—chapter thirty-four.

  ❛ boom, bitch. ❜

IT HAD NOT BEEN TOO LONG SINCE ELODIE had been in a police station. It had been some time, though, since her last trip to that specific one. Give or take a few years and a death along the way. But standing in its entrance way, staring into the cold grey hallways and the uniforms moving about, sure made it feel like it had been just yesterday.

She almost expected a hand to curl on her shoulder or to hear heels click-clacking over to her, followed by sharp red lips and a schedule she was already behind on.

"He's dead," Elodie muttered to herself. "It's over. Move on."

With a grimace, she marched in. She did not glance anyone's way, and no one seemed to care to stop her -- guess she was more well known then expected. That, or maybe they just expected she had to be comfortable there, considering how hard her feet collided against the tiles.

Man, did Elodie hate police stations.

She turned down a dimmer-lit hall, then down another just as she was instructed. At the end stood a vaguely familiar face; one she hadn't had to speak to in years. She nodded curtly, wishing she was anywhere but there.

"Took your time."

She only shrugged. "In my defense, I've gotten this call before. I didn't think there was a rush."

"I told you--"

"--yeah, you did tell me," she barked back. "And I listened. I'm here now, yeah?"

Chuck's scowl did not suit his gentle features. It hung too heavy and too sad. But it only made sense. Grief was an emotional that no one wore well.

"He's in there."

She glanced the way he pointed, raising a brow. "And?"

"Aren't you going to go in?"

"What do you want me to do? Go in and give him a 'thought you were better' speech?"

"No," he scoffed, a little humour dancing in his eyes. His hands moved from behind his back and to hers, pressing a cold object into the inside of Elodie's palm. When he pulled away, his hands were shaking. "I need you to do what I can't."

Her lips pursed. "You sure?"

"Yeah. I..." his head hung a little. "I know he couldn't have done it. Man's an idiot, but...Patch..."

"I get it." Maybe she should try to comfort him, but she didn't know Chuck well enough for that -- and hell, offering a weak 'sorry for your loss' usually only made things worse. "Put me in, coach."

Chuck groaned but complied, letting the door screech open on its rusty hinges. As she stepped in she heard him chuckle behind her. At least, it could have been a chuckle -- though without any mirth, he very well might have sobbed. "I get it, you know. You two're perfect for one another." And without offering anything else, the door slammed shut, leaving Elodie staring at where his face had just been.

Wiping a hand down her face, she turned back to see Diego, holding onto the bars and staring at her like he'd never seen another human before.

"What are you doing here?"

Elodie licked her lips and took a step forward tentatively. She really wasn't in the best mindset for all of this mess -- man, she laughed to herself, she was going to be messed up for weeks after it. "Guess you didn't change your emergency contact here, 'cause Beeman called and told me to come if I wanted to get some, uh, last words in."

His scowl darkened. "He tell you why?"

"Hm. He told me something."

She glanced down and watched his long fingers wrap around the cell bar, gripping it so tight she half expected it to just give way. His knuckles paled. "I didn't do it."

"Yeah?"

"I wouldn't. Ever."

Elodie moved more confident then. She left the sarcasm and traded it for the sting in her heart, thinking about Patch. Slowly, double-checking they weren't too hot, she placed her hands over his. "I know."

"I-I would never hurt any innocent, but Patch?! She--"

"I know, Diego." She squeezed the fingers of his working hand. "I believe you."

Their eyes met through the bars. She had not realised how close they had gotten, not until she could make out every speck of golden light reflected in his deep brown eyes, and the way his lip quivered. "Yeah?"

"Course," she nodded back. "I would never think that. You're too good, and you care...d too much about her to live with that...I wish you would have told me about what happened though."

Diego looked at her a little confused. "Why?"

"I knew her too," Elodie reminded. Her heart choked a little more; memories of the soft-hearted toughie came to mind, the woman who's smile made her feel like she actually could get through it. "She...she helped me get a restraining order. And she gave me a place when he threatened to come for me and Ellis. I never asked, but she just...she just did it. No question."

The man across hung his head. "She was good," he said, choking on his words as the tears grew too strong. "Too good. Didn't deserve to...to...to..."

"I know."

They fell silent then, frozen on either sides. Neither one looked up and just stared at the ground, remembering the fallen friend and what she had done -- and what she had done for them.

Finally, Diego cleared his throat and spoke again. "Why're you here?"

