Author's Note: I'm fully intending to add a couple more chapters to Bleeding Out but Garcia Flynn just kept rattling around in my brain. He just wouldn't let go until I put some of this down on the page. I intend to add more chapters that explore Garcia's complex relationship with Lucy and will attempt to help him figure out his feelings towards her. I'm not a Garcy shipper and yet I have a feeling that is the direction that this is headed in. I just really wanted to convey the multi-faceted character that is Garcia Flynn. While he has taken many lives and done some horrible things, he does have a curious sense of morality. And he is currently taking far better care of Lucy than my boy Wyatt. Although I suspect after watching 2.6 Wyatt is starting to have some doubts about his choice.

First Meetings

Garcia Flynn looked at Lucy tucked safely into the cot across from his lost to the realm of vodka induced sleep. They had just spent the last few hours talking about everything and nothing. He felt content, no make that happy. He felt happy for the first time in longer than he cared to remember. He meant what he told Lucy on their mission to Texas, he wanted to get to know her. In many ways he felt like he already did. Her journal had been very honest and open, at least on some topics. And yet in others, he wasn't quite sure. This Lucy was slightly different from journal Lucy. Perhaps because she hadn't yet begun writing the journal and journal Lucy was somewhat distanced, at least by time, from the Lucy that lay before him.

She looked so peaceful in sleep. Finally able to relax and let go of some of the pain that she felt over her mother, her biological father, almost dying, and most importantly of all, Wyatt. Stupid ass he thinks to himself. Doesn't Wyatt know what he is throwing away? How could he not see the absolute treasure that was right in front of him. Garcia did. Lucy was so warm and caring. So giving, willing to think of everyone else before herself. Even himself. After all the horrible things that he had done, she still thought him possible of redemption. He wasn't sure that he believed it but Lucy did.

"Wyatt" Lucy muttered.

Damn that man. Does Wyatt have to follow her even in dreams. Is there no where that she can be free of him. Garcia had never liked the other man. Had somehow been irritated by the closeness that had developed between them as mission after mission had thrown them together. Now it was all Garcia could do to not punch Wyatt. Rubbing Jessica in Lucy's face day after day and then expecting Lucy to laugh and joke and look at him the way she had prior to Jessica's return from the dead. Was Wyatt honestly that clueless? It didn't help Garcia's mood any to think about how Wyatt frequently followed Lucy with his eyes and the way he looked at her was far from the look of a concerned teammate and friend. Couldn't Wyatt see that she was barely holding it together? He could and that's why he wanted to be there for her. He might not be able to fix everything that had gone wrong in Lucy's life but he could be a shoulder for her to cry on, a support when she needed it. And he vowed he would keep her safe.

Garcia looked up, drawn from his musings by a distressed sound from Lucy. She was tossing and turning on the cot. Her relaxed expression had disappeared only to be replaced by one of anxiety and fear. Small wonders she had nightmares given all that had occurred. He was at her side in an instant. He said her name and hesitantly shook her trying to wake her up to no avail. He gently pushed her hair away from her face and said her name again. This time she calmed slightly. Garcia liked the thought that his voice could calm her. The nightmare hadn't completely left her but she was starting to calm. She didn't wake as he carefully lifted her into his lap and cradled her in his arms. He might not be able to do much for her but Garcia could keep the nightmares from returning tonight. So he sat and held her in his arms and thought about how far they had come from when he first met her. Well journal Lucy.

XXXXXXXXXX

Three and a half years ago -

Garcia Flynn wasn't a perfect man. Somedays he didn't even think he was a particularly good man, but he loved his wife and daughter. His girls. He smiled to himself at the memory, they had been his whole world. Garcia had devoted himself to making them happy. He delighted in seeing his wife's smile and hearing his daughter's giggles. When that world ended in the quick burst of four silenced gunshots in the middle of the night, he tumbled into an endless void of pain and darkness.

After finding out that Rittenhouse was responsible for the murder of his family, Garcia vowed vengeance. He might not be able to bring his wife and daughter back but he would make it his mission in life to dismantle the organization that responsible for their deaths. If it took him the rest of his life, Garcia would make them pay.

