Bernie’s refuge is the roof of the hospital; it is a popular choice amongst the quieter winged folk (she has on occasion shared the space with Henrik, and to her surprise, Jac, once). One evening, when she’s feeling rather sorry for herself, she takes herself up there, cigarette, lighter and coffee in tow.
Marcus has the children for Christmas. That is an unequivocal fact. For all the reconnecting she and Cameron had done, he (and Charlotte) had still preferred their father’s familiar company to hers, previously so fleeting, now bordering on foreign.
Staring out over Holby as the sun sets, she lights a cigarette, takes a deep drag and exhales, tries to purge her frustrations and anger and sorrow in plumes of grey. Hugging herself, she lets her coffee go cold as she smokes, wings settling protectively about her in a cocoon. She watches through the gaps in bronze-gold as the sun sinks lower, the sky a riot of yellows and oranges and reds. Burgundy, she thinks, and her feathers twitch, quiver in that singular way that heralded - Serena.
And sure enough there her lover is, rising over the ledge, halo-ed in gold and crimson as she flutters down, familiar quirked smile dimpling a cheek as she regards Bernie. Wordlessly she shuffles closer, folds her wings close to her back as she reaches out, drags a warm hand down the folds where Bernie’s wings meet. Unbidden, they part, and Bernie shudders with a groan as they do, reveal her inch by inch to the one who knew her so.
Serena's gaze is warm and understanding and she takes the cigarette from Bernie's cold fingers, considers it for a moment before taking a long drag, smoking it down to its filter. She tosses it aside and exhales the smoke, reaches out to place one hand on Bernie's wrist.
And all at once Bernie's free hand is shaking as she grabs the back of Serena's neck, pulls her close for a desperate kiss, the bittersmoke of cigarettes and coffee on their tongues, their breaths. Serena's wings come to cradle Bernie's shoulders and she holds Bernie's face in both hands, stroking along her cheekbones, wet with tears.
Serena smiles.
"It's alright. I'm here, now.”