Warning: Although there is nothing graphic, this fic does contain stuff which could be considered child abuse and also non-consensual drug use.

A.N.: Another dark angsty fic. Takes place in mid-season 3 but is slightly canon divergent as you will see. Only two chapters. Next one should be up fairly soon.

Insight

Through the forward window of the Waverider, the remains of the Vanishing Point could be seen hanging in space, the once magnificent headquarters of the Time Masters now not much more than twisted scrap metal wreckage.

Rip stood gazing out at it, his arms crossed over his chest, his back leaning against the helm. He was completely still as if mesmerized by the remnants of his past life. There was a distant look in his eyes and a tightness in his jaw.

Sara stood beside him but she was more interested in studying her companion than the view outside. Her eyebrows drew together as she gazed at him wondering what was going through in his mind. Was he remembering the destruction of the Occulus and what they had lost that day, something that still made her own heart twist painfully, or was he remembering how the Time Masters had betrayed and imprisoned him, or how the Legion had used this as their headquarters when they twisted his mind? Or was he recalling happy times? Had there been happy times? This place must have meant a lot to him once upon a time.

"Penny for your thoughts?" she asked.

"Hmm?" Rip replied distractedly as if slowly coming back to himself.

"You seem to be doing some pretty heavy thinking over there."

"I was merely wondering whether or not this is such a good idea."

Sara nodded though she doubted that was what had really been on his mind. "I don't like being here anymore than you do."

That was definitely true. The Time Masters might be gone, the Legion too, but something of them still lingered in the air, a permanent taint of dark corruption. That and the bad memories associated with this place had been making Sara uneasy ever since they arrived. Sometimes she wondered how Rip could have failed to notice the inherent evilness of the Time Masters for so long. Rip wasn't an idiot and Sara truly believed he was a good man at heart despite his many mistakes, but even after they had refused to help save his family, he had still believed in the sanctity of the Time Masters as if there was something incorruptibly righteous about them and anything else was inconceivable.

"But like you said, we need the information on Mallus," she continued, "and who knows, having access to all that Time Master info might come in useful later on."

"If Miss Tomaz can get access to the database," said Rip, pessimistically. "The technology here is a bit beyond what she's used to."

"She'll get in."

Sara had the utmost confidence in Zari's abilities, Time Master technology or not. Of course, whether there was actually any useful information to be had here was another matter entirely. She had assumed the Waverider already had access to all the Time Master's knowledge, but according to Rip there was a lot of stuff the Time Council had kept from their captains, an entire private database in fact. One Rip had been unable to access on his own hence the use of Zari's hacking abilities. Apparently like Rip, the Time Masters enjoyed keeping secrets.

Rip nodded in response to Sara's comment but didn't say anymore.

"Is there anything in particular that's got you worried?" Sara asked, eyeing him closely. "This place looks pretty dead to me but you're our expert on the Time Masters."

"It's just..." Rip began but then he shook his head. "No. Never mind. It's nothing." The inscrutable look returned to his face as he gazed out the window once more.

A feeling of frustration welled up in Sara, a common occurrence these days when dealing with Rip. She wished after all the time they had spent working together as a team, Rip would trust them, that he would open up, but instead he refused to put his faith in them and kept things to himself, often to the detriment of everyone involved. They had reconciled, somewhat, and were working together once again, but all the business with the Time Bureau and Damien Darhk's resurrection and everything else that had passed between them had left a tension in the air that refused to dissipate.

"Is there anything I should know about?" she asked, pointedly.

Rip's forehead furrowed. "About what?"

"About the Time Masters, about the Vanishing Point, about Mallus. Anything else you might have conveniently forgotten to tell us." She couldn't help the accusatory tone that entered her voice. She was trying to move on. She was, but some things weren't so easy to put behind you.

"Sara..." He said her name wearily, apparently as tired of their arguments as she was. "You know I've told you everything I can."

Sara raised her eyebrows. "Do I? How do I know you haven't got another secret you're keeping from us, or another private agenda you're working towards, or that you won't go off on your own the moment we do something you disagree with?"

