[b][i]Brooklyn -- Safe House[/i][/b]

Diego had barely enough time to smile before a flying Maribeth came shooting at him like a bullet. She was small, but that didn’t mean that she didn’t pack a good punch. Diego only had enough time to reinforce his stance with Mari’s power before she crashed into him. Although they stayed in place, the wind was just about knocked out of the poor man. He took a deep breath, once he was actually able to recover it, and let out a small laugh.

“Yeah Mari,” he said as he returned the hug. “I’m alright, and in one piece.”

He reached up and placed his hand over the one she had put on his face for just a moment before letting it slowly fall to his side.

“I’ve been out and about, Mari. I thought I’d take a break from fighting the government head on… you know, a bullet to the stomach kind of wakes you up like that. Instead, I’ve been across the country helping the Supers who aren’t in gangs, or who haven’t been captured set up safe houses and things like that. I’ve also been helping to train most of them with their powers as well. You know, for self-defense reasons, mostly.”

Diego turned his head toward his friend and gave him a small nod, acknowledging the thanks.
“It’s no problem at all. I mean, I am a Super after all. I can’t just sit back and let them do what they did to us. Besides, someone has to train these guys to fend for themselves and to fight back against the assholes in D.C. Who better to do it than me?” Diego smiled again, then turned his attention back to Mari, who somehow had already managed to pull him towards the table.

“Uh huh, sure you can, Mari. You’ve only gotten lucky the past few times, and plus, I go easy on you every time.” Diego laughed and pulled Mari closer once more. “I bet you a hundred dollars I’m better with your own power than you are. Speaking of which, I have to thank you for letting me copy it. It’s come in handy more than a few times.”
A sudden realization washed over Diego. This was the happiest that he had felt in months. Even watching the life drain from the weak humans didn’t give him the joy he was feeling at that moment. His best friend, along with…whatever Mari was to him (he’d have to ask her later on), accepted him for who he was. But as happy as he was, eventually, he would grow tired of Julius’ attempts to try to create peace between the Normals and the Empowered, and he would probably have to leave again.

“Are you here to stay?”

The question pulled Diego back into reality, and he blinked at Mari. Would he really stay? Sure, he thought he would have to leave again, but did he really have to? There was no telling for sure. Maybe the Normals would finally give up. Maybe there would be peace. Or maybe he would have to go and knock down the front door and take over himself to ensure that the Empowered were never persecuted again.

“Yeah Mari. For now I am.” The words no doubtedly would have stung Mari. They almost seemed to hurt Diego. There was no time to think about his choice of words further, because at that moment, a strange woman appeared through the doorway.

Diego turned from Mari and took a small step forward, placing himself between her and the unknown woman. Whoever she was, and whatever she wanted, it wasn’t friendly. He could see it in those eyes. He took another small step forward, fists clenching and unclenching in uneasiness. Before Julius could take the woman up on her offer, Diego took a bigger step forward, effectively closing in the distance between the two. He managed a smile, but his brown eyes only mirrored the cold of the two spheres of ice he was staring into.

“Hey there,” Diego said, looking down at the woman, never breaking eye contact. “I’m not sure what you want to talk to my friend Julius about, but here’s the deal. I just got here not even a few minutes ago, and I intend to spend as much time with these two as I can. You see, they’re really good friends of mine. Now, it doesn’t make a difference what you say to him in private, because he’s just going to tell us after, anyway. Plus, I don’t trust, nor do I really like you at this present moment. So why don’t you just talk about whatever you’re gonna talk about in front of the three of us. Does that sound good to you? Because it does to me.”