~Beatrice~

For the first time in a long time, Beatrice was having a great sleep, mainly because she wasn't plagued with the usual nightmares that had been haunting her since Ava was captured. So, when something pulled her out of the restful, dreamless slumber, she couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. Inhaling deeply, Beatrice tried to sink back into unconsciousness nuzzling herself closer to the warmth in front of her, breathing in the familiar comforting scent.

Her body bounced a little and the sister warrior opened her eyes, blinking rapidly, confused. Abruptly she realized where she was, crammed in the back seat of the van between Lilith and Ava, her face pressed into the younger woman's chest. Which would have been completely acceptable had Halo not been the one currently piloting her girlfriend.

Pulling herself upright quickly, Beatrice tried to control the rush of blood rapidly coloring her face, "Sorry…" She mumbled.

“It’s okay, Beatrice, old habits, right?” Halo winked, the sister warrior couldn’t help the little gasp that escaped her lips, her blush deepening.

Though she desperately wished it hadn’t, it suddenly struck Beatrice that Halo had been a silent witness to many, many instances of the sister warrior being in a similar position, but awake, and with very little clothing between herself and her girlfriend.

Halo must've picked up on Beatrice’s line of thinking and unfortunately decided to attempt to, rather loudly, alleviate her embarrassment, “Don’t worry, I know that topic is off limits in public.” They announced proudly.

Lilith, who up to this point had been steadfastly ignoring them, snorted a laugh. The sister warrior groaned burying her very hot face in her hands. Thankfully Sister Dora and the recruits sitting in front of them hadn’t heard the exchange, nevertheless, this was going to be a very long trip.

~Halo~

According to Mother Superior they were just over halfway on the journey back to the Cat’s Cradle when the older nun approved a rest stop for gas and a stretch of the leg. There was some debate as to whether or not Halo would be allowed to leave the van, considering Ava was now wanted by the Brotherhood and the Lithuanian OCS, but eventually it was decided they could…as long as they kept their hood up and stayed close to Beatrice and Lilith.

Halo was glad, their legs were cramping from the long trip, they were starving and needed the bathroom, all problems that they were not used to having to deal with as Ava usually took care of it.
Making their way over to the restroom at the back of the gas station, Beatrice followed closely, ever observant eyes scanning the store’s other patrons. Halo passed Lilith who was lingering beside the bathroom doors, pretending to be browsing the drinks fridge, a plain black cap pulled low over her scaled face.

Catching the winged woman’s eye, Halo waggled their eyebrows, this espionage stuff was kind of fun. Lilith rolled her eyes at them before shooting Beatrice a pointed 'would you hurry up' kind of look. The sister warrior placed a hand on the small of Halo’s back encouraging them forward into the bathroom.

~

Halo carefully buttoned up the front of the cotton pants Ava had been dressed in at the convent after the doctor had treated her wounds. Buttons were proving more challenging than zips they were finding, perhaps it was due to the fine motor skills Ava’s body had struggled to develop after being paralyzed for so much of her life.

“This is really weird.”

Why? I see you doing this stuff all the  time.

“That’s…pretty creepy.”

What did you think I was doing? I live in your head.

“I dunno, I suppose I’ve never really thought about it.”

“Halo, you okay in there?” Beatrice’s voice murmured softly from outside the cubicle.

“Yes, coming out now.” Halo replied, pushing open the door and moving to the sink to wash their hands.

Fascinated by the way soap foamed up as they moved Ava’s hands together, Halo didn’t notice the sister warrior watching them with a fond gaze, “Sorry to burst your bubble, but we really need to get moving.” She said teasingly.

Halo nodded, chuckling at the pun and switching the tap back on to rinse of the suds, “Can we get some food? I think I’m starving.”

“Of course, I’m not surprised, I don’t think Ava’s eaten anything in days.” Beatrice frowned, holding the door open for them as they remerged back into the gas station.
"What do you want?"

"I get to choose? Anything?" Halo bouncing a little on their feet, excited by the prospect.

