Lucy know she would look back at these past few weeks as one of her bigger lapses of judgement in her life; if not the biggest. Staring at the ceiling all night and all morning seemed like the simplest solution to this issue. That was, until the routine morning sickness forced her out of bed to the creepy and rusted bathroom. It had become a daily challenge for Lucy to throw up as covertly as possible, never forgetting to place a chair in front of the metal door. She did all of this in secret, for as long as things stayed the same, no harm could be done. And all Lucy wanted was for things to stay the same.
That morning was no different than the rest. She glanced at the blinking red numbers of the alarm clock, reading the time as 0700. 7 AM and she'd already been awake for three hours. She sighed as she adjusted her body ever so slightly, just barely brushing up against the hand at her waist. She heard a low grunt as she stopped in her tracks, careful not to wake the sleeping soldier next to her. She resettled again only to be disturbed by a flipping feeling in her stomach. No, she groaned to herself, Is it too much to ask for a single reprieve? One day?
She complained to herself as she rose from the bed. Carefully shedding the blanket, she shrugged on the white t-shirt that had been strewn along the bedroom floor. She took two steps forward before a hand caught her wrist. The sudden lurch of movement shocked Lucy enough to make her stumble back, inhaling a sharp gasp,
"Jesus, Wyatt," She breathed, drinking in the smirking face before her, "You gave me a heart attack,"
"Hmm that's uncommon for a woman your age," Wyatt grumbled, his voice muffled by the pillow below him, "You should see a cardiologist. I can refer you to a guy."
Lucy scoffed, batting his hand away from her wrist,
"Your sarcasm is not so funny at 7 in the morning," Lucy said, turning to leave,
"Would it be funnier at 4 AM?" He called after her, his voice suddenly more clear, "Or would you be equally as unreceptive?" Lucy stopped in her tracks, caught off guard by what she could only fathom was an accusation,
"What do you mean?" She turned around, mustering up the most convincing confused face she could make. Wyatt sighed, running his fingers through his hair,
"I've been giving you space, but that doesn't mean I haven't noticed how you're barely sleeping at night," He maintained eye contact with her, trapping her stare in his own, "I'm not dumb, I know something is bothering you. I just hope you will talk to me about it when you're ready."
Lucy held his stare, biting the inside of her cheek. She knew the best response to his words would be to thank him for his concern, or to assure him that she was completely fine (though that would be a lie). But some part of her just couldn't let the words escape her mouth; or any words for that matter.
She smiled shyly, nodding her head as she fled the room. She just barely made it to the bathroom before she released the contents of her stomach into the toilet for the second week in a row. She hated doing this alone, but that was the only way she could fathom doing it. At least for now.
The blaring alarm of the computer system snapped Lucy out of her thousand yard stare. It wasn't until the signal sounded that Lucy realised Rufus had been talking to her. The last words she remembered hearing were 'Tatooine' and 'Vader', so she had confidence in knowing her mind wasn't 100% into the conversation to begin with.
"What do you got, Rufus?" Wyatt appeared behind the engineer, placing a hand on the back of Lucy's chair,
"Looks like the mothership is in New Orleans, January of 1918," Rufus read the coordinates. All eyes instantaneously turned to Lucy, who had been only half listening to the conversation. As the lull of voices hit her, she shot a puzzled look at the faces around her,
"Huh? Oh, well January of 1918 is the beginning of the first Influenza epidemic. It's said to have wiped out anywhere from 50 to 100 million people world wide," She finished, hoping the team would be satisfied enough with that answer to not question her momentary disorientation.
"Well, alright then," Wyatt smiled, placing his hands on his hips, "Guess we're headed to Bourbon Street!"
Lucy swore that this was the happiest she had ever seen Wyatt. His eyes were bright as they stalked through the center of the town, listening to the blaring of saxophones harmonizing in the distance. The houses were vibrant, along with the joyful people passing in front of them. Lucy smiled at the scene, only to remember that, very soon, most of these people will be overtaken with illness. Lucy always viewed this as the most painful aspect of the job: seeing people, caught up in their lives and in their hopes for tomorrow, only to bear the burden of knowing that tomorrow is rarely worth hoping for.
"This is everything I imagined it to be!" Wyatt practically hopped from store to store, lifting his head to the sky,
"Yeah, well I hope you both have your flu shot. In a few days from now, these streets will be a lot less lively," Lucy lowered her voice, "Literally."
