#cctalks

The thought of spending the day only with Leonard lit up Sara’s face. Sure, it was disappointing to be left by the ship once again. Being part of the crew gave her a sense of purpose, especially after coming back to life and battling her bloodlust. But if not being on the Waverider means having to spend more time with her favorite person, then it might just be worth it.

“Sure,” she replied, taking his hand. “I’ve got to show my face to the Arrow crew, first. Let’s give them a surprise.”

It wasn’t the surprise they were expecting. Leonard was at the back of the room as Sara rushed towards her father’s side. The look at the man’s eyes told him that something’s not right. Something about the father’s look convinced him to walk closer to Sara and to be right behind her.

Her sister died a few months ago.

 Not long after being brought back to the present, the ship came back. Leonard saw the tip of the knife peeking out of Sara’s sleeve before she pressed it to Rip’s throat. He was there to catch her when she fell. He was able to use his sharp tongue to threaten their captain with unspeakable things before bringing the woman to her room.

Leonard was holding Sara’s hand when Rip explained why they couldn’t go back for Laurel. The crook and the assassin spent the rest of the evening in silence, holding each other and never letting go. Snart is new to this. He’s not used to handling emotions of other people. But there’s no way in hell he’s leaving Sara to grieve on her own.

 She puts all her anger, all her pent-up energy in her desire to end Savage once and for all. If she can’t help her sister, maybe she can save her friends. Maybe she can save the world. Three times, they killed Savage. All of them were spread across time. They were divided in groups to finally put the tyrant to the grave.

She landed the final blow to the Savage of the time assigned to her. Firestorm and Leonard were by her side. Leonard gave her this one, knowing she needed this. She needed an outlet to release everything. With Savage’s limp body dropping to the ground, Sara immediately turned around to face Len, who luckily just got rid of the armed enemy surrounding them.

“It’s done,” Sara said. “It’s over.”

Leonard tried his best to control his feet from rushing towards her, hugging her, and lifting her up. Thankfully, before he can even do this, Sara is running towards him with a small smile on her face. She stopped just in front of him and placed her arms behind his neck.

“And we made it alive,” Leonard whispered, pressing his forehead to hers.

“Yes, we did.”

They sealed the conversation with a kiss, much to Firestorm’s smug look.

The next time the crook and the assassin picked up their deck of cards, they were up in the temporal zone with a few hours to spare. The looming thought of her sister’s death still crosses Sara’s mind. At times like those, her eyes would find Len’s and the promise of a future together comforts her.

“You can’t keep letting me win, Len,” Sara spoke after her fourth win. “Bring that ace up your sleeve now.”

Leonard smirked and handed her a new bottle of beer. “Alright. Another round. Give me your best shot, assassin.”

Sara smiled sweetly, eyes twinkling from unshed tears. “You were right, you know?”

“I always am,” Len swiftly said. But then he looked up at her and added, “But what am I right about this time?”

She placed down the cards she was shuffling and replaced them with his hands. “Before going to the Vanishing Point. You said, that we’ll go there and kick ass, and then we’ll go back here and save the world. And play cards all day long.”

“I could think of other things for us to do all day long,” he whispered and got lightly punched on the arm.

“I’m serious,” she chuckled.

“I know,” he said, holding her hand tighter. “What I don’t know is how long we can have quiet hours like this and I’m just glad we can have this.”

His honest words brought her eyes to her face. “Me, too. Despite everything…me, too.”

Leonard, without hesitation, closed the spaces between their lips and poured out his heart. Fully knowing that Sara also poured out hers.

 Leonard and Sara have never been the best with feelings. They use their words as pointy as they can, if possible, using it as another wall between them and other people. They have a long way to go, the crook and the assassin. With the new relationship they’ve established and are currently exploring, it’s safe to say that they’ll have more talks, more kisses, more game of cards.

They’ve always found comfort in each other. For Sara, Leonard has always been a mystery—a book she can’t wait to open every page and get lost in. And over time, she did. She got lost in his eyes, in every comforting touch. And now she knows she’s never gonna lose herself again, for she had him.

And Leonard, who has avoided dealing with feelings his whole life, found himself willing to try. To open himself up. To fully trust into someone, putting his heart out in the open, giving Sara the power to destroy him. But with every card game, every story, every brick being stripped off of the wall he built his entire life, he learned that sometimes, it is worth giving your everything. And she’s worth it.

