"That was so nice," Ray commented as the two Legends couples descended from the hiking trail to the main path. "Wally was right, this really was the best time of year to come."

"Yeah, it was," Nora agreed. She looked up at the sky, then continued, "It's getting dark. We should probably head back to the Waverider."

Ray grabbed her hand excitedly as an idea popped into his head. "Hey, once it's dark, we can go stargazing! Wouldn't that be amazing? I haven't done that in ages."

"Stargazing?" Nora repeated, amused. Ray's wholesome enthusiasm for the simple things was one of the traits that set him apart from almost everyone else in her life. Occasionally, she thought it was silly. However, most times, she thought it was sweet, including this one. "Yeah, I think I'd like that."

Nate nodded. "Sounds fun, bro. Hey, you think Sara's doing okay? Maybe if she's feeling better, we could invite her to join us."

"I doubt it," Zari replied. Nate gave her a look. "I mean, not yet," she clarified. "Sara likes to keep all her feelings buried as deep as she can. I do the same thing, so no judgment here. But, until she lets them out, she's not going to be completely okay, and I'm saying that from experience."

"I'm sure she just needs time," Ray said. "She and Ava were pretty serious. I still can't believe they broke up. Hey, look!" He was suddenly distracted by something beside the path. Kneeling down, he picked up a beautiful white flower and handed it to Nora. "Something pretty this way comes," he joked.

"Aw, Ray," Nora smiled, blushing at she took the flower. She knew it was cheesy, but she'd be lying if she said she didn't enjoy it.

Zari folded her arms and looked at Nate. "What?" he asked.

"I guess you didn't see any flowers on your side of the road, huh?" she said in a voice too deadpan for Nate to discern whether she was being serious or joking.

"I…um…" he tried to think of an answer.

Zari chuckled and elbowed him playfully. "I'm kidding, dork. You're good."

Nate relaxed, relieved that he wasn't in trouble.

Something rustled in the bushes beside the path. The four Legends froze and looked around but saw nothing unusual. "Probably just a bird," Nate said with a shrug.

They took a step forward. It rustled again, louder this time. Then a third time, even louder.

"Okay, that? That is not a bird," Nate declared, moving closer to the others.

A fourth rustle, louder still, with additional ominous grunting sounds.

Nate steeled up. Zari placed her finger over her air totem, ready to use it. Ray reached for the tiny suit in his pocket. Nora placed her hands together, remembering her spells.

Someone burst out of the bushes.

"Aarrgh!" he yelled.

"Aah…wait, Mick?" Ray asked, dropping his guard.

"What?" Mick growled.

Nate returned to his normal composition. Zari and Nora dropped their arms and relaxed.

"Dude," Zari scolded, "were you trying to scare us? Not cool."

"I'm not the one who almost attacked a teammate," he countered.

Ray arched an eyebrow. "Why were you sneaking around like that, Mick?"

"I wasn't sneaking, Haircut. I got caught in those bushes and was trying to go back."

"Back to what?" asked Nate.

Mick brushed a twig off his shoulder. "Burning stuff."

Zari rolled her eyes. "Should've guessed."

"Yeah, well," Mick replied, "sure beats whatever dumb, touchy-feely waste of time you guys were doing."

Nate frowned. "Mick, we're trying to have some nice, relaxing time off…"

"I know," Mick cut him off. "I am relaxed. Burning stuff relaxes me."

Nora stepped into the center of the small circle of teammates that had formed. "We can argue about how best to relax later," she said. "Right now, we need to get back to the ship. I'm sure the others are there already."

"Fine," Mick huffed. He filed in with the rest of the group as they began walking down the path again toward the ship. "Back to the one place where I can't burn stuff. Fun."


"And that's how I sent it back into space," Wally concluded his story.

Charlie sat across from him, leaning her back against the wall. "Ha! Who knew starfish could be so deadly? Good story, mate."

"I know, right? Now it's your turn."

Charlie tilted her head. "I'm not a trick pony, speedster."

Wally scooted an inch closer to her. "Come on, you said you'd show me. Just one?"

Charlie thought about it. "All right. You're lucky it was a good story." She stood up and stretched her arms in preparation. "I'm technically banned from doing this one on the ship, but seeing how it's just us…"

The outline of her body glowed red as she changed into the shape of Captain Sara Lance in her White Canary suit. "Okay, Legends," she said, mimicking her captain's voice with exaggerated enthusiasm, "let's go save the timeline from demons or monsters or whatever!"

