Oliver didn't think of himself as a particularly lucky guy, at least not in the years since he'd become The Arrow. He'd lost his mother and his best friend; and his sister was currently running around the world with a former member of the League of Assassins. He'd been poisoned or drugged (more than once), shot (far more than once), and stabbed through his gut with a sword before being thrown off the top of a mountain. These things didn't happen to lucky people.

On the other hand, he'd also met Felicity, which did a lot to tip the scales in the other direction. That a smart, capable and determined young woman was willing to join him in his heart and in his fight was nothing short of amazing. And the fact that she'd gone so far as to marry him (eventually) was a little like winning the lottery and the Super Bowl on the same day. It proved he was capable of luck, even if he couldn't rely on it.

So his heart gave a little leap when it appeared their plan to see Agent Christopher might be one of those rare times that luck was with him. Because just as he and Barry arrived at the agent's house in Palo Alto, a car pulled into the driveway and a petite, dark-haired woman emerged from it; no following or waiting required. Oliver recognized her immediately as Denise Christopher from the photos Curtis had shown him. She certainly looked like an agent. She was dressed in charcoal slacks with a black jacket and very sensible shoes, and she was wearing the same no-nonsense expression he had seen in her pictures. Oliver and Barry paused across the street to consider their next move.

As they watched, the front door of the house opened and two children came charging out into the early evening to greet her, before she could take more than a couple of steps. The children, a boy and a girl, bounced around her excitedly and Denise Christopher's serious face became a smiling one, making her look like a different person. She hugged each of the kids in turn and began to walk slowly toward the house, with the youngsters circling her like happy puppies. Oliver felt a brief moment of envy. His own son hadn't come to live with him until William was nearly a teenager, and then it had been under difficult circumstances. Oliver had missed the stage when a simple thing like a parent returning from work was met with unfettered enthusiasm.

Seeing her with her family helped him decide what to do next.

"Can you wait here?" he asked Barry. "I'm going to go talk to her and it'll be less intimidating if she's approached by one stranger rather than two."

Barry glanced at the duffle bag containing The Arrow suit that Oliver had brought. "You're going to approach her as Oliver Queen," he stated, as if clarifying that fact for himself.

Oliver nodded. "I think persuasion will be the best tactic in this situation. She'll certainly see a masked guy with a bow and arrow as a threat, especially if he's approaching her when her children are there. Better just to go as myself."

Barry thought about it. "Makes sense," he agreed. "Good luck, Oliver."

Oliver nodded again. Good luck, indeed. Maybe it will continue to hold. He crossed the street and walked to the mouth of the driveway, doing his best to make himself look as non-threatening as a well-built man over six feet tall can look. Barry stepped back into the shadows, supporting the illusion that Oliver was alone. "Agent Christopher?" Oliver called out, before she could go inside.

She turned and he saw her instinctively reach under her jacket; a habit cemented, he guessed, by years of working for Homeland Security. She assessed him quickly and didn't pull out a gun, but he had no doubt that she had one holstered at her side or behind her back.

She gestured toward the door. "Go in," she said to the children. "I'll be there in a second." Her voice was calm but firm.

The kids were well behaved. They promptly ran through the door and Oliver could see the vague shape of another woman in the hallway pulling them toward her. Then Agent Christopher turned to him and frowned. "Can I help you?"

It wasn't an offer of assistance. The tone of her voice clearly said, why are you bothering me at my home? He didn't blame her. A strange man knew her name and was approaching her in a place reserved for family. It was unusual and uncomfortable, and he didn't think she would give him a lot of time.

He stayed in the driveway, allowing her distance. "Yes," he said quickly. "You can help me. My wife's gone missing and I think you can help me get her back."

That took her by surprise. For a brief second her eyebrows lifted, and then the frown returned. "Missing Persons is a police matter, sir. Have you called the police?"

Oliver gave a minute shake of his head. "I don't think the police can do anything," he said matter-of-factly.

She gave him a hard stare. "Because?"

"Because I'm pretty sure my wife's gone missing in 1884."

Her eyes widened. It was a risk, he realized, blurting it out like that. After all, being spotted with Connor Mason didn't mean Agent Christopher was aware of everything the scientist had ever worked on. If she didn't know about Mason's time machine, she could quickly decide that Oliver was a nut. For that matter, Oliver didn't know for certain that Mason had a time machine either; it was all just speculation from the geek community.

