Chapter 13: Trust, Suspicion, and a Shared Secret
Back on the Waverider, the air was thick with unspoken questions. The mission in Ur had been a success – the Temporal Lyre, Savage's temporal-magical amplifier, was destroyed. But Adam's actions during the ambush, his seemingly prophetic knowledge of the trap, and his unprecedented telekinetic disruption of magic, had not gone unnoticed.
Rip Hunter called Adam into his study, his face etched with a mixture of suspicion, curiosity, and his usual, weary exasperation. Snart, ever the quiet observer, also happened to be "polishing" his cold gun nearby, conveniently within earshot.
"Mr. Stiels," Rip began, his voice calm but firm. "I believe we need to have a frank discussion about your… capabilities. Your foresight in Ur, your ability to predict and then counter Savage's specific trap… it was beyond mere intuition. And your telekinetic power against that magical field was unprecedented. You were fighting magic with something akin to brute mental force."
Adam leaned against Rip's ridiculously overstuffed bookshelf, trying to appear nonchalant, but his heart was pounding. This was it. The moment of truth. He'd known it was coming, but he still hadn't fully prepared his explanation. 'Okay, Anomaly, time to earn your acting chops. Partial truth. Keep it vague. Emphasize the chaos. Make it sound like a burden, not a superpower. Don't mention the cosmic entity. Or the show. Definitely not the show.'
"Look, Rip," Adam started, "it's… complicated. Ever since I got, you know, reanimated by that cosmic entity, things have been… weird. Not just the powers. My brain's been acting like a faulty DVR with a terrible signal."
Rip frowned. "A faulty what now?"
"It's a future thing," Adam waved his hand dismissively. "Point is, sometimes, I get… flashes. Glimpses. Like snippets of a movie, but all blurry and out of order. Sometimes it's the past, sometimes it's… potential futures. Very rarely. And it's always chaos. Like trying to watch twenty different channels at once, but only seeing a fraction of each. I don't control it. It just… happens."
Snart, who had been listening intently, finally spoke up, his voice flat. "So, you're telling us you're a walking, talking spoiler alert? You knew we were walking into a trap?"
"Not knew, exactly," Adam corrected, trying to sound genuinely stressed. "It was more like… a really, really strong bad feeling that coalesced into a blurry image of Mick getting tangled up and Ray falling. It wasn't a blueprint! It was just enough to go 'Oh crap, this is bad, act now!'" He took a breath, trying to convey sincerity. "Believe me, if I had a clear picture of the future, I wouldn't let us walk into half the messes we do. I'd warn you about every single trap, every single ambush. I'd have a list! But it's not like that. It's… random. And usually terrifying."
Rip looked skeptical. "Random visions of the future? And you choose to reveal this now, after demonstrating such a remarkable tactical advantage?"
"Because it's a burden, Rip!" Adam exclaimed, genuinely frustrated. "It's terrifying! I don't know what's real and what's just a fleeting possibility. And I don't want to mess up the timeline by interfering too much. You lecture us about paradoxes every other Tuesday! I'm trying to keep the ripples to a minimum! But when I saw Mick and Ray in trouble, I couldn't just stand there and let it happen, paradox or no paradox! You think I enjoy carrying this? It's a constant headache, literally and figuratively!"
Before Rip could respond, Sara entered the study, having sensed the tension. She knew Adam, knew his humor, and knew when he was genuinely scared or upset. She also knew he had depths he rarely revealed.
"What's going on here?" she asked, her gaze sweeping between the three men.
"Mr. Stiels is attempting to explain his newfound clairvoyance," Rip stated dryly.
Sara looked at Adam, her eyes softening slightly. "He took a magical blast that could have killed him to save Jax. He's proven his loyalty time and again. If he says he has 'flashes,' then I believe him. He wouldn't make it up just to look good. He's too much of an idiot for that."
Adam shot her a grateful look. "See? Canary gets it. She understands the subtle nuances of my idiotic heroism."
"It's still highly irregular, Captain Lance," Rip insisted. "A true temporal anomaly, beyond merely his regeneration. This could have unforeseen consequences for the timeline."
"And letting Savage win would have even worse consequences," Sara countered, her voice firm. "We're in the middle of a war, Rip. If Adam has an ability that can give us an edge, even if it's messy, we use it. He said he can't control it. He's just trying to help. It's a burden, not a tool." She looked at Adam again, her eyes conveying a silent message of reassurance and belief.
Snart, however, was not so easily swayed. "So, you get visions of the future. Interesting. Does that mean you know if I'm going to finally get that perfect score on the target range?"
Adam managed a weak smile. "Sorry, Snart. My crystal ball is a little cloudy on the mundane details. Mostly just big, catastrophic 'oh crap' moments."
Rip sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Very well, Mr. Stiels. I will accept your explanation for now. But I expect complete transparency regarding these… flashes. Any and all premonitions, however vague, are to be reported immediately. We cannot afford any more surprises."
"Deal, Captain," Adam said, relief flooding him. He knew he couldn't give them complete transparency without revealing the show, but this was a start. He had given them enough truth to satisfy them, for now.
As Rip dismissed them, Sara lingered, waiting for Adam. Once they were alone, she turned to him, her expression serious. "You didn't tell them everything, did you?"
Adam looked at her, then away, out into the swirling time stream. "No. Not everything. It's… it's too much. It would sound crazy. And it would freak Rip out even more about paradoxes. He'd probably try to lock me in a temporal vault."
"So, what is it?" she pressed gently. "What's the rest of the story, Adam?"
He hesitated, then looked back at her, his eyes vulnerable. "It's… it's not just flashes, Sara. It's like… I've seen some of this before. Not in a dream. Not in a vision. Like… a story. That was already written. And I'm just… living in it." He tried to explain the concept of the show without actually saying "TV show." "Like the universe itself has a script. And I occasionally get a peek at the next scene. But it's not perfect. It's fragmented. And I don't know what's fixed and what I can change. And honestly, it scares the hell out of me."
Sara listened intently, her brow furrowed in thought. She didn't dismiss it, didn't laugh. She just watched him, absorbing his words, sensing the deep burden he carried. "A script," she mused softly. "Like fate, but… you've seen the CliffsNotes."
"Exactly!" Adam exclaimed, relief washing over him. She understood! "And I don't know which parts are CliffsNotes and which parts are just fanfiction that got mixed in! It's a mess! And now that I'm here, and I'm living it, and I care about you guys… I don't want the 'script' to play out if it means losing anyone. Especially not you."
Sara's eyes softened completely. She reached out, taking his hand, her fingers interlacing with his. "You won't lose us, Adam. We'll fight it. Whatever 'script' the universe thinks it has for us, we'll rewrite it. Together." She squeezed his hand. "And this… this secret? It's safe with me. We're a team. And now, this is our secret. Nobody else needs to know the full extent of your… unique preview ability."
Adam felt a profound sense of relief, a weight he hadn't realized was so heavy lifting from his shoulders. To have someone understand, someone believe him, someone who shared this impossible secret… it was everything. He squeezed her hand back, a genuine, heartfelt smile on his face. "Thank you, Sara. Seriously. Thank you."
She leaned in, her lips brushing his cheek. "Anytime, Anomaly. Now, come on. We have a universe to save, and a 'script' to burn."
As they left the study, Adam felt a renewed sense of hope. He wasn't alone with his burden anymore. He had Sara. And together, they would face whatever the 'script' threw at them.
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