"Sara..." Callie breathed, her breaths pausing for a second as she linked eyes with the girl.

Her chest wasn't heavy. For the first time in what seemed like years, her chest wasn't heavy. It was light, easy breath paused cautiously as her body re-evaluated everything. Callie could feel her body reacting the way it had before her mind had been tampered with. She was here. Sara was here. She was faintly aware others were here. And she knew one thing for sure: the girl standing in front of her was someone she was never letting go of again.

Time had seemingly stopped in the Team Arrow base. Had the process worked? Was Callie really herself again, or was she about to attack everyone she had ever loved?

"Sara?"

Sara felt her throat close up as the girl whispered her name. Her eyes seemed startled, like a deer trapped in headlights. There was a gentle look on her face that Sara hadn't seen on the girl since she had said goodbye to her all those weeks ago, before Callie had been tampered with.

Callie clenched and unclenched her fists as she felt the sudden realisation settle into her bones. This was real: and this was happening. They had brought her back again. It had always been Sara. How could she have ever doubted that the blonde wouldn't save her?

Oliver watched the girl carefully as she slowly placed one foot in front of the other. His hand rested slightly on the small knife that was tucked away in his waistband, although the could tell by the look in her eyes that she was back.

Silence filled the base. Callie was sure that in that moment, she could hear her own blood flowing throughout her body. There was a long pause, well, what seemed long.

"Sara," she sighed louder, the third time the girl uttering her name having such depth and emotion to it that Sara's breath stopped. Callie moved forward slowly at first, before taking off and springing directly into the blonde's arms. Sara gasped air back into her lungs, any breath she had been holding now released out. The girl shuddered slightly as she held on tightly to Callie, not even trying to hide the tears that were flowing down her cheeks as she grasped tightly on to her love.

Callie inhaled the smell of Sara. The light perfume mixed with the hidden training gear had always been the most comforting smell to her. She recalled how the girl's hair was still as soft as it had always been, how she had always been just that slight bit taller.

Callie pulled back slightly, scanning her eyes frantically across Sara's face, as if she was trying to memorise every single feature across it. Sara did the same, her hands moving upwards to grasp gently at Callie's cheeks.

"You came back," she whispered, pulling their lips together to seal the embrace between the assassins. A single tear travelled on to their lips, causing both the girls to pull back slightly and realise they were both now crying. Callie lifted her hand, a giggle spilling from her lips as she brushed a piece of Sara's blonde hair away from the girl's eyes.

"I'll always come back to you," Callie murmured, still ignoring everyone else in the room. Her heart wasn't heavy. It was light, as if all the ropes that had bound her had been set free at the mere touch of Sara. The girls grinned, crushing their lips back together as the taste of their tears stained the kiss salty.

"I think I missed the part where everyone decided to tell me that they were a couple," Felicity muttered to Oliver, a small smirk appearing on his face as they all tried to give the two a little bit of privacy.

Everyone chuckled as the girls pulled away from each other at Felicity's comment. They stood close together, their shoulders touching as Callie grinned at the rest of the team.

"Thanks for bringing me back too Ollie," Callie smiled warmly, leaning into his arms and holding him in a sibling embrace. The man who had started this adventure for them all simply smiled, knowing that if this was the only thing he was to accomplish in a while, it would have been worth it. He punched her lightly on the shoulder as she moved away from him.

Wrapping Felicity into a hug, and sharing a short handshake with Diggle, Callie turned to look at the last person in the room she had to address.

"Hey sis," Thea smiled, wrapping her arms tightly around her biological half-sister. Callie smiled warmly as she hugged the girl back. While the discovery of their sibling bond had been certainly a rocky one, Callie knew it was always nice to have an extra body on her side of the family. Just because Malcolm's morals went against everything good and that she stood for, it didn't mean that Thea and Callie had to make the same mistakes.

Thea turned back to look at Sara before refacing Callie. "You know, I think you have a whole team of time travellers waiting to see you," Thea reminded the girl, a grin flickering on her lips as she hurried them along. They had spent their short time with the girl, and it was time she continued with the life that had been almost taken from her.

_____

"'Miss Merlyn, I believe we haven't formally met," Rip Hunter introduced himself to the girl as they were about to reboard the Waverider. Callie had tied her hair back into a tight ponytail, having already been promised by Sara that they would dye it back to her natural colour as soon as they had the chance.

She scrunched her face up slightly at the formalities and also the use of her last name. It just made her think of her father and the fact he had agreed to the brainwashing that she had endured. She shook his hand, but also shook her head at the same time.

"Please, call me Callie."

