Since this whole crazy mess started it seemed like everyone had been telling her who and what to be. Her mother, Flynn, Ben Cahill, Rittenhouse, Noah, even Agent Christopher occasionally.
Everyone but Rufus and Wyatt.
Maybe that's why she was in no rush to get back to the present. During jumps her world shrunk to the three of them and the task at hand. That was all that mattered, all she needed. Except currently, this jump was putting her in a bit of an awkward situation. It had been two days since the world came crashing down around her. Two days since the Mothership had been stolen. Finally, someone used it.
September 16th, 1919
San Francisco, California
Same city, very different year. She recognized the date immediately. President Woodrow Wilson will give a speech the following day at the Palace Hotel in support of the League of Nations. While many considered the League of Nations to be a tragic failure, Lucy did not. Yes, the agreements made there had oppressed Germany to the point that they were desperate to regain their power. Yes, that desperation led to the rise of Hitler, but the League of Nations laid the groundwork for international cooperation for decades to come. Without it international powers could shift in unpredictable ways. She had no doubt World War II would still come to be just a few decades later but she worried that Rittenhouse would try to take control of it's outcome.
The League of Nations had to come to fruition. President Wilson had to continue to be vocal about his support. She wasn't positive this was Rittenhouse's plan but it was the most logical reason they'd be in this time and this place.
They'd seen no signs of Rittenhouse. No one looked familiar or out of place and there seemed to be no immediate threat to the President. So, the plan was to stay the night in the hotel and act as additional security at the speech tomorrow. Rufus had gone back to the Lifeboat because he didn't really imagine the Palace Hotel in 1919 would give him a room. Lucy had winced when he'd said it. It didn't matter how many jumps they took, she never stopped feeling guilty when Rufus was treated as less than her or Wyatt. As much as she loved history, more often than not...it sucked.
He'd also mentioned wanting to keep an eye on the Lifeboat's CPU in case the Mothership made a jump, but she had a feeling that was an excuse.
Wyatt had handed Rufus one of his future guns and urged him to be careful before Rufus had left them. He'd started bringing more than one on their jumps at some point, she couldn't really pinpoint when.
The issue now was getting a room. In 1919, for a man and a woman to share a room, there was only one acceptable line. They'd played the Newlywed card and it worked like a charm. The minute the lie had left her lips, Wyatt had slipped into the role. Standing much closer than he had been, touching her in little casual ways, and he seemed to smiling at her with a little extra affection. It felt so real that she wondered if he was merely using this lie as an excuse to be close to her. His recent statement about possibilities sprang to the front of her mind and she willfully forced it back. They had not had time to revisit the topic and she wasn't sure now was appropriate.
The bellman closed the door behind them after escorting them to their room and Lucy was faced with being left alone with Wyatt. Her eyes surveyed the room and she bit back a sigh. With only one bed to share.
"So," Wyatt said as he awkwardly cleared his throat and glanced around the room. The room was furnished in luxury style for it's time and Wyatt knew it. He whistled with raised eyebrows before turning to smirk at her. "Nice digs."
"The nicest of it's time," she said with a small smile. "Did you know that this is actually the 'new' Palace Hotel? The original was destroyed after the 1906 earthquake. Not actually by the earthquake but by the fires that came after the earthquake."
She was rambling now. She knew it. Wyatt knew it. She could tell by the insufferable smirk he was pointing at her.
"Interesting," he said with a nod and a smirk that never faltered.
She shook her head and glared at him playfully. "Shut up."
He held his hands up in surrender and chuckled. "All I said was 'interesting.'"
"We both know that wasn't interesting in the slightest," she said with a self deprecating laugh.
"No, it wasn't," he agreed with a teasing grin.
"Jerk," she said with a genuine laugh.
"I'm only agreeing with you," he said with a laugh of his own. "You're the one that said it."
"You know, I think traditionally that's when you're supposed to humor me, sweetheart," Lucy said with a pointed glare.
"Ah, so you want me to lie to you? Is that it, babydoll?" He asked as he took a step into her personal space.
"And again I say, jerk," she told him as she swatted at his arm.
He caught her hand mid-swat and held it there between them. He studied her fingers for a moment before smiling softly at her. "You know, you typically only ramble like that when you're nervous. Are you nervous about something, Professor?"
She swallowed thickly and looked away from him as she shook her head in the negative.
"Wow, see, I know you can lie better than that," he said with a chuckle. "I've seen it."
She blushed in embarrassment and chuckled dryly, being sure to avoid his gaze. "God, I hate you."
He shook his head and she could hear his trademark crooked grin in his tone. "No, you don't."
"Am I really that transparent or are you that perceptive?" She asked as she finally met his eyes again. It took everything in her not to gasp as she met the full force of his blue eyes. They were boring into her, searching her face for something. She wasn't sure what.
He carelessly lifted a shoulder, all the while never moving his eyes from hers. "Reading you has always come easily to me."
She took in and then released a calming breath. His eyes were more intense than she anticipated. She'd only seen that look a handful of times. Most recently when he'd talked to her about being open to possibilities and not being ready to say goodbye. And immediately after that her world had tilted, flipped on its head. It had been careening out of control ever since.
But in this moment, with Wyatt, everything seemed to have stopped.
Not that everything wouldn't start spinning wildly again eventually. It had to. She huffed and sat down the bed. "Would it be completely horrible of me to just stay in 1919? I could make it work, I think." She reached for her shoes and eagerly slipped them off. Her clothes felt heavy. Not that this was the most amount of clothing she'd ever worn on a jump. Honestly, she wasn't even sure it was the clothes that felt heavy.
