Disclaimer: I don't own Timeless.

Lucy smiled tenderly as she walked into Flynn's room to see him still asleep with his mouth lolling open. She set down the plate and mug on the bedside table before leaning in to stroke her fingers through his messy hair. He woke with a start, but as soon as he spotted her, a sleepy grin split his face.

"Good morning, sunshine," she teased, slipping her hand to rest against his cheek as she sat in the chair next to the bed. Flynn turned his head to kiss the inside of her wrist and Lucy hummed in contentment. It had only been about two months that they had been…could you call it dating if you couldn't even go anywhere? But whatever it was that they were, it was the reason Lucy's heart was lighter than it had been since her pre-time travel days. It made their compound in the middle of nowhere feel like home. Or maybe it was Flynn who felt like home.

"I brought you some eggs and coffee," she gestured to the plate and mug. He sat up to lean against the headboard and Lucy bit her lip as she noticed he was shirtless.

"You didn't make these, did you?"

Lucy scowled, annoyed. "No, Wyatt did."

Flynn looked at the eggs skeptically. "You are not making me feel better about eating this…"

She rolled her eyes. "I took them from the pan, he made enough for everyone, and Jiya, Rufus and I are fine."

He pursed his lips and started to eat. "Plus, if Wyatt were going to kill you, he wouldn't use poison. He'd want to do it with his hands."

Flynn choked a little as he laughed. "You have a point there," he croaked out before sipping his coffee.

Lucy let her eyes drift over him as he ate.

"My eyes are up here you know," he smirked.

She raised her eyes to meet his in challenge. "I know," she said cheekily before letting her gaze drop again to roam across his arms and chest. He set his mug and plate down and his arms were suddenly around her waist, pulling her off the chair and onto his lap. Flynn kissed her neck. She could feel him smile against her skin as he rubbed a hand up and down her thigh.

"If you keep looking at me like that, I'm not going to be held responsible for my actions. You'll have to explain to Wyatt and Rufus why you're an hour late for target practice."

Lucy smirked back at him, "Only an hour?"

Flynn laughed at her delightedly and Lucy leaned in to kiss him when she heard the alarm blaring. Groaning, she dropped her head to his shoulder. He rubbed the back of her head until she pulled back to look at him.

"We'll have plenty of time after the mission. Go on, I will get dressed and meet you there."

She sighed in resignation before giving him a sweet peck and climbing off the bed. Jiya and Rufus were already at the stairs to the tunnel when she got to the first floor of the farmhouse, and she was glad to not have to go into the tunnel alone. Even after living in the bunker for so long, moving underground between the safe house buildings of their compound made her nervous.

Wyatt, Agent Christopher and Mason were waiting in the barn when they climbed out of the trapdoor between the lifeboat dock and the gym area.

"Where?" Lucy asked.

"1981. Yugoslavia. Do you think it has anything to do with the war there?" Agent Christopher asked Lucy.

"The war didn't start until a decade later…wait." Panic coursed through her as she thought through the implications. "Where in Yugoslavia? Croatia?"

Mason frowned and leaned toward the monitor to check, "Yes, a town called Dubrovnik…you think…?"

Lucy's heart plunged and her eyes stung. "They're going to try to kill Flynn when he's a little boy."

Rufus reached out to put a hand on her shoulder. "It'll be alright, Lucy."

"Wait, but Emma can't go to 1981. Not unless they've developed the same technology to go into the same timeline that we now have, and we've been very careful not to reveal it. She was born in the late seventies," Mason and Rufus shared a look. A ripple of fear went through the group.

"Maybe it's not Emma. She could have trained someone else," Jiya said softly, glancing at Wyatt, who winced.

"When are we going?" said Flynn as he climbed out of the trapdoor. The others shot nervous looks to each other, but Lucy ran to him and threw her arms around him, burying her face against his chest. Flynn turned to the others with wide eyes at Lucy's panic. "What is it?"

"It's Dubrovnik. 1981," Agent Christopher replied hesitantly.

Flynn paled a bit before taking a deep breath. "Shit."

He gulped but still leaned down to whisper in Lucy's ear as he rubbed her back. "It will be okay, my darling."

Lucy jumped out of his arms and started pulling him toward the lifeboat. "You need to get into the lifeboat, we have to go NOW."

"Whoa, Lucy, we need a plan first," Wyatt said.

"No, she's right. You need to leave quickly, that way if Rittenhouse succeeds, there's a chance this Flynn still comes back alive," Mason interjected.

Agent Christopher jumped into action. "Right, here. She handed out guns to Wyatt and Flynn, and then turned to Lucy and Rufus and held out a gun for each of them as well. Lucy hesitated.

