Nora carried a tall stack of thick books and ancient scrolls through the corridors of the Waverider. She entered the library and set them down carefully on the table. "Whew," she said, stretching her arms. "That was a lot. If there's nothing in any of these, I am going to be pretty annoyed."
She unrolled a scroll and skimmed through it, then opened the top book on the stack and read through the first few pages. Then, she set it aside and began flipping through the next book. Then the next scroll. She continued searching and cross-referencing until she finally found the entry she was looking for. She read through it thoroughly, then followed its instructions by setting the book it was in open on the floor, marking a circle and ancient symbol with one of Constantine's bags of magic dust, and finally sitting cross-legged in the middle of the circle. She recited a spell three times, closed her eyes, and let the magic do its work.
She felt a gust of wind and opened her eyes. She was in a strangely empty place. It wasn't as blank as the space she and Constantine had pulled Sara and Mick into while saving Snart, but it was still very vacant. The distant top and sides of the space were clear like windows, but they only gave a blurry and warped view of the outside. Nora took a step forward, looking around. "Tabitha," she said quietly, "I know you're here. Show yourself."
An evil laugh echoed around her. Try as she might, Nora couldn't tell what direction it was coming from. "Oh, dear little Nora Darhk," Tabitha's voice said. "Couldn't stay away, could you?"
Nora clenched her fists and spun around slowly, looking for signs of Tabitha. "This isn't a big space," she said. "There's no point in hiding. I'll find you eventually."
"Right you are, deary." Suddenly, Tabitha materialized in front of her, still wearing her dark robes, though missing her staff this time. "Boo."
Nora didn't flinch. She crossed her arms and glared at Tabitha. "I bet you're really proud of yourself for getting away, aren't you?"
"A bit, I suppose," Tabitha answered nonchalantly. "I admit I could have been a bit more graceful about it. However, desperate times call for desperate measures." She smiled condescendingly at Nora. "Deary, you know I'm trapped and powerless. Why bother me now? Come to relish my defeat? Quite unbecoming, I must say."
"You seem pretty confident for someone who's 'trapped and powerless,'" Nora pointed out.
"Do I really? How funny."
"I know you're not done, Tabitha," Nora said accusatorily. "You have something up your sleeve."
Tabitha raised her eyebrows. "Up my sleeve? Deary, look around you." She pointed at the empty space extending in all directions. "I'm inside a bubble with no ability to burst it. Your fears are misplaced, I'm afraid."
Nora shook her head. "I'm not afraid of you, and even if I was, I know you care too much about your revenge to let things go so quickly. You're looking for a way out of here, and if you find one, you're coming for the Legends."
"An interesting suspicion," Tabitha replied. "Why, then, did you come to find me? Hoping to win me over with your goodness? That's much more Ray Palmer's area than yours, deary. Perhaps you ought to send him to me next time. I had so much fun playing with him before, and I know Neron did too."
Nora scowled as she burned with anger. "You leave Ray out of this," she said, forcing herself to stay calm. "You've done enough to him. Now, you're dealing with me. And you know what? You're right. I'm not as good as Ray. That's why you'd better listen up when I tell you this: leave the timeline and the Legends alone, or you'll regret it." She took a step forward, almost close enough to touch Tabitha, and continued to glare threateningly. "Trust me."
Tabitha stood silently for a moment, allowing Nora's words to sink in. "You know," she finally replied, "you must have been truly intimidating once. But now, well, let's just say those heroes you run around with aren't making you any scarier. It's a shame, really, to see your talents wasted like this."
"Shut up," Nora said, cutting her off. "I might be a Legend, but I'm as powerful as ever. So is Constantine. So is the rest of the team. Take my advice and stay in this little crystal ball of yours as long as you can, because the moment you come out, we'll be ready."
