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"It's almost dark enough now." Victoria hadn't moved from where she was perched in front of the window. For almost two hours she'd crouched in 47's favourite armchair. She was already wearing white face paint and a glow-in-the-dark skeleton costume she was already too old for, but she didn't care. This wasn't a normal evening, this would be her first Halloween—her first real Halloween. It needed to be celebrated properly. First, they'd go trick-or-treating together, and later they'd watch a goofy horror film she was allowed to pick.
It would be an almost normal Halloween in relative freedom, though they still had to be careful, as 47 kept reminding her. Compared to growing up in the ICA's secret laboratory, everything felt like true freedom. Even living on the run and in hiding with Diana or being secured by 47 before he tucked her away in that small catholic orphanage. It still felt like she'd watched it in one of those cheesy made-for-TV films Diana didn't want her to watch. Unrealistic, but just interesting enough to hold her attention for an hour or two.
But this, this was real. They had been living in their unassuming house in the suburbs for almost a year now, all three of them, like a family. Victoria liked to pretend that they weren't pretending. Diana could never know about the countless mornings she spent observing them closely while pretending to focus on her cereal. She kept making up stories in her head; about 47 choosing to stay because he liked living with them, because he liked being close to Diana, because he wanted to have a family just as much as Victoria did.
She had long suspected that Diana was in love with 47; back when Victoria only knew him from Diana's memories she so readily shared with her, over and over again, until they felt like her own. There had been that look on Diana's face whenever she talked about him, and her voice was softer and warmer than usually.
Now that they were living together, it was even more obvious; in the way Diana never took her eyes off him when they were in the same room, or the way she'd smile whenever their hands brushed against each other, or the way she stood closer to him than Victoria had seen her stand to anyone else. She had been right all along.
Perhaps it was just what she wanted to see, but she was convinced that 47 displayed the exact same tell-tale signs, if only more subtle. The intense look in his eyes, his almost-smile, how he allowed Diana to stand this close to him.
Neither of them seemed to be aware of it, or maybe they were purposefully pretending not to notice the other's blatant interest, but tonight would be better than normal nights in this regard, too: going trick-or-treating as a family meant that they'd have to act like one. Victoria was even more excited about the prospect of her guardians holding hands than she was about the candy and the horror film.
"Alright then."
Victoria jumped out of the armchair before Diana had finished her sentence, and then she stood in awe and stared at them. They, too, had disguised themselves appropriately. Diana looked like a witch, but a beautiful one, not one of those that were supposed to scare little children. 47 was, unmistakeably, Frankenstein's Monster.
"You stay close to us at all times," 47 said as he handed her an adorable little bucket for the candies she'd hopefully collect.
Victoria nodded. There was no need to remind her. She knew the risks, and besides, there was no way she'd want to miss one single second of them acting like her parents.
It was better than expected. When they approached the first house, Victoria was too shy to ring the bell. Luckily, 47 wasn't, and so she had her first real Halloween interaction with an elderly couple who complimented her on her great costume and gave her more candy than she'd hoped to get.
By the third house, 47 was actually holding Diana's hand as they were standing back, now that Victoria felt brave enough to initiate contact with the neighbours herself.
Victoria's bucket was filled to the brim after the sixth house; and while she didn't want to head home yet, she also didn't try to change her guardian's minds. There was still the horror film to look forward to, and the biggest treat was certainly that 47 had yet to let go of Diana's hand.
Back in the safety of their own house, away from everyone's eyes but Victoria's, they finally did let go of each other. She didn't have much time to be disappointed, though. The warm light of their living room lamps revealed what the moonless night had been concealing; on 47's cheek, in stark contrast to his pale green face paint, was a dark red lipstick mark.