Nate and Mona stood on the sidewalk across the street from the Library of Congress, watching the police line around it anxiously. "You think they're okay in there?" Mona asked.
"They're Legends," Nate answered. "They've gotten themselves out of worse situations before." He tried his comms again, this time calling Zari. "Hey, Z? Zari? Babe? You there?" He frowned and shook his head. "She's not picking up either."
"Maybe we should call Nora," Mona suggested.
"Maybe," Nate said. "Who we really need is Captain Lance. She knows how to handle even the craziest scenarios like an expert."
"Aw, that's sweet," said Sara's voice behind him.
Nate and Mona turned around and saw Sara and Ava standing together, both dressed in professional, era-appropriate business attire. "Captain Lance!" Mona exclaimed happily. "Thank goodness! We really need your help." She turned to Ava and tried to hide her surprise at seeing her. "Director Sharpe? Are…are you helping us too?"
"Apparently," Ava replied. "Seems like you need all the help you can get." She looked up at the enormous library building in front of them, then back at the Legends. "What happened?"
Nate spoke up first. "Mick couldn't find Brigid's Diary, so we deduced it had been sent to another time through one of the rifts. We tracked it to here and searched the library for it. But then, Ray got caught breaking into the library's records, which have restricted access, and the security guard who caught him saw his A.T.O.M. suit and didn't understand what it was, so he suspected him of being a spy from the U.S.S.R. From there, things just kind of started escalating…"
"Hold on," Sara said, holding up a hand to pause his story. "Ray got mistaken for a Soviet spy?"
"How does that even happen?" Ava asked.
"Well," Nate explained, "it's the early Cold War, so the U.S. government is super worried about Soviet infiltration. Ray was carrying tech that doesn't exist in the U.S. at this time period and was caught breaking into the records of a federal government institution without the right credentials. It looks a little suspicious."
Ava sighed. "Great. That's just great."
"What about the others?" Sara asked. "Are they all still inside?"
"Yeah," Nate replied. "Mick and Snart went off to look for the book while Zari, Mona, and I tried to break Ray out of the security office. Mona and I staged a fight so one of the FBI agents questioning Ray would escort us outside. Zari took out the other agent while we were gone, but she and Ray never came outside so I don't know what else went down."
"And what happened to Snart and Rory?" Sara asked anxiously.
"We don't know," Mona answered. "We couldn't go back in to help because the police started locking the doors. They must have been called over by security."
"Mick did call just a moment ago asking for backup," Nate added. "He didn't explain much, but it sounded like he and Snart were being cornered somewhere."
Sara shook her head worriedly. "That's not good. That's really not good."
"It is not," Ava agreed. "I thought I said to be more careful on future missions."
"Hey, whoa," Sara said, taking a defensive stance. "They didn't have their captain. Go easy on them."
"Go easy?" Ava repeated with visible frustration. "Captain Lance, they got mistaken for Soviet spies, attacked at least one federal agent, and caused the world's biggest library and our country's most important literary institution to go into lockdown."
"Well," Sara said a little more quietly, "when you say it like that…"
"What other way is there to say it?" Ava asked.
Sara closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm down. "Okay, okay. It's pretty bad. But that's why we're here. We have a plan to get the Legends out of this, and when we're done, history will be fine."
"Hopefully," Ava said under her breath.
Nate stepped forward, intrigued. "Plan? What plan? What are you guys thinking?"
"You'll see," Sara replied. "Just stay out here and call me if you see anything that seems off. Director Sharpe," she said, turning to Ava, "let's save the rest of this crew." She led Ava up the sidewalk toward the Library of Congress.
"Aaargh!" Garima shouted as she ran through the library's hallways with seemingly no concerns about the people or objects in her path.
Leonard watched uneasily as she almost shattered a presidential bust and turned to Mick. "Couldn't you tell her to be a little more careful?"
"She's not written like that," Mick replied with a shrug.
"But you wrote her."
"Can't change what's already on the page." He pointed at Garima, who had finally stopped running at the end of the hallway. She was repeatedly punching a very secure-looking door. "I think she found them."
"Finally," Leonard said as they ran to catch up with her.
Inside the security office, Zari and Ray were now both seated at the same table Ray had been at before. This time, they were only being addressed by the one FBI agent who still remembered who they were. "Okay," the agent said, clearly starting to run out of patience. "Let's start over. Tell me exactly what is going on here."
"N-nothing," Ray said nervously. "We just…accidentally blew up a supply closet. No big deal."
Zari rolled her eyes. "Ray, let me handle this." She looked up at the FBI agent confidently. "Listen, I know this looks fishy, but I promise you, we're not from the Soviet Union, and we're definitely not spies. In fact, the thing we're trying to do is something you'd probably want as well."
