#the timelines are Converging and the wizards are fighting

[castiel-013]

Hot wizard shit going down in the back of Chastity's Nook

-click the image for better quality-

[hobblywobbly]

i thought we'd fight side by side forever (thor & loki)

in which thor encounters his brother on a service station in space and comes to a decision

No, this cannot be right. It is impossible.

He saw Thanos kill him and the ship that had exploded leaving not even a single strand of hair behind. There had been no illusion, no trick. He remembers the way he broke down when Tony had told him they could only bring back those who had been snapped and not those before, begging, pleading for another way, anything so that he could hug his brother one final time. Five years Thor spent his days wallowing away, and yet the wound is still fresh.

He remembers how as the dust settled amongst the rubble he waited. Waited for a miracle Thor knew was never happening. Thor doesn’t know how long he stood waiting with bated breath, hoping that the wizard’s portals had simply been late, that any second now Loki and Heimdall will appear before him breathing, hearts beating. It’s only when Bruce had clutched his shoulder gently, eyes shimmering with understanding, that Thor accepted the truth.

“I get it, you know,” Quill had said as the two sat in the cockpit. After a rather grueling battle of rock-paper-lasers, Thor allowed Quill to pilot the ship as captain. At least for the day. The rest of the Guardians were asleep in their respective seats, Rocket cuddling with one of his many guns, Mantis’s head leaning against Drax’s thigh as he snores loudly, Groot’s gameboy beeping loudly while he dozes, leaving only them two awake. “For me, it feels like yesterday that Gamora-” he cuts off shortly. “But there’s gotta be a way for us to bring them back. I just know it.”

And if this had been five years ago, Thor would have agreed without a doubt in his mind. There were powers in this universe not even Thanos knew of, and if he sought hard enough then he’d eventually find the answer. But he is not the young, hopeful fool he had been then. He has time to mourn, to grieve, to accept what was.

Perhaps it is just one of this universe’s many coincidences. It was not the first time Thor has seen someone with his brother’s likeness. He also knows that Loki would never visit some dingy service station. Standards and all that. There is also the possibility that the eye Rocket gave him is malfunctioning again. Yes, that would be the logical conclusion. If they were not in such a crowded space he would’ve removed the eye then to avoid further headaches.

He watches as this Loki look-alike grins at something his silver-haired companion says, mismatched eyes curling at the corners mirroring his smile, and tips back his head.

And Thor hears a sound he hasn’t heard in centuries.

He hears Loki’s laugh.

Not one of his mischievous laughs or out of malice, no, a real, genuine laugh. One born of joy and mirth. One that has not been heard ever since the divide between them as brothers had been placed. Even though the raucous chatter and mediocre music, Thor’s ears catch the rare sound.

(“I can’t believe you fell for that!” Loki wheezes. The boy leans his back against the tree for balance as his skinny arms wrap around his stomach. Thor grunts from where he sits in the fountain, glaring past drenched blonde locks toward his cackling brother. Yet despite his annoyance, he can’t help the fond smile that stretches across his face. Loki’s laughter has always been his one weakness. For someone so good at concealing their emotions, his laugh was the window to his soul, vulnerable and honest. He wipes a tear from his eye.)

The laugh is in his eyes, in the way his face changes into that of relaxed joy and unrestrained mirth. Loki looks so alive at that moment under the neon fluorescent lights. A glimpse into a far-forgotten past when he had been blind to the cruelties of the universe. Before he had been burdened with a glorious purpose that would only lead to his own suffering and death all so that Thor could live. In a time when he had simply just been Loki, free and untethered.

The smile he offers his partner is much softer than his usual performative ones, close-lipped, dimples showing. His features relax a bit and he looks down and away from whomever he’s talking to, almost as if he’s feeling a bit timid as if he were still adjusting to expressing such emotions. It’s such a rare sight that Thor only recalls ever seeing once. A time where everything has settled down around them, the battle is behind them, and they were to see what laid in the future for them together. A time in which Loki had let his guard down around Thor and let his emotions shine.

Maybe that is what has Thor realizing something about Loki is different.

They may have had their differences, but if anyone knew Loki then it was Thor. It’s the small things that tip him off such as the way Loki holds himself, relaxed against the bar rather than trying to look superior to the ones around him, how the lines of stress that have developed over the years are no longer there, and most importantly, the missing scar from when Thor pushed Loki out of the alien spaceship on their escape from Asgard.

For some reason, he is reminded of Bruce’s briefing before they time traveled.

(“And remember that the ones we see in this timeline aren’t the same ones we know. We may be visiting somewhere familiar, but that doesn’t mean it’ll be the same.”)

Time travel. Out of everything Thor has witnessed, that was one of the few he still could not wrap his head around entirety. He’s glad Tony and Bruce had been there to figure it out for him. He recalls his mother and the way she smiled at him, the golden light pouring over her shoulders, small hands holding his just as she did when he was a child.

Thor knows, then, that this is not his Loki. It is Loki, yes, but not the same one he fought side by side against their sister in an attempt to save their home. Vaguely, he recalls Scott explaining how they botched their grab on the space stone and allowed the Loki of that timeline to escape. Yes, if anyone were to break the rules of the universe and prevail, it would be his brother.

His hands twitch at his sides.

It is taking every ounce of self-restraint not to rush over there and pull his brother into a crushing hug. He could vividly imagine Loki’s reaction of pure bafflement as Thor lifts him off the ground in the tightest hug possible and spins. He’d be grinning and laughing and crying all the same whilst twirling them around because; “you’re alive, brother! You’re alive!”

How he would commit this all to memory because the last time he held his brother had been when he was painfully dying, unable to utter a single word or move, succumbing to the confines of space because death would be mercy rather than living after witnessing his entire world crash and burn around him. Thor would introduce Loki to his new friends, and in exchange be introduced to his, feeling that flutter of warmth in his chest that had died so, so long ago.

(“But at the end of the day you’re you, and I’m me. And, I don’t know, maybe there is still good in you. But let's be honest, our paths diverged a long time ago.”)

Loki may have changed his mind about staying on Sakaar, but Thor fears if this Loki follows him once more his fate will end the same. Perhaps it is better this way. Two strangers on different paths that may never converge.

They will always be brothers, yet no matter how much they try there will always be animosity between them, a feud, lingering anger or grudge from the past. Thor watches how Loki interacts with the man wondering if this could have been his Loki’s outcome if not for him.

An elbow jabs into his back.

“Hey, we’re just about finished here,” Quill says and Thor wonders just how long he’s been spacing out for. “Come on, let's get back to the ship before people realize who we are. We’re not exactly...welcomed in this region.”

“This time it wasn’t my fault.” Rocket chimes, passing by the two flanked by Groot.

Thor looks past the sea of heads toward the bar. Just a few steps is all it would take to close the distance. It was never heard to garner Loki’s attention. He’d willingly accept a knife in the back if it just meant hearing Loki say his name again. He’s sure the Guardians would understand after having lost each other time and time again. Quill is watching him and Thor wonders what he’d do in his place.

He feels Mantis grab his hand in both her petite ones as she would when he’d awake screaming, the phantom pain of drifting in space sucking the air straight out of his lungs, the tears that stung in his eyes. Her eyes are full of understanding, antennas glowing gently, and Thor is glad to have a friend by his side in a time like this. He’s glad to have all of them.

Maybe it’s time he moves on.

“I’m ready.”

[dontcallmecarrie]

screw it, this “too many options that all sound appealing” thing is really messing with my rhythm so here, outlines for Endings 1-3. Major spoilers inbound, read at your own risk.

Ending 1: Stay With The Original Plan

canon ensues on Loki’s side, aka he falls right into Thanos’ clutches. [Un]fortunately for him, Thanos is even more pissy than in canon, since ‘his love’ is MIA and he’s hyperfocused on assembling the Infinity Gauntlet under the belief that this’ll be what finally gets her to say yes

somewhere in here, Loki realizes that this is the purple bastard Hela kept telling him about. Just to make this entire experience even more hellish, because having to listen to Thanos talk is more torture than the torture. 

optional, probably won't write: at some point, Thanos asks Loki for dating advice. Which’d go about as well as expected.

Meanwhile, Asgard, Earth, and just about everywhere in between has their hands full now that Helheim is empty and all of its demons are having a field day.

somewhere during the chaos, Fenrir breaks his binds and steals the Aether on the way out. 

cue potential alternate antagonist to make the Avengers assemble. Surtur, perhaps, for maximum irony because...

Jörmungandr wakes up just in time to see Hela bust out of Helheim, and immediately invites her to come with him. Fenrir joins the club when he gets out, too, and cue minor time skip as they all catch up and help each other reacclimatize to living outside of a glorified prison/the modern world. 

okay, from here, there’s two further endings I’d be having to pick between.

Option A:

shit goes down when Loki shows up.

The Avengers assemble, and get not one, not two, but five Asgardians crashing the party on the Helicarrier.

turns out one of them’s an ancient sorcerer who’s been camping out on Earth over the past thousand years and influencing some of their myths. Somehow, this isn’t the weirdest part.

a lot of dirty laundry gets aired in a very short period of time, aka the Avengers get a front-row seat to the shitshow that is the Asgardian royal family and Thor’s respect for his father tanks. 

The local sorcerer is the one who figures out Loki’s being mind-controlled, and Hela is royally pissed off when she finds out who’s responsible. 

well, actually, that’s not entirely accurate: when they find out Loki’s condition, nobody takes it well, and since some of the people in the room were basically used as living weapons for the better part of a millennia, well...

RIP, Thanos. 

[insert family reunion and happy ending here, probably]

Option B: 

[insert antagonist name here] shows up, Avengers assemble.

Cue confusion when an alien trio beats them to the punch, feat. a fuck-off huge wolf, a goth chick who keeps throwing swords [seriously, where is she even getting them from?], and a honest-to-goodness wizard. 

Cue even more confusion when Thor recognizes them as Loki’s friends, and then a lot of stuff goes down very fast when he finds out that they’re famous on Earth— because they’re prophesied to bring about Ragnarok, the fall of Asgard. 

[insert drama here]

Fenrir, Hela, and Jörmungandr quasi-joining the Avengers? Not as impossible as it sounds. 

Thanos shows up looking for the Infinity Stones. Hela oneshots him, and maybe brings him back to life just to kill him again when they find out what he did to Loki.

cue happy ending.

Ending 2: All The Angst And Dramatic Irony [feat. Major Character Death]

this one’d make it all a tragedy, and I hate making myself sad and also I didn’t tag for major character death, so that’s already two strikes against it but my brain can’t let it go so here goes:

Loki died when he fell from the Bifrost. 

Hela and Jörmungandr don’t know this, and don’t have much to compare notes because Jör last saw him when he fled and Hela’s last conversation was right before Thor’s coronation. However, they are aware that Loki succeeded in his mission of getting Hela free, and they know how happy Odin would’ve been when it happened— they’re operating under the assumption that he’s been imprisoned for treason, and gearing up to invade Asgard for the sole purpose of getting him out. 

The events of the first Avengers movie doesn’t happen/gets skipped.

Fenrir breaks out during the Convergence, scaring the crap out of Jane Foster and taking the Aether with him. 

The group has a reunion, and then all eyes turn to Asgard. 

Chaos ensues when the Dark Elves’ invasion is interrupted by a separate, entirely unrelated attack that somehow manages to do even more damage.

and incidentally end up fulfilling the prophecy along the way, because they have a bone to pick with Odin and everyone who helped him

Cue angst and sadness when the truth about Loki comes out. Because Thor enters the fight, and Fenrir/Hela/Jörmungandr would inevitably ask “where’s your brother?” and then out comes the story of what happened on the Bifrost

...and because I made myself sad, here, have an alternate ending:

Hela and the others categorically refuse to accept he died, and keep looking. 

Jörmungandr in particular points out that the Bifrost can result in wonky time-space shenanigans if not monitored closely, and considering the circumstances in which he fell, well...

Fenrir goes to town on Sakaar when they find Loki.

cue tearful reunion and happy ending.

Ending 3: CHAOS [the fun one that I’m honestly leaning towards]

aka taking all of MCU canon that I remember, and sticking it in a blender because timeline fuckery abounds and absolute no one knows wtf is going on anymore. 

Taking full advantage of the “Bifrost can result in accidental time travel” thing, and the fact that Thanos is distracted looking for Hela and the Infinity Stones which in turn affects when the events of the first Avengers movie happens, well...

after Loki falls, cue minor timeskip because of Reasons. Hela and Jörmungandr get the chance to start recovering from the whole “living on the run/being forced into this position” thing, and also start looking

then a lot of stuff goes down very very fast.

Loki shows up in Germany, catching the attention of not only the Avengers, but Hela and Jörmungandr. 

