Archive of Our Own

For all her talk of being tired of “the punching”, as they settle in Central City, Nyssa finds work teaching self-defense. She is wonderful at it, of course, though she does have to alter her methods a little.

Sara is in the process of training Zari to be her replacement on the Waverider, although “two weeks notice” is hard to calculate in time travel. She comes home to their apartment in Central City, though, and she’s promised to be done as soon as she can.

They picked Central City because, frankly, “Star” City seems like a bit of a shitshow these days. And Sara’s mom is here. There are metas taking care of most of the vigilantism, so Sara won’t be tempted into anything too dangerous. She has someone she’s made promises to, after all, and she has to keep herself safe.

Plus, Jax is here, and Sara does have a little inside information around that.

She had dinner with Jax tonight. He’s almost done with his bachelor’s, just accepted for a master’s. Sara is very proud of her little brother by choice. But unlike him, she has absolutely no idea what she is going to do once she is done traveling through time.

Sara shoves her hands into the pockets of her jacket and rounds the corner. Apparently, Uber is the thing now, but Sara likes to walk when she can. Maybe she’ll get a motorcycle. That would be nice.

She’s really only done this “normal life” thing once before, working retail in Star City and being absolutely miserable. That wasn’t by choice, really, so she didn’t make any long term plans. Here she is, some age over thirty (she really has no idea) with no degree and a resume that reads:

• Bartender
• Unethical medical research assistant
• League Assassin
• Vigilante
• League Assassin
• Dead
• Time Ship Captain
• Sink, Shower, and Things employee (left on bad terms)
• Time Ship Captain (retiring)

What the hell can she do with that? Bartending is about it, and that… well, it’s an option, but it’s not exactly a career, and normal people her age are allegedly supposed to have careers.

Jax mentioned finishing her degree over Thai tonight. But Sara kinda hated being in a classroom even before she had so many lifetimes of experience behind her. She’s not excited about the prospect of doing it again.

So, she’s limited to “no degree necessary” and “does not make her want to stab her boss”.

Hasn’t solved that equation yet.

The lights are still on at the “dojo” where Nyssa teaches, and Sara sees her in serious conversation with a solemn kindergartener.

Most of the classes Nyssa teaches are for adults, mostly women, but the owner had two kids’ classes that needed coverage. Nyssa is kinda amazing at it.

(She’d quipped that if she could teach Sara, she could teach any child. In fact, most were less distractible.)

The child, in her tiny gi, nods once at what Nyssa says and then, pretty flawlessly, executes a series of kicks and punches. Nyssa gives a small smile and says something. The girl just beams.

Nyssa bows slightly (she is still learning the performative side of formal martial arts training), and the child snaps to attention and folds in half. Nyssa nods and directs towards her parents. Sara grins as the kid waves dramatically and then heads off with Mom and Dad.

Sara passes them in the doorway and tries not to think about 2023 Jax. “I’m not the only one with a wife and daughter…”

Tries not to think about Nyssa’s babies.

She’s wrapping up her time travel days. She wants to make her own decisions, not follow some prescribed plan.

Nyssa is putting away some very tiny headgear, and Sara watches her with a smile. She’s so beautiful, and she’s hers. Her heart has loved her for a decade, but so much of it has been from afar. She’s still readjusting to loving her up close again.

“Hey,” Sara greets her. “You eat yet?”

Nyssa shakes her head. Sara wants to go kiss her, but Nyssa doesn’t like PDA at work.

“C’mon. Let’s get you something,” Sara gestures with her chin for the door.

“You’ve already eaten,” Nyssa objects, grabbing her coat and the keys from behind the front desk. She does not teach in a gi, instead choosing some form-fitting athleisure wear that Sara certainly appreciates. She’s seen some of the parents and adult students appreciate it, too.

“Yeah, but you haven’t, and it’s late. I’ll keep you company.”

Nyssa gives her a soft grin.

“Very well.”

Sara holds the door open for Nyssa, who follows close behind.

“I could find something to eat at home,” Nyssa insists half-heartedly, having already given in, as she locks up.

“Of course you could,” Sara shrugs. “But that would make it even later, and neither of us are very good at keeping a stocked pantry yet.”

Nanda Parbat had communal meals, safehouses had staples, the Waverider had replicators. Besides those places, neither of them has really stayed put long enough to develop the skill.

Nyssa nods thoughtfully, and Sara knocks her shoulder with her own, getting a grin in response.