The agent seemed unconvinced. "Interesting. How do you figure that?"
"We want to prevent a powerful object from getting into the wrong hands," Zari answered. "We're looking for a book that's more powerful than you could possibly imagine. It's too dangerous to be in the possession of anyone besides us. We can't explain more without sounding crazy, but you have to understand that we're not a threat to national security. Quite the opposite, in fact. If we can keep that book with us and away from the public, then everyone in this country, and probably the world in general, will be safer. If we can't, then, frankly, you'll have way bigger problems to worry about than somebody tampering with library records."
The FBI agent nodded slowly, considering her words. "If that's true," he said, "then why are you only revealing it now? You could have come to us and explained yourselves from the beginning."
"Because the less information that's floating around in the world about this book," Zari explained, "the safer it is, and the easier it is for us to take it back without getting into trouble. Not that we really avoided it this time," she added with a tone of deadpan snark.
"You're saying that book is dangerous," the agent said, speaking mostly just to Zari now. "Why? What's in it that people can't know?"
"It's not like that," Zari clarified. "It's not the content of the book. It's what it can do."
"Do?" the agent repeated skeptically. "What do mean, 'what it can do'?"
The three of them heard a strange sound and looked at the security office's door, which suddenly turned into brittle ice, then was shattered by two giant purple fists. As the door's icy pieces fell to the ground, Garima stepped inside with Mick on one side of her and Leonard on the other. The agent looked back at Zari in shock. "That's what I mean by 'what it can do,'" Zari said.
"Hey, Garima!" Ray said, waving at the alien woman with a friendly smile.
Garima grunted in response, then started swinging her sword wildly around again. She didn't seem to be aiming for any specific people or objects, but it was enough to throw the whole room into chaos. The FBI agent hid under the table to get out of the way. Mick ran to Ray and pulled him out of the room. Zari ran after them with Leonard exiting last, pointing his cold gun behind them in case they were followed. The police officers and security guards shrank back from their positions as Garima charged through, finally bursting through to the outside. The group ran down to the middle level of the outside stairs, then, noting that Garima had scared away most of the people trying to stop them, paused to catch their breath.
"Whoo!" Ray said, high-fiving Zari. "We did it!"
Garima sheathed her sword and calmed down, then grunted at Mick and put her arm around his shoulders. Leonard tilted his head with a confused look. "So, she's just…done now?"
"Well, we're outside," Mick told him. "I said she'd go on a rampage until we got outside. Here we are."
Leonard stared at the two of them for a moment, then shook his head and said, "You definitely still have some explaining to do."
"Beer," said Garima.
Leonard blinked. "What?"
"It's the only word she says," Mick told him.
"Okay…make that a lot of explaining."
"Stop!" the group heard the FBI agent yell. They spun around and saw him running down the outside stairs after them, looking very frazzled and holding his gun up in front of him. "We're not finished!"
Leonard leaned sideways toward Mick. "You want to send your girlfriend on another rampage?"
"Sorry," Mick said. "I only wrote her to do that until she got outside. She's done now until I write something new."
"Then I guess we'll deal with this the old-fashioned way," Leonard muttered. He stepped forward in front of the others and pointed his cold gun at the FBI agent. "I disagree," he said. "I think we got what we came for, and now we're leaving. Try to follow us and things will get a lot colder for you."
The FBI agent didn't back down. "You people might not be spies," he said, "but you still lied to and attacked an agent of the federal government and damaged a lot of government property. You're not just going to walk away from that."
"Actually," Ava Sharpe said, reaching the middle level of the stairs just as he finished speaking, "that's exactly what they're going to do."
The Legends turned their heads to face her. Leonard lowered his gun. All of them were very surprised to see Ava, but Leonard was by far the most surprised. He'd had a feeling that he would eventually meet Ava in person, but he had not planned on it being right now. Sara followed just one step behind Ava. The two of them looked very serious and were displaying their most intimidating expressions. Sara winked briefly at the Legends, signaling them to say nothing.
The FBI agent stared at Ava in confusion. "Who are you?" he demanded. "What are you doing here?"
Ava flashed a badge at him in one quick, smooth motion, then walked up the steps toward him, her face stone cold. Sara remained beside the Legends, standing beside Leonard while maintaining the same stoic look at Ava. "Special Agent Sharpe from A.R.G.U.S., counterintelligence division," Ava said.
"I haven't heard of you," the agent countered, though he did holster his gun.
