author's note: before we start i just want to mention this fic will mention substance/drug abuse so just a forewarning.

It had been two months since Klaus Hargreeves decided to become sober. It was hard, he'd relied on substances to drown out the voices in his mind and to keep the ghosts at bay for years. Yet, with the apocalypse that the members of the umbrella academy managed to stop, he realised he'd been wasting his life by spending the majority of it wasted. Despite the family not getting along for a long time, they finally drifted back together again, and with that came support for their brother. Although it was mainly Diego who took it upon himself to keep his brother sober, the others were supportive nonetheless.

The academy that the Hargreeves called home remained intact after they travelled back to the past and changed the future, unaware of the consequences that would appear in the months to come.

Vanya had given Klaus the book that contained all of their Father's notes on each of the siblings to help him explore the powers his Father thought he could be capable of if he practised them. However, the withdrawals Klaus was suffering from were almost too much to handle. Especially when he attempted to use his powers, the spirits that had been suppressed for so long were hard for him to control and thus he barely attempted to 'explore' his powers.

Nights were the worst, when the academy was drenched in darkness and everyone was asleep, Klaus would lay awake, unable to silence the spirits. One in particular cried every night, a young boy who was taken way too young. Klaus felt for him, he truly did, but in his current state he found it a chore to converse with the ghosts.

Burying his head in his pillow he tried to drown out the cries, at moments like this he wondered if it would be easier to take something to suppress his powers. His siblings didn't understand how hard it was living with the dead twenty-four hours a day. They could choose when to use their powers, yet Klaus was stuck with a constant reminder.

Tossing and turning in his bed, he decided to get up and head downstairs. His stomach was grumbling, and he craved something he couldn't have. Sighing, he stood in front of the fridge and took out a day old pizza box, two slices remained. It wasn't exactly enjoyable but it filled the emptiness inside of him. As he propped his head up on his elbows on the table, he heard a soft voice behind him.

"I would never have thought superheroes ate day old pizza, don't you guys eat salad or something?"

"Will you ever leave me alone?" Klaus groaned, as he looked up to the owner of the voice, he noticed a red haired girl sat cross-legged on top of the other end of the table with strikingly pretty features, "Oh, maybe not you."

The girl smirked, "it's taken you long enough."

"What do you mean?" He asked with a raise of one of his bushy eye-brows.

"I've always been here... you just haven't been sober enough to see me."

"Right, of course," Klaus rolled his eyes, "well, what do you want? Spirits don't usually make themselves known unless they want something."

"I don't want anything, I've been stuck here for years waiting for someone like yourself to be able to see me." The girl said, twirling her hair around her fingers aimlessly.

"How many years are we talking...?" Klaus asked, his interest in the girl peaked.

"Eight." She replied.

"And that would make you..." he trailed off, trying to figure out her age.

"26." The girl stared at him, intrigued.

"So you died when you were 18?" Klaus let out a sympathetic sigh, "that must've been tough. I'm sorry."

"Yes, it's all very sad." She didn't seem phased, being stuck in this house must've had some kind of effect on her Klaus thought.

"H-" Klaus barely had time to form another word before the red-head slid off of the table and stood up.

"I'm sure you want to hear all about my death, and maybe I'll tell you one day." The girl said as she wandered out of the kitchen.

Klaus pushed himself up off of the chair he'd been lounging on and ran after her, only to find she had already disappeared.

"Damnit." He muttered to himself.

The next morning, laying sprawled in the sheets of his own bed, he wondered how he'd ended up there. The last thing he remembered was being in the kitchen, even when he was sober he still ended up in places he couldn't remember getting to.

An abrupt knock on the door disrupted his thoughts, Diego entered the room looking amused, "sleep okay, brother? you were passed out in the kitchen pretty hard last night."

Klaus sat up groggily, "I met a girl last night."

"Sure you did," Diego said, his eyebrows quirking up slightly, "it was probably that disgusting pizza making you hallucinate."

Klaus frowned, he was sure he hadn't imagined her. He was more sure than he'd ever been.

"You should get ready, we're having a family meeting downstairs in ten." Diego looked his brother up and down quickly before leaving.

"What does he mean? I'm always ready." He muttered to himself, getting out of bed and making his way, bare foot, downstairs to the Hargreeves' living area.

The ghost of Klaus's deceased brother, Ben Hargreeves, followed him to the meeting. He disappeared and re-appeared as he pleased, usually with a remark about how he disagreed with whatever Klaus was doing, but nonetheless, Klaus liked his company.

"You didn't happen to see a redhead on the way here did you?" He asked his brother, referring to the girl he'd seen last night, although Diego had made him begin to doubt himself.

"No, why?" Ben replied as they walked in on the other Hargreeves' siblings talking amongst themselves.

"No reason." Klaus announced, wrapping his faux-fur coat around himself that he'd picked up on the way downstairs.

"Is he always talking to himself like that?" Five asked out loud to no one in particular.

Luther Hargreeves, one of the Hargreeves siblings Klaus rarely agreed with, cleared his throat, "Alright now that we're all here," he glared at Klaus, "lets get this meeting started." He was standing in the middle of the room whilst the others lounged on the various chairs and settees.

"Blah, blah, blah... cut to it." Klaus complained, grabbing an unlit cigarette from his pocket and placing it between his mouth, Diego grabbed it from him before he had a chance to light it.

"Hey now, brother. That isn't very nice." He pouted.

"Polluting your lungs isn't very nice either." Diego said, crossing his arms over his chest that was covered with a weapons belt full of a dozen knives.

"I agreed to getting sober, not quitting smoking." Klaus smirked, pulling out another cigarette from the pocket of his coat and lighting it.

Diego sighed, sitting down opposite him, giving him disapproving looks whilst Luther spoke.

"So, as you all know we stopped the apocalypse, but as Five has told us numerous times..." Luther glanced at Five who was sat at the bar drinking a margarita, "that altering the time line comes with consequences."

He paused, looking around at his siblings disinterested faces, "and I just think we should all be a little more careful with our actions from now on. Who knows what we've changed by stopping the world from ending."

"Is that all?" Diego asked.

"Why? Is there somewhere you have to be?" Luther enquired.

"Literally anywhere but here, yes." Diego replied bluntly, making Klaus snort with laughter.

"Fine. Family meeting over, but remember what I said." Luther said as he left the room, tired of his brothers and sisters not listening to him.

"Did you hear any of that?" Klaus asked Ben as they headed back to his room.

"No, I thought you were listening." The boy replied.

"All he ever talks about is how Father dearest left him on the moon for four years, I tend to drown out his voice whenever he speaks."

Ben laughed, it was a soft sound but his brother thought it was adorable, "Say, Benny... how about you help me summon a ghost?" his brother asked, pretending to plead with his puppy-brown eyes.

He stared at Klaus for a long moment, questioning him quietly with his eyes, wondering if he'd forgotten that he was a ghost.

"I'll just do it myself, then." Klaus said, strutting off to his bedroom leaving Ben to follow behind.

The ghostly apparition of Ben walked into Klaus's bedroom to see him sitting on the floor with his legs crossed and his arms outstretched, humming as if that would help him summon the girl he'd seen the night before.

Ben sighed, "this is going to be a long day." He mumbled to himself.

☽

okay so i really don't know if this is any good because i'm so used to writing teen wolf fanfics and i haven't written an actual chapter in forever because i've had writers block etc etc... so let me know your thoughts (: