"Impulsive, enraptured!
This yearning's captured me
I'm determined, I'm not pretending
You are my destiny."—
Core of My Addiction, Skillet.
The rain had started light, but picked up, coming down straight and windless. Sara watched the sheets of water pour over Starling City, over the lights and cars and few people on the streets. She imagined it washing away some of the filth and corruption.
"I was a little surprised to get your call." Oliver remarked. She started a little, and Oliver pulled out the other seat at the table and sat. "Are you alright?"
"I'm okay." She said. She had thought about a million things to say on the ride over, what she wanted, what was on her mind. Now that she was here, talking to Oliver again, it vanished like raindrops, the despair and fear and regret falling away with downpour. "Just, drove around a bit. Visited my old neighborhood."
"Oh." Oliver said quietly. He seemed to understand. "A lot on your mind?"
"Yeah." Sara gave a little bit shrug, smiled. "I appreciate you coming to see me."
"How could I say no." Oliver said, not asking. There was warmth in his voice. "Beats my usual day, you know."
"I figured I'll stick around a while, help you with that." Sara said lightly. "You seem to be fighting an uphill battle here."
"Well, Church is dead. Which solves some of my problems." Oliver said. "Didn't stop the shooting at City Hall, though."
"I saw that." Sara said quietly. "Your guilt drove you after that."
"What do you mean?" Oliver asked. Sara turned a little as a cheery brunette college girl walked up.
"Hi, I'm Ana, and I'll be your server tonight." The girl's excitement bubbled through and Sara smiled a little despite herself. "What can I get you Mr. Queen?"
"I will go with… the trout, with a side of mashed potatoes and a water to drink." Oliver said. "And Sara here will have..?"
"The grilled chicken salad, and sweet tea." Sara said. She "So what do you think? Will he be a one termer or be around a while longer?"
"Oh, definitely like four terms." Ana grinned. "You two will be on a lot of magazine covers, I bet." She left, and they were silent for a moment.
"What did you mean about my guilt driving me?" Oliver asked, a little lighter than he had the first time.
"I mean, you went on the gun control issue there." Sara said. "You were hit when you were weak, you couldn't save those people, and you felt guilty."
"I feel like if we can do something to save lives… it's worth the work." Oliver said quietly. Sara let out a breath, sat a little farther back in her seat.
"Mmkay." She said. Oliver gave her a look. "What?"
"You say that when you have a lot on your mind, but you don't want to say it." Oliver said gently.
"At the core, gun control is about fear." Sara said. "People give in to it."
"Not without reason." Oliver said lightly.
"Oliver, Tobias Church didn't follow gun laws when he kidnapped you. Illegal firearms. Prometheus used a bow and shuriken to slaughter the police force guarding Church. The man who attacked your office had an M4 assault rifle which would have gotten him 10 years in prison for possession alone." Sara said. "Oliver, I hate to say it, but if that man had used two pump action shotguns loaded with buckshot, the body county would have been higher. Less casualties, but they would all have gone to the morgue, not the hospital."
"So what do you suggest?" Oliver said. "I let it go?"
"An evil man slaughtered people to make a point." Sara said. "What did you do when Prometheus did that? What did you do when Darke did the same thing? You stood strong and fought back. You weren't hoping to pass a bill outlawing Darhk and his Ghosts." He shook his head, an ironic, tiny smile on his face as he pictured trying that.
"You have a point." Oliver said. "But it could help fight crime…"
"Oliver… if this city is so corrupt that everyone will kill each other if they just get the weapons to do so… we should leave now and let it burn." Sara said. "You can't have a society based on people who are only peaceful because they lack the ability to do harm."
"So did you come back to tell me about policy?" Oliver asked, shifting the topic.
"I came back because I want to help you end things." Sara said, looking him in the eyes. "I want what we were supposed to have before someone sabotaged the yacht. I want us to be us again." He was silent, his gaze shifting to the streets below them, at the lights and rain and people.
"You think we can still be those people?" He finally asked, looking back at her.
"Yes." She said firmly.
"You say that so confidently." He mused. "I worry about it." He looked at her, waiting for a reply. She just gave him a soft look "go on."
"I see how this has worn on us all." He said slowly, looking for the right words. "I see it in Thea. Like it's sanding away the edges of her. I see the places where she might have turned off this highway, been a happy woman. It grieves me. And then I'm afraid to look at myself the same way because I don't want to see what has passed me by." Sara reach across the table, took his hands in hers.
"What's done is done, Ollie." She said softly. "But we can make it better. All of us. You, me, Thea… We can get off this highway. Let go of the anger and despair and guilt we carry. We can come clean and start over. It's not too late... we have the rest of our lives."
The rain was still pouring down when they made it back to his apartment, shrinking the world down to a few rooms and two people, tomorrow no longer something they needed to worry about. The door closed behind them and all pretenses were gone, as they finally kissed. She pushed his suit jacket off and started yanking his tie loose so she could unbutton the collar, feeling his hands lifting her shirt up over her head, feeling almost reluctant to break the kiss long enough to take it off. They stumbled towards his room, trying to kick off their shoes as they went, Ollie reaching behind him and awkwardly grabbing the door handle, pushing it open. She finished unbuttoning his shirt and tugged off the undershirt about the same time he managed the bra clasp, and they embraced tightly for another kiss, the heat of each other's skin driving them on. He pushed her back on the bed and she laughed as he followed. Somehow the ache and despair from earlier was gone, and she felt like life must have been perfect if it lead here. She reached an arm around his back and pulled him down for another kiss, her other hand tugging his belt off. His hands found hers, and their fingers intertwined as he kissed his way up from her navel to her neck, his mouth next to her ear.
"I love you Sara." He breathed, his arms going around her back, holding her tightly.
"Love you back, Ollie." She whispered. He shifted, looked her in the eyes.
"Is this going to end, and I'll have to say goodbye again?" He asked, a mix of tenderness and hope and fear in his voice. She blinked a few times, feeling something welling in her eyes, pulled him closer.
"Where you go, I go." She whispered. "No matter what happens, Ollie. From now on it's you and me." In the dim light, she saw something leave his face, and somehow it felt like they were back on the Gambit.
Their lips met again, and everything was all right.