Chapter 9
Leonard sat stewing in Rip's office. He stared at the open case containing the thermal core resting on the desk, his cold gun clenched firmly in his right hand.
They'd went through a lot of trouble for a ball of metal. Stein was captured and most likely going to be tortured for information and Mick was going to get to see what the inside of the gulag was like. Raymond was probably also going to be thrown in prison, but Leonard was too pissed to care what happened to him.
Rip came racing into the office, making a noise of relief at the sight of the thermal core. "Thank God you managed to grab it."
"Where was my backup, Captain?" he asked, lifting his gun off his shoulder and aiming it at Rip. A low buzz filled the room as it armed itself. "Half the team is gone because of you."
Shutting the case and locking it shut, Rip responded, "And if I'd have sent the other half in to save them, they'd be captured too and where would we be, hmm? Savage would have both halves of Firestorm, Kendra would be dead- it'd be almost everything he wants.
If Hermione and Carter were here, then maybe, just maybe, they would have been able to assist in getting you all out. But that's a pretty big if and the cost of failure would have been high. It would be the end to our little crusade and, most likely, the world. So, before you pull that trigger, ask yourself: what would you have done?"
Leonard was silent for a moment before he let out a small rush of air. "That is a pretty cold calculation, Rip," he drawled. "Almost criminal." He disengaged his gun and stood up. "Except we criminals have a code; 'never leave one of your own behind'."
"We will get them back," Rip vowed, leaning in towards him.
Footsteps echoed in the cabin outside of the office and Carter and Hermione appeared in the doorway.
"What's going on?" Hermione asked, eyes drifting over them as she carefully took in their stances and demeanors. "Why did you move the ship?"
"Where the hell have you two been?" Leonard snapped loudly. Hermione's eyes widened as she flinched back slightly, and he instantly felt a wave of remorse.
"I was out following a lead," she answered slowly, glancing between Leonard and Rip. "I meant to go alone but Carter tagged along at the last minute."
"You can't just decide to go running off on your own without telling me," Rip stated, putting his hands on his hips.
Hermione's eyes narrowed. "I didn't see you rushing to alert the team when you first got the signal from Chronos' ship. I prefer my leaders to show by example, not by declaring that we should 'do as they say and not as they do'."
"What is going on?" Carter interjected, placing a hand on Hermione's shoulder. "Why are you two arguing? Where's the rest of the team?"
"Well, let's see," Rip started. "Ms. Saunders, Ms. Lance, and Mr. Jefferson are all safely tucked away in their rooms and I believe Mr. Rory, Dr. Palmer, and Dr. Stein are currently on their way to a Russian gulag."
Hermione's mouth dropped open slightly in surprise. "What?"
"What did you do?" Carter demanded.
"They were captured on a reconnaissance mission," Rip informed them evenly.
"Reconnaissance where?" Hermione asked. When the Captain remained silent, she repeated loudly, "Reconnaissance where, Rip?"
"Luskavic Labs," Leonard answered for him.
"You broke into a secure, Soviet-run facility without us?" Hermione asked, outraged. "Or, well, without me, at least. The woman who is basically a ready-made emergency exit plan?"
Leonard turned to glare at Rip. "That's exactly what I said."
Rip scowled at them. "And what neither of you seem to grasp is just how bad it would be if you, Hermione, were captured by the Russians."
"And what you don't seem to grasp, Captain, is just how unlikely a possibility that is. Partially because I know I outclass any Soviet magic user that might be thrown my way and partially because if it looks like I'm going to be captured, I absolutely plan on killing myself."
Carter groaned, and Leonard's head snapped around to look at Hermione again. "What?!"
"Oh yes," she grinned, eyes bright and manic. "If the story of Sirius Black has taught me anything, it's to never let them take you alive."
"That is not the lesson you should have learned!" Rip shouted at her.
"Do you even know who Sirius Black is?" Hermione asked.
"We're way off topic now," Carter interrupted. Glancing at Hermione, he added, "We'll circle back to that later though. Once we've rescued the rest of the team, we'll work on you."
Hermione glowered at him. "I don't need working on."
"I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt about that before," he told her. "But you keep talking and it keeps getting worse, so we're done with that now."
"Before," Rip repeated. "Yes, where exactly were the two of you?"
Before either Hermione or Carter could answer, Gideon spoke. "Captain, it seems there was an explosion at a residence on the outskirts of Moscow. The home is reported to be the main familial residence of the Dolohov family."
"You know, Gideon," Hermione groaned, reaching up to pinch the bridge of her nose. "Just because you can say things, doesn't mean you should."
Leonard glanced between the annoyance on Hermione's face and the horror on Rip's. "Someone want to fill me in?"
"You…" Rip spluttered. "You burned down the house of Antonin Dolohov?"
She held up a hand. "Back at Savage's house, I found evidence that he was corresponding with Dolohov on behalf of Riddle. Well, it started on behalf of Riddle. It seems by the time I stumbled upon their letters they'd become friends of sorts. Savage was assisting Dolohov in the creation of some of his darkest and most lethal spells. I merely went to the house to see if I could find anything that might help us with locating and capturing Savage."
"See, I might have believed that if I didn't know that Antonin Dolohov left Russia as a teenager and relocated to Britain," Rip hissed.
"Yes, but when he realized that he was going to be captured, Dolohov used a spell of his own creation to send all his personal belongings back to Russia so the Ministry couldn't confiscate them. The Ministry attempted multiple times to reclaim everything, but the Russian government was most uncooperative."
"And you think that excuse justifies breaking into the home of one of the most monstrous soldiers in the Second British Wizarding War?" Rip demanded and Leonard inhaled sharply. "Have you forgotten what happened during your previous run-in with Dolohov? Did you even take a moment to consider what could have happened to you before you ran off without telling anyone where you were going or even giving us a way to find you in case you didn't make it back?"
