Chapter Text
The end of the road was different than expected. One last Wizard of Oz reference, or something that inspired Wizard of Oz, depending on how you look at it. Maud Baum, as Billy had informed them, was a witch, after all. Stood before the altar, Agatha, Billy, Lillia and Jen were side by side. The spell had been cast, all that was left was to ask.
Power. Magic. Freedom.
Agatha could have whatever she wanted.
'Nicky', she said.
'Tommy', Billy said.
They never heard Lillia and Jen's requests, the road blinking out of existence in a flash of blue light. Agatha landed heavily on the floor of her basement, Billy quick to follow, and Jen and Lillia next.
Jen waved a hand and pink engulfed it, and, with a gasp of delight and a quick 'later!', raced upstairs and out of the house.
Lillia sat up on the stone and dusted off her hands, 'I took care of the seven, since neither of you thought to,' she said with only a hint of irritation in her voice. Agatha mustered a small smile, and Lillia fully stood, walking towards the stairs, stopping only briefly to nod at Agatha and pinch Billy's cheek before she disappeared.
Billy turned to Agatha, beaming, 'I know where he is. I can feel him.'
'Go get 'em, kid,' she replied, and with that Billy bounded to his feet and raced upstairs, a boy possessed.
Agatha waited. Shut her eyes. Breathed deeply. Searched herself for any hint of what Billy had, of a signal, a sense, that Nicholas was somewhere close. She felt nothing.
All of that - the road, the death, the loss - and she had asked for the one thing the road could never deliver. Cursing herself, she put her head in her hands and allowed the fatigue of the last few days to wash over her along with the regret, forcing herself to feel every single ounce of it in the hopes she'd never be that stupid again.
'Mama?' a voice called from the top of the basement stairs, and she shot to her feet and skidded to the foot of the steps.
At the top of the stairs, bathed in the golden light of the hallway bulb, was a familiar boy with dark hair and blue eyes. A boy she had never thought she would see again.
Agatha stood there, taking him in, drawing her eyes over his every feature, frozen on the spot, as if the slightest movement would make Nicholas dissolve into thin air. The light became shaded as a figure appeared behind him, her dark hair and green outfit framing the boy as she placed a hand on each of his shoulders.
'Hey, honey. Look who I found.' Rio called to Agatha, who gripped the banister as she began to ascend the stairs.
When she got to the top, Rio and the boy stepped backwards, allowing Agatha to kneel in front of them. 'Nicky?' she asked, searching his blue, blue eyes for the cloudiness they had when Rio took him away, scanning his lips for the drops of blood that had been there last time, allowing her trembling hands to grab his warm ones and feeling his pulse beneath her fingertips. Tears pooled in her eyes, and she risked a glance up at Rio, afraid that looking away from her son for too long would mean he wasn't there when she looked back.
'He's here, Aggie.' Rio affirmed with a small smile. 'He's real.'
There was no holding back the tears as Agatha released his wrists to wrap her arms around her son, feeling his small arms snake around her neck to hold her back, his face buried in her chest as he murmured 'missed you, mama,' into her shirt. Looking up at Rio, she saw Death begin to shuffle awkwardly, looking around the hallway as if looking at the mother and son would be intruding on a private moment, and Agatha removed one arm from Nicholas to extend it to Rio, who carefully knelt behind the boy to stretch her arms around Agatha and Nicholas. Nicholas turned his head, 'missed you too, mommy', he said to Rio, resulting in a wail from Rio that almost made Agatha jump back from sheer volume.
The boy was the one to break the hug, 'squishing me' he said, and the two women released watery laughs and loosened their grip, only for the boy to duck down and crawl out beneath their linked bodies. 'I'm hungry.' He said to the tangle of arms and legs that was his mothers, only for Agatha to pull away from Rio and, wiping at her eyes, stand up. Rio immediately followed her to her feet and wrapped her arms around Agatha from behind, Nicholas, still the six-year-old Agatha remembered Rio taking by the hand all those centuries ago, pulled a face at their antics.
'Of course you are, bub, you've had a big journey. Why don't I make you a grilled cheese?' Agatha asked, picking her son up and carrying him to the kitchen, Rio still following close behind, keeping her arms on Agatha now she had permission. She placed Nicholas carefully on a stool at the kitchen counter, and tapped Rio's hands to signal for release, which Rio reluctantly permitted, sitting next to their son.
'What's a grilled cheese?' Nicholas asked, tiny brow furrowed, and Agatha stilled as the centuries of lost time crashed into her all over again.
Rio intervened, allowing Agatha to take a deep breath and head for the fridge, and began explaining the premise of a grilled cheese to their son as Agatha demonstrated, his eyes wide in excitement as Rio described the snack between offering him bites of cheese. When Agatha had the plate before him, he took a bite that Agatha was sure was far too big for him, with a wide, gap-toothed grin. 'Finish that and then I'll explain how light bulbs work', Rio promised him with a wink at Agatha. Agatha reached across the counter and squeezed Rio's hand in thanks, and Rio brought it to her mouth and kissed Agatha's knuckles.
Beside them, Nicky made another 'ugh'.
Halfway across the world, a pile of rubble twitched, and a hand burst from it.