"You're gonna be late if you don't hurry," Sophie said, pulling her hair back while observing the unmoving form under Kate's comforter.

"It's fine," a muffled voice came from beneath it. "I don't need to do my hair like some of us."

Sophie glared at the hidden form. "And I don't need to remind you this is thirty percent of our grade, right?"

"You know who became successful without a degree?"

"Bill-"

"Bill Gates. Exactly."

"Well, Bill Gates went to Harvard and founded the world's largest software company."

"Your point?"

"That was my point. Do you have a garage or cave somewhere with earth-shattering inventions?"

The comforter flipped open to reveal a disgruntled Kate beneath it. "No. I've got one better: my cousin. I'll spend the rest of my days living vicariously through his being CEO of Wayne Enterprise."

Sophie stared back unconvinced. "You'd be so bored. Now get up. You've got five minutes before I leave without you."

Kate stared back at Sophie's unwavering gaze and knew she meant business - she had left Kate behind many times before, and that was just for regular class. She sighed unhappily and rolled herself out of bed.

"I still don't approve."

Sophie sighed. Kate noted it carried a mix of annoyance and humor. "Yes. I know Kate. At this point I'm sure the entire floor knows."

"Doubt that."

"You were shouting."

"I think you mean I escalated my voice for emphasis."

"While standing on your bed."

"I've never been a fan of sitting."

"With the door open."

"Builds community. Besides, you know I struggle with doors," she smirked back before ducking a shirt being thrown at her head. "Hey!"

"No more monologuing," Sophie continued, trying to hide the flushed red in her cheeks.

Kate conceded and gathered her uniform to change, reflecting on the previous evening's declarations of her disdain for today's events.

"This literally goes against the core principles of a Military Academy. How can they have us compete against each other and then expect us to go on supporting each other?"

"It's a tradition," Sophie offered, shaking her head with a smile at Kate's frustration.

"It's barbaric, is what it is, Soph," Kate countered.

"While I appreciate your noble stance, I can't say I'll be with you on the picket line tomorrow morning."

"This is some Hunger Games corruption, you know?"

"Yea, except no one is killing anyone."

Sophie heard Kate mumbling from her side of the room and chuckled at how upset Kate was getting over this.

"Most people can finish under the five hour limit anyway," Sophie offered, continuing last night's conversation. "It's practically designed for the majority of people to get an A. And even then, you have to be an additional two hours out to fail."

"Not the point," Kate countered. "Did you even hear me last night?"

"Unfortunately, yes. Now hurry or we're going to miss the start."


"In each of your envelopes is a series of GPS coordinates. When the buses drop you off in your respective batches, it will be up to you to reach this unique point before returning to campus. All routes have been calibrated to ensure equality of rigor," Brigadier General Smith said.

"Oh, sure," Kate whispered.

"Would you just," Sophie shot back quietly. "This is important information."

Kate sighed, annoyed at the whole thing. She knew about the course when she applied but had been led to believe it would be abolished at the beginning of their year. Instead, it remained, and worse yet, unlike in years past, it was directly tied to their Drill 102 course grades; a prerequisite to graduating for all Academy students.

The task? Groups would be dropped in preselected locations outside of campus with nothing more than a low-batteried GPS system, a compass, and a partial map. Each student was supplied a set of coordinates they had to reach before their GPS tracker ran out of battery. Once logged, they were then tasked with finding their way back to campus using nothing more than the map and the compass. It was every man or woman for him or herself, and it wasn't unheard of to sabotage a fellow classmate as a way to get a leg up on them. Cue Kate's late night monologue. To her, the concept broke with the core values that fueled the school: for a Military Academy to encourage individualism went against the concept of teamwork. Originally it had been designed to provide bragging rights to the winner; the revision to associate it with grades was a way to reduce the cutthroat competitiveness of it after sequential years of injury.

It had been a long-held tradition to put first years through the course, and this incoming class was no exception to that. Before GPS, each student was blindfolded, personally escorted to any one of twenty locations, and left to navigate their way home. This slight technological advancement didn't make the course any easier though.

