▂▂▂▂▂ act one , chapter three
LET'S GO TIME TRAVELING
Star City , 2016 ▂▂▂▂▂
❝i might not be important yet, but i can be. i wanna be.❞
WITH HIS HAND on a lever, Rip thrust the mechanism forward, which, as a result, thrust the Waverider further above the clouds, the ship still shaking crazily. Due to the movements, Elle closed her eyes, trying to take deep breaths so she wouldn't have a panic attack right now as with one final push, the Waverider going faster than it ever had since the crew had been onboard, the vessel was plunged into nothing as it traveled through time.
Elle could feel her stomach doing flips, and it was an absolute miracle that she hadn't thrown up on Ray by this point. Her ears were popping louder than they ever did when she traveled to the mountains, which was followed by a piercing ringing in her ear. But before she or anyone else knew it, they were in 1975, and the Waverider was landing smoothly, hidden in an open grass space shielded by trees.
As soon as she felt the ship settle onto solid ground again, Elle threw her safeguards up and breathed a deep sigh of relief — she hadn't died yet. Ray did the same thing; only he stood up. However, Elle's attention was snatched when Rory leaned to the side, away from everyone, and vomited all over the floor, Elle's nose crinkling in disgust.
Unbeknownst to everyone else, Elle could not hear a single thing coming out of anyone's mouth as she watched Rip lift his safeguard and Ray hilariously fall to the ground. She had figured out Rip had begun talking as he looked towards Ray and then Stein, Elle assuming the older man had spoken. All she could do was watch as the Brit went up to him, waving his hand in front of the Professor's face as Elle did with Jefferson earlier. Rip then traveled over to her, wondering if she was alright, and that's when Elle finally let out a loud yell, not like it was loud to her, though.
"WHAT?" She called out very audibly, Sara moving to cover her ears at the fact.
Elle's ears started ringing again, and that's when some of her hearing came back as she heard Rip faintly say. "Deafness can happen as well. Can you hear me, Ms. Anders?"
"Kinda!" Elle shouted an octave below her voice level from before. She shook her head and pressed her pointer fingers in her ears to get the ringing to stop; luckily, it vanished easily, and Elle wiped her hands on her shirt.
"I can't believe you roofied me," she heard Jefferson say before the man stood up, looking at Rip, who had found his way to the console. "Hey, I want to go home."
"Good news, then. 2016 will be around in, uh, forty-one years," uttered Rip before glancing at Elle, Sara, Snart, and Rory — the troublemakers, of course. "Now, you four, feel free to make yourselves comfortable back here on the ship, while the rest of you are coming with me to find Professor Boardman."
Rip seemed in a hurry and only stopped his steps when Rory let out many 'whoa's'. "You're benching us?"
Sara stood up in protest. "I thought we were a team."
"You did not just take us forty-one years in the past so we could sit on this ship," refused Elle hastily, her tone still blasting.
"This mission doesn't require your particular skill set," asserted Rip. "Yet."
"Meaning you don't need anyone to disappear, be killed, maimed, or robbed," figured Snart from his seat.
"Precisely." Rip nodded as Sara sunk back in her seat.
"I don't make people disappear," Elle disputed with her normal voice, throwing Snart a nasty glare, which earned the man wiping under his eyes with a balled fist like he was brushing away a tear.
"Sure it's a good idea to leave these two unsupervised on a time machine?" Ray muttered to Rip, but obviously, he wasn't very good at secrecy because he was quite loud.
"Hey, haircut!" Mick called, then nodded towards Elle. "She was the only one with deafness as a side effect."
As Ray's eyes widened in fear, Rip swung on his heels, declaring, "We better hurry up. Professor Boardman will die in less than twenty-four hours."
"What's the point in cutting it so close?" Ray questioned as he, Kendra, Carter, and Stein followed Rip.
"Because if he's destined to die, then he doesn't have a timeline for us to disrupt, and his impact on the future will be minimal," Stein deduced. "How brilliant."
