The Waverider touched down in the center of a large parking lot. The sky was grey and dreary, like even it could tell Norway was about to have a really bad day. In retrospect, perhaps things would have gone down a lot better, if some of the sillier Legends had stayed on board. At least then, maybe they wouldn't have doomed the future even more than it already was.
The day started out pretty okay, with everyone still buzzing from their excitement back at S.T.A.R. Labs. It was a complete turn around from the mood everyone had been in just a few hours ago. Almost like their little angst trip never even happened.
"I still can't believe you didn't realize Barry was the Flash," Jax was saying, "even after he put the costume on."
Deserey shrugged. "What can I say? I don't really watch the news much."
"Yeah, but still --"
"I can't believe that I never noticed those two," Sara jabbed her finger at Leonard and Mick, "look exactly like famous actors."
Kendra shook her head, smiling lightly. "That's got to be confusing as hell for the police."
Rip sighed, as the ship landed in near the parking lot. "And we've arrived," he said, sounding relieved. "Gideon, if you wouldn't mind camouflaging us as an alpine meadow, perhaps?"
Everyone slowly stood up, once again feeling the side effects of time travel. Dez felt her stomach doing back flips inside her body, and for a moment she thought she might throw up. (Thankfully she didn't.) She spotted Sara and Leonard stumbling slightly; they leaned on each other for support. (She'd have to tease them about it later.)
"Where exactly are we?" Carter asked, glancing out the window.
"It's nineteen-seventy five again, right?" Kendra asked.
"Indeed," Rip nodded. "October nineteen-seventy five on the fjords of northern Norway." He headed towards the back of the room. The rest of the team followed, as soon as the side effects wore off.
"Sounds like a vacation," Leonard commented.
"Which," Rip said, "we can take as soon as the threat of Savage has been neutralized, Mr. Snart." The captain walked into his office, picking up a small, leather book, before turning around and stepping back into the bridge.
"That's Aldus's notebook," Carter realized. It took Deserey a moment to remember that Aldus was his son from his previous life. (He was also the rotting corpse that was still in the med bay for some reason. She knew that thought sounded harsh, and she felt bad about it...but still. Shouldn't they have gotten rid of it by now?)
"He theorized that Savage might be here, and if he's right, and if we can capture Savage, then at least Professor Boardman didn't die in vain," Rip said, looking at the hawks seriously.
Kendra looked at Rip, her eyes lighting up as an idea undoubtedly came to her. "Can't we just go back and save Aldus?"
"He was our son," Carter pointed out.
Inside her rib cage, a chain tugged at Deserey's heart, trying to force it to sink in the never ending sea of despair. She really felt for those two. There was something especially tragic about being reconnected with a lost family member, only to lose them again five seconds later. (Even if it was a little awkward that their son was several years older than them.)
"Look, I'm sorry," Rip sighed. "We can't go back and change events in which we participated. Time would fold in on itself, creating a temporal vortex."
"Which sounds way cooler than it is," Ray nodded.
"Then, next thing you know you have dinosaurs and Roman warriors wandering aimlessly around California," Rip rambled.
Mick scoffed. "I hate romans."
Deserey looked at him, curious. "Why?"
"Something about that Caesar guy really pisses me off," the arsonist growled.
She shrugged. "Can't argue with logic like that."
Rip rolled his eyes at the two. Sara leaned on the console, looking incredibly bored. (Though, Deserey suspected she was really just a bit dizzy, still. Either from her seemingly random attraction to the thief or from the time jump. Dez wasn't sure.)
"Forgetting physics and weird grudges for a second," the assassin said, "shouldn't we figure out what Savage is doing in Norway?"
Rip nodded, looking at her, thankful to be back on track. "According to Gideon, there is a large meeting of terrorists and fringe groups looking to buy illegal arms." He gestured at the console, where the blue screen lit up. Deserey frowned, as the details of the meeting were written on the monitor.
"Now that sounds like a vacation," Mick said.
Leonard shrugged. "Arms dealers and terrorists aren't exactly our kind of people, but they're the next best thing." He gave Mick an odd look, but Deserey couldn't tell exactly what it was, but it was somewhere between 'what the hell, dude?' and 'we could sneak in and kick their asses.' (There was also a glance at the assassin that may or may not have been a flirtatious smirk, but Deserey figured that wasn't any of her business.)
"Well, looks like you and your lap dog get to earn your keep," Carter muttered.
Mick glared at him. "I'm no one's lap dog, bird man."
"We should get a dog though," Deserey muttered. "It could be our little legendary mascot."
Sara raised her hand. "I vote yes!"
