Fireproof

” Remind me again why we didn’t just take the 2 hour flight?” Ben asked, leaning forward between the driver and the passenger seat. They were pretty comfortable, but he was effectively squished between Kenzie and Sally in the backseat. The ghost child was relatively calm, just kicking her legs and staring out the window but Kenzie was more agitated after being cooped up in the car for 8 hours.

“Because if baby goes boom – we don’t want to be in a tin can above the clouds.” Klaus was comfortably curled up – something which drove Dave crazy, always reminding his boyfriend that if they get into a car accident his legs will snap like twigs.

Dave glanced in the backseat, “If something goes wrong, at least we can handle it in a car- can’t pull over in a plane.”

Ben sighed – not that he wasn’t enjoying the new sights, but he had never been on an airplane and when Dave invited them to go to Texas during the summer holiday, he was looking forward to a flight.

“There’s a rest stop a few miles ahead – we’ll stop there and figure out what we want to do.” It was starting to get into later evening since they started later than they had intended because they’re them and that’s just how they tended to roll. “Maybe we can get a hotel for the night?”

A small hand reached forward – everyone seemed to be shifting around, getting more uncomfortable as the miles dragged onward, “Momma, can I have some cereal?”

“Don’t feed him any more cheerios – he’ll get carsick again.”

“But he’s hungry!”

“Klaus- he’s clacking around back here – it’s very annoying.” Ben chimed in.

Klaus reached back, “Just give him to me – that way I can stick his head out the window if he barfs again – I don’t even think he’s meant to digest this stuff…”

“No!”

“Don’t you dare – if he flies out the window it’s going to be a shit show.”

He groaned, “Oh my god, fine! I’ll just put him in this old McDonalds bag – that way when he gets nauseous and ralfs over everything – which it’s stupid that’s even a thing – I won’t have to clean up any more ectoplasmic cheerio goo. Let me take him—”

“Don’t put him out the window!” Kenzie held the clattering doll to her chest.

“I won’t put him out the window – I promise.”

She reluctantly handed her father the doll and he set it on his lap, he flicked a clawing tiny hand back into the broken eye socket and placed a fast food bag over the head. The clattering died down – “See- he’s like a bird – Out like a light. See, I’ve got big brain too, BEN.”

The fiend started gurgling and Klaus flipped his vessel upside down, “Ugh –“

“When are we going to be there?” Kenzie whined.

“Few more miles, Kenz’ then we’ll all stretch our legs –“ He glanced over at Klaus with a fond smirk, “I think that – SHIT!”

Dave wrenched the wheel over as the lights from a semi barreling forward in the middle of the road blinded them. The big wheeler was veering into the next lane towards them and all Dave could do was slam on the brakes and skid the car to the side.

The car erupted in screams and Ben threw himself over Kenzie just as the massive vehicle was about to plow into them. However, in the split second of time that they had – the truck never hit them.

Dave’s eyes were squeezed shut and he had a hand on Klaus’ chest – he opened them with a gasp and looked around, trying to figure out what the hell was happening. The big wheeler was floating around 10 feet in the air just above the side of the car, suspended in motion.

“What the fuck…” He heard Ben from the back.

Dave turned and his hand immediately snapped away, Klaus was next to him but it wasn’t exactly Klaus – His hands were up in a shielding gesture and there was an electric blue aura around him and his eyes were black, sunken deep into his skull. His face was expressionless, and he wasn’t moving or making any sound. He wasn’t breathing.

“Kenzie!? Are you okay? Sally?” Dave’s heart was pounding painfully in his chest.

“Uh- huh…” Came the nervous reply, Ben was still shielding the alive child but his eyes, like Dave’s, were on his brother.

“Klaus?” Dave tried cautiously. There was no response, no reply.

Dave put the car in reverse and peeled away from under the floating semi-truck, parking a few feet away. The driver of the truck was stoically hanging out the window of the truck – his arms dangling and his face frozen over the drop but Dave couldn’t worry about that at the moment.

“Klaus, snap out of it!” Ben tried.

Dave looked back, “What the hell’s happening?”