One night about six months after he lost Lorenna and Iris, a woman he'd never met showed up at the door of the rat trap of an apartment that was his current home. In a disinterested almost clinical way Garcia catalogued her. Slim, brunette, brown eyes, delicate bone structure, classically beautiful and not a threat. It took his mind mere seconds to make that determination. Garia tucked the gun that he had hidden from view in the hand not resting on the door back into the waistband of his jeans and surreptitiously pulled his shirt down to cover it. He needn't have bothered. The woman was so anxious and distracted that she hadn't noticed a thing. Garcia wondered what she wanted. If she was in trouble. Not his problem. And how fast he could be rid of her.

"Can I come in? It's important"

Well modulated voice, educated, and slightly hesitant. Garcia couldn't help himself from noticing everything about this woman. She was such a change from the bleakness of his days and the torment of his nights that he swung the door open and was motioning her into his apartment before his brain registered the decision. Or had time to second guess it. Once she was inside he fixed her with a questioning stare as if to ask what the hell she was doing here,

"You don't know me but I've come here to help you" the woman said earnestly. Her big eyes fixed on his silently entreating him to believe her.

"Help me? How? With what? If you don't even know me ho do you know I need help?"

His voice was harsh. Garcia knew he sounded like an asshole but couldn't help himself. How could this dainty woman possibly help him? Well there is one way … a little voice inside his brain taunted, however that was crude. He hadn't been interested in sex since Lorenna died. And now he really was a first class asshole. First for letting his mind go there with this unknown woman and second, for thinking, even momentarily, about sex with anyone else but his wife.

The woman let out a harsh laugh.

"I said you didn't know me. I never said I didn't know you."

Garcia was instantly on guard. He had dismissed her as not a threat but perhaps he was mistaken. Lord knows he'd been mistaken before and it had cost him everything.

"Rittenhouse. I know what they took from you. How they murdered Lorenna and Iris. I can help you bring them down."

He froze at the mention of Rittenhouse. Garcia didn't think he even took a breath as she made the rest of her shocking statement. Couldn't help the involuntary flinch at the mention of his wife and daughter's names. He didn't believe her but if there was the slightest chance that she could help him then he had to listen to her, whatever nonsense she said.

"I think perhaps you'd best sit down and tell me everything. Now."

This was said not as a request but as an order. His accent was stronger that usual. It always was during times of strong emotions. Anger. Fear. Intimacy. All made him forget to enunciate clearly and took him back to the language of his birth. How long, Garcia wondered, before I start speaking in Croatian. It won't take much.

"You're going to need this."

She sat and slowly and carefully, to illustrate that she meant no harm, reached into the pocket of her coat and brought out a book. With both hands she held it to her chest briefly before passing it to him. It was small and leather bound with the initials LP embossed in slightly faded gold print on the right hand corner of the cover.

"Who's LP?" He lifted a questioning gaze at her.

"Me. Lucy Preston" and held her hand out to him as if this was just a normal introduction.

Garcia hesitated briefly before grasping her hand in his much larger one. Again he was shocked. Despite the delicateness of her had, her grip was strong, solid, and warm. He was momentarily startled. Surprised that she was real and not some figment of his grief warped vengeance seeking brain. He held her hand a few moments longer that strictly necessary before dropping it as if burned.

"And how is this" raising the book "supposed to help me?" he sardonically asked.

"It's my journal. It will guide you. Tell you what you need to do in order to end Rittenhouse."

"And you know this how?"

With the slight emphasis on the word how, Garcia's assholishness was making itself known again. Somehow he didn't really care.

"Are you Rittenhouse? How do you know how to bring them down? And if you know then why haven't you done it?

Garcia fired question after question at this woman without giving her a chance to speak. He wanted some damn answers.

"Maybe you really are Rittenhouse and this is a trap. Perhaps I should just kill you and burn this."

