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daylight_darknightI did it! I actually updated this weekend. I didn't think I would but I did. Just a short epilogue left, but I have to rewrite it a bit so not sure when it'll be done.
Title: Bank Robbers and Cutpurses
Characters: Rip Hunter, Leonard Snart
Rating/Warnings: PG-13
Genre: Action/Adventure, Drama, Hurt/Comfort (sort of)
Word Count: 3300 for Chapter 4, about 15,000 in total
Spoilers: Set between 1x12 and 1x13.
Summary: Rip Hunter, Leonard Snart, a concussion, a broken ankle, and a time pirate prison cell.
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Rip’s revolver was currently in the hands of a large, brutish man with tanned skin and thinning hair, wearing a long, black coat. The time pirate, for there was no doubt he was one, had cocked the revolver and was happily pointing it right at Rip who glowered back at him. Flanking the man on either side were two women, one tall and pale with frizzy, red hair and a scar down her cheek, the other Asian with short, black hair that stuck strait up in the air. The women also had blasters aimed at Rip and Snart.
“Well, well, well,” said the man, smugly. “It seems I was right.” He turned his head to address his fellow pirates. “I told you guys it was a trick.” Turning back, he took a step towards Rip, a sneer spreading across his face. “Did you really think we were dumb enough to fall for your little ruse?”
“You seriously want us to answer that question?” said Snart contemptuously as if he weren’t the least bit intimidated by the pirates or their weapons.
The pirate cocked his head to the side contemplating Snart, studying him in an all too malevolent manner, before turning back to Rip. “You’re the captain, right? I’m not too sure about your friend here, but I know what you are. I can tell a time master a mile off. They always have a certain cold arrogance about them.”
“I am,” said Rip watching the man warily. “And you’re not.” Rip didn’t know who this man was. He wasn’t one of the many time pirates he’d tangled with before, but just like the man could tell that he was a time master, Rip knew this man wasn’t the one in charge.
The pirate snorted seeming almost impressed. “That’s true,” he admitted. “The Captain is busy elsewhere. I’m her second in command. Balam, at your service.” He bowed his head giving a theatric twirl of his hand. “And you are?”
Rip debated momentarily whether or not to give his real name, but then figured it couldn’t make things any worse. “Captain Rip Hunter,” he declared.
Balam grinned maliciously and the other pirates looked equally gleeful. “My oh my,” he said. “The Captain was right. Rip Hunter. This certainly makes things interesting.”
Or maybe it hadn’t been such a great idea, thought Rip wincing internally.
“I know a lot of people who’d love to get their hands on you,” said Balam, thoughtfully. “But I think we’ll keep you for ourselves. It’ll be quite the boost to our reputation.”
“I’m so glad to be of service,” said Rip with as much sarcasm as he could muster.
Balam chuckled, more amused than intimidated by Rip's defiant attitude. “It seems the two of you have been rather busy and here I thought I’d tucked you up so nicely down in your little cell. Didn’t you like your accommodations?”
“It was a little dull,” said Rip.
“Not to mention cramped,” added Snart.
“Don’t worry,” said Balam, “we’ll put you somewhere much more interesting this time, full of stuff I’m sure will keep you entertained.” He drew out the last word, his lips sliding into a sinister smile. The women flanking him laughed.
Rip rolled his eyes. These pirates certainly loved their dramatics.
“You were busy napping when we brought you in,” Balam continued. “Now that you’re awake, there’s a certain ship we really must talk about.”
Rip glared at him. “You don’t actually believe I’ll give up the Waverider.”
“After a little persuasion,” the Asian woman said.
“We’re very good at persuasion,” said the redhead.
Snart tilted his head towards Rip. “They really enjoy their little insinuations,” he said.
“I’ve noticed,” Rip replied before addressing the pirates once more. “Could we dispense with the thinly veiled threats and just get on with things?”
Some of the smugness fell away from Balam’s face and his tone grew colder. “Oh, I’ll be sure to describe what we’re going to do to you in graphic detail before we get started. After all, they do say the anticipation of pain is worse than the actual thing, and the actual thing... Well, I do so love a good scream.”
