//.//

"I can't believe that you guys escaped an alien spaceship. Key words: alien spaceship. I have questions!" Cisco exclaimed as he jogged alongside the returning superheroes, shooting Callie a reassuring smile as she hovered next to Sara. He was glad to not have lost her during their kidnapping, they had all been concerned she wasn't going to make it - but Gideon had fixed her up in no time.

"They can wait," Oliver gruffly spoke before turning to look at Nate. "Thanks for helping me get my sister home."

"Yeah, man." Nate replied, thinking about how strange it was to think they first and last time they had both met was before he had ever even stepped foot on the waverider and before he had gotten his superpowers.

"What's our status?" Oliver asked as they all pulled up to a halt next to the computer screens that had been set up for mainly Cisco and Felicity's benefits.

"Nothing, since the Dominators paid their little visit to mess with our heads," Barry sighed, his hands resting on his hips as he pulled Callie into a hug. The other legends were confused at the action, having now seen three people in the space of two days hug the girl that usually refuses to even have human contact with them.

"Why would they do that?" Nate asked, looking around at everyone in confusion.

"What if they were trying to pit us against each other, in order to gain intel about meta-humans?" Ray suggested, Callie nodding at the thought. It made sense.

"Man, I wish they would just send us an IM with a questionnaire," Felicity voiced, and Callie smiled at the woman's attempt to bring a little light to the situation even if it didn't work.

"Well, metas pose the biggest threat to their invasion. It would make sense they'd want to get to know their enemies." Kara explained. The teams all nodded knowing that the concept does actually make a bit of sense.

"By kidnapping people perhaps they were searching your minds for potential meta-human vulnerabilities," Stein continued, nodding at Callie as she looked at him. He had found more respect for the girl and how she was willing to rather sacrifice herself than hurt any of them while they had been under mind-control.

"I think it's time we return the favor," Oliver said, fed up of the alien bodies trying to kill them all.

"What do you want to do? Kidnap one of them now?" Diggle asked.

"Ever since we fought off that one ship, they've kind of been in short supply." Barry informed Oliver, not sure that his plan was actually going to work out.

"Actually, I know where to find one. I've been reviewing old Army footage of their first encounters with the Dominators, and I think I pegged the fight to..." Nate filled them all in, pulling the footage up on the screen. Callie grimaced as she studied the tall aliens ripping soldiers apart.

"Redmond, Oregon, 1951."

"You're suggesting we travel to 1951, abduct a Dominator, and interrogate it to determine their intentions," Stein checked, not sure he was fully on board with the idea.

"They kidnapped us, almost killing Callie in the process, seems fair," Sara voiced, her arms crossed across her chest as Callie placed a gentle hand to her arm to remind her that she was safe and alive.

"Whoa. Time travel. I'm definitely in!"

"Okay, hold on, though. Professor Stein and Caitlin have been talking about a way to take down the Dominators. They could probably use your help," Barry informed Cisco.

"Pass."

"Yeah, I mean, I'm with him, mostly 'cause I just don't want to lose my geek cred, but time travel!" Felicity squealed, the thought of actually travelling through time being something she really couldn't pass up on.

"I could take Amaya and Mick," Nate muttered.

"Do it." Oliver said.

"Yeah!"

"Okay. And, uh, the new president called, which would be cool under different circumstances, but she wants to meet with us." Barry told them all.

"Let's bring Ray and Sara as backup."

"What about me? I can do backup!" Kara exclaimed, not liking how she was being left out on both plans that was being made.

"Can I talk to you for a second? You too Callie?" Oliver said to the two girls, pulling them off to the side and away from the teams.

"Callie, you're not fighting," he started, causing the girl to frown as she began to speak. "You're not fully recovered, despite what that computer said, and I can't have you die on me too," he quietened at the last bit and Callie knew instantly that he was thinking of Laurel's death. As much as she wanted to fight, his words made her know that she couldn't.

"I'll go back to Star City, I needed to see Quentin anyway."

Oliver nodded before turning back to Kara. Callie left, knowing she didn't want to hear what he was going to say to her and instead walked over to Sara. The blonde grabbed her face, knowing that Callie wasn't going to go fighting with them.

She pulled her in for a kiss, ignoring the surprise on a few of the teams members before releasing her.