Still, he thought he saw a flicker of recognition cross her face.

"Your wife's gone missing in 1884," she repeated flatly.

"Yes."

She kept one hand poised near the opening of her jacket, within easy reach of her gun. "What's your name?"

He didn't hesitate. "Oliver Queen. My wife's name is Felicity Smoak. We live up north, in Star City."

She continued to stare and he could almost see her thinking; Oliver Queen - where have I heard that name before? Then she nodded. "You're the man who was rescued after being shipwrecked on a deserted island for five years."

"Yes."

She pursed her lips. "That must have been one hell of a horrible experience – not something you get over easily. Are you on any kind of medication?"

So, she was going to go the route of questioning his sanity. He wasn't surprised; it was an easy way to get rid of him. If he hadn't seen that flicker of recognition earlier, he might have concluded that she knew nothing about Mason's time machine. But he had seen it and he was pretty sure she could help. He decided he wasn't going anywhere.

He held up one hand. "Please don't act as if I'm crazy. I'm not on drugs, I'm perfectly rational, and I don't have a lot of time. I came to you because I'm trying to find Connor Mason and you're one of the few people who have been seen with him recently. If you tell me where he is, I'll be on my way and out of your hair."

"Connor Mason of Mason Industries? Why would you want to find him?" She wasn't conceding a thing.

He grimaced impatiently. "Fine. I'll spell it out, even though I'm pretty damn sure you know what I'm talking about. There's a strong rumor in the tech community that Mason has a highly classified program to develop a ship for time travel. I'd like to find out if that's true. If it is, then I want him to take me to 1884 so I can get my wife back. I promise you," he added, "that I'm not going to hurt him."

She gave him a carefully-crafted, blank look and said nothing. He clenched his teeth.

"Look," he continued. "Suppose it was your family – one of your children. Wouldn't you try anything to get them back? My wife is everything to me. I just want to ask Mason if he can help. If he can't, then I'm gone."

Her expression softened a little. "What makes you think your wife is in 1884? Why not 1880 or 1901?"

He hesitated. Knowing the precise year of his wife's whereabouts was harder to explain than hearing rumors of Mason's time machine. With Barry speeding him down from Star City, he hadn't had time to prepare an answer for that one. "I heard it from The Flash," he finally said, careful not to glance across the street where Barry was half-hidden in the shadows. It seemed his best bet. It was true, for starters. And the entire country knew of The Flash and the unearthly things the guy could do. If anyone would know with precision when a woman had gotten lost it time, it would be a man with superpowers.

"The Flash?" Agent Christopher's voice was cautious. "Why would The Flash have anything to do with your wife?"

Oliver took a deep breath, but before he could launch into another explanation there was a rush of air and Barry was standing next to him – fully suited up as The Flash.

Agent Christopher's jaw dropped.

Oliver breathed out. God bless Barry Allen. By speeding onto the driveway, Barry was giving Oliver the credibility he'd been lacking up to this point and would, hopefully, save him from the need for another sketchy explanation.

Oliver crossed his arms and looked expectantly at the agent.

She stared at Barry. "You are The Flash," she stated, as if there were a dozen other people who claimed to be the speedster.

Barry nodded. "I am."

"And you two know each other." She gestured between Oliver and Barry.

Barry nodded again. "We do. And what Mr. Queen tells you is true. One of the side effects of being able to move as fast as I do is that I sometimes travel in time. And I'm quite certain that his wife is in New York City - 1884."

"Because you've seen her there?"

"Yes."

Agent Christopher frowned. "Then why don't you just go back to 1884 and bring her home yourself?"

Oliver had to give the agent credit. She'd been confronted by a strange man in her yard, a story of time travel, and now The Flash; and she was still thinking on her feet.

Barry met Oliver's eyes briefly before turning back to Agent Christopher. "I tried – several times," he said sadly, "and I can't reproduce the events that got me to 1884. We need something that can travel to a precise time and location. We need a time machine."

Denise Christopher gave him a long stare. There was a moment of silence, interrupted only by the hum of insects, during which she seemed to be considering all that she had heard. Finally, she nodded.

"Okay," she said, "I'll take you to Mason. But beyond that, I can't make any promises."

Oliver nodded. "At least it's a start."

And maybe his luck would continue to hold.