 “That was one hell of a kiss,” Sara whispered, placing small kisses on his face.

“From one hell of a thief?” Leonard asked.

The beautiful blonde smiled and nodded.

Speaking once again, her voice was heard. “Me and you, Len. Alright?”

“Me and you.”

Alexa.

Ever since Leonard explained that gut feel on their way to Rip’s study, it has never left her thoughts.

Alexa.

Something’s going to happen.

Alexa.

And for the first time since she’s stepped in this timeship, she decides that there’s no more time left.

So she passed by the galley and retrieved a bottle of beer, and went straight to Leonard’s room, where she knows the cards will be. The door is open so she invited herself in, and sat on the bed beside him.

“We need this,” she said, opening the beer and drinking some before she passes it on to Len. “Let me deal.”

He passed her the cards and Sara started alternating the cards between the two of them.

“This might be the last fight,” Sara said, opening the hand of cards she got but not really thinking about the game.

“Shut up, Sara,” Leonard pointedly replied. “We’ll go down there and kick ass like we always do. And then we’ll get back on this ship, save the world, and play cards all day long.”

“Jut cards?” Sara asked, her voice void of any attempts of joking and replaced with sincerity.

So Leonard answered with the same honesty. “Or more.”

Sara smiled. “And finally you could go back to Central and go back to stealing.”

“Maybe I’ll steal that kiss.”

“Maybe you won’t need to steal it.”

 And with that, the walls are down. Their feelings laid out in front of them, minus the actual words. But words aren’t needed, because they already know. Both of them do.

“I swear to God, Leonard. If you die out there, I’m going to revive you so I could kill you again,” Sara replied, finally allowing herself to take a deep breath.

“Oohh, sexy. Tell me more.”

 Sara was sure that a little more push and she would’ve kissed the smug look off of his face already. But Gideon interrupted the moment to announce that they’ve landed.

Leonard hopped off his bed and grabbed the Cold Gun on his table to place it on his leg holster.

While all this was happening, Sara was just looking at him, memorizing how he moves.

Because at the back of her mind, a voice is screaming “ALEXA”.

She knows she doesn’t deserve anything good in this world, especially after being brought back to life. Sara thought that that was it. Resurrecting is the only thing she’ll get from the universe. But then she met Leonard—a man equally morally questionable as her, a man who thinks that the universe is playing games on him, too. And she thought that maybe, if she deserves all the bad things in life, that maybe she deserves a crook. That for some reason, she could actually claim that she deserves this. Him. That she deserves something more.

But the universe will always be unfair with Sara Lance. She knows deep down that fate will take this away from her eventually.

But not now. She’s been fighting many things, many people all her life.

If she has to fight to keep him safe, then she will. Whatever it takes.

 “Ready to go, Assassin?”

“Always. Just don’t die out there, Snart.”

“I won’t.”

 Alexa.

Sara has been avoiding with all her might to address what happened in Rip’s office earlier. She really is trying to, but with moments like this, she can’t help imagine how she would react and what she would be doing right now if Leonard and Mick’s plans of going back to Central City pushed through. In the end, she couldn’t resist.

“About earlier, when you told Rip you’d ditch him,” she began, “did you really mean it? Were you really going to leave m—the ship?”

Well, it’s about time this comes up, Leonard thought.

“He already placed Jax in danger,” he began. “And that’s Jax. Imagine how much more willing he’d be in sacrificing the thief and the arsonist. Don’t get me wrong, I’m okay with the fact that the professor saved Jax’s life. I just wanted to be on that jumpship, too. If I’m going to die, I’m not gonna die because a selfish bastard sold me out.”

“No one said anything about dying,” Sara replied.

“But do you really think we’ll all go back home safe?” Leonard retaliated. “Happily ever after?”

“I know things are gonna go wrong anytime but really, you’ll just leave like that?”

Leonard looked straight at her and said, “Things are going to go wrong, we both know that. And I don’t want to be here when it happens.”

“So you’ll leave. Without even saying goodbye to me?” Sara said, trying her best not to put any emotion in that statement.

Leonard took a deep breath. “When Mick and I talked it through, I was going to ask you to come, obviously. I knew this wouldn’t end well and as much as I don’t want to witness it unfold, I also don’t want Rip to have to sacrifice your life for whatever it is he needs to happen.”

