Fireproof

Ben sat calmly next to the little crib that the shelter had provided for them while they were staying there – despite his pensive demeanor, he was brimming with anxiety. Things had changed in a big away two weeks ago and although he was happy to have his new baby niece in their lives and that he had managed to convince Klaus to keep her – now they had the challenge of actually keeping an infant safe and alive. He would never regret stopping his brother from abandoning her but there was the worry in the back of his mind that maybe Klaus was right (Not that he would ever say such an insane thing out loud). Maybe taking a risk would be better for her rather than relying on the man who was currently vomiting in the next room.

And it wasn’t like Ben could do anything but encourage his brother and try to guide him in the right places. He had decided on that police station porch that even if Klaus left her – Ben would remain with his niece. Even if she couldn’t see him – he wasn’t going to let her go into life alone (whether she knew it or not) and this was something that he had never told his brother.

But bad things could happen – and the idea that Ben would just have to watch and would have no power to help terrified him even more now that a baby was involved. This anxiety had plagued him from the moment she arrived, and he was concerned that it would never go away.

He heard a small “Brrr!” sound and he glanced into the bed. Kenzie was awake now – wriggling softly against her blanket and staring into space. He smiled and stared at her as she took in her surroundings and continued to coo and blink.

“You’re so tiny – do you know that?” He whispered, his chin resting on the wooden sighed.

Her little eyes flickered toward him and for a moment he could have sworn she stopped on his face. Ben sat back and looked around in confusion – that was just a coincidence, right?

Klaus was still in the bathroom, so Ben got up on his knees and moved a little closer to the infant – his chest twisted in anxiety. It was stupid to hope for something like this and, honestly, it hurt to even think about.

“Hi, Kenzie Grace – it’s your favorite uncle Ben – I know you can’t—”

“Mmm..Brrah!” She blew a bubble and turned her head – her eyes falling directly on his face.

Ben froze – inspecting her closely, trying to see what she was actually looking at. He turned his head around to gage her line of sight, but the only thing was white ceiling. When he turned back, she was still locked on him.

Ben shifted back and forth slowly, and her eyes followed him curiously. Out of options he reached a tentative hand into the crib. The infant’s hand moved up and tried to grab onto his finger – when she phased through him, she just tried again, making little sounds of effort.

Ben pulled back and collapsed on the side of the crib, suddenly overwhelmed with emotions. “Oh my god…” He covered his face and a strangled sob ripped out of his body as the realization hit him like a train.

She could see him.

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

Dave stepped cautiously into what used to be his guest bedroom but was now being transformed into Kenzie’s future room. It was emptied save for the plastic covering the floors and the painting supplies scattered over the plastic tarp. Ben was standing on the far wall gliding a paint roller a little too heatedly over the old white color. When he glanced up at the intruder, Dave didn’t miss the brief eyeroll as he plunged the roller back into the bluish gray paint and continued to angrily cover the white wall. The tension was palpable.

Dave didn’t say anything as he used a flathead to pry open the other can of paint (he decided to leave Ben’s can alone) and poured it into a tray. He moved to the corner opposite his boyfriend’s pissed off dead brother and carefully began to paint.

He exhaled slowly, side eyeing the angry ghost next to him. It was never good when your boyfriend’s brother didn’t like you. It was even worse when your boyfriend’s brother was dead and didn’t like you and lived with you at the same time.

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

Earlier that same day…

”Who put a stick up your ass?”

Ben snapped the hand towel that he was holding against his leg, “You did!”

Klaus moved a box and set it down on the counter, “Jeez – someone’s cranky. Are you really that upset about the bed? We can go get it if you really must have it, but she’s grown out of it and I don’t know about you but I’m not planning on having another demon child. I don’t care if you have baby fever or not.”

Ben groaned, “No – I don’t care about – Klaus, you are literally moving in with this man.”
His brother rolled his eyes and dropped the long pink boa back into the box, “This again? You know, you’re starting to sound like a broken record.”

“I just want to know what happened to my brother who actually made decisions to protect his family.”

Klaus scoffed, “Protect h- Dave’s apart of this family whether you like it or not!”

“And I guess my choice means nothing.”

