[Chapter 35]

"Mission... almost accomplished," Mick said drunkenly with a bottle of alcohol in his hand.

"That bottle of Scotch was given to me by Rob Roy MacGregor in 1689," Rip complains as Mick takes a swing from it.

"It's not half bad," Mick replies gruffly and hands the bottle to Sara.

"We should be toasting to Savage's death," Sara said, taking a swing of her own.

"Apart from celebrating murder, Savage still has Carter brainwashed," Stein says and Sara passes me the bottle.

"I don't know if you've been paying attention Professor, but murdering Savage was always the plan," Leonard says and I take a shot and hand him the bottle of Scotch.

"Besides, Carter reincarnates, which is more than I can say about us," Mick said, gesturing to the team on the bridge.

"As long as he's on board and breathing, Savage is still a threat to everyone on this ship," I say as the bottle gets passed back to me.

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

"Yes," Mick replies for me and I frown. Before I could say anything, Jax and Ray walks onto the bridge.

"Sorry we're late, but we found something," Ray says as they hop up by the console.

"We've been running diagnostics on Ray's suit after his battle with Savage's Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robot," Jax starts.

"The telemetry data included a comparative scan of the robot's tech," Ray finishes as the scan pulls up onto the screen.

"Amazing. This neuromorphic profile is astonishingly futuristic," Stein said and I stand up to look at what they were looking at. Only to sit back down since I don't understand what that means.

"Yeah, it's from 2166," Kendra says.

"Well that's the thing, it's not," Jax reveals and I raise my eyebrows in interest.

"This technology's light years more advanced than anything from 2166," Ray says.

"Who cares?" Leonard asks boredly.

"The Time Masters," Rip says in realization and I see his stupid, most likely to fail, plan unfold across his face. "They refused to take action against Savage because he didn't pose a threat to the timeline."

"But if he comes into possession of future technology..." Stein starts and stops as soon as he realizes as well.

"It means he's been engaging in exactly the same manipulation of time that the Time Council was designed to prevent," Rip says excitedly.

"So now they'll finally sign off on undoing all the damage Savage has done to the world," Sara says.

"So you're what? Planning to turn Savage over to them?" I ask. "The only way to actually make sure he's been dealt with is to kill him, and we have an open shot right here and right now."

This earns me a glare from Stein and Kendra but I'm not wrong. We finally caught him, and I would be glad to witness the bastard's death.

"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 said but Rip clearly had his heart and mind set on turning Savage over to the Time Masters.

"Gideon, what's the status of the Time Drive?" Rip asks.

"Stable Captain," Gideon replies and I groan at Rip's stupidity.

"Plot a course for the Vanishing Point. Tonight, Vandal Savage faces justice for his crimes," Rip said and takes a swing from the Scotch bottle.

This is not going to end well.

***

I was wandering aimlessly around the ship when all of a sudden, it gave a large shudder and sparks when flying everywhere. I raced toward the bridge, readying for an attack.

"What the hell happened now?!" I yell at Rip and he swears.

"Time Drive failure Captain. The mains are offline," Gideon reports and Jax and Stein walk onto the bridge demanding what happened as well.

"It appears the Time Drive is in need of some repair," Rip says and the console was beeping like crazy in front of him.

"Um, Ms. Lance and Ms. Light, if you wouldn't mind going and checking on our guest?" Rip asks us and I give a sigh.

"On it," Sara says immediately and drags me along with her.

"This has bad juju written all over it," I mutter but follow Sara toward the immortal bastard.

The doors open and we see Savage leaning boredly against the wall of his cell. I was in that cell, not too long ago.

"Have you spoken to your sister Laurel lately?" Savage asks Sara mockingly.

"How do you know so much about us?" Sara shoots back, ignoring Savage's question as she struts over to the keypad by the cell door. I lean against the wall and observe. It's not my fight. And if I talk to Savage I might end up ripping his throat out.

"Oh, I've had 191 years to research my enemies," Savage replies and turns to look at us. Then he turns his gaze toward me. "Now you are most peculiar. So filled with emotion and talent. You would be of better use to my ranks than to this fool's endeavor."

"Well you would know I work alone and don't appreciate being used," I reply, my voice tight.

"You'd know I don't scare that easy," Sara points out but doesn't look away from the keypad.

"You should be scared... of Captain Hunter. His obsession to save his family will be the death of you all." Savage says, walking closer to Sara and setting me on edge. Ever since I've given Leonard my brother's ring, I've felt lighter, and less as powerful.

"Thanks for the tip," Sara sarcastically smiles. "Enjoy being incarcerated."

She turns to leave and I push off the wall to follow her.

"Captain Hunter lied to you so often and still you persist in believing him," Savage says, making Sara stop. "You do know why he selected all of you for this endeavor, don't you?"

