Nora heard a buzzing sound as she lay in her bed, eyes shut. Ugh, who let a bug into a time ship? she thought, pulling the covers over her ears. Across the room, Mona remained sound asleep. The buzz came again, louder this time. Nora sat up and looked around groggily. Where is that coming from?

She turned her head to see the screen on the wall closest to her. It displayed text reading, "Incoming call from Gary Green."

Nora groaned, "You've got to be kidding me."

The screen buzzed again. She glanced over at Mona, still sleeping, and whispered, "Gideon, I'll take it in the library." She rolled out of bed and threw on one of Ray's sweatshirts that had been left in her closet, then silently slipped out of her room.

"Gary," she said once she reached the library, "why are you waking me up? It's five in the morning and, as Ray mentioned before, we're on vacation."

Gary Green appeared on the library's screen. "Hi, Nora!" he greeted her. "Is it really that early? What time zone is Central City in?"

Nora sank down into the nearest chair, wishing it was her bed. "It's called Google. Use it."

Gary looked curiously at her clothes. "Are those puppies?"

Nora looked down at her sweatpants. There were, in fact, puppies on them. "Yeah."

"Aw," he cooed, "that's adorable."

"What do you want, Gary?" she asked. "I'm this close to going back to sleep." She held up her hand with barely any space between her thumb and index finger. "This. Close."

Gary looked over his shoulder, then answered, "Well, Nora, since we're friends, I thought it would only be fair to warn you about something."

"Warn me about what?"

"There's something wrong with the timeline," he explained. "Something big. The thing is," he leaned in closer to the camera, "Director Sharpe doesn't think the Time Bureau is ready to handle it, and she's right. That means she's going to look for help from somewhere else, like…the Legends."

Nora sat up, giving him more attention. "I didn't realize Ava and Sara were speaking," she said.

"They're not. At least, they haven't spoken since…you know, the breakup." He looked over his shoulder again, then continued, "Look, Nora, I don't know when she's going to call or what she's going to say but putting Captain Lance and Director Sharpe together right now for any reason could get messy. You should probably warn her ahead of time, just so she isn't caught off guard. That might make it easier, but even then, it still might be ugly."

"Fine," she agreed, "I'll do that. But next time you have news, could you please not call when it's sleep o'clock?"

Gary grinned. "Anything for my best friend."

"Stop that," she immediately corrected him. "I said we were friends. I never said anything about 'best.'"

Gary noticed the logo on her sweatshirt. "Wait, you didn't go to Ivy University…oh wait, is that Ray's sweatshirt?"

Nora glared at him for a moment before responding grumpily, "Yes."

"That's adorable," he said. "I am shipping you two so hard. Your relationship is so wholesome…"

"Goodbye, Gary."

"What? Why? I'm not…"

"Gideon!"

Gideon obediently hung up the call, returning the screen to black. Nora slumped back in her seat, exhausted. She thought about what Gary had said and had a sinking feeling. It had seemed almost too easy to pull Snart out of the timeline. Nora couldn't say for sure that the Legends were responsible for the irregularities, but if it turned out they were, then the ensuing conversation between Sara and Ava could get even messier than Gary expected. "Well, this won't be fun," Nora muttered to herself.


Sara strolled into the kitchen, mulling over the possibilities of Gideon's breakfast options. She was surprised to see a steaming cup of coffee and a plate of bacon, scrambled eggs, and toast already sitting in front of her usual place at the table. "Uh…hello?" she said, staring at it confusedly.

"Oh Captain, my Captain," Leonard's familiar drawl greeted her as he walked over from the far end of the room, a glass of very cold iced coffee in his hands.

Sara smiled, pleasantly surprised. "You're up early. I thought you'd be tired after yesterday."

Leonard smirked. "I can sleep when I'm dead."

Sara rolled her eyes. "And here I thought you were taking a break from the death jokes."

"I was, but that one was too obvious not to say." He pulled out the chair next to hers and leaned back, propping his feet up against the edge of the table. He took a sip out of his drink, set it down on the table, and motioned to the plate of food. "You hungry?"

Sara walked over to the table but didn't sit down yet. She placed her hands on her hips and studied Leonard's face. "You…made me breakfast?"

