text;

[breacher]

Is anyone else unfortunate enough to have someone leave puddles trailing throughout their room as well as the hallway outside, or is that just me? I suppose this doubles as a general PSA that if you're on the fourth floor, beware of rogue puddles left by a particular person.

This person might look suspiciously like Barry Allen.

And no. I'm not talking about his mirror.

Comments

[directed]

[Well, rest assured Barry: Rip would do nothing to make you feel better about that guilt. No, he could quite easily go into a lecture about the sanctity of time, how easily it is to ruin things by carelessly traveling through history and altering what one wishes without consideration for the events that unfold after.

--How time wants to happen, despite the desperation of a single man to save the ones he loves most.

All of this is why Rip arches an eyebrow when Barry suggest a desire for Rip's knowledge to change, because, as point of fact: it does sound bad. As he continues, however, Rip does at least understand the sentiment.]

I don't think I've ever known anyone who has been comfortable with the idea. [Translation? No.] But perhaps you might take comfort in that while my profession does afford me a certain amount of knowledge, who you are right here, right now, in this moment?

Is both something I am only just learning, and entirely under your control.

[accelerate]

No pressure.

[ though barry doesn't parrot the words back, he acknowledges it's the same for rip. first time meeting him, first impressions, they all mean something, don't they? though iris hadn't remembered her time in wonderland, barry isn't going to take that as the permanent, final word on how things operate here. if he gets to remember anything about his time in wonderland, it can alter the course of history. and right now, barry's not too sure of what he's looking for, but it's definitely allies when it comes to time and trying to break out of wonderland. ]

[ he still doesn't know what rip can offer him, but he suspects that rip's reached out to him specifically due to the future knowledge he holds of who barry allen and the flash is. sometimes he has to remember to think with a strategical brain, rather than with his belief that everyone deserves a thousand chances over. ]

[ he lets out a breath, hand scratching the back of his head. as bumbling and as quickly-spoken he sometimes is, he's managed to screw his head on a little, sobering very much at rip's words. it's an olive branch of sorts, even though they're not enemies as far as barry can tell; it's a chance, and one that barry's going to absolutely take. it's only fair he offers his own to someone who he'll come to know later in his life. ]

I want to believe our time here isn't wasted. I'm willing to tell you everything I know about this place, and help you, and do whatever it is we need to do to figure out how to get out of here. [ can you hear the "but"? ] But I need you to do something for me.

[directed]

[He huffs out what might well be a laugh; Rip can't see how it's any greater pressure than Barry might feel on an average day in Central City, given his particular lifestyle. But it is that belief that what they learn in Wonderland could somehow remain with him that fuels Rip's determination to say as little as possible. It not inspire an immediate sense of trust within Barry, but Rip also cannot endanger the timeline.

There is far too much at stake, even in terms of the battle he has yet to wage himself: one last confrontation with Vandal Savage.

Still, it seems as if his offer has at least made something of an impact. Barry suggests he would be willing to work in partnership with Rip, although yes--he can, in fact, hear that condition forth coming.]

And that would be?

[accelerate]

[ what he wants to suggest would ultimately lead both rip and wells to shout NO, BARRY!. what he wants, ultimately, is for the timeline to change. it isn't to save nora allen, as barry knows that that sits with him, as it always has. he doesn't want blanket permission and even someone at his back to ensure the time wraiths and time master and any other servant of time doesn't come after him. ]

[ it doesn't matter to him whether or not rip understands why he wants to go back in time and save nora allen. it doesn't matter to him if rip hunter knows eobard thawne's the one who started all this, killing nora allen because he couldn't take an eleven year old barry allen out. he's not the person who needs to understand where his hurt and confusion and anger comes from. he's not a west, he's not cisco or caitlin or even wells. barry, at least, understands that doesn't matter. he has no desire to prove himself to be a poor, lost boy who only wants his mom back. ]

[ he could ask for understanding of anything he does in his life, but rip's permission isn't important to him. he's merely another person in the band of merry superheroes and powerful, capable people who are trying to save the world from those who want to destroy it. the only person he needs any sort of understanding and permission from isn't rip hunter at all. ]

[ what he wants, ultimately, is for someone not to die in vain. just like nora allen, just like rip's own family, and just like leonard snart, fate currently unknown. ]

Leonard Snart's not a forgotten part of history. [ he hadn't even known he was out of the time that they shared. he hadn't known, and that's the motivation behind his thought. ] You promise me that, and the Flash will not only help you get out of Wonderland but take down Vandal Savage.

