Sara Lance slapped groggily at her neck. "M'squito?" she slurred.
There was a collective exhale of relief that sounded like just so much static in her comm. She wondered vaguely what could cause that…and also, why it was so dark…and so hard to breath.
"No Sara, not a mosquito. Different irritant altogether," Snart informed her in a particularly snarky drawl.
"Sara, Ray has administered a couple of mild electrical shocks, to combat the gas you inhaled," Martin explained calmly. "Do you understand?"
"Not really." She coughed then, gasping a bit afterward.
"Do you remember what happened?" Jax prompted. "You're in an access point, under the deck. You're the only one who could fit in there."
"The ship?" Sara asked, trying to focus, when all she really wanted was to go back to sleep.
"The ship is fine," Jax assured her, "you shut off the valve and fixed the leak. You saved us all. But you inhaled a lot of gas. You need to get out of there, get checked out, maybe some oxygen."
"'Kay," Sara mumbled.
"No, Sara, it's not OK," Martin said urgently. "You need to -"
"Lance," Snart stated in a deadly calm voice. "You need to get out of there, right now. We can't come and get you, because none of us will fit in that space. There's no room for you to turn around. You need to crawl out backwards, and you need to do it now. You hear me? Start moving, or so help me, I'll have Raymond zap you again."
"It's OK, Sara," the miniaturized Ray added, in his best 'helpful boy scout' tone. "I'll stay with you."
"Lucky me," Sara muttered.
Ray, being Ray, chose to interpret that literally. He started directing Sara back out of the tiny crawl space.
"Will you get that damn light out of my eyes?" she complained.
"Are you sure, Sara? It's awfully dark in here."
"Ray. I'm going backwards. That means I can't see where I'm going anyway, so all you're doing is giving me a headache. A worse headache," she amended.
The crew in the engine room exchanged worried glances at that statement, and the labored sounds of her breathing.
Snart was hanging down into the tiny opening in the deck, shining a light into the duct. "Isn't there any other way to get to her?"
"No, man," Jax replied. "I woulda gone myself, if there was."
"We know that, Jefferson," Martin murmured comfortingly.
"What about ripping up some of the deck plates?" Snart asked intently.
Jax shook his head. "Coolant system. Rupture that, and she's dead for sure."
Mick swore, but Snart remained eerily silent, staring into the empty space that had seemingly swallowed Sara.
"Come on, Sara," they heard Ray cajoling her through the comms.
"Sara!" Snart barked.
"'M all right," she mumbled.
"If you don't stay awake, I will have to zap you again," Ray said apologetically.
Sara grunted noncommittally.
"Hey, get that light out of my eyes!" Ray complained suddenly.
"Payback's a bitch," Sara muttered.
"Wait. If he can see the light -" Martin exclaimed.
Snart leaned farther into the opening. "I can see your feet, Sara. You're almost here. Keep coming around the corner."
Ray came zooming out of the duct and re-sized himself.
Snart stretched out a hand to squeeze the back of Sara's calf reassuringly. "You're almost here, Birdie. Just a little farther."
The last few feet back into the light seemed interminable to Sara.
Snart laid a gentle hand on top of her head to guide her out of the duct. Mick reached out from the other side to steady her. Sara wobbled to her feet, and Snart lifted her out of the access point, rolling onto his back on the deck, with her sprawled across his chest.
"The engine?" Sara wheezed.
"The engines are fine, Miss Lance, "Gideon informed her, "thanks to you. But it would seem that you are in need of some repair. If you could proceed to the medbay, I can administer an antidote for the gas you inhaled."
"We're on our way," Snart replied, shifting them both to a sitting position.
Mick helped get them both to their feet, and steadied Snart when he lifted Sara into his arms. "Come on, Birdie, let's get you fixed up."
"I can walk," she protested.
"Not right now you can't," Mick said with gruff affection. "You did good, Blondie."
Snart just shot her a look and, if anything, settled her a little more firmly in his arms.
Ray approached, helmet in hand. "Sara, I'm so sorry that I wasn't here when it happened. Going in there alone…I think that's one of the bravest things I've ever seen."
There were murmurs of assent from the team, until Gideon cut in, sounding as put-out as was possible for an artificial intelligence. "Gentlemen, you may admire Miss Lance's courage after I have repaired her lungs."
Snart went about the business of settling Sara into her quarters methodically. Tea, juice, and fruit, for her abused throat, were on the desk, along with a nebulizer for any lingering effects. A couple extra pillows were piled on her bunk, so she could be propped up comfortably. He turned as the bathroom door opened.
"Thanks for not letting me die alone in there with Ray," Sara said lightly, leaning against the doorframe. The bare feet and damp hair made her look smaller than usual.
Snart straightened from turning down the blankets and stared back at her with fathomless blue eyes. "Don't," was all he said.
Sara sighed softly and walked over to him, laying a hand on his arm. "I'm sorry if I scared you today. It's just…I can't ever have the team look at me like I'm just some fragile little blonde…like I might be a liability."
"Sara, those men look at you like they don't want to find out how many ways you know to kill a man slowly. Right now, they look at you like you're the person who saved their asses - because you are. No one expected you to crawl out of that shaft with your lungs full of god-knows-what, and walk away under your own power. No one."
"So, you're saying you would have carried Ray to medbay?" she asked, with a mischievous twinkle.
"He's not my type."
Sara smiled at the return of the snark and stretched up to wrap her arms around his neck. "So…can we agree that we both lead very dangerous lives…and just enjoy what we've got right now?"
"And what exactly is it that you'd like to enjoy right now?" Snart drawled as he rested his hands on her waist.
Sara tipped her face up so she was looking him straight in the eye. "I nearly died today. Again. Alone, and in the dark. I'd like very much to not be alone tonight."
"I think that can be arranged."
Snart smiled then, a genuine expression of mirth. He stooped slightly and tightened his grip on Sara's waist, then straightened, lifting her feet clear off the floor. She buried her face against his neck and giggled.
They could work with 'right now.' It beat the hell out of 'I wish we had.'