a/n: hi all,
Many, many thanks for entertaining my unsolicited story-pause, and an extra thank you for being so responsive to it. It was a pleasant surprise to see a number of you share your opinions and experiences of the new direction the show is taking. I won't dwell on this now though - I'm sure you'd rather just get into the story ;)
Cheers,
EQT.95
"You can take that if you need to," Kate said, breaking the silence as the table started vibrating for the seventh time that evening.
"It's fine. It can wait," Sophie said quickly, rejecting another phone call from Renee and placing it on silent. It wasn't that she didn't want to talk to Renee - to the contrary: with the growing tension at the flat, she was anxious to be done with the evening of research. She had spent the last hour hoping for a break in their searching for a multitude of reasons. The first was that it would calm her growing anxiety that she didn't really have control of anything going on within the Crows. The second was that it would prove she wasn't going crazy; she knew she hadn't issued a revised Dent plan, but the longer they went without a shred of evidence to the contrary, the more she was doubting herself. The third was that it would break the tension in the room. After Luke had returned from his 'search' of the building, they'd collectively said less than a hundred words between them. It wasn't productive, and she knew if it remained they'd lose out on a prime opportunity to build a case that a thread of corruption within the Crows existed.
"Aha, finally," came Luke's voice from the armchair. He'd migrated closer to the fire after Kate refused to listen to him complain about the lack of heat for a minute longer.
"You literally have three outfits on."
"That doesn't mean I can't still be cold."
Since then, he had been reviewing the Crows' bylaws for information on suspensions from the comfort of the cushioned chair. In contrast, Kate and Sophie had remained at the table, flipping through file after file.
"Get something?" Sophie asked, grateful for the chance to get up from the shared table. It was large enough for four people, but somehow it had felt confining sitting next to Kate for so long. She walked over to Luke, her own laptop and stack of files in tow and settled onto the far end of the couch.
"Yea, finally. Honestly it's a wonder anyone can make rhyme or reason of these bylaws. There is absolutely no rationalization to how they're written, but I think I've found it."
"What's it say?" Kate asked, unmoved from the table.
"Either a unanimous vote from the board or two letters of reference by individual board members, if submitted for record, may be used to override a suspension of any member. The exception is with the position of Lead Crow. The Lead Crow can only be reinstated through a formal board vote."
"Two? That makes no sense. Twenty percent of the board can overrule the Lead Crow's right to suspend? What kind of veto power is that?" Sophie thought out loud.
"If I had to guess based on how terribly these bylaws were written, someone snuck it along with a boatload of other loopholes into this document. It would take me another day to untangle the nonsense of it all."
"But we've got what we need, right? We know how Zienko could have been reinstated. It wasn't a board vote, because there was never one brought up as new business which means it had to have been specific board members," Kate pondered from across the flat.
"Sure, but we still don't know which ones," Sophie challenged back.
"That's exactly the problem," Luke continued. "The bylaws require a reference letter be submitted for record, but I've found nothing in this entire document that identifies where they're submitted."
"So we're not any further along than when we started," Kate said dejectedly.
"Not exactly," Sophie said after a moment. "We can infer Cobblepot was behind it. That much has been clarified with Luke's reading of the bylaws. Let's assume it's a given she was involved. Now we just need to focus our attention on 'why'."
"If my 'conspiracy' is anything to go on, we can probably draw some conclusions, but that doesn't mean we have any proof," Kate countered, playing devil's advocate. "If we can't peg her to anything, it doesn't matter."
"But we do have some things: we know Cobblepot has motivation to shift the Crows toward a surveillance-oriented company. We also know two big-name surveillance firms have just merged and Cobblepot is a member on both boards. How that's not a conflict of interest is beyond me, but I stopped questioning the ethics of these people months ago."
"So now what?"
"I could bring it up to the board," Kate offered.
"That will just raise suspicion from the wrong people. We need to think about this holistically: for Cobblepot to even know Zienko was an option to unsuspend, she'd have to have known he was suspended."
"She would know for the same reason I know: you submit all those weekly briefings. I think it was recorded in one of those?"
"Ok, sure, but those reports are key points only. I'll double check, but I'm pretty sure I would have only included that he was suspended. If more information was required, it would have been requested during the board meetings and passed down through you to me. That never happened."
