These Dreams

[bringstheheat]

Normally Mick didn't mind waking up. Waking up meant hot coffee, salty bacon and whatever else he could lay his hands on in the galley of the ship before the rest of the wolves descended. Gideon had long since given up any and all attempts to feed him anything that was low-fat, gluten-free (he'd almost burned the galley to a crisp for that shit) or anything else that resembled healthy.

Nope. A man needed caffeine, fat and carbs to get through the day and keep from killing anyone.

So why was he so reluctant to get out of bed?

Why was he recalling memories of a lithe body in his arms, a cascade of blonde hair and laughter that crawled up his spine and made him feel whole again?

Sara. As he passed by Len's bunk, watching the two of them playing cards it hits the big arsonist like a fucking freight train. Another life. Another timeline. Whatever it was, he and Sara had been together. In love. She'd been his fierce, bright star and he'd adored her for it right up until she glanced up at him, cool and assessing and it had been like a fucking heartstrike.

She didn't know.

Mick could recall years of them together, from the day that he'd first stolen a kiss until the day he'd sucked it up and dropped to one knee to ask her for forever and she remembered none of it. Nothing.

He avoided them both after that. Actively. Dodging Len and keeping his distance from Sara as best he could so it didn't trip anything else up. Not that it worked. Snart was too perceptive and Sara too smart not to pick up on the fact that something was wrong.

He had loved her. Still loved her.

Mick was completely and utterly fucked.

Comments

[thecanarylives]

Honestly, she's surprised he hasn't completely clammed up and is still willing to humor her. Maybe he's in a good mood, maybe he's feeling pent up. Either way, she won't complain. Not when it might help explain the strange mood she's been in herself lately.

She furrows a brow, watching him carefully. There's bitterness in his voice, which isn't all that surprising considering what he's been through.

"I'm sorry," she says quietly. "I know it's not the same, but I think... I think maybe the Vanishing Point affected me too, somehow. Nothing specific, more just... emotions out of nowhere, I guess. Like maybe I'm feeling something from a different timeline? Does that even make sense?"

[bringstheheat]

He won't hope, won't hold out on some fool's dream that one day she'll wake up and remember. Mick doesn't hope. He misses a life that wasn't his. "It's outside of time. Different worlds all coalesce in the time stream." Eddies and ripples, echoes of other lives.

That had to be it and somehow Mick took a harder hit when he was ready to sacrifice everything to destroy the Oculus.

"Probably gonna kick my ass for this but I remember.." and he's going to say it looking right at her, braced for whatever reaction comes next. "I remember us. You an' me."

[thecanarylives]

She stares down at her plate, still trying to figure out why the hell this meal is so familiar. Why sitting here, talking over coffee and breakfast food seems so familiar.

She lifts her gaze back to him when he speaks, confusion in her eyes with maybe just the faintest flicker of recognition.

"You and me... doing what?" she asks slowly.

[bringstheheat]

She wasn't laughing, wasn't even pulling away from him to haul off and throw a punch. This was stupid. Women like her? They didn't end up with scarred old men like him.

At least not in this world.

"Living our lives. Together." And damn him but he misses that. Mick almost looks forward to sleep just so he can dream about her, about how happy they were together. He snatches up his cup, draining it in one go and pushing away from the counter. "But that ain't this life, and I've got work to do." And he tromps off to engineering to make sure things are in order because he has to do something.

He can't just stand there and tell her that he remembers a life that wasn't his and he wants that life with every fiber of his meing.

[thecanarylives]

A few weeks ago, maybe it could've been a joke. God knows the idea of her settling down - much less with Mick Rory - is out there enough in itself. But the shock isn't there. The incredulity isn't, either. She's just... confused as all hell.

"Wait-" She snaps to her feet when he retreat toward the door, quick to follow him and catch his hand as he trudges away. "Mick, wait-"

She drops his hand suddenly, wincing at the electric shock that sears through her. She shuts her eyes, flashes of imagery blinding her. Bright enough to sting - to make her stumble.

[bringstheheat]

That's the problem. He wants to wait and Mick knows damned well that he shouldn't. So he walks, at least until she touches his hand and stumbles hard.

"Sara?" Mick is quick to act, scooping an arm beneath her shoulders to keep her from falling hard to the deck. His second arm dips beneath her knees and he's carrying her at a quick clip into medical, yelling for Gideon to come online and freaking do something.

[thecanarylives]

The spell only lets a few seconds, but it leaves her dizzy and struggling for breath. She's not sure exactly when he scooped her up in his arms, or when she reached out to clutch the front of his shirt in a fist.

"M'fine," she mutters, even as they enter the med bay. "I'm fine, I swear." She's broken out into a cold sweat, though, her head pounding as she tries to catch her breath. "Just... need some water."

[bringstheheat]

"No you aren't." And oddly enough, Mick is used to having this argument, of taking care of Sara when she was objecting. "And I'll feel better once metal head has given you the all clear."

Never mind that his pulse was skittering out of control at the thought of Sara in trouble or the way that he watched every monitor with a quick and careful eye.

This was Sara. His bright star. It didn't matter to Mick which life they were in - he was going to stay with her until he was damned sure she was safe.

"Hey. How about some water for the lady?"

"Coming right up Mister Rory."

[thecanarylives]

"I'm fine, it's just... It's just a headache." Probably the worst headache she's had in her life - and that's counting the many hangovers she's woken up with after many a night keeping pace with Leonard and Mick.

She shifts on the med bay's cot, curling her knees to her chest and wiping the cold sweat from her forehead.

"Told you you're not the only one the Vanishing Point messed with." She swallows dryly, rubbing her temple. "This... other life you remembered. With you and me. Did we have a house?"

[bringstheheat]

"Then if it's nothing we won't be here long." Mick isn't budging on this, Sara stays right where she is until Gideon gives the all clear.

"C'mere." His hands are gentle as he helps her sit up and sip at least some of the water. How can he miss holding her so much when he's never done it before this moment?

"Yeah. We did, doll. A yellow house with a red door. Soon as you saw it you lit up like it was Christmas."

[thecanarylives]

Mick Rory wasn't exactly the fussing or caring type - not that the team had seen much of, anyway. The closest she thinks she's gotten is him slinging Ray over his shoulder and hauling him out of a prison, which isn't exactly what anyone might call bedside manner.

But he's gentle, suddenly. Moving quickly and deliberately with a comfort between them like he's known for years. It's... a little unnerving, honestly. If Sara was the type to be unnerved much, anyway.

"Doll?" She smirks up at him, a little of that playfulness surfacing again as she sips at her water. Still, she can't seem to stop watching him, struggling to piece together the flashes. "I think... I saw a kitchen. Big bright windows, an... an island with a cracked countertop?"

[bringstheheat]

Shit.

He's allowing himself to think too much about that other life. Touching like he's got a reason to and just like that Mick pulls it back in. Drops his hands and steps back. Trying to remember that in this world, in this life, he shouldn't be reaching out like that.

"Yeah. Cracked island. Pool out back."

He can't do this.

[thecanarylives]

It's like flipping a switch. One moment he's warm and close and caring, the next he's... Well, he's Mick. She swallows heavily, surprised at how much it affects her when he steps away.

"I'm sorry," she mutters, glancing down at her hands.

[bringstheheat]

Mick knows that he's overstepped. He allowed himself to sink a little too far into the memory of a life that they shared. He'd touched when he had absolutely no right to.

"'s not your fault," he rumbles after a moment, wishing bitterly that he could reach out again and touch, find some way to offer her comfort. "It's their fault. Whatever they did to us."