Fireproof

Klaus rounded the corner; he was moving quickly from the alley while simultaneously stuffing the cash he got from his last-minute john into his pants. It was around 3 In the morning and he was on the other side of the city – normally he wouldn’t go out this far, especially in the cold, but
Leon was passing through and had agreed to give him a ride home.

It was harder for him to get around these days, so many people he avoided. Old contacts that would try to pull him back into drugs with just a sample here and there – ‘for old times sake’. He had often been tempted to start selling drugs, but it was too hard to resist popping whatever was in his pocket, so he gave up on that. And taking anything that required money was just out of his budget, leaving the good old-fashioned walk as the best, if not the most dangerous, option.

Leon’s car pulled up and Klaus grinned, rubbing his hands together rapidly trying to warm them up- he was in a light jacket, but it was more for the aesthetic than the practicality. He hopped in and was immediately overwhelmed by the warmth of the heater and he sighed, sinking into the leather seat.

Leon was watching him silently, on hand on the steering wheel. He was a pleasant looking guy, with short hair and face that always looked slightly distracted. He had taken an interest in Klaus a few months prior and he seemed pleasant enough to be around. He was also considerate enough that although he drank, he didn’t try to rope Klaus back into those old habits.

Klaus leaned over to press an affectionate kiss on the other man’s cheek, but he leaned away, giving him a strange look. He put a hand up, “I don’t know where that mouth has been – “He said it with a thin awkward laugh at the end.

“I wasn’t going to tongue fuck you- Just a quick peck on the cheek for my savior – savior from this awful season.” Klaus made a few obnoxious smooching sounds. He laughed as his boyfriend nudged him away with his elbow.

Leon rolled his eyes and began driving again.

It wasn’t long before Klaus felt the overwhelming need to fill the silence, “I hope you weren’t waiting too long – I had a surprise client that I couldn’t turn down – quick romantic handy in the alley.” He smirked then added a little more solemnly, “Otherwise I would have been there waiting. Promise.”

The driver grimaced, “I don’t want to hear about it, Klaus.”

Klaus sighed and slapped his legs, “Oh, so you get to come by and tell me all the drama at the accounting firm, but I tell you one thing about my night and it’s a no go. I see.” Despite his airy and casual tone which could have been mistaken for sarcasm, there was a venom in his words that he instantly regretted.

“Well, you’re a whore, so it’s different.”

Klaus turned and glared out the window but didn’t respond, he missed the days when words and people’s opinions would just roll off the haze in his mind. Relationships were easier when there was a singular goal and he couldn’t remember any specifics about that person.

After a couple moments Leon sighed, squeezing his hands around the steering wheel, “What I’m trying to say is – You should be able to make money doing something else. I get that this is your lifestyle but this—” He gestured to Klaus, “Just looks bad on you and it also looks bad on- “

“On you?” Klaus accused.

Leon glared at him, “Looks bad on Kenzie.”

Klaus scoffed, “Having a place to sleep doesn’t look bad on anybody – also, for your information, I like sex work. I have a lot of lovely, steady clients…” After a moment he stuck his finger out, “And! I don’t want Kenzie to end up being all judgy about how people choose to make a living.”

“She’s going to end up being a stripper at this rate.”

Klaus lulled his head, “Oh thank God, you’ve arrived to show us the error of our ways – What would I have done if you hadn’t come into my life and turned me into a proper man?! Stop by the mall – I need to pick up a briefcase and a disdain for life – I’ll let my daughter know today that from now on – dad’s going to be working 12 hours a day and I’ll see her through Skype when she graduates – I’m sure she won’t turn into a stripper then!” He slumped his body over and Leon shoved him off his shoulder.

“Also, her body, her rules. I’m a feminist, bitch.” He stuck out his tongue to drive the point home.

