Chapter Text
12 months later...
Sophie’s phone vibrates on her bedside table for the third time in as many minutes.
‘Ignore it,’ Ryan gasps, digging her heels harder into Sophie’s back even though she’s made no move to leave her position between Ryan’s legs.
Sophie chuckles, the vibration of her lips sending Ryan hurtling over the edge she’d been teetering on; the reflexive spasms in the slayer’s strong limbs pressing bruises into the vampire’s resilient skin.
‘You’re insatiable,’ Sophie teases as she makes her way back up to Ryan’s mouth, trailing tiny pecks until her lover has regained enough control to kiss her back properly.
‘You’re just that good.’
Sophie laughs again, harder as Ryan deftly flips her onto her back and begins a ravenous open-mouthed trail across her throat. ‘And you still try to deny the neck fetish...’
Ryan pulls back, eyes narrowed, about to dive into their other form of foreplay – bickering – when Sophie’s phone vibrates again. ‘Saved by the buzz, Moore.’
Sophie smirks, stretching outto grab her phone and then rolls her eyes at the most recent message, knowing the previous ones will be much the same.
Y’all cannot still be christening your new place after all this time! Get your asses outta that bed and down to the Hold Up right now! We have news! Big news!
Sophie’s retort is already formed in her head when she catches sight of the time. ‘sh*t babe, we were supposed to be at the bar two hours ago.’
Ryan scoffs. ‘We have not been in bed that...’ But the tilting of Sophie’s phone screen tells another story. ‘Oop.’
***
The Hold Up is busy when they finally walk in – business hadn’t taken long to get back to pre-lockdown levels, and as a safe space for so many already, it was one of the first in Gotham to openly welcome the supernatural. Wildmoore – so dubbed by Azura, who insists ship names are mandatory -and Mary are in the early stages of discussion about expanding, but none of them has had the time to dedicate to it just yet.
Sophie and Ryan have been so focused on their work with the newly formed Coalition for Coexistence and the worldwide rollout ofeducation and resources to support supernatural integration and the development of humanitarian methods to hold the supernatural accountable – a justice system that works for all. Well, they’ve been focused on all of that and each other. They’re still in the process of moving into their new place; a huge step for them both – Ryan because she’s finally putting down solid roots again, and Sophie because she’s no longerholding onto the house that held her in her past. Her excuses of being unable to sell due to having no official documentation – what with being over one-hundred-years old and making herself a widow and all – were quashed by Jada, who had her people do what was necessary to legally transfer the house and the land to her, paying Sophie its full worth and an apartment in exchange. Ryan hadn’t been entirely happy at first – had felt it was Jada trying to buy more than she was ready to give despite recurrent conversations around their delicate accord– but the visible lightness in Sophie after signing was enough to quell any other concern. And that was before Jada had shared her plans to turn the place into secure accommodation for survivors of domestic violence, which even Ryan had to commend, albeit in a quiet, stilted kind of way.This open, redemption-seeking Jada was a lot to get used to, and not just for Ryan – there'd been articles written, a documentary made. Honesty hadn’t dethroned the people’s Princess; if anything, it had endeared her to them more. Ryan isn’t there...yet.
She glances around the bar now, half expecting Jada to be there – she has been making more of an effort to respect Ryan’s boundaries, but she hasn’t quite shaken the habit of just turning up unannounced, and Zura has the equally annoying habit of inviting her. The two of them have somehow formed a relationship separatefrom those they have with Ryan and Sophie, perhaps in quiet moments of worry for all they were sure to face since putting themselves out there as they did in the detention centre. However it happened, the pseudo mother-daughter dynamic is often a glimpse into what could have been that fills both Ryan and Sophie with melancholy. They can’t begrudge it though, not when Zura is doing so well. She’s been off drugs and human blood since Beth died, and Jada introduced her to a contact who owns a string of salons, the latest of which is set up in Gotham with sunproof windows and an abundance of wealthy clients. Zura is in her element, and stylists with her talent are rare so she’s in high demand.
‘Oh my God, finally!’ she exclaims, far too loudly across the entire bar as she catches sight of them from the corner their patrons just seem to know is theirs. ‘The two of you need to stop acting like a pair of lusty kids and remember that there is business to attend to.’ She’s already looking back at her phone, as is typical. ‘Speaking of, I gotta go – client emergency.’
‘We just got here,’ Sophie complains, perching on the arm of her chair and almost toppling as Zura stands swiftly up.
