"Jonas," Rip called up the stairs "We are leaving in five minutes."
"Coming, Daddy," the little boy yelled back from his room.
Rip shook his head while he put the packed lunch in Jonas' bag along with a snack ensuring he had everything he needed.
"Lisa," he called, "If you need a ride, we're leaving soon."
"Captain," Gideon spoke up suddenly, "Miss Lance is at the door?"
Rip looked up surprised, "What? When did the Waverider return to Central City?"
"It has not," Gideon replied.
Rip swore under his breath checking his watch, "Fine, let her in."
"Hello?" the familiar voice came just before Sara appeared round the corner smiling, "Hi, Rip."
He sighed at her, "Calling ahead would have been helpful, Sara."
"I wanted to surprise you," Sara told him.
"Well done," he replied before calling, "Jonas, we're leaving now. Lisa, do you need a ride?"
Sara stayed silent smiling when Jonas came bounding down the stairs.
"Sara," he cried throwing his arms around her in a hug.
She hugged him tightly, "Hi, Jonas."
"Lisa?" Rip called again.
"I'm meeting Cisco at Jitters," Lisa appeared suddenly, "He's going to quiz me before this afternoon," she noticed the other woman and gave a wave, "Hi, Sara,"
Bemused Sara waved back at her but didn't get a chance to ask as Rip nodded, "Good luck. You'll do fine. Sara, we are about to be running late. If you want then you can come while I drop Jonas off at school."
Before anyone could say anything else Rip handed Jonas his backpack and ushered them out the house.
x
Sara sat in the passenger seat while Rip drove listening to Jonas tell her all about his school and how much he liked his teacher. When they reached the school Sara stayed in her seat watching Rip climb out and open the door to allow Jonas to bounce up.
"Okay," he crouched down fixing Jonas' jacket properly, "Grandma will pick you up and I will talk to you later before you go to bed. Have a fun night with her and I'll see you tomorrow."
Jonas hugged him, "Love you, Daddy."
"Love you too," Rip squeezed him dropping a kiss on the top of his head, "Have a good day."
Jonas started to run into the school before stopping, turning he waved shouting, "Bye, Sara."
Sara waved to him smiling to see how happy the little boy was. Rip climbed back into the car and watched his son until he was safely inside the school with his friends.
"Grandma?" Sara asked.
"Clarissa Stein," Rip explained, "She adopted us so she gets the title. He stays with her every Friday night."
Sara winced.
"What?" Rip demanded frustration filling his voice.
"Martin came with me," Sara replied and Rip frowned at her.
He held up his hand before she could say anything else, "Yes, Gideon," at whatever she said he let out a long sigh, "Hello, Clarissa. Sara appeared on my doorstep and just told me. No, don't worry about it I will sort something out. Give my best to Martin." Rip finished his conversation and turned back to Sara who smiled innocently at him, "This is why calling ahead would have been helpful."
x
Rip grimaced. It wasn't that he wasn't happy to see Sara. He had been wondering about the team but it was just like them to appear from nowhere and cause utter chaos in the life he had built here.
It wasn't just that he now had to rearrange either his or someone else's schedule in order to pick Jonas up but the little boy loved spending Friday nights with his Grandma and he was going to be disappointed he wasn't getting that.
"So where is the ship and the others?" Rip finally asked when they were half-way to Star Labs.
"Star City," Sara replied, "We needed some supplies. I thought since we were close I would come and see how you're doing."
Rip frowned in thought, "Gideon didn't know you were here so how did you find my address?"
"I managed to get it from Felicity," Sara confessed adding quickly, "She doesn't know."
Rip rolled his eyes, "It isn't that I'm not happy to see you, Sara but I do have a schedule with Jonas I like to keep."
Sara winced, sitting silently until he parked before telling him, "I've been worried about you. When we left you were still trying to get your head around staying."
"We're fine, Sara," he told her sincerely, "Jonas is at school and as you saw loves it. I have a home. I still have Gideon who is connected to both the house and Star Labs. I have a job which allows me to spend plenty of time with my son and I have people I count as friends. I'm doing well."
x
Sara hated that Ray was right and she should have let Rip know that they here. She kept saying she wanted to surprise him but the real reason she hadn't was that she wanted to make sure that he didn't have time to pretend things were fine when they weren't.
"Gideon, Miss Lance has temporary Level One access," Rip noted as they entered the building, "For the Labs only."
"So what was Lisa Snart doing at the house?" Sara asked as they walked through the corridors.