Wally laughed. "That's really good! What did you do to get that one banned?"

Charlie shrugged, still using Sara's voice and body. "One too many cases of mistaken identity," she explained nonchalantly. "I may have ordered the Time Bros to do some rather ridiculous things by convincing them that Gideon had told me they were essential to protecting the timeline."

Wally facepalmed, imagining Ray and Nate complying with her orders. "How ridiculous?"

"Nothing they couldn't recover from," she answered. "But now there's an official rule that says, 'no shapeshifting into or impersonating the captain.'"

Wally nodded slowly. "That's probably a good rule to have. No offense."

Charlie shifted back into her typical, Amaya-shaped form. "Yeah, probably. It was a lot more fun without it, though," she added with a laugh. Her powers had grown strong enough since defeating Neron that it didn't take as much out of her to shapeshift as it had before, even if she could still only hold it temporarily. It had also been a while since she'd shapeshifted just for fun, and she was enjoying it almost as much as Wally. "Here's another one," she volunteered.

Her body glowed red again as she changed into the shape of Gary Green. "Hello there," she said, imitating Gary's speech and mannerisms. "Let's play Dungeons and Dragons. Where's my nipple?" She placed her hand above her eyes as if searching for it in the distance.

Wally laughed a bit, then stopped himself, confused. "Wait, what happened to Gary's nipple?"

Charlie, still shaped like Gary, answered, "Honestly, you wouldn't believe me if I told you." She switched back into her usual shape and said in her normal voice, "That really was fun. Now about that Rocket Fuel…where've you got it?"

Wally shook his head, still smiling in amusement from Charlie's impressions. "Come on, I said I wasn't giving you any."

"Thought you might've changed your mind," she replied.

"Well, I haven't."

"Uh-huh." She shapeshifted again, this time into Wally West's form. "You see this?" she asked him in his own voice. "This is what a boring person looks like."

Wally stood up and pointed at her. "No way. That is freaky. You need to stop that right now."

"Or what? You'll fight yourself?"

"I…uh…I don't know. Maybe."

Charlie ignored his confused attempt at a threat. "Now, if I were a bottle of Rocket Fuel, where would I be?" She stepped past him and looked around, paying close attention to her new eye level. "Somewhere easy for me to reach, no doubt. Can't imagine you finding much else to do around here. Funny thing about shapeshifting is I keep my own brain, but I can still understand what it's like to think with a body like yours. Let's see here…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Wally said, following after her as she explored the next room of his small house, which happened to be the kitchen. "Slow down, okay? You're not going to find it."

Charlie reached into the back of a shelf and sorted through its contents with her hands, looking quickly at each label. "And why is that, speedster?"

Wally reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small flask. "Because it's right here."

Charlie spun around and changed back into her usual form. "So it is," she said, pulling out two glasses from the shelf to her right. "Let's get this started, then."

"No, 'we' are not doing anything," Wally protested. "You're not a speedster. There's no telling what it could do to…hey!"

Before he knew what was happening, Charlie's hands reached for the flask he was holding and whisked it away. "And I thought you were the second fastest man alive," she joked, pouring it into each of the glasses in front of her.

"Careful!" he snatched the flask back out of her hands and tucked it back into his pocket, then looked at the portions she'd poured into each glass. It wouldn't have been much for any other drink, but this wasn't any other drink. This was Rocket Fuel. "You really don't need that much."

"Of course I don't," she said, picking one glass up with each hand. "But I want it." She handed him the glass in her left hand. "Don't be so hard on yourself, speedster. I'm a tricky one to catch. Now, let's you and me make up and have a drink together like friends, yeah?"

Wally hesitated, still not taking the glass. "Friends?"

"Yeah, mate," Charlie replied. "You're not such a bad bloke, and apparently you can hold your own against a deadly alien starfish. You just need to loosen up a bit. Break a few more rules, you know?" She threw a genuinely friendly smile at him, then continued, "Listen, Wally West, I like you. I do. I'd also like a friend who I can break a few rules with when Mick isn't around, and it seems like you could use a little friendship yourself after spending so much time out here all alone."

