The Tip of the Iceberg - River of Time Chapter 14
I intend no copyright infringement; I only wanted to add to what was so masterfully written and I just want more time with Leonard Snart. Spoilers for the episode and warning for strong language.
It was late when Leonard returned from the rebel's encampment. He was certain that Cassandra was now committed to the fight against Vandal Savage and would help the rebels. There was a figure waiting for him in the ship's entrance but he couldn't quite make out who until she stepped into the open hatch. He couldn't see her face, but he knew it was Sara.
"So everything all settled?" Sara tried to sound casual. She had thought that Leonard was going to return immediately after dropping Savage's daughter off at the refugee camp. She'd been working with Mick trying to repair what they could when Gideon alerted them to Leonard's return. She wondered what he'd been doing that had taken so long. She throttled down a feeling of jealousy. What the hell did she have to be jealous about? Leonard had only recently earned the title of friend in her book. She could pinpoint when it had happened: when they were trapped and freezing to death and each had opened up to the other. He'd earned her respect in Russia but it took them almost dying for her to learn more about the man behind the mask. She wondered if someday he would drop the mask entirely. And that was the problem. She wanted him to, but she wasn't sure he'd ever be comfortable enough around anyone to do so. She realized he kept his barriers up even around Mick although they had been friends for most of their lives.
"Yeah, Cassie is settled in with the rebels."
Ignoring the familiarity he was displaying about Cassandra, Sara asked, "So how did you convince them to accept her?"
"She gave them some intel that they couldn't ignore. We waited while their troops proved she wasn't lying. She wasn't. They don't trust her but they'll use her."
"And what about Cassandra?"
Leonard was glad he was still in the shadow of the Waverider's hull. His grin at Sara's use of Cassandra told him something that he bet she would not want him to know. "Cassie is determined to join her mother's people and their cause." He couldn't resist teasing her.
"Her mother's people? I don't understand."
"Remember, Savage is immortal. Cassie's only relatives would be from this time. She said she was going to see if she could find any left alive. Knowing that her father had caused the death of so many people including her mother...well that was all the incentive she needed." He walked into the light and stood below Sara. "So what now?" Cassandra was gone out of their lives. Savage was incarcerated inside. The mission was almost over. Those three words held a lot of weight for him.
"Rip's been trying to do repairs on the bridge. Ray and Jax are working with the drives. Me and Mick have been going around trying to assess damage and make what repairs we could."
"And Kendra?"
"She's trying to get through to Carter."
"No luck, huh. Savage seems to play a wicked mind game."
"It's more than that. It took a while for Kendra to get her memories back. Carter doesn't seem to know he's Khufu or who she is or who Savage really is. He's mind-wiped."
"And that's screwing with Kendra. Great." By this time the two were inside the ship. "If she won't kill Savage, we can't win. We're stuck here with the Time Masters after our asses and unable to go home."
Sara reached out and tugged on Leonard's arm. "Is that all that you want? To finish Savage and go home?" She looked into Leonard's eyes and saw conflicting emotions. What was going on in there inside Leonard Snart? she wondered.
"That was the plan." Leonard took a deep breath. This whole thing was more than any of them had bargained for. He had a bad feeling and he wasn't sure if it was only connected to his never rescuing Mick. He thought he'd reconciled himself to the knowledge that something would keep him from going back to that clearing. But with their goal within his reach, he desperately wanted to believe he'd make it home. "Where did you leave off repairs?"
Realizing that her chance to get Leonard to open up had passed, she told him where she'd last seen Mick and watched him saunter off. Damn. She followed him to where Mick was and the three continued to make their way through the Waverider doing what repairs they could under Gideon's direction.
Leonard's path of repairs led him to the brig. Working on wires hanging from the open doorway, he ignored Savage as he came to the wall of his cell. He hated this part of the ship.
"You! You're nothing but a petty thief. How dare you destroy my daughter!" Spittle flew as Savage spoke.
"I just showed her the truth." Leonard ignored the echo of Mick's vicious accusations that were once shouted in this room and were branded in his memory.
