"You know, about that drink...you seemed to really hope it was from me." Sara commented, her and Clarity walking in the dimly lit waverider halls together, just the two of them.
"Would it be such a bad thing if I had been hoping?" Clarity asked brushing a lock of hair behind her ear. "I mean...I know you said you couldn't be with anyone til Dhark was taken care of...but I thought maybe we were close enough that you would be ready maybe... to make a move..." Clarity clutched at her arm. "I was being stupid."
"Make a move? With a limoncello martini?" Sara emphasized, a slight laugh to Sara's voice. Disbelief tinging the assassins tone.
"I know, I know like I said...stupid." Clarity ran her hands down her face. "I was just freaking out cause I was scared of...well it doesn't matter now." Clarity shook her head, waving a hand. "Just forget about it."
"I'd never send you something that sour I know you prefer things to be as sweet as you. And you have to know I'd be way more direct with you than that, Clarity."
"Direct...like how?" Clarity asked, looking to Sara in curiosity. "Like direct as in talking or-"
"Like this." Sara replied spinning to face Clarity, leaning in closing the distance between them. Sara's lips pressing against Claritys, hands feather light on her cheeks before Clarity was blinking her eyes open to look at her when she pulled away, not even really knowing when she'd shut them.
"So...what's your answer?" Sara asked. "Do you think you'll go out with me?"
"I...I think..." Clarity licked her lips a few sparks flying from her fingertips. "I think...I need you to repeat the question." She grabbed a hold of Sara pulling her back in for another kiss. Walking herself back so he could lean against the wall, Sara stepping forwards following. The kiss never breaking.
Clarity's arms wrapped around Sara's neck tangling into her blonde hair, the two's lips crashing together as Sara cupped Clarity's face in between her hands. Clarity's back resting against a cool metal wall of the waverider.
Sara grinned as they broke apart hands wandering down her shoulders, and arms, sliding down to rest on her hips. Her thumbs rubbing light circles against Claritys skin dipping under her shirt.
"If that's the case, let me give you a few more reasons that might help you make up your mind? Would you like that?"
"Yes please..." Clarity nodded, unsure if she'd even spoken the words or breathed them. The assassins lips migrating to Claritys neck, the Glitch tilting her head to the side to give Sara more room to work.
"Sara..."
"Shh." Sara pulled back, looking into Claritys eyes. "It's okay we can have some fun before I get my ans-" Blood spurted from Sara's mouth cutting off whatever the assassin was about to say. A vibrating hand sticking through her chest. Sara stumbled back from Clarity, her hands going to the gaping hole in her chest. Blood staining her fingers as she dropped down to the floor, life draining out of her. Clarity gasping in terror as she looked down at Sara's cold dead eyes.
Clarity shook frozen against the wall as she slowly raked her eyes upwards to stare at the reverse flash. Tears falling from her eyes as she looked at Eobard alive, right in front of her. His whole body vibrating as he stepped over Sara. She couldn't glitch, she couldn't move and just as Eobard was about to kiss her, having boxed her in with his body over her, Clarity woke up. The Glitch's heart racing as her eyes shot open.
She gripped her sheets tightly. The material smoking under her hands burnt by her lightning. What used to be her fuzzy blue blanket already nothing but a blackened dust coating her bed. Her breath came out ragged as she struggled to get her bearings.
"It was just a dream, creator." Gideon spoke up voice gentle, meaning to be comforting.
"It..." Clarity looked around her room seeing nothing but the darkened shadows of her furniture. Her lava lamp providing the room with a comfortable blue glow to light it. "...It was so real.."
"But it wasn't." Gideon assured her. "It was all a nightmare. My records indicate that Eobard Thawne was erased from existence. There is no record of him, or any Thawne. The latest name in that familial line is the man by the name of Eddie Thawne and he as you know, is also deceased."
"I-I know, Sara, where-where is she?" Clarity asked, biting her bottom lip running a hand through her hair.
"Captain Lance is alive and well. Asleep in her room." Gideon informed her. "Is there anything you'd like me to do for you creator? I could fabricate you fresh bedding, or perhaps warm some milk?"
