Chapter Text
“Ryan, you can’t stay here all by yourself.” Mary was following her best friend around their apartment trying to convince her that she needed a new roommate.
Ryan was tired of having this same conversation over and over again. They’d been debating about it for the last two weeks, since Luke had asked Mary to move in with him. “Mary, I’ll be fine on my own. I swear.” She really didn’t mind the idea of living by herself, especially given the alternative was to live with a total stranger.
“No, Ry, let’s just put out an ad and at least talk to some people. We can have some interviews and just see if there’s anyone that would be interested.
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. You just go on and move in with your boo and leave me here in peace. No more third wheeling. Just me and my plants. Maybe I’ll get a dog.”
“Moving in with Luke can wait until we find you a new roommate.”
Ryan sighed. She really didn’t want to have to deal with a new roommate. Her and Mary had shared their apartment for the last four years. They were best friends. They got along most of the time, respected each other’s boundaries and their opposite work schedules gave them each their alone time as needed. She dreaded the idea of having to share her space with a stranger that could potentially ruin her peace. She also knew that Mary was relentless and just wanted to know that she wasn’t going to be alone.
“Fine, but if we only get a bunch of weirdos, then you drop it and let me live alone in peace.”
Mary pursed her lips. “Fine, but you need to give these people a chance. Having another friend couldn’t hurt. Just know that she can’t be your bestie since that position is full.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder dramatically.
Ryan rolled her eyes and smiled at her friend’s antics. No one could replace Mary as her BFF; she’d seen her at her worst and lowest and still stuck around. For those reasons, she’d give the new roommate thing a chance since she knew it would give Mary peace of mind and alleviate some of the guilt she probably felt about moving in with her boyfriend. She was convinced that they wouldn’t find someone that they both felt would be a good fit and Mary would eventually give up and allow Ryan to be without a roommate.
_______
Sophie was going through it. She was in the middle of her divorce from her now ex-husband and in the process of looking for a new place because she didn’t want the condo that she shared with him for years. She had also just quit her job as a Crow since he also worked there with her. She wanted a fresh start. A total and complete clean slate and luckily stumbled upon an ad posted for a roommate. It was relatively close to the gym that she’d just applied to work in. The position was a personal trainer. She was overqualified considering all of her background in military training and weapons and special OPPs, but it was something for the interim until she found something more stable.
She called the number on the add and spoke to a woman named Mary. She seemed normal enough, but she did say she was the one moving out, but she agreed to meet up with her and her potential roommate for coffee. Sophie showed up early as she was prone to do with her job. She was always early. She always checked her surroundings. She was always ready for the unexpected. At exactly 10:00 AM on the dot, a woman walked in and immediately beelined for her table. She had told the woman she’d be wearing a white button up shirt and a black blazer.
The small woman plopped down dramatically in the seat across from her. “Hi, I’m Mary. As you can see, Ryan is not here with me. She got caught up at work so it’s just going to be us.”
Sophie took a slow sip of her coffee. “But you’re the one moving out. Shouldn’t I be meeting the person I’m potentially going to be sharing a space with?”
“Yup, that’s what I said to Ryan, but she couldn’t leave work, so here we are.” She was winded, she talked really fast, and she was the type of person that gestured with her hands a lot. “Hold on, I need a coffee. Do you need anything while I’m up there?” She stood with her wallet to get in line but waited for Sophie to respond.
“I’m good.” Sophie shook her head and smiled. She already liked Mary. She was a bit dramatic and obviously an extrovert, but she was also kind and seemed genuine. It made Sophie relax a little. If her roommate was anything like her, she was sure they’d get along well enough.
Within five minutes, Mary plopped back down into the chair, sipping her very large, sugary, latte-looking coffee. “So…Sophie. What do you do?”
With her eyebrows raised in surprise, she responded. “Right down to it. I feel like we’d be pretty compatible as roommates.”
The small woman laughed and sipped her drink again. “I mean yes, probably. But I need someone to take my place.” She scrunched her face before she corrected herself. “But only as Ryan’s roommate. The BFF position is filled.”
