"𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑 𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑔𝑖𝑓𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝 𝑖𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑢𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠."
— 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑎 𝑆ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟

𝒩.

𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐀 𝐒𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐄𝐃, 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 back in her chair as she stared at the computer she was working on in her office. She rubbed her eyes before moving her chair closer to her desk and beginning to type again.

The room was quiet, save for the light buzz of electricity and her soft humming, but she could hardly focus on her work; she felt far too excited for the rest of the night. She was going to meet with Vanya in less than ten minutes, and afterwards, Diego was taking her out on a date (the destination was a surprise, and he kept his lips shut no matter how much she pleaded for him to tell her).

She glanced down at the time that was shown in the corner of the screen—it was almost four, meaning that she'd have to get going soon to meet Vanya.

Still, she had a few minutes to finish editing her research paper. It had to be finished by the end of February, which was a few days away, and she was only three pages in (the whole thing was thirty-eight pages long).

She narrowed her eyes, biting the tip of her thumb as she scrolled through the pages. Her eyes flickered over the words and formulas, and, with a small sigh, she corrected the spelling mistakes.

Her attention was suddenly brought to the door as a knock sounded.

Her eyebrows furrowed; it wasn't her office hours, so it shouldn't be a student unless it was someone from her lab. Still, she called, "Come in."

"Dr. Kim?" the head of a fellow assistant professor (of analytical chemistry), Dr. Jonathan Parkinson, popped in. "You have a moment?"

"Hi! Yes, come in." Natalia nodded quickly, gesturing for him to step inside with one hand as she used the other to save her document.

He stepped in and closed the door behind him, and offered her a small smile, which she returned. She and he weren't the closest of friends, but they spent the occasional night cooped up in the same office as they exchanged ideas and advice.

He was a few years older than her and seemed quite charming with his wavy brown hair, crystal blue eyes, and dazzling white teeth that he flashed whenever he smiled.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" she asked.

"No, no," he chuckled, shaking his head, "it's more of a . . . personal thing, I guess."

"Oh." Natalia's eyebrows furrowed, but she questioned no further as she nodded and motioned for him to continue.

"Well . . ." Dr. Parkinson clasped his hands behind his back, giving her one of his signature smiles as he began, "You know, we've been friends for a little while, and, as much as I love being your friend, I thought maybe . . . we could be a little more?"

Natalia stared at him for a moment with furrowed eyebrows before she realized what he meant, and her eyes widened. "Oh, uh . . ."

"There's a really nice Thai place ten minutes from here that we could get dinner from," he continued, seeming to not notice the awkward expression that had come over her face. "I was thinkin' we could go there, maybe get a drink or two, and go back to my place? I don't mean to be too forward, but—"

"Dr. Parkinson," she tentatively interrupted, a small smile on her face. "I'm flattered, but . . . I kind of already have plans tonight."

"Oh!" He swallowed, his eyes widening a little. "Oh . . . uh . . . like, romantic plans, or just friends?"

"Well, um, both," she said awkwardly. "But I've, uh, actually been seeing someone for a few months."

Dr. Parkinson's usually fair face was now a bright red. "Oh, I had no clue. I'm, um, sorry—"

"Don't worry about it," she said quickly, waving a dismissive hand as she shook her head. "It's no biggie."

"Right . . ." He began inching towards the door. "Well, you have a good night, then."

"Yeah, you too."

Natalia sighed as the door shut behind him. Of course. How awkward were things going to be now?

She rubbed her eyes as she shook her head. This was just great. There weren't many professors who were that keen on her, given that not only was she younger than most of the staff, but also that she was known for having energy manipulation powers and being an ex-Umbrella Academy member.

And now, it seemed as though she was going to be on terribly awkward terms with one of the few professors that actually liked her (too much, it seemed).

Another knock at the door drew her out of her thoughts.

Natalia looked up with widened eyes. There was no way he had come back, right . . . ?

Slowly, she got to her feet, praying to every god she knew that it was just a student in need of help, or even Rosy coming to say that the lab blew up. 

To her relief, she opened the door to reveal a grinning Diego. "Hey, beautiful."

