Chapter Text
Rio’s POV
Rio Vidal loved Halloween. As a kid she had the wackiest ideas for her costumes, unfortunately for her parents, it was never just something they could get off the rack. One year she wanted to be a cheese grater, the next a pile of washing, the next a melting ice cream. Yes, she was…different, but luckily she had parents who somehow always managed to make it work, even when no one had any idea of how to make a six year old look like a plate of hors d'oeuvres. As she got older, the costumes also grew up, some were funny puns, some were political statements, and depending on the host and the potential guests, and some were down right slutty.
She graduated from Penn State the year before, and with some dumb luck she landed her first job at Green Acres Landscape Architects as a junior architect. Fuck knows how she did that, but she was grateful, she was doing what she loved and finally making a living on her own. Plus being a woman with a decent salary did help with her personal life, she had a great apartment close to her office and all her favorite after hour hang out spots and she could impress her dates with lavish evenings around town. Rio believed her life motto to be “ Carpe Noctem”, because seizing the night was way more exciting than seizing the day.
October proved to be a difficult month at work. You wouldn't think that fall was a busy season in the landscaping business, but they had some maintenance projects and one particular big project they were preparing to start kick off as soon as spring came around.
Even though she was up to her elbows in design proposals, Rio was still determined to enjoy her favorite day of the year, Halloween. This year she planned something more traditional for Halloween. She barely had time to think about something that would be a hit at the party, let alone get creative and make something to wear from scratch. But with a little bit of effort, she did manage to steal some time after work to put together an outfit that didn’t scream last minute costume, putting extra thought in some details of the costume to make her stand out in more ways than one. If she was going to be something more “traditional” like a witch, she was going to be the hottest witch at the party.
This year’s invitation came from Natasha Romanoff, Rio’s one-night-stand turned best friend since college. After way too many drinks in their first year, they hooked up and when it was over, they both knew that they enjoyed the drinks and the partying together more than what followed. Plus, navigating anything relating to sex proved very difficult when both fought to top each other the whole time. What was the saying, “ Two tops does not a bottom make”... Instead they had more in common as friends.
Just before graduation last year Natasha became infatuated with Wanda, was it the eastern European accent or their shared love for bright red hair, Rio wasn’t sure, but all Nat could talk about was her unrequited love for the girl. Rio wasn’t really interested in getting to know Nat’s latest crush, honestly the girl looked far too straight and had this Stepford Wife aura that unsettled Rio. But Rio could never resist a Halloween party. Even if the party was just a ruse for Nat to get to invite Wanda and test the waters.
“Whatever…” Rio sighed, she had a smoking hot costume planned down to the hair, makeup and character backstory, and while she finished getting dressed, securing the green hot glue gun crown on her forehead, she couldn’t help but feel a little excited about the party. She looked hot and she was ready to have a great evening. She hoped that Nat had the decency to invite someone interesting for her too, if not, their local queer bar around the corner will have to do.
Agnes’s POV
Agnes O’Connor hated parties. Especially themed parties with people she barely knew, and tonight was no different. She prided herself on her academic focus and that is exactly what she needed to graduate at the top of her class next year when she finished her PHD in History. She loved history, her current term paper was focused on Women's’ and Gender Studies relating to the 15th and 16th Century. She had to explain the concept to Wanda and Jen, her roommates, for probably the tenth time.
“It's simple Wanda, the Witch Trials were some of the best recorded examples of how misogyny and sexism were used to prejudice and prosecute women. Sure we’re not flying around on brooms today, but around the world women are still being seen as second rate citizens in even the most modern countries of the world. Just because we are living in the 21st century doesn’t mean it got better for all our gals.”
Agnes could talk about this for hours, was it a bit of a bummer in some social circles, sure, but Agnes didn’t care. Having passion for something you cared about was more important than being invited to the next major event. Unfortunately for her, she didn’t have that luxury tonight because in order to prove to Wanda and Jen that she wasn’t a bummer and a prude, she promised them that she will to go to one fucking party with them.
It was their last year living together as roommates and they all agreed to make the most of it. Wanda was finishing her Criminal Law degree and filling Agnes’s open spot at her mother’s firm, and Jen was starting her medical internship at Northwestern soon. Agnes planned to stay on and finish her PHD despite her mother’s disappointing looks at the dinner table.
