//.//

Callie groaned as Sara rolled off her as they heard another bang echo down the corridors of the ship. Both girls sat up, dropping their weapons as they grabbed on to the towels that had been sitting at the side of the training mat.

It had been a while since they had been able to work on their league techniques but since their confession it was rare for the team to find them apart from each other, whether it was even just eating breakfast together or sitting in silence in the captains office while Sara plotted and Callie read, they were yet to be seen apart.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" Sara yelled after they joined Jax who was also heading to determine the source of the noise problem. Callie would of loved to say that she was surprised to find Nate and Ray causing it, but she wasn't.

"Uh, s... sparring?" Nate decided, although he was seemingly unsure of actually wanting to admit to it.

"Yeah, he's helping me calibrate the new suit!" Ray was more enthusiastic, clearly not thinking about what he had done the last time they were there.

"Last time y'all decided to spar, you wrecked my cargo bay!" Jax argued back, pointing out that they had literally been faced with diving through time and space to try to actually find them. The boys humbly groaned as Sara, Callie and Jax began to move away.

They laughed, continuing to fight as Sara poked her head back around the corner of the room.

"Hey! Don't make me come down here again!"

Callie began to drag her away when they heard the two mimicking the three of them from inside the cargo bay. Callie titled her head slightly as she thought about the men thinking that they were able to make fun of her without her involvement.

"Don't you make me come down here again. I'm gonna come down here again, I'm watching you!"

"Hey!" Callie yelled, walking in and causing them both to jump backwards with their hands in the air. Nate jumped considerably more than Ray as he was certainly more afraid of the girl than he cared to admit, causing him to stumble backwards and fall over one of the weapon boxes that littered the area.

"What is going on with them?" Jax asked the two assassins as they headed back to the bridge, fed up of trying to make the scientist and historian try to come to their senses.

"You don't have any brothers or sisters, do you?" Sara asked Jax with a slight chuckle as she recognised the behaviour between the men so clearly. It was something that she had witnessed before - in Oliver and Thea, Callie and Tommy and even in herself and Laurel.

"Nope."

"Sibling rivalry," Callie informed Jax, a small tug at her heart as she thought about how her and Tommy used to argue like crazy just due to their rivalry. It was something that she would always cherish.

"Nothing to be too worried about," Sara decided, before a loud smash interrupted their thoughts. The three all sighed as they thought about having to fix the cargo bay again.

"This is why I'm glad I'm an only child."

___

"I think I need to go home."

The words didn't surprise Sara, she had known that they would be coming soon. While the Waverider had grown to be a home for her, it would never really be Callie's home. Sara turned to look at the girl, seeing the way she was twiddling her fingers around each other - something she only really did when she was extremely nervous.

"I understand," Sara whispered back, her throat tightening slightly at being separated from Callie again. It had been a while now since they had been apart, but she knew that especially after their confession they would make it through the time spent away.

"You do?" Callie asked, confusion lacing her voice as they walked towards the bridge. Sara smiled and nodded, pausing at the entrance to the bridge to press her lips gently against Callie's.

"The waverider might be my home now, but it's not yours."

Callie smiled, lightly kissing her back as Sara grabbed her hand gently and pulled her into the bridge to discuss the latest mission that Nate's device had detected for them all.

"I've always wanted to visit the roaring '20s right in the middle of Prohibition," Nate exclaimed, very excited to finally get to visit another one of his childhood fantasies.

"That means no drinking. That's not good," Mick grunted, shoving past Callie as he went to sit down on one of the chairs. The girl smiled slightly, not taking offence to his usual grumpy attitude as she moved closer to Sara's side.

She caught Jax winking at her, making her blush as she remembered the boy reminding her that he could hear everything that her and Sara had recently been getting up to. It was safe to say that Callie was certainly embarrassed by the revelation.

"Well, actually under Capone, Chicago was a hot bed of vice. There was illegal drinking, gambling, prostitution," Nate continued, listing off all of the illegal activities that had been happening in the town during the time. Callie had to hold back a laugh as she saw Mick perk right back up at the sound of the events.

"Well, then, let's fire up a tub and get there." He exclaimed, raising his beer to the sky as he considered all three of the potential things he could do. Everyone paused, shooting the man a look of disgust before Sara clapped and turned back to the team with a grin spread across her face.

"Grab your fedoras, we're going to the 1920s. First, however, we better drop Callie back before she steals the drop-ship herself."

____

Callie watched as the Waverider took off, a smile on her face as she watched her friends leave. Sure, it was maybe not the best decision she had ever made but it was a responsible one. She couldn't work as a team until she had got her head back on straight.

Besides, she was excited to surprise Oliver. While she loved travelling with the woman she loved, there had been an Oliver Queen shaped hole in her heart recently. The man had truly changed since they were younger and it was certainly refreshing to her.

