Chapter 18: Beach Day
"I can just imagine what it's like in the last car," Oliver said casually, peeking out the back window as if he could see through the Michaels-Diggle SUV to the vehicle with Quentin, Donna, Laurel, and Josh. "Do you think your mom is asking Josh and Laurel about their family-planning?"
"Oh god, I hope not," Felicity said in horror at the thought as she guided the car down Cabrillo highway while the morning sun peeked over the scrub brush and trees to their left. Thinking for a moment longer, Felicity changed her tune, "Or maybe I do? Is it bad to say better Laurel than me?"
"It's all your fault," Oliver noted chipperly. "You didn't have to bring your mom up to speed on all of our secrets. She could have sat this trip out."
"Can you imagine?" Felicity asked with a dramatic shudder. "She thought your sister was cheating with Quentin when they vanished together out of town a few times – what would she have thought when literally everyone she knows in Star City left town without her, including her boyfriend of nearly a year?" Oliver had to give her that one – the Donna Smoak apocalypse would have been upon them all.
"But is it a vacation if your mom is here?" Oliver asked. Felicity shot him a sharp look. "I mean," Oliver amended, "I'm delighted that she is going to spend the day with us."
"You know I am already second guessing agreeing with Quentin to bring my mom into our double lives," Felicity noted with a touch of a whine in her voice. "Please just pretend like you think she will behave herself today around our friends."
Oliver smiled consolingly back at his wife. "Your mom will do just fine. And if she doesn't, you and I will just find a boogie board or a raft and sail out to sea together."
"We're almost there," Felicity said looking at her GPS.
"Thea! There in five!" Oliver called over his shoulder.
Lying across the backrow of seats and face snuggled into a pillow, Thea declined to open her eyes and instead groused, "And I thought you said this would be the fun car."
"This is the fun car," Oliver returned. "Or would you rather be stuck with a fussy Sarah, or Donna trying to get to know Laurel and Josh better for two hours?"
Thea grunted in return, making no move to wake up further.
Oliver began to take in his surroundings. Felicity had arranged today's minivacation with Team Flash, letting the rest of the team know they would need beach gear, but remaining tightlipped about their exact destination. He was fairly confident they were near some of the emptier beaches on California's coast near Davenport.
Felicity flicked the turn signal on and then pulled their car slowly onto a dirt path. The SUV and car following behind them pulled off as well. There was nothing ahead but dirt covered earth fading into sandy beach, then ocean. Oliver squinted, thinking he saw a brief sparkle ahead of them. Suddenly, Barry Allen appeared out of thin air.
Oliver's eyebrows raised watching Barry approach as Felicity lowered her window. Barry peered into the car, saying cheerfully, "Hey Felicity! Hi Ollie!" He craned his neck forward to catch the still snoozing Thea in the back. "Hey Thea!" Thea must have fallen completely asleep, because she didn't acknowledge the greeting. Barry looked at Oliver and Felicity with a question on his face.
"She's fine," Felicity said quickly.
"She gets tired easily," Oliver added.
"But she's excited for today!" Felicity assured.
Barry nodded understandingly and said, "Are you guys ready? Because I'm going to take you in!"
"Take us-?" Oliver began in confusion as Barry called to Felicity, "Give it some gas!"
The car lurched forward while Barry began to blur. A cold feeling overcame Oliver like he had just passed through something and when he looked through the front window, he could now see an entire beach hang out. A few beach tents created long shadows in the early morning sun, positioned over some chaises and a table with a spread of snacks. Under the table were several large coolers. Additional beach chairs were clumped in a few clusters across the beach, including some facing a volleyball net. A small pile of inflatable tubes were stacked next to a small bathroom building with changing room.
Confused, Oliver threw open his car door and watched as Digg's SUV appeared out of nowhere next to their car, followed by Lance's Oldsmobile. Barry stood with an irrepressible grin.
"Barry, what is this?" Oliver asked.
Cisco wandered up with Iris to greet their guests. "Team Arrow!" he said. "Welcome to our little bubble of paradise! Safe from prying eyes and ears. It felt like we would only be able to cut lose, powers and all, if we couldn't be spotted!"
"This section of beach is completely shielded," Iris added. "Anyone driving by will just see an empty beach."
Diggle was lifting Sarah to the ground as Josh helped Laurel out of the Oldsmobile. "Barry," Lyla said with a smile and sparkling eyes. "Your team did good! This looks perfect."
