"Is this a joke?" Rufus asked as he stormed into Mason Industries on New Year's Eve 2016. Wyatt was already there, leaning against the railings with his arms crossed and eyes closed. Rufus approached him, leaning on the railings behind him to the left.
"I'm sorry, Mister Carlin, but it is not," Agent Christopher informed him. She was stood at the control panel with Connor and Jiya. Rufus managed to smile at the latter, despite feeling fed up over the events of the evening. "I apologise for interrupting your evening's plans."
Rufus sighed. "Not your fault. Blame Flynn."
"Oh, I do," the FBI agent said, sharing a look with him that reminded Rufus that it was not only him that had plans for New Year's. "Miss Preston has just arrived," she said, looking up from the CCTV on one of the many screens in front of them.
"Where's he jumped to this time?" Rufus asked. He heard Wyatt sigh from his position against the barriers.
"14th June 1777."
"Flag Day?" Rufus said incredulously.
From behind them, Lucy's voice announced her arrival, "the original flag day." She strode into plain sight and Rufus' jaw dropped. Lucy was dressed up and she cleaned up good. She was wearing a black dress and it was short and tight. To top that off, she was wearing heels which made her legs look like they went on for days.
Rufus glanced around the room, to make sure he wasn't the only one staring at her. He was not, although Connor and Agent Christopher were certainly subtler than he, Jiya and Wyatt, most certainly subtler than Wyatt. "You look good, Lucy," Jiya said and Rufus nodded vehemently. Lucy blushed and let out a derisive sort of laugh.
"All gone to waste now," she said with a shrug.
From the look on Wyatt's face, he did not agree. Wyatt was practically drooling, from what Rufus could see from his awkward position behind him. He hadn't take her eyes off her for a second, of that Rufus was sure. Lucy glanced over at Wyatt and Rufus kicked him, hard, through the railings, hitting him in the calf. Wyatt finally snapped out of it.
"So, original flag day?" Rufus said, ignoring the glare Wyatt was giving him.
"Yes, the day that they agreed on what the flag should be. In the middle of the revolutionary war."
"Why would Flynn want to change the flag?" Rufus asked incredulously and Wyatt looked up, as if suddenly intrigued.
"Well, when we heard about Rittenhouse for the first time, I did some research on the real Rittenhouse, David Rittenhouse, and one of Rittenhouse's main supporters was Francis Hopkinson, who was on the board to create our flag. Hopkinson supposedly was influenced by Rittenhouse for the stars. Maybe Flynn doesn't like that Rittenhouse is literally on our flag," Lucy explained with a shrug. Agent Christopher inclined her head.
"Right, this doesn't sound too dangerous. I want Flynn dead," she demanded, looking directly at Wyatt who saluted her. "Go get changed."
XXX
"I'm not sure if I prefer you in a corset and hoopy skirt thing or in the dress you came in in," Wyatt commented dryly as Jiya helped Lucy to dress adequately. Wyatt himself was stood in ridiculous breeches, causing Lucy to giggle. "What?" Wyatt said, holding his hands out and doing a spin. "You can't say you don't prefer me in these to jeans and a skirt."
"Oh, most definitely," she confirmed. "You should wear breeches in day-to-day life." Wyatt rolled his eyes at her as Jiya finally finished Lucy's final layer of skirt. "Ma'am," Wyatt said, holding out his arm for her. Lucy grinned and took it, bidding Jiya goodbye who returned the sentiment with an exasperated laugh at the two of them.
"Ready to go, pilot?" Wyatt called to their friend, who was also in breeches.
"Let's do it!"
They settled themselves into their seats in the lifeboat and Wyatt fiddled with Lucy's straps as he always did. Rufus played around with the buttons on the control panel getting them ready for take off. "So, what do we think Flynn is going to do? Kill this flag fella?"
"Flag fella?" Lucy said, arching an eyebrow. "Francis Hopkinson and yeah, maybe. He must have been Rittenhouse. He was one of his staunchest supporters."
