The first thing Sara saw when she stepped inside the big room, after Jax but before Leonard, was a tall man, wearing some sort of odd metal helmet, staring accusatorily across the room at…she turned…another man, this one shorter, older and gray-haired.

"You don't know that it won't work," the first man said indignantly. "The material from that starstone…it has some very interesting properties! And…"

"Because you will not let me test it!" The gray-haired man looked like he was about to…what had Jax said before? Self-combust? "If you would just…"

Jax cleared his throat, loudly. And both men stopped, looking toward them as if surprised to see anyone else there. Then the man with the helmet pulled it off, revealing dark hair and a lopsided grin.

"Len!" he said, looking overjoyed to see the thief. "Been a while! How's Mick?"

"He said to say hello," Len informed him, sauntering into the room, then glancing at the other man. "Stein."

The gray-haired man narrowed his eyes. "Master Thief." Then he seemed to notice Sara, who'd remained at the doorway, still and watchful. "Ah! My lady." To her surprise, he approached, bowing low and courtly, "I can only say 'thank you' for ridding this city of the plague that was Damien Darhk."

Sara laughed in surprise, holding her arms out in "I come in peace" ceremony and then bowing herself. "You are quite welcome, Master..."

"Martin Stein," the man told her, just a little pompously. "A'Hedera. Although I've lived here a good while now. Master Artificer...Alchemist." He threw the dark-haired man a look as the other...well, Sara decided that the best word for it was "bounded" up to them, still smiling.

"Raymond Palmer A'Stella. Head of the Centralis Artificers Guild. But you can call me Ray," he told her happily, sketching a bow himself and then reaching for her hand in a move that told her he wasn't even remotely thinking about her being an assassin. It was...refreshing and unnerving in equal measure. Sara let him capture her hand and shake it, giving Len a bemused look. The jerk was smiling.

"You look a little familiar," Ray told her, peering at her earnestly. "I don't think I knew you back in Stella, although I left quite a while ago too."

Sara reclaimed her hand. "Same here." They both had patronyms. She wondered what services they or their forefathers had provided to their city or the crown to earn them.

"Well..."

Somewhat to Sara's relief, Len stepped in then. "Raymond," he said drily. "We'd love to chat, but Sara is here to see Cisco first. Is he about, or did he run and hide when he heard I was here?"

Ray, looking a touch disappointed, jerked his thumb to the left, and Sara realized there was a dark-haired man seated at one of the marble-topped tables that filled the room. His head was down on the table and, as Sara and Len approached and the other men went back to their argument, he let out a tiny snore.

Len laughed quietly to himself, then smirked at Sara, winking, before leaning down to put his face about a foot from the slumbering man's and taking a deep breath.

"Cisco!" he barked then. "Wake up! Where's my sister?!"

The man shot upright, eyes huge, hands going upward as it to protect himself. Sara clapped a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing as he started to protest groggily.

"I don't know!" the man named Cisco said. "I dropped her off..."

Then he blinked. Shook his head. And gave Leonard an absolutely disgusted look. "Really?"

The thief smirked at him, leaning against the table.

"This ne'er-do-well is courting my sister, Lisa," he told Sara with amusement. "Haven't decided how I feel about that."

Cisco ran a hand through his hair and shook his head again, trying to wake up. Then he peered at Sara, blinked again, and smiled.

"How," he said to Leonard, getting to his feet, "do you meet all the most interesting people?" He didn't wait for an answer, bowing over Sara's hand. "Pleased to meet you, lady assassin." He glanced up, grinning at her. "I hear you'd like a new emblem. I'd be honored to provide that...for the usual fee, of course."

Sara decided she rather liked this opportunistic fellow. "Of course," she said drily. "You've made others, in addition to the latest Thieves Guild one?" She nodded to Leonard, who'd wandered back toward the others, apparently trying to give Sara space to negotiate.

"Oh, yeah." The artificer clapped his hands together, turning around as if not quite sure where he was, then hurried over to a workspace near the wall. Sara, following more slowly, approached to see an array of tools laid out there, and a handful of sketches that Cisco grabbed.

He handed them to Sara (who slowly paged through drawings of the Bards Guild harp, the Artificers Guild wrench, and the Hunters Guild's bow) and turned to mess about with a safe tucked under the tabletop, emerging with a tray of gemstones he set down on the table. Sara studied those, too, turning a deep green piece of jade from side to side before picking up a cabochon amethyst.

"Why aren't you in Artisans?" she asked thoughtfully.

The younger man shrugged. "Because I like creating things like this, but I like science more," he said cheerfully, leaning against the wall. "Actually, I'm a mid-rank mage, too, but I spend more time here."

"Because you and Harrison can't spend five minutes together without sniping at each other." Leonard had wandered back, smirking at the younger man.

