Chapter Text
Sara awoke to soft fingers tracing down her side, the sound of fabric ruffling against skin. But she knew those fingers and knew that touch, as tiny goosebumps began to form from her toes to the tip of her ears.
She inhaled loudly, breathing in the soft jasmine notes in the air. “Five more minutes…”
Nyssa chuckled, sliding the soft silk shirt up and replacing her hands with tender, soft kisses. Sara smiled, relishing in the feeling. She loved this side of the Heir. This gentle side that is rarely seen by anyone but those closest to her.
“Are you sure?“ Nyssa asked, as she pushed Sara’s drawstring shorts down slightly and nipped the sharp edge of Sara’s hip bone. She was rewarded with a sharp moan and Sara’s body arching into hers.
“No that’s good, more of that please.” Sara managed to breathe out as she was rolled over, her back falling comfortably against the pillow soft bed. Her eyes widened slightly, drinking in Nyssa’s naked flesh and hungry eyes.
“Well hello there,” Sara joked.
Nyssa smirked and brought her lips to Sara’s, her lips fervently remembering the taste from being away for so long. Sara responded in the same amount of fury, sitting up and bringing their bodies together, naked flesh meeting soft silk. A loud moan escaping both.
She slid her hands down Nyssa’s smooth back when she heard it. Nyssa let out a sharp painful exhale and caught Sara’s arms, pinning her back involuntarily.
“What happened?” Sara asked immediately, struggling to break free but Nyssa wasn’t ready to let her go yet.
“Nothing. I’m fine.” Nyssa replied, eyes not meeting Sara’s, struggling with what to do next.
“Nyssa.” Sara’s tone dangerously serious. “What. Happened.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’ll be fine, beloved. No need to worry.” Nyssa plastered a smile on her face that felt fake and unnatural upon her faces. Like none of the smiles she’d shared with Sara before.
This only concerned Sara more as she bucked her hips and rolled her body, turning Nyssa with her so now she was the one pinned to the bed. Surprised.
She didn’t stay though, jumping off the bed, pulling and turning Nyssa up with her. Cursing, she let her hands tremble down the dark red and black marks that marred her lovers back.
“Who did this?” Sara asked, venom in her voice. Her body began to redden as rage slid up her spine and encompassed her heart and head.
Nyssa took in a sharp breath as Sara touched a particularly sensitive welt.
“You do not have to worry, beloved. He’s in tiny pieces at the bottom of the Indian ocean.” Nyssa answered, turning to meet Sara’s eyes.
Sara nodded, her rage dissipating slightly. She would get the full story from Nyssa’s second, Manish, later.
“Come on, these need to be cleaned.” Sara said, dragging Nyssa towards the bathroom where they kept the medical supplies.
***
Sara watched with a proud smile as Nyssa was welcomed back into the dining hall to a raucous warrior welcome. She loved this part. Her heart always swelled as she watched the warriors cheer and adore her love.
Stepping back, she let Nyssa take the lead as a small smile slid across Nyssa’s face before being replaced with her typical hard, focused expression. These warriors loved their Heir and she loved them back even if she didn’t show it very well.
Sara filled a plate with breakfast foods and sat beside her mentor, Abda and her partner, Semal.
“When did she get back?” Abda asked, between bites of roti.
“This morning,” Sara replied, not able to fight the sly smile.
Abda caught the expression and rolled her dark, coal eyes in amusement. Abda was Sara’s closest confidant, being the one to mentor Sara through the trials and her main mentor as Sara continued her League training. She was one of the first to learn of their relationship and watched as it blossomed from curious amusement to unabashed love. A sight to see.
Ra’s al Ghul was well aware of their relationship at this point, placing them on missions together and the members had grown to respect Sara naturally moving to protect her as fiercely as they did the Heir. Although, the missions were few and far between as Sara was still within her first year of the league and was not approved for the high value, high risk targets.
Nyssa came to rest beside Sara, her own plate of food piled high. She’d been living off of field rations for weeks and was happy to see something that didn’t come out of a bag.
“Welcome back, Nyssa.” Abda greeted, eyes bowed to the table.
“Good day,” Nyssa replied, equally abiding by the traditional greeting.