"I already told you."

"Bullshit," he replied, rolling the word out as though it was water. "Bull."

Elodie sighed, rolling her head on her neck before responding. "Well...you see..." She moved her hands from his, gripping tight to the bars and pulling as hard as she could. The metal began to glow under her grip until eventually they were warm enough to pull apart. Key discarded behind her, Elodie made quick work out of the cell, reducing it to a lump waste for Diego to neatly step out of it. 

"I got a call from Chuck," she told him, rolling her eyes at his low whistle. He admired her handiwork; she plunged her hands into her pockets and begged for a little relief. "And I figured hey, might as well do some charity work for petty criminals. Nothing better to do."

He chuckled lowly, "Please, I bet you jumped to do this."

Not wrong on that count, but like she'd ever tell him that. "Nah. I just like showing off."

"You should. S'fucking impressive."

"That? That's nothing," with a small flicker of pride. "I've learned a lot of new tricks since we last spoke, Diego."

"Yeah?"

"Sure, I've--" she scowled at his low chuckling, swatting at his uninjured arm. "What are you, seven? Get your mind out of the gutter."

Diego pressed a finger to his lips, warning for silence even as he laughed. "All I was gonna say was thanks. But what now?"

Elodie did not believe him for a second, but she chose to ignore it, moving to more important matters. She pushed her hands once more against the bars and gritted her teeth, forcing them to move back to their original position. Only, of course, it was nearly impossible to make the red-hot metal form its normal shape, and so the bars were warped and twisted, clearly showing signs of misuse. But she just gave up. They would already see him gone -- no point in trying to convince them otherwise.

"Alright," she muttered, turning away from the messed up cell. "Come on. We gotta go through the back, okay? Stick with me."

Elodie took a charging step forward, only to be stopped by his hand on her arm. She whirled back to ask what he was doing, only to be stopped by him grabbing her and pulling her in close. It took her a few seconds to realise what was happening (and to stop fighting the hold), but finally as his free hand splayed across her back, she realised what he was doing and gave in.

It had been a long time since Diego had hugged her.

They pulled apart after a few seconds, surprise meeting Diego's composed frown. "C'mon," he told her, "we should go."

"Oh, we're not going to talk about that moment?"

Diego's expression hardened and for a moment, he looked like he was going to just brush right past her. But then he softened and nodded. "Sorry. Just. As a th-th-fuck - thanks."

And with that he slipped right past her, clearly done with the conversation. And that was that.

"COME ON. HURRY."

Elodie wrenched her hand from his grip, mumbling something about 'stupid sweaty aggressive palms' but still followed suit. She glanced around her, barely catching all of the the eccentric décor, not to mention all of the paintings stretching from ceiling to floor. She wanted to just pause and take it all in or put on her best deerstalker and investigate Sir Dickhead Hargreeves' mansion, but unfortunately, it didn't seem the best time to start questions. 

"Where exactly are you going?"

"Up," was all he grunted back, taking the stairs two at a time and leaving her scowling behind him. "Hurry."

But Elodie wouldn't back down that fast. She took her time up the stairs, cheekily smiling up at him all the way. She patted his shoulder and brushed past at the top, "c'mon, let's go! Hurry!"

"I -- you don't even know where you're going."

"Nope. And I still don't know what we're doing here."

Diego just shook his head and turned down the hall, pulling her with him. "I'll explain later."

And she had heard that from him way too often to know what that meant. If she ever received a straight answer 'later', it'd be a miracle. She'd just have to figure out the story herself.

Down the next hallway they turned into, two figures stood at the other end. Elodie paused to stare at them, trying to place them. She knew Klaus, who waved eagerly at her, but the boy was a new sight. The oddest one of them all --

-- if she didn't consider mysterious number six, of course.

"Where have you been?" barked the Not-A-Child at Diego. Surprisingly, his voice struck quite sharp; despite his small stature, he was commanding. He glanced her way. "Who's this?"

"Jail. Elodie." Diego stormed into the room she only could assume was once his. She longed to go in, see what he used to be like. If only the situation could be in her favour. "Long story. Where's Luther?"

The Not-A-Child -- oh, what was his dumb name again?! -- watched his brother toss things about like a madman. His scowl didn't shift. "Haven't seen him since breakfast."

"Yeah," Klaus piped in, adding a dramatic sigh. "Two days until the world ends, he picks a great time to drop off the grid."

