You and I Collide

Epilogue 2: Underestimated

xXx

Sara had been underestimated her entire life. Her father only ever saw his little girl, perfect simply because she was the youngest. Her sister only saw someone to be protected, a child who needed a bodyguard more than an older sister. Thea thought they were kindred spirits, a fellow rebel, someone who wanted to break out of the box her parents had put her in. Oliver saw her as an innocent, someone to be corrupted and someone he was all too happy to corrupt. Some may have said that with Oliver she had met her match, but the truth was she didn't have a match. They were all beneath her, merely pawns in the games she played to pass the days.

Thea, to her credit, was the first to notice that. Despite knowing exactly what kind of man her brother was, if you could even call him that, he was still her brother and she would stand up for him as he would for her. Sara had been playing a game with Oliver, stringing him along for months. He wanted only one thing from her and when he got it he would move on. She knew that, so she thought she'd take advantage. He was a member of the wealthiest family in Star City, after all. She played coy, shy and flattered by the gifts he gave her, things she could never afford as the daughter of a career police officer, and at first Thea had thought it was amusing. Sara never figured out exactly when or how the youngest Queen had figured her out, nor had Thea explained.

That fateful night was really Thea's fault if you stopped to think about it. She shouldn't have been speeding like that in the rain. Nor should she have underestimated Sara.

"I know what your doing." Thea had told her from behind the wheel. And Sara played dumb for as long as she could, extracting whatever information she deemed necessary from Thea. "I can't believe I'd never seen all of this before. The way you use people, the way you manipulate us. You've had us all fooled for so long. Playing games with our minds, starting fights and then watching us all claw and scratch and tear each other apart. Your insane, and I told Olie too. He sees it too."

"Are you sure about that?" Sara had asked. "Your brother isn't exactly a brilliant individual. Maybe he's just humoring you."

Thea was speechless for a moment, like she hadn't expected Sara to admit to it. "I'm sure, he's going to tell Tommy and together their going to tell your sister. She probably won't believe them, but the idea will be planted and she'll being paying closer attention to you."

"Well that's no fun."

"Fun! How is any of this fun?" Thea exclaimed. "You're playing with people's lives."

"What else am I supposed to do? There's nothing else to do in this town. And you make it sound like I took away all your choices. Honestly Thea, I'm not a god. You could have said no to things, you could have backed out, I certainly didn't pressure you. I couldn't have, then you would have figured it out sooner. No, your choices are your own, I was just there to give you a little nudge, whisper in your ear so to speak.

No one made you take those drugs that first time or all the times after that. No one makes you come out every weekend to drink more than any human being should be able to, or sleep your way through the club scene. You chose to do that. I'm just along for the ride." Sara sighed. "But I supposed your right. There's nothing quite like having the fog lifted even when you don't believe the fog is there to begin with. I can't imagine being watched so closely by my insufferably perfect sister. I guess I'll just have to move on, find someone else to play with."

"You can't honestly think I'm going to let you get away with this. That I'm just going to let you pack up and leave."

Sara smirked. "Who says you'll have a choice?"

And then in a move that Thea had only half registered, Sara reached over and unlatched Thea's seatbelt while simultaneously tightening her own. She then reached over and grabbed the edge of the wheel, jerking hard. The car skidded to the right, losing traction on the wet asphalt and tipped, rolling side over side across the empty stretch of highway and into the ditch on the far side. All the while she laughed at Thea's terrified screams.

Sara didn't know how long she had been unconscious, but when she came too, everything hurt. She struggled to free herself from her seatbelt and crawl out of the wreckage. She didn't bother to look for Thea, even if she survived it wouldn't be for long. They were in the middle of nowhere, Thea's brilliant idea to avoid Saturday night traffic and no one would be along to help anytime soon.

Sara stole some clothes from Thea's stash in the back, slipping off her heels and dress and trading them in for sweatpants and sneakers. She didn't have much money on her, enough to get by for a day or two at most. It would be enough. With her leg nearly broken, Sara hobbled away from the wreck, never looking back and headed for the trainstation a few miles away.

Central City wouldn't have been her first choice, but it was far enough away from Star City that no one would recognize her right away. She was sure her picture would be plastered all over the news eventually, and with the death of a Queen, it was sure to go national.

Once in Central she made her way to the outskirts of the city, looking for anything she shelter in until she worked out a plan. Lucky for her that wasn't necessary. She supposed she looked just pitiful enough for a hardened criminal like Leonard Snart to stop and take pity on. She would later find out that she had tripped a proximity alarm as she stumbled passed his hideout. She had dosed in and out of consciousness on the train, but she was never more certain that there was something more wrong than she originally assumed then she did as she struggled to keep moving.

She came to long enough to see a young woman about her own age standing over her before the darkness took her again.

Leonard was the first person she'd seen when she'd woken up. The pain she had been struggling with since the crash was dulled and there was heavines to her limbs that told her that just because she couldn't feel it, didn't mean it wasn't still there.