The woods just outside of campus were filled with elevation changes and differing terrain. It would be easy to assume the fastest way through the woods back to campus was as the crow flies, but the truth was that these meandering hazards meant half the challenge was finding a suitable path.

Being uncreative as the course supervisors were meant the groups were divided by surnames which left Sophie and Kate on the same bus with group two toward some unknown location. The windows were blacked out, and they were not allowed to open their envelopes until at the location. Kate spent the entire ride grumpily slouched on the bus seat next to Sophie who looked about as anxious as if she were about to take a Calc II final exam.

"Oh relax, will you?" Kate finally said, trying to cheer Sophie up. "You were just telling me the average finish time is three and a half hours. That's ninety minutes under the 'A' threshold. And, you're more in shape than 99% of our class. Plus you've got the stamina of a waterless camel in the desert. You'll be fine."

"Mhm," Sophie replied, barely listening and looking like she might be sick.

After nearly an hour the bus finally lurched to a stop, and Brigadier General Savoy rose from her seat announcing their arrival. Everyone filed out, awaiting their final instructions before fleeing in separate directions. After a brief warning that sabotage was strictly forbidden, Savoy declared the start, and the group frantically tore open their individual envelopes.

"Where you headed?" Sophie asked Kate as she started up her GPS unit.

"Here," Kate offered, not bothering to read off the infinite line of text.

Sophie glanced at it: 43.377314, -75.496875

"Looks like we're going opposite directions," Sophie replied. "You're south of here, I'm north," she continued, showing Kate her coordinates.

"Yea, well, we'll both end up traveling west eventually," Kate replied. "Care to meet up?"

"And tie for first with you? Didn't you hear? This is the hunger games, Kate," Sophie joked. "Can't have allies in such a cutthroat environment."

Kate raised her hands in mock surrender. "Game on, Moore. May the best woman win," Kate replied.

"Or man," came a voice from behind them.

Kate turned to see Mike and smiled at the challenge. "I didn't realize you were rooting for Melvin to win. Or did you mean James?" Kate winked.

Mike, unable to match Kate's wit, simply scoffed. "We'll see who finishes first, Kane."

Kate laughed at Mike's attempt to appear villainous. "Just be careful Miller. I don't want to hear you've gotten lost in the woods again," she joked, calling back to their first term. Kate had coordinated training sessions with a group of students struggling with drills, and it had included Miller who came into the Academy more out of shape than anyone else. Unfortunately, he was also one of the more aloof classmates, and one evening of training Miller distractedly wandered away from the squad and after failing to reappear over the next hour, forced Kate to convert the training into a search party. They found him nearly an hour later huddled against a boulder, shivering in cold and fear.

"That was one time," he muttered, shaking his head as he walked away. "And I didn't have a map. Or a compass."

Sophie had finally loaded her coordinates into the unit and looked up at the two in amused annoyance. "I guess I'll see you when I watch you cross the finish line, Kate," she joked, noting that Kate was now just turning her unit on.

"You wish," Kate said, distracted by the screen. "I figured you'd need the head start on me."


Sophie circled the area, making sure to capture the immediate radius around her required coordinate location for good measure. The last thing she wanted was to show up back at campus having not recorded the location on her tracker. The fear of receiving an immediate failure for missing that crucial step had her lingering a few minutes longer than she needed.

Sure that it was recorded, she turned the unit off. There was still the smallest amount of battery left, and she figured it would become useful if she felt like she was wandering off course. She pulled out her map and began studying it more closely. A quick glance at her watch signaled thirty minutes had passed, and, by her calculation, she could make it back to campus in just under three hours. She was familiar with a portion of the woods just north west of her location. Her and Kate had discovered a decently clear trail last semester to run, and she figured if she could just navigate to that point, she'd be able to easily find her way back to campus without fail.

