Chapter 2

11:12 PM

Quentin kept looking at his daughter. "I realize that as a man who has fallen off the wagon more than once in the past couple of years, I'm in no position to throw stones," he said gently. "Hell, I showed up to work drunk more often then I did sober before and after you came back to civilization. So I'm not judging. All I want to know is why, knowing everything in our family history, you decided it would be a good idea if your team had a few drinks before they met their new bosses."

"Ollie never called them bosses." Quentin just looked at his daughter. Sara sighed. "It started out as a study session, actually. We wanted to impress Mulder and Scully. Show them that we were worth their faith in us."

"And what went wrong?" Quentin asked.

"We read them," Sara said simply. "I realize compared to some of the things we've faced over the last couple of years – and that's before we met up with Rip – we should have been prepared for it. It's just…. I lost count of how many times the near colonization was supposed to happen and was put off only because of a worse force. And everybody just started getting quiet. So I thought, maybe it would help if we got some liquid courage before we had to face the inevitable. "

"Because that always goes so well with our group," Oliver said sadly. "I don't necessarily blame you. Everybody who's seen some of the things in the files or heard the stories has felt more than overwhelmed. But I don't think any of us took into mind what your group does to let off steam."

"Maybe getting drunk is healthier than beating the shit out of criminals or running away from your problems," Diggle admitted.

"How mad are they?" Sara asked.

"They're not." Sara looked at Barry in disbelief. "Mulder's actually disappointed that all you did was get drunk and Scully's grateful that you didn't destroy anything on route to getting here."

Sara shook her head. "We may have gotten involved in a bar brawl." Team Arrow looked at her. "Or two. Or maybe six, I lost count. Does the fact that we now work for the government mean that they'll pay for property damages?"

"I asked Mulder about that." Felicity sighed. "Queen Enterprises going to be making a generous donation to various local merchants in Central City."

Sara winced. "You should let them bill us."

"Mulder insisted we pay for it since I seemed to embrace the role of martyr." Oliver shook his head. "I don't even know what that means. All Scully would say was that it was an inside joke. "

"Well, it's not like we don't have our share of those," Felicity looked at the woman she had once considered a rival for Oliver's love. "For the record I don't blame you or anyone in your group for what you did. I've seen some of the photos. I've never wished that I had a super power before, but when I heard those stories about death camps in Virginia, I wanted to have something so that I could break a lot of crap. Every time I think I've seen the worst humanity has to offer, something keeps setting the bar lower."

"That actually got to us worse than the idea of alien invaders," Sara admitted. "For the record the people behind these atrocities are all well and truly dead, right?"

"The ones in the files, yes," Oliver said. "As to whether someone has decided to carry on the work in their name, well that's one of the things we need to find out about. "

Sara nodded. "I'm going to need another hour to make sure my head is clear."

"You're going to need it," Quentin told his daughter. "These guys are sharp. Your collective facilities may have been compromised, but all of you managed to keep the big secret you were keeping from slipping. There's no guarantee any of you will do the same when they finally start briefing you."

Sara nodded. "Where's everybody else?"

"Snart and Rory are off with Cisco working on a hangover cure they perfected working together," Felicity said slowly. "Ray, Stein and that new guy Jackson, they said they had a different way of clearing their heads. And they asked for assistance helping them."

"Who's with them?"

THE OUTSKIRTS OF CENTRAL CITY

11:32 P.M.

In the last few weeks Kara had gotten used to setting the pace with Barry. (They used the aftermath for other activities that neither of them wanted to be nearly as quick at.) However, the chance to do it with heroes could also fly – albeit not the same method she did – was something that she would have wanted to see for herself.

So this time Supergirl didn't try to break the speed of sound, letting the Atom and Firestorm try to match a more gradual pace. Simultaneously she was trying to take the measure of two different types of heroes – one a more advanced metahuman than some of the ones she dealt with before, the other a man flying solely under the power of machines. She'd actually asked Barry and Oliver if either would mind if she tried to work with them in the days and weeks to come – among the Legends, they were the ones whose abilities were closest to hers.

She came in for a gentler landing than she usually did when she trying to strike fear into her enemies. Firestorm took the approach and came in for a quieter landing with the Atom nearly matching her style.

"Did we pass the test?" Ray asked.

"That's depends on whether I administer a breathalyzer right now," Kara said dryly. She waited politely for Stein and Jackson to separate.

"I have to give both of you a lot of credit," she said more seriously. "I've had to deal with some mind-melding techniques the past year. I'm impressed how well the two of you manage to function, especially considering…the circumstances that led to your getting together."

