credit from left to right, top to bottom: (x, x, x) (x) (x, x, x)
after midnight, the golden hour comes
“Ava Sharpe the best in the world and she's only 21. She could sweep at the Olympics; she might not even lose a match. That's who I'm up against.” Sara said. “I think everyone else is just seeing who can come second to her, but she's not unbeatable - and if I can beat her today, I'll be on the National team before the competition is even over. I'll jump like, ten places in the rankings.”
Zari shrugged. "No pressure then."
"No pressure at all." Sara grinned.
[sara and ava are in college, rivals in their sport, and something more beyond that]
new chapters releasing every tuesday! - read it here
summary: Leonard Snart is many things in his life, but there's only one thing he has always wanted to be – known.
pairings: Leonard Snart & Mick Rory
warnings: Major Character Death, Child Abuse
notes: Prompt 13 for the Busy Writer 30 Day Writing Challenge: “who am i?"
————-
Leonard Snart is a son. He is the only thing that matters in his mother‘s miserable life, the one thing that could raise her spirits after a particularly bad day. He is also the cause for many, many of her fears, but he doesn’t know that. What he knows is that she’ll smile when she sees him, pulls him close and read him a bedtime story. He clings onto her words, wondering if one day people will read of him, too.
Leonard Snart is a son. He is his father‘s successor. That’s what his dad tells him – that he wears the family’s name and that counts or something. It’s important and he better not do anything to taint it. Leonard is a Snart and he’s expected to act like one. Bring glory to the family, make sure that what he does counts to something, just like his father and grandfather have done.
(If you’d like to be added to this OC’s works/edits, let me know!)
It was becoming a custom to find Graciela at the control room in the early hours. She was dutifully searching for Rip at every chance she got. This time Sara was the one to greet her in the morning.
"Who are those people?" Sara's voice startled Graciela. She came up to stand beside the woman and gazed at the holographic profiles of different people positioned above the control panel.
"Known speedsters," Graciela shut the profiles down for the moment. "Last night I realized that maybe it isn't a coincidence that there's an unidentified speedster time travelling while Rip is gone. Who's to say this speedster didn't take him?"
"There's an idea," Sara admitted, though she didn't want to consider the fact their friend might have been in grave danger this whole time and they'd been none the wiser about it.
"I was trying to figure out which speedster we're dealing with, but it turns out there's a lot of them," Graciela pulled the profiles up again. She brought a hand through her short, curly hair as she looked from one profile to the next. "We have some like Godspeed and Zoom but I…I don't know who to look at."
"Maybe it's time we ask the speedster we do know," Sara suggested but saw an odd expression from Graciela. "What?"
Graciela remembered the audio the future Barry Allen had left her and Rip. She didn't want to really face Barry until she had a better idea of what that audio meant. "I'm...I mean, Barry still thinks I'm in jail. Imagine his surprise when he and Belén learn I'm here."
"Something I'd like to see," Sara smirked. The reactions would be priceless! "Can we do it right now?"
Graciela rolled her eyes at her and moved around the control panel. Sara watched as Graciela switched one profile for the other, going back and forth on at least 2 of them before discarding them both in the end. There was a fierce determination in her eyes to solve the mystery, but it was that same determination that was causing other features to deteriorate simultaneously.
Sleep was probably the biggest issue.
"How long have you been here?" Sara asked when she gave up trying to figure it out on her own.
"Dunno. Three? Maybe 4 hours?" Graciela mumbled while writing something down on a notepad.
"Right. And how much sleep did you actually get? Because you were probably doing some calculations in your room, right?"
Graciela paused to give Sara a 'duh' look. "So what?"
"We're...a little worried about you," Sara's admission confused Graciela. The woman stopped working and closed her notepad.
"What?"
"You've been skipping sleep and I don't think you've actually had a moment to just...rest."
Graciela's eyebrows knitted together, further confused yet also frustrated. "Well I'm on a mission to find Rip, did you forget that? That's the whole reason you brought me along."
"Believe me, no one's forgotten, but I think there's a line between loyalty and your own personal health."
"I'm fine," snapped Graciela, though she shut everything down afterwards. "I'm just doing what I'm meant to do. The longer I take, the worse Rip could be." Frustration etched across her face while her voice sped up in her frantic ramble. "I don't know if he's being tortured or-or starved or just...I don't know if he's okay and it kills me. Least before all this," she gestured to the room, "I knew he was just doing his job. Didn't matter if he talked to me or not, I knew what he was doing and that was enough."
Sara took in the ramble silently. The underlying desperation in Graciela's voice was all Sara needed to draw her own conclusions. It helped that she was nosy and tried getting information about Graciela and Rip from Gideon and even though the A.I. dodged and deflected, Sara was able to figure things out.
"So at what point did you tell him that you loved him?" Sara watched the way in which Graciela frantically looked away. "Or did he never realize it like most men?"
Graciela's head tilted while she desperately tried to cling onto casualness, or at the very least some calmness. "I don't know what you mean."
It was Sara's turn to tilt her head, a bemused expression taking over her face. "Okay, so we're going down that path I guess…"
"I'm not lying!" Graciela exclaimed way too fast, making Sara justified in having to smirk. "Stop looking at me like that!"
"I just...I mean...I can see it," Sara crossed her arms over her chest and thought about the idea of the pair as a couple. "Is that why he left the letter for you?"
"I think that is none of your business, Sara Lance. This is ridiculous, a waste of time, and I'm not talking about it!"
"Well, I'll be here when you do." Sara mocked a salute with her two fingers, smirking wider when Graciela groaned loudly.
Graciela took off before she could hear any more of Sara's words. She wasn't going to entertain them at all, not when she could keep it all hidden until she had to leave the ship anyways.
~ 0 ~
Once the day got started for the rest of the Legends, they resumed their discussion about the amulet they'd retrieved from Damien Darhk. Nate had been expecting some help from Graciela since she'd volunteered herself the previous night, but she never showed up. It left him with dozens of books to go through and only one burning mind.
"So, do we have any idea why Darhk wanted this?" Ray picked up the amulet from the study desk, careful not to knock over any of Nate's books.
"All I know is, it's never a good idea when your nemesis starts accessorizing," Sara remarked as she took the amulet from Ray. "And he's teamed up with a speedster, because that's what we needed too."
"Okay, but what exactly is a speedster?" asked Amaya. She'd just heard the word in passing and even the fact she'd witnessed said speedster whisking Darhk away hadn't really made better sense.
"It's basically someone with super speed," Jax answered for her. "And that's how Darhk escaped."
"The energy of the Speed Force grants the speedster chronokinesis, temporal manipulation," Stein added.
"English, Professor," Mick called from his seat in the study.
"It means that his running is real fast and lets him time travel," Stein said, and received a gruff in return.
"I'll be in my room." Mick got up and took his beer with him, disappearing into the corridors.
