On the morning of her eighteenth birthday, Kate sat in her bed, eyes glazed over, stuck in a trance. Something drastic needed to happen to change her life - she was ready to take on greater stories, and grander landscapes.

It was just Kate and her father, in the same home they shared for the past ten years; same furniture, dishware, hell, she even had the same sheets on her mattress since she was thirteen. But she couldn't stand it anymore. This wasn't the life she wanted.

What she really wanted was to join the military, find a purpose, serve. She had a slew of support behind her, that is, until she fell for the woman who was supposed to be recruiting her. Once the military got hold of the situation, she was banned from ever joining.

Everything she had hoped to accomplish was ripped from her, and she needed to change her life. Kate needed to leave Gotham.

The redhead jumped out of her bed and crashed into the closet, hurriedly gathering any belongings she might need. Tops, jeans, her favorite book - The Price of Salt, shorts, a hat, and other random belongings flew across the room to make a heaping pile next to Kate's bed.

After finishing her closet scrummage, she tossed her disorganized lump into her frayed brown backpack, and zipped up. All that was left was a bathroom run, and she could make her way out of this town.

-ii-

By the time Kate was ten miles out of Gotham, she regretted not telling her father. He was her one, constant support through this whole ordeal. However, Kate knew that if she were to face him, he would have convinced her to stay, so, she took off without a word. 'I'll call him once I get to a hotel,' she convinced herself, knowing full well it could be weeks until he heard from her.

The top was down on her 1984 black Mercedes convertible, and her long, red hair flowed wildly ablaze as the wind whipped past her at 70 miles per hour. The one, long, dusty road she took seemed to last for days; her only accompaniment being the tumbleweeds that rushed by, and signs for the closest town coming in 80 miles… 50… 25… 10 miles to Grey Hall, population: 800.

-ii-

At first sight, Downtown Grey Hall looked like a ghost town. It had one, long, wide strip of road, and each side carried wooden, run down buildings, as though someone hadn't even taken a look at their stability in the last 30 years.

Kate parked her car at the end of the strip, in front of a building labelled "Market" and casually strolled down the road. It was hardly 3 o'clock, and the sun beat down harshly on her back.

'What's a girl gotta do to get a drink around here?' Kate laughed to herself.

As if on queue, she turned to see a bar about halfway down, and although the sign was hanging on for life by a single tether, she wasn't one to pass up on some booze.

-ii-

Inside of the rundown bar seemed to be the home of all of the 40-something-year-olds in the town. Almost every table was taken, each carrying older, sad looking men, who were already way too drunk for 3pm.

Kate ducked the men and found herself at the end of the bar, wedged onto a seat next to a young blonde woman.

"Can I help you, pretty lady?" came a voice behind the bar.

"Rum and coke," Kate replied, without looking up from her seat. The man turned around and grabbed the ingredients.

"Tough drink for someone who's not even old enough for it," the blonde woman quietly stated.

Kate, alarmed, shifted her head and gave the woman a deathly glare, as if to tell her to shut up - in case the bartender heard.

"He doesn't give a shit," the woman continued. "Been coming here almost everyday since I moved here. Glen doesn't card," she smiled.

Glen turned, drink in hand, and slid it to Kate. She took the glass and lifted it up to her new friend.

"Cheers." Kate smiled at the woman, who 'cheers'ed back, and the two chugged back their drinks. Kate slammed her empty glass on the counter. "Kate," she smiled.

"I'm Maggie," the blonde woman shared. "Want another? I'm buying the next!"

Kate laughed, "I'll take anything if you're buying."

"Another round!" Maggie ordered.

-ii-

The orange-ish pink light faded from the sky, and was getting closer and closer to a dark blue. The girls hadn't noticed though, they were busy in an intimate, drunk conversation.

"Wait, so, you've always known you were gay?" Maggie asked.

"Eh, not always," Kate began. "Almost. Ever since Georgia McClaine in first grade… I knew I was a sucker for blondes."

Maggie's face turned a cherry red as she quickly changed the subject. "And, wow, growing up in Gotham... I can only imagine. I thought Star City was bad…"

"Star City?!" Kate asked while noting Maggie's evasiveness. "Damn, I've always wanted to see it!"