Leon clenched his hands around the wheel, “Listen, the fact that I’m not okay with you whoring yourself out all over town doesn’t make me the bad guy – the fact that sometimes I don’t even want to touch you because I don’t know who else has been there is a legitimate concern!”

“You knew I was a hooker on the side when we started dating!”

“I didn’t think It was going to be a permanent thing! Okay? I thought-“

“What? That you were going to ‘Roxanne’ me?”

Leon groaned, “Would you just let me speak!”

Klaus laughed, he didn’t really mean to, it just came out, “Look, If I had known you were going to lecture me I wouldn’t have asked for a ride.”

Leon’s gaze shifted towards his passenger and he stomped on the break sending both of them forward. Klaus, who wasn’t expecting the sudden stop, snapped forward painfully against the seatbelt. He rubbed his chest, “Ow, what the hell?”

“I think that’s a good idea, why don’t you get out.”

Klaus glanced between Leon and the dark street outside, “What?”

“I said. Get out.”

The passenger’s mouth dropped, “We don’t have to keep talking about this- Leon, I’m sorry! We-we can work something out! Maybe after we get some sleep, yeah? Have clear heads and all—”

“GET OUT!”

Klaus jumped, slinging off his seatbelt. As soon as his door was open Leon shoved him out onto the sidewalk. The door shut and he peeled away.

Klaus stood there for a few moments in shock before flipping the bird at the taillights disappearing over the hill, “Asshole!” He yelled but nobody could hear him.

He looked around only to realize that he didn’t know where he was or how far, exactly, he was from the apartment. Klaus shoved his hands in his jacket pockets and began the long walk home, glaring holes into the pavement as he trudged forward.

****************************************************************

“Bro, look, I’m telling you- They’re aliens!” Nova said through the spoonful of peanut butter that he just shoved into his mouth.

“All these poor women just spontaneously have babies that look human but have strange and mysterious abilities? It should have been game changing! But instead all these governments just sweep the whole incident under the rug and move on? All those kids were part alien - I promise you and the government doesn’t do anything, either because they knew it was going to happen or because they’re the ones who allowed it.”

Liev was sitting back against the love seat watching their coworker pacing in the kitchen with a calm amusement. “It’s more concerning that you aren’t high right now.”

“Klaus is part alien! And so is fireball! Maybe because of an experiment to mix with earthlings or maybe just some last ditch effort to save their species-“ He pointed his spoon at the other firefighter “-Either way, the aliens are already among us – I bet they’re already controlling most governments in the world!”

Liev rolled their eyes, “Not the lizard people thing again…”

“So really it’s not that surprising that they allowed these babies to be born half human.” He shrugged, “Pretty soon, most people will probably have alien DNA.”

Nova plopped down on the couch next to his coworker. It was around 6 in the morning and he had been on babysitting duty that night, they had been expecting Klaus to come back earlier so Liev had shown up early to pick him up – which worked out perfectly for the conspiracy theorist.

“So Fireball’s an alien?”

“She can’t help it! And like I said, it will be the new norm as they start to infiltrate and spread.”
Ben was sitting cross legged on the table, invisible to the visitors on the couch, he was leaning forward with his chin on his palm with a grin listening to them talk. He was starting to get a little concerned about where his brother was, but he brushed it off, they probably just swung by Leon’s house first.

“I can’t believe Chief picked you for this assignment.” Liev said with a smirk.

“I’m the MOST qualified! I’ve been studying this shit for years – Plus babies love me, I’m the favorite uncle to all of my nieces and nephews.”

Their conversation was interrupted by sounds coming from the back bedroom.

“Speak of the devil-“Nova jumped up and went to the back room, Ben and Liev immediately heard him announce happily, “Good morning, Fireball!”

Ben glanced in alarm as the front door handle jiggled for a strangely long amount of time before Klaus finally opened it and came inside, shutting it quickly behind him. He straightened up and looked around the room, immediately his arms wrapped around his middle. His body was shaking violently, and his teeth were chattering as he shuffled into the kitchen.

