Numb3rs Fic: Don Diego Part 2
Posted to numb3rs_slash
Title: Don Diego (Sequel to U is for Undercover)
Series/Universe: U is for Undercover
Pairing/Characters: Don/OMC, Charlie/Amita, Alan/Donna, Megan, David, Colby, OCs
Rating: NC17
Spoilers: Judgment Call, Soft Target, Spree, Two Daughters
Summary: Don gets tangled up in his new DEA boyfriend's dangerous undercover op
Notes/Warnings: Read the disclaimer on my LJ
After a quick shower they fell into bed and slept soundly despite their captivity, Don exhausted from sleepless nights of worrying. When he woke at dawn, confused and somewhat panicked, Diego shushed him and pulled him back under the covers, soothing him until they slept again.
When the breakfast knock came at the door Diego hurriedly found his pajama bottoms and tossed Don a pair of his sweatpants from a drawer to put on.
This time the tray had been set for two.
They ate mostly in silence, stealing bits of food off each other's plates with a familiarity that belied their short time together.
They took a second shower, longer this time, letting the white noise of the spray cover up the whispered words of endearment that were for no one's ears but their own.
Don dressed in his clothes from the night before and Diego put on the sole pair of jeans they'd let him keep, the hems dragging along the carpet since they'd taken his boots.
They stood staring out the window for a long time, Diego's long arms wrapped around Don as he leaned back against the warmth of Diego's bare chest.
A ruckus outside their bedroom door put them both instantly on alert. Don missed his gun and found himself looking around the room for something to use as a weapon. Diego put out a hand to calm him, vetoing the idea of violence with a mere glance and gesture.
The door flew open and Inez burst in.
"Diego!"
She ran right to him and threw her arms around his neck.
"Inez? What's going on?"
"I'm so sorry!"
He carefully extracted her and held her at arms length, speaking sternly.
"Inez, your father is keeping Don and I prisoner here. You have to tell me what's going on."
"It's not my father!" Inez protested, her eyes watery. "It's one of his men, Ramon. My father got shot so Ramon just locked everyone up - he locked me up! He didn't even let me see my father until this morning. Diego, my father never would have done this. He knows you! I know you! I've known you for like years now! You'd never be involved with anyone trying to hurt him!"
"Of course not!" Diego said. "But Inez, these men have guns. They could have killed Don for just coming to check on me!"
Inez finally turned her attention to Don. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for you to get caught up in this - neither of you. My father is a powerful man, with many enemies, and one of them got a traitor into our house."
"So this was an inside job?" Don asked.
"No, but someone on the inside had to disable security enough for the shooter to get on the grounds. Ramon told me this morning he knows who it is. That's why he let me out."
The unmistakable sound of a gunshot was heard downstairs and all three of them reacted in shock: Diego clutching a startled Inez closer and Don moving to join them, drawing them further away from the door.
"Inez, we didn't do this," Diego told her. "We had nothing to do with it."
"I know. And Ramon knows it's not you."
"I think we may have just heard Ramon dealing with whoever it was," Don said darkly.
+
After Inez left - swearing to do her best to get them passage to leave - the maid who normally brought Diego his meals arrived with his suitcase and his boots.
"Shoes! Man, I never thought I'd miss wearing them until I didn't have any." Diego sat on the bed to pull on his boots as the timid woman approached Don. Wordlessly she pulled his keys and wallet out of her apron pocket and handed them to him.
"Muchas gracias," he told her, nodding his head in gratitude.
She merely nodded her head in return, a movement so slight it was barely noticeable, then exited as silently as she'd come.
"Yes! Keys!" Diego fished his own keys and wallet out of his second boot. "I hope that means cars!" He rummaged around in his suitcase and pulled out a shirt, tossing it on and haphazardly buttoning it. "Cars definitely mean leaving."
"I'll believe it when I see it," Don muttered. "You notice they didn't give us back our cell phones." He walked over to Diego to fix his errant buttons. "I just hope Inez is right and they'll let us go now that it's over."