“I-I don’t know – I’ve never seen him like this.”

“Momma!?”

“Kenzie – don’t touch him.” Dave was staring at his boyfriend- or the terrifying shell of him, completely unsure of what to do to help the situation.

“I knew he had telekinesis, but I didn’t know he could lift up a truck.” Then both Ben and Sally leaned over almost simultaneously.

“Shit! I feel like- “The ghosts’ forms were shining brightly, and their aura was cracking dangerously.

“Klaus, stop it!” He snapped, “Jesus Christ- I’m so angry...” He groaned and balled up his fists. Sally was doing the same thing.

Dave reached over and took Klaus’ hand, “Baby – look at me, everyone’s okay. I need you to let go. Let him go – set him down.”

“Dave, he might hurt you.” Ben shook his head, the agitation sending spikes of intense emotions through his body like electricity. He reached over Sally and started trying to open the door. Kenzie screamed as the energy spiked inside the car – an obnoxious buzzing overwhelming everything.

“Klaus, come back- I need you here, okay? Just let go, set him down slowly.” Dave kissed his knuckles, “It’s going to be okay.”

Several more minutes passed until they heard the creaking metal from the big wheeler strain and pop as it began to lower back down to the pavement. Then in the last few feet, it crashed down relatively safely, and the driver seemed to snap out of it – immediately falling to the road and beginning to scream.

Everyone in the car jumped when Klaus gasped and the electrifying energy ceased, leaving the ghosts to fade away with a relieved sob. Klaus ripped his hand away and snapped it to his chest as he closed his eyes and screamed.

“Klaus—”

He started clawing at the door handle, gasping and whining in panic. Dave unlocked it and he tumbled out onto the pavement, he scrambled forward and began to run.

“Stay here with the kids.” Dave ordered, snapping off his seat belt and jumping out to chase him.

Klaus didn’t make it very far before he collapsed in the ditch, his legs trembling too violently to hold up his body. He curled forward, gasping for air and as Dave approached he whined, his eyes open and back to their green hue.

Dave fell to his knees and reached out a slow hand, “Klaus, sweetheart –“

Klaus leaned forward and vomited painfully into the grass, he looked up, his vision far away, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to – Please don’t...”

“Klaus, it’s me, Dave – It’s going to be okay. You saved us – Everything’s going to be okay.” He just repeated a few times.

Eventually, Klaus blinked and then crawled quickly to Dave clinging onto him, holding on to his lap desperately as police and ambulance lights began to flick over their forms.

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

By the time they finally pulled into the bumpy driveway in the country outside of Dallas, it was early afternoon and Klaus’ ass was numb as hell. They were a day late after taking the rest of the journey slow following the ‘incident’ but the rest of the trip was as uneventful as you could hope for with their family.

“Are we here!?” Kenzie looked around wildly, her feet had been dancing in boredom for the past 20 miles and she was brimming with energy.

Sally didn’t say anything, she only stared out the window with wide eyes – gazing at the trees and the animals scattered around the area.

“We’re here!” Dave was finally able to announce, resulting in cheers from the back. He glanced over at Klaus and sweetly squeezed his hand.

Klaus knew that he was trying to be delicate after their accident but he could also see that Dave was distracted the closer they got to Texas and by the time they turned down the road to get to the ranch style house, he was obviously struggling to keep his face serious.

A woman came out of the front door and Dave nearly flew out the car – Klaus watched nervously as she and Dave met, and she tackled him in a hug. He embraced her back and he couldn’t tell if they were crying or laughing but they certainly weren’t letting go.

“Damn – why don’t you ever greet me like that?”

Ben scoffed, “Because I’ve seen you every day for the past 13 years – it’s not that exciting anymore.”

“Come on!” Kenzie urged, rocking impatiently in her seat – this had been quite the long haul for the 6 year old.

“Alright – alright – let’s do this.” Klaus caved and got out of the car, leaving the reunion and helping Kenzie out of the back while Ben and Sally got out the other side.