She gave him a small smile as he kissed her cheek. "Hi."

His eyes flicked down to the dress she was wearing—a navy pencil dress with flared short sleeves—and it seemed as though he liked what he saw as he smirked and met her gaze again. 

"Please tell me you're wearing this on our date."

She rolled her eyes as she stepped forward and closed the door behind him. "I am."

His eyebrows furrowed as he inspected her face as she sighed and walked back towards her desk. "You okay there? You look a little stressed."

"Oh, you know, just" —she waved a hand towards her computer as she sat down— "work."

He walked towards her and peered over at the screen, and Natalia silently cursed when she realized that it had gone into sleep mode after not having been touched in a few minutes.

"Yeah, looks like a lot of hard work," he scoffed as he sat on the edge of her desk. "Seriously, baby, what's going on?"

"I'm serious," she insisted as she gave him a bigger smile. She knew how Diego would react if she told him the truth, so she kept her lips zipped. "Everything's good."

"You know, I'd be a horrible boyfriend if I didn't know when you were lying," he remarked as he leaned on one hand and inclined downwards towards her. "Luckily, I'm a great boyfriend—the best one out there, I'd say. I know you're lying."

She tilted her head up towards him, allowing only an inch of space between their faces. "You're wrong."

His eyebrows raised. "You callin' me a bad boyfriend?"

"No, I'm just saying that I'm not lying," she countered with a small scoff. "Don't you trust me?"

"I trust you," he reassured her as he leaned forward and pecked her lips. "Just not when you say you're not lying, because then you're lying."

Natalia's face scrunched up. "How does that even make sense?"

"Nat, please," he sighed. "Tell me what's wrong."

"Nothing is wrong, honey," she assured him with a shake of the head. Her eyebrows suddenly furrowed. "What are you even doing here? You know I'm going to meet Vanya first."

Diego shrugged. "I was comin' home from a grocery run and I figured I'd stop by to remind you of our date tonight."

An amused smile curved her lips. "You think I need a reminder?"

A guilty grin spread onto his face. "Well, it was more like I wanted to see you, but I needed an excuse."

"You don't need an excuse to see me," she chuckled. 

She leaned upwards to plant a kiss on his lips but was stopped when he pressed two fingers on her lips and gently pushed her away. 

"Don't change the subject."

"From what?" she asked innocently, her eyes widening as she folded her hands in her lap.

Diego heaved a sigh and used his index finger to lift her chin up. "Just tell me what's bothering you, princess."

"Nothing," she insisted, causing him to roll his eyes.

"Fine," he muttered as he slid off the desk and landed on his feet. He shrugged as he took a step towards the door. "Until you tell me, date's cancelled."

Natalia was taken aback. "What?"

"You heard me."

She sighed, rubbing her forehead as she got up and rounded her desk to go towards him. "Don't do this."

"I'm doin' it," he replied with a shrug.

"I . . ." Natalia groaned as she placed her hands on the side of his arms and gripped tightly. "Are you serious?"

Diego's gaze met hers. "I wanna go on this date as much as you do, Nat, so tell me."

"It's just . . ." Natalia chewed on her lower lip for a moment, gazing at his pleading expression before letting her arms fall to her sides. She squeezed her eyes shut as she conceded. "One of my colleagues asked me out."

Diego's eyebrows furrowed. "On a date?"

She licked her lips as she shrugged. "Yeah."

Diego tilted his head back, his forehead creasing as he questioned, "Who?"

She scoffed. "I'm not telling you."

He took a step backwards, his hand grabbing the door handle as he lightly asked, "Which one of these offices is his?"

"Diego, sweetheart," she sighed as she grabbed his arm and pulled him back, "this is why I didn't want to tell you."

"What'd you tell him?" Diego quickly questioned. "Did you say yes?"

"Why on Earth would I say yes?" she scoffed. "I told him I have plans."

Diego's eyes narrowed. "Did you tell him you have a boyfriend?"

"I did."

"Good. And what did you say his name was, again?"

"Nice try," she scoffed as she swatted his arm. "You're not getting it."

"Fine," he grumbled. "I'll find him myself. And then I'll kill him."

