Chapter 4: Jurassic Park is Frightening in the Dark
Pairing: Agatha Harkness x Rio Vidal
Characters: Paleontologist!Agatha x Paleontologist/Death!Rio, Wanda, Various MCU Characters, Various Jurassic Park/World Characters, Evanora Harkness, Vision, Others.
Warnings: Angst, Hurt/not much comfort, mention of kids, sass, probably crime, morally gay/gray Agatha, canon typical violence, murder, check the new tags on Ao3
Other: May have taken (or will take) some liberties with science, emotional roller coaster, DINOSAURS.
Word Count: 26.6kish
Based on an ask/prompt from @distilledsilence
Summary:
It's been five years. The anticipated Jurassic Park has opened on Isla Dunblar. Agatha and a few others head out to spend a week observing, collecting data, and ensuring everything is ready for public viewing.
What happens when Rio is there, and they are forced to face their feelings? What happened in the past five years, and why is Rio so different?
What happens when everything goes so horribly wrong within hours?
A/N: @hannah-0730 is the most amazing person ever. Complete note on Ao3
Characters: Paleontologist!Agatha x Paleontologist/Death!Rio, Wanda, Ralph, Eternity, Jennifer Kale, Alice Wu, Lilia Calderu, Pietro, Evanora Harkness, others mentioned.
Warnings: Angst, Hurt/not much comfort, mention of kids, sass, probably crime, morally gay/gray Agatha, canon typical violence
Other: Random Jurassic Park (original) characters. May have taken (or will take) some liberties with science, emotional roller coaster, less focused on the dinosaur aspect in this chapter, though chapter four will get back to that.
Word Count: 7,289
Based on an ask/prompt from @distilledsilence
Summary: The fallout. Rio learns some of the truth. Agatha and Wanda handle some family business, and Agatha tries to explain herself.
A/N: I split this into two chapters - so much more dinosaur content next chapter. Eternity is played by Mila Kunis. Comments/Likes/Reblogs are awesome and such.
Ch. 1 Ch. 2
“A witch?” Rio regarded Ellie skeptically, “I am a woman of science.”
“So am I!” Ellie insisted. “But I’ve seen it! She uses herbs and incantations to make things happen!”
Rio shook her head, exasperated. “She practiced Wicca and had an obsession with the Craft when she was younger. Now she enjoys TikTok witchery,” she scoffed. Glancing at her phone when it vibrated.
Agatha
Whenever you need the jet, one is there for you.
The number came immediately after. Rio considered declining the offer; her magick wasn’t strong enough to portal and Agatha had stranded her. She refused to respond, deciding to schedule her flight as soon as she got rid of Ellie.
“It’s more than that. Runes, hex bags, wards.” Ellie continued
Rio kept her face neutral. That was slightly more advanced for your run-of-the-mill middle-aged woman who never got over her obsession with the Owens sisters. Then again, Agatha was anything but average or run-of-the-mill.
“Don’t you want to know what was so important that she stole research?” Ellie asked.
“No.” Rio answered with finality. “I want to hear it from her. If I decide to ever speak to her again.” Rio glanced around the apartment, memories of Agatha overtaking her.
“Now, please leave. I have a flight to catch.”
Ellie left with a sigh. “I’m just trying to save you the years of pain I went through.”
Rio scoffed, “Too late.”
Once the door was closed behind her, she dialed the number for the private jet service.
She had to put Oxford behind her, and quickly. She needed the two people on Earth whom she had known the longest. She needed to break down in the comfort of her own home, call out to her sisters to see what was wrong with her, and most importantly—she wanted to wrap herself in the stupid shirt Agatha had left, eat ice cream, and cry.
She really had become human.
🦕🦖🦕
Los Angeles, California
Roughly 2 p.m. (time zones)
Harkness Mansion
The two witches stepped out of the portal into the enchanted basement of the sprawling mansion, greeted by a spitfire of an old woman.
“I’ve seen slugs move faster.” Lilia Calderu assessed in a judgmental but loving tone from where she sat in the corner. “How’d Rio take the news?”
Agatha’s expression was remorseful before rage at the situation took over. She stormed forward, still wearing the dress from the banquet, the runes etched into her skin flaring violet. She flitted between different shelves, disappearing into the dark shadows of the basement, gathering herbs, ancient bowls, and various vials.
Wanda followed shortly behind, sidling up next to Lilia. “Not well. What happened here?”
“It was maybe an hour ago?” Lilia recounted. “The boys were in the playroom when they collapsed. The school called Ralph at work.” Lilia’s words were watery. “Nicholas and Lilith had seizures during recess and were unresponsive. All four children are at Cedars now. Kale came immediately.” Lilia stood next to Wanda, watching Agatha lay out various ingredients on the alchemist's table.
Wanda arched an eyebrow. “Jen portaled? She hates portaling.”
“The things we do in emergencies,” Agatha mumbled, furiously grinding herbs together with a worn mortar and pestle.
“Yes, well.” Lilia gestured around them. “Jen made Alice stay back. Told her it was an important client in Seattle. She still doesn’t know.” Lilia watched the runes on Agatha’s skin burn brighter through her clothing. “How did you keep those hidden for so long?”