"Technically, Gideon did," Leonard clarified. "I mostly just pushed buttons."

Sara pulled out her chair and sat down, still analyzing him. "Any particular reason why?"

He shrugged. "Consider it a thank you."

"For what?"

"A few things."

"Which are…?"

"Well, getting me out of wherever I was, for one thing. You saved my life. Do I really need to spell that out?"

Sara shook her head. "That was the whole team, not just me. They figured out the plan. I just did my part."

"True," he allowed, "but it was an important part." He recalled hearing her voice in his head moments before breaking out of the timeline. "I'm fairly certain that without you 'doing your part,' I wouldn't have made it out. Plus, you're in charge now, so even if it wasn't your plan, I assume you had the final say." He paused before adding another reason, "Then, there's keeping Mick alive for three years without me to look out for him. I know that takes a miracle."

She laughed, "Okay, I'll give you that one."

He continued his list, "Also, keeping all my stuff safe. Three whole years and most of it's still here. That makes the transition to being alive again a whole lot easier. Then, there's the fact that you didn't…" he looked up at her face and hesitated for a moment before completing his sentence, "…forget about me."

"What?" Sara reacted incredulously. "Leonard, why would I forget about you?"

"Oh, I don't know," he said, looking away. "Three years is a long time. You've lost plenty more people than just me. You've got more responsibilities now. A lot of things around here seem different. The team is almost completely different." He looked back up at her, attempting to hide his emotions under a very thin veil of sarcasm. "Now, I know I make a memorable first impression, but I don't think anyone could blame you if you'd given up on remembering me after everything you've been through. But you didn't, and I'm glad you didn't." He gestured toward her plate with his hand. "Eat your breakfast, Sara."

She gave in and took a bite of her eggs. "Gideon did a good job," she observed as she chewed.

"Yeah, she usually does." He paused, thinking of what to say next. He had one more thing to thank her for, and he knew it was the one that mattered to him the most. He just didn't know how to put it into words, let alone say those words out loud. How could he tell her that the last memory she'd left him had been the thought that comforted him through the pain of the Oculus explosion? How could he explain that the thoughts he'd assumed were his last had been of her? Just like Barry said, he thought. Why does he have to be right?

"Hey, Leonard," Sara said, breaking his train of thought, "I know you said you still have most of your stuff, but there's actually something I need to give back to you. Or, two things, really."

Leonard removed his boots from the table and sat up in his chair, raising his eyebrows curiously. "What two things?"

She reached into her pocket and pulled out his card deck. She hadn't planned on seeing him this early in the morning, but she'd taken the deck with her anyway with the intention of giving it to him at the first opportunity. She slid them along the table toward him. "Remember these?"

He picked up the small box, smiling as fond memories of their games surfaced in his mind. "How could I forget?" He opened it and took out the deck, running his thumb over the cards' edges. He cut it in half and shuffled it smoothly, then set it aside. "Are you sick of playing gin by now, or can I interest you in a game later?"

She smiled and shook her head. "I'm not sick of it. I've barely played since you…left." She still wasn't entirely sure how to describe his not quite death.

He looked up at her curiously. "But you still kept them," he said softly. He quickly returned to his normal snarky demeanor. "Good. It'll be that much easier to beat you."

"Yeah, good luck with that," she returned dryly. She took a sip of her coffee, then reached into a different pocket. "There's something else of yours, too. I know you gave it to Mick, but he…um…he wanted me to hold onto it."

She pulled something small out of her pocket, concealing it in her fist. She set it down on the table in the space between them and removed her hand. It was a silver ring.

Leonard recognized it immediately. He leaned in toward the table, looking closely at it, but didn't pick it up. It was his ring, the one he'd stolen on his first job with Mick. He'd shown it to her and explained its backstory only hours before the Oculus's destruction. His gaze rose from the ring on the table to Sara's face. "Mick…you said he gave you this?" he asked, his voice much more solemn than usual.

"He did," she replied, nodding in confirmation. "He kept it for a while at first, but eventually he gave it to me. I didn't ask him for it, he just…did." She felt a lump in her throat as she tried to push down the memory of how she'd felt in the days after Leonard's sacrifice. "He thought it was what you would've wanted. He said you would have liked for me to keep some piece of you. I already had the cards, of course, but he thought it should be a little more…personal." She tilted her head slightly sideways. "Was he wrong?"

