"Savage is still a threat." I mumbled, staring down and out of breath.

"Do you really have to think about that right now?" he asked as he fell down beside me, out of breath as well.

"I'm sorry." I mumbled, trying to get the thought out of my brain, "It just... scares me. He's smart, he has millions of years of knowledge. What if he broke out? Then what? We'd all be in harms way and I can't lose-" I stopped myself and looked up at him, "I can't lose to him." I fixed myself before I had a chance to screw up by saying "I can't lose you". I sat up slightly to be on the same level as him, yet he was still slightly higher than me. Snart stared down at me and sighed.

"Can we please not think about him?" he asked, trailing his fingers up my arm. I nodded and laid back down, wanting nothing more than my cares to slip away like I was trying to force them earlier.

101

(A few hours earlier)

I pushed Snart against the wall in my room. I had asked him to come with me, and now that he was here I needed something to get my mind off the fact that Savage still wasn't dead. I immediately pressed my lips to his passionately and felt him smile as he kissed back. He pushed me back and onto the bed, quickly reattaching his lips to mine.

101

"Earth to Cassie." I heard and shook my head.

"We should probably get to the Bridge and find the others." I said, knowing that's not what he wanted to hear the moment I said it. He rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, but that would include getting up and putting on clothes. Maybe later." he smirked and kissed my neck.

"Later definitely."

101

"Mission... almost accomplished." Mick said after grunting, walking out of Rip's office with a bottle of scotch. Rip turned to face him.

"That bottle of scotch was given to me by Rob Roy MacGregor in 1689." Rip pointed out, clearly not wanting Mick to be drinking it, but he did anyways. Mick downed pretty much the whole bottle in two seconds and grunted again. He reminded me of a bear.

"It's not half bad." he said, handing the bottle to Sara, who was sitting on the floor and leaning against the seat Snart was sitting in, me sitting next to him.

"We should be toasting to Savage's death." Sara said and I reached over Snart, making him tense up slightly as I reached for the bottle, rolling my eyes.

"Apart from celebrating murder, Savage still has Carter brainwashed." Stein said. I snatched the bottle from Sara and sat back down, downing some myself.

"I don't know if you've been paying attention, Professor, but murdering Savage was always the plan." Snart said and I handed him the bottle, nodding.

"Besides, Carter reincarnates, which is more than I can say about us." Mick said as Snart handed Sara back the bottle after taking a sip.

"As long as he's on board and breathing, Savage is a threat to everyone on this ship." Snart said and I huffed a quiet laugh. Now he wanted to think about it.

"So what, we just kill Savage and leave Carter a brainless drone?" Kendra asked.

"Yes." Mick answered as I nodded and Snart pointed at her, indicating the same answer.

The doors opened behind us and I turned in my seat to see Ray and Jax walk in. I waved at them before turning back the right way.

"Sorry we're late, but we found something." Ray said and I raised an eyebrow. I reached back over Snart and grabbed the bottle from Sara again, drinking more.

"We've been running diagnostics on Ray's suit after his battle with Savage's Rock 'em Sock 'em Robot." Jax stated. The both of them walked up to the computer table and I crossed my arms, still holding onto the bottle.

"The telemetry data included a comparative scan of the robot's tech." Ray continued and I heard beeping, indicating that a photo or something had popped up on the computer table, but I wasn't about to get up to see them.

"Amazing. This neuromorphic profile is astonishingly futuristic." Stein said and Kendra looked at him like he'd said something stupid, but I understood it from what he had said.

"Yeah, it's from 2166." she said and I shook my head.

"Well, that's the thing. It's not." Jax said and I saw Rip look up at them slowly.

"This technology's light years more advanced than anything from 2166." Ray explained and I finally became interested.

"Who cares?" Snart asked sarcastically.

"The Time Masters." Rip answered, pointing at him, "They refused to take action against Savage because he didn't pose a threat to the timeline." Rip explained and I furrowed my eyebrows, thinking about it.

"But if he comes into possession of future technology..." Stein trailed off.

"It means he's been engaging in exactly the same manipulation of time that the Time Council were designed to prevent." Rip said, seeming to grow excited.