“Between Wanda and me, the place was heavily warded. Combined with the glamour I was using—meds from Jen to restore my own magick—it just came together. Rio’s own power diminishing.” Agatha grimaced, mumbling in guilt. She flicked her fingers—the bowl bursting into flames while she chanted in Latin. “Alright, Superstar, summon it.”
Wanda closed her eyes and reached her hand out. Lilia couldn’t suppress a smile as she watched the book floating from the shadows. These two women she helped raise, having come to this point in their magickal journeys.
“You recovered it?” Lilia’s voice was threaded with pride.
“In South Africa.” Wanda answered, sending the book to the table. “Oxford laid claim before Agatha could.”
“Wanda here,” Agatha flashed a smile at the younger witch. “Did an amazing job of locating and rescuing the feisty thing. Couldn’t have done it better myself.” Her smile turned into a smirk. “Even seduced a pretty girl in the meantime.”
Agatha took the book, letting it fall open to the page it deemed necessary. She quickly absorbed the words before placing the cursed book in a pocket dimension for safekeeping.
“We found a way to activate her powers as the Scarlet Witch and bring mine to their full potential, essentially sharing the powers of the Darkhold.
Granted,” she strained the liquid. “We won’t be fully juiced up until the ritual is performed.” She explained, pouring the potion into eight separate vials, packed them into a bag, and led the way out of the basement.
“Lilia, go to Rio when she lands. She needs you.” She glanced nervously over her shoulder, wishing she could be the one to comfort the woman.
“Remember, she doesn’t know that we’re connected. When she does connect the dots, make sure she knows that you weren’t helping me with this and that you never betrayed her.” Agatha’s lip trembled as the adrenaline wavered.
“I can’t hurt her anymore.” Her stilettos tapped harshly with each step as she crossed the ground floor to the stairs.
“She told you, didn’t she?” Lilia called after her softly.
Agatha nodded. “After she found out that I gave her research to Ellie, it just came out.”
She took a sharp breath. “I said it back, but it was too late. She probably doesn’t believe me.” She hurried up the stairs, somehow graceful in the otherwise inconvenient footwear.
“I can’t just randomly show up when she hasn’t told me yet.” Lilia finally responded to Agatha’s earlier order.
Wanda shrugged behind them, “She’ll call. I can even tell you exactly when, if you want.” She gloated.
“You’re going to be insufferable, little witch.” Lilia scoffed.
“You would be too, if you were a cosmic being,” Wanda smirked.
“That’s a misuse of your powers, Red.” Agatha scolded.
They could have easily snapped their fingers to change clothes, but they knew they needed to settle their nerves first—before chaos broke out at one of the world’s most prestigious hospitals.
Agatha looked at her phone for the seventeenth time. She let out a shaky breath and ran a hand through her hair. Falling for Rio hadn’t been the plan—or had it? She sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the infernal device, thinking back on words Lilia had said to her over the years, prophesies, readings, always the same.
She practically flew out of her room. Now dressed casually in sneakers, she jogged down the stairs, clutching her bag. “Lilia!” She shouted for the ancient woman. “Where are you, you old bat?” She skidded to a halt in front of Wanda and Lilia, waiting at the door.
“Yes, dear?” Lilia glanced up, eyes gleaming with that pretentious all-knowing look.
“What did you mean when you said my soul was marked for death?”
The left corner of Lilia’s lips twitched. “Well, the contract spells that out quite clearly. You'd better go, the children…”
“No! It had a double meaning, didn’t it? I’m marked for her.”
Lilia hummed, opening the door with a flick of her wrist. “Go, save the day. We’ll worry about mending hearts later.”
Agatha shot her a look as Wanda dragged her to the car, the door closing behind them.
All of those nights whispering ‘mine’ into Rio’s hair, asking Rio who she belonged to, had been a lie. A delusion. Rio didn’t belong to Agatha any more than animals belong to people.
No, she was the one who belonged to Rio, and Jen hadn’t bothered picking up on that particular mark. She switched lanes and cut someone off, the sound of a horn blaring at her. As much as she craved control in all situations, was that really a bad thing? Did she really hate the idea of belonging to her lover?
That was something to be unpacked when lives were not on the line.
Agatha sped toward the hospital, knuckles white on the steering wheel. “I know I’m running on adrenaline, but I thought I’d be more panicky. Still, I’m worried about the kids.”
Wanda put a comforting hand on Agatha’s shoulder. “You’ve always been good in a crisis,” she reassured. “Beyond that, it’s anti-climactic. We’re almost fully powered. We have antidotes that are powered by Death herself. Kale is working her magick. We won.”
Wanda looked at her phone when it buzzed. “Lilia just got the call from Rio. She’s headed to New York. Ian and Pietro intercepted Evanora, so she’s detained in Munich. We’re in, we do witchy things, and we’re done.” Wanda reached over and squeezed Agatha’s hand. “And you can grovel for your woman to forgive you. At least you know she can’t kill you…herself.”