Felicity could feel Wyatt's eyes boring into her and was beginning to be sorry she'd said anything about the photo. It had finally seemed like they were getting along and now she'd gone and upset the time travelers again. It was just that the resemblance was so uncanny she hadn't been able to help herself.

"You know that woman?" Wyatt demanded, pointing at Lucy's locket.

Lucy, seated next to her on the bed, reached out and rested her hand lightly on Felicity's wrist.

Felicity pursed her lips. "I'm not sure I know that specific woman," she replied carefully, "but I know someone who looks an awful lot like her."

"Who?" Lucy asked, in a gentler tone than Wyatt.

"My mother-in-law," Felicity replied. Then she amended, "Well, she isn't actually my mother-in-law because she's dead and I married her son after she died." She frowned thoughtfully. "In fact, she was gone before Oliver and I even started dating; which is probably a good thing because she never liked me very much and she'd be angry to find out that we became a couple, and furious when we eventually got married." She paused to inhale. "But if she were still alive, then she'd be my mother-in-law."

Wyatt gave a small shake of his head and raised one eyebrow at Rufus. "I thought you said she was some kind of brilliant scientist," he said, pointing at Felicity.

Rufus smiled. "She is."

"Well she seems to be easily confused by the concept of a mother-in-law."

Felicity forgot to be worried and glowered at Wyatt, just as Lucy gave Wyatt an annoyed look of her own. The soldier shrugged unapologetically.

"What was your mother-in-law's name?" Lucy asked Felicity.

"Moira Queen. Well, Moira Dearden, before she was married."

"And she looked like this." Lucy tapped the photo in the locket with her index finger.

Felicity nodded. "Almost exactly. The hair might be a shade lighter and there might be a mole missing, but it's pretty damn close. Close enough to be sisters, if not twins."

The three time travelers looked at one another. "Did your mother have a sister, by any chance?" Wyatt asked Lucy. "Any aunts you didn't tell us about?"

Lucy raised her hands helplessly. "Not that I'm aware of. But then we know there are a lot of things my mother didn't tell me." She turned to Felicity. "My mother's name was Preston – Carol Preston. Did…Moira," she stumbled over the name, "ever mention the Prestons – as friends or as family?"

Felicity shook her head, and then followed the gesture with a helpless shrug of her own. "No. But I'm not someone Moira would have confided in. To her, I was a worker-bee at her son's company. The only time she noticed me was when she thought I was influencing him against her."

"What about your husband?" Rufus asked her. "Did he ever mention cousins or other relatives named Preston?"

Felicity shook her head again. "No. The only relative Oliver ever talks about, besides his mother and father, is his sister. And I've met her."

The room was silent for a few beats. Suddenly, Wyatt took a step closer to Felicity. "Hang on," he said. "You mentioned your mother-in-law's married name is Queen?"

"Yes."

"So, that means your husband is Oliver Queen – the guy who went missing for five years when his yacht sank?"

Felicity nodded and wasn't surprised when Lucy and Rufus didn't ask Wyatt what he meant. She'd learned long ago that Oliver's miraculous rescue had been national news, not confined only to Star City.

"Is that important?" Rufus interjected.

"It might be. Think about it," Wyatt said impatiently. "A guy drops off the face of the earth for five years and then suddenly reappears? It's got time travel written all over it."

Felicity shook her head gently. "I may not be an expert on everything that happened to my husband before he met me, but he's told me enough about those five years for me to be certain he wasn't time traveling. He spent most of them stuck on an island." She elected to omit the word deserted since she knew Lian Yu had been anything but.

Wyatt frowned at her. "You're sure?" he asked.

"I'm sure."

"Damn. I thought we'd found a clue." The soldier rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Do you think there could be some kind of alternate timeline where Lucy's mom had a sister?" he asked the room in general. "That might explain it."

Rufus scratched the back of his neck as he considered the suggestion. He shook his head. "It's doubtful. If it is an alternate timeline, then it would be the same as the situation with Lucy's sister, where no one knows of her existence. It takes extraordinary circumstances – like time travel with a physical reminder – for a person to be aware of an alternate timeline. A simpler and better explanation would be that Moira and Carol are sisters who were separated when they were very young. Each grew up not knowing the other exists. Or it could just be one, big coincidence. They say everyone has a twin somewhere."

Wyatt frowned. "Maybe. But I'm not big on coincidences and I'd like to figure it out. It seems odd for Felicity to travel back in time, meet up with us, and then know someone who's a doppelganger for Lucy's mom."

