Time Canary

Time Canary is the het ship between Rip and Sara from the Legends of Tomorrow fandom.

Canon
From the moment she's recruited by Rip to join the Legends, Sara has no issue confronting Rip when she thinks he's way off base and does not necessarily parry orders from the Captain. Rip, in turn, admires Sara's abilities and tenacity, often conceding his misgivings to Sara, and is essential to convincing her that she isn't without humanity, keeping Sara's doubts in check and her focused on their shared missions. Not too long into the Legends' journeys, unbeknownst to her, Rip begins training Sara to take over for him as Captain of the Waverider, should anything ever befall him.

In 2016, Rip finds Sara in Tibet, where she's trying to deal with having been an assassin, killed, resurrected and re-ensouled. He memory-flashes Sara and gathers everyone in Star City where he presents to them Vandal Savage's future destruction of the world. Sara, feeling lost and scattered, talks to Laurel about Rip's offer and Laurel encourages her to join up — to be the White Canary. Sara shows up and boards the Waverider along with the rest of the team 3 days later, as instructed. They travel to 1975 to meet the only source who can find them Vandal Savage, but Rip benches Sara, along with the Rogues. They all meet up again when the group returns to the Waverider to find Kronos attacking it and Sara, Leonard and Mick show up in the nick of time to momentarily take out Kronos and save the others. After Boardman has been injured, Rip reveals that he's a former time master and Sara, following Kendra, punches Rip and tells him to start telling the truth. He reveals that Savage killed his family and that their effect on the timeline is minimal. Sara decides that if they can change the timeline by taking down Savage, they can re-write their fates in Rip's future as well and the team is unified. Defying Rip after his lies, the team decides to go on a quest without him. When Ray's tech falls into Savage's hands and alters the future, Sara manages to retrieve it for which Rip commends her. Sadly, Savage kills Carter and severely injures Kendra, which is hard on all of them, but they vow to avenge him.

Rip is downcast and retreats but Sara tries to help him continue the mission. Inspired by Sara, Rip decides to go after Savage's money in order to halt Savage's rise to power. Wounded by losing Carter and Kendra's life hanging in the balance, Rip wants to go it alone, unwilling to risk anyone else. Sara says she understands, but that it would be best that he go in with back-up and that she's coming along regardless. The two attempt to con their way into a private bank's records, but are made and fight off the mercenaries. Sara unnecessarily kills some of the men after she and Rip have won. Back on the ship, Rip asks her what is going on and Sara talks about the blood lust left from the Lazarus Pit and that she views herself as a monster.

They interrogate Blake who reveals to Sara that Rip tried to kill Savage in B.C. Egypt. Rip storms out and Sara follows, trying to get him to talk, but he balks, before revealing that he hesitated and blames himself for the death of his family. Sara and Rip find out that Savage has Carter's body and go to fight him. To sneak in unnoticed, they pretend to be a couple and share a dance, where Rip assuages Sara's fears about herself. They then pretend to be a drunken couple having fun and take out the guards at the room where Carter lies. They are captured there by Savage, but the team comes to the rescue and Sara finds a way to deal with her blood lust while in combat.

After a botched mission at the Pentagon, Sara turns Rip's attention to the issue of Kendra. Rip asks Sara, to her dismay, to help Kendra better understand her nature and powers and Sara reluctantly agrees. Sara is later angry with Rip as Rip let Stein, Ray and Mick be captured, which he did to avoid the entire team's capture. Rip promises Sara that they will get them back safe and Sara suggests that they get help entering the gulag from the Bratva. Rip and Snart steam with a Bratva leader, while Sara takes out his guards and her prowess scares the guy into helping them with their plan. Rip asks Sara and Snart to carry out the mission but takes Sara aside to show her the future that awaits the world should they fail. Rip does this to make it easier on Sara, and himself, to ask of her, should Professor Stein break under torture, to kill him before he can reveal the Firestorm secrets. Sara's horrified, but agrees 'for the greater good', although when in the position she can't reach Rip on coms and doesn't take the shot. After Kendra and Jax help save everyone and Rip cedes that his team could create a better plan than he himself. He and Sara talk, and Rip says he believes she didn't take the shot because of who she is. The ship is attacked by Kronos, knocking the Waverider out of the time stream and forcing it to crash land in what turns out to be 2046 Star City.

