THE THING WITH SORROW - The Umbrella Academy

The Horror

When they got back to the academy they ended up walking up to Five's room instead of running or spacial jumping, the exhaustion of the last day hitting them along with the ramifications of what they were going to do next.

On the floor below Five's they heard scuffling and rummaging from the room at the end of the hall, and stopped to approach it.

When Zero realised the noise was coming from Klauses room she dropped her bag down in the hall and raced over there, appearing in front of Klaus. But he barely reacted, just looking up at her while picking up random clothes from the floor.

"I've been looking for you-" she paused when their eyes met. Eyes half lidded from exhaustion, glazed over and not from the use of drugs, dark bruises under his eyes; he looked spent. Bolt padded in from the hallway with Five and the dog immediately went up to him, pawing at his leg.

"Nice to know someone was." He murmured quietly, scratching the back of his neck.

"Sit down." She demanded, now concerned.

He did, heaving a sigh when Five looks at him strangely. He began asking vague little questions but they bypassed Zero's ears.

Her eyes roamed Klauses appearance, noting the little bit of tone in his arms he hadn't had the last time she'd seen him. He had new tattoos on his bicep and a set of dog tags around his neck, ones that she had never seen before.

And when Five brought up the fact he had clearly time travelled, her eyes shot to his face.

Klaus didn't react.

She placed a hand on his shoulder, trailing her fingers over his tattoo. She'd seen similar ones in history books from black and white photos from the Vietnam War, which was confirmed by the acronym at the bottom of it and what Klaus was saying.

The tattoo was completely healed.

"How long were you there?" Zero asked softly.

"Almost a year."

Her eyes widened.

Five looked ecstatic but she wasnt sure she felt the same. He had been tortured by the intruders that attacked the house and she had left for her own safety without even checking on him. She could have prevented it, she could have warned him about what was happening.

"Do you have any idea what this means?"

"Yeah," Klaus scratched his elbow, looking away. "Im ten months older than everyone."

Zero zoned out a little, going to switch the main light off and closing the half broken blinds as Five pestered him about timetravel and where the briefcase he'd stolen was.

Bolt puts his front paws on Klauses legs and he rans his hands down his fur, closing his eyes and resting his forehead on Bolts. Zero watches him concerned. She went to switch on his fairylights that were hung around his bed and picked up some blankets thrown at the end of it, shaking out any dust.

"-you idiot! Do you know what you just did?!" Five snapped at the defeated man, making her head snap up.

"Hey, don't raise your voice at him. Don't." She reprimanded him, shaking her head seriously. Five narrowed his eyes at her, extending his arms exasperated.

"Are you even listening to what-"

Zero shot towards him and guided him quickly towards the door by the shoudlers. His body was tense and he turned to her in almost betrayal as she half closed the door on him.

"Dont, Five. Not now. I know, okay?" She met his eyes, lowering her voice. She knew how crucial that briefcase could have been, but Klaus was in such a daze that Bolt was alerting to him, and had done when Five started shouting at him. "I know."