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It was no secret that Martina Jackson always idolized Kendra Saunders. It only grew when her father introduced her to Kendra, and she visited when she could. The fact that her father knew Kendra, Hawkgirl of all people, was the coolest thing to the girl. Especially since she was allowed to call her ‘Auntie Kendra.’
Even though she knew her, Martina never really stopped adoring Kendra. She loved her wings and yearned to fly just as she did. Take on the bad guys like the Legends used to. Like her not-biological grandpa Martin, her dad Jax, and Kendra. Like how she used to play pretend with her best friend, Ronnie.
The girl’s want to be a superhero grew exponentially upon meeting Barry Allen’s kids; the twins, Dawn and Don. They were also just super cool, and they helped their father save Central City countless times.
As Martina sat in Star Labs, leaning back in the chair watching the news, she groaned. The twins managed to capture another metahuman.
“What’s that for, kiddo?” Jax asked, glancing up from what he and Cisco were working on with a slight smirk. “Tired of them stealin’ all your glory?”
“No, I’m really happy for them. Super happy,” Martina said, with a twinge of bitterness in her voice.
Jax’ smirk grew as he exchanged one with Cisco. “Uh huh.” He stood up a bit, resting a hand on the back of Cisco’s chair. “I’m sorry you can’t just sprout wings, but you’re doing great in your classes. They even seem to be too easy for you.”
“Mom says I have your brains,” Martina commented. It wasn’t fair. “You were with the Legends before you finished college. The twins are barely older than me and they help Uncle Barry out all the time. How come I can’t?” Just because she didn’t have superpowers like the rest of them.
“Well, she’s right about that,” he replied, grinning proudly. But he knew she had a point. He’d felt the same when the Time Bureau was formed, and he’d had to go back to classes when he knew he belonged on the Waverider. He sighed, glancing at Cisco, who nodded. “Uncle Cisco and I have something to tell you.”
Martina’s eyes widened with excitement; the last time they had ‘something to tell her’ they gifted her with a portable sound system for her dorm room. Obviously, it was much better than anything one could find in the store thanks to Jax and Cisco’s modifications. “What is it?”
Cisco reached over his desk, grabbing something from one of the many shelves. It was a blueprint. Smoothing it out on the desk, he gave her a goofy grin. “Your dad and I thought, ya know, since you’re getting really good at engineering and stuff, you might as well do it for something that you really like.”
Martina wandered closer to the blueprints. Cisco and Jax easily moved out of the way, her father putting a hand on her shoulder in encouragement. The young woman stared at the blueprints in wonder. “Wings,” she whispered, “Just like Hawkgirl!”
Jax squeezed her shoulder comfortingly. “If you’re anything like me, and I know you are…” he chuckled, shaking his head. “...I know you don’t want to sit in classes that are too easy for you all day. Cisco and I are gonna help you build these, but you have to do most of it. Okay?”
“That sounds amazing,” Martina gushed. She turned and gave her father a hug. “Thank you, thank you! And you too, Uncle Cisco,” she added with a nod and a grin to him.
“Happy to help,” Cisco grinned, “Besides, with these mechanical babies, based off my specs - and with our help - oh man, the things you’re going to be able to do! Even Kendra might be a bit jealous!” He winked at her goofily.
Martina looked starstruck by the mere thought. “Whoa,” she whispered, grinning as if she still couldn’t believe it. Quite honestly, she couldn’t. She just had the coolest family, and she couldn’t wait to show Kendra and Ronnie when they were done.
“Are you ready to get started, Tina?” Jax asked, ruffling her hair affectionately. Her grin could have lit up the room.
“Yes!”
The first thing Ronnie recognized when he began to wake were many hushed voices.
The next thing he noticed was a pounding in his head and the fast beat of his heart, even if his eyes seemed to be glued shut. But something in those voices...they were familiar, and they sounded worried, even if he couldn’t make out exactly what they were saying.
He forced his eyes open, gasping loudly as if he hadn’t been breathing for hours. He was immediately met with his Aunt Caitlin, who was staring down at him worriedly. He felt hot, and clammy. He didn’t like it.
“Ronnie.” Her voice was soft, but the concern was certainly there. “Can you hear me? Do you know where you are?”
Ronnie groaned in response. “Aunt Cait,” he managed to rasp. If Aunt Caitlin was here, then there were only a limited number of places he could be. “Star Labs?” he guessed.
Caitlin nodded lightly, pressing the back of her hand to his forehead. From the corner of his eye, he could see his mother and grandfather standing a few feet away, obviously giving Caitlin some space. “You’ve got a fever. Do you remember anything?”
