"Finished?"
Quietly listening to Sara Lance's words, Jack Kadere leaned against the console and smiled, raising a finger. "I have two questions."
"Go ahead," Sara Lance said.
"First question—why didn't you travel to the moment when I kidnapped Laurel? Since you can detect time aberrations, wouldn't it make more sense to solve this at the source?" If the Legends had come after Jack Kadere back then, he might never have trained Laurel to become Black Canary ahead of schedule, and none of the subsequent events would have happened.
"It was too late," Rip Hunter said, shaking his head. "By the time we noticed something was wrong, that piece of history had already been fixed."
"Okay. Second question." Jack Kadere's smile didn't waver. "By what right... do you stop me?"
The question made the Legends tense. Based on their experience so far, no mission ever went smoothly. This one was unlikely to be the exception.
Sara Lance tightened her grip on her batons.
Captain Cold and Heat Wave raised their cold gun and flamethrower. Heat Wave aimed at Jack Kadere and said, "Because I can burn you to ash."
Jack Kadere looked at him. "Trust me—you can't."
"Then let's try!"
Rip Hunter stepped in before the situation could escalate. "I don't think gathering your ex-girlfriends in one place is a very wise choice. If you simply don't introduce them to each other, you solve the problem."
"One—Felicity is my only ex-girlfriend, and technically we haven't even broken up yet. Two—when I asked 'by what right,' I wasn't talking about force." Jack Kadere raised two fingers and fixed his gaze on Rip Hunter. "You formed the Legends to save your family and deal with the immortal tyrant Vandal Savage. And yes, you shamelessly slapped a 'saving the world' label on it, but haven't you been traveling through time everywhere changing history? Correcting time aberrations is your personal crusade. What standing do you have to stop me?"
Rip Hunter fell silent. The others who had been about to argue fell silent too.
"But we are saving the world," the Atom offered weakly.
Nobody responded.
"I admit we have no standing to demand anything of you," Rip Hunter said. "But we have to do this. If we don't stop you, Sara Lance won't just have memory problems—she'll vanish from our team entirely. So—" His voice rose sharply. "Gideon! Random time jump—now!"
"Understood, Captain Hunter."
Gideon's voice echoed through the bridge. The Waverider lurched upward and accelerated.
Wind howled. The thrusters blazed blue.
With a whoosh, the Waverider vanished.
The violent shaking threw everyone off their feet. The pressure of time travel left them dizzy, ears ringing, hearts pounding against their ribs. After what felt like hours—or maybe only minutes—the shaking finally subsided and the Waverider touched down.
"Engage stealth mode. Report our time and location."
Rip Hunter was still sprawled on the floor when he gave the order.
"Stealth mode engaged. The year is 1917. Current location: waters near Paradise Island."
Groaning, the crew picked themselves up. Martin Stein found his glasses, put them back on, and asked absently, "1917—the year before World War I ended? And what's Paradise Island?"
"Damn it, I hate time travel."
Heat Wave spat the words out while fighting down nausea.
"Should've just burned him to death."
Rip Hunter straightened his coat and explained, "Paradise Island is isolated. Only Amazons live there."
"Only women."
"Sounds like the perfect place for him."
Sara Lance's tone was dry, her eyes never leaving Jack Kadere where he lay on the floor.
Rip Hunter's plan had been simple: remove Jack Kadere temporarily, drop him somewhere out of the way. As long as he didn't go pick up Laurel, the Birds of Prey would never meet, and Sara Lance wouldn't be affected. Once the aberration corrected itself, Jack's memory would be wiped and he'd be returned. But Paradise Island...
"This place isn't friendly to outsiders," Rip Hunter said, hesitant. "Especially men."
"Will there be danger?"
"If he's careful not to be discovered by the Amazons, he should be fine. Once the aberration is corrected, we'll come back for him."
Captain Cold pressed further. "Leaving him here won't cause more aberrations?"
"Probably not." Rip Hunter shook his head. "The Amazons aren't to be trifled with."
Sara Lance walked over to Jack Kadere and crouched beside him. She studied him in silence for a long moment before speaking.
"None of this has happened for you yet. But in my memory... Laurel loved you. A lot. And you got bored and dumped her." Her voice was flat. "So part of me hopes you die on Paradise Island. But you did let her live. Even if it's just a time aberration." She exhaled. "Find a place to hide. We'll come back for you."
"Sounds like something I'd do." Jack Kadere grinned. "So I cuckolded Oliver Queen, huh?"
"Her first was you."
Sara's voice dropped, low and venomous.
"Why do you think I went after Oliver? I wanted to beat her at something. Getting him into bed first—that was the only way I could win." Her jaw tightened. "Asshole."