While I only got a couple reviews for the first chapter, I do appreciate them. Hopefully you'll enjoy what I have in store next. And hang on tight. There's a lot of technobabble, time travel weirdness, and general comic book science coming up.
Nanda Parbat: November 20th, 1960
The Shadowslicer, his old timeship, was exactly where he left it months ago. Clearly the neighboring assassins never did find the invisible craft tucked out of the way. Mick hesitated briefly when confronted with pieces of previously-frozen and shattered bits of flesh that had been left on the floor for months. He'd been informed of how his partner escaped the cuffs. That didn't prepare him to face the direct evidence of that action, the chunks decomposing the entire time. Cleaning it up was even less pleasant. But he took care of it as quickly as possible while trying not to imagine what it would have been like to witness Snart's escape.
If he could have done it, Mick would have arrived just a day or so after the timeship was abandoned. It would have been easier. But even with the adjustments to compensate, time was still broken and the journey was rough enough to rattle his teeth as he tried to fly the jump-ship towards his destination. Aiming for a more precise day would be too much to hope for. Even landing within a few months of his target date was an accomplishment. Hopefully the Shadowslicer would be more stable and the next part of his journey would be more accurate than what he could achieve with the jump-ship.
The Shadowslicer wasn't exactly like the Waverider. They were built with very different purposes in mind for the respective captains. Where the Waverider had several rooms to house a decent sized crew and make them feel comfortable, the Shadowslicer had several secure cells for imprisoning captives for when the Time Masters wanted a target alive and more extensive weapons for when they didn't. The medbay was in a different location and only had a single chair. There was no fabrication room because there was no need for stealth. The layout of the timeship was completely different and the very atmosphere was darker and more intimidating.
And yet every inch of the place was intimately familiar to him. Mick didn't want to think about how long he spent in the Vanishing Point, being remade into their ideal tool. And he didn't want to think about how long he spent as Chronos, journeying all throughout time and hunting for countless targets. His team wasn't his first assignment. Not even close. He'd spent a long time on this ship. Mick just preferred to ignore the familiarity and shove it down with the rest of his memories as Chronos as much as possible.
And yet every aspect of his current plan depended on his knowledge from his time as Chronos. How's that for ironic?
Striding towards the bridge, Mick yelled, "Hey, Gabriel. Wake up. We've got places to go."
Lights flickered on as the ship's A.I. came back online, a greenish hue painting the walls. Gabriel didn't seem to have quite as much personality as Gideon and he certainly didn't chat with the A.I. much during his time as a bounty hunter. But Mick knew Gabriel should have kept everything in a useable state.
"What is our destination, Chronos?" asked the chipper masculine voice, not even bothering to ask where he'd gone for several months.
Mick flinched at the name. He should have expected it. He should have expected Gabriel to call him by that name. It wouldn't have bothered him if he'd been prepared. He should have known it would come up. It was what he went by during his entire bounty hunting career. That didn't mean he enjoyed the reminder.
"Don't call me that," Mick snapped as he started recalibrating the computer. "Forget about that name."
"What would you prefer then?"
"My name's Mick Rory. Not Chronos," he said sharply.
Gabriel replied, "By order of the High Council, I am not able to refer to you by that name."
"They're dead. And those that didn't die are still gone. Their orders don't matter anymore."
"I still cannot use that name for you, Sir."
Rolling his eyes as he finished the alterations, Mick said, "Then call me 'Heat Wave.' That's what the nerd in Central City came up with. He loved coming up with those nicknames."
Like Captain Cold. Snart loved it. The name really helped solidify his role as the Flash's opponent and equal. It helped make him more than a common criminal in the eyes of those who lived in that city.
"That name is acceptable," said Gabriel. "Very well, Heat Wave. What is our destination?"
Taking a seat, Mick said, "Back home. We're heading towards Central City, 2017. Aim for April, but we'll be lucky if we get there before Halloween."
Los Angeles: April 4th, 2017
Sara could swear she felt her heart stop as Gideon's words sank in. It couldn't be true. It didn't make sense. What was Mick thinking? It was impossible. They knew that. He was gone. Leonard Snart was dead. She knew he was dead and not even time travel could bring him back.
Silence swallowed them all up. No one moved or spoke for a moment. Even a member of the League of Assassins would have trouble sneaking anywhere in the absolute dead silence.
"But didn't we just drop Snart off in 2014?" asked Nate. "Why would Rory go back and grab him?"
