Chapter Text
“And why do we have to pretend to be married?” Ava groaned. “Why do we have to go undercover at all?”
“Oh come on Agent try to have some fun,” Sara argued, a smile on her face, she knew Ava wouldn’t go along without a fight, but she also knew that deep down she knew Sara was right, “It’s a couples retreat. Do you want to stand out even more? We’re already from the future.”
Ava calmed down after that. She hated admitting that Sara was right. But actually, the part about this that she hated the most was the pretending. It’s not like she didn’t want to kiss her and hold her hand and play with her hair… but this was a professional mission and their relationship was complicated enough already.
“Alright fine but we need to set some ground rules,” Ava said turning down the music in the car so she could make sure Sara was listening.
“Rules?” Sara grinned. “You know how I feel about rules.”
“Miss Lance this is serious. We are on a mission and if we are going to be faking a relationship we need to talk. I am not going to let you jeopardize this mission because you think it's a game.”
Sara wanted to argue with her but it wasn’t worth it. Ava had a point. They were on a mission and playing the part of a couple was going to be a unique challenge. She had wanted to kiss Ava from the moment they met, even though most of the time she infuriated her. The fact that there was a strong chance their first kiss would be part of this mission upset her, but the more she thought about it the more she realized it was probably for the best. Feelings for Ava would only complicate things even more.
“Fine.” Sara consented. “What kind of rules do you suggest?”
“No wasting time. This is an easy mission we don’t need to complicate things by getting sidetracked.”
“Fair enough. What else?”
“Second, we need to remain professional as often as possible. Physical contact and affection should occur only when it is necessary to protect our cover and before you say anything- yes I am completely serious. Being fake married was your idea but I will not let you use it as an excuse to be inappropriate.”
“Are you done insulting me?” Sara asked, sounding genuinely hurt. “I get it okay. Be professional, it’s a mission. I’m not an idiot.”
“I know that Sara. Look I just don’t want this to get complicated.”
“When have things between us not been complicated?”
Ava never answered. They had arrived. It was a modest resort, the main building set in a clearing where the forest opened up against the cliffside. The view was beautiful. Ava imagined the sunsets here were incredible. There was something very calming about being isolated in nature like this.
There were banners for the couple's retreat all over the place and no shortage of couples either. She could see the pool in the distance which was overpopulated with women in ill-fitting bikinis and men in brightly colored shorts. It brought up a memory of the last time she saw Sara in swim clothes.
Most of the couples seemed to be joined at the hip. It was going to be hard to isolate their target if they couldn't separate him from his wife. More than that though it was going to be difficult not to blow their cover.
“Ready Miss Lance?” Ava asked, turning off the engine.
“First of all, it's Captain Lance. Second of all, for the rest of this mission, you mean Mrs. Williams.”
Ava wondered what exactly she had gotten herself into here. Why couldn't they have just sent Gary? Sara could flirt with him all day long and it wouldn't affect either one of them. But this was dangerous for Ava. She worried a small taste of Sara Lance wasn't going to be enough.
The room was really nice. There was a small kitchenette off to one side with a table and two chairs. On the other side of the bed, there was a couch facing a TV next to a sliding door that opened onto a small private patio with another table and chairs. The view was spectacular you could see both the forest and the ocean. Their cabin was on the very edge of the resort isolated from most of the guests so at least they'd have their privacy. There was only one problem. There was only one bed. Because of course.
It was a fairly large bed actually, big enough for friends to share. But colleagues? That might be a stretch.
“I'll sleep on the couch.” Ava volunteered. She didn't trust herself to sleep that next to Sara.
“Absolutely not. No one is sleeping on the couch.” Sara said, throwing her bag down. “The bed is huge Ava. If we can't manage to sleep in the same bed for a few nights how do you think we're gonna handle the rest of this mission? It has occurred to you that we might have to touch right?”
“Yes, I know,” Ava said. That's why she didn't want to do it. It was bad enough they might have to kiss- she would cross that bridge when they got to it, but in the meantime, she needed to maintain some semblance of professionalism or she was going to lose it. “Fine. We can share the bed. But you better not hog the blankets.” That brought a small smile to Sara’s face. A genuine one, something Ava didn't get to see much lately.
