#25 days of darhkatom

[noradarhkpalmer]

sweet sixteen

Title: sweetsixteen

Rating: PG

Pairing: Nora Darhk/Ray Palmer aka Darhkatom

Warnings: Nothing really other than a couple of saucy comments from Nora about who what she’d rather be doing on her birthday.

Summary/Notes: It's Nora's birthday and despite Ray's best efforts, Nora can tell she's being brought to a surprise party, but the Legends have one last surprise up their sleeve. But so does Nora.

it's nora's birthday y'all! i'm so excited to share this with y'all. Big thanks to beth and noelle for joking around with me about this concept. I'm me so of course I took it seriously and made it a fic. oops.

Day two of the 2019 edition of 25 days of Darhkatom! Feel free to click the through the tag to see last year’s! Basically, like last year, I will be posting all loosely related (unless stated otherwise) fics for 25 days straight!

ao3 link: here

Nora Palmer did not like surprises. No she did not. She wasn’t entirely sure but her incredibly squirrely husband was doing everything in his power to keep things from her. Including contact with her best friends. It was her birthday and somehow that meant she couldn’t talk to her favorite people? It didn’t take a genius to figure out that this probably meant the Legends were planning something. She wasn’t entirely feeling up to the gesture, and who the hell knows what they were planning but Nora knew she just had to wait until she and Ray got aboard the Waverider, after he made a lame excuse that they needed to head there.

When Nora arrived on the bridge all the lights were out. It was impossibly dark and she held onto Ray’s hand. The Legends were her family but that didn’t mean they didn’t sometimes come up with potentially stupid and reckless plans that could endanger her or others, by accident of course (but there was past precedence).

The lights finally came on and every last decoration read Happy Sweet Sixteen, Nora!

Oh and Nora Palmer wanted to be so mad. But she couldn’t. She knew they did this because that’s technically how old she’d be right now and that definitely nearly led her down a spiral of how awful her life was at sixteen but she looks out at the crowd of faces, of her family, and almost bursts into tears.

“SURPRISE!” They all shout at the same time Nora mutters ‘Stupid pregnancy hormones’.

“What?” Ray looks down and asks.

Nora offers him a grin and places a hand to her belly. “Surprise!” She says alone.

“Wait, I missed it,” Ava interjects. “Are you saying surprise and touching your belly…”

“BECAUSE YOU’RE PREGNANT, OH MY GOD!!!” Mona finishes and rushes forth. She had a sash and tiara for Nora to wear anyways and adorns her with it then hugs her friend close. “MY FAVORITE HUMAN IS GROWING A HUMAN!”

Nora can’t help but cry a little. She pulls back and wipes her tears and looks around. “Guess I’m sixteen and pregnant then, huh?” The Legends laugh and everyone takes their turns congratulating Ray and Nora.

The party festivities kick off much like they did last year. Nora reaches for the birthstone necklace Ray got her and plays with it absently as she talks to Zari and Mona about who should host the next book club meeting.

“You guys can’t keep picking my house, that means I have to clean it.” Nora rolls her eyes playfully.

“You have a billionaire husband, you can totally pay someone to clean it,” Zari says as she stuffs a pre-cake appetizer donut in her mouth.

Nora nods and laughs quietly, she feels arms come around her and strategically settle over her lower belly.

“I keep a strict cleaning schedule. Nora’s library and side of the bed are the only things that typically get out of order,” Ray informs from behind her.

“Wow way to throw me under the bus, some baby daddy you are.” Nora elbows him playfully. She feels him nip at her slightly exposed shoulder and she shudders. “Okay baby daddy privileges are restored.”

Zari makes a look of disgust and mutters ‘right in front of my donut’ and Mona gives them a knowing look before dragging the disgusted totem bearer away.

“Is it too early for me to drag you back to our house for the birthday sex I was really really hoping we would be having right now?”

Ray chuckles low in her ear and kisses her earlobe. “Cake first.”

“Mmm then you for dessert. Can’t deny a horny pregnant woman for very long, you know.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. After I’m done crying at the fact that you’re pregnant.”

“I didn’t mean to tell everyone at once. I really did mean to just tell you first. Tonight. There’s a little bear and everything hiding in my catch all chair in our room.”

“I’d be honored to still receive it. Even if it’s your birthday and not mine.”

Nora turns in his arms and kisses him deeply. “Well seeing as you’re the best gift I’ve ever received and you put this baby in me and I’m also assuming you’re the mastermind behind this party, a little bear that tells you you’re going to be a daddy is the least I could do.”

“Are you going to make out or cut your cake, Palmer?” Nora hears Sara ask just as she’s about to lean in for another kiss with Ray.

Nora looks over Ray’s shoulder and cocks an eyebrow. “If I’ve got a choice not only do I pick make out with my husband but I’m taking him home to celebrate our way.”’

“Well if you’re looking for an extra birthday treat in that depart--” Nora shoot John a glare and he stops mid sentence.

“Guess I better cut my cake before there’s a mutiny.”

Ray pecks her cheek and walks over to the cake with her. It’s a stereotypical Sweet Sixteen cake with a wax 1 and 6 on top of the cake, now lit (by Mick) to be blown out by Nora.

“Make a wish, birthday girl.” Ava smiles at her bestie.

Nora looks around at her friends--her family and up at her husband. “I’ve got everything. What more could I need?”

“More books!” Mona suggests.

Nora laughs and concentrates on the candles. “I’m a witch, I should probably be careful about wishes.”

“That’s only if you become a fairy godmother again,” Gary lightly teases and she winks at her friend.

“I suppose that’s true.” Nora takes in a deep breath, closes her eyes, and blows out the candle.

“What did you wish for?” Mona asks.

Nora looks up at her husband. “You’ll see.”

Several Months Later

“How are my two favorite girls?” Ray pokes his head into Tori’s nursery and Nora smiles at him. She looks down at the sleeping bundle in her arms and kisses her wild hair.

“Tori’s perfect. She’s ready for her first night home.”

“Well I’m glad to hear that.” Ray goes to her side and kisses the top of her head. “And what about her mama?”

Nora lowers the baby into her crib and passes a hand down her soft purple onesie. “I’m feeling pretty perfect too. Perfectly content.”

“Yeah?”

Nora nods. “Yeah. This is all I wanted. This is all I’ve ever wanted. I wanna be a good mom, and to her. I wanted a little girl so I could prove to myself that I could be a good mom to a little girl, not like my parents, and I wanted to give her everything I didn’t have. All the love I didn’t have.”

“Nora Anne Palmer, you’ve got love in spades. You already rock at this mom thing. The love and care you put into carrying her and every moment you’ve spent with her since birth. You’ve got this. And when you feel you don’t, you’ve got me. And I’ll always be there to support you and remind you that you do got this.”

Nora tucks herself into her husband’s arms. “You two are the best gifts I’ve ever received.”

“Yeah I guess we are a pretty good sixteenth birthday gift.” Ray jokes.

Nora pokes him in the chest. “Bite your tongue.”

[ao3feed-dctvfemslash]

The Things I've Learned from a Broken Mirror

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2PkjYmG

by MrsNoraPalmer

An anachronism turns up in Central City 2019 that doesn't seem like an anachronism at first, until Gideon shows them that this "anachronism" is toting around Damien Darhk's time stone. Who is she? What is she doing in 2019, far away from home?

Words: 5331, Chapters: 1/4, Language: English

Fandoms: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/F, F/M

Characters: Nora Darhk, Ray Palmer, Sara Lance, Ava Shape, Zari Tomaz, Mick Rory, Charlie (DC's Legends of Tomorrow), Nate Heywood, Original Female Character(s), Victoria Palmer

Relationships: Nora Darhk & Ray Palmer, Nora Darhk/Ray Palmer, Background Sara Lance/Ava Sharpe

Additional Tags: four part, unrelated to 25 days of darhkatom, Established Relationship, darhatom baby

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2PkjYmG

[noradarhkpalmer]

go elf yourself

Title: go elf yourself

Rating: PG

Pairing: Nora Darhk/Ray Palmer aka Darhkatom

Warnings: None

Summary/Notes: Nora Darhk pulls out her elf costume every year to get her through the holidays, this Christmas though, she meets a special person who could help change her life for the better. (Modern AU)

Day one of the 2019 edition of 25 days of Darhkatom! Feel free to click the through the tag to see last year’s! Basically, like last year, I will be posting all loosely related (unless stated otherwise) fics for 25 days straight!

ao3 link: here

Nora was starting to feel like her ‘starving artist’ motif was getting old. This realization would’ve been much to her parents chagrin, god rest their souls. She’d done a lot of odd jobs to pick up extra cash: dog walker, Swyft driver, and now that the Christmas season was upon them: she was pulling out that damn elf costume. Sure she’d broken it in enough that it was no longer itchy and she loved seeing the kids light up at meeting Santa, yeah, but she didn’t like when the parents would force their kids for a dumb picture they wouldn’t remember, and pay, honestly in her opinion, far too much for one stupid picture.

But it would pay her bills until the new year, combined with watching her friends John and Gary’s cat, Cleo, while they honeymooned in the Swiss Alps, and that’s all that mattered.

Nora shuffled into the mall and listened to her boss debrief yeah yeah yeah there’d be two Santas this year because of pay cuts it was cheaper to pay two at less hours than one for all. Nora stopped listening and re-familiarized herself with the camera, she wished she had enough money to spare for even a basic model of one of those, her hands itching to get back into photography full time.

Finally after redundant training, the workshop was open. Kids and parents lined up to see Santa, an older gentleman who’d done the job for years. She went through the motions for a full two hours until she heard her name.

“NORA! You’re back again this year!”

Nora smiled cordially at her friend Mona who did this job every winter she had. “I am!”

“I’m so excited!” Mona bounced up and down, the jingle bells on her outfit bouncing with her.

“Could you go excitedly redirect the line?”

Mona nodded and sets off getting the line in order.

There’s a full week of this routine before Nora’s life completely changed.

“UNCLE RAY!!! Cmon!!! Santa’s gonna leave before we get to the front!” Nora heard a boy’s voice whine. She looked up to see through the crowd, a boy no older than six tugging on the arm of a man she couldn’t see.

“Yeah uncle Ray! Mom and dad always get here waaaaayyyy earlier!” Another whined.

Nora rolled her eyes and got back to work, at least when the boys get to the front they won’t be pitching a fit about seeing Santa.

It’s about a half hour later when she spotted them and looked up at the face of their Uncle Ray.

And holy mother of baby Jesus, this Uncle Ray is what she’d like to unwrap come Christmas morning.

“Can they get pictures individually and together? Their parents usually do that.”

Nora nodded, vaguely recognizing the boys from years past. “Sure thing.”

The boys scurried up to Santa as Mona animatedly explained the packages to Uncle Ray. Nora instructed the boys accordingly to get individual and then a shot with the two of them.

“This job seems like fun.” Ray said, and Nora realizes, to her.

“Umm yeah I guess! Lines can get a little nuts but Mona is super helpful.”

“Are you always behind the camera.”

“Most of the shift but sometimes Mona is.”

“So they allow you to take breaks? Have lunch?”

“Yeah what do you think we aren’t allowed to sit down our whole shift?”

“No…”

“This job is a lot harder when the pictures don’t sync, when the camera malfunctions, I have to exhaust all options before calling IT or else I’m in hot water. This is a complex job. It’s hard wrangling kids, making them look at the camera, and parents aren’t always nice and neither are the kids.”

“Lady I’m sorry I didn’t…”

“You didn’t think yeah, please take your nephews if you’re not gonna get a package and go elf yourself alright?”

Ray tried to hide a laugh.

“What?” Nora asked with the threat level of an angry bunny.

“An elf is telling me to go elf myself. It’s just funny.”

“Funny?”

Ray can’t stop laughing and Nora realized how ridiculous this whole thing is. She’s burned out from snapping pictures and asks Mona to switch out so she can go on a break. She shuffled with her tinsel between her legs over to Ray once the boys have their photos.

“I’m sorry I snapped.”

“It’s okay. Even elves have their limits.”

Nora glared.

“Sorry last elf joke!”

“Did your nephews enjoy themselves?”

The boys flanking Ray nodded. “Yeah especially when you yelled at Uncle Ray it was really funny!”

Nora’s cheeks flushed red. “Oh umm well.”

“Do it again!”

Nora shook her head. “Sorry boys I try to not lose my temper.”

“Awwwww.” They whined.

“Do elves take hot cocoa breaks?”

Nora looked up at him and Ray retracts.

“Okay that was the last one, sorry it was my lame attempt at asking you out.”

The boys next to them gasped and cover their mouth in scandal and Nora smiled. “As long as you don’t mind that I put caramel drizzle on top.”

“Not at all.”

xxxx

It’s a few days later that Nora finally works a shift with the new Santa. She eyed him, he’s clearly wearing a fake beard, so he’s not old enough to sport the natural face hair of a Santa. She nudged Mona.

“What’s this Santa’s deal?”

“Oh he’s super nice! I haven’t talked to him much but he’s really nice.”

“Why did they hire a young Santa?”

“Most of the kids can’t tell and the ones that do we tell Santa shaved his beard but didn’t want to scare the kiddos.”

Nora eyed her in suspicion. When there’s a break in the day she shuffled over to Santa. She checked her phone, noting no text from Ray. After she’d formally introduced herself over cocoa with him and his nephews, they had exchanged numbers. They’d been texting non stop but today? Silence.

Nora sighed and Santa patted the space next to him. She slumped down.

“Ho ho ho, my elf, what’s got you so blue this Christmas? Is it something a wish to Santa can fix?”

Nora smiled and stared down at her lap. “I don’t know if you can fix this one, Santa, I’m just missing someone which is silly because I haven’t known them for very long.”

“A person can mean everything to you in a matter of days. And that’s quite alright.”