"So you're saying Cobblepot might know Zienko was suspended but not 'why'?" Luke asked.
"Right."
"People talk though. It sounds like he's got a reputation," Luke offered.
"But Cobblepot is calculated. She wouldn't risk exposure with someone untested. Either she has an existing relationship with him or-"
"Dad was involved," Kate said. They'd alluded to it earlier, but Kate wasn't ready to believe her dad had fallen to such levels as allying with Cobblepot. Sophie had a point. She glanced at the time and realized it was too late to do anything about him tonight.
"I hate to say it, but I think it's a worthwhile theory," Sophie said. "We shouldn't rule out anything else, but until we know for certain…"
"It's too late tonight," Kate said after a moment. "I'll call him tomorrow and make it seem like I need advice to cover up my own blunder in issuing the wrong report. At the very least it'll keep up the appearance that you pulled a fast one on me."
"In the meantime, I think we should also determine Cobblepot's motive," Sophie continued, nodding in approval at Kate's strategy. "Sure, she's working with the surveillance concept in mind, but what exactly is that? Is it a buy-out? Is she going for a monopoly on city-wide surveillance? It's strange that she's trying to undermine the Crows' authority if she wants to maintain any credibility. Do we know anything about the building?"
"Better yet, do we know anything about the Duela Dent intel? Is it even real?" Luke asked. Over the course of the evening, news had trickled in that so far only one victim had been found in the rubble. The victim's identity remained unknown, but Sophie was able to source from Renee and her GCPD contacts that it wasn't Duela Dent. This called the entire night's activities into question. While Kate and Luke couldn't admit it, they knew there was only one other person in the building that night. If it wasn't Duela Dent, it was likely she may not have even been at the site in question.
"I took it at face value. I can't audit every report that crosses my desk," Sophie admitted. "Typically these things go through three-levels of verification before it reaches Lead Crow. I have to assume it is legitimate."
"That doesn't mean we shouldn't give it a fourth round of verification," Kate said thoughtfully, silently echoing Luke's conclusions that the intel may be false.
"Yea, fair. Let's add it to the list. Who wants it?"
"I'll take the building," Kate claimed.
"I can take the Dent intel; it doesn't make much sense to keep reading the bylaws," Luke offered.
"Great," Sophie said. She glanced between Kate and Luke, suddenly grateful that they were here. Kate was right that it would have taken one person ages to filter through all of the nuanced details, and even then, tunneling down the different rabbit holes alone could make tying it all together more difficult. They were making progress.
"Hey Kate, I…" Luke began before falling silent at Kate's face. She had lifted her finger to her lips, glancing over to the couch. A small smile crept over his face as he got up from the armchair and joined Kate at the table.
"You knew this would happen," Luke commented softly, watching Kate watch Sophie. There was a bittersweetness to Kate's face: a happy sadness as she stared at Sophie's sleeping form.
"I had a hunch," Kate responded simply. She wasn't inexperienced in the ways of Sophie Moore. A handful of crises at Point Rock had taught her that Sophie' ability to worry herself sick meant forgoing food, rest, and logic until she had found a solution. It was one reason Kate's tendency was to bypass Sophie until she had a solution. To get her to realize there was light at the end of the tunnel usually broke the spell, and after the two days she'd had, it wasn't a surprise she crashed hard. That Luke had found information in the bylaws had opened up a clearer direction.
"What I said a few months ago - about not being able to have a relationship with… well, you know. It's just that - I see the way you look at her, and, even when you're at each other's throats, you two are… I guess what I'm saying is you cou-"
"She's seeing someone," Kate interrupted Luke, sensing where his comment was going. It was the first time she'd uttered the words aloud, and it didn't make the reality of it any easier. She swallowed through the tightness in her throat, trying to keep her emotions in check.
Luke stared back in surprise "What? How do you know?"
"Technically 'I' don't know," Kate corrected. "But Batwoman…"
"She was home the other night," Luke realized, watching Kate nod in confirmation. "I'm sorry Kate. I had no idea."
Of course he would apologize for not knowing something she had intentionally kept from him.
"It's for the best. She deserves some happiness," Kate smiled sadly back at Luke.
"And what about you?"
