The Tip of the Iceberg - Pilot
I love DC's Legends of Tomorrow and especially Leonard Snart and decided to write these additional scenes and character thoughts during season one. I may add on to these chapters with season two. No copyright infringement is intended and I claim no compensation at all. I did use direct quotes from the episodes to build the chapters. SPOILER WARNING. These chapters are named by the episode's title so if you haven't seen it, you might want to hold off reading it before you actually get to enjoy what the real creators have done.
During the entire drive back to their warehouse, Snart ran through the various arguments he could use to convince Mick to go along with his plan. He and Barry were pretty much an even match in regards to wits and skill. Add in all these metahumans and Central City was a bit too crowded lately. He needed a new challenge. A way to make a name for himself, or the team, that no one could top.
The first thing Mick did when arriving was grab a beer before going to his workbench to continue welding on his current project. Snart flopped down on the couch and started flipping through Newstime looking for where he'd left off. Mick started a monologue about why they were not suited for the job and how that wasn't what they wanted. Snart tuned out his monologue as he searched for some way to bring Mick around to his way without ordering it.
Back when Snart called Mick to come back to Central City after that fiery disaster on the job, he'd had a plan. "It's been a while since we pulled that job. I know it didn't go so well for you. And I know I said we were finished but things have changed. If I want to keep working in Central City I'm going to need a new kind of crew. I'm going to need someone like you. You're tolerant of extremes. You have certain skills. You just need some direction. And I can give that to you. You still like playing with fire? You're going to love this. So are you in Mick or are you out?" Mick had chosen to stay.
Since the first day they'd met in juvie, Leonard had taken charge of their actions. He always pondered the long-term goals while Mick wanted instant and immediate gratification. He remembered their argument when they'd first teamed up after Snart took the cold and heat guns from the arms dealer's corpse.
"The cops blew and ruptured the secondary internal fuel chamber. It could have been worse. You were right to get me to learn every part and circuit of this thing. Repairing it was a snap."
Coming up the stairs, Snart drew his gun and aimed at Mick who aimed his right back. "Give me one reason I don't kill you right now." Snart was furious with Mick not listening and being enthralled by the flames from his new toy.
"It's going to be hard to find someone else to listen to your winning speeches."
"You lost it out there just like the last job. You lost focus. Became obsessed."
"I'm obsessed? What about you? You're usually counting the seconds. Got the whole thing figured out. Dotting t's, crossing i's. But all you care about is the Flash. About putting him down."
Once again, Mick had come around and decided to throw his lot in with Snart as he explained how far they could go as a team taking over Central City. He trusted that Snart would plan heists more lucrative than they'd ever done before. Now there was a new game, and Snart wanted to win. He needed to win, to show his father that he was better than he. Leonard convinced Mick by reminding him about the lack of technology in other times meant easy alarms. They could use the time traveler to take them on heists all unwittingly. It wasn't hard to convince Mick. He let Snart lead because he'd always found the big scores.
Now that Mick was on board, Leonard left him alone. One last thing. He pulled out his phone, dialed, and said, "Sis. Meet me at Saints and Sinners in an hour." The bar was a dive, dark and smelly, but they left Leonard alone even before he had the Cold Gun. He was dousing French fries in ketchup when she slid into the booth across from him and smiled brightly.
"What's up?" She looked around and noticed he was alone. "You and Mick on the outs again?"
"No, we actually have a job offer." He smiled at the confusion on his sister's face.
"Wait a minute. Someone hiring you? The Rogues? Is that why you wanted to see me?" She began to get excited. Lenny didn't always bring her in on jobs. After their father had gotten the jump on both of them and almost killed Lisa, Lenny had become over protective again. "Me too?" She pouted when her big brother shook his head.
"No. It's not like that." He leaned back against the booth. "This…guy, Rip Hunter. Claims to be a time traveler, but he's backed by both the Arrow and the Flash, so maybe he's for real. Anyway, he wants me and Mick to join him and some others and go into the future to destroy this guy, Vandal Savage, who is supposed to destroy the world in about 150 years."
Lisa narrowed her eyes. Lenny didn't really have a sense of humor; he didn't play jokes on people. Not normal ones.
Sensing her disbelief, Leonard said, "I know it sounds crazy but this Rip Hunter wants Captain Cold and Heat Wave, the White Canary, Firestorm, the Atom, and these two hawk people to join him on his crusade."
"Since when do you go on crusades?"
