Chapter Text
This really wasn't the reunion Ben had expected.
It had been hard to know if Klaus was actually forgetting about his past or if he was just pretending in order to get everyone off his back about it, but now there's really no denying it. Klaus looked him in the face and said he had no idea who Ben was.
So that's a little disappointing.
Honestly, Ben's not totally sure what he was expecting when he felt that pull- the little tug in his chest that he'd come to associate with Klaus freaking out. Ben had always assumed that Klaus did it on purpose, calling him for help when Klaus was afraid, but now... Well, Ben isn't sure what to think about a lot of things right now. It must have been done unconsciously if Klaus really doesn't remember him at all.
And he really doesn't remember anything if they're current conversation is proof of anything.
"I can't just lie!" Klaus says, even though the Klaus Ben knows lied all the time, about anything.
"It's not exactly a lie," Ben tries. "The doctor wants to know if you're still seeing me because he thinks you have a disorder, which you don't. Just tell him I'm not here so that he isn't worried anymore."
"But you are here," Klaus answers stubbornly. "I do still see you! So maybe I'm still sick."
"You're not. Okay? I promise you're not sick. You don't have what he thinks you have and he's going to give you medicine that might make me disappear. You have a superpower that lets you see the ghosts of dead people. You are not hallucinating or making things up. I'm real, and I'm here, but the doctor isn't going to believe you. He's going to think you're sick."
Ben really doesn't know what he's going to do if he loses this argument. If Klaus takes some kind of medication that he doesn't need, will that hurt him? What's Ben supposed to do without anyone around to talk to? He already felt like he was going crazy from years of just Klaus, but without even that will he lose his humanity entirely? Will he become like the many lost spirits that crawl out of the darkness to harass his brother? Will Ben eventually be remembered as nothing more than a frightening and persistent nightmare of Klaus's own imagination?
Maybe, on some level, Klaus knows that Ben is telling the truth. Or maybe he can just see the fear in Ben's eyes at what this all means for him. In any case, when Klaus answers he says, "Okay."
And then he says, "But I'm gonna tell my mom about you."
"No, you can't do that either!" Ben explodes. "She's not going to believe you either, Klaus! This is completely unbelievable to anyone who isn't us or our family because no one knows anything about this! You can't say anything!"
Klaus's eyes go wide and wet at Ben's outburst. He's shaking when he says, "I can't keep secrets from my mom, Ben. That's bad. And good people don't ask you to keep secrets from your mom."
Ben has no idea where he got that from or how to argue with it, but he knows one thing: if Amelia Katz finds out Klaus is still seeing Ben after a month of taking the anxiety medication, she will absolutely inform the specialist and push for something stronger to help him. And who knows what that could mean for Ben.
So he's not thinking all that clearly when he say, "She's not even your mom, you know."
Grace would have understood that this was just Klaus's power and he didn't need medication to make it go away. Grace would have known who Ben was, would have been glad to know he was still around. Grace would have known how to handle this. Grace would have helped them.
Grace was crushed in a collapsing building, brought down by her daughter in a fit of rage.
God, their family's so screwed up.
"She is my mom!" Klaus is saying indignantly. "She 'dopted me!"
Amelia had, in fact, adopted Klaus several months ago, and Ben had been glad for it at the time. She was kind and genuinely cared for him, something Klaus and Ben had too little experience with. She had asked Klaus before officially putting the paperwork through if being adopted was something he even wanted, just like she'd asked him after a few months of staying in her house if Klaus wanted to keep living with her and her family. She had insisted, at every turn, that Klaus only do what he was comfortable with: he didn't have to live with them, he didn't have to be adopted to stay, he didn't have to call her 'mom' unless he choose to. She was considerate of Klaus's trauma, even without knowing what that trauma was and she had gained Klaus's trust more quickly than anyone else that Ben had ever met.
Damn her.
"I know," Ben tries to say soothingly, "I know, and she's really nice, and I know you love her but, she doesn't understand."
"I can explain it to her then!" Klaus says brightly. "I'll tell her you're my brother and we all have superpowers and then she'll know and she can help me keep the bad ones away."
It's... frustrating. That's what this feeling is. Ben is so frustrated and angry, he almost wants to cry.
"She won't believe you," Ben says, trying desperately to break Klaus's trust in the only adult that's ever cared for him unconditionally. "She thinks you have a- she thinks something is wrong with your brain. That it's telling you stuff that isn't true and making you see things that aren't there. You have to tell her I'm gone. That's the only thing that will work."
Ben holds his breath as Klaus thinks that one over, a truly useless gesture from a ghost.
"But... what if my brain is lying to me, then?" Klaus asks quietly. "What if you're not here at all?"
Goddamnit. "But I am here, Klaus. I tell you things you couldn't have known otherwise, right? I checked what Amelia was making for dinner the other day and told you before you even left your room. I tell you when Brian's coming home so you can stop playing dress-up with the girls. How could I do that if I wasn't here?"
Klaus nods slowly, looking sad. "So... I have to lie? Can't I just tell her you're real and tell her all the things you do for me so she'll believe me? You're not suppose to lie to your mom, Ben!"
That idea brings Ben up short, honestly. Why couldn't Klaus tell Amelia about Ben and then prove he was there by having Ben tell him something he couldn't know? She could hold up some fingers behind her back and Klaus would tell her how many because Ben is behind her or something. She could say a secret in another room and Ben could tell Klaus what she said. Anything. They could prove his existence and maybe Ben could have talk to someone besides Klaus as well.
Not that Ben didn't love his brother but only talking to a four-year-old for weeks was really starting to wear on him. Klaus had informed him a very serious tone yesterday that Lizzie, a friend from the park, was crying because she was a deputy dog, and then completely refused to explain what the fuck that meant.
But what would Amelia do if she discovered the kid she'd picked up off the side of the road could actually see ghosts? She'd been patient with everything Klaus threw at her so far, but how far could that go? Would she tell anyone? Would those people tell people? Would some kind of creepy government agency show up and take Klaus away? Maybe they should start smaller.
"That's not a bad idea, Klaus," Ben says slowly. "But actually, what if we told Dave first?"
--
Five's found Diego and Luther, and Luther's found Vanya, but no one had any leads on Klaus. Luther's mob connections (another problem for another time, it never ends with this family) are looking for Allison, but they weren't sure how Jack Ruby would take to being asked to look for a kid. Luther says he's a good guy, all things considered, would never put a child in danger, and he'd probably want an explanation for that one. So that might be a bust, too.
So with all that, and Vanya being on a farm with no memory for some fucking reason, and the apocalypse coming up again, and the Commission likely on their tail if Diego can be believed, and the mystery woman Diego stole from a mental institution, and their father possibly killing JFK, Five could really use a god damn break.
But he'll go to this godforsaken farm and get Vanya himself, if he must.