Chapter 2
Ava handles the Tornado

Ava would have used her time-courier to go home, but they'd agreed to only use it in case of emergencies. They really didn't want Lena thinking it was okay to teleport any place any time. So she had to take a taxi home like she had to take one to work. This meant she wouldn't be home until almost one in the afternoon. The more time she spent stuck in the back of her cab, the more she thought she really should ask Sara about rethinking that agreement.

She finally made it home, and she unlocked the door. She was quickly surprised by the silence reigning in the apartment. She'd been expecting almost everything expects silence. Lena napping while Sara watched TV. Sara napping while Lena watched TV. Lena throwing a temper tantrum. The two of them playing in the living room. This silence was unsettling.

"Sara?" she called, not too loudly for fear of waking Lena should she'd been asleep.

"Mommy!"

Shortly after, Lena ran out of her bedroom and came crashing against Ava's leg, hugging her fiercely. Ava smiled, quickly picking her daughter up in a proper hug.

"Hello, sweetheart. Where's Mama?"

"She's sleeping," Lena replied once her mother let her go.

"She's taking a nap? Well then let's not wake her up."

Ava took her jacket off and peeked inside her dark bedroom. Sara was indeed sprawled on the bed, sleeping peacefully. Four of five years ago Ava might just have joint her. The morning's meeting had been tiring, headache worthy for sure. But, the little blonde standing beside her, when conscious, had to be watched in all times by an adult, and Ava happened to be the only one around. Slowly, as to not wake Sara up, Ava closed the door and walked toward the living room, Lena in tow.

"What did you do this morning?" she asked.

Lena smiled.

"We made drawings! Look!"

Lena ran to the coffee table and picked up the drawing at the top of the pile. She handed it for Ava to see. Ava sat on the couch and took the drawing in her hands.

"Oh, it's beautiful. What is it?"

"It's you, mommy, with the mean money monster!"

Ava continued to stare at the drawing. Her talents for decoding her daughter's drawings weren't as sharp as Sara's, but after a while, she finally noticed.

"Oh, it is. Good job honey, it's really good."

Lena smiled brightly.

"Mama said we could frame it so you could put it on your desk."

"She did? Well, it's a good idea. If another money monster comes into my office he'll know I'm an expert in handling money monsters."

Lena nodded. It was perfectly logical.

"And what else did you do this morning?"

Lena thought for a second, a tiny crinkle forming between her eyebrows.

"Mochis!"

"You ate mochis?"

Lena nodded.

"Mama said I could eat mochis if I ate all my lunch, and I did, so I had mochis. There's lunch for you too mommy, in the fridge."

Ava considered getting up to pick it up, as her stomach had started rumbling halfway through the meeting, but she knew for a fact Lena wouldn't stay put while she ate, and she didn't want to turn the TV on so as to not wake Sara up.

"Did you work good mommy?" Lena asked, taking Ava out of her thoughts.

"I did, thank you for asking. It means I don't have to go to work tomorrow."

"Mama says we're going to the park tomorrow, so I can make a sandcastle."

"That's a good idea. Maybe we could go to the park right now?"

The idea was to take Lena out of the house so she could unwind there, and be really tired by the end of the day, so she would go to sleep quickly, with the added bonus of not waking Sara up. Lena, however, shook her head.

"We have to wait for Mama. She'll be sad if we go to the park without her," the three-year-old assured.

Sad wouldn't be the word Ava would have used, but she kept that to herself.

"What do you want to do, then?"

"I want to watch Moana."

"Not now, okay? Now we let Mama rest and we make a limited amount of noise."

A musical movie would definitely wake Sara up, especially if Lena was jumping on the couch and singing along. Lena nodded and continued to think of something she could do without waking her mom up. Finally, Ava noticed the book left on the small table beside the couch and asked.

"How about I read you a story?"

"Yeah!" Lena shouted, which made Ava wince slightly.