"The truth! What is the truth compared to all that was gained by winnowing out the weak. I helped build a new civilization of the strong. Only the strong deserve to exist. A man such as you should know. After all, you killed your own father. You will never be anything other than a small time bank robber."
Leonard was an expert at keeping his cool. He knew there was very little information for Savage to have about him since he'd had Barry destroy his records, his sister's, and his father's. The varied heists of gems, art, and money were no longer in any record. It was rather ironic that the one bit of information there was on him was the one bit that had helped him turn Cassie. "Once Cassie learned what you had ordered, it was easy to convince her to change her allegiance. You are a monster." Leonard closed the panel he was working on and moved to another one.
"Her name is Cassandra!" Savage was almost howling. She had been his own flesh and blood, a lieutenant in his army, a brilliant addition to his long life and this...this thief had the temerity to turn her away from him.
Leonard had to smile as he yanked Savage's chain with the implied familiarity. "Cassie made up her own mind from the evidence. Your own words. You have only yourself to blame for your hubris to think she would never find out. That she would not see what a monster you really are."
Savage pounded his raised fist against the glass wall of the brig. "You know nothing of the plan! You will be destroyed if you don't walk away from Gareeb right now."
Tightening his lips, Leonard refused to say another word. He tuned out Savage while he ranted and raved about his grandiose plans and how he was vital to the salvation of the Earth. Finishing his current job, Leonard turned his back and walked away. Once the door shut behind him he asked, "Gideon, what else needs doing?" He wondered if all the years he'd been alive had addled Savage's mind. The path he'd gone down would in no way lead to the Earth's salvation but rather its destruction. He ran into Sara trying to reengage a level on a panel and helped her lock it back into place. The two of them then moved to the next repair that they were directed to.
Hours later, Rip called them all to the bridge. Mick had wandered off some time before saying he wanted to find some kind of pick me up. Sara and Leonard finished what they were working on and entered the bridge together. Leonard eased down into a chair and was surprised when Sara settled down on the floor next to it rather than choosing a chair of her own. Using his chair as her back support, she listened to the various conversations as the others entered.
Sara was surprised at how comfortable she now felt around Leonard. The time they'd spent talking and playing gin while he'd healed after Mick's beating had cemented a bond between them. She knew how it felt to recover from battle wounds and had given support as well as suggestions about how to deal with the pain since he refused to use strong pain medications. She could honestly call him her friend and wondered if there would be something more in the future between the two of them. If there could even be something. She smiled. Oliver's head would explode if she ever got together with Leonard Snart.
Bemused, Leonard looked down at Sara seated beside him. What had brought this about? Was it a reaction to the time he'd spent with Cassandra? It probably was since she'd been waiting for him to return. If it had just been worry about him making it back through the remains of Savage's troops, she would probably have not chosen to sit so close to him now but in a chair as she normally did. He kept his expression closed however, no need to let anyone else know how Sara's presence made him feel.
The others were congratulating themselves for the successful capture of Vandal Savage.
Mick turned to the team with a bottle in hand. He'd been rummaging in the cabinet in Rip's office and had found an unlabeled bottle. Opening it, he tasted some very good Scotch. He took a deeper swig. "Mission almost accomplished."
"That bottle of scotch was given to me by Rob Roy McGregor in 1689." Rip had been saving it to share with his wife. He knew it was fruitless now to stop Mr. Rory from taking it. Maybe it was fate that Mr. Rory had found it to share with the team instead.
"It's not half bad." Mick ignored him and handed the bottle to Sara.
"We should be toasting Savage's death." She took a healthy swig herself. She'd drunk Mick under the table; she wondered how Leonard would fare in a drinking contest with her. That had potential.
"Apart from celebrating murder, Savage still has Carter brainwashed." Stein had not believed that Sara was as bloodthirsty as she now sounded.
"I don't know if you've been paying attention, Professor, but murdering Savage was always the plan." Leonard accepted the bottle that Sara handed to him and took a healthy swallow himself before returning it to her.
"Besides. Carter reincarnates which is more than I can say about us." Mick had to stop talking as the whiskey kicked in. He leaned his arms against the back of one of the jump chairs as the fumes entered his brain. That one binge in the Old West had not brought his tolerance back.
