Our Hearts Are Bigger Than The Distance Between Us

Part 1: Reunions are Sweeter Than Partings

xXx

Part 4 of the The Tracks Don't Have To Separate Us series

"Are you going to go see Leonard?" Laurel asked, resting her elbows against the bar as she watched her little sister dry glasses and putting them away. Sara's movements skipped slightly, before she regained whatever concentration she was using on her task.

"I don't know." Sara replied softly.

"I know it's been awhile and you guys have moved on, but... "

Sara looked up from what she was doing. "You think he's moved on?" and it hurt Laurel to hear how much that idea seemed to bother Sara.

"I don't know, but you did, so why wouldn't he?" she replied trying to be delicate. Sara nodded.

"No, you're right. That makes sense. I mean why would he pine for me for five or more years, right?" Sara fiddled with the now dry glass before shaking her head and putting it away. She picked up another and began the process all over again.

"You know he loved you right?" Laurel asked. "Whether he moved on or not, he loved you so much. I could see it."

Sara looked up confused. "What do you mean you could see it?"

"The look of total devastation in his eyes when I told him that you had been on the Gambit. I guess I didn't realize until then that you were as special to him as he was to you."

"You told him? Like face to face?" Sara asked, her task long forgotten. Laurel nodded.

"And Lisa. I brought them some things of yours that I thought you might want them to have, like that toy he won for you and some pictures."

"How was Lisa?" Sara asked softly.

"Upset, almost as much as Leonard."

"Almost?"

Laurel nodded. "I don't think anyone could have been as upset as Leonard was. I found out later that after we talked he went back to his cell and just completely destroyed it. Then he got into a fist fight with his cellmate and it took three guards to pull him off. He got six more months for the outburst." Laurel explained.

Sara didn't reply as she looked away from her older sister returning to her task. Laurel knew Sara well enough to know she was thinking, not ignoring the situation, but as the moments ticked by she wondered just what was going through her sister's head.

"I don't know what to do." Sara finally spoke up and had the club not been empty Laurel would never have heard her.

"You have to do what feels right for you." Laurel explained. Sara shook her head, putting the last glass away and slinging the towel over her shoulder. She rested her palms against the bar and looked up at Laurel.

"I don't know what's right for me anymore, Laurel. I know I miss him. I know that I thought about him a lot while I was gone and I know that until I met Nyssa I thought I'd never be able to be with anyone the way I was with Leonard; that I'd never feel that way with anyone ever again."

"And how did you feel?"

Sara hesitated before; "Like I mattered."

"You've always mattered." Laurel jumped to defense.

"I know." Sara replied. "But just because you do doesn't mean you know you do, or feel like you do." she continued.

"Did… I make you feel like you didn't matter?"

Sara shook her head. "No, no it wasn't you, it was… everyone else. Like, whenever we were with Tommy and Oliver, nobody ever saw just me. And then…" Sara cut herself off.

"Then what? What is it, Sara?" Laurel asked concern lacing her tone.

"Tommy." Sara said softly, clearly uncomfortable with this.

"What about him?" Laurel sat back on the stool as if trying to put distance between herself and whatever Sara was about to say.

"You thought he was interested in me."

"He was." Laurel tried to defend but it fell flat. "Wasn't he?"

"He was interested in you, Laurel. But Oliver was his best friend and he wasn't willing to betray him. I mean, he knew about Oliver and all the other girls but if he told you Oliver would hate him and you would see him as the guy who ended your relationship."

"So what, he tried to date you to get to me?" Laurel questioned.

"He knew how close we were, I guess he thought he could get in your good graces by being nice to me."

"And then what? If Oliver and I ever broke up he'd dump you for me?" Laurel shook her head. "I swear, sometimes I don't know where that guy's head is at."

Sara laughed. "I can think of a few places." and just like that the tension dissipated and they laughed as if the last six years hadn't happened.

"I'm sorry about all that." Laurel continued when they'd settled down.

"You have nothing to be sorry about."

"Yeah, but maybe if I hadn't been so far up Oliver's ass…"

"Laurel, you were seventeen and "in love", it's okay. Believe me I understand. I mean there were lines I wouldn't cross, but all in all there really wasn't anything I wouldn't have done for Lenny."

"Kind of terrifying when you consider what he does for a living."

Sara chuckled. "Like I said, there were lines… at least I hope there were. We never talked about what he and Mick really did for money and he never asked me to do anything for him except something for Lisa. Hell, he never even asked me to lie for him."

