Tara found herself struggling to live comfortably in the safe house within minutes of arriving.

The underground bunker was pretty spacious, clean, and the company was as good as one could hope for. Imogen was quiet and conscientious, Shawn loud and mood-lifting, and Ava was herself mostly… with a slight nervous edge to her attitude. However, the bunker was built for supernatural beings. Tara could not open doors by herself, she could not lift chairs, she could not open food cans. Everything was made to be practically indestructible and heavy enough to be used as a weapon or shield. Oh, and there was little light to be found, especially in the area closest to the only exit, and she was the only member of the quartet that needed light to see. She did her best not to complain or make a fuss, she was just glad to be there, to feel relatively safe. There was a mild comfort to be taken in the multi-toned grey that coated every inch of the safe house, she supposed.

On day three, the group was sat about the common area eating from tin cans (Tara was fairly certain they kept up the pretense of eating and sleeping on a human schedule for her benefit) when Tara decided to bring up what she could already feel was going to be a sore topic.

“When do we know it is safe to leave?” she asked as nonchalantly as she could.

“We wait a set number of days, usually our organisation says twenty-one, and then we send out a signal to have another member of our group check out all of our common locations such as workplaces, our homes, restaurants or bars we visit,” explained Imogen, slowly and gently as she always spoke.

Twenty-one days. Tara’s body had frozen with spoon halfway to her mouth. She was glad her rent was paid automatically from her account or Daisy would be fucked. But would her wages up to the day she disappeared be enough to cover it? She shook her head. Why was her rent at the forefront of her mind when she could face being murdered? She supposed it was more for Daisy’s sake that she was worrying than her landlord being six-hundred pounds short.

“If the locations are all deemed secure, we return to our lives with added caution and care. The first few months especially you must keep your eyes and ears primed for anything unusual.”

“And if they’re not?” Tara dug around in her tin to keep her hands moving. “Safe, I mean.”

“We relocate.”

“Do the enforcers move on after a certain time and look in other towns for… runaways? Or would Bee and Mr. Ramiel be assigned to look for anyone in this area? Or are they looking specifically for you three?”

Before Imogen could answer, Shawn’s head snapped up.

“Did you just say Ramiel?” he asked tensely.

Ava’s brows pulled together with concern and slight fear. “You know him?” Perhaps it was because of how much longer Shawn had spent as an Earth-residing fugitive that Ava looked so worried about anyone he would know by name, or perhaps it was Shawn’s own wide eyes that were scaring her as they were Tara.

“He’s an angel enforcer. Infamous. He was one of the main enforcers that chased me out of Italy. I thought you said we were dealing with a demon? A bounty hunter?”

Tara swallowed the cold lump of meatball in her mouth despite her throat tightening at his words and began to explain herself with stammering words.

Ava cut her off with a half-raised hand and said, “Bee is a demon. I could sense her presence on Tara after she interrogated her. She was cloaking herself when she stalked us at dinner but I’m pretty sure that was her too.”

“I thought they were a team, part of the same group or something,” Tara mumbled.

With a pained groan, Shawn confirmed what Tara could tell the women had been silently fearing. “They are definitely not, and that means we are doubly fucked.”

“I’m so sorry,” Tara whispered. “I had no idea.”

Ava said, “It’s not your fault, Tiara.” It did not lift any of the guilt from her shoulders though.

“I wish I’d said more sooner.”

With a defiant shake of her head, Ava replied, “It’s my fault, I was so eager to get us here quickly I forgot to fully question you about the man you texted me about.”

Shawn placed his food down on the table beside his chair carefully. “Tell me everything from start to finish about your encounter with him,” he ordered.

Tara straightened in her own seat and began recounting the day to the best of her knowledge. When she was finished, Shawn said nothing except a short thanks and then left. He, Imogen and Ava had a private tactical meeting later that day that Tara was not privy to. She wasn’t sure she wanted to hear any more about Mr. Ramiel anyway.