That made Sophie laugh. She wasn’t necessarily looking to be friends with the woman. She just needed a place to live that wasn’t tainted by awful memories of being married to Tyler for entirely too long. “Well, I just quit my job as a Crow. I applied for a job as a personal trainer at the gym on 4th. I have enough in my savings to cover at least a year’s worth of rent, and I should hear back about the gym job within the week.”
Mary pursed her lips. “Let me guess. You’re very type A. You seem very type A. You’re like super clean and organized but probably can’t cook? Right?”
Sophie stared at her for a moment in slight shock as to how this chick was able to read her so easily. “I wouldn’t say I can’t cook at all…”
“Oh, I like you already. But you’re not a great liar.” She laughed. “Lucky for you, Ryan usually does most of the cooking because well, I can’t cook either. She is vegan though…and I know at first that sounds awful, but I have liked almost everything that she’s made for me. Oh, we’re both pretty messy. Well, maybe I’m messy and Ryan has some sort of organized chaos going on.” She gestured with her hands when she spoke.
“What does Ryan do?” Sophie asked, looking for more information on this potential roommate other than her cooking and dietary preferences.
“What doesn’t Ryan do?” Mary chuckled and took another sip of her coffee before continuing. “So, she bartends some nights at The Hold Up, she teaches martial arts at the community center, and she just started teaching a yoga class actually at the gym on 4th. What a coincidence.”
Wow, it might be similar to living alone with how busy the woman was; she’d probably rarely see her. This could be exactly what she’s looking for. “That’s a lot.”
Mary gave her a knowing look. “I’ve been trying to tell her she does too much, but she likes to be busy. Me? I like to have time to relax. What is your adult beverage of choice?”
“Whiskey. Or tequila. Depending on the situation, or my mood I suppose.” She shrugged.
The smaller woman smiled excitedly. “Oh, this is great! As soon as you're settle, I come over to visit and I’ll bring the ultraaaa expensive tequila. When’s the last time you’ve played Never Have I Ever?”
“It’s been a while.” Sophie answered, though she wasn’t sure if she ever actually played the game before. “Why are you moving out exactly?”
“Oh, I am moving in with my boyfriend, Luke. We’ve been dating for like three years and he asked me about six months ago. I didn’t want to leave Ryan all alone though, you know like it’s part of the best friends code of honor that you at least help find your replacement when you move out.”
She didn’t really have a best friend, other than her sister, Jordan. She and Tyler had lived in their own little bubble and most of their friends were their coworkers who she never actually considered friends. “Uh yeah, I get it. So, she doesn’t want a roommate. You just wanted her to have a roommate because you feel guilty for moving in with your boyfriend and moving out of your shared apartment.” It wasn’t a question. Sophie was very good at reading people. It was part of her training.
Mary stared at her for a moment and then nodded. “Yep, basically.” She shrugged. “I think you’ll be perfect. You’re definitely going to butt heads with Ryan on occasion, we do sometimes too, but I think with your schedules and personalities you’ll make it work. So, when do you want to move in?”
Sophie narrowed her eyes at the woman. “That’s it?” She’d already done a background check on Mary, since she had all of her information from the ad, but she still wanted to know more about her actual roommate.
“Confession. My boyfriend is a big tech nerd, so I’ve already done a background check on you and he says you’re good. And just talking with you for this amount of time, you seem totally normal and I’ve already put this off for months. I’d rather not have to go through this whole process a dozen more times until I find someone else.”
It was so unexpected that Sophie was actually caught off-guard for the first time in a long time. She was now slightly interested in meeting this tech boyfriend to compare their skills. “Well, I have already done a background check on you as well. I just need the rest of… Ryan’s information.”
The other woman hesitated for a moment. For the first time since she arrived, she looked nervous. “Okay, so in the interest of full disclosure since you’re going to do a background check anyway…you’ll find that Ryan was arrested for possession of cocaine. But it wasn’t hers.”