"Mr. Rory is not retrieving Mr. Snart from that point in time," Gideon clarified. "He intends to retrieve Mr. Snart from when he destroyed the Oculus."
Stepping forward, Rip said, "That is impossible. Even Mr. Rory should realize that."
"He seemed confident in his decision and the plan seems sound, if hazardous," Gideon said. "We discussed it thoroughly in the months after the death of Vandal Savage."
"And you never mentioned any of this to the rest of us?" asked Sara.
"I didn't mention you researching Damien Darhk in order to kill him before he could murder your sister either," Gideon replied.
Sara ducked her head briefly, accepting the calm admonishment from the A.I. without complaint. Gideon certainly had a point. It wasn't exactly her finest hour.
"But it is impossible," repeated Rip, each word slow and tense.
"Why? It isn't like time can break any more than it already has," Nate said, gesturing towards the front of the timeship and the herds of prehistoric beasts wandering around outside.
Burying his face in his hands briefly, Rip said, "But the Oculus was in the Vanishing Point. And the Vanishing Point exists outside of time. You don't age there, meaning you could spend lifetimes there without dying. There is no past and no future. Not really. There is only the present there. Even with a timeship, Rory won't be able to go back to that event. If he goes to the Vanishing Point, he'll only find the partially-destroyed ruins."
"Ruins caused by the destruction of the Oculus," reminded Gideon. "Destruction caused by a massive temporal computer powered by a scaled-down supernova that channels time unlike anything else. The readings recorded from the explosion indicates there were two waves of energy that occurred during the event within nanoseconds of each other. The initial demonstrated a unique signature before being overwhelmed by the second. That was the focus of my discussions with Mr. Rory."
"Really?" Stein asked, adjusting his glasses. "Could I see these readings?"
"Later, Grey," said Jax. "You can work on theories after we find Rory."
Ray crossed his arms and asked, "What exactly about that signature interested Mick so much? Because this is starting to remind me of when everyone thought an explosion killed me, but I was only shrunk."
"While the secondary wave of energy was more standard for an explosion and would have been the result of the scaled-down supernova serving as a power source, the initial blast within the chamber was composed mostly of a form of temporal energy," Gideon reported. "Theoretically, the disrupted temporal anomaly produced by the initial blast would result in everything existing within that area and in that instant being captured and frozen permanently. It would create a limited, disconnected, and isolated moment existing parallel to the rest of reality. Like a photograph of that event. Intact, but inaccessible."
"Astonishing," said Stein. "What you're describing is intriguing, as if a moment of time was sliced out of the timeline and set aside. Everything in that room would have been preserved precisely as it was, but only in that instant. No time would pass."
Staring at the older scientist, Ray said, "And since he would need to be right on top of the explosion, that would include Snart, wouldn't it? That's what you meant, Gideon. That's what Rory is doing, trying to get Snart out of that disrupted temporal anomaly. Because if time is frozen there, then it wouldn't have killed him. Snart is alive. Just… paused."
He's alive. Leonard Snart is alive. He was actually alive. The thought kept echoing around Sara's head.
She'd grieved for him and Laurel. She lost them both so close together and it hurt so much. With Laurel, she never had the chance to say goodbye. And with Leonard, they'd been on the verge of seeing what they might be together. And while she'd tried desperately to find a way to use time travel to save at least one important person in her life, she known there would be no changing what happened to him. There was no monster she could kill to undo everything and there was no body she could drag to the Lazarus Pit, even if she wanted to make him go through something like that and risk him returning with no soul or with an unstoppable bloodlust.
There had been nothing she could do.
But he wasn't dead. He was alive. They left him trapped. They left him behind. But he was still alive. And that meant there was hope.
"That's why he was so convinced at first," muttered Stein, stepping back until he could rest against the desk for support. "That's why he thought those hallucinations could have been real."
"What do you mean, Professor?" Amaya asked, turning towards him.
"Mr. Rory told me not to tell anyone. Rather firmly, I might add. But apparently he started hallucinating Snart around the time we visited Chicago. While eventually we determined that it was likely a manifestation of his survivor's guilt combined with his confliction about what the outcome of being part of the team might ultimately be for him, Mr. Rory initially had a different theory. Gideon and I managed to locate a chip in his head, the handiwork of the Time Masters. And Mr. Rory suggested that perhaps Mr. Snart had been knocked out of normal time by the explosion and the chip was somehow allowing him to perceive Mr. Snart." Gesturing sharply, he said, "That's is why he came up with that idea. Because Snart is outside of normal time. And he knew that. Astonishing."
