Chapter Text
~Beatrice~
“Like I said before Cardinal, the OCS is quite happy to complete the mission...for fair compensation.” Mother Superior said calmly.
“It…it…it is your duty!” Cardinal Marcus spluttered in reply.
“It was our duty.” The nun corrected.
To say the transition away from the Church’s control had been a bumpy one would be a hell of an understatement. The currently Pope-less officials dug their heels in at every turn, but Mother Superior had stubbornly persisted, dragging them kicking and screaming into the new regime.
Though they had finally started to accept the Order's stance, learning that they would need to pay the OCS to complete the proposed mission of wiping out a faction of the Brotherhood holed up in Florence, things had quickly gone backwards.
“If you wish to use our services, our Warrior nuns…” She gestured towards Beatrice who gave an awkward wave, “Then this is what you must do.”
The room erupted as the Cardinals all started speaking at once, arguing both with each other and with Mother Superior.
The two women sat silently; they had been talking in circles for hours now. Beatrice really didn’t know how the matriarch was staying so placid in the face of the Church's ire, but somehow, she never lost her temper or even raised her voice.
She had told the sister warrior, after a particularly difficult meeting last week, that they held all the cards, that the Church needed them more than they needed the Church. It was a good way to look at it, and Beatrice often reminded herself of those words when she was being talked down to by one of the pompous old men who couldn’t get past the old ways.
She could definitely see why Ava had never been requested to be present at these meetings; the younger woman, who had very little trust in the Church to begin with, now openly despised them. Which was more than fair considering how many times the previous Pope had tried to have them killed as well as literally cutting one of Ava’s wings off. The ascent of the next Pope had been put on hold after all the damage Agusto had done.
“After everything the Church has done for you…” Marcus was turning an interesting shade of red now.
The Cardinal was a favorite to take the papacy, and he knew it. Out of all the so called 'Princes of the Church', Marcus had taken a leading role in negotiating the new alliance between the Order and the Vatican. He was relatively young, probably early forties, and had a rather high opinion of himself. Beatrice wasn't his biggest fan, in fact, she thought he was misogynistic pig, but understood the need for professionalism in these proceedings.
“Now, now, Marcus. Need I remind you why the Order has decided to split from the Church in the first place…” Mother Superior interrupted stubbornly before the Cardinal could get another rant going.
But he countered instantly, "We were infiltrated by that insidious cult, the Church never had an agenda to take down the Warrior nun..."
Beatrice sighed, looking down at the roughly hewn gold band on her ring finger. They had already talked about the Brotherhood's breach of the Vatican, multiple times, during this meeting. The Church refused to take ownership of the mistake it had made by letting so many of the Cultists into positions of power in their ranks and it was really starting to get on her nerves. Besides that, it was getting late; Ava was going to be pissed if she was too much longer. Beatrice had promised her fiancé that she would be done by six, just in time for the surprise the younger woman had apparently planned.
She ran her thumb over the smooth metal, smiling to herself. It had been two months since Ava had asked her to marry her but between Beatrice's own, numerous church negotiations, and the Halo bearer’s new role in the day-to-day training of OCS recruits, the two women had barely had any time to themselves.
They needed a holiday, Beatrice decided. Maybe she could ask Mother Superior if she could spare them for a week so they could have some time together away from all of this. She knew there was still a lot of healing to do for both of them after the events of the last year.
Suddenly her chest warmed, the crucifix imbued with Halo power heating up under her skin. It wasn’t uncomfortable, though it had been a bit of a shock the first time it happened, it now filled her with a sense of safety and security.
Beatrice glanced towards the door, waiting, and as if on cue, a loud familiar voice shouted from out in the hall, "What do you mean I can't go in? I'm the Goddamn Warrior nun."
Just try not to do any property damage darling, the art out there is expensive…
“I couldn’t help it last time, Bea! They forced my hand.”
“Nobody forced you to blow a hole in the side of St. Peter’s Basilica, Ava.”
Listening to Halo and Ava argue, Beatrice rolled her eyes fondly. Now that she shared thoughts with both of them, the sister warrior finally understood the younger woman's relationship with the relic. What to some might be seen as verging on disrespect, was actually more friendly banter, well, mostly friendly...It was quite incredible how many similar Halo and Ava's personalities were, Beatrice wondered if it was due to the relic having originally bringing her fiancé back from the dead when they had first been paired all that time ago.
Mother Superior placed a hand on her arm, pulling the sister warrior from her thoughts.