Don paced nervously as Diego packed his remaining belongings, each passing minute making him more anxious. Diego tried to get him to sit on the bed with him once he was done, but Don had too much nervous energy to be still.
When the door opened again Diego stood abruptly, placing himself between whoever was coming through the door and Don.
"Gentlemen..." Ramon stood flanked by two of his armed goons. "If you would accompany me downstairs please."
He turned and walked out so Diego grabbed his suitcase and beckoned to Don to follow behind him.
The walk down the stairs was tense and silent, each step uncertain because their destination - and destiny - was unknown.
When Ramon headed for the foyer and the front door could be seen, both of them unconsciously stepped up their pace, adrenaline flowing at the prospect of escape.
Inez appeared out of a side room and put out her hand to someone still in the room. Senor Valdives appeared, moving very slowly, his arm in a sling.
"Diego... Don..." Even his voice seemed frail, abnormal for such a large and normally hale man. "I offer you my most profound apologies for how you have been treated in my absence..."
"Senor Valdives," Diego said forcefully, stepping forward. "There is no apology you can offer to make up for putting the man I love in harm's way. None. I only ask that you end this imprisonment this instant and allow us to leave. I do not care what reason you might give. Just let us leave. Now."
Senor Valdives nodded his head, chastened. "So be it." He gestured to the front door. "Give the gentlemen their automobiles and open the gate for them to go."
"Come on." Diego grabbed Don by the arm and pulled him out the door barely before it was open enough for them to fit through it. Both their cars were waiting outside. "We can leave yours parked on the street and come back for it later," he said, tossing his suitcase in the back of his convertible. "You can ride with me."
Don pulled out of his grasp, shaking his head. "No... Just no..." He backed away slightly. "I know I was into your bad boy image, but I never thought you were into this stuff for real. Your friends are dangerous. Your life is dangerous. These people know where I live, where I work... I... I just can't be around you. It's not safe. You're not safe."
"Don..." Diego stared at him aghast as Inez, standing at the front door started to head towards Don, only to be held back by her father. "You can't... I... But I love you!"
Don kept shaking his head as he edged towards his car. "I can't be with you. I'm sorry." He got into the SUV and peeled down the driveway and out the gate, leaving Diego standing there gaping.
He made the first turn and waited, heart pounding, until he saw Diego drive down the street - finally free.
He waited a few more seconds and saw a car following Diego go down the street after him.
+
It took about seven miles of turns and backtracking to make sure he wasn't being followed and twenty minutes of checking for bugs before Don felt comfortable enough making calls, albeit at a pay phone just in case his cell phone - left in the car for him - had been tampered with.
After making the obligatory call to the DEA he rang Megan's cell.
"Reeves."
"Megan, it's Don."
"Don! Oh my god! When they told me you went under with no notice I was worried. Are you okay? Is Diego okay?"
"We're both fine. Someone did injure Valdives so they had the whole estate locked down and under armed guard - including me when I showed up looking for Diego. Look I might be being followed and they might have planted bugs on me. Can you send me a team with sniffer equipment in an unmarked car so I can get cleared to come back in? The DEA offered, but I trust our guys more."
"Sure, no problem."
"Tell them to meet me in the Diamond parking garage on Fifth and Figueroa, level three."
"Okay, I'll set you up with a van of techs. So are you going to be stuck in this op for a while then?"
"No, I kind of extricated myself by breaking up with Diego right in front of them."
"Wow... That's one way of getting out of an undercover op as someone's boyfriend."
"The timing was right and we had an audience so it seemed perfect. They'll totally believe Don Edwards was too freaked out by the guns to stay and it will help make Diego look like he blames the Valdives clan for losing me so he'll also get a chance to stay clear of them for a while."
"Yeah, he could use some time off."
"I'm not sure how much he'll get though. Just as soon as he left they had a tail on him."
"Shit... You think they're on to him?"
Don's chest tightened.
"God, I hope not..."
+
"Okay, so we hired a moving company to move Don Edwards out of his apartment, that will happen tomorrow..." DEA Agent Arturo Ruiz, Diego's handler, checked items off a list as Don waited for his debrief to end. "We told the front you supposedly work for that you quit with no forwarding address information in case anyone asks..."
