HUNTRESS.
012. | ❛ the whole package. ❜

Outside the theater, Crystal and Leonard stood off to the side as Raymond was in pursuit of Vostok. She was wearing a very long red silk dress, with her hair in curls. Crystal was wearing her hair in a bun, with red lipstick, and a black dress.

"I got eyes on Vostok. She's headed straight for you, lover boy." Snart spoke through his ear piece

"All right, gentlemen and lady. Everything's looking good from my end. Proceed." Rip spoke through their ears

"Ms. Vostok. Simon Huntsberger, University of Moscow physics department." They heard Ray through their earpieces.

"I'm not interested in talking to student. If you want lecture, come by office hours." Vostok spoke rather coldly to him

"I'm actually a fellow scientist. I read your paper on applied physics and nuclear fusion. Perhaps, if you allow me to take you to dinner, we can discuss in detail." Vostok walks away from him leaving Ray rather upset.

"Damn, that was cold, even by Russian standards." Leonard shot at Ray to pull his lips into a line.

A couple moments later, Ray tried again to speak to Vostok

"You struck out, Raymond. Maybe I should take a crack at her." Leonard said causing Crystal to hit him, but didn't feel the pain since his jacket blocked most of it.

"Quite being such a Negative Nancy," Crystal yelled which drove a little attention towards her but calmly smiled at the people, convincing them nothing was wrong.

"I think we may have gotten off on the wrong foot. I don't mean to bother you..."

"Too late."

"But, as an investor, I'm in a position to fund your research. That is why I wanted us to meet."

"Easy, Raymond, you're gonna spook her." Crystal warned him but saw Leonard getting closer to them which caused Crystal to ran after him but it was too late.

"I think it's important to know who's funding your research, don't you think? For instance... Project Svarog."

"Sorry, is this man bothering you?" Leonard entered their conversation and walking off with her.

"Don't trouble yourself. I'm not a damsel in distress."

"Good, because I'm not a white knight."

The bells chime,"Seems intermission is over."

"You wouldn't want to miss Queen Nisia dancing naked with the nymphs."

"My favorite part of the ballet, but I've seen it so many times. Perhaps, you wouldn't mind walking me home instead." Which Leonard accepts and puts his elbow out as Volstok wraps her hand in. He turns around to smirk at a jealous Ray, who stands there with his hands in his pocket. Crystal could feel her blood boiling which was something she didn't feel quite often

"Come on, let's go." Crystal tells Ray who leads the way.

The two walked far behind Leonard and Volstok but not far enough that they couldn't see them. Crystal, was shivering, event though she didn't want to admit that he was cold. Ray seeing this, gives her his jacket which definitely warmed her up.

"Thanks Ray," She smiled at him as they continued to walk

"Anything for a musketeer," Ray accepted the group's name,"All for one and one for all." He gestured as if he had a sword which made Crystal laugh but once again go back into her somber self.

"What's wrong?" Ray asked stopping dead in his tracks waiting for an answer

"Nothing, you wouldn't want to hear about my problems," Crystal brushed it off and continued walking with Ray jogging to catch up.

"It's Snart, isn't it?"

"What? Why would you think that?" Crystal's voice went high dismissing that she could even consider the fact that she liked Leonard.

"Because he likes you. And I can tell you like him." Ray confessed," He looks at you differently compared to Sara or Kendra or even this Volstok."

"Considering that they're all better at what they do than I," Crystal pushed herself even down more.

"I don't think you've noticed but your pretty good with a bow and arrow. If you don't get notice by a guy then that guy is simply just stupid" which at least helped Crystal crack a smile.

"No, it's not bad. I'm lucky, I know. I just... I feel like I'm never gonna have it.. The whole package, you know? That person, that couple life, and I swear, I hate admitting it because I fancy Wonder Woman, but.... I really want it. The whole package."

"Well, what's stopping you from getting it?" Raymond asked her before pulling her to the side as Leonard and Vostok reached the end. Crystal peered over and saw that Leonard was kissing the woman, she raised her hand up but Raymond forced it down,"Easy, Crystal. We need her alive." he whispered.

"You enjoy the show, Raymond?"

"I think I've got frostbite in some not-so-fun places from waiting out here."

"Not to mention that I hate Russia now," Crystal huddled the jacket that was wrapped around her,"Did she tell you what kind of weapon Savage is building?"

"Didn't come up. Such a romantic evening I didn't want to spoil the mood." He looked over at Crystal who was still visibly pissed.

"So other than a steamy good night kiss and a possible case of hypothermia, we've got nothing."

"I wouldn't say that. It's Valentina's security badge for a place called Luskavic Labs. Whatever weapon she's building for Savage, we'll find it there." Ray inspected the badge as Crystal simply looked on.