Garcia's voice had dropped low. It's tone soft, cold, and deadly. But rather than looking afraid of him, she simply sat and fixed him with a knowing stare.

"Are you done now? Can we move past you trying to intimidate me and get down to business? I don't have long and there are things you need to know."

Garcia just looked at her in amazement. This woman had some snark of her own. What happened to the anxious woman who had knocked on his door just a short time ago? She should have been frightened. Should have been on her feet backing quickly towards the door. He was close to a foot taller than her and had a good ninety pounds on her, perhaps more. He was quick, well trained, and deadly. Garcia had killed before, when his life was in danger, and no doubt would do so again. He would kill the woman in front of him should it be necessary but he really hoped it wouldn't. He abhorred violence in general, towards women especially, and found himself oddly reluctant to even consider hurting her. It was the ease she displayed in his presence, even after his threats, and the calm and certainty in her eyes that had him nodding his head in the affirmative and agreeing to hear her out.

Lucy took a deep breath and began.

"This will sound crazy but I'm from the future. Your future. Rittenhouse built a time machine, or rather, they built two time machines, in order to go back in time and change things in their favor. I know you are aware of Rittenhouse is engaged in some shady dealings and that passing on that information to your NSA contact is what lead Rittenhouse to you and got your wife and daughter killed."

Lucy noticed Garcia's wince of pain at her last statement and tied to offer him what comfort she could to a man who viewed her as a stranger.

"Garcia, you couldn't know. Yes, your actions started off a chain of events that culminated in the death of your family but you aren't responsible. You didn't, and still don't, know how wide-spread and strong Rittenhouse is. How quickly and viciously they act to stamp out anything that they perceive to be the slightest threat."

He just shook his head no and Lucy knows that he won't believe her. That Garcia Flynn will continue to bear the weight of the murder of his wife and child for many years to come. Still she tries to offer comfort one more time.

"I know you don't believe me now but you couldn't have predicted or prevented what happened. Your family wouldn't want you to blame yourself. If you let it, your grief and your feelings of guilt will turn you into a bitter man. I've seen it happen. It could even turn you into a monster and they wouldn't want that either. Garcia, promise me you'll at least consider what I've said after I've gone."

Garcia couldn't believe how sincerely this stranger was about trying to ease his pain. How much compassion and care her found in her deep brown eyes. Couldn't believe that he was again nodding yes and agreeing to consider forgiving himself for the unforgivable. Shocked, he sat back and tried to keep an open mind about the fantastical tale this woman was telling.

Lucy nodded back and continued on.

"Rittenhouse is an organization that is centuries old. From the founding of our country and before, they have been behind the scenes pulling the strings of power and controlling, or trying to control, the way the world runs. The have a seriously warped version of what the perfect world looks like and are fanatically committed to doing anything, anything, to make that vision a reality. They are more dangerous than you could possibly imagine."

"So if they are this 'all powerful' secret society then how could you or I ever hope to bring them down?"

Once again Garcia was finding this all a little hard to accept.

"They aren't 'all powerful.' Once upon a time they were but not now. In your future and my more recent past, Rittenhouse realized that they were starting to lose control and decided to create a time machine to regain their former power. They bankrolled Mason Industries to invent and build it. They actually built two and you are going to steal the one they call the Mothership."

Garcia's sarcasm was now out in full force.

"Okay, let's say I believe you and time travel is real, Mason Industries is huge. If they are building a time machine, Conor Mason is going to have some serious security protocols in place. From all his press, he doesn't come across as a man who takes things lightly."

Lucy simply shrugged her shoulders before continuing on.

"He isn't. He's really rather ruthless. Focussed on using what and who he needs to get what he wants yet shockingly naive and clueless about the ramifications of his actions."

"You almost sound like you know him."

"I do." Such a simple statement.

"In your future, after you steal the Mothership, I will be brought in by the NSA and Mason Industries to work with a specialized team. Our mission will be to stop you and recover the Mothership."

Lucy gives him a moment to digest all that she has said then moves on to the rest of the information that Garcia needs to know.

