Hey, guys, I'm back! Thank you for all the support in Stake Out: Part 2!

TKDGirl2016: Here you go!

DarkRed101: Thank-you again for your support!

Captain Canary3: Thank-you!

Seylene Nightshade: Thank-you! Nice to know that I wasn't the only one!

Guest/Nyx: Oh my goodness! How did you know that I've been thinking about writing about that Russian prison scene forever?! I'm not sure if I'll act on it, but I'll keep an open mind.

So anyway, I'm just warning you, that Mick is going to act a little out of character here. Am I cringing? Yes. Am I too lazy to fix it? Yes. But I wanted a little physical contact and I can't see how it couldn't be out of Mick's character, so just a little head's up.

Rae picked up a syringe and turned it over thoughtfully in her hand wondering what was bothering her.

It had been an hour since the post-alien invasion party had ended and most of the team was in bed. All except her.

There was no reason she should be feeling like this. The world had been saved, the aliens were light years away and there was no indication that they were ever coming back.

So why was she upset?

Rae set the syringe back on the lab desk and bit the tip of her index nail replaying the whole evening in her mind. It wasn't because she had seen Oliver again was it? She had been over him for a while and she had seen him a few times in between the party and their breakup and she hadn't felt like this; no, he wasn't the reason.

Was it because Barry had asked about Snart? Maybe. It still hurt to think that she was the reason why he was dead, but Mick, the one who had felt his loss more than anyone else, had constantly reminded her that he would've done it anyway, even if there wasn't anyone else that was supposed to die.

Mick.

That seemed to have struck a chord.

She rapped her fingers on the desk chasing down the rabbit trail in her mind wondering where it would lead to. All her interactions with Mick hadn't been out of the ordinary; not the type that would leave her feeling upset.

Maybe his interaction with someone else?

Rae blinked feeling that she was getting closer…but didn't know why. He had interacted with everyone that evening. Barry, Oliver, Cisco, Kara…

Kara.

What had he said to her, shortly before they left the party?

"Hey, skirt…call me."

Rae froze, her breath catching in her throat.

No, that couldn't be it…it shouldn't be it.

"You're still up."

Rae looked up to see Mick leaning in the doorway of the lab with two old fashioned soda bottles in his hands. He had always been a sucker for the old fashion cream sodas. She remembered that they had went out and bought a whole case of them when she admitted that they were her favorite drinks as well.

Currently he crossed the space between them and sat down across from her and set one of the bottles in front of her.

She felt an inevitable smile coming.

"How did you know that I needed one of these?" She reached for the bottle and twisted the cap off.

"Lucky guess," Mick smiled and lifted his bottle in the air. "To never seeing the Dominators again." He took a swig.

"Amen." Rae took a sip and held the bottle thoughtfully.

"What's wrong?"

She looked at the giant of a man sitting across from her.

"Who says that there's anything wrong?"

"You tap your foot restlessly when you're upset."

Rae slowed her foot only realizing at that moment she was doing it.

"Do I?"

"Every time."

"What else have you picked up about me?"

"That you tap your foot when you're upset, but when you're nervous, you stress eat apples."

"Actually, I disciplined myself to do that. When I was a teenager, I would stress eat chocolate, but knew that it was bad for my health, so I chose something else so I could watch my weight."

Mick choked on his soda.

"Only you would do that, ponytail."

Rae laughed.

"I'm sure other people do it too."

"Yeah, the high percentage of 0.03 of the world's population." He smirked at her.

"Okay, so maybe it's not entirely normal."

"Nothing about you is entirely normal. Not a bad thing, though." He sipped his soda looking thoughtfully at her. Rae saw him using his Chronos skills of perception and suddenly knew how all the bugs she held under a microscope felt when she would observe them as a child.

"So what's bothering you? You've been quiet since we got back from saving the world; too quiet."

She swallowed.

"I'm not quite sure, actually."

"You're not?"

Rae shook her head.

"Maybe you're tired."

She shrugged knowing that it wasn't the problem.

"If that were it, I'd be in bed. Why are you still up anyway?"

"We've seen a lot of things these last few months, but aliens have never been one of them. I'm not sure how everyone else is sleeping sound right now."

Rae chuckled.

"Have any idea what could be bothering you?"

Not one that I'd like to share. Rae shrugged and took a sip of her soda. Why was he being so persistent? He usually left deep things alone.

"Was it seeing Oliver again?" Mick asked, "I wouldn't know from experience, but seeing someone's ex can be awkward."

"No, I already considered that," Rae set her bottle down on the table, "I've been over him for a while now." She smiled a mischievous smile that she didn't feel. "I thought you said that you had a thing for brunettes exclusively."

Mick blinked, then chuckled.

"Wouldn't you make an exception for a blonde with superpowers and a good personality?"

"I would and I have."

"Oh, right; you did. Then you know what it's like."

She nodded.

"Yeah."

"Think she'll call me?"

"You didn't give her your number."

"Oh right, I didn't." Mick smiled at her in a way that Rae wasn't sure how to process; nor was she sure she wanted to. " 'Sides, I'm not stupid anymore. Guys like me don't stand a chance with girls like her."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't think you need an explanation."

"You'll find someone someday." Before Rae could stop herself, her hand was resting on his wrist. She nearly pulled back but felt that it would be more awkward if she did so.

Mick glanced at her looking slightly amused.

"Says Ms. Optimistic."

"Who's a had three strikes on true love and struck out; I'm not giving up though. There's a cover for every pot, so I believe that there's someone out there for Mick Rory like there's someone out there for me."

Mick ran his callused thumb over the top of her hand sending unexpected shivers down her spine. It was something she couldn't process, no, she realized that she was purposely not processing it.

"You're quite the trooper." He removed his thumb and she forced herself to not jerk her hand away instead bringing it slowly back to her bottle. He cleared his throat.

"Anyway, how did we get on this subject? I thought we were trying to figure out what was wrong with you."

"Conversations travel."

"So you do know but you're just not telling me."

Rae swallowed wondering if her eyes were revealing her deer-in-the-headlights feeling.

"I'm not quite sure yet."

"Alright." Mick got up, "I guess I'll turn in. let me know when you figure it out." He walked by her. "Night, ponytail."

"I'm not wearing my hair up."

Mick shrugged.

"So?" He left the room.

Rae just realized that she was holding her breath and let it out shakily.

What was wrong with her? She hadn't felt like this since…since…

Carter.

She suddenly felt dizzy and rested her forehead in the palm of her hand and groaned.

"Not again."

Well that was a little boring; it turned out to be more of a drabble than a story. Sorry if Mick was a little OOC, but I may be able to cover it up by saying that Mick is getting closer to Rae and feels more comfortable around her? No? didn't think so. Oh well.

On a side note, while I was wrapping this up, I was listening to a song called "Awakening With You" by a band called Scandroid and laughed to myself when I realized that it somewhat matched up with this fic, so I decided to name the story after it.

Anyway please review and comment! Like I've said before, I accept constructive criticism, but please no foul language and/or character bashing.