#i love that she is fully capable of barreling charlie out of the way of being leader for a sec and also how insane some of her notes

[horsebeast]

they should’ve let brittany pikmin 3 be even more of a little freak

[noradarhkpalmer]

when it rains, it pours

Title: when it rains, it pours

Rating: T

Pairing: Nora Darhk/Ray Palmer aka Darhkatom

Warnings: none

Summary/Notes:

The Legends stopped being Legends 18 months ago. That left everyone to either resume or find civilian lives. For Nora Darhk, figuring out civilian life has been more than difficult. And that's how she ends up on Ray Palmer's doorstep in the pouring rain asking for a place to crash for the night. Only she gets something more. Something she's always wanted.

There will be an epilogue posted sometime tomorrow!

As per usual I blame these following hooligans: @princesstomaz, @timetravelingpalmer, @superstitious19, @jakelovesamy, @truelittleblackstar, and @iaintnosidekick.

ao3 link: here

The small awning above his front door was the only shelter that had been provided for her for the past four blocks. She had seen lights on and rang the doorbell a few times but no answer. And of all the things she was worried about, Ray just not being home wasn't one of them. She had fully expected to come all this way from the shelter to find a woman answering the door. She’d ask to see Ray and then Nora would zero in on the rock on the woman’s finger. She wouldn’t be the least bit surprised in the year and a half since she had seen Ray Palmer that he would have found someone and settled down. Just like he had always wanted.

They’d sit across from each other on his bed eating some healthy meal he had prepared, talking about life and what it would look like if they ever stopped being Legends. She wanted to subtly, not so subtly hint that any time she thought about life after the Legends, she always pictured him by her side. But she always chickened out when it came to verbalizing that.

The day they stopped being Legends came a lot sooner than any one of them ever thought. They had literally been to hell and back together as a team but that didn’t mean their story was over. But one bad temporal storm put the Waverider out of commission indefinitely, and then permanently when the Time Bureau was absorbed into governmental agencies, both secret and public.

Before being completely dissolved Nora and a few others (Zari and Charlie) had been given modern day identification papers, that way no one would question any of them if they needed to get a job or a place to live. Given that Darhk was a pretty distinct last name, all of her papers said Nora Adams, after her mother’s last name. But inside, she was still a Darhk, they couldn’t take that away from her, no matter what silly little papers said. She had gone from wanting to completely get away from the legacy her father left behind, to vehemently preserving her personal history. To hold onto some semblance of identity she had created for herself as Nora Darhk after no longer being a demon vessel.

She rung the doorbell a fourth time and finally the door opened. Her breath left her. He hadn’t changed a bit. His hair was a bit shorter but other than that, he was still her Ray. Well, he’d never technically been hers. No matter how many times she had dreamed he one day would be.

“Nora?” He looked past her into the raging thunderstorm outside. He was hard to hear over the rain and the water draining off the awning. “What are you doing here?”

“Can I crash for the night? I just… I really need a place to stay.”

Within ten minutes she’d changed out of her sopping wet clothes and into a large navy blue shirt with an art festival’s logo on the front and she definitely had noticed the Palmer Tech logo on the back under the sponsors. She’d also been given sweatpants too large for her, they dragged the floor a bit and she had to roll the waistband up a few times but both articles of clothing were dry and that was all that mattered. She used the towel she’d initially dried off with to squeeze the excess water out of her hair. When she returned to Ray’s living room, she saw him stoking the fireplace.

“Thanks for the clothes,” she said quietly.

Ray turned around, almost shocked to see her there, in the flesh, after eighteen months of radio silence. “You would’ve caught a cold staying in the wet ones. I went ahead and put them in the wash so they’ll be clean, I hope that’s okay.”

Nora smiled at his gesture. Always wanting to look out for people. “Totally fine.” She walked further into his living room. “Sorry to barge in like this… I probably scared your family.” She looked towards the stairs where his family had no doubt been instructed to wait while he saw who was the impatient intruder.

Ray shook his head with a sad smiled. “I don’t have a family. I mean I have my mom and my brother and his wife and my nephews but I’m not married.”