Another woman came out, Klaus had never seen her before, she had long brunette hair and she seemed to be a little hesitant. Dave let go of Nora and walked up to the new woman while his sister walked up confidently to the family. He was struck again by how similar she and Dave’s appearances were – if he didn’t know she was older than him, it would have been easy to assume that they were twins.

“Oh my god, Klaus!” She opened her arms and before he could do anything, she hugged him tight, patting his back with strong arms.

“Hey…!”

She pulled him away to look at him, “Dave has told me so much about you – I feel like I already know you!”

“Same!” Klaus said a little lamely and she just gripped him into another bear hug.

She finally let go of him and moved forward, “And Kenzie! Kenzie, Dave tells me that you are so smart and funny! I have been dying to meet you!”

Kenzie had been staying right next to Ben, holding onto the hem of his jacket but as Nora opened her arms, she skipped forward into them, all the bashfulness gone. Nora hugged her like she had been there her entire life.

Kenzie pulled back grinning, “Hi!”

Nora laughed, “Hi!” She said looking her over, “Dang, Dave was not kidding- you look so much like your momma! I can’t stand it, you’re adorable!”

She hugged her one last time and faced the two ghosts in the family, she seemed a little hesitant, but she stepped forward anyway, “Ben?”

He nodded and closed the distance, “It’s great to meet you, Nora.” He said as they embraced as well.

“Now, I’ll admit – I’ve never been around spirits before. Least, none that I’ve known so if I do something stupid or say something offensive I need you to just tell me, alright?” She said seriously.

“Don’t worry about it – I get that it’s weird but if you’re anything like Dave, we’ll get along great.”

She smiled warmly at this and turned her attention down to the child hiding behind his back, “And who is this? Sally, is that you?” She said, crouching down.

Sally nodded.

Nora had a very similar expression as Dave did when he first met the ghost child.

“Sally’s staying with us over the summer.” Ben explained, trying to push her forward so she would be more in the spotlight.

“That’s wonderful!” Nora tilted her head, “Now, are you more of a handshake kind of gal or a hugging kind of gal? I don’t want to hurt you, baby.”

Sally paused then responded by opening her arms slightly. Nora wrapped her into a hug, “Me too, Sally.”

Dave and the other woman walked up the group and he immediately pulled an arm around Klaus – he was beaming in a way that Klaus had never seen before and he couldn’t quite put his finger on what the difference was but it was fascinating to see, nonetheless.

“And this – “ Nora walked back and threw an arm over the new woman’s shoulders, “Is my lovely girlfriend, Alyssa.”

Alyssa waved politely – obviously in a position similar to Klaus’ in this family reunion, made all the more strange by the general weirdness of these newcomers.

“Now, ya’ll are always welcome to come in but I figured you might be ready to just get to the cabin and turn in for the night.”

“Yeah, I think that would probably be best – there’ll be plenty of time to show us around later. Are we just going to follow you?”

“Yeah, I think that’d be easier.”

“I don’t want to do any more driving!” Kenzie lamented, her head turning around to look over everything this small ranch had to offer – this environment was completely strange to her, she had been a city baby from the second she was born.

“Hey, I think you’re gonna love this place—” Nora knelt down to Kenzie’s level, “And, you can drive with us if you want.” She offered, glancing at the fathers for approval.

Kenzie thought about it and her and Sally seemed to exchange a silent conversation, they nodded simultaneously, “Okay!”

Klaus leaned over closer to Dave, “Wow, 20 seconds and they just abandoned us - brutal.”

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

The cabin that they were borrowing from Nora was gorgeous, certainly a lot nicer than Klaus had anticipated. When he thought about visiting a cabin in the woods over summer break he had envisioned something out of a horror movie - no electric and an outhouse situation. It wasn’t like that at all, the place was small but well maintained with two bedrooms and a back patio area.

They weren’t that far in the woods, just enough that it felt cozy and isolated - Klaus noted with relief that he hadn’t seen or heard a single angry spirit since they arrived. It was peaceful. The place was well decorated with a very ‘country’ aesthetic but surprisingly, Klaus didn’t hate it.

