"𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑎𝑐𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑖𝑐."
—𝐸𝑑𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝐴𝑙𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑡

𝒩.

𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐀 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐖𝐍𝐄𝐃 𝐀𝐒 she twirled her pen between her fingers, her eyes narrowed in concentration as she read over the lab report that she was in the middle of correcting.

She wasn't entirely sure whether or not this student had been completely sober when writing the report, but judging by the 'The water was added to the something, and something something' that she had just crossed out, they hadn't been.

Much to her relief, the phone rang.

Natalia set her pen down on the dining table she was sitting at before walking over to the phone, and she picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Hey!"

"Hey, Alli," Natalia greeted with a smile as she sat down on one of her couches. "What's up?"

"Guess what?"

Natalia narrowed her eyes. "Is this a good 'guess what'?"

Allison paused for a moment. "I'd say so."

"Okay . . ." Natalia said slowly. "What?"

Allison gave a small chuckle. "You have to guess!"

"Oh, right, uh . . ." Natalia sighed as she leaned back, squinting her eyes as a million options flew through her mind. "You are . . . gonna be in another movie?"

"Nope," Allison answered before pausing. "Well, I mean, yeah, but that's not what I wanted to tell you."

"What is it?" Natalia pleaded. "You know I'm a horrible guesser, just tell me."

Allison laughed. "I'm in town!"

Her eyes widened in excitement, and she straightened up as she gasped. "Oh my God, seriously?"

"Seriously!"

"Right now?"

"Yep!"

"Why?"

"I'm shooting a movie here!" Allison told her, eliciting a nod of understanding from the woman. "Are you busy right now?"

Natalia glanced over toward the pile of lab reports with a weary look before shrugging. "Nope."

"Shopping trip? At our usual mall?"

Natalia grinned as she eagerly nodded and confirmed. "Sounds great."

"Great. I'll meet you at the entrance in twenty minutes."

"See you."

Natalia ended the call before putting it back in its charging station, and she found herself unable to wipe the grin off her face as she stood up and brushed off her pants.

It had been far too long since she had last seen Allison—perhaps three to four months?—seeing that Allison's celebrity lifestyle and Natalia's plentiful work kept the both of them busy.

Natalia quickly headed back towards the dining table and organized the lab reports that she then promised herself she'd do later in the evening. She kept the current lab report open to the page she was marking on and placed the pen on top of it to be extra sure.

She grabbed her purse, checking that her wallet was inside, and then her keys, and flicked off the lights before heading out of her apartment building and to her car.

The drive was only fifteen minutes long, and Natalia took small moments to admire the Halloween decorations that had been set up within the neighbourhoods as she passed by them. While Natalia didn't put much effort into decorating her front door with stickers and spiderwebs, she always liked to see the spirit of the holiday.

She pulled into the parking lot of the mall, and a grin came onto her face as she spotted Allison's car.

After parking, Natalia quickly got out of the car, making sure that the car doors were locked before adjusting her jacket and heading towards the entrance.

Allison was standing right next to the glass doors, leaning against the wall, and gave a quick wave as Natalia approached.

"Hey!"

"Hi!" Natalia greeted, immediately pulling her into a tight embrace. "I've missed you so much! It's been too long."

Allison kissed the side of her head as she pulled away and agreed, "It has."

Natalia looked around, seeing the absence of a little body full of energy. "Where's Claire?"

"She's with Patrick," Allison told her with a dismissive wave as the two entered the mall. "They're watching Barbie: Dolphin Magic at the theatre."

Natalia chuckled, looking around at the mall that, luckily, wasn't too busy. "Oh, I'm sure Patrick was begging to take her."

"I rumoured him."

"Ah, makes more sense."

"So," Allison began, peering into the window of a jewellery store, "how've things been?"

"Same as usual." Natalia shrugged. "Pretty busy with work."

Allison cocked an eyebrow, taking her eyes off of a glittering necklace and turning to Natalia. "Too busy for love?"

Natalia's lips pursed together as she folded her arms. "Well, um . . ."

"Oh?" A grin slowly spread onto Allison's face. "Is there a new guy in your life?"

She squinted her eyes. "I wouldn't say . . . new."

Allison scoffed. "Don't tell me Theo got a divorce and is coming back for you."

"No, no, Theo's long gone," Natalia reassured her with a laugh. Her voice became much more tentative as she clasped her hands in front of her and shrugged. "It's, well, uh . . . Diego."

Allison stopped walking, her mouth agape and her eyes wide. Slowly, she turned to fully face Natalia, who had stopped beside her, and, in a hushed voice, asked, "Diego? Like . . . Hargreeves? My brother?"

