A test of loyalty

"Ray thinks we can trust her," Sara said.

"Do you?" Ava said.

They were in Ava's office, Ava at her desk, and Sara rather informally sat atop said desk. Both peered at her computer, Nora Darhk's file prominently displayed.

"His judgement... isn't necessarily the best," Sara said. "But she did save John. Got to give her that."

"Doesn't make up for everything else she's done," Ava said.

"Don't you think someone should be given a chance to redeem themselves?" Sara said.

Ava looked up to her girlfriend for a moment, then paused. There was something odd in Sara's voice.

"Not if there's a huge risk to the rest of time," Ava said. "If we had more to go on than Ray's feelings, I'd listen."

Sara hesitated. After a moment she smiled.

"How about a test?" Sara said.

"What kind of test?" Ava said.

"You've got other timeships somewhere in storage, right?" Sara said. "Might be best to keep her off the Waverider so she isn't a distraction. With AIs, similar capabilities..."

"Yes," Ava said. She switched files on the screen, pulling up a list. "What are you thinking?"

"Gideon's meant to be able to look at our dreams," Sara said. "Or get us into someone else's mind, worst case. If we keep Nora sedated, hook her up to one, we can see what she's thinking. Any dreams of taking over the world, or if she thinks about helping. Give us some idea."

"Not a bad thought," Ava said. "Give me a bit to sort out the paperwork..."

Nora lay, unaware, on a metal bed aboard the Osterman. The timeship had been mothballed in one of the Bureau's storage facilities, used more for training than anything else.

"Send me in," Sara said.

She lay on a bed beside Nora; Ava sat by her, as much wanting to stay by Sara's side as wanting to find out Nora's goals.

"You know how to contact me, right?" Ava said. "Just say if you need to be pulled out. Keep me up to date on what's happening."

"Will do," Sara said. She glanced up; "Gilbert?"

It still felt strange to be aboard a timeship, but to not have Gideon to call on.

"Right away, Agent Lance," Gilbert said.

'Agent?' Sara mouthed. Bureau AIs, typical.

And then the world faded. Sara closed her eyes, slumping back on the bed, the cool metals of the timeship fading away...

To be replaced by noise and colour. Sara blinked, stumbling for a moment, catching her breath and getting her bearings. Ok, there was grass underfoot, but she was inside. She glanced back; a tent! She caught sight of the red canvas, the entry flap a little way behind her.

A fair few people were milling around inside the large tent, most in rather old-fashioned garb, belied by a few clean-shaven faces and wristwatches and phones. What-

She caught sight of Nora at one side of the tent, of all things stirring a cauldron. Sara blinked.

Oh. Right. Ray had said he'd found Nora at a renaissance fair; apparently she was dreaming of day-to-day life. She wore a rather old-fashioned dress, fitting in well with the aesthetic, not quite as witchy as her actions suggested.

Red over white, and a rather plunging neckline to go with it.

It... wasn't exactly a suspicious dream. Not much to go on.

"Sara?" Ava's voice crackled in her ear. "You ok?"

"I'm fine," Sara said.

"What's happening?" Ava said.

"Not much," Sara said. "Thinks she's just dreaming of her day-to-day. I'll let you know if anything-"

Nora leant forwards over her cauldron, and then quite improbably the front of her dress dipped down. Physically it would probably have been impossible, but then real laws wouldn't necessarily apply. All that mattered was that her tits had slipped out of her dress.

Nora immediately flushed, turning around quickly but not before a few phones had snapped photos, doing her best to quickly straighten her dress again. When she turned back around she was still red, her cleavage looking rather more pronounced.

"Huh," Sara said flatly. One of those dreams. Might not exactly be going to work naked, but it wasn't far off.

"Sara, what is it?" Ava said.

"Just... I think I see why Ray wants to keep her around," Sara said.

"Seen enough?" Ava said.

"Not remotely," Sara said, then cleared her throat. "I- I mean, I should probably stay in here a bit longer. See if anything more happens."

She kept to the back of the crowd, rather keen to see what would befall Nora next. She had a pretty good idea of what kind of dream this was.