Fixes to the Timeline

Chapter 1

Klaus was sprawled width-wise across his bed, feet up in the air where they rested against the wall, his head dangling off the edge. As he studied the way his room looked up-side-down, he tried not to think about how much being sober sucked. He felt awful and he couldn't stop fidgeting.

It had been a little better when they'd all been running around, jumping through time and saving the world, but all that was over now. They'd saved the world, even managed to stop Ben from dying while they were at it, but now there were no more distractions, leaving him with the looming realization that he actually had to try to live like this.

God, he missed being high. What had being sober ever done for him?

That wasn't fair, he'd accomplished a lot lately, gotten better with his abilities, grown closer to his siblings, all that shit. But he was still a colossal fuckup with no real life skills and he still couldn't summon Dave. To be honest he could barely even function most days, even rolling out of bed felt so hard.

Sometimes he didn't really see a point in remaining sober, it's not like he was really much use to anyone now, and even when they'd been saving the world he was mostly just along for the ride, and his abilities were still more terrifying than useful. But he wanted to be more than this, and he didn't want to lose his siblings again. He remembered vividly what it had done to the few siblings who had tried to stick by him every time he'd nearly overdosed and he very much didn't want to put them all through that again.

No, it was better to just suck it up and try to figure out how to be a functional human being. Well, maybe he could just focus on being a person for now, he could work on the functional bit later.

There was a knock on his door and he winced, his headache returning in full force.

"No one's here" he said, not bothering to hide his irritation.

The door was already partly open and Five kicked it the rest of the way, hands in his pockets as he studied Klaus who didn't bother to sit up.

"Ah my dear brother Five, how are you doing this fine afternoon?" Klaus said, still upside down.

"It's past midnight," Five said flatly.

"Is it?" Klaus said, glancing out the window. "Well what do you know."

"Are you high?" Five asked, face expressionless and Klaus couldn't tell if he was annoyed or disappointed or just checking.

"You wound me," Klaus said with a gasp, hand over his heart. "Of course not, you can even ask Ben."

Five studied him for a long moment, eyes narrowed. Finally, he said, "Don't say I never did anything for you," before turning and leaving.

"What's that supposed to mean? And you left the door open!" Klaus called after him, gesturing in annoyance.

But then, suddenly, someone else stepped hesitantly into his doorway, familiar torn military uniform and an even more familiar mess of blond curls. Klaus stared for a moment, disbelieving, before lurching to the side, almost falling off the bed in his haste to scramble to his feet. He just stood there, staring at the man before him. The man waved.

"Dave?" Klaus said, his mind refusing to take in what he was seeing. "Is this really happening?"

"Yeah," Dave said and there was that brilliant smile that Klaus had fallen for what felt like a lifetime ago. "It's real."

"But how--?" Klaus said, approaching but too afraid to reach out to him, as if that might disrupt the moment and he'd wake up, tears pricking at his eyes. "I've tried to summon you so many times, why now?"

"Um, yeah. Funny story," Dave said looking sheepish.

He started unbuttoning his shirt and Klaus reflexively looked away, flashes of memories nearly overwhelming him, glimpses of Dave's eyes as they slowly went vacant, of the warm blood flowing through Klaus' fingers as he desperately tried to save him. The only problem with seeing the ghost of the man you love is also seeing the injury that had killed him.

"Hey no," Dave said, quickly pulling open his shirt to reveal the stitches there. There was no gaping, bleeding wound, only healing stitches. "I'm not dead."

Klaus reached out, still afraid to touch, covering his mouth with his other hand as tears filled his eyes, feeling disbelief and fear and hope and so much more he thought he might collapse with the weight of it.

"I don't," Klaus said because what else was he supposed to say? Was this just some cruel dream come to torment him? It wouldn't be the first time he'd dreamed about being with Dave again.

But then Dave reached out and took his hand, and he felt so warm and solid and there was no stopping the strangled sound that escaped Klaus as Dave pressed his hand to his chest, letting him feel his beating heart. Dave smiled at him, such a gentle and kind thing, and there was no stopping the tears as they streamed down Klaus' face.

And then Dave was pulling him into a crushing embrace, arms tight around him as Klaus wrapped his arms around neck, laughing and sobbing into his shoulder, unashamed, placing kisses to his shoulder and neck and the side of his face, wherever he could reach.

"You were dead," Klaus said when he thought he could speak again, voice breaking, and he couldn't bring himself to pull away, not yet. He never wanted to leave these arms again.

"I don't really know the details myself," Dave began. "I came to and your brother was there. He's kind of a terrifying kid, by the way."

Klaus laughed but it was a strangled thing. "Yeah, that's Five," he said fondly.

"As soon as I was well enough to move, we had to keep a low profile for a while, Five seemed to think people would be looking for us. I'm so sorry it took me so long to come back to you."

"Yes, how dare you take so long to come back to life," Klaus said sarcastically. He finally pulled back just enough to see Dave's face, to touch his cheek, his voice breaking. "I thought I'd lost you."

"I know. I'm so sorry."

Dave kissed him, his hand tangling in his hair, and Klaus thought he might be crying. Or maybe Dave was. He never thought he'd get to do this again, he never thought he'd ever see Dave again, and yet here ye was, in his arms, warm and alive and perfect.

"I love you," Klaus whispered over and over again because he hadn't told him that enough before and he'd never make that mistake again.

And Dave whispered it back.