“I'm going to take a shower,” Sara said. “No peeking.”
It was then that Ava realized there was no door to the bathroom. From where she sat on the bed you could plainly see the shower and the double vanity.
It made sense Ava thought, this being a resort that specializes in couples retreats, but they really couldn't put a bathroom door? Ava would have preferred a bathroom door even if she was the only one in the room. Just for the privacy.
When she heard the water turn on she knew she should move to where she couldn't see anything but there was something about the way Sara moved that just begged her to look. The way she shimmied out of her shorts and pulled off her tank top it was like she knew Ava would be watching. It was torture.
Ava always knew Sara looked good under her clothes, but she had never actually seen most of her body up close. She wasn't sure what caught her attention the most. The fact that Sara was really hot, or that she was covered in scars.
Ava knew she had scars, she'd spent years reading Sara's files. But she hadn't realized just how many there were. Most of them seemed very old, from her days as an assassin, but some of them were newer. The Legends had a history of screwing up, she knew Sara had gotten into trouble a few times but seeing them just made her whole body ache. She wanted so badly to touch them, to touch her and make the pain all go away. Instead, she got up, shaking her head and moving to stare out the window. It really was a pretty view, it was just nothing compared to Sara.
When she heard the shower turn off she stayed in place, trying to pretend she had been doing so the whole time.
“Did you want to take one too?” Sara asked. Ava turned to see Sara who had thankfully put her clothes on and hadn't come out wearing only a towel.
“Oh no- I mean- I don't need to- I'm good,” Ava said, sounding immediately guilty. She could feel the blood rushing to her cheeks.
“You looked didn't you?” Sara was laughing. It was not a sound Ava thought she could ever grow tired of hearing.
“I'm sorry,” Ava said. “I didn't mean to. I just- there's no door and it was right there-”
Sara moved closer so that they were only inches apart. She could smell the hotel shampoo in her hair. “Don't worry about it,” Sara said. “It's okay if you think I'm hot.”
In another situation, Ava would have just rolled her eyes. It wasn't like Sara hadn't said this to her before. But this time she couldn't bring herself to do it.
Instead, she cleared her throat, stepping away trying to put some distance between them.
“We should uh, probably talk about what our backstory is going to be,” Ava said slowly regaining her composure. “People are going to ask how we met, how long we've been married. Stuff like that.”
“Okay true.” Sara sat down at the edge of the bed starting up at her. “We should be newlyweds. It'll be easier to explain when something we don't know about each other comes up.” Ava nodded in agreement. “Where should we say we got married? Are we beach people, city people?”
“Why don't we just tell them we eloped? We had a small party with friends and family but we didn't want to make a big fuss.”
“Okay sure,” Sara said. Honestly, it sounded like them. For whatever reason, if they were to actually get married she imagined it would go something like that. “What about where we met? We can't even tell them the truth about that.”
“No, but it's better for our sake if it's close to the truth. Why don't we say that… we met at the gym, and we hated each other at first because we had the same favorite machine and would always steal it from each other. And then one day we decided to just run next to each other instead of competing and then we starting talking and eventually became friends and then… you know.”
Ava could feel the heat returning to her face. She had just recovered from the first incident. If she could just figure out a way to not be affected by this everything would be fine. But they both knew it wasn't gonna happen. Sara was a shameless flirt.
“Alright well, then I think we're ready. Well just have to improvise the rest. There's like a party going on by the pool right? Let's go mingle. Are you sure you don't want to change first?”
“What's wrong with what I'm wearing?” Ava looked down at herself. She had chosen a very casual form-fitting white T-shirt, paired with light washed boyfriend jeans. It was simple but she felt like herself in it.
“Nothing!” Sara said. “Nothing no you look good. I just meant that- I don't know- nevermind let's just go.”
Sara was flustered. She hadn't yet had to admit to herself that Ava looked really good in clothes that weren't her normal Time Bureau suit. It suited her, and through the thin fabric of her t-shirt she could see how toned she was and it was sending all kinds of dirty thoughts through her head. She was in for a long weekend.