"And depressing," Kendra followed. "How does he die?"
"Uh, he's found dead in his university from unknown causes. Come on." Rip rushed out with his words and body.
Stein noticed Jefferson wasn't following, so he asked the boy, "Are you coming?"
"I'll stay put," said Jefferson.
"You'd rather stay with them?" Surprised by his actions, Stein skeptically gestured over the four told to stay behind, all looking bored as ever.
"They didn't drug me," Jefferson countered.
"That we did not," Elle nodded towards Jefferson.
Stein raised a finger in the air. "Point taken."
When the Professor and the last of the group were permitted to go outside, left through the doors, Elle sighed dramatically, slumping in her chair with an upset look on her face. "This is so stupid. I did not just travel through time to get butt sores from these chairs!"
"Something we can agree on," muttered Snart, the man in the blue parka moving from his seat to near where the one Rip sat in was.
Sara followed his movements, the two staring out the enormous window to get a look at the seventies, while Rory's eyes lit up when he saw the remote, immediately beginning to flip through the channels on the nearest screen. From her seat, Elle's head lulled to the side as she observed Jefferson, who had a very annoyed look on his face — rightfully so, Elle thought.
"Why do you think the Professor kidnapped you to come on this thing, anyway?" Elle wondered, gaining Jefferson's attention.
He shook his head. "I don't have to think. I know why."
"Pray tell," Snart beckoned, moving to sit on the ledge behind the foremost chair.
"Well, we're Firestorm. Each one half of a nuclear power. If we don't merge every so often, we could die," explained Jefferson.
"So, you wanted to ice the old man by separating," declared Rory, though his attention didn't stray from the T.V.
Jefferson sent an annoyed glare over at Rory before saying. "No. He just wanted to come, and I didn't."
Elle stood from her chair, strolling toward the group, leaning against Rip's chair. "And so he kidnapped you."
"Yeah." Jefferson nodded, sighing as he sat on the same ledge Snart was.
"Perfectly reasonable," Elle stated sarcastically.
From the television that Rory was flipping through channels on, applause and other commotion came, and Elle looked over the arsonist's shoulder to see a rather old show playing, which prompted Rory to complain. "Why does this stupid station play nothing but reruns?"
Sara left her place by the window as Jefferson said, "Don't even bother trying to explain."
"Am I the only one on this ship who could really use a drink?" Sara asked, clasping her hands together. "I say we go get weird in the seventies."
Snart swiveled in his place towards the blond. "Excellent idea."
"I got the perfect outfit," told Sara.
With that, the five began to walk out of the bridge, prompting Gideon to say, "Perhaps Captain Hunter was unclear with his instructions to remain onboard."
"Shut it, metal mouth," Rory ordered.
"Yeah. Shut it, Gideon," Elle seconded with an enthusiastic fist bump to the air.
Elle speaking had Snart turning towards the two younger people holding up a hand in protest. "Oh, you guys aren't quite ready to run with this crew. Sorry, kids."
Snart continued towards the exit as Jefferson asked, "Wait, you're just gonna leave us here?"
"I said I'd take care of you," called back Snart as Rory followed.
Elle's face scrunched in annoyance. "When did you say that?"
"Just now. Didn't you hear?"
After Snart's final remark, everyone was gone, and it was just Jefferson and Elle, the latter letting out a scoff and the former exclaiming, "Now this is stupid!"
She let out an irritated groan as she moved back to her seat, sitting so that her legs rested on the other beside hers, the one Ray had been sitting in. It was ridiculous to Elle; she had been so reluctant to come on this stupid trip, and now that she was here, she couldn't even leave to go check out the past, which may just be the seventies, but it was still cool.