...the alien god talking about subjugation should’ve been the guy getting all the headlines, had it not been for the gigantic glowing wolf that showed up halfway through his speech. Or the aliens that followed him from gods-knew-where.

aka Fenrir breaks out during the Convergence, and the Dark Elves really, really, really want the Aether.

aka yes, this is the one where the events first Avengers movie and Thor: The Dark World happen concurrently.

SHIELD has their hands full, Erik Selvig and Jane Foster are working overtime to figure out wtf is going on, and Thor is less than helpful because all of other aliens can and will attack him on sight. 

Thor tries to drag Loki into custody.

Loki gets kidnapped on the way. By a wizard, because why the fuck not, things were already weird enough as is. 

Tracking down said wizard is an exercise in futility, but damn if they don’t try anyway. 

Having Clint Barton and his associates get portalled in with an honest-to-goodness apology note? Sure, just add it onto the pile. 

Everyone in SHIELD is confused, anyone who knows their myths has just been screaming this entire time because there’s also been sightings of an enormous snake in the oceans [Jörmungandr’s defense system was working overtime, sue him], and things just keep escalating.

Eventually there’s a team-up, and then a human wizard shows up too? Saying something about how their duty was to safeguard the Earth from extradimensional threats and obviously SHIELD was doing a shit job of it? Fine. Just...fine.

hi, Stephen Strange

aka the Avengers assemble and there’s more of them because all hands on deck

[insert snappy dialogue and interactions here]

Hela when she finds out what Thanos is up to: (ง'̀-'́)ง

[insert cinematic fight scene with all the drama and irony and Norse mythology references]

cue happy ending

[singledarkshade]

Replaced

Summary: Rory Williams and Sara Lance find they've been replaced and their loved ones have no idea who they are. Through pure chance they run into one another and, as the enemy of my enemy is my friend, team up. They need to save the people they love and stop whoever has done this to them but first have to learn to trust one another and work together. Author’s Note: This was basically written for one exchange. Hope you enjoy.                                ********************************************* The rain had finally stopped, much to Rory’s relief, since he was only wearing a light jacket thanks to the Doctor bypassing August all together. It had been a fun few months running through time and space, but it was nice to get back to reality for a while.

Walking for the bus, since the Doctor dropped him off at the hospital and his car was at the house, Rory mused over what to get Amy for her birthday next week. He jumped when someone walked into him, not noticing the coin being slipped into his pocket.

“Watch it,” the man snapped before disappearing into the crowd.

Shaking his head Rory caught the bus, lost in thought which meant he almost missed his stop. Getting off the bus, Rory wandered the few blocks towards home hoping Amy had picked up something easy to cook otherwise it would be toast for dinner. As much as he loved her, Rory could not stomach her cooking. He’d seen a film once where one of the characters said they believed that ‘All Scottish cuisine is based on a dare’ and Rory sometimes felt Amy took that as a recommendation.

Reaching the house, Rory grimaced, remembering that he’d left his keys in the TARDIS. That was also the Doctor’s fault, he’d gone into a ramble about something Rory stopped listening to two sentences in, but it meant he got distracted and didn’t go back to the room.

Hoping Amy wasn’t upstairs listening to music, he hit the doorbell and waited.

The door opened and Amy appeared, frowning at him. She pressed her hand on his shoulder stopping him before he was able to walk inside.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Amy snapped, shoving him away.

Managing to steady himself and not fall backwards off the step, Rory said, “Coming into our house.”

Amy let out a snort of derision, “Wrong house. Go sleep it off, pal.”

Confused and worried he started, “Amy…”

“How do you know my name?” she snapped, before yelling, “Rory!!”

Even more confused Rory took a step forward only to stall when a man appeared at Amy’s side, good-looking with great hair and looked like he spent every waking hour at the gym. The kind of man Rory used to think Amy would end up marrying.

“I’ll deal with this,” he said, leaning in and kissing Amy’s cheek as Rory’s hands fisted.

Amy glanced at Rory for a second before flouncing away.

“Who the hell are you?” Rory snarled, his fingers twitching for his sword, “And what do you want?”

The man laughed and shrugged, “I’m Rory Williams.”

“You have no idea what you’re dealing with,” Rory said through gritted teeth, “Get away from my wife.”

“You mean my wife,” the man smirked, “And before you try to eject me from my lovely new home, I suggest you look behind you.”

Rory slowly turned and saw several people standing, all wearing black robes. They suddenly all began converging on him and, knowing he had no other choice, Rory ran slamming his shoulder into one of them to get through. Racing along the street he knew he needed to find a safe place to contact the Doctor or River and just hoped that Amy was safe until he managed to.

Rory ducked feeling the whistle of air above him as the man swung the bat at him. Using a move taught to him by his daughter, Rory slammed his foot into his assailant’s knee. The man went down, and Rory started to run again. He was exhausted, after a full day working in the hospital, he’d been on the run for about an hour. Life with the Doctor prepared you for extreme situations, and Rory had military training (in a way), but he still needed time to rest.

He had to call the Doctor, but whoever these people were, they kept appearing no matter where he went. Rory thought about contacting UNIT but dismissed the idea quickly because if Amy didn’t know him it was likely that something had happened here which would probably have affected them too. The Doctor or River were his best options.

Throwing himself around another corner, he pulled out his phone and quickly dialled. Surprised when one of the men appeared, knocking the phone from his hand. His mobile sailed through the air into the road and was crushed under a bus.

Cursing Rory pushed past his attacker, seeing a bus (the same one that crushed his phone) stop just a few feet from him. Rory ran, managing to get on and show his ticket relieved that the doors closed before any of those who had been chasing him could catch it.

Rory fell into a seat.

Now he had to work out what to do next.

                                 *********************************************

 It was a nice evening as Sara Lance sauntered towards the hotel where she was meeting Ava. She’d spent the past few days at a spa, a treat the guys had given her for her birthday, relaxing and being pampered. She was now looking forward to having dinner with her girlfriend, then spending the night at the hotel, before getting back to work. Ava was in London to meet a group that had a connection to aliens, who Sara had never heard of, but it gave them an excuse to have a night away.

Sara hummed softly to herself, surprised when someone bumped her, not noticing the coin being slipped in her pocket, she continued to the restaurant and smiled as she saw her girlfriend sitting waiting for her. Although still wearing her Time Bureau suit, her long hair was falling around her shoulders which Sara always loved.

Walking towards the table, she stalled when a brunette woman appeared at the table beside Ava who smiled and kissed her.

“What the hell?” Sara demanded, “Ava?”

Ava frowned, “Can I help you?”

Confused Sara stared at her, “Ava, is this some kind of game I’m meant to know about.”

Her girlfriend looked at the brunette, “Sara, is this one of your friends or have the idiots changed the timeline again?”

“What?” Sara blinked trying to work out what the hell was happening.

The brunette rested her hand on Ava’s shoulder, “Let me deal with this. We’ll order room service instead.”

Before Sara could do anything, Ava left and the brunette turned to her and smiled.

“You have ten seconds to talk,” Sara snarled, “And then…”

“Before you threaten me,” the brunette chuckled cutting her off, “You might want to make sure you know what you’re up against.”

Sara glanced around seeing everyone in the restaurant were wearing robes and surrounding her.

“Best not to fight,” the brunette said, “It’ll hurt less.”

“You don’t know me then,” Sara snapped before she swung and hit the other woman. Several people rushed at her and Sara ran.

All of a sudden there were several of the robed attackers surrounding her. Running to find a safe place to activate the courier someone ran into her.

“Sorry,” a man said, his hands on her shoulders to help steady her.

Sara looked up at him and stared in astonishment, “Rip?”

“What?” he asked before grimacing, “I have to go.”

Sara glanced round and saw her friends coming for her, the man who looked exactly like Rip had a look of panic on his face as more appeared.

“They’re after you too,” Sara realised starting them moving.

Rip’s lookalike nodded.

“I have a way out,” she told him, “We just need to get far enough away from them so they can’t follow.”

He stared at her, “Why would you help me?”

“Enemy of my enemy,” she noted, “Are you in?”

He nodded, “I have no other choice.”

“Then run,” Sara ordered, “And keep up with me.”

“Running I can do.”

 Rory knew how to run these days, you had to if you spent any time with the Doctor, so he ran alongside the blonde woman he was trusting for some reason. He glanced at her and saw she was tapping her watch, as they ran through the park.

“We’re far enough away,” she called, “Just keep going.”

Rory did as he was told before he staggered to a stop when the open park became woodland. Turning to look where he’d come from Rory saw a shimmering arc showing the park that he’d been in for a second before it disappeared, and the woodland took its place.

The blonde let out a sigh of relief and dropped to sit on a nearby log, “Hopefully that should give us some time.”

“Where are we?” Rory demanded as he took a proper look around, “What just happened? Who were they? Who are you?”

“I was going to ask you a few of the same questions,” she replied before introducing herself, “I’m Sara Lance.”

“Rory Williams,” he reciprocated, grimacing at her penetrating look, “What?”

Sara winced, “Sorry, you just really look like someone I used to know.”

“I’m not,” Rory said shortly, “What about my other questions? What was that and where the hell are we?”

“Let’s just call it a transportation door,” Sara told him evasively.

Rory decided not to ask any more on that and looked around, “And where are we?”

Standing up, Sara brushed the dirt off her jeans, “If I’m right then about a ten-minute walk from someone who can help us. I hope.”

“That isn’t helping me stay calm,” Rory noted annoyed before he sighed, “But it looks like I have no choice.”

Sara gave him a smile and a pat on the arm, “Come on.”

She started walking along the path on her right and Rory sighed, he had to hope that Amy was safe until he could get back to her.

“Hold on,” Rory called chasing after Sara. Catching up with her, he asked, “So who is this guy we’re going to ask for help?”

 John batted away an imaginary fly from his head, his mouth was dry, and he felt like someone had kicked him in the head. That was the last time he drank moonshine that bloody wizard had brewed.

He had a vague memory of karaoke before getting chucked out of the pub. Twice.

Groaning as he forced himself to sit up, John rubbed a hand over his face wincing at his headache and managing to get up. Staggering across to the small cool box he kept for emergencies, he opened it and found a bottle of water. He finally managed to open it and quickly downed the entire thing.

If he had been on the Waverider he would have asked Gideon to detox him which even with the lecture would be worth it.

He’d decided to come back to the Mill House for the few days the Waverider was berthed in the Time Bureau while Sara had her spa weekend. Mostly because he did not want to be stuck on board with the idiots when they had no mission to keep them occupied. Besides he had to check up on some things that had been sitting alone longer than he had originally intended.

As he made himself some coffee, John grimaced when the proximity alarm began to sound. John sighed, he could not be bothered with someone trying to attack him just now. The headache was pounding in his right eye, and John knew if he had to defend himself with magic there was no way he could conjure a spark never mind a fireball. Reaching the door, he frowned in confusion to see an unknown woman standing with a guy who looked like…

“Rip?”

“Not again,” the man groaned.

“John,” the woman said, “We need your help.”

He held up his hand stopping her, “No idea who you are, love.”

She let out an annoyed sigh, “I’m Sara,” at his confused look she clarified, “Lance.”

John started to laugh, “Good try, but you look nothing like her and I’m not in the mood for a joke.”

“Constantine,” the woman snapped stepping forward and hitting the shield surrounding the house.

John jumped as she changed to the woman she claimed to be for a few seconds before she fell backwards onto her ass.

Rip’s lookalike helped her off the ground as John focused on him.

“You wouldn’t want to try that, would you mate?” John asked.

The man frowned at him, “No.”

John mused for a moment, “Alright, you can come in and we’ll sort this out. But believe me just because I’m letting you inside all the security measures are not off.”

 Rory followed Sara inside the house they’d found in the middle of nowhere, frowning as he felt that the inside was bigger than the outside. It had a TARDIS like feel in some ways which concerned him because Rory knew that the other Time Lords were dead.

Unfortunately, he had no other choice because he knew if whoever was chasing him caught up with them, it would be the worst outcome.

Finally, they reached a large room filled with books, artefacts, a fireplace with a large mirror over it that Rory did not want to look in and a couch that looked as though it had seen better days.

“Alright,” John said to them, “Stand in front of the couch and don’t move.”

“Why?” Sara demanded.

He stared at her hard, “If there is a spell on you then I need to break it,”

John glanced down, Rory followed his line of sight and saw they were both inside a faint chalk outline.

“And the shield that you’re standing in will fry you if you try to step outside the line before I remove it,” John told them.

Rory knew his eyes widened in panic, he turned to Sara who looked concerned which didn’t comfort him any.

“And your spell to remove whatever means you can’t see me,” Sara said, “Is it safe?”

John shrugged and tossed a handful of what smelled like the mixed herbs Amy would put on pizza. Rory listened to the words being murmured, not sure if the instant translation was from the TARDIS or because he used to speak Latin. Rory jumped when a wall of light surrounded them quickly before disappearing and John stared at them.

“Okay, looks like I was wrong.”

 Sara took the mug John handed her relieved that he could see she was herself. The strange thing was the Rip lookalike, Rory, still looked like Rip and it was beginning to weird her out big time.