A thought struck Felicity.

"You know," she suggested helpfully, "the best way to get to the bottom of this would probably be to talk to my husband. He's got all the history on his mother. I know very little about her. You could take me to him right now and we could see what he has to say."

Wyatt looked at her and smiled. "Nice try," he said, "and no way. We're going to check on Tesla in the morning, just as we planned. Then we'll take you to your husband and see what he has to say."

Felicity sighed. "It was worth a shot."


When Oliver saw where Connor Mason was staying, he couldn't help but feel some kinship with the man. Because Mason resided in a bunker; a concrete, half-underground bunker that dated back to the 1950's and looked as if it was built to withstand a heavy bombing. It reminded Oliver of the abandoned steel foundry he'd used as a hideout when he'd first become The Arrow. Mason's bunker had thick grey walls with no windows, and it felt dark, weighty and a little dirty.

The place would have been nearly impossible to find if Agent Christopher hadn't taken them there. There wasn't a road leading to the bunker; just two dirt tire tracks that meandered discouragingly through a couple of fields before dead-ending in front of a concrete slab. It was so far off the main drag that Oliver figured even high school kids would be dissuaded from using it as a place to sneak off and party. The remote location made him think there was a decent chance that the rumors about Mason's highly classified time travel project could be true.

Normally, he would have found that encouraging; now, however, he could only think that getting to the middle of nowhere had eaten up precious time. Agent Christopher had rejected Barry and Oliver's suggestion that The Flash speed them to Mason's hideout, saying that she wasn't a kid anymore and had a family to think of. Instead, the three of them had piled into her car (Barry still as The Flash) and she had driven back into the night. It had taken close to an hour for her to get them to the bunker: An hour during which history had the chance to erase Oliver's wife from existence; an hour where he stared desperately at the photo of Felicity on his phone, willing her face to remain on the screen and in his memory.

Mason was waiting alone in the entryway to the bunker when they arrived. Agent Christopher had called him from the car to let them know they were coming. She'd been short on details, either because she didn't trust the security of the phone or because she honestly didn't know how to explain the situation. She'd simply told Mason that there were two men who needed his help with a scientific problem and that she believed they could be trusted to maintain secrecy.

Mason's eyes grew large when he saw that one of those men was The Flash. He gave Agent Christopher a questioning look.

In response, she nodded back at him. "Connor, I'm sure you recognize The Flash. He gave me a demonstration of his speed back at my place, so his identity is confirmed. And this," she gestured at Oliver, "is Oliver Queen."

Mason reluctantly turned his gaze from Barry to Oliver and frowned. "Oliver Queen?" he repeated. "Of Queen Consolidated?"

Oliver shrugged. "It feels like a long time since I was CEO there, but yes."

Mason's frown turned into a scowl. "I thought you said these men could be trusted," he said to Agent Christopher. "I have no problem with The Flash. But Oliver Queen," he scoffed, pointing at Oliver, "is a party boy who is so uneducated he nearly ran his family's tech company into the ground. Fortunately, it was rescued by Ray Palmer – a real inventor." He waved one hand dismissively. "I can't imagine how Queen could have a scientific problem. The man can't even spell science."

It had been a while since Oliver had been dismissed out of hand and he was surprised to find that it stung a little. Even with repeated accusations that he was The Green Arrow (or maybe because of them), the people in the Star City's mayor's office addressed him with a certain level of respect. No one brought up his youthful, tabloid-grabbing indiscretions anymore and he'd become accustomed to being taken seriously. He found himself irritated with Mason, although not irritated enough to waste time defending himself.

He recalled what Curtis had told him about Mason wanting to hire Felicity. "It's true I'm not a scientist," he said mildly, "but I'm married to one and she's the person who really needs your help. I think you might know her – Felicity Smoak?"

That caught Mason off guard. He widened his eyes once again. "You're married to Felicity Smoak?" he stammered. "Felicity Smoak, who graduated with honors from MIT? She didn't just go and work for Queen Consolidated; she actually married you?"

Oliver nodded. "Yes," he said simply. "And right now she's in a lot of danger."

Mason gave a disgusted snort, but listened as Oliver repeated his story. As quickly as he could, Oliver told of Felicity's unintended trip to 1884 and The Flash's unsuccessful efforts to bring her back.