"How do I know you won't throw me in prison in exchange for your freedom again?" Rip shot back.

The accusation stung, more so because of the truth behind it. Even if she hadn't intended for him to end up in jail, that was still what had happened. Sara's temper flared demanding she respond in kind, defend herself and rehash the old arguments all over again, but she grit her teeth and managed to hold her tongue. Now was not the time. She hated the idea of anymore of Rip's secrets biting them in the ass, and one day, she vowed, she would sit him down and the two of them would have a very long chat, but not then, not when they were in the middle of a mission, not when they were busy staring at the graveyard of his former life.

"I'm going to check on Zari," she said. "See if she's made any progress."

"Fine," Rip replied, his focus returning to the remains of the Vanishing Point.

After giving him one last frustrated look, Sara turned away and made her way off the bridge. She strode through the corridors' of the ship heading for the library, trying her best to shake off the anger as she did so and failing. One day, she promised herself, one day.

She encountered Amaya heading in the same direction and the two nodded at each other as they fell into step.

"Has Zari managed to access the information?" Amaya asked.

"That's what I'm going to find out," said Sara. "Maybe then we can finally start making some progress."

"So you think the database will have what we need?"

"I hope so. According to Rip, the Time Masters had information on pretty much everything."

"I suppose he would know."

Sara let out a snort, a bitter huff of air. "There's no telling what Rip does and does not know."

Amaya raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry," Sara said with an apologetic wave of her hand. "Our resident ex-Time Master is just being cagey as usual."

"Keeping things from fellow teammates rarely ends well," observed Amaya, shaking her head.

"Especially when it comes to the things Rip likes to keep from us," Sara added.

They were nearing the library by this point and the sound of an argument could be heard drifting down the corridor. Sara frowned, unsure if that was a good sign or a bad one.

"Come on. You can't tell me you're not curious," Ray was saying, his voice filled with his usual enthusiasm.

It was Zari who replied. "I am but that doesn't mean it's a good idea."

"It's not a bad one either," said Nate. "We might learn something important."

"I don't know," Jax put in, uncertainly. "Maybe we should ask first. It is kind of an invasion of privacy."

"Just do it," said Mick, sounding bored with the whole thing. "It's not like he wouldn't do the same thing."

Sara and Amaya exchanged bemused glances and entered the room.

The rest of the team, minus Rip, were all gathered in the library with Zari at centre stage in front of the large screen at the back of the room. Her hands were dancing across the screen's surface as if conducting an orchestra while strings of data flew back and forth. The guys seemed more interested in their current argument though then what she was working on, Mick being the exception. He was leaning his back against a bookcase and seemed mainly interested in his beer.

"Please tell me you've actually got something," Sara said announcing her presence.

The guys swung around, guilty looks on their faces except for Mick who calmly took another sip of his beer.

"Yeah, well, sort of," said Ray, fidgeting nervously with his fingers. "I mean technically we have got into the database."

"You mean I've got in," Zari corrected without pausing in her work.

"Zari's got in," Ray obediently repeated.

"With some help," a voice pointed out from above.

"Zari and Gideon have got in," said Ray, correcting himself once again.

"But we haven't found anything on Mallus yet," explained Nate. "Zari thinks it might be in some sort of deeper level hidden under more encryption."

Sara stared at them, her gaze going from one face to another. You didn't captain this team without developing an instinct for this sort of thing. There was something they weren't telling her.

It seemed Amaya was sensing the same thing. "Then what were you arguing about?"

Ray, Nate, and Jax exchanged looks.

"Well?" said Sara, glaring at them as she waited for someone to crack.

Jax sighed, shoulders slumping. "They want to look at Rip's file."

Confused, Sara frowned. "File? What file?"

"There's files on all the Time Masters," said Zari, and with a flick of a finger, she brought up a long list of names on the screen. "Standard personnel files I'd guess."

"I just thought we could take a quick peek," said Ray. "Rip's told us so little about his past. Wouldn't you like to know more about what sort of adventures he went on as a Time Master?"