"So now they'll finally sign off on undoing all the damage Savage has done to the world." Sara said and I shook my head.

"But how could Savage had gotten a hold of future technology?" I asked in confusion. None of it made sense. Sure, it could've been Time Pirates, or something similar, but why would they engage in that kind of stuff? There had to be another reason.

"Does it really matter, Cassie? We have a way to get him and save my family." Rip said and I brushed it off, but I had a bad feeling.

"Last time I checked, the Time Council was at the edge of the timeline, and this bucket of bolts can barely hold it together as it is." Mick changed the subject.

"Gideon, what's the status of the Time Drive?" Rip asked, snatching his bottle from my hands, to which I frowned.

"Stable, Captain." Gideon responded calmly.

"Plot a course for the Vanishing Point. Tonight, Vandal Savage faces justice for his crimes." Rip said, sitting in his window seat and downing the rest of what was in the bottle.

101

I stared at my mask, tinkering with it. I was making sure nothing had screwed up when I was fighting, or before that, when it had been thrown off my face in the crash. The ship rumbled and I sighed, looking up at Rip, who was looking down at something on his table. Sara walked into his office and nodded at me before looking at Rip.

"Not to sound like a six-year-old, but are we there yet?" Sara asked and I put my mask and tools down beside me on Rips desk (yes I was sitting on it).

"No, the Wave Rider was severely damaged in Savage's last attack." Rip said and I watched Sara walk to the screen. I don't think any of them had noticed I hadn't spoke in a while, which was odd for me.

"Yeah, I can tell by the way she's flying." Sara said as the Wave Rider shook and I had to keep my screwdriver from falling on the floor, looking back up to see Sara turned around.

"I think you're pushing your ship a little too hard. Don't ruin the little you got, dude." I said, stuffing my screwdriver in my pocket.

"The longer Savage is on board the ship, the greater the danger to all of us." Rip said before looking back down at whatever he was working on before Sara walked in.

"To us, or your family?" Sara asked softly and I tensed slightly. I formed my ball and threw it up in the air, catching it and repeating, "I checked with Gideon. Bringing Savage on board didn't change the timeline, and your family still dies."

"The timeline is always in flux. Once we get to the Vanishing Point all will be well." he said, shaking his head as he assured us both, although it seemed like he was assuring himself more. I frowned, letting my ball vanish in the air before clasping my hands together.

"Is that why you're pushing the ship beyond its limits?" Sara asked. I still had a bad feeling about bringing him to the Time Masters, but I wanted to trust Rip, especially if everyone else did.

"This has been my ship for the last 13 years. No one knows it's limits better than I do. Not even Gideon." Rip said and I snorted.

"Humble much." I muttered, looking down at my mask once he glared at me.

"The Wave Rider will hold together. I promise you." he said. Oh, how fast the tables can change. Before anyone said anything else, the ship shook again and something exploded. My eyes went wide as it knocked me off the desk and I looked at Rip.

"Can we refrain from saying things that can jinx us?" I asked as we ran out of his office.

"Bollocks. Gideon!" Rip shouted and I looked around for what had exploded.

"Time drive failure, Captain. The mains are off-line." Gideon answered and I looked at Sara before noticing Jax and Stein join us.

"What happened?" Jax asked, almost sounding angry, but more worried.

"Rip's a dumb ass." I answered, crossing my arms. He glared at me for about the hundredth time before looking back down at the computer table to answer Jax seriously.

"It appears the Time Drive is in need of some repair." he said and turned to Sara, "Uh, Miss Lance, if you wouldn't mind going, checking on our guest?" Rip asked her nervously.

"On it." She said and turned and I looked at Rip.

"Should I go-" I started and he shook his head.

"No, Ms. Carlisle, your assistance is not needed." he said and I rolled my eyes, nodding.

"Then I'll go find someone who does need my assistance." I said with a huff like a five year old as I crossed my arms and turned around.

101

"Why are all the snacks in the future sugar-free?" Mick asked angrily as he spat out food for the fiftieth time. I was sitting on the opposite side of him and I rolled my eyes, scooting closer to Snart's side so that food wouldn't be spit on me accidentally.