It was after another thirty minutes of walking that Sophie was finally able to relax slightly. She had been tense coming into the morning knowing that doing poorly could jeopardize her entire scholarship. She'd tried reasoning with herself coming into the day that she would need to severely underperform to not get an A, but any risk always made her anxious. The scenery started to transition into a more familiar landscape; the sound of water from a small brook to the north helped orient Sophie as she began recognizing scenes from her weekend runs. The sun was glowing against the chilly air, and Sophie paused for a moment to take in the scene. It was still winter, and there was no sign of green, but Sophie felt warm and comfortable.

Just as she was about to continue, a small whimper echoed through the hollow air. Sophie turned around, trying to identify where it had come from.

"Hello?" Sophie called. She paused, waiting to hear a reply. A cry from her left caught her attention, and without thinking, she changed course in that direction. She continued calling out until a voice could be made out. It took only a minute for her to reach it.

"Sophie? Is that you?" Martha cried in surprise and relief. She was leaning against a tree in obvious pain.

"Martha? Wh-what happened?" Sophie asked, surveying Martha. She noted Martha had her right leg lifted to avoid putting any weight in it.

"I'm such an idiot," Martha hissed. "I thought it'd be quicker to scale the boulders than walk around," she hobbled. Sophie reached out for her, providing added support. "Turns out, it was quicker but only because I fell down them."

"It's your ankle, yea? Can you put any weight on it?" Sophie asked, worried that Martha had done some serious damage.

"Believe me, I've tried. At this rate, I'll get back to campus by next Tuesday," she grimaced, trying to smile at her situation.

"Come on, I'll help you," Sophie offered.


Kate was whistling casually as she reached the edge of the brook. She'd spent enough time in the woods that she had barely opened her map. Once she'd hit the required coordinates, she took her time to make her way back to campus. With everyone else flurrying around like chickens with their heads cut off, Kate found the slower pace to be more conducive to her mood. She wasn't interested in competing for the best time, and by letting everyone else rush ahead, she had the woods all to herself.

She hadn't checked the time, but instead glanced at the sky, noting the sun's and guessing she could keep at her current pace and make it back by the five hour mark. Part of her wanted to roll in around hour six out of protest but she knew better. Over the winter break she had spent time with her dad who was in the middle of finalizing plans to start a new company in private security. With all of his military background it was the perfect transition for his. He was getting older and the politics of the higher military ranks wasn't of interest to him. Instead, he was interested in spending more time at home in Gotham. His wife, Catherine, had been a vocal proponent of the company which had Kate wary, but after a few weeks together, she saw the potential of it. When she'd asked if he'd ever hire someone like her out of school, he seemed initially hesitant but warmed up to the idea by the end of break.

"On the condition you don't monkey around. I expect a certain caliber of soldier working for me, and if I don't see that in your schooling, I'll have no problem saying no."

For Kate, this was an ultimatum: do well at school or no job offer. Kate had always been reticent to join the Army-Army. After high school Point Rock was a natural choice: her parents were both from the military, and without any other serious interests it was an easy decision, but that didn't mean it's what she wanted. She had seen the path it sent her dad down and wasn't sure the life of constant travel and no permanence was what she wanted. So when the prospect of returning to Gotham after school came up, she jumped at the opportunity.

A grumble from her stomach tore her from her thoughts, noting that, aside from winning her dad's approval, she was also hungry. She could almost hear the taunting voice of Sophie telling her off for not waking up earlier to eat breakfast. She smiled at the imaginary conversation as it played out in her mind, deciding to up her pace. The sooner she got back the sooner she could get something warm in her belly.

The thought of Sophie also put her in higher spirits. The last two weeks had been a blissful return to normal. Well, almost normal. After another week of stubbornness, Kate finally broke down and apologized to Sophie for going behind her back. She wasn't used to talking through problems and had grown up being reactionary. After years alone, it didn't occur to her to consider other people when facing a problem, and she promised to be better in the future.

Apparently this was exactly what Sophie needed to hear. Much to Kate's relief they hadn't discussed in any detail the events of that night at the end of term, but she could tell Sophie wanted to. It was only a matter of time before they'd have to address it, but for now they were both happy to play ignorant to the lingering feelings between them.

