Happy Easter, everyone! So, if you're reading this, thanks for giving this Legends story with a heavy mythology-based prologue a chance. There's going to be more focus on the Legends, I promise. Either way, on to the story!
LadeAwesome45321: I needed to introduce the main antagonist and what better way to do so than the prologue? I will take some more liberties with Greek mythology, but whenever possible, I will stay true to it. Thanks for the review!
Fighting the unicorn was a bit weird. The Fairy Godmother had been even stranger. But seeing a grown woman transform into an eight-foot-tall sphinx trumped everything they had ever seen – well, almost everything. At the same time, they witnessed the first instance of two Fugitives – a female ghost and some Irish folk hero – peacefully giving up their place and returning to the world they had come from. By now, the Legends had learned not to expect anything too specific when dealing with these Fugitives, as literally anything could happen.
After the adventure with the Sphinx, the Legends decided they deserved a little break from hunting Fugitives. It was so crazy, they needed it. Of course, when the time seismograph indicated some Fugitive was wreaking havoc, they would immediately jump into action. But for now, they relaxed and waited for their friends in 2018 to come and visit them on the Waverider.
Sara, Ray, and Zari waited on the bridge while Mick and John were somewhere on the ship. They were either minding their own business or annoyed each other for invading the personal space they so desired because they had to share their space and time with a prick.
"When did they say they would arrive again?" Ray asked.
"You don't have to ask this every two minutes," a frustrated Zari muttered under her breath. It was still loud enough for Ray and Sara to hear.
"They'll be here soon," Sara said in a reassuring tone that was more for Ray than Zari.
Ray nodded. There probably was some little something in the Time Bureau they had to take care of before they could return to the Waverider. Besides, Ray suddenly remembered, it was impossible to be late – they could easily enter the Waverider's present time with the time courier whenever they wanted to.
The thought had only just crossed his mind when a window to the Time Bureau opened. Nate and Wally passed through the time portal and boarded the time ship. The two were heartily welcomed back.
Nata and Ray immediately hugged each other – this was the longest they had gone without one another since Nate joined the Legends. When you were jumping from one point in time to another and passed from one adventure to the next, you'd want your best friend by your side, if only to share those awesome moments.
Wally turned to Zari and they greeted each other with wide grins on their faces. Zari may not have liked the speedster at first, but as the two newest members of the Legends, they worked well together and had become good friends over the months. She would never openly admit she missed him on the ship, but Wally knew and that was enough.
"Where's Ava?" The time courier-generated portal closed before anyone else could pass through it. The Time Bureau's director had promised the Waverider's captain she would be visiting soon, whenever her work allowed it.
"She still had a lot of work to do," Nate explained. "She has to re-organize a lot of paperwork that Gary first claimed to have taken care of. She did tell me to tell you she'll swing by next weekend and you're always welcome to visit her in 2018."
Sara nodded in understanding. She left the bridge to return to her room or some other place that wasn't her office. She could catch up with Nate and Wally later; for the time being, it seemed their guests wanted to spend some time with their BFFs first and that they would socialize with the rest of the team later.
But the bridge was not very accommodating to their guests. While Nate and Ray headed to the kitchen – Nate hadn't eaten anything since breakfast and had become quite hungry – Wally and Zari chose to aimlessly wander through the corridors of the Waverider.
"So, how's the soul searching been?" Zari asked him.
Wally shrugged, a smile on his face and his hands in his pockets. "It's been… good. Enlightening."
"That's good to hear," Zari said. There was a small pause, but Zari could not avoid the elephant in the room. "How did it go with your, er, your niece?"
Zari could not help being curious. Despite being a frequent time traveler and having just visited herself and her mother in 2018, meeting your twenty-year-old niece, as of yet unborn in the present time, was a completely different situation. It was strange to refer to the grown woman that had entered the West home uninvited as Wally's niece.
"Turns out she just wants to spend some time with Barry," Wally explained. "She has no bad intentions."
"She sounds like a good person," Zari remarked. She expected nothing less of the daughter of Barry and Iris.
Wally nodded. "I'm sure she is."
A longer pause fell. They stopped strolling and the two friends looked at each other. Another smile appeared on Zari's face.
"It's good to see you again," she said.
Wally grinned. "You too."
In the kitchen, Nate was doing his best to fit an entire sandwich into his mouth. This morning had been crazy and he hadn't had any time to even take a bit of some snack in between assignments, as he previously told Ray. Eventually, he took a large bite. He nodded once and spoke after swallowing that bite.