"She's currently staying with us," Rip replied, he frowned at her when she motioned him to elaborate, "It's none of your business, Sara."
"You're not going to tell me why Snart's little sister is living with you?" she demanded, wondering who would.
"Staying with us," Rip stated again, his tone letting her know that he wasn't discussing it anymore.
They reached the main lab where Caitlin was already working.
"Morning, Rip," she greeted him warmly, "Gideon told me the situation. I can pick Jonas up this afternoon for you."
Rip smiled at her relief in his voice, "Thank you, Caitlin. I've a meeting with Captain Singh at the same time. Trying to cancel or rearrange anything with that man can be extremely irritating."
"I know," she chuckled before turning, "Welcome back, Sara. You should have called ahead."
Sara winced at the cold polite tone, "I've been told."
"Captain," Gideon spoke up, "Dr McGee is due in less than ten minutes."
"Thank you, Gideon," Rip replied before turning to Sara, "I have things to do today, Sara. If you want you can join us for dinner."
Sara nodded before adding, "You know I could pick Jonas up instead of Caitlin."
"No," Rip said, "You're not on the list and I'm not adding you for a day."
Without another word Rip disappeared leaving Sara with Caitlin who shrugged at her.
"I know," Sara sighed, "I should have called ahead."
Sara spent the day picking up some supplies, things that never tasted right made by the fabricator – mostly chocolate based. She was pleased to see that Rip had found a place with the Flash team, considering how prickly Rip had always been and how long it took him to open up to them even slightly, it was surprising how easy his relationship was with Caitlin and Lisa.
"Hi, Ray," she answered the call, "How're things going?"
"Fine," Ray said a grin in his voice, "How's Rip?"
Sara hesitated, "He seems to be doing well."
"He's not happy you didn't call first, is he?" Ray noted amused.
"Don't gloat," Sara replied, "I'm having dinner with them so I'll talk to him some more then."
Ray chuckled, "Good luck."
Hanging up Sara wandered back to Star Labs.
"Welcome back, Miss Lance," Gideon noted when she entered the building, "Captain Hunter is not currently here. Dr Snow and Mr Ramon are in the main lab."
"Thanks, Gideon," Sara replied heading through the corridors.
When she reached the lab she found Cisco in the chair arms folded staring at her.
"You should have called ahead," he told her.
Sara grimaced, "I've been told."
x
Rip returned to the Lab relieved his meeting was over. Singh could be extremely frustrating to work with and he wasn't exactly happy about working with an offsite private team even if they had proven their worth within the first few weeks.
Now he had to deal with Sara being here.
He avoided the main lab and went straight to the small playroom that had been set up for Jonas finding his son sitting at the small desk drawing.
"Hi, Daddy," the little boy sighed sadly when Rip opened the door.
Rip opened his arms, "Come here."
Jonas dragged himself across the room into Rip's embrace, wrapping his arms around his father's neck.
"I'm sorry you can't get to stay with Grandma tonight," Rip told him, "Martin is home and she wanted to spend some time with him."
"Okay," Jonas sighed again.
Rip ruffled his son's hair, "I will take you to your swimming lessons tomorrow and we'll do something fun after."
Jonas nodded and allowed Rip to put him down.
"Sara is going to join us for dinner," Rip told him, "Is that okay?"
"Can Cisco and Caitlin come too?" Jonas asked.
Rip smiled at that, backup was a good idea, "I'll ask them."
x
Sara studied the house when she followed the others inside. She hadn't had a chance to see much of it that morning when she'd arrived as Rip had hustled them out quickly. It was a nice house, a very nice house that was tastefully decorated with Rip's distinctive style.
She was getting frustrated as Caitlin and Cisco were answering questions about Rip with brief statements which didn't give anything away.
"Dinner is ready," Rip called and Sara followed the others into the dining room.
"You can cook?" she asked astounded as Cisco, Caitlin and Jonas took their seats.
Rip nodded, "What did you expect? That I feed Jonas take out every night?"
Before Sara could reply, Lisa Snart's voice came from the hall.
"Am I late?"
"Just in time," Cisco called back standing and waiting, "Well?"
"Well?" Rip demanded at the same time.
Lisa grinned, "I passed."
Cisco let out a cheer and hugged her. Sara was stunned when Rip hugged Lisa as well.
"Well done," Caitlin said with a smile as Jonas took his turn for a hug, "I told you that you knew the topic."
Lisa grinned shrugging, "It's only one test."
