Work Text:
They start with stealing a car.
Or, rather - Diego's so, where to? is met by Lila throwing a rock in the nearest car's window, bursting into laughter as the alarm starts blaring. "Come on, don't tell me you don't know how to hotwire a car?" Lila snorts at him as he looks at her with wide eyes. "What did they ever teach you in that posh academy of yours?"
"You - you're insane, you know that, right?" Diego groans for good measure before he settles to the task, glaring at Lila as she nonchalantly leans against the side of the car.
"Been there, done that. I thought we'd well established that long ago," Lila agrees without heat as she toys with her bracelet. "Hurry up, I'm hungry."
Before, he would probably have told her to fuck off for pushing his buttons like that, but now - now Diego can't help softening at the sight of Lila, bossy and bratty and fucking beautiful with her hand absently hovering by her still flat stomach. With all the time and space travel they've been doing, end of the world and Kugelblitz now a common occurrence in a relationship that's both days and decades old at the same time, this is still something Diego needs to wrap his mind around - the fact that amidst the chaos life always goes on.
That a crazy moment of distraction led to an even crazier life, one Diego is only too happy to embrace fully now.
"Didn't get to make a reservation for the lady, though," Diego chuckles. "You know, with the whole almost dying for the, what, third time now? I lost count."
Lila laughs, bright and clear, genuinely amused as she bends over and leans down to press a messy kiss to his forehead. "Leave dinner to me, sweetheart."
Lila's version of making dinner consists of having Diego drive around town for a good half-hour, taking lefts and rights at random, passing tall buildings until they slowly morph into townhouses. Diego almost asks her twice if she remembers that she's supposed to be hungry; really, what if this is a side effect from pregnancy no one warned them about? Or a side effect from having almost all of her life energy drained from her body along with her powers?
Then Lila reaches for him, grabbing his arm forcefully, black nails digging painfully into the flesh. "Here, stop the car."
"You okay?" Diego asks, worried that Lila's feeling sick. "You're not gonna barf-"
"Just park the car there and follow me."
Lila strolls down the street like she owns it, taking his hand in hers like she couldn't ever be taught to let go. It feels nice and right, and Diego can't help the dumb thrill that runs down his spine at the thought of the two of them holding hands like real people do in the nicest street he's ever been in, rows and rows of nice houses and swing sets in the front yard. Maybe someday this could be them, too - just add a target in the backyard for practice so he can put his knife skills to a different use, start a circus act with Lila and their kid.
Lila leads him to a nice house, smiling prettily at him as she leans against the front door. Diego almost asks before it dawns on him - she's even crazier than he thought. "I'm supposed to pick the lock now, aren't I?" he says with a sigh. "Jesus, Lila."
He doesn't even ask her how she knows the owners aren't there - just add casing a house to her skill set. Good thing he learned how to pick a lock when he was eight. There's no security system - the dumb fools - and Diego lets them in under one minute, Lila toeing off her shoes with an audible happy sigh and easily making her way into the house and right into the kitchen. She's raiding the kitchen cupboards when he joins her, mouth full of crackers and sliding a beer on top of the kitchen island for him. "Dinner," Lila announces proudly.
Diego rolls his eyes. The circus act can wait a few years; for now he grabs for the apron on the hook behind the door, opens the fridge and freezer in search of something more sustainable than crackers. He could be a chef - how hard can it be to cook? Lila hoists herself up on the kitchen island, her long legs tantalizingly kicking as she watches him. "D'you have any weird cravings?" Diego asks as he forces himself to look up at her face instead of her legs.
Lila grins at him, that devil little shit-eating smile of hers. "Except you?" she says, looking oh so smug. "Nope," she adds, softer. "I've mostly been feeling off."
He tilts his head to the side, the corner of his mouth twitching up in apology. "Sorry about that."
"You and your super sperm," Lila shrugs one shoulder as she keeps nibbling on a cracker. "Are there any pickles in there?"
Diego scans the content of the fridge, finding a half-empty jar. Or maybe it's half-full - maybe this whole new world is. "There you go," he gives it to her, smiling as Lila gingerly picks one and stuffs it in her mouth in half a second. "How about you go clean up while I fix us some dinner?"
"Is that your way of saying that I stink?"
He sniffs the air and Lila paws at his face, shoving him away as he leans in for a kiss. Diego laughs against the inside of her palm. "Yeah, you do, kinda," he laughs. "So do I. Draw us a bath, will you?"
Lila cups his jaw, her thumb running across his cheekbone. "Aw, no, kitten. Can't let us become all gross and cute."
"Maybe powerless Diego and Lila are all gross and cute."
"Take that back," Lila scolds him, sounding both offended and amused, another grin stretching across her lips.
Diego shakes his head. "Nope," he says with a popping sound, dodging the upcoming slap with reflexes honed by practice and catching her wrist with his hand where he presses the softest kiss to the sensitive inner skin. He uses his momentum to pull her forward, spanning her waist with his free hand. "I'm gonna kiss you now," he says as a warning, just in case she does truly want to slap him more than she wants him.