“I think he’s some big tech higher up, I’m just a loser artist, I don’t have a shot in…” she looked around at the passing children, “heck.”

Santa belly laughs again and pats her leg. “I think I can work some of my Santa magic for you, my dear, just you wait.”

She only had to wait a few more hours, after the mall closed. She cashed out the drawers when she heard someone behind her.

“We just closed for the night Santa will be back tomorrow.”

“I’m actually looking for the cutest elf in Santa’s workshop.”

Nora smiled wide, hearing Ray’s voice, she turned around and her breath left her. There he stood, half dressed in a Santa suit, holding his hat and beard in his hand. “You’re the other Santa? Why? Aren’t you like stupid rich?”

“I’m doing this for free so the other Santa who is getting up there in age, can have days off so it’s better on his joints. He gets all my pay though.”

Nora gasped. “Ray… so wait that means you heard…”

“You talking about missing me? Sorry I ran late this morning and well I was doing this all day.”

Nora nodded. “Right yeah… gosh I feel like such an idiot.”

“Don’t.” Ray takes her hand. “Don���t feel like an idiot because I’ve been missing you.”

“Well I’ve been right here all day.”

“But I haven’t been able to do this.” Ray cupped her cheeks in his hands and kissed her softly.

Nora smiled after the kiss breaks. “Is Santa allowed to kiss one of his elves?”

Ray rolled his eyes playfully. “I can stop.”

“Don’t you dare.” Nora poked him in the chest.

“I’m gonna make this the best Christmas you’ve ever had.”

“So does that mean you’re like one-up yourself every Christmas?”

Ray playfully dipped her. “You bet your ass I will.”

Two Years Later

“Did you set the timer?”

“Of course I did what kind of photographer do you think I am?” Nora rushed back over to her family and pulled Tori into her lap so she’s sitting between her and Ray. The baby clapped happily as Nora gently bounced her, counting down until the very last second and stopping so they get a good picture. Nora went to the camera and played back the pictures, they finally got a good one! Nora waved Ray over with Tori in his arms and smiles.

“Looks great, babe.” Ray kissed the top of her head. Nora took their one year old in her arms and kissed Ray properly.

“Thanks, think it’s good enough to use for the website?”

“Absolutely. Have I told you how proud I am of you?”

“Mmmm not today.”

“Well I’m so incredibly proud of you. You’ve come so far.”

“And managed to grow two humans while running a photography business!”

“Nora, we only have one… wait… are you saying…” Ray’s eyes grew wide.

Nora grinned and nodded. “I know you like to one up on Christmas but I couldn’t help myself. Apparently neither could you.” She elbowed him playfully.

“I love you. So much.” Ray kissed her and Tori fussed between them.

“Aww don’t like mama kissing Santa Claus, baby girl?” Nora kissed all over Tori’s face instead, making the girl giggle. “Gonna be a big sister!”

“Does this mean we can do family photos next year with us as Santa and Mrs. Claus and them as tiny elves?”

Nora let out a small laugh. “Sure babe. Why not.”

“Good cause they can’t know Santa fell in love with an elf. Might ruin his street cred.” Ray grinned cheekily.

Nora elbowed him again. “Oh go elf yourself.”

[noradarhkpalmer]

i mustache you to go on an adventure with me, nora

Title: i mustache you to go on an adventure with me, nora

Rating: PG

Pairing: Nora Darhk/Ray Palmer aka Darhkatom

Warnings: None

Summary/Notes: Basically, Nora finds out about Ray's Luigi mustache and she mustache him for a kiss. It's also a lot more feelsy than I was anticipating but it's wholesome darhkatom fluff so what can you do?

I’m so sorry I fell behind on these! I had some personal health problems come up but I am going to try and catch up! Enjoy!

Day fourteen of 25 days of Darhkatom! Feel free to click the through the tag to see the others! Basically, I will be posting all loosely related (unless stated otherwise) fics for 25 days straight!

Nora had heard the commotion briefly outside of her cell door, no one came looking for her so she assumed it was just another day at the Time Bureau and went back to reading her book and ended her day with writing Ray another letter. She spent probably too much time writing them, only sending a small percentage because she didn’t want to seem completely pathetic or completely in love with him.

Even though she absolutely, positively, was in love with Ray Palmer.

She still hadn’t received one back since sending her last and that did worry her, Ray’s letters were usually like clockwork and because of that, hers ended up being just as equally efficient. She had been asking Mona every day if there was mail for her, trying not to sound desperate but Mona would sigh and shake her head sadly, saying no, nothing from Ray.

It had been like that for the past three days. She wasn’t going to let herself get worried, she didn’t even own up to her feelings for him, Mona might have caught on, but she wasn’t going to admit them and because of that, it seemed on that she’d be this concerned about her perfectly platonic pen pal.

A perfectly platonic pen pal that she dreamed about almost every night.

And the worst part of it all is that they were not in fact sex dreams (okay maybe she’d had one or two of those), no they were the most sickeningly sweet domestic dreams Nora’s subconscious could muster. She would wake up, expecting to find Ray’s arms around her in their dumb bed in their dumb perfect house before their dumb kids wake them up but all she found was the cot in her cold cell at the Time Bureau.

She had finished the page she was reading when the door opened. Nora stood up and saw Ava walking in with a tall figure behind her. Ray. The door shut behind the figure and Ava disabled the shield around her cell on her way back out. Ray. It had to be Ray. The cell was so damn dimly lit except for directly above her bed. She ran over to him, hardly able to contain herself, and threw her arms around him in the biggest hug.

She felt him hug her back. “Hey there! I guess you’re excited to see me.”

Nora pulled away, embarrassed at her outburst of affection. She looked down at the ground to hide her blush. “A little, sorry, I haven’t heard from you and I… missed you… oh my god what is on your face!” She covered her mouth as soon as she looked back up and saw Ray’s mustache.

Ray straightened up proudly. “Do you like it? I was… inspired after your last letter.”

Nora kept her hand over her mouth as uncontrollable giggles spilled from her lips. He had actually done it. What lengths wouldn’t this man go to for her?

“Nora…”

She waved a hand in front of her face to try and give herself a minute. “I’m sorry… I’m sorry… oh my god this is just so funny. I can’t believe you actually grew it.” She reached up to touch it but pulled her hand away a few times, almost afraid to touch it, scared it may move or try to bite her. “Ray… what in the world?”

“I had Gideon stimulate my hair follicles and then we had a slight incident where it accidentally got half shaved off and then after the incident I shaved it the rest of the way off and had Gideon regrow it and now I’m here. How are you? Is everything okay in here? Ava locked us in and disabled your cell barrier so I guess okay, huh?”

“I’m sorry.” Nora sputtered. “I can’t… focus on anything you’re saying because of that ridiculous thing above your lip. It’s so sweet that you did that for me when I said something about it but I like you just the way you are.”

“So I should shave it?” Ray asked.

“Please.” She leaned up and kissed his cheek, far away from his mustache. “But I do appreciate the gesture.” She pulled away and if it weren’t for that damn caterpillar above his lip she might have kissed him.

“I’ll be right back.” Ray pressed a button on the console and he slipped out. Nora returned to her cot, confused, and expected the barrier to go back up but it never did. Several minutes later, Ray came back in and this time walked over to her.

The mustache was gone.

“How did you do that?” Nora asked.

Ray sat down next to her on the cot. “Nate has a shave kit he keeps at work for late nights and needing to look professional the next day. He let me use it. He was a bit too eager to let me use it actually.”

Nora bumped her leg against his. “I can see why. You look much better.”

“I look good?” Ray asked with an almost sheepish smirk.

Nora licked her lips and didn’t break her gaze, “yeah… you look really good.”

Ray sat there, unsure of what to do with his hands, his person, everything because of the way Nora was looking at him. He watched as she looked down at her lap for a minute, could see her lips moving, probably muttering to herself and got up, she went under her bed and pulled out a small cardboard box, there were letters, not in envelopes, inside and she thumbed through them before pulling a particular one out.

Nora sucked in a deep breath and handed him the letter. “I want you to go outside, read that, and I’ll know your response depending on what happens next.”

Ray took it, knowing better than to try and peek at it now. He nodded and left her room once again.

Nora sat there, biting on her thumbnail and kept nervously glancing at the door. She tapped her foot anxiously and thought for a minute that reading the book she was in the middle of would help calm her nerves but the romance in it would probably only make her more anxious for Ray’s reaction.

What felt like an eternity later was really only about three minutes. The letter wasn’t long but it laid out everything Nora had felt confirming to her and the world, and now Ray that she was totally and completely in love with him.

The door opened, almost too slowly, and Ray quietly stepped back inside. He said nothing until she could see him in the light above her bed, his eyes were red rimmed, had he been crying? Was her letter that awful? Had she hurt his feelings? Nora was about to apologize when Ray held up a hand.

“Before you say anything, I really want to respond to your letter…” He took in a deep breath, hoping he wouldn’t sound like a total idiot. “Dear Nora, I have just received your letter, I am truly struggling with my words if I am being honest. Ever since I met you, I have always known that there was something wonderful about you. Since you’ve been here I have watched you blossom into a kind, loving, amazing person. I have also in that time grown to have a deep affection for you that things like leaving after our visits would physically pain me. When I would get to the end of your letters, I would crave more of your words. After all of that, I was finally led to one… not surprising conclusion: that I am also completely and totally in love with you, Nora Darhk, and I want to be with you. I am so proud that you decided not to shut down when you got in here. I am so happy you found the courage to tell me how you feel because I have been wanting to tell you how I’ve felt for a long time but I didn’t want to upset our friendship or hurt you. But now that I know how you feel, I don’t think I’m ever going to go a single day without saying, I love you, Nora Darhk.”

Nora hadn’t realized her hands were shaking, she was shaking, until Ray gently took her hands in his. She watched as he dropped one to wipe away a tear she hadn’t even realized she’d shed. She blinked and felt wetness slide down her cheeks again. Nora looked up at Ray and reached out to cup the back of his neck, without thinking, she stood on her tiptoes and pulled his head down to meet her for a kiss. It was gentle, their lips barely touched but it took her breath away. Nora pulled back, only slightly, her heart rate faster than it had ever been, even in her worst life or death situation.

Ray gently wrapped his arms around her waist and picked her up, kissing her again and holding her against his body. Nora wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. He finally sat her back down and pressed their foreheads together.

“Hi,” he said.

“Hi,” Nora replied.

“What if I were to tell you that I could get you temporarily, potentially permanently released from the Time Bureau prison by helping us on a mission we’re about to head onto. Well the rest of the team is actually already there, I took the jumpship and decided to come see you first.” He pulled back just enough to press a kiss to her forehead and cupped her face in his hands.

Nora looked at him with confusion. “What?”

“I mustache you to come on adventure with me, Nora, and maybe you can be finally be free and have redeemed yourself.”

Nora couldn’t believe it, her mouth hung slightly agape with the corners breaking out in a small smile at his stupid pun. She loved it though. “Really?”

“Really.” He took her hand and intertwined the fingers. “What do you say?”

“I say… if I do get my freedom you better put a bookshelf in your bedroom because all I want to do with my freedom is be with you.” She reached up and kissed him again.

Ray’s heart skipped a beat, he nodded dumbly, not exactly sure how to respond to Nora’s “I live in your room now” mentality but pulled her in for another kiss, just to make sure this was real. “I hope you like the right side of the bed, because I sleep on the left.”

“Anything will be better than this ugly ass couch they call a cot.” Nora pulled him for a kiss again. “Let’s go.”

[noradarhkpalmer]

his favorite day of the year

Title: his favorite day of the year

Rating: PG

Pairing: Nora Darhk/Ray Palmer aka Darhkatom

Warnings: None

Summary/Notes: Ray and Nora get to come home from the hospital after having Tori, these are Ray's thoughts as he drives home with his new family. Basically it’s just a bunch of mushy fluff. 

Dedicated to my new friend @superstitious19 <33333

I’m so sorry I fell behind on these! I had some personal health problems come up but I am going to try and catch up! Enjoy!

Day fifteen of 25 days of Darhkatom! Feel free to click the through the tag to see the others! Basically, I will be posting all loosely related (unless stated otherwise) fics for 25 days straight!

They were going home today. Their first day in their home as a family. Ray took one of his most precious cargo and loaded her into the back of their SUV onto the car seat mount. Their daughter stayed asleep as the seat clicked into place and Nora, his other most precious cargo, climbed in and settled into the seat next to Tori’s car seat.

“I think I’m gonna sit back here.” Nora smiled. “You drive, I’ll keep an eye on our best girl.”

Ray smiled and kissed her softly. He thanked the hospital staff that helped to the car and then climbed into the driver’s seat. He glanced back and Nora who was adjusting the blanket on Tori. They were both perfect. He caught her eyes and smiled at her.

He put the car into drive and focused on their trek home. Ray didn’t have the radio, he simply wanted to look at the scenery in front of him. Fall changing to winter. Halloween was still about a week away but he knew it would only get colder from here on out. Ray knew this drive like the back of his hand. He knew it from when he was a teen and needed to go to the ER after tinkering with an invention and slicing his hand open. He also knew because once he and Nora moved into his childhood home they were heading to doctors appointments to check on the baby. Now she was here and they were bringing her home. So much had changed.

He thought back to a year ago, two years ago even. Two years ago he was a full time Legend. Two years ago he was living his life day by day, going on missions, tinkering with his suit when he wasn’t, and going to bed only to get up and do the routine all over again, and he knew after Kendra the chance of finding love again were slim. First with Felicity and her being in love with Oliver for a good part of their relationship and ultimately choosing Oliver, then Kendra and the whole soulmates thing with Carter. Everyone was destined to have someone other than him. And he had resolved himself to that and focused on helping others.

But by the following year the most wonderful person came into his life. He was two months away from asking her to be his wife, and they’d only been dating for three months. Officially. Their feelings for each other had always been there. There had been so many close calls. But it seemed that everything worked out anyways.