It was when she navigated over the brook that air staggered rustling of leaves caught her attention. Her curiosity piqued, she glanced at her watch for the first time, noting she had time for a small diversion before setting off toward the noise. She could make out two figures in the distance. Smirking, she quickly scaled down a boulder to get closer.

"Well, well, what do we have he-," she began before cutting herself off. "Soph? Wha- Martha?"

Sophie and Martha both looked up, catching sight of Kate's approach.

"What happened?" she asked. It was clear one was supporting the other, and Kate quickly surveyed Sophie for injury. Seeing none, she realized Sophie was doing the supporting, and that's when Kate noticed Martha's elevated foot.

"Martha fell," Sophie said simply, winded under Martha's weight.

"It was so dumb," Marth said, trying to explain the injury.

"Well this is certainly a twist."


"Hey guys, I'm sorry, but I need a break," Martha blurted out. They had been hobbling along for the last ninety minutes, and Martha was beginning to need more and more frequent breaks. It was obvious she was feeling the strain.

"Not a problem," Kate replied, recognizing that Martha was clearly over-exerting herself to keep a decent pace going. Kate and Sophie guided Martha over to a tree stump and helped lower her onto it. "You just let us know when you're good, ok?" Kate continued, keeping her tone light so as to not make Martha feel bad.

"I'm really sorry for all of this," Martha said, looking up with an apologetic smile.

"Don't you worry about it, ok? We'll get back when we get back," Kate continued with a smile. "I didn't have any plans for the rest of the week anyway." Martha laughed softly at this as Kate glanced over at Sophie who had wandered a few feet away, her face riddled with concern as she glanced at her watch.

Kate made sure Martha's foot was elevated before walking over to Sophie who was almost transfixed, glancing west toward campus.

"You should go on ahead," Kate offered, glancing back at Martha resting against the tree and out of ear shot. "I'll take it from here."

"No, I'm not leaving you guys," Sophie replied stubbornly.

"Look, we're making the same progress with or without a second person helping Martha," Kate reasoned. "If you hurry you'll make the five hour mark."

"Kate, enough," Sophie countered, her tone suggesting it wasn't up for discussion. She swallowed heavily, recognizing that by staying she'd be all but guaranteeing a B at best in the course.

"Soph, don't be a hero. You've been checking your watch every five minutes for the last hour," Kate reasoned. Her gaze stayed fixed on Sophie as she weighed her options.

"This is wrong," Sophie said simply, glancing over at Martha. "I can't just leave you two stranded. This is ridiculous. What school does this? It's completely two-faced."

"Yea, except no one is killing anyone," Kate joked, throwing Sophie's words from the night before back at her. Sophie glared back. "It's fine. At this rate we'll still make it back before dark. If we're lucky, it'll even be before the seventh hour."

Sophie didn't immediately respond, but Kate could tell it was because she was cooking up some thread of counterargument.

"Soph, stop. Please don't argue with me about this," Kate said. "You've got two hours. Can we bypass your stubbornness this once so you have a fighting chance to get back in time?"

Sophie looked ready to argue when Kate cut in again. "Do it for me?"

This simple request stopped Sophie in her tracks. She stared at Kate, her eyes pleading Sophie to agree. A moment passed between them, silent exchanges being communicated before Sophie closed her eyes in frustration and defeat.

"Fine."

"Thank you."

"Yea, well, thank me when you get back to the dorm before dark," Sophie said. She glanced over at Martha whose eyes were closed, possibly asleep but Sophie couldn't be certain.

"I'll tell her," Kate said, reading Sophie's concern.

Sophie nodded at this. For a moment she looked like she might still object and stay. "Just be careful, ok?"

Kate smirked back at Sophie. "Aren't I always?"

"No," Sophie replied matter of factly. "No you aren't."

Kate laughed at Sophie's seriousness. "Just make sure there's a pizza with my name on it when I get back."

"Extra olives?"

"Don't be sadistic."