Hermione tensed, hands clenching into fists. "You know as well as I that Dolohov is currently rotting in Azkaban. But even if he wasn't, it wouldn't matter. I'm not a sixteen-year-old girl anymore- he won't find it that easy to take me down."
Leonard could almost feel his brain stuttering to a halt, unable to compute what it was hearing.
Rip stormed around his desk to stand in front of Hermione. "I understand that you have spent the last few years working alone with no one to watch your back. But you are part of this team now. If you want to run off and do something, you either let me or Gideon know. Especially when you decide to risk your life on what is little more than petty revenge- and that is what this was. Your actions today were reckless and irresponsible."
"And yours weren't?" she shot back. "You tried to take on Chronos with only Mick for backup! Then when you went there and found your former Time Master ally- who was clearly trying to lead you into a trap- you opted to go back with only a few members of the team to confront him without knowing how many people he might have brought with him! And then, you sent half the team into a Soviet lab containing Savage's pet project! You sent Ray in there along with the less agile half of Firestorm- how was that not reckless and irresponsible?!"
"It was supposed to be a simple reconnaissance mission-"
"When has a mission that Ray has been on ever gone well-"
"ENOUGH," Carter shouted. When he was sure that Hermione and Rip were going to remain silent, he said, "We don't have time for this. Both of you are going to take ten minutes to cool off while I go get the rest of the team. Then we are going to calmly brief them on what happened and what we are going to do about it. Got it?"
Pursing her lips, Hermione simply nodded before turning on her heel and storming out of the office.
Leonard strode after her without looking back.
"I am not in the mood," Hermione snapped when she'd noticed Leonard was following her.
"Shockingly enough, my day hasn't been going all that well either," he responded, voice cold.
Stopping in the middle of the hallway, she turned to look at him. "I'm sorry," she said softly, shoulder slumping. "I should have been here. If I hadn't run off, Mick wouldn't have been captured."
"No concern for Stein or Raymond, huh?" When Hermione just looked down at her shoes, Leonard sighed. "Don't get me wrong, I'm pissed as hell about how this all went down. But what happened wasn't your fault."
Hermione nodded, still looking down. "I shouldn't have left."
Leonard snorted. "That's not what I'm mad about. I basically told you to go, remember?"
Meeting his gaze again, Hermione asked, "Then are you just upset with the situation in general, or are you upset with me about something else?"
Pressing his lips together tightly, Leonard took a deep breath in through his nose. "I'll admit, after you spied on me while I was dealing with a part of my past, I wanted to learn about yours. But in the past six hours, I have learned more about your childhood and none of it's been good. I am not happy about anything I've heard."
She frowned. "What exactly did you hear?"
"You mean besides the fact that apparently a Russian wizard attacked you when you were sixteen?"
"Oh," Hermione flushed. "I forgot that I hadn't told you about that."
Staring at her for a moment, Leonard demanded, "Did Carter already know?"
"Well, in my defense, he did follow me to Dolohov's house! And the fact that I was planning on breaking in and burning it to the ground didn't exactly imply that we'd had any positive interactions in the past."
Leonard didn't think he was hurt by that knowledge, but he was a little offended. "So, you told Carter about Dolohov and you told Jax about Dumbledore, but I was told nothing?"
Hermione put her hands on her hips. "You were spying on me with Jax?"
"Well, I figured that since you did it to me, it was fine if I did it to you. After all, you prefer leading by example."
"I said that to Rip, not to you! It doesn't count!"
He took another deep breath, forcing himself to try and regain his calm. "Did it at least help?" he finally asked. "Going after Dolohov."
She was silent for a moment, before starting to walk down the hall again. Neither of them spoke until after they entered into her room.
Once Hermione perched herself on the edge of her bed, she answered, "I don't know. I honestly don't know what I'm feeling right now."
Leonard moved to stand in front of her. "Do you wanna talk about it?"
She sat there for a moment, eerily still and silent, before quietly asking, "Do you ever feel like you never escaped? Like no matter how much you've grown, and how strong you've gotten, it still isn't enough?"
Studying her intently for a moment, he said, "Yeah. I know the feeling."
"I thought I was past this. I thought this was over. But now I'm here and I'm still… haunted."
"By Dolohov? Or Dumbledore?"
"Both," she said, giving a choked little laugh. "But I don't even know if they're actually the problem. Sometimes it doesn't feel like I'm being haunted by my monsters. It feels like I'm being haunted by me. Like I've grown up from my younger self, but I haven't outgrown her."
Shifting so he was beside her, Leonard leaned against the wall. "Sounds to me like you were just a kid trying to do the best you could."
"Considering everything you've heard today, does it sound as though I did all that well?"
He smirked. "You seem alright to me."
Hermione attempted a smile, appreciating his efforts to lighten to the mood, but it quickly slipped away. "Rip was right, this whole thing was about petty revenge. Which, given our earlier conversation, you are aware that I went there knowing that. But I still thought I'd feel some sort of satisfaction afterwards. With all my other jobs, there was this rush that came from taking away something someone cares about, from stealing something important. I did that with Dolohov, but I don't have that feeling now."
"This time it was personal," Leonard offered, looking away from her. "I know for me, those jobs have a different sort of flavor to them."
"That could be it," she allowed. "I won't say that none of my other jobs have been for personal reasons, but the one that had the same level of emotional baggage to it was done while I was very drunk. I was so drunk, I don't actually remember much of it."
That startled a laugh out of Leonard. "Able to pull off jobs while black-out drunk; a skill even I don't possess."
"Well then, something for you to work on in the future."
Leonard stood up and gently nudged her. "C'mon, time to go join the others and hear Rip's master plan for rescuing our missing teammates."
Sliding to her feet, Hermione nodded. "And after he tells us his plan, I'll inform you all of the actual plan so that we don't leave anyone rotting in a Russian gulag for too long."
