Ammunition

To London or Bust

Jehan nearly choked on his tea, "What year?!"

"Well," Rip replied, "yes."

"I-I don't know." Jehan looked a tad overwhelmed.

"Hmmm." Rip leaned back in his chair and thought about it, "Maybe you'd like 1988 London. Or perhaps 2008? No, even better!! London as it is now." He offered.

"Mr. Hunter, you are brilliant." Jehan laughed, "Although, I now realize one problem. I do not speak English. Wait, both you and Mi-Gideon speak French. How is that?"

Rip held up a finger signaling him to stop talking for a moment. He hadn't been able to understand anything Jehan had said just then. He ran to a table in the same room and found one of the multi-language pills and took another.

"I am so sorry, what did you say?" Rip asked clueless as to what Jehan had been saying.

Before he could respond, Rip began to talk again, "It just occurred to me that you'll need to take one of these as well." He held up a small white pill for Jehan to see.

"What does it do?" Jehan asked as he took it and inspected it.

"You'll be able to understand English as well as any other languages you encounter within the next couple hours." Rip looked at Jehan square in the eye, "Well? Shall we proceed to London?"

Jehan gulped, then looked more excited than frightened, "Sure."

"Pull the bar down that's above you and strap yourself in!" Rip announced and turned in his chair to face the front, "It may get a little rough."

He pushed a lever forward and the whole ship lifted into the time stream. Rip guided the ship through the green sea of time, and it was all Jehan could do to keep from shouting.

"Sir, we are approaching London England in the same time." Gideon informed them, "I must warn you of several rules that you are breaking-"

"Not now, Gideon!" Rip shouted over the noise of the whirring machines, "I'm doing a friend a favor!"

"But sir-"

"You know what happened and I don't go by those rules anymore." He mashed several buttons and the ship lowered, still invisible, onto the top of another building.

"We have arrived safely at the top of the Tower of London, sir." Gideon informed the two.

Rip lifted the strap which was holding him in the chair and turned around. Jehan was staring wide eyed towards the front of the Waverider taking short, quick breaths. His knuckles were white from gripping the arms of his chair, but despite all this, he had a small smile on his face.

"Hello?" Rip asked.

Jehan didn't respond.

"Jehaaan?" Rip waved a hand in front of his face.

He blinked and looked up at Rip, "That was very thrilling." He managed to say.

"Do you want to step outside?" Rip inquired.

Jehan's eyes grew even bigger, "Y-You mean we're there already?"

"Gideon said we are now at the top of the Tower of London," He strode to the door and called behind him, "I suggest you keep up!"

Jehan quickly lifted the strange metal thing which was over him for the ride, gently set his unfinished tea down, and pulled out a piece of paper.

"Um, Mr. Hunter?" He called.

"What is it?" Rip came back in the room.

"You don't happen to have a quill by any chance, do you?" Jehan asked with uncertainty.

Rip thought for a moment, "Not a quill like the kind you're used to."

"You mean, you write with different things?" He asked, "I should have known." He gazed up at the ship.

"Here," Rip held out a pencil.

Jehan looked at it, not sure what to make of it.

"You write with it." Rip told him.

"With which end?" Jehan inquired.

Rip took the piece of paper in Jehan's hands and wrote his name and a few more words in cursive.

"That is in French, right?" Rip asked, not sure if the pill worked with writing.

"Perfect French," Jehan nodded.

"And in case you make a mistake, you flip the pencil over and rub the pink circle over the mistake."

"And it'll disappear?"

Rip nodded, trying not to smile at Jehan's reactions to everything that seemed small and insignificant to him.

"I just wanted one in case I got an idea to write down, that is, if you don't mind, Mr. Hunter." Jehan bit his lip.

"Why certainly. I don't see why you had to ask." Rip smiled, "Now, let's take a peek outside, shall we?"

"Wait a moment," Jehan called him, "are you sure it's safe?"

"Of course it is," Rip replied and kept walking with Jehan not far behind.

"What if when we step off the ship and we plummet to the ground?" He asked, but Rip continued on.

"What if we landed somewhere else?"

Rip stopped in front of the door to the outside.

"What if they saw us coming?"

Rip pushed the button to open the door.

"What if -"

Rip put his hand over Jehan's mouth to silence him, then with his other hand turned Jehan's head to look outside of the Waverider.

"Look," Rip assured him, "we aren't dead."

Rip stepped back and let Jehan take in the view. He smiled, but then remembered his son. He had never gotten the chance to do this with his own child. Instead, he was showing London to almost a complete stranger.

Rip looked away, trying to forget the sad thoughts, because this was supposed to be a happy time. He was giving hope to a boy who probably never saw much of it. Even if that boy wasn't his own.