They flew over the shiny towers of National City, Rip staring out at the darkened metropolis before landing atop the building lit up with the name of one of the most promising millionaires since Oliver Queen.

Gideon's voice rang through the ship, "Can I ask who we are searching for Captain?"

"Our final recruit," Rip announced, leaning over the desk that took up most of the bridge, "Princess Alexandra of Themiscyra, better known in this universe by her alias, Wonder Girl."

***
Her lasso wrapped around the neck of the alien and she tugged, pulling hard enough to snap it before drawing her sword, the self-named godkiller slicing through the amphibious flesh with laughable ease.

A flash of light entered her vision and she skid to a stop, catching a glimpse of a thin man in a long coat, a newly grown goatee crawling across his face.

She gathered her lasso by her side, the golden light emanating from the braided rope as she turned to meet the newcomer's gaze.

"Who the hell are you?" Her accent had almost faded from the amount of time she had spent in National City, but it helped intimidate others. She could see why her mom used it.

A smirk crossed the man's face, "Alexandra Prince, I've been waiting to meet you."

She tightened her grip on the rope, a gesture he was quick to notice.

"You can use your magical lasso on me another time," Another flash of light went off and she felt her body collapse to the ground, eyesight going black.

Wind rang in her hair as she came to, eight others surrounding her. She sprang up, grateful for her mother's ability to bounce back and heal quickly.

"Where are we?" The blonde beside her groaned, joining her in staring over the city. Alex finally recognized the woman when she met her eyes.

Sara Lance.

The girl who came back to life.

"I have absolutely no idea," Alex answered, her curls whipping around her face as another voice interjected.

"Why don't we ask the guy who kidnapped us?" A teen asked from behind her, "British dude with a flashy light thingy? Ring any bells?"

"The name's Rip Hunter" The same man that had apprehended her on the roof seemed to appear out of nowhere, "I'm from East London," He paused before adding, "Oh, and the future."

Alex rolled her eyes as the two burly criminals that had been plastered all over the news recently pointed their guns at the man who kidnapped them. When they didn't work, Rip simply explained that he had tampered with each of their weapons.

"Excluding yours of course," He pointed at Alex, who narrowed her brows, "Sacred relics are rather hard to tamper with."

She sent him a sarcastic smile and crossed her arms, carefully observing his posture as he began to pace back and forth.

"I've assembled you all because I need your help," Rip announced, "The future of the world is in peril because of a man named Vandal Savage,"

"That's impossible," A blonde man closer to Rip announced, "We destroyed him"

The woman by his side nodded in agreement, "The Green Arrow and Flash helped us do it."

Rip pointed his finger at the pair, "And therein lies the issue," Sensing the confused looks on their faces he continued to elaborate, "Unless you or Mr. Hall deliver the final blow, Savage can restore himself from a single cell."

"He's immortal," The named Mr. Hall contributed, "And Kendra and I reincarnate."

Sara tilted her head, "Done that before" She quipped.

Alex smirked at her comment before interjecting one of her own, "Me too."

The same criminal from earlier piped up, his gruff voice staying at the same tone, "What the hell does this Randall guy have to do with us?"

Alex let out a huff, staring around at the group of people while Hunter continued his tangent about how Savage's rise to power will eventually decimate the entire world. She didn't see heroes when she looked at this group.

She saw criminals, lost souls, and people unsure of where they belonged.

They weren't a team. They were barely functioning humans.

How did he expect them to take down an immortal being like Savage?

"I know it's difficult to fathom" Rip continued, pressing forward, "But in 2166, the people on this roof, all of you, are more than heroes, you're legends."

Alex met Sara's skeptical gaze, the two women sharing an understood language. This rag-tag group of criminals became legends?

She didn't see it.

"Legends?" She and a man she thought she recognized spoke at the same time. His wide smile reminded her of a puppy dog as he waved at her. She nodded and turned back toward Rip, who had a sly smile on his face.

"Forgive me," The older man beside Sara piped up, "But doesn't one have to be...dead to be considered a legend?"

In a rare moment of synchronicity, the group shifted their heads toward the man who had brought them all here.

"It's too dangerous for you to know too much about your own futures," Rip warned and Alex sighed, "But each one of you is destined for greatness,"

"So you've told us," Alex chimed in, getting tired of his argument, "But we've yet to see it."

He sent a smirk and met her challenging look, "If you don't follow me, this is what is in store for you 150 years from now."

