It was the kind of bar people came to drink and forget their problems. It was dimly lit with music playing in the background so people didn't have to listen to their own thoughts.
Casey Miller, owner of the bar, had taken it over when her father died. Just over five foot with curly blonde hair and green eyes she didn't look like she could handle the type of clientele that frequented the place. But she had grown up here and the regulars were all old friends of her father so she knew how to look after herself.
Casey poured a shot of whiskey for the man standing at the bar in front of her before she placed it behind her making him frown.
"I thought it was customary to serve the drinks you pour," he glared at her, his English accent confirming he was not a native of Central City.
"For customers," she smiled sweetly at him, "But you work for me."
His blue eyes filled with ice, "Not at the moment."
"Okay then, Michael," she countered, "As your friend," holding up his hand to stop him retorting, "Your only friend, I will let you have this once you eat something."
"I don't need anything to eat," he snarled back leaning forward over her.
Casey rolled her eyes, despite the fact she was almost a foot smaller than he was, she wasn't even slightly intimidated, "Seriously man, your clothes are beginning to wear you."
He continued to glare at her sighing when she didn't budge an inch, "Fine."
Casey smiled patting his shoulder, "Pick me up my usual while you're there."
x
Michael Burns, once known as Rip Hunter, left the bar appropriately called 'Anonymous' heading to the Chinese Takeout a few blocks away that he and Casey ate from so often they didn't have to actually order.
The name he'd adopted was deliberate.
Michael was the name he had been raised with, so he answered to it without thought, and not unusual so no one would think twice when hearing it. His surname however had taken some more consideration. He'd originally thought about using Coburn, the surname Miranda had chosen, but knew that it would be a bit obvious to the Legends so he went instead with Burns.
Luckily he had planned ahead for all eventualities when he started the Bureau ensuring there was money he could access that no one knew about if he needed to. He really didn't want to live on the streets again.
Rip had decided that this was the best time period to stay in for the moment. The Bureau wouldn't look for him so close to them. The Jumpship was too big a piece of tech to hide so he'd sent it back, making sure that the moment it reached its destination a virus destroyed all evidence of where it had been. Even then he'd uploaded a great deal of false information within its databanks just in case.
Luck had been on his side for once, Casey had been looking for a bartender after her last one was arrested due to a few outstanding warrants in Star City. The bar also had an extremely small apartment above it but it was fine for his requirements.
Noise behind him made him frown and stop walking.
"Look," Rip stated coldly, "I am not in the mood for this. Either get lost or I will make you truly regret trying to rob me."
A harsh laugh from behind him made Rip sigh. Sensing the prospective thief directly at his back Rip spun, grabbing the other man's wrist twisting so the knife he was holding fell to the ground. Twisting even more the thief screamed when Rip snapped his wrist before punching him in the jaw sending him crashing to the ground into an unconscious heap.
Picking up the knife Rip examined it for a few moments before tucking it into his belt and walking away murmuring, "I told you you'd regret it."
x
Casey smiled when Rip brought the bags of food into the small room behind the bar. She was right; she was his only friend here. He knew letting her this close was stupid because getting close to anyone was a bad idea. Everyone he cared for was taken from him.
But Rip was lonely.
He'd spent years being the only physical being on a time ship but had always had Gideon to talk to, to argue with and tell him when he was being an idiot. She'd been his lifeline when his family had been taken from him and without her...
"As promised," Casey placed the glass of whiskey on the table in front of him.
He frowned at her as he opened his food. Eating Rip let the music Casey had put on wash over him.
He'd been here just under six months and did his best to remain hidden. Though, on a few occasions, he had put himself in position to witness a few incidents that were significant in the timeline of a few of Central City's heroes because he couldn't resist the chance to see them.
He was brought out of his thoughts when a breeze hit him, turning he found Casey standing on the small patio outside lighting a cigarette, her blonde curls blowing in her eyes.
"Thought you were quitting?" Rip asked.
Casey shrugged at him, "You quit drinking and I'll quit smoking. Besides I make sure to smoke out here so I don't 'pollute your lungs'."
Sighing Rip rubbed his hand across his eyes before tossing down the shot of whiskey, "I'm going to go get some sleep. See you tomorrow."
"Michael," she called to him, "I do worry about you."
Rip stared at her for a moment before replying, "I'm fine. I'm not trying to kill myself. I just don't care."
Rip lay in the small bed staring at the ceiling trying to get the energy to move after another sleepless night. Sleep didn't come easy to him; his nightmares were no longer soothed by Gideon entering his dreams. He usually had one full night's rest every few weeks when the exhaustion chased them away. Glancing to the bedside cabinet his eyes focussed on his pocket watch showing the picture of Miranda and Jonas. Next to it sat the blackened cube that should have been Gideon's refuge but was now only a reminder of the fact he'd failed to save her.
He'd failed everyone who was ever important to him. He hadn't been lying when he told Casey he wasn't trying to kill himself because he wasn't. There were days when his losses became too much to bear that he couldn't bring himself to care about anything.
Dragging himself out of bed Rip had a quick shower before dressing and heading downstairs to get the bar ready for opening. About half an hour into his shift Casey appeared, she handed him a roll and sausage smiling amused at his frown.
"You need to eat," she reminded him, "I don't want you to faint while serving drinks."
Rip frowned, "You're almost as bad as Gid..." he stopped sharply at the pain that went with saying her name.
Casey gave him a look that he knew meant she was desperate to ask but their unspoken agreement was that she didn't ask about his past and he didn't ask about hers.
"Just say thank you," Casey rolled her eyes.
