#i still have all the unpacked voice files and i labeled a majority of them and have them in folders so if you want a specific NPC lmk?

[limitededitionsanderssidesblog]

The Stacks - Chapter 2

Ships: Eventual logicality and prinxiety, slow burn

Summary:  In this society there is a place where the poor and unwanted are placed and kept hidden away from everyone else, where poverty and crime are a frequent and life shines for no one. Stacked up high in the sky, this is the furthest anyone living there will ever reach. When a Depression consumes the land, and the government fails to bring an end to it, society turns even further on the residents of the Stacks, accusing them for bringing the rest of them down. What no one knows, however, is that it'll take the work of four unlikely people to not only bring an end to the poverty, but also to this inequality.

Chapter One Next AO3 - Here

Patton still remembers the very first day he met Virgil. He had been seventeen years of age and working in a bakery in the higher, low end of the city in district thirteen, just before the Stacks. He was living alone in an abandoned school bus, where he was still living today. After one of his workshifts had ended he had come home to find an eleven year old boy hiding under one of the seats. He wore a dirty pair of overalls covered in holes and no shirt or shoes.

When Patton tried to get close to him he hissed and crawled further away under the seats. There was something almost feral about the boy, as if he had been raised by animals rather than humans. It had taken several days, but Patton was eventually able to get him out from under the seats and fed him some old stale bread, with the moldy bits ripped off.

It turned out that the local gang had been after him for not paying his safety fees and he had ran away and hid to avoid them. Wanting to help, Patton gave the money to Virgil to help him clear his debt, which had been his entire paycheck.

From there on Patton had decided to take the young boy under his wing and sort of adopt him in a way. Right away he knew that Virgil had been without his parents for some time, how long Patton wouldn’t know for years to come, so he decided to take their place as his parental figure. Patton stitched and patched up Virgil's overalls, washing them as well. When he had gotten the money, he took him out to buy the first shirt he had owned in years. Seeing the joy of a child for something so simple as a piece of clothing warmed his heart beyond comparison. From then on Patton had made it his mission from then on to give Virgil a good life, one without wanting and hardship.

He got a second job and worked tiring hours, exhausting himself from the labor, but he didn’t give in. Patton was constantly looking for an apartment or studio home, nothing to fancy, but a home that a good future could be built upon. For months he had his eyes on a small one bedroom and bathroom apartment for sale in the tenth district. There was a school close by where Virgil could attend, a small park was three blocks away where he could play, it was perfect. After saving his money for years locked under a floorboard in the bus, hidden by a newspaper carpet, as robberies were practically a daily frequent in the Stacks, Patton had raised up enough money to buy the place.

Then the Depression hit.

Prices everywhere skyrocketed. A loaf of bread became four times the price it once had been. Because of this the gangs raised their prices as well. Patton had drained practically all of his savings in a matter of months, and the apartment was long out of his reach. The bakery where he used to work went out of business, and Patton was left with only one job that was only able to feed him one meal a day after taxes and gang payments were taken care of.

The life that was once just within arms reach, was now a whole world apart. Yet, Virgil didn’t seem to mind that they couldn’t get the apartment and was happy to live with him in that rusty, old bus. Patton was never able to tell if he was just being strong for him, or if he actually was okay with it.

However, hearing the words that he had spoken last night, Patton knew that he wasn’t okay with it.

Coming back to his bus, the rows of seats long since removed and sold for a little extra cash, Patton noticed that the twins were already asleep, so he simply put their food down on a small three-legged table, and went to sleep himself. Virgil had gone straight to his own crate once they had arrived, taking his food from Patton with a smile and a thank you. He had moved out from the bus two years ago, claiming he wanted to give Patton his space, but he doubted that was the real reason.

After Virgil had left him alone in the school bus, Patton had decided to adopt these twins when their father had been wrongly put in prison for an accused crime he never committed. He hadn’t know their father all that well, but he knew for a fact that he would never kill someone. So until he got out, he would take care of the boys. If he ever got out.

…

Once again he had taken another hounding at the latest press conference by the reporters who held little faith in him and his abilities, and demanded he create change practically overnight. But from what Logan had learned from his years in politics is that no resolutions is so easily made. The election that had won him the seat as senator had been a close one, and a near fifty percent of the province still didn’t believe someone so young could do anything for them. In spite of that, the depression had been raging for almost four years with no sign of ending, in fact it had been growing under the policies of a government composed almost completely by older people who have never face an economic downturn in their lives. All they had ever known was strict rules and prosperity, and now, because of their fixed mindset, they were driving the nation into the ground.

The fact that he had replaced much of his staff with young minds had upset many of the other senators and position holders. Many of his colleagues saw him as too radical, but he was determined to make a difference, starting in his province. As long as he didn’t give them a firm reason to remove him from office, he’ll take any necessary steps to fix this situation.

Logan worked behind his desk for hours, trying to find ways to bring down the jobless rate, looking through proposed bills and deciding whether or not to bring them before the senate. Many of the bills were a fool’s dream, unrealistic and improbable, yet some had promise.