“Okay,” John took a seat, rubbing the back of his neck, “Why don’t you both tell me what happened?”

Drinking her coffee, Sara listened to Rory describe being jumped by the same people who had been chasing her and how his wife hadn’t recognised him thinking some strange man was Rory, before Sara gave her story which was almost exactly the same.

“Do either of you have any idea who these people are?” John asked thoughtfully.

Rory shook his head, “I’ve never seen them before in my life.”

They both turned to Sara who shrugged, “Me neither.”

“Well, this is a lot of help,” John sighed frustrated.

“Look I know we need to work this out,” Rory spoke up, “But some stranger is with my wife pretending to be me.”

“He won’t be able to do anything intimate to her,” John assured before adding, “Don’t get me wrong he probably would but unless they have you in custody then she’d know immediately it’s not you if he tries to get too close.”

Rolling her eyes, Sara punched John’s shoulder.

“What?” he demanded.

“That was not what he needed to hear,” Sara snapped at him, turning to Rory she soothed, “He can’t do anything to her. Focus on that.”

Rory grimaced, “I’ll try.”

“You look like you could use a shower and a change of clothes,” John told him.

Sighing Rory nodded, “And several hours sleep. I just got off my shift and it’s been a long day compounded by the time travel we did to get here.”

“Time travel?” Sara asked innocently.

“It was about 7pm when we ran into one another,” Rory stated blandly, “But from the newspaper on the table and the time, going with the clock in here as well as the position of the sun as we walked here, then we are in Georgia in America around 10am. If I remember right, the UK is 5 or 6 hours ahead of Georgia so that means we somehow jumped backward or forward a few hours.”

Sara and John stared at him.

“You seem pretty relaxed about that,” John noted.

Rory let out a sigh rubbing his eyes tiredly, “Honestly this is not unusual for my life.”

“We can put that on hold for now,” John told him, “Follow me and you can get freshened up then I’ll get us all breakfast.”

Sara watched Rory tiredly follow John out the room, still trying to work out why Rory looked so much like Rip. She was wondering if it could be another Phil situation, that had happened because he touched the time core and that was what he’d used against Mallus.

It was possible that his memory had been reset again and he met someone in this new guise he’d married. The time travel thing was possibly a vague memory, similar to when Phil wrote his movie. Except…

Phil thought everything in his script was a dream and made-up, but Rory had been completely unfazed by time travel not to mention his ease at deducing where they were.

Sara sighed; this was another thing they needed to work out.

 John showed Rory to a room where he could have a shower and freshen up, leaving him some clean clothes that would hopefully fit him. The poor guy looked exhausted and worried so while he took some time to rest a little, John knew he had to start researching what had happened to make him and Sara unrecognisable to their loved ones.

“You okay?” John asked as he found Sara sitting finishing her coffee.

Sara sighed, “Confused.”

“Anything specific, love or just generally,” John asked as he started scanning his books.

“Is Rory Rip?”

John glanced round at her and shook his head, “No.”

“You’re sure about this?” Sara demanded, “Because he looks just like him. The accent might be different, but Phil was American.”

“Because you recognised him,” John explained, “If he was Rip then the spell you two are under means we wouldn’t recognise him.”

Sara found confused, “Are you…how…”

“The spell transfers your identity to someone else and ensures anyone who knows you can’t see you as yourself,” John reminded her, “You wouldn’t recognise him if he was Rip.”

“But if he doesn’t know he’s Rip, it wouldn’t work,” Sara argued before asking, “Would it?”

Rolling his eyes John turned back to his books, “Just trust me, I know what I’m talking about.”

She fell silent and John continued to pull out books.

It was going to be a long day.

                                 *********************************************

 Rory closed his eyes as he let the warm water batter down on him. He was exhausted and worried because his phone had been destroyed so he couldn’t send a message to the Doctor or River to check up on Amy. Rory also didn’t know if he could completely trust his new acquaintances, who both thought he was someone else, since they also seemed to know about time travel as well as use it. And the talk of spells worried him too. The memories that he’d gained in the two thousand years included vague ones of sorcerers, but he didn’t remember having anything other than fleeting interactions with them.

Getting out the shower, he quickly dried himself before dressing in the clothes John had left for him. Closing his eyes, Rory tried to draw on all the military training he had, through the random occurrences that came from travelling with the Doctor, to keep himself calm and composed and to keep his worry about Amy in check.

Rory folded his clothes and left them on the bed, he grabbed his jacket to get his first aid kit, confused to find a strange looking silver coin in his pocket. It was about the same size as a ten pence piece with an odd pattern on one side only. He studied the pattern recognising it but not sure what it was, it was a vague memory from his time as the centurion.

Tucking his kit in his pocket, Rory headed out the room to rejoin the others, relieved to see John had left post-it notes with arrows guiding him the right way. From what he’d seen he did not want to be wandering around this place. Walking back into the room, he found Sara sitting staring at a book while John was bouncing about pulling other ones out.

“Feeling better?” Sara asked, looking up as he joined them.

Rory nodded, “Yeah but I found something odd.”

John turned, “Odd?”

Pulling out the coin Rory handed it to him, “I found it in my jacket pocket, and I know it wasn’t there earlier when I left the hospital.”

Flipping it over as he studied it, John frowned.

“What?” Sara asked at his expression.

John chewed his lip for a moment, grabbing one of the books he flipped through before looking up at Sara, “Check if you have one of these.”

With a frown Sara checked all her pockets and pulled out an identical coin. She placed it on the table in front of John.

Rory studied it seeing it was exactly the same as his.

“I have one idea, but it is a bit of a long shot,” John told them as he continued to flip through the book.  He motioned Rory without looking up and asked, “You wouldn’t happen to have died at some point?”

Rory winced before replying with a shrug, “Once or twice.”

John and Sara both slowly turned to look at him.

“You know that’s a question usually answered with no,” Sara stared at him.

Sighing Rory shrugged, “It’s a long story. Or several long stories.”

“Well,” John took a seat and looked at him intently, “Tell them fast and keep it to the relevant details.”

Taking a seat, Rory shrugged, “Well…”

“Hold on,” Sara said cutting him off, “Rory, you said they found you wherever you went.”

He nodded.

Sara turned to John picking up one of the coins, “Is that what these are for?”

John’s eyes widened, “Bollocks.”

“What?” Rory asked.

“If they’re using this to keep tabs on us then it’s possible that they know we’re here,” Sara told him.

Rory rubbed his eyes, “How good is your security system?”

“Good but,” John grimaced, “From what you’ve told me of these guys then even if they’re not strong there are a lot of them so we could be overwhelmed.”

“Do you have any other ideas?” Rory asked.

Sara folded her arms, she chewed her lip in thought, “Will the spell affect Gideon?”

John mused for a moment before shaking his head, “When it comes to Gideon, I wouldn’t be too sure of anything but it’s unlikely.”

“Then we head to the ship,” Sara told him, “We get it locked down so no one can get onboard then we can work out what’s happening and what we’re going to do.”

John nodded before the both turned to Rory.

He shrugged, “If you think it’s a safe place then let’s go.”

“Alright,” John said, “Sara, grab all the books off the table, there’s a bag in the cupboard. Rory, help me with the chest. It’s got everything I might need to break the spell.”

Rory gave a nod and helped him pick up an old wooden chest, carrying it over to where Sara was finishing packing the bag.

An alarm sounded and John swore.

“Get us to the ship when you know it was empty,” John told Sara, “We can’t afford to run into one of the team when you don’t look like yourself. I only broke the spell for me.”

Sara nodded and began to tap on her watch which Rory felt was a slightly fancier looking vortex manipulator, it seemed to do the same thing in a slightly different fashion. The portal opened and Rory saw a room in front of him, clean smooth lines it was brightly lit and looked futuristic. It reminded him of the space station they had been on a few months ago. Before Rory could take any time to contemplate where he was going, John grabbed one end of the chest, so Rory automatically took the other and they headed through the portal.

 “Welcome back, Captain Lance,” Gideon said as she stepped onboard making Sara sigh in relief. “Welcome back, Mr Constantine,” the AI continued before she stopped and in a steely tone stated, “That is not Captain Hunter.”

Sara caught John’s eye, that answered that question.

“This is Rory Williams,” Sara introduced, “Rory, meet Gideon. She’s the AI that runs the ship.”

To Sara’s surprise Rory simply nodded, “Cool,” before he glanced up in the same way she and John did, “It’s nice to meet you, Gideon.”

“And you, Mr Williams,” the pleasant tone returned, “I apologise for my earlier greeting. You resemble…”

“Someone you know,” Rory finished for her, “I got that.”

“Gideon,” Sara said as she slid into the pilot’s seat, “We need to go somewhere safe none of the team or the Time Bureau know about, and I need you to make sure no one can enter the ship using the Time Courier as well.”

“Of course, Captain Lance,” Gideon replied, “I can take you to a haven that no one will know of. If Mr Constantine and Mr Williams will take their seats we can leave immediately.”

John hustled Rory to one of the chairs and showed him how to fix the restraint. As Gideon started the engines Sara hoped that they could fix this because she had no idea what to do if they couldn’t.

Sara watched as they entered the time stream and exited into a large expanse of space into the orbit of a moon orbiting a red planet.

“Where are we, Gideon?” she asked.

“This is one of Captain Hunter’s refuges,” Gideon explained, “Used only in certain circumstances. No one ever knew of it and it is doubtful that he would allow knowledge of this place to anyone within the Time Bureau.”

“Why?” John asked.

“This is where he and Miranda Coburn would come when they were hiding their relationship from the Time Master to be alone,” Gideon stated.

Sara nodded, “You’re right, this is somewhere he wouldn’t have shared with anyone.”

“Then we’re safe here?” Rory asked.

Sara nodded as she released herself and turned to see the two men undoing their restraints.

“You may…” she started, trailing off as Rory stood and appeared to have no ill-effects from his first trip in the Waverider, “Never mind.”

“So, what do we now?” Rory asked.

Sara looked at him and could see he was just as exhausted as he had been before his shower, to be honest she was feeling the need to rest for a while too.

“We take the next four hours to sleep,” Sara told him, “You need it and so do I. John, if you can start working on breaking the spell and we can pick up on anything else once we’ve slept.”

Rory sighed, “I can’t sleep until I can find a way to contact someone to protect Amy.”

“If you know a phone number, Mr Williams,” Gideon spoke up, “I can contact whoever you need to talk to.”

Sara saw relief fill Rory’s eyes but also could see he didn’t want to contact whoever it was in front of them.

“I’ll show you to a room,” Sara said, knowing Gideon would warn her of anything in his call that was a danger to them “You can call whoever you need to there.”

 John dragged the chest he’d brought into the parlour, waiting until he was sure Sara and Rory had left the bridge.

“I’m sorry, Gideon,” he apologised as he grabbed the bag filled with his books, “I didn’t get a chance to warn you about Rory.”

Silence answered him for a few moments before Gideon replied, “It is fine, Mr Constantine. I merely required a few seconds to process the anomalous data.”

John smiled slightly, “Rory does look uncannily like him.”

“Yes,” Gideon said softly, “I thought for a moment that he had returned to us.”

The hologram flickered on and instead of the blue head she showed most people, the human form Gideon used only on certain occasions appeared before him. This allowed him to see the sadness in her eyes, the loss she only showed to him because Rip’s son had called him ‘Uncle John’.

“You still believe that Rip is out there somewhere?” John asked, even though he knew the answer.

Gideon smiled slightly, “Rip Hunter has been ‘dead’ numerous times. There was no body and he once used the time core to scatter himself. There is a chance that he has been sent though time. And if so, then I will find him.”

John smiled at her, “I don’t doubt it. But first we need to work out who came after Sara and Rory, as well as what they want.”

Gideon’s hologram disappeared and John took the hint, he had to get to work. Looking at the pile of books in front of him, he sighed. The headache from his hangover was still plaguing him and relief filled him when Gideon asked.

“Would you like to be detoxed?”

 Rory stepped into the room, nodding thanks to Sara who gave him a quick smile before leaving him to rest. As the doors closed Rory let out a long sigh and he dropped to sit on the bed.

“I can try to contact the person you wish to speak with,” Gideon said, making him jump as he’d forgotten about her.

“Thank you,” he stuttered.

He took a deep breath and rhymed off the number from memory. Rory paced the small room as he waited for it to connect, praying whatever had happened hadn’t affected her too.

“Hello?” the familiar voice came, interest in it that she’d received a call from an unknown number.

“River,” Rory said, “It’s me.”

“Rory?” a smile filled her voice, “This is unusual.”

Rory grimaced as he realised that she was right but just now was not the time to think about it, “I know but I need your help.”

“Anything,” River said instantly.

Relief filled him, “I can’t explain everything, mostly because I don’t know or understand most of it, but I need you to go to the house and look after Amy.”

“What happened to her?”

