assholic | Open Post

"They don't have to be underground fights. I can fight regulation. But the only thing you're fighting is a cold."

Yet his objection wasn't much of one, admitting defeat because he'd commit murder if he ever witnessed someone hitting her. Jessica seemed ready to do the same just for someone hitting on him which amused him more than it probably should. His arms wrapped snug around her.

"You can put a ring on it, if you want but it's just dancing, Mami. You've got nothing to worry about."

"You haven't seen the way they look at you. Which is, incidentally, the same way I look at you. Like I want to put you in my mouth and suck on you until you melt down to gooey caramel." His arms went around her and she lifted her hand to smooth over his hair.

"Another reason to get you actual 'legal' papers. So I can put a ring on it." Just casually dropping that there, since they were already talking about a new home and a new life. She knew there was no one else but him, and if she was ever going to bind herself to someone, it was going to be the person that she actually loved. "They get handsy. They want to touch. I want to break their fingers. So keep your ass against the wall where they can't admire it, and then we get can you a ring you can flash at them. Then point to the convenient hole in the wall I'm going to make and tell them that will be their face if they don't screw off."

"They can look at me however they want. I only have eyes for you," he returned with a hand at her cheek as his dark eyes looked intently into her lighter set. Yet he wasn't going to dance if it worried her. "No touching allowed. With or without a ring. I'd never disrespect you like that."

Not that it seemed she thought he would. Diego enjoyed her possessive streak but he didn't want her to sour the relationship she had with Luke...even if there was something appealing that Jessica would make it known who she was with now. Number Two lit up when she brought up the reason for getting him legal papers.

"So for the record, you'll marry me and not just to ward off women at the club?"

He had to ask.

That catch. It broke her heart a little that she knew that he thought there might be strings attached to it. "I'll marry you because I love you. There's no one else for me, Diego. Never will be. And there's never been anyone that's come close to filling the spot you have in my life. So it just makes sense to make it legal. With all the shit that happens around here, I want to make sure if one of us winds in up in the hospital, the other can sign them out. Or be called if they wind up in jail. Besides," she said, wiggling in his lap a little, "I'm kind of looking forward to the day you threaten someone pissing you off with your wife breaking them in pieces."

She grinned, food forgotten as she sat there with an arm around his shoulders and the other playing with his hair. "It's not you, Diego. Not you I don't trust. Hell, a ring is just going to be a red flag to a bull to some of them. I want you to know I'd never think you'd stray. It's not about disrespect. I can feel how much you love me. No one's ever... I've never felt that before. I just want them to know ahead of time that if they're going to flirt with a married man, they shouldn't be shocked if they get slapped if they go beyond flirting to touching. No touchy."

Her answer made him light up. A full smile graced his lips, Diego mostly stuck on the fact that she loved him and felt there was no one else for her. It was the first that someone returned his feelings in the same manner that he felt them. Like Jessica, he was sure there was no one else for him. He'd been nervous about the M word and it took an enormous weight off of his shoulders that she was not only on board but comfortable with the idea.

"I'd never want my wife to get her hands dirty, but have no issues with you tossing someone around or the car they drive."

He nuzzled the tip of her nose with his own but then went to grab the chopsticks and get her a bite of food. Diego paused as she responded about trusting him. All the times he'd been hurt before, none of it mattered with Jessica. He believed what she said and felt the same way. His head leaned in to give her a tender kiss, then pulled back to meet her eyes again.

"No touching. But promise me you'll just snatch them off. A slap from you could be literal overkill. I'm happy to make out with my wife before every shift, wherever I work." And with that, he held a wide grin again and moved the food in front of her mouth for her to eat.

The way he lit up was so visible, she found herself echoing that smile in a way that made her feel dopey. He was so gentle with her when he never needed to be, but it was just the way he was wired. The people in his life had really missed out on something so precious with how callous they were with him.

Their loss. She'd keep him all to herself.

That tender kiss and those heart-melting eyes as he fed her, she opened her mouth to take the food, hand smoothing over the tie she'd wrinkled. "I make no promises. Some of them can be feral and I've seen too many people treat security and bouncers like objects." Her time with Trish showed her there was a subset of people that just refused to see others as equals, or even sentient beings. She hadn't been to Luke's club any time recently, so she couldn't say for sure what his clientele was like, but she knew entitled people, and they were everywhere. Besides, look at him. Who wouldn't want to try to touch every inch of him?

