Sue's roommate, Zelda ((India de Beaufort)), is an Easter Egg/Nod to the comics.

To each their own, they knew the other was intelligent. Neither of them could fool the other one as much as they had hoped. The witty com backs and snarky sarcastic comments never dulled between the two.

Every time they saw one another it was usually a cased that they picked up on. Whenever Ralph had a missing persons case, Sue would tag on with him. "Slick, Wikipedia how, yehoo and Jeevesy can't help you find a person quick enough. Lemme show you how to find a person quickly. I found you within three weeks of learning you were finding me."

"Its yahoo and Jeeves."

Together with each their own set of skills they managed to find the person in half the time it would take Ralph alone. He preferred to be on cases alone with very little help but he was beginning to like having her around. Her wits, brains and, yes, attractive looks, he enjoyed. Her wits were the best in his opinion.

Though Sue had no idea who The Flash or Frost were, or even Vibe, she began coming to Star Labs to help out crime scenes. Occasionally she popped herself into Iris' office with documents about cases that she believed Iris would find useful for her newspaper. Slowly and surely she was joining the team in her own way without feeling like she was in anyone else's way.

By mid-July the two of them were starting to hangout more. Outside of cases and Star Labs. They had their own friends, obviously, but somehow when they were out they were like magnets; pulling one another to each other without realizing it until they were facing one another.

Ralph would always be with Cisco or Barry. Sue would be with her roommate (whose name Ralph always blanked) or her old friend from college, Jake Finlay. When it was Jake and Sue together Ralph felt something in him. Jealousy? No, Ralph wasn't the jealous type. Was he? No. It was perfectly normal to see Sue hangout with the opposite gender of herself and seem to have a good time with him.

Sue and Zelda's Apartment

One hot humid day Sue was at her apartment cooling off. It was her day off from work and she was pleased with that. The building's AC was broken so half the building was cool and the other a sauna. Unfortunately for Sue that meant that her office in specific was humid. Not even the fan her roommate lent her could help her out as much. For now she was just glad she was in her apartment with the AC turned on.

Thee knocks on the door turned her away from her episode of Sex and the City and got up to head to the door. "Z, stop leaving your stupid keys in the apartment!" She shouted before she actually reached the door. "One of these days I'm not going to be here and you'll have to—" Sue opened the door but stopped talking when she saw it wasn't her roommate, but rather her taller male companion. "Oh. Hey Slick,"

"Hey." Ralph held up a notebook. "You forgot this at the stakeout last night."

Sue's eyes lit up when she saw him holding up her olive green notebook. "Well I was wondering where my date book was," She took it back. She studied him head to toe quickly. For a change of outfits he had on a v-neck white short sleeve, light blue jeans and sneakers. "Why the lay down, Homer Simpson?"

In attempt to be funny Ralph said, "Doh idea." Lame. He too eyeballed her quickly. T-shirt, carpi jeans two inches above her ankle. "Doing anything in the cold?"

"Catching up on television. Sex and the City." She saw his eyes lit up. "You like that show?"

"Love it. Samantha has some serious balls. Which episode?"

"Last episode of last season. Z's got both movies so I was going to watch those after." She answered. "You doing anything?"

"No. Nothing is happening. The city is boring, I'm bored. I'm about to ask a stranger to do some crazy shit just to get some action."

Sue didn't know what came to her but she said, "Wanna watch tv with me? I've got leftover Chinese heating up in the oven."

An invite? An invite to eating Chinese with someone that he was slowly crushing on while watching one of his favorite TV shows? "Yes!"

They finished their TV show, got the Chinese food and sat back on the ground beginning the movie. Ten minutes into the move Sue leaned forward to grab her water glass. Ralph's brown eyes caught glimpse on her wrist. "Is that a tattoo?" He shifted his head to her wrist. He saw there was two of them now. "Two of them?"

Sue didn't even think about her skin being shown. "Yes. Very good, Slick." she said in a cynical tone.

"What does it say?"

Sue held the wrist at herself reading the words she had stamped on her when she was nineteen. The top and bottom first words were written in her mother's handwriting. The top and bottom second words were written in her father's handwriting. "Family secret." She smiled. "It's important."

"Did not take you for a tattoo girl. Only one?"

"Nope. Two more. You guess where they are and I'll look into it." That charming smile he had on him melted her heart. "You got any?"

"No." But his pondered for a moment. "Huh. I wonder if I can even get one since I'm stretchy."

"Elastical." She corrected, her lips turned upwards.

"Question."

"Ugh. Again?"

"You going anywhere later?"

"Why?"

"Well you've got makeup on." He told her. Sue sat up. "If you aren't leaving to go anywhere than why have it on in the first place?"

Sue relaxed. "I'm meeting with Jake later." She saw him tension for a split moment. "His girlfriend is in town and he wanted me to check her out. See if she's good enough for him." She assured him. "Believe or not Slick I'm not a fan of makeup either yet I do it because it's like painting and it reminds me of my grandmother. The woman always painted whenever I visited her in Long Island."

"All my grandmother does is drink beer and tell me that I'm an ugly looking Jim Carrey." He chuckled.

