Sara did not take it well when her friends told her about Nyssa, although with all things considered things could've gone a lot worse. It just didn't make sense to Sara, and not because she was in denial. Nyssa had disbanded The League of Assassins, she wanted to take killers out of this world, so what would send reeling back so far? She thought that maybe, MAYBE, it could've been their encounter earlier in the morning but that didn't seem right. Now that she knew this she realized that maybe Nyssa had run off and been nervous for a reason other than what she initially thought, but it isn't like Nyssa to get nervous about a kill.
Things only got stranger when Barry shared with them the identity and condition of the victim. He was former League of Assassins, Sara recognized him immediately. It had never been a secret that he'd regretted joining the league and was always opposed to taking lives, but he never ran because as sick and twisted as it may sound the life had fascinated him. Nyssa, as far as Sara knew, never had a problem with him. Then there was the way in which he had been murdered; two strong hands suffocated him by squeezing his neck. Such a brutal tactic was not Nyssa's style, and neither was getting caught. If Nyssa truly had gone back to killing she would've made sure that she wasn't caught, so there had to be another explanation for this.
She told this much to Barry, who agreed that she was making a fair point but just in case told her to be careful because although Nyssa had been identified, granted under a false name, she was yet to be captured. Sara assured him that she would be careful but honestly she doubted she had much to be careful of, except for how she would explain today's events to her boyfriend.
She arrived at the apartment all too quickly and long before she had thought of a way to tell Snart about the situation. Of course there was always the option of not telling him at all but she wasn't going to do that. If he ever did find out then things between them would only go south and undoubtedly be very hard to repair. So she had to tell him, at the very least she could argue that she could've hidden it from him when he grew mad. So with that much decided she drew a deep breath as she opened the door and prayed he wouldn't be home yet, prayers that came crashing down when she saw him pulling a thing of iced tea out of the fridge.
"Hey," he greeted her, glancing over to the door when he heard it open.
"Hey," she said back as she came in and noticed two cheeseburgers sitting on a paper plate on the counter.
"Can't promise those are any good," He said when he saw her eyeing the food; she just rolled her eyes at him. She had learned a long time ago that although he pretends that he isn't Leonard Snart is actually a very good cook.
"How long have you been home?" Sara asked while he poured two glasses of iced tea and shrugged.
"Maybe two hours?" He guessed, "Would've been home later but the last appointment for the day cancelled," he explained and she nodded, "How was your day?" He asked and she huffed.
"Interesting," she settled on, sparking her boyfriend's interest.
"Oh yeah?" He asked, taking a sip of his drink, "How so?"
"Well for starters, I saw Nyssa at Jitters," she admitted and that had him choking. Sara cringed as he coughed until his airways cleared and he drank a little more iced tea just to get rid of the residual amount left clogging is throat.
"How is she?" He finally asked,
"Well… she ran off and four hours later she was identified as the killer in a murder that happened this morning." This time he did little more than raise an eyebrow, and not the amused kind that he normally raises.
He was quiet for a minute, and so was Sara. She wanted him to say something, anything. Accuse her of something, tell her this news means nothing to him, she just wants him to say something; and finally he does.
"I doubt an assassin is very likely to let herself be identified, so the question is, whose framing her?" He asked and despite the obvious seriousness of the situation Sara wanted to break out into a smile and run around the counter into his arms. She didn't, of course, but she did allow herself a look of relief before a knock at the door cut off her chance at doing anything else.
Leonard eyed the door suspiciously, Sara did the same, and they both had a sinking feeling about who could be on the other side. Despite the fact that if they were right the visitor was most likely no threat, and not to mention that even at five months pregnant Sara is still more than capable of protecting herself, Len still moved over to the door with a protective arm reaching out and silently signaling his girlfriend to stay behind him. He had no weapon, but he knew he wouldn't need one. So he opened the door and just as he had expected Nyssa was standing in the outside hallway, although he hadn't been expecting her face to appear as though she wanted to run away.
