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“Where is she? Where is Sara?” Nyssa asked, using every bit of her self-control to keep her voice strong and steady. “She came here for the League two weeks ago and I haven’t heard from her since.” Oliver clinched his jaw. “There’s something I have to tell you.”
“Sara’s dead.” The assassin said, voice just above a whisper.
Nyssa sat bolt upright in her bed and glanced quickly around the room. At first, she did not know where she was. She was not used to seeing the silk sheets and ornate curtains when she woke up, but breathed a sigh of relief when she realized that she was in a five star hotel in London, and Sara was home in Starling, alive and well. Nyssa walked into the luxurious bathroom and splashed some cold water on her face. She’d been having the same recurring nightmare since the day she found out she had lost her Beloved. In the last few months since she had brought Sara back to life, it had occurred much less frequently and she was often soothed by Sara’s tight embrace and calming words.
One day, while hanging out in the lair, Sara had accidently let it slip that she was having the dreams, Felicity told them it was likely caused by a deep seeded fear of losing the first person that Nyssa had ever truly cared about. The blonde IT expert was correct of course. Nyssa’s worst fear was losing Sara and having to face the harsh world alone again as she had been forced to for much of her life. When she had learned that her canary had been struck down, she had thrown herself into her work, taking one hit after another. She barely slept, because every time she did, she would have to relive the most painful moment of her life. She was miserable for months. Her mood improved slightly when she decided to take Laurel on as her apprentice, but the only thing that brought her back to reality was seeing Sara emerge from the Lazarus pit. Seeing those sparkling blue eyes had nearly made her heart stop.
Nyssa returned to the bed and pulled her suitcase on top of it. She quickly changed into her traveling clothes and packed away what she had previously been wearing. Just as she was about to walk out the door, her phone it went off. The text brought a frown to her face and a squeeze to her heart. ‘Rip needs my help on a simple recon mission. I should be home tomorrow night. Love you.’
With a sad sigh, Nyssa reluctantly sent a reply. ‘I suppose that I can cope with your absence for one more night Habibti. Be safe.’
She couldn’t help the smile that formed on her face when Sara immediately fired back a response. ‘Of course. You know me, I’m the queen of getting out of sticky situations.’
***
The next day, Nyssa sat typing up the report from her most recent assignment in the small apartment that she shared with Sara. It had been a fairly simple mission, but it had almost fallen apart when a new recruit got sloppy and was detained in the Heathrow airport by security. Nyssa shook her head. He wasn’t long for this world when Ra’s found out about his carelessness.
After pressing send on her email, she glanced down at the clock on the bottom of her screen. It was well past midnight. Sara was due home hours ago. A pit began to form in Nyssa’s stomach. She shouldn’t be bothered by Sara’s tardiness, because the blond was never on time (a habit that she no doubt picked up from spending so much time with Oliver Queen in her early years), but Nyssa couldn’t shake the idea that something wasn’t right. “She’s probably out celebrating a win with her team.” Nyssa thought, trying hard not to slip into a state of panic.
The assassin moved to her small kitchen and began preparing herself a cup of chamomile tea. It wasn’t her first choice, but Sara refused to let her pay extra to import monkey picked oolong tea from China. Once the tea had steeped to her liking, she took it to her room and began preparing for bed. Her last thought before falling into a restless sleep was, “She’ll be here when I wake up.”
***
The next morning, Nyssa woke up covered in a sheen of cold sweat. She had been forced to endure her heart wrenching nightmare yet again. Unlike when she was in London, looking at the empty right side of her bed sent a shiver down her spine. Nyssa frantically grabbed her phone off of her bedside table and saw that she had no missed calls or messages. She quickly entered Sara’s number and put the phone to her ear. The call went directly to voicemail. A cold fist wrapped itself around Nyssa’s heart. After she had been resurrected, Sara had made it a point to always answer her phone, no matter what danger she was facing. Nyssa dressed with speed that even Barry Allen would find impressive, grabbed her motorcycle helmet, and rushed out the door. She didn’t even bother to lock up the apartment.
