Mick and Rip rushed Jax to the med bay immediately once they returned to the ship, Stein trailing behind, getting in the way every now and again. Meanwhile, Carter and Ray, with directions from Rip, took their new friend to the brig. Deserey wasn't sure why a time ship needed a prison cell, but now she was glad it was there. Once the two unconscious boys were in their rightful places everyone head for the bridge. Len was waiting for them all, lazily slumping in the captain's chair at the front of the room. He glanced over them, when they walked in the room. "Eesh. You all look like crap."
Dez snorted. "Well, don't hold back. Tell us how you really feel."
Before Leonard could retort with a sarcastic statement of his own, Rip jumped in. "How did things go with Vostok?"
Leonard reached into his pocket, pulling out a plastic card and tossing it to the captain. "Works at a place called Luskavic Labs. Project for Savage is probably there."
Ray frowned at the thief, but instead of lecturing him, he said, "I guess I should just be happy you didn't swipe her wallet."
Leonard rolled his eyes and sat him, yanking a leather, red wallet from his other pocket that must have belonged to Vostok at some point. "Why, do you doubt me?"
Ray stared at him, eyes wide. "Seriously?"
Len shrugged, slipping the wallet back into his pocket. "I stole your wallets, too." He pointed between Ray and Carter. The two checked their pockets, and they must have realized he was telling the truth because they glared or rolled their eyes at him respectively. "Consider it payment to make up for ditching me with Vostok." Leonard got to his feet, eyeing the pair, a look of annoyance plastered all over his face. "Where'd you run off to anyway?"
Carter shrugged. "Ray wanted to chase after Chronos." Ray looked like he was going to defend whatever reason he had for chasing after one of the three people who wanted to kill them. Instead, he let out a loud sneeze, startling Stein, who had been hanging out in the parlour's doorway, not really paying attention. "Guess the dog followed us," Carter muttered.
Deserey perked up. "Dog?"
Carter nodded, just as a white husky bounded into the room, wagging her tail, tongue hanging out. Deserey couldn't help herself, she let out a shriek at the sight, dropping to her knees and holding her hands. "Pupper!" The dog trotted up to her, as Ray continued sneezing; Dez let her sniff her hand. At the dog's okay, Deserey started petting her and scratching behind her ears. "Aren't you just so precious?" In a matter of seconds the dog had rolled over, and Deserey was rubbing her belly.
Ray groaned after sneezing for several minutes straight. "I'm just gonna..." He pointed towards the exit. As he was leaving, Kendra stepped into the room, rubbing her shoulders like she was in pain.
"Hey, Carter, your dog was outside so I let her in," Kendra said. Her eyes flickered over to where Deserey was still petting the furry animal. "Oh, never mind. Guess you found her."
Carter's eyes widened. "Oh." He dragged the word out as he said it, the way people do whenever they'd just remembered something important. Carter looked down at the dog. "Is that why you've been following me?"
The dog stood up, letting out a sharp, "Arph!" She moved past Deserey and jumped at Carter, placing her front paws on his legs, nearly knocking him over in the process. He stumbled but quickly got his balance again, petting the dog. So, apparently the dog had belonged to Carter in another life. Neat.
"What's her name?" Dez asked, getting to her feet.
Carter shrugged, lowering the dog on all four again and brushing off the fur she'd left on his pants. "I didn't even remember I had a dog until thirty seconds ago. How should I know?" He looked at Kendra, but she just shrugged, clearly not remembering either.
"Fang? Fur ball?" Mick started guessed. "Oh. I got it. Cat Killer. Definitely Cat Killer." He started sipping from the beer bottle Dez hadn't seen him leave to get. (He really did that a lot didn't he? Pulled alcohol or food seemingly from out of no where.)
Deserey rolled her eyes at the arsonist. "It is not!" She frowned, glancing between the two hawks. "Is it?"
Carter shook his head. "Yeah, probably not."
"It doesn't matter," Rip said sternly. "I specifically said no pets."
Len sighed, lazily slumping back in the chair he'd been sitting in before everyone had come into the bridge. He flashed Rip an annoyed glare. "Since when does anyone listen to you?"