"Damn. That's an insult to Jim."

By late August the two of them were in that phase where they were sort of officially dating, but they just never said it aloud yet. Mentally they called one another boyfriend and girlfriend, but never aloud.

Honestly the only person who seemed to know was Cecile.

September sixteenth. Sue's thirty-fourth birthday. Ralph had memorized it since their first coffee date. The only thing was he had no idea what to get her. He asked her roommate, Zelda, for any ideas. Zelda wasn't much help.

Cisco and Barry offered ideas. Nothing they offered seemed to workout. Kamilla and Iris had a few good suggestions that seemed to work well but...they're not Sue Dearbon. He truly wanted to make this a special birthday for her too. Earlier in the month Sue seemed to be upset about something. She played it off as other things;

September first. "It's my moms birthday. I wasn't able to get back to New York to visit her and its the first birthday I've ever missed of hers so I'm just a little downbeat about it.

September fourth. "Bad day at work."

September tenth. "PMS-ING, SLICK!"

Finally he found himself outside her work place. It wasn't directly a hospital, but it was a business company that was associated in hospital work. Sue was only an assistant office administrator, but she never complained. At least it never showed it.

Ten past seven Sue came out the doors focusing on her phone. Ralph quickly and swiftly, after checking his surroundings (bare empty) wrapped his arm around her twice to gain her attention. She jumped but smiled. "Hey Slick,"

"Hi Sue." He unwrapped himself for her waist and stood next to her.

"What's up?"

"I got us two seats at that buffet place on Ridgestone Street you like." He wasn't a fan of the place itself. Too cold and the shrimp was phony as fake could be. But Sue had mentioned once that she and her roommate went there for karaoke. "Lets pray we get the window like I asked."

Her heart melted with happiness. "What's the occasion, Slick?"

"Your birthday."

Her heart melted with sadness when he said that. "Oh." She drifted her eyes away for a moment before bringing them to face Ralph, who kept smiling. "I'm not really hungry and besides, Z's having a friend over and they're throwing a surprise party for me."

"And you know this?"

"Come on. It's me. I knew she was doing this the second she accepted me as a roommate."

"Huh."

"But go have fun!" She exclaimed. She stood on her tip toes, pulling him down by his shoulders to meet part of the way, and pressed her lips against his cheek. "I'll talk to you later. Promise." And with that she walking away from Ralph.

Ralph just watched her walk away trying to figure out what made her upset. She was upset. He knew it. He felt it. And Ralph Dibny knew it wasn't just because she circled around the sun once again.

Sue and Zelda's Apartment

Ralph elongated himself to the top of the building. Sue's apartment was on the top floor of the ten floor level apartment. Knowing exactly which apartment was hers from the few times he's dropped her off he found the window below him and stretched down far enough to peer inside, just to see what she was doing.

Sue wasn't in the living room. Nobody was there. Ralph stretched himself down so he was on the escape ladder and tapped on the window several times. A couple of minutes later Sue came from the hallway where the two bedrooms were located; clad a pale sapphire coloring towel.

"What the hell!?" She yelled. Sue came over to the window and opened it. "What the hell?"

"What happened to the party?"

"Surprise Slick. Turns out it's on Friday, not today. I figured you were at dinner already so I just finished taking a shower and slipped into these."

"Really?" He asked. She nodded. But some of her makeup was still on her face, not completely washed off. "Your eyes are red."

"You're attractiveness is burning me." She leaned against the window. "No. I was listening to music in the shower and that Wind Beneath My Wings from Beaches came on. Sad movie, always cry to that. So, why'd you come here? Hoping to see a little girl-on-girl action?"

Ralph sat on the ledge of the window laughing. "Hardly. Would have enjoyed the view if I wanted to be honest. You seemed a little upset today. All month so far. Just wanted to see how you were doing."

"I'm great. September is a hard month for me so far. Wake me up when September ends." She rubbed his cheek with her hand affectionately. "Thanks for the cheer up."

Ralph couldn't tell now if she was being honest or lying again. She was a terrific actress, he gives her that. He felt there was a secret. A secret that needed to be solved. Oh another mystery! That was a turn for him. But instead of poking at her on her birthday Ralph simply leaned in with her and kissed her. "Ok. Want company?"

"Not tonight. Just a me day." She said in a low voice.

After Ralph left her Sue closed the window and locked it. She made her way back to her bedroom and sat on it. She stared at the lavender bed sheets breathing slowly. Feeling numb. Except for the tears that formed.

She sobbed. She sobbed herself to sleep on her birthday.

December 2020

One thing lead to another. If someone were to had told Ralph and Sue back in June that they'd be on the edge of moving in together they both would give the same answer. "GROSS!" But here they were nearly six months to the date. Together they were sitting in Ralph's tiny apartment. For a tiny studio, it was shit. It smelled, the wallpaper was falling down, neighbors could be heard from the thin walls. He only got it because it was cheap.

It was eleven at night when Sue and Ralph woke up on the couch to the sounds from next door. Ralph had left his bedroom door opened, so the noise was clear. "Who the hell are those people!?"