The dark look in the man’s eyes sent a cold shiver down Rip’s spine. He gritted his teeth though and refused to let it show.
“Maybe if you tell us what you did with Moko and Rach,” Balam continued. “I'll go a little easier on you. Maybe,” he added with a shrug.
Showing no sign of being even the slightest bit concerned by the threats, Snart turned to look at Rip with a raised eyebrow.
“I assume he means our friends from the store room,” Rip explained.
“Ah,” Snart said in understanding; then turned back to the pirates. “They're a little tied up at the moment. You know you should really remind your fellow pirates to keep their blasters with them at all times.”
The woman with the red hair looked disbelievingly at Snart. “You're giving us advice?”
“You could obviously use some,” was Snart's snide reply. “Our escape was way too easy. Training your members better would be a start. You might also want to look into improving your security.”
“And perhaps hiring a cleaning service,” Rip couldn’t help adding.
“That too,” Snart agreed with a nod.
None of the pirates seemed to find this amusing.
Balam scowled at them. “You won’t be so flippant when the Captain gets back. She’ll take care of you. Talk like that to her and she’ll cut out your tongues, and you’ll be lucky if that’s the only thing she cuts off. One minute with her and she’ll have you...”
Rip barely listened as the pirate continued his tirade. Surreptitiously as possible, he bent his knees letting his weight sink down into the balls of his feet as his gaze flickered in the direction of Snart. Their eyes met and Leonard gave the tiniest of nods.
Balam was still talking, waxing eloquently on just what their captain would do to them, when Rip sprang towards him.
Rip’s left arm knocked the man’s right arm up. Balam reacted automatically pulling the trigger on the revolver, but it was now pointing up so all it did was blast the ceiling causing sparks to rain down upon them. Almost in the same instant, Rip brought his right arm around to punch the pirate squarely in the jaw snapping his head back and disorienting him. Rip followed this up with a kick to Balam’s stomach deliberately pushing him in the direction of the Asian woman who was just bringing her blaster to bear on him.
Balam collided with his cohort knocking the blaster out of her hand and knocking her back against a wall. Rip saw her head slam painfully against the surface and watched her crumple to floor hopefully out for the near future. Balam definitely wasn’t out. He still looked a bit disoriented but he was already pulling himself together and glaring at Rip. He had also, unfortunately, managed to keep ahold of Rip’s revolver.
Out of the corner of his eye, Rip saw Snart fighting with the other woman. He’d seen Snart throw something at her while he’d been fighting Balam and then leap towards her. Now Snart was struggling with the pirate trying to get ahold of her blaster. Rip had no idea how he was managing to do so with only one working foot. He seemed to be using the woman to hold himself up. Rip saw them fall to the floor before he was forced to redirect his attention to his own opponent.
Balam fired at Rip and he only just managed to dodge out of the way in time. The blue blast of light sizzled through the air only centimetres from him, close enough for Rip to feel the heat of its passage.
Rip dived towards the pirate hoping to get his revolver back. He managed to get his fingers around it, but Balam’s grip was seemingly unbreakable and he used Rip’s hold on the gun to his advantage. He swung the gun around yanking Rip along with it.
The swing threw Rip against a workbench. His back collided painfully against the edge of the table knocking the wind out of him, but he kept ahold of the gun. He had to. Not only was it his only chance of getting the weapon back, it was the only way of keeping Balam from firing at him again.
Balam didn’t seemed to mind that Rip still held the gun. He just smirked evilly, and then before Rip could get himself in a better position, swung his arm around in the opposite direction putting all of his weight behind it.
This time Rip collided with a wall and he collided head first. It wasn’t a bad blow. Rip let go of the gun in time to get his arm up in between him and the wall so it could absorb some of the impact, but when combined with his previous head injury, it was enough.
Rip’s vision flashed white, pain echoing through his skull as his head rebounded off the wall. Time seemed to slow down and everything grew silent and distant.