"No, thank you, Gideon." Clarity replied, getting out of bed frowning as she looked at the blackened smoking mark where she'd just been laying, a perfect imprint of her body. "You don't have to do anything, I'm fine. I just...I've got to make sure Sara's okay." Clarity replied and glitched into the Assassins room, she went to go walk over to Sara's bed but she tripped on Sara's bow staff that the assassin had laid against her dresser after some post-mission training. Clarity thudded against the floor as did the bow staff, knocking over a bunch more stuff making a loud enough racket to wake Sara up and get a knife hurled at her.
Clarity squeaked curling herself into a ball covering her head knees pulled up to her chest. A bolt of lightning zapping out to meet the knife, catching it, magnetizing it before it fell harmlessly to the ground.
"Wait, Clarity?" Sara groggily rubbed her eye. Because of course she recognized her lightning crackling, even if the room was dark it light up rather beautifully. Her eyes starting to adjust to the almost entirely pitch black room. "What are you doing in here? It's 2:30 in the morning."
"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you..I tripped, and uh, I had a nightmare and Giddy told me you were fine, but I just I had to make sure..." Clarity's eyebrows scrunched together glitching over to sit at the edge of Sara's bed, to get a closer look,"...t-that you were okay, and um," She hooked her fingers under Sara's chin guiding it to turn her head slightly left and right, her hand dropping away into her lap after a few seconds. "...looks like you're pretty fine, not as in your pretty, but as in you're okay, uh, I mean okay as in you're not hurt, obviously your always attractive even in the middle of the night like this. So, anyways..I'll go now..."
"Hey, hold on a second." Sara caught her arm, fingers gently resting against her skin, less of a grip more of a simple touch but even then Sara could feel the wisps of lightning traveling up and down Claritys skin. "Don't just glitch out on me. It's okay, I'm up now, we can talk about it. You wouldn't have come here if it wasn't bad."
"No," Clarity replied shaking her head. "I don't want to do that. It's better if I just let that dream die. If I let it fade away it's not going to have any power."
"Alright, fine we don't have to talk about the dream." Sara shook her head. "But we do have to talk about all your recent behavior."
"My behavior?" Clarity repeated slowly. "Now?"
"I didn't get a chance to talk to you after we got back. I was planning on finding you tomorrow but since you're already here now's the perfect time. You've been off lately. Don't try to deny it. I've noticed, and it's not just me. Ray has too. To be honest I'm getting worried about you." Sara admitted. "How long have you been having nightmares?"
"There's nothing to worry about, Sara." Clarity protested. "It's late, you should go back to sleep. We can talk about all this later."
"Lately later means never with you." Sara denied.
"I don't want to do this right now." Clarity told her.
"You and I both know your never going to want to, but this is serious. You went awol on the mission we just had, Clarity. We needed you, we were depending on you, and-"
"Sara. Stop." Clarity glitched out of her hold standing up taking a few steps back from the bed. "Please, just stop. I messed up. Okay? I know, I'm sorry. Dhark sent me a drink and it freaked me out and I wish I could explain more, really I do, but I can't. Least of all to you."
"Why not?" Sara asked.
"Because I'm trying to close old wounds not reopen them. If I talk about it then I have to think about it, and that'll make everything so much worse. I know I let you down. The team down earlier at the party and I know I seriously freaked you out, but instead of giving me a lecture like Rip would, or trying to pry some answers out of me that I honestly don't fully have right now.... Will you just trust that I can handle whatever's going on with me? And that if for whatever reason I decide that it's too much for me to sort out alone that I'll come to you?"
"I don't know." Sara admitted. "I trusted you before. I asked you if you were good to go to the party you told me yes, but you weren't. How am I supposed to trust you to tell me if your alright or not if you lie to me about it?"
"I didn't lie. Clarity protested. "I thought I was good and I was... before the drink showed up." Clarity shifted closer to Sara. "Remind me...what color was the speedsters lightning again."
"I told you, it looked Orange." Sara replied.
"Looked or was?" Clarity asked.
"Clarity." Sara looked at her in annoyance.
"Be specific, please, I know it's early but it matters. It's important, Sara. I just...I need to hear you say it again. Exactly like you first said it."
"It was Orange." Sara told her.
"Orange..." Clarity breathed sounding relieved. "Not red...orange.. and you're sure it was orange?"
"I don't know, it might've been." Sara sighed tiredly.
