Once they got back to the ship Sara, much like everyone else, moved about her business in a numb haze. At first they were all on the bridge, trying to bring themselves to talk about what had happened. She thought that she could sit there; they were calling him a hero after all. But as soon as she wiped away the first of her tears it became very obvious that she couldn't listen to it. So she became the first to leave, excusing herself and trying to ignore the pitiful stares from the others. They knew what Leonard had meant to her, or they thought they did anyway.
He had been her best friend, the others could all see that and she would admit it. But it wasn't until now, that he's dead for crying out loud, that she was able to see how much more there had been to their relationship.
As she walked down the corridor to the barracks thoughts of him clouded her mind, and thus tears did the same to her vision. Her mind was filled with memories of him. From the first time they met and he tried to turn his back on the world, when she raised an eyebrow at him actually having shown up, when he spent the first five minutes of the mission staring at her ass so she thought she had him all figured out. She thought about Russia and how he talked her out of killing the Professor, about how they had nearly frozen to death beside each other. She remembered all of the card games they played in their downtime, remembered sitting at his feet while passing the bottle from Rip's special reserve back and forth, and she remembered him pulling his gun on her this morning. She knew he wouldn't shoot her, and now she was willing to admit that it wasn't only because they were teammates.
"This isn't Bonnie and Clyde," She had said, and it wasn't, but they had at least gotten to go out together so she was starting to wish it were.
At this point she had made it to her room and her face was red and pinched tight with all the effort it was taking her to hold back her tears. She closed her door and all but ran over to her bed, flopping down and curling into a fetal position as she let out a strangled sob.
It was all crashing over her, feelings that she didn't even know she had until now that it's too late.
Typical.
In all her time, in all the things that she's done, Sara Lance didn't think that she had any emotions left to discover; but she was wrong. She had never before felt what she was feeling right now, the closest had been after she said goodbye to Nyssa. But even that wasn't this. That was knowing that what the two of them had was over. Their lives were moving in two separate directions. She had to keep moving if she wanted to find herself and Nyssa needed to stay where she was, even if that place was the league's prison. She would get out; Sara knew that much, and she would do so of her own accord. But this was a feeling of regret; regret of never knowing what could've been between her and Leonard. For weeks now she had been telling herself that she doesn't have any feelings towards the great Captain of Cold, but now she's realizing that those feelings she supposedly doesn't have are not only very real, but also much stronger than she thought. She could admit to having had a crush on Leonard, because crushes are things that you get over in a week's time. But now that he's gone and she knows that she missed such a huge chance, especially after he suggested the idea of them being together, she could go as far as to wonder if these feelings were feelings of love.
She had only ever been in love once before, with Nyssa. The heartache that followed their goodbye was awful, but this was just pure torture and coming from someone who has actually been both subjected to and administered pure torture that is saying something. She didn't think that she had loved Leonard, but now that he's gone, it was hitting her like a sack of bricks. Just then a knock came at her door and so, letting one last sob escape her control, Sara heaved herself to a sitting position and wiped away her tears.
"Come in," she said, her voice almost strong as usual.
It was Mick who walked in, a rather somber and shaken look on his face. Suddenly Sara felt that she had no right to cry, Leonard had been Mick's partner. They'd known each other since childhood, had each others backs practically their whole lives, who is she to mourn the man so heavily when it's Mick who deserves that right?
The former bounty hunter made his way into her room slowly with a thoughtful expression on his face. When he finally reached her bed he looked down at her and Sara suddenly felt as though she were a small child about to be scolded by her father, but that isn't what happened.
"Here," he finally said, placing something into the palm of her hand. Sara looked at it to see that it was Leonard's ring, the one that he had stolen on his first job with Mick. "He'd want you to have this," Mick said as she felt the ring's bumpy surface before looking back up at him.
"No," she said, she tried to hand it back but Mick only responded by backing up half a step. "He'd want you to have it," she assured him but he merely shook his head.
"When we first pulled that job, and got away with nothing but that, he still had some hope for his future." The larger man began to explain as he came and took a seat beside her on the bed. "Said that someday he'd meet a nice girl, and he'd give that to her." He continued, "Look at the inside."
Sara was confused by the instructions, but obeyed them nonetheless. When she looked at the inner band of the ring her jaw fell open ever so slightly; because there engraved on the metal, sloppily so Leonard had obviously done it himself, was her name.
"Found him doing that after we brought Savage on board," Mick exclaimed, "Said that one way or another this mission was coming to an end, and he still had a mission from when he was fifteen left to complete." Then Mick did the last thing Sara ever would've expected him to do in this situation, he laughed. "You know Sara, you're always so focused on controlling your bloodlust and calling yourself a monster, that you don't even see what you've done to him." He said and when Sara looked nothing but confused he decided that he had better elaborate. "That light you put in his eyes, that will to help people; I thought they beat it out of him in the prison yard." He explained and Sara quietly thought it over for a minute or two, before slipping the ring onto her pinky finger and realizing that it was much too big. So she tried it on her ring finger, and it fit there perfectly.
"Weird being back here?" Mick asked one of his best friend's, she was sitting on a metal chair in the med bay while his other best friend lay unconscious in the bizarre medical chair/bed.