Rip suddenly became aware that he was lying on his back on the floor though he couldn’t remember falling. He blinked and the world swam blurrily in front of him. There was noise, people talking, but it sounded as if he were underwater. He just wanted to lie there, close his eyes and give in to the numb darkness, but something stopped him. The people were still talking. He couldn’t tell what they were saying, but somehow he knew it was important. He pushed against the pull of unconsciousness, forced his mind to focus.
“You know the only person we really need is your Captain,” a rough voice was saying. “You’re just extra baggage, dispensable.”
Balam, the time pirate second in command, Rip realized recalling the perilous situation he was still in.
“You might not find me so easy to dispense with,” growled a second voice.
And that was Snart.
Struggling, Rip turned towards the voices, rolling over onto his side and pushing himself up onto his elbow. He almost sank right back down on to the floor. The pounding in his head had grown all encompassing and the world was spinning so badly he momentarily wondered if someone had messed with the gravity. Squeezing his eyes shut, he waited for the moment to pass. When things had stabilized, at least a little, he opened his eyes again and peered across the room squinting as he tried to force the blurry world into focus.
The first thing Rip saw was Balam standing with his back to him, revolver pointing at something on the ground.
The second thing Rip saw was Snart lying directly in the pirate’s line of fire.
Leonard was across the room, crumpled on the floor among the pieces of what might have once been a ship’s life support system. His arm was wrapped around his torso as if in pain, his useless leg sticking out in front of him as he scowled up at the pirate. To most he would seem completely unintimidated by his current vulnerable position, but Rip caught a flicker of fear in his eyes.
Balam snorted at Snart’s bravado. “You do realize which one of us has the gun and which one of us is lying helpless on the floor?”
Snart sneered at him and said snidely, “I also realize which one of us just escaped from being tied up and locked away in a cell and which is the idiot who let their prisoners escape.”
Rip scanned the room for something he could use, some weapon. He sought out the other pirates, the women. They were both down. The Asian woman he’d taken out was still prone on the floor near the door and the redhead lay half-a-dozen feet from Snart with a knife in her abdomen. Both of their blasters sat near their bodies. Unfortunately, they were also both in Balam’s line of sight.
It seemed hopeless, but then Rip remembered the knife he had taken off the pirate in the store room. He reached into his jacket. It was still there. He wrapped his hand around the hilt, and slowly, began pushing himself to his knees. The world almost slipped away from him once more as he did so. He bent over breathing heavily, feeling shaky and ill. He wondered how the hell he was supposed to fight when it didn’t look like he’d even be able to make it to his feet.
“I suppose I could always use you as leverage in order to get your Captain to give us what we want,” Balam mused.
Snart scoffed. “Good luck with that. You’re even more of an idiot if you think he cares anything about my life. He certainly wouldn’t trade his precious ship for me.”
Snart was bluffing. Rip really, really hoped Snart was bluffing, but he couldn’t help feeling that there was more than a little belief behind what he'd said, and for once, he couldn’t blame Leonard for feeling that way. He had failed too many times as a captain, done too little to earn the man’s, or any of his crew’s, trust, and now he was doing it again.
Balam shrugged. “Doesn’t matter," he said. "I’d much rather just shoot you anyway.” And he cocked the gun at Snart.
Leonard stared up at the pirate, defiant and angry and, though he tried to hide it, just that little bit scared.
Rip’s heart began to pound, a rushing sounded in his ears, and suddenly before he knew it, he was on his feet. The next moment he had reached the pirate, wrapped his arms around him, and had the blade of his knife pressed up against his neck.
“Give me back my gun now,” Rip demanded, his voice as cold as the deepest reaches of space.
Balam’s body stiffened and he made a surprised noise which was half grunt, half squeak. “Ah, Captain Hunter,” he gasped in a strangled tone. “We were just talking about you.”
“My gun,” Rip repeated.
Instead of relinquishing the weapon, Balam waved it in the direction of Snart. “We seem to be in a bit of a stalemate, unless you really think you can kill me before I have a chance to get a shot off at your friend.”
