(TW for implied rape / rape aftermath)

Three

Klaus was no stranger to pain.

His whole life he had endured some form of it. As a kid, he was forcibly his father's guinea pig – conducting horrible, painful, dreadful experiments on him – sometimes leaving him unable to sleep for weeks, months. He experienced a whole different kind of pain when Ben, his best friend, died at age thirteen. Then came the drugs and the stealing and sleeping around and the homelessness that came with it.

So yeah, Klaus was pretty used to pain. He knew just how much the world had of it and how the world wasn't afraid to throw it all onto one person.

Maybe he sought out for it. His lifestyle wasn't exactly prim and proper, and being on the streets no matter where you are in the city is never safe. The people and places he hung around weren't exactly known to be the nicest either. Maybe he didn't mind the rough hands and cruel words, because hey, at least someone was paying attention to him.

In a twisted and fucked up way, Klaus sought after it. He loved the attention and the physical contact even if the other person never held his best intentions. He didn't mind when strangers would come up to him without a word and grab onto his hips or his ass and later bring him back home. He didn't mind the sex that always seemed to follow, the nasty slurs –such a fucking slut huh?-, or even the ones who pulled his hair a little too tightly. He didn't mind it. Because at least, for a moment, he could focus on something other than the pain and just pretend, just maybe, that it was something close to love.

Though Klaus knew what the world was like and never dwelled on those pretend feelings for too long.

Contrary to popular belief, Klaus tried not to engage in such activity too often. Not with his disapproving ghost bodyguard by the name of Ben watching his every move. He knew his bedroom habits bothered his brother, and even when the ghost could easily leave and return in a little while, he refused to leave Klaus alone for too long. Part of that irritated Klaus immensely, but another part was secretly grateful. He didn't know where he'd be today if it wasn't for Ben guiding him, and in another twisted and fucked up way, he felt safer knowing that Ben was in the same room while he had sex and when he let himself be vulnerable towards around other men.

Which in all honesty sounds weird to even himself when he said it out loud, but oh well. He could see the fucking dead and he has siblings who can manipulate knives and have superhuman strength. What is really weirder than that?

Despite it all, Klaus considered himself lucky in the terms that he had never been forced into a sexual act before. It had always be consensual on both ends, even if Ben sometimes worried that it hadn't been. He supposed he had a lot of regrets and some shame –especially when it came to selling his body for drugs-, but at least he had always consented. He knew it would be a lot more painful for himself if he tried to resist against the type of men who took interest in him anyway.

And what would be the point in making his life even more painful?

Though he supposed, with the way the world liked to fuck him in the ass –no pun intended-, that choice wasn't always his to make.

"Ugh I hate the rain!"

A loud groan emitted from Klaus as he stomped through an upcoming puddle, successfully getting the water all over his pant leg – not that it mattered, seeing as how Klaus was already soaked from head to toe. Beside him, Ben stifled a chuckle at the childish act and failed to hide the small smirk that appeared on his face.

Klaus stopped in his tracks and glared at his ghost brother, "what are you laughin' at? You wouldn't be laughing if you were suffering in the poor cold rain too, you ass!"

Ben rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, "C'mon drama queen, the faster we get to the shelter the faster you can dry off."

At his response, Klaus let out a long and over-exadurated sigh and mimicked his brother by crossing his arms.

"The shelter is at least an half an hour away. I don't know Ben, I don't think I'm gonna make it." He pouted out defiantly.

"Okay, if you're tired let's make a stop. Somewhere you can warm up." Ben contemplated for a moment, "and for the love of god stop pouting Klaus."

Klaus only pouted more.

Ben sighed.

"Cmon then, let's go let's go." He ushered his brother to continue using following motions as he made a slight turn to head towards a little coffee shop across the street.

Klaus and Ben entered the coffee shop and the first thing Klaus noticed and appreciated was the instant burst of warmth on their first step in. He let out a content sigh and glanced at his brother, silently wishing that he could feel the same warmth. He quickly shook his head and let the mournful thought exit his head. First things first – dry off. Then, coffee.