Unfortunately for Elodie, she missed the implications of Klaus' words, taking it as face value instead of a huge hint for what was to come. And that would pay -- though she also did not know that, yet.

Diego emerged clipping a new, yet still looking exactly the same, harness to his sweater. "Shit," he cursed. "Allison is in danger."

The Not-A-Child and Klaus glanced at one another and then back at Diego, leaving Elodie to do the same. Almost in unison, the trio chorused a resounding, "what?!"

"I'll explain after. Come on." Once more, his hand found her own and that time she didn't pull away. His grip hung looser but still form -- she imagined he was hoping for comfort, either to give or to take. "We gotta go get Luther, a'right?"

The quartet thudded down the decadent stairs, not stopping even when Klaus muttered something about still having to go pee. As they stopped at the mansion's main foyer, though, and as Diego fumbled for his car keys, the Not-A-Child glanced back towards Elodie.

Under his harsh gaze, she shrunk a little, unsure what to expect. He stood nearly as tall as her, a frightening fact to consider from this odd old man/preteen combo. 

"Seriously. Who is she?"

"I told you, that's Elodie."

Elodie shot him -- Five, that was his name! -- a tight-lipped smile and a wave. His lip curled.

"Sure. But why is she here?"

"Oh, she's Diego's girl--"

"--ignore Klaus," Diego hissed, cutting his other brother off with a glare. "She's a friend. She got me out of jail."

Five fixed her with a suspicious look that sent shivers down her spine -- a hard thing to do, considering how hot her body was boiling at the moment. "Shouldn't she be anywhere but here? This is not really the place for civilians right now."

Diego moved to speak and Klaus' mouth immediately fell open to pipe in some fun fact or jab towards his brother again. But before anyone could speak for her again, Elodie squared her shoulders and waved them silent. Before anyone could question her she stepped forward and held her arm out to the boy, willing all the heat raging inside of her to flood to that limb.

"Lovely to meet you," she said, trying her very best to sound confident. Her hand waggled slightly, taunting him to take the white-hot, glowing hand. "I'm Elodie Verbeck. And I go wherever the hell I want, Five Hargreeves."

Klaus giggled something behind her and she was pretty sure Diego said something too (less PG-13 than his brother, but she'd take it). But Five just stared, the slightest lick of confusion taking his frown. It wasn't the shock she expected, more of a 'where do I know you from' stare, but her game played off. She brought down her hand and willed it back to normal temperature, grinning.

Two tricks in one day -- Elodie Verbeck was on a roll.

Five clicked his tongue and looked back to Diego, who was still staring at her with a mixture of surprise and admiration on his face. "And you're really just bringing your girlfriend out now?"

"Oh, I'm not dating him," Elodie said, stepping in once more. Her smile stretched wider. "Believe me. Way too good for him."

Diego scowled at that, but Klaus just clapped his hands and chortled, filling the room with his laughter. When they turned to look his way, he shook his head and pretended to wipe tears. "I just adore seeing our baby brother being put in his place. Don't you?"

If looks could kill, Klaus Hargreeves would have been nothing but ashes, and maybe then Diego would have a reason to be convicted.

DIEGO KEPT A HAND ON OR AROUND ELODIE for the entire car ride. She wasn't sure why, but judging by the way he every so often glanced over to his much large brother, it had to be something between them. But she didn't mind. It remained as a simple factor and a comforting one as they barreled down the dark road.

Everyone was tense as they sped down the road, racing around corners recklessly towards an unknown location, and she could tell that something was bothering him about what was going on. Even without knowing, though, the brief description of Allison and his issue told her enough to remain silent and let him hold her against him.

No one talked like they had before. Earlier, there had been conversation made; Klaus questioning Elodie again about her and Diego and Five asking how on earth she was capable of doing what she did. She chose not to reveal anything about the latter, but did bring up their past again, saying in short that nothing was ever certain. It seemed like the only thing to say anymore.

But as the road grew longer and Diego's directions grew to be more and more vague, silence took over. Everyone looked their own way, and Elodie found herself glancing towards the man pressed into her side, who was turned out towards the road. She exhaled and pressed a hand to his knee, rubbing back and for comfortingly. When he turned to look her way, she offered a wane smile.

"It'll be okay," Elodie mouthed.

All he did was frown, offering no verbal response. He hardly even reacted at all, just tightening his hold on her and looking back out the window.