Laurel nodded. "Yeah, I've heard he's got a code. Makes it a lot harder to hate him." Sara laughed.

A comfortable silence fell between them as Sara got back to work. After a few moments, Laurel looked up from the files she was going through. "You know I'll support you whatever you decide to do." she said to Sara's back, watching as the muscles tensed in her shoulders.

When Sara didn't answer, going back to work instead, she took the younger woman's lead and turned back to her own work.

xXx

"Did we just get saved by a vigilante?" Lisa questioned confused as she followed Leonard into their safehouse. Mick was on her heels, all intensity and rage, nothing new there.

"It would appear so." Leonard replied his mind playing through the events that had just transpired not an hour prior.

The job was routine but they needed an extra man to pull it off, so Leonard contracted someone who'd been recommended to him. He should have known better but as previously stated, the job was easy and the payout was worth the risk. Needless to say the guy betrayed them. While Mick was busy bringing the getaway vehicle to them, he pulled a gun on Lisa and Leonard, determined to take the payout all for himself. Before he could pull the trigger, however, he was on the ground, dead. It all happened so quickly, it took time for Leonard to realize what had happened.

The man's throat was slit and the knife that had done the job was embedded in the wall next to where they were standing. Only a precision maneuver enacted by a highly skilled individual could have done the job. The knife was planted in the wall at an angle and he looked up in time to catch the silhouette of a woman. She looked similar to the vague, blurry pictures to come out of Starling City- pictures that evoked memories of blonde hair and stunning blue eyes-, but that didn't make any sense, why would The Canary be in Central?

"It was The Canary, I'm almost positive." Leonard finally spoke, breaking up the argument that was brewing between his partners. They looked to him confused.

"Why would a Starling Vigilante be in Central City?" Mick questioned.

"Now there's the million dollar question." Leonard replied shucking his coat and taking a seat on the couch. Lisa and Mick could practically hear the wheels turning in his head. "She could just be passing through, I doubt if she were going to branch out she would do it in the Flash's city."

"That's true, so she's just passing through then." Lisa added as she collapsed next him on the sofa.

"More than likely."

Except she wasn't. Over the next month she'd shown up at several of their jobs. She never interfered unless one of their lives were in danger, but he'd catch her watching them from a rooftop at a distance. She stayed out of their way, never attempting to stop them, never making contact. It was unnerving.

It all seemed to come to a head a month later. "I know you're there." he called out to the shadows. He was alone in the old warehouse they'd chosen to work out of for this particular job. He caught sight of her as she stepped from the shadows, hair too blonde and face obscured by the casting darkness. "Why are you following us?" he asked her, putting as much intimidation in his voice as possible. He was certain it wouldn't do any good, but he had to try. She said nothing in reply, which irked him more than he'd ever care to admit.

Then all at once, she turned and walked away. It was the last straw and Leonard drew his cold gun, aiming it at her back. She didn't stop until she heard it charging. "Don't walk away from me." he ground out through his teeth. "Answer my question."

For a tense moment, they stood at a stalemate. Then, in a blinding speed he'd come to associate with her, he was disarmed, back to the ground, and her full weight pinning him to the old concrete. Her face was still obscured, her head haloed by the overhead lights. He struggled but quickly realized he stood no chance against this deceptively strong woman. "What the fuck is your problem?" he growled. It was rare for Leonard to lose his temper, a fact he prided himself on, but this woman was quickly trying his patience with her little game of cat and mouse.

It was then that he realized she was getting closer, moving slowly as if to tease him; driving him mad with anticipation. She stopped, her face aligned with his, nose to nose. He was sure she intended to kiss him and he was loath to admit he wanted her to. She was just about to close the distance when she quickly changed direction, planting a kiss on his cheek.

"Jerk." she finally spoke sitting up.

"Guilty." he breathed, having trouble taking in air. "Sara?" even as the question came out he knew it was impossible and yet here he was, watching Sara emerge before him, the wig pulled off and her darker blonde hair spilling free. The domino mask came next and even with the dark paint around her eyes he knew it was her, he'd never forget her.

"Guilty." she replied and all of sudden she wasn't over him anymore, her back meeting the concrete much gentler than his had and he was kissing her with every ounce of passion and pain, loss and anger he'd built up keeping the memory of her under his skin.

He took her back to the small bunk he'd set up on the second floor and he didn't let her go until the next morning when Lisa and Mick came banging on the door, concern lacing Lisa's voice.