Chapter Text
“Are you even listening to me?” Jordan Moore asked her older sister as they were sitting across from each other eating lunch. “I went with you to that difficult ass spin class, you know I'm not built for that and then I even paid for lunch. You know I never do that. the least you could do is actually pay attention to me?” She put on her best little sister brat pout that always worked on her big sister.
Sophie finally looked up at her across the table not even realizing that she spaced out. “I'm sorry J, tell me again about this new guy at the center that you’re not sure is into you but clearly is.” She smirked but her mind was clearly still elsewhere. “See, I was listening. Just ask Dre out already.”
Jordan chuckled but moved her food to the side, giving making eye contact with Sophie to show her concern. She was glad that she was listening, but she could tell there was something more going on. “Is this about the new job and move? I thought you’d be in better spirits. Isn’t this what you wanted? And we saw the cute girl from yoga you won't shut up about in this spin class too.”
Sophie sighed, “yea it's probably the job. My brain hasn’t been as focused lately. It's such a big change, you know.”
“Youve done a big career change before. and you’ve just been off and moody today. Your period come early or something? Hold on let me check my tracker app.”
“Jordan, why are you tracking my period?!” She said with a laugh before she stopped abruptly, and her eyes went big. she quickly moved to get her own phone, frown lines present on her face.
Jordan noticed the change in her sister after her joke. “Um, Soph, is there something you need to tell me...?”
Sophie looked up from her phone, brows still furrowed, “I - I um haven't had it in a while. I guess the stress from the move and preparing for this new job, I didn't even think about it.”
Sophie moved from National City back to her hometown of Gotham two months ago. Her consulting firm was hired to revamp the security team for one of the biggest companies in Gotham, with her personally trained and selected team supplying personal security off site to the CEO and their family.
She couldn't be what she thought she was. She was so focused on setting up her new life and making sure that her staff were trained and ready to start their jobs in two weeks that she wasn't really focusing on herself. Outside of finding a new gym as soon as she got the keys to her condo, she hadn't really done much in terms of taking care of her other needs.
Jordan watched her as she got lost in thought again. “Soph, are you okay?”
Sophie let out I sigh, not wanting her sister to be disappointed in her. “Well, I told you how Tyler and I had dinner after the judge finalized our divorce...”
Jordan cut her off, “you didn’t?!”
“We did.”
“Girl! Didn't I tell you about you and that damn whiskey.”
“Yea but it was Tyler, and you know how we get when we’re together.”
“Unfortunately,” Jordan said, thinking about the times she’s walked in on them. “Let me guess, he batted those long eyelashes and with his dark skin, soft skin and light eyes looking deep at you, you forgot that you were a lesbian, again. I know he is pretty but damn girl. You are too grown and too type A for you to be having a pregnancy scare right now. Get up.” Jordan says sternly.
Jordan was right, she is too grown and too type A for this.
Gathering her trash and getting her purse and keys. Sophie is still seated as Jordan stands at the front door waiting for her sister. She taps her foot impatiently. And Sophie has never felt smaller as she follows behind her little sister who is acting much like the big sister in this moment.
They make it downstairs to the parking garage, Jordan mumbling under her breath about how irresponsible Sophie is the whole time before getting into her car. Sophie clearly moving too slowly for her as she turns over her car engine and looking with a look that says ‘put on your seatbelt’. Sophie quickly put on her seatbelt. Thinking how her sister could look and act so much like their mother that passed when Jordan was too young to pick up these mannerisms. But still she obliged. not even daring to ask where they were going. What she wasn’t expecting was them pulling up to what looked like an abandoned building less than 20 minutes later. As she slowly got out of the car, following behind her sister, she felt like a child behind scolded. They went through a series of doors before they were greeted loudly by a shorter woman in a white coat.
“Hey girl, what did you bring me today.” She and Jordan hug.
“Not one of my teens today, just my sister. Sophie, this is Dr. Hamilton.”
“Please call me Mary,” The woman greets Sophie with a hug.
“Nice to meet you.” She turns to Jordan, “I just need a pregnancy test, we could have gotten that from a store, we didn't have to come all the way here.” Sophie states while looking around at the very illegal looking medical clinic.
“It’s no problem, I’ll have answers for you within the hour,” Mary said before showing them to an exam room.
Sophie sat in the exam room after receiving her results. She was pregnant and she was spiraling. She wanted kids but not as a surprise. How would she tell Tyler. He just started as commander of the CROWS in London. He would drop everything and move back if she asked but she didn't want that burden on him. How would she be security detail with a full belly? She had too many questions and no answers. She really did not like to not have a plan. As she finally left the exam room to find her sister so they could go home and she could process in private, she saw the cute girl from yoga. The girl who she has yet to build up the courage to talk to. Welp, that's out of the question now. Who would want to date the pregnant lady?
That thought was quickly supported as she noticed that the woman wasn't alone. She had another woman draped over her shoulder. How did so many people know this place existed? Gotham wasn't big enough for all this.
