Chapter Text
He is not getting anywhere with this case. his dining table is a mess of pictures and scraps of notes of interests and he cant find a god damn link. He needs a drink. it was one of those nights where the past seemed to crawl just under his skin. the victims looking too decayed. the memories of Racoon city too close to the surface.
Grace is beyond annoyed, she travelled all the way across town to join this couple promising a night where her brain would be forced to take the finger off the replay button of the taste of her mothers blood spraying into her mouth but no. they had to start having a fight and cancel on her. And now she had put all that effort into not just her outfit and makeup but her whole persona for the night. she spots a nice looking bar on the corner. she needed a drink. and a replacement warm body.
Its late October, the bar is not too far from Leons place and one he haunts to drown his sorrows when they become too loud. Its a shame it is now also occupied by a whole host of dressed up halloween people. the noise is not bad enough that its driven him off yet though. The music from the speakers masking it all into a lulled white noise. He spies a red dressed woman with little horns and dark hair from behind and for a split second he thinks its Ada. but then she turns and its a strangers face. he looks down into his drink. its his third. Maybe he should go home.
"Can you save me?" Feet in clunky tall heels and then its long legs all the way up to a very short skirt. A dress made of shimmering silver with a deep V clinging like a second skin onto a young woman with costume angel wings hanging off her shoulders, white hair and a dimpled smile. his mouth goes a bit dry. she's holding a small shot tray and a colourful drink.
"I'm sorry?"
"Can you save me? from the other tables." She nods at the seat next to his "I don't really want to join the drunk frat guys or the bachelorettes. We don't have to talk unless you want to, don't worry."
He nods.
"Sure, knock yourself out."
"Thanks" she sits down next to him sliding all her items down safely to the slightly tacky table. as she turns to sit down he sees that the dress is backless.
"So...an angel huh?" apparently he felt chatty.
"Well I was hoping to be a unicorn tonight but…plans fell through."he lifts an eyebrow at her as she snorts and slams back her first shot. a private joke it seems.
"What are you supposed to be? wait, let me guess… tall dark and handsome?" she has a mischievous smile on her face as she leans it against a hand, like they're old friends and she's teasing. it makes a small jolt unexpectedly move in his chest at the sight. he takes a sip of his drink without looking away from her.
"I think I'm just some guy that haunts this bar"
"A ghost then."
"If you say so." she stirs her drink looking around the room as he studies his glass. eyes ticking up at her profile.
"You looking for someone?"
"In a manner I guess, like I said, plans fell through." she sighs and turns back to him, apparently seeing no good targets "a ghost and an angel, huh. two beings that walk by that no one can see."
"Would be nice" he says
"Would be awful" she counters.
"Whys that?" its a beat before she answers, like she had another one coming out of her mouth and stopped it.
"Then who would be able to appreciate my outfit?" his mouth curls at the edge. it is a nice outfit.
"What's your name?"
"...How about I'm just 'Angel' and you are just...'Handsome' stranger?" her leg touches his under the table. It feels lite hot static where they touch. He should move away.
"I've been called worse" he stays still.
"I bet, long list of broken hearts I'm sure?"
"Not really"
"No? you could add me to the list, I can promise to call you something nasty before I leave in the morning." that gets a genuine laugh out of him.
"you're beautiful and all that but i think you're a bit young for me" she puts her elbows up on the table and rests her head on woven fingers.
"yeah you're right, i should go chat up one of the guys at the bar. they can talk at me about their uni football and how their parents suck because they wont buy them a new car. and then give me the most unsatisfying night of my life."
"or you could just go home alone"
"is that why you are here, because you like being alone? could be drinking at home in that case." she taps at his glass "instead you. are. here. clearly, you are after company."
"you don't know me."
"And I'm not trying to. I'm not suggesting you take me out for dinner or even breakfast Handsome. Just looking to forget for a bit." the last bit has such a shift in tone his eyes tick up to hers and for a heartbeat its like she has had a mask on and its slipped a bit. Something very, very weary and tightly spooled is looking back at him for a second before the mask comes back up again with the smile. Bar angel once more.
"Hey Angel. lets play a game"
"what kind?"
