Rip Hunter (
directed) wrote in
entrancelogs2017-01-29 04:52 pm
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But I know you lie cause your lips are moving
Who: The Legends
Where: The Rooftop
When: Jan 29
Rating: PG-13? Expect cursing.
Summary: So, Rip has been rather busy since his arrival in Wonderland. He's decided to come clean about it--at least, some of it.
The Story:
Meet me on the roof over the east wing in ten minutes, if you would be so kind.
Rip already stands near the edge of the rooftop when he presses send, looking out over the expanse Wonderland provides as he waits for the replies. The choice of location is rather deliberate, on his part: far removed from their second floor living quarters, out in the open, with limited means of access even for those with powers--such as a speedster.
Such as Eobard Thawne.
The full truth is that Rip himself has yet to decide just how much he would reveal to his teammates. They are not friends, and the bonds of trust between them are--fragile, to say the least. Yet certain details have to be laid out regardless: Eobard's conditions had been plain, and high among them? That the Legends could not go after him without fear of reprisal. It's a path best avoided, for all involved.
Still. He has to wonder how far he has truly come from those early days to even have agreed with the man's proposal at all. As deep as his regret and uncertainty runs, there is an equal measure of confidence that in the grand picture, this had been the right move. To protect himself, his team, to ensure they eventually find a way out of this fairy-tale based hell.
His confidence of convincing the Legends of that, however, fails to run nearly so high.
Where: The Rooftop
When: Jan 29
Rating: PG-13? Expect cursing.
Summary: So, Rip has been rather busy since his arrival in Wonderland. He's decided to come clean about it--at least, some of it.
The Story:
Meet me on the roof over the east wing in ten minutes, if you would be so kind.
Rip already stands near the edge of the rooftop when he presses send, looking out over the expanse Wonderland provides as he waits for the replies. The choice of location is rather deliberate, on his part: far removed from their second floor living quarters, out in the open, with limited means of access even for those with powers--such as a speedster.
Such as Eobard Thawne.
The full truth is that Rip himself has yet to decide just how much he would reveal to his teammates. They are not friends, and the bonds of trust between them are--fragile, to say the least. Yet certain details have to be laid out regardless: Eobard's conditions had been plain, and high among them? That the Legends could not go after him without fear of reprisal. It's a path best avoided, for all involved.
Still. He has to wonder how far he has truly come from those early days to even have agreed with the man's proposal at all. As deep as his regret and uncertainty runs, there is an equal measure of confidence that in the grand picture, this had been the right move. To protect himself, his team, to ensure they eventually find a way out of this fairy-tale based hell.
His confidence of convincing the Legends of that, however, fails to run nearly so high.
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He adjusted his gloves as he walked out, expecting that Leonard wouldn't be far behind.
"What'd you want, Captain? I was busy." Eating cake and drinking beer in his undies while watching his light burn out. The best kind of evening.
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Since Mick has already asked the question, Leonard merely stands there, arms loosely folded, weight shifting to his left leg as he waits for Rip's answer.
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Onward, then.
"I'll try not to take up too much of your time." He takes in a deep breath, considering. As always Rip remains careful with the details, knowing that to offer too much at once would reveal more than he potentially wants the Legends to know. He looks over the men assembled there, Leonard in particular as Barry personally seems rather fond of him, then offers a question rather than an explanation.
"What do you know about Eobard Thawne?"
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He crossed his arms and have Rip a look. "Why?" Where was this going? Was he about to get another warning or what? Because he already had the briefing. He was some kind of evil speedster he had to avoid. Got it. Not gonna happen but got it.
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He glances at Mick briefly, then looks back at Rip again. "I got some of the story. But why are you bringing him up, Rip? Because I have to say, if you're thinking about eloping? You can do better."
The quip's spoken quickly, but there's a much more serious look in his eyes. He wants to know what's up.
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What both men pick up on is that there is a purpose behind the question, Leonard going farther to think that Rip might be considering getting in bed with him. He isn’t wrong, and Rip supposes it merely says that they’ve come to know him well, to assume he would at least consider the pragmatic option of joining forces with a speedster capable of running faster than time.