“Nothing,” Rory assured, “But there is someone there she believes to be me. It’s a long story, River.”

“Rory…”

“Listen,” he cut her off, “I don’t know if whatever is affecting Amy will affect you too when you get there so you need to find a way to remind yourself that he isn’t me and why you’re there.”

Silence filled the room for a second and Rory wondered if the line had cut off.

Finally, River spoke again, “Are you safe?”

“I am,” Rory promised, “I’m with people who can hopefully help stop whoever these people are. But for me to do that I need to know Amy is safe.”

“Okay, as long as you’re sure,” she said, “I’ll look after Amy.”

Relieved, Rory let out a sigh, “One more thing, don’t contact the Doctor. I don’t know if he’s the target but why else would they come after me except to get to him.”

“Be careful, father,” River said softly.

Rory nodded even though she couldn’t see him, “I will. And I’ll contact you again as soon as I can.”

“The line has now been severed,” Gideon told him.

Sighing Rory slid the jacket off and threw it over the nearby chair, pushing his shoes off before he dropped onto the bed.

Closing his eyes, he fell asleep instantly.

                                 *********************************************

 Sara lay on her back staring at the ceiling, she’d managed to nap and felt refreshed. She wanted to walk onto the bridge and John tell her that he knew what was happening.

Part of her was disappointed that Gideon had confirmed that Rory was definitely not Rip. She hoped he would appear, having somehow survived the explosion of the Time Core.

Taking a slow breath Sara got up and had a quick shower, feeling a little better when her hair was washed, and she was wearing clean clothes.

“Gideon,” she called as she left her room.

“Yes, Captain Lance,” Gideon replied.

Heading to the galley she asked, “Where are the other two?”

“Mr Constantine is in the parlour,” Gideon told her, “He is concentrating on specific books at the moment and may have an idea on what has happened.”

“That’s good,” Sara breathed, entering the galley to get some coffee, “And Rory?”

“Mr Williams is still asleep,” Gideon reported.

Taking a sip, she mused for a second, “Who did he call?”

“A woman who sounded to be a close family friend,” Gideon replied, “He asked her to watch over his wife.”

Relieved that he wasn’t a plant by whoever had done this to get on board the Waverider, Sara found a cereal bar to go with her coffee and headed up to the bridge.

“Good, you’re up,” John said looking up as she walked into the parlour.

Sara took a seat, “Do you have something?”

“A possibility,” John replied, “I need Rory to tell me about his deaths.”

“Is it me or is there something odd about that?” Sara asked as she picked at the muffin, “So I was an assassin with an ancient sect but, from what he’s told us, Rory is a nurse who lives a normal life.”

John shrugged, “That we know of. He did know a lot about time travel, our trip here did not affect him in the slightest which shouldn’t be possible. And there is something else about him I can’t put my finger on. Other than his resemblance to Rip.”

“Gideon,” Sara called, “Let us know once Rory is awake.”

“Yes, Captain Lance,” Gideon replied.

John looked up at her, “I don’t want to go through this more than once and I need Rory’s information before I can be sure.”

“Let’s leave him to sleep,” Sara said, “He did say he’d worked a full shift in the hospital before this.”

John nodded.

“I’m going to work out for a bit,” she told him, “Give me a call when you need me.”

 Rory appeared in the parlour almost an hour and a half after Sara had left. John smiled to see he looked a lot better than when John had last seen him.

“Gideon got you something to wear I see,” John noted, seeing Rory was wearing different clothes than he had been earlier.

Rory nodded, “And gave me breakfast too.”

John belatedly noted the two mugs Rory was carrying.

“She said you would want some coffee too,” Rory handed one to John who took a sip with a blissful smile on his face.

At Rory’s amused look John shrugged, “Gideon makes amazing coffee.”

“Thank you, Mr Constantine,” Gideon spoke up, “It is nice to be appreciated.”

Taking a seat Rory looked at him, “Do you know anything more than you did earlier?”

“I might,” John said, “But to be sure then I need to know about when you died.”

Rory sighed, “Which time?”

“All of them,” John replied testily.

Grimacing slightly before taking a drink of his own coffee Rory said, “Some of them weren’t in this reality.”

John stared at him thoughtfully, “Tell me everything.”

Taking a deep breath, Rory began to talk. John stared at him listening in astonishment as Rory described several events where he ended up dead.

“Hold on,” John stopped him, “You lived for almost two thousand years in one of these realities, and you remember it?”

Rory shrugged, “Sometimes.”

“What else?” John motioned him to continue.

When Rory finished speaking John leaned back and folded his arms as he thought over everything.

“Gideon,” he said after a minute of silence, “Can you tell Sara I need to speak with her now?”

“Of course, Mr Constantine,” Gideon replied, adding a few moments later, “She will be here soon.”

 Rory wandered the bridge while John checked a few things in his books, he turned when the doors opened, and Sara walked in.

“Please tell me you have an idea what’s going on,” she said the moment she entered the parlour.

John looked over and motioned Rory to join them before nodded, “I do.”

Rory took the seat beside Sara and they waited.

“Okay,” John said, “Both of you have died at some point and been resurrected.”

Sara glanced at Rory obviously wanting to know more but decided against asking and motioned John to continue, “And?”

“There is a spell that allows someone to capture the energy that comes from resurrection,” John explained, “It’s a really complicated and dangerous spell that I only know of one person who is stupid enough to try to do it. A wizard called Redburn. A sneaky little bastard who came off worse the last time we met up. This is his type of plan.”

Rory mused on this for a moment before asking, “So, why has he replaced us?”

“To control you,” John explained, “The spell needs you to surrender the energy. The bastard has got his little cult, who I’m guessing are under a spell, put their people in your place so that you know at any moment they can hurt the person you love. And by having you in custody then that part of the spell locks in your identity on the fake.”

Sara crossed her arms thoughtfully, “How do we fix this?”

“We give them what they want,” Rory stated flatly.

John and Sara turned to him confused.

“What do you mean?” Sara asked.

“We need to do something and sitting about isn’t going to help anyone,” Rory replied, “We need to take back control.”

Sara sighed, “You’re right but we’re also on our own since none of our friends will recognise us.”

Rory bit his lip for a moment before saying, “I may know someone who can help but I’m not sure if the spell will affect him.”

“It affects everyone,” John reminded him.

“Even if he’s an alien?” Rory asked, making them stare at him.

John hesitated, “No idea. I’ve only dealt with humans and supernatural creatures from earth.”

Rory grimaced, “Then I don’t know if it’s a good idea to contact him, besides Amy may have already called him about an ‘imposter’ Rory.”

“What would your friend be able to do?” Sara asked.

Rory hesitated for a moment before replying, “He has a habit of being able to help.”

“That’s it?”

“It’s hard to explain,” Rory said, not sure how to articulate how much he trusted the Doctor and how he was the person Rory was sure could help them.

“Then no,” Sara told him, “If we don’t know your friend will be immune to the spell so we’re not pulling them into this.”

Indignation filled Rory that she had decided this unilaterally, but he held his tongue, considering this was her ship and Rory knew he needed their help.

“What do you suggest we do?” Rory asked sharper than he meant.

Sara hesitated.

“I could probably recreate one of the coins,” John spoke up, “So, we can draw them to an area we control. Once there I am sure I can shatter the spells he’s using rendering him impotent.”

“Good,” Sara nodded, “I will work out where is best for us to draw them to.”

Rory frowned, “What about me?”

“You’re a nurse,” Sara said, “Gideon will give you some stuff to go over,” she clapped her hands together, “We have a plan, Let’s get to work.”

 John saw annoyance cover Rory’s face at Sara’s dismissal but he remained silent and left the bridge to presumably go down to the medical bay as she’d told him.

“That might have been a bad idea,” John said, “Telling Rory there was nothing he can do.”

Sara shrugged, “He’s just a nurse.”

“In this life,” John rolled his eyes, “But he has plenty of experience that would be useful in making a plan.”

“But we don’t know him,” Sara reminded him, “Not well enough to trust him for this.”

John grimaced, “That could be a mistake, love. But, it’s your choice. I am going to get on to making this coin. I’ll be in Ray’s lab.”

Sara nodded, “Let me know as soon as it’s done.”

Grabbing what he was going to need, John left the bridge. Setting up in Ray’s lab he pulled out the book he needed, this was going to take longer than he expected.

                                 *********************************************

 Rory seethed as he left the bridge, heading to the medical bay Gideon guided him to and he paced for several minutes.

“Gideon,” he called finally.

“Yes, Mr Williams?”

“I have another call I need to make,” Rory told her, quickly rhyming off the number. He waited as it rang, hoping it would be answered and he wasn’t out doing something mad.

“Hello?” the familiar cheerful voice filled the room and Rory sighed in relief.

“Doctor,” Rory said, “It’s me.”

“Rory!!!” the enthusiastic voice came back, “This is a surprise. You and Amy haven’t been fighting, have you?”

Sighing Rory replied, “No but something has happened. I need your help. But I’m not sure if you will recognise me.”

“You’re not making any sense, Rory,” the Doctor said.

“I know, it’s hard to explain,” Rory sighed, “Can you come here? And promise you won’t do anything until you hear me out.”

There was a moment of silence before the Doctor came back on, “I’m on my way.”

Rory slid to sit onto one of the medical chairs and watched as the blue box appeared before him, “Gideon,” he called, “This is my friend, so you don’t have to worry about the box that’s here.”

“Of course, Mr Williams,” she replied.

As the TARDIS settled Rory moved to stand in front of it waiting for the Doctor to appear. The doors opened and the Doctor frowned in confusion.

“Who are you?” the Doctor demanded staring at him, “Where’s Rory?” he tilted his head blinking in confusion, “Except you kind of look like…”

Before Rory could say anything a noise from inside the TARDIS made the Doctor frown and step back inside. Rory followed standing inside the door waiting.

“Rory?” the Doctor stared at him in surprise, “What is going on? Why did you not look like yourself and then look like yourself?”

Laughing in relief, Rory quickly explained to the Doctor what was happening.

“That was a risky move calling me,” the Doctor noted once Rory had finished speaking, “What if I didn’t recognise you?”

“I was pretty sure that the TARDIS would be able to see through whatever this is,” Rory told him with a shrug, “Telepathic circuitry, right? Not to mention she doesn’t exist in time the same as we do so would know who I am.”

The Doctor shook his head exasperated, “One of these days we are going to sit down and have a long discussion, Rory. But not today we have other things to do.”

 “I distinctly said not to call your friend,” Sara snapped, standing just inside the medical bay’s doors, arms folded across her chest, anger covering her face.

Rory shrugged, “And I decided it was the best idea.”

“My orders were…”

“Your orders?” Rory cut her off, “I am not one of your people, Sara and I don’t take orders from you. In fact, I don’t know either of you.”

“We helped you,” Sara retorted, taking a step towards him, “With no reason to.”

“You did it because you thought I was the guy you know,” Rory rolled his eyes dismissively, “It wasn’t about helping me. The Doctor is someone I trust, and I know can actually help.”

John leaned into the man standing beside him introduced as the Doctor, “Who’s your money on?”

The Doctor chuckled, “Rory is more stubborn that anyone I’ve ever known, with the possible exception of his wife and daughter. I wouldn’t count him out.”

“And I don’t know him,” Sara snapped back at Rory.

Annoyed he shrugged, “Then you two do whatever you were going to, and we’ll fix this ourselves.” Without another word he walked into the TARDIS while Sara threw her hands in the air and stalked away.

The Doctor sighed, “I’ll speak with him, you talk to her.”

John nodded and watched the strange man head into the box after Rory, shaking his head John decided to ask later about the police box.

Heading after Sara he found her in the library pacing looking annoyed.

“Gideon,” she suddenly called, “Why didn’t you warn us Rory had made a call and invited his ‘friend’ here?”

Leaning against the wall John waited interested to hear the reply.

“You ordered me to assist Mr Williams,” Gideon replied, “He needed to speak with the Doctor and assured me that the Doctor was his friend.”

John forced himself not to laugh, Gideon had clearly taken a liking to their Rip lookalike and was following Sara’s orders to the letter. It was something she used to do to annoy Rip by being that special kind of dumb, obeying orders to the letter. Usually after he had done something stupid.

“That did not go well,” John noted.

“If he can’t follow orders,” Sara snapped, “Then he’ll be a liability.”

Shaking his head John sighed, “Sara, Rory is not one of the Legends. And to be fair to him, you did dismiss any contribution he could provide.”

“He’s just a nurse, John,” Sara reminded him.

“And the rest,” John replied, “If you had held on and let us tell you everything then you would know he has military experience and, in a way, is older than the entire team put together several times. Look,” he continued before she could argue, “We need to work together on this. He’s not Rip, Sara and any animosity you feel because they look alike you need to get over it.”

Sara frowned at him, “This has nothing to do with Rip. I don’t know Rory and I learned a long time ago that I need to know who I’m working with.”