Rip pressed the knife closer to Balam’s neck, close enough to draw blood. “If you so much as singe a single hair on my friend’s head,” said Rip calling on a dark predatory nature he’d buried long ago, “I will find out just how slowly I can sever your head from your neck with this knife. Now give me back my gun.” He said the last slowly emphasizing every word.
Balam’s shoulders slumped and he gave a frustrated growl as he handed over the revolver.
As soon as Rip had ahold of the gun, he shoved the pirate away from him and away from Snart.
Balam stumbled forward several steps but then righted himself and spun to glare at Rip. “If you think you’ve won, you’re wrong,” he snapped. “You’re not getting out of here alive. The rest of the crew will be back any moment now, and when the Captain gets here, she’ll have both of you...”
Rip didn’t bother letting him finish. He simply raised his recently retrieved revolver and fired.
The pirate collapsed onto the floor either unconscious or dead. Rip wasn’t sure what power setting the pirate had left his revolver on and he couldn’t say he cared.
“Well, what do you know,” said Leonard, a hint of wonder in his voice.
Rip swung his head back towards him, stumbling slightly as the sudden movement made him dizzy. “What?” he said frowning in confusion.
Snart smiled an amused smile. “That was quite some threat you made on my behalf. You even called me your friend. I’m seriously touched.”
“That was just the concussion talking,” said Rip with a dismissive wave of his hand.
“Oh, no,” said Leonard. “You like me. You really like me.”
Rip groaned wondering just what he had gotten himself into. He was about to deny Snart’s assertion once more, not even sure why he was doing so, when a loud crash came from outside the room. The crash was followed by several voices shouting and the sound of blaster fire. The pirates had shut the door to the workshop when they’d entered most likely to deter their rediscovered prisoners from escaping. This meant their view of what was going on outside was blocked, but whatever it was it didn’t sound good.
“Do you ever get the feeling,” said Snart as he crawled along the floor towards the redheaded pirate and her fallen blaster, “you must have pissed off someone really powerful in a former life.” He grabbed the blaster and charged it up.
“All the bloody time,” Rip replied as he levelled his revolver at the closed door.
The sounds of battle grew louder; then suddenly the door blew open falling off its hinges amongst a cloud of fire and smoke.
A figure strode forward through the gray haze.
Rip tightened his finger on the trigger preparing to fire. From the floor, Leonard levelled his blaster.
And then the figure resolved itself into the red and blue form of Dr. Raymond Palmer in his Atom suit.
Rip stared at him in astonishment.
Ray’s face immediately lit up with a grin. “Hey, I found them,” he called out.
Snart rolled his eyes in exasperation. “Now they show up.”
“How the hell...” said Rip as he let his revolver fall to his side.
“It’s a long story actually,” said Ray. “When you two disappeared, we...”
“You can tell them later,” said Sara as she pushed past him into the room, her eyes quickly taking in the scene. “Are you guys okay?”
“Wonderful,” grumbled Leonard. “Get us out of here.”
Sara raised her eyebrows. “Really? Because you two...”
“Look like shit,” Mick finished for her as he joined them.
“Great to see you too, Mick,” said Snart. “What took you so long?”
Sara snorted. “That’s nice,” she said as she walked over to where Snart sat. “Maybe next time we’ll just leave you guys to fend for yourselves.”
“Don’t you dare,” said Leonard.
Smiling, Sara bent down and pulled Snart to his feet, or rather foot. Leonard placed an arm across her shoulders apparently quite happy to lean against her and let her take his weight, a lot happier than he had been with Rip. A sparkle seemed to echo from one set of eyes to the other as they gazed at each other.
When had that happened, Rip wondered, but he was beginning to realize there was more than a few things he had overlooked when it came to Mr. Snart. He blinked as his vision began to swim and he was suddenly very aware of the sharp ache in his head once more. He felt himself sway slightly.
Leonard turned his gaze to Rip, a worried look in his eyes. “Not again,” he said, wearily. “Would one of you catch Rip. I’ve already done my fair share of catching today.”
Rip scowled and opened his mouth about to say something about just who had been holding up who, but the darkness was starting to creep along the edges of his vision once more. His revolver fell from his numb fingers clattering against the floor as the world vanished around him and he sank into oblivion.
