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“Sara?”
“Hmm?”
“I thought your training in the League included orienteering.”
“It did.”
“And… did you by any chance not complete the training? It’s been two hours since you said we were almost there. I think we should have followed the brook instead of—”
“If I had anything but excelled at every assassin trial, we wouldn’t be having this conversation now, ‘cause I’d have been mercilessly beaten and stabbed to death by the Heir to the Demon himself, as an example of what not to do,” Sara replied, squinting her eyes with her forefinger pointed at Ava, a clear indication that she was getting into troublesome waters.
“Then how do you explain the fact that we’re so very lost, my love?” Ava ventured, unable to hide a smug expression.
“We’re not lost. We’re merely enjoying a nice hike in the wilderness.”
Ava reached Sara in two long strides and, giving her a quick peck on the cheek, she took her hand and said with a mischievous smile, “Just admit it. There’s nothing to be ashamed of. You must have got distracted by the view. After all, you’ve been checking me out all day.”
Sara gave her a lopsided smile, paired with her usual mysterious, fairy-like look that revealed everything and nothing at the same time. That look did things to Ava, more than she’d ever admit, even to herself.
But Sara knew. Damn, she did know.
“Distracted, huh?” Sara turned to face her and, moving closer, she let her free hand slide up Ava’s arm and along the curve of her neck until it got lost in silky waves of hair. Then, she brought their lips close together — so damn close — and whispered in a hoarse voice: “I could do with some distraction, if you want to.” The next second Sara was kissing her and Ava was being pushed against a tree that had come out of nowhere. The kiss was slow and deep; the kind that inevitably leads to something more; wet.
So wet, Ava thought. Sara’s tongue caressed her lips before venturing further, always unhurried, always tempting then moving away, leaving Ava yearning for more and making her lose control, a little at a time.
Ava swallowed after she broke the kiss, trying to hide the fact that she was already breathless. She knew that no matter what her better judgement was telling her, she’d give in the second Sara made another move, even if it meant ending up from half to fully naked in a less than appropriate location where, although unlikely, they could be spotted.
She knew Sara wouldn’t mind that much if they were caught in the middle of doing it; fuck, she might even enjoy it a little. But Ava would be absolutely mortified, and Sara would make fun of her for the rest of their lives and Ava was too proud to be subjected to that level of embarrassment.
However, her problem at present was a different kind of flushing. She could feel a warm throbbing right under her belly and, noticing that, she realized how her own hand had betrayed her and found its way to Sara’s butt of its own accord in an attempt to pull the other woman closer towards her. Sara had helped too, making sure their legs ended up intertwined, which provided some sweet torturing pressure on the right spots. She was trapped.
As if the skies were on her side, some dark clouds threatening rain were gliding towards them from the horizon at a fast pace.
“I think there’s going to be a storm soon,” she finally managed to mutter in a voice too quivery for her own liking.
Sara disentangled herself from the embrace with a sigh of disappointment and turned around to what was causing Ava to frown. “Yeah. This sticky sweltering heat always ends up in a storm. Maybe we should really go back to the camp. I bet we can see the grounds from up there.”
Ava looked towards the rocky peak Sara was staring at. Although she was pretty sure they had to go south until they reached the brook and then follow it to their destination, she estimated it shouldn’t take them long to reach the top and she wanted to make sure she got it right before heading back. Besides. Who knew? Perhaps they could see a faster route from up high and get to the camp before it started pouring with rain.
They both kept walking at a good pace. Ava let herself be guided, hand in hand, and took advantage of the quiet ascent to the top to gaze at Sara closely. She knew that her girlfriend hadn’t slept much the night prior, but she did not seem tired or worried at all. It was rather the opposite. Perhaps, she thought, the reason why she was so cheerful was that the two weeks they had spent as counselors at the summer camp had gone unexpectedly smoothly and Sara had somehow managed to get permission to stay for a few more days of peace and quiet in the facilities and enjoy their surroundings now that the kids had finally returned home.