But Lila's the one who completes the threat for him, a little sweeter than usual and Diego loves her when she's all fire but he also loves her like this, when she's letting herself be putty in his hands even when he knows she could kill him just as easily if she wanted to. Which she probably does half the time.
She still might if he doesn't feed her soon, though, so Diego pulls away albeit reluctantly, grinning at Lila's equally annoyed face. "Go wash up. Find a warm bed, I'll bring dinner to you."
Her chin wobbles just slightly, her mouth caught between a pout and a grimace as Lila tries not to smile or cry, Diego's not certain which. There's a sheen welling in her eyes that she blinks away, her hand lifting to the back of his head as she pulls him in to plant one big, last kiss on his mouth.
Then she's hopping off the kitchen island and smacking his ass on her way out.
He finds her in an ocean of bubbles, Lila gathering the foam with her hands to cover herself as he comes in. Diego mistakes it for shyness before Lila brings her knees up and moves along to make room for him. "My bubbles," she warns him with a glare over her shoulder. "Last time I tried enjoying myself and relaxing, your brother interrupted my bath. I do not share my bubbles with any Hargreeves," she says petulantly.
"That's okay, I just want you," he presses a kiss to the back of her neck. Her skin is smooth, her hair piled up like a bird's nest on top of her head; maybe this is what living their lives should be about, Lila in his arms, safe and warm and happy.
He nips at the tender spot between neck and shoulder and Lila moans, a half-whine as she leans back into him, laying her head against his shoulder with a sigh as she closes her eyes. "We'll need to leave tomorrow. Can't stay too long in one place, we've got to find shelter."
"I know," Diego exhales slowly. Just a few hours ago she was the one who wanted to make the most of the little time they had left, forgetting all about the apocalypse; now her mind won't rest, not when this powerless life means so much life-altering change for them.
Starting with learning what it is to live and not just survive; find a place to stay, a job, prepare for the baby. Their baby. Find out if two walking disasters can make a right.
Try their goddamnest.
Fail and try again.
"And we need to talk," Lila goes on, her body going so taut as she speaks, Diego wraps his arms tighter around her. Tucks her head under his chin as his arms snake around her middle, pulling her impossibly closer, wrapping himself around her in an effort to shield her from the racing thoughts inside her mind. Lila doesn't fight him, instead she merely gives in, letting the notion that he cares for her fill her with the kind of warmth that's like honey oozing through your veins, soft and sweet.
"We need to talk," he echoes in agreement. They do; he'll always choose her but Diego understands the fear beneath, that there comes a day when he won't. Just a few hours ago he was the one locking her in a closet to protect her, but he can see how it felt like abandonment for her. They need to talk about it.
They have all the time in the world to talk, now, though. It can wait until all the bubbles have burst.
For now they can pretend to live in one.
They've faced the end of the world - more than once - but nothing comes as close to surreal as Lila wearing pink.
Diego gnaws at the inside of his cheek not to laugh as she wraps herself in a fuzzy bathrobe that's bright bubblegum-colored. He watches as she flicks through the owners' closet, finding something to wear for the night that fits. It's crazy to think that in a few months all of her clothes will get too tight, her belly stretching jeans and skirts and shirts at the middle, especially when she's so tiny now he could carry her in his pocket. It's crazy to think he barely knows her and yet he loves her so much, can't imagine himself anywhere but here with her.
"You're staring," Lila scoffs gently without turning around. "Quit it, lover boy."
"Never."
She groans, out of habit more than anything else, but relents. Lets him stare at her with such fond eyes as she changes into a shirt that's too big on her, Diego can't help wishing he had a clean shirt she could steal from him just so he could spend the day watching her wearing his clothes. He still watches as she cautiously starts nibbling on her food, a small smile tugging at her lips as Lila realizes it's not poisonous and that he actually managed to fix something edible.
(He found frozen meals in the freezer, but she doesn't need to know that. He's got all the time in the world to learn how to cook now.)
She starts snoring the moment her head hits the pillow, a torn, whispered love you, bloody wanker on her lips. Diego laughs in her hair, resisting the pull of slumber just a little longer to savor this - the feel of Lila in his arms, quiet and peaceful and so at ease, so vulnerable too.
His knives are on the nightstand; but with or without them it's always with her that he feels the most bare. Perhaps it's not that bad a thing, after all. Perhaps this is what living means: finding someone you choose to be vulnerable with, someone that makes you feel stronger anyway.
And because she's fast asleep and can't roll her eyes at him for it, he spans his hand across her belly, thumb stroking softly as he tries picturing what all their tomorrows will be like from now on.
They start the following day by bickering over the proper way to make scrambled eggs. Lila says it's hers, insisting that she knows better, and Diego watches her get all riled up over something as ludicrous as breakfast with his heart swelling to twice its size.
It's somewhat uncharted territory for the both of them - learning to be normal, if there's such a thing. For him to place his trust in someone other than himself; for her to allow herself to stay when she's so used to running.
She makes the eggs, and he cooks the bacon.
It's a good place to start if there's any. At least it's theirs. And from there, all will fall into place in due time.
They've got time in spades now.
the end