Episode 4: This Starcrossed Hereafter

Team 2046. The Waverider.

Olivia was rushed to the med-bay in her father's arms. He placed her gently on the examination chair, while Gideon scanned her.

"I can stabilize her for now, Mr. Queen, but she needs medical attention that I cannot provide," Gideon told him.

"We'll need Caitlin," he murmured.

Just as he turned to go to the bridge, Connor burst through the doorway, his mask dangling haphazardly around his neck. His eyes immediately landed on Olivia, pale and prone in the chair.

For a second, it seemed that she was all he could see. His vision tunneled.

Through all the various timelines they had went through together, through all the deaths they had witnessed and experienced themselves, Connor thought maybe he would be desensitized to it.

But no. Seeing Dinah Olivia like that, was still a hard blow to the heart. He couldn't breathe.

"What happened?" he growled.

Oliver gave him the rundown, including an encounter with a man with a scar on his face, who seemed to know Olivia and was connected to a new Prometheus, which Oliver seemed in shock about. Or the fact that his seemingly down to earth future daughter had one hell of a dark side, one that even scared the master brooder himself.

Connor didn't say anything. The Prometheus thing was complicated. And as much as Connor wanted to say something, he couldn't without comprising the timeline. Plus it was more of Olivia's story than his.

He still remembered when he had first seen her, in 2046. He had thought she was dead, after she disappeared. But there she was. Saving his life.

But the girl that he knew before, she was not the young woman that came back. There still was her easy going bravado, and her nerdiness about anything science but she was vastly different in other ways.

Thinking about all that woke all the bitter anger and distrust he harboured towards her father. But that was Oliver's future self. Not the 2018 Oliver Queen.

"I'll leave you alone with her," Oliver said quietly, and left the room.

Connor took a stool and pulled it next to Olivia's chair. He took her hand in both of his. Sometimes he didn't realize how small she was. Her personality always made her seem bigger, like she took up more space. At least to him.

"Come on, Tweety bird. You're tougher than this."

He looked up, instead of her pale face. "Gideon, what's her condition?"

"Stable for now, Mr. Diggle. But the bullet needs to be removed by another doctor."

"What is the composition of the bullet? It shouldn't have been able to pierce her suit."

"It is a crude Nth-metal alloy. Enough to pierce the armour around her chest," Gideon supplied.

Rage flared hot underneath his skin. He needed to punch something. Something Thanagarian preferably.

Dawn came into the med bay, face pale. She took one look at Connor's face and jerked her chin towards the exit. "Felix Weber is now conscious in the brig."

"Good. Stay with her for a few minutes."

He stormed out before she could say anything. The returning heroes immediately avoided him just with one look at him. He pushed through to the brig, and opened the door.

Felix Weber stood with one indignant motion, opening his mouth to protest, just to take a direct blow to the teeth. He punched and punched, and when that wasn't enough, he threw the traitor politician across the room.

He stormed out the way he came, closing the door behind him.

….

Team 2046. The Waverider

Oliver sat down beside Felicity as she massaged her hands after a long day behind the desk. He took her hands into his and rubbed them. She sighed in happiness. The blissful expression faded as she studied him.

"What's bothering you?"

"Besides that our future daughter took a bullet for me?"

"I know," she sighed. "I went to visit her, but it's hard to get past Connor. He's very…protective."

"That has not escaped my notice. Not Felix Weber's either."

The former advisor to the Chinese Prime Minister was sporting some wounds from Connor's rage. Though he didn't seem that bothered by it, which seemed odd. The spy seemed very, suspiciously calm.

"What's bothering me is that apparently there's another Prometheus in the future. And that he did something to our daughter. Something that created this darkness inside of her."

He looked to the ceiling. "I always hoped that, with William and with any other children we could have, that they would not be subjected to the terrors that I went through."

"It's called being a parent. We always want to protect our children from anything the world will throw at them."

"You didn't see the look in her eyes when she fought. It's like looking into a mirror. Seeing my monster in her. And seeing her fight too," he shook his head, "You know I think she's better than even me. When I sparred with her, she fought with a mix of styles. I recognized my own. The League of Assassins' style. And others. What would drive our daughter to learn all these fighting styles?"

"Maybe when this is all over, we can talk to her."

He nodded. Of all the things he felt about his future daughter, one feeling stood out the most. Shame. Shame at himself for not protecting her or William, who she said she didn't know whether was dead or alive.

…

The Waverider. 2018.

Mina opened a breach, Dr. Snow following her in. They stepped into the bridge of the Waverider. The future Vibe led her into the med bay, where several of the heroes hovered. The closest of which was Connor, still holding Olivia's hand.

Her heart dropped seeing her friend so prone. But she couldn't afford to wallow. They needed her better for the fight to come.

"Okay, everyone out," she declared. "Doctor is in the house, so give her space."

Everyone did as she said. Oliver and Felicity paused, looking worriedly after their daughter, but following everyone else. Connor was the only one that remained.

"You too Connor."

"I'm staying."

"Don't be a stubborn mule. Let's go," she said, grabbing his arm. He tensed. But did as she said.

She practically had to drag him out of the med bay, with the help of Dawn. When they were a distance away inside the captain's office, the two girls stopped him.

"Saw the damage you put on Weber's pretty face," Dawn said.

"So?"

Mina looked to Dawn. "What kind of damage?"

"Gideon?"

The screen in the office lit up with live feed of the brig. Felix Weber lay down on the floor, his face swollen and beat up.

Mina raised her eyebrows. "Okay."

Dawn turned back towards Connor. "We need to know if you'll be able to separate your feelings about Olivia from the mission."

"My feelings?" Connor said in a clueless tone. "What are you talking about?"

Mina and Dawn shared a look. "You can't actually be serious."

"I honestly don't know what you guys are talking about."

Dawn face-palmed. "We've known you've been in love with her for years now."

"In love?" Connor seemed to pale several shades. "No."

"Why is that so impossible for you to admit?" Dawn asked.

"She's ten years younger than me!"

"That doesn't really matter and you know it."

Connor seemed to shrink on himself, which was strange to see, Mina thought. Such a big tough guy, and the smallest mention of his feelings for his small partner in crime made him get as antsy and frightened as a little mouse.

This time, she spoke up. "JJ, whatever it is, sort it out. You never know when you'll last see someone. You can't wait for the right time, or whenever you feel "ready". Tell her. Before it's too late."

The other future heroes sobered. They knew Mina spoke from experience. She never got to tell the love of her life that she loved him. Frost had died before she could muster the courage to say anything.

"Whatever," Connor muttered with a defeated tone. He walked off.

"Boys," Dawn muttered.

"Yeah."

…

Thanagar. Earth-38.

The Lizarkons chittered and hissed at them, while prodding them forward. They were marched further into the underground network the lizard aliens seemed to call home. And surprisingly, it seemed homey, not the gross wet sewers like the team imagined.

Golden sunlight came in through the grates above ground, giving Don a better glimpse of Thanagar's gold towers. Winged figures regularly dived off balconies and took to the air.

They seemed more agitated at the sight of Kara, in her suit. They pointed at the Kryptonian symbol on her chest, and chattered to themselves. Perhaps they knew of Krypton.

As they were escorted, Don took note of all the turns and twists, committing them to memory. Other members of the Thanagarian lizard people peered from corners to look at them. He spotted one little female Lizarkon, clutching a straw doll in her claws, peering at them with wide yellow slitted eyes. Lumpy scars encircled her wrists.

His stomach dropped as he saw the same repeated scars on more and more Lizarkons. They must have been escaped slaves or prisoners.

While he was taking in his surroundings, Barry and Kara were tensing for a fight. J'onn seemed to be doing the same as him, analyzing everything. And Cisco, well was Cisco. When he wasn't gawking at everything, he was trying badly to communicate with the Lizarkons. All it looked like was a hilarious game of charades. Some of the Lizarkons chuckled at the human's strange movements. Don shook his head.

They paused as they entered a large intersection. More and more Lizarkons pushed past them as they frequented the intersection, which seemed to serve as a small marketplace. Rickety stalls had been installed in any free corner or crevice, charms and strange fruits held out for display.

They were pushed through the crowd, until they came in front of a small tunnel, blocked by an ornate curtain. Past the curtain was a cosy den, little handmade baubles strewn everywhere. Cisco nearly fell on his face by tripping on one, but J'onn caught him by the back of his shirt.

Walking past small cots and a small dinner table, they were finally shoved to their knees in a small study. An elderly Lizarkon's back faced them, his gnarled pale green hands tinkering with another bauble. The guards that escorted them chittered at him in their strange language. The old alien nodded and they left, except for a few that remaining in the shadows.

The old lizard stared at each of them, studying them with a eerily sharp gaze.

"You are from Earth planet, yes?" he asked in rough English.

They stared at him. "How do you know English?" Cisco asked.

"I know many language of different world. Now why here you?"

"Because of this," Barry answered, holding out the pearl. It buzzed and lifted from his palm. Hovering in the air, the same message from the Lizarkon that had come to Earth played once again.

The old lizard watched it with sad eyes. He sighed as it closed and fell back to Barry's waiting hand.

"What does it say?" Don asked.

"It is important information against hawkmen. We have key to defeat, but at cost of my hatchling's life. My Lyketh. He best hope. Knew your language better. Best warrior. How did he-"

Barry cleared his throat. He still felt the death of the little alien on his shoulders.

