After the team had been able to get the last peace of the spear everyone was happy – except Rip. He packed his stuff and left his room. On his way to the small shuttles, of which he wanted to steel one for the greater good, he heard footsteps behind him.
"Where do you think you´re going?" Sara asked and Rip turned around.
"Making a trip" he said with sadness in his eyes.
"Look, I know that I have no place in this team anymore and that is only logical after...what I did" he explained himself.
"What are you talking about? You are the captain of this ship" Sara stated not letting him go away so easily.
"No I am not anymore. You are...and I have to admit that you are a much better captain than I ever was and than I ever could have become. You changed this team for the best, one thing I was never able to do" he said but Sara didn´t reply anything. Instead Ray, Martin and Jax entered from the other side of the gateway laughing about something they had been talking about. They stopped abruptly and looked at the scene before them.
"What is going on here?" Ray asked confused.
"Look, I know that you all want me gone. I see it every time when I look at your faces, every time when I am trying to play a part in this team. You look at me and wonder if it could ever happen again, if I could become this...monster again. And the truth is I don´t know. I don´t have a place here anymore and I can understand that so I am going to leave on my own." Every single face of the men dropped.
"No, you can´t just leave. We just got you back" Ray exclaimed.
"I am totally agreeing with Mr. Palmer here. I am certain that it must be difficult to interact with us again but I am sure that we can figure something out" Dr. Stein added and looked at each face in the round trying to convince them that they´ll find a way.
"I appreciate your concern but we all know that I am not of any profit for this team. Miss Lance is a great captain and Mr. Jackson knows everything I could tell him about the waverider. I am useless for the team. "
"That´s not true, Rip. We can still use a expertise from time to time and it is not always useless to be remembered of the consequences our actions could have, which you have a certain know-how of. Yes, Sara brought the team closer together but you are the time master. You know stuff and you know time better than we ever could." Rip was startled by this sudden statement by Jax. He had been the one who showed it most openly that he does not trust him anymore. Jackson must have noticed the confusion on Rip´s face and explained himself.
"Yes, I know that I behaved a little bit...angry around you but I know that what had happened was not your fault. I have seen what they did to your mind and I am sorry for by behaviour from before." Rip was speechless and even more when Jax added
"Please, don´t leave. We need you."
And he stayed. He hadn´t even been sure where he had wanted to go but he had been sure that he had to leave. But now he was certain that he misinterpreted his teammates´ reaction.