"Lucy, you have to be armed. Remember, Flynn's mother has already seen both Wyatt and Flynn over a decade before. You and Rufus will have to take point with her."

Wyatt and Flynn both groaned at that realization. Lucy grabbed her holster and gun as her stomach rolled, and she made her way into the lifeboat.

Lucy had changed into a gray blouse she had found on a clothesline, deciding that her skinny jeans and boots would look appropriate for the time period. Flynn had fortunately worn nondescript khakis and a sweater, so they felt he would be well off enough, too. Wyatt and Rufus had headed toward town to shoplift after Flynn had given them directions to the closest store with men's clothes. Lucy and Flynn waited on a hillside. They could see the old town with its red roofs and limestone walls, overlooking the bright blue of the Adriatic. It was gorgeous, and Lucy was sorry that she couldn't appreciate it, not with the mission they were on.

It felt like her lungs were being squashed and she couldn't get enough air. Her arms were wrapped so tightly around herself that when Flynn tugged on one of them, she stumbled, but he caught her up in a hug. She squeezed him back as tightly as she could manage and tried to quell her shaking.

"Breathe with me, Lucy. Come on." Lucy turned her ear to his chest to listen to his heartbeat and breathed slowly with him until she finally felt something resembling calm. When she finally relaxed her grip, Flynn eased them down onto the grass. She sat between his raised knees and leaned against his chest. Feeling the breath pushing in and out of him and the blood pumping through his heart helped remind her that he was here, safe for now. She looked back out over the view.

"Garcia?"

"Hmm?"

"After we're done with Rittenhouse, would you…" she broke off, suddenly feeling shy.

Flynn gently grabbed her cheek and turned her face up so he could see her, his green eyes intense as they studied her.

"Would I what, Lucy?"

Blushing, she looked to the side, but answered anyway. "Would you bring me back here? So I can enjoy it?"

A hard kiss was her answer, and Lucy gripped his shirt tightly as she opened her mouth to kiss him back enthusiastically. After a moment he pulled back slightly, still holding her cheeks.

"Yes," he said, his eyes glowing bright as he gently smiled at her in a way she hadn't seen before.

"I would like that."

"You know," he started, tentatively, "that's the, uh, first time you've ever talked about the future…about us together in the future."

Lucy flushed again. "Is that…okay? Is that what you want?"

Flynn chuckled and his chest shook slightly under her.

"If you didn't realize what that kiss meant, maybe I didn't do it right." He wrapped his arms more tightly around her and she felt some of the weight lift off her shoulders as he pulled her in.

"Hmm, that's true," Lucy teased as she nuzzled his chin. "You should probably try again."

Happiness surged through her as their lips met again and she could feel his love for her in his kiss.

"Hey, lovebirds, are we going to go on the mission or what?" Flynn huffed in frustration at Wyatt's irritated interruption as he and Rufus approached.

"We only really need Rufus, you know," Lucy growled at Wyatt.

Wyatt held up his hands in defense as Flynn chuckled. "She's armed now, you might want to tread carefully."

"She's not going to shoot me…are you, Lucy?"

"Not before the mission, anyway," she raised an eyebrow at him. "Let's go."

Flynn stood up in obedience and gave her a hand up. "This way," he headed away from the ocean to lead them toward the back side of town.

"So, what's the plan?" Rufus asked and they all looked to Flynn.

"There are woods behind the house where we will stop and survey the area. They'll give us good cover. If it doesn't look like Rittenhouse is there, Lucy, you and Rufus should just go up and knock on the door."

"And say what?"

Flynn stopped for a moment and shrugged.

"I think they should just tell her."

The other three turned in unison to look at Wyatt in disbelief.

"Not the time travel stuff, obviously, but yeah. Tell her she and her kids are in danger from…I don't know, the KGB or a terrorist group or something. She was pretty understanding back in Texas."

Lucy turned to Flynn. "What do you think?"

He threw his hands up, showing his uncertainty. "He's right, she was, but…I don't know, this isn't the mother I knew, and maybe I freaked her out enough previously…plus my father, I have no idea how he'll react."

"Let's at least try it. I mean, if it doesn't work and worse comes to worst, we can bring Flynn in. If she believes us, then what? Do we move them?" Rufus asked.

"No. That would be more dangerous, unless Rittenhouse is already there, in which case we'll all just have to go in, timeline consequences be damned." Wyatt looked grim.

