#they fumbled the bag not having allison and klaus at least talk about it

[seance]

Do none of you heartless bastards care about our murdered moms?

[mynumberfivethings]

Little!five and separation anxiety??

“Hey, I’m headed out, does anybody need anything from the store? I’ll stop by on my way back home tonight.” Vanya announces to the room at large. 

Five peeks up from his morning newspaper with a raised brow. “You’re leaving?” he asks. Allison is in California for the next two weeks with Klaus, who convinced her he’d behave if she let him tag along. Diego’s consulting on a case with the PD at the moment, so he hasn’t been home much the last few days. And Luther is working a double today at the local boxing gym-he left early in the morning after making some elaborate protein shake Five poked fun at him for. 

Vanya nods, “New client downtown and then I’ve got practice with the orchestra-I’ll be home in time for dinner though.” she throws her bag over her shoulder and then straps her violin case across her chest. “So, anything from the store?” 

Ben hums. “Can you get more of those vanilla cookies for the pantry? I think we’re almost out.” 

“Gotcha. Alright, see you guys tonight.” she waves goodbye and strolls out of the room, leaving Ben and Five to their own devices for the rest of the day. 

After a few minutes of silence Ben pushes his chair back and puts his plate in the sink to soak. “Five, I think I’m gonna visit the library today,” he decides. “Need anything?” 

Five sits up straight and puts his newspaper down fully. “Why? We have a library here.” he furrows his brows in confusion, frowning. 

Ben chuckles. “Well, Dads library isn’t exactly full of books for leisurely reading.” 

Five would beg to differ-”Cosmological Inflation and Large-Scale Structure” was a rather leisurely read, in his opinion. But he knows Ben’s recently gotten a taste for comic books and there’s absolutely no way in hell Reginald would have ever allowed such childish things in his library. “Right.” Five scratches the back of his head anxiously. He’s not sure exactly why he’s suddenly got this weird tightening in his chest, but he does. 

“When will you be back?” 

Ben shrugs. “Not sure. Probably before dinner, though.” 

“Do you mind if I come with you?” Five blurts out. “I-” he clears his throat. “There’s a book I’ve been looking for but I don’t think we have it here.” 

Ben tilts his head. Five is a homebody, Ben’s discovered, in the last few months since he was brought back to life. He enjoys sitting at home and reading books, occasionally he’ll watch Jeopardy and put the contestants on the show to shame with the odd amount of trivia he actually knows, but mostly he really only goes out if it’s necessary or if Allison plans a fun family outing and Five is in his little headspace.  

“Sure, I don’t mind. You wanna drive?” 

Five rolls his eyes. “I can just blink us over there.” 

Ben sighs, “Fine, but try to teleport us somewhere at least kind of inconspicuous?” The last time Five agreed to bring him somewhere Ben got an earful from a woman they scared half to death by suddenly appearing out of seemingly thin air not two feet away from her in the bread aisle of the grocery mart. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------

The library is quiet today, which isn’t too surprising considering it’s before noon on a Wednesday. 

“I’m gonna go check out the upstairs.” Ben half whispers, already going towards the stairwell. 

Five watches Ben walk away with a longing he can’t quite place. He rests his palm against his chest-there’s an ache there he can’t identify. All he knows is that he wants to follow his brother, but he also knows what odd behavior that is. He’s not in his little headspace right now, after all. He doesn’t need to be chaperoned like a child, despite the body he’s in. 

Instead, Five decides to roam about the History section a bit. 

There’s a giggling that calls his attention about fifteen minutes into his browsing; he looks up to find across the library in the Childrens Books section a young mother and her toddler. She’s shushing the child, but there’s a smile on her face and she’s holding up a Dr. Seuss hardcover and pointing out the silly rhymes and the even sillier made up creatures. She’s sitting down with the boy in her lap and he’s curled up against her looking the picture of warm and snug and...happy. 

“Shit.” Five gulps. He can feel it coming on, can feel his control coming apart at the seams. Not here, he thinks, not now. But the tears prickling at the edges of his eyes tell him he’s got little say in the matter. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Ben thought Five might join him upstairs after a while but it’s been about a half hour now and his brother’s nowhere to be seen. Curious to see what’s gotten Fives attention, he heads back downstairs. 

Ben looks practically everywhere-first in the sections where he thinks Five would most be drawn to-when he’s had no luck he starts to worry. Five knows better than to teleport without letting one of them know if he’s going elsewhere. It took him a while to learn that, in fact. 