"Martin, I need you to gather everything you can on Speedsters," Sara pointed at the man, taking charge since Graciela hadn't shown her face since their early morning chitchat. "And Nate's right. This amulet looks a lot like the one we recovered off the Nazis. There's got to be a connection."
Nate sighed. "Let me guess, I'm on library duty?"
~ 0 ~
On his way to his own research, Jax tailed Stein down the corridor with his concerns over their current situation. "We're dealing with a Speedster here! How long we gonna keep this secret from them, Grey? Come on, future Barry's message—"
"Yes, I know what you're talking about, Jefferson," Stein stopped walking and turned around, bumping into Jax in the process. "And we cannot say anything!"
"But—"
"You two need to start talking quieter!" Graciela strode down from the opposite end of the hallway. "I can hear you from my room!"
"I was just saying that since we're dealing with speedsters, we should let the others know about future Barry's message—"
"Absolutely not," Graciela cut him off and gave him an 'are you crazy?' look. "That message, first of all, was not for the team. Are you forgetting that?" Her eyes flickered between the two shifting men, more so Jax. "Didn't think so. Neither of you will say anything to anyone, got it?"
Jax reluctantly agreed. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and looked away, mumbling an 'alright' under his breath.
Stein suddenly gasped and flung a hand to his forehead, startling the other two.
"Grey, you okay?" Jax held onto the man's arm in fear that Stein would fall.
"Maybe we should get you to the infirmary," Graciela suggested but Stein shook his head.
The secret images he'd been getting as of late were leaving anyway. They usually did. "I'm fine, it's just Just a headache."
"Didn't look like one…" Graciela said, eyeing Stein curiously. "Unless headaches are different in the past?"
"You would tell me if something was up, right?" Jax raised an eyebrow at Stein. "Cause if we start keeping things from each other—"
Stein languidly raised a hand to stop Jax. "I just need to rest. Saving history can be extremely wearing on the body."
"Get some rest then," Graciela prompted, gesturing the way to his room. "We can deal with things for today."
She moved around them and continued down the corridors. She'd been purposely avoiding the group for fear of Sara's questioning in front of the others. That was the last thing she needed right now. Unfortunately, she couldn't avoid going out forever. If she was to succeed with her plans, she had to actually leave her room.
~0~
"Alright Nate, what do we got?" Graciela strode into the study, giving Nate a light pat on the shoulder as she moved around his desk. The rest of the group were still scattered around waiting for anything concrete on the amulet.
"And where the hell have you been?" Nate looked up at her with sourness.
Graciela ignored his question as she picked up the amulet. "What do we got?"
Nate huffed and looked back at the book in front of him. "I'm thinking the amulet dates back to Late Antiquity and is Judeo-Christian in origin. The problem is that I can't find a reference of it anywhere. Like, none. Historically speaking, this doesn't exist."
"Well I say you're wrong because it's right here," Graciela waved the amulet in front of her then gave it a little flick with her finger.
"And we know that Damien Darhk and the Speedster are willing to kill for it," Sara added. "Sounds like you got some more homework to do."
"Oh c'mon!" Nate let his head hit the open book in front of him.
"What's wrong with you?" Amaya made a face as Nate raised his head from the book.
"I-I just thought, becoming a superhero, I would spend less time in the library than my old job. That's all."
"I'm confused, aren't you supposed to work at something you like?" asked Graciela, lowering the amulet beside him.
"Well, research skills are a kind of superpower," Ray said as a means of comfort for Nate. "And you can turn to steel. So you got two!"
And yet somehow that didn't make Nate feel any better. But before he could say it out loud, an alert interrupted them.
"Saved by the Aberration!" Sara said cheerfully as she headed for the control room.
"And what's the Trouble Alert say?" Graciela boredly asked. She knew how it would end by now: a bigger mess than when it started yet somehow saved in the end.
"Hey don't call it that," Nate frowned. "I worked hard on that."
Sara looked up the trouble and raised an eyebrow once she realized their next destination. "Themequake's epicenter is Liberty, Colorado, 1874."
"Hah!" Ray said suddenly with newfound laughter. Those who hadn't been to the Wild West before turned to give him the same odd, confused look. "Back to the Wild West!" he said excitedly.
"You guys were in the Old West?" Nate asked, but assumed the answer based on Ray's sole reaction.
"Yeah, town made me a Sheriff," Ray proudly said.
"I hate the Wild West…" Graciela grumbled and earned herself various glances from the team.
"Have you been there?" Sara raised an eyebrow.
Even though Graciela didn't answer immediately, the look of disdain on her face said it all. "Of course not, I have never time traveled before," she said in a very abundantly faux voice. "So let's get going!" She announced and led the way for the corridors, ignoring Sara's suspicious stare.
"Okay…" Sara put her hands together and rubbed her palms, "So today's going to be 'annoy her till she cracks and tells me everything' day." She then brought a finger up to point at the rest. "She's mine." And with a promising smirk, she went off in the same direction Graciela had gone in.
"...should we be worried?" Amaya peered around to see Sara disappear in the corridor. "Should we really be bugging the temporary captain?"
"She wouldn't be Captain if we didn't," Ray casually shrugged.
~0~
Each time they left the waverider, Graciela felt like the outfits got even more ridiculous. Today's theme was Wild West, and while that involved more pants than usual, she felt the get-up was just as awful. Not even the nice horseback riding was making it better.
It had been a long time since Graciela saw a nice free animal, and much more one that liked her. The future was not for the faint, no matter how much it was propped up to be.
"Where's the professor?" Mick finally realized they were short one team member about halfway towards their destined town.
"Uh, he's feeling a little off," Jax answered, though he sounded unsure himself. He still had some suspicions about those headaches of Stein's…
"More whiskey for me," Mick said without a clue.
A few more minutes down, they heard the collective voices of men arguing with each other.
"Everyone off their horses," Graciela gave the command as she got off her own. She heard the clicking of a gun and looked back to find Sara taking the huge rifle she'd brought from the ship.
The blonde only smirked at Graciela as she started off. Together, they followed until they got a better look at what was causing so much noise. It seemed like someone was about to be hanged...and it looked like the group knew who it was.
"Is that Hex?" Sara blinked first, stunned the man would ever find himself in that kind of situation. Jonah Hex was not an easy man to subdue.
"Of course." Graciela rolled her eyes so heavily that she might end up with a headache later on. Everyone noted the look of familiarity on her face.
"You know that man?" Amaya asked her.
"No."
"Uh, then why does it look like you want to be the one hanging him?" Sara questioned next.
"Guys c'mon, focus," said Jax as he took in the scene ahead of them. "We gotta take out the crew before we can get to Hex and I count at least five men there."
"Don't worry, guys." Nick rose with confidence and made his way out of the bushes towards the scene.
"What does that mean!?" Graciela called out in vain since Nate made it his purpose to get the attention of the men. He did it right on time too because Hex had somehow gotten the chance to kick one of the men across the face, angering the entire group.