“You were out voted!”

Ben clenched his fists, “She’s 5! She doesn’t understand what she’s voting on!”

“Well, that’s convenient – her vote counted when you two were trying to get me on the whirly ride at the fair. I’ll remember that.”

“I just think it’s real funny that you’re all ‘you, me, and Kenzie against the world’ until some hot piece comes into the picture and now we are literally trapping ourselves with him.”

Klaus moved closer to his brother, getting up in his face, “This—” he gestured to Ben, “Has nothing to do with Dave and we both know it.”

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

After a while of silent painting with Ben festering next to him, Dave finally looked over “Ben, could I talk to you about something?”

The ghost glanced over, “Wow, Klaus is already running to you to fix his problems. That’s cute.”

“He’s in there going through boxes with Kenzie. He didn’t tell me anything, I mean, he didn’t really have to… And, honestly, this is probably something that I should have brought up before we got to—” he gestured to the half painted room, “All this.”

Ben sighed, “Dave, listen, I don’t hate you. I think you’re a great guy.” He gestured to the door with his paint roller, “Klaus and I are just disagreeing on some things.”

Dave laughed lightly, “It’s okay if you hate me – I wouldn’t blame you.”

Ben looked to the floor before continuing his strokes.

“I get it. You’ve raised Kenzie. It’s not that hard to tell; for all the ways she’s so much like Klaus – she’s just as much you. I know that you’re her uncle, but you might as well have been her other father.” Dave cringed at his own words, “Not to make it weird or anything.”

He was trying to lighten the mood which Ben really wished he would just stop - he didn’t want to have a stupid heart to heart with this guy. Dave already won- he didn’t have to rub it in Ben’s face.

“I’m not trying to encroach on your relationship with Kenzie. I don’t want to take any of your time together and I’m certainly not trying to replace you – I can’t do that. You’re so important to her, you’re her uncle, her father figure and the guy who’s always been there for her. There’s nothing I could do to be more important in her eyes.”

Ben stopped painting, his head still tilted to the ground rigidly, “Except that you’re alive.”

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

Klaus grabbed a paint bucket and turned away from his brother flippantly. Ben scoffed and picked up the one that he left (which he could have also carried but didn’t. It’s funny how, when you’re angry everything the other person does just heats up the fire).

“Klaus - I’m not the crazy one here. We are up ending our lives and just hoping that Dave doesn’t have any dark secrets. Just hoping that he doesn’t end up having any angry meltdowns. Think of how bad it was with Leon? Now imagine we couldn’t get away from him without ending back on the streets.” He was trailing close behind, attempting to stop his brother’s cocky stride.

His brother dropped the can of paint and twirled on his heel in agitation, “You keep bringing that up, well, guess what, Casper? It’s not going to scare me anymore! Kenzie deserves someone who will take care of her! Hell-” He threw a palm out in agitation “Someone who will treat me with that sweet, sweet kindness I’ve become addicted to since he showed up…”
Klaus’ hands flopped to his sides solemnly, “She needs to see that.” He concluded.

Ben sighed, his brother’s words going completely over his head as he struggled to make his point before they were too far gone, “And how long is it going to last?”

“This isn’t about Dave - And i’ll tell you why, Benny boy. Because you didn’t care about how Leon treated me as long as I didn’t come home with bruises--”

Ben rolled his eyes, “That’s not true--”

“Because Leon had nothing to do with Kenzie - he never asked about her, never spent any time alone with her, he barely saw her” Klaus counted on his fingers as he listed off, “And he never took any time away from you.”

“You’ve got your ghostly panties in a pucker because Dave has actually stepped up to take care of Kenzie and you can’t let go even a little.”

Klaus was staring right at him having actually made a solid argument - at least when he was high nothing he said ever made any sense.

“That’s not true.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really. But also - he doesn’t need to ‘step up’! Kenzie has already got someone taking care of her - she doesn’t need a third.”

“Not even someone alive?”

Ben seethed - it had been a long time since he had been this angry with his brother.

“Fuck you.”

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

Ben threw the paint roller into the pan, he was ready for a fight - so sue him. And the absolute nerve of his brother’s boyfriend to come in here and try to relate with him only made it worse.