"You're not supposed to," Ava stated coolly. "Given the current state of affairs, President Truman has authorized a top-secret operation within A.R.G.U.S.'s organization to counter Soviet threats to the United States that stem from unconventional means. These fine people," she said, gesturing toward the Legends behind her, "are undercover agents working on a matter of extreme necessity and confidentiality."
The FBI agent hesitated. "They're with A.R.G.U.S.? Why didn't they identify themselves?"
"Due to the highly sensitive nature of their mission," Ava answered, "they could not do so without jeopardizing themselves and disobeying orders. Under Article 5.6a of A.R.G.U.S.'s charter, we have the right to authorize such a team without notifying other branches of law enforcement if doing so is a security risk. Furthermore, under Article 16.7b, A.R.G.U.S. agents with a top-secret classified mission have the authority to conduct that mission without identifying themselves unless otherwise ordered from a higher-ranking member of A.R.G.U.S." Ava crossed her arms and glared coldly at the FBI agent. "There was clearly some mishandling of this mission, and they will be reprimanded by the appropriate A.R.G.U.S. authority for that. But as for you, I have half a mind to report you to the head of A.R.G.U.S. under Article 1.8a and file a 52-B report about the disaster this mission turned into. Let my agents go without any further trouble, and I might reconsider."
The FBI agent took an uneasy sideways step away from her. "Oh…um…yes. Yes, of course. I wouldn't stand in the way of A.R.G.U.S. If there's anything I could do…"
"There isn't," Ava said, cutting him off. "Just call off everyone. We'll take it from here."
The terrified agent walked quickly back into the building and began notifying officers and guards to back off. Ava walked over to the Legends, her arms still crossed and her expression still less than pleased. "Well, this better be good," she said.
"Ava!" Ray exclaimed gleefully. "It's so nice to see you! Thanks for helping us out. We were in quite a pickle."
Ava's face softened very slightly. "Yeah, well, I'm just glad it worked. I totally made up most of that. I have no idea what the actual A.R.G.U.S. charter says."
"Which is precisely why we needed you, Director Sharpe," Sara said. "Only someone who can believably sell all that bureaucratic mumbo-jumbo could pull off making all that up and getting that guy to buy it."
"Well, don't thank me yet," Ava said. "We still definitely need to talk about everything that just…Snart." She stopped talking suddenly as she noticed the one man in the group who she hadn't met before. She pointed at him. "That's you, right? Leonard Snart?"
Leonard hid his discomfort with Ava's presence under a mischievous smirk. "Always pleased to meet a fan, Director."
Ava stared at him, analyzing every detail of his appearance. "Wow," she said. "You really do look exactly like Leo."
Leonard looked at her quizzically. "Who?"
"Never mind." Ava turned away from him and addressed the whole group again. "I'm glad you guys got the anachronism and the rift taken care of, but there's still a big mess here. After I put in a call to the Time Bureau asking for a few agents to clean this up, I think we need to go over what happened. Is that acceptable to you, Captain?" She looked directly at Sara.
Sara sighed and slumped her shoulders. Things had been going so well with Ava earlier that day. Now, it seemed like they had returned almost to where they'd been before. Reluctantly, she gave in. "Yes, Director Sharpe." She stepped in front of the Legends and turned around to face them. "You heard her, Legends. We're going back to the ship. Come on!" She led them down the last section of stairs to the sidewalk.
Leonard moved to follow with the rest of the group, but he felt Ava's eyes on him. He stood still and turned to look at her. "What?" he asked.
Ava blinked a couple times to force herself to stop staring. "No, no…nothing. It's nothing. Go ahead." Leonard didn't believe her, but he shrugged it off and joined the others. Ava stood still on the steps for a moment, thinking. Huh. So that's Leonard Snart. That's Sara's thief friend. Interesting. She finally paused her thoughts and followed the rest of the group.
"Ray!" Nora exclaimed with relief as she saw her boyfriend enter the Waverider's bridge. She ran to him and gave him a tight hug. "Sara told me you were in trouble. I was so worried."
"Aw," Ray said sweetly, hugging her just as tightly. "Don't worry, Nora. Everything's okay. We all got out fine. Mostly because of Ava, actually." He let go of her and noticed that the concerned look on her face hadn't completely disappeared. "What's wrong? Did something happen to you?"
Nora hesitated, then explained, "Kind of. It's a long story, but Constantine might have…accidentally set Tabitha loose in Mallus's dimension."
Ray did a double take. "John did what?"
"In fairness," Nora pointed out, "he didn't know the guy he was helping was working for Tabitha. And lying to him. And being a general manipulative jerk."
"Oh." Ray nodded understandingly. "Hey, it happens to the best of us. The important thing is that everyone's okay. Um…everyone is okay, right?"
