Work Text:
It had been six months since Beatrice spoke her name. She couldn’t, not after she let Ava go, and the longer she didn’t, the harder it became. Not that it mattered. The few times she contacted the OCS now, it wasn’t necessary to say it; the few times Beatrice could get herself to talk about Ava at all, using pronouns was sufficient. They all knew who she was talking about. And the longer she continued talking like that, the longer Ava remained missing, the less her OCS family mentioned Ava. They understood it was too painful for her, and until any of them had news, it was a moot point anyway.
Beatrice traveled. She needed to not be in places where all she could see was Ava. She returned to England for a brief time, though she didn’t visit her parents. The Scottish Highlands were desolate enough to bury her grief, she thought. She traveled to Amsterdam then, where there was an OCS chapter, but couldn’t stomach the thought of exploring the city alone. She spent some time in France after that, before she moved to Eastern Europe, where she decided to settle for a while. In the countryside, it was peaceful and cheap, and she could get a mindless job at a farm. Asceticism came naturally to her, and spending time in nature was calming, though she missed the mountains. Returning to Switzerland was out of the question, however, where not only she would be recognized in connection to the now sought-after girl with the Halo in her back, but everything also reminded her of Ava. Slovakia was peaceful, and even if it wouldn’t normally be the safest place for a woman to be alone, her smackdown of an attempted mugging in the town center, a few weeks after she moved there, became enough of a temporary sensation to gain her a reputation as not someone to mess with. It suited her, she thought.
So when she walked back home to the communist-style apartment building that had become her home for the past three months and she could feel she was being followed, she took heed, but didn’t panic. Four men, she thought, as she kept a reasonable pace. Easy enough.
What took her off guard for just a moment too long was, when she felt a hand on her shoulder and twisted from under it and swiped the man to the ground with her leg and looked up at the other three, one of them said “It is her.” She paused long enough for one of the men to move forward and catch her legs. She landed on the ground with a grunt, rolling out of the way quickly from the punches, but the damage was done. She saw the glint of a knife, felt a blade pierce her side, and faltered. Her mind raced through the possibilities still left to her, but she felt paralyzed and, for the first time in a long time, she saw her life flash before her eyes as the third man stood above her with a gun outstretched.
She took a shuddering breath. “Ava,” she whispered.
What happened next she couldn’t explain. She closed her eyes for what she thought would be the final moments of her life, only for them to be startled open by a grunt and the vibration of a body hitting the earth. Beatrice could barely open her eyes when she saw a lithe figure giving a roundhouse kick against one of the other remaining men, and her breath stalled when, at the sound of a gunshot coming from the other man, she saw the figure ripple with a golden light and then rematerialize a second later, still standing and unharmed. The gunman, too stunned to speak, waited a second too long before the figure kicked him out too, leaving all her assailants out on the ground. Beatrice’s heart thundered as the figure stood still for a moment, breathing hard, and looked up at the sky, before she turned around and Beatrice’s eyes flooded.
“Ava?”
She scrambled to sit up, but groaned at the wound in her side, still bleeding though not critical.
“No, stay still, stay still,” Ava—could it really be her—said, before kneeling down next to Beatrice. “Let me have a look.”
Beatrice lifted her arm from the place where she was bleeding so Ava could see, and Ava, ever so reverently, placed a hand on it. An odd sensation, to feel warmth and an electric spark combine with the pain.
“I can fix this,” Ava whispered, and she closed her eyes before she took a breath. Speechless, Beatrice watched as a telltale light appeared on her back and she gasped as she felt energy flow through her side. And while she never thought skin knitting back together would feel like anything, she knew for certain that that was what was happening. After the first spark, Ava opened her eyes and locked them with Beatrice. For a moment, the world stalled as Ava channeled the Halo’s healing into Beatrice, and Beatrice cried because the feeling of it confirmed what she was seeing and hearing. When the glow faded from Ava’s back and she took her hand away, Beatrice’s skin was smooth and scarless.
Ava breathed out and smiled, a full, deep thing that sparked through Beatrice’s body all the way to her toes. She struggled to sit up, her hands reaching up but stopping just before they touched Ava. “Is it really you?”
Ava breathed out, the affection shining in her eyes. “Hey Bea,” she started. “What do you call a meeting of former nuns?”
“W-what?” Beatrice stammered.
“A nungregation,” Ava quipped, and Beatrice released a strangled sob before she reached forward to finally, finally wrap her arms around whom her heart knew it to be.
“Ava,” she whispered against her neck, breathing her in, her fingers caressing the little hairs on her neck. She filled her lungs with the warmth of Ava, and she pulled her tighter, or as tight as she could from their awkward position on the ground. Against her, Beatrice could hear Ava draw in a shuddering breath, and lips pressing against her neck. She could feel moisture, and knew they were tears.
