ANCHOR｡ DIEGO HARGREEVES

19.

NINETEEN; DING DONG, THE BITCH IS DEAD!

Unlike Number Three, Eight's abilities do not require an extensive trigger. She may only say 'what is your worst nightmare or wildest dream', prompting the victim to hallucinate. 

Sabrina irritably crossed out the word eight.

A beginning exercise to develop her powers to the point of silent manipulation, is to train herself out of fearing her skill. The easiest way to do so is to speak to herself through mirrors so that she can at first influence herself and gain control over how long the illusion lasts. Then, she can progress to control those around her.

"Shit!" Sabrina shoved the notebook under the driver's seat when she saw Diego ambling towards her under the streetlights. There was a tight frown on his face and his fists were clenched at his sides. He didn't seem to be in a hurry like he usually was, which concerned her a little. Maybe the mission hadn't gone to plan, or he stubbed his toe on the way out of the building. At least she had a full pineapple in the backseat to split once they got home. Boy, she loved that fruit. Gary sat beside it, too tired to sniff the shopping bag curiously, his head resting on his favourite crocodile soft toy. 

She unlocked the door as he drew closer, and he dropped into the passenger seat, staring forward with an unreadable expression. Sabrina watched the side of his face, observing him carefully. "Everything okay?"

Diego didn't say anything for a moment. He tried to figure out how to form a sentence, but eventually he inhaled sharply and turned to her. There were no tears in his eyes, no upset in his stance, just pure surprise. "Dad's dead."

"Shit," Sabrina's eyes widened a fraction. She couldn't believe the man had actually done it. "How're you feeling?"

Diego looked over at her and met her eyes. She reached for his hand and laced their fingers together. "I don't know."

She wanted to blurt out what Reggie had told her previously, but she kept it to herself. How would he react if she told him about her meetings with his father? Would he be angry? Upset? Glad that she was finally taking control of her abilities? Maybe he'd just be disappointed that she didn't tell him sooner. 

Knowing that he wasn't to hold a conversation, Sabrina started the car and slowly drove down the street, trying to keep her words to a minimum. She didn't really know where she was driving - her place? His place? The Academy itself? She had no idea where he wanted to be. 

For some reason the first place she went was Alicia's. She pulled Gary into her arms and left Diego in the car, marching up the front steps. It was dark, but hopefully not late enough that her sister would be in bed. 

Sabrina ended up putting Gary on his feet, as his weight had become a little too much for her, so he trotted at her side, recognising the halls that they trekked down. Before long they had made it to Alicia's door, and the young woman knocked on the painted wood. 

"Brie?" Alicia was in her pyjamas. Still, she looked beautiful, something Sabrina had often been envious of. The sister glanced down at Gary, and she furrowed her eyebrows. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," Sabrina scratched the back of her head, watching as Gary walked inside the apartment. "Uh, something happened with Diego-"

"I saw on the news," Alicia exhaled softly, leaning out the door a little to see if the vigilante was anywhere in sight. "How's he doing?"

"I'm not sure yet," Sabrina muttered, proceeding to tuck her hands in her hoodie pockets. "I'm gonna take him back to the Academy, since I'm assuming there's gonna be a funeral of some sort soon. Would you be able to take care of the dog for a few days?"

Alicia smiled softly. "Of course. Send Diego my love."

"Sure thing," Sabrina responded, before quickly embracing her sister goodbye and wandering back into the corridor and back towards her car. 

★☆

"Normal," Diego grumbled as he got back into the car. He passed Sabrina a piece of paper and she squinted in the moonlight to read the tiny words. It was a coroner's report, which didn't come as a surprise seeing as they were parked outside the one that held Reggie's body. She had awkwardly been sitting in her car while Diego broke inside, his curiosity getting the best of him. "He died like any other old man would."

"That doesn't seem like him," Sabrina responded, and he nodded in agreement. "I guess everybody's time comes eventually."

Diego hummed softly and fell back against the leather seat. He ran his hands down his face, before taking Sabrina's hand in his once more. She glanced down and lifted their intertwined fingers to her lips, gently kissing him gently. He then leaned over and rested his head on her shoulder. "I don't know what's gonna happen now."

Sabrina tried to smile a little, guilt eating her a little on the inside. She then forced an unsure shrug. "Family reunion?"

Diego scoffed, squeezing his eyes shut. "God, I can't do that shit. There won't be any breathing room in the house with all those damn egos. Vanya better not show up, I swear-"

"She lost a father too," Sabrina interrupted softly. She held Diego a little tighter. "Do you want me to be there with you? I can meet all these siblings you talk so much shit about. Except for Klaus, I've already got a special place in my heart for that guy."

Diego chuckled a little, which made the woman feel a little less tense. She had never been great at the whole comforting thing -- while she was quite an empathetic person, she had never mastered how to communicate it with others. Instead, she just gave as much love as she could and hoped for the best. "That'd be great. I bet half of them would shit themselves at the idea that there's a person in the world who doesn't think I'm an asshole."

Sabrina snorted. "Oh, you're an asshole, Diego. But there's a lot of great things that keep me around."

"Yeah?" Diego seemed slightly lighter at her joking tone. "Like what?"

Sabrina smiled, looking out the windscreen to see the lights of the city before them. "Well, as much as you hate to admit it, you care a hell of a lot about people. You aren't a vigilante because you can be or want to be, it's because you know you should help those in need. You love to dance and sing when you're doing random things throughout the day. You're always willing to listen, and you never make others feel bad about the things they've been through. You may say a few things that deserve a punch in the face, but you're a good person. One of the best people I've ever known."

Diego was silent, before he turned his head and kissed her shoulder. "I love you, Brie."

Sabrina felt her heart swallow itself in her chest. Her lips curved upwards a little, and she exhaled softly. "I love you too, Diego."

★☆

HI HI SHORT AS CHAPTER BUT WAYOO AN UPDATE!!!

sorry it's not great and that i've been gone for a while, it's just that all of my attention has been on school and game of thrones these past couple of weeks. also i'm hella depresso at the moment, so that's not really helping the motivation station. 

despite this, i hope y'all enjoyed the chapter, i'm gonna try and edit this later on and update a little more now that we're actually in the same timeline as the show (finally) !! so that means there aren't actually a whole lot of chapters left until the book ends :((( #sadboienergy

any whom, i love briego with my wholeass heart, and if there are any game of thrones fans who wish to discuss episode one with me, PLEASE PM me because i'm still overwhelmed with emotion by two (2) particular scenes between two (2) particular characters,,,, and just ugh ya know i love that fuckin show

okay bye!!!