"What about Diego? You haven't told me anything about Diego," Don said impatiently.
Arturo put his checklist aside. "He's still under full time. Valdives' organization has him under surveillance so he can't risk contact. He did do a drop and the file let us know that he founds bugs in his suitcase and boot heel so he's trying to keep up the charade so he won't fall under suspicion."
"If he's been bugged and followed?" Don said acidly. "Sounds like they're already suspicious."
Arturo let out a long breath. "It's Navarro's call. He wants to stay under, finish his term. This break might get him even closer into Valdives' inner circle once it's over..."
"Or it could get him killed," Don countered.
"Agent Navarro understood the risks of this op before he signed on," Arturo replied coolly.
Don bit back a sharp barb. "We done here?"
"Just this..." He handed Don a USB drive. "Navarro sent us another file we can't open. You said the last one was for you, so this one might be as well."
"Thanks," Don muttered, already halfway out the door.
He prayed the laptop in his car had enough juice left to boot up and let him read the file. The same password as before worked even though the file name was a generic File2.
Mi corazon,
Damn, you're a good actor. When you, or rather Don Edwards, broke up with me I felt it like a kick in the chest. I didn't sleep at all that first night even though I told myself we were both safe and you only did it to extricate yourself from the undercover op.
I had hoped that once we were released I could use my anger at Valdives to get some time off work to spend with you, only now with them putting me under surveillance I'm trapped here, unable to get away as me at all. Suddenly I'm wishing, for purely selfish reasons, that you'd never broken up with me. That way we'd be stuck in this lovely dark red bedroom together and I wouldn't be missing your lips, your hands, your skin...
I am sorry that getting involved with me put you in danger and I really hope that you're out for good. I don't think I could do this anymore if I thought the cost might be your life. I couldn't bear to lose you. Our little break up scene - and the fear of what those goons might have done to you - taught me that.
So be patient, if you can, and I will attempt the same.
I wish we could talk online at least, but until I find out the extent of their surveillance on me I have to be extremely careful and stay in my role at all times.
Take care of yourself.
Yours,
Diego
Don reread the letter until the blinking battery light on his laptop warned him it was fading fast.
He shut down the computer and put the USB drive in the breast pocket of his suit coat, letting his hand linger for a moment on top of it, wishing it was another hand over his heart.
+
After a week it became easier for Don to focus on work. After two he'd thrown himself into the job so much Megan pulled him aside and asked him to go easier on them.
He resorted to spending more time at the house, but with Charlie busy prepping a seminar he was left watching ball games with his father and that wasn't enough to calm his agitated mind.
Charlie did try to help though, quoting statistics on DEA undercover operations, but it was a poor substitute for Diego. Nothing but the end of the op would quell his concerns and that could be months away given the delay the shooting caused.
He kept in touch with Diego's handler, much to the agent's annoyance, but Arturo rarely had any news. Diego had been instructed not to risk reporting in unless there was intel worth sharing, although he did have coffee at the same cafe each week - his arrangement with his handler that all was okay.
Almost a month passed before a DEA courier delivered a new USB drive.
Don carried it and his laptop into an empty conference room immediately, fumbling the device as he tried to attach it, his anxious anticipation overwhelming.
Again, the password worked.
'Mi corazon,
My handler is a lousy communicator so I'm going to have to guess he hasn't kept you up to date on the details of my op.
For a couple of weeks there Inez was coming by the apartment or sending gifts every couple of days. She was seriously campaigning to win me back and even sent gifts for you.
I kept ignoring her, but I finally just let her have it, telling her I blamed her for you leaving me and telling her I didn't want anything to do with her or her father ever again. When she continued, trying to say it wasn't her or her father's fault, I let her know I knew I was being followed. She was shocked, which tells me it might just be Ramon who authorized the surveillance, not Senor Valdives.
I didn't hear anything back from her right away, but she couriered over an envelope with a plane ticket to Mexico and prepaid hotel reservations in it. The note said basically that she was trying to get it taken care of, but until then I should just go where they can't follow.