“Barring aberrations, we can go grocery shopping tomorrow,” Sara says. “Before your class.”

“I’d like that,” Nyssa says. “For the basics, at least. It is hard to plan meals with you in and out.”

“I know,” Sara frowns. The apartment is a few blocks south, and they head in that direction. There’s a sandwich place halfway home that they both like, so that is their likely destination. “As long as there are no disasters on our next mission, it’ll be my last. I mean, I know Zari can handle whatever, but since we have the luxury of a handoff, rather than throwing her in the deep end, I wanna take advantage of it.”

“I understand,” Nyssa says honestly. “I was not complaining so much as indicating a limitation.”

Sara grins at her as they wait at a cross walk.

“You’ll be sick of me soon enough, once I’m officially retired.”

Nyssa tsks and threads her fingers through hers.

“Not possible.”

***

“Captain,” Gideon says, interrupting the revelry on the bridge. “Captain Lance,” she clarified. “Incoming call from Director Sharpe.”

The party loses a bit of its steam, as everyone looks to Sara.

“Put her on,” Sara says. She isn’t worried; Ava has been nothing but professional (and she means nothing since she, y’know, ended things and announced her retirement to go live a normal life with her ex, all within a week. But the team senses awkwardness and begins creeping towards the door, Charlie swiping the booze first.

“You can all stay,” is the first thing Ava says.

Everyone freezes.

“Gideon just reported that Captain Lance has completed her final mission and officially turned command over to Captain Tomaz. On behalf of the time bureau, I wanted to thank Captain Lance for her service to the timeline, and congratulate Captain Tomaz on her promotion.”

The camera reveals a packed Time Bureau HQ behind her, applauding. Gary is sobbing.

“Thank you, Ava,” Sara says genuinely, and Ava gives her a small smile and nod in return.

Beside Sara, Zari gives an uncomfortable “thank you” as well. Command suits her, but not the attention. She’ll get used to it.

“Gideon says you’ll be headed straight to Central City, so we’ll forgo the retirement cake here,” Ava continues. Gary sobs harder. “Good luck, Sara.”

Sara nods, and the connection blinks out.

“That was only mostly awkward,” Mick crawls, snatching the bottle back from Charlie.

Sara sighs and just says: “Alright, alright! Back to the party!”

***

Saying goodbye to her crew was hard, really hard. But it really pales in comparison to doing absolutely nothing all day for a week. Jax is in finals mode, and so is her mom. Nyssa is working most of the day. And Sara is trying to make a relatively clean break from the team and not call the ship every five minutes to undermine Zari.

So it’s just her, and Google, and daytime television. She done so many pushups she has literally lost count.

But she truly has no idea what to do with herself.

“Maybe I should just go get a bartending job,” Sara says to Nyssa over dinner on Day 8.

“You know we don’t need the money,” Nyssa says. “It is not a true fortune, but I’ve salvaged enough of my father’s wealth that, paired with my income, we shall get by.”

“I am not a good enough at cooking or cleaning to be a house spouse. And I don’t want to mooch off you.”

Nyssa ignores the spouse and says: “I simply mean that you may take your time and find something you enjoy. Besides, ‘mooching’ off of me has never bothered you before.”

They speak mostly Arabic at home. It is cozy and familiar. It also makes the English ‘mooching’ sound downright silly when repeated in close proximity.

“That was different,” Sara insists. True, she lived a better lifestyle than most League assassins due to her relationship with Nyssa, but at least she had something to occupy her time then. “And I might go crazy if all I do all day is the crossword and wait for you to get home. But bartending hours suck, and I wouldn’t see you enough. And I will stab someone if I have to work retail again.”

“I am not keen to visit you in prison,” Nyssa notes with a frown.

“But I want to contribute,” Sara says. “I want to put down roots and make this real.”

Nyssa reaches across their little table and takes her hands.

“It is real, as long as you’re here,” she says. “We don’t have to rush anything.”

Sara sighs and squeezes her hand.

“I know. It is probably my pride, too. I don’t take orders well, you know.”

Nyssa laughs warmly, and her eyes twinkle.

“I’ve never known that to be the case.”

Sara grins and climbs out of her chair and into Nyssa’s lap.

“You’re different.”

“Mm. I suppose you do have a tendency towards insubordination.”

“Little bit.”

“Well, you’ve told me two very important things: you want to keep busy, and you want to find something like a career.”

