"Caesar. Hitler. Per Degaton. Rank amateurs compared to Savage." Rip Hunter was standing in the center or a large room with a spotlight on him. Around him, standing in small areas (imagine a VIP booth at a play or the opera), were men and women in red robes varying in age and race. "His forces have already claimed the lives of billions. And if we possess the means to stop him, and again do nothing, then their blood in on our hands."

"As a Time Master of long-standing, you seem to forget our responsibility is to protect the timeline, not humanity," one of the men reminded him. "You wish to engage in the very sort of manipulation of time that we are sworn to prevent."

"And yet, if we allow humanity to perish at the hands of evil, then what universe are we custodians of?" Rip asked him.

"What if, in trying to save the world from Savage, you make it vulnerable to another, more terrible despot?" Another man asked.

"We are not warriors, Captain Hunter," a third told him. "We possess no army."

"And I'm not asking for one," Rip told them. "Just a single timeship and your permission to change history before Vandal Savage puts an end to it. I'm not appealing to you as Time Masters, but as humans, please. Grant me the authority to change the timeline just this once." He begged.

"How'd the council meeting go, Captain Hunter?" Rip's ship AI, Gideon, asked him.

"Exactly as expected, Gideon," He told her, making his way through the ship to the bridge.

"So we are proceeding?" she asked him.

"Indeed," he told her before walking through the doors to the bridge. "Prepare the Waverider for takeoff. Set a course. United States. Star City. January 2016."

"Ah, the early second millennium A.D. The golden age of gasoline engines, online pornography, and those silly little smartphones," she listed off. "What are we going to retrieve, Captain?"

"Oh, not what," he corrected her. "Who. I need you to pull up some files, Gideon. The nine men and women who'll be joining us on our little crusade."

"You usually prefer to work alone, Captain," she pointed out.

"This time, I'll need a team." Gideon set up the right era and place, and he pushed a lever to get the Waverider where he needed to go.

"And our last recruit, Samantha Merlyn, daughter of the Black Arrow and a possible secret weapon."

I was sitting in Verdant, just watching everyone have fun and smiled. I guess we never truly know that ignorance is bliss until the innocence is taken away. I quickly gathered my things and left the club for the night. When I was walking to my car, I sighed at the sound of footsteps following me.

"Really, guys?" I sighed before dropping my purse on the ground. "Tonight is not the night." I turned to see two guys as they started running at me, and I kicked the first one back before the other one tried to punch me. I blocked his arm and elbowed him in the face. The first one tried to grab me, but I dodged his arm and grabbed it before kneeing him in the gut. I walked away and grabbed my purse from the ground, and went to the car.

"That was quite a show." I looked up in confusion at the man leaning on my car.

"Do you need anything?" I asked him.

"Your help." He pulled a gun out of his pocket, and my eyes widened before a flash of light filled my vision.

I groaned when I woke up and slowly pulled myself up.

"Ah!" someone said next to me. I looked next to me to see Ray Palmer in his Atom suit.

"What a headache," a man with a scratchy voice said.

"Stein? What the hell are you doing here?" a third voice asked.

"I'm as ignorant as you for once," a fourth, older voice, probably Stein, told the third.

"Where are we?" a familiar female voice asked.

"Ah!"

"Why don't you ask the dude who knocked us out and kidnapped us?" the boy at the end of the line asked. "British dude with a flashy thing? Ring any bells?"

"The name's Rip Hunter." We all turned to see the man from the club who'd knocked me out. "I'm from east London. Oh, and the future."

"Nice to meet you, Rip," the man with the scratchy voice said going for the gun on his side.

"Uh, while you were incapacitated, I may have tampered with your weapons," Rip told scratchy. "I've assembled you all because I need your help. The future of the world is in peril because of a man by the name of Vandal Savage." Now that was a familiar name.

"That can't be," the only guy who didn't talk before, Carter Hall I saw now, said. "We destroyed him."

"Yeah, the Green Arrow and Flash helped us do it," Kendra told him.

"And therein lay the problem," Rip told the pair. "Unless you or Mr. Hall deliver the death blow, Savage can be restored from but a single cell."

"What the hell you talking about?" the big guy asked him.

"Vandal is immortal. Kendra and I reincarnate," Carter explained.

"Yeah, I've done that," Sarah said.

"And what the hell does this Randall guy got to do with us?" the big guy asked.

"Vandal," Rip corrected. "In the future, he will employ the evil he's perfected over his long life, and the power he has amassed throughout history, to finally conquer the world. I've been tasked with assembling an elite team to stop him."

"How?" Sarah asked him.

"To travel through time," Rip told us, his hand moving through the air. "To capture Savage before he grows into the monster he becomes."