“Um, excuse me, sorry to bother you,” he begins, speaking to the woman at the front desk, “But is there a chance you saw where my brother might’ve gone? I can’t find him anywhere. He’s thirteen, about this tall, black hair-” 

Thankfully there are so few people in the library at the moment that it doesn’t take much for the librarian to recognize who he’s talking about. “Oh, I think I saw him head for the restroom, right that way, to your left.” 

Ben thanks her profusely before heading in that direction. He steps foot inside and he can see Five’s shoes peeking out from under the one stall that’s not empty. “I’m gonna check out a couple of books and head to the Starbucks across the street, so meet me there when you’re done here, ok?” he calls out. 

He’s expecting an annoyed. “Fine.”-no one, Five most of all, likes to be interrupted while in the bathroom, after all. 

But instead he’s surprised to hear a stifled sob and a small, nearly inaudible. “Kay.” 

Ben immediately marches up to the stall, his concern coming back tenfold. “Five? Hey, you ok? What’s wrong? Did something happen?” 

Another stifled sob. “N-no.” 

That’s definitely little Five in there, no doubt about it, Ben confirms in his head. “Five, can you open the door for me, please? I just wanna make sure you’re ok.” 

It takes a second and some fumbling with the latch but when Five does open it, it’s only to reveal a splotchy red face streaked with tears and a runny nose. 

Ben pulls him into his arms without a second thought and squeezes. “What’s the matter?” Five melts into him, his little hiccups turning to sobs. 

“Don’t leave.” Five cries. “Don’t wanna be alone anymore. Please.” 

Ben’s heart shatters and he holds his baby brother all the tighter. Five has been acting a bit out of sorts since Allison and Klaus left, and then with everyone else in the house so busy lately that they’re barely ever there during waking hours-well, Ben can see now why Five’s been extra attentive when his few remaining siblings decide to leave the house. 

“I’m not going anywhere, I promise. I’m sorry I didn’t realize you were feeling this way sooner.” He manages to pick Five up pretty easily-the kid, unfortunately, doesn’t weigh much-and Five latches on instantly, his legs wrapping around Bens waist and his arms around his neck. 

He tucks his face against Ben’s neck and huffs out another sob. “Wanna go home.” 

Ben rocks him gently back and forth, rubbing a hand up and down his back comfortingly. “Of course.” They’re going to have to take the bus, seeing that they didn’t bring the car, Ben is thinking, just as suddenly they’re transported from the library mens room to Ben’s bedroom back at the Umbrella Academy. 

Ben blinks. Five doesn’t often use his powers when he’s in his little headspace-big Five has explained it to them before that when he does, it’s more of a reflex than anything, and oftentimes he ends up three feet to the left of where he’d intended to land, which doesn’t seem like too bad of a miscalculation, until it is. 

Ben sets Five down on his bed, intending to go into the kitchen and prepare him a nice warm bottle, but that’s a mistake, if the look of absolute devastation on Fives face has anything to say about it. Ben holds out a hand. “C’mere buddy, we can go downstairs together, ok?” 

Five takes the offered hand with both of his, gripping on like it’s a lifeline. 

Ben gives in once they’re in the kitchen and picks a sniffling Five up and props him up on his hip while he goes about heating up the milk. “You know,” Ben says quietly. “You can tell us if you’re ever feeling lonely or scared or...anything, really. I know you were alone for a really long time.” 

He can feel Five stiffen up in his arms. “Scary.” he mutters. And that’s all he has to say to that. The milk boils and Ben does some kind of magic trick in order to fill the bottle up while also holding onto a little. They end up back in Ben’s room and this time he sits down on the bed with Five on his lap. “Don’t wanna nap.” he whines softly, even though his eyes are already fluttering as Ben rocks him gently. 

“But you’re so sleepy already.” Ben chuckles at the yawn Five tries to stifle. 

Five shakes his head stubbornly. “Don’t want you to go.” 

Ben tugs Five in closer to his chest and leans down to kiss him on his forehead. “I won’t. I swear I’ll be right here when you wake up, ok?” 

Five looks up at him with big, teary eyes. “Ok.” 

Ben decides the milk is just at the right temperature now for Five to drink and so he places the bottle at Fives lips and sure enough the little opens up and sucks on the teat hungrily. The milk they feed Five is a special milk full of proteins and a decent amount of calories-it’s honestly the only way to get their brother to eat most days. So Ben is relieved when Five ends up drinking the entire thing instead of leaving it half full, as he’s prone to doing. 