Rufus looked at Lucy with concern, glancing at Wyatt for a moment before continuing to walk,
"Right...well, we should look for Emma and find out what their endgame is here. Any thoughts?" He asked, drawing the trio into the corner of an intersection,
"I'm thinking maybe they're pulling another Nicholas situation. Saving someone from dying from a catastrophe to bring them back to the present? Or they could be pulling a Flynn, just saving someone from dying period. Why else would they go here, at this time?" Wyatt finished as rufus nodded in agreement. The two men looked to Lucy, who had been staring across the street to a very pregnant woman walking from the store. Her lime green dress cascaded around her ankles, her belly seemingly painfully protruding from her body. Lucy winced at the idea that this could be her soon. Though the thought of having children made her more excited than she could articulate, for the moment, the small ball of terror in the back of her mind overcame her joy. How could she possibly do this?
"Earth to Lucy!" Rufus waved his hand in front of her face. She shook her head, clearing her voice,
"Yeah, sorry. I agree with Wyatt. It's either that or they're trying to wipe out the entire city, which would be stupid and unnecessary," She sighed when she finished speaking, confronted with worried glances from both Rufus and Wyatt. Before she could address them, a gunshot rang through the streets, echoing off the buildings and making it impossible to determine the origin.
"Get Down!" Wyatt yelled, grabbing Lucy and pulling her into a divvet in the stone building behind them. Before she could call to him, Lucy spotted Rufus running away, back to where they had come from,
"Rufus, no!" Lucy called, moving to chase after him as Wyatt reached for her hand, pulling her back into him,
"It's safer here," He whispered into her ear. She was breathing heavily, so worried for her friend that she hadn't realised that the gunfire had grown distant. Distant in the direction of Rufus. One glance at Wyatt told her that he was thinking the same thing,
"We have to-" Lucy started,
"I know," He cut her off, grabbing her arm once again and practically dragging her along the streets, "Just stay behind me,"
Lucy sped up to run next to him, punching Wyatt in the shoulder,
"I'm not letting you be a human shield for me. Not now," She said through labored breaths. He glanced at her with a puzzled look,
"What do you mean 'not now'?"
Before she could evade the question, the two caught up to the action, spotting Emma running towards the Lifeboat.
"Oh, Shit," Wyatt whispered. Peering around a tree, Wyatt saw Rufus sitting in the lifeboat, hesitant to close the door to leave Lucy and Wyatt behind. But they had a rule: if Rittenhouse finds the lifeboat, take it home before they can apprehend it. No matter what. Knowing this, Wyatt waited until Rufus spotted him. Wyatt gave a small nod as Rufus hesitantly nodded back. Seconds later, Lucy and Wyatt heard the familiar pop of the time machine, leaving them behind in 1918.
"So we just wait here?" Lucy asked when they settled into their room at a bed and breakfast. Wyatt nodded, shrugging off his gun holster,
"Yup, we wait for the date that he comes back to get us. Could be a few days though, remember we're stretching apart these visits as much as possible so we don't run into ourselves-"
"Yeah, yeah, time machine rules," Lucy muttered, playing with a loose string on her skirt. Wyatt sat down next to her, reaching for her hand. On impulse, she flinched back, feeling guilty about lying to him for these past few weeks.
"Lucy, what is going on with you?" Wyatt asked, brushing stray hairs away from her face. She inhaled deeply, standing to make her way to the balcony. She had to do it. She had to tell him.
"You can tell me anything," Wyatt continued, following her until she felt his heavy presence behind her on the balcony. Lucy took another deep breath,
"I never used to trust people much," Lucy closed her eyes, leaning her hands against the railing, "Even before all of this, trusting people never came easy to me. That's why I was so sure of my mother all this time; because she was the one person in the world who I thought had earned it," She opened her eyes to look at Wyatt, "And now I've learned to trust you and I was just... I was so afraid that telling you might scare you away. And I couldn't stand to lose you, too." A tear trailed down her cheek until she tasted the saltiness on her lips. Wyatt shook his head,
"Tell me what?" He whispered. It took all of her courage to look him in the eyes and she was afraid she would have none left to tell him. However, the words came out as easily as the tears streamed down her face,
"I'm pregnant," She said. Saying the words out loud felt like a release of the longest breath she'd ever held.
Wyatt's face could only be described as someone who simultaneously heard the best and most inconvenient news of his life. Lucy held her breath as his mouth creeped into a smile. A burly laugh escaped his lips as he scooped her into his arms and twirled her around the room. She laughed like she hadn't laughed in months.
"So you're...you're okay with this?" Lucy asked once he had calmed from his initial celebrations,
"Okay? Okay!? I'm great! This is amazing, Lucy," He reached up and took her shoulders in his hands, "Don't you dare think for one second otherwise,"
"But we're a few days away from the deadliest pandemic in histo-"
"Shhhh," Wyatt cut her off, "Let's just pretend for a second that we are a normal couple in 1918, who are in love and just found out are having a baby?" He smiled.
"I don't know," Lucy sighed, "Normal is a little far fetched." They laughed and hugged once more, forgetting their past, present, and future,
"Just one question," Wyatt asked. Lucy looked up at him, nodding for him to continue, "What the hell are we gonna do now?"
