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“Keep your guard up,” Sara instructed, taking a quick swing at Kendra, “Stand with your feet apart, stay light on your feet.” She punched the brunette twice more, and Kendra managed to block them both.
“You’ve already told me all of this,” She said, surveying the other girl.
Sara raised her eyebrows, and hit Kendra again, “Then why is your guard down?”
---
“You’re getting better,” Sara observed, leaning against a stack of crates and taking a long sip from a water bottle.
“You spent the hour using me as a punching bag.” Kendra reminded her, slumping against the wall.
“I would have hit a punching bag harder.” The blonde grinned, then added, “And I mean it. You are improving. It just takes time, and practice.”
Kendra nodded slowly, “Thanks.” She took a sip of water, then a cheshire grin lights up her face, “Time for your lessons.”
Sara rolled her eyes, “Yeah, you don’t actually get to teach me stuff, you just get to be a human-y influence on me.”
“No,” the other girl shook her head, “If you get to beat on me for an hour, you have to help me curl my hair.”
“What?” Sara looked at her incredulously, “You seem to manage it on your own.”
“My arm cramps when I do the back, and I can’t keep convincing Leonard to do it.”
This actually caused the other girl to laugh out loud, and Kendra smiled smugly. She tossed Sara the staff, then headed to the door, looking over her shoulder expectantly, “I’m serious. Come curl my hair, it’s a very human-y thing.”
“I think some dogs curl their fur.”
“Shut up, Lance,” But she was smiling.
---
“Are you sure you’ve never curled hair before?” Kendra was seated on the edge of her bed, and Sara was perched on the mattress behind her with the curling iron in her hand. The Waverider was set up to house about a dozen people. The walls of this room were lined with nooks, each of which held a bed, were lined with shelves and drawers, and the wall could be slid closed for privacy. It was efficient, if not a little odd to have everyone but Rip sleeping off this one room.
“Am I that good?” The blonde girl smirked, only to drop the curler when Kendra yelped.
“You burned me!” She announced indignantly, spinning around.
“I’ve never done this before,” Sara reminded, holding her hands up in surrender.
“You’re literally an assassin, you can’t just hold a curling iron steady?” Kendra’s voice was laced with exasperation, like she was talking to a child. This makes Sara a little offended, and a little proud.
Jax slid the wall/door of his cot open and peeked his head out, “Do you guys smell something burning?”
Sara swore loudly, and both girls jumped off the bed. The curling iron sat on the blanket, still on. And the blanket was in fact smoking. Kendra unplugged the the device quickly, sighing.
“I can’t believe you set her bed on fire,” Jax told Sara, crossing his arms. It was an exaggeration, sure, but she grinned widely at him, and after a moment, they were both suppressing laughter. Kendra looked at the two of them, and couldn’t help but let out a giggle of her own.
“I’ll forgive you if you tell Rip and get me a new blanket,” She said, tossing the old, burnt one at the other girl, who nods solemnly.
---
Sara jerked awake, blinking rapidly in the darkness. She was thankful that she closed off her bunk, for she her breaths were loud and ragged and she didn’t want to wake the rest of the team.
Getting her breathing under control, she pushed the door open. The best way to get a nightmare out of her head, she found, was to punch the hell out of something.
She pulled on a pair of sweats and padded through the ship, heading to the cargo room where they had strung up a punching bag. The ship was dark and quiet, but Sara didn’t want the lights on. She wanted the silence and the shadows and the isolation.
There was a satisfying smack as she hit the bag. Then again, and again. She tried to let the sound drown out the images in her mind. A swirl or choppy, blurry images from right after she was resurrected and a horrible collage of what ifs that resurfaced while she slept. But even as she hit the bad, the dreams lingered in her mind.
Smack!
A look of horror on Nyssa’s face.
Smack!
Her dad pointing a gun at her.
Smack!
The scared, no, terrified, girl that she tried to kill.
Smack!
Then stuff that didn’t happen, and hopefully never would. Oliver shooting arrows into her arms and legs, into her chest, a hard look of anger on his face.
Smack!
Thea, dead at her hands, the ever present light in her eyes finally gone.
Smack!
Laurel yelling. Calling her a murderer, insane, unforgivable, a monster. Words that ran through her head on a daily basis.
Smack!
Sara couldn’t feel her hand anymore. The images ran through her head, so real.
Smack!
Then there was a sound behind her, and Sara was facing the door with a knife in hand, primed to throw.
“Woah,” Kendra put her hands up in surrender. “Wait are you crying?”
Sara slid the knife back into her pocket, and brought a hand to her face, surprised, “I guess so,” her voice sounded jagged and raw.
“What happened?” The other girl took a step forward, her face overrun with a look of concern.
Turning back to the punching bag, Sara cleared her throat, forcing lightness into her tone, “Nightmare. It’s nothing.” She hit the bag again.
“Doesn’t seem like nothing.”
She sighed, pausing in her punching. “Did you want something, Kendra. Because it’s 2 am and I was enjoying being alone.”
Then Kendra’s arms were wrapped around her in a hug. Sara froze, stiff, unsure of what to do. Before she could move, Kendra had stepped back, and the cool night air was closing in again.
“Sorry, I’ll go.”
And she was gone, and it felt like she might have taken some of Sara’s demons with her.
---
Sara did manage to get back to sleep, only to be up again at 6 for a morning workout and a shower. By 8, most of the crew was lounging on couches in the common area.
Kendra was making coffee. Whether it’s because she was a barista or just practice, she made the best coffee. And she usually didn’t mind making some for everyone.
When Sara entered, she was making Jax something that looked very sweet and very complicated. “It’s a caramel macchiato, they’re supposed to be really good, tell me what you think.” She smiled at the other girl when she entered, like nothing had happened.
Jax smiled when he took a sip, “It’s great Kendra, thanks.” She smiled widely at him, too. He raised his mug to her before ducking out of the room.
“Here,” Kendra handed her a mug of black coffee, which the blonde proceeded to scoop spoonfuls of sugar into.
“Thanks,” she said. Kendra began to make her way to the door after Jax, when Sara added, “And thanks, for last night.”
The brunette turned around to look at her, “It’s fine. We’re always here for you Sara, you’re part of the team you know.”
And then she hugged her again, and Sara hugged back, because she did know. They were a team.