“Because Mr. Thawne has claimed to be from the future—and to be our enemy.” Not in so many words, but the implications were clear. Eobard’s knowledge of the events at the Vanishing Point would seem to prove the former claim; the scarcely veiled threats against his team is enough to convince Rip of the latter.
“I have, however, brokered a truce with him. A rather simple one: we don’t go after him, he doesn’t come after us.”
And hopefully they all avoid an entirely unnecessary conflict within the prison walls. So goes the thought, at any rate. Now they head to the part where someone likely questions Rip’s motivations.
Not that they’re necessarily wrong to, but it would be nice if things went simply for once.
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And they had friends here, Snart more so than him. They weren't gonna get risked.
It wasn't going to work that easy. "I mean us is just us, right? So like me, you, Snart and haircut? No word on what he'll do to Red, frosty and the geek yet?" All of which he knew Leonard also had a fondness for. "He gonna leave them alone too? Everyone else? Otherwise, it ain't gonna work."
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"I know what the Flash told me and I talked to the guy myself. Saw him on Mick's post. We ain't got any reason to believe his word's worth a damn, Rip. You know that. I'm not saying we go hunt him down, but I'm not about to trust him." His eyes narrow just a bit and he runs his thumb along the tops of his fingers. "Story time, Rip. Tell us what he has on you. Us."
None of what he's heard so far is making him more inclined to be at ease with the situation. If anything, he feels like going after a speedster again. Been a while.
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Mick’s immediate disagreement is hardly shocking, although the reasons behind it are a bit beyond what Rip might have predicted. Oh, the certainty that they could defeat a speedster, the refusal to be threatened or put under anyone’s thumb, that falls right into line with what Rip knew he would face. But whom he wants to shelter, the people Rip can only assume are the Flash and his friends--long time enemies of the pair before him now--that comes as a bit more of a surprise.
Though perhaps it shouldn’t be; Lenoard shifts closer to his partner, again states that the Flash had informed him on the matter. Rip isn’t unaware of Leonard’s interactions with Barry Allen; their profound effect is what made “Captain Cold” a viable member of the Legends at all.
So they come to the moment of truth--or lies, if Rip chooses to go down that path. He presses his hands together, weighing the risks. Letting Mick and Leonard in on the full scope of his plan puts it at risk if the pair opt not to keep his secrets. They could quite easily go to Barry and expose the deal Rip’s made, ruin any sense of trust the Flash might have in Rip, and in turn wreck Rip’s own efforts to find allies outside of Eobard Thawne himself.
Which would fit in rather perfectly with the Reverse Flash’s plans, wouldn’t it?
The other option is to spin a set of half-lies, offering just enough to satisfy Mr. Snart’s suspicions without revealing the full breadth of what he has in mind. It’s a particularly risky move when he considers how little trust the members of his team seem to hold in him--a doubt that he has earned, yet continues to frustrate him to no end. And again, it would drive a wedge further between Rip and those whom should be his allies--again, giving Eobard that further control.
It’s rather brilliantly orchestrated, when Rip thinks it through.
“It’s less of what he has than what he knows, gentlemen. He knows me.” Eobard had even gone so far as to praise Rip’s pragmatism, his thinking beyond simple morality that demands the immediacy of action without full consideration for the larger picture. “He understands how I measure out my actions, and what drives me in any one direction. He expects that I will do anything to achieve my goals, without what he deems the shackles of idealistic thinking.”
He isn’t wrong; Eobard’s picture of Rip would be rather perfect and complete--if he only understood just what Rip has gone through in learning his entire life has already been manipulated to the will of a set of masters. But Rip refuses to retie those strings upon himself, to be played to the benefit of someone else’s plan. He will not be anyone’s puppet, ever again.
“He knows how strongly I wish to escape this world, and he wishes to use that to his advantage.”
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"So what? You gotta exhibit a little self control and you don't think you can? Cause I remember you always whining about how little I have and here you are, making a deal with the devil cause you might get restless and want out?"