Since Agnes changed her major from Law to History she hasn’t had the best relationship with her mother. Her mother planned on her joining the O’Connor-Calderu Criminal Law Firm once she graduated. Agnes used up every bit of courage she had and finally stood up to her mother and changed her major to something she was really passionate about. Lilia Calderu, her mother’s law firm partner and childhood friend was like Agnes’s second parent, and when Agnes decided to confront her mother, Lilia was there to soften the blow and pick up the pieces afterwards.
So there she was, standing in their shared living room dressed in her DIY costume of Anne Hathaway, Shakespeare's wife, not Princess Diaries thank you very much. Jen entered the room and stopped in her tracks as she looked Agnes up and down.
“Ag, what the fuck? The invitation said it was a sexy Halloween party, what about this old woman drag says sexy?” Jen said, almost offended.
“I’m Anne Hathaway, Shakespeare’s wife…” Without Agnes getting another word in, Jen ripped off part of the skirt and cut her blouse open in the front to open up her cleavage. “There, I guess you are Shakespeare's slutty wife now.”
Agnes probably looked better, but now she felt a little self conscious. She’s never been the if-you-have-it-flaunt-it type, but it has been a while since she hooked up with anyone and tonight’s party guests would probably not be the usual crowds she mingled with who would appreciate the attention to detail of her apparent “unsexy” Anne Hathaway costume. So she accepted her fate and followed her roommates to the uber waiting outside.
When they walked into the apartment she was overwhelmed with the loud music and party guests already dancing and drinking. Taking in the costumes of the people around her, she agreed that Jen was right, her earlier costume would not have been appropriate. The host of the party approached them with a tray of shots.
“Wanda, Jen, glad you could join,” the woman said, not really paying attention to Jen or Agnes, her eyes were fixed on Wanda and her skin tight red leotard outfit. “And who are you dressed as, gorgeous?” the woman asked Wanda, to which Wanda replied “I’m the Scarlet Witch, from the comics?” The woman’s eyes lingered on Wanda before she handed each of them a small cup of god knows what and introduced herself as Natasha. Jen took the shot and turned to Agnes to whisper “If you have any good sense, you’ll get out of her way, they’re going to eye fuck until Wanda finally gives in and no one wants to be close when that happens.” And before Agnes could reply Jen disappeared into the crowd on the dancefloor.
Next to her Natasha and Wanda were still very much in their own bubble and Agnes took that as her cue to leave. She headed towards the patio to escape the crowd and to get some fresh air, this was going to be a long night.
Rio’s POV
Being fashionably late was Rio’s forte, sure it could be seen as bad manners in some circles, but a sexy Halloween party surely lacked the decorum required to enforce any such social rules. Rio arrived just past 10pm, just in time for all of the boring people to have left and the ones who couldn’t handle their alcohol to have passed out somewhere.
She stepped into the party like she owned the place. Some girls stared in awe and some glared, she would avoid the latter she thought. Being a “Heartless Bitch” as her previous hook up screamed at her, certainly had its challenges, especially when the dating pool around the campus was drying up with women who hadn’t heard of her preceding reputation, “lick-em-and-leave-em” was Rio’s favorite accusation, she had it printed on a t-shirt and proudly wore it to campus the next week.
Rio scanned the apartment to see if she could find her friends, only to see Nat and Wanda sitting in a corner in deep conversation, Nat was clearly fighting every urge in her body to not jump Wanda’s bones. “Nope…” she mumbled to herself, looking to the other corner of the apartment, where she spotted the kitchen table lined with drinks. She’d start there.
Rio walked over to the dining table to grab a cup of whatever Pinterest punch Nat had mixed and leaned against the table. She needed to warm up soon otherwise tonight would end up being a dud and she felt too good to have that happen. She recognized one of Wanda’s friends on the patio talking to an unfamiliar girl dressed in the most hideous slutty old lady costume Rio has ever seen. She laughed at the audacity and downed her drink and poured another before walking over to join their conversation.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Jane Parsley in the flesh?” Rio said as she sauntered over to the two women.
Jen stopped talking mid sentence and rolled her eyes as she turned to Rio. “Rio, here to break another innocent heart? The night is still young.”
Rio laughed, “Oh Jane, you wound me.”
“It’s Jen Kale, you insufferable asshole. Why don’t you fuck off? Me and Agnes here are not interested in whatever drama you plan on causing tonight.”
“Right, Kale, the worst kind of vegetable” Rio said with a smirk, causing the woman with Jen to spit out her drink and laughed.