"Okay, then, save Rittenhouse dude even though we're pretty sure they're evil and then come home, job done," Wyatt said and Lucy smiled, appreciating the levity as she generally did in these moments.
"You got any reason for being eager to come home?" Lucy asked inquisitively and Wyatt shrugged.
"Just, you know, good medicine, marginally less likely to get shot." Lucy snorted.
"What about you?"
"Well, you know, my fiancé," Lucy said a bit awkwardly. Wyatt gave her an incredulous look.
"What?"
"I just- I've been trying."
"Why?"
"Well, some version of me fell in love with him."
"But this version didn't. Do you even have the slightest attraction to him?" Wyatt demanded, completely blindsided by this admission from Lucy. He didn't want to admit why it upset him quite so much.
"I- well, you know," she said, biting her lip. Wyatt resisted an urge to reach across and brush his thumb across it. "I've tried."
"Oh, my God, you've slept with him," Wyatt said loudly.
"Don't wanna know," Rufus said, not even turning around. Wyatt paid him no mind.
"I can't believe this. Why would you sleep with a guy you barely know- oh, my God, that's why you were all dressed up. You were dressed up for a guy you don't even know!"
Lucy looked flustered and so she should. "It doesn't matter, does it? I wanted to see whether there was any attraction there and-"
"Once wasn't enough?" Wyatt scoffed.
"Well, I thought, maybe, it was just because, well, it had been a while for me." Wyatt felt his eyes bug out of his head.
"Really don't wanna know."
Neither of them paid him any mind. "Whether it had been a while for you or not, there would've been attraction there! Why are you forcing this?"
Lucy was angry now and Wyatt felt a bit guilty, but he needed to know. "Because, Wyatt, I'm fed up of being on my own! I thought, you know, being married, that sounded pretty good, somebody to look after me, stop me being alone."
Wyatt felt a pang in his chest. "You're not alone," he said quietly and, as Lucy opened her mouth to continue, Rufus announced they were going. Wyatt gave her one last look, before they both closed their eyes for the flight of sorts.
It was over quickly, as usual. Wyatt threw his head back as he tried to get the motion-sickness under control. "I'm gonna be sick," Lucy announced suddenly, distracting him as she violently pulled herself out of her chair and practically jumped out of the lifeboat to, indeed, be sick.
"Lucy, are you okay?" Wyatt said, concerned as she continued to be sick. He stood behind her, rubbing her back while Rufus looked on awkwardly.
"Yeah, I'm just-" but she threw up again and, so, didn't finish her sentence.
"Maybe you should stay here," Rufus suggested and Lucy finally stood up and gave him an extremely dirty look, to which he held his hands up in surrender.
"Lucy, maybe he's right," Wyatt said and Lucy glared at him next. "I'm not as easy as him."
"Hey!" Rufus complained.
"I'm fine now. It was just a bit of motion sickness. Come on, let's go."
Lucy strode off in front of them and Rufus and Wyatt shared a worried look.
XXX
"Please, you have to let us in," Wyatt pleaded. Rufus was hidden round the corner. They all knew that, because of racism, they would have a better chance of getting in in Rufus wasn't with them. They'd found the president of South Carolina's office in Charleston and had been refused entry when they'd passed through the first lot of doors. It was fair, really, there were lots of very important people in there, but lots of those important people might be about to die and they just couldn't let that happen.
The guard Wyatt was addressing looked towards the other and gave a nod. The fleeting thought that they were letting them in passed very quickly when Lucy realised they were calling for the constabulary. "No, wait," Lucy said, smiling sweetly and stepping in front of Wyatt. She took his gun from his pocket and placed it in his hand. "We'll leave."
As she turned as though she were going to leave, Wyatt shot twice, killing both guards immediately. He looked down at them for a second and then looked away and Lucy sighed, squeezing his arm.
"We didn't have a choice," he reminded her and Lucy nodded.
