Secrets and Sins Part 2: Finding Mary

Chapter 11

~Beatrice~

Lilith didn't return for the entire week and Ava was driving her insane.
The Halo bearer had taken a full two days to completely heal from the injuries sustained during her visit to Mary. Now that she was feeling better, Ava was unable to sit still. She would pace the apartment constantly or the younger woman would fidget, picking threads on the old couch or tapping her foot on the floor mercilessly. Beatrice, more often than not, found herself wanting to strangle the Halo bearer. The sister warrior hadn’t slept properly for days now, watching over Ava in the darkness, she couldn't bring herself to let the other woman out of her sight. With the Halo recharged, Beatrice constantly kept tabs on Ava, just in case she accidentally teleported or astral projected again. A combination of lack of sleep and inability to train outside due to the snowstorm that had been battering the village was wearing her patience thin.  

It was Friday afternoon when Beatrice finally snapped. The sister warrior had just finished wiping down the kitchen before having a shower. Glad for some alone time, she turned the temperature up to almost scalding, the hot water helping to calm some of her frayed nerves.
Ava had been particularly attention seeking today, the younger woman following her around the apartment like an over enthusiastic puppy, constantly underfoot and getting into things she shouldn't.

When Beatrice emerged from the bedroom, she sniffed the air suspiciously and found the Halo bearer was standing guiltily in the entryway into the kitchen.

"Um Beaaaaa…" Ava started, quickly looking away from her eye contact.

"What did you do?" The taller woman sighed, though she had a fair idea by the smell lingering around them.

"I was just trying to make you a nice dinner and…well…I got distracted and forgot about it…" Ava took a step to the side, giving Beatrice the view of what had been a freshly cleaned and tidied kitchen.

The Halo bearer had somehow managed to cover almost every surface with food splatter from a pot that appeared to have boiled over on the hob. It was even on the ceiling in some places. The entire apartment smelt of burnt whatever it was.

"Ava!" She groaned, surveying the new mess with dismay.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to." The Halo bearer murmured quietly, staring down at her feet.

Approaching the stove, Beatrice gingerly picked up the pot that had Ava’s creation in it, grimacing at the blackened sludgy substance stuck to the bottom of it.

What even…? Is that a bit of beef in there? Did she try to make a stew or something?

Beatrice shuddered a little in disgust, putting the ruined cookware in the sink, she filled it with warm water to soak. Though she doubted soaking it would be enough. The sister warrior turned back to the culprit, ready to reprimand her, but when her eyes landed on the ashamed expression Ava was wearing, Beatrice decided on another course of action.

"That's it.  Come on." The sister warrior grabbed her coat from the back of a dining room chair and headed towards the door.

Ava's eyes shot up to hers, surprised, "What…where are we…?"

"The bar." Beatrice clipped her words off sharply as she pulled on her wool lined coat.
"You need a job. A distraction."

Surely she can’t get into much trouble if she's being kept busy…

She smiled to herself when Ava squealed with excitement, racing over to the door to give the taller woman a tight hug. Beatrice hoped this was the right call, the Halo bearer had never had any incidents at work that involved the Halo, maybe the rapid pace of bartending kept her focused.

And if something happens, I'm only 5 minutes away.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

The Halo bearer pulled back, her grin fading slightly, "But what about…?" Ava nodded her head in the direction of the half destroyed kitchen.

"I’ll clean it up while you’re working and think of a way you can repay me..." Beatrice winked, hiding her smile when the younger woman's face lit up.

~Ava~

The bar was hectically busy and Ava loved it. The blizzard had stranded several groups of people passing through the village, all of which seemed to have decided that they might as well have a few drinks and bunker down at the bar for the night. Hans almost cried with relief when they had arrived and Bea explained that the Halo bearer needed to get out of the house for a few hours and ‘would you like some help this evening?’. With that the taller woman had given her a peck on the cheek, whispering that she would be back to walk her home, and left to tackle the chaos in the kitchen of the apartment.
While mixing a small group order of pina coladas, which she thought was a terrible choice for the middle of winter, Ava found herself pondering about Bea’s state of mind since the last accidental astral projection.