"The house sits on a hillside, and it's off by itself," Flynn sighed, thinking hard. "Get them to draw the curtains and keep low, away from the windows. Wyatt and I can patrol the perimeter from behind the tree line, and we can communicate with you using the walkie-talkies we took from the lifeboat. Maybe we can move them after we locate all the Rittenhouse agents."

Wyatt nodded in response and they continued. Lucy could see the tension in Flynn, though he was trying to hide it. She moved closer and squeezed his shoulder before taking his hand in hers as they walked.

It was surprisingly easy to get inside. Lucy and Rufus had shown up at the door and been invited in almost immediately once Maria Flynn heard them speak. Apparently, she had been missing company from her home country. Once inside, they tried their best to explain the situation while they made the rounds of the house, drawing all the curtains.

"My family is in danger from these terrorists? Why?"

Lucy looked to Rufus in panic. "It's really hard to explain, but the CIA has intel that shows they are, and we don't want to take any chances, especially with your boys…" Rufus trailed off as her eyes blew wide in fear.

"Boys! Gabriel, Garcia!" Maria called up the stairs. "Come down here, please!"

Gabriel ambled down the steps first. He was tall, probably about 18 now, but not nearly as tall as adult Garcia. He was paler and had a rounder face than the older version of his brother, but Lucy could still see a trace of family resemblance, since she knew to look for it. He joined them in the living room and looked to his mom in question. Just as she started to introduce him, there was a thunder of steps overhead and a dark head barreled down the stairs and into the room.

Lucy couldn't help but grin at the little boy as he noticed them and then immediately turned and spoke to his mother in Croatian, waving around a cowboy hat in one hand with a red bandana around his neck.

"English, Garcia. This is Lucy and Rufus, and they're American."

A very familiar pair of eyes, big in his smaller face, blinked up at Lucy as he waved up at her and said in adorably accented English, "Hello. I'm sorry."

Gabriel came forward and after the introductions, his mother took him aside to whisper in his ear. Garcia came over to them as Rufus muttered "This is so weird, a baby Flynn" softly. Lucy's heart constricted as he batted his thick eyelashes at her and smiled shyly. He was missing one of his front teeth.

"Hi there, cowboy," she said softly.

He grinned at her and put his hat on his head. "Howdy, ma'am".

"Hey, little G," Gabriel grinned over at his brother. "Want to go play in Mom and Dad's room?"

The six-year-old's eyes grew round with surprise. "I'm not allowed."

"You are today," Maria said, grabbing a stick horse from the umbrella stand and handing it to him. She smiled at him and shook her head as he whooped and ran again, this time from the room, and his mother followed. Lucy's heart ached as she realized her Flynn had missed out on this happier version of his family and she decided to memorize as much as she could to share with him later.

"Okay, it is totally bizarre how adorable baby Flynn is."

Lucy chuckled at him. It was odd to see him so young and carefree, but she could still clearly see her Garcia in there. He was much more like this—genuine and sweet- than the others knew, but he usually hid it except when he was alone with Lucy.

When Maria returned, she carried a tray with coffee, mugs, and cream. Rufus jumped up to help her. The threesome awkwardly sat, stirring and drinking their coffee in uncomfortable silence. It had started to dawn on her that she was meeting her boyfriend's family, even if they didn't know. She weirdly wanted to make a favorable impression.

"So, where is your husband, Mrs. Flynn?" She stumbled over the name as she asked.

"Oh, he's out of town on a business trip. He's been in Florence since Tuesday."

Rufus looked at Lucy. "I need to go tell the others he's not here," and she nodded in response.

"Others?" Maria turned to Lucy in question. "And where is he going?"

"He's going to go communicate with the rest of our team. We have walkie-talkies. Our two soldiers are watching outside for anyone suspicious. They'll keep your family safe."

Maria surveyed Lucy closely and Lucy tried to keep herself from blushing. She was older than she had in the wallet-sized picture in her dossier in 1969. Her dark hair had lightened a little, and she had the beginnings of laugh lines around her eyes. Green eyes that looked much like Flynn's stared back at her. Lucy cleared her throat uncomfortably.

"So, you work for the CIA?"

"Something like that," Lucy replied. "I was a history and anthropology professor, but now I do…this."

"You track terrorist organizations? I'm sorry, but that doesn't really sound like a job for a professor."

"It wouldn't be normally, but this organization is complex. They try to, uh…change the direction of political movements by influencing events or people that they think will turn things in their favor. Historical political movements are my specialty."

"But what would that have to do with me and my family?"

"Well, you work for Lockman in defense, right? They could possibly think that harming you or your family would somehow cause a ripple effect between the US government and another country. Maybe they would blame it on some other country, to impact government relations. Or maybe there's something in your work they would want access to."

