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Sophie waited for the elevator, taking in deep breaths to try and calm down. Trying even harder to keep from crying as her heart broke once again. All she could think was - how could the woman she cared about so deeply make her feel this much pain?
When the doors opened, she stepped in, but because she was still so upset over her argument with Ryan, she didn’t notice a woman following her in. She reached out to push the floor button, finally noticing the woman standing on the other side.
“Oh shit! Sorry, I didn’t see you there.”
“That’s quite alright,” the woman said smiling.
“Which floor do you need?”
“Ground floor, please.”
“Sure thing.”
Digging through her bag to make sure she had everything she needed, Sophie didn’t notice the woman move closer until she was right next to her.
“Umm, can I help you?” Sophie asked, taking a step back.
“Oh, you will,” the woman said, grabbing Sophie’s arm.
Sophie yanked the woman’s hand off and pushed her back. “What the hell?”
When Sophie looked closer, she thought she recognized the woman. “Do I know you?”
“Maybe, maybe not. Honestly, I don’t care,” the woman said smugly before punching Sophie in the face.
“What the fu… Oh hell no, bitch!” Sophie yelled before lunging at her.
The two went blow for blow, neither relenting in any way. Sophie drew from every bit of training she’d ever had, but the woman was somehow able to counter everything she threw at her.
Sophie kicked the woman, sending her into the elevator wall. She doubled over for a quick second before raising back up, and smiling. “It’s been a long time since anyone’s been able to kick me like that. I’m impressed,” she said, laughing.
“What? You’re sick, lady.”
“No, I’m just getting warmed up.”
“Why are you doing this?” Sophie yelled, desperate to end the deadlocked fight.
“I don’t know, it seemed like it could be fun.”
“Seriously?” Sophie asked, confused. But before anything else could be said, the elevator doors opened, and four men rushed in and grabbed her, dragging her down the hallway towards the stairwell.
Sophie fought back, somehow getting one of her arms free, and punching one of the men.
Angry, the man backhanded Sophie, almost knocking her to the ground.
“Stop,” one of the other men said before he could hit Sophie again. “We aren’t supposed to hurt her, only bring her to him.”
“Fine, whatever,” the man replied before they started dragging her down the hallway again.
Before they entered the stairwell, the woman stepped in front of Sophie and smiled. “Yep, this was definitely fun,” she said before pressing a rag full of chloroform to Sophie’s face.
==============================
Iris knocked on Ryan and Sophie’s door. Her face was covered with concern.
“Hey,” Ryan said when she saw her friend. “Come in. Wait, I thought you were going to City Hall with Sophie and Barry.”
Iris just stood there looking at Ryan. She had no idea how or where to begin.
“Iris?” Ryan said when she realized her friend was frozen in place. “Iris, talk to me. You’re starting to scare me.”
“Ryan, I…”
“Iris, please. I’m really scared now. What’s going on?”
“Sophie’s…”
“Sophie’s what?” she asked, stepping closer to Iris. “Sophie’s what, Iris?”
“Sophie’s… gone.”
“What? What do you mean she’s gone?”
“I mean, she never showed up at the car. At first, I thought your argu… discussion was taking longer than she thought it would, but when more time passed than it should, we realized something was wrong.”
“Wait, I don’t understand, Iris. She was with you. She was –”
Ryan stopped when her throat closed. Keeping her from uttering words she wasn’t prepared to say.
“I know, Ryan, she just… she never showed up.”
“That’s not possible, Iris. She left here to meet you,” Ryan said, stopping again when the reality of what happened started to truly sink in.
“I’m sorry, Ryan, she never came. We checked the hotel cameras, and it looks like she was in some sort of fight with a woman before some men came in and took her from the elevator. Barry found signs of a struggle in the hallway, and…”
“And what, Iris? And what? Tell me.”
“And blood splatter on the walls. I’m so sorry, Ryan. Sophie is gone.”
“Blood? Wait, no. No, she… no.” Ryan whispered, falling to her knees.
Sophie is gone. Three simple words completely crushing her. Sucking the air out of her. Ripping her heart right out of her chest.
“She can’t… No, Iris, she can’t be gone.”
“I’m so sorry, sweetie,” Iris said, kneeling next to Ryan.
“The things I said to her, Iris. She can’t…”
Iris wrapped her arm around Ryan. “I’m sorry.”