Jordan shook her sister out of her staring, asking if she was ready to go. They left the clinic and drove back to Sophie’s condo. When they get inside, Sophie quickly walks to her bedroom bathroom, she throws up, not from pregnancy, but from the weight of it all. She washes her face, brushes her teeth, rinses, then goes back to join her sister. She still looks stunned. Jordan watches her move about the room. Shaking her head at her as she went by.
When Sophie finally sat herself on her couch Jordan walked over to her with a glass of water. “Damn Soph.”
Sophie looked over at her and just nodded. She tried to form words, but her mouth just opened and closed.
Jordan took a deep breath before she said these next words as gently as possible. “You have to call Tyler.” Sophie’s eyes closed and opened in a slow blink as she repeated, “I have to call Tyler.” Realization hitting her once again. Their last night of celebration turning into... this. Shit .
Sophie jumped up from the couch, her hands gesturing wildly. “What if I, ya know, don’t tell him.”
Jordan looked at her like she was stupid. “Girl.”
Sophie looked down at the floor, slowly sitting back down. She looked like she was on the verge of tears.
Jordan took pity on her overly organized sister. “What if we call him together? It’s Tyler. He was your best friend before you got married. And no shade but I’m pretty sure he knew you were a lesbian before you did.”
That made Sophie smile a little. Jordan was most likely correct. She’d kissed girls in high school, slept with a few women during her time at Point Rock and even after in National City, but she didn’t think too much of it at the time until about a year ago. She thought she was just having fun, Tyler helped her realize it was most likely more than just fun.
She and Tyler met at Point Rock Military Academy. There were only a few black cadets in their year, and they were both in the top ten right from the beginning when the first class rankings posted, they naturally gravitated towards each other. Intense competition quickly turned into friendship and a support system as they were both far away from home and not too many of their fellow cadets looked like them.
Shortly after graduation, Tyler received a job offer from the CROWS National City division, he immediately took the offer. Sophie made friends at Point Rock but none like Tyler. She took a chance and moved with him. She was able to build her consulting business while staying with him rent free. It took her less than six months to get it off the ground and she was profitable by the next six. They made sense together. They were young, black, successful and best friends. So, when he proposed, of course she said yes. They hadn't been dating in the traditional sense, but they might as well have been a couple. They lived together, did everything together, slept in the same bed. Basically, a couple, right? That’s what they thought. Of course they got married. Everything looked good from the outside. Even the occasional sex that they had was good. However, when they started talking about next steps in their marriage, because everyone kept asking, they both realized that they were just friends. They loved each other deeply, but not like that. When thinking about raising children together, they knew that it would work no matter what, but they both wanted more. The divorce discussion was one of the easiest hard discussions that Sophie ever had. She brought up moving back to Gotham, and them divorcing. Tyler quickly agreed, saying that he was offered a promotion in London. Even though she apologized profusely for wanting to split up, Tyler was supportive. “It’s your turn to learn who you are outside of me. I’ll always love you, Sophie. You’ll always be my best friend.” With that they cried on each other as they embraced. They filed their divorce papers shortly after. A few months later, the judge declared their divorce as official, and they went out to eat dinner together to celebrate. Celebrate their new beginnings. Fast forward two months and now that dinner and celebration has led to this.
Sophie knew that Jordan was right. She had to call Tyler. She already knew what he would say. He will support her no matter what.
Sophie entered Jeturian industries, ready for her first official day of work. She’s worked tirelessly the last six weeks to rework her security plan to accommodate her unexpected new lifestyle. Even though it is her first official day, she spent the last four weeks retraining and implementing her security protocol on the current Jeturian security team. She also brought in three people that she trusted and worked with in National City to work the CEOs family’s personal security detail with her. While she would be able to do it for the next few months, she wanted to have someone that she trusted ready to take over when required.
She had already met with Jada Jet, the CEO whose company and family she was hired to protect, but this was the first time she was showing her full overhaul to the CEO and showing her who would be protecting her family.
As she and her three team members set up in the small annex office in the C-suite, waiting to start the presentation, Sophie caught a quick reflection of herself in the glass panel walls; her tailored shirts were no longer so tailored. She quickly adjusted her suit jacket and buttoned it, pulling it down slightly before her clients made their entrance. Jada greeted them all warmly, mentioning that her son and daughter were the family members that would need personal protection and that they were finishing up their own meetings and would be in shortly. Sophie started her presentation, detailing all of the protocol changes and technology upgrades that she implemented as well. As she was moving into the personal protection details of her presentation, she paused for a break to let the other Jet’s make their appearance.
She found her way to a restroom. Washing her hands and fixing her suit some more, she saw her . She hadn't thought about her since the clinic that day. She has had too much on her mind to think about the cute girl from the gym. While she has been back to yoga and still uses the whole gym sometimes, she got herself a stationary bike for her home and hasn’t been back since. They shared a polite smile through the mirror as Sophie walked out and back to the room.
Sophie meets her team back in the room, giving them a quick rundown on the next part of the presentation, ensuring that they are all on the same page, when she hears Jada speak. “It’s about time, I was beginning to think that I made up having children.”
