Work Text:
Argyle Police Department Parking Lot
Cher was quietly playing from the tinny radio in Diego’s car, and Vanya pretended not to notice that it was coming from the cassette player - nor that Diego was tapping his fingers on the steering wheel along to the beat. “I told you to get locks on your windows.” he croaked, “You live on the goddamn ground floor, sis”.
Vanya let out an almost silent, yet long suffering sigh, “Locks wouldn’t matter anyway... he punched through the glass.” her voice tinged with frustration, and guilt. Diego lifted his vision from the road ahead and turned to her with an inquisitively raised eyebrow. He looked away from the road too much, she thought, which was ironic for someone so strict about keeping his car in decent condition. Vanya’s silence and averted gaze indicated she wasn’t going to talk more about what happened. Diego made an incredulous and flat chuckle; shaking his head as though he could shake the situation away like an Etch-A-Sketch.
—
Diego parked up and took his key from the ignition, rubbing his eyes frustratedly with his fingers. “Look...” he twisted his neck in a circular motion, letting out a series of cracks in homage to Rice Krispies. Vanya thought he was disgusting. “I’m happy to have you stay with me, Van, whilst your apartment gets secured...” Diego looked out the window - longing to not be in this car, this conversation “you just need to know that I don’t live alone.” Vanya didn’t understand why he was being quite so dramatic about having roommates. She knew he had left the Umbrella Academy with nothing to his name but mom’s cross stitch, and his knives.
She nervously smiled up at him, but he was too busy brooding out of the window to notice “That’s okay, Diego. I had a roommate for a while in college.” She knew normal siblings would probably pat each other on the knee or shoulder at this point - alas, they were not normal siblings.
It had probably only been thirty seconds, but for Diego it felt like hours that he’d been silently sitting and pretending to look out of the window. The longer he went without speaking, the more aware he became of how he must’ve seemed like he was being an asshole - which made it even harder to try and speak without stuttering. In. Out. In. Out. Focus on your breathing. Picture the word in your mind. Mom would make this conversation easier for him. “Sh- she’s not my” he let out a shallow breath when his word was still trapped in his mouth.
”She’s not my roommate, she’s my g-girlfriend”. He wasn’t embarrassed of Eudora, he really wasn’t; If anything, he wanted to show her off. She was badass, and smoking hot. But to admit that he had a girlfriend... to admit that he could be capable of being in love... the thought of having his emotions referenced in any shape or form was distressing. Especially in front of his youngest sibling, he had to be strong for her. Emotions were a kryptonite, that’s what Hargreeves had said. A small voice in the back of his head asked him why the fuck he was paying any mind to what that asshole thinks - but he decided to throw that thought far away like one of his blunted knives.
“Oh.” Vanya meekly supplied, bitting down on her lip with embarrassment. She was an idiot. A lonely, lonely idiot. Of course he meant a relationship. Adults have relationships.
—
Vanya could clearly tell which parts of the small apartment’s interior design (or lack-thereof) were Diego’s influence, and which were his girlfriend’s. They’d been programmed to see decoration or sentimental belongings to be distractions and weakness, after all. Their well-used couch had fluffy teal cushions, and by the ancient TV there were smiling pictures of who Vanya assumed were Diego’s girlfriend, and her family. It wasn’t so much that some decor was obviously hers, and some obviously Diego’s - it was more so the complete lack of anything distinctly Diego that was glaringly obvious.
Diego returned from his kitchen, slobbishly munching on grapes, and reached his hand out to point at Vanya’s hastily packed overnight bag, “I’ll drive you by tomorrow, you can pick up some more of your stuff.” Vanya squinted up at him in confusion, which sparked an almost outraged facial expression in return “It’s Friday night, they’re not gonna be able to replace the window until at least Monday. You’re not going back to your apartment until it’s secure.” Vanya opened her mouth to argue but was suddenly cut short by a grape being thrown directly into it.
—
Diego tentatively opened the grotty apartment door, viewing the trail of destruction from the window to the phone. His eyes caught the blood. “His?” He grunted. Vanya nodded bashfully. Diego let out a frustrated sigh and skulked into Vanya’s kitchenette as she scurried to go pack some clothes in her bedroom. Their brother was a goddamn idiot. He sneakily riffled through her kitchen cabinets, trying to see if she had enough food. She did not. Diego rested his hands on her counter and let out yet another sigh.