"I guess I should just be happy you didn't swipe her wallet." Ray smirked and Leonard pulled the wallet he took which Ray responded with a head tilt.

________________________

Waiting back at the ship for Rip's retuned, the doors flew open

"Oh, gentlemen and lady, I trust everything went according to plan at the Bolshoi?"

"Piece of cake. Made contact with Vostok and swiped her badge." Ray smiled as if he did something

"Thanks to me. Pretty boy just froze his ass off."

Jax, along with Stein and Mick, are helping him inside the ship. Jax was breathing heavily and was visibly shot at.

"What happened to him?" Crystal asked in concerned

"Chronos."

"Jax here was..." Mick was cut off

"Almost got himself killed." Stein said which caused Jax to look behind him with a stink face,

"And we need to get you to the med bay."

"Ah, the med bay, where a morphine drip awaits me." Mick exited the room

"Now just try and take it slowly."Rip told Jax helping him to the med bay.

"Don't bother telling him what to do he'll just do the opposite." Stein said

"Oh, yeah, it would be my fault that I got hurt, because I didn't listen to you in your infinite wisdom. I am sorry, Professor."

"Exactly. It seems this... partnership of ours has become untenable."

"Partnership? No, this is a dictatorship, one in which you get to call all the shots and I get to take all the shots."

"Do you think I like seeing you hurt?"

"Don't act like you actually care about me, man. I'm just a life-support system. I didn't even want to come on this stupid trip. You kidnapped me."

"Oh, this old tune."

"Did you ever stop to think that I actually had a life back in 2016?"

"I almost forgot a promising career as an auto mechanic."

"I had a mom, a widow. What happens to her if something happens to me in 1986? Huh? She's just gonna think that I left her without even saying good-bye. Man, do you have any idea what that does to her?"

"We've all made sacrifices. But can't you see that this mission, stopping Savage, is bigger than any one of us?" Stein now raises his voice

"I am so sick of you using that tone. When are you gonna learn you are not my father?"

"I'm sorry you lost him at such a tender age, but if your father were here, right now, he'd be saying what I'm saying. Just grow up, Jefferson. The future of the world is at stake, and if you insist on getting yourself killed, as terrible as that might be for your mother, or me, who, incidentally, would also die, I am more concerned with the billions of people who will die because of your... arrogant adolescent ego!" Stein yells at him which causes Jax to wobble away

"Okay."

"Please don't... don't... Don't say it. I was cruel and unjustified, and I... I said those things just for the sake of hurting him." Crystal opened her mouth, trying to figure out why he's ranting to her,

"Why aren't you telling that to Jax?"

"I had to hurt him, Crystal it's the only way I can get through to him. I've tried everything else."

"Well, he's just a kid. You have to understand what it's like at this point."

"So was Ronald, and look what happened to him."

Crystal starts to understand why he's pushing him so hard,"Your former half of Firestorm."

"Yes. I can't... I... I can't go through this again. I can't lose another. The reason I'm constantly lecturing Jefferson is because I'm the one who brought him along, and if something happens, I'm the one who has to go back to 2016 and tell his mother that her little boy is never coming home, and I would rather die than do that."

_______________________

"I'm all over it, Professor." Crystal says through her ear piece punching the guard in the face.

"We're all over it." She corrected herself

"Remember, Dr. Palmer, that shutting down the core incorrectly can lead to the creation of..."

"Strangeness, black holes, and uncontrolled fusion reactions that consume the universe? See? I was listening during class, Professor." Ray sat down and turned the switches

"How we doing, Boy Scout?" Leonard said keeping an eye out.

"Uh, point of fact, I completed all 21 merit badges, including nuclear science, so I'm an Eagle Scout." Ray turned the joke on him.

"Uh-oh. We got a problem." Crystal looked at the lady, who was walking towards Professor Stein,

"Valentina's headed toward the core containment unit. The radiation Stein's about to unleash... I... if she opens the door..." Ray tries to explain it but not before Leonard cuts him off.

"We're here to stop Savage from building a nuclear-powered superhero. Saving some commie broad ain't on the agenda."

"Even if the radiation doesn't kill her, Savage will, the second he finds out the lab's been sabotaged. Look, we gotta get her out of here."

"Well, who's gonna shut down the core, Raymond? I skipped that merit badge." Leonard took a full step forward.

"Raymond, why is the thermal core still running at full power?"

"I'll handle the core. You and Crystal handle Valentina."

"You're willing to risk the mission for a woman you barely know?" Crystal asked with a certain level of sass.

"Be helpful to others. It's the Scout motto."