"A thermal core," Kendra repeated, glaring at the ball on the table. Sara, Rip, Carter, and Jax all joined her, while Leonard and Hermione were sitting in the seats a bit further back.
"Let me get this straight," Sara started, walking around to stand next to Rip. "You had Kendra and I training for the next mission, when we should have been out there helping them."
"We will help them," Rip told her. "Our next mission is to get our compatriots back from Vostok."
"Who's to say they're not already dead?" Kendra asked.
Rip began pacing around the table. "Vostok needs the professor alive in order to rebuild the thermal core."
"And Ray and Rory?" Jax questioned.
"Savage will keep them alive," Carter answered.
"As leverage," Sara snapped. "He'll torture them if Stein tries to hold out."
"Well, we have to pray that he does," Rip snapped. "If Savage's goal is to create his own Firestorm, then Stein himself is the key- the missing piece of the puzzle. And if Vostok figures out how to turn Stein's powers against us, then I'm afraid the world is beyond saving."
Jax sighed. "Stein's a lot tougher than he looks. I mean, it will take a lot to break him."
Sighing, Rip said, "That's the good news. The bad news is that our compatriots are being held in an impenetrable Soviet gulag."
Turning to look back at the seated duo, Sara asked, "You two have anything to add to this?"
Leonard glanced over at Hermione and she sighed. "Now that you've seen Vostok in action, I wonder why you continue to doubt her intelligence."
"What do you mean?" Rip snapped.
"Before I answer that question, tell me this: how long does it take to build a thermal core?"
"Stein said it takes eight to ten years," Jax answered.
Hermione nodded. "So, if you're an intelligent human being who's working on a project where its most vital component is an object that takes nearly a decade to make, you would…"
"Build multiples," Kendra groaned.
"There we go," Hermione stated, smirking. She was sure it looked more exhausted than smug, which was probably a positive in this situation. "If we move from operating under the assumption that Vostok and Savage need Stein to build a new core, then we come to the conclusion that what they actually need Stein for is to show them how to use it to create Firestorm. Which means our time table just got a lot shorter. Lucky for us, I know how to get us in and out of whatever prison they've been thrown into."
"The quicker we can get them out the better," Carter commented. "Considering the fact that Savage is likely already on his way to wherever Stein and the others are at, we need to get them out before he gets to them. I don't want us going up against him if he's got any member of our team available to use as a pawn against us."
"You know where they took them?" Sara asked, prowling over to her.
"No idea," she responded. "However, it'll be simple enough to track them down once the Russians have finished transporting them to their final destination and, once they do, I'll be able to find our way in."
"Do you just have building schematics for all Russian gulags stashed somewhere?" Jax asked in disbelief.
Hermione shook her head. "No, but what I do have is a contact that's an expert in all Soviet prisons."
"You have a contact in 1986?" Rip prodded dubiously.
"I have a contact from 2002," Hermione corrected. "But he was a major player in 1986, and I know what to say to get him talking."
Rip frowned. "2002… wasn't that the year-"
"Yes." Hermione stood, stretching her arms above her head. "Congratulations, boys and girls. You all are going to find out just why I was banned by the Russian government- both magical and non-magical- from ever setting foot in this lovely country again. However, unless Rip is going to time-jump us a few hours forward, I suggest we all get some rest."
The team glanced at Rip. "Get some rest," he echoed, slipping his hands into his pockets. "It's likely that our missing compatriots will be in transit until tomorrow, so we should rest until they get there. Once we know where they are, we'll know how to proceed."
With begrudging looks, the others began to wander off towards the rooms until only Hermione, Leonard, Rip, and Jax remained behind.
"Is your head still bothering you from earlier?" Hermione asked Jax, having noticed his repeated winces through their discussion.
"Nah," he responded, pressing his palm against his forehead. "It's Stein. He's scared to death. I… I can feel it. He's trying to be strong but-"
"You can feel it," Hermione interrupted, striding over to him. "How?"
"We're linked," Jax explained, dropping his hand. "It's how I can hear his voice when we're Firestorm. The connection's still there even after we separate. Usually it's just feelings and sensations, but sometimes I can hear his thoughts and if one of us gets a wound it might show up on the others body too."
Hermione couldn't help the grin that spread across her face. "You're psychically linked," she marveled. "That's brilliant."
"Why?" Leonard asked, joining them.
"Because that means we can pass messages to Stein," she explained. "As long as he knows for sure that we're coming for them, he'll likely be able to hold out for longer."
Jax shook his head. "It doesn't work like that. Or, at least, not for us. I don't know how to send any thoughts to him."
"Yes, but I do," Hermione told him, almost vibrating with excitement. "If you're willing, I can use magic to go into your mind and then, with any luck, use your link to go into Stein's. Then I can reassure him that we're coming and update him on our plans as we go."
After thinking about it for a moment, Jax agreed. "Alright. How do we do this?"
"Well, first we should sit."
Leading Jax over to empty stretch of floor near the large front windows, Hermione sat down and waited for him to join her. "This may be uncomfortable for you, but eye contact is key here. We need to keep our eyes locked for the duration of my time in your mind. If you look away, the connection will break and, if your reason for breaking it is anything less than an emergency, I will hex you because it will give me a migraine."
"Okay," he said slowly, looking more hesitant. "Is this going to hurt?"
"I'm not sure," she answered honestly. "If I were just going into your mind then I would say no, but I don't know how you'll feel once I access your connection with Stein."
"Then perhaps we shouldn't do this," Rip suggested.
"No," Jax disagreed. "We need to do this. He needs to know we're coming for him." Shifting slightly on the floor, he locked eyes with Hermione. "Let's do this."
"Alright," she nodded, pulling out her wand. "Three… two… one… Legilimens."
She was pulled into Jax's mind in an instant. As always, the feeling of being in someone else's head was completely disorientating. It took a few moments for Hermione to get her bearings but, once she did, she began searching for Jax's link to Stein.
