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Sophia had never done this before. "Dani, are you sure?" she questioned, not for the first time.
Danica rolled her eyes. "Of course I am," she answered flippantly as they strolled down the isles. She had always admired the woman's unwavering confidence. There was never a moment where Danica Williams doubted herself. If she wanted to do something, she would just do it. There was no hesitation, no second-guessing. Just action. "You want to surprise him, don't you?"
The Amazon bit her lip. "Yeah..." she answered reluctantly. Of all the people to be doing this with, her ex-girlfriend seemed like a poor choice. But who else did she have? Her mother? Hell no. Besides, Danica was, first and foremost, her best friend. She trusted her wholly.
The African American woman smiled at her. "Then relax," she coaxed. On instinct, she seemed to want to reach for her hand before retracting and gently tugging her by her elbow. "So, Soph, what'd you do?"
Sophia grimaced. "You know me," she replied dryly. "Shutting down, as per usual." Why was she like this? She tried to be as open as possible with Rex, but it was proving to be harder than she had anticipated. Instinct was telling her to draw into herself, to protect her heart. But Rex wasn't Noël. He wasn't going to try to control her or- Hera forbid- kill her.
Still, it was difficult to always recognize that.
Danica made a face. "I see," she easily sympathized. Because if anyone knew how hard it was to deal with her, it was Danica. "And would this have anything to do with the bitch?"
She raised an eyebrow, but didn't know why she was surprised. Danica said whatever the hell she wanted. "We call it Chase," she offered.
Her friend shrugged. "Tomayto, tomahto." Her expression shifted to one of concern, one foreign to her beautiful features. "Seriously, are you doing okay?"
Sophia shrugged. "Define okay, D," she responded. Though, it was something she had to ask herself constantly. Was she okay? She would have liked to be. She didn't want to struggle anymore. She wanted to get on with her life and focus on her job, her family, and her relationship. But damn it all, she was scared. She had never been so utterly and forcibly exposed to someone.
She should have been better prepared. Hadn't her father trained her to deal with situations like this?
So why did her instincts seem to be failing her?
Danica pursed her lips. "Soph, Angel, if this is so serious, why don't you go to your folks?" she prompted. "Out of all the people in the world, they seem like the most likely to do something about it."
Sophia frowned. "Don't you think I've thought about that?" she pointed out. "I wish I could go to Mom and Dad." She probably would have, if not for France. She didn't want to be even more of a burden on her parents than she already was. And of course, there was always a risk. "But this bastard is dangerous, Dani. What if Chase is even smarter than Dad? Even stronger than Mom? I can't take that chance, I can't involve them..." She lowered her head. "I shouldn't have even involved you and Rex..."
Her friend rolled her eyes. "Don't do that," she snapped. "Don't go all self-sacrificing on me. We care about you, so we're going to help you. End of story. Okay?"
A grin crept onto the heiress' face. "Okay," she agreed. She sobered herself, hating that she had put a damper on the mood. She sifted through a rack, returning to the task at hand. "So, what do you think? Which color?"
Danica grinned. "I've always liked you in pink."
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Once the item in question was procured, the two women made their way to the food court. Sophia halfheartedly stabbed at her chili fries. "Thanks for helping me out, D," she said to the woman across from her. Hera, the daughter of Bruce Wayne and she'd been so damn clueless. How had she ever gotten anywhere without Danica's help?
Danica grinned, popping a tomato from her salad into her mouth. "It's what I'm here for." Though, as she said this, pain flashed in her brown pools.
Guilt surged through Sophia as she reached for her hand. "I'm sorry," she said quickly. "For not calling you earlier. I just didn't want to upset you again." She didn't want to hurt her best friend more than she already had.
The scientist sighed. "Considering what happened last time, I don't blame you," she replied with a shrug. "God, Soph, I should be apologizing. I-I practically forced-"
Unable to stand hearing the rest of that statement, Sophia shoved another tomato into her friend's mouth. "Don't say that," she interrupted. She couldn't hear those words, not with everything going on. She didn't want to see Danica in the same light that she saw Holland or her stalker. Not her best friend.
Danica grimaced. "I never should have done that." She stared at her near-empty plate. "I'm sorry, Sophia."
Sophia gave her a weak smile. "Nothing to be sorry about." She decided to switch the topic to a more lighthearted one. "Except, of course, that you seemed to forget to mention your relationship with Mareena."
Suddenly, Danica's face turned red. "H-How did you-?"
Sophia grinned. "Saw the two of you at the party," she answered simply. "Didn't know you were into blonds, Dani." She suddenly realized that they had never done this. They had never teased each other about their relationships because, well, they had been the relationship.
Maybe they were much better off as friends.
Danica buried her face in her hands. "Shut up, Sophia."
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Rex raised an eyebrow as his girlfriend returned to his apartment, a single shopping bag in her hand. "That's it?" he questioned. He had expected a lot more. Sophia wasn't a shopaholic by any means, but she was also part of one of the richest families in America. He had expected her to go all out. Or at least have more than one bag. "Should I be worried?"
Sophia grinned, a hint of a smirk on her face. "Nope," she answered, her tone definitely hiding something. "Just picked up a little surprise for you." A surprise. What on Earth was she planning?
