This came out of a series of headcanons given by taleasoldastime-andspace on Tumblr. Because I'm a sucker for AUs, I wound up writing it.

Hopefully, you all enjoy it!


"So while adenine pairs with thymine in DNA, it binds with uracil in RNA," Lillian Stein explained to her class. "However, guanine and cytosine always come together in either. Nothing changes there. They always find each other."

The bell rang as she capped her marker. Her students started to pack their notebooks and pencils away, chattering away with each other.

"Remember your lab reports are due tomorrow," Lillian called after them as they began to leave. "Don't forget to include your graphs."

There were a few groans. Lillian turned around to erase the whiteboard she'd written on for the class. She didn't have a class next period, and the ones that followed that were not biology. There were still some physics tests she needed to finish grading. Her prep hour could be spent working on that.

After gathering up the tests, her gradebook, and a few pens, Lillian left her classroom to go to the teacher's lounge and ran right into someone. "Oof!"

"Sorry," Ray Palmer apologized as the tests fell to the floor. "I didn't see you there, Miss Stein."

"No worries, Mr. Palmer," Lillian bent down to pick up the stapled packets.

The school's janitor dropped down low to the ground. "Let me help you out."

"Thanks," she smiled, taking the tests from him as he passed them to her. "How have you been?"

"Good," Ray nodded quickly. "Things are good. Felicity and I went on a hike last weekend."

Lillian ignored the twinge of jealousy that hit her when Ray mentioned his wife. "That sounds nice."

"It was," he replied before perking up. "Oh! You know how you've been trying to get your hands on a Van de Graaff generator?"

"Uh huh."

"Well, uh, I managed to build one."

"Really?" Lillian grinned. "That's amazing!"

He smiled at her as silence fell over them.

Lillian shifted the tests in her arms. "I should get going to grade these. I'll see you around."

"Cool."

She walked away quickly, telling herself not to look back. If she had, she would have seen Ray looking back at her too.


Gideon Ryder pressed 'Save' on her finished article before leaning back in her chair. She stretched her arms and legs out with a groan. For the past five and a half hours, she'd been working her way through her assignments. As much as she loved working at the paper, sometimes she wished there was more that happened in the sleepy little town. She needed some juicy story to rescue her from writing about the latest mundane road construction.

The editor would be by later to pick up her articles. There was about an hour of time to kill until he'd pass by. Gideon sat back again to contemplate what to tackle next when her stomach began to growl. It reminded her that she'd yet to eat lunch yet. She could pop down quickly to the diner a few blocks down the street, have a bite to eat, and then walk back with time to spare.

Grabbing her coat, Gideon left the newspaper office and began a brisk walk down the street. A cold breeze blew down through the town, making her shudder and hug her coat tighter to her body. In the distance, she heard the sirens of the fire engine fading as it sped towards a fire. It'd probably wind up being another story she'd have to write tomorrow.

The warm air inside the diner made Gideon exhale happily as she entered. She placed her order and waited at the counter, listening to the conversations around her. There were a few pieces of gossip that she filed away for later as she ate her lunch. After she'd paid, she bundled back up and stepped outside to make her return trip.

"Gideon!"

She whirled around to see Rip Hunter, fisherman and town eccentric, running towards her. "Captain Hunter."

"I need to ask you something," the man said. "Will you-"

"No," Gideon turned and began to walk away. "I refuse to participate in anything related to that insane theory of yours."

"It's only hypnosis therapy. It could help you remember who you are!"

"I know exactly who I am!" she huffed. "And it has never been the spirit of your ship. I am a journalist, always have been and always will be!"

"Gideon, wait!" Rip protested. "You need to believe me!"

She shook her head. "Rip, you're rambling. I know it's been difficult ever since you lost your family, and you've been working non-stop since then. Just take some time off. Please."

With that, she walked away from him as he stared at her sadly.


As soon as he pulled up to the veterinarian's, Mick braked hard and threw the truck into park. Gathering up the shuddering pile in the passenger seat, he carried the dog towards the office. There had been some pets in the fire his crew had just put out. The dog he held was the only survivor of the lot, but she wasn't in good shape.

Lucky for him, he knew someone who could help.

The door slammed hard against the wall as he burst into the clinic. Mick cringed when he saw the mark that had been left in the wall.

"Mick Rory, I swear if that's you!"

Amaya Jiwe came storming out of the back room, hair flying behind her in a ponytail. In their old lives in the Enchanted Forest, she had always been a force to be reckoned with. Here, she had been locked in the basement of the hospital with no clue who she was until Mick bargained with the Legion of Doom to give her another life years ago. Now, every day he woke up and found she was a veterinarian for the town. She managed to retain her ferocity now, but became as meek as the others in town whenever Malcolm Merlyn, Damien Darhk, or Eobard Thawne showed up.

"How many times do I need to tell you not to slam the door open like that?" she sighed as she caught sight of the mark in the wall.