Sara placed her cards on her lap, avoiding the man’s gaze.

He continued. “Then I overheard you telling Rip that you’re not one to run from a fight. You’re not easy to convince. It would be easier for you to convince me to stay than for me to convince to leave, so I didn’t. And I didn’t plan on saying goodbye to make things easier.”

“How is leaving me alone easier?” a rhetorical question from Sara.

“Because then I could I just imagine that you’re still flying in this goddamned ship instead of being captured by the Time Bastards. Or dead. But the timeship is gone so we both get to stay where we are and play cards and not worry about dying or seeing each other get hurt. Maybe.”

A charged stare-off happened between the two of them. Things are reaching its inevitable end. There are things Leonard wants to say, more that what he already implied in answering Sara’s question. On the other hand, there are things Sara wants to ask him—more than what she already asked.

But here’s the thing between the two of them: they always think they have more time. More time to admit things and confess and talk and literally anything other than play these stupid card games they use as an excuse to spend time together.

But the crook and the assassin are both idiots. So they waste more time.

“Who’s winning?” Leonard told her, trying to save both of them from having a certain conversation.

“I am, as usual.”

They went back to the cards, easing the tension and focusing on the game. That is, until Leonard heard a faint sound of marching boots stomping on the metal floor.

“Did you hear that?” Leonard said, turning his head towards the door.

“Don’t try to distract me,” Sara replied, pouting and strategizing her way into beating the crook.

Leonard didn’t make a move and kept his head towards the door, hearing the footsteps come closer to his room. “We need to find somewhere to hide.”

Sara sees him place his cards on the bed as he marched towards the door, placing his ear close to it.

“Why do we need to find somewhere to hide?”

“Alexa.”

“Well that answers nothing.”

Leonard tore the cards off of her and took her right hand. “Do you trust me?”

“Of course I do.”

“I know a way out,” Leonard said with a smirk. “Ready to get up close and personal with Captain Cold?”

Sara stood up, still clutching Leonard’s hand, ready to go wherever he goes. “Why do we always end in life or death situations?”

“Call it destiny.”

“Cargo hold. Bring the cards,” she said.

She didn’t even wait for him to respond. She immediately stepped out and looked ahead, her feet bringing her to the one place in the Waverider she’s comfortable at, next to her and Snart’s rooms.

It was after ten minutes that she heard his footsteps nearing the room. With a deep sigh and closed eyes, she waited until she could feel him sitting down in front of her, a little too close than she wanted.

Perhaps this is how he’s always sat in front of her. Perhaps it’s her time with the League that made her uneasy with the little space between them.

“New hand,” Leonard started. “I guess we’ll see if I can still shuffle the cards as effortless as before.”

“As effortless as two years ago?” Sara blurted out without thinking.

“That’s how long it’s been for you?” Leonard answered, shuffling the cards slower than usual. “I’m impressed you aren’t crazy yet, waiting for two years.”

The woman scoffed, taking the deck from him. “I am kinda crazy. I went back to the League.”

“I know.”

Sara distributed the cards between them and they started the game. With her ninja senses still on a high, she saw Leonard hide a card on one sleeve, and another on the waistband of his pants. But she’s not in the mood to call it out. She missed this. The silent game. The tension. The cheating.

It wasn’t until they finish the first round with Leonard winning when Sara spoke again. “So Mick is Chronos.”

“Apparently so,” Leonard hesitantly replied. He shook his head, but continued. “I was right. He did threaten to kill my sister in front of me. Over and over again. That was fun.”

Sara just nodded. She felt the need to lighten up the situation, knowing that what the team is feeling is nothing compared to what the man in front of her feels. With a small smile at the corner of her mouth, she said, “Mick hit Chronos with the car we stole the first time we went to a bar. Remember?”

To her surprise, Leonard let out a soft laughter. “How can I forget? That might have been the best part of that day. Well, the second. Watching you beat up those thugs was definitely the first.”

“Don’t you think it’s dangerous to flirt with a newly-released assassin, Leonard?” Sara teased.

“Well that’s not you anymore, right?” Leonard replied, setting down a pair of cards. “You said it yourself. Newly-released.”

Sara sighed and the weight of what she’s feeling made her shoulder drop. “I’m not so sure anymore.”