Cisco rolled his eyes. "Hey! Be fair. That's true of just about everyone." He shook his head. "Except Caitlin. I don't know how she does it."

Sara cleared her throat, trying to pull the topic back to her emblem. "I was thinking...a moonstone? With the Guild knife symbol, of course. And any...artistic liberties...you want to take are fine by me."

Cisco looked intrigued. "Oh, I could do that. Moonstone's a little softer, but one of those characters over there..." He jerked a thumb at the squabbling masters at the other side of the room. "... actually came up with a way to coat it without damaging it or discoloring it at all. I've been waiting to use it on something like opal. That could be good...yes..."

Sara reached into her belt pouch and pulled out Darhk's emblem again. With any luck, she wouldn't need to carry it much longer. "Here's the old emblem, carved with the traditional knife. You don't have to make it the same."

Cisco wrinkled his nose and declined to touch it, although he did study the gem and its mark for a few minutes before backing away. "That thing...Darhk's? Ugh. There's something just...wrong...with it."

Martin had drifted over from his ongoing debate with Ray to study it himself. He seemed more intrigued than disgusted, and cleared his throat when Sara started to put the emblem away.

"May I see that?" he said thoughtfully. "I'm simply...curious."

"Those words. Those words are how things start blowing up around here," Len muttered, but Sara shrugged and handed it over. Odd, but she felt lighter-hearted the moment it left her possession.

"OK!" Cisco had grabbed a lead stick and some more paper. "I have thoughts. How about..."

Leonard, smiling a little to himself as he watched Sara discuss her new emblem with Cisco—just a little more evidence that she was planning to stay here—idly turned to watch Martin head back to the other end of the room, carrying Darhk's stone. After a moment, he followed the older man.

Martin detached the stone from its chain (Len casually stopped to pick the latter up and pocketed it), then—glancing hurriedly back at Sara as if she'd stop him—picked up a tool and popped it out of its setting. Then he fixed it into a sort of tripod on one of the tabletops. Ray wandered over them, too, as did Jax.

The younger man frowned at the stone, sidling away from it. "What the hells is that? It...ugh!"

"Yes," Martin said abstractly. "Isn't it fascinating?" He leaned over and shone a light into the stone. "I've felt something similar to this aversion before, but I just can't place it."

Ray leaned over to study it, too, shaking his head. "I don't have any magic," he admitted cheerfully (as he did just about everything, Len thought). "I don't feel anything. But it's an odd shape, isn't it? The back's uneven—almost in a pattern." He leaned closer. "Reminds me of something, too."

Len glanced around at the group of people staring at the stone, then shook his head. "Just...odd," he muttered. "All of you."

Jax made a rude gesture at him, but the other two ignored him. However, after a few more minutes, Ray jerked upright, nodding.

"It's a key," he said excitedly. "The way the back is carved. Look at it! That fits into something else." He turned toward Sara and Cisco and raised his voice. "My, uh, lady...Master Assassin?"

Sara, as Len watched, shook her head and got to her feet, heading back toward them. "Just Sara is fine, here. What's going on?"

Leonard frowned as Ray explained his thoughts to Sara, still focusing on the stone. Standing this close to it, for a slightly longer period of time, it seemed like he was getting more impressions from it. A taste in the back of his throat…old blood? And screams, echoing...

He shook his head violently, blinking as he heard Sara's voice again.

"I think I know what that might fit in," she said, a restrained excitement in her voice, turning toward the door. "Back at the Guild hall. I'm going to go get it."

Jax nodded. "I'll go with you. It'll be easier for you to get back in here."

Len could feel Sara's eyes on him for a moment, but she left without further comment. He felt rather like he wanted to vomit but leaned closer to the gem instead. There was…something…

"Well, even if it's a key, there's something else going on too." Martin continued to stare at the gem as well, frowning. He glanced Leonard, then, and seemed to pick up on the other man's unease.

"What are you sensing?" he asked quietly. "You look like you're going to get sick."

"Eh." Leonard shook his head again. "It…" He hesitated. It wasn't like the other man was a particular friend. But… "Somehow, it reminds me of my father."

Martin didn't dismiss it. He did frown. "The former Thieves Guild head. The one who sponsored Darhk."

"Yes."

"Was he…ah…involved at all in obtaining the stone?"

It was a good question. Leonard considered. "Not that I know of. But…maybe? Wouldn't surprise me."

"Hmm." To Leonard's surprise, the older man patted him on the shoulder and pointed toward a carafe of water on another table. "Get a drink. Maybe it will help."

And a good idea. Leonard helped himself, smiling a little at the cold, fresh water inside the insulated vessel—something he knew was a Jax invention-and it did help a little. He sipped, keeping his distance from the stone, and after a few minutes, Martin joined him again, getting his own glass of water.

