Who: Oliver and Diego When: evening, Wednesday, June 13th, after the AIR gathering Where: home Status: complete
The first gathering of AIR victims had left Diego feeling drained. Whether it was the sun or the drinks or all the stress and bad memories, or some combination of all of them, he found himself nodding off in the car as Oliver drove them home. His body felt heavy as he walked from the car to the house. All he wanted to do was lie down and take a nap, but he wasn't sure he would be able to sleep. There was too much going on in his head, and he needed to talk to Oliver before he could rest. He’d been rattled by more than one thing that had happened that day, and he’d always sorted out his feelings best when he could talk through them.
After they had collectively decided to order a pizza in an hour or two, and Haisley had disappeared into her room, Diego took Oliver’s hand to lead him to the bedroom. He nudged the door shut behind them, not bothering to turn on the lights. “This is first,” he murmured and pulled Oliver in close for a firm hug. He felt like they needed a long one -- he certainly did -- so he just held on.
Oliver was glad to be home. The afternoon hadn't been great and his nerves were still shot after everything that had happened. It was inevitable that someone in that group would discover Oliver's past and then what? Shane's initial incensed reaction to Oliver's presence was bad enough and that was just because Oliver was apparently something called a null. He had so many questions of his own but no one to give him the answers and that was frustrating.
The feel of Diego's arms around him helped ease some of the lingering tension and he was at least relieved that Diego wasn't upset or suspicious of him. "I had no idea," he murmured. "You believe that, don't you?"
Diego had rested his temple against Oliver’s, and he nodded there a little bit before pulling back enough to meet Oliver’s eyes. Diego moved his hands to brush them through the curls at the sides of Oliver’s head, then down to cup his jaw. “I do, I believe that,” he answered softly. He’d wondered, back at the big house, but only for a moment or two. Diego knew they didn’t keep those kinds of secrets. Not from each other, anyway. “But I think ... maybe part of me knew?” he added, his brow wrinkling thoughtfully. “I didn’t have the words, and I always thought it was just ... you. Who you are, that always calmed me. But I think ... I know what he was feeling.” Diego’s eyes ticked between Oliver’s in the shadowy room, hunting for more upset.
It wasn't so much upsetting as it was confusing to Oliver. How did others know but not him? Had that been why AIR hired him at such a young age? Why hadn't they locked him up like the others? Unless his sole purpose was to keep the subjects calm, or incapacitated. He couldn't question why Diego hadn't said anything to him earlier, because Diego hadn't known he was a null anymore than Oliver had. "Did it ever bother you?" Oliver asked, his hands resting against Diego's waist.
There had never been a time in Diego’s life when he hadn’t had the power he’d been blessed with, so it was hard for him to imagine not being able to feel it, but from what he had gathered, Oliver’s null-ness was kind of the opposite. It was like an anti-power, so it made a weird sort of sense that he hadn’t been able to tell. He had nothing to compare it to, and if it was only something other psychics could feel, who could’ve told him? AIR probably could have, back in the day, and maybe they’d known all along, Diego didn’t know. Oliver obviously wasn’t a strong null, since Diego and Haisley could still exercise their powers around him, but maybe AIR had intended to try and make him that way eventually and the two of them had escaped before they could train him properly. He wasn’t sure they would ever get answers to those questions. Diego shook his head firmly in answer. “Not for a second,” he murmured. “Maybe Shane is just ... more sensitive, I don’t know.”
Oliver also had to figure if he was a null, he was a weak one. Strong enough for Shane to feel it, but not so strong that he had snuffed out everyone's abilities with his presence alone. Could he eventually do that? Was there training involved? Practice? He wouldn't even know where to start and he wasn't sure he wanted to. "No one else seemed terribly bothered by it", Oliver said. "And to be truthful, I would rather they concern themselves with whatever it is that I am, rather than the fact that I used to work for AIR. I feel like it's going to come out eventually, given how many mind readers are in this group." He paused briefly and frowned. "We should tell Haisley before someone else does."