Because now he was escorting his wife and his baby girl home from the hospital. He sucked in a breath. He was a father now. It hit him when Victoria was first placed in his arms. Meeting her as a fully grown adult had been one thing. But now she was here and real and he would raise her into adulthood. He would be there for it all. The tiny bundle, so perfectly half him and half Nora. He loved Victoria so much already, there was an inexplicable blooming of warmth in his chest especially every time he glanced in the rear view and saw both of his girls.

Nora, given that she was a demon vessel for twenty years, had shared some reservations about actually being a good mom in practice. He would never be so glad to prove her wrong. She took to it immediately. Taking care of Tori was as innate and woven into Nora as her magic was. Watching his wife with their daughter was one of the most beautiful things he’d ever witnessed in that hospital room next to the actual birth of their child.

A wave of peace settled over Ray and he wondered what it would be like as their family aged, picking up Tori from school or soccer or dance or whatever interests her heart led her to. He could see her thick dark brown hair bouncing in pigtails as she bounded towards the car door, he could see her throwing a duffle bag his way and ask if her friend could stay the night for a slumber party. He knew Tori was only the first of small Palmers they would be bringing home over the next five years. They were ready. They needed to adjust as new parents do to what Tori’s routine will be like, of course, but they couldn’t wait, Ray couldn’t wait for the start of the rest of their lives and this chapter had the most beautiful opening lines.

Even before Nora told him, or rather Gideon told him, of all the children to come, and even before he had met Nora, Ray always wanted something more substantial than what he had growing up if he had a family of his own. Sure by two years ago he figured it just wasn’t happening, he’d be the cool tech uncle handing out the latest Palmer Tech phone every year, but there was still something buried deep inside that knew given the chance, he’d want something more than his childhood. If he had children one day he wanted their upbringings to be full of life and love. He and Sydney still talked occasionally, they’d see him at Christmas, but they were never close growing up despite being fraternal twins. Syd got out there and did stuff with the passion Ray threw into quietly working on his inventions.

When their dad left, their mom put food on the table and was there to comfort them late at night if they ever got scared but other than that… she was working. He knew she had so much on her plate and as he got older he hated that she had to sacrifice so much. He knew then that he would never create a problem like his dad had for his future family.

Ray tightened his grip on the steering wheel, he remembered next to nothing about his dad other than what he read in Christmas and birthday cards sent twice a year out of obligation. He glanced back at Nora and their daughter and it baffled him how someone could leave a situation like this. Ray couldn’t put into words the love he felt for his family and so when he thought about how his dad could just leave like that. There must have been no love to start with.

He’d been in love before. He almost married Anna but then she died, he was serious with Felicity but she chose someone else, he almost married Kendra but she also chose someone else. He knew what love and loss felt like in the same relationship so when he met Nora, love was not slipping through his fingers again. If she didn’t love him back, period, that was fine, but Ray knew from the minute that he felt the spark as their hands touched, that he would have a hard time shaking the images of holding her close, loving her, being with her. He fell for her early on even though it would be some months before they actually acted on their feelings. Once they did, Ray felt like he could never let go of Nora. She had grabbed a hold of his heart and he had never been happier.

He glanced back at his girls again and saw that Nora had dozed off. Her head was at such an angle that she must have fallen asleep looking at Tori. He looked back at the road and saw their street coming up. He put the turn signal on and turned onto their street. Their house was all the way down on the right. Ray hadn’t been sure how Nora would feel about moving into his childhood home but when he found out that the couple living there were selling it after becoming empty nesters, he knew he couldn’t pass it up. He had dreamed about this day, pulling into the driveway, bringing his family home from the hospital, ready to start forever with them. Ray stared at his house, they hadn’t decorated much for Halloween because the baby’s due date had been so close. Ray didn’t mind either because October 23rd was now his favorite day in October. He couldn’t wait until Christmas though. Then he could go all out and the thought of him doing so only for a confused Nora holding a sleeping Tori to come out and investigate filled him with no end of joy. He cut the engine and the change caused Nora to stir.

Ray got out of the car and opened the door for his wife. She unbuckled and climbed out, leaning onto his side, still somewhat sleepy. Ray kissed her forehead and told her to head on inside, he’d get their girl and the hospital bag. Nora nodded and made her way up to the house. Ray removed the car seat and grabbed the diaper bag and small duffle bag they had brought to the hospital with Nora’s change of clothes. Ray locked up the car and saw Nora standing at the front door.

“Hey, don’t you have a key on you?” He asked.

“I do,” she said with a small smile. “But I wanted to share this moment with you, walking into the house for the first time with our baby girl.” She reached up and kissed his cheek and peeked at Tori, still asleep, beneath all the blankets.

Ray grinned and watched Nora unlock the door and they both stepped inside. Not much looked different from their perspective. There was a bassinet in the living room but other than that no one would know by this point that they had a baby. They moved down the hallway and into Tori’s nursery. Gorgeous purple hues decorated the walls complemented soft white and purple bedding in her dark wood crib. Ray sat the carrier down and gently removed Tori who didn’t seem bothered by being held by her father. He looked at Nora and gave her a soft kiss. Now they were home.

[noradarhkpalmer]

Sweet Dreams, Nora Darhk

Title: Sweet Dreams, Nora Darhk

Rating: PG

Pairing: Nora Darhk/Ray Palmer aka Darhkatom

Warnings: Minor swearing.

Summary/Notes: It’s Nora’s first night on the ship, can she keep her inner demons at bay or will a certain bunkmate have to comfort her? 

Day four of 25 days of Darhkatom! Feel free to click the tag on my blog to see the other days! Basically, I will be posted all loosely related (unless stated otherwise) fics for 25 days straight!

They had kissed. Multiple times. They had been back on the Waverider from vacation for about a day and immediately had to go on a mission. There wasn’t really time to figure out sleeping arrangements but now that they were back from the mission and also exhausted, it only now occurred to them that they had no idea where Nora was supposed to sleep. Sara had muttered something about her obviously bunking with Ray but Ray only had one bed. So how exactly would that work?

“I’ll sleep on the floor and then we can get a cot for me in the morning.” He shrugged.

Nora’s brows furrowed. “No! I’ll sleep on the floor. I’m not taking any more of your personal space than I have to.”

“No you deserve to sleep in a real bed. I’ll be fine.”

“Fine.” She begrudged.

When they settled in her belongings, which was pretty much just the stack of letters from Ray plus an extra outfit or two and some things they got on vacation, she decided to change into her pajamas. They had separate beds in their bungalow on the beach. Separate rooms in fact so the possibility of Ray hearing her nightmares had been slim to none.

She pulled out her pajamas and looked at Ray, he turned around to give her the privacy of getting changed but something inside her almost told her to let him see. They were together, she supposed. What was the difference between seeing her naked now versus in a month or two? Almost as soon as she thought about it, anxiety bubbled inside her. Too much for tonight, she decided. She quickly changed and without thinking about it, turned back to see Ray was changing as well. He already had on sweatpants but he was shirtless. She sucked in a breath and he turned around, which only made it worse. She scanned over his chest and abs and arms and she nearly buckled at the sight.

“You.... ermmm... you... don’t have a shirt on.” She pointed out probably the most obvious fact in the history of the universe.

Ray slipped on over his head, slightly flustered. “Sorry... I was in the middle of changing I didn’t realize you were already done.”

“It’s my fault. Don’t worry about it.” She slid into his bed and it felt like heaven. Almost heaven. She could feel the dip on the other side where Ray slept and knew it would probably be the icing on the cake to have him sleeping there next to her, holding her, keeping her nightmares at bay. She traced her fingers over the impression Ray’s body had left, like she was seeing his ghost but instead he was just to her right, on the floor with a blanket and pillow. She sighed, wishing she could be emotionally ready to have him next to her.

“Ready for bed?” Ray asked. Nora nodded. “Gideon, lights out.” And suddenly the room was pitch black.

She could hear Ray shifting around and felt slightly more at ease knowing someone else was there. When she was in prison she could hear the shuffling of other creatures, mostly the nocturnal ones, and that helped her to feel less alone and at least help her fall asleep. Now Ray was doing the same.

Nora laid down facing Ray and closed her eyes, trying to focus on any sound he made to help lull her to sleep. That combined with the fact that his bed smelled exactly like him eventually worked. Sort of.

“Nora...” This one sounded like her father.

“Nora...” this one sounded like Ray.

“Nora...” this still sounded like Ray.

“NORA!” This was definitely Ray.

Nora jolted away and saw the lights were only up a little and Ray was at her side trying to get her to come to. She felt completely covered in sweat, right down to it making her hair stick to the back of her neck. Without thinking, Nora threw her arms around Ray and held on for dear life. She buried her nose in his neck and breathed him in, trying to expel the extra adrenaline rushing through her veins.

Ray, as Ray does, rubbed her back in soothing circles and it only made Nora hold on tighter. Once she felt okay, the moment would end and she would have to lay back down in the bed alone.

She felt Ray pull back after another minute or so but she held on tighter. “Please stay. I can’t sleep.”

And so he did.

He moved the pillow back to his side of the bed and they both sat up, Nora didn’t want to try and sleep again just yet. Nora picked at a seam on the navy blue comforter and just sat there in silence with Ray, relishing in the presence beside her.

“Do you want to talk about it?” He finally asked.

“Just your run of the mill nightmare. I have them all the time. I’m usually still possessed by Mallus and I’m wreaking havoc, hurting people I’ve grown to care for.” She reached for his hand and intertwined their fingers. “What if even after all of this, I lose control of my magic and hurt people? Hurt you? What if I’m still a monster inside?”

Ray cupped her cheek. “You’re not a monster. You’re Nora, a kind, loving person who will defend someone to her last breath. You knew what it was like to grow up without agency and now you want to help those that still don’t have theirs. There is no way you could possibly hurt people because of that.”

“I’m scared, Ray, I’m scared of these nightmares driving me so mad I lose control.” A few tears slipped down her cheeks and she placed her free hand on his wrist and kissed the inside of his palm. “I’m scared of losing control and hurting you.”

“I really don’t think that’s going to happen. Let’s just try and think about something else. What do you want our second date to be?”

“What?” She shook her head. This man could get her from crying to smiling so fast. “Umm I don’t know, ice skating?”

“Ice skating it is. Where and when?”

“Where? New York City of course, when? I’m not sure. Whenever it was popular and well kept up but also not too incredibly commercialized and crowded.”

“I’ll make Gideon come up with something. Okay what about our third date?”

“A drive in movie in the 1950s!”

“And our fourth?”

“Hmmm.... a picnic somewhere in the fall.”

“And your nightmare was about?...”

Nora smiled. It was slowly fading away. “You have a special kind of magic of your own, Ray Palmer. And I love you for it.” Her eyes widened when she had realized what she said.

“You what?”

“I love you.” When she said it she felt a strength that not even the biggest dose of power from Mallus made her feel. “I have literally never been this happy. Even in time prison, I kept every last one of your letters, pouring back through them like a favorite book, storing lines of encouragement to keep me going. You care about me so deeply. I care about you in the same way. I love you, Ray Palmer.”

Ray grinned like a complete idiot in love. “I love you too, Nora Darhk.” He kissed her slowly, trying to savor their sweet moment like a last bite of a candy bar.

They pulled away and Ray pressed his forehead against hers.

“I think I’m ready to try and go to sleep now.” She murmured.

“You got it.” He slid down the bed with her until they were completely laying down. He kissed the top of her head and asked Gideon to turn the lights out again.

Nora snuggled closer to him, placing her head on his chest. Ray wrapped his arms around her securely. His heartbeat was possibly the best sound in the world to go to sleep to, next to what he was about to say.

“Sweet dreams, Nora Darhk, I love you.”

[noradarhkpalmer]

well versed in etiquette, extraordinarily nice

Title: well versed in etiquette, extraordinarily nice

Rating: PG

Pairing: Nora Darhk/Ray Palmer aka Darhkatom

Warnings: Some pretty anti-arrow feels are in this one, sorry y’all.

Summary/Notes: Ray and the rest of the Legends are invited to another wedding of their allies. After the Nazi invasion from Earth X, Ray is hesitant to go. Nora encourages him only to find out that Team Arrow will be there and Nora is not sure she can be held responsible for what would happen if she were left unsupervised near Oliver Queen

Day nine of 25 days of Darhkatom! Feel free to click the through my blog to see the others! Basically, I will be posted all loosely related (unless stated otherwise) fics for 25 days straight!

Thank you so much to @timetravelingpalmer for encouraging me to publish this.

Ray honestly wasn’t sure whether or not he’d attend another wedding of someone in their general circle of allies after what happened the last time. Nazis. Losing a Legend. Everything that could go wrong, went wrong.

And yet he and the rest of the Legends were all agreeing to RSVP for the wedding of Wally West and Linda Park. He liked Wally, he’d been a part of the Legends for a short while and had saved him from being kidnapped in Berlin and had helped defeat Mallus. Wally was a cool guy and Ray couldn’t be more happy for him.

“Wally feels too young to be getting married. Isn’t he like 15?” Nora asked as they walked back to their room.

“No, I think that’s how old you technically are right now.”

Nora smacked his chest playfully. “So, who’s going to be your hot wedding date?”

Ray shook his head. “You, of course. Though I could always take Zari, she’s not the one with the history that may complicate the jolly festivities…”

Nora arched a brow. “And what’s THAT supposed to mean?”

“Well, Team Arrow is invited and you, for good reason, don’t like them.”

“Yeah cause Oliver Queen killed my dad.”

“Well Oliver Queen is probably going.”