“Is everything okay out there?” She asked, nodding towards the door, the escalating confrontation between Ava and the Swiss guards had basically halted the meeting now.
“Ummm…”
"No one keeps me from my fiancé!" The Halo bearer declared, and with a loud crack of golden energy, teleported into the room.
There was a chorus of gasps as the Cardinals jumped in shock at the abrupt appearance of the more unruly Warrior nun.
Scanning the long wooden table, the younger woman beamed when she spotted Beatrice, golden ringed eyes lighting up with excitement, "Hey baby, nearly done?"
"You don't have authorization to be here, Silva." Cardinal Marcus scowled at the Halo bearer.
Ava ignored him completely, raising a cheeky eyebrow at Beatrice instead as she waited for an answer.
Still flushing at the pet name, Beatrice glanced at Mother Superior only to see her hiding a smile behind her hand, obviously enjoying the spectacle, "Mother Superior?"
"Yes." The nun cleared her throat before continuing, "I think we are done for the day." She announced, gathering up the stack of paperwork in front of her.
"What!" Marcus snarled, "We are still discussing…"
"Dude. Do you not actually understand what's happening here?" Ava interrupted, rolling her eyes at the man’s outraged expression, "Nope. Apparently not."
With a sigh, her fiancé moved around the table until she was standing directly behind the sister warrior’s chair, "Look, Bea is coming with me. Meeting adjourned and all that. If you're lucky, I'll let you have her tomorrow." Ava gave Beatrice a suggestive wink, her face burned at the implication.
"Why you insolent…" The Cardinal started, starting to rise from his seat.
Beatrice felt a surge of anger through the Halo link. She bit her lip, carefully watching the younger woman in case she needed to intervene. With all the stress they were under, Ava’s temper had been more than a little unpredictable of late.
"Sit down." Ava commanded, wings flaring out from her shoulder blades to mark her words.
The man paled and immediately dropped back into his chair, the Warrior nun effectively putting the fear of God into him.
"Good boy." Ava turned to her with a devastating smile, "Bea?"
God, she's beautiful.
“So are you.”
"Ah, thank you for your time." Beatrice muttered awkwardly, rising to stand beside her fiancé.
Ava interlaced their fingers, and the sister warrior felt the strange breathless sensation spread over her body as the younger woman teleported them out of there.
~Ava~
“You nearly ready, Bea?” Ava called, pacing nervously across the floor of their apartment.
It had been decided, only two weeks into being back at the Cradle, that the Warrior nuns would live in an apartment in the local town rather than the convent. This was after four separate occasions of being caught in 'compromising' positions around the grounds. The final straw being an accidental phasing through the ceiling of Mother Superior's office in the middle of a quickie in the supply closet above. Surprisingly, the leader of the OCS hadn't been too furious, but more resigned to the newly engaged couple needing some space to themselves. Ava would’ve preferred going back to Switzerland, to the only place she had ever called home, but with the changes happening in the Order, they needed to stay close, at least for now.
“Are you sure this isn’t too much, Ava? It seems like a lot for dinner out…” Her fiancé’s voice came from the other side of their ensuite’s door.
The Halo bearer swallowed, trying her best not to think too hard about her plans. As much as she loved having such a close connection to Bea, it made having any kind of secret nearly impossible.
“Yeah, Ava. It does seem like a lot.” The Halo commented smugly, Ava had accidentally let the relic in on the surprise earlier that day.
Shut up, Halo.
“Please stop asking Bea, you know I’m not as good at controlling my thoughts as you are…” Ava begged, picturing the lake they would train at in Switzerland.
She often thought of the freezing blue waters to keep her thoughts to herself. For Bea, keeping control of her thoughts and feelings had come easily, the years of martial arts had allowed her to master clearing her mind, but for Ava it was insanely difficult.
“All right, darling.” Bea replied, emerging from the bathroom with a little smirk on her face.
The younger woman’s breath caught in her throat.
Her fiancé was dressed in a beautiful navy dress, the swooping neckline dipped just low enough to have Ava’s mouthwatering. Bea’s dark hair was up in an elegant bun, accentuating the graceful curve of her neck and, for once, the Halo bearer was glad of the taller woman’s rapid healing for erasing the mess of bruises and bites herself had marked into the flawless skin the night before.
“Wow, Bea.” Ava breathed, “You look incredible.”
The sister warrior tilted her head, blatantly checking the younger woman out as she bit her lip. Moving closer, Bea reached out to tuck a strand of hair behind the Halo bearer’s ear.