Rip nodded, before a loud crash was heard from the bridge. The man sighed, rubbing frantically at the bridge of his nose before excusing himself to try and sort out whatever mess the team was causing in the control area. While Callie was desperate to see the team, her and Sara had agreed it would be best for her to get changed out of the uncomfortable clothes that she was wearing.

Sara lead Callie gently down the corridor and into their shared room. It was just the way that Callie remembered it, especially with Sara's clothes stacked in a neat pile at the end of the bed. She smiled, ignoring her love as she lifted the comfy hoodie that Sara had left out to wear. The Merlyn didn't say anything as she pulled off her manky t-shirt and slipped Sara's clothes over herself.

Callie smiled warmly at Sara as the girl also changed the top she was wearing. As Sara reached for a fresh shirt, Callie's eyes landed on to her biggest regret.

Across the map of scars that decorated Sara's skin, she noticed the two fresh wounds that she could remember exactly how they had occurred. Her breath caught in her throat as she stared at the crossbow wound, remembering the sickening feeling of joy her brainwashed state had been presented with after pulling the trigger.

As Sara pulled the shirt over her head and turned to smile at Callie, she noticed where the girl's eyes had been roaming on her body. A wave of sadness rushed over her as she reached over to pull Callie towards her.

"Hey, stop blaming yourself," Sara murmured, pressing a soft kiss to her lips before holding on to her hand tighter. Callie nodded, aware that this mirrored the situation where Sara had been brainwashed by the aliens. She wasn't herself.

"Can we go see the others now?"

__

"So 1965? That's where we'll find the last piece of the spear?" Callie heard the team discussing as her and Sara walked closer to the open doors of the bridge. The Captain squeezed her hand as they walked into the room, unnoticed by the rest of the team.

"With Sara out of the game at the moment how do you suppose we do this?" Amaya asked, concern in her eyes as she tried to think of the probability of them being able to do this without Sara by their sides.

Callie loved a good dramatic entrance, so took this as the prime opportunity. "Probably with carnage, like usual," she joked, a grin spread across her face as she walked further into the room with Sara's hand gently resting on the small of her back.

The team was silent for a second before Jax hollered, rushing forward and grabbing his friend into a tight hug, lifting her off the ground and spinning her around. Callie laughed too, throwing her head back as she grabbed on to his arms to keep herself steady as they swung.

No sooner had her feet touched the ground before she was wrapped up in a bear hug by Ray. The billionaire grinned widely at her as she was passed around the team. She was glad to be back, and even happy to see Mick was gulping away at his beer bottle.

"Welcome back, Callie," Gideon said, knowing fine well that she did not like formalities when her last name was what it was.

Callie smiled, wrapping her arm around Sara's waist as she looked at the rest of the team.

"It's good to be back, Gideon."

__

"1965 was a bust," Sara said as they re-entered the bridge.

Callie perked up from where she had been sitting in one of the flight seats, reading through the small book on NASA that Martin had recommended she read while they waited on the consensus about the spear and Nate's grandfather.

"Oh, sorry buddy," Ray said to Nate, but the man of steel simply shrugged at the scenario that had played out in front of them.

"It's all right, Rip said he dropped my Grandfather off in 1965 New York and told him to assume a new identity," Nate explained, resting his hand on Callie's shoulder as he passed the girl. She smiled at the contact, before sharing glances with Sara who was already worried about her.

"Well, he'd need to find work," Jax reminded them, moving down from the Captain's room and coming to stand around the control panel with the rest of them.

"Henry was a military man. He wouldn't have become an accountant. He would have wanted a job that still offered adventure, and yet was still somehow patriotic," Amaya reminded them, a thoughtful look crossing her face.

Callie clicked her fingers, the whole room turning to look at her as she thought of a suggestion. "Police?"

The suggestion was easily shook away as Ray joined in. "FBI? CIA?"

"He was a fighter pilot before he was recruited by the JSA," she reasoned, wondering if Ray was potentially on the right track. Callie and Stein both shared looks as Callie looked down at the book in her hands.

"In the sixties, the fledgling National Aeronautics and Space Administration used to call upon test pilots to apply to be astronauts," Stein told them while Callie stood, moving to stand beside Sara as she spoke. The whole team pretended they didn't notice the small movement, but they all knew that Callie was very nervous about being back in work so quickly.

"Exactly, what could be more patriotic, more adventurous than exploring space?"

"Nice," Sara said, making sure that her shoulder was connected with Callie's. She knew how much the girl was needing the contact to keep herself together. "Gideon, pull up anything you can. Press clippings, newspaper articles, re: NASA circa 1965."

"Certainly, Captain."

"Wait, wait, stop, stop. Right there. I'd recognize that Heywood jawline anywhere."

Callie scoffed at the comment, feeling like nothing had really changed since she had been gone. "Of course you do, pretty boy."