Chapter Text
Klaus Hargreeves has never been one for subtlety, tact, discretion or any modesty in situations that would typically call for such. Known for loudly crashing the multitude of funerals he has been in attendance to regardless of his status as an invitee. He spills secrets as if he were employed to do so, and often cares little for the rules of social conduct in any kind of company at all. Often finding himself at the receiving end of physical injury and assault due to his words and behavior, of all the words used to describe the troubled fourth child of the old man, “annoying-loud mouth” was often the most kind and least explicit. While true, this is all but one side , albeit a very large side, of this man shockingly enough Klaus had the most secrets of anyone in the house. Second only to the old man of course. He had spent much time weaseling his way around the city and into every crevice he could find to indulge in every hedonistic whim of his as well as the more innocent ones such as sleep and shelter. At some point Klaus found himself sleeping on the streets, shelters, couches, cars and the motel rooms of his city and perhaps neighboring ones but often the last locations were the ones klaus would prefer to not dwell on. While his other siblings were outer space, fighting crime, finding fame, trying to return home, dead and writing a novel that made everyone wish he was; klaus thrived under the radar, his siblings were so busy that only a few would bother to keep up with his daily happenings and other such topics of small talk. Much can happen when everyone is trying to ignore you, klaus knew this fact of life very well and utilized this to his advantage quite often since adolescence. For example while everyone was busy worrying about number five, Diego and Luthers fights and the easy solved troubles of the other siblings. Klaus would annoy everyone to the point of being shouted to leave them alone or dismiss himself to his room, which worked with the larger goal at hand. He would use this time to sneak drugs from the infirmary and slither up to the attic, sneak his fathers liquor or sneak out to illicit parties in the dead of night when his father went away on business.
Yes Klaus was much more clever than he gave off or anyone would ever even dream of suspecting. Getting into and out of trouble may be an area where he lacked or excelled depending on your point of view, but getting his way with his family, the few friends he had and his peers and acquaintances was something he was a bit of a genius in the field of. Often using his own “annoying” qualities to annoy his target catering said grating traits to his target in order to have them dismiss him, ignore him or drown him in the way that would allow him to slip away unnoticed to indulge in his vices. First discovering this talent with his siblings, it was sometime after his opioid addiction had began and the first child was given the task of leading the siblings in a team building exercise meant to improve their powers and trust in each other such that they would work together more often in missions rather than make attempts to defeat the enemy solo, which their father frowned upon greatly. The siblings were tasked with their own version of an escape room that would only release them once they worked together for the solution and that would test each of their talents, a special creation of the old man. Klaus was naturally great at gymnastics , creating a diversion, contacting the deceased and was the third best fighter in the family after Luther and Diego surprisingly although years of addiction have now ruined that talent but as a child was much more present despite him not particularly favoring sparing. They were at the portion of the room in which they would have to solve a riddle before a timed explosion was set off, all of them arguing and it was here when the opioids Klaus had previously consumed were beginning to wear off and the burning itch from deep within had begun.
“Honeslty we should just let it blow, dad didnt put a real bomb-”
“Yes he did klaus come’on klaus pay attention” scolded allison
Klaus grabbed the paper with the clues and riddles and stood on a desk and began mocking the old man stomping his feet and laughing at his own jokes, putting the paper further out of reach each time luther and diego tried to snatch it, when five was thoroughly irritated he flashed behind the troubled brother and grabbed the paper and pushed him off the desk klaus returned the favor but five flashed away causing him to fall and push the desk which then bumped the timer giving them less time, as he lay on the floor with his siblings scolding him to get out of the way before he got them all killed. Klaus noticed a vent in the ceiling while they gathered around the desk trying to figure out the solution, their backs turned to him. Klaus seized the moment and his talent at gymnastics to leap up to the vent, open it and make his escape. At this point he knew the lay out of the house and knew how to get around, only needing a ledge in the ventilation systems to be able to rest and indulge in his addiction where no one would be able to see him He somewhat preferred to be alone like this, hidden way out of sight out of mind. A house full of superpowered kids with varying levels of inflated egos and self-hatred will leave you desperate for some quiet time and craving for any kind of escape whatsoever. The high began to overtake his mind and body as he lay down in the vent tunnels staring at the cold metal above him, a of false euphoria overtaking him and rendered his abilities worthless. This false sense of warmth and joy distracted his conscious mind from acknowledging the damage being done to his brain and body. The neurorceptors in his brain holding on to the artificial and chemically damaging drugs and interrupting his body's natural ability to create the chemicals responsible for joy, peace and other enjoyable emotions, the false sense of happiness from the drugs overtaking his system make his young and growing mind believe that there's too much of the 'happiness' chemicals and lower it's creation of these chemicals since why create it on your own when you can get a false and dangerous dosage for a quicker rush the only risk is your well-being and safety. The drugs destroy is already hindered impulse control and sense of reality, rather than being in the moment of reality he is somewhere else little care for his physical body and where it might be and what dangers it might be exposed to out side of the damage the drugs will bring, more vulnerable than ever to the dangerous world around him and he isn't even conscious enough to know what is going on below him anymore. In his young and naive mind this false euphoria is the safety and warmth he craves from a family that may never to be able to give and that the outer world would never allow it, who could ever love and cherish and protect the most worthless Hargreave sibling even victor can play violin and has amazing talents he works hard for. To Klaus he was the most invaluable and worthless person to ever carry any last name let alone the Hargreave name, who could ever value him? Only drugs could value him only the momentary interactions with his dealers and his robotic mother brought him any miniscule movement towards even thinking he might hold any value but his other siblings and father would quickly humble him to remind him of his own irrelevance and worthlessness. Content in the idea of dying alone since it's imbedded in his young mind that no one would ever could ever or want to love him and cherish him and value him enough to protect and love he indulged every hedonistic desire since it didn't matter what he did since no one cared enough so he carried a "devil may care" attitude.