"Ha!" Tabitha cackled. "Ready? Deary, I hate to ruin your fun, but…" She moved suddenly and struck Nora's stomach with her fist, which brought with it a small explosion strong enough to send Nora falling backward to the ground. "…you have no idea what you're dealing with."
Nora gasped as she scrambled to her feet. "Your magic. I…I thought you used it up to escape."
"I very nearly did," Tabitha explained. "Were I anywhere else, I would be useless. However, this crystal ball is an artifact of my own creation. I can draw from the power I put into it centuries ago. Of course, I can only draw so much without my staff, and it isn't nearly enough to leave this place." She sent a blast of energy at Nora, who ducked out of the way just in time to dodge it. "But I think it's just enough to finish you!"
"Oh fiddlesticks," Nora muttered just before Tabitha repeated her attack, sending the two of them into an unexpected fight.
Leonard examined the front cover of a book, then slid it back into place on the shelf. "I'm a patient man," he said to Mick, who was beside him examining the spines on the next shelf level down, "but I'm really starting to wonder if this is a waste of time."
"We're looking for Garima," Mick replied without looking up. "We don't quit until we find her book."
"Right." Leonard peered around the corner of the shelf, trying to see if Zari and Mona were nearby. He didn't see them, so he assumed they were still on the other side of the room. He ducked back behind the shelf. "Well, when we're done here, how much do you want to bet I can steal that wind bracelet off Zari's wrist?"
"What?" Mick grunted, this time turning around toward Leonard in surprise.
"Just for fun. I'd give it back. Probably."
Mick smirked for a second, then his face faded back into a frown. "She'd kill you, Snart."
"Five bucks says I can do it."
"I'm not paying five bucks to watch her kill you."
"So you think I can do it, then."
"Hmph," Mick grunted. He turned his back to Leonard and crouched down to continue searching without another word.
Leonard leaned back against the shelf and looked down at Mick. "Come on, partner, we used to make bets like that all the time, remember?"
Mick couldn't help smiling a little as he recalled many of his memories with Snart. "Yeah," he said, finally looking up at his partner. "It's been a long time since I had someone to make those with."
Snart nodded. "I know. Three years." He stepped around Mick and started looking at the books on his opposite side. "And how have those three years been for you, exactly?" he asked as he perused.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean you told me the basics, but obviously it wasn't everything. I've got to wonder what my old partner's been up to, and I'd rather know it all now than keep getting hit with surprises."
Mick straightened up and started looking through the next section higher. "There are no surprises. I'm still on this team. I'm still thieving. I'm still me."
"Yeah," Leonard deadpanned sarcastically, "and you also have a writing career and an alien girlfriend of your own creation."
"So what?"
"So I'm curious what else you haven't told me."
"Nothing."
"You sure about that?" he asked, eyeing Mick skeptically.
"Sure, I'm sure."
Leonard continued to watch his friend carefully for a few silent seconds before returning to his search. "If you say so," he said, although he didn't sound one bit convinced.
On the opposite end of the room, Zari slid a book back into place, then sighed disappointedly. "Ray and Nate better find something soon. We can't be here all day."
Mona pulled out a book and studied its cover. "Mick's not going to leave without the diary. He's doing this for love, however long it takes."
"Love is a stretch," Zari replied. "Lust is more like it. He only brings Garima out when he feels like hooking up with a character he invented. He's basically 'dating' an imaginary friend, except they can actually be physical with each other." She shuddered. "Maybe too physical."
"True," Mona admitted, "but Mick doesn't see it that way."
"No, he does not." Zari walked around Mona to start looking at the spines on the next section of the bookshelf. "To be fair, he is happier when he has Brigid's Diary. Happy Mick is generally less destructive than unhappy Mick. I do appreciate that, as does the rest of the team, I'm sure."
"Like I said, it's the power love." Mona smirked as she continued to peruse the books in front of her. "Kind of like…Sara and Snart."
Zari froze. She turned to look at Mona with noticeable confusion. "Sara and Snart? What are you talking about?"