"You're right, you don't do it alone. The journal has some information on your known and suspected accomplices. You'll have an inside man that will make the theft possible."

"So I just what, find myself some henchmen and steal this Mothership? Then what?"

Garcia just shakes his head and thinks to himself that it was like some insane mix of National Treasure, or maybe The DaVinci Code, and a really bad sci-fi movie.

Nonplused by his disbelief Lucy just continues on with her narrative.

"Rittenhouse's plan is to use the Mothership to go back to key points in history and either eliminate those individuals they believe to be a threat to their future, recruit additional influential figures, or aid those who could strengthen them. If Rittenhouse succeeds the world as we know it will change. And not for the better."

Lucy leans forward as if being closer to him physically will somehow make this more believable. She holds his gaze, eyes pleading with Garcia to believe her and do as she asks.

"That's why you have to steal the Mothership. For a time, you and I, you and my team will work against each other but then we will realize that Rittenhouse is our common enemy. We will work together to bring them down."

Garcia also leans forward. Crowding into Lucy's space. Trying to convey with his physical presence the sheer insanity of her tale. He somehow knows she's hiding something and tries to intimidate her into telling him the full story, not just the parts that she feels he needs to know.

"If we're going to work together anyway, let's skip the chase. Why not stay and work together now? I mean wouldn't we just end Rittenhouse sooner?"

Lucy shakes her head no.

"I can't. Time travel is a tricky thing. We still don't fully understand it but we do know that bad things happen when you cross a timeline where you already exist. That's why I can't stay long. I already exist in this timeline but we felt that the benefit of me coming back, talking to you, giving your this information and the journal far outweigh the potential risks. And believe me Garcia, they are big risks. I didn't list everything in the journal, it's too dangerous for you to have all the information. That alone could change things. And if I wrote all of it down and Rittenhouse got ahold of the journal that would be disastrous."

Garcia stands. He's had enough. It's some sort of delusion on her part and he refuses to listen to another minute of it.

"Well thanks Lucy. Pleasure meeting you. It's been, shall we say, entertaining, but I think it's time we call it a night."

The sarcasm in his voice is now so heavy it's practically dripping from his mouth in huge drops. Creating deep puddles of disbelief and anger on the floor for her to wade through as he moves her toward the door.

Once she's in the doorway, Lucy turns to face him once more.

"I know you don't believe me or any of this right now but please, read the journal. I can offer you some proof that what I say is true. You once told me that, after your family was killed, you were betrayed by someone you trusted. You never told me that person's name, just that they tipped Rittenhouse off to where you were living. Two nights from now, Rittenhouse will send a team here to try to kill you. In my timeline you told me you barely escaped. Try to act normally and not tip them off but don't be here when they come."

With that Lucy turned and walked down the hall and out of his life. Garcia knew he would never see her again. That she was just some pretty, yet crazy, woman. But when he returned to the couch and found her journal still lying there and he couldn't resist opening it and beginning to read. He fell asleep reading, the journal resting open on his chest as dawn slowly broke.

At work the next day Garcia couldn't help but think about Lucy's, after reading a good portion of the journal she was Lucy to him, visit and what she had said. What she had asked of him. It wasn't like the work occupied much of his mind. He'd always been good at fixing things and repairing cars was as natural to him as breathing. He could do it in his sleep. He had plenty of time to ruminate on the Lucy's words, those from the journal and those said in person.

Of all the things that Lucy had said, he kept coming back to her statement about someone that he trusted betraying him. These days Garcia trusted very few people and he couldn't imagine any of them handing him over to Rittenhouse. Yet Lucy had been so sincere despite his obvious disbelief that he found himself wanting to trust her.

That night he decided that he just couldn't take the chance that she was right. So before he left for work the next morning, he packed all the items that were essential to him. A photo of Lorenna and Iris, all the documents for his false identities, his guns, the limited information he had compiled on Rittenhouse, and Lucy's journal went into a beat up duffle bag.