"As long as he's on board and breathing, Savage is a threat. To everyone on this ship." While working on the ship's repairs, Leonard spent a lot of time wondering what was going to happen now. Kendra was supposed to have killed Savage. Then they could return to 2016 and their lives. But. She failed. Now he was back to expecting to die at any point. It wasn't paranoia; it was the understanding that he'd never rescued Mick that kept that belief alive and in the back of all his thoughts waking and asleep.
"What? We just kill Savage and leave Carter a brainless drone?" Kendra couldn't believe what her teammates were saying. She knew she had to strike the blow; they couldn't force her to kill Savage. But they could guilt her into it.
Leonard pointed his finger at her as Mick grunted, "Yes." Sara nodded her head in an affirmative. The three were in accord on this.
The door swished open as Ray and Jax entered. "Sorry we're late but we found something."
"We were running diagnostics on Ray's suit after his battle with Savage's rock 'em, sock 'em robot."
"The telemetry included a comprehensive scan of the robot's tech." Ray plugged in the data card to the main console.
"Amazing. This neuromorphic profile is astonishing futuristic." Stein was befuddled. It didn't match.
"Yeah. It's from 2166." Kendra stated what she thought was obvious.
"Well, that's the thing. It's not." Jax dropped the bombshell.
"This technology is light-years more advanced than anything from 2166." Ray was determined to make the others understand that they had an even bigger problem.
"Who cares?" Leonard cradled the bottle after taking another drink. He was debating grabbing Mick and Sara and going down to the brig right then to finish the job. To hell with Carter. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one. Out of all the literature he'd read in school, that line had always stuck with him even though he normally didn't subscribe to the sentiment. The Wrath of Khan had helped him understand it though. But the blow had to come from Kendra for it to work. Therein lay the rub. She was refusing to end this.
Sara took the bottle back from Leonard as she stood up and went to the console.
"The Time Masters!" Rip was energized. "They refused to take action against Savage because he didn't pose a threat to the timeline."
"But if he comes into possession of future technology..." Stein began to pose the question when Rip answered it.
"...it means he's been engaged in exactly the same manipulation of time that the Time Council was designed to prevent."
"So now they'll finally sign off on undoing all the damage that Savage has done to the world over the centuries." While she didn't like it, Sara could see a reason to keep him alive a bit longer.
Mick wasn't drunk, yet. "Last time I checked, the Time Council was at the edge of the timeline." He had no intention of getting anywhere near the Time Council. "This bucket of bolts," he waved at the Waverider's walls, "can barely hold it together as it is."
Rip grabbed the bottle off the console where Sara had set it down. "Gideon? What's the status of the timedrive?"
"Stable, Captain."
"Plot a course for the Vanishing Point. Tonight. Vandal Savage faces justice for his crimes." Rip took a hearty swig of the whiskey.
Mick and Leonard left the main deck together. Leonard watched his partner out of the corner of his eye as they walked. Rip was taking them to the Vanishing Point. These were the people who had tortured Mick and turned him into a killer. A killer who had wanted to destroy Leonard by destroying Lisa in front of him. Would they let now Mick walk in and then leave unmolested? He doubted it. He needed to plan a way to keep Mick out of their hands for all their sakes. Once Mick was in his quarters, Leonard headed towards his own.
"Gideon?" He halfway turned as Sara walked up behind him in the corridor. "Any changes to the timeline? To Rip's family?" They both waited for the answer.
"No change."
The thief and the assassin exchanged a look of frustration. Their hands were tied so long as Kendra refused to kill Savage. Taking him to the Time Masters was a poor second.
Knowing she wouldn't be able to sleep, Sara asked, "Gin?"
Leonard swept his arm aside to invite her to lead the way.
"Gideon. Let me know when Rip is back in his office will ya?" she asked.
"Certainly, Ms. Lance."
Ignoring the swaying and groaning of the ship, the two played cards for some time in her room and their conversation touched on anything and everything but their current situation. Sara was laughing over one of Leonard's stories about how he'd thwarted bullies as a child by unscrewing the bolts in their desks when Gideon broke in.