‘Whose fault is that?’ She looks directly at Ryan, eyes widening, and then back at her aunt in disapproval. ‘You’re so whipped.’
‘Now there’s an idea,’ Ryan mumbles, grinning as she slides into Zura’s vacated seat next to Mary.
‘Eww,’ Zura grimaces. ‘I am so glad we soundproofed my room.’
‘So, what’s this big news?’ Sophie interrupts before they can go completely off track. ‘You not even going to tell us before you run off to right the hair wrongs of the world?’
Zura’s eyes cut from her phone to Sophie. ‘I’ll remember this disrespect next time you want your braids done. And we already discussed the news – I aint got time for you to catch up,’ she scowls, immediately brightening into a grin and animatedly kissing her aunt’s cheek. ‘K, love you, see you at home, bye.’
Buffy and Willow watch her go with fond amusem*nt, wrapping Sophie in half hugs as she leans down to greet them and takes the remaining seat next to Luke.
‘Actually,’ Luke clears his throat, standing a little awkwardly when all eyes turn to his sudden movement. ‘I have to go too. I’m meeting Reggie and his son for dinner.’
‘How’s he doing?’ Ryan asks.
‘He’s good,’ Luke nods, smiling towards Mary. ‘I think working at the clinic is giving him some confidence back, and he’s rebuilding the relationships he had before.’
‘That’s great, Luke,’ Ryan affirms, thinking back to the man she’d met cuffed to that prison table. ‘I’m glad he has you in his corner. I know he is too.’
Luke nods again, too humbled to say anything else. He lifts a hand in goodbye and heads towards the door after Azura.
Mary’s eyes follow him the whole way. ‘Is it weird that they left together?’ she muses, trying for nonchalance and failing terribly, much to Ryan’s amusem*nt.
‘You can sense the minute changes in soil pH to a depth of three-thousandfeet, but you still can’t tellthat man is in love with you?’
‘What?’ Mary’s cheeks redden, her mouth moving even quicker than usual. ‘He’s not – I mean, I didn’t - I just – I can’t even sense pH that deep,’ she huffs. ‘Yet.’
‘Is that the big news we were summoned to receive?’ Sophie tries once again to get them to focus.
‘Luke being in love with Mary is the definition of old news,’ Ryan faux whispers, earning a tight-lipped shake of the head from her girlfriend.
‘No,’ Buffy chuckles. ‘But you missed the big delivery, so you’ll have to settle for hearing it from me, I’m afraid...’ She pauses for effect – and because it’s deserving; it’s what they’ve been working towards for so long. ‘The House passed the bill. It’s going to the President, but even if he vetoes, Congress are expected to overrule.’
‘Holy sh*t,’ Ryan murmurs, completely blown away. There’d been so much pushback, so many revisions, so many threats and hurdles, she’d started to believe they might have to find another way. ‘Holy sh*t!’ she shouts, jumping up and throwing her arms around Mary before leaping across the low table to tackle Buffy and Willow on the sofa. ‘They did it! They really did it!’ She gets back to her feet, grinning ear to ear at all of them in turn.
‘We did it, baby,’ Sophie smiles back, reaching out and gathering her to her. ‘Jada and Montoya might have gotten the bill introduced, but we all contributed to it. The humans don’t get all the credit.’
‘That’s what made it so resilient,’ Buffy adds. ‘It’s amazing what can happen when the humans and supernaturals work together, huh?’
‘I can’t believe it,’ Ryan gushes, settling onto Sophie’s lap and facing their friends. ‘We’re really going to have the same rights...’
‘Be subject to the same laws,’ Mary says, eyeing Ryan pointedly.
‘Have access to the same justice system,’ Willow adds, bringing a moment of contemplative quiet.
‘Does Hallie know?’ Ryan asks, tightening Sophie’s arms around her waist.
‘Yeah, we called her as soon as we found out.’
‘How’s she doing?’
‘As well as she can,’ Willow answers heavily. ‘She’s got her little place, her animals, grows much of her own food. She’s isolated, but she says it’s what she wants, what she needs.’
‘And her powers?’
A few months after they destroyed the gwanlian replica, Willow and Mary came across some information that led them to the idea of the real thing being used to store what was truly unwanted. After being released on time already served, Hallie’s only asks were that she was able to bury her daughter, and that she no longer be a slayer. They’d all been so reluctant – Willow in particular – but if this was one choice they could give back to Hallie after all that had been taken from her, they knew they had to do it, with the assurance that Hallie’s slayer power would always be hers, to take back if and when she wished.
‘She says she’s stronger without them. She always was.’