"Honey, it's for you." He mocked before stepping aside so that Sara could get to the door.
"Nyssa-"
"I didn't know where else to go," Nyssa quickly cut Sara off, clearly in no mood for a lecture.
"How did you even find me?" Sara demanded, folding her arms accusingly across her chest, Len was still surprised that she could still manage the position.
"Oh please Sara, I've been trained by the league since the day I was born, tracking you isn't much of a challenge when you're not hiding." She scoffed and Sara was about to respond, although with what she didn't know, when Len of all people cut her off.
"As fun as having this conversation in the middle of the hallway is, why don't you come in?" He suggested, prompting both girls to look at him dumbfounded. He ignored them of course and just waited for Nyssa come inside. "You explain what happened to that guy this morning and I'll be over in the corner, trying to figure out if I'm relevant to this situation." He continued and so after another few seconds Nyssa came in and Sara closed the door behind her while Len merely returned to his supper.
Sara ushered Nyssa inside and pointed her towards the living room area while she made her way over to the little kitchenette and leveled a glare with her boyfriend.
"Eat your supper later Snart, you're relevant to this situation." She told him and although he tried to feign disappointment it failed him and he ended up smirking.
"Good," he said, glad to see that Sara probably would stay with him over Nyssa.
He followed her into the living room where their guest was already seated in the chair, although she sat on the very edge and looked as though she might bolt at any minute; it reminded Len about the way he used to sit in school.
"I didn't kill that man," Nyssa immediately insisted, cutting right to the chase.
"Really?" Sara asked skeptically, "Because he's dead and your prints are on him." She reminded her ex and her intensity caused Len to raise an eyebrow at her, not that she noticed.
Nyssa, like Leonard, noticed Sara accusing tone but much like the former crook she chose to ignore it.
"I know, and I think like Malcolm was controlling Thea when she killed you I think someone might have been controlling me, because I can't remember anything that happened after leaving the coffee shop." Nyssa admitted and that got Sara to drop the bad cop routine.
"Nyssa, who could get close enough to drug you?" She asked in a much more understanding voice, one both Leonard and Nyssa hoped she would be keeping.
"My sister," Nyssa replied nervously, Sara's eyes widened.
She had only ever known Talia as a child back when she was left behind in 1958. When Sara had originally joined the league in 2008 Talia al Ghul had been a taboo subject, as were all league deserters. Ra's had tried finding her, but as his daughter she knew how to cover her tracks from even him and all of his resources.
"She contacted me, saying that she was in Central City and that she heard I had disbanded the league." Nyssa went on to explain, "I figured I don't have anything to lose or anywhere better to be, so I decided why not?" She asked, neither her nor Sara missing the roll of Leonard's eyes. "I went to meet with her, and that's the last thing I remember before waking up alone in an ally hours later only to wander back into that coffee shop and see the news playing." She finished and honestly if the story of her own death weren't so eerily similar Sara might have accused Nyssa of making the whole thing up. But that fact combined with the sincerity in Nyssa's eyes convinced her to believe it.
Without a word she pulled out her phone and sent a text to Barry, informing him that she and Leonard were heading down to S.T.A.R. Labs with Nyssa and for him, Cisco, and Caitlin to meet them there.
When they got to S.T.A.R. Labs, and after they finally convinced Joe to give them a chance and not drag Nyssa down to the station right away, they found that they were in for an even bigger surprise than everything they had already heard today. Caitlin's first move had been to draw some blood from Nyssa to test for any traces of drugs in her system, which Nyssa had initially protested because despite being a highly trained assassin she has a terrible fear of needles, but she conceded to it when Sara offered to hold her hand. That was when Caitlin rolled up her sleeve and discovered the horribly pronounced bite mark on Nyssa's arm. She gasped upon seeing it, nearly looking away because of how deep and gruesome it was. Sara was just as shocked as Caitlin to see such a mark, but the most disturbing factor in the discovery was that Nyssa was also shocked to see the mark.
