(no subject)

[stbethadettes]

It's the first time someone's tried to enter the church since she's been back, and yeah, it kind of surprises her.

Sitting there on the front pew, her open book in her hand, Beth listens for a minute.

The amazons wouldn't bother with just trying to open the front doors. They'd get down to business, maybe shoot an arrow through another one of her goddamn windows. She doesn't expect decorum from those chicks.

Whoever it is will probably go away when they realize the doors are locked.

There's another push on the door, this one harder, and Beth quietly closes her book, putting it down, and stands up, just waiting.

They can't get in. They'll have to leave.

Comments

[no-real-hero.livejournal.com]

Jesus.

She's always known her brother could be pathetic and she's always known he could be stupid, but this...

Jesus!

"Holy shit."

This is fucking pathetic and stupid and just downright disgusting of him. Why the fuck would he have...

"I'm... I'm sorry. I never would have brought it all this way if, you know..."

Jesus Christ, what a fucking bastard. Damn it, Yorick, you sent me here for that?

"Fucking dog."

This could so easily have been a total waste of everyone's time.

[stbethadettes]

"Don't worry about it, Hero."

Sliding the envelope into her pocket, Beth takes a step backward, holding the door open, and gestures inside with a jab of her thumb.

"You want to come inside? Freshen up or whatever?"

She can be friendly, hospitable. And Hero... well, this has probably all been a hell of a shock for her, too.

[no-real-hero.livejournal.com]

Shit, she's not even sure she belongs in this place at all. Not after everything that's happened over the past years. Still, she no harm in taking a break for a couple minutes.

"For a second, I guess, but I've got another fool's errand to run, so I can't stay long." With a deep breath, she walks into the church.

No Queen Victoria here. It's both sad and reassuring at the same time; she realizes she's still wearing her hat. "Sorry, been a while since I've set foot in one of these. Should I take this off or...?"

It's Beth's church. Hero can be a fuck of a lot more polite than her dog of a brother any day.

[stbethadettes]

Half-turning to look at Hero, Beth shakes her head. "Don't bother. This place isn't exactly functioning these days. It's more of a hideout."

That's exactly what it is now.

"Besides," she adds almost conversationally, her shoulders shrugging, "haven't you ever read first Corinthians? Women have to cover our prideful locks when we pray, to show God that we're under the authority of men."

Yeah, right.

Spike would've had no clue what the fuck she was talking about, and he probably wouldn't have cared. And for a second she misses him so fucking intensely.

It's funny that after nearly a month of being here, sometimes it can actually feel like she never left.

Sometimes. The Venusian vanilla shirt, despite not smelling like Spike anymore, is always a sharp reminder.

"And yet," a new voice interrupts her train of thought, "as woman came into existence from man, so men come into existence by women. Corinthians also reminds us that the two are equal in the eyes of the Lord."

Eyes widening, Beth looks from the three women blocking their path -- a nun flanked by two chicks in Swiss Guard uniforms -- to Hero.

"What..." How the hell did they get in? She can't fucking believe she let herself get fooled. "What the fuck? You set me up?"

[no-real-hero.livejournal.com]

No way. No fucking way. Her eyes move from Beth and her huge belly to the nun and the pair of leftovers from some bad Euro art film who flank her, then rivet on Beth again. "Don't look at me! I thought these freaks were with you!"

There's only one thing to do now, and it ain't gonna be pretty.

[stbethadettes]

Beth barely has time to wonder if Hero's telling the truth, to take in the stony-faced nun and the Swiss Guard chicks with the halberds, to do anything but wish she hadn't left the goddamn crossbow by the door.

"We have had you under surveillance for several days, signorina," the nun cuts in again. "We decided to secure you and your little one when we saw this outsider invade your sanctuary."

Beth puts a protective hand on her belly. "Secure?"

[no-real-hero.livejournal.com]

That's it. No one gets to pull this shit, not on her time.

"Like hell."

As one of the chicks in armor rushes forward, she reaches for her gun. "Don't--"

And then she fires. BLAM! The bullet hits the metal chest of one of the girl's armor and she falls; it ricochets off with a sick metallic thudding sound.

Fuck! And I didn't ever want to do that again! The EMT that's never stopped living inside her, not even the moment Joe died in her arms, steps forward; the soldier or whatever the fuck she is just... lies there on the ground, not moving.

Jesus.

"Oh, my God. Are you...?"

Fuck!

The next thing Hero does is make a loud and completely incoherent sound as that girl's staff meets her chin, hard.

And that's all she knows.

[stbethadettes]

The other guard's got her hand on Beth's arm as if to keep her back, keep her from interfering, keep her safe.

"Stop it!"

This shouldn't be happening, and it's all going so damn fast.

This was always a pretty safe place and what do they want and why is this chick trying to grab her arm and what the hell is their definition of secure?

The nun steps in front of Beth, blocking her view of Hero, just as the guard's hand leaves her arm. "Just breathe normally. The more you fight it, the worse the side effects will be."

The what?

Beth doesn't have a chance to question or to scream. There's just a muffled protest from her as the guard covers her mouth and nose with a cloth.

"Blessings on this journey," the nun tells her, and she wants to say go to hell, wants to say they'll fucking regret it if they hurt her or her baby or, hell, even Hero, but her eyelids are drooping and her limbs are going limp even as she struggles against it, breathing anything but normally.

Her body slumps.