He had lost count over the years, and that didn't include the implanted memories of this cursed life. "Got a patient for you, Doc."

She looked at the dog and stepped towards him. The poor animal whimpered a little as she took her from Mick's heard her murmur softly to the dog as she walked towards an examination table. Mick followed after her, looking over the posters and diagrams put up on the walls.

"Found her in the fire we just put out," he explained as Amaya started to look over the dog. "Couple other pets were there too, but she's the only one who made it out alive. Ran her over here as soon as I could."

"Good thing you did," Amaya murmured. "She's got a few burns I'm going to have to treat, along with some previous injuries. I'd like to keep her here overnight for observation in case she starts showing more signs of smoke inhalation. Do you know anything about the owners?"

"Nothing," he shook his head. All these years he'd had, and Mick had never been able to figure out who had caused the fire or who the animals belonged to. "No one owned the house that burned. Neighbors had no clue there were even animals inside."

"Strange," she said. "Well, I'll take her in for now. Hopefully, an owner can be found."

"I'll look into it," Mick told her, moving towards the door. "I'll come around tomorrow."

"Okay. See you then."

He'd never find the owner. Tomorrow, he would indeed be back here again. The curse made every day repeat itself over and over in the same way. One day, the Savior would come and change that though. She'd set in motion a series of events to break the curse the Legion of Doom had cast twenty eight years ago.

Then, Mick would have his power back to burn the world.


Clarissa Hofmann entered the hospital room, book in hand. The John Doe was in the same state as he always was. She had no idea how long he'd been in that coma for. However, when she'd volunteered at the hospital before, Dr. Thawne had asked her to keep an eye on him. No one had been visiting him or claimed him in any way.

"So he has no one?" she'd asked once she'd heard the story.

"Not a soul," the doctor had replied.

In that way, she felt a kinship to John Doe. He seemed to be around her age, but the lack of visitors made her think he had no family or friends. She was alone in the world too. Mainly, Clarissa kept to herself. Yet oddly enough, the unknown comatose man made her feel a little less alone.

At least when he woke up, she wouldn't have to do all the talking for both of them.

"Hope you don't mind me reading to you," Clarissa told him as she opened the book. "I'm not sure if you're one for poetry, but I've always enjoyed Robert Frost."

He didn't say anything as she started to read Fire and Ice. For about an hour, she stayed and read to him before leaving the hospital. As she did, a young woman who she believed taught at the local school came in. She held the door for Clarissa as they passed each other. After murmuring a quiet thank you, the older woman started her journey home.

(One day soon, she'd get a book from Laurel Drake to read to the man. She would read a story of a man who could burn like the sun to the John Doe. Only then would he grab her hand and finally start to awaken.)


Mayor Leonard Snart gazed out the window of his office as he prepared to leave for the night. From here, he could see the face of the clock tower. Its hands had been frozen at 8:15 for as long as he could remember. If his reelection campaign proved successful, then he would make a town-wide effort to have it restored to working order. However, that could only really occur if he got reelected.

Damien Darhk was competing against him to take his place as mayor. Leonard knew he was well-liked by the people in the town, but Darhk posed a serious challenge. Along with Eobard Thawne and Malcolm Merlyn, Darhk was one of the most powerful men in town. Many people in the town were intimidated by them, and fear could provide a lot of pull. He had called Mick earlier to tell him about his concerns of losing his campaign, but Mick had only responded by assuring him that he would be mayor for 'a very long time'.

Gathering up his coat, Leonard left his office and walked out of the town hall. As he did, he recollected that he was supposed to have met with Laurel Drake today. However, she had never shown up for it. He'd heard that she'd been acting strangely lately. Hopefully, nothing was seriously wrong with her.

(He ran into Laurel three days later. She was with a blonde woman named Sara who looked like the last place she wanted to be was in the town hall. When he met her, he didn't know why he suddenly had thoughts of criminal activity crossing his mind.)


Sara Lance blew out the candle on her cupcake before dropping back into a chair. Looking out the window of her new apartment, she sighed at the view. Star City was no different than any other city she'd worked bail bonds in. Tonight's assignment had been successful, but she'd broken a heel and lost a knife. At least she'd gotten a happy birthday from her mark before revealing that she was onto him. She couldn't remember the last time someone had acknowledged her birthday. It wasn't like she hung around long enough anywhere for people to do so.

Did her own parents, or at least her mother, ever think about her on her birthday?"

A knock on the door pulled Sara back from the slippery slope of wallowing in misery. Rising to her feet, Sara padded over to the door and opened it. On the other side, a brunette who looked like the lawyer type was standing there. She seemed harmless, but Sara still made sure she could grab a knife if she needed to.

"Sara Lance?" the stranger asked, her eyes widening.

"Yeah," Sara nodded slowly. "Who are you?"

"My name's Laurel Drake. I'm your sister."


Ta-Da!

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