The cityscape surrounding them shifted to decimated buildings and wildfire running rampant through the streets. Alex knew it was fake, that it was a projection of the future, but the part of her that she had buried, the part that still believed in the goodness of others, the part that belonged to her mother.

That part urged her to go on the mission. That part told her that she could not stand idly by while Savage overtook the future.

"I could have chosen any time and any place." Rip shut off the projection, facing the heroes, "Of all the people who ever lived, I chose you nine. I certainly hope that you won't let me, and the world, down." He seemed to look directly at her as he said that and moved away, "If your answer is yes, meet me at this address in 36 hours" He told the older man, shoving a card in his hands before disappearing into the night.

Alex stood there for a while, contemplating Rip's offer even after the rest of his so-called team had bailed. She fingered the extrapolator Rip had left in her pocket. She could go home. It would be so easy.

"You know it's not healthy to brood," A familiar voice joined her side, "My dad taught me that lesson before I could walk."

Alex chuckled, facing the twin of her best friend from her original Earth. Only here his name was Thomas, not Alfred, and he wasn't a vigilante seeking revenge for the death of his father.

"Yeah, well your dad would understand." She shot back, crossing her arms and meeting his blue eyes, "Especially since I might die if I don't brood for a bit."

Thomas chuckled, sauntering closer to her, his black trench coat swaying, "This is about that guy that kidnapped you isn't it?"

Alex nodded, dropping her arms and sending him a saccharine smile, "Apparently he's a time traveler and I'm supposed to be one of the heroes that saves the world. God, it's times like these I'm glad I'm not my mother."

Thomas chuckled again and joined her side, looking over the bright lights of National City from the rooftop of his building. "She'd be proud of you here too." He began to comfort her, "So would your dad."

Alex smiled and rubbed the worn leather of the old watch she wore on her wrist, her bracers hidden by the long sleeves of her leather jacket. It would be so easy. To go back and save him before any of this happened.

To make sure he would be around to see his little girl grow up.

But she knew she couldn't. In the same way, she knew she had to go on this mission. She straightened her back and lifted her chin.

"Oh no," Thomas teased, "I know that look."
She turned to face him, "I have to go, Thomas," She stared out at the skyscrapers and the community she had come to recognize as home, "My mother was born to save the world. I have to believe I was born to protect it."

The shorter brunete smirked before catching the Amazon in an embrace, squeezing tightly, "Take care of yourself, Prince," He pulled away.

Alex shared a small smile with him, "You too Wayne."

With a single leap, she landed back at her apartment, the bookcase Thomas helped her build disappearing with a single touch of her hand, the blue and red armor on display. She grasped the sword in her right hand, shield in her left and began to pack.

Daybreak was hitting just as she and the rest of the group showed up at the address Rip had given them all. She ignored the petty fights breaking out between the Professor and the two criminal partners while she examined the clearing Rip had told them to meet in.

"Great," She muttered under her breath, "So not only do we have a delusional time traveler on our hands, but he's also a late delusional time traveler."

"Or we're being punked" A dark-haired man spoke beside her, "Do people still say punked?"

"No" Sara spoke up, her eyes trained on the same spot Alex was.

Leonard's voice rang out beside her, "You don't look too happy to be here,"

Alex bobbed her head, "Perceptive."

Suddenly the man in the trench coat appeared again, "Glad to see you all decided to come, now we should be on our way."

"Yeah, I'm not footing it anywhere," Leonard began, turning toward Alex, "And not all of us can fly to wherever we want to go."

"In your case, that's a good thing," She shot back, "Saves the world from your terrible sense of humor."

Leonard sent a sarcastic smile at her.

Rip stepped between the two, "A time Master's sacred charge is to do no harm to the timeline" He pressed a button, revealing a spaceship docked in the clearing where there was nothing before, "Can you imagine what a timeship would look like in Victorian England?"

Alex couldn't keep the awe off her face as she examined the interior of the ship. Here she was in a real spaceship. Her father would've freaked.

The silver lining of the walls reminded her of Kara's stories of Krypton, while the glowing orange that decorated the rest of the ship seemed to be more of a personal color choice than anything else.

"Whoever decorated this needs to be shot," Sara spoke aloud, stepping in next to Alex, the taller girl smiling at the blonde's remark.

"Well then it's a good thing we have you on the ship then," Alex teased, bringing a smirk to the other woman's face.

They landed on the bridge of the ship, Alex's eyes darting around the room, eyeing all available exits, weak points, and her peers. She refused to call them teammates. The only person she recognized other than Sara was the dark-haired man she had exchanged a few words with prior to boarding the ship.