John sighed again, “Sara, the man coming after the two of you is extremely dangerous. The spell he wants to do is deadly and splitting up is the worst idea. So, I’m telling you now that if we do this alone, we’ll fail.”

 “We’re not leaving,” the Doctor said walking up the stairs to join Rory at the console.

Rory turned to him, “We’re obviously not needed.”

“I know you’re angry,” the Doctor said softly, “But I need you to control the Centurion just now.”

Let out a snort of derision Rory dropped onto the chair and stared at him in sullen silence.

“Rory,” the Doctor leaned against the console, “Listen to me. You called me to help but I can only help when I have all the facts.”

“Well I paid attention, Doctor,” Rory replied, “I’m sure I can tell you what you need to know.”

The Doctor smiled affectionally, “You always do, Rory but we still need to work with these people.”

Rory frowned.

“You’ve followed orders before, Rory,” the Doctor decided to change track, “As Captain Williams and Roranicus.”

“From people who had earned my respect,” Rory retorted.

Shaking his head, the Doctor sighed, “Why are you always so stubborn?”

“Maybe that’s what keeps me alive.”

“I’m not going to move the TARDIS,” the Doctor said softly, “Not until I know a way to get you and Amy out of danger.”

Rory frowned at him, “You know I can probably fly the TARDIS and get us back home without you. She likes me.”

“I do know that,” the Doctor replied, “The TARDIS also wants you to remain safe and I doubt would take you where you wanted to go if it wasn’t. Rory,” the Doctor rested his hands on his friend’s shoulders, “Look at me.” Reluctantly Rory looked up and the Doctor continued, “I want to protect Amy too, and to do that we need to work with your new friends.”

Rory let out an annoyed sigh, “Fine. But if she tries to order me around again…”

Following his friend out the Doctor sighed, he was going to have to watch Rory closely. The Centurion who’d lived for nearly two thousand years sometimes appeared pushing nurse Rory to the back of his consciousness and Rory became one of the most dangerous people the Doctor had ever known.

                                 *********************************************

 Gideon watched Mr Williams and the Doctor leave the blue box currently sitting in her medical bay. The TARDIS had connected to her the moment it landed and assured her that neither the Doctor nor Mr Williams were a threat to the Waverider nor the people her Captain had asked her to watch over. The TARDIS was completely different from an AI and Gideon was fascinated by her, having never met any Time Lord technology until now. The TARDIS also asked many questions about Gideon and her Captain, amused that the man the TARDIS called the ‘pretty one’ resembled Rip’s Captain so much.

Rory Williams resemblance to Rip Hunter had confused and alarmed Gideon at first, but after the initial thought her Captain had returned then dismissed, Gideon watched over and found she liked Mr Williams.

He was smart and listening to his story had learned how resilient he was. There were some similarities to Rip in how much he cared for people, but Mr Williams appeared to be much better at expressing it than her Captain had ever been.

If she was in her human form, she would have smiled amused at how Miss Lance stood in one corner of the room while Mr Williams took the other with Mr Constantine and the Doctor standing between them.

She just hoped they could all work together to solve this situation.

 “Alright,” the Doctor said all traces of the foolishness and light-heartedness he’d displayed earlier gone, “Sara, Rory you have both been targeted meaning not only are your lives in danger but so are the lives of people you hold dear. Now, I am not going to make you shake hands and make up,” he held up his hand sharply as Rory opened his mouth to speak, “Not that I don’t want to but we don’t have the time to listen to you argue with me.”

Sara glared at him demanding, “Who put you in charge?”

“I did,” the Doctor told her sharply, “So, hush.” Annoyance covered Sara’s face, but she remained silent as the Doctor continued, “Do you have any ideas?”

Rory took a quick breath, “John thinks he knows who is behind this, so we decided to draw them to us.

The Doctor frowned, “And you think that is a good idea?”

“If we can get them face to face on our terms,” John spoke up, “I’m we have a chance of stopping him.”

Confusion covered the Doctor’s face, “How do you plan on doing that?”

“I can recreate the tracker spell,” John explained, “We then choose somewhere we can control to put down so that when they come for Sara and Rory, I break the spell which should render him powerless.”

The Doctor nodded, “A good plan. Rory, do you want your sword?”

“Probably a good idea,” Rory sighed.

“Sword?” Sara asked intrigued.

Rory shook his head, “It is a long story. I’ll get it. I may need to go through some drills before we go.”

The Doctor nodded, patting Rory on the shoulder as he walked past.

“Sword?” Sara asked again before demanding, “What kind of nurse uses a sword?”

“One whose lived a few different lives and was a Roman Centurion in one of them,” John replied.

The Doctor turned to her, “Rory is so much more than he tells people. And although he can be one of the kindest people you will ever meet,” he sighed, “He can also be deadly.”

Confused Sara turned to where Rory had been before looking back at the Doctor and asking, “Him?”

“He told us he’s died a few times,” John reminded her, “You should have been here for the entire story. It was pretty incredible.”

 Rory entered the TARDIS and gently touched the console.

“Thank you for knowing me,” he breathed softly, “I don’t know what I would have done if you didn’t.”

He felt a gentle vibration against his fingertips and smiled.

“She says your welcome.”

Rory jumped and spun finding a woman he didn’t recognise standing just at the top of the stairs, petite with high cheekbones, grey eyes and long chestnut hair.

“Who are you?” he stammered in confusion.

She smiled at him, “I’m Gideon.”

“Gideon?” Rory stared at her, “How…I mean why…no, I mean how?”

Gideon laughed, “The TARDIS and I have been talking, she gave me permission to use her holo-emitters to speak with you here.”

“Why?” Rory asked a little suspiciously.

She shrugged, “I enjoy talking with you.”

“Because I remind you of Rip?” Rory asked.

Sadness covered her face, “Actually your resemblance hurts me in a way I did not know existed until now.”

Rory winced, “I’m sorry your friend is gone. I wish I could help in some way.”

A sweet smile touched her lips and she rested her hand at his cheek, “It is kind of you but there is nothing anyone can do. If Captain Hunter is alive then I shall find him.”

Not sure what to say Rory breathed, “I should go get my sword. That’s why I’m here.”

“The TARDIS advises that she has placed it in your room,” Gideon told him with a smile, “And she says not to worry too much about the ‘Fiery One’ as the ‘Song of Time’ is with her. Do you know what that means?”

Rory nodded, “It means my daughter is with Amy. That’s good.” He frowned in thought, “The Fiery One?”

“It is the TARDIS name for your wife,” Gideon explained.

Rory nodded, “An apt description for her,” he chuckled before musing thoughtfully, “Dare I ask if she told you what she calls me?”

Gideon smiled, “The Pretty One. And I feel that is a perfect description.”

                                 *********************************************

 “You want to tell me what you’re thinking about?” John asked as he found Sara in the library staring into space.

“Just worrying,” Sara sighed, “I don’t like not being able to actively participate in protecting myself or my people.”

Sitting beside her he shrugged, “I get it. But I know what I’m doing, Sara and once we get you in position then you can beat the crap out whoever is doing this.”

She nodded.

“What else is bothering you?” John demanded annoyed.

“Why…”

“Because you’ve still got that look,” he replied, “I am busy, so therapy is only on offer for a few minutes.”

Sara grimaced before admitting, “It’s Rory.”

“What about him?”

“Having him here makes me think about what happened to Rip,” Sara told him sadly, “It was my mistake that meant Rip sacrificed his life. I let Amaya break time before we knew how to use the weapon, I gave Damian Darhk of all people one of the totems because I didn’t want to listen to Rip’s advice. Because I had to prove I didn’t need him.”

John folded his arms across his chest and sighed, “Sara, Rip could have taken the Waverider at any time and left you all to your fate. Gideon would have gone with him without hesitation. But Rip stayed back for you to take the lead because he trusted in you.” John shrugged, “Rip did what he did because he knew you would take the team and stop the threat. It was his decision to face Mallus, so give him the credit for it and stop trying to take the blame.”

“Okay,” Sara said softly.

“Are we done?” John asked.

She rolled her eyes at him before asking, “What about this Doctor? Do you know anything about him?”

“You mean other than the fact I’m pretty sure he’s a Time Lord?” John said.

“A what?”

John sighed, annoyance filling his voice, “Rip never told you about them?”

Sara shook her head.

“All I know is the Time Masters avoided them and you do not get on their bad side,” John replied, “But I think we can trust him. He’s obviously protective of Rory, so he’s on our side right now but from what Rip told me, or at least what I remember,” at her confused frown John explained, “We had drank a lot at the time, Time Lords don’t usually get involved. If he is then there’s a good reason for it.”

“So, be careful of the guy in the bowtie,” Sara noted, “Got it.”

 The Doctor walked through the Waverider looking for Rory. The fact that the other man had so readily agreed that he needed his sword was worrying because Rory never picked it up unless there was absolutely no other option. Finally, he found Rory in a cargo bay going through some drills.

It was times like this that the Doctor saw how much Rory had changed over the years. From the nervous nurse-boy who had followed Amy during the ‘Prisoner Zero’ fiasco completely bemused by what he was being told, who wouldn’t hurt a fly and had pushed the Doctor out of the way of a shot which killed him. To the man who held the memories of living the life of a Roman Centurion and spent almost two thousand years guarding the woman he loved. Those memories made Rory dangerous and the Doctor had seen him disappear into the Centurion on occasion but each time it had happened Amy had been there to pull him back.

The Doctor feared what would happen if she couldn’t because she didn’t know who he was. He’d never seen Rory go down that rabbit-hole completely and was hoping he never would.

“Doctor?” Rory said noticing him suddenly, “Is everything okay?”

“You tell me,” the Doctor said softly.

Rory took a deep breath, “River is with Amy and I just hope that my daughter did something to ensure that she isn’t affected by the spell. That was all I could do to protect Amy this time.”

“I know that Amy would remind you that she can look after herself,” the Doctor said, “And that you don’t have to protect her.”

Rory shrugged, “After two thousand years, it’s a bit of a habit.”

The Doctor chuckled, “I guess so.”

“I’m scared, Doctor,” Rory confessed softly, “I know how to fight but what if I can’t fight this?”

Wrapping his arm around Rory, the Doctor hugged him tightly, “I sometimes forget you’re younger and older than me.”

“Me too.”

Letting the other man go the Doctor took Rory by the shoulders, “We rebooted the Universe once. We can do anything.”

With a slight smile Rory nodded in agreement.

“Then let’s go,” the Doctor told him, “And see if our new friends have anything.”

“Doctor,” Rory stopped him before he could leave the room, “If something happens to me then you have to get Amy away from that guy.”

“Rory…”

“And tell her that I love her more than anything in the universe.”

The Doctor smiled, resting his hand on Rory’s cheek, “She knows.”

                                 *********************************************

 “Okay, John is sure he’s managed to recreate the coin with the locating spell,” Sara said, “Rory and I agree that it would be the best idea to go back to London to set the trap.”

“Why?” the Doctor asked thoughtfully.

“Because it’s where we ran into each other,” Rory explained, “Presumably that’d be the best place since we know they not only have a presence but…that’s where Amy and Sara’s girlfriend Ava are.”

“Rory said there is a park near his house,” Sara took over, “So, we to set up there. It should hopefully allow us to ensure Amy and Ava are safe by breaking the spells.”

The Doctor glanced at John who nodded, “Alright, I say we take the TARDIS since the Waverider is a bit big to land and if you use your portal things…”

“Time Courier,” Sara and John corrected in unison.

“They could follow us back through if something goes wrong and we need to retreat,” the Doctor continued as though he hadn’t been interrupted.

“Agreed,” Sara nodded, “John, get what you need, and we’ll meet at the TARDIS in fifteen minutes.”

 Rory followed the Doctor into the TARDIS and took up position by the console.

“Gideon,” the Doctor called, “Apologies we have to leave you here.”

The hologram of the woman appeared again, “I understand, Doctor,” she told him, “The TARDIS shall keep in contact with me, so I know what is happening.”

The Doctor nodded.

“Gideon,” Rory said softly, “If I don’t get a chance to talk to you then thank you for your help.”

“You are welcome, Mr Williams,” Gideon nodded softly.

He smiled at her before adding, “And I hope you find your friend.”

Giving him a smile Gideon suddenly disappeared as the TARDIS doors opened.

“Oh my God,” Sara exclaimed as she walked inside a few steps, turned walked out and Rory assumed, walked around the outside of the TARDIS before she walked back in. Turning to John she said, “Okay, I get why the Time Masters stayed away from them.”

Without looking up, the Doctor called, “Come in, close the door and come up here.” As Sara and John reached him, the Doctor looked up and frowned at the skin-tight white outfit she was wearing, “Oh, White Canary. I thought you looked familiar. Nice outfit.”

He glanced at Rory who said, “No.”

“Are you sure?” the Doctor said, “You would…”

“Not a chance in hell,” Rory cut him off, “I have my sword, I don’t need the rest of the outfit.”

