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There were many questions Diego wants to ask.
What did Klaus take? How did he end up on the bridge? What happened that made him think those terrible things about himself? Since when can he see Ben? Can be conjure Five too?
He doesn’t ask him any of those things.
Klaus fell asleep on the ride to Vanya’s and Diego’s heart hurts when he has to carry him to Vanya’s and notices how damn light he is. He lays him to sleep on her couch and catches her up to speed in hushed towns. Vanya’s like him, in that she doesn’t like to show much emotion, but she cries. He expected her to. She helps him set up camp in front of the fireplace, but he finds sleep incredibly difficult. Every time he closes his eyes, he sees Klaus standing on that bridge, one wrong move away from falling to his death. So he watches his brother breathe across from him until he can’t keep his eyes open anymore, and then gasps awake and does it all over again. By the time the sun shines in through the curtains, Diego is exhausted and restless, and Klaus is still sleeping relatively peacefully.
He gets up when Vanya appears in the kitchen, still in her pajamas.
“Hey.” He says softly.
“Morning.” She nudges a mug in his direction, and he waits patiently for her to make them both some coffee.
“I thought you had work today?” He asks when she pours him some.
“Called in sick.”
Diego sighs. “Van –”
“No, don’t.” She shakes her head. “It’s not like I’m first chair or anything. Most of the time they don’t even notice when I’m gone. They don’t need me. He needs me.”
He wants to say she’s wrong – he’s heard his sister play, and she’s amazing – but he’s too worried about leaving Klaus alone.
“As long as you don’t get in trouble.” He settles on. She gives him a small smile.
“I won’t. Trust me.”
They sit in mostly comfortable silence for a while, and Vanya makes fun of him for the ‘insane amounts of sugar’ he pours into his coffee (just because he doesn’t like it bitter and dark doesn’t mean he puts too much sugar, alright?). After about half an hour, though, Diego is even more restless, if possible. Maybe he should call Patch – he knows she’d appreciate it. But, no, he shouldn’t have this talk with her over the phone. It would be a whole lot easier for him if they could, but it would only make her even more upset with him.
“I…I’m gonna go to the station. Clear some stuff up from last night.” He finally declares.
“Oh. Is there…is he in trouble?” Vanya worries. Diego shakes his head.
“No, no. I.” he pauses. “I promised someone I’d talk to them. You’re good here, right? I wont be gone too long.”
“I’ll be fine.” They both here a faint snore from the living room, and she glances over at their brother sleeping on the couch. “He’s not really a morning person. I doubt he’ll wake up while you’re gone.”
“I know, I just –” im afraid he’ll disappear before I get back. He doesn’t say it – he can’t. talking about his feelings was never really his forte. Reginald made sure of that.
“I know.” She says softly.
He nods, and swallows back his fear. Klaus will be okay while he’s gone.
“You might want to stop by your apartment and change, though. You don’t have to look like a mercenary all the time.” She says, teasing. Diego looks down at the knives still strapped to his chest, and the holes in his sweater, and scowls.
“I know.” He huffs.
He likes this outfit, though. It looks good on him.
He changes on the way to the precinct anyway. It’s probably best he not do this with knives within reach.
It takes him a while to get out of the car once he actually gets there. Diego + Nerves = stuttering, which equals more nerves, which makes him stutter even more. He rehearsed what he wants to say maybe a hundred times on the way over, but that doesn’t make him any more willing to finally out himself as ‘Number Two’ AKA ‘The Kraken’, former boy hero turned sad vigilante man.
God. Now his inner voice is starting to sound like Klaus.
When he enters, pretty much every head in the building turns to look at him. That’s not really unexpected, but it still only adds to his nerves. He scowls at them and hopes it hides the panic and the fact that his hands are shaking. He makes his way over to Eudora’s desk and clears his throat.
She whirls around, surprised.
“I told you to call me.” She says, eyebrow raised. He winces.
“Not the kind of thing people talk about over the phone.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be taking care of your bother? Where is he?”
“He’s fine. My sister’s watching him.” he assures her. Her other eyebrow joins the first.
“You have a sister too?”
“Yeah, two of them.”
She stares at him, considering. "That girl that you fought Ray over? She one of them?"
"Yeah." He frowns. “You didn’t…I thought you’d know by now. I mean, everyone knows by now, don’t they?” He huffs. She stands, crossing her arms over her chest.
“I wanted to hear it from you.”
He glances around. There are too many eyes on him, and he feels like he might throw up. Or just bolt. Running away is always an option. His and Patch’s relationship isn’t exactly the best, so running can’t hurt it that much.
She rolls her eyes.
“Follow me.”
“An interrogation room? Really? I’m not a perp, Eudora.” Diego scoffs. She narrows her eyes at him.