"These are the best sandwiches!" Nate proclaimed. "The ones at the Time Bureau are a bit stale sometimes. They definitely needed those funds…"
Ray nodded in response. He had tasted one of the Time Bureau sandwiches before, and the Waverider food tasted better by comparison. After Nate took another bite, Ray decided to ask a question that had been on his mind for a while.
"How are things going between you and your dad?"
"We're good," Nate responded. "We're starting to get a bond that we didn't really have before. It feels great that there are no secrets between us anymore. It really improved our communication. Though it's a bit weird he knows about Steel."
The pride he had felt when he could first reveal what he was to his father had changed into a strange sense of embarrassment. It had been Nate's secret – Nate's and his grandfather's. Hank was the missing link and the fact that he knew about Steel felt like some sort of violation he could not quite put his finger on. Nate convinced himself the feeling would pass, but he wondered when it would eventually pass.
"He should be proud to have a time-traveling superhero as a son," Ray said.
"If he's proud, he's still not very good at showing it," Nate retorted. He ate what was left of his sandwich.
"Say, have you found Nora Darhk yet?" Nate asked out of the blue. Ray frowned and panicked, a semi-surprised expression on his face. Seeing Ray's reaction, Nate sighed. "I work at the Time Bureau, I've seen the 'missing' posters."
That made sense. "Not yet," Ray replied.
"She is a dangerous woman."
"Definitely."
"She should be serving her time."
Ray shrugged. "Well…"
"So why did you enable her to escape?"
For the second time, Ray acted shocked and surprised in an incredibly bad way. "What? No! I-I didn't—"
"Yes, you did," Nate said resolutely. The expression on his face suggested that he knew what Ray had done and that he would not believe any possible lies Ray may try to sell him. "Dude, I get it. You're all about second chances and you wanted to give Nora that second chance. But's she's Nora Darhk. She and her father freed Mallus and wanted to wreck time!"
Ray did not know how to react to that. Yes, she did some bad things in the past, but Ray had this gut feeling. She was going to be a good person without her father's influence. That did not excuse the bad things she had done. Now he thought about it, he may have helped her evade a jail sentence she may have deserved, but he did not want her to waste away in jail. Ray's conscience was clear.
Nate shook his head after a lack of response. "You have horrible taste in women."
The color flushed out of Ray's face. "Is it that obvious?"
"It kinda is," Nate confessed. "Just… don't let her go to your head, man."
"I'll try," Ray promised. He did fantasize about seeing Nora again. Still, he could only guess what would happen when he saw her again, but he was certain that she would have changed. She had to have changed for the better. Nate didn't think Ray would be able to get over it if it turned out Nora hadn't changed at all.
Sara found her way back to the captain's office, after finding there was nothing she could do in her own room or any other room on the ship. At least in her office, she could do some of the paperwork the Time Bureau had asked her to do. If she reported each Fugitive they fought and returned to hell or was taken captive, they could prove that they did need the government funds. When she was done filing the paperwork for the unicorn and the Fairy Godmother, she could train a bit. It's been a while since she's done this and it seemed like a good reward for doing the boring side of her job.
"Captain Lance, it seems you have a visitor."
Sara's heart skipped a beat and a grin appeared on her face. she looked into the bridge, hoping to see Ava walking around and announcing her work was done for the day.
Their visitor was not Ava. Instead, a man strolled into the bridge as if he belonged there. He was dressed casually, but when Sara saw him, she was immediately reminded of some politician. He did look familiar – or maybe that was just that politician-like face that made her think she knew him.
Either way, he should not be here. It was impossible – the radar did not show any other time ship in the Waverider's vicinity and if he worked for the Time Bureau, he would have been wearing a suit and tie, not some jacket and jeans. The main question on her mind was about how this man acquired a time courier and the coordinates of the time ship.
"Who are you?" Sara asked, ready to attack if that was needed. Once the man turned his head to Sara, some sort of comfort came over her. She didn't know what it was, but he made her feel comfortable by just looking at her.
"Hello, miss Lance," the man said. "I have news for you and your Legends. Would you mind asking everyone to come over here?" He spoke as if he was used to giving orders and getting his way.
Sara thought about whether or not to trust the strange man who had seemingly popped up out of nowhere if he did not have a time courier. Should she repeat the question? Should she attack or doubt his intentions? Should she ask the team to come over to provide back-up? Eventually, Sara's curiosity took the better of her and she figured the man seemed to have no bad intentions. If he did want to do some harm, he would have already attacked her and he would not have asked Sara to assemble the remaining Legends.
"Gideon," Sara said, ready to give the order.
"Already on it," Gideon responded, having followed the conversation and now asking the Legends to come to the bridge. While the Legends made their way to the bridge, Sara did not take her eyes off of the strange man and only one thought crossed her mind.
Who is that man?