Chapter Text
It’s only been a week since Ryan finally came to terms with her feelings for Sophie. Weirdly, Jada was the one to give her the push that she needed. But it was so worth it. Being able to show Sophie exactly how she felt was better than she could have imagined. Even with Marquis still out their plotting against her, Ryan never felt happier. She finally had her mom in her life, she got her best friend back, even though Mary was still going through it, and she had Sophie. Well, she always had Sophie; Sophie had been nothing but supportive and patient with Ryan. Now though, she fully and truly had Sophie.
With their declaration of feelings and budding relationship, Ryan wasn’t sure how to approach Valentine’s Day which was in 10 days. They haven’t exactly gotten to sit down and relax and have an in depth conversation about their feelings, they just both acknowledge that they are feeling something. If Ryan was being honest, she hadn’t felt this way about anyone before, not even Angelique. Yes, Ang was her first love and they had a history but this thing she had with Sophie was so much more than that. She’s not even sure she could put it into words just yet, the depth of her feelings, but maybe she needed to talk with Sophie about what the expectations are for Valentine’s Day.
Before she could think about it any further, “Batbar to Batwoman,” Luke’ voice came through the comms of the Batmobile.
“Batwing, you got something for me? It’s been an awfully quiet night.” Ryan replied as she prepared for whatever Luke would throw at her. It was late and she’d been driving around scanning the streets for any signs of Marquis, but she hadn’t been so lucky.
“Actually, I was going to say, why don’t you head back. It’s almost 3AM and there hasn’t even been not one disturbance. You might as well try and take the opportunity to rest.”
Ryan sighed. She couldn’t imagine what Marquis was up to. He’d been keeping out of the spotlight since the night Sophie and Batwing broke into Wayne Tower. Always one for the theatrics, Ryan was worried that this long, quiet build up was going to cause some serious chaos when he finally unleashed whatever plan he has. “Okay, I’ll head back now.”
As Ryan walked into the bar, Sophie was walking toward her, taking long strides and immediately reaching for her hands. “I didn’t think it’d be that easy to get you back here. I figured you would have put up more of a fight to stay out looking for Marquis.” Sophie narrowed her eyes at her.
“It was quiet, Soph. There was nothing that I could do. Besides, I think we should all take advantage of the opportunity to get some sleep.” Ryan said as she turned toward Luke. Luke nodded and started packing up some of the equipment.
Ryan turned back toward The Hold Up door to make sure she locked it. Since they were still locked out of the Batcave and they had no idea where Marquis was or what he was up to, they had all decided to stay in the loft for a few nights so that if anything did happen, they were all close enough to provide each other support. Except, Mary had gone to the funeral for the hunter she killed as Poison Ivy and hadn’t been seen since. Luke was worried, but when he called to check on her she said she was fine and was working on something to help Alice with the hallucinations she’s started having again.
The three of them made their way up to the loft and started taking turns in the bathroom to get ready to try and sleep. Luke settled for the couch, ‘Just in case Mary decides to come home tonight at some point.’ Luke and Mary haven’t had much conversation since Mary had been cured of the Poison Ivy infection. Ryan wasn’t sure if it was Luke that was still a little hurt at how hard Mary worked to make them suffer or if it was Mary, not being able to forgive herself. It honestly might have been a little of both, but she could see the toll it was taking on Luke. She pretended not to notice when she caught him tracking her phone to make sure she was okay. Ryan had to admit, she was still a little worried too. Mary and Alice had formed this bond and she had no idea if it was a good thing or a bad thing. Neither her nor Luke wanted to stir up anymore guilt for Mary so they were trying their best to give her space, while also showing her they loved and cared for her.
Ryan was the last to shower and when she stepped out of the bathroom, Luke was already asleep on the couch. She turned out the light and headed for her room to find Sophie sitting up reading one of Ryan’s books.
“I didn’t take you for a romance novel kind of woman?” Ryan questioned as she climbed into bed next to Sophie and laid her head on her shoulder.
