"Sophie."

"Hey Tyler." Sophie bit her lips and looked down. How was she supposed to react? What was she supposed to say? They hadn't talked in weeks and she was not sure if he wanted to talk to her about anything else than work.

Did she? What could she tell him? She was more interested in asking him if he had talked to her mother and if he knew what she had told her. Or should she try to avoid anything about their private life?

"You are back at work."

Of course he had heard about her suspension. Did he know why she had been suspended?

"Yes."

"I'd ask what happened but I have the feeling it has something to do with Batwoman."

He had asked if she worked with Batwoman weeks ago. He had known there was something between Sophie and Batwoman. Something, Sophie didn't want people to know.

"The Commander wants us to look into an old case, has he told you about it?" Ignore what he had said because it was something she didn't want to talk about. She was still good at this and he still noticed she was doing it. How had they come from being married, kids, picket fences and a dog to ignoring everything personal?

Because the foundation of this had been lies, Sophie's lies. You couldn't build anything solid on lies, no matter how hard you tried.

"He mentioned something about compromised evidence and that maybe the wrong man is in prison. I can't believe anybody from the Crows is involved in this."

Neither could Sophie, yet it had been years ago, she hadn't been around and didn't know who worked here back then. "Apparently the Commander has found evidence that makes him believe there was fault play involved. We're supposed to do some digging." Work together as a team, separated from the rest. Like a married couple, together on one mission.

Was it really a good idea to work with Tyler?

It was nothing new to Sophie to come home in darkness, her days at work were long and way too many times she had to work nights as well. These things had never bothered her when she was with Tyler, he had worked too so nobody complained. Now she was on her own, nobody waited for her and she felt lonely. And there was no way Batwoman would come around to see her.

Sophie stopped at her front door, keys in her hand and starred at the door. Why was she hesitating? It was late, there was work waiting for her and she never knew if she wasn't called in in a few hours, she should get some rest. The problem was, she felt restless, like going home was not the right thing to do.

What was it?

What could be better, smarter, than going home and get some rest? She knew it was what she was supposed to do. On the other hand, she had done a few things lately, she wasn't supposed to do and they had felt good. Except the coming out to her mother. Sophie had hoped she'd feel relieved after it, instead she felt unloved and like a disappointment to her family.

So much for the truth sets you free.

Sophie turned on her heels and walked away from her condo. No, she couldn't go home now, she needed…to go somewhere else. She needed a glass of wine and some people around her so that she didn't feel this lonely anymore. Her feet carried her through the night, through the streets and before she could realize it, she was in The Hold Up. From all places in Gotham her subconsciouses and her feet had taken her here. To Kate.

Was it because she hadn't heard from her since she wrote the message? This was Kate's bar, it didn't mean she was here, working in the bar. She had staff for that. The last time Sophie had been here Kate hadn't been anywhere around.

Despite being a Wednesday night there were dozens of people in here. Was there a public holiday tomorrow? Not that she knew of it.

With a big glass of wine she took a look around and walked to a small table in a corner. Didn't you go to a club to meet other people? Find a date? For the night, for longer. Why was she here? Coming out to her mother didn't mean she would hit the next gay bar to pick a woman up. Was she here for distraction? For a conversation? The last time she had been here in the late evening a woman had hit on her and Sophie would lie if she said she hadn't liked it. Finally flirting had felt right, natural, the way it was supposed to be.

How big were the chances Batwoman showed up to keep her company?

Zero.

She missed her. It was not the fact that Batwoman hid who she was, the same Sophie did. It weren't her amazingly soft lips…okay, they were a reason why she missed her, but mostly she missed the feeling Batwoman gave her. Safety. Acceptance. With her around Sophie felt like she could be herself, could relax and let down her guards. It had been a while since she last felt like this, it had to be when…

"Hi."

Kate.

Leather pants and jacket, a white shirt, Kate did look good. At least when you didn't look at her eyes. Somehow they seemed to be hollow, like she hadn't slept for days and been through something awful.

The message came back to Sophie's mind. Had the message something to do with how Kate looked like?

"Hey, how are you?"

"I'm…sorry I wrote that late."

Not answering her question, Sophie recognized her own technique when she was confronted with it. She also knew what it meant when somebody did this.

"What's going on?"

"I…wanted to know how you are. As you are suspended."

Sophie also recognized a lie when she heard one. After all, she had told them herself for years. "I'm not suspended anymore. Your father called me and asked me back as he needs me for some tasks."

"Oh, that is good."

"It is, yes." Should she tell Kate that she came out to her mother? A part of her wanted to, wanted to let her know, she had started to open up to the world. Started to be honest about who she was. But how would this make Kate feel? Five years after Kate had been honest, had risked her career, lost it to stand up for them and Sophie had lied to Kate's face and to the rest of the world. If she had been honest to the world earlier she hadn't hurt Kate.

"Well, I better keep going. Enjoy your wine and have a good time."

The smile was artificial, it never reached Kate's eyes.

"Kate, wait."

The other woman stopped and turned.

"You can talk to me, no matter what is on your mind."

"Thanks."

She was not going to tell her what was going. Instead, Kate turned again and walked away. What had Sophie expected her to do? Open up, bare her soul? Not after what had happened the last weeks, months, five years ago. If she wanted Kate to trust her, she had to earn this trust.