Interlude: It's a Matter of Perspective
xXx
A/N: Part 2 in The Tracks Don't Have To Separate Us series
Sara loved visiting her mother in Central City. At sixteen, she yearned for the freedom that most teenagers yearned for. A chance to explore, a chance to have an adventure, a chance to get into trouble. Here in Central City she was afforded that luxurious freedom she craved.
Sara's mother, Dinah Lance, had separated from her father and moved to Central City to teach at the local University. At scheduled times, Sara and her sister would take the train down and stay with her mother for a week or just a weekend. Now that it was summer break she had convinced her parents to let her stay in Central all summer. Three months of laid back parenting. Compared to her strict Police Detective father, her mother was pretty lax with her daughters.
Sara smiled and waved as she watched her mother drive off on her first official day in Central City for the summer. When she was gone, the young woman went back into the house and quickly changed into a pair of jean shorts and tank top, threw on some converse and when she was finished, grabbed her purse and left. She made her way down the street to the bus stop and then took the bus to the other side of town where she got off and walked three blocks to a small brick two story house nestled at the end of a dead end road.
Sara walked up the worn sidewalk and knocked on the screen door. Within minutes she heard barefeet running across the hardwood. The door was thrown open and a widely smiling girl no older than thirteen greeted her.
"Sara!" she exclaimed happily, opening the screen door and throwing herself into Sara's arms.
Sara loved Central City, but the best part was getting to see her friends again.
"Hey Lisa." Sara laughed hugging the younger girl. She pulled away and took Sara by the hand pulling her into the house.
"Mick and Lenny had a late night so they're still sleeping." Lisa explained. "How long are you going to be in Central?"
Sara smiled brightly. "All summer."
Lisa bounced excitedly on her toes. "This is so great, we're going to have so much fun."
Sara chuckled at Lisa's excitement. "Did you eat breakfast yet?"
"No, I just woke up." Lisa explained.
"Well then, let's get breakfast started and maybe the boys will get their butts out of bed."
"Okay."
The girls went about making breakfast and sure enough as soon as the smells of coffee and bacon started wafting through the air, the sounds of bodies moving around upstairs began. Within minutes they could hear people coming down the stairs.
"Hey blondie." Mick greeted as he stepped into the kitchen. Sara turned to look at him over her shoulder, smiling at the bigger man. He walked over and swiped a piece of bacon from a plate on the counter. "When'd you get into town?"
"Last night." she told him. "Wanted to surprise you guys."
"Well, we're definitely surprised." a second voice answered and Mick stepped away to reveal Leonard in the doorway. Sara smiled sweetly turning to face him as he walked up to her. He smirked down at her as he wrapped his arms around her pulling her in for a kiss.
"Urgh, get a room." Lisa grumbled much to Mick's amusement. They pulled away and Leonard glared at his baby sister. Sara laughed turning back to the stove. She finished up what she was making and put everything on plates. She turned from the counter and moved to the table setting plates in front of each person before taking a seat next to Leonard.
"So, anything planned for today?"
Lisa perked up at that. "Mick promised to take me to that new movie I wanted to see."
Sara smiled at Mick. He'd always had a soft spot for the young girl. Soft enough that he'd pretend to be her guardian so she could get in to see an R rated movie.
"Well, I assume you won't be going to the movie until tonight, so why don't we head to the pool today." Lisa turned excited pleading eyes on Leonard who sighed.
"I guess." he told her feigning disinterest. Sara chuckled.
They finished up breakfast and Mick and Leonard did the dishes while Sara went with Lisa to change into her bathing suit and pack a bag for the pool. When the boys were finished they showered and changed as well, (Mick in swim trunks and tank, Leonard in jeans and a thin, long sleeved shirt) packing their own bags and meeting the girls outside where Mick's car was parked on the street in front of the house. They all climbed in and made the trek to the community pool not far from the house.
Once there, Mick and Leonard picked a grouping of chairs and a table off near the side where they sat down and Sara and Lisa stored their bags. Lisa ran ahead, taking a running leap into the pool. Sara laughed as she watched her, slipping her shorts and tank top off to reveal her white bikini. She turned to Leonard and pecked him on the cheek, grinning at his gobsmacked look. "Behave guys." she called over her shoulder before taking a running leap into the pool, landing next to Lisa.
Mick's chuckle brought Leonard's attention to the bigger man. "What?" he questioned.
"I'm going to be the best man at your wedding." he told Leonard who just looked at him confused.
"Mick, I'm Twenty, she's Seventeen. We're both too young to be thinking that far ahead. Besides, with our line of work whose to say the cop's daughter will stick around that long." Leonard shook his head, slouching back in his chair. Mick leaned toward him over the table, drawing Leonard's attention again.
"I say we make a bet." he told him. Leonard hesitated for a moment before leaning closer himself.
"What did you have in mind?"
"Five hundred bucks says you and Sara get married sometime in the future."
Leonard stared at his oldest friend, the man he considered a brother. "Alright." he held out his hand. "Deal." they shook on it, before turning to look out at the pool again.
xXx
"Bye, have fun." Sara called out the door as Mick and Lisa drove off that night. Sara turned from the door, and walked to the sofa where she collapsed along Leonard's side. She cuddled into his side as he lifted his arm and pulled her into him. "So, we have the whole house to ourselves. What do you want to do?"
Leonard took a deep, thoughtful breath. "How about we go get some food at Big Belly Burger and then come back here to marathon those horror movies you like?"
Sara sat up grinning. "Really?"