Five is clearly drowsy, his eyes closing and then opening abruptly as he forces himself to stay awake. “Here, let’s try this.” Ben says, adjusting them so that they’re both laying down on the bed. He pulls Five in towards his chest and Five goes willingly, more than happy to be engulfed in Bens warmth. 

Vanya finds her two brothers sleeping in exactly that position a couple of hours later-her practice having been postponed for a later date. She grins and takes her phones out to snap a photo-ok, several photos-and sends them to the family group chat. 

[jackie5656]

🎄Fa-la-la-late🎄 With; Diego Hargreeves

A/N:Ummmm...hello? First off, thank you all so much for the love on my last couple imagines. Sorry for the hiatus, what can I say junior year is as hard as they say it is. Anyway, I was supposed to be sleeping last night but I was writing this instead. Leave it to me to become inspired at the worst times. This is for everyone celebrating a holiday this year without your family because of the pandemic (which is still a thing btw.) Also, this is very long but I love it. Okay enough talking, enjoy!

TW: None except...Well, Klaus is Klaus. And more random POV change bc I can!

He’s running, sprinting really, brown bag tucked haphazardly under his arm as it’s contents jostle around inside with his movements. Filled with last minute groceries for the evenings event. Never in Diego Hargreeves’ life had he thought he’d be rushing home in preparations for a Christmas party, in a red sweater for that matter. But what can he say, a year into his relationship with her and he’s officially whipped. Ever since the two of you met you had introduced him to an enormity of things he’d never considered important. Whether it be birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, you’ve added so much more to him that he could never really repay you for. So, he figures making a very last minute trip to the ever so crowded grocery store on Christmas Eve is worth it. Having to deal with other crazed and unprepared city people for three types of cheeses, four types of crackers, and a particularly expensive bottle of wine.

Apparently a Christmas party, or any get together for that matter, is simply incomplete without an assortment of appetizers. Right, Diego Hargreeves hosting a Christmas party for his siblings. The same ones who only learned about holidays in their World Culture textbooks during hours sectioned off on their daily regimen instead of actually celebrating them. The biting cold reminds him of the lonely Christmas’ throughout his life, which was at the time any other day of the year to him. He snaps out of the dark thoughts when he realizes he’s made it up the stairs and to the front door, a chorus of clanging pots and curses coming from inside.

He fumbles through the door, reminding himself he’s supposed to be rushing, but the beautifully decorated apartment distracts him from the task at hand. The warm feeling he’s still getting used to fluttering through his stomach as he recalls when you first surprised him with the holiday decor.

“It’s not too much, right? I know you never really celebrated Christmas, and neither of us are religious but my family always made the holidays a big deal and I thought-”

“You did all this?” His brown eyes are wide, gazing up at the assortment of twinkling lights aligning the interior of your shared home, a beautiful tree full of red and green ornaments in the middle of your living room. It’s stunning, to say the least, and Diego’s sure he’s never felt so much at home as he does now.

You’re gazing up at him, eyes nervously darting between your boyfriend and the assortment of ornaments. He walks forward from the entryway to admire the garland above the fireplace and the evergreen that just barely scruffs the top of the ceiling. It’s all new to him, and a bit overwhelming, and suddenly Diego realizes the resentment he’s held toward the holiday ever since he was a child was completely misguided. Because the joy he feels now, the warmth tingling throughout his body is foreign but so comforting.

“You hate it, don’t you? Listen, I just thought maybe I’d try and show you Christmas isn’t all about consumerism and selling shitty-”

“It’s beautiful.” He interrupts again, and you swear there’s a moisture begging to leave his eyes as he finally looks to you with an awed expression.

“I don’t, I’ve never...I always hated Christmas. I guess because I never had a real family as a kid. But this, this is j-just...Thank you.”

*End Flashback*

“You’re late!” You shout as the front door bursts open, a familiar thud of boots kicking snow off their bottoms and then walking towards the kitchen. Diego walks in with hands full with groceries, hair wet and messy with flurries of snow littering the raven strands. You narrow your eyes at the sight of him, dopey smile on his face as he sets the bags down on the counter.

“What’s gotten into you? I thought you’d still be grumpy at the fact that we’re hosting.” You’re less than presentable at the moment, having been cooking all day and leaving getting yourself ready for last minute. You puff a stray hair out of your face as he responds.