"Seems to me like he's not exactly going to make that easy for you and whoever you recruit," I commented.

"You got the wrong guy," a guy in a winter coat said. "Hero ain't on my resume."

"Or mine," scratchy said following him.

"I know it's difficult for you to fathom, but where-when I'm from, the year 2166, you and everyone on this roof aren't just considered heroes... You're legends." Rip told him.

"Legends?" Ray asked, suddenly getting interested.

"I, um, I hate to nitpick, but doesn't a legend have to be dead?" the older man, Stein Snart called him, asked.

"Yeah, see, us, that's a deal-breaker for me, so I'm gonna pass," the boy I woke up next to said.

"We're all going to be dead by 2166 anyway," I pointed out.

"It's dangerous for any of you to know too much about your own futures, but I am here because each of you, as individuals, is destined for greatness."

"I could get behind that," Ray said.

"And, because if you don't follow me, this is what is in store for your world 150 years from now." He pulled something out from his pocket and pressed a button on it. The building around us seemed to melt in a sea of red and orange from fires you could see through multiple windows. The sky was filled with smoke and I stared in sadness until the city went back to normal. "I could have chosen any time and any place. Of all the people who ever lived, I chose you nine. I certainly hope that you won't let me, and the world, down." He walked past Lenny and Mick to Stein and handed him a card. "If your answer is yes, meet me at this address in 36 hours."

I stood at Tommy's grave and stared at the stone in front of me.

"What should I do, Tommy?" I whispered to the air while expecting nothing.

"About what?" I smiled at the familiar voice of my half-sister.

"Hey, Thea."

"So what's the advice you came here looking for?" she asked me and I told her everything.

"Wow," she breathed out. "That's amazing."

"Yea."

"What are you going to do?" I took a deep breath.

"I don't know. My whole life is here, Thea," I reminded her.

"It's not like you won't be coming back after you catch the bad guy. We'll be here waiting for the big time hero." I laughed at her words. "Do you want to go?"

"Yeah, I kinda do."

"Then do it," she said nudging me slightly.

One the day Rip told us all to meet, I waited as Sara, Ray, Kendra, Carter, winter coat (Leonard Snart I'd looked up), and his partner (Mick Rory) showed up.

"You too, huh?" Sara asked me and I nodded before looking at Snart and Rory.

"Surprised to see you two here."

"Just updating the resume," Snart said and I gave him a look before a car pulled up. Professor Stein and his unconscious partner Jefferson Jackson (aka Firestorm) sat in the car as we all walked up to them. Professor Stein stepped out of his vehicle when Snart drew his attention to us.

"Professor!" Stein turned to look at us. "This is the place."

"I think we're being punked," Ray said and I rolled my eyes. "Do people still say 'punked'?"

"No," Sara answered.

"I see your partner threw himself a going-away party," Carter said drawing our attention to the boy still in the car.

"Yes, I believe he drank something that didn't quite agree with him," the Professor said.

"Did he know he was drinking it?" I asked with a small smirk on my face.

"You don't look too happy to be here," Snart said looking at the Kendra.

"Perceptive."

"Well, I see you've all decided to come." We turned our attention to see Rip walking towards us. "Well then, we can be on our way." He turned to walk away from us and I gave him a look.

"I ain't footing it anywhere," Snart said and I shook my head.

"A Time Master's sacred charge is to do no harm to the timeline," Rip told us and I grew confused at his words. "Can you imagine what a timeship would look like in, say, Victorian England?

"Holographic indigenous camouflage projection," the Professor said.

"And for those of us who don't know what that means?" I sighed.

"Indeed," Rip said proudly. He pulled something out before pressing a button on it. A ship revealed itself to us and my mouth fell open at what was now before us. "It's called the Waverider. It's been my ship for over a decade. Shall we?" he asked before going onboard.

Once inside the ship, I looked around in amazement. I followed the others to the bridge to see a chair in front of nine others set up in three. In one of the sets, Jefferson was strapped in and ready to go still sleeping.

"Whatever you roofied him with I'd like some," Mick told the Professor, swinging his arm around the older man's shoulders.

"I did not roofie him," the Professor insisted as they passed an amazed Kendra.

"I have never seen anything like this," Kendra commented.

"Neither have I, considering I have 4,000 years worth of memories, that's saying something," Carter said following her.

"Rip did say he was from the future, I reminded them.

"How does a vessel of this size function without a crew?" the Professor asked.

"I don't need one," Rip told him. "I have Gideon."

"Welcome aboard." A blue holographic head appeared in the center of the table. "I am Gideon, an interactive artificial consciousness programmed to operate this vessel's critical systems and aid Captain Hunter in his mission."

"Captain?" Snart asked him.