Martin appreciated the fact that she wasn't bringing Robbie into this.

"Felicity told me that you were a genius," Kara turned her attention to Ray. "I know some pretty smart people at the DEO and I know how high her standards are, but this really does surpass even them. I'm actually kind of amazed you were able to deal with everything else the year before that. You sure you don't want to deal with any government contracts?"

"I have a feeling we're kind of occupied at the moment," Ray said. "Then again, considering why we're here, circumstances might change."

"And now that we're in a relatively secluded space, I think its time you might do us a simple courtesy," Jackson said.

"Jefferson is about to ask whether you've seen any of these aliens at family reunions," Stein said.

"You'd think I'd be tired of answering that question by now," Kara said simply. "And it would almost be easier if I did know them. The simple answer, I don't."

"And the more complicated one?" Ray asked.

Kara sighed. "Well, you're going to find out anyway." She told them what she had learned from her last visit to the Fortress of Solitude. "So the planet that sent me here to save Earth apparently left out the fine print saying: 'Just not from them.'"

The three men took this in. "Mick may have been right when he said we were fucked," Ray finally said. "Pardon my French."

"I know some words in Krypton that are just as vulgar," Kara waved it off. "I have no more intention of surrendering that Mulder or Scully ever did under far less likely odds."

"What did they say when you told them?" Stein asked.

"Basically that it was another out of touch authority figure who didn't know what she was talking about," Kara shook her head. "When I reminded them it was my mother, Mulder basically told me that she's still better than his. "

Ray looked puzzled. "I thought his father was the one involved with the Conspiracy."

"He still won't talk much about her," Kara said. "All he'll say was that at least his father died sorry for what he did. His mother went to her grave refusing to even acknowledge the horrors that her husband might have been involved in."

"How important is the Mulder family to this conspiracy?" Jackson asked. "The files are kind of vague on that point."

"Mulder's father – and there's still some doubt as to who exactly that is - basically surrendered to the Syndicate in 1973. They handed over their families to the aliens. For the longest time, Mulder believed his sister had died as a part of it. I was as shocked as he was when she showed up a few months ago."

"Samantha was clearly his Holy Grail when he was the FBI," Stein pointed out. "I can't imagine the stories she has to tell about the conspiracy."

"She's given us a fair amount of details the last few months," Kara told them. "Sadly, most of the details she has are about the old Syndicate rather than the new one. She's spent the last couple of months on extended trips trying to find connections."

"I'm surprised anyone lets her out of their sight," Jackson said. "Hell, given what I've read, she must have to prove she's human every time she comes back. No offense."

"The DEO has her fitted with a GPS and keeps satellites on her every time she does, so absolutely none taken," Kara admitted. "If it were strictly up to us, there'd be at least one metahuman or a fleet of armed guards following every movement she makes."

"I'm surprised her brother doesn't insist on it," Ray pointed out.

"He's not wild about it, but he keeps saying: 'She's a Mulder. By definition, we only call for backup when it's too late." Kara wondered how much of that was a genuine joke considering how horrific had been the circumstances of their first 'reunion' and how it had ended. Even knowing in hindsight that had not been the real Samantha she couldn't imagine the scars it must have left on him for years.

"This is the part where we apologize to coming to this meeting nearly knockdown drunk, by the way," Ray said softly.

"Knowing some of the things I do now, I think your collective reaction was relatively measured," Kara said gently.

"How much effort did it take to keep us from beating us each other senseless?" Ray asked gently.

"You really don't remember?" Kara raised an eyebrow. "Because there is security footage. I'm sure Cisco would be happy to replay it."

"Mr. Ramone and Miss Snow were watching?" Stein looked a little embarrassed.

"He said he was considering making copies and selling it under the brand name:' Heroes Gone Wild!'" Kara said dryly. "Thought it would make a nice retirement fund if we survive the alien apocalypse."

"Well, at least some things haven't changed in the last few months," Ray said dryly.

"I can understand why most of you decided the best way to handle learning about your impending doom was to go a local bar, get hammered and then pick as many fights as possible," Kara said dryly. "Mulder told me once he actually managed to learn about a major colonization plot just that way. But Dr. Stein, I have to say I'm really disappointed in you. I only know you by reputation and I'm very aware that often asking the elder statesmen of the group to be dignified is often a lost cause. Still, I expected better."

Stein and Jackson looked at each other. "Don't try to lay this one on me, Grey," Jackson said. "You're the one who ordered the first bottle."