"Of course, she lets you get whatever you want…with me it's always 'not another chocolate bar, Ava' and 'Darling, I'm sure you don't need 4 types of sour lollies'."

I mean I am an ancient, wise and powerful, divine artefact…she probably trusts me to make a healthy choice.

Halo couldn't help the slightly smug tone they replied to the Bearer with, a smirk working its way across their lips at Ava’s spluttered response, "Oh, fuck you, Halo. Wise my arse!"

"Ava's complaining, isn't she?" Beatrice asked, smiling a little when she noticed their expression.

"How do you know?" Halo raised an eyebrow.

The sister warrior shrugged, her smile growing into a full-blown grin, "I know my girlfriend."

In the end, and much to Ava’s disgust, Halo decided on tomato and cheese sandwiches, as well as a range of snacks to try. Following the sister warrior up to the counter, they watched Beatrice pay the cashier with a shiny silver plastic card.

"Huh. I wondered how that worked…" Halo murmured trailing along behind Beatrice as they headed out the automatic doors towards the van.

The sister warrior gave them a curious look, "That's right, I meant to ask. How did you pay for the supplies you picked up while I was unconscious? I didn't haven't any money on me, and I doubt Ava did either."

"I’ve watched Ava charm vendors once or twice in order to get free things, so I just copied her…" Halo replied with a nonchalant shrug, digging through their bag.

"Halo!"

Ava's hiss in their mind was too late, the words were out in the open, the damage was done.

Oops…that was a 'between us' thing, wasn't it?

"Ya think?"

Beatrice caught Halo’s arm, stopping them dead midway across the carpark, "What do you mean by 'charm' vendors?"

"Um…" They stalled for time, even Halo could pick up the dangerous tone to the sister warrior’s voice.

What do you want me to tell her?

"Ugh, you are unbelievable."

"Halo. Tell me." Beatrice commanded sharply, eyes narrowing.

"Just on the odd occasion…" They started awkwardly, trying to articulate it in a way that wouldn't get the Bearer in any more trouble, "...when Ava was short on cash or something, she would, you know…use her, ah, assets, to get what she wanted."

"Assets?"

"Yeah…" Halo vaguely gestured at Ava's chest, which was currently well covered with a loose-fitting hoodie, "You know, she also uses them on you sometimes…"

“Oh my God…it just keeps getting worse.”

Beatrice was silent, chewing the side of her lip, she didn't look impressed. Not at all.

"Way to get me put in the doghouse when I'm not even in control of my body, Halo."

"Say something, please?" Halo implored nervously.

The sister warrior sighed, shaking her head in disbelief, "I don't want to hear of either of you ever doing that again. Do you understand me?" Halo nodded quickly; Beatrice searched their eyes for a long moment as though she was looking for Ava.
"Good. Now get your arse in the van."

"Wait…does that mean I can't use them on her ever again as well?"

I think we just quit while we're ahead, Ava.

~Beatrice~

"Father Vincent?"

Beatrice shot a curious look towards the front passenger seat to see Mother Superior answering her phone.

Why is he calling? We're nearly back.

Beatrice knew for a fact they were only an hour or so away from their home now. She had been checking her phone's GPS every ten minutes for the last two hours, praying for time to pass faster. Lilith was taking a turn driving which meant that Camilla had taken the winged woman's spot in the back.

The sister warrior had been roped in to referee the game of ‘Eye Spy’ the younger nun and Halo were playing. This having been due to, what started as a friendly game, quickly devolving when the competitors continually held heated debates about the rules.

"Bea, would you please tell Halo that a tree is a tree! You can't say it's not the correct answer just because I didn't call it an oak tree." Camilla whined, but Beatrice didn't hear her friend, watching as the older nun’s face changed while she spoke to Vincent.

Something's wrong.

Her eyes met Beatrice's in the reflection of the vanity mirror on the visor which shielded Mother Superior from the glare of the late afternoon sunlight. She looked fearful.

"Lilith, please pull over."

~

“Oh, this is much nicer than the last place we stayed!” Halo remarked when they entered their hotel room, immediately rushing around to scope out the amenities.