Rip made an agitated noise, coming to stand at the center of the room, gesturing with his hands wildly as he spoke frantically. "With Savage and Chronos out there and this project Vostok is working on, we have more pressing concerns. Not to mention Mr. Jackson is injured in the med bay, and we now have another new guest thanks to the events that have transpired tonight." At the mention of Jax, Stein briefly looked up to the captain, but he looked away again when he realized it wasn't an update on his younger half's condition. Rip continued his rant, not even taking notice of the professor. "Besides, it's much too difficult to take care of animals on a time ship. Their side effects are much different from ours, and there's no where for them to go when they need to. Unlike us, they don't have the luxury of a toilet. Then, there's the matter of their food and water. And dogs need a lot of attention, attention that none of us will be able to provide whilst tracking down Savage and avoiding Chronos."
Deserey shared a look with the other Legends. The thieves looked rather indifferent on the subject, but the hawks looked just as eager for a Legendary Pet as she was. She knew what Rip was saying was important and very serious; and maybe she should have been slightly more concerned about the 'their side effects are different than ours' or even the Chronos and/or Savage bits.... But, honestly... "How can you say no to that face?" Dez asked Rip, gesturing at the dog.
She was now laying down, head between her front paws. Her eyes were looking up at the captain, twinkling against the fluorescent lighting of the bridge. The dog's tail thudded loudly against the mettle flooring of the ship, as she began wagging. It almost looked as if she too were begging Rip to stay.
Rip sighed at the sight. Deserey and the hawks grinned back at him pleadingly. He caved a few moments later with a scoff. "Fine! If you figure out what her name is before we leave the eighties then she can stay." Dez and the hawks cheered, the dog letting out an excited howl to mimic them.
Once they had calmed down, Leonard eyed Rip seriously. "Now, what's this about a new guest?"
{~}
After explaining the events of the fight a few hours ago to Kendra, Sara, and Leonard, the Legends, omitting the two halves of Firestorm since Jax was still healing from his injuries and the professor refused to leave his side, gathered in the brig. (They'd left the dog in Carter's room so that Ray could be with the rest of them without sneezing his ass off.)
The brig wasn't as big as the bridge, but it was a lot bigger than the fabrication room and the galley. On the far side of the room three glass panels surrounded the back wall. Inside the cell there was a small, rectangular bench but other than that it was completely empty. (Dez had asked why there wasn't at least a restroom for their captive, and he'd told her that the brig wasn't meant to hold people long term.) The rest of the room was just big enough for everyone to crowd around and peer into the cell, where the man with the silver star on his chest slumbered.
They didn't have to wait long for him to wake up though, because the man started stirring a few moments after the Legends stepped into the room. He glanced around the room as he sat up, taking in his surroundings, before his gaze finally landed on Dez. "Huh," he mumbled. "Sand that makes people sleep? That's a new one."
Sara stepped forward, arms folded over her chest firmly. She didn't look like she was in the mood to listen to this random guy talk about Deserey's powers. Sara leaned forward, placing one hand against the glass, as she glared at the man. "Look, we're already hard-pressed as it is. So, we're going to ask you some questions and you're gonna answer with the truth." She stood up, withdrawing a long, silver knife from her boot. "Or we're all going to have a really bad night."
When Sara tapped the knife against the glass, Kendra flinched. Dez frowned, wondering if something had happened during their training session. She shook her head, deciding now wasn't the time to ask about it.
The man on the other side of glass just eyed Sara, a vacant expression on his face, as if her words were extremely dull to him. He sat back and propped one foot over his knee, like he was just making himself right at him. "You know, most people are inclined to put out drinks and snacks when they have people over. But I guess threatening to kill me is another way to go."
"Cut the crap," Sara hissed. "Who are you? How did you get here?"
The man chuckled to himself like Sara had just told him a hilarious joke. Leonard rolled his eyes at him. Dez couldn't really blame him. The guy's attitude was starting to get on her nerves as well. He'd just been kidnapped, he should have at least a little bit concerned about that! Rip most of been irritated too, because he asked, "Something funny?"
