The room filled with cries of astonishment from the Legends when Sara announced the Waverider had been stolen by Rip.
"How the hell did he get into the Bureau?" Nate demanded.
"We don't know," Sara grimaced, "But he managed to subvert Gideon to help him."
Amaya frowned at that but didn't say anything knowing the answer she would get if she did. Glancing across the room she saw Zari with the same bemused look on her face.
"What about the guy who was in the cells?" Ray asked thoughtfully, "Who was he?"
Sara frowned, "No idea but I am sure he helped Rip steal the ship. The woman who got him released told me she sent him home but since she's the head of this UNIT thing I'm not able to question her."
"There's got to be some way to track him?" Ray mused, "When we took the Waverider Rip managed to send both a hologram then opened a portal onto it with no problems."
"What you have to remember," Ava said walking in to join them, "Is that Rip designed and created everything we use here in the Bureau. He knows how to stop us tracking him. It's why we've had so much trouble finding him."
Silence filled the room before Nate spoke up, "We need to find him and lock him up for good. Fix Gideon so she stops listening to him."
"Which is why Ava and I are going to track down this Rory Williams," Sara told them, "Ray and Zari, I need you to start working on a way to track our ship as well as how to lock Rip out of Gideon for good. Nate, Amaya, search through history to see if there is anything you can find any clues to where he could be hiding because Rip can't resist interfering. Mick, be ready for when we find him."
They were dismissed and Amaya was surprised when Zari caught her arm tugging her into an empty office.
"Okay, I might be wrong but is there something odd about this?" Zari asked.
Amaya frowned, "What do you mean?"
"I admit I don't actually know him," Zari said, "But Hunter never seemed to be that bad. He saved my life when Darhk was resurrected and, despite Sara turning him over to the Bureau, he came back to fight Mallus, risking his life for ours. He was right about the threat so why is he treated like he murdered everyone's family?"
Amaya sighed, "We don't know everything that happened between them before I came back and you joined the team but I admit Rip was not a bad person, not once he was no longer Thawne's control."
"I also don't think Gideon was coerced to go anywhere," Zari added.
Amaya frowned, "He must have done something to her. We erased all his codes and Sara ensured she could override any commands given to Gideon by anyone else."
Zari pursed her lips together, "I don't think so."
"What do you mean?"
"Have you never noticed how when someone made a nasty comment about Hunter that Gideon developed a glitch?" Zari asked, "Doors opening slowly, the fabricator unable to make anything sweet or the week of the cold showers? I honestly think Gideon only worked with us on sufferance."
"I never thought about it like that," Amaya admitted.
"There's one more thing," Zari winced, "I didn't think about it until now but do you remember five months ago when we crossed paths with Hunter in Rome?"
"When Sara shot him in the shoulder," Amaya nodded with a grimace at the memory of seeing the man drop then finding the splatters of blood on the ground where he managed to escape through a portal.
"A week later I was in the medical-suite and I dropped my lip-balm," Zari explained, "I found a bloody towel stuck behind one of the cabinets. I just assumed it was one of the guys who missed it during a clean-up."
"You think he somehow got onto the Waverider and Gideon treated him?" Amaya asked.
Zari nodded, "Why can't we go into his room? If Sara removed all codes for him why does Gideon still keep his room locked?"
Amaya sighed, "You have a point," she paused taking a few deep breaths, "I have to admit when Rip disbanded the team none of us were happy with him but this is more than that. They were so adamant about finding him when I first met them to get him back. Now they want to find him to lock him up."
"And Sara would happily shoot him before he could say a word," Zari finished for her.
"We need to keep our eyes and ears open," Amaya said, "We might be imagining things."
"Or there might be something really wrong," Zari replied.
"Brian Williams," Sara read the information they had found, "Father to our Rip duplicate, Rory Williams but there doesn't seem to be any connection to Rip."
"That doesn't mean anything," Ava reminded her, "Rip knows how to cover his tracks."
"Rory Williams is a nurse, has one of the strangest work histories I've ever seen and as of five years ago no longer seems to exist. Strangely about the same time Rip started the Bureau," Sara mused, "Okay, so how do we play this?"
"We're trying to find Rory Williams to speak to him about a job?" Ava suggested.
Sara nodded, "Sounds good."
Ava took the lead and hit the doorbell. They were both surprised when the door opened by a young dark-haired woman with glasses wearing a red sweater with a single yellow question mark in the centre.
