Wyatt knew Lucy had had a bad day as soon as he heard her slam the door coming in.

He pulled himself out from under the car, and wiped his hands on his pants, leaving grimy streaks. Looking down, he realized his mistake too late. Nothing for it but to face the music. He knew this wasn't going to help make what he had to tell her any easier. He'd been waiting for the right time, but if he didn't tell her soon he was going to regret it.

Maybe a few grease stains would be put in perspective compared to facing months apart? His heart contracted just thinking about it. In his heart of hearts, he knew he hadn't told her yet because he couldn't face it yet himself.

"Wyatt? Wyatt, where are you?" As always, he felt lighter at the sound of her voice. Tonight. I have to tell her tonight.

Lucy got rid of her jacket, purse & heels with a groan of relief. Finally this damned day was over. She could have a glass of her favorite wine. Hell maybe even drink it in a relaxing bath. Convincing Wyatt to join her shouldn't be too difficult.

Speaking of Wyatt, what was he up to, this reckless hotheaded husband of hers? Her question was answered thirty seconds later when he walked into the kitchen, grimy streaks on his face, arm and pants.

She raised a confused eyebrow that prompted him to inform her he was taking a look under the car, something was making a weird noise.

As she walked by him to get to the glasses cabinet, she pecked his lips with a soft "hey..." He grinned back at her with "Hey yourself ma'am" and frowned when the usual roll of her eyes didn't make an appearance. And no lecture about the grease stains.

She was distracted and didn't notice his disappointment. She started rummaging through their closet looking for a bottle of white wine she had picked out over the weekend. From the pantry, she started telling Wyatt about her day. He caught about every other word.

"So...Harold...civil war...he was telling...the conspiracy not..." Wyatt tried to follow from the sink where he scrubbed his hands, but gave up. He crossed over to lean in the doorway. "He's such an ass. I was this close to saying I actually lived it just to shut him up."

Wyatt listened nodding in agreement (he always kind of wanted to punch Harry when they had him over for faculty dinners). But he had to smile because despite everything he always found watching her lecturing people actually very pleasing. "I take it your day wasn't that great?"

"This guy got on my nerves all day and you're smiling." She replied frowning. Wyatt said, "Did I ever tell you you're cute when you're ranting?" He leaned into the closet to kiss the frown off her face. When they pull back she had a small smile instead. She kept grousing, but in a more friendly fashion.

"Where the hell did that wine go?"

"Which one?"

"The Crémant de Limoux. I picked it out special."

Wyatt shook his head. "And you drank it special, too. We brought it over Amy's remember? To celebrate her 100th podcast."

Lucy knelt on the floor, with containers of flour and sugar to either side of her. She slumped down and rested her chin on her hands. "Figures," she said. "The way this day is going."

Wyatt rolled his eyes at himself. Perspective, huh? Great timing, Logan.

"Lucy, we have other bottles." He reached down to help her up. "And I have to admit, I couldn't hear a thing you were saying. Somebody was being stupid?"

He helped her put away their baking supplies. "What made you think it was here?"

"Well it wasn't anywhere else."

"How about this one?" Wyatt offered. She inspected the bottle and nodded with not much enthusiasm. "Harold has been assigned to help me co-teaching. I told you about this—Judy is off on maternity leave and can't come back this semester. So I'm stuck with him."

"What's so bad about him?"

"He's in love with himself. He talks about things he clearly hasn't researched adequately. And he just undercuts me if I disagree with him. I want to say 'no I was there, trust me it was not like that,' but, you know, I can't."

She looked at Wyatt and got a sultry look in her eyes. "Want to take this bottle up to the bathroom with me? I could use a long hot soak, and could use some back scrubs from my favorite sexy soldier?" She winked at him. "Looks like you could use it, too." Lucy leaned in for a kiss, which he gave her willingly.

Deepening the kiss, Lucy took Wyatt's hand, the bottle and started leading them upstairs. He continued to kiss her but she was surprised to feel him hold her in place.

He brought their kiss to an end and placed his forehead against hers. "Lucy, there's been something I need to talk with you about."

Her heart sank. A look of fear crossed her face. He quickly grabbed her hands, setting the bottle down, leading her to the kitchen table.

"Nothing is wrong, no one is in danger. I love you and our families are fine." He rattled off what he thought she might have been fearing. It reminded him of the litany the grounded members of the Time Team had often greet the jumpers with when they came back: letting each other know what had changed, what was true.

Lucy calmed down. "Okay, so what's going on?" Wyatt went on, "I have a new deployment coming up. It's a long one."

"Long? So a few weeks?" Wyatt sighed. This was the hard part, just what he'd been avoiding by procrastinating this moment. Waiting had not helped.

"Lucy, this time is different. It's been hard for me to tell you." "So you've known? For how long?"

He swallowed. Yup, waiting was so not the right answer. "A week."

"A week!?" She yelped. Then her voice turned serious. "How long? How long is long?"

"Five months."

"Five months? That's almost half a year!"

Wyatt went on, "At least. At least five months." He couldn't stand it any more. "Lucy, I'm so sorry. I didn't volunteer for this assignment. I would turn it down if I could, but...that wasn't an option."

"Okay, okay." Lucy breathed deeply, trying to contain her growing anxiety. "It's a long deployment, but they've let me go with you before. Maybe I can take some leave from work?" She saw him shaking his head.

"I asked. They can't allow it. For security reasons." She threw her hands up in the air. "So now it's too dangerous for civilians to even be in the vicinity? I expect that means you can't tell me anything about it either?" He made no response, but she knew the answer just from the look on his face.

"Wyatt, what am I going to do without you for half a year? And worrying about you all that time?"

"Lucy, Lucy." He put his arms around her, trying to sooth her. "It will be all right. We will get through this together."

"Wyatt, that's the problem. We won't be. Together."

A/N: Sorry for the cliffhanger! We're aiming for happy fluffy happy endings here. Thanks for reading and we live for your comments & reviews!