His Only Hope

Focus

The night air was warm but still, an odd silence hanging over the odd new universe the Hargreeves were trapped in. As Diego and Lila left the courtyard together hand in hand, leaving the remaining siblings behind, Lila glanced curiously at her lover. "Diego?" she asked quietly.

He glanced down at her for a moment, neither a smile nor a frown on his thoughtful face. "Hmm?"

Lila thought for a moment as they exited the path onto the sidewalk. Skyscrapers loomed above them with glowing red signs reading "Hargreeves". Odd, but not unexpected. Of course Reggie had found a way to take over. "Are you sure you're alright?" She crinkled her nose at the gentle question. She wasn't one for comforting, but... his reaction to (Y/N) being missing had been unexpected. He was shockingly calm. "With Eight being missing and all."

He didn't look at her as they walked across the street, away from the skyscrapers. "She's probably fine," he said calmly, but his voice was rough and his eyes darted aimlessly in front of them. Lila frowned. "I'm... I'm really just trying to focus on you right now," he said quickly, still not looking at her. He started walking faster, his words beginning to ramble. "You and the baby. You're the ones who actually need me right now. Not Eight. She's... there's nothing I can-"

"Diego!" Lila snapped, jogging forward and grabbing his arm to yank him to a stop. She forced her tone to soften, looking up into his face with furrowed brows. "Diego, she's your sister. It's okay to be upset."

He finally locked eyes with her, and that's what broke him down.  "I promised myself I'd... p-protect her." He looked away quickly as he stuttered, his jaw clenching. Lila could see tears beginning to well up in his dark eyes, and she reached out to hold his face in her hands. 

"Diego. You have me and the baby right here. We're not going anywhere." Diego slowly moved his eyes to look at her again, his expression softening. "I know you want to search for (Y/N). I know you won't be able to rest until we find her. So let's do it."

Diego started to speak, then stopped, afraid he would stutter again. Finally, he talked in a steady voice, his eyes lowered to the cement. "Lila, I..." He broke off, clenching his sheathed dagger tightly. "What if she's already dead?" 

He looked into her eyes, but she couldn't speak. Her lips curled down into a distressed frown, and he sniffled and wiped at his eyes quickly, moving his face away from her hands. "Fuck this. Fuck this!" He yanked the dagger out of its sheath, chucking it at a glowing Hargreeves sign on a financial building. It fell short and clattered to the ground, only infuriating him further. He kicked a metal fence, grunting and dropping to a crouch, his head in his hands.

Lila walked over to him slowly, her eyes landing the dagger resting on the street. She gently placed a hand on his back, not looking away from the weapon. "We'll look until we find her," she said softly, closing her eyes. "Or we'll die trying."

A/N: Okay! This was a short one. One more bonus chapter, and then you'll have to wait until season four! Hope y'all enjoyed (: