Secrets and Sins Part 2: Finding Mary

Chapter 22

~Ava~

"Still nothing?" Ava glanced at where Lilith’s phone was lying on the bedside table, the winged woman herself was pacing the room.

The Halo bearer wished she could join the other woman and let out some of the nervous energy thrumming through her body. She was sitting braced against the headboard of the only bed in their very basic hotel room, it was the best Camilla could get short notice and hey it did the job hiding them from whoever Bea thought was after her. Unfortunately for Ava, there was absolutely nothing to provide a distraction, no T.V, not even a book that she could try to focus on.

Stupid paralysis. Walk up Halo! 

"Not since 5 minutes ago when you last asked me." Lilith grumbled, before softening her tone slightly, “Besides, the volume is on…you’ll know at the same time as I will when she… when someone makes contact.”

Ava let out a huff of frustration.  The Halo bearer couldn't concentrate on anything other than her girlfriend. She hated not knowing if Bea was okay. The lack of contact could literally mean anything and was probably more likely to be due to it not being safe enough to send them a message rather than anything nefarious, but the longer they went without hearing anything from the sister warrior, the more her concern grew.

Come on Bea, give us something…let us know you're okay.


~Beatrice~

Through the haze of pain and adrenaline, the sister warrior felt solid arms catch her as she fell forward.

“Beatrice? My God…What happened to you? Hans asked, half carrying her inside and shutting the door.

“Long story.” She muttered through chattering teeth, the freezing temperatures outside plus the shock she was in starting to take its toll on her body.
“No, not the couch…Bathroom?” Beatrice redirected her bartender friend when he began helping her into the living room, she didn’t want to bleed all over his furniture.

Hans deposited her on the edge of the bath, the sister warrior groaned as she started pulling her jumper over her head, the movement pulling on the wound on her side.

“Um, I’ll just…” The bearded man gestured awkwardly towards the door, face reddening.

“No! Sorry…but I need your help. Please?” Beatrice interrupted quickly, finally shedding the blood-soaked article of clothing and letting it drop into the tub behind her.

Now was not the time to be modest, besides, she was wearing a sports bra. Hans nodded, hovering beside the door, eyes widening when he saw the blood smears across her bare torso.

“I need some towels that you don’t mind getting blood on…Do you have a first aid kit? And a bottle of vodka?”

“Oh yes. I do.” The bearded man almost tripped over himself in his urgency to collect the items Beatrice had requested.

While she waited, the sister warrior began unwinding the duct tape from her waist. Thinking back to the combat medicine training the OCS had given her, Beatrice tried to recall what organs the gunshot could have damaged. She knew that it had not passed clean through by the lack of fresh blood on the back of her jumper.

Upper right quadrant; pancreas, kidney, gallbladder, intestines or liver…

None of those would be particularly great for a bullet to tear through. Beatrice couldn’t afford to go to hospital over this either, she had only managed to kill one of the assailants as she fought her way out of the apartment and figured the others would be after her by now. Checking medical centers would be their first port of call. The sister warrior could only hope that the angle of the shot meant the bullet had missed anything critical.

Pale and sweaty, Hans returned with his arms laden with towels and a half full bottle of vodka clasped in one fist, if Beatrice wasn’t in so much pain, she would have felt guilty about the stress she was putting the poor man through.

“Sorry, this was all I had.” He muttered, handing over the alcohol first.
“First aid kit is in the bathroom cabinet.”

“It’s fine.” The sister warrior opened the vodka and took a hefty swig, grimacing at the burning in her throat. She hoped it might steady her nerves for what would need to happen next.
“Are there bandage scissors in the kit?” Beatrice asked, looking over at her friend, surprised to see him halfway through opening the cabinet staring at her open-mouthed.

Realizing what he was doing, Hans snapped his mouth shut with an audible click and retrieved the scissors for her. The sister warrior delicately snipped the final band of tape and took a deep breath to steel herself for the inevitable flare of pain. Beatrice swiftly peeled the last barrier keeping the blood from flowing uninhibited from the hole in her torso.

“Fuck.” She gritted out through her teeth, quickly pressing a towel to the wound as blood poured from it.

“Oh my God! Is that from a bullet?” Hans cried out, an expression of shock on his face.
“I should call someone. An ambulance…and the police!”

“No!” The sister warrior shouted, feeling instantly remorseful when the bearded man flinched away from her.
“Sorry, but no. I promise I will explain everything later, but I need you to help me right now. I can't go to the hospital or the police.”

Hans was quiet for a long moment taking in her desperate expression, finally he nodded, “Okay Beatrice...but I expect a full explanation after all this. What do you need my help with?”

Beatrice sagged in relief, “I need you to take the bullet out.”

~Ava~

Ava jerked awake at the knock on the door.

Fuck! I fell asleep, how the hell did I fall asleep?

"Who is it? Bea!" The Halo bearer called out before a hand clamped over her mouth.

Lilith appeared in her field of vision, looking incredibly unimpressed, "What the hell Ava?" The former sister warrior whisper-shouted at her.
"We are supposed to be laying low, so can you stay fucking quiet please?"

Ava glared at the winged woman and then smirked. Lilith raised an eyebrow at the change of expression before pulling her hand away from the Halo bearer’s mouth like it had burned her.

"Did you just fucking lick my hand? Gross!" The winged woman wrinkled her nose in disgust, wiping her hand on the bed spread.

Ava shrugged, smirk still playing across her lips.

Serves her right.

The knock sounded again, followed by someone loudly asking if they wanted the complimentary continental breakfast. Ava’s heart dropped, disappointed hearing that it wasn't Bea catching up with them.

"Yes please, just leave it outside the door." Lilith called out; Ava could hear thinly veiled disappointment in the former sister warrior's voice as well.

~

"You should eat something."

Ava sighed, she had next to no appetite from her anxiety over Bea’s wellbeing, "Fine, pass me the cornflakes."

Lilith handed her the plastic bowl and a spoon, before disappearing into the bathroom to freshen up. When the former sister warrior re-emerged, she had an oddly intense expression on her face.

"What is it?" Ava asked, suspiciously.

Putting down the half-eaten bowl of the now unappetizing soggy cereal. The other woman didn't respond, approaching the Halo bearer in carefully measured steps, like the younger woman was a trapped wild animal.

An alarm sounding on the phone shattered the tension between them, all of a sudden Ava realized what Lilith was doing.

"Don't you fucking dare." The Halo bearer warned, pointing her spoon at the winged woman like it was a weapon.

"I'm sorry Ava, 12 hours are up and can't ignore a direct order…" Lilith seemed genuinely apologetic as she grabbed the younger woman's arm, lightning fast, and teleported them out of the hotel.