Fortunately for her, Jax was focused on Stein and the sensations he was getting through their bond. Once she was able to locate it, Hermione began prodding at it to see what kind of response she would get from it. It almost seemed as though it was a kind of permanent Legilimens spell, which meant that all she had to thread her spell into it and allow it to lead her forward.
There was far more pushback getting into Stein's head then there had been getting into Jax's. It was also unsettling going from a mind that was staring out at the bright cabin of the Waverider and into one that was huddled in the back of a dark truck, feeling absolutely terrified.
"Stein?"she called out. "Can you hear me?"
She could feel him startle. "What?" he asked out loud.
"Quiet!" a male voice ordered.
"Don't speak," Hermione hastily told him. "It's me, Hermione."
Hermione? he repeated. Have I gone completely mad?
"Not at the moment. I'm using a spell to piggyback off of Jax's mental connection with you so that we could talk."
So, it's really you? Stein asked. You're in my head?
"I am. I have to be quick though, because Jax is exhausted, and I don't want him breaking the connection by accident before we're done speaking."
Is he alright? he questioned, and Hermione could feel him thrumming with concern. Is Snart? I didn't see what happened to him, only that Mr. Rory and Raymond were captured.
"Leonard's fine," she reassured him. "We're unsure about Ray and Mick, but we believe that they're also unharmed. I just wanted to let you know that we're going to come rescue you as soon we can. Once you reach whatever holding you're being moved to, I'll be able to use magic to find you."
But what if we aren't all taken to the same place? Stein fretted. Or what if they kill either Raymond or Mr. Rory?
"They won't," Hermione told him firmly. "Those two are just being kept as collateral, and as a back-up plan in case Vostok is unable to convince you into giving her the formulas she needs. It shouldn't take us longer than a day to retrieve you- two at most. It'll take longer than that for them to realize that they're not going to be able to drug you into compliance and decide to use either Ray or Mick against you."
She could feel Stein considering her words, weighing them for their honesty. You think Vostok will use drugs on me?
"It's what I would do. I would either attempt to drug you into compliance or give you a few hallucinogens and manipulate you into thinking that you're somewhere safe working on your formulas, perhaps with a close friend or trusted ally. If you thought you were talking to someone safe, you might be willing to explain the formula."
So, I can't trust anything I see or hear?
"That's too broad a statement. If you look around and you are somewhere familiar, somewhere that's not a dimly lit room where you're surrounded by either four stone walls or bars, then it's not real. If you're talking to someone you left behind in 2016 or who you know is dead, then it's not real.
"However, if you can hear either my or Jax's voice in your head, telling you that we're on our way, or giving you instructions on what to do to break out, that's real. I know it's hard, but there will be a flaw in every fake scene you see. Either because Vostok won't be able to perfectly imitate the person she's pretending to, or because your mind will realize something is off. The drugs will encourage your mind to fill in the blanks of the scene that Vostok is trying to create, but your mind will also still try to warn you that something isn't right. Once you find that flaw, the scene will fall apart."
How do I know that this is real?
"You know because you are a scientist and explaining something using the word 'spell' is not something you would ever do."
Martin huffed. Fair enough.
Hermione took a deep breath. "Alright, I need to go. Before I leave, I need you to do something for me."
Anything.
"I know you're scared, but I need you to try and focus on staying calm. Jax can feel what you're feeling. He won't be able to sleep if you're this terrified without some kind of aid, and all the sleeping potions I have would cause your bond to be blocked. If there's an emergency, he needs to know. But he also needs to sleep. So, take some deep yoga breaths and let go of some of that terror you're feeling, because you're not alone. You are okay. You just need to survive the next twenty-four hours, and then you'll be back on the Waverider."
She could feel the emotions shifting in Stein as he took her words to heart, his fear fading into a sort of calm resolve. Twenty-four hours?
"Twenty-four hours," she confirmed. "And I promise that we'll keep you updated on what's happening and I'll check back in with you in a few hours. If I can, I'll even try to visit when I know that Vostok is trying to use drugs on you. My presence in your mind may be able to prevent most hallucinogens from fully taking effect."
Alright. Thank you.
"See you in a bit."
Pulling herself first out of Stein's mind and then out of Jax's, Hermione finally fell back into her own. Her wand hand dropped, and she sighed. "I'm done."
Jax sat back, blinking rapidly. "Whoa. That was weird. I could feel you in there, but I couldn't hear what you were saying to Stein. He feels a lot calmer though."
"I told him what the plan was, that we should be rescuing him in the next twenty-four hours, and that he just has to hold out till then." Hermione rose to her feet, lifting her hands up into the air for a deep stretch.
"You okay?" Leonard asked, resting a hand on her back.
Turning to look up at him, Hermione gave a small smile. "I'm fine. I didn't go all that deep into either of their minds. There are a few levels with that spell: the first is just skimming the mind, a shallow connection that allows me to see their immediate thoughts and communicate with them if I so choose. The second level is deeper, allowing me to see their memories and I can even nudge their thinking into whatever direction I want. The third is the deepest level, where I can manifest myself into their mind. It's difficult to get that deep into someone's mind, and it's painful to get out. Depending on how Stein reacts to whatever drugs Vostok may give him, I may need to go all the way in to ensure he doesn't tell her anything he shouldn't."
"So, he's okay?" Jax asked, seeming to need some reassurance.
"He's tired and worried, but now that he knows that there is a plan to get them all out, feeling more confident. Vostok isn't going to be able to break him- as you said, he's tougher than he looks."
Jax nodded slowly, and Hermione reached out to place a hand on his arm. "Try to get some sleep. Using that spell tomorrow will be taxing for both of us, especially if I have go deeper into Stein's mind. You'll want to be well-rested so that you can help us with breaking into the gulag."
"Alright," he agreed. "I'll try."
Once he left, Rip asked her, "Are you sure your contact is going to be able to help us with breaking into a gulag? Especially since they won't know you."