“I - not really,” Ronnie frowned trying to rack his memory for what happened. “I was...experimenting,” he started slowly, “And then...there was an explosion.” The fire; he could remember the heat of the flames. Strangely, he couldn’t feel any burns. He had once accidentally burnt himself when he was younger on a birthday candle, and his mom and grandparents had freaked out, understandably. But he didn’t feel the leeching pain this time.
Caitlin cast a worried glance over at Martin, before returning her gaze to Ronnie. She sat on the edge of the bed slowly, nodding. “You found the Firestorm splicer that your grandfather and Uncle Jax used to use.” She watched, carefully evaluating his expression. “I thought it was deactivated, but as it turns out, it... wasn’t. It appears that...that some of the matter from inside, when it connected to you, exploded and attached themselves to some of your cells.”
“Aunt Cait, I don’t have a Ph.D. in biology like you do. What does that mean?”
“It means that you now have the Firestorm Matrix inside of you,” she explained patiently. “But it isn’t as...nuclear as the one that your grandfather used to have. I’ve run many tests and it says that you should be all right.” She looked at Martin again, who nodded. “Basically, you’re going to be able to be your own...Firestorm. But I’m not quite done running tests yet.”
“I’m...Firestorm,” Ronnie repeated slowly, “By myself? But that’s not possible! Grandpa always said that he needed to merge with Uncle Jax regularly otherwise the matrix would go unstable.”
“True,” Caitlin agreed, “but this...your body is different. See, the reason your Grandpa needed to merge with Jax all the time was because they were both affected by the particle accelerator explosion, which made dark matter merge with their own cells. Making them nuclear.” She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, shaking her head. “But you never had that. It’s amazing that the splicer decided to merge with you at all. I have to run a few more tests and make sure that it’s safe, but...your body is able to handle the smaller amounts of radiation on its own.”
“So I’m Firestorm,” Ronnie repeated again, this time excitedly. “I’m going to have powers, like the Tornado Twins!”
Caitlin cracked the first smile she had since she had found Ronnie passed out in the lab, and nodded lightly. “As long as everything checks out; and it seems it will.”
“Awesome,” he breathed. He looked to the side and caught his mother’s eye. She had her worried face on. “Mom, you okay?”
Lily managed a small smile, getting up to walk over to him. She sat on the opposite end of the bed as Caitlin got up to finish some more tests, and ran her hand through his knotted hair. “I’m okay,” she promised, nodding lightly. “I was so worried about you. I was worried that...that you may never wake up.”
“How long was I out for?”
Lily paused, hesitating for a moment. “About a week, honey. Speaking of,” she added, reaching into her purse for something, smiling faintly. “Martina got you this. She couldn’t come by today, but she’s visited a lot.” She handed him a stupid-looking, store-bought ‘Get Well Soon’ card, very obviously made for a kid.
Ronnie couldn’t help but laugh at the card. He took it from her gratefully, “Yeah, of course she did. Well, I guess as soon as Aunt Cait clears me, I’ll get to visit her. Show off my new powers.” They could make a pretty awesome team, like when they were kids playing superheroes. Except now Martina had her wings and Ronnie had his Firestorm powers. They could be real heroes this time.
Martin got up then, albeit slowly, and walked over, placing a hand on his daughter’s shoulder. For an 85-year-old, he was still pretty spry. “Ronald, you do know what this means?” he began, sternly. “Being a superhero isn’t just fun and games.”
“I know, Grandpa,” Ronnie sighed, ready to hear the age-old lecture he liked to press on all of them.
“I understand better than anyone about the...the thrill of adventure,” he continued, waving his opposite hand dismissively. He had promised to keep it short; Lily’s request. “It is just that...you are my only grandson, Ronald, and I love you more than anything else in the world. Your mother and I only want you to be prepared for this life.” He and Lily exchanged a look. “That is why, when you are released from the bay, you will be training with Jefferson to make sure you understand how these powers work.”
“That is awesome!” Ronnie almost jumped off the bed in excitement. One look from his mother though, and he managed to control himself. He cleared his throat, insistent on acting like the adult he was. “Thank you, Grandpa. That means a lot to me. Truly.” He meant every word.
The twins sat in their room, devising a plan. Don would run down the stairs and take two cookies, and then Dawn would run and get two juice boxes. It was fool-proof; their Mommy was too busy doing the dishes that she wouldn’t even see them.
What they didn’t account for, however, was their father coming home already. As Don was passing his mother in the kitchen, the front door opened, and in moments, his father’s arms were around him, stopping him where he stood.
