defenderofdesmoines | Elliot's Apartment, Dallas, 1963

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Elliot's Apartment, Dallas, 1963 | Early, early morning

Was it a good thing that Annie now had so much experience cauterizing wounds that it hadn't taken her much time at all to get the skin on Diego's abdomen fused back together? For right now, it felt like good thing, at least. To her surprise and concern, he hadn't woken up in the process -- he'd stayed completely out (though breathing), all throughout the removal of his clothes (and when she was less worried, those institution-issued tighty whities were getting some commentary), and cleaning and dressing and briefly burning the wound.

Eventually, Annie had fallen into a restless doze at his side, though the slightest movement had her waking up and reaching to check on Diego every few minutes. And good thing, too, since this most recent time when Annie woke with a start as Diego shifted on the mattress, she noticed immediately that his wound had reopened.

"Shit." She should have gone back over that once she'd established he wasn't badly hurt anywhere else, really. Guess she'd have to do it now.

She moved to press a hand into Diego's chest, prepared to hold him steady in case this time he actually did wake up when she burned him, and moved her other hand low to his abdomen. The lamp in the room gave a soft hum, and Annie's hand illuminated, white-hot enough to re-seal that wound for good this time.

Sorry, Diego. Hopefully he stayed out for a little bit longer.

[for the stabbed guy who is, unfortunately for him, not staying out a little bit longer.]

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"Of course you didn't," Annie replied, her smile widening a little as she reached over to carefully run a fingertip along his jaw. "I bet you didn't mean to get stabbed at all. I'm just glad I was here."

God, what would the alternative have been? Stitches? Maybe Elliot knew a shady vet? Or, like, one of them could have shoved a hot piece of metal against it, that would have done the exact same trick, but -- yikes.

"God I don't even want to know what Five would have done to patch me up." Not to mention what Elliot and Lila. One would experiment on him and the other would probably punch him in the face and tell him to suck it up.

"Did you end up finding Luther?"

"I did," Annie replied, nodding slightly. "He gave me a hug, even."

Annie, you did not have to tell him that. But it had been nice, honestly, after being yanked all over the place by Five and her reunion with Diego being what it had been.

"But he super doesn't want to be involved," she added. "Very, like, down on Five and heroism and everything right now."

"Really?" That did not sound like Luther at all. "1963 really changes a man."

Said the new Kennedy conspiracy theorist.

"Seems like it," Annie replied, reaching up to again play with his hair a little. Look, it was new, and she was really into it, but she also was just enjoying that there was a new way to affectionately touch him now. "Guess who Luther found, though? Vanya. She's living on a farm and she has, like, total amnesia."

Like you do.

Diego was sort of enjoying her playing with his hair, but then amnesia got brought up. It was more than a little distracting. "Wait. That actually happens?"

"I guess. She said she had an accident," Annie said, shrugging a shoulder. She'd had time to get used to the amnesia thing, though, so she was going to keep up with the hair-playing. "She had no idea who we were. And then the woman she's staying with -- I guess? -- chased us off her property with a shotgun so we didn't have a ton of time for, like, follow-up."

"That still was a better ending than either Five or I got yesterday." Being chased off with a shotgun would have been a joy in comparison.

So that was two siblings out when it came to stopping the apocalypse. Five must be having a panic attack.

He tilted his head towards her hand. "Enjoying yourself?"

"Very much," Annie replied, sighing a little as she traced her hand down to lightly run her fingertips through his beard. Things had been so hectic for days, and she hadn't really realized until just now that this was the first time she and Diego had actually been alone together since they landed in the past. The quiet was nice now that she wasn't checking his breathing constantly.

And for that matter, it had been days for her. She had to keep in mind that it had been so, so much longer for him. "This is my favorite thing I've done in the past, so far."

Ugh, gross.

Diego grinned. "When the kids mentioned the long hair thing I never thought this would be the cause."

"Oh my God, Diego, me neither," Annie replied, eyes wide. "Also -- it was just seventy-five days? Your hair grows so fast."

Like, she took hair vitamins and her hair didn't grow that fast.

"But I like it," she added, idly twining her hand up to twirl a lock of his hair around a fingertip.

"Thanks," he said, smiling. "Not sure how I feel about it yet."

So far the memories associated with it was not being allowed near sharp objects for three months, so...

"It looks really good," she added, soothingly running her fingers through his hair. "I'd get it if you wanted to cut it all off, but I could also help you tidy it up a little."

A shave, a trim, and he'd really cut down on the wolfman factor.

"Seventy-five days," she added softly, scooting a tiny bit closer and staying mindful of his injury. She didn't really blame Five anymore, but she'd never not be sorry for what Diego had had to go through.

The wolfman thing was a bit much, wasn't it? That definitely screamed "I just escaped from a mental institution".

"Yeah. It was--it was pretty confusing." Understatement. "I hated not knowing where you were."

"Me too." But she'd only had to worry for a matter of hours, not months. "It must have been so frustrating and scary for you."

It had been frustrating and scary for Annie to see him sedated, and that was a literal, tiny fraction of what he'd probably gone through over the past three months.

Plus, Lila wasn't exactly...like, not annoying, to Annie. If that was the best the asylum had had to offer in the way of friends...yikes.

"It was." Frustrating, scary, humiliating. Not an experience he wanted to repeat so he hoped he didn't get arrested again any time soon.

"I'm glad you weren't stuck here for that long," he said, reaching out to run his hand along her arm. "You probably wouldn't have ended up where I did though."

Yeah, Annie was unlikely to have made an assassination attempt her first 24 hours here.

"Probably not," Annie agreed, smiling slightly. "I had Five with me the whole way. We found Elliot pretty quick. He had your mugshot."

Which Annie had all but fawned over, like a worried, lovesick idiot.

"Oh, by the way -- we told him we're aliens," she added. Just in case that hadn't come up yet.

"...why?" Like, he was okay with rolling with that but where had that come from?

"It was my idea!" And she was super proud of it! "Because, like, he's a total -- like, he's nice, but doesn't he seem to you like he...believes in a lot of stuff? And aliens are an easier sell than explaining what's actually going on, especially because Five refuses to use a door ever."

Elliot would totally believe in chem trails if he lived in the twenty-first century. Annie was very sure of this.

"That's a really good point." Aliens were always easier to explain that time travel.

Man, if he found out there were aliens and time travel involved his brain would break a little bit.

"You're so smart." Diego would have probably just knocked the guy unconscious and called it a day.

"So are you," Annie assured him, reaching to gently rest her hand on his chest. "I mean, this all worked because you finally figured this thing out. And it looked like you had your escape totally handled before I ever showed up."

Lila clearly deserved no credit.

"Would have been a cleaner escape if Five hadn't told on me." Maybe his shoulder wouldn't have been dislocated and roughly popped back in.

"You will be shocked to hear I yelled at him for that," Annie replied, leaning close to press a very light kiss near his eye. "That wasn't how I'd planned it going, either. I was going to try to sign you out legitimately."

Which would have proven, probably, completely impossible, considering she didn't have any kind of supportive documentation that she even knew Diego (and it wasn't as though women were listened to by the authorities, much, here in 1963, anyway.)

"I love you for that." Both the yelling and the plan to sign him out legitimately.

He leaned in to kiss her again. "I think I preferred you breaking me out though. It was hot."

Annie hummed, leaning into the kiss. "Well. I kind of owe you one, there," she murmured, smiling.

At least she hadn't had to cut anyone's hand off.

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