"Physically, yes," Nora answered. "Emotionally…"
They heard a loud crash that sounded like something being kicked over in Charlie's room. "I bloody hate that stupid witch!" Charlie's voice shouted loudly enough to be heard throughout the entire ship.
Nora pointed in the direction of the sound. "Emotionally, we're not doing too great."
"Yikes," Ray said, looking uneasily toward the corridor leading to Charlie's room. He returned his gaze to Nora and smiled. "Well, we do have some good news. We shut down the rift and got Mick's book back. History is saved!" He leaned in a little closer and added in a quieter voice, "Also, Ava's mad at us now because things got a little crazy."
"Yeah, she just called Gary out to deal with something and sounded pretty annoyed. How crazy are we talking?"
"Well, it started with a security guard mistaking the A.T.O.M. suit for a Soviet superweapon…and ended with Garima going on an extremely destructive rampage through the Library of Congress."
Now, it was Nora's turn to express concern. "Yikes," she said, echoing her boyfriend's word choice.
"Yeah," Ray said sheepishly. "We're having a team meeting about it in a minute." He paused and studied Nora's face for a moment. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm okay," she reassured him. "It's just one more failure to stop Tabitha." She crossed her arms and added sarcastically, "Maybe I should start keeping a list."
"Hey, don't talk like that," Ray said. He took her hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze. "We'll get her eventually. At least no one got hurt. Plus, now we know where she is. That's got to be a little helpful, right?"
Nora smiled. "Ray, you could put a positive spin on anything."
"It's one of my best talents," Ray replied cheerfully. "Don't worry, Nora. Things might go a little out of control with the Legends, but I'm sure everything's going to end up okay. We've gotten through all kinds of things together, and we're going to do it again. This is just a minor setback."
"I sure hope you're right," Nora said, feeling slightly better despite her lingering concerns.
Leonard sat in the Waverider's lab, leaning back in a chair. He picked up a small ball from where it had been sitting on Ray's desk and tossed it at the wall, then let it bounce back to him and tossed it again. On his third throw, he saw Mick enter the room and caught it in mid-air instead of throwing it again. "Hey," he said simply.
Mick closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then marched over to stand in front of Leonard. His partner watched him curiously as he stood silently for a moment until he finally spoke. "I don't stare at lighters anymore."
Leonard raised his eyebrows in surprise. He looked like he was about to say something, but Mick stopped him by speaking first. "What I mean is," he clarified, "I still like fire. I like how it looks. I like what it does. I just don't…you know…turn on a lighter just to watch it burn." He crossed his arms and looked down at the floor, trying to find the right words to explain himself. He finally looked back up at Leonard. "I met my dad, Snart. I went to Vietnam while he was there. I don't know how, but it just…changed things. It didn't make me like him or what he did. I don't think I ever will. It's just that…I didn't…I didn't realize how much I was still holding onto setting the fire that…well, you know what it did. Meeting him there was just…closure, I guess. And once I had that, I didn't need to stare at lighters anymore."
Mick watched Leonard's face closely, trying to discern his reaction. Leonard kept his face mostly neutral, but it was clear that he was listening intently. He said nothing. Mick took another deep breath to prepare himself, then continued, "I was a Revolutionary War hero, Snart. I saved George Washington. There's a statue of me now. I don't know where it is, but it's somewhere." He paused in thought briefly, then kept going. "I was a totem bearer. I got to wear a fancy necklace that gave me fire powers. I had a pet rat for a while. I found him trying to eat Haircut, named him AXL, and took care of him until he died. I started writing books under a fake name. It's a fun hobby, but it's…it's more than that. I started writing about romance. Feelings." He cringed even as he said the word. "I still don't like feelings. I don't like talking about them. But I can write about them now. And people like what I write. I have fans. Mona's my biggest one. She's a good friend, too." He hesitated for second before proceeding to his next statement. "I…I met another you from another Earth. He tried to get me to stop drinking. It didn't work. But he'd lost his me back on his Earth like I lost you, so that was good for both of us. Even though he was nothing like you."
He knew what he had to say next, but it was hard to say. He dropped his eyes to the floor, avoiding eye contact with Leonard. "When you…died…I didn't…I didn't take it well. I stayed with the team after we killed Savage. It's what I wanted. But I started…seeing you places. Places where you weren't. You were saying all kinds of stuff about how I should leave the team. The Professor said it was something called cogni…cognita…I don't know, but he had a word for it. I just thought I was going crazy." He forced himself to look up, but still didn't make direct eye contact. "Listening to that version of you…it wasn't good for me. I almost lost what I had with this team over it." He was very careful not to mention meeting the real Leonard Snart in addition to his hallucinations. That topic was still off limits. "But…but I did get through it, Snart. I got better. I let go and moved forward. I changed."