Nora thought for a minute. Really thought if she could be civil and be in the same room as the man that killed her father. She understood from the day that she was free of Mallus that her father was not a good man, not even a good father, but he was still her father and he had sacrificed himself at the very end to give her a second chance. Knots formed in Nora’s stomach. She wanted to be there, with Ray, do something that made her feel normal. Normal people were their boyfriend’s plus ones to weddings.

“As long as I don’t have to talk to him I’ll probably be fine.”

“I’ll make sure we stay clear on the other side of the room of him at all times.”

xxxx

Much like Barry and Iris, Wally and Linda held a party the night before after the wedding rehearsal at Jitters. Ray and Nora were thrilled to be back in the place they had their first date in. The space was a lot smaller than they had remembered and it definitely felt small when Nora spotted Oliver Queen walk in with a pretty blonde on his arm.

Nora tightened her grip on Ray’s arm and he looked down at her.

“What’s up?” Ray asked.

“He’s here.”

Ray followed her gaze to where Oliver and Felicity stood. He saw the ring on Felicity’s finger shine brightly in the fairy lights decorating the room and swallowed. He knew that when he and Felicity ended things she went to be with Oliver but he had no idea they had gotten married after the Nazi’s from Earth X had invaded.

“If you feel like you can’t do this, we can go. Wally and Linda won’t be upset. We’ll just say goodnight and see them at the wedding tomorrow.”

“No I need to do this. I’ve been able to grow so much mostly thanks to your help. I need to be able to at least stand in the same room as him. It was a long time ago for me, I can handle it. I’ll let you know if I can’t. So thank you.” She leaned up and pecked his lips.

They continued to mingle with the others, mostly keeping in groups with the other Legends, occasionally talking with members of Team Flash, congratulating Wally and Linda until two blondes made their way towards them.

Nora tightened her grip again on Ray’s arm. “Relax, I’ll handle it.”

“Ray!” Felicity held out her arms for a hug. “How are you? I’m sorry about Professor Stein, he was a good man.”

Ray nodded. “Thanks, Felicity, I think that there will always be a missing piece of the Legends because of his absence.”

“Yeah. We all saw how many lives he touched at the funeral…” realizing the conversation was dying she turned her attentions towards the brunette with Ray. “Who’s your date?”

Ray pretended to not try and deflect the conversation onto something other than Nora and facepalmed himself. “Of course, you guys haven’t met. Felicity, this is my girlfriend, Nora. Nora, this is Felicity and Oliver Queen.”

Felicity pulled Nora into a hug, which was probably the last thing Nora ever wanted, and thankfully Oliver was standoffish as usual and didn’t even offer a handshake.

“It’s… nice… to meet you guys.” Nora tried to regulate her breathing. She was just a girl, meeting old friends of her boyfriend’s.

Felicity crinkled her nose. “Wow, we have so many Nora’s floating around lately, now another, how fun.”

“Yeah… exhilarating.” Nora deadpanned.

“And your eyes are so pretty, they’re absolutely striking.”

“Thanks, I got them from my dad.”

Nora watched as the comment made Oliver almost visibly flinch. She tried her hardest to hide the smirk. If he had figured it out, watching him squirm at her kindness was going to be almost as fun as all of the things she used to plan to do him if she ever got the chance to see him again.

“Well they’re gorgeous. So are you a Legend?”

“I am. Have been for about three months now.”

“That’s awesome they’re a good group of people.”

“Especially Ray.” Nora leaned her head onto his bicep. “He’s made me a better person.”

“Ray sees the best in people.”

“That he does.” Nora replied in a sickenly sweet but almost ominous tone.

Oliver coughed. “Felicity let’s go get a drink. It’s was nice seeing you again Ray, and meeting you Nora. We’ll talk later.”

Nora watched them walk away and smirked.

“See that wasn’t so bad.” Ray grinned optimistically.

“No, you know, it wasn’t.

xxxx

“Hey, we have drinks back at our table, why did you drag me away like you couldn’t me out of there fast enough? Don’t tell me you’re like jealous of Ray or something.”

Oliver made a face. “No. Something, something’s just off about what just happened.”

“What? The fact that Ray has a girlfriend? I’m really happy for him and Nora seems nice, a little on the dark side, but nice.”

It clicked. If Oliver were in a cartoon, a lightbulb would be turning on.

“Say that again.”

“She’s nice, a little dark but nice.”

“Dark.”

“Yes. The absence of light but also when people act a little mysterious.”

“No. Darhk.”

“Still not following you.”

“I think that’s Damien Darhk’s daughter: Nora.”

Felicity laughed. “That’s not possible. Nora Darhk is about sixteen years old. That can’t be her, that woman is in her thirties.”

“Ray spends his days traveling through time. I don’t know how or why, but I’m telling you, that woman over there is Nora Darhk and she’s dangerous.”

“Oliver, come on. That’s not her. You’re being ridiculous and paranoid. Now can we go back to the party, to celebrate Wally and Linda. Fashion a smile, Mr. Grumpypus.” She pretended to pinch his cheek.

“Fine. But I’m telling you I’m right.”

“Sure.” Felicity patted his chest to appease him.

xxxx

“Felicity… why does that name sound familiar?” Nora asked she stirred her drink while at a bar top table with a few of the other Legends. Ray had left to go talk with Cisco about something on the other side of the room and Nora didn’t trust herself to be left unsupervised.

“Like Felicity Smoak? That’s cause she’s Ray’s ex.” Zari explained and popped an olive in her mouth.

Nora almost choked on her drink. “What?”

“And you didn’t know that. Right well I’m going to exit the conversation now.”

Nora grabbed Zari’s arm. “What do you know about his relationship with her?”

“Brief cause now she hangs on Oliver Queen’s arm. It was right after he bought Queen Consolidated. I’m trying to remember other concrete details but honestly I only know this much cause Amaya and I got Ray super drunk one night and he kept crying about wanting to find love.”

Nora sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Okay. Do you know if they’re still on good terms?”

“Oh yeah, they broke up amicably. Felicity knew her heart was with Oliver and Ray was being a little too Ray about the whole thing. That’s all. Can you let go of my arm now?”

Nora realized she still had it in a tight grip and released it. “Sorry.” She returned to stirring her drink. Oliver had hurt her. Felicity had hurt Ray. She needed Ray to come back before she did something really stupid.

xxxx

Ray finally returned to her side and she kissed him softly.

“Hey, miss me?”

“Always.” She felt him drape an arm around her shoulders and smiled up at him. She was ready to grill his ass.

“Why didn’t you tell me Felicity was your ex-girlfriend?”

“Because we broke up amicably and it didn’t seem relevant and I didn’t want to add to the stress of you being in the same room with the man that killed your dad.”

Nora glared at him. “Your ex married the man that killed my father. It’s definitely relevant, babe.”

“Sorry… I’ll make sure to tell you the next time I run into an ex of mine.”

“How many exes do you have!?”

“Just two others and one died.” Ray squeezed his eyes shut, ready for Nora to hex him.

Nora took in deep breaths to calm herself back down. “Okay. Oliver and Felicity don’t know who I am. We are going to keep it that way because I will not be held responsible for what happens if he confronts me and knows I’m Damien Darhk’s daughter.”

“Don’t worry, I have it all under control.” Ray said and totally lied through his teeth, he did not have it all under control.

xxxx

Oliver caught Sara’s arm and she batted him off. 

“Can I help you with something, Mr. Queen?”

“Sara, I’m going to ask you this once and you better tell me the truth. Who is that.” Oliver pointed over to Nora as she and Ray chatted with Wally and Linda.

“That’s Nora, she joined the team three months ago and has been dating Ray for about as long.”

“And?...”

“And she’s really great, she makes really good baked chicken soup and makes Ray really happy.”

Oliver sighed, exasperated. “You know exactly why I’m asking you who she is. Sara, she’s the daughter of the man that killed your sister.”

“And you’re the man that murdered that man in front of her when she was twelve! She’s not dangerous if that’s what you’re wondering. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a hot date to return to.” Sara caught Ava’s eyes from across the room and winked at her.

Oliver shook his head. “She’s dangerous. She’s a Darhk. She’s probably killed tons of people.”

“So have you and so have I. We’re already a team of misfits and felons, why not add another?”

“Because you guys have reformed.”

“You don’t know that she hasn’t. Look at her, really look at her. Remember the little girl you made watch as you killed her father. She’s only just now getting back to being the person she was before you did that. Ray makes her really happy and Ray has really really sad puppy eyes when she’s not around. Leave her alone, Oliver. I mean it.”

“I’m surprised to hear you defending Damien Darhk’s daughter but fine. If she causes trouble...”

“I’ll kill her myself.” Sara replied to appease him.

xxxx

“Nora Darhk, you’re causing quite the stir.” Sara saddled up next to Nora and Ray.

Nora laughed. “Are you talking about Oliver Queen? Did you tell him who I was?”

“I did and I told him to leave you alone and that if you actually started causing trouble that I would kill you. Now that of course, makes him think I’m on his side when in reality I lied through my teeth and will cheer you on if something ends up happening.”

Nora choked on a laugh. “Thanks for the moral support?”

“Anytime.” Sara clapped Nora on the back and went in search of Ava.

Felicity hurried up to them as soon as Sara left. “Okay so Oliver just told me that Sara confirmed what he was thinking and I just have to say that…”

“I’m gonna stop you right there, blondie.” Nora held up a hand. “I might be Damien Darhk’s daughter but I think I am the first person in line ready to bury every atrocity with my father. Also. I stopped you because your opinion is pretty invalid given how terrible your taste is. You left Ray, a true gift to this world, for Oliver...  oh what could be said about Oliver? Oliver, a man who thought it would be perfectly okay to murder a twelve year old girl’s father in front of her. That is why your opinion is invalid and I really don’t want to continue talking to you anymore.”

Felicity sputtered out words that weren’t actually words and turned on her heel, leaving the conversation.

Ray was shocked, turned on, and proud of Nora. He couldn’t decide which more he was but she could.

“What do you say we ditch this party early and head back to the Waverider since we’ll be the only ones on board?” She winked and pressed her back into his front further, feeling his need for her.

“I… yeah, that sounds like an excellent idea.”

Nora turned a little and grabbed him by his tie. She kissed him square on the mouth and when she pulled away, glanced over at Oliver Queen with a smirk and then led Ray to the door, ready to spend the rest of her night with the man she loved.

[noradarhkpalmer]

the hill i die on

Title: the hill i die on

Rating: PG

Pairing: Nora Darhk/Ray Palmer aka Darhkatom

Warnings: None.

Summary/Notes: Ray and Nora have a date night movie marathon and get into a little debate.

I'm so sorry I fell behind on these! I had some personal health problems come up but I am going to try and catch up today and tomorrow! Also sorry it's a bit on the short side!

Day ten of 25 days of Darhkatom! Feel free to click the through the series to see the others! Basically, I will be posted all loosely related (unless stated otherwise) fics for 25 days straight!

Ray got the popcorn, Nora got the drinks and sweets, then they met in the library for a date that Nora was quite possibly more excited for than any of her other dates. Days, even weeks would could by and there would be missions and quests to either stop time from breaking or to stop one of their teammates from breaking time which would leave Nora and Ray only time to crawl into bed at night and sleep next to one another. If they had time to sneak away during missions they absolutely always did, and nonchalantly would re-enter the group as if they hadn’t just snuck off for a quickie in the woods, so basically, this date night was much needed.

They had decided on musicals, something Nora forget they both loved to death, and she was ready to get educated on all the musicals she missed out on being a demon vessel and never got the time to watch even as a child.

And Ray couldn’t be more excited to show them to her.

Nora snuggled up to Ray on the couch as the first movie started. It took everything in Ray not to show her Singing in the Rain as the first musical, he’d save the best for last instead. They decided on their watch order: Grease, The Music Man, Brigadoon, and Singin In the Rain.

Nora rested her head on Ray’s shoulder as Grease started up. “I haven’t watched this in so long.”

“A lot of people don’t like this movie as much as people used to but I still like the music.” Ray placed a kiss to the top of her head.

“Mmm but the music in Grease 2 is far superior.”

“Not true.”

“Absolutely true.” She laughed and smacked him on the chest playfully.

Ray looked at her. “Is this the hill you’re wanting to die on, Miss Darhk?”

“This is, Dr. Palmer.” She winked.

“Okay, okay, oh look the movie is starting.” He squeezed her side and she yelped at how it tickled. The reaction surprised Ray, he hadn’t known her to be very ticklish but maybe this was the first time that he had hit a particular ticklish spot.

Nora looked at him, warning on her lips and in her eyes but did Ray take that warning?

Absolutely not.

Ray tickled the spot again and Nora yelped once more. He found the same spot on the other side and tickled it too. She started squirming to get away but his grip was too strong. Nora let out uncontrollable laughter and pressed her hands on his chest to get away.

“Ray! No! Stop! I can’t breathe!” Nora continued laughing and batting his chest to try and break free. Nora finally felt him let up a bit and took in a big gulp of air only for him to pick back up.

Nora accidentally ended up kneeing Ray right in the stomach which stopped the tickling almost immediately. When she was trying to wrangle free of his grip she ended up elbowing him in the nose and covered her mouth to prevent herself from laughing. She had just given him two accidental injuries back to back and the sight could not be funnier.

Nora cradled his face and gave him a smile that definitely was still holding back laughter. “Are you okay?”

Ray, finding it hard to be annoyed replied, “yes, I’m fine. I brought that on myself. I just didn’t know you were that ticklish.” Ray started laughing. “We’ve already missed the first little bit of the movie.” He saw the scene was at Rydel and turned back to Nora.

Nora shrugged. “We’ve both seen the movie, we know they end up together. We could just sing along when the song parts come up and spend the rest of the time…” Nora pulled him in for a kiss but Ray pulled away in pain, touching his nose.

“Sorry… it’s a little tender.”

Nora touched it gently. “I’m sorry, I got you good, huh.” She concentrated and a purple hue emitted from her fingertips, healing his nose. “There, all better.” Nora kissed his nose.

