"Hello Sadie," Malcolm grinned before I bolted out of there.
I left the lair walking out on the streets trying to be anywhere but there. I knew my dad was alive I just didn't expect him to want to see me or see him so soon. My mind was racing and I didn't know where to go. There was a bench on the side of the street under a street light. I sat down putting my head in my hands as I tried to grasp everything that was happening. Why are you freaking out? You knew he was alive. I guess I was just surprised that it was actually true as well. A burst of air blew past me and an arm was rubbing my back.
"Sade?" Barry asked leaning forward trying to look at me, "Are you okay?"
I sat up as tears started to fall freely down my face and shook my head.
"Did you know your dad was alive?" He asked.
I nodded between gasps of breath, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you."
"Oh, Sadie. It's okay," Barry said engulfing me in a hug as I held tightly onto him, "What were you going to say? Oh yeah, my dead father isn't actually dead by the way?"
I laughed at his sarcasm pulling away from him, "I just didn't expect to see him so soon."
"How could you? He looks like the devil ninja," Barry brushed few strands away from my face.
I laughed again as we sat in silence. What else could we say? Cisco called us a little while later.
"What's up?" Barry asked, "Okay, we'll be right there. Kendra was kidnapped by another bird person."
"What?" I asked confused.
"This is our life now," Barry shrugged before picking me up and running back to the lair and suited up. Everyone else was already gone and I hopped on one of Ollie's bikes riding into the city looking for any sign of Kendra.
"Guys, did you find anything?" Barry asked over coms to Cisco and Felicity.
"I got them! 57th Street tower," Felicity said a few minutes later as we all headed in that direction.
"I'm right near there," Oliver answered, "I got eyes on him."
"Barry, change of venue," Cisco said, "Birdman and Oliver are at 54th and Motor now. Hurry!"
"On my way!" Barry yelled.
I got to the intersection as Barry caught the birdman in the gust of wind he was making with his arms. Oliver shot him as he fell to the ground and Barry started running circles around him. I joined Oliver as we watched but the birdman got free from the ropes but Barry hit him with a lighting bolt as the bird man fell unconscious.
"Well that's new," Oliver said as we walked up to Barry.
"Yep, comes in handy," Barry chuckled.
I hopped on my bike as Barry ran the birdman to the lair.
Oliver grabbed my arm, "Sadie, your father..."
"I'll be fine," I sighed, "This was going to have to happen sooner or later. I would have preferred later but that's fine. I'll be fine." Ollie nodded before letting me go and I rode back to the lair where everyone was waiting for the birdman to wake up. Malcolm was nowhere to be found which was completely okay with me. Once the birdman woke up he struggled in his chains groaning.
"Where is she?" He asked for Kendra.
"What's your name?" Oliver asked him.
"You're putting her in danger, and I'm the only one capable of saving her," he ignored his question.
"You have a very interesting perspective on what the word "saving" means," Thea said sarcastically.
"She's the love of my lifetime, sweetheart," he answered struggling to get free. "I was not gonna hurt her. You need to let me go," Kendra walked into his sight, "Chay-Ara."
"My name is Kendra Saunders," she answered.
"In this life. And I am...was Carter Hall, but that is not who we are," he said.
"What does that mean?" She shook her head.
"You're Priestess Chay-Ara. I'm Prince Khufu. And we're lovers. Soulmates. We've been partners for 4,000 years. We're drawn to each other in each life, and after we die, we reincarnate to find each other again and again and again," he explained, "And now that I've found you, we should really get you out of here."
"Okay, Romeo, why don't you pump the brakes?" Cisco said put his hand up.
"These people cannot protect you from Savage any longer," Carter told her.
"Do you know who Vandal Savage is?" Oliver asked him.
"In every lifetime, he hunts us down and kills us. He's done it 206 times and I'm not planning to make it 207," he answered.
"Why does he kill you?" Diggle asked.
"His life force is tethered to ours. Everytime he kills us, he becomes more powerful. You do the math," he shrugged.