"What about me?"
"What about your happiness?"
"I thought that's what I had you for," Kate responded easily, causing a grin to break Luke's seriousness. "You're a good friend, Luke."
The sound of soft, muffled whispering drew Sophie from her sleep. Her eyelids felt heavy, but she managed to open them wide enough to blurrily make out the fireplace from across the room. The crackling wood echoed pleasantly against the unfinished walls of the flat, and Sophie realized a heavy blanket had been placed over her providing a warm barrier against the chill of the unconditioned space. Even in its raw state, there was something comforting about everything.
After a moment of silence, the whispers returned and Sophie's eyes wandered to the source: on the opposite side of the couch was Kate, unaware Sophie was awake, focused on a file propped up on her crossed-leg. Sophie smiled softly at this: Kate had a habit of reading aloud to herself when deep in thought. She dug through her memories trying to recall the first time she had noticed it, but like so many other things about Kate, it was all blurred together into her make-up.
Sophie closed her eyes, taking in the mixture of sounds and sighed contentedly. After everything that had gone on the last few months, she felt a sense of peace with Kate by her side - even if they weren't on the best terms.
Their argument from earlier buzzed through Sophie's mind. She regretted the walls she kept building between her and Kate. Of anyone in the world, she knew Kate was the one person who would always have her back - even when it wasn't what Sophie wanted. The night's reveal of Kate's involvement in her rescue from Alice was just another example to add to the list of times Kate prioritized Sophie's wellbeing over everything. Kate could have easily gotten herself killed in the process. Hindsight afforded them a chance to diminish Kate's act, but she didn't know Alice was secretly Beth when she charged into the orphanage to find Sophie all those months ago.
It was things like this that gave Sophie confidence. She had lost it for a few weeks when Kate's intentions were unclear to Sophie, but now that she knew Kate was safely in her corner, she afforded herself a moment to relax. They still didn't yet know how things were happening, but pieces were being revealed. In time they would connect the dots.
On the other side of the couch, Kate was trying to make sense of the insurance claims issued to and signed by the Crows. They were related to the various buildings that had recently been destroyed, and, on the surface, looked like a formality to ensure the claims went through quickly, but upon closer inspection, they were written in a curious way that wove the incidents through a series of loopholes that guaranteed the largest payout. In all but the first building, this was the case, and Kate suspected there was more to it.
She looked up to get Luke's attention and realized he, like Sophie, was fast asleep, albeit uncomfortably-looking with his body poorly slumped in the armchair across from her. She considered leaving him there, but knew his neck would regret it the next morning. So instead, she took a slow, readying breath, and pulled herself up from the couch, exhaling sharply at the now familiar shot of pain down her chest. She paused to steady herself before walking over to Luke and prodding him gently on the shoulder.
He reacted with a jolt, but quieted when he realized it was just Kate.
"You looked uncomfortable," Kate whispered. Luke nodded sleepily back at Kate. "Why don't you move to the bed?"
"No, that's your bed," he replied irrationally through the haze of sleep.
Kate smirked in the dark, "Luke, there's plenty of space. You can thank me in the morning."
After a bleary moment of confusion he finally gave in, lifting himself from the chair and traipsing to the other side of the loft before rolling onto the bed and curling up beneath a blanket. Within seconds his breathing reverted to a rhythmic state of sleep.
Kate watched him go, contemplating calling it a night herself. Her eyes were heavy with sleepiness, but she wanted to finish reviewing the insurance claims while it was still fresh. According to Luke, Batwoman was out of commission for the next few days, so the least she could do was use that time to advance this work. She slowly lowered herself onto the couch, her breath catching against the tightness in her chest.
"Are you ok?" came a voice from the couch.
Kate turned and saw Sophie's bright eyes glowing through the dim room. "Sorry?"
"Just now - did… are you ok?" She repeated.
"Oh, uh… l-leg fell asleep," Kate said after a second of searching for an excuse. She glanced at Sophie who was still eyeing her skeptically. "You warm enough?" Kate asked, pivoting the conversation.
"Oh, yea. Thanks for this," Sophie replied, gesturing to the blanket.
"No problem. If you want another one I can steal it from Luke. The heat won't be hooked up for another week or so."