"So much for progress." Snart said and I snorted, noticing him rubbing his hands as if he was nervous. I'd seen a lot of nervous habits. Mick began opening a packet of seaweed and I scrunched up my nose in disgust. Seaweed always disgusted me, "You remember Alexa?" Snart asked Mick and I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Who's Alexa?" I asked and he held up his index finger at me as if telling me to wait as Mick kept eating.

"Yeah, from the security deposit job. What about it?" Mick asked, eating like a pig. I scooted a little farther to Snart, grimacing.

"Just had a feeling about that one, a sixth sense something would end badly." he said, staring at the counter in front of him as he continued to play with his hands.

"And they would have, if you hadn't have pulled us out of there. So what?" Mick asked, going through more snacked. I looked at Snart, slightly worried.

"I'm getting the same feeling now." he said quietly, looking up at me and Mick as we looked at him.

101

"Are you certain these results are accurate?" Stein asked Gideon as I stared at Jax, getting close to his face. Apparently, Rip had sent Jax to fix the Time Drive so that the ship could work, and afterwards it had exploded, the radiation made him age faster than usual. He was dying. I wanted to know why Rip didn't send me, "Jefferson's blood history is akin to that of a-"

"A 63-year old man." Gideon said calmly as Jax pushed me back slowly and I crossed my arms.

"Actually, I don't feel a day over 60." Jax attempted at a joke and I shook my head. Normally, I was okay with a joke or two when it was me in danger, but this was my team member, my friend. I didn't want him to die.

"This isn't funny." Mick said sternly.

"No. And it's all Rip's fault." Snart said, walking over to the side I was standing on, which was also by Stein. Jax tried to get up, but stopped halfway as his eyes went wide. He immediately sat back down.

"I'm afraid he's also suffering from early-stage osteoarthritis." Gideon informed us and I tried to think as Snart stood beside me.

"The exposure to the temporal radiation has led to an accelerated rate of intracellular degeneration." Stein explained and I sighed, biting my lip.

"This is what happens when Rip goes with Plan B." Snart said in annoyance, holding his index finger out to me and Mick.

"Plan A being taking Savage's head in with that mace." Mick added and I nodded.

"We're endeavoring to resolve this without bloodshed." Stein said and I rolled my eyes.

"And how's that working out for you, Gandhi?" Mick asked, shaking his head as his eyes widened insanely. It surprised me that he even knew who Gandhi was.

"Look, there's nothing we can do about it now." Jax cut in, giving up.

"We can talk to Hunter." Mick responded.

"Even if Kendra was to kill Savage, my situation's still the same." Jax said.

"We're talking about our situation, Pops." Mick said, pointing at Snart and me with a straight face.

"Rude." I blurted out at his rudeness. You don't just say that to someone who's dying. Mick's eyes widened at me.

"I'm just saying." he defended himself and I rolled my eyes.

"We're not waiting around for the other show to drop." Snart butted in and Jax looked down, knowing he was going to die as I finally thought of something, "You deserve better." Snart said and I quickly turned on my heel, leaving to find Rip as Snart and Mick soon followed.

"Alexa?" I heard Mick ask Snart from behind me as I walked fast.

"You bet your ass." Snart answered before one of them whistled.

"Where are you off to so fast?" I heard Mick ask me and I held up my index finger, doing what Snart had been doing as I began to sprint to Rip's office, running in out of breath.

"You knew!" I shouted and he jumped slightly from what he was doing, looking up at me.

"What?" he asked and I crossed my arms.

"You said you knew everything about this ship, and you claim that you know a lot about me. You knew I'm an engineer with more years of knowledge than Jax. I have powers that could've protected me, and yet you sent him." I said and he shook his head.

"Yes, I did know that there was a possibility that Mr. Jackson could be, uh, harmed, but I did not send him to die." he tried to defend himself.

"Oh, so I'm just supposed to believe that it's a coincidence. Why didn't you send me?" I asked, getting closer to him angrily.

"I didn't want you to get hurt." he said quickly and I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Oh, so, a kid may die so that I can live? No, Rip, that's not how it works. That's not how it's ever worked." I shook my head, crossing my arms.

