many years ago, whose lose had been part of them falling apart and drifting away from one another. First Five. Then Ben. Then it was every man, and woman, for themselves. Until recently. Until they'd just learned Ben was with Klaus all along, and Klaus has been through Hell, and Diego is still figuring out how to adjust to all of this, and to try and do the best he can for them. For Klaus and getting clean and sober. For Ben who... is alive.

"I told him that and he choked," he admits. "He needs to know the rest. Maybe." He's seen him feeling for it. "What we were born with, it's gone here." He's not sure how else to say it, but he's trying.

Klaus shuffles in and Ben watches him, not scared, but definitely looking overwhelmed as the hand slides over his shoulder and around him and he's so cold but Klaus feels warm. Klaus is warm and solid and Ben briefly remembers the first moment they met after he died and they'd tried to hug-

He latches onto Klaus suddenly, tightly, burying his face in against his chest and arms wrapping tight around his chest. He's still shaking and shivering and cold and ragged.

"Stop telling me to breathe, it happens fine until you tell me to do it!" The indignation is muffled on Klaus's chest. "You're too thin. Tell Diego to feed you more, you're too skinny."

Klaus' eyes seek out Diego's face as Ben latches onto him and hides his face against him, squeezes him like he might disappear, and Klaus gets it. He gets why Ben would have that instinct, because he remembers the last time they tried to hug too, remembers that they'd tried and gone through each other and it had been so painfully disappointing that they'd never tried it again, not even when Klaus realized he could make Ben corporeal for a few moments at a time.

There are tears on his face still, and he lifts his hand, digs his fingers into Ben's hair and squeezes back, looking at Diego because he really could use the solid presence of his most reliable brother (after Ben, who's here now, here and physical with a beating heart) to keep him grounded for a moment while he processes.

But when he speaks, it's to reply to Ben.

"Tell him yourself, idiot. He's right here and he can hear you."

Watching the pair, considering how to handle this. Neither of them are stable, not that Diego has much room to talk, but he knows how this is now. It's the three of them, and it's his job to keep them safe, make sure they're taken care of. It's his job now.

So he moves closer, dropping down beside them. Suddenly he's glad this place is so remote, away from the rest of the village and the insanity of that as well. Give Ben some time to cope with this place and all that's changed for him.

"It's okay. Been a long time since I could talk to him." Or that he had even thought to try, though maybe he should have more even if he didn't know he was there. Reaching out, rubbing Klaus' shoulder and offering him a tight smile. "Who'd have thought Five's wrong turn would go like this."

Had Ben come out in the fountain, he probably would've drowned himself by accident.

Instead, he's still cold, but Klaus is warm and solid and real and alive and peeking out from Klaus' chest, Ben can see that Diego's settled himself close to them, careful and wary like he's with one of the victims of crime he helps during the night.

He doesn't try to touch Diego, but he looks at him, clearly looks and then looks up a bit more to look at Klaus. He wants to touch his face, but he's unwilling to let go to do it.

"I feel hollow. Not like dead hollow. Like-" He doesn't even remember a context for it. "Mm." He buries his face again and settles so his ear is directly over Klaus' beating heart.

It's kind of nice that Diego moves in closer, crouches down beside them and rubs at his shoulder. Klaus is a little in shock, not sure how he feels, though it is overwhelmingly good to feel his arms around Ben. They haven't always got along, they spend a lot of time bickering, Ben is always trying to get him to stop doing fun things, like his own little Jiminy Cricket, but he loves Ben. Ben has been around him for so long, has been one of the few constants in his life besides addiction.

Ben is shifting to look at Diego, finally, and something unwinds in Klaus' chest at it. Because he's been able to talk to Ben since shortly after he died, but his siblings haven't been able to. He knows how much they missed him.

But he can't stop himself from hugging Ben to give Diego a chance to move in closer. He just looks over at Diego, meeting his eyes with a slightly shocked expression full of confusion and joy. Ben looks up at his face and then rests his ear against Klaus' chest, right over his heart. Klaus pushes fingers through his hair again, exhaling softly.

"Yeah no kidding. If I'd known brother dearest could bring Ben back to life I'd have had him do it ages ago."

It's flippant and a little sarcastic, because that's how Klaus processes anything deep and sincere. But he's still crying, he lifts one hand to scrub across his face, trying to get rid of the tears, but more take their place a moment later.

"Hollow...um. That could be...hungry? Or, like Diego said, our powers from home are gone. I can't see ghosts for shit here, so...maybe it's because there's no Horror?"

