Work Text
The first one to sneak out, to no one’s surprise, was Klaus. Allison had found her way onto the roof a few times, sitting very still digging her heels into the shingles looking up at the moon, but she never strayed more than a few feet away from the windowsill. Klaus had joined her on occasion, more frequently as they got older, so they could paint their nails without interruption. Each time he ended up staring off into the distance, where the fire escape led down to the alley behind the Academy. He thought about it often, even told Five about it during one of their many late night chats under blankets and pillows, but it was just a thought. But one night, after being shouted at what seemed like all day, Klaus decided he’d had enough. He thought that Allison would be there by the time he reached the attic, but she had a sore throat and left a note on the ledge for Klaus- “maybe tomorrow?”Klaus rolled his eyes and unlatched the window, lifting it open and letting a grin wash over his face as he felt the cool breeze of the night pierce his skin. He glanced behind him at the door quickly, just to make sure no one was standing at the door, ready to punish him. After deciding the coast was clear, Klaus jumped onto the ledge and swung himself over. At first, he sat where he normally did during his conversations with Allison, just below the windowsill. He enjoyed the roof because there was no one to yell at him- living or dead. Almost everywhere else on the grounds Klaus could spot a ghost out of the corner of his eye, or sometimes right in front of him, and it never stopped. However, it seemed that the ghosts didn’t care much for the roof, so that is where Klaus went whenever someone was screaming bloody murder in his room at night. After a few minutes of silence, he couldn’t help but and turn his attention towards the back of the house. Finally, he mustered the courage to creep along the rooftop towards the metal bars that led to something that could be considered freedom. Heart racing, he descended the rusty ladder as quietly as possible, sticking his tongue out as he passed Luther’s window, and feigning a kick at the glass when he reached what looked like his dad’s study. Moments later, his beat up high-tops touched solid ground and Klaus gasped as he looked around. He glanced back up at the ladder again, just to make sure he was still alone, and immediately took off running, turning the sharp corner out of the alley and taking a left when he got to the front of the house. He laughed to himself as he ran, not knowing where he was going, or what he was going to do once he got there, but he was loving every second of it. It was late enough that there wasn’t a lot of traffic, but Klaus soon realized that most every thing around was closed for the night and he slowed down to catch his breath, leaning up against a pay phone and looking around at all the neon signs that lined the sidewalk. He realized he couldn’t even see the Academy anymore, and for a moment his heart fluttered with panic, until headlights glaring in his face pulled him from his thoughts. He shivered, realizing that he probably should have changed out of his pajamas before going on such an adventure, but as he kept looking in the distance, he saw something of familiarity. “No way,” He breathed, shoving his hand in his pocket to make sure the thirty bucks he’d managed to steal from his dad were still securely in his possession. Klaus smiled as he felt the bills and started towards the flashing sign that was further down the road. As he approached the store, he noticed the lights were still on and there seemed to be one lonely employee sitting behind the counter. He pushed the door open and walked in, acting as if he was supposed to be there, and grinned to himself. Aisles and aisles of music were laid out before him, ranging from singles to LPs to cassettes. He recalled the few times that he’d been here, accompanied by Luther, Diego, and their dad on their birthday. The guy behind the counter finally noticed Klaus’s presence as he browsed the displays of new music upfront for a minute or so. “Hey kid, you got parents around here anywhere? You really shouldn’t be in here by yourself, and we’re about to close for the night,” He asked, setting down his book. Klaus looked up and swallowed hard, racking his brain to come up with a good lie. “Oh, yeah, they’re uh- out in the car. I just got back from sleep away camp, and my mom said I could stop on the way home and get the new Rage Against the Machine record,” He replied cooly. The guy behind the counter shrugged and went back to his book