Ten minutes later, she threw open the door to the Arrow Cave, which earned a surprised look from Felicity, and an arrow as well as a gun pointed at her head. “Where is she? Where is Sara?” Oliver lowered his bow and noticeably paled. Nyssa moved down the stairs and over to where Oliver was standing. She grabbed him by the collar of his t-shirt. “What happened to her?”
“Savage’s men ambushed Sara’s team.” Oliver paused and Nyssa glared at him with such intensity that Godzilla would run for the hills. “There were casualties and no one has heard from Sara. I’m so sorry Nyssa.”
The assassin released the vigilante and walked swiftly up the stairs without another word. She managed to make it to her bike before her tears began to fall.
***
Grief had never agreed with Nyssa, and this time was no different. After Oliver’s heartbreaking news, Nyssa found herself prowling the streets of the Glades, taking out every drug dealer and mobster that she could get her hands on. She would beat them within an inch of their life, but didn’t kill them. Sara always hated when she took the lives of the people in her city, even if they were criminal low lifes.
By mid-day, she had turned fifty men into the SCPD. She wasn’t sure what they were going to do with all of the extra bodies, but she didn’t much care. She had gone completely numb. After one last lap around the hood of Starling, Nyssa returned to her apartment. She walked directly to the bathroom in a robot-like fashion and took a long, cold shower. She was covered from head to toe in blood, but took little notice, deftly scrubbing herself clean as if it were just a meaningless task required of her.
When she felt she had done a sufficient job, she turned off the water and grabbed a towel. She moved to her closet and pulled out an old Rockets sweatshirt and a pair of yoga pants. She did her best to avoid looking at Sara’s clothes that took up exactly half of their shared storage place. Once she was dressed, she went and sat down on her bed. Without thinking, she glanced over to the side where Sara usually slept and felt fresh tears make their way into her eyes. Memories of her beloved began to flash painfully across her mind. She saw Sara sitting there reading a book, and then painting her toes. Nyssa let out a sob. What had she done to lose the only person she ever cared about? She was by no means an angel, but no one deserved a fate like hers.
Nyssa pulled her legs up to her chest and dropped her head down between her knees. Her phone went off somewhere in the distance, but she felt there was no need to answer. She was brought out of her unpleasant thoughts by the sound of someone opening her front door. At first Nyssa thought that it might be the person who had just tried to get ahold of her, but then she realized that there were only three people that would ever dare attempt to enter her apartment in the first place, and one of them was now dead. That left Felicity and Laurel, both of which would have knocked first. Perhaps it was one of her old enemies, here to punish her for whatever she had done to wrong them. This thought was quickly shot down when she looked up and saw a bruised and bloody figure enter her doorway. Standing not five feet in front of her was Sara Lance. She had various cuts on her face, and her entire body was covered in what looked like ash, but she was there, alive.
“Habibti.” Nyssa whispered as she stood and pulled Sara into a tight embrace, sending a cloud of ash into the air. The assassin’s tears began to fall harder and faster. Sara held her and whispered calming words into her ear.
Slowly, Nyssa regained her composure, and pulled back slightly from Sara. She made sure that they were still touching so she knew for sure that the blonde was really there. “I... I thought that I had truly lost you.” The dark haired woman said weakly.
Sara smiled sadly. “I wasn’t sure I was ever going to see you again. Savage’s men got the drop on us and…” Sara stopped and looked away, tears forming in her own eyes. The experience had clearly affected her in much the same way as it had Nyssa. The assassin leaned down and placed her lips gently on Sara’s forehead. The blonde looked up at her with her shining blue eyes.
“I do not need to know what happened.” Nyssa said soothingly. “All I need to know is that you are safe and here with me now. Nothing else matters.”