"Haven't you noticed?" Mona asked. "Sara and Snart will do anything for each other. Plus, they're obviously very close and will not stop flirting whenever they're together."
Zari could not believe what she was hearing. "Wait, just…hold on a second. You don't…you think…Snart and Sara…like each other?"
"Yup. Isn't it romantic?"
Zari stared blankly at Mona for a few moments, thinking through the idea. Finally, she asked, "Don't you think he's a little old for her?"
"How many years apart are you and Nate? Or Ray and Nora?"
Zari held up a finger. "Uh-uh. Not the same. Time travel makes us the same age."
Mona crossed her arms. "Okay, fine. But other than the age thing, what do you think?"
"I think," said Zari, "that you have gone too long without a new romance novel and are starting to see things that aren't there."
"That's why I asked Mick about it."
"And what did he say?"
"That Snart likes Sara, and apparently he has for a while. Don't you think they'd be cute together?"
"Mona, listen." This time, Zari fully turned her body to face her teammate. "Sara just went through a breakup that ended a very serious relationship. If she's not ready to move on from Ava, then it doesn't matter how romantic or flirty her recently undead buddy is. Not everyone has to be in love all the time, and you're not the team matchmaker."
"I helped get you and Nate together," Mona pointed out. "And look how well that worked out!"
Zari sighed exasperatedly. "Just…focus on the mission. Please."
John Constantine and Charlie found their way to a cottage that looked like something straight out of a fairy tale storybook. "Adorable," Charlie said. "Who lives here?"
"An old acquaintance," John replied. He knocked on the door. "Open up! It's me!"
The door creaked open and a small, funny-looking creature stepped out. Charlie recognized him immediately as a hobgoblin. "John Constantine," he said grumpily. "You've got some nerve coming here."
"I've got some nerve going anywhere, mate." He looked up at the roof, then around the sides of the cottage. "Not living in the woods anymore, I see. Quite an upgrade. I like it."
"I'm not helping you, Constantine."
"Um," Charlie raised her hand, "and why is that?"
The hobgoblin glared directly at John's eyes. "You still owe me from months ago."
"I don't owe you anything, Billy," John countered. "You cheated."
"Did not."
"Did too."
"At what?" Charlie asked.
Both of them turned to her. "Poker," they both said.
Charlie rolled her eyes. "Seriously? We go looking for help and you take us to someone you're still fighting over a poker game with?"
"Well," John replied, "I didn't think he'd remember it."
"A hobgoblin never forgets, John," Billy said. "You know the saying."
"That's elephants," John argued.
"That's batty."
"You're batty."
"I can't believe this," Charlie groaned. She cleared her throat to get their attention. "Can we put a months-old game aside for a minute? Tabitha's loose and we're trying to find her."
Billy gasped. "You mean…Neron's lover? That Tabitha? The one who helped him imprison us and tried to bring this world under his power?"
"The same," said Charlie.
"Oh dear," Billy said, shaking his head. "That's not good. Not good at all." He turned to John. "I'll give you a half hour truce. That's it."
"That'll do," John said with a nod. Billy retreated inside, waving at Charlie and John to follow him. John caught a smug smirk on Charlie's face just before entering. "Oh, don't you start," he muttered. "You didn't even want to come."
"Have a seat," Billy said as he welcomed his guests inside. Each of them claimed an awkwardly short armchair in his small living room. "Why don't you start telling me how she came back, eh?" he asked. "Last I checked, she was a dragon's lunch."
"The timeline," John answered. "It got damaged. There are holes ripped through it. Rifts, we're calling them. One of them swallowed her up just before her death and spat her out in 1606."
Billy tilted his head skeptically. "Then why aren't you in 1606?"
"Because we were already there," Charlie explained. "We broke her staff, but she escaped. Vanished entirely."
"She was using the rifts to increase her power," John continued. "She drew energy from them and used it against us."
