What You Are Is Beautiful

Solo Missions

"Father Steven! Father Steven!" Ava called loudly from across the hall. She rushed forward with Mary in her wake. Father Steven turned to the sound and his face fell. "Father Steven, where is Mother Superion?"

Father Steven frowned. "She has other matters to tend to."

"No," Ava started. "We need to talk to her now." Ava lowered her voice. "It's about Adriel," she whispered.

Father Steven's frowned deepened. "Then you will speak with me."

Mary frowned and wove her brows in confusion. "But Father—"

"You'll have to speak to me," Father Steven interrupted. "Come with me." He turned, expecting them to follow. Mary side glanced to Ava before following.

"No," Ava replied after a moment. Father Steven turned to look at the girl glued to her spot in defiance. "I won't speak to anyone about this before Mother Superion and my Sisters. You're still new here and to be quite honest, I don't trust you at all."

"Then so be it. But you will not be speaking to mother Superion until she is replaced."

Mary's face fell slack. "Replaced?"

"Mother Superion was acting suspiciously in the Pope's quarters and has been deemed as a threat to the Order."

"No," Ava shook her head, "she wouldn't do anything that would threaten the Order. This Order is her life."

"I'm afraid you may not know your mentor as well as you had hoped," Father Steven frowned and looked at Ava with pity. "The Pope wouldn't have said so if it wasn't of utmost severity."

Mary stepped away from the priest. "We know her much better than you. I am certain that this is all a scheme. You're new here and maybe you don't understand how this works. Our loyalties aren't only with the Pope and the church. They also lie with our Sisters and our Mother."

Father Steven's frown was now accompanied with a frustrated glare. "I cannot do anything about this. Even if I wanted to defy the Pope's orders for some unspeakable reasons, I am unable to help you." He reached down to adjust his cuffs before turning his gaze back to meet the betrayed and scornful women. "I must attend to Order business now. A new Mother Superion will be arriving in a few days and we must make way for her arrival." He gave them one final look before announcing his departure. "I hope you girls come to your senses sooner or later."

Mary and Ava watched as he left, stunned and feeling lost. As he disappeared from sight, they met each other's gaze.

"Fuck," Mary breathed.

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Beatrice found herself drifting back to Mother Superion's office in her dream like trance. She placed a hand on the door handle and remembered it was locked. She then checked up and down the hall for any witnesses. After deciding she was in the clear, she bent down to pull a small key from her sock where her mentor had helped her hide it in the case that she would be taken away. Beatrice inserted the key, twisting it until she heard the satisfying click of the lock. She then pushed the door open, closing and locking it behind herself.

The warrior took a moment to breath with her back and palms pressed against the cold wooden door. She closed her eyes, lungs feeling full of lead and mind swirling with sludge that slowed her mind to a repetitive drone of nothing. She took a moment to breath in the smell of old books and shoe polish that lingered in the air as it always did in Mother Superion's study. She exhaled slowly, feeling the air flow from her lips and outward into the stagnant atmosphere.

She took one more deep breath in before exploding into motion, silently padding her way over to the desk and rummaging through the door where the second bug had been hidden. She then went to the bookshelf where she found the Bluetooth connected other half where she could remotely store the audio hidden behind a Latin Bible. She lifted her skirts and placed the two small objects in the waist band of her pants before smoothing them down again and grabbing up the key from where she had set it on the desk. This mission had turned solo and the fate of her beloved Sisters was now on her back. She listened closely for footsteps outside the door and when she heard none, she slipped out into the hallway quickly locking the door behind her and making her way to her quarters.

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Ava found herself alone in the main corridor on the first level wanting badly to leave this building and all of its responsibilities and stresses and saving the world. She wanted to go back to normal life. If life as a quadriplegic kid in an orphanage even qualifies as normal. But regardless, she missed sleeping without the burden of prophetic dreams.

She missed watching television and having time to listen to audiobooks. But the world needed her. And as much as she hated it, she had seen enough movies and teen drama to know that she had to answer its calling for her. And hey, she wasn't living life as a solo mission to piss of Sister Francis anymore. She had a team and friends and a purpose for her life.

Still, Ava couldn't help but think back to JC and how things went between them. She missed him in a very strange and confusing way. She missed his companionship and the way that he was so protective of her and willing to do so much for her. She missed seeing him smile and wished that she had been able to offer him anything close to as much as he did for her. But she did have a few regrets. She wished that she hadn't rushed things along with him and that they had been able to talk more before parting ways for what seemed like forever. She wished that she had not let him get tangled up in the mess that was her or at least told him the truth. He was a good guy and he deserved it.

But that was her old life. She had responsibilities and training and a whole world to save. But she had gained a family and...a girlfriend? Maybe. They hadn't spoken about the details quite yet, but Ava doubted that Beatrice just readily allowed girls into her bed and between her legs like that. She also doubted that she was that vulnerable around anyone else. At least she could hope. And she knew that she could go to Beatrice with her troubles. She was craving the warmth of her touch and soothing words and chances were, Beatrice was too.

So Ava pushed herself towards the door where she made her way to her favorite person's door, heart lightened from the anticipation of alone time with the woman she was certain she was falling in love with. Ava was blissfully unaware of Beatrice's new personal revelations.