Reaching into her pocket, Elle pulled out a Polaroid picture — the one thing she ensured she grabbed before leaving the Parlour's apartment. The image showed all four Parlour's plus Elle, who was holding up the camera, and they all were smiling widely at it. Elle remembered this day well since it was her first day living with Aiden and his family. For dinner, Ms. Parlour had managed to buy a whole chicken, which they had for dinner — it may not have been the most extravagant, but it was one of the best nights of Elle's life. She remembered feeling so welcomed in that apartment, more welcomed than any of the foster homes she stayed in did.
"Who are they?" Jefferson's soft question had Elle being pulled from her thought; her hand instinctively went up to rid her face of the tears she didn't even know she was shedding.
Elle sniffled, holding the picture up higher. "They are my family. Not biological, but they're my family."
Jefferson leaned his arms on the top of the chairs, peering between the safeguards. "They look like a nice family."
"They are," Elle let out weepingly. "This is Aiden." She pointed to the boy in the picture, and as she mentioned each person, she did the same. "He's my boyfriend and the best one I could ask for. And these are his two sisters, Grace and Reagan. This is his mom, who offered me a place in her home the moment I turned eighteen."
"What happened when you turned eighteen?" Jefferson asked serenely, unaware of the severity of his inquiry.
Elle sucked in a deep breath before letting it all out. "I was let out of foster care. Thrown into the streets."
"Oh," trailed Jefferson.
"Yeah," Elle stated blatantly.
"You know, my dad died before I was born," Jefferson admitted, seating himself on one of the two seats in front of Elle. "He was shipped off before my mom went into labor."
Glancing at him, Elle murmured, "I'm very sorry, Jefferson."
"You don't have to call me Jefferson." The boy shook his head. "My friends call me Jax."
"Are you calling me your friend... Jax?"
Jefferson — Jax — smiled. "I think I am."
"Are you sure you want that because I am a hot mess," she told him light-heartedly.
"Not any more than I am," said Jax. "Sometimes, I'm literally a hot mess."
"I'm assuming that has something to do with your nuclear powers, yeah?" Elle guessed with a hum.
She was proven true when Jefferson nodded his head. "So what do you do that got you recruited?"
"Uh, well..." Elle trailed off as seemingly at the flick of a switch, she disappeared, completely invisible to Jax's eyes, and he shot up, staring at the spot where he saw Elle last. However, that was not where Elle was seeing as she ventured behind Jax, tapping him on the shoulder before she let out a meticulous, "Boo!"
Jax veered around to see a very visible Elle standing right behind where he was; a laugh of astonishment left his mouth. "Woah! That's kinda badass."
"Thanks," Elle grinned.
Being left on the ship wasn't so bad once Elle and Jax got to talking, discussing their lives, figuring out that they both were from Central City and had gone to the same high school, only being two years apart. They talked about that and all the crap teachers there were. Elle had learned that Jefferson played football but got injured recently and that the particle accelerator explosion hit him; however, he didn't become part of Firestorm until much later. Jax's story was one Elle found intriguingly interesting.
Elle chose not to share too many details of her life given its rough history, but she did tell Jax some things — it was funny. Elle liked how she felt comfortable enough to say these things to Jax even though the two had just met. And Elle didn't want to admit it, but she would be sad if Jefferson got his wish and went back to Central City; so far, he had been the only one Elle could connect with, assumably because of their close age.
After a while, Jefferson asked, "Do you wanna see if we can get out of here?"
"Yes, please," Elle nodded over dramatically.
Jax stood up, wandering near the front chair, looking toward the ceiling of the Waverider. "Gideon. That is your name, right?"
"How may I help you?"
"I assume this ship has a, uh, autopilot or something." Jax walked behind the chair to the other side of the bridge, and Elle watched him peculiarly.
"You assume correctly."
"Great. In that case, I need you to take us back to 2016," requested Jefferson, and it had Elle springing from her seat.
"Wait! Gideon, don't do that yet." She walked around the console towards Jefferson.
"I wouldn't even if I wanted to," sassed the computer.
Elle looked at Jefferson. "Jax, what are you doing?"
"Going home," he proclaimed. "See, me being here, it's all a big mistake. You can stay if you want."
