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For Sophie, leaving Gotham after the last few months was like stepping into a paradise painted in the most vivid colors. She couldn’t wait to be gone, even if only for a short time, to have Ryan to herself and to just breathe.
“The team at Jeturian is making headway with the cure and now that they have a live zombie, they should be able to come up with a formula that works. And I checked in on Tyler…” Sophie’s steps faltered at the mention of her ex-husband and Mary’s eyes widened in panic. “I’m sorry, I just thought you’d want to—”
“- No, I do,” Sophie quickly interjected. She busied herself with searching for the keys to their rental, which she already knew were in her back pocket in an attempt to pretend she was fine. “How is he?”
“He’s being sedated and he’s stable for now. I’ll let you know if anything changes.”
Ryan and Luke appeared behind them. “Ryan, what aren’t you telling me?”
“I already told you everything Luke,” Ryan’s lips twitched with amusement as she shared a glance with Sophie. “We’ll be gone for a few days. Sophie has a few meetings to attend, but if you need anything, call and we’ll be back.”
“Sophie, did something else happen with Marquis?”
“No we told you everything,” Sophie ignored Ryan’s attempts to meet her eyes. “He was convinced he was Batman, I was Mayor, Ryan was a criminal, the biggest criminal in Gotham, and we were working together.”
“Look at us being a powerful couple even in his delusions,” Ryan grinned. “We should get going. I’ll text you when we get to Central City.”
Without Luke and Mary to act as a buffer between them, some of the tension they had been trying to ignore came back in full force. Ryan made a few calls to Charlie, Iris, and two investors just to fill the silence, and despite stretching out the calls with Iris and as long as she could, she still found she had only killed about an hour. Sophie didn’t seem to be in the mood to speak, and if delaying their conversation a little longer meant she was running, then Ryan never wanted to stop.
It was only when they stopped for their final stop, just a few miles out of Central City that Sophie finally broached the subject. “So, we never finished our conversation from yesterday.”
“I shouldn’t have taken that evidence without talking to you first-”
“- You shouldn’t have taken that evidence at all Ryan,” Sophie interjected, summoning all her strength to find a way to make Ryan understand without pushing her away. “I’m commissioner now, and there’s a way that things work. What if that evidence was linked to a different case entirely? Even if you return it, everyone knows it’s gone, so that’s a chain of custody issue. What case would a prosecutor actually have if that was a key piece of evidence?”
Ryan shifted uncomfortably and glanced down at her hands. “I’m sorry, I didn’t exactly think about that. Luke wanted to run tests and I just got him what he needed.”
“I know, but I have to think about that now,” Sophie murmured, she didn’t mention how despite how good it felt to be changing things in the GCPD, how lonely it felt, how sometimes it felt like hers was the only beating heart in a broken system. “Just talk to me next time.”
“I will, that’s not a mistake I’ll ever make again,” Ryan reached across the space and Sophie’s breath hitched in her throat when Ryan unexpectedly squeezed her hands, all while her eyes watched Sophie intently. “I’m proud of you Soph…”
“Thank you,” she murmured, feeling best rush to her cheeks at the compliment. Her lips fell open, but she found she had no words to say. There was something about the way Ryan watched her, the affection she felt written clearly in her smile.
“Soph, I—”
The moment was interrupted when an arrow flew past Ryan’s head, managing to knick her ear before lodging itself firmly in the window. Sophie turned in time to see two people in hoods that matched the ones that had grabbed Marquis from the Batcave loading a sophisticated looking crossbow and aiming it at Ryan’s head. A strong gust of wind blew the woman’s hood off, but she wore a mask underneath it, and there wasn’t anything distinctive enough for Sophie to try and figure out who she was. They fired two more arrows each as Ryan threw the car into drive and drove out of the rest stop without so much as a glance at the road she was pulling into.
Ryan pulled the arrow out of the window and handed it to Sophie, who immediately began examining it. “It’s the exact same make as the one they used in the Batcave. But this one’s a little shorter, and designed to do serious damage,” she undid her seatbelt and climbed into the back to search for the first aid kit. “Are they still behind us?”
“No, but I wish I had the batmobile right now…” Ryan winced when Sophie dabbed her ear. “I thought Marquis hired guns, not people with crossbows and hoods.”
“I don’t think they work for Marquis at all, hold still Ryan.”
“What if they do, but he’s convinced himself he’s Batman and now they want him dead?” Ryan asked as she checked the rear view mirror. “That doesn’t explain what they want with us.”
Sophie’s eyes flew to the case that they had discovered could create the portals that Marquis and the hoods he used to get to the Batcave. Luke had run extensive tests on it and even attempted to use it with no success. “What if this is what they’re after? I mean if this opens portals to anywhere , then you could rob a bank without ever unlocking a safe. It’s probably worth a lot to someone.”
“So they were chasing him,” Ryan murmured. “And now they’re chasing us, and they’ll kill anyone in their way to get to it.”
As if on cue, a portal opened in front of them, and Ryan had to swerve into oncoming traffic to avoid it. Three motorcycles came speeding out of it, all of which were being ridden by people wearing hoods. Sophie grabbed Ryan’s grapple hook and line launcher out of her bag.
An arrow flew past her when she opened the window, “I have an idea, but we need to get off this road.”
Just then, Ryan swerved to avoid an arrow that caused an explosion in the middle of the road. She grabbed her phone and called Luke. “Hey, you’re tracking the rental right?”
“N-No I’m not,” Luke’s immediately protested.
“Luke it’s okay,” Ryan rolled her eyes, “We’re being followed by three of those guys that took Marquis and this road is too busy for a full on fight.”
“Okay I’ve got you.” Though Sophie often complained about the way Luke insisted on typing in an obnoxiously loud way, she found the sound comforting. “Take the next off-ramp.”
Sophie leaned out of the window and aimed the line launcher at the lead rider. As soon as it locked on his front wheel, Sophie felt herself almost get pulled out of the car. “Ryan swerve!”
Ryan did as she asked and just as she retracted the grapple hook, he lost control of his bike and took out one of it the other riders. “One down, one to go.”
The last of the three seemed stopped immediately when he saw the line launcher, as though doubting his odds. Sophie got back into the car as soon as he pulled his crossbow from his back and kept her head low until they finally got to Central City’s police headquarters.
Ryan got out of the car and kicked one of the front wheels. “Well there goes our deposit.”