After what seemed like an eternity, she pulled back, her throat clogged. She shook her head, immediately reaching out again to touch Ava’s face. “How?” she whispered. “How are you here?”
Ava breathed out. “I heard you,” she said.
Beatrice sat up. “What do you mean?”
Ava sighed, slumping down a little, turning her head for a moment to kiss Beatrice’s hand against her cheek. When she opened her eyes again, they had darkened. “When I got there, they… She told me I couldn’t come back.”
“She?”
“Reya—she… Well, let’s just say I have a few things to explain to everyone about what I discovered there, but she… She didn’t want to let me come back.” Ava lifted her eyes, a frown on her features. “I knew, though, that when Adriel first came here, he used the Halo to cross over, and she hadn’t taken the Halo from me. Though she did try to confine me. And even without that, she said the only way I could cross over is if I found my…”
“Your what?” Beatrice said.
“My anchor,” Ava said, locking eyes again. “Something that anchored me to this world. She didn’t explain what that meant, and she… Tried to stop me so that even if I found that anchor, I wouldn’t be able to take it, so… I escaped. Barely too, I might add,” she said with a wince. “They were almost on me, but then… I felt a tug inside my chest, and I knew. I powered up the Halo, and suddenly I was… Here.” She looked around for a moment. “Where are we, anyway?”
“S-Slovakia,” Beatrice choked out. “But then, you mean… Whatever it was that called you back…”
“It’s you, Bea,” Ava said, and she laughed and oh, how Beatrice had missed that sound. “Of course it’s you.” She reached out to caress Beatrice’s face. “It was you when I phased through twenty feet of rock, and it was you when I had to find my way back from a different dimension.” She sighed. “You’re my anchor.”
Beatrice couldn’t contain herself then, surging forward to capture Ava’s lips in a bruising kiss. She felt Ava’s gasp, then her enthusiastic response, and for a moment, the world ceased to exist as she only felt warmth, and heat, and home.
They had to break for air, and Beatrice laughed even as she cried while she leaned her forehead against Ava, so real and solid and warm in her arms again. When her eyes met, Ava looked a little punch-drunk, but they were starry and oh so happy.
“So,” she said, a little wobbly and a little breathless. “Not that I don’t appreciate the ah, warm welcome, but—” she looked around, “Maybe this isn’t the best place for two ladies to be making out.”
Beatrice choked out a laugh again and allowed Ava to pull her up, both of them grasping at each other for balance as they got to their feet. Beatrice allowed herself a moment to map Ava with her hands again, reaffirming that she was here, she was real, she was alive.
“You healed?” she whispered.
“I did,” Ava said, smiling. “As promised.”
Beatrice breathed out, sniffling as she anchored her hands against Ava’s cheeks again. “And you’re really all right?”
“Well, I do have a lot to tell you,” Ava said, her own arms wrapped around Beatrice’s waist now. “But I am now.”
Beatrice laughed and leaned forward to kiss Ava again, and they shared a long kiss of affirmation before she leaned back and grasped Ava’s arms.
“Right,” she said. “My—my apartment is this way, we should probably go there.”
“Sounds great!” Ava said, and she caught Beatrice’s hand in her own, kissing it before she dropped it between them and squeezed. “Lead the way Bea.”
Beatrice could barely remember how she made it home, stepping over five unconscious bodies and navigating through the streets. Questions were swirling through her head but she couldn’t settle on one, before Ava made the choice for her.
“So, Slovakia,” she said. “Not exactly what I imagined for an OCS outpost, for some reason.”
Beatrice cleared her throat, reminding herself how to speak. “Well, it isn’t—I… I left the Order.”
Ava halted, frowning. “You left?”
Beatrice nodded, tugging on Ava’s hand again. “After you…” She halted. “After, I couldn’t stay there. I… I wanted to, try what you wanted me to do, but I also…” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “I couldn’t stay in a place where everything reminded me of you.”
“Oh Bea,” Ava said, and her eyes were full of love. They widened. “Wait, when are we? How… How long has it been for you?”
“Six months,” Beatrice whispered.
“Huh,” Ava said.
“What?” Beatrice said as they resumed their walk.
“It’s been nine months for me,” Ava said, looking sad, but also puzzled.
“Miguel did mention time moved differently there,” Beatrice said. “What… What’s the matter?”
Ava grimaced. “Math was never my strongest suit. Just seemed like the time difference was a lot bigger for him than for me, and I was away longer than he was. It just seems… Random.”
“Maybe it is,” Beatrice says. “Quantum mechanics are not known for being mathematically linear.”
“God, I love your brain,” Ava said, swinging their hands, and Beatrice couldn’t help but smile in return. Her smile softened. “Not that it wasn’t long enough as it was. I missed you, Bea.”
