//.//

"Masako's supposed to marry the Shogun Tokugawa lemitsu," Nate began to explain, ignoring how Callie had scaled the large tree next to the house. She was being deadly serious about looking out for them all, especially as seeing from heights was a better advantage point.

"Yeah, met him. Not a fan," Sara muttered, half of her attention on Nate and the other half keeping a close eye on Callie as she knew the exactly body attitude to look out for if the girl saw anything out of order.

"Well, the reason he sticks out in the history books is because he likes to murder his wives, and I can't leave Masako to his mercy," Nate explained.

"Especially since he stole my ATOM suit," Ray agreed, hoping that Nate wouldn't kick off about that minor detail.

"Exactly. Wait, what? You let the Shogun steal a 21st century super-suit?" Nate yelled, not believing how stupid they were being when they came to rescue him.

"After I crash-landed trying to rescue you!" Ray yelled, fed up of being accused for things as if he was just stupid enough to let them happen.

"How does the Shogun even know how to operate your ATOM suit?" Callie asked, all of them turning to face her in the tree - they had all forgot she was there except from Sara. She looked down, waiting on her answer.

"I designed it so an idiot could use it," Ray said, almost proudly. Callie guessed this kind of made some sense as Felicity had managed to use it that one time to save Oliver but then again the blonde techie wasn't exactly an idiot.

"An idiot does."

"Guys, bottom line is, if the Shogun has the ATOM suit, it's not just Masako and the village we have to protect. He can use it to conquer the whole region," Nate emphasised, and then the rest of the team realised what a mess they had gotten themselves into.

"You said the Shogun's coming for your new girlfriend."

"Uh-huh."

"Easier to defend a village than to attack a castle," Ray pointed out, catching on to Sara's plan of attack.

"But anyone who tries to fight the Shogun will be cut down!" Amaya added her input, Callie being almost hurt in the lack of faith Amaya had in the team's fighting abilities but as she though about it, she didn't blame the woman. When her team had fought theirs, it was apparent they couldn't work as a team.

"Except if that person is made of steel," Sara confirmed.

"About that, I'm having a little problem accessing my powers."

"Sounds like you're having performance issues, and it looks like you're not done training him yet. Now the rest of us need to figure out how we can defend a village," Sara spoke, nodding to Callie who jumped down from the branches of the tree. The team all jumped slightly in surprise but rolled their eyes once they saw it was just Callie again.

"Not me. Wake me up when the action starts," Mick grunted, Amaya scoffing and following the two assassins.

______

Callie held the long sword in her hands as she stood beside Sara. The guards hadn't quite noticed them yet, but they were both ready to fight.

"Rematch?" Sara yelled out, watching them all turn around with their swords also drawn and at the ready for a fight to the death.

"Who is your master?" The main guard asked, eyeing the two girls up and down.

"We have no master," Callie answered, crouching slightly as she prepared to fight them off.

"A ronin. You're not worthy of the effort," he replied, lunging forward.

"We'll see."

The guards sprang forward, throwing themselves at the two girls. Sara was agile and smart about how she attacked, as was Callie during the first few seconds. Swiping her feet and slashing her swords, Sara took out two of the guards at once - turning to see Callie impale another with her sword. Sara smiled, it was just like it had been when they were at Nanda Parbat together all those years ago.

As Sara turned away to continue fighting, Callie looked down at her blade to see the blood coating the sword. It had been a long time since Callie had properly fought anyone, and a longer time since she had killed someone.

Seeing the thick red dripping off her sword changed something in her. Callie had never really felt this out of control when she fought in her life, even when she had came face to face with Darhk after he killed Laurel. She let out a yell, one that Sara was confused by, before hacking and slashing her way through the guards with the sword in her hands.

Amaya appeared, grabbing one of the swords off Sara as she joined in their fight. The three stood back to back, and Amaya spoke but all Callie could hear was the thumping of her own blood travelling through her body, as if she had supinely became hyperaware.

Her eyesight was almost clouded red, a want - no, a need - to kill rumbling from deep inside her that she had never experienced before. She lunged forward, slamming her sword straight through the throat of one of the guards.