The only pyjamas Vanya could find were childish and fluffy, she had needed to go to the laundrette before... everything. She was already embarrassed picturing Diego’s reaction - and worse, the reaction of his glamorous girlfriend. Eudora was beautiful, and had treated Vanya with such kindness last night.
“So what did he take?” Diego shouted through from the other room. Vanya bit her lip in panicked contemplation. Clearly she’d taken too long to think of a response as Diego popped his head through her bedroom door, staring at her with suspicion.
Oh jeez, she was holding her underwear. Diego really didn’t want to see the underwear of any of his siblings. He quickly averted his gaze and winced up at the ceiling. He pulled a knife from his holster to fiddle with. “He didn’t take anything...” Vanya almost whispered.
Diego shot her a look of pure disbelief, her underwear be damned. “Then why the fuck did he break in?!” he snapped.
—
Ben had left Klaus last night after he was booked, and gone back to patiently wait in Vanya’s apartment for her return. He knew he couldn’t speak to her, but it would still be nice to see her. Or so he thought. “I heard him call it Benjamin when he didn’t think I was listening...” she admitted apologetically.
Diego choked on the coffee Vanya had made them. “Benjamin?” He spluttered. His brow furrowed in confusion “Was he called Benjamin? I thought it was just... Ben.” Diego uttered, trying to rack his brain for the memory of them receiving their names. He knew Klaus talked to himself, and he was always fairly certain that it was so called Ben he was talking to - but Diego tried to push that in the back of his mind. It was easier just to bury his head in the sand.
“It was just Ben.” Vanya informed him. It was comforting for Ben to know Vanya remembered this, but it wasn’t making being talked about like he wasn’t right there any less upsetting.
“Well maybe he was just hallucinating Benjamin Franklin or some shit.” Diego murmured, staring into his coffee like it held the answers to this mystery. Ben couldn’t blame his siblings for never believing Klaus, after all he did lie about what Ben had said more often than not - but it was still frustrating that they never pushed further. He had the literal ability to talk to ghosts, for fucks sake.
—
They were almost done cleaning up the chaotic mess Klaus had left in his wake. Diego had wanted to clean the blood up, but Vanya nudged him away and told him she had more experience with cleaning up blood - this made Diego’s own blood run cool, until he remembered she had a uterus. Vanya hadn’t really said much since she’d tried to gently tell Diego that she believed Klaus had thought he was talking with Ben. She sighed sadly as she took her frustrations out on rubbing a blood stain on her couch with a soapy nail brush. The elephant in the room was irritating her too much to not say anything, “Ever notice he tend to refer to himself as we?” Vanya heard a large clang as Diego suddenly dropped his dustpan and brush and turned to scowl at her.
“He’s batshit, Vanya. Always has been. Now drop it.” he grunted at her. Diego was trying not to be too harsh since she’d clearly been through quite a traumatic ordeal, but Jesus Christ he wanted to stop this discussion. Vanya gaped at him. She wasn’t a fan of Diego’s stigmatising choice of words. She started to tell him as much but Diego interrupted her by throwing his head back in irritation and accidentally slamming his head into her wall in the process. He looked embarrassed as he winced and rubbed at his head, turning to glare at the wall like it had been the one to slam into him.
—
The rest of Vanya’s stay had been relatively okay, neither of them wanting to broach the subject of their brother hallucinating their other very deceased brother. Diego parked up outside Vanya’s building, he’d swapped out the Cher cassette for Lady Gaga before they set off, and Vanya had once again pretended not to notice.
Diego reached over to the backseat to grab Vanya’s duffel bag, when passing it to her he noticed she was still pulling the same heartbroken face. He rolled his eyes slightly, and ground his teeth. “Fine.” he softly spat out. “I’ll keep an eye on him; Make sure Ben” he used bunny ears over the name of his definitely-not-a-ghost brother “doesn’t tell him to start murdering people.” he gave her a sly smile. Clearly, she hadn’t been a fan of his possibly slightly inappropriate crack as she simply gave him a look of disdain. “Sorry...” he looked down in a self-conscious manner.
Vanya felt regretful and leaned to nervously pat his hand, causing him to look up at her in utter shock. He pulled his hand back slightly and looked down at it like she’d burnt him. Diego realised that probably had been an asshole move, even if it had been purely a reflex. He looked at Vanya sorrowfully, and met her slightly tear filled eyes. “At least it’s not Luther he thinks he’s stuck with.” he let out with a flat chuckle. Vanya scoffed despite herself, rolling her eyes and groaning at her brother’s childish rivalry.