"General Hro Talak killed him," he answered quietly.

The elder Lizarkon hissed a few curses.

"Why you want information?"

Don answered this time. "I am from my planet's future. Where the Thanagarians have invaded the Earth, and have subjugated humanity to its whim. We want a way to defeat them, and this was one of our best hopes."

"Earth yes. Hawkmen interested in Earth for human blades."

"Human blades?" Cisco asked.

"I think he means human weapons," Don supplied.

Human weapons. Interesting. Don had always thought they had conquered Earth for the same reason any other Earth country had taken another under its banner; because they thought it was their destiny and right to create an empire. It made sense with their government system and mentality.

But human weapons?

A rumble shook the tunnels. A distant bell rang in response.

The old alien jerked, aiming glowing yellow eyes at them.

"You brought hawkmen here."

…

2018. The Waverider.

Sara rubbed her eyes. They weren't getting anywhere with Felix Weber. And it didn't help with Connor hovering over her shoulder during the entire interrogation. His eyebrows were scrunched together in concentrated thought, his eyes somewhere else.

Nate knocked on the door, gesturing towards the bridge. The two followed them out.

"So I did a little checking with one of our friend's interdimensional devices, and cross-referencing with the Time Bureau's documents on the future. Felix Weber's history doesn't check out. Everything about him is fabricated."

He pulled up some documents. "Like none of these documents make sense. As if they didn't know anything about the fake background they were constructing."

"Or the planet," Connor murmured. He straightened. He ran back into the brig, and found Felix Weber smiling calmly at him.

"Are you Thanagarian?" he demanded.

Weber smiled. "Now you are asking the right questions."

"We'll have to confirm through DNA testing of course," a weak voice added.

Connor whirled to find Olivia leaning against the doorway, looking pale as milk. But her blue eyes were bright and lively as usual. A bandage was wrapped around her shoulder, the white cloth stained with a little spot of red. A little smile pulled at her lips as she landed eyes on him.

"I'll get it," he murmured, trying to calm the riotous joy that ran rampant inside of him.

For good measure, he punched the possible Thanagarian in the face as hard as he could. Taking the swab Olivia provided him, he gathered as much blood as he could.

He handed her the swab. "Good to have you back, Tweety bird," he whispered to her.

"Good to be back," she answered. She gave him a one-armed hug, pressing her forehead against his chest. Some part of him relaxed, having her here, in his arms. But another tensed, Dawn's and Mina's words echoing in his head.

"Besides, you would have been lost without me," she joked, giving him a wink.

Olivia rolled her shoulder. It felt pretty much as good as new, but the physical fatigue of the injury still remained. She needed to distract herself, and doing some DNA sample prep was the exact thing she needed. She couldn't think of the look she saw in JJ's eyes when she entered. It would just give her false hope.

So she went to the lab.

Due to the Waverider's future tech, sequencing didn't take as long as present day standards, which was days. All she had to do was prep the sample, and inject it into the sequencer, which was a small black box. It whirred into motion as it analyzed Weber's genetic sequence. She also let it analyze its methylation patterns. Its screen lit with the results.

Felix Weber's profile had more methylation than an ordinary human. It matched the reference sequence of a Thanagarian male.

…

Thanagar. Earth-38. 2018.

Thanagarian soldiers forced their way into the tunnels, blasters glowing bright red. Lizarkons fled into the shadows. Anyone that got in their way was mowed down, whether they were male, female, old or young.

Lizarkon warriors rushed to meet them, lazer staffs poised at the ready. But in comparison to the hawkmen's weaponry, they were severely outmatched.

The Earth heroes rushed to their aid. Kara flew into the first Thanagarian she saw, punching her hard in the gut. She went flying, colliding hard to one of the tunnels' walls. Hovering, she summoned her heat vision, focusing in on the hawkmen's blasters. They exploded in bursts of light, dropping more soldiers.

J'onn was in Martian form, taking some by surprise by grabbing them and phasing them halfway through the walls. Many of them flailed helplessly as they remained stuck. Below Kara, both Barry and his future son were nothing more than blurs of red-gold and purple lightning, darting through the formations marching towards them. Cisco took out anyone that got past them, sending vibrational blasts out from his palms.

Kara flew past the charging group and went to where more soldiers were coming in droves. Taking in a deep breath, she blew her frost breath, freezing a century of hawkmen.

They fought and fought, while the Lizarkon warriors were able to escort the survivors out. They seemed to disappear further into the tunnels. But despite their intervention, too many of the lizard people were dead. Kara knelt by a small lizard girl, still clutching her doll. A blaster had caught her in the stomach. She widened scared yellow eyes at Kara. Her small, clawed hand clutched Kara's with surprising ferocity as she hissed in shaky breaths.

"It's okay," she murmured to her over and over again.

The little Lizarkon clutched her hand tight once more before going limp. Letting out a heavy breath, Kara closed the little lizard's eyes.

Cisco appeared from a breach. "Come on, the rest of them are in another part of the tunnels. They'll need you to bring some of the tunnels down."

Kara nodded and followed him into the breach. They appeared again in a darker, deeper part of the tunnels. The elder Lizarkon was waiting for them, gnarled scaly hands clutching a cane. He pointed a shaking claw at them.

"You, you human blades."

The Thanagarians didn't come for Nth-metal or conquering for the sake of conquering. They came for the metahumans. They wanted to add them to their army to conquer more planets, to unite galaxies under the banner of Thanagar.

…..

The Waverider, 2018

"How are you Thanagarian?" Sara asked. "You have no wings."

Felix Weber smiled primly. "Not all Thanagarians are born with properly grown wings. I was one of those unlucky few, and had to bear the status of wingless on my family."

"Then things turned around once Earth was brought to your attention."

"Precisely. Not as many of your human kin wanted to turn on their own kind. That was when we wingless came in. We assimilated into your world, hid ourselves in the shadows of the most powerful among you."

"And why are you being so cooperative, Felix?"

"My fate was sealed the moment I was captured. Either way, I will die. So I have nothing to lose. Besides I would like to see the great General be knocked down a peg or two."

Sara crossed her arms. "What would make the General call back his forces?"

Felix tilted his head. "I am afraid I do not know. I was never a close confidante of him. What I do know is that he is an ambitious man. He wants to be remembered as the greatest Thanagarian general that has ever lived. If he has quickly secured Earth and its metahumans, the war with Rann will be done in a matter of moments."

"What if you weren't able to do that?"

"Not have the metahumans? I presume that the war would continue to be waged until we were at a stalemate, until thousands are dead, on both sides. Thangarians do not surrender. We win or we die."

"But will he pull out his forces to save their lives, or to allocate resources better?"

"Perhaps. What are you getting at, Captain?"

"Nothing you need to know."

Sara left the brig, possibilities running through her mind. She found Dawn in the hallway, fidelling with her communication device.

"Any luck?"

"Nope. Seems wherever they are, the signal can't get through. Maybe it's just the limits of the device. Probably can't communicate between multiple universes and different planets."

"Well, keep trying. Something will get through eventually."

"Of course, Captain," the female speedster gave her a crooked smile. "So find anything out from dear old Felix?"

"Well thanks to Olivia's testing, we know for sure he's Thanagarian. Apparently, some Thanagarians are born with wacked up wings so they end up cutting them off. Those Thanagarians were sent to Earth to infiltrate the most powerful corners of the world."

Dawn nodded. "That's makes sense. I've always had a hard time believing that so many of our own people willingly turned on us. Anything else?"

"Maybe some clues on how we can get them to leave. But General Hro Talak sounds like the guy that will never give up, even if it kills him."

"Win or die," Dawn murmured.

"Yeah, exactly."

"Everyone's here for battle planning. Except Team Thanagar of course. Mina has already hooked up her device to Gideon."

"Good."

The two joined the others. Everyone was in civilian clothes. Mina was fiddling with the holo-table in the bridge. She brought up the timeline data, and zoomed in on one event, in 2048.

"May as well run us through it, Vibe," Connor said. Olivia nodded approval, leaning against him.

Mina nodded. "Since our operation in 2046 failed, Gideon helped me gather data on if the timeline has been altered. So far it hasn't, or the effect of our changes haven't been cemented quite just yet. So this is our last chance. In 2048."

Images appeared on the holo-table. Central City burned, the walls around it piles of rubble. The Headquarters of the Justice Society, the warehouse that the present heroes had used, was also in ruins.

"First, we'll stop at our headquarters. We have some scrap Nth-metal that Gideon can analyze and replicate. It wasn't enough to reinforce our suits with or anything but with Gideon's system, we can make much more. Then we'll infiltrate this, the Victory party the Thanagarians will hold in Central City. The highest ranking officers will be there, including General Hro Talak."

"Felix has been ever so helpful by providing a list of the General's biggest supporters, as well as officers that want his position," Dawn added. "We are going to destabilize the Thanagarian hierarchy. Once doubts settle in, we'll attack the main warship hovering over Central City. Guns blazing."

"What about reinforcements from the other warships across the continent?" Oliver asked.

Mina pulled up their current knowledge of where the main warships were stationed. There was now only one in the US, now that Central City had fallen. It may have seemed like light security, but each warship contained countless smaller warfighters, as well as soldiers.

"That's why you went back in time as well, wasn't it?" Cisco said. "Central City had been defeated."

Mina nodded. "Central City was the last holdout in the US. Everything else fell to Thanagarian rule."