It was getting into evening time and the girls were busy setting up their room; Klaus had helped Kenzie unpack and put everything into her closet and Ben was just wondering around exploring things. Alyssa had left to take care of the animals on their ranch and had left Nora at the cabin where Dave had offered to take her back.

They were currently in the backyard setting up a firepit on the patio so when Klaus walked by the cracked open door and heard their voices coming through clearly - he heard his name an old fear settled in his stomach so he pressed his back against the wall and began to listen to their conversation. It was pathetic - he knew that but he had also just gone full zombie on the ride there and was feeling like a monster.

Just like last time, he was left feeling like something stronger and more sinister than he could ever be was crawling through his veins. This time everyone he loved had seen it too, and just as the monster went away and Klaus felt his body again there was a brief glimpse of Dave’s face where he looked terrified of Klaus - and he couldn’t shake that split second memory.

He wanted to ask him if he regretted being with him now - the thought of losing Dave was heavy on his shoulders and a part of him anticipated a breakup after they were through with this vacation. He wouldn’t blame him.

“--He seems a little shaken up. I mean - I’ve never met him before but that’s just the vibe I got.”

“Yeah, we almost had an accident on the way here. Some poor trucker fell asleep at the wheel and almost splattered us against the road. I think he’ll be okay though… I mean, I hope? I think he needs some time off, a vacation.”

“Are you guys… Doing okay?” She asked hesitantly.

They had ceased to work on the fire pit and were now just sitting in the chairs around it.

“I think we’re doing great - What, almost 3 years, now? But, I mean I worry about him.” Dave admitted, “I think it’s so hard for him to feel safe in a world where the dead are constantly trying to attack him and his father is always looming over him. He’s always ‘on’ in public, got this fun, carefree persona but when I put my hand on his back it feels like his spine’s about to snap.”

Dave paused, “And I just wish I could--”

“What are you doing?”

Klaus jumped at Ben’s voice suddenly right next to his ear. He hissed at him - trying to shoo him away.

“Really? Eavesdropping? How insecure are you?”

“Go away!” He said through clenched teeth.

“It’s Dave - what do you think he’s going to admit?”

“Just go away…” Klaus pleaded.

Ben rolled his eyes, “Fine - whatever, still a shitty thing to do.”

Klaus waved his brother off with another hiss then turned his attention back to the conversation outside.

“--I didn’t get that impression at all.” He caught the end of Nora’s sentence.

Klaus cursed his brother for making him miss a section of the conversation and leaving him scrambling once again for context.

“I hope not. I know I don’t have much to offer him but, I mean, let’s face it, Klaus is the reason I wake up everyday. Him, and Kenzie, and Ben and Sally have given me back that hope that I lost.” He sighed, “After I was discharged I never thought I would feel okay again but now everyday I thank god I have them in my life… Have a reason to be here.”

He heard the metal chair shift, “And it’s all because Klaus found me. And even when I felt like a monster he never treated me like one. He always treats me like I’m special.”

“He’s my goddamn superhero.”

Klaus whined, shoving his palm over his mouth.

“Wow, that is disgustingly sweet - honestly makes me want to vomit.”

Dave laughed.

“But I’m all on board for it - I mean, think about the day we’ve had just today. And I remember when you called me the first time after you started working with him - you sounded like a love drunk highschool nerd.”

“It seemed like he brought you back to life and all I could think was - thank god my brother’s not dead.” She said in a softer, less joking tone of voice.

“I think he did bring me back to life. He’s kind and he’s funny and even when we fight I can’t stay mad at him for that long; Have a hard time saying no to those eyes…”

“Barf.” He could hear the grin in her voice.

Dave laughed and he heard one of the metal chairs get shoved over, “I can’t wait for you guys to get to know each other - I think you’re really going to get along.”

“Same. Can’t wait to give him the ol’ Nora Katz shovel talk.”

“And I want you and Alyssa to go do some things together while you’re here too - It’s getting pretty serious and I want you guys to get along.”

Dave scoffed, “I can already tell we’re going to be friends - I’m all for anybody who can take you down a few notches. I need there to be at least one other sane person in this family and it sure as hell ain’t you.”

