---
They had also answered much more than the words themselves. Couple without saying couple. Bond without naming bond.
Sekhmet heard it clearly enough the first time, and under ordinary circumstances he would have left it there. But ordinary circumstances had died somewhere behind him with the old myths, the blood-god accusation, and the offer of service. Before he could turn away fully, Bat Bat leaned forward with the dangerous bright look of someone who had just smelled gossip strong enough to overpower basic survival instinct.
"Wait," she said. "No. That was not a proper answer."
Sofia's expression dulled by half a degree. "It was sufficient."
Bat Bat pointed between them. "It was vague. Vague things are suspicious. Suspicious things become interesting. Interesting things become my business."
"They do not," Natasha said.
"They absolutely do."
Sekhmet said nothing.
That was a mistake enough.
Bat Bat took his silence as permission from fate itself.