When they reached the top, Sara turned to face Ava and gave her the smile she saved only for her.
Speechless, Ava shivered in spite of the warm temperature, paralyzed by a feeling of pure contentment she knew she should be used to by now, but that still managed to keep her an instant from breathing, like time had stopped for them; a feeling that still managed to make her chest tighten and her eyes light up.
When she spoke, she did so under her breath, knowing her face showed anything but fear or uncertainty. “Sometimes it scares me how much power you have over me.”
Sara didn’t reply, but gave Ava an inquiring look.
Ava just shook her head smiling to herself and let Sara pull her towards her, then softly rest her head on her shoulder.
Both women gazed at the vastness beneath them. To her annoyance, Ava noticed that they were ever further away than she had expected. The camp was nowhere to be seen, but she recognized the hills that stood a few miles ahead of them. Once they got there it should only take them another twenty minutes or so.
“We can double back if you want to,” she said without much conviction in her voice, “but I’m positive we can save a lot of time if we head that way. See?” Ava added pointing at some spot in the distance. “There’s the mount where the capture the flag thing took place.”
“Yeah. Let’s do that. There’s no way we’re going to be able to avoid the storm now, so the sooner we get back, the better.”
It didn’t take long until it began to rain. Only a few thick drops at first that soon turned into a downpour that had them soaking wet in a matter of minutes accompanied by a parade of light and thunder getting closer. It was as if nightfall had arrived several hours earlier.
For the first time, Ava became worried they wouldn’t be able to actually find their way back and they would have to spend the night alone in the forest. She was great at combat, but nature was a complete mystery to her. She had to admit it was sublime, but also equally terrifying. Then she remembered who she was with, and almost chuckled at her own doubts. Sara is a survival expert. We’ll be fine .
Pulling Sara with her, Ava hurried her steps, until they were almost jogging. Eventually, Ava had to let go of Sara’s hand reluctantly when she realized the gesture was tremendously impractical and it was only slowing them down. Still, she couldn’t help but look back every few yards, as overpowering fears from the past haunted her, afraid that Sara would have disappeared again all of a sudden right under her nose.
As soon as they got to the first valley, they came across a small stream that babbled happily with the new addition of water. They didn’t stop to remove their hiking boots and simply searched for the shallowest part to cross. Lightning struck again when they were halfway through, closer than before. The sound boomed all around them and before they realized what was going on, something leaped right behind them from amidst some bushes.
Before Ava could see who or what it was, she found herself yelling Sara’s name and surging forwards, trying to get in the way between the attacker and Sara. Her foot slipped on the pebbles and she ended up with her hands and a knee in the water. The intruder hopped again in a different direction and it disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.
She didn’t try to get up at first, paralyzed by the shock. “Are you alright?” Sara asked after recovering from her own scare, offering Ava a hand. Ava nodded, prompting Sara to give her a smug smile. “That doe cannot say the same. Your screams have most likely scared her for life.”
Ava felt the sore loser in her kick in. She rolled her eyes at Sara and rejected the hand she had almost grabbed, only to slip again when she tried to stand up and fall flat on her ass this time. She didn’t even try to stand up or look at Sara and accept the help she knew she would be offering. Sara knew her and hadn’t said anything. Yet. Damn. But she could hear her laugh in her head. Ava gracelessly dragged herself across the few yards that remained and sat on a dirty rock using her hands and feet, defeated. She took a deep breath before she dared look up at Sara.
Sara hadn’t moved. There was amusement in her eyes, but also worry and for some reason a hint of lust that made Ava’s body temperature rise. That eternal lust, always pervading the way Sara looked at her, but that paled before the pure adoration emanating from her eyes. There was a certain paradox in the way that feeling gave Ava wings while at the same time it grounded her.
