#jes.fic

[thiswildernessismyhome]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

The door explodes. “Honey, I’m home,” Rio calls out as she stalks inside, a huntress, a predator scanning the room for her prey. A few centuries ago, Rio never would have described herself as vengeful. Death isn’t angry, doesn’t hold grudges, isn’t kind or unkind – Death simply is. Flowers bloom and wilt, leaves turn brown and fall into soil to rot, and humans live until they die. It’s the natural order of things, and Rio’s job is simply to keep the cycle turning. There was never any spite to it, no bitterness or hostility. And then she met Agatha Harkness.

Rio just wants one conversation with Agatha. One.

And if she has to trap them both in a time loop to make it happen, so be it.

[thiswildernessismyhome]

Chapter 13:

“Why would you come here?”

Agatha gives her a wan smile as she allows Rio to pull her into the dining room.

“I told you. I missed you.”

“Right.” Rio pulls out a chair and motions for Agatha to sit down. “Just… don’t move.”

Agatha collapses into the seat and lets her head fall back, closing her eyes again. “Where would I go?”

Which sounds to Rio an awful lot like I’ve got you exactly where I want you.

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FBI Agent Rio Vidal is obsessed with hunting down serial killer Agatha Harkness. Unfortunately for her, the feeling is mutual:

Agatha's a lit match, and Rio's got a whole life ready to burn.

Read on AO3

[thiswildernessismyhome]

Agatha inspects Rio with predatory eyes, eyes that are shrewd, starving. She’s a murderer, Rio thinks – but she doesn’t fight. She stays perfectly still as Agatha leans in. Stays still as she runs her lips up the curve of Rio’s neck, feather-light and agonizing.

“Don’t you want me to have fun with you?” Agatha murmurs, breath warm in her ear.

Agatha’s a lit match. Rio’s got a whole life ready to burn.

A Killing Eve-style AU.

[thiswildernessismyhome]

Chapter 12:

Agatha hadn't believed Rio would hurt her – neither of them had, not really, not until the knife slid its way past skin and muscle and nestled itself deep inside her viscera. Then they knew, both of them.

Like Rio knows that Agatha is alive: with a certainty in the shape of a wound.

What she doesn't know is what it means. Whether she needs to hide or fight; whether she’ll have a choice, in the end. But she can feel her out there – ghost, wraith, witch, the enemy at the gate. Inevitable as she's always been. Still toying with her. Still playing the game.

So what are you going to do about it?

---

FBI Agent Rio Vidal is obsessed with hunting down serial killer Agatha Harkness. Unfortunately for her, the feeling is mutual:

Agatha's a lit match, and Rio's got a whole life ready to burn.

Read on AO3

[thiswildernessismyhome]

Chapter 9:

“Hello,” Jen says, snapping her fingers in front of Rio’s face. "You're doing that thing again."

"What thing?"

"That thousand-yard stare thing." Jen hits the elevator button. “I swear, you walk around looking like a haunted Victorian child half the time.”

Rio’s too exhausted to muster up a snarky retort. “I’m just thinking about the case."

"Harkness, or the new guy?"

Same thing, she thinks. There’s just the one.

“New guy."

“Yeah. Contract killer should be fun. I wonder who did it,” Jen says as the elevator arrives. “I mean, you don't just stumble into beating the shit out of a professional hitman.”

Rio steps into the elevator, the walls suddenly feeling very close.

“No,” she says. “I guess you don’t.”

---

FBI Agent Rio Vidal is obsessed with hunting down serial killer Agatha Harkness. Unfortunately for her, the feeling is mutual:

Agatha's a lit match, and Rio's got a whole life ready to burn.

Read on AO3

[thiswildernessismyhome]

Chapter 5:

"There’s this, I don’t know… freedom,” Rio says. She remembers the bite of metal on her wrists, the feeling of Agatha’s hands twisted in her hair. You don’t have to pretend with me, baby. “Serial killers take what they want when they want it. The only boundaries they have are the ones they choose. It's kind of enviable, when you think about it.”

Silence stretches between them, broken only by the ambient horror movie soundtrack and the distant sounds of other players. Wanda is looking at Rio like she's seeing her for the first time, and not necessarily in a good way.

“That’s…” Wanda clears her throat. “An unusual way to think about murderers.”

Read on AO3

[Shout out to @ennn for the new banner! Thank you, friend! <3]

[thiswildernessismyhome]

Chapter 10:

She turns to find Wanda and Agatha settling into their seats. Rio had arranged the place settings deliberately – two on one side of the rectangular table, one on the other. She'd put her martini glass down at one of the two. She’d like a lot more than a table separating Agatha from Wanda, but it's a start.

Except her martini glass has moved, replaced with Agatha’s red wine glass. And seated right next to Wanda, of course, is Agatha.

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FBI Agent Rio Vidal is obsessed with hunting down serial killer Agatha Harkness. Unfortunately for her, the feeling is mutual:

Agatha's a lit match, and Rio's got a whole life ready to burn.

Read on AO3

[thiswildernessismyhome]

Chapter 4:

“Admit it,” Agatha says softly, taking a small step toward Rio. “You’re happy to see me. Isn’t this every FBI agent’s dream? To play cat and mouse with someone like me?” “I don’t think you can call it ‘cat and mouse’ when the mouse just keeps following the cat around,” Rio says flatly, and Agatha grins. “Aww. It’s cute you think you’re the cat.”

Read on AO3