Author Note: This is not one of my stronger Captain Canary fics - well, I don't think so - but it's still good. This is the first time I have ever written a story revolved around a character's death before. Hence, there is some OOC behavior, but also, my Leonard and Sara are a bit more open than their television counterparts, so I have a valid excuse for that! I tried my best to let the story force flow through my being and this was the finished product. I'll likely edit it later, but I wanted to get this posted before I went to bed! I hope you enjoy it!
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Vandal Savage had gotten the upper hand on their last mission in 2001. Everyone on the team had taken part this time around. They were supposed to blow up a large arms depot in Detroit that Vandal was using to store munitions. Destroying said depot would put a serious dent in the immortal's plans to conquer the world.
"The mission should be cut and dry. Savage won't even expect us," Rip had said, confidently.
But this was no simple mission. Savage had anticipated the team's arrival and already set up troops for a surprise attack. The aftermath had been bloody and desperate. Kendra and Firestorm had suffered internal bleeding, scrapes and mild concussions, Ray was pretty cut up and in a mild coma, but Gideon assured the team that he would awaken in a few days.
While trying to hold Savage's goons off so the others could get back on board the Waverider, Mick and Sara had gotten thrown around and gained several bruises and cuts for their trouble. They were all lucky, except for Leonard, who took the brunt of a ten inch knife to his side. The gash had barely missed his stomach, but it was bad enough that even Gideon couldn't save him.
"He has a 13% chance of recovery, Miss Lance," she said when Sara asked if he would survive after they'd gotten back on board the ship. 13%. Such a small, unforgiving number. Sara wanted to break something or howl in rage, but she tried her best to keep her composure. She had to, for Leonard's sake and her own. She refused to believe that there was no way to save him.
Sara held on tightly to Leonard's hand, telling him before he slipped into unconsciousness that he would be fine and Gideon would find some way to save him. The words sounded so real as they left her lips, that Sara might have believed them, but the horrifying sense of dread she felt once she got a look at Leonard's wound, how deep the gashes were, how much blood he'd lost, she knew that there was truly little chance of his making it.
There had always been an attraction between Leonard and Sara, but they never pursued it. To think of how close they were, practically like best friends, and now that Leonard was dying, it was more than she could bear. Sara lamented all of the times she could have initiated something between them. A hug, a kiss, a squeeze of hand, something, anything to let him know that she had feelings for him. She knew that he felt something towards her, as all of his flirting conveyed, but she believed that there was more to it than just playful attention.
There was something very real between them. Instead of pursuing it, however, Sara kept Leonard at a distance, avoiding any heartfelt conversations by swiftly changing the subject or making a caustic remark to shake off the feeling of intimacy she felt whoever he was near.
It was so cowardly. Sara would go to her grave regretting that behavior. Ironic that she had already experienced death twice and now, Leonard was the one who would die. They both deserved so much more and yet, life decided to deal them a shitty hand.
Sara stayed in med bay with Leonard for days, sitting on a chair, cradling his hand in her own. Their relationship may not have been romantic by any means, but the rest of the team knew that something had been cemented between them. No one spoke about it. They all came by at some point, telling him their goodbyes.
When the others came to say their farewells to Leonard, Sara went off and got into an argument with Rip, threatening him with bodily harm if he didn't take the ship back before they ever arrived at the depot. She wanted to go back and save Leonard before he got injured.
"I can't do it, Sara. It would be too risky and endanger to the timeline. I wish we could go back, I really do, but we can't. I'm sorry."
This was completely unfair. Sara hated feeling so powerless. She, herself, had died a few times before and she raged at the cruelty of fate. Leonard Snart was still young. He had a whole life ahead of him and it was being stolen from him mercilessly.
The tears flowed freely down Sara's cheeks as she spoke to Leonard in low tones. He was fading now, and even though it tortured her, she stayed by his bedside. There was no way she could leave him now. She would stay with him until the end. She owed him that much.
"Remember when we talked about Mick a few weeks ago and I asked you what your feelings were and you said, "About you?" I should have said yes. I always wondered sometimes. The way you would look at me at times would have me holding my breath. I knew that there was something special between us, but I fought it. I fought it like hell because I was afraid. I have done so many bad things."
"I've taken peoples' lives with no second thought, I have this bloodlust that rages inside and sometimes, I can feel myself grasping for control. I keep thinking that I could snap and hurt or kill one of our teammates, and that scares me...but you're my center; you help me stay grounded. I actually feel like I can handle my bloodlust when you're with me. You're my best friend, you're dying and I don't know how I'll get on without you. And Mick. He needs you too. We both need you. You have to fight this, Len, you have to because I...I...I love you."
Sara looked up and squeezed Leonard's hand tightly and determination filled her eyes as she glared at him. "Do you hear me, Leonard? I said that I love you, dammit. That means you have to fight this. You have to. For me, for Mick, for the team. Don't you dare die on me!"
Gideon spoke up in response to Sara's shouts. "Miss Lance, I am afraid that shouting at Mister Snart will only exa-"
"Shut up, Gideon!" Sara growled.
The AI became silent.
Sara touched Leonard's forehead and tried to smile, her chin trembling. "I wish you would come back to me. I need you, Len. Everyone says that I need to let you go, but I can't. I won't. So you have to wake up, please..."
She just stared at Leonard's face wishing and praying and begging that he would live, that he would come back to her. She needed him. She had lost so much in this life. The last thing she needed was to lose Leonard too.