After getting attacked by an unfamiliar Green Arrow, the group retreats to the ship. In order to fix Gideon, they need a prototype which Ray's company was working on and Rip enlists Snart and Mick to help steal it. Rip doesn't want Sara or Ray to compromise the timeline by interacting with their futures, but Sara is adamant that she see what happened to her city and loved ones. She threatens to fight Rip if he tries to stop her from coming on the mission and Rip backs down. They get attacked by a motley crew and take cover in a school bus, but Sara leaves to find Green Arrow and Rip follows. They encounter him and form an alliance after he rescues them. He brings them to the former Arrow headquarters where they find an old Oliver Queen, who directs them to where they can find the prototype. Sara worries about the future and Rip tries to assure her that it is unlikely to pass as she and Ray will be returned to Star City after they kill Vandal Savage. Sara remains concerned and after Connor is taken, Rip reminds her again that this will not come to pass.

Back on the Waverider, Sara lets out her feelings, that they can't be sure they'll return to Star City and change the future. Jax and Stein back her and Rip yells at them that they don't get the ramifications. Sara retorts if it's only when saving his family is concerned and Rip is livid, saying that he is doing that to save the world, not just his loved ones. He calls Sara selfish and she tells him to go to hell. Rip says they'll wait with the ship for an hour and if she's not back, they're leaving without her, as Sara storms off. Rip extends the time by 30 minutes and is then convinced by Stein to stay and help Sara in the fight, which tells her as they fight Wilson's men. Afterwards, Sara stops by Rip's office to thank him and he tells her that he was wrong and she was right. Rip asks her if she is a member of the team going forward and Sara coyly gives a vague affirmation, which charms Rip.

WITHOUT RIP

After everyone was time-displaced the Legends were unable to locate Rip – even Gideon could not tell them what had happened and so they carry on Rip's mission, while hoping to find him again. When the Legion of Doom seeks out Rip and locates him in the '60s, they find his identity altered and him leading a new life as American film director Phil. The Legends manage to save Phil briefly and bring him aboard the Waverider where Gideon confirms his identity alteration. Sadly, they lose him to the Legion again, and Eobard Thawne reverses his identity: Rip returns, but evil and without any conscience or feelings regarding his erstwhile team.

EVIL RIP Rip shoots Sara in cold blood and while she is dying, with Jax pleading with him not to harm her, snaps her neck. Fortunately, Sara is saved by Gideon and she refuses to give up on getting Rip back to his true self. After battling the Legion of Doom, Darhk leaves Rip to die when Rip is injured and Sara brings him back to the Waverider, where he uses an override command to wreak havoc on board. Rip is detained and Mick mentions that they could try Cognitive Intrusion, an abhorrent method used by the Time Masters. Sara volunteers, along with Jax, to enter Rip's subconscious to rescue him and remind him of his true nature.

RETURN OF THE TIMEMASTER

They are successful, with the help of Gideon, and Rip rejoins the Legends, with him and Sara sharing captaincy for a while. Rip tells Sara that she far outdoes him as Captain of the team and cedes his position to her. Rip helps Sara as part of the team in their mission to get the spear but they are thwarted by the Legion of Doom and are sent into Doomsworld, where Rip is separated from his team in a shrunken Waverider. Swiftly, the team is revived and after the destruction of the spear, Sara faces the difficult decision whether to risk time by re-visiting the past they have already been to. Rip supports Sara in her decisions and helps her execute the plan. After they have beat the Legion, Sara catches Rip leaving unannounced and he tells her he needs to figure out where he's supposed to be, now that she's the new Captain. Sara tells him she understands and expresses hope and faith that they'll see each other again.