“Yeah. I’m an adult. The problem is, I have no idea what I’d do for a ‘career’.”

“You do not have to in order to achieve the former. Find something that keeps you busy, while you learn more about what you’d want to do.”

“Huh.”

“Yes, I know. I am very wise.”

Sara rolls her eyes.

“Fine, I’ll do the first non-retail, non-bartending thing I can think of in the morning.”

“Good. And perhaps a call to the only person we know to consistently have a ‘career’ may be in order?”

“Oh, right. Felicity,” Sara laughs. She kisses Nyssa warmly. “You are very wise.”

Nyssa chuckles, and Sara feels it through her entire body. This solving problems together thing is really helpful.

***

Sara ends up getting that motorcycle (after promising to always wear her helmet) and starts delivering food all over Central City. It’s a good way to learn the city and its rhythms, and it lets her build her own schedule and maximize her time with Nyssa. If she ever feels a little restless, it also provides many opportunities for low level vigilantism. (If she spots anything big, she just calls Barry and Co. She and Iris are now coffee buddies.)

She has lunch with Nyssa most days, though once a week with her mom and once a week with Jax. They have gone on several double dates with Jax and his new girlfriend. Jax likes Nyssa, a lot. Sara breathes a sigh of relief. Next week they are all having brunch with the Steins.

Sara’s mom is having a little more trouble adjusting to the new normal of it all. Not so much the Nyssa part – time and explanations have gone a long way towards smoothing that – but believing that having Sara so close, living such an average life, is in any way permanent.

But Sara truly does intend for it to be. She sees Nyssa blossoming under the gentle routine of it all, the acceptance and community of it. Barry’s taken to inviting Nyssa out for drinks to talk out Team Leader problems. Once they moved past Nyssa’s initial advice of “kill them all and train replacements”, it seems to be going well. Iris and Caitlyn joined one of Nyssa’s weeknight ladies only classes mostly for the fun of it.

Sara does miss her team, of course. They’re a family, and she doesn’t like knowing they’re in danger without her. But she doesn’t miss the work, the costumes, the stress. Last week she went ten whole days without wanting to blast anyone into the time stream. (And then a dudebro bitched about his food being two minutes late in the middle of a Flash-related disaster, and her streak snapped.)

This new normal is so good that it is actually three months before she remembers to call Felicity.

***

Felicity, after squealing for two straight minutes about her and Nyssa, gets her a job in the security department of Smoak Tech’s Central City office. Pretty high up, too. She’s not watching doors or video monitors, but protecting execs and rooting out corporate espionage. She even has a team she runs. She’s not sure it’s a career, per se, but it beats food delivery.

And now she has a standing lunch with the damn CEO every two weeks. It certainly helps with the transition: her bosses are constantly sucking up.

It’s not the same as running her little family on the Waverider, but in good ways as well as sad ones. It’s so much less stressful, and within a couple months, she finds she likes the predictability of it. She gets up and has breakfast every morning with Nyssa, goes to work, and then meets Nyssa at the dojo or heads home, depending on the class schedule.

Nyssa truly is thriving on the normalcy of it all, which makes the petty bureaucratic shit Sara sometimes has to deal with completely worth it. Nyssa is friendly with a couple other teachers and has taken to Jax beautifully. The two even grab lunch or a drink together every few weeks, since their schedules are more flexible than Sara’s. Both Nyssa and Sara adore Jax’s now quite serious girlfriend Shonda, and they have dinner parties like normal people. It is all often pretty disorienting for Sara.

Nyssa is easily the dojo’s favorite teacher: her classes have waiting lists and the reviews are fawning. Dinner conversation has started to circle the idea of starting her own self-defense school with the money currently (slowly) accumulating in their savings account.

(Yeah, they have one of those. Sara even has a 401K and health insurance through work like a goddamn adult. And dental! Sara Lance has fucking dental insurance.)

When Sara feels boredom and restlessness creeping in, she and Nyssa play hooky from work, pack a lunch, and take the bike out as far as they like. The wind in her hair, Nyssa’s arms around her waist, they chase the wanderlust away.

And just like that, a year’s passed.

It’s the longest Sara has lived anywhere since high school without the strictures of League life, and even that involved a lot of travel. It’s exactly what Sara “retired” for, that simple life, but she still wakes up in awe some days that they are actually doing it, and doing it pretty damn well.

***

“So, do you have any plans to get married?”