Natalia gave a small smile. "Uh-huh."

"What?" Allison exclaimed. "You two are a thing again?"

"Well, not exactly," Natalia answered awkwardly as they began to walk again. "We're just . . . friends right now."

"That doesn't sound like him," Allison pondered, pulling the strap of her purse over her shoulder before folding her arms. "I'd think he'd try to get you in bed as soon as possible."

"Alli!"

"I'm just saying!"

Natalia sighed. "And, well, he wasn't really happy with that arrangement, but he's dealing with it."

Allison raised her eyebrows as she remarked, "I'm surprised."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." Allison paused, her eyes moving past Natalia and towards a shop behind her. She nodded towards it as she asked, "Hey, wanna go there?"

Natalia glanced over her shoulder. "Sure."

The two women headed inside the store, whose name was lit up at the front, and began to sort through the racks of dresses near the side.

"Tell me more," Allison pleaded as she examined a red dress. "How did this start?"

"It's kind of a long story." Natalia sighed, her fingers grazing the hard plastic of the hangers. "But, basically, I ended up at his door after getting drunk—"

"This story has a bumpy beginning."

"Tell me about it," she scoffed. "Apparently, I ended up confessing that I still loved him—"

"Oh, God."

"Uh-huh. And the next day, he came up to me and told me that he still loved me—"

"Getting somewhere . . ."

"And then he asked me if we could try again. And I said no."

Allison's eyebrows furrowed. "Why?"

"I mean, come on, Alli," Natalia sighed, peering at a silver dress before shaking her head. "I haven't talked to him in ten years. He could be totally different than the Diego Hargreeves that I had fallen in love with."

"That's true," Allison agreed. "So then?"

Natalia shrugged. "I told him that we should just be friends for a while until we can, you know, figure out whether we still want to try again."

"And he agreed?"

"Yeah." A small frown settled on Natalia's lips before she continued, "But we went on a walk the next day, and all he did was try to convince me that he was the same person as he was ten years ago. He tried to kiss me, too."

Allison gave a humourless laugh. "Ah, Diego: ever the impatient man."

"Tell me about it," Natalia muttered.

"So," Allison started as she pulled out a pink dress and inspected the sequins on its belt, "what do you think of him so far?"

"I mean . . . it's been almost a month, and we've seen each other a few times. I don't think my feelings have changed," Natalia pondered, straightening up and placing her hands on her hips. Her shoulders soon slumped, and she sighed, "I almost feel bad for doing this. Is it bad that I'm making him wait?"

"Of course, not, Lia. You're right; it's been ten years, and, I mean, you've changed a whole lot since then," Allison reassured her, moving her gaze from the dress to Natalia as she gave a warm smile. "Honestly, I'm surprised you two still have feelings for each other. But anyway, if you're really worth it to him—which you are—then he'll be able to wait a little more."

Natalia shrugged as she began to look through the dresses once more. "I guess."

"Oh my God, are you Allison Hargreeves?"

The two women turned their attention to see a younger girl, who was in about her late teens and had widened eyes. 

Allison smiled as she nodded. "Mhm."

"Holy crap! I love you so much!" the girl squealed. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other as she tentatively asked, "Can I get a picture with you?"

Allison chuckled, "Of course."

The girl handed her phone to her mother, and Allison gave a dazzling smile as she posed with the younger girl.

After the girl had given her thanks and left, Natalia grinned. "Look at you, Miss Movie Star."

"Eh, not that big of a deal," Allison laughed as she waved a dismissive hand. She returned to the dresses as she requested, "Anyway, tell me more."

Natalia raised an eyebrow. "What more is there to tell?"

Allison pursed her lips for a moment before questioning, "Are you gonna give him a chance?"

She sighed, blowing air through her lips for a few moments as she considered. "Probably."

Allison glanced up at her. "And you better call me as soon as that date is over."

"Oh, you know I will."

Allison grinned. "Let's find you a dress for that date."

"Wha—Alli, first of all, we don't even know where or when—"

Allison ignored her as she raised a teal dress, which was loud in colour and far too short. "This one?"

Natalia scrunched her nose. "Well . . ."

Allison laughed before putting the dress back. She grabbed a silver one, which was thoroughly covered in sequins and asked, "What about this one?"

Natalia shook her head. "It's not really my style."

"How about this?" Allison queried as she lifted a deep brown, longer dress.

She shook her head once more. "Brown isn't really my colour."

Allison put it back and began to sift through the clothes once more. After a few moments, she paused, and a grin came onto her face. "Oh my God, you're trying this one on. I'm not taking no for answer. Come on."

