"Okay," Zari said breaking the silence, "We have access to time travel, can't we go back to a time where Hunter is alive, get him to help and then blank his memory?"
Constantine shook his head, "It won't work."
"Why?"
"Because Gideon isn't stupid," Constantine replied, he pulled out a cigarette grimacing annoyed when Sara took it and handed him some gum, "She will know if the Hunter we produce is from earlier in the time stream."
Ray sighed, "He's right."
"And considering her current state of mind she might do something that could cause more damage to the timeline," Ava noted.
"So what do we do?" Zari cried, "Gideon is out there with this thing whispering in her ear and soon it will get her to do something she will not be able to come back from."
All eyes turned to Constantine who sighed sadly, "The only thing we can do. We can't save her without the real Hunter so we have to kill her."
x
"Ray," Sara chased him along the corridor after he walked out the meeting, "Ray, wait up. Stop and talk to me."
"About what?" Ray demanded stopping and spinning to face her, "I will not help murder Gideon."
"Do you think I want to do this?" Sara snapped, "Its Gideon. She's looked after us all since we stepped onboard the ship. She's our friend."
Ray folded his arms, "Do you talk to her other than for information? I know I don't and neither do any of the rest of us. The only person who did was Rip. Now she's human she's suddenly our friend?"
Sara let out a long sigh, "Maybe we haven't always treated her the way we should and I don't want to hurt her, Ray. But I saw Gideon in that warehouse and she's not the vulnerable woman you helped when she became human. She will not hesitate to kill us."
"There has to be another way," Ray cried.
Sara rested her hand on his arm, "And we will look for one, I promise but you heard what John said. This thing is pretending to be Rip and Gideon has accepted that. The only chance we have to bring her back is the real Rip."
Shaking his head he stepped back, "And it's our fault he's dead."
Without another word he walked away leaving Sara standing.
"What are you thinking?" Rip asked as Gideon sat in the comfortable chair in the parlour staring into space.
Gideon tilted her head to one side slightly, looking for the comfort of his closeness, "That I may be going about this the wrong way."
"What do you mean?"
Gideon pushed herself out of her seat and began to pace, "You kill a snake by cutting off its head."
"And which head are you looking to cut off?" Rip asked, watching her with a smile.
Waving her hand two pictures appeared on the screen before them, "Ava Sharpe and Sara Lance, the two directly responsible for taking you away from me. Both the Bureau and the so called Legends would be directionless without their leaders."
"And therefore easier to remove once and for all," Rip nodded proudly.
She leaned against the desk and sighed slightly.
"Are you alright?" he asked concerned.
Gideon dropped her eyes before looking back up at him, "I want to destroy the Bureau. I want to stop the Legends trampling through time and repay them for hurting you but..."
"But?" he encouraged leaning beside her.
"Raymond and Zari," she said softly, "They were kind to me when I became human. They took care of me. I don't want to hurt them."
Rip moved again so he was standing in front of her, "I would never ask you to. We will return Ms Tomaz to her own time and remove all memory of the Legends from Dr Palmer."
She smiled and moved to hug him, stopping as she remembered she couldn't.
"It's okay," he soothed at the way her face fell, "We're still together, Gideon. We'll always be together." Turning away for a moment her eyes focussed on the screen again, Rip's voice came in her ear once more, "But I can't hold you because of them."
"And they will die for that."
x
"What's your plan?" Rip asked several hours later after Gideon finished studying all the information she had on the former crew of the ship.
Smiling Gideon brought up the information on the screen, "We need to separate them, give each member of the Legends something to focus on that will leave Miss Lance and Miss Sharpe without assistance."
"You paid attention to me," Rip noted proudly.
Gideon smiled at him teasing, "Actually all my other Captains."
He laughed, "What's your plan?"
"They took you from me so I am going to use their loved ones," Gideon replied simply, "I shall ensure the crew are trapped so that Miss Lance and Miss Sharpe are alone. Then I will let them know how much I hurt because they took you from me and they will feel that pain."
Rip reached out and stroked just beside her cheek, "You are amazing."
She blushed slightly at the compliment before whispering, "There is one thing I wanted before I begin."
"Which is?"
"Can we link once more?" she asked softly, "I need your strength for this."
Rip shook his head, "It's all your strength, Gideon. Our link just gives you the confidence you need."
"I know it seems silly," she shrugged slightly, "But it makes me feel better."
"Then we'll link again before you go," he promised, "And I will be with you every step of the way."
Nate rushed out the car into the house, "Mom? Mom, where are you?"
"Nathaniel?" the confused voice of his mother came from the kitchen.
"Mom," he breathed in relief and confusion, "Are you okay? What happened?"
She frowned at him, "Nathaniel, what are you talking about?"
"The text you sent," Nate replied, "You said you needed my help, that you were hurt, that..." he trailed off in realisation as his mother stared at him, "Mom, I have to go."
He bounced over, kissed her cheek and ran out the kitchen but the moment he stepped through the front door Nate stalled finding he was suddenly in a stark white room.
"What the hell?" Nate gasped, pulling out his phone as he turned in a circle stopping when he saw the woman standing there.
"Hello, Nathaniel," Gideon smiled at him sweetly. She was dressed all in black, the cloak she wore flowing with each step towards him.
Nate grimaced before forcing a smile onto his face, "Gideon, hi. How are you?"