Ray gripped her gently by the upper arms and pulled her in for a kiss. “Where were we?”

Nora grinned and continued kissing him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and stayed like that for a while, kissing and then gently humming songs as they’d play on the screen. They rarely paid attention to the TV until the movie ended, even though watching the movies was their whole intent of the date.

Eventually Nora moved off Ray’s lap to fetch some popcorn and fed him some as well. She started tossing kernels towards him to see if he could catch him in his mouth and could with great success. Nora snuggled back up into his lap once he started up the second movie: The Music Man. Nora hummed and Ray nudged her.

“What’s on your mind?” He asked.

“We should’ve made it a double feature, that’s all I’m saying.” She shrugged and popped some more kernels of popcorn into her mouth.

Ray shook his head. “You will never give this up, will you?”

“Nope, I won’t.”

[noradarhkpalmer]

draw me like one of your french girls, miss darhk

Title: draw me like one of your french girls, miss darhk

Rating: PG-13

Pairing: Nora Darhk/Ray Palmer aka Darhkatom

Warnings: Darhkatom gets a little suggestive

Summary/Notes: Ray finds out Nora can draw and then finds out she used to love to draw, so what does Ray do? What he does best of course. A big romantic gesture to fit the occasion.

I’m so sorry I fell behind on these! I had some personal health problems come up but I am going to try and catch up! This one is extra long! Enjoy!

Day twelve of 25 days of Darhkatom! Feel free to click the through the tag to see the others! Basically, I will be posted all loosely related (unless stated otherwise) fics for 25 days straight!

He had found the doodle when he was cleaning up dinner. They had had a quiet dinner in the galley while waiting for the rest of the team to get back from a mission. They sat there and talked, ready to get up and quarterback but also trying to enjoy a rare moment where they were the only two people on the ship. When Ray cleared the plates he noticed Nora had doodled on a napkin she hadn’t used. It was a profile of him, incredibly realistic, and Ray had tucked it into his pocket, reminding himself to ask her about it later.

Ray entered their room that evening once the team returned. It was now officially their room. It made him giddy every time he thought about it. Not only was that the only room Nora had ever stayed in on the Waverider but things were now sprinkled about the room that just made it theirs, rather than his and she just also happened to sleep there. Things like her houseshoes on her side of the bed, and Ray thought the fact that she wore them was absolutely adorable, she said it was because her feet were always cold but Ray didn’t care. He just thought it was one of the cutest things about her. Her books, the ones she brought with her and the ones she’d fabricated since were beginning to stack high in two stacks on Ray’s desk, which they now also shared. And of course her clothes were also in his closet, their closet.

He changed for bed and grabbed the doodle from his jean pocket before tossing the clothes in the hamper. Ray climbed into the bed next to Nora who was reading and humming quietly to herself. She looked up at him and smiled when he got in the bed.

“So ugh… I found something of yours after dinner tonight.” Ray handed her the folded up napkin and Nora took it with great confusion.

She opened it and her eyes went wide. “Oh I thought I had thrown that away with the rest of the food bits on my plate.”

“This is really good, Nora, and I’m not just biased because it’s a profile of me. You’re really good, have you ever drawn anything else or is this just some talent that is somehow magically wonderful the first time off?”

Nora smiled in embarrassment. “No… I used to doodle a lot as a kid, I was always drawing something, I much preferred it to playing with dolls or even reading, or playing with other kids. I stopped because I had a job to do but even when I got bounced around asylums and mental hospitals if I was able to have stuff to draw with I would, it usually wasn’t anything in particular but tonight you had moved your head to a certain angle and I don’t know, you maybe also had a look on your face and I just wanted to capture it and so I drew it.”

Ray placed a hand on her shoulder. “You’re really good, I think you should do this more often. We can fabricate any art supplies your heart desires.”

“So I can what, draw you like one of my French girls, Ray?” She rolled her eyes. “Thanks, but no thanks. I feel like I barely have time to read or spend time with you between missions. I don’t want to clog up all my free time by drawing stuff that doesn’t even matter…” She tried to put the napkin off to the side but Ray caught her wrist.

“Hey, your art matters. I have no idea what all you’re going to create or have created but it matters. If it’s important to you or ever was, it definitely matters. You’re allowed an outlet, if Zari can have her video games that probably will actually melt everyone’s brains one day, you can draw or paint or sketch or whatever you want.”

Nora looked away. “I’m sorry, Ray, but I just don’t have the heart for it anymore. This was a fluke. Just me trying to pass the time while you were nerding out about some science thing.”

Ray knew he wasn’t going to get anywhere trying to push her more tonight so he nodded sadly and let her toss the napkin in the trash bin. “Okay. I understand.”

xxxx

Apparently, Ray “understanding” meant he wouldn’t press the issue anymore that night. The next day, however, Ray spent probably too long fabricating sketch books of different sizes, fancy pencils, fancy colored pencils, erasers, and even some kits of charcoals and paints and pens. Ray knew he was probably going overboard but that was Ray Palmer’s MO, show love in absolute excess.

Ray neatly organized all of the art supplies while Nora was in the shower that morning and left it on her side of the bed and then disappeared to the lab to do work, slightly afraid of Nora’s quite possible negative reaction to the gesture.

Nora came back to her’s and Ray’s room now ready for the day when she saw what she hoped was not a giant pile of arts supplies on their bed.

She got closer and realized that it was.

Dammit Ray.

Nora picked up one of the sketchbooks and ran her fingers over it, remembering how most of the time in the asylums and hospitals she maybe had loose leaf paper and a dull pencil but she’d draw everything she wanted her life to be instead of a scared, demon possessed teenager. She drew herself as a princess locked in a tower, being saved by a valiant knight, that one had been recurring after getting her hands on an anthology of King Arthur tales, she also drew herself in a world where her parents were still alive, doing normal parent stuff like picking her up for school or decorating the Christmas tree. She drew the fantastical and normal, because back then, even the normal was pure fantasy to Nora.

Nora threw the sketchbook down and sighed. Ray’s heart was in the right place but hers just wasn’t… but she would try, for him.

xxxx

Nora figured she would find him in his lab, she had a small sketchbook tucked under her arm with a set of brand new and sharpened art pencils. She also had erasers and a small set of micron ink pens. She might not even do anything with the supplies but she would try, for Ray.

She saw him tinkering somewhere deep inside the chest plate of the ATOM suit and knocked on the open lab door.

Ray looked up at saw her there and then his eyes fell to the art supplies tucked under her arm and broke out into a full grin.

“I saw you got my present.”

Nora walked up to him and grabbed his chin gently to look him straight in the eyes. “I did, and you are so often what I don’t deserve, and I thank you for it.” She pulled him in for a soft kiss and patted his chest. “Carry on, I just wanted to watch you work.”

“And maybe doodle me, while you work?”

“Maybe.” She smiled and hopped up onto his workspace table and put the supplies in her lap. She sat there, just enjoying watching him work as she often came down to the lab to observe but then she got an idea and pulled a pencil out of the box, discreetly so he wouldn’t get the satisfaction of seeing her actually trying, and opened to the first page in her sketchbook. She moved her pencil down the page, trying to get the perspective of him working on his suit correct. When she was satisfied she moved onto finer details, trying to capture the look of absolute concentration and amazement at his own invention on his face.

After a while the tinkering stopped but Nora kept tracing back over the same line, lost in the image of Ray on her paper and she felt someone touch her arm and she jumped. She looked up to see Ray standing next to her, trying to get a look at what she’d been drawing for the last hour.

Nora instinctively held the sketchbook to her chest so Ray wouldn’t see. “Can I help you, Dr. Palmer?”

“Just wanted to see what you were drawing.” He grinned.

“Well it’s not done yet so you can’t see it.” She gently pushed him out of her personal bubble and gestured for him to get back to work.

“Ah you want me back in the same spot so you can make sure you’re drawing me proportionally.” He started walking back to his suit and picked up a small wrench.

Nora smirked. “No, I know exactly how… well proportioned you are, Ray Palmer.”

“I am well aware that you do, Miss Darhk.” Ray abandoned his suit once more and went over to Nora, stepping between her legs and leaning down to kiss her gently.

Nora let the sketchbook drop and she wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him further.

They jumped apart at the sound of a cough and saw Zari standing near them, now holding the sketchbook.

Zari narrowed her eyes at them before speaking, “I better not flip through this and find naked drawings of Ray.”

Nora, now annoyed that her moment with Ray was interrupted used her magic to bring the book back over to her. “There aren’t any but the ones I have planned are all tasteful, and are for no one’s eyes but mine and Ray’s. Did you need something, Miss Tomaz?”

Zari, now slightly disgusted, shook her head and held up her hands. “Nope, getting the image out of my head of you guys recreating the scene from Titanic has taken top priority. I’m gonna go now.”

Nora laughed as Zari made her exit and tugged on the collar of Ray’s shirt.

“You… you have plans to draw me naked?” Ray asked, completely flustered.

Nora shook her head, “no that was just to get Zari to leave us alone, however, the more I’m thinking about it, the more I am liking the idea. Just not here,” she said and pulled him in for a deep kiss, the sketchbook forgotten again… but not for long.

[noradarhkpalmer]

Happy Birthday, Nora Darhk

Title: Happy Birthday, Nora Darhk

Rating: PG

Pairing: Nora Darhk/Ray Palmer aka Darhkatom

Warnings: None unless you count too much fluff.

Summary/Notes: Ray finds out it’s Nora’s birthday and well... Ray as per usual goes above and beyond to make his girlfriend feel loved.

It’s Nora Darhk’s birthday and I will never get over the fact that technically, she’s seven years younger than me but today is her birthday so here is a fic to help celebrate it! 

This is day 2 of 25 Days of Darhkatom! If you aren’t sure what that is, it’s where from now until Christmas I will be posting a darhkatom one shot, daily. All will be loosely in the same universe unless explicitly stated otherwise and they won’t always be Christmas related (ie the next three days aren’t).

Nora Darhk knew that the only reason they knew what day it was, was because they went by the calendar kept by the Time Bureau. The Legends knew what was linearly happening in 2018 because of the Time Bureau, Ava really, was always checking in and that was always part of the report. However, Nora didn’t really care what day it was, they did enough jumping around and she wasn’t even technically from 2018. In 2018 she was a scared 15 year old girl constantly being doused in holy water while being secretly prepared by the Order to handle being Mallus’s vessel.

Nora sat up in bed and passed her hand over where she should’ve found her boyfriend sleeping but instead found slightly warmed sheets. He hadn’t been gone that long, probably to the bathroom, or the Legends called a meeting, something. She was about to get up and track him down when the door opened. Ray walked in with a tray of various breakfast foods and a small vase of flowers. Nora gave him a confused look as he sat the tray across her lap.

“What is all of this for?” She asked and picked up a strip of bacon. She took a bite, turkey bacon, her boyfriend’s idea of healthy bacon. Bacon wasn’t meant to be healthy. That was part of the point of bacon!

“Happy birthday, Nora!” Ray’s glee made her completely freeze in the process of licking the bacon grease off her fingers.

She slowly lowered her half eaten piece of bacon and wiped her hands and mouth with a napkin. “It’s my birthday?”

“Of course! Gideon mentioned it to me last night after you went to our room. She has everyone’s birthday memorized! So I made you breakfast in bed! Happy birthday, I love you.” He kissed her cheek.

Nora was shocked to say the least. She tried to think back on the last time she had celebrated her birthday and it been a long time. She started keeping track of it when she was jumping around time with her father, only to keep herself in check so she wasn’t irrationally worried about no longer knowing how old she was. She was 35. Not exactly the spry young demon vessel but she still had some years left.

“I... thank you? Gosh I’m sorry I just can’t even remember the last time I celebrated my birthday. I was probably like twelve and had like a ‘Wicked’ themed birthday party or something.”

“‘Wicked’ like the musical? You had a whole birthday party themed like it? That’s amazing.” Ray seemed to be retroactively jealous and it made Nora giggle.

Nora sighed. “Anyways, it’s been a really long time but I do appreciate even though it’s not necessary, that you are celebrating my birthday with me. I don’t think I’d would’ve wanted a better way to spend my birthday, had I realized it was today.” She cupped his cheek and kissed him softly. “Now please tell me you’re going to help me eat all of this because I absolutely cannot.”

“I’ll eat all this junk just this one time. But you tell no one on the team.”

“You made it, it can’t be that unhealthy.” She grinned and dug into her scrambled eggs.

xxxx

After Ray’s and Nora’s leisurely morning they got ready, showering together (without funny business) and then got dressed for the day. Ray had convinced Nora to wear something a little fancier than just jeans, a t-shirt, and a leather jacket and she obliged. But she was highly suspicious.

When they walked out to the com center she immediately smacked Ray on the arm, hard. The whole place was decorated in birthday decorations with a large banner that said “Happy birthday, Nora!” across one wall.

“Seriously? The breakfast in bed was nice but I don’t need the theatrics of a 12 year old’s actual birthday party. What if the Legends see this? I’ll never hear the end of it!”

Sara came out of her office with a slice of cake and was eating it. “Oh we’ve all already seen everything, happy birthday by the way.”

“Sara! That cake was supposed to be for later! I have candles for her to blow out and everything!”

“Sorry, I just saw it thought, hey free cake! It’s actually pretty good so please don’t tell me all the healthy crap you put in it. Don’t worry, I’m the only one that has taken a piece.”

Ava came out of Sara’s office, also munching on a piece. Sara grinned sheepishly.

“Okay make that only one of two that’s taken a piece. I promise no one else will or I’ll cut off their hand. My little birthday present to you, Nora.”