Natalia gave a light chuckle before kissing his cheek. "Darling, just go home, and I'll see you soon."

"Is he attractive?" Diego questioned, completely ignoring her request as he leaned towards her and raised his eyebrows. "More than me?"

She gave an exasperated sigh. "Why do you keep doing this?"

"So the answer's yes?"

"The answer is no, babe," she reassured him with a roll of the eyes. Though she knew this would inflate his ego, she cupped his cheek and murmured, "I think you're extremely attractive, okay?"

"Yeah, whatever," he said dismissively, though a grin was now on his face. "I'll pick you up from the coffee shop at four-thirty?"

Her eyebrows furrowed. "What about my car?"

"Your car?"

". . . I need my car?"

"Ah, it'll be fine," he reassured her with a smirk; "you'll be spendin' the night at my place, anyway, so I'll just drop you off tomorrow."

She swatted his arm, a giggle escaping her lips. "Go."

He chuckled before planting a quick kiss on her lips. "Bye, gorgeous."

Natalia shut the door once he had left and sighed. She walked back to her desk and shut her computer off before grabbing the winter coat that she had draped across the back of her chair.

After shrugging the coat on, she swung her purse over her shoulder and grabbed her keys from the edge of the desk.

She left her office and locked the door behind her before heading toward the exit. The coffee shop was only a few minutes' worth of a walk, so she settled on walking, despite the chilly breeze and the light snowfall.

When she arrived at the coffee shop, which wasn't too busy, she looked around to see that Vanya hadn't come yet. She then went up to the counter and ordered their usual coffees, and brought both mugs to their regular table.

Natalia wrapped her hands around the white coffee mug, the warmth of the coffee seeping onto her shivering hands. She took a sip from it, wincing as it burned her tongue, but savouring the bitter taste nonetheless.

The chime of a bell drew Natalia's attention to the door, and she smiled as she saw Vanya walk in. She waved her over and pushed the other mug in her direction.

"Hey, Vanny," Natalia greeted as Vanya tugged her coat off and placed it on the back of the chair. "I got your coffee for you."

"Thanks, Lia," Vanya murmured as she took her seat, a smile drawing onto her face as her hands enveloped the mug.

Natalia grinned. "How have you been the last week?"

"Pretty okay. Nothing too special happened," she answered with a small shrug. "You?"

"Same," Natalia sighed before taking a sip of her coffee. "Pretty busy with work."

Vanya nodded slowly, and her eyebrows furrowed as she tentatively questioned, "Are you and Diego still . . . ?"

"Dating?" Natalia raised her eyebrows, to which Vanya nodded. "Yeah. We're going on a date later tonight, actually."

Vanya's eyes widened a little, and the corners of her lips turned downwards as she murmured, "I hope I didn't hold that up."

"No, don't worry," she quickly reassured her with a shake of the head and smile. "You know I love spending time with you. You're one of the better siblings in this family."

Vanya tilted her head to the side as a small smile formed on her face. "I don't know about that. . . ."

"Well, Diego is pushy and annoying, Allison is way too busy, Klaus is, well, Klaus, and I think Luther speaks for himself," Natalia scoffed. "You, on the other hand, are way nicer and less . . . self-absorbed."

"Yet all of them hate me."

"Yeah, well, they hate a lot of people," Natalia pointed out with a shrug. "Don't take it to heart."

"Yeah . . ." Vanya trailed off. She took a sip of her coffee, and, after swallowing, asked, "Anyway, how was work today?"

"It was pretty good," Natalia answered with a small grin. Her grin quickly faded as she remembered Dr. Parkinson, and she sighed, "Well, actually . . ."

Vanya's eyebrows knit together tightly in worry. "Something wrong?"

"No, I just . . . It was kinda weird." Natalia scrunched her nose. "One of my colleagues asked me on a date, and I just . . ."

Vanya's eyes widened, and it was obvious that she felt just as much second-hand embarrassment as Natalia did for the man. "Oh, God."

"Yeah. It was really awkward," Natalia agreed with a sigh. "And it really sucks, because he was, like, my only professor friend."

"How come?"

