a/n: Hi all,
There are a few chapters that I started writing that have no beginning or middle - just an end. This was one of those. I knew where I wanted it to go, and had an agenda of items to fill into the space, and fortunately, I think it's all worked out - I'll let you know in two chapters if I'm kicking myself for it or not. I've got the same aspirations for our new Batwoman. For those who don't yet know, it was announced that Javicia Leslie will be donning the red cowl. I might be raising hell by saying this, but I'm excited. Do I wish Kate Kane still ruled the roost? Of course; it's why I'm writing this lil diddy. AND YET, I love the new pick. Call me two-faced.
As always a special, never-ending well of gratitude goes out to you dear reviewers. You hold a very special place in my heart.
To all, please enjoy. We'll be hanging out in this timeline for a bit, so hopefully no one is too disappointed ;)
Cheers,
EQT.95
"You two were up late," Luke remarked shortly after Sophie left the next morning.
"Yea, I guess."
"Talk about anything interesting?"
"Not really."
"And her hand up your shirt was…?"
Kate looked up in surprise. "Wh- it wasn't anything."
"I feel like there's a joke here. Something about having your hand caught in the cookie jar. Except-"
"Enough-"
"-instead of your hand-"
"-do you always have to do this-"
"-it was Sophie's-"
"-why-"
"-and you were the cookie jar."
They both fell silent, Kate staring at him with red-cheeked annoyance and him staring back with a knowing grin.
"She was checking my ribs."
"Is that what the kids are calling it these days?"
"I'm serious," Kate reasoned.
"And how did she know about them in the first place?"
"Because she's Sophie."
Oddly, her comment made sense to Luke. He'd spent less than a day with her, but he could already tell Sophie's attention to detail was undeniable.
"Anything else?" Luke pressed, searching for a hint that something else might have come out of their late-night chatter.
"Yea," Kate said, staring at her phone. "Duela Dent was just apprehended by the GCPD."
Sophie had arrived back to her place a different person. For the first time in months she didn't feel in the dark about everything going on in her life. While she didn't have all the answers, there was the feeling things were finally going in the right direction.
While on the ride home she'd reached out to Renee, apologizing for ghosting her the previous night. It was during this exchange that a notification about Duela Dent appeared on her phone. She cursed the Gotham Gazette for having the latest scoop on her own case, but even that didn't dim her outlook. If last night was anything to go off, she was growing suspicious of the Dent tip's authenticity. How the intel passed all three checks to land on her desk was still unclear, but she was willing to bet a year's salary that Cobblepot was behind it.
The only outstanding concern was about Batwoman. She'd heard nothing and, according to the media circuit, neither had any news outlet. This concern lingered on her mind. She took a small amount of solace in knowing the only victim pulled from the rubble was not the red-cowled vigilante. She'd shifted these worries to the back of her mind the night prior, but the trip home returned it to the forefront. Even if she wasn't at the bottom of the building, that didn't mean Batwoman was ok. Worse yet, Sophie wondered if Batwoman felt betrayal in being sent into a building with its fate sealed in explosives.
Her communication with Batwoman had been shady from the beginning. She frequently received messages from Batwoman but never from the same number. She'd messaged a handful of the unknown numbers used in the past with no reply. This didn't immediately worry her: if history was anything to go off, she would expect Batwoman to toss any burner, but it didn't relieve the nagging feeling Batwoman was injured and assuming Sophie was behind it.
It was only when she'd gotten off the lift at her floor and began walking toward the deadend corridor that led to her flat that she saw the skewed shadow against her door. She stalled only for a moment, trying to decipher the shape being cast by the dinghy hall light onto the door's white-wash finish when, upon closer inspection, she realized the slanted shadow took on the form of a bat. She quickly approached the door and brought her hand up to the slim, scalloped piece of metal. The edges were beveled and sharpened. The silhouette of the shape was familiar, and a small smile appeared across Sophie's face. She'd dislodged it from the door, noting the small dent would likely eat into her security deposit before entering. Given everything, it was a small fee to know Batwoman was safe.
"Well, that wasn't as much of a waste of time as I thought it would be," Kate said, returning to the flat.
"Oh? Good brunch, then?" Luke replied, his face buried in the laptop screen. "Bring me anything?"