"No," Leonard replied instantly. Sara was surprised by his sudden response. He continued after a brief pause, "That is exactly what I wanted. I just…I wasn't sure if he understood that."

Sara pushed the ring toward him with her finger. "Well, now you can have it back."

Leonard shook his head. "It's yours, Sara. Mick gave it to you," he insisted.

"Mick wanted me to have a piece of you because you were gone," Sara argued. "You're not gone anymore. Why would I need a piece when the whole thing is right here with me?"

As happy as the mental image of Sara wearing his ring made him feel, he couldn't really argue with that logic. He picked up the ring and slid it into its normal place on his pinky. He waved his fingers as if showing it off. "Still fits," he joked, laying his hand palm up on the table so she could see it.

"So it does," Sara observed. Without thinking, she reached out and touched it the same way she had when he'd first told her the story behind it. She felt chills. She'd touched him several times since he'd come back, but the fact that she could was still a shock. Instead of moving her fingers away, she let them rest in his hands a little longer. She felt him relax under her touch and felt honored, knowing he wouldn't do that with most people. "I…um…" she looked up at his eyes as she finally pulled her hand away, "I'm sorry, it's just…weird that you're really here. I'm glad you are, but it's still hard to believe this is all real."

"Believe me," Leonard assured her, "no one's finding this harder to believe than I am."

Sara looked away, laughing. "Yeah, that makes sense." She leaned back in her chair and added, "Honestly, part of me thought I'd imagined the whole thing and that I'd wake up and find out you were never here, like it was a dream or something. Silly, right?"

He placed his elbows on the table, leaning closer toward her. "Well, as much as I'd love to be the subject of your dreams," he teased, "I'm here, I'm real, and I'm alive."

The two of them locked eyes for a silent moment. Sara quickly thought of an excuse to look away. "I'd better eat this soon," she said, redirecting her attention entirely to the plate of breakfast food in front of her. "I'd hate for your and Gideon's efforts to get cold." She took a bite of the toast. "Seriously, thanks for doing this."

Leonard leaned back in his chair, putting his boots against the table again. "Don't mention it."

Just then, Ray entered the kitchen. Sara couldn't decide if having another person in the room with her and Leonard was a relief or a disappointment. "Good morning, Captain," he said, grinning. "It's a lovely day, isn't it? Oh," he stopped, surprised to see Leonard sitting beside her, "hi, Snart."

"Hello, Raymond," Leonard replied.

Ray frowned. "Um…Snart? Would you mind not putting your feet on the table? I just cleaned it yesterday."

Leonard smirked. Raymond was almost as fun to mess with as Barry. "Where else would I put them?"

"The floor," Ray suggested.

Leonard shrugged. "Can't do that."

Ray eyed him carefully, genuinely concerned. "Why? Did you get injured when we pulled you out?"

"No," the thief answered.

"Then why?" Ray asked, puzzled.

"Because I don't want to."

Sara looked between the two men as she drank her coffee. While she was still debating whether she was relieved or disappointed to no longer be alone with Leonard, she definitely knew she was entertained. She continued to eat quietly, observing their interactions.

Ray appeared to be frustrated for a second, then relaxed. "You know what?" he said decisively. "I'll let it slide. I'm sure you're still getting used to being back. It's only fair to give you a grace period on all the rules."

Leonard raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Rules?"

"Yeah," Ray confirmed as he opened the refrigerator to search for his favorite organic butter. "We don't have too many, but they're still pretty important."

"Raymond, you may have forgotten after all this time, but let me remind you that rules and I don't really mix."

Ray nodded, "Oh, I remember, Snart. But sometimes, we need rules to stay safe. We deal with the fate of the universe on a daily basis. Can't be too careful, right?"

"I fail to see how putting my feet on the table endangers the fate of the universe."

Ray closed the refrigerator door and began making his coffee. "It doesn't. But hey, you never know. Maybe it will someday. I mean, plenty of weird things have happened to the universe recently."

"So I've heard."