Eobard was going to use Rip, Rip seemed to know it'd happen and Mick was mostly baffled as to what they were supposed to do other than play dumb to a criminal. Seemed dumb. They needed a new plan. "It's not gonna happen. Not on my end."
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"Did you threaten him? Because Mick or I didn't, so if he felt the need to strike this deal out of nowhere, I gotta wonder what he thinks we could do to bother him." Why else single them out, possibly even seek them out, just to make sure they would keep doing what they have already been doing? "What's his advantage? Just us leaving him to his devices? Because in that case, I gotta wonder what he's planning. We haven't been bothering him, if he's going out of his way to get us leashed, he might want to do something that would have us bother him."
Which would be what? Hard to figure out, with so many unknown variables. "All he asked was for us to leave him alone? I feel like I'm missing half the story and then some."
It's not even necessarily Rip he doesn't trust here. Eobard? Definitely not trustworthy.
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Particularly given the risk he's taken in regards to being honest with them.
"A swing and a miss, Mr. Rory, but thank you for your commentary." He gives the man a decidedly less than happy look before he turns towards Leonard. "Actually the opposite: he made sure to tell me just how quickly he could shred my heart should he choose. Then, when I still seemed reluctant, he agreed to set aside any grievances he held against the team for the sake of our so-called 'partnership.'"
Hear that boys? It hadn't been the threats to himself or the pragmatism that convinced Rip. It had been the promise of protection for his comrades.
"Between that and his knowledge of the destruction of the Vanishing Point, I'd be willing to wager that Eobard Thawne is someone we will encounter in the future. And unlike the Flash, who is good-hearted enough to avoid murdering his enemies, let me assure you that the Reverse Flash won't hesitate to kill should it suit his purposes.
"So setting your bravado aside," he pointed turns his gaze towards Mick, "neither of you can tell me your track record against the Flash is exactly stellar. Consider now that we face someone who is just as fast, but lacking any of the sense of morality possessed by Central City's favorite hero. Agreeing to work with him was the best option available, because as Mr. Snart has said--there is still a great deal we don't know, including if his motivations extend beyond a desire to return home.
"This gives us time to find out."
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"Do you remember last time you talked to me like this? Getting all shirty. With the time pirates." Rip was always so quick to put Mick down and once, he had to deal with it. They were a team first then they were trapped together. But this? This wasn't a team. "Forgetting all of that, what I told you is that I know a little something about how to cut a deal."
He moved closer to Rip, sucked a defiant breath and fought back all urges to punch him in his smug, arrogant face. There. Wasn't he being nice. "You ain't any good at it, Rip. See, we're not friends, we're not team-mates and I got no loyalties to you. You're the guy that calls me stupid and would have be taken out in a heart beat. That isn't a team, we're not a team." He knows that they're not, he's seen it. He'd screw them over if he had to and they'd kill him if he was too much of a nuisance. Not that Rip'd pull the trigger himself, oh no, he'd get his best friend to do it. Or at least he never stopped him. "You want something from me, genius? And you're gonna talk to me like that? No. That's not how you cut a deal with someone you need."
Mick was not taken in by the gesture, as kind as it may be, because to him, the words did the talking and honestly, he was beyond done with being spoken to by Rip like this. He shook his head and turned away from Rip, giving Leonard a look.
"I ain't game. Like I said, if he's dodgy, he's dodgy and I'm going after him. You don't speak for us, captain." He turned and gave Rip a dark look. "This isn't bravado, asshole, This is you making a deal with a murderer to look the other way."
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"From what I gather, never mind whether we agree or not, Eobard thinks of us as a team. So he threatened us as a team. That's what we are dealing with here." Maybe it is time to just lay out what little he has learned so far. "Somehow this ties in with your desire to leave this place. You got any idea how?"
No accusation, just calm discussion. "Also, you don't seem to know much about the Flash and me and how things work, so. My track record's fine. Kept him alive and everything." It's all about adjusting to changing priorities regarding the Scarlet Speedster. Not what matters right now, but Leonard had to mention it anyway.