[directed]

[Rip does expect Barry's wish to involve the saving of his parents, be it either or both of them. And he is ready, in turn, with all the reasons why both Jay and Nora Allen's deaths could not be undone, why even one so adept at understanding the flow of time as Rip could not simply undo the loss of those lives. He is no longer a Time Master, but their purpose remains engraved in him--not to unite with Vandal Savage on some insane quest in defiance of justice, but rather to protect the world by protecting history. To guard time as it was meant to be done.

Though he has not thought much the after, where Vandal Savage is concerned? He has considered that.

Because, however, he has so wrongly guessed what Barry means to ask of him, Rip's shock is obvious and unmasked when he names no one from his family, but rather a criminal. Oh, certainly Rip himself knows that Leonard Snart has proven to be so much more; it's as much a reason why he felt safe to recruit the man at all.

Yet to think he'd so affected Barry Allen, that given this one opportunity to demand a price from Rip he would name this? It's quite unexpected--even remarkable, as Professor Stein might say.]

I'll assume that Mr. Snart has already told you the circumstances of his end. [That much seems safe enough, considering.] In sacrificing himself, he both saved the lives of every member of our team, mine included, and also ensured that we would all be free to act as we should dictate, without the manipulation of the Time Masters.

If you are asking me to remember that sacrifice, and to carry the weight of it until my own passing, then I assure you Mr. Allen: I would make you that promise without any compensation on your part. [But oh, those words could be taken so many ways, couldn't they? Because Rip can remember, can even act to honor Leonard as their future unfolds.

But saving him? That is a different matter.]

[accelerate]

[ barry outright wants to say he wants snart saved, but he understands that rip comes from a mindset where such a request would be laughed at. he knows of time, and he seems to be a keeper of it, and while barry allen can respect it, he can't understand it. he's not the barry allen who stopped mid-chase of the reverse flash to wave off his past self from interfering over a year ago in that living room. he's not that emotionally mature yet. ]

[ that's something he can work towards, can't he? maybe if he pries more information from snart and his crew about what happened that day, he might be able to charge in, help out, change the course of history. ]

[ one day barry allen will learn his lesson, and that's not to alter time. it's that not everything is his responsibility. ]

I'm going to guess the Flash is remembered for everything he does in the future. [ that flash isn't him, not yet. he hopes to be that man eobard thawne hates so much, smart and quick. ] I want the same for Snart. You need to tell Lisa what happens to him.

[ ronnie raymond died a hero, and yet the flash earned the badge of honour for it. eddie thawne died a hero, and yet no one knows he had sacrificed himself for him. henry allen had died without so much as getting the chance to live, and barry allen will always hate hunter zolomon for stealing that chance away from him. joe west is a hero, and barry sees how his face lights up every chance he's told that. ]

[ he can't do anything to honour those two men, but he knows that he can at least ensure the people who care about snart know he didn't up and disappear, never giving a single shit about them again. ]

And I don't want him to know any of this.

[directed]

[Indeed, Rip is a keeper of time, a protector of its sanctity, and that alone would be reason enough to deny Barry's request to undo the sacrifice of Leonard Snart. But it goes beyond that in this instance: in learning that the Time Masters had manipulated Rip and the members of his team to their will, they had truly succeeded in breaking his spirit--so much so that Martin thought Rip had been tortured when they returned Rip to his cell.

He hadn't been wrong.

Yet the team had overcome that: they made their own choice to destroy the Oculus, and Rip watched the bravery of three of his team members, each willing to die to ensure that their destinies would truly become their own. Out of everything each of them had done, that sacrifice had truly been Leonard Snart's choice, made of his own will. Rip would not dishonor that by flying back in time to change it.

Fortunately for them both, Barry opts for something different: not Leonard remaining alive, but instead being granted a legacy--to truly become a Legend. Moreover he asks for Leonard to remain unaware of the pact, of what Barry has asked of Rip in exchange for his favor.

Truly, it's one of the easiest agreements he's ever made.]

We have an accord, Mr. Allen.

[accelerate]

It's Barry. [ the it's starts off strong, and that strength in his voice falls straight into uncertainty with his name. "mr allen" belongs to henry allen, and he's never quite liked being referred to as it. it's a little too formal for his tastes. ]

You can just call me Barry.

[ even though it's almost a promise, barry knows he can't see if rip's as good as his word. it involves going back home and through time to find lisa snart, and informing her her brother's not going to be coming home. but it's a starting point. sometimes, that's all you need — as a forensic scientist, he knows the smallest bit of evidence can break the uncertainty and roadblocks of a case. ]

[ he'll get there with how he can use rip, even though barry allen doesn't like using people at all. ]

We've got a deal.