“No. You don’t “get” it, Dave because you couldn’t possibly understand what’s happened to me. I’m DEAD. I’m fucking dead – and look, I know I’m lucky to have a brother who can see me.”

He swallowed, “But you weren’t there in the beginning, standing on the side, completely powerless. Helpless. While Klaus destroyed himself – It was like watching the slowest suicide in the world and not being able to do a damn thing to stop it.”

“You know Klaus now, after Kenzie has sanded down all his edges but I’ve lived with him when he was sharp and cold and drowning in drugs. I’ve been with him while he’s overdosed, when he had drug induced mental breakdowns, when he was beaten, when he was…” Ben closed his eyes rather than finish the sentence.

He paced trying to compose himself again while Dave stood patiently to the side, having ceased any painting. He kept waiting for the firefighter to stop him or to interrupt him but he remained silent even when Ben said things that obviously made the man cringe - he didn’t butt in.

So Ben just kept on rambling, “Sometimes, I regretted not going into the light. But, I was scared to leave so I just held on – told myself that just because it wasn’t good doesn’t mean that it wasn’t life.

Ben exhaled as his expression broke into a fond smile, “And then… Kenzie was there. And she could see me. It was the best day of my life and death. Suddenly all that suffering was worth it just to have an opportunity to be apart of her life. To be apart of something special and precious.”

“She brought so much life and happiness and hope into everything. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her and I promised that I would never leave her – she would never have to face this world alone like her father and I had to do!”

Ben was talking so fast and he couldn’t stop himself - the words just kept tumbling out of his mouth.

“So- fine, whatever, you go be the living, breathing man that she can count on but please don’t push me out. She gives me life, without her there’s no reason for me to be here. I owe her
Everything. She’s my everything.”

“She’s my--” Ben’s voice broke “-- baby.”

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

“This is good for us! You should be happy! Just practically speaking at least - Half rent, literally an in-house firefighter, someone with a vehicle, not a single. fucking . rat. in . any. Of the. couches and yes- another person to help raise this very uniquely special needs child.”

At Ben’s still livid expression Klaus sighed and put a palm up, “And I’m sorry, okay? Just because you’re dead doesn’t mean you’re not a super important part of the family but I just want you to see how-”

“ ‘Important part of the family’?!” Ben laughed at the sheer audacity , “That’s rich coming from the guy who literally tried to leave his newborn daughter on a porch! Face it, you probably would have sold her for drugs in the first month if I hadn’t been there to constantly support you and put up with all your shit!”

Klaus took a step back and frowned, “That’s not-”

“We both know that if I had been alive, you would have just given her to me anyway and gone back to your hedonistic, drug addled, fever dreamed cowardice lifestyle that you loved so much and never thought about your daughter again.” Ben spat the words and he immediately regretted them but he didn’t regress.

Klaus closed his eyes and exhaled, his mouth thinning into a tight line. He turned and walked out the door without another word.

Ben dropped his head with a loud irritated sigh and kicked the plastic at his feet.

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

Dave didn’t say anything - only wanted as Ben struggled to compose himself and for what it’s worth, he was appreciative that the other man didn’t just jump on him or ask him questions, this gave him time to pace and then regretted pouring his heart out on this dude.

He finally glanced up sheepishly, “I- uh- Sorry about that but you - you get the idea now.”

“That feel good to get off your chest?”

Ben sighed, “Yeah. Yeah it did.”

They stood in a relieved silence for several moments until Ben finally spoke, “For what it’s worth- I am happy that you’re stepping up. Shit knows my brother and niece need someone like that.”

Dave crossed his arms and leaned against the unpainted part of the wall and it started feeling like they were having a one on one conversation, “To be fair - I don’t really see it like that. Look, Ben, I’ve got my problems.” He laughed twirling his finger next to his head, “I’m literally in therapy 1-2 times a week trying to deal with this shit.”

“I met your brother at one of my darkest points - he never had any judgements. He was just kind to me and not to be too ‘on the nose’ but he warmed up my cold, dead heart - and I’ll never not owe him for that.”

