Chapter Text
Six months after the events at ARK and the retrieval of Elpis, things seemed to be going well for Grace Ashcroft. Leon and Sherry were both recovering now that the antiviral had cured them of the T-Virus. Emily was back and thriving, under the care of Grace, and Grace herself had even gotten a promotion. On top of all of that, everything related to her mother’s murder and all the work she was doing before she was killed was released. The Connection was now under investigation by several news outlets and the DSO.
So what now? Grace just went back to work as usual. She wasn’t sent on the field ever again, and considering how things went the first time, it was for the best. But now that things have returned to a new normal, and it was a little boring. So to shake things up, she did something new. She downloaded a couple of dating apps, and it was certainly new for her. Being the kid who was constantly moving before her mom was murdered left Grace a bit stunted in interacting with people in person. While she was able to make it work enough to secure a few second dates, it never worked enough for a third.
That all came to a change when Grace matched with a woman named Amanda I. Roșca. She looked to be twice Grace’s age, but neither one really acknowledged it. In fact, it just seemed like they clicked. Even with Grace being a bit nervous about it, Amanda kept reassuring Grace that things were fine. The two set up a date, and when the day came, Grace was a nervous wreck. She always was when she had a date, but this was a different amount of nervousness. Maybe it was because Amanda was old enough to be her mother, or the fact that she seemed to have life together, or the fact that Grace was worried this would be like every other date and end in a bust, or a combination of the three. Before she could worry herself too much about everything that could go wrong, there was a knock on the door, followed by the door opening and Emily calling out.
“Grace, Sherry is here!” The kid shouted. Grace gave herself one last once-over in the mirror. She was wearing a teal blouse, white slacks, and a brown cardigan with cats on it. She adjusted her glasses and slipped on a pair of blue flats before grabbing her purse and walking out of her room.
“H-How do I look?” She asked as she walked up to the two.
“You look great. Maybe leave the cardigan in the car, but you look great,” Sherry answered.
“Don’t listen to her, Grace. You look pretty, and the cardigan completes the look,” Emily answered.
“Thank you, Emily, and thank you, Sherry, for w-watching h-her. I’ll be back around nine,” Grace said as she opened the door to her apartment and stepped outside.
“We’ll be here,” Sherry said.
“Stay safe,” Emily said.
“I w-will,” Grace said as she closed the door. She walked to her car and got in before driving to the restaurant. A cozy, family-owned Italian spot run by a mother and son. The restaurant was older than Grace and was still going strong all this time later. Grace found a parking spot and finally checked her phone to see if Amanda was there.
Amanda: I’m here, and I have a table for us. You should see it from outside. I asked for a window seat. I hope that’s ok.
Grace: That’s fine. I’ll be in shortly. I just got here
Grace put her phone in her pocket and looked down at the cardigan. Sherry knew better about things like this than she did, and her advice hasn’t failed Grace yet. The blonde bit the bullet and took off the cardigan. She set it down in the passenger seat before getting out and walking inside. She had a quick conversation with the hostess before telling her that she was on another date, then went to the table where Amanda was sitting. As Grace approached, she learned that the pictures didn’t do Amanda justice. She was pretty— no gorgeous. Long black hair with streaks of gray pulled back into a high ponytail. Pale green eyes that sparkled slightly in the restaurant's lighting. She wore a black turtleneck, dark jeans, and a gray trench coat draped over the back of her chair.
“H-Hi… Amanda,” Grace said as she walked up.
“Grace, hi. So nice to meet you,” Amanda said as she stood up. Grace knew Amanda said she was tall, but that felt like an understatement. The older woman couldn’t have been shorter than 6’2, but with her heels, it was hard to tell. Before Grace could even react, she was pulled into a very comforting hug by Amanda that both calmed her nerves and made her even more nervous.
“Come sit. I already went ahead and ordered wine and bread for the table. I hope that’s alright with you,” Amanda said as she let go of Grace and sat down. Grace sat down on the other side of the table.
“That’s fine with me. I just can’t drink too much. I still h-have to drive back tonight,” Grace said as she looked through the menu. She didn’t know why she was looking through the menu; she was practically a regular here with how many first dates she had had at this place. Not to mention all the times she came with Emily. Everyone on the staff knew her and Emily by name. They probably saw her coming from a mile away.
‘Calm down, Grace, it’s just in your head. They aren’t judging you for having another date here. If anything, they’re planning my escape route in case this one goes bad,’ She thought as she took a deep breath to calm down.
‘You got this. You can handle a date with this pretty, older woman who definitely has her life together, and if not… well we won’t see each other again if I make an idiot of myself,’ She thought as she set the menu down. Mistake number one. Since Amanda had been here for a bit, she had already figured out what she wanted to order, so instead she was looking at Grace. Examining her almost.
“So, Grace, you said you worked for the FBI. Any juicy secrets you can reveal about them?” The older woman asked.