When Oliver finished, Agent Christopher added, "For what it's worth, Connor, I believe him. I make my living figuring out when people are lying, and I think he's telling the truth. Plus, The Flash corroborates his account."

Mason gave her a doubtful look but didn't disagree. It was clear that whatever he might think of Oliver, he had respect for the agent. He turned to Barry. "Why don't you tell me what happened," he suggested. "After all, you were there for most of it."

Barry didn't hesitate. "Sure," he replied. "Maybe you can make more sense of events than I can. I was carrying Felicity," he began, "from Central City to Star City. I was running fast, but slower than light speed. A tunnel appeared out of nowhere and it felt like we were being driven down it." He went on to recite the circumstances that led up to Felicity remaining in old New York as well as his efforts to bring her back.

Mason listened to Barry's report from start to finish and then requested that Barry repeat specific parts of it again, asking very detailed questions. He wanted to know precisely when the tunnel appeared and what it looked like, as well as how long Barry felt they were in it. The questions were not idle curiosity. It was clear Mason was trying to figure out how Felicity had been transported to the past.

Watching Mason, Oliver was reminded a little of his stepfather, Walter Steele. Like Walter, Mason was intelligent and deliberate, and he spoke with a highly educated British accent that gave him an air of authority. With the initial shock over, he was acting as though meeting The Flash was something that happened every day – no gawking or stumbling over words as he questioned him. Oliver hoped Mason's interest meant that he would be willing to help.

"Do you bend space-time when you run," Mason asked Barry, "or is it simply the effect of you moving so quickly that allows you to travel in time?"

Barry frowned. "It's complicated," he replied. "There's this thing called the Speed Force that I can access which allows me to time travel." He caught a glimpse of Oliver's anxious face and cut his explanation short. "The bottom line," he said tersely, "is that it all comes down to speed. I need to run faster than the speed of light in order to move back in time and I wasn't running that fast with Felicity. It makes me think I couldn't have caused a wormhole – if that's what the tunnel even was."

Mason nodded and fell silent. He appeared to be analyzing the information Barry had given him, and for a moment, the other three people just watched him.

Then Agent Christopher cleared her throat. "Do you think we can help Mr. Queen can get his wife back from 1884, Connor? Even if we don't know what caused her to travel in time, is there any reason we can't send the Lifeboat there to bring her home?"

The Lifeboat. So there really was a time machine, which meant there was hope for getting Felicity back. Oliver's heart beat a little faster.

Mason turned from Barry and met Agent Christopher's eyes. "We might," he said slowly, "if it were here."

Denise Christopher's eyebrows went up. "You mean, it's not? Exactly where is it?"

Mason gazed at her warily. "New York. June 6, 1884."

There was a stunned silence. Something in Oliver snapped. "What?" he nearly shouted at Mason. "You knew all along that your time ship was in 1884, the same year as Felicity, and you made Ba-The Flash and I take the time to describe what happened to her - twice?" In his anger, he had almost said, Barry.

Mason shook his head. "There's no evidence that the two events are related." When Oliver took a step closer to him, he raised one hand defensively and added, "I understand it sounds strange, your wife and the Lifeboat going to the same year. I think it's strange too, that's why I was asking The Flash all those questions – to figure out if there's some physical explanation for it. But I can't think of one."

Oliver ground his teeth. "I'm with Agent Christopher. What does it matter if we know the physical reason for Felicity being in 1884? Just get the damn Lifeboat back here and then let's go for her!"

Another silence, as Mason and Agent Christopher looked at one another uneasily. This time, it was Agent Christopher who shook her head. "Unfortunately, Oliver, it's not that simple," she said sadly. "To begin with, we have no way to contact the Lifeboat when it's more than a hundred years in the past. And second, when they do come back, we can't send them to a place and time where they've already been."

"Why the hell not?" Oliver spat out. His heart was pounding, but from fury now instead of hope. To get this close and then be denied the means to get Felicity back was unbearable.

"You can't risk meeting yourself," Mason explained carefully. "It would create an anomaly in space-time. I'm sure you understand that," he added to Barry.

Barry stared at Mason and then nodded. "I do," he said slowly, "but, on the other hand, there's no reason you couldn't send the ship back to the same place just a few hours later." When Oliver turned to him he continued, "Say the Lifeboat leaves June 6, 1884 at midnight, Oliver. I don't see why it couldn't go back to June 7, 1884 at three am – or even one am, for that matter. There's no risk of the crew meeting itself then."