They breezed through the hospital easily, recognized by most of the staff, as they journeyed toward the private surgical suite their family had taken over. A few sympathetic glances thrown their way.
“How are they?” Agatha asked, stepping into the surgical theater and over to where the kids lay on hospital beds in a circle, their heads centered, monitors and IVs attached.
Wanda did the same.
Ralph joined the two witches in the center of the circle. “They’re currently comatose, but not fully. Kind of like a Sleeping Beauty state.”
Agatha looked to the corner where Vision sat frozen in a chair, a slight improvement from normal if she said so herself.
Wanda followed her stare and quickly turned to Jennifer. “What did you do to my husband?”
Jen, who had taken Agatha’s bag and begun mixing the vials with her own concoctions, looked up at Wanda. “I don’t trust him. He has the personality of dry paint.”
“I told you,” Agatha responded dryly, hands rubbing soothing circles on a shoulder of each of her offspring. “He’s hiding something. No one is that robotic.”
“By the way, when my wife finds out about this. You’re paying for the divorce, AND helping me win her back.” Jen glared while filling eight syringes.
“Please, when she finds out how much I’ve been paying you, she’ll forget about it.” Agatha flipped her hair behind her shoulder, more nervous tick than anything.
“Money doesn’t buy trust, Agatha.” Jen looked straight at Agatha, willing her to understand how serious of a betrayal this was.
“Moving on, we’re going to inject each of you with this, and Pietro, when he gets here. Right now, you need to conjure the original contract and do your spellwork.” Jen held up a syringe before setting it down. “Once the spell is said, the antidote is activated and the contract breaks,” she rushed. “Marks,” she handed two antidotes to Ralph. “Dissolve from your very souls, new ones replace them; etched into your souls and bones this time.”
“This room is already masked—runed too. Anyone who comes in or looks inside, it looks like we’re doing a routine appendectomy.” Ralph added. “Just in case.”
Jen nodded. “With this part done, you’re free to move on to the last step.”
Agatha sucked in a breath at the thought of it. Her jaw clenched, lips forming a thin line as she rolled them together. “I know, and it’s already in motion. It’s just going to take some time.”
“Which you’ll have. Now, let’s get started.” Jen moved from her and stepped toward the Maximoff twins.
Jen and Ralph administered the glowing potion to the four sleeping children first, monitoring them as it spread under their skin. They mapped the veins as the potion worked its way into each child’s system, watching closely for any reaction.
“Now, you three,” Jen instructed, handing them out. “And the fourth for Pietro.”
“Cheers,” Ralph said sarcastically before injecting his own and then Agatha’s.
“Alright, Ms.Cosmic Being, this might sting.” Jen took Wanda’s arm, finding a vein with ease. Wanda winced as the formula burned her veins, flexing her hand to help the circulation, turning to Agatha.
Agatha stepped to a cleared area of the room, gesturing to Wanda with a flourish of her hands. “Let’s see what you’ve got, kid.”
They chanted together, and with a bright flash of blue, a parchment appeared.
“Is that it?” Jen asked, surprised by the ancient-looking scroll.
“Yes.” The other three conscious adults answered simultaneously.
“Mother has a flair for the dramatic.” Agatha quipped.
“All this for a bigoted narcissist’s need for control.” Jen grumbled.
“Control issues run in the family.” Agatha muttered before beginning to recite the contract-breaking spell, the runes on her skin flaring again. Wanda joined in, hands mimicking Agatha’s motions.
The parchment began to glow, a slight wind starting to blow around them. The incantation penetrating the room and agitating the parchment. Purple magick burst forth from Agatha’s hand and directly into the contract; scarlet from Wanda joined and intertwined with the other strands.
Words began to glow on the paper, as if removing themselves from existence one by one.
“Agatha Harkness will thus be married to Ralph Bohner…”
“Agatha Harkness will bear the children…”
“Agatha Harkness will not know the sexual touch of another woman…”
Agatha watched that one go, smirking. Though it was one of many she’d have to explain to Rio about this whole ordeal.
“It’s working!” Jen raised her voice to be heard over the growing noise.
“William Maximoff,” the two chanting witches shouted out.
Ralph rushed to Billy’s small body and watched as his entire body was bathed in blue light. His lips parted in surprise as something black rose out of his body and vanished.
Waves of scarlet and purple started wrapping around him, his body stilling.
Jen hurried over and ran glowing pink hands over him. “Marks are dissolved, new marks in place. He’s no longer marked and will wake soon.” She called to the powerful forces wielding dangerous magick.
Agatha focused on the paper floating in between them, noticing how it had ripped slightly when Billy was released. She was ready to call Tommy’s name when she felt her veins run cold. They were running out of time. “Let’s kick this into gear, kid. Something wicked this way comes, and it’s not me.”
“Thomas Maximoff, Nicholas Scratch Harkness, Lilith Harkness, Ralph Bohner.” They rattled off in unison, setting off a shockwave through the room.
Ralph passed out, convulsing on the floor as the spell worked through him, tendrils of magick enveloping him. Jen regarded him and scoffed in disgust. “Lightweight,” she turned back to the main event. “Wait until Ralph recovers. I can step in while the two of you switch out.” She shouted over the growing chaos.