"Gideon's been working on helping me locate Vandal Savage," Rip told us dodging the question.

"I thought you said he's pretty active in the 22nd century," Ray said.

"Which is why we should avoid it," I told Ray.

"Perhaps engaging Savage at the height of his powers isn't the strategy," Stein added.

"Indeed," Rip agreed. "Unfortunately, Savage kept his movements hidden throughout history. Not even Gideon can determine where or when we can find him. But I have the next best thing: the man who can. Professor Aldus Boardman. Professor Boardman is the world's leading-well, only-expert on Vandal Savage. We're gonna pay him a visit."

"Course plotted for St. Roch, New Orleans."

"St. Roch?" Carter asked.

"October 17, 1975."

"I suggest you all strap yourselves in," Rip said going to the seat in front of the others. "Temporal navigation isn't something one wants to be standing up for." He strapped himself in and we all quickly followed suit. The Professor, a sleeping Jefferson, and Ray all sat next to each other. I sat next to Kendra and Carter. That left Sara sitting next to Snart and Mick.

"Time travel. Cool," Mick said with a grin on his face as he lowered the roller coaster looking straps.

"Some of you may experience some slight discomfort," Rip warned. "In very rare instances, there will be some, uh, bleeding from the eyeballs."

"I'm sorry, what?" Kendra asked shocked.

"And what else can we expect to happen to us?" I asked him annoyed. He simply ignored us before hitting a button.

"The human body is used to time unfolding linearly," Rip explained to us.

"Oh," we looked over to see Jefferson waking up.

"Jefferson, I'm so glad you're awake," the Professor said excitedly. "I didn't want you to miss this."

"Miss what?" the poor boy asked confused. "What the-" Jefferson tried getting himself out of his harness.

"No, I wouldn't unfasten those if I were you," Rip told him.

"Get me off this-whatever this thing is!" Jefferson ordered angrily.

"Good luck explaining this," Sara told him.

"I did him a favor," the Professor told us and I started laughing.

"He doesn't look all that grateful," Snart added.

"Just hang on and remain calm," Rip ordered. He turned his chair around. "All your worlds are about to change." He pushed a lever and we left 2016.

St Roch

1975

Once Rip gave us the all-clear to move around again, Ray stood from his seat with a large grin and Mick vomited next to his seat.

"Oh, I should have mentioned it before," Rip said staring at Mick. "Nausea is one of the side effects of time travel, along with-" Ray fell over with a small scream on his face. "Vertigo."

"I can't see," the professor called out.

"And temporary blindness." Rip got up from his chair and made his way to the Professor. "Oh, it should only last a minute. After all, that was a mere jaunt." Rip waved his hand in the professor's face. "The further back in time you go, the worse the side effects." I shook my head trying to get the mugginess to go away. "Better?"

"It's all relative."

"Good."

"I can't believe you kidnapped me," Jefferson said angrily to the professor. "Hey, I want to go home."

"Good news, then," Rip told him. "2016 will be around in, uh, 41 years. Now, you three, feel free to make yourselves comfortable back here on the ship, while the rest of you are coming with me to find Professor Boardman."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa," Mick said stopping Rip from walking away. "You're benching us?" Sara asked him.

"I thought we were a team," Sara reminded him.

"This mission doesn't require your particular skill set," Rip explained. "Yet."

"Meaning you don't need anyone killed maimed or robbed," Snart simplified.

"Precisely."

"Sure it's a good idea to leave these two unsupervised on a time ship?" Ray asked Rip.

"Hey, haircut!" Mick called out to him. "Deafness wasn't one of the side effects."

"I'm surprised you know what deafness is," I said. He growled at me and I gave him a look.

"We better hurry up. Professor Boardman will die in less than 24 hours," Rip warned us.

"What's the point in cutting it so close?" Ray asked him.

"The closer we are to his death the less impact we make on time," I surmised.

"How brilliant!" the professor said in amazement.

"And depressing," Kendra laughed. "How does he die?"

"Uh, he's found dead in his university from unknown causes," Rip sighed. "Come on." We followed him off the bridge and into 1975.

"This is unbelievable," Ray laughed as we walked up to the university. "1975."

"Imagine all the wondrous applications of this technology. A chance to witness the construction of the pyramids, the end of the dinosaurs," the Professor rambled on.

"I've never been to 1975," Rip commented. "It's rather colorful."

"So, where can we find Professor Boardman?" Kendra asked.

"In his lecture hall," Rip said.

"Oh, goody," I sighed. "I so wanted to go back to school today."

We followed Rip to Boardman's lecture hall to see him slumped over his typewriter.

"Oh, man. We're too late," Kendra sighed.

"This is- I'm, I'm sorry," he jumped up from his writings and stared at Kendra and Carter in amazement. "You. Both of you."

