Author's Note: Hey guys! Thank you so much for all the kind feedback on the last chapter. It means so much to see how many of you are still reading! This chapter is a little shorter than usual, but I'm going on vacation and wanted to make sure I got an update in before I left. Hope you continue to enjoy this!


Central City – October 26, 1929

The streets were eerily still and quiet as Sara and Leonard moved through them, two phantoms displaced by time. It seemed they were haunting an empty city.

"Do you know where we are yet?" Sara asked.

Leonard rounded the corner ahead of her, pausing before beckoning her forward.

"I do," he answered, words barely a whisper on the night air.

Sara followed, stopping short as her eyes landed on the landmark Leonard must have recognized. Must have, because she recognized it, too.

Central City National Bank.

Her heart leapt to her throat. It was where she and Leonard's younger self had stopped that heist in 1996.

In that time, the Greco-Roman style bank had been surrounded by sky scrapers, all of its marble and columns just a relic of a forgotten time. Now, it loomed large and impressive, the biggest building on this city block.

"We need to get to a seedier part of town," Leonard said. "All the law-abiding citizens around here are asleep."

His eyes moved from the white bank, standing in stark contrast against the dark night around it, and back to her.

"But first," he added, "we need to get you out of the Atom Suit."

His words faded from her ears. And for a moment, Sara was taken forcibly back to that day in the nineties. Instead of her Leonard, she saw only young Len before her.

His face was smooth and untroubled as he passed her in that bank hall, holding her prisoner in his stare.

She felt more than remembered him saving her from being shot, when he tackled her to the floor with their limbs tangled together.

She saw again his dark hair and flash of a smirk as he was shoved into a squad car, wrongly arrested, for once. She found herself pushed in after, rolled against him, her mouth on his leather jacket and his blue eyes staring down at her.

They were the same. The same eyes I belong to. The same that belong to me.

I was so lost without you.

She pushed back against the memories of being locked in that jail cell together, of his face floating closer and closer until his lips were pressed against hers, his hands tangled in her hair. Of losing herself to the longing, of the right and wrongness of it. Of the feeling of kissing someone she could never have, hers for the moment but ultimately, lost forever.

Standing right in front of her, now.

"What?" Sara heard herself asking, as the night bubbled back into being around her.

"I think this is the kind of era when people get locked up for doing crazy things like wearing suits of armor," Leonard said, mouth quirking into a half-smile. "Wouldn't want you getting thrown in jail or an insane asylum before we can get out of here."

Sara swallowed, mouth dry.

Did he remember it? Did he remember meeting her that day, saving her life? Asking her to stay, the kiss goodbye – any of it?

Had it even happened in the timeline he belonged to?

"I doubt the police would stand a chance against me, especially in the Atom Suit," she murmured, trying to break free of the questions.

Leonard hadn't shown any signs of recognition when he looked at the bank. What if he didn't remember, or it hadn't even happened for him? Her heart sank at the thought.

"Maybe all we need to do is let people see me in the suit," Sara continued, shoving her memories aside. If he didn't remember, it did no good for her to. "I'll fly around Central City, tomorrow morning. It'll be huge news – maybe enough for the guys to see it on the Waverider."

"Or maybe they'll cover it up," Leonard countered. "The U.S. government has always been good at that. And we'll get locked away or killed, because they have bullets in this time, too, and you won't want to fire back, or hurt anyone."

Sara shrugged, chewing her lip. She was more the running in head first type – think later, move now. But he had a point.

"Let's stick to the plan for now," he suggested. "Get the lay of the land. See what kind of trouble we can make the old-fashioned way, before we do anything desperate."

When Sara nodded, Leonard started moving again, glancing back to make sure she followed.

"There's an old hotel a couple blocks from here," he said. "It used to be a department store. Maybe in this time, it still is. Let's see if we can find it."

"And loot it?"

"Of course."

The building Leonard pointed out was, in this time, still a department store. Leonard wasted no time pulling a set of lock picks from his jacket, opening the doors before she could even ask if he always carried those.

"I'm surprised we haven't run into anyone yet," Sara said, as Leonard shut and locked the doors behind them again. "I wonder how late it is."