Jax nodded. "It'd be kind of nice to have a furry companion with us. And the dog could guard the ship, when we're out and Chronos tries to attack again."
"Yeah," Ray said. "Except I'm allergic to dogs...and cats...and almost anything with fur..."
Dez frowned for a second, before grinning again. "How about a lizard, then? But it has to be a boy, so we can call him Mohinder."
"Why Mohinder?" Kendra asked.
Deserey shrugged. "I got it from some show my daughter watches."
Rip shook his head. "No! No pets. Because I already know none of you will take care of it, and I'll get stuck with it."
"Please!" Sara begged.
"No!" the captain said firmly.
Deserey laughed to herself. She hadn't meant to get everyone off track again, but it was uncanny how child like the team really was. And how dad like Rip was. It was like they were his kids. He was their dad. He was a Time Dad.
Kendra laughed as well, before getting serious again. "We'll talk about this pet thing later, but what exactly does one wear to a black market arms bazaar, anyway?"
Rip turned back to the office. "The Waverider has a fabrication room, which can fashion temporally-indigenous, uh, fashion."
Jax made a face. "You've got a room that makes clothing?"
Rip looked at him, frowning with confusion. "Doesn't everyone?"
"Nope," Deserey said. "But luckily you do, because none of us brought bags."
The team shrugged, before heading out into the halls. They waited for a moment, as Rip stepped in front of them in order to lead them to the fabrication room. It wasn't really a long walk. In fact, it was just down the hall and to the left.
The room was small, maybe ten by twelve. Along the walls, machines were lined up, glowing with a faint, white glow. There were benches sitting at the center of the room, and little cubbies. Deserey guessed they'd retrieve the clothes from there, once they had been fabricated.
"Alright, first thing we need to do is work up a plan," Ray said giddily.
Leonard shot him an annoyed look. "Got a lot of experience infiltrating criminal gatherings? Didn't think so. I'm calling the shots."
"Actually I'm in charge, in case any of you have forgotten," Rip interjected.
"No," Leonard said. "I remember. I just don't care."
"Ouch," Sara snickered.
Rip rolled his eyes, looking very annoyed. It was the look of a father, getting very aggravated with his very stubborn children. "Do I need to remind any of you that I'm a Time Master?" he asked with a huff. "Making discrete alterations to the timeline is what I do! So, we're not just going to charge into the past like a bull into a China sho --"
"Half of what you told us about the mission turned out to be lies," Mick pointed out, cutting him off.
"None of you have ever encountered Vandal Savage before," Rip went on. He paused for a moment, as he realized that wasn't quite right. Glancing at the hawks he quickly added, "Except you two, of course. And I have. And I'm telling you now," the captain went on, turning back to the others, "you are making a big mistake!"
"...We already did that when we trusted you," Ray muttered.
"Double ouch." Deserey winced with sympathy for their captain. She was still a little pissed at him, too, but she didn't think it was necessary to be giving the poor guy such a hard time.
"We'll be back soon, Captain," Mick said, slamming the door in Rip's face. (Well, actually it was more like sliding them in his face, considering they were bulk head doors, rather than swinging ones.)
{~}
It probably took them longer than necessary to get ready. For one thing, Sara kept changing her clothes, insisting that none of the outfits Gideon provided was good enough for her. She switched her clothes at least ten times, practically begging Deserey to keep calling her Barbie. (She had finally settled on a skin tight shirt, a pair of army pants, and a bandanna wrapped around her forehead.) For two, there was only one bathroom, so everyone had to go in one at a time to change.
Another set back happened, when Leonard insisted that they repeat his plan back to him twenty times before they actually went anywhere. (He had said something about it being so they could memorize it, but Deserey suspected he was just being a dick.)
The thief wasn't happy until everyone could recite the plan he'd given them word for word. (Jax and the hawks would wait on the roof of the building, and Ray would shrink down and sit in the Professor's pocket, in case anything went south. The rest of them went to the auction, where they would kidnap Savage and bring him back to the ship, where they would eventually murder him. Very cheery.) Mick rolled his eyes at Leonard, looking a little annoyed at his partner's antics. So, Dez got the feeling he did this sort of thing a lot.
The last delay occurred, when Deserey went to talk with Rip, before leaving with the others. She found him, sitting in his office, sulking because no one would listen to him. He wasn't going with them on this mission, partly because Leonard wouldn't allow him to, partly because he was being a big baby. Still, Dez had something she needed to say, and she wanted to say it, before she forgot.
She leaned against the door frame, eyeing the captain seriously, hands on her hips. (She hoped it didn't make her look too much like a mother about to give her kid lecture.)
