Gary makes his way to the entryway of the pocket dimension. The lights come on instantly as he steps upon the checkered floor. Aside from hearing his own footsteps, the loud downpour in the countryside is still audible. Twiddling his fingers, he continues his search for his beloved. He looks in the kitchen, but she's not there. She is not in the living room or by the window in the corner either. The less fruitful his pursuit seems to be with her absence, the more knots grow in his stomach. "Gideon," he squeaked, "where are you?"
Suddenly, a scream from upstairs echoes throughout the dimension. He's alarmed by the booming wail. "No, get out of there," he heard a woman pleading. Upon recognizing her deeply lilting voice, he climbs up the front stairway and hurries down the hallway. He approaches and opens a particular door. Even with the lights off, he's familiarized with the bedroom. He remembers the furniture, the glass window, and the painting on the wall. The first time he was in there, everybody was flabbergasted upon learning about the latest Legend couple. When he walks in, he finds Gideon tossing and turning under the blankets. She's wearing her nightgown and her chestnut hair is slightly disheveled from the constant movement. She begged, "Don't erase them, please."
He rushes to her side, touching her hand. "Gideon, wake up." She opens her eyes and positions herself upright with a jolt. Panic engulfs her as she studies her current location. When her eyes meet the concerned gaze of her significant other, she could not hide her tears. Gary is aggrieved by her devastation. He envelops his arms around her as she weeps, consoling her. Her fallen tears land on his shirt, one at a time. Once Gideon is soothed, he whispered, "I'm sorry I've daunted you." Her face is now red and her eyes are puffy. "What happened in there?"
She whimpered, "She... she was eradicating them."
Already aware of the being in question, he inquired, "What was she eradicating?"
"My memories. She went inside my head and erased all of them." The trembling dread is evident in her voice. "She was resetting me into a human replica of herself."
Gary is dismayed by how frightened she is. He asked, "Is there anything I can get you?"
She looks at him, notices her tears on his shirt, and thoughtfully considers his question. She meekly answered, "Tea."
Not wanting to alarm her further, he sticks his thumb to her after he rises from his seat. She climbs out from the covers and taps it with hers. They went downstairs to the kitchen. Gary fills the kettle with tap water and places it on the heating stove. Waiting for the water to boil, he prepares the teapot with two bags of peppermint tea. He sees Gideon sitting on the couch in the living room. She rubs the goosebumps on her arms incessantly. "You're okay now."
"I'm not, Gary, as long as she's still here." She points to her brain as she laments this. "Hadn't I let you walk out of the parlour, AI Gideon wouldn't try to kill you."
"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself. You didn't know what's going on." He walks to the edge of the sofa. He rounds up enough nerve to ask the one question weighing on his mind. "When did your bad dreams first occur?"
She nervously fidgets with her fingers and glances up at him. "The first nightmare came exactly a week after we left 1916."
Taken aback by the frank answer, he sits on the couch. His pajama pants brush against the hem of her nightdress. He is discontent that this has been persistently aching her and that she withheld it from him. In a mild tone, he asked her, "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't know if I could. I was worried that you wouldn't want to hear about it after you absolved me from any culpability."
"If something's troubling you, no matter what the situation is, I want you to let me know." A small smile creeps up on Gideon's face. The kettle whistles noisily with hot steam blowing out the spout. Gary goes into the kitchen and turns off the heat. He pours the water into the teapot and lets the tea brew for a few minutes. He retrieves two teacups by mistake; he doesn't replace the extra one. She leaves the living room and joins him in the kitchen.
She sits at the table, inquiring, "Was your time in Wales enjoyable regardless of your abduction?"
"Yeah, it was. Behrad and I got to know Alun better, and I unveiled my actual appearance to him."
Gideon's eyes enlarge at the latter detail. Gary only shares the secret of his true form with those he trusts. Otherwise, he's usually candid about himself. "How did Mr. Thomas respond to it?"
"Oddly enough, he shook my hand and called me brave." He pours the tea into a cup and hands it to her on a saucer. She cautiously seizes it from him.
"Thank you." He smiles as he helps himself. Then, Gideon observes it changing into a frown. "Is something the matter?"
He sits in the neighboring seat and conveyed, "Before you and the others arrived, something happened back at the castle." He recounts being involuntarily exposed in the castle dungeon to her. "It hurts me more hearing them call me 'freak' than the bruises." The sentence gives away the retrospective shame, leading him to break eye contact.
The vicious label produces an unfamiliar sting inside Gideon. She redirects his crestfallen gaze back to her. "I don't know what it's like to be in your shoes—though they might be too big for my feet, but you are not a freak. You're a better person than those men. I know this because I know and accept you as you are." She touches his tear-stained cheek. Gary kisses her palm and beams at her.
"You are incredible." He gingerly places a hand over hers.
Gideon takes the compliment with a smile. She still has one more request to make. "Stay with me here for the night."
He declared in return, "I was planning to say that." After they have the tea, they talked a bit longer until Gideon decided she was ready to go back to sleep. They both cleared the kitchen and brushed their teeth. They meet up in the room upstairs. Gideon returns to her spot in the bed. Gary walks around and climbs in on the opposite side. As they make themselves comfortable, they draw the blankets closer. He stated, "By the way, I like your surprise for me. It was really... eye-grabbing."
"I'm glad you did," she cheekily affirmed.
"I forgot to ask; did you have a blast with Astra, Spooner, and Zari?"
"I did; Zari drafted a 'stay-cation' plan for the four of us." She recollects the women's prior escapades to him.
"That all sounded fun." He lays his head on the pillow. He faces her, wondering, "Do you think... you're going to sleep better?"
She turns to him in accordance. "I'm 97% confident. Are you going to sleep well too?"
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure. If you get another bad dream, grab my hand." He extends his hand readily under the sheets. Switching his position, he yawned, "Goodnight, milady."
"Goodnight, Gary." She ruminates for a moment before whispering in his ear, "Thank you not just for the tea and the camera, but for everything since the very beginning. Your sweet and goofy nature endears me to you." Gideon kisses her paramour's cheek, nestles up to him, and falls asleep. A bashful Gary (who has listened to her words) peeks down at her resting on his chest. He smiles and carefully spoons her before going back to sleep.