There was also a warship north in Canada, one in mainland Europe, one in South America and one positioned over Asia.

Olivia cleared her throat. "I have some friends up in Canada. They can help with that warship. And some friends on an island by Europe."

Connor turned to her. "Oh, that island? T-th, it started with a T."

Olivia waved a hand. "Point is, they can help."

"Why couldn't they help us before?" Connor asked.

"Resources. Also you know those pesky checkpoints preventing them from traveling. Besides it was really bad in Canada and in Europe. They were too busy, just as we were too busy to help them. I'll go call them," she said, pulling out her device. She disappeared around the corner.

"It still leaves two ships that could help with reinforcements. That is assuming we don't all die from attacking one ship," Felicity stated.

"I've tried contacting Don," Dawn interjected. "I've sent messages. We can only hope that they come back with some kind of help in time of our attack."

Dawn said this with a hopeful tone. But beneath it was a hint of defeat. She didn't think they'd come back in time. But she was desperate to stage any kind of attack against the Thanagarians. She had to relive the nuclear attack twice. Her hopes on saving their future, saving their friends, were gone.

If she could strike any kind of devastating blow to the invaders, even at the cost of her life, she would do it. She knew the others felt the same.

"Okay, let's prepare for 2048."

…

Thanagar. Earth-38. 2018.

Once the surviving Lizarkons were all accounted for, the old lizard, known as Lizyeth, summoned them to his makeshift office.

"Hawkmen want human blades for war against Rann," Lizyeth said, coughing. "War draining resources. Can't afford more losses."

"Do you think we can ask the people of Rann to help?" Barry asked.

Don shook his head. "No, we've tried that. The Rann people are only fighting because Thanagarians are attacking them. They have very advanced tech, more advanced than Thanagar's, which is why they've been struggling in this war. But at their heart, they are a pacifist civilization. It makes sense that the hawks want the metahumans. Just having a few speedsters could drastically turn the tide, if they knew how to time travel." He whispered the last words to his father.

Barry nodded. "Yeah. Did they try to kidnap you and your sister?"

"You don't even know how many times they tried. But they were ill equipped in the beginning. When they got more tech, it wasn't much use, as me and Dawn had more control over our powers by then. They don't even know about our time travel abilities."

Cisco looked to J'onn. "Do you understand what they're saying?" To his ears, Don and Barry sounded like a tape being rewound, the words coming out so fast they were indiscernible.

J'onn looked to Kara. "You getting any of that?"

"Bits and pieces."

Cisco cleared his throat. "Hey, motor mouths! We can't understand you when you talk like that."

Barry and Don blinked, looking at each other for a second. Goofy grins spread across their faces. It was then where Cisco saw the resemblance between the two. It had been hard to see with Barry's usual cheery nature in contrast with Don's no-nonsense one. Though Cisco liked to think of him as a major downer. His twin seemed more like Barry.

Lizyeth tapped his cane. "My hatchling mentioned ship, yes?"

Barry nodded, rolling the small pearl between his fingers. He held it up. It opened, playing the message once more.

"The message speak of prototype device the Rannians made. Thanagarian warship communicate on same wave. Hook up device to one, cause all ship linked on wave to destroy."

Cisco nodded. "A bomb that tracks all of the ships using the Thanagarian frequency. It destroys all of them. That's amazing."

"Wave connect all. Make attack efficient," the old lizard added.

"Do the hawkmen themselves use it? What would happen if they were using communication devices on the same wavelength?" Cisco asked.

"Could kill hawks. Or zap. Don't know."

"Where is it?"

Lizyeth held out a clawed hand. Barry handed over the pearl. Whispering a few words, a new message appeared in the air. A layout of a base. Two areas were highlighted in red. One was a ship bay. The other was a weapons vault. A script of Lizarkon text ran beside it. The old lizard beamed.

"We know where. And how to get ships and weapon."

…

Team Thanagar. 2018

The base had been where the Lizarkon had worked as a custodian. It seemed that the young lizard alien was attempted to re-construct the Rann device, after spotting it while cleaning. All they needed was Nth metal, which was too tightly guarded. So with one of the Lizarkon Resistance's few hidden ships, they sent him off to Earth, to collect the materials necessary to make the device. With the device, they were supposed to stage an attack on the capital city, by taking out all of their ships.

"The device is in the most secure vault. Lined with Nth metal, it looks like," Cisco said.

"So we'll need someone to get the code to open it," Don crossed his arms.

"We can help," Lizyeth added. "Not all hawkmen bad."

"You've got a mole?" J'onn asked.

"Yes. I go talk to her now."

After much planning, and the old lizard talking to his spy, they set up the attack. The heroes prepped their gear and followed the old lizard, along with his guards through the tunnels. A grate leaked hard blue light above them. They were inside the base.

They all exchanged nods. Kara and J'onn flew out first. Outcries immediately rose at the sight of intruders, the rapport of blasters ringing through the tunnels. Barry followed afterward, running interference. Then Don, followed by Cisco, who took the Lizarkons through a breach.

Don ran through the maze of halls, clearing as many hawk soldiers as he could. One swiped at him with a blaster staff, its blade buzzing slowly with electricity. He ducked easily underneath, his purple lightning crackling around him. He moved the staff a bit more, so the soldier would be thrown off balance. He moved to another, tripping her then another, pushing him into the wall. On and on he went, until he found the vault. It took up the entire wall; a series of gold gears and locks interlocking together in a filigree pattern. A small digital interface was embedded into the largest gear.

Cisco entered the code the spy had given them. The display flashed green in conformation. The gears began to turn, a large clicking filling the base. As soon as the door hissed open, the small group squeezed in, while Don kept look out. The vault itself was full to the brim with alien tech. Cisco almost felt like drooling at the sight of it all. Man, the endless possibilities of what he could do with all of this at his disposal…

The Lizarkons led him through the towering shelves of tech, until they reached the back. The Rannian device was smaller than expected, a small box of silver metal containing a swirling blue core. Small curling horns stretched from its corners.

"It will fit into Thanagarian ship transmitter," Lizyeth hissed in excitement.

"Awesome," Cisco grabbed it, pushing it into a sac. He threw it over his shoulder.

"Hands up!"

The small group turned to find a handful of hawks pointing blasters at them. They raised their hands. Just as the Martian Manhunter rose from below, arms crossed over his chest. Before the hawks could prepare, J'onn took them out with one fell swoop.

"They're calling in reinforcements. If we're making a getaway, we have to make it now."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Let's move."

…..

2018. The Waverider.

The heroes finalized their plans. They would go back to 2048 Central City, while a handful of heroes would remain in 2018 to protect the past.

As much as it didn't sit well with the future heroes to go to the future with a few less hands, it made sense. Without the past, there was no future. And if the Thanagarians managed to send anyone to the past, they were all doomed.

So Kid Flash nominated himself to remain in the past, along with Mr. Terrific and Wild Dog. Ralph Dibny would also be lending a hand, along with Leo Snart and Constantine. If they had to, Wally would run to the future with reinforcements. Or to save the heroes of the past, while the future heroes would remain in 2048.

Before they would infiltrate the Thanagarians' victory gala, the team would send in a small team to gather the Nth metal scrap metal they had stored in the Headquarters of the Justice Society.

Olivia, Dinah and Oliver took the small time ship, the exterior cloaked from view with cloaking tech. Olivia steered the ship downwards to the war zone that was now Central City.

The tall shield towers that had once protected the city were mere rubble, scorched with blaster fire. The city itself was quiet in the cool morning, smoke faintly drifting off from particularly damaged areas.

Dinah shook her head. Her hometown. Apparently the last spark that humanity had in this future war. Now extinguished.

They circled down to the STAR Labs warehouse, though it looked very different to Dinah and Oliver. The STAR Labs logo had been erased, instead replaced with the shield and eagle symbol of the Justice Society. Like Central City itself, it was covered with black scorch marks. The fountain that had lay before it was now a smattering of sharp rocks.

Olivia landed the small craft in a well-covered bush area, a small distance away from Headquarters. It was a rough landing, the ship tilting on its side before falling squarely on its wheels.

"Sorry," Olivia winced.

Oliver grunted, rubbing the back of his head.

After making sure there were no Thanagarians laying in wait, the three snuck into HQ. Olivia led the way, passing by discarded chairs and exercise equipment. Cracked monitors were scattered about the floor, shards of glass crunching beneath their feet. Olivia put a hand on her chest, her heart dropping at the sight of the wreckage. The Headquarters had been a safe haven, a place of light and laughs even, away from the war they had been fighting.

They reached the back of the former warehouse, and stopped before a pile of boxes. Olivia pushed them out of the way, revealing what looked like a circular fluorescent panel. It hummed to life as the last box was slid aside. A slot in the floor opened, a handprint scanner rising from it. Olivia pressed her palm to it.

"Black Canary. Welcome Dinah Olivia Queen," a cheery voice confirmed.

She gestured towards it. "Now you guys."

Dinah went first, pressing her palm into the reader.

"Black Canary v. 2018. Welcome Dinah Drake."

Oliver followed.

"Green Arrow v. 2018. Welcome Oliver Queen."

The panel glowed a welcoming white gold. The three stood on it, the surface buzzing with power. It grew in strength until it gave one final pulse, its light almost blinding. Oliver felt a tug in his gut, as they were teleported from the main floor to a hidden bunker below.

