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She felt it before she heard about it.

An unexpected pain seared through Sophia's chest. She gasped at the sudden pain, clutching at her left breast. "What the hell?" she grounded out, trying to ignore it. This failed, however, as the pain seemed to intense and she shot up out of bed. "Fuck." She gripped her hair, the pain unbearably sharp and fierce and what the hell was going on?

Her phone blared in her right ear and she weakly reached for it. "Hello?" she answered, her voice hoarse with agony. Hera, this fucking hurt.

'Sophia, get ready!' barked Uncle John on the other end, startling her. 'I'm having J'onn transport you directly to the Watchtower.'

Sophia blinked through her pain and weariness, trying to comprehend what was being spoken to her. "W-What?" she stuttered in confusion. What business did she have on the Watchtower and why was he calling her and not her parents? "Why?"

'Rex was shot,' the man bit out. 'He's in surgery.'

Sophia felt her heart stop. Suddenly, there was a pain in her chest far greater than the one she had just been experiencing. "S-Shot?" she repeated. The word felt disgusting on her tongue. It was hard to associate it with Rex, strong, sturdy Rex who was unbreakable. Not like her, not sensitive or unstable. Him being shot just didn't make sense to her. It was unfathomable, incomprehensible.

She swallowed, forcing her senses to come back. "What happened?" she rasped, her voice fragile and wavering.

'We aren't sure,' replied Uncle John. 'He came in from New Hale with a bullet lodged in his chest and knocked out before he could tell us.' There were background voices for a few seconds, but she couldn't concentrate enough to make out what they were saying. 'Are you ready?'

Sophia looked down at her white plaid pajama and black crop top. "More than ready," she responded, her hand curling into a fist. Suddenly, she couldn't feel the pain from earlier. No, now all she felt was concern and anger. Rex was shot. Someone had dared to point a gun at him, to lay a finger on him.

That someone would pay.

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It was wrong, seeing him like that.

Rex's surgery had ended hours ago and Sophia refused to leave his side even though he was stable for now. She could hardly take her eyes off his face, his pale, nearly lifeless face that was so different than it normally was. It wasn't right. Just last night, he had kissed her goodnight and left for New Hale. She would give anything to see his green eyes open. She would give anything to hear his voice.

She wanted so desperately to break down and cry, but she held it off. His parents needed her to be strong right now. Rex needed her to be strong right now. If she fell apart, what was to stop him from doing the same? So, Sophia took hold of his hand. "A-And you say I'm impossible to deal with," she joked, her bottom lip trembling.

She gave a ragged breath. "Damn, baby, you s-scared the shit out of me," she continued. She didn't know why she was talking to him, it wasn't like he could hear her. He was knocked out on anesthesia given to him during surgery. But she found that it helped her cope. "Uncle John called me in a panic. Put your parents in an early grave, why don't you?"

Sophia laced their fingers together. "I think we both know who this was," she said lowly. "And I promise you, I'll hunt the fucker down myself. He/She/It's gone too far this time."

She leaned forward to brush her lips against his forehead. "I love you," she whispered. "And I don't think I'm ready to let you go yet, okay? So, just hang in there. For me."

A hand was laid on her shoulder. "Sophia, you should rest," Aunt Shayera advised. Her voice was full of pain and uneasiness, something that the young woman was not accustomed to hearing from her godmother. "We can call you when he wakes up."

She gripped his hand tighter, the thought of being away from him right now physically painful. "I-I can't leave him, Aunt Shay," she responded softly. "He needs me right now."

The redheaded woman brushed the hair away from her forehead. "He would want you to take care of yourself," she reminded her. "You look tired, sweetheart. Why don't you head home and come back in the afternoon? Okay?"

Sophia desperately wanted to argue. Wanted to insist that he needed her and that she could never dream of leaving him. But she looked at her godmother's tired, worried face and suddenly felt selfish. This was the woman's only son, her baby. She and Uncle John were hurting just as much as her, if not more. What right did she have to take their places?

Reluctantly, she nodded. "O-Okay," she agreed hesitantly. Aunt Shayera smiled and kissed the top of her head. She forced herself to walk away from the med bay, allowing his parents to take over.

Surprisingly, her own parents were waiting for her. "Hi, Mommy," she greeted quietly. Suddenly, she felt small. Then again, she always did around them. "Hi, Daddy."

Her mother gently traced the curve of her cheek. "Hi, baby," she replied. She looped an arm around her shoulders and lead her to the Zeta Beams. Her father walked on her other side, subtly taking her hand.

She appreciated their silence.

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Rex woke up to a searing pain in his chest and a warm hand in his own.

He blinked through the weariness fogging his mind, trying to piece together his thoughts together. What had happened? The last thing he remembered was kissing Sophia goodnight and heading back to New Hale for patrol. He forced his eyes open, but even that seemed to take too much energy. His head lobbed to the side and he caught sight of familiar wavy, dark hair. "Soph?" he questioned, squeezing her hand.

Sophia jolted awake, her eyes snapping open. She blinked at him for a moment before it came together. "Rex," she breathed. Tears welled in her eyes. "Y-You're awake."

Rex, put off by her tears, went to embrace her, but groaned as pain rolled through his body. "Yeah..." he muttered. "What... what happened?"