“I guess that’s why you gave me your clothes to put on and not your wife’s.”

“Cause I don’t have one.” Ray picked up a mug and offered it to her. She took the calming tea and let the warmth from the mug bloom across her hands and up her arms, right into her cheeks, to mask the fact that she was so incredibly torn by the fact that Ray had not in fact settled down quite in the way she thought.

They sat across from each other on the couch, cross legged, much like they had when they’d sit on his bed and eat dinner on the Waverider. The ghost of the memory caused Nora to shiver and Ray reached for the knitted throw that was on the back of the couch and gently draped it around her.

“So you’ve got a house in the suburbs of Star City but no Christmas card Palmer family inside it?”

“I don’t live totally alone.” Ray whistled and Nora heard a thumping from above her, she looked up at the sound of the noise which quickly traveled over to the stairs until the pitter patter of paws barreled down the stairs and over to her, nearly knocking her tea out of her hand.

“Whoa boy, let’s not scare our friend here.” Ray gently tugged the large goldendoodle over to him and scratched him between his ears. “Nora, meet Chewbacca, or I usually just call him Chewie.”

Nora smiled and hesitantly reached out to pet the pooch between his ears. He leaned into the pet and smiled up at Nora. “Hey boy… you’re as hyper and friendly as your dad I see.”

“I got Chewie about six months after I moved here. It was lonely without well an extra eight people constantly stomping around. Chewie can sometimes make about that much noise so, it’s a welcome comfort.”

“At least you don’t have to share a bathroom with him.” She smirked and took a sip of her tea.

Ray chuckled. “Yeah, that’s definitely the biggest benefit to living off the Waverider.”

“For some.” Nora looked down at her mug and watched the steam swirl in the cup.

Ray placed a hand on her arm. “Is everything okay?”

“Do you want the long answer or the short one?” She looked up at him, she had learned long ago how to open up to him but a lot could change in 18 months, and if he didn't want to hear all of it anymore, she'd understand.

“Long, if you need to get it all out, Nora, do it. I’m here.” Ray rubbed her bicep comfortingly.

“The Bureau, before they were dissolved, set me up with basically any type of I.D. I’d ever need which is good and it no longer says I was born in 2003 on my driver’s license and they also gave me money to get started because they knew not all of us had lives to just resume. Me and Charlie and Zari all had an apartment on the south side of Star City but they got married and I had to find a place and because it was down to just me and I didn’t trust anyone else to live with, the money ran out. I can’t exactly put ‘demon vessel’ on a resume and I don’t really have the best temperament so working somewhere in like a retail environment… let’s just say it would be worse than Sara’s stint at “Shower, Sink, and Stuff”. I’ve been hopping from homeless shelter to homeless shelter for the past four months.”

Ray paled. “Nora… why didn’t you come find me at Palmer Tech? I would’ve given you a job. Even a job in mailroom would put a roof over your head. I make sure every one of my employees can provide for themselves.”

“I don’t really have the skills to warrant working at a tech company. I can hack computers but I really don’t think you want that.” Nora shook her head. “Besides, I don’t want a hand out. I can take care of myself.”

“Can you? I don’t mean that to say you’re an invalid but I think sometimes, part of taking care of ourselves is knowing when to ask for help. If you don’t have anywhere to go, you’re welcome to stay here for as long as you want.”

“It’s a big enough house.” She chuckled.

“My hopes and dreams were a bit ambitious when I first left the Waverider. Picking back up at Palmer Tech wasn’t really all that hard. But my family still doesn’t really talk to me and Team Arrow is more than capable to continue doing the superhero thing without me and honestly? Seeing Felicity and Oliver and their growing family would've just been too hard.”

“Because you wanted that.”

“Maybe I wanted it with Felicity for a very short time but she was honestly such a blip in my love life. I’ve kind of given up on thinking someone would want me for the long haul, ya know?”

Nora placed her hand over his. “Don’t give up hope. The person that deserves Ray Palmer needs to have solved world hunger or something. She’s out there, Ray, I promise.”