Luther leant forward and towards Five. "Hey. Can you go any faster?"

"Ask me again, and I'll burn you with the cigarette lighter."

The large man huffed but fell back into his chair, disgruntled.

"Elodie, can I ask you a question?"

Five shushed his brother angrily, but Elodie just nodded. "Shoot."

"What is the extent of what you do?" Klaus paused, almost waiting for her eyebrow to raise, before continuing. "I just...I have a running bet with someone, and he wants to know if you can or cannot project your abilities to say...a popcorn bag."

Elodie tried not to get caught up on the mysterious other better -- probably for the best -- and just smirked. "You mean, like in Charmed?"

"Ah! Yes, I do, the scene where--"

"--if you imbeciles don't shut your traps this second, I'm stuffing you in the trunk. You hear me?"

Klaus huffed and muttered a sly, "yes, Dad."

Judging by Five's infuriated glare, he wasn't a fan of that joke.

They drove on for a while more, so long she almost got sleepy waiting for the road to slim. But before her eyes could droop too low, Diego bumped her legs. "Here," he called out as he leant forward, causing Five to swerve and stop the vehicle. "Stop here."

They all filed out. Elodie stared up at the large cabin-like building in puzzlement. It was in the middle of nowhere, and it looked like no one was home -- though judging from what Diego had explained to her about who they were looking for, perhaps that was to be expected.

Perhaps 'he' was waiting for them.

Luther stormed up first, leaving them all to trail behind not close behind. She felt her hands grow hot as the wind sent shivers down her spine. Fear lurked close by, and they all were on edge. Something was not right there.

Finally up the stairs, the hulk of a brother wasted no time rushing in and throwing open the door. But despite how far they were behind, every one of them heard his agonized cry and the thud of his knees colliding with the cabin floor. His wails echoed like sirens, howling Allison's name into the whistling wind with every bit of strength the man could muster. It was excruciatingly painful to hear; one of the worst sounds Elodie had ever heard.

But the sight, the sight was worse.

Elodie and Diego rushed in only to stop, staring down at the pair before them. Luther was cradled a young woman, presumably Allison in his arms, who was so coated in blood, one could hardly make out any discernible features. Her head bobbed lifelessly on her body, twisting to stare blankly at the duo. Elodie was able to see where the stain of blood had began; it trailed down her neck and chest, still pooling from a dark wound angry against her skin. The blood was everywhere, covering Luther's hands and clothes, the carpet, even splashes of colour patterning the cabin walls around them.

No one dared to say a thing. They all just stared down at the scene, watching as Luther cried and begged for her to say something, do something, anything, just to 'come back to him'. And she could do nothing; she hardly knew him and had no memory of Allison. She was just a hapless bystander watching as a poor man lost all senses, mourning the loss of a loved one.

But her eyes shifted with the wind, turning to watch Diego spin on his heel and stomp right out of the cabin. Taking just a second more to stare down at the horrifying image, Elodie took off, racing after him.

He had stopped on the other end of the porch, staring stock-still off into the night. He made no move or sound when she approached.

"Hey," she whispered, reaching up to touch his paled skin. He then turned her way, and in the dim light she saw the silver trail of tears illuminated by the cabin light. At once, his face crumpled and she wasted no time mumbling for him to 'come 'ere, letting him fall into her arms and sob.

Diego shook in her arms, a cold and shivering figure clinging to a smaller, glowing one, begging silently for some relief from it all, from everything that had happened, from his mom to Patch to now his sister, lying just a few feet away on the cabin floor. And all Elodie could do was hold him tight and whisper comfort into his ear, hoping that somehow, someway, there was a way out of it all.

First things first -- that gif never fails to make me sweat. Maybe one of the hottest Diego scenes. Like, I can think 'oh maybe I am only into women' and then I see THAT scene and I remember my exception.

Secondly, I apologise for some of the awkward dialogue. I was trying to rewrite it and it just...it keeps falling flat in parts? Not sure why, but yeah. For the most part I've tried to make this better and I think it's worked, but some parts of this chapter are a little...eh.

Anyways. Three chapters left! I never thought I'd be back and posting this book and actually finish it and then make room for sequels and -- I dunno. This year's been whack and I don't have much, but at least I'm finishing this book (that was...already written...maybe badly and I'm basically rewriting everything but still...).

Thanks for reading, let me know what you thought.