Chapter 5
Title: Bank Robbers and Cutpurses
Characters: Rip Hunter, Leonard Snart
Rating/Warnings: PG-13
Genre: Action/Adventure, Drama, Hurt/Comfort (sort of)
Word Count: 3300 for Chapter 4, about 15,000 in total
Spoilers: Set between 1x12 and 1x13.
Summary: Rip Hunter, Leonard Snart, a concussion, a broken ankle, and a time pirate prison cell.
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Rip’s revolver was currently in the hands of a large, brutish man with tanned skin and thinning hair, wearing a long, black coat. The time pirate, for there was no doubt he was one, had cocked the revolver and was happily pointing it right at Rip who glowered back at him. Flanking the man on either side were two women, one tall and pale with frizzy, red hair and a scar down her cheek, the other Asian with short, black hair that stuck strait up in the air. The women also had blasters aimed at Rip and Snart.
“Well, well, well,” said the man, smugly. “It seems I was right.” He turned his head to address his fellow pirates. “I told you guys it was a trick.” Turning back, he took a step towards Rip, a sneer spreading across his face. “Did you really think we were dumb enough to fall for your little ruse?”
“You seriously want us to answer that question?” said Snart contemptuously as if he weren’t the least bit intimidated by the pirates or their weapons.
The pirate cocked his head to the side contemplating Snart, studying him in an all too malevolent manner, before turning back to Rip. “You’re the captain, right? I’m not too sure about your friend here, but I know what you are. I can tell a time master a mile off. They always have a certain cold arrogance about them.”
“I am,” said Rip watching the man warily. “And you’re not.” Rip didn’t know who this man was. He wasn’t one of the many time pirates he’d tangled with before, but just like the man could tell that he was a time master, Rip knew this man wasn’t the one in charge.
The pirate snorted seeming almost impressed. “That’s true,” he admitted. “The Captain is busy elsewhere. I’m her second in command. Balam, at your service.” He bowed his head giving a theatric twirl of his hand. “And you are?”
Rip debated momentarily whether or not to give his real name, but then figured it couldn’t make things any worse. “Captain Rip Hunter,” he declared.
Balam grinned maliciously and the other pirates looked equally gleeful. “My oh my,” he said. “The Captain was right. Rip Hunter. This certainly makes things interesting.”
Or maybe it hadn’t been such a great idea, thought Rip wincing internally.
“I know a lot of people who’d love to get their hands on you,” said Balam, thoughtfully. “But I think we’ll keep you for ourselves. It’ll be quite the boost to our reputation.”
“I’m so glad to be of service,” said Rip with as much sarcasm as he could muster.
Balam chuckled, more amused than intimidated by Rip's defiant attitude. “It seems the two of you have been rather busy and here I thought I’d tucked you up so nicely down in your little cell. Didn’t you like your accommodations?”
“It was a little dull,” said Rip.
“Not to mention cramped,” added Snart.
“Don’t worry,” said Balam, “we’ll put you somewhere much more interesting this time, full of stuff I’m sure will keep you entertained.” He drew out the last word, his lips sliding into a sinister smile. The women flanking him laughed.
Rip rolled his eyes. These pirates certainly loved their dramatics.
“You were busy napping when we brought you in,” Balam continued. “Now that you’re awake, there’s a certain ship we really must talk about.”
Rip glared at him. “You don’t actually believe I’ll give up the Waverider.”
“After a little persuasion,” the Asian woman said.
“We’re very good at persuasion,” said the redhead.
Snart tilted his head towards Rip. “They really enjoy their little insinuations,” he said.
“I’ve noticed,” Rip replied before addressing the pirates once more. “Could we dispense with the thinly veiled threats and just get on with things?”
Some of the smugness fell away from Balam’s face and his tone grew colder. “Oh, I’ll be sure to describe what we’re going to do to you in graphic detail before we get started. After all, they do say the anticipation of pain is worse than the actual thing, and the actual thing... Well, I do so love a good scream.”