The young speedster relaxed a little. It was true. Aside from Joe West's brief visit, he hadn't seen his friends from S.T.A.R. Labs or the Legends in a long time. He'd only known Charlie for a few minutes, but she already seemed like one of the coolest people he'd ever met, if "person" was even the right word for what she was. Plus, despite his protests, he'd never been very good at playing the strict, by-the-book role in any of his previous teams and was already starting to feel himself falter. "Maybe you're right about all that," he admitted, taking the glass warily. "But are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Absolutely," she replied. "What better way to start a friendship than sharing by a drink?" She lifted her glass up to his eye level as if preparing to make a toast.

Wally looked at it, then her. Finally, he gave in. "Okay, but if you wake up tomorrow with the worst hangover of your life," he told her as he lifted his glass to match hers, "you'd better not say I didn't warn you."

The two glasses of Rocket Fuel met as their holders clinked them together. "Cheers, speedster!" Charlie said before downing her glass in one gulp. Wally did the same. This was going to be an exciting night indeed.


Sara heard a knock on her door and opened her eyes. She'd fallen asleep after several games of solitaire, but her assassin training had taught her to be a light sleeper. She sat up and called out, "Who is it?"

"It's me, love," John Constantine's voice answered. "Can I come in?"

She replied, "Yeah, sure."

The door slid open and the British man sauntered in. "Bad game?" he asked, looking down at the cards, which were now scattered all over her bed.

She scooped them up and began restacking them into a deck. "No, I just got tired. What do you want, John?"

"Nothing," he said with a shrug. "Just thought I'd let you know that the others are all back on the ship, except for Charlie and Wally. No one knows where they are, so it's most likely they're off somewhere doing something incredibly stupid together. Also, Ray has found a local Tibetan recipe and insists on cooking it for a team dinner while refusing any help from Gideon. So, if the ship burns down in the next hour or so, that would be why."

"Good to know."

"Yeah. And finally, I thought I'd ask…how are you holding up?"

She laughed a little, trying to deflect any concern he had. "Holding up? Pfft. I'm holding up great. Just great."

His brow furrowed. "You just took us on a vacation to your own old stomping grounds, and then spent the entire day on the ship alone playing cards, sleeping, and, I'm assuming, checking the timeline."

Sara slid off her bed and stood up. "Yeah, well," she said, "this is supposed to be a relaxing trip. I relaxed. I just happened to do it on the ship while you were all outside."

"Right." John pulled out a cigarette. Sara plucked it out of his fingers immediately. He groaned, then continued, "Look, Sara, I understand. Ava wasn't exactly my cup of tea, but she did grow on me, and I know she was important to you."

Sara rolled her eyes. "Honestly, why does everyone think all I do is think about Ava? I don't know how many more times and ways I can say it, but I am completely fine, John."

"Relationships are rough, love," he said, completely ignoring what she'd just said, "especially for people like us. We're not normal and we don't live normal lives. Not even close."

"That I can agree with," she said, remembering all the impossible adventures she'd had with her team.

"So, it stands to reason," Constantine continued, "that when you get a taste of something nice and normal, you like it and you want to keep it as long as you can. But then, one day, you lose that nice, normal thing. And, when you do, you remember that you're not normal at all, and might never get to have nice, normal things. Sometimes that hurts just as much as losing the thing itself." He took a step toward her. "Am I right?"

Sara looked down, then back up at her friend. "I thought I'd lost my chance at a real relationship before Ava came around," she said, her answer practically a confession. "First Oliver, then Nyssa, then Oliver again…no matter how strong my feelings were, it just never worked out in the end." She glanced for a second at the cards she was still holding. "There was someone else, too, before I met Ava. Someone who really could've worked out. But then I lost him. We didn't even get the chance to be…anything, really. And when that happened, I thought that was it. I just wasn't meant for this."

"Until Ava," Constantine said.

"Until Ava," Sara nodded. "This is on me, really. I should've known better. It's like you said, John. We're not meant for nice, normal things. It was dumb to think things would be different this time, and it's even dumber to dwell on it now."

"What are you saying, love?"

"I'm saying that I'm the White Canary and the captain of the Waverider," she replied. "That's who I am, and it's not normal. So, I'm not going to sit around and think about how close I got to having something normal. I'm going to do my very abnormal job with my very abnormal team." She paused, then added emphatically, "And that means I don't need the team constantly asking me if I'm okay or if I need to process my feelings. There's nothing to process. It's over, I'm not thinking about it, and I'm fine. End of story."

John tilted his head thoughtfully. "If I'm being honest," he said after a moment, "I'm not sure if that's the message I was going for, or if I completely believe that little declaration of yours at the end there. But I do believe it's progress, so I'll take it." He walked toward the door and, just before walking out, turned his head back to say, "By the way, Mona made us all draw straws to see who would have this conversation with you, and I got the short one. I'm not supposed to tell you that, but you should probably know."