Nora cackled, “Jackass.”

Klaus was still in shock, his hand pressed over his mouth when he heard the metal deck chairs scrape against the ground.

“Well, I better get home..”

“Yeah - let’s go around.” Dave laughed, “I bet everyone else is already passed out inside.”

“Did you tell uncle Brian you were coming by?”

“Yeah, I talked with him before we left. It went over about as well as you’d expect.”

“Shit.”

Klaus heard the crunching of leaves as they started walking through the yard to the other side of the cabin.

“You’re not going to drive like an 90 year old woman are you?”

“We both know I’m the better driver between us.”

She scoffed, “Yeah, right.”

“How many speeding tickets do you have?”

“I don’t think that’s relevant…”

Their voices faded out and Klaus slowly made his way back through the cabin, shutting and locking the back patio door. He fell on the bed, sprawled on his back and just stared at the ceiling, feeling guilty, relieved, and in love all at the same time.

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

When Dave got back to the cabin, all the lights were off and he had to search to find the outside light so he could find his way in - he forgot how incredible dark it could in the country. Inside he found Ben and Sally sitting on the couch watching TV, she was leaning up against him sucking her thumb and blinking at the screen.

Dave made sure to make enough noise coming in that he wouldn’t startle them - he leaned over the back of the couch, “How’s it going guys?” He whispered.

“Good - Kenzie’s asleep and we’re just watching cartoons, right Sally?”

She nodded but didn’t take her eyes off the screen. She was a girl of very few words and Dave could respect that.

He smirked, “I think you’re going to be watching a lot of cartoons during your nights from now on.”

Ben glanced down at the child with a smile, “Yeah - I don’t mind. We’ll work our way up to soap operas eventually.”

Dave chuckled, “Fair enough - Well, I’m going to get some sleep. I’ll see you guys in the morning. Night Ben--” Instead of jostling Sally from her comfortable spot, Dave just stroked the side of her face lightly, “Night kiddo.”

“Sleep sweet, Dave…” She mumbled.

“We’ll keep an eye on the house.”

Dave left them and cautiously opened the door to their bedroom, the light was on but that was pretty normal and he had assumed that Klaus would be passed out by this time. However, he found Klaus laying on his stomach at the end of the bed, staring into space.

“Hey, handsome - I thought you’d be asleep by now.”

He looked up and smiled but didn’t say anything, only nuzzled further into the pillow. Dave tossed his wallet onto the dresser and stripped, pulling on a pair of sweats before crawling onto the bed, he flipped to the end of the mattress until he was laying on his side facing Klaus.

“You with me?” He asked softly.

Klaus turned his head against the pillow until he was facing the other man, “Yeah - M’ just tired…”

Dave reached over and stroked his back, just lightly trailing his fingertips up and down his spine, his eyes watching the gentle motion as his nails brushed over the other man’s skin. Klaus’ eyes fluttered close and he sighed into the pillow.

“Thank you…”

“For what?”

“For just - for this. And for protecting us.”

Dave huffed, “I don’t know how much ‘protecting’ you guys need - seems like you’ve got it handled.” As he spoke he continued to watch his fingers glide over Klaus’ skin, “But you know I’m happy to be here with you guys, even if it’s just for moral support.”

Klaus didn’t respond and for a moment Dave thought he had fallen asleep until he shifted and his eyes flashed open for a brief second, scanning over his face, then closing again. “You know you hold this family together, right?”

Dave hummed but didn’t respond.

“I am so happy that you came with me - I want to show you everything. I want to take you fishing--” He laughed, “I want to teach Kenzie and Sally how to fish and take them on hikes where I used to go with my uncle… Maybe even take them to the adventure park - can you imagine the kind of things Kenzie could get into over there?”

Klaus smiled.

“I know you’re scared right now - and I know I’ve told you this a million times but everything’s going to be okay. Just let me--” He paused, “Let me take care of you for a little while…”

Klaus opened his eyes, “I love you, Dave…” He breathed.

Dave searched his face but only found it to be soft and relaxed, “I love you, too.”