A quick change into a dry pair of pants and a hoodie that he kept in the worn backpack he dragged around in the bathroom and an order of two coffees for here – which definitely earned him a strange glance from the barista – and he was set. Klaus made himself comfortable in a booth table with Ben sitting across from him, sipping at his own coffee while Ben's sat in front of him untouched. It was one of the weeks where Klaus had a little bit of extra change and didn't mind paying a bit extra to get Ben something too, even if he knew it was pointless and technically a waste of money. There was a silent appreciation that both brothers felt and that was enough for Klaus.

With a slight tilt of his head and a loud gulp, Klaus set the now empty cup of coffee down and smiled widely at his brother who shared a smile of his own. Moments like these in Klaus' life were rare – moments where he wasn't too broke, nor stressed. Sure, getting soaked in the rain kinda sucked and they were gonna have to go out there again but, all in all, the day had been good. He was in a good mood, had some good coffee, and he had Ben.

Klaus was sure that nothing could happen today to ruin his good mood.

Just as he was about to open his mouth to voice his thoughts, Ben cut him to it.

"Uh Klaus, don't mean to freak you out but – those dudes have been staring at you for the past 10 minutes and don't look right now but they've started to whisper."

In true Klaus fashion, he turned his head to where Ben was looking not-so-subtly and caught the eye of several gruff looking at him like he was a piece of meat.

"Oh shit," Klaus hastily turned back to his brother where he was met with a worried glance, "don't you recognize them? That's Tony and his guys. I owe them like, two hundred bucks."

"What?! Klaus what the fuck?" Ben screeched in response, his eyes widening and breath hitching.

"Shhh Jesus!" Klaus whispered in a hurry, placing his index fingers against his lips to further put his point across.

Ben made a face, "Klaus you're literally the only one that can see or hear me, shut up. You look crazy."

He pointed towards the couple at a table close to them who was shooting strange glances at Klaus.

"I always look crazy." he huffed in annoyance, ignoring the staring couple and sparing a quick (not so subtle) glance behind him once more before standing up in a haste, "we have to go, come on."

Abandoning the second cup of coffee in its untouched place at the booth, Klaus shot a quick thanks to the barista and made an exit. The rain was still pouring but thankfully not as hard as it had been before.

In one quick motion, he pulled up his hood, heaved his backpack onto one shoulder, and set off down the empty roads.

For the first minute or so, Klaus walked in silence. He kept his pace even and his eyes in front of him, trying to ignore the bubbling feeling in his stomach that was telling him to fuckingrun and that something was wrong. Ben had been surprisingly silent too; if it wasn't for the fact that he could hear his silent sniffling he would've thought he wasn't there at all.

By the second minute, Klaus noticed a black car speed past him at an unruly speed, just barely avoiding completely splashing Klaus with water from the road on its way. Klaus grumbled a quiet fuck you before lifting his head to get a closer look. It only took the car making a sudden u-turn to instill panic into Klaus as he silently cursed and made a quick left into a neighborhood and began to sprint

Fuckfuckfuck.

The black car was quick to follow Klaus into the empty neighborhood, revving its engine in a sound that would not normally feel as intimidating as it did in that moment. Klaus picked up his pace, just barely avoiding tripping over his feet several times, before making a sharp turn to the right to enter a dark and deserted alleyway. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest, so fast now, that he could feel it pumping in every bit of his body.

He glanced back over his shoulder mid-run and noticed that the car drove right by the alleyway, the sound of its engine slowly getting quieter as it drove farther away.

"Phew.." Klaus panted, dropping into a squatting position to allow himself to catch his breath. He stayed like that for a long moment, willing his body to breathe and for his mind to stop racing.

Klaus drew a long sigh, "close one, huh Ben?"

No response.

"Ben?"

He tilted his head from side to side but his ghost brother was nowhere in sight. He must have outrun him.

Ah shit. He'll find me.

Klaus shuddered and propped himself up against a large trashcan and let his head fall to rest on his it. He momentarily closed his eyes and let the cold wind cool his burning body, the feeling almost euphoric as adrenaline slowly pumped its way out.

Taking two deep breathes, filling his lungs with delicious cool air, Klaus lifted his head from the dirty surface it rested on and slowly opened his eyes, ready to continue on.

"Didn't think you could actually run from us, now could you pretty boy?"

Klaus flinched violently at the sudden voice, his body reacting immediately and his senses springing to alert.

Standing directly in front of the exit of the alleyway were three of the men who sat in the café earlier. The one who spoke, who Klaus recognized as Tony, was standing tall with crossed arms and an arrogant smirk on his face.