It always amused Sara when she saw them act this way. There were times on missions that Abda and other warriors had seen Nyssa laughing hysterically and without her usual staunchness but when it came to greetings or League matters, they treated her as distant and commanding as Ra’s al Ghul.
A hush fell over the warriors and Sara could feel her stomach drop. The Demon’s Head had just walked in.
Each one of them, including Nyssa, immediately stood up from the dining tables and bowed before him.
“Ta-er al-Asfar, meet me in my chambers at sundown.” Ra’s al Ghul commanded and strode out.
The warriors stood and resumed eating slowly, the mood shifting in concern.
“Well this can’t be good,” Sara tried to joke, hoping to break the tension.
Nyssa stood immediately, food forgotten, and strode out to follow her father. Leaving a light squeeze on Sara’s shoulder in her place. She knew where the Heir was going but still felt her heart quench at the loss.
“Who’s up for some sparring?” Sara asked, smile on her face, masking the concern within.
***
Sara twirled her bō and brought it down hard, knocking a black robed league member out. She rotated and just caught a sword from another assailant, the clang of metal on metal, keeping it from clipping her side. Deflecting, she threw a punch, connecting to a solid jaw. She brought her bo up in an uppercut, he stumbled back and she followed up with a kick to his head. He was out.
Coming down, another league member tried to swipe her legs out from under her but she jumped and rolled to the side popping up, bō out to the side in the ready, eyes scanning for her next target or combatant.
They weren’t playing around today. There were four League members that were coming at her from all sides but she loved it. She needed a distraction from her impending meeting and Nyssa wasn’t around to give her one.
She charged the two remaining members as they each brought their swords up to stop her. The two men worked together but they were no match to her as she parried each blow. Within minutes they were down and out as well.
Sara stood breathing heavily in the middle of the room bō lazily hanging in her hand, surveying her damage.
The door to the training room scratched open. Sara whipped her head around, bo at the ready, but relaxed when she saw Nyssa’s form fill the doorway. She couldn’t help the smile that slid across her face.
It was like Nyssa was proverbial smelling salts to the other League members who began to wake up and recover. Each shaking their head and stumbling to stand.
“Leave us,” Nyssa commanded. All four of them hastily retreating from the room, slamming the iron door behind them.
Nyssa drew her sword and began to circle Sara.
Sara’s smile grew larger. It had been a while since they had sparred. They didn’t do it often as it tended to leave them either with new scars or in a much more compromising position. She held her bo at the ready, waiting for the first strike.
She knew Nyssa, she always struck first. Always tried to get her opponent to fall back. To overwhelm them.
True to her thoughts, Nyssa lunged, bringing her sword up and over. Sara blocked and side stepped, knowing that all she had to do was wait for Nyssa to make a mistake or leave herself open.
Unfortunately, that didn’t happen very often.
Sara was breathing very hard now, her previous fights catching up with her. She was getting slower and slower but was able to keep up with the incessant blows. Just barely, though.
She saw it. Nyssa overextended, leaning far too forward.
Sara skirted the blow and brought her bo down hard on Nyssa’s left shoulder. An agonized grunt escaped the other woman’s lips.
Unfortunately, this only served to piss Nyssa off.
Nyssa was moving like a shark in chum infested waters. Lashing out faster and faster, her sword coming down, slicing through the air or being blocked by Sara’s bō sending shockwaves through her arms.
Then it was over. The sword connected on Sara’s shoulder. It wasn’t deep but just enough to draw blood.
Like coming out of a daze, Nyssa stepped back immediately and sheathed her sword. Before Sara’s body even registered that she’d been cut, Nyssa was on her grabbing her arm, examining the wound. Sara grunted, feeling like a child being manhandled away from the candy section at the grocery store.
The grasp softened immediately, a pained, regretful expression falling upon Nyssa’s features.
“My apologies. It’s already stopped bleeding.” Nyssa said, thumb lightly stroking the wound.
“That’s because it was a cheap shot,” Sara joked. Nyssa’s eyes sparked with a competitive fire, a smile drawing across her lips.
“Shall we go again?” Nyssa said stepping back.
“No definitely not. I’m beat.” Sara said, raising the bō above her arms, stretching her back.
Nyssa couldn’t help herself, greedily letting her eyes roam across the other woman’s robe clad form.
