Catastrophe

Rip stared at the sight in Dr. Palmer’s lab before chalking it up to the ever growing list of, “Things I never thought I’d see.”

Ray worked on a modification to one of the Waverider’s replication machines while the kitten dozed on his work bench. Occasionally the kitten flicked his long, fluffy tail over Ray’s arm and Ray pushed it safely out of the way. Within a few seconds, the cat, seemingly asleep, flicked its tail over his arm again.

Rip had noticed the cat spending more time with Dr. Palmer and considered it some form of feline vagary. The wives’ tales that cats would always shower attention on the one poor soul in a room who might be allergic or fearful appeared to be true. If he hadn’t known better, he would say Dr. Palmer was quickly becoming the feline’s favorite crew member.

He entered the lab to brief Ray on the upcoming mission to ancient Khwarazmian and the possibility that a magical device was aiding the locals against the invading Mongols on their reign of terror through the Persian territory. If it was as he feared, they would need the ATOM suit fully operational and all the team for the mission.

The cat sleepily rubbed against his arm in greeting.

“We are assembling for a team meeting but I wanted to check in with you about the ATOM suit. I think we are going to need you fully operational to miniaturize and return to normal in case things get ugly,” Rip told him.

Ray nodded. “The suit is fine. Now that Gideon is locking it away from Leonard.”

Rip sighed. “That is probably a good idea. If you are ready then, let’s begin our mission brief.”

____________

The team listened to Gideon’s very brief explanation of the time line disturbance.

“A local shah, Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu is supposed to be losing to Genghis Khan but instead, he is winning quite handily against the Mongols’ battle-hardened troops and superior numbers,” Gideon explained.

“Is that a bad thing?” Kendra asked.

“Unfortunately it is,” Rip said. “Gideon has now confirmed it is a very bad thing. Khan is horrifying and destructive but the current timeline shows a much more terrifying fate for the world if history is changed. The Shah wins, then wages a war of retribution against Delhi for not assisting him. Several assassinations then escalate into a lengthy conflict between India and China. The medical, engineering and other amazing accomplishments we know from the entire region never occur and the Dark Ages last until the 21st century.”

“Dang,” Sara said.

“Indeed,” Rip said.

Gideon elaborated, “Genghis Khan’s forces were supposed to have made their way into the region by now, but instead Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu has led a force of farmers and shepherds into one victory after another against the invading Mongols.”

Rip added, “The timeline now shows rumors about a magical staff the Shah carried to victory.”

“What do you think it is?” Martin asked.

“We think it might be the Spear of Destiny,” Rip replied. “It was missing for several hundred years after it disappeared from an Ethiopian monastery around this time.”

“That’s just legend, isn’t it?” Martin asked. “The spear that pierced the side of Christ and gives its bearer incredible power?”

Rip said, “Except that Hitler used it to keep the earliest members of the Justice Society from invading Germany which allowed him to conquer most of Europe with an impoverished and outnumbered army.”

The group grew quiet.

“I hate Nazis,” Mick growled.

“Agreed,” Len said. “Where do we start?”

“Miss Lance, Dr. Palmer, Mr. Rory and Mr. Snart will try to reach the Shah after he returns from battle tonight. There may be quite a celebration with fermented drinks, and hopefully security around the staff will be lax. If it’s possible, a subtle bit of thieving would be preferable,” Rip said. “If it’s not possible, the ATOM will need to grab the sword and Jax, you and Professor Stein will provide cover for the rest of the team to return.”

_________

The team waited in the Waverider’s cargo bay for Rip’s signal. Ray wore the ATOM suit, prepared to miniaturize and stow away in Sara’s pocket. Len, Mick, Sara, Martin and Jax all wore peasant costumes from the Khwarezmian Empire in 1220 AD. Carter and Kendra would wait with Rip as a final line of defense in case the mission went completely sideways.

The Waverider flew as close to the Shah’s encampment as possible and the team disembarked. Moving through the dead of night, they noted how many of the people they passed slept soundly, either from celebration or exhaustion.

Every one of the team hated the idea they might be helping Genghis Khan on a path of destruction through these people but the ensuing nightmare if they didn’t right the timeline was much worse. Still, they were a somber group moving toward the largest tent in the center of the camp.

Then Sara motioned for them to stop and duck behind a tent. They watched as a small group of men, dressed in rougher clothing, also crept through the camp.

“Oh dear,” Martin whispered. “That actually might be Genghis Khan.”

Rip’s voice in their earpieces agreed. “And unfortunately, he is also not supposed to be here. The Shah survives for another decade and provides some stability in the region. If Khan is successful at killing him, we may have a third disastrous version of the future to deal with. And God forbid Khan gets his hands on that spear.”

“Death and destruction no matter what we do. So what else is new,” Mick growled in a soft whisper.

“We could use this to our advantage,” Ray’s small voice said in their communication links.

“How?” Sara asked.

“We need a distraction. Maybe we sound the alarm about the intruders.”

“Except Genghis Khan lives for anther seven years,” Gideon warned.

“How about we just kill all the assholes and let history work itself out?” Mick said.

“I never thought I’d say this but I’m with Mick,” Ray said.

They all heard Rip’s heavy sigh.

“Right,” Sara said. “So don’t kill Khan. Keep him from killing the Shah. Steal the magical device that isn’t supposed to exist and try not to get killed ourselves.”