As hard as that part of his speech had been, Mick knew he had now reached the hardest part. He forced himself to make eye contact again. "I changed a lot, Snart. I'm still a thief who likes fire, but the rest of me isn't the same. When you came back, I wanted us to be like we always were. Partners. But then, I…I started thinking about how I'm not who I always was. I'm not the guy you blew yourself up for. Not anymore. So I just thought…if you knew how much I've changed, how much I've been through, then maybe…maybe things would be too different. Maybe you wouldn't be my partner. Maybe you'd regret dying for a guy who doesn't…who doesn't exist." He reiterated his statement more confidently this time, more for himself than for Snart. "He doesn't exist, Snart. That's not me. I'm not who I was in 2016. I'm not the guy you blew yourself up saving. I thought I could get away with not saying any of that, but I was wrong. So…" He waved his hands aimlessly, trying and failing to think of a way to conclude what he was saying. "So…that's it. That's everything you wanted to know." He scowled and added gruffly, "You happy now?"
Leonard stared at Mick for a few silent moments as he contemplated. He stood up from his chair and crossed his arms as he continued to think of what to say. Finally, he took a small step forward toward Mick. "Do you remember juvie?" he said calmly.
Mick raised his eyebrows. That was not the response he had expected. "What?"
"On my first day in juvie," Leonard explained, "a bunch of older kids decided to jump me. I thought I was done for until another kid stepped in and fought them off. He saved my life." He pointed at Mick. "That's the guy I blew myself up saving, Mick. And that's the same guy I'm looking at right now."
Mick's could feel himself starting to get emotional and tried to force it down. "So…you don't…you don't mind that we're not back to normal?"
"Come on, partner," he said, rolling his eyes. "I'm not an idiot. It's been three years. It's not like the world stopped turning just because I was gone."
"And you don't regret…doing what you did? Even though I'm different?"
Leonard shook his head. "Are you kidding? I saved you so you could go on with your life. I'd have to be pretty stupid to think that wouldn't mean a little change."
Mick smiled, then turned his face away, hoping to get his emotions in control before he did something really embarrassing. "So much for no touchy-feely," he joked.
"Says the guy who started this conversation in the first place," Leonard drawled. "I'm starting to think you like all this touchy-feely crap."
Mick made a disgusted face. "Shut up, Snart."
As Mick spoke, the rest of the Legends began to file into the room. Zari raised an eyebrow questioningly as she passed Mick. "Dude, are you okay? You look weirdly close to crying."
"No!" Mick shouted emphatically. He didn't dare look back at Leonard, who smirked very amusedly at his over-the-top reaction. "Crying is stupid. I don't do that. Why's everyone in here?" he demanded, drawing the attention of the room away from himself.
"Because," Sara answered as she walked through the doorway behind the rest of the group, "we're having a team meeting and going where you already are is the only way to ensure you show up."
Mick frowned. "Oh yeah? Watch this." He turned around and started walking toward the opposite exit. Nate stood in his path, preventing him from leaving. Mick groaned and gave in. "Ugh, fine." He pulled up a chair and slumped down in it. Leonard took a seat next to him and propped his feet up on the nearest table. "What's the problem?" Mick asked bluntly.
"The problem," Ava answered, standing beside Sara in front of the messy semicircle of Legends that had formed around them, "is that the Legends just broke a ton of Time Bureau protocols and, as I understand it," she added with a glance toward Constantine, "made things a lot more complicated for the whole Tabitha situation."
"So what?" Mick grumbled.
"So," Sara answered, "we need to go over everything that happened and get everyone on the same page."
"It's standard Time Bureau procedure," Ava added. "Especially for missions that go, well…"
"Completely off the rails?" Nate suggested.
Ava pointed to him. "Yes. That. Exactly."
"Like every Legends mission, you mean," Zari muttered.
"Some more than others," Ava replied. She turned her face to look at Sara. "Do I make myself clear, Captain Lance?"
"Yes, Director Sharpe," Sara said. She looked toward John and Charlie, who were standing together on the far side of the group. "So, Team Heyworld, want to go first?"
"What's there to say?" Charlie said disappointedly. "Seems the cat's already out of the bag." She pointed at John. "This bloke set Tabitha loose in Mallus's realm."
John looked at her with an offended scowl. "Hey now, love, don't forget that I asked for your opinion the whole way through. You wanted me to do it. We were both tricked."
"By whom?" Ava asked.