"Captain Hunter told me you'd try to do this, and he also told me not to listen to anything you say."
"Well, you are a computer." Jefferson marched past Elle and across the bridge. "You have to listen to me!"
"You seem overwrought, Mr. Jackson. If you'd like to go to the MedBay, I'd be happy to prescribe you a sedative."
Elle crossed her arms as she whistled. "Not a good call, Gideon."
"Yeah!" Jefferson affirmed. "I do not need another roofie!"
A loud explosion, shaking the entire Waverider, came about, causing the lights inside to flicker and sparks emitting from a section of the ship. The blast threw both Jefferson and Elle to the ground, the latter letting out a grunt as her head hit the floor. "Ow! That was my head."
"What was that?" Jefferson bellowed from the ground.
"A thermite grenade. It seems someone is trying to breach the hull. His name is Chronos. He's a temporal bounty hunter," informed Gideon.
Jefferson got up and rushed to Elle, helping her off the floor, muttering, "Are you okay?"
More explosions came as Elle nodded, pressing her palm against her forehead. "I swear to god if this time travel kills me on the first day."
The ship continued to shake as Elle removed her hand from her head. She looked around, noticing how the vessel was not doing so well, and it didn't settle her nerves when Gideon said, "The ship is taking heavy fire."
"I know!" Jax yelled. "Aren't we supposed to be invisible or something?"
"What's the point of being invisible if someone can see you," Elle added, following Jax to the console.
"Elle," Jefferson looked at the Anders girl, "turn us back invisible."
Shock morphed over Elle's face. "I couldn't keep a carton of milk invisible, let alone a whole freakin' time ship!"
An exasperated breath left Jax's mouth as he looked upwards. "You need to get us out of here now!"
"Didn't you hear her? She was told not to listen to us!" Elle shouted back. "Why don't you go stop him with your nuclear powers?"
"Because I don't have them!"
"What?" Elle shouted for the second time that afternoon.
"I gotta merge with Stein," Jefferson clarified loudly. "Come on!"
Jefferson grabbed Elle's arm, and the two began making their way toward the hull where Chronos was directly firing. Around them, the ship's lights kept flickering as it took on more damage, gas from a burst pipe sprayed, and more sparks began spewing everywhere — Elle was surprised she hadn't had a panic attack at this point.
But the day was still young. "I — I — I don't know what you expect to do when we get there," she panicky told Jefferson. "You don't have your powers, and I've never gotten in an actual fight."
"Why is Chronos attacking us?" Jefferson questioned as they turned a corner.
"Perhaps Captain Hunter is best suited to answer that query."
"Is there anything you can tell us, Gideon?" Elle growled as they rushed down the hallway.
"The ship's cloaking shield is completely down."
Elle let out a frustrated huff, her arms moving to cover her head as another explosion erupted, and Jefferson did the same as he demanded, "Fire photon torpedoes or something!"
As Gideon responded, the two had finally made it to the stairs leading to the cargo bay, where Chronos was firing on the outside. "Only Captain Hunter is authorized."
"Where is Captain Hunter?" Jax retorted, jumping down all the stairs and to the cargo bay door.
Elle took the more sane approach, stepping down each stair swiftly, her hand accidentally pressing against an unknown button that just happened to open the cargo bay door. The moment the door opened to the ground, green laser blasts were shot inside the cargo bay, a few narrowly missing Jefferson.
"Sorry!" Elle turned back towards said button, pressing it repeatedly, but no matter how hard she slapped it, the door was not closing. "Why is this not working?!"
For a moment, the blast stopped coming into the cargo bay, and with a defeated breath, Elle departed from the button she had yet to figure out and ran beside Jefferson, who was onlooking the chaos that soon again erupted. Elle noticed that different color laser blasts were being shot around, but she didn't get a close look as she pulled herself and Jefferson away from the open door. Their backs were pressed against a wall as a monitor displayed what was occurring outside. Elle saw the hawks battling Chronos as Ray and Professor Stein ran in their direction, with the older leading the charge.