She glanced at her bedroom door. Nothing. She let out a breath she was holding.

"Do you want to continue this one?" Ava asked as she picked up the book beside the couch.

She looked at the title. Alice in Wonderland. A perfectly appropriate – and very confusion – read for a three-year-old.

"No. I want the book with the big monsters! Like the one Gary reads me!"

Ava sighed. Gary wasn't banned from watching Lena per se, because when Ava was working and Sara was in the middle of a mission, they needed someone to keep an eye on her. He'd only been banned from reading heroic fantasy to her.

"I'm afraid we don't have books with big monsters here. Maybe you could go and pick one up in your bedroom? Chose the one you want?"

Lena stood up and ran to her bedroom, her sock clad feet almost silent on the parquet. Ava looked at the book in her hands once again. Was Alice in Wonderland too boring for kids now? But it was a classic. She only knew classics.

Lena came back running with a book in hand and jumped on her mother's lap. Ava quickly recovered from the sudden weight falling on her, and placed a hand around her daughter's waist, making sure she wouldn't fall off her if she started fidgeting, which she would definitely do.

"What did you pick?"

Lena held out the book proudly. The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Maybe she'd talked too soon about classics. Ava took the book in one hand and held it in front of her and Lena, so her daughter could see the pictures. Her other hand stayed secured around her daughter. She opened the book and began reading.

They were halfway through the book when Sara suddenly burst through her bedroom door, putting a woolen sweater over her head.

"Lena?" She called.

"Here, Mama!"

Sara looked at the couch and saw both Lena and Ava staring at her over the couch. Her frantic motions calmed a bit.

"Oh, you're home."

"We didn't want to wake you. Everything alright?"

"I just got a call from Gideon. I mean, it's probably nothing, but I should check it out, just in case."

Ava nodded.

"Go. I'll keep Lena occupied."

"Good work, Mama!" Lena added.

Sara smiled. She placed a kiss on her daughter's head, then one on her wife's lips.

"I'll be right back. Be a good girl with Mommy, okay?"

"Yes, Mama!"

"Love you!"

"Love you too."

Sara opened a portal and teleported straight onto the Waverider. When she was gone, Lena turned to her mother and asked:

"Can I go with Mama in missions?"

"Hum... no, you're a bit too young for that."

"But I have a superpower!"

"You do?"

"Yes, I'm a tornado! It's what Mama said!"

Ava laughed, though Lena didn't understand why.

"It's true! I'm a tornado!" she replied, visibly irritated by her mother's laughter.

Ava hugged the little blonde.

"Oh, you really are a tornado!"

This seemed to calm Lena down, as she proudly replied:

"I am a tornado."

Ava let her go with a sigh.

"Do you want to continue the book or do you want to watch your movie?"

Lena's eyes seemed to sparkle.

"Moana!"

"That's what I thought."

Ava ate her lunch with a singing show in front of her, as Lena sang and dance along with the music. She had to stop her from climbing on the coffee table a couple of times, to which Lena protested 'It's a mountain, mommy!'. This was going to tire her for sure, Ava thought. However, when the movie was over, Lena's batteries were far from depleted.

"Again! I want to watch the movie again!"

Ava sighed. She wasn't sure she could take another show, though.

"Don't you want to do something else?"

Lena looked at her mother hopefully, her hair a mess of blonde locks.

"Can we play hide and seek? Please!"

"Sure, why not. Let me just take care of your hair first."

She pulled Lena toward her and undid her ponytail. After combing her fingers through her hair, she tied them again in a bun, sure this time it wouldn't slip.
"Here you go. Now, who starts by hiding?"

"I do! I'm a real ninja now, you'll see."

"Alright, let's see. Ready?"

Lena nodded, and a thin lock of hair fell out of her bun. Ava sighed. So much for that.

"I'm closing my eyes and I'm starting to count. 1. 2..."

She heard faint running steps away. After counting to ten, she opened her eyes again and stood up from the couch.

