You think I don't want to save the girl, spare the village, and be a hero for once in my damn life? I spent half of my childhood in a hospital, where it didn't even occur to me to dream about having superpowers. But guess what? I got them, I lost them, and now I really really need them and I can't get them back.
This isn't all about you! I worked for years, spent billions of dollars to develop the Atom suit. I nearly died learning to shrink! And now I need to teach you to destroy the very thing... the only thing that makes me a hero!
Yeah, Nate. We can't beat the shogun while he's wearing the suit, so we have to blow the suit up. Your powers are within you. After today, I'll have nothing left. [walks away]
Perhaps you should remain behind. [pause as Stein looks awkwardly sideways] No? Because you're not black? Because you think that me going back to 1863, I can't handle it?
Okay, now I get it might be difficult for you to understand this, but I've been black my entire life Gray. And honestly, I can't think of a time period we could go to where I wouldn't face some sort of racism. So don't worry, okay?
Look, I've been doing this time-travel thing for a little while now, and if I've learned one thing it's you never know what's gonna change history which can have massive consequences. You think this doesn't make me angry as well? But we have a job to do, and if we don't do it, we can make things a lot worse.
Given what you've witnessed, what you've endured, would that really be so bad? You know you just witnessed the very worst of humanity. We share a psychic connection, yet I still can't even begin to fathom what you must be feeling. Must be like your heart is broken.
Yeah, it is. But I saw something in those people's eyes I didn't expect to see. I saw hope, I saw dignity. Those men and women? They were treated worse than animals, but they never let anybody stop them from being people, ya know?
[Ray and Mick are holding off White House guards with the Cold Gun and the "Hot Rod". Ray crosses the streams of the guns, causing an explosion that blasts both men off their feet.]
The truth is, this young man [points to his sleeping younger self] is like a stranger to me. Every time I encounter him, I can't imagine I was ever that person.
I think anyone would feel that way about meeting their younger self. I don't recognize my current self. Mick told me I need to be more like me. And he's right, which is rare.
I have no idea. But... I suppose it's just to live. It's all any of us can really do. And hopefully, though the act of living, we discover who we truly are, and learn to grow from that.
You and I have met before. New York City, 1942. You haven't aged a bit. Lazarus pit? Oh, woman of mystery. I know that look in your eye, though. That's the look of someone that I've taken everything from.
I'm sparing you to prolong your suffering. 'Cause I'm from the future, Damien, and I know how this all ends. Your Ark. Your grand vision. Just as you're about to accomplish everything you desire, your wife is murdered. The love of your life. And in total despair, you even try to kill your own daughter. An entire city rises up against you. And then you die. Defeated and alone.
[to Nate] He loved to sing. Henry. Your grandfather. He had a beautiful voice. During long convoys or stakeouts, he would serenade the team. He made it his personal mission to get me to sing along, but... he never succeeded. But when the chips were down, and all hope seemed lost, we could always count on Henry to lift our spirits. That's the kind of man your grandfather was.
