EPISODE PLAYLIST:
01. MT LITTLE GIRL - Tim McGraw
02. FIRST - Cold War Kids
03. CATCH MY BREATH - Kelly Clarkson
BOBBI'S POV
I stepped up into Rip's office, then paused in my tracks. Rip was sitting at his desk with a familiar trinket in his hand. It was a gold pocket watch. My eyes instantly widened and I marcher up to the desk. "Where the hell did you get that?" I asked, snapping. He glanced up at me, his expression worn. When he didn't answer, I added more forcefully, "Where did you get that?"
"Can you tell me what this means to you?" he asked, adjusting it in his hand.
I crossed my arms, raising an eyebrow. "Uh, yeah, sure- it was my dad's and my mother gave it to me after he died. It means quite a lot to me. Now will you tell me where you got it? Because, last I saw it, it was in my drawer in the room you assigned to me—not in your office." He looked back down at the watch, watching it tick a second. "I found it there," he answered, quietly.
"Yeah, I kind of got that," I quipped, annoyed.
"Stacy told you it was your father's?" he asked, curiously. Stacy was my mother's name. He said it like he knew her personally. It kind of gave me an odd chill, and I tightened my arms around my body, calming just a bit. I nodded once. "Yeah...right after his funeral. What do you want with it?" I asked, trying to keep my tone even. Once again he was quiet a moment. Then he sat upright suddenly and stood, stepping around his desk.
"There's something you need to see," he said, as he passed me, heading for the door. I followed quickly behind him to the center console. He tapped a few things before looking at me beside him. "Do you ever wonder why you haven't met your real parents?" he asked.
"No, not really. Bio mom died in child birth and my bio dad was MIA even before that," I shook my head. "Or, so I'm told. I don't know. Why?"
"When I first saw your name, I knew I recognized it—I just couldn't quite place it. Look at this," he gestured to the table and I glanced down. On the table was an old looking picture of my adoptive parents—the closest thing to real parents I've ever had—holding a baby together in a living room setting. They were smiling. It was obviously the day they brought me home.
I shook my head again, confused. "I've never seen this."
"Look closer. Over his shoulder, at the picture frame."The screen gradually zoomed in to the spot he was talking about, right above dad's shoulder. In a random family photo was a small reflection. I could tell it was of whoever was taking the photo at the time. But I couldn't make out who it was until it zoomed in again.
Lines scanned over the picture, then a second picture popped up beside the one I was looking at. The second picture matched the reflection perfectly. My eyes rounded. It was Rip. I instantly looked up at him in shock, speechless a moment."Y-you...you were there that day?" I finally asked, stunned.
"I was the one who gave you away," he nodded. There was something pained about his expression. He gave me away? Where'd he get me from? What bothered me was his demeanor throughout this whole conversation. He still isn't telling me everything. "There's more, isn't there?" I asked, trying to prompt him into continuing.
He looked reluctant. Like he wasn't sure he should tell me. A knot twisted in my chest. What could be so bad he wouldn't be able to say repeat?My parents were probably secretly drug dealers that had me while they were high and left me in a dumpster. I've thought about this a lot. He inhaled, paused, and then turned to me.
"The Time Masters had given me an assignment that took me to Star City in nineteen ninety-eight. I didn't want to go for the life of me but it was mandatory," he recalled, thinking. "I remember one of the first things I did was go into a small coffee shop on Main Street. There was this brunette girl serving drinks...she was the most beautiful woman I had ever name was Amanda Harper."
My eye brows furrowed in confusion. What did this have to do with me? Then he continued, and it made a bit more sense. "We fell in love. I don't think I really need to tell you what happens after that..."
"Please don't. I've been shown a diagram once," I wrinkled my nose, shaking my head. He adjusted his position leaning into the center console to look a bit away from me naturally, rather than right at me, before he started speaking again. I leaned my hip into the console and crossed my arms. He sighed. "She became pregnant. I wanted to stay with her, build a life there, but...the Time Masters gave me a new assignment in the same time. I had to leave," he explained, ashen.
It suddenly dawned on me—like when a semi hits a brick wall—what he was talking about. The breath caught in my throat and I nearly choked on it. "I arrived back in Star City after she'd already passed in child birth," he continued. "But the child survived—a girl. I knew I wouldn't be able to care for her as a Time Master. At least, not in the way she deserved."
I swallowed. "So you found people that could."
"Yes." He finally turned his head to look at me. His expression reminded me a dog that had just been kicked, looking to see if it would happen again. Like he was admitting some deep dark secret that could get him killed for keeping. I didn't know what to think. Or how to feel."Did...did you name her? The girl?" I asked it as if I didn't know who she was.
My eyes stung and I could no longer swallow. But I took a deep breath through my nose in an effort to keep a lid on it. He nodded once, slowly. "Barbara Rose. Barbara after her mother's wishes and Rose after mine. It was Amanda's favorite flower. Do you see now, why I worry? I know you think me a stranger-"
"Please," I closed my eyes. "Don't say it."