Oliver couldn't help the smile that grew on his own face. Things had been so difficult recently, but with Thea's newfound determination to keep fighting and the sun on his face, it felt like today would be a good day. Oliver looked over at his wife who stood next to Barry, both of them looking at him giddily, awaiting his reaction. "Lyla's right," Oliver said. "You two really outdid yourselves."
Oliver noticed Laurel had beaten him to the back of his car to wake up Thea. Laurel called out, "Come on, Thea – you're not going to want to miss this."
Oliver smiled and told Barry, "Okay, show me around."
It wasn't long before Oliver found himself next to Felicity with a plate loaded with scrambled eggs, bacon, and a biscuit chatting to Wally West, Barry, and Iris. Donna seemed to be getting along well with Cecile Horton while Joe West and Quentin traded cop stories. Thea, Lyla, and Caitlin had taken Sarah down to the water's edge, letting her squeal as she was lapped by the waves.
It only occurred to Oliver that Cisco had vanished when he heard a strange noise and a flash of light behind him near the cars. Oliver startled and turned, watching in shock as a breach opened. Out walked a casually dressed Kara Danvers, followed by three men and a woman. Oliver looked in shock towards Barry and Felicity and noticed the giddy smiles returning. "What did you do?" Oliver asked in shock.
Ignoring the question, Barry raised one hand up, waving the group down. "Kara!" he called out. Kara caught sight of them all and a wide smile spread across her face. She indicated with a wave for her group to follow her and within a minute, the figures reached the rest of the party.
"Barry! Hi!" Kara said excitedly. "Oliver! Felicity! John!" As the group with little Sarah returned, she added infectiously, "Caitlin! Thea!"
Kara explained, "When Cisco and Barry invited us to a beach day with all our teams, I couldn't say yes fast enough! It's great to have friends out there in the universe, but better when we can be together." Kara quickly introduced her team. "Everyone, this is my sister, Alex, my mentor J'onn, and my friends Winn and James! Guys, this is … everyone!"
Winn said, eyes excited and shining, "A lot of crazy things have happened this last year, but this one has to take the cake. I never thought I would end up in an alternate universe! Do you guys know my doppelganger? I can only assume he is cooler than me."
"Can't say we do," Digg said shaking his head. Oliver knew that Digg was overwhelmed considering multiple versions of any of the people he knew.
Cecile didn't miss a beat and urged their new guests, "Well don't be shy – please, get some breakfast! We have plenty!"
The little scene became chaotic as everyone chatted, getting to know each other, and grabbing plates. Kara's sister was just saying something to Oliver when a new voice called from behind:
"What, you couldn't even wait for us?"
Oliver turned around, eyes wide as Sara Lance stood on the sand next to Barry, Ray Palmer, Martin Stein, Jefferson Jackson, Mick Rory, and Nate Heywood. Laurel stole the words from Oliver's overwhelmed mind, "Sara?"
Laurel was across the sand in a moment as Sara jogged to meet her halfway. The Lance sisters grabbed each other in a long hug, broken by excited laughter. Quentin wasn't far behind, joining his girls. Josh and Donna were pulled into the mix and introduced while Caitlin snuck over to be drawn into a gentle hug by Dr. Stein.
Cisco looked confused by Mick's presence and asked, "Hey, Heatwave! What are you doing here?"
"I heard there was a beach day. I like swimsuits," Mick said with a leering grin.
"I tried to leave him on the Waverider," Sara said, "But as soon as he heard 'beach' and 'not invited', we couldn't shake him."
Thea parried the arm that was coming towards her and slapped out, striking Alex on her bicep. Alex took a step back and launched her leg towards Thea's chest – Thea spun away from the kick, landing a kick of her own. Alex charged with a quick right swing, distracting from the left which caught Thea directly in the clavicle, throwing her off balance.
Thea grinned at the challenge. The two women squared off, pacing around the other. Then Thea moved. She went in for a roundhouse kick. While part-way through the motion, Thea was startled to realize her leg was not raised as high as she had intended. Even as she noticed, she could see Alex slamming her arm against the leg, knocking Thea further off course and now, off balance. Alex ended with a kick to Thea's back, which sent Thea sprawling to the ground.
Thea laughed, making no move to get back up. Alex, panting heavily, approached, holding a hand out to pull Thea back up. Thea shook her head no, rolling to her side to cough a few times, releasing junk that still clogged her lungs up. Alex flopped down next to her.
"I thought you had me there," Alex admitted breathlessly. "Kara wasn't kidding – your hand-to-hand skills are on point. If we lived on the same Earth, I'd make you my permanent sparring partner."
"That's nice of you to say, but you got me two out of three rounds," Thea chuckled through another cough as she sat up. The exercise had felt good. It had been far too long since she had had anyone to spar with – maybe since she had left Team Arrow.