"I get why you lied," Deserey told Rip. "I know it can't have been easy...watching them die."
He looked up at her, opening his mouth to say something, but she held her hand up.
"Let me finish," she said. "I know why you did what you did, but you need to know something too."
He sat back in his chair, nodding slowly, allowing her to continue. Deserey stood up right, sighing. "I'm not in the right head space for mind games, and if you did your research on all of us, then I think you already knew that. And you lying to me? That doesn't really make my issues any easier to deal with. In fact, it makes them even harder to deal with.
"You gave me hope that someday...someday I won't be so screwed up. That maybe I might not be this piece of...crap. That maybe I could eventually be this person my family deserves...only to have you tell me it was just false hope. And now I'm spinning in circles all over again, and I can't get my feet back on the ground."
Rip ran his hand along his face, sighing heavily. He stood up, looking at her with the same genuine look he had given the hawks earlier. "I'm sorry," he said. "Truly. I never meant to hurt you. Any of you. I was just...blinded by my own issues. I hadn't even really stopped to consider...what with the way I found you and all..."
Deserey shoved her hands in her pockets, glancing at the ground. It was the first time either of them had mentioned her suicide attempt on the night Rip had gathered the team. She looked back up at him. "These are good people. They want to help. We want to help, even if you lied. We want to change our own futures as well as yours. So, we're going to stick around, I think.
"But please...no more lies. We can't trust you, if you don't trust us." She shrugged. "And who knows? Maybe this little crusade will be good for all of us in some way or another. If nothing else, we can milk our wounds together. Heal."
Rip nodded slowly. "That sounds nice, actually," he said quietly.
She smiled lightly. He smiled back, before shifting awkwardly.
"Well, I suppose you have a mission to get to," he said.
"Right." She turned to go, but when she reached the door way, she turned back to face him again, frowning. "One more thing."
He glanced at her. "Hm?"
"Chronos," she said. "That was weird, right? I mean, the ship was cloaked, but somehow he was able to shoot directly at it."
Rip shrugged. "Time Hunters are highly trained individuals. The Time Masters must have given him an educated guess on the whereabouts of the Waverider."
"I'm not so sure this was just an educated guess..." Deserey muttered. "It was accurate. Scary accurate. Almost like he'd been there before."
Rip chuckled lightly. "I think you have seen one too many scifi fantasy shows, Miss Dunet."
{~}
Eventually, they waltzed off the ship, happily decked out in the weird seventies clothing, ready to make believe they were terrorist...which probably didn't sound very good out of context.
The kidnapper team walked along the side of the building, Leonard at the front. Jax and the hawks were already in position. Deserey glanced around, hoping she was fitting in well enough. Everyone there seemed to have a permanent scowl embedded onto their faces. They were war torn, insane, and all around bad people. They were, after all, terrorists.
Deserey looked at her team, frowning, as she wasn't the only one who needed to blend in better. They really stuck out. Sure, they had the right clothes, but they didn't look tough enough to be apart of this. They didn't look brutal enough. (Well, maybe Mick did, but even he looked a little soft compared to these people. And sure Sara was an assassin, but somehow Deserey doubted she killed people for the fun of it.) No one else really looked all that worried though.
The team passed a group of people, all wearing similar IDs around their necks. Sara sighed, as she spotted the arm guards standing at the buildings entrance.
"Look like they're checking credentials...And we don't have any."
Mick didn't look very worried about it though. He shrugged the concerns away. "We got this. Trust us." The arsonist gave a curt nod to Leonard, and the ice villain casually walked off.
He bumped into a man, plucking the guy's credentials from his pocket as he did so. "Excuse you," the thief grunted. The man glared at him, but he kept walking, apparently not even realizing that his ID was missing.
Deserey snorted. "Smooth."
"It's the first thing they teach you in thief school," Leonard said.
She squinted at him. "Liar. There's no place like that."
"How would you know?" he smirked, heading towards the door.
When the man in the blue suit asked for an ID, Deserey was sort of reminded of her high school principal. He was a huge guy, always roaming the halls and demanding to see your school ID. You couldn't do anything or go anywhere without one. (Unless of course you wanted a three hour detention.)
Leonard passed the little orange card to the man and stood back, looking ever so calm. Deserey shifted, hands in her pockets to keep the bitter cold from biting them. She wondered how he could act so cool and collected, even when the man in the blue suit started eyeing him skeptically.
"You don't look like an Amhad Ahmed Izz-Al-Din," the man said.
"I'm Arab," Len said with such confidence, Deserey thought it must be true, "on my mother's side."