The dark look in the man’s eyes sent a cold shiver down Rip’s spine. He gritted his teeth though and refused to let it show.
“Maybe if you tell us what you did with Moko and Rach,” Balam continued. “I'll go a little easier on you. Maybe,” he added with a shrug.
Showing no sign of being even the slightest bit concerned by the threats, Snart turned to look at Rip with a raised eyebrow.
“I assume he means our friends from the store room,” Rip explained.
“Ah,” Snart said in understanding; then turned back to the pirates. “They're a little tied up at the moment. You know you should really remind your fellow pirates to keep their blasters with them at all times.”
The woman with the red hair looked disbelievingly at Snart. “You're giving us advice?”
“You could obviously use some,” was Snart's snide reply. “Our escape was way too easy. Training your members better would be a start. You might also want to look into improving your security.”
“And perhaps hiring a cleaning service,” Rip couldn’t help adding.
“That too,” Snart agreed with a nod.
None of the pirates seemed to find this amusing.
Balam scowled at them. “You won’t be so flippant when the Captain gets back. She’ll take care of you. Talk like that to her and she’ll cut out your tongues, and you’ll be lucky if that’s the only thing she cuts off. One minute with her and she’ll have you...”
Rip barely listened as the pirate continued his tirade. Surreptitiously as possible, he bent his knees letting his weight sink down into the balls of his feet as his gaze flickered in the direction of Snart. Their eyes met and Leonard gave the tiniest of nods.
Balam was still talking, waxing eloquently on just what their captain would do to them, when Rip sprang towards him.
Rip’s left arm knocked the man’s right arm up. Balam reacted automatically pulling the trigger on the revolver, but it was now pointing up so all it did was blast the ceiling causing sparks to rain down upon them. Almost in the same instant, Rip brought his right arm around to punch the pirate squarely in the jaw snapping his head back and disorienting him. Rip followed this up with a kick to Balam’s stomach deliberately pushing him in the direction of the Asian woman who was just bringing her blaster to bear on him.
Balam collided with his cohort knocking the blaster out of her hand and knocking her back against a wall. Rip saw her head slam painfully against the surface and watched her crumple to floor hopefully out for the near future. Balam definitely wasn’t out. He still looked a bit disoriented but he was already pulling himself together and glaring at Rip. He had also, unfortunately, managed to keep ahold of Rip’s revolver.
Out of the corner of his eye, Rip saw Snart fighting with the other woman. He’d seen Snart throw something at her while he’d been fighting Balam and then leap towards her. Now Snart was struggling with the pirate trying to get ahold of her blaster. Rip had no idea how he was managing to do so with only one working foot. He seemed to be using the woman to hold himself up. Rip saw them fall to the floor before he was forced to redirect his attention to his own opponent.
Balam fired at Rip and he only just managed to dodge out of the way in time. The blue blast of light sizzled through the air only centimetres from him, close enough for Rip to feel the heat of its passage.
Rip dived towards the pirate hoping to get his revolver back. He managed to get his fingers around it, but Balam’s grip was seemingly unbreakable and he used Rip’s hold on the gun to his advantage. He swung the gun around yanking Rip along with it.
The swing threw Rip against a workbench. His back collided painfully against the edge of the table knocking the wind out of him, but he kept ahold of the gun. He had to. Not only was it his only chance of getting the weapon back, it was the only way of keeping Balam from firing at him again.
Balam didn’t seemed to mind that Rip still held the gun. He just smirked evilly, and then before Rip could get himself in a better position, swung his arm around in the opposite direction putting all of his weight behind it.
This time Rip collided with a wall and he collided head first. It wasn’t a bad blow. Rip let go of the gun in time to get his arm up in between him and the wall so it could absorb some of the impact, but when combined with his previous head injury, it was enough.
Rip’s vision flashed white, pain echoing through his skull as his head rebounded off the wall. Time seemed to slow down and everything grew silent and distant.