He fed himself after Jessica took her bite, opting to focus on finishing the takeout before continuing the conversation. There were only a few bites left.

What she said wasn't unreasonable. Diego didn't leave her words hanging in the air for any other reason than to finish their food. Once the final bite was taken, he left the chopsticks in the container and licked his lips. "I'm flattered, Babe. I really am. If you don't want me to dance at the club then I won't. But I'm pretty sure if you start attacking your ex's clientele, I'll be out of a job which'll make it hard for me to post your bail."

There was a lot of humor in his tone, a smirk also matching the teasing response.

She could hear how ridiculous it sounded, and she gave him a flat look. "It's not about the dancing and you know it. I want you to have something, Diego. Something that's yours. Working at Luke's is good for now, but I want you to have something that's yours that you want to do. You're more than walking sex in a suit, and there's a lot of shady shit that happens in Harlem. Especially with people like us." And yes, she lumped Diego in with others like her who were enhanced. He might have been born the way he was instead of inherited or experimented, but he was different, just like her. And that put a target on his back.

"Walking sex in a suit, huh?" he chuckled with eyes looking away. As much as Diego liked to talk shit, it was just that--shit. With his siblings or anyone who gave him shit. Jessica meant her compliments and he struggled a bit with that. A tint of red was on his stubbled face with a matching shy smirk.

He returned to looking at Jessica. "I've always just wanted to save people. I tried the cop thing and there's too much red tape. My father raised us to be heroes but it was more to do his bidding than actually helping anyone. I know there's not really any money in being a vigilante. It puts a target on my back which will put one on yours too. So maybe I just teach self defense."

Once again, he was willing to give up anything that could hurt her. She was giving him everything he had ever wanted; to be loved.

"Luke can hire pretty muscle to stand around and who wants to be groped. If you want to do something with doing good, we'll find something. You don't have to 'just' do anything, Diego. And for the record," she said, leaning in a little and cupping his cheek, ghosts of her own hiding in the depths of her eyes, "there are some people you can't save. And that's not on you."

A sigh, because her wanting to keep him safe would stifle him. "There's always a target on my back. But we'll find something that's yours, Diego. Something that you want to do that you're good at." She just didn't know what beyond the fighting and vigilantism. Yes, he was good at both, but that wasn't a living. That was a calling. Even Devil Boy had a day job before he ran around in tights at night.

His head cantered to one side when she first responded. "Luke is pretty muscle." Diego knew the man had been a bartender but wondered why the Bulletproof man of Harlem needed security when he was a living tank. Yet the murmur simmered as Jessica cupped his cheek and told him that there were some people he couldn't save.

He swallowed thickly, eyes falling along with his heart. Her memories flashed through his mind but so did his own. He was too late for Eudora. Too late for Grace. The same could be said about Vanya. All the memories made his heart lurch and his eyes water. "But there are people I can save."

Jessica wasn't wrong. He wasn't Bruce Wayne where he could use an inheritance to pay for being a masked crusader. New York was also proving a lot trickier than The City in fighting crime. Yet he honestly didn't have the first clue on how to earn an income if it wasn't winning a match or working security. Diego forced a smile and willed down the water that had collected in his eyes.

"Sounds great." It was a lie. Not that Diego would be opposed to finding a career, he didn't believe he'd be successful at one. Having an unconventional upbringing meant he didn't even have a high school diploma. He had an easy time obtaining his GED to go into the police academy but ultimately had no way to gauge how smart he was.

His childhood was filled with a varied education, more than the average child had been required to learn; latin, calligraphy, ballroom dancing, welding to name just a few ...in addition to the various martial arts and hand to hand training. Yet his world was also different than this one where Diego could hardly work a cell phone.

He brought his hands to her hips and gave Jessica a quick peck to the lips before standing in an effort to sell the notion of everything being fine. "I need to get those suits out of my bag. Probably iron them before putting them in the closet."

"Not compared to you." There was complete honesty in that statement for her. Had she been attracted to Luke before? Yes, of course. Part of that was the allure of someone that she couldn't hurt, and yet she'd gone and hurt him both physically and emotionally. She'd killed his wife and almost killed him with a shotgun. Kilgrave being the means behind that didn't erase the guilt buried inside her. But the moment she'd looked into those puppy eyes that were staring back at her, Luke had faded from her thoughts.