“Sir?” A voice called through his desk speaker. Logan pushed the red button on the device down to respond.

“Yes, Johnathan?”

“You’re new head of security has arrived in the lobby. Would you like me to show him to his office?” His secretary asked.

“No, no, I shall do it myself.” He said to the machine, standing from his chair. “Notify him that I’m on my way down.”

“Yes, sir.”

It had been a long two weeks, what with transfering Roman from the police over to his office building, dismissing the old head of security, and dealing with backfire from the media for doing so. He could use a minute to step out for a bit.

Escaping his suffocating office, Logan strode down to the bottom floor secretary’s desk, where Roman had been waiting with a large cardboard box of personal items. Unless Logan was hallucinating, the box looked awfully a lot like the one clockmaker had thrown at him.

As he walked over, the regal, former, cop raised his head at the sound of footsteps and stood to greet him.

“Welcome Roman, I trust you have everything you need?” Logan said to him.

“Yep, and more!” Roman responded with a large goofy grin, taking a small, rubber stress toy out of the box and giving it a light squeeze, causing it to squeak. Logan rolled his eyes and turned to the elevators to take them up to where the awaiting office was located a floor below his.

Ever since college, Roman has had the eccentricity and energy of an adolescent. With Roman being a first year studying for a Criminology major and Logan being a third year with an almost complete Social Science and Economics major when they first met, he had found his behavior to be unusual and had expected it to just be a phase of excitement for his entry into University. Nevertheless, throughout the rest of their college experience together, and their friendship away from work, Roman had always been like this.

However, that is not all there was to the man. Logan has witnessed first hand the professional side of Roman. He is determined and relentless when presented with a case. Roman’s skills and resources far out match even his own, and if rubbed the wrong way, Roman could be a troublesome foe. These are the qualities that were needed in the city right now. The crime rate of the capital city was at an all time high, and the second highest in the nation. Their province have been the laughing stock in the Senate for years and the police force has been labeled as incompetent. It was Logan’s job, now Roman’s, to turn that around.

Arriving on the fourth floor Logan walked out into a large, opened hallway, five half-glass offices on each side, with ten half moon desks in the center outside each door. The senator led his friend and new colleague to the third office down on the right.

“This,” He waved his arm around the room, bringing him in, “Is your new office.” The room was already furnish with a large, executive desk and armchair, a smaller chair to the side, a wide filing cabinet, and bookshelf. The only thing left for Roman to do was unpack, settle in, and get to work.

“To your left is the Secretary of the Province, Brian Lee, to the right is Treasurer Selene Carter, and your personal assistant,” Logan gestured to the woman at the desk outside the office, “Is Diana Meyers.” Roman nodded along and peered around the room, admiring the open space and glass walls with it’s blinds drawn for privacy. “I gave your assistant all the important files you’ll be needing left over from the last head of security, they’ll deliver them to you when you’ve settled in.” Roman tread over to his new desk to set down his box of personals, seemingly getting comfortable, “If that’s all, then I shall take my leave-”

“Logan.” Roman spoke up, turning back to face his new superior, and old friend. “Thank you, for this I mean.”

Logan loosed for a moment, letting go of his serious composure and allowing himself to relax. He flashed Roman a nod and a smile, saying “You’re very welcome.”, before turning to head back to his own office, leaving Roman to unpack his belongings and start work whenever he’s ready and able.

As he walked back to the elevators and further, several other officers and lower workers greeted him and paid their respects. Offering compliments or offers of assistance.

Shortly after becoming the senator for the province of Flor, Logan had learned that this would be a nearly everyday occurance. Many, but not all, co-workers, colleagues, and subordinates would kiss up to him in hope of a raise, promotion, or good faith. Often times Logan wouldn’t know who he could truly put his trust in, who was being earnest with him or who was being fake. It seems that the more influence one has, the more they tend to become used. Logan needed someone he could trust, Roman was a start, but it wasn’t enough yet.

“Sir, your butler just called,” Johnathan announced as he walked past the secretary’s desk, “He wanted to let you know that your advertisement for a new personal chef was successfully placed in the newspaper.”

“Thank you, Johnathan, keep up the work.” He replied stoically and entered his office, closing the door behind him.

The piles of paper worked stood menacingly on his desk, appearing to have grown during his short breather. With a tired sigh and a grimace, Logan sat down in his leather seat and got back into the toil, working late again as usual.

…

The city streets of the eleventh district were buzzing as usual with heavy machinery and labor, as it was the main industrial district of the city. Rock was being cut, wood was being chopped, metal was being melted down; all the heavy types of industry were hard at work making noise. Of all the fourteen districts of Flor’s capital, Fauna, the eleventh was the best place to find, or steal, scrap metal and material for his clocks.