Mason frowned at Barry but didn't disagree. Oliver felt his fury lessen – very slightly. He glanced at Felicity's picture, thankfully still on his phone, and tried to transmit his intentions through time. Just hang on a little longer, Felicity. I'm coming.

"Why did you send the Lifeboat to 1884?" Agent Christopher asked Mason. "It's not like any of you to take on a new mission without me here; or at the very least, letting me know about it." She sounded disapproving.

Mason looked at her apologetically. "Shortly after you left today, Jiya thought she saw the Mothership go to New York City, 1884."

Who's Jiya? Oliver thought.

Agent Christopher raised one eyebrow. "She thought she saw it go to 1884?"

Mason nodded. "Yes. So the gang got into the Lifeboat and went after them. I would have phoned you, but Jiya saw the Mothership return to present day within a matter of minutes. It happened so fast she's not certain it ever really landed in 1884."

"And the Lifeboat?" Agent Christopher asked.

Mason's brow furrowed. "The Lifeboat hasn't come back."

He no longer sounded completely self-assured. He sounded worried.

Agent Christopher stared at him. "Does Jiya know why?"

Mason sighed. "Why don't we go back and you can ask her yourself?"


The bunker's similarities to the foundry didn't end with concrete walls and a dank atmosphere. As Mason led them out of the entry and deeper into the facility, Oliver discovered the place also housed a computing area that looked a lot like Felicity's original setup. There were several of rows of servers and monitors sitting on old, grey military desks; ultra-modern IT equipment atop World War II era furniture. Unlike the foundry, the desks faced a large, cylindrically-shaped room, at least three stories high. That must be where the Lifeboat is usually stored, Oliver thought. He wondered how big the time machine was and how they got it in there. The hallway that led from the entrance was ordinary size, barely large enough to accommodate a golf cart.

The computing area contained keyboards and monitors sufficient for a half a dozen people to work, although there was, at the moment, only one person seated there. She looked to be about Felicity's age and equally as comfortable as Felicity in the cyber world. She was staring at a screen where lines of indecipherable code continually scrolled, narrowing her eyes and typing in rapid bursts. There, however, the similarities ended. Where Felicity was blonde-haired and blue-eyed, this girl had dark brown eyes and long, thick hair that appeared almost black. Her brow was furrowed in concentration and she didn't look up as they approached.

"Connor," she said, her eyes fixed on the screen, "it looks like the Mothership set a course for 1884 but reversed direction before it ever truly landed. The gravitational signature it created is weird – not like anything I've ever seen before."

Mason cleared his throat. "We have company, Jiya," he said carefully.

She looked up then, a slight flush on her cheeks. Her eyes honed in almost immediately on Barry and her jaw dropped. "The Flash? Really? Or is this some kind of a joke – just someone wearing a Flash suit?"

Agent Christopher smiled. "He's the real deal, Jiya – The Flash himself. And this is his friend, Oliver Queen."

Unlike Mason, the name Queen didn't mean much to Jiya. She barely spared Oliver a glance and directed all her attention toward Barry. "I can't believe it's really you," she bubbled. "Why are you here? Can you stay for a while? Rufus will want to meet you – he'll be jealous if I have the chance to talk to you and he doesn't." As she mentioned the name Rufus, the smile suddenly disappeared from her face.

"Who's Rufus?" Oliver asked.

It was Mason who answered. "He's a scientist. He works for Mason Industries and he pilots the Lifeboat. He's with it now in 1884 New York, and we've been…waiting…for his return." He gave Jiya a compassionate look. Oliver had the feeling that, for Jiya, Rufus was more than just a colleague.

"You can't fly The Lifeboat remotely?" Oliver wasn't sure if fly was the correct verb to use with a time ship, but it seemed to work.

Mason shook his head. "No. It's a tricky machine; you need to be in it, and even then, very few people can fly it. It takes a lot of training."

Great, Oliver thought. Not only is the time machine AWOL, but apparently it's not exactly push-button. I need the machine AND Rufus if I'm going to get Felicity home.

He stepped closer to Jiya so that she couldn't help but meet his eyes. "When do you expect the…um…Lifeboat to return?"

Jiya opened her mouth but then paused. She gave Mason and Agent Christopher a questioning look.

Agent Christopher waved one hand. "It's okay, Jiya. Mr. Queen and The Flash have a time travel problem they're hoping we can help them with. We've already told them a little about the Lifeboat. You can answer his question."