Sara and Amaya both shared a worried glance before engaging in combat with other soldiers, trying to ignore the fact that Callie was acting very strange. As the two were backed up against the entrance to the temple, Callie found herself thrown against the gates.

She snarled, almost animalistically, and Sara helped her up - a knowing look in her eye. Using her strength, she pulled Callie back from lunging again as they prayed Mick would arrive.

Just on time, Mick, dressed in a black ninja outfit finished off the last guards as he turned to face the three of them. He tried to ignore Callie, who unlike the other two, was covered in the blood of those she had just killed. There was something about the look in her eye that genuinely frightened him - and he wasn't easily frightened.

Sara suddenly lunged forward, releasing her hold on Callie as she swiped her blade towards the general of the guards. He fell to the ground as their blades clashed, Sara holding up Callie's small knife that she had taken from the girl's pocket while holding her back.

As they all panted, Sara looked to Callie who had snapped out of her daze and was staring at the blood on her hands. She looked up, meeting Sara's gaze, nothing but fear evident on her face.

_____

Callie stood in the bathroom, dabbing at the slash on her forehead with a damp towel as she prepared her needle to stick up the gash that had been reopened during the fight. She didn't want to think about what had happened to her out there, but the second the door opened and closed behind her she knew Sara was here to talk about it.

"Right, what the hell was that?" Sara almost yelled, throwing her hands in the air as she looked at the raven-haired girl. Sara had a gut feeling she knew exactly what it was, but she needed to hear Callie say it.

Callie was silent, turning to face Sara as she placed the needle through the skin on her forehead - hissing slightly as the pain of the piercing hit her. Sara moved forward instantly, grabbing her arm and leading her to sit on the bathroom counter top. The blonde moved in between Callie's legs to get closer to the wound on her head as she took over the stitching. It was common for them to do this after missions with the league, so it was a natural habit for Sara.

"I don't know," Callie admitted, her voice low and raspy from hurting her throat when she had let out that animalistic scream of rage.

"Well, I certainly know what it reminds me of," Sara started, but Callie butted in before she could finish.

"It isn't the lazarus pit bloodlust Sara, I haven't died!" Callie argued back, not knowing why Sara was trying to push the thought of her having died on to her.

Sara continued stitching the girl's head up, not saying a word.

"It's okay," she eventually soothed, allowing the girl to relax around her. Sara placed her two hands on either side of Callie's head, looking her in the eyes.

"I'm with you, no matter what," she rasped, their eyes piercing into each other. Although she was sitting on the counter top, Callie was the same height as Sara standing due to the difference in their heights usually.

The air around them seemed to change slightly, and Callie found her eyes flickering to Sara's lips due to their close contact. Sara noticed, and there was no hesitation in either girl's movements as they met halfway, their lips feriousicly slamming into each other.

Callie used her legs to pull Sara closer, wrapping them around the girl as Sara's hands fell on her neck and waist. The raven-haired girl ran her hands through Sara's hair, her body aching to be closer to the blonde assassin.

Their tongues danced in their mouths, neither feeling the need to come up for air quite yet. Callie moaned, causing Sara to move as close to the dark haired girl as she could.

"SARA! CALLIE!" They sprung apart from each other instantly as they heard the shouts of Ray as he opened the door to the bathroom. Sara turned away so she was facing the mirror, acting as if nothing had ever happened between the two assassins.

"Ray?" Callie asked, her voice raspy from the of air that it had just been deprived from.

Ray, oblivious to what had just happened, smiled widely at the two. He pulled Callie off the counter, pushing her out the door in front of him while dragging Sara behind him as they headed to the captains control panel to take off.

As Callie settled into the seat beside Jax, she noticed the smirk on his face. Ignoring the rest of the team talking she turned to him, narrowing her eyes.

"What?"

"You might want to rub off that bit of Sara's lipstick on your face before anyone notices," Jax said, reaching over and rubbing the mark off the side of her mouth.

Callie was silent, there was nothing she knew to say. Well, maybe one thing.

"Jax, shut up or I'll cut your eyeballs out and feed them to you."