“Ha ha don’t be so dramatic, Ma,” Marquis says while giving his mother a kiss on the cheek.
Sophie turns around from her makeshift huddle and her eyes go wide as she watches her give Jada Jet a kiss on the cheek as well.
Jada ushers her kids to sit. “Sophie Moore, these are my children. Marquis Jet and Ryan Wilder.”
Sophie froze.
“Dammit Ryan, again?!” Mary said sternly as she noticed the two woman stumbling into her clinic.
“I know Mary, I tried. But just help, please?” she said with pleading doe eyes. Knowing her best friend couldn’t say no to her.
She let out a deep sigh. While she was disappointed in her friend for continuing to put herself back into this situation, dragging the same woman, unconscious or nearly so each time back into her clinic, she also took an oath. “Okay. Okay, you know the drill. Grab that and lay her down here.”
The two of them worked together to lay the slightly unconscious woman down onto a table and get to work on her. They pretty much moved in tandem. You would think Ryan was also a medical doctor. When they finished, Ryan pulled Mary into a thankful embrace. Mary looked at her friend sadly before pulling her to the side. “Ry, it’s getting worse.” Ryan looked down at her shuffling feet sadly. “There’s more options for her than this, you know that right?” Ryan nods, still not looking up from the floor. “She’s my oldest friend Mare. And I can’t force her to do something she doesn’t want to do.”
“You need to Ryan. She might not survive this again.” Ryan hugs her friend in thanks as she returns to the main floor to sit by her friends bed, holding her hand as she waits for her to wake up; hoping that she wakes up.
All Ryan wanted to do after her spin class was relax and think about the new woman with the light eyes she’s been seeing around her gym. But nope. She can’t do that. Instead, she is here at her best friend’s medical clinic, hoping that her oldest friend doesn’t die.
Ryan Wilder was an anomaly. She was orphan Annie. Except Daddy Warbucks was her actual mother. Yup. While Annie was a child when she was adopted, Ryan was 16 years old. Already hardened by the system. Knew the ins and the outs of surviving in Gotham. All orphans dream of finding their birthparents. They make up stories of the rich lives they would have if only their parents hadn't died. Only, that was Ryan’s real life. Her birth mother was a real life billionaire. Yes, her father was dead, at least that part was true. The rest of the story took years of therapy and a lot of yelling to get through. She doesn’t like to think about the reconciliation years. But she will never forget where she came from. That’s why she is sitting in Mary’s clinic after yet another OD holding the hand of Angelique Martin. Angelique was the one person who had her back all those years ago. They were two orphans. They understood each other. They’ve protected each other since they were 12 years old. When Ryan’s circumstances changed, she brought Angelique with her. They went through too much together for her to just leave her at that group home. If Ryan got saved, they both got saved.
She didn't know this woman claiming to be her mother, but she knew Angelique. She was told her whole life that her mother was dead. Then Jada Jet of all people, claims that it was all a misunderstanding and that she was her mother, and she was taking her to her mansion to live with her. Nah. Ryan wasn’t going alone.
Jada’s guilt allowed Angelique to move into Jet manor with them, she even became Angelique’s legal guardian. While Ryan adjusted somewhat quickly, for Angelique it was just another reminder that she had no family. Her pain slowly turned into partying, that slowly turned into a drug habit, and now they’re here. It’s been over a decade since they left the group home, but the pain is still there. To be honest, Ryan thinks she and Ange would be better off if Jada never found her. Yes, she gained a family, but all Ange got was a reminder. That loyalty and that guilt is why Ryan will always look out for her.
Ryan’s running late. She hates running late but this damn meeting is taking too long. When she worked her way up through her mother’s company, starting as an intern while she went to college, she never pictured that she would be this good at it. She was always good at numbers, so accounting came easy to her. She could easily be the CFO at Jeturian right now, but she doesn't think that she’s earned it yet. She is very comfortable in her director position. It allows her to actually do the work and stay out of the public eye. Thus, why while most people know that Jada Jet has a daughter, they do not know who she is. If she were CFO that would all change. She has a much needed long weekend planned, and her last meeting of the day is to meet her new security detail, but she can't get to that meeting until this one finishes.
Once she finishes her meeting, she heads up to the C- Suites when she receives an email from Angelique. It’s been 6 weeks since her OD and immediate admittance into yet another rehab facility once she woke up. Angelique doesn’t want to see her. Says she needs time away from Ryan. The long weekend that Ryan was looking forward to is now ruined. She stops in the bathroom to catch her tears before they fall. As she’s walking in, she notices her . The woman from her gym that she saw repeatedly then never saw again. What is she doing here? She looks – different? But even more beautiful, if that was even possible. Ryan smiles at her through the mirror before going into a stall to get herself together.
She leaves the restroom, walking to the annex office off of her mother’s to join the meeting that she is very late to. She greets her mother with a kiss on the cheek as she is ushered to take a seat. Her mother speaks. “Sophie Moore, these are my children. Marquis Jet and Ryan Wilder.”
Ryan froze.