“I thought Leon was going to give you a ride?” Ben asked, suddenly worried.

Klaus barely glanced at him, basking in the heat coming from the vent just over his head, “He had a family emergency.”

“Jesus christ – so you walked home? I thought you said you were working around 43rd Street.”

Klaus bent over and sighed, “Just a quick jaunt through the park really.”

Liev stood up, “Jeez, man, I wish I would have known – I was already out here picking Nova up.”

Klaus waved a hand, “It’s fine- I needed the fresh air.” His words were punctuated by the chattering of his teeth.

“Everyone look out! The fire is not contained!” Came Nova’s voice from the back just as Kenzie plodded into the living room in a pair of footie pajamas and a wild case of bedhead. The toddler’s head swiveled around the area, taking in all the adults standing around.

“Oh, that’s exactly what I needed!” Klaus nearly dropped to his knees.

Kenzie ran towards him with her arms stretched out in front of her, “G’ Morin, Mama!”

He laughed and scooped her up, snuggling her closely into his chest, “Oh my god, you’re so warm…” He clung onto her desperately for several moments.

“Good morning, snuggle pumpkins.” He shifted her to his hip and then tried to brush his fingers through her hair to flatten it down, the black curls bounced back almost immediately.

“Did you have a good night?”

She nodded, “Uh-huh

Ben inspected his brother, he didn’t look like he was hurt but something didn’t quite add up, especially since he was being so dismissive about whatever happened.

Nova noticed as well as he came back into the living room, “Shit, man-“ Liev smacked him and he tried again “Damn, man!” Liev did the same thing, “Well, I’ll be!” He said in a thick hillbilly accent causing Kenzie to immediately cackle.

“You’re, like, blue right now – You good?”

Klaus begrudgingly put his daughter down so she could make her rounds through the group, waving first at her uncle Ben. “Fantastic. Just, going to take a bath- the hottest bath possible.” He mumbled weakly, moving past them towards the bathroom.

“Thanks for watching the munchkin…”

Ben watched him go with a frown, “Hey, Klaus.”

His brother bounced against the hallway wall to look at him through lidded eyes, “Moi?”

“Happy birthday.”

He huffed, “Same to you, utero buddy.”

***************************************************************

“So, what happened?” Vanya was leaned up against the wall of the tiny apartment kitchen. She had come over with cupcakes as a sort of acknowledgement of their shared birthday. They weren’t much for celebrating but Klaus wasn’t one to say no to free cupcakes.

Klaus turned from the stove with a sigh and put down Kenzie’s dinner of Macaroni and cheese and broccoli in front of her. He immediately started cutting up the veggies into small chunks while the toddler watched him impatiently.

“I got into a fight with Leon, last night – this morning, whatever.”

She crossed her arms, scanning over his face, “He didn’t hurt you, right?’

Klaus waved his GOOD BYE palm casually and sat down in the other metal chair next to his daughter who had begun to happily chow down on the pasta. “No, no, nothing like that – It was late, very little sleep, and I wanted to pick a fight – you know how it is...”

He rubbed his face; it was around 5 in the evening and he was planning on working again once he put Kenzie to bed. He had tried to sleep but only caught about 3 hours before he started a small shift at the shop.

“It happens, couples fight.” She smiled sweetly, “Have you guys talked since then?”
He nodded, “Yeah, he called me. He apologized – it was all very sweet, and he asked if he could come by this weekend.”

“And what did you say?”

“Totally! Longest relationship I’ve even been in – want to keep the ball rolling!” He stretched and yawned.

“I’m glad – he seems like he’s a pretty good influence on you.” Vanya felt awkward talking about this but both of them had been working through the supportive sibling role.

