It had been three days since Avalon left home and came aboard the Waverider. Sara was in the bridge room monitoring the timeline and processing what Ava had told her yesterday about Avalon when she saw a newspaper clipping - a missing person - last seen in Solvang, Ca 2015. The picture revealed Avalon. She was only fourteen.

Sara sighed. She knew the girl had lied about her age, but she didn't know that Avalon had lied about who she was running from. She had believed the story about the boyfriend even if it didn't actually seem like Avalon was telling the truth. But a minor aged boyfriend would never report his girlfriend missing to the police. Sara just didn't want to let her mind wander or even think about the fact that Avalon could be running from her parents. Sara knew that it happened in the world, but she didn't want to think about the possibility that Avalon could be an abused child.

Sara knew that she needed to talk to Avalon, but last night was the first night that the girl had slept a full night since arriving on the waverider. When Sara checked on her this morning, she looked so peaceful and at rest that Sara decided to let the girl sleep.

The whole letting Avalon sleep thing didn't pan out too well for Sara, because a few minutes after checking on her, Avalon walked into the bridge room from behind Sara.

"Morning Sara."

Sara turned around, blocking the missing person newspaper article with her body to start the morning off with a friendly greeting before confronting the teen for the truth.

"Good morning Avi. How did you sleep?"

"Good." Avalon replied, "Zari made me ginger tea last night."

Sara smiled, "That's great."

Avalon watched Sara, furrowing her eyebrows, "What are you hiding?"

She was proving to be more perceptive and understanding of body language than Sara had expected from a girl of only fourteen. However, Avalon did carry herself with a level of wisdom normally found in older teens and young adults in their early twenties. She had a bit more maturity than Sara had expected, but not too high for her age. Maybe at about a level of most sixteen year olds.

"Avi." Sara uttered

"Sara." Avalon matched Sara's soft tone, walking over to the Captain and noticing the missing person newspaper article that Sara was hiding.

Avalon took a breath, squaring her shoulders back, "I...I can explain."

"You lied to me."

"I know and I'm sorry. I was scared. That…" She points to the screen, "Is what I was afraid of."

Sara placed her hands on her hips, "Tell me the truth. Are you afraid of your parents?"

"No." The teen protested

"Were they abusive to you?" The blonde continued

"No!" Avalon insisted, "Of course not. I only lied about my age because I wanted you to let me stay."

"This is about more than just you lying about your age." Sara added, "Avi, I'm gonna ask you one more time and I want the truth. Are you afraid of your parents?"

Avalon gave a slow nod, "Yeah, but not for the reason you think. I was afraid of how they'd react to me having a boyfriend. My parents and I had a big blow up two weeks ago. They told me if I don't like the rules I can always leave, so I did. I went and lived with my boyfriend, but I soon realised it wasn't a good idea and left. I didn't want to go home because I was afraid of getting in trouble."

"Well you have to go home, so I'm gonna call the number and let your parents know that you are safe and where they can pick you up to take you home."

"No. Sara, wait." Avalon yelled as she let out a sigh, "I can't go home. The big blow up I had with my parents wasn't just words. My dad did this to me. He gave me the bruises. That's why I left." She blinked, "My dad never hit me before, and my mom's never hit me at all. I just don't want to go home yet. Please don't call them."

Sara nodded, "Okay. I won't call them. I was never going to call them. I had a hunch that it was your parents who gave you the bruises. I just needed you to tell me that yourself."

"I'm sorry for lying to you, Sara."

Sara pulled the teen into a hug, "It's alright, Avi. I understand why you did. Trust is something that has to be earned."

"Still I'm sorry." Avalon repeated

She couldn't even enjoy the hug because of how guilty she felt due to what Sara said about trust having to be earned. Sara thought that Avalon had trusted her with the truth, when in reality the teen is still lying to her. Even though a part of Avalon did trust Sara, there was another part that didn't. Yet still another part that was filled with fear about what the waverider captain would do if she knew the actual truth about the teen.


Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoy. Comments are greatly appreciated.

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