Star Man got to his feet and moved so that he was standing directly in front of the Legends on the other side of the glass door. "Oh, a lot, really. But at the forefront: I think I should be the one asking you those questions."
Sara scoffed. "Well, tough, because you're the one who's in the cell. Not us. So, we'll ask the questions."
Star Man shrugged. He made a face like, fair enough. "Okay, but why should I answer them?" Sara narrowed her eyes at him, raising her knife in response. At her movements, Kendra took a hesitant step back. Dez frowned again, glancing around to see if anyone else had noticed the priestess's odd behavior. Everyone seemed to be hyper fixed on the guy in the cell. What the heck had happened during their training?
The guy in the cell eyed Sara's knife with that same, bored expression he had been staring at the team with since they had started their interaction. He didn't say anything. Sara looked like she was on the verge of opening the door and smacking the crap out of the guy, but somehow Dez got the idea that he wanted her to open the door so he could attempt to sneak past her and the others. Sara must have sensed that too, because she restrained herself.
Ray stepped forward. From the way he was grinning, Deserey knew he'd gotten an idea. She wasn't sure if that should have made her worry or not. "Why don't we just answer each other's questions?" When everyone in the room gave him worried or exasperated looks, he went on to explain, gesturing at the man behind the glass. "Look, you want answers and so do we. And we're not going to get anywhere by standing around threatening each other." He turned again, waving his hands at the Legends behind him. "I mean, there's eight of us in the room right now. So, we'll ask you one question each and you can ask us eight questions. Fair?"
Leonard stared at Ray, scrunching up his face as if he'd eaten something moldy. "What is this pre-school?"
"Yeah," Sara nodded, lowering her knife to from at the scientist. "Ray, that's not really how interrogation works."
Kendra stepped up to defend Ray before he had the chance to speak for himself. "Well, I think it's a great idea. Less likely someone will get choked out." The two shared a look. It wasn't exactly a glare, but it didn't exactly look good natured either.
The guy behind the glass laughed again, folding his arms as he leaned against the glass. "This group is fun to watch. But I'll bite." He paused. "Though, you're already three down so..."
Sara shook her head, sending a glare his way. "No we're not. Rip's didn't count, and mine count as one question."
Star Man eyed her up and down. He must have decided that she could easily kick his ass and that it would be better if he didn't argue with the assassin, because he gave a curt nod. "Fine. Name's Michael Jon Carter."
Deserey blanched at the name. From across the room, she spotted Rip making an odd face of his own. The stow away eyed the pair curiously, having caught the looks they'd given him. Dez shrugged back at him. "That was my dad's name, Michael."
"Yeah," Rip said. "It use to be my name, too."
Ray frowned. "Wait. Really?" Next to him, the other Legends were looking vaguely surprised as well, but neither of them seemed particularly worried about it at the moment. (It was after all, unimportant compared to everything else they were dealing with.)
The stow away shrugged, as he continued. "They call me Booster Gold in the future. I time traveled here after stealing some tech from a museum."
Dez blinked. Another time traveler who didn't run with the Time Masters? What were the odds of that? She glanced at Rip to see that he seemed just as shocked as she was. Apparently, the Time Masters didn't have a lot of people go rogue. (Or at least not a lot that Rip has heard of.)
"My turn." The man, now named Michael, shifted, looking at the Legends seriously. He eyed each of them in turn, and Dez got the feeling he was accusing them of something malicious. "Where's Skeets?"
Sara and Kendra shared a confused look. Leonard turned to Booster Gold, raising a questioning eyebrow at him.
Deserey shrugged. She hadn't seen what Mick had done with the thing after they'd come back to the ship. Rip and Carter glanced at Mick accusingly. The arsonist let out a soft grunt of what sounded like annoyance as he yanked the egg sized robot from his pocket.
Michael frowned. "Were you trying to steal him?"
Mick shrugged. "I'd answer that, but you've already asked your question."
Michael scoffed. He pushed himself off the wall, glaring daggers at Mick. "You were going to steal Skeets!"
