Alex smiled proudly when Gideon managed to block each attack, "Well done. You're getting better."
Gideon nodded grabbing her water and taking a long drink.
"We'll work some more tomorrow on this then start your weapons training," Alex told her.
Gideon checked the time, "I need to change and get back to work."
Alex watched her friend for a moment aware of the sadness she was trying to hide, "Have you talked to him yet?"
Gideon glanced at Alex before shrugging, "Why would I?"
"Because you're miserable," Alex replied folding her arms, "I know how much you love Rip and the fact you're not talking to him hurts."
Letting out a sigh Gideon shook her head, "He will not listen to me."
"He's worried about you," Alex reminded her, "And he's scared something will take you away from him again."
Gideon slammed her hands on the table, "I know this, Alex but he also seems to think I am incapable of looking after myself. I was fine without him here."
"So, what are you going to do?" Alex asked, "Ignore him forever? He wants to apologise."
Shaking her head sadly Gideon gathered her things, "Even if he apologises it does not change how he sees me."
"And how is that?"
"That I need to be protected," Gideon replied annoyed, "I don't, I never did."
Alex sighed, "He loves you..."
"He loved Miranda but never treated her as anything less than capable," Gideon snapped back.
Alex frowned not sure what to say before shaking her head, "It's your choice, Gideon but in some ways by not talking to him you're hurting yourself as much as you're hurting him."
Rip held onto Kara as they were all forced into the back room of the gallery, frowning in confusion – something wasn't right.
"How do you feel?" Rip murmured as he sat them in a corner.
Kara looked up at his, "Weak."
Seeing the fear in her eyes as the Kryptonite drained her of her powers Rip kept an arm around her.
"You'll be fine," he said softly, watching their captors standing talking, "Is it me or is there something odd about this."
Kara looked around the room, "They're not stealing from the guests and they don't seem to be trying to steal anything from the gallery."
"So why are they here?" Rip mused.
She sighed, "If I could hear them I could find out."
"Don't think about what we can't do," Rip told her, "Focus on what we can. You're a reporter and you spend your life noticing things others don't. Pay attention to everything."
"What about you?" Kara whispered back.
Rip gave her a slight smile, "I spent my life looking for changes to the timeline. I can usually spot anomalies."
Kara gripped his hand tightly, "Okay."
"We stick together, Kara," he told her, "I won't let anything happen to you while you're not your usual self just like you would never let anything happen to me when you are."
x
Kara wanted to sleep.
Every part of her body ached with weariness and just wanted to curl up in her bed for the next week. At her side Rip was watching everything intently while he kept his arm wrapped around her shoulders comforting but also so they could talk without people noticing.
There were six people who had taken over the building, three men and three women. All had several weapons on them and a comm. link in their ear so they could talk to one another at all times.
Including herself and Rip there were twenty-five hostages, they could have had more if they'd come earlier as most people had left. Another mystery to add to the ones they already had - especially how they had managed to procure Kryptonite.
"Ladies and Gentlemen," the leader suddenly spoke, a tall blonde woman with brown eyes, "I apologise for the inconvenience but you are now all our guests and here to witness the end of the vile creature who has invaded our world, Supergirl."
"Vile seems a bit strong to describe you," Rip murmured in Kara's ear.
"However, the longer it takes for her to show herself and surrender to us then the more of you will die," she continued.
"Do not even think about moving," Rip muttered tightening his grip on her.
Kara looked up at him, "They will kill these people."
"We won't let that happen," he replied, "We have time. They haven't advertised their presence yet so once the DEO know what's happening they'll send help."
Kara grimaced.
"Listen to me," Rip said sternly, "Telling them who you are is not a good idea. Right now I have the ability to actually render you unconscious and I will take the chance of you breaking my arm later if you try to surrender yourself."
She frowned but knew he wasn't lying. Rip was extremely protective of the people he cared about and she knew, despite trying not to, Rip cared about her.
"What's wrong with her?" one of the men suddenly demanded standing over them.
Rip glared at him, "She has food poisoning."
The man let out a huff before walking on.
"Nice save," Kara murmured to him.
Rip shrugged, "Same reason I ended up working here today."
Looking up at him she squeezed his hand slightly tighter, "I'm glad you were."
Gideon sat at her station going over the reports J'onn had asked her to review. She was tired because she wasn't sleeping very well. Arguing with her Captain was something she had always done but when she had been an AI, and in control of his environment, Gideon could make him listen to her. Now she couldn't get him to listen to her because all he did was try to wrap her in cotton wool and hide her away.
She missed Rip but right now she couldn't keep fighting with him.
"Uh oh," Winn's voice made her turn to the man beside her, "We have a problem. J'onn, Alex, I need you guys here now."
"What's wrong?" Gideon asked.
Winn held up his hand asking her for patience until the other two arrived.
"Report, Mr Schott," J'onn demanded the moment he and Alex reached them.
Winn grimaced bringing up a report, "Just received news that the Burnham Gallery has been taken over by hostiles and they've taken hostages. No idea how many of either, but they're sending out one demand."
"Which is?" Alex asked.
Winn grimaced, "For Supergirl to surrender to them."
Alex frowned, "Well that's not going to happen anytime soon."
"Does Kara know about this?" Gideon asked.
Winn shrugged, "No idea. She was at Cat Co last time I talked to her."
"Which means she probably knows. Call her," J'onn noted, "If she doesn't answer call Olsen, find out where she is. You have something else, Gideon?"
"Cryptic Motto is hired a great deal for these types of functions," Gideon said, "It is possible Deena may have some information on the party that was happening."
J'onn nodded, "Good point. Call her too."
x
Gideon took a breath hoping that it wasn't Rip who answered the phone. She didn't know if he was working having deliberately made sure she didn't know his schedule.