"You made a deal, because he thinks of us as a team, threatened all of us and offered you cooperation? The thing is, I don't trust him. Don't reckon any of us do or should. Also, if you want to talk down to my partner again, I'd suggest not doing it on a rooftop. Long way to fall." Because this isn't even about threatening Rip. Some things are just natural consequences and he's begging for them. "You talk about 'partnership' and working with him, sounds like you got an idea what that'd entail. Because I still don't. Might be in all of our best interest if Thawne learned that you don't speak for us. If he wants all of our cooperation, whatever the hell that means, he has to figure out how to cut a deal with all of us. As Mick said, he knows how to cut a deal."
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“Actually, he doesn’t think of you at all.” Something that’s almost funny, considering the accusations that have been hurled Rip’s way. He might see the disadvantages they face if they were to take up an on-going feud with Thawne, but he can also picture the threat they might pose. Eobard fails to give them that much credit, and part of Rip almost thinks he’s right to—at least as they are now. “Neither as a threat, nor of potential use to him. He doesn’t want anything from you. The concession to leave you all alone was made strictly to convince me that working with him is indeed in my best interest.”
And to imply what would happen should Rip have refused.
“So your base assumption, Mr. Snart, is quite wrong. I made a deal and called you to this rooftop both because I think of this group as a team—though as Mr. Rory has so kindly pointed out, perhaps I am also mistaken in that.” Certainly it feels like he could be. He has taken a massive gamble, only to have every scrap of faith he’s mustered thrown back in his face. Rip turns away from the pair and stalks closer to the edge. He needs the space, and if Mr. Rory opts to take barbaric advantage of that?
Well. It would certainly be a proper ending for what has been a spectacular disaster.
“He wants exactly what I do: to be freed of this bloody hell and returned to our world. Given my experience and knowledge as a Time Master, Thawne suspects I can help him piece together the way how. Moreover, I can potentially forge alliances he can’t, given his past with the Flash and his cohorts—
“Or I could have.” He turns back towards Leonard and Mick both. If they want everything spelled out in its simplest terms, fine. “But now I’ve put that at risk by trusting the pair of you with all of this, when I didn’t have to. Any partnership I’ve forged is now potentially lost, because by even pretending to work with Thawne I make myself even more suspect than I already am by virtue of being from the future.”
He doesn’t necessarily blame those people for their mistrust, in the end. Rip knows the sort of man he is, the choices he’s made. It’s exactly why Eobard had felt comfortable approaching him in the first place.
No doubt Thawne would be delighted if he ever learned of this new twist.
“You chide me for daring to talk down to you, and at the same time you don’t see that I have just bet everything on you.” Rip looks down, shaking his head, letting out a short snort of laughter. God, he feels like the perfect fool. “My best chance of getting home, of saving Kendra and finally defeating Savage—for the sake of some sense of comradery the pair of you certainly don’t seem to share.”
He looks between the pair; he’s thrown away everything, and for what? Before this all began, Rip thought he had known.
“Well, forgive me my mistakes, gentlemen. I am truly sorry to have made them.”
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He threw his arms out and gave Rip an exasperated look because what the hell kind of conclusion was he supposed to draw from this? He didn't think it was because he was slow or he wasn't following, it was just Rip. Always with the double speak, always unveiling little bits as he went along, almost stringing him along with vague ideas, only to replace it with another. Say what he would about Mick, at least there was no veil.
"I'm gonna be calm. Like a good boy. See?" Mick gestured to himself and hey, he wasn't yelling and no one was bleeding or on fire so he was, in fact, being one. And he held his hands up to show that. He felt like there was something there, some good that Rip was trying to say but it was getting lost in the Rip-isms that always seeped out.
They were all stuck here, might as well try to find some way to get along.
He looked at Leonard and met his eyes, silently communicating with him before looking back at Rip. "Start from the top. Speak plain. Cause maybe I ain't following but you ain't speaking easy here. Stop all the dancing around. From the top, make it simple."