I ran it past management and they say I should go - only not to the destination on the plane ticket. We agreed that Diego Moreno would go drown his sorrows over losing his lover, but that he'd be too proud and too smart to go where they could find him.
So I'm off to the airport in the morning, flying away somewhere. Ruiz promised to set it all up for me - getting me off the plane I'm supposed to be on via the cargo hold and getting me on to another one going elsewhere.
I have to rush to make my drop on time, but know I am impatiently awaiting being your Diego again.
Soon...
Diego'
He'd read the letter three times by the time his phone rang - a transfer from the DEA switchboard.
"Eppes..."
Megan came into the room and he held up a finger to have her wait.
"Yes."
Megan mouthed 'Diego?', but he didn't respond.
"Yes, I can do that. Thanks."
He hung up the phone and turned to her.
"Do you remember that scenario we discussed? The one where I need to leave now?"
Megan nodded. "Leave. Now."
He gave her arm a quick squeeze in gratitude.
"Thanks, really."
"No problem..."
If she said anything past that Don didn't hear, running to his desk to grab his things and bolt from the office.
+
The weather in Hawaii was perfect: warm sun with cool ocean breezes rustling the fronds of the palm trees.
"Right this way, Sir." The porter carrying Diego's suitcase brought it up the steps to his beachfront bungalow and placed it up on the porch near the sliding glass doors
"Thank you."
Diego handed him a few bills and the porter took his leave saying, "Enjoy your stay."
Diego mounted the stairs one by one, a happy smile widening on his face.
"Mi corazon..."
Don greeted him with a delighted smile of his own.
"Took you long enough to get here," he teased, reaching for Diego.
Diego enfolded him into his arms with a contented rumble. "Mmm... I missed this. I missed you..."
"Missed you too," Don murmured into Diego's neck. He inhaled deeply and let out a long breath - letting the scent and feel of his lover infuse him with warmth, expelling all the tension and worry that had come with the waiting.
"I think I owe Ruiz a nice Christmas present for not just getting you here, but getting you here before me. A neat trick," Diego marveled.
"Forget him," Don groused, his tone good-natured. "Shut up and kiss me."
A chuckle erupted from Diego, a light and carefree sound. "That I can do."
He took Don's face in his hands and kissed him soundly, both of them losing themselves in the long denied contact, letting their anticipation dissolve into longing then into passion.
When they finally parted it was with twin sighs, their breath mingling with closeness.
Diego slipped his hands under the loose white linen shirt Don had on. "How long did the FBI let you have off?"
"Long enough," Don replied, burying his hands in Diego's hair as he pulled him down for another kiss. "So no talk about going back, not tonight anyway."
Diego captured his mouth, lingering over the kiss as their lips met again and again.
"Can we discuss the possibility of taking this into the bedroom?" he murmured.
"No talking needed for that," Don told him, pulling him by the hand through the sliding glass doors.
Diego halted long enough to grab his suitcase, putting it just inside the door before letting Don pull him down to the large bed.
They tumbled onto the clean white sheets, entwining their bodies automatically.
"You really had me worried for a while there," Don admitted. "I was scared I screwed it up, that I should have warned you about what I was going to do..."
"Shh..." Diego put a finger on his lips to quiet him. "You did the best thing for everyone involved, including me. If you had warned me in advance my shock would not have been quite so convincing and you know it."
"I never meant to hurt you," Don said apologetically.
"I know and I knew it wasn't real." Diego lowered his eyes for a moment. "I can't explain why it affected me so much, but I knew in my heart you would never leave me like that."
"Never," Don agreed. "So..." His hand slid under Diego's shirt, across his stomach and chest. "Do I get to make it up to you?"
"No," Diego whispered, kissing his way down Don's neck.
"No?" Don queried, confused.
"No, because I get to go first, making all this up to you." Diego pushed him lightly to lay on his back and covered him with his body. "That work for you?"
Don wrapped his arms around Diego, reveling in the contact of their bodies, and closed his eyes, finally at peace.
"Definitely... Most definitely..."