"Or what other secrets he might be keeping from us," added Nate.

Ray held up a finger. "Now I didn't say that. Rip—"

"Kept a piece of an extremely dangerous object on the ship without ever actually telling you about it?" Nate finished for him.

"Yeah," Ray conceded, "but—"

"Not to mention an entire armoury."

"Admittedly, but—"

"And then there's the whole Time Bureau thing."

"Ok, so maybe Rip does tend to keep a lot of secrets," Ray conceded.

"I just don't think we should be going behind Rip's back like this," said Jax. "I mean is he a part of the team or not?"

"It's not like we're looking at his medical file," said Ray, and then he frowned, "or is it?"

Mick snorted. "You do know the Englishman's looked at files on all of us at some point."

Sara grimaced. She hated to say it but Mick had a good point. They all had good points.

"Zari, what do you think?"

Zari shrugged. "Seems a bit invasive to me, but hey, he's your friend. I barely know the guy."

Some days it felt like Sara barely knew Rip either. There was so much he had never told them.

"If there is something in Hunter's past he's keeping from us..." said Amaya.

"I know," said Sara.

She took a deep breath. These sort of command decisions were something she had grown used to upon becoming captain but that didn't make them easy. This was what she had wanted though, wasn't it? Access to Rip's secrets. But could she justify going behind his back and going through something potentially very personal without telling him? If she did tell him though, he'd probably refuse to let them to see the file, even delete it. She was so sick of Rip and his secrets. Whatever else she had to make protecting her crew the priority, and if Rip was still holding back on them, if there was something in that file that could potentially harm them later on...

And you're not just doing it because you're still bitter about the Time Bureau and the fact he won't fully trust you, said a voice at the back of her head, but she quickly squashed it.

"Let's see the file," she said, hoping she was making the right decision.

Zari tapped the screen and new information appeared in front of them. Everyone moved closer, even those who had been against reading the file.

A large photo of Rip took over a large part of the screen, a photo of a much younger Rip looking very serious in a drab grey uniform. Beside it were listed his name, rank, serial number, and ship along with some basic statistics: eye colour, hair colour, skin colour, height, weight.

"Ha," commented Mick upon reading through them. "He's so teensy-weensy."

The file also gave Rip's birth name. Something none of them had ever seen in full.

"Michael Theodore Carter?" Nate said in disbelief. "Seriously?"

"No wonder he changed it," said Ray.

"Yeah, Rip Hunter is so much cooler," Nate agreed.

Zari rolled her eyes.

So far all the information seemed pretty tame to Sara. Maybe Zari had been right in saying it was simply a standard personnel file. No age was given among the stats but Sara supposed that sort of thing was difficult to pin down for a time traveller. There were, however, several things listed she couldn't make sense of. Some of which looked like just random strings of numbers. It said Rip belonged to refuge number 82 which she supposed must mean the place where he had grown up with all the other baby Time Masters, but she didn't understand why it listed his origin as London, England, February 7, 1836. Did that mean...

"Hey!" exclaimed Ray, interrupting her thoughts. His eyes were on a different section of the file, one Sara hadn't got to yet. "Did you guys know Rip graduated second in his class? He even has honours in mechanics and temporal physics."

"You didn't tell me he was some sort of genius," said Zari.

Ray shrugged. "I didn't know. I mean I knew he was smart. I just didn't realize he was that smart."

"He did teach me most of what I know about fixing the ship," said Jax. "I think he even wrote some of the instruction manual himself."

Sara's eyebrows rose in surprise. This was not the sort of secret she had expected to find. She wondered why Rip would feel the need to hide such a thing.

Zari scrolled down the file revealing more information.

Nate let out a whistle. "He went on 497 missions? Man. It's going to take ages to go through all of those." He leaned closer. "Hey, is that a list of medals?" He touched the screen and a list popped up.

It was indeed a list of medals, a fairly long list. There were multiple honours along with commendations for distinguished service and medals for bravery.

"Impressive," said Amaya as she read through the list.