The artificer/alchemist hesitated, then cleared his throat. "I…this may seem in bad taste, but…when the Master Assassin there confronted Darhk for the Guild, what was Darhk doing? The stories are all over the place."

Leonard eyed him but decided to trust that the other man had a reason besides macabre curiosity for the question. "He was…hurting three apprentices," he said shortly, setting his glass down. "Draining them."

Martin frowned. "Draining what?"

What had Sara said? "Their life energy."

"Hm. Would you even say…their spirits?"

Leonard lifted an eyebrow. "Like their souls? I don't know…"

"Yes, yes, you're a cynic, comes with the territory, I know." But the older man shook his head. "Perhaps. But…"

But then there was a bit of a ruckus, and Sara and Jax clattered back into the room. Sara set a small, rectangular box down on the table before plucking the stone from its tripod, much to Martin's disappointment.

"You don't think using it as a key will...release anything else, do you?" she asked, holding the stone as if it were a poisonous snake and studying the back.

"It shouldn't." Ray, joining them again, nodded toward the others. "Do any of you sense anything from this?"

At the three demurrals, Sara took a deep breath and fit the stone into the lock.

With a click, the lid released.

Sara stared at the box another moment, then looked up at the others. Martin was looking very thoughtful, Ray looked excited (of course), Jax looked intrigued…and Leonard was looking vaguely nauseated.

"Whoa." Cisco had joined them. "Look at that. Why would someone use a gem like that for a key?"

"Well," Ray mused. "A Guild master's emblem isn't supposed to leave her or his possession." He fiddled with his own emblem, a blue-green stone in a gold chain. "Not until death, anyway. So Darhk wouldn't expect anyone to get it…"

"Not until death," Martin murmured distractedly. "Death. I need to…" He turned and went rushing off to a clustered desk in a corner of the room, muttering to himself. Sara saw Leonard watch him go, but she just took another deep breath and pushed the lid further open.

Letters, inside. Folded; a few tied with ribbons. Given how casually Darhk had kept his other correspondence, Sara's suspicions grew even more. She checked carefully for any protruding needles in the box—it would be just like Darhk to fall back on that old trick—then picked up the top letter, glancing around at the others before unfolding it.

She read the first few lines…then closed her eyes. Opened them. Read it again.

"Len," she whispered. "Your father's name is on this too. I think. And…"

She couldn't say anymore. She just handed it to him mutely, then stared down at the rest of the letters—there really weren't many—and picked the next up.

She didn't unfold it yet, though. She looked back up at Leonard, whom everyone was watching as he scanned the letter, going pale.

Ray actually reached out as if in support, but Len sidestepped him. He didn't take his eyes off the letter, then started to read.

"Masters Snart and Darhk…." he read quietly.

"Snart?" Jax asked in puzzlement.

"My father had a patronym. Supposedly for services to the Council. I don't use it," Leonard informed him tersely, then continued. "Per our recent discussions pertaining to the 'asset' VS you've mentioned from the Old Kingdom. Orders are to obtain the asset immediately and arrange transport to Centralis with all resources. Will support here. Time Master."

"Time Master?" Ray asked.

"That's the signature." Leonard stared at the letter as if it would give up its secrets, then looked at Sara. "And that one?"

Sara opened it. Read. Closed her eyes. She felt duty bound to read this one, as Leonard had done the last.

"Master Darhk," she read. Lewis had, perhaps, already met his fate at the hands of his son. "Given the organization that we have successfully caused to spring up around the asset in the TD, I ask that you look further into the project we have discussed. Experiments has shown some success, and if Project Warlord doesn't fully come to fruition, they could ensure the future of the plan." She glanced up. "Signed, again, Time Master."

Another moment of silence.

"Project Warlord," Len said quietly.

Sara glanced down. "Yes."

He closed his eyes, and she could just about see the thoughts flying around him. The room was quiet. Cisco was leaning back against a table, looking worried; Ray was biting his lips; Jax looked pissed.

"Sara," Leonard asked, "is there anything else in there?"

Sara bit her lip. "One more."

He didn't say anything but watched her intently. Sara held his gaze as she reached into the box and removed the final letter. Then she held it out to him.

"If this is what I'm starting to think…" she said.

Leonard nodded and took the letter. He looked down at it for a long moment, then unfolded it.

"Master Darhk," he read. "Your continued safeguarding of a portion of the asset VS is integral to the plan. The remining portion is in safekeeping. Please continue the experiments per the keeping and restoration of such assets. Will be in contact."

And, in unison, they all said, "Time Master."

"Are they dated?" Ray asked after a moment.