“Don,” Barry groaned, struggling to hold the kicking child. “Stop that. Now.” When Don stopped kicking, Barry slowly let him back down, kneeling to his height. He was frowning, trying to figure out what to say first. “How long have you known? What about your sister?”
“We’re fast now, Daddy!” Don told him. He pouted a bit, “But Dawn says she’s faster. She’s not!” Just then, Dawn ran in, all of a sudden appearing next to her brother, smile fading a little upon seeing her father’s face. Barry looked between them, still frowning, as Iris looked over her dishes at the three of them.
“I see that,” Barry replied finally, looking at his daughter next. “When did you start becoming fast, sweetie?”
Dawn shrugged easily, her mind clearly still on the juice boxes she wanted to find. “I dunno. A couple of months? There was lightning and then we were fast. Like you, Daddy!”
Barry looked surprised by that, glancing over his shoulder at Iris, who shrugged. Like him, she had had no idea. And they’d managed to keep this a secret from them for so long… “Huh.” He was at a loss for words. Returning his gaze to Don, he found the boy staring up at the counter, where the box of cookies was. Barry smiled a little. “Don! You with me?”
Don’s eyes snapped open, and even through the mask, he could see his father’s concerned face swimming into view above him. He’d been saying his name for a little while from the looks of it, but the relief was quick to come when he saw his son open his eyes.
“Are you okay?” Barry asked, offering his hand to help him up.
“Yeah, I think so,” Don took his dad’s hand and pulled himself up. “My head hurts a bit,” he pressed his other hand to the side of his head, “But should be fine, speedster healing, right?”
Barry smiled, patting his son on the back. “Right. You think you’re okay to get back out there?” he asked, pointing. Dawn was running around, trying to distract the metahuman they were dealing with alone. But she couldn’t defeat him without Don.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m ready,” Don nodded. “Besides, she’s my sister. She needs me. Two peas in a pod, right?”
“Right.” Barry nodded, still grinning a little. “Let’s get ‘em.”
Don grinned at his dad and the two started running towards his sister. To Don, it looked like half the world was frozen; he was moving too fast to notice anyone else walking across the street. Instead, all the public saw was streaks of lightning, yellow and green. Don joined his sister, running around the metahuman. It was a fire-meta this time, so all they had to do was cut off the oxygen. No oxygen, no fire. Dawn smiled at him as the two ran side by side, creating a tornado; their father had no doubt gone to grab the nearest police officer to make the arrest.
“Think he’s had enough?” Dawn asked him.
Don took a look at the meta, keeling over and gasping for breath, “Yup, I’d say so. Dad, you’re up!” The twins skidded to a stop at the side when their father ran up in a streak of yellow lightning, cuffing the meta with special handcuffs from behind.
“I don’t think you’re going anywhere anytime soon,” Barry told the meta. He looked at his children, “Good work out there, you two.”
“Yeah, we make a good team,” Dawn held up her hand for her brother.
“Tornado Twins win again,” Don grinned as he high-fived her.
Sara yawned again. Working night shifts was never fun, but sadly a requirement if she wanted to be a surgeon one day. Even if the hours did suck. She wanted to be able to help people, in her day job and her night job. Besides, not enough people had a good bedside manner in this field, and Sara knew she did. People skills were her forte, unlike her Uncle Oliver. Somewhere in the background, the news filtered into her ears. Car chase on 59th Avenue…
“I gotta go...take a nap, it’s been a long twenty hours,” Sara said to the nurse closest to her. She didn’t wait for a response and made her way down the hall, pulling her cellphone out as she did. She hit the recent contact, “Dad? They’re saying there’s a car chase.”
“Yes. 59th Avenue; how close are you?” John picked up on the first ring; Felicity had already seen the alert and was getting the coordinates of the cars as they spoke.
“Well thanks to that new motorbike you gave me, can probably make it there in ten minutes. Which way are they headed?” Sara demanded as she stowed her stuff into the locker and grabbed her night bag. The one with her suit.
On the other end of the comm, Felicity’s muffled voice replied with, “North. They’re not too far from the hospital.” With that, John repeated it, just in case she hadn’t heard; and Sara could hear the grin in his voice.
“Looks like I should be able to cross their paths easily then,” Sara said, her voice a little muffled as she put on her Archer jacket. She grabbed the bow and quiver from the bag, and stowed the empty bag in the vent. Nobody ever thought to check there. Besides, the police force had finally accepted vigilantes as a normal part of life. Sara ran out of the building, hopping onto her motorbike. “Can you have Aunt Felicity send me the best route?”