"Dobrah's. They usually do it on Saturday nights. Not Friday." He yawned. "They should be done in about an hour."

"An hour? My God! Their animals!"

"KEEP IT DOWN, DIBNY!"A male voice roared from the other side.

Both Sue and Ralph made the same shocked face in the direction of the bedroom. These were thin walls. Sue checked her phone for the time and then stood up. "I gotta get going anyways."

Ralph watched her as she jumped over the couch to grab her leather jacket by the front door. His car was broken down so the only other options for her were bus, a QuickRider or walk. The closest bus stop was a fifteen minute walk, a QuickRider would be thirty bucks from here (he's done it before) and there was no way in hell he would let her walk this late at night. It wasn't chivalry; it was 2020 and men were still fucking perverts on the streets. The protectiveness in him spoke up. "Wanna sleep over?"

She turned at him. "Sorry?"

"Wanna sleepover? It's late. The bus is far and there are nasty crap-bags on the street."

"Like yourself two years ago."

"No. Crap-bag Ralphie was a gentlemen. Crap-bags today are nasty." He told her. "I have a t-shirt you can borrow."

"Just a t-shirt?" That Sue sly returned.

"You're teeny tiny."

"Point given." She said. She double thought. I can just stay awake all night. No big deal. "Okay."

They watched another tv show to wait out the neighbors. When Ralph assured her that the neighbors were done for the night the duo got up to head to bed. Ten minutes later they were laying next to one another in the bed. They hadn't done this yet. They always fell asleep next to one another on the couch in someones apartment, but this was a first. For Ralph it wasn't much. A little uncomfortable since it was the first time they were sharing a bed together (frankly, he had thought the first time they'd share a bed together would be at the end of a romantic date). For Sue, who tolerated Ralph with all the love in her heart, wasn't having it now. She felt confined, cramped and felt her brain bopping her head side to side like a whack-a-mole carnival game.

Ralph heard her breathing shake. Uneven and off balance."You okay, Sue?" Ralph asked her.

"First time sharing a bed with you Slick. First time I've shared a bed with anyone I've dated in..." She counted in her head. The number came to her and she cringed. The summer before her eighteenth birthday. "Twenty-nine." She lied perfectly.

Five years? Goodness. "I swear I don't snore, I don't hog the covers but I sweat like a pig." Her cackling voice brought a smile to his face.

"SHUT UP, DIBNY!" A woman's voice spoke this time.

Sue sat up, faced the wall and snapped. "SHOVE IT!"

A silence for a full minute.

"Sorry. Carry on." She spoke for a final time. Shortly after, soft music could be heard from the other side.

They both probably laid there for ten minutes in their own thoughts as they drifted to sleep. Sue was tapping her toes against the thin air trying to breathe. Breathe Susan! Breathe!

"Sue?"

"Hmm?"

Ralph sat up a little bit. The question mark in his eyes, Sue sat up and matched with him. "Do you...wanna move in?"

"Move in?"

"Yeah. I mean, together." He stated further. "Not here if you don't want. I could care less where we live. I just hate seeing you leave here after a date, I hate leaving your place at the end of a date." Ralph's heart melted further. "If you want too at least. I can wait. I can wait a long time."

Her answer jumped up just as quickly as she did. "YES!" She shouted, love in her eyes. "I'd love that. Just not here."

"Yeah?"

"Of course, Slick!" She kissed the top of his head. "I love the idea," She said into the yawn she released. "Night Slick."

Ralph settled down following her. His heart jumping with excitement and joy. "Good night, Annie."

Sue and Zelda'sApartment.

"Susiepop!" Z called out.

"Oh, hey Mom or Dad. Didn't know you were here." Sue called from the kitchen waiting her for oatmeal to finish. "When'd you get in, Z?"

"Three in the morning. Hot date with Levy." The British woman sat down in the chair. "Bye the way you know how I've been trying to find a stage name for myself for the past few months since I've picked up on wanting to do magic?" Sue nodded. "I've found my stage name for my magic acts." The magician roommate announced as she pulled a rose flower from behind Sue's ear and handed it to her. "Zatanna."

"Zatanna?"

"Yes. Magical, creative, hereto lovely tricks by the one and only; Zatanna!" She cheered. She winked and added, "Or maybe I'll use Zelda as my stage name and change my legal name to Zatanna. Haven't decided yet."

"I like it, Z."

Z grabbed herself a banana from the bowl in front of her. "So, I heard you talking with Ralphie Boy last night on the phone. You moving in?"

"Yes. Few months."

"So...does that mean he knows? Everything? Everything?" Z inquired. Sue's quiet response gave the answer. Z's face fell as she could sense the anxiety and worry within Sue's heart. "Oh, Sue."

"I'll tell him. I will."

Several hours later that night Sue was alone in the apartment again. Z had another hot date tonight with someone from a night club a few weeks ago. Ralph was working on some metahuman Star Labs case that as much as she wanted to help out, Flash and Frost were working on it.

"I still wanna find out who they are." She said to herself after painting her toenails.

Two in the morning Sue, still awake, laid in her bed. She was cuddling herself like a baby in the womb and rocked herself as she sobbed.