Currently, Virgil was dumpster diving outside a silver and steel manufacturing lot, finding nuts and bolts that he could make use of. This had been a common thing for him to do ever since he was little. Granted, it was searching for food that he used to climb into trash cans, but the thousands of repeated dives in the garbage nulled his disgust for it a long time ago. Besides, everything was free here.

Whilst digging through the thrown away trash he found a handle sticking out from a torn bag. Pulling the handle out, Virgil was delighted to find a professionally made power saw with a broken cord. If he could get the right supplies he could probably fix the broken cord.

“Hey! Get outta here!” A booming voice roared over the sound of machines. Whipping his head up, Virgil saw a security guard running his way.

Ripping his backpack open and shoving the saw inside, Virgil climbed out the dumpster and bolted away, the security guard hot on his heels. Trying to make his escape he lead them into an alley where he knew a sewer opening was hidden under a pile of empty beer bottles. Once there, he pushed the bottles to the side, and jumped down into the colverless manhole, pulling a nearby trash bag over to hide the sewer opening. Virgil made sure not to make a noise until he heard the security guard leave.

Footsteps came into the alley before halting to a stop, there was some pacing before the footsteps started to retreat.

“Filthy dumpster rat.” The man cursed as he left.

Virgil waited a few moments more before climbing up the ladder, peeking his head out to scan the area before he crawled out completely. With one last look around Virgil left the alley and headed down the street.

That wasn’t the first time he had gotten in trouble with the security, and it most certainly won’t be the last. People around here didn’t like scavengers roaming around in their trash and would often chase them away with a metaphorical broom.

But at least it was safer to do so in this district than the other ones. The twelfth and eleventh districts were the closest to the Stacks, the fourteenth district, and therefore weren’t as funded as the others, making their security and police force easier to get around. But the closer you get to the city center, and the further from the Stacks, the police force is doubled, then tripled, and you can get arrested just for looking at a rich man wrong. Virgil once spent the night in jail for ‘causing’ a man in a hurry to drop his briefcase and spill his papers.

That’s just what life was like for those who came from the Stacks, and you could always tell when someone did. Stackers all had a distinct look: dirt poor. If you had holes in your clothes, dirt caked on your skin, old worn out shoes, or no shoes at all, it was a safe bet to say where you came from. However, out of all that, there was another trait that was more noticeable than all the rest: a loss of hope. In the eyes of all its residents there was familiar look that was held in each one, no matter if it was covered, denied, or accepted, that look came from a knowledge that there was no way out. The depression may have struck the nation three years ago, but it had been thriving in the Stacks since their creation.

The original economical idea for the Stacks was to move poverty into a singular, concentrated area with a small percentage of the population to keep it there. But as the years passed, that percentage began to grow beyond its initial barriers by building upwards, and the depression began to spread as an infecting virus. Now, because this abomination made to fix the economy was now breaking it, the rest of society turned on the stackers as the cause for their damnation.

Virgil had been born fifty years after its creation and was now living through the rear ass of the worst economic crisis in recorded history, yet is treated as less than a person by those whose only suffering was a smaller paycheck.

The police force were especially harder on his kind, but only when they’re caught in the center of the city. Another main function of the Stacks was to hold the majority of crime so that the upper ends could sleep better at night, while he has to use five bolted locks on the doors of his crate just to avoid being robbed or killed in plain daylight. A crime such as stealing a loaf of bread could earn you a year in prison if it’s done in the city, but murder is completely overlooked in his backyard. Who knows how long Virgil would have been behind bars if that shit eating cop caught him for operating a stand without a license.

This is the sort of injustice he had to live through on a daily basis simply because he was born on the wrong side of the tracks. The new senator elected last year promised change for all as his slogan, but Virgil knew what he truly meant. He, just as all the others, would help and listen to only the rich fucks of the city, leaving Stack rats such as himself to beg for their scraps. The government didn’t care for them, and there was no way the officials would allow any of them leave their hell. That’s just the way the system worked and that’s how it’d stay. No one was brave enough to try and change it.

.

.

Tag List:

@shaeshaetheravenclaw

#sanders sides #virgil sanders #sanders sides virgil #roman sanders #sanders sides roman #logan sanders #sanders sides logan #patton sanders #sanders sides patton #thomas sanders #sanders sides fic #prinxiety #princiety #logicality

[avasharpe]

Sugar and Salt

Chapter: Seven of Ten

Summary: Zari and Behrad move back into their parents home, but Laurel drops with a lead on who called ICE, Zari picks up her computer to track him down.

Fandom: DC’s Legends of Tomorrow.

Relationship: Amaya Jiwe/Zari Tomaz, and Sara Lance/Ava Sharpe.

Characters: Amaya Jiwe, Zari Tomaz, Behrad Tarari, Kuasa, Sara Lance, Ava Sharpe, Sin Lance, and Kendra Saunders.

Chapter Rating: General Audiences.

Additional Tags: Bakery and Coffee Shop, Mutual Pining, Non-binary character, Trans Character, Fake Marriage, But Real Feelings, Food.

