Window to the Soul
Lucy Preston wasn't sure exactly where the quote, "The eyes are the window to the soul," had come from. During her many years of study and research, she had seen it attributed to several different sources, including William Shakespeare, Leonardo DaVinci, and the Bible. Although somewhat familiar, it was just another random bit of trivia floating around in her head, a useless scrap, or so she thought until the day she met Wyatt Logan.
A long day of teaching, followed by a few quiet moments spent at the bedside of her terminally-ill mother, had somehow culminated in her arrival at the sprawling Mason Industries facility, "summoned" by Homeland Security. In spite of her repeated questions, the agent tasked with delivering her here had been maddeningly silent, and Lucy struggled to control her uneasiness and rising panic. She had followed the unresponsive man through a series of twisting, seemingly deserted hallways, until he had practically pushed her into a room and shut the door firmly, in spite of her sputtering protest. Taking a deep breath, Lucy had turned around and was startled to see she wasn't alone.
An attractive, dark-haired man was sitting on the sofa, long legs propped up on the low table in front of him, booted feet crossed at the ankles, and arms folded firmly across his upper body. He was motionless but for the steady rise and fall of his broad chest, apparently sleeping, which Lucy found hard to believe, considering how hard the Homeland Security agent had shut the door a minute ago. She stared at the man, who seemed to be around her own age, for a few seconds, but he gave no indication that he was even aware of her presence.
With a sigh, she dropped into the chair beside the door, slim fingers absentmindedly worrying the locket she constantly wore around her neck. It was a nervous habit, one she usually wasn't even aware of, although her sister Amy would tease her about it every so often. Thinking of Amy standing at the front door of their mother's home, an alarmed expression on her face as she watched Lucy follow the agent to a large black SUV, only served to heighten her anxiety level.
She attempted, and failed, to speak to the man, and trying again, whispered, "Are you asleep?" To her amazement, he responded, "No, Ma'am." Encouraged, she asked if he knew why the two of them were here. "No idea, Ma'am," was his dismissive reply. Normally, Lucy was fairly reserved, and usually polite, but as the day she'd had seemed to be turning into an even worse evening, she had finally reached her breaking point. Without thinking, she snapped, "You know, we're pretty much the same age, so you can quit calling me Ma'am." At her frosty tone, he opened his eyes and gave her a mocking half smirk, and while Lucy certainly didn't appreciate his scornful air, she definitely noticed his striking dark blue eyes. (Unfortunately, she had always been partial to men with blue eyes.)
Before she could say anything further, the door opened suddenly and a petite dark-haired woman entered, introducing herself as Agent Denise Christopher, Homeland Security. Instantly, her companion came to his feet, all traces of amusement gone from his face. He stood quietly while the agent spoke calmly to Lucy, and turning to the man, shook his hand and confirmed that he was one Master Sergeant Wyatt Logan of Delta Force. She openly stared at him as he respectfully replied, "Yes, Ma'am," to Agent Christopher, and completely ignoring Lucy, quickly followed the other woman out of the room. Slightly dazed, Lucy hurried after the pair, feeling a little like Alice tumbling down the rabbit hole.
After being instructed to change into an obviously cobbled together outfit, Lucy knew she was babbling, could sense a slight impatience from Agent Christopher, but concentrating on the inaccuracies of her "costume" was her attempt at coping with what she was experiencing without having some kind of mental breakdown. Before she knew it, she and the soldier had climbed into the strange metal ball (time machine?) that Conner Mason called the "Lifeboat" where a 30-ish, tall black man was already seated in front of an impressive-looking control panel, and after bumping around each other, finally sat down.
She fumbled with the complicated set of seat belts by herself while trying to ignore the sneering blue gaze of the man seated across from her, so closely their knees touched. Lucy didn't know what this guy's problem was, but she was getting pretty damn sick of his attitude. She couldn't help it if she was claustrophobic, and she was appalled when he admitted he had been drinking before coming to Mason Industries. (And if he didn't stop calling her "Ma'am"...)
After a gut-wrenching series of vibrations that snapped her head forward and shook her to the core, the time machine actually landed in 1937 New Jersey, and Lucy was slightly ashamed at her fleeting amusement when the soldier stumbled out of the Lifeboat after her and sank to the ground, gagging and trying desperately not to lose the contents of his stomach.
What followed during the next hours was like something out of a science fiction book or movie, and as one strange event after another unfolded, Lucy clung increasingly to the security of her fellow travelers, Wyatt, and Rufus, the pilot. She found herself meeting Wyatt Logan's dark blue eyes frequently, and while he still mostly acted like a jackass, a couple of times, she was heartened by a glint of something like approval in his eyes. And to give him credit, he seemed to take his duties very seriously.
Wyatt didn't talk much while they were detained in the jail cell, but when she challenged him on his odd behavior around Kate Drummond, he had admitted that the beautiful reporter reminded him of his deceased wife. Lucy felt a pang of sympathy for this man she barely knew and wished she had kept quiet as she glimpsed a flash of deep sadness over the loss of his wife. However, not long after, she was pretty sure she hadn't imagined the flicker of male appreciation from him when she had unexpected turned around while removing her bra so he could use the under wire from the modern garment to pick the cell lock.
She practically felt the cold anger coming from his eyes when she had foolishly let herself get grabbed by Garcia Flynn. (She doubted it was concern for her safety, more like dismay that she had gotten herself in trouble and he had to save her). The enormous flaming wreck of the Hindenburg cast wild, swirling shadows that couldn't hide Wyatt's deadly intent as he skillfully took aim at Flynn when he had her in a choke hold with a gun held to the side of her head. Lucy saw the gentleness in his eyes as he tried to save the doomed Kate, and although he quickly masked his expression, she could feel his devastation when despite their best efforts, the reporter succumbed to Flynn's bullet.
When the three of them crawled out of the lifeboat upon their return to the present, his azure eyes dully reflected shock and weariness, much like hers, she imagined. As soon as Agent Christopher had debriefed and then dismissed the trio, Wyatt had been out the door. She hurried after him, compelled to ask him about the heart-stopping moment when he aimed his weapon at her and Garcia Flynn. That had been a terrible mistake, as evidenced by the icy derision directed at her when she had thoughtlessly, awkwardly, expressed her opinion about the tragic fate of his wife Jessica.
During the ride back to her mother's house, out of nowhere the quote, "the eyes are the window to the soul" popped into her head, and she immediately thought of Wyatt, and all the different emotions she had seen in those blue eyes of his during the brief time she had spent with him. Lucy instinctively knew the soldier would be unhappy at how much of himself he had inadvertently revealed to her.
In the days, weeks, and months after that first mission, and as Lucy came to know and grow closer to Wyatt Logan, she was at first surprised, then secretly comforted by her growing ability to interpret his moods (if not exactly his thoughts and feelings) by what she would see reflected in his dark blue eyes. As a member of the elite Delta Force, the soldier had years of training and experience, and had learned a long time ago to maintain a stoic demeanor at all times. She privately thought that Wyatt would be dismayed to learn how expressive his eyes were, at least to her, contrary to his actions at any given time, and how much she depended on that knowledge to survive this hellish world they had been thrust into.
A/N: I swear that I really am working on Chapter 12 of First Steps, but this particular idea has been lurking in the back of my brain for a while now and just wouldn't let me go. I'm not sure if it's worth continuing, so I would love and appreciate any feedback. And yes, just like Lucy, I am partial to blue-eyed guys, especially when they look like Wyatt :)