Ray stirred his coffee as he sat down to join them. "Have you ever tried using organic, grass-fed butter in your coffee?" he asked Leonard. "It's really good, and much healthier for you than…"

"I like my coffee unhealthy, thanks," Leonard cut him off.

Ray looked at him with obvious disapproval. "But your health is so important…"

"Why?" Leonard asked with a sideways glance at Sara. "What am I going to do? Die?"

Sara pointed her fork at him as a warning. "Last death joke of the day. That's an order."

Ray tried very hard not to react. "Snart, I…never mind." He took a breath, then changed the subject. "Hey, speaking of weird things in the universe, Nate and I had this idea…"

Leonard turned to Sara. "That's the steel guy, right?"

She nodded, her mouth too full to give a verbal response.

"Got it." He turned back to the man seated across from him. "Continue, Raymond."

"Well, Nate and I had this idea to catch you up on everything you've missed," Ray explained. "Because seriously, you've missed a lot. I have to work on fixing the ship with Zari, but Nate said he'd get the rest of the team to help."

Leonard smirked amusedly. "Raymond, I'm touched by your concern, but I don't think I need…"

"Actually, it doesn't sound like a bad idea," Sara interjected.

Leonard turned toward her, stunned. "What? Why?"

She shrugged. "He's right. You've missed a lot. It wouldn't matter as much if you were totally new, but you're used to a very different team with a very different mission. There's a lot of stuff you need to know."

"Exactly," Ray agreed. "So, what we were thinking was…"

Before he could explain his idea further, Nora stuck her head into the doorway of the kitchen, now dressed in her typical dark attire. She spotted Sara. "Um, Captain?" she said. "Do you have a moment? I need to talk to you about something."

"Yeah, of course," Sara replied. She finished the last of her breakfast in a couple bites, then stood up. "Just give me a second." She walked across the room and placed her dishes in the sink. Turning around to face Leonard and Ray, she gave them a lighthearted warning, "You two better behave yourselves while I'm gone." She then followed Nora out the door.

The two women made their way through the corridors and into the parlor. "What did you want to talk about, Nora?" Sara asked.

Nora cut straight to the point. "Gary called me."

"Ah yes, Gary," Sara replied. "You two are what now, best friends?"

"No," Nora corrected her, "we're just normal friends. But that's not important."

"Okay, then." Sara folded her arms and leaned back against her desk. "What did Gary say?"

Nora took a step closer to her captain. "There's a problem with the timeline." Sara blinked. She only now realized that she hadn't checked the timeline since Leonard's arrival. It was understandable, given how many different things had been going on, but still surprising. Nora continued to explain, "Gary says there are widespread irregularities. It's bad. The Time Bureau can't deal with it all right now," she watched Sara's face carefully for a reaction, "so Ava's going to have to call you and ask for the Legends' help."

Sara tensed. "Ava's…calling…the Legends," she summarized, processing the situation slowly.

"Yeah. That's happening."

Sara took a deep breath, trying to act as unaffected as possible. "That's…fine. That's perfectly fine. We're professional adults. Nothing to worry about. But it was nice of you let me know, so thanks."

"Are you really sure about that?" her teammate pressed.

"Nora, I can handle talking to people I have formerly been in relationships with. I talk to Ollie all the time."

"True," Nora allowed, "but I think we both know your relationship with Oliver Queen wasn't the same as your relationship with Ava. Also, the wound is a lot fresher."

Sara waved her hand dismissively. "Seriously, Nora, there is no wound. We can handle a professional conversation. Don't worry about it."

Nora still didn't completely believe Sara's assurances, but she moved on to the next issue instead of arguing. "It's not just that Ava's calling," she said. "I mean, that's what Gary warned me about. But there's another thing that he doesn't know."

"And what's that?"

"Gary said the irregularities looked like they were caused by something messing with the fabric of time itself," Nora told her.

Sara's eyes widened as she understood. "Snart."

Nora nodded. "My thoughts exactly."

"Crap."

"Yeah." She hurriedly added, "I mean, it could just as easily be something else. The Time Bureau doesn't know what caused it, so there's no real proof that we did it. But…"

"We probably did it," Sara finished for her.

Nora shifted her feet uncomfortably. "Gideon did say there was a ten percent margin of error."

Sara looked up. "Gideon?"