Distracted with mulling over the absolute clusterfuck their situation was rapidly becoming, Beatrice only hummed in response. She sat down heavily on one of the two single beds the room was furnished with. The sister warrior hadn’t wanted to assume that Halo would share with her, even though she would love nothing more than to fall asleep in Ava’s arms after the latest development. 

"What do you mean they can't come back with us?" Camilla asked.

Standing beside the parked van on the side of a back road in rural Spain, Beatrice felt her heart sink into her boots.

"Father Vincent has just informed me that the Vatican has sent delegates to bring Ava and Beatrice into custody...under suspicion of murder."

Her whole body starting to tremble, the sister warrior swallowed thickly, fighting to keep it together in front of her friends. A hand found hers, fingers interlacing carefully. Beatrice turned to see Halo smiling gently at her, they squeezed her hand comfortingly.

"What's the plan? What happens if they find out about Halo?" Lilith glanced towards them.

"We have to split up. Nothing like this has ever happened before and it's hard to know what the Church would do, but it would definitely involve experimentation." Mother Superior’s face darkened.

Beatrice shivered, gripping the hand in hers tightly, they couldn't let that happen. If the Vatican took Halo away, they might never get Ava back.

Her stress must be showing in her body language because Mother Superior directed her next words to the sister warrior, "We won't let that happen, Beatrice."
"Everyone, back in the van." The older nun ordered.

Her friends filed back into the vehicle, stopping to hug and wish them luck as they did.

Now it was just the three of them standing on the verge, Mother Superior stepped closer and pulled out a roll of cash hidden within her habit, handing it to her, "Find somewhere to stay, keep a low profile and try to find a way to get Ava back. I will contact you.”
She looked between Beatrice and Halo, almost teary eyed, “Keep each other safe."

With that Mother Superior pulled them both into a quick joint hug and then left them standing on the side of the road with a roll of cash and a bag of half-eaten snack food.

Almost on autopilot, Beatrice had called a cab and booked a hotel, even running a brief background check on the business to ensure there were no red flags.

Everything felt like it was spiraling out of control, or building up to something, she had no idea which. The sister warrior closed her eyes for a moment trying to breathe and calm the storm of anxious thoughts racing around her head.

"Beatrice…Beatrice?" Looking up, Beatrice spotted Halo crouching in front of the little fridge unit.

"What was that darling?" The pet name slipped out, but the sister warrior was too tired to apologize for it.

"Do you want me to make you a cup of tea?"

"You know how?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Ava does…" Halo answered, grabbing the little box of milk the hotel provided and getting to work with great concentration.

Beatrice observed silently as Ava quite obviously guided Halo through the process. A few minutes later the sister warrior was presented with a steaming mug which she took gratefully, enjoying the heat warming her palms.

"Thank you, Halo…and thank you, Ava." She murmured, offering them a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes and taking a small sip.

There was nothing special about the tea, it was just standard hotel quality tea. But the familiarity of the beverage coupled with the very Ava-like expression on Halo's face while they waited to see if it was to the sister warrior's liking brought tears to her eyes. The emotions Beatrice had been suppressing finally broke free of the dam she had built to hold them.

"Oh no? Is it terrible? I told Ava it was too much milk! But she insisted..."

"No…no, the tea is good, great even." She managed to say through a watery chuckle.

"Then why...?" Halo reached out and ever so gently wiped the tears from her cheeks, Beatrice unconsciously leaned into the touch, letting go of a quiet sob.

"What are you...?" The sister warrior started as Halo’s free hand took her mug and placed it on the bedside table before moving to sit beside her.

"Ava said you need a hug. I know it won't be the same but…?" They opened their arms to her, an invitation.

Searching Halo’s face for any doubt, Beatrice leaned forward slowly, pressing herself into the warm body that the sister warrior knew almost better than her own. She nuzzled her face into the soft skin of the neck in front of her, feeling arms wrap around her, both different and the same all at once.

"Thank you." She whispered.