“Sorry Jen” the woman whispered as Jen glared at her for laughing.
“Listen Jen, I’m sorry,” Rio said, “I promise I am not here to cause trouble, you know how I get on Halloween, it’s the most wonderful time of the year!”
“Isn’t that Christmas?” Agnes asked.
“Honey no, Halloween is much better, plus everyone gets to dress up, not just your fat drunk uncle trying to score some spiked milk and cookies. This is much more fun.” Rio said, letting her eyes trace over the woman’s costume, landing on the cut open blouse. “And it is not everyday a babe like you dresses up as a sexy Anne Hathaway either, unless…”
“How did you know?” Agnes asked excitedly, as Jen rolled her eyes and left mumbling something like “ Here we fucking go again… ”
Rio smiled a crooked smile and leaned closer to Agnes “What can I say? I appreciate literature as much as the next broody lesbian… but also, you literally have it written on that sticker on your costume, so I only needed basic reading skills to figure this one out.”
Agnes glanced down at the sticker and her face turned a shade of red. “Of course. And what are you supposed to be? A slutty green demon?” she asked Rio, to which Rio replied, “No I am a green witch, specifically The Green Witch” she said, lowering her voice in a growl when she said the last part.
This seemed to spark some recognition in Agnes as her eyes lit up a bit and Rio had to steady herself as she noticed the bright blue eyes staring back at her. Whoever this Agnes was, she was beautiful.
“You know about the Green Witch?” Agnes asked, surprised.
Agnes’s POV
Agnes stared at Rio, she was gorgeous and her costume stirred something in Agnes that she felt too unfamiliar with. Jen definitely seemed to hate this woman’s guts, but Agnes felt drawn to her for some reason. Sure she knew of her reputation, Jen complained about her enough, saying that this Rio girl kept stealing all her dates, but talking to Rio now, she didn’t see the Casanova everybody warned about. Something about Rio intrigued her, like they’ve known each other in a previous life.
That didn’t mean that Agnes wasn’t aware that if given the chance Rio would still eat her up and spit her out, she wasn’t that delusional, but after all the drinks she’s had tonight, she felt a strange sense of confidence, and for whatever reason, Rio was interested enough to keep talking to her.
“You know about the Green Witch?” Agnes asked, surprised.
“Well yes,” Rio started to explain. “I’ve always loved Halloween, and consequently witches and Halloween go hand in hand, and I really love plants and isn’t that like her whole thing? Earth magic and all that…” Rio took a sip of her drink and Agnes swore she saw Rio’s bad girl facade slip for a split second.
Agnes and Rio stayed on the patio talking for a while when Jen, Wanda and Nat walked over to join them. Agnes was laughing at something Rio was saying, not really paying attention to the three other women who stood staring at the two of them.
“What’s so funny?” Jen asked. Agnes suddenly realised most of the party guests had left already leaving a small group inside and the five of them outside on the patio. Had she and Rio talked the whole night?
Rio’s face turned colder as she turned to Jen. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”
“Girls…” Nat warned.
Agnes watched as Rio gave her a trained fake smile. She turned back to Agnes “What would you say if we ditched this joint? I know a place around the corner that stays open super late and they have the best ice cream in town. I am dying for a salted caramel cone.”
Agnes looked at Wanda, Nat and Jen who stared at the two of them like they were aliens. She looked at Rio, a genuine smile on her face, seemingly harmless and she swallowed hard before answering softly. “Okay, that actually sounds great.”
Jen and Wanda blinked at Agnes and she gave them a simple wave. “I’ll see you two tomorrow.” she said following Rio out of the apartment. She had no clue what she was doing, but there was an undeniable pull she didn’t have the strength to fight, and when was the last time she allowed herself to have salted caramel ice cream after midnight?
Rio’s POV
Rio was not going to lie, she was shocked when she realized that she and Agnes spent almost two hours just talking, as if they‘ve known each other for ages. Agnes was funny and smart, and Rio noticed small things she would do while she talked, like scrunching up her nose or when she laughed she sometimes had this cute little snort… and oh my god what the fuck was happening? Was she starting to feel something for this woman after only two hours?
Rio realized she was being too quiet when Agnes suddenly asked her where they were heading. “Oh uhm, it’s just here around the corner actually.” Rio said, pointing in the general direction of where the ice cream stand normally stood.
As they reached it, she turned to Agnes. “So what would you like?”
