A/N: Hey guys. So if any of you follow me on twitter, you saw that I was planning on doing a post 2x06 drinking buddies fic. You also would have seen that this beast got away from me a little bit. Lucy had some things on her mind and wouldn't rest until they were said. So, that being said, I apologize for the angst, but I actually kind of loved writing this even if it hurt at times. This might be my favorite of my (very few) uploads. So go enjoy, and pray that it ends up like this after 2x07.
Disclaimer: If these characters or this show was mine, Wyatt and Rufus wouldn't have made such a tasteless joke.
Flynn closed the door after letting Lucy in and followed her deeper into the room. She sunk down on the floor with her back against the bed frame, and Flynn sat down next to her with a platonic space between them. Lucy didn't say a word before she opened the vodka and took a swig. She offered the bottle to Flynn, and after taking a drink himself, asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"
Lucy sighed and leaned her head back to rest against the crappy mattress. "Don't think I've had enough to drink for that yet." Flynn didn't respond, but handed the bottle back to her, and she drank some more. "It's just, god, it hurts."
"I thought you hadn't drank enough."
Lucy shot him a look, but took another pull from the bottle anyway. "Right now I'm just venting because at this point it seems like you're the only person I can tell without feeling like I'm burdening them with my relationship drama." And another sip, "Not that it really ever was a relationship. I'll never compare to Jess. She's all he's ever wanted. I should've known better."
When she went to take another drink from the bottle, Flynn pulled it away and took a sip himself. "I know the liquid courage helps, but damn Lucy, I don't need you to be sloppy drunk in ten minutes."
Lucy reached for the bottle back, and Flynn didn't protest. It's not like there was a ton left in the bottle anyway after he took a couple sips. "Maybe if I'm sloppy drunk, I can just fall into a dreamless sleep tonight and not be plagued with memories I really don't need right now." Her subsequent sip was much longer, and she grimaced at the bitter taste when she pulled the bottle away from her mouth.
"Hollywood?" At her surprised look, Flynn shrugged. "I told you, there's a lot in your journal."
She faced forward again and scoffed, "Of course. Because one day I'll write all about this time period. It's my fate."
"I guess it's possible you won't write it, but at this point, all of the broad strokes are lining up, even if you didn't think they would." He looked at her out of the corner of his eye as she drank some more. "But anyway, you apparently came here to vent about your Wyatt, not the journal."
"Not my Wyatt."
"I wouldn't be too sure about that."
She let her head drop back again and turned to look at him. "What do you mean? Is there something in the journal? I thought this wasn't about my journal."
"It's not. You haven't seen the way he's looked the last couple times you walked away from a conversation with him."
Lucy drank again, now feeling pleasantly buzzed and loose-lipped. "What? Upset that his hopes that we can be friends again were dashed?" That came out with a little more bite than she intended. Maybe she was angrier than she had believed. It's easier to be angry, so that's fine by me.
"Nope. The man you have been walking away from is a man who isn't so confident in his decisions."
"Yeah right. This is his wife we're talking about. What would you do if someday Lorena showed back up out of nowhere. You wouldn't just drop her for some girl you've known for all of 2 years. Vows mean more to Wyatt than that."
"Well we have already talked about what I will do when we get my wife and daughter back. And you are not just some girl he met and slept with."
"Sure feels that way." She punctuated the statement with another drink.
"He is kind of in a difficult position here, Lucy."
"Who are you and what have you done with the Flynn that hates Wyatt? Why are you defending him all of a sudden?"
"I am playing Devil's advocate. Look, I know how this all ends, and I can tell you if you want. Or we can just keep talking and you can air out your problems and then continue on like we never had this conversation."
Lucy took a moment to think about that. Does she really want to know how it ends? What if it is already over and Flynn is just playing her? What if Wyatt does leave Jessica? No. She has to let this play out the way it is supposed to play out. She sighed, "No, don't tell me."
Flynn shrugged, seemingly unaffected by any of this, "Suit yourself."
They sat in silence for a few minutes until Lucy drank some more and let out a slurred "I hate him."
"No you don't."
"No I don't. I love him. But can't I also hate him?"
"What do you hate him for?"
The room was starting to spin for Lucy, and she couldn't stop her eyes from watering. Though she had enough of her wits to keep the tears just at bay. "For going back to her even though I told him to. For bringing her into the bunker where I can't escape them. For trying to be my friend and wanting things to go back to normal, even though they never can be. For being happy when I'm so clearly not." Her breath hitched on the last one, and she took another small sip to hold back the tears.
