"I'm not the only one whose vision is blurry in their left eye, am I?" Stein asked worriedly as he removed his glasses.
"Oh. Seeing three of everything? That's normal, right?" Jax added. Jax is getting a taste of the worse side effects because of his link with Stein.
"Yes, as I mentioned before, the effect of time travel on the human body increases with the length of each jaunt." Rip explained tiredly. As far as Stein goes the jumps must take more out of him because of his age, especially since the rest of us recover far more quickly.
"So where are we?" was directed towards Rip from Kendra as she stood up.
He answered, "Harmony Falls, Oregon. According to Captain Baxter's intel, Savage makes an appearance in this quaint little hamlet."
"What the hell is Savage doing in Pleasantville?" Jax spoke standing up.
Several news headlines flashed across the view screen. "Murder, apparently. Several denizens of Harmony Falls have been brutally slain, and others have gone missing," Rip said, filling in the details he had ah, great serial murders in a small town, this is going to be a pain.
"Huh. Kind of like Rory." Jax said side eyeing Snart. I could feel the strain recent events had placed on the semi-formed pack bonds.
Rip went on, "Reports are vague, but it seems like the killer is an expert with knives."
"That sounds like Savage's MO." Sara said from her seat.
Ray sounded skeptical as he said, "Yeah, but serial killing isn't. Sounds pretty small-time for a guy who's had coffee with Hitler."
"Yeah, well, clearly we have to assume that Savage has a larger, more nefarious plan. But since we've jumped back in time, Savage isn't expecting us here." Rip went on with his suspicion turning away from the screen towards the main console.
"Savage is pretty good at hiding, even in a small town, so how do you plan to find him?" Kendra aske doubtfully.
Rip answered quickly explaining his plan, "By investigating these murders. Now, there has to be a common link between the victims, starting with the first. A piano teacher was found slain in her home, which is now on the market. Dr. Matt Miller was found murdered on the grounds of the asylum where he worked. The sanitarium is in need of a replacement. Meanwhile, Jefferson is the perfect age to discern the facts behind the disappearance of three teenagers who went missing a week before these murders began."
"So Raymond and Kendra are shacking up, Sara's Nurse Ratched, and Jax's the new kid in town. Where does that leave me and Chloe?" Snart asked.
"I'd be fine taking off on my own." I said quickly wanting to get some distance from the tension, and knowing I'd probably have a fair amount of luck working solo.
"I'm quite sure you would, but I do have a starting point in mind."
Rip, Snart and I got out of the car at the police station dressed in the finest business wear Gideon could fabricate. "We're looking for the sheriff." Rip told the officer behind the front desk as we stepped into the station.
"Well, you found him. Bud Ellison. How can I help you, folks?" He responded quickly.
They stopped in front of the desk, I stood slightly behind them and looked at him with a shy smile on my face, the both held up their badges while Rip introduced us, "Special Agent Rip Hunter. This is my partner, Leonard and our assistant Miss Kane. We are here to investigate the serial murders which have plagued this sleepy old town of yours."
"Whoa. Now, slow down there, buddy. There ain't no serial killer anywhere. All we got is some unexplained accidents is all." The sheriff said defensively as he stood up.
"How about you hand over those case files so we can decide for ourselves?" Snart quickly cut in, "Or we can come back with a court order and a really nasty disposition," he finished as he picked up a pencil from the sheriff's desk.
"Anything for our friends at the bureau," the sheriff quickly backtracked.
Rip turned to me, "Miss Kane do stay to collect those files."
I smiled up at him sweetly and with murder in my eyes said, "Of course, sir." I'll be sure to murder him later I thought as I moved closer to the sheriff's desk.
Everyone except Sara and Stein were gathered in the Captain's study once again. "Savage doesn't think I recognize him, which means he won't try to kill me. He can't steal my powers before I've found them." Kendra said excitedly after she and Ray told us about how they met Savage.
"Don't forget, we also have to figure out why he's killing the townsfolk."
Kendra looked over at Ray apprehensively, "Are you really eating that?" She asked, as he stuffed his face full of the tuna surprise Savage had given them as a housewarming gift, the surprise might be poison knowing who made it.
Ray barely paused for a minute, "Say what you want about Savage. He makes one hell of a casserole."
Rip redirected the conversion, "Yes, well, Mr. Snart, Miss Kane and I have been analyzing these forensic files."
"Which reveal nothing except Savage is very good at making people disappear." Snart said.
I looked up, "There is something odd but I haven't been able to put my finger on it just yet," I said absentmindedly, I knew there was something there and I just couldn't see it.
"Hmm, something you both have in common." Jax sniped at Snart from his seat by the door. Everyone turned to look at him before he continued, "Are we just gonna pretend like none of this happened? That Mick Rory wasn't a part of our team? If you can just ice your best friend like that, I hate to think what you could do to us." The tactician in me couldn't help but think that Mick's end was necessary for the continued survival of the team. The omega on the other hand mourned the loss of a potential packmate. Though something was off it didn't feel like it had when Jason's bond snapped but more like when Bruce and Alfred's had.
Kendra responded, "Right now, we need to stay focused on the mission," at least someone has their priorities straight.
Rip spoke up quickly to get everyone to focus back on the mission, "Look, Savage is going to be busy with this little cocktail party. Whilst you two keep an eye on him, Sara and Martin have the opportunity to find out what he's doing in the secret wing of that asylum."