Billy's eyes widened. "Temporal energy converted into magic? Whew. That's powerful stuff. Most folks wouldn't even touch something like that."
"But you can look for her," John said, leaning forward in his seat to get just a bit closer to Billy. "I've seen you track down magic users with next to nothing to go on. Tabitha's recently used a power unlike anyone else's alive. That ought to be easy for you. Isn't it?"
Billy hesitated. "Yes…and no. If the power was mostly in her staff, and she no longer has it, then there won't be much left to trace." His face brightened as an idea came to him. "But I might know someone who can help."
"Who?" Charlie asked.
"A warlock, or a sorcerer of sorts," Billy explained. "I don't know him very well, but he's been gathering all kinds of powerful artifacts from all eras and nations. He's very concerned about the timeline. He seems to think Mallus's realm is in danger of destabilizing."
Charlie stiffened. "That place is empty now," she said gravely. "The prisoners went free. There's nothing left in that dimension."
"He doesn't seem so sure," Billy replied. "He's been using the artifacts to ensure it doesn't reopen. I don't know exactly what he can do, but if anyone knows anything about the timeline letting things in and out, he would. He's got an apartment in downtown Heyworld. I'll give you directions." He scribbled down an address and a few lines of instructions on a piece of paper, then handed it to John. "He's right next to City Hall. You can't miss the building."
John and Charlie stood up. "Thanks, mate," John said with a grateful smile. "You've been a big help."
Billy rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, save the timeline, protect reality. I live here too, you know." He gestured toward the door. "Now, shoo, before I remember how much you owe me."
Before they knew what happened, Charlie and John were once again outside Billy's cottage. Charlie peered over John's shoulder at the address. "Guess we'd better get moving," she said.
John pulled out a cigarette, but Charlie plucked it out of his mouth before he could light it. He rolled his eyes at her. "You used to be fun, you know that?"
"Oh, I assure you," Charlie said with a mischievous grin, "I'm still quite fun. Now, shall we head downtown?"
John sighed and looked back at the address. "All right, love. Downtown it is."
Nate stuck his head around a corner, looked up and down the hallway in front of him, then stealthily crept across it to reach a door labeled, "Library Records," with an extra sign hanging on it that read, "Authorized Personnel Only." He waved Ray over, who followed him to the door.
"Jackpot," Nate said. He tried the doorknob. "It's bolted shut. Think you can get us in?"
"You got it, buddy." Ray leaned in closer to study the door. "I could put on my suit and shrink down, but there might be an easier way." He rolled up his sleeve and revealed the shrink ray strapped to his wrist. Carefully, he sent a thin beam into the crack between the door and the wall. The bolt holding it shut shrank down until it no longer filled the gap. Ray turned the knob and opened the door, grinning proudly.
Nate patted him on the back, then stepped inside. Ray followed him in and shut the door silently behind him. There were countless drawers of files, plus additional boxes and cabinets on all sides of the room. "Yikes," Nate said. "Not that I've ever been afraid of a little research, but this is going to take a while."
"We just need to narrow it down," Ray reminded him. "Gideon said the book was recently added to the collection. Maybe they have a section of files for books that are new to the system."
Nate nodded. "Good point. Let's look for that first. I'll start on the left. You start on the right."
"Perfect."
They dove into the files, each taking one side. The files themselves were very well organized but sifting through records of over a hundred million books was a challenging endeavor all the same. Finally, however, Ray did spot something promising. "Eureka!" he exclaimed, pulling a large file out of one of the drawers. "New arrivals." He set it down on the nearest desk.
Nate stopped his search and joined him. "Good job, buddy." He carefully opened the file and began to read through the titles and call numbers listed. "No…no…not that one…doesn't look like it…hm…no…maybe?" He looked to Ray for a second opinion as he pointed to an entry.
Ray bent down to study it closely. "It looks logical enough. Should we call them?"
