Chapter Text
Star City, 2039
“Ugh,” Laurel groaned, slamming the door behind her.
“You’ll knock the pictures off the wall if you’re not careful!” Ava called in after her.
“Got it, Mom,” she muttered.
They think I’m going to break everything, she fumed as she strode across the room and threw herself down on the bed.The pictures on the wall, time and reality itself. Drama queens.
Laurel felt her phone vibrate beneath her. She pulled it out and read the text from her friend Arthur.
So, what did they say???
She typed back, almost punching the letters as she did so, What do you think? ‘No Laurel, we’ve been over this Laurel, it’s too risky Laurel, blah blah blah blah blah.’ 🤬
She stared at the ceiling as she waited for her friend’s reply.
I mean, it is kinda risky, don’t you think?
She groaned. Not him, too. Of course, Arthur Palmer was never one for risks. Always content to spend his days tinkering at gadgets or playing video games, risking nothing more than the disappointment of a lost game or an experiment gone wrong.
It’s not like I’m going to get hurt! Ugh, I don’t know why I even told you about this, she typed back angrily.
Maybe because your parents would be pissed if you told anyone else. Just a guess
Smartass. He was right, though. Sara and Ava had strictly prohibited her from talking about time travel with any of her school friends, except Arthur, whose parents were also Legends. Well, she supposed she could talk with some of the other Legends’ kids, but they were too little to be of any help.
Not that Arthur was particularly helpful. Except for one crucial thing, that is.
“So did you fix up that old time courier yet?” she asked, holding her breath.
Geez, you just gave it to me last week. Someone’s pushy
…But yes, I did
You’re a life saver! She wrote back. Sorry for being a jerk. I’m just so frustrated at my moms. I’ve barely ever gotten a detention at school, my grades are great, and they still treat me like an irresponsible baby.
All babies are irresponsible
She rolled her eyes at Arthur's text.
Duh, Einstein. The point is, I’m not one. I’m 16!!! Besides our parents did a million things more irresponsible than simply travel back in time to meet the aunt they were named after, she fumed.
…So you’re still going? Even though your parents said no?
Laurel paused, staring at her phone. She closed her eyes, listening for voices outside her room, but she heard nothing. Her heart pounded. Beneath her bravado, anxiety prickled through her veins.
She had the courage natural for someone with near invulnerability, but going back in time to her own family’s past wasn’t the same as taking a difficult route while climbing or diving headfirst towards a speeding ball. She could erase herself from existence, make it so her parents never meet…she could even erase Arthur, her unwilling accomplice, from existence, given how closely his parents’ history was tied up with her own. She figured that would be a lousy repayment for all his help.
Laurel sucked in a breath. She’d come too far. She had to see this through.
Yes, I am, she typed back, then threw her phone to the ground before Arthur could persuade her otherwise.
Sara let her head fall back against the pillow, her hair fanning out across the light blue silk. Ava lay down gently next to her.
“You okay?”
Sara sighed. “Not really.”
Ava lifted her hand and laid it gently over Sara’s heart.
“She doesn’t get it,” Sara murmured.
Ava’s thumb rubbed soothingly at Sara’s chest.
“It means the world to me that Lo wants to meet her Aunt Laurel. And that it’s so important to her, it really does. And every time I have to turn her down, I feel like I’m throwing another handful of dirt on my sister’s grave.”
“I know, babe,” Ava said softly.
“She reminds me so much of her sometimes, you know? So smart, so driven, so sure of what is right and what’s not. At her age I’m pretty sure my biggest accomplishment was sneaking in and out of a party without getting busted by my dad.”
Ava chuckled. “She’s got that argumentative streak going too. Though to be honest, I would’ve liked if our teenager had derived a bit less of your sister’s lawyerly instincts.”
Sara smiled, the melancholy brought by her daughter’s anger diminished by memories of her sister. “Did I ever tell you how Laurel decided she wanted to be a lawyer? In her seventh-grade class, she realized that the girls were asked to clean up in the cafeteria almost twice as often as the boys. She took careful notes for weeks, wrote a speech citing federal anti-discrimination laws, and then marched straight into the principal’s office to say her piece.”
“And did it work?”
“Hell yeah. Best lawyer in middle school,” Sara grinned. “Ollie didn’t talk to her for a week. He hated cleaning the cafeteria.”
Ava snorted. “Figures.”
“He started talking to her again once he realized he could bribe some of the other boys to do his for him.”
“Good thing we didn’t name her Olivia Laurel, then. Maybe she would have ended up as a broody complainer.”
Sara rolled her eyes. Ava had accepted the name “Olivia” in honor of Sara’s oldest friend, but she still liked taking a jab at him now and then.
Sara’s smile faltered. “Sometimes I think we shouldn’t have named her ‘Laurel’ either.”
Ava looked into her wife’s eyes. “What do you mean? You’ve never said so.”
Sara sighed. “She’s her own person, you know? I never wanted her to carry the weight of Laurel’s memory, and we’ve tried to make that clear, but still, the way she idolizes her… I just don’t know if she would so much if we had named her, I don’t know, ‘Samantha’ or something.”
Ava screwed up her face. “Nah, Lo doesn’t really seem like a Samantha.”
Sara shrugged. “I know. I don’t regret it, not really. Most times, except when she’s this mad at me, I love it. I just really do wish they could’ve met. My sister and our Laurel.”
Ava turned onto her side. “You know, maybe they could?”
“Seriously?” Sara sat up abruptly. “Don’t say that. The risk—”
“—to the timeline is enormous, I know,” Ava finished. “That’s my line. But what if we found the right moment, the exact moment where they could meet with minimal risk to changing the future? Time wants to happen, right?”
Sara shook her head. “I can’t risk all of time just because of what me and Lo want.”
“Have you asked Z? Maybe she could set up one her algorithms, find the point with the lowest risk. And if all else fails, we sweep in after with a memory flasher.”
Sara bit her lip. “I tried,” she said softly.
“What?” Ava asked, surprised.
“I already asked Z. When Laurel, our Laurel, was born… I was really missing my sister, and I reached out to Zari in the totem to run the possibilities. I allowed myself to think for a second that I could have it all—my baby, my sister, my whole family together—but every possibility led to some disastrous outcome.”
Ava rubbed Sara’s arm gently.
“Sorry I never told you, babe,” Sara said. “I know I said I’d never try—”
“I don’t blame you for that,” Ava rushed to assure her. “I would never blame you for wanting your sister back. But maybe… maybe it’s not a matter of getting her back. Maybe it’s just a matter of sharing a moment, a small moment, all together before…” her voice trails off. “Before she goes,” she ended clumsily.
Sara didn’t answer.
“Say something, babe,” Ava said, pulling her close. “If you want to forget it, we can, it’s just—”
“I don’t know if I can let myself hope again,” Sara said softly. “Even if it’s only for a conversation, seeing her one last time.”
Ava kissed Sara’s forehead gently. “It doesn’t have to be today. But if you want to, whenever you’re ready, I’ll be with you, every step of the way.”