I started this before "I,Ava" aired so this will be canon divergent and time skipped a few months after Sara and Ava's first date.

Enjoy

"Gary!"

He cringed. Sara's footsteps were gaining on him quickly, so he couldn't run away now. Not that he could outrun her anyway. She was an assassin. And his last girlfriend said he had two left feet. Gary turned around and tried to smile, hoping it didn't look as pained as it felt on his face.

"Captain Lance-" He clamped his mouth shut the moment Sara latched on to the lapels of his jacket. "Good to see you, too."

"Cut the shit, Gary. What happened?" Sara asked, tightening her grip. His eyes flickered down for a moment and she knew he was resisting a comment about how back his dry cleaning was going to be with having to deal with her. First time they really were intimately introduced she had a gun pointed at him.

"There may have been a bit of a minor mishap on a mission."

"Your definition of minor always gives me a headache. Where's Ava?"

Gary lifted his hand pointing a finger in the opposite direction and muttered a sheepish, "That way." Sara released him without a word and made her way to the infirmary. He followed hesitantly while also trying to figure out what Ava would want to do next.

"…the hell?" Sara looked around the infirmary finding several agents injured and groaning about it – or totally out cold. Her eyes scanned the room and she briskly moved her feet until she was next to Ava who looked just as bad as the rest of them. She slipped her hand into the Director's and was meant with a playfully exasperated stare. "Ava …"

"Ugh. Gary," Ava groaned.

"Sorry. But you did tell me that if something were to happen …she's your emergency contact. Looked like an emergency to me."

"Thank you, Gary," Sara said. He nodded, finally letting an easy grin appear on his face before he turned on his heel to leave.

She turned back to her…they still working on what exactly they were. It'd been months since their first date. They were both skipping around the subject of if they were girlfriends or something else? They were open about dating and spending every non-working free time with each other, but Ava was Sara's …? And Sara was Ava's …?

"I thought I'd be prettier before you got here," Ava joked.

"This isn't funny. You're hurt."

"I'm fine. It's just a few bruises."

She attempted to wave her off, but Sara wasn't having it in her over-protective, concerned state. The captain looked at the doctor standing on the other side of Ava looking over several pages on a clipboard. He removed his eyes slowly from the paper.

"What is her actual diagnosis?" Sara asked. "Dr. …?"

"Dr. Lake." He extended his hand to Sara and was quickly surprised by her grip. He flexed his hand and then flipped back to the first page. "Director Sharpe has a fair amount of injuries. Second degree sprain in her right ankle, six broken ribs, and there's a serious break in her left arm. So, we're scheduled for surgery as soon as possible. And then there's the obvious contusions on the right side of the face."

"Holy shit …" Sara swiped her hand across her face and shook her head.

Ava sighed as her hand fell from the other woman's. "Sara-"

"What the hell happened? Who did this?"

"Would you believe me if I said it was a gorilla?" Ava asked.

"Grodd. I finally get rid of Damien and Mallus …"

"I'm fine, Sara. You can be upset later."

"I really should get her to surgery," Dr. Lake said.

"Fine," Sara grumbled. She leaned down and carefully kissed Ava's forehead. "I'll be here when you wake up. Right now I'm going to call animal control."

"You mean that giant monkey kicked the time bureau's ass again?" Mick asked, halfway through a Rueben sandwich with a beer in his other hand. He laughed as he usually did and Amaya smacked him on the arm, as she usually did.

"Shut up, Mick." Sara pinched the bridge of her nose. The tension coming off her was palpable through the video feed. "Look, Ava's in surgery and all the agents that went with her are incapacitated. So, we need tranquilize this bastard and get him the hell back where he needs to be before we have another dozen time bureau funerals to go to."

"So, we're chasing down a gorilla when exactly?" Nate asked.

"My conversation with Director Sharpe didn't have much detail," Sara said, "Gideon."

"It appears after Mallus' demise, Gorilla Grodd found himself in China 1496," Gideon answered.

"Oh, Ming Dynasty. I need to get my tunic." Ray's eyes lit up at Nate's mention of clothes.

"Although Director Sharpe encountered Gorilla Grodd in Los Angeles, California in 1999."

"How did he get from the Ming Dynasty to Y2K and Woodstock 99?"

"That's what you and Ray can figure out," Sara said, "Wally has experience with Gorilla Grodd and that's your best bet at taking him down and returning him back to where he belongs."

"Aye, Captain." Wally nodded and gave her an enthusiastic salute.

"Where exactly does he belong?" Zari asked.

"Present day, Gorilla City on Earth Two," Amaya answered.

"Right, so, Amaya you're in charge for this mission. Mick …don't get too hammered."

"No promises, boss," Mick said, walking away.

"Wait you're not coming with us?" Wally asked.