Maria looked suspicious of the hypothetical situations Lucy had pulled out of her ass. While she didn't look much like her son, he had obviously inherited her shrewdness. Lucy tried to change the subject.

"What was that like? Being a single mother and working your way through college and into such a male-dominated field?"

Flynn's mother smiled ruefully. "It was difficult. But I was doing it to make a better life for Gabriel and myself after I lost my first husband. I had a supportive boss in Texas who really helped advance me. And I always had this drive, I suppose. To see how things were put together, to remake them to work more efficiently. What about you? I can't imagine that history is exactly a female-friendly field to teach in."

"No, it isn't. I never even got tenure before I—well, before I switched to this job. The teaching was really my mother's idea. I mean, I love history, but…I wish I had been more able to choose." Lucy stopped and looked down at her coffee. Her mother's betrayal, along with her loss, still felt like a raw wound.

"She didn't approve of your new job?"

Lucy chuckled bitterly. "Absolutely not. She kept trying to pull me back into her—into academia, I mean. Then she died, still disappointed in me."

"I'm sorry. About her death and that you couldn't repair your relationship," Maria replied, and Lucy could tell that she genuinely was. She wished her mom had been more like this. "I worry about that a bit. With Garcia, I mean."

"You do?"

"Asher, my husband. He's a wonderful man, but…he just has very specific ideas about how Garcia should be, what he should do. I mean, he's only six. He wants to be a cowboy."

Lucy grinned at this. "I can't imagine that little boy would give up his own plans too easily." She heard a muffled huff of agreement as Rufus came back into the room. Both women looked at him in question.

"All clear, for now. If there's trouble, they'll hit this button," he pointed "twice, and we'll know to all hunker down even more in here."

"Are you sure that they're after us? It sounds like you don't really know why—"

"We're sure," Rufus interjected. "As for the why, we can't exactly share that. But our information is solid."

Maria glanced to Lucy and quirked an eyebrow. "I'm sorry, it's classified."

"Now I know how annoying that is to hear. I've had to say it occasionally myself." Maria gave them a small smile that showed she didn't hold it against them. "Is there anything else you can tell me? I have trouble believing even a terrorist group would want to hurt my children."

Rufus and Lucy shared a long look before he nodded at her in encouragement.

"They won't hesitate to hurt your children. A member of our team used to work for a different government agency in intelligence gathering. He found the mention of this group's name in financial records and asked a question. One question. A few days later, they killed his wife and his little girl. He managed to get out alive, barely."

"Oh, how awful. Losing my husband was bad enough, but losing a child? I can't imagine. I would probably blow up the world trying to get my revenge."

Lucy felt her chest jolt in surprise. This was getting a little too close to the truth for comfort.

"Well, he kind of tried," Rufus said. Lucy frowned at him. She knew it might be silly, but she didn't want him to say anything negative about Flynn to his mother. It just seemed wrong.

"He did go about trying to get revenge, sometimes not with the best methods," Lucy added. "But he did it out of love for his family, and he changed. That's when he joined our team, and he's trying to take them down. The right way."

Maria was watching her intently, her expression unreadable. "What do you think changed?"

Lucy shrugged wordlessly. Rufus scoffed, "Lucy." He was cut off when the walkie-talkie chirped twice and he looked to Lucy in dismay before drawing out his sidearm.

"I'll go get the boys. You two stay here," Lucy said as she ran out of the room.

"Through the kitchen, then to the left!" Maria called after her.

She opened the door quietly and slipped into the room, unable to see anyone.

"Hello?"

"Psst. Back here," a voice that must have been Gabriel's whispered, and she moved to what looked like a closet door.

The boys were on the floor of the closet, each holding toy pistols. "We're hiding from the bad guys," Garcia whispered.

"Okay, your mom wants you to come hide with us in the living room, okay?"

She gestured in front of her for the boys to go first and she pulled out her own gun.

"Wow, you have a gun like me!" Garcia exclaimed. Gabriel shushed him. Lucy decided her best bet was to play along.

"Yeah, I do. It's to cover you as we make a break for the living room. I need you to move quickly and quietly over there but try to stay low to the ground. Alright, Tex?"

Garcia nodded at her solemnly, his cowboy hat flopping down over his eyes. "Yes, ma'am." She fought down the urge to smile at him. Even at six, he could make her laugh or smile at inappropriate times.

She caught Gabriel's eye as he looked at her, worried. "It'll be alright," she whispered to him in an aside. "Just do what I say."