"I will not pretend that this justifies my actions any more than the rest of us," Stein began slowly. "But while I was going through the majority of the files, there were names of scientists I respected who swore their allegiance to the forces of evil."

Jefferson clearly was surprised by that. "You know any of them personally?" he asked in a more gentle tone.

"Some only by reputation, but yes, there were a few I'd met on occasion," Stein admitted. "I've always considered myself a good judge of character, even thought I was completely fooled by Harrison Wells for the previous fifteen years. But before many of these men and women died, I'd worked with some of them. Read their findings in journals and articles. It's one thing to know your work isn't being used for moral purposes; it's another to betray your own planet."

"I'm still trying to figure it out which is worse," Ray admitted. "That several of these scientists were working to colonize our planet or that we not only recruited Nazis to work for us but were willing to build camps for them in case they got homesick."

"I honestly think that shook me more than the whole alien invasion bit," Jefferson admitted. "Don't get me wrong; even I know the government's had a great track record when it comes to dealing with people like me. I just didn't realize that the only real equality America's had is being experimented and cataloged by the powers that be."

"It is a lot," Kara admitted. She paused. "Barry and Oliver have told me that a lot of the missions you have run the past year have been observing more than trying to change anything."

"It would help if you had dates and places," Ray reminded her. "I've been through those files. As thorough as Mulder and Scully were, there weren't much of either."

"When the Syndicate got started, maybe when they were making their deals with the devil, we may not have any." Kara hesitated. "But Mulder and Scully kept very accurate accounts of their encounters with the Syndicate. And if we can find answers to that, maybe we can start filling in some of those blanks."

"This is kind of going against what you and the others were telling us yesterday," Jackson reminded her.

Kara was reluctant to say but she thought she had to. "Scully was taken by something in August of 1994. For all the theorizing she and Mulder have done over the years, they still don't know who or what. But the results are clear. They turned her into a lab rat and left her to die. She recovered, but less than a year later she was diagnosed with a cancer that should have killed her. And while she was still trying to process that, she learned that she'd been left barren and later found out a child had been harvested from her and grown in a lab. She died before she even got to know she existed. I'm honestly not sure whether Emily's existence even bothers her more than what happened with William. She had two children and she's never gotten to be a mother."

"I read the files, Miss Danvers," Stein said gently.

"Then you also know that Dana Scully was just one heaven knows how many women," Kara said. "In November of 1995, she went to a meeting of MUFON in Allentown. The moment she answered the door, an entire group of women recognized her immediately. She told me she spent much of the next two years completely denying everything that happened to her under the guise of three words:' I don't remember.' I don't know whether I'm angrier as an alien or as a woman, and in either case, its irrelevant. Scully deserves to know who took her and what happened to her."

"According to you, all those people are dead," Stein reminded her. "Even if we looked, we can't change anything."

"I know," Kara said. "But these… abominations have gotten away with what they've done for decades because they hid in the shadows and out of reach. I don't think it'll give her peace or even closure. But the two of them spent decades trying to expose the truth to the world. They deserve to know it themselves."

STAR LABS

12:31 AM

Cisco Ramone, who spent much of his formative years mixing chemical concoctions, looked a little squeamish at the color of the liquid that Leonard Snart had been mixing for the last ten minutes. It wasn't so much the mixtures from the lab that worried him as it was what Snart had asked Barry to buy at the local convenience store.

Even Joe, who had dealt with his share of drunks over the years, looked a little disgusted. "Couldn't you just use a prairie oyster and be done with it?" he asked.

"The prairie oyster actually has alcohol in it," Mick reminded Joe. "And it takes at least two hours to take effect. This should have our heads clear in thirty minutes. I'm going to need that, and I know damn sure Snart is."

"You're taking advice from him?" Barry said dryly.

"In many things I'm the expert," Snart said, not looking up from the mixing "This is one of those areas where I yield the floor to my old friend. "

By now the mixture was a shade of green that would not have looked out of place on Oliver's costume. Barry was getting nauseous just looking at it. "You're actually going to drink that?" he asked.

"Not yet," Mick said. Both he and Snart reached for their weapons. "After you."

Snart used the weapon of Captain Cold to chill the concoction. Three seconds later, Heat Wave fired on it. Strangely enough, not only did the glass not break but when the steam had clear, the substance was now purple.

"How exactly did you learn how to do this?" Caitlin looked like she was trying to decide to be shocked or impressed.