Ray took in a deep breath, looking like he was gearing up to say something a few different times, but losing his nerve. He finally looked down at their hands, and tangled their fingers together.

“I know our lives are going in two different directions but… I feel like… you should know… I had feelings for you at one point. But I never wanted to pressure you into something you didn’t feel. You’ve had enough of your choices taken away and I…”

“I had feelings for you too.” Nora swallowed hard. She wanted to tell him how she still did. But his had probably faded, and like him, she didn’t want to force him into something he didn’t feel.

“You did?”

Nora nodded. “But I was saving you the heartbreak of having to deal with someone so broken. I’m not exactly the easiest to get along with.”

“I always felt so much more at ease talking to you than I did any of the other Legends.”

“That’s cause I was your little pet project. Operation Turn Her Good.”

“That’s not why. And you weren’t my pet project, you were my friend. You are my friend, Nora.”

“And being with me would just be holding you back… I’m just old broken baggage, Ray.”

“You’re not… Nora you’re… I didn’t…”

“You should be having this full life, Ray. I know that looks different for everyone but you told me so many times what that would look like for you.”

“But when I stopped being a Legend, yes I did want to settle down and have a family but the person that I pictured all that with? I didn’t see her anymore so I just didn’t even try to find it with someone else.”

“Doesn’t mean you want me now. Or should for that matter.” Nora sat her mug on the coffee table and stood up. “I’ll umm…” She scratched her head. “I’ll come back for my clothes tomorrow… I’ll find a laundromat to wash these in or something… I’m sorry, I should go.” Nora made her way to the door and was nearly reaching for the doorknob when she felt a hand tug her back. Ready to fight Ray (verbally) to get him to give up, realize she wasn’t worth it, she turned around, and was instead met with his lips.

And her resolve to fight him completely shattered.

Nora wrapped her arms around his neck and he picked her up to kiss her better. Nora wrapped her legs around his waist and soon Nora felt her back press against the front door. She felt the vibrations of the storm raging outside against her back and it only fueled her need to keep herself as glued to Ray Palmer’s body as possible.

Ray pulled back briefly for air. “I do want you now. You’re the only person I want this life with.” He pressed their foreheads together.

“I want you too.” She pulled back a little to look his eyes. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Ray kissed her again, moving them from the door, to up the stairs, and up to Ray’s bedroom.

xxxx

Nora wasn’t sure where she was. Whatever mattress she was laying on was far more comfortable than any she’d slept on since the Waverider. Nora went to bury her face into the pillow but was met by the warm bare chest of Ray Palmer. Nora looked up and finally realized where she was.

She looked down at their state and smiled. She curled into him further and he tightened his arms around her. Nora rested her head on his chest, letting his heartbeat fill her ear. Soon she felt fingers trace up and down her bare spine and she looked back up at Ray to see that he was indeed awake.

“Mornin’ handsome.” Nora grinned and leaned in to kiss him softly.

“Good morning.” He smiled.

“Did last night really happen?”

“You tell me.” He tugged the sheet down slightly to expose them to the cool air.

Nora gasped in feigned offense and dragged the covers back up over them. She moved off him, she'd been half laying on his body, and instead curled up next to him on her own side of the bed, facing him.

Ray ran a hand up and down her arm. “How are you?”

“I’m laying in bed with a man I harbored feelings for, for nearly two years, and he loves me back. I feel pretty amazing.” She grinned goofily and buried her face in her hands out of embarrassment.

“That man is taking you in as well.”

“Ray…”

“If you don’t want to live here, not sure why, all the beds are this comfortable.” He made her grin at his comment. “Then at least let me find you a job at Palmer Tech so you can get your own place.”

“Not going to just buy me an apartment?”

Ray chuckled. “I can if you want me to.” He grinned.

“No, that’s not what I meant.” She poked him in the chest. “But you know what… I think I would like to stay here. Right here. In this bed.”

“Really?” Ray swallowed hard, inferring her more than just joking implications.

“Really.” Nora pulled him in for a kiss. “I wanna stay here forever with you.” She pressed their foreheads together. “And I don’t want to waste any more time.”