“How was the meeting with your father? I’m assuming that’s where you went.” Sara asked, collapsing her metal bo into two pieces and stashing it in a custom pocket along her back.
Nyssa tensed.
Sara saw, “Oh so one of those meetings.” She clinched her jaw. “Well good hunting.”
“It’s not for me.” Nyssa replied. “It’s for you.”
***
Sara kneeled, head bowed in front of Ra’s al Ghul, his voice booming over her as Nyssa stood behind him to the right.
“It is your time Ta-er al-Asfar. I need you to eliminate Mohamed Sidi immediately.”
Sara rose at the flick of his wrist. She knew better than to ask why. Ra’s al Ghul enjoyed leaving his operatives in the dark. Enjoyed the feeling of power it brought him knowing that they would do anything he asked without question.
Sara hated this. She’d never signed up to senselessly kill but this was the life she had chosen. Her life was indebted to the league with no way out. Sara’s only salvation came in the form of a beautiful assassin who looked at her like she hung the moon and then conquered it.
“You are to go alone. The final test to see if you are ready for higher value targets.” He turned his back towards her, eyes meeting Nyssa’s. “You leave in the morning.”
It took Nyssa everything she had not too look outraged and annoyed. Her father mentioned in their meeting earlier that Sara would go weeks from now. He was testing her, she realized.
“Dismissed.”
Sara stood, sparing a quick glance towards Nyssa. Her face was impassive but her eyes held a dark rage. She was pissed.
“Oh and Sara,” Ra’s said tone light but demanding. “Bring me his head.”
***
Sara sat in the living room, sipping tea, wrapped in one of the many blankets around the small cottage she and Nyssa shared. Her mind wouldn’t let her fall asleep, going over everything Nyssa had told her about the man she was to kill and what she should expect in Algiers.
Mohamad Sidi was an arms dealer that was selling weapons to the Renamo forces who were known to use child soldiers, but that wasn’t the main reason Ra’s was going after him. He was known to sell to some of Ra’s’ enemies.
Ra’s rarely killed anyone for anything other than protecting or supporting his own agenda. The thought bringing bile up into Sara’s throat. She shook her head and went back to thinking about the mark.
Sidi was arrogant. He didn’t travel with a large crew protecting him, only keeping a driver. She was to track and eliminate him, bringing his head back for proof.
She felt soft hands massage her shoulders.
“Come to bed darling.” Nyssa whispered, sleep heavy in her voice.
Sara rolled her shoulders with Nyssa’s hands. Sighing contentedly, she enjoyed this feeling immensely; this intense feeling of belonging. She knew as long as she had Nyssa she could deal with the unsavory part of this life.
She put her tea aside and followed Nyssa back into the bedroom. Letting the woman hold her, she fell into a fitful sleep.
***
Sara stepped out of the Algiers airport, backpack on her soldier and head covering in place to make her blonde hair less conspicuous. The League contact in the area had provided the last known location of Sidi but she needed to hit the safe house first before she could find him.
The safe house was located in the heart of the busy city in the back room of a small gyro shop. Sara couldn’t help feeling disappointed as she realized it was just a cot and a closet full of weapons and cash. But she knew she wouldn’t be here long. Or at least she hoped.
She threw her backpack on the cot and changed into the black warrior robes that all warriors minus Nyssa used for missions. Sara’s mind caught on Nyssa and the goodbye kiss they shared that morning. No, not a ‘goodbye’ kiss, she’d assured Nyssa. A ‘see you later’ kiss.
Sara strapped a knife to her thigh, hidden behind her robes and lodged a boot knife into her boot. She unpacked her bō from her bag, inspecting it for any damage. Her eyes and fingers fell upon the small yellow canary laser etched into each end of the shaft. A gift from Nyssa after her first successful mission in New York.
There were still a few hours until the sun set and she could go hunting, so she laid upon the cot, hearing it squeak under her weight. Her mind occupied with the memories of that first mission.
***
The Canary stalked the shadows outside Sidi’s home. It was a concrete fortress, two stories tall with few windows, surrounded by an electric fence with sentries perched on each side.
The League had lied; Mohamed Sidi was very protected.
She cursed silently to herself trying to figure out a way in without letting everyone in Algiers know that she was there.