"Do you think he keeps them in a drawer somewhere?" asked Jax, curiosity apparently getting the best of him.

"Do you think he'll let us see them?" asked Ray.

"Why would you want to see a bunch of stupid ribbons?" said Mick. "This is what I want to see." Shoving forward, he reached over and tapped the screen, hitting something Sara hadn't noticed before.

Another list popped up, but instead of commendations, this one contained reprimands, and it was even longer than the previous one.

"Now that's more like it," said Mick. "I knew that idiot wasn't the goody two-shoes he pretends to be."

Rip had been reprimanded for a lot of things including not following proper procedures, failing to report back after a mission, and taking undue risks. He had even faced a disciplinary hearing.

"What the hell?" said Zari as she expanded the file on the hearing. "It says Rip faced a tribunal for conducting an illicit affair. The charges were only dismissed when the other person resigned." She gazed at the others in disbelief. "He was almost discharged for having a relationship? I mean, seriously?"

"It's not that unusual for a military organization to have rules against fraternization," said Amaya, clearly recalling her time with the JSA. "Not so long ago I probably would have even agreed with them."

Zari made a face. "So if you happen to fall in love, you're just supposed to what? Ignore it?"

Mick shrugged. "The Time Masters didn't want their minions getting attached to anyone, thought it would get in the way of them of being cold-hearted bastards."

Such insight from Mick was unusual but not too surprising considering of all of them he would be the one to know. His time as Chronus meant he knew a lot more about the Time Masters than the rest of them even if the brainwashing had left that information a little sketchy.

"They really are bastards," said Zari.

A suspicion had been niggling at the back of Sara's mind ever since Zari had brought up the tribunal and she finally put a voice to it. "Who was the person Rip was having an affair with?"

"Uh..." Zari turned back to the screen. "A lieutenant Miranda Coburn."

Ray's eyebrows drew together in a troubled frown. "Miranda as in Rip's dead wife Miranda?"

"Exactly," Sara said with a sigh.

The frustration she had felt at Rip earlier was gone leaving her empty. She was starting to regret her decision to look at the file, and from the looks on the others' faces, they were too. Suddenly, this wasn't so fun anymore.

Only Nate seemed to be still interested. "Hey, what's that?" he asked pointing at something on the screen. "It says Intake."

Following his finger, Zari said, "I'm not sure. It looks like some sort of video attached to the main file."

"Let's watch it," suggested Nate.

"Nate, I'm not sure that's such a good idea..." began Ray but the other man had already reached up and tapped the screen.

Nothing happened at first, and for a moment, Sara thought it hadn't worked, then an image appeared filling the entire screen.

The video was of a man, or at least, that was all they could see in the first frame. He was standing close to the camera so they couldn't see past him leaving where and when the video had been taken impossible to guess. The man's hair was white matching the white uniform he wore and the white gloves covering his hands. A doctor, thought Sara, and she was proven right a second later when the video began and the man spoke.

"This Dr. Nicolas Moreno doing the intake for potential initiate number 98623. I will be performing a physical exam along with a psychological assessment and mental acuity test to determine subject suitability. For information on the retrieval mission and all those involved please consult attached file."

The words were said in one long drone, the doctor seeming more interested in the tablet in his hands than the camera as if he had done this a hundred times before and would rather be elsewhere. He gazed down at the tablet a moment longer before he continued.

"Right," he said as he looked up, "let's get on with it, shall we?"

Stepping back, he finally let the Legends see behind him.

It was a small room the man was currently occupying, sterile and bare with metal walls. The only bit of furniture was a reclining examination chair in one corner, a chair very similar to the ones found in the Waverider's medbay. Based on the various bits of equipment surrounding it, Sara guessed it had a similar use.

What drew the team's attention though, what made the breath catch in their throats were the three other people in the room.

Two of them were Time Master troopers easily recognizable by their round helmets, black jackets, and white pants. Laser rifles were strapped to their thighs and the visors of their helmets were down leaving them faceless.

The third person was tiny in comparison, unsurprising because he was only a boy. He stood between the troopers, or rather was held up by them. They both had firm grips on his arms as he hung from their hands, head lolling forward.