He stashed the duffle in a locker at the train station and went to work just like normal. After work he returned home just like normal and puttered around his apartment eating dinner and watching tv, waiting for it to be dark. Once it was dark, he turned off the lights as if going to bed and then snuck out of his apartment. Through the binoculars on a rooftop a block from his apartment Garcia watched as the team from Rittenhouse broke into his apartment. Before Rittenhouse had finished searching his apartment building, he had retrieved his belongings and was on his way out of the area.

He laid low for several months. It took Garcia several more months to make the necessary contacts, find his accomplices, and formulate his plan but everything was nearly ready. During that time, he read Lucy's journal repeatedly. He practically had it committed to memory. Even after all the research that he'd done about the events mentioned in the journal, Garcia felt compelled to return to it. To see Lucy's distinctive handwriting. A mixture of printing and cursive unique to her. He was amazed at the feeling of intimacy that reading her words evoked. Lucy wrote about her missions but she also wrote about her family, the changes in her timeline that gave her a fake fiance and erased her sister, her team, her pain and the betrayals that lead to that pain. She gave him her innermost thoughts and Garcia wasn't quite sure how he felt about that.

He would see her soon. The Mothership was ready, tested and perfected. In three days he would pretend to kidnap Anthony and steal it. Then they would head back to 1937 and the Hindenburg. Maybe seeing Lucy again would help clarify all the confusion that he was feeling.

Garcia wished he knew what about the Hindenburg mission had lead to Lucy's sister Amy failing to exist. The journal hadn't been clear on that point, just that Lucy returned home to a healthy mom, a sister vanished from time, and a fiance she didn't know. If he could, Garcia would spare her that pain. Unfortunately the only thing that was clear from the journal was that he prevented the initial Hindenburg disaster, the one he knew from history books back when he had been in school, so that he could blow it up along with several key members of Rittenhouse on it's return voyage. Journal Lucy seemed to believe that he, Garcia, believed that by doing this he would bring back his wife and daughter. He didn't know if that was possible but he hoped it was. He would give everything he possessed, including his soul, for them to be alive again.

The only other thing that was abundantly clear from the journal was that he & Lucy would chase each other through time at cross purposes for many more missions before beginning to work together. Garcia vowed that he would try to get her alone. Try to convince her that she and her team should work with him now. Perhaps if he could do that then some of the future danger, pain, and heartache could be avoided.

XXXXXXXXXX

May 6, 1937 Manchester Township, New Jersey

He had done it. Garcia and Anthony had successfully stolen the Mothership and were now, along with two others from his team, in 1937. Anthony had remained with the time machine while he and the others headed to the tavern where extra workers for the airfield were hired. Once there, he had no trouble getting himself and team hired. With his natural air of authority he had no trouble convincing the rest of the ground crew to wrap the mooring ropes around their arms rather than letting them drag along the wet ground.

Once they had safely landed the Hindenburg, one of his crew told Garcia that they saw Lucy and two other men amongst the crowd. From what his man said, Lucy and her team, Wyatt and Rufus he recalled from the journal, were looking for him. They had told the authorities that he was ill with Spanish Flu and a danger to the crowd. Damn it, Garcia really wanted to speak to her but he couldn't risk getting caught. He wanted to search for her but thought it best to send his men to look while he waited somewhere hidden from view.

Garcia waited impatiently for his men to return. He couldn't wait to see Lucy again. He needed to convince her to work with him now rather than at some point in the future. Just then one of his men returned and informed Garcia that their teammate was dead. The man had been shot by Wyatt after attempting to abduct Lucy. Garcia couldn't contain his frustration. Damn that woman. Lucy told him that they would be at cross purposes but he didn't believe she would pose this much of a problem. He didn't want to hurt her or her team, not if he didn't have to. His man said Lucy and her team had taken refuge in one of the hangers at the airfield. It was a simple enough matter to call in a tip to the police. Inform them of a murder that just took place. From the journal Garcia new that Wyatt was a soldier with Delta Force. Surely the man could think of someway to get them out of jail. He didn't want them hung for murder, just safely out of the way while he set the next part of his plan in motion.

