We Were Born Sick • Gotham Fanfiction •

XXI: Secrets and Scars

"A thousand times we die in one life. We crumble, break and tear apart the layers of illusion are burned away and all that is left, is the truth of who and what we really are." - Teal Scott

~()~

Bird glanced down to the clock on her car radio and sighed to herself when she saw she was already a few minutes late on the time she was supposed to meet up with Liza, stepping down harder on the gas pedal she started zigzagging between the two northbound lanes, passing in between cars that weren't moving near as fast as she was.

Finally, she reached the turn she needed and turned off the main road onto a side street. As she made her way into the shopping center parking lot, she spotted Liza sitting on a bench reading a book outside of a stationary supply store and parked nearby. When she saw Liza heading her way, Bird leaned over and unlocked the passenger door so she could get in.

"Hey." Liza greeted, as she got into the car and looked through the darkly tinted windows before removing the white scarf she'd been wearing over her hair and her sunglasses.

"Sorry." Bird immediately said, "I know I should have been here about ten minutes ago, but I was with Harvey and lost track of time."

Liza looked over to the brunette and smiled as she thought of how she'd missed being able to talk to Bird without worrying someone might see them together. She'd almost missed just talking to her as a friend about things other than what she'd witnessed while being around Falcone.

"That's alright." Liza smiled, "Since you were with him, I can only imagine the last thing you wanted to do was rush out to see me."

"That's not true, I've missed you." Bird admitted, despite trying so hard to keep herself distanced and indifferent to the young woman that Fish had hired on as a secret weapon, Bird had grown fond of her. "Plus, this turned out to be the perfect excuse for running out on him."

"Uh-oh, trouble in paradise?" Liza questioned.

"It's not important." Bird dismissed, waving a hand through the air as she spoke. "What did you need to see me about?"

"No, I've got plenty of time. Tell me what's going on." Liza said, tucking the book she'd had out into her purse and turning in her seat to get a better look at Bird.

It wasn't smart to be seen with Liza anywhere, not that someone would be looking for either of them in a parking lot, but still Bird knew better than to get too comfortable and assume they were safe.
Even so, she had missed her and she felt like she didn't have anyone to talk to about her relationship with Harvey Dent. Liza already knew about them, and as far as her friend's went she couldn't imagine confiding in Oswald about this sort of thing –she had her suspicions that he'd never even been on a date before.

"I guess I don't really have anyone else to talk to about this." Bird said with a small laugh, as she readjusted in her seat and looked over to Liza.

"Okay, so spill. Why were you so eager to leave him and get here today?" Liza pushed, for the first time in weeks feeling a tinge of normalcy gravitating back into her life. Sitting with a friend, talking about boyfriend problems –it didn't get much more normal than that.

"It's just..." Bird's voice trailed off, and she closed her eyes as she pulled in a deep breath and admitted, "We've been together for a while now, and even with things being so hectic –things are going pretty good other than..."

"Other than what?" Liza pushed, when Bird clammed up and didn't offer anything further.

"Taking the next step in our relationship." She replied, her eyebrows lowering when she spoke and stared straight ahead, even though she could feel Liza's eyes on her.