"You might want to slow down there. Because these here parts ain't big enough for the…" Nick did a pause to quickly count the crew, never seeing the faces of his friends for using such a ridiculous accent, "...six of us."
"And who the hell are you?" the leader of the crew stepped forwards with a hand tightly clasped around a gun. "On second thought, I don't give a damn!"
Nick saw the man raise the gun to shoot and quickly went "metal" to take the impact.
"He's loving this," Graciela said from their hiding spot. Sara nodded at that, unimpressed.
The rest of the men had started to shoot as well, but no bullet ever left a scratch on Nate. He caught the last bullet between his teeth, then making the entire group roll their eyes.
"Alright, that was kind of cool," Graciela admitted and gave the props to the man.
Sara cocked her rifle to take aim at Hex's rope in the meantime. "Hold still, Hex."
"Not like he has much of a choice," Mick remarked.
Finally Sara shot and ripped the rope.
"Nice shot," grinned Ray.
"Now you get on that horse and you ride till you feel like you can't ride any further, then you ride some more," Nate moved over to the frightened men. "Now go on, get! Go on!" He laughed when the men scrambled to escape before another gunshot went off. "Whoo!" He expected Hex to thank him or at the very least to look content he survived, but instead he looked worse.
"Oh, hell. They're back," Hex's gaze landed on the Legends coming out of their hiding spot like a swarm. There was a spark of honest shock when he saw Graciela, and that was something that didn't go unnoticed by Sara.
"You better come back with us," Graciela nodded for the trail leading back to the Waverider, her voice grim as her face.
~0~
"Never thought I'd see you again," Hex remarked to Graciela once they were back in the Waverider. She was doing everything in her power to be as far away from him as possible.
"So you do know each other?" Sara looked between the two curiously.
"Nope," went Graciela at the same time Hex answered "Yeah".
Graciela looked even more displeased then. The team was staring at her with more questions and she didn't really want to answer any of them.
"Where's Rip?" Hex finally asked, if only to ease the tension in the air.
"He's...M.I.A," Sara answered with her eyes on Graciela.
"Damn," Hex gave a low chuckle. "Did you finally kill him, Jinxy?"
Graciela slammed a hand against the control panel before whirling around towards the group. "I told you to never call me that!"
"I... thought you didn't know him…" Amaya said slowly, eyes casting against Hex for his amused smirk.
"Fine! Clearly, I do know him but I never wanted to know him!" Graciela set her sights on Hex who was taking the whole thing with a stupid grin. "Rip's missing, there?" At least the grin on his face seemed to lose power at the news. "We don't know where he is but I am looking for him."
"I'm sure you are," Hex gave a nod at her then looked at the rest of the crew. "So how the hell did you miscreants manage to not get yourselves killed without him?"
"Grace has been serving as Captain," Ray gestured towards the woman in question.
"Really? Her? But she's a criminal. And a lady," Hex's doubt was both insulting and plain irritating. "Last time I heard, Rip wouldn't let you near his dear ship. What were his words again?"
Graciela pursed her lips and folded her arms. "He'd rather die…" she mumbled, barely audible to the others.
"Well she's being a good Captain," Sara said on behalf of Graciela. Those were some harsh words if Rip really said them to her. "But enough questions for us, how about you explain to us how the hell ended up in the noose?"
Hex thought it was a fair question, and who knows...maybe with their presence they might be able to help. "Well, I was collecting the bounty on a pissant by the name of Quentin Turnbull."
At that moment Nate strode in with a history book in hand. He seemed to have the urge to talk about something. "As in Turnbull Country?"
"Never heard of it," Jax bobbed his head while he thought of all the history lessons he had in high school.
"That's because it's not supposed to exist." Nate nodded for them to follow him into the study. "This book has changed since the last time I saw it. Check this out. Gideon?"
"Right away!" Gideon pulled up a map of the U.S, but something didn't look quite right about it.
"That's a map of the United States from 1876," Nate nodded to the West part of the country that read 'Turnbull Country'.
"All right, who is Turnbull?" Sara asked, frowning because she was sure Hex had just mentioned that name.
Hex groaned at the mention of the man. "Two-bit, yellow-bellied cattle rustler."
"Who controls all of the land west of the Rocky Mountains," Nate finished with the important part.
"Looks like we found our Aberration." Graciela found comfort that at least they'd gotten something useful out of this trip, not that saving Hex's life wasn't important but...she wouldn't mind avoiding anything Wild West for the rest of her life.
"Am I supposed to have the faintest idea what the hell this means?" Hex looked at her wearily. "You know I never did before."
"Only difference now is that I'm calling the shots," she warned.
"Weren't you already doing that before?"
Graciela briefly scrunched her face in irritation. "It means that we need to stop Turnbull from taking over the West. And that is the only thing I'm talking about while we're here!"
~0~
Hex had reluctantly brought the group, sans Stein, back to his town. He was sure that despite their best intentions, they would only cause bigger problems.
"Where is everybody?" Ray was disappointed to find his town rather solitary, almost like a ghost town.
"Ever since Turnbull set up shop 'bout six months ago, everyone's been run out of town or made to work in the mine," Hex explained.
"Mine? What kind of mine?" asked Graciela. "Is there gold?"
"Hm, you'd like that wouldn't you?"
She rolled her eyes at his smirk. "Who the hell wouldn't want that?"
"No that can't be right," Nate stepped up to her side, missing the sarcasm between the two while he got into historian mode. "Gold wasn't found around these parts for a good half century or so." He then chuckled to himself. "Listen to me, 'these parts' I sound like I'm a cowboy."
"Well, he's pulling something out of the ground that's making him rich," Hex stopped in front of a saloon. "Turnbull also owns the saloon, the hotel, the laundry and the whorehouse."
Mick was just about to open his mouth when Sara called, "The answer's no, Mick."
"Turnbull's got an office above the saloon. It's also got about a dozen men making sure nobody gets close to him."
"We'll see about that," Graciela said with a smirk. Her hazel eyes flickered around the group while she thought of a plan. A minute later, she had one. "Mick, go on and have some fun won't you? Order anything you'd like and put it on Hex's tab."
Mick didn't question the plan; he thought it was excellent. "Finally, you're making sense," he said with a grin as he headed for the saloon.
Hex stared after Mick then shot Graciela and incredulous stare. "Did you just—?"
"Yup," Graciela turned to Hex with a wider smirk. "Keep messing with me, I dare you."
"Hey," Ray planted a hand on her arm. "I'm not sure I understand your plan here.
You just set a match to a powder keg."
"So if Turnbull doesn't want his precious saloon to burn down, he's gonna have to come out of his office and deal with it."
"Better yet, get your boy to get in a fight with Turnbull and bring him out here on the street," Hex suggested.
"Fine," Graciela agreed with a spat. "Amaya, your job is to make sure Rory keeps his pistol in his pants until he's outside the saloon. Good luck."