The taller woman had been broody and grumpy for the last couple of days. She knew that the sister warrior wasn’t sleeping, the Halo bearer often caught the other woman awake in the early hours of the morning, watching over her silently. Ava understood why Bea was so tense, hell, she was stressed about suddenly losing control of her powers as well, but the taller woman seemed to be taking it particularly hard.

“Beatrice wants to protect you Ava. She doesn’t want to fail again.”

Ava raised her eyebrows as she poured the coconut cream into the cocktail shaker, shocked that the Halo had imparted some wisdom without an insult for once.

She needs to relax, there’s nothing either of us can do about it. And, for the record, there was nothing she could do about it last time…or the time before…it is what it is. This is my purpose as the Warrior Nun, she knows that.

“I think you and I both know that leaving you unprotected is not in Beatrice’s nature.”
"She will always fight to save you."

Ava sighed, the Halo did have a point. Bea’s one job was to protect her above all else, even if her own well-being was jeopardized. More so now they were together.

“Besides, if the shoe was on the other foot, you would be the same…”

I need to get this accidental teleporting and shit under control. Maybe then Bea can take a breather.

"Maybe…"

"Ava? Done with those cocktails yet?" Hans appeared in front of the Halo bearer, interrupting her internal conversation with the Halo.

"Yea, sorry, I'll run them in a sec."

Her coworker nodded, grabbing half a dozen beer bottles from the fridge to take out to some other patrons.

The night flew by, before Ava knew it, it was last call. The Halo bearer was just finishing setting up a couple of air mattresses for the travelers with nowhere to stay tonight when she distantly heard a familiar voice behind her.

Bea…

Grinning, Ava turned to scan the crowd for the sister warrior who was here to escort her home. Spotting the taller woman, Ava's smile was replaced with a frown. Bea was talking with someone beside the bar's roaring fireplace, they stood close together to hear each other in the loud bar.

The stranger was about the same age as they were, if not slightly older and she was everything Ava was not. She had a tall, elegant frame and long dark hair that fell in tight ringlets down her shoulders. The woman had a similar dress sense to Bea, wearing high waisted black cotton pants and a loose fitting long sleeved white shirt. She was gorgeous and it left a bad taste in Ava's mouth.

Her frown deepened when Bea laughed at something the other woman had said. Ava schooled her features to neutral as the sister warrior’s eyes found hers. Saying her goodbyes to the stranger, Bea began to make her way across to the Halo bearer.

"Hello darling, how was your night?" Bea asked when she reached her.

Ava pulled the taller woman into a tight hug, eyes never leaving the other woman who had moved on to chat to someone else.

"Fine." The word came out a little more terse than she had intended.

Bea pulled back with a confused expression, searching her face, "Are you okay?"

Ava melted a little at the sister warrior’s concern, she pulled her into a gentle kiss. Trying not to hope the stranger was watching them from across the room.

"Yeah sorry, just tired." She murmured a little breathlessly as they broke apart for air.

"Come on then, let's get you home." Bea smiled softly, interlacing their fingers and tugging Ava towards the door.

~

The crack of power startled her so badly from her slumber, Ava felt her wings explode from her shoulder blades before she had a chance to rein them in.

“Whads..imma..wake!” She shouted incoherently into the darkness of the bedroom, struggling to get out of bed and half falling over as her feathery appendages were caught under the duvet.

Ava blinked rapidly, trying to speed up her eyes adjusting to the dark, which was pointless as the bedroom light switched on, blinding her again. Heart thundering in her chest, Ava turned towards the source of the noise that had woken her, wincing when she heard the clatter of her wings knocking things off the top of the dresser behind her.

“Calm yourself, it's not Reya…”

The Halo whispered to her at the same time as Bea’s hand grasped her own, grounding her, “Ava, Ava! Take a breath. It’s just Lilith.”

It was at that moment that she realized could hear the former sister warrior laughing. Her vision finally focused on the highly amused winged woman by the door and a very worried Bea standing just in front of her.

“Sorry, I was really deeply asleep.” Ava breathed, still trying to get her heart rate under control.

Bea offered her a gentle smile and squeezed her hand, “I know. It’s okay.”

“Well, if you have recovered yourself enough…I have news.” Lilith’s smile turned serious.