An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 16/32
Fandom: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Diego Hargreeves/Klaus Hargreeves
Characters: Diego Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves
Additional Tags: No Incest, But I don't want antis here so I'm gonna tag it incest anyway, Sibling Incest, Detective Diego Hargreeves, Slow Burn, Sober Klaus Hargreeves, Sex Work, Past Drug Addiction, Serial Killers, Gangs, Domestic Fluff, Idiots in Love, Eventual Smut, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Summary:
Detective Hargreeves is just living his very normal life as a homicide detective, when a serial killer starts to leave bodies around the city. He's doing what he can, when some drug addict ("former drug addict, thank you very much"), right, former drug addict keeps showing up at his crime scenes. He's kind of weird (and very pretty), and Diego is relatively sure he's not the serial killer…
Oh, and apparently this former drug addict can talk to ghosts.
“Did I tell you that my fiancé’s family are afraid of spirits?” Yeong laid down on the rock, stretching her fingers so they brushed against the cool moss on the underside. Her fingers scratched dirt and, frustrated, she bit her lip, reaching further into the crevice as she continued to talk. “And since he’s a Seer, they think my fiancé was a gift from the Sun—a protective ward against the Foxes and the Ko.”
The spirit, perched on a higher rock not too far away, crossed her legs and giggled. “They think the Sun would protect them against spirits?”
“Stupid, right?” Yeong’s laugh turned into an annoyed huff when she retracted her arm, wrinkling her nose in disgust at the dirt that smeared against her skin. “Snake’s Blood.”
The spirit smiled softly, resting her chin in her palm. “Need help?”
“There’s no point in this if you help me.” She quipped playfully, leaning down to try again. “Hang on—I felt it this time. I can get it.”
“What is it?”
“You’ll see.” Came the coy reply as Yeong spun the conversation back around. “Anyways, that’s the sort of household I’m marrying into.”
The spirit laughed and leaned back comfortably as she took the verbal bait. There was no harm in waiting, she supposed. Yeong enjoyed her surprises, and it was funny watching her struggle on that rock. “Hm, but I thought those from Jin weren’t very superstitious.”
“Well,” Yeong grunted with effort. “They live on the border, so I guess they’re different. Obviously, they must also have strange marital standards since they decided I was the best wife for their son.”
“It’s strange because you’re from Wei?”
The girl snorted. “There’s that, and also because my family is poor. I can’t offer much except for my sight.” Finally, Yeong cried out in triumph and pumped her closed fist into the air, her eyes glittering. “Got it!”
The young spirit perked up and jumped down to join her, but Yeong carefully hid the thing still, plunging it and her hands into the river to rid them of dirt. Once clean, she snuck it behind her back and smiled widely as she leaned closer to her companion. “Don’t peek!”
She smelled sweet.
The spirit faltered at the sudden realization, freezing when the human stepped even closer—close enough to touch. Yeong’s hair brushed against her cheek, soft as a feather, and from her skin the spirit could clearly smell the plums they had eaten earlier. The sweetness of it was dizzying, somehow more intoxicating than the fruit itself when mixed with Yeong’s natural floral scent. Heat flooded the spirit’s neck and, embarrassed, she took half a step backwards. “Wh-what is it?”
Yeong leaned closer, and the spirit reflexively leaned back. “Let me see your eyes.”
“You’re already looking at my eyes,” she grumbled back, though raised her lashes just a bit more.
There was a hum of approval, and Yeong’s smile softened as she uncurled her fingers to reveal a small stone. It rolled in her palm, round and smooth as it was, though most surprising was its marbled, pale jade color. Slowly, she raised it up and held it close to the spirit’s cheek, her chest puffing proudly as she compared it to her eyes. “I knew it. It matches perfectly.”
“D-Does it?” The spirit breathed, her cheeks blossoming with red as she took in the heat that came from her fingers. She turned to glance at the gem and frowned slightly. “But I…I thought my eyes were the same color as yours.”
“Were you trying to make them the same color as mine?” Yeong tilted her head when the spirit nodded sheepishly. “Huh. I like them better this way though.”
“…Really?”
She considered the question carefully and dropped the stone into her palm. With her free fingers, she tucked the spirit’s dark hair back and ran her thumb carefully over the shell of her ear. Yeong’s eyes took in everything—the blush on the pale cheek, the tremble of the pink lips, the soft petal-like skin—and she nodded in satisfaction. “Yeah. It suits you.”
The spirit swallowed dryly. The bubbling of the river was so tantalizing, and it’d be easy to jump in right now, with what fire she felt burning on her face. But she couldn’t. She didn’t dare.
The time she had left was so short. She had to engrave these feelings into her heart while they lasted, before they faded from memory again.
Do not blink. She told herself, staring desperately into Yeong’s open, affectionate face. She pressed her cheek into her hand and bit her lip. She will be gone when I wake. She will be—
The wind hissed in her ear. Bells came from the earth.
She felt the ground lurch beneath her at those thoughts and the air being dragged from her lungs as the dream shifted, tilted, and rotated on its axis. She gasped, clinging onto the image for as long as she could, though it slipped like oil through her fingers.
“Wait!” Her voice wasn’t there. Her vision had gone dark, but she still fought her own mind as it was being wrenched into consciousness, because she knew Yeong could hear her. She always could. She always knew what she was feeling. “Please—Please! Stay with me—” Words she should have said long ago tumbled out of her heart, leaking into the empty space around her. “I-I will—"
The spirit woke with her hand reaching for the stars.
Tears leaked out of her pale jade eyes, leaving itchy trails down her cheek as they dripped onto the grass. Her breath was hot, broken and heavy—visible in the cold air. Despite herself, her lips continued to form the rest of her sentence, her voice bubbling out between them in broken sobs. “M-Make…you… happy…”
The empty promise fizzled out into nothingness, absorbed by the trees and half-melted snow. Her hand fell to her side.
The moon continued to climb.
She stared at it, watched it desperately, as it peaked. Her heart lurched under its light, aching pitifully, because this silver moon was so cold, so silver, and so distant—too much like her beloved one’s eyes.
She looked at it for as long as she could bear, holding onto its mercilessly image, and then, when the pain became too much and when her heart was too full of grief and love, she folded her arms over her eyes and wept.