She exhaled slowly as she came to terms with what she was feeling. Mere seconds ago she feared for Sara’s life. But didn’t she already live in constant dread of something happening to her? How could one get used to it while living on board the Waverider? Her heart was still thundering in her ears, but now she could put a name to the horrendous sensation and let go of it. Temporarily at least.
Ava took the hand Sara was offering this time, but instead of getting up, she pulled Sara down onto her lap.
“That’s my girl.” Sara muttered with a wink. “And thanks. It’s good to know I’m safe in your hands... as long as there aren’t any slippery surfaces around, that is.”
“Jerk. You’re on your own next time.”
“Oh no, babe. I promise I won’t make fun of you next time you try to fight Bambi.”
“Wild animals are not the problem.”
Something in her voice made Sara frown and scrutinize her girlfriend’s face. After a few seconds her look softened even more. She brought her forehead to Ava’s and rubbed their noses together. “You OK?”
Ava pursed her lips and nodded, contradicting her facial expression.
“Zombies?”
Ava nodded again. A few teardrops found their way through her wide-shut eyes.
Sara kissed her brow and then the trail of tears. “We have an awesome team. The best. I know we’ve lost people, but we’ve gotten really good at fighting for each other, at surviving. Plus, the chances of us having to deal with zombies ever again...”
“I know you’re right. It’s just… It’s hard to let go of some things, you know? Watching you die...”
“Hey. We’ve found our way back to each other every time. And I know I’ll always be safe as long as I’m with you. We’re freaking unstoppable together, babe.”
“We’re pretty awesome, aren’t we?”
Sara stared into her eyes intensely again. “You are a goddess.”
“That’s an overstatement if I ever heard one. C’mon now. Let’s get a move on before we drown or freeze to death.”
The women resumed their laborious hike, surprisingly still in good spirits. The physical activity prevented them from getting cold and they ended up half singing half humming road trip songs, sometimes filling the blanks in their memories with made-up lyrics.
“Look. There’s a cabin up ahead!” Ava exclaimed. “There should be a road nearby, or maybe, if we’re lucky, even someone who can give us a ride.”
Her hopes dissipated as soon as they approached the building. It appeared to be completely deserted. The shutters were closed and there was no sign that anyone was inside, although the place seemed well taken care of.
They got onto the porch that ran across almost all the front and rested their backs against the wall, escaping from the rain. Ava watched as Sara walked towards the door and knocked on it, then shouted a hopeful “Hello?” There was no answer, so Sara announced she was going to check the back. Ava didn’t think she had the energy to protest, so, she just replied “Scream if you need me to defend you from a deer, my dear.”
Sara snorted and disappeared around the corner after blowing a kiss in her direction. A couple minutes went by uneventfully during which Ava felt tiredness catching up with her. Then she heard it.
“The door’s unlocked. You can come in.”
Sara’s voice reached Ava from inside the cabin, muffled by the wind and the rain. It made her wonder if maybe Sara had needed to repeat the message a couple of times before she could make herself heard. Ava started calculating if the possible consequences of being charged with breaking and entering would be worse than walking for who knows how much longer in the rain. Suddenly something clicked in her mind and she realized there was something bothering her, a buzz telling her something was off, although she couldn’t pinpoint what.
The minute she laid her hand on the door handle, she understood what was bugging her. Why hadn’t Sara opened the door herself? All the dangerous situations they had endured over the years, all her thorough research on serial killers, all the horror movies that she had seen with Sara hit her at once. She somehow knew there was going to be a psycho, an alien, a monster, a demon or whatever evil creature one could think of behind that door, wanting to hurt her girl. She considered for a moment that it would be wiser to go round the cabin and not to use the front door like she was about to, that she could take the assailants by surprise, but there was no way in hell she was going to waste precious time if someone was about to hurt Sara, if someone was trying to take her away from her again.