Jiya nodded and her brow creased. "To be honest," she said anxiously to Oliver, addressing him directly for the first time, "I expected them back here as soon as the Mothership returned. I don't know what's keeping them. Unless," she added, turning to Mason, "that anomaly the Mothership created in the gravitational field is somehow blocking the Lifeboat's return trip?"

Mason rested one hand on her shoulder. "I don't know, Jiya. Maybe. Maybe Rufus detected the anomaly and he's giving it time to settle down before he attempts to come back." He turned to Barry. "Why don't you tell Jiya about what happened with you and Felicity Smoak? Whatever we end up doing, Jiya's going to be a part of it so she should have all the facts."

Oliver clenched his jaw; both at the noncommittal phrase, whatever we end up doing, as well as the fact that they were wasting time going over the story once more. He glanced nervously at his phone and breathed a little easier to see Felicity's photo still there.

"Felicity Smoak?" Jiya asked Mason. "The girl you wanted to hire from MIT?"

Mason nodded. "Yes. She seems to have managed to take a trip through time without the benefit of a time machine."

"Wow. How'd that happen?"

Mason gestured toward Barry, and Barry repeated the story of himself, Felicity and the tunnel for what felt to Oliver like the hundredth time. Like Mason, Jiya listened carefully and asked a number of detailed, scientific questions. Then she turned to Mason.

"Do you think the tunnel The Flash was forced down could somehow have been created by the Mothership? I told you I saw a gravitational anomaly."

Mason stared at her. "Maybe," he said slowly. "Normally when the ships travel, they bend space-time just long enough to pass from one time period to another. The passage they create doesn't last. In this case, it sounds as though the Mothership created a wormhole that didn't vanish right away."

"Why do you think it affected Felicity but not me?" Barry asked. "She got pulled away from me and back to 1884, while I was able to keep moving to the present. Shouldn't it have grabbed both of us?"

Mason raised his hands helplessly. "I don't know." He peered at Barry as if the explanation might be written on The Flash's body. "I'm guessing your molecular structure is different from the average human?" When Barry nodded, Mason continued, "That could have something to do with it – the difference in molecular vibration frequency." He dropped his hands. "Oh bloody hell, I'm just guessing at this point."

"What does it matter?" Oliver asked sharply. When Mason and Jiya turned to him with surprised expressions, he continued, "I understand it's important to figure out at some point how this happened, but our priority right now should be getting Felicity back before things have a chance to change – and getting your people back, too, it sounds like. If you're worried that the Lifeboat hasn't returned, shouldn't we be organizing a rescue?"

Mason shook his head. "I'm not ready to say I'm worried. There are a number of rational explanations for why the Lifeboat didn't return immediately after the Mothership."

Jiya bit her lip, evidently not in full agreement with Mason. "Connor-" she began.

Mason cut her off by holding up one hand. "I know you're concerned for Rufus," he said gently, "but what do you suggest we do? They're in 1884 Jiya, with the Lifeboat. We have no way to get to them."

"What about the Mothership?" Oliver asked. "Jiya said she saw it come back to the present. Could we use that?"

"The Mothership is not an option," Agent Christopher interjected quickly.

"Because?"

"Because the people who have it are not exactly our friends. They're not going to give it to us."

Oliver held out his hands in pleading gesture. "So we steal it. Normally I wouldn't suggest it, but this is an emergency."

The agent shook her head gently. "That's a really bad idea – at least, it is right now."

Oliver glared at her in exasperation. "Why? When you say they're not exactly our friends, do you mean you avoid each other at dinner parties or is it something more serious than that?"

"I mean they guard the Mothership continuously and they'll shoot us if we get anywhere near it," Agent Christopher stated. When Oliver didn't immediately reply, she continued, "The world doesn't know it, but there's a war over history going on, Mr. Queen. And we," she made a gesture that included herself, Mason and Jiya, "and the folks who have the Mothership are not on the same side."

"A war over history," Oliver repeated. "And they're the only ones with the guns?"

Agent Christopher grimaced. "No. But at the moment, our best soldier is in 1884, along with the Lifeboat. Without him, we don't stand a chance."

Oliver thought about the duffle bag he had brought containing his suit, his bow, and an assortment of arrows. It was sitting in the trunk of Agent Christopher's car.

"I believe our odds are better than you think," he replied.