“Of course. One second.” He paused, presumably turning to Felicity then. “Could you-?”
“I’m on it!” Felicity was already typing madly, and after a few moments pressed ‘send.’
“Thanks!” Sara called as she skirted through the alleyway, it was the best way to avoid mainstream traffic. “Getting close,” she muttered, knowing her father and Felicity would hear her even then. “I have a visual!” she all but yelled when she saw the black car streaking down the road followed by two police cars. “They really can’t do their job without me, can they?”
On the other end of the comm, Sara could hear her father’s low chuckle. She could imagine him shaking his head as he did so, the way he always did when she said something like this. “You’re right, Sara-bug. But don’t get cocky out there; you don’t know what these guys are capable of.”
“Got it, Dad,” Sara sighed. She looked at her possible vantage points like Uncle Oliver had taught her. Her mom had taught her how to hold her own in a fight, but Oliver had shown her how to use a bow and arrow. How to become The Archer. She looked to the side of the building and found a fire escape ladder she could easily climb. Once she got to the top of the building she had a better view of what was going on.
Sara aligned her arrow with the target she had in mind. Her math had to be perfectly right for this, accounting for the car’s speed and the arrow’s velocity. Oliver always had a knack for this stuff. Sara liked to rely on the numbers. Three seconds later she released the string and watched the arrow sail out into the open. It hit the runaway car’s front right tire, puncturing it so it couldn’t go any further. Sara grabbed another arrow from her quiver and launched that one as well, this one landed in front of the car, setting off a smoke screen so the perpetrators couldn’t get away on foot.
She watched as the police came out and grabbed them as they tried to make a run for it. “Got them,” she smiled through to her comms, “All for the best too, I’m pulling a double tonight so I have to get back to the hospital!”
Cheers from John and Felicity could both be heard through the comm, which made Sara grin. She’d done it, and with enough time to get back to work. “Great job, Sara,” he replied genuinely, obviously grinning from ear to ear. “Don’t burn yourself out, alright? Love you.”
“Love you too, Dad.”
“Was this really the best method you could think of?”
Jonas rolled his eyes and looked at the ceiling, “You said this was how Dad did it.” He had heard the stories enough times.
“I have plenty of stories about your father, and believe me, they’re not meant for you to live up to!”
“Oh come on, Gideon,” Jonas bantered, “It’s not that bad. They’re perfectly safe. Besides, maybe they’ll even appreciate the symbolism, unlike you.”
“I highly doubt it, Captain Hunter,” Gideon replied.
Jonas sighed. He wasn’t sure how, but even when Gideon addressed him as Captain, it still sounded like she was treating him like a small child. Which he was not anymore. “Do you have an ETA on when they’ll wake up?”
“Two minutes. I suggest you start making your way to the building.”
“Thank you, Gideon!” he called as he grabbed his coat and made his way to the exit. He had parked the Waverider on the building, easier for them to see it. These were the children of the original Legends, surely they had all heard the stories. They would know what it was. What it meant. Protecting time wasn’t something to take lightly.
Groaning, all of the recruits began to wake. Don was the first to sit up all the way, confused gaze passing over the people lying next to him. His sister also sat up, rubbing her head. “...Martina?” he asked, squinting in the dark.
Martina upon hearing her name, squinted up at the figure. “Don? And...And Dawn? Is that you, guys?” Slowly, she sat up, and the figure beside her did, too. “Whoa, Ronnie? Where are we?”
“I have no idea,” he said honestly, looking between the four of them. Then, seeing one more person beside him sit up, he blinked. She looked familiar. Was that… “Sara? Sara Diggle?”
“Yeah...Ronnie? Allen twins? That you?” Sara responded with a groan as she sat up, “What happened?”
“I...don’t remember anything,” Dawn realized, shaking her head slowly. “I...Don and I were just arresting this meta -”
“And we were approached by some guy in a long coat,” Don finished, and something in the rest of their expressions told him that he and his sister were not the only ones. “But...what did he do after that?”
“Yes, that would be me,” Jonas stepped forward, realizing it was the perfect time to make an entry. He could feel the Waverider shine a spotlight on him, for all Gideon said he was too dramatic, she hardly did anything to stop it. “I’m Jonas. Jonas Hunter. From the future. Rip Hunter is my father. Years ago, he recruited your parents for a mission to save time. And now I need your help to do exactly the same.”
There was silence among the kids for a few moments. Ronnie glanced at Martina, then slowly got to his feet, confusion still plain on his face. “Wait, wait. So you’re telling me...you want us to travel through time, and make sure nobody breaks it?”