"I'll come back to you."

__

"I never thought you would hold your word," Quentin told her as they walked around the police office. Callie held her coffee tight in her hand as she rested against his desk while he organised the mess that had been caused by the aliens attacking. The team were currently fighting the aliens, and she knew it was best for her to not be witnessing it.

"After Laurel," she began, noticing the small tears welling up in his eyes. "I couldn't let anyone go through that again."

He nodded, before turning to look at the girl as they both took a sip of the coffee she had picked up for them. He smiled at her for a moment before placing the coffee down and looking sternly at the girl.

"I presume I don't need to do the dad speech?"

Callie paused, confused as to what he was talking about. "Sorry?"

"About how if you break my daughter's heart," he continued, the ball dropping for Callie. Of course Quentin would have known, he knew both girls inside out.

"I don't know if I'd be able to live with myself if I did," Callie agreed, causing the man to smile as he clapped her shoulder.

"There's no-one else I'd want for her," he determined as he took another sip of the coffee. His phone buzzed, and he looked at the message that had appeared across the screen.

"Felicity says it's over."

Callie nodded, knowing that meant she had to go back. She sent Barry a quick text, knowing he would be quicker than her taking a bus back. As she put her phone away, she realised Quentin had one last question for her.

"Do you love her?"

"More than i love anything, even myself."

_______

"It's weird to think that all of this started with the two of us. You ever think what it would be like if we never got on that boat?" Sara said to Oliver as her and Callie stood beside the man as they watched all of their friends say goodbye.

"I don't know if I have to think about it. I mean, maybe the Dominators showed us what our lives would have been like. I know it was a prison, but in a way..." Oliver muttered, trailing off as Sara finished the thought for him.

"In a way, it was a gift." Sara agreed, now knowing what her life would have been like if it hadn't been ripped apart by one decision five years prior.

"I was never destined for that life," Callie decided, the two looking at her in an understanding. "I could never imagine having a normal life that didn't involve Tommy."

"Stay out of trouble," Oliver said as he pulled away from the hug that Sara had pulled him into.

"Yeah," she smiled before looking at Callie and squeezing her hand. "I'll meet you back on the ship."

"There she goes, off to her spaceship, time traveling as if it's totally normal," Diggle muttered as they watched her head across the concrete to where the ship was resting. Callie laughed, throwing her head back and on to Oliver's arm at Diggle's comment.

"Well, John, it's like you said. Normal sort of went out the window when this one arrived."

"I may never understand you, man, but... you're one of the best men I know," Diggle said, turning to Barry.

"Thanks, Dig, Callie. So... you forgive me for what I did?" Barry checked, and Diggle just smiled at the man.

"Barry, it's like I keep telling this guy. You have to forgive yourself."

"Yeah."

"Well I better go before they leave me here," Callie joked as she smiled at the two, Diggle having just walked away.

"Callie?" Oliver asked the girl before she started to move away from the two men. She turned to look at him, the familiar sparkle in her eye as she thought about how far they had all came.

"Yeah Ollie?"

"I've known you both for a while now, so listen to me. You've got to tell her how you feel, with everything that's happened, you never know if it'll be too late," he said, causing Callie's eyebrows to shoot up. She knew he had never been the one for telling her that she was going to get a fairytale ending.

"I thought you said to Barry and I once that we don't get the happy ending," she referenced the afternoon they had spent at the coffee shop in Star city, when Iris and Callie had first met.

"Maybe we don't. But you and Sara sure as hell deserve it," he decided.

Callie smiled warmly at him, pulling him into another hug.

"Thanks Ollie," she whispered, nudging his neck with her cheek as she pulled out of their hug. They were the closest thing each other had to their families.

"Go, before you get stranded here!" He joked, pushing her lightly away. Callie and Barry both laughed, with the girl breaking into a short jog as she headed towards the waverider.

"Bye Barry, Bye Ollie!" She yelled, smiling behind her. The boys watched her meet Sara at the cargo bay, sharing a quick kiss before the ship closed itself up and started to take off.

"She's so much like her brother, he was a good man - died to save the ones he loved. I'm just worried that'll be what kills her too." Oliver told Barry, a hint of fear in his chest as he thought about how Callie would always be the first to sacrifice herself.

"She'll be okay, she always has been."