A/N: Thank you pallysAramisRios for reviewing!

Chapter 4

Rios piloted his ship toward Earth, expression set in stone. He had to make his rendezvous so as to not arouse suspicion. Which meant he didn't have time to go through the holos' programming and purge whatever code the synths had inserted, so he'd just disabled them for now. Earth was just ahead, and Rios took a breath in anticipation.

His captain placed both hands on Cris's shoulders.

"I'm proud of you," Alonzo said.

"How will I find you again when I've completed the mission?" Rios asked.

"I'll find you," Vandermeer promised. He then stepped back, and Rios was engulfed in a swirling transporter beam that deposited him back on his ship.

Rios set La Sirena into orbit and reached for the comms. "Admiral Picard, this is La Sirena, ready for embarkation."

"Thank you, Captain Rios," the admiral's voice responded. "Elnor and I are ready to beam up. Soji and Dr. Jurati are having brunch with some scientists and will meet up with us later."

Rios frowned. He'd been hoping to deal with Picard and Soji alone. But he couldn't stall without risking exposure, so it couldn't be helped. "Two to beam up," he said tightly and initiated the transporter.

A few moments later, Picard and Elnor walked across the deck and onto the bridge. Rios's skin was crawling, but he forced himself to remain still.

"Didn't finish your maintenance?" Picard asked, arching a brow at the open panel and exposed conduits beneath the operations console.

"Someone had a pick-up I couldn't miss," Rios replied tersely. "But if I'd known half your party was going to be late, I would have stayed to finish."

Picard quirked a confused look at him. "Well, there's time to fix it now," he said casually.

Rios gritted his teeth and tried to keep himself in check. He couldn't act against the synth right now, not with Elnor standing right there. No, he needed both Picard and Soji in his sights so that neither had a chance to escape. He couldn't fail his pops.

The comm pinged, and Rios smacked the receiver. "Yes."

"It's Raffi. Seven and I are ready to come back."

Rios clenched his fist. He did not need more bodies milling about and potentially getting in the way, but again, brushing them off would only tip his hand, so he grudgingly beamed them up. He had to play things as normal until he got an opening.

At long last, Agnes and Soji commed that they were ready to be beamed up. Rios initiated the transport and got up to go greet them, automatically looking at Agnes intently to make sure she was okay after spending so much time with the synths. She seemed fine, though. She smiled and immediately went to give Rios a hug. He embraced her, using the motion to swing her slightly away from Soji.

Everyone else gathered around, making him feel crowded.

"How was the summit?" Raffi asked.

"Great," Soji said.

"Very productive," Agnes added.

Soji looked at Picard. "We've been invited to an institute on Sierra Prime for further discussions."

Picard smiled. "That sounds like a good idea. Rios, lay in a course."

Everything inside him twisted at the order, and he wanted to snap that he wasn't their slave. But he had to play along, he reminded himself. So he pulled away from Agnes and went back to the bridge without a word to lay in that course. This was better, he told himself. Better to bide his time.

He kept that mindset until they were out of the system and at warp. His passengers had settled in again, with Raffi and Seven off doing something together. Even after a romantic weekend getaway, they still couldn't get enough of each other. Agnes and Soji were still gushing over the stuff from the summit, while Picard was in his study on the holodeck. Elnor was on the bridge with Rios, rattling on and on about his adventures on Earth. Rios wasn't paying attention, though. He needed to think of a way to get Picard and Soji together, take them out at the same time before they could react, and without anyone else around to interfere or get hurt.

"Hey, kid," Rios interrupted whatever Elnor was going on about now. "I need a favor. Can you get Agnes to her quarters and keep her there for a bit? I have a surprise to set up and don't want her peeking."

Elnor's elation over his story deflated. "Oh, alright."

He turned and made his way down the stairs to the mess. Rios opened a comm link to the holodeck. "Rios to Picard. Meet me in the mess." He disconnected without waiting for a response.