"Ah," Sophie replied. They looked away from each other, both treading lightly to avoid another row.
"So, did you find anything… er… good?"
"Maybe… but it's a tomorrow problem," Kate said, her tone fake and professional.
"Yea, I should probably get going. Do you have the time?"
"You should stay," Kate said without thinking. "Er, I mean, just that - you're welcome to stay over - it's nearly two. Unless you need to be home for something."
Kate cringed at her lack of subtlety. She was fishing for a hint that Sophie would reveal information about her new fling, but instead she just stared back at her curiously. "I'm sure my plants can survive a few more hours on their own."
"I hope they're house-trained," Kate countered, trying to make light of her suggestion.
"It's been a tough few months, but they're finally sleeping through the night," Sophie replied with mock seriousness.
Kate let out a soft chuckle, regretting it only for the sharp pain that accompanied. She subconsciously slid her left hand up to her side to feel the tender part of her rib cage gauging whether it felt any less sensitive than that morning. It was, but she wished Mary had given her a few more painkillers to get through another day. She speculated Mary was only trying to prove a point that she needed checked out, but Kate was committed to her stubbornness.
"You keep doing that," Sophie said, nodding at Kate's hand.
"Doing what?"
"With your side."
"Oh? I hadn't noticed."
Sophie remained silent, her scrutinizing stare doing all the talking.
"It's nothing," Kate continued, kicking herself for overlooking Sophie's critical eye. She was impossibly quick to notice things, and Kate couldn't recall how frequently she had reached for her ribs over the course of the night. She guessed less than a handful, but that was plenty enough for Sophie to notice the habit.
"What did you do?" Sophie asked, leaning up into a sitting position. It wasn't a request.
"It's nothing."
"Bullshit. Now I know it's something."
"It's just some light bruising."
"From what?"
Kate sighed, quickly scanning her memory. "Remember when I said this building was getting break-ins?"
Sophie's critical gaze fell and was replaced by concern. "What were you thinking? Why didn't you call the police?"
"I guess I got cocky."
"Bones or blood?"
"Bones."
"Have you had it checked?"
Kate hesitated before shaking her head no.
"Can I take a look?"
"No. I told you, it's just some light bruising."
"That's what you said when you broke your wrist, too."
Kate opened her mouth to argue but words failed her. Instead she sat frozen as Sophie shifted closer to Kate's side of the couch muttering over Kate's incessant doggedness.
"Always so damn stubborn. It's amazing you're still alive. I'm guessing you can't lift your arm," she noted, waiting for Kate to begrudgingly nod in affirmation. "Right, so we'll do this blind," she continued. "Set your arm here," she said, gesturing to the couch arm.
"This really isn't necessary So-"
"In all the time I've known you, there are only two other instances where you've been this distracted by pain. So yes, this is necessary," Sophie said, uncompromising. "Now, your arm?"
Kate knew arguing with Sophie was pointless. She'd made up her mind, and Kate found herself complying and lifting her arm to rest on the couch's arm.
"See? Was that so hard?" Sophie commented. "If you're good you might even get a My Little Pony band aid."
"I prefer Power Rangers."
"I'll see what we have in stock," Sophie joked, reaching for the hem of Kate's sweatshirt and sliding her hand under it.
"Ok, I'm going to che-"
Kate inhaled sharply.
"I barely touched you" Sophie reacted quickly, her brow furrowed in worry. "If it's that sensitive -."
"No, your hands are freezing."
"Seriously?" Sophie rolled her eyes, taking her hand back and rubbing it with the other. "You walk around with broken ribs all day without a word of complaint, but the moment a cold hand touches you…"
After a minute she placed it on Kate's arm.
"Better?"
"Much."
"You're unbelievable," she muttered, slipping her hand back under Kate's shirt and setting her other hand on Kate's left shoulder. "Ok, I need you to take a deep, slow breath. It's going to hurt."
Kate nodded, feeling Sophie's fingers track along her skin.
"Let me know if this hurts," Sophie asked, settling on a spot neither of them could see.
"Yep," Kate hissed. "That hurts."
"And here?"
Kate let out another strained sound, "Yep. Worse."
"You need to keep breathing, Kate, otherwise I'll lose my spot" Sophie noted, sliding her hand incrementally higher.
