directed | IC Inbox - Entranceway

Took a nasty turn, eh? [Rather obviously so. Leonard reaches into the closet and get a beer he's stored there out, simply setting it on the desk and aiming with the cold gun. Only a slight press on the trigger and then he holds the bottle, now nice and frosted, out to Rip. Cold, but not too cold.]

Didn't know anyone felt the need to punch you again or I might have. [So protective. Or something.] I talked to him too. Eobard. Didn't punch me.

[Rip tilts his head briefly, his shoulder raising in a short shrug before he answers again.]

I suggested things didn't turn out as he'd hoped in our world. He didn't seem to appreciate it.

[Nor had he denied it, ultimately. Indeed, the fact that Eobard had seen fit to lash out at Rip physically only cemented the idea for him. Asserting his superior power had cheered the man greatly—although Rip, personally, would have been fine for Eobard to remain dour.

For the record.

He watches Leonard cross the room to the closet, only to pull out a beer—of all things. He's still got little idea of what the man wants to speak about, although it's certainly not unheard of for alcohol to be present when they do talk. Still, something about the atmosphere feels different this time.

Or perhaps Rip is misreading the situation; Leonard even goes so far as to chill the bottle before handing it over to Rip.]

--I'm not sure if I should ask whether I look like I need a drink or what. [Leonard hasn't pulled one out for himself, after all. Still, he takes the offering, given that it's ultimately a minor thing—made more so when Leonard admits he'd spoken to Thawne as well.]

Well, at least one of us walked away unscathed. [Although Rip doesn't remember seeing the conversation, it's just as likely that Leonard opted for privacy.] Anything noteworthy come out of it?

You do look like you need a drink. But that'd be a bit cold for that. Just use it as an ice pack.

[Leonard figures now that most people wouldn't associate beer bottles with convenient ice packs, given that most people didn't grow up in his household. He remembers holding a beer bottle to his baby sister's swollen face, but it's probably not surprising that that's not a common childhood memory.]

I told him it must suck to be him.

--Ah.

[No, it's certainly not the most conventional means of addressing his bruised jaw, but it would ultimately do. Rip gingerly presses the bottle against his face—hisses for a brief second, because it is indeed cold--then relaxes when as his nerves adjust to the chill.

He nods his thanks, then means to listen quietly—but it can't be helped. Leonard offers up what is likely the highlight of his conversation with Eobard, earning a soft snort from Rip.]

And I'm the one who wound up being punched. [Thawne's logic at work. Rip doubts he'll ever understand it fully.] So something likely didn't go his way during his trip home.

[Shockingly, Rip's not heartbroken to hear it.]

[There's a smile on bis lips when Rip snorts and he shrugs his shoulders.] What can I say? Maybe he finds me charming.

[He nods then, fingers closing around his upper arm, playing with the fabric of his jacket.]

Apparently it all went wrong. Seems like he feels betrayed.

How lucky if so. [Although he speaks the words dryly, maybe it would be lucky. Eobard could start calling Leonard for random meetings when he had some odd little question about the man's morality or other behavior.

And it seems he might have already started. Eobard feeling betrayed isn't an entirely impossible notion; while Rip suspects he's far too self-assured to ever truly trust someone, that's no reason why Thawne shouldn't see the world turning against him when he demands it works some other way.

No; rather it's the source of that information that has Rip curious.]

Did he tell you this? Or enough for you to get that impression, anyway. [Why Leonard, though? True enough, the man is already dead in whatever time Eobard hails from, so perhaps Thawne sees him as less of an enemy somehow.

That doesn't quite fit so well into place as an answer, however.]

It was a bit of a give and take. He's told me a lot.

[And he knows Rip never wants to know too much, but there's one particular detail that he can't stop thinking about.]

He mentioned I joined his team. Was recruited, I suppose. From the past.

[He doesn't really doubt it either, not because he thinks Eobard is trustworthy, but because there seemed to be no reason to lie about it and quite a lot of detail involved.]

[Again, it still makes little sense to Rip; Eobard has never been a man to give away details unnecessarily. Instead there's always been a reason, a purpose behind it--

And if there is, then no doubt it has to do with what Leonard offers up next. Indeed, Rip has been careful about learning the details of the future, but this? This is the promise of a whole new disaster, wrapped up in just a few simple words.]