“NO!” Ryan screamed, bursting into uncontrollable tears. Her body shook with fear, anger, sadness, and regret. All she could think about was the argument they had just before Sophie left the room. How this was all her fault.
“No, no, no. Sophie,” Ryan called out, rocking back and forth, with Iris holding her and crying almost as hard as her now. “She can’t be gone. I can’t lose her. I can’t.”
Barry and Caitlin heard Ryan in the hallway, fighting back their own tears at the sound of their friends’ devastated cries.
“We have to do something, Barry,” Caitlin said. “Ryan won’t make it if anything happens to Sophie.”
“I know, you’re right, but I don’t even know where to start. I didn’t recognize any of the people on the video, did you?”
“No, but we still need to do something.”
“Right. Look, why don’t you give Ryan something to help calm her down, and I’ll start searching the city. Hopefully they haven’t gotten too far away.
“Alright. I’ll let Iris know what’s going on.”
Thank you,” Barry said before speeding off.
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Waking from the chloroform, Sophie was still groggy, but knew she needed to try and figure out where she was.
She was tied to a chair in the middle of a small room, facing the wall. There were no windows, and only a single light bulb hovering above her.
“Wow, they really went old school kidnapper, didn’t they?” she said to herself.
She couldn’t remember much, only that she was ambushed by the men when the elevator doors opened. But she knew when she didn’t meet Barry and Iris at the car, Ryan and Team Flash would immediately start looking for her.
“Help!” Sophie yelled, but her throat closed as a result of being punched by the woman in the elevator, cutting her cry short.
“Good, you’re finally awake,” Sophie heard from behind.
“Why am I here? What do you want with me?”
The woman from the elevator stood in front of her and smiled.
“Who the hell are you?”
“Well, my name is Helena Bertinelli, but you probably know me as Huntress.”
“Huntress. I knew you looked familiar. I’ve never done anything to you, why are you doing this? And why are you working with those men?”
“I don’t give a shit one way or the other about you, Commissioner Moore, I’m just in it to have something to do,” she said, turning her back to Sophie. “Oh, and the money ain’t bad either,” she said, laughing.
“Why would they pay you to –”
“Oh please,” Huntress interrupted. “You saw those pathetic men. Hell, you almost got away from them. They knew they could never get you on their own, so they brought me in. I must say though, you were tougher than I thought you’d be. Supermodels can’t usually fight like that. You are definitely impressive, Commissioner.”
“I would say thank you, but I don’t really give a shit what you think.”
“Fair,” Huntress laughed.
“So, all of this is just about money to you, huh?”
“What else is there?”
“Well, if it’s money you want, I can get that for you,” Sophie said, thinking of Jada when she made the offer.
“No, I believe Huntress is finished here in Central City,” a voice called out from behind. “Isn’t that right?” a man said, standing next to Huntress and handing her an envelope. Keeping his back turned to Sophie.
Huntress looked in the envelope and smiled. “Right you are.” Then she looked down at Sophie. “Commissioner Moore, thank you for a lovely evening. It really was fun,” she said before leaving the room.
Sophie hung her head, realizing the only shot she had at getting away just left the room.
==============================
“Hello, Commissioner Moore,” the man said, folding his arms.
“And who are you supposed to be?” Sophie asked without looking up.
“Oh, come now. You aren’t even going to look at me?”
“Fine,” Sophie said, raising her head, jumping when she saw the person in front of her. “It can’t be, you’re…”
“What? Oh – no, no, no. I’m not who you think I am. But I can understand why you’d make that mistake.”
“I don’t understand. What’s happening here?” Sophie asked, trying to look behind her.
“I know at first glance, you assumed I was Russell Tavaroff, didn’t you? Well, I’m not Russel, I’m his identical twin brother, Nathan.”
“What? I didn’t realize Tavaroff had a family. I guess I assumed he was just belched out from the belly of hell.”
“Now, now, Ms. Moore. Do you really think it wise to antagonize the person that has you tied to a chair?”
Sophie looked away.
“That’s better.”
Sophie looked him in the eye. “You know my friends are looking for me, right? They won’t give up until they find me.”
“Is that so? Tell me, are you their precious damsel to rescue? Ms. Moore, this is Central City, not Gotham. Your friends aren’t here. No one is looking for you.”