Instantly, Klaus moved to run backwards to the other exit but noticed that two other men were there waiting on the other side, effectively trapping him in the alley.

Klaus swallowed loudly and turned back towards the three men. He quickly morphed his expression from one of panic to one of casualness, throwing a charming smile back at the smirking men.

"Tony! Long time no see, how have you been? My I must say, that jacket looks splendid on you! Where'd you get that?"

Tony scoffed and his smirk morphed into one of impatience, "I don't have time for games today Klaus. You know why we're here."

Klaus' forced down another swallow, thicker this time, forcing back a ball of panic that came with it to remain neutral.

"Ahh yes. I suppose I do know. What is it that I owe again? Twenty? Fifty bucks-?"

"You owe use two hundred bucks, kid." one of Tony's men interrupted mid sentence, voice as harsh as the cemented walls.

Klaus forced a laughter, "right! Well about that – see, I don't exactly have two hundred dollars on me right now – but – if you give me two weeks, I can just-"

"Save it bitch. We want our money now," Tony all but snarled back, his arms unfolding slowly as he and his men began to advance on Klaus.

"Okay what about one week-"

"Shut up, whore!"

Air and breath went silent, words sunk down dead. Klaus wanted to move but he couldn't, and even if he wanted to, he was cornered and had nowhere to run. Fuck.

And where was Ben? Why wasn't he here by now? Without Ben, Klaus wasn't sure if he could keep up his persona for much longer without breaking. He wasn't as brave without Ben around. His brother always knew what to say or do in these situations, and how to help him

Klaus didn't even notice how close Tony had gotten until he could practically feel the man's breath on his face.

"Woah woah woah, gentlemen! I'm sure we can figure something out!"

Tony simply grinned at the response, eyeing Klaus up and down in an animalistic way, and grabbed onto Klaus' hair tightly so he was unable to move away.

"Oh, we have."

He licked his lips before abusing Klaus' own.

"Klaus!"

…Ben?

…

"Ben.."

…

"I-I'm gonna t-take a quick nap Ben…"

"No Klaus, you've lost a lot of blood. You need to stay awake!"

…

"…don't wanna…"

"Well you better!"

…

"I'm jus' gonna close my eyes, m'kay…?"

...

"No!"

...

Just a quick nap…

...

"Klaus!"

...

Won't be long Ben…

...

"Kla-"

The voice shouting at him was getting more and more muffled.

...

"Kl…"

...

I'm sorry…

…

And finally, Klaus' eyes fell shut, and the rain poured on.

You have to get up. Those were the words that Klaus heard, pounding through the darkness. You have to get up.And all that could cross his mind was:

Get up?

He wasn't aware he had fallen. He couldn't be on the ground. And he was fairly sure he knew that. The ground was cold, and hard, and uncomfortable, but he felt warm, not cold. He felt – wet? Wetness on his eyes, and now that he thought about it, his whole body was wet.

Don't you dare. The voice was back again, angry this time. Klaus felt like tilting his head, confusion settling in. Why would this voice be angry with him? What had he done? He wasn't playing any tricks. Only take a quick nap. Don't you dare! Angrier now.

What did this voice want from him?

Wake up! Ah, so that's what it wanted. Klaus tried to shake his head but found that nothing would respond. He finally settled on just sighing. Leave me alone, he wanted to say, I'm tired.

But the voice ceased to leave him alone, now taking upon shouting. The voice shouted and shouted or him to Wakeupwakeupwakeup. Klaus tried to squirm away from the sound and tried to cover his eyes, but his efforts were fruitless. The voice continued to shout.

I don't want to wake up! Five more minutes!

The shouting seemed to get louder and louder, the voice relentless in its efforts. As the volume rose, Klaus felt a pounding in his head start to form. It got stronger and stronger, the pain becoming almost unbearable.

A violent wave of pain hit his head fast, and he found his sleep disturbed. And with that, Klaus opened his eyes and welcomes the world around him.

The world did not welcome him back.

The first thing he noticed that he was in fact on the ground. Huh. The next thing he noticed was thick, dark red pool of blood he was laying in. It's warm, he thought.

He was on his stomach, face down in the blood, his body involuntarily shivering. He also noticed that his pants were absent and that there was a dull but painful ache in the areas he was exposed. His head felt as if a hammer was repeatedly slamming down on it, pounding so hard he could hardly collect his thoughts.