and cigarette, clearly not giving enough of a shit to do anything about the strangely clothed boy roaming around the store just before eleven at night. Klaus grabbed the cassette off the display and turned it over in his hands a few times, smiling to himself. He couldn’t wait to have new music to listen to. Checking the price of the tape, he realized that he had more money to spend, and starting perusing the aisles. He skipped over the records because Luther was the only one who still listened to records, and he’d most definitely punched Klaus harder than he had to earlier that day during training, so fuck Luther. He made his way back to the clearance section and found an old Blur tape covered in dust on sale for half off, and immediately grabbed it. “Five’s gonna love this,” he said to himself, looking over his purchases. He glanced down at his watch and realized that the store was really closing soon, and he figured if he stayed much longer the sole employee of City Music might actually start to care about where his parents were, so he decided to check out. “Blur huh? You got good taste, kid,” The guy said, cigarette hanging out his mouth as he rung Klaus up. “It’s actually for my brother, but I dig ‘em too,” Klaus said, fishing crumpled bills out of his pocket.“That’ll be fifteen bucks even,” The cashier said, putting his cigarette out and bagging Klaus’s admittedly measly haul. Klaus slapped the money down on the counter, grabbed his bag, and ran out of the store. “Thanks man!” He said as he exited the store. Klaus looked down at his watch again. 11:04. He was sure that no one had discovered that he was gone, but the thought of the punishment he would receive if his dad ever found out what he did was enough to make him nervous about being gone for so long. He decided to turn towards home, but not running this time. He took the time to look up during his walk back, closing his eyes for a few steps at a time and taking the feeling of the fresh air in as much as he could. He studied the upcoming store fronts and realized there was a 24 hour pharmacy on his way back, so he stopped in looking to buy some contraband junk food and whatever else he could afford with his remaining fifteen dollars. However, his plans changed when he was greeted with the cosmetics aisle as he first walked in. Klaus immediately grabbed a basket, picking out the most obnoxious shades of one dollar nail polish he could find, along with what was marketed as a ‘grunge look’ eyeshadow quad and a cheap eyeliner pencil, thinking of all the fun he and Allison could have with new toys to play with. Adding up his most exciting purchases of the night, he realized that he still had seven dollars to spend on food and he booked it to the snack aisle, picking up a Crunch bar, a Hershey bar, a large bag of potato chips, and a large bag of cheese puffs. He paid for his items and ran out of the store once again, breathing heavily as he checked the time. He whipped his head up and looked intently down the street, thinking he could just barely make out the Academy down the road. He’d been out of bed for almost an hour, and in his paranoia he was starting to believe Ben’s theory that mom checks on them every few hours at night. He held his bags close to his chest and started running, harder than he ever had before, except for maybe that mission they did in Chicago where he and Diego got chased by guard dogs for a block and a half. That was pretty rough. Klaus breathed an internal laugh as he realized the pun he’d just made within his thoughts and kept running, his tattered shoes slamming down on the concrete. Klaus practically skidded to a halt when he reached the Academy, turning the corner and rushing to the fire escape. He put the bags around his neck and climbed as fast and as quietly as he could, tiptoeing on the roof back to the open attic window. Avoiding the steps he knew creaked, Klaus made his way down to his bedroom, praying that the plastic bags in his hand wouldn’t crinkle and wake someone up. He slipped through his door and inched it closed, sighing with relief when he heard it latch. The relief was short lived, however, as he heard footsteps in the hallway as soon as he kicked his shoes off. Eyes widening with fear, he opened his wardrobe and set the bags down on the floor, throwing a dirty suit over top of it. He heard the door to Five’s room next to him shut and realized that he didn’t have time to pretend like he was asleep, so he put his slippers half on his feet and grabbed a stagnant glass of water that was sitting on his desk just as his door opened. “Klaus, what are you doing