spoilers for arrow 4x18
Enjoy, and please review!
The punching bag vibrated with every punch Sara threw at it, the chains rattling and the leather skin rippling. Each hit was packed with emotion, grief and mourning and guilt and rage pouring through her gloved fists. Her teeth clenched and ground together, and the amount of pressure hurt Sara's head, but it distracted her from the overwhelming feelings she was already experiencing.
To: Daddy
Wanna meet up at the Thai place for dinner? Gonna be in town tonight. xx
"What did the bag ever do to you?" Snart's lilting drawl dripped with sarcasm. Sara didn't reply, focusing on her roundhouse punching. "Sara," Snart said, head tilting.
The back door swung open, and the couple stumbled out into the alley. "Please, I don't want to ," the girl sobbed. Sara's eyes narrowed as she paused to watch.
"Come on. It's not that big of a deal anyway! Don't be such a-"
Sara interjected. "Hey. If she said no, then the answer's no."
The boy swiveled to Sara, beady eyes gleaming. "You wanna fight me? No? It's none of your business."
"You could be reported for abusing your girl friend. I'm actually meeting my dad here tonight, who's a cop, so...your choice."
The boy unclenched his fist from the girl's forearm and shoved her away. "Fine," he said, stalking off.
"Thank you," the girl gasped.
"No problem."
The rushing adrenaline was slowing in Sara's veins as her body stilled from the constant movement. Snart propped himself against the doorway, leaning on his elbow.
"What do you want?" Sara snapped. She was in no mood for the cold man.
"Why, I was only here to tell you that Rip said we're leaving Starling City now."
"It's Star City, and I don't care. There's nothing there for me, anyway," Sara added in a low voice, slightly less harsher than the previous sentence. A prickle of guilt pierced her as she thought about her father, all alone to deal with his loss.
Sara had just ordered her favorite meal when the bell at the door tinkled, and Lance slowly walked in, a melancholy expression on his face. Sara pretended not to notice, and stood up to embrace him. "Hi, Daddy. I've missed you."
"Something happen?" The lazy tone of Snart's voice was beginning to seriously rub on her already-frayed nerves. She whapped her elbow against the bag.
"I'm fine."
"Not what I asked."
"Baby, there's somethin' I gotta tell you."
Sara glared at him, before slowly stepping to the bench adjacent with the wall. "It's none of your business," she said, snapping the lid off her water bottle.
"Fine then. You know, I've learned that talking about your feelings can help-"
"I have never heard you talk about your own feelings unless it was under dire circumstances, so why do you expect me to talk about mine?"
He held his hands up in submission. "It's what I've heard. It's not like I choose to actually do that." Scoffing, Sara sipped a swig of water. "Besides, believe it or not, you're my friend, and I care about you."
Even through her muzzy mind, Sara could read Snart's body language. He was carefully poking a hole in his stone wall of personal defense, leaving himself vulnerable.
"I don't believe you."
"Sara, sweetie, I'm sorry."
"How?"
Her shoulders dropped as she closed her eyes, using the cold metal behind her head as support. "Do you remember one of our first trips? It was in 1975, and we went to the weapons deal. One of the men there was a man named…" Sara paused, gathering herself and calming her boiling blood. "Damien Darhk. Lately, he'd been terrorizing Star City with his organization, Hive. My friends, Team Arrow as they call themselves-" At this, a small flicker of pride wheedled its way in her tone. "-have been fighting him. However," and Sara's voice dropped again. "One day, at Iron Heights, they went after Darhk and...he...he killed my sis…" She couldn't continue, stifling her mouth with her hand. Her breathing shook unevenly, both from the lack of oxygen and the strain of the topic.
Fortunately, the few other residents in the resteraunt had enough tact to pretend that there was not a former police captain rubbing the back of a weeping blonde at the front bar.