"Wouldn't hurt." Nate tried his comms. "Hey, Z. Z? Hello?" A realization hit him. "Dude," he said, "there's no reception. That means the rift is here too."
"Aha!" Ray exclaimed excitedly. "Two for one! And here I thought we'd have to break into the Capitol or something. What a relief."
"I know, right? This is way easier." He pulled out the piece of paper containing the record. "I'll take this to Zari and the others. Do you mind looking over the rest of the file, just in case?"
"Sure thing," Ray said enthusiastically. "I've always wanted to go behind the scenes at one of the most iconic intellectual institutions in the country. Besides, as a huge fan of organization, this room is like a work of art for me."
Nate gave him a friendly punch on the arm. "Knock yourself out, bro." He turned around and slipped out the door.
"Okay," Ava said as Sara wrapped up her description of Snart's rescue. Her explanation had taken so long that the two of them were now walking along the back of Capitol Hill. "That was…interesting. Very interesting. And complicated."
"Yeah, it was," Sara replied. "But it worked. We saved Snart."
"True, but some things still don't add up."
"Like what?"
Ava stopped walking and turned to fully face Sara. "Ray's device was supposed to completely detach Snart from the timeline, wasn't it?"
"It was."
"Well, I'm not so sure it did."
Sara suddenly remembered Ray's findings from Leonard's test results. With levels like these, she recalled Ray saying, Snart should not have survived being pulled out of the timeline. "What do you mean?" she asked.
Ava paused a moment, then explained, "The rifts aren't just caused by someone messing with time. They're caused by something being removed from it. Remember when I said that it's like a tapestry? Pulling a thread out weakens the whole thing, loosening it up to create gaps and holes. The more rifts are created, the more the thread unravels, which then creates more rifts. That's why Tabitha harnessing energy from the rifts is extra dangerous. If she keeps pulling temporal energy out of the rifts, the overall fabric of time gets even thinner and weaker."
Sara had a feeling she knew what Ava was implying, but she decided to ask anyway. "What are you saying, Director Sharpe?"
"I'm saying that some of the timeline was still bonded to Snart when he got pulled out. I don't mean he just absorbed some extra temporal energy. I mean that he took that first thread with him, and the rest started unraveling once it was gone."
Sara crossed her arms, looked at the ground for a moment, then looked back up at Ava. "That…would explain a couple things. I don't know what to tell you about it, though. Snart's here, whether he's still bonded to that thread or not."
"I know," Ava said with a nod. "I just…I just need to look into what that could mean. The possible implications are infinite. I'll probably need to talk to Ray. He's the scientific mind on your ship. He might have some theories."
"Maybe."
Just then, the two of them found themselves ambushed by a crowd of tourists in matching red t-shirts. They backed themselves up against the short wall along the edge of the sidewalk to let them pass. Ava glanced sideways at Sara. "I've been in DC for years," she said under her breath, just loud enough for Sara to hear her, "but I'm still not used to living in a tourist destination."
Sara rolled her eyes as the group passed. Unfortunately, the sidewalk was small, which meant that they moved slowly and took up most of the space. She overheard one of the tourists close to her ask a man who she had to assume with the tour leader, "What's that building across the street?"
"That," the leader said, standing still just long enough to answer, much to Sara's and Ava's chagrin, "is the Library of Congress. It houses over one hundred sixty-eight million books." He started moving again, still slowly enough to stay in earshot. "You wouldn't expect this, but it was actually the site where government officials uncovered what was believed to be a mysterious Soviet conspiracy during the early stages of the Cold War."
Sara blinked. She hadn't heard that story before. "Hey," she said, chasing the tour leader a few steps. "What did you just say?"