"As I said previously, Captain," the A.I. disembodied voice answered, "I did warn you that a risk was involved."

Sara sighed and shook her head. "Okay, so we messed with the fabric of time. Wouldn't be our first time doing that. Probably won't be our last. Snart is a friend and a teammate. I knew the risk, I made the call, and I don't regret it."

"That's all lovely," Nora said, "but are you going to tell that to Ava?"

The screen in the parlor buzzed, displaying text reading, "Incoming call from Ava Sharpe."

Sara and Nora exchanged looks.

"I can handle it," Sara assured her. "Pick up, Gideon."

The screen transitioned into a view of Director Ava Sharpe, seated at her desk in her Time Bureau office. She stared straight forward into the room, looking somewhat uncomfortable. "Captain Lance," she said coldly, "is this a good time?"

Sara noted the use of her professional title and returned the gesture. "Yes, Director Sharpe, it is."

"Good." Ava noticed Nora in the background of the room. "Nora, good to see you again."

"You too," she replied.

Ava returned her focus to Sara. "Captain Lance," she continued stiffly, "we've noticed a rapid increase in irregularities in the timeline within the past twenty-four hours. With the Time Bureau in the state that it is, we don't have the resources to chase after all of them."

"Let me guess: you need the Legends?"

"Yes. That is correct." She paused, then added, "Captain Lance, I don't mean to sound unprofessional, but you know I wouldn't be asking for this if it wasn't an emergency."

Sara nodded, making a conscious effort to remain at least outwardly emotionless. "I know."

"Good. Since you understand that, I'd like you to come to my office to discuss this further."

Sara balked. "Your…office? Why?"

Ava picked up a stack of papers from her desk and held them so the camera could see. Sara couldn't see their contents, but she could tell it was a thick stack. "As you can see, there's a lot to go over," she said. "We've seen similar things before, but nothing exactly like this. The research is ongoing, but our agents are saying that it appears some serious manipulation has occurred in the fabric of time itself."

"Huh," Sara responded, not taking her eyes off the screen. "And, uh, do you have any idea who…or what…could have caused that?"

Ava groaned frustratedly. "No. We have absolutely no clue."

"Ah." Sara shared a quick glance with Nora before looking back at Ava's face. "Interesting."

"We'll figure it out, Captain Lance," Ava replied, "but that's not your concern. Meet me in my office in one hour and we'll discuss your mission. That is all." She pressed a button on her computer and hung up the call, turning the parlor's screen dark.

Sara continued to stare at the empty screen. Nora tried to offer something positive. "Hey," she pointed out, "at least she doesn't think it was us."

Sara turned around to face Nora. "She'll find out eventually. Ava's not an idiot." She looked down at the floor, thinking. This is the last thing I need, she thought. Ava's going to think I couldn't last five seconds without her before screwing things up. I can't let her think that. Suddenly, she looked up again as an idea occurred to her. "Which is why we need to fix this problem before she knows it was us," she declared. "If we clean up all the irregularities, there won't be a problem to blame us for. All's well that ends well, right?"

"Um…yeah," Nora said, very unconvinced. "Sure. But what about you? Are you really okay with meeting Ava in person?"

"Why wouldn't I be? Didn't you just see me handle that call without any issues? I'm fine."

Nora tilted her head, regarding her skeptically. "Captain, you may have handled the call, but I've never seen either of you this tense before. If you're not ready…"

"Of course I'm ready," Sara insisted as if responding to an insult. "There's nothing to be ready for. We are coworkers. We are going to talk about our work. And then, I am going to leave. That's it. Gideon, prepare the jump ship." She moved toward the exit, but Nora stepped in her way. "What?"

"I know this really isn't my place," Nora explained, "but I'm Ava's friend, too. She gave me a second chance at the Time Bureau and we're still on good terms. I think it might be easier if you have a neutral presence with you. And I mean that for both you and Ava."

"Are you saying you want to come with me?"

"Yes, I am."

Sara smiled proudly. "You're really taking this team player thing seriously, aren't you?"

Nora looked away awkwardly, though she appreciated the recognition. "Just trying to help, Captain."