"I know. I'll get Rufus."
The three of them opened the doors to the main office and found it crowded with people. Many of them were shocked by the appearance of Rufus but didn't say anything, given that he was dressed in a soldier's uniform, something that had been Lucy's idea to keep attacks against them low. "There's Flynn," Lucy whispered in Wyatt's ear, pointing at their nemesis, stood behind someone who Lucy identified as Hopkinson. "I'll go and tell Hopkinson there's a message for him and then you and Rufus need to lock him up somewhere while the Flag Act gets agreed on." Wyatt inclined his head and left with Rufus, while Lucy approached the older man.
"Mister Hopkinson, there is a message outside for you," she said quietly, ignoring the hand that Flynn had placed on Lucy's arm. Hopkinson gave Lucy a bit of a funny look but did step outside into the hallway. Lucy noticed that George Washington looked up, slightly confused too, but she ignored it.
"Get your hand off me," Lucy hissed at Flynn, who refused but did lead her outside into the hallway, where, thankfully, Rufus and Wyatt had moved Hopkinson.
"What are you doing?" Flynn demanded of her in low tones. "He was about to suggest something else for the flag! Do you want Rittenhouse to be seen everywhere across America forever?"
Lucy scoffed. "To be honest, I don't care. Were you going to kill him?" she asked.
Flynn shrugged. "Probably. He was too high up in Rittenhouse, but I needed to make him fix the flag first."
"I don't know what to tell you, Flynn. In about five minutes they're going to ratify that law and you're going to have to live with it." Flynn cursed at her and ran off, probably looking for Hopkinson. She knew, though, that he knew as well as her that it was too late.
XXX
The mission turned out to be one of their easier ones. They stopped Flynn from changing anything, without any injury to themselves. "Where did you take him?" Lucy asked as they headed back to the lifeboat, at a fast walk but not a run. They didn't want to freak out any of the soldiers who were occupying Charleston by running, even if they didn't necessarily know that Flynn had returned.
"Just took him on a walk," Wyatt told her. Lucy rolled her eyes.
"Where to?"
"There was a tavern a few streets over. We left him there and he thanked us," Rufus told her and Lucy could feel his confusion, so she explained.
"Flynn was threatening him so that he'd change the flag."
"You spoke to Flynn, I'm guessing?"
"Yeah, he pulled me out of the office."
"And are you okay?" Wyatt asked. Lucy nodded, rolling her eyes again.
"Let's just get home."
They eventually return to the lifeboat and get ready for take off. "Reckon you're gonna be okay?" Wyatt asked, squeezing her knee.
"Yeah, maybe the last one was just a bad trip or something," Lucy said, starting to do up her seatbelt.
"Hey," Wyatt muttered, taking the straps from her and doing them up himself. "You'd tell me if something was up, wouldn't you?" Lucy's head snapped up and she met his eyes, which were as intense a blue as always.
"Of course I would," Lucy assured him, "but there isn't."
Wyatt pulled back and sorted his own straps, giving her a small smile, before Rufus announced that they were off. Lucy clamped her hands together, never fully having got over her claustrophobia.
The journey, again, wasn't too long but it was just as bad as the first and Lucy was throwing up before she even made it down the stairs of the lifeboat. "Lucy!" she heard a voice call and she was confused because it wasn't Wyatt, nor Rufus or Jiya or -
"Amy?" Lucy said, pulling her head up from the ground she was facing. She wiped her mouth and felt Wyatt come up behind her. "Amy!" she shouted again. She'd know that voice anywhere.
"Lucy," Wyatt muttered as she stood up straight, continuing to call for her sister.
"No, Wyatt, I heard her," she said, looking around desperately. "I heard Amy," she pleaded with him, turning to look at him to make sure he believed her.
"Of course you did, you silly woman," the voice said again and Lucy's head shot away from Wyatt's. Amy was stood behind her. Lucy's jaw dropped open.
"Amy."