AUTHOR'S NOTE: Apologies for the long, long delay in this second chapter. And thanks to Jael for looking this over!
"I must have hit my head harder than I realized," Nate muttered, staring at the man in black before them. Amaya shifted slightly into a defensive stance. Not surprising, since the only version of Leonard Snart she and Nate knew was an enemy.
But Leonard's angry glare was directed at Mick. "Even a two-year-old knows better than to play domination games with raptors!"
He stared at Mick for another moment, his brow furrowing strangely. Then he turned his head, seeming to listen to something none of them could hear. He whirled toward Stein and Jax. "You have wounded?"
"Jefferson isn't waking up," Stein said, still kneeling beside his partner.
A few quick strides and Leonard was kneeling on Jax's other side, wearing an expression of concern Sara had rarely seen on her… on their Leonard. Dropping his helmet, he took Jax's wrist to check his pulse. He closed his eyes in concentration for a moment, then opened them again and gently set Jax's hand back down on his chest.
"We can get him to a healer in Waterfall City, " he told Stein. Then he looked up at the rest of the team. "You people need to stand back."
The pteranodon cawed before taking a low leap to glide down from the hilltop. Sara thought she caught a familiar smirk crossing Leonard's face as the Legends tried to scramble out of the way. One wingtip passed close enough to ruffle Ray's hair before the animal landed with its back toward them. It furled its wings and crouched, its finger claws splayed out on the grass for balance and its spine almost parallel to the ground.
"Help me get him up and strapped onto the saddle," Leonard said, motioning for the team to help lift Jax.
"You're going to… fly him there?" Stein asked uncertainly. "Is it... is it safe?"
Leonard smiled slightly as he stepped easily onto the beast's rear leg and walked up its back, motioning for them to follow. "Freefall's been my partner for thirty years and hasn't dropped me yet."
Mick's face went blank at that declaration.
The saddle was more like a black mat covering the pteranodon's back, wide enough to carry two people. They laid Jax down on one side. Leonard carefully fastened some safety straps across Jax's chest and legs, then turned back to look at the team. His gaze swept quickly over Nate and Amaya, then hesitated a little on Stein and Ray before lingering on Mick and Sara. His brow furrowed again.
Then he shook his head and held his hand out for his helmet. When Stein handed it up to him, Leonard said, "He'll be in good hands."
"Thank you," Stein said quietly. "Jefferson is my partner, and without him…"
That listening expression crossed Leonard's face again, and he nodded. "I know you have questions. The bus to Waterfall City will be here soon. Just tell them you're from Outside, and that Squadron Leader Snart told you to go to the Senate chambers. You'll get your answers there."
He put the helmet on and turned to lay next to Jax, one hand holding the younger man's head steady. "I'll see you in Waterfall City!" he called out as the pteranodon shifted and launched itself into the sky, heading north. It quickly disappeared behind some distant hills.
"Yeah, definitely hit my head harder than I thought," Nate said, staring after them. "Squadron leader?"
Amaya looked over at Mick, who was staring at the ground, stone-faced. "And he said that, that..."
"Pteranodon," Ray supplied helpfully.
"…has been his partner for the past thirty years," Amaya finished. "That wasn't any Leonard Snart any of us have known, as a friend or foe."
"He didn't know us, either," Nate said.
Ray frowned. "I'm not so sure of that. He gave us sort of a funny look, don't you think?"
"Everybody gives you funny looks, Haircut," Mick grunted. "Don't mean nothin'."
"Mick…" Sara sighed. Leonard had looked at them oddly, she had to admit, and it was better than the cold, hate-filled stares he'd leveled at them when he was with the Legion, but…
Stein interrupted her train of thought. "None of this makes any sense."
Sara shrugged helplessly. "Well, if we broke time…"
He shook his head and began to pace. "Even if we have broken time, think about what we have seen already."
He started ticking things off with his fingers. "Feral dinosaurs and tame pterosaurs… in a 2017 Los Angeles… with a mix of completely anachronistic architecture… and Mr. Snart as well?" He stopped and spread his hands with a slight huff. "This… this is like a temporal chop suey."