Sara smirked. "Oh, so you wouldn't have talked to me at all on your own, then," she joked. "Thanks for clarifying. Wouldn't want people to think you care, would you?"

"Doesn't matter to me what people think," he replied. "You're right, though. I probably wouldn't have walked in here to talk if not for that short straw. But the point is, I still chose to join in when Mona suggested this whole thing, and so did everyone else. Well, everyone except Charlie and Wally, but honestly, who knows where they are now?"

"So?"

"So, you've got a team that cares about you, Sara," he concluded. "If you feel like everything's weighing on your shoulders, you're surrounded by people willing to share the burden. Don't forget that." On that note, he slipped out the door, letting it shut silently behind him.


"I told you the Englishman was a bad choice," Mick grumbled to his teammates around the table after hearing Constantine's report.

"At least she opened up a bit," John countered. "I doubt you'd have done any better."

"Yeah, Mick," Zari agreed. "Your whole idea was just to burn anything and everything left on the ship connected to Ava."

"It would be…therapeutic," Mick said, taking a moment to remember the correct word.

"Dinner's ready!" Ray exclaimed, interrupting their conversation with a heaping tray of local Tibetan food. "Who's hungry?"

Mick eyed it carefully. "You did good, Haircut," he observed. "Looks edible."

"That's your standard?" Nate asked.

Nora offered Ray a smile and patted his arm supportively. "It looks better than edible, Ray," she assured him, "and it smells delicious."

"Agreed," Mona said. She looked around the table. "So…everyone's here except Wally, Charlie, and Captain Lance."

"Yeah, well, I told the captain that dinner was being made," John reminded her, "so if she doesn't come over, she's either not hungry or afraid of Ray's culinary exploits." He turned to look at Ray and added, "No offense, sweetheart. I'm sure you did great."

"You know," Ray warned, "one of these days, I'm going to get really tired of you guys roasting me so much. Not today, and probably not tomorrow, but one day."

Zari and John exchanged skeptical looks. "Yeah…one day," John said, not sounding very convinced.

"Sure you will," Zari said simultaneously, knowing exactly how unlikely that was.

"Haha," Mick chuckled. "Roasting."

"If you're all going to sit here and roast Ray," Sara's voice came from the kitchen doorway, "you'd better not start without me."

The team turned their heads around to see their captain awake and smirking mischievously as she walked into the kitchen and took her seat at the table. She picked up a piece of food from Ray's tray and tasted it. After chewing it slowly, she leaned back in her chair and said, "I have no idea what this is, but it's not half bad. Good job, Ray."

"Thank you, Captain," he said, visibly relieved that someone liked it. "You know what they say…"

"Happy captain, happy ship," the entire table finished for him.

"Ha!" he smiled as he sat down beside Nora. "I knew it was catching on!"

The team dug in and served themselves. "Should we save some for Charlie and Wally?" Mona asked.

"No!" Mick grunted, his plate nearly overflowing. "If you're not here, you don't eat." He noticed Mona's disappointed face. "What? We live on a spaceship from the future," he reminded her. "They can eat whatever they want when they get back."

"True," Sara said. "Does anyone know where they are?"

"Not a clue," said Zari.

"I'm sure they're fine," Nate assured. "They're adults. They wouldn't do anything too stupid."

"A speedster and a shapeshifter running loose in the Tibetan mountains," Nora said with a hint of sarcasm. "What could go wrong?"

"Well, I hope they're not gone too long," Ray commented, "because we were all talking about going stargazing after this and I'd hate for them to miss it. Would you like to join us, Captain?"

"Stargazing," Sara said, mulling the idea over. She didn't particularly feel like going out, but maybe it would be nice to spend a little more time with the team, especially after what Constantine had said. "Sounds nice," she finally said. "Why not?"

"Great!" Ray exclaimed. "I'll point out all the constellations. You know, I remember earning the astronomy merit badge back in…"

Sara only half listened to his story about his Boy Scout days. The other half of her mind observed her teammates sitting together, eating, talking, laughing, and fighting over the last helping of food. Maybe Constantine had a point, to an extent. She certainly didn't feel like bringing her feelings to the surface, let alone talking any more about them than she already had, but this team, with all its quirks and abnormalities, was a family. Her family.