"Paul Christian," Nora answered from where she was seated beside Ray. "Apparently, he's Tabitha's new sidekick."
"He told us he was trying to shut off access to the dark dimension," Charlie elaborated. "But he was actually trying to open it."
"And both Tabitha and Paul Christian are there now?" Ava asked.
"Yes," Charlie and John said simultaneously.
Ava looked to Nora. "Well, you're our expert on all things Mallus. How easy would you say it is for them to cross between dimensions from there?"
Nora hesitated, then answered, "It depends."
"On what?"
"How stable the timeline is, for one thing. Also, what kinds of magical spells they have access to and how much extradimensional power they're able to use."
Ava nodded as she processed the information. "Okay. That's…we'll deal with that. We'll need to be extra vigilant with the timeline as flimsy as it is, but we'll deal with it." She then looked to Ray. "And what about Team Library?"
Ray offered a sheepish smile. "So, as it turns out, the A.T.O.M. suit's tech is super futuristic for 1950…"
Sara laughed. "Ha! I sure hope so."
Ava shot her a disapproving look. "Please take this seriously, Captain."
Sara wanted to think of a clever retort, but she forced herself to move on instead. "Okay…but how does that end with you and Zari being interrogated by the FBI and Garima storming through the building while causing who-knows-how-much damage and injury?"
"Hey!" Mick interjected. "I specifically wrote her not to kill people this time. I thought you'd be happy."
Sara rolled her eyes. "Mick, you don't get a prize for not killing people."
"Maybe I should," he retorted.
"Look," Zari spoke up, "we tried to get out of it as quickly and cleanly as possible. Things just got a little out of hand once Ray got caught tampering with the Library of Congress's records system."
"Hey, I tried to come up with a good explanation," Ray argued. "You know I'm not great at lying to authority. Or lying under pressure. Or…most kinds of lying."
Ava turned to Nate and Mona. "And what did you two say you were doing?"
"Pretending to fight about Alexander Hamilton," Mona answered.
"Yeah," Nate agreed. He added with a friendly smile in Mona's direction, "I know it got heated, but you understand it wasn't personal, right?"
"Oh, of course it wasn't!" she said sweetly, patting him on the back. "But that's so nice of you to make sure, Nate."
"Guys," Ava said, redirecting the attention of the room. "Can we focus? Please? This is serious."
"Come on, Director," Sara said calmly. "It's not like this is the worst mess the Legends have ever made of a mission."
"Very true," Nate agreed.
"Not even close," said Zari.
"We did get the anachronism and the rift," Ray pointed out. "I consider that a win."
"That's not the point," Ava replied. "The Time Bureau is low on resources. Maybe we could have covered for you guys for the last couple years without much effort, but right now, it's hard. We can't just blow it off, okay? Now, I still have a couple questions about…"
"I've got a question," Leonard said, speaking up for the first time since the meeting had started. The room went silent and all eyes focused on him.
Ava stared at him blankly for a moment. She hadn't expected to be interrupted. "What's your question, Mr. Snart?"
Leonard put his feet down from the table, then stood up, holding eye contact with Ava the whole time. "Are you the captain of this crew?" he asked.
Sara froze. Oh no, she thought. Why is he doing this? Now is not a good time. She looked uneasily between Leonard and Ava.
Ava frowned. "What does that have to do with…"
"I asked you first," he said.
Ava took a step forward and crossed her arms with a cold expression. "No, Mr. Snart, I am not."
"Huh. Interesting." Leonard pretended to think for a second, then continued, "In that case, I've got another question." He took a toward her, mimicking her defiant stance. "Why are you acting like you're our boss?"
"I'm not," she replied firmly. "I'm acting like someone tasked with fixing the timeline and trying to do it with minimal complications."
"Sounds a lot like Sara's job," Leonard said.
"It is. We have similar responsibilities. We just perform them in different ways."
"Right. And that means you get to board her ship, call a team meeting, act like you're in charge, and brush our real captain off when she says stuff you don't like. Makes sense."
The attention of the room was now on Sara. She moved a few steps closer to Ava and Leonard as she responded, "Guys, it's not a big deal. Technically, I agreed to called the meeting."
Ava continued to hold eye contact with Leonard. "She's right," she told him.
Leonard didn't seem phased at all. "Yeah, but that doesn't mean she's the one running it." He took another small step toward her. "Here's the thing: I've got a very short list of people I take orders from." He nodded his head toward Sara. "She's on it. You're not."
Mona walked quietly over to Mick's side. "They're not just fighting about the team meeting, are they?" she whispered.
"Snart definitely isn't," he whispered back.