Read at AO3

Read at FFN

……………………………………………………………………

“Okay that goes up to Zari’s bedroom and those boxes can go into the kitchen,” Sara instructed Mick, Ray, and Nate and pointed up the stairs for them to carry the parts of Zari’s bed frame. Sara stood in the entryway at the bottom of the stairs as she directed traffic for the move-in process.

“Remind me who put you in charge of this?” Zari asked as she set down the box she was carrying. 

“Well someone’s got to make sure you don’t set up your closet in the living room,” Sara said, pointing her toe at the box Zari had just sent down, which was clearly labeled ‘Zari’s clothing.’ “And Amaya said I could.”

Zari just rolled her eyes and picked up the box again. Making a note to go find Amaya as she walked upstairs. 

It had been a few weeks since she had agreed to move and they had spent the majority of the time going through old things, packing, and cleaning. They had agreed to keep some of their parents’ old furniture with a few touches of their new things.

It was hard for Zari to see the old furniture and everything reminded her of them, but once she started adding her things to the house it made things easier. They only had to move in a few pieces of big furniture, such as beds and desks, as the majority of what they had were in boxes. Zari was surprised that she didn’t want much of her furniture and was in the process of selling or giving it away to anyone who needed it. As she trudged her way up the stairs Behrad and Sin came running down the stairs almost barreling right into her. 

“Hey you two are supposed to stay in Behrad’s room and unpack,” Zari said, readjusted the box in her arms. “You two nearly knocked me over and we don’t want you guys getting trampled with the big furniture.”

“But we already unpacked all of my stuff,” Behrad said, with a shrug. “Can’t we help somewhere else?” 

“Okay, fine, but stay out of the way of the big furniture,” Zari said, moving to let them pass.

“Okay,” Sin said as they ran past her. 

“And no running,” Sara shouted at them before Zari could. 

Sara and Zari both exchanged a look with knowing smiles as Zari shook her head. Zara trudged up the stairs and heard Sara bark orders at Ava and Kendra as they brought in more boxes. When she reached the top of the stairs, Amaya came out of one of the rooms and met Zari with her winning smile.

“Do you want me to take that into your room?” Amaya asked, already taking the box from Zari’s arms. 

“Thank you,” Zari said, gratefully handing it over. “Hey, did you tell Sara she could direct traffic, instead of helping out?”

“Yeah, she said she wasn’t feeling that great, but she did bring Ava with her to help out. Besides, we do need someone to make sure everything goes where it’s supposed to, why?”

“Oh, I think the power is going to her head a little bit,” Zari smiled and rolled her eyes. 

“Well, I’m sure you can keep her in check,” Amaya smirked back. “How about you and I drop off this box together and you can help me put my clothes away?” 

Amaya smiled and her eyes had that beautiful sparkle and Zari took a moment to appreciate Amaya’s brilliant eyes. Ever since they had started the move in process and as they each committed to spending more time with the kids, there hadn’t been much time left for them to be alone and Zari missed being around just Amaya. 

“Zari?”

“Yeah, lead the way,” Zari said, ducking her head and blushing a deep red.

Amaya licked her lips and giggled as she turned around and led Zari down the hall. Zari knew that they would most likely just end up making out for a while and eagerly followed her. 

“Hey guys,” Lita said, coming out and walking up to them with her hands in her pockets, and the glow between them faded. “Can Kuasa and Hector set up a video game since we’re all done getting Behrad moved in?” 

“Yeah, but could you supervise Behrad and Sin? They want to help with the moving, but I don’t want them to get hurt by the big furniture pieces,” Zari said pointing down the hall to where they had run off.  

“Yeah no problem,” Lita said with a shrug and a smile.

“Thank you for babysitting Lita,” Amaya added with a nod as Lita popped back into the room, to let Kuasa and Hector know what was going on.

Once Lita had scampered down the stairs, Amaya sent Zari another sultry smile and swayed her hips as she walked down the hall. Zari followed her like a puppy and the second she set the box down, Zari put her hands on her hips and twirled Amaya towards her. They smiled at each other before leaning in and pressing their lips against one another. Zari sighed as she relaxed into the kiss and Amaya wrapped her arms around Zari’s neck. 

“Zari!” Sara yelled at her from down the stairs.

Zari sighed again, but this time in frustration and Amaya pulled away from her. “We should probably go see what she wants?”

“Whatever it is, it’s not important enough to drag me away from you,” Zari said as she chased Amaya’s lips and kissed her again. 

“Zari, your lawyer is here to speak with you!” 

That broke them apart. They hurried down the stairs to see Laurel waiting for them with a stack of papers in her arms. Laurel and Sara both had a somber look across their face and Amaya reached out to squeeze Zari’s hand as they walked the rest of the way down the stairs.

“What’s this about?” Zari asked as she stepped off the bottom step.

Laurel looked around at everyone as they were still moving things in and walking around the house. “Is there somewhere we can speak privately?” 

