fire ; diego hargreeves

14 ; the siblings

[if you haven't figured yet from the previous chapter: this is going to follow the show in the upcoming chapters! you're in for a helluva shit show. Enjoy!]

Alex frowned up at the building. "Yikes, Diego. Looks a bit ..."

"Yeah," Diego nodded, reaching over to squeeze Alex's hand before they made their way inside.

It was cold inside, and Alex kept himself close enough for the heat from his body to reach and warm Diego.

The building was big enough, Alex supposed. It did take up an entire block, which he thought was a bit excessive. He knew he wouldn't have liked growing up there. He tried not to think about how different his life would have been if he'd been taken in by Reginald Hargreeves.

He forced those thoughts out of his head.

There were footsteps, and then a chimpanzee walked into view.

"Holy shit," Alex said under his breath, and Diego chuckled quietly. "I thought you were bullshitting but you really weren't,"

The chimpanzee was wearing clothes and half-moon spectacles. It must've been the goddamn spectactles that had Alex nearly losing his shit. He wondered how Pogo was even able to get a prescription for those things.

"Pogo," Diego said, like this was totally normal. He approached the monkey, clasping his hand like it was normal.

"I'm sorry about your father," the monkey said. He turned to look at Alex. "And might I ask who you are?"

Alex's brain rebooted. "I'm Alex Santiago. Diego's, uh, friend,"

Diego nodded. "He's a good person," he glanced over at Alex, who nodded. "He's like us. Born on the same day and all."

That intrigued Pogo. The monkey turned to look at Alex, curious. "What powers do you possess?"

Alex held up his hand, flames erupting on the skin, turning into a ball before it faded.

"Interesting." Pogo nodded. "And you've controlled your powers all these years?"

Alex shrugged a shoulder. "Not without a few bumps in the road,"

Pogo looked like he was about to say something else when they heard another set of footsteps behind them. Alex saw Pogo straighten up, and looked around to see a woman approaching.

"Mom," Diego said, smile forming on his face.

Alex watched as the two embraced, a smile of his own marking its way over his face. It was always nice to see Diego so happy. The two continued to talk and Pogo grabbed Alex's attention once more.

"The chances of you meeting Diego is astronomical," he said, leading Alex away from Diego and his mom. "Might I know how?"

Alex scoffed a little, remembering just how they'd met. "I was about to be mugged. I kinda melted the gun and I'm pretty sure Diego scared the shit out of the guy. And then he followed me to work. We kept talking after that, and here we are, five years on,"

Pogo nodded, seeming impressed. "The extent of your powers?"

Alex felt a little bit like a science experiment. He hoped Diego would come and save him; he wasn't sure how to say no to Pogo. "Not too sure. It's a bit ... spontaneous sometimes," he said, trying to find the right words. "You can imagine what it's like. I lived with a fire extinguisher next to my bed for almost my entire life,"

"I must say that it is amazing the amount of control you have over your powers. I can feel the heat radiating from you," Pogo said, and he sounded surprised. "I believe that the power it takes to melt a gun and not burn a person's hand must take an immense amount of control and skill."