That night, Tara and Ava laid together on the single sofa in the common room. Imogen and Shawn were in their assigned cupboard-sized sleeping rooms. Tara reckoned they were not sleeping, just taking some private time to read or think or generally just get away from Tara and Ava’s snuggling. She wouldn’t blame them for being uninterested in watching a couple being affectionate when they were fearing for their lives. Or at least, the lives they had been living in this realm. As Ava had said, they couldn’t die. But there were other things to fear besides death.

Tara sighed to herself, drawing a curious glance from Ava, whose torso she was balanced on (far more comfortable that the metal frame of the sofa with a few thin, measly pillows layered across it). “I feel weak and helpless here,” Tara said, answering the unspoken question.

“We all feel like that trapped up in this place,” Ava assured her, “like a rabbit hiding in a hole.”

“At least you can get the doors open.”

“I’m sorry, love.”

She stroked her fingers over Tara’s hair and Tara let her eyes slide closed and a hum leave her lips. Another pair were upon hers instantly, demanding entrance with firm kisses. Tara’s eyes flew open and she giggled at the absurdity that Ava could be in the mood for anything more than cuddling at a time like this. In a place like this.

That did not stop her kissing back, sliding her hands over Ava’s tightly muscled upper arms and craving that strength be used against her. Perhaps this was a good place do this, rubbing in the noses of the enforcers that they were together and alive and could still screw like bunnies any time they wanted. How long had it been since her girlfriend had thrown her down and fucked her senseless? Too long. Sometimes even the most delicate of ladies needed to be hammered into while they begged and pleaded for mercy. Ava lifted her hands to squeeze at Tara’s arse and bit her bottom lip simultaneously, drawing a pleased moan out involuntarily. The long fingers quickly dragged down under her smock dress to play with the thin fabric of her underwear. Tara keened into Ava’s mouth.

An awful train of thought barrelled into Tara’s mind, completely unwanted. The possibility that this was not Ava taking advantage of their isolation, finding a way to pass the time, or celebrating the fact that they were still alive and together. What if she was expecting the worst? What if this was her getting in a quick lay with her human girlfriend before the human was killed and she was banished?

Ava, apparently sensing Tara’s anxiety spiral, or at least noticing she wasn’t reciprocating as enthusiastically as she had been a few minutes go, stopped the motion of her hands and pulled back a little.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“What?” Tara gasped softly.

“Your whole body froze up; are you not in the mood?”

“I- um, I kissed you back. Of course I’m in the mood,” Tara babbled defensively.

“You can change your mind, Tiara.”

“I’m fine.”

Ava sat still, watching her with inquisitive obsidian eyes.

“Ava, I’m fine.”

“I’m scared, too, you know.”

Tara didn’t respond, but she avoided looking directly into Ava’s face.

“But that doesn’t mean I feel hopeless, or that I am expecting the worst.”

“Are you reading my mind?”

“No,” Ava laughed.

“Be honest, is that one of your superpowers?”

“If it was, I sure as shit wouldn’t tell you. Being able to hear your lover’s thoughts would be awesome.”

Tara snorted and scrubbed her puffy cheeks with her palms to clear her thoughts. She sighed softly to herself. “Don’t stop.”

“If you’re sure.”

“Shut up and kiss me.”

Ava obeyed, pressing her firm tongue into Tara’s small mouth and devouring her. Tara rubbed every bit of her body against Ava’s, working them both up into a tangle of pants and hushed moans.

Those thick arms snaked around her waist as Ava stood, lifting Tara with her, and used their bodies to push shut the door that led into the common room. She pressed Tara against it firmly, never breaking their lips apart.

Tara writhed back against Ava’s body, her bare thighs settling either side of Ava’s slightly lifted knee that she was balanced on. The impenetrable door pressed against her delicate human spine but that did not stop her continuing to grind her cunt down on Ava’s thigh. The texture combination of her soft cotton panties and Ava’s rough khakis sent her vulva into a soaked frenzy. She hoped it left a slick, darkened patch on Ava’s leg; the thought turned her on even more. When did she get so territorial? It didn’t matter. She sucked on Ava’s tongue desperately and the stronger woman squeezed at her curves hard enough to bruise.

A metallic thump followed by a rattle from the direction of the bunker’s single entryway froze the pair where they stood. The sound of the first of the three doors leading to the outside world being pried open scraped at Tara’s ears.