"I know you probably do not want to hear this, but I think there may be some trouble in paradise."
"You're right. I don't want to hear it. So don't tell me." She finished the remaining vodka and put down the bottle heavily between them. "And please don't tell Wyatt about this conversation?"
"My lips are sealed." He mimed the action and even threw the key away. That got a small smile out of Lucy.
"You know what the worst part is? I actually like Jess. I mean she's smart, she's fierce, she's pretty. I can see how Wyatt fell so hard. Of course he wants to go back to her, she's kind of awesome."
Flynn bumped her shoulder with his. Well, it was really more the middle of his triceps bumping her shoulder because the man is a literal giant, but the sentiment was the same. "You are pretty awesome too, you know."
"I'm just a teacher."
Flynn abruptly stood up. "Okay. I think that is enough self-pity for tonight. You are a strong and beautiful woman. You are smart. Hell you are a professor at Stanford. Your run-of-the-mill teacher couldn't do that. Stop comparing yourself to Jess because you are both amazing women in your own right. If Wyatt can't see what he's missing—and by the way, he can—then he has his own problems to figure out." Flynn held out his hand and helped an unsteady Lucy to her feet. "Now come on, I have a pair of sweat pants you can borrow so that you are not stuck sleeping in uncomfortable jeans. And you are not sleeping on that awful couch. There are two beds in this room, just like all the others. They just don't trust me enough to give me a roommate."
Lucy stood there, slightly stunned. "I—Okay?"
"Good." Flynn turned around and grabbed a pair of pants with a drawstring and threw them in her direction before turning around and facing the wall. "Go ahead. Change. I won't look."
Lucy kept a wary eye on him as she obeyed his command and crawled into the second bed. "Good night, Flynn."
He turned around, crawled into his own bed, and turned out the light. "Good night, Lucy."
Lucy's head was throbbing. She sat up and took in her surroundings, along with the man sleeping across the room. Right. Vodka, Flynn, and venting. She gathered up her jeans and quietly slipped out of his room to head back to hers. She knocked on the door and walked in when she got the all clear. Rufus was sitting up at the head of the bed with his back against the wall and his legs dangling off the side of the bed. Jiya's head was on a pillow in his lap. She turned her head to greet Lucy. "Hey. Where did you sleep last night? I went out to get a cup of tea and you weren't on the couch." She took notice of the pants both in Lucy's arms and on her legs. "Um, whose pants are those?"
Lucy had her back turned while she folded the jeans and put them away, but she answered, "Flynn's."
Jiya sat up quickly and said, "What?!" at the same time Rufus said, "Please tell me you didn't."
Finished dealing with the jeans, and now searching for Ibuprofen to soothe her pounding head, Lucy replied, "Relax, guys. I had a little too much to drink and Flynn let me use the other bed in his room instead of the couch. And he practically threw the sweats at me, claiming that sleeping in jeans is ridiculous." Triumphantly holding the pill bottle, she turned to face the other two. "Nothing happened except for me drunkenly confessing my relationship issues."
Rufus almost looked hurt. "Why Flynn? Why couldn't you come to me about that? I was at least on the Hollywood mission so I know more."
She raised her eyebrow and crossed her arms in response. "Really? You want me to talk to you about my relationship issues with Wyatt? The guy you were just giggling with about his late-night activities with Jess? Yeah, no thanks."
Rufus broke eye contact guiltily, "Yeah, sorry about that. Kind of a dick move."
"Tell me about it." She fished out two pills and put the bottle away. "I'm hungry so I'm going to see if there's any cereal left in the kitchen." She walked out of the room without another glance at Rufus. She felt like she was being just a little unfair to him, but she was tired, hungry, and hungover. She'll talk to him later and smooth it out.
She approached the thankfully empty kitchen and got a glass of water to wash the pills down with. Of course, she couldn't be in silence for very long in this crowded hole in the ground. But did it really have to be Wyatt and Jess to walk in at that moment? Lucy pretended like she didn't care, and asked if there was any cereal left. Jess responded, "No, sorry I got a late-night craving. I left a note on the fridge for Agent Christopher to get some more, though."
"Okay." She turned around and opened the fridge after briefly glancing at the aforementioned note.
Wyatt and Jessica looked at each other, and Wyatt asked, "Do you want me to make something?"
She straightened up and faced him with a smile that didn't come close to reaching her eyes. "No thanks, Wyatt. I can handle scrambled eggs."
She was a little too stiff and polite for his liking, so he tried to use humor to get her to loosen up a little. "Really? That's news to me. I've only ever seen you burn scrambled eggs." It apparently had the opposite effect though, because she stiffened and turned back to the fridge to grab the eggs.