"A lot of them are . . ." Natalia paused for a moment as she tried to find the right word before continuing, "I don't want to say scared of me, but I don't think they're comfortable with being in the same room as someone with powers."

"What about your students?"

"A lot of the time, they don't recognize me, but if they see the tattoo . . ." Natalia's fingers unconsciously brushed against the ink on her left forearm and sighed. "It's usually either that they think it's super awesome and they ask me a million questions, or they drop the class."

"God," Vanya muttered, "that's so horrible."

Natalia shrugged, mustering up a smile. "It's what I get."

"You know, I think that's the only reason I'm happy that I wasn't a part of the Umbrella Academy," Vanya said with a humourless smile. "No one knows about me or my family."

"Unless they hear your last name."

"Yeah, there's also that," Vanya agreed with a chuckle. She shook her head as she continued, "And then there's always the 'which one were you?' and 'why don't you have powers?'"

"I think that's even worse than my thing." Natalia frowned, gazing at the other woman for a few moments before tentatively querying, "No one's ever been . . . rude or condescending to you about it, or anything, right?"

Vanya chewed on her lower lip for a moment before answering, "It happens every once in a while, but I just try to ignore them."

"Tell me next time," Natalia requested with a small grin. "I'll beat them up for you."

A laugh escaped the woman's lips. "Thanks, Lia."

The rest of the planned half-hour flew by in no time, and by the end, the mugs were empty and their stomachs were full.

Promising to see her at the same time next week, Natalia gave Vanya a tight hug of farewell and left the coffee shop.

She quickly spotted Diego's parked car, and she squinted her eyes to see that Diego was waiting in the driver's seat, turning over one of his knives as he inspected its blade.

He, however, shoved his knife into his pocket as he spotted her, and he gave her a grin as he unlocked the door.

Natalia pulled the door open and sat down in the passenger seat. "Hey, handsome."

"Hi," he greeted, his smile broadening as she leaned over and kissed his cheek. "You have fun with the worst sibling?"

She raised her eyebrows as she pulled her seatbelt on. "I've only been with you for less than a minute."

"Ha-ha," he said humourlessly, though there was a glint of amusement in his eyes. "Very funny."

"Mhm," she hummed as he started the engine. "And if you're talking about Vanya, who is not the worst, then yes, I had a great time with her."

"Right, well," he scoffed as he pulled out of the parking lot, "that's over, and now, you get to spend time with me."

"Yay," she said flatly, though a grin came onto her face as he raised his eyebrows at her.

"I can just bring you home."

"I'm kidding," she laughed. "I'm very excited to go on this date with you. Remind me where we're going?"

He glanced over at her before returning his attention to the road, and a grin grew on his face. "Secret."

Her lips formed into a pout. "Why?"

"Because."

"Come on," she sighed, "are you gonna do this with all of our dates?"

"Depends." Diego gave a small shrug as he glanced at her once again. "Do you like when I keep it a secret?"

"No!" she complained as she folded her arms. "I can't prepare!"

His grin widened. "Then, yes, I'll keep doin' it."

"God," she grumbled under her breath, "you're annoying."

A light chuckle escaped his lips as he shook his head. "You know you love me."

"Do I?" she questioned mockingly.

He gave a firm nod. "You do."

"Are you sure?"

"There's nothin' I'm more sure of."

"I'm not sure," she said lightly, causing him to roll his eyes. "I would be sure, though, if you told me where we're going."

"Fine," he conceded as he stopped at the traffic light. "I'll tell you."

Her lips stretched into a smile. "Good."

"It's . . . a place."

"Oh, really?"

"Where people go."

"Yeah?"

"And they do things there."

"Very specific."

Diego grinned and pressed the gas pedal as the traffic light turned green. "Now, say it."

Natalia's eyebrows furrowed. "Say what?"

"That you love me."

She scoffed. "I said I'd tell you if you told me where we're going, asshole."

"I did!" he insisted, chuckling as she let out a loud groan.

"You didn't."

"It's a secret," he pointed out with an amused smile. "I can't tell you the exact name."