"My god," said Ray, the words escaping like a breath.

Jax's eyes grew wide with shock. "Rip."

"You're serious? That boy's Rip?" said Nate, pointing at the screen.

Sara swallowed, slow and hard. "Yeah, that's Rip."

She didn't blame Nate for not recognizing him. She wouldn't have either if she hadn't come across Rip's ten-year-old self previously. This Rip seemed slightly younger and, unbelievably considering how tiny the ten-year-old had been, even thinner though it was hard to tell for sure with all the layers of ragged clothing wrapped around him. He was also a lot dirtier. Dark streaks of what may have been soot marred his complexion and his normally strawberry blond hair was a dark brown and matted into greasy strands.

As they watched, Dr. Moreno approached Rip. He took the boy's chin in his hand and moved his head back and forth, inspecting Rip's features as if he were a used car the doctor was considering buying.

To Sara's surprise, she saw Rip's eyes were actually open. From the slack way he hung in the trooper's grips, she had assumed he was unconscious. It made little difference though as awake or not he seemed completely unaware of his surroundings, the glassy, unfocused look in his eyes a sign he had been thoroughly drugged.

Dr. Moreno let Rip go and made a note on his tablet. "The initiate appears to be approximately eight years of age, perhaps nine. Due to what appears to be prolonged malnutrition, development has most likely been delayed so he may be older."

The doctor pulled out a device the size of a mobile phone from his pocket and held it in front of Rip. A blue light emitted scanning the boy from head to toe. Gazing at the device, the doctor grimaced.

"Health is exceptionally poor. Along with wasting and stunted growth, the malnutrition has left the initiate suffering from the consequences of several vitamin and mineral deficiencies. He also has a compromised immune system and appears to have the beginnings of pneumonia. Based on the scarring in his lungs, it's likely not the first time."

Dr. Moreno looked up from the device to gaze at Rip with an expression of disgust.

"There is also an infestation of mites." He put the device back in his pocket. "Fortunately, that and the pneumonia can be easily dealt with. The malnutrition will take a bit longer, but I predict a full recovery with no detriments which would affect his future performance."

Watching the video, Sara didn't know what to feel, shock at learning just how bad things had been for Rip as a child or anger at the doctor for treating Rip as if he were less than human. When she glanced at the rest of the team, she saw similar emotions on all their faces.

Nate was staring with wide-eyed disbelief, his jaw completely slack.

Ray was appalled, his downturned eyes filled with sorrow.

Zari's expression was hard but she didn't seem shocked by what she was seeing. Given the nature of the future she came from, Sara supposed seeing someone in Rip's state might not be so unusual for her.

Jax was gazing at the screen in anguish. He looked like he wanted to jump in and save Rip regardless of how long ago the video had been made or how ridiculous the notion.

Amaya most likely would have happily joined him. There was a fury in her eyes that was rarely seen outside of battle.

Mick was angry too but in a quiet way which was unusual for him, and as Sara knew, all the more dangerous. His jaw was clenched tightly and the knuckles of the hand wrapped around his beer bottle had gone completely white.

In the video, Dr. Moreno continued speaking. "Given the initiate was found living on the streets in 19th century London, his poor condition is unsurprising though the fact he was able to survive on his own at such a young age shows a certain amount of resourcefulness which could be an asset."

"Wait!" exclaimed Nate. "Rip's from the past? I thought he was from the future."

"He is," said Jax, frowning. "I mean he said he is. Maybe he wasn't from there originally."

Putting a finger to her lips, Zari shushed them.

"He has also demonstrated a remarkably high intelligence," Dr. Moreno was saying as he consulted his tablet once more. "Despite the low levels of literacy during his era, he can actually read and the agents who retrieved him believe he is self-taught. Of course, a full intellectual assessment still must be made, and due to his living in such a primitive time period, an intensive level of study will be needed to bring his knowledge up to necessary standards, but he does show some promise. Hopefully, we won't find ourselves wasting our time once again."