Ava finally looked away by glancing at the floor, only to lift her face again with an even more piercing look in her eyes. She took one more step toward him, making the space between the two of them very narrow. "Well, then," she said, "it looks like your list is going to have to get a little bit longer."
"I doubt it."
Sara tried to intervene again. "Hey, you know what? This is getting off topic. Let's just get back to what happened at the Library of Congress…"
Ava didn't back down. She narrowed her eyes at Leonard and studied him for a moment, then continued, "That's pretty bold of you to tell me how to do my job. Especially when, if I'm not mistaken, you're the reason I have to do it this way in the first place." Leonard continued to glare intimidatingly at her but did not say anything. Ava was not intimidated and took the silence as an opportunity to keep talking. "Isn't that right, Mr. Snart? Would Tabitha and the rifts be a problem for us if it wasn't for you reentering time?"
That was too far for Sara. She clenched her fists angrily and stepped into the small space between Ava and Leonard. "That's enough!" she exclaimed. "Snart ended up where he did because he sacrificed himself to save us all. He did nothing wrong."
Leonard smirked. "Well, I wouldn't say nothing…"
Sara glanced at him over her shoulder with a silencing look. "Hey, I'm trying to help you here." Leonard's smirk faded and he remained quiet. Sara looked back at Ava again. "If you're going to blame the rifts on somebody, blame them on me. I can take it. But leave Snart alone."
A long staring contest followed between Ava and Sara. As the wheels turned in Ava's mind, she tried to process everything that was now becoming clear about Leonard Snart. She kept him a secret from me, she thought, she risked the timeline to save him, and now that he's back, she jumps in to defend him the moment I say something against him. Maybe I reacted a little too harshly. I can admit to that. But why? Why is she so protective of him? From what I've seen, he's not a very nice person. He's rude, arrogant, and won't listen to authority. Why is she prioritizing him – some guy she knew for barely a few months – over me, the timeline, and everything else? It doesn't make sense.
Finally, the staring contest ended with Ava looking away and taking a step back. "You're right," she admitted. "I overreacted, and I apologize."
"Thank you," Sara said, relaxing her posture.
Ava looked around the room at the Legends. They had all been watching the intense conversation with great interest, and they hadn't stopped staring yet. Ava cleared her throat, then turned to Sara. "I think you can handle things without me from here, Captain Lance. The meeting's over."
"Finally!" Mick bellowed, standing up from his seat. "It's been long enough."
Sara rolled her eyes at Mick, then address the rest of the group. "You heard her, Legends. You're dismissed. Go do…whatever you were doing before, I guess."
The Legends gradually filed out of the lab until only Leonard, Sara, and Ava were left. Ava couldn't help noticing how comfortable they seemed standing so close to each other. Once it became clear that Leonard wasn't leaving with the others, Ava leaned in toward Sara and said, "Captain, may I have a word with you…alone?" She glanced at Leonard as she emphasized the last word.
"Yes, of course," Sara said. She exchanged a glance with Leonard. Ava wasn't sure what message she had silently conveyed to him, but it was enough for him to relax his tense stance and then finally walk out of the room, throwing one last look behind him as he left. Sara turned back to Ava. "Okay. We're alone."
Ava was relieved enough to at least partially let go of the professional tone she had been using. "Whew. Good." She glanced out the door Leonard had just exited through, then back to Sara. "That really wasn't the first impression I was hoping to make."
Sara crossed her arms and leaned back against the table behind her. "Oh, don't worry. That was nothing. You should have seen him and Rip when they were first starting to work together."
"That bad, huh?"
"Oh yeah."
"Well," Ava said, "I guess that makes me feel a little bit better." She paused a moment to think, then continued earnestly, "I wasn't trying to step on your toes back there, and I definitely didn't mean to pick a fight with Snart. There's just a lot happening right now, and I have to be responsible for all of it. It's not easy."
"I get that," Sara said understandingly.
"Good." Ava hesitated, then said, "In that case, you'll understand why it's extremely important that Snart comes back to the Bureau with me."
Sara stared at her blankly, then laughed as if she'd just heard a hilarious joke. "Sorry, what? Snart? At the Bureau?" She studied Ava's face and stopped laughing. "Oh. You're serious."
"I know he just came back to the ship," Ava replied, "but, if my theory is correct – that he is still connected to the timeline – he could be our secret weapon to save time, and maybe even stop Tabitha while we're at it. He needs to be kept in a safe place where our agents can make sure nothing happens to him."
Sara didn't like this idea at all. She knew there were no malicious intentions behind Ava's suggestion, but it just didn't sit right with her. The image of Leonard Snart at the Time Bureau felt all kinds of wrong. "No way," she said. "First of all, you clearly don't know Snart, because he would hate that. I mean hate it."