THE TIME BUREAU

Mere moments after Rip departs he reappears having assembled a new timeline control institution to rectify the broken timeline, in what he deems the most efficient manner. He shows the team the Time Bureau's headquarters, then unceremoniously disbands the team for having broken time, although they saved the world. He admits to Sara that he misses being part of their rogue team, but is adamant that he's right. Sara and the rest of the team return to the normal workforce, but six months later Mick finds an anachronism the Bureau hasn't and events lead Sara to repossess the Waverider. Although Rip doesn't feel that the team is efficient enough to run rogue, he also understands why they want to continue as legends. This is further infused by an enemy Rip secretly feels he will need the Legends to destroy, although he doesn't share this with Sara, instead telling her that she needs the Legends, time doesn't need them.

FALLING OUT He later confesses to this when the Legends happen upon Rip in Victorian England, where they suspect vampires are running rampant. Rip admits to Sara that he's missed the team and needs their help with a mission that his own Time Bureau has dismissed. They happen upon Darkh and his grown daughter, Nora, where Sara learns why Rip is actually in London: to allow Damien Darkh to be resurrected so that Rip may have a chance at luring Mallus, an evil being, into revealing himself. Rip's gambit fails miserably, leaving scores of Time Bureau agents dead at the hands of Darkh and his daughter.

"You've gone rogue from every organisation that you've ever been a part of! Because you don't trust anyone. I don't know how I could've ever trusted you"

- Sara to Rip

Rip relays that he's moved apart from the Bureau as they fail to recognize what a threat Mallus is to the world. Sara is furious and hurt that Rip lied to her and, scorned, Sara has contacted the Bureau, and they arrive to bring Rip with them. He warns Sara that she should ready the Legends to fight Mallus. Although angry and feeling betrayed, Sara still seems to believe Rip's word and keeps in mind he may have told the truth. This is proven when later Sara is transported to a nether realm and introduced to Mallus' disembodied voice. When Ava later tells Sara that Rip's been imprisoned by his own bureau, Sara's shocked and seems remorseful and unsure of how to handle the news.

REUNION Ava relays that Rip has escaped his imprisonment and is at large, but the bureau doesn't know where he is until Rip recruits Wally West to retrieve Rip's coat and a time courier. Once Rip and Wally show up on the Waverider, Sara isn't thrilled to see Rip but doesn't make much of his presence and, after saving Ray, they make amends as Rip starts working for the Time Bureau again. Sara, along with Ray and Gary, discovers that Ava is a clone from a future lab of law-enforcers and that Rip knew, but never told Ava. This renews Sara's ire with Rip keeping secrets and hurts her, although Rip doesn't get to explain the extent of Ava's history.

Sara and Rip work together again to save a young Barack Obama from Grodd in the '70s, following Grodd's murder of Director Bennett. This would appear to be their final mission together as Rip, following the Legends' failed attempt to defeat Mallus, sacrifices himself by blasting Mallus with the unstable time core of the Waverider, which would presumably kill Rip and only delay Mallus. Rip takes this action unilaterally and talks to Sara before it happens, telling her that it would be the right decision after everything that has happened.

"It's alright, Sara. I should very much like to see my wife and son again"

- Rip

Quotes
"I believe in you. You're stronger than you know"

- Rip

Fanon
This is a common pairing in the fandom, also referred to as Time Parents as Rip and Sara are the ones usually in control and leading the group on their quests. Generally people feel the ship has been treated unjustly via the Season 3 altering of Rip Hunter's character from a smart and capable captain, trusted advisor to Sara and family member of the Legends to a renegade outcast, who's increasingly positioned as a scapegoat, damaging the close bond and connection between Rip and Sara. This inconclusive, some might say character assassination is only exacerbated by Rip's death.

On AO3 it is the most written ship for Rip and the 6th most written ship for Sara. It is also the ninth most written ship in the Legends of Tomorrow tag.

Fandom
FAN FICTION
 * Sara/Rip on FanFiction.Net

FORUMS
 * Time Canary

TUMBLR

YT
 * daniyalive