Chapter Text
Chapter 1: Breaking the silence?
“Y/N?” A voice spoke and you looked up and smiled brightly at the man who had sat down across from you. He rested his hands in front of him and shook his head in amusement. He’d visited you a couple times and you liked him, he was nice and didn’t try to force you to talk. You grab your whiteboard and write a message to him to say hello. “You doin’ okay? Did you sleep?” He asked concern etched on his face and you patted his hand. After a hard look you shrunk a little and shook your head to answer his question. You barely sleep due to night terrors, or regular nightmares if it’s a good night. You very rarely had a good day but lately you’ve been feeling a little better, you had been living in your group home for a little over a month since you were kicked out of your parent’s house.
He sighed and put his other hand over yours, trapping it between his hands. You giggled quietly and pulled your hand away, writing something on your board. “Why do you keep visiting me? What’s your name?” You held it up and he shrugged a little and pursed his lips in thought before answering carefully. “You remind me a little bit of myself I guess…My name? Um…Diego.” You frowned at the vague answer and chewed on your bottom lip before erasing your board to write something else. “Diego is a nice name. You seem familiar somehow, I’ve been thinking and can’t remember.” At that he smiled sadly and shook his head. “Y/N, you definitely don’t know me from anywhere.” He lied, thinking back to the day he saved you from the man who had held you captive for months.
He couldn’t believe he found you again, he never tried to keep up with you or anything but…he thought about you from time to time. You were so small and fragile the first time he met you, only 15, he was 21 at the time, fresh out of the police academy. He dropped you off at the station, along with a beaten up and tied man. You were transported to the hospital from there and the man was thrown in jail after his wounds were treated for the most part. From the hospital you were released to your parent’s care until two months ago when they had enough of your “quirks” and decided that they didn’t want to care for you anymore. Diego spotted you when he was checking up on one of the other people that were living in your little group home. You came up to him first and introduced yourself since he was a new face and you felt like you knew him from somewhere. He recognized you right off the bat, you hadn’t changed much, just filled out more and got a couple inches taller.
You waved your hand in front of his face and blinked at him. He blinked a few times then looked back at you and smiled softly. “Sorry, lost in thought.” He apologized and you shook your head and gave him a thumbs up. He softly took your hand in his and turned it palm up to check the crescent shaped marks on your palm. You swallowed hard and pulled your hand away gently and set it down on the table. “Those are fresh…” He murmured and frowned starting to reach out for your hand again but stopping halfway. You nodded and sighed softly clenching your hands into fists, trying not to cry. “Night terror?” He asked softly and you nodded again. “Must’ve been bad if you ended up with marks that deep.” He muttered and you sniffled and wiped your eyes trying to stem the eager flow of tears.
He looked a little panicked and looked around for a napkin or something to absorb your tears. He couldn’t find anything, so he pulled a clean cloth he’d usually use for cleaning his knives and reached over and wiped your eyes. “Shh…You’re safe here, remember?” His voice was soft and reassuring; you swore you’d heard it before. You sniffled again and he handed you the cloth which you took, clutching it in your hand like it was a lifeline. “t-t-th..” you started to speak but weren’t able to get through the whole word. He smiled crookedly at you, an odd mix of pride and sadness on his face. “Hey, it’s okay. You don’t have to thank me…or speak if you don’t want to.” You got up and flung your arms around him burying your face in the crook of his neck. He stiffened at first, not expecting you to throw yourself at him but slowly wrapped his arms around you to hold you gently against him. You were almost sitting in his lap due to the awkward positioning, so you pulled away and tried to hide the blush creeping up on your face.
You picked up your board and wrote “Sorry, I’m not usually a hug person. I don’t like being touched. I have to go soon, visiting hours are almost up.” You smiled sadly at him because you didn’t want him to go but he had gotten there late so there wasn’t a lot of time left for his visit. He nodded and returned the sad smile; he didn’t want to leave either. “I have to work tonight anyway… I can come back tomorrow?” He offered and you smiled wider and nodded happily. He stood up and gave you another hug which you returned, just because it was him. You inhaled deeply because he smelled good, the scent was comforting and safe. “I will see you tomorrow. Count on it.” He winked as he pulled away and you rolled your eyes at him and grinned. “Bye.” You wrote on your board and he chuckled. “See ya, Y/N.” He ruffled your hair making you whine a little and turned to leave.
You grabbed his wrist gently and he stopped and turned back to you with an eyebrow raised. “Y-y-y-you…” You started to speak, your voice was very rough but soft at the same time and you took a shaky breath before closing your eyes. You had suddenly remembered exactly who he was. “S-s-sa-aved m-m-me…” He looked at you in shock and his eyes widened for a moment before his face softened and he nodded. “Yeah…I didn’t want to tell you because I didn’t want to bring up any potential bad memories for you.” He admitted sheepishly. You nodded and let go of his wrist letting your hand fall back to your side. He handed you a piece of paper. “This is my phone number, if you ever need anything or want to talk, you can text or call me, okay?” He spoke softly and smiled at you. You took the paper and smiled back with a nod. “I have to go, Y/N. I’ll see you tomorrow.” And with that, he left the building. That night sleep definitely didn’t find you, even though you tried to sleep, all you could think about is Diego Hargreeves and the few memories that had resurfaced.