She felt the bed shift next to her as she threw the shoes aside. Wyatt grabbed her hand again and gave it a supportive squeeze.
"You stay, I stay," he said simply. "Say the word and we'll get lost."
She'd been halfway joking but Wyatt wasn't. He was deadly serious.
It shocked her and forced her to look at him again. "You would do that?"
He smirked at her, as if the answer should be obvious, and shrugged. "1919's not so bad."
Between the time travel, Rittenhouse, and her mother she'd forgotten what it felt like to have anything that was constant. Unwavering. And there right in front of her was the most constant unwavering man she'd ever met. She felt a swell of emotion. Gratitude, affection, hope. All of it culminated in her launching herself at him in a desperate hug.
"You're ridiculous and I'm so grateful to have you," she said as she closed her eyes and nestled her cheek against him. His arms tightened around her and he pressed his cheek against her temple. His stubble pulled lightly at her hair and she felt him sigh contentedly, the warm air he expelled barely touched her skin. They sat there for a long moment, just enjoying the quiet and the companionship, until she yawned.
Wyatt must have felt her yawning against him because he chuckled before breaking the silence. "It's been a long day. Hell, a long series of months, actually. We should sleep."
They pulled apart, but before they pulled apart Lucy could swear she felt Wyatt gently press his lips against her temple.
She'd undressed down to her undergarments, which in this era was much more modest than her modern day pajamas. She didn't feel exposed by any means. Too much fabric for that. Wyatt looked much more comfortable than she did in his boxers and undershirt. She felt a swell of jealousy for how less cumbersome men's fashions always seemed to be.
Wyatt's eyes widened at the sight of her. "Damn, how many layers of clothing were you wearing under that dress?"
She huffed as she slipped into the bed they were going to share. "Too many. Honestly, I'm just glad to take off the shoes and the hat. Not a fan of hats yet a somehow I always have to wear them."
"You know, it's kind of impressive actually that you keep up with me as well as you do in all of that...get up," Wyatt said with a grin as she slid into bed next to her.
"I guess if I have to be weighted down in layers being impressive is a nice consolation," she said with a grin.
He turned to face her with a warm smile. "Good night, Lucy."
She nodded and rolled to face him as well. "Good night."
Only neither one of them closed their eyes and tried to sleep. They stared at each other as the silence engulfed them. The tension that had been building since their talk two days ago seemed to fill all the empty space in the room.
Wyatt huffed and gulped. His eyes suddenly looked vulnerable and nervous. Much the way they had before he'd suggested they both try to move forward two days ago. "Lucy…"
"Yes?" She asked curiously. It was clear he was gearing up for something important.
"We never really finished our talk," he said as he looked away from her. That's how she knew he was about to say something important. He always looked away first, like he was mustering up the courage. "About possibilities."
"Mason did kind of interrupt, didn't he?" She asked knowingly.
"Unfortunately," Wyatt said with a roll of his eyes.
Lucy chuckled at the bitterness in his tone and bit back a smile. "I sense some lingering resentment."
He chuckled with her and met her eyes again. This time his eyes had a bit of dark edge to them. It almost looked like desire. "You'd be resentful too if you knew what impulse I was moments away from acting on."
Oh, okay, it didn't almost look like desire. It was desire. "Do you mean you were going to-"
In an instant his arm had wrapped around her waist and pulled her flush against him. She gasped at their sudden closeness. "Hi," she said breathlessly as she tried to figure out what to do with her hands.
"Hi," he said with a flirtatious grin. "I've been wanting you this close for two days now."
"You should have said something. I would have been more than happy to oblige," Lucy said with a sudden burst of confidence and a giddy smile. He'd surprised her in more ways than one. The fact that he seemed to want her so badly sent a thrill up her spine and bolstered her self esteem. No one had ever made her feel quite like this.
Wyatt laughed and she felt the vibration of it against her. "You would have, huh?"
She finally figured out what to do with her arms and hands. She wrapped them around his neck and let her fingers slip into the hair at the base of his neck. "Absolutely. So, what do we do now?"
He closed the distance between them and rested his forehead against hers, their noses bumping just slightly. His eyes drifted to her lips and then back up to her eyes. "This," he said just before he finally covered her lips with his.
The thrill she felt at being pulled against him was nothing compared to the thrill of kissing him again. This time there was no one they had to fool. No pretense. No easy out once it was over. Not that either one of them was looking for a way out. This kiss was slow, hesitant, but it easily gave way to another and then another. Each kiss becoming more and more intrusive. Their bodies adjusted and entangled. Neither thought this was the time or place to go much further than this but the closeness was too tempting. Too delicious.
They fit, Lucy thought in awe. She fit so perfectly against him and it all felt completely right. She'd wondered over the last couple of days if anything in her life was true or if she was really meant to be in the middle of Rittenhouse and the rest of the world, but now she knew. If protecting the world meant working side by side with Wyatt then she was exactly where she was supposed to be and she was certain that nothing would ever be more honest than this kiss. She felt a strange sense of peace wash over her and smiled against Wyatt's lips.
He must have felt the smile because he pulled back and gave her a curious glance. "What?" He asked with a grin.
"Nothing," she said with a beaming smile. "I'm just...happy. I've been doubting whether I'd ever really be happy again. So much is happening back home and everything feels so confusing, so out of control." She removed one of her hands from his hair and then placed it over his rapidly beating heart. "But you, you're none of those things. It makes me...hopeful."
He brought a hand up under her chin to tip her face toward his for one more soft kiss. It was so full of warmth and affection that it nearly brought tears to her eyes. "I know exactly what you mean," he said in a hoarse whisper. "You were that for me while we were chasing Flynn and I'm more than happy to return the favor, ma'am."