The Apprentice and the Selkie

by AgentMaryMargaretSkitz

Summary:

Gary Green wasn't always Gary Green. He became Gary Green when he ran to leave his past behind.

 

(A Gary Green backstory inspired by a TikTok I saw on Twitter)

Notes:

• For 1DE3shipper, starzinoureyes.

So about a month or two ago, I was on Twitter and was watching one of those 'goodnight to' videos for Legends that was a TikTok. I believe Gary was labeled as 'people who identify with Jack from the Magic Tree House'.

This set my gears into motion because I know we're getting Gary's backstory this season (and please don't let it be aliens, don't let our one Jewish character be an alien). Basically, my brain went 'Gary is adult Jack, it makes sense'. So I babbled to Mads about it and they prompted me to write a thing and now I have written the thing.

AND YES I THREW IN SOME ANGST FOR FUN!

“We need to get out of here!”

"No, not yet!”

He heard an explosion before he felt the floor he was on shake. A few pieces of the drywall crumbled from above. His sister was still paging through her book of spells.

“What are you two still doing here?” Kathleen’s hand was pulling him back. “We have to go.”

“She’s not done yet! Kathleen, please!”

The ceiling came down between them and his sister. Her shocked face was the last thing he saw before the dust and rubble obscured his vision.

“ANNIE!”

---

Gary inhaled sharply as he woke up. For a few moments, he was paralyzed from the nightmare he’d relived yet again. Once his muscles relaxed, he reached out to grab his glasses and put them on his face. With the world a little more clearer, Gary sighed and sat up.

He hated that nightmare more than anything. Losing his little sister had been the worst day of his life. They’d been thick as thieves for years through all their adventures. Having to leave her behind and then lying to his parents about her getting separated from him in the woods had been awful. He remembered every police interview, his parents’ pleas for their daughter to come home, and all the questions kids kept asking him.

When he was old enough, he decided he needed a fresh start. He was done with those days. Not even Morgana’s offer to become an apprentice was enough to lure him back. He changed his name, became Gary Green, and set out to find a way to get back to his sister. But years passed, and his efforts proved fruitless. He was ready to throw in the towel by the time a man in a suit sat across from him the library as he poured over yet another history textbook.

When Rip Hunter had talked to him about the Time Bureau, he’d selfishly seen it as a chance to find his little sister. The job also sounded pretty simple to him. He’d been traveling through time and completing missions since he was eight. Yes, it was more complicated now and he’d made mistakes, but Gary knew what he was doing. Even with all the paperwork and assignments, he still found time to visit where he had lost Annie. However, there had been no body.

She was still out there, but the question was where?

Gary finally rose from the bed and shoved his feet into slippers and pushed open the door to get to the bathroom. Yesterday had been the anniversary of their separation, so it was weighing on him heavily. He was another year older and wiser from magic and time travel, but no closer to finding Annie. Maybe this coming year would be different. Perhaps he’d finally find her, just like he told himself every year.

He had to wait for Nate to get out of the bathroom before he could head on it. Once the historian was out, Gary stumbled in and pulled out his toiletry kit and clothes. HIs wallet slipped out of his pants. He bent down to pick it up, staring at the Master Librarian card he’d received so many years ago. Behind it was Annie’s, which was all he had found when he visited the place where he’d last seen her.

“How long have you been hanging on to that old thing?”

Gary looked up in the mirror to see he was no longer alone. It took all his might not to yelp at the sight of the stranger behind him. He whirled around to face the woman who’d been standing behind him. It took a moment to place her face and account for the years that had passed. But her eyes gave her away. He only knew one person with eyes that he could never tell were green or blue.

“Kathleen?”

The selkie smiled and stepped forward to hug him. “Hello, Jack.”

He embraced the old friend instantly. In an instant, he was a boy again on another adventure, happy to see his friend and someone he had once had a crush on. Then reality caught up to him. Gary took a step back from her, earning a head tilt from Kathleen.

“It’s Gary now,” he told her, knowing his expression was harder than he wanted it to be. “I changed it. I needed a fresh start.”

“I remember,” her tone become much cooler. “I still remember the day you decided to quit working with Morgan and Merlin.”

---

"I’m not going on another mission for you.”

Morgan and Merlin were gaping at him. In the background, Kathleen nearly dropped the stack of books she’d been ready to file. She caught them just in time, but made no move to shelve them. Her eyes were solely on him.

“What do you mean you’re not doing another mission?” Merlin asked roughly. “I know your treehouse is gone, but we can find a replacement for-”

“It was our treehouse,” Jack spat back at the wizard. “And there’s not replacement for it. Kathleen and I almost didn’t make it back after it caught fire when you sent us to that horrible place! Annie and Teddy didn’t!”

“I know,” Morgan nodded. “And we are so sorry, Jack. The loss of a sister is...awful.”

“My parents aren’t going to be letting me out of sight again!” Jack shouted. “They think Annie got kidnapped and I can’t tell them the truth again! I tried and they made me talk to someone because they think I’m making it up! Everything is different now but you think it can still be the same!”

“Time will pass and-”

“No,” he shook his head. “I’m done. I’m out of this. I quit.”

The books fell from Kathleen’s hands.

“Now see here-”

“Merlin,” Morgan glared at him, then approached him. “Jack, are you sure about this?”

He nodded. “It’s not the same without Annie, or the treehouse. But I don’t want to do this anymore.”

“I understand.”

“Morgan, we need all the help we can get!”

“But we will not force it,” she hissed before turning back to him. “I’ll send you back. If you ever reconsider-”

“I won’t.”

---

Gary looked at the cards again, thankful Morgan had at least allowed a memento of his childhood. “What have you been up to since then?”

“Well, I did succeed in becoming an enchantress,” Kathleen said proudly. “I’m still working with Morgan and Merlin sometimes. The rest of the time has been exploring time or taking care of my family.”

“Good,” Gary nodded. “So...what are you doing here? And in the bathroom no less?”

“I used magic to track you down,” she shrugged. “You’re a bit hard to pinpoint on a time machine from the future, but I found it in the end. Although I did end up in the stall as the other guy was leaving. A graceful entrance and all.”

A chuckle escaped him and she laughed in return. Then the feeling of two old friends was back again. The only two left from their childhoods.

“Good thing Nate didn’t catch you. But again, what are you doing here?”

Kathleen took a breath. “I know you said you moved on, but I still can’t forget that day. You lost a sister and we both lost Teddy. I haven’t been able to let it go. It doesn’t matter how much time passes. I keep trying to search for what happened after the ceiling caved in and the fire broke out.”

“I already looked. This was all that I was able to find.”

Gary pulled out Annie’s card from his wallet and handed it to Kathleen. To his surprise, she smiled.

“What?” he asked.

“This is all you found,” Kathleen explained. “Just a card. No bodies.”

“No bodies,” Gary repeated. “I know. They were still alive when we left.”

“Uh huh,” Kathleen nodded vigorously. “And I think I know where they are.”

“Wait, you think they’re still alive.”

The door’s handle turned. Gary realized in a panic that he’d forgotten to lock it when he first came in. He’d been too caught up in his thoughts to do so. Now it was swinging open to let Ava enter the bathroom in her pajamas.

“Gary, if you’re gonna stay on the ship, you-”

Her eyes fell on Kathleen and he face contorted into a frown directed at Gary.

“Oh man,” he groaned.

Notes:

And there you have it.

Reviews are VERY appreciated. So are kudos.