In his young age and growing mind…
Klaus was utterly worthless and better off dead and gone but as this was not feasible at the moment high out of his mind and body was as close to dead as he could get.
Because who could ever love the worthless junkie sibling?... when the others carried so much talent and intelligence…and all he had was, nothing…for him all he had was drugs completely unaware of the love and joy and sense of safety he will experience later in life but thankfully he will stick around long enough to see it but for now his young mind cannot comprehend his own worth and value and puts a blanket over the pain by using drugs. The pain remains but is simply covered with a thin blanket of drugs to be out of sight but not out of mind.
The sound of a blaring siren, explosion and earthquake vibrations beneath him, he peeks over the ledge to investigate and using the ledge to let himself hang upside down he sees that the room had in fact exploded with his siblings barely escaping into the next room using the tunnels to follow them and then jumped down to meet them again.
"Klaus? Where the fuck were you?! We almost died were calling out your name are you okay-" yelled Ben shaking him by his shoulders and patting him checking for injuries
"I was busy solving the riddley diddley my dear fratello what the hell were the rest of you bastards doing?" giggled Klaus not reading the room and the weight of the situation
The other siblings stare at him with frustration and annoyance, Luther takes a step forward ready to beat some sense into him before the old man stops him with a hand on his shoulder.
"Relax number one do not accost your brother for what the rest of you lacked. I was watching your actions from my office and Klaus was the first of you all to escape the bomb which could've killed you all if you continued to bicker and fight as of time was not of the most essence, focusing more on being correct in an argument or the strongest in a fight with one another during a mission when time is scarce and the risk is your life does not help anyone other than the ones you are trying to defeat" scolded the old man looking around the room at his adoptive children in disappointment, he dismissed them for their next lesson in the classroom they all left one by one with Klaus trailing behind stopped by his father's hand on his shoulder fingernails dig into his skin through the uniform and Reginald leans down to the young boy's ear and whispers
"While you did succeed you also put your siblings in danger by not bringing your escape route to their attention and simply disappearing while they rushed to solve the problem to save their own lives while yours was in safety completely negates the goal of a team building exercise. Do not do that again meet me in the foyer after bedtime no need to change we will be doing an exercise for your powers as well as your punishment for leaving your siblings to perish for your own selfish endeavors"
Klaus looked down completely still accepting his fate and only when his father releases him does he walk away to the classroom and join his siblings for their physics class. Where he would sit in the back and pretend he did not exist because who on mother nature's good green earth would ever want such a wretched thing? What talents did he have that could ever be useful to the team? As Klaus rode the high quietly in the back he disappeared in own mind, he could solve puzzles and riddles, solve tricks and complex problems with ease. It's likely the only thing he and his brother number five had in common, solving problems together. Five with careful thought and at times over thinking , Klaus with creativity, fresh mind and distraction. His physical agility was also quite useful, his talent for gymnastics and ability to escape had it's benefits, as klaus rode the high and the euphoric silence he dreamt of an impossible life where his family didnt find annoyance in every breathe he took, in every moment he existed, a life where he mattered, perhaps a future where he had a husband and some kids less than seven definitely, maybe two and he wouldn’’t mind a cat or a dog. Times like this is where he rides the high, enjoys the euphoric silence of the dead souls who wont allow him a moment of silence. Perhaps this is why he chose his vice, all the siblings had their vices it is just that the already existing resentment for the troubling hargreave the vice of choice being less inclined with a successful life that the old man desired for his children, made the hatred even worse. It was the hedonism the rest of the siblings denied themselves, The freedom. He was too flamboyant, too loud, too krass, too free spirited, agile and great problem solver and quick to make friends and fearless.perhaps in another life he would have run circles around his siblings but in this one he was the bain of their existence. As the tutor taught away to the siblings, klaus can only ride the euphoric high of his substance and silence in the back where he can disappear as if he never existed smiling at the imaginary world in his head where is he wanted, enjoying the feeling before the old man subjects him to torture he calls special training.
Perhaps in another life he is wanted and loved but alas in this one he is nothing but a wretched vile creature, a vermin of hedonistic disregard and yearning
Who would ever want such a disgusting vile creature?