( Return of the Mack - Part 1 of 7 )

'Miss Jiwe!' Rip said. He was standing in the doorway with Thea, Jax and Ray. Amaya and Martin were also in the room; standing off to the side. Thea waved at the pair from behind their husband. 'Thea and I were surprised to hear that you'd rejoined the team. It's also good to see you, Martin.' Martin only nodded in response.

'It was a surprise to me too.' Amaya replied. Thea opened their mouth to say something to Amaya as well, but was cut short by Jax.

'Rip? Thea?' Jax asked, rubbing his head. 'Where the hell did you come from? Where did he come from?'

'Wh-where do any of us come from? You know; what are the odds of one tiny little sperm, with the one special egg came together to make us? We're still wrestling with the big questions.' Ray said, wiggling his fingers.

'We've answered those questions, Dr. Palmer.' Martin stated, confused.

'I need Jax's help, uh, with this. So I'm just going to drag him away from here,' Ray said as he grabbed Jax's arm and pulled him out of the room. 'It might be able to tell us where our dead man walking came from and, uh, where he's going. Or her! So, yup!'

This left the others quite confused. Rip then took Thea's hand and lead them towards the study; where he'd said they'd meet Sara.

++

Rip finished pouring the alcohol into the glasses and looked over at the small group.

'Ah yes, I have missed this place.' Rip said.

'We'd love to reminisce with you, but the Time Bureau's on our tail.' Sara replied.

'It makes us slow to help you out.' Mick said, reaching over to the table, grabbing a shot glass.

'Okay. I'll get to the point, then. For the last five years Thea and I have been chasing a phantom; a name whispered across time and in every language.' Rip continued.

Sara shook her head at Rip, eyebrows raised in a sceptical and confused manner.

'Mallus.'

'The phantom, mollusc? An evil shell-fish?' Nate asked, making Thea laugh quietly.

'Mal-lus,' Rip enunciated, separating the syllables. 'An evil so ancient and powerful that the Time Masters' dared not speak its name. Now, we learnt that he is recruiting allies from throughout time to his cause. Now, anachronisms are a result of our breaking time, but these outliers are most certainly the work of Mallus.'

Thea watched as Nate and Sara exchanged glances, clearly they were sceptical.

'Now, the Time Bureau is a bureaucracy, and lacks the imagination to understand this particular threat. The Directors object to our crusade. Which is to capture Mallus.' Rip said.

'It sounds like we're going to need vampire bait. Sara snarked, looking back at Mick and Nate.

'Me?' Nate asked. 'Is it because I'm handsome?'

'Pretty.' Mick stated.

'Pretty handsome.' Nate said, pointing at Mick (who was drinking the last of the alcohol in the flask.) They then walked away to get ready for whatever Rip had planned; leaving Thea seated at the table.

Word Count: 507 words

Written: 26th August 2022 | Published: 25th of September 2022