Inside the store was somehow even more eerily quiet, even the smallest city noises muted here. Only the dim light from an outside street lamp spilled in through windows, leaving the room cast in shadows.

The wares on display were guarded by mannequins, at least a dozen scattered around the large showroom. Their plastic bodies were posed in attractive styles of the time, dresses, skirts and blouses, and each of them in fashionable hats. Sara felt like she was interrupting some secret meeting between them, intruding on something she had no right to be part of.

"Have you ever seen Doctor Who?" she asked, frowning against the unsettled feeling it left her. "I swear that mannequin just moved."

"Sara," Leonard said, and she turned at the seriousness in his voice. "Now that we're somewhere safe, I need you to tell me everything that's happened."

He paused, and her heart raced as he took a few steps toward her, his face hard and unreadable.

"Everything," he repeated.

"I told you –"

"No. You didn't."

Leonard stopped just inches before her, eyes watching her intently. A bolt of lightning flashed outside, washing his face in blue. It took her back to that moment in the Starling City warehouse that had changed everything, when she'd met his future self.

Where have you been? she'd asked.

Nowhere I could have reached you. His words echoed in her ears.

A roll of thunder rumbled in the distance – in her memories, or in life, she couldn't say. Either way, she took it as her cue.

"I…" she started, taking a few steadying breaths to calm herself. It didn't help. "The team was on a mission, to find the source of an aberration in 2011. We went to the industrial district in Starling City. It was a bad idea, but we split into pairs." She was rambling, and she knew it, delaying. God, she couldn't even look at him. "I was with Rip, until we got separated. And then…"

She took a shuddering breath, settling her gaze on the wall behind Leonard's head.

"Then you were there."

"Me?" he blurted, the word full of surprise.

"Sort of, yes."

She closed her eyes for a moment, seeing future Leonard there, the ghost brought to life, the desperation in his eyes and plea in his voice that had begged her to believe it was really him.

"Your future self," she clarified, finally. "You – he – told me I could save you, if I went to S.T.A.R. Labs on April 16, 2016, and met Cisco Ramon. Does that date mean anything to you?"

"No."

Sara risked a glance at him, heart tightening at the troubled look on his face, the hard lines around his frown. She dropped her eyes down.

"I wanted you to come back to the Waverider with me and tell the others, but you said you couldn't." She sighed, remembering the moment, how much she'd wanted him to stay. "You couldn't really tell me anything else, either, except that the warehouse we were in was rigged with explosives. The building blew up." Leonard started. "We got out in time," she added, quickly, "but I was knocked out from the blast. When I woke up, you were gone."

A silence fell between them, stretching out the moments before she spoke again.

"Rip didn't want us to go. He said it was a critical moment in the timeline, and we weren't supposed to interfere. But Ray punched him, if you can believe that."

Her mouth curved up just a bit at the memory, the ghost of a smile. Oh, Ray. Sara wished she had some of his cheer with them now.

"He, Mick and I commandeered the jump ship. Then it was like I told you," she finished. "Cisco and Dr. Wells came back with us to the Waverider, where they built that device with Martin, and Ray and Jax helped too. Cisco is a metahuman, and his powers let him figure out where you were in the timestream. All I had to do was get out there and press the button. Here we are."

"That wasn't 'all,'" Leonard scoffed, his voice laced with sudden anger. "You could have died."

His words stung like an accusation, and Sara recoiled from it. "You mean like you did?" she asked, coolly, her own temper flaring. She met his eyes.

He looked like she'd slapped him.

"How do you know that I could've died, anyway?" she asked, softening.

"One of the first things I did when we got on the Waverider was ask Gideon about the risks of time travel," he said. "And the most dangerous thing you can do is to leave the time ship while in the timestream."

He paused, leveling her with his stare. "Sara, my life isn't worth yours."

A flash of lightning splashed across the room, punctuating his words, and the ringing they left in her ears.

"That's not something you get to decide." She was seething, her words practically a growl. "You don't know what it was like," she continued. "You weren't there. I – we – grieved you. I knew what I was doing. I'd do it again."

"No."

The word was hard and angry, the scowl on his face unrelenting.

"You're really mad at me," she said, letting out a huff of a laugh. "For saving your life?"

