Auroral » Titans

3|| Old Faces

The door to Sophie's apartment thunked against the wooden door frame as it fell closed.

She hooked the chain deadbolt into place before she kicked off her boots and headed towards the kitchen. The sun was setting, casting a subtle orangy pink glow through the thick layer of grey clouds.

She sat down at her kitchen table, hiking her legs up onto the chair beside her. She popped the lid off of the cold beer she had grabbed from her fridge and took a sip.

She had never been a huge fan of beer but it was one of those things she grew a taste for because of Jason.

She wouldn't admit it to anyone but a part of her missed him. Unlike Dick, she hadn't left without saying goodbye. She called the manor every weekend to check in and tried her best to text the people she left behind.

That place was still her home and the people that lived in it were still her family.

Sophie placed her beer down on the table and shrugged off her denim jacket. She was quiet for a moment before she huffed and rose to her feet. She trotted upstairs to her bedroom and grabbed her laptop from her desk.

She knew she was behind on her work and her boss was getting antsy with the amount of client cases she hadn't even bothered to look at. She was one of the best private investigators in that firm and her boss knew it. Which just meant he pushed her to take more cases than anyone else.

Sophie sat back down at her kitchen table and took another sip of her beer. She opened the laptop and set to work. Going through the ten or so cases her boss had sent her.

****

It was somewhere around eleven when Sophie finally closed her laptop. She dropped her head into her hands and rubbed her tired eyes with her palms. She didn't want to stare at another cheating husband or gay lover for the next eight hours.

She sat back in her seat, her eyes flickering up to her tv. It was on, casting a dim glow throughout the living room. She usually left it on a low volume well she worked, if it was too loud she couldn't focus and if it was too quiet her ears would start to ring.

She watched the old movie that played on the tv for a moment. She let herself relax into the wooden chair when a knock erupted through the silence.

Sophie's eyes snapped over to the front door and she shook her head. She was sure it was just her neighbor Lyn coming to ask her out for a girls night. That woman was insistent that Sophie needed to get out more. So every Friday Lyn would try to get her to go bar hopping with her and some friends.

Sophie unhooked the deadbolt and pulled the door open, ready to deny the offer.

Her breath caught in her throat as her green eyes landed on Dick. He stood right in front of her. Nothing about him had changed since the last time she had seen him. Yet there was something off about him, something she couldn't quite explain.

He quickly looked her up and down before he met her gaze. "I could use your help."

Sophie's brow furrowed and a movement slightly behind Dick caught her attention. She looked down to see a girl dressed in a large black hoodie fiddling with the hem of her sleeve.

"Well," Sophie looked back up at Dick, her jaw tightening as her initial shock was replaced with anger. "Come in."

She stepped back and the young girl walked inside almost hesitantly. She looked back at Dick before her eyes shot over to Sophie.

"Hi," Sophie forced a smile. She abandoned Dick by the door and walked over to the girl. "I'm Sophie."

"Rachel." The girl said quietly. Her voice was hoarse and she had a puffiness to her eyes that told Sophie she had been crying.

"It's nice to meet you. Do you want anything?" She asked kindly, her eyes flickering over to her kitchen. "I don't really have food but I think there's some ice cream left in the freezer."

Rachel shook her head. "I'm just tired." She answered softly.

"Ok. You can crash on the bed upstairs." Sophie smiled softly and Rachel nodded. She looked back at Dick before heading for the wooden stairs that lead up to the bedroom loft.

The moment Rachel was gone from sight Sophie's shoulders dropped and she shot a deadly glare over at Dick. He stood near the doorway. His hands were shoved in the pockets of his jeans and a frown pulled at his lips.

Despite her anger, Sophie couldn't ignore the small bubbling feeling of joy that rose in her chest.

Sophie ground her teeth together before she walked back over to her kitchen table and sat down. She grabbed the half drank beer and took a large sip. She watched from the corner of her eye as Dick walked over and took a seat across from her.

"How've you been?" He spoke quietly, almost like he was afraid she'd attack him if he spoke any louder. And he probably wasn't wrong.

"Fine." Sophie placed the bottle down on the table and began picking at it's liable. "So how'd you end up with her." She nodded over to the staircase.

Dick shifted in his seat and sighed. "She kind of just fell into my lap. Her mothers dead and there's people coming after her." He briefly explained with a look in his eyes that begged her to understand.

"So you brought her here?" Sophie scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"Come on Sophie, you love kids." Dick's lips twitched upwards as he tried to lift the mood. His brief ghost of a smile faded the moment he saw the glare she was giving him.

"I love a lot of things but that doesn't mean I want them showing up on my doorstep." She snapped quietly. Dick let out a heavy sigh as he slumped back in his chair. His eyes fell to the tabletop and he chewed at the inside of his cheek.

"I'm sorry Sophie." He said quietly before his gaze flickered up to her.

"Yeah." She huffed.

Sophie knew she was being icy but she couldn't find the will power to pretend like she wasn't five minutes away from screaming at him. He had been her best friend, then he left without so much as a goodbye. That wasn't something she could so easily forgive.

"So what?" Dick spoke, the annoyance growing in his own voice. "We're just going to sit in silence?"

"I think you should take her to Bruce." Sophia cut him off before he could say something that really got her blood pumping.

"No." Dick snapped. Sophie's eyes darted up to meet his. He shifted in his seat and shook his head. "We can handle this without him."

"Fine." Sophie huffed and dragged a hand through her hair. "Then take her to Dawn. Her and Hank are older, they'll know what to do."

Dick was silent for a moment, his eyes downcast to the table as he thought. "Yeah." He nodded.

"Ok." Sophie sighed. "I guess we're heading to Washington."

Dick's head snapped upwards, his eyes widening slightly. "You're coming with me?"

Every part of Sophia hated the way she was so easily thrown back into Dick's life, but she couldn't let him deal with this on his own. "You're still my friend Dick, and we both know you have no idea how to deal with kids."

A small smile tugged at his lips and a silent chuckle shook his chest. "I took pretty good care of you."

And just like that Sophie's anger was momentarily forgotten. "My mom took care of me, you were basically a glorified babysitter." She said, a grin working its way onto her lips.