He watched a paper bag slide his way, and he gratefully dug into it.
"Is this…?"
"An everything? 'Course. I'm not an animal."
"You're the best," Luke sighed, pulling out the bagel. "So, what did he say?" he asked before plunging his teeth into it.
"He completely fessed up to helping Margaret."
"No shit. Why?" Luke asked through cream cheese and bread.
"He doesn't have the votes to be reinstated as Lead Crow. He was doing Maragret a favor to guarantee the votes when the time comes - presumably right after the audit wraps up."
"Did he say when he thinks that will be?"
"He doesn't know, but he said Cobblepot is confident it won't last another week."
"Interesting. Doesn't he need unanimous support from the board if he's challenging existing leadership?" Luke remarked, his mind still fresh from reading the bylaws the night before.
"You would know better than me."
"It means you'd have to vote for him as well."
Kate stared at Luke, realizing the implications of it.
"You gonna tell Sophie?" Luke asked, glancing up from the bagel.
Kate paused. "Do you think I should? I should, right?"
She stared at him, suddenly unsure. She'd spent the last few months keeping everything from Sophie, but after last night it felt wrong to not tell her - especially when it could directly impact her job. That said, she also didn't want to call her up at every twist and turn - she had enough on her plate as it was that Kate pinging her with updates every few hours might not be effective.
Luke could see the uncertainty waffling on Kate's face; he couldn't recall ever seeing her so indecisive about anything before. This left him even more convinced that Sophie couldn't be dismissed as any normal person for Kate. That she could become undone by something as simple as this had him both worried and intrigued.
"Let's sit on it for a bit. She's coming by on Wednesday for a debrief anyway, right?"
"Right. Yea, ok."
"Just blow it off," Renee said, her face against the bathroom's closed door.
"Can't hear you," Sophie shouted back through the noise of running water. Renee was about to shout again through the door when the sound of the shower halted.
"I said, just blow it off," she said again.
Silence was the only reply, so Renee waited, leaning against the wall for Sophie to reappear. When she did, she was clad in a soft grey towel, running a second one through her hair.
"I can't just do that," she said, walking past Renee toward the bedroom.
"Oh, hey girl," Renee said, pushing herself off the wall and stepping toward Sophie, forgetting her earlier comments. "I'm glad I stopped by when I did."
Sophie glanced back at Renee's playful grin and sighed with a small smile. "Unannounced, I might add. You're a tad early."
"Am I? Today isn't daylight savings?" Renee asked innocently, following Sophie into the bedroom.
"First, it's Wednesday," Sophie replied, stopping at her dresser.
"Is it?" Renee asked, sliding her hands around Sophie's towel-clad waist.
"Mhm" Sophie continued playfully, relaxing at Renee's touch. "And the last time I checked, daylight savings wasn't a four-hour jump. I distinctly remember texting 11pm."
"Sounds like I've been doing it wrong my entire life, then," Renee murmured, letting her lips find Sophie's bare shoulder. "You smell good, babe. What is that?"
"Lilac."
"Well…" she began, tracing her lips up Sophie's shoulder to her neck, "I really lilac," she said, whispering lightly into Sophie's ear.
"And I think you've spent a little too much time with your old captain," Sophie chuckled, turning around to face Renee.
"Don't spoil the mood," Renee grinned, sliding her hands under the towel.
"You could give her a call," Luke offered.
"Not interested," Kate said from the couch.
"She's probably got a legitimate reason, Kate."
"You're probably right," Kate dismissed again. She glanced at her watch noting it was now over ninety minutes past when Sophie was due.
"A work thing, maybe?"
"Luke," Kate said, finally looking up, "drop it, ok?"
"Is that the time?" Sophie asked, shooting up from the bed, suddenly aware of the dark sky and the fact they'd both dozed off.
"Babe, it's fine. You even said it wasn't a big deal," Renee replied sleepily.
"When?" Sophie asked, getting up and pulling on the clothes she'd meant to dress in two hours earlier.
"Oh, well… that might've been me," Renee said, thinking back to their earlier conversation.
"Shit," Sophie muttered.
"Just reschedule," Renee yawned, not understanding Sophie's sudden frantic behavior. "Say you had a work thing. Anyone who knows you would believe that."