"We may not have gone to the Ivy League, Miss Snow, but there are things that you pick up when you spend your time in juvenile detention that can be more valuable than the degrees on your walls," Snart said as he poured glasses for both Mick and himself.

"Big difference was there, it usually took us half an hour and three sets of glasses before we got enough for it to work," Mick said. He raised his glass to Snart. 'L'chaim."

The weirdness just kept coming. "You know Hebrew?"

"You know how many bars we've been in over the years," Leonard reminded him. "We can toast in fifteen different languages and curse in seventeen."

Before they could properly digest that, both Snart and Mick downed their entire glasses. Barry wasn't sure but he thought he might have actually steam coming from their ears.

"We'd offer you one, Flash, but we have a feeling it might not have an affect on your metabolism," Mick said a few seconds later as if nothing had happened.

"I saw what you put in there. I'm afraid it would," Barry said.

"I can already feel it working," Mick said. "Which is good. Though it means we have to start facing the Feds soon, and that ain't gonna be pretty."

"Why? Because you and the rest of the Legends embarrassed yourself in front of them?" Cisco's disdain for these two was barely in check.

"Humiliation's never been one of our problems. What my old friend is getting at is that they're going to like the fact that we knew one of the names in the file well before we even heard of Mulder and Scully."

Barry wasn't entirely surprised by this given the circles these two had been in. "How closely did you work with them?"

"It was a long time ago. When it is safe to say that both of us could be considered too young to know better," Snart actually seemed less snarky than usual. "Mick and I finally aged out of juvie and we were getting to the point when we were starting to run jobs on our own."

"How long ago was this?" Joe asked.

"Spring of 1999, I think. We were planning a heist in the Brighton Beach area of Brooklyn. I'm pretty sure Detective West knows the kinds of unscrupulous characters that hang out there," Snart said.

Joe actually looked impressed. "You were trying to rip off the Russian mob?"

"I did say we were young and stupid," Snart acknowledged. "Back then I was more arrogant than clever. And I thought the Russian mobsters were the weak sister of the Cosa Nostra. "

"Under other circumstances, we should have been killed right then," Mick said in his blunt fashion. "Instead, Snart and I get blindfolded, sent into a warehouse that is below freezing and we stay for who knows how long. Then we here what must have been Russian back and forth. We had no idea what it meant of course, but we were pretty sure it would end with our throats being cut."

"That was the best outcome," Snart added. "Instead, when the blindfold comes off, we see a man. He must have been in his early thirties, close cut hair, feral look. All Mick and I can look at his artificial hand."

The last two words lit up Barry's memory. He decided to let them tell their story. "What did he say?"

"Said we were brave. Not very smart, but brave. Even given it looked we were going to die, I wanted to deck him, he was so smarmy," Mick told them grimly.

"That seems to have been the right attitude to take." Cisco wasn't as hostile any more; he actually sounded impressed.

"He told us that he use people like us for certain work." Snart shook his head. "I was mouthy then, I actually said: 'What would we get for it?'" It was scary how quickly he answered. 'To live.'

"Now I knew damn well we were in no position to bargain, but I didn't want to spend the rest of my life as a slave. So I said the only thing I could think of: 'I can't speak for my friend, but if that's the alternative, I'd prefer you just kill me now and get it over with.'

"The guy was like your friend Queen, he had the perfect poker face but even I could tell he didn't know what to make of this." Mick said. "So he turned to me and asked: 'These guys can be very creative when it comes to getting rid of people who cross them. I'm offering you a way out. I suggest you take it.'

"Now I was fucking terrified, but I'd also been around Snart long enough to know the only way to handle someone trying to bully you is to not give an inch. I looked this rat-faced guy in the eye and I asked: 'How many of them are out there?'

No reaction. 'Five," he says.

"Snart and I have been through enough, so I just tell him. 'It'll take them five minutes before they can finish me off. Use that time to find an advantage.'

"'You really think I'll just leave you here?'"

"Lisa needs you more than I do. Besides, we had a good run."

"I had no intention of leaving Mick and he knew it. I'm pretty sure that guy must have sensed it. Because he walked over to me and snuck a box cutter into my hands. 'If you get out of this alive, my name is Alex." Then he kissed my cheek and whispered 'Good luck' in Russian." He walked out the door."

"Needless to say, we got out of their in more or less one piece," Mick told them. "And needless to say, we didn't make any effort to find him. But I'm pretty sure the man we met was Alex Krycek. I don't think your Feds friends will be too happy to know that he thought we were 'his kind of people."

"I think they may be more upset that you had a sharp blade within distance of his throat and you didn't use it on him," Barry told them.