"Yeah well I had to learn to cook someday. Gotta learn to live on my own in case we ever get out of here. It's not like I'll have anyone to cook for me since my mom is evil, and I can't live on takeout forever." She whisked the eggs in a bowl and poured them into the nonstick pan she placed on the burner, ignoring the 'and I also won't have you available to me at all when we get out of here' that hung in the air after her statement.
It was at this moment that Wyatt finally noticed how the pants she was wearing were rolled over and tied at the drawstring, and they still had many inches bunched around her ankles when she walked. His eyebrows pinched as he thought about why that could be until Flynn walked into the room. "Morning, guys."
Lucy cheerfully responded, "Morning" and Jess greeted him with a friendly "Hey."
Wyatt was seeing red. He couldn't believe Lucy would do this. Sleep with Flynn? Flynn? Of all people? When he stopped glaring holes into Flynn's head, he turned his angry stare to Lucy. "Lucy."
She looked back at him as her eggs were finishing and she put them on a plate. She was shocked by the absolute ice shooting from his usually warm blue eyes. When she registered what could have caused such a change in demeanor, she rolled her eyes and picked up her food. "Don't even go there, Wyatt."
"How can I not go there?"
Flynn looked at a stunned and confused Jessica and suggested leaving them to their fight alone. The pair left the room, but couldn't avoid hearing the conversation anyway. It was after all, not a quiet one, and this wasn't the bathroom so there was no true privacy.
"It's none of your business, Wyatt."
"Like hell it's not"
"What exactly do you think makes it your business?"
"It's my job to protect this team. To protect you. And he is a danger."
"He saved my life more than once."
"That doesn't prove anything. He's still a terrorist who stole a time machine and tried to have all of us killed."
"We are on his side now. He was always trying to take down Rittenhouse, and now we are too."
"So?"
Lucy crossed her arms. "So? That's really your argument? Come on. Safety is not what this is about and you know it."
"What are you talking about?"
"Damnit, Wyatt! You're acting like some jealous boyfriend!"
"Am not!" He crossed his arms too.
Lucy threw her hands up in the air. "Stop being a child and admit it! I am so sick of walking on eggshells around you and lying to spare your feelings. I'm sick of pretending I'm so happy for you and Jess. I hate it. I hate that I like her because it would be so much easier if she were a bitch or if she was some Rittenhouse plant. But she's great. And you do deserve someone like that. But I don't deserve having you parade her in front of my face every god damn day."
"And your retaliation is parading around the bunker wearing Flynn's pants? I mean come on, Lucy. You may as well have 'I slept with Flynn' painted on your forehead. What makes you think I deserve that?"
"So, what, you're allowed to sleep with your wife—very loudly, might I add—but I'm not allowed to sleep with anyone? How is that fair? Last I checked, I am single and I am an adult. I can do whatever, or whomever I want." She knew she was just saying it to hurt him like he hurts her every night with those noises. Nothing happened with Flynn, and nothing would ever happen. But she felt the need to attack right now. She didn't feel like playing the selfless, defensive girl who had her heart broken but wants to see the man she loves happy. She was hurt and finally allowed herself to lash out at him for it. "You made it perfectly clear that I was never going to be anything to you as soon as Jess came back and you sprinted away. I thought I made it clear to you that you have her back now, and you should go be with her. That's all that you've ever wanted anyway. Go be happy with your wife. We can be friends, but more like 1937 friends, not 1954 friends. You can't have it both ways, Wyatt. You have an amazing woman there, and you are married. You can't have me sitting on the sidelines waiting to tell you all about my mission and my day as if nothing ever happened. As if Hollywood didn't happen. As if Jess coming back to life didn't happen. News flash. It. Happened. We can't take it back regardless of the fact that we have a time machine. I know we said we don't have regrets about that night, but I regret so many things. I regret letting you in. I regret telling you my secrets. I regret letting myself fall in love with you when I knew—I KNEW—that you were always going to love Jessica. It's my own damn fault and I should have known better. But you were my lightning bolt. I couldn't help it." At this point, the tears were flowing down her face, her chest was heaving, and her eyes burned into his with a fury and pain he had never seen before.
He immediately hated himself for making her feel like this. But then her words finally hit him, "You love me?" his question was nearly whispered. "Why have you been pushing me away all this time? Why wouldn't you fight for me? Or at least tell me how you really felt so I could make my own decision?"