"We could do it."

"You'd actually get out of here, your fancy new home, just to go back to your old one?" Kate asked.

"Well, we don't have to go straight there. And it's not like I'm going to stay there! Plus, there's plenty of stops along the way." Maggie replied. "I've got time… and you seem like a decent person to pass it with."

Kate grinned. "Alright! Okay… Okay! I'm in! We can leave…. now-ish?"

"Not with drunk Kate driving," Maggie laughed. "I've got a spot further down the road, we can crash there tonight."

"And tomorrow we see the world!" Kate exclaimed, arms flailing, as she fell over her chair in excitement.

Maggie leapt from her stool to catch the stumbly, drunk redhead, who fell into her arms, still giddy. She looked at Kate, who seemed smitten - 'With me?' Maggie thought. She quickly propped Kate back at her spot and rushed the thought from her head.

"Shit!" Kate muttered under her breath. "My wallet's in my car, come and grab it with me?" She hopped from her stool and gently grasped Maggie's hand, and dragged her out of the bar.

"Be back, Glen!" Maggie shouted as she and Kate stumbled out of the door and down the walkway. It didn't take long for Maggie to realize that Kate wasn't even walking towards her car. "Hey, don't you need your wallet? We're kind of going in the complete opposite direction."

"We'll pay tomorrow before we go, yeah? I'm eager to see where Miss Maggie has been living these past few months!" she exclaimed.

So, Maggie led the way to her place. She couldn't help but find Kate… endearing, and attractive. But sexual attraction? That, she wasn't sure of. All she knew was how much she enjoyed Kate's presence.

-ii-

Maggie slammed into a house, hardly two stories high, and made of wood that looked as though it had originally been installed in the 1800s. The door was unhinged on the top, so it lay crooked across the entrance.

"Home sweet home," Maggie smiled. She probably would have been embarrassed of her shlumpy entrance if she and Kate weren't still hysterics from their conversation on the way.

Maggie swung the door open and held her arms out for Kate to enter first, and Maggie followed. The interior of the house was completely dark, and Kate fumbled on some sort of furniture piece as Maggie grabbed her waist and pulled her closer to the stairs on the left.

"I'm upstairs," Maggie whispered in her ear. "Ms. Tibbs is down here with her eight cats," she laughed.

Maggie led them up as Kate trailed behind, softly clinging to Maggie's fingers. At the top of the stairs was another door, and they entered the small, dimly lit room. The only furniture was a twin bed and petite side table. Near the table, on the floor, was a duffle bag with clothes strewn about.

"Sorry it's a mess," Maggie mumbled as she hastily pushed the clothes in the bag and shoved it under the bed. "I don't really have an extra spot, so you can take the bed, I'll run downstairs and grab blankets and -"

"I don't mind if you sleep in the bed," Kate smirked as she sauntered to it and lay across. She rested her arm under her chin as she looked up to Maggie. "I can share."

A burning sensation filled Maggie - was Kate coming onto her? She wasn't exactly ready to turn her down, but… "Works for me. As long as you're good being the little spoon," Maggie laughed, hiding her nervousness.

"I'm a versatile spoon," Kate giggled as she slowly pulled her pants off to reveal her black, lacy thong, and Maggie whipped around quickly to give Kate privacy.

"I'm just getting bed-ready," Kate laughed. "Besides, don't you need your pajamas?"

"Oh! Right," Maggie moved to the opposite corner, took off her pants, and replaced them with shorts from the ground, leaving her pants in their place. She turned back to Kate, who was now cozied up under the blankets, eyes hardly open.

"Sorry," Kate tiredly droned, "I'm sleepier… and drunkier than I thought."

They both laughed, as Maggie trudged to the bed and turned off the light from her table. She made her way under the blankets, too, and squished herself between the wall and Kate's tall, slim body.

"It's kinda cold," Kate said softly from beneath the covers. Without a thought, Maggie wrapped her arms around Kate's waist. Kate looked behind her and into her new friend's eyes. She gave Maggie a soft peck on the cheek, turned back around, and Maggie's face grew red once more as the pair dozed off.