"I didn't realize they had a bloodthirsty streak," Leonard said admiringly. "They might be our kind of people after all."

"They're usually very live and let live people," Joe West told them. "There are exceptions and he was one of them."

"He is dead, right?" Mick asked. "I mean the file says he got a bullet in the brain, but that don't necessarily mean the end of the story."

"Mulder saw it happen. I know that's not a guarantee, but he's relatively certain," Barry decided not to mention that Mulder had actually talked with the man's ghost. Not because he didn't think they wouldn't believe it but because he didn't think it would assuage their concerns. "To answer your question, they'll probably be impressed the two of you survived an encounter with him. From what I understand, very few people did."

"We would never have worked for him before we knew who he was," Snart said. "We may have been young, but even then the two of us could tell some things about character. And that man had none at all."

Cisco considered this. "That might actually impress them," he said grudgingly. "The fact the two of you knew within a minute he was untrustworthy is impressive. Mulder couldn't tell until he'd killed two people and might have gone so far as to hand Scully over to the Syndicate."

"I'm guessing he was wearing a suit and tie back then?" Barry nodded. "That does seem to lull people into a false sense of security."

"According to him, it was also too big for him," Joe said. "That probably misled them too."

Leonard and Mick took this in. "What did they say about Lisa?" Leonard asked.

"They growled a little but less than you'd expect," Barry told them. "Both of them have…had sisters."

Mick, who had read about Melissa's murder, just nodded.

"Mulder and Scully said they'd try, but you need to know that immunity's going to be a hard sell. For any of you." Barry added.

Neither Leonard nor Mick looked shocked by that. "At least they're not trying to BS on this," Mick said.

"I can't imagine the government's happy to know that the Hood was one of their key allies," Leonard admitted. "And he already had an ally in the government. What chance do three small-time thieves have?"

"That actually works in your favor," Caitlin said. "We showed them your rap sheet and told them all the dealings we had with you the past two years. They said the men they spent their careers tracking commit far more heinous crimes before breakfast then you two have in your entire lives."

"Not sure whether to be impressed or insulted with that," Mick said.

"Take it both ways, old friend. That's still a lot better start than we get with most people with badges," Leonard said.

"The biggest question either of them has is the same one I do," Barry told them. "Will you listen to authority? They know you won't take orders – neither of them was big on that when they had to, and they're not wild about having to give them. All that they're asking is that you listen."

"Hunter asked us the same thing when Mick and I signed up," Leonard told them. "Course he was feeding us a line of crap, but we weren't planning to take him seriously, so it cuts both ways. The bottom line is this. These aliens take over the planet: everybody becomes a slave. Neither of us had any intention of doing that at any point from people on this planet; we're not doing it for people who want to move in without being invited."

"Not to mention I'm pretty sure they take over, they're going to have stricter rules on criminals than the cops too, so there's not much profit there," Mick added.

From these two this was a pretty enthusiastic "Go team." Barry looked at them. "One hour, observation room. Try to get stay sober until then."

"And maybe don't lead with the fact you met Alex Krycek." Cisco added.

STAR LABS OBSERVATION ROOM

12:30 AM

Mulder and Scully looked around as slowly but surely the newest members of the tea – looking less hazy but not much less cocky – walked out into the room. "All right, I think the champagne brunch portion of the team building exercise should be postponed," Mulder said brightly.

"It's nice to meet you too, Agent Mulder," Sara Lance said.

"Oh, we've already met," Scully said with a raised eyebrow. "Granted Caitlin was holding your head up while you vomited into an Erlenmeyer flask, but I saw worse in my residency."

The normally fearless White Canary suddenly found the floor very interesting. "I realize that wasn't the best impression we could have made, but after some of what we saw in those files…"

"You needed to make sure there was still a team you could build with," Mulder finished. "I'm actually surprised, given what you've already seen the past few years."

The warning lights went up.

"On the island with Oliver, as a member of the League of Assassins," Mulder said as if nothing had change. "Leading a team of mercenaries into who knows where. "

It was remarkable how much an incoming threat could push away the remainders of a hangover. Sara inwardly reminded herself to share this information with her friends. "I'll admit I've seen some remarkable and unexplainable things," she said smoothly. "Of course, once I see them I tend to believe them. That's something I can't say for all of you."

A brief smile crossed Mulder's face that instantly disappeared the moment Scully fixed a glare at him. She's gonna make him pay for that later Sara thought.

"By the way, those T-shirts that Barry suggested be made for you guys," Mulder sounded friendlier. "I think you and I may need a separate set."