Leonard nodded following her as she jumped up from the couch and grabbed her purse. She took his hand as she led him out the door and the few short blocks into downtown Central City. They made their way into the small burger joint, ordering, getting their food and taking a seat in one of the booths.
Sara took smiled at Leonard, watching him as he ate and she couldn't help but appreciate how they had come to be here. It seemed improbable that she would ever meet the young man who won her a silly little prize at a summer carnival, especially since it was obvious he only did it to piss off her "date", but here she was. One year little and sitting across from that very same young man. She didn't think she could ever adequately explain the way he made her feel, but at the end of the day she could try.
On some level, Leonard was the first person who didn't treat her like she was part of a set. At home it was Laurel and Sara, and when they were out is was Laurel, Oliver, Tommy and Sara. But it was never just Sara, Sara Lance, the young girl who loved to dance. The young girl who just wanted a little freedom to explore the world; a wandering soul if you will. Leonard saw all of that. He saw the way Tommy treated her, and it made more sense when she explained her role as a placeholder for the young man. A spot to hold until Laurel realized that Oliver wasn't right for her, that he was cheating on her and she broke it off and, only in Tommy's dreams, came running to him in her grief.
Laurel thought she and Tommy were cute, she couldn't see what was going on, too wrapped up in the spotlight that surrounded Oliver, but Sara knew and at least now that she had Leonard, she wasn't quite so down when she was stuck in their little group.
And maybe it wouldn't last, maybe they had an expiration date. Sara was stupid she knew what Leonard and Mick really did for a "living". They brought home far too much money to ever work entry level jobs like they had told her. But who was she to judge? She knew of Leonard's father and how the man basically pushed Leonard into becoming this person. At some point she hoped, whether they were together or not, that he would realize he didn't have to be the man his father was; her certainly deserved better, but she knew how hard it could be to fight your way out of a stereotype and she could only imagine how much hard it was for him.
All in all she just hoped everything turned out alright for him and Lisa and even Mick.
xXx
"I thought you wanted to watch this movie?" Leonard said, breath short as Sara laid kisses down the column of his neck.
"I'm an excellent multitasker." Sara added, lifting her head to look up at him with a cheeky smile before going back to work on the spot behind his ear she knew drove him crazy. He groaned, all thoughts of movies flying out the window. His hands roved over her back, running under her shirt.
"Damn." he breathed as she ground down against him. It wasn't until she slipped her hands under the bottom hem of his shirt that he pulled away, pushing against her a bit to stop.
"Sorry." she panted, catching her breath. "Too far?"
Leonard shook his head, lifting his head to get a better look at her. "No, no… I'm sorry Sara, I just…" he sighed, collapsing back against the bed dejected. "Fuck." he breathed.
"Hey," Sara began and Leonard felt her, lay back down on top of him. "It's okay Lenny, we don't have to do anything you're not comfortable with." she told him pecking him on the chin.
Leonard sighed. "I want you Sara." he told her and she smiled sweetly. "I want you more than I've ever wanted anything, but…"
"You're not ready." she said it softly and he finally looked back down at her where her chin was resting on his sternum. "It's okay Len. I understand. I'll still be here whenever you're ready."
Leonard sighed wrapping his arms around her and rolling over to lay side by side. "How the hell did I get so lucky?"
That was a question he asked himself regularly for the past year. Ever since he'd found himself enthralled by the lovely Sara Lance. She'd been a bright spot in his life for a while now, and even as he lay there with her, he couldn't bring himself to regret any moment of weakness that his father would have ridiculed him for.
His father. Lewis Snart. The bane of his existence. The man who took his anger out on him and his sister. The man who drove their mother away with his anger and drinking and foolhardy, half assed criminal exploits. The man was in jail now, serving life for murder during the course of one of his robberies. Unfortunately, it wasn't soon enough. Not before he put quite a few scars on him. Scars he was more than a little self conscious about and while he knew Sara wouldn't judge him for his scars he still found it difficult to let her passed his barriers, to see that part of him.
He still remembered what she had said to him the year before, when they had run into each other again and Leonard had tried everything in his power to push her away, knowing that he would just end up disappointing her. He'd used his past, because that had always worked before but all she did was step closer to him, making like she was about to kiss him, only to move quickly and pecking him on the cheek-much to his disappointment, he was surprised to realize-and said; "The tracks don't have to separated us if you don't let them."
At some point they fell asleep and Leonard woke a few hours later, Sara's breath softly puffing against his collar where her face was pressed. He smiled down at her, taking in her peaceful expression as she slept on.
There wasn't anything about Sara that Leonard didn't love. From the moment they first met to their first kiss. From day one she had shaken his world to the core, and to this day he couldn't bring himself to hate the change she'd brought to it. This sweet young girl, untainted by the horrors that life could bring, the horrors of having a family that was broken and cruel.
Somedays he worried that he was bringing her down, that he should let her go before she lost whatever innocence she had left. But then she would do something, something so… her, and that selfish part of him that he tried so hard to keep locked up around her would scream to break free and keep her all for himself forever. The fact of the matter was simple, Mick was probably going to win their little bet and Leonard couldn't bring himself to care. He would happily pay the money at the altar in front of all their witnesses, because it was proof that he wasn't the only one who could see how special Sara was to him.
Then again, with his line of work maybe all of this was just a lesson in futility.
xXx
That summer came and went far too quickly for either of them, but Sara would be back for Thanksgiving. The years passed continuously, as years do and soon Sara was in College. Central City University seemed like a no brainer. It all seemed to be coming up roses, until one day, it wasn't anymore.