Those eyes filled with tears, and she felt that grip inside her squeeze around her heart. It hurt, and that might have been the echo through their link from him, or hers singing up through to him. There'd been people neither of them could save. Reuben. Hope. Trish, and that one hurt more than anything. He moved to make her stand and she could feel that pain still there, still bouncing between them. He pecked her on the lips when he stood and she opted not to move. She stood in his path, hands reaching for his. "Don't do that. Don't sugarcoat or lie to me to make me think it's okay. I'm not your boss. I'm not your master. You're a big boy and you can do, and will do, whatever you want. I just... I want to give you options. We can look at classes that are available to see if there's anything you like. I'm not dumb, Diego. I know you're not going to want to fit into the mundane box office life anymore than I did. We're not those people. I'm okay with that. I just want you to find something so that you-"

She cut herself off, sighing and lifting her hands to run through her hair, stepping back for a minute. "I know you hate relying on me and my funds. You need your own placement here. Your own... stuff. Your own money. I approve and applaud that. But let's just say that our situation is a little different than most. So it's okay to me that we're relying on me until you find what you want. I don't think less of you. You're not worthless, Diego. You're mine. If I'd come crashing into your world, you think I wouldn't lean on you a little until I figured out what I could get away with?"

That was the killer for her. That he felt he had to prove himself. She knew exactly why that was such a deep mark for him. Reginald goddamn Hargreeves. The whole expectation of never being enough. Even his 'name'. Number Two. Talk about breeding complexes. She just didn't know how to get it through to him that he had absolutely nothing to prove here. There was no Reginald. No siblings. No expectations. Just them.

There had been a genuine smile when she basically called him prettier than Luke. Diego didn't see it. Even before going to Harlem's Paradise, people made no secret that they fawned over Harlem's Hero. Jessica wasn't a groupie but he'd seen how she watched him before crossing the line with Luke. Yet there was no reason not to believe her. And as far as he was concerned, it only mattered what she thought so he smiled.

However, the conversation turned and Diego only felt one failure after another. Two people who had looked out for him, who cared about him more than anyone else, had died because he failed them. His father died without ever acknowledging his worth. Now Jessica wanted him to be someone successful and not just work for someone else. He was sure he'd fail her too.

Yet she pulled the rug from under him. --No. She slapped him in the face with truth. He was wrong to hide the truth from her. That was exactly what he attempted to do, fearful that the honeymoon period would be over and Jessica would realize that he wasn't enough. He'd make things worse by secretly fighting or taking jobs she wouldn't approve of so he could bring something to the table.

"I never thought I'd have a life with someone. It's something I didn't even allow myself to dream about because that's all it was, a dream. Now I have it and I want you to be proud of me. I want to bring something to the table but all I'm good at is fighting. That might be the only way I can make decent money."

He shook his head, not wanting to make her feel like he wasn't happy. "It's been months that I've been leaning on you. I don't know cell phones or iPads or lap computers..." Laptops. Diego struggled with technology. He couldn't even figure out how to turn on the car that Danny wanted him to drive at work. There wasn't a place to put a key. There wasn't a key at all.

"...You've been patient. More than patient. I don't feel stupid when you're showing me something. You run your own business and so do your friends. I..."

A hand lifted and ran roughly over his spiked hair then his face. His shoulders slumped in defeat. Here he'd talked to her about a future, living somewhere else but his only way to help provide that would be take whatever handout he could find. She didn't seem to care but Diego did enough for both of them.

"I know you're not worried about me paying you back or paying for things but I want to make you proud of being with me." He really did have a stigma for measuring up. Diego had never been enough before and it haunted him enough to doubt for the moment that being her soulmate would save what they had.

"Diego. Baby. No. You've been here for what, two months? Three? You've barely acclimated to what the world's done around you. You expect to just pick up new shit because you're an adult?" She gave him a look. It was full of all the sass she could muster. "There's people that are born and raised in this world that have no idea what the hell they're doing. You are... god. So much more than you think you are, and I wish whatever shitty, bitchy part of your past that sticks to you was physical so I could beat the shit out of it."

He slumped and she hated that. She leaned in and she kissed him, because his pain made her rabid with the need to make it go away. "Us, Diego. We. Mr and Mrs. Everything I have is yours. Always. And when you get things, they'll be ours too. That's the whole point of being a couple. And we're not just a couple. We're soulmates. I am so proud of you. You've landed here and instead of crawling into a ditch and crying about woe is you, you put on your ridiculous panty-mask and ran around trying to help people. What's not to be proud of?"

