Outsiders

Sophie

Sophie Moore was not an easily frazzled person. She'd been raised in a classic middle-class American home in the suburbs of Gotham by two loving parents. She went to Church every Sunday and had participated in soccer since she was old enough to kick a ball. When she was 14, her dad lost his job after a local factory shut down and, having few employable skills outside of that position, struggled to keep down a steady job. When she was 16, the family had to downsize to a smaller home with a shared party wall and no backyard. She picked up a job to help ends meet at the corner grocer, and in all of it, she was happy, and worked harder than anyone she knew. Anyone would tell you her work ethic deserved the top ranking grades she received, and when she was awarded the full ride scholarship to the Military Academy based on merit alone, no one was surprised. Sophie saw this as her chance to move up in the world and make the difference she always longed for.

That same Sophie Moore was now leaving the Crow's facility into the midday sun after receiving an indefinite suspension. The reason? for disobeying her commanding officer and thereby 'enlisting with it a sense of distrust inconsistent with the expectations of and loyalty from a Crow.'

To say Sophie was upset would be putting it mildly. The only other time she had come this close to failing was her third year in Military Academy - this was not something she was used to and something she was not prepared to deal with. It also occurred to her as she wandered the bustling sidewalk that she didn't know who to call or where to go. For the last four years her life had revolved around the Crows, and since her separation with Tyler, the circle of friends around that had also slowly severed.

She wandered north and found herself on Gotham University's campus. It was the only zone in Gotham that still maintained any green space, and Sophie had always enjoyed walking through it, imagining what it would have been like to go to a public university like it.

She observed with a pang of jealousy the groups of friends lounging on the greenery, and the couples stealing kisses while walking to class. Sophie found herself reflecting on her time at the Academy when stealing kisses meant risking expulsion, and she felt her cheeks warm at the embarrassed feeling of being caught lip-locked, pressed against the shed in the woods. It was a day not dissimilar to today - one of the first warm spring days of the year, and the chance to get out into the sun was on everyone's mind. Everyone but Kate who had wanted to stay in and study, but Sophie had persuaded her to sneak out between classes for a chance at alone time. She lived this decision over again and again every day of her life. They were roommates with ample opportunities to be alone, but Sophie was insistent on that day, and it resulted in disaster to one of the best people in her life.

In the midst of her daydreaming, she nearly missed her name being called over and over.

"Soph! SOPHIE!"

Sophie looked up and saw a smiling Mary chasing her down from across the university lawn. By the time she reached Sophie, Mary was flush in the face, her papers disheveled, and her words coming out in gasps, "Got you! I thought that was you!"

The unlikely meeting turned into lunch at a corner cafe where the two caught up. They were an unlikely duo brought together by their relationship: one where Sophie was once her bodyguard. Mary was the outgoing socialite, and Sophie was the introverted observer, but the two had developed a mutual respect for their loyalty and motivation to do good. This was never clearer than when Sophie watched Mary help complete strangers after an elevator accident. There was also the obvious example when Batwoman brought Sophie, injured by a bullet, to the clinic and Mary saved her life. More than that, she then defended Batwoman to Sophie even though she had no reason to other than she thought Batwoman was doing good for Gotham.

"What are you doing later," Mary asked as they wrapped up their meals. Before Sophie could respond, Mary continued, "trick question: you're on suspension. That means you can come with me to the Hold Up tonight."

Sophie's side eye gave away her suspensions, "Uh, no, thanks. The last time I was there you abandoned me."

"Oh come on, it'll be fuuun. I already promised Kate I'd swing by to help bring some influencer status to the space, and I can't flake out again."

"Again? What happened last time?"

"Clinic stuff," Mary waved off, "Kate understood, but she's really trying to get under her homophobic neighbor's skin."

"Ah, I remember him," Sophie said, recalling the confrontational lunch that had her and Kate kicked out.

"Yea, and I promised to help in any way I could. Sometimes that means turning a Wednesday night into something for page 6 to write about. So, you'll come out?"

Hours later, Sophie and Mary made their way to the Hold Up. Mary was gleefully draped in a perfectly cut dress of reds with a famous designer tag tucked somewhere underneath. Sophie, not one to afford such attire nor have much interest in it, chose a simpler black dress from the back of her closet. It wasn't that Sophie didn't enjoy dressing up and going out - she just rarely had the occasion to do so, and her three-year old wardrobe was not-so-subtle evidence of that.

Mary pulled Sophie into the throws of bodies inside before she had a chance to consider hesitating. Even for a Wednesday, the bar was hopping, and it was just starting to fill up for the evening. Dance music drowned most conversation out, but Sophie understood Mary's miming about grabbing a drink at the bar. Sophie nodded, recognising liquid courage was her best bet to get through a night with Mary.

Kate was in the back room. She had tried following Luke's suggestion about getting some rest, but after three hours of restlessness, she decided her time would be better spent living up her charade as a club-owning member of society. She was impressed by how quickly the Hold Up had taken off as she took inventory of her depleted liquor stock. More to that, Mary's enthusiasm for the bar meant she was becoming a regular which certainly helped accelerate attention for the little hole in the wall. In fact, Mary was stopping by tonight and, a timely ping on Kate's phone meant she had arrived. Kate pulled her phone out expecting a slur of emojis marking Mary's entrance, but when Kate flipped her screen on, she was instead caught off guard by a Gotham Gazette notification:

"Breaking News: In effort to apprehend Nocturna (a.k.a. Natalia Knight), Crows irreparably blast two buildings in the Warehouse District owned by the Crowne Family. More updates to come..."

Kate cursed to herself. She quickly dialed Edward who picked up on the first ring, "You heard?" he asked.

"Why didn't we know about this?" Kate demanded.

"That's not the worst of it," Edward interjected. "Nocturna is dead."

"How do you know?"

"GCPD radio; they're trying to determine if there were other victims, but that's been confirmed."

"I'll be there in 20 min-"

"Are you sure that's a good idea? Batwoman showing up in the middle of this carnage? We should keep our distance from this one. Any association with Batwoman will be ammunition for Jacob to point a finger, and you can't be made the scapegoat for this."

Kate was silent for a minute, weighing Edward's words. He's not wrong she thought. "All right. But any word of more activity, let me know."

"Of course."