Hermione nodded, crossing her arms over her chest. "Yuri is one of the leaders of the Bratva right now, and I know he'd be willing to do anything to make Savage's life even slightly more difficult."
"Your contact is a member of the Russian mob?" Leonard asked, sounding impressed. "In 1986, they would have ruled the criminal underground inside every prison."
"Exactly," Hermione told him. "All we need to do is find out which prison they're going to, and Yuri and his men will be able to help get us inside. Then, all we have to do is get out, which I think should be done in as loud and destructive a manner as possible."
"Coming from the woman who decided to break out of Gringott's by flying out on the back of a dragon, that's not surprising," Rip muttered.
When Leonard stayed silent, Hermione glanced back at him and asked, "Is this an interesting fact about my past or another upsetting one?"
"That depends," he started, narrowing his eyes. "How old were you?"
"Eighteen," she answered. "Almost nineteen, since all that time traveling when I was fourteen added a few extra months to my age. And possibly a few years off of my life since it was just so stressful."
Leonard sighed. "And we're back to being upsetting."
"Really?" Hermione teased. "I wouldn't have been able to tell without you saying anything. Your upset expression is the same as your angry expression and your resting one, as well."
"It's all in the eyes."
"If you're going to continue flirting," Rip interrupted. "Could you please go do it somewhere else?"
Hermione flushed slightly and said, "Of course. Leonard, how do you feel about continuing our conversation in Rip's office?"
Rip glowered at her. "I will shoot you."
Tilting her head slightly to the side, Hermione smiled and lightly responded, "No, you won't."
Leonard gave of huff of laughter, wrapping his arm around Hermione's shoulders and guiding her out the door. "C'mon, let's leave the good Captain to sit in his office to contemplate all of his failings. We have a big day tomorrow; we should get some rest."
Without noticing, Hermione shifted closer to Leonard until she was burrowed into his side. "Resting sounds nice," she sighed. "We haven't been able to do much of that between missions."
"And I doubt that fact is going to change anytime soon," Leonard said, his hand slowly sliding off her shoulder and down her back to rest on her hip.
After a moment of silence, Hermione softly told him, "Mick's going to be okay."
"I know," he murmured. "Can't help worrying though. He took the fall for me."
Moving to wrap her arm lightly around him, she said, "Of course he did. You'd do it for him."
They came to a stop outside Leonard's door and Hermione pulled away just in time to see a flash of confusion cross his eyes. "I decided that it would only be fair if I walked you to your door since you're usually walking me to mine."
He raised his eyebrows, a small grin appearing on his lips. "How generous of you."
"Well, I'm known for being a very giving and fair person," she retorted.
Hesitating for just a moment, Hermione pushed herself up onto her toes and wrapped her arms around Leonard's shoulders, pulling him into a tight hug. "Try to get some sleep," she whispered in his ear.
Leonard was still as a statue for a heartbeat and then his arms slid around her. "I will if you will," he responded, and she could feel him pressing a kiss into her hair.
After holding on for a few seconds longer than she normally would, Hermione slowly pulled away, pausing briefly to press her lips against Leonard's cheek. "Goodnight."
He licked his lips. "Night."
Hermione forced herself to turn and walk away.
If she didn't make a decision about Leonard soon, she was going to cross the line from being hesitant to being cruel.
Too bad knowing that didn't make it any easier.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Rip asked Hermione for what felt like the hundredth time.
"Yes," she groaned, pulling her hair up and tying it back. "Yuri won't talk to you. Well, at least not in a timely manner. You might eventually be able to convince him to help, but only after things turn violent."
The team were, once again, standing in the main room, crowded around the center console. Now that they knew where Stein and the others had been taken, they could work on getting them out.
"And you want us to just let you go in and face him on your own?" Kendra asked, sounding slightly concerned.
"I said that would happen if Rip talked to him, not if I did." Hermione fiddled with the ends of her sleeves, checking to make sure they were loose enough. "And I also didn't say that I had to go in alone. It's fine if Sara, Leonard, and Rip want to come along."
Carter narrowed his eyes. "And why are the rest of us being left behind?"
"Because you and Kendra need to continue with your training," Rip answered. "As for Mr. Jefferson-"
"It's important that Jax remains in a calm environment right now," Hermione interrupted, before Rip could say something rude about Jax being a liability. "Remember, if you're able to sense what Stein is feeling, that means he can do the same with you. He's already on edge as it is; if he starts feeling any distress from you, Jax, he's going to think something is wrong. And the last thing we need is for him to start getting scared and doubting in us."
Jax scowled but nodded. "Fine. But I refuse to just sit on my ass while you all are out rescuing Stein. Once you figure out how to break in, I'm coming with you."
Hermione bit her lip. "If Savage hasn't arrived at the gulag by the time we break in, then I think that would be fine. If he's there though, you can't come with us."
He started to argue, but Hermione held up a hand to stop him. "Think about it, Jax. If Savage finds out that Stein is one half of Firestorm and that you're the other half, even if we're able to get away clean today, all he has to do is keep an out in the future for mention of either of you. Stein is a published scientist- all Savage has to do is read his papers and find a picture of him online to know that he's the man he captured in 1986. Once he knows that, observing him for a period of time would lead to either you or his previous partner. We have better chance of getting Savage to just let go of his hope of creating a Firestorm if he thinks he just lost a scientist who can help with the formula."
Jax deflated before her eyes. "You always gotta find the winning argument?"
She smiled. "Yes. I'm a very sore loser so it's best if I just always make sure to win."
"So," Leonard finally spoke, moving to lean on his forearms on the table next to Hermione. "How do you plan on getting into the sauna? I'm assuming it's males only."
"It's a banya, not a sauna," Hermione corrected. "And I'm going to make myself invisible and follow you and Rip in. Sara will be outside making sure we're not disturbed."
"Sounds like a lot of naked dudes," Sara commented with a grimace.
