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Mary winced as she tried to loosen up the sore muscles of her body. It had been two hours since she and her sisters of the OCS had made their harrowing escape from Adriel at the Vatican. By some miracle Ava had just enough energy left in her to blast the swarm of possessed civilians off of Mary before they had crushed her to death.
Everything had been a blur after that, A running fight through hallways and down cobblestone streets as swarms of the fallen angels unwilling minions gave chase. She remembered Beatrice struggling to keep up with a near unconscious Ava until Lilith took the Halo Bearer over her shoulder and carried her the rest of the way. It wasn’t until they had reached the van that their pursuers ceased their chase.
They had chosen ARQ-Tech to be their regroup point, arriving just a couple hours before dawn.
Ava was taken to one of the medical rooms to rest, with Beatrice refusing to leave her side. Camila had wandered off shaking and looking like she was fighting back tears, Mary had made to go after the youngest of her sister nuns but had been stopped by Lilith.
“You need to go get those wounds looked at, I’ll check on Camila” she had said with that ever familiar confidence she always had before walking off after the young girl, not waiting for Mary to retort.
With little other option, Mary went to find a medical bag and a private bathroom. She was no stranger to patching up her own wounds, she was no surgeon but she liked to think she was good enough to be considered something of a crude field medic.
She stole a medical kit from one of the labs and the perfect bathroom for her to work in. After locking the door she pulled off her armor and battle habit, leaving herself clad only in a tank top and tactical pants.
Looking in the mirror she could see why Lilith had been so adamant about her wounds, her body was littered with cuts, bruises and scrapes, not to mention caked with dirt that stuck to her sweat logged skin. Gingerly she felt around herself to make sure nothing was broken or dislocated, finding only an overextended wrist.
With a grimace she opened the med kit and set to work, popping a couple pain pills into her mouth before turning on the water and covering her hands with soap. She carefully cleaned every cut and scrape she could reach without her body screaming at her, making sure they were well scrubbed with soap before rinsing them with hot water. Once each one was cleaned she applied a bandaid to any of the major cuts to prevent further infection before turning her attention to the major bruises on her back.
She taped an ice pack over the biggest of the bruises, careful not to tie it too tight to aggravate the smaller ones. She took a second ice pack and tied it to her left thigh as it was showing signs of the muscle being pulled. Once she was sure she had checked every wound as best she could, Mary pulled her hoodie out of her bag and carefully pulled it over herself. Tucking her combat gear back into the bag Mary stepped out into the empty hallway, taking a moment to appreciate the silence before heading the direction Camila and Lilith had gone.
After walking for a couple minutes Mary found herself walking past the room where Ava had been taken to, she had half a mind to walk in and check on her but paused she saw that she and Beatrice were deep in conversation. Beatrice was sitting on the edge of Ava’s bed, hand clasped gently atop the other girls, the most gentle and open smile creasing her features as they whispered sweetly to each other.
Mary couldn’t help but smile, seeing Beatrice finally let her guard down around another girl was a good sign, hopefully the first step in allowing herself not to be ashamed of being attracted to other women. Mary had been the first person to figure out the young girls secret, being gay herself she knew all the signs and had tried to get Bea to confide in her but anytime they brought up the subject she would try to either change topic or find an excuse to leave.
Hopefully since Ava was the opposite of a good catholic person in nearly every way she could help break down those barriers and help Beatrice learn to love herself regardless of what her parents or the rest of the church believed.
Deciding to leave the young love birds, Mary continued down the hall. The pills were finally kicking in, helping to clear the pounding in her head and easing the spasms of her muscles so she felt a bit more like herself.
She found Lilith sitting on a couch in a large open lounge area, Camila cuddled up to her with her head on the older girl’s lap. Lilith cast her eyes up to Mary as she approached, quickly bringing a finger to her lips. “She’s asleep” she mouthed as she returned her hand to stroke Camila’s hair.
Looking down at the sleeping girl Mary could see that the skin around her eyes were red and blotchy from crying. “She’s scared” Lilith whispered “between our excommunication from Cat’s Cradle, Adriel be released and Father Vincent’s betrayal-”
“Her whole world’s been turned upside down” said Mary, reaching down to rest a hand on Camila’s shoulder “poor girl”
After a moment Lilith suggested they should leave and let Camila sleep. As she eased herself from under the youngest of the sister nuns Mary gathered some pillows to replace her lap, she then removed her jacket and draped it over Camila. After Lilith placed a kiss on her head she and Mary headed into one of the nearby offices and threw themselves onto the pair of cozy arm chairs.
“How are you feeling?” Lilith asked, nervously twirling a finger through her hair which had returned to its regular raven black color. “I’ll live” Mary sighed, sinking down into the soft leather and closing her eyes “Not my first tough scrap and it sure as hell won’t be my last.”
“Are you sure?” Lilith asked “you almost died out there.” Mary laughed “oh please, it’s gonna take a lot more than a dog pile of possessed innocents to kill me. How about you, how are you holding up?” She hadn’t forgotten about Lilith’s breakdown in the crypt.
Lilith was silent for a moment, nervously running her hands over her thighs in that nervous tick Mary knew all too well. “I’m um, I’m trying to keep it together Mary but, I still have no idea what’s happening with me. I feel like I don’t have full control over myself, I’m not ever sure I’m human anymore!”
Seeing the girl was close to hyperventilating again Mary pulled herself out of her chair to kneel in front of Lilith. “Hey Lil, look at me girl” She said, taking the girl’s shaking hands in her own, eye’s focused on her panicked face until their gazes finally locked.
“I don’t know what’s going on with you either but you are still human in every way that matters okay? No matter what happens you have us, you have me.” She kept her eyes locked on Lilith, watching every emotion that crossed over her face, fear, anxiety, uncertainty, and even relief.
Slowly Lilith began to relax, a small sad smile creasing her lips “I’m sorry” she said wistfully. “For what?” Mary asked, running a hand gently up Liliths arm for comfort.
“For drifting us apart over the Halo and Shannon” Tears welled up in Lilith’s eyes “I was so selfish and bitter, I wasted so much time being jealous and insecure and I took it out on all of you.” Mary brought her hands up and placed them on Lilith’s cheeks, wiping away stray tears with her thumbs.
“I am too” she said softly “I miss how we used to laugh and tease each other, the little contests we would have” She smiled, remembering all the stupid push up contests and races they would get into, how sparring matches would turn into playful wrestling matches that would end in fits of laughter and playful banter.“Maybe now that you don’t need to worry about the Halo we can try and rebuild that bridge”
“I would like that” Lilith nodded, leaning forward in her chair “though it wasn’t just Shannon getting the Halo that I was jealous of”
“What do you me-” Mary asked but was cut off as Lilith leaned down and planted her lips against her own. The kiss was sloppy but earnest and Mary found herself kissing back as the moment of surprise wore off. Lilith’s lips were soft if not a bit chapped but they still felt good against Mary’s own.
Just as Mary was reaching up to hold the back of Lilith’s head she pulled away. Her eyes were wide and mortified while her cheeks were flushed red. “I am so sorry!” she blabbered “I don’t know what came over me, I should have asked for your consent. I’ve wanted to do that for so long but that’s still no excuse!”
Mary laughed as she took the stammering girls face in her hands again, the touch silencing her instantly.
“My baby girl, shut up and kiss me already” Mary cooed before pulling her prodigal lover into a more open, passionate kiss.