Amaya was not content with her assignment. "Did I draw the short straw or what?"
"Just do it!" Graciela then switched gazes towards the remaining men. "And you three better put those weapons away and anything else that might make you remotely dangerous."
"Why?" chorused Nate, Jax and Ray all in disappointment.
"The way I discovered how my enemies made their money was to infiltrate their base of operations. I can't tell you how many disguises I had to go through," Graciela shook her head. "Anyways, tax collectors should do it. Be simple and don't mess up."
"Are you kidding me!?" Nate scowled.
"I'm not, actually. Go," Graciela reiterated into a better command without leaving room for a debate.
~0~
"This place hasn't changed much," Graciela remarked as Hex walked her and Sara down the path to a campsite. Her nose was crinkled in what could only be described as disgust. "It still smells. People are...bad smelling. And it's boring. It's so boring."
Hex stopped walking to turn around. "And you're still the same. How long has it been?"
Before Graciela could answer, Sara cut in with a loud, "Finally! We're moving past the 'I don't know him' and getting to the good part." She turned so that she was right beside the two. "Because I am really curious to know how this," she moved a finger from Hex to Graciela, "all happened."
"She hasn't told you?" Hex raised an eyebrow, briefly glancing at Graciela who was doing her best to remain casual. "Well, why would she when it wasn't one of her finest moments."
"Oh, do tell," Sara rubbed her hands together, gleeful at what was coming.
"Stop!" Graciela exclaimed all of a sudden. "I'd rather tell her myself then let you twist things around."
"What would I twist? You were being punished!"
"I—"
"Oooh, punished? For what?" Sara put on a big smirk for Graciela.
"Stop talking!" Graciela warned Hex so that she could take charge. With a sigh she faced Sara to finally tell her the story. "You have to understand that this was a long time ago. I used to...do things that...were not...very lawful."
"Yeah, I get that, believe me," Sara nodded. "What did you do?"
"One time...I messed up…badly."
"How badly?"
Graciela crossed her arms tightly. She could feel Hex staring at her with burning eyes. "There was, uh…hundreds of, um, casualties."
"Hundreds?" Sara blinked. Her eyes flickered to Hex who nodded that it was all true.
"It was a chain-reaction," Graciela said in a weak defense
"Yes," Graciela let her head hang in shame. "Truly not one of my finest moments. So, when Rip found out it was me... instead of turning me in...he punished me himself."
"How?" Sara looked at Hex who was at a cross of amusement and disapproval.
"He brought her here," the man answered.
"He left me here on my own...for 6 months," Graciela further explained. "I was meant to repent for what I did but I know he just dumped me here to get rid of me."
Hex let out a loose laughter, almost mocking her for her words. "He stayed with you for another 6 months, did you forget that? Cos I bet he sure didn't."
"Yeah, I know, because I was a royal pain in the ass," Graciela rolled her eyes. "Rip made sure to tell me that every day after he came back."
"So you lived a whole year in this place?" Sara's eyes flickered to the town behind them, unable to consider such an idea.
"Yeah, all because Rip chose to become some martyr who needed to teach me a lesson."
"And in those 6 months on your own…"
"He was the supervisor," Graciela jerked a thumb in Hex's location. "And a jerk."
"And the reason why you didn't get killed on day 1," Hex added as a means for gratitude, but Graciela snorted instead.
"Oh please! It takes more than a bullet to kill the Jinx."
"Right." Hex gave a low snort then walked off, completely missing Graciela's glare.
"I hate him."
"Haven't noticed," Sara remarked. "But at least he told me that awesome story of you being a prisoner."
Graciela quickly looked back to Sara, seeming almost offended by the assumption her 'prison time' had been a lovely era. "Are you kidding me? Rip left me here! I was like the rubbish you take out each week! It was under no circumstances a 'good time'!" She huffed and stormed away without giving Sara the chance to say anything else.
~ 0 ~
"Don't you think we should contact the others?" Jax asked Ray and Nate as they entered a dark train passage in a cave.
"No, because then Grace will just tell us — order us — to come back," Nate rolled his eyes in annoyance. It got to him that Graciela still treated him like a normal human who couldn't defend himself. He was made out of steel. That literally protected him from anything and everything.
Including a solitary train passageway.
"Oh my God," Ray suddenly stopped when he spotted something familiar on the walls.
Jax and Nate stopped as well but neither recognized the stones.
"What is it?" asked Jax after Ray's silence had gotten to him.
"One of the rarest minerals in the universe."
"Okay, how does this help Turnbull take over the West?"
Ray looked back at the two with his widened eyes. "I used dwarf star to power the ATOM suit. The piece I had was the size of your little finger. There's enough potential energy here to power the entire Wild West."
But Nate saw the alternative that he was sure Turnbull had already thought of "Or blow it up. Question is, how does Turnbull even know what it is? We—" he pointed at himself then Jax, "—didn't even know what this was."
Jax, however, spotted something shiny and white sitting on a rock. "Bet ya this has something to do with it." He walked over and gingerly picked up the device that resembled a largened watch. "It's a time pirate watch, a tracker of some sort. Probably stole it from the time pirate."
"We got to get this out of here," Nate moved to the closest stock of minerals to pick up but found...that he couldn't.
"Don't even bother," Ray set his hand on Nate's arm just as the man had gone steel. "I should've mentioned, it's also the densest material in the universe. Let's get the rest of the team."
"Fine," huffed Nate as he stepped back. "But I am helping!" he warned.
~ 0 ~
"Hey Graciela?" Amaya's voice called through the earpiece in Graciela's ear. "We may have a problem."
Graciela stopped picking at the fire some group started and turned away. "What happened?" Both Sara and Hex started nearing her to see what was going on.
"Well, it's hard to... but Mr. Rory and Mr. Turnbull...like each other."
Graciela's entire face scrunched. "What? What do you mean they like each other!?"
Sara rolled her eyes. Of course the one time they needed Mick to pick a fight would be the one time he'd become friendly.
Without saying a word, Hex turned in the opposite direction that would lead back to the saloon.
"Hey!" called Sara. "Where are you going?"
"I'm gonna collect my bounty, whether you like it or not."
Graciela quickly forewent the conversation with Amaya. "Are you out of your mind?"
"I'm not, actually, but you are if you think you can handle this team of miscreants—" Hex flapped a hand in Sara's direction, the blonde in question blinking in surprise, "—like Rip would. You ain't nothing close to a Captain."
Graciela's eyes flashed a dangerous dark purple. "Before, I didn't have a choice but to take your words but now it's different. Rip's not here anymore."
"Yeah, I'm not the one you really want to fight," Hex said and turned back for the saloon.
"Forget it," Sara grabbed Graciela's arm.
The purple faded from Graciela's eyes.
"We gotta warn Amaya and get the others.
The two women rushed after Hex, but by the time they caught up the man was already inside the saloon and all hell had broken loose. Turnbull and Hex were specifically going at it with guns, while Mick and the others were simply riling up against each other.