"Wha—right now?"

"Yes, right now!"

Allison didn't even bother to show her the dress as she grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the changing rooms.

After Natalia had received her room, Allison shoved the dress into her hand and demanded that she hurry with putting it on.

Natalia looked at herself in the mirror after exchanging the dress for her normal clothes and squinted her eyes. It wasn't horrible.

It was black, and was tight-fitting, ending just below mid-thigh. The sleeves were long and sheer and had tapered smocked hems, and the top of the dress had ruffle trim detailing. It had a v-neck, and exposed her cleavage a little more than her liking, though it wasn't an absolute dealbreaker.

Natalia pulled aside the curtain, and Allison, who had been waiting in front of it, stared at her with widened eyes and a grin.

"Hot damn."

"You think?" Natalia asked nervously as she looked down at the dress.

"I think Diego is going to drool when he sees you in that," Allison told her, causing her cheeks to warm. "No doubt, he'll hardly be able to focus on your eyes the whole time; he'll be busy staring at something else."

"I don't . . ." Natalia scrunched her nose as she looked down to the neckline. "I don't think that's what I want."

"Doesn't matter." Allison shook her head before firmly telling her, "You're getting that one. I'll pay."

"Allison!" Natalia scoffed. "I have my own money!"

"Consider it a Halloween present," Allison offered, her grin widening as Natalia rolled her eyes in amusement.

"That's not a thing."

"It is now."

Natalia sighed, "Alli—"

"If you say no," she warned, "I'll just rumour you."

"Goddammit," Natalia muttered under her breath as she closed the curtain and began to change, though she had a smile tugging on her lips.

When she came out, Allison grinned as Natalia grudgingly handed her the dress, and she kissed her cheek. "Happy Halloween!"

𝒟.

Diego closed his eyes as he chugged down his water, enjoying the refreshing taste as he used his free hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead.

"Ready for round two?" Nigel asked as Diego put his water bottle away.

"Mhm," Diego hummed. "Can't stay much longer, though. I'm busy."

Nigel's eyebrows furrowed. "With what?"

He grinned. "Savin' lives."

"Right, right," Nigel scoffed, rolling his eyes in amusement.

Diego only winked at him before grabbing his boxing gloves, and his nose slightly scrunched as he slid his sweaty hands inside.

"You did pretty good at the match last night," Nigel complimented as he took a strong hold on the punching bag.

Diego narrowed his eyes; there was something else coming—something negative.

"Could've done better though. You looked a bit like a sissy."

There it was.

"Hey," Diego chided as he began to bounce on his toes and rolled his shoulders back, "I still won, didn't I?"

"Barely," Nigel scoffed, strengthening his grip on the bag as Diego began to punch it. "The guy almost knocked you out in the first round."

"Ah, key word being almost, Nigel."

"Yeah, well, if you don't practice more, the word will be had."

Diego rolled his eyes. "Shut up."

Nigel shrugged, widening his stance to give himself better balance. "I'm just tellin' ya the truth, man."

Diego sighed, baring his teeth as he put as much power into his punches as possible. He let out small grunts as the gloves met the punching bag, and he made sure to attack from different angles to get a good variety.

"Come on," Nigel chided, "Al can punch harder than that!"

Diego paused for a moment, crinkling his nose as he incredulously asked, "Man, you gotta stoop that low?"

"Whatever works, bro." Nigel shrugged. "Whatever works."

Diego lightly punched his shoulder, receiving a weak glare in response, and then continued hitting the punching bag with all his might. Though, he couldn't use too much of his might; he had to save some for the criminals he was going to defeat.

He could feel more and more beads of sweat running down his forehead and the sides of his face, and, as he continued punching, he became acutely aware of how drenched his muscle tank was getting—and he was sure it was visible, his shirt was white (bad choice).

After another fifteen minutes and a final punch that sent the punching bag flying out of Nigel's hands, Diego decided to call it in for the night.

He exchanged a quick goodbye with Nigel before heading toward his room.

He grabbed a towel and dabbed off all the sweat before grabbing an egg from his fridge, and he swiftly swallowed the egg before tossing the shell in the garbage.

He changed into a long-sleeved, fitting black shirt, along with a pair of black jeans, and tossed his sweaty clothes into a laundry basket that was already far too full. He then grabbed his tactical chest gear and strapped it on before sliding on the gear for his forearms and strapping on the leg holster.

After making sure that everything was buckled well and no knives were missing from the sheaths, Diego grabbed his mask and slid it on.