"Whatever," she mumbled as she slouched back in the seat, though the corners of her lips were turned upwards. Then noticing the small glare he had sent her, she sighed, and, with an exaggerated smile on her face, she told him, "I love you."

"Mhm," he hummed, "that's what I thought."

"What," she scoffed, "you're not gonna say it back?"

"Say what back?" he asked innocently as he turned right and shrugged.

"Diego!"

"Kidding." He grinned and sent her a wink before returning his gaze to the road. "I love you too, gorgeous."

A soft giggle escaped her lips, and she turned her attention to her window as she waited for them to arrive at their destination.

They soon pulled into the parking lot of a grand, beige building, and it took Natalia only half a second to recognize the place.

"The Met Museum?"

Diego shrugged as he parked the car. "I mean, we've come so many times for missions, but we've never actually visited."

"Yeah, we've come here a lot . . . ," Natalia mumbled as she gazed out of the window and towards the intricate building and all of the people that were climbing up and down the three sets of stone stairs at the front. "It surprises me how many people tried to rob this place."

"And they all failed," sighed Diego with a grin as he unbuckled his seatbelt. "Thanks to us."

She laughed in agreement as she followed suit and got out of the car.

She clutched Diego's arm tightly as they headed up to the entrance, shuffling closer to him to get the warmth she needed to protect herself from the brisk winds that blew against them.

After going inside and buying their tickets, Diego immediately directed them toward the second floor.

The two of them walked into a room that had a few people roaming about, and Natalia quickly recognized the gold-framed paintings that she had saved from being stolen quite a few times. Her eyes briefly stuck onto the bronzed statue of a girl in a tutu that rested atop a white stand in the middle of the room before moving onto a painting of a mother and child just behind it.

Diego pointed towards the back wall, where a couple of familiar paintings rested, and he nudged her as he said, "Pretty sure that's the place where we murdered a couple guys."

A few people, seeming to have overheard this bit of information, turned toward them with furrowed eyebrows.

"Ha, what a funny joke. That's a joke. Funny," Natalia said loudly as she elbowed his side and pulled him along. She glared at him as he gave her a grin. "You know, I don't think it's the best idea to say something like that without context."

"Right, let me fix it." He cleared his throat before pointing to the same spot and correcting, "Pretty sure that's the place where we, ex-members of the Umbrella Academy, murdered a couple robbers."

"You know what, honey?" Natalia muttered, plastering a smile onto her face as she nodded towards the other people. "Maybe let's steer clear of what we did here."

Diego scrunched his face as she pulled him into the next room. "Boring."

"Shut up," she murmured, though a grin came onto her face as he wrapped his arm around her waist and lightly pinched it.

They wandered into the Mary and Michael Jaharis Gallery, and Natalia unconsciously let a soft breath of delight escape her lips as she looked around.

Planted on top of granite cubes were Greek sculptures, sleek and defined. Some were missing a head and certain limbs, while a couple of others were simply just a head, and the light that came down from the ceiling perfectly draped over every curve and detail of the marble. Greek pottery sat in glass along the walls, and Natalia was eager to get closer to inspect the smaller pictures that were detailed.

Diego didn't seem as fascinated by the art as she was, however, as he looked at the statue next to him, which was an unclothed man, and crinkled his nose. "Damn. Put some clothes on. It's all up in my face."

Natalia laughed as she tugged him towards one of the pots that were sitting next to the entrance. "It's art."

"That's art?" he scoffed as she let go of his arm and leaned closer towards the glass. "If that's art, then my co—"

"There are children here," Natalia cut in, glancing up at him with an amused smile before looking back down to inspect the soldiers that were painted along the sides of the deep brown vase.

"That's what I'm saying," he insisted with a grin. "The poor children gotta look at this dude's di—"

"Dictionary? Yeah, dictionaries are great," Natalia quickly interjected as a family walked past them. "Love them."

Diego only smirked as he slithered his arm around her waist once again. "Dictionaries are pretty great. You should see the one I have back at home. It's real big."

Natalia failed to give him the glare she wanted to and instead found her lips in an amused smile. "Children."

𝒟.

Diego sighed as he let his hands drop from the steering wheel and onto his lap.