She scaled a nearby billowy tree to try to see if she could jump over or see if there were any weaknesses in the concrete she could exploit. Sitting perched, eyes scanning, something caught her eye. She unhooked half of her bō from behind her back and held it at the ready.
The unsuspecting man was confused, head straining around clearly trying to find her. She jumped, her legs landing on his shoulders, twisting and bringing them to the ground. Sara brought her bō to their neck choking him.
“Sara!” A voice choked out.
“Semal?” She questioned, loosening her grip and stepping up. No way was this her league colleague, Abda’s mission partner. “What are you doing here?”
“Nyssa sent us to help as needed.”
“Us?” Sara’s eyebrows furrowed in frustration.
“Abda’s here too.” Semal answered, gesturing to the shadows to her right. Abda’s eyes were the only thing that illuminated her in the perfect darkness. It was moments like these that Sara knew Abda was made for this life.
Sara grabbed him by the collar and gestured to Abda to follow, retreating them farther from the compound.
“Go home.” She said, venom in her voice once they were far enough away. She was pissed. This was her mission. Ra’s would never trust her if she knew she had help.
Abda averted her gaze in clear shame. She hadn’t agreed with Nyssa to come but had to obey her Heir.
“Go home now.” Sara repeated.
“Sara. Don’t be daft. You can’t take on an entire compound by yourself. Let us help.” Semal pleaded. He’d grown to like the ‘little bird’ and didn’t want to see her killed.
“Go. Home.” Sara stood her ground.
Abda nodded and began to pull Semal back.
“We cannot disobey the Heir,” Semal tried to reason.
Sara grabbed the knife from her thigh in a flash and brought it to Semal’s neck. “Don’t you dare play the Heir card.”
Semal held up his hands in surrender and gave a hard nod. They walked away into the shadows while Sara worked to calm her breathing. Her rage.
She was pissed. Pissed that Nyssa didn’t trust her and pissed at her mentor for going along with it.
Sara let her eyes move back towards the compound. She’d deal with Nyssa’s lack of trust later. She had a job to do.
***
Sara decided the most direct approach was the best approach. She “borrowed” a car from an unsuspecting passenger and drove to the front gate.
She had changed into street clothes, her black leather jacket upon her shoulders and blonde hair flowing in the light wind.
“Umm, excuse me!” A large man, belly over his belt, walked out of the small guard shack that stood just to the left of the gate. She let her dimples show, “I’m trying to find the Crystal Lounge and seem to be turned around. Think you can help?” She looked at him from under her thick eyelashes.
He ate it up.
‘Stupid boy,’ she thought as she fought to roll her eyes.
Leaning down towards her, elbows perched on her window, he leered at her. “You know, there’s a closer club down the road. I get off-“
Sara didn’t let him finish as she grabbed his tie and brought his head down hard against the car. She kicked the door out, pushing him off the vehicle. His body splayed out on the concrete, knocked out.
She let him live, not enjoying killing someone who was knocked out. Grabbing his access card on his belt, she used it to open the gate.
Leaving the car behind, she slipped into the shadows using them to slide silently into the dark home. She could hear sounds in what she assumed was a living room. Glancing around the corner, she could see Sidi at a poker table with several other men, cigar sticking out of his mouth. Four guards circled and looked out the windows of the compound, protecting him.
‘Were those grenades?’ She squinted incredulously. ‘Yes they were.’ Each guard had grenades strapped across their torso, with a semi-automatic rifle at the ready in their hands.
A guard came running in, “Boss, there’s an intruder. We’ve got to get you out of here.”
‘Shit.’ She thought. ‘Lesson learned: Never leave a loose end.’
She needed to move now. Taking a deep breath, she pulled her two bō pieces silently from where she’d strapped them on her back. Turning the corner, she launched an attack at the closest guard, hearing the satisfying crack of a neck breaking before using his body to shove into another guard.
The other guard went down. Sara was on him and he was down before he could bring his gun up.
Looking up she saw three guns trained against her.
‘Fuck.’ She thought, ‘Where had the other guard come from?’
Diving behind the nearby couch, she just barely avoided the barrage of bullets. It ripped through the couch sending upholstery everywhere.