Zari nodded for Laurel to follow her and walked over to her father’s old library. As a child, her father would work in his study and Zari would play on the rug. He was quite the book collector and many of the books were in Arabic. Her father made sure she and Behrad knew how to speak and read in Arabic and carry on the cultural traditions. Zari hadn’t stepped foot in the room yet and didn’t have any plans to change it. It was exactly as she remembered it as she opened the door and led Laurel in.

Laurel looked around the room and Zari offered her one of the chairs next to the desk. Laurel put the papers down on the coffee table between them and pulled out a few documents getting right to it.

“When I took on your case I did a little digging and contacted someone I knew in ICE, in order to find the report made against you. The report was made anonymously, but they included your home address and your work address. I thought something was off about how they knew where you lived and where you worked. I got a copy of the phone call and I think, I should play it for you.” 

Laurel pulled out her phone and looked up at her, Zari just nodded and Laurel hit play.

“Hello, I have a concern about someone illegally living and working here in Star City. Their name is Zari Tomaz and they live at 108A Orange Street, Star City, and work at Jewi’s Bakery over on 140th Street.”

Zari’s jaw fell open, she was shocked to hear Damien Darhk’s voice on the call as he listed off her address. He began to say a few other unkind and down white racist things about her, but Laurel hurried to end the recording and put her phone away. 

“I’m sure you can guess as to who it was, but unfortunately I can’t legally be sure that it was Damien Darhk. By reporting you he violated the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act but without proof, he can’t be prosecuted. I had one of our private detectives trace the phone call, but it just led to a dead end burner phone. In the meantime, all I can do is suggest that you stay away from the school as much as possible. I would also suggest that you transfer Behrad to a different school as well. I have no reason to believe that another report to ICE won’t be made if you file a change of address with the school.” 

As Laurel spoke she looked over at Zari who just noted as she took everything in. She wasn’t sure what else she could do. Especially if, as Laurel said, they had no proof.

“But I can’t take Behrad out of that school. It’s the best one in the district and I can’t afford the private school fees,” Zari said standing up as she began to pace the room. 

“I’m so sorry Zari. I know how difficult this is for you and that you don’t want to sacrifice Behrad’s education,” Laurel said, shaking her head. “I’m going to keep our detective on it to see if we can try and prove Darhk broke the law. Though at this point there’s nothing I can do other than continue with your green card papers from your marriage. Until then you need to lay low and have no contact with Darhk or the school.”

“But what am I supposed to do about Behrad? Amaya and the others have been dropping him off and picking him up, but the school keeps harassing them for a change of address or questions about my whereabouts. They’ve even threatened to call CPS.”

“I’ll draft a statement for the school and assure them that you’re still providing for Behrad, without giving them your new address. That should at least get you through the end of the year. However, they’ll want an address for you and your confirmation that you’re still his guardian for next year, but then we’ll have things in order for your green card.”

Zari sat back down at the chair and looked around the room. It represented the kind of life that their parents had envisioned for them, with a nice house in the good school district. Yet, her parents were never able to finish the process of citizenship before they died and Zari let it slide like an idiot. This whole mess was her fault. 

“Thank you Laurel,” Zari said, finally looking over at her. 

“I’ll send you a document for the school that you can look over. If you get it back to me tonight, I can have it filed with the school tomorrow,” Laurel nodded as she got up. She put a hand on Zari’s shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile. “Just take it one step at a time. We’re on track for your visa and your I-130. I’m still setting up the interview, but you’re doing everything right to get your citizenship and everyone here is making sure that you’re protected.”

“Thank you.”

“No problem,” Laurel said before she left. 

Zari sat alone in the library for another minute before Amaya came in.

“Damien Darhk was the one who ratted me out to ICE,” Zari said, looking up at her.

“I’m sorry Zari,” Amaya said, as she tilted her head and walked over to sit next to her. Amaya put her arm around her and pulled her in.

“Don’t be,” Zari said, welcoming her embrace. “You’ve done everything you could to help me and I truly appreciate it.”

Amaya leaned in and kissed her and Zari let herself melt against her lips. They let themselves have a moment to each other before Zari stood up and held out her hand to Amaya. “Come on we should get back to work, before Sara barges in on us.”

Amaya let her pull her up and shook her head. “Sara’s actually being really helpful you know.”

“Doesn’t make her any less annoying,” Zari said as they walked out.

With Sara’s direction, they got everything moved in and both Zari and Behrad’s bedrooms put together before they finished for the day. Amaya and Zari agreed to have some alone time with the kids so they said good night and parted ways at least until tomorrow. Since Monday was their day off, they planned to meet for breakfast and send the kids off the school together. 

Zari enjoyed her time with Behrad but sent him to bed a little earlier than usual. She then pulled out a black duffel bag from under her bed. Quietly, she walked down the hall and checked on Behrad who was already fast asleep, exhausted after a day of moving, then crept downstairs and back into her father’s library. 

