EUNOIA ━ diego hargreeves

58

CHAPTER FIFTYEIGHT
──-ˋˏ☂︎ˎˊ-──

"I HAVE one that age," Diego mused, and it brought Freya back into the present. She wasn't sure how many more magazines she could read before she went insane. Diego was still beside her, though he'd traded his car magazine out for a file. She had no idea what details it entailed, and she didn't ask.

He was staring at the photo on Bud's desk. A picture of Bud and his wife, and their kids. Bud chuckled, almost bitterly. "That picture is ten years old. They're all grown up now. They've got their own life now. Their own kids."

"Mm," Freya hummed, head on Diego's shoulder. Despite it all, being near him still provided the most comfort. No matter the circumstance. "I want Grace to stay little forever."

"I don't know. I think it must be nice. You know?" He looked down at her. "I mean, I want her little forever, too. But buying her first car, seeing her reaction? Kicking her future boyfriend's ass when he breaks my little girl's heart? You and I having the house to ourselves?"

Freya smiled—it did sound appealing. Peace and quiet. But now she was so accustomed to Grace jumping on the bed to wake them up, to her strange breakfast requests, driving her to school. Grace made their little family complete, she didn't want her to go anywhere.

"It's not nice in the slightest," Bud told them. "Kids can't stand me. First wife left me years ago. I'm on my third divorce."

"Damn, dude!"

Freya squinted at him. "Common denominator here is you."

Diego nudged her. "So.. what happened?"

"The job," Bud shrugged. "When they send you on an assignment, the last thing you want to do is let anyone know where you are, what you're doing. That includes family. You don't want them worrying."

Freya supposed she could understand that, but she glanced to Diego and gave him a look. He'd learned his lesson a long time ago, and they were a pair.

Diego made a face back. "Yeah, but... She knew the life. Right? I mean, working for the CIA."

"Sure she knew. And when the kids were old enough, they knew too. But for the first few years, being away all the time worked. Until it didn't. We just slowly slipped apart, became strangers in our own home. You know?"

It sounded like hell—not talking to Diego everyday, not sidling up to him while he cooked breakfast, not being there to cheer him up after a particularly long day. They argued, sure, but honestly? They liked to argue, it entertained them, and mostly, it was their version of flirting. Riling Diego up came easy, and she'd scoffed when he'd said it earlier, but it got her laid, too. Being a stranger with her husband would be a goddamned nightmare.

"No," Freya replied, taking Diego's hand into her own.

Diego tsked, nodding at Bud. "I get it, man. I'm just saying... the missions? Traveling the world?"

"I'd trade it in," Bud answered. "All of it, in a second. For a chance to have dinner with my kids at six. A chance to help them with their homework, a chance to.. lie down with my wife at the end of the day."

They shared a look. The last six years had been incredibly mundane, getting by without powers and any sort of action. But Freya never realized that they'd been living someone else's dream until..

"That's why I'm down here," he went on. "File and pile. That's the way to go."

Diego blinked, dropping her hand as he straightened. "Uh. File and pile?"

"Yeah."

"I thought this was an elite unite."

Bud snorted, the sound carried in the silent room. "Son, the only elite thing about this unit is our pension status."