Sara's anger rose even higher. All the doctor seemed to care about the poor starving child in front of him was how useful he would be to the Time Masters. Had they all been like that? The Time Masters might have saved Rip's life but it was clearly for their own good and not his. If Sara were in the same room as the doctor, she would have happily strangled him. A particularly vicious part of her mind hoped he had died when they blew up the Occulus.

"As for the consequences of his removal," said Dr. Moreno, "all information gathered indicates he is an orphan without any significant attachments. He will not be missed, and based on his current state, I doubt he would have survived another month, so there should be no effects on the timeline."

Eight-years-old and starving to death with no one to even care if you died. Sara couldn't even imagine what that would have been like.

The doctor put his tablet away and turned to look expectantly at the troopers.

"Well, get on with it."

The troopers exchanged glances through their helmets.

"Strip him and clean him up so I can begin my work," Dr. Moreno explained impatiently. "I really wish you would do it before bringing the initiates here. It would save time, not to mention save me from the smell," he added wrinkling his nose at Rip.

The troopers began removing Rip's clothes, one unwinding a scarf from his neck, the other taking off one of what looked like several coats.

"I wish they would stop sending me such wretched specimens," the doctor said with distaste while the troopers worked. "If they at least took them from eras that weren't so primitive, then—"

Sara knew what was going to happen a second before it did. It was a tiny movement, a shift in posture so minuscule most people wouldn't have noticed it, but Sara had been trained by the League of Assassins. She could read body language almost as well as she could read English. Not only did her eyes catch the shift, but she immediately knew what it meant.

The doctor and the troopers, on the other hand, were completely taken by surprise.

One moment Rip was limp beneath the troopers hands, the next he had wrenched himself free, dropping his weight to the floor and rolling away. Before they even had a chance to react, he was on his feet again, facing them with a knife in his hand.

"Damn it!" Dr. Moreno glared at the troopers. "What happened to the tranquilizer you were supposed to give him?"

The trooper on the left swallowed nervously. "We only gave him a half dose," he said, sounding younger than Sara had expected. "The kid was coughing earlier and Time Master Druce was worried that—"

"Didn't you at least check for weapons?"

The other trooper responded this time, a woman judging by her voice. "Uh... We didn't think... That is to say..."

Sara understood. After all, who would think a poor, scrawny eight-year-old would be dangerous. They didn't know what Sara did. That it was often the poor and beaten down, the ones who had spent most of their lives fighting for survival who were the most dangerous.

"Imbeciles," said Dr. Moreno, vehemently.

Rip watched the exchange warily, head whipping back and forth, knife held tightly in his grip.

"Well, don't just stand there," the doctor ordered the troopers. "Grab him so I can administer another dose."

The troopers approached Rip slowly and cautiously.

The boy took a step back lifting his knife higher.

"Easy now," said the male trooper, holding up his hands and speaking as if he were trying to calm a frightened horse. "We're not going to hurt you."

While he was talking, the other trooper made a grab for Rip's arm.

Rip dodged out of the way, slashing out with the knife as he did so. The blade looked old and rusty, but he clearly knew how to use it and it came very close to meeting its mark.

The trooper snatched her arm back.

"Don't you touch me!" Rip's voice and expression were defiant but Sara could see fear flickering in his eyes.

"Listen," said the male trooper. "Everything's going to be alright. If you'll just..." He took another step forward but Rip quickly backed away once again.

"Where am I?" he demanded. "What do you want with me?"

"This is a safe place," insisted the female trooper. "We're trying to help you. Now, if you just give us the knife..."

The male trooper reached for the knife but Rip slashed forward with the blade again and this time metal met flesh.

"Shit!" cried the trooper, grabbing his arm.

"Ha," Mick exclaimed.

Sara's lips curled upward in a brief moment of satisfaction. It was good to see the Time Master get some of what was coming to him. She and the others Legends were watching the video completely rapt, unable to look away as the scene unfolded before them.

"Imbeciles!" the doctor cried again. "He's only a small boy and a sick one at that. Just grab him."

