Title: Love Afterlife
Author: Erin Griffin
Rating: PG
Pairing: Carolyn/Selina, hint of Helena/Dinah
Disclaimer: I own nothing worth suing for.
Summary: Two ex-lovers put the past to rest as they move on together into the afterlife.
Author's Note: There is character death, but nothing that isn't canon.
Carolyn watched as her daughter sought comfort in the woman she'd lashed out at. She hadn't meant to really, but the pain from the past was still there, and when she looked at the young brunette, all she could think about was her mother. That was all she saw in the young woman's eyes when they first met, and she couldn't handle looking at her. Sure, Bruce was there in the dark woman's hair and the way she held herself, but there was that gracefulness, the darkness, the feline side of her that will always be that of her ex-lover, the one woman Carolyn had ever loved.
The legendary Black Canary knew she was dead. There was no doubt about that as she looked at her charred flesh. She was just glad she couldn't feel it anymore, the burning. She couldn't really feel much of anything, actually, except for the lingering emotions her body once held inside. She could still remember what it felt like to hear the news that Selina had gone behind her back and went to Bruce. She had said it was for them, but Carolyn couldn't get past the fact that she wasn't told before the affair, and she broke away from what could be considered a relationship. It was then that Selina, broken hearted, Carolyn knew, went off to Paris when she found out she was pregnant and hadn't contacted Carolyn since.
The spirit that once was Dinah's mother didn't know what she was to do now that she was dead. Was she to follow the living and watch them, knowing she couldn't do anything to get their attention? Was she to find out what her unfinished business was and then cross over to the other side? Was she to go to the likes of John Edwards and Sylvia Brown and have them relay a message to Dinah? No, she wouldn't do that to her daughter. She said what she needed to say to her before she died. Carolyn was proud of her daughter, and will always be, whether or not she joined the crime fighters like she had. She had thought that telling her daughter this WAS her unfinished business, but the fact that she stood there now, dead and confused, made her think otherwise.
As Dinah held on to Helena, Carolyn wasn't blind to the attraction the two women had towards each other. It wasn't spoken, but she knew that it would only be a matter of time before they became lovers, and that was what had scared her into lashing out at Helena, not the fact that her mother was a thief. Carolyn couldn't have really cared less of that fact, really, except for the fact that Selina had stolen her heart, and hadn't given it back even in death. She was afraid of history repeating itself, and she didn't want her daughter to see anymore pain. She knew it was silly, given her and her daughter's chosen lifestyle, but Carolyn had to at least try to take Dinah away from it, otherwise her leaving the girl with the Redmonds ten years ago would have been redundant.
"They have a destiny to fulfill, Care, and we've fulfilled ours, which was to give them life." Carolyn turned to her right where the voice was.
There in the blue business suit she'd died in, was the one she'd felt so much love, hurt and anger towards for the last twenty four years. Selina looked at Carolyn fully, searching the woman's spirit with her feral eyes, and except for the wild glint, they almost mirrored her own. She saw the love and pain within them too. Even after all these years of not seeing her, Carolyn's mind never did justice to the image before her now. She was more beautiful now as the spirit of Selina stood there.
"Selina," was all Carolyn could say, breathless, even though she no longer needed the air. It was just habit, now, the rise and fall of her chest.
"Carolyn, I've come to take you home. It is time to let the past die and for us to move on." Gone was the feline seductress who's spell she'd fallen under so many years ago, and standing before her was a woman determined to set her afterlife right. "I don't regret what I did. When Helena was born she was-is the best thing that happened to me, but before that, you were."
"I understand. Dinah..."
"You did what you thought was best." Selina said. She understood that in order for them to move on together, they had some things to talk about, and they now had the time to do so.
"I wanted to do what you did, leave before things got so bad... Maybe find you in Paris and try to make a family of our daughters, but everyone would have gotten suspicious, and we all would have gotten killed, I'm sure."
"If things had gone that way- and Lord knows I wanted it to, Helena and Dinah wouldn't have been able to be together this way. They are supposed to fulfill a destiny, Carolyn, and they are supposed to do it together. We did our part in that destiny, and now it is time for us to go." Selina reached out her hand and waited for her ex-lover to decide whether or not she wanted to take it. "Come with me, I know of a better spot to watch from. There, we can wait for Wade Brixton."
"Who?"
"Barbara Gordon's heart." Carolyn nodded, and looked at her sobbing daughter once last time. "We'll come for her as well, but not for many years." Carolyn again nodded and took a hold of Selina's hand. Looking into her eyes, Selina stepped forward and their lips met for the first time in twenty four years. Carolyn was surprised she could feel the softness even in death, and she smiled.
"How I've missed you." she said, "I'm sorry-"
"You were angry with me," she said, "I deserved that anger. I broke my promise never to see Bruce again."
"If I could spend my afterlife with you, then I can forgive the last twenty four." Carolyn confessed.
"I love you, Carolyn. I have and will always love you. No matter what."
"I love you too."
Outside a burning warehouse, a dark brunette woman held on to the young girl as she sobbed on her shoulder. Her heart was breaking, and memories of seven years ago seemed fresh in her mind. She had more in common with the blonde girl than she would have ever wanted to admit, and more than anything she wanted to run from the new emotions she was feeling at that moment. She stroked the girl's hair, thinking to herself how wrong her feelings were, not because of the sex of the person who she was having feelings for, but the age difference that lingered between them. A pair of white orbs lifted from the warehouse, and if she wasn't looking directly at it, she would have sworn it was just a few high flying sparks from the fire. Not knowing exactly why, she whispered, "Take care of her, mom." She would have swore she heard a reply.
"I will, Kitten, and you take care of her," Helena was startled, and her hand went from Dinah's hair to her back, rubbing it affectionately as she looked down at her. When she looked up, the orbs were gone.
"I will, Mom... Carolyn... I promise."