Secrets and Sins Part 2: Finding Mary

Chapter 7

~Beatrice~

“Come on Bea! Hurry up!” Ava whined tugging at her hand trying and failing to encourage her to speed up.

“Ava, the footpath is icy, and I don’t want to slip. I don’t have instant healing like you, remember?” Beatrice sighed, stepping gingerly as she felt the soles of her boots slide a little on the thin layer of ice over the concrete.

“But it’s sooooooo cold, I’ll freeze if we don’t speed up…” Ava pouted, puppy dog eyes on full display.
“I promise to catch you if you slip?”

Beatrice snorted a laugh, “And then we’ll both fall over? We are literally a minute away; I think you’ll survive the cold that long.”

They reached the steps of La Vasseur in one piece and at an acceptable pace, Ava was literally vibrating with excitement.

After the Halo bearer’s accidental teleportation during a nightmare, Mother Superior had insisted that the two of them head to Switzerland for a break from everything. The older nun putting the loss of control of the Halo that night down to stress, which Beatrice had to agree, it probably was. The one request from the leader of the OCS was that they keep training with the Halo while they were away, but be sure to lay low and not draw unnecessary attention to themselves.

Ava was beyond eager to return to their little village in the Swiss Alps and had been even more elated to see the layer of fresh snow blanketing the sleepy town, that is until she realized what temperature it was outside of the warm bus they had been in for the last couple of hours. Despite the frigid air, the Halo bearer had insisted that they stop in to visit their old workplace on arrival, which Beatrice didn’t mind doing, it was on the way to their little apartment anyway.

Ava pulled open the door to the bar, holding it so Beatrice could enter first, the pleasant heat emanating from the small fireplace enveloped the sister warrior immediately.

Who said chivalry was dead?

“Thank you, Ava.” She smiled at the younger woman, starting to shrug off the heavy jacket she was wearing.

Ava beamed at her, the Halo bearer’s face was flushed from the cold, “Of course, baby.” She stepped closer to give her a quick peck on the cheek.

Beatrice couldn’t stop herself from glancing down at her lips as the other woman drew away, Ava was close enough that the sister warrior could feel her warm breath ghosting across her face. The Halo bearer definitely noticed where her gaze had travelled, the grin disappearing as her eyes darkened.

It dawned on Beatrice that they hadn’t slept together since before the battle at the sinkhole, the one time they tried to Ava had phased through the bed and Mother Superior’s rules had then been enforced. Now they were back in Switzerland, they could do whatever they wanted…
Beatrice’s breath hitched. Ava’s eyes narrowed at the sound, and she leaned in slightly.

“Ava? Beatrice?” A familiar voice broke through the intense moment the women were having.

“Hans! Wie geht es dir?” Ava spun around, replying to their old friend flawlessly in German.

Beatrice was still flabbergasted that the Halo bearer had managed to pick up the language so easily, the sister warrior herself had several languages under her belt but still couldn’t speak German as fluently as Ava.

Hans hugged them both tightly, inviting them both to sit down at the bar for a hot drink. The barman filled them in on the local gossip as they got reacquainted.

"Anyways you are both coming back to work, yes?" Hans questioned in English with his thick accent.

"I don't think so…"
"Of course…" Ava responded at the exact same time as the sister warrior. The younger woman turned to her with a frown, puppy dog eyes making another appearance.

God, she knows my weaknesses so well…

Clearing her throat, Beatrice forced her eyes away from Ava, "We'll think about it Hans, we're not sure how long we are staying."

Both Hans and Ava looked hopeful, she hadn't exactly said no. She didn't hate working at the bar, it did give them some extra cash to buy stuff they wanted rather than needed, but Beatrice wanted to clear it with Mother Superior first, just in case, their orders had been to not draw attention after all.