"Even if Mr. Snart somehow survived, he is as good as dead," Rip said tiredly, his shoulders slumping and his posture weary. "What you're describing may be possible, Gideon, but we can't do anything about it. We can't reach that frozen moment in the Vanishing Point. It is in the past of a place that cannot have a past. There is no way to get him back." He dragged a hand through his hair. "At least he wouldn't be aware of his state. Everything would have stopped completely. He wouldn't be suffering."
"The inability for anyone to access the disrupted temporal anomaly is why Mr. Rory eventually dropped the idea and accepted the loss of his partner as permanent," stated Gideon. "Even with all the variables and available resources carefully considered, we could not devise a solution."
Crossing his arms briefly and his brow furrowing, Jax asked, "So if the two of you decided it was impossible, why did Rory take off?"
"The variables have changed," said Gideon.
Pacing right behind Amaya as he dragged his hands down his face, Nate said, "We broke time. We broke time and somehow Rory thinks he can get Snart out again."
"Assuming that the damage was enough to affect the Vanishing Point," Rip said slowly, "he would still need a way to access the disrupted time anomaly. That single instant, created in the Vanishing Point of all places, would require a way to reach through both time and reality at the same time. How does Rory intend to do that?"
"Well, as a former criminal in Central City, Mr. Rory would be intimately familiar with a few heroes with those skill sets," said Stein uneasily. "Such as the Flash and his ability to use his speed to travel through time. And Cisco Ramon, or rather Vibe, and his ability to open breaches to other Earths and so on."
Everyone was silent for a moment, save for Rip muttering something under his breath about speedsters. Then Sara turned towards Jax.
"How fast can you get the Waverider moving again?"
"With some help, we should be able to take off in a couple hours," he said.
Central City: June 24th, 2017
While the ride was still nowhere close to being smooth, the Shadowslicer's journey through time was less bumpy than his attempt with the jump-ship. The fact he arrived in June meant his alternations and a little more practice with the shattered timeline was enough to improve his piloting. But it still reminded of the time he got drunk and tried to fly the Waverider, something that Stein would probably complain about until the day he died. But he did make it fairly close to the time period he wanted.
Mick cloaked the timeship as soon as he arrived in the air space over the familiar city. They'd had an alien invasion just a few months ago, after all. He didn't want to start a panic that could end with someone trying to shoot him out of the sky. And after a quick circling of Central City, he found room to land in the parking lot right outside of STAR Labs.
One of the advantages of no one really wanting to work somewhere that once blew up and gave a bunch of people powers: there was always plenty of parking spaces available.
Breaking into STAR Labs was laughably easy. Mick could hardly call it a security system. Snart would be insulted if someone asked him to deal with it. Whenever this was over, Flash and his friends needed to really deal with the issue. Practically anyone could just stroll in off the street.
Heading inside, Mick noticed something big and destructive must have happened recently. Which honestly shouldn't surprise him at all. Scaffolding and buckets of plaster were next to the walls and there were clear signs of repair work. While not seriously burned, Mick still recognized the aftermath of an explosion when he saw it. What had these guys been up to since the alien invasion?
It also seemed to be empty of all human life, which wasn't really that helpful. He started poking around the place, looking for hints on where everyone might be and for things worth stealing. The computers and equipment were only partially replaced. Some of the rooms clearly hadn't been touched since the explosion, cleanup focusing on the more important parts of the building. And there was not a single soul in sight.
One of the rooms turned out to be some sort of lab, with all the materials and tools that implies. Mick wasn't anything close to a scientist, but there was one piece of equipment that he recognized. And no matter how important his current course of action might be, it drew him in. If the phrase wasn't too strong of a pun, Mick would say the object attracted him like a moth to the flame.
He didn't even realize he'd moved until he'd already lit the Bunsen burner. Every fire was unique and awe-inspiring in their own way. The tiny flame burned steadily, the gas fire not flickering like a wood one would and the intense blue fire more powerful than the one from his lighter. The blue, warm, and calm flame felt soothing to watch. Hypnotic might be a more accurate word. The fire was absolutely beautiful as it glowed steadily. He couldn't even think of looking away.