A shadow fell over Thea and a bottle of water dropped at her feet. "Drink up," Laurel said firmly. "And stay down," she added poking at the top of Thea's head to annunciate her words, then digging her fingers lightly into her scalp and scratched twice. Laurel called over her shoulder as she walked back towards Josh and Sara, "I mean it!"
Thea rolled her eyes affectionately before releasing another wet cough.
"Okay," Alex said, "so I know that one's your brother," she pointed to Oliver. "But is that your sister?" She asked nodding after Laurel.
Thea said, amused, "She might as well be. She's known me since I was, like, five." Thea pulled the lid off her bottle and took a long sip. "She's being a little overprotective. I'm just getting over pneumonia."
Alex noted, "In that case, I'd hate to face-off with you at full-strength!"
Thea felt her cheeks color lightly at the complement. Redirecting the conversation, she asked curiously, "So you learned to fight from a secret, alien-fighting government agency?"
Alex nodded agreeably. "Yup. I was a scientist before I was recruited. I had never even taken a karate lesson," she quipped.
The description startled Thea and she chuckled. "What took you from being a scientist to a kick-butt secret agent?"
Alex looked thoughtfully towards where Felicity and Kara were chatting with their feet in the surf. "To be honest, I didn't go looking for it. It was only because my sister was an alien that the DEO wanted me, and only because J'onn had made a promise to my dad to look out for me that he sought me out. Before that, frankly, I was going nowhere fast." Thea cocked her head in interest.
Alex tried to explain. "My parents were scientists and I had always wanted to be like them. I think I went into science to make my mom proud – she was always pretty hard on me. She just – expected me to be better. And after my dad died, it felt like I couldn't do anything right in my mom's eyes no matter what I did, so – I gave up. I partied a lot. Was arrested a few times for public intoxication and driving under the influence." That was something Thea very much understood. "And that's where J'onn found me. In county lock-up. He told me that I needed to leave that life behind and offered me a job. I've never looked back."
"Wow. Are we the same person?" Thea asked glibly. Alex tilted her head. Thea shook her head, realizing that Alex didn't have any context. Thea said briefly, "My mom and I had a tense relationship after my dad died and I have seen and thrown plenty of raves in my time." Thea said thoughtfully, "She would hate that I turned into a vigilante, I'm sure of it. But your mom is cool with it?"
Alex shrugged, "She wasn't thrilled. She was worried. She was more upset that I was 'letting' Kara put herself in harm's way, though."
"Oof," Thea winced in sympathy.
"You haven't told your mom what you do?" Alex asked.
"Oh – no," Thea said a little awkwardly. She explained, "My mom was killed a few years ago, sacrificing her life for mine. It's why I decided to train – to become stronger. So I would never be that helpless again." Thea shrugged, "But I've come to learn that it doesn't matter how strong you are – there is always someone or something stronger."
Alex nodded slowly, considering Thea's words.
Suddenly Thea found herself on her back in the sand. "Sarah!" Lyla called out reproachfully as Thea gathered her wits to discover she was pinned by a toddler with arms around her neck.
Thea pushed up, cradling Sarah so she wouldn't fall, and said to Alex, "It looks like I've been called away!" Standing up with Sarah in her arms, Thea asked, "Okay, Bear, what are we doing? Sandcastles or swimming?"
Thea managed to get Sarah settled with Digg resting on a chaise nearby, completely relaxed, watching Sarah digging in the sand while J'onn showed her how to make a sandcastle. Lyla had easily fallen into conversation with Alex about extraterrestrials and Metas, both sharing how they tried to balance capturing bad actors while supporting the innocent. Once they were fully engaged, Thea stepped away to see what everyone else was up to.
A pretty intense game of volleyball was being played by Wally, Ray, Jackson, James, Caitlin, Iris, and Mick. Cisco and Winn seemed to have found their match in each other as they giddily swapped stories of the villains their teams had faced and the technology they used to save the day. Laurel, Josh, and Sara were huddled on some beach chairs in deep conversation – Sara no doubt vetting Laurel's new man. Quentin, Donna, Joe, and Cecile sat in beach chairs facing the ocean with bottles of beer chatting warmly. And Oliver – Oliver looked like a new man, diving through the waves, only to pop up and spin Felicity in a circle through the surf.
Thea couldn't wipe the smile from her face. It was like some sort of superhero convention, heroes from their world and Supergirl's world coming together. And not to stop crime, but just to hang out! Thea mused that, while the day may have started for her benefit, this was a much-needed respite for every person there.
