Chapter Text
“After losing Stein, I can’t lose anyone else.” – Sara Lance.
“Gideon, take us back to the Temporal Zone, please.”
Sara entered the bridge, her hands running loosely through her hair as she sucked in a heavy sigh. She poured herself a glass of scotch before taking a seat in her leather chair, it had quickly become one of her favourite spots on the ship. The blonde was never one for feelings, especially ever since the Gambit went down, but saying goodbye to Jax was hard and was taking its toll on her, it served as a very sore reminder of Stein and the team’s many losses over the last year.
The rest of team continued celebrating in the galley whilst she said one last goodbye to the teammate she now considered a little brother. It was good for them, they needed it, and the holidays served as the perfect way for Sara to encourage her team to have a few drinks, unwind and have some fun after everything they’ve been through. Even with everything that was happening, a single thought continuously niggled in the back of her mind, an unabating desire to know how one woman was spending her evening. She had been playing with the idea of inviting Ava Sharpe to the party ever since the agent helped the legends out with their last mission.
‘Fuck it, just do it’, she thought to herself. “Gideon, call Agent Sharpe please?”
“Of course, Captain Lance. Calling Agent Sharpe.”
Sara sat up taking another sip of the warm amber liquor in her glass as she waited patiently, staring at the blank screen behind her desk
An answer never came.
“Guess 'Little Miss Time Bureau' actually has a life outside of work,” Sara smirked to herself, pushing any disappointment she was feeling aside. It may have taken a few minutes, but the unanswered call didn’t feel right, it left Sara pondering the sense of unease amounting in the pit of her stomach. The agent had never missed a call from the Waverider. Usually, if Ava was unavailable the call request was noticeably ignored and followed up with a simple out of office message. Otherwise, it was diverted and picked up by Gary, this time it just rang out.
“Gideon, can you send Agent Sharpe an SOS message and try calling her again,” Sara commanded, knowing even if the agent was off the clock and for some reason missed the call, she would never miss a second chance to act all smug about the legends coming to her, for help. Outside of the few conversations they’ve shared, Sara might not know the agent very well, but she knew her well enough to know the blonde would never ignore a SOS message.
“I’m sorry Captain, the call remains unanswered,” Gideon replied.
The feeling of unease grew within the blonde.
“Somethings off,” she spoke aloud, pacing anxiously around the room trying to come up with a logical explanation. “Gideon, any ideas?”
“If it’s of any value Captain Lance, I believe there is reason to your unease. Agent Sharpe’s time courier GPS system appears to be offline, something which The Time Bureau discourages greatly. I can backtrack Agent Sharpe’s last jump position, I had her input her courier details whilst helping with the last mission, I should be able to use her last logged signal to triangulate her location. Then it’s a matter of reviewing camera footage in that area to ensure the agent is safe,” Gideon explained.
“Okay, yes, sounds good. Thank you, Gideon,” Sara acknowledged the AI system.
“Captain Lance, you might want to take a look at this,” the AI spoke just minutes after their plan had come together. Gideon pulled up a screen and projected a blurry black and white video onto it, the camera quality wasn’t great, but Sara could immediately recognise the image as one of the dark and dimly lit streets of Star City, before noticing a familiar figure appear onscreen.
“Damien Darhk,” her voice tense, “Gideon, round up the team and make a heading for Star City any time before Darhk gets there and we can extract Agent Sharpe before he lays a hand on her”
“I’m sorry Captain Lance, I suspect Damien Darkh knew we would catch on to his ploy. Given Mallus’ powerful abilities he has manipulated time, ultimately making time in Star City undeterminable, making it impossible to plot an accurate time jump in order to intercept Darhk's movements. It’s as if he has somehow deleted time from Star City, we can only jump to the present moment,” Gideon explained.
“Fine, put me through to Team Arrow. Oliver can get there quicker…” Sara requested urgently, her knuckles whitening as she grasped the edge of her desk, frustration mounting.
“I’m afraid I cannot do that either, Captain Lance. Mallus has also temporarily deleted the timeline where Oliver Queen becomes the Green Arrow,"
“Of course, he fucking did,” Sara’s head fell forward in a wave of defeat. Anger quickly washed over her as she swiped the whiskey glass off her table, shards of glass decorating the floor after a sharp crash. "If Oliver never became The Green Arrow, why the hell am I still captaining this ship?"
"I suspect the reason why the timeline change disaffects you, Captain Lance, may have been done on purpose. Damien Darhk seems to have a fondness for messing with your head and testing you, Miss Lance" Gideon returned, Sara pacing the room.
“Fine, let’s go. Call the team. If Damien wants a fight, lets bring him a fight”.
“Ah yes, I knew it was merely a matter of time before the magnificent seven came to town… although it is nice to see Mr Jackson gained some sense and abandoned your ship, Captain Lance.” Darhk sniggered wickedly. “However, you should know that your new agent friend put up quite the fight, she’s got an impressive sailor’s mouth on her too. I bet she fits right in with you bunch of clowns”
“Where is she, Damien? Your business is with us, remember?” Sara spat back.
“Oh Miss Lance, how you’re sorely mistaken. She’s my way into the Time Bureau and my chance to finally kill Rip Hunter… Controlling all of time is going to be so much fun,” his voice hissed, flashing his sickly bright white teeth in a sly smile. Nate quickly lost his patience with Darhk’s games, turning to steel he lunged forward, but Damien was quick to send his body flying into the nearest wall.