"Cryptic Motto," Deena answered to Gideon's relief.
"Deena, this is Gideon," she stated.
"Hi," the other woman greeted, "Michael isn't here just now."
Relief filled her slightly, "I'm not looking to talk to him. I needed to check something with you."
"Sure."
"You are hired for parties, correct," Gideon asked, relieved they'd given the back story that Gideon and Alex worked for the police when they first met her.
Deena chuckled, "It's happening a lot lately."
"Were you hired for the Burnham Gallery today?"
"Yes," the reply was filled with questions, "Gideon, is something wrong?"
"Some people have taken over the Gallery taking hostages," Gideon explained, "Can you check with whomever you had working if they are alright? We may need them to give us information."
There was a pause on the other end of the phone, which Gideon had expected assuming Deena was checking the news.
"Oh, Gideon," Deena suddenly came back on, "I'm sorry."
Confusion and worry filled her, "What's wrong?"
"Simon was meant to do the party," Deena explained, "But he has food poisoning. Michael agreed to take over for me."
Gideon felt all the air rush out of her lungs as she turned to the screen showing the leader of the terrorists stating that they would start executing hostages within the hour if Supergirl didn't show.
"What's wrong?" Alex demanded worriedly taking the phone from her.
Turning to her friend, Gideon whispered, "Rip is there."
Alex quickly spoke with Deena before hanging up, her hand resting comfortingly on Gideon's shoulder throughout.
"It gets worse," Winn stated grimly, "Kara is already there. She was covering the opening for the paper."
"Why is that bad?" Alex demanded.
Winn sighed, "Because the satellites show they've somehow got Kryptonite."
Rip listened to their captors as they demanded Supergirl appear or they would start killing hostages.
They were out of time.
"Can you tell where the Kryptonite is?" Rip murmured to Kara, "Or anything about it?"
Kara shook her head, "No. I've never been able to sense anything except it hurts."
"It's okay," he soothed, "But I've had enough of sitting here."
Frowning slightly she whispered back, "What are you going to do, Rip? There are six of them, two of us and I'm completely useless."
Rip grimaced slightly, falling silent as one of the men walked past them, "Do you remember when I worked on the Phoenix?"
Kara nodded.
"Well the first thing I did was disable the Time Drive but I am nothing if not extremely paranoid," Rip shrugged, "I may have kept some parts and integrated them into my watch."
Kara stared at him, "Why would you do that? I thought you trusted us."
"I do," he breathed, "But someone came after Gideon and I cannot let anyone hurt her. I need to be prepared."
She grimaced for a second, "Okay, what's your plan?"
"What I have will only move us a few minutes in time if we're lucky but I should be able to transport us to another room," he explained, "If I'm right it'll take us to the basement. Hopefully it should be far enough away from the Kryptonite for your powers to return."
Glancing around the room Kara nodded, "Do it."
x
Rip knew revealing his little toy to Kara meant the rest of the DEO would find out but right now that was unimportant. Using his thumbnail he opened the small catch at the side of the watch and eased out the filament then connected it to make a temporary Time Courier.
"Hold onto me," Rip told her, "This might feel strange."
Kara followed his order as Rip activated the portal below them. They fell and the portal instantly closed behind them just as they slammed into the floor.
Rip stood helping Kara to her feet as he looked around at the sun filled room with the glass ceiling.
"Okay, not the basement," Rip noted watching Kara close her eyes as she absorbed the sunlight, "But a much better location."
"They're going to notice we're missing soon," Kara said turning to him.
Rip nodded, "But as we're now five minutes before we left we have some time. How do you feel?"
"Stronger," she replied with a slight smile.
"Can you check where our friends are?" Rip asked.
Taking a deep breath Kara scanned the building below her, "There are four in the room with all the hostages, one in the main office and one just at the stairs. I think the one in the main office has the Kryptonite."
"Does our friend at the stairs have any weapons?"
Kara nodded, "A gun and two knives."
"I can use them," he replied, "Once we've taken him out, I'll go to the office and take out the one with the Kryptonite while you rescue everyone else."
x
It had been some time since Rip had been in a proper fight. He specifically tried to keep away from things like that these days. He wanted a quiet life. Then again Rip did spend a lot of his free time in the gym making sure he was fit, so he wouldn't just stand by and let people be hurt.
The man was surprised when Rip jumped over the banister above him meaning Rip's first few blows were a shock giving them greater power. Within a minute Rip had knocked the other man unconscious taking the knives and gun before he turned to Kara who was watching him surprise in her eyes.
"I spent fifteen years on my own protecting the timeline, Kara," Rip noted as he tucked the knives into his belt, "And I grew up on the streets. That was me being nice."
Kara reached out and took his hand, "One day you're going to sit and tell us everything you're hiding."
Squeezing her hand slightly, Rip shook his head, "You're far too virtuous and noble to hear my full story. I'm not a good person, Kara."
"I think Gideon and everyone you've ever saved would disagree with you," Kara told him, "I know I do."
Rip dropped his eyes becoming very interested in the gun he was holding.
"You've tried really hard not to be one of us," Kara continued, "But it didn't work. You're basically my big brother now and I know Alex thinks of you that way too."
At the acceptance of this young woman who embodied everything that was good and pure in the world Rip felt himself smile slightly. He'd not been accepted unconditionally in a long time.
"We have a job to do," Rip broke the moment, "Let's get these people to safety."
Kara nodded, "How do you want me to carry you?"
He rolled his eyes and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, "Just fly."
She grinned and lifted them into the air, Kara caught his hand when he let go of her swinging him through the window of the office before she headed to save the hostages.
Author's Note: I realised I'd never named the bar Rip worked at. Weird name but it suits the character of Deena, though that won't really show up in the story.