"There, that should help," Kate said, cinching the final knot at the top of Martha's shin. Kate doubted the makeshift splint would hold, but if it meant improving their time by even a fraction, it was worth it. The swelling had increased over the last hour, and Kate was worried Martha might have done more than sprain it in the fall.

"Thanks, Kate," Martha said gratefully. "And I'm sorry again," she offered.

"Martha, what did I say? If you apologize anymore I'm going to leave you here," Kate joked, trying to make light of the situation. She could tell Martha's guilt had grown over the last few hours. At one point her watch had beeped, announcing the five hour time limit had been reached, and they were still nowhere near campus. After a small breakdown, Kate managed to convince her that it didn't matter how long it took them to get back as long as she stopped apologizing, and they arrived in one piece.

For as long as they had spent together alone in the woods, few words had been shared between them outside of Kate trying to provide encouragement and Martha offering up a new wave of apologies. Mostly time was passed in silence, both winded and focused on navigating the terrain for fear of slipping and adding another injury to their trip.

The sun was now setting, and Kate could just make out the hazy glow of campus on the horizon. It was cooling off, and their slower pace was making it harder to pretend they weren't cold. Kate glanced at her own watch, noting that they had already missed the seven hour deadline by over an hour, meaning there was no real rush to get back, unless they factored in their hunger, general discomfort, and growing dread that they be stuck out in the woods all night.


It took nearly two more hours to get back to campus. At one point Martha was all but ready to give up and Kate had to pull a Jacob Kane and monologue about the importance of perseverance in the face of certain failure. The ease with which Kate could step into her dad's mindset surprised her. She had always looked up to his ability to see past the drama of a situation. She felt he would have been proud of how she rallied Martha's morale. Assuming of course he didn't use her failing the course as ammunition against offering her a job.

"Well that might be a new record," came the call of Savoy in the dark.

"I'm all about setting records, ma'am," Kate replied sarcastically.

"I wouldn't brag about this one if I were you. Fortunately for you Cadet Moore gave us heads up earlier which is why I've wasted my evening in wait," Savoy continued, unmoved by Kate's tone. "As neither of you seem in imminent danger of blood loss or death, I'll leave it to you to see the task through. You've done a fine enough job getting this far, Cadet Kane. Why don't you finish assisting Cadet Potts to the medical center?"

Kate held back a groan of frustration. She was cold and exhausted from schlepping Martha through the terrain all night and wanted nothing more than a warm shower and a good night's rest.

"It's ok ma'am, I can manage from here," Martha tried to interject.

"Don't be ridiculous Martha," Kate said, going against her own desires. "I'd be happy to."

"Glad to see you're up for the challenge. And as you've been such a supportive comrade to Cadet Potts, we've decided to make an exception for you," Savoy continued.

"You mean I passed?" Kate asked, surprised by Savoy's comment.

Savoy in turn let out a soft but mocking chuckle. "Oh, no. We're giving you the chance to run the course again tomorrow. You'll meet me here at 6:00 sharp and I will personally escort you to your new start point. Cadet Potts, pending your medical evaluation, an alternate date will be set up for you to duplicate the task. It would be in your best interest to avoid a repeat of today's events."

Kate was about to argue but knew it would fall on dead ears. Savoy's mind was made up, and challenging it only meant increasing her risk of the offer being retracted.


"I'm sorry again," Martha said between steps. "I know you said I shouldn't apologize, but it's right mad what they're doing. You shouldn't have to run the course again."

"It's fine, Martha. Let's just get you to the doctor so they can have a look at that ankle," Kate replied. She was annoyed at Savoy's comments, but knew better that to share it with Martha who already felt terrible enough. They weren't far from the medical center now, and Kate was counting the minutes until she'd be free to head back to room 419.

"I meant to say this earlier, but it was sweet of you to let Sophie go back there. I hope she made it back in time. You two are like, the perfect couple," Martha said between hobbles.

Kate stopped, thrust from her own thoughts and only half catching Martha's words. The sudden pause nearly caused Martha to lose her balance.

"What did you just say?"

"Huh? You mean about you and Sophie? You guys make a great couple," Martha repeated. She glanced at Kate's paled face and quickly added, "Oh, don't worry, I won't tell."