He turned around and smiled as he explained, "In 1950, a suspicious man and his associates were caught tampering with the library's records with technology that did not exist in the United States. They never officially confessed, but the FBI couldn't find any possible explanation other than Soviet espionage." He then added cheerfully, "If you want more stories like that, you can sign up for a tour at our website…"
"Uh-huh," Sara cut him off dismissively. "Yeah. Okay. Bye." She hurried back to Ava. "Something doesn't feel right," she told her. "You've spent basically your whole life in DC. Have you ever heard that story?"
"No," Ava admitted, "but it's not like I regularly eavesdrop on tour groups." She noticed Sara pulling out her phone. "What are you doing?"
"Checking on a hunch," she said as she typed. After a moment, she gasped and turned the phone to face Ava. "I found the story. This is the guy they thought was the spy."
Ava's jaw dropped. The image was grainy and colorless, but it was still clearly a picture of Ray Palmer. "You don't think…"
"The Legends," Sara interrupted her as she put her phone away. "I told them to try to complete one mission while I was gone." She gave the Library of Congress a glance, then returned her attention to Ava. "We need to get back to the Time Bureau and contact the Waverider. They could be in huge trouble. There's no time to lose."
Ray flipped through the last few records in the folder. "I guess that's it," he said to himself. He took one more admiring look at his incredibly organized surroundings before turning around to open return the folder to its proper place. In the process, he nearly tripped over a small box jutting ever so slightly out from under the table. "Whoops!" He carefully held the folder together as he regained his balance. "Glad I didn't drop this. That would be bad." He paused and tilted his head to the side questioningly. "Do I talk to myself too much?" He answered himself with a shrug, then put the folder away.
In the hallway, Nate spotted a security guard walking toward him from the opposite direction. He realized it was the same one who the team had snuck past earlier and looked around for a place to hide. Quickly, he ducked behind a corner and let the guard pass. "Whew," he whispered to himself once the guard was gone. "That was close." He stuck his head back out into the hallway and noticed the direction the guard was going. He was headed straight for the records room. His eyes widened in fear. "Uh-oh."
The guard turned the knob and seemed surprised that it wasn't bolted shut. He opened the door and saw Ray standing in the middle of the room. "Hey," the guard said, "weren't you the guy that tried to get in without an ID?"
Ray held his hands up innocently. "What? No…I was just…um…" He had never been good at lying to authority figures, but he tried to think of a convincing story anyway. "…this isn't the gift shop, is it?"
It was clear from the guard's face that he was not buying it. He spotted a strange object on the ground, bent down, and picked it up. It looked like a tiny box. Uh-oh, Ray thought. My suit. I must have dropped it when I tripped over the box. Please don't open it, please don't open it, please don't… The guard opened it. Crap.
The guard stared at the suit, then at Ray. "I've never seen something like this before. Where'd you get it from?"
"Um…home?"
"Yeah? And why did you use it to break into here?"
Ray started to correct him. "Technically, I didn't use that to…Oh. I mean, I didn't…do that. I'm just…uh…lost."
"You really expect me to believe that?"
"Yes?"
"Well, I don't." The security guard closed the box and stuck it in his pocket. "I know some people who'll want to see this."
Ray offered a sheepish smile. "Oh, want me to explain the science behind it? I'm flattered, but I don't think I have time to…" Two more men stepped into the room from the hallway. One held a gun. The other flashed an FBI badge. "…oh."
Nate watched the scene unfold from a distance. "Oh no," he whispered, knowing that Ray couldn't hear him but saying it anyway. "Hang in there, buddy. I'm going to get help." He bolted as quietly as he could down the nearest staircase to find Zari and the rest of the Legends.
A/N: I know this mission might seem a little light on Captain Canary moments, but if Leonard really did come back to the Waverider, he'd have to interact with the other Legends sometimes too. Also, Mick's been through a lot since the last time Leonard saw him, so I think they need a little time to address that, which will be happening over the next few chapters. Coming up, we'll also see the warlock John and Charlie are looking for, where Brigid's Diary is, and exactly how well Ray handles getting caught...