"Something along the lines of: "I was exhumed after several months and brought back to life and all I got was this lousy T-shirt,' Sara said. "Somehow I think that would draw more stares than my usual costume."

Mulder and Scully, however, weren't smiling. Given what the two had been through in their careers – Scully had attended Mulder's funeral at least twice, Mulder had stood over Scully's deathbed at least as many times, and God knows how many vigils over the other's hospital bed there had been in between – Sara realized that the reactions from just about everybody else about their dying and coming back was far too glib.

"It's always hardest for the ones left behind," she said in a more serious tone. "I turned my father into a drunk once, did the same to my sister when I came back from the dead, and Quentin ended up back in the bottle after the last time. I'm kind of surprised he's handling things so well given the last few months."

"I never developed any bad habits," Mulder said slowly. "But I did come pretty close to doing some pretty dark things when I thought all was lost. Numbing your pain, however you choose to do it, is actually a more forgivable option."

"Sometimes you don't even need to drink to do that," Scully looked like her composure was barely holding together. "I'm actually astonished so many of your friends have held it together as well as they have the past few years."

"You need a support system. I'm actually amazed you got Oliver to sign on to your task force," Sara said only half in jest. "The man was a lone wolf even when he has a team."

"I've been trying to help him work through it," Mulder admitted. Sara must have looked incredulous. "Someone has to learn from all the mistakes I made, and it might as well be the next generation."

"Well from what I understand, you've managed to convince three different groups of heroes the last few months. That's no mean accomplishment."

"I don't think either Scully or I ever saw ourselves as leadership material, but in each case it helped there was common ground. With Kara, it's fairly obvious. Oliver and his team have been fighting shadowy organizations for the past few years, so that took a little less convincing. Barry and everybody at STAR Labs, they've basically spent the last two years learning what we knew about twenty years earlier. So we figured that since you and your team are a compendium of heroes from the latter two groups it would be easier to persuade you." Mulder paused. "I must admit I still feel we're in a bit of a quandary."

"Mulder and I should never been able to work together as well as we did," Scully filled in as she no doubt had so many times. "Our perspectives of the universe were complete contrasts and even when we agreed, it was always reluctantly. So we're comfortable with the idea of getting conflicting views to get along. But that's easier to manage with two people then it is with six."

"You think we don't agree with you about the things you've seen? I can assure you every one of us has seen as much strange shit as the two of you, if not more so," Sara said defensively.

Scully hesitated for a minute. "I know the rest of them are waiting behind the door, so could you please just bring them in?"

Sara nodded reluctantly and slowly, but not unbowed the remainder of the Legends came in.

"The wine and cheese part of the reception is over. It's time for the hard truth," Mulder said. "It's time for the trust-building exercise. In a sense all of us have one thing in common, we don't like being dicked around. So I'll cut to what will be the most important question: When Superman made his debut over the skies of Metropolis, he officially confirmed that alien life existed. What were your immediate reactions?"

There was a hesitation. "I'll go first, because I'm closest to the two of you from a generational standpoint," Stein said. "I felt equal measures of wonder and fear. Wonder, because it confirmed to me and all free-thinkers like yourself, Agent Mulder, that there really was life beyond on own planet. It was a confirmation of the theories of men and women who, in all honesty, I had spent much of my professional career dismissing. Despite that, I was in awe the same way Watt must have been when he realized the power of steam or Bell when he realized the telephone worked. And then another scientist occurred to me: Oppenheimer, when he saw the successful test of the atom bomb. It was not so much that I had become the destroyer of worlds, but I saw the potential for one. Even if Superman was on our side, was there not a possibility that there were others like him with far less pure intentions? I prayed I was wrong, but events have proven that I was right."

He stopped. "Jefferson?"

"I'm never gonna be as elegant as Grey, so I won't try," his better half said. "Awe. That's the only word that fits. Based on where I grew up and what I saw, I thought the world wasn't anything more than what I saw and heard. It was crap and it was always going to be crap. But hell, the first time I saw that blue streak flying through the air and landing, I was amazed. In my entire life, that's the first time I really believed that there might be more to life than just day to day. I actually had hope." Jackson paused. "For a few weeks. Then I went right back to trying to make it through the day. I never thought what it might mean. I certainly never thought I'd be able to fly through the sky myself someday. Hell, things keep going this way I might actually meet him."

"Is that on the table?" Sara asked curiously.

