Return to Camelot
"Oh, you have GOT to be kidding me!"
"I'm afraid not, Captain Lance," Gideon said. "According to the historical record, the Inauguration ceremony of President Obama, the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and three other crucial moments in history devolved into chaos when-"
"I can see that, but how could something like that happen?"
"Unknown, Captain," Gideon said brightly. Nate kept quiet. Of course, he'd discovered the issue while searching for Ray, but hadn't mentioned it yet because the information was irrelevant until the ship was repaired, and Ray was back onboard.
"This explains why the time quakes were strong enough to damage the ship," Zari said. "The kind of ripples this could make are-"
"Astronomical," Ava said breathlessly. "Oh my God, babe, this... how are we supposed to-"
"Ava, don't panic, okay? This is a walk in the park. You cut your teeth on stuff like this, remember?"
"That was when we had dozens of time ships and the Bureau's vast resources! Now, it's just... us."
"That's all it has to be, Ava," Z said.
Sara nodded. "Z's right, Ava. We don't need the Bureau for this. We have the ship and a jump ship. We'll split up. Nate, you and Mick-"
"Bring back Haircut," Mick said. "Got it."
"What? No," Ava said. "Guys, I know you're worried about Ray, but we have to fix this first."
"Ava-"
"No way, " Mick snapped over Sara. "Haircut comes first."
"I agree with Mick," Nate said immediately. "None of the anachronisms happened before Camelot. We can pick up Ray, get his suit working, and he can help us handle-"
"Nate, we have to take care of this first!" Ava said.
"Forget it!" Mick growled.
"We-"
"Guys!" Sara snapped. "Stop okay?" They all looked at her, Zari practically wincing through the conflict. "Mick, Nate, I'm sorry, but Ava's right. We have to stop these aberrations before the storms get any worse."
"But-"
"Ah-ah!" Sara said sharply. "Ava, the guys are right, too. Ray's a part of this team. A part of this family."
"But Sara-"
"His sacrifice saved this ship. Ray is the only reason we lived long enough to get Gideon back online. We owe it to him to get him back as fast as we can." Ava hesitated, then nodded, and Z had a relieved smile on her face. Sara looked from Mick to Nate. "You guys take the jump ship and find Ray. Gideon, you feed our coordinates to them and get them back here the minute they get Ray."
"Understood, Captain, " Gideon said.
Nate turned toward the door. "Mick!"
"Let's go," Mick growled, already headed for the hall.
Nate skipped after him, turning back at the hall entrance and clasping his hands together toward Sara. "Thank you!" he mouthed.
"Bring him back safe," Sara said. "And tell him we would have all come, except for..." She waved a hand at the console screens.
"Pretty!" Nate gave Sara a thumbs up, waved at Ava and Zari and ran after Mick. He caught up to Mick and they ran together through the halls.
Nate started to veer toward their quarters, but Mick kept going. "Hey! Where are you going?"
"Jump ship," he said, looking like it was the craziest thing hey ever heard.
"Why the jump ship?" he asked, remembering that Sara had made the same suggestion. "Why can't we just use a time courier and-"
"And come out where?" Mick asked. "He'll be in battle. We need to cover a lot of ground fast."
"Wait, when are we getting him?'
"March 25, 526."
Nate shook his head. "Can't we go the day before? What if-"
"Can't," Mick said. "You wouldn't know where to go if no one ever wrote the date in the book."
"But that means he'd have to die to -"
"Trust me, Pretty," Mick snapped. "We have to avoid any big aberrations. Timeline's too unstable as it is. If we cause too big of a change, we could risk damaging the jump ship. And we need the jump ship's link with Gideon to get back to the Waverider. She won't be in the same place when were done, remember?"
Nate nodded, still feeling nervous about the whole plan. But Mick had been "trained" by the Time Masters, so he must know what he was talking about. "Okay, Mick," he said. "I trust you."
Mick looked him directly in the eyes. "We'll make it in time. Don't worry."
"Okay. Let's do this."
Nate and Mick ran the rest of the way to the jump ship. Nate strapped in while Mick manned the controls. He took a deep breath and Mick initiated the jump.