Sara chokes on her coffee. Her mother just sips her mug smugly. She probably waited just to get that exact reaction. Weirdly, it’s not the first time marriage has come up this week: Jax is ring shopping for Shonda, so she gets constant anxiety texts.

“I, um,” Sara stammers. “I don’t know if we’re wedding people.”

“I didn’t ask if you were having a wedding; I asked if you were going to get married,” Dinah says insistently.

“Mo-om.”

Sara came over for breakfast, not to be interrogated. She looks at her watch to see how long ‘til Nyssa’s Saturday morning class is over.

“What?! I’m allowed to ask, aren’t I?”

“Sure. We haven’t talked about it. We’re happy the way we are.”

She has thought about it. It’s not necessary or anything, but she thinks it would be nice. Maybe that’s silly, but here she is. She’s just never talked to Nyssa about it. Or about the babies she’s been dreaming about. She’s certainly intended to talk to Nyssa about it. It’s just… Everything’s been perfect. She doesn’t wanna rock the boat.

“Well, here is my maternal seal of approval, if it does come up,” her mom says, gesturing magnanimously.

Sara grins at her. That does mean a lot, given… everything.

“I haven’t seen you this happy, this at peace, since you were tiny, Sara. It’s certainly been a wild ride, so it warms my heart to see it. And I know she is a big part of that. So… marry that woman, okay? If you’d like. All I ask is you invite me.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

It’s mushy for them. Quentin and Laurel were way better at this stuff. But they’re muddling through.

Dinah nods, and Sara changes the subject.

“How’s that masters seminar going?”

Dinah throws up her hands. “Dear god. They’re the most neurotic bunch I’ve ever met!”

***

“Did I tell you about Jax and Shonda?”

“You did,” Nyssa says, bemused. “Three times now.”

Sara grimaces. Right. She’s been bringing that up a lot.

“He must know she’ll say yes. I’m told that is the only wise way to propose.”

She’s told? Who’s she been talking to?

“Yeah, they’ve talked about it a little. He’s got that big job lined up after graduation.”

Sara nurses her beer on their little balcony, the cool night air giving her the tiniest shiver. Nyssa is watching her every movement.

“Habibti?”

“Yeah?” Sara asks absently.

“Would you like to get married?”

Sara chokes on her drink for the second time today. That’s really starting to burn.

“I must presume that is the root of your odd behavior all week.”

“What- what if I had wanted to propose?” Sara stammers.

Nyssa honest-to-god shrugs. “We have not discussed marriage yet; it would be inadvisable for you to do so.”

“Nyssa!” Sara objects. She’s pretty sure her cheeks are pink.

Nyssa swallows a grin.

“I apologize. If you prefer, I will forget this conversation and wait to be surprised.”

Sara lets out a loud laugh. God, she loves this woman. She sighs.

“You can’t wait to be surprised. I take it this means you want to get married?”

“I am not opposed.”

“Romantic!” Sara teases.

“It is not necessary. It is simply a legal ritual to confirm something we already know to be true.”

Sara beams at her.

“In addition, I would greatly appreciate the access to your health insurance.”

Sara smacks her arm.

“Okay, yes, fine. I do want to get married,” Sara admits.

“Very well.”

Sara laughs again.

“I don’t want anything big. My mom. Jax and Shonda. Maybe Felicity. But I also don’t wanna rain on Jax’s parade – I’ll check with him before we plan anything.”

“That sounds acceptable.”

“You’re the most romantic, babe,” Sara echoes with a grin. “Want a ring and a proposal?”

“Unnecessary, though Bethany will be disappointed. She’s been insisting you were days from proposing for weeks now.”

Right. Bethany. Nyssa’s bubbly young assistant teacher.

“Oh!” Sara says. “My team! If we can track them down, I’d love to have them there.”

“Of course. I’d like to extend an invitation to Thea and Roy.”

Sara grins again. She loves Nyssa’s bond with her tiny little sidekicks.

“Yeah, of course.”

Nyssa smiles at her. Sara extends her bottle to clink against Nyssa’s wine glass.

“I guess we’re getting married then.”

“Mhmm.”

“Remind me to text my mom later.”

Nyssa laughs. “Why later?”

“There’s only one proper way to celebrate an engagement. Two, actually, but I feel like milkshakes are better after rigorous physical activity.”

Sara downs her beer, pulls Nyssa to her feet, and gets ready to celebrate.

***

fin