His interest peaked, Rex made to look into the bag. She quickly slapped his hand away. "Not yet," she scolded with a grin. "I have to get it ready first." She took the bag and sauntered into his bedroom.
Rex found his eyes drawn onto the gentle sway of her hips as she walked. And hell, did Sophia have hips. Her curves should have been illegal, seriously. Especially now... He sighed. It worried him that Sophia never told him to stop. After all she had gone through, he would have thought sex would be more sensitive. But it seemed to be the opposite.
She was down for it any time of the day. It was concerning, really. What... What if she was forcing herself for him? The thought caused a lump in his throat. God, he hoped she wasn't. He didn't care about sex. He loved having it with her, of course, but not at her expense. Not if-
"Rex."
His eyes drew upwards and suddenly, his mouth was completely dry. Sophia stood there, a sultry smirk on her face. Her long, dark hair was up in a ponytail and- oh God. He was now aware of what his 'surprise' was. Clinging perfectly to her body was a tight, light pink negligee. It dipped lowly on her cleavage and came down mid-thigh, only held up by two thin straps.
Straps that he could easily draw down her toned arms, revealing her fully in just one movement.
Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
Sophia's smirk stayed perfectly intact as she slowly approached. "Do you like it?" she inquired, her voice barely above a whisper.
Rex swallowed, his eyes flicking down to her chest of their own accord. Of course he liked it! It was perfect, she was perfect in it. His fingers twitched, begging him to explore every inch of her. To tear that thing right off of her and take her.
Why? Why did she have to torment him like this?
Suddenly, Sophia's lips- her full, red, and very kissable lips- dipped into a frown. "Do... Do you not like it?" she asked. Suddenly, she looked insecure. Sophia Wayne was never insecure. She rubbed her arm, shuffling nervously.
This snapped Rex back to reality. "O-Of course I do, Soph," he was quick to assure her. He was unable to stop his eyes from tracing the curve of her hips. "You, fuck, you look gorgeous." She always did, but that wasn't the point. He just wasn't sure this was a good idea. "But, um, should we?"
Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say. Sophia recoiled as if he had slapped her, her eyes glazing over slightly. Her features twisted into a scowl. "Whatever," she snapped at him. She turned on her heel and stomped into the bathroom.
Rex sighed. "Soph," he tried, following her. He was a split second too late as she closed and locked the door in his face. He leaned against the door. "Sophia, come on."
"Just forget it, Rex!" she hissed at him through the door. Her voice held an edge of sorrow and he instantly felt bad. That hadn't come out the way he'd wanted it to.
He grimaced as the sound of her hand slamming hard into something echoed out of the door. He hoped she hadn't broken anything... "Soph, I didn't mean it like that," he told her softly. "You're beautiful, you know I think you're beautiful. Could you please come out?"
Sophia sniffed. "Why should I?" she demanded, her voice trembling. "It's not like you want to. You haven't touched me in days because... because you think I'll fucking explode or something." She released a shuddering breath. "It was stupid, okay? Just forget about it."
Rex sighed again, steeling himself at the sound of her sorrow as he sat down, his back pressed against the door. He hated when she cried, hated making her cry even more. "I... I just want you to feel safe," he admitted softly. "I don't want to scare you. Princess, you know how I am during sex. What if I... trigger something?"
He heard her take a few more breaths. "You're fine during sex," she responded softly. "Y-You know I only freak out sometimes. Rex, if I'm uncomfortable, I'll tell you."
He grimaced. "Will you?" Because he was starting to doubt it. In fact, certain things were clicking in his head. That reputation of hers, was it something she had done willingly? Or had she felt forced into it to protect her family's identities? Oh God, how many times had she slept with someone because she'd felt she had to?
He prayed that wasn't the case.
She was quiet for a moment. Then, he heard the click of the lock, though the door stayed closed.
Rex took that as an invitation. Slowly, he opened the door. Sophia was sitting up against the wall, her expression the most vulnerable he had seen in a while. Silently, he sat down next to her. Some time passed between them before he carefully reached out for her hand. At first, she didn't respond. Then, her fingers hesitantly curled around his.
Sophia looked at him with those blue orbs of hers. "I don't want to live like this," she told him plainly. "I don't want you to walk on eggshells around me. I want things to be normal between us."
He sighed, gently kissing the back of her hand. He understood, of course he did. But the fact of the matter was, things couldn't be normal yet. And they probably wouldn't be for a long time. "Soph, baby, I get it," he assured her. "But you can't just ignore this. You know that."
Hurt reflected in her eyes before she lowered her head. "Yeah, I do."
Rex tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear before pressing a kiss to her cheek. "I love sleeping with you," he told her honestly. "God, any straight guy would." She snorted and he grinned. "But I love you more. Don't ever think differently, okay?"
Sophia gave him a watery smile. "Okay," she mumbled. She laid her head on his shoulder. "I love you."
He brushed his lips on the top of her head. "I love you too."
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Confession: This is my favorite chapter, I think. Not only do I love having the Sophia & Danica dynamic, but I also adore the conflict between Sophia and Rex. Oh, and if you love these two, feel free to check out my other stories. The Prodigal Son (and the Forgotten Daughter) for Justice League and Legacy for Batman Beyond. No, it's not Sophia that Rex is paired up with, but two other WonderBat OC's that I think you'll enjoy.
Anyway, I hope you like it and please review!