"Good," he heard Diego purr in his ear. "Then why don't we get started..."
=
Title: Don Diego (Sequel to U is for Undercover)
Series/Universe: U is for Undercover
Pairing/Characters: Don/OMC, Charlie/Amita, Alan/Donna, Megan, David, Colby, OCs
Rating: NC17
Spoilers: Judgment Call, Soft Target, Spree, Two Daughters
Summary: Don gets tangled up in his new DEA boyfriend's dangerous undercover op
Notes/Warnings: Read the disclaimer on my LJ
After a quick shower they fell into bed and slept soundly despite their captivity, Don exhausted from sleepless nights of worrying. When he woke at dawn, confused and somewhat panicked, Diego shushed him and pulled him back under the covers, soothing him until they slept again.
When the breakfast knock came at the door Diego hurriedly found his pajama bottoms and tossed Don a pair of his sweatpants from a drawer to put on.
This time the tray had been set for two.
They ate mostly in silence, stealing bits of food off each other's plates with a familiarity that belied their short time together.
They took a second shower, longer this time, letting the white noise of the spray cover up the whispered words of endearment that were for no one's ears but their own.
Don dressed in his clothes from the night before and Diego put on the sole pair of jeans they'd let him keep, the hems dragging along the carpet since they'd taken his boots.
They stood staring out the window for a long time, Diego's long arms wrapped around Don as he leaned back against the warmth of Diego's bare chest.
A ruckus outside their bedroom door put them both instantly on alert. Don missed his gun and found himself looking around the room for something to use as a weapon. Diego put out a hand to calm him, vetoing the idea of violence with a mere glance and gesture.
The door flew open and Inez burst in.
"Diego!"
She ran right to him and threw her arms around his neck.
"Inez? What's going on?"
"I'm so sorry!"
He carefully extracted her and held her at arms length, speaking sternly.
"Inez, your father is keeping Don and I prisoner here. You have to tell me what's going on."
"It's not my father!" Inez protested, her eyes watery. "It's one of his men, Ramon. My father got shot so Ramon just locked everyone up - he locked me up! He didn't even let me see my father until this morning. Diego, my father never would have done this. He knows you! I know you! I've known you for like years now! You'd never be involved with anyone trying to hurt him!"
"Of course not!" Diego said. "But Inez, these men have guns. They could have killed Don for just coming to check on me!"
Inez finally turned her attention to Don. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for you to get caught up in this - neither of you. My father is a powerful man, with many enemies, and one of them got a traitor into our house."
"So this was an inside job?" Don asked.
"No, but someone on the inside had to disable security enough for the shooter to get on the grounds. Ramon told me this morning he knows who it is. That's why he let me out."
The unmistakable sound of a gunshot was heard downstairs and all three of them reacted in shock: Diego clutching a startled Inez closer and Don moving to join them, drawing them further away from the door.
"Inez, we didn't do this," Diego told her. "We had nothing to do with it."
"I know. And Ramon knows it's not you."
"I think we may have just heard Ramon dealing with whoever it was," Don said darkly.
+
After Inez left - swearing to do her best to get them passage to leave - the maid who normally brought Diego his meals arrived with his suitcase and his boots.
"Shoes! Man, I never thought I'd miss wearing them until I didn't have any." Diego sat on the bed to pull on his boots as the timid woman approached Don. Wordlessly she pulled his keys and wallet out of her apron pocket and handed them to him.
"Muchas gracias," he told her, nodding his head in gratitude.
She merely nodded her head in return, a movement so slight it was barely noticeable, then exited as silently as she'd come.
"Yes! Keys!" Diego fished his own keys and wallet out of his second boot. "I hope that means cars!" He rummaged around in his suitcase and pulled out a shirt, tossing it on and haphazardly buttoning it. "Cars definitely mean leaving."
"I'll believe it when I see it," Don muttered. "You notice they didn't give us back our cell phones." He walked over to Diego to fix his errant buttons. "I just hope Inez is right and they'll let us go now that it's over."
Don paced nervously as Diego packed his remaining belongings, each passing minute making him more anxious. Diego tried to get him to sit on the bed with him once he was done, but Don had too much nervous energy to be still.