Reaching under his seat, he pulled out a phaser pistol, which he slipped into his thigh holster. Then he got up and went to stand at the top of the stairs, watching as Elnor and Agnes headed out the other corridor, leaving Soji sitting at the table by herself.

Picard came over. "Rios. What is it?"

Rios didn't respond, just gestured for Picard to follow him downstairs. "Soji," he said, the familiarity of her name tasting odd on his tongue. "Stick around for a minute."

She quirked a questioning look at them. Picard shrugged, at a loss.

"Take a seat," Rios said to him.

Picard slid onto the bench next to Soji and arched a brow at Rios. "Is something the matter?"

Yeah, you manipulative bastard.

Rios held his tongue, though. The image of Soji and Picard sitting there with Rios standing across from them struck a chord. It was just like what Vandermeer had done to Jana and Beautiful Flower.

No—that wasn't real. That was what the synths implanted in his mind. So the parallel here was actually fitting. Poetic justice.

Soji's brow furrowed. "Captain Rios, are you okay?"

The fake concern in her voice grated on him, and Rios reached for the phaser. But before he could draw it, Emil activated right there in the room, startling him. The EHs should have been disabled!

"Captain," the EMH said in concern, "I'm detecting unusual levels of a foreign chemical in your brain."

Picard stood up in alarm. "What?"

Rios cursed under his breath as he whipped out his pistol and fired, but Soji's synth reflexes were too fast, and she threw herself at Picard, flinging them both to the ground. The shot hit the replicator behind them, exploding it with sparks.

"Captain!" Emil exclaimed. "What is the nature of—"

"Deactivate EMH!"

Emil flickered off as Rios rounded the table to shoot again. This was his one chance. But Soji moved faster, synth defenses activated. Rios fired haphazardly across the deck as she ducked the shots, swinging down and under the table to slide out the other side behind him. He could barely turn before she'd leaped up and grabbed his arm, cranking his elbow back and snatching the phaser from his weakened grip.

She was too close, too close. Rios grabbed a soldering pen from his cargo pocket and jammed it back into her arm. She cried out and recoiled.

"Rios!" Picard shouted in dismay as he got to his feet. "What is the matter with you?"

He bolted for the stairs, making a run for the armory on the upper deck. He would fight to his last. He would die before he let them wipe his memory again…

He ran into Raffi and Seven hurrying out to investigate the commotion.

"What's going on?" Raffi asked urgently.

"Stop Rios!" Picard yelled from below.

Raffi blinked in bewilderment, but Seven didn't hesitate to lunge into his path. He twisted to get around her but she spun and grabbed the back of his shirt, yanking him back around. He threw a punch, which she caught easily. She was just as strong as a synth with her Borg implants. Seven torqued his arm up behind his back and managed to get around behind him. With her other arm, she trapped him in a headlock.

Picard and Soji came running up the steps and over, as well as Agnes and Elnor.

"What are you doing?" Agnes exclaimed.

"Something's wrong with Rios," Soji answered, coming closer.

Rios bucked violently against Seven's restraining hold, his heart rate ratcheting up. He couldn't let her touch him again, couldn't let them rearrange his brain like it was putty.

"Cris, stop!" Agnes was pleading while Raffi was yelling for the EMH.

Emil materialized. "What is the nature of your medical emergency?"

"You tell us," Picard snapped. "You said something was wrong with Rios."

"Talk later," Seven shouted. "And someone do something now."

Rios heard Emil call for a medical kit to be replicated, and he made one last effort to escape. Pushing his weight backward, he drove Seven back into the wall. She grunted but didn't release him. He head butted her, which finally disoriented her enough to loosen her hold, and he wrenched away from her.

But he was surrounded, and while only two were the real enemy, the others were under their influence. Yet Rios hesitated to hurt Agnes or Raffi, and that was the moment of weakness Emil needed to come in from behind like a snake and jab him in the neck with a tranquilizer. His limbs instantly turned to jelly and he collapsed into darkness.