"Captain Hunter is back in his office, Ms. Lance."
"I need to go talk to him."
"By all means. Hopefully you can talk some sense into him." Leonard watched her leave. She was fighting a losing battle against what Rip wanted. Dropping his chin to his chest, Leonard debated on going to Savage's cell while dragging Kendra with him to kill Savage. Against his better judgment, he chose not to. Instead, he headed towards the galley and a cup of coffee. Waiting for it to brew, he played with the ring on his finger. It felt like his skin was too tight all over his body. He never got this anxious before a job. Not for years. He held onto the counter as the ship rocked and swayed in the time stream.
Sara went into Rip's office to find him bent over some charts. "Not to sound like a six year, old but are we there yet?"
"Ah, the Waverider was severely damaged in Savage's last attack."
"Yeah. I can tell by the way she's flying." Sara stared at the wall monitor. "You sure you're not pushing her too hard?"
"The longer Savage is on board the ship, the greater the danger to all of us."
"To us or your family? I checked with Gideon. Bringing Savage on board didn't change the timeline. And your family still dies."
Rip tried to ignore her. "The timeline is always in flux. Once we get to the Vanishing Point, all will be well."
"Is that why you're pushing the ship beyond its limits?"
"This has been my ship for the last thirteen years...no one knows its limits better than I do. Not even Gideon. The Waverider will hold together, I promise you."
His words held true for only a moment and then sparks flew from a ceiling panel. An external explosion jostled the Waverider.
The two ducked as sparks flew and stepped out on the main deck.
"Bollocks. Gideon!?"
"Time drive failure Captain. The mains are offline."
Jax and Stein had been going over the data about the giant robot. "What happened now?" Jax was frustrated.
"It appears the time drive is in need of some repair." Rip looked at the data rolling across the screen. "Uh, Ms. Lance, if you wouldn't mind going checking on our guest?" If they'd had a loss of power with the door locks, they could be in deep trouble.
"On it!"
"Mr. Jackson. I'm going to need your assistance in fixing the time drive."
"What if Jefferson can't get the ship moving?"
"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Jax had been studying the manuals for weeks; he was certain he could do something.
"No. What I mean is if the ship can't be repaired, we're marooned in the time stream." Stein had drawn that conclusion with dread. How could he get back to Clarissa? Or for that matter, how could they put their younger selves back in the timeline so he could meet and fall in love with Clarissa in the first place?
"There really is no need to worry. The jump ship is equipped with an auxiliary time drive capable of a one time jump back to 2016." He turned to Jax. "Which will not be necessary considering you are going to fix the Waverider."
"I'll do my best." Jax left to go grab tools before heading down to the engine room.
"That's the spirit." Rip kept up the facade that everything would go right. "Are you concerned, Martin?"
"I'm remembering what Mr. Snart said about Savage's presence on this ship being a danger to us all."
Sara left Savage behind in his cell. Although she'd been flippant near him, she was concerned. What did he know that they didn't? He claimed that they were people Rip knew he could manipulate. She had to laugh at that. Her stubbornness was only outmatched by Leonard's. No one could make him do anything he didn't want to.
Waking up in his bunk, Mick had the munchies. He knew it would help him get rid of the hangover that scotch had given him. He found Snart already in the galley rinsing out a coffee cup. Mick opened up the fridge and found a bottle of some blue stuff. He'd never asked what it was but had discovered that he liked it. He popped off the top and took a swig. Both men were almost knocked to the floor when an explosion shook the ship. Once the ship seemed stable, Mick put the bottle down on the counter.
"Well, I know it wasn't me this time," Mick said. He ignored the glare that Leonard gave him as he started opening drawers and pulling out packets of food.
The reminder of what the Time Masters had done to Mick was unnecessary. "Gideon! What happened?" Leonard asked. On learning that the main drive was now inoperable, Leonard wanted to smack his head against the counter. Would anything ever go right? Why did the imp of the perverse curse them? He watched as Mick tore open one package after another.