Where Snart's presence had bothered Sara before, now comforted her. Breaking his silence, he replied, "Don't know if you knew it, but I have a sister. Lisa's the name. And if anyone ever laid a finger on her, he'd be dead before he could could say "Freeze"."
Sara stood up and began pacing. "I wish I could kill him. I know I've been trying to get better, but he deserves it after all he did. But Oliver already killed him. So now I can't."
"Go back in time and kill him," Snart suggested.
Sara laughed, and it wasn't a happy sound. "You have no idea how much I want to do that. But I can't. You know Rip wouldn't allow it."
"That the only thing keeping you back?" Snart asked.
"Don't encourage me," Sara chided darkly.
"Can't you bring her back to life?" Snart asked.
"It's unnatural. What dies should stay dead."
His lips twisted into an odd grin. "Ironic coming from you."
"You know, I didn't ask to be brought back!" Sara yelled angrily. "You have no clue what it's like, the torture I live through every day. The pit continues to whisper to me, even though it's been destroyed, and you have no clue what that's like, to have no control over your emotions and actions when it has influence over you the way it does to me."
Sara approached the cold captain in her rant, inching close into his face. Spit flew from her lips and her eyes were wide open in red-rimmed glory. Snart shyed slightly away from her, and the shock in his normally calm demeanor startled Sara, enough that she became conscious of what happened. Stumbling back, she slapped her palms to her temple and fell to a crouch. "I'm sorry," she said, her voice slightly muffled through her forearms. "I didn't mean to. I'm sorry."
"It's alright," Snart said briskly. "Just didn't expect it, is all." He stood up straight, ignoring his support from the door. "I'm going to go talk to Rip. Will you be okay here?"
Sara's head bobbed as she wrapped her arms around herself.
Sara wandered the Waverider aimlessly. Empty eyes slid over furnishings, unfocused, and her fingers twiddled. A swishing noise came from around the corner of her hall, alerting Sara to the fact that Rip was there a moment before she saw him. "Sara. How do you feel?
"How do you think?" Sara asked, but her response had no bite.
"I have a...proposition for you. I know that you have been feeling crestfallen ever since you discovered the demise of your sister, but I may have a way to help you feel better." A small twinkle a lit in his eye. "Because of the time I first took you traveling, the timeline can allow you to return to your time, thus rendering you capable of seeing Miss Lance."
"You mean-" Hope and relief fluttered like a caged bird in her chest. "I can see Laurel? Before-"
"Yes. The most opportune moment would be about a month and a half after you left, at about noon. You could see her for lunch."
"Yes. Yes, please."
Reporters, lawyers, and other employees bustled around in the DA office. Sara maneuvered her way around the people, inwardly cringing in disgust. No matter what she pretended, she hated crowds and large groups of people; definitely an introvert.
Across the busy office, Laurel rifled through a filing cabinet. She was full of life, yelling to an attorney and smacking papers around. She plucked a file out, flipped through it, then shoved it back in. Sara slid over. "Hi."
Curls fluttered as Laurel turned around. "Sara!" she exclaimed. The grin Sara had been suppressing leaked, a light giggle escaping. She threw her arms around her sister, inhaling the fragrance of Laurel's perfume. "What are you doing here?" Laurel asked into Sara's hair.
Sara squeezed Laurel before releasing her. "I wanted to visit you." Her voice almost broke, but she kept the façade up. "My team accomplished the mission, so I thought I'd see my other friends."
"That's great!" Laurel slammed the metal drawer closed. "So you saved the world from destruction?" Laurel teased, a hint of seriousness in the quip.
"Well, in the future, but yeah, pretty much." Her fingers creeped along the varnished wood desk. "Do you wanna go get lunch?
Without hesitation, Laurel said, "Yes, of course. Big Belly Burger? With fries dipped in milkshakes?" she added with a wink.
Mouth watering and stomach grumbling, Sara couldn't wait to eat with Laurel despite having just eaten recently with her dad. "You know it."