"No, I …I promised Ava I would be there when she wakes up. Plus, we need to know everything that happened to her team, so we can avoid it."

"We'll see you after our victory." Nate and Ray started to leave the room. "Time for cross colors and bucket hats," Ray said in the distance, sounding too excited to be focused on the mission.

"Two things guys regret wearing in the 90s." Sara sighed. Zari and Wally started made their exit shortly after Nate and Ray disappeared. Zari started up a conversation with Gideon about the details of the time period. "I need them focused."

"I will be totally focused …after a pitstop in the kitchen. I'm really hungry." Wally left, Sara shaking her head after him. She understood why he ate ten times as much as Mick but it was still unreal how much he could consume in one sitting. His high metabolism has also led to some very unsavory eating contests.

"Don't worry I'll keep them in line." Amaya folded her arms across her chest. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine …just ready to officially put Damien, Mallus, and wannabe King Kong out of my mind," Sara said.

"You said Ava was in surgery. How bad is it?"

"Her arm is broken. She's going to be okay." Sara turned her eyes to where Gary and Rip were talking down the hallway. "But she looked pretty bad …exhausted."

"We'll get Grodd," Amaya said. Sara only seemed to grow more tense. "I promise we will."

"I know but …I just-"

"You're worried about her." The blonde nodded. "Go. I'll keep you updated."

"Thanks, Amaya."

Amaya tipped her head in acknowledgement and Sara closed the connection. Sara tucked her thumbs into her back pocket. Hopefully, the surgery was going fine. And hopefully Grodd would soon be marked off her list of problems.

Sara stretched out in the chair, letting out a yawn. However little the anachronisms have been they were frequent and ridiculous enough to cut into her sleep time. Per Ava's request her and the team would tackle a few of the low level anachronisms and those popped up more frequently than she expected.

Although, most of the stress of Ava being hurt is what was draining. Of course, she couldn't even imagine how the other woman was feeling after her ordeal.

Her head bobbed as she fought off the urge to take a cat nap just as Dr. Lake came down the hallway. She stood up immediately with Gary and Rip coming from the end of the hallway to meet them.

"How is she?" Rip asked before Sara could get the words out.

"Obviously very sore." Dr. Lake looked between the trio. Rip and Sara didn't look to be too responsive to any jokes and Gary – now temporary Director – was seconds from pulling his hair out with stress. He'd been hiding out in this part of the building since Ava and her team had come in. "The surgery went well but her arm was broken in two places. This injury isn't to be taken lightly."

"Will she be able to use her arm again?" Sara questioned, clenching her fists at her sides.

"Yes, but I see physical therapy in the director's future."

"We can she leave?"

"I see no reason why she couldn't go home in the morning."

Sara nodded, not liking the prospect of Ava having to enduring months of therapy to get back the usefulness of her arm again. Part of it was for selfish reasons. Ava was her … They'd have to discuss that soon. It wasn't good to draw a blank on what to call the woman she was sleeping with …and going on dates with and sharing a Netflix account with. That aside, sex and cuddling were definitely going to be more difficult and Ava would be easily frustrated by those two things alone.

She pulled herself from her inner thought as Rip questioned Dr. Lake and interrupted them. "Can I see her?" She asked. Rip paused, and Dr. Lake nodded, sensing it was best not to deny that woman the opportunity to see Director Sharpe.

Three sets of eyes stayed on her back until she disappeared through the door of Ava's room. Sara closed the door behind her, making sure to be quiet. Considering the lights were dim and the room was silent, it was safe to assume Ava was groggy and more than likely very irritable as the anesthesia wore off.

Ava pried an eye open and was relieved to see Sara. A small, tired smile graced her lips.

"Hey," Sara greeted. She leaned down and gently kissed Ava on the lips. "Welcome back."

"I can think of a million different ways I'd rather wake up," Ava said. Sara brushed her fingers against her own and kept her eyes glued to the arm that was now as numb as it's ever felt. She entwined their fingers, running her thumb over the two rings of Sara's thumb.

"Hey, look at me." At the command, Sara tore her eyes away to meet a pair of bright blues. Ava had the full-on Princess Charming, perfect, iceberg blue that could literally ensnare anyone. They got Sara every time. "I'm okay."

"You could've died …" Ava squeezed her hand to pull her away from the dark thoughts the crossed her mind. "I hate to bring work into this, but I need to know what happened."

"I don't want a debrief right now."

"Aves, we need to do this now before my team gets the crap beaten out of them, too."

"How did this happen?"

"I don't remember much. I just know that when he looked at me, everything went to shit. He knew every move and when I had to retreat, Grodd really had a ball. The rendezvous was a couple blocks away, so we commandeered a few vehicles in the area." Ava sighed feeling frustrated at how wrong the mission went. "I was the last and Grodd tossed my car into the other agents and then I woke up in the infirmary."