The man in the blue suit still looked skeptical, though. He looked like he was about to question Leonard further, but before he could, Stein marched forward, an angry scowl on his face.
"Is there a problem?" the professor snapped. "I don't like delays. Do you know who we are?" He sounded like a spoiled child, demanding a toy, but Deserey figured he knew what he was doing, because the man in the blue suit looked taken aback. "My associates and I are the operation of Scimitar," Stein went on. "The Lombardo Square boomerang, nineteen-sixty three. Murder of Henri Tyran, Canada, nineteen-seventy. Konig Airport Massacre, nineteen-seventy one."
Deserey had no idea what he was talking about, and from the glance Sara and Mick gave each other, neither did anyone else. But the man in the blue suit looked pretty intimidated, and Stein looked pretty confidant in his long winded nonsense, so she went with it.
"Bottom line?" Stein finished. "You don't want to doubt me."
The man in the blue suit stepped aside, allowing the team to pass. Leonard plucked the card away from him as they passed by. Mick laughed, leaning close to the professor and invading his personal space again. "You're a special kind of crazy. I like it."
Stein didn't respond, though. Instead, he followed the others into the building. It was a large hanger, sort of like an abandoned warehouse. Except there weren't any conveyor belts. Instead, nuclear weapons were randomly scattered around the building. Every square inch of the place was filled with bad guys, making Dez a little uneasy.
Some if them wore hijabs and turbans, completely living up to the negative stereotypes. Others wore fresh out of the dry cleaner suits and ties. (Except the dry cleaners hadn't been invented yet...) There was a lot of chatter, and Deserey could barely hear Leonard speaking into the coms, even though he was right next to her.
"We're in," Len told Jax and the hawks.
"So," Dez could hear Jax's voice in her ear, "why don't I get to play terrorist?"
"This is just a kidnapping," Leonard told him. "No need for your nuclear fireworks."
The team continued moving forward, passing a stack of pipe bombs as they went. "Savage will be one of the buyers," Leonard told the ground team. "Once we get eyes on, hang back. We'll boost him when this is all over."
They walked around the building. Deserey glanced around, searching for someone that looked something like the picture Rip had shown her earlier. But she didn't see anyone who even remotely looked like Vandal Savage.
"Any sign of him?" Carter asked over the coms. He sounded a little impatient. (Though Deserey guessed she would have been impatient, too, if she'd been waiting four thousand years to catch her murderer.)
"No," Leonard replied, frowning.
Mick walked over, and Deserey followed him, unsure what else to do. "He's not here, boss," Mick told him. The two stood next to each other, almost a well oiled machine. Deserey could practically see the years of experience oozing off the pair. It was startling, just how professional they looked.
"Let's get Ginger and the Professor and move out," Len decided quickly.
Before they could move, though, the PLO came onto the stage, speaking loudly, calling for attention. He thanked everyone for coming and promised it would be worth their time. Though, that wasn't really the shocking part. The shocking part was when Vandal Savage marched his way up to the stage, showing off the nuclear bomb like a Wheel of Fortune model.
He was a burly man with a thick, black beard and insane eyes. Even without the whole immortality thing going for him, he would have been intimidating. It was clear that he was a pretty dangerous dude, and Deserey didn't doubt he knew how to use that sword dangling from his belt. (Though, now it was painfully obvious why Kendra had chosen Carter over him. He was not all that attractive. Besides, who wants to be with a psychopath?)
Sara and Stein joined the others at the front of the room. Stein frowned, glancing at Leonard. "Seems we were wrong about Savage," he whispered. "He's not one of the buyers..."
"He's the seller," Sara finished.
"This is a variable-yield nuclear war head," Savage announced to the crowd, "capable of producing a blast equivalent to one megaton of TNT."
The PLO stepped forward. "Shall we begin our bid at one hundred million dollars?"
Someone fired a gun into the air. Deserey jumped, cursing. Sara snorted at her.
"One hundred million!" the PLO said, pointing into the crowd. "Do I hear one hundred five million?"
Another man fired his gun into the air, but this time Deserey was more prepared. It didn't make her scream this time, at least.
"One hundred ten?" the PLO went on. More gun fires. "One hundred fifteen?"
Savage froze on the stage for a moment. It looked like he was having some sort of seizure; his whole body stiffened, as he stared into the crowd, a blank expression on his face. After a moment, the psychopath blinked, and he looked normal (or as normal as an insane person could be) again. The PLO walked over and whispered something to him; the two chatted together for a month, but Deserey couldn't tell hear what they were saying.