Eventually, Turnbull had forced the team to run out of the saloon for cover. As they took cover behind some barrels, Nate, Ray and Jax returned from their impromptu visit to the mines.
"Why do you guys get to have all the fun?" Nate immediately demanded to know while he took cover as well.
"Seriously!?" snapped Graciela before shooting the trio a suspicious look. "Where the hell have you three been? It doesn't take that long to look at someone's tax records, does it?"
"We just got back from Turnbull's mine," Ray decided to go with the truth. "The reason for the Aberration is he's digging up dwarf star."
"Gonna have to explain to me what the hell that is later," Graciela dismissed in order to first survive. "Right now, get back to the ship!"
The order went for everyone, and those who decided to listen took their chance the first time they got. One, however, rose to the challenge against Turnbull.
"Mick no!" Sara shouted to the man as he cocked his large gun against Turnbull.
"And here I thought you and me was gonna be friends!" Turnbull paused his shooting for a second.
"I don't have friends," Mick prepared to shoot only to realize he was out of bullets. His eyes widened at what that meant.
Just as Turnbull fired, Nate ran into he way to block the blow in steel form, but the bullet still penetrated his chest. The steel disappeared from his skin in two seconds before he fell back.
~0~
Nick wailed as the bullet remained lodged through his insides. He'd been brought to the medbay as quickly as possible. "I'm the Man of Steel, how did I get shot!?"
"The bullet has lodged itself between several of Dr. Haywood's internal organs," Gideon reported.
"How!?"
"Because it wasn't a normal bullet. It was dwarf star," Ray reminded the others. "The densest material on Earth."
"I estimate his chance of survival at 51%," Gideon said.
"Gideon, with all due respect, shut up and heal him." Graciela closed her eyes for a second before heading out.
"Where are you going?" called Jax.
"To get some damn answers!" Graciela stormed into the hallway with the intention of ending things once and for all. This couldn't keep happening. She wanted to keep this team alive until Rip returned but every time she took them out, one of them got hurt.
Graciela found Hex inside the study, and with all reason made an entrance that caused a mini-explosion of the computers on the desk. "We had a frikin plan and you went off the rails! Now I don't care what problems you and I have, but those people are not to get hurt because of it. So you're going to tell me what exactly is going on between you and Turnbull!"
"I don't answer to you, Jinxy," Hex said all too calmly which only infuriated Graciela even more.
"My friend just got shot because of you so you best believe you'll be answering to me unless you want to find yourself on the other end of a Jinx's wrath," Graciela said with dangerous purple eyes. A purple haze started drifting from her fingertips. "And you know that I can and will hurt you."
Hex considered his options and the area where he was. At best, he'd survive for 10 minutes. "Alright. I've been after Turnbull for eight years now. I almost got him twice. He wants to see me pushing up daisies just as bad as I want to see him do the same."
"But why?"
"Little town in Oklahoma. Goes by the name of Calvert. Turnbull and his men were harassing it. And they hired me to fight back. My little rebellion made other towns think they didn't need to pay protection money to Turnbull and his gang. So one night...Turnbull gathered every man, woman, and child in Calvert. Locked us in the church. Set it on fire. Somehow, I escaped. The good Lord saw fit to leave me with a souvenir."
Graciela briefly looked at the marred side of his face. "So it's a vendetta. I used to have one, maybe Rip talked about him? Savage?"
By the sound Hex made, she knew Rip had. "Didn't he share the same one?"
"Exactly," Graciela said, drawing in a breath, "so how about instead of you and I arguing, we work together to catch Turnbull once and for all?"
Hex thought about it and ultimately agreed.
~ 0 ~
Ray stood at the front of the team to share his ideas on Turnbull's use of the dwarf star. "I know how Turnbull's gonna make his own country. When I saw how much dwarf star ore he had in that mine, I started to wonder, how could he transport such a heavy shipment? He'd have to use the railroad."
"Okay, get to the part where we care, Ray," Sara made a motion for Ray to skip all the unnecessary pauses.
"I think he's gonna use the railroad and the dwarf star to...wait for it—"
"He's going to close Summit Pass."
There was a heavy pause as Ray waited for them to react.
Being completely healed thanks to Gideon, Nate spoke up to explain the importance of 'Summit Pass'. "Summit Pass connects East/West via railroad. But not if Turnbull uses the dwarf star. If he destroys the pass, there's no way of transporting soldiers and supplies from the East coast. The U.S. Army is effectively locked out of the West."
"Alright, so it's simple: we just stop Turnbull from blowing up the pass," Jax said after some thought over it.
"Is it, though?" Graciela turned to face the group with visible doubt on her face. "You don't have a suit," she pointed at Ray then moved her finger towards Nate, "you just had invasive surgery, Stein's out of commission….need I say more?"
"Hey, I'm fine to go out there," Nate clarified for her and anyone having doubts about his aptitude for the mission. "If anything, I'm more motivated to stop Turnbull."
"Well, we know the plan, but do we know what Turnbull will be doing when the railway is supposed to go boom?" asked Sara.
"We overheard one of his people saying Turnbull was going to call for a meeting this afternoon," Ray said.
"Okay," Graciela started nodding once she began to see some solutions coming their way. "Nate, you're sure you can go out there again?"
Nate nodded his head. "Absolutely."
"Okay, so then you, Jax, and Ray, stop the train. The rest of us, we'll deal with Turnbull."
"You sure about this?" Hex gave the woman a long look to see if she had any doubt, but she looked as put together as possible.
"It's not like we have much of a choice," she said logically.
"Plus, this isn't our first rodeo," Nate said proudly though earned himself strange looks from the others. "What? I always wanted to say that."
~0~
Separated into trios, each team moved to its designated spot. That brought Nate, Jax and Ray towards the railroad tracks.
"There's our train," Jax pointed to the train in the distance.
"Loaded with enough dwarf star to punch a hole in a mountain and cut off the pass to the East," Ray wolf whistled. They had their work cut out for them. "How do we stop a moving locomotive?"
"We don't. I do," Nate said but after a moment's pause, he added. "I think." Before he got any more nervous, or doubtful, he and his horse took off for the incoming train, leaving Ray and Jax to process this sudden idea of his.
"So what do you think?" Ray asked Jax, not sure how else to react in the moment.
"Well...I think I liked him." Jax released a heavy sigh then went after Nate. "Nate, what are you doing, man? Hold on!"
"Keep your distance!" Nate shouted.
"What're you gonna do?" Ray called behind him.
"I'm gonna cut 'em off at the pass." A huge grin came to Nate's face. "I've always wanted to say that."
The others thought he finally lost his mind.
"You can't get in front of a moving train!" Jax frantically exclaimed, however it made no effect.
"You said it yourself... there is no bravery without fear!" Nate said to Ray. "Which is good, because I am scared as hell right now."
"Yes, because it's a moving train! C'mon man!"