They made their way back to the living room. Lucy strained her ears to hear any sounds of fighting but couldn't make out anything from outside. Back in the living room, Rufus and Maria had flipped the couch and were crouching behind it against the wall. Maria sighed with relief at the sight of her sons. She put her hand on Gabriel's shoulder as he moved past her, between her and Rufus. Maria held out her arms for Garcia, and he allowed her to hug him while Lucy took up her position at the other end of the couch.

"Are we still hiding from the bad guys?" Garcia whispered to his mother.

"Yes," Maria whispered back. "We have to stay very still and quiet and not move from behind the couch until it's safe. Okay?" Lucy looked down to see that Maria's hands were trembling, despite the calm in her voice. Lucy reached down to squeeze her hand and their eyes connected for a moment.

"Rufus?" she whispered. "Anything?"

He shook his head in reply. A moment later, shots rang out. Lucy gulped as she curled in on herself and felt Maria do the same around Garcia. A round of shots was sent back, and then it sounded like a full-fledged firefight. A window shattered in another room and Maria yelped. This part never got easier. Being shot at, having people she loved shot at. At least now, she was learning to fight back herself, so she didn't always have to hide like this. The waiting was torture.

Two more shots rang out, and then there was silence. Garcia squirmed out of his mother's grip.

"No!" Lucy panicked, grabbing him before he could move past her. "We don't know if it's safe yet. Please stay with us."

"I want to help," he pleaded. Lucy breathed heavily, terrified he would dart out and get shot.

"How about you get your horse ready in case we need to make a run for it?" Lucy gestured at his stick horse. He grabbed his horse and she closed her eyes in relief, taking a deep breath. She felt a small hand tug on her left hand.

"Don't worry, I'll keep you safe, Lucy," he said, his eyes full of sincerity. Lucy choked out a sob or a laugh, she wasn't sure which.

"I know you will," she said, and she meant it. He was outside right now, keeping her safe as he always did.

Finally, after what seemed like ten minutes of waiting, three chirps came across the walkie talkie. Lucy fell out of her crouch onto the floor.

Rufus replied, "All clear?"

Wyatt's voice came over the receiver. "All clear. They're all gone."

"Rufus!" Lucy gestured to him, and he tossed her the walkie talkie, which little Garcia caught for her, and she pressed the button. "Are you okay? Are you both okay?"

Wyatt didn't respond for a minute. "Wyatt, are you both okay?"

He hesitated before replying. "He got winged, but he'll be alright."

"Put him on."

"Lucy—"

"Put. Him. On. Now."

Her heart was beating too fast. She loosened her grip as she realized her left hand was squeezing little Garcia's hand too tightly.

"I'm okay, Lucy," Flynn replied and Lucy felt tears spring to her eyes. She covered her eyes with her hand.

"You're sure?"

"Yes. Give us twenty minutes to…clean up. And then you can come see for yourself."

"Okay. You'd better really be okay."

"You know I wouldn't lie to you. Everything okay in there?"

"We're all okay. Twenty minutes."

"Twenty minutes."

Lucy looked up to see Maria watching her intensely. She had a look, almost like she knew. Just like her son, it looked like she could see straight through Lucy, to her heart, and it was nerve-wracking knowing the magnitude of the secrets she needed to keep from this woman.

"Everything's okay now?" Gabriel asked.

"Yeah, they got rid of the bad guys," Maria said pointedly, glancing at Garcia obviously to remind Gabriel to be careful with his words. She gestured for Gabriel and Rufus to flip the couch back over and they obeyed without a word. Rufus and Gabriel then ran around with Garcia as he "galloped" around on his horse. Lucy stared toward the window. She bit her lip, wanting to go out but knowing she couldn't. He was most likely telling the truth about his wound, but still.

Maria sat down on the couch. "Come sit with me, Lucy," she said, and Lucy did.

"This teammate who got hurt, is he the same one you were talking about before, who lost his wife and child?"

Lucy nodded. "Yes, they died about four years ago."

"And you're in love with each other." Lucy blushed and let out a small awkward sigh. Was she still somehow getting an interrogation from her boyfriend's mom?

"I haven't exactly said that to him yet. We've only been…dating… for a couple months, but…yes, we are. How did you know?"

Maria smiled. "The way you defended him before to Rufus. And then, how you talked to each other over the radio." She sipped from her coffee mug that had been sitting on a side table and grimaced a little at the coldness. "Want to come help me make more coffee? We'll worry about the window later." Lucy followed her into the kitchen and smiled as she took in the mustard fridge and stove surrounded by dark cabinets

"Why does Rufus think this man is a bad guy? If he's on your team."

