Wave 10
She could pretty much guess what was on that file and knew that Druce would never do something so obvious like putting a fail safe program on something he gave to Rip. He however didn't know that and she could see that she had already undermined Rip's trust in the man. He hesitated and then slowly pulled his hand back.
"What do you think is on it?" said Rip
She was pretty sure Druce had given him her whole timeline on that drive but she also knew that if she could draw his focus away from wanting to look at it she could always alter it later.
"Honestly I'm sure it's all the pertinent details about my past and the pirates. Some of them were pretty unsavory and I know they killed at least a couple time masters. I wouldn't be surprised if one of them threw me under the bus to save their own skin" said Riley
Okay she was certain John and the others were dead, but she had no doubt that they would sell her out if it came down to them or her, so it was mostly truth. The anger was back and she could tell just by the set of his jaw that it was going to be a stone bitch to get it to leave this time.
"Did you?" said Rip
Riley gave him a confused look. She knew what he was asking of course but needed him to think she was clueless.
"Did I what?" said Riley
"Kill any of them, did you kill any time masters Riley?" said Rip
He looked angry and she could swear she saw thunder heads brewing in his eyes. She looked down and thought about what she had done. Truthfully she didn't kill any of them but she also didn't help them either. She had even believed John partially when he said he was just going to lock the man up, at least until she checked on the man and found the brig deserted. She knew he could react badly to this, but she needed to let him know that yeah she had been stupid, but she had never killed any of the time masters they encountered.
"No, but I didn't help them either. Not even when I suspected they were going to kill them" said Riley
She could feel the tears leaking out of her eyes and did nothing to stop their flow. She truly felt bad for her actions and like an imbecile for falling for John's lies. Rip was just watching her. The anger was still there but the tears were slowly mitigating it. He held out a tissue to her when she started sobbing.
"I'm so sorry… I'm a horrible person…I'm so stupid… Arrgh!... Why did I believe him… he said he wasn't going to hurt them just borrow their ship... Ah! I can't believe I was ever that naive" said Riley
Most of the self-recriminations were real because she did see herself as stupid for believing him. She also thought she was for believing the time masters too and she had no doubt she was a horrible person, that was partially why she didn't want Rip to get any closer than he already was. He gave her a sad look and once again wrapped his arms around her in a hug.
"No, no you're not. You were a child Miss Anderson and they used your naiveté against you. I'm so sorry Miss Anderson, please forgive me it was never my intention to hurt you. I should have never doubted you" said Rip
He was holding her tightly now, as if he feared she would break or something. Right now she wasn't sure if that was a possibility or not either.
"Shush, shush I've got you, it's okay I'm sorry okay. Please don't cry, you make me wish to weep also when you do that" said Rip
Someone cleared their throat behind them and Riley lifted her head enough to see who it was in the reflection off of his cabinet.
"What did you do?" said Sara
Rip sighed and drew back to address Sara.
"Miss Lance, a closed door usually implies a request for privacy" said Rip
He sounded irritated and Riley firmly resisted the urge to smirk because he sounded so cute when he said privacy with that accent of his.
"Well tough, league of assassins, now why is she crying?" said Sara
She crossed her arms and looked at Rip like she wanted to trounce the man. Rip moved away from Riley and she grabbed another tissue to wipe her eyes and blow her nose. While she did so, she pocketed the chip. She would get it back to him later with an easily defeat able program to disable Gideon, planted firmly over the corrupted data.
"We were simply discussing some rather sensitive items in Miss Anderson's past and obviously they still cause her emotional distress. Now please Miss Lance can you let us have a few more minutes of privacy and I promise you we will be out shortly. I have something I must discuss with all of you anyways" said Rip
Sara shifted looked at Riley, who simply nodded in her direction. The blond woman sighed and turned to leave.
"Five minutes, oh and captain, don't make her cry again" said Sara
The seriously cold way she said that made Riley shudder. Rip swallowed nervously, obviously understanding the threat beneath that statement. The door slid shut and Rip turned back to regard her as she dabbed at her eyes.
"I'm sorry Miss Anderson I should have asked you earlier if you minded being recorded. I upset you with my thoughtless behavior and for that I do apologize. If I had only heeded my instinct and turned off the recording, you would have never been put in danger in the first place" said Rip
She frowned until she understood what he was talking about.