Eyes never leaving the troopers, Rip took another step back. His thin shoulders were rising and falling heavily as he breathed and a brief series of coughs shook his small frame.

He didn't have a chance against the troopers and he knew it.

Turning around, Rip raced for the back of the room and the outline of a door on the far wall. When he was near enough, he reached forward, hands scrabbling desperately across its surface.

Sara's heart broke for what felt like the hundredth time that day. A doorknob. Rip was from the 19th century. He was searching for a doorknob. There was a switch on the wall beside the door but he didn't even try to reach for it. His ticket to freedom was there and he didn't even know it.

Giving up on his search, Rip stuck his fingers into the crack of the door and tried to prise it open. When that didn't work, he resorted to pounding against it, his small fists barely even making any noise.

It wasn't long before the troopers were on him. Working together this time, they grabbed him both at once.

"No!" Rip cried.

The knife clattered to the floor as one of the troopers twisted his arm, but he continued to fight, fists and feet striking out at random. It didn't make any difference though. Despite several blows striking home, the troopers refused to let go and soon had a solid grip on his arms and legs.

"Let go!" Rip screamed, his voice shrill and full of panic. "Let me go!"

Sara felt sick as the sound of Rip's helpless cries echoed in her ears. Tears glistened on Ray's face. Jax closed his eyes unable to watch anymore, and Amaya and Zari reached out, arms wrapping around each other. Mick's beer bottle shattered in his hand but he barely even noticed.

Dr. Moreno approached Rip, a syringe in his hand. "Hold him still."

Rip wriggled and writhed in the troopers' grips but it did no good. He was able to let out one last cry of 'no' before the doctor injected him.

The tranquilizer worked quickly. In a matter of moments, Rip's body became limp once more and his eyes half-lidded.

"I hope that teaches you to be more careful in future," Dr. Moreno told the troopers. "You never know what these little degenerates might do."

Strangling was too good for him, Sara decided, getting blown up too. Dr. Moreno deserved to die slowly and painfully.

"Now we're going to have to do a thorough memory wipe on top of everything else." The doctor rubbed his forehead gazing down at Rip in annoyance. The troopers were already working on removing the boy's clothing once more. "Hurry up. We've already wasted enough time as it is. Of all the... I must have a word with the council about the current selection of initiates. Standards have clearly..." he trailed off, and as if suddenly recalling that he was being recorded, glanced towards the camera.

He cleared his throat and straightened his uniform. "As you can see, the initiate does have a temper, but perhaps with the proper influences, we can make use of it, find ways to use it to our advantage. Further tests should—"

Dr. Moreno was suddenly cut off as the video vanished leaving behind a blank screen.

It took a moment for the team to react, their hearts and minds still caught up in what they had been witnessing.

"What happened?" asked Sara, blinking in surprise.

Zari tapped the screen but it remained blank. Her forehead creased. "The whole screen's gone dead."

Pulling himself together with some effort, Jax retrieved one of the handheld devices that let him interface with the ship's systems. "Uh, diagnostics show the screen's still working," he said as he checked through things. "It's just been turned off."

"But who could have turned it off?" asked Nate. "None of us did it, did we?"

Mick let out a snort.

Zari rolled her eyes. "How could we have turned it off without touching anything?"

Nate shrugged. "Telepathy?"

"It wasn't telepathy," said Jax as he looked up from the interface. "The command came directly from Gideon."

The team exchanged looks.

"Why would Gideon turn the screen off?" asked Amaya.

"Gideon?" said Sara, gazing expectantly up at the ceiling.

There was no reply.

"Is she mad at us again?" Ray asked, worriedly. "I guess I can understand if she didn't like us invading Rip's privacy, but then why did she let us access the file in the first place? Why did she turn the video off now?"

There was a prickly sensation on the back of Sara's neck, another remnant of her assassin training. A cold realization washed over her. She had a pretty good idea why Gideon had turned off the video.

With a horrible sinking feeling, she slowly turned around.

Behind them standing in the doorway to the library was Rip.

"Crap," said Mick, speaking for all of them.