"We're trying to put it off as long as possible," Mulder said honestly. "It's not that he wouldn't help, it's that as soon as he gets involved with our problem, this becomes an alien vs. alien conflict. We've been on the outside of one of those; they're not pretty and they're hard to win support for." He turned to Snart and Rory. "Back to the previous question. I imagine you two have a different perspective then some of the rest."

"I won't speak for Mick, but it did affect my approach to doing business," Snart said. "Superman was a warning shot across the bow of every one of my associates. The ultimate in being scared straight and there were quite a few of my colleagues that did retire."

"But you didn't consider it," Scully's voice was neutral, but Snart knew better than make judgments based on that perceived neutrality.

"Initially the Man of Steel made it is his life's work to go after every minor criminal in Metropolis. I assumed liked Barry he had a near infinite reserve but someone must have convinced him to redirect his energy towards only the world ending crisis after awhile." Leonard told them. "The only criminals he went after were the really big ones, some of whom if we read the files right way may end up having to face ourselves."

"There's a Luthor on that list, yes," Mulder agreed.

"Snart convinced me even before we got our new toys that we never pull a job within fifty miles of Metropolis," Mick took up the story. "I may have been the muscle part of the operation, but it would take a man much dumber than me to not realize that you don't shit where the Man of Steel eats. The other part was a little tougher, but it really didn't bother me that much. We were going to be criminals, but we were never going to be big time enough that we ever end up on Superman's radar."

"I have a feeling that Mr. Allen might tend to disagree with that thought," Scully put forth.

"He's the one who pointed us towards being Legends in the first place," Leonard reminded her. "Just because we're outlaws doesn't mean we don't have a code. We knew long before we learned of your conspiracy that many of the men in power wouldn't dream of saying as much."

Reluctantly Scully was beginning to see what Barry had seen in Snart in particular. He was a little too much like Mulder for comfort. She really hoped he didn't pick up on that. "Mr. Palmer?" she asked.

"As Felicity can know doubt relate, I've had desires to be a force against crime for my entire adult life," Ray began slowly. "Oliver probably doesn't like knowing this, but I've actually wanted to be a hero longer than he has and I've certainly put more energy to it. I'm closer to your point of view than Mulder's when it comes to approach; I wanted to use the power of science to fight against the forces of evil. So when Superman first made his debut a little more than four years ago, I had a hard time rationalizing it. Many of my friends growing up believed that aliens might be out there; I'm not sure I ever seriously considered the question until that very moment."

"And when the truth was out there?" Mulder asked with a small smile.

"It threw me," Ray admitted. "I think I spent quite a few weeks with what I had seen and heard always at the back of mind. What did it mean for science, what did it mean for Earth, what did it mean for mankind, that word we use so often that we never even consider there might be any alternative? I wasn't alone, I think the whole world was wrestling with that for that long and probably there are a lot of people who still are."

"Some of us were wrestling with long before you," Scully said with a similar smile to Mulder's. "Though not as long as others."

"What finally drove me to focus on everything else was the Reckoning," Ray told them. "It wasn't just the horror of the actual event. It's that then and for the aftermath, Superman was alien non grata. He was willing to show up for every other major flood, fire or earthquake in the world, but he couldn't be bothered to handle Starling City. I don't know if he was waiting for the Hood to show up or whether his dance card was full, and honestly its irrelevant. The Daily Planet never posted a headline: MAN OF STEEL TO STAR CITY: DROP DEAD, but it was made clear by his absence."

There was bitterness in Ray's voice that not even many of the Legends were used to.

"I know how Felicity and Team Arrow dealt with the situation, and I took a similar approach. I did everything in my power to start making the Atom Suit more viable and building my fortune so I could help rebuild the city. I suspect Oliver spent a lot of time doubting my intentions when I took over Queen Consolidated, even though our goals were the same. But a lot of the reason I did what I did was because others wouldn't step in." Ray took a deep breath. "I know it's a childish thing, but I have a very clear idea what I'd like to do if I meet Superman, and that's punch him in the face. I'd probably break my hand doing it, even in the suit, but there's a petty part of me that thinks it would be worth it."

"Wow boy scout," Mick actually sounded impressed. "If I knew you had that much bitterness in you…well, I'd probably still have teased you but I'd have been more careful about what I said."

"We both know you wouldn't have," Ray said with a shrug.

Mulder looked at Sara. "I assume you've had a reason to save your comments for last," he asked.

"You have to understand where I was at the time, I was even more out of reach than Oliver was," Sara began slowly. "The League of Assassins didn't believe in modern technology and given the level of seclusion, even news of the magnitude of a man flying through the sky took awhile to reach us."

