Lucy came out of the Lifeboat with a somber expression. Her right hand held her left side, her gaze raised to meet the ones of Agent Christopher and Mason for a brief moment and she gave them a polite smile but that was about it.
No one would dare to question her much about, after all, the latests missions hadn't exactly been a success. Apparently bringing some back from the dead was harder than it seemed, not that they hadn't learned such lesson before, it was just that they had hoped to get it all done quicker this time. Rufus mattered, he had always done so.
"Lucy" Wyatt tried coming out of the Lifeboat, following her right behind.
"I'm fine, Wyatt, for real," she said, her shoulders down as she gave him a quick look. "I'll just clean it and be done with it"
Injuries weren't exactly news either.
The historian moved past her colleagues, not looking up for a minute. It didn't matter that Christopher, Connor or Jiya were watching her with sad smiles nor that Wyatt looked guilty and Flynn - who had just joined them - had a cautious and intrigued glance on his face. She made it all the way to the bathroom without being bothered, just as she intended.
Her shirt was up and she was facing the wound that the grazing bullet had left. It looked as bad it hurt, but she knew what she had to do and also knew that she would be fine. She went for the first aid kit near the sink.
The sound of the door opening made her face the mirror, Flynn's figure was closing the door and observing her, he raised his hands in surrender as soon as their eyes met. "I come in peace"
There was the slightest hint of a smile on the corner of her lips before she looked down to the kit, placing it on the sink.
"Do you want any help?" he offered, approaching. "This doesn't look good"
"I'll survive" she assured.
"Still, do you want me to help?"
Lucy watched him, he kept himself at a fair distance, almost as if waiting for her permission to get any closer and she noticed that this kind of thing was very common for him. Unless he was on 'attack mode', Garcia Flynn was very aware of personal space, physical and mental.
"Why not?" she said and held her shirt up. "Do you need me to take it off?"
He smirked. "Had you used any other tone, Professor Preston, this would have gone down way differently"
She couldn't help but smile back.
"It is better if you take it off" Garcia added, now serious, and helped her out of the plaid red shirt. "Have you thought this color through? I can hardly see the blood because of it"
"I watched Deadpool last night" Preston answered fast, grinning.
"Smart girl," he said.
Lucy didn't wince nor bothered looking at what he was doing. It was the first time he would help her with a wound and, for all she knew, it would not be the last. Flynn knew what he was doing and did it well enough for her to feel as little pain as possible.
"You were right, you're going to be fine. But you do need to stay put for a while" he said.
"Was that what your book said?" she questioned and their eyes met, he had a raised eyebrow and a small smile. "Genius, remember?" a smile. "And you weren't really discreet"
He gave her a nod before looking back down to her wound. "I do think it was foolish of Agent Christopher not to get a doctor in the team and since we are trapped here, I might as well learn something useful"
"Where did you even find that medical book?"
"Apparently, someone who used this bunker was also into being a doctor or, you know, just the usual soldier growing curious about his friend's wounds - or cause of death"
"Sounds gory"
"Not as much as one would expect, it does has a picture of Wound Man, though. I'll show it to you later"
She grinned. "So, Dr. Flynn, what else have you been up to?"
"I have this on and off patient who should be more careful" he commented.
"And who is that?"
"A sweet lass called Lucy Preston"
"Never heard of her"
"A shame, I think you might have liked her"
"Maybe"
They were silent for a moment, not the uncomfortable silence kind of thing, they were way past that. It had been a while since they had become close enough for it to still exist. Rufus' death seemingly helped.
Rufus died and suddenly they felt broken, the whole team seemed broken. Connor was quieter than usual, Agent Christopher too but she was more than willing to be supportive to others whenever she could. Jiya was the hardest part, she went through all the phases of grief and not lightly. Sometimes she could be a lovely thing and in the next, she could weight an elephant, a very silent elephant. Wyatt was torn between duty and love, he both wanted his child to be safe and wanted to do his job, there was also Jessica, he still had to work on that too. Lucy, on the other hand, was sure of her duty. They would bring Rufus back, even if they had to dance around the strings of past trying to work while unable to touch their own timelines to do it. Flynn didn't go unaffected but it hit him easier since his connection with Rufus was new and the man was used to losing people by now, which didn't make it easier, but it certainly helped him cope.
Death had made them closer than missing a room had done, so by the time Agent Christopher managed to get them another safe bunker and since they were expecting to have Rufus back, it was easy to share a room with Flynn.
Somehow, at some point, he was no longer the creepy uncle. At some point, he became a very important part of the team and they all recognized that, even if there still was a lacking of trust.
Not for Lucy, though. At some point, he was no longer the enemy, the stranger in the nest. At some point, Garcia Flynn became her partner and the person who was closest to her.
Suddenly, her journal made sense.
"Done," Flynn said, bringing her back to reality.
Her eyes found the covered wound and she smiled. "Thank you, Doc"
"Where are your pajamas?"
She faced him. "I forgot to get them"
"I'll do it for you, anything else you need?"
"Not that I can think of"
"Alright" he didn't move, his gaze focused on her when he spoke again. "Now, are you okay?"
Lucy studied his expression for a moment and nodded.
"Are you sure?"
She looked down at her feet. "I'm tired, we have been doing this for days and nothing. I want to find Rufus, but I can't help but wonder if…" she didn't dare to finish.
"We'll figure it out, Lucy," he said.
The pain in her eyes when they met his caused him to hurt too. "You don't know that"
"I do know and you know why? Because we are geniuses and because we are a great team, you and I, and all of us. We'll think of something"
"Did the journal tell you this?"
He paused, his hands went to his hips and he licked his lips before he answered. "It didn't have to, I know you and I know this team. You didn't stop chasing me through time, you'll never stop trying to save your friend"
"Would you lie to me about it?" she pressed.
Flynn let out a humorless chuckle. "You know me better than that"
She nodded, that was the answer she was hoping for.
He nodded back and sighed. "I'll go get your things"
Lucy watched him leave the bathroom and considered the choice her future self had done. Perhaps it would be a good idea to have another journal after she was done with this one, there was no telling when they could come in handy.
As she waited, a feeling of satisfaction filled her like drops of water filling a cup. For whatever reason, her future self had made the right call and she would have to trust herself to keep making the right choices.
When Flynn returned she was feeling better and the presence of her partner made her more confidence.
He had been right, they did they make a good team.