Garcia watched as the Hindenburg burst into flames and crashed towards the ground a few minutes after take off. It had already been lowering turning and lowering altitude as if it were preparing to land again and he knew that Lucy was somehow behind this. Apparently Wyatt was more ingenious than he thought. He began to scan the wreckage and survivors for Lucy. He really needed to talk with her. Now if Lucy would just listen to reason.

As if fate had scripted the moment, Lucy walked right past him, attempting to dodge some of the flaming debris that was still falling from the sky. Garcia grabbed her. He was going to have that conversation now.

"It's time we talked. You need to understand who and what you're dealing with"

Fuck! She looked terrified of him. Lucy, the one who visited him a year and a half ago to give him her journal, told him that the team had been told that he was a wanted criminal but nothing more than that. Garcia wondered what she had been told to make her that afraid of him.

"I understand that you're a psychopath trying to burn everything to the ground."

"Well that depends on your point of view Lucy."

He moved towards her slowly and kept his voice calm. Trying to be as non-threatening as possible. He couldn't help but notice how her fear and anger caused her big brown eyes to sparkle. From the glow of the fires all around them, he could see that anger had brought color to her cheeks. Lucy looked so alive.

"How do you know my name?"

"I know everything about you. Your father's dead. You think you're meant to follow in your mother's footsteps, but you don't really want to. You wanna know how I know?"

Garcia pulled out her journal and opened it to a random page. Keeping his eyes on Lucy he held the open journal out to her so she could see her own handwriting filling the pages.

"That's my handwriting, but … I didn't write that."

"Not yet. But you will."

Ignoring her cry of disbelief, Garcia continued on.

"I know what you're really meant to be and it isn't a teacher."

"Why would I believe anything from someone who killed their own family."

Now he knew what Lucy had been told. Why she was afraid of him. He knew it wasn't true. He knew that one day Lucy would also believe in his innocence, yet hearing her name him a murderer hurt more than he believed possible. Garcia thought that he had already been hurt so badly, lost so much, that it would be impossible for him to feel anymore pain but the hurt caused by Lucy's condemnation of him proved that theory wrong. Still, he had to convince Lucy to work with him. To plant some seeds of doubt in her mind about what she was being told.

"Just ask them why they really chose you for this mission. Ask them what Rittenhouse is."

"Rittenhouse?"

Garcia grabbed her as he saw Wyatt approaching them, gun drawn. He pulled Lucy back tight against his body, one vice like arm preventing her escape, the other holding his gun on Wyatt. Inside his mind was screaming 'I'm sorry. So sorry. I won't really hurt you.'

"I know for a fact that you're not gonna shoot."

"Wyatt."

Lucy's voice was a mere whisper yet it conveyed her terror. He wished that he could look her in the eye and reassure her but he needed to convince Wyatt to let him go and using Lucy as a hostage was the only way that would happen. He anxiously watched Wyatt debate his options wondering if he would really make it out of this.

Garcia heard the shot a second before he felt a searing white hot pain in his shoulder. He pulled the trigger but Wyatt was too quick and dodged out of the way. He flung Lucy towards Wyatt and ran in the opposite direction, barely noticing the blonde that his bullet hit instead. He couldn't think of it just then but later, once he was safe Garcia felt guilt, anger, pain and sorrow for the innocent life he had accidentally taken. He damned Wyatt for that action. He damned Lucy. But he damned himself most of all.

XXXXXXXXXX

Present day

Lucy stirred slightly in his arms and Garcia shifted her more comfortably against his body. Pulled the blankets back up over her so she wouldn't be cold. She must have knocked them off while he was lost in thoughts of their first meetings. Stared down at the woman in his arms as he remembered the rage he felt towards her on that long ago night. Decades had passed since then and yet, in reality, it was only a couple of years. It wasn't rage that he felt towards her now. He still didn't know what it was but he couldn't stand the thought of Lucy in pain or discomfort. So he would hold her until morning, keep her nightmares at bay, and try to unravel the complex puzzle of feelings that this woman evoked.