I cut a bit from a WIP because it didn't fit... but the idea was so fun that I couldn't let it go. It demanded to be written. Set in a world post-season-3 premiere.

For larielromeniel . (Thanks as well for the beta!)

Sara doesn't need much sleep, really.

It's just one of many useful skills she'd taken from the League of Assassins. She can stay awake for more than a day with no loss of concentration, no loss of those other abilities, all the better to track a mark and eliminate them if necessary. She'd picked up those techniques well and quickly, and frankly, she's always been quite proud of them.

But even she will admit she's pushing it right now.

"How long has it been since you slept?"

Sara starts awake even as her chin starts to slide off her left fist, where she'd propped it while studying Gideon's records and the time charts. Collecting herself...and trying to pretend she hadn't nodded off...she peers at the tall figure that's leaning against the doorway to the room.

"I'm fine," she tells him, purposely not answering the question. "Looking for the next likely connection. Has to be done."

Leonard ambles farther into the room, laser-sharp gaze focused on her, and she's pretty damned sure she's not fooling him at all. He doesn't say another word, but she snaps back anyway, weary and defensive.

"I have to keep looking," she tells him, perhaps just a bit too sharply. "These anachronisms...they're our fault. And Rip's Time Mas...Time Bureau is never going to take us seriously..." Let us keep the ship... "...if we don't clean up our mess."

Normally, the mention of Rip and the Time Bureau would draw a snort of derision from the crook, but it doesn't today, although his gaze gets even more thoughtful.

"Well," he says, leaning against the table near her, "you'll forgive me if I'm just as happy you caused them. Or I'd still be..." A wave of a hand. "...out there."

Leonard had been their very first anachronism, or one of them, spat out by the time vortex they'd caused into the middle of a warped alternate Los Angeles. He'd rescued them from raptors, nearly been flattened by Amaya for his trouble, and, back at the ship, was confirmed by Gideon as the Leonard they'd thought lost at the Oculus.

They...haven't talked, since. Too much to do.

Too much to say.

Lost in thought, Sara yawns again, hugely, and tries to make her eyes focus on the charts. If she can just pinpoint one more...

"Sara..." How dare he still say her name like that?

"Ms. Lance," Gideon cuts in, "Mr. Snart has a point. It's been days, and your vital signs indicate extreme fatigue. It would be best if you were to go get some rest. The anachronisms and... and the Time Bureau...will wait."

Sara might be tired, but it hasn't escaped her that Gideon hasn't said Rip's name since he'd shown up at the head of the Bureau and threatened to take the ship away from them. Well, she wouldn't like it either, being pulled from the team and handed over nilly-willy to some Time Master...jerk. And she thinks there's a sense of betrayal there, too.

She understands that.

"If something happens, the team's going to need you," she can hear Leonard's voice, even though it seems her eyes have drifted shut again, "and...don't hurt me, but you're not at your best right now."

"Ms. Lance." Gideon's voice cuts through the fog again. "Should there be a crisis, you will not be equipped to deal with it. I feel duty-bound..."

"OK!" Her voice sounds too loud in her own ears. "All right, both of you. I'll go get some sleep. Gideon, tell Jax he's acting captain. Ugh." She leans back in the chair and contemplates the door before closing her eyes again.

"Someone carry me to my room," she mumbles, then remembers there's someone standing right there.

Someone now eyeing her with a speculative gaze.

"Don't you dare," she tells him.

"No? You just asked." He takes another step closer. "Let me help."

"Seriously?" She can't help smiling as he studies her. "That's not usually your style."

"Yeah, well, people change. Don't stab me," he warns her as he leans closer, slides an arm across her back and the other under her folded legs.

"I make no promises. Ah..!"

Leonard's not as brawny as Mick, but she's always been aware of the amount of lean muscle on his frame, even with the constant long sleeves. He lifts her easily, settling her in his arms in a bridal carry, and she can't help looping an arm around his shoulders for balance.

"Oof," he mutters, then turns toward the door.