‘She’s not wrong,’ Ryan agrees, trying to lift Willow’s hesitant half smile with her own. ‘And I hope she’s celebrating in her own way today – this is as much her victory as it is ours. Speaking of, where are Jada and Montoya? Didn’t they want to share in the joy? Discuss what’s next?’
‘Jada had to go sign off some funding stuff for the new coalition community centre,’ Mary informs her. ‘And Montoya is already wayyyyy ahead of us with what’s next.’
‘Yeah, you didn’t think the bill was the big news, did you?’ Buffy adds, playfully facetious. ‘That was just news.’
‘Huh?’ Ryan angles her head to look at Sophie who just shrugs.
‘Montoya announced this morning, right after the bill passed.’ Buffy screws up her face. ‘Have the two of you really spent the entire day in bed?’
‘Announced what?’ Sophie presses, ignoring her friend’s uncanny channeling of her niece.
‘Her candidacy. She’s running for President.’
Ryan’s face stops somewhere on its way to surprise. ‘Actually, that fits. She’s already got the shady history and scandal down. Olivia Pope would approve.’
***
‘Quite a day, huh?’ Ryan muses as she helps Mary to clear their table. ‘I wonder if it’ll affect patrol later.’
‘I don’t know why the Gotham baddies even bother anymore. They must know that you and Soph are out there every night.’
‘Firstly, Soph and I are the Gotham baddies,’ Ryan winks, flicking her tongue out and jutting her hip. ‘And a hellmouth gonna hellmouth regardless, so this city will always be a criminal hotspot – human and not so.’
‘You sound way too chipper about that.’
Ryan glances at the Hold Up entrance and then looks back to Mary, smiling even wider. ‘Home sweet home.’
‘You miss her already, don’t you?’ Mary ribs. ‘Even though she’s literally just stepped out for a minute.’
Sophie is walking Buffy and Willow out – they have a plane to catch “like peasants” as Zura illogically put it when she found out Willow would no longer be moving the earth now that they could travel freely again. Her follow up statement about carbon footprints held some validity, but ultimately the witch didn’t want to risk the building tenuous relations with humans by being too flashy.
‘You wanna tell me your news now?’ Ryan casually swerves, placing their cups and glasses into the dishwasher behind the bar. ‘I know you have some.’
‘How?’ Mary squints at her.
‘Because I’m your bestie and I notice these things.’ Ryan nudges her away from other ears, leaning an elbow on some stacked crates waiting to be emptied into fridges. ‘You still haven’t told me the whole story about Korea... That was a huge deal, Mary. To face that alone -’
‘It’s not about that,’ Mary stops her.
Yes, going back to Korea had been a lot, but it was something she’d needed to do, and she’d been ready for it. Had come back stronger for having done it. Studying with Giles and Willow, learning about her abilities and how to control them had given her the confidence to do for her mom what Beth had for Ryan and Cora. She went back to the tunnel, to that day, and she saw what her mom saw. She saw her Great-Uncle, her Grandfather’s brother, bring the flood that killed her mom – the niece he’d considered shameful and unworthy of the gwanlian. The Uncle is long dead, but Mary felt that informing the family elders would bring peace, for herself and for her mom, and perhaps some understanding their family had been lacking back then about her mother’s decisions.
‘It’s not about my family, Ry, it’s about yours. Willow and I found something...’ She inhales, cautious and careful. ‘In Lucius’ research into Marquis’ condition and using the gwanlian, there was also some stuff about Pishachas... about your dad...Something that might change your mind aboutlooking for him...’
Ryan shakes her head. They’ve had this conversation, at length. ‘I don’t need to know who or where he is, Mary. I’m not hiding that part of myself or hiding from it - I know who I am, I know where my home is and who my family are, and he’s not someone I want to be a part of that. He hurt a child, my brother -’
‘I know, Ry,’ Mary smiles warmly, proudly, taking her hand because she’s unsure how this next revelation is going to land after everything Ryan has done to find her peace. ‘But what if I toldyou, you still have a chance to save your brother?’
Ryan’s heart thuds heavily then stops. ‘What do you mean? What are you saying, Mary?’
‘I’m saying if you find him,your dad can bring Marquis back to life.’
***
In every generation chosen ones are born, only now they have the power to choose back. They are not alone, they are not forced totake on the strength and skill to fight the vampires, the demons, and the (often human) forces of darkness, but if they accept the calling, they are protected and respected as they should be. They are free to live the lives they choose. They arethe slayers.