With those four names called, the curse fought back, mist rose around them. The wind picked up, violet and scarlet magick swirling throughout the room—cutting through like lightning. Words flying off the paper: The consequences, the addenda about the Maximoffs, the details about Agatha’s own expiration date.
She cackled maniacally, the rush of power overtaking her as she felt the literal bonds that had held her captive for so long began to tear and stretch against her soul. Her eyes darted to Wanda, who wore a devilish grin as the final locks on her own powers started to break.
Outside, a nurse walked past, peering through the window. She tilted her head and shrugged at the unusual number of people in the large theater for a routine appendectomy.
Ralph took a sharp breath and scrambled back to his feet. “Well, that reminded me of college. Not in a bad way. I feel lighter, a whole new man. I could…”
“Shut the fuck up, Ralph, and keep an eye out.” Agatha turned her attention back to Wanda, the parchment almost completely destroyed.
“You’re up, Angel.”
“You first!” Wanda shouted back.
The doors burst open, Pietro speeding through in a blur. “She’s coming,” he rasped out before collapsing in front of Ralph, blood pooling beneath him.
Wanda screamed, trying to keep her attention on the spellwork. Jen slammed the doors shut and strengthened the wards with a snap, grabbing the final syringe and scrambling over to Pietro to jab it into the first vein she could find. “Agatha, now!”
“Ralph! Save our son!” Agatha shouted before turning back, both hands toward the tattered object that had given her nothing but grief. Heartbreak. Sorrow.
“Pietro Maximoff! Wanda Maximoff!”
“No!” Wanda yelled before convulsing and falling to her knees.
A bolt of pink magick replaced Wanda’s, causing Agatha to smirk. “You’re no Scarlet Witch, but I guess you’ll do in a pinch.”
“Funny, I think I told you something similar in the nineties.” Jen retorted.
The doors rattled as the runes on the walls began to glow and crack. Agatha eyed Wanda, willing her to recover quicker. She glanced over at where Ralph laid Pietro on a spare surgical table, cutting his shirt off, yelling at Jen to float him various tools or medications while she maintained the lock on the contract. The doors burst open with a flash of blue, and for the first time in years, Agatha was in the same room as her mother.
Evanora stepped into the room, closing the doors behind her. She didn’t need any casualties; couldn’t afford the bad publicity. “You’ve been a naughty girl, Agatha Harkness,” her voice dropped condescendingly. “I do what’s best for you, and here you are undoing it all.” She raised a hand, ready to stop the matriarchal coup d’etat, when she was thrown into a wall by Wanda.
“AGATHA HARKNESS!” Wanda roared, rising to her feet. She kept one hand focused on the blasted, overly powered piece of paper, and the other she used to pin Evanora against the wall.
Evanora cackled. “Oh, Wanda, do you think you can do much? I took you in, gave you both a home.”
“You stole our birthright. Dropped us on your daughter as a punishment, bound us, and then tried to dictate our lives—just like you did with Agatha.” Wanda corrected.
“To-may-to, to-mah-to,” The elder Harkness mocked.
“If I could kill you, I would.” Wanda hissed.
Behind them, Agatha stood, ignoring the pain of the spell and the rewriting happening within her body. She sent another powerful thread of violet magick at the contract, causing it to explode into ashes and disappear. The room quieted, the mist and the wind disappearing. Vision sat in the corner, unscathed, the four kids unharmed. Ralph and Jen working on Pietro.
Agatha raised her hand, and with a flick, she, Wanda, and Evanora were transported to a forest clearing, no longer needing to use a portal.
Wanda still had Evanora in her magickal grasp as Agatha circled both of them. “Well, mother.” Agatha’s voice was devoid of emotion. “It looks like I finally found a way out.”
“You always were wicked.” She hissed like the snake she was. “Disobeying your mother like this.” She regained her composure. Her usual arrogance returning. “You may have broken it. May no longer be sealed, but as long as I’m alive.” She gave Agatha a knowing smirk. “I still own you. Contract or no.” She stared at Agatha, smug as ever, letting her lips twitch upward.
Agatha stopped directly in front of the old hag, crossing one arm over her stomach and bringing one finger to her chin. “While there is still that pesky detail, your days are numbered, Evanora.” Her finger twitched, forcing Evanora to her knees.
Evanora laughed, clearly amused at Agatha’s display. “You can’t kill me, not without very hefty consequences.”
Agatha ignored the implied threat. “You see, mother,” she spat, “Not only am I the hottest bitch in every room I walk into, I’m also the smartest. I’ve done my research. Your hold on me? Your immortality? Its shelf life just decreased drastically. You no longer have the ability to harm any member of my family.” She crowded into her mother’s space, tipping her chin with two fingers. “No more threatening me to end their lives before their designated time, no more putting them into comas. Or magick controlling diseases. Or discreetly draining their energy or life forces. They are no longer available to you.”
The elder Harkness had narrowed her eyes, looking up at Agatha in growing fury.