A yelp and a crash pulled him from his reflections. Mick blinked and tried to figure out how long he'd been there. He'd gotten better at not being distracted by fire during most fights, but there were no guarantees the rest of the time. And when given the chance, he could easily lose track of time until something yanked him out again or the fire extinguished. Which could take hours.
Still mildly annoyed at the interruption, Mick turned towards the source of the noise. Right at the doorway, a stack of paper and books piled around her feet, was a strange woman with wavy blonde hair. The only thing she'd managed not to drop in shock and surprise at his presence was her cellphone. She was tall, pretty, and definitely not the usual woman scientist who spent time with the Flash. He never kidnapped and nearly blew up this one.
"What… what are you doing here? Who are you?" she stammered nervously.
"You must be new around here," said Mick. "I like the other one better. Where's the rest of the nerds? I need to talk to them."
She took a step back as he reluctantly turned off the Bunsen burner and moved towards her. The woman looked like she was on the verge of running for her life. Compared to the types of women he'd been spending time with in recent months, it was a very different reaction. Mick held up his hands and backed away from the skittish figure. Scaring her to death wouldn't help anything.
"I'm not here for you," said Mick. "I'm looking for the Flash. Red around or did he move out of this disaster zone?"
She didn't look even slightly reassured. Then he noticed she was staring at his Heat Gun strapped in his holster. That probably explained some of her reluctance to trust him. Then he also noticed there was a flashing symbol on the screen of her cellphone. She'd pressed it without him noticing.
"Calling for help?" asked Mick, nodding his head at the cellphone. "Cops?"
"Better," she said.
The rush of wind and crackle of lightning announced the arrival of a speedster a split second before Mick actually saw him. But it wasn't the familiar red blur that normally raced through the streets of Central City. When the figure stopped, there was no hiding the truth. Unless the last few months managed to change his hair, skin, and costume color, he wasn't the Flash. Not the one he was looking for, at least.
But it only took him a few moments to recognize the young man behind the mask. He'd seen him around during the entire alien invasion situation. And from his dropped jaw, he recognized the arsonist as well.
"The costume is new. Yellow is an interesting choice," said Mick. "Got a name to go with it?"
"Mick Rory?" he asked, sounding a little stunned. Then, shaking off the surprise, he said, "Yeah, I'm Kid Flash. What are you doing here? Where's everyone else?"
"Wait, I know that name," said the woman. "Mick Rory? Isn't that Heat Wave?" She took yet another step back while he enjoyed the smugness of knowing he'd left an impression on people even after his time away. "Why do super villains keep coming after me?"
Leaning against the counter, Mick said, "If you keep hanging around with people like this, you'll run into plenty more. And I might be a criminal, but I've been working with the heroes lately." Shifting slightly, he said, "And I never caught your name before you called for help."
Shrugging slightly, the Kid Flash said, "I guess it doesn't matter if he knows. He's met most of us before. This is Tracy Brand. And I'm Wally West."
With a brief grunt of amusement, he said, "I think your old man arrested me once. Good times."
Mick smiled slightly at the memory of the arrest and escape, but Wally's smile was stronger and bright when he heard the comment. It made it obvious how strained and tired the young man looked before. It was as if he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. The hero types always take on way too much responsibility.
Once again, Mick asked, "So either of you want to tell me where Red is? I need to talk to him and the nerd who invented the Heat and Cold Guns."
The two of them exchanged looks, some emotion midway between guilt and grief overtaking their faces. Mick instantly straightened up. Something was wrong. Something was wrong and neither wanted to tell him. And whatever was wrong had to do with the Flash and why he wasn't the one investigating the break-in at STAR Labs. He should have been here and wasn't. The entire plan was derailing before he could properly begin.
Make a plan. Execute the plan. Expect the plan to go off the rails. Throw away the plan. He'd seen his partner in action enough times that he knew how to adapt. He could still salvage this.
"Someone start talking," he said with a growl. "What happened and where's Barry Allen?"
The fallout from their final confrontation with Savitar a month ago was something all of them were still struggling with. They'd stopped the crazed speedster and saved Iris from her foreseen death. But they also lost H.R. instead, Caitlin left them, STAR Labs was partially destroyed by an explosion, and Barry was trapped in the Speed Force prison.