"Not with - that won't work this time," Sophie fretted, yanking on her top.
"Who are you meeting with again?"
"No one," Sophie muttered, rushing out of the bedroom in search of her phone. Once found, she let the screen wash over her face in the darkness, scanning her notifications. When she didn't see anything from Kate, she felt a pit in her stomach. It was one thing to receive a terse message from Kate, but it was altogether something different to receive nothing.
Sophie waffled, weighing her options. She couldn't lie to Kate; she'd see right through it, and after the last few days, the last thing she wanted was to revert back to their old ways. Her fingers hovered over the screen:
I'm sorry.
She watched the message go from 'delivered' to 'read' in real time, unsure how to continue. She half-hoped Kate would reply, but after another moment of nothing, she knew that wouldn't happen.
Can we do it next Wednesday instead?
Sophie heard Renee calling her from the bedroom as she stared back at her screen. Agonizing seconds passed before she saw her message flip to 'read'. She stared at the bottom left corner waiting to see three dots appear. When they did, Sophie felt her heart jump to her throat.
That's fine.
Relieved, she quickly typed back: Same time?
In a flash, she received a response: Same place.
Sophie let out a sigh she didn't know she'd been holding. Setting her phone down, she collapsed onto the couch, her heart still racing.
"You reschedule?" Renee asked from the bedroom doorway.
"Yea."
"See? What did I say: the job excuse always works."
"She reschedule?" Luke asked, seeing Kate set her phone down.
"Yea."
"See? What did I say: she was probably just working late."
"Mhm," Kate said softly, not looking up from her own work.
"Did you hear?"
"Paulie, what have I told yo-"
"The audit is done," he rushed quickly. "They're submitting the final findings tonight to the City and the board so they have the weekend to review."
"What did they find?"
"Oh, I-I wouldn't know, ma'a-Kate."
Kate gave him a look of sarcastic disbelief with an intensity that caused him to melt into a confession.
"They didn't find anything… at least - at least, that's what I've heard."
"Mmm."
"I thought you'd be happier," Paulie said quietly, testing his bravery with Kate.
"Do I not look happy, Paulie?"
"Oh, well…"
"And what about you?" Kate asked. "I heard you were a part of the team that set up the explosives for the Dent raid. Should be a relief that wasn't picked up as anything."
"Oh, that? That wasn't going to be a problem-"
"Is that so?" Kate asked, her eyebrows raising in honest surprise.
"I just - I mean, we were just following orders… right?"
Kate eyed him with renewed curiosity before nodding back, "Right, right."
Weighed down by bags, Kate fiddled with the apartment keys before stumbling ungracefully into the flat. She'd just hauled a litter of things up the stairs, and was eager to shed the weight. While Luke was warming to Kate returning to the field as Batwoman, he was limiting her outings to every other day, and after the night before, her ribs were grateful to not suit up.
It also meant having more time on her hands than Kate was used to, and she'd lost her Sunday afternoon jumping from hardware store to hardware store in search of basic materials to start DIY-ing some life into the penthouse space.
The sun was just setting as she moved the last of the bags into the space when the small pink box caught her eye. It was sitting on the far edge of the table, and Kate's defenses immediately flared.
She glanced around the space, stepping slowly toward the box. On the top was a small hand-written card scrawled in familiar handwriting, and Kate couldn't help but relax and break into a small smile as she read it:
Since you won't let us celebrate in person.
Luke
She lifted the lid to reveal a small sprinkle-covered cake beneath.
"I thought your thing was tomorrow?"
"This is different."
"That's too bad. I'm going dress shopping tonight."
"Oh?"
"I've got a little thing this weekend - thought I'd glam up for it."
"Is that right?" Sophie grinned knowingly.
"Yea. Nothing big - it'll just be the who's who of Gotham in attendance."
"And who is the who of Gotham?"
"Even snagged a hot date for it," Renee continued, ignoring the remark as she sidled up to Sophie.
"Should I be jealous?" Sophie teased back. Two days earlier Sophie had finally built up the courage to ask Renee to a work gathering she'd been invited to in honor of Gotham Security and Covert Surveillance's recent merger. As Lead Crow, she was expected to attend, and knowing she'd be surrounded by her peers from various companies was daunting.