"Nyssa, who did that?" Sara finally asked,
"I don't know," Nyssa replied, "You don't think that Talia did?" She asked fearfully and at this point Sara really thought she might be sick. She'd developed a fairly high tolerance for battle wounds over her time in the league, and she could handle large gashes without batting an eye. But it's not secret that abuse was an entirely different story with her, and the idea that a sister could do this just made her stomach turn.
"I can run some test, whoever did it clearly left some DNA behind." Caitlin said, interrupting Sara's thoughts before she discarded her needle and instead collected some dry blood from Nyssa's wound before reaching for a roll of gauze.
She wrapped Nyssa's forearm and then hurried off to run her tests, leaving two former assassins alone in the not very private medical room of the lab. For an agonizingly long couple of minutes they just remained there in silence. Nyssa sitting on the medical bed and Sara standing beside her; both of them trying to think of a decent excuse to leave.
"Is it a boy or a girl?" Nyssa finally asked, snapping Sara's attention to her.
"What?" She asked; she had been so zoned out that she hadn't really processed the question.
"Your baby," Nyssa clarified with a slightly amused smile.
"Oh, we don't know." Sara replied, one hand unconsciously moving to rub over her swollen belly. "We're keeping it a surprise," she continued and Nyssa nodded.
"I don't think I said congratulations earlier," Nyssa began and Sara beamed at her.
"Thank you," she said before her face became serious, "Look we'll figure out what happened to you but until we do, don't just assume it was Talia-"
"It's ok," Nyssa cut her off, looking down at her bandaged arm and then back at Sara.
"I knew that going to see Talia would be a mistake, I was born to be her replacement when she refused to bear father a grandchild." She explained and Sara raised an eyebrow at this, she had never heard the details behind Talia's abandonment of the league. "Father, always being an extreme traditionalist, wouldn't hear of a woman bearing the title of the Demon's Head. Like Oliver, the suitor that father had selected for Talia had no interest in joining the league and unlike Oliver there was nothing my father could do to convince him. So he instructed Talia to persuade the man to at least share his bed with her for one night, and if persuasion didn't work he instructed her to employ some other methods. He decided that if he couldn't hand down the league to a son, he would hand it down to a grandson. But Talia refused, she wanted the title of the Demon's Head. Then I came along and when I turned out to be a girl father didn't give up on pressuring Talia, so when she'd had enough she left." Nyssa explained and Sara couldn't help but smirk at the story.
"Sounds like you and Talia aren't very different," she remarked, she had heard all about Nyssa and Oliver's marriage and honestly she still wants to see Oliver's face when Nyssa calls him husband, because she's heard it's hilarious.
"Except that she still wants the title," Nyssa huffed,
"Hey, we don't have proof that Talia did this." Sara said but Nyssa didn't look convinced.
"Don't we?" She asked, "The man who died may have been slightly sociopathic but once he was out of the league he was out, if she wants to reform the league than she'll take out anyone who won't join her." Nyssa theorized and Sara eyed her quizzically.
You're sure?" She asked and Nyssa nodded,
"No doubt about it, why?" She asked and the pregnant blonde sighed.
"Well, for a girl who doesn't remember anything that's happened to her in the past twelve hours, including actually meeting with your sister, that's a pretty detailed guess about what happened." She said and only then did it appear to dawn on Nyssa that she did seem very sure about everything she was saying, and she really did have no evidence for any of it.
While the girls were talking in the back room, Leonard had remained comfortably against the doorway in the main lab. Caitlin Snow had just come out of the back and snagged Cisco away to help her with some tests. Joe West had gone home after he realized that the team really wasn't going to let him drag Nyssa down to the station. It was in this moment that Barry decided it would be a good idea to approach his former rival, although why he thought that Leonard had no idea.
"Hey, are you doing ok?" He asked and Len sighed.
"Just peachy, why do you ask?" He inquired and Barry began shifting awkwardly.