She cupped his face with her hands, looking deeply into eyes that melted her. "We've had a whole lifetime of being here to figure our shit out. Me, Luke. Hell, Danny beat up a dragon in Tibet and the only reason he's doing so good now is because his parents were richy riches and he came back to a fucking fortune. You think he runs Rand Enterprises? There's a whole hive of worker bees that do things he doesn't have a clue about, all necessary to keep his money coming in. He's smart enough to step back and let them. We just need to find your niche, babe. There's one. There's more than one. But you're acting like we're on a timetable. We have forever. There is no rush. I'm never getting rid of you. Even if you get depression and camp out on the couch. I'll either cuddle with you or boot you in the ass if you need it. Because there is no happiness for me without you."

Mr and Mrs. She still wanted to be with him. Marry him. Her love filled a void in him that Diego never fully understood the depths of until that moment. He had always thought of himself as a lone wolf once leaving the Umbrella Academy but he chose to be alone than having the constant reminder of never being enough.

It seemed something foreign to Jessica who insisted he was more than enough. His shoulders lifted as she defiantly rejected his notions of being less than she deserved. While his posture picked up, Diego melted into the touch at his face. His arms wrapped around her. In the end, she had him donning his completely smitten grin.

"Just don't use the steel-toes," he quipped in the end. Diego needed to kiss her before uttering another word. His mouth connected with hers and poured everything into the kiss; adoration, affection and appreciation. For her to call him 'baby' had really set the tone. She never balked at him for using it but their connection told him that he'd been the first.

Now she had used it on him and he had desperately needed it. The kiss said that too. He pulled back for a breath, slowly opening his eyes to look at Jessica. "I don't think I could ever get depressed while with you. But it's good to know you'll still cuddle with me if I do." He nuzzled the tip of her nose with his.

"Mr and Mrs Jones has a nice ring to it. You gotta forgive me if I want that sooner than later. Not just because I think you'll get me a nice ring," he teased through an impish grin.

The smile soothed her, and the way he leaned into her, the way he relaxed in a way she could feel through their bond had her letting out that breath she'd been holding. She kissed him back, because there was no world in where he could kiss her where she wouldn't respond. Even pissed, she didn't think she'd be able to keep from kissing him back.

"I'd more than cuddle you. I'd do experiments on what sexual act got you undepressed the fastest. Can a sexy latino guy stay sad with his dick in someone's mouth?" This? This was better. The teasing was better. The pain in his eyes always broke her and she would give a lot of herself, make herself open and vulnerable to him, for him to make it go away. It hurt to know he didn't expect that because he hadn't had it.

"What kind of ring do you want? Matching set?" She was going to be up Danny's ass to get Diego's papers done sooner than later. The sooner she had a legitimate piece of identity in her hands, the sooner she could drag him to the courthouse and make it legal.

"Mmm. I think we'll need a bigger couch," he quipped huskily as what she said prompted his voice to drop an octave. Diego was convinced that Jessica talking about putting him in her mouth would never stop turning him on. In that instant, his brown eyes had gone from desperate to happy and now hungry but he reeled himself in.

She talked about wedding rings and he simmered slightly back to the less feral look of joy. "Definitely matching. Not something flashy so we never have to take them off. But something only we have." Diego swayed a little with Jessica in his arms as he thought for moment. "Engrave them with something to make them ours."

"We'll look stuff up on the computer later. Right now," she sighed happily, moving so that she rested her head on his shoulder, her arm sliding around him as they kept up the slow, steady swaying to music that wasn't really there. "Right now, I can't think of anywhere else I'd rather be than just here. I missed you while you were gone."

Having other things to do on their own was a good thing, and a little space was probably healthy, but some part of her would always want him close enough to taste, to know he was safe and sound. But she needed him happy more than she needed him in her pocket.

He gave a nod. Still interested in what they would come up with for rings but happy not to look at a computer again today. There had been a lot of that with Danny during the day. Diego also missed Jessica and had done a number on himself, tormented over maybe pushing too hard, too fast on a next step. He'd never been so happy to be wrong in his life.

It also taught him to trust his instincts, instead of remaining stuck in his terrible past life. He breathed in Jessica and exhaled contently while holding her close. "I missed you too. It's probably not a good time to tell you about working tonight," he uttered the end with his face in a slight wince at how she'd take that bit of news.