“I will find a way to regain control, and when I do—”
“You won’t,” Agatha cut her off, stepping away. “But I’ll have eyes on you, just in case.” She looked back at the cause of her misery with cruel glee. “I have also set up separate accounts that you can’t access, so don’t even think about punishing me financially, mother.”
“You don’t need my money, you brat.”
“No, but I enjoy taking it and donating it to causes you hate, in your name. Or spending it on sex toys.” Agatha goaded.
“You’re heathens. The both of you!” She shouted out in frustration.
“Yes, well. We enjoy it.” Her eyes gleaming, watching her mother in her frazzled state. “As for you, mother,” she clicked her tongue. “I’m going to send you back to Munich.” She jabbed a pointed fingernail into her mother’s chest. “Where you will not, I repeat, not, be telling anyone what happened.” Agatha’s eyes flared violet. “I will absolutely begin a smear campaign against the company and tank the worth of your shares if necessary.”
“You wouldn’t!”
“Knowing you can’t retaliate by killing someone I love?” Agatha laughed. “I absolutely will.”
Evanora opened her mouth to add something, but Agatha snapped her back to Munich before she could respond.
Agatha finally turned to Wanda with a satisfied smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes, every muscle still tense, and opened her arms without a word. Wanda took a few steps forward and closed the distance, melting into the embrace and letting herself finally crumble with the weight of everything. A daughter seeking a mother’s comfort.
“Seeing them like that, not knowing if we were right—” she hiccuped into Agatha’s hair, before pulling away in sudden realization. “Pietro! Aggie, we have to…”
Agatha’s jaw clenched, a slight tick in the muscle when she stepped back and squeezed Wanda’s biceps, the sound of monitors filling their ears. The coppery smell of blood, sweat, and antiseptic lingered in the air.
Agatha was silent, her face guarded.
She stepped away from Wanda, striding toward the operating table.
Ralph looked nervously toward her.
Jennifer began chanting various healing spells in Latin.
Wanda nearly tripped over her own feet trying to get there.
“Where are the kids?” Agatha asked first, trying to find the right words to address the potentially dying elephant lying before them.
“Safely at home with Sharon, Vision, and Ian.” Ralph attempted to place a calming hand on Wanda’s shoulder, only for her to shrug it away. “Lilia portalled and retrieved his dumbass and got the story before returning to Rio’s.” He took Agatha’s hand and squeezed it. “Then she called Sharon over to sit with them.”
Ralph stared at his eldest son, taking a step back so Wanda could take Pietro’s limp hand. “Story goes, Ian disarmed one of Evanora’s guards and shot at her, trying to injure her enough to get her back here. Pietro saw the rune etched on the side of the gun and pushed the bitch out of the way so she wouldn’t die. Reckless fucker got hit instead.”
“Witchkiller bullets,” Agatha breathed out, trembling. It was bold of her mother to use something that could, in turn, kill her. Evanora had to know something that Agatha was not privy to.
Wanda looked up, brows furrowed together. “Pietro isn’t a witch.”
“No,” the exhaustion was clear in Jen’s voice. “But, he does have powers, and witch blood. Hence,” she waved her hand over him, gesturing.
Wanda sobbed. “Even though we…” her words trailed off as her eyes flicked up to the monitors, watching his vitals drop, as if in slow motion.
Jen briefly glanced from Ralph to Agatha and back to the young man lying on the table. The wound had been stitched, the cursed poison was spreading through his body, the dark green and black visible in his veins.
“Just because we’re no longer bound doesn’t mean we’re immortal. Eventually, some of us will be, but not everyone.”
Agatha brought a finger to her chin, running through her knowledge of the types of toxins that may have been used, knowing Jen had done the same. Technically, Wanda could heal him, but Agatha knew she was still learning and that could go terribly wrong. She looked up to Jen, who mouthed ‘no’, confirming Agatha’s theory. She sighed internally; even the great Jennifer Kale couldn’t fix this one. For the first time that entire evening, she feared they would lose someone.
“Do something!” Wanda screeched, eyes flaring crimson, hands flaring violently. “Aggie, call out to her!”
“She won’t do anything but take him,” Jen said, matter-of-factly.
Wanda’s hands flew to Pietro’s chest, but Agatha was faster. She put two fingers on the redhead’s temple and whispered, “Dormi.” Ralph caught her mid-fall.
“I’m going to kill your boyfriend for this.” Agatha gritted out. She laid a hand over his heart and called the Darkhold from its hiding place with the other. Jen’s eyes widened at the sight of it.
The only way to safely save Pietro was to absorb the poison into her own body, shaving centuries off of her own life. The very life she was fighting to preserve. While she still had another step to go, she could see the fire at the end of the bottom of the stake and knew she was almost there. Now, she was about to put it all in jeopardy.
Her own veins now coursed with the stolen magick of the original Green Witch that she had spent the better part of the past year carefully siphoning. It would negate and destroy the majority of the poison meant to kill Pietro, neutralizing the threat, but still enough left within her to be a nuisance. A bridge she would cross at a later time.