She had seen him in board meetings with Bruce and Oliver before the former's disappearance. She couldn't recall his name though.

Too lost in her thoughts to pay attention to what Rip was saying, and when a disembodied voice told her that they were plotting a course for New Orleans, she simply turned to Sara, who explained away the existence of an artificial intelligence named Gideon like it was a regular occurrence. Alex sighed and strapped in next to the dark-haired man, his bright smile infecting her.

"Hey," He chirped, "I don't think I've met you yet, I'm Ray."

A soft smile broke out across her face as she grasped his hand, "Alex, nice to meet you, Ray."

The infectious expression never left his face as their hands pulled away, Rip charging up the ship to jump into another time.

"So Time Travel huh?" He continued, his grip tightening on the restraints, knuckles growing white, "that's pretty cool."

Alex caught onto the signals immediately, his teeth pulling at the inside of his cheeks, fidgeting in the chair, eyes darting around anxiously. "Not a good flier, are you?" She asked, drawing his attention back to her face.

Ray shook his head, "Not really, no."

Without a word she stuck her hand back out in a peace offering, his gaze darted down to her tanned palm, eyebrows creasing in confusion. She shrugged, "My Mom doesn't do planes either,"

He nodded, wrapping his white knuckles around her hand, the pallor contrasting with her own.

"Thanks" Ray responded, leaning back against the chair as they sped off into the distance, arriving in New Orleans at an almost supernatural speed.

The first thing Mick Rory did was vomit all over the floors of the Waverider.

"Ah yes, Nausea is one of the side effects of time travel," Rip began.

"Side effects?" Alex asked, removing the restraint as Ray stood up immediately. A grunt was heard from the floor and the tall man she had flown beside now lay on the floor, as if his legs had been pulled out from under him.

"Vertigo," Rip continued, "And temporary blindness,"

"I can't see!" Stein called from next to Jackson, while Alex stood up, feeling perfectly fine. The other half of Stein's creation sprang up, finally awake from his drug-induced coma.

"I want to go home," The twenty-year-old began, rushing toward the man who had brought them all together.

Rip bobbed his head, "Good news Jax, 2016 should be around in.... 41 years."

Jax stepped back in surprise as Rip turned toward her and Sara, "Alright, you four make yourselves comfortable," He gestured to her, Sara, Leonard, and Mick before turning to face the rest of the team, "The rest of you are coming with me,"

"Whoa," Mick stood up, anger lacing his tone, "You're benching us?"

Sara crossed her arms, "I thought we were a team,"

Rip opened and closed his mouth, trying to come up with a viable excuse to justify his decision, "This mission doesn't require your particular skill set," It what he landed on and Alex scoffed.

"Meaning you don't need anyone killed, maimed, robbed, or brought to justice." Snart directed that last comment toward her in a mocking tone.

Alex sent him a sarcastic smile, "Funny." She collapsed against the seat, rolling her eyes as she watched the rest of the team leave.

All she could do was sit in the chair, watching Leonard play with the settings on his gun and Mick change the channels.

She wrapped and rewrapped her lasso several times until Sara came to the rescue.

"Am I the only one here who could use a drink?"

Alex stood up at that news, "Yes, please. Let's get weird."

"Excellent Idea," Snart piped up, joining the women in leaving the ship while Gideon tried to stop them in the process. Alex simply raised her hand.

"Not in the mood."

She walked toward her new room on the ship, staring around at the white space surrounding her. She sent a wary look toward her armor before shutting the suitcase closed, grasping her leather jacket and leaving her room, running into Sara as she did.

"What are you wearing that look for?" She teased as the two moved to leave the ship.

Alex shook her head, "I don't know what you're talking about."

The assassin smirked, "You know the look that says you're regretting getting on this death ship in the first place?"

"I didn't come on this ship to get benched," She spat out, unable to stop the wrathful pit in her stomach growing. Sara thankfully shut up as they joined the men outside in the bustling city.

"You and me both Girl Scout," Snart continued, a wry smile on his face.

"Now I definitely need that drink," Alex retorted, sending Sara chuckling and linking her arm in the taller woman's.

They explored the winding streets of New Orleans, ignoring the weird looks they were drawing before entering the first bar they came across and she immediately requested a beer.

"One dollar beers!" Mick shouted as he brought their bottles over, "Gotta love the seventies."

Alex downed most of the wheaty concoction while Mick started the jukebox. Sara's lax attitude wanted her to dance, and she was almost tempted.

