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Sara pushed the taller woman away as she chuckled. “If you’re late, Director Sharpe, Mona will give you so much crap.”
Ava took three steps backwards. “You’re sure you don’t want to join me?” As she spoke Ava held the latest book Mona had selected for them to read. She bit her lip as her brows lifted in encouragement.
“Go on.” She smiled and nodded towards her gym bag on the floor. “I need to get a good workout in. I’ll catch up with you later tonight.”
Sighing Ava leaned in and gave Sara a quick peck on the cheek. “Alright, but you do realize that we really just drink wine and listen to Mona talk about the books, right?”
“I know, babe. I just really need to spend some time working off some stress tonight.” Ava lingered in the doorway for a moment. “I’ll see you tonight, I’ll make dinner.”
Ava held her arms up and backed out of the door. “I’m not going to argue with that. Have a great work out.”
As soon as the front door closed Sara walked into the kitchen to fill her water bottle. When she turned the faucet on, Sara heard the front door open and close again. She cocked her head slightly and listened to the footfalls in the entry. She smiled and didn’t bother turning around. “What’d you forget, Aves?” She twisted the lid onto the bottle and spun around to make her way back to the hall.
She didn’t get an answer as she bent over and grabbed her gym bag. She glanced over her shoulder towards the front door. A figure that was clearly Ava stood partially concealed by a shadow. Something felt off and Sara’s gut twisted as she studied ‘Ava’ more closely. Her Ava had left the house in jeans and a snug fitting blue sweater. This Ava was clearly wearing a Time Bureau suit.
Sara frowned and retrieved her escrima sticks from the bag. Standing up she spun the sticks and leveled her eyes at Ava. “Step into the light.” Her tone made it clear that it was an order and not a request.
The figure didn’t make a move to surrender, she simply moved forward into the light. Sara tightened her grip on the sticks and mentally prepared for a fight against something that at least held her girlfriends face. Her mind was racing trying to figure out who would even know about the Ava clones to send one against her.
The light stretched across Ava’s features and the first thing that stood out to Sara were her eyes. She had expected a dull and distant steel blue stare, but instead they were filled with so many emotions. Sara didn’t take time to analyze any further, this was definitely her Ava. Dropping the sticks, she rushed over and grabbed Ava’s shoulders as soon as she was within range. “What happened?”
Sara saw her eyes filling with tears as Ava looked at her hands against her shoulders in what felt like awed relief. Now that she was fully in the light Sara noticed that the suit wasn’t Ava's typical pressed and arranged in her perfect standard. The jacket was wrinkled and held streaks of dirt. What would be a normally starched and pristine shirt was half untucked and dirty as well. There were distinct dark stains on the knees and shins of her pants.
Trembling hands gently brushed against her cheeks causing Sara to look up just as Ava’s mouth opened. A sudden realization struck her and Sara pressed two fingers to her lips halting what she was about to say. “Don’t.” Sara closed her eyes and shook her head. “You know you can’t.” Sara opened her eyes in time to see Ava close her mouth. Sara could see the muscles in her jaw clenching. Sara exhaled as her own vision blurred, seeing Ava in so much pain was killing her inside. “Baby, you can’t. You shouldn’t be here.”
As the first tear escaped from Ava’s eyes Sara quickly moved her fingers from her lips to catch it. “I know.” Stepping further into her space Ava tilted forward to rest her forehead against Sara’s. “I know.” She sighed and Sara could feel the warmth of her breath against her cheek. “I just needed-”
“Shhh.” Sara grabbed the lapels of Ava’s jacket and pulled her into a gentle kiss. “You’re okay.” Sara moved to Ava’s cheek and placed a kiss there. “You’re strong.” She pressed her lips to Ava’s neck. “You’re going to do great things.”
Sara felt a shudder run through Ava’s body. “I don’t think I can.”
She ran her hands down Ava’s arms. “You can and you will.”
Ava sniffled as more tears slipped down her cheeks. “I just love you so much and I don’t know what to do now.”
“I love you too.” She tried to brush Ava’s tears away as best as she could, and sighed. “But you can’t do this. You can’t put yourself through this. You need to let go.”
Ava shifted her weight and shook her head. “I don’t want to.”
Sara reached into the inside pocket of Ava’s jacket. “Aves, this isn’t what I want for you.” She pulled out the mind wiper and pressed it into Ava’s palm. “Please, go take care of yourself and our team.”
Ava sucked in a breath and looked Sara in the eye. She used her time courier to open a portal first. “I miss you so fucking much.” As she spoke Ava held up the device Sara had pressed into her hand.
Sara offered her a smile and pressed the palm of her hand to Ava’s chest, over her heart. “I’ll always be with you.”
There was a flash...
Sara bent over to pick up her escrima sticks and shoved them into her bag. She glanced at the clock on the wall to gauge how much time she would be able to spend at the gym before coming home to start prepping dinner. She had time. She had plenty of time left.