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He never thought that Five would help him.
Of course, Diego knew that Five could be an incredible asset in the field, he was more dangerous and ready that he'd ever been, and let's face it, Diego knew that Five could come up with plans and trategies that he never would. He wasn't dumb, his brother was simply smarter than almost everyone.
He was also a rude little bastard, and Diego didn't think he cared enough to tell him about anything he could do to improve his "patroling" around the city.
But he did it. Lo and behold, he did it.
It was one time when Diego had returned quite roughed up from an encounter with a human trafficking ring. They'd beat the shit ut of him and he hadn't been able to stop the operation, that was going to happen in a couple of days.
As he came back home (they had better medical supplies), he ran into Five, who, of course, was not sleeping even if it was the middle of the night. He just had a coffee cup with him, and a book on dark matter, and hmmmd disapporvingly at Diego.
"...what did you do to yourself?"
Diego told him, and surprisingly enough, Five got the first aid kit, told him to sit in front of him and started patching him up, with marked gentleness. How...? Why...?
"I can come with you the day of the actual op." he said "But you will have to listen to me, all right? I have ways to sneak up on them, neautralise the armed guards, but I need us to be on the same page."
Diego felt as if he received an early christmas present, or birthday present, or both. Five was not berating him for being useless or trying to change the unchangeable, but actually offering to help, to save this op.
"Sure, yeah, thanks, man."
Five was able to stitch with a grace and an efficiency that were bordering on scary. They didn't give medical training in the commission, Diego knew, just some rudimentary "if you get hurt make sure the briefcase gets back to us" comments. And they hadn't learnt that much before he disappeared. Which meant... which meant somehow Five learnt on his own. Which meant all the practice he got had been when he'd been alone. Diego tried not to think too much about it.
Five's plan, was, unsurprisingly, quite clever.
Although at times it bugged him (he didn't want to be number two, he wanted to be the leader!), Diego followed Five's instructions and even while recovering from injuries, he managed to get everyone on their knees and handcuffed with some zip ties. When the police arrived, Five was nowhere to be found, which was probably smart too, since they already disliked him enough, if they thought he'd got a kid involved...
Ever since that first night, Diego tried to enlist Five's help whenever possible. Even though he still very much valued his independence and didn't want to follow orders, the truth was that Five understood the crime world better, and knew how to sneak up and disappear, get the bad guys with the least amount of bloodshed and injuries as possible.
They were a team, and Diego was suddenly really glad that Five had been awake that first night.
His brother wasn't just good at thinking, but also at fighting. He had Diego's back, he could blink him out of the way of bullets he hadn't seen, he could get people off his tail. And the fact that he looked like a kid only worked in their favour - people lowered their guard around him, or got distracted by some stray kid in the middle of their crime-ing.
Not everything was great, though. Diego was painfully aware of the fact that Five's power had a limit, and then when he reached it he was just an excessively tired skinny boy that could be brutalised easily. He tried to always keep an eye on Five, but it was really goddamn difficult with Five being a damn teleporter.
Still... it was a dangerous game they were playing and one of those days one of them was really going to get hurt.
Diego hadn't realised what strong self-sacrificing tendencies Five had, what with him leaving him alone after he'd been shanked, and then just casually mentioning "oh, you're not dead". He'd been pissed about that, but now he remembered that Five had been hurt too, that his neck had been bleeding. Maybe that was why he hadn't come?
Anyways, the truth was that he didn't think Five would put himself in the way of bullets for him. And yet... yet he did. (Why wouldn't he though? When he drained himself to get Diego out of the way of bullets? When he went to see his other self even if it was super bad for you and had to fight himself to try and get them a way back home?)
He hadn't seen it.
They were taking down some gang members that had forcing poor people out of their homes and then asking for money so the could come back and live in them. Eight-ten guys, baseball bats, some small guns, bad sense of humour (what's this Batman and Robin are going to stop us?)
Diego had been preoccupied with too many things at once and hadn't seen the guy appearing out of the shadows with modified shotgun that shot several bullets at once aimed at his chest.
Five got him out of the way with a breathless warning.
Five got shot in the chest.
"No, no, no, no!"
In a fit of anger, Diego threw all of his knives, managing to get every guy except for all a couple of them that run away.
Now he was cradling Five in his arms, as he bled out, his chest blown to smithereeens, blood everywhere.
"No, Five, no!"
And what was he supposed to do? Medical help was too far, he was not going to make it, and the damage was too extensive... He was crying, as he cradled Five closer.
"I c-c-an't h-he-help you" was the only thing that came out.
Five's blue eyes focused for a second and....
A flash of blue. The mansion.
Diego was screaming bloody murder to get help.
After a harrowing ten hours, all that Grace could tell him was that she dug out all the metal from his chest, and that he seemed stable.
Diego stayed near his bedside, even if there were still many hours until Five woke up.
Had he been too selfish, wanting Five's help? No matter how dangerous a man he was, he was in a kid's body, and couldn't take the abuse as well as an adult would.
"I f-f-failed you."
Five had been there a lot for him lately, got him out of trouble, out of jail, out of the trickiest situations. And now... Now he was lying in bed, chest full of scars and bandages, broken. The hours seemed millenia, as he waited for some movement, for something. And he put Five there, he who had done so much to save them... Diego hadn't thought that Five would want to help him, and now he'd nearly given his life for him.
"...not... not your Robin..." a small voice from the bed, and Diego's teary face smiled. Was he back?
"Of course not, hey!"
"No sidekicks, we're equals now, remember? Team zero."
Five half smiled, probably lost in a world of painkillers.
"We're equals." Diego said. "I'm Batman and you're.... the Flash."
Five seemed to like the notion, but then his eyes got serious as he looked at Diego.
"....you didn't fail me, Batman... wh'n ya save the world, sometim's y' get hurt."
Wow, high up on painkillers Five was a really nice Five.
"I know. Still hate that you got hurt and I couldn't stop you."
"s all right... Gon sleep now. Y' sleep too, Batman. G'night."
Was Diego crying again?
Maybe.
But hey, they had saved the day, no one was dying...
And even batmans can cry.