“No. I legally can’t, and even if I could, I don’t h-have much to reveal. I just sit at a desk all day. My boss tried to send me out into the field once… but let’s just say it didn’t work out,” The younger woman said.
“That sounds like a story. Why not—” Amanda was cut off by the waiter coming with the wine, two glasses, two additional glasses of water, and a basket of garlic butter breadsticks. Amanda glowered at the waiter for a brief moment that Grace caught, but she hid it before he turned to her.
“Here we go, and are you ready to order, ma’am?” The waiter asked as he took out his notepad.
“Yes. I’ll have the Lemon-Herb Salmon Carbonara, please,” Amanda requested.
“You got it. Grace, your usual?” He asked as he wrote Amanda’s order down. He was already about to write Grace’s Shrimp Alfredo order in, but chose to wait.
“Yes, please. Thanks, J-Jorge,” She answered.
“You got it. I’ll go put that in. Enjoy,” He said loud enough for them both to hear. He then leaned in close to Grace.
“If you need to leave, you know the path,” He whispered before walking off. Amanda waited until Jorge was gone before speaking.
“I take it you’re a regular here?” She asked.
“Yeah. I came h-here a lot before being sent on the field, and Emily and I come h-here almost once a w-week,” Grace answered.
“Seems the FBI pays well. I’m jealous.”
“Wh-What is it that you do?”
“Me? I’m in between jobs at the moment. I won the lottery two years back and quit my job in a spur of the moment thing. Been living comfortably as the president of my neighborhood’s HOA ever since.”
“But you said you’re in between jobs? So you plan to go back to work?”
“We’ll just have to see where things take me. I hope that doesn’t turn you away, Grace. You’ve been quite the charming little girl in our messages.” Grace felt her cheeks heating up at the comment, and she took a sip of water to hide her growing blush.
“W-W-Well, I-I try to be,” She muttered as she set the glass down. Amanda immediately noticed Grace’s stutter getting worse as she grew more flustered and grinned.
“You’re certainly successful. You should give yourself more credit. I don’t normally go for women my daughter’s age,” Amanda said as she poured herself and Grace some wine.
“You h-have a daughter?” Grace asked,
“Mhm. My lovely little Rose. She’s currently visiting her father in Romania right now,” Amanda answered.
“Oh? Are you from Romania, too?” Grace asked.
“I am. A little village outside of Potter’s Field.”
“I’d like to visit someday.”
“If this isn’t just a one-time thing for you, I would gladly take you home someday,” Amanda said with a slightly flirty tone. Grace caught it and the implications behind it, and started to blush again. Before Amanda could say anything to tease her, Jorge came back with their food. Once again, the glower came back, but Grace was too focused on her food to notice.
“We have the Salmon Carbonara for you, miss,” He said as he placed the plate in front of Amanda.
“Thank you,” Amanda said as she looked towards her food. It did look delicious, so she couldn’t be too mad about the interruption. She glanced over to Grace, who was practically drooling as her food was placed in front of her.
“And your Shrimp Alfredo, Grace,” Jorge said.
“Thanks, J-Jorge,” Grace said as she rubbed her hands excitedly.
“No problem. If you need anything, just holler,” He said as he walked off. Amanda took a bite of her carbonara and let out a small moan of delight as she reveled in how good it was.
“Asta e foarte bine (That’s really good),” She said. Grace smiled, seeing Amanda get her world rocked by the deliciousness of a recipe passed down several generations.
“I’m gonna assume that’s Romanian for ‘that’s good,’” She said.
“Close, but I can always teach you another time,” Amanda said as she cut into the salmon with her fork.
“You are making a lot of promises for a first date,” Grace said as she took a breadstick and took a bite out of it.
“When you come to be my age, you don’t have to worry about the trivial things. If I didn’t have an interest in you and getting to know you, I never would’ve matched to begin with.”
“That… makes a lot of sense, actually. I wish I h-had that kind of confidence.”
“It’s fine, dear. You’re adorable just the way you are. It adds to your charm.” A blush crept on Grace’s face that she was trying to hide behind her wine, but Amanda noticed it immediately. She gently reached across the table to lower Grace’s glass.
“Don’t hide, dear. I want to see it all,” Amanda said, in a sultry voice that made Grace short-circuit.
“O-Oh,” She mumbled.
Dinner played out like this, with Amanda teasing Grace and getting her flustered as they ate, only occasionally interrupted by Jorge when he asked about desserts and brought the check. He also brought Emily’s favorite in a to-go plate for Grace to bring back. After dinner was paid for, Amanda excused herself to the bathroom, and Jorge sat down across from Grace.
“So what are we thinking about this one?” He asked.
“I… I don’t know. She’s very… forward,” Grace answered.
“I noticed. If you got any redder, I think Mrs. Albrici would’ve put you on the griddle to get some color on you.”