“Nothing, and actually I am still upset that my siblings are coming over.” He leans against the counter as you unpack the groceries, eager to finish up so you can look a little less crazy when the remaining Hargreeves arrive. Diego is still staring at you, grinning fondly at how flustered you look. And although he’d rather not have you meet his brothers and sister, you deserve to know why he’s keeping you from meeting. After all, it’s been a year since you’ve been together, and he’s met your family already.

It’s different though, because although they too have their issues, your family isn’t a dysfunctional pack of emotionally-stunted freaks. He’d much rather protect you from their intrusive antics. The warm feeling fades as he realizes what’s to come. He appreciates your optimism, truly, but he suddenly can’t shake the feeling that they’ll manage to upset you and ultimately screw up what you’ve been preparing for all day.

“A little help please?” You ground him once more, gesturing to the bags beside the both of you and the assortment of trays of food on the counters. Diego grabs onto your sides when you try to brush past him to check on the turkey, ignoring your incredulous look as he presses his body against yours.

“There’s still time to call this all off, you know. We can watch all the cheesy Christmas movies you want, and have dinner all to ourselves.” His eyes are hopefully looking into yours, the persuasion in his tone hinting a part of him isn’t really joking.

“Absolutely not. Di, we’ve been together for a year now. I want to get to know your siblings. Besides, you met my family and they loved you!”

“That’s different y/n, you’re family is...Well, they’re not like mine! You guys are normal! My brother is a moon-obsessed, half monkey moron and my sister is a mind-controlling movie star.” You can’t help but giggle at his words even though his frustration is adamant. He backs away from your embrace and runs his a hand through his hair in an effort to calm himself down. The sudden thought of one of them being too pushy or making you upset is overwhelming him now. If it’s one thing he’d like to keep you from, it’s the bad side of him his siblings tend to bring out.

“Diego.” Your voice is soft now, you’re using that love-laced tone that always makes him feel like he’s melting. He shivers as you get closer to him, still somehow getting used to the effect you have on him. And although you don’t notice, you seem to be aware you’re calming him down. “I’m scared too, I don’t want to mess something up or embarrass myself in front of them. Hell, your little-or...Older brother is a time traveling assassin who’s kind of a genius. It’s intimidating definitely, but they’re your family Di. I know you hate to admit it, but they’ve played a huge role in who you are. And even if a lot of times you resent each other, it’s clear you love them.”

He’s gotta admit, you’ve always had a way with words. “Fine, what can I do to help beautiful?”

“you can start with setting the table so I can get ready and actually look beautiful. And use the good China!” You plant a quick kiss to his cheek before rushing off to the bedroom, silently praying the anxious won’t drop a plate or two in the process.

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

“Baby, does red or white wine go with tur-woah.” You’re doing some finishing touches on your makeup when Diego walks in, honey brown eyes shamelessly looking over your figure with a smirk as he now leans against the door frame.

You roll you eyes at his ogling, but can’t help smoothing down the silky olive green fabric of the dress your wearing with a pleased smile. Gold jewelry adorns your neck and ears, with matching gold heels to bring the look together. The red of his sweater (he so stubbornly obliged to wearing) compliments the green you're wearing beautifully. A year ago, Diego wonders just how much it would take him to put on anything other than black.

“Cmon, they’ll be here any minute.”

As if I’m cue, the doorbell of the apartment rings. You rush to the front door, Diego trailing behind as he reminds himself how important the evening is to you.

“And remember, no knives.” You whisper to him, turning back around and opening the door.

“Fröhliche Weihnachten!” Klaus pushes through the entryway excitedly, tackling you in a hug in greeting. Luckily, you’ve already met the most eccentric sibling of the bunch. As he often crashes at your place, much to Diego’s disliking (or so he says).

“My my my, that dress is to die for! I’ll be borrowing that soon. And those heels! Please tell me we’re the same siz-”

“Alright bonehead, you can steal her stuff later. Take yourself and the booze to the kitchen.” Diego interrupts, shrugging when you slap his shoulder at his bluntness.

Greeting the rest of the family goes better than expected. Allison and Luther arrived together (an innocent carpool of course) whilst Vanya had come just a few minutes after Klaus, happy to see she wasn’t the first to arrive. She brought along with her a homemade dish, Allison with a top notch bottle of champagne, and Five with a box of Griddy’s  donuts and...Coffee? His odd choice of food making the perfect ice breaker, to his confusion of course. 