"While that's happening, I'm going to take another look at those forensics. There's something odd about them," I said as everyone went to do their part, I will figure out what I'm missing.
"Gideon is anyone else on the ship?"
Mr. Snart and Captain Hunter have just returned and are enroute to the med bay.
"Thank you, Gideon," I said before grabbing the files I was looking at to meet them there.
As I approached the med bay I heard Stein say, "These wounds don't appear consistent with a knife."
"That's because they're not. I took a second look at those files and there is no way those wounds were caused by a knife." I said as I walked into the room. I noticed the cheerleader that Jax had gone to meet had deep scratches along her neck, scratches that matched the ones on all the murder victims.
Miss Kane is correct. I believe these lacerations were made by talons.
"It was Tommy," the girl whispered just barely loud enough to be heard.
Rip turned from the monitor tracking her vitals, to look at her, "Tommy Fuller, one of the missing teenagers."
She spoke again gasping,"He was like a bird. He... he was like a bird monster."
Captain, analysis of Miss Seavers' blood reveals traces of silicate minerals.
Rip moved closer to her leaning down he asked, "Miss Seavers, do you recall Tommy coming into contact with a meteor of some kind?"
"The car crash... it was... it was glowing," she said before passing out.
Stein seemed amazed, "She's talking about an Nth Metal meteorite."
"Say something that makes sense." Snart asked.
"It seems Mr. Fuller has come into contact with a meteorite with mutagenic properties." Stein said as if we all spoke science.
"Try again," Snart told Stein at the same time I said, "English, professor."
Rip explained for him, "Apparently, Miss Seavers' boyfriend has been exposed to the same type of meteor that Kendra came into contact with."
When Ray and Kendra got to the ship we gathered in the study to explain what we had learned and figure out what to do.
"Me?" Kendra said, not understanding how she was connected to the bird kids.
The professor went on to explain, "Well, you and Carter. 4,000 years ago. The meteorite which gave you your powers appears to be of the same variety that mutated Tommy Fuller."
"And I'm guessing it's not curable." Snart unhelpfully added from his seat.
Stein turned to Snart, and sounding uncertain for the first time at least since we had all boarded the ship, "Well, I-I suppose, if the talons which lacerated her left some mutagenic residue, I could…"
Snart rudely interrupted him, "Yes or no?"
"Perhaps," he said tersely.
"Why don't you get to work on that, Martin?" Rip spoke up, apparently more confident in Stein than Stein himself. Stein walked out going to try and make a cure.
"Okay, so if Savage isn't the one doing the killing, what is he doing in town?" Sara asked.
"He probably has some interest in the meteorite," I said.
Reaching to grab something from behind his back, Ray spoke up excitedly, "Doesn't matter."
Kendra finished for him, "We can take him down." Huh when did they start finishing each other's sentences I wondered.
Rip moved to look closer at the familiar dagger, "The Amon Dagger," he said excitedly. "Where did you…"
Ray answered before he could finish the question, "Savage's house."
Rip started in on a half-baked plan, "All right, we need to proceed on two fronts: locate Jefferson and make an all-out assault on Savage."
Sara interrupted him pointing out the flaws in his plan, "A full-on attack only plays to Savage's strengths. If we want to get him…"
Rip saw sense and cut in finishing Sara's line of thought, "We need to target his weaknesses. Sadly, very few come to mind."
Kendra spoke up with a valid idea, "I can think of one. Me. He wants me, and he always has. So if I can get close enough to him, then…"
"Then he'll kill you," Ray interjected, I can see the lover's quarrel starting. I leaned back in my seat to watch.
"Thank you for the vote of confidence, but I don't need your protection," Kendra snapped at him, she really doesn't, pretty sure she'd do better in a fight than Ray would especially without his suit.
"There's no reason to go alone. We're part of a team for a reason," Ray tried to get her to change her mind.
"Yes, and the team seems comfortable with me doing this, so that makes it about you and me." Kendra grabbed the knife and stormed out. Ooohhh I can see the cracks forming, I wonder how long they can really last especially if Ray keeps trying to treat her with kid gloves.
I slipped into the asylum between the lobby and Savage's wing, I cloaked myself before moving through the halls to where I would meet up with Rip and Ray. I saw them walking down the hall towards where I was cloaked, before they got to me the sheriff stepped out of one of the rooms with his gun pointed at them. "Well, well, well. An FBI agent moonlighting at the loony bin. I'm afraid both of you boys have some explaining to do down at the station."
"I don't think so," I said as I dropped my cloak. I swung my staff hitting him in the head hard enough for him to cause him to fall unconscious. We moved to continue down the hall and before long an alarm went off and we could hear screams coming from every part of the asylum.
The next day we all split up to wrap up loose ends. I ran into Ray, Sara and Kendra coming back to the ship. We walked towards the waverider, idlying talking about how we liked our time much better than the 1950s. "1958's swell and all, but I miss the Internet... and cell phones." Kendra said, summing it all up perfectly as we reached the last stretch to the ship.
The ship suddenly powered on, "Uh... what are they doing?" Ray asked.
"Hey. Hey!" We all shouted trying to catch their attention as we ran forwards.
They took off long before we got to them, "Where did they go?" Kendra asked.
"Better question: why did they leave us?" Sara said.
"And how are we going to get back?"