"Oh, you crazy old man," Jefferson breathed out.
"Does he do that often?" Elle queried rhetorically, moving to one of the crates that sat Ray's shrunk-down suit inside its case.
With a bit of stumbling, Ray and the Professor made it through the open cargo bay door. Elle tossed Ray his suit's case as Stein told Jefferson, "We need to merge."
As Ray quickly put on his suit, Jefferson and Stein clasped hands, and before Elle's eyes, they merged into one body — that being Jefferson's — through nuclear energy. Elle's eyes widened in shock as fire found its place on Jefferson's head and hands. The only thing she could do was let out an astonished 'wow' as Ray and Firestorm flew out of the cargo bay. Elle was left standing there, though quick thinking allowed her to dig into one of the crates and retrieve a gun she could use. Granted, she had never fired a gun before, but how hard could it be — Elle was smart enough to figure it out.
When Elle stormed out of the cargo bay and onto the grass, she was met with chaos — the perfect word to describe this group. Sara, Snart, and Rory had made an appearance, the latter two firing their guns, as well as Captain Hunter. Elle figured she should do the same, so she placed the butt of the gun against her shoulder and pulled the trigger. It let out two laser beams in the general direction of Chronos but did not hit him. The kickback sent Elle flying to the ground on her back, a groan escaping her mouth.
She didn't know whether they were winning against Chronos when a hand appeared in front of her face. Elle saw that Sara was offering her help, and she took her hand graciously as the older woman lifted the younger off the ground. Everyone was retreating, so picking up the discarded gun on the floor, Elle and Sara entered the cargo bay.
Elle took note of Sara's white leather outfit, and so she panted, "You look good."
"Thanks," Sara said.
Everyone else, including the man from the picture Rip had shown, followed inside the cargo bay. Elle noticed the older man was injured and was being tended to by the two hawk people.
"Professor Boardman has sustained severe internal injuries," Gideon stated.
"Prepare the MedBay to receive Professor Boardman and get us out of here!" Rip yelled his orders.
Gideon and the captain's conversation continued as he ascended the stairs, ordering everyone to follow him and strap themselves in. Professor Boardman was taken to the MedBay, and once everyone was secured in with their safeguards, the Waverider took off, away from Chronos' attacks.
( The Temporal Zone )
ONCE THE TEAM was safely away from Chronos' attacks, the very first thing that Gideon did was tell them how badly he had damaged the Waverider.
"Our cloaking shield and aft entrance have been significantly compromised, Captain."
"Yes, I can see that, Gideon." From the captain's chair, Rip lifted his safeguards, responding to the AI and making his way to the parlor. "Station us in the temporal zone while I work on repairs."
The rest of the team were all sitting in one of the chairs, scrambled about, having gotten out of 1975 in a rush. Elle, who had found herself seated next to Jefferson, lifted her safeguards as did others, and she stood up, wobbling on her feet slightly.
"Temporal zone?" Ray echoed.
"It's essentially a time limbo. We can hide out here for a bit. Another temporal jump would risk revealing our position." Rip had grabbed his repair bag, which Elle had to admit was relatively small for a vessel this size, and made his way across the bridge once more.
"A time limbo? Astonishing." The Professor said, delighted.
"Oh, there's something you people don't know about time travel? That's surprising, isn't it? Considering none of you have ever time traveled before," Rip retorted loudly, turning back to the wall of his broken ship. "Bringing a family member from the past onto a timeship? Breaking out and carousing around the 1970s? We've barely begun, and already this is the worst, unmitigated disaster of my career."
"None of which is our fault. I think it's important to mention that," Elle pointed out, leaning against her seat and gesturing to Jefferson and herself.
"Yeah," the boy nodded in agreement, "we're in the clear."