“I told you not to call me that.” She clasps her hands over the table. “Spill.”
“Fine.” He takes a deep breath. “Remember those umbrella academy kids on the news a few years ago?” He forces himself not to do something too telling, like fidgeting with the hem of his sleeve, or drumming his fingers on the table. Patch nods slowly.
“Yeah.”
“Yeah. They were me.” He pauses. “And my siblings. Six of us. Seven, counting Vanya, but she technically wasn’t part of the academy, because she doesn’t have any powers. Didn’t stop her from bring a number, though.” He says the last part bitterly, angry. Everything about Reginald’s treatment of her makes him angry, but now isn’t exactly the time to dwell on it. He finally looks up and meets Patch’s eyes, and She stares at him.
“You…what?”
“Did you not hear about –”
“I know who the umbrella Academy is.” She says quickly. “I used to watch you guys all the time on the news, before…” before Ben died, and Klaus ran away, and Diego and Vanya moved out because they couldn’t fucking take it anymore. The news didn’t care when it was just Luther going around in his stupid tight black suit. “But this is…not at all what I expected.”
He shoves up his left sleeve and turns his wrist towards her.
It’s not the only tattoo he has. But it’s the oldest and the least taken care off, and he hates it with a passion.
“We got these before we went public.” He drops his arm. “My name isn’t Diego Ramos. Hell, it’s not even really Diego Hargreeves. The name on my birth certificate is Number Two, because my ‘father’ couldn’t be bothered to give any of actual names. He numbered us based on how useful we were too him. How willing we were to put up with his damn bullshit. When I signed up for the academy, I…I didn’t want to bring any of that shit with me. I didn’t want anyone asking what it was like to be part of the ‘great umbrella academy’, or if they could take a picture with me. I just…I n-needed to not be number two, for once.”
He looks away, embarrassed and angry.
It quiet for a few moments, and it only makes his anxiety worse.
“Is that why you wear that damn mask at every crime scene I catch you in?” She finally asks, incredulous. He jerks his head up to look at her.
“What?”
“You heard me.” She huffs.
“I – I guess? My mom fixed it for me, I didn’t want to just throw it away –”
“Your mom?”
“Oh my god.” They hear, slightly muffled, from behind the glass. He freezes. Crap, it never occurred to him that maybe someone was back there. Patch shoots the mirror a look, and after a few seconds, the door opens.
It’s Adam.
“Daniels, what the hell are you doing?” Patch snaps. Adam at least has the decency to look sheepish.
“I was blackmailed into eavesdropping. Sorry.” He mumbles. Diego growls, and pushes away from the table.
“For the love of –” He snarls, stomping out of the room.
“Diego, wait.” Patch calls.
He steps into the middle of the precinct and throws his hands out. “You got me! I’m one of Hargreeves’ freak kids! Is that what you all wanted to hear? You wanna take a fucking picture?” He shouts. He lets out a harsh breath when he’s done, and everyone around him stares.
He can’t fucking do this.
He turns on his heel and marches out of the precinct, because he just can’t deal with this. He can’t. He spent his entire childhood locked in that mansion, or bombarded with questions and cameras when he wasn’t. When he’d finally gotten away from it all, he was over the moon. No one knew him. No one had to.
And then he met Patch. He made friends.
He doesn’t know shit about maintaining friendships.
“Diego!” Eudora shouts, jogging up to him and clapping a hand on his shoulder. “Who told you you could just run out on me like that, huh? Where do you think you’re going?”
“I couldn’t be in there anymore.” He spits.
He doesn’t say the walls were closing in on him, or that he could hear his ‘father’s’ voice in his head, telling him to stop making a scene. Stop being weak.
“You didn’t have to explode on everyone like that. They’re all just worried about you, you know.”
He blinks.
“They are?”
“No one gives a shit that you used to be on a lunch box, or in a comic.” She rolls her eyes. “Okay. Maybe they’re kinda interested. But you talked your brother down from suicide last night. That kind of overrules any burning desire to talk to you about being a superhero.” Her expression softens. “Did you really think I would judge you for any of that? That you couldn’t open up to me?”
His throat feels tight.
“I…I’m not good. At talking.” He admits, surprising himself. She laughs.
“Yeah. I got that. I couldn’t figure that out, I’d have to turn in my badge.” She leans up and presses a kiss to his scared cheek, and he feels his jaw drop a bit. “Go home. Be with your family. Call me when you’re not acting like an idiot anymore.”
“I’m always an idiot, according to you.” He blurts. She smirks.
“Less of an idiot, then. And I do mean call. On a phone, please.” She pats his arm lightly, and heads back inside.
For the first time since last night, he feels lighter.