"You don't know? Sara you just said it was-"
"I don't know, Clarity, he blasted by me so fast I didn't even really see the color, My hair went in my eyes I blinked and Dhark was gone. Isn't orange the only color it could have been?"
"No," Clarity denied, "No, I've seen other colors, Barry's is orange yes but, Zoom's is or was blue and there was one...Why did you say it was orange if you didn't know? I told you this was important!"
"Truth? I thought if I didn't tell you a color you were going to freak out on me again and break my arms."
"I never meant to use my strength on you like that. Once I start I forget to redirect the lightning flow back to normal. It doesn't feel much different than normal really, well until I touch anything that's not me." Clarity frowned looking down at her hands.
"Hey, I didn't mean like on purpose." Sara clarified. "I know you'd never mean to hurt me, but you were so worked up, I didn't think you'd take I don't know for an answer."
"If it wasn't orange that changes everything, or maybe it doesn't change anything...look about handling it myself trust me, don't trust me, I don't care right now. I...I need to go lay down before my mind starts spinning." Clarity stood up again heading fit the door.
"You don't have to go back to your room." Sara called after her. "I know what an empty room feels like after a nightmare, all dark and shadowy, especially on this ship. Stay, it's okay. I've got plenty of bed space to share. I'll even turn on a night light for you." Sara reached over turning on a small light.
"I can't," Clarity denied shaking her head looking back over her shoulder. "My powers... I can't control them when I'm sleeping. I could set your sheets on fire, or worse burn you. I already hurt you accidentally with my powers earlier."
"And Gideon fixed me up good as new. She will again if that happens. I'll take the risk if you will." Sara held out her hand, already scooted over so Clarity could crawl in.
"I'm sorry," Clarity turned away continuing for the door careful to avoid the staff this time. "I'm not ready to risk anything, not tonight."
Clarity went back to her room climbed back in her ash riddled bed and fell asleep again. The next morning she ate her breakfast alone in her room, changed into day clothes, and was summoned to the parlour for a team meeting.
"What's with bad guys and ancient amulets?" Nate complained dropping the amulet down on the circular table.
"Any idea why Darhk wants this?" Ray asked turning to Sara.
"All I know is, it's never a good idea when your nemesis starts accessorizing." Sara shook her head eyes flicking to Clarity as the assassin paced around the table. "Or when he orders any drinks for your girl."
"He wanted to get me out of the White House," Clarity frowned. "Distract me from sensing the bomb, Maybe even his accomplice. Still don't know how I fell for it or how he'd know that it would work."
"I know I'm not the expert on him but doesn't that seem a little too smart for Dhark?" Ray wondered.
"Yes, but don't forget he's had years to investigate us. Just as Savage had done with his immortality. Perhaps he saw Clarity back in the forties." Stein suggested.
"And he's teamed up with a Speedster." Jax complained, Clarity flinching at the very word. The brief assurance she'd gotten from Sara now nothing but false hope that had already withered away. "He could be the brains of the operation. Wouldn't take long for him to speed to the future and do a google search."
"What's a Speedster?" Amaya asked, the term foreign to her.
"Someone with super speed. That's how Darhk escaped." Ray told her.
"The energy of the Speed Force grants the Speedster Chronokinesis, temporal manipulation." Stein added.
"English, Professor." Mick requested.
"It means that his running real fast, lets him time travel." Sara dumbed it down for him.
"He's basically the Flash." Clarity told Mick knowing he'd understand that much.
"More like the reverse of him." Jax corrected, with a little chuckle and the screen behind Clarity cracked and sparked. It's surface glitching.
"I'll be in my room." Mick got up out of his chair, figuring Clarity wasn't going to be far behind and the arsonist was right. Clarity glitching to his side in seconds having made some excuse of needing to get more sleep.
"Hey, Mick, you...you know a lot about time travel, yeah?" Clarity rushed after him. "Like you've still got a lot of time master knowledge rattling around up there?"
Mick grunted in reply, which was basically a yes from the arsonist. "Spit it out, Sparky. You've got til I get my beer."
"Okay, uh, If...If someone were to get erased from existence....like...like an ancestor shoots themselves so they're never born then there's no coming back from that right?" Clarity asked him. "You can't unerase yourself?"
"No," Mick replied. "If you get yourself erased you can't undo it yourself."