"We need to talk." I heard from behind me and turned to see Mick and Snart walking in. Snart gave me a somewhat confused somewhat worried glance before going back to a cold glare, walking up to Rip.

"We saw what you did to Jax." he said to Rip, grabbing my hand and hiding it behind our backs.

"And we're worried it's just the beginning." Mick continued. I bit my lip, looking down at Rip.

"The beginning of what?" Rip asked as if I hadn't just talked to him.

"It's like I said, Rip. As long as Savage is alive and on this ship, he is dangerous." Snart said, letting go of my hand to cross his arms before shaking his head.

"The Time Drive is rebooting. We will soon be on our way. I'm asking for a little faith." Rip said, going back to his work.

"Sorry, fresh out." Snart said darkly and I shook my head.

"Besides, it's not even a good idea. Why don't we just kill him instead of giving him over to the people that hate us just as much, if not more than him?" I asked, still confused as to how he had got the future tech.

"I take it the two of you and Mr. Snart are of the same mind?" Rip asked me and Mick.

"Yes." Mick said and I nodded. I was also hurt that he'd risked Jax instead of me.

"And what of you, Miss Lance?" Rip asked and I guessed that Sara was standing behind us, but I never took my eyes off of Rip.

"You're the one who said you'd sell us out for your family." she said and I saw Snart turn from the corner of my eyes as I glared at Rip. Did he really say that?

"Well, if that's how you all feel, none of you is obliged to continue on this voyage with me. As I told Martin, the Jumpship can make a one time voyage back to 2016." Rip said and I let out a breath. I didn't want to leave the team, but I don't think I wanted to continue either.

"Are you saying it's ours?" Mick asked, almost seeming suspicious.

"I'm saying that this mission has always been a voluntary enterprise." Rip said and I crossed my arms across my chest.

"And the mission was to kill Savage." Snart said, turning and looking at me and Mick.

"Which doesn't seem to be on the table anymore." Mick said and I noticed my mask still sitting on Rip's desk.

"Very well. Leave, if that's what you-"

"It's been a blast, Rip. Good luck getting to the vanishing point." Snart cut him off, turning and walking off.

"Tell your pals Chronos says "kiss my ass"." Mick followed and Rip looked at me. I shook my head and walked to his desk, picking up my mask and popping it on.

"Bye Rip." I said simply, my voice robotic and cold as I followed the boys.

101

"Listen, Natasha, sweetie, I'm going to need you to calm down a little bit." I said through the phone as Natasha had been loading me with information of her life and asking about my life, and I didn't have the time.

"Sorry, sorry, I'm just so happy." she said and I could almost hear her smiling through the phone, "I was actually out with the crew, say hi guys." she said and I heard a ton of different people say hi.

"Who are you talking to on that silly little device?" I heard a British accent and furrowed my eyebrows as she shushed whoever it was.

"Anyways, sis, tell me what it is. You must have some kind of big news." she said and I sighed.

"No, no, not really." I lied, "Just a question and a statement."

"Okay, shoot. What's the question?" she asked and I sighed.

"If someone invited you to be a part of a team of something bigger, something that could perhaps make the world a better place, but it would be dangerous, would you do it?" I asked and everything went silent, "Nat?" I asked and she sighed.

"Well, yes, I would." she said and I nodded.

"Okay, thanks." I smiled.

"What's the statement?" she asked; my smile widened.

"Just wanted to say I love you." I said.

"I love you too Cass. I've missed you."

101

"Now let's get the hell out of here." Snart said, pulling me away from my memories as we walked through a door to where the Jumpship was supposed to be. Stein stood in front of the doors and I furrowed my eyebrows, me and Mick looking out of the windows. It was gone. Mick pulled back, angrily. He was not in the mood to stay on this ship any longer and it was obvious.

"What'd you do, Poindexter?" he asked, raising his voice and I flinched as Snart pulled me back by my arm and looked in the window himself.

"What do you mean?" he asked, playing dumb.

"The Jumpship. Where is it?" Snart raised his voice and I tried to think. What would Stein need the Jumpship for, unless it wasn't for him.