"It's okay I understand, it's your ship you have the right to know what is going on inside it" said Riley
Rip pursed his lips.
"Yes I do, but I forget sometimes that others are not used to this behavior and may not be ready to share some things with me as of yet" said Rip
She gave him another confused look, until she remembered that she had asked Gideon about the recording before she went for a walk.
"It's okay, I suppose we should talk about it though sometime" said Riley
She really needed to know what the man meant by that kiss and what his intentions were farther down the road. Hopefully she could mitigate the damage some if she could get him to back off before he got too attached. She opened her mouth to say more and Rip put his finger on her lips.
"Stop please, I know I have you confused believe me I am as confused as you are Miss Anderson. All I can ask is that you forgive me for taking liberties when I should have gotten your consent first and ask that you bear with me as I sort this" said Rip
What she was going to say left her mind as she took in his anguished expression. He truly felt bad for confusing her and damn him it made him even more attractive in her eyes, that he was reacting this way. She simply nodded yes because she wasn't sure what sort of response she should give, plus she did just get back in the man's good graces.
He lowered his hand from her lips and rested it on her shoulder instead. He was staring at her again and she stared back at him, curious at what he could be thinking. He started to lean forward again and she stopped him with a hand on his chest.
"Please Rip don't, this isn't fair, to me or you. You have a family to think about, we're trying to save them remember. If we take this any further, we'll only succeed in hurting everyone involved. I can't be that person, please stop" said Riley.
Okay it was a low blow and her heart literally ached when she said it, but it would be worse for him if they succeeded, and she ceased to exist when they killed Savage. He looked down at the desktop.
"Riley, I think I need to make my intentions clear. We aren't going to succeed, I've tried over and over to save them. In every possible way imaginable and still I lose them. It's time I stopped deluding myself and accept that time wants this to happen, it wants me to... lose my family...but maybe it also sent you to me... maybe we are meant to be…please just… think about it. Do not reject me right off hand over some misguided notion that you are somehow helping me cheat on my wife" said Rip
She froze because she honestly didn't know what to say to that. Had the man had given up and moved on? Oh crap, now what was she going to do? She had to rekindle his faith but how?
"Yes, but I wasn't with you any of those times" said Riley
He smiled and shook his head no.
"Thank you Miss Anderson" said Rip
She gave him a confused look.
"You just showed me exactly what type of woman you are" said Rip
He just played her, the git just played me and he was smirking at her. Oh…you little… that is the last time I underestimate you Mr. Hunter.
"I get it, I'm scaring you. Okay I'll back off for now, if you want me to, but I just want you to know that I do want you Miss Anderson as more than a friend, I am however a very patient man and I do not intend to ever give up on you" said Rip
She swallowed nervously, because yeah he was right he was scaring her and so did his declaration. He knew something, now she knew he did and he had every intention of stopping her. She had half a mind to let him watch that tape because it would show him what a horrible person she was, maybe then he would see that she wasn't worth saving but her courage failed her and she simply nodded.
She resolved to run just as soon as she got the chance, she would kill Savage then book it away from these people. She didn't want to see his face as she dissolved or did whatever someone did when they ceased to exist.
"That's my girl, it'll be alright just trust me, can you do that?" said Rip He smiled at her and once again all she could do was respond with a nod of ascent. Oh she was so screwed.
"Thank you love" said Rip
Then he kissed her forehead and opened the door. He led her out of the room.
"Gideon can you call the others to the bridge, I have something I wish to discuss with them" said Rip
It took only a few minutes for the rest of the crew to filter into the bridge. During that time Riley tried to inch away from Rip, because she wasn't ready to deal with any questions the crew was sure to ask if Rip kept her right beside him the whole time.
When Kendra stepped between them she had never been so relieved to see the woman than she did right now. Rip's declaration had done nothing to calm the raging maelstrom that were her thoughts right now. If anything he had made her feel worse because, now there was no hope of keeping him from being hurt by this.
As much as she wanted to curl up by his side and forget the world would be literally coming to an end in her time period, she couldn't. It just wasn't in her to run. Okay maybe not from killing Savage but to be fair love was a hell of a lot more terrifying than the end of the world.
She should have never stepped foot on this ship, then she wouldn't have this dilemma to deal with in the first place. Once the whole group was gathered around the table Rip addressed the group.