"Luke did say to swing by the club if I was interested so maybe I'm not interested?"

"I'm not a harpy. If you want to swing by the club, you can, but that just means I'll be here all by my lonesome tonight, and you know what kind of trouble I get into when I'm all alone with no one to keep me from doing something to entertain myself." Mostly, without Diego here, the ghosts were getting to her. Kilgrave got to her. The quiet got to her. So if he left, she'd pick up a case and go distract herself.

She was going to try really hard not to make it seem like she wanted to leash him to her and make his decisions for him. Or manipulate him. He'd had enough of that. Besides, she sucked at subtle manipulation and she knew it. When it came down to it, she'd just demand he stay and fuck her into a coma if it really bothered her. But she knew that he needed to find threads and ties of his own in this world. She'd been born into it and she had a limited amount. He could do worse than finding a connection with Luke and Danny. Their history aside, both were the decent type, and if anything happened to Diego, they'd make sure she knew.

"Or tonight just isn't a good night. I don't think he's actually hurting for security, probably trying to be nice to me on your behalf with giving me work. If I'm going to figure out what jobs I should do and shouldn't do, it should be with you."

They had talked about a lot of important things that Diego hadn't expected they'd do. Staying was important. However, he was still garbage at using his phone and wasn't sure how to start a text if he'd never texted the person before.

"Just help me send him a message that I won't be stopping by tonight."

Diego had seen Colleen tell her watch to send a text to someone but he only had the phone that Jessica had gotten him.

"We're going to have a weekend of tech time. I'm not exactly hacker savvy, but we'll get you accustomed to the basics." She slid her hands down over the back of his shirt, then grinned where he couldn't see it against his shoulder as she got to his ass, then gave both handfuls she held of it a squeeze.

Walking him through sending a text would be easy, other than the fact her mind was on anything but texting Luke or anyone else in that moment. She had her mate, her soulmate, and some pretty hefty life decisions had been made. Marriage. A place. Their roles. That was a lot, particularly for the both of them. Her, because she had to get used to having someone she wanted to plan with when she'd given up on having that. On anything meaningful, even though there'd always been a part of her that pined. She was just glad she hadn't been tangled up with anyone when she'd met Diego. Boyscout that he was, he probably would have tried to stay away.

As if she'd let him.

Diego couldn't hold back a frown at what she said. He thought she'd already given him the basics. A part of him hated technology and fought using it while another had already learned the benefit of it when Jessica was attacked and called him. However, the frown was short-lived as she squeezed his ass.

"If he texted me, I'd be able to send him one back but he hasn't so I don't know how to start one. Can I just talk to Sara or Alexi to do it?"

Jessica might have gotten him through tech pre-school but he now had to get through kindergarten so he'd remember it was Siri and Alexa. The last thing he thought was that her mind was on him becoming a factor in her life. Even if she'd shown up in his world, there wouldn't have been anyone else. She also would've died with the end of the world so he didn't give it much thought.

"Siri, or Alexa. And here," she held out her hand, waiting for him to put the phone in. He knew how to hit the contacts and pull up a number there to dial, so she just had to point out the little message icon to show so he could start a new text message. Then she closed that out and showed him the hot button on his phone to open messaging, and how to start a new message with a contact or where to type in a number.

All while staying in the circle of his arms, because she had nowhere else she wanted to be. "Has Danny showed you his glow worm fist yet? Because if he hasn't, he should. He's a big fan of all the 'cool' things enhanced people can do."

"Siri? It's Scandinavian? I don't think I have that one." He did. Diego was thinking too deeply in it. Alexa was in the car that Danny had him drive and a speaker Colleen had in the dojo. Number Two would likely lose his mind if he ever found out about Jarvis.

He handed over his phone and watched as Jessica ran through how to start a text. "The iron fist? Yeah. I guess it's handy." Diego pursed his lips to bring attention to his dumb joke, ending up in a smirk before continuing. "He's got a few different fighting styles. He's a good sparring partner."

'Few' was an understatement but Diego could still hold his own against Rand. Number Two hadn't shown the billionaire heir all his tricks yet but likely would in time. Besides, he didn't want to hurt his newly made connection.

"He talks about you, Luke and Murdock. I still don't get why people think I'm the devil reincarnated. You'll never see me in red." Diego sent Luke the text about having to reschedule then slipped the phone back in his pocket, wrapping his arm back around Jessica to hold her.

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