"You know who we are?" Carter asked him.

"I've been studying you my whole life," he said happily. "Ever since, as a child, I first heard the story of Chay-Ara, High Priestess of Horus, the Hawk God, and her lover, Prince Khufu. I hoped and prayed this day might come."

"Well, then, looks like we've come to the right place," Rip said.

"I'm sorry. Who are you?" Professor Boardman asked Rip.

"A fellow historian, here to discuss another passion of yours: Vandal Savage."

"There's no way of telling your story without telling his also," Professor Boardman told us. He went to a pile of books and blew the dust from one before picking it up and walking back to us. "4,000 years ago, Vandal Savage was an Egyptian priest, secretly in love with a young princess. Ahura, your sister. Savage, or Hath-Set as he was then known, learned of their forbidden affair and was consumed with jealous rage."

"You believe me yet?" Carter asked Kendra.

"Is now really the time?" I asked giving him a look. "Why was he so jealous if they were with each other?"

"The priests and priestess weren't allowed to be with anyone human. They were to be completely devoted to their god or goddess. The sight of Chay-Ara and Khufu together drove him to murder you both," the professor answered. "And prayed for the hawk god, Horus, to damn the objects of his hate for all eternity. But Chay-Ara had a prayer of her own, that Horus would protect them forever. But two other lives were bound to theirs by accident."

"Two?" Carter asked confused.

"I thought only Savage was bound to us."

"No. The young princess, Ahura, was seeking guidance from Chay-Ara when she came upon the murdered couple. Savage tried to make her see his reasoning in killing them but in the end, he killed her as well," Professor Boardman explained.

"Then why haven't we ever seen her?" Carter asked.

"She, unlike you, changes when she's reborn. I've only come across her once before," Professor Boardman told us before moving from the book and towards Kendra and Carter. "My theory is that the four of you were exposed to the same radiation by the meteorites."

"We all share the same power," Kendra said.

"And every time he kills you, it passes to him."

"What about when he kills Ahura?" I asked him.

"The process would be the same," he answered. "That's what maintains his immortality."

"That's impossible," Professor Stein chimed in.

"Unless the meteorites contained a mutative element, like the particle accelerator that caused your powers," Ray told him.

"But without evidence, you're asking us to take you at your word?" Stein asked Boardman.

"It's not my word," Boardman assured him. "It's theirs. But you still don't remember me, do you?" he asked looking at Kendra and Carter.

"We knew you in our past lives," Carter stated. Boardman moved to his belongings as he continued to talk.

"You've told me your entire story, stretching back through the ages, but when I first knew you, it was after World War 1, and your names were Joe and Edith. Edith Boardman," he told them with a smile on his face.

"Wait, I- we were related?" Kendra asked him with a smile. "I don't remember you. I'm so sorry."

"Don't be," he told her. "You always warned me that if I ran into you in your next life, you might have forgotten me. That's us at the World's Fair." He handed her a picture. Carter looked at him in shock while Kendra looked up at Carter. "You're just as beautiful as I remember you. Mother."

"How old were you when-" Carter started asking him.

"You two were murdered?" Boardman finished for him. "Ten. My whole life, you taught me to be careful, to keep moving, always one step ahead of Savage, but after tracking you for 4,000 years, he'd gotten good. He found us in the middle of the night at a fleabag motel in North Carolina. You hid me in the closet, made me promise that no matter what I heard, I'd stay put. And I did."

"Sorry to interrupt your family time," Rip said trying to move between the three of them. "But we were hoping you could tell us a bit more where to locate Savage's present whereabouts." Boardman spun and turned on his projector.

"He hides in the shadows," Boardman told us showing us a picture of Savage watching from the background. "Never drawing too much attention, but every lifetime, placing himself in the seat of power, sowing seeds of destruction. Who remembers the name of the man who whispered in the ear of Gavrilo Princip, and convinced him to start World War 1?"

"Why?" Ray asked him. "What does he get out of that?"

"The more the world is focused on destroying itself, the less it notices an immortal psychopath in its midst?" Stein asked.

"With the ultimate goal of subjugating the entire planet," Boardman said.

"He killed your parents, professor Boardman," Rip reminded him. "Something tells me you know where to locate Vandal Savage."

"I have an educated guess," Boardman told us. He turned off the projector and pulled out a small journal. "A lifetime of research on Vandal Savage that all points in this direction. This should help you find him, and the vengeance that has eluded me all these years."

"Jefferson-" Stein said suddenly. "Something's happening to Jefferson!"

"We seem to have a little problem back at the, uh, vessel," Rip told Boardman. "There's an intruder. We really must be going now. Thank you for everything." Rip quickly walked away with Kendra and Carter following him.