"It has been brought to my attention by my former employers that Miss Anderson here has been less than forthcoming about her past" said Rip
Rory snorted.
"If you mean the pirate thing mate; she ain't the only one with a criminal background" said Rory
"Criminal background?" said Stein
"Yes it seems our esteemed Miss Anderson was once a time pirate" said Snart
He was smirking as if the idea was absurd.
"Oh that is absurd" said Stein
"You're kidding right, her a pirate, no offense Miss Anderson, but you don't strike me as the type" said Ray
Jax laughed
"They're joking right, please tell me this is their idea of humor because seriously that shit ain't funny" said Jax
"Well she did break that guy's legs down in sick bay, which by the way good job" said Sara
Riley nodded her thanks Kendra gave Sara an incredulous look.
"You all are joking right, she's maybe ninety pounds soaking wet and you think she's capable of breaking bones and being a blood thirsty pirate" said Kendra
"Yeah man I ain't buying it" said Jax
"Hey; I didn't either until I saw what she did to the kid, damn that's some jacked up shit, so sorry kind of believing it until proved otherwise" said Snart
He gave Riley a level look which she met without flinching
"Sorry babe, but there are just too many things that aren't adding up" said Snart
"Well Miss Anderson, do you care to comment?" said Rip
He looked amused and she hoped that was a good sign. Then again maybe it was because he did just admit he cared, hopefully that would be enough to keep him from throwing her off of the ship.
"Ah yeah, oh boy… okay. Yes, they are accurate about the time pirate thing and yeah I did break that guy's legs but only because he threatened to shoot me. It seems that my former…associates have thrown me under the bus as it were and have convinced Rip's former employers that I am some sort of criminal mastermind, which under any other circumstance would be quite humorous given the age I was at the time" said Riley
Everyone gave her surprised looks.
"What wait, you're saying it was true?" said Ray
Riley nodded yes. Once again, she went with the honesty in order to lead them away from any subject that she didn't want to touch on. "Wait what… how old were you?" said Kendra
"Ten to eleven I stayed with them to almost my twelfth birthday" said Riley
Everyone looked shocked including Rip. She guessed that Druce hadn't shared that information with the man.
"Why? If you don't mind me asking, would you stay with pirates?" said Stein
Riley shrugged
"They offered me a home when I didn't have one and food when I was starving, at the time that was enough for me" said Riley
Everyone looked upset by her admission.
It was true, even if Vandal Savage had held out a muffin to her back then she would have taken it.
"Wait so the guy downstairs how did you, without getting a mark on you?" said Sara
Riley frowned how exactly would she explain that?
"I took some martial arts when I was younger; one of the crew was well versed in several forms, he taught me after we worked out the language barrier" said Riley
Okay so yeah she did know how to fight and yes there was a guy on John's ship that did know several forms of martial arts so it wasn't exactly a lie.
"Language barrier?" said Sara
"He spoke Taiwanese or Chinese or something" said Riley
"You can fight?" said Kendra
Riley nodded yes.
"Oh yeah, just go ask that kid if you don't believe her, I carried the little shit back here" said Rory
"Ah yeah what's up with that since when are we a hospital for stupid time masters?" said Snart
Rip frowned at him but didn't argue with Snart's assessment
"That you would have to ask Miss Anderson about" said Rip
Riley sighed and rubbed her head.
"I felt bad after I hurt him and I had heard wolves earlier so I thought it best that we at least get the man out of there so he didn't get eaten by something, plus Puce couldn't move him" said Riley
Rory laughed at the moniker.
"So it was mercy than?" said Stein
Riley nodded yes.
"Now that we have established that they were indeed giving us some accurate information, I must mention what else they said. Master Druce told me that if I surrendered Miss Anderson to their authority and give up this quest, that we would be pardoned and subsequently returned to our proper timelines" said Rip
The way he phrased it sounded almost sarcastic when he said it.
"Yeah that sounds all well and good for us, but what would they do to her?" said Jax
Rip froze and she briefly saw the amusement leave his eyes.
"Most likely kill her I would imagine" said Rip
"Oh hell no! you told them to stuff it right?" said Kendra
"They plan to kill us" said Ray, Rory, Snart and Stein all at the same time.