"No!" Rip said sternly as soon as he saw Mick's hulking form behind the others. Mick shot him a dirty look, but it was Sara who spoke up.
"Look, I know how you feel about him, but Kronos had him imprisoned. He may be able to give us some valuable information on the guy."
"We don't know that Kronos is even still alive. He fell from the ship while it was in flight." That took the four team members by surprise. Looking around the bridge, Mick noticed something, more like someone, was missing.
"Where's Snart?" he asked gruffly. Rip became slightly nervous.
"Why do you care? He did take you out to kill you." Mick growled.
"He's my partner. He was never going to kill me, just strand me. And yeah, I'm mad. Gonna knock him across the face when I see him. So, where is he?"
"We don't exactly know." Stein spoke from behind Rip. The four new arrivals stood, not knowing what to say to that.
"Kronos shoved him off the ship." Rip took over.
"So, find him!" Mick bellowed.
"Is he dead?" Sara asked what they were all thinking.
"He's not dead. We were grounded at the time. Mr. Rory, it's not that simple. Gideon was damaged during the attack. We have no idea where or when we were when we stopped. Speaking of," Rip looked to Ray. "Mr. Palmer, will you aid Mr. Jackson with the repairs to the computer?" Ray nodded and moved to follow Jax from the bridge. Everyone was looking morose when Rip's face suddenly lit up.
"Gideon! Search newspapers and online archives for any facial recognition hits. Start with where we were in the '50's and go forward." he said animatedly.
~x~x~x~
Len was sitting on a stool in a local bar, nursing a glass of whiskey. He had wracked his brain for any way to somehow communicate with the others or find where they were to no avail. The only thing he could to was sit and wait. That's what led him to the bar. He figured he might as well kill some time while he waited. However, when he was finished with his current glass, he was going to leave. The guy to his right was giving him the creeps. He didn't know why, it was just something about him. Right before he finished his glass, there was a commotion to his left. Looking over, saw a daytime drunk getting rather belligerent and the bartender was kicking him out. Turning back to his drink, Len downed it, standing up and throwing some money down on the counter. What he didn't notice was the creepy man had gotten up as well and followed him out.
As he was walking down the sidewalk, Len began to feel dizzy. Scrubbing a hand over his face, he attempted to clear his vision. It didn't work. He was confused. He had only had one drink. A warm fog began to wrap itself around his mind and he stumbled. Someone behind him kept him from falling on his face.
"Thanks." he slurred out. The man just tightened his grip on Len and began walking him down the street. Warning bells began to go off within Len when he saw where they were going. There was a cargo van parked on the curb and they were walking toward it. Something in Len told him to fight the firm grip around him. He began struggling and repeating the word No over and over. In the end, there was nothing he could do in this state and he passed out as soon as he was shoved into the back of the van.
~x~x~x~
Everyone surrounded the console in the middle of the bridge, anxiously awaiting to see what Gideon found. Mick was lost in his thoughts and jumped slightly, startled, when Gideon spoke.
"I have found some results, however, I am unsure whether or not you want to see it."
"Of course we do. What did you find?" Rip asked. A moment later, a holographic image of a newspaper appeared above the console. There was a sketch of Len's face there with a disturbing headline.
Latest Victim of the Squaw Creek Killer
They read on, frantically, to see what happened.
This man was seen being forced into a white cargo van yesterday. His identity is unknown, but he is believed to be the latest victim of the Squaw Creek Killer. If you know this man or have seen him, please contact the Ames Sheriff's Department.
Everyone was silent. It was, in fact, Gideon who broke it.
"There is another item. I was able to hack into the Sheriff's Department database and came across this. You may not want to see it." What popped up next was nothing any of them were expecting. Crime scene photos. It was Len. He was laying on the ground in a wooded area by a small river. There was blood everywhere and his blue eyes, which were open, were clouded over. He had been severely beaten, but it was easy to see what had killed him. His throat was slashed, ear to ear, down to the bone. Kendra gagged and ran for a bathroom and Mick let out a guttural growl, slamming his hand down on the console. He turned and began pacing the room, rubbing his hand over his face. Whirling around, he walked up on Rip, sticking a finger in his face.
"You gotta fix this!"