Leonard looked down at the letters he was holding, then took Sara's from her and rifled through them. "Yes. Cryptically, but yes." He studied them another moment, almost loathe to continue putting the pieces together. If it hadn't been for the attack and the chase to the Temple District—TD—would he have realized? Perhaps. But they'd moved certain memories to the forefront, and the instinctive chill down his spine was a sensation he was used to listening to.

He looked up at Sara again, seeing her putting the pieces together herself. She'd been there too.

Then, she looked at him, a question in her eyes, and he nodded.

"Harrison even said it," he said, looking down at the stone and ignoring Cisco's quiet scoff behind him. "It's…"

"Necromancy."

They all looked around as Martin, his tone bleak, joined them. The older man looked down at the stone, too, then reached out, his hand hovering over it, before shaking his head.

"I'm not sure how to test it, precisely," he said quietly. "There was a fellow, before all of your time...studied how to capture what I guess you'd call spirits or souls in physical containers." He sighed. "Well, physical containers that aren't flesh and blood. I was part of a team that helped…remove…him from his laboratory. And this aversion...that's what it feels like."

He looked down at the papers in one hand. "I still have a list of his suspected apprentices here. We watched them all, for quite a long time. Nothing overtly came of it…but this one name…Phaedra…she had some contracts with the Assassins Guild…"

"She taught Darhk," Sara said abruptly. "I saw that name in some of his papers. He…he had her killed, not so long after he became head of the Guild."

Martin let out a long sigh. "I was afraid of that. I mean, we knew the association existed, but we found nothing related to the experiments in her lab…and her death seemed to be of natural causes…"

Leonard could just about see Sara forbearing to mention that, with her Guild, that was never a certain thing. She shook her head, then reached out toward the stone again, letting her hand fall away just short of touching it.

"Then…" she said, staring at it.

"That stone holds someone's soul," Jax said. "And at a guess, not a nice someone."

Leonard decided to be the one who said it. "It's Vandal Savage," he said bleakly, looking around. "The cult's on the rise again."

They all stared at him, except for Sara, was just simply nodding.

"That seems like rather a jump, Master Thief," Martin said. "How…"

"It's all in the letters," Sara cut in. "VS. And we were attacked, just yesterday, by a group we tracked down to the Temple District, to the cult home."

"Wait a minute, just wait a minute!" Cisco had his hands up, backing slowly away. "This is bizarre…"

"Lewis helped Darhk get into power," Leonard said over the top of him, waving the letters. "Darhk and Lewis helped whomever this is find and back Savage. And they believe he's coming back. That's why."

"He's dead." Ray's voice was flat. "Savage. I saw the body."

"But what happened to it?" Sara asked him.

"The king ordered it burned, so the cult couldn't make the grave—or even the body itself—an object of veneration." Ray looked uncertain. "Well. That was what he ordered."

"Who was in charge of that?" Leonard snapped back.

"No idea!" The other man looked rattled. "We have to tell the king."

"No kidding!"

Sara reached down and, making a face, removed the stone from the box. They all stared at it. Leonard swallowed again, against the blood in his throat and the screams in his head, and held the emblem chain out to her. She snapped it back into place in its setting, hesitated, then settled the chain over her head.

"Whoever this 'Time Master' is," she said, looking at him, "they've been watching us. They're going to know we're putting pieces together."

Leonard nodded, then looked around. Cisco looked vaguely terrorized (well, he often looked that way when Leonard was around) but he was listening; Martin looked angry and determined, as did Jax and Ray. They were all looking at him, as was Sara.

OK.

"Jax," he said, looking at the younger man, "go back to Sara's Guild and warn them that there might be trouble, then go to mine and tell Mick. No…wait, other way around." He looked at Sara. "Mick will help Amaya in case of trouble. Let this alliance start now."

Sara's lips twitched for some reason, but she nodded. Jax nodded, too, then wished them luck and left at nearly a run. Leonard looked at the others.

"Master Alchemist," he said almost formally to Martin. "Would you stay here and continue looking into what you know about how this works?" He nodded to the stone. "If this thing does indeed hold Vandal Savage's..spirit, soul, whatever…we need to know what they plan to do with it."

Martin nodded, but Ray put his hand up like he was a child in a classroom, chin going up, too. "I'm going with you," he said stubbornly. "To the palace. As backup."

"OK, Haircut." While Ray was digesting the unexpectedly quick agreement, Leonard looked at Cisco. "Go to the Mages Guild," he instructed. "Tell Harrison and Caitlin what we've learned. Then…" He hesitated. "Go to the Healers Guild. Please. And tell Lisa, have her tell her Guild head. And…"

But Cisco's eyes were understanding. "I'll make sure she's safe."

Leonard sighed. "Thank you." He turned quickly, looking to Sara, as the younger man's eyes widened at the unexpected thanks. "Let's go."