“I’m not but I figured doing some reading would actual make me tired enough to fall asleep. This one is actually not too bad though.”
It was one of Ryan’s favorites. “Wait until you get to the end, its so romantic.” Ryan said intentionally wistfully. Sophie turned her head to Ryan with one eyebrow raised.
“I don’t know why I’m surprised that you’re a romantic.” Sophie laughed softly and shook her head.
Ryan felt like this was as good an opportunity as any to assess how Sophie feels about Valentine’s Day. “So, since you’re not romantic, does that mean I’m in charge of our Valentine’s Day plans?” Ryan went for teasing to try and keep the conversation light but she didn’t look at Sophie’s eyes, just kept them focused on the book Sophie was still reading.
“I honestly hadn’t even thought about it. So much can happen before then Ryan. Marquis isn’t going to stay quiet for too much longer. I don’t want us to try and make any extravagant plans if they’re just going to be ruined by your brother.” Sophie made a good point, but Ryan was no less disappointed that Sophie didn’t seem to want to plan anything. She was right though, if they made plans, they’d probably be ruined by Marquis. There was a small chance that they could manage to fix his brain before he did any more damage to the city or to the Bat team. “Hey, I can practically feel your head overheating. Want to talk about it?” Sophie’s voice held a little bit of concern.
Ryan turned to look up into Sophie’s beautiful, brown eyes and smiled softly. “Just wanted a chance to spoil my gir- you for a super sappy, mushy, hallmark card holiday is all.” Ryan mentally chastised herself for the slip and hoped that she recovered quickly enough that Sophie didn’t catch it.
“Girlfriend?” Sophie expression was neutral but her eyes always gave away her emotions. Ryan could see the confusion and the hope and she couldn’t quite tell but it almost looked like love? But they weren’t there yet. Were they? It had taken almost a full two years to even admit there were feelings. There’s no way Sophie’s eyes held love.
“Uh, yeah well we’ve already done the faking it, so maybe we try it for real? You know because everyone already thinks we are anyway.” At Sophie’s confused head tilt Ryan continued, “Jada, Marquis, Luke.
“And Alice. Oh and Jordan.” Sophie said looking away from Ryan and back to the book, but Ryan could see the light blush on her cheeks.
“I knew that Alice had figured us out, but Jordan?” Ryan sat up and waited for Sophie to look at her.
“Jordan tried to get us together the first time she met you. You probably don’t remember but-“
“The night you both came in after Batwoman saved you both from False Face in the parking garage. She called me ‘Cringe’.” Ryan smiled at the memory while Sophie eyed her, impressed.
“Yes, that’s the night. As soon as we sat down at the table, Jordan said you were, and I quote, ‘Fire’ and proceeded to try and play wing woman.” Sophie explained as she rolled her eyes.
Ryan’s eye lit up. “And what did you say?” Ryan wasn’t going to let this one go. Sophie sighed.
“Well, I said it wouldn’t happen. Specifically, I think I said something like, ‘Not even and enemies to lovers maybe…” Sophie trailed off completely embarrassed by the admission.
Ryan laughed and her eyes sparkled. Sophie was never going to live this one down. Not with Jordan, and now not with Ryan.
Ryan wasn’t going to tease her about it now. She was going to save that for another time. “So since you’ve wanted to be my girlfriend for awhile now..” Ryan couldn’t resist the teasing. “…can we agree that if we don’t have to deal with Marquis, you let me be romantic and at least make you dinner for Valentine’s Day?” Ryan turned up the notch on her megawatt smile and dark brown, puppy dog eyes, which Sophie could not resist.
Sophie sighed. “Fine.” She turned back to the book and attempted to pick up where she left off. Ryan leaned in and kissed Sophie’s temple and then her cheek before laying down and snuggling her head into Sophie’s lap. Sophie smiled and ran her fingers across Ryan’s cheek and through her hair as she fell asleep. Sophie looked down to take in Ryan’s profile. Sophie has never been one for romance and everything that Valentine’s Day implies, but for Ryan, she was going to figure out a way to make it special.