"Unfortunately," Hermione agreed. "And most of them will be old." Turning to look at Leonard and Rip, she added, "I expect both of you to keep it covered."
"I will if you will," Leonard instantly responded.
Hermione smirked. "No promises."
Once they'd entered into the large steam room, Hermione hit the three men besides Yuri already inside with spells that sent them out the door in a hurry. Once they were gone, she dropped her Disillusionment spell.
She walked over to the large, dark-haired man with his back to her and called, "Yuri Reznikov."
He turned quickly, brows furrowed in confusion at the sight of a woman in his favorite banya. "How did you get in here?"
Shrugging, Hermione gestured to where Rip and Leonard sat stationed in different parts of the room. "I had help from some friends. And just a touch of magic."
"Hermione…" Rip hissed, but she ignored him.
Yuri looked her up and down, and Hermione couldn't help smiling a bit at how young he looked. He was past his youthful days by this point, but when she had first met him, he'd been an old man. "You must be very brave to approach me here. Or very stupid."
"Funny, you said the exact same thing the first time we met." She shrugged off her coat and tossed it to Rip. "I'm here because I believe we can be of use to one another."
Yuri snorted, stepping towards her. "And why do you think that?"
"Because we have common enemies. The first is a man by the name of Vandal Savage, who runs a secret operation out of the Koshmar Gulag. We need to break in, and I know you can help with that."
"I've heard of this Savage," he stated. "He has no respect for my country's rich criminal traditions."
"So, you'll help us?" Leonard asked, and Hermione pinched the bridge of her nose with a sigh. Obviously it wasn't going to be that easy.
"Who is our other common enemy?" Yuri prodded, ignoring Leonard for the time being.
Hermione dropped her head. "Antonin Dolohov."
Yuri's eyes went ice cold. "What business do you have with Dolohov?"
"None at the moment," she said with a smirk. "I already got my revenge."
Pulling a box out of her pants pocket, she whispered a spell to enlarge it back to its original size and held it out to Yuri. "This is for you."
He eyed the box with suspicion, making no move to take it. "What is it?"
"A box of things that belongs to you and yours," Hermione stated simply. "I found them when I was ransacking Dolohov's house. Right before I burned it to the ground."
Yuri's brows shot up. "That was you?"
"Like I said, I already got my revenge."
Yuri finally took the box from her, slowly opening the top of it and peering inside.
When Dolohov was still living in Russia, he'd apparently decided it would be fun to steal priceless treasures from the Bratva- an organization within the Russian mafia. He didn't take items that were high in monetary value, but ones that were treasured by their owners. Family jewelry, pictures of wives and children, things passed down for generations- all of these things and more were taken by Dolohov as a way of taunting the 'inferior' muggles. However, there were magical members of the Bratva, none of whom were pleased by Dolohov's actions. Their resulting hunt for him was the reason Dolohov fled his home country in the first place.
"Why give these to me freely instead of using them as a way of forcing my cooperation?" Yuri finally asked, looking up at her.
"I may be a criminal, but I still have a code," Hermione sighed. "There's no honor in using your own possessions as a way of forcing your hand. More importantly, I owe you. This is me repaying my debt."
"Owe me for what?"
Hermione carefully pulled her shirt up, baring a long purple scar on her torso and a tattoo inked under it.
"I received this scar from Dolohov during a fight. I received the tattoo beneath it while training with your family on the ways of breaking into impenetrable buildings, both normal and magical."
Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione could see Rip shooting to his feet. "Hermione!"
She continued to ignore him. "I almost had them use the same phrase that you have inked onto your back- 'Execution Will Reform Me'- but you said this one would be more appropriate."
Yuri's eyes traced slowly over her diagonal tattoo, taking in the words, 'A man who has no life story cannot be trusted'. His lips twitched as he met her gaze again. "How long should I expect to be hosting you when next we meet?"
"Two weeks. After that, I'll be banned from ever stepping foot in this country again. Though, if they could have caught me, they would have just killed me."
He laughed, long and loud. "Well then, lisichka, that is something to look forward to. If you give your word that you will weaken Savage's hold on my country, I will tell you how to get into Koshmar. Though I will warn you, it is not named the nightmare prison for no reason."
"On my honor, I give you my word that we will bring Savage to his knees," Hermione responded promptly, pulling her shirt back down and grabbing her coat. "Just so you know though, there are many parts of my life that I would name a nightmare. Neither Savage nor this prison will be one of them."
Yuri grinned. "My organization runs black market goods into Koshmar. Go to my warehouse in the center of Moscow. I will inform my men to give you a copy of the gulag's layout and they will allow you to take one of the transport trucks. Bring 300,000 rubles with you to Koshmar and tell the guards that Yuri the Bear sent you- they'll let you right in."
Hermione smiled brightly at him. "Pleasure doing business with you, papik."
His laughter followed them as they made their way out of the sauna and into the locker room.
"That was horrifically reckless," Rip hissed as soon as he and Leonard had re-dressed and they were on their way back to the ship. "You know how dangerous it is to let anyone know that you're a time traveler."
"He's not going to say anything to anyone, not now and not when we meet again," Hermione said shortly.
"You can't know that-"
"Yes, I can." Stopping in her tracks, Hermione turned to face Rip, carefully ignoring the considering looks on both Leonard and Sara's faces. "You're not the only one familiar with time travel and the rules that go along with it. I know what I am doing. You expect us to put our faith and trust in you. I need you to do the same now, Rip." When he hesitated, she dropped her voice to a whisper and said, "Have a little faith in me, Captain. Please."
As soon as they were back on board, Jax came racing up to Hermione.
"Something's wrong with Stein," he told her. "His emotions are all over the place; he went from feeling scared but brave to completely terrified before becoming super calm and happy."
Hermione didn't waste a moment and sat down right in the cargo bay, pulling Jax with her.