Rip suddenly became aware that he was lying on his back on the floor though he couldn’t remember falling. He blinked and the world swam blurrily in front of him. There was noise, people talking, but it sounded as if he were underwater. He just wanted to lie there, close his eyes and give in to the numb darkness, but something stopped him. The people were still talking. He couldn’t tell what they were saying, but somehow he knew it was important. He pushed against the pull of unconsciousness, forced his mind to focus.
“You know the only person we really need is your Captain,” a rough voice was saying. “You’re just extra baggage, dispensable.”
Balam, the time pirate second in command, Rip realized recalling the perilous situation he was still in.
“You might not find me so easy to dispense with,” growled a second voice.
And that was Snart.
Struggling, Rip turned towards the voices, rolling over onto his side and pushing himself up onto his elbow. He almost sank right back down on to the floor. The pounding in his head had grown all encompassing and the world was spinning so badly he momentarily wondered if someone had messed with the gravity. Squeezing his eyes shut, he waited for the moment to pass. When things had stabilized, at least a little, he opened his eyes again and peered across the room squinting as he tried to force the blurry world into focus.
The first thing Rip saw was Balam standing with his back to him, revolver pointing at something on the ground.
The second thing Rip saw was Snart lying directly in the pirate’s line of fire.
Leonard was across the room, crumpled on the floor among the pieces of what might have once been a ship’s life support system. His arm was wrapped around his torso as if in pain, his useless leg sticking out in front of him as he scowled up at the pirate. To most he would seem completely unintimidated by his current vulnerable position, but Rip caught a flicker of fear in his eyes.
Balam snorted at Snart’s bravado. “You do realize which one of us has the gun and which one of us is lying helpless on the floor?”
Snart sneered at him and said snidely, “I also realize which one of us just escaped from being tied up and locked away in a cell and which is the idiot who let their prisoners escape.”
Rip scanned the room for something he could use, some weapon. He sought out the other pirates, the women. They were both down. The Asian woman he’d taken out was still prone on the floor near the door and the redhead lay half-a-dozen feet from Snart with a knife in her abdomen. Both of their blasters sat near their bodies. Unfortunately, they were also both in Balam’s line of sight.
It seemed hopeless, but then Rip remembered the knife he had taken off the pirate in the store room. He reached into his jacket. It was still there. He wrapped his hand around the hilt, and slowly, began pushing himself to his knees. The world almost slipped away from him once more as he did so. He bent over breathing heavily, feeling shaky and ill. He wondered how the hell he was supposed to fight when it didn’t look like he’d even be able to make it to his feet.
“I suppose I could always use you as leverage in order to get your Captain to give us what we want,” Balam mused.
Snart scoffed. “Good luck with that. You’re even more of an idiot if you think he cares anything about my life. He certainly wouldn’t trade his precious ship for me.”
Snart was bluffing. Rip really, really hoped Snart was bluffing, but he couldn’t help feeling that there was more than a little belief behind what he'd said, and for once, he couldn’t blame Leonard for feeling that way. He had failed too many times as a captain, done too little to earn the man’s, or any of his crew’s, trust, and now he was doing it again.
Balam shrugged. “Doesn’t matter," he said. "I’d much rather just shoot you anyway.” And he cocked the gun at Snart.
Leonard stared up at the pirate, defiant and angry and, though he tried to hide it, just that little bit scared.
Rip’s heart began to pound, a rushing sounded in his ears, and suddenly before he knew it, he was on his feet. The next moment he had reached the pirate, wrapped his arms around him, and had the blade of his knife pressed up against his neck.
“Give me back my gun now,” Rip demanded, his voice as cold as the deepest reaches of space.
Balam’s body stiffened and he made a surprised noise which was half grunt, half squeak. “Ah, Captain Hunter,” he gasped in a strangled tone. “We were just talking about you.”
“My gun,” Rip repeated.
Instead of relinquishing the weapon, Balam waved it in the direction of Snart. “We seem to be in a bit of a stalemate, unless you really think you can kill me before I have a chance to get a shot off at your friend.”
Rip pressed the knife closer to Balam’s neck, close enough to draw blood. “If you so much as singe a single hair on my friend’s head,” said Rip calling on a dark predatory nature he’d buried long ago, “I will find out just how slowly I can sever your head from your neck with this knife. Now give me back my gun.” He said the last slowly emphasizing every word.