"I just wanted you to know...I would have kept you had I been given the chance," I reopened my eyes and my cheek tickled as a rogue tear found its way to my chin. Rip looked just as affected by it, but he wasn't crying quite yet. If I said the wrong thing he just might. He stepped toward me and I watched him cautiously. He held out the gold pocket watch."Bobbi, I am your father."
I glanced down at the watch, then back up at him. "That's not possible- you're my age."
"Time is a complex, confusing thing-"
"I don't want an explanation," I interrupted, snapping a bit. He exhaled lightly, his shoulders dropping in disappointment. "I just...I need to be alone." I took the watch from his hand and turned on my heel, before hurrying into the main hallway. I didn't exactly know where I was going but it didn't matter. The tears were streaming now and there was no way to get around that.
So I walked until I couldn't tell where the hell I was and parked a spot on one of the large pipes along the wall, near the floor. My chest felt like any minute it would either explode or I would hyperventilate. Even though the story makes sense—for what it's worth—it's still completely crazy. But then again, how coincidental is it that this rogue captain just happens to find me, the one who is actually my biological father? It's all so out of left field.
Also again, I did want answers. Now I have to live with how I feel about them. I shook my head at myself before dropping my face in my hands, elbows on my knees.I stayed there for I don't know how long. It's so hard to keep track in this tub. I pressed my back into one of the support beams sticking out of the wall and leaned into the wall at my right, pulling my feet up onto the pipe with the rest of me. My heart had finally stopped threatening to beat out of my chest.
I could breathe normally again. Though, I had the strangest desire to hit something. Okay so for me I guess that isn't too strange. I hit things—and people—a lot. I didn't feel tired. I didn't feel hungry. I didn't feel the need to move. I just felt totally void and blank. How do you typically react to finding out your biological father is a British time traveler the same age as yourself?My stomach dropped as the whole shook violently for a solid minute.
I braced against the wall until it stopped, then practically sprinted to the bridge. I rounded a corner not far from my hiding spot and startled as a voice came from behind me. "What the hell was that?" I slowed and twisting, sighing at the sight of Snart hurrying up behind me—also on his way to the bridge, I assumed. "I don't know, I-" The ship suddenly shook again and I stumbled left. I shot both hands out at my sides—palm flat—and an energy barrier former between them and the wall, essentially holding me in place.
Mentally, I kept Snart's feet anchored so he wouldn't tumble too far. "We need to get to the bridge, now," I said, focusing. As soon as the wave of shaking stopped, I dropped my arms and started down the hall. Snart wasn't too far behind me by the time I reached the bridge. Everyone was already there, all asking the same question—what happened?
I jogged over to the team around the center console. "What's going on?" I asked, reasonably panicked. Snart rounded the console and stood in between Sara and responded as if I'd asked the question directly to her. "It would appear that we are under attack by three bounty hunters. Several of their shots have damaged the navigation function and have permanently damaged the outer hull," she informed, over the speaker.
"Martin, Jefferson—I want firestorm at the cargo bay door on defense. Snart, Mr. Palmer—go with them," Rip directed. The four amigos headed off without much prodding. All of us were just waiting for the order to do something. The ship shook violently again and suddenly red warnings flashed and sirens wailed. "Captain, there has been a breach in the left side of the ship, near the sleeping quarters," Gideon said.
Rip sighed heavily, in crisis mode. "Bobbi, Sara—find a way to fix the breach enough for us to travel." I looked to Sara across the table and she nodded once before hurrying into the hallway. I quickly followed behind her. Now, an important question for you: how do you seal the hull of a space ship with nothing you can actually use? The answer is- oh, that's right. There isn't one. Unless you were going for an order of you can't with a big ass side of don't even bother.
Sara and I arrived at the breach. It was a large tear in the back wall of a small storage , the thing was huge. Sara rose up on her rose a bit to peer outside the ship, while I started looking around through the miscellaneous crates in the room. My head shot up at a small squeal. Sara dropped to the floor and a bolt of some kind of energy shot in through the hole. It blasted into a light fixture in the hallway, taking out the lights, and sending spark flying.
Sara crawled across the floor and stood once she was out of sight through the hole. "Okay, that might have been a bad idea," she said, straightening her shirt as she hurried over to me. "Anything in these things we can use?" She moved to peer over my shoulder as I shook my head, opening the third crate in a serious of five. "Nothing yet," I informed, sadly.
"There has to be a way to close that thing," she though aloud, crossing her arms. Just then, it came to me. The idea just might work but no one on the ship is going to like it. Though, it's not like we had plenty of other options. I dropped the crate lid back onto the box and started for the door. "Where are you going?" she called after me.
"I have an idea! Be right back!"