"Why did you come to the eighties?" Kendra asked. She looked mildly annoyed by the exchange between Michael and Mick. Deserey couldn't blame her. She didn't mind it much herself, but it was slightly irksome when they were dealing with something serious.
Michael turned his attention from Mick to the hawk demigoddess. His expression turned serious, his voice taking on a certain melancholy. "To kill Druce." At that statement Rip visibly tensed. Even if the Time Master had tried to murder him just a few hours ago he had still, at some point, been Rip's friend and maybe even some sort of father figure to him. It made some bizarre sense that Rip wouldn't want anything bad to happen to him, but Dez still couldn't help thinking, maybe we should have let him.
Mick seemed to be the only other one who knew what he was talking about, (and Dez remembered that the others really were clueless because Len and the other two females on the team hadn't been there, and Carter and Ray hadn't shown up until after Rip had said Druce's name) but he seemed rather indifferent on the subject. Michael was moving on before either Mick, Rip, or Dez could explain it to the others though. He drummed his fingers against the glass, scrunching his face up, like he was seriously considering his second question. When he finally spoke there was a suspicious edge in his tone. "If you're not with the Time Masters then why do you have one of their ships?" He tapped the wall with his knuckle.
"Oh, it's actually Rip's ship," Ray said. He pointed at their captain. "Vandal Savage killed his family in 2166 so he recruited us to help stop him and save the future from his wrath."
Michael glanced at Rip. He eyed him up and down for a moment. An expression that Dez couldn't really read washed over his face. It irked her more than a little how difficult it was to tell what this guy was thinking. He didn't send off any vibes what so ever. (Unless cocky douchebag counted as a vibe.) He was a bit like abstract art, Deserey thought, in the sense that one might stare at a painting for hours and still not be able to grasp the concept behind it. The only way a person might get an idea of what the art piece is about is if they knew something about the artist, a piece of their past, a sliver of insight to their personality. But even then it would only be a vague idea. Michael hummed softly. "That's interesting."
"What's that suppose to mean?" Leonard hissed from where he was perched by the wall. He was eyeing Michael with a look Dez had only ever seen him wear on the news when he was fighting the Flash. That glare, harsh as a blizzard.
Michael didn't seem very phased by the look, though. He just stared on, vacantly. "I've got a similar story."
Len gave a nod of understanding. Rip shared a look with Carter and Ray; Kendra's eyes widened at the words. Sara and Mick seemed virtually unaffected, but even they looked as though they understood what Michael was saying. It took Deserey a minute, though. When it had finally settled in, she couldn't help voicing it out loud. "Druce killed your family."
Michael shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant but Deserey didn't miss the way his eyes glossed over at her words. "He didn't pull the trigger himself, but he ordered it. So, basically the same thing, yeah." He paused a moment before asking his third question. "Other than a murderer and apparent dictator, who's Savage? You people keep talking about him."
Carter and Kendra launched into a vague summary of their experience with Savage. They explained how they'd gotten their powers and how Savage gained his own from repeatedly killing each of them in cold blood. Booster Gold eyed the pair of them, his mouth twitching upwards in a soft smirk once they'd finished. "That's the most confusing shit I've ever heard," he told them. "But I'll buy it, 'cause no way someone can make something like that up."
Carter gave him a look. "Good to know." The way he said it, though, gave Dez the impression that he was being sarcastic. "You said you were from the future. What year? Same as Rip or?"
Michael shrugged. "Guessing that's 2166? No, I'm from a bit further than that, actually. 2475, twenty-fifth century." He watched the team for a moment, taking in their reactions to that news. No one was very shocked by the idea, though. (Once you've met one vengeful time dad from the future you'd met them all.) "Alright. So, who are you people, then?"
Rip went around the room introducing the Legends by name to their new friend in the cell. He even went so far as to tell him about Jax and Stein, who were still in the infirmary. Ray added the fact that they'd taken to calling themselves the Legends and told Booster a bit about their powers.