...Bloody hell. [Rip leans his head forward, at the same time raising a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. Of course he doesn't know for certain that those events would happen, but like Leonard? He also doesn't think Eobard would lie about it.]

He could do it. Thawne, like all speedsters, possesses the ability of chronokinesis. He could very well go back into the past and pull you from the timeline, from a time before you were ever a Legend.

[And certainly before Leonard became the type of man willing to lay down his life for another.]

I figured that much. [It helps that he's had some prior knowledge courtesy of Barry Allen.] Seems to be what happened. It adds up, based on what information he gave me. I know you don't want details.

[Not that he has all that many details either, but he'll respect Rip choosing ignorance. However...]

He told me in the end, I likely got my memory erased and returned to the time I was taken from. I've been wondering. Any way to tell whether that happened to me? The me that's here now.

[He cocks his head briefly to one side, half debating whether he should hear those details anyway. It might be to a point of being unavoidable, depending on what Thawne opts to do in Wonderland.

And how Leonard chooses to react to this new knowledge.]

It's--difficult to say. [He would at least be honest, however, so much as Rip can be. With a sigh he lowers his hand again, but only so much to gesture in front of him.]

I would agree that if you were defeated and captured, your memory has most likely been erased in some fashion. It would be the only way to preserve the timeline, including your sacrifice at the Oculus.

[But that's not exactly what Leonard asked, is it?]

If that assumption is wrong, however--then another trip home might have you remember. It's complicated, but remember that time needs time to harden. Someone going back and altering your personal timeline may not have happened yet in a grander scheme of a universal timeline.

You remember that business with the Pilgrim. [He glances briefly towards Leonard, although Rip doesn't need the confirmation.] One might assume that since our final confrontation had already happened at a point in my personal timeline, I would have childhood memories of it before my participation as an adult. Yet I didn't until a time after it happened for us as Legends--and now, I can recall the instance from both perspectives.

[Which is actually somewhat odd, now that Rip really thinks about it.]

The same is true in your case.

I remember meeting my younger self and vice versa too. As you say. Both perspectives.

[Same as Rip said, it has taken some time for it to harden and he also knows that as a child, the experience has stuck with him, but he hasn't questioned it that much, almost thinking it more dreamlike than something that actually happened. But he recalls.]

But if my memories had been erased, I wouldn't remember. They could have taken me from any point of my life and I could have done whatever, but I'd have no idea.

Which means that one day, you or the others will know things I've done that I don't.

Lovely.

[It does well to make him feel even more trapped.]

[There's a moment of confusion on Rip's features; Leonard had been a newborn when they'd stolen him to protect him from the Pilgrim. But then he recalls that there had been another instance when Leonard went into the past, far earlier on in their endeavors. That is likely the instance in question here, which would make a great deal more sense.

That resolved within his own head, Rip instead focuses on the more recent alteration in question. He nods at Leonard's conclusion, all of it, up to and including the fact that one day everyone else might know some part of Leonard's life the man himself won't be allowed to remember.]

...There are a few details that can be reasoned out based on what we do know. [It's dangerous ground, but with Leonard currently being dead in their world? Rip still operates on the assumption he won't be impacting the future somehow.

Or at least the hope.]

Thawne has, or had, a goal that puts him in conflict with the Legends. He claims to have recruited you, no doubt to that end. He would have chosen a time from before you felt any loyalty to the team as a whole, and also one where your better nature hadn't yet--developed, so much as it has.

[He doesn't mean it as an insult; Leonard should be quite aware of how much he changed over the last few years of his life.]

Moreover, if he knew of your death at the Oculus, and he well might, he would've known that we wouldn't have been able to attack you easily. Not only would defeating you have to be done in such a way to not alter the timeline, but any of us present for that event would likely hesitate. Strategically, it's a sound move on his part.

[An admission made somewhat begrudgingly; Rip does not like the idea of this particular play. But what follows next? Is much easier to say.]

But I know Eobard Thawne, Leonard. His only intention for you would have been as a weapon. A tool to use for his purposes.

M-hm. What was your intention for me?

[Just something to keep in mind.

However, he doesn't really intend to keep any facade up for too long.]