Cisco honestly wasn't sure what they would do long term. Wally was protecting the city as Kid Flash and everyone else was trying to gradually repair the damage to the building. But he didn't have a clue how to help Barry or how to convince Caitlin to come home. His friends were gone and he didn't know how to fix it. It honestly felt like they were stuck in a holding pattern.
But no matter how messed up everything seemed, some things remained the same. And one was that they all came running when one of their team called. Cisco literally jogged down the halls of STAR Labs until he reached the control room where Wally said to meet him. And whatever he expected to find there, that wasn't what he stumbled into.
Wally, Iris, and Joe were already standing around in a little group on one side of the room closest to where Barry's suit was displayed, still waiting for his return. Tracy was in the corner farthest from the main door, looking uncomfortable. Harry stayed close to her with an almost protective posture. And slouching in a chair with his feet propped on the closest computer and eating a cup of cherry Jello, was Mick Rory.
"Why is Heat Wave eating my Jello?" asked Cisco.
"Because you didn't have beer or anything to make a sandwich," he said, taking another bite.
"No, I mean, weren't you busy time-traveling with Stein and the others?" asked Cisco. "What are you doing back?"
He shrugged and said, "I'll tell you when the Flash is here. I'm not explaining twice."
Glancing briefly at Tracy, Harry, and the West family, Cisco said, "Uh, I really don't know how to explain this, but you might be waiting a while. He's…"
"Gone," finished Mick casually. "Junior over there already explained." He gestured at Wally, who didn't seem particularly pleased with the nickname. "Some crazy, alternate, evil, future version of the Flash was locked up in a prison in the Speed Force that a good future version of the Flash made specifically for him. Then this Savitar person did some time-traveling to try and kill the girl in a stable time loop." He gestured at Iris this time. "He didn't kill her, which erased him from existing. Because apparently evil future Flash only happened if she died. But without someone in the Speed Force prison that good future Flash made specifically for Savitar, the Speed Force started falling apart. And the Speed Force showed up, looking like Barry's dead mother, and said the prison needs a prisoner or it would break the whole world. Or something like that. So present Flash went in there to keep it stable because stupid sacrifices are what heroes do."
Mick took another bite while everyone stared. Cisco didn't remember the arsonist being this quick on the uptake.
"Time travel is kind of our thing," said Mick as an answer to the unspoken question. "And the Time Masters knew a lot about speedsters and the Speed Force thing. They really hated speedsters. I mean, really hated them. Especially the High Council. Time-traveling in a completely different way than anyone else and messing with all their neat little plans for the timeline? You should have heard them complaining. Probably would have sent bounty hunters after Barry and the rest if it wouldn't make things worse. Not to mention it's hard catching a speedster." The man smirked slightly. "So yeah, I heard them complain a lot about speedsters. How else do you think I knew Barry's name? Snart certainly never told."
Cisco considered asking what Mick had to do with these Time Master people. He didn't though. He had a feeling it would be a long story and they already had a lot on their plate.
"So you can see why waiting for Barry won't work," said Cisco.
"Can you get in there?" Mick asked, finishing off the snack.
Cisco blinked in surprise at the question. A quick glance showed the rest of the group had no clue what he was asking about either. Iris, who had grown mildly upset about being reminded of her fiancé's fate and looked away during the story, now seemed curious about where the conversation was going.
"What are you talking about?" she asked.
"The nerd. Vibe. Whatever. Can he get into the Speed Force place?"
Watching the arsonist with suspicion, Harry said, "He can. But Barry can't leave. That's the problem. He's trapped in the prison built into the Speed Force."
"Good thing I have experience handling a prison break," said Mick, dropping his feet from the computer and standing up. "If you can get me to Barry, I'll get him out."
Hope instantly bloomed in the faces of the entire West family. Joe's enthusiasm did seem to be tempered by the knowledge of who was offering the chance to bring his adopted son home. Iris, however, seemed to hold onto even the smallest possibility desperately. She needed that hope too much to care who provided it.
"Correct me if I'm wrong," said Cisco slowly, "but wasn't it your partner who made the plans? How do you expect us to believe that you've solve the problem in ten minutes like that?"
"Look, I don't see any of you coming up with any ideas. Do you want to help get your friend back or not?" Mick asked. "Because if you want something bad enough, you can't back down because your only option seems stupid. Or dangerous. I know how to get Red. And I'm stubborn enough to get what I want. Are you?"