Lucy let out a watery, bitter chuckle and wiped at her eyes. "I could never compete with Jessica, the legend or the reality. It was easier to make the decision for you than have to suffer through you letting me down easily."
"You don't know that that's what I would have done."
"Let's not kid ourselves, Wyatt. You would have gone back to her no matter what. Besides. I never wanted to be an obstacle to your marriage. I still don't. So I'm just going to go back to my room and eat my breakfast. And maybe one day when I move on, we can be real friends again. Maybe one day, it won't break my heart to see you with her. But right now, I need to be as far away from you as possible when we aren't on missions."
"Lucy—"
"Goodbye, Wyatt."
It had been a week since Lucy's outburst, and Wyatt had only seen her a few times. She'd leave the kitchen just as he walked in, never making eye contact. He would sometimes catch glimpses of her walking out of Flynn's room when Rufus stayed with Jiya. That always riled him up, and he took it out on the punching bag they just set up in the main room. Even Jessica sensed the tension. If she had heard anything from the argument, she wasn't letting on about it. Wyatt was going stir crazy, and if he had to walk into the bathroom and smell Lucy's shampoo in the air one more time, he was going to lose it.
Finally, Jess had enough. She pulled Wyatt into their room and pushed him down on Rufus' bed. "It's time we have a talk."
"About what?"
"About you. Sulking around the place, barely paying any attention to me or anybody who doesn't have a PhD in history."
"What are you talking about? I've barely seen Lucy in a week."
"Exactly. The fact that you noticed how much you haven't seen her. Do you know how much you saw me in the last week?" Wyatt had a blank look on his face. "Exactly. Not much. But you barely noticed because you have been so consumed by the fight you two had last week."
"The fight—"
Jess held up her hand. "Don't tell me the fight was nothing. I heard every word." He now looked guilty, so she shrugged. "You said it yourself that first day. The bathroom is the only real privacy in this place. And there aren't even any doors in the kitchen, so that makes sound travel even further."
"I'm sorry."
"I know you are. But you're also in love with Lucy, not me. And it's ok. I may love this new version of you, but I'm not in love with him. And he's only really here because of Lucy and Rufus and this ramshackle operation you have going on. Who would have thought that time travel would make you a better person?"
He gave her a wry grin at that. "I sure never expected it."
"Kind of like you never expected to fall in love with Lucy? Even when you finally had another chance with me?" His sad blue eyes were all the answer she needed. She gave him a sad smile and reached into the drawer nearby, pulling out the envelope holding the divorce papers. "Here. I know it was probably tempting fate, keeping these so close by. But after JFK, I figured it would probably just be a matter of time until you realized what I saw in that hospital. Even though I decided to give you another chance, I knew it wouldn't last. You just needed to see it yourself. And I think this forced separation she imposed after pouring her heart out was exactly what pushed you over the edge."
"I'm really sorry you had such little faith in me. I wish I could be the man you deserve."
"It's okay, Wyatt." She cupped his cheek in her palm. "You're the man that Lucy deserves, and you absolutely deserve her back." She kissed him lightly on the cheek. "I'll get my bags packed and talk to Agent Christopher about reintegrating myself into the world. You sign the papers when you're ready, and go talk to Lucy. Fight for her like you wanted her to fight for you."
He grabbed her hand as she walked away. "Thank you, Jessica." Squeezing his hand in response and giving him a small smile, she walked away.
Wyatt sat for a few more minutes before grabbing a pen and scribbling his signature on the dotted line. He was now a divorce man. He removed his ring and placed it in the folder with the papers. He then pulled out Jessica's bag from under the bed and placed the folder on it. He resolved to give himself a night to accept the end of his marriage before he tried with Lucy. He figured he'd start with making her breakfast in the morning, even if it required him waking up at the crack of dawn to catch her at this new schedule.
Wyatt was practically sleep walking the next morning as he walked into the kitchen. Shockingly, Rufus was already brewing coffee. "Pour me a cup while you're at it?"
"Sure." Rufus grabbed another mug from the cabinet and poured a generous amount in both mugs once the coffee had finished brewing. He turned slowly and handed the mug to Wyatt. "You're up early. What gives?"
"I'm trying to catch Lucy. She'd been avoiding me by getting in here earlier than usual, so I made it a mission to beat her here and make her breakfast."
Rufus looked confused. "Why?" Then his face morphed to concerned apprehension. "You sure that's a good idea with the way things have been between you two?"
"Yes. I have to do this if I ever want to make things right. It may not seem like a grand gesture, but it will hopefully seem huge to Lucy."
"Is there something that I missed?"
