Rip could hear voices near him as he floated back to consciousness aware of the discomfort in his side that felt horribly familiar. Opening his eyes he was surprised to find he was on a bed under a blanket. This was extremely unusual after an emergency healing but, considering he'd once woken up in a muddy cave, a definite improvement on previous uses.

"Gideon?" he called softly.

"I'm here, Captain Hunter," she replied, "You are in Star Labs."

"Jonas?"

"Your son is safe with Mrs Stein," Gideon soothed before telling him, "I have notified Dr Snow that you are now awake."

Hearing the click of heels coming towards him Rip turned to the side and saw Caitlin walking towards him a frown of disapproval on her face.

"Good morning," she said sharply.

"You don't look happy," he noted softly.

Caitlin folded her arms across her chest, "Considering I have a patient who pulled a knife out of himself then performed some kind of procedure that left him unconscious where I had no idea what I could or couldn't do, I'm not ecstatic."

Rip winced, "Caitlin..."

She held up her hand cutting him off, "I am sending you some breakfast. You will eat it and then we will have a full discussion regarding your health during which you will have Gideon give me access to your complete medical history."

"Caitlin..."

"Do you think this is a discussion?" she cut him off again.

Rip grimaced but wisely remained silent.

"I will send Cisco in with breakfast," she told him turning and leaving him watching her with trepidation.

x

"You're still alive," Cisco chuckled as he appeared with some toast and a mug of tea, "I honestly thought she was going to strangle you."

Rip winced as he sat up, "I was concerned."

Cisco laughed dragging a seat across to sit beside the bed, "How you feeling?"

"I'm fine," Rip replied, "A little sore still but that will pass once I start moving. Is Jonas alright?"

"I called Clarissa," Cisco assured him, "She said he went to bed when he was meant to, he's had his breakfast and he's going to the garden centre with her. She'll drop him off after lunch."

"Thank you, Cisco," Rip breathed.

Cisco shrugged waving him away.

"I mean it," Rip told him, "I am extremely grateful for everything you do to help me with Jonas."

Cisco shrugged again, "I love that kid. You know he's the only thing keeping you safe from the full wrath of Caitlin."

Rip let out a soft laugh, "It had occurred to me."

"I brought you some clothes," Cisco told him, "Finish your breakfast then get dressed. Caitlin will not wait patiently for very long."

x

Rip slowly walked into lab where Caitlin was sitting waiting for him, gripping his mug of tea like a shield.

"Sit," she ordered before tapping the screen of her tablet, "Right, let's begin."

Her eyes locked on his and Rip let out a soft breath before calling, "Gideon, please provide Dr Snow with my full medical history."

"Captain?"

"The full file, Gideon," he ordered, "She is now my doctor so she needs to know absolutely everything."

"Very well," Gideon said though he could hear the reluctance in her voice, "Dr Snow, I have placed the information on your computer."

"Thank you, Gideon," Caitlin replied, "I will review this once Rip and I are finished. I may need you to talk through it with me."

Rip winced, "Gideon, I'm granting full permission to Dr Snow to allow you to discuss everything she needs regarding my health."

"Thank you," Caitlin stated, "Now, I want to know exactly what you did last night."

Rip took a drink of his tea to stall for a moment before answering, "It's an emergency medical repair. It's used when there is no way back to the medical bay on board the ship. It's nanotechnology which can repair most wounds but, as you saw, it isn't pleasant."

"I could have given you a painkiller," Caitlin reminded him, "Or a sedative."

Rip shook his head, "Painkillers interfere with the process and I have an extreme dislike of being sedated."

"Why use it?" Caitlin asked annoyed, "I am perfectly capable of..."

"Jonas can't see me injured," Rip cut her off.

She frowned confused, "What?"

"He saw his mother die," Rip whispered anguished his hand going through his hair agitatedly, "He needs me to be here for him and if I was injured he'd be scared I'd die too. I knew that although it would take me the night to recover I would be fine by the time I saw him."

Caitlin stared at him, "I didn't know he witnessed that. I'm so sorry, Rip but from all I've seen he is dealing very well."

Rip drank his tea as they sat in silence for a moment.

"What about Jonas?" Caitlin asked, "Does he have any..."

"No," Rip shook his head, "The nanotech was a Time Master device. He may have some immunisations that aren't available yet but I don't think it should be something that would be picked up."

Caitlin nodded, "Okay. Does Gideon have medical records for Jonas?"

"Only from when he was brought onboard after we found him," Gideon replied for him, "Captain Hunter could not store that information within my databanks."

"I need those as well," Caitlin told him.

Rip nodded, "Gideon, please provide Dr Snow with all the medical information for Jonas."

"Of course, Captain Hunter," Gideon replied.

Caitlin focused a firm glare on Rip, "Okay, from now on if you are hurt, if you are injured, if you're feeling unwell then you tell me. I am your doctor and if you decide to ignore this or any of my medical directives then I will stop being nice."

Rip stared at her before he nodded slowly, "Of course, Doctor Snow."

Caitlin reached out and rested her hand on his arm, "How are you feeling?"

"Slightly terrified," he replied making her smile amused.