“Alright, enough small talk. Diego, how much are you paying this lovely lady to pretend to be your girlfriend?” Klaus interjects your conversation about current events as the rest of the table looks to the pair of you and laughs. 

“Seriously, Allison couldn’t even rumor someone to be this good of a cook,” Luther chimes in. Not having looked up from his plate for a majority of the meal.

Although slightly offended, Diego realizes his siblings have a valid point. You’re blushing crimson as you laugh along, shaking your head and nervously rambling on about when you just last week almost burnt the apartment down trying to perfect said recipes. He’s entranced as you speak, admiring the way you seem to capture all of them with unknown ease. Unknown, truly, because you’re still too modest to see how perfect you are. He doesn’t deserve you, but he’ll spend every day trying to even out the impossible score. It's known he can be quite the competitor. 

“I’m just shocked he’s out of black for once.”

“Says the 45 year old in a school uniform!”

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

“Alright, I’ll clear up dinner so we can start dessert.” Y/n announces, just in time to halt a three-way argument between her boyfriend, Luther and Five about some Academy mission from when they were kids. The evening has been lighthearted for the most part, with a majority of the conflict being steered off by Allison or Vanya. The two practically experts at distracting their egotistical brothers. You catch on as they do so, the three of you having shared a few sly smirks between one another a few times throughout the meal. 

“Please y/n, let me. You’ve done more than enough tonight. Besides, I need someone to test out that wine for me.” Allison assures, kicking Diego’s shin and motioning to the kitchen when you’ve given her an appreciative smile and inquired Vanya on her violin skills. 

Allison’s knife wielding brother shoots her a look of shock at her actions, trailing along confusedly after her. Your empty plate and his own in hand as he sets them down in the sink. 

“What the hell? Why-where-you-hiding-her-from-us!) The curly haired woman emphasizes each word with a smack of a stray dish towel to his arm, sure nobody can hear them over Klaus’ obnoxious storytelling back in the dining room. 

“Quit it! I wasn’t hiding her I-I was protecting her from you shitheads.” Diego defends, once again bewildered by his sister’s playful outburst. 

“Diego! She’s amazing, you should’ve introduced us forever ago.” 

“Right, she’s amazing. What do you not get by the word protecting? If you all had met her any sooner you would have scared her off!” He flails his arms as he speaks, unaware of his flushed cheeks as his sister smiles fondly at him. 

“What now Allison?”

“You loooveee her.” She poke his side as she teases, chuckling again when he swats her arm away. The scene is childish, but something about the heat rising through his neck to the tips of his ears makes Diego feel like a kid again. Allison teasing him about girls, just as they had when they were young. 

“Wh-whatever. Yeah, I love her. Can we go back to the table now, or should we paint our nails and giggle about how totes adorbs Luther Looks in that coat?” They both laugh at his mocking, leaving the room and too giddy to remember the discarded plates left behind. 

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

“An espresso machine? Wow, Columbia-brewed K-cups too! You shouldn’t have y/n.” Five is beaming at the gift in hand, wrapping paper still hanging off the side of the box as he admires the machine. His siblings stare confusedly at his jolly demeanor, and he immediately clears his throat before giving said girl a curt nod. “Thanks.” He deadpans, and you laugh with a nod at his change in demeanor. 

Luther and Allison have already opened their gifts, the burly man pointing to his miniature moon replica and lecturing about the craters and valleys to an extremely bored Klaus. Allison has already put on the elegant gold charm bracelet you’ve given her, rolling charm with Claire’s initials and birthstone on it with glossy eyes. Beside her, Vanya delicately peels the wrapping off to a freshly polished violin case, her name inscribed in cursive on the top. 

“It’s beautiful. I-I’m so sorry we didn’t get you anything. If I had known-”

“Nonsense V, I’m just glad you could all make it tonight.” You reassure with genuine smile, glad to see her positive response to the nickname. 

“I still can’t believe you got them gifts.” Diego mumbles from behind you, having climbed over the back of the couch you’re all sat on to have you sit between his legs. He kisses your temple and wraps his arms around your middle, softly humming when yo lean into him. The fireplace is crackling, and the record payer you love dearly quietly plays a Perry Como Christmas album. You close your eyes, taking in the warm feeling and relaxing in Diego’s touch. The two of you jumping when a shout comes from beside you.