The space was massive, with a raised dais in the center, outfitted with the latest computer models and monitors. In other corner, there was a sparring area, a spare selection of weapons on display and in another was a lab bench, pipettes and an array of engineering equipment scattered on its surface.

But it was to the extensive display cases that Olivia led them to. Each pane of glass had a projection of their respective hero on it. On one, was a young man with bright white hair in a long blue parka, hand glowing an icy white-blue, glaring at some unseen enemy.

Olivia stopped in front of her case, an image of her as the Black Canary, letting loose a Canary Cry, on the front of the glass pane. She pressed her palm on the cold surface. It pinged in recognition, hissing open.

"Aunt Dinah, there should be some Nth metal in the shelf there," she said absently, looking inside her cabinet.

Dinah nodded, and went off in pursuit of the scraps. Oliver remained at his daughter's side, as she reached inside. She pulled out two items.

One was a set of silver wrist gauntlets, with Nth-metal inlaid in gold filigree patterns at the edges. She slid them on.

The other was a chillingly familiar sword. Oliver immediately recognized the brutal straight edge of the chokuto sword. Prometheus, or Adrian Chase, had used one identical to it. But this one had a strange gold tint to it. Perhaps it was made of Nth metal alloy.

"Told myself I would never use this again," Olivia said. She turned it in her hand, studying it, before expertly twirling it and sheathing it. "Desperate times come for desperate measures I guess."

She closed her display case, and then went to JJ's case. She opened it and grabbed a quiver full of arrows.

"Is this enough?" Dinah asked, gesturing to her sac.

The younger Black Canary nodded. "Yep. Let's go before someone catches us."

….

With the scraps of Nth-metal, Gideon was able to make synthetic copies of false wings, as well as re-purpose the scrap metal to spread it out to as many of the heroes as possible. Now it was time to infiltrate the Victory Ball, so they could obtain the codes into the warship, as well as to sow some chaos into the hawk's ranks.

Dawn, Olivia and Mina got ready inside Sara's room, pilfering through her makeup case. Each of them wore open backed gowns to accommodate the fake wings they would be wearing; Mina in a dark red, Dawn in silver, and Olivia in deep blue. After they were done up, there was just pulling on the wings inside the lab space.

Dawn grunted as she pulled them on, closing the snap that held the straps together under her breasts. She frowned as she studied the Thanagarian symbol on the snap, a black hawk on a red background.

Mina rolled her shoulders. Closing her eyes, she focused her thoughts. She felt the weight on her shoulders shift as the wings unfurled with a smooth movement. Her toes lifted off the ground as the wings held her aloft.

"How'd you do that?" Olivia asked, jumping up and down in her heels.

"Pretty much just focused on flying."

Olivia closed her eyes and did what her friend said. The wings unfurled at her direction, bringing her up into the air. She opened her eyes and grinned at the other girls, who were also tentatively hovering.

"Hey you guys know where the wings are?" a voice called.

Connor barged into the lab, dressed neatly in a black tuxedo. His eyes slowly traveled up until he found the three of them in the air, giggling. But instead of some sarcastic remark, he was quiet, staring at Olivia.

Olivia couldn't read into that look. Shouldn't. But she couldn't ignore the little flutter in her heart at the sight of Connor in that tux. It seemed to emphasize the broadness of his shoulders. And it was nice to see him without the mask.

She willed herself to land, and she did, tittering a bit in her heels. The girls steadied her as they too floated back down.

"We'll go," Mina said, giving Olivia a wink. Dawn protested but the other girl practically dragged her out of the lab. She exchanged a look with Connor.

Olivia pulled out another pair of wings, these much larger and much heavier. "Come and put these on before my arms give out."

Connor hurried over, taking off his jacket. The back of it had been designed to accommodate the wings as well. He slung them on, as Olivia clasped them closed. She straightened his shirt, letting out a breath.

"This is it, huh?" she asked, not looking at him.

Connor clasped her hand, making her look up at him. He squeezed it. "Yeah."

"Do you think we're going to win this time?"

"I don't know. But something about this time feels-"

"Final."

"Yeah."

"Well, I guess if we have to go out, may as well do it fighting with our family at our side."

"As long as you're with me, having my back. Green Arrow and Black Canary always have to stick together."

Olivia's mouth parted as she took in his words. His heart fluttered uneasily. Did she feel the same way that he did? Mina had been right about him. He had been ignoring it for he didn't know how long.

He knew at one point Olivia fostered romantic feelings for him, years ago. He of course didn't feel the same way, with their age difference. But things were different now. And what if it was truly the last time they would be together?

Just as he thought he overstepped, Olivia placed a tentative hand on his cheek, steel blue eyes bright.

"Always," she told him.

"Hey, you guys ready?" Felicity barged into the lab, stopping short as she spotted the pair of them, standing close together.

Both of them shared a look.

Connor nodded. "Yeah we're ready, let's go."

….

Central City. 2048. Flash Museum.

Thanagarians milled about the museum, dressed in Earth formal wear, with pieces of Thanagarian wear mixed in. No one was unarmed, with a variety of weapons belted to their sides or slung over their shoulders.

Mina studied each and every face. She recognized some of the higher ranked officers of the Thanagar force, but many she didn't know at all. Grunt soldiers probably. Which meant they could blend in a little bit easier. Humans bound by shock collars snaked through, holding silver trays laden with champagne.

They followed the flow of people to the foyer, where the Flash statue used to be.

Now it was on the polished marble floor, the statue's face caved in. Dawn gritted her teeth. Everything that her father did, to save this city, and the world, and this was how the Thanagarians acknowledged it. With scorn. If it weren't for her father and the rest of the Justice Society, the Thanagarians wouldn't even have a world to invade and conquer.

Mina placed a hand on her shoulder.

"We'll make them pay for it later, yeah?"

Dawn nodded. "You bet."

Connor, Olivia, Dawn and Mina spread out throughout the floor, and began to insert themselves into conversations. Connor had already drawn quite a few of female as well as male admirers, engulfed in the press of gray wings. Olivia was already targeting one of the officers Weber had said harboured ill will towards General Talak.

"Welcome to the Victory Ball!" Hro Talak swaggered in, tailed by a red-haired hawkwoman dressed in a light pink gown. A mace was belted to her side. "We have conquered the last free city!"

The Thanagarians cheered.

"To celebrate, I brought forth some entertainment. A Rannian prisoner-"

The crowd booed.

"And one of our greatest assets, the metahuman warrior known as Frost!"

Mina's heart seemed to stop. Everything slowed down. The Thanagarians cheered obliviously as the Rannian prisoner was brought forth, bound with a shock collar.

Then he was brought out. Martin Snow. Son of Dr. Caitlin Snow, Killer Frost.

He kept his head down, brown hair glinting gold underneath the light. The white streak by his ear was still there. He lifted his head, brown eyes meeting hers. He stared, stopping. His escort shoved him forward. Mina looked to Dawn.

"We have to do something," Mina said.

"There's too many people. We'd be outnumbered."

"You're a speedster. I can vibe. Then there's Olivia and Connor. All together, we can get Martie out of here," her voice cracked at the mention of his name.

"Olivia and Connor already snagged some unwitting Thanagarians, to get more info about the warship and to sow some dissent. If we're doing this, we're on our own."

….

Thanagar. Earth-38. 2018.

To the outside, the base was quiet. A little too quiet, the lack of wingbeats haunting in the air. If passerby were close enough, they could hear muffled booms and thuds, the ground rumbling with the strength of them.

Then quiet.

The wall of the base blew outward, smoke blasting out of the newly made hole. Blaster fire lit the smoke cobalt as it billowed out. Then a Thanagarian ship emerged, taking to the air.

A few more followed it, all piloted by Lizarkons. Kara hovered while the ships escaped, watching for pursuers. At first there were none. Then a storm of hawkmen emerged from the smoke, gray wings glinting silver in the sunlight.

Summoning her heat vision, she targeted hawk after hawk, only injuring them so they would stop their pursuit. Kara burst forward, catching up to the head ship, piloted by Lizyeth.

"There's more coming!" she yelled. "We need to breach out of here!"

Cisco shook his head, gesturing theatrically with his hands. From what Kara could get out of it, she thought he meant that it was too far for him to breach. Not only to another star system but to another universe as well.

A hard thud attracted Kara's attention. The hawks had reached one of the ships, and were quickly crawling along its body, trying to get to the cockpit. She flew over, grabbed one of them by the breastplate strap and threw them off. The hawk's scream dwindled as his wings caught the wind once again.

Meanwhile, Cisco hovered by Lizyeth as he piloted the fighter ship. Through the window, he could see Kara flying about, punching hawks away from their ship. Their craft groaned as the Kryptonian and two hawk warriors collided into the ship. They struggled in the air before Kara quickly spun, the hawks flying off her.

"Your Kryptonian can't keep this up forever," Lizyeth said. "And we cannot fight off hawks and fighter craft. You must teleport us."

Cisco shook his head. "I don't know if I can do that. If we were closer to Earth maybe."

"We get close to Earth as we can," the old lizard replied, though he didn't sound very confident.

J'onn phased into the ship, landing into a smooth walk. "They've just called reinforcements. They're sending more hawks and fighters. We need to clear Thanagar and fast."

Then he leapt back into the air, phasing through the ship once more.

Meanwhile, Kara had her hands full with the hawks. Somehow during the aerial battle, a few silver feathers had gotten into her hair, ensnared in the tangles that the wind made in her hair.