Nora facepalmed. “Thanks, Sara, I guess.”

xxxx

Later, after finding more rooms decorated for Nora’s birthday, Nora and the Legends all gathered around the cake as Ray lit the candles. They weren’t of numbers just two princess tiaras which honestly made Nora more embarrassed than if they’d been numbers indicating her age. The cake had a noticeable gaping hole where Sara and Ava had already taken pieces earlier that day but it was pretty adorable a white cake with white icing and had “Happy Birthday, Nora” scripted in purple frosting along with purple flowers around the perimeter.

Ray stood behind Nora and wrapped his arms around her. He leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Make a wish!”

“I don’t know if I should. I’m a witch it may accidentally come true.”

“Well then wish about something you wouldn’t mind coming true.”

Nora leaned up and kissed Ray softly, knowing exactly what she wanted. She turned and closed her eyes, then blew out the candles. Everyone cheered and they started diving into the cake.

xxxx

That night, Nora waited up for Ray to finish getting ready for bed, hoping he’d be just as up to a little birthday lovin’ as she was. When he came in he noticed Nora was in an even lacier and more see thru nightgown than she normally slept in.

Nora grinned and reached for Ray but he held up a finger and reached into his bedside drawer for a small box. Nora’s eyes went wide, not sure if she was okay with it being an engagement ring. After all, she had wished she and Ray could have a life together and wasn’t sure if she wanted the effects to be him proposing to her.

“This isn’t an engagement ring, don’t worry.” He bit the inside of his cheek. That was for later this month. “But you didn’t get to open any presents and I did get you this for your birthday.” He passed her the small jewelry box and curled up next to her in the bed.

Nora opened it and saw it was a dainty necklace, a small turquoise gem on a gold chain. Nora cupped Ray’s cheek and kissed him. “Thank you, this means the world. Thank you for all of today, I got to have normal birthday and be celebrated by people that I get call friends now. All because of you.”

“You deserve to have normal birthdays, normal holidays, normal everything. Well, whatever level of normal that the rest of us operate at anyways, which includes all of that. Do you want me to help you put it on?” Nora nodded eagerly and handed ray the necklace. She turned slightly away from him and pushed her hair to one side. He placed the cool metal against her throat and clasped it for it, then kissed her shoulder for good measure. She let her hair fall back and then curled into his side.

“You know what else I was kind of wanting for my birthday?” She asked and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“What’s that? Name it and I’ll get it for you!” Ray exclaimed.

“You, naked, here, in the bed. I’d be naked too but you know I figured that was implied.” She grinned and pulled him on top of her.

“Oh so it’s that kind of birthday present. Don’t worry, Lady Darhk, Sir Raymond of the Palms is more than happy to oblige.” He said in his best knightly voice and then turned down the lights, ready to give her a great birthday present.

[noradarhkpalmer]

Ice Skating Your Way Into History

Title: Ice Skating Your Way Into History

Rating: PG

Pairing: Nora Darhk/Ray Palmer aka Darhkatom

Warnings: Minor swearing.

Summary/Notes: Nora and Ray Palmer go to New York City 1996 for a romantic second date. Ray Palmer goes out of his way to insert at least four rom-com in New York City tropes into their trip. Nora Darhk continues her path of redemption.

Day five of 25 days of Darhkatom! Feel free to click the tag on my blog to see the other days! Basically, I will be posted all loosely related (unless stated otherwise) fics for 25 days straight!

Ray made good on his promise. After getting back from the last mission, Ray told her the next day he had a surprise for her. When she had awoken the next morning, a winter coat, a sweater, and jeans were all fabricated for her and had been draped across the end of the bed. She looked off to the side of their bed and saw a pair of ice skates. Nora smiled and found a note from Ray on his pillow.

‘Get dressed and meet me on the jumpship. -Love, Ray’

Nora grinned and immediately got up to get ready. She opted to carry the ice skates and put on other boots instead and walked to the jumpship. She saw him and picked her up her pace a bit. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him softly.

“Good morning.” She tugged a bit on his bottom lip when she pulled away from the kiss.

Ray smiled and ran his hand through her hair. “Good morning, are you ready?”

“Yes, absolutely, but aren’t we going to get breakfast first?”

“I’m so glad you asked... strap in, Nora Darhk, we’re going back to the 90s.”

Ray plotted the coordinates and set the jumpship on its course.

“We could’ve just used my dad’s time stone.”

“It’s more fun this way!” Ray argued. He got up from the command center as the jumpship rippled through time and sat down next to her. “I hope the ice skates fit. I had Gideon fabricate them using a scan of your feet. So they’re custom made.”

“You made a scan of my feel while I was asleep?”

“No of course not. We had one on file whenever you fabricated your boots.” He nodded eagerly.

Nora shook her head and kissed him gently. She rested her head on his shoulder and he wrapped an arm around her. “You know, this, sitting here like this is all I need to have a good time. You smell good and you’re comfy.”

Ray couldn’t help his grin. “Well, that might be all you need, Nora Darhk, but you said not too long ago you wanted to go ice skating. So here we are.” He saw the timeship had finally entered the universe and retook the controls to land them somewhere and cloaked the jumpship. He offered his hand to her and she took it gladly.

“Oh wait!”

Nora furrowed her brows at him. Ray grabbed one of many bags he had sitting on the jumpship and handed it to her. “What’s this?” She asked.

“You need to change into this first!”

xxxx

Nora felt eyes on her. People were probably rolling their eyes because even in the age before social media a girl would never turn down the opportunity to dress like Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Halfway through changing she almost told Ray to forget it, that she felt ridiculous but he looked so excited so she did it for him.

She hid in an alley while he got their breakfast, too embarrassed to be left alone in public in New York City 1996. He came back with a hot chocolate with whipped cream and caramel drizzle and a croissant for her and a coffee and a croissant for him. They walked down by Tiffany’s and Nora gave him a look. Keep on walking.

That was fine. He would get her more into the spirit of their next activity instead.

xxxx

They returned to the jumpship and Nora changed back into the clothes she originally had on, Ray not providing a change of clothes for this one but instead picked up a picnic basket.

“What is wrong with you, Ray Palmer?” She laughed.

“It hasn’t snowed yet, just been really cold so I figured we could have a picnic in Central Park?”

Nora wanted to be mad but instead all she could do was grin.

xxxx

Their picnic was a more filling breakfast, Ray brought scrambled eggs that were still warm, sausage and bacon and buttered toast. He brought orange juice in a thermos to keep it cool and they shared it. Once they finished they packed it up but remained sitting on the blanket he had brought, under the tree, in each other’s arms. Nora laid her head on Ray’s chest and sighed happily.

Ray played with her hair, slightly wishing the tiara she was wearing earlier was still in it when he heard her sigh.

“What’s up?”

“Nothing, just happy.”

“Me too.” He smiled.

They returned to the jumpship and jumped to the same day but at nightfall so they could go ice skating. Finally. Nora had been thinking about this all day.

Ray couldn’t wait. He wasn’t sure if Nora could ice skate but she had wanted to do this. So he wanted to do this for her.

Once they got on the ice, Nora glided with ease and Ray could not stop staring. His queen skating around the ice as if she’d done it just yesterday. She did a lap and came back over to him and raised a brow at his confusion.

“What?”

“I... didn’t... I didn’t know you knew how to ice skate,” he sputtered out.

“I’m using magic to keep my balance.” She winked. “Also my parents would take my every winter when I was a kid. It was actually a lot of fun, the three of us, and I eventually could skate circles around my dad.” She smiled sadly at the memory. She never knew how much to share when it was a positive memory involving a man that tried to kill Ray and his friends for so long and eventually starting using her to do the same.

Ray placed his hand in hers. “That’s awesome. I’m glad you went ice skating as a kid. My mom would take my brother and me every winter too.” They began to skate at a slower pace so they could talk.

“How old would you be right now?” Nora asked.

“I was born in ‘81, so I’m about fifteen.” He had to do the math for a minute. He looked around and realized how much at fifteen he would’ve loved to take a girl he’d been crushing on here to ice skate and now he was.

Nora laughed quietly. “We should pick up young you and and then go to 2018 and grab young me and make them go on a date. They’d be the same age.”

“That’s not a serious suggestion, is it?”

Nora smacked him playfully. “No. It would probably break time given that by fifteen I was possessed by a demon and that would probably also scare fifteen year old Ray Palmer.”

“Good point. But I do think even at fifteen I would’ve tried to see the best in you.”

“And that’s why you tried to temporarily adopt a dominator baby.” Nora shook her head. “You’ve always seen the best in people so I could definitely see a fifteen year old Ray Palmer trying to see the best in a fifteen year old me.”

Nora was about to lean in and kiss Ray when someone zoomed past them and made her lose her balance slightly. A smug teenager who probably played ice hockey skated by them backwards and Nora held onto ray so she wouldn’t fall. Once she got her balance she glared at the kid. “Smug little shithead.”

“He reminds me of someone I went to high school with.” Ray chuckled. “Wait I think that is someone I went to school with. Yeah. Johnny Thunder. He plays ice hockey. His parents were stupid rich and took him on a Christmas vacation to New York City. I think he’s fat and alone and balding now if that makes you feel any better.”

Nora chuckled. “A little. It’s a wonder he didn’t go pro at ice hockey with how fast he skates.”

“Yeah... that’s true... I don’t remember.” Ray shrugged and took her hand again. “Shall we?”

Nora nodded and continued to skate with him in a comfortable silence.

They made a couple of laps until they heard a scream and looked to see Johnny standing over a little girl on the ice against the retaining wall. 

Nora skated over without thinking about it and crouched down to the unconscious little girl. A woman who was probably her mother was screaming for a doctor and asked if Nora was one. “Sort of.” She muttered more to herself.

Johnny was frantically trying to explain what happened. “I was just skating and she plowed right into me but I was skating too fast so she basically bounced off me and into the retaining wall. I heard a gross noise when she hit it.

Nora felt around to the back of the little girl’s head and felt a big bump and blood from where her skull had probably cracked underneath. She looked up at Ray and he started gesturing for everyone to give them space and when enough people backed away, Nora closed her eyes and focused her energy on the back of the girl’s head. A purple glow emitted from her hand and she felt the bump decrease by the second and the bone repair itself under her fingers as well as the tear in her scalp.

Nora opened her eyes to see the little girl come to she removed her hand and the little girl sat up and rubbed the back of her head. The little girl looked for her mother and put her arms out. “Mommy! What happened?”

“You bumped into someone but this nice lady saved your life. I’m not sure how but she did.”

Nora stood and the tried to not look embarrassed. “I’m just glad she’s okay.”

“Thank you, whoever you are, thank you.” The woman was crying happy tears at getting her daughter back and made her way to her husband off the ice.

Nora found Ray and he took her hands. “You were amazing! You saved that little girl’s life!”

“I don’t know about amazing, Ray, but I just wanted to help. Before I knew what was happening I was crouching in front of that little girl and healing her.”

“That’s what makes you amazing. You helped without a second thought.”

Nora blushed. “Thanks... hey, where’s Johnny?”

“I told him what happened was an accident and he just had to be more considerate of others from now on. He looked spooked enough to take me seriously.”

“Well, I suppose you did good today too.” She said and wrapped her arms around his waist. “I’m freezing. Let’s get hot chocolate and go home.”

Ray nodded and made their way towards the exit.

xxxx

When they returned they found everyone in the com center and Ray took off his scarf and gave everyone a look. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing, we just wanted to see how long you guys would be out.” The group began to disperse and Mick slipped Ray a condom on his way out of the room. Ray shoved it in his pocket and wiped his hands on his pants like it was a disease he had just touched and looked at Nora.

“I don’t like how invested they are.”

“It’s sweet, I’m sure our parents would’ve done the same if it had been 15 year old us on a date.” She wrapped her arms around his middle and leaned up to kiss him.

Ray pulled back when a sudden realization hit him.

“What?”

“I know why Johnny Thunder ended up fat and bald.”

“Poor hygiene?”

“No... that little girl died. She ended up with a brain bleed after being taken to the hospital. He never wanted to skate again, he felt too much guilt and started drinking.”

“What?” Nora’s eyes went wide. She hadn’t realize saving that little girl made such an impact on history.

“Gideon, bring up any result on Johnny Thunder in 2018.”

“You are correct in your assumption that Miss Darhk saving that girl’s life is what changed his life for the better. Johnny Thunder is a professional hockey player for the Nashville Predators. He continued to play ice hockey after that night in New York City and has been playing for the Predators for the last three years.”

“He got to go to a Stanley Cup then!”

“A what?” Nora asked.

“A really important game in hockey. I only know about it because our high school tweeted about an alum... oh man history is starting to cement this is so cool.”

Nora laughed. “I think your little speech to him about being more considerate to others probably helped too. But I’m glad we made more than one person’s life better tonight.”

"You always make my night better, so it was good to pay it forward.” Ray pulled her in for a soft kiss.

“Yeah. It feels really good.”

[noradarhkpalmer]

Making Christmas Real Again

Title: Making Christmas Real Again

Rating: G

Pairing: Nora Darhk/Ray Palmer aka Darhkatom

Warnings: None unless you count too much fluff.

Summary/Notes: Ray and Nora are all cuddled up for their romantic Christmas-y evening until Ray hits a nerve that has Nora cutting it short. That leaves Ray with only one option: Show Nora Darhk that Christmas can be the most wonderful time of year.

Ps. I’m sorry this is so long and if I kill anyone because of Darhkatom feels.

They like to sit here when no one else is awake. The stairs between Sara’s office and the com center are cold but they usually warm up once they sit there for a few minutes. It’s funny to see the 19th century looking library juxtaposed with the 23rd century time ship command center. She saw a festive mug appear in front of her face and she took it. The mug was of Santa’s head and his smile was about as goofy as her boyfriend’s. She felt him sit down next to her and pull her closer to his side. His body warmth was usually what lulled her to sleep, if he wasn’t careful, he’d have to carry her back to his room. Their room.