"Well I um… I just though that…. You know with everything-" He began stuttering and when it really started to look like he wasn't going to be able to form a complete sentence anytime soon Leonard decided to cut him off and rescue him.
"Contrary to what my girlfriend and apparently you think, I do trust her." He said and Barry's face turned as red as the suit he wasn't currently wearing, like he was ashamed of having thought that Snart wouldn't have trusted his girlfriend around her ex.
"Right… um sorry." The speedster apologized and just as he did Cisco let out a gasp from over by the computers.
"No way," He exclaimed, prompting Barry and Leonard to go join him and Caitlin.
"What is it?" Barry asked but before Cisco had a chance to answer Sara and Nyssa came out from the medical area, having noticed the others all gathering around the computer. Cisco looked up and looked right at Nyssa, an odd mix of horror and excitement spreading across his face.
"You were bitten by a vampire," he deadpanned and in response Nyssa simply scrunched up her nose.
"What?" She asked, knowing that there was no way he could be serious.
"Not exactly a vampire," Caitlin clarified, "But the drug which essentially brainwashed Thea was in your system, the thing is it looks like it was injected venomously." She further explained and that only left everyone just as confused as they had been when Cisco first said "vampire".
"So what? Talia is one of your meta-humans?" Nyssa finally asked and Sara was about to remind her that it might not have been Talia, but Caitlin spoke up first.
"The DNA I found was a 27% match to yours, 25% is the average of how genetically similar half siblings are." She explained with a sympathetic wince, not really needing to ask if she and Talia had the same mother or not; Nyssa's accepting expression said it all.
Nyssa had known Talia was the one who did this, she couldn't explain how but somehow she just knew. But hearing it still threw her for a loop, because how on earth is this possible?
"So her half sister BIT her, and was able to control her?" Barry asked,
"That's what vampire's do bro," Cisco replied and Caitlin just rolled her eyes.
"Talia is not a vampire, although I think it's safe to say that she might be a meta-human." She said and now Nyssa looked really confused.
"A what?" She asked,
"Person with superpowers," Sara supplied, making sure to do so before Barry as so to keep him from blowing his secret.
"Vampire superpowers," Cisco mumbled and this time Caitlin smacked him on the arm. "Ow!" He exclaimed but it went mostly ignored.
"Ok so the half sister bit her and turned her into a mindless drone, how do we stop her from doing it again?" Len interrupted; as much as he loved watching Ramon get hit he was growing board with this conversation and wanted to get it back on track.
"I think Nyssa can help with that," Sara replied with a smirk, although Nyssa didn't look even half as sure as the blonde.
"How?" She questioned,
"You seemed pretty sure that Talia did this and of why, I think maybe you might have some suppressed memories of meeting with her." She explained and so naturally everyone turned to Caitlin for her opinion on the theory.
"It's possible," she confirmed with a shrug, "The drug basically shut down her brain but there has to be something that happened between leaving Jitters and being bit."
"Can you get her to remember?" Len asked and Caitlin shrugged again,
"I could give it a shot, but it's only going to work if she's willing." The doctor replied and almost immediately Nyssa nodded.
"Sure, anything if it'll keep me out of prison." She muttered.
Three hours later and they had come to one conclusion; Nyssa does not take well to hypnosis. Of course both she and Sara already knew this, Ra's has conditioned her to be immune to such a common technique, which is probably why Talia had to bite her in the first place. Caitlin could only think of one other way to extract the former assassin's memories, but Cisco wasn't exactly a fan.
"I've never gone into a person's mind!" He exclaimed, it had been explained to Nyssa already that Cisco is also a meta-human and what his powers are capable of. To be honest she didn't really want him wandering around her mind, but so far she hadn't needed to argue.
"You'll be fine, it's not like your physically going into her head." Caitlin argued and so while she and Cisco bicker Nyssa look over at Sara.
"Do you have any normal friends?" She asked and Sara shook her head in amusement.
"Nope," she replied just as Cisco let out a groan, indicating that he had lost the argument.