"Not a big dancer?" Snart asked, his voice continuing to irritate her.

She took another gulp from her bottle, "Not that you'd care, but no. I don't really care for it."

Dancing reminded her of her father. Of the first time her mother realized she loved Steve Trevor.

She took another swig. Snart almost looked impressed.

"You can hold your liquor. I'm impressed."

"I'm a goddess from Ancient Greece living in Modern day America," She pointed out, "Of course I can hold my liquor."

This actually elicited a chuckle from the criminal beside her and they turned their attention back to Sara who was currently dealing with a man who would not leave her alone.

Alex took a deep breath and handed her beer off to Snart, "Hold this,"

She approached the man, a fake smile plastered on her face as she wrapped her arm around Sara.

"Something wrong honey?" Alex asked, playing the part of a loving girlfriend perfectly as they stared down the man.

Sara traded a sweet look with her, but she knew what lay behind the eyes. "I was just telling this man that I am happily in a relationship."

The burly man looked at the two of them, a smile creeping across his face, "She can come too."

Alex stepped forward, "I don't think so."

The biker's smile curled into a snarl, "Maybe you didn't understand my request, bitch."

His fist propelled toward her and Sara grasped it in her hand, twisting him around until she heard an audible crack, the man's screams drawing attention toward them.

Alex turned back to the two criminals, "We got this," She informed them, smacking her fist into the nearest crony before digging her leg into the stomach of another, crashing the two back into the bar. A fist smacked into her back and she slowly turned around, unfazed by the punch.

She lifted her eyebrows at the man before grabbing ahold of his arm and leg and smacking him into the ground.

She and Sara met back in the middle of the dance floor as more bikers joined the fray.

"Now we could use the help," Sara announced and crashes rang out behind them, the two men more than happy to help crush a few skulls.

They crawled back into the car with hardly any injuries, although the same couldn't be said for the men who had hit on both of them. The car went sideways, crashing into the figure that had been holding a gun over Rip and the professor they had gone looking for while the four of them crawled out of the car.

"We go out for one lousy drink and you guys manage to pick a fight with Boba Fett," Snart quipped, brandishing his gun.

Alex drew her lasso, tossing it forward to get a better grip around the robot man's foot, pulling his footing out from under him. The team took their chance to run back toward the Waverider. Leonard and Mick covered her and Sara as they rushed back to the ship, the ground shaking beneath their feet as they took off.

"Get Professor Boardman to the med bay now!" Rip called to Gideon before calling for the AI to chart a course far away from the 70s.

The ship shook again before Gideon's calm voice rang out through the ship.

"Our cloaking shield and aft entrance have been heavily damaged, Captain,"

Rip let out an exasperated sigh, "Yes I can see that! Station us in the temporal zone until repairs are finished,"

"Temporal Zone?" Ray and Alex asked at the same time, the former's smile breaking out at the coincidence.

"It's a bit like a time limbo, we can hide out there for a bit" Rip explained, drawing himself from the Captain's seat toward the rest of the group.

"A time limbo?" Alex questioned.

The professor couldn't contain his joy, "Astonishing."

"Oh, there's something you people don't know about time travel? That's surprising, isn't it? Considering none of you have ever time traveled before!" Rip yelled at the crew, his temper exploding throughout the bridge, "Bringing a family member from the past onto a timeship? Breaking out and carousing around the 1970s? We've barely begun, and already this is the worst, unmitigated disaster of my career"

His whining was cut short by a fist to the jaw, Kendra's blazing eyes never leaving Rip's gaze.

Mick laughed, congratulating Carter on falling for her.

Kendra never took her eyes off the Captain, "My son is hurt because of you! Who attacked us?"

"It's a long story."

Alex stepped up, crossing her arms in frustration, "So tell it fast then," She quipped.

"His name is Chronos," Rip began after a period of silence, "He works for the time Masters, my former employers."

Sara pressed her brows together, "I thought you were a time Master."

"Like I expressed, Time isn't a linear thing. At one point, yes, I was a time master."

His excuse was once again cut off by a sock to the face, this time coming from Sara.
"Start telling us the truth!" She yelled, eyes blazing the same way Kendra's did.

Rip stared at the assassin, straightening his back, "I relinquished my position as a time master when I commandeered the Waverider. Chronos was sent to bring me in."

Martin's mirthless laugh could be heard throughout the bridge. "You lied to us."

"Of course I did" Rip snapped, "I needed your help and you all barely said yes as it was."

Alex let out a callous chuckle.