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"Yeah. Time to step back and lay things out properly, because you are zigzagging from A to Z to M and then somewhere outside the alphabet and it might all be clear from where you're standing, but we ain't in your head." They could get each other without words, didn't work so well outside of that. "I wasn't making any assumptions, Rip, I was trying to go off what you're actually telling us and asked you if I'm right. You say I'm not, so. What happened? When did Thawne approach you how and what went down? What was threatened? What did you agree to? What's your reasoning? What's the plan? We're listening."
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(For the record, Rip doesn’t think the blame lies solely with him for that.)
“On my first day. You’ll remember I made a broadcast seeking further information about the events.” From the beginning, then. So much of this he has already said, but perhaps by laying it out as they suggest, in proper order, the gap between them might be closed. “Thawne responded. It was actually one of the more—informed discussions I had that day.”
Up to a point.
“We were discussing what merits there might be to figuring out how they are orchestrated versus why, the effects they have on the people here, and so on. At one point he compared the lost memories to stealing time, which is what tipped me off.”
He slides his hands into his pockets, where his fingers brush against the communicator. He could likely just take out the phone and play the conversation for the pair, but there’s no need. Rip remembers it well enough.
“I got his name, and made him aware that I know of him. At that point he opted to praise what happened at the Vanishing Point—specifically, to praise me.” Rip casts a glance towards Leonard at that; he’s quite aware that it hadn’t been his own actions that secured their victory that day. Given how likely it is that Mick too knows about it, Rip continues on. “Now, given what we’ve learned about the Time Masters, there are several reasons why a person could be thankful for their destruction. But since speedsters can travel through time, it’s not hard to reason why Thawne would be pleased by it.”
No more Time Masters, significantly less risk to someone looking to muck with history.
“Never the less, Thawne was pleased to see me; he said I could provide ‘insight.’” He takes a few steps forward, idly moving, his eyes on the ground as Rip continues to recount the conversation. “I tried to disengage, at which point he both compared me to a cockroach as means of flattery, and pointed out the ease with which he could kill me, but since we weren’t enemies here, he wouldn’t.”
He pauses there, glancing back towards the two men. Since the issue seems to have been an inability to understand one another, it seems a good time to make sure they are all still on the same page.
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Mick was following easier now, he always did when it was said in simpler terms. He didn't think that was down to intelligence levels, just down to people making things harder than they have to be. And given Rip is trying to justify a pact with a murderer, it made sense that he'd flower it up a little. Mick was never going to be in favour of it, he made up his mind on that one already but out of some strange courtesy, he'll hear him out. That was at least something.
"How come if he compares you to a cockroach, he gets a deal and if I was to do that, you'd probably drop communications?" Mick didn't get it. So far, nothing Eobard said really sold him as a business partner and detracted him from being someone they needed to keep an eye on.
Mick wondered if it was worth trying to warn Rip but some people, they couldn't just be told. It wasn't that easy. Besides, why should he worry about Rip? Right? "So you met the devil. Great. What next?"
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He wants to understand what Rip wants him, them to cooperate with. He would also like to understand why Rip is putting the point in time he is from - before Ray and after Mick and him - above them all in terms of what future he's concerned with and why he's so driven to return. He doesn't think it's simple vanity or a lack of seeing the full picture, there has to be more to it than that. But he will wait to hear what else Rip has to say on that and everything relating to Eobard himself.
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“In escaping this place of our volition.” Fortunately Rip’s temper has started to ease; amazing what happens when people actually seem willing to listen rather than just throw judgement around. “I am—or was—a Time Master. There are likely few here with the same level of understanding I possess when it comes to traveling through time, including how to do so. Considering we are now in a dimension that appears to be separated from the natural flow of the timestream, any successful means of escape will, by necessity, require such a capability.”
Although he knows there could likely be more to it from Eobard’s perspective. No doubt there is. Rip just hasn’t learned those specifics, yet.”