Nate nodded. "The professor's right. All of history is just one thing leading to another. If one thing doesn't happen, the next can't."
"Time Travel 101," Ray said with a nod.
Nate went on, "The continued existence of the dinosaurs alone should have prevented the evolution of human society beyond the status of… of sheep or cattle."
"You mean food," Mick interjected.
Nate gave him a semi-shrug of consent. "Putting it bluntly, yes."
Mick grunted. "Well, if anyone could think of a way to keep from becoming dino chow, it would be Snart."
Sara pursed her lips in thought for a moment. "Snart said we'd get answers in Waterfall City, wherever that is."
"And it's where he took Jefferson," Stein added.
"So I guess we just have to wait for the bus like he told us," Sara finished. She dropped down to sit cross-legged on the grass. "May as well get comfortable."
Ray followed her example, while Stein continued pacing, his worry for his partner evident on his face. After a moment, Mick also settled on the grass. "Could sure use a mai tai right now. Or a beer," he said, lying back and putting his arms behind his head before closing his eyes.
Amaya wrinkled her brow and turned toward the hillside. Nate drew closer to her.
"Something wrong?" he asked.
She put a hand up to quiet him. "Listen."
Stein stopped pacing, and Mick opened one eye. "I don't hear nothin'," Mick said after a moment.
"Anything," Stein corrected.
Irritated, Sara shushed them. Then the ground shuddered. "Earthquake?" she asked, scrambling back to her feet. Mick and Ray followed suit as the ground shook again.
"I don't think so," Amaya replied, starting up the hillside. Nate followed her.
Now they could all hear a series of thumping noises, coming from the other side of the hill, in time with the shaking. Definitely not an earthquake.
"Uh, guys, you sure you want to go that way?" Ray called as Amaya and Nate reached the top.
The couple stood there for a moment. Then Amaya turned back toward them with a big smile. "Our ride is here!"
"You're not gonna believe it!" Nate added with a laugh.
Sara's eyes widened and her jaw dropped as a… head… appeared at the top of the hill, followed by a long, sinuous neck and a massive body, all covered with shining plates of armor and carried by four powerful legs. The ground shook with every step of the creature's massive feet as it crested the hill and made its way down, halting in front of them.
"Is… is that a…" Stein stammered in disbelief.
"Brachiosaurus!" Ray exclaimed, his own eyes wide and practically glowing with delight. "My favorite herbivorous dinosaur!"
"So that's the bus?" Mick asked, a rare expression of surprise on his face.
Apparently it was. The dinosaur had a huge carrier on its back. A man poked his head out of it, looking down at them curiously. "Going to Waterfall City?" he called down.
"Yeah," Sara called back. "Uh, Squadron Leader Snart told us to go to the Senate chambers."
"He said to tell you we're from Outside," Nate added.
"Oh, really? Been a long time since anyone's come in from Outside!" A rope ladder rolled down from the carrier to the ground. "Welcome aboard!"
The kid was still unconscious when Freefall glided out of the mist of the Great Falls, landing on the roof of the Healer Hall. A team was already waiting there for them with a stretcher.
So was the chief deputy to the Speaker of the Senate, wearing a grim expression as he announced, "The skybax riders told the Senate what happened. Druce is not happy with either of you right now."
Freefall whuffed at that, and his mental voice sounded amused rather than troubled. ::Knew that was coming.::
Leonard patted his partner's neck before dismounting to make way for the healers, ignoring the frowning man for now. "Head injury," he told the lead healer while Freefall crouched to let the stretcher team up. "Kid's name is Jefferson."
The stenonychosaurus nodded and hissed to the two human healer trainees who were carefully unstrapping Jefferson from the saddle.
"Snart! Did you hear what I said? Druce…"
"Oh, I heard you, Raymond," Leonard answered airily. "I just don't care."