Relax. I just made fun of him for getting betrayed by me and whoever those others are. [He knows the names, but details.]

...Yes. Well. [Rip walked rather expertly into that one, didn't he?] As I recall, you and all the others made your disdain of that mindset particularly well known, didn't you?

[He deserved it too. Then and now, and Rip damn well knows it.

Still. He rather hates the clear comparison drawn between himself and Eobard, even if Leonard does tell him to lighten up a moment later.]

He was working with others? [The question's out before he can stop it, and a beat later, Rip shakes his head.] No, just. Damn. [A huffed out sigh.] You know, I really do hate not having so many of the answers. Especially now when nearly everyone else is apparently from the future.

[Or knows of it.]

I've made my disdain of a lot of things well known. Never seemed to change them much.

[However, he's not holding a grudge, seems rather pointless at that time and it has all been his choice. No regrets.]

If it makes you feel any better, all I know is second-hand. All I'll ever know is gonna be second hand.

You? You just gotta wait.

I'd like to think that there might be some exceptions.

[Because somewhere along the way, Rip had been forced to listen to his team's constant insistence on being treated as something more than pawns in his plans.

Somewhere along the way, he'd also begun to value that.]

Yes, point taken. [Wow Leonard are you just going to use the fact that you died to win every discussion?] Have you considered asking Dr. Palmer if he's aware of what happens? Aside from Thawne himself, he's the only one who might know at this point.

I never really consider that Raymond could be aware of anything, to be quite honest.

[Well.

But truthfully, he has relied on Ray for information more than once, especially at the beginning, before the others even got here. Leonard wants to know things.]

Are you still set on not wanting to know yourself?

You should give him more credit. While there are times he can come across rather absentminded, at others he's proven himself quite observant.

[Certainly he's had Rip's number before. More than once.

The question, however, is easy to answer. Rip even gives Leonard something of a grin as he offers up his reply.]

Still set, indeed. While there's evidence enough for even someone like me to believe I won't remember what I learn whenever I am returned home--I've seen what the people who do carry that knowledge go through.

[He's felt the first hints of that burden, just in the tidbits he's been able to pick up regardless of anyone's best efforts. Rip's observant, analytical, logical. There are traces he hasn't been able to ignore, even as they potentially lead to some place he'd much rather they not.]

Bad enough to spend as much time as I do considering the future. I think the certainty of knowing while it all stands seemingly unchangeable would be far worse.

I get what you mean. It's not a lot of fun, being told the facts and having no influence.

[That's a burden for sure, but in Leonard's case, it's still better than wilful ignorance. As has been established, he has nothing to wait around for. There's no such thing as spoilers, given he has no other way to experience it all.]

Guess as it stands, from here there really is no way to influence a thing.

[If they don't remember anything from here back home, any preparation would be futile.]

Although I gotta admit, Eobard pouting was worth finding out.

[No doubt Leonard would; Rip stands in a position to learn details of a future he'll live through, unable to change, while the other man hears tale of a life that he's no longer part of. Two opposite sides of a single coin, and in the end, Rip has to wonder which destiny might turn out to be worse.

Although in the end, there is one thing he cannot argue. Rip even manages a small little smirk at the thought.]

Oh, I imagine it rather would be. [Especially if it means the man loses.

Even if it means that Leonard, at some forgotten point of his life, has also lost.]

So, there's no way for me to remember any of what whatever version of me may have done and you don't know the future yet either, but at least we can agree that Eobard being a sore loser is worth drinking to.

[He indicates the bottle he's given Rip before, still very much too cold for anything other than to cool a bruise.]

Want something you can actually drink?

The simple things, as they say.

[Although Leonard might not be entirely correct about an inability to recover those lost memories. Yet it's not a topic Rip will broach in length. He knows very little about those future events, after all, and they are trapped in Wonderland besides, with its limits on decent technology--much less the barbarically invasive kind.

Best to leave certain things be.]

No harm in it, I suppose. [And to commiserate when he can with the members of his team. Strange how in this odd little world, Rip thinks they may have stumbled into something resembling a camaraderie with each other.

He sets down the bottle, his jaw rather chilled by now, expecting he'll be getting another one soon.]

IC Inbox - Entranceway

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omg i have to try and make sense of time stuff??????

nah. the writers never do!

isn't that the truth

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