"Well, thank you for that. To be clear, I'm still sure it's unnecessary. Ava and I can handle a single conversation without starting World War Three. But, if it makes you feel better, you can tag along."

"Then I will," Nora replied, stepping out of Sara's way. "Lead the way, Captain."


Nate and Ray stood in the library, grinning cheerfully at their audience. This audience consisted of Leonard Snart and Mick Rory, who were seated on two chairs that had been pulled into the center of the room, facing the library's main screen. It displayed a colorful image of the current Legends team with the caption, "Welcome to the Legends of Tomorrow, Today." Zari, Charlie, Mona, and John stood in various positions along the front and sides of the room.

"Okay," Ray began, "now that everyone's here, we can get started."

"On what?" Snart asked, looking up at the screen with visible confusion.

"Captain Lance has a meeting away from the ship," Nate explained, "so while she's gone, we're going to take the opportunity to show you," he pointed at Leonard energetically, "what you need to know."

Leonard tried very hard not to roll his eyes. He still didn't think this was necessary, but, as Sara had pointed out, the new Legends had saved his life. He had to admit that he owed them one. If they wanted a few minutes of his time, so be it. "And you're doing that with a slideshow lecture?" he asked. "I don't remember going back to high school."

"It seemed like the most effective option," Nate explained. "This way, we can condense a lot of information into a short time. Plus, there are plenty of fun, visually appealing graphics."

"Ooh, I love visually appealing graphics," Ray commented.

"Me too, buddy," Nate said, giving his Time Bro a high five.

Oy, there are two of them, Leonard thought. He turned to Mick, who was sitting in the chair beside him. "And why are you watching this with me?"

"Moral support," Mick grunted.

"Cute." Leonard slouched back in his seat and crossed his arms. "All right, let's get this over with."

"Great!" Ray smiled approvingly. "Nate, he's all yours. Come on, Z. Time to get our ship-fixing on!"

Zari shook her head. "You couldn't just say something normal," she muttered as she followed him out.

Once they were gone, Nate began his presentation. "Welcome to the Legends of Tomorrow, Today," he said enthusiastically. "We are an elite team of…"

John snorted. "Elite?"

Nate glared at him, then corrected himself. "We are a team of heroes…"

"Ha!" Mick scoffed.

Nate groaned. "Guys, come on. Can we just get through this?" He took a deep breath, then restarted, "Welcome to the Legends of Tomorrow, Today. We are a team of people…"

"People?" Charlie interrupted. "Are we defining people as human beings only, or is it a broader term?"

Nate rolled his eyes. "Yes, Charlie, I'm using it broadly. Shapeshifters count as people."

"Ah," she said, accepting his explanation. "Carry on, then."

Mona raised her hand silently. Nate called on her, barely hiding his frustration. "What, Mona?"

"Does that broad term also include Wolfie?" she asked.

Nate really just wanted to move on to the next slide. He sighed, "Sure, why not?"

"Good," she said, smiling with relief. "I had this whole talk with Dr. Snow…I mean, Caitlin. She said she's trying to listen more to what Killer Frost wants. I know Wolfie isn't the exact same type of thing, but I'm sure she'd hate to be left out completely…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Nate said, returning to the presentation. "Wolfie counts. Charlie counts. Everybody counts. Where was I?" He looked at the screen, then at Leonard, beginning his introduction for the fourth time, "Welcome to the Legends of Tomorrow, Today. We are a team of people, including non-humans, whose mission is to protect the timeline from harm." He paused, looking around at his teammates. "Any objections to that, or can I go on?"

John spoke for the group, "You're fine, love."

"Okay. Gideon, next slide." The screen transitioned into a slide with an image of Rip Hunter in his formal Time Bureau attire. "Part one," Nate said, "Rip Hunter, our first captain and founder of the Time Bureau."

"I already know about Rip, Nathaniel," Leonard reminded him.

Nate chose to ignore Leonard's use of his full name, as strange as it was. "You know about the Legends' first mission with Rip," he explained, "but you don't know what Rip created after that. Next slide, please." The screen revealed a picture of the Time Bureau's original headquarters in D.C. "After a situation that resulted in time being broken," he said, consciously being very careful not to mention the specifics of what that situation had been, "Rip officially left the Waverider under Sara's leadership and created an agency called the Time Bureau."