Savage's gaze lingered on the time traveling team a little longer than it did on most others in the room. It was almost like he knew they were there to kidnap him. Panic settled in at that thought, and Deserey wanted to bolt out of the building as fast as possible. But she remembered what Leonard had said about staying put, so she forced herself to stand still.
"It seems we've drawn some unwanted attention," Stein said, noticing Savage's stare as well. "We need to bid. Fire your gun in the air."
Deserey nodded. Yeah. That must have been all it was. They looked suspicious, because they were the only ones not shooting. It made a lot more sense, anyway. How was Savage suppose to know what they were actually there for?
"One hundred twenty five million dollars!" the PLO called out next. Mick fired their gun at the roof. The building suddenly went very quiet. Sara frowned, looking around.
"Going once..." the PLO said. "Going twice..."
Still, nothing happened. No one else fired their guns. Deserey panicked again, the silence making her uneasy.
"Um, what's happening?" Sara asked, also looking nervous.
"It's what's not happening that's the concern," Stein muttered.
"Nobody else is bidding," Leonard said.
"Uh, meaning what exactly?" Dez asked.
"Sold!" the PLO yelled, pointing at the time travelers.
Mick smirked at Stein. "Congratulations, Professor. You just bought yourself a nuclear weapon."
A man walked over to them. His skin was pale like ice, and his hair was white like snow. Bright blue eyes pierced Deserey like a knife. She got the feeling this was another dangerous man they should have avoided. He wore a fancy grey suit -- a buttoned up shirt, matching pants, and black dress shoes.
"Well, well," the man said. "We seem to have a new player... But you seem a bit academic." He walked over to Stein, eyeing him suspiciously. "How did you get in here and who are you?"
Deserey couldn't help herself. She caved. "We're time travelers from the future. We snuck in to kidnap the seller."
The others gave shot her a look, and the man raised an eyebrow, as is if wondering how much pot she'd smoked before coming here.
"Yeah," Dez continued, pretending like she'd been joking all along. She nodded her head at Mick. "That's Rory I'm Amy." She swung her arm around Sara. "And this is our daughter River Song."
The man nodded slowly, rolling his eyes ever so slightly. "Cute. But really...who are you and how did you get in here?"
Sara leaned over to Deserey and whispered, "Nice save."
"Hey," Mick growled at the man. "Back off."
The man glared back at him. "Watch your tone!"
Savage walked over, then, and that's when Deserey knew everything was about to go to hell. "Is there some sort of problem?" Savage asked.
"Yeah, the master race here is starting to bug me," Mick said, shoving the grey suited man backwards.
Leonard stepped forward quickly, gently pushing Mick back. Dez guessed he must have sensed trouble, too. "We're just going to get our nuclear war head and be on our way," he said calmly.
"Not without paying first," the PLO said from where he was still standing on the stage.
"Once we've validated that the warhead's operational," Stein said. "Personally, I find it highly unlikely that you were able to accumulate enough fissionable material in this era to fashion a workable nuclear device."
Savage frowned. "In this era?" he asked.
"...Figure of speech," Stein said.
The grey suited man laughed, like the professor's awkward stuttering was a hilarious source of entertainment. "Yeah," he said. "And apparently they're time travelers, here to kill you or something. Aren't they just adorable?" The man kept laughing, as he walked away.
Savage didn't laugh though. He walked back on to the stage, looking very serious and maybe even a little homicidal. Apparently Deserey wasn't the only one thinking that meant bad news, because through her ear piece she could hear Jax talking to the hawks, "I got a feeling you might want to get those helmets of yours on..."
"Change of plans," Savage called out, proving that his serious manner meant nothing good. "I'll provide a twenty percent discount to the organization which brings me the heads of these men." He pointed at Stein, Leonard, and Mick.
"Does that mean we're safe?" Deserey asked Sara hopefully.
"And their women," Savage added.
"Nope," Sara said, withdrawing a knife from her pocket. "Ready for your first real fight?"
"Nope," Dez shook her head. But she took a handful of sand from her bag anyway.
Mick leaned over to Len, whispering, "Can I burn some stuff now?"
"I wish you would," Leonard responded. All at once, chaos broke lose.
I'm surprised these updates are like...daily. Maybe even two updates a day? I don't know. I never update this fast. I'm really proud of myself.
But this is also super fun to write for some reason so...
As promised, this chapter is a bit longer. Although, I think next chapter I'm gonna try to go back to the usual 2,000-3,000 words. Just...because. I was gonna try to write the whole episode in this chapter, but it's already 4,000+ words and...that's just too much for y'all to read. So, we'll keep it shorter for the sake of your sanity.
As usual, let me know if you see any major mistakes in the chapter so I can fix them later!