Work Text:
Screams of terror rent the air. In any normal circumstance, Agatha Harkness would adore the sound. Even more if she was the cause. She so loved being the reason people shrieked in horror or begged for their miserable lives. This was not her doing, however, and it was on a grander scale than she would normally endeavor.
Agatha stared, mesmerized, as people turned to dust before her very eyes. Not just people, animals, plants, any living thing in the vicinity was subject to the possibility of crumbling to ash on the spot. Was this what those stupid show ponies were on about? If Agatha had known those pathetic excuses for superheroes were fighting to ensure the planet didn’t fall to ruin from a decreased population, she might have actually joined their would-be fight.
As she observed the absolute chaos happening, though, something tugged at her mind, a memory.
“What’s it like?” Agatha asked, toying with dark brown strands playfully.
“What’s what like?” Rio chuckled as she leaned into the touch.
A smile curled Agatha’s lips and she elaborated, “What is it like being able to… feel when someone dies?”
Rio’s lips quirked, her expression smoothing out in deep thought. No furrowing eyebrows, but a slight pout to her extremely kissable lips as she pondered how to answer. “It’s like a tingle,” she said slowly, brown eyes roving up to gaze into Agatha’s adoring blue. “Each one is a tingle, and when there’s multiple, like a massacre, it’s more of an itch.” A soft chuckle slipped from her throat as she reached up to cradle Agatha’s face. “It’s very small for life forms that die easily or quickly, such as insects and plants. For others, like humans and aliens, it’s… stronger.”
“So there’s just… a constant tingle under your skin all the time?” Agatha inquired. She nuzzled against Rio’s hand, bringing her free hand up to hold the older witch’s hand against her face.
“It’s really annoying,” Rio affirmed with a snort. “But I’m used to it. Things die all the time, several hundred in a single minute. I barely pay it any mind now.”
Agatha pulled from the memory with a sinking feeling in her heart. While ‘hundreds’ was still a lot, this was clearly more than that. If this many people on earth were affected, who knew how many on other planets. It would all hit Rio at once.
No. She didn’t care. What that traitorous bitch was feeling was none of her business. Agatha did not have an ounce of worry in her heart over what this mass slaughter must have done to her be- to Death.
That is what she attempted to tell herself before a green-clad figure slammed into her, knocking the both of them to the ground. Agatha called her magic to hand, ready to do away with whatever panicking mortal dared bump into her. She paused at the scent of pine, fruit rotting, and freshly dug earth. She would know that scent anywhere.
“Rio?” Agatha whispered, her voice rasping as she tried to collect herself. She hadn’t been prepared for this. Usually, Rio only showed up after Agatha had finished killing someone.
“S-sorry.” Her voice slurred. The Salemite witch gently lifted the entity’s head and noticed Rio’s eyes were clouded and hazy. She was… in pain?
“Rio, what’s happened?” Agatha was asking to ensure nothing happened to the natural balance of the universe, nothing else. She was not worried. If Death was out of commission, then how would Agatha outrun her pursuers? Right.
Rio’s head lolled for a moment, her eyelids fluttering. Whatever had a hold on her must have been taking a terrible toll. Rio was never in pain. Before now, they both believed nothing could bring her pain. It always felt like a tickle whenever Agatha would stab or burn or shoot her. This was clearly something else.
“Thanos…” Rio mumbled, breath heavy. “Infinity Stones. Disintegrated... half the universe.” Her body weighed heavier on Agatha’s and the purple-powered witch realized Rio’s body was trembling. No, not trembling, flickering. “So many dead. Too many. Against… the natural order…”
Okay. This was new. Agatha was unused to comforting Rio through pain. It tended to be the other way around. Still, she couldn’t let all those people just… not die. If that meant sucking down her own feelings for a moment, well... No one would know.
With hesitant movements, Agatha wrapped her arms around the green witch, holding her with a gentleness she hadn’t shown the other woman in centuries. One of her hands held Rio by the waist, while the other carefully slid into Rio’s hair, fingernails scratching lightly at her scalp. A soft coo filtered from Agatha’s lips and she fought not to let her heart melt at the knowledge she was holding her wife again.
“It’s alright, Rio,” she whispered soothingly, carding her fingers through the older woman’s hair. “Just breathe for a second, sweetheart. All those souls are screaming out for you, but you can’t go to them like this.”
It took a few moments, Rio’s breathing heavy as her body continued flickering from location to location. A plane crashed in the distance; no doubt, the pilot was taken by that idiot’s plan. That was just more people lost. More people Rio would have to guide. A soft whimper came from the entity’s throat and Agatha shushed her.
“You can do it, Rio.” Shaky breaths were her response, but Rio seemed to be getting a hold on her death alarm. “There you go, baby. Come back to yourself. The world will be extremely annoying if there’s a ton of ghosts wandering around.”
A shaky chuckle drifted through the air and Rio pulled herself from Agatha’s grasp. Agatha would not focus on how much she wanted that warmth back. She did not want her wife to hug her for longer. She hated this woman and she would continue to hate her, moment of weakness or not.
“Thank you,” Rio breathed, brushing some of her hair from her face. “I’m… sorry you had to see me like that.”
“It happens,” Agatha shrugged. They shifted until the were kneeling, facing one another. “So, Grimace finally got all the stones?”
Rio’s eyes narrowed. “The Avengers and their posse were supposed to stop him, the morons.”
“Agreed.” Agatha hated those idiots and their penchant for making things worse.
“Now, Thanos has snapped away half of all life in the universe,” Rio grumbled. Her body still flickered, fighting to leave, to perform her duty. “I have… a lot of souls to guide.”
“You’d best get to it, then,” Agatha drawled, standing and brushing herself off. “Duty calls and whatnot.”
Rio eyed her for a long moment. She hovered off the ground, legs crossed as she came eye level with Agatha. The violet-clad witch watched her warily, unsure what her play would be. Agatha started when a pair of hands cradled her face.
“Thank you.”
The words were little more than a breath on the wind. Just as they left her mouth, Rio disappeared. Agatha didn’t bother looking for her, knowing she would be everywhere and nowhere at once. Death was everywhere, after all. In a much more literal sense than usual thanks to the grape-headed oaf.
Instead of dwelling on the soft moment with her former wife, she irritably reminded herself, Agatha made her way down the street. More chaos rang out around her, but she paid it no mind, reading a spellbook as she strolled leisurely through the mayhem. She hadn’t been erased from existence and therefore, none of this was her problem.
Pausing down the street, Agatha was just in time to watch a green figure usher the souls of nearly an entire family to follow her. She didn’t try to catch the figure’s eye, continuing on her way without a care. But on the breeze, a small response to Rio’s last statement floated.
You’re welcome, my love.