"It's over with Jess."
Rufus' eyebrows shot up. "Like, over over? Or like emotionally over but not officially."
"I signed the divorce papers and she's talking to Christopher about moving out."
"Wow." The boys both took a sip of their still-hot coffee.
"Yeah. So. Do we still have eggs?"
"Eggs? That's your idea of a grand gesture?"
Wyatt placed his coffee down and waved his hand as he walked over to the fridge. "You wouldn't get it."
Rufus tilted his head. "I guess not. I'm gonna go take this coffee to Jiya's room. If she doesn't take a sip the second she wakes up, we'll all regret it." He walked out of the kitchen, leaving Wyatt to pull out the carton of eggs as Lucy walked in and stopped in the doorway.
Wyatt turned and caught her eyes, giving her a small smile. "Good morning." Lucy just bobbed her head and entered the room, looking for a cup of coffee. Wyatt wasn't letting her out so easily. "You hungry? I'm making scrambled eggs."
At the scrambled eggs comment. Lucy's eyes shot to Wyatt's, and she saw the significant look in his deep blue ones. "Um, sure." He beamed at her. One step in the right direction.
"Here, Rufus only made enough for two cups of coffee. You can have mine." He handed his still full mug to her. "Sit. Breakfast will be ready soon."
She obeyed, choosing the couch to keep some distance between them. "Wyatt?" his back was turned to her while he whisked the eggs, but as soon as he poured them in the pan, he turned and leaned against the counter facing Lucy's inquisitive stare. "What's going on?"
"I signed the divorce papers."
Lucy practically choked on her coffee and squeaked out a "What?"
Wyatt turned to stir the eggs and continued. "We're over. Really, we've been over for a while, but I only realized how futile everything was when we talked last night. I've kind of been a mess this past week. Since the fight."
"Wyatt, I need to ap—"
"No, don't apologize. You spoke your mind, and I really needed to hear it even if it hurt."
"But I didn't mean it all. Especially not about the regrets. So I'm sorry for that."
Wyatt shrugged. "You had to be thinking it on some level, otherwise you wouldn't have said it. And I don't blame you for having those thoughts. They're perfectly reasonable. I broke your heart. And I can't even begin to express how sorry I am for that. I was a dick and there's no excuse."
"You were in an impossible situation. Someone was bound to get hurt."
"Maybe, but I could've handled it a little better. I shouldn't have expected to just go back to the way things were between us while I was married."
"You know what I think?" Wyatt tilted his head, indicating for her to continue, "Well for starters, I think the eggs are burning, Chef Logan."
Wyatt spun around and dealt with the ruined food. "Maybe I'll make food after we finish talking?"
Lucy smiled, "Good idea."
He walked over and sat down next to her on the crappy couch, turning to face her. "What else do you think?"
"I think we need to stop simultaneously blaming ourselves and defending each other. I think we should just accept that these things happened and move forward."
He slid forward on the couch so that their legs were pressed together and their faces were just inches apart. "And how do you suggest we start moving forward, Professor?"
Lucy's breath started to quicken as he leaned in and brushed his lips against hers tentatively. When her hand found his jaw, he grew more confident and pressed his lips to hers more insistently. But she pulled away while placing that hand on his chest to put some distance between them, maintaining their connection by leaning her forehead against his and closing her eyes. "Wyatt," She took a steadying breath. God she forgot how he could make her feel with just a kiss, "it can't be that easy."
"Why not? I love you. I'm so in love with you and I've finally stopped fighting it."
She pulled her head back and opened her eyes. "You still hurt me. I can't just let go again like nothing happened. Like you didn't just drop me in a heartbeat for someone else, even if she was your wife"
"I'm not asking you to forget what happened. I'm asking you to give me a chance. I know I don't really deserve it, but I will prove to you every second of every day that you are my choice. I plan on keeping that promise I made all those weeks ago. You haven't lost me, and now you never will."
"We'll take it slow." She closed her eyes to the onslaught of emotion, so she didn't see his smirk.
"Well, we can go as slow as living together allows." She opened her eyes just to roll them at him. He sobered up slightly. "We'll go at whatever pace you want. On one condition."
"What?" He closed the distance between them again, and this time Lucy was ready for the glide of his lips and met him halfway.
He was the first to pull back, and she found herself missing his lips immediately. "My condition is that we still get to do that."
She smiled and pulled him back in for a quick kiss, "I think I can agree to those terms. Now go. Make me food."
He grinned at her, his heart finally starting to repair itself from the torment they suffered the last few weeks, "Yes, Ma'am."