“Oh, he’s lovely! And I’ve had some doozies in the past. I know how to pick ‘em!” He laughed,

“And I know all the best ways to poke the bear- what did dad used to say? That I was ‘incurably insolent’?” He mimicked his father’s voice and they both giggled.
Klaus sighed, slumping against the chair and shrugging, “Can’t help It – At a certain point they just snap – my record was with a girl I got with – after 8 hours she tried to cut my ear off.” He whined fondly, “Stacy was wild…”

“Maybe it’s because growing up all the attention you received was negative so now the only love you can recognize is toxic and abusive – Just like our father. Like maybe you’re attracted to people who are cruel to you because you unconsciously recognize the patterns that dad instilled in us and it’s familiar and comfortable to you?”

Klaus made a gagging sound, “Calm down, tiny Freud.” Then he added with a smirk, “I see your therapy is working.”

“My offer still stands - You can always come with me.”

He waved a hand, “Oh I’ve done plenty of therapy and counseling - I know all the tricks I just don’t, as Ben always says, care to use them!”

Vanya inspected her brother, she was never good at seeing through his lies and although she was pretty sure he was hiding something from her - she didn’t want to prod, she didn’t want him to shut down even more than he already had when it came to these types of conversations.

“Well, I hope that Leon’s different - we all deserve to have someone that is…” She thought about it for a couple of moments, “Good to us.”

Klaus didn’t look at her, just continuing to lean against his hand tiredly, “Oh, I’m sure he is - he’s had enough patience to put up with me this long..”

Kenzie put her spoon down and looked up, effectively ending the adults' conversation. “Can I ‘ave a cupcake?”

Klaus rolled his finger over the broccoli piled on her plate, “Gotta eat your greens, kiddo, then you can have a cupcake.”

“I don’ wike that!” She pointed to the vegetable.

“Well, neither do I! But you have to eat your veggies because—” He waved his hand trying to come up with a reason, “Because, I don’t know, you’ll get scurvy or something. It’s like two sprouts, just humor me.”

“What’s Scuvvy?”

“It’s a disease where – you know what, never mind – just trust me, you don’t want it.”

She pouted and kicked her legs out, “I’m full.”

“Okay, so you don’t want a cupcake?”

“I wan’ a cupcake!”

Klaus fanned his hands out, “Fantastic! All you have to do to get a cupcake is to eat the green stuff and then we both get what we want! You get dessert and I don’t have CPS called on me.”

His face remained in the same exaggerated smile as she burst into flames in front of him, scorching the metal chair she was sitting on. He sighed, “That’s what I thought you’d say…”

Vanya yelped and looked away, “God, I’ll never get used to that!”

Klaus used the metal fork to pierce a chunk of broccoli and lazily stick it into the fire around her shoulder, “Yeah… Freaked me out the first couple hundred times or so too.”

He patted the flame away from the top of her head with an oven mitt and held out the newly blackened square of vegetable, “What about flame broiled broccoli?”

She just burned brighter, little face screwed up in a tantrum.

Klaus exhaled, "I'll take that as a no..." He leaned back in his chair, "Ben!?"

***************************************************************************************************

Klaus was truly so tired he felt like he would collapse. He realized the irony that finally he was living a life where he desperately needed energy only to have stopped taking the chemicals that would help him. It really wasn’t fair.

It was around midnight and he hadn’t been out very long, he had scheduled with a particularly rough client and was coming from that now, debating on whether he could get by just going home early. He felt like he would never get warm again.

He was cutting through an alley to an area that was closer to the apartment when he heard the crunch of slow deliberate footsteps behind him - certainly not the uncoordinated steps of someone coming from the bar.

He turned and squinted into the darkness, someone was standing at the edge, their silhouette was outlined by the streetlights across the road. He could make out enough features to conclude that this was either a leather dom with a knife play fetish on their way to a dungeon or someone with enough daddy issues that they thought dressing like that and fighting crime was a viable lifestyle.

Despite the nervous thrum in his chest, Klaus took a step forward, cupping his mouth with his hands and calling out obnoxiously loud.

“Batman?!”