Sophie raised her eyebrows skeptically. Mary didn’t give her time to verbalize that skepticism. “No, really. I know how it sounds but she was just trying to help get her girlfriend clean at the time when she got picked up…actually by the Crows. Maybe you know her? Ryan Wilder.”
“Doesn’t ring a bell.” She’d never heard the name before, and her memory was excellent. But a former criminal as a roommate? She knew this was too good to be true. The piece of information that weirdly stuck was the fact that she preferred woman.
“Well anyway, her lawyer got her out within twenty-four hours since she didn't actually have anything on her. Her ex-girlfriend, Angelique, actually had the drugs but had ran and left Ryan to get picked up. I mean she was picked up the next day anyway. It was messy as hell, but Ryan’s a really good person. She’s sweet, but fierce. You’ll understand when you meet her.”
“Angelique Martin?” Sophie knew exactly who that was, all of the Crows did. She’d even interrogated the woman once or twice. “She’s going to hate me…” It was a statement, not a question. “…when she finds out I’m a former Crow. And that I’ve interrogated her ex…”
Mary shrugged. “You may get some shit for it. But she’ll get over it. It’s not like you’re still a Crow. And besides she's over Ange.”
She wasn't entirely convinced. Sophie had a feeling that Ryan wasn’t going to take kindly to the information of her former employer and her connection to her ex. “Maybe I should meet her and gauge her reaction to this…uh information.”
She made a motion with her hand. “Pshtttt. No, she’ll be cool. Here’s my extra keys. Ryan’s working late tonight so you can stop by the apartment and check it out. Luke is there currently helping the movers get most of my stuff out, so you can check out the space and bring some stuff by if you’re up to it.” She slid a set of keys across the table.
________
Mary loved Sophie and thought she’d be a great roommate for best friend. But decided to leave out the part that she’s a former Crow, for…reasons when she sent Ryan a text.
Mary [12:46 PM]: I found you the perfect roommate!
Don’t you think I should decide if she's perfect for me or not? :[1:12 PM] Ryan
Mary [1:14 PM]: No, because you would find something wrong with anyone that’s not me.
Ryan didn’t respond. She was probably right and used to Mary’s dramatics, but there was no way in hell she found a roommate for her that quickly and without consulting with her first. She slipped her phone into her back pocket and focused her attention back to the group of kids filing into the community center for her martial arts class. She still had a yoga class to teach at 6:00 PM and then a shift at The Hold Up at 7:30 PM. She could talk about the roommate thing with Mary later or even tomorrow.
At the end of her yoga class, she received a message from one of the other bartenders begging to take her shift for the night to work some benefit. Ryan debated for a moment, but figured it was a sign that she and Mary could revisit their conversation from earlier.
Ryan walked up the flight of stairs, preferring that to the elevators and stuttered to a stop when she saw a tall figure fiddling with the door handle to her and Mary’s apartment. She reached for her taser, this was Gotham after all, you always had to be prepared. Although, she and Mary lived in the nicer part of the city. “What the hell are you doing?”
The tall figure turned and reached behind her for something that Ryan couldn’t see. The stranger’s expression changed from fight mode to relief which confused Ryan. She removed her hand from behind her and held up a set of keys that looked similar to Mary’s.
“Ryan Wilder?” She spoke like it was a question, but the look on her face told her she already knew the answer.
Ryan tilted her head and narrowed her eyes at the stranger but stepped closer to get a better look. She was tall and ridiculously beautiful. Her dark hair curled loosely and pulled back into a low ponytail. The color of her eyes was like warm honey with flecks of amber and cinnamon. She was dressed in skintight black yoga pants and a matching zip-up, workout jacket, unzipped enough to see the swell of her breasts overflowing from her lime green sports bra that matched her Nikes. She picked up her jaw off the floor to finally respond and cleared her throat. “Do I...know you?”
“Hey, uh…I’m Sophie. Sophie Moore, your new roommate.” She waved awkwardly.
I’m going to kill Mary.