Sophie shook her head and laughed. He had no idea how Ryan would move heaven and earth to find her. No clue Flash would run through the entire city looking for her.
“So, was that one of your lackies that tried to run me over outside City Hall?”
“Oh goodness no. I would never do something so crass. That was just a drunk that lost control of their car. No, what I have planned for you is so much more… poetic. Now, I’m sure you’re wondering why you’re here, and since we don’t have a lot of time, I’ll get right to it.”
“Great, you’re about to monologue me,” Sophie said, shaking her head.
Clearly frustrated with Sophie’s belligerence, he continued. “My brother is a good man.”
“Your brother shot my friend and almost killed him. Then, lied and said he had a gun. That doesn’t sound like something a good man would do.”
“You weren’t there, Ms. Moore. You don’t know all the facts. My brother put his life on the line every day to protect Gotham. Sometimes he had to make quick decisions to save his own life. I’m proud of him.”
“It sounds more like you worship him or something.”
“He doesn’t deserve to be locked up like some kind of animal.”
“Your brother is a psychotic asshole that deserves everything he got. Maybe more.”
Nathan laughed at her comment. “You know, Russell knew you didn’t have what it took to be Kane’s second in command.”
“Is that right?”
“Yes, it is. You were too soft, weak. Much too emotional. You couldn’t make the tough decisions. You were willing to compromise when it benefited you, but if anyone else did, well… In the end, you couldn’t be trusted. Russell could. He knew what the mission was, and he did what he had to in order to accomplish the goal. He should have been second in command, not you.”
“Yeah, he showed what he was capable of when he tried to take over.”
“You were a Crow, Ms. Moore. You were both part of the same team. You should have had his back.”
“I may have been a Crow, but I was never on the same team as Russell.”
“You know, Ms. Moore, you’re the reason my brother is locked up. He was only doing what was necessary to save Gotham, but you made him out to be some kind of monster.”
“No, his arrogance, greed and privilege are the reasons he is where he is, not me.”
“Think what you will, Ms. Moore, it changes nothing. The city of Gotham will get its newly crowned princess back when I get my brother back.”
“Wait. You want to trade me for Russell?” Sophie let out a loud chuckle. “Yeah, that’s never gonna happen, evil spawn number two. Your brother’s staying put.”
“Oh, they’ll do it if they know what’s good for them.” He leaned down, getting within inches of Sophie’s face. “Because if they don’t, well, things could get a bit… explosive.”
Someone came running into the room and whispered something in Nathan’s ear.
“Are you sure?” Nathan asked the man.
“Yeah. We need to do something quick.”
“Alright, let the others know,” Nathan said before looking back at Sophie. “It seems our time has come to an end, Ms. Moore, but I assure you, this will not be the last time you see me.”
“Looking forward to it,” Sophie replied snidely as she watched Nathan walk away.
She instantly started trying to break free from the chair, almost tipping herself over.
“Dammit!”
She started pulling again when her hair was suddenly blown in her face.
“Thank god. Sophie, are you alright?” Sophie heard before someone brushed her hair from her face.
Standing in front of her was The Flash.
“Flash. Thank goodness,” she said, letting out a sigh of relief. “I’m so glad it’s you. Did you catch the men that brought me here?”
“No, I’m sorry. They were gone by the time I found you. Do you know who they were or what they wanted?”
“You know what, I’ll explain all of that later. Right now, I just want to get out of here and back to Ryan.”
“Hold on, let me get you untied.”
“Is she ok?”
Barry smiled. “She will be now. Come on, let’s get out of here.”
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When Barry and Sophie walked into the room, everyone went silent.
Ryan couldn’t help but stare at her girlfriend, studying every move she made. She watched her glide across the room, her perfect models walk in full effect. Looked into her eyes as the lights above her revealed the enchanting gold lying just beneath the surface, the gold that made Ryan melt every time she saw it. Traced the delicate crease of her mouth, feeling the warmth Sophie’s smile always exuded, remembering how tender her lips felt when they touched her body. Followed the statue-like curves of her hips, recalling all the times her hands softly caressed them. She examined every inch of Sophie’s body from head to toe, a body that would put any goddess to shame.
Obviously, it wasn’t the first time she’d seen Sophie, but for some reason, all the things she’d seen hundreds of times before hit Ryan differently. And even though their relationship had been strained lately, at that moment, Ryan knew beyond a doubt… Sophie had her entire heart.