"You know what I mean," she laughed softly, "Your wound."

Rip raised his t-shirt to show her the unblemished flesh, "It is completely healed and all discomfort has gone."

She checked the area, pressing slightly to ensure he wasn't lying to her before nodding, "Okay. Then you can leave. Gideon and I have some work to do."

Rip let out a long breath, "Caitlin, not even Miranda knows everything I did during my days as a Time Master nor some of the injuries I received. I hope you understand why I'm reluctant to let you see this."

She nodded, "I do and I know you're used to having no one to lean on when you're hurt but you have us now. This is just another thing to learn about letting us be part of your family."


"Daddy!"

Rip bounced off the ladder and caught his enthusiastic son who came running out the elevator.

"Hey," Rip hugged him tightly, "Did you have fun with Grandma?"

Jonas nodded, "We watched the movie with Cisco and I got hot chocolate and Grandma read me three stories and we made omelettes for breakfast and we went to pick flowers for Grandma's garden."

"That sounds like a fun time," Rip smiled at him, looking over to where Clarissa was standing, "And if I ask Grandma will she tell me you were good?"

Jonas nodded again.

Rip kissed his forehead, "Good boy."

Jonas ran over to Clarissa, "Can I give Caitlin her present?"

Rip frowned confused, "What?"

"Jonas thought Caitlin might like something to brighten her office," Clarissa explained, "So we got her a plant."

"That was really nice of you," Rip told his son holding out his hand, "She's in her office just now. Come on."

They met up with Cisco not far from Caitlin's lab who high-fived the little boy.

"I've thought of a good movie for us to watch tonight," Cisco told Jonas.

Jonas grinned before turning to look at Rip, "Daddy, have you more boring things to do tonight?"

"No," Rip chuckled assuring him, "I'll be at home with you tonight to watch the movie. No boring things tonight."

Jonas nodded before he turned to Clarissa with a long suffering look, "Mummy and Daddy used to do boring things all the time while I went to bed."

Rip winced hearing Cisco make a small squeak, glancing over he saw the tech genuis' eyebrows were practically in his hair while he was biting his lip trying not to laugh.

Clarissa smiled and took Jonas' hand leading him to where Caitlin was sitting.

"Not a word," Rip warned Cisco the moment Jonas was out of hearing.

Cisco nodded obviously desperate to laugh.

Just before Rip left reached the lab Cisco called after him, "So boring was a euphemism for what exactly?"

Rip grabbed a cloth from the table and tossed it at Cisco who dodged away chuckling to himself.

x

Caitlin hugged Jonas tightly when he shyly gave her the fern in the bright yellow pot before putting the plant in pride of place on her desk.

"Thank you," she told him.

Jonas beamed at her, "I'm glad you like it."

"Okay," Clarissa interrupted, "I have to go Sunshine. Can I get a hug?"

Jonas threw his arms around her, "Love you, Grandma."

"I love you too, Sunshine," Clarissa hugged him back tears in her eyes. Letting him go Clarissa gave Caitlin a quick hug before turning to Rip and moving him to one side where Jonas couldn't overhear.

"Are you okay?"

Rip nodded, "I'm fine. Caitlin is not best pleased at me but I'm well. I promise."

Clarissa hugged him quickly, "But if you do need a night alone I am happy to take him again. He was an absolute angel."

Rip smiled and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, "Thank you, 'Grandma'."

She laughed squeezing his hand before leaving them. Turning back to where Caitlin was sitting with Jonas beside her looking at some pictures on her computer, Rip sighed in relief that his little boy hadn't witnessed his injury.


"While Jonas and Cisco work on their pet project," Caitlin said placing a mug of tea in front of Rip, "I wanted to talk to you about a few things within your medical history."

Rip grimaced, "I'm not even going to try and guess as there are a few things in my past that I have a feeling you might lock onto."

Caitlin frowned slightly making him worry a little more.

"How much are you drinking?" she asked straight to the point.

Rip looked at her directly, "I'm not. Not anymore."

Caitlin looked at her screen, "Gideon recorded everything that you were drinking and..."

"My family were murdered," Rip reminded her, "I have a time machine and I couldn't save them so I did the only thing I could. I drank because I could control that and it meant when I passed out I didn't dream."

He took a soft breath and a drink of his tea.

"You don't have to worry," he told her, "Is there anything else in particular you want to ask about."

Caitlin laughed slightly, "I'm making a list. From what I've seen you are slightly insane, Rip."

He shrugged, "Maybe a bit neurotic but everything I did was for a very good reason."

"Promise me that from now on you will be more careful," Caitlin said.

Rip nodded, "Caitlin I assure you I had no intention of being caught up in the action yesterday because I have Jonas to look after. You can ask Gideon, I stayed in the car to keep out the way."

"Okay," she said softly, "That's all my questions for now."

Rip smiled at her, "Then you should join us for dinner and the movies tonight. Jonas would love to have you there and, as you keep reminding me, we are now a family."

Switching off her computer she smiled, "I would love to. I hear you're quite a good cook."

Rip offered his arm, "Well you can judge for yourself."

Taking it Caitlin smiled as they walked through the corridors to fetch Cisco and Jonas for dinner.