"Maybe."
"Hmm, well, tell her you're taken."
Renee giggled lightly in reply. "I thought maybe you'd want to help me pick something out."
Sophie's face fell. "That sounds great but-"
"But work. It's ok, I get it," Renee said, waving off Sophie's response. "Besides, we're on the same team now."
"You accepted?" Sophie asked.
"You're looking at the newest Crow recruit," Renee said proudly.
"That's - wow, that's great news. Had I known, I'd have rescheduled tonight so we could celebrate," Sophie lied.
"It's ok. It just means you'll just have to wait and see what I pick until this weekend."
"You can send teasers though," Sophie remarked.
Renee smirked back at Sophie, "that wouldn't be very professional now would it, Lead Crow."
Kate was in the middle of DIY-ing some electric wiring when a knock broke her concentration. She jumped slightly at the sound, unsure who other than Luke could possibly be in the space. She'd given him a key to the flat, so it didn't make sense that he'd knock. Lifting herself from the floor, she walked over to the door, pausing hesitantly before pulling it open.
"Hey."
"Hi," Kate said, looking back at Sophie in confusion. "I thought we said Wednesday?"
"We did."
"It's Tuesday."
"Your observation skills have improved. Can I come in?"
"Uh, yea, sure," Kate said, stepping aside and letting Sophie pass into the space. "Wh-what are you doing here though?"
"I figured you could use a drinking buddy tonight," Sophie replied, pulling a bottle out of her bag.
Kate stared back in silence, a gratitude welling toward Sophie's gesture.
"I didn't… I didn't think you'd remember."
"I remember every year."
"Well, not every year."
"That one doesn't count. My track record has been gold ever since. Glasses?"
"Red solo cups?"
"Your safehouse could really use some upgrades. Also, I figured you wouldn't be prepared," Sophie continued, pulling out a set of glassware.
She made quick work uncorking the bottle and pouring a liberal amount into each glass.
"So, who gets the toast first this year? Your mom or Beth?" she asked, handing Kate a glass.
"Seriously?"
"Yea."
"She tried befriending Satan..."
"Yep."
"How old?"
"We were maybe seven? She felt bad that Satan didn't have any friends. She thought everyone should have at least one friend."
Sophie broke out into a fit of laughter, her voice echoing off the unfinished walls as Kate regaled her with stories of her and Beth as kids.
"But why would she talk into a sewage grate?"
"She figured it was closer to hell so he could hear her."
"If Diane Moore ever caught me talking to our ditch… " Sophie mused.
"Mom thought it was hilarious. Dad not so much," Kate continued, sliding the bottle closer and uncorking it before pouring a second into their glasses. "Did I ever tell you about her first boyfriend?"
"That Evan guy, right?"
"Evan Blake, yea."
"He still hosting those orgies?"
"They weren't orgies-"
"Fine. But is he still a… a…" Sophie trailed off, trying to find the right word.
"A prick?
"Yea."
"Yep."
"I heard about you and Angelique."
"Hm?" Kate asked, mid-pour on their third of the night.
"Ang-Angelique?" Sophie said, questioning her memory. "That was her name right?"
"Who?" Kate asked, a scowl of confusion creeping over her face.
"You're… you two were dating, right?" she continued.
"Oh, right. Yea, didn't work out," Kate said, suddenly recalling her fake ex. She mentally cursed Luke for choosing such an absurd name.
"That was fast," Sophie said a little too casually. Kate glanced in slight surprise before Sophie continued. "I just mean… well, I mean - I didn't mean that."
"Probably for the best; our schedules didn't really align," Kate said.
"Oh? She couldn't keep up with the late nights?"
"What?" Kate looked at Sophie in surprise.
"Oh come on, Kate," Sophie replied, staring back at Kate in confusion. She cocked her head slightly as she tried getting a read of Kate's expression. It wasn't like Kate's partying was a secret, but her reaction made Sophie curious. "You don't need to play dumb with me. I know about the partying."
"Ah, that."
"That?"
"Huh?"
"What else is there?"
"Nothing."
"But you… whatever. Thanks," Sophie said, taking her refreshed glass and raising it to meet Kate's midair.