Disgusted with one, Mick spat out the contents he'd shoved into his mouth. "Why are all the snacks in the future sugar-free?"
"So much for progress. You remember Alexa?" Leonard had finally identified what it was that was bothering him.
"Yeah. The security deposit job. What about it?" Mick stuffed something else into his mouth. Snart was living in the past. He'd put on that stupid ring again and could not stop playing with it. That ring and the job it represented messed with Snart's brain. If he could, Mick would destroy it. It was the one chink in Snart's self-assurance and right now, they needed him at his best.
"I had a feeling about that one. A sixth sense that things would end badly."
"And it would have if you hadn't of pulled us out of there. So what?"
"I'm getting the same feeling now." Leonard looked up at his partner in crime. He would do whatever it took to make sure they survived.
Snart's words stopped Mick in his tracks. It wasn't just a loss of confidence; there was genuine worry there. Worry about who or what, Mick wasn't sure.
"Let's go talk to Rip. We need to know what his plan actually is once we reach the Vanishing Point." They should stay on the ship when it docked. That would keep his partner away from those bastards.
Sara was furious when she ran into Leonard and Mick in the corridor.
"Whoa, blondie. What's the rush this time?" Mick had rarely seen her that upset.
"Rip sent Jax on a suicide mission to fix the time drive. A job he should have done himself. And now Jax is in the med bay dying. He cares more about his family and himself than he does us."
Leonard hated that he was right. His bad feeling intensified and he headed to the med bay at a quick pace followed by Mick while Sara headed the other direction.
"What happened to him?" Leonard stood looking down at Jax on the med chair. Both thieves were shocked at the youngest team member's appearance. He looked to be the same age as Stein.
"Rip sent him to fix the time drive where he was exposed to an extreme amount of temporal radiation exposure." Stein then addressed Gideon. "Are you certain these results are accurate? Jefferson's blood chemistry is akin to that of a..."
"A sixty-three year old man." Gideon was blunt.
"Actually, I don't feel a day over sixty." Jax tried his best to lighten the mood.
"This isn't funny," Mick growled.
"No," said Leonard as he walked around the bed analyzing Jax from several angles. "And it's all Rip's fault."
"I'm afraid he's also suffering from early stages of osteoarthritis." Gideon added.
"Exposures to the temporal radiation have led to an accelerated rate of intracellular degeneration."
This was just like Russia. Rip was ready to sacrifice any of them to achieve his purposes. He didn't follow the code. "This is what happens when Rip goes with Plan B." Leonard had always taken pride that he rarely needed a Plan B. He was so meticulous in his planning that most of his jobs worked the first time. Most.
"Plan A being taking Savage's head in with that mace." Mick's doubts about Kendra's ability to take a life had been well founded.
Frustrated at the fact they seemed to be ignoring his partner, Stein continued. "We're endeavoring to resolve this without bloodshed."
"And how's that working out for you, Ghandi?" Mick was done with these people.
Jax was gratified that the two were angry on his behalf but he needed them to cool off and start making new plans. "There's nothing we can do about this now."
"We can talk to Hunter." Mick was betting that this time they would make Rip listen to them.
"Even if Kendra was to kill Savage, my situation's still the same."
"We're talking about our situation, Pops."
"We're not waiting around for the other shoe to drop. You deserve better." Leonard felt bad for the kid but now he needed to choose his priorities. He'd chosen the team over Mick once. Now it was time to put the team second. He owed Mick that.
"Alexa," Mick said. Now he understood why Snart had brought it up earlier. His partner had to have a plan; he never did anything without a plan. But Mick knew how the time stream worked much better than Snart thanks to his time as Chronos. They were stuck unless the ship could exit.
"You bet your ass." Leonard hoped they could get Sara to go with them too. She was good in a fight, an interesting companion. She should cut her losses like they were. When he saw her in the corridor, he nodded his head towards the main deck not even stopping to explain.
Sara could see they were furious. She was still angry but what would they do to Rip?
Stein felt bereft. Here he'd thought he'd reached Mr. Snart and show him how to consider the team too. If he was honest with himself, he couldn't blame them. They had never intended to be heroes. The deal had been to see Savage dead allowing them to return to their lives and Rip had stopped that from happening.
