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Ava walks into the bedroom she shares with Sara and flops down onto the bed with a huff. Sara looks up from where she is sitting in front of her mirror on the floor, lowering her eyeliner away from her face.
“You okay, Aves?”
Ava turns her head toward her girlfriend. “Yeah, the mission just got messy. The team really can’t stick to a plan.”
Sara smirks. “Babe, you know the Legends work best without one.”
Ava sighs. “I know that they don’t see me as a team member, babe. I don’t know how to change that.”
Sara grins and gets up to go sit next to her girlfriend, meeting her eyes.
“You know what the perfect way to change that would be?”
Ava shakes her head.
“Gideon!” Sara jumps up. “Change of plans. Team bonding night is now Team Karaoke Night!”
Ava blanches. “Babe, I don’t sing in front of people.”
“Aw, c’mon! It’ll be so fun!”
Ava sighs. “No, really, I don’t want to sing.”
Sara throws her hands up in surrender. “Alright, but I’ll go ahead and warn you that the Legends have a song bug that goes around. You are just as susceptible to it as the rest of us.”
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Sara leads Ava by the hand into the bar. The Legends are all sitting in a large round booth in the right corner, with Mick sitting in a chair at the edge. It's facing a stage off to the left that is empty except for two mics and stands.
Nate spots them first. “Hey, Cap’n. Mrs. Captain. Y’all ready to raise the roof on this place?” Zari slaps his chest. He looks around confused. “What? Isn’t that what we’re here to do?”
They all start chuckling. Sara clears her throat. “Of course. It’s time for a good night off and some team bonding.” Ava slides into the booth next to Nora, Sara following suit. The short blonde signals the waitress for more beers.
Ray can barely contain his excitement. “Okay team! Who’s up first?”
The waitress finishes handing the new arrivals their beers as all of the team members avoid looking Ray in the eye. Just when it seems like no one will do it, Sara speaks up.
“Well, guess I’ll start us off.”
Sara kisses Ava’s hand and slides out of the booth, heading straight for the stage. She tells the DJ what she wants to sing. He nods, and she gets up on the stage. The familiar guitar rattle and tambourine beats surprise Ava. Sara winks at her and sings the first line.
Tell that Devil to take you back, take you back, take you back
Most of the team seems confused. Charlie glances over at Ava.
“What song is this?” she asks.
Ava’s smile grows. “It’s the theme song from Wynonna Earp.” She and Sara had been watching the last season again in preparation for when the new one comes out. She especially had been enthusiastic about watching it, while Sara hadn’t shown much interest other than being very quick to take the added opportunity to cuddle with Ava. The tall blonde tries to focus on her girlfriend as she sings.
Baby while I got to give, I know that ain’t no way to live
So I told that Devil to take you back, I told that Devil to take you back
The short blonde throws herself into the song, giving Ava and everyone in the bar a true performance. The Legends start cheering for their captain once the initial shock wears off.
Came around to watch me break, watch me break, watch me break
Just another soul to take, soul to take, soul to take
In true Sara fashion, she makes the whole bar feel like it falls away and leaves just them two together. Ava watches in awe, her eyes never leaving Sara even when she bows to the applauses filling the room when she finishes.
Sara walks back to the table full of the adrenaline from performing. She pulls Ava up to kiss her and convey all of her love and appreciation for her over the last few months. She leans back to end the kiss before it gets non-Legends appropriate. Ava’s eyes flutter as her brain tries to catch up with all that just occurred. They both return to their seats, Sara wrapping her arm around Ava’s waist and Ava with her hand on Sara’s thigh. The Legends take turns congratulating their captain.
“That was great, Sara!”
“Woah, Cap! Who knew you could sing?”
Ava timidly smiles. “I did.” She leans in to give Sara a sweet kiss on the cheek as the short blonde blushes.
Sara waves them off. “Yeah, yeah. Now, the real question. Who’s next?”
Nate and Ray go next with Jukebox Hero. They both take turns attempting the high notes while the other performs air guitar moves along with the melody. The bar regulars sing along and nod their heads to the beat. Zari starts recording them to ‘use as blackmail later’. Nora and Ava giggle when they both air guitar the guitar solo toward the end. Charlie whoops and hollers for them, which makes the boys exaggerate their moves more.
When they leave the stage, the whole bar claps - although the team isn’t sure if it’s in support or in relief that it’s over. Either way, the boys are eating it up.
“Yeah, we just did that. No big deal,” Nate shrugs.
Ray bumps his shoulder. “Dude look! They are clapping for us. We have a following.”
Zari rolls her eyes and scoots out of the booth after Charlie, so Ray can slide in beside Nora. She pulls Nate back with her before he can do something like offer autographs.