He had parked on the side of the road, and he was now staring in the pitch-black night as he waited either for a flurry of movement or sound from the police scanner that wasn't straight-up static.

Though he kept his eyes focused on his surroundings and his ears alert for any sudden sound, Diego found his mind drifting off to the night before, and a soft smile appeared on his lips.

That night had been perfect—just like every other night that he spent with Natalia. After a good three hours of Natalia admiring the art and then playfully scolding Diego whenever he poked fun at it, they had gone back to his place and, well . . . They put his dictionary to good use.

But even without any of that late-night fun, the night had been wonderful. He wouldn't trade anything in the world for the excited grin that Natalia gave him as she tugged him towards a certain painting or the giggle and light slap on the arm she'd given him whenever he pointed out a spot where they ended up killing a robber.

It was perfect. She was perfect.

Now, Diego wasn't a religious man. But he thanked God every day that Natalia had gotten drunk that night.

He was drawn out of his thoughts as the scratchy voice of a female dispatcher came through the police scanner, and he picked the device up to get a better listen.

His eyes narrowed. Gunshots heard at a department store that wasn't too far from where he was.

Time to get to work.

Diego tossed the scanner back onto the passenger seat before starting the engine, and he quickly fixed his rear-view mirror before merging back onto the road.

He made it to the store—a Kohl's—a little after the police did, it seemed. Red and blue flashed onto the building while a few officers roamed around the front, muttering into their radios.

Diego sighed as he grabbed the fake police badge that he had gotten off of eBay from his glove compartment. He'd have to find another way in; these officers most definitely knew his face by now, and they'd know he wasn't one of them.

He parked his car a block away and swiftly made his way to the back of the store.

He tugged his coat on tighter; he didn't need the eye-witness (assuming there was one) to see the plethora of knives that were strapped around his body.

He snuck his way in through the back and grinned when he saw a young man standing in the corner, watching as a couple of officers inspected a body that was laying next to the cash register.

Diego began to walk towards the man, reaching for the badge that he had tucked into his coat pocket, but suddenly froze when he felt a hand grab his shoulder.

A groan escaped his lips as he was spun around and faced with the last person he wanted to see: Eugene Patch.

Eugene, a muscular man of tall stature, had been Diego's partner back when they were in the police academy. At the time, the two of them had gotten along pretty well—Diego even considered him his best friend—but after Diego was kicked out of the police academy, their friendship went down the drain.

And now, Eugene was a police officer. In fact, he was a detective. And, boy, did he hate nothing more than seeing Diego at a crime scene.

Eugene sighed, his brown eyes greeting Diego's unkindly as he muttered, "What the hell are you doing here?"

Diego shrugged, keeping his expression nonchalant. "Here to protect the people."

"What people?" scoffed Eugene as he spread his arms out. "The mannequins?"

"Wow. Discriminating against mannequins?" Diego jeered as he gestured towards a group of mannequins at the side, causing Eugene to shake his head in annoyance. "That's a new low for you, Eugene."

Eugene's face immediately showed displeasure at the mention of his name. "How many times do I have to—"

"Detective Patch," Diego corrected with a roll of the eyes. "Whatever. Just let me talk to the witness and—"

"You must be out of your mind if you think I'll let you do that," Eugene replied with a humourless chuckle. "That's a job for the police. And, might I remind you, you are not the police."

Diego scowled. "I don't need the reminder."

Eugene shifted his weight from one foot to the other as he sighed. "Then why are you here?"

"I already answered that question."

"Diego, you can go out and do all your hero bullshit on the streets, but I'm only gonna tell you this once: you do not mess with my crime scenes. Okay?" Eugene glowered as he angrily jabbed a finger in the other man's direction. "Now, get out, and I better not see your face anytime soon unless you're begging for forgiveness."

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed," noted Diego amusedly with raised eyebrows.

Eugene's glare was sharp. "I've had a very long day; don't test me."

"All right, all right." Diego raised his hands in surrender as he brushed past Eugene and headed towards the exit. "I'm gone."

Diego rolled his eyes as he made it out of the building and began to walk back to his car.

He'd just have to be faster than the police next time.