"It makes up a large percentage of your grade for that class," Rip replied as he placed her dinner on the table, "We're all very proud of you."
Sara waited until they all began to eat before saying, "I see Star Labs is no longer working behind the scenes."
"Yes," Caitlin noted, she glanced at Rip who nodded slightly before adding, "Rip pulled together a proposal to turn us into a meta-human research centre and runs everything these days. We just do what we always did."
"Jonas, why don't you tell Sara about your swimming lessons," Cisco spoke up effectively stopping Sara questioning any more.
x
They'd just finished dinner when an alert came on Cisco and Caitlin's phones while Gideon brought the same up on the television screen.
"I've got him," Lisa told Rip.
Rip turned to his son, "I will call before you go to bed. Be good for Lisa, okay?"
"Yes, Daddy," Jonas hugged him.
"We can do that jigsaw we have," Lisa took the boy's hand.
Rip turned to Sara who was watching them, "You can come with us if you want or stay here."
"I'll come," she replied.
Cisco opened a breach to Star Labs and they headed through. Rip instantly moved to his station while Cisco and Caitlin took theirs.
"Barry?" Cisco called.
"I'm on my way," the reply came, "What am I heading into?"
Rip was aware of Sara standing watching them as they guided Barry and Wally through stopping the latest meta-human attack. They had always been a good team without him but Rip had additional knowledge that on occasion gave them an edge in their battles.
When the meta-human was caught, named by Cisco and everyone had returned to Star Labs safely Rip turned to Sara.
"Do you have somewhere to stay tonight?" he asked.
She shrugged, "I was going to find somewhere."
"I have a spare room," he told her, "I can't guarantee the bed to be all that comfortable as it is a fold away but you can use it for tonight."
Sara gave him a smile, "Thanks."
"Next time," he stated, "Call ahead."
Sara lay listening to the sounds of the house around her early the next morning. Pulling herself up she had a quick shower before heading downstairs to find something to eat and coffee. Reaching the living room she stopped finding Rip and Jonas sitting together on the sofa. Rip was wearing the grey sweatpants and t-shirt she used to see on occasion on the ship when they both had insomnia and passed in the galley while Jonas was wearing a pair of red pyjamas with the flash lightning bolts covering them.
Both were eating breakfast and Rip had a mug of tea in his hand while a cartoon played on the TV in front of them.
"If you want some breakfast, Sara," Rip spoke up without turning, "Help yourself."
"Morning, Sara," Jonas turned and grinned at her.
Unable to stop herself Sara smiled back, "Morning, Jonas."
"You can have some of my cereal if you want," the little boy told her.
Rip glanced at her, "Be honoured. That's a rare offer."
"I think I'll stick with coffee and toast," Sara said smiling a Jonas, "But thank you."
x
Rip smiled as Jonas climbed onto his lap once he'd finished his cereal to watch the early morning cartoons. This was rare for a Saturday morning as Jonas usually spent these with Clarissa. Hugging his little boy close Rip watched his former team-mate as she settled on the other couch with her own breakfast.
"Jonas has swimming lessons today," Rip said after a few minutes, "If you want to see my new life then you can come with us or you could head back to the others."
Sara took a sip of her coffee before shrugging, "I've no plans for the day."
Before he could reply Lisa appeared fully dressed, "Do you need anything?" she asked, pulling on her fleece.
"No," Rip replied, "Thank you, Lisa. Enjoy your run."
Lisa gave a quick smile before leaving the house and Sara turned to him.
"Why is Lisa staying here?" she asked, "You know Mick will come himself and demand an answer if I can't give him one."
Rip leaned into his son, "Jonas, go get dressed."
The boy grimaced but didn't argue, sliding off his father's lap he charged upstairs. Rip waited a moment before asking, "Gideon, can he hear us?"
"No, Captain," she replied.
Rip turned to Sara again, "Lisa was attacked by men looking for her brother and Mr Rory. She came to me for help and I invited her to stay with us while she recovered."
"She seems pretty recovered to me," Sara noted.
"She's currently studying so hasn't had time to look for somewhere new to live," Rip shrugged, at her look of amazement he frowned, "What?"
Sara gave a chuckle, "I just never expected this from you."
"You mean taking in someone who is a misfit, an outsider and giving them a purpose?" he snapped at her. Standing he shook his head, "I have things to do today. Gideon, please ensure that Miss Lance has what she needs until she leaves."
Without another word he headed upstairs.