Meet My Father

Ava and Sara stood outside the house Sara grew up in. They'd been standing outside preparing to walk in for the past five minutes. Ava had never been a nervous person, she prided herself on being in control and confident but everything that involved Sara would toss all the composure and discipline she had out the window. She looked from the door to Sara for the umpteenth time. "I'm sorry," she apologized once again.

"Don't be nervous, you're going to be fine." Sara smiled, taking Ava's hand in hers, squeezing it. She'd never seen Ava this uneasy, not even when they'd first started talking, each trying to conceal their crush on the other.

Ava let out a big sigh. "You don't know that." Sara had been reassuring her repeatedly that her father would be absolutely fine with them and that he'd like her. They'd had this meeting planned for months, but time business always got in the way. It was always one emergency or another and if Ava were completely honest, she hadn't gone out of her way to make time for the meeting, not until Sara had called her out on it, which had resulted in a minor argument in their typical fashion where they'd start yelling with one finally sharing their insecurity or hesitation. The same hesitation that was keeping them from entering the house, the house Sara's father was currently waiting for them in.

"I promise you'll be fine, I love you and my dad will too. You're the greatest thing that's ever happened to me, all my dad wants, is for me to be happy, and I'm so, so happy." Sara stood up on her tiptoes to give Ava a quick peck on the lips. She didn't know how to make it clear that Ava had nothing to worry about.

Ava rested her forehead against Sara's once her feet were firmly back on the ground. "I love you," she spoke softly, it always amazed her how patient Sara was, especially with her. She knew she was overreacting but she couldn't recall the last time she was in a relationship serious enough to meet the parents. "It's just been a long, long time since I've had to meet the parents of someone I was with."

Sara knew this and understood where Ava was coming from. She couldn't recall meeting anyone's parents after Oliver, even then they knew her as Laurel's sister. So she'd never had to actually meet them as someone he was dating. "Aves, you are the healthiest relationship I've ever been in. I haven't done a lot of the meeting the parents bit myself." She knew if she was in Ava's shoes she'd be nervous too, maybe more so. After all, they'd raised a beautiful woman with a big heart who was damn near perfect. There were times she wondered what Ava was doing with a broken person like herself, though she didn't dare utter those words to Ava. Her girlfriend would spend an hour lecturing her about how great of a person she was and she'd list off her amazing qualities that had drawn her to her. She was sometimes overwhelmed with the love she felt for Ava and the love Ava showed her. "Ready," she asked.

"As I'll ever be." She took a deep breath trying to calm her nerves. She could handle someone trying to kill her but meeting her girlfriend's dad scared her more than anything.

Sara gave her hand another squeeze before opening the door. "Dad," Sara called out trying to find her father. "We're here."

"That you are." Quentin Lance came into the living room with a big smile on his face a dish towel hanging over his shoulder. He'd heard them pull up and made himself busy while they talked outside. A part of him had wanted to open the door and scare them, but it wasn't often that Sara brought someone home so he decided against it. He engulfed his daughter in a tight hug. With Laurel gone he'd been lonely and had been missing Sara even more. He'd never tell her how much he wished she was home because he knew she was making a difference in the world and didn't want to put that guilt on her. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too daddy." Sara returned the hug as tightly as she received it. She hated not being around, hated that he was alone. She pulled away and took Ava's hand once again pulling her closer. "Daddy this is Ava, the one I told you about." She smiled as she introduced her dad to her girlfriend. She'd talked to him about Ava for hours and hoped that this meeting went well, she wanted them to get along more than anything.

Quentin watched his daughter for an extra second before turning his gaze to the tall blonde beside her. He hadn't seen that genuine smile in a long time, probably before she got on the Queen's Gambit. "Tell me Ava, were you a millionaire sorority girl," he asked.

"Dad." Sara tried to cut him off before the interrogation got too far. She expected questions but not two minutes after meeting poor Ava.

He held up a hand to stop her argument and looked at Ava for an answer.

Ava looked between father and daughter trying to figure out where this was going. "No Sir, I'm afraid not."

He remained serious. "Interesting, are you or have you ever been a ninja assassin."

Ava seeing where this was going started to relax but only a little bit. "No Sir. Not a ninja."

"Oh my god dad," Sara whined. "Can you please stop," she begged. She really hadn't expected this line of questioning.

"One more question. Maybe two. He turned his attention back to Ava. "What is it you do Ava." He relaxed a bit, he hadn't been trying to scare her, not really, not after the way his daughter talked about her. If he hadn't already known his daughter was in love by the way she'd talked about her girlfriend he'd have realized it the second he saw them together.

"I'm an agent with the Time Bureau, we repair anachronisms throughout time." It felt good not having to lie about what she did for a living. It was a nice and welcomed change.

"So you work with Sara." He already knew the answer because Sara had filled him in.

"Well, yes, only I manage to follow the rules and not go out of my way to break them." She was feeling far more relaxed than when she'd first stepped foot into the house.

"I like her." He pointed at Ava with an approving smile. "And call me Quentin."

"I'm not sure what just happened." Sara looked between her father and her girlfriend both smiling at one another.

Quentin shrugged. "You wanted me to be nice to your girlfriend, now I don't have to pretend."