::Go easy, now. He's just the messenger,:: Freefall soothed ::He's still your friend.::
Ronnie Raymond let out a sigh of frustration. "Look, Leonard, I get it. I do. You don't trust that the Cahuenga Nest will keep to the treaty. But Druce is worried that you're just as likely as they are to break it. Having your squadron patrol the Empty City's north border is one thing, but crossing it and going into the interior—"
Sharply, Leonard replied, "The interior's supposed to be off-limits to them, too, Ronald, but there they were! At least half a dozen tyrannosaurs and raptors, all hoping for a free lunch. Maybe more; I wasn't keeping score."
He felt a bit of satisfaction in seeing Ronnie's eyes go wide in surprise before he went on, "If we hadn't gone in when we did, this kid and his friends—"
"Friends?" Ronnie interrupted. "There were others?"
Leonard nodded as he watched the healers trot off with their patient. "Two women, four men," he said, moving to unhook the saddle strap around Freefall's neck. "They're Outsiders, Ronnie. They had some kind of a flying ship that dropped out of the sky."
Ronnie blinked. "Like the…"
"Yeah, like that," Leonard replied, pulling the saddle off and dropping back to the rooftop while Freefall straightened up from his crouch and shook out his wings a little before turning to settle on all fours.
"But they weren't…" Ronnie made a whirling motion next to his ear.
Leonard smirked. "Well, one of them had the bright idea of challenging a velociraptor. But otherwise…"
He paused, recalling the strange sense of familiarity he'd felt at seeing these strangers. Then he shrugged it off. "Otherwise they seemed sane. Not like the other one. Any change there?"
Ronnie shook his head. "No. Still in isolation. So what about these others? Where are they now?"
"The bus was only a few minutes away from where we left them. I told them to take it here and then ask for the Senate chambers."
Ronnie glanced over at the TimeKeeper Helix on the roof of the Senate building. "Well, if Burly stays on schedule they'll be here within the hour. That'll give Druce time to digest your report first."
Leonard grunted in resigned irritation, then smiled a little when Freefall nudged his shoulder gently. ::Duty calls. And the lake trout are calling me.:: A small rumble punctuated his words.
Leonard chuckled. "You've earned it, partner. Meet me at the Senate chambers afterwards, all right?"
::I will.::
Leonard stepped back, Ronnie following his example as Freefall gathered himself to take off, drawing his wings back and tensing his legs before pushing off and flapping strongly. As he disappeared back into the mist, he sent back one thought.
::Before you see Druce, you should tell Ronnie what's troubling you about these Outsiders.::
Leonard shook his head with another chuckle. Of course Freefall had caught that.
"He was getting in the last word again?" Ronnie asked with a smile. "What is it this time?"
Leonard slung the saddle over his shoulder. "These Outsiders… there's something strange about them."
"To hear Druce tell it, Outsiders are always strange. They're from Outside, after all." Ronnie dropped his voice in imitation of the Speaker. "They bring strange ideas with them."
"Yeah, like how to defend ourselves from the Cahuenga Nest," Leonard replied bitterly.
Ronnie held his hands up. "I'm not saying I agree with him! You know I liked those pilots who trained you." He jerked his head toward the door into the Hall, a tacit reminder that they had somewhere to be. "So what's so strange about this bunch?" he asked as they started walking.
"Not sure how to explain it," Leonard said with a shrug. "It's going to sound weird."
Ronnie stopped and laughed at that. "Weird? Leonard, while the rest of your cadet class matched with skybaxes like normal, you went and bonded with a pteranodon. An albino one at that! I'm used to 'weird' with you."
"All right, all right," Leonard conceded. But he still paused for a moment before saying, "I'm not sure how to explain it, but… they felt… familiar."
"Familiar as in they reminded you of someone? Maybe those pilots?"
Leonard considered that, then said, "No. Familiar as in… I've seen them before." He shook his head. "Maybe… I don't know. Maybe in dreams."
Ronnie looked thoughtful. "Hmmm. Well, you'll have plenty of time to figure it out once they get here, my friend. Once they're here, they're not going anywhere."