Before anyone could respond, Julian finally arrived. He walked into the room, but froze when he caught sight of their guest. Even if he specialized in metas and he didn't arrive until after the height of Heat Wave's criminal career, Julian clearly recognized him. And he apparently didn't get the memo about Mick's change in career. The expression on Julian's face was priceless.
Casually glancing at the new arrival, Mick asked, "Who's the ferret-faced guy?"
The Speed Force was right when she said it wouldn't be a punishment this time. Where Savitar, Wally, and Jay remained trapped in the worst moment of their lives on repeat, Barry found himself in a recreation of his favorite memory with his parents. He knew it wasn't real. He knew that the little diner, the French fries, the ice cream, and his mother and father weren't real. And when they went out to watch the local fireworks show, the beautiful colors and explosions overhead weren't real either. He knew it was a fantasy.
But it didn't bother him. He didn't care it wasn't real. He felt calm and completely at peace. He accepted the fantasy.
After worrying for so long and struggling so hard, he could finally rest.
Barry wasn't sure how long he sat there, watching the colors explode overhead with his parents on either side of him and feeling like a child on the verge of nodding off to sleep. He just knew that his peace was only disturbed when a swirling blue cyclone formed in front of him, filled with red and yellow lightning that crackled and flashed. He knew what it meant and that knowledge pulled him out of his tranquil and almost trance-like state.
"We have company, Barry Allen," said his mother.
No, not his mother. The Speed Force. The face belonged to his mother, but he knew who was truly speaking.
The Speed Force seemed to like him as much as such an inhuman force of the universe was capable of. He, she, they, it, or whatever the Speed Force might be, Barry knew that it seemed to favor him. It also seemed as if it wanted to teach him and played therapist whenever Barry faced his most conflicting moments. But the problem was that the Speed Force wasn't human and its views and methods weren't always conventional or normal. What it considered reasonable and helpful could be anything ranging from confusing to unnerving to completely terrifying.
"We should speak to them about their current course of action," continued the Speed Force.
Barry already had his suspicions about who it was and why they were there. Only a handful of people could access the Speed Force in even a limited capacity. And a speedster would be in the illusionary reality rather than the more literal swirling vortex of movement and power. That's what happened when Jay came after him when Barry tried to rescue Wally. He knew it was probably Cisco vibing his way there, which meant he must be trying to get Barry out.
Did his friends figure out a different solution to the issue of the Speed Force prison? Because he would not let Jay or Wally take his place. They all knew he wouldn't let that happen. He wouldn't sacrifice their freedom for his own. If Cisco did come for him, Barry knew there had to be a plan in place.
Being a fundamental force of the universe, the Speed Force would already know who it was and why they were there. It seemed aware of everything, even when time was repeatedly changed. But if the Speed Force wanted to pretend it was a normal person ready to greet arriving company, Barry knew better than to argue. He just quietly followed the figure of his mother into the lightning-filled vortex.
As he predicted, Cisco stood in the eye of the storm. Decked out in his goggles and gloves, he'd come ready for a fight if necessary. His posture practically screamed that he refused to go home empty handed. He'd come for his friend and nothing would stop him. Considering that Cisco was only starting to join the front lines on occasion, it was mildly impressive.
What Barry didn't expect was his companion. Cisco holding onto his coat to keep him in the Speed Force, Mick Rory stared at the speedster and the personification of speed. The arsonist didn't look particularly impressed by what he saw.
"Hey, Red. Nice suit," he said. "Bit more formal than usual."
Glancing down briefly at the clothes he wore for H.R.'s funeral, Barry asked, "What's going on?"
"So the good-looking lady is the Speed Force wearing his dead mom's face, right?" asked Mick, ignoring the question as he glanced towards his companion.
"Right," Cisco said uneasily. "The source of all speedster's powers. All in one human-shaped package."
"Huh," grunted Mick in dull surprise.
Then Heat Wave swiftly drew his weapon and fired at the human avatar for the Speed Force, engulfing it in flames.
So while I made up the name for Chronos' ship, I took inspiration for the name Gabriel for the A.I. from SeaSpectre160 and their awesome stories. And considering how much the High Council wanted to control and shape time to fit their wishes, I can't imagine that the Time Masters were huge fans of speedsters. How the Flash time travels is something that they can't control and it seems to operate with somewhat different rules than the form of time travel they accomplish using timeships traveling through the Temporal Zone.
This is a lot of fun to write. And I hope that people are enjoying this story. Feel free to let me know what you think so far. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Thanks.