ANCHOR｡ DIEGO HARGREEVES

28.

Within fifteen minutes, she had dragged herself out of bed and taken a shower, only bearing the strength to look in the mirror once. She hated the sight of herself. Bruises dotted her body from the woman who had beaten her up, and her hands were scabby and oozing strange liquids. She wanted to vomit, but there was nothing in her stomach to come up. So, she rubbed antiseptic cream everywhere and wrapped her hands in fresh bandages and moved into the next room to tend to Gary.

It probably wasn't the best of ideas to go to work, but she needed something to distract her from the events of the previous day. She knew that if she stayed at home, watching nature documentaries, she'd end up on the floor in tears, eating whatever ice cream was left in her freezer.

At least it was unlikely she'd run into Diego today.

One step out of the door, and she saw him leaning against the wall outside her apartment. She closed her eyes and hung her head. "For fuck's sake."

Diego looked up at her, his eyes wandering up and down to check for damage. He lingered on her hands, but Sabrina tucked them in her pockets before he could do anything. "Morning, Brie."

"What do you want?" she asked, watching him with suspicious eyes. "Are you here to lock me inside my apartment now?"

Diego managed a small smile. "I don't think there's any point, you'd just find a way to get out."

Sabrina noticed his energy was off. He seemed...exhausted. Not physically, but emotionally.

She wanted to walk away, to tell him to go to hell, but deep down she knew that if she didn't stay, she'd regret it.

So, she sighed and sat on the floor of the hallway, crossing her legs and staring over at him. "You got something to say, so say it."

Diego reached out and ran his hand across her face. Sabrina winced as his felt over the tender parts. He sighed. "I wouldn't be surprised if they concussed you last night. Have you taken anything?"

"Ibuprofen," she muttered, watching as he then took her wrists to inspect her bandages. "They're not as bad as they looked."

"Good," Diego whispered, but he didn't let go. "Look, Brie, my Mom died last night."

Sabrina's heart sank. "Shit, Diego. I'm so sorry. Did you-"

Diego nodded. "Yeah, I did."

A silence fell over them. Sabrina didn't really know what to do, so she turned her hands over and held Diego, trying to ignore the pain the seared through her body. "That was really brave of you."

Diego swallowed. "Listen, I'm sorry for the things I said to you last night. I just...I can't lose you, you know I can't, and the fact that you were out there fighting and I couldn't protect you, I-I-"

"Diego," Sabrina closed her eyes for a second, before staring back at him. The look on his face told her that he was genuinely apologetic, and she believed him. But it didn't make the sinking feeling in her chest go away. "I've lost people too. If you think you can hide me away and throw yourself into harm's way and think I'm okay with it? Then you don't know me at all. I'll follow you in fire, because I'm not losing you either."

With that, she got to her feet and held out her hand. Diego didn't take it, instead standing up on his own. When she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, he pointed to her injured hands. She scoffed.

"Good call."

Diego chuckled and wrapped his arm around Sabrina's shoulders. "I'm never gonna want to stop keeping you safe."

"As long as you know that the same goes for you," Sabrina responded, and Diego exhaled through his nose, though he accepted it with a nod. She looked up at him, feeling a deep yearning inside her stomach. She had gotten used to it around him, but it didn't hurt any less.

Diego met her gaze. He quirked an eyebrow. "What?"

She leaned forward and kissed him. HE had hardly enough time to react before she pulled away with a smile. "I've got work in ten minutes. I'll stop by your place after dinner, okay?"

Diego's lips were still parted as she began walking down the hall. He snapped out of his strange trance and blinked a couple of times, before racing after her. "Hey, you can't just-"

By the time he caught up with her, the elevator doors were already closing. She lifted her bandaged hand in a wave. "Later, Diego."

Diego couldn't get a word in and was left in silence.

Funny how he arrived heartbroken and left with a sickening joy in his chest.

★☆

"Sabrina," Eudora stepped up to the receptionist's desk towards the end of the work day. Sabrina looked up and smiled at her colleague, instinctively hiding her hands under the desk. Sisco had already tried to make his comments, but the young woman wouldn't have it. "You're close with Diego Hargreeves, right?"

Sabrina's brows knitted together. "Why?"

"Relax, he's not in trouble," Eudora chuckled softly. She slid forward a motel tab and let Sabrina take a look at it. "I found this on a van outside the destroyed Meritech building this afternoon. Someone had written 'your brother says hi' on the windshield."

"What does that have to do with Diego?"

"He caught me on my way here this morning," she muttered, scratching the back of her head. "Said that his brother had been missing since yesterday. He's got a weird enough family for this to make sense."

"His brother," Sabrina hummed, trying to rack her brain. "It could be any of them. Luther ran off somewhere, Five is on his own little mission, and Klaus is...well...Klaus."

"But it could be one of them?" Eudora asked, and Sabrina shrugged, then nodded. "I'm gonna go check the motel out."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Sabrina felt unsure about the whole situation. "You should have back up, maybe talk to Diego-"

"I'll call him when I get there," Eudora responded, trying to put herself at ease. It was quite out of character for the detective to be acting so reckless. She hesitated as she went to turn around, before exhaling. "Can you come with me? Just to wait in my car..."

Sabrina's shoulders deflated. She'd had enough excitement the last few days, and she just wanted to go home, see her dog and cuddle Diego. "I'm sorry, Eudora, I gotta make sure Gary gets fed."

She could see Eudora was a little dejected, but the cop held a smile. "That's okay."

"You've got my number though, right?" Sabrina scribbled her landline just in case and handed it over. "Call if you need anything, and I'll get there as fast as I can. I'll just have to, you know, bring the dog."

This earned a chuckle. "Thanks, Sabrina."

Sabrina gave the detective a thumbs up. "No problem, Patch. Good luck out there."

★☆

ruh roh raggy