Leonard knew he was sailing through unchartered waters with Sara. But a part of him knew that she needed to be reminded that she is who she was two years ago. For her, at least.

“Do you remember when we first woke up on a rooftop?” Leonard said as his hand gradually comes near hers. “Do you remember waking up with a headache and beside you are a bunch of people you don’t know?”

“Not as detailed as how you described it, but I do.”

Leonard continued. “I was watching everyone of you. And you, Sara, are interesting to read. Because that’s the thing. Boyscout and the Brit, I can read easily, just like the others. But I can’t do that with you. It’s as if I have to unlock a hundred doors to get a good read off of you. Fortunately, that’s what I do best—breaking locks.”

“Where are you going with this?” Sara asked, bravely taking his hand even despite knowing the fact that he’s hesitating.

“Our first night in this ship, you barged in my room with cards and booze on your hands. That became our thing, deny it or not. Then came in the stories of our lives, the shit we’ve been through, the secrets we share to each other only after pretending to be too drunk to remember it the next day. But we both know we’ve never been drunk in front each other. Then the locks began to fall,” Leonard said, slowly, trying to get something off of Sara’s body language telling him to stop. But there’s nothing.

He continued.

“Some somewhere between the cards and the beer and the stories, both our walls dropped. The doors you built around yourself opened, just like mine did. And I saw you. Not the assassin. Not the woman who came back from the dead. I just saw you, Lance.”

“Like how I’ve seen you?” Sara replied.

“Like how I made myself be seen by you,” Snart immediately answered, hesitation void from the tone of his voice. “Because despite being the scariest out of all the people inside this tin can, and that’s saying because we have burning men inside this ship, you have the most understanding eyes. The most gentle hands.”

Sara shook her head, only to be stopped by the man in front of him.

“The last time I saw you was yesterday and I know that the last time you saw me was two years ago. I get that. But you’re still you. You still have understanding eyes, and gentle hands,” Leonard said as he squeezed her hand. “You went back to the League, went back to killing, went back to doing the thing you loathed doing but here you are now. So let me ask you. Are you our Sara again?”

Sara just smiled and let the single tear drop from her eyes. “Tell me again, why weren’t you the one stuck with me in the 1950s? I would’ve lasted longer if you were with me. Maybe I wouldn’t think of coming back to the League.”

With the air cleared with tension but his chest still heavy with all that he told her, not regretting anything, he said, “Two years with only each other? How sure are you that we haven’t killed each other by the time Rip ‘rescues’ us?”

“Well if I kill you, who am I going to play cards with?”

Leonard shrugged. “Anyone in this ship will do.”

Sara shook his head, a small smirk on her face. “Nobody plays cards dirty like you do.”

“So that’s what you like, huh, Assassin? You like it dirty?” Leonard teased, bumping Sara’s leg. This comment made the woman throw her cards at him and laugh.

“Shut up, Leonard!”

 And they were back. The crook and the assassin. There are a few things they have to talk about. The last two years for Sara. Mick being Chronos. His new hand. The new scars she’s gotten. His endearing words to her earlier. The future.

But none mattered that night. They have the cargo hold to themselves. They have their cards. And they have each other.

And when Sara slipped inside Leonard’s room that night, the man didn’t mind. When his heart skipped a beat after she told him she missed him, Sara didn’t mind.

And yes, both of them are going to deny the cuddles and the kiss pressed at the crown of the woman’s head, but as long as neither of them minded, right?

The rest of my Captain Canary Collection: HERE

The assassin turned her hurt arm towards the crook. Carefully, the man got the surgical scissors and snipped off the sleeve of Sara’s shirt. Leonard then applied the cooling and healing gel Gideon supplied to the burn on her arm.

She didn’t even flinch. Not a wince, Leonard thought. How much pain has she gone through to not flinch at her own burnt skin?

“Does it still hurt?” he then asked, his hands dropping to gently hold hers.

“Not anymore.”

“What else hurts?”

“Nothing. I’m good, Snart.”

“Are you still cold? From earlier?”

“Len,” she said, squeezing his hand a bit. “Hey, Len. I’m good. I’m okay.”

Leonard took a deep breath—his head is obviously not in their conversation—trying his hardest to distract himself by being with Sara and by talking to her. By prioritizing her pain.

