So apparently Got a Secret, Can You Keep It? was enjoyed enough on AO3 that a sequel seemed to be in order. So I decided to finally go and type it up tonight while watching the pilot of Krypton.
Hopefully you enjoy this sequel!
"Hey!"
Ray jumped as he looked up from the modifications he was making to his arm blaster of the Atom suit. Zari was entering the lab, tablet in hand. As soon as she was inside, she swiped her finger across the tablet a few times. All the exits in the room sealed off suddenly as Zari walked over and plopped down in a seat across from him.
"We need to talk," she announced.
"Sure," Ray smiled up at her. "What about?"
Zari set the tablet down. "Why there's no footage of you talking with Kuasa when you went to bring her food."
Ray gulped. Ever since his conversation with Amaya's granddaughter had also uncovered that she was Mick's granddaughter too, he had asked Gideon to erase any footage to prevent anyone on the team from accessing it. It had been a week since it happened and he had avoided Mick and Amaya for most of it. The less he was around them, the less likely he was to give into temptation and tell either of them that Mick was Kuasa's grandfather. If they didn't know, then Mari's history and timeline would remain intact.
He also hadn't gone to see Kuasa since she had told him about her grandparents. However, the last thing she'd said to him as he'd left the room had been haunting him. She had told him that the destruction of her village and the deaths of the residents there were on him as well since he didn't want to tell Mick or Amaya about the newest development. Her words had been repeating over and over in his head, tormenting him for the whole week. Was he right to preserve the timeline, or should he try to change one event in history, possibly changing so much more, so that Mick and Amaya's descendants would be okay?
"What's wrong about missing footage?" he shrugged, looking down at the blaster and picking up a screwdriver. "It's not like anything could have happened then."
"Yeah, I'd have thought that too," Zari nodded. "Except ever since you visited Kuasa, you haven't volunteered to go bring anything to her again. Plus, you've been acting really weird around Amaya and Mick."
"I'm always weird," he told her a little too quickly. "Nothing wrong with being weird. We're Legends. We're all weird. If we weren't so unique, things would get boring."
"You're right," Zari reached over and pulled the blaster away from him. "But you're acting much weirder. Something's going on with you."
"Nothing is wrong, Zee," Ray protested.
Zari's stare turned softer. "Ray, something's bothering you. I can see it. Whatever it is, it's eating away at you every day. You can tell me what it is. I could help you deal with it."
Ray frowned. He twisted the screwdriver in his hands, debating whether or not to tell her. It would be nice to have someone to share the secret with, but he didn't want to burden her with knowing the futures of two teammates.
"Are you sure you want to hear this?" Ray asked her. "Because once I tell you, there's no coming back from it."
"I come from a dystopian future where Argus is the dominant force and metahumans are persecuted," Zari replied casually. "Whatever it is, I can handle it."
Ray exhaled slowly. "It's about who Kuasa's grandparents are."
"What about them?"
"When I went to Kuasa, she told me she had been expecting to see her grandfather instead of me," he told her. "According to her, her grandmother wasn't the only person who knew the fate on Zambezi. Her grandfather did too, and apparently Amaya met him through time travel."
"Oh," Zari straightened up in realization. "Wait, are you saying Nate's Kuasa's grandfather?"
"That's what I thought too," Ray nodded. "But she told me that I was wrong. It's not Nate who's her grandfather."
"So who is it then?" Zari asked. "Or have we not even met him yet?"
"You've met him. It's Mick."
Zari's eyes widened. "Mick's Kuasa's grandfather?"
"And Mari's as well," Ray nodded.
"Why does she want to see him though?" Zari murmured. "Does she plan to tell him that he's her grandpa?"
"Yeah. She also wants to make a plea for him to try and change the future for her and her mother so their family doesn't get broke apart when the village gets attacked."
"But if that happens, then the timeline gets messed up," Zari said. "Everything changes for them, but it could also change so much more in the world."
"I know," Ray sighed. "You can't know too much about your own future, and Amaya already does. If Mick finds out, then the two of them might change it together."
"Does this mean that at some point Amaya and Mick are going to get together?" Zari realized. "I mean, she's with Nate right now, but how long will that last for? Between now and whenever Amaya leaves with Mick, who knows what's going to happen that could cement what they'll do about their futures?"
"I don't know," Ray said. "All I know right now is that Mick and Amaya are endgame, and Nate's going to get his heartbroken."
"He'll get over it," Zari shrugged. "If he doesn't, then that's on him."
Ray nodded. "We just have to see how things play out in history."
"Yep," Zari agreed. "Feel better getting this off your chest now?"
"A little. Thanks."
"No problem," Zari stood up and used her tablet to open the doors. "See you later."
"See ya," Ray muttered before remembering something. "Zari, wait!"
She turned around, eyebrows raised.
"This kind of goes without saying," he said. "But whatever you do, you can't tell Mick or Amaya about his."
"I know."
"Especially Mick. It's his future, after all."
"I won't say a word, Ray," she promised. "But you have to keep quiet too."
"Hey, I've done pretty good on my own so far."
Zari smirked. "Yeah, but you might want to try and get better at lying. You offer too many excuses."
With that, she walked out of the lab.
Mick was heading towards the bridge when the lab doors opened. It seemed strange that they had been shut. Ray always kept them open so people could come in and talk to him. Haircut was too friendly for his own good sometimes.
"This kind of goes without saying. But whatever you do, you can't tell Mick or Amaya about this."
Mick froze as he heard Ray tell someone that.
"I know," Zari's voice replied.
"Especially Mick," Ray continued. "It's his future after all."
"I won't say a word, Ray. But you have to keep quiet too."
Mick backed away while Ray claimed that he had been able to do fine and Zari told him he was a bad liar. For some reason, they both knew something about his future that he wasn't supposed to, and that it involved Amaya in some way. Whatever it was, he doubted it was good by the tones of their voice. Besides, why should someone like him wind up with a happy ending?
Maybe it was something Kuasa had said to him. Ever since he'd brought her dinner, he'd been acting weirder. When he'd mentioned it to Amaya, she told him that she'd noticed the same thing. Perhaps the next course of action was to confront Ray head-on to find out what was bothering him. If that didn't work, then he would go to Kuasa herself and demand to know what she'd told Ray that spooked him.
Whatever was going on, Mick was going to get to the bottom of it.
Could there be a part 3? If you readers really want it, then it can happen.
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