"But someone else could?" Clarity asked.
"Maybe, depends on a few things." Mick replied as they walked into the kitchen.
"Things like...?" Clarity prodded further.
"If your involved in any fixed points. Like the Englishman always said time wants to happen, but once that points completed life'll snuff you out again. It'll kill you once it's done. It would let you exist in that single moment. A remnant of the original to keep the timeline in tact."
"What else? You said things plural." Clarity pressed, eyes wide and searching the lights in the kitchen starting to flicker. Life can't snuff you if it can't find you, or rather the speedforce in a speedsters case. Was it possible for a speedster to outrun death? Could a remnant of Thawne have escaped from a fixed point somehow? Time travel's tricky, but no that would mean someone had to bring him back, change a fixed point, and no one would be stupid enough to do that.
"If your erased in your own time or not. Could slow the effects if you aren't in your own time." Mick shrugged grabbing his beer.
"Thanks Mick." Clarity told him, knuckles rapping on the counter tiny lightning bolts striking the surface. "That helps."
She turned to walk out of the kitchen and ran right into Jax and Stein.
"Ah good Clarity, perhaps you could assist me in persuading Jefferson to keep his mouth shut." Stein looked sharply to Jax.
"We're dealing with a Speedster here. How long we gonna keep this secret from them, Grey?" Jax protested. "Come on, future Barry's message."
"Yes, I know what you're talking about, Jefferson. As does Clarity. And we have been through this. Barry implored us not to share any info..." Stein cut himself off with a pained gasp.
"Stein.." Clarity stepped closer reaching out to steady him. A bit scared he would topple to the floor with how he was holding his head.
"You okay?" Jax asked.
"I'm fine, it's just... Just a headache." Stein replied straightening up.
"That didn't look like a headache," Clarity protested. "Maybe you should go to the medbay."
"In old age head pains can be more severe than what you younger people experience." Stein replied.
"You would tell me if something was up, right? 'Cause if we start keeping things from each other..." Jax began.
"I just need to rest. Saving history can be extremely wearing on the body." Stein replied breaking away heading toward his room.
"He'll be fine, Steins tough." Clarity assured Jax.
"Yeah, but that was weird. I'm gonna go see if I can get him to tell me what's up." Jax replied walking off in the direction Stein had gone.
"Hey, I thought you were getting more sleep." Sara paused in the hall.
"I was, but I think I'm probably too tired too now. Sorry about the monitor, I'll fix it." Clarity told her.
"I don't care about some monitor, Clarity. I care about you. If you need to take a step back from team meetings, missions, all of it for a little while I'm telling you that you can, and that it's okay if you do, but it's either you go or you don't. I can't expect to rely on you out there and have you do stuff if you aren't okay to do any of it. I need you with me in the present, not miles away in the past."
"I don't need to be benched, Sara." Clarity promised. "We're four legends down already. There's no need to make it five. I'm with you."
"Alright, well I was just going to check on Nate and his amulet progress. Coming?" Sara asked her.
"Yeah," Clarity nodded following after her, walking into the library. Nate sitting at the desk, Amaya and Ray already in the room.
"Nate, what do we know about it?" Amaya asked arms crossed.
"I'm thinking this amulet dates back to Late Antiquity and is Judeo-Christian in origin." Nate informed the four of them.
"Great." Ray grinned but noticed the look on Nate's face. "Is... is that great?"
"Well, I can't find a reference of it anywhere. Like, none." Nate replied. "Historically speaking, this doesn't exist."
"Well, this is right in front of us, so I'd say it does exist." Sara picked it up and dropped the item down again.
"And we know that Damien Darhk and the Speedster are willing to kill for it." Amaya added, Clarity resisting her urge to flinch not wanting to risk the library monitor.
"Sounds like you got some more homework to do." Sara told Nate.
"Have fun studying." Clarity tapped her fingers on Nate's desk, and Nate cleared his throat in reply. He was on thin ice with Clarity, he knew that. What with their talk about gender equality back in the civil war, and everything that happened in Japan, not to mention she wouldn't train him anymore and the action was all he could do to bite his tongue.
"What?" Sara asked having caught Nate's attempt to control his outburst.
"I-I just thought, becoming a superhero, I would spend less time in the library than my old job. That's all." Nate admitted.