"You're 0 for 206, and you still think you're her best bet, hmm?" Cisco taunted.
"Okay, so what we need to do is just find Savage and get rid of him," Barry answered.
"Well, you can't get rid of him, my friend," Carter said.
"Oh, yeah? Watch us," he shot back making me grin.
"It might be harder than you think," a voice said across the room.
Malcolm and his men entered through the shadows joining us.
"Is that the only way this guy knows how to enter a room?" Barry asked Oliver and he put his hand up to silent him.
"My associates tell me Savage left Star City a few hours ago," Malcolm told us.
"For where?" Diggle asked.
"We're not quite sure," he answered, "But I assume after his run-in with you, he realized he needed something more powerful to complete his mission. We think he's trying to locate the Staff of Horus."
"Sorry, what is that?" Kendra asked.
"It's a relic from our past. An ancient and powerful weapon," Carter answered, "If Savage gets his hands on it, it's going to be nearly impossible to stop him."
"Since when did our lives suddenly become an Indiana Jones movie?" Cisco muttered.
"Felicity?" Oliver asked her.
"Yeah?" She answered.
"Do you think you can find it?" He asked.
"Yeah," she nodded heading for her desk, "It's probably at some museum somewhere. I'll, uh, work my magic, see what I can find."
"We're running out of time. You need to emerge now," Carter told Kendra, "Come on, what is gonna take for you to believe me? You saw my wings. I know you know this is true. Please, just let me show you how."
Everyone looked at Kendra who shrugged and Oliver sighed unchaining him from the wall as everyone got ready to leave. I turned to follow them.
"Sadie, can we talk?" Malcolm asked and I looked at Barry who waited for me to answer.
I turned back towards him. All his men were gone and it was just me and him, "About what, Dad? That you're actually alive? That you killed hundreds of people including Tommy? That you want my forgiveness because I'm not forgiving you."
"I just wanted to see if you were doing well," he sighed.
"I'm great, without you," I shot back.
"I saw you were living in Central City..."
"Of course you did. Was it your people? Watching my every move?" I rolled my eyes.
"All I ever wanted for you was happiness," Malcolm breathed.
"I did have happiness but you took it away from me and I had to leave and find my own," I spat before stomping away. Barry and the rest of the team were waiting outside and I hopped in the van beside Barry and he wrapped his arm around my shoulder holding me tightly as I fought back tears. We pulled up outside of Palmer Technologies and went to the roof where everyone stared over the ledge.
"So you just want me to jump," Kendra clarified.
"Fall, jump, swan dive, whatever suits you," Carter nodded, "Just, uh, do it."
"Okay, this isn't the X Games," Cisco shouted.
"And this is how she emerges? She just falls towards her death?" Oliver asked.
"Yep. 4,000 years of experience says that's exactly how," Carter answered, "Just watch and learn."
"No, I'm sorry. What are we doing? Why are we listening to this guy?" Barry asked calmly, "Come on, Oliver, you're supposed to be the one that asks the questions."
"Okay, but after what we saw, after what Cisco said, I cannot believe I'm going to say this, but it kind of makes sense," Oliver shrugged as we all looked at each other.
Kendra suddenly hopped up on the ledge.
"Hey, hey, hey!" Barry yelled as we ran towards her.
"I need to try," Kendra said looking back at us.
"Are you serious?" I gasped.
"Yes, she is," Carter smiled at me before bumping into her and she fell of the edge screaming. Barry raced down the building catching her and bringing her back up within a second.
"What the hell was that?" Barry shouted at him.
"Saving her life. You should have emerged. Something is blocking you," Carter walked towards Kendra, "Well, we should just try again and see what's..."
"No!" Cisco yelled.
"Yeah, no, no, no. We're not doing that again," Barry agreed, "Kendra, you don't have to do this. Oliver, we can stop Savage, okay?"
"Barry," Oliver said but he wouldn't listen, "Barry!"
"What?" He asked.
"Talk to you for a second?" Oliver asked.