Walking away from the empty industrial area that they had dropped her off in, she reached into her pocket to grab her phone. If she gave Felicity a call, she was sure the woman would be able to send Diggle or one of the others to come and pick her up.

Just as she went to press call, she was spotted in her tracks at the appearance of a familiar black car pulling up in her path. Her jaw dropped slightly as she lowered the phone, never having expected this to happen after everything she had been through.

"Callie? We need to talk."

____

"How did we get here?" Sara asked, trying to push against the ropes that were wrapped around her and secured her to the wooden chair.

"It appears our speedster friend got the better of us," Stein told her, a hint of sadness in his voice as he realised that he wouldn't be able to get out of the ropes that bound him either.

"And he wasn't working alone," Sara noted, knowing exactly who the speedster was working with. She was glad Callie had left a day prior, for she wasn't sure what the bloodlust in her would of done at being captured by the man and finding out the new information.

"Yes. Damien Darhk, a rather predictable bedfellow for Al Capone."

"And don't forget about me," a familiar voice rang through the room. Stein and Sara looked up, seeing none other than Malcolm Merlyn smiling back at them as he entered. "It's been a long time, Sara. You look good for someone who's come back from the dead," he noted, a smirk rising on his face as he saw the sneer spread across her lips.

"Why am I not surprised that you and Damien Darhk would find each other? What do you want with us?" She asked, glaring at the man who was the father of her lover. She was glad that Callie never followed in her father's footsteps despite his original intentions for the girl when introducing her to the league.

"You have something we need, and while my partners think I'm a fool for trying, I would like to broker a deal with you. You have in your possession an amulet. Give it to me, and I will give you nine years of your life back," Malcolm continued, knowing exactly how this would all play out. He knew Sara wasn't going to take the deal, but their plan required him to act like he expected it to work.

"What are you talking about?" The blonde asked, confused on what he was talking about. Nine years of her life?

"Oh, maybe Oliver and Callie didn't tell you, but I was the one who arranged to blow up the Queen's Gambit," he laughed, Sara feeling a small hint of betrayal at Callie not having informed her that it was her dad's fault everything had happened to her. She thought back to being dragged out of the boat and into the cold icy water before returning her focus to the man. "That was the day everything changed for you, Sara, hundreds of dominos toppling. Dr. Ivo, Slade Wilson, the League of Assassins, Callie turning on you, losing your sister," he listed, before Sara saw right through him and interrupted.

"And you losing your son."

"We both get clean slates!" He yelled back, really pushing his performance on to the girl.

There was a pause in the air for a moment before Sara recalled what he had said, and paused. "Callie never turned on me," she muttered, her eyebrows furrowing as she looked back up to Malcolm who was grinning wickedly at her.

"Why don't you just ask your speedster friend to take you back in time?" Stein asked, confused as to the exchange that was happening between the two. Sara didn't like to speak about her past often.

"Because Malcolm's just his errand boy, sent to retrieve the amulet. Why is it so important? What do you mean by Callie turning on me?" Sara yelled, getting fed up of Malcolm wasting the time they were sharing. She didn't realise that was all a part of their plan, but he was enjoying it.

"What does it matter? I'm giving you and your sister a chance to live normal lives. To go back, maybe go to college, meet a nice boy, or a girl, and settle down!"

"No thank you. I was never meant for those things, and I know that now. And besides, you can't just go back and change things like that."

"Why not?" Malcolm laughed.

"Because time is sacred, and it can't be changed to suit any one person's desire without harming the lives of countless others."

"But you wouldn't remember any of this, would you? You would be blissfully unaware of time travel, of loss, of heartbreak. You'd be happy, and isn't that what matters most in the end?"

"Hey, Malcolm. I'll take a nightmare that's real over a dream that's a lie."

Malcolm turned to leave, before he remembered he hadn't actually told her what she meant by mentioning Callie.

"Callie never loved you Sara, it was all a lie," Malcolm sneered, knowing that his words would ultimately hurt Sara more than any physical torture could. The blonde shook her head as she narrowed her eyes.

"You're lying!" She argued, pushing herself against the restraints as she was wanting to deliver a solid blow to his face for even uttering the words.

"You never really loved her though, did you? So I guess it's okay then, that she left your ship to come and join her father," Malcolm continued, pushing on her buttons. "How did you think we've known where you would be all this time? She told us."

Sara went to argue back, but she wasn't sure what to say. "What are you wanting me to say Merlyn? That I never loved her? We both know I would be lying!" She yelled, watching as his sickly grin turned into a pleased smile at her words.

"Thank you Miss Lance, that's exactly what I needed to hear."

Sara and Stein watched in confusion as the man left the room without another word.

____

"Camilla, oh little Camilla," Darhk laughed, moving closer to the girl who was strapped to the wooden plank in the dimly lit room.

Callie blinked, her eyes trying to adjust to the dim light that filled the room she was contained in.

"I think you'll want to be awake for this."