"You're mad at me for saving Mick," Leonard countered, his voice rising with each word. "For saving the whole damn team, the whole damn world! And I thought you don't even like me."

"Bullshit."

It was Sara's turn to feel like she'd been slapped. So she'd said that, once, when they were freezing to death. It didn't make it even one iota true, and he knew it.

"I can't believe you," she hissed. "Only Leonard fucking Snart could pick a fight over having his life saved, because someone cares about him – god forbid –"

"Wait."

He cut her off, his voice suddenly and dangerously quiet. "Where did you get that?"

Sara froze. She realized, in her frustration, that she'd been waving her hand at him. And he was staring at it.

Specifically, at his ring. That she was wearing.

"I planted that on Mick," Leonard continued, pointing at it. He would've seemed angrier, if his hand hadn't been trembling, just slightly.

She drew her own hand to her chest, defensively. "He gave it to me."

She wanted to tear the ring off and throw it at him, but stopped when she saw the look on his face.

His eyebrows were furrowed, a little crinkle in his forehead giving away just how unbelievable he was finding all of this. His eyes darted to the floor and away, searching the air for understanding, only for his shoulders to slump as he found none.

A lump rose in her throat, and she couldn't explain. Not about the nineties, not if he didn't remember. Not about the comfort Mick had given her, when she'd fallen apart in her grief. How could she tell him about it now?

So she turned away, busying herself with a clothing rack instead. She pushed the hangers aside with perhaps a touch more violence than necessary, angry pulse still throbbing under her skin.

For a minute, Leonard just stood there. In the darkness, all she could see was his silhouette in profile: arms folded, head tilted down.

Defeated.

"Okay, yeah, I was mad," Sara admitted, finally.

His eyes flashed in the shadows, watching her, waiting.

"I was mad you were gone," she said. "I was mad you were never coming back. I was mad I lost you. Okay?" She took a deep breath. "It's not my fault if you can't handle that."

Sara stepped around the rack, bringing herself close enough to see his face – and for him to see hers.

"When I found out you might still be alive, I would've done anything to get you back. Anything," she repeated, her voice almost breaking. But she recovered it quickly, her temper still burning inside her. "If that's uncomfortable for you?" she asked, harshly. "Too. Damn. Bad."

Leonard was quiet for a few moments, considering her. She was sure he would speak, then, sure he would say something – anything – to her declaration.

But he just turned and walked away.

Sara snorted. Coward. She picked up a dress, just to slam it back onto the metal rack. Her heart was racing. This wasn't what she'd expected, but what had she expected?

You think I wanted to miss this? I'm not done with you.

That's what future Leonard had said, right before he'd kissed her.

Maybe, somehow, she'd messed up the timeline, and that version of Leonard was gone forever. Or maybe she'd just forgotten what an ass he was. Maybe she'd made a huge mistake in mourning him in the first place.

A hand tapped her shoulder, and she started.

There was Leonard, a hanger perched on a single finger. On it was a red cocktail dress, detailed with patterns of gold lace and fringe. It was beautiful, annoyingly so, since he'd found it.

When she dragged her eyes away from the dress to meet Leonard's gaze, he was staring back with intensity, his mouth a thin line. He sighed.

"Give me a beat to process all this, okay?" he murmured.

He let the hanger slide off his finger into her waiting hand.

"You've had almost four months," he said. "At least give me a few hours."

Well. She hadn't considered that.

Sara turned without a word and retreated to a dressing room, all her anger gone, replaced by guilt. It was true that she'd had a lot more time to think things over – and the chance to meet two other versions of him.

The last time Leonard had seen her was...

The Oculus.

Unlike her, he had no other memories to use as a buffer between then and now. All she could remember from that moment was the adrenaline, the desperation...and, the regret.

Probably nothing compared to how he'd felt, about to die with her kiss lingering on his lips, so many words that should've passed between them unspoken.

You think I wanted to miss this? I'm not done with you.

Sara allowed herself a reprieve from these thoughts as she extricated herself from the Atom suit, sighing in relief to be free of it. How does Ray get in and out of this so quickly?

She was glad she'd convinced Ray to show her how to shrink it down – she had no idea how they'd have hidden it otherwise. Once that was taken care of, the suit safely stored in its little egg container, Sara turned back to the dress.