Lucy breathed deep, wracking her mind for what she could say. She had already said too much, but how could she just refuse to answer?

"When we met him, his family had been dead for two years, and he…he had kind of gone off the deep end."

Maria nodded emphatically. "Yeah, I can imagine."

"He was the only one who even believed they existed, and no one would listen. So he did things to try to take them out himself. Pretty bad things. But he isn't bad at heart, he's not. He struggled with everything he was doing, and when he found his way onto our team…he's done so much to make it up to us. To me."

"It was hard, when I met Asher, to let myself fall in love again. And that was after losing my husband. I can't imagine losing one of my boys, too. I know I would lose it." Lucy swallowed against a lump in her throat. She would have, if it hadn't been for Flynn's intervention, and Lucy wondered just how different the woman in front of her was from the one who'd raised him.

"It still hurts him. I don't think it ever really goes away. His biggest regret is that he sent her back to bed when she asked for three more minutes."

"Oh," Maria closed her eyes and shook her head. "Not his fault, but it wouldn't ever go away. I'm glad he has you, though."

They poured two mugs and took them back to the living room. The boys had moved into the dining room and were holed up in a fort under the dining table. Rufus was really getting into it, waving around a fake six-shooter and Lucy thought he was pretending to be the Lone Ranger. It was too bad she didn't have a camera to show this to her Garcia later. For blackmailing Rufus.

"Ten minutes left," Maria said to Lucy with a smirk, when she saw Lucy checking her watch again. Lucy smiled at her sheepishly.

"Sorry, I just want to make sure he's okay." Maria waved off the apology with her hand.

"Does stuff like this happen very often?"

"Oh, gosh, way more often than it should," Lucy replied, groaning a little.

"Something sort of similar happened to me once," Lucy heard a note of something in her voice that seemed a bit…off.

"Oh?" She managed to ask.

"Yeah, it was the day of the Apollo 11 moon landing, actually." Lucy froze with her lips on the mug. "This nice man I had met at the office came by and talked to me and Gabriel. An FBI agent came by later, saying that the man had been a commie spy. But he actually saved Gabriel's life by giving him a shot of epinephrine after he was stung by a bee." Lucy was staring at Rufus, trying to catch his eye for a save, but he wasn't turning. He was too into his role-playing.

Fortunately, Garcia decided to run over to Lucy at that moment, and she wanted to hug him for his perfect timing. "This is my horse. His name is Dynamite."

"He seems like a very fine horse. You must take good care of him."

"I do. Will you come play, please, Lucy?"

Lucy looked at his big green eyes that were pleading with her and she wanted to keep him. She realized that was insane—but also kind of not, since she was keeping him in a way. This whole mission was making her head hurt.

"I'm sorry but we have to leave in just a few minutes." His face fell and she noticed Rufus stifling laughter out of the corner of her eye. "But thank you for keeping Rufus out of trouble for a bit. And thank you for holding my hand earlier when I was scared. You help me to be brave."

He looked up at her with an adoring look and blinked his long lashes at her. "You're welcome." Then he turned to run around the room again and Lucy looked to Maria.

"How do you ever say no to him?"

"You get used to it," she shrugged. "It is hard sometimes, though. It helps that he has my eyes, it makes them a little easier to say no to. Otherwise, he looks just like his dad."

"Oh yeah?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah. There's a family picture over here." Maria led her over to the wall next to the picture window. Lucy froze with shock when she saw the man in the picture. The eyes were different, and the clothes, obviously, and his nose and jaw were slightly rounder. He was probably shorter, too, based on Maria's height. But it was very clear to Lucy that this man was Garcia's dad. At that moment, she realized Maria had to have known, too. She lifted wide eyes to meet Maria's knowing ones.

"When I met Asher, it was uncanny to me how much he looked like the man who had saved Gabriel. But he doesn't have brothers or anyone close like that, so I assumed it was just a coincidence."

Lucy knew she should probably cut her off, but it was clearly too late at this point.

"Then, about two or three years ago, I went to a conference in Paris. It was for women in science and engineering, and I ran into Katherine Johnson. We spent the whole conference together. It was so good to talk to someone from home. She ended up telling me a very interesting story about what happened to her the same day."

Her mind racing as she stood stock still, Lucy tried to remember exactly what all Anthony and Rufus said that day. It had happened so fast, but she was fairly sure the name Rittenhouse had even been spoken…as well as time machine. As Lucy was just standing there gaping, Maria patted her arm gently.