This back and forth continued for another few minutes as Sophie traced the pain along Kate's ribs. If Kate hadn't felt so nauseous at the prodding, she'd have realized it was the first time in years the two had been this close with the exception of their Batwoman rendezvous and night at the bar.
"How do you know what you're doing?" Kate asked, glancing at Sophie's focused stare.
"Training," she said simply, not wanting to break her concentration. "What about here?"
"Less so."
"How much 'less so'?"
"Does it matter?"
"Yes, because this is your 2nd rib, and if this or the first hurts like the others, I'm worried you've done damage to your brachial plexus," Sophie replied, her tone serious.
"Much less so," Kate replied, understanding none of the words Sophie had just said.
"Well, I'm impressed," Sophie said after another minute, retrieving her hand. "You managed to injure ribs 6 through 10. I don't think you've broken anything, but I'd bet you've fractured a number of them. I can't say for certain though."
"Does that mean I get my Power Rangers bandaid now?" Kate joked, trying to break Sophie's intensity.
"So what happened? Did he hit you with a wall? Because that's a lot of ribs, Kate."
"Why do you assume it was a he?" Kate pointed out.
Sophie wasn't amused, and Kate sighed before continuing. "I don't know. It was dark, and, if I had to guess, a pipe was involved. At least that's what I think given a bunch of copper piping had been stripped out of the service room."
"You should've called the cops."
"Lesson learned. Next time," Kate said, waving her hand dismissively at the conversation.
"Mhm, sure," Sophie said, knowing Kate learning a lesson from this was about as likely as being struck by lightning.
"How do you know they aren't broken-broken?" Kate asked suddenly. "Do you have x-ray vision? Because that's been on my Christmas list for years."
Sophie smirked. "No, not exactly."
"I didn't realize the Crows gave that kind of training."
"It was more of an in-field training session. When you get blown out of a building, you learn a lot about broken ribs."
"No shit. Go on," Kate prodded.
Sophie eyed her skeptically. "Are you actually interested or…?"
"When in my life have I ever been able to feign interest in anything?"
Sophie chuckled. "Fair. I was fresh out of training, and your dad had me running second on a drug bust. In hindsight, it was such a terrible idea - I had so little field experience at that point, you might as well have sent a child in my place. But there I was, calling shots over in Tricorner Yards."
"Where did the tip come from? Was this an ongoing investigation?"
"Not even. Back then no one tried to hide their drug shipments; they waited till nighttime to do them sure, but it's not like they tried being sly about it. The amount of planning was as easy as cruising around long enough to find shady characters loitering. Jacob wanted to make an impression by rounding up a handful of outlets in a single night."
"Did it work?"
"Sort of. Long story short, your dad may have been a little overconfident in his intel. Three squads managed to execute, but two walked into a trap."
"Let me guess -"
"You'd be right," Sophie continued. "Half of us had spent the day staking out the site in a warehouse, and just before we were ready to strike it all backfired. I still don't know if they were tipped off or had planned it all along, but we were completely caught off guard."
"Any casualties?"
"No, thankfully. Just some battle scars. Two of us managed to retreat through a window onto a set of fire escape stairs while the others were able to bail through a side door. Unfortunately the building was old. Rust had eaten away at the stairs' framing and before I knew it, I was hitting the pavement two floors down."
"How bad?"
"Two broken ribs, two fractured, and a punctured lung," Sophie rattled off as though it was a grocery list. "Oh, and I landed on my thumb of all things, so now I can't do this," she said, lifting her hand up and showing a half-assed thumbs up.
"Shit, Soph," Kate whistled lowly before catching herself. "Er…-ie."
The lightheartedness of the last few minutes evaporated as Kate's slip up reminded them of their earlier conversation. It always amazed Kate how they could be in the middle of an argument and forget they were in the middle of the argument. A silence fell between them; Sophie looked like she might say something before returning her gaze to the fireplace.
"I didn't think they let new buildings have wood-burning fireplaces anymore," Sophie observed, seemingly in search of transition away from the elephant in the room.
"I wasn't trying to trick you," Kate began, ignoring Sophie's pivot. After a moment she continued, "I just didn't think about it. When it happened, it all just felt so… trivial? All I thought I'd done was get you in a worse situation; I thought I had put you in more danger."