Ryan ran to Sophie, wrapping her arms around her and squeezing as tight as she could. “I was so scared I’d lost you, Sophie. I was…”
Ryan burst into tears, unable to hold back all the emotions that filled her having Sophie back safely in her arms.
“It’s alright, I’m here. I’m ok,” Sophie said, squeezing Ryan tighter. “But I really need to sit down.”
“Oh, right,” Ryan said, leading Sophie over to a table. “Look what they did to you,” she said as she softly caressed Sophie’s bruised face.
“I got a few hits in too,” Sophie said, smiling.
“I bet you did. I can’t lose you, Soph. I can’t. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Sophie took Ryan’s face in her hands. “You won’t lose me, Ryan. I’m not going anywhere, I told you that. I will always find my way back to you. Always.”
Ryan gently touched Sophie’s bruised eye. “I’m so sorry this happened to you.”
“I’ll heal,” Sophie said, looking away.
“This is all my fault, Soph. If I hadn’t been a complete bitch and tried to control what you do, we wouldn’t have been arguing, and you wouldn’t have been distracted. They never would’ve gotten the jump on you if you weren’t thinking about fighting with me.”
“They were determined to get to me one way or another, Ryan.”
Ryan held Sophie’s hands. “I thought I’d lost you for good, Soph. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t think straight. Hell, they had to sedate my ass I was losing my shit so bad. You were right. You said if anything ever happened to you, I’d be wrecked. But I don’t think wrecked even describes what I was.”
“Well, I’m back now.”
“Sophie, I don’t have the words for how I felt. I’m nothing without you by my side… nothing. You’re my rock, my sanity. You’re everything good in my world,” Ryan said before softly kissing Sophie.
==============================
Iris stood next to Barry. “I know all too well what they’re going through right now.”
“I know you do,” Barry said, putting his arm around her.
“Did you find the people that took her?”
“No. By the time I got there, it was just Sophie left in the building. She said she got a good look at them, and knows who one of them is.” Barry stood in front of Iris, taking her hands in his. “This wasn’t a random kidnapping, Iris. From what Sophie told me, this is somehow tied to the barrels and the bombs, and I –”
“Stop,” Iris interrupted. “Barry, this is taking a toll on you, it’s taking a toll on all of us, but I really don’t like what it’s doing to you. You’ve been going nonstop for weeks, and after they took Sophie… Barry, I don’t think I’ve seen you get one minute of sleep. I’m afraid what will happen if you don’t slow down, and I can’t just stand by and watch it happen. Look, Sophie is back with Ryan, and she seems to be ok, at least physically. So, for tonight, please just rest. Spend the rest of the night with me. No barrels, no toxins, no kidnappers… just you and me. Alright?”
“Yes ma’am,” Barry said leaning in for a kiss.
==============================
Ryan saw Sophie’s expression suddenly change. “What’s wrong, babe?”
“Ryan, I love so many things about you, and honestly, the one thing that kept running through my mind the entire time was just getting back to you.”
“I feel like there’s a but coming.”
“I just… I don’t like how easy it was for us to fall into such a bad place, Ryan. We’ve gone weeks without being ourselves. The long days and even longer nights. The missed dates. The fact that I don’t get to hold you, or feel you hold me like I used to. The arguing. Then there’s what happed the other day… I hate all of it, Ryan. And for you to think that you can just stand there and say a few words and that makes everything better…”
“Wait, what?”
“Ryan, I know you were hurting while I was gone, I was too. But we can’t ignore the fact that things aren’t right between us.”
Sophie could see her words cut deeper and deeper the longer she spoke.
“Look, I just went through hell. I had some things thrown at me that I never thought about, and it was messed up. And you’re right, if I hadn’t been so upset with you in that elevator, they probably wouldn’t have gotten me.”
“Oh, so now you’re saying it is my fault?”
“Maybe a little, yeah.”
Before Ryan could respond, Caitlin approached.
“I’m so sorry to interrupt, but I’d really like to give you a quick examination, Sophie. Your body has suffered quite a bit of trauma recently, and I just want to make sure everything’s ok.”
“Yeah, of course,” Sophie said, climbing down off the table.
“Wait, Sophie. We’re not done talking about this.”
“I’m sorry, Ryan. But for now, we are,” Sophie said before following Caitlin to her lab.