"It's okay. I put two and two together that day, at least that piece of it, that he was my son. I'm sure there are a hundred more bits to the story. I just wasn't sure at first that there was any connection between them and you." She turned away to look at the clock. "Rufus, it's time to go. Boys, say goodbye to Lucy and Rufus."

Lucy grabbed Maria's arm as the boys and Rufus were chatting and whispered urgently. "Listen, the name that was mentioned that day, I don't know if Katherine overheard, but if she did, don't ever, ever speak of it. That's the group we were hiding from today. The ones who—" she looked at little Garcia and her heart hurt for all the turmoil he would go through in the next forty years or so.

"I won't," Maria assured her, gripping Lucy's hand. "I promise. Just tell him I love him and that…that I know he's a good man. And thank you for taking care of him." The two women shared an intense moment, looking into each other's eyes and seeing their shared love of the same man. Maria pulled her into a hug, and Lucy hugged her back tightly as she wished her Flynn could hug his mother himself.

"Goodbye, Lucy," she shook Gabriel's outstretched hand and smiled at him.

Two little arms wrapped around her waist and she ran her hands through his messy hair for the second time that day. "Goodbye, Garcia," she kissed the top of his head and he ran up the stairs with Gabriel chasing him. With a last glance back at Maria, who waved and gave her an encouraging nod, she stepped out into the twilight and Rufus closed the door behind them.

Lucy panted as she trudged up the hill behind the house. Rufus had fallen behind, and she whipped her head left and right as soon as she hit the tree line.

"Over here," she heard Wyatt call at her two o'clock, and she sped up the hill. Lucy finally spotted them, standing between the trees. Her eyes moved over Flynn, latching onto the bandage wrapped around his left bicep. There was a spot of blood visible, but not a ton, and she looked back to his face to see that his color seemed okay.

"I'm fine," he reassured her as she finally made it to him. "I mean, hey, at least this time, we're only in the 1980s, no freaky ancient germs to infect me."

Lucy sighed. "And at least it's your left arm this time." He held up his right arm and she gladly moved under it to hug him. It felt much better to feel him, safe against her.

Rufus finally came up to them, red and puffing like crazy. "Damn, Rufus, we need to up your cardio. You took twice as long as Lucy, and she's only panting a little. You look like you ran a 5K," Wyatt smirked at him.

"Hey, she got a head start on the whole…workout…thing. I've only been back for four months," Rufus collapsed on the ground.

"Are you okay, Wyatt?" Lucy pulled back a bit to ask, keeping her arm around Flynn's waist.

"Yeah, I'm fine. There were three of them."

"Who?"

Wyatt winced and shook his head. "Not Emma or Jessica. Whoever flew stayed in the ship. So it probably was Jessica."

Lucy silently agreed with that. If Emma had found a way to travel into her own timeline, she would have wanted to participate in this. It was her special brand of psycho.

"Did they run off? Or…?"

"We had to kill them, Lucy. They would have spread the word about our new capabilities and that's the one leg we have up on them," Flynn said placatingly.

"No, that would be…bad, but are you sure the mothership is gone?"

"We saw it leave, Lucy, it was only at the bottom of the other side of this hill," Wyatt cut in and Lucy tried to let herself relax. "Okay, Rufus, we've got to go, man."

Rufus groaned as he stood up and they started walking back to the lifeboat.

"So…how was it?" Flynn asked, and she could feel both his curiosity and hesitation, not knowing what to feel. Lucy could relate.

"Super weird. And exhausting." Rufus chimed in from the front of the group.

Lucy laughed. "Rufus played cowboys with you and Gabriel after the threat was gone. And he's freaked out because I guess he didn't realize you were actually a child at some point."

"I'm freaked out because I didn't realize you would be a normal, non-bad seed kind of kid."

"Don't hide the truth, Rufus. You called him adorable." Lucy and Wyatt both laughed at that as Flynn and Rufus looked embarrassed.

"No way," said Wyatt. "Not possible."

"Nope, it's true," said Rufus. "Just makes it weirder. You know, little Flynn looked at Lucy the exact same way you do, though. That goofy look of adoration."

Lucy blushed this time, but Flynn didn't seem bothered at all. "I've always had good taste," he said, winking down at her. "How was she? Was she freaked out? How was Gabriel?"

"He's practically grown up, seemed like a good big brother. He called you 'little G'," she smiled at him sadly. "Maria seemed great. Happy. I liked her a lot," Lucy answered. She was trying to figure out how to ease into the whole 'by the way, we're busted' part of the conversation.

"She had a lot of questions about how we knew she was in danger, why her, that sort of thing. But she talked to Lucy way more than me," Rufus added.