Michael nodded as he listened to the two men talk. He had varies reactions when learning about the different powers and abilities the Legends had, seeming particularly interested in Mick and Len's heat and cold guns and especially surprised at hearing Sara had come back from the dead. "Why not take a time ship instead of stealing your tech from that museum you mentioned?" Ray asked, when it was time for him to ask his question.
Booster Gold shrugged again. He seemed a bit caviler for a guy who had been homicidal a few hours ago, especially considering he had just said that he and Rip were in the same boat. "Seemed easier at the time. I was being chased and the tech was there. Easy escape. Plus, I didn't know the Time Masters existed until they killed my family." Then, his fifth question. "What were you doing with Druce tonight if you weren't working with him?"
Rip opened his mouth to respond, but Deserey beat him to it. "He was trying to kill our captain," she told Time Dad Number Two. "So we were going to kick his ass. And we were until you showed up and made him leave." Her words were more bitter than she'd meant for them to be, but Michael didn't seem to notice. Either that or he didn't care. He just nodded, letting out another thoughtful hum.
"How do you know it was Druce that ordered your family to be killed?" Rip asked. They had been friends, Dez reminded herself. Druce could very possibly have been a father figure to Rip. Of course he would be skeptical on his behalf, even if Druce had just tried to kill him not too long ago. Dez wished she had such faith in people. But after being left in the dust by her own friends so many times, trust wasn't something that easily came to her. With one glance at the others, she could see from their body language that all of them, even Ray who seemed reluctant to believe there was a bad bone in anyone, were agreeing with her. Rip probably knew his old Time Master friend was no good too. He just wasn't ready to believe it, as Dez had thought previously. Things like that were difficult to fathom and even harder to get over.
Michael must have sensed there was a history between the Time Master and Rip from the tension with which the question had been asked, because he hesitated for a moment. He was considering his words carefully again, being careful not to offend the captain of the Waverider, lest he decide to let the blonde assassin have a go at him with that knife of hers. "I guess I don't have any definitive proof. But I've been searching for evidence through out the time line for a few years now. I've met a few people who've had similar run ins with the Time Masters. That was enough for me." His sixth question was spoken dubiously. "Are you sure you're chasing after the right villain here?" At first Deserey didn't register it as a real question, thinking he must have been defending his reasoning for assuming the worst of Druce.
The other Legends were silent for a long while, taking time to really consider this. Sara was frowning, her hands on her hips. Kendra's eyebrows were knit together, as she visibly thought about what Michael was asking them. Mick didn't act as though he'd even heard Booster Gold, but he had started messing with the glove on his hand, so Deserey was certain he had. Rip scowled, clearly offended at what the other man from the future was insinuating. But it was Ray who shrugged it off. "Of course we are. The Time Masters might have sent a bounty hunter after us, and they may have tried to kill a few of us earlier; but Savage single handedly took over the world in 2166. He attacked and killed Kendra and Carter hundreds of times, and he killed Rip's family. That seems like a big bad to me."
Leonard shrugged. When he spoke, it was with that long, drawn out drawl he used whenever he was trying to make himself appear more villainous than he actually was. "Seems like an awfully big coincidence, doesn't it?"
"Yeah," Ray admitted. "But it's not like the Time Masters are trying to take over the world or anything. They're just trying to protect the time line."
"And the only reason they didn't grant Rip permission to go after him is because he wasn't a threat to the time line," Kendra added. "And the only reason they sent Chronos after us was because he took the Waverider without permission."
Michael gave the two of them a pointed look. "Yeah, see, that's extremely fishy to me. Protecting the time line? You'd think the best way to protect the time line would be to not time travel at all, wouldn't it?"
Sara shrugged, putting her hand against the glass once more, as she leaned forward to glare at their captive. "I'll admit, some things aren't adding up, now that you've pointed them out. But I think you're just trying to get in our heads. Distract us from what we came here to do."
He held up his hand, pinching the air so that there was an inch of space left between his thumb and index finger. "Just a little bit," he admitted.
Leonard rolled his eyes. "We'll fill in the gaps later. Mick, Dez, one of you go so we can get this crap over with already."
"Fine," Mick grunted. He held up the robot Skeets, who had apparently turned himself off after the arsonist had stuffed him in his pocket. "Who was this thing callin'?"