“Outfit?” John asked with interest.

Rory closed his eyes in frustration as the Doctor noted, “His Centurion’s uniform.”

John’s eyes widened in a way Rory wasn’t sure he liked before looking Rory up and down, “Really?”

“Let’s go, Doctor,” Rory said frustration in his voice.

“I think the Centurion outfit would be a good idea,” Sara spoke up amused.

Rory grimaced at her before snapping, “Doctor.”

“And we’re off,” the Doctor threw the lever.

                                 *********************************************

 It was a cold morning, grey with a haze of rain when they stepped out of the TARDIS. They were in a playpark with a large circle of grass in the middle of the park where the TARDIS was sitting. Sara looked around getting the lay of the land while Rory turned and looked along the road to where his house was.

“She’ll be fine,” the Doctor assured him.

Nodding Rory took a breath and turned to John, “What do you need me to do?”

Handing him small tin of green paint, a brush and a diagram John said, “On the ground around the outside of the grass. Try to keep it as hidden as possible, we don’t want them to see it until the last possible second.”

Rory nodded, looking at the picture on the paper for several moments before he began to meticulously paint it on the ground, ensuring that he didn’t miss a bit and the circle was complete.

John started muttering incantations beneath his breath, building them a protective circle that would work with the symbols Rory was painting.

“There’s nowhere to hide,” Sara frowned as she joined the Doctor.

“I think that’s the point,” the Doctor replied.

Sara grimaced, “I just don’t like it.”

“Neither do I.”

 John finished his incantations as Rory finished painting the symbols.

“These are good,” John told him, “Have you had to do this before?”

Rory chuckled, “Amy was very specific about how we played as children.”

John frowned for a moment and pulled out the duplicate coin but before he unwrapped it turned back to Rory, “We’re coming back to that later.”

Rory gave him a quick smile and stood back as John slowly unwrapped the silver coin he had made.

Turning he asked, “Are we all clear on the plan?”

“Yes,” Sara and Rory answered in unison as the Doctor nodded.

John took a quick breath, “Here we go then.”

Starting to incant again, he tossed it in the air. The coin spun in the air before dropping onto the ground with a clink.

Almost instantly several people began to appear, surrounding the park, all wearing black robes. John felt Rory stiffen at his side, hand reaching for his sword automatically as Sara took up a defensive stance.

“I want to speak to your boss,” John called.

“You have no idea what you are interfering in,” one of the robes replied stepping in front of them, “If you know what’s good for you then leave and we will spare your life.”

John pulled out a cigarette and lit it, “I’ve never been one for doing what’s good for me. Get your boss here and we will have a discussion. Or,” he took a long drag before flicking the butt, “You will find out exactly how much I dislike your sense of fashion.”

The robe let out a snort of derision and stepped forward, John muttered under his breath and raised his hands so that when he hit the barrier Rory had painted they thought it was John that had erected it himself. He needed the barrier to remain undiscovered for now.

“So,” John said to the man, who had now lost his hood, “Are you getting your boss, or do I have to ask again?”

 Rory decided he was glad John was on their side as he stared down the man in the black robe. Finally, the man sniffed and stepped back.

“You only have yourself to blame for your destruction,” he stated before he turned and went down on one knee.

John rolled his eyes and turned slightly to Rory, “Hold your temper. He’ll do anything he can to rattle you and Sara. The Doctor is watching her, but I need you to be what the Doctor calls ‘Nurse Rory’.”

“I’ll be fine,” Rory murmured back.

After several minutes a small sickly-looking man appeared and walked slowly towards them.

“Reed Redburn,” John snapped, “I knew it was too good to be true when I was told you were dead, you smarmy bastard.”

Redburn turned pale washed out blue eyes to them, “Constantine,” he rasped, “You should not have become involved in this.”

“You came after one of my mates,” John shook his head, “I tend to look unfavourably on that.”

Redburn laughed, or that’s what Rory assumed it was, before turning to Rory, “Mr Williams, this will be easier on you if you just surrender yourself. I know you want no one to be hurt in a futile attempt to stop what is inevitable.

Rory chuckled softly.

“Is something amusing, Mr Williams?” Redburn demanded looking surprised at Rory’s reaction.

“You have no idea what you’ve done,” Rory stated softly but the menace was clear in his voice, “When someone abducted my wife, I picked up my sword and cut through anyone who got in my way.”

Redburn shrugged, “So?”

Rory smiled coldly as he drew his sword, “I’m the even-tempered one in my family. Just wait till my wife and daughter realise what you’re doing. Natural disasters have nothing on them.”

“Do you think that I need to worry?” Redburn demanded, “I own your wife, Mr Williams and you have no child. I did my homework before I chose you.”

He turned and motioned someone forward. Rory gripped his sword tighter as Amy walked forward with the same guy who had been in his house, River was with them looking as confused as Amy. River glanced at Rory and winked sending relief flowing through him. A few moments later a brunette woman appeared with who he assumed was Ava, Sara’s girlfriend.

“You really should have done much more research,” John said from Rory’s side.

“River, now,” Rory snapped as John activated the spell that Rory had painted around the circle for him.

River grabbed Amy pulling her to safety as the spell exploded outwards removing the camouflage surrounding them and shattering every other spell Redburn had cast on the group.

“What the hell?” Amy demanded as she turned to the guy who had been pretending to be Rory. Without hesitation she punched him in the jaw, sending him to the ground.

“Rory!!” Amy cried, running to his side but seeing the sword and stance knew not to hug him instead turned a fiery glare onto Redburn as River joined them.

“You were saying?” Rory asked with a smirk.

 Sara smiled in relief as Ava slammed the woman who had been pretending to be her to the ground before moving to Sara’s side.

“I’m guessing I’ve missed a few things,” Ava said.

Giving a slight shrug, Sara confirmed, “One or two.”

“So,” John spoke up again, “You were saying about having an advantage.”

Redburn glared, looking even worse than he had earlier as his control over Amy, Ava and all of the people in the robes was broken by John’s spell. The people in black robes were now wandering around looking confused leaving Redburn standing alone.

“The last time we met,” John continued, anger in his voice just below the surface, “I told you I would kill you if we ever crossed paths again.”

“No,” the Doctor snapped, “No killing.”

John turned to him, “I don’t have to. The reason he wanted Sara and Rory was because both have been dead at some point. He wanted the energy their resurrection granted them. He’s not got long and the energy he expended in this stunt,” he shrugged, “It finished him off,” turning back to the man standing there who was beginning to wheeze, “You won’t live much longer, Redburn. Go make your peace because that black soul of yours is destined for hell.”

“We should get him to a hospital,” Rory spoke up.

Ava stepped forward, “We have the medical facilities that will also be able to keep him locked down.”

“Are you sure?” the Doctor asked.

Sara nodded, “Ava’s right. The Time Bureau is the best option. John, we’ll need you to help keep him in line.”

John shrugged, “Fine by me. I want to keep an eye on the slimy little weasel.”

“Good,” Sara said before she turned to the Doctor, “Thank you for your help.”

He gave a quick nod, “I’ll have the TARDIS let Gideon know everything is fine and you’ll contact her soon.”

“Thank you,” she replied before turning to Rory, offering her hand she smiled at him, “I’m really glad we ran into one another.”

“Me too,” Rory took her hand, “Look after yourself.”

Before she walked away Sara caught sight of the woman with Rory, who was not his wife, “Ahh…” she started before trailing off.

“Something wrong?” Rory asked.

Sara shook her head, “No. It’s just…your friend looks like my mom’s twin sister, Aunt Catherine but,” she laughed, “Considering you look like Rip, must just be another coincidence.”

Rory glanced at his friend before replying, “Must be.”

As she joined Ava and John, Sara turned and watched the Doctor, Rory and the two women enter the TARDIS.

As the blue box disappeared, Ava demanded, “What did I miss?”

Sara chuckled, “I’ll tell you later.”

 Rory entered the TARDIS and caught River before she headed up the stairs to join the Doctor and Amy.

“Should I ask,” he said before adding, “Aunt Catherine?”

River smiled mysteriously before patting his cheek, “Best not to, father dear.”

Rolling his eyes, he climbed the stairs quickly and was caught by Amy in a tight embrace. She hugged him tightly before kissing him.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

Rory held onto her, “Not your fault. I’m just happy you recognise me again.”

“So,” the Doctor spoke up, “Where to?”

“How about home,” Rory replied, his arm wrapped tightly around his wife, “Get something to eat then decide.”

The Doctor nodded, “Sounds good.”

Rory smiled as he looked around the TARDIS, relieved to be home with his family once more.

                                 *********************************************

 The Doctor was sitting on the wall in the back garden when Rory found him after dinner. Taking a seat at his side Rory looked up at the stars in silence with him for several minutes.

“You’re thinking very loudly over there,” the Doctor said.

Rory shrugged, “Just everything that happened the past few days.” He paused and turned to his friend, “Did you let Gideon know what happened?”

“You were busy with Amy when I did,” the Doctor smiled, “She sent her good wishes to you.”

He sat for a moment before saying, “She wasn’t what I expected an AI to be.”

“No,” the Doctor smiled, “Not like one I’ve ever encountered before either. The TARDIS appears to have made friends with her too.”

“Can you help her find her Captain?” Rory asked.

The Doctor shrugged nonchalantly, “I may have thought of a few possibilities of what may have happened to him.”

“Well if you find him, I want to meet him,” Rory said.

“To see if you do look the same?”

Rory laughed, “That’s basically why.”

They sat in silence again for several more minutes, listening to Amy and River laughing inside the house.

“Thank you for coming to help me, Doctor,” Rory said sincerely.

Wrapping his arm around the other man, the Doctor smiled, “Anytime.”

“Oy, you two,” Amy yelled, “Get back in here. Dessert is served.”

Clapping his friend’s shoulder Rory led him back into the house with his wife and daughter.

He was home again.

[cc-2o2o]

The first time was an accident.

Stephen and Wong were fighting some weird interdimensional creature they have never seen before; with full force it attacked Stephen and created a portal simultaneously, so that they both ended up somewhere out of New York with no Wong in sight. Still, Stephen wasn't alone.

A small missile hit the beast's head and the next moment, a man in armor was landing right at Stephen's side. The creature created another portal and fled - and only Stephen remained with a man he thought was long dead.

That’s when Tony started babbling, talking about how Stephen’s pet just killed Pepper’s hortensia; and Stephen understood that this was Tony, but he didn't recognize him, he didn't know him. And the moment Stephen whispered Thanos’ name, Tony just looked at him questioning. Stephen finally understood, he ended up in the universe in which Thanos was already dead – it was the universe where Tony Stark never died.

However, before he could have said another word, he felt something calling him back and he knew immediately that Wong was trying to bring him home, even though he didn't want to leave.

.

The second time was supposed to extend their knowledge (or at least that’s what Stephen was telling Wong all the time).

Wong agreed – they needed to know how these new timelines affected their multiverse and so they created another portal and Stephen entered this other universe all over again. He went to the house at the lake, knocked at the door – and Tony opened it. The mechanic rambled on, talked about how Pepper didn’t believe him when he told her about the wizard and his weird dog who killed her plant. Stephen, however, could barely talk, because Tony was alive.

“Do we know each other or why do you look like someone just punched your puppy?”

“Well, we don't. Not really.”

“Not really or really not?”

“Do you believe in time travel?”

.

There was no reason for the third time. (There was a reason, Stephen just didn’t want to acknowledge it.)

It was night, Stephen couldn’t sleep (how could he?), and Tony couldn’t either – so they both ended up in the living room of the lake house, drinking coffee and Stephen explaining Tony all those things he didn't knew before. Tony then asked him why he didn't just meet the Tony of his own universe (“I mean, you just switched the damn universe, why is that so?”), but Stephen couldn't answer. He couldn't tell him that Tony was long dead in the universe he came from; but he didn't have to anyway, since Tony seemed to understand his silence perfectly.

“Damn!”

They both turned around and saw Morgan sitting at the stairs, smiling broadly at them. Tony put a finger on his lips. “Little Miss, you know you’re not allowed to use that word. Damn belongs to me.”

“And shit belongs to mum.”

Tony grinned while Morgan looked at Stephen. “Who are you?”

Stephen couldn't bring himself to answer; he only knew that in another universe, Morgan was growing up without her loving father, and that it was him who had chosen that way. There was no other way.

Tony looked at Stephen before directing his attention back to his daughter. “He’s a friend.”

He helped his daughter back to her feet; they both left the living room, going upstairs – and Stephen stayed behind, asking himself how Tony could call him a friend.

.

The fourth time was supposed to be a farewell.

With each trip to the other universe, the passage seemed to become a bit longer; and Stephen and Wong figured out that it was probably a side effect of the convergence, bringing the universes together every five thousand years before taking them apart once more. And the greater the distance, the more dangerous became a passage. Logically, Stephen immediately created another portal.