~0~
"Alright," Amaya gazed at the mine where she and Mick were to go into. Them, Graciela, Sarah and Hex were scoping out the area before leaving to find Turnbull. "We'll need about five minutes to plant enough dynamite to seal the mine."
"It's about time we got to light something up," Mick, rather crazily, grinned.
Graciela couldn't help feeling a little concerned Amaya would have more to handle than the others. "Just light the fuse and run, don't stick around for the fireworks."
"Yeah, yeah," Mick got up from their hiding spot to lead the way, his hands gripping the box of dynamite.
"If you need to, you can set him on fire," Sara cooly told Amaya as the latter rose up.
"Sara!" hissed Graciela.
"What? Innocent joke," shrugged Sara, although by the look on Amaya's face she didn't like the joke either.
"Mr. Rory can handle his flame obsession, I know he can," Amaya's certainty was a genuine surprise for both Graciela and Sara. They didn't think the same.
~0~
Hex walked between Graciela's and Sara's horses in the guise of a prisoner. The women had covered themselves up to appear like men who'd caught Hex.
"Quentin Turnbull!" Graciela called with a deeper voice once they'd gotten close to Turnbull's camp.
The man himself rose from his seat once he saw the intruders. "Who's asking?"
"We heard you're looking for someone."
Once Turnbull saw Hex he got a good laugh that probably echoed into the woods. "Jonah Hex! Well, hell, looks like I'm gonna have to kill you for the third time."
Sara got off the horse first and pushed Hex forwards. As Graciela got off, she listened to Turnbull's and Hex's bickering. At least this time it led somewhere.
"Why don't I show you what I'm working on so you know why you died?" Turnbull so happily decided. His eyes flickered to Graciela and Sara behind and motioned them to follow as well. "You two come along too. Anyone who can bring in Hex always got a place on my crew."
They happily obliged.
~0~
Nate had to shake his body several times each time he saw the train getting closer. He'd left his horse and was now standing on the railroad tracks. "Okay. I'm in position!"
"And out of your mind!" snapped Jax on the other end of the line. "You couldn't even stop a bullet made with that stuff!"
"Nate, Jax is right," started Ray in a much calmer tone, "That train is loaded with dwarf star!"
"You guys aren't helping!" Nate reminded while still shaking off the fear from his body.
~0~
"You got a whole minute to get out of here," Mick warned Amaya after they'd set up all the dynamite inside the mine. The match was going to reach the dynamite in less than a minute.
Amaya turned sideways and gave him an odd, almost warning too, look. "You mean we have a minute."
"That's what I meant."
Amaya's look still lingered on the man but the sounds of Turnbull's men in the distance made her turn around to find the group standing across.
Mick followed her gaze. "Should we tell them about the minute?"
"No."
"Good. I was hoping you were gonna say that."
Amaya put a hand over her amulet and activated its rhinoceros abilities to get through a good share of the men. Mick, while having no gun, picked up a metal stick on the ground and used it to swing at the men.
Amaya turned to see him mercilessly smacking the stick on the already unconscious men on the ground. "Mick, we got to go!" She ran back to him and stopped his arm from whacking again. "Mick, now! Put the animal away!"
Mick blinked and looked down at Amaya. Her previous words about being in control rushed back to his mind. He gazed at the unconscious men and realized if he put this much effort into already dead men, he was going to die next, and he'd be damned if he let that happen.
~0~
Turnbull had brought Hex and the others to an entrance of the dwarf mine with the intention of showing off. He kept a gun firmly on Hex's back but no eyes on Graciela and Sara.
"Oh, yeah, those bullets ain't nothing. Wait till you see what I got now," Turnbull smirked. "Now get on in there!"
At the same time he pushed Hex towards the mine, the mine exploded. And with its explosion, it rocked all four.
Turnbull nearly lost it when he saw Graciela and Sara without their face covers. "You ain't no men!"
But before he could go further, Hex rammed him to the ground. "You burned down Calvert!" He threw a punch at Turnbull each time he accused the man. "You murdered all those people! For what? For power?"
Graciela and Sara exchanged glances while this went on. Neither really knew how far Hex would go, and they couldn't necessarily disagree either.
"Oh, get it over with!" Turnbull shouted at Hex.
Hex gripped Turnbull's neck and perhaps let it continue for a few seconds before releasing him. "You lucky son of a bitch!" He delivered one final punch that knocked Turnbull outcold.
~0~
Nate saw the train coming and it was definitely a lot closer now. "I got this! I got this! I got this! I got this, I got this, I got this, I got this!" He went all steel and put his hands forwards just as the train zoomed in.
It took him down the railroad despite the pressure he was putting against the train's front. Somehow, through it, his pressure started to affect the train and ultimately force it into a stop.
When Nate stepped backwards, he got a good look at what he did and, quite frankly, couldn't believe it. He saw Ray and Jax coming up on horseback and laughed loudly. "Did you see that? Did you see that? Tell me you saw that!"
"Yo, that was badass, dude," Jax had to admit. "Totally badass."
"You all right?" Ray asked since Nate was all disheveled.
"No. But I stopped a train!" Nate pumped his hands into the air. "Yeah! I stopped a train! "
~0~
Hex drank silently in the cargo room of the ship before he was to leave. He heard the clink noises of someone coming down. It was Graciela, who had changed back into her own clothes.
"I hate to admit that you did a good job out there," she began, though clearly in a struggle to confess. "Back in my day I would've killed him...but that's why I wasn't known as a good person."
"Thief," Hex recalled some of the descriptions famously known for Graciela.
"Hm," Graciela weakly smiled. "So now that you have your man, what're you gonna do with him?"
"Well, I'm gonna turn him over to the authorities. So you don't have to worry about your 'Aberration'."
"Good, because Rip would kill both of us if we knowingly, willingly, let it happen."
To that, both smiled.
"You do a mighty fine job bearing a burden few men could deal with," Hex had to admit. The team was still together, even with its same, dysfunctional dynamic. "Graciela."
A wider smile came to Graciela's face. He never once used her real name in the time she knew him. "Good thing I'm a woman then. And a bit of a better person, I think."
"I best get Turnbull. Collect my bounty," Hex got up and put his liquor bottle into his pocket. "Now, you try to stay out of trouble. If it's possible."
"Yeah, we'll see." She let a moment of silence pass before speaking up again. "I know you and Rip were really close, so I have to ask even if it means you telling his secrets. Is there...a place...that Rip ever told you about? Like, somewhere he'd go in times of...emergencies? Somewhere besides home and the ship?"
Hex honestly considered the question but as much as he would like to help find his old friend, he didn't have any answer. "No, sorry. I don't think he ever considered that one day he'd have to leave the ship."
"Nah, he did. I know he did," Graciela said with the utmost certainty. "He was annoyingly smart and tactical."