“So do you.” She said in a low, rough voice, “This dress…” A fingertip trailed down the tightly fitting forest green bodice of Ava’s gown, “...leaves little to the imagination.” Her lust darkened eyes flicked up from where they were watching her finger move to look into the Halo bearer’s face, “It may be hard to keep my hands to myself…”
Ava shivered at the implication, unable to look away from Bea’s bewitching gaze. The sister warrior leaned in, her eyes lingering on the Halo bearer’s mouth. She subconsciously licked her lips, arousal ruining her underwear when she noticed her fiancé following the movement of her tongue.
“Ava, aren’t you forgetting something?”
“Ah!” Ava gasped ducking away from Bea’s advances and taking several quick steps backwards, “No. We don’t have time for that.”
“Alright…” Her fiancé sighed, but a devilish grin tugged at the corners of her lips, “I suppose I’ll have to wait till later. I hope I’m patient enough.”
The Halo bearer gulped.
~Beatrice~
Their nice dinner out ended up being a surprise engagement party that Ava had, astoundingly, kept a secret from Beatrice for more than a fortnight. The younger woman had booked out a nice restaurant in the little village and invited all their friends to come celebrate with them. The gesture had brought tears to her eyes, she would never love anyone or anything the way she loved Ava.
Sitting at the table, what was left of the huge spread that their party had all but demolished laid out in front of her, Beatrice watched her fiancé attempting to learn to waltz with Mary while Camila demonstrated proper technique with Lilith. Though she was pretty sure Mary was standing on the Halo bearer’s feet on purpose, Ava was beaming ear to ear, while Camila giggled uncontrollably at their poor form. Even Lilith seemed to be having fun, despite how her girlfriend’s arms currently wrapped around the Warrior nun instead of her.
Warmth blossomed in her chest at how carefree Ava was, it had been a long time since she had seen the younger woman so relaxed and happy, though she was sure the huge amount of champagne they had drunk during dinner went a long way to contributing.
“Not in the mood to dance, Beatrice?” A voice spoke up from beside her and she turned to see Mother Superior had taken Ava’s vacant seat.
The sister warrior smiled, “Just enjoying the show.”
The older nun laughed, “And quite the show it is.”
As they watched, Mary tried to spin Ava with a little too much enthusiasm, sending them crashing into Camila and Lilith, which in turn nearly knocked all four of them into the bar.
Be careful Ava, we don't want to be banned from this place as well.
The Halo bearer stopped mid conversation with Camila to poke her tongue out at Beatrice from across the room before continuing whatever they were discussing.
"Yes, mum."
Don't make me spank you later...
Blushing furiously, Ava just about fell over at the sister warrior's retort. Beatrice grinned, pondering on what else she could say to elicit that kind of response.
“I know it’s been hard for you, and for her, these last few months, being stuck here, helping the Order.” Mother Superior started, saving Ava from more embarrassment, “But I promise it won’t be forever…I want to thank you, Beatrice, for your service. So, when you leave us, for however long or short it may be, I don’t want either of you to worry about money. The OCS, or, rather, the Church will support you.”
Beatrice blinked in shock at the offer, “I…I don’t know what to say.” She said honestly, it was unheard of for a sister warrior to receive any financial support if they left the Order and the Warrior nun, well, they normally didn’t live long enough to leave.
“You don’t have to say anything. Just take that girl…” Mother Superior nodded towards Ava, “...and show her the world. I’ve never met anyone so deserving of a rich, full life, well, not since I met you.”
Trying not to cry for the second time tonight, Beatrice pulled the nun into a hug, “Thank you, Mother.”
“Of course. Now unfortunately, I do have to talk to you about the meeting we have tomorrow afternoon…” She sighed before filling the sister warrior in on tomorrow's itinerary.
While Mother Superior was speaking, Beatrice’s eyes wandered from her friends to a lone server standing in the corner of the bar. He was young, a couple of years older than herself and watched the goings on with an odd expression on his face. There was something off about him and the way he was studying the dance floor. Following the man’s gaze, the sister warrior realized he was actually staring at one person on the dance floor in particular, Ava. Beatrice frowned, the hair on the back of her neck prickling uncomfortably, she didn’t like the way he was looking at her fiancé.
He moved away from the bar, walking slowly but purposefully towards her friends. She tensed, rising from her seat.
“Beatrice, is everything okay?” The leader of the OCS asked, noticing the sister warrior's unease.
“I...”
The young man’s hand dipped into his apron, grasping something, the sister warrior’s heart was in her throat, she had a bad feeling.
Beatrice caught a glimpse of cerulean blue.
Fuck.
AVA!