Hearing one of the men reloading, she pulled out her boot knife and threw it, hitting him in the carotid in his neck. Using the shock of the sound of someone choking on their own blood, Sara launched herself at the two remaining men, disposing of them just as quickly.
Looking around she realized Sidi was gone. She stopped moving and breathing, focusing on her hearing.
She heard a slight scrape, deeper into the house. Bō’s at the ready she stalked her prey. Moving silently through the house, Sara let her ears guide her.
Whispers. Scrapes. Something breaking. A door clicking open. Then closed.
She heard a sound just to the right of her. Sara moved and disarmed another assailant before he even truly registered she was there. He was gone, twitching posthumously on the ground.
She continued on. She was getting closer she could feel it.
Making her way into the foyer, something felt wrong. She was too exposed. Then she heard it.
The sound of a metal hitting the tiled floor.
Looking to her left she saw a small round grenade. Pin pulled and lever missing inches from her.
She dove to her right but was too slow.
She screamed, her hands going to her left leg. She crawled and pulled herself around the wall into a new room and out of the exposed foyer. The feeling of fragments and chunks of flesh missing on her left calf alerting her that she was still alive.
Breathing through the white hot pain, she inspected herself. Everything appeared to be in place, except her calf. Her foot was still attached, thankfully and her knee seemed to be okay. It just looked like someone had put that appendage through a meat grinder. She could see chunks of metal and tile lodged into her muscle, something she’d have to deal with later. Right now, she needed to get Sidi and get the hell out of there.
She looked around the room, realizing she was in a library of some sort. There was a reading chair in the corner with a light blanket strewn over the back of it. She crawled, letting her leg drag upon the ground, sending blood dripping to the floor. Grabbing the blanket off the chair, she used one of her knives to cut it into strips. Sara wrapped it tightly around the wound and then used a smaller skinnier strap to tie a tourniquet around her leg, stemming the flow of blood loss. It wasn’t a permanent solution but it’d work.
Taking a deep breath, she stood, screaming silently as the pain shot up her leg. Gritting her teeth, she moved to the doorway and hazarded a glance around the corner and up the stairs where the grenade had come from. The thrower was gone.
Gathering herself, she made her way up the stairs as silently as she could. Thankful for every ounce of league training that taught her how to block out pain and focus on the mission.
She got to the top of the stairs and listened. The sounds of muffled voices to her right, brought her to a locked door. She growled in annoyance.
Using her bō, she ripped off the lock and kicked it open. Ignoring the flash of pain that came with her full weight on her damaged leg.
Bullets greeted her but she expected that, waiting for the clip to empty on the side of the open door. She heard the telltale sign of clicking and charged.
Swinging wildly, she knocked the man aside. It was a guard. Sidi was cowering in the back.
The guard recovered quickly, though, and tackled her, making her drop her bō’s. They landed in a heap over a small table that collapsed against their weight. He was on her immediately, landing punches to her sides and face.
She didn’t care, he’d left himself wildly open to an inner guard attack. Grabbing the knife strapped to her thigh, she shoved it deep into his gut, feeling the blood rush out over her hand and onto her torso. He collapsed dead in shock atop her.
Sara heaved and pushed him off of her, advancing slowly on Sidi. He had a handgun but seemed to forget how to use it as it lay unfired in his hand. The sight of a blonde, blood covered warrior advancing on him with a knife was proving to be a living nightmare.
“In the name of Ra’s al Ghul, you will pay the ultimate price for your crimes.” She spit out, as she disarmed a fearful Sidi. He whimpered as she twisted his neck with her bare hands.
She wasted no time, finding a small duffle in one of the bedrooms, she cut through the soft flesh of Sidi’s neck and deposited it in the bag. Once that was completed, she gathered documents and a computer putting it in a small backpack; another find in a random closet door.
Going into the kitchen, she found a bar cart filled with every top shelf liquor she could think of. Grabbing the bourbon, she took a big swig, relishing in the burn as it traveled down her throat. It immediately began to numb the pain her leg.
As much as she enjoyed the drink, she knew she couldn’t stay long. Finding the gas line, she broke it, letting natural gas flow freely into the large kitchen and throughout the house.
She gathered her boot knife from the guard’s neck and felt to make sure her bō’s were strapped safely to her back. Grabbing the duffle bag with Sidi’s head and the backpack full of data, she threw them over her shoulder, grunting at the weight.