up? It’s much past your bedtime,” His mother said, a disapproving look on her face. Klaus looked down at the floor, pretending to be sorry. “Sorry mom. I had a nightmare and decided to get a glass of water,” He explained. He wasn’t entirely lying, Klaus frequently woke up because of people screaming at him in his dreams, only to find that they weren’t in his dreams, but in his room. Mom’s expression turned to one of sympathy as she walked in and pulled the covers back on his bed. “That’s alright, sweetie. Would you like me to help you go back to sleep?” She asked as Klaus made his way to bed. He smiled and took a sip of the off-tasting water, trying not to make a face as he set the glass down on his nightstand. “No, I think’ll be okay mom. Thanks though,” He said as she tucked him in and patted his head. “Alright, sweetheart. Have yourself some good dreams,” She cooed as she shut the door. Klaus swallowed hard, heart still beating out of his chest as he closed his eyes and tried to ignore the ghost standing in the corner of his room reciting Shakespeare to the wall. ———The next morning, Klaus woke up a few minutes before his alarm was set to go off and threw his covers off immediately, rushing to his wardrobe. Part of him couldn’t believe what he’d done the previous night, and he had to check and make sure his stash of goodies was indeed real. He was staring at the plastic bags with a grin on his face when seven alarms blared from every direction, signaling the start of the Hargreeves sibling’s day. Klaus cursed under his breath and threw a clean uniform on as quickly as he could, trying to be the first to get the bathroom they all shared. He threw his door open at the same time as Diego and they both stared at each other for a moment before rushing out of their rooms and making for the bathroom. Klaus was closer, and Diego didn’t have super speed, so Klaus ended up getting there first. He skidded to a halt when the door didn’t open, Diego smashing into the back of him and sending them both colliding into the door.“What the hell, man?” Diego said, reaching for the knob.“It’s locked, you idiot,” Klaus said, rolling his eyes. Their heads whipped up when they heard whistling coming from behind the door and they shared a look. “Open up Five!” Diego yelled as he started banging on the door with his fist.“First come first serve assholes!” They heard their brother call from behind the door. “C’mon, Fivey, we all know you do this just to fuck with us! I really gotta pee dude!” Klaus whined. Diego sighed angrily and pressed his face up against the crack in the door before speaking again. “Five, I swear, if you don’t come out right now, I’m gonna kick your ass later today!” He yelled again. For a moment, all they could hear outside was the sink running, until Five spoke again. “First of all, Klaus don’t ever call me Fivey again, and second, Diego, I’d like to see you try. Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll be taking a bath on this fine morning,” He commented.Klaus and Diego exchanged a look of annoyance, when an idea flashed across Klaus’s mind. He chewed on his lip and stared at the floor for a moment before looking back up at Diego.“Can you keep a secret?” He said quietly, fiddling with his hands slightly. Diego looked down at his slightly shorter brother with a confused look. “What are you talking about?” He responded. “I did something last night, and I think we can use it to get him out of there,” Klaus said. Diego’s look didn’t change as Klaus pressed his face up to the crack in the door and spoke to Five. “Hey uh… Five? I might have something that could change your mind,” He said in a sing song voice. Klaus listened as Five turned the water off. “Like what?” Five responded. “Like… junk food?” Klaus said, looking back at Diego, who’s look turned from one of confusion to surprise. There was a moment of silence before the brothers heard the door slowly unlock. Five peaked his head out and narrowed his eyes. “I’m listening,”———Klaus shoved Five and Diego into the bathroom and swore them to secrecy after divulging some of the details of his late night adventure, and how he wanted to share it with them. Part of Klaus was annoyed that he’d given up what was probably the biggest piece of leverage he’d ever had in his life just so he could put gel in his hair and take his morning pee, but he was too excited to care for the most part. The rest of the day was spent exchanging glances and secretive notes between the siblings. The brothers had decided that they would all get together later that night and share the fruits of Klaus’s labor together, like