She ran her fingers over the sheer material of the bodice, the fine gold lace accents soft under her touch. There was no way she could wear a bra with it, she decided, dropping hers in the pile with her other clothes before stepping into the dress.

It had a red, silk slip covering her from her breast to her knees, leaving most of her chest, shoulders and neck exposed or under short sleeves of sheer, red mesh. The material clung to her curves, drop waist style hugging her body past her hips, the gold fringe at the hem fanning out around her when she moved. She'd never been much of a fan of flapper dresses, but there was something sexy about this one, and the way she looked in it. She thought so, anyway, idly wondering what Leonard's opinion would be.

He had picked it out, after all.

As entranced as she was by the dress, Sara was flummoxed by what felt like hundreds of buttons making up the back. She struggled with them, managing a few before she was forced to admit defeat.

She slid open the curtain of the little dressing room to find Leonard waiting for her, mostly dressed himself. He was wearing a crisp white collared shirt under a black suit coat and pants, an undone tie hanging loose around his neck. A black fedora perched on the clothing rack next to him.

He straightened at the sight of her, brow raising and eyes wandering over her body before he could catch himself.

Sara couldn't help but smile a little, since she felt much the same about the sight of him – he always looked too dashing in a suit. She closed the distance between them, heart racing as she did, watching the careful mix of reverence and lust darkening his eyes.

"Could you help me?" she turned around, motioning to the buttons at her back.

She tried to calm the flutter in her stomach, the stutter of her heart as she felt him step close to her, his body heat warm on her open back. He hesitated only a moment before starting on her dress, undoing the buttons she'd managed to mess up and putting them right.

"For the record," he murmured, his voice low and rough in her ear, "I am glad to be alive." He fastened a few more buttons, fingers sending shivers down her spine as they brushed against her skin.

"I'm very glad," he added, softly, "to see you again."

Her breath hitched as he moved her hair out of the way, fingers teasing at her neck. He finished the last of the buttons, but his hands lingered between her shoulder blades for too many tense heartbeats.

"But I never wanted you to get hurt," he said. "And if I'd been there, I would've told you not to risk it."

Sara spun around, her eyes finding Leonard's, his face even closer to hers than she'd expected. She tilted her chin up, giving him nowhere to look but at her.

"But you weren't there," she said, wrapping her hands around the ends of his tie, keeping him from pulling away. "If you had been, I wouldn't have had to risk it."

His mouth curved down in a frown, but he didn't argue.

"And for the record," Sara continued, working at his tie, giving herself an excuse to break their eye contact. "I've died before. I know what that's like." She tugged at the fabric, adjusting the knot before she met his eyes again. "I would have died a thousand times for just the chance to have this moment, right now."

She didn't know where the words had come from, or where she'd found the courage to say them, but they were true, and she wouldn't take them back.

Leonard's mouth parted, in surprise, or about to say something, she wasn't sure – when a sudden crash of thunder rocked through the building, hard as a small explosion.

Sara started, jumping forward. It took a moment for the sound to fade, before she realized her hands were splayed wide on Leonard's chest, her head tucked into his collar, her body pressed against his. For his part, his hands were resting on her hips, holding her steady and secure.

"A lot's changed, since you've been gone," she said, quietly, leaning back just enough to see his face.

"I'm starting to get that."

Leonard dipped his head down, his eyes dropping to her mouth, and for one golden second, she thought he would kiss her.

And then another rumble of thunder rolled through the showroom, and the moment was gone. He released her, taking a step back.

"I've got a good idea of where we can find some trouble, if you're still up for it," he said, just the slightest hitch to his voice.

Sara nodded, trying to calm her heart and ignore the rush of disappointment settling in her stomach.

It was too soon anyway, she told herself, after everything. They needed to focus on getting home, and then they could figure this out, whatever it was, between them.

He nodded as well, maybe thinking the same, as he reached for his fedora and placed it on his head. Sara wondered when she'd ever found a hat on a man so sexy before.

She shook herself and wandered away from him then, in search of shoes and a little makeup. And as she did, she reminded herself that all the banter and flirting – everything unresolved between them – could be resolved, now. They had that chance, if they'd only take it.

She swore she would. Soon, if not now. She wasn't sure how much longer she could wait.