"Since we can go to times that don't have alarms." He smiled. That's what he'd told Mick, but he just wanted to see other times. And, said a quiet voice in the back of his head, maybe he could change the past. He'd once told Cisco, "I know I'd do everything in my power to protect my family." Lisa was his family. Stopping their father before he began hurting her or maybe making the world that some grandniece or grandnephew down the road lived in safer were goals he could live with. He couldn't explain that to Mick. Mick saw profit and fire and not necessarily in that order. Barry was right; his weakness was his sister. He'd give anything to keep her safe.
"What about me?" Lisa realized that Lenny was really leaving and not just out of Central City. While she had her own life and had even rescued him, she always knew he'd come to her rescue if she needed him. He was her big brother.
"Hunter claims he'll return us to pretty much right when he takes us. You shouldn't miss me." He felt cold. What if their mission failed? Lisa would be by herself. "Look. You went to the Flash before, Cisco, their friends. If you get in real trouble, I think they'd help you. Just be sure it's for a really important reason; you don't want to owe them a favor for nothing."
"Oh, I think I have more pull with them than you. At least with Cisco." She smiled fondly which made Leonard nervous.
He knew that if he made any protest, she'd choose Cisco out of spite. He had to admit, she seemed to have a soft spot for the techie. And the boy did treat her right. He had stood up for her with that whole mess with their dad. Saved her life even. She definitely could do worse. "Sure. The Flash knows why I'm gone. He'll know it's not a trick. Just...be honest with him. You break your word…Well, you know." He decided to stop by S.T.A.R. Labs on the way home to put in a word with Cisco to keep an eye out for Lisa. Finishing dinner, he slid out of the booth. "I need to get back. Make sure we've got what we need for our trip."
Lisa stood as well. Being more demonstrative, she hugged her big brother as tight as she could. "Don't forget about me," she whispered.
"Never, trainwreck. Never." He hugged her back and held on for a few extra seconds. It might be years from his perspective before he saw her again. He pushed her away gently and gave her a real smile. "Take care of you."
"Take care of you," she answered and surreptitiously wiped away a tear. She watched her brother leave and then cursed as she realized he left her to pay the check. She had to laugh. Jerk.
Leonard was amazed as the Waverider uncloaked. This seemed to be the real deal. He half heard Stein ask Mick for help getting his partner out of the car. Leonard followed Palmer and Stein onto the ship alongside Lance. They both ambled along looking at the corridors and chatted.
"I consider myself to be a broad-minded individual, and I'm having a hard time taking this in," said Snart.
Sara replied, "And why are you telling me this?"
"You seem to be the only other person on this boat who isn't a genius or a reincarnated freak show."
"Actually, I was dead for a year."
"Hey, I'm just trying to make conversation,"
"Yeah, I can tell by the way you're staring at my ass."
Snart smirked and watched her walk away. He was still standing there when Mick came up behind him carrying an unconscious Jackson. "Where do we go?"
"Everyone went that way," Snart pointed, "so I guess we go that way too." He followed Mick down the corridor until it opened onto the bridge. Impressive. He wandered around listening to Rip explain briefly what they were looking at. He took a seat next to Mick and pulled down the restraint like those on a roller coaster. As they took off, Mick grabbed his head. "What's wrong?" asked Snart softly.
"Don't know. Just dizzy."
Then the world turned upside down.
As the ship landed, Snart worked hard to focus his eyes. He heard Mick yak next to him. As he turned his head, Snart saw a small robot come out from the wall and begin to clean up the mess. That was good since there was no way Mick would. Leaning back against the chair, he observed Palmer face-planting on the floor and listened to the complaints echoing around him.
Rip Hunter benched three of the team at once from the field trip to see Professor Aldus Boardman. The fourth, Jackson, chose to stay out of spite.
Miffed, Leonard tried to think about what high end item might be in a nearby museum in the 1970's but drew a blank. He didn't want to question the computer and give away his intentions. He drew up one leg against his chest and watched the wind tossing the trees outside. Mick was pacing around and grumbling so Leonard asked, "Gideon, any TV on this ship?" He had to keep Mick in check.
"Yes. Would you like to watch?"
"Sure," he drawled. He watched a screen switch over from technical data and flicked through a variety of shows before Welcome Back, Kotter appeared.
Mick stood watching for a while, confused. He thought that the TV was stuck on reruns and said so. Leonard tuned his partner out since he was used to him being rather slow on the uptake.
Sara turned around and said, "Am I the only one on this ship who could really use a drink? I say we go get weird in the 70's."
Snart spun around and said, "Excellent idea." It would give Mick something to do. A bored Mick was a dangerous Mick. A small sense of responsibility made him insist that Jackson stay on the ship. Who knew what trouble the assassin and two thieves would get into? While they waited for Sara to change clothes, Leonard asked the ship for current currency.