It was the one place in the house where she felt truly safe and Zari quickly set up her laptop and other equipment. In college, Zari used to be quite the hacker, but as the years went on, she slowly stepped away from it in favor of working legally for Amaya. Yet, she always kept the duffle bag of her old equipment ready to go in case they needed it. Once Zari had everything loaded and had completely shielded her computer, she began her search for everything and anything related to Damien Darhk.

……………………………………………………………………

Amaya was enjoying a lazy morning as she stretched and rolled back over in bed. It was a Monday and she would have to get Kuasa up for school and to meet Zari and Behrad for breakfast soon. She was glad that she didn’t have to be in at the bakery that morning, as it was their day off. 

Amaya reached out her arm only to feel the cold and empty space where Zari would have been. She understood and completely supported Zari’s move, but that didn’t mean she didn’t miss her. Letting out a sigh, Amaya grabbed the extra pillow, pulling it towards her and wrapping her arms around it. She closed her eyes again and wished for a few more minutes of sleep. 

Just as her mind had started to drift off in that place between thoughts and unconscious dreaming, the sound of her phone vibrating on her nightstand jerked her up. Amaya sighed and reached for her phone, smiling as she saw Zari’s name and quickly answered her call. 

“Hey you.”

“Amaya I need you to meet me at the house as soon as possible.” 

Zari’s urgent tone made her heart quicken as she got out of bed and went over to her dresser, pulling out a set of clothes. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

“I know who contacted ICE. I have proof that they did it along with the long list of other crimes, but it involves you and the kids,” Zari said and Amaya knew that she was rubbing her forehead. Amaya paused and gently set the clothes on her bed. “I don’t know what to do about all of it.”

“Just take a deep breath,” Amaya said and waited for Zari to mirror her on the other end of the line. “Have you called Laurel or Sara or Kendra?”

“No, I don’t want to go to Laurel until you know, but I probably should call Sara and Kendra as it involves them too.”

“Okay, why don’t you do that, and in the meantime I’ll get ready, get some food for breakfast, and bring it over for everyone?”

Amaya could hear Zari chuckle and knew she was smiling. “Do all of your solutions involve food?”

“A full belly makes everyone feel better, that’s what my Mama always told me.”

“Well, your Mama was probably right. She did a good job raising you.”

“She did,” Amaya said, remembering everything her mom taught her about baking and helping people.

“Alright, but how soon can you get here?” Zari asked, the worry back in her voice.

“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes if I can get to Kuasa up soon.”

“Better make it in half an hour, but thanks.” 

“Okay, I’ll be there soon.”

“I love you,” Zari said, and Amaya’s heart skipped a beat. No matter how many times Zari said it to her, it always felt like the first time.

“I love you too.”

Zari ended the call and Amaya quickly got dressed and ready. Kuasa put up a bit of a fight, but she could see the worry on her face and was soon ready as well.

……………………………………………………………………

Zari paced back and forth in her office as she waited for Sara to pick up the phone. 

“What the fuck Zari. It’s like 6 a.m. on our day off?” Sara said, clearly not in the mood for the early phone call.

“Does Ava like Damien Darhk?”

“What?”

“Does Ava like principal Damien Darhk?”

“Zari what is going on?” Sara insisted and Zari heard Ava in the background ask her the same question.

“Can you just answer the question Sara?” Zari insisted and stopped pacing. She knew that Sara would be on her side no matter what, but she didn’t want to cause any trouble with Sara’s relationship with Ava.

Sara sighed and Zari could hear her sit up in bed and move around. “No, they’re constantly clashing over curriculum and funding and stuff. He made her pay for a new curriculum change out of pocket. All because she wanted to include a more diverse historical curriculum. It was this whole thing, so no she doesn’t like him. Now, what is this about?”

“Okay, can you and Ava come over as soon as possible? Amaya and Kendra are coming and she said she’ll make breakfast for everyone, but I need to talk to both of you?” 

“Are you and Behrad okay?” Sara asked, sounding truly worried. “Has something happened with the school?” 

“I found some incriminating evidence about Darhk and you both should know about it.”

“Okay, but this is something we should call Laurel about?”

“No, she doesn’t need to be a part of this until we decide what to do. I don’t want her getting in any sort of trouble,” Zari said, finally sitting down and trying to speak as clearly and calmly as possible.

“Okay, we’ll be right over.”

“Thank you,”

“Of course,” Sara said, before hanging up. 

Sara was Zari’s last phone call as she had called Kendra already. They were the three people in the world that she knew she could always count on and they would want to be a part of what she found. Zari fell into the chair and closed her eyes. She had stayed up all night only falling asleep at the keyboard for an hour around 2 a.m. on accident. The anxiety of the night and the revelation of what she had found started to get to her. So she decided to close her eyes for a few minutes.

The next thing she knew someone was knocking at her door and she quickly got up to go see who it was. Smiling and dressed Amaya with a groggy and grumpy Kuasa who was still in her pajamas were standing on her porch as Zari opened up the door. 

“I promised her, she could go back to sleep on your couch,” Amaya said, putting her arms on Kuasa’s shoulder as she led the groggy girl into the house.