Beatrice coughed, tears choking her up again. “I missed you too,” she whispered. “So much.”
“Well, I’m back now,” Ava said, and Beatrice’s heart felt like it was ready to give out, screaming that this was too good to be true. “Ooh, and it seems we reached destination.”
Beatrice had hardly noticed that she’d halted by her apartment building, so totally absorbed by her companion. “Right,” she said, fumbling with her apartment key for a moment before leading Ava inside. “Third floor,” she said.
“You got it, boss,” Ava said cheerfully, taking Beatrice’s hand again before skipping up the stairs. Beatrice let herself be led, fumbling awkwardly with her front door key as she refused to drop Ava’s hand. It was Ava who pushed the door open as the lock clicked.
“Home sweet home!” Ava said.
It is now, Beatrice thought as she saw Ava take the place in for a second, before turning back to Beatrice as the door fell back in its lock. She bit her lip as she sauntered forward, putting her hands on Beatrice’s shoulders. Beatrice’s hands found Ava’s hips.
“So, first thing’s first,” she said, her eyes suddenly serious. “I love you, and I want to be with you, and I don’t want to waste any time,” she said. “Because I also have a lot of news, about what’s coming. Which, full disclosure, is not good. We’re going to need everyone.”
“All right, I’ll contact Mother Superion,” Beatrice said. “I can get us a flight out tomorrow if you want, get back—” she tapered off into a moan as Ava silenced her with a kiss.
“Not tonight?” Ava said. “Just… We can strategize tomorrow, but right now, I just… I just want to be with you.”
Beatrice nodded shakily before drawing Ava into another kiss and this time, there was no hesitation, both of them moving smoothly into something so new but somehow also familiar, the feel of each other’s bodies known but also new, and as Beatrice gently lowered Ava onto her bed, she wondered if Heaven was maybe not a place, but a moment in time. And that moment was now.
When they were both spent and laid warmly in each other’s arms, they both cried. With relief, with grief, and so, so much love. “I love you,” Beatrice whispered into Ava’s hair, softly but close enough to Ava’s ear that she made sure Ava heard it this time. “I love you.”
“I love you, Bea,” Ava said back. She lifted her head. “So… It’s not Sister Beatrice anymore, then, huh?”
“No,” Beatrice said, curling Ava’s hair behind her ear. “I… I didn’t see a point to being with the OCS anymore, since… Well, since there was no, no W-Warrior Nun.” She stuttered on the word and swallowed. “I know they are still active, but I couldn’t tell you what they’re doing. I suppose I’ve been kind of… Off the grid.”
“So I see,” Ava said, casting a cursory glance around the apartment. “Slovakia, huh? Cross that one off the list, I guess.”
“I wasn’t aware it was on the list,” Beatrice said.
Ava shrugged. “Doesn’t matter, it is now,” before leaning in for a kiss. She looked at Beatrice for a moment then, tilting her head as if an idea had just occurred to her. “Beatrice?”
“Ava,” Beatrice said, a smile lifting her mouth.
“Will you Bea my girlfriend?”
Beatrice thought she’d never smiled wider. She took a breath, and her voice was soft before she responded. “For Ava and always.”
Ava squealed and jumped out of bed for a moment, fully naked, to do a happy dance. Beatrice laughed, sitting up as she waited for Ava to finish, before getting impatient and pulling her back in. “Come back here you,” she said, grasping Ava by the hips. She kissed her chest.
Ava smiled mischievously. “Oh yeah? What’s in it for me?”
“You get a kiss from your girlfriend,” Beatrice said. “Bargain price.”
“Hmm, I’ll need to think about that, you know,” Ava said, putting a finger on her chin.
Beatrice shrugged, dropping her hands from Ava’s hips. “All right then, I guess I’ll sleep.”
“No you don’t,” Ava said, immediately clambering back onto the bed into Beatrice’s lap, who laughed. “I’m not done kissing you yet.”
Beatrice hummed as she leaned forward, indulging herself and Ava for a long moment of kisses that made her skin thrum and her blood thicken. When she leaned back, she bit her lip. “I’d like to ah, continue this,” she said. “But I do want to let the others know first, if that’s all right?”
Ava’s eyes softened. “Of course,” she said. “I’m excited to see them again.”
“Me too,” Beatrice whispered. She cleared her throat. “I’ll just get the…”
“Right,” Ava said, rolling off of Beatrice, who quickly reached over to her bedside table and opened the bottom drawer. From it, she pulled out a familiar necklace. Taking a deep breath, her fingers started typing out the code for the words she’d already imaged.
When Camila rushed into Mother Superion’s office that morning, both of them were holding their necklaces and wearing wide smiles. The message contained just three words: I found Ava.