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S: So, do you flirt with everyone, or am I special?
R: Huh?
S: Oh, come on. When haven't you been flirting with me, Ryan? "Love the hair Soph…" and "Tell me this isn't a booty call."
Sophie’s rhaspy attempt at mimicking a deeper version of Ryan’s voice makes the comment even more unexpected.
R: Oh, so you're just going to recite everything I've ever said to you back to me?
S: Just the import lines.
R: First of all, you are special. And second, do we really want to travel down memory lane? Is this what we're doing right now?
Sophie pleads with Ryan through her eyes. Never the one to spend precious time sorting out her feelings, always preferring to show instead of tell, Ryan is being beseeched to fill in some gaps from their shared memories.
R: I guess we're doing this.
Sophie shifts towards Ryan, eagerly leaning over the table. Even while appearing doubtful but humored, Ryan matches the gesture so that there's less than a couple of feet between them, like they’re about to exchange secrets. Anything for Sophie.
R: Okay Soph, what do you wanna know? Question me like old times.
Sophie rolls her eyes at Ryan for a change, but decides to go with it. She’s waited for what feels like a lifetime for this.
S: Well, Ms. Wilder, when was the first time you actually saw me as Sophie and not just a Crow, because you've been dropping one-liners on me since before…
R: I got locked up.
Sophie clears her throat. That point in history will always be difficult to swallow.
S: Well…yeah.
Ryan takes a second to form her answer.
R: Was I flirting with you…I mean, you were always cute for a Crow, but I think I was really just trying to downplay a stressful situation for myself back then. You being cute didn’t hurt, but a baseball cap and all that gear in the dead of night… Even if I can appreciate a good looking woman in uniform, it's not like I could really see how pretty you were, or that you're built like an Amazonian warrior princess.
That earns Ryan the soft eyes and ginger grin Sophie seems to have developed just for her.
S: So, when, then?
R: You just said it: the last time you ever questioned me. I really wasn't expecting to see you. I guess that helped me pay attention. And you were in that 'I run shit around here,' pantsuit…
S: Really? That wasn’t my finest moment, honestly. I was pretty harsh.
R: I'm a great multitasker; I could recognize a fine ass boss, while also being frustrated that she’d already made up her mind about me, and judging her choice of employment.
Sophie cringes, and Ryan's arched eyebrow reminds her that this was her idea. Sophie decides that even the uncomfortable parts are worth knowing, and also that it’s probably now or never.
R: I still don't understand why you were sent in to question me, though.
S: I wasn't. Sent in.
R: Wait, what? So you wanted to interrogate me.
S: I wouldn't put it like that.
Ryan deadpans, daring Sophie to continue.
S: I- I hadn't seen you in a while.
R: Tell me you didn't miss seeing me in the interrogation room.
Ryan is enjoying goading Sophie, and watching her struggle to admit what was really behind that seemingly stern exterior.
S: I told myself I was being nosey. I wanted to know if your little girlfriend was getting you into trouble again. I don't know. I just wanted to know…
Sophie searches for the right words to explain. Ryan is all too familiar with her protective girlfriend, now, and decides to assist.
R: You wanted to check on me?
S: I wanted you to be okay - better. I was sad when I heard you'd gone down for Angelique. It was always so ‘wrong place, wrong time’ with you. So, if I was being indignant, it was because I didn’t want to see you back there. You didn't deserve any of it, though.
Ryan reaches over and rests her hand on Sophie's, sliding her thumb back and forth, like she always does.
R: I remember you saying that: I was always in the wrong place at the wrong time. I finally found my place.
Sophie meets Ryan's eyes, which say that Ryan’s place is in large part with her, and she relaxes.
S: Alright, that was the night of the lethal bat swarm, and the next time I saw you as Ryan and not Batwoman was at The Hold Up. You really didn't like me then. I don't think Ryan flirted with me again until-
R: Do you always think about me as two different people?
S: Besides the fact that I thought you were two different people, you didn't exactly treat me the same in the bat suit as you did in your jeans and bar tank.
Ryan thinks about that, trying to recall.
S: Batwoman thought I was asking her out on a date the first time we worked together.
Ryan breaks, chuckling.
R: I'm probably a little more Sasha Fierce in the cowl.
S: You're not shy, that's for sure.
R: So, wait, let's go back. Are you telling me you had a crush on me when you thought I was a criminal?
S: Hey, I'm a professional!
R: But you did!
S: You’re not the only one who can recognize an intelligent and fine ass woman while judging who she hung out with.
R: I thought you just saw me as a street rat.
S: I might have been a little tougher on you because I thought I was helping.
R: A little tough love, eh?
Sophie’s soft smile returns, and she knows she’s about to show all of her cards.
S: I might have also wondered what it would be like to run into you under different circumstances, for both of us.
R: Like, at a lesbian bar, if we were both single and not on opposite sides of the law.
S: I was really happy for you when I found out you were working at The Hold Up.
R: Happy for me, or happy for you?
S: Both? Not that I thought there was a shot in hell you’d ever stop seeing me as your enemy.
R: You definitely had a crush on me!
S: Oh, whatever.
Sophie’s coyness is irresistible, and Ryan can’t help but eliminate what little space remained between them by kissing the woman who was definitely not her enemy, but one of her most trusted friends, and so much more than her lover, while making a silent prayer for an interruption free night in the batcave.