A little Christmas tale involving Lucy and Wyatt - and later snow!

~o~

Wyatt glanced surreptitiously at Lucy; she was deep in concentration glaring at the computer screen with a frown marring her forehead. He sighed to himself, sad to see her so focussed on work that nothing seemed to penetrate the shield she had raised around herself ever since she had discovered her mother's involvement with Rittenhouse.

With a final look in Lucy's direction Wyatt decided it was definitely time to put his plan into action.

"Lucy, you got a minute?" Wyatt asked her.

"Huh? Err, yeah of course." She responded, dragging her eyes away from the screen.

"What are you planning for Christmas?" Wyatt enquired, sitting back and folding his arms. Lucy seemed completely at a loss with this line of questioning.

"Not much I suppose," she said "I expect we'll need to be on call in case Emma takes the Mothership out. Hadn't really thought about it"

Wyatt was not surprised by her answer since she didn't think about much other that bringing down Rittenhouse these days.

"Great!" he smiled at her, "That means you're free to come on a little trip with me, seeing as I need someone to rein in my hothead tendencies!"

Lucy was totally unprepared for his request, the look of confusion on her face making Wyatt's smile even broader as she then came up with the answer he was not only expecting but already prepared for.

"Oh, Wyatt, that sounds great but I think we'll need to be near the Lifeboat in case we're needed." She said.

"Nah, I've spoken to Agent Christopher and Mason, it's all sorted. We can be back in a couple of hours if they do need us, but I think we'll be staying in 2017 for Christmas since Emma is going to take a while recovering from the beating she took on that last trip!"

The last part of his answer was said with glee. They had all been disappointed not to have stopped Emma on their last mission, but it had been close and she had ended up seriously injured when a mob she was inciting decided to turn on her – much to the time team's amusement.

"But Wyatt.." Lucy began.

"So that's sorted then!" Wyatt interrupted, standing up, grabbing Lucy's hand and pulling her out of her chair whilst she continued to offer weak protests.

"We just need to hit the shops to pick up a few supplies so we can head out first thing tomorrow" he continued, handing Lucy her coat and dragging her out of the building.

Wyatt could tell Lucy was still shell shocked about this sudden trip, and he kept up a steady stream of conversation as he drove them into the city to avoid her thinking up excuses to duck out of it. When they arrived it was to a blaze of Christmas colour and sound. It was hard not to feel a little Christmas spirit as Wyatt held Lucy's hand and wandered through the displays with her. Although he wouldn't give her exact details of where they were headed, Wyatt did divulge that she would need cold weather gear, so they started their shopping extravaganza with picking up anything she didn't have (which ended up being quite a lot as she hadn't brought much with her when she'd fled her mother's house). Wyatt could tell Lucy was relaxing and actually starting to enjoy herself; there was a small smile on her face now and she was stopping to look at gifts for Rufus and Jiya. It felt so easy being out with her like this, almost like the two of them were a normal couple doing some last minute shopping before the holidays. Wyatt realised that he didn't feel guilty for having these thoughts, just a slight sadness about the Christmases he used to have with Jess.

Thoughts of Jess were soon replaced though, as Lucy started to seriously consider buying some of the wackier items on display and Wyatt felt it his duty as Rufus' friend to move her onto safer ground.

Wyatt and Lucy were laughing about the gifts she had ended up buying when they stopped off for a quick dinner. It was almost like having the old Lucy back as they chatted and laughed some more. They agreed to drop some gifts at Mason Industries early the next morning before setting off on their trip. Wyatt still refused to tell Lucy where they were going regardless of how much pleading she did. As Wyatt dropped her at her apartment after dinner, she seemed more relaxed and happy than she had in days. Before she went up to her place, laden with bags of presents and clothes, she thanked Wyatt for bringing her out.

"No problem, maam!" he responded, giving her a quick peck on the cheek before heading off.

~o~

In the next chapter we actually get to the trip! Hope you've enjoyed this first part, reviews are always welcome!