Rip was back in his office when the two men stalked in followed by Sara.
"We need to talk." Mick was pissed.
"We saw what you did to Jax." Leonard's voice had grown cold again.
"We're worried it's just the beginning."
"The beginning of what?" Rip had no time for this.
Trust Leonard to not pull any punches, Sara thought as she stood by the door.
"It's like I said, Rip, as long as Savage is alive and on this ship he is dangerous." They needed to kill Savage. Once he was dead, Rip's family would be saved. Why he insisted on taking the man to his former masters befuddled him. He was stalling. For what purpose?
"The time drive is rebooting. We will soon be on our way. I ask you for a little faith, gentlemen."
"Sorry. Fresh out." Leonard glared.
Something in Leonard's voice broke through to Rip. These two were one step away from some type of mayhem.
"I take it you and Mr. Snart are of the same mind in this?"
"Yes." Mick covered his fear of the Time Masters with rage.
"And what of you, Ms. Lance?"
"You're the one who said you'd sell us out for your family." Leonard turned to look at Sara. Would she see sense and leave with them?
"Well, if that's how you all feel then none of you is obliged to continue on this voyage with me. As I told Martin, the jump ship can make a one time voyage back to 2016."
Mick was surprised at Rip's capitulation. "You saying it's ours?"
"I'm saying that this mission has always been a voluntary enterprise."
Leonard tried one more time to convince Rip to do what they'd all agreed on, "And the mission was to kill Savage..."
"Which doesn't seem to be on the table any more." Mick had learned a lot. He hoped Rip would understand that they had agreed to the mission...the original mission...not this change of plans. He had no desire to get close to the Vanishing Point and his former masters.
"Very well. Leave if that's what..." Rip couldn't even finish the sentence.
"It's been a blast," Leonard said turning towards the doorway and Sara. "Good luck getting to the Vanishing Point."
"Tell your pals that Chronos says kiss my ass."
Sara looked down as she finally realized that they were afraid to get near the Time Masters. Their anger made more sense as she remembered that those people had created Chronos and all the pain that had caused. To all of them.
"What about you, Sara?" Rip wasn't surprised that the two had chosen to leave. Out of all the team, they had the least loyalty to anyone other than themselves. But he'd needed a thief for the mission and felt it was worth it to try to recruit Mr. Snart.
"I've never been one to run from a fight." Sara couldn't leave the others. Not now. She had no reason to avoid the Vanishing Point.
Leonard and Mick went to their rooms to grab what they could. Leonard debated putting on his parka again but decided he'd just grab his tools and other things. His fingers closed around the gold coin and he placed it in his front pocket. It would join the ring as being a symbol of consequences. Alexa and Chronos. He met Mick coming out of his room who was still stuffing jewelry into his pockets.
"So is blondie coming with us?"
"I doubt it. She stayed on the bridge with Rip. She doesn't want to run."
"Maybe you should try..." Mick started. He wasn't that dumb. He knew Snart and Sara had formed a friendship; that was unusual. Until now, Leonard's only friend was Mick. Leonard once swore he'd not abandoned Mick. That he meant to return for his partner. His shock had been honest when he learned he'd never come back for Mick. Maybe this was why instead. The jump ship could only make one trip. It couldn't be used to take Snart back to whenever he'd marooned Mick. That meant that Snart wouldn't die on this mission like he seemed to believe he would.
"She doesn't want to come, that's her problem. Now let's get the hell out of here," Leonard closed the argument as the door opened to the bay.
Mick saw Stein and, looking through the viewport, realized that the jump ship was gone. "What you do, Poindexter?"
"What do you mean?" Stein was confused at first. He'd been remembering saying goodbye to Clarissa in 2016. He'd made the choice to send Jax back in time hoping to cure him. Stein's decision would cost him his life, as his body couldn't merge as it needed to. He only hoped he could get off the Waverider before he exploded which would kill the others.
Leonard couldn't believe it. What the hell had the old man done? "The jump ship. Where is it?"