That was the other thing, wasn’t it? Diego’s expression turned more pained and he let his hands drop away from Oliver’s face as he wet his lips. “Yes, we should,” he murmured. “Because I feel the same -- they are going to know, if some of them do not already.” It was something he should have thought about sooner, probably something he should have shielded Oliver from. If he’d kept Oliver away from them ... Diego took a step back and ran both hands through his hair. “I should have known,” he muttered, moving to sit on the edge of the bed. “And I’ve ... I’ve put you in danger. I don’t ... we can still leave. If you want to.” Diego didn’t want to, but it was pretty obvious that his wants were putting them into a bad position.
Oliver knew he ought to worry about Shane and Neil, the people whose physical ability could kill him, but it was Haisley that made his guts twist uncomfortably when he thought about her finding out Oliver's past. She had been with them for months now and she felt like a part of their family. It could destroy her trust in him and what if she wanted to leave? Exhaling slowly, Oliver moved to sit down beside him on the bed, one hand resting comfortingly on Diego's knee. "I don't want to leave. This is important to you and to Haisley. If I have to step back, I will. I don't want to distract anyone from what you're trying to do."
Grateful that Oliver joined him, Diego covered the hand on his leg with his own and looked over at his man. “I want you to stay involved,” he murmured. “I think ... maybe it would look worse if you pulled back? Like you do have something to really hide. Maybe ... fuck, the preacher is a telepath, maybe he could vet you for the others? Read your mind, assure them that you’re not a double-agent spy or anything like that ... that you really want to help them. Us. Our cause.” It would be invasive and uncomfortable, Diego was sure, but he didn’t know how else they would convince the others to trust Oliver. It might help some that their facility had been on the other side of the country, and Oliver had never worked for the specific people who’d hurt the rest of them, but ... maybe not much. “Maybe we should have been up front about it,” he muttered.
Inviting somebody into his head, especially a preacher, didn't sit well with Oliver. It was invasive, but Oliver didn't want to flat out say no. Not when this meant so much to Diego. "Maybe," Oliver said. "But given how Shane reacted to me, I think it would have made things worse. Maybe... we should tell them all separately? There might be less... trouble, that way. And if they don't want me involved, I'll respect that. I just don't want you or Haisley to get hurt, or have them distrust you because of your relationship with me." He hoped that made sense. Oliver was already worried about AIR discovering Diego's presence in Point Pleasant. He didn't want to have to worry about the people Diego considered allies as well.
Diego didn’t want that either. He wanted everybody to understand everybody else and for them all to get along and work together and survive all of this intact. And maybe come out the other side with some lifelong friendships. That last part was selfish and probably just wishful thinking, but that didn’t stop Diego from yearning for connections with more people who he could be completely himself around. It wouldn’t be all of them, but hopefully some. “Maybe that would be best,” he muttered, nodding slightly. Diego wasn’t going to start with Shane, however, not after today. Diego sighed and ran his hand through his hair again, then leaned over to rest his temple against Oliver’s shoulder. “When should we tell Haisley?”
Oliver knew how deeply Diego yearned for human connection. For so long it had only been the two of them and sure, they had met people along their journey, even befriended some of them, but then life happened and they had to pack up and leave to another destination. Point Pleasant was the only place Diego had met others like him, so leaving would not be as easy. As nice as it would be for everyone to trust and understand Oliver, he knew human nature well enough to know that wasn't likely to happen. "Not today", he murmured. "She seemed to enjoy herself at Shane's and I don't want to taint that right now. Maybe... maybe after she meets with Wilkes's nephew. If the telepath is going to be there, I don't want him poking around in her head and discovering anything we hadn't told him yet. Does that make sense?"