But she knows. Of course, she knows.

He’s holding her hand tightly. She doesn’t even think Leonard notices.

His blue eyes are piercing her. Icy blue, so cold that it almost sends a chill down her spine. Almost.

She’s seen him stare at her—but not like this. Not like this when he’s looking at her like she’s going to walk out on him anytime.

“You’re not in pain?” he asked again.

Sara shook her head. “Not in pain. But I think you are.”

Leonard refused to answer. He doesn’t think he needs to.

 “Well, you were the one who came in here. Might as well talk,” Sara softly said, testing the waters. “Or not. We could just play since you brought the cards. Do you want me to get the bottles, or…” 

“Mick’s had my back ever since,” Leonard said, repeating what he told her earlier when they were trapped in the freezing engine room. “We’ve been through too many prison breaks, too many jobs, too many heists.”

Sara moved to sit closer to him until their shoulders were touching, their hands still intertwined. “I know.”

“He betrayed the team,” he continued. “But I betrayed him.”

He was talking softly and his voice was shaking. Sara knows this. She’s used to concealing pain, too.

“You did what you had to,” Sara replied just as softly. “They were going to kill us.”

“I know. But I still betrayed my oldest friend. My brother.”

 This was getting to heavy for Sara. There’s this weight in her chest from seeing Leonard like this. Captain Cold isn’t supposed to be like this. World-class thief Leonard Snart isn’t supposed to be seen like this. But here they are.

With the lack of something to say, she just rested their joint hands on his knee. Silently saying that she doesn’t know how to help, but she’s there. Just like how he’s there when Sara needed it in Russia.

Refusing to deal with all the feelings inside him, Leonard attempted to stand up. “I should head to my room. 

But Sara quickly pulled him back to his seat. “You don’t need to be alone tonight.”

Leonard tugged his hand to free it from her hold but she held on tightly to it. Sara spoke again. “You can get away from me and from the team tomorrow, and the day after that, but not tonight, Leonard. Just sleep here.”

“If you want to sleep with me, Assassin…” Leonard started. Trying to make light of this already heavy conversation.

Sara immediately finished his sentence. “I could just ask. Yeah. Sure. Still, I’m not letting you spend the night alone, Leonard.”

Too tired to argue, he just nodded. Without letting go of his hand, Sara raised the duvet and slipped beneath it, taking Leonard with her.

 The light is dimmed and their hands are still together. Both are breathing deeply and if one or both of them shed tears that night, no one talked about it.

Leonard woke up the morning after alone in the assassin’s bed. Her scent is still on the pillows. On the bedside table were a cup of coffee and the box of cards he brought in last night with a note underneath it that read: “Not in a rush to play Gin. Take your time.”

There were no card games that night. No card games the morning after. Days and missions would pass without card games. Not that Sara complained. She told him to take his time anyways.

Little did she know that she had to wait for two years for that game of gin.

The rest of my Captain Canary Collection: HERE

It was two weeks ago when he slept at her room. When she held his hand as he slept. During those times, they haven’t played a single game. They focused on talking. On their inside jokes. On their flirty banters that are making the rest of the team uncomfortable.

Leonard was just waiting for her to come back and give her her cards. To tell her that things are getting better. That he’s feeling better, thanks to her. (The second part, he might have to leave out of what he’ll say.) Their game was supposed to tell her, “Hey. I’m ready. I know you’ve had a hard time checking on me, but I’m okay. Or I will be.”

But there are no card games. Not today. The box will remain untouched—that is, if Chronos doesn’t take it off of him; if Chronos doesn’t plan to kill him. Sara will stay in the past, without an idea why they had to leave. She’ll be left thinking that they took off and left them on purpose.

Deep inside, Leonard hopes that she knows he’d never let the ship take off without her in it. He hopes she’d be patient enough to wait for them to get back. He hopes Stein, Jax, and Rip has plans to get the other back from the past, and him from the hands of Chronos. He hopes he gets to live through this. To see her.

Then the bounty hunter took off his helmet and faced him.

Mick Rory. His partner and best friend. Angry and hurt and betrayed. Eyes full of rage and fire.

 Leonard took a deep breath. He then hoped for one last game. To at least tell her that...

To tell her…

Oh, she knows.

The rest of my Captain Canary Collection: HERE