Secrets and Sins Part 2: Finding Mary

Chapter 20

~Ava~

"I don't need a babysitter!" Ava growled, glaring at the other woman.

"Why don't you come over here and say that?" Lilith challenged.

The winged woman was leaning against the wall by the door of the apartment, picking at her claws with a bored expression. Ava huffed with annoyance; she would totally kick Lilith’s arse if she could move.

"Can you two try not to kill each other while I'm gone, please?" Bea asked, emerging from the bedroom after changing out of her pajamas.

The sister warrior had agreed to meet with Hans at the bar to look into the break in. Under the guise of helping clean up and take inventory to see what was stolen, Bea’s real purpose was to investigate whether the raid was linked to them. Ava wished she could accompany her but there was no way the Halo bearer was going to get there without being carried and that would definitely lead to some difficult questions to answer from their bartender friend.

"No promises." Ava scoffed at the same time as Lilith.

She poked her tongue out at the former sister warrior who promptly gave her the middle finger.

"Does she have to be here?" The Halo bearer pouted at her girlfriend while the taller woman collected a few things, mainly of the weapon variety, to put into the bag she was taking.

Bea sighed, pausing what she was doing and walking up behind the couch. Ava tilted her head back to look up at her, adding the good ole' puppy dog eyes into the mix with the hope it might convince the sister warrior to get rid of Lilith.

"Darling, you know she does. You can't be left alone like this…" Bea murmured softly, her eyes betraying the concern she was feeling for the younger woman.

"Ugh. Fine." The Halo bearer grumbled, sitting up and folding her arms, not caring if she looked like a petulant child.

Familiar hands framed her face, encouraging Ava to lean back once again. Bea leant down and brushed her lips against Ava’s in a gentle kiss. The Halo bearer felt warmth spread through her body at the soft gesture.

"Thank you." The taller woman whispered against her mouth.

A gagging noise shattered their sweet moment.

"Get a room." Lilith griped, rolling her eyes.

"Ahh, we have a room, you're standing in it." Ava shot back.

"Okay, well, I'll try not to be too long…" Bea loudly interrupted them before they could really start bickering again, heading towards the door.

"Be careful, please!" Ava called after the sister warrior.

Bea turned back to her with a dazzling smile, "Always."

~Beatrice~

Hans was waiting for her outside La Vasseur, hugging himself to keep warm. It was close to 10pm on a bitterly cold night and the town was very quiet. Beatrice hadn't seen a single soul on the way here and it appeared that most of the businesses that were normally open at this time in the evening were closed due to the impending snow.

"You didn't need to wait outside, Hans." Beatrice grimaced sympathetically as she gingerly walked up the ice-covered steps in front of the bar.

"I know. I…I didn't want to be in there by myself." The bearer man murmured, teeth chattering slightly as he looked down at his boots in embarrassment.

"Oh. Fair enough." The sister warrior reached out and squeezed his forearm, hoping to convey her support.
"Come on, let's take a look around."

~

The first thing Beatrice noticed when they entered was that the bar had definitely been tossed by professionals.

That's not a good sign.

Tables were flipped and chairs were scattered haphazardly around the room, broken bottles and glasses littered the floor. The air stunk of spirits, which was unsurprising with how much had been splashed onto the ground. Despite the chaos, the sister warrior could tell there was a kind of order to the mess, like it had been faked to throw them off the scent of the true reason for the invasion.

Despite the weeks of research into the Brotherhood, they were still relatively in the dark about the mysterious organization. With no idea what they knew about the Warrior nun and how far their reach was, Beatrice had an inkling that they may have caused this, but she needed to know for sure before taking further action.
While Hans inspected the more expensive top shelf alcohol behind the bar to see if anything had been taken, Beatrice made her way upstairs into the designated office and storeroom area, she knew exactly what to check for in order to confirm her suspicions.

Broken bottles left a minefield of glass over the floor, Beatrice was careful not to slip on the wet, glassy surface as she made her way to the small nook the sister warrior had set up to organize La Vasseur's paperwork. Piles of papers were scattered across the old desk that Beatrice had spent hours working at in the past. She understood immediately that it was an attempt to confuse and hide what the intruders had been truly looking for. Heart in her throat, Beatrice riffled through the messy stacks of papers, the search growing more desperate by the minute.

Contracts…where the fuck are our contracts?

After what felt like hours the sister warrior felt a surge of relief spotting Ava’s signature, she grasped it quickly to pull it from beneath the pile only to have that hope come crashing down on her. The contract was torn, the section where the personal details had been filled in was missing.

They know where we live…

~Ava~

"So, after all that the tiny mean chef and health inspector shut the restaurant down? And now there's like hundreds of rats living in the roof?" Lilith muttered incredulously.

"They started a rat restaurant and now Remy is a real chef. It's a happy ending…kind of?"

"But the rats don't have money? So how do they buy supplies? Not to mention paying for the rent of the building…"

"Oh my God Lilith, it's a Disney movie. For kids. It's not supposed to be realistic." Ava rolled her eyes.

Even if the Halo bearer had a million guesses as to what she would be doing this evening, Ava would never have guessed she would have been discussing the plot of 'Ratatouille' with the part demon, part human, former sister warrior currently sitting at the other end of the old couch in her lounge.

Abruptly, a phone ringing interrupted their conversation. Ava automatically pulled her phone somewhat awkwardly from her pocket before realizing it wasn't hers that was ringing.

Wait, since when does Lilith have a phone…?

"Yes?" The winged woman answered in a brisk tone.

Ava watched as her eyes widened slightly at whatever the person on the other end was saying.

"Ugh, do I have too?" Lilith groaned, glancing at Ava.

The Halo bearer could hear the caller raising their voice at the former sister warrior, the other woman held the phone slightly away from her ear with a wince.

"Okay, okay, sorry. I'll do it right now...Be careful."

Lilith hung up, shoving her phone back into her pocket before getting to her feet and heading over to the door.

"Who was that? What's going on?" Ava asked suspiciously.

Lilith took Ava's coat off the hook and walked back towards the Halo bearer, "That was Beatrice." The winged woman bit out, shoving the jacket towards her.
"She believes someone is after you, she wants me to teleport you out of here right now."

"What? Who's after me? We can't just leave. Not without Bea!" Ava was certainly not about to abandon her girlfriend.

"Ava." Lilith fixed her with a piercing stare.
"You cannot stay here in your current state, you are a liability. Beatrice will be better off not worrying about your safety." The former sister warrior paused for a moment, a rare empathetic expression crossing her features, "Besides, it's Beatrice. She will be fine; she can handle herself and she will meet us as soon as she can."

Ava was painfully conflicted. It really did feel like she was running away, but Lilith had a point. The Halo bearer was more of a hindrance than a help right now.

You better not get into trouble Bea…

"Grrrr. Fine. But for the record, I hate this. And I'm super pissed that she rang you instead of me." Ava grumbled, before pulling her jacket on with difficulty.
"Let's get this over with."

Lilith nodded, reaching out and grasping her hand tightly. Ava felt the horrible breathless nausea sweep over her and shut her eyes.

Please be safe.