"I didn't ask when you heard, I asked what your reaction was," Mulder reminded her.

"I had seen a lot already. I might have been more dulled to wonder than even Oliver was at the time," Sara said carefully. "And where I was, anything the level of Superman was viewed as a threat more than a wonder. So I did what I did with so much over the years I was missing. I compartmentalized. Part of me may have even dismissed it as legend, something of a rumor. I was living in that part of the world."

"And when you learned it was true?" Scully asked.

"It made me doubt my place in the world," Sara finally said. "I was grateful for everything I'd learned from the League, but their…mission statement, for lack of a better term, had always troubled me. And the fact that so many people I had considered friends now considered Superman not merely something dangerous, but something that needed to be removed for the good of the world, that bothered me. I was happy there, I'd found love in the most unlikely of places. But when I learned that this new arrival hadn't changed anybody's point of view, I knew I couldn't stay there any longer. I started making plans to come back to Star City. And even after everything that happened to me and my friends, I still don't regret that decision."

"All right, now the class has shared. Now will our instructor please explain what the lesson plan is?" Snart finally asked.

"Just to be clear, this wasn't a test question," Mulder said. "I've been dealing with aliens longer than the rest of you; I needed to know what you thought about the most famous example."

There was a pause. "No," Ray said. "It was a test. The thing is, you're not sure if any of us passed yet"

Mulder sighed. "Back when I took the SATs, which was so long ago the 'A' still stood for Aptitude, a lot of the questions asked you to 'Choose the Best Answer.' Not the right answer, the best answer. I always liked that. It implied not every problem had a right answer, just one that might offer the best solution. Scully and I have been dealing with aliens for a very long time. We've chased them across the country, we've heard of their plans to colonize. We've seen different breed of them, we've seen different races of them. We've even been abducted by them occasionally. All that time, our focus was trying to bring the fact of their existence to the knowledge of the public. It never occurred to me once in all those years what to do if that fact not only became public, but ubiquitous. And now we're like the dog that finally caught the bus: what do we do now? We have to find a way to stop an alien invasion that has been in the works for decades if not centuries. We have the ear of the public, we have the resources, we even have people who can go ten rounds. So what do we do? What is the best answer?"

"And you don't have it," Sara said. "Should we be concerned?"

"There's an alien force coming to take over the world and a shadow government aligned with them; I'm shocked you're not scared shitless," Mulder said matter-of-factly. "But despite what our current educational system may have instructed a full generation of students to belief, life is not a multiple choice test. Even if it was, the best answer doesn't mean the rest of the choices are necessarily wrong. Now that we have enough people, we can find out what happens if we make other choices."

"You must have aced the SATs when you were growing up," Ray said.

"1480. I'd be prouder of it I wasn't now in the company of three people who all got perfect scores on their SATS – two of them when they were thirteen," Mulder said modestly.

"And for those of us who never took them?" Snart asked.

"As we all know, how you do on a test frequently has nothing to do with how smart you are," Scully pointed out. "And smart itself has all kinds of definitions."

"You asked what my lesson plan was," Mulder told them. "I want everybody in the main room in ten minutes. I'm about to give the assignment."

AUTHOR'S NOTES

The inside joke about paying for damage refers to a remark made in the aftermath of the sixth season episode 'Drive' in which Kersh (one the series' true pricks) announced the expenses Mulder had run up at the end of their case and when Mulder tossed off a remark that said 'Put on my bill'. Kersh: "I think I'll bill your partner. You seem to relish the martyr complex."

For the purposes of this series Superman arrived on scene in 2011 (yes that's was the final season of Smallville aired, I'm very clever.) That's where most of the chronology begins for this series. No I still have decided if Superman will show up and if he does which version will. We'll see.

Scully's experience with MUFON was detailed in the classic third season episode Nisei where the members recognized her the moment she walked in the door. The stuff about Scully's pregnancy made up the backbone of the last two seasons. Her cancer was part of Season 4.

Mulder was pronounced dead multiple times, but the funerals took place in Season 3 Blessing Way and Season 8 'Deadalive.' Scully's deathbed moments were One Breath and Redux II.

We never got a clear answer what Krycek's role in the conspiracy was between the end of Season 6 and the rest of the series, but he always had a habit of going rogue. The kiss on the cheek was an homage to Season 5's The red and the black. I think a real criminal like Snart and Rory would recognize a rat like Krycek who had no loyalty (which they had, at least to each other)

Next Chapter the action begins.