"Was she freaked out? Suspicious?"

"Well, yeah, but…" Lucy heaved a huge sigh and stopped walking, as did Garcia. She looked at him. "Guys, she knew."

Wyatt and Rufus abruptly froze and spun around. "What? What do you mean, she knew?" Wyatt asked.

"She knew." The others stared at her for a moment before Rufus finally shook himself.

"Why didn't I hear anything?"

"She started inching toward it, talking about the day of the moon walk, but she didn't flat out tell me until right before we left. Look, I think it's okay. I don't think she's going to do anything."

Flynn pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's my fault, I said all that stuff after I injected Gabriel."

Wyatt scoffed his agreement and Lucy shot him a dirty look.

"It wasn't just that. You look a lot like your dad, too, which, I mean, you had to already know. But she tried to chalk that up to coincidence until she ran into Katherine Johnson at a conference."

"Oh, no…all that shit Anthony said to me…Katherine heard it?" Rufus groaned.

Lucy nodded.

"What did Anthony say?" Wyatt questioned.

"I don't remember everything, you know, what with the imminent threat of death and all, but he mentioned both Rittenhouse and the time machine."

Flynn muttered under his breath angrily. "Uh, you already killed him, Flynn, you can't do it again," Rufus sniped.

"Okay!" Lucy snapped. "We can't help all that. Okay, so we're not going to kick ourselves about it, or worry about Anthony, because we can't change it. I warned her not to ever speak that name, and she knows how serious it is."

"How could she possibly know how serious it is?" Flynn worried, and Lucy moved his injured arm down to hold it still. He'd been swinging them both around.

She lowered her voice to answer. "Before she knew we were talking about you, we told her about your family. She didn't understand how you or Gabriel could be in danger."

Flynn ducked, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, that's the final piece of it. I told her about losing them, too, so that's probably how she realized you were with me."

"I mean, that, and she heard you and Lucy talking over the walkie-talkie. She might have recognized your voice. The accent has to be familiar," Rufus contributed.

"I'm sorry," Lucy said, rubbing her eyes tiredly. "I got so worried when Wyatt said you were hurt, I didn't even think, I—"

Flynn cut her off by rubbing her arm. "It's okay. As long as it all worked out, it doesn't really matter if she knows. I mean, Ethan Cahill knew, and that turned out okay. Turned out great for us, actually."

He started them walking again. They were almost to the lifeboat. Lucy threaded her fingers with his and slowed him to fall slightly behind the others. She wanted to be out of earshot.

"She also said to tell you that she loves you and that you are a good man." Flynn stopped abruptly and looked down, clearing his throat.

"She said that?" Lucy put her hand against his chest.

"Yes, and she's right. That's why...that's why I love you." Flynn snapped his head up to look at her and his eyes went impossibly soft.

"I love you, too," he leaned in and gave her such a gentle, loving kiss that it brought tears to her eyes.

"I don't deserve your love, you know. Or my mother's."

"Too bad, you get it anyway," Lucy smiled. She had learned the best way to handle his deflections was to steamroll them. He shook his head at her.

"But you had to tell me now, with the peanut gallery up ahead? You couldn't wait until we were alone?"

"Are you seriously complaining about that?" Lucy stared at him in astonishment. He kissed her nose.

"No. I'm asking you to tell me again when I can give a proper response." Flynn's eyes glittered at her and she smirked.

"Let's go home so you can."

The others had stopped, the lifeboat was just ahead. Flynn squeezed her hand and boosted her up after the others climbed in, then he followed. They jumped.

As the hatch opened, Wyatt and Rufus got out first. Lucy undid her buckles and looked at Flynn, who was sitting like a statue in his seat.

"What is it?"

He sighed. "I'm just a little afraid that something might have changed while we were there."

"Only one way to find out. I'm going to go take a shower. You can take a minute if you want, but please come find me soon?"

He smiled and nodded at her as he started to unbuckle, and Lucy made her way down the stairs before she froze a couple steps down. Something was…off. She moved her eyes around the room, noting all the occupants: Agent Christopher, Jiya hugging Rufus, Wyatt's back as he moved toward the tunnel. As she catalogued all the differences, Mason walked into the room from the gym with a companion. They stepped into the light as Lucy stepped off the staircase and her breath caught. It was a little girl, probably about nine or ten, and she looked at Lucy. With her green eyes.

Lucy gasped. "Iris?"

Apparently, I have appointed myself the official champion of Iris Flynn. I really enjoy the "future baby" stories, but there's also a part of me that says "but there's a canon child to save", so I'm just going to write it.