It did make sense, and as always, Oliver had a sensible plan. He was so smart and wise. Diego still felt torn on whether he should’ve listened to Oliver in the beginning and run away with him before they got further involved in all of this. Their fight was important though, something that needed to happen to help kids like them, who might be suffering at that very moment, or would be in the future. It was the most significant thing Diego had ever been involved with, he was pretty sure. He just couldn’t let it hurt his husband, his Oliver. He was willing to sacrifice himself, but not the man who’d saved him from his own prolonged suffering. “Makes sense,” he murmured, tangling his fingers with Oliver’s to squeeze gently. “After the nephew then.” Diego hoped Haisley would understand, at least. She might be angry about the deception for this long, but he really wanted them all to stay together. “I love you. I am sorry to be disrupting our lives like this.”
"Don't apologize," Oliver said, bringing Diego's hand up to his lips to kiss it. "Our lives have been disruption since we met. We've learned to adapt to it, so we can adapt to this too. We'll take it one day at a time and handle things. Honestly, most of the people at Shane's house seemed very nice. There's no guarantee they'll stay that way once they know about me, but I think they like you. And they definitely need you." That alone told Oliver that they would be okay. Or at least Diego would be. If he wanted to, he could probably destroy this entire town. Making Diego angry was probably the last thing any of them would want to do.
How did Oliver always know exactly what to say? Diego wasn’t used to being needed by anybody but his man -- and Haisley, lately -- and it kind of made him feel warm in the chest to think this group needed him. Maybe it wasn’t great to be needed for the destruction and mayhem he could cause, but that didn’t stop it from feeling kind of good. “I like most of them too. Even if they all don’t, I think some of them will understand. You saved me, you were never cruel. You loved me when no one else did, they have to see that. And it was so long ago ...” Diego half-twisted to wrap his arms around Oliver from the side. He felt clingy and needy and still tired, so he hoped Oliver didn’t mind. “You’re my husband, like I said, and if they want my help, they have to accept you,” he added in a sullen mutter.
It was long ago. But Oliver was sure those memories were still fresh for Shane and the others, even if they tried to forget them. Oliver felt comforted by Diego, though. At the end of all of this, they still only needed each other and that would never change. He would have been lying if he denied being worried when this whole thing began... what if Diego had to choose between Oliver and his new "family"? They probably understood him better than Oliver ever could, at least when it came to AIR and what he had been through. But he felt like they would be okay. He hoped, anyway. "Let's try not to worry about it too much until we have to," Oliver said, bringing a hand up to rest it against one of Diego's arms. "It's been a long day. Let's just try to relax and enjoy the rest of it."
Diego held onto him for another few heartbeats, finally giving Oliver a tighter squeeze and moving his head to bury his face into Oliver’s neck briefly. Diego gave the skin some kisses and breathed in the comforting scent of his man, then let him go and sat back. “You’re right,” he murmured. They had gotten through the day intact, even if it hadn’t gone the way Diego had wanted it to. They all knew more about each other now, and what their plans were, and hopefully they could all stay focused on their common goal, and let everything else go. He stretched his arms up with a little groan, then flopped backward onto the bed. “I feel like I could sleep for hours,” Diego sighed. “Do you want to nap with me until we’re hungry enough to order pizza?”
Oliver wasn't sure how well he would be able to sleep after what happened today but he would never say no to laying down with Diego for a while. Maybe just relaxing would help clear his head a bit. And then they could order some pizza and have dinner with Haisley. There was still a lot to deal with, but they didn't have to do that tonight. "I think that sounds like a plan," Oliver murmured, moving to lay down beside Diego where he leaned in to press a kiss to his man's cheek. "I love you."
There were very few occasions where Diego couldn’t sleep, and now that he’d said what needed saying to his man and they had an idea of how to carry forward, enough tension was gone that he felt like he could drop off fast and easy. “I love you too, baby,” Diego murmured. There was some shuffling around while they got properly settled, and he let out a long sigh once he was comfortably snuggled up to Oliver. It was comforting to feel secure that no one was going to come between them, they’d been surviving on their own for years and all they truly needed was each other. Diego wanted other people in their lives, of course, especially now that he’d gotten a taste of having a whole group he related to so well. But the future was unpredictable. However this whole thing turned out, as long as he had Oliver, he knew he’d be okay.