"It's ok," Sophie said softly, caught off guard by Kate's willingness to resurrect their earlier conversation. Normally it was Sophie who pushed through the awkwardness to get any traction. After a moment she continued. "I was overreacting earlier - you couldn't have known. It's not like we're roommates sharing every part of our lives with each other."
"Mm." Kate's gaze was now also focused on the fireplace, a small smile flashing past her lips. "A bit ironic though."
"How so?"
"Well, you're here."
Sophie turned to look at Kate. "What?"
"Aren't we effectively roommates for the night?"
A smile broke Sophie's seriousness, and the glow reminded Kate of her favorite pastime.
"I think that's what I'm having the hardest time accepting," she said, her smile fading slightly toward contemplation.
"How do you mean?"
"Us - this. When you came back… I don't know. I had flashbacks of how we used to be. When I saw you for the first time after everything, I guess I thought… I imagined or hoped, even, that it'd be like we used to be. Maybe it was shortsighted to assume given all that's happened. We'd gone years without talking, and how we ended things isn't exactly something you can just pretend didn't happen."
Kate stayed quiet at this, staring into the soft glow of the fireplace. Everything Sophie was saying Kate had also felt on her return to Gotham. A small piece of her had hoped it would extend beyond friendship, but then Tyler appeared, and Sophie told her to move on. It was news to her that Sophie wanted any of that, too, given how things between them ended at Point Rock and the years of silence that followed.
"And then there was that night at your bar, and for a second I thought we were on track to be us again."
"I can't tell you how sorry I am ab-"
"That's not what I'm talking about, though," Sophie cut in. Kate noted she didn't sound upset, it was something different. She turned to look at her and noticed a tear reflecting off her cheek from the fire. Kate didn't think Sophie even realized it was there as she stared intently into the soft glow. "Maybe that's not true; I don't know. I guess I wasn't prepared for something different with you."
"Different doesn't have to be bad," Kate offered. She had meant it to be a passing remark, but she found herself struck by the idea of it. They had years of shared history as well as years of void between them. It was presumptuous to think they'd ever just slide back into their former roles: they'd grown too much individually for that. What had been intended as a throwaway comment suddenly carried weight, and the idea didn't feel so foreign.
"Well how about we make it a better 'different' than whatever this 'different' is," Sophie replied as though reading Kate's mind.
She smiled, turning to look at Sophie. "I could live with that."
In a moment the tension was broken. It was a tension that had been weighing them down for months. From the moment they'd first seen each other until now, there had been an uncertainty about what one was to the other. Both knew it wasn't something that would be answered or labelled tonight, but suddenly the unknown of their relationship felt accessible. They weren't fighting with their past to return to something that used to be; this was their chance to start different; a better different. Now when Kate looked at Sophie, it carried with it a sense of hope.
"Of course you'll still have to keep up appearances at the office," Kate remarked. "You know, keep me in check and such."
"You say it like I wouldn't do that anyway," Sophie shot back.
"Touche."
Any easy silence fell between them as they stared into the dying embers of the fireplace, and a stifled yawn from Sophie was all the cue they needed.
"It's getting late, and you've had a busy couple of days," Kate said.
"I won't argue that point," she replied, watching Kate clumsily lift herself off the couch.
"Don't be afraid to breathe normally. It hurts but it'll help if you've damaged your lung," she offered. "And you should probably get a professional opinion. Ask Mary, at the very least. She knows what she's doing."
"Hmm, maybe," Kate replied thoughtfully with no intention to follow through on it. She walked over to the fire and set two extra pieces of wood onto the fire before turning back to the couch.
"Do you need anything? Another blanket? Water? Night light?"
"The fire will do just fine," Sophie quipped back with a grin.
"All right; goodnight, Sophie."
Sophie flinched slightly.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Ok. If you need anything Luke and I will be… er... ten feet away," she said turning toward Luke's sleeping form splayed across the mattress. A murmur from Sophie made her pause.
"Did you say something?"
"It… it doesn't sound right when you say it like that."
Kate stared back in confusion before the words sank in, and she found herself trying to hide a smirk in understanding.
"Goodnight, Soph."
"Night, Kate," Sophie smiled back.