Her bottom lip began to tremble. "You were... shot," she revealed. Her hand shook in his and he felt an awful, miserable pang in his chest. "In New Hale. You somehow made it to the Watchtower and you had to have surgery. Uncle John called me in a panic."

He, for some reason he couldn't place, felt guilty. "Do we know who did it?" he inquired, sitting up straighter. Vaguely, he recalled wrapping up a petty theft that night. The next thing he knew, he was struggling toward the Zeta Beam and gripping his burning chest.

Sophia shook her head and placed a hand on his shoulder, gently easing him back down. "Too many questions," she stated adamantly, obviously dodging the question. "You need to rest."

Rex rained an eyebrow, looping an arm around her waist. She squeaked as he tugged her closer so that she was on top of him. "Lay with me," he pleaded. He could feel the sorrow and restlessness she had been feeling over his state. It weighed upon his heart and suddenly, all he wanted was to be closer to her.

She bit her lip. "I shouldn't," she told him, her eyes lingering on his bullet wound. "I don't wanna aggravate it."

He traced the delicate curve of her cheek with his thumb. "You won't," he promised. "Just stay, okay? I need you with me."

Sophia closed her eyes for a moment and he watched the gentle rise and fall of her chest as her breaths slowed. "Okay," she finally agreed. Gently, she pulled back the blanket and slipped in next to him.

Rex held onto her, her smaller frame settling perfectly into his. It always felt right when they laid like this, like it was always meant to be that way. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"It's okay," she mumbled, her voice wavering. "You just scared me, is all." She lightly traced the wound with her nimble fingers. "It just missed your heart, apparently. A few more inches and you-" Her voice broke here, interrupted by a sob.

He kissed the top of her head. "I'm sorry," he repeated. He vaguely wondered if this was for her what her illness had been for hi "But you know something, don't you?" It killed him to ask, yet he knew he needed to get it out of her. Sophia kept things close to her chest by nature, always trying to protect the people closest to her. She, of course, never thought to protect herself.

Sophia flinched. "Rex," she begged.

"Soph."

She sighed, reaching to pull out her phone. "I-I think Chase was responsible," she revealed. "Scratch that, I'm sure it was them. They... They sent me this." She showed him the message.

'Oops! Look like your boy toy got hurt, Kitten. Wonder what happened?'

Sophia's bottom lip began to tremble again and all he wanted to do was kiss it to make it stop. "T-They did this because of me," she told him. "You wouldn't break up with me, so now they're trying to scare me." The tears rolled down her cheeks and he was too slow to stop them. "I'm so sorry..."

Gently, Rex took her face in his hands. "Hey, what did we talk about?" he reminded her softly. Seeing her so upset hurt worse than the stitched hole in his chest. "There's only one person at fault here, remember?"

She shook her head. "But they're after me," she shot back. "Rex, I can't put you in danger like this. It isn't right."

He thought about her words, trying to put it into perspective. If it was her in this hospital bed, would he react any differently? Probably not. But she probably wouldn't let him push her away either. A plan was already formulating in his mind. "Then we should make it so that neither one of us is in danger," he suggested, brushing the hair out of her face.

Sophia blinked. "How?" she asked.

Rex sat up and she stood, moving to sit at the foot of the bed. "For months, you've been in this cat and mouse game," he told her. "And they've always had the advantage. They have eyes everywhere, watching me and you. So, how do you make yourself invisible?"

She seemed to think for a moment. "Well, staying hidden is a good way," she mused. "My dad uses the shadows to blend in. But I don't think that'll work here..." Whenever Sophia thought hard about something, she would rant. He would be lying if he said it wasn't cute. "I mean, there's always relocation, but I doubt it'll work. They would just find us. There's also-" She gasped suddenly and he could see the pieces coming together. "You can blind your opponent."

He grinned. "Smart girl," he commented. "So, how do we blind Chase?"

Sophia hummed with thought. "Well, we have to find out how they know everything," she decided. "I'll have to check my office for bugs. Maybe both of our apartments too."

Rex nodded. "That's a good start," he agreed. "But have you noticed that they hit hardest when we're separated?" The break-in at her apartment, the picture sent to him, and now this? The bastard knew exactly when to strike.

She cocked her head to the side. "Now that you mention it..."

He smirked. "I guess we'll just have to stick together for a while," he joked, trying to get her to smile. "You're stuck with me, Princess."

Sophia sighed, reaching for his hand. "Do you really think this will work?" she questioned, anxiety and pain lacing her voice. "What if it's worse next time? What if-?"

Rex silenced her with a kiss. "It can't hurt to try," he reasoned. He nudged her. "Come on, Soph, we're the kids of four founding Justice League members. Whatever this bitch thinks they have on us can't even come close, right?"

That forced a tentative smile out of her. "You do have a point," she conceded. She leaned forward to press her soft lips to his forehead. "But if you ever scare me like that again, Rex Stewart, I'll kill you myself."

How could someone be so sweet yet so intense? Despite this, he grinned. "I wouldn't dream of it, Princess," he replied. He laid back down, pulling her down against his chest. "Now, sleep. I can see the bags under your eyes."

Sophia laughed, but curled into his chest, carefully putting her weight on his other side. "So bossy," she remarked, but he could feel her drift away into slumber. Rex smiled and placed a kiss on her head before drifting off himself.

He swore they would take the fucker down.

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Will these to ever catch a break? Probably not. Anyway, I hope you liked it and please review!