"Well, it's really more of a question of when, but...oh, yes. You both wanted to return to 2016." Stein stopped speaking as Mick shoved him against the wall.
"Got it in one." Leonard was snarling in his face.
Stein had never before been on the receiving end of the rage that these two thieves could display. But he was angry himself. "I did what I had to do to save Jefferson's life. Now, we must do whatever's necessary to repair the Waverider and deliver Savage to the Vanishing Point."
Leonard would not have stopped Mick if he'd punched the professor. But Mick held onto his anger and at Leonard's nod, backed off. The two watched Stein head back towards the main deck.
Leonard throttled down his frustration and asked, "Gideon. What other repairs are needed?" While he wasn't an engineer, he could complete some of the repairs. Soon, Leonard was crouched next to a panel and pulling wires to find the burned out connection. At his feet was a small soldering kit.
Sara and Rip were discussing their next step when Stein entered the main deck followed by Mick.
"I sent Jefferson back to 2016. I made some adjustments to the Waverider that according to the theory of Quantum Retro causality. I believe that his trip through the time stream should reverse his condition."
Sara was surprised at the relief she felt upon seeing Mick. She knew how badly the two had wanted to escape but she bet that the ship would be repaired soon. Then they'd take Savage to the Time Masters and then all of them would be able to go home. She watched as Mick sat down heavily in one of the chairs.
"Snart is working on repairs that Gideon is choosing," he said.
Rip's shoulders dropped with relief. They had not left. They were still working for the team. At least he hoped so. He understood Mr. Rory's reluctance to go to the Vanishing Point. But there was nothing saying that he'd have to leave the ship once they arrived. The Time Masters would never have to know that Chronos was with them.
Rip crouched down, removed a panel, and started to work on other repairs losing himself in the complicated task.
"Time Drive reinitialization complete, Captain. The primary systems are back online and stable."
"Begin ignition sequence and resume our route to the Vanishing Point." Rip allowed a brief feeling of victory to surge.
"You're a fool, Professor." Just the mention of the Vanishing Point made Mick feel sick.
"I'm trying to save Jefferson's life." Stein refused to allow himself the thought that if he'd waited, the three could have escaped on the jump ship. But they might need these two. For all his protestations against violence, if they were attacked, these two would be vital to their defense.
A disheveled Ray staggered onto the deck. "Savage has escaped; I'm sorry."
Standing, Sara could hear Leonard's warning in her head. They were all in danger. Mick leaned forward in his chair. This is so fucked up, he thought.
"Pull up all surveillance monitors now!" They had to find him.
"I'm afraid Savage has already freed Carter Hall and is preparing to disengage..." Gideon's voice ground to a halt.
"That can't be good," Sara said as the lights began to flicker.
"Gideon's entire operational matrix is offline and without her help..." Stein realized what their main problem would be.
"We'll have to make our approach the old fashioned way."
Mick could care less about the ship at that moment. "Should we be worried about Savage and his brainwashed chronie?"
"Yes, that's why I need you and Dr. Palmer to go and recapture him." Turning to Sara and Stein, Rip added, "In the meantime, if the rest of us cannot figure out how to pilot the ship without Gideon, we're never going to be able to leave the time stream."
Mick wondered where Snart was as he rushed out with Palmer. "If we live through this you bumbling idiot, I might just kill you."
The lights began to flicker in the corridor where Leonard was working. What the hell? "Gideon?" But the computer didn't answer. Shit. It sucked being right. He headed down towards the brig and found it empty. Realizing that Savage had disabled Gideon, he headed towards the engine room. If he could figure out what had been disconnected, they might have a better chance. He pulled his gun and almost shot Kendra as she came around the bend.
"They're there!" she pointed as energy bolts hit the wall above both their heads.
"Come to join the party?" he asked Mick as his partner came up with Palmer suited up.
"You should have left me back in 2166." Savage shouted.
"Yeah. Yeah. We know that mullet head." Mick tried to figure out exactly where Savage was. He needed to be careful firing his gun. He didn't know if the air system was still damaged and be unable to compensate for the flames sucking up oxygen.