“You know, I was in the Bleecker Street a few days ago. Thought that I should meet your counterpart in my universe. Let’s say, it was a rather disappointing experience. I thought we understand each other.”

“We didn’t exactly had a good start in my universe either.”

“Well, you are here, so I must have left a good impression somehow.”

You did. Stephen had seen him die and live; he had met him so many times, had seen the man behind the mask. But it didn’t matter anymore, so Stephen told him about how the connection between their universes will be fragile over the next five thousand years and that it would be too dangerous to travel between them.

“Sounds dramatic.”

“It is.”

Stephen stayed quiet for a while, thinking about how it should be Morgan and Pepper instead of him, how they should talk to Tony; perhaps it was a good thing that no one would be able to travel into this universe anymore – a happier universe, where so many things could still happen.

“You know, just be honest. Show my other self that you mean well, that you take all of this seriously. We could get along.”

“We already do.”

.

The fifth time was a farewell.

“Oh wow, you couldn’t last without my presence for, what, five days? Damn, I really-“

“Let me tell you everything.”

And Tony was surprised, since Stephen hadn't wanted to tell him about his universe before, at least not about the last five years. Now, however, Stephen told him everything, talked about their fight on Titan, how they had lost and how half of the universe had turned to dust; he talked about how the Avengers had brought them all back and how it was him, Tony, and Natasha who had saved them all, sacrificing their lives in the process. He told him all the things he never could (and never will, not to his Tony). When he finally came to an end, Stephen expected Tony to be angry with him, but that didn't seem to be the case:

“So, to sum this up: You saved my life on Titan, so that I could live another five years with Pep and have my daughter? Plus, you killed our Thanos in your timeline, so that I’m currently still alive?”

Stephen hadn't expected that.

“It was my decision, Stephen. And I would make it again, if I had to.”

Tony then searched for some sort of a cassette (Top of New York was written on it) and he put it into Stephen's hand, asking him to take it to Pepper in his universe – she would know what she had to do with it.

“You know, Morgan loves balloon animals.”

“Forget about it.”

.

“Can I have a dog?”

“Really? Fifty million different kinds of animals and you choose a dog?”

Morgan giggled and watched Stephen wide-eyed while he started making complex hand movements – before the balloon ended up as a perfectly detailed dog. Pepper watched them silently while reading a book on the couch. “TONY, I hope you recorded our master of the mystic arts making a balloon animal.”

“Honey, I would never let such an opportunity slip.”

Stephen just rolled his eyes; even after his death, Tony Stark was still annoying him to no end.

Top of New York.

T.O.N.Y.

[thelongestdamnreviews]

Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together

HAHAHA YES I DID IT I FINALLY BEAT THE GAME THE CURSE IS BR--

Uh. 

I finally finished the game this time, clocking in a time of just over 58 hours for Neutral route cleared and not really many sidequests done.  While I played this run with a mod (if you’ve played the game, you’ll notice in the pictures some differences), I'll talk about that another time.  I should note that I've given this game at least five prior attempts each clocking in at over 20 hours over the several years I've owned it, so this is a pretty significant victory in my eyes. 

The Valerian Isles have been in turmoil ever since the untimely death of her king, Dorgalua.  He passed with no heir, and a regent installed himself into rule, although his influence only really extended through the northern part of the isles.  The Hierophant Balbatos has enacted a regime of ethnic cleansing in the south against the Walister, your people, and your leader has already been captured.  Worse, the knights who torched your town years ago are headed your way and the only help you have are your sister and best friend...

Five versus three against your favor, and they’re all veterans versus you all never having taken the field.  What’s the worst that can happen? 

I'll be making a few comparisons to Tactics Ogre's sibling series, Final Fantasy Tactics, during this review and I apologize for making so many.  Tactics Ogre originally was a Super Famicom game and it was ported to the PlayStation 1 and Sega Saturn before getting remade on the PSP quite a while later.  I've never played any of the old versions prior so this is mostly new experiences for me. 

Tactics Ogre is a turn-based tactics RPG.  Field a small team of characters in a variety of classes and fight it out through a number of battles as you clear a swath through everyone standing in your way.  Warriors use big swords, Archers snipe with bows, Clerics heal, Canopus wins entire maps, Wizards damage and rebuff with spells, and so on.  Objectives vary between "kill all enemies" and "kill the enemy leader" with very few deviations.  Instead of the almost constant limit of five troops that Final Fantasy Tactics imposes on you, you can field a maximum of 12, but the limit increases or decreases based on the map, and even maps near the end of the game won't let you take everyone along.  Enemy troops will almost always outnumber yours, but you have the advantage of human intellect, grinding, and the ability to revive your troops to counter them. 

I’m apparently really bad at taking screenshots of actual gameplay, but the anti-aliasing on the text broke on the enemy’s numbers for some reason, thus the picture. 

Though this is a modern-day remake, the game still uses sprites for characters and the battlegrounds, but instead of having the ability to freely rotate the map, you can instead tilt the map overhead for a bird's eye view to plan your next move.  And in the process, it looks like the maps actually are 3D models textured to look like sprites.  One of the final maps in the story is a translucent bridge situated over a glowing pit, and you can actually adjust the camera to look into the pit for no reason other than it looks cool.  Spells also have been given a visual overhaul as have the weather effects in battle. 

It might be a little jarring to have such advanced effects shown alongside sprites and pixel artwork, but they at least put the PSP’s hardware to work with these. 

The biggest difference this version has to its prior incarnations or its siblings is how different the class system is.  Instead of individual characters having their own character level and class level, the classes themselves level up and characters no longer have a personal level.  If you have Warrior at 22 and change Denam from a level 5 Wizard to one, his level jumps to 22.  More characters of one class fielded at the same time level faster, as do people of a lower level than the average. 

It's an interesting system on paper, but it's got more than a few issues.  While you can take a new character and stuff them into a leveled class to use immediately, you'll have to babysit anyone who switches to a new class since they'll be stuck using weaker gear until they get back up to speed, due to everything having a minimum level to use.  Classes don't unlock too often so you'll have to decide if what new things the class can bring to the group are worth the trouble of grinding the characters back to effectiveness.  EXP and SP are rewarded once the battle is won and it doesn't seem to matter what anyone on your side does to affect the final number, so you're not penalized for someone being dead weight.  Battles where you have to kill the enemy leader can be useful for quick EXP/SP, but random battles never have these conditions. 

Characters have personal reserves of SP used to unlock new skills and up to ten slots to stick into them.  Skills either boost stats, like boosting defense or max HP or boosting ranged evasion, or they grant passive bonuses like weapon skills or racial skills boosting the damage done with said weapon/against said race, or they enable the use of certain spells like Fire Magic or Dark Magic, or they give your unit class-specific actions like Fearful Impact or Speedstar.  New skills unlock slowly as that class levels, but not all of them can be transferred to other classes. 

Some skills slowly rank up as you use them and weapon skills are no different.  You’re encouraged to get at least one weapon skill up to 2 for every character to unlock heavily-damaging Finishers, so you can burst down tanky targets or other dangerous foes. 

Unlike in FFT where you can reasonably allow your characters to access the skills of prior jobs so you could have a Knight with Black Magick abilities, here skills and spells and equipment is a lot more rigid.  A Knight and a Cleric can both use Divine Magic to heal allies, but only the Cleric can use resurrection magic.  A Knight can use Axes and 1H Swords, while the Cleric can't.  They both can use Hammers, but only female Clerics get the sole Hammer the class can use.  You kinda need to plan out your characters to minimize wasted SP.  While it's not in short supply, it can be frustrating to want to try something new with an old character and then have several of their skills not apply to the new class.  There is one special class that can use almost everything any other one class can use, but only one character can use it and it comes at a heavy cost, as well as said class learning nothing naturally.  Think Freelancer or Onion Knight from Final Fantasy proper. 

Combat is speed-based like in FFT.  Each class has a base Recovery Time as well as how much RT is added per panel of move.  Then this is all factored against the weight of the equipment you have on and the RT of the weapon.  Unique characters (either fully unique or named generics) almost always have lower base RT than generics, on top of some having unique classes and dialog opportunities in some battles.  Every class has HP for living and TP to fuel special abilities and weapon finishers that unlock once the related weapon skill is at least rank 2, but some have MP which start at 0 to prevent anyone from using their strongest spells on turn one, the same way FFTA2 does it.  You're given a turn order on the bottom of the screen so you can try to manipulate the battlefield to your advantage, such as seeing if a character might be within range to kill a healer before they can act. 

But if things wind up not going your way, another new feature to the game is the Chariot Tarot, an in-game turn rewinding feature.  This unlocks in your first non-tutorial battle and allows you to rewind up to 50 turns backwards, and it even saves the 'alternate timelines' you created in that battle so if your original plan turned out better, you can jump back to it.  The game records your use of this but you can do a same-turn Chariot free of charge, to perhaps try to aim a projectile spell another way or if an attack you needed to hit got dodged.  The game points out that repeating the same actions the same way will only bear the same results, so if an Archer is having trouble landing an arrow for example, it might be worth it to same-turn Chariot by firing from every different tile in range until you make your mark. 

I didn’t test to see how many alternate timelines you could make, but having the ability to rewind at all is pretty handy. 

There are three story routes across four chapters, but they branch off instead of being three full stories from beginning to end.  There is one Chapter 1, there are two Chapter 2s, three Chapter 3s, and one Chapter 4 where they all converge again.  Law route has no branches, but Chaos can branch into Neutral at the end of Chapter 2.  Each branch has its own story sequences, but the roles characters play in them might change.  Someone who is an ally on one route might be an enemy on another, someone may live or die or even be recruitable depending on how you go.

  Once you finish the game, you gain access to the World Tarot, which allows you to travel time forward and backward, jumping to Anchor Points while you keep your gear and roster.  There are several Anchor Points sprinkled through each route's chapters, but you can't merely jump to a specific story battle at-will.  Don't go back to the start of the game and expect to zero-effort everyone you find though, as enemies will now scale to your level and their gear will too.  The World Tarot gives you an opportunity to replay story battles or to tackle another route too.  Beating the game also unlocks the CODA section of the game, four short but new chapters made originally as DLC for this version of the game, baked into the release we got here.  Progress through CODA requires certain characters to be considered alive by the timeline used to access it, so you may need to replay a good portion of the game to make the new timeline 'canon'. 

You still experience the routes as if you were playing them the first time, so Denam won’t try to change history even further.  Though one chapter in CODA does meddle with history to save a friend...

When not fighting on the battlefield, you can buy new wares in shops, recruit new people in shops, or craft new items if you have the recipes and materials.  Crafting can make very powerful equipment even early on, but the biggest caveat is that the process is very tedious.  You need to make advanced versions of materials one step at a time, and it's entirely possible that something will fail and you'll lose the materials in the process.  I believe one piece of Wootz Steel takes over 30 steps and again, there's the failure risk to consider.  You will be save-scumming quite a bit when it comes to crafting. 

You can also auction off recruited monsters for money that you can then turn around and use to buy the meat and other items processed from their bodies!  Somehow it’s even worse than FFT’s Poach/Secret Hunt because you’re doing this to members of your own team...

The last option accessed on the map is the Warren Report.  This is like the Brave Story of FFT, but it allows you to replay cutscenes as well as see an overall timeline of when events happen, and it has bios of damn near everyone you meet and fight and kill.  And they're not one-liners either--some enemies are nth generation knights or one pirate is actually pregnant (and you killed her, you monster), and so on.  The Warren Report also holds all of the Titles you earn naturally by playing or by doing specific side goals (so Achievements basically), as well as tracking the number of battles fought, Chariot Tarot uses, number of escapes, number of allied KOs, number of allied deaths, and how many people you've killed as well as to which clan they were affiliated.  And finally, it functions as a music player. 

War is hell.  All of those people you kill aren’t just faceless goons.  Just...the ones with names are the only people who show up here as opposed to every generic person having a bio. 

The music in this version has been given a full orchestral overhaul, given the 70-some names used in the credits for all the instruments, and several songs have been lengthened and given new parts.  The Warren Report also lists composer notes about the tracks, saying what kind of mood they were going for or talking about how difficult it was to get specific instruments to meld together.  The game has a percentage unlocked stat for the songs and I want to believe that most of them unlock by hearing them and winning the battles where they play, but at least one is unlocked by the Titles you earn. 

Okay, so that's Tactics Ogre.  Move your troops around the battlefield killing people until you win, then move onto the next map.  Buy or make new gear and spells and buy skills to keep your team in top shape, and experience the story across three different routes. 

It’s been a while since I last went through FFT, but it didn’t show you dead civilians a few times, did it?