She opened the door in a swift move, holding her breath. Her eyes scanned the room until they found Sara, agitated, but apparently unharmed. There were a number of things that were clearly wrong, but none of them matched her previous fears. She walked in and closed the door behind her, puzzled. It still took her a few seconds to put the pieces together.
Then she finally got it. Part of it at least.
“I should have known an assassin would never get lost,” she huffed, half amused but quite shaken still.
Sara didn’t say a word but offered her a soft smile. She was in the middle of a candlelit sitting room, her damp hair framing her face making her look even more gorgeous than usual. There was something else in her expression that made her appear incredibly vulnerable and rushed Ava towards her, worried.
“Sara, is everything—?” She stopped mid-sentence, the hand that was reaching to cup Sara’s face frozen mid-air. Ava read everything in her eyes and the realization of what was about to happen made her knees fail her. She reached for the couch, but she remembered her clothes were all wet and covered in mud so she stumbled and ended up kneeling on the floor, resting on her heels. Sara fell on her knees in front of her and took her hand.
“You say I have power over you? Do you know the effect your presence, your love has over me? Babe, it was you who saved me from myself, from my own darkness, from drowning in my past. It is your passion that everyday makes me feel like I deserve to live, that turns everything you do into the most beautiful poetry. Ava, you’re my soulmate, my home. You and only you have absolute power over me. And I trust you with it. Do you trust me?”
Ava nodded. “With my life.”
“That power is yours forever if you want it.”
Ava knew no words would come out of her mouth even if she tried, so she simply nodded again while the first tears that had been welling up in the corner of her eyes started running down her cheeks.
“Will you be my wife?”
“I don’t understand. How—?” Ava began. Sara arched an eyebrow, inquiring, with the most adorable pout Ava had ever seen. It was enough to bring her out of her reverie and bring their lips together. “Yes. Yes, I will. Of course I will. As if you needed me to say it out loud,” Ava whispered between kisses.
Ava saw Sara let out an exhalation of relief and noticed for the first time the slightest tremor in her hands, now resting on Ava’s thighs.
“Aw. Did you really think there was any chance I was going to say “no”?” she said, cupping Sara’s face while holding her gaze, hit by a new wave of affection. “Don’t you know you’re my everything?”
“I was almost sure. Gideon said the probability of you saying yes was ninety-seven per cent.”
“Ninety-seven?”
“I know, right? I thought more like ninety-two, ninety-three percent tops.”
“More like a hundred, dummy. There was absolutely no chance that I would say ‘no’. Although maybe the other three percent would be me getting a heart attack from the shock.”
“God, I was so nervous thinking something was going to go wrong… Then there was the rain. I didn’t account for it. And I thought you were going to want to go back sooner and I’d have to ruin the surprise and tell you about the cabin...”
“Yeah. About that. I— I was the one who brought us here. How did you know we’d end up in this very spot?”
“Oh, but was it really you?” Sara asked cheekily. “I just had to make sure the cabin was on the fastest way back to the camp when you took the lead and hope that you would know how to go back.”
“And when did you have the time to prepare all of this? And the candles? You can’t have lit them. You were gone for like a minute.”
“Nate volunteered. He said he and Ray needed some bro time anyway. They let me in and portaled out.”
“Do they all know about this?”
“I wasn’t going to tell them. You know how invested they can get. But Zari is a sneaky smartass and she found out, and she told Behrad, who told Nate, who told everyone else including me.”
Ava laughed heartily. “We should probably call them at some point to confirm what they probably already know, don’t you think?”
“Let them suffer for a bit. They have been really helpful, but I have other plans for us now, my future wife.”
“I like how that sounds.”
“The plan or the wife thing?” Sara asked with a wink.
Ava sighed, fruitlessly fighting back the thick tears that threatened to break loose again and ruin the moment. She brushed them with the back of her hand, leaving a muddy trail on her cheek which only added to her frustration when she realized what she had done.