“Yeah, no problem. She can go up to my bedroom if she wants?” Zari said looking down at Kuasa.

“Yes please,” Kuasa mumbled, already walking towards the staircase. 

“Do you remember where it is?” Amaya gently asked her as Kuasa put one hand on the banister and seemed to lean on it as she walked up the stairs.

Kuasa just nodded and Amaya gave her a gentle smile as they both watched her until she got to the top of the stairs. Amaya stepped forward to give Zari a hug and she melted into her arms. She was relieved to have Amaya there again and she didn’t realize how much she had missed Amaya until they were together again.

Amaya pulled back but wrinkled her nose as she tugged at Zari’s shirt. “Is this what you were wearing yesterday?”

“Umm,” Zari looked down at the shirt she was in fact wearing yesterday and realized she had not showered or changed in the past 24 hours. Even after they got finished moving, she probably didn’t smell too well either. “Why don’t I go hop in the shower.”

“I’ll get breakfast started and let the others in when they get here,” Amaya said, already taking a step back from her. Her nose wrinkled up in a way that told Zari that she did in fact stink.

By the time she had showered and changed, Amaya had already made breakfast with Sara, Ava, and Kendra sitting at the table eating.

“Where are the other kids?” Zari asked, and she walked into the room seeing only the adults. 

“Carter’s with Hector,” Kendra said looking up from her eggs.

“And Laurel’s watching Gary and Sin,” Sara added, putting down her fork and going over to give Zari a hug. “We’d figured it’d be easier not to drag them out of bed and we weren’t sure if they should be involved in whatever this is.” 

Zari nodded and Sara pulled back, making room for Kendra to pull Zari in for another hug. Amaya put a plate of food in front of her and Zari quickly ate. There was a slight tension in the room, but everyone seemed to understand wanting to eat before getting into the heavy stuff. 

“So Laurel’s watching both Gary and Sin? You four must have had a fun sleepover last night,” Kendra’s said with a teasing smile. 

“Fun for the kids and for the adults,” Amaya said, sending Ava and Sara a wink. 

They all chuckled and Zari took another bite of her food in order to avoid saying something sarcastic to them. She knew Sara wouldn’t mind, but she didn’t want to offend Ava who was already turning a deep shade of red.

“Shut up,” Sara said with a playful smile. Ava hid her blush in Sara’s shoulder as they sat next to each other. “Ava and I are in a happy and committed relationship and both of our children are comfortable with each other.”

“Well, we are all very happy for you,” Amaya said, as she turned off the burner and put the dishes in the sink before throwing the towel over her shoulder. She walked over towards Zari who put an arm around her waist.

“Yeah, just don’t hurt her Ava,” Kendra said, looking pointedly over at her as Amaya and Zari nodded in agreement.

“Believe me, I have no intention of ever harming Sara,” Ava said, looking over at Sara with a kind of soft and loving look that Zari knew meant she was head over heels.

They may be overprotective, but with Sara’s history of doomed romances, they had a right to be. The three of them knew to let it happen, but that didn’t mean that they didn’t feel the need to protect her. If they ever got their hands on Oliver Queen, they would all need Laurel to represent them.

“Alright, enough of the lovey dovey stuff,” Kendra said looking pointedly over at the couples. “Zari you said that you had something important to tell us about what you found about Damien Darhk.”

The light hearted moment was gone and Zari pulled away from Amaya. She pulled out her laptop from where she had left it on the counter. There was so much information that it took her most of the night to go through and even longer to compile it into a damning folder of evidence. She pulled up the few documents that she compiled that would put him in prison and turned her laptop towards them, so they could read through the documents she had.

“Yesterday Laurel gave me a video recording of Darhk contacting ICE and giving them my address and the address of the bakery. He never identified himself so she couldn’t prove it was him, but she said she was going to try. I decided to do some digging of my own. I got into the school’s records and started looking through things. I wasn’t sure what I would find, but I figured if he was giving out my information, chances are he was giving out those of others as well. I couldn’t really find anything so I went into the school’s finances. It turns out that Darhk has been secretly taking money off the top of the budget and putting it into his own pockets. You can see the money here at the top of this document matches the deposits made in this account. It’s a secret account that he has in the Caymans, and it’s under an LLC, but I was able to trace it back to him. Some of it’s not in his name but in Nora Darhk’s name. I don’t know how much she is involved in this but.”

“No,” Ava said, shaking her head. “There’s no way Nora is involved in this. I mean yeah she has a trust fund from her father, but she doesn’t touch it. Unlike her father, Nora is a good person she can’t be involved in this.”

“That’s what I was thinking as well. I was able to trace withdrawals and deposits from this account to things that Darhk purchased and currently owns,” Zari said as she watched all of her friends process the information.

“He told me there wasn’t room in the budget for a new ramp into the school,” Kendra said she looked shocked as she covered her mouth with her hand and seemed to sink into her chair. “That money should have gone to building a ramp so that my child can access the school safely.” 