He grabbed his car keys and his police scanner and flicked his lights off before heading to his car.

He rolled his shoulders back as he started the engine, his ears pleasuring in the familiar low hum as the car started. He kept his ears open for any distress call, though, right now, all he could hear was static every now and then from the scanner that he had tossed onto the seat next to him.

He drove down the streets, keeping his eyes peeled for any weird behaviour. It didn't help that Halloween was a few nights away; there were spooky decorations in front of the houses, and the shadows and looming figures only made Diego more alert.

He tapped his fingers against the steering wheel as he shifted up in his seat, his eyes narrowed as they roamed from street to street.

His ears perked up at the sound of a gunshot, and his attention was immediately drawn to a diner that was across the street—Mel's Diner.

Diego quickly parked his car a street over from the diner and hurried his way toward the brightly lit restaurant.

He peered through the glass walls, crouching to keep himself hidden, and saw that there were two men, dressed from head-to-toe in black. One of them kept their gun pointed at a woman—the waitress—while the other one rifled through the cash register.

Diego unsheathed one of his knives and gripped it tightly as he snuck over toward the entrance.

He sucked in a breath. He had to be careful, otherwise, that waitress could end up dead—and that wasn't exactly the goal he wanted.

He cursed silently, knowing that there was no way he could enter without drawing attention to himself; surely, there would be a bell that rang once he opened the door.

Diego swallowed, and quickly entered, wincing as he heard the chime of the bell ring through the air.

Immediately, the two men whipped around to face him, though the one with the gun kept it pointing straight toward the woman.

"Hey," Diego greeted, keeping a small smirk on his face. "I'd like to order one cup of justice."

Ignoring the scrunched noses he received, Diego threw his knife towards the one with the gun, and he grinned as it hit exactly where he had aimed for. The knife plunged deep into the man's chest, and, with a groan, the man dropped to the ground with blood leaking out of the corner of his mouth.

Unfortunately, the other robber had taken out his own gun and was now pressing it against the waitress's head. As the waitress whimpered and trembled in her spot, the man pressed the gun further into her head.

"Hey," Diego said carefully as he began to slowly walk closer, lifting a hand in defence. "No need to do anything crazy, all right? Just—"

"Take one more step and I'll blow her brains out!" exclaimed the robber, causing Diego to grimace and halt in his spot.

Diego lifted one hand in surrender, though he quickly used the other to grab another knife and throw it toward the robber.

The knife landed in the robber's stomach, and he gave a great cry, though he wasn't taken down by it.

Before Diego knew it, there was a bang, and he felt pain pierce the left of his stomach. He, however, ignored it as he threw another knife into the man's chest, and quickly leaped over the counter and kicked him down.

Diego peered at the two men, making sure that the two of them were dead before giving himself a nod of satisfaction.

He glanced down at his stomach and groaned when he saw the blood leaking out of it, and quickly pressed his hand against the wound, wincing.

"Are you okay?" he gruffly asked the waitress, who gave a frightened nod in return.

Diego nodded and quickly left the diner, already reassured that the waitress would be fine by the wail of sirens in the distance that was slowly growing louder.

Diego groaned as the pain in his stomach only grew, and he looked around wildly for anything that could help.

As he caught sight of the street sign, he then realized with widened eyes: Natalia lived only two streets away.

Diego hobbled over to his car, muttering small curses as the burn in his stomach increased, and quickly started the engine before driving off.

He quickly parked in the parking lot and stumbled his way to the front of the building. He quickly read through the list of names before finding hers, and punched her code into the buzzer, praying that she'd hear it.

Her groggy voice came through the small speaker a minute later, "Hello?"

"Nat," Diego muttered out, and he quickly heard the sound of buzzing fill the air. 

He pulled the door open and made his way inside, clutching his wound tightly as he quickly went into the elevator and pressed the fifth floor. Groaning, he waited as the elevator ascended, and rushed out as soon as the doors opened. 

He knocked on her door several times, his eyes squeezed shut in pain. 

The door swung open a moment later.

"Diego?"

Diego had no time to admire how cute Natalia looked in her matching pyjamas and with her hair in a loose bun as he groaned, "Nat. Help."

"It's midnight, what—are you bleeding?"

"Mhm," he grunted. "Shot."

"What?!" she exclaimed in horror, her eyes widening as she got a good look at the wound. "You got shot?!"

"You gonna help me or what?!"

"Right!" She grabbed his arm and gently guided him inside, closing the door behind him.

Natalia led him over to her living room and laid him down on her couch before telling him to wait for a moment.