When the door opened again Diego stood abruptly, placing himself between whoever was coming through the door and Don.
"Gentlemen..." Ramon stood flanked by two of his armed goons. "If you would accompany me downstairs please."
He turned and walked out so Diego grabbed his suitcase and beckoned to Don to follow behind him.
The walk down the stairs was tense and silent, each step uncertain because their destination - and destiny - was unknown.
When Ramon headed for the foyer and the front door could be seen, both of them unconsciously stepped up their pace, adrenaline flowing at the prospect of escape.
Inez appeared out of a side room and put out her hand to someone still in the room. Senor Valdives appeared, moving very slowly, his arm in a sling.
"Diego... Don..." Even his voice seemed frail, abnormal for such a large and normally hale man. "I offer you my most profound apologies for how you have been treated in my absence..."
"Senor Valdives," Diego said forcefully, stepping forward. "There is no apology you can offer to make up for putting the man I love in harm's way. None. I only ask that you end this imprisonment this instant and allow us to leave. I do not care what reason you might give. Just let us leave. Now."
Senor Valdives nodded his head, chastened. "So be it." He gestured to the front door. "Give the gentlemen their automobiles and open the gate for them to go."
"Come on." Diego grabbed Don by the arm and pulled him out the door barely before it was open enough for them to fit through it. Both their cars were waiting outside. "We can leave yours parked on the street and come back for it later," he said, tossing his suitcase in the back of his convertible. "You can ride with me."
Don pulled out of his grasp, shaking his head. "No... Just no..." He backed away slightly. "I know I was into your bad boy image, but I never thought you were into this stuff for real. Your friends are dangerous. Your life is dangerous. These people know where I live, where I work... I... I just can't be around you. It's not safe. You're not safe."
"Don..." Diego stared at him aghast as Inez, standing at the front door started to head towards Don, only to be held back by her father. "You can't... I... But I love you!"
Don kept shaking his head as he edged towards his car. "I can't be with you. I'm sorry." He got into the SUV and peeled down the driveway and out the gate, leaving Diego standing there gaping.
He made the first turn and waited, heart pounding, until he saw Diego drive down the street - finally free.
He waited a few more seconds and saw a car following Diego go down the street after him.
+
It took about seven miles of turns and backtracking to make sure he wasn't being followed and twenty minutes of checking for bugs before Don felt comfortable enough making calls, albeit at a pay phone just in case his cell phone - left in the car for him - had been tampered with.
After making the obligatory call to the DEA he rang Megan's cell.
"Reeves."
"Megan, it's Don."
"Don! Oh my god! When they told me you went under with no notice I was worried. Are you okay? Is Diego okay?"
"We're both fine. Someone did injure Valdives so they had the whole estate locked down and under armed guard - including me when I showed up looking for Diego. Look I might be being followed and they might have planted bugs on me. Can you send me a team with sniffer equipment in an unmarked car so I can get cleared to come back in? The DEA offered, but I trust our guys more."
"Sure, no problem."
"Tell them to meet me in the Diamond parking garage on Fifth and Figueroa, level three."
"Okay, I'll set you up with a van of techs. So are you going to be stuck in this op for a while then?"
"No, I kind of extricated myself by breaking up with Diego right in front of them."
"Wow... That's one way of getting out of an undercover op as someone's boyfriend."
"The timing was right and we had an audience so it seemed perfect. They'll totally believe Don Edwards was too freaked out by the guns to stay and it will help make Diego look like he blames the Valdives clan for losing me so he'll also get a chance to stay clear of them for a while."
"Yeah, he could use some time off."
"I'm not sure how much he'll get though. Just as soon as he left they had a tail on him."
"Shit... You think they're on to him?"
Don's chest tightened.
"God, I hope not..."
+
"Okay, so we hired a moving company to move Don Edwards out of his apartment, that will happen tomorrow..." DEA Agent Arturo Ruiz, Diego's handler, checked items off a list as Don waited for his debrief to end. "We told the front you supposedly work for that you quit with no forwarding address information in case anyone asks..."