“I heard our parents broke time,” Martina added. They were all just...confused. Why them? Just because they were related to the original Legends? It sort of seemed...weird. Even this captain guy was the original captain’s son.
“We’ve done that before,” Dawn chimed in, to which everyone looked at her. She shrugged. “Speedsters; remember?” Even though they were specifically told to never do that again.
“And my parents were never even a part of the original Legends team. They were too busy taking care of Star City,” Sara added.
“Um yes, all true,” Jonas floundered for a moment. He had honestly hoped the speech would have been enough, and if not that then the Waverider. It was his pride and joy. “They did break time, and the Bureau is still cleaning up anachronisms to this day, so thanks for giving everyone jobs I guess. You might be speedsters, but you haven’t time travelled like this. Nor are you supposed to,” Jonas added with a frown. He could have sworn his father said he had already had this conversation with Barry Allen.
He turned to Sara then, “And yes, you’re right. Your parents weren’t a part of the original team. But I am hoping you’ll be a part of this one. I’m from the future, did some reading on this time, and I know you’d be a great asset.” If he had spent some time doing recon missions to make sure of it, it was nobody’s business but his own. Despite how many times Gideon teased him about the log sheet and the number of trips he had taken. He had to make sure this team could work together, and with him. Finally, he addressed the original question, “No, we’re not going to just jump around and fix anachronisms. That’s the Bureau’s job. I got lucky enough to be assigned a single important mission, that I’m hoping you’ll join me on: bring in Raven Zoloman. Also known as Zoom’s daughter...I believe some of you are familiar with him?”
The twins both visibly tensed, exchanging a look. “We’ve, um…” Don slowly got to his feet, Dawn not far behind. “We’ve never met him. But Dad’s told us stories. He said...He said he had died.”
Ronnie frowned, racking his brain. Zoom sounded familiar. Something to do with his Aunt Cait. “Wait, that guy tried to seduce my aunt!” he exclaimed, earning him a few confused looks. He held up his hands in a surrender motion. “Look, he’s a bad guy. We get it.”
“We’ve never heard of Raven Zoloman,” Dawn continued, shaking her head. “How could Zoom have a daughter if he died while fighting our dad?”
“That’s a bit of a long story. But first, I need to know if you’re in or out,” Jonas grinned, “This is, after all, a very classified time travel mission. Can’t just go around telling everything to just anyone.”
Nobody spoke for awhile. Then, the twins exchanged a look. “We’re in,” Don replied, grinning over at Jonas. “We’ll just have to tell Dad. Any chance to take down the bad speedsters for good!”
“I’m in!” Ronnie exclaimed excitedly. This was the adventure he had craved; it was in his blood. “Man, Grandpa’s gonna love to hear this.”
Martina got up slowly, thinking it over a little longer than her best friend. She needed to. Was she prepared enough to leave? She’d only had her wings for a little less than a year. What if something went wrong, and her dad and Cisco were in another time than she was? But still...the idea of going was too good to pass up. Besides, her dad loved this old ship. He’d want her to go. She nodded determinedly, glancing at Ronnie. “I’m in, too.”
All eyes turned to Sara. She looked from the group - people she had known most of her life to this complete and total stranger. She had heard of the time travelling Legends, but they had always seemed so far removed from her life. She didn’t have a connection to all of this like the rest of them did. But if it was her duty to make the world a better place, how could she do that if she just sat back at a time like this? “Alright, what the hell? I’m in too.”
“Brilliant,” Jonas grinned at them. He turned and showed off his ship, “Well then, welcome aboard the Waverider!” As the kids all clamored close to get a closer look at the legendary ship, inside a different conversation was happening.
“You see, just like you,” Gideon nagged.
“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Rip responded as he watched the video link Gideon had from her cameras to the Bureau. “I thought it was a rather brilliant move myself.”
“Of course you would. He’s your son.”
Rip rolled his eyes out of habit at her tone of voice, “Yes, and I couldn’t be prouder.”
“I know.” It was clear from her affectionate tone that Gideon agreed, even if she would never say it out loud.
“I’m just not sure if this is the right mission for him,” Rip sighed in worry, “It’s his first time out there without a Bureau assigned team, and bringing Zoloman in...that’s no easy task.”
“Perhaps not,” Gideon admitted, “But he’s not alone. He’s got them. I have no doubt that this gang will help him just as the Legends helped you save your family.”
“Yes, I suppose they did,” Rip smiled nostalgically.
“Besides, they have one very important thing that will help them win.”
“Oh,” Rip raised his eyebrow knowingly, a smirk on his face, “And what’s that?”
“Me, obviously.”