“My turn! My turn!” Klaus claps loudly to grab your attention. You chuckle at his childish ways, leaning down to pick up the wrapped present at your feet and handing it off to him. Unlike the others, he eagerly rips apart the wrapping, gasping dramatically when he lifts up the skirt. 

“You’re a bit hard to shop for, there’s a gift receipt if-” The excitable man scrambles up from the floor tug on the fabric, twirling around in it in a fit of giggles before you can finish your statement. 

“Great, he’ll never take that off.” Diego mumbles in your ear, you shake your head with a smirk at his teasing before you’re reminded of something.

“Oh! And one more thing.” You note suddenly, climbing out of Diego’s hold as he huffs reluctantly. You pull a a final present from under the tree, secretly handing it to Klaus to make sure the others don’t see. Though they’re too enveloped in conversation to noticed.

“Another one for me?” He whispers happily, eyes furrowing when you shake your head. Sitting back down in Diego’s arms before you explain. 

“No, well...Yes, sort of. You’ll see.” You ramble, gesturing to the box in his hands as he apprehensively chuckles. You feel Diego’s eyes on you, deciding to place a peck on his jaw instead of elaborating. 

Klaus pulls out a pair of books, readig the well-known titles before looking up at you. You motion to the box once more, biting your nail as he sets them aside and reaches in once more. He pulls out  picture frame with a sharp intake of breathe, hand going over his mouth as he looks up at you once more. Your boyfriend, eager to see what has silenced his rowdy brother, takes the frame to inspect it. 

It’s a picture of him, Klaus, and Ben on the front steps of the academy. Having to be only five or six in the photo. Klaus has an arm around Ben, smiling big for the camera as his brother offers a smaller, but no less genuine grin to the lens. Diego sits a step above them, mouth frozen open in a laugh as he must of been reaction to something only Klaus could make him react so much at. 

“I remember Di telling me Ben read a lot. And...Well, it felt wrong to get everyone else a gift but him. Those are two of my favorit-”

“Wh-Where did you find this?” Diego whispers, arms encircled even tighter around you as he holds up the frame in shock. 

“When we were moving in. I found it at the bottom of one of the shelves at your room at the gym. It was under a bunch of old books you had, I figured it could use a frame.” Just as you finish, Klaus practically tackles you in a hug, a soft hiccup coming from him when he pulls away. 

“Geez Klaus, it’s just a skirt!” 

“Can-it Luther!”

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

“You think he’ll be alright?” You mutter from the bedroom hallway. You and Diego leaning against the wall, looking at Klaus whose passed out on the sofa. The others having left hours ago, but you simply couldn’t wake him at seeing how peaceful he was. The picture frame still tucked to his chest as he snored softly. 

“Trust me, he’s fine. I think he’ll be sleeping in that skirt every night from now on.” Diego pulls you to your bedroom door as you laugh, the exhaustion from today finally setting. 

“Hey, would you look at that? Mistletoe.” Your head trails upwards to gaze up at the fruit being dangled above your head as you grin.

“Those are grapes Di.”

“Are they? Hmm, must be from that stupid cheese board I had to run across town for.” 

“It’s a chacuterie, actually. Didn’t you learn French Hargreeves?”

“Yep, but I only seem to remember two words.”

“Oh really? And what might those be?”

“Embrasse moi” He finishes as he connects his lips with yours, holding your face as if you might slip away when he lets go. 

“Smooth, knife boy.” You pull away softly, wrapping your arms around his neck and hugging him tightly.

“Merry Christmas Di.”

[umbureraakademi]

Introductory Note About the AU & Other Chapters & Face Claims

-a/n start-

[Potential spoilers for anyone who hasn’t seen or finished TUA Netflix series but seriously how could you stop yourself from watching such a captivating show.]

Word Count: 2049

Sorry Klaus is a bit antagonistic here for the sake of some good ol’ drama. I promise he gets better in the future chapters :p

-a/n end-

The first thing Diego picked up was Klaus calling Monica ‘Maica’, a nickname only the people closest to her used like Jessica and Ben. Diego never even called her Maica though he probably already had the right to, but he felt Monica had a better ring to his ears.

The second thing he noticed was how stiff Monica got when she saw Klaus, as if she had just seen a ghost. This was, of course, ironic - since it was Klaus who saw ghosts.

The third thing he noticed was Klaus’ less than friendly gaze - actually that was a bit of an understatement as it seemed like his gaze was as sharp as the knives he carried. It was unnatural for Klaus to look so foreboding, since he was always the most carefree of his siblings.