“Holy shit, you actually have it.” Jen exclaimed, her disbelief bringing Agatha out of her thoughts.
“If you breathe a word of this, I’ll cut out your tongue.”
“Got it.”
“I’m not telling a soul.” Ralph replied from the floor, cradling Wanda in his lap.
Once again, Agatha uttered the spell she needed, the black in Pietro’s veins receding, and instead running up her arm. She yelled out in pain, yet forced her hand to stay anchored to his chest, willing every drop of poison into her body. She gasped when she felt Lady Death’s magick flow forward and grip onto the invading toxins.
Pietro’s vitals began to stabilize once his body was free from the cursed magick, and the woman who had raised him fell to her knees. Jen rushed to her side. Ralph stayed trapped with Wanda still in his lap, an arm reaching towards the only woman he would ever love.
Agatha’s screams echoed throughout the room, tears brimming in the corners of her eyes—hair sticking to her skin from sweat. Her body throbbed with pain, her stomach churned. She swallowed hard, breath shallow. “Jen,” she breathed.
Jen extended her hand and called the nearest trash can to them just in time for Agatha to expel thick, black goo.
“Well, there’s the poison,” Jen announced.
Agatha sucked in deep breaths, still convulsing as her body calmed. “It’s what I could fight off; there’s still a lingering curse that is a problem for future me.”
“Yes, but the final potion that completely severs Evanora’s grip on you will be strong enough to undo that damage as well.” Jen carefully checked Agatha’s vitals while trying to reassure her. “Plus, you’re the most powerful witch that isn’t some cosmic or prophesied being.”
“You make it sound easy,” Agatha scoffed weakly, glancing at Wanda and then up to Pietro. “Let’s just get home and take it from there.”
🦕🦖🦕
Rio had known Lilia Calderu for over four hundred years. She was one of the very few people who knew Rio’s true identity.
Texting her and Alice from the plane, telling them to meet her at her apartment when she landed. Rio let out another shaky breath. Agatha’s private jet was nice, though she was tempted to destroy it, even if that wasn’t necessary. She blew her nose and wiped her tears. Did Agatha have more than one plane already waiting?
How long had this been planned out?
Rio shook her head, choosing to believe that Agatha really had been planning to spend the break with her. She thought about the look on Agatha’s face when Rio confessed. Agatha had looked pained as though that was the last thing she wanted to hear. Another tear rolled down her cheek at the memory. Yet, that infuriatingly beautiful woman had still said it back.
Did Agatha really mean it? Rio downed yet another bottle of water, determined to remain hydrated.
Was she really in love with her? Rio had so many questions, and the further they flew away from Oxford, the more clearly she was able to think about the past eight months.
The time she had sworn Agatha had glowed purple. How she always wore and touched her locket, even during sex. How it had taken forever for her to allow Rio to touch or even fully see her.
She knew it all went back to that contract, yet she wasn’t sure how, exactly.
Ellie had said that Agatha was a witch, but could she really trust Agatha’s ex? Then there was Rio’s own fading magick; needing sleep, becoming less of a cosmic being and more human than anything. Her sister, Eternity, once warned her about it. She sighed and leaned back in the seat, unable to relax. Willing the jet to fly faster.
She had barely crossed the threshold, bag half-set down, when Alice pulled her into a hug. “I’m so sorry she turned out to be a lying bitch.”
“I knew her reputation. I should have been more careful.” Rio tried to say it confidently, but the crack in her voice betrayed her.
Lilia stood a few feet behind Alice, face full of concern. “My dear, you’ve talked to both of us this whole time about her. We know what she means to you.” Lilia’s face softened into a sympathetic and motherly smile. “In your entire existence, you have never loved someone. Not like this.”
“Well, I wish I didn’t.” She broke from Alice’s arms and stormed past, dramatically flinging herself to the couch.
Lilia raised an eyebrow while Alice tilted her head. “Very tantruming toddler of you,” Lilia added, sitting next to Rio and rubbing her back. “Even death has a heart, you know?”
“It’d be much easier if I didn’t.”
“That’s for damn sure. Reapers have gone missing, souls have been stolen, your magick has been drained. All because you decided to play human for a few hundred years.”
The temperature in the room had gone cold. Everything, even the city outside, was completely silent. The smell of snow, lilies, and the wine your ex-mother-in-law gifted you, hoping you’d have an allergic reaction, filled the air. Rio groaned, her eyes rolling. “Come to gloat?”
Eternity stepped out of thin air, a bright smile across her face. Dark hair falling in curls around her shoulders, long white gown sweeping across the floor. “Of course not, sister. I merely want to help.”
Lilia scoffed, “Sure you do.”
Eternity narrowed her eyes at the Sicilian woman. “Shouldn’t you be elsewhere, Calderu?”
“Shouldn’t you be assigning people to their endless paradise, or hell, or whatever it is you meddle in?” She shot back, undeterred.
The other cosmic being looked toward Alice, “Detective, do you even know where your wife is?”
“Seattle, with a high-priority client, why?”
Eternity chuckled. “Sure she is.”