"Well, it's really more a question of when. But, oh, yes. You three wanted to return to 2016." Stein said and Mick pushed him into the wall, holding up a fist.

"Mick!" I shouted and he looked at me.

"I just wanna punch him once!" Mick whined and I shook my head. He rolled his eyes and loosened up, although didn't drop his fist as Snart cornered Stein, still holding onto my arm. His grasp became tighter and I don't think he even realized it.

"Got it in one." Snart said, ignoring me and Mick.

"I did what I had to do to save Jefferson's life. Now we must do whatever's necessary to repair the Wave Rider and deliver Savage to the Vanishing Point." Stein said and Snart, Mick and I shared glances before I looked back to Stein.

"So Jax is still alive?"

101

I threw a punch at my bag, letting out a grunt.

"That's it. Let out your anger. Lose control." I heard an Australian accent and shut my eyes, turning on my heel and punching, but nothing was there. I let my punching bag fade to nothing and looked around, turning to face Tiffany. I rolled my eyes.

"What do you want?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"Just want to know why you're so angry." she said and I raised an eyebrow. That couldn't be true.

"Really? You?" I asked and she smirked wickedly.

"Yeah, I mean, it's not like they'd need you anywhere else. Actually, they don't even need you here, do they?" she asked and anger and hatred like a fire burned within me as I let out a shout, aiming to punch her. She turned to smoke before I could touch her and my eyes went wide. Smoke? No, couldn't be.

I pushed any thought out of my head as I put my head in my hands.

"You missed."

"Shut up." I muttered.

"Never could aim straight, could you?" I heard and shook my head, tears blurring my vision.

"Shut up."

"As much as I hate to admit it, even Oliver's better than you at, well, pretty much everything." Malcolm continued and I turned, throwing another punch.

"Shut up!" I shouted and he too, disappeared. I looked around before voices began to spiel in my head. I grabbed it and shook it, as if in an attempt to get them out of my head as I sang to myself, "We can start and finish wars. We're what killed the dinosaurs. We're the asteroid that's overdue."

"Failure." They all said in unison as I began pacing around my room.

"The dinosaurs will turn to dust." I sang, getting louder slightly.

"Useless." They said together.

"They'll die because we say they must!" I shouted and punched the nearest object, which happened to be the metal wall. I let out a scream of pain as I pulled out my bloodied hand, noticing that the voices were gone now. I dropped to the floor, staring at what I had done.

My door opened and in walked Snart and Kendra. I didn't even bother to notice that they were in full outfits as Snart got on the floor with me, grabbing my arm and looking at my hand.

"We have to go. What did you do?" Kendra asked as Snart seemed to be wanting to ask the same question. I looked at the hole in the wall and Snart sighed.

"Stupid. Come on." he said and I finally fully realized his goggles and parka.

"Where?" I asked, standing and putting on my leather vest, my hood already up. I tried to ignore the pain in my hand, glad that I at least wrapped bandages around both of my hands before I had punched anything. I popped on my mask and looked back at them.

"Savage is loose."

101

"Come to join the party?" Snart asked and I looked behind me to see Mick and Ray. Lasers were being shot at us and I was holding my sledgehammer, trying not to drop it out of pain.

"You should've left me back in 2166!" Savage yelled from around the corner as I pried my way to be in between Snart and Mick so I could see slightly better.

"Yeah, yeah, we know that, mullet-head." Mick shouted back and I huffed a laugh.

"Who are you to stand up against me," I heard a noise as if a gun charging before an explosion, "Vandal Savage, destroyer of Empires?" He finished his question, shooting a laser.

"Leonard Snart, robber of ATM's!" Snart shouted back before jumping out, shooting his cold flame for a quick second before joining us again. I smiled at his reply, even though none of them could see.

Soon I turned to see Carter at the other end of the hallway. He did a cool flippy trick with his mace and Ray held up his arm, charging his compressed light beam (or giant laser).

"It's still two against four." Mick said to us before replacing Snart and jumping out in the middle of the hallway, aiming his flames at Savage and firing. He just missed by less than an inch from what I saw.