"It's not like we'd be keeping him prisoner or anything," Ava clarified. "We'd probably find him a nice apartment somewhere and just have agents check in on him regularly. We could even give him a temporary job at the Bureau so he can keep helping you."
"And he would still hate it," Sara replied. "He might even hate that more. Besides, you don't even know if your theory is correct yet. He might not have any connection left to the timeline at all."
"That's why we need to keep an eye on him, Captain Lance," Ava continued. "The Time Bureau needs to study him and run some tests that analyze whether the connection exists and how we can use it if it does."
"You're talking about him like he's a weapon or some kind of experiment," Sara argued. "He's not. He's a person, and he belongs here."
"You know that's not what I mean," Ava replied. "Of course he's a person. He's just a person we need to run tests on and keep safe in case he's the key to fixing all this."
Sara shook her head emphatically. "No, no, no. He barely tolerates Ray testing on him, let alone a bunch of strangers from an agency he's never worked with before. I mean, no offense, but I don't think he's completely convinced that the Time Bureau isn't just a Time Masters reboot yet. He would never go along with it."
"He will if you tell him to."
Sara stiffened. She said nothing at first, then asked, "What are you talking about?"
"You heard his 'very short list.' I've only known him for about ten minutes, but I can tell he listens to you. If it comes from you, maybe he'll consider it."
"No." Sara held up her hand to stop Ava before she could start speaking again. "I gave him a choice to leave when we first got him back, and he refused. He wants to be here, on this ship, with this team. I can't just take that away from him. I could never order him to leave after everything he's done."
"You're not ordering him to leave," Ava argued. "You're telling him that he can help you by temporarily coming back to the Bureau until our questions are answered."
"I still can't do that to him, Director Sharpe. I just…I can't."
"Why?" A tense silence filled the room as the question sank in. After a moment, Ava asked again, "Why does he have to stay here? I told you I'd make sure he's safe and treated well. Don't you trust me?"
"I do," Sara insisted. "Of course I do. You know I do."
"Then why don't you trust me with Snart?"
"That's not true."
"Captain Lance, look at the facts. You didn't trust me enough to talk to me about him when we were together. You didn't trust me enough to inform me of what was happening when you were saving him. And now, you don't trust me enough to let me take him back to the Bureau with me. I know you missed him, and I understand why you'd want him to stick around, but this is bigger than that. Why are you so attached to this guy? And why is that so much more important than working with me?"
Sara honestly wasn't sure how to answer that. "It's…it's not personal," she said slowly. "I want to work with you. I really do. I want to save time, and I know we have to work together to do that. But I'm not going to force Snart to leave when he doesn't want to, especially if it could all be for nothing anyway."
Ava sighed, exhausted from all the arguing. "Captain, I'm just trying to figure out how we can stitch the timeline back together. Snart might be our best option, but we won't know until we do the necessary analysis. Would it really hurt that much to tell him that?"
Sara frowned. Even if she could convince Leonard to go back with Ava, she knew he would be miserable. He'd go crazy in a place like the Time Bureau and would probably drive everyone else there crazy with him. Not to mention the fact that she knew he didn't fully trust the Time Bureau yet. Would he really be willing to go along with a government agency that he still associated with the organization was willing to die to destroy? Absolutely not. "Yes, Director Sharpe, I think it would. You don't know Snart like I do." She looked away for a moment, gathering her thoughts, then returned her gaze to Ava. "There might be another way to do this. Ray noticed some irregularities in Snart's cells after the last mission. He wanted to run some extra tests to see what's going on with him, but Snart wasn't thrilled about it. If Snart stays here and lets Ray run his tests, we can send you the results and keep the Time Bureau in the loop about everything we find. That might answer your questions and allow him to stay."
Ava considered the idea. "That's…not a bad plan," she admitted. "I guess it would be enough for now, although long-term decisions can't be made without the results."
"Fair enough." Sara stepped away from the table she was leaning on and stood up straight. "I'll tell him what's going on and explain why we need him to cooperate with Ray. If he agrees to do it, problem solved." She adjusted her stance to look a little more intimidating. "But even if he doesn't, I'm still not ordering him to leave."
"Very well," Ava conceded. "I guess that's the most I can ask for at this point. Just keep me updated." She looked at her wrist and began adjusting the settings on her time courier. "Meanwhile, I'll check in on Gary and the effort to smooth over what's left of the Legends' mess at the Library of Congress." She opened a portal to the Time Bureau and stepped through it. "Goodbye, Captain. I appreciate your cooperation." The portal closed behind her, leaving Sara alone.