"Your beat up pretty badly, Miss Lance." he told her as she focused on him as best she could. "I suppose surviving a car accident will leave you a little battered though." she must have looked surprised because he continued. "You've been out for a few days. In the meantime the crash was all over the news. I have no idea how you managed to get so far with as bad off as you are." he explained.

"Thea?" she she struggled to speak, tears pricking her eyes. He stared back at her sympathetically and she turned away, the perfect visage of an innocent young woman devastated.

"Get some rest." he finally replied. "You'll be safe here."

As the days passed she'd finally met the young woman from before, Lisa, who was primarily taking care of her. Leonard would come in every once in a while to see how she was doing. She could see it in their eyes as they looked after her, especially Leonard, they were growing attached to her. It would be their downfall if she so chose.

As time went on they didn't question her being there, or her hesitance to leave. They had no right to judge her, not with their own histories. If she wanted to stick around, join their ragtag family, than so be it. She was welcome. She eventually got cozy with Leonard. It was no hardship on her part. He was handsome and intelligent and under all that ice he was very sweet. She played him like fiddle and he always sang in key for her every time.

Of course her obnoxiously perfect sister had to show up and try to ruin it some years later. Thankfully, Leonard had seen the writing on the wall with the increase of vigilantes in other cities. He knew it was only a matter of time before they started up in Central. Training her to put on a show for anyone who would question her complicity was brilliant, she had to admit, especially given how much people tended to underestimate her to begin with. Unfortunately for Leonard it worked more against him than he realized.

Before The Black Canary and her companion, Overwatch had shown up, Sara was growing bored. She did what she could to stave it off, but Citizen Cold and his Rogues just weren't as fun to play with anymore, not after all these years. She was considering all the options open to her when Dinah showed up and it gave her the perfect idea. A bit of danger to add to her already twisted ideas.

She would get rid of Leonard, blame her sister and ignite a war between Black Canary and The Rogues. It would also brand Canary a murder, ensuring the police were gunning for her as well. Sara delighted in the idea of watching little miss perfect try to fight her way out of that mess. And then Lisa had to go and stick her nose in. She was far smarter than Sara had given her credit for and framing Chillblaine for her murder was a pain all on its own. She had considered framing Dinah, but a little part of her thought it would be more fun to see how Leonard handled Canary on top of his grief. She was curious to see all the ways the cold, collect Citizen Cold might come apart.

And come apart he did. She hadn't counted on him freezing her out though. He'd always made it a point to fold her in to everything, she was his partner in a way Mick wasn't interested in being. So when he told her after nearly a year of shutting her out, that he was ready to put his master plan into action, she hadn't argued. Regardless of his plans, his time as Central City's kingpin was drawing to a close and she had every intention of being there when it imploded.

Despite Leonard's decline, he had put just as much thought and planning into this as he had any other heist. He'd even figure out how to spy on the other Earths. Who they would need to impersonate, who they would need to be rid of and who would be the biggest obstacle to their plans. But he still wouldn't tell her why they were doing all of this. She decided to let it go, have a little fun pulling the strings of her counterparts and their friends. She'd even sabotaged his plan here and there, throwing subtle hints that she was an imposter just to make things interesting.

The fact that Leonard had managed to surprise her, even after all of this time was either a testament to how good he was or how complacent she had become. The minute he had proved it was possible she knew what she had to do. There was no way she was going to let him waste this gift on Lisa, not when immortality was a possibility. She could only imagine it. The chance to spend eternity toying with the human race, to watch them squirm. To tip dominos in her favor and watch as everything crumbled; watch as people fought each other, blaming each other for what was her fault. She would build an empire the likes of which no one had ever seen before and then when she was bored she would burn it to the ground and start all over. Over and over again watching the chaos and destruction, pulling the strings of those in power of those who would underestimate her.

It was the perfect existence.

So she took Leonard's machines and she used them for herself. There were those in Leonard's organization that she had turned to her side, those who didn't think they were treated fairly, who didn't think they were given their fair share. She would use them like she did everyone else and dispatch them when they were of no more use.

She didn't even glance at Leonard as he lay dying on the floor, her only concern, like always, was herself. The process itself was indescribable. She felt, in a way, that she was being pulled apart and pieced back together only stronger than ever.

When she came out of the machine it all happened quickly. The Sara and Leonard from Earth 36 as well as Lisa and Mick arrived. They were all too willing to believe her explanation of events. The Frost Giant and The Banshee showed up next and they too fell in line. It was Canary who realized Leonard was still alive. He was quickly shuffled off to a hospital, last she'd heard there wasn't much hope that he would ever wake up.

Dinah and Felicity took her away not long after and the others returned to their own earths. The fun was over for now, but it wouldn't stay that way for long. She had plans and with all of Leonard's secret resources at her disposal and the longevity of her body, there was a lot of fun left to come.