"I'm sorry about last week - about bailing, I mean."
"It's fine - work is work," Kate said, offering Sophie the excuse. She watched Sophie consider leaving it at that.
"It wasn't a work thing," she said, admitting to what they both already knew.
"Oh?" Kate said in feigned surprise, giving Sophie the space to continue at will.
"I… Actually I've started seeing someone."
"Really? That's great," Kate said in rehearsed excitement.
Sophie glanced at Kate in surprise. "Uh, yea, I mean… it is."
There was a nagging uncertainty to her own words that Sophie couldn't shake.
"Maybe next time message before things get-"
"Don't," Sophie interrupted, not wanting Kate to finish her sentence.
"Hey Soph, I'm… it was a joke. I'm sorry."
"I just don't want you to find out from someone else," Sophie continued, deflecting Kate's remark. "Not that anyone knows, but… you deserve more than finding out through the grapevine."
Kate felt the familiar tightness in her chest, and found herself unsure how to take the news. Of course she already knew Sophie was seeing someone, and she'd spent hours mentally preparing for this conversation to make it seem as inconsequential as possible, but it didn't make the conversation any easier to stomach.
"I don't know about that, but I'm glad you told me."
Kate watched Sophie knock back the rest of her fourth drink.
"So how did you meet? Was it love at first sight?"
"We don't have to do this," Sophie replied, her voice uneasy and strained.
"Does she make you happy?"
"That's a loaded question, Kate. A lot of people make me happy."
"Sure, but Renee though; she makes you happy?"
"How? How did you know?"
"I didn't - you just confirmed it."
"What? But how…?"
"Oh come on; I'm not that oblivious: you've been living at the office, and you're overseeing Renee's day-to-day. Plus she's also practically living at the office so the correlati-"
"But… but I only just told you," Sophie scowled in contemplation. "How did you-"
"Don't overthink this, Soph. It was a shot in the dark. It would've been really awkward if I was wrong though, am I right?" Kate said with feigned casualness. The truth was that she'd poured over timesheets and documents a week earlier trying to pinpoint who Sophie's mystery guest was. The timesheet correlation only came after she'd spotted video footage of them coming and going together in the lobby. "So?"
Sophie paused for a moment, "I think so, yea."
Kate forced a small smile onto her face. "Good." She didn't know what she expected - the last thing she wanted was for Sophie to be in an unhappy relationship again, but the selfish part of her felt heartbroken by the response. She blinked back the sting in her eyes, glancing across at the fireplace, unused from the night prior. Taking a slow, steadying breath, she let her response hang in the air as she reached for the bottle sitting between them.
The sounds of cork on glass followed by a splash of their fifth drink against the heavy-bottomed low-ball broke the silence. Kate tried to remain casual, offering a pour to Sophie who nodded in silent approval. It was then that Kate observed the internal monologue playing out across Sophie's face; it was a mix of frustration, disappointment, and sadness. After all these years, she still hadn't developed even a half-decent poker face.
"What is it?" Kate asked, calling out Sophie's silent indecision.
Sophie looked like she might deny there was anything, but she knew better than to pretend like Kate wasn't attuned to Sophie's inner-workings.
"There's something else…" Sophie began before trailing off.
"Yea?"
"She doesn't know about us," Sophie said. It was only now, confronted with telling Kate, that she realized she'd been down this road before. She'd done it at Point Rock, with Tyler after that, and now Renee. In the eight plus years they'd known each other, she'd lied on three separate occasions about her relationship and history with Kate. She watched a shock of hurt cross Kate's face before it quickly retreated into her stoic demeanor. It was brief but enough to pull Sophie back to their final day at Point Rock together when she'd walked away from their relationship. She had looked into those same hurt eyes and told her she couldn't sign away her future.
"What do you mean?" Kate asked, her tone controlled but for a slight crack at the end.
"She knows we went to school together, and she knows I dated another woman while there... I - I just never said it all together. She knows, but she doesn't know-know."
Kate didn't respond. A slight flare of frustration was lit by Sophie's words, and she didn't trust herself to respond yet. Instead, a dozen thoughts crossed her mind as she tried to reconcile the fact that Sophie had again concealed their history together. While her lying to Tyler about Kate wasn't ideal, Kate understood it: Sophie wasn't ready to be out yet, and hiding that part of her was her way of coping with that. What Kate couldn't understand was why Sophie was again hiding their past from another woman.