"Focus on your connection with Stein," she advised him, and he took a deep breath, expression setting into one of resolve. "Three… two… one… Legilimens."
It was quicker this time, moving from Jax's mind to Stein's. But when she arrived in Stein's mind, she knew that she was going to have to go deeper into his mind in order to counteract whatever drugs Vostok had given him.
Instead of the stark workroom or uncomfortable cell Hermione had been expecting, Stein seemed to be standing in front of a clear board covered in blue and red writing in a brightly lit lab that was clearly full of twenty-first century technology. Peering past the board, Hermione saw the words S.T.A.R. Laboratories flashing on one of the monitors.
Stein was wearing a tweed suit and bow tie and speaking to a neatly dressed young man with tan skin and black hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. She studied the other man's face closely but didn't recognize him.
"Incredible," Stein was saying. "This is the exact same formula for the thermacore that's needed to build a new Firestorm. How did you manage to arrive at something took decades to produce?"
The other man slid his hands into his pocket, slowly meandering towards Stein. "But here's what I don't understand. The Firestorm Matrix is unstable. The thermacore reacts exponentially to the rate of fission in the host body."
Hermione began pouring more power into her spell, slowly working to manifest herself in Stein's mind.
Turning back to the board, Stein picked up a marker and began to write. "Well, fortunately, Dr. Wells developed the Quantum Splicer to address that very problem." Looking back at his companion, Stein beamed. "I'm so happy to see that you're taking an interest in my work."
The other man smiled. "What can I say, sir? Nuclear physics is my passion."
She finally managed to appear inside the lab just as Stein paused. "Sir?" he repeated, fully turning around. "The Cisco I know never dwelled on formality."
Stein caught sight of Hermione and his eyes widened in surprise. She held up a finger to her lips. "You're talking out loud, Professor," she told him. "He can't hear me right now but, if you respond, he'll be able to hear you."
Stein gave a tiny nod before returning his focus to the fake-Cisco. "What's more," he continued, "your hair is different, your wardrobe neat, your comportment gentlemanly."
Fake-Cisco glanced down at his clothes, still smiling. "Oh, yeah, you like? I just subscribed to 'GQ'?"
When Stein glanced over at Hermione again, she nodded in encouragement. "Your mind is filling in the holes in the scene, but it's not compensating for all of them."
Taking a deep breath, Stein began to look more confident. "Huh. A snide attempt at humor… almost Cisco-like. Almost."
"What are you implying?"
"What I am stating unequivocally, sir," Stein sneered. "Is that you are not Cisco, which means I am not in S.T.A.R. Labs. Furthermore, I will never, never give you the formula."
After a moment, the fake-Cisco began to clap, suddenly turning into Vostok.
"Bravo, Professor Stein," she said.
The scene around them disappeared, and they found themselves in a dark lab, the only lighting coming from a few dirty windows and a flickering overhead light. Stein looked down at the loose sweats and hooded jacket he was wearing and then back at the chalkboard he'd been writing on.
Hermione hurried over to his side. "You're alright, Stein," she soothed him. "You're okay. I promise you, everything is going to be okay."
"What cocktail of hallucinogens have you given me, Doctor?" he gasped.
"Don't worry," Vostok told him. "I would never dream of damaging that beautiful mind of yours." She reached out her hands towards Stein's face, fingers hovering centimeters above the sides of his temple and twitching minutely, as though it was truly uncomfortable for her to not actually touch him. "Finish the formula, and these little games of ours can stop."
"Oh, that's creepy," Hermione couldn't help muttering.
Stein gave let out a small, raspy laugh but quickly covered it by saying, "You'll never trick me into giving up my research. And, since you cannot kill me and destroy any hope of creating a Soviet Firestorm, I would like a hot shower and a change of clothes."
"And I thought I gave a good speech." Vandal Savage walked into the room, and Hermione immediately pulled back into Stein's mind so that he could still hear her but no longer see her.
Savage was too magically sensitive to risk detection.
"I'm still here," she told Stein. "Just breath."
Vostok looked back Savage, giving the immortal a soft, gentle smile. Hermione was positive that they were in a physical relationship and that she may have even been stupid enough to fall in love with him. She knew it was wrong to judge someone for falling for the wrong romantic partner, but, at the same time, Hermione had been able to spot the crazy in Savage the moment she first saw him and if Vostok was half as intelligent as she believed herself to be, then she would have been able to as well.
She could feel Stein freezing at the sight of him, but he kept his expression even and blank. "I'm sorry, have we met?"
"Eleven years ago, you bought a nuclear warhead off me in Norway," Savage told him, coming to a stop right in front of Stein. "And then you and your time-traveling friends tried to kill me. Just like me, you haven't aged a day."
"I have a good hairdresser," Stein responded smoothly.
Savage chuckled. "In my long life, I have met some of the most skilled interrogators in history but, since we are in the Soviet Union, let me tell you a story about a friend of mine- Joseph Stalin."
"It's alright," Hermione whispered, pressing down her rage at Savage's less-than-subtle threat. "I'm right here, Martin. I'm not leaving. You are not and will never be alone."
"He became quite skilled at breaking a man," Savage continued, pulling a weapon that looked like a strange combination of hammer and axe out of his coat and pointing it at Stein's face. "Carefully aimed strikes to the bridge of the nose, along the shoulder blades, and right underneath the chin." Pulling the weapon away, he gently fingered the handle. "Stalin gave me this as a gift."
"So, it's to be torture then?" Stein asked calmly. "Get on with it then."
"No," Savage denied, turning to walk back to where Vostok was standing. "Nothing so prosaic for you, Professor. There are infinite ways to break a man, and I have an infinite amount of time."
"Firestorm is my life's work," Stein reminded him, taking a single step forward. "I will never allow you to pervert it in the pursuit of global conquest."
Savage grinned brightly, and Hermione could feel a wave of fear wash over Stein. "This is going to be so much fun," the immortal promised before gesturing for Vostok to follow him out of the room.