Rip had turned back to assumably make a quip at the two younger people but was abruptly cut off when Kendra, who had made her way over to the captain, sent a punch right to Rip's face. The Time Master let out a grunt, his body swinging to the side at the impact, and Elle had to resist the urge to let out a snort.
Rory, however, did not hold back as he laughed and told Carter, "I see why you got the hots for that one."
'That one,' as Mick had referred to Kendra, grasped two fistfuls of Rip's brown coat, pinning him up against the wall he had just been trying to repair. "My son is hurt because of you. Who attacked us?"
"Oh, oh! I know the answer!" Elle exclaimed, throwing her hand up like she was in grade school humorously. "Thanks to Gideon. His name is Chronos."
Still pressed against the wall, Rip sent Elle the glare of a lifetime, and then he sighed, still trying to hide the actual reason he brought together this group of misfits. "Something of a long story."
"Better tell it fast, Rip, 'cause it doesn't look like the lady's in a patient mood," commented Snart as he stood.
"Neither am I," Carter contended, stepping towards Kendra and Rip.
"As Ms. Anders had mentioned, his name is Chronos. He works for the Council of Time Masters." Kendra had let her grip on the captain go, and he adjusted the collar of his coat. "My former employers."
At this revelation, Elle's eyebrows shot up, having remembered Rip mentioning how he was a Time Master, not a former one. Evidently, the Anders girl wasn't the only one who caught this as Sara rose from her chair, taking a couple of steps forward. "I thought you were a Time Master."
"As I've expressed, time's not a linear thing. At some point, I was, in fact, a Time Master." Rip was sauntering towards the console where Sara stood, though he happened to see his mistake when another fist met the side of his face. "Will you people please stop hitting me?"
"Start telling the truth!" Sara yelled.
"What do you mean the Time Masters are your 'former' employers?" Elle interrogated as Jefferson stood beside her.
"I relinquished my position as a Time Master when I commandeered the Waverider," he let out. "Chronos was clearly sent to bring me in."
"You lied to us," Stein realized.
"Of course, I lied to you. I needed your help — you all barely said yes as it was."
"And for obvious reasons. Apparently," Elle muttered quietly to herself.
"What about the legends part?" Jefferson asked as he crossed his arms.
An even more guilty look plastered onto Rip's face, invoking Snart to say, "Ooh, you lied about that too, didn't you?"
"I chose you all because a hundred years from now, your lives had minimal effect in the recorded timeline," Rip revealed with guilt, maybe shame coming across with it, sending a shock wave of hurt traveling across the bridge and hitting Elle the hardest.
So her life really meant nothing? Her blind hope that this mission could give her life more meaning was diminished. Rip continued saying something about how he needed people who wouldn't disturb the history of the time he was from — 2166, but Elle didn't care, not really. The only reason she decided to come was because she was hopeful that maybe — just maybe — this would provide her life some greater purpose to where it would actually matter. All Elle's life, she had never been significant anywhere, and she thought that here she would. But Elle should've known better than that; she berated herself for ever thinking her life mattering more would be possible.
"So, we're like the opposite of legends," Jefferson figured.
"Give me one good reason why we shouldn't kill you," Rory spoke through his gruff voice.
Surprisingly, Stein second with a hard tone, "Ditto the arsonist."
"Because Gideon wouldn't listen to your commands, and you'd be stuck here forever," reasoned Rip serenely.
"Great, so we're not a team of elite heroes on a sanctioned mission, sent to rid the future of its most horrific bad guy," Ray stated bluntly. "Just a couple of nobodies who time doesn't really give a damn about."
"I didn't lie about the mission itself," Rip reminded. "Or the brutality and ruthlessness of Savage. Or my need for your help."
"And Is that supposed to make us feel better?" Elle questioned bitterly, her voice sounding hurt despite her best efforts for it not to.
"I don't imagine you're the kind of guy who quits his job and takes on this kind of threat for altruistic reasons," presumed Ray, "so Rip, why don't you tell us: what did Vandal Savage do to you?"