Diego’s detective mind went to work immediately at trying to piece the puzzles together and only one conclusion seemed the most definite. 

And he didn’t like it.

“You guys… know each other?” he started, stopping himself from jumping into conclusions but taking a lot of his willpower to keep himself calm.

Monica turned to Diego, wide-eyed, pale, and obviously not knowing what to make of the current situation. She knew this would happen, that her past would come to bite her in the ass if she wasn’t careful, and after ignoring Jessica’s warnings and her gut feelings it came to do just that.

“Diego I… I can explain…” she started slowly.

“Wait hold on a minute.” Klaus interrupted. “How long have you two been eating each other's faces? You know wait never mind I don’t want to know… actually yeah I do want to know.” 

There was a short silence before Diego answered, “2 months.”

“2 months?!” Klaus’ mouth dropped open in shock before he placed his hands over his gaping mouth to add to the drama. “2 months… okay you’ve been… doing this…” Klaus made a circular motion indicating Diego and Monica being together. “For 2 months… and Maica, my dear, it never occurred to you to tell him?” he said in a dreadfully venomous tone.

“Tell me what exactly?” Diego said as he turned his gaze to Monica, the fiery desire-ridden look in his eyes from a while ago replaced with an icy cold glare. It was as if Monica could hear her heart starting to crack.

“Well…” Klaus started with a scoff as he placed his hands on his hips. “Let’s introduce her to Luther and if she manages to get him off of Allison then you’ll probably get my point.” 

“Klaus stop it.” Monica snapped, unable to bear his taunting anymore. “Diego we can talk about this please…” she begged softly.

“Say it.” Diego responded, his voice sounding off the strain of trying to keep a level tone. “W… w… what… ugh.” his stutter started to act up the more he tried to keep himself composed. “W-what have you been keeping from me?” 

That stutter. That was the trigger that started to get Monica’s eyes welling up with tears of guilt. She fought them back to the best of her abilities but a stray managed to drip down her cheek. Glancing at the other side of the room she saw Klaus standing there, hands still on his hips with an expectant look on his face. 

“Klaus and I… we… we have history.” she said, choking back on her tears as she looked away from Klaus.

“Oh c’mon, Maica.” Klaus complained, his tone impatient and edgy. “ ‘History’? That’s the best you can describe what we went through together before you left me without saying anything?” he said, sounding more insulted than hurt.

“Klaus you know very well why I had to leave.” Monica shot back more firmly.

“And you knew I wasn’t ready at that time. You never understood why I didn’t want to go yet. You never could. You could never understand the torture of hearing voices and seeing the faces of dead people everyday.”

“We could have gone through it together…”

“No. You could have at least told me you were leaving instead of dropping off the face of the Earth. You could have even waited for me. You could have waited until I was ready to go to rehab with you.”

Klaus’ last sentence hung in the air as a deadly silence followed. Monica asked for nothing more but for the world to swallow her whole as she stood still, too scared to see the stone cold expression on Diego’s face as he almost couldn’t believe what Klaus had just said.

Diego’s entire body tensed as his blood started boiling when he repeated, “Rehab?” the word tasting bitter in his mouth. History with Klaus he could handle even if it was weird, but a history with drugs? All he could think of was Eudora lifeless in his arms during that fateful drug bust. For Monica to leave out her history with drugs, such a vital piece of information about her past like that… Diego felt betrayed.

“Diego--” Monica reached out to place a hand on his arm but she was cut off by Diego rebuffing such action by walking away, not looking back at Monica or Klaus. She felt the tips of her fingers burn at just only grazing his arm, but not in the usual way it did, as it was accompanied by her heart starting to chip off into a million pieces. 

Her breathing started to get shaky as she followed after Diego, forgetting her bag on the floor, the mess of Chuck’s desk, or the fact that the office still needed someone to turn off all the lights and lock it up. She didn’t even look at Klaus as she passed him but he said something that made her stop.

“I did eventually go, you know.” Klaus said, pausing a little as he turned to look at Monica. “To rehab I mean. Just got out, actually.” 

Monica didn’t know how to respond to that, while she was deep inside relieved Klaus had eventually taken that step she couldn’t believe the things that came out of his mouth just a while ago. Although, everything he said was true and it was technically her fault she kept everything from Diego in the first place.

Slowly she looked at Klaus as well, saying a soft, “That’s great.” before she turned to leave before she’d miss Diego.

Klaus just stood there watching her leave for a moment before he dropped his arms from his waist and heaved a heavy sigh, running his hands down his face. 

