The League? In 1958? That's ...

( he speaks about it so casually, whereas sara's gaze immediately falters. what could be so bad in 1958 that sara felt she had nowhere to go but nanda parbat? she knows that ra's al ghul will be there, as he has headed the league for nearly two centuries. she also knows that rejoining the league — even if it's before she technically arrives the first time — means one thing: killing. the very thing that she's tried desperately to avoid ever since laurel and oliver rescued her soul with constantine's help.

sara can't focus on her cards right now. she puts them down on the sofa in front of her (face down, thankfully), exhales sharply, and rubs her face with her hands, frustrated. )

But it's not easy to leave the League. You can't just come and go as you please. I was lucky to be released the first time, but otherwise ... there's only one way a person goes, and I — ( she's beginning to regret this conversation immensely. maybe she can redirect, stop talking about herself. maybe it'll be easier. )

Mick told me that we have to leave you behind. In the future.

[Len sets his cards down as well, sensing her distress at what he told her.]

There was a glitch... not sure exactly why, but the Waverider didn't get back to pick you three up for two years. You had gone back, but your boss let you choose to go when we came to get you. You've been better since - no more uncontrolled murder rages.

[He gets a rather strange look on his face] Is that what he told you? Wonder why he'd lie like that.

( two years. she can't imagine doing another two years with the league. she'd have to kill again, surely. not that it's really a bright side, but maybe that'd keep the — in his words — "uncontrolled murder rages" at bay.

but then leonard's got a weird look on his face and she gets the sneaking suspicion that things don't quite go how she'd been imagining. ) Lie? ( oh boy. here goes nothing. she's gravely serious when she explains: ) Mick said that one of us had to stay behind, and that you knocked him out and took his place. To which I told him that we wouldn't leave you behind. That we'd go back for you, get you back somehow, once we finished off Savage. And from the sounds of it, we did, so —

Not gonna happen. [He's unusually serious as he looks at her. Holds her gaze. ] Because I had to stay behind to make sure the explosion happened, and you can't kill Savage unless it does.

I came here seconds from my death, Sara. The only way I'm gonna make it out of there is if I get my reward.

( sara hardly knows how to react.

leonard's supposed to — is going to — die?

it raises a million more questions, like why him? well, he'd taken mick's place, so that's a given, but ... why not ray? why any of them, really? when beginning their mission, sara hadn't ever imagined losing any one member of their team. losing leonard feels especially like a punch to the gut, considering her ... friendship with him, if they'd ever call it that. she considers him maybe her closest ally on the team, regardless of how often she told him, even to his face, how she didn't like him, the words were always hollow and meaningless and she's sure that he knows it, too.

she tries her damnedest not to look upset, even if it's exceedingly difficult not to. len's here for a reason, sara tells herself. he can make it out of there.

with a soft sigh of a breath she hadn't realized she was holding, she picks up her hand of cards, averts her eyes from his watchful gaze to glance down at it. flatly, sara comments, ) Well, you'd better start working on your incentive.

[Sara may believe that Leonard is well aware that she likes him, but the truth is that he isn't as confident as it appears. Len doesn't have a good romantic history - or a romantic history at all - and few friends. He's more socially awkward than he lets on, dealing with most situations by deflecting attention away from his true feelings rather than forging connections.

But despite her attempts to hide her feelings, he does sense something that gives him hope.

He smiles sardonically and glances down at his cards]

Trust me. I'm working on it.

Good, ( sara retorts a little too quickly, even if it comes across as genuine, but she's equally quick to add, as she looks up over her cards at him, razor sharp: ) And if you're cheating, I won't have any problem kicking your ass.

( gotta break the tension somehow, which is palpable between them. she's bad enough at dealing with her feelings about people, friendly or otherwise, so she doesn't need to fret over this messed up situation that's playing out before her very eyes when she can just call leonard out on his card-related bullshit. )