Mick followed his nose and soon found a bar with many bikes parked in front of it. The three entered and Mick went to the bar to order beer. He returned to his two teammates and offered each a beer. Seeing a jukebox, he went to choose something to play by the Captain and Tenille.
"You want to dance Leonard?" Sara teased. She was pretty sure that he would not take her up on it. She was surprised at herself for even wanting to dance. It had been so long that she'd been carefree. Laurel wanted her to become a new person. To live in the light. Well, she'd dance in the spotlight.
"You go right ahead. I'll watch." Snart was intrigued by the assassin. Anyone who had the right combination of smarts, wits, and badassery was intriguing to him. He'd wait to see what kind of person she really was.
A few minutes later he got one answer. Sara took on the biker who accosted her and a few of his friends. She resisted any help until it turned into five against one and then she asked for help. Both men joined in with relish. While Leonard enjoyed the release of nervous energy it gave him, he appreciated that Mick had the chance to let loose without resorting to the Heat Gun. Busted heads but no deaths. Win win.
The three Legends looked around the bar. Shattered tables and chairs and bottles littered the floor. "Ahh, that was fun!" said Mick. He chugged his beer in satisfaction and eyed the young blond who sashayed past and winked at him. He glanced at Snart who shrugged. They had time.
Sara and Snart had just finished their third game of pool when Mick returned. The self-satisfied grin stayed on his face as he watched a new game of pool. Sara smiled as she sank the eight ball. "Two to two. Tie breaker?"
Snart looked at his watch. "We need to head back."
Their trip back to the ship was uneventful. They arrived in the middle of a battle. Mick took out the weird dude in armor by sideswiping him with the car. The three fighters covered the others as they entered the ship.
"Who the hell was that!" growled Mick.
"Our visitor or Boba Fett?" Snart's mind was working furiously. Rip had said that they had to interact with people as little as possible to keep the timeline stable. One mission in and that rule was shattered.
"What do we do now, boss?" asked Mick. He was holding his head again.
"Everyone to the main deck and strap in," said Rip over the intercom.
"We go to the main deck," sneered Snart as he stalked off. Mick's headaches worried him; his partner ad never seemed to have a problem with them before. A side effect?
The two thieves were highly entertained as first Kendra and then Sara punched Rip before they all learned of his deception against them. Snart scanned the others' expressions. Palmer seemed to be the most upset with Stein running a close second. Mick was pissed; he hated being lied to, and he knew Snart had been drawn in by the thought of being a legend. He was, after all, big on big speeches. They could have stayed in Central City robbing something else instead of him dealing with these crushing headaches.
Rip recounted his personal tragedy as a justification for his actions. It made sense, each of them would probably have done the same thing in his place. Most of them took inventory of their lives and knew how important their loved ones were. Mick was still. He shoved memories better left hidden down deep.
Snart filed away all the facts and impressions Rip gave about Savage, his own life, and the restrictions about time jumping when severely wounded people, such as Professor Boardman, were on board. He stood behind Mick ready to grab his arm just in case he still tried to kill Rip. He had no intention of being trapped in a tiny metal ship with these people. Even Mick would be too much in these close quarters.
Snart, Mick, Sara, and Palmer went down to one of the storage bays. They settled on various crates and became engrossed in their own thoughts.
Leonard liked to sprawl rather than sit. His parka on the seat behind him, he used a crate to prop up his feet and toyed with his gun. He needed to recharge it; the stock tingled with a warning that it was running low of juice. He wouldn't even admit to himself how disappointed he was in not being a legend. Since he'd had Barry destroy all records of his existence, he wouldn't even be in some database for future cops to ponder over. What did he want? Did he want to go back to 2016? He could hear Mick searching through boxes behind him and grunt as he found whatever it was he was looking for. The arsonist plunked down and started cleaning his gun. Because of the flames, soot built up quickly in the tubes. Palmer tuned his suit and fiddled with circuits until one misfired and almost hit Mick who shouted with anger. Sara didn't even blink as Palmer started to rant about being insignificant. She stopped him and corrected his impression. Snart smirked. She was like him. She'd absorbed everything that Rip had said and not let emotions cloud her memory.
Sara pointed out, "Rip said in his future we're nobodies. But this mission is about changing the future. If we have the power to change the world, don't you think we have the power to change our fate?"
Anticipating a challenge, Snart added, "For better or for worse." Captain Cold and Heatwave were in, for now.
I hope you liked this opening chapter. Please let me know your thoughts. TBC