Besides the hordes of hawks pursuing them, a few fighter ships had mobilized. They were still close to the ground though, but she had no doubt they could catch up to them in no time.

So she headed straight for one of the ships. She grunted as she collided with it, the metal screeching underneath her grip. Kara grinned. Guess their ships weren't made of an Nth metal alloy.

The pilot stared wide-eyed at her while she scrambled up the nose of the ship. Cramming her fingers along the hinge of the cockpit window, she wrenched it open. The pilot immediately took flight.

Keeping hold of the fighter, she spotted another fighter, just emerging from the base. With a fierce scream, she threw the empty ship down. The craft whined pitifully as it fell, before finally landing hard into the base. Explosions immediately followed.

She quickly disabled the other fighter in pursuit, aiming her heat vision at one of its wings. The pilot quickly abandoned the smoking ship, the fighter nose-diving into one of Thanagar's golden towers. Then she caught up with the escapee ships, J'onn defending them from the remaining hawks. They quickly dwindled as the atmosphere became thinner and thinner.

Throwing an arm around Kara, J'onn phased them into Lizyeth's ship. They grinned as they burst out of Thanagar's gravity field and out into space.

But before they could even celebrate, patrolling fighters quickly tracking them down. Lizyeth grumbled into Lizarkon tongue as he wrenched the controls. The ship sharply dove as a volley of blaster shots lit up the star specked blackness.

As Lizyeth yanked the controls back up, righting the ship, a blast hit one of their ships. The frame of the ship seemed to cave into itself, explosions bursting from its inside.

"Barry!" Kara cried. Cisco stared, dark eyes bright.

A crackling filled the ship. "Guys?"

Cisco sighed. "Barry! It's us!"

"Oh thank god."

Their ship shook violently as they were hit with a barrage of blaster fire. Lizyeth's hands flew over the controls, flicking switches and reading displays.

"Can you create a breach, Cisco?"

"I don't know. I would have to be in front of the ship, and I don't know how big it could be."

"Grav-suit," Lizyeth said. He gestured towards the back. "Get on ship."

The heroes turned, walking further down into the ship. They found a series of what appeared to be glass cases, similar to the ones in the Green Arrow's Bunker. At Cisco's touch, the lights inside activated, illuminating what was inside.

The suit was armoured, with heavy boots that had grav-lock soles. It had its own contained oxygen apparatus system, and a belt of repair tools at the waist.

"So dope," Cisco said in awe.

He turned towards the others. "Did I tell you guys I have a fear of being sucked out into space?"

"You will have to overcome this fear, Mr. Ramon," J'onn patted his shoulder. "If anything, I will phase through the ship to pull you back in."

"Slightly reassuring. Get me in this suit before I throw up."

…..

2018. Earth-38.

Hro Talak studied the data he had gathered about the small blue planet. It had two Kryptonian heroes known as Superman and Supergirl, both with god-like abilities.

But what drew his attention more, were a small fraction of the Earth population known as metahumans. They were very few of them but the powers they boasted were quite intriguing.

The Thanagarians were not above using mercenaries to help in their wars. But these metahumans were powerful, but still had the inherent human weaknesses. They could be used like tools. It could be helpful in the war against Rann.

He opened more of the files he managed to scrap off of the DEO's database. One file in particular drew his interest. Multiverse files. He opened them.

It pulled him out of the DEO's main files, which were dubbed underneath the directory Earth-38. He pulled up the folder on Earth-19. The amount of metahumans were higher than Earth-38's, but interdimensional travel was banned in that dimension after a devastating war. They had the technology to fight another interdimensional threat.

Then Earth-2 and 3. Again, their technology was sophisticated. Earth-3 had a small metahuman population, as many of them were waning into the later years of their life. Earth-2 had its own problems, with a war currently going on with Atlantis. Hro Talak did not want to engage in the messiness of being a third party in a two-sided war.

One look at Earth-X told him that that wasn't going to be a viable option either.

Then he opened the file on Earth-1. He grinned as he watched the projected metahuman population rise. It was the dimension with the most of the metas out of all 53.

He would bring this to the High Council of Thanagar. And the tide would finally turn on those Rannian scum.

…

Earth-1. 2048. Central City.

Olivia and Connor left the drunk hawks at the party once they planted the seeds of doubt. Now they progressed to the next phase of the plan. With the information they obtained about the warship from the hawks, they could now board it.

It was just getting on without being detected while they planted some explosives around the structural supports of the ship.

"Where are Mina and Dawn?" Olivia asked, while they slunk around the Flash Museum. The warship was almost directly above it, a hulking black shape in the darkness.

"I don't know. But I messaged the Waverider the entry points and the codes to the warship. Should we wait for them?"

Olivia tucked a stray hair behind her ear. "We'll go back to the Waverider. It's close by. Besides, the longer we stay, the more we risk getting caught. Mina and Dawn are more than well equipped to deal when things go awry."

….

Mina took in a deep breath, as Martin and the prisoner faced off. She moved towards the back, where no one would see her. Dawn had pushed herself to the front, pretending to be an overeager spectator.

Martin summoned his powers, his brown hair fading into white, his skin paling as an icy aura began to gather around his hands. Those warm brown eyes brightened to a cold blue. The streak by his ear turned brown with the change.

Mina and Dawn's eyes met. The two girls nodded.

Dawn acted first. Purple lighting sparking around her body, she shot forward, and grabbed Martin. She grit her teeth as his cold powers sank into her skin, slowing her. With a shake of her head, she shook it off, and vibrated them both. The shock collar dropped at their feet with a clatter. Winking at the shocked Martie Frost, she zipped over to the Rannian prisoner and did the same.

Around her, the Thanagarians had launched into action, their wings unfurling in slow motion, weapons poised to strike. She circled around, subtly moving arms and legs as she went. When she stopped, they all dropped, bodies colliding hard with each other.

Mina opened a breach in the floor, her stomach dropping as she plummeted through the portal. Another opened in the air a few feet away. She dropped out of it, throwing out vibe blasts.

Frost threw out a barrage of icicles, as blaster fire barely missed them.

"Nice to see you again, Vibe," Martie said, as they fought back to back.

"You have no idea," she answered with a grin, throwing out another vibe blast.

Dawn punched another hawk, purple lightning sparking off of her. "Let's go."

Zipping over, the three gathered together as Mina made a breach in the floor. They jumped in, disappearing with a flash of blue light.

They appeared in the Waverider, scaring the crap out of Felicity, who was scanning some data at her makeshift station. She nearly fell out of her chair.

"A little warning next time?"

"Sorry, Felicity," Mina winced.

She pointed to Martie, as his hair faded from white to light brown, his bright blue eyes darkening to brown.

"Who's he?"

"Martin Snow," he said, shaking her hand vigorously.

"Snow?"

"Yep."

She shook her head, rubbing her temples. "Ugh, the future gives me headaches."

Connor and Olivia emerged from the doorway.

"Where have you guys been-"

The two heroes stopped short.

"Martie!" Olivia cried. She launched herself at the skinny young man, him nearly stumbling with the force of it. Connor joined in too, enveloping them both.

"You're alive, how?"

That was what Mina wanted to know. She thought back to the day they lost him, when they attacked a hawk garrison. They were raiding for tech, as well as Nth-metal.

The rapport of blaster fire echoed in the halls. Holes smoldered in the walls from avoided blaster blasts from the Thanagarians.

Mina panted as she pressed herself against the wall, clutching her shoulder. She had been grazed by one of the hawks' blasts. She tried to ignore the smell of her own flesh burning. Glaring with bleary eyes, she sent out vibe blasts to deter more Thanagarians.

Martie rushed up to her in Frost form, his eyes glowing intense cobalt.

"What's wrong?" he asked, his icy voice sending a shiver down her spine. Maybe she was just delirious from the burn. Her eyes swam.

"Blaster burn."

"Come here."

He gently placed a finger on the charred flesh, making her hiss in pain. Using his cold powers, he slowly cooled down the tissue, to soothe the inflamed mess of skin.

"It should be fine for now, but you will need medical attention for it soon," he replied.

"Then let's get the rest of the Nth-metal and go."

They tucked themselves into a corner as hawks flew by. In the distance, they could hear Black Canary's Canary Cry, accompanied by the barrage of hawk bodies hitting the floor.

"Now," Frost jerked his chin towards the smelting station.

The two of them rushed out, Frost taking point, with Vibe taking the back. They snuck into the smelting station, the door closing silently behind them.

Pieces of Nth-metal were littered on conveyor belts, moving them slowly towards a melting cauldron, the metal glowing bright orange yellow. Pulling out their bags, they stuffed as many pieces of Nth metal as they could inside.

Mina tapped her comms. "Guys, we found the smelting station, we're grabbing as much as we can."

"Well, hurry it up," Ravager grumbled. "I've planted all the explosives around the garrison, and the hawks are just flooding in. I'd like to get out of here in one piece."

"Keep your pants on, Rose," Dawn snipped. "But she is right, we need to go. Apparently, reinforcements are coming. Headed by Hro Talak."

"Okay, roger that," Mina answered. She turned to Frost. "Do you think you have enough?"

"Yes."

"Not so fast," a male voice interrupted.

Both of them whirled to find Hro Talak, flanked by two hawk soldiers. The two of them aimed their blasters at Mina first and fired. She was able to dodge the first blast, throwing out vibe blasts in retaliation. But the other caught her in the side, sending her flying. She screamed as her skin burned from the second graze.

