HUNTRESS.
006. | ❛ there is no such thing as fate. ❜

In the eight grade, my English class had to read "Romeo and Juliet". Then for extra credit, Ms. Synder made us act out all the parts. Sal Scafarillo was Romeo and as fate would have it, I was Juliet. All the other girls were jealous, but I had a slightly different take. I told Ms. Synder Juliet was an idiot. For starters she falls for the one guy she knows she can't have, then she blames fate for her own bad decision. Ms. Synder explained to me that when fate comes into play, choice sometimes goes out the window. At the ripe old age of 13 I was very clear that love, like life, is about making choices, and fate has nothing to do with it. Everyone thinks it's so romantic. Romeo and Juliet, true love, how sad. If Juliet was stupid enough to fall for the enemy, drink the bottle of the poison and go to sleep in a mausoleum, she deserved whatever she got!

"Our cloaking shield and aft entrance have been significantly compromised, Captain." Gideon spoke as they were seated since they were time traveling.

"Yes, I can see that, Gideon. Station us in the temporal zone while I work on repairs." Rip said unbuckling himself from his seat and the others doing the same.

"Temporal zone?" Stein asked.

"Yeah, it's essentially a time limbo. We can hide out there for a bit. Another temporal jump would risk revealing our position." Rip said getting his tool to fix the ship

"A time limbo? Astonishing." Stein continued to speak

"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. 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. "Rip turns around and Kendra hits him straight in the jaw.

Mick laughs before turning to Carter,"I see why you got the hots for that one."

"My son is hurt because of you. Who attacked us?" Kendra said while grabbing the inside of Rip's shirt.

"Something of a long story."

"Better tell it fast, Rip, 'cause it doesn't look like the lady's in a patient mood." Leonard said standing out of his seat.

"Neither am I." Carter stepped forward.

"His name is Chronos. He works for the Council of Time Masters. My former employers." Kendra lets go of him and looking at him in a confused state.

"I thought you were a Time Master." Crystal spoke

"As I've expressed, time's not a linear thing. At some point I was, in fact, a Time Master."

Sara got closer to Rip punching in the face much like Kendra.

"Will you people please stop hitting me?"

"Start telling the truth!" Sara yelled at him.

"I relinquished my position as a Time Master when I commandeered the Waverider. Chronos was clearly sent to bring me in."

"You lied to us." Stein expressed in a hurt manner.

"Of course I lied to you. I needed your help... you all barely said yes as it was." Rip confessed.

"What right do you have to lie to us?" Crystal yelled at him getting closer to Rip, about to punch him but Leonard held her back.

"What about the legends part?" Jax asked

"Ooh, you lied about that too, didn't you?" Leonard read Rip's face, still holding Crystal's arm, fearing that she would actually hit him.

"I chose you all because, a hundred years from now, your lives have minimal effect on the recorded timeline. I needed your help without disturbing the history of 2166."

"So, we're like the opposite of legends." Jax said with his arms crossed.

"Give me one good reason why we shouldn't kill you." Mick said

"Or turn you blood into acid," Crystal continued off of Mick.

"Ditto the arsonist and huntress." The professor agreed with them.

"Because Gideon wouldn't listen to your commands and you'd be stuck here forever." Rip made a good point.

"Great, so we're not an elite team of heroes on a sanctioned mission, sent to rid the future of its most horrific bad guy. Just a collection of nobodies who time really doesn't give a damn about." Ray said the words that everybody was thinking.

"I didn't lie about the mission itself. Or the brutality and ruthlessness of Savage. Or my need for your help."

"I don't imagine you're the kind of guy who quits his job and takes on this kind of threat for altruistic reasons, so Rip, why don't you tell us: what did Vandal Savage do to you?" Ray asked

Rip sighs before explaining the reason behind lying to them,"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 'legends' all looked at Rip in silence, as he looked off as if remembering the darkest time in his life.

"Savage killed your family." Crystal got closer in a sympathetic tone, getting out of Leonard's grasp.

"He slaughtered my family. And thousands of other families. And that 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 this world was that monster's face. You can be damn well sure that when Savage dies, the last face he sees will be mine." He paused before continuing.

"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." He says in a somber tone as Kendra and Carter walk away.

"I think we all need a little time to consider our options." Stein said to Rip, speaking for the whole group.

_____________________

Sara, Leonard, Mick, Ray, and Crystal were all lounged around trying to decide if they should go on with the mission.

We're all going to die. We don't get much say over how or when, but we do get to decide how we're gonna live. So, do it. Decide. Is this the life you want to live? Is this the person you want to love? Is this the best you can be? Can you be stronger? Kinder? More Compassionate? Decide. Breathe in. Breathe out and decide.

Ray was playing around with a machine when it let out a big flash of blue.

"Watch it!"

"Sorry" He apologizes before talking about the main topic on their minds.

"What's the point of us even giving this a second thought? Rip has already seen the future. He knows exactly what's in store for each of us. Might as well have stayed dead, 'cause the world doesn't need any of us."

"You're just a lost assassin. You're just a huntress with witchy powers. You're just a pair of good-for-nothing criminals."

"I can live with that." Mick says

"Well, I can't. Can't live with somebody putting a cap on my destiny. Spent my whole life working to be something greater by becoming something smaller. Then some guy comes along and tells me that being the Atom is as insignificant as an actual Atom."

"That's not what he said. Rip said that in his future we're nobodies, but this mission is about changing the future. I mean, if we have the power to change the world, don't you think we have the power to change our own fate?" Sara gave a very convincing speech

"There's no such thing as fate." Crystal looked up at Sara, agreeing with her.

"For better or for worse." Leonard spoke on behalf of him and Mick.

"That's a very good point."

Maybe Romeo and Juliet were fated to be together, but just for a while, and then their time passed. And if they could've known that beforehand, maybe it would've all been OK. I told Ms. Synder that when I was grown up, I would take fate into my own hands. I wouldn't let some guy drag me down.

They all headed back to Rip to tell him that they were all onboard, upon entering Rip was talking to Kendra and Carter

"Time wants to happen."

"Chronos, even Vandal, won't be the only enemy we face. Very often, it will be time itself." He was now speaking to all of us.

"Whether it wants to happen or not, we're gonna change time, erase Savage's future, and earn our rightful place in history." Ray said as they followed him and Crystal stood by his side with her hands in her hips.

"Dr. Palmer is correct. We may not be legends in your time, Captain, but we are going to decide our own fates." Stein took a stance.

"I don't give a damn about being a legend, as long as we end Savage once and for all." Carter spoke with Kendra at his side

"I can get down with that." Jax agreed.

"And our malcontents?" Stein turned toward Mick and Leonard

"I like killing people." Mick admitted

"We're in. For now." Leonard concluded.

"So how do we find this guy?" Crystal asked while Rip sat down in his seat.

"Professor Boardman had a theory about that. I've already had Gideon plot a course."