It's heartbreaking watching his brothers like this. He had walked away all those years ago, unable to handle losing two siblings, of Vanya leaving home, and the old man, and Luther. God, so much of he couldn't do this was Luther and seeing his damn face, and his damn smug voice and... and he'd walked away. He'd left them all, for himself.

It's time for him to be there for them. Especially seeing this emotion on their faces, the cracks of their voices, and imagining if he had lost Klaus to all of his years of drugs. Then they'd have had another statue, another painting that Reggie would probably have done from pictures, erasing another sibling.

Now they're gathering back together, and maybe this is proof that things are changing.

'He's a dick so..." Smirking though as he shrugs at that, dismissing it as if it's just nothing. Silly and amusing jokes while they're processing their dead brother suddenly being so very much alive.

"I can still throw knives," he says, smirking at that. "But I kind of prayed the weird powers Gods and got telekinesis, so I can move anything."

Ben is fairly sure that this isn't something Five has done.

He can't explain his gut instinct yet, because he's in shock physically and mentally and he's not able to focus, really, but he's got the strong instinct that something else has happened.

But Klaus' heartbeat is loud and fast.

Ben's hand loosens a little to slide down his stomach, poking and feeling and then latching back onto Klaus with a sob of relief. "They're not there." He trembles and finally starts to cry with it all.

Klaus has had that particular thought before too, because why would other people have ended up here, away from their worlds, just as mysteriously as they had if it was all down to Five. But he also assumes he's wrong, and also that no one would listen to him if he were to suggest it.

And frankly, Klaus cares a lot less than most of his siblings about why things have happened. Fact is, it happened, and right now he's just glad Ben is here, alive and warm and solid in his arms.

Green eyes track down to watch as Ben slides his hand to his stomach and feels around, and then Ben is crying with relief as he confirms the Horror isn't there. Klaus pulls Ben in closer, fingers stroking through his hair, face buried against the top of his head.

"Hey, hey hey hey...Benny, it's gonna be fine. It's gonna be fine...everything's gonna be okay..."

Diego is still being cautious about Ben, not touching him and forcing him to acknowledge things. He knows Ben needs to cope with this, and he needs to adjust to being real and physically there. And acknowledged. Damn, it's another thing he never listened to Klaus about, not listening to them, and he knows he can fix it. With time.

Giving a tight smile, glad for Ben. He really is. Of any of them, Ben most of all deserves this place and what it means for him. Klaus just being a close second.

"We're getting a second chance here, Ben. And so far it's just us."

And despite himself, Diego is glad for that.

This time, when Diego speaks, Ben looks at him, eyes slightly red and so wet that the tears don't really show. But he's looking at Diego and then, he nods slowly in response. "I don't-" He pauses and then makes himself push on. "I don't really remember being alive well. But I'm glad it's you with us."

Aaaand, that's Ben done for now, burying back in against Klaus and inhaling deeply and shakily.

Luther would've grabbed him for a hug and Ben doesn't think he'd be okay with that. Allison's understanding wouldn't have been actual understanding and he loves Five, but he can't deal with his PTSD right now and Vanya...

Nope. Too much. He shakes his head.

There's something so intensely heartbreaking about the way Ben says he doesn't remember being alive too well, and Klaus' arms tighten around him, but he doesn't say anything. Because Ben is talking to Diego by himself and there's no way he's stepping on that moment for Diego.

And once Ben finishes, he leans back against Klaus and takes long shaky breaths, and Klaus just rubs his back almost absently while Ben shakes his head. Closing his eyes for a moment, Klaus keeps his face against Ben's hair, and even though his eyes are still wet and red-rimmed, he's not crying anymore.

"Are you all okay though? Like, you're all in one piece and stuff?"

His own voice is a little breathless, a little shaky, because now that the shock is wearing off a bit, Klaus is remembering that this place is still very dark, very underground, and very much like mausoleum, especially when he lets his mind stray to how it had felt to be in one of those tubes himself, way, way too short a time ago.

Diego isn't as good as others about being close to people, but it is likely that it's better for both of them at this point. He just doesn't even think about trying to hug Ben. That's why he had called Klaus to hurry down there, knowing he was better for Ben than Diego would ever be.

The next part though, this part he can handle.

"Look, I know it's shocking and weird, and this place is basically a madhouse but the truth is there's better place for this than down in this hole. We have a house, Ben. There's some food, a fire, and we can get you into dry clothes and try and get everything else cleaned up. We can get it all worked out there."

He glances at Klaus, remembering how he felt down here before. "Come on. Let's go."

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01.01: Impending horror

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