Diego shut his eyes, trying his best to swallow back the pain. This wasn't the first time he had been shot, and it most definitely wouldn't be the last.

Natalia came back a few minutes later, a first aid kit in hand. She set the kit on the glass coffee table and quickly opened it.

"Take your stuff off and lift your shirt up," she murmured as she poured some water onto a cotton pad.

Under normal circumstances, Diego most definitely would've made some sort of dirty joke. Unfortunately, these weren't normal circumstances, so Diego kept his mouth shut and heeded her order.

Natalia's brown eyes worriedly roamed over his wound before she gently swiped the cotton pad over it, getting rid of the dried blood on his skin.

Diego tried his best to keep his gaze on her concentrated face but found that his eyes were beginning to flutter to a close. Soon enough, he gave in, and he passed out.

𝒟.

Diego opened his eyes to see Natalia peering at him, and a small smile of relief appeared on her face as their eyes met.

"Hey," she said softly.

"Hi," he murmured.

"I've fixed you up," she told him, gesturing down to his stomach. "It's only been, um, maybe an hour since you came."

Diego glanced down to see that Natalia had placed a piece of gauze that was taped down with medical tape, and he assumed that the wound underneath had been sutured closed; that was how they were trained to deal with gunshot wounds at the Academy.

He carefully pulled down his shirt and groaned as he sat up. "Thanks."

"Anytime," she replied as she sat down next to him. She gazed at his face for a moment before asking, "Do you want anything? Medicine? Food? Water?"

Diego shook his head. "I'm good."

"Okay."

Diego's eyebrows furrowed as he watched Natalia get up, though he didn't say anything as she headed towards the kitchen that was about twenty feet away. He leaned back against the sofa, his eyes slowly wandering over the shadowy outlines of the furniture in the dark room. It was only dimly lit by the moonlight that was pouring in through the glass doors that led to the balcony beside him.

She returned after a few moments, a glass of water in one hand, and a sandwich that was very obviously hastily thrown together in the other, along with a small pill.

Diego scrunched his nose. "I just said I don't want anything."

"I don't care," she muttered as she offered the glass of water and the pill. "Take it."

Diego glared at her for a moment, but he couldn't help as a soft smile appeared on his face. With a murmur of thanks, he took the water and pill from her and swallowed both.

"And this," she said as she handed him the sandwich that consisted of bread, cheese, ham, and lettuce. "You need energy to heal."

He raised an eyebrow, though he still took the sandwich from her. "Do I?"

"You do," she insisted as she sat down next to him once more. "Eat."

Diego raised both eyebrows this time. "And if I don't?"

She shrugged, keeping her voice light as she replied, "All I'm gonna say is that seventeen-year-old you would eat it."

Diego rolled his eyes in amusement before biting into the sandwich, and he felt a smile come onto his face.

Natalia watched him carefully as he chewed, and once he had swallowed, she folded her arms and questioned, "What happened?"

Diego took another bite and quickly chewed and swallowed before answering, "There was a diner being robbed. They were holding the waitress hostage, so I had to go. One of the guys got me with a gun before I could get him, but I still got both of 'em by the end."

He watched as Natalia's lips settled into a frown. "That's so dangerous."

"I know," he chuckled before taking another bite. "Something my seventeen-year-old self would appreciate, I think."

"You know what," she remarked with an amused smile, "that's pretty true."

Diego quickly finished his sandwich and wiped his hands on his jeans. "Thanks," he said quietly, giving her a small smile. "Sorry for wakin' you up and forcing you to take care of me."

"Of course. And don't worry, I was already awake," she reassured him. Once she saw the questioning look, she continued, "I was finishing up marking some lab reports."

"Ah." He nodded. "Anyway . . ." He sighed. "I should get going."

"Wait."

Diego felt his arm get tugged on as he stood up, and, with furrowed eyebrows, he looked down towards her.

"You shouldn't go home like this," she chided. "Just spend the night here."

Now that he wasn't in immense pain (don't get him wrong, the wound still hurt like a bitch), Diego smirked. "Oh, you want to spend the night with—"

"On the couch," Natalia added with a playful glare. "By yourself."

He chuckled before nodding. "Thanks, Nat."

"Mhm."

Groaning and wincing the entire time, Diego took off all his gear and settled himself back onto the couch, on his back. He gave his thanks to Natalia as she brought him a blanket, and his smile only broadened as she kissed his forehead.

Diego sighed as he watched her leaving figure as she headed towards her bedroom. 

He'd get her back. He'd soon reintroduce the notion of love back into his life, and it would be focused only on her.

Soon.