"Can I help you?" she asked pleasantly, reminding Sara slightly of Gideon.
"We're here to speak with Brian Williams," Ava replied politely with a professional smile.
The woman continued to smile, "Can I ask what this is regarding?"
"We're trying to locate his son," Ava explained, "We work for an organisation and we believe his skills would be a good fit with us."
"Unfortunately Mr Williams is not available today," the pleasant smile didn't leave her face, "But I know Nurse Williams would not be interested in working with the Time Bureau, Agent Sharpe, Miss Lance."
Sara and Ava shared a quick look.
"And you are?" Sara asked through gritted teeth.
The woman continued to smile, "Petronella Osgood. I can pass a message on to Nurse Williams if you wish?"
"No," Sara replied, "That won't be necessary."
The door closed leaving Sara and Ava frustrated. They headed back to the car they'd hired and climbed in.
"Well, I didn't expect that," Ava noted.
Sara grimaced, "Me neither. So, what do we do now?"
Ava pointed to the woman leaving the house furtively looking around while she talked on her phone, "I say we follow her."
x
In the kitchen of a house in another part of the city, Brian Williams sat drinking tea waiting for someone to tell him why he'd been rushed out of his house with no explanation and taken to a home of someone he didn't know. All he knew was this was UNIT which meant it had something to do with the Doctor. Who he hadn't heard from in five years since the time traveller had brought him the news Rory and Amy were never coming home.
The woman who owned the house finished talking on the phone and turned to him, "That was Miss Osgood she's let me know you may be here for a little longer. Can I get you anything else, Mr Williams?"
"An explanation of why I'm here would be helpful, Miss Smith," Brian replied.
Sarah-Jane Smith sat at the table, "I was asked by UNIT to keep you safe for the moment. There are some people who are looking for your son and Kate Stewart believes it best that they not find any information she doesn't want them to have."
Brian leaned back in his chair, "Does this mean Rory and Amy are coming home soon."
Sarah-Jane stared at him surprised, "What?"
"The letter I received from Rory," Brian explained, pulling a folded piece of paper out of his wallet and handing it to Sarah-Jane.
Reading the letter Sarah-Jane frowned in thought, "Interesting. I'm afraid I don't actually know everything that's happening. I basically agreed to provide you with a place to stay because Kate asked me."
"You're friends?" Brian asked.
Sarah-Jane smiled at him, "I was good friends with her father."
Brian finished his tea, "I don't like being a nuisance so if there's anything you need done around the house or garden?"
"That would be wonderful," she replied understanding his need to keep busy.
Ray slammed his hands against the desk annoyed.
"Nothing?" Zari asked from his side.
"I can't locate Gideon at all," Ray grimaced, "I've tried everything we've used before but there is nothing."
Zari frowned leaning back in her chair, "Maybe you're looking at it in the wrong way. You're looking for him in a way you've done before and he knows these. Maybe there's a different way to go about this."
Ray grimaced slouching down annoyed before he sat up straight suddenly, "You're right."
"About?"
"Where wouldn't we look for him?" Ray asked, "Where is the last place in the universe that Rip would go?"
Zari shrugged, "Not got a clue."
Ray suddenly bounced out his seat and started out the room. Confused Zari hurriedly followed on behind watching him head to the commissary, seeking out Mick of all people.
"What do you want, Haircut," Mick growled when Ray sat at the table, "I'm eating."
"I think I know where Rip might be hiding," Ray told him, "But I want your opinion first."
Mick sighed, "What is it?"
"I think he's at The Vanishing Point," Ray said.
Mick choked on the beer he was drinking, "You think..."
"It's the last place we'd look for him," Ray reminded the other man.
"Because it's mostly blown up or because the Englishman hates the place?" Mick asked.
"Hold on," Zari interrupted, "What is the Vanishing Point?"
Ray grimaced when Mick motioned him to explain, "It's where the Time Masters were based," he explained to Zari, "We blew it up to stop them to stop them manipulating time. It's also where Thawne and his Legion of Doom were based."
"And Hunter doesn't like it?"
Ray nodded, "Despises the place. After everything that happened with the Time Masters and then what Thawne did to him. He commented about how we should blow it up completely the last time we were there."
Zari mused on this for several moments before Ray turned back to Mick.
"What do you think?" the scientist asked.
Mick took another long drink of his beer before nodding, "Makes sense."
"Okay, we get Sara and we head to the Vanishing Point," Ray stated darkly, "Where we finish this once and for all."