Michael gave him a confused look. "Huh?"
Dez nodded. "Yeah, before he grabbed him, Skeets was trying to call someone. Blue Beat something or other." She shrugged. Honestly, she had forgotten all about that until Mick had brought it up.
Booster Gold gave a curt nod of recognition. "Blue Beatle probably. One of the people I mentioned earlier who've had a run in with the Time Masters. He's my back up." His seventh question. "How do you guys navigate through the time line? I have Skeets there. You must have an AI or something too, right?"
The Legends didn't have to answer this one, because Gideon spoke up, responding for them. "That's right, Mr. Carter. I am Gideon."
Michael grinned, pointing up at the ceiling. "Oh, she's in the ship. Nice."
Deserey stepped forward, shrugging hesitantly. "Guess I get the last question."
Booster nodded. "Shoot."
Dez nodded back to him. She considered her question, probably taking much longer than necessary if Leonard's annoyed glances were anything to go by. After a full five minutes, she finally asked, "Why do you matter?" She winced, realizing that could be taken the wrong way. "That's harsh. Lemme try again," Deserey said before Michael even had the chance to respond. "The Time Masters are only worried about people who threaten the time line or people who matter to history. If they attacked you and killed your family, they must have had a reason, justified or not. What is it? Why do you matter?"
Michael snorted at her rambling but otherwise he didn't have a reaction to the way she'd previously asked the question. "Good question," he said. "But I have no idea. As far as I know I didn't do anything important. So, unless it's something I haven't done yet, I don't know. I'll let you know if I find a reason, though." Deserey let out a hum of her own, as she waited for his last question. "What now?"
The Legends exchanged looks with one another. It was hard to tell what anyone was thinking. They all looked just as clueless as Deserey was feeling. Rip glanced at Michael apprehensively. "We'll need some time to consider what to do."
Booster Gold shrugged, like he'd been expecting that. "Sure. Take all the time you want." He turned and took a seat on the bench at the back of his cell, giving the eight team members a big smirk. "I'm not going anywhere."
{~}
After leaving the brig, the team didn't immediately discuss what to do with their prisoner. Sara slipped away, heading for the cargo bay as soon as they stepped foot into the halls, hastily muttering something about needing to sharpen her knives. She took great care to not to look into Kendra's eyes. Likewise, Hawkgirl went out of her way to avoid the White Canary's gaze. Carter went to check on the dog, and Ray left to find the two halves of Firestorm. The two crooks snuck off to their rooms to do whatever it was thieves did while they were alone.
Dez turned to Kendra the moment she and Rip were the only ones in the hall with the priestess. "So, what's up with you and Sara?"
Kendra eyed her apathetically, rubbing her shoulder like the mere thought of whatever happened during their training session was enough to make her body begin aching again. "I lost control again, but I came to after I accidently through her across the room. And then..." She sighed. "She tried to kill me."
Rip made a face. "I was afraid something like that would happen."
Kendra tilted her head at him. "You mean you knew about this blood lust thing?"
Rip gave her a one shouldered shrug in return. "It's a captain's job to know everything on the ship." After a moment, he added, "And I was hoping it would be a mutually beneficial arrangement."
Kendra stared at him blankly, clearly not grasping what he was trying to say. Deserey took the liberty of jumping in to explain. "You need to embrace your warrior side in order to become a sexy, bad ass Egyptian hawk queen, and Sara needs to accept her human side in order to become a beautiful, flawless woman...Basically, y'all have to Fab Five each other."
Kendra made a face at her, shaking her head and laughing slightly. "Not sure what that last part means, but I think I get your point." Rip shrugged, being confused about her Fab Five comment as well.
Dez grumbled, "Cishets."
"What?" Kendra asked.
"Nothing. Move along now, Kenny." Dez waved her hand, shooing the hawk warrior down the hall. "Lots of training to do." Kendra just laughed at her again before turning and walking down the hall to find Sara.
So, this chapter is a bit longer but I'm breaking it into two parts. Each part will be the normal 3,000 to 5,000 words. Hope you enjoyed!