"Okay. Keep an eye on him," he told me and they both walked off as we waited. They came back saying we needed to get back to the lair.
"You need to check Central City for the staff," Oliver told Felicity and turned to Kendra, "Kendra, you said you were drawn there."
"Yeah," she nodded.
"I think you were drawn to things that destroy you the same way you two are drawn to each other," he explained.
"That's why it wasn't in any museum or private collection, because it was consecrated eight months ago at St. Mark's in Central City," Felicity answered.
"We've got to get it before Savage does," Barry added.
"Carter, stay here," Oliver ordered him.
"I'm not going anywhere," he shrugged.
"Call Thea and Digg, and we'll have them hold down the fort in case Savage shows up," he told Felicity.
"Kendra, last year, I lost my powers. The only way I could get them back is if I just forgot about everything happening around me and focused on who I was," Barry told her, "Just believe in yourself, and your true self will emerge."
"Thanks," she smiled.
"Hey, are you sure that you want to do this?" Felicity asked Oliver putting a hand on his arm, "If this guy's immortal and Merlyn's right about how powerful this staff is..."
Oliver looked at Barry who sighed, "We'll be fine. Kiss her."
They turned to go suit up and Barry walked up beside me, "Where's my kiss?" I asked and Barry laughed before grabbing my waist and smashing his lips to mine.
"Get a room," Oliver sighed walking past us making Barry and I grin.
"I'll stay here and make sure Carter doesn't try anything stupid again," I said and Barry nodded, "Be safe."
"You too," he answered before following Oliver.
They left for Central City, Cisco and Kendra went on their own and I waited around with Felicity until Diggle and Thea showed up and we filled them in on what was going on. Diggle got a phone call and left as Cisco and Kendra showed up saying that they got Kendra to emerge.
"That was Oliver. Savage has the Staff of Horus. He wants us all in Central City as soon as possible," he told us as we gathered around the desk.
"Okay, well, Laurel's already there visiting her mom, so I'll call her and let her know we're coming by," Thea answered.
"If Savage is in Central City, then why are we going back there?" Kendra asked.
"So we can end this," Cisco answered putting on his jacket, "And if anybody's gonna take down Savage, it's going to be us."
"Plus, you've emerged. It's going to be much harder for him now," Carter added, "And together, all of us, we can take him down once and for all."
"Okay, so how are we gonna get there?" Diggle asked turning to Felicity.
"Did I mention I'm the CEO of a big company with a private jet?" She smiled.
I'll have to say my first ride in a private jet was very anti climatic. It's like a regular plane but smaller and more claustrophobic. Caitlin picked us up and Diggle drove us to a secret location.
"You okay?" Carter asked Kendra as she winced.
"Yeah, I'm fine, I just have a headache," she answered.
"Are you sure?" He asked, "Usually that's a sign of your memories returning."
"Yeah, I'm sure," she nodded, "I can't remember anything yet."
Once we stopped we got out and found a farm house. There was already a car waiting and Oliver and Laurel got out.
"A bunch of superheroes in a farmhouse?" I asked as Thea and I walked towards it.
"I feel like I've seen that in a movie before," she grinned.
"We need a secure location," Oliver told us as I gave Laurel a quick hug.
"Sadie, how are you doing? I didn't know you were apart of Team Flash," she smiled.
"Yeah, I'm Phaser," I nodded.
"Seriously? That's amazing!" She smiled.
That's why I always liked Laurel for the short time that she dated Tommy she was always really nice and treated me like a younger sister.
We waited for them to catch up and Oliver explained what had happened last night, "Savage only let Barry and I live because he felt Kendra start to emerge as Hawkgirl and went after her. He can sense her and Carter's presence. We don't need to make it easier on him by staying in city limits."
"Bet you wish you were staying at your mother's place now," Diggle told Laurel and she shook her head as we went into the house.
"We need to find a way to neutralize Savage's advantage," Oliver went on as the front door opened and Cisco and Barry walked in, "Barry, you're late."
"Sorry. It turns out, it's not easy finding the ass end of nowhere," Barry said giving me a hug and kiss on the head.