She looked back at Rio. “You don’t know the woman you were sleeping with, and you don’t know your friends. You really did ace the human experience.” She said sarcastically.
Rio narrowed her eyes in question. “What do you mean?”
“You’re not going to believe me if I tell you, so let me show you.” The smug immortal flicked her wrist, transporting them to another time and place. Leaving Alice and Lilia alone.
Alice turned to Lilia, “What was she talking about?”
Lilia sighed deeply. “Jen has been helping Agatha with something. For years.”
Alice’s eyes were the size of saucers. “What? How do you know Agatha?” Lilia’s words shocking her more than the sudden disappearance of the cosmic wonders.
Lilia sighed as she launched into the explanation.
Rio blinked at what Eternity was showing her. It was a blur, a montage really. First, they were in a hospital in New York.
“Where are we?” Rio asked, trying to pinpoint it.
“WHEN are we.” Eternity clarified. “Right after London, 2009. Pay attention.”
Agatha and Jen stood in an empty corridor. Agatha handed Jen a small titanium cooler with multiple vials in it. Jen looked up at her in shock and shook her head in disbelief. “How did you get stolen souls?”
Agatha looked away. “Unethically,” she answered, the tension obvious in her voice.
“Fuck, Agatha. Ellie is involved, isn’t she? She’s the only person who would go to these lengths for you.” She shrugged, rethinking it. “Well, Ralph and Wanda, but Ralph wouldn’t know what to do with a reaper, and Wanda is only 20 with analog magick.”
Something like shame crossed Agatha’s face as she continued to avoid looking at Jen. “I will do anything to save the lives of my family, Jen. Can you help or not?”
“I can. We ran all the tests, and we can get rid of the current curse and then start on the unbinding. I also know how you can get the magick we need to power you up and create the mixture we need.”
Agatha’s head snapped back to look straight at the doctor in front of her. “I can’t absorb her powers; it will kill me.”
“That’s why it’s imperative to go on the dig. Other than that dusty old book. Isn’t that where your mother hid that rusty old pendant?”
Agatha nodded.
“We’re going to use it as a middleman, a type of conduit, if you will. You’re also going to use your more…traditional, succubus powers.”
The scene faded away, surrounding them in darkness—the lightest glow around them. Rio’s mind was racing, thoughts and Agatha’s words floating around her brain, tears forming behind her eyes as she looked at her sister. “What? She…she…” the words wouldn’t come, falling to her knees, her breathing heavy. Agatha had used her. More than once. She had been draining her of her powers, this entire time, through sex. That’s why she couldn’t touch her. That’s why she didn’t want Rio to see her naked. Agatha Harkness never cared.
Rio looked up at Eternity, tears now falling down her cheeks, she begged, “Please, take me home. You know I can’t do it myself. I have to know if Alice knew.”
“There’s more.” Eternity deadpanned.
They were at the faculty apartments at Oxford now, the day before she had arrived. She watched as Agatha and Wanda entered her apartment. “What are they doing?”
“Just watch.”
“Aggie, are you sure this is going to work?” Wanda looked at her skeptically as she started drawing runes in various places and then covering them up, while Agatha followed suit and hid hex bags as well.
“Of course. The campus is warded, and I’ll be glamoured so my runes won’t show.”
“I knew I saw Agatha glow! She’s runed!” Rio exclaimed through tears.
Eternity hummed, freezing the scene and waving a hand to show Rio the runes everywhere. Rio gasped at the sheer amount of runes that covered her apartment and the runes on Agatha.
“Why didn’t I notice or see any of these?”
“Agatha is very skilled in analog magick and runework. She made sure you didn’t see them.” Eternity looked at her sister with fake pity. “She also knew that after hundreds of years of spending more and more time as a human, and then living full-time as one, you were losing your connections and Sight.” She hummed unsympathetically. “You had your magick, but it was less likely to kill her, especially with her protections, locket, and the fact that you’re less a cosmic entity and more a demigod at this point.”
Rio nodded, thinking back on the memories, tears gathering on her lashes, red blotches taking over her face once again. The too-familiar sobs began to rise in her throat and she fought to swallow them down. This entire time, she thought it was real. She had fallen in love with this insufferable scientist, and the whole time, Agatha was faking it.
“What about Wanda?” Rio asked meekly.
Rio, wrapped in grief, missed the slow grin spread across Eternity’s face. “You were so caught up in your work and Agatha that you didn’t notice the power emanating from the Darkhold.”
“The book of the damned is at Oxford?” Rio swiped at the tears flowing down her cheeks.
“Was. Wanda stole it, and now she and Agatha control it.”
“No. Agatha must have a good reason for doing this.” Rio argued back.
The scene around them dissolved, Rio’s living room reappearing. The air now smelled like rage, protection, and betrayal. Alice now curled into a ball on the couch, sobbing. Lilia was nowhere to be found.
“Where’s Lilia?” Rio’s eyes darted around the apartment, looking for the Sicilian.
“She knows Agatha, Rio. She swore she wasn’t working with her, but I couldn’t trust her. I sent her back to her. Jen…” Alice broke into another sob, unable to say anything else.
