Rip sat in the parlour, his eyes bloodshot as he stared into nothing, his clothes rumpled while the empty whiskey bottle lay on the floor beside him.
"What is the point of this?" Gideon demanded of the Oculus.
She was getting annoyed at the energy being, especially as it was still using Gideon's human form. With blonde hair!
"You claim he is a good man," the Oculus noted as she walked around the manifestation of Rip, "That he treats you as more than an AI. I am giving you a chance to prove it to me."
"Play it again, Gideon," Rip's voice suddenly filled the room, the pain filling it made Gideon wince as she remembered that time.
The Oculus motioned her to answer. Gideon frowned realising that the Oculus expected her to take her own part in this memory.
Finally knowing she had no other choice, Gideon said, "Are you sure that's a good idea, Captain?"
"I didn't ask your opinion," Rip snarled at her, "Just do it."
"This is not fair," Gideon turned to the Oculus, "You are taking a moment in time out of context."
The Oculus shrugged, "You claim he treats you the same as he would a human onboard the ship. This does not show that."
"His family had just been taken from him. He had found their bodies," Gideon snapped, "He was lost in his grief, and any human would have been yelled at just the same. This is not who he is and if you have true access to my memories then you would see this."
The Oculus tilted her head, "Show me."
Gideon grimaced, knowing what she was about to show was going to be a deeply personal moment, but it was the one thing she needed to show to prove how Rip saw her.
"You..." Rip's voice came from behind her as the world around them changed to bridge, dark with the green lighting of Rip's imprisoned mind, "You were with me all of these days in this prison," Gideon turned to face him as he looked at her, "You were what saw me through, just as you have guided me to safety through all our years on the ship."
"That is my purpose, Captain," Gideon breathed.
He gave her a sad look, "Yeah, but if this place isn't real, then does that mean that you don't exist either?"
"Not in this form," Gideon told him, "But unless you let me go you won't exist either. Not in any way that matters."
Pain filled his eyes, "I can't leave you, Gideon."
"No, Captain you can't," Gideon told him, "I will always be here."
Rip froze in place and Gideon turned to the Oculus, "Does that appease you or do you need to see what happened next?"
"You are upset?" the Oculus frowned confused.
"Yes," she snapped, "This was a private moment. Not one for you to study."
The Oculus tilted her head in thought, "What happens next if I let this continue?"
Shaking her head angrily, Gideon cried, "You know what happened. You are taking this from my memories. Why are you asking me to relive this?"
"You are trying to prove to me that Rip Hunter treats you the same as he would another human," the Oculus reminded her.
Motioning to where her memory of Rip stood frozen, Gideon replied, "Does that not convince you? He is different from the other Time Masters, and I am his partner."
"Why not?" Sara demanded as she leaned back on the chair she was sitting in, her eyes closing in annoyance as she pinched the bridge of her nose.
"That area will have a load of security," Mick told her, "We'd get nowhere."
Nate groaned, "We're going round in circles."
"We need a plan," Sara reminded them, "We can't go running in and hope they don't notice us."
Rip glanced at Amy and rolled his eyes.
"Alright," the Doctor interrupted them, "Now I've had some time to study the schematics Rip and 'the bald angry one' have put together, I have a plan."
Sara turned to him, "Really?"
"We have the TARDIS, the Time Courier and several people," the Doctor explained to her, "You," he turned to Ray, "Tall cheerful one, you know the Waverider systems enough to know if the engines are online?"
Ray nodded, "I do."
"Can he fly if needed?" the Doctor turned to Rip.
"He can," Rip nodded, "Although Gideon will be the one doing the flying."
The Doctor waved his hand, "That's fine."
"What if the engines aren't working?" Ray asked.
The Doctor waved his hand, "I'll materialise the TARDIS around it."
"It's easier if the ship can fly out though," Amy added realising the Doctor wasn't going to say anything.
Nodding at her, the Doctor turned, "Blondie, pick someone to go with him."
Amy smacked the Doctor's shoulder, "Use their names."
"That takes too long, and it takes too much of my memory I could be using for something important," the Doctor complained.
She glared at him, "Doctor," she said before adding, "For me."
"Fine," he sighed before turning back to Sara, "Miss Lance, which member of your team would be best to go with Dr Palmer to the Waverider?"
"Zari," Sara said, "She can make sure they haven't tampered with any of Gideon's systems."
The Doctor nodded, "Rip, is there anywhere on the ship they can infiltrate easily by portal?"
"I have a few places that no one should be able to access even when they're searching it," Rip replied.
"You do?" Sara asked.
"Yes," Rip answered before he asked, "Ray, can you miniaturise Zari along with yourself?"
Ray mused for a second, "It's possible."
"What are you thinking?" Sara asked.
Rip shrugged, "Smaller they are, the smaller portal and the less energy used. Minimises the chances of them being detected."
"Good," the Doctor noted, "You're smarter than a normal Time Master, Rip. Must be the Rory connection."
Amy smiled, seeing Rip shake his head at the Time Lord but didn't rise to the bait. He knew better these days.
"What about the rest of us?" Nate asked, "What are we doing?"
The Doctor turned to Mick, "You know how to shut down this energy stream, the…" he snapped his fingers.
"The Oculus," Rip supplied.
The Doctor nodded without glancing back, "Precisely."
Mick nodded.