That left Frost facing off against the Thanagarian general. He threw a barrage of icicles at the high-ranking hawk, which the general swatted away with a powerful gust from his wings. One of the soldiers had been hit by one of Mina's vibe blasts, but the other remained unscathed. He quickly trotted over and placed an inhibitor collar around her neck. Her powers quickly fell out of reach.

All she could do was watch helplessly as Frost battled the general with an ice staff and try to not pass out.

Then an explosion blew the smelting station's doors in in a flurry of black smoke and flame. A dagger flew from the darkness, impaling itself in Mina's guard's throat. He yanked the small blade out, the dagger clattering to the ground. He choked wetly and dropped to the ground. Hands grasped Mina under her armpits, dragging her out.

"Try not to be so heavy," Rose grunted. Withdrawing another explosive, she placed it just outside the smelting station.

"Frost, let's go!" she yelled.

When the smoke cleared, Martie seemed to turn towards them in slow motion, ice clouds still drifting from his hands. Just as he stepped forward, a blade shot out from his chest, gleaming with blood.

"No!" Mina screamed. Rose stared, mouth open.

They watched as his hair faded back to brown. He fell to his knees as Hro Talak stood over him, discarding a short straight blade. The hawk general stalked towards them, silvery wings flaring. His battle-axe sparked with electricity, the blue bolts crackling along the floor.

"We have to go!" Rose yelled. The dirt clouding her face was streaked with tears. "The explosives will go any minute!"

Mina sobbed as she threw off her inhibitory collar. Grabbing Rose, she made a quick breach in the floor, and took them through it. They fell into the bridge of their stolen Thanagarian ship, the Javelin. The others paused in their preparation for take-off.

"Where's Frost?" Dawn asked.

"Gone," Rose replied. "The bombs are going to detonate so we need to move."

Dawn stared at Mina, who stared at the ground. She couldn't look at anyone. All she could think of was the look on Martie's face when Talak stabbed him in the back.

The team took off, as the Thanagarian base began to blow into a maelstrom of fire and black smoke. Mina hoped that Talak had died a horrible, ugly and slow death thanks to that explosion.

"Mina?"

Martie placed a hand on her arm. Big brown eyes stared into hers, filled with concern. She started.

"Will you guys excuse us for a second?" Martie asked.

"Of course."

Everyone made themselves busy as the pair left the room. Finding an empty room, they quickly closed the door.

"Hey," Martie placed his hands on her shoulders. "You can't blame yourself for what happened."

Mina wiped at the tears running down her face. She didn't even know she had been crying.

"I know. But I've-I've missed you so much, Martie."

He took her into a hug. "I missed you too, Mina."

Her heart beat hard in her chest as she leaned into him. She had lived in regret not telling him how she felt for years. Now he was here, in the flesh. It seemed like the universe was telling her to just spit it out. Maybe she wouldn't have this awful feeling in her gut anymore.

She drew away from him, not looking at him for a moment. Taking in a deep breath, she seized him by the shoulders and kissed him. Martie made a sound of surprise before Mina quickly drew away. They stared at each other.

"I'm sorry. It's just I've wanted to do that for years. But when I thought you were gone, I never got to tell you how I feel and I regretted it so much. With us heading into what could be our final battle-"

"Mina?"

"Yeah?" she squeaked. She already prepared herself for his rejection.

A hand cupped her chin, forcing her to meet his eyes. A little bit of blue glowed around his pupils before fading.

"For someone that's supposed to be rather smart, you are awfully dim," he said, smiling.

"What-"

He kissed her gently, interrupting her. She didn't speak for a while after that.

…..

Olivia and Dawn tried to hide their smiles as Martie and Mina emerged from the room they occupied, looking a little rumpled but both grinning like idiots. They elbowed each other in excitement.

Connor shook his head. Girls.

Once everyone was in their gear, they went over the plan. Connor and Olivia would be sneaking onto the warship first, while much of the team would be attacking the garrison stationed in the city. Then Mina would help them on the ship, while Dawn would be their speedster on the ground. With that out of the way, reinforcements would be scattered while they took down the ship.

Pulling on her arm guards over her gear, Olivia looked up to the warship looming overhead. Connor pulled at the Nth-metal belt fastened around his waist. They took to the air, rising steadily. The wind whipped at them as they ascended, moisture clinging to their skin. One of the entry points was well illuminated in the darkness of the night sky. Slowing their ascent, they peeked over the edge of the landing point. A guard passed by from inside the warship, but otherwise no other movement.

Connor nodded to Olivia. They pulled themselves onto the walkway and made to sneak inside. The interior of the warship was massive, with multiple floors. Hawks milled about, their silvery wings shining underneath the dim lighting.

"We're in," Olivia murmured to the comms.

"Okay, I have a rough layout of the ship," Felicity replied. Though I don't know how current these are. You'll want to plant explosives around the ship, but make sure to not activate them right away. Make sure to plant the ones' around the ship's reaction core last, and let them go off last. It will either blow a hole in the ship, and it'll crash into the harbor, or-"

"Or what?"

"It'll decimate the entire ship. And the rubble will rain down on the city."

"That's reassuring. So we need to steer the ship towards the harbor."

"Looks like it."

"Send the old manifest to our devices. We'll take it from there. Tell Mina that she needs to be ready to pick up on our location and fast. A lot can go wrong from now and later."

"Sending now."

Connor pulled out his device. The manifest appeared when he activated it. Felicity had gone ahead and marked each place where they needed to place an explosive with a blinking red light. Their locations blinked in a reassuring blue. The reactive core was in the bottom floor of the warship.

"We're going to have to split up. Too much ground to cover separately," Connor said. Olivia nodded in agreement, just as a hawk emerged around the corner.

"Intruder! Stay right there!" he awkwardly cried. A new recruit. Blaster shaking, the weapon discharged, sending off a blue blast. Olivia raised her arms in an X position, her forearms braced against each other. The blast bounced off her gauntlets, and collided with the hawk. He fell to the ground.

"Huh, so that actually works," Olivia commented, looking at her gauntlets. They quickly grabbed the fallen hawk, and tucked him into a supply closet.

"Alright, its clear. See you soon."

Olivia nodded and darted off.

Connor kept to the shadows as he planted the explosives. The warship was lightly staffed it seemed. It must have meant everyone had their hands full down below.

"Does it seem really empty to you?" Olivia asked through the comms.

"Yeah. It's a bit –"

"Scary."

"Yeah."

"How do you think the others are doing?"

"Oh, they should be fine."

Things were not fine. At the garrison, hell was literally breaking loose. Hawks were everywhere.

Thanagarian bodies littered the ground as they forced their way in. Oliver was already running low on his explosive arrows, which seemed to be the best in deterring the aliens. His normal arrows seemed to just annoy them.

While the rest were dealing with the onslaught of hawks, Sara, Dawn and Dinah were at the tarmac, trashing their fighter ships.

"Whatever you're gonna do with the warship, do it fast!" Sara yelled through the comms. "We can't distract them for much longer."

She ducked as one of the ships flew off the tarmac, its metal crumpled and bent around the edges. Black Canary smiled sheepishly as she toned down her sonic cry. "Sorry."

"We've planted the explosives," Connor answered. "All we need to do is-"

"What?"

"Oh my god."

While they were dealing with the hawks, Connor had planted the final explosives on the reactor core. To dodge some guards, he ducked into the closest room he could find.

His mouth dropped open.

In the years preceding and during the Thanagarian occupation, the number of missing people had gone up. Olivia had told him one time that she had dealt with a string of missing person's cases.

As the lights turned on, activated with his presence, his jaw dropped further. He had a feeling he knew where all those missing people went. Because the wall was lined with hibernation pods, all full of people.

"We have a major problem."

…..

Thanagarian space. Polaris Galaxy. Earth-38.

Cisco tried not to hyperventilate as his boots locked to the hull of the ship, the hatch behind him closing. He had to get to the front of the ship, while not getting blasted by any of the Thanagarian fighters. So he moved as fast as he could to the nose of their ship, while fighters drew closer in the distance.

"I'm not going to die in the black void of space. I'm not going to die in the black void of space," he chanted to himself.

He stumbled as the ship took an evasive maneuver to avoid another blast.

"Any time now, Ramon!" Don yelled through the comms.

"Man, you remind me of Harry," he grumbled. "You know its not every day you're asked to freakin' walk on a spaceship, in space, getting shot at!"

"The both of you, could you not?" Barry scolded. "Trying not to die at the present moment?"

Taking a deep breath, he focused in on Central City in Earth-1. Sending out vibe blasts, a breach opened in front of them. It took everything in him to keep focused on maintaining it. His body shook from the strain.

"Hurry! I can't maintain it for long!" Already his speech was becoming slurred.

Cisco felt something pop in his ears. Blood began to run from his nose. The breach shuddered with instability.

"Cisco, you can do this! Just hold on!"

He channeled more strength into the breach, the portal enlarging even further. The taste of metal flooding his mouth.

The ship ploughed forwards into the breach. All Cisco could see was blue light, as the ships disappeared with a wink from the Polaris Galaxy. Then nothing as he passed out.

…..

2048. On the Thanagarian warship.

Olivia stared at the pods. Her face paled. "There's so many. How are we going to get them out in time?"

The thing with their explosives was that they were too good for their job. They were made for a quick rush in and out. If they were left alone for too long once planted, the explosive cores would start to degrade and would go off anyway. They were made specifically for their type of attack, which were usually guerilla tactics.