The thin barrier that held Sara together finally shattered and she cried out in heavy, gasping sobs. She buried her face on Leonard's chest and wept. The tears fell like raindrops. Sara had never cried so much before in her entire life, but here she was, completely vulnerable and crushed. She had nothing more to hide, no more defenses with which to shield herself. She was raw, transparent and broken.
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Sara had no idea how long she laid there with her head on Leonard's chest. From the crick in her neck, and the stiffness of her back, she was sure a few hours had gone by. Sara moved her head off Leonard's chest and looked down at him. He seemed so peaceful, she would even dare to say that he was smiling a little. A sharp pain stabbed her heart and had to look away before more tears threatened to spill from her eyes.
Sara closed her eyes and covered her face with her hands and sighed. The skin on her face was damp and puffy, her body was tired and her joints ached from being in one position for so long. She stood up and began stretching to relieve some of the pain.
Suddenly a beeping sound made her jump and she realized that it was Leonard's monitor. She looked at the screen and gasped when she saw that his heart began to beat. It was sluggish, but it was beating. Sara took Leonard's hand in hers and squeezed it lightly. "Len, can you hear me?"
After a few agonizing moments, his eyes opened in tiny slits. Sara gasped and kissed his hand, then held it to her chest. Her other hand touched his cheek and caressed him gently.
"S...Sara?"
Sara started crying again, but this time, they were tears of joy. She may have looked terrible, but she didn't care. The only thing that mattered was Leonard was alive and he was speaking. "Yeah, Len. I'm here."
Leonard coughed and blinked. He opened his eyes a bit wider and furrowed his brow. "Sorry it took me so long to...get back."
"Hey, you're awake and alive. That's all that matters...Gideon, what-"
Gideo responded almost instantly and Sara suspected that the AI had been waiting for her to ask. "Mister Snart has a 90% percent chance of recovery. His wounds have begun to heal. Shall I inform the others?"
"No. No, give us a few minutes to ourselves."
"As you wish."
Sara laughed and shook her head, amazed and unable to express how relieved she was that Leonard was going to be okay. "I don't know how you came back, Len, but it's a miracle. You were barely alive a few hours ago."
Leonard scoffed, cleared his throat and squeezed her hand. "Well, I don't know if it's a miracle or just my stubbornness that saved me, but either way, I'm just glad I'm not dead."
Sara wiped the tears from her eyes with her free hand and laughed. "Yeah, so am I. Don't you dare do this to me again, you asshole." She tried to sound angry, but the words came out crackling with joy and relief.
He gave her a wry grin, those eyes full of life and vibrancy. It was obvious that Sara was trying to hold back her ecstasy at finding him alive. Leonard could read her just as well as she could read him. That wonderful drawl crept back into his voice as he responded. "Hey, I just came back from the living and you're calling me names. It's not like I intended to do this, you know~"
Sara rolled her eyes and placed her other hand on top of his. "Well, be more careful next time. I don't need a reason to go crazy around here. If you left me with our teammates and Mick all by myself, I would be very pissed at you."
"That's stating the obvious," Leonard quipped back.
It was good to be back. He had missed this shameless banter, this flirting between the two of them. The moment was theirs and theirs alone and he savoured every minute of it.
Sara had to calm her instinct to grab Leonard's face and kiss him. It was so good to see him smile again and to hear his snarky comments. If anyone had told her five months ago that she would be ecstatic to look into Leonard's eyes and to listen to his voice, she would have had a good, hard laugh and probably kicked their ass...but things were different now.
Leonard leaned forward a bit, wincing in pain at the motion. He tugged Sara's hand, prompting her to get face-to-face with him. She scooted a little closer to him, half sitting on the bed. He had a curious expression on his face, one that Sara couldn't read. She wondered what was going through his mind.
"Is there something you want to share with the class?" She asked him, a playful tilt in her voice.
Leonard licked his lips and set those intense blue-green eyes on her. Whatever it was he was going to tell her was serious. Sara's heart began to beat wildly and she did her best not to get overly excited. He was probably going to say some quasi-flirtatious comment, or tease her, as he usually did. No big deal.
"So...you love me." The way he said it, was like a statement, not a question.
Oh shit. Sara swallowed. Her free hand shook and she placed it on her lap so he wouldn't see. 'How did he hear me? He was dying...oh, God, what do I say? I didn't expect him to have actually heard me. What do I do?'
Sara pursed her lips and looked down at her boots, suddenly feeling a little shy at being found out, which was very unlike her. "Yeah. You, uh, you heard that?"
"I may have been on my deathbed, but I could still hear. Apparently, being in the process of dying doesn't diminish the hearing."
"Well, um...we will need to confer about that." Sara spoke in a whisper, keeping her eyes on his stubbled chin.
Leonard nodded, that familiar smirk spreading on his face. "I'd have to agree with you on that. A confession that big deserves a nice, long conversation."
Sara shivered inwardly. God, how she missed that drawl. Before she could respond, Jax, Kendra, Stein and Mick came in the room, chattering excitedly. Great timing.
"Dude, you made it! We thought we'd lost you, man!" Jax said, his face beaming.
As the others began to crowd around Leonard, Sara pulled back from the group, letting them welcome him back to the land of the living. She would come by later, in a few hours, after everyone had gone. As she backed out of the room and everyones' talking overlapped, Leonard caught Sara's eye and held her gaze firmly. There was a solidarity in his gaze that made her breath hitch. For a short moment, it was like they were the only people in the room with eyes only for each other, and their eyes said one thing.
We have a lot to talk about.
Boy, did they ever.