What's good?  There's a lot of content here.  You can be sated with a one-and-done like I've done, but if you want to do everything in this game, you might want to set aside a couple hundred hours.  There's a bunch of side quests and extra dungeons, and one of them is even 115 battles long.  And you need to do that one in one go or you have to start over, but at least you can save between the fights this time.  And to get the most out of it, you need to do it more than once.  Yeah.  There is a lot to do here, to the point where I'd say that no other FFT can come close.  I hope you like grid-based turn-based RPG tactical goodness because this game is full of it. 

And variety too.  There are a bunch of different weapons for each type, a bunch of spells for each element, a bunch of skills for each class, and a bunch of classes for each race.  Even monsters have classes!  Though Golems and Dragons really only get to change, but demihumans like Reptiles and Orcs get access to some classes Humans can use, while they also get classes only they can use too.  And then you have Hawkmen who scoff at terrain differences and can fly everywhere, but they can only use a handful of classes. 

I'm a fan of the music.  I now wake to the Warren Report theme as opposed to E.S. Battle from Xenosaga Episode II like I have for the past forever.  And speaking of sound, the death cries are pretty lacking, especially compared to the PS1 FFT's anguished screams, but that can be ignored...even if you hear them quite a bit. 

If you're into customizing your troops, then this game will definitely scratch that itch, even with the restrictions on the skills I mentioned above.  There is actually a strategy revolving around recruiting enemies off the field in order to get their gear and to get their skills.  When enemies die in this game, they leave either a bag of loot containing some of their gear or valuable coins, or they leave a tarot card that increases stats of whoever picks it up and said card becomes a usable item in combat.  Instead of crystals you pick up to learn skills, you instead intentionally kill these recruits and then Scavenge their skills onto someone compatible.  And this doesn't get into the ridiculousness of Snapdragons or Cursed Weapons either, of which I didn't touch at all. 

There is some good scriptwork here too, though it has the same quasi semi-Elizabethan/Medieval bent the way War of the Lions did. 

What's bad?  Strangely, I felt like at least Chapter 4 dragged on a little too long, and that doesn't even count the multi-stage final dungeon.  This wasn't the first time my interest flagged since at least two other runs have gotten to the final dungeon and I just...stopped.  I imagine part of it was due to me somewhat rushing through the game (at a snail's pace?) and just wanting to finally be done with it this time, but I kinda dreaded the final part of the game since I knew it'd take a while--but I was wrong there. 

There are several fights where you're unable to leave, sort of like Riovanes in FFT.  You assault the castle's gates, then you enter the courtyard, then you break into the throne room, etc.  You can always save into another slot in case things go south, but then you have nothing to show for your efforts other than a little bit of knowledge for the next try and a need to get levels/gear/skills up to snuff.  The final dungeon is also set up this way, with maybe 12 fights if you don't take any shortcuts, and that many more you have to plow through if your team can't take on the last enemies.  At least it's a nice touch that there are sometimes alternate routes to the same goal, and yes the Warren Report tracks each of these different approaches if you’re a completionist. 

I mentioned crafting's tediousness, but that's at least optional.  A major gripe I had with the shop was the inability to compare the stats between the gear my people had on with what the store was offering.  So I'd save, buy a few things, go to the Party menu, compare, maybe reload the save and buy less or different things...  I get that it's a remake, but a Fitting Room option really would not have hurt this game one bit.  Because each tier of gear gives boosts to different stats, it's hard to tell how effective something would be until it's in your hands, and I found money tight enough that I couldn't just keep a copy of every weapon and armor on hand just for this reason.  You can use the page feature to see if whichever class is leveled enough to use the item in question, but there's no stat comparison and stats are kind of important here. 

It would have been amusing for people you kicked out to get revenge, but this never happens. 

I didn’t like how you still couldn’t see your starting position and the enemy before you commit to battle, the same way that FFT did it but not either FFTA.  Being able to change your gear or classes or skills or so on this way would’ve been a nice quality of life change, if to just make things a little less tedious.  Like knowing if you should keep your regular gear on or swap to Baldur while diving into the Palace of the Dead, to exploit Baldur doing heavy damage to the undead. 

So yeah.  Tactics Ogre is pretty good.  I think I still prefer the FFTs more but this isn't bad.  It still plays like its sibling games, just the differences can trip you up a bit if you don't adjust to how TO works its classes and all.  I think FFT and all are more accessible and more flexible, but if you've interest in other games like them, then Tactics Ogre is definitely worth a try.  It'll keep you busy for a while, especially if you decide to dive into all of the content here. 

Final stats. 

[kl-writes]

Stable DC Timeline (Part 2/5)

At this point, I started thinking about what their ‘current’ ages should be. I see Flashpoint as the end of the initial DC Universe, so that’s the starting point for the stable DC Timeline’s ‘current’ era, or at least the point in time from where stories should develop and we start to put in new thoughts and ideas. Flashpoint takes place in mid-1974 (Unadj. 2011).

Batfamily:

Bruce Wayne: 55

·         Dick Grayson: 37

·         Helena Wayne: 27

·         Jason Todd: 26

·         Timothy Drake: 24

·         Cassandra Cain: 23

·         Damian Wayne: 22

·         Duke Thomas: 15 (Existence uncertain, he’s post-Flashpoint. His first appearance would be mid-1975, and we consider the current time to be 1974).

Selina Kyle:  55

Katherine Kane: 34

Barbara Gordon: 38 (Puts her at 16 at her first appearance)

Stephanie Brown: 23 (Puts her at 13 at her first appearance, and 17 at the birth of her daughter)

·         Unknown Daughter – Adopted by someone?: 6

Alfred Pennyworth: 75 (First appearance was in 1946. However, he was with the Waynes presumably during the upbringing of Bruce, so I used the minimum age of 20 at Bruce’s birthday, making his birthday 1899.)

Luke Fox: 19 (Post-Flashpoint)

Harper Row: 14 (Post-Flashpoint)

Speedsters:

Jay Garrick: 55

Barry Allen: 47

Wally West: 35

Iris West II: 3

Jai West: 3

Bart Allen: ??? (1966 would be his first appearance. Speedforce affected his aging, putting his birthday at 2 years prior, despite appearing to be 12. His effective age is about 20 as of 1974, so his civilian records likely have his birth year as ‘1956.’ These are fake, though, as he’s from the future).

 For a lot of the more modern comics, the ages of Damian and Timothy seem a bit too old, given their personalities. Even Dick seems a bit too old with this timeline. We can see that although the adjusted timeline works well for the oldest characters in DC, when it comes to legacy characters, the timeline isn’t perfect. It doesn’t help that in some stories, Dick and Wally are seen as young adult peers, and in others, Wally is seen as the father of a young family. This is where the stable timeline starts to change how characters are perceived. This is also why I wanted to minimize any changes to characters I might make to force them to fit the timeline, because introducing a stable timeline will force character growth and maturity.

Another thing I thought about was making certain character deaths permanent. Superman came back to life, Batman came back to life, and Jason Todd came back to life. My thought is, that unless their return created new stories (Like with Jason Todd), maybe they should just stay dead. This means that Superman died in 1965 (Unadj. 1992), Batman died in 1973 (Unadj. 2008), and Barry Allen died in 1962 (Unadj. 1986).

This doesn’t stop their stories. Wally West as the Flash has been thoroughly explored- in many ways, he absolutely trumped Jay Garrick and Barry Allen as the Scarlet Speedster. Dick Grayson as Batman was also interesting- he became Batman out of necessity, to stop the battle for the cowl. His dynamic with Damian was interesting. Given that Damian is “now” 22, perhaps Dick Grayson would step down from the role of Batman, and go back to being Nightwing. Damian always wanted to be Batman’s successor. Jason Todd, Timothy Drake, and Cassandra Cain all seem as though they’ve gone on their own paths of heroism now.

Superman’s permanent death would also be interesting. It was Superman himself that stopped the fighting of the supermen. Had he not intervened, perhaps Steel would have become Metropolis’s hero. Maybe constant battles between Lex Luthor and Superboy would have opened up new avenues- it’s not a straight Darth Vader, given that Superboy’s only a clone, but Lex Luthor has shown some affection for Superboy in the past. What would happen if Lex were able to establish a more permanent sort of mind control? What if he did so, and essentially took control of Metropolis’s ‘Superman,’ being able to play both sides of the board? There’s definitely a lot of room for stories like this.

Those were the biggest 3 deaths at the top of my head, but there were many others where the character came back to life, but didn’t necessarily have to. I’m not counting when they came back within a few months (Like with Wally West or Guy Gardner), of course, just the deaths that were “supposed” to stick- Bart Allen II, Supergirl, Hal Jordan, Martian Manhunter, Captain Boomerang I, etc.

Another thing we can do is look at deaths of minor characters, especially those around Final Crisis and Flashpoint, and determine whether we want those deaths to ‘stick’ or not. For example, Weather Wizard’s son, Josh Jackam, was killed off during Final Crisis. Owen Mercer, son of the first Captain Boomerang, was killed during Blackest Night. Both of these characters were potential ‘legacy’ characters. The Rogues don’t have many of these, so it might make more sense if they didn’t die, especially since their deaths didn’t have any lasting effects on the story.

Rogues (And kids):

Leonard Snart: 47

Lisa Snart: 37 (DEAD)

Hartley Rathaway: 46

Mark Mardon: 46

·         Josh Jackam: 5 (Dead?)

Sam Scudder: 46 (DEAD)

Evan McCullock: 31

James Jesse: 45 (DEAD)

·         Billy Hong: 17

Axel Walker: 24

Digger Harkness: 45 (Dead?)

·         Owen Mercer: 23 (Dead?)

Roscoe Dillon: 45 (DEAD)

Mick Rory: 44

Roy G. Bivolo: 35 (DEAD)

Owen and Josh are soft deaths for the reasons listed above. Digger came back to life, but he should probably just be dead-dead like Superman and Batman. Looking at this, it’s kind of depressing how many of my favorite characters, the Rogues, are dead.

If we were to look at a modern (1974) Rogues, we might also consider Wally West’s hallucination in the Flash v2 #140, with Cadet Cold, Mirror Miss, Heat-Whelp, Weather Whiz-Kid and Captain Slingshot as children of the Rogues. Cadet Cold would either be Leonard’s kid, or perhaps an unknown child of Lisa and Roscoe, who was perhaps sent to an orphanage. Mirror Miss would be Evan’s, Heat-Whelp would be Mick’s, Weather Whiz-Kid is more than likely Josh Jackam, and Captain Slingshot is Owen’s. Billy Hong, AKA Makhalli, with his magical powers, would likely become a superhero of some sort, if so, probably mentored by Hartley. But all of this is just speculation!

 The Luthors and the Supermen:

Clark Kent/Kal-El: 56 (DEAD)

Jonathan Samuel Kent: 1? (Existence uncertain, as he’s a post-convergence character who is the son of the New Earth Clark Kent)

Christopher Kent/Lor-Zod: 22

Kara Zor-El (Supergirl): 46 (DEAD)

Kara Zor-L (Powergirl): 39

Alexander Joseph “Lex” Luthor: 55

·         Lena Luthor II: 6

·         Connor Kent/Kon-El: 9, he was “born” in 1965 with the body of a teenager, so his biological age is anywhere from 22 – 28. (DEAD)

·         Jerry White: 32

Lena Luthor I: 45

·         Lori Luthor 17, high schooler. Honestly, this one could be anywhere from 14-19, she only appeared in one storyline before Flashpoint.

One thing that I didn’t realize before was that Superboy was yet another person who died and came back to life 3 years later. So my remarks earlier about the dynamic between Lex Luthor and Connor might not apply, depending on where you set the limit on how long until death becomes “permanent.” My initial thought was 1 year max, but maybe this should change. I’m not quite sure what to do with the two Karas, but it’s entirely possible that Superman has 2 cousins.

 The Marvels and the Sivanas

Billy Batson: Biologically 23/Chronologically 42

Mary Bromfield: 23/42

Freddy Freeman: 23/42

Thaddeus Sivana, Sr.: 56/75 (Assuming a starting age of 40)

Magnificus Sivana: 36/55

Beautia Sivana: 36/55

Georgia Sivana: 23/42

Thaddeus Sivana, Jr.: 23/42

The Wizard: 9000+

This is another special case. The original run was from 1941 – 1953, and due to a long story about legal issues, didn’t have another ongoing series until 1973, and after Crisis on Infinite Earths, in 1991. In 1973, Billy had been gone for 20 years without aging, due to being exiled by Dr. Sivana, placed into suspended animation. In 1991, the story was that the Wizard froze Fawcett City in time to protect it from the encroaching evils of the outside world. As a result, between 1953 and 1991, we can say that the Marvel family didn’t age. Even adjusted, that’s 1945 – 1964, or about 19 years taken from Billy’s life. Billy began Captain Marvel at age 7 – 14, depending on the version. If we aim low, and take into account the lost years, then in 1964 his age is still only 13, which fits him being a child hero for that series.

The Sivana family, like the rest of Fawcett, only lost 9 years.

Edit: Upon re-reading, I found that the sivanas also lost 19 years. I adjusted the ages accordingly.