Olivia ran over to the command module. Prompts in Thanagarian illuminated the holo-screen. She cursed.

"Can you read Thanagarian?" she asked.

"No. I thought if anyone could read it, it would be you."

She shot him a look. Pulling out her device, she entered a few commands. She stuck it onto the side of the module. The Thanagarian glyphs shifted into English. Olivia entered a command, and pressed the red prompt button.

There was a loud hiss as all of the pod doors opened. People began to stumble out of their pods, still dressed in whatever they had been in last. One girl was in a tiger onesie while another boy was in his boxers and a tanktop, with one sock on.

"Everyone remain quiet," Connor said. "We're going to get you out of here."

"Mina, you need to get up here now," Olivia called through the comms.

A second later, a breach appeared in the diffuse darkness, Vibe jumping out of it. She took a step back, as she took in all the people staring at her.

"Oh boy," she murmured, running a hand through her sweaty curls. She quickly clapped.

"Okay, people, I'm going to open a breach and you're going to go through it. It'll take you somewhere safe."

"Where?" someone called.

Vibe placed closed fists on her hips. "Do you want to get off the ship or not?"

She turned and opened a breach. It didn't take long for the captives to run for the portal. Most of them had made it through when the alarms began to go off, a deep-throated whine that rumbled the floor beneath their feet.

"Mina, close the breach. We can't risk them following us," Olivia ordered.

Mina nodded, looking to the few remaining. "Can you handle the rest?"

"I can help as well," one girl piped up. Wearing red sweatpants with yellow stripes along the legs, and a black tank-top, it looked like she had been taken when she was at the gym. She flipped her blonde hair. "I can lift some of the other captives."

Connor looked her up and down. "Really?"

"I'm super-strong and can fly. Don't ask," she answered. Her eyes were drawn towards the gauntlets on Olivia. She crossed her left forearm over her heart. Olivia returned the gesture.

"Between the two of you, you should be able to take the rest," Olivia said.

"I'm not leaving you here on the ship," Connor snapped. "Are you crazy?"

"Don't worry. You and uh-"

"Cassie," the blonde girl supplied.

"You and Cassie have to take the others off the ship. I need to steer the ship over the lake so the explosion will not cause any innocent casualties. We all have a job here."

So they went to the wall, and watched Cassie punch a hole through it, along with some support from some spare explosives from Connor and Olivia's Canary Cry. Connor tethered remaining captives to him, while Cassie linked arms with the other two. Cassie went first, her rescuees screaming as they dropped off into the inky black sky.

Connor turned back as the wind howled, ripping his hood from his head. Olivia nodded back, giving him a reassuring smile. The last thing he saw before diving off the ship was the rush of hawks into the hidden room, Olivia whirling and screaming her sonic cry.

The wind roared in his ears. In the distance, he could see Cassie with her captives, attempting to slow their descent with her ability. He tapped his comms.

"Felicity, can you get a hold of my coordinates?"

"Uh, yes. And you're descending?"

"I need you to get us the location of the nearest skyscraper where we can land," he swerved over towards Cassie, until they were side by side. Focusing, they both slowed their descent when enough distance stretched between them and the warship.

"Okay, I got it. Sending it to you now."

Connor withdrew his device. When activated, he gave him a view of Central City's skyline, along with their location. There was one roof nearby, but it was going to a tight landing.

He looked to Cassie. "Follow me!" he yelled. Cassie nodded as they both headed downwards.

…..

The fight from the garrison had spilled out into the streets, despite the past and future heroes falling back. Buildings were already burning, panicked citizens fleeing as the blaze grew stronger.

From above, the warship was veering towards the harbour. An engine blew out in a black gust of smoke as it rapidly descended.

Oliver drew another arrow, firing it into a charging phalanx of hawks. Feathers and fire flew up as the arrowhead detonated. He ducked as another hawk swooped from above, sword raised to swing. Grabbing the warrior by the arm, he used the hawk woman's momentum to toss her into some of her compatriots.

He studied the destruction around him, just as the warship above them spat out a horde of fighter ships. All headed towards them. He cursed. Seemed they had a reserve force on the destroyer, and the hangar inside must not have been destroyed yet.

"This doesn't look good," he said through the comms.

Dawn appeared beside him in a flash of purple lightning. "It might be best to evacuate you guys. We'll deal with it from here."

"We are not leaving. I'm not just going to abandon my daughter while she crashes that warship! You will all die if we leave now."

"We'll all die if you don't. You guys need to live or else we don't exist. I asked the rest of the group. Olivia wants you to go."

He ground his teeth. "I'm not leaving."

Dawn sighed. "There's that famous Queen stubbornness. But we will force you to leave if necessary."

"Force-"

Both of them jumped to the ground as a fighter ship swooped downwards, blaster fire razing the ground where they just stood.

As Oliver pushed himself up, he watched as the warship fell into the bay, the structure going up in a gust of black smoke and flame.

"Olivia!" he screamed.

Connor and a blonde girl appeared beside them, followed by Mina. They stared at the black smoke in the distance.

The horde of ships descended towards them.

"Mina, get them out of here," Connor yelled. Dawn leaned against him, clutching her side.

The blasters on the fighters glowed with life.

Mina opened a breach. She reached for Oliver.

Just as a massive breach opened in the sky above them, lighting the black-red clouds cobalt blue. Three massive Thanagarian ships appeared. Immediately, they began to fire on the hawk fighters.

"That has to be-"

They watched as a small figure in the distance flew from the Thanagarian ships, shooting out beams of blue light. Heat vision.

"They're back!"

….

Lizyeth shoved the Rannian device into its apparatus. He began to type in the commands to activate it. The human weapons had gone to the fighting below, except for their friend, the one who made breaches. He was passed out on the floor.

The ship groaned as it shook from some impact. He cursed. He jerked his head to his Lizarkon companions to deal with it. But they were quickly dealt with blasterfire.

One of the high-ranking generals pointed a blaster at him.

"Hands up slowly," he growled. His companion tapped her fingers along her mace, the threat clear.

He raised them. In the corner of his eye, the activation process had already started. All he needed to do was stall them.

The lieutenant's blaster hummed as he aimed it at his head. Lizyeth held his breath. Just as his fellow lieutenant hit him hard from behind. He dropped prone, to the floor. The female lieutenant lifted her helm, revealing red hair and blazing green eyes. She smiled.

"You're lucky I was here."

The old lizard dipped his head. "Thank you, Lieutenant Hol."

"Please, Lizyeth. Shayera is fine. Now, let's get the device going."

….

Olivia dropped, Central City growing closer and closer. She had to time it just right, to avoid any hawks or fighter ships. It didn't help either that a wound on her side leaked blood as she descended.

She pressed her arms close to her body, plummeting straight and sure like an arrow. Reaching over to her right sleeve, she pressed a hidden button. Blue fishnet webbing released from her gear, forming wings like a flying squirrel. She banked, descending lower until she could see the fighters in the streets. Then she screamed, her Cry sending her upwards. Circling back, she straightened, opening her arms wide. Her feet collided with a hawk soldier, sending him flying. She landed hard in a crouch.

"Olivia!"

She looked up to find Martie heading towards her, in Frost form. She fell into him, pointing to her wound. He quickly cooled the aggravated burn. She clenched her teeth, hissing slightly.

"Thanks. Lead me to the others."

The past and future heroes had become cornered onto one street, though they were making progress, thanks to the divine intervention that was the arrival of Team Thanagar. But the hawks' numbers were still overwhelming.

Frost helped her most of the way, until they drew the hawks' attention. Taking in a deep breath, she unleashed her cry, sending Thanagarians flying in her wake. She withdrew the sword, the blade glinting gold in the flames. Olivia charged.

But no matter how many hawks fell, there always seemed to be more. Olivia's heart laid heavy in her chest as she slashed at one after the other, blood splashed over her face. The desperate situation they were in, she couldn't afford to hold back. So her blade cut through bone and muscle, feather and skin.

Aunt Dinah unleashed her Cry, sending another soldier flying.

"You okay kid?"

She nodded. Being able to fight side-by-side with her aunt, that was everything. They both turned in concert, their Cries amplifying each other as they blew away more hawks.

Connor fought with his father at his side. Supergirl, Martian Manhunter and Cassie soared above, battling hawks in the sky. The future and past Killer Frosts threw out icicles, while Vibe threw out vibe-blasts, sending hawks into breaches and depositing them straight into hard walls. Oliver and Sara fought in concert. Streaks of purple and red-gold lightning darted along the street, sending aliens flying.

The earth shook, causing the fighting to stop. Everyone watched as a pulse radiated out of one of the large Thanagarian ships.

Thanagarian fighters suddenly plummeted to the ground, crashing in gusts of fire and smoke. Hawks dropped to the ground, clutching their heads, screaming.

Supergirl paused. "The device, its working!"

The Thanagarians watched as their forces dwindled further and further. They dropped their weapons and knelt, utter defeat written on their faces. They had lost hope in their general. Hro Talak surely would have seen through such a ruse by the heroes.

But the hard war waged on this planet was hard on all of them. Many of them just wanted to return home to Thanagar. Why did they have to fight so hard to conquer this planet when they could be in Thanagar, defending their home and families?

Olivia held up her device. A holograph of a girl with bright green hair appeared.

"Liv! The ships! They're crashing! And the hawks, they're surrendering!"