"30 seconds. I'll get Vostok, you kill the power for Stein, and, Raymond, promise me." Leonard pushes Raymond down into his seat as they both take off.

"Bad idea." Leonard says to Valentina as Crystal hides in the hallway

"What are you doing here?"

"Believe me, I've been asking myself the same question."

"That night at the Bolshoi. It was you who stole my keys."

"And your wallet, but it was nothing personal."

"What the hell is that man doing? He has no idea what the core is capable of." She referred to Stein who was down there

"Relax. He's the one who invented it."

"Snart, Crystal, you better keep Valentina out of the core containment unit."

"You used me. You work for American government."

"I'm wanted by the American government. Does that count? Look, I may be your white knight just this once, but that weapon Savage has you building? He's creating a nuclear-powered monster." Valentina turns around holding a gun to his head.

"I know. It was sweet of you to think of me as a damsel in distress, but... I'm not the one who needs rescuing."

"Don't flatter yourself, sweetheart. I'm not the sentimental type."

"No, but your partner, the physicist with the big brown eyes, is."

Crystal emerges from the hallway to knock the gun from her hands and backs her against the wall,"I thought you were competition but turns out your just a little bitch." It's in that moment that Valentina knees Crystal in the stomach causing her to groan in pain. By the time Crystal gets up, she's holding a gun to Leonard's head and to Crystal.

"Nice job Princess,"

"Turn the core back online.You will turn it back on, or I will put a bullet in your friends head." he taunted Raymond.

"Don't you dare. She's gonna shoot us whether you do it or not."

"That may be true, and you can take that gamble if you like. It's only their lives you wager."

"Almost there." Stein says through the ear piece

"I'm not joking, Raymond. Don't you dare push that button."

"Raymond, what's going on? The core just went back online."

"Sorry, Professor, I had to do it."

"You idiot." Leonard spats out

"I... I can still remove it. I just hope I can absorb the excess power."

"No. Do you have any idea the kind of energy that..." Raymond doesn't finish his sentence in time, due to the Soviets bashing Ray's head.

_______________________

Valentina still holding a gun to their heads moves them over where they could see Stein getting out of the core containment unit and guards putting guns to his head

"Professor Stein, your comrade here tells me you know quite a bit about this project of mine. Very good. You and I have much to discuss."

"What are you waiting for? You forget how to use that thing?" Crystal mocks her

"My employer, Mr. Savage, would very much like to meet you and the rest of your friends. He would certainly like to meet your girlfriend here."

"First of she's not my girlfriend and second of all,careful what you wish for."

"This where the party's at?" Mick yells blasting his gun as the two get out of Valentina's grip and avoid the flames. Mick kicks Leonard and Crystal a gun. The two start blasting off their guns as they are being attacked by the guards.

"Mr. Snart, can you hear me? Do not let Vostok leave with that thermal core."

Crystal can see the thermal core sitting their way below them, she jumps holding onto the structure of the beams and gracefully jumping down.

"Get the hell out of here! What are you waiting for? Go, go!" Crystal could hear Mick yelling at Snart as he quickly joins Crystal below.

Crystal and Snart hide behind the containment unit while they are being continuously shot at.

"Now might be a good time to send in reinforcements. Mick and Stein just got pinched by the Russkies." Snart yells blasting his gun protecting Crystal, whos' looking for a way out

"You're gonna have to get out of there right now. "

"They're hanging us out to dry, Rip we need backup." Crystal yells as the gun runs out of ammo

"I'm afraid our only option is retreat."

"What about my partner?" Snart asks since he's been so close with Mick

"Well, until we devise our next move, Mr. Rory will have to fend for himself. Remember the mission. If the Soviets get that thermal core back, your partner will not be the only one who dies."

Leonard grunts as he and Crystal make a run for the exit and flames exploding all around them.

_____________________

"A thermal core?" Kendra asked

"Let me get this straight. You had Kendra and I training for the next mission, when we should have been out there helping them. Crystal and Leonard barely made it out there alive."

"We will help them, and our next mission is to get our compatriots back from Vostok."

"Who is to say they're not already dead?"

"Vostok needs the professor alive in order to rebuild the thermal core."

"And Ray and Rory?" Crystal asks

"Savage will keep them alive too."

"As leverage. He'll torture them if Stein tries to hold out." Sara says against him

"Well, we'll have to pray that he does. If Savage's goal is to create his own Firestorm, then Stein himself is the key, the missing piece of the puzzle. And if Vostok figures out how to turn Stein's powers against us, then... I'm afraid the world is beyond saving."

"Stein's a lot tougher than he looks. I mean, it will take a lot to break him." Jax informs us which at least calms them down a bit

"That's the good news. The bad news is that our compatriots are being held in an impenetrable Soviet gulag."