"And Kate, I'm sorry I haven't; I-I know I should tell her. But…" Sophie sighed in her own frustration.
"But what?" Kate pressed, her frustration creeping into her voice and onto her face.
"But I'm afraid to."
"What?" Kate asked in slight surprise. "Why?"
Sophie stared at the glass in her hand, watching the liquid swirl slowly.
"It's a bit obvious, no?"
"Clearly not, Sophie, so please... elaborate," Kate cut in, struggling to understand. There were a million things that Kate could label as obvious, but keeping their relationship a secret from the world was not one of those things.
"You aren't just anyone for me, Kate" she began cautiously. "Maybe in time that will change, but for the last seven-eight years… for right now, it is what it is. And when I think about telling someone about us, it comes with confronting all of that. I can't think of anyone who knows me as well as you do, and that's even after years of not speaking. You've literally walked back into my life like you never left. We just spent the last few weeks at each other's throats, and we're able to rebound like nothing happened. It's both bewildering and frustrating, and I don't know how to have that exist inside of another relationship."
Kate sat stunned at Sophie's words; they resonated so clearly with her own feelings. It had taken no time at all for them to fall into the same familiarity that had started so many years earlier. Kate knew exactly how to get Sophie to react for Cobblepot, and Sophie knew Kate better than she knew herself. With the exception of Batwoman, there wasn't anything she could keep from Sophie, and even then it had taken a coordinated effort to knock her off that scent.
"Well, you're a bit of a book," Kate joked, trying to make light of the gravity of Sophie's comments.
"You're not wrong, but -"
"It's a good read."
Sophie rolled her eyes at the poor joke before scowling slightly. "But it's not just that. It's that I also know if push came to shove, I'd be there one hundred percent for you. And maybe it's presumptuous to say you'd do the same, but you also came back to Gotham when you'd heard I was taken by Alice. That's not exactly a normal thing to bring into a relationship, and more than that, I'm afraid I can't be that for someone else."
"I still can't believe you just left him."
"He was fine."
"Man, the number of times Melvin saved our asses… It's a wonder I didn't get expelled sooner."
"Do you ever wonder…"
"Hm?"
Sophie stared into her sixth liquid courage of the night, her mouth and brain feeling permission to speak freely in a way she hadn't two hours earlier.
"If we hadn't met at Point Rock would we still be together?"
Kate chuckled softly at Sophie's drunken words. "Soph, if we hadn't met at Point Rock, we wouldn't know each other."
"Hm? No, no… I just mean… do you ever think if things were different... Like, if we didn't go to a homophobic school run by a bunch of self righteous old white men-"
"I've missed drunk Sophie," Kate laughed.
Sophie shot a scowl of faux annoyance at Kate before continuing unphased. "If not for all of that, do you think we'd have had a chance?"
Kate's smile shrank slightly. Over the years the thought had crossed her mind. If they'd met at a normal school under normal circumstances, would they still be together? Would they have even gotten together in the first place?
"I don't really think hypotheticals are th-"
"Kate."
"Sophie."
"Answer the question."
Kate looked at Sophie, her eyes glowing with an eight year curiosity. She found herself captured by the warm familiarity of Sophie's face. In all these years she'd never met someone who could match what Sophie was. For Kate, the answer was obvious: yes. Of course they'd still be together.
Kate let her eyes glance briefly at Sophie's lips, imagining for a second that if they were still together she wouldn't need permission to lean over and kiss them.
"You said she makes you happy?" she asked suddenly.
"What?"
"Renee."
Kate watched the conflict play out across Sophie's face. She didn't need Sophie to reply to know she understood what Kate was suggesting.
"You should go. I'll order you a ride."
Sophie stared back at Kate as she reached for her phone. She knew Kate was right, but she also wished Kate hadn't said anything. She'd spent the night trying to shake the cloud of growing internal conflict away, and six drinks in wasn't the time to find clarity. Even so, she couldn't help but feel like each additional drink was pointing her toward the right direction.
"Elam is four minutes away in a red 2019 prius," Kate said with as much casualness as she could muster.