“But I enjoyed the date though… a lot actually.”
“Sounds like you got a second date under your belt. As long as she feels the same… but I gotta ask, her? The last three people you came in with were your age, now you shootin’ for someone Mrs. Albrici’s age? Didn’t take you to be into cougars. That’s my thing.”
“First off, no one ‘owns’ being a cougar h-hunter. Secondly, I’m trying something different. Is that so bad?”
“Nope, but I should go. You’re different is coming back,” Jorge said as he got up and left. Grace looked behind herself to see Amanda walking up to the table. At first, everything seemed fine until Grace noticed the new blood lipstick adorning Amanda’s lips.
“Ready to go?” The older woman asked as she took her trench coat.
“Yeah. Let me just—” The younger woman muttered as she grabbed her purse and the to-go bag with Emily’s food. They walked out to the parking lot and stopped at Grace’s car.
“I had a lovely time, Grace, even if Jorge had poor timing,” Amanda said.
“Yeah. I h-had a great time too. W-will there be a second?” Grace asked.
“Absolutely. Just look forward to it. Now get home safely. You had a bit to drink,” The older woman said as she leaned down and kissed Grace’s forehead. She left a kiss mark on the blonde, which was exactly what she was going for. She left Grace and walked over to her car, leaving the blonde a little stunned. Grace got into her car and made the drive back. She checked the time, and it was 9:20, making this officially one of the latest times she’s stayed out for a date. When she got back, she went inside, still in a bit of a daze. The date went great; both she and Amanda hit it off, Amanda seemed to be planning the next one, and Grace wasn’t overthinking everything she could’ve done better. Genuinely a good date. By the time she reached the door, she was grinning from ear to ear. She opened the door and walked inside to see Sherry and Emily watching TV in the living room. Well, Sherry was, Emily had fallen asleep while leaning against the woman.
“I’m back,” She said as she sat down in the armchair.
“How’d it go? Great, I’m assuming,” Sherry said as she pointed at Grace’s forehead where the kissmark was.
“Yeah. It w-was great. She’s planning the second,” Grace answered.
“That’s fast. I get wanting to have something, but be sure to think it through.”
“I am. Don’t w-worry, Sherry. Besides, w-with my track record, I’ll be onto the next before w-we know it.”
“I don’t want to agree, but given your track record, it’s possible. Anyway, I have to get going. Jake had a surprise for me. Said it was supposed to knock my socks off,” Sherry said as she carefully got up. Emily slid off her and onto the couch, still asleep.
“Ok. Stay safe and tell Jake I said h-hi,” Grace said as she walked with Sherry to the door.
“I will,” Sherry said as she left. Grace closed the door behind the older woman before taking Emily’s plate and putting it in the fridge. She then went to the sleeping child and picked her up. She carried Emily to her room and laid her in bed before placing a kiss on her forehead and leaving the room, closing the door behind her. Afterwards, she went to take a shower to clean up, especially the lipstick mark.
‘I hope this works out. I’m tired of doing this routine. I just want someone who will stay. Sure, Amanda is… a lot older than me, but that’s ok. I’m sure Jorge or Sherry has a mommy issues joke lined up. Especially Jorge,’ She thought as she continued to shower.
It turns out her track record was damned. Amanda was different compared to every other man, woman, and nonbinary person she had been with. The date wasn’t a fluke. In fact, the two got along well and ended up in a steady and stable relationship. Emily even met Amanda and gave her seal of approval as worthy of being with Grace. Grace also met “Rose” as well, getting along with the woman. A year after their first date, Amanda and Grace were sitting in bed together when Amanda got a call from Rose. She left the room, leaving Grace concerned since something like that hadn’t happened since the relationship started. Amanda came back into the room ten minutes later, looking hollow.
“Is everything ok?” Grace asked as she climbed out of bed and walked over to Amanda.
“It’s Ethan. He… He passed away last night in his sleep.”
“I’m so sorry, Mandy. Is there anything I can do to h-help?”
“I would appreciate it a lot if you and Emily came with me to my village for the funeral.”
“Of course. I’ll see what I can do.”
It took a month to get things together, but after that month, the three of them were off to the little village outside. The plane ride was long and filled with heavy tension. Going to a funeral was never fun, despite going to a new place. When they reached the village, that’s when Grace’s alarm bells were going off. The village seemed empty, abandoned even. In fact, it looked like no one had lived in the village in years. Before Grace or Emily could question what was going on, “Amanda” revealed herself. Her black hair turned pale gray, her skin paled, and the outfit she was wearing turned into a black dress. “Amanda” placed her hand on both Emily and Grace’s heads before rendering them unconscious. Leaving them in a vulnerable state in a random village in an unmarked place in Romania, with the only people who knew where they were being Leon, Sherry, and Grace’s boss, Dempsey.