" 'Oof?' What are you saying, Snart?" Always fall back on banter.

"That you're solid muscle...ah, nearly solid muscle..." He keeps his eyes forward, fortunately for his sake.

She's been so guarded against him since his return, and this whole situation is so the opposite, that it's all a little surreal. She leans her head against his shoulder, and a laugh bubbles up.

"What's so funny?" Leonard's tone sounds just a little bit stiff as he navigates the bridge, heading for the corridor to crew quarters.

"Just...this." She waves a hand, encompassing the two of them, too tired to guard her words. "I never suspected you of chivalry."

"True..."

"And I'm not a damsel."

"Never said you were." He shifts her weight just a little. "Just trying to make sure you actually go back to your room and sleep."

"Aawww. You care." She regrets the words the moment they leave her mouth. Leonard's mouth works briefly like he can't figure out what to say, then he shrugs.

"Yes."

They're both silent for the next few paces, which means they're both silent when Mick sticks his head out of his door as they pass.

"Boss...whoa." It's almost funny, how the bigger man's mouth drops open at the sight of them, his eyes going round. Sara knows she should nip this in the bud now, before the rumor mill gets going, but she can't quite manage, closing her eyes briefly instead.

"Mick," Leonard says easily, with a nod. "What's up?"

"I...um. Nothin'. See you later." Mick closes the door posthaste, but not before Sara hears the sound of a woman's voice coming from within.

"Why is Amaya in Mick's room?" she wonders out loud.

"Probably playing cards." He nods again as she looks up at him. "Yeah, they've started that. Mick asked me for a deck a few days ago."

"Wait. You gave them our deck?" Yet again, the words escape before she can think better of them. She sighs as she feels him slow, just a little, and look down at her.

"No," he says, "actually. Another one. Still have that deck." He clears his throat. "If you ever want a game. Again." A pause. "After you sleep."

"Can still kick your ass when tired." She yawns.

"Physically, I have no doubt. In cards, well..." He actually smiles just a little as she peers up at him. "We'd have to see."

"Hmmm."

She's so comfortable, cradled against his chest like this, and it's more than just physical. That's the sort of thought she's been burying since his return, and before, but she's too exhausted to bury it now. She closes her eyes and nestles her head a little more firmly into his shoulder, listening to the catch of his breath and the steady beat of his heart.

"Mr. Snart...oh!"

"Professor."

Sara doesn't even bother looking, but snickers after a few more steps have gone by. She catches the quiet "huff" of a laugh from Leonard, but neither says anything more.

"Here you are," he says after a moment. "I can put you down..."

"No. In. Please."

Obligingly, he carries her into her room, the door shutting behind them, and over to the bed.

Sara sighs, eyes still closed, as he gently sits her down, already missing the warmth, but submits to the indignity of having her boots removed. That done, she feels Leonard hesitate before turning for the door.

"Len. Wait." She takes a long breath, listening to her own heart beat.

"Let me get this out right now, before I have to be captain again, and strong, and impartial," she says finally. "I missed you. I still miss you. And I don't know what the future might hold..." She hears his intake of breath at the echo of older words. "...but I want you as part of my life, whether it's as a friend or more. Please?"

Leonard's quiet for so long that she cracks an eyelid to look at him.

"I didn't want to assume, what with my asshole former self," he says, finally, quietly, drawing closer to lean on the bed next to her.

"Well, as you say, people change." She leans over a little too. "And that's not you anymore."

Their second kiss is quicker even their first, just a brief, almost sweet, brush of lips, a thank you and the welcome back she hadn't really given him before. Sara hears his noise of surprise, smiles against his lips, and then pulls gently away.

"Geez," she says, stretching out on her side without opening her eyes, "that's twice now, and you haven't stolen either of them. Thought you were a hell of a thief."

That gets a chuckle as he pulls a blanket up over her. "Well, that's the thing about a good thief. You don't see them coming."

"Mmmmm..."

"Sleep well, Sara. I'll see you tomorrow."

And with that, she does.

He steals his kiss in the morning.