"Sounds like the Time Masters," Leonard remarked, frowning.

"No," Nate argued. "Not like the Time Masters. The Time Bureau is totally different. Their mission is to prevent the timeline from being manipulated or corrupted."

"Still sounds like the Time Masters," Leonard reiterated.

Nate held up his hand. "It's not. They're the good guys."

"Which is what the Time Masters said they were."

"But they actually are the good guys, Snart," Nate insisted. "The Time Bureau monitors the timeline for threats and has agents who chase them down before history can be damaged. They are a government-funded agency dedicated to saving the universe from the chaos of time irregularities. When something is out of place in the timeline, they send their agents in to fix it."

Leonard wasn't convinced. "So…the Time Masters with more bureaucracy?"

"No, that's not…you know what? We're moving on. Next slide." He leaned forward toward Leonard as the screen transitioned again. "And pay attention, because there will be a quiz at the end."

"How wonderful," Snart muttered under his breath.


Sara and Nora walked briskly through the Time Bureau's hallway. Neither of them had been inside since Ava had started rebuilding the agency. Everything seemed shiny and new. It was also a lot less crowded than they remembered. Still, the general layout looked mostly the same. Gary popped out of a side room and into the middle of their path.

"Captain Lance!" he exclaimed, clearly surprised to see her. "Did Director Sharpe ask to meet with you in person?"

"She did," Sara replied.

"Oh…um…that's…great." He rubbed his hands together anxiously, then looked at Nora. "And you're here for…?"

"Damage control," she answered.

"Not that we'll need it," Sara quickly added.

Gary nodded slowly. "I see." He stepped aside and waved them through. "Well, if Director Sharpe needs you…but not like that!" he quickly corrected himself. He fell into step with them, walking beside Nora as they headed toward Ava's office. "I mean, if she needs you for…work…things. The only things she would need you for. Because you do work together. And nothing else."

"Gary," Sara said, "can you not talk right now?"

"Heh…yeah." They reached the door of Ava's office. Gary opened it for them, letting Sara walk in first. He gave Nora a knowing glance as she walked through, then shut the door behind them.

Ava noticed them as they entered and stood up from behind her desk. "Captain Lance, Nora, thank you for coming in," she greeted them, her tone very professional. "Please take a seat."

There were two extra chairs against the wall to their right. Sara and Nora dragged them over and sat down in front of Ava's desk. Ava once again sat down. "Like I said, there's a lot to go over," she said curtly. She shuffled through the stack of papers on her desk, searching then passed several sheets of it to Sara, avoiding making direct eye contact with her as she did so. "This is what we're dealing with."

Sara read the description on the top page, then skimmed through each of the following ones. Nora peered at them over her shoulder. "Holes in time," Sara noted.

"The agents are calling them rifts," Ava explained. "They've been popping up everywhere. The best way to describe it is like a tapestry where someone pulled a thread out, and now the rest of it is stretching out of shape."

"How poetic," Nora commented, hoping Ava wouldn't notice her or Sara's uneasiness.

Ava revealed a tiny smile, the only hint of emotion she'd shown since they arrived. "Gary came up with it. You know how he lives for the drama." She quickly returned to being stoic. "The problem with the rifts is that it's a two-step situation. You can't just close them. You have to find the anachronisms that got through, too."

"Do the anachronisms have any patterns?" Sara asked.

"None that we've determined," Ava answered. "Anything that exists at any point in time can fall through a rift and land in any other point in time. And if a rift stays open for too long, then more than one anachronism can get through. That's why we need to be extra alert. Those reports are all the ones we've found so far, but there are new ones every hour."

"So," Sara surmised, "you want the Legends to find these rifts, close them, and fix the anachronisms they released."

"Exactly," Ava nodded curtly. "Do you think your team can handle that, Captain Lance?"

Sara stiffened. "Handle it? Director Sharpe, my team has handled demons, monsters, and dictators. I think we can take care of a few rifts."

Ava frowned. "It's not just a few rifts. It's a lot of rifts. I need to make sure you're…" she froze, not finishing the sentence. "Oh, forget it."

Sara narrowed her eyes. "Make sure I'm what?"

"Oh no," Nora breathed, looking back and forth between the two of them.