"Psychic stuff is still in play," Sara muttered, "Wally is literally our only hope right now."

"He's a good kid. I'm sure you all will do just fine."

"You're authorizing this mission?"

"It's not like I have much of a choice. As Director I need to have Grodd back where he belongs. I'm sure there are at least a dozen headlines from LA Times about a gorilla attack in '99 by now."

"I'll ask Gideon later. Right now, my priority is you. I have Amaya heading this mission."

"No," Ava shook her head, attempting to sit up. Her waist was on fire at the slightest movement, but she reduced a potential moan of pain to a wince. It earned a disapproving look from Sara. "I'm fine. You need to be there."

"No, I'm here with you. You know Amaya. If anything ever happened to where I couldn't be captain anymore Amaya would easily be the obvious choice to take my place."

"Every legend has to be on that mission."

"Every legend that needs to be there is there."

"Sara-"

"I'm here with my director."

"Your director, your boss, is telling you your ass needs to be on the Waverider."

"No," Sara said with a smirk.

"I will fire you, Captain Lance."

"You won't. My defiance is the reason why you like me so much. You play by the rules and I don't, that's why we work so well together."

"You're going to give me ulcers," Ava said.

"No, that's Gary's job." Sara kissed her lips and Ava winced. She removed her lips and moved them to her nose. "Better?"

"Moderately. It'd be better if you went on the mission like I said."

"Not a chance. I'm taking you home in the morning and making sure you stay there."

"Welcome back, Captain Lance," Gideon greeted as Sara stepped onto the Waverider. Ava had been reluctant for weeks after she became head of the bureau to give any of the legends a time courier but obviously now she could see the advantages – and was willing to overlook how often Sara used it for midnight visits.

"How's it going, Gideon …team still intact?" Sara asked, noticing it was strangely quiet as she walked to her room.

"As intact as it can be, Captain."

"Give me an update, please."

"Dr. Heywood and Dr. Palmer have been changing in and out of what's considered the worst fashion of the 1990s for the past 30 minutes."

"Big surprise."

Sara shook her head, entering her room. She pulled her rarely used duffle bag from under her bed and unzipped it. Her plan was just to make sure Ava settled in okay at her apartment. Packing a bag was a precaution …just in case. The team should be back at least within 24 hours, maybe a little longer because it's Grodd they're dealing with.

"Mr. West, Mr. Rory, and Miss Tomaz are in the middle of a post dinner snack …"

"No one told me being a superhero involved so much grocery shopping," Sara muttered. She shoved a pair of jeans into the bag. "And where's Amaya?"

"Standing outside your door."

Sara spun around as her door opened, Amaya stepping inside with her arms folded over her chest with a judging expression already in place. She went back to packing again, tossing a tube of lotion into the bag from over her shoulder.

"Going somewhere?" Amaya asked.

"While you guys are on the mission, I'm going to make sure Ava gets settled at her apartment. She's stubborn and probably going to find every way possible to be at work."

"Sounds like someone else I know." Amaya looked down at the scarce amount of packing Sara was doing. "She's head of the Bureau you can't blame her. It's a lot of responsibility."

"That also translates to a lot of stress. She's going to need physical therapy after her arm is healed."

"Which sounds like you should be there a little longer than a day."

"I can't afford to do that. Gary is already in charge of the Bureau and he's going to be overwhelmed and balding after the first two days."

"It's not that bad."

"He's been hiding out in the hallway of Ava's room since the surgery."

"Okay that sounds bad but …honestly this is the perfect opportunity to get a break. You need one."

"I do not."

"You do. You work all the time. Take some time off as captain to take care of your girlfriend." Amaya knew that word scared the shit out of both women for no reason. She didn't understand why when that's exactly what they were to each other unless they were ready to skip that step and just get married already.

"Girlfriend? We haven't-"

"Talked about it? I know," Amaya said, sitting down on the bed. "Sara you are in a committed relationship with Ava. Before her, you'd have at least one hook up every other mission and now you don't even notice when anyone is giving you looks. What do you think that means?"

"I suppose it means we're in something serious."

"Serious enough to put a title on it."

"You know what …this is beside the point. I'm not taking time off. Leaving this team alone for too long could mean a lot of not needed things happening."

"If you're so worried about something going wrong, I don't have much problem with you putting Rip in charge instead."

Sara looked up at her and frustration was already there. Amaya just shrugged. She knew Sara trusted her enough to take care of everything but if Rip was there was no way for her to worry so much as she did. No one ever argued with Sara and won, except for Ava. And Amaya.

The woman smirked in triumph as Sara yanked open a drawer pulling out enough clothes suitable for staying a bit longer at her girlfriend's apartment in a semi-normal city.