"Come on!" Savage cried and Mick let out a roar, running at him. Snart and I followed. I held up my sledgehammer over my head, forgetting all about the searing pain in my hand as all I focused on was my hatred for Savage. I somehow got ahead of them both, jumping and trying to hit him as I swung my hammer down. He grabbed a hold of it and threw me to the side, much like Chronos had done before. I grunted as I hit the wall before retreating with Snart and Mick. Snart fired his cold gun again as I ran up to him. He let go of his gun with one arm as he pushed me behind him before reattaching both hands.

Just then, Ray came running down the hallway, holding his arm out. He shot a compressed light beam at Savage before getting hit by two of Savage's lasers. He then went hand on hand with Savage, both of them throwing punches.

"Haircut! Move your fat head so I can get a clean shot!" Mick shouted, wanting to shoot them. I rolled my eyes and let my smoke wrap around my sledgehammer, wondering why I didn't just do that in the first place as I moved it up to them. I was about to hit Savage when he grabbed Ray's arm and turned to us, firing a compressed light beam at us. Mick, Snart, and I all fell back against the other wall. I saw my mask laid out in front of me and let out a cough, seeing blood fall out of my mouth as I looked at Mick and Snart before everything went black.

101

I came to in a room that wasn't my own and looked around. I saw Snart and Sara nearby, Sara on the bed and Snart leaning against it. Sara's eye caught my own and she smiled.

"Good morning, sleepy head." she said and Snart looked at me. He smiled slightly and I sat up.

"What happened?" I asked, rubbing my head. I remembered that I had coughed up blood and pressed my hand to my lip before noticing all knew bandages on my hand, plus the fact that it felt a lot better.

"Well, after you guys got knocked out, Rip went to help and Carter hawked out and then got stabbed, then Kendra knocked out Savage, and once all that was over, we reached the Vanishing Point and got you fixed up." She explained and I stood up.

"Vanishing Point?" I asked. She nodded and I sighed, "I really don't think it's a good idea, but no one's listening to me."

"Come here." Snart held his hand out. I walked up to him and sat beside him. He leaned closer to me, "Me too." he whispered before turning back to Sara, "Shall we?"

We played cards for a while before I heard a loud thud and both me and Snart snapped our heads in the direction of it.

"Did you hear that?" he asked Sara.

"Don't try to distract me." she said, going through her cards. Snart narrowed his eyes at the door and I began to stand up before he grabbed my arm.

"We need to find somewhere to hide." he said and stood with me, walking to the door.

"Why do we need to find somewhere to hide?" Sara asked confused. Snart put his ear to the door.

"Alexa." he said simply and I shook my head.

"You guys hide." I said and grabbed my mask, "I'm gonna make sure the team is okay." I said. He grabbed my arms.

"Cassie." he said, turning me to look at him. I stared up at him, "Hide. The rest of the team can manage on their own." he ordered.

"No. I really don't think they can." I said and went to put my mask on before pausing. I moved it and leaned up, kissing him before pulling back and putting on my mask, "Now hide." I said, walking to the door before stopping and looking down, "And Len?" I asked, looking back at him. He looked at me, seeming confused by the new nickname, "I..." I started and he slightly smiled, "Oh, you know. Stay safe." I said and turned, letting out a breath.

I walked out of the room while they hid, sneaking around the halls. sledgehammer in hand. I made my way to the Cargo Bay, looking around the corner to see Mick looking into a beer bottle. I was about to call out to him before the door opened and in walked some storm trouper looking guys.

"Ah, if you're here for Savage, you're too late." he said and I felt something pressed against my back. I let my sledgehammer turn to smoke as I held up my hands in defeat, turning to see Ray and Kendra. I turned back around as they led us down to Mick.

"Mick, what's going on?" Ray asked and I huffed, already knowing what was going on.

"I was right, that's what's going on." I said, knowing I was right about them working with Savage. It was either that or they still hated us for whatever reason, but that one didn't seem as plausible.

"You're under arrest." Storm trouper guy number one said.

"Oh." Mick said and began reaching for his gun, which was literally less than two feet away from him, yet still too far. The guards aimed their guns at him and he froze. They began charging their guns and he grunted, moving away and looking at me, Ray, and Kendra, plus other guards, "If I had a nickel for every time I heard that."