Hex had to agree. He finally made to leave but stopped at the open door to say one more thing that'd been gnawing at his mind since they arrived. "That year you spent here, as a 'prisoner', it wasn't really for the reason you think." Graciela's eyebrows knitted together while he went on with his explanation. "Rip thought you would be safe here while he moved the attention from the authorities off you."
"What?" she frowned. "I don't…"
With a sigh, Hex turned back to completely face her. "You always thought that Rip brought you here as a punishment for your massive crime, but he did it to keep you safe. The authorities from your time suspected that you were responsible."
"But I…" Graciela felt at a loss for words. Things were fuzzy and confusing. All she remembered were the terrible times and the rage she felt towards Rip for his prepotent attitude.
"It took him awhile but he pinned the blame on some dead guy," Hex went on. "And those next 6 months he stayed with you, that wasn't to keep an eye on you. He thought he could help you turn a new page. Sort of like you're doing now." A light smile came to his face. "I think he'd be happy to see you now."
"...why are you telling me this now?" she asked quietly.
"Because I don't think Rip deserves that rage you feel towards him. And I think it would do you some good to know that he never gave up on you."
Graciela was silent for a long time. She remembered all the screaming and cursing she did at Rip once she finally got away from the West, as well as the time she was dropped off and the moment he returned. It went back and forth with things being said that couldn't be taken back.
The urge to find Rip increased tenfold in that one second.
"Thank you," she finally said quietly. Hex gave her a final nod before heading out. She heard a distinct ringing from upstairs that but her mind was elsewhere at the moment, in a long buried memory.
"You and your lot pride yourself on being 'peacemakers' but that's a fucking sham!" Graciela mockingly laughed in Rip's face. "It's a cover-up for using all that power you're allegedly bestowed! I bet that's why you're trapping me here in this old rat town, right?" She stepped back to turn and look at the small town of the West Rip had chosen as her punishment. "It's the only way to put an ending to your so-called 'problem'!"
"You don't understand why you're here," Rip said in a matter-of-factly tone, though if Graciela hadn't been so focused on her anger she would have noticed that he also sounded a little bit offended. "This is for you—"
Graciela snorted and glanced back at him. "Do you think I'm stupid?"
Her hostility made no effect on him. He was quite used to it. "I think you are far from that, actually. You are intelligent but also conniving and I cannot allow you to keep doing what you do. One day, you won't be so lucky to survive!"
Graciela's scowl deepened on her face. "I hate you," she spat. "You think I don't know what this is really for? You're tired of me!" she started striding back to him. "And you know what? You shouldn't be." She got right in his face. "Because I'm not your burden. I'm most certainly not your responsibility."
Despite it all, Rip kept a cool face. He looked at her without any signs of anger, one she was hoping to get out so she could have something to work with. "You're not a responsibility. You're a friend. And despite everything you do, I'm still here. Kai is still here. And you should count your stars because you don't have a lot of people you can count on and trust."
A humorless laugh slipped through Graciela's lips. "You don't trust me. And I can't say I trust you . Least Kai lets me have fun. Go ahead. Punish me. What else can I do? You've defeated me." She made a fake bow. "But we both know that you didn't really 'win' anything. This is all just an excuse to 'give up' on me, like you had any reason to be around me in the first place."
For a moment it looked like Rip would say something, but in the end he closed his mouth and said nothing more than the rules of this relocation.
"Grace?"
Graciela breathed harder than usual. She left the memory in the furthest corner of her mind to pay Nate the attention he needed.
"Sorry, were you eating?" Nate asked once he took notice of her odd state. She seemed like she had beene caught.
"No...no…" the woman shook her head. She hadn't realized she wandered into the kitchen. She wasn't even close to feeling hungry. "Well, I was going to do something." And without a warning she punched him on the arm.
"Ow!" the man recoiled away from her.
"That was for jumping in front of a fucking train!" she exclaimed through gritted teeth. But then she hugged him and audibly exhaled. "And this is for not dying!"
"I'm very confused," Nate said honestly and hugged back. He was afraid she'd have another moment and smack him for something else he did.
Graciela pulled away with a deadpanning look. "Stop doing stupid stuff with your powers! You just got them and you have to train!"
"I bet you did stupid stuff with your powers in the beginning too," Nate read Graciela's silent face as confirmation.
"I was a thief and a criminal. Do you really want to follow in my footsteps?"
"...no," Nate said after careful consideration. "But, c'mon, you know I want to be out there and now I can be out there fighting. You led a rebellion, didn't you? Help me train to get better."
"Since I guess it doesn't really matter what I'm going to say, I'll just pretend to agree!"
Nate's smile was wide but not for the reason that Graciela thought. "That's great that you say that because the perfect opportunity has arisen."
"Arisen?" Graciela raised an eyebrow at his odd choice of words. "First lesson, if you want to be 'cool' out on the field, we don't say 'arisen' like a loser."
Nate rolled his eyes. "I came to find you because Sara just got a call from your friends back in 2016."
"What?" she blinked.
"Yeah, you know? Your friends? Uh, what she say?" Nate thought for a moment before remembering. "Barry Allen? And Belen Palayta? Oh, and Oliver Queen! When we were you going to tell me that they were the Flash and the Azalea?"
Graciela's head was spinning with different thoughts that she blatantly told Nate to shut up. "Why-why do they want me to go back there? They don't even — they don't know I'm here!"
"Sara didn't tell them, so I'm sure that they still think you're in prison," Nate said, "So that'll make for a good surprise, right?
"Sure..." But Graciela started to think about the message Barry Allen had left for her and Rip in the future. She would have to talk to him about that. But would it be less awkward to do that before or after she showed him and Belén that she was not in fact in prison?
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Sara Lance/Ava Sharpe
Characters: Sara Lance, Zari Tarazi | Zari 2.0, Ava Sharpe
Additional Tags: Post S7, Sara-Centric, Sara and Zari share a cell, Ava does not physically appear, Angst with a Hopeful Ending
Summary:
Opening her eyes, she found herself staring at the bottom of the top bunk. Zari’s soft snoring above her was comforting, it wasn’t calming her as much as Ava’s presence would, but it let her know that she wasn’t alone on some alien planet and for now that would have to be enough.
or
Avalance is seperated in prison. Sara shares a prison cell with Zari
"Hey, don't look so nervous." Zari leaned back onto the bathroom counter. "You cornering me like this isn't suspicious at all."
Ava's nostrils flared. One of her endless tells. "I'm not... cornering you. I just needed to talk."
"You couldn’t have waited until I finished my shower?” Zari asked.
“Your showers take like, two hours,” Ava said.
“Only on Spa Days,” Zari said. She shrugged. “So what was so important that you had to pound on the bathroom door and demand I get out immediately?”
Ava looked at the loose and hastily tied robe hanging off Zari’s still-damp frame, and swallowed. “I just got back on the ship.”
“Right,” Zari said, rolling her shoulder, the robe slipping to mid-bicep. “You had that- Special thing you had to handle.”