Another holograph appeared, this time with a tall, red-headed woman.

"The hawk warriors are surrendering. We have won this war."

Olivia grinned, tears shining in her eyes. "We have." The visual feed disappeared.

"Olivia!"

She turned to find Connor, his gear burnt on his chest.

"Connor-"

Before she could finish, he reached for her, dipping her low, and kissed her soundly on the mouth. Dawn whistled.

Clutching her to him, Connor straightened. "Sorry, I couldn't help myself."

Olivia gave him a look. "It's about damn time."

Then she kissed him back.

Diggle sidled up to Oliver, keeping an eye on their future children.

"We must have done something right, if those are our kids," he patted his long-time friend on the shoulder.

"I guess so," he murmured. "Though I should probably give Connor the talking to. That is my daughter."

Diggle just shook his head. "If she's with my son, then it should be fine."

Oliver raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, maybe you should give him a talking to."

Much hugging and crying was done as Central City smoldered. Thanagarians marched onto one of the large ships Team Thanagar brought, exhausted and ready to be brought home. The remaining Lizarkon soldiers were only too glad to restrain them to their seats.

A hawk woman guided Lizyeth to the past and future heroes. They tensed, prepared to attack. Lizyeth held up a hand.

"She with me. Hawk spy on our side."

The woman nodded. "Hello. I am Lieutenant Shayera Hol," she winced. "Well, more like just Shayera. I surrendered my military position when I became a spy."

"You know, this is great and all, but where's Hro Talak? He is the general heading the entire invasion."

Shayera sneered. "Probably running for his life, pleading the High Council to save him. Luckily, I was able to send some data to them before Lizyeth detonated the device. He won't be getting help anytime soon."

…..

The great General Hro Talak fled on one of the few fighters left. He didn't care what planet he landed on, as long as he was away from the damned blue planet. He furiously typed in the command to connect to the High Council, while he tended to his wounds.

The High Council appeared on his holograph table, their identities hidden in the shadows of the cloaks they wore.

"High Council, we need reinforcements. The Earth people-"

"We know of the situation, General Talak. One of your lieutenants has informed us. There is some interesting information here."

His stomach twisted. "Who sent you the data?"

"We cannot disclose that, General-"

"Was it Shayera? That bitch is a traitor, allying with the lizard scum!"

"Be that as it may, we as the High Council, have decided to withdraw this initiative of yours. We do not have the resources to waste on a failed invasion."

"All I need is more soldiers and then we'll have the blue planet completely!"

"Desperation does not suit you, General Talak. And another matter. You will come to face the High Council immediately to face your punishment for your crimes."

"Crimes? What crimes?"

"The murder of Lieutenant Katar Hol, for starters. We have already locked onto your ship's coordinates. We have overridden your navigation system. You will come to Thanagar, and face judgement."

Hro Talak punched the table, growling in rage. One day, he would get back at Shayera. One day.

…

2018. Earth-1. Central City.

The past and future heroes gathered in the STAR Labs warehouse, in what would become the HQ of the Justice Society. Champagne was broken out, and food was laid out buffet style on some hastily set tables. Mick had already parked himself in front of the food, taking turns downing some beer and stuffing food into his face. Leo sat with him, leisurely popping grapes into his mouth.

Constantine was busy flirting with the Twins. Dawn was blushing, whereas Don was wide-eyed, like a deer trapped in headlights. Mina, Martie, Cisco and Caitlin were all in the midst of a dance battle, with Barry recording the event, Iris peering over his shoulder. Wally and Ralph clapped their hands to keep the rhythm. Dinah was busy chatting with Sara, while OTA celebrated with some Russian vodka Oliver had somehow produced from his jacket.

Connor and Olivia were chatting with Supergirl and Martian Manhunter. Kara was still getting over looking at her friends' future children. Though she wondered why her future child wasn't here, if she had one. The thought was sobering.

It wasn't hard to believe that Connor was Diggle's son. He was tall and strong just like his dad. But Olivia was slim, and tiny, with a mischievous smile and bright blue eyes framed by black glasses. This was the daughter of Oliver Queen? She wondered how Oliver's grumpiness didn't spread to her.

After much celebration, the future heroes had to head home. There was much to do in 2048. They had to rebuild so much, and find any remaining Thanagarians that meant to do Earth harm.

Dawn and Don hugged their parents.

"Maybe we'll drop by to see you when things are not busy!" Dawn excitedly chattered. Don stood by her side, a hand on his twin's shoulder. He looked to his father. He wasn't sure a visit would be likely. If they prevented the invasion in the past, then the current versions of themselves would no longer exist, once the changes reverberated through the time stream. But he didn't want to say anything. Besides, it wouldn't kill him to think positively for once.

Mina and Martie stood awkwardly across from their future parents. They didn't really get the chance to interact much with this war going on. Cisco tried to break the ice with a couple of his nerdy jokes, but it still remained awkward. Caitlin interrupted and gave the two future heroes hugs. Before they left to make the breach, Caitlin stopped Martie.

"You have my powers right? The ice powers."

"Yes."

"I was wondering if your Frost side manifests as a separate personality, like it does for me."

"Ah," Martie nodded. "For me, no. I'm still me when I'm Frost. Just calmer, a little colder. Though it isn't always like that for you, the split personality."

"What?"

"Oh yeah. Spoilers, sorry. Well, you're supposed to find that out soon anyway so no big deal."

Before she could ask anything more, Martie waved goodbye and disappeared into the breach Mina made. The Tornado Twins followed after.

Hugs were exchanged amongst Team Arrow, future and past. Except Oliver. He only shook Connor's hand. He pulled him close for a moment.

"Treat her well," was all he said. Connor grinned uneasily, the threat clear in his words.

Olivia did not see the interaction. After hugging her mother, she hugged Aunt Dinah. Almost instantly, tears sprung up in her eyes.

"It was really nice to see you again, after so long," she said.

Dinah gave her one of her signature crooked smiles. "I look forward to seeing you again, in the future."

Connor walked past Olivia, giving her a quick peck on the temple before disappearing into the breach.

Olivia faced Oliver last. The two stared at each other.

"Well, it was nice to see your younger self, old man," she joked, though her voice was shaky with unshed tears.

Oliver watched her, his blue eyes bright. Finding out that William was his son was a revelation, and raising him another. But these things didn't happen because he chose it, though he never regretted it. This time, though, he wondered if he was ready to purposely have another child. And seeing Olivia made him think maybe he was.

"I know you're not one for hugs so I'll go-" Olivia said, making to leave. But Oliver caught her into a hug.

"You're my kid, so I guess it's an exception," he murmured into her hair.

She pulled away, giving them a smirk. She walked towards the breach and disappeared with a blue flash of light.

….

A few months later….

Earth-1. Central City. 2018.

Team Flash, Team Arrow and Team Legends converged on the STAR Labs warehouse. Much of the work had already been done, but there were still some finishing touches to be done.

The warehouse's location had been concealed from the media, but the big info-bomb had detonated; this Earth's heroes were forming a team, whenever the world faced an imminent and immediate threat that couldn't be faced alone.

They called it: The Justice Society of America.

Perhaps they were created a time loop by forming the team officially, knowing that they would form it in the future. But the need for a team was clear.

And that came with having a super-bitching HQ, which was how Cisco put it. He was just putting some finishing touches on some of the workstations when he began to wonder. How the future heroes were doing.

He watched as the other members of the newly-minted Justice Society milled about, chatting amicably. So he went to sit down on one of the couches. Taking a deep breath, he focused, and searched for his future daughter's vibe signature.

Familiar blue darkness surrounded him as his mind ventured into the future.

He stood in the periphery as the future heroes all relaxed on couches in the Justice Society HQ. Dawn, Olivia and Cassie had converged on a box of doughnuts, while Martie, Connor and Don were all engaged in an intensive video game battle. Cisco looked to the screen and snorted. They were playing Mario Kart.

The HQ had been cleaned up. One addition though was new. Holographs of their fallen friends were installed, though Cisco quickly looked away. He didn't need to know more about his future than he already did.

Mina carried in a plate of chips and dip, her black curls free. She stopped in her tracks as she spotted Cisco, almost spilling the dip on herself.

Martie immediately picked up on her behaviour, dragging his attention away from the screen. His character drove right off of Rainbow Road with the break in concentration.

"Everything okay?"

She looked briefly to Martie, before looking back to Cisco. She smiled.

"Everything's good."

She walked past him, putting the dip on the table. Don and Connor growled their disapproval as she blocked the screen.

Cisco smiled, pulling himself back into the present.

"Cisco?"

Barry stood in front of him. "You alright bro? You kind of spaced out."

Cisco stood. He grinned. "Everything's just fine," he said, patting his friend's shoulder.

"Come on. Everyone wants to celebrate at the table."

The two left the room to go to the mission room. The symbol of the Justice Society was emblazoned on its surface.

The other members called to them, holding up bottles of beer, champagne and beer. They grabbed them, holding them aloft.

"Cheers!"

Hey guys, long time no see lol. Hope you like the last part of this four-part crossover! (its a long chapter, lots happens)

So, I'll be starting a series of one-shots for the Arrowverse. The first will be the origins of Black Canary 2048, who made her debut here in this crossover. If you have any other requests for certain one-shots please leave that in the comments!

I'll probably also be updating the status of all my other stories, if any of you follow or read any of my other stories.

Again, hope you like it, and as usual please review! :)