Rip hesitated, letting out a painful sigh. "The Time Masters discourage marriage. They urge against procreation even more. A Time Master should be free of any personal entanglements that might compromise him. But... I fell in love, and we had a child. A boy. Jonas."
The expression on Rip's face was not unfamiliar to Elle as she had dawned that look many times in her past eighteen years. It was the look of someone who had lost everything and was desperate to do anything that might give them the life they wanted.
"Savage killed your family," Ray concluded with a low voice.
"He slaughtered my family," Rip corrected disturbingly. "And thousands of other families. And the body that I swore an oath to serve turned a blind eye. They continue to turn a blind eye. I won't. The last thing that my child saw in the world was that monster's face. You can be damn well sure that when Savage dies, the last face he sees will be mine." Everything Rip was stating lay heavily on the chests of the nine people surrounding him, most looking to Rip with sympathy now knowing what drove him. "I understand, given the circumstances, if you wish to return home. We can make the jump once the repairs are done, if and when Professor Boardman stabilizes."
At the last bit of wording, Kendra stormed out of the bridge, closely followed by Carter. Elle had to resist the urge to do the same, infuriated with the situation. It took a lot of convincing for her to even be on this stupid ship, and now she was being told that her main reason for doing so was a complete lie.
Peering around apprehensively, the Professor read the room, speaking for everyone when he said softly, "I think we all need a little time to consider our options."
THIS WAS ELLE'S third time circling the Waverider's hallways, pacing the ship's length while trying to get her thoughts in order. Elle always thought better when she was moving; it gave her mind something else to primarily focus on rather than whatever may be bothering her.
She was going through all the scenarios that could occur based on her decision whether or not she would stay aboard the Waverider, travel through time, and fight an immortal Egyptian demigod. On the one hand, if Elle stayed, she would arguably get to do one of the most incredible things on the planet, yet it would mean that she would not see her family, not see Aiden for who knows how long. Like most people, Elle liked things simple, and this was most certainly not simple; one of the many consequences that came when dealing with time travel, Elle would learn. She thought and thought and thought, trying to figure out what the best course of action would be, attempting to take into account what Aiden would do because he was the smartest and kindest person Elle had ever known. But it was all so confusing to her, and it physically felt like her brain would explode with all the different possibilities.
And that's why, after her third time marching through the Waverider and all its corridors, she made her way to the bridge in search of Captain Hunter. When she walked in, he was still working in the same spot he was when he revealed that everyone was insignificant, and it wasn't going too well. Rip dropped the machinery in his hands and let out a frustrated groan, turning so his back was leaning against the wall, and that was when he noticed Elle.
"Have you made your decision, Ms. Anders?" Rip didn't intend for his query to adorn the taste of malice, but it did.
Elle ignored his statement altogether, wandering over to one of the pairs of seats. "Do you know why I decided to come in the first place?"
Rip shook his head. "I do not."
"It's because all my life, people showed me and told me that I didn't matter. That I was invisible. Ironic, I know. Everywhere I went — every foster care home, every adoption center, I felt... utterly invisible. My life didn't matter, never has. And you know what? When you knocked me out and dragged me on that roof, I actually believed that my life could amount to more. That I didn't have to be invisible anymore. That I could make a name for myself." Elle sighed, letting out a deep and much-needed breath. "I want to do more. I was never given the option as a kid, and now I am. You told me that my life was important. And it's not. Not yet, at least."
"What does that mean?" Rip asked, the sourness in his tone having left when hearing Elle's words and the genuineness and severity that came with them.
"It means... that I'll help you in order to make a name for myself. I might not be important yet, but I can be. I wanna be," Elle declared quietly. "Time isn't set, and I wanna change my future."
"Well, I am certainly happy to hear that," Rip smiled lightly.
She returned the gesture for a short moment. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry about your family, and I hope we can save them."
The captain didn't respond, only looking sorrowfully. "And I do apologize for lying. I never thought I would obtain everyone's help if I hadn't."
