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The celebration had been wonderful, and there was so much love going around, but Winn just had to get away from it all. He talked a lot, but he wasn’t a social butterfly, and being passed around from agent to agent wasn’t his idea of a fun time. He finally managed to pry himself away from the party by escaping to the walkway on the upper floor, where he found a somber Kara Danvers leaning on the railing, overlooking the people down below with a sad smile on her face.
“Do you remember that time that Cat Grant made me take coffee orders for the whole floor because I spilled her cappuccino all over you?” Kara asked, not even looking at Winn. He could hear the smirk in her voice, and he laughed.
“Yeah. She said it was my fault for ‘tripping you up with my eyes.’ I don’t think I’ve ever been more embarrassed on the job, and not because of the coffee.” They lapsed into light chuckles, appreciating the memory.
“That was long before you told me about your crush,” Kara said with a twitter.
“Ugh. Don’t remind me.” Winn collapsed onto his arms, leaning on the railing. “I hated watching you pine for James.” He laughed, popping his head back up. “But I’m glad things went the way they did. Right?”
Kara gave one of her signature, full-headed nods. “Right.”
They lapsed into a stuffy silence, taking in the atmosphere from below.
She still didn’t look at Winn as she asked, “You’re not going away forever, right?”
He had to stop and think about that one. “How does ‘forever’ interact with time travel, exactly?”
With a laugh, Kara bumped him with her shoulder. “You know what I mean.”
“Yeah. Yeah, I do. And I dunno, Kara. There’s a lot I don’t know about this.”
Kara looked down at her hands, trying to find the right words. “I know what I said during the party. I just wanted to remind you that you’re always welcome back.” She gave him a stern look in the eye, but her smile betrayed her demeanor. “I mean it, Agent Schott.” More laughing. It was nice to laugh. It made things feel less like the end of the world.
“I’m going to miss everything, and everyone,” Winn admitted, “but I think I’ll miss you most of all, Scarecrow.” He leaned into her shoulder, and they put their heads together, leaning on the railing in somber smiles.
“Okay. Enough of this,” Kara said, straightening up. She gave Winn an excited grin. “C’mon, Winn! The future ! How cool is that?”
Although his shrug was pretty small, his grin was from ear to ear. “It’s pretty great, isn’t it?”
“And you’re going to learn so much that you can’t tell us when you get back. It’ll be great fun!” Kara laughed when she saw Winn’s exaggerated fear. He was terrible at not talking about cool stuff, how would he deal with having future knowledge ? “I have a couple of friends you could talk to about it, though,” she added with a wink. He laughed, thinking back to the stories he’d heard about the Legends of Tomorrow.
“I know it’s painful now,” Kara continued, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder, “but the heart is strong. It can endure a lot - way more than we give it credit for. And we both know that time heals all wounds. We’ll eventually get used to being apart, and it’ll be so exciting when we see each other again.”
“You mean if we-”
“Nope. Not a chance,” Kara interrupted firmly. “We’re going to see each other again, Winn. That’s a promise. Or a threat. Whichever.”
This time it was Winn who nodded. “No, you’re right. I can’t stay away from this place forever. It’s my home. You guys are my home.”
“Aw. You big softie.” Kara leaned in and gave him a hug from behind, and he put his hands on hers in return. “It’s gonna be great, and you’re gonna be great.”
“Keep an eye on James,” Winn pleaded. “Make sure he keeps up with his fitness. I don’t want to come back to no flabby James Olsen. My world would be so messed up. I can only handle so much change at once.”
She laughed, making sure not to squeeze him to too tight. “I promise. And I’ll make sure Alex stays into women, too.”
“Right. And that J’onn stays green. Sometimes.”
What was a few hundred years to best friends? He’d be back in a flash, and with all sorts of stories to tell, and Kara would sit there, grinning through all of them, gasping at all the right times and laughing with him when he couldn’t pronounce things right. It was a whole new world to discover, and yes, he was leaving behind his friends and family, but it was the adventure of several lifetimes. And, as Kara promised - or threatened, as it were - they would see each other again, somewhere along the road.
Winn smiled down at the party below, waving back when Alex noticed and waved him down. It was time for his final goodbyes. He led Kara downstairs, arm in arm, not giving in to the downsides, but instead looking the future in the face with bright, pearly grins to dispel the darkness of the unknown. Even if most of them weren’t with him, Winn knew his friends would continue to light his way.