"Nothing," Ava quickly said. "You have your assignment. Please read through the information I gave you thoroughly. That'll be all."

"No," Sara pressed, "what were you going to say, Director Sharpe? I want to know."

"Do you, though?" Nora squeaked.

Ava turned her head, locking eyes with Sara. "Make sure you're taking this seriously."

Nora cringed. "Hey," she said quietly to Sara, "maybe we should…"

Sara ignored Nora. She stared Ava down coldly. "Taking this seriously? I don't know why you'd expect me to do that, since you said I don't take anything seriously."

Ava scooted forward in her chair, not breaking eye contact. "Which is why I hope you will this time, Captain Lance. The universe will still go on without our relationship, but it won't without the timeline being intact. Maybe having higher stakes will motivate you."

"Uh-huh. Yeah. Maybe." Sara stood up. "Or, maybe, you just can't understand that my way of taking things seriously is different from yours."

"Guys," Nora interjected, her voice louder than before but still very calm, "this topic obviously touched a nerve. Let's just take a second to breathe, okay?"

"Different?" Ava retorted, her face beginning to show signs of frustration. "Is that why you kept putting off anything that would make our relationship progress? Or why you always preferred running off on the Waverider over spending any significant amount of time in the present with me?"

Sara leaned forward, placing her palms on Ava's desk. "Oh, so two whole weeks isn't significant enough?"

"You only did that once," Ava returned, "and it was after I asked you a hundred times. And don't say it was only because of missions, because I know there were times when it wasn't."

"The Waverider is my home," Sara insisted.

"What about our home?" Ava asked. She stood up and leaned down over her desk, mimicking Sara's posture. "I asked you to move in with me, you said yes, and then you were never there."

"You're the one who kept trying to force me into your perfect little box," Sara argued. "I'm a time traveling former assassin who used to be dead. Why does it surprise you that I'm not normal?"

"I didn't want you to be normal, I just wanted our relationship to be!"

"Guys!" Nora shouted, standing up. "Seriously, I think you've said enough."

Ava ignored her and continued, "All I wanted was to move forward, but every time I brought up our future, you would freak out and say that if we start talking about what the future holds for us, it'll never happen. What does that even mean?"

"It…it's just true, okay?" Sara replied. "The future is always in flux. You know that. That's literally part of your job."

"Don't tell me what my job is."

"Oh, I'm sorry, are you the only one allowed to be in charge?"

Nora sighed. "All right, that's it." She stepped forward and slammed her fist onto Ava's desk, creating a blast of blindingly bright, purple-tinted light. Both Sara and Ava fell silent and stumbled back a few steps away from each other. Once Nora's light faded, she stepped forward into the space between them. "We're all on the same side here, okay? I know you guys still have some hard feelings, but that doesn't change the fact that the timeline needs to be fixed, and it looks like it'll take both the Legends and the Time Bureau to do it. Can we all agree on that?"

Sara and Ava looked at each other sheepishly.

"Nora's right," Ava admitted.

"Yeah," Sara agreed halfheartedly. "I'm sorry. I didn't come in here to fight."

"Me neither," Ava said. "This is just…hard, I guess. Harder than I expected."

"Agreed." Sara turned to look at Nora. "Thank you, Nora."

"You're welcome," Nora said, relieved that the situation had finally deescalated.

Sara glanced down at the stack of papers in her hands. "I'll read these," she told Ava, "and I'll get to work on locating and identifying the rifts. The Legends have the Time Bureau's back, as usual."

"Good," Ava said. "I appreciate that, Captain Lance."

"Of course, Director Sharpe."

As Sara and Nora exited Ava's office, Nora spotted Gary with his ear against the wall. She stepped aside and caught his attention while Sara continued ahead. "Living for the drama, are you?" she asked.

He quickly stepped away from the wall with an awkward look, knowing he'd been caught. "Heh…looks like we'll be working together again. Fun, right?"

Nora crossed her arms and glared at him with a look reminiscent of her days as a supervillain. "Gary…"

He tried to change the subject. "So…Book Club?"

She facepalmed, then turned and walked away, not acknowledging his question.

"Got it," he said, now only speaking to himself. "We'll…uh…figure it out later."