She took a sip of the hot chocolate, prepared exactly how she liked it. She grinned uncontrollably at the thought that he never forgot how she liked her hot cocoa. She leaned her head on his shoulder and stared at the green ripples out the window. “You know, this view would be a bit more picturesque if there was snow rather than green ripples.”

Ray smirked. “Well, Miss Darhk, I thought you would never ask. Gideon, project program Darhk-Palmer Christmas.”

“Right away, Dr. Palmer.” The lights dimmed around them slightly and the windows began to project what instead looked like houses light up in extravagant Christmas lights and decor with the ground littered with snow.

Nora gasped in awe at the winter wonderland appearing before her. Their perspective made it seem like they were sitting in a living room admiring the Christmas lights on other houses in their neighborhood. The thought continued to grow until it gave Nora a shiver down her spine. A pleasant feeling bloomed in the pit of her stomach. She closed her eyes, imagining they were in a house of their own, not on the Waverider, staying up to spend quiet moments with one another on Christmas Eve.

“Nora? Earth to Nora?” Ray waved a hand in front of her face and she snapped out of her rabbit hole.

“Sorry... I was just...”

“Thinking about this as if it were real?”

“Was it really that obvious?” She blushed and looked away.

Ray smiled. “No... but I was doing the same thing. This is actually the view from my childhood home. This was what our neighborhood looked like when I was growing up. I always thought the sight was spectacular. And I wanted to share it with you.” He kissed the top of her head.

Nora smiled into her mug. “I’m trying to think of the last Christmas my family spent together. I think it was right after we moved to Star City. I guess for you it wasn’t that long ago, but to me that was another lifetime. My mother decorated the tree in the most beautiful lights and ornaments... the tree topper was my favorite. It was one of the most beautiful stars I’d ever seen. We were happy. Just a regular happy family having a normal Christmas. But then it all changed within months. I don’t usually like to think about those times, because of how good they were. They were pre-Mallus, pre-knowing every atrocity my parents were connected to, pre-every atrocity I was connected to.”

Ray reached for her hand. “Was is the right word. You’re different now and you should look back on that memory with warmth and fondness, Nora. I think it will help you look forward.”

“Forward to what? Living under house arrest on a time ship where the only time we see snow Christmas is if we jump to a part and place in time where it’s there? I love that you wanted to try and bring a little bit of Christmas here by showing me what you used to see when you were my age: when I had that last, good Christmas with my parents but, this is just an illusion. Gideon, end program.” Gideon raised the lights and cut the projection from the windows. Nora stood up and Ray immediately got to his feet.

“Nora...” Ray tried but she held her hand up.

She shook her head. “Ray, I’m not really in the mood for a hope speech. Let’s just go to bed, okay?” She gave him a sad smile and lowered her defensive hand to offer it to him.

He took her hand and followed her to their room, knowing he had to fix this. But not tonight. 

xxxx

Ray Palmer had one thing on his mind. Well two. But they both related to Nora Darhk, the wonderful, beautiful, kind, but sometimes sad woman that laid next to him in bed. The first of the two things being the ring that now burned a hole in his bedside table that he had to sneak back into the drawer when they returned to the room. His grand plan had been to show her the view from his childhood home, ask her how she liked it, if she would like to see every Christmas from that view, tell her he bought his childhood home, for them to live in, eventually, and then ask her to marry him. None of that happened. 

He knew she liked to shut down, retreat inward, for the sake of not opening up wounds that she didn’t cause. She didn’t seem to have as much of a problem with processing through things that she had done as Mallus’s vessel because she was remorseful of those and ready to repent from any responsibility she had in those actions. But bringing up the pain that came before. The pain that was caused by others seeking to hurt her because it would hurt their target. That was what made her shut down. She rarely wanted to talk about those times with him.

Which brought him to his next item on his list of ways Nora Darhk was always on his mind. He wanted to make Christmas real to her again. Give her an amazing Christmas memory regardless if that included asking her to become his wife. If he was going to do that, he was actually going to have to get started. Tonight.

xxxx

Nora woke the next morning, trying so hard to shake the nightmare she had. It was the last Christmas with her parents. But then her father turned into Mallus and destroyed everyone and everything around her, then asked her to be his vessel and engulfed her. It was a terrible nightmare and she couldn’t think of anything more comforting than Ray’s arms. She reached out for him only to find cold sheets. Was he upset with her because of what she said last night? Maybe he was talking with the other Legends about her attitude and that she needed to leave, to go back to the Time Bureau and live out her remaining sentence there.

She needed to run if that was the case.

Nora shoved essential bits of clothing into a duffle bag, not even bothering to change out of her pajamas and walked out of their room. Ray’s room.

She was hit was a strong smell, probably coming from the galley. It was cinnamon and sugar and she couldn’t quite place it honestly. And then she saw the hallways. Tinsel EVERYWHERE. She continued down the hallway until she reached the command center and covered her mouth in awe. Every inch was covered in some kind of Christmas decor. Lights. Tinsel. Wreaths. Figurines. A tree was in Sara’s office and behind the tree was her Ray. With a stupid Santa hat on. He came around the tree and over to her. 

“Good morning, sorry I wasn’t in the bed. I was doing all of this last night. I saved the tree for last. I was hoping we could decorate it together and maybe you could put this on top of the tree.” He pulled a large star tree topper from behind his back and Nora dropped her duffle bag. It looked exactly like the one that was on her childhood tree, from that last good Christmas. She started crying, tears of joy, and threw herself into Ray’s arms.

“You.” Kiss. “Are.” Kiss. “The most.” Kiss. “Wonderful.” Kiss. “Man!” She pulled away and took the tree topper in her hands. She ran her fingers over it, front and back. She couldn’t believe it. He had brought Christmas to her.

“I just wanted you to have a good Christmas. The first of many good Christmases from here on out. I don’t plan on you spending miserable days here, on house arrest. I want you to live life fully on here, while we’re both here on the ship. This has become home for me, physically, and you’ve become home for me, in here.” Ray took one of her hands and placed it over his heart. “I’m home, Nora Darhk, and I hope that you can one day feel that way about this place, too.”

“Ray... I really don’t know what to say. When I woke up this morning without you I just had assumed you finally got tired of me and were talking to the Legends about taking me back to the Time Bureau. Now that I can see that none of that is true... I think that I can at least agree with you in part of how you conceptualize home. Home is wherever you are.”

Ray grinned like an absolutely in love idiot and took off his Santa hat and placed it on her head. “The tree is a little tall, do you want a boost?” 

Nora nodded and suddenly she was not just lifted up by her waist but instead perched on one of Ray’s shoulders to be able to reach the top of the tree. A feeling rushed through Nora about how sexy it was that Ray was strong enough to lift her to this height and bear her weight on his one shoulder. She placed the tree topper on top of the tree and plugged it in to the rest of the lights and watched it come to life.

Ray sat her down and Nora wrapped her arms around his waist, wanting to stay there for a minute, just basking in their moment. Ray rubbed her back soothingly and Nora listened to his heartbeat.

“So... you know how I had said I had made the Waverider my home, physically?” Ray asked.

“Yes...”

“I have and it’s been good to me and it honestly brought us together, let’s be real. But I have been thinking so much, now that we are together and this is our first Christmas together, but how would you feel if this was our first and last Christmas on the Waverider?”

Nora lifted her head to look at him. “What do you mean?”

Ray chuckled. “Well... I showed you that projection of my house last night because I bought it. I bought my childhood in the hopes of sharing it with you.”

Nora could’ve sworn she stopped breathing. “Ray... but my probation and the Legends. They need you. I don’t want you to take away the best parts of your life because of me.”

“You’re the best part of my life, Nora Darhk. So much so that I want...”

“What? What do you want.”

“Hold on... two seconds... don’t let the moment leave but I will be right back.” Ray jogged down their quarters and tore through his side table to find the ring box. He shoved it in his sweatpants pocket and ran back to the com center. Nora was still standing there, arms wrapped around herself by the Christmas tree, looking like an actual Christmas angel. His Christmas angel.

“Where did you go?” She shook her head and laughed at this ridiculous man that she was so definitely in love with. 

Ray walked up to her but then immediately dropped to one knee. Nora took a step back but Ray caught her hand, her left hand.

“Nora Eleanor Darhk, I have literally no idea how we work sometimes but we do. I knew from the minute I met you, this you, after meeting the young you and seeing this you and time is confusing so I’m going to move on... I knew that we had a connection that if anything, I wanted to use it to help you become the amazing person I knew you were inside. The fact that you fell as in love with me as I am with you is the best bonus of anything. I have never been this happy before so, Nora, will you marry me?”

“Yes, Ray, yes I will absolutely marry you!” She jumped up and down so hard her Santa hat fell off. Ray picked it up as he stood and slid the ring on her finger. He placed the hat back on his head and Nora kissed him, hard. “I love you, Ray Palmer, and I can’t wait to be your wife!”

“Uh-oh, I see mommy kissing Santa Claus.” A voice broke their little reality and they both turned to see the rest of the Legends standing in the com center watching them. Nora realized it had been Sara to make the comment.

Nora buried her face in Ray’s chest out of embarrassment until Ray broke free and held Nora’s hand up proudly. “NORA AGREED TO MARRY ME!”

“I hoped she would, haircut, cause I don’t think anyone else could put up with your sunny disposition.” Mick grunted and started unraveling the tinsel from the railing on the command center.

“Mick! No, please come on I tried so hard to make the spirals evenly spaced!” Ray ran off to stop Mick from destroying the decorations and Nora observed her fiance being with his family, who she guessed was her family now too.

[noradarhkpalmer]

and i will hold onto you

Title: and i will hold onto you

Rating: PG

Pairing: Nora Darhk/Ray Palmer aka Darhkatom

Warnings: It sad

Summary/Notes: It's the anniversary of Anna Loring, Ray's late fiancee's, death and this year it's hitting Ray harder than it ever has. This time he has Nora there to comfort him.

I’m so sorry I fell behind on these! I had some personal health problems come up but I am going to try and catch up! This one is extra long! Enjoy!

Day thirteen of 25 days of Darhkatom! Feel free to click the through the tag to see the others! Basically, I will be posted all loosely related (unless stated otherwise) fics for 25 days straight!

Ray, eternal sunshine, always smiling, Palmer was quiet on what Nora thought was a beautiful day in May. Anachronism activity had been light and so the Legends decided on a little shore leave. Ray still had an apartment in Star City so they decided to go there. Nora was surprised to see Ray relieved to spend time away from the other Legends and yes they were insufferable at times but she also knew that Ray and the Legends were thicker than any blood ties that he formed with this family.

She followed him up to his apartment with their belongings and walked in behind him. When Nora got to the bedroom she placed her bag on one side of his bed and she sighed. Something was wrong with Ray. She walked back out to the living room and saw him staring out one of the floor to ceiling windows. She came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his middle and pressed her cheek to his back.

“Hey… what’s on your mind, babe?”

Ray turned so he could wrap and arm around Nora and she snuggled into his side. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and sighed. “It’s nothing, I’m sorry I’ve been quiet, just trying to adjust to being back here.”

“Yeah, I guess it has been a while for you, huh?” She closed her eyes as he absently stroked her hair. “Do you want to go out and get lunch or maybe or in or cook? I’m up for anything.”

Ray nodded. “Yeah, we can order in.” He broke away in search of takeout menus and left Nora at the window.

Nora wrapped her arms around herself and sighed. He was still hiding something from her.

It wasn’t like Ray to put up walls like this. Usually he was knocking hers down. She walked back into the bedroom and was putting books on the bedside table when she knocked a frame off the nightstand. She heard it thud gently onto the carpet and picked it up. It was a woman, about her height, with kind brown eyes, brown hair, smiling standing next to Ray. She had her arms around his middle and an engagement ring glittered in the photo. Nora sucked in a breath. It was Anna.

She combed back through memories and factoids about Ray until she settled on one. Deathstroke had killed his fiancee in May not even four years ago… no it was four years ago… to the day. It was the anniversary of Anna’s death.

That’s what was wrong.

Nora wasn’t sure how to act being on the other side of things. She wasn’t sure the best way to approach him or if she should approach him. Maybe she should just let him sulk and be sad Ray Palmer for the day. Nora sat the frame gently back in its original place and continued unpacking her things. She walked back out into the living room to find Ray on the couch with takeout menus in front of him. She sat on his lap, trying to see if the affection would distract him and he wrapped an arm around her, smiling sadly.

“Hey… let’s order some Chinese and then we can watch a movie, okay? How about… Singin’ In the Rain?”

The prospect of watching his favorite movie with his favorite girl seemed to perk him up a bit. Ray nodded and called in their order.

Nora kissed the top of his head, sitting in his lap afforded her a height to do so, and carded a hand through his hair. Her boy needed a haircut. She liked that he was growing out to look less boyscout-ish but it was only getting unruly. The longer hair didn’t suit him as well as his shorter style. It was less Ray to her.

When they got their food, Nora queued up the TV to start their movie. Nora pulled out the thickest blanket she could find and draped it over both of them, something inside of her, knowing it was the anniversary of her boyfriend’s ex fiancee’s death, she wanted to protect Ray, his heart, and anything else to do with him and his feelings about today. She rested her head on his shoulder and started the movie.

They ate in silence as the movie played, Nora wanting so badly during the slower moments to broach the subject but she just couldn’t. They had shifted to sit only somewhat further apart and when Ray finished his food, twice her size as he may be, decided he wanted to lay his head in her lap. Nora had no problem with it. She carded her fingers through his hair absently and let him just lose himself in the movie, knowing that was probably more than she could do to help in that moment.

When the movie ended, Ray sat up and pulled Nora in for a hug. He squeezed her a lot tighter than she ever remembered him hugging her and she hugged him back. She couldn’t let him know she knew, she wanted him to tell her. He needed to be ready.