real brothers and sisters do. Klaus wasn’t exactly sure why he was giving up what would have been an amazing night of him getting sick on cheese puffs and too much sugar for some quality time with his family, but he supposed being unpredictable wasn’t so bad. Deep down, though he’d never admit it, but Klaus supposed he actually liked his siblings when they were all getting along. Diego slipped a note under Luther’s door while he was getting dressed after his shower, and Five scrawled a notice on the back of Ben’s bookmark. Klaus cornered Allison while she was doing her makeup later that morning, and she said she could try and secure some soda for the gang. Five pestered Klaus all day about inviting Vanya until he decided it would be pretty lame to leave her out on this one and caved. The day seemed to go agonizingly slow as word got around the family, but eventually it was time for bed. Their mom tucked them all in, just like every night, and Klaus, just like every night immediately threw his covers off and sat up in bed. Tonight was different for a few reasons though, as he looked at his clock on his nightstand and smiled. In just over a half an hour, the Hargreeves siblings would all tiptoe out of their rooms and head to the roof, but Klaus was getting really annoyed with the dead poetry fan in the corner of his room and decided to leave a little earlier. He grabbed the plastic bags and his Walkman and snuck up the stairs to the attic. He was surprised when he walked into the room and could hear the wind whistling through the open window. Allison was sitting on the ledge, one leg out and one leg in, looking up at the stars. She had an unopened can of soda resting between her legs on the windowsill, and an undisturbed six pack was on the floor under her foot. “Whatcha doin’ sis?” Klaus asked, plopping his stuff down opposite her. She turned to him and smiled. “Couldn’t sleep. I knew you’d be here early too,” She said jokingly, eyeing the bags Klaus had just set down. Klaus smiled as Allison’s eyes widened.“What’s in there, Klaus? Luther said that you snuck out last night, is he for real?” She asked in a hushed tone, even though they were far away from anyone else in the house. A grin spread across Klaus’s face as he crossed his arms and shrugged.“I dunno, Allie, I guess you’re just gonna have to wait till everyone else gets here,” He said, leaning up against the wall. Allison squinted at Klaus in feign disappointment as he jumped up on the ledge and leaned his head on the frame, closing his eyes. “Are you tired?” Allison asked after a moment. Klaus shook his head, eyes fluttering open.“I haven’t been getting much sleep lately, but I’m all good,” He responded, stifling a yawn. Allison frowned slightly and a concerned look grew on her face. “Is that guy still in your room?” She asked. Klaus rolled his eyes. “Oh yeah. He’s moved on to Poe though, a real cultured guy,” He said sarcastically. Allison sighed. “I can’t imagine how hard that is for you. They’re really everywhere, all the time?” She inquired. Klaus nodded, but shrugged it off. “Yeah. It’s whatever. There’s nobody here right now though. They don’t seem to like the roof too much,” Klaus looked down at his shoes. “Well if you ever want to sleep in my room, I don’t think there’s any dead poets in there,” Allison said. Klaus chuckled.“I dunno, Allie, I think you’d be surprised,” He said, turning his head to look up at the stars.They spent the rest of the time waiting in silence, until they heard the door creak open and one by one the rest of their siblings made their way into the tiny room. “Did you really leave last night, Klaus?” Ben asked as they all crowded around the window. “Yes. And I will tell you all about it as we feast,” He said, holding up the plastic bags. He gestured to the window as he climbed out of it and walked to the flat part of the roof. They all sat in a circle and looked to Allison as she passed out the cans of soda. “Alright, Klaus, tell us what happened last night!” Diego said.“Yeah, what’d you do? What happened?” Clamored the rest of them. Klaus basked in the attention he was receiving as he opened the plastic bags and sorted through them.“First off, I come bearing gifts. For all of us, the holy chip of potato and the coveted cheese balls,” He said, over-dramatically lifting the snacks out of the bags and placing them in the middle of the circle. The group’s eyes widened as they realized what he had in his hands, and Luther and Diego fought to open the bags first, snatching them out of Klaus’s hands before they even hit the ground. “What else you got in there?” Five asked, nudging Klaus’s arm.