"Klaus."

It was the voice from earlier. He recognized it. Ben.

Where was Ben?

Klaus feebly lifted his head from the ground, every movement causing his body to protest in pain. Finally, he glanced his first look at his brother. Ben had been crouched beside Klaus, resting on his knees, a haunted expression plastered on his face.

"Idiot."

At that statement Klaus couldn't help but chuckle a sad chuckle, slowly moving his head to nod as if agreeing with it.

"...Hi." Klaus finally settled on saying, his voice coming out horse and broken. He coughed weakly let his eyes rest shut for another moment in an attempt to calm the throbbing pain in his head.

God, he ached.

"Hi, idiot."

Klaus pouted weakly, "...h-heard you the first time bro,"

A violent shiver made its way through his body as suddenly a wave of cold air and cold rain hit him, as if his nerves had woken up and finally responded to his surroundings.

Slowly and carefully, Klaus rolled from his stomach onto his back. It took a tremendous amount of effort to achieve this simple task, and he had to stop a couple of times to catch his breath due to the sudden shots of pain coming from all over his body.

Once he successfully made it onto his back, he tried to sit up but a sharp pain in his groin caused him to cease his efforts. He tried a couple more times before rendering it feasible and settling for laying on his back. He sighed deeply, forgetting for a moment that his unusually quiet brother was still beside him, before turning his head around to get a better look at him.

Ben, to say the least, looked like he had seen better days. His face completely betrayed everything he was feeling; sorrow, anger, despair, guilt –

Pity.

Klaus hated when Ben looked at him with pity.

"Thank God. I thought you weren't going to wake up – I thought-" Ben started but cut himself off quickly, seemingly in conflict with himself as he chose his next words, "I thought you were gone. You didn't look like you were breathing. After last summer, when you OD'd..."

"I just- I don't want anything to happen to you. You're my brother. I'm supposed to protect you, and look. All I can do it stand here and watch you get hurt and do nothing and-" a swallow, "I'm so sorry Klaus, I wish I could do more for you. What just happened – I'm so disgusted, so angry. Fuck."

Ben stopped his ramble and took a deep breath, trying to steady himself and his emotions. He knew he sounded like a broken record.

And Klaus – Klaus just stared at him feebly, blood trailing down his forehead and into his eyebrows, his lips pulled into a small frown of concern.

"Ben… are you okay?"

It took a minute for the words to sink in, and when they did, Ben wanted nothing more than to dissolve into the rain pouring through his ghostly body. His brother – his stupid, kind, shattered, selfless brother, a boy dragged through hell and back, who had every right to focus on himself and only himself and ignore Ben's lingering issues – was trying to comfort him.

"Y-yes," he finally choked out although his composure said he was anything but.

"It's… it's okay," Klaus responded, "s'not your fault… you really gotta stop apologizing when I let something shitty happen to myself, it's really not your fault… and I'm okay too, don't worry, been through worse y'know. "

As if to prove his point, Klaus further pushed his body up so he was sitting and slowly dragged himself backwards towards the wall. He gruffed in pain with every movement, eyes squinted closed in pain. He felt a presence next to him and opened his eyes to look at the cloud-heavy sky, and then to his brother who had slouched down beside him – close enough to almost feel his warmth.

I wish I could lean into him...

"…hey, are you crying?..." Klaus asked groggily as he leaned back against the cold, concrete wall of the alleyway.

"N-no, it's just rainwater…" Ben sniffed dismissively.

Even in his weakened, slightly delirious state, Klaus knew better than to point out that it had already stopped raining.

Sooo hey. Guys, I'm literally so sorry for not updating this story. I could go on a whole rant about how busy life is with work and college and exams but honestly, I just kind of lost interest in the Umbrella Academy for a while and didn't feel inspired to write. I had like half of this chapter ready and stopped writing, so I figured I might as well push through now that I have some down time.

It's definitely not my best work and I'm not super happy with it but I just want to get it up and out there for y'all, the people. I have no idea how to write a non con scene so I kinda skipped past that, I'm sorry. :( And the ending feels super rushed but ugh. I hope you guys still like it even if I don't.

Anyway, I'll do my best to keep updating this story as I already have some more prompt ideas I want to get out there!

See you guys soon. xx