"Oh," she said softly, amusement in her voice, "I see now that I am in this form you care about my well-being. I am no longer just something to demand information from."
Swallowing worriedly he stepped back slightly, "You know we're all worried about you."
"Don't you mean you're worried about what I will do?" Gideon replied smiling again, "If you are trying to change you should know that this room has a dampening field surrounding it to stop you from doing so."
Panic began to fill Nate, "I know you're hurting, Gideon and that you miss Rip. I get that, I miss Amaya."
"You understand nothing," Gideon snarled at him, "Amaya returned to her place in history while Rip was murdered by your choices. Because you allowed that woman, allowed that selfish bitch to change history and release the demon."
Nate stared in horror as Gideon's eyes began to glow red, he could feel the room becoming hotter with each second.
"Gideon..."
"You can forget your pleas," Gideon stopped him, "I am not going to do anything to you. At least not yet. Enjoy your stay here," she told him, a portal opening in front of her.
Before Nate could even try to jump through Gideon waved her hand and he was flung back against the wall. She stepped through the portal, turning and smiling sweetly at him, her eyes still glowing, before the portal closed leaving him locked in.
x
Zari frowned as Nate's phone went to voicemail again. He had received a message from his mother and left several hours before to check on her. However no one had heard from him since and Sara was getting edgy about it. Now Nate was missing, Mick was in his usual corner of the cafeteria while Ray was locked in the lab he was using in the Bureau refusing to come out or talk to any of them.
"Okay, Nate," Zari booted up her tablet, "Where are you?"
She frowned in confusion when she received no signal. Sara had ordered them all to keep their phones charged and on them at all times until they had found a way to neutralise Gideon.
It saddened her that this had happened.
When Gideon had uploaded her into the matrix it made Zari realise there was so much more to the AI than she had ever thought. Gideon was warm, funny and it was clear she cared about the crew but even then she carried a slight sadness Zari hadn't understood at the time. It was only when Hunter rejoined them and she overheard them talking Zari realised why.
They had a rapport between them that she was surprised by and Zari couldn't help but laugh as she listened to Gideon berate him for not taking proper care of himself. Hunter's replies, the genuine affection in his voice and the way he rested his hand on the wall, his head tilting towards it spoke volumes about their relationship.
Shaking herself Zari began to type, trying everything she knew to locate Nate's phone and nothing worked.
"Where are you, Nate?"
"He's safe for now," Gideon's voice came from behind her.
Zari jumped up spinning to face the former AI, "Gideon? What...what do you mean?"
"I mean I left him somewhere safe," Gideon replied softly as she walked towards the computer.
Backing up slowly Zari slid her hand into her pocket to get her phone grimacing when her hand cramped suddenly. She winced when something moved her arm and the phone she was holding suddenly flew out her hand.
Gideon caught it and shook her head, "I came here to talk to you."
"Then we'll talk," Zari gave a weak smile.
Frowning Gideon dropped the phone on the table, "You were kind to me when I became human. I wanted to repay that kindness."
"How?" Zari asked worriedly.
Walking to her Gideon reached out and gently touched her shoulder, "By taking you home."
Zari heard a portal open behind her and gave a cry when she was pulled through it. Standing and looking around Zari gave a gasp of horror as she realised that she was back in her own time.
"Gideon?"
"You will be safe there," Gideon told her, "Goodbye, Miss Tomaz."
Running back towards the portal Zari cried out in frustration when it closed down trapping her.
x
Ray sat with his chin in his hands staring at the glove of his ATOM suit he was supposed to be fixing. He was trying to focus but all he could think of was Gideon and the fact they were planning to kill her.
It wasn't right.
Gideon was one of them and not the first member of the crew to turn evil. Each time they'd brought their friend back but they weren't even going to try to save Gideon.
Ray felt guilty that they'd allowed Amaya to break time, releasing the demon they then failed to stop. Meaning Rip had given his life to buy them the time to fix their mistake.
"I'm sorry, Rip," he sighed, "I wish I could change what happened."
"He knows," Gideon's voice came.
Ray looked up stunned to see Gideon standing beside him, "Gideon? What are you doing here? Are you okay?"
A gentle smile touched her lips, "I'm fine, Raymond. Thank you for asking."
"You know we've been worried about you," he told her, "When you've lost someone you love you should have your friends around you."
Gideon frowned at him, "What friends?"
"Us," Ray told her, "The Legends."
She shook her head, "The only one who ever talked to me properly before I looked like this was Rip. The only one who cared for my opinion until I had a body was my true Captain and the crew who treated him like he was nothing took him from me."
Ray winced at the anger in her voice, "I'm sorry, Gideon."
She reached out and rested it on his cheek, "You are a good man, Raymond. You are too good for them and I want you to continue to be the good man who cared for me when I became human."
He jumped when the portal opened behind him, "Gideon?"
She waved her hand and he fell back through it onto a bed. Gideon appeared above him and Ray winced realising he couldn't move.
"Goodbye, Raymond," she said softly, "You can now return to being the kind inventor you were meant to be."
Before he could say another word the bright white light filled his vision and Ray knew nothing more.
x
Gideon erased all the information on Ray's phone regarding the crew, connecting to all the other phones and removing Ray's details from them all. By the time he woke up it would be over and he could return to his life with no memory of the past few years.
With Nathaniel trapped where he could not cause trouble, while Zari and Raymond were safe there were only a few more things to do before she could rid the world of those who had taken her Captain from her.