“How about… dessert!” Klaus said, pulling out the Hershey bar and tossing it to his left, where Ben immediately opened it and shared with Vanya and Five. He glanced down at the Crunch bar still at the bottom of the bag and decided that it wasn’t terrible if he kept at least one thing of himself. “You ever gonna tell us how you got all this stuff, Klaus?” Diego said through a mouthful of chips. Klaus smiled as he began to regale his siblings of his adventure last night, exaggerating only a little bit, just for some more excitement. They all listened intently as they shared the snacks and drank their sodas. After a while, they all dissolved into their own conversations with whoever they were sitting closest to. They carried on that way for what seemed like hours, until multiple members of the family were yawning and struggling to keep their eyes open. Diego looked down at his watch after Ben fell asleep on Allison’s shoulder and cursed under his breath. “It’s really late guys, we should probably go to bed. That six am alarm is gonna be a bitch tomorrow,” He said. “Yeah, we should go to bed,” Luther said, reminding everyone that he was number one. Luther rubbed his eyes and walked over to Ben, pulling him off Allison and picking him up, much to Diego’s chagrin. Allison herself yawned and chatted with Vanya quietly as they too got up and made their way back to the window. Klaus watched her walk away and decided he would show Allison the makeup and nail polish tomorrow during their half hour of free time. Five was the only one who stayed behind to help Klaus clean up the mess they’d made.“Thanks for helping out, Fivey,” Klaus said, showing their trash into the empty plastic bag. “Stop calling me Fivey, you know how much I hate it,” He responded, lightly kicking his brother in the shin. Klaus laughed it off. “You know you love it,” He said, picking up the remaining trash. He paused for a moment before starting towards the window. “What’s up?” Five asked, noticing his hesitation.“I’m not tired. Wanna hang out?” Klaus asked. A grin spread across Five’s face before he nodded his head.“Hell yeah,” He answered. They crept back to Five’s room, where the skeleton of their last late night fort still remained. Klaus set the bag containing his Walkman and new tapes down on the floor as Five tore the covers off his bed and began reconstructing their secret club house. The only one besides them who was ever allowed in was Ben, but he wasn’t really one for breaking rules and never wanted to stay up past their bedtime. Klaus grabbed the crappy battery operated lantern from under Five’s bed and turned it on as Five ducked under the fort. “Y’know how I said I got two tapes at the music store?” Klaus said as Five sat down across from him.“Yeah…” Five responded, unsure of what Klaus was getting at. “Well… one of them is for you. You really need to start listening to some better music dude. Even Diego has better taste than you at this point,” Klaus said, pulling out the Blur tape. Five’s mouth hung open as he took the tape from his brother, looking it over in his hands. “Klaus this is like… the coolest thing ever. You’re pretty cool. Sometimes,” Five added at the end. Klaus shrugged. “Don’t flatter yourself, I also got some stuff for Allison,” He said, playing it off as he got his Walkman out of the bag while Five took the plastic off the cassette. “No, I mean, you did all that dangerous stuff and decided to share it with us. I don’t think all of us would have done that,” He explained. Klaus tilted his head thoughtfully. He really hadn’t figured out what made him share the food and tapes and makeup with his siblings. “I guess I just like it when we’re not trying to kill each other,” He responded after a moment. They both looked at the floor, unsure of why expressing emotions made them so uncomfortable. “But I got the tape because you need to culture yourself. You read too much, Fivey,” He continued. Five rolled his eyes as he opened the case and gingerly took the cassette out. Klaus popped opened the tape deck and corrected Five as he tried to put it in the wrong way. They pushed it closed at the same time as Klaus made sure the volume was all the way down. He slowly inched it up as the opening lines of Girls and Boys by Blur filled the silence between them. “Hey, Klaus?” Five said as they both started to bob their heads to the beat. Klaus looked up and raised his eyebrows.“Yeah?” He responded. Five chewed on his bottom lip, as if he didn’t want to admit what he was about to say. “For the record… I like it when we’re not trying to kill each other too,”