Chapter 11: The Magnificent Eight – Part 2

'What is it about you people that whenever we go to a new timeline, you feel the need to pick up...strays?' Rip said as we walked back onto the Waverider where Rip was waiting for us.

'Nice. I didn't get to see it last time around' Hex said

'Last time?' Ray asked

'A long story, which we will not be telling' Rip said shocked

'My coat suits you good' Hex commented

'What are you doing here, Jonah?' Rip asked

'Collecting on a bounty, wetting my whistle, when your friends here got in a lot of trouble' Hex explained

'We might've gotten into a barroom brawl back in town' Ray muttered

'Well, that was entirely predictable' Rip said annoyed

'One of them poured lead into a member of the Stillwater gang' Hex added

'Mr. Rory' Rip guessed

'Snart, actually' Ray corrected

'Oh, that was gonna be my next guess or Kaylee' Rip said sarcastically as I smirked

'This guy tried to kill Grey. Snart saved him' Jax explained

'And brought this town a whole lot of hell in the bargain. Those boys you were trading hands with in the saloon... they're all members of the Stillwater gang' Hex explained

'Why can't a gang ever be a bunch of good guys?' Ray asked amused

'Jeb Stillwater and his friends been raiding this town for the past three months. Stealing, robbing, killing' Hex explained

'Well, he'll have to go through us' Ray said firmly

'No, he won't. No doubt your... your little ruckus has already placed the timeline at risk, to say nothing of potentially alerting the Hunters to our presence here' Rip explained

'Sounds like someone's planning on busting out of town again' Hex commented

'Leaving already?' Mick asked walking into the room.

'Look whose awake' I said smirking and Mick glared at me.

'You got lucky' Mick muttered

'Tell yourself whatever you want to sleep at night Mick' I said winking and Leonard growled annoyed as he watched our interaction.

'No. No. Look, this town is being terrorized by the Stillwater gang. And I aim to do something about it' Ray explained ignoring our bantering.

'You "aim to"? You getting all native on us, Haircut?' Mick said amused

'Look, we signed on to this mission...' Ray started to explain

'To stop Vandal Savage' Rip finished

'To be heroes. And saving a town from a marauding gang of criminals... that is what heroes do' Ray corrected.

'Quite a posse of saints you're riding along with nowadays' Hex said laughing. I saw Kendra walking towards us, before turning around and leaving.

'Hey. Bridge is, uh, that way' I said, running after her.

'Yeah, I'm not going to the bridge. I'm, uh... Where am I going, Gideon?' Kendra asked confused

'The valley you described is consistent with Albano Gulch' Gideon replied

'Yeah, there' Kendra said

'Okay, wait. Why?' I asked

'Back at the saloon, I ran into a woman, and she caused me to have more memory flashes, so... I think I might have known her in one of my past lives. And if so, she might be able to help me find Carter' Kendra explained

'Wait. So you're just gonna run out there and try and find her?' I asked

'Actually, I was planning on flying' Kendra corrected

'You want a partner in crime?' I asked

'Why?' Kendra asked confused and I remained quiet

'You want to avoid Leonard' Kendra concluded and I avoided eye contact, which confirmed her suspicion.

'Okay, fine' Kendra agreed

'But you're definitely not carrying me' I added

'How do you propose we get there?' Kendra asked

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'You know, there's something weird going on with your face' Kendra joked as we rode on horseback in the countryside.

'What?' I asked confused

'You're smiling. I didn't know you could do that' Kendra said amused

'Well, don't tell anyone my secret. It's just all of this... it's so pure, so simple. I'd say I miss simple, but I guess you have to experience something first to miss it' I muttered as we stopped.

'I know what you mean. I've been having more and more memory flashes lately, and I'm not entirely sure why' Kendra explained to me

'Well, if this woman was a friend of yours in a past life, hopefully she'll have another piece for your puzzle' I said

'I feel like I'm being drawn to this place' Kendra muttered

'Which way?' I asked

'There' Kendra said as we kept on riding. We soon arrived at a hut.

'I wonder why she lives alone all the way out here' Kendra asked

'Because... I value my privacy!' The woman shouted, pointing a gun at us.

'Wait, wait, wait. Don't you remember me... from the saloon back in Salvation?' Kendra asked

'I remembered you, you wigged-out little girl. If I'd wanted to talk to you then, I would have talked to you then. I ain't fixing to talk to you now. Now, get off of my land!' She said to us rudely

'Listen, we're not trying to start any trouble' I said calmly

'Do you want that pretty little mouth of yours filled with lead?' She threatened me

'Your friend has a colourful personality' I said amused

'I ain't got friends. I keep to myself' The woman said

'She's right. She wasn't my friend. I was her' Kendra said in realization.

We lit a fire and the old Kendra showed us a photo of her and old Carter.

'We sat for that picture at the county fair, 1830. He looked like such a gentleman' Old Kendra explained

'What was his name?' Kendra asked

'Hannibal. Hannibal Hawkes' Old Kendra explained

'And what happened?' Kendra asked

'Was it Savage?' I asked

'What is this?' Kendra asked pointing to a bracelet.

'It looks familiar' Kendra added

'That was ours in our first life' Old Kendra explained

'I remember' Kendra said suddenly

'We crossed with Savage in Jefferson City. He had it with him. We escaped with it and our lives' Old Kendra explained

'Do you still have it?' Kendra asked

'We lost it to bandits about a year later. We heard that the Pinkertons were after the same bandits, but we just...' Old Kendra started to explain

'Hey. What is it?' I asked Kendra as she seemed to be thinking.

'Objects present at the moment of my... our first death can be used to kill Savage. So, if I can get my hands on that bracelet, then...' Kendra started to explain

'You're going to try to kill Savage with a bracelet?' Old Kendra asked confused

'You need to stop' Old Kendra said simply

'Stop what?' Kendra asked

'Fighting our destiny. Ain't destiny what brought you here?' Old Kendra asked

'What part of destiny is she fighting?' I asked

'All of it. We get reborn. We find Hannibal... Carter... then Savage finds us, and then we die. That's... that's the way it is. It's the way it's always gonna be' Old Kendra explained

'I don't believe that' Kendra argued

'Well, I have a few more years on you. You can't break the cycle. That's why I live out here, alone' Old Kendra explained

'For the rest of your life?' Kendra asked

'Well, I guess I had to figure that out the hard way. I was still a young woman when Savage left me a widow. Instead of waiting for him to find me and kill me so that I could love my Hannibal in the next life, I tried to find love in this one. Talk about a curse' Old Kendra explained

'What happened?' Kendra asked softly

'He was a good man, but he wasn't a soul mate. It was like fate was trying to break us apart. Eventually, fate broke both our hearts. So I made a promise to myself that I wasn't gonna do that to a person again' Old Kendra explained as I looked at her and knew she was thinking about Ray.

'I'm... I'm sorry to hear that' Kendra said

'No, I'm who's sorry... to have to be the one to let you know that you're never going to be able to love anyone else, ever. How much do you know about our previous lives? I reckon not a lot because you didn't recognize me, so let me tell you that we did love other men... loved them real and pure, but it never ended well, not ever. Tragedy or heartbreak... that's how it always ends if the man's not Carter' Old Kendra explained firmly

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