Please tell you that you have some kind of plan, Stein pleaded.
"You are in Koshmar gulag," Hermione told him, doing her best to bolster a feeling of calm and resolve in the older man. "We have the location and layout of the prison and a way to get in. We will be breaking you all out as soon as the sun goes down."
Stein almost collapsed to the ground in relief, shakily making his way to nearby chair. So, I only need to hold out for six-or-so more hours.
"Yes. You can do this, Stein. Jax said that you were tougher than you look, and I believe him. We believe in you, Stein. Don't you dare let them break you."
An odd sort of sadness filled Stein then, and Hermione was confused as to where it had come from. I must say, I'm surprised to hear you say that. I was under the impression that you don't like me.
Hermione hesitated, weighing her words. "I don't like what you did to Jax," she admitted. "But nobody deserves to be at the mercy of people like Vostok and Savage. And I truly want to believe that you have a good reason for your actions."
At her words, a memory began to play across Stein's mind.
He was standing on the rooftop that Rip had first taken them to when telling them about Savage.
"I'm not going off to die in some apocalyptic future," Jax declared, starting to walk away. "I'm staying right here in the present."
Everything shifted again and he was racing after Jax in a parking lot. "Jefferson, can we at least discuss this?"
"Oh, that's a first," Jax snorted, stopping and turning to face his partner. "And it was always you trying to tell me what to do. It's not happening this time."
"But if the fate of the world is at stake-" Stein tried to argue.
"Then the world can find somebody more capable than me," Jax finished firmly.
"I have confidence in us as Firestorm," he told the younger man, but when Jax sighed in frustration, he changed tracks. "All right, look, just sleep on it. Come to my office tomorrow and, if your answer's still no-"
"It will be," Jax promised, turning to leave.
Stein stood there for a moment, desperately trying to come up with a plan. And then out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone walking towards him.
It was Jax. "Grey, we need to talk."
Glancing back and forth between where Jax currently was and where he had previously been, Stein stammered, "We were just talking." Then, focusing on the red sweater Jax was now wearing, he asked, "How did you change your clothes so fast?"
"Something called time travel," Jax said firmly. "I need your help. The team's in trouble."
Hermione could feel Stein trying to stop her from seeing the memory, but she was too deep into his mind for him to take back control. She pushed further, desperate to see what happened next because it was finally beginning to make sense.
The scene shifted again and now they were back in S.T.A.R. labs.
"You said the team was in trouble," Martin prodded even as he carefully worked on the sequestration manifold. "What sort of trouble, exactly?"
"I'm not sure exactly," Jax muttered, bent over some sort of machine. "But I'm getting something from our psychic connection."
"Which means I'm in trouble," he summarized. "What happens?"
Jax glanced over at him. "C'mon, Grey, you know I can't tell you that."
"Says who?" Martin demanded.
"Says you, in the future."
"Oh."
They were standing on a roof now, staring at the Jumpship.
"Well, I suppose it's time to say goodbye," Martin said. "At least for now." He was nervous- he didn't like sending Jax off by himself. What if he got hurt? What if something happened? "Oh, one more thing, don't forget to initiate the-"
"The quantum attenuator once I lock onto the Vanishing Point," Jax finished.
"Right," he sighed. "I suppose it's also time to apologize for being an 'insufferable know-it-all'."
Jax chuckled. "If it helps, Hermione's sometimes way worse about it than you ever were. And it used to drive me crazy, but I understand it's just your way of trying to look out for me."
Martin couldn't help smiling at that.
"Oh, by the way," Jax added. "I'm going to be real pissed about the whole roofie thing, but I do get over it."
"Roofie thing?" Martin repeated, horrified. "I… I would never dream-"
"Yeah, you do," Jax laughed. "But it's okay. It's actually the best decision I never made."
Hermione let go of the memory, mind spinning.
You weren't supposed to see that, Martin hissed, angry beyond belief.
"You drugged him because he told you to," she whispered. "Future Jax gave you the idea to do it."
You were not supposed to see that, he repeated. It's dangerous-
"You're not the only one running into future members of the team," Hermione interrupted. "Once you get back to the ship, we need to talk. But, for now, I need to get back to helping everyone prep for the rescue mission, and you need to focus on staying calm."
Martin was silent for a moment. Alright. We'll put a pin in this conversation. For now.
"Remember, we're on our way. Don't tell Vostok anything, no matter what. Even if they do start torturing you or the others, they won't kill you, and Gideon and I can heal just about anything."
Do you think they'll start torturing Raymond or Rory before you arrive?
"Hopefully not, but, if they do, I'll need to stay strong. From what I heard in your memory, it sounds as though the team has more time before Jax gets sent back to 2016. No one is going to die here."
I can't just let him hurt them!
"You have no choice," Hermione told him firmly. "It's like you told Jax- the fate of the world is at stake. Ray knows that, and he would rather you watch him be tortured than for you to save him by talking. Mick would also want you to stay quiet, though I imagine that has more to do with screwing over the Russians than saving the world… the end results are the same, though.
"Plus, and I know you're not going to like this, but Savage won't hurt either of them too badly because he'll want to know more about Ray's suit and other things the future holds. You may be the key to creating Firestorm, but those two also have information that could be useful. Savage is a calculating man- he won't have missed that fact."
Martin became resigned. I suppose I should just be glad that you don't sound as though you plan on leaving Raymond behind.
"Of course, I plan on saving Raymond… Gods know what harm he would end up doing to the timeline without someone there to keep him in line at all times. My plan is to save all of you and then brutally murder Vostok. If I could set it up so that she has to watch as Savage leaves her to die and see as she comes to the realization that he never gave a damn about her in the first place right before she passes… well, that would be the ideal ending in my mind."
You're a terrifying human being.
"Thank you. Carter said I was 'deeply disturbed' so it's nice to know that I made a better impression with you."