"Thea!" a voice called from behind her. Thea spun around to see Kara's warm smile as she approached. Thea realized she must have zoned out watching her friends and family.
"Hey Kara," Thea said with a returning smile, tucking her hair behind her ear. "This is pretty incredible – I'm so glad that you and your team were able to come."
"We needed the break," Kara admitted as she stood next to Thea looking out over the beach. "We have had a lot of pretty heavy things hit us recently."
"I hear that," Thea agreed taking in a deep breath of air and releasing it, giving her body permission to relax.
"I'm sure," Kara said, her overtly sympathetic tone catching Thea's attention. Immediately, Thea knew that Kara was aware in some way about what was going on with Thea's health. Thea turned sharply to study Kara as Kara realized she might have overstepped. Kara apologized, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say anything out of line. It's just, when I came to help you and your team save your world from the Dominators, I spoke with your brother. He didn't get into it, but he said you were very sick."
Thea nodded slowly, considering the description. Accurate enough. Thea agreed, "Umhm."
Kara added gently, "He said … you wouldn't be getting better."
Even with the gentle approach, it still hurt to hear. Thea took a purposeful, calming breath and agreed, "That sums it up."
Kara nodded understandingly. She said earnestly, "I told him that you seemed remarkably brave. You stood side by side with humans with powers – with an alien," she gestured to herself with a light laugh. "Protecting the earth. I don't know all you are going through, but I do know that that same courage you showed in the face of the Dominators will keep you going on your journey now."
Thea felt her throat tighten and said quietly, "Thank you, Kara – that means a lot, coming from Supergirl."
Kara shrugged and said, "If there is one thing that I have learned as Supergirl, it's to lean on those who love you. I wouldn't be standing here without the support of my sister and my friends. And you have a lot of people who love you, Thea."
Thea's eyes fogged up as she took in the people she loved best in the world all in one place. She said softly, "I really do."
Thea noticed that Felicity was leading Oliver by the hand towards them. Thea greeted them, asking, "Hey guys – taking a break from the water?"
Felicity's eyes were sparkling as she approached and asked Thea, "So this day is pretty great, huh?"
Thea laughed at the unexpected mining for complements, even while she knew just how much Felicity had wanted the day to go well. Thea agreed, hoping her eyes conveyed her gratitude, "It's the best day ever. Thank you. I won't forget it."
"You know, I asked you a few weeks ago what you wanted for yourself – what would bring you joy," Felicity noted.
Thea chuckled and agreed, "You did. And I didn't even tell you I wanted to go on vacation with my favorite people."
"Well, we've been playing with you a little bit," Felicity said. "Because you thought this was your entire surprise."
Thea raised an eyebrow at Felicity, "What could you possibly -?"
Felicity cut Thea off, her voice quivering with emotion and excitement and said, "Thea. Turn around."
Still confused, Thea turned around.
In shock, Thea pulled in a sharp gasp of air and then froze. Her mind spun, trying to catch up with the image in front of her.
When she unfroze, a cry ripped from her throat, almost of its own accord: "ROY!"
And her feet were moving under her, without a conscious thought.
Standing beside Barry was Roy. Her Roy. Her Roy who she had not seen since she was dying from bloodlust nearly a year before.
Roy stood in a pair of red swim trunks and a white t-shirt, looking sun-kissed, and muscled and blue-eyed, and … like home.
And when he saw her take off towards him, Roy began to run too. And in what felt like an instant, Thea was in his arms, sobbing and laughing. Roy surprised her by gripping her under her arms and giving her a quick spin around in the sand. As her feet touched earth, Thea was so overwhelmed she buried her face into his shoulder and clung on, feeling his shirt grow damp from her tears.
She felt the gentlest of touches pull her face back and she was staring into his equally wet eyes watching his tremulous smile. Something about the way he looked at her was so full of love with an equal part of pain. Thea wanted to erase that second part. She framed his face with her hands and then pulled him into a deep kiss. When she pulled away, she brushed at his forehead, like she was trying to erase his look of concern. She whispered, "No, not that. I'm too happy to see you look that way."
Roy sniffled and nodded in understanding.
Thea stopped at a sudden thought. She studied Roy's face in panic. "Are you seeing anyone?"
"I didn't take your advice," Roy admitted breathlessly. "No wife, no kids – definitely no minivan." He grinned, even as his lip trembled. "There's only one girl for me."
Thea leaned her forehead against his cheek and whispered, "I am going to be crushed if it's not me."
Roy chuckled and Thea could feel it vibrate her entire being – it felt like joy.