"Great bone structure?" I glare at Savage, wanting nothing more than to burn his head off.

"He chose people he could manipulate, people that would believe in his lies," Savage says and Sara steps unnervingly close to the cell.

"Well, the lies I don't believe are yours," Sara replies.

"Do you blame him for putting his family's lives first?" Savage says.

"I'd tell you to go to hell but you'd probably just feel at home there," Sara spits out and then follows me through the doors and out of Savage's breathing space.

I don't comment on their conversation and let Sara return to Rip. I turn down a hallway when I hear an exasperated voice coming from the MedBay.

"Are you certain these results are accurate? Jefferson's blood chemistry is akin to that of a--"

"A 63-year old man," Gideon fills in for him.

"Actually I don't feel a day over 60," Jax says groaning and I furrow my brows.

"I take it the Time Drive repair didn't go as planned?" I say and get a nod from Leonard and Mick.

"This isn't funny," Mick snaps at Jax's comment.

"No, and it's all Rip's fault," Leonard continues.

"I'm afraid he's also suffering from early-stage osteoarthritis," Gidoen says and I give Jax a comforting pat on the shoulder.

"The exposure to the temporal radiation has led to an accelerated rate of intracellular degeneration," Stein says, putting a hand on Jax's other shoulder.

"This is what happens when Rip goes with Plan B," Leonard hisses.

"Plan A being taking Savage's head in with that mace," Mick continues.

"We're endeavoring to resolve this without bloodshed," Stein counters and I roll my eyes.

"And how well is that working out for you? If Savage isn't turned into the Time Masters by the end of the day, I'm killing him myself. And slowly," I say, sending Stein and wicked grin.

"Look there's nothing we can do about my situation now," Jax says, trying to calm the tension.

"We can talk to Hunter," Mick replies.

"Even if Kendra was to kill Savage, my situation's still the same," Jax says in a tired voice.

"We're talking about our situations, Pops," Mick says, pointing to Leonard.

"We're not waiting around for the other shoe to drop," Leonard says. "You deserve better."

Leonard walks out of the MedBay, Mick following him.

"I really am sorry for what's happening to you Jax but I'm not leaving this ship until Savage is dead," I say and walk toward the bridge.

Rip was in his study, hunched over his desk, looking at maps and papers.

"We need to talk," Mick demands Rip's attention.

"We saw what you did to Jax," Leonard continues.

"And we're worried it's just the beginning," Mick finishes. I lean against the wall, watching the encounter as Sara walks in as well.

"The beginning of what?" Rip asks.

"It's like I said Rip. As long as Savage is alive and on this ship, he is dangerous," Leonard drawls.

"The Time Drive is rebooting. We will soon be on our way. I'm asking for a little more faith gentlemen." Rip turns back to the papers on his desk.

"Sorry, fresh out," Leonard sneers and I furrow my eyebrows.

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

"Yes."

"And what of you, Ms. Light and Ms. Lance?" Rip turns to me and Sara.

"You're the one who said you'd sell us out for your family," Sara remarks. Everyone turns to me. I say nothing, but Rip must have seen something in my expression because he says, "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 concludes.

"Are you saying it's ours?" Mick asks.

"I'm saying that this mission has always been a voluntary enterprise."

"And the mission was to kill Savage," Leonard turns to Mick.

"Which doesn't seem to be on the table anymore," Mick finishes.

They are masters at finishing each other's sentences aren't they?

"Very well. Leave, if that's what you-" Rip gets cut off.

"It's been a blast, Rip. Good luck getting to the Vanishing Point," Leonard turns to leave.

"Tell your pals Chronos says, 'Kiss my ass'" Mick follows Leonard out of Rip's office.

When they realize I'm not following, Leonard turns around and waves me toward him. I shake my head and I watch an expression of fury flash onto his face. He hid it quickly, but his jaw was clearly still tense.

"Isabelle, let's go," he tells me and I shake my head again.

"No."

Maybe it was stupid and foolish. Maybe it would put a tear in our wonderful relationship so far. But I'm not going to let a man tell me what to do.

I've never seen Leonard get this angry and he glares at me with anger and hatred that hurts my heart.

"Fine, if you're dumb enough to stay here where you could most likely get killed on a fool's errand, don't let me stop you," Leonard growls, his voice so cold, shivers crawl up my spine.

I narrow my eyes at him, stomping out the anger those words sparked up in me, and say nothing. He doesn't mean those words. He's just a cold bastard that's used to getting his way.

Leonard and Mick leave and I see Sara trying to make eye contact with me but I ignore her and Rip.

"What about you Sara?" Rip asks softly.

"Never been one to run from a fight," Sara says and I feel the edges of my mouth quirk up in relief.

Who needs men, when women are so much more powerful?