Balam’s shoulders slumped and he gave a frustrated growl as he handed over the revolver.
As soon as Rip had ahold of the gun, he shoved the pirate away from him and away from Snart.
Balam stumbled forward several steps but then righted himself and spun to glare at Rip. “If you think you’ve won, you’re wrong,” he snapped. “You’re not getting out of here alive. The rest of the crew will be back any moment now, and when the Captain gets here, she’ll have both of you...”
Rip didn’t bother letting him finish. He simply raised his recently retrieved revolver and fired.
The pirate collapsed onto the floor either unconscious or dead. Rip wasn’t sure what power setting the pirate had left his revolver on and he couldn’t say he cared.
“Well, what do you know,” said Leonard, a hint of wonder in his voice.
Rip swung his head back towards him, stumbling slightly as the sudden movement made him dizzy. “What?” he said frowning in confusion.
Snart smiled an amused smile. “That was quite some threat you made on my behalf. You even called me your friend. I’m seriously touched.”
“That was just the concussion talking,” said Rip with a dismissive wave of his hand.
“Oh, no,” said Leonard. “You like me. You really like me.”
Rip groaned wondering just what he had gotten himself into. He was about to deny Snart’s assertion once more, not even sure why he was doing so, when a loud crash came from outside the room. The crash was followed by several voices shouting and the sound of blaster fire. The pirates had shut the door to the workshop when they’d entered most likely to deter their rediscovered prisoners from escaping. This meant their view of what was going on outside was blocked, but whatever it was it didn’t sound good.
“Do you ever get the feeling,” said Snart as he crawled along the floor towards the redheaded pirate and her fallen blaster, “you must have pissed off someone really powerful in a former life.” He grabbed the blaster and charged it up.
“All the bloody time,” Rip replied as he levelled his revolver at the closed door.
The sounds of battle grew louder; then suddenly the door blew open falling off its hinges amongst a cloud of fire and smoke.
A figure strode forward through the gray haze.
Rip tightened his finger on the trigger preparing to fire. From the floor, Leonard levelled his blaster.
And then the figure resolved itself into the red and blue form of Dr. Raymond Palmer in his Atom suit.
Rip stared at him in astonishment.
Ray’s face immediately lit up with a grin. “Hey, I found them,” he called out.
Snart rolled his eyes in exasperation. “Now they show up.”
“How the hell...” said Rip as he let his revolver fall to his side.
“It’s a long story actually,” said Ray. “When you two disappeared, we...”
“You can tell them later,” said Sara as she pushed past him into the room, her eyes quickly taking in the scene. “Are you guys okay?”
“Wonderful,” grumbled Leonard. “Get us out of here.”
Sara raised her eyebrows. “Really? Because you two...”
“Look like shit,” Mick finished for her as he joined them.
“Great to see you too, Mick,” said Snart. “What took you so long?”
Sara snorted. “That’s nice,” she said as she walked over to where Snart sat. “Maybe next time we’ll just leave you guys to fend for yourselves.”
“Don’t you dare,” said Leonard.
Smiling, Sara bent down and pulled Snart to his feet, or rather foot. Leonard placed an arm across her shoulders apparently quite happy to lean against her and let her take his weight, a lot happier than he had been with Rip. A sparkle seemed to echo from one set of eyes to the other as they gazed at each other.
When had that happened, Rip wondered, but he was beginning to realize there was more than a few things he had overlooked when it came to Mr. Snart. He blinked as his vision began to swim and he was suddenly very aware of the sharp ache in his head once more. He felt himself sway slightly.
Leonard turned his gaze to Rip, a worried look in his eyes. “Not again,” he said, wearily. “Would one of you catch Rip. I’ve already done my fair share of catching today.”
Rip scowled and opened his mouth about to say something about just who had been holding up who, but the darkness was starting to creep along the edges of his vision once more. His revolver fell from his numb fingers clattering against the floor as the world vanished around him and he sank into oblivion.
Chapter 5