“Beyond that, as I said Mr. Thawne has an—almost disturbing awareness of how I might normally think. He’s confident I won’t be hindered by what he calls ‘the shackles of idealistic thinking.’” Better known as a sense of morality strong enough to blind him to the greater picture in favor of a more immediate, “heroic” goal. Rip turns his head, looking into the open air and notably does not deny the claim. He’s already working with a fragile enough sense of trust; no need to lie and shake it completely.
“Nonetheless I still didn’t consent to give him my aid, so he sweetened the pot. The way he phrased it, he wouldn’t act on any grievances he might have against the team provided we didn’t come after him.” He shakes his head; Rip had recognized the truth behind the words immediately, but just in case it isn’t clear:
“It’s a rather flowery way to threaten someone, even by my standards."
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He means talking wise, not in general. Although, that wouldn't be far off. Mick shrugged his shoulders, unsure what to even add. From what he was gathering, they'd been dragged here for a status update instead of something that required opinions because Rip already seemed pretty sold on this little deal and Mick, he just wasn't. It seemed dodgy.
Not just because of Eobard but for Rip. If he cared more about him, he might have been concerned. Mick, wise as he can sometimes be, opted to say little this time. He just turned his head to Leonard and raised an eyebrow. "Thoughts?"
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Not that surprising, really. What he still doesn't understand is... "Wish I knew why that speedster was so eager to make sure we wouldn't interfere. Interfere with what? Anyway. I ain't interested in taking him on, but I'm suspicious now what he's planning that might raise my interest. You follow? It makes no sense that he wanted this deal if he's not going to give us any reason to want to interfere." Whatever. He shakes his head and lifts his shoulders for a shrug. "So. You consented to giving him aid. Any idea what he'll want you to do for that?"
For a moment he looks at Mick again, then nods. "Just let us know when he's bothering you."
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This time it had simply been Rip to dig in his heels.
"Since it's advantageous on multiple levels." And yes, because Rip wants it to be. Leonard continues, questioning Thawne's motives and likely he is right to do so. There's little that can be reasonably questioned in what the man puts forward, and Rip knows it would look like carelessness to try and do so.
"Then perhaps we'll be afforded an opportunity to find out. If Thawne is convinced that I am working more in favor of my self-interest and less against him, he might be prone to let something slip." Be it in his plans or by granting Rip the opportunity to root around in his documents or plans. It's impossible to say just yet, which is, in fact, the entire point.
"Technological expertise, understanding of time and how it functions here--the ability to forge other alliances he simply cannot." Rip rattles off the list easily enough, having thought it through himself. "There are multiple possibilities. What this deal ultimately affords us, however, is time. Time to discover what his ulterior motives might be if he truly possesses them, not to mention time to shore up our own defenses."
Leonard suggests then that Rip keep them informed, and in return he nods. It seems to be agreement, or at least as much as Rip might expect to get from the pair--but he hopes to cement it.
"I will. I may have indeed made a deal with the devil, gentlemen, but I don't intend to hand over my soul." He is tempted by what a collaboration might offer--even hopeful for the results. But Rip has other things that matter far more, the ends of a hard-learned lesson during his team's journey to defeat Savage.
"If he does act out, I don't expect you to merely stand aside and let him--nor do I intend to either."
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And he knew without really needing to consider much that it'll back in his face. And there was nothing Mick or Leonard could do to stop that.
"You do what you gotta do, Rip. Just don't make it my problem and I'll let you fuck up however you want to." See, so generous.
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Leonard has a lot of things concerning all this that he'll still mull over - overthinking, as Mick calls it - but it doesn't seem as if Rip is really inviting an in-depth consultation and brainstorming, he can do that by himself. Eobard Thawne has just become an even bigger question mark than he's already been.
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“I’ll keep that all in mind.” And hopefully the pair of them would in turn keep his confidence. Rip had not been exaggerating when he said he risked everything on them. It might turn out to be a fool’s wager in the end, but each of the Legends has managed to surprise him during their travels together to fight Savage.
Enough so that he’s willing to hope. It’s not a thing Rip does easily these days.
“Thank you, gentlemen. Truly.”