Strolling out the front door, she felt the last item she grabbed hanging heavy in her hand. The string of the pins on the grenades clinking, metal against metal.
Once she was a safe distance away, she repositioned her bags so she could hobble away quickly and began to pull the pins and clips with quick succession. Throwing it through the open door, she barely had time to turn and duck before the grenades went off. The loud percussion making her ears ring painfully.
‘God, I hate grenades’, she thought as she pulled herself back up and went back to the borrowed car to get her the hell away from here.
***
An hour later, Sara was on a League sanctioned plane back to Nanda Parbat, the duffle bag and backpack with her bō’s and robes safely resting beside her. Sara used the plane’s first aid kit to clean and bandage her calf enough so that she could survive the trek back to the compound.
Sara didn’t bother to ask for permission to enter as she stormed past Ra’s al Ghul’s sentry posted in front of his chambers. Seeing Ra’s standing in front of a large desk dictating to Nyssa, Sara didn’t stop.
She unzipped the duffle and threw the bag on the ground in front of Ra’s’ feet. Mohamed Sidi’s head rolled out and to a stop in front of him, leaving a bloody trail behind. Ra’s brought his eyes to the head and then to the intruder, a snarl on his face.
“Got a computer, too. It’s in route to the Expediter as we speak.” Sara spoke, forgoing formalities. She was tired and right now, didn’t give a shit about bowing to this man who led her into a trap.
Nyssa couldn’t stop the shocked expression falling upon her features. Sara could only imagine what she looked like. Blood stained and bleeding. She saw her expression quickly changing to relieved and was that pride?
Sara didn’t care. She was still pissed about Abda and Semal and her lack of trust.
She stormed out before Ra’s could say anything further; off to find the healers.
***
Nyssa met Sara hours later in their living room. She saw that the other woman was showered, leg propped up with a large bandage and ice on it.
Nyssa didn’t know what to do. Stuck with indecision. She wanted to wrap her arms around her Canary and welcome her home properly but she knew that it wouldn’t be well received so she stood, wringing her hands. Feeling decidedly un-Heir-like.
Lifting her chin, “My father was very pleased. You have been released for full duty.”
“Whoop-dy-doo.” Sara said sarcastically, keeping her eyes trained on the wall full of books. Anywhere but Nyssa.
“You’re injured.” Nyssa said, coming to sit by her and inspecting her leg. Afraid to touch her any further for fear of being rejected.
“Grenade.” Sara replied shortly.
Nyssa vowed to make whoever did this die a slow and very painful death.
Sara could feel the tension. “I stabbed him in the gut. He’s dead.”
“Good.” Nyssa said, despite herself. She softly put her hand over Sara’s, needing to feel her warmth. “Sara…”
“Stop. Right now. I need to be mad at you.” She brought her gaze to meet Nyssa’s broken eyes. “Tomorrow, I’ll likely be happy to be home and happy to see you. But right now. I really want to punch something. And I’m afraid that something may be you.”
She stood and started to make her way to the bedroom, trying not to hobble.
Nyssa made a move to follow her.
Sara stopped at the doorway to their room. Nyssa stopped too, a pained expression on her features, like a puppy who’d just been chastised.
“You didn’t trust me. I needed to do that mission on my own. And you didn’t trust me.” Sara frowned, fighting tears.
“Sara, I just wanted to protect you.”
Sara nodded sadly, voice gravely with unshed tears. “I know.”
Nyssa made a move to follow her into the bedroom.
Sara put up a hand to stop her, feeling the hard leather that protected Nyssa’s stomach. Meeting her eyes, she spoke, “Tonight, I really just need to be alone.”
Nyssa swallowed back the lump in her throat. She wouldn’t cry.
Nodding imperceptivity, Nyssa stepped back, granting her beloved’s wishes.
***
Sara lay staring up at the ceiling, inhaling the familiar jasmine scent of their sheets. Frowning sadly, she let tears silently stream out of her eyes. This was the first time her and Nyssa had ever gotten into anything that resembled a fight and god it hurt.
She knew it wasn’t the end of anything but right now, she just needed distance and space. Tomorrow they would be fine but tonight. Tonight, she felt worse than any wound that Sidi’s men could give her.