Ben smirked lightly, “To be fair, he’s in no position to ever judge anybody, ever, for the rest of time..”

Dave huffed with a light smile and a knowing nod, “I love Klaus, and you know damn well I adore Kenzie.” he sighed, seemingly thinking hard about his next words, “And you’re everything to them so that means you’re everything to me too.”

Ben took a step back, “Okay- wow- I get where Klaus is coming from now..” He murmured.

“I’m the one moving into this family from the outside - There is nothing I could possibly do that could replace you in that little girl’s eyes because even though I do want to step up and be someone she can depend on, that’s what I expect of myself, it’s not because that’s what she needs.”

Ben closed his eyes as he felt a lump in his throat.

Dave smiled, “Also- And I can’t stress this enough, I’m the only person here without catastrophically powerful super abilities. I’m just a guy. A guy who fell in love with a superhero and now I’m here--” He grabbed the paint roller and dragged it down smoothly against the wall, “Painting the baby’s room.”

The ghost laughed, “I guess that’s fair - we can take care of ourselves even if it doesn’t seem like it.”

He sighed and continued where he left off with the gray paint, “I’ve given Klaus so much shit - But maybe. Maybe it would be kind of nice to just be the uncle again. I’ve slipped into the full parent role and now I guess I forgot how to turn that off…”

“Diego gets to have all the fun as an uncle - he gets to do shit like give her a bunch of candy, teach her martial arts then just drop her off with Klaus and go on about his day- You know, the cool parts about being an uncle. Torturing your siblings.” His face lightened at the thought of it and he could feel a strange sort of hope that he didn’t know he had been missing.

Dave refreshed his paint roller, “And just tell me if I’m overstepping boundaries - I promise I don’t want to push you away. From her or your family.”

“Just a quick question - Whose idea was it for us to move in to your place?” The anger had faded and now Ben was feeling more comfortable just to talk to the guy.

Dave paused, then admitted, “It was mine. I know it’s dumb because you guys are so powerful but I worried a lot - especially after Klaus was jumped.”

“Huh.” Is all Ben said.

They painted together in silence for a while, lost in thought - honestly, it was kind of nice to hang out with someone who didn’t feel the need to fill every single moment with conversation or sound. If this had been Klaus or Kenzie they would have been 6 minutes deep in an improvised dance song.

“Hey, I’m sorry that I’ve been such a dick - It wasn’t fair for me to do that to you without even talking to you first.”

“It’s alright - You’re protective of your baby. Ain’t nothing wrong with that.”

Ben raised an eyebrow as he noticed the slight lilt in the other man’s voice, “Where are you from?”

“Texas.”

“Huh…” Maybe he should have asked a few of these questions sooner because he was just figuring a lot of this information out now.

“Have you met Diego? Or talked to him about --” Ben gestured to the in progress room, “All of this?”

Dave chuckled, “Briefly - I think he thought I was the pizza guy though.”

“Hm - Well, i guess I’m going to have to do it then. Which sucks because we’ve had such a nice grown up conversation. But- “ Ben sighed and continued on like he was listing off the terms and conditions, “Just so you know, if you ever hurt Kenzie or Klaus - ever lay a single unkind hand on either of them, we will destroy you in every way possible and I can’t guarantee that you’ll make it out alive.”

Dave grinned and reached out to shake Ben’s hand professionally, “That sounds fair.”

Ben nodded, satisfied and feeling better than he had in weeks as they had been planning this move. The warm fuzzy feeling didn’t last long as he remembered the fight from earlier in the day and the harsh words he had thrown at his brother.

“Is Klaus furious with me?”

Dave thought about it for a moment, “He didn’t tell me what was wrong but he seemed more upset than angry.”

“I fucked up. I said something that went too far.” He admitted.

“Klaus and Kenzie are sorting boxes if you want to go talk to him. I can finish up in here.”

“Thanks Dave.”

Ben made his way to the living room, which was in a massive state of upheaval. Klaus was sitting on the edge of the couch surrounded by boxes and he was going through what looked like Kenzie’s drawings of which he had been saving every single one. He had a pile with about two pieces of paper with penned scribbles (Ben could assume this was the ‘throwaway’ pile) and a much larger stack filled with random toddler art (Ben knew this was the ‘keep’ pile) This is about as well as Ben assumed the whole downsizing mission was going to go.