"Yeah, for real. The roaming charges alone are going to bankrupt me," Cisco agreed.
"We're discussing how to take away Savage's newfound power," Oliver said as we all left to look around the house. They discussed making gloves for Barry so he could touch the staff. "While they work to get the staff away from Savage, we need to know everything there is to know about him," Oliver walked into the room over where Thea, Laurel and I were.
"Well, I googled reincarnated nut jobs and came up with nothing," Thea shrugged.
"Kendra and I would be the reincarnated nut jobs," Carter entered the room setting a box beside Laurel, "Savage is merely immortal."
"Merely?" Laurel asked.
"Welcome to the new normal," I nodded.
"Anyone who's been around for 4,000 years should leave a trail," Diggle shrugged, "I'll check with Argus, see if they have anything on him."
"Laurel, Sadie and I can check police reports and stuff like that," Thea suggested to Oliver as we all broke up into teams.
Laurel and Thea looked on through police reports while I checked through any open case files that could potentially be from Savage. After an hour or two of looking I found nothing. My phone rang out of nowhere with an unknown number as Thea and Laurel looked at me. "Hello?" I answered.
"Hey sunshine," Malcolm said as Barry walked into the room.
"How'd you get my number?" I asked.
"Don't mind that, I need to speak with your boyfriend," he answered and I sighed handing my phone to Barry.
"It's for you," I rolled my eyes. Barry was on the phone with Malcolm for a few minutes before hanging up.
"I have to go," Barry told me
"Go where?" I asked standing up and following him into the kitchen.
"Your dad has arranged a meeting with Vandal Savage and he wants Oliver and I to join him," he answered.
"Why?" Thea asked joining us.
"He believes that the only way out of this situation is negotiation or Savage is going to decimate Central City," Barry said grabbing his suit.
"Well I'll come with you," I suggested.
"No," he ordered very quickly.
"Well, why not?" I shot back.
"You haven't dealt with Savage yet, you don't know what he can do," he said starting to leave.
"So what?" I said putting my hands on my hips while following him.
"Sadie, just stay here," he ordered and before I could do anything he was gone in a blink and I sighed.
"Boys," Thea rolled her eyes as we went back to work. Diggle, Laurel and Thea left to go check out Argus for anymore files while the rest of us waited for Oliver and Barry to come back when they did Barry was nowhere to be found.
"24 hours," Oliver said as we gathered in the kitchen to hear what they had to say.
"Until what?" Kendra asked.
"Until we are supposed to hand you and Carter over to Savage, or..." Oliver started.
"Savage lays waste to Central City," Carter finished for him.
"Yeah," he nodded.
"We've been through this before. In 1887, Savage killed nearly two million people to get to us and he did," Carter went on.
"We weren't helping you then," Oliver answered, "We are now. We have 24 hours to come up with a workable plan."
"No, this is insane," Kendra butted in, "My life isn't worth millions of people's lives."
"Kendra," Carter said as she stormed out of the room and Cisco and him fought over who would go to talk to her.
"Hey, here's an idea, why don't we just toss him over to Vandal Savage?" Cisco suggested after he loss. He left to go find Barry and Oliver slipped out before Diggle, Thea and Laurel were back with good news. Felicity brought Kendra and Carter back in.
"Where are Oliver and Barry?" Diggle asked Felicity.
"Oliver's back in secret-keeping mode, apparently. Barry, I don't know. Caitlin and Cisco are working on the anti-staff gauntlets," she answered.
"What do you guys have?" I asked and they handed us a VHS tape.
"Beta Max. Aww, what did you guys get this off eBay?" Felicity laughed.
"Lyla hooked us up," Diggle answered.
"Yeah, well, it's going to take a while to play since we live in a digital world now," Felicity said taking it to her make-shift station.
"The tape came from a conspiracy theory group that's interested in Savage," Laurel answered.
"Conspiracy theories are my favorite!" I said excitedly as everyone stared at me, "I mean...unlike this one. This one is real."