"What about the legends part?" Ray asked from beside her.

She bit her lip, stomach dropping as she realized the truth. "He lied about that too, didn't you?"

Silence hung over the group as they stared at Rip, looking for answers.

He paused before swallowing, "I chose you because a hundred years from now, your lives have minimal effect on the timeline." he admitted, tension settling over the group as his confession hung in the air, "I needed your help without disturbing the history of 2166."

Jax shrugged, "So we're like the opposite of legends."

Rip nodded.

"And I suppose I was just plucked from my universe because of my mom right?" Alex asked, anger pressing against her chest as she searched for answers. For anything that proved otherwise.

"No," Rip protested, "I chose you because Savage is working with a criminal from your world. A woman by the name of Kali."

Her arms dropped to her side, striding over the man and throwing her balled up hand against his jaw, sending him reeling.

She fumed, breathing growing uneven at the mention of the woman he wanted her to stop. "You had no right," Alex snarled, "Give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you."

"I'm with Girl Scout," Leonard piped up, readying his gun.

Rip held his hands in surrender, "Because Gideon wouldn't listen to your commands and you'd be stuck here forever."

A scoff came from behind her and she turned to see Ray moving closer, "Great, so we're not an elite team tasked with taking down one of history's worst bad guys," he spoke sarcastically, "just a bunch of nobodies that time really doesn't give a damn about."

Rip moved forward, ready to plead his case. Alex was ready to tune him out after all his lies. "I didn't lie about the mission itself, or the brutality of Savage himself."

"No but you don't strike me as the kind of guy who would ditch his job for altruistic reasons," Ray chimed in again, crossing his arms, "So tell us Rip, what did Vandal Savage do to you?"

Alex and the rest of the team turned to face the newly revealed liar.

"Time Master's discourage marriage," Rip began, "But I fell in love...and we had a child. Jonas."

"Savage killed your family," Ray whispered, finishing the implied thought for everyone else.

Alex scoffed to herself, the familiar pressure of tears building behind her eyes at the thought of her own circumstances, of her father dead in the ocean and her mother alone. "Boo hoo" She told Rip, speaking through thick vocal cords.

"I understand, given the circumstances, if you would like to return home," Rip announced, "I'll have Gideon make the jump when repairs are finished, if and when Professor Boardman stabilizes."

Alex shifted on her feet, unsure about the whole ordeal.

"I think we all need some time to consider our options," Stein announced, following the rest of the so-called team out of the bridge.

Alex sat with the only people she recognized, gently rubbing her fingers across the warrior's circlet her mother had given her.

Antiope's circlet.

Diana's circlet.

She refused to believe that she had no effect on the timeline when she was descended from one of the greatest civilizations womankind had ever known.

She deserved better.

It's not about deserve, her father's voice spoke to her.

Perhaps he was right.

"What's the point of us even considering this?" Ray asked rhetorically, his positive air all but gone, "I mean, might as well have stayed dead, cause the world doesn't care about any of us. You're just a lost assassin, one warrior out of a thousand and a pair of good for nothing criminals." Ray shoved his hand against his suit pessimistically.

"I can live with that," Rory commented.

"Well, I can't!" Ray burst out before running his hand through his hair, "Can't live with someone putting a cap on my destiny."

"Fate isn't like that," Alex spoke up, drawing the attention of the others in the room, "My mother always told me that fate is like a mountain trail, just because one path is more well worn than the others doesn't mean that it's the right one to take."

Ray shot his gaze up to look at her.

"And if it is set in stone," She continued, drawing the sword from behind her, "Well then I say fate can kiss my ass."

"She's right," Sara stepped up, joining her in trying to rally the troops, "I mean, this mission is about changing the future. Our future. If we have the power to save the world, don't you think we have the power to change our own fate?"

The question caught the rest of the group by surprise, a sly smile crossing Leonard and Mick's faces while Alex turned to Ray.

The scientist shrugged, his smile returning as he spoke, "That's a very good point."

The rest of the team snapped up, joining Sara and Alex as they walked back to the bridge, feeling more unified than they ever had on this ship.

"Whether it wants to happen or not," Ray announced as they moved back onto the bridge to line up, "We're going to change time, erase Savage's future and earn our rightful place in history."

Alex felt her cheeks lift in pride as she caught the rest of the team joining onboard the cause.

"So how do we find this guy?" Sara crossed her arms as she turned to face Rip, ready for anything.

Rip settled into his chair, a determined look settling onto his face as he faced the newly formed team. "I have an idea."