"What about Diego? You haven't told me anything about Diego," Don said impatiently.
Arturo put his checklist aside. "He's still under full time. Valdives' organization has him under surveillance so he can't risk contact. He did do a drop and the file let us know that he founds bugs in his suitcase and boot heel so he's trying to keep up the charade so he won't fall under suspicion."
"If he's been bugged and followed?" Don said acidly. "Sounds like they're already suspicious."
Arturo let out a long breath. "It's Navarro's call. He wants to stay under, finish his term. This break might get him even closer into Valdives' inner circle once it's over..."
"Or it could get him killed," Don countered.
"Agent Navarro understood the risks of this op before he signed on," Arturo replied coolly.
Don bit back a sharp barb. "We done here?"
"Just this..." He handed Don a USB drive. "Navarro sent us another file we can't open. You said the last one was for you, so this one might be as well."
"Thanks," Don muttered, already halfway out the door.
He prayed the laptop in his car had enough juice left to boot up and let him read the file. The same password as before worked even though the file name was a generic File2.
Mi corazon,
Damn, you're a good actor. When you, or rather Don Edwards, broke up with me I felt it like a kick in the chest. I didn't sleep at all that first night even though I told myself we were both safe and you only did it to extricate yourself from the undercover op.
I had hoped that once we were released I could use my anger at Valdives to get some time off work to spend with you, only now with them putting me under surveillance I'm trapped here, unable to get away as me at all. Suddenly I'm wishing, for purely selfish reasons, that you'd never broken up with me. That way we'd be stuck in this lovely dark red bedroom together and I wouldn't be missing your lips, your hands, your skin...
I am sorry that getting involved with me put you in danger and I really hope that you're out for good. I don't think I could do this anymore if I thought the cost might be your life. I couldn't bear to lose you. Our little break up scene - and the fear of what those goons might have done to you - taught me that.
So be patient, if you can, and I will attempt the same.
I wish we could talk online at least, but until I find out the extent of their surveillance on me I have to be extremely careful and stay in my role at all times.
Take care of yourself.
Yours,
Diego
Don reread the letter until the blinking battery light on his laptop warned him it was fading fast.
He shut down the computer and put the USB drive in the breast pocket of his suit coat, letting his hand linger for a moment on top of it, wishing it was another hand over his heart.
+
After a week it became easier for Don to focus on work. After two he'd thrown himself into the job so much Megan pulled him aside and asked him to go easier on them.
He resorted to spending more time at the house, but with Charlie busy prepping a seminar he was left watching ball games with his father and that wasn't enough to calm his agitated mind.
Charlie did try to help though, quoting statistics on DEA undercover operations, but it was a poor substitute for Diego. Nothing but the end of the op would quell his concerns and that could be months away given the delay the shooting caused.
He kept in touch with Diego's handler, much to the agent's annoyance, but Arturo rarely had any news. Diego had been instructed not to risk reporting in unless there was intel worth sharing, although he did have coffee at the same cafe each week - his arrangement with his handler that all was okay.
Almost a month passed before a DEA courier delivered a new USB drive.
Don carried it and his laptop into an empty conference room immediately, fumbling the device as he tried to attach it, his anxious anticipation overwhelming.
Again, the password worked.
'Mi corazon,
My handler is a lousy communicator so I'm going to have to guess he hasn't kept you up to date on the details of my op.
For a couple of weeks there Inez was coming by the apartment or sending gifts every couple of days. She was seriously campaigning to win me back and even sent gifts for you.
I kept ignoring her, but I finally just let her have it, telling her I blamed her for you leaving me and telling her I didn't want anything to do with her or her father ever again. When she continued, trying to say it wasn't her or her father's fault, I let her know I knew I was being followed. She was shocked, which tells me it might just be Ramon who authorized the surveillance, not Senor Valdives.
I didn't hear anything back from her right away, but she couriered over an envelope with a plane ticket to Mexico and prepaid hotel reservations in it. The note said basically that she was trying to get it taken care of, but until then I should just go where they can't follow.