"Three truths and a dare" she looks at him quizzically and takes a deep sip of her colourful drink, the tip of her costume wing poking him as she shuffles closed. and nods at him "we taking turns?" he nods. "ladies first"
"Why did you let me sit down?" she asks
"I have a weakness for blondes in need of saving" she snorts at his answer.
"Why did you come over to my table?" he counters. she studies him, looks like she's mulling something over.
"you looked like you were drowning while breathing air. kindred kind of soul." his hand stopped on halfway with his drink to his mouth. he wasn't expecting that. Her voice turns back up to the 'cheerful' tone setting.
"My turn! Are you actually really hung up on my age or just think you should be?" he eyes her over the rim.
"I should be" alright, enough playing around. Time to scare her off to something better for her.
"Have you ever seen someone die?" she freezes, eyes on his. something like a cloud passes over her countenace she is definitely unamused by the fact that he wont play ball with the 'fun' persona.
"yes." the tone is level. "Is this your attempt to scare me off?"
"Is that your question?"
"No."
"Have you had it be your f-fault?" he understood the confession behind her question. A challenge in her eyes now.
"yes." why the fuck did he not lie.
"Why are you out tonight Angel?"
"Truth?" he doesn't know when they had moved so close.
"Yeah."
"something tells me its the same reason you are." his eyes flick down to her mouth before ticking back up to her eyes.
"I dare you to tell me something real"
"that's cheating" she looks genuinely annoyed.
"is it? how badly do you want your dare turn?" she rolls her eyes and looks into the middle distance while she chews her cheek. He almost regrets pushing her, is about to call it all off when she answers.
"...Its the anniversary of her murder tonight." well that clocks him right betweent he eyes. Hes a fucking asshole. he doesnt need to pry into whos murder, someone she cared about obviously.
He feels his face do something. she cuts him off with steel in her voice before he can even start saying anything. "you know Handsome if you're about to say you're sorry you can save your breath. I've had enough of strangers being sorry." He knows that feeling. After Racoon city everyone was very sorry all the time. he swallows the condolences back down. knocking the last of his drink back.
"It gets better."
"Promise?" there is a challenge in her voice and he decides on honesty.
"No." she laughs at that, leaning back against the seat.
"You're saying no free rides, have to crawl my own way out of this?" he turns her face towards his with a light finger under her chin. studies her pale grey eyes
"Hey, you'll get to the other side." her eyes have fire in them. his breath hitches at the sight he is close enough to smell her, discreet vanilla and something just her. she swallows, her eyes flicking between his and down to his mouth.
"I dare you to kiss me. a real kiss. to burn everything else away for tonight. make me not think about anything."
"I shouldn't" he murmurs against her lips. their breathing syncs.
"But you will anyway."
The kiss makes it feel like molten lava moves through him. Her arms wrap around his neck. his hand on the back of her head to keep her there like she'd dissapear if he wasnt touching her. he deepens the kiss and she reciprocates with enthusiasm. she tastes sweet from the cocktail. she moans into his mouth as their tongues meet and it makes blood rush straight down. her hand moves down over his chest, he puts an arm around her waist, half pulling her into his lap. he wants more of her, he kneads her soft hip and moves down to slowly squeeze her ass earning another moan. her eyes dark when they break apart.
"my place is nearby"
"Then why the fuck are we still here?"
When he wakes up his arm is searching for another warm body in the bed but only find cold sheets. he groans awake. definitely feeling scratches down his back, pulls his underwear and an old college t shirt on from the mess on the floor, clothes and condom wrappers strewn about.
walks out to the kitchen, to either find Angel or coffee. He only finds the coffee. as he sips it he steps back over to the table covered in the case images. he should have definitely not had those out with a civilian around to mistakenly peek at, they were making him look like a serial killer. he hopes they are not why she left so early. then he frowns. theres a new post-it in the middle.
'They all have the same street number parking stub tickets'
a small angelwing is drawn underneath as a signature.
he looks over the images again. She was right. Angel had good eyes.
She never does come back to that bar. He pretends he doesn't look for her and over time she becomes just another fuzzy encounter.