“That sounds about right,” Rip said.

“A typical mission then,” Len said, amused.

“Well boys, buckle up. It’s going to get a little bumpy,” Sara said before dashing across the encampment and taking out two of the men with Khan.

Ray flew up and buzzed toward the main tent, diving in and spotting an old Roman spear leaning against a makeshift bed of pillows. He didn’t consider himself a superstitious or particularly religious man but the sight did give him a slight chill down his spine. He wondered how many lives had been affected by the spear over the millennia.

Two sleepy guards stood at the tent entrance and their attention was fixed on the fracas occurring just out of their sight. Ray buzzed one, distracting him until Len smacked him on the head with his definitely not-of-this-time gun.

“I thought you were supposed to leave that behind,” Ray hissed.

“That just never works well for me,” Len said, bopping the other guard who crumpled in a heap.

He stole into the tent as its inhabitants began to stir, disturbed by the rising shouts in the camp. Len grabbed the sword and promptly dropped it.

“Damn,” he said. “That carries a punch.” He picked it up and raced from the tent as the Shah awoke and shouted a warning.

Ray fired a series of tiny light flashes into the badly disorganized group, stinging them but not harming anyone. He was so focused on creating a cover for Len to escape that he didn’t see the massive hand reaching for him. He yelped as one of the Shah’s men grabbed him and peered at him in disbelief.

Then the man screamed in pain and danced around before crashing into one of the tent poles. As the structure began to shake, Ray struggled to get free. He finally wriggled loose, only to catch sight of a tent pole crashing toward him. A ridiculously fluffy tale flicked past his vision before the pole hit him, knocking him senseless.

A minute later he groaned as he flopped painfully, carried by some huge beast, racing through a fury of screaming and clashing people. After a moment, he lost the fight to stay conscious and fell limp in his tormentor’s enormous jaws.

Ray groaned as he tried to stir from the soft ground under him. At some point, he thought he had resized to normal but his senses were so foggy, he wasn’t entirely sure he wasn’t dreaming.

And that was before the beautiful woman walked toward him, wearing a very sexy magician’s outfit with fishnet stockings.

She knelt beside Ray and touched his cheek. “Really sweetie, I thought we were making such progress.”

She bent forward to kiss him and whispered, “When I wiped some of your emotional memories and removed the trauma from losing Anna, I didn’t think you would keep courting danger. At some point, even the ATOM runs out of lives my love.”

Carter walked up and smirked. At least, it looked like Carter but different. His hair was different and he had a strong American accent. “When I asked you to help my future best friend, I didn’t expect you to fall for him,” he said.

The beautiful woman stood and glowered at the Hawkman. “You never told me how adorable he is.”

Carter snorted. “What is it with Palmer? And by the way… why a male cat?”

She shrugged. “The cat was already there. It was the perfect way to spend some time distracting our mutual friend.” She grimaced. “Believe me, the cat is even less thrilled about sharing his head space with me than you were,” she said.

Carter shook his head. “Well, knowing Ray, he’s probably already conned by the furball and fattening it up with tuna.”

The beautiful woman laughed. “Actually he’s allergic to cats.”

Carter barked with laughter. “Even better. It will make sure you keep your distance.”

Carter nudged Ray with a foot. “Hey, up and at ‘em loverboy. The team’s waiting.”

Ray began to stir, finally waking up to find the kitten sitting on his chest, a Cheshire cat smile on his face.

“Zatanna?” Why did that name come to mind he thought? He didn’t know anyone by that name and he was quite certain he had never met a woman who looked like that stunning creature in his dream.

“What?” he asked the cat, sounding frustrated.

“Meow,” the cat said and winked at him.

“Right,” Ray groaned and picked up the cat before lifting off, flying back to the Waverider.

“Oh my god, Ray,” Kendra said. “Are you all right?”

He nodded and handed her the cat. “I think so. What happened with the mission?”

Rip responded, “Mission accomplished. Sort of. Miss Lance took exception to one of the Mongol generals who snuck into the camp and insulted him. Then she kicked Genghis Khan’s arse apparently on general principle.”

Sara smiled. “He’s still alive. I followed orders.”

Rip continued, “Mr. Snart stole the magical device and Firestorm terrified the locals who thought the devil walked among them in punishment for their sins. Oh, and apparently the cat saved your life.”

Ray looked at the cat purring in his arms. “That explains why you were on my chest when I came too,” he said. “But how did you get out?” The cat blinked innocently.

“According to Gideon, he snuck out with the team and none of you noticed.”

Ray arched an eyebrow. “Well thanks Lucky,” he said, putting the cat down and groaning as he straightened.

“Perhaps you should have Gideon run a medical scan before you retire,” Rip said.

Ray nodded in agreement, then asked, “Did Carter leave the ship?”

Rip said, “No, why?”

Ray shook his head. “I just thought I saw him,” he said. “Never mind.” The cat leaped back into his arms and Ray caught him without thinking before leaving the cargo area.

Ray walked stiffly toward the medical bay, favoring his right side and thinking he needed to have Gideon run a brain scan because he was pretty sure there must be some damage. Why else would he conjure a hallucination that happened to have the same intriguing eyes as their furry companion? The cat reached a gentle paw to his cheek and purred.