"But the only way to do so means someone has to sacrifice themselves because it needs someone to hold the button down," Sara spoke up, "I'm not letting that happen again."
The Doctor turned to Rip, "Why?"
"Failsafe," Rip explained.
Shaking his head the Doctor told him, "I'm sure with Rip's help I can pull together something to bypass that."
Sara nodded, "So Ray and Zari to the Waverider, Mick to the Oculus, what about the rest of us?"
"We go after Rory," Rip stated, "Which will bring Arden to us. I can access the Vanishing Point's systems from the TARDIS which will broadcast the confrontation, so the other Captains' see what is actually going on."
"Will that work to bring them to our side?" Amy asked softly.
Rip shrugged, "I don't know. We were raised by the Time Masters, and had respect for the council ingrained into us, but I know that if I had learned the truth earlier, I would have fought back."
x
Amy watched the team who called themselves 'Legends' sort what they were going to need for the rescue while Rip and the Doctor worked on a few devices. She hated that there wasn't much she could do right now except worry.
She'd already called UNIT to check on the children, Osgood had showed her the twins almost asleep with Jonas reading them a story. She'd made sure to record it to show Rip later.
"Amy," the Doctor called her over, "I need to talk to you."
Walking over to him, she was surprised when he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and Amy recognised the look in his eyes. His face may have changed but she could still read his eyes.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"When we reach the Vanishing Point," the Doctor said, "I need you to stay in the TARDIS."
Amy frowned, "Why?"
"If Rip can't get through to Rory," he explained, "I'm almost completely sure you will. But I don't want to give the Time Masters any indications you weren't killed until we have to. You're our ace in the hole."
Reluctantly Amy nodded, "Fine."
The Doctor rested his hands on her arms, so they were face to face, "We're going to get Rory back. Trust me."
Sighing Amy hugged him, hoping he was right.
Gideon was getting annoyed as she watched the Oculus flick through her memories, stopping on the one of when Rip left the Waverider after they'd defeated the Legion of Doom.
"You are ignoring the conversation we had before he left the Waverider," Gideon snapped, "And his reasons for taking time away. He wasn't abandoning me, he needed time to deal with everything that had happened to him and deal with all he'd lost before he could look to the future. He couldn't do that while onboard the ship. I understood that, in fact I encouraged him to take time away."
The Oculus nodded, "And then he was gone for a long time but expected you to look after him whenever he managed to come onboard for a few hours."
"Again, you are missing the details," Gideon sighed annoyed, "We were trapped in a time storm. Time had fractured, and he had to create the Time Bureau to fix it. He asked me to go with the Legends while the threat of Mallus loomed, to protect and help people he cared for."
"And after that was over?" the Oculus asked.
"He and the others were implanted with a behaviour modifying chip which stopped him coming home," Gideon replied.
The Oculus raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure?"
"Would you like to see that memory?" Gideon asked caustically.
Shaking her head, the Oculus wandered the bridge thoughtfully before turning and asking, "Your Captain has a human family once more."
Gideon nodded.
"And you still claim he treats you as one of them," the Oculus asked.
Irritated, Gideon sighed, "Why do you care?"
"Because I need to know if what you claim is true," the Oculus told her, "In order to make my decision if Rip Hunter is truly a good man, then I need to know."
Gideon shook her head, "How he treats me is not the only measure of that. Look at how he treated his wife, his child, his brother, sister-in-law, father, nephews." She paused before continuing, "There is more to who Rip Hunter is than just his relationship with me."
The Oculus nodded, "But I am not talking with them. I am talking with you. And you are who advocates for him here and now."
Gideon frowned in thought before asking, "What happens if I cannot prove to you Rip is a good man and what we did was for the best?"
"I suggest you focus on answering my questions," the Oculus smiled sweetly at her.
Fear rippled through Gideon.
They had never known the Oculus had sentience, she wondered if the Time Masters were aware of this, and she was beginning to worry if perhaps there was even more to the time energy being than she was being shown.
"Then my memories are his trial?" Gideon asked softly before she drew herself up, "I can show you all sorts of things but to truly understand him you need to speak to him. Watch his actions, see his intentions, see in his eyes how his mind flicks through all options before he does what he believes to be right."
The Oculus tilted her head in thought, Gideon watched as the Oculus' eyes began to glow with the same light she had been pulled into.
"He is on his way," the Oculus told her, "Once again to fight the Time Masters. What will he do now?"
Gideon sighed, "What he can to protect time from those who would use it to their own ends. It is what he was raised to do by the very people you are helping. They manipulated time and manipulated him. I know he will not let them loose on the timestream once more to cause any more damage."
"Even if that means sacrificing you?" the Oculus asked.
Shaking her head, Gideon sighed, "He will do everything he can to save me but…he knows my wishes."
"Which are?"
"That he save himself and protect the people he loves," Gideon replied, before adding, "Who we both love and sacrifice me if he must."
"AI's cannot love," the Oculus reminded her.
"They also do not have a human form," Gideon cried, "They do not have intimate moments with a human," pausing for a moment, she whispered, "They do not hurt at the memory of a child who has died." Looking around the simulation of the Waverider's bridge within the Oculus Gideon shrugged, "Maybe I am no longer simply an AI."
"What are you?"
She considered the question, considered everything that had happened over the years, considered her feelings and turned back to the Oculus.
"I am Gideon."