"Pentagon had a file on Savage back in '86, but it's all been heavily redacted," Diggle went on as Felicity hook it up to the tv from her laptop.
"Got it," she nodded working her magic just as a man came on the tv.
"Is this on? I hope so," He said fixing the camera as we gathered around the tv, "My name is Dr. Aldus Boardman. I'm a professor at Sr. Roch University. The date is April 8th, 1975. I don't think anyone knows this, and those that do, don't believe. He's a myth. An urban legend. He has been compared to Machiavelli and Nostradamus. He's gone by many names, but I know him as Vandal Savage, and he will be the death of the world. But I believe there is a way to stop him. SAvage is an immortal, Egyptian priest. His long life is a result of an unearthly calamity. I believe that any object associated with this calamity should be able to undo its effects and kill him.
And I suspect that our precious, fragile world may one day depend upon us doing so."
The camera cut out and everyone was silent.
"Well, that's the understatement of the year," Felicity sighed, "Or, you know, the last 4,000 years."
"Do you have any idea what he meant by these objects?" Diggle stepped forward and turned around facing Carter and Kendra, "This calamity?"
"No, I...I don't recall a calamity," Carter shook his head.
"The staff," Kendra started.
"Staff of Horus?" I asked.
"Yes, I think the staff belonged to Savage back in ancient Egypt," she nodded.
"You remember?" Carter asked her.
"It's a hunch," she answered, "And if Professor Boardman's guess is right, that staff is how we kill Savage."
"Okay, someone needs to inform Oliver and Barry," Laurel ordered.
Felicity nodded, "I'll track them down."
She left going to go find them while we waited. I sat with Caitlin and Cisco informing them what we had found and Kendra's hunch. It wasn't until later that night that Barry returned and I watched him walk in as he glanced at me nodding his head towards the other room. I followed as he opened the door to the office and shut it behind me.
"Sadie, I..." Barry started.
"What the hell was that?" I asked, "Why did you just leave me here and not come back?"
"Oliver needed me to run some tests..." He stuttered.
"Bullshit, why don't you want me helping you?" I asked and he was silent, "Barry!"
"I didn't want to lose you!" He yelled back quickly taking a deep breath before pacing around the room, "I didn't want to lose you, Sadie. I know we said we wouldn't worry about the future but knowing that you might die and we don't know when makes me anxious every time we go out, when I leave you, anything. I don't know when it's going to happen and I can't help but feel helpless because of that."
Barry sat down in a chair putting his head in his hands, "I didn't realize..." I started but he cut me off.
"No you don't, this is really hard for me and I don't know if I can do it anymore," he cried.
I gasped trying to hold back tears but Barry got up and left as I heard the front door open and close. I took a few moments to myself and recollected myself walking back into the living room as Oliver walked through the front door.
"Coming up on Savage's deadline," he announced.
"Where's Felicity?" Laurel asked walking up beside me.
"Are the gauntlets working?" He ignored her
"They have to be, we're out of time," Caitlin answered.
"I think they'll work," Cisco nodded wearing a glove as Barry walked back into the room and I turned the other way., "That staff's going to go from "can't touch this" to "invisible touch."
"Savage doesn't know Kendra has access to her full abilities, which makes you our ace in the hole," Oliver said turning to her, "We're going to put you up against Savage; you attack with the element of surprise. Barry, you speed in and..."
"Snatch the staff, I got it," he shot back.
"Where do you need us?" Diggle asked for the rest of us.
"This is me, Barry, Kendra and Carter. We got it," he answered.
"Ollie!" Thea started.
"No, we're not risking any more lives tonight than we have to," Oliver cut her off as I looked at Barry who was already glancing at me.
He turned to Kendra and Carter, "Suit up."
They left without another word and we sat around not sure of what to do. An hour or so later I suddenly got a call from Barry. "What?" I asked answering.
"Sadie, get everyone and phase!" He yelled.
"What?" I gasped but the ground started to rumble and tried to lunge towards the team but it was too late.