"You never gave us a chance," Elle said serenely. "We could've surprised you. Even Snart and Rory."
Rip chuckled softly at that, turning back to where he was working, continuing to fidget with the gadgets in the wall that were vital to the ship's functions. As he did so, Elle wandered over to the main window in front of the captain's chair, looking at what Rip called the temporal zone. For infinity, it seemed, there was a vast green tunnel that was the time stream, moving at almost a melodic path. It was an oddity; it reminded Elle of the lights in Central City back home — in both instances, they were constant, something you could always count on to be there and provide a soothing-ness of sorts. Elle never had many constants in her life, and that's why she liked the lights and that's why she admired the time stream surrounding the Waverider.
Continuing to stare out the window, Elle heard from behind her something sparking and a small groan from Rip. The ship was severely damaged, Elle knew from Chronos' attack, and she couldn't help but let her thoughts drift to Aiden at the fact that he would love to get his hands on a vessel of this size. Elle knew that he would spend hours upon hours investigating every aspect this ship had to offer and then proceed to try and fix it. Elle was confident that if it ever came down to it, he would be able to despite the Waverider coming from the twenty-second century.
A sigh escaped Rip from where he was working, invoking Elle to turn her body towards the Brit. "What do you think, Gideon?"
"I calculate a less than six percent likelihood that they decide to go on with the mission like Ms. Anders," responded the computer.
"I meant about the repairs."
Elle clicked her tongue, humming, "I wouldn't imagine that it's much better than six percent, too."
"And there has been another unfortunate consequence of Chronos' attack. Care to hear about it?"
"Not really," Rip snipped.
But he got his answer when Kendra and Carter entered the bridge, the former despondently revealing, "He's gone." Rip had stopped what he was doing as Elle's head tilted down with sympathy, neither needing clarification on who the 'he' in this instance was — Elle had been filled in on what occurred — nonetheless, Kendra added on. "Our son — or, our son from our previous life. It's all too confusing."
"I'm very sorry," Rip consoled.
Kendra shook her head. "Actually, you don't get the blame for this. This was my fault."
"I — I'm sure that's not true, Kendra." Elle took a careful step forward.
The woman looked in Elle's direction, appreciative of her efforts, but it didn't change her outlook. "If I hadn't insisted on bringing him back here, he might have died peacefully in his sleep, maybe."
"Don't torture yourself with recrimination. One of the great lessons of time travel is that many things cannot be changed. Time wants to happen." It was then that the door on the opposite side of the bridge opened, and in came the rest of the team. "Chronos, even Vandal, won't be the only enemy we face. Very often, it will be time itself."
"Whether it wants to happen or not, we're gonna change time, erase Savage's future, and earn our rightful place in history," stated Ray as everyone found a place on the bridge.
"That's something I can get behind," Elle murmured quietly, stepping forward in the inadvertently made circle.
"Dr. Palmer is correct," second Stein. "We may not be legends in your time, Captain, but we are going to decide our own fates."
Rip nodded surreally at the Professor, then Carter said, "I don't give a damn about being a legend, as long as we end Savage once and for all."
"I can get down with that," consented Jefferson, making Elle's eyebrows scrunch, wondering what had changed for him.
"And our malcontents?" At Stein's inquiry, all heads turned to the two criminals.
"I like killing people," Mick reasoned.
"We're in," interpreted Snart, the man then tilting his head. "For now."
Sara stepped forward, ready to begin. "So how do we find this guy?"
Rip was finding his place in his chair, settling in as he spoke. "Professor Boardman had a theory about that. I've already had Gideon plot a course."
For the first time since she found herself aboard the Waverider, Elle was confident in what she was doing and why she was doing it. She was going to save the world and help people like Aiden would want, all while earning her rightful place in the history books.
a/n
jo and elle 🤝 making male friends on their first day
hope y'all liked this chapter as much as i did. it was super fun to write, and i'm so excited to write the rest of this series!!!!