"Lena? I hope you're ready!"

She heard giggling coming from her bedroom. Well, at least it wouldn't be long. Ava walked straight into her bedroom and called again:

"Lena? Are you there?"

When more giggling echoed, she had no other choice but to open the closet. It was empty.

"What?"

Lena had finally learned not to hide in the same spot all the time? That was a massive improvement, Ava couldn't help but feel proud. Now though, she had to look more thoroughly around the house. She sighed. If only Sara had been here, she could have helped her. Ava wasn't very good at hide and seek, as much as it pained her to say. She never had the childhood experience for it, and hiding wasn't her general tactic in any given situation. Being impossible to find was Sara's strength, not hers.

"Lena?" she called again.

This time, the giggles at died down. A real ninja. Ava pushed everything out of the way, searching the closet more thoroughly. Nothing. She looked around her room. Where could a smaller than average three-year-old hide? She had no idea. A lot of places, she assumed. She started looking in every piece of furniture, even under the bed, and still she couldn't find anything.

"Lena? Are you in there?"

There was nothing playful about her tone. Suddenly, the idea that Lena had used her time-courier to hide, and that she was somewhere she shouldn't be, sent a jolt of panic through her heart. She looked at her wrist. The watch was still there. Sara had hers. She let out a breath of relief, to let her panic out. Lena was probably still here. She would just have to find her.

It took a lot more time for her to find Lena then she'd expected. Way too much time, to be accurate. Lena was hiding under her parents' cover, laying on her side. Ava only found her because, in the dead silence of the house, she heard light snoring coming from under the blanket. Lena had fallen asleep while waiting for her mother to find her, which prompted Ava to believe Lena hadn't been as diligent with her nap as she should have been. Ava felt kind of bad for waking her up, but if she let Lena nap now, she would be a real pain to put to bed later.

She placed her hand on Lena's arm and shook her lightly.

"Lena? Wake up, honey. I couldn't find you. You won."

Lena came to consciousness slowly, her blue eyes struggling to open. She squinted and rubbed her head against the mattress. Ava thought she was definitely like Sara when it came to waking up. It took a crane to pull her out of bed.

"Lena?"

"Hum..."

She shook her a bit more, and finally, Lena moved to get up. She stretched a bit and managed to keep her eyes opened for more than a second.
"You found me..." she declared in a sleepy voice.

"Actually, I couldn't find you. So you won."

"I won?"

"Yes, you won."

Lena smiled. She almost fell back to sleep, but Ava picked her up. Lena curled up against her mother, her arms passing around her neck. Ava rubbed her back slowly, just to try to keep her awake.

"Can we play something else?" Lena asked in a yawn.

"Sure. What do you want to play?"

"I don't know..."

Lena yawned again, resting her head against her mother's shoulder, holding her close.

"Lena, did you nap?"

"Hum?"

"Your nap? You didn't really sleep, did you?"

"No. I didn't want to sleep, so I looked at the pictures in my books."

Ava nodded. She should have expected it.

"Do you want me to read again?"

"No."

She placed Lena on the couch, and Lena rubbed her eyes. Ava looked down at her daughter. Maybe she shouldn't have woken her up. She needed something to wake her up quickly.

"How about something to drink? Do you want some juice?"

Lena nodded, still rubbing her eyes.

"Can I have juice in a grown-ups glass?"

"No, you'll put some all over yourself."

"But Mama let me drink water in a grown-ups glass! I didn't put water all over myself."

"Yes, well, water doesn't stain, honey. But juice does. You don't want to be sticky, do you?"

Lena pouted. Maybe the juice wasn't necessary. Maybe all she needed to wake up was to be denied something. Still better safe than sound.

Ava poured half a glass of apple juice in one of Lena's plastic cups and handed it to her daughter.

"Here you go."

Lena didn't protest and drank the whole thing quickly. She sighed happily and handed the cup back to her mother.