Savage came around the corridor and fired. "Who are you to stand against me?!" he demanded arrogantly. "Vandal Savage. Destroyer of empires."
Leonard couldn't let that go unanswered and decided to tweak Savage. "Leonard Snart. Robber of ATM's." Maybe his ego would take a hit thinking a petty criminal was about to defeat him. He ducked around the corner and fired at Savage but couldn't hit him.
Movement behind them became Carter Hall. He'd found his mace.
"It's still two against four!" Mick liked those odds. He ignored Carter and shot at Savage who dodged.
"Come on!" Savage threw the gauntlet.
Mick accepted and charged at their nemesis followed by Leonard. They would have to hold him back until Kendra got her hands on her mace. She needed that weapon to kill Savage.
Backing against the corridor, both men avoided shots fired by Savage. A loud clanging came from behind as Palmer, now wearing his suit, brushed past and attacked Savage. Idiot thought Leonard. He was getting too close. Didn't he remember that Savage had bested both Mick and Sara in hand to hand? Apparently not.
"Haircut! Move your fat head so I can get off a clean shot!"
Leonard had a moment to realize what was happening as Savage grabbed Palmer's arm and used his energy beam against them. The wall exploded behind them and the flames scorched him. He was thrown to the ground where he lost consciousness.
"You okay?" The growly voice penetrated the darkness as Leonard regained consciousness. He opened his eyes to see Mick looking down at him. He ached in every bone and his skin felt tight where it had been burned but he seemed to be whole otherwise. "The others?"
"Kendra took out Savage before taking Carter to the med bay. Haircut woke me up and then followed them. Apparently, he doesn't trust that Carter is back."
"Is he? Back I mean."
"Seems so. Rip told me to see about you while he went back to the main deck. He mentioned something about Sara flying the Waverider." Mick helped his partner lean back against the wall. "Can you stand?" He held back offering to help as Snart stood up with a wince of pain. "You ok?"
"I think so." Leonard took a few steps. His balance was passable. "So what now? Kendra didn't kill Savage did she?"
"No. Now, we wait. We should be getting to the Vanishing Point soon." Mick had one plan for the moment. He'd grab the whiskey bottle from his room and go polish it off in one of the smaller bays. The two separated and went their own way.
Leonard went to his room. What next? Gideon filled him in about what was happening on the bridge now that the ship was docked. He didn't want to go up there because then he'd lash out with "I told you so!" Rip had left into the Vanishing Point with Savage and the ship was being held in place by a tractor beam. Who would play Obi Wan? he wondered. In the tiny bathroom, he cleaned off the ash from the back of his neck. It was tender from the burns he'd gotten during the fight. He heard a knock at the door. Thinking it was Mick, he answered only to see Sara there.
"I'm glad you didn't leave when you tried to. You held off Savage long enough for Kendra to win." She tilted her head to one side before reaching out to grab his chin to turn his head from side to side. "Those look painful." She could see that he had several burns. "You want help?"
Leonard went back into the bathroom to get the ointment he still had and handed it to her.
"Sit down, I can't reach."
Once Leonard's head was below hers, she applied the ointment on all the burns she could see. She watched his hands clench as she touched each one. "Sorry."
Finished, she stepped back as Leonard stood up. They stared at each other at a loss. He wondered if she would call him on his act of self-preservation about leaving the team.
"Gin?" she asked. It was an olive branch. At his nod, she hopped onto his bed and settled against the wall.
Knowing that if he sat down, he'd probably not be able to move soon, he stood and leaned against the bed. They played in companionable silence avoiding talking about what had just happened. Both hoped Rip would get the satisfaction he wanted and that they could all leave.
She was snatching a card off the stack when Leonard heard a clanging sound. "Did you hear that?"
"Don't try to distract me." Sara wanted him to relax. He was still wired from the fight and was imagining things now.
"We need to find somewhere to hide." Leonard laid his cards on the bed and went to the door.
"Why do we need to find somewhere to hide?"
More for himself than any explanation for her, he said, "Alexa."
Almost done. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and if you feel motivated, I love to read a review about your thoughts about it.