“I sense an affection in your eyes for this woman, Sara. You’re weak, Miss Lance, and I can’t wait to see the look on your face when I take the life of another person you care about. You might like to know, in this very timeline, crafted ever so beautifully by Mallus, your sister is still alive and well. I believe she was just offered the role of District Attorney. Perhaps, I should pay her a visit, I’m feeling a tad nostalgic,” Darhk remarked viciously, turning his attention to Mick and Leo who had their weapons pointed in his direction both ready to pull the trigger.
“Ray! Now!” Sara shouted, charging forward while pulling out a 9mm firing at Darhk as she and The Atom advanced hoping to get in a hit whilst he was distracted by Citizen Cold and Heatwave.
“It’s funny how you think you have a real chance, Miss Lance.” Darhk’s tone laced with condescension and arrogance, he easily deflected the bullets she had fired towards him. Thankfully, the team effort provided just enough of a distraction and Ray was able to get a hit in. Sara sprinted forward, taking her opportunity as she whipped a sword out from behind her back, charging towards Damien, determination fueling a look of fury in her eyes.
“Where is she?!” Sara’s voice was laced with venom, her sword vibrating under his chin. It would only take a simple flick of her wrist to slice his throat then and there, “I will kill you, you son of a bitch”.
“Let’s just say I was feeling a little sentimental,” Damien said on a maniacal chuckle, clicking his fingers as a projection appeared on the wall behind them.
“Iron Heights,” Sara shouted, recognising the setting immediately, she knew Zari and Amaya were sitting on comms awaiting the agent’s location, so they could go get her the second they got the go ahead. Sara’s eyes took in the image of the suited blonde tied to a chair in the middle of the prisons’ dayroom, Darhk no doubt, the reason behind the many slaughtered prison guards seen lying on the ground. Ava was desperately struggling to free herself, fighting aggressively against the ropes which held her against the chair.
“Tick tock… not long now. The bomb was Norah’s idea, I thought it might be a little too impersonal, I guess I’ll always have a kindred affection for arrows but seeing the helplessness in all your eyes right now, the idea has more than grown on me. Norah’s recovering well by the way, she sends her regards,” Damien laughed callously.
Sara was ready to slice Darhk’s throat when her body became frozen, her sword sent flying across the alley as his burning stare zeroed in on her. With Sara left helpless, the rest of the team charged in, Leo and Mick working together as Nate grabbed a trashcan picking it up with ease and throwing it towards Damien, Ray once again by Sara’s flank and was able to get another hit in on Darhk, before he too was send flying in the opposite direction. The team’s attack, and Ray’s hit, gave Sara a second opportunity to get a solid punch in and a knife through Damien’s chest, the second she felt the blade pierce his skin he dissipated beneath her grasp.
“Ray, can you fly to Iron heights, Amaya and Zari should be there by now?” Sara questioned, Ray shaking his head with a frustrated no, his exo suit had taken a bad hit from Darhk, but he quickly went about maintaining his suit in the hope he could get it back online in time.
“Come on, Ava, think of something… just do something, please get out of this,” Sara whispered under her breath. The team were completely helpless in that moment and could only watch on with bated breath. The Time Bureau Agent’s eyes seemed to scan the room for a moment, she was just about able to stand as she quickly charged against the wall, the image on the screen had no sound, but the painful screech could be heard in the suited blonde's pained expression. A broken shoulder gave her just enough leeway to release her hands from the ropes and free the rest of her body, standing unsteady clutching at her arm, she ran towards the main door. It all seemed to happen in a millisecond, it may have been too late as a fiery blast enveloped the screen before it turned to black.
Sara struggled to watch, flinching inwardly, slamming her eyes shut. She took a step backwards to steady herself, Leo’s hand fell to her back and was quick to offer support, strengthening her stance.
“Amaya, Zari, please tell me you’re okay?” Sara’s voice a little shaky, but she hid it well as she called out into her comms.
“We are both fine. We just got inside… Sara, she’s not here…” Amaya responded, confusion hanging on her words.
“Is it Darkh?” Nate raised the question on everyone’s lips.
“If I may interrupt Legends, it seems Agent Sharpe has time jumped onto the ship, she is badly hurt and bleeding but remains semi-conscious,” Gideon’s voice rang out across the team’s comms.
“Gideon bring the ship to us, now. We need to get her to the medbay,” Sara commanded.
“I’m afraid I cannot, Captain Lance. I fear giving the Agent’s current condition, any movement may cause her to bleed out,”
“Okay new plan, Gideon can you start prepping the medbay… Zari I need you to fly ahead to the ship, we’ll meet you there”
“Copy that,” Zari responded instantly, the sound of wind generating could already be heard in the background.
“Wait, I think it was just a severed wire, if I just rewire this bit here… it should… got it” Ray proclaimed looking to his captain for further instruction.
“Go!”
Once Ray and Zari reached the ship, Gideon was already prepped.
“Agent Sharpe is on the bridge” The AI announced the second the pair entered the cargo hold.
The blonde was sprawled out half conscious and blood stained, her body lay limp across the steps entering up into Sara’s office, the office also having taken a hit from the bomb blast.
“Tell Captain Lance, I’m sorry about the mess…” Ava’s voice broke, the last of her adrenaline ceasing now that she felt reassured help had arrived, falling unconscious as Ray gently picked her up to carry her to the Medbay.
“Gideon, update?” Zari calls out.
“From my visual inspection, Agent Sharpe has sustained serious injuries to her abdomen, a significant amount of blood loss and varying degrees of injuries to her right arm, shoulder and head. I’ll know more as soon as Dr. Palmer has her in place and wired up”
“Where is she?” Sara voiced, running onto the bridge. Her eyes immediately falling to the pool of blood that was found there, the sight alone enough to make her want to throw up, her heart hammered in her chest with a thought that perhaps they were too late.