The night goes on like this. Charlie convinces Mick to do a duet of House of Fire with her. Each team member’s jaw drops when Mick surprises them with his enthusiasm. Even Charlie fumbles over a line when she notices how involved he is. When they finish, Mick sits back down at the table and starts drinking his beer as if nothing happened.
He finally notices their stares. “What?” He pauses. “I have a soft spot for songs about fire. They are poetry.”
That seems to satisfy the team as they go back to talking about who is singing next. As Ray and Nora are debating Ray’s musical duet choice, Gary walks in through the door.
“Hi guys! Wow, this is so cool! Karaoke night!”
Ava glances around the table and whispers, “Who invited Gary?”
Nate shrugged. “He’s an honorary member, right?” He turns away as he takes a swig from his beer with every intention of avoiding the dagger stare aimed at his head.
Sara places her hand on top of the one on her leg to soothe her. “It’s okay, babe. There’s enough room for everyone.” She leans closer to Ava’s ear before whispering, “And I’ll make all of the torment so worth it later.”
“How are you gonna manage that?”
Sara softly breathes an answer into her ear, and Ava’s face turns red. She stutters, “ Ah, yeah there’s plenty of um-room for uh-everyone. It is great that you could-uh join us, Gary.”
Gary jumps with excitement. “This is so great.” He runs up to the stage without another word and animatedly starts to explain the song and reasoning to the DJ. Once he makes it to the stage, they all listen to his rendition of Total Eclipse of the Heart. He does pretty well, earning a few lighters and phone lights from the audience. The Legends all applaud for him when he finishes. He slides into the booth next to Sara, causing her to squish closer to Ava. Not that they would usually complain, but the booth is getting very tight, very quickly.
There are a few more performances from other patrons while the Legends take a break and order more drinks. After a few songs, Nate drags Zari up to sing with him. He picks out Just Dance and starts singing and dancing. Zari just stares at him like he has lost it. He even goes behind her and moves her arms around. She finally loosens up slightly during the second chorus enough to attempt to mirror his moves. By the end of the song, they are both dancing and laughing and continue doing so on the way back to the table.
Towards the end of the night, after each Legend has gone on more than once, the only one left to participate is Ava. Sara hasn’t put any pressure on her to get on stage, but the other members had been pushing her to earlier in the night. She knows the tall blonde drank a few beers too many to dampen her nerves. When the last song call is made, Ava stands up. Sara and Gary move out of her way as she marches to the stage.
She speaks to the DJ for a few minutes. When he suggests a song that she knows, she nods and turns to the mic to sing.
Girl I must warn you, I sense something strange in my mind
Yeah situation is serious, Let’s cure it ‘cause we’re running out of time
Ava gets lost in singing the words of Poison. She hears noise from the audience and sings louder. She slings her head back with a high note, the hand not holding the mic thrown out wide. She sees Sara across the room and smiles.
What Ava doesn’t realize is that the bar patrons are packing up and heading home due to last call. Some are scattering a little quicker than others to avoid enduring the performance.
That girl is poison
Sara smiles watching Ava break loose and have fun. “That’s my girl,” she says, to no one in particular. When Ava looks at her again, the short blonde sends her encouragement with a pair of thumbs up.
Mick grumbles. “Should we tell her the bar is closed?”
“No, let her have her moment.” Sara turns to face the team. “And don’t one of you give her a hard time about this.” Zari slowly lowers her phone that had been recording the singer.
Ava sings her heart out until the final note. She walks off stage, slightly off-balance, to a round of applause from the crew. Sara manages to catch her just as she trips a few steps from the booth.
“Babe...I was...so-so…”
Sara’s face focuses on Ava’s speech, struggling to hear every word due to all the alcohol her girlfriend consumed.
“I know babe, I know. You were…”
“Amazing!” Ava jolts and almost falls out of Sara’s grasp. The short blonde repositions herself to wrap Ava’s arm around her shoulders.
“Yeah, babe. You totally were.” Sara smiles adoringly at her girlfriend.
“Yep, totally. I’m sure the bar will be sad to see us go.” Nate pats the back of the booth, and all of the Legends make their way to the door to head back to their ship.
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Sara gets Ava settled in their room. When she thinks the tall blonde has finally dozed off, Ava surprises her by mumbling.
“Sara?”
The short blonde leans in closer to listen. “Yes, Aves?”
“I love you. Thank you for karaoke night.”
“You’re welcome, beautiful.”
There is a moment of quiet before Ava continues.
“Babe?”
“Hm?”
“Do you think I can sing for you? Just us two sometime?”
Sara grins. “Yes, baby. I would love that.”
Her girlfriend smiles. After a few moments her facial expression relaxes as she drifts off to sleep. The short blonde gazes at her in awe. If there is one thing she has learned, it’s that Ava never ceases to amaze her. And Sara will always treasure that. She hopes that never changes.