“And it’s not just a little bit of money,” Sara said, she put a hand on her belly as she skimmed through the documents with a look of worry across her features. “It’s at least a half of a million dollars and that’s just for one year.” 

“How could this have gone on for so long?” Amaya said, looking over at Zari in astonishment.

“Given what’s here, I’m guessing that it’s been going on for as long as he’s been the Principal,” Zari said sitting back. 

“It’s not just the ramp, it’s all of the little things he told us we couldn’t get. We had to clean our own classrooms, pay for our own supplies, our books, our curriculum. We just had a fundraiser to pay for a new sports field. He asked teachers to donate part of their paychecks and we did, and look, he took at least a quarter of that money. We are the ones who made that school number one in the city. It was because of our hard work and he just did it to get rich.” Ava’s voice was full of disgust as she turned away, rubbing her forehead. 

“What are we going to do about this?” Amaya asked, she had a look of fierce determination across her face that fueled Zari’s own need for justice. 

“I have carefully printed out everything that I found, but I don’t know who to send this to,” Zari said with a shrug and a shake of her head. “If I send it to the wrong person, they will just sweep it under the rug. I want to make sure they have to prosecute him.”

“He has to pay for what he’s taken from our kids,” Kendra said, staring at the documents as if she could burn a hole through them. 

“Yeah, we have to make sure he doesn’t get away with this,” Sara said as she looked up from where she had been going over everything on Zari’s computer.

“We?” Zari asked, she didn’t think her friends would want to be involved in this, given that it definitely involved a few crimes.

“Yes,” Amaya said, walking over to her and putting a hand around her waist and standing next to her. “We’re in this together and will help, however we can.”

“Even though you’ve already done all the hard work,” Sara said, giving her a smile. 

“I know exactly who we can give this to in the school district who won’t sweep this under the rug,” Ava said, turning back around and rejoining the conversation. “My adopted father Hank Heywood. He works in administration for the school district. He’ll make sure this gets investigated..”

“We should give it to some journalists as well just in case,” Amaya said, giving Zari’s waste a squeeze.

“One of my old friends from college, Iris West is a journalist over at the Star City Chronicles,” Kendra added, getting up and coming over to put her arm around Zari’s other side. “She’ll make sure this gets published.”

“I don’t think any news editor would turn away this kind of story,” Sara said, turning away from the computer and pulling Ava close. 

“Good, we have to make sure that this isn’t ignored.” Zari nodded, feeling more sure than she had this morning.

“Because of you, it won’t be,” Amaya said, leaning over and giving Zari a kiss. 

……………………………………………………………………

The women spent the rest of the morning sorting through the evidence and writing a statement to be placed on top of the stack of files. Kendra contacted Iris and agreed to meet up and hand over the documents under the condition that Iris wouldn’t release anything unless the school failed to properly investigate Darhk. Ava and Zari contacted Hank with the information and worked with him to find a time to anonymously drop off the files. By the time Kuasa and Behrad were both up and ready for school they had everything sorted. 

“Okay so I will drop off the kids at school and keep an eye on Darhk throughout the day,” Ava said as she gathered her things.

“Kendra and I will meet up with Iris,” Sara said standing in the doorway as she handed Ava her coat.

“And Amaya and I will have a courier drop off the documents for Hank and then we’ll all just come back and hang out here,” Zari finished, handing Amaya her keys.

“I’ll try and make it back for lunch, but if I don’t I’ll check in after school lets out,” Ava said, leaning in to give Sara a quick kiss as she hands brushed Sara’s her belly and waist.

Zari was so relieved to have Amaya go with her even if they were just handing the documents off to a courier. Despite her worry, having Amaya there put her at ease.

“After that, I guess we just have to wait,” Kendra said as they all just stood in the hall reluctant to go.

“Yeah, from what I know it shouldn’t be more than a couple of weeks before Darhk is fired. Although school lets out for the summer in a few weeks so who knows,” Ava said, as she lingered and held Sara’s hand.

“Here’s hoping that it all goes smoothly and Darhk is out before the end of the year,” Zari said, with a nod.

“Thank you Zari,” Ava said, pulling her in for a hug. “Without you, none of this would be happening.”

Kendra, Sara, and Amaya each piled in on the hug and whispered their thanks to her. They just stood there for a moment hugging each other until they had to part.

Ava left first and then Kendra and Sara. Zari looked over at Amaya as she pulled out of the driveway. If this worked, it wouldn’t mean that ICE would never be trying to deport her. But it would mean that other families at the school wouldn’t have to go through what she was and that alone was worth fighting for.

#Zari Tarazi #Amaya Jiwe #Zamaya #Zari Tomaz #legends of tomorrow #DC's Legends of Tomorrow #DC #Behrad Tarazi #Kuasa Jiwe #Sara Lance #Ava Sharpe #Avalance #otp: I love you ya goober #Kendra Saunders #FanFic: LoT #FanFic: Zamaya #My FanFics #my writing #my work