“I know. I saw it.” Rio’s voice full of sympathy for her friend.
“I didn’t know,” Alice whispered.
“I believe you, and Lilia too.”
“Disgusting.” Eternity spat. “I just proved that you can’t trust humans, yet you believe two of them.”
Rio turned on her. “Yes, because if Agatha knew who I was, then she knew about my relationships with Lilia and Alice before I told her about Alice. Yes, she used me. Yes, she broke my trust and my heart, but I have to believe there’s some good in her, I have to.” Rio stayed on the floor, tears mixing with snot, wiping at it halfheartedly with her forearm.
Alice slid off the sofa and joined her friend on the hardwood, enveloping her in her arms.
“You disappoint me, sister.” Eternity’s voice was harsh. “You are Death. You command legions, yet you have walked amongst humans for centuries, blending in with them.” She threw her hands into the air in frustration. “You were losing your abilities and then allowed a witch to outsmart you, and worst of all, you fell in love with her. You’re still defending her when you should be seeking your revenge.”
Rio slowly lifted her head. “What do I need to do to regain my powers? My connection?”
A Cheshire cat-like smile lit up Eternity’s face. “Simple, come back to your realm. Spend some time there, forget about all of this unpleasantness.”
“How long?” Alice sniffed, untrusting.
“Oh, just a few centuries.” Eternity answered nonchalantly.
Rio narrowed her eyes, focusing on one word: “What do you mean, forget?”
“Oh, your time on Earth would be erased from your memories, of course.” Eternity’s voice was full of glee.
“You do realize that when you have an evil plan, you’re not supposed to reveal it?” Agatha’s voice, full of exhaustion and something Rio couldn’t quite pin, cut through the air. “Terrible security, by the way, my love.” She turned to Alice. “Your wife needs to speak with you.” With a snap, Alice was gone.
“Agatha Harkness. Step away from my sister.” Eternity growled.
Agatha bared her teeth and snapped at her in a feral display of dominance. “Hela says ‘fuck you’.” She recited a few words in a nameless language; causing Eternity to begin to fade.
Eternity looked at the witch, disbelief and rage in her eyes. “How dare you! You are mortal!”
Agatha hummed, head tilted to the side, “Somewhat. Which is why I needed Hela’s help, and boy, does she hate you. Enjoy your time in the Asgardian Dungeons.” She stepped closer, whispering to only where she could hear. “I may not know everything you’ve been up to, but when I find out, you will pay for this.”
Agatha stepped back, flicking her wrist. Eternity finally disappearing.
Agatha reached down and hoisted Rio up by the elbows, leading her to the plush, dark green couch. Urging her to sit next to her, facing each other.
Rio couldn’t look away, taking the tissues Agatha offered, and leaning into her touch when the witch caressed her cheek. Helpless when it came to the conniving witch.
Then, Rio remembered. She jumped to her feet quickly. “What are you doing here, Agatha?” She barked. Mustering all of her anger and hurt.
Agatha winced. “I needed to explain myself, apologize, fix thing—”
“You lied to me!”
“Yes.”
“Used me!”
“Yes.”
“Left me.”
Agatha stood and reached for Rio, holding back tears when the entity wrenched away.
”I never meant it to go this far, Rio. I never meant to hurt you. I feel guilty and terrible.”
Rio laughed harshly.
“Are you even capable of feelings?”
Agatha took a step back, as if she had just been sucker punched, the wind knocked out of her. “Everything I did was because of my feelings, Lady Death!” She retorted, voice rising. “Because of my love for my family. That contract? That contract put a timer on their lives; bound their magick, dictated all of us, even Wanda and Pietro. I did what I had to do to survive. If that meant using people, then so be it. The only thing I regret is hurting you in the process.” Agatha’s chest tightened, her stomach lurched.
“Don’t get me wrong, with as much as it kills me to see you like this?” She ran her hands through her hair roughly. “If I had to do it again? I would. I would do anything for my children.” Her eyes swirled like a storm on the ocean. Her face set in solid resolve.
Rio blinked and looked away. “You never loved me.” A statement.
Agatha’s face crumbled. “Oh, Rio,” she stepped forward and cupped her face with both her hands. “I will never stop loving you.” Agatha brought their lips together, kissing her in a way that completely took Rio off guard. There was no ulterior motive, no animosity or sinister plot. Rio was the oxygen Agatha needed to exist in that moment.
Rio gripped Agatha’s wrists, holding on, wanting to remember this moment, knowing it was their last. Their tears mixed on Rio’s lips, Agatha’s tasting like hope and forgiveness, Rio’s tasting like finality and heartbreak.
Rio swallowed Agatha’s moans.
Agatha swallowed Rio’s sobs.
The kiss felt like it lasted forever, yet not long enough, over before it began.
Rio stood there, clutching the air where Agatha had been, tears running down her face, blinking into her empty apartment. Underneath her foot was the activated hex bag, the one she had used to send Agatha back to Los Angeles.
The former cosmic being, now reduced to a shell of her former glory, sobbed and fell back to her knees with a guttural cry and a broken whisper.