"It doesn't sound like that's all. What did you think it was going to be? Twenty four seven punching bad guys?" Clarity asked, Nate shifting uncomfortably not meeting her eyes. "Doing what we do is not just playing dress up and kicking the stuffing out of people. It's strategizing, and planning and solving things before a problem grows. It's work and research like this."
"Yeah? If it's work then why'd you get to clock out on me?" Nate asked, finally looking her way. "What the hell happened to training me out of respect for my grandfather? And why do I have to research all this on my own? Why is it that you won't ever seem to help me? All you ever do since I've gotten my powers is yell at me and scold me like I'm some kid."
"Clarity's done more than enough research since we all got recruited on this ship. As far as training goes her new powers are way more dangerous than yours. She can't shirk her own training to help you when your powers aren't a threat to anyone." Sara looked to Clarity. "No offense."
"None taken, at least someone on this ship takes powers seriously." Clarity curled and uncurled her fingers. Watching the lightning dance in her palms.
"Might as well not even have my powers, if all you guys are going to have me do is focus on my research skills." Nate complained. Not expecting the captain to take Claritys side so quickly. What did she have her wrapped around her finger?
"Well, research skills are a kind of superpower. And you can turn to steel. So you got two." Ray attempted to cheer his buddy up.
"Saved by the Aberration." Nate breathed out in relief, just as the timequake seismograph went off.
"Oh, what's the Trouble Alert say?" Ray asked in excitement.
"Look, I told you, don't call it that." Sara told Ray.
"He meant the abberation speculation creation." Clarity corrected glitching over to peer at the chart.
"Or that." Sara replied sounding stern.
"A.S C.?" Amaya smiled walking over.
"Maybe, I'll consider that one." Sara replied.
"The timequake's epicenter is Liberty, Colorado, 1874." Nate scooped up the glorified iPad.
"Yes!" Clarity squealed hopping up and down in excitement.
"Hah!" Ray cheered as Clarity and him shared a double high five. Their hands linking together, Ray giving her a twirl and then let go of her hand. "Back to the Wild West."
"You guys were in the Old West?" Nate asked in surprise.
"Yeah, town made me a Sheriff." Ray
"That's cool." Nate grinned.
"And I saved a whole herd of horses." Clarity smiled to herself. "And I was this close to doing a quick draw."
"That's cooler." Nate grinned even more.
"All right, well, I will go tell Jax and Stein. Who wants to tell Rory?" Sara asked the group.
"Not it." Nate and Ray chorused walking out of the room together.
"What?" Amaya asked in confusion.
"Sorry, Amaya. I would, but I have to go tweak my outfit. Can't wear the exact same thing to an era twice in a row." Clarity replied before she was glitching to the fabricator to get ready.
"Okay. I'll do it." Amaya sighed arms crossed marching out of the room to get Mick Rory.
✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
And that's chapter 12! So as you may have noticed this is not the complete episode nor is it on time as I planned it to be. So sorry about that you know I'm trying. This was a pretty busy week school wise for me. However, I'm going back home on Friday so I may be able to finish up the rest of the Wild West chapter then!! (Fingers crossed everybody) But tbh I'm not entirely sure if that'll pan out, but either way expect an update of watching the legends, watching Claritys origins, and Glitch book 2 on Monday the 23rd!!
Monday November 23rd! All three of those books will be updated, spam me with reminders on that day just to be on the safe side and You shall get your chapters haha. And now here are the questions!!! Don't forget to answer them! They mean a lot to me you know!!
1. What are you excited to see in the invasion crossover chapters?
2. What are you hoping will happen next chapter?
3. What did you think of Claritys bad dream?
4. What do you think Claritys Wild West outfit is going to look like this time?
5. What do you think Clarity wants and needs in a relationship and why do you think (the character your shipping her with) can give her that?
6. Any thoughts on what legends friendships with Clarity you'd like to see develop?
7. What do you think is going to happen when Clarity finds out Barry was stupid enough to mess with a fixed point and let Thawne exist once more?
8. What are some things that you wish I did more?
9. Has there been anything that surprised you so far in this story?
10. Do you miss Snart and Todd?
11. Finish this sentence, "The dominators..."
12. How are you doing? I know the world is crazy right now.
13. Anything else you'd like to ask, rant or tell me!