Kenzie was in the middle of a few boxes filled with her toys and when she saw her uncle, she jumped up and tackled him. He swung her up and hugged her tightly, the high emotions of the day and the old feelings being unearthed making him particularly stubborn to let her go. “Hey, kiddo..”

“Hi!” She tilted her head and inspected him, “Are you okay? You’ve been gone all day?” She pouted.

“I’m doing great - I’ve just been painting your room.”

“I know! Momma said that you were painting. He said I couldn’t go in there ‘cause the paint fumes make my brain cells fall out!”

Ben chuckled despite himself, “Good call on mom’s part.”

He reluctantly put her down and she hopped over to her ring of boxes and began pulling her stuff out and ‘organizing’ it. Ben inhaled deeply and moved over to sit next to his brother while Kenzie idly narrated everything she was finding.

Klaus didn’t look up, staring between a strange bubbled headed green alien (maybe) and a single stick figure in front of a rectangle on red construction paper with the letters “Hooleo” scrawled above it. He sighed and put both of them in the ‘keep’ pile. Can’t compare artistic genius apparently.

“I’m sorry.”

Klaus glanced at him sideways and blew a raspberry, “Yeah, me too…” Then he leaned against his ghostly brother and surveyed the chaos around them.

“I mean, I’m still not packing this shit up again. Also, I don’t want to go anywhere - I like it here. And so does the munchkin.” He gestured to where Kenzie was running around in circles with a laundry basket on her head.

Ben shook his head, “Listen, I had some issues but I think I can work through them now - you were--” He made a soft gagging sound, “--You were ri-” He gagged again.
Klaus raised an eyebrow, “Spit it out.”

Ben groaned in pain, “You were right.”

“Ah-Sounds like music to my ears..”

“I think that this is a good step for us and I’m… Looking forward to being able to be the uncle again. And this way we’ll have a little room to breath.”

Klaus applauded with a victorious “Yay!”

Kenzie looked up, “Yay!?”

“Yes! Yay! Uncle Ben has finally come around to us moving in with Dave!”

She looked between them, trying to figure out what was going on, “But we voted…”

“Yes, we voted but uncle Ben’s a communist.”

Ben put his hands up, “You don’t even know what that means!”

“Uncle Ben, why are you a com- com-munist?”

Klaus snorted.

“I’m not a c- Klaus!”

Klaus giggled and rolled against his dead brother’s shoulder, “Oh you love it, comrade.”

“Yeah, whatever... “ Then he whispered in a more solemn tone once Kenzie continued her playing, “Seriously though, I went too far - are we good?”

Klaus swatted a hand, “Yeah, yeah, we’re fine - easy to get a little snippy when we’ve been glued to each other for 13 years. I get it. But I do love her so much - And yeah, maybe I will never live down the fact that I almost left my little riddle demon on a porch but I’ve never not loved her..”

“We both love her - That’s a part of the problem. I know you love her and I know you’ve been trying your best - I was just angry and trying to pour salt in the wound.”

Kenzie moved over and without a word climbed onto Ben’s lap holding a barbie doll by her hair. “What are you guys whispering about?!” She got comfortable and began tugging at the doll’s lochs, “There’s not supposed to be any secrets, remember? That’s what you said - and it’s not even my birthday so It’s not about presents..”

“Uncle Ben’s not feeling the love right now - he’s afraid you’re growing up too fast and you’ll forget about him.”

“Klaus, I-”

Ben’s scolding was interrupted by an indignant gasp from the little one as she tossed the barbie to the side, twisted around and grabbed onto his neck, “I love you! Why don’t you feel love!? I can’t even- I can’t even reach the freezer for the ice cream yet - I’m not too big… I love you, uncle Ben…”

“Sweetie don’t--” Ben was going to argue, not wanting to worry her. Instead he wrapped his arms around her and cuddled her close. He would never get tired of this, never stop being thankful for every single moment he was blessed to be with his niece. He closed his eyes as felt himself getting emotional again.

“I love you too, Kenzie. So much.”