“Okay, this-“ Ava raised her hands. Stopping her ranting before it can start. “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. As always-“ She made an attempt at a laugh. “As always, we were poor on, uh, on communication. And so you ended up where you weren’t supposed to be and you might’ve seen something-“
“What do you think I saw, Aves?” She batted her eyelashes. Grinned. The picture of innocence.
(this is a little smutty like definitely a firm M rating. continued after the cut.)
Ava made a face. “I think- I think you saw me doing something that could be considered… compromising.”
“Compromising means sex,” Zari said, keeping her smile in exact place. “I’m pretty sure I didn’t catch you having sex.”
“Please don’t make me say it,” Ava said.
“I’m not making you say anything,” Zari said. “Unless there’s something you… want to tell me?”
“Okay, listen.” Ava pressed her fingers into her forehead. “It wasn’t sex-sex, but you know, when two adults get together sometimes-“
“You’re allowed to hook up with whomever you want,” Zari said. “But was the blood-drinking supposed to be sexual?”
Ava let out a noise, almost like a yip, almost like a shout. “There was no blood drinking.”
“Yes there was.” Zari held her robe to her front, taking a step forward. “I know exactly what I saw.”
“Club lights,” Ava offered. “Weird sixties makeup. You know how it is-“
“You’re a vampire,” Zari said. Her toes faced Ava’s exactly. Directly in front of her. Cornering the cornerer. “And you drink blood.”
“Zari,” Ava said, with a hint of desperation. “There’s no such thing as vampires.”
“Of course there are,” Zari said. “If there’s dragons and fates and warlocks and witches, there’s obviously vampires.”
Ava scrunched her nose. “I guess you got me there.”
“Have you always been a vampire?” Zari asked. Her left hand found Ava’s stomach, brushing her fingertips against Ava’s shirt.
“Just because there are vampires doesn’t mean I am one,” Ava said. “I was just. Having some adult fun. With another adult.”
“Do you only drink women?” Zari bounced onto her tip toes, meeting Ava’s eyes. “Do you only like the taste of women?”
Ava put her hands on Zari’s shoulders and pushed her back down to the flats of her feet. “I don’t drink people.”
“How have you been keeping it a secret?” Zari asked. A gasp. “Have you been glamouring people?”
“What- No- What is glamouring?”
“You know, your vampire mind powers,” Zari explained. “Have you used them on me before? Do we keep doing this? Do I not remember?”
“I would never do that,” Ava said. “I can’t even- Do you know how complicated the mind is? Where are you even getting all this stuff?”
“Have you drank my blood and made me forget?” Zari pulled Ava’s hips to hers. Grinned as she felt Ava through her jeans. “Do you want to?”
“I-“ Ava tried to remember where she kept her voice. “I’m not a vampire.”
“Well if you were,” Zari said, brushing her hair from her neck. “You could have a taste. If you wanted.”
Ava let out a low groan. “I- I can’t-“
“So you are-“
“I’m not,” Ava insisted. “And even if I was, you are way too into the idea of getting. Bitten. And the… other thing.”
“You don’t want to pique my interest?” Zari asked. Without her hands on her robe, she could only keep it up by pinning herself to Ava. “You don’t want to indulge my fantasy?”
“Oh, god,” Ava whined. She rutted against Zari’s leg. “You-“ Hand in Zari’s hair. “You can’t tell anyone.”
Zari’s eyes lit up. Mischief. Want. “I super swear.”
Ava pulled Zari’s head back. “You smell so good-“
“Do I?”
“Please don’t tease me,” Ava said. “I shouldn’t- This is wrong-“
“What if you gave me some of your blood?” Zari asked, eager. “After? Then it would totally be fair.”
Ava’s lips drew ever closer to Zari’s slender neck. “You’re not supposed to know-“
“You’re trembling.”
“I want you- I want you so badly-“
Zari sighed, taking Ava by the back of the head and closing the gap, shuddering at Ava’s mouth on her skin. “Please.”
“Can’t tell,” Ava murmured.
“I double extra promise,” Zari said. She squeezed her legs together. “Ava. I’m going to cream my robe.”
It was meant to be an alternative to Stressed Western wherein Constantine seduces the hell out of Gary to reveal the location of the Fountain. I somehow ended up with a love note from Gary to John with humour, heartbreak and just a dash of infidelity / threatening to eat people.
“Every part of Gary, from the tips of his tentacles to that space in his heart that’s strictly reserved for Ava Sharpe, loves John Constantine... If there’s one thing Gary has learned on this planet, it’s that you don’t love only when it’s easy, convenient or even reciprocated.”
Come and let me know what you think of Pangs. Because we deserve more post alien-revelation Constangreen fics in our lives!
Zari decides during one of the loops to finally tell Amaya how she feels.
Comments: Zari’s conflict about telling Amaya her feelings or not is enough tension to get me at edge. It contains gorgeous prose, Zari being able to express her raw emotions and Amaya’s reaction is complete <3. There’s an underlying sense of sadness towards the end and I love the title is a reference to The Good Place reboot number!
What I Want Is You by Tricochet
rated M | 470 | no warnings
Zari tells Amaya that nothing they do in the time loop matters. Amaya takes the opportunity to wonder ‘why not’.
Comments: A short and angsty read about Zari and Amaya sharing an intimate moment only Zari would remember for this particular loop. It gets a little heated up in the end!
First Position by who_won_the_race_back_home
rated G | 1k | no warnings
Ever since the time loops, Zari hasn’t been able to sleep, so she’s taken to practicing the violin at odd hours. One night, Amaya stumbles upon her.
Comments: Post-s03e11 fic where in Zari plays the violin and Amaya finds her. It’s a sweet read, where you can see their feelings for each other displayed without either of them saying the words. It adds a bit of dimension to both of them. Plus, the little banter between Z and Gideon is hilarious.
why should i wait for tomorrow by falsealarm
rated G | 3.8K | no warnings
Even if she knows that whatever happens will end badly—that eventually Amaya is going to leave—Zari needs to know. If this time loop is good for anything, it’s good for a love confession.
Comments: Okay, it’s a little longer than the previous fics featured, but I loved every single attempt Zari did! There’s heart-wrenching moments where she just knows the ships going to go boom and she also fails to tell Amaya the extent of her true feelings. This fic made me want to root for her even as she’s caught in the endless restlessness the loops putting her through. Even it acknowledges Amaya’s problems and Zari tries to help her out. The author’s writing style is evocative and artistic. A must-read!
tigers in our hearts again by Wallyallens
rated G | 3.1K | no warnings
3 time-loops with Zari & Amaya.
Comments: *keyboard smashes* An ultimate soft fic of Amaya and Zari in the timeloop in three different scenarios. The second scenario is my favorite because of the moment shared there. Definitely a master-piece for me, in terms of fics related to Here I Go Again, a classic episode I think most Zari Tomaz fans love. This definitely sended me and hit me with feels.