I ran it past management and they say I should go - only not to the destination on the plane ticket. We agreed that Diego Moreno would go drown his sorrows over losing his lover, but that he'd be too proud and too smart to go where they could find him.
So I'm off to the airport in the morning, flying away somewhere. Ruiz promised to set it all up for me - getting me off the plane I'm supposed to be on via the cargo hold and getting me on to another one going elsewhere.
I have to rush to make my drop on time, but know I am impatiently awaiting being your Diego again.
Soon...
Diego'
He'd read the letter three times by the time his phone rang - a transfer from the DEA switchboard.
"Eppes..."
Megan came into the room and he held up a finger to have her wait.
"Yes."
Megan mouthed 'Diego?', but he didn't respond.
"Yes, I can do that. Thanks."
He hung up the phone and turned to her.
"Do you remember that scenario we discussed? The one where I need to leave now?"
Megan nodded. "Leave. Now."
He gave her arm a quick squeeze in gratitude.
"Thanks, really."
"No problem..."
If she said anything past that Don didn't hear, running to his desk to grab his things and bolt from the office.
+
The weather in Hawaii was perfect: warm sun with cool ocean breezes rustling the fronds of the palm trees.
"Right this way, Sir." The porter carrying Diego's suitcase brought it up the steps to his beachfront bungalow and placed it up on the porch near the sliding glass doors
"Thank you."
Diego handed him a few bills and the porter took his leave saying, "Enjoy your stay."
Diego mounted the stairs one by one, a happy smile widening on his face.
"Mi corazon..."
Don greeted him with a delighted smile of his own.
"Took you long enough to get here," he teased, reaching for Diego.
Diego enfolded him into his arms with a contented rumble. "Mmm... I missed this. I missed you..."
"Missed you too," Don murmured into Diego's neck. He inhaled deeply and let out a long breath - letting the scent and feel of his lover infuse him with warmth, expelling all the tension and worry that had come with the waiting.
"I think I owe Ruiz a nice Christmas present for not just getting you here, but getting you here before me. A neat trick," Diego marveled.
"Forget him," Don groused, his tone good-natured. "Shut up and kiss me."
A chuckle erupted from Diego, a light and carefree sound. "That I can do."
He took Don's face in his hands and kissed him soundly, both of them losing themselves in the long denied contact, letting their anticipation dissolve into longing then into passion.
When they finally parted it was with twin sighs, their breath mingling with closeness.
Diego slipped his hands under the loose white linen shirt Don had on. "How long did the FBI let you have off?"
"Long enough," Don replied, burying his hands in Diego's hair as he pulled him down for another kiss. "So no talk about going back, not tonight anyway."
Diego captured his mouth, lingering over the kiss as their lips met again and again.
"Can we discuss the possibility of taking this into the bedroom?" he murmured.
"No talking needed for that," Don told him, pulling him by the hand through the sliding glass doors.
Diego halted long enough to grab his suitcase, putting it just inside the door before letting Don pull him down to the large bed.
They tumbled onto the clean white sheets, entwining their bodies automatically.
"You really had me worried for a while there," Don admitted. "I was scared I screwed it up, that I should have warned you about what I was going to do..."
"Shh..." Diego put a finger on his lips to quiet him. "You did the best thing for everyone involved, including me. If you had warned me in advance my shock would not have been quite so convincing and you know it."
"I never meant to hurt you," Don said apologetically.
"I know and I knew it wasn't real." Diego lowered his eyes for a moment. "I can't explain why it affected me so much, but I knew in my heart you would never leave me like that."
"Never," Don agreed. "So..." His hand slid under Diego's shirt, across his stomach and chest. "Do I get to make it up to you?"
"No," Diego whispered, kissing his way down Don's neck.
"No?" Don queried, confused.
"No, because I get to go first, making all this up to you." Diego pushed him lightly to lay on his back and covered him with his body. "That work for you?"
Don wrapped his arms around Diego, reveling in the contact of their bodies, and closed his eyes, finally at peace.
"Definitely... Most definitely..."
"Good," he heard Diego purr in his ear. "Then why don't we get started..."
=