"Better?"

"I'm not sleepy anymore."

"Good. What do you want to do?"

"Can I play with the cards?"

"With the cards?"

"Yeah, like Mama showed me."

Ava thought for a second. Sara had taught their daughter how to play a card game? Which card game? She couldn't remember.

"I don't know how to play cards."

Lena smiled and slid off the couch.

"It's okay, Mommy. I'll show you."

When Sara returned, she found Ava and Lena seating on either side of the couch, with scattered piles of cards in front of them. She walked through the portal and declared:

"It was nothing, like I said. False alert."

"Mama!"

Lena jumped off the couch, toppling a bunch of cards on her way, and ran up to Sara to hug her. Sara hugged her daughter back, checking whether the portal had closed behind her, just in case the little girl had toppled them both through it once again. She then noticed Ava who was looking at her over the couch, a bunch of cards fanned out in her hands.

"We're playing a game called Find the Queens. Apparently, you're very good at it, or so Lena told me."

"Mommy always wins at Find the Queens."

Sara shrugged.

"It's a bit of a confusing game, okay."

Ava raised a knowing eyebrow. More like a game Sara had invented on the fly to distract Lena.

"Play with us, Mama?"

Sara sighed. She really just wanted to crash on the couch.

"How about this: you give me ten minutes to breathe and then we'll play."

Lena didn't know what it meant, but she nodded nonetheless. Ava picked up all the cards on the couch and piled them up on the very clustered coffee table so Sara could sit down beside her. Sara instantly sank against her wife, her head resting against her shoulder.

"So, false alert?"

"Well, compared to the usual mess we handle, it was nothing."

Ava didn't even have to say. Sara knew she was looking at her with a questioning, piercing look telling her 'I know you're hiding something'.

"It was nothing, really! Just a French King people forgot to behead. We've got it under control, now."

Ava took Sara's hand in hers and decided not to comment. Not in front of Lena anyway. Talking about a beheaded French King in front of your three years old daughter probably broke every Parenting Guidelines in the Book.

"I saw the drawing Lena made of me. I thought it was pretty good."

"I know, right. It's pretty resembling. What even is a mean money monster?"

Ava chuckled.

"That is what happens when you leave her to me at the office when I'm working on the budget allowances. Gary told her I was preparing a fight against a mean money monster. I guess she took it pretty literally."

"What is there not to take literally?"

They fell silent, enjoying each other's closeness for a moment. Finally, Sara declared:

"Lena was afraid Santa Claus wouldn't know she was a good girl this morning."

"Oh, and what did you tell her?"

"That he knew everything, so of course he would know she was a good girl. It's what my dad told me when I was her age. And then, she connected Santa's omniscient knowledge of everyone with Gideon's, and now I think she's convinced Gideon knows Santa Claus."

Ava started laughing, prompting Sara to follow.

"Did you tell Gideon?"

"Not yet. I kind of want to know what she'll reply when Lena asks her in person."

"Please call me when you do. I don't want to miss it."

Sara looked at the coffee table in front of her, full of drawings and toys. She then looked back at Ava, who was still smiling.

"What are we going to do with her?" She asked in a sigh.

"I'm not sure I can legally take her as an intern. Not yet anyway."

Sara chuckled.

"I don't think she'll like a desk job."

"Are we seriously arguing over who gets to mentor our three-year-old right now?"

"I guess we are."

There was suddenly a loud crash coming from Ava's office. They both sat up and quickly looked around. Lena was gone. She'd taken the ten minutes their parents were hugging and talking to disappear. They both sighed longly.

"I'll go get the vacuum cleaner," Sara declared.

"I'll go get the Tornado," Ava agreed.

A/N: Hi guys! So, what did you think? Like I said, it was just a cute short fluffy story. I've started working on something else now, more in the lines of my first Avalance story 'Lost Generation', which may or may not feature Lena again... Anyway, once again, I hope you enjoyed!