"But Sophie and I… we aren't-"

"It's ok. A bunch of us know."

"A bunch of… what?"

"Oh yea," Martha continued. "We all found out a while ago."

"Martha, Sophie and I aren't together."

"Oh, well, that's not what Mike said."

Kate felt her stomach drop. "Mike? Mike Miller?"

"Yea," Martha said, slightly confused.

"Mike Miller told you Sophie and I were together?"

"Well, yea. He said he found you two getting cozy in your dorm."

"When?"

"I think last term? Your door was open an-"

"What? No, I mean, when did he tell you that?"

"Oh I don't remember. It was just after I moved in with Chelsea so… maybe two weeks ago?"

"How?"

"Well, Mike was pretty wasted, and you know how much a mouth he has when he drinks. Can't hold his liquor either. Boy, let me tell you about one night last fall," Martha continued, but Kate had already stopped listening. Instead, Kate felt her heart rate increase in paranoia. If Martha was speaking truthfully, that meant any number of people on campus were running around with the same idea of Sophie and Kate, and worse, they might be telling the wrong people. The rumor mill would certainly lead the some bad news.

"I think this is the building?" Martha said, pulling Kate from her thoughts. She glanced at the building, noting only a few windows were lit. A sign out front confirmed Martha was right. "I've never been here before. You think they have an x-ray machine?"

"No idea," Kate replied, her mind distracted by Martha's earlier comments. She just needed to get Martha inside then she could deal with this new information.


Sophie glanced at the clock again, noting the time. Dark had fallen hours earlier, and Sophie was starting to worry that Kate and Martha would be stranded in the woods overnight. She imagined the cold creeping up on them in their ill-equipped state. Sophie had cursed herself for not leaving something behind for them, but she wasn't sure exactly what she could have done to help. Another part of her was frustrated she had left them at all.

She had only just made it back under the five hour mark, barely qualifying for an A, but that small victory paled when compared to the fact she'd left two of her classmates to fend for themselves.

Restless and worried, she slammed her textbook shut. She'd hoped that studying would keep her distracted, but it had been fruitless. After rereading the same paragraph five times in a row and retaining nothing from it, Sophie realized she would be better off pacing a hole into the floor. She leaned back in her chair, considering taking a trip down to the floor lounge, but she wanted to be in the room when Kate returned, if only to know she was ok.

It was then that the fall of keys outside the door caused Sophie to perk up. She stood in anticipation, watching the door open and seeing a furious and exhausted Kate on the other side.

"How - how was it? Is Martha ok? Are you ok?" Sophie asked quickly. She watched Kate carefully shut the door behind her in silence. "Is- is everything ok?"

"You're going on a date with Melvin."

"What?" Sophie asked, not understanding. "I am not going on a date with Melvin."

"Yes you are. This Saturday, actually."

"Is this a question?"

"No. From this point forward you're dating Melvin."

"What the hell are you talking about," Sophie asked, blindsided by Kate's sudden suggestion. What did this have to do with Kate returning so late from the course? "No I'm not."

"Yes you are."

"And why am I doing that, Kate?" Sophie replied, her tone growing frustrated.

"Because Mike Miller remembered. And worse than that, he's told people."


a/n: hey all,

I hope you enjoyed this latest throwback. Hopefully it helps get everyone through the news about Ruby's departure from the show. I know I'm bummed about it.

A small update about the next few chapters: my job is getting a bit hectic with a new project, so my free time to write has been limited. I expect this to continue for the next few weeks. Normally my preference is to be 1-2 chapters ahead of an upload so I can tinker with/ensure continuity, but I've fallen behind on that. Currently I'm working on a beast of a chapter that would ideally be uploaded as a single chapter, but the current word count feels exorbitant for a standalone piece. It's ~80% done, and I may go ahead and upload it in parts, but if not, know that it may not be posted for a while longer so I can get ahead of the story again.

As always, a massive thank you to everyone who has reviewed.

Cheers,
EQT.95