The Flame-Sara Lance

Refuge...

Jessica's POV

"What the Pilgrim did, the way she turned our attacks back on us, it was as if she was reversing time." Stein said as he, Jax, Rip, and myself walked back into the bridge after successfully saving Ray's younger self.

"It's called temporal micro-manipulation." I told the nuclear physicist as I walked over to the computer with Rip, looking for the Pilgrim's next target. "The ability to control time in one's immediate vicinity."

"We are lucky to have saved Doctor Palmer." Rip added.

"So basically we have no idea who she's going after next?" Sara asked us.

"We know it's not Rip and Jessica, because they don't have a past to go back to." Snart commented.

I sighed in frustration. "Gideon, prepare for multiple time jumps. Plot points here, here, and here." I tapped the dates on the computer. More specifically, these dates were Snart, Stein, and Jax's dates of birth.

"My birthday?" Jax asked. "Why are we-"

"The only way to ensure you're not harmed in the past-" Rip cut off Jax before being cut off himself.

"Is to abduct ourselves as newborns, thus removing ourselves from our future timelines. It's brilliant." Stein finished his sentence before commenting himself.

"It's morally questionable." Snart corrected the professor.

"It's suicidal." Mick corrected his partner. "If we take too long in getting them home-"

"Then history is altered." I finished for the arsonist. "There won't be a home to come back to. You'll disappear from the minds of everyone who's ever known you."

"You mean my own mom won't even know me?" Jax questioned me.

"My wife." Stein muttered in shock.

"Yeah, and my-" Mick started before cutting himself out. "Oh yeah, I don't have anyone."

"Sure as hell beats dying." Snart commented.

XXX

"We've got Mr. Snart's younger self. Next up is you, professor, and you Mr. Jackson." Rip told the two in the parlour while I sat by, waiting for something, anything to do. Although there was never a slow day on the waverider, it was a slow day for me.

"How strange to imagine, holding one's infant self." Stein said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Actually, none of you should participate in your own abductions." I corrected Rip. "Let's call it a paradox prevention." I got up and left the parlour with Rip.

XXX

"What do you think of Jeremy as a name?" Stein's father asked his wife who had just given birth to their son in the backseat of her husband's car.

"Oh, I think he looks more like a Martin." I said, announcing our presence, and making the man turn around.

"You guys asked for a doctor, right?" Mick, who was dressed like a doctor asked.

"Yeah, how would we?"

"Uh, he means that we were on our way to the hospital and we saw your automobile." Rip corrected Mick.

"Yeah, and this little munchkin needs a checkup." Mick took young Stein from his father's arms. "Prenatal care. It's very important."

"He means postnatal." I corrected him.

"We'll take him straight to the hospital." Rip said as we walked back to our era appropriate car, leaving Stein's parents there.

"What about my wife?" Stein's father asked.

XXX

"We're here." Rip and I said simultaneously as we touched down outside our old foster home which we were going to use as a safe haven for everyone's younger selves.

"Where is here?" Snart questioned us as we both rushed out of our seats.

"Come, we'll show you." I told the other eight, expecting them to follow us as we hurried out of the bridge.

XXX

"Again, where is here?" Snart asked as we rounded the corner to reach the front of the house. Snart still questioned us and didn't believe anything about our past.

"We need a safe harbor to keep your younger selves." I explained. About 20 feet away, Rip and I's mother came out of the house and approached us.

"I've been waiting." She greeted us. "It's good to see you." She tugged at both Rip and I's arms.

"It is good to see you too, mother." Rip and I said to the woman.

XXX

"Don't forget to take your boots off before you come back in!" Our mother yelled at the young foster kids who were rushing outside.

Young Rip tried to sneak up behind mother and tried to steal a cookie, but she caught him and smacked his hand, making both Rip and I laugh.

"I really would sit up if I were you." I recommended to the group as mother was in the other room helping young Rip out.

"She'll kill you if she catches you slouching." Rip added.

They all chuckled at our words. "Don't be fooled by appearances. That woman is as tough as nails." I told the group.

"Funny how you never mentioned having a mother." Snart commented.

"Adopted mother." She walked back into the room.

"Well, I am not Rip's biological niece. He grew up in the foster care system at the same time my father did and Rip's foster brother also fell in love and had a child, me." I explained to the group.

"Now, can I interest any of you in some more tea?" She asked everyone.

"Thank you." Stein said as she filled up his cup again.

"So, Michael, Mia-"

"Michael and Mia?" Kendra asked us.

"That's us." Rip explained to them. "Our birth names."

"The time masters insist on the adoption of new identities for their protection. And usually insist that their recruits be foster children. Mia is the exception of them all."

"How do you know so much about the time masters?" Jax asked her.

"I work for them." She answered as though it was the easiest question she'd ever been asked. Everyone around us shared worried looks. "Oh, don't worry. My true loyalty is to my children."

"Thank you." I said as she refilled my cup with tea. "The time masters mostly fill their ranks with children, orphans pulled from throughout the course of history." I explained more in depth of my mother's previous statement.

"When Michael arrived at the refuge, he had nothing but the clothes on his back." Mother informed the team. "There's a reason it's called the Refuge, and a reason that it exists in a secret location in history. The time masters will never think to look for you here."

"Thank you for your assistance." Stein thanked the woman.

"Look, I know I make a gorgeous baby, but I should warn you. You've got your hands full with me." Snart interrupted the small moment between the two.

"I assure you, you're not the first tough case to arrive at my door." She turned to look at Rip before walking away.