Agnes thought for a second and smiled, “What would you recommend?”
“Like I said earlier, the salted caramel is my favorite.” Rio answered.
“Okay, I’ll get that then.”
Rio placed their order and waited for the man to hand her the two cones. “My lady,” Rio joked, bowing as she handed the cone to Agnes.
“Ah, a gentleman.” Agnes joked back as she took the cone from Rio. Agnes tasted the ice cream and moaned. Rio’s eyes snapped open at the sound. “This is amazing, Rio,” Agnes said as she licked the top of the ice cream. Rio swore her mouth started watering, she blamed it on the ice cream.
“It’s good isn’t it?” She said, trying to hide whatever this was she was feeling.
They sat at the fold up table and chairs in front of the ice cream stand and silently enjoyed the rest of their ice cream. Rio tried her best to not stare at Agnes, but the licking and the lingering alcohol in her veins were making it extremely hard for her not to.
“What are you doing after this?” Rio asked suddenly. She had no idea where that came from but she couldn’t stop it either.
Agnes scrunched her face as she continued to lick at her ice cream. “What do you mean, it’s past midnight?”
Rio laughed, “Yes I know, I mean like, are you going home or back to Nat’s or…”
“Or with you?” Agnes asked, lifting a brow.
Rio was sure her face was as red as the traffic light hanging over her head. “No, well. I mean you can, of course. I just meant…. Do you need a ride? We can share an uber or something?”
Agnes laughed and Rio had to fight the urge to record its sound to listen to it again later. “I’m that way,” Agnes pointed.
“I’m this way” Rio pointed in the other direction, and Rio saw Agnes’s face fall for the first time that evening, she needed to correct that immediately, “Okay, I want to make sure you get home safe, so let's take an uber to yours and then I will get one back to my place.”
“Are you… are you sure? It’s completely out of your way? And what if I want to make sure you get home safe?” Agnes asked.
Rio scoffed “Please, I am older and wiser and I know how to punch someone. I will be fine.”
Agnes’s eyes narrowed. “Fine, but only if I can get your number.”
Rio was sure she was smiling like an idiot, but she didn’t hesitate one bit when she reached to take Agnes’s phone to insert her contact information.
They ordered the uber and headed to Agnes’s house. Rio smiled as Agnes took her hand and held it till they came to a stop.
“Mind if I text you?” Agnes asked before she climbed out of the car.
“Please do?” Rio smiled and watched as Agnes stood waving as the car pulled away. Rio’s heart pounded in her chest. This wasn’t like any other Halloween she ever had, but she felt like it was one of the best nights of her life.
Agnes’s POV
Agnes stood on the curb watching the uber disappear with Rio in it. She had the best night, and she felt giddy thinking about getting Rio’s number and couldn’t wait to send her a text. Now would be too soon, she thought. She decided that maybe tomorrow morning will be better.
She turned to walk to the entrance of the apartment building, almost floating in a haze as she thought back to the few hours she spent with Rio, when she heard screaming coming from the alley next to the building. Normally, Agnes wouldn’t insert herself into dangerous situations, but she couldn’t stop her feet from taking her to where the screaming was coming from.
She stood with her back against the wall and carefully turned her neck to be able to peek around the corner. What she didn’t know was that the next few minutes of her life would change everything. Agnes peeked around the corner and saw two men with their hands tied behind their backs kneeled in front of two gunmen who had their guns pointed at their heads. Another man stood next to them, clearly the leader of the pack.
“Ralph,” the one man on his knees pleaded. “I promise you man, it wasn’t us who told the cops…”
“Yeah, Mr. Bohner,” the other joined in, “We would never tell about the drugs,”
“Shut up, shut up, shut up !” the man, Ralph, screamed at them. “There is no way the cops would know about the Cargo City warehouse, and thanks to you two idiots, they raided the place and I’m out about $24 million in snow.”
“Mr. Bohner, please...” the man pleaded again.
“Jeffrey, Herb, I’m done here.” Ralph said and indicated something to the two men.
Suddenly gun shots went off and Agnes screamed running away to hide as she saw the guy, Ralph, look up towards her direction.
Agnes ran into the building and locked the door behind her, peeking through the mail hatch. She saw the two goons run around looking for her and when they ran down the street away from her she ran up the stairs and into her apartment, frantically locking the doors with shaky hands. What did she just witness? What has she gotten herself into?