Chapter 4 – Early Morning Conversations

Sara woke to the sounds of her own screams. She looked around her apartment frantically trying to center herself. "Get it together Lance. You're in your living room." She reminded herself trying to catch her breath. She sighed noticing the time, 0500, that meant she'd only had 2 hours of sleep. She considered going back to sleep but knew the attempt would be futile. Instead she got up and stripped off her shirt, put on a pair of workout shorts and went out the window to the small balcony. She shook her arms out before grabbing a hold of the bar above her head and began pulling herself up. After 10 minutes she dropped and turned to the bag she had hanging and started beating on it going back to pull ups 15 minutes later. This continued for 50 minutes before she dropped.

"Do you ever sleep?"

Sara tensed, she wondered how long he'd been sitting there and how much he'd heard. "I could ask you the same thing." She countered taking a seat on the ground beside the metal railing separating them.

Leonard smirked. "Touché." He enjoyed the night life, it was much cooler and there were very few people out and about. The best heists were conducted at night, less law enforcement presence he had to worry about and less chance of innocent casualties. He'd heard her screams which is what had initially had him checking outside her balcony. When the screams had stopped and hadn't started back up he'd settled on the ground enjoying the last hour of the night. Her coming and exercising in nothing but her bra and shorts had been unexpected. He always figured she was in great shape what with all the running she did but he was truly amazed at how long she stayed on the pull up bar never faltering. "I like the night." He explained.

"I used to." She stared off not giving him further.

"What changed?" He asked not expecting her to answer he could see that her focus was elsewhere.

"I died." Sadness filled her voice.

He had not expected that for an answer, after all how many people could say they'd died and come back. He had not been prepared for the amount of sadness in her voice. "You're alive now." He wasn't sure how to handle this new side, this vulnerable side. He lifted his hand off his leg then put it back down. His reaction caught him off guard. He was never one to want to comfort any one, he'd always made sure he stayed away from feelings. Caring only got you hurt in the end. Yet here he was wanting to reach through the metal barrier and comfort her.

"I guess." She didn't feel alive most days. Unless she was giving into the bloodlust and she suppressed those urges as best as she could.

"What happened?" He wasn't sure how much she'd actually share but he figured he wasn't losing anything in asking. Several minutes passed before she answered.

"Three arrows to the chest." Her fingers traced over the scars.

Arrows and Star City. That could only mean one thing. "Arrow killed you?" He spit his name out, he never liked the guy and not just because he was a supposed good guy. Barry was a good guy. The Arrow to him was just another thug.

"No, his sister. But she was under the control of her father." She defended her former teammates. She wondered for a split second what he'd say if he knew she had once been part of team arrow. It was obvious he didn't like the Arrow, she wondered how he felt about the rest of the team. She almost asked but thought better of it. It was better if he didn't make that connection just yet. She was sure he'd figure it out eventually, he was a smart man.

Neither paid attention to time as it passed and the sun rose. She got up stretching, maybe she could get a few hours of sleep. She caught him staring at the scar on the right side of her stomach most people would have looked away but then again she'd already figured out he wasn't most people. "Another time."

He bowed his head. Another time, he was a patient man. "Good night Sara."

"Good night Leonard." She lifted her window and stepped into her apartment.

Leonard stayed outside a few more minutes thinking about his time with his dare he say, friend? He wasn't sure what title to fit Sara Lance under. At some point they'd moved past being strangers, neighbors and acquaintances. Friend. He liked the sound of it. His friend had a haunted past, he'd occasionally seen the haunted look on her face but as if sensing she'd been caught the look always vanished and a small smile took its place. A part of him wanted to do more research, find out more, but a bigger part wanted to learn the information from the source first hand. Patience. He'd be patient. He stood up turning to lift his window. "You have got to be kidding me." He groaned. The window wouldn't budge. He looked down the fire escape, he could make it down easily but then he'd be locked out the front door. He wasn't going to live this down, he climbed over the three foot metal railing that separated his mini balcony from Sara's and tapped on her window. A few seconds passed before she emerged from the hallway towel in hand. He was glad he'd caught her before her shower he did not want to be stuck outside any longer.

An eyebrow shot up. "Seriously?" She opened the window fully.

"My window hates me." Was his response. How was he to know the window would jam leaving him stranded outside. Sara chuckled moving aside. He entered through the window gracefully, after all it was something he'd done many times. "Thanks." He called over his shoulder as he walked out of her apartment.

AN: Sorry this wasn't up earlier, I'm visiting family and we've spent most of the day in the mountains.