Tama of Tomeowrrow | Under Heavy Editing 📃

No country for old dads

"Sara, can we take the Waverider to when Mount St. Helens erupted? I've always wanted to—" Zari began, but her words trailed off as she noticed Ava, Nyssa, and Sara huddled together at the table.

"Uh, actually, never mind. That wouldn't be a cool thing to do. This is a very important time vehicle. We would never use it for recreational or dangerous purposes," Zari quickly corrected herself, her face flushing slightly.

"Hey, Ava... you look great in what... you were wearing yesterday..." Zari added awkwardly, realizing her slip.

"Right," Ava shook her head, smiling.

"I'm gonna—I'm going to stop talking now, yeah," Zari said, retreating to prepare breakfast for herself and me.

"Hey, Zari," Ava greeted awkwardly.

I hopped from Zari's arms and landed gracefully on the table, letting out a cheerful meow.

Good morning, humans!

Ava, Nyssa, and Sara smiled, gently petting me with their free hands. "Good morning, little one," Nyssa whispered softly, her touch warm and comforting.

Sara stood up to place her plate in the sink, glancing at the piles of dirty dishes with a furrowed brow. "This is weird. Why are there so many dirty dishes? Ray usually loves doing them," she remarked.

"Oh, yeah. And I haven't heard him extolling the neurological benefits of putting butter in his coffee either," Zari added, placing my bowl of breakfast down on the floor.

Nyssa turned her attention to the ship's AI. "Gideon, perhaps you might be able to enlighten us on the whereabouts of Mr. Palmer?"

"I don't know. But we are being hailed by the Time Bureau." the AI answered.

"Put them on," Sara ordered.

The screen flickered to life, revealing Gary's familiar face. "Hello, Legends, and...Agent Sharpe."

Ava sighed. "What is it, Gary?"

"Uh, this, uh, was just delivered to us," Gary began, holding up a small device. "There was a Palmer Tech phone hidden inside with a message recorded on it."

The transmission switched to a recording of Ray. His breath was labored as he spoke. "Hey, guys, if you're finding this, it's me, Ray, obviously. You've probably guessed by now that I have been abducted by the Darhks."

Zari leaned in and whispered, "Hey, when we see him, do we tell him we didn't even notice he was gone?"

Sara shook her head with a smirk. "Yeah, definitely not."

Ray's voice continued, sounding a bit more frantic. "Darhk said that they would let go of me when they were done with me. He's asking me if I want to see a Grateful Dead concert, which is really kind of weird. But, look, you'll probably try to come after me and find me. If you do, he said that he'll kill me. So, you know, please don't do that. Okay. Bye."

The recording ended, leaving the room in an awkward silence.

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As we gathered around the center console, trying to locate Ray, a portal suddenly opened in front of us. Rip and a stranger stepped out, drawing startled reactions from the team.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Ava demanded.

"Ditto," Sara added, crossing her arms.

Nyssa shot a glare at the newcomers, while I hissed in their direction.