“Did you really have to do that, though?” rang Ben’s voice, who had been watching the entire thing in silence leaning on one of the desks. 

Klaus fell silent for a moment, the rush of his feelings of anger, hurt, and betrayal starting to subside as he replayed what just happened in his head. 

“Guess I was a bit too dramatic…”

The Precinct Parking Lot

Monica. Klaus. Drugs. Those three key elements circled around in his mind as he fumbled with his car keys, the struggle to keep a straight head making his hands shake. His imagination was going wild as several random pictures started playing in his head.

Monica and Klaus doing the things they would do.

Monica shooting up heroine, snorting cocaine, or taking pills - with Klaus, most possibly.

Flashbacks of his drug bust with Eudora, the headlights, her pushing him out of the way, the sound of that crash, her blood on the floor and on his hands, him screaming as life slipped out of her. 

“Shit!” Diego cursed as his emotions reached its peak and he slammed a fist on the side of his own car. The impact made a small dent and he ignored the twinge of pain that radiated from his fist. He was leaning forward towards the driver’s seat, his other hand supporting him as it was placed to the left of the window. Looking at the reflection he saw Monica standing right behind him, her expression scared and at a loss for something to say. They stared at each through the reflection before he tore his gaze away without saying anything, his breathing becoming strained and heavy.

“Diego…” Monica said softly as she took a tentative step forward, but stopped when Diego straightened himself up. She watched him, wary of any reaction or actions he might do next, but he didn’t turn to look at her, instead he just looked towards an empty direction - not even facing Monica’s reflection. There was nothing but silence until Monica spoke again, “Diego I’m sorry…”

Another moment of silence as Diego contemplated what he wanted to say in response, anxious of this stutter surfacing. “Why?” was all he managed to say.

“I… I thought I had buried everything from that part of my life so deep it wouldn’t come out again and ruin whatever I might have in the future…” Monica started to explain, her voice soft and thin. “I never thought I’d see Klaus again even after I got out of… rehab.” she choked as she said this, seeing Diego tense when she started mentioning elements that confirmed her history of drug abuse. “I never thought I’d meet you… that we’d be co-workers in a police station of all places… I knew you were his brother but I never thought I would… that I would…” she had to stop as her voice started to shake and tears were free flowing down her cheeks. 

It was at this point that Diego decided to turn and look at Monica, and seeing her like this - the tears, the weakness, the frailty - it broke his heart too. He wanted to wipe those tears off her face, pull her towards him and hug her tight, tell her it was okay and ask her to stop crying.

But it wasn’t okay. It wasn’t okay that she didn’t tell him that at one point in her life his brother was as special to her as he was to her currently. It wasn’t okay that she didn’t tell him she abused drugs, even if she did go to rehab and looked as if you’d never suspect she ever had such a history. It wasn’t okay that whenever Diego thought about Monica getting high on drugs he also thought of Eudora who lost her life trying to stop drugs. 

“That you would what?” Diego prompted as he looked straight into Monica’s tearful eyes, fighting the urge to reach out and caress her cheek comfortingly.

“That I would…” Monica started again, swallowing like the words she was about to say next lumped in her throat. “Fall… fall in love… with you…” 

It felt like a plane had just crashed from out of nowhere into the spot they were standing on. Diego never thought it would be possible for his heart to race and ache at the same time. Hearing those words but seeing her like this and considering the situation… it made him feel a whole mix of feelings he didn’t understand. 

Did he love her back? Yes, he did.

Did her secrets hurt him? Yes, a lot.

Was he going to forgive her? He didn’t know.

In his inner confusion he made a sharp movement back to his car, miraculously able to use his key properly and open the car door. 

“Diego… Diego please…” Monica begged desperately, her voice shaky as she lost more and more control of her tears. “Don’t leave me…”

This made Diego pause a bit with a hand on the car window and one foot already inside his car. He didn’t dare look back, fearing he wouldn’t have the strength to resist just forgetting everything and pretending like her secrets didn’t hurt him. 

“You left Klaus before, what makes this time with me any different?” 

It was like Diego had thrown one of his knives straight into Monica’s heart as he said those words.

“Diego no please… listen…” Monica pleaded tearfully.

But he didn’t listen, didn’t even look at her as he got into his car and slammed the door shut. Before she knew it he had started his car and drove out of the parking lot, and all Monica could do was stare at him as he left her in the cold.