"Thank you," Rip replied annoyed but he took a bite of the roll.
x
Working at the bar wasn't that bad.
Rip knew it helped that this was the kind of place people didn't expect conversation, just the alcohol they ordered. It also kept him busy so he didn't obsess on the hideousness that was his life.
And then the worst possible thing happened.
"Do you not know any normal bars, man?" Jax's voice came through the door.
Rip quickly ducked into the back of the bar, catching Casey's arm, "You need to serve them."
"Who?" Casey asked worriedly.
Rip took a quick look to check who was there, "Big mean looking guy, tall cheerful guy, the kid and blonde woman."
"Michael?" she placed a hand on his arm concern in her eyes.
"They cannot know I'm here," Rip stated intently.
She nodded, "Okay. I'll serve them and you head upstairs. I'll let you know when they're gone."
"Thanks, Casey," he murmured, taking a few breaths to remain calm and not just run until he had a reason to.
She squeezed his arm before taking over the bar while he jogged up the stairs. Entering his apartment Rip quickly booted up his tablet and opened up the surveillance he had set up in the bar.
x
"So, we agree," Sara noted as she sat with a beer in her hand, "Next time Mick does not get to choose the bar we go to."
"Agreed," Jax and Ray said while Mick just chuckled.
Jax sighed, "At least we were able to meet up. Though did anyone hear from Nate?"
"He's helping the Star Labs team again," Ray told him, "What about you? I heard you're working for the Time Bureau?"
Jax shrugged, "Because of my experience with the time drive they offered me a job."
"And you took it?" Mick demanded.
"I'm not the only one," Jax said turning to Sara.
"What?" Ray gasped.
Sara shrugged, "Agent Sharpe recommended me to help train recruits. I did not want to go back into retail so I took the job. Besides they're fixing the Waverider for us and it means I can keep up to date on the search for Rip, who apparently was the one who didn't want us working with his precious Bureau."
"Is Rip still missing?" Ray asked with a frown.
Sara nodded, "And they're not happy. Apparently every bit of tech they use he had a hand in creating so he's managed to subvert all their efforts to find him."
"Good riddance," Mick said.
Sara frowned at him, "Who gave him the scotch and told him his room was free?"
Mick shrugged, "Gideon had just died. I didn't want to trip over him being miserable. How was I supposed to know he had tools and a way out in there?"
Rolling her eyes Sara ignored him, "Anyway, the Jumpship reappeared about three months ago with all information completely wiped. There have been a few sightings but they haven't been able to find him."
"I hope he's okay," Ray said softly, he frowned at the looks the others gave, "Come on, he might have..."
"Betrayed us and his new shiny Time Bureau?" Sara suggested with a smirk.
"Gideon was the last part of his family," Ray reminded her, "You saw his face when she...died. He was utterly devastated."
"Rip saw her as a person," Jax reminded Sara, "We both saw that in his mind."
"He was also our friend," Ray stated.
Sara rolled her eyes, "When it suited him."
"You do know you sound a bit like the dumped girlfriend you mocked him as," Jax told her, dodging the swipe she aimed at him.
"Okay," Ray finished his drink, "Can we find a slightly less grimy bar now we've had a drink here?"
Sara chuckled, "Fine. I think there's a sports bar a couple of blocks from here."
x
Rip watched his former colleagues leave the bar, hating how they now thought of him but he'd chosen his path for a reason. He'd been trying to protect them and the entirety of time because he'd accidentally created a bureaucracy. One who couldn't decide the colour of the bloody pen to use for filling in the forms to start the process for his tribunal, never mind deal with a creature like Mallas. It was his own fault for trying to make a place completely different from the Time Masters because it had ended up going too far the other way.
A knock came at the door, "They're gone, Michael."
"Thanks," he opened the door to her quickly saying, "It's a long complicated story."
Casey nodded, "I know the feeling. Can you go back to work?"
"Just give me ten minutes so I'm sure they're completely gone?"
Rolling her eyes Casey headed back downstairs.
Rip rechecked his security feed watching the four people he'd once called his friends walk away. Finally they were far enough away he felt safe to head back down to finish his shift.
x
It took about a full three weeks before Rip felt secure again in his surroundings that he didn't jump at every sound. It made sense Mick knew this bar. It was the kind of place he would have frequented before he joined the team.
He took the small risk of hacking into the Bureau to check on what he'd overheard from Sara and Jax. Rip had created several back doors into the system to allow him access whenever he needed. He knew it was a risk but he had to be sure they had no idea where or when he was. Which was why he made the trip to 2654 before making his incursion, just in case they did manage to track him despite the fact he was almost completely sure only Gideon could have caught him.
It was quiet as he wandered around the shops trying to get everything he needed before he picked up the items Casey wanted. She'd had handed him a list about a mile long when he mentioned on his day off he was going to the mall. Rip was almost certain there was no way he'd run into anyone who knew him but even then he made sure to go as early as possible.
It was getting to the stage he was beginning to think about moving on. The problem that presented was where and when. Without the Waverider it wasn't an easy thing to research.
Grabbing some tea at the closest coffee shop he paused when he spotted Barry Allen and Cisco Ramon walking nearby discussing something as they drank their own coffee.
Rip sipped his tea sadly remembering when he would be watching two of Central City's greatest heroes for a specific reason and not just because he happened to be walking nearby. His musings were interrupted when a little boy ran past him, the mother calling the child back. Seeing the boy turn Rip felt his breath catch in his throat at the blond hair and big blue eyes, so like his own son.
Finishing his tea Rip quickly walked the other way to get away from the memories.
He needed to leave.