Smiling fondly, Sara wiped the mud off with her thumb and laid lingering kisses all over Ava’s face, soothing, until she opened her eyes again and met her look of understanding. “C’mon babe. Married or not, you already knew, you know I’m yours. This can’t have been such a shock.”
“I did know we are committed to each other no matter what, but I didn’t think you’d ever want to get married. And I was okay with that. That’s why this all seems so... sudden. I didn’t know how much I wanted this.”
“God, I’ve been so nervous about this for so long, it’s a miracle you didn’t find out. I thought you would find out. You always know. And I really wanted this to be a surprise. Especially after your not-that-much-of-a-surprise birthday party last year. So you really had no idea?”
“I was clueless. I noticed you were excited today and I definitely knew something was wrong when we got here and you called me from inside, but I didn’t think— I thought you were in danger as usual. That there was something trying to hurt you,” Ava added, shaking her head in disbelief as if that could make the gloomy memories disappear.
“Oh, Aves. I’m so sorry.”
“No, no, babe. I’m fine. I clearly have issues I need to work out, but this? This was perfect. This is perfect.”
“Oh. I almost forgot,” Sara exclaimed. “I looked for diamond rings. The more I looked, the more I had the feeling none of them were you. Us. We can still pick one together if you want to, but I thought this,” she added while producing a ring from her pocket, “was more our thing.”
Ava recognized the ring immediately. It always sat in the place of honor in Sara’s jewelry box, although she knew Sara never wore it. The detailed silvery lines ran intertwined over a black background forming a spiral that adjusted perfectly to Ava’s digit when Sara slid the ring over it.
Ava felt her chest flutter. She knew it had been Laurel’s favorite, Sara’s gift to her. She knew it hadn’t cost even a tiny fraction of what a diamond would amount to, but the symbolism behind it didn’t escape her. She understood there was a piece of Sara in that ring, a part of her life, her soul, that she was giving to Ava.
When Ava looked up and stared into Sara’s eyes again, she knew there was no need for words; both of them understood what was going on on the other woman’s mind. She merely surged forwards searching Sara’s mouth with hers hungrily.
Still on her knees, she adjusted her position and pulled Sara with her so she could wrap her arms around the other woman and bring their bodies as close as possible. She didn’t know if Sara had read her intentions or if it was out of her own want, but she deepened the kiss and lowered the hand cupping Ava’s cheek, dragging her forefinger suggestively between Ava’s breasts very slowly, earning a soft, longing moan from her that made Sara respond by digging her nails where her other hand was, clutched around Ava’s hip, claiming her.
Sara lost all patience after that and moved fast, letting her hand fall to the hem of Ava’s tank top, venturing in search of the silky skin beneath it.
Ava shivered at the cold touch and both women suddenly seemed to remember their clothes were drenched.
“I’m sorry I got you all wet,” Sara muttered, gasping against Ava’s lips, pairing the innuendo in her words with a wink that made her apology a whole lot less apologetic and filled instead with want.
Ava laughed and accepted the hand Sara was offering to help her up. “But,” Sara went on, “I can make up for it and earn my forgiveness after we’ve got you out of these clothes and warmed up. I bet you’d murder for a shower right now.”
“I would, actually. I was hoping maybe a long shower? With company?”
“No can do. And,” Sara added pointedly before Ava could complain, “you’d better make it a quick one. Just enough to wash away the dirt and get rid of the cold. But don’t get too comfy.” Then, seeing Ava’s disappointment written all over her face, she added with a knowing smile: “I’ll join you for like a minute, because I’m also wet and filthy —Don’t go there. I’m the one with the dirty jokes. I mean it literally this time—” Sara warned, arching an eyebrow, “but I have to make sure that there’ll be a hot girlfriend waiting for you in a jacuzzi with a bottle of champagne when you get out. Does that make up for it?”
“Oh-my-god-oh-my-god-oh-my-god. Yes. Yes, it does. What have I done to deserve you?”
“Everything.”