Sara, who was holding Leonard's hand, looked over her shoulder and smirked at him. A lot had changed for all of them in the year and a half that had passed since they took down the time masters. Rip, being unable to return to his family, had opted to remain at the vanishing point and rebuild the time masters as what they were truly meant to be; guardians of time. He passed operation of the Waverider to those of his crew who would be willing to take on a new assignment; time masters. Mick had stayed and so had Carter, Jax, and Stein. Ray, Kendra, and Sara considered the offer but Ray and Kendra ultimately decided that they wanted to return to 2016 and start their life together, because after all the insanity Kendra did in fact choose Ray. Sara on the other hand almost took the offer, but something about it just seemed wrong. Mick understood it best; while he and Snart had been partners most of their lives the Waverider had changed their dynamic. It wasn't just the two of them anymore; they were teammates and best friends, but not partners. He understood that if anyone was Snart's partner after all this it was Sara, despite her trying to tell him otherwise. But she couldn't argue it whole-heartedly, because she felt that it was right. She couldn't take the mission without having Len there to watch her back. So she returned to 2016 Star City, but agreed to be on call anytime the Waverider crew needed some extra muscle.
That was the call she had been expecting; when she woke up at three in the morning and saw Mick's caller I.D. lighting up her phone. She had been expecting him to say that a job was about to go south and they needed the White Canary, not that they had been flying through the temporal zone when they found Leonard Snart's body floating amongst a whole bunch of debris that had been blasted into the zone by the explosion over a year ago, or that Len had a pulse. Mick told her where they'd landed in her time, and she'd wasted no time getting there. She'd thrown on a sweatshirt, not even bothered with her shoes, and ran out of her apartment.
"I've been back here before," She replied, not once letting go of Leonard's hand.
"Not lately," Mick said as he pulled up another chair and sat down beside her.
"You haven't needed me," she reminded him; he knows that he can call her at any time with any mission and she'll come. Besides, she's a fully-fledged member of team Arrow now so it's not like she's sitting at home doing nothing.
Mick smirked; then he noticed her ring finger.
"Do you sleep with that thing on?" He asked; she was still wearing Snart's ring.
"Sleep, fight, the only thing I take it off for is showering or washing dishes." She told him and he just smiled at her, or more specifically her loyalty to Snart. "He'll probably want this back." She said, unclasping her other hand from Len's and beginning to tug off the ring. But Mick stopped her by placing his hand gently over hers.
"Let him decide that," he said and then, as if on cue, Len finally started to stir.
Mick saw this and got up, Sara looked back at him but he was already out of the room, and when she looked back at Len she saw his piercing blue eyes staring back at her.
"Hey," She said, a big smile breaking out across her face.
"How long?" He asked, getting the feeling that he hadn't been asleep for only a short while.
"A year and six months," Sara replied, her face falling a little bit as he sighed and took in the news. "We did it," she told him, reclaiming one of his hands with one of hers and moving her thumb in soothing circles around it. "We took down Savage, and the time masters; all thanks to you." She said and he snickered,
"If any of you called me a hero-"
"We all did," she cut him off,
"Of course you did," he said just as he spotted the ring on her finger, his ring.
"You have small hands if that fits your ring finger," he observed and out of habit she looked down at it.
"Maybe you just have big hands," she quipped and again he smirked, god she's missed that smirk. "Do you want it back?" She questioned but he merely shook his head.
"Keep it," he insisted, "When can I leave the med bay?"
"You were cleared to leave the med bay upon waking, Mr. Snart." Gideon's voiced chimed from the ceiling, Len let out a sigh as Sara released his hand and he hopped off the chair.
"Thank you Gideon," He said gratefully.
He spent the rest of the afternoon, after reuniting with Mick, Carter, both halves of Firestorm, and meeting some new recruits, with Sara in his old room of the ship.
"I'm surprised nobody gave away my room to one of Mick's recruits," he remarked as he noticed the room looked more or less the way he had left it, only a few things being out of place here and there.
"He was saving it for last," Sara explained as they sat down side by side on his bed.
"So, you're back in Star City." It was more of a statement than a question, but Sara nodded as an answer regardless.
"Mick will take you back on the team if you want," she offered him and he did appear to consider the option, but when he met her gaze she knew it wasn't for that purpose.
"I know it was a long time ago for you, but I still mean what I said." He confessed, "I am curious about what the future holds for you and me, together." He said and despite the fact that she already knew all this, and that she returned the feelings, Sara was still a little taken back by his words. "Now call me crazy but considering you're still wearing that ring on your finger, something tells me you might at least be willing to find out." He wagered and the next thing Sara knew she was crashing her lips to his, him kissing her back passionately as though he was aware of just how long she had been waiting to be able to do this again.
"Can I take that as a yes?" He questioned when they finally pulled apart for air, their foreheads resting against one another.
"Depends, what exactly did you have in mind?" Sara asked; she found herself reveling in the warm feeling of his breath on her face as he chuckled at the question.
"Last time I saw Star City it was ruled by Wilson, I think I owe it a fair chance." Her lips were back on his half a second later.