Chapter Text
March 7th dangles her legs off the edge of an isolated platform in the Watchtower, resting her head in her arms as a grumpy expression crosses her face.
Fortunately, she isn’t sulking alone for long, as Oliver soon finds her, sitting gently down beside her.
“You alright, kid?” He asks, concerned.
“Kinda.” March sighs. “I guess I’m just not used to being without my crew, you know.”
“Your crew?”
“Well, you didn’t think I was the only passenger on the Express, did you?” She replies, a hint of bitterness seeping into her words.
“No, you just haven’t really mentioned them yet.” Oliver admits, taking no offense to her tone.
“They… they’re the closest thing I have to family, and a home… Well, had.” March chokes, drawing her legs to her chest and burying her head in her knees.
“I’m sure they’re safe right now, and doing their best to find you.” He reassures.
“I- I’m sure they are, but…”
Oliver tilts his head.
“…but I miss them so, so much.”
A tense moment of silence falls over them, and Oliver decides to break it with a story of his own.
“I was stranded from my family and friends once too.” He begins. March tilts her head ever so slightly towards him, and he pretends not to notice.
“I had gotten trapped by some random, remote island in the South China Sea for stupid, stupid reasons really…” he continues. March relaxes by just the tiniest amount.
“…I spent five years alone in that place. Five years surviving on my own. Five years without even hearing so much as another person's voice. Five years without the hope that I would ever return home…”
March lowers her legs back down.
“-but you got home, didn’t you?” She interrupts.
Oliver smiles.
“I did.”
“Was it the same?” She asks, fear spilling into her voice again.
“No.” Oliver says earnestly. “It wasn’t the same..”
“…everything had changed. The people I knew. My home, Star City. And most importantly, me. I had changed. I wasn’t that selfish, reckless, son of a billionaire. I grew, and the rest of my life had changed without me.”
“That sounds scary.” March murmurs.
“It was. It was very scary, but when I returned, even though everything I loved was different; the people I loved were still there, and despite how awful I was back then, they missed me.”
“What are you trying to say?” She asks, looking at Oliver with wide eyes.
“That no matter the time or distance between you and the people you love, they still love you. Even if everything has changed, by the time you finally reunite, I promise their love for you won’t.” Oliver concludes, resting hand on her shoulder.
“Thank you.” March replies, ignoring the tears streaming down her face.
“I’m just so afraid. What if we never reunite? What if I never see them again? What if they spend their entire lives searching for me, just to come up blank?”
“You’ll find them.” Oliver responds assuredly, leaving not even an inch of room for doubt. “When people truly wish to find each other, nothing can stop them.”
“Are you certain?”
“I’ve seen a lot of things through the years, kid. Many things I’m not certain on; but for this, I’m positive.”
March dissolves into sobs, and Oliver cautiously pulls her into a soft hug as she cries into his shoulder.
They sit there for a few minutes, the comfortable silence only punctured by March’s shuddering breaths, which eventually slow to a stop.
“Do you want to tell me about your family?” Oliver asks, staring into the void.
“Yeah.” March says wearily, lifting her head once more.
“I’ll start with Himeko.” March begins. “She’s the navigator for the Astral Express, and is the one who has been on the train the longest. Infact, she’s the one who repaired it in the first place.”
“That sounds like quite a feat.”
“It was. She’s one of the most brilliant people I know, and she’s so kind and beautiful and understanding… her coffee-brewing skills are her only sin, really.”
Oliver laughs. “How bad is it?”
“Horrible. I’d rather skip one of Pom-Pom’s chores than drink that stuff.” She grimaces.
“Pom-Pom?” He inquires curiously.
“Oh! Our conductor! They’re an interesting creature, and if I’m being honest, nobody has any idea who Pom-Pom is or where the heck they came from. Really, it’s like they spawned with the train…” March trails off, realizing how little the Express Crew actually knows about their mascot.
“If you ever meet them, do not call them cute, or insinuate anything along those lines. Pom-Pom may look, act, and sound like an adorable bunny, but they do not like being patronized.”
“Noted.”
“…Oh, and don’t tell them I said that.” March says sheepishly.
“Your secrets’ safe with me, kid.” Oliver reassures.
“Next is Mr. Yang. Here’s the funny thing.. I think he’s actually from Earth.”
“Really?” Oliver blurts.
“He doesn’t talk about his home a lot, but he’s mentioned Earth once or twice before. I don’t think it’s your Earth though, the way he describes it… it’s clearly a very different place.”
“Well, hopefully we can meet him and compare notes. Alternate dimensions aren’t exactly a new thing here, but it would be interesting to meet someone from a different version of Earth.”
March chuckles softly. “He’d say the exact same thing about your Earth- and probably demand to see your guy’s cartoons. Mr. Yang was an animator before he joined the express.”
“That’s a tough job in today's climate.” Oliver replies, shuddering a bit as he remembers all those news articles.
“No obstacle can stop Mr. Yang, and honestly, he might not admit it, but he’s a kid at heart like the rest of us… even if like us, he’s not actually a kid.” She admits.
“Sounds like an interesting man- I think we’d get along.”
March smiles.
“You would.”
“Oh!” She exclaims. “Next is Dan Heng, the guard of the express, although to be honest, when Welt and Himeko aren’t on the job, he’s more of the group encyclopedia, heh.”
“The guard? Is he a strong fighter?”
“Yeah! Although I suppose all of us are.. Don’t worry though- violence is never our first tactic!” March sputters nervously.
Oliver laughs. “I’d hope not.”
“Me too, but it always seems to find us anyways…”
“Ditto to that, kid.”
“It’s so frustrating- but we usually have our weapons on hand, so it’s not too much trouble. I swear, Dan Heng brings that spear no matter the situation, you’d think he’d die without it.” March mutters.
“I bring my bow practically everywhere, so I don’t have room to speak.” Oliver admits.
“Honestly now that I think about it, neither do I.” March admits. “My bow is pretty special to me too, and it’s one of the first possessions I ever got.”
“Your parents gave a bow to a baby?!?” Oliver shouts, causing March to slip out of their hug slightly.
“Nonono! I was an adult, it’s just- well- Okay, when I say the Astral Express is my home, I mean it. I was floating in space, trapped in the six-phased ice I use to make my arrows from for Aeons know how long until the express found me. Himeko, Welt and Dan Heng managed to break me out of it, but I had nothing from the past left, no possessions, no memories or even a name. March 7th is the day they found me, and I’ve been traveling with them ever since.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.”
Another wave of silence cascades over them. March’s face twists in anguish, her bright eyes slowly filling with tears. Oliver offers her another hug again and she quickly accepts.
________________
Dinah, having long grown tired of the bingo night the Watchtower was holding, slips out of the meeting room, heading towards one or the more quiet areas of the station that she tends to frequent when she wants to be alone.
“Goddamnit Ollie.”