Sandstorm {Discontinued}{Rewritten}

29. New Friends and Trouble pt 3

“I—I can still remove it,” Deserey heard Martin through the coms. Though, she hardly registered his words. A great deal of her attention was being obsessed by Vostok as she held a gun to Leonard. The thief was unwavering in the face of the danger, as if he wasn’t the least bit concerned about being shot, which – in all honesty – sort of scared Deserey a bit. He was either a brilliant actor or he had been in so many situations in which a gun was pointed at him that they just didn’t phase him any more. (The latter option was much more frightening, especially considering it was also the more likely of the two.)

Deserey wanted to jump in as soon as she spotted the gun, but Mick told her to hang back. She found it annoying and risky, but she listened anyways. “I just hope I can absorb the excess power,” Martin went on.

“No!” Ray protested with a panicked voice. “Do you have any idea the kind of energy that –” There was a loud thud on his end, as he abruptly stopped mid sentence. Deserey had a sickening feeling she knew what that meant. A guard must have found him and knocked him unconscious. She looked at Mick, thinking they should probably jump to the rescue now, but he was still waiting. Carter exchanged looks with, Deserey, and she got the feeling he was wondering what he was even waiting for the arsonist's orders.

Jax came on the coms from the Waverider, startling Deserey a bit. He wasn’t talking to her though. He was talking to Martin. “What the hell are you doin' Gray?”

“Jefferson?” Martin responded.

“You are not Firestorm!” Jax said, and Deserey imagined him standing on the bridge, hands pressed against the console as he spoke with urgency. Rip would probably have been standing near by, but the captain remained silent as the two halves of Firestorm spoke. “You're just a stubborn old man who’s about to make a really stupid decision.”

“Wait,” Stein said. “I—is this what it’s like when I’m in your head? I apologize, dear boy, it is rather distracting.” Well, Dez thought, at least they made up.

Jax ignored the apology for the time being. Apparently, he had gone all in on becoming the half of Firestorm that does the lecturing. “Your body cannot handle this alone!”

Martin stubbornly ignored the younger man. “I appreciate your concern. But you were right. I risked your life enough times. Now, it’s my turn.”

From where she stood, Deserey couldn’t see what was happening or what the professor was doing, but she knew it wasn’t anything good from Jax's cry of, “No!” Martin must have risked grabbing the thermal core. “He’s too weak. He’ll never get out of there alone,” Jax said after a moment. (Evidently Stein didn’t blow them all up. Woo!)

Deserey heard guns in the distance, and her heart sank. Martin had been caught. Vostok walked herself and Leonard to the edge of the catwalk. “Professor Stein,” she called out to Martin, “your comrade here tells me you know quite a bit about this project of mine. Very good. You and I have much to discuss.” Deserey heard footsteps around the corner; she assumed the guards must have been taking Martin away. Maybe Ray too.
“What are you waiting for?” Leonard asked Vostok, sounding bored. “You forget how to use that thing?”

Vostok backed them up so that they were directly in their line of sight. She turned Leonard around, aiming the gun at the back of his head. “My employer, Mr. Savage, would very much like to meet you and the rest of your friends.”

“Careful what you wish for,” Leonard said, probably smirking. Mick moved. So, that’s what he’d been waiting for. A cue.
“This where the party's at?” Mick's shout startled Vostok, causing her to turn abruptly. Leonard ducked out of the way just as Heatwave fired the Heat Gun; Mick walked forward, kicking the Cold Gun to his partner in crime from where Valentina had dropped it as she ran from the fire.