Nora watched him get up from the couch and throw their takeout boxes away. He muttered something about going for a run and that he would be back soon. Nora nodded and remained seated on the couch as she watched him disappear into their bedroom, come back out in sweats, and kiss her softly before heading out the door.

xxxx

She knew this went beyond any snooping she had ever done for a mission but she was just curious. It was four years ago but three of those years were taken up by being a Legend full time so who knows what she would find. She started with the chest of drawers, all his clothes, mostly workout and loungewear and undergarments. Next she moved onto the dresser and pulled open each drawer, trying to gauge if any of the belongings were Anna’s. She only got halfway through the dresser before she stopped. Something just felt wrong about this. She took in a deep breath, this would’ve been the place Anna and Ray would’ve started their lives, and probably had begun to before she died. Ray had probably attempted to change as much of he could without selling the place. There was no trace Anna, no ghost of her memory to find.

Ray had been gone for hours at this point and she was starting to get worried. The sun was starting to set and she hadn’t been in this city for over twenty years. Somewhere a very scared fourteen year old Nora Darhk had just been possessed by Mallus and even though she had met a very handsome knight and his team and tried to rescue her from her prison, she was still somewhere in this city, alone and afraid.

It was much like she felt now. She had never been the one to figure out how to break someone’s walls down and Ray was a seasoned pro at this point. She guessed that also meant he was an expert at putting them up. Nora looked out the window onto nightfall settling over Star City and sighed.

“Ray, where are you?”

She wasn’t sure how long she’d been standing there but she finally heard the door open and turned around. Ray. He didn’t look so good. Intoxicated? No. He’d be stumbling. High? No that wasn’t Ray at all. He just looked… broken.

Nora slowly approached him, not sure how much contact he wanted or needed.

“Ray?... Is everything alright?”

Ray simply shook his head. He sat down on the couch and Nora sat with him. She took one of his hands and stroked hair away from his face with the other.

“You said you were headed out for a jog, did something happen?”

“I shouldn’t have gone there.”

“What?”

“I shouldn’t have gone to the cemetery. It’s too soon.”

“Too soon for what? Talk to me.”

Ray shook his head. “It should’ve been me. I got away with just a couple of broken bones but she died. It should’ve been me, I was there protect her and I didn’t. I did the one thing I thought I was good at: protecting others.”

Nora stroked his hair. “You’re going to have to give me more context, sweetie, who is this about?”

“Her name… her name was Anna Loring… she was my fiancee. She died four years ago when Deathstroke attacked Star City. I got away with a broken leg but they… he just snapped her neck like she didn’t matter. But she did. She was the most important person in my life… I don’t… I don’t remember being this sad last year or even the year before… I don’t know why it’s hitting me so much this year…”

Nora shrugged. “I’m so sorry, Ray… I don’t know what to tell you. Before I could even really mourn my parents I was placed in protective services and told to forget about who I was before. I was Emily now and I was an orphan. It didn’t matter that my mom and dad had just died. So I had to lock it away. I didn’t deal with it for years. I think it’s okay to cry about this, she was important to you… you loved her and you were planning on spending the rest of your life with her. You don’t just get over that.”

Ray laid his head on Nora’s chest, the angle awkward because of his size, but Nora reclined into the couch to make it a bit easier. She continued to stroke his hair and took in deep breaths until his breathing was in sync with hers. She felt her shirt become wet and knew he was crying. She hummed quietly against the top of his head to let him know she was there.

“I know I’m probably bad at this since you’re the one with tons more experience at dealing with all of my junk but, I’m here for you, Ray… I’m sorry you lost her and know it’s okay to be sad about it. You can cry on me as much as you want, we can move to the bedroom if that’s more comfortable or we can stay right here. Whatever you want. I can make us tea or I can stay right here. You call the shots.”

Ray lifted his head up and reached to wipe away his tears but Nora caught his hands. She wiped the tears from his cheeks instead and reached for a tissue on the coffee table. She handed it to him and he smiled in thanks. He leaned in and kissed her softly and she smiled sadly as they pulled away.

“I think… I think that tea and staying here is what I want to do.”

Nora smiled. “I’ll get the kettle on.”

xxxx

They sat there in silence, both stirring their mugs to keep their mind focused on something. Ray hadn’t said much more but Nora knew to just let him be, give him the time he needed to reveal or not reveal whatever he felt comfortable with.

“Nora…?”

“Yeah, Ray?”

“Thank you… for… well… you were my rock tonight… this has been the hardest anniversary I’ve had. And I don’t think I would’ve gotten through it without you.” He took her hand. “Thank you, really, I mean it.”

“You have been there for so many things for me, Ray, I didn’t know exactly what you were struggling with but I could tell something was off. I just needed to make sure I made myself emotionally available. I can’t even begin to imagine how hard this is for you.”

“But your parents…”

“Died a long time ago and my dad died a hero the second time around. It’s… the same but different. I guess I know what you’re going through in the sense that I’ve lost people too, but I haven’t lost anyone that meant as much to me as Anna did to you.”

Ray squeezed her hand three times, “I don’t want you to think that because of what we have and what Anna and I had, they’re somehow in competition.”

Nora waved him off. “No, I could never think that. I know I can never replace Anna, I wouldn’t try to. She was probably very different from me and that helps me to know that I definitely could never replace her. I want whatever part in your life you’ll have me for.”

Ray pulled her closer and kissed her forehead. “Anna would want me to be happy… I think she would like you. You guys were very different yes, but I needed her for the part of my life between college and becoming the ATOM. But I need you for this part of my life. The part of my life that I hope is the rest of my life because I don’t want you to leave. You don’t just have a part in my life. You are my life.”

Nora leaned up and kissed him softly. “Let’s head to bed.”

Ray nodded and followed her wordlessly to the bedroom.

xxxx

Nora, now changed into a nightgown, was finishing up in the ensuite bathroom when she saw Ray come up behind her in the mirror. He was in pajamas too and wrapped his arm around her torso. Nora placed her hands on his forearm and rested her chin in the crook of his elbow.

“Hi.” She smiled, looking into his eyes through the mirror.

Ray buried his face into her neck and breathed her in. Trying to hold onto her impossibly tighter than before.

Nora let him hold her for a minute before turning in his arms and cupped his cheeks in her hands and kissed him softly. She broke away and tugged on his hand to follow her back into the bedroom. She noticed the picture of Anna had been moved to his nightstand and she got under the covers next to him. Nora picked up her book and began to read. She reached for Ray’s hand and squeezed his hands three time, glancing up at him. He leaned in to kiss her once more before laying down for the night, facing her, and keeping their hands clasped together.

[noradarhkpalmer]

It’s Strong and It’s Sudden, and It’s Cruel Sometimes

Title: It’s Strong and It’s Sudden, and It’s Cruel Sometimes

Rating: PG

Pairing: Nora Darhk/Ray Palmer aka Darhkatom

Warnings: None unless you count sad Nora or powerful Nora.

Summary/Notes: Ray is injured during a fight, he would’ve died had Nora not saved him and yet she still feels like it’s somehow her fault. She should’ve been in his place.

Many thanks to soph aka @timetravelingpalmer for giving this a read through and letting me scream feels at her.

Day six of 25 days of Darhkatom! Feel free to click the series to see the others! Basically, I will be posted all loosely related (unless stated otherwise) fics for 25 days straight!

Nora’s ears were ringing. She could see where she was but she couldn’t hear whether Sara was calling for them to fall back or if she needed to get somewhere else. She’d been thrown back, hard. The electrical current from Voltage had a strange way of interacting with her magic. It caught her off caught and she wasn’t as powerful as Mallus-possed!her to simply deflect it right back at Voltage. She looked up and saw Ray flying around, worried about what one bad shot to his suit’s matrix would drop him out of the sky. Her hearing finally came back to her and she heard Sara calling for Ray to watch out.

And then her world stopped.

She watched as Voltage fired at Ray, hitting him square in the chest. The lights of Ray’s suit winked out and she watched him begin to fall from the sky. Her arm stretched out and a purple shockwave emitted from her fingers, knocking everyone off their feet, including Voltage, and cushioned Ray’s fall. Nora ran towards him, keeping him suspending in the air until she got to him. She released him and he fell just a couple more feet, She caught him as best she could, she was half his size. She dropped to the ground and ripped his helmet off, frantically shaking him for a response.

“Ray, RAY, no please Ray please.” She burrowed into the crook of his neck and rocked with his unconscious body. Tears streaming freely now. “RAY!” She screamed a purple shockwave emitted from her entire body. Then the world was silent.

xxxx

Nora felt like it had been days without sleep or good news. It had only been a couple of hours. Ray’s suit had been deactivated manually by Wally and now she sat next to an unconscious Ray, holding his hand, waiting for him to wake up. Gideon assured Nora that Ray’s suit had sustained most of the damage and that he just needed time for his body to recover from the shock. That wasn’t good enough for Nora. Her powers had gotten out of control and she didn’t trust herself to use her magic again to try and heal him, so despite that displeasing her, she was a sitting duck. 

Nora kissed his bruised knuckles with the greatest care, tears still falling down her cheeks. 

“Ray... I don’t know if you can hear me but I just need to talk to you again. If I talk to you, I feel like I have hope. I never used to have hope until I met you and now that I know what it feels like I need to have it again. I need to have hope that you’re gonna be okay, I need to know that you’re going to wake up. Come back to me, please. I feel like I just got you. I can’t lose you.”

Nora swallowed hard and wiped the tears frantically from her eyes. “Please don’t make our love story a short one.” She leaned over and pressed a kiss to his brow.

Nora sat back, half expecting Ray to wake up after her kiss. But this wasn’t a fairytale. Life wasn’t a fairytale. She would have to wait until Ray came to the old fashioned way. With time.

She slowly found herself scooting her chair closer and closer until she was able to lay her head on his shoulder. She could hear his quiet breathing, knowing he was alive but unconscious brought her only a sliver of peace. She needed to see his soft puppy dog eyes again, needed to see his smile, and feel his lips on hers. She needed her Ray back.

Nora closed her eyes, being this close to Ray finally let her get the rest she was starving herself of.

When she awoke, she felt something... no someone squeeze her hand. Nora shot up and saw Ray squeezing her hand. Ray was squeezing her hand. She wasn’t sure if she was seeing things but she looked at his face and saw his eyelids fluttering. 

“Come on, Ray... I know you’re in there.” She cupped his cheek with her free hand. “Come back to me.”

Ray’s eyes opened and Nora almost collapsed from relief. She kissed him. She couldn’t help herself. She would get to hear her favorite sound in the world once this kiss was over but for right now she needed the human contact. 

Ray cupped the back of her head and kissed her back. He broke free and pressed their foreheads together. “Nora... what happened?”

Hearing him say her name was probably her absolute, number one, favorite sound in the world. 

“You... were hit... by Voltage... you were falling out of the sky, I... I used my magic to cushion your fall but... it knocked you out for about three hours.” Nora tried to speak through her tears but she just couldn’t do it anymore.

Ray sat up and pulled Nora into a hug. She cried... no sobbed into his shoulder. He rubbed her back in soothing circles. This man had just woken up from being unconscious for three whole hours and was consoling her, he was truly something special.

Nora tried to pull away, ready to put the focus back on him and his injuries and his health but he only held her tighter.

“It’s okay to cry, Nora. It always is.” He whispered into her ear.

Nora swallowed hard, still not believing he was awake. She almost lost him. The wrong person almost died. It should’ve been her.

“I was so scared, Ray, I was so worried I was going to lose you forever, that no matter what I did to try and save you that you would die. The wrong one of us would die. You deserve so much better, Ray, than getting hurt and almost dying.”

Ray pulled back to look at her. “Are you saying that you deserve to get hurt and die because I am not going to listen to that. You are one of the most wonderful people I know. You saw a teammate in danger and you acted quickly. I could’ve died if you hadn’t saved me. You would’ve done that for any one of the Legends, not just me, I know that. The “wrong” one of us didn’t almost die. This comes with the territory. And I had you there to save me.”

Nora tried to look away but Ray crooked a finger under her chin to make her look at him again. “Neither one of us the more expendable partner, okay? Say it with me.”

“Neither one of us is the expendable partner.” They said in unison.

Nora had a harder time believing it, but Ray was alive, and that was all that mattered.

[noradarhkpalmer]

the most “wonderful” time of the year

Title: the most “wonderful” time of the year

Rating: PG

Pairing: Nora Darhk/Ray Palmer aka Darhkatom

Warnings: I think Sandy says “damn”?

Summary/Notes: Nora and Ray are hosting Christmas with Ray's family for the first time. How will it go?

I’m so sorry I fell behind on these! I had some personal health problems come up but I am going to try and catch up! This one is extra long! Enjoy!

Day eleven of 25 days of Darhkatom! Feel free to click the through the series to see the others! Basically, I will be posted all loosely related (unless stated otherwise) fics for 25 days straight!

This one is too long to post on tumblr so here is a snippet and the link: here.

Nerves churned in Nora’s stomach. Their first Christmas hosting. It was Christmas Eve. Part one of two. Would it be a disaster? She and Ray had been trying to prep in between Christmas shopping, his work, and taking care of a two month old. Victoria was for the most part a really good baby. But when she was in a mood, it wasn’t pretty. Right now Tori was sleeping in a bassinet in the living room while Nora finished setting the table in the dining room. It would be the first time that all of the Palmers had been together since Thanksgiving last year. In that whole time span she and Ray had gotten engaged, married, and had a baby, and also met that baby as an adult and helped her figure out how to defeat an enemy and send her back to her own time.

Now it would be merely an hour before her house, the childhood home of Ray and Sydney, where Sandy raised her two boys into adulthood, would be filled yet again with Palmers in every room. Nora kept smoothing down the table runner, making sure it was perfectly straight when she felt arms come around her from behind. She jumped, too wrapped up in her own head to realize Ray had come home and had been calling for her.