This is a Timeless/Holiday AU mashup. Lucy & the crew have never time travelled, but the come together somehow anyway. It must be fate. A collaborative story with Alodis. As always we do not own Timeless and have no claim to the film either. Enjoy and we love to hear your thoughts & comments!
The night the refrigerator broke down was the final straw for Lucy. The morning before, she had been up at 6am to bring Carol to an appointment. Headed back home, then off to University for a lecture she gave at 10am. She worked late to cover office hours for herself and her co-teacher who had the flu. Then worked even later to grade papers, prepare the mid-terms and correspond with her Teacher Assistants. She'd crawled into bed at 11pm that night without even peeking in on her sister and mother. Then waking again at 2am with her stomach growling, craving a snack to take the place of her missed dinner, she found the refrigerator had kicked the bucket. The milk was tepid. Frozen meat in the freezer was sweating and squishy.
Amy found Lucy crying in front of the fridge clutching the mint chip ice cream which had melted into a shamrock puddle. Lucy was shaking with sobs, her hand over her face.
"Lucy! What is going on?" Amy took the ice cream container out of her sister's hands. A spray of the green creamy liquid spattered the flowery kimono Lucy wore. She looked down at herself and her sobs calmed. Amy felt relieved until she looked into her dark-haired sister's eyes. Lucy's face had lost all expression.
"Mom gave this to me." Amy put out her arms and Lucy fell into them, crying again.
"Hey, slugger, this has got to stop. Dr Amy prescribes a break for sis."
Lucy, laughed, sniffling and wiping tears away. She protested, "Hey, I'm the one with a doctorate here."
Amy smiled and rubbed her sister's back. "That's my girl. But seriously, you're going a mile a minute here. Working long hours at Stanford, taking extra assignments, running Mom to appointments, paying for this place, supplementing her care, keeping food at the table for my hard-at-work but still not making it ass."
Lucy shook her head and made as if to speak, but Amy interupted her, "You can't deny it, Lucy. You need to let go of this stress. Enjoy yourself. Now's a good time. Mom's latest tests were encouraging. Her heart is responding to treatment. She's had an invite from our cousin Jeffrey to visit for the holidays, so you don't need to worry about her. I've even gotten a gig right now at the radio station so I could take care of the house and pay the bills while you go somewhere and enjoy yourself."
Lucy blinked. "Wait, what? You mean like a vacation?"
Amy nodded, "Yes. That is what we mere mortals call them. You could go curl up on a beach. Or hike the Pacific trail. No, too much like work there. How about booking a week at a spa somewhere?"
"I can't just up and leave school!"
"Au contraire, I've been staring at that letter from your department head on the fridge that gave you permission for leave that you never took!"
"Well, it turned out that I was able to fit in taking Carol to her treatments by shifting the intro seminar to a Tuesday/Thursday schedule-"
"Bringing up how you've braided your schedule into a pretzel to fulfill all these commitments is really just proving my point, not yours."
Lucy took a breath to shoot back a comment at her sister, but then she remembered the email that her colleague at Texas A&M had forwarded her about a property in West Texas:
"The Chance of a Lifetime - Seeking holiday house trade. Will swap my rural home in Texas for your city lights apartment, condo or what have you."
Even as she scoffed at the idea of trusting her home to a stranger, something in it had tugged at her heart. Thinking of the clean air and wide open range. Her hand had hovered over the "delete" option, but she ended up archiving it.
So instead of fighting her sister any longer, she just said, "OK."
Amy, winding herself up for another round of arguing and twisting her sister's arm (perhaps literally since they had sometimes settled childhood arguments through wrestling) was non-plussed. "OK?"
Lucy nodded, her eyes starting to light up. "Yeah, okay. You're right, shortstuff. And if you want to pick up the bills for a month around here, far be it from me to stop you. In fact, maybe I should just stick around to make sure you do."
"Oh no, sis, you said yes and you are not backing out now!"
Lucy smiled to herself as Amy pulled open the computer and forgetting the lateness of the hour, started searching for likely getaway locations. Maybe this would work out.
The setting sun turned the distant hills amber and purple as Lucy stepped out onto the deck several weeks later, at her holiday getaway. Taking a sip from the full glass of red wine in her hand, she reflected that the house was gorgeous. Even better, in fact, than she'd envisioned when texting this Rufus fellow who made the swap with her...
*There is a big screen TV, you can watch anything you want. And do you play video games?*
*Not really..I'm planning to visit the countryside while I'm there.*
*The key is under a flower pot on the step. Sorry the garage is full of stuff, but you can park in the driveway.*
*That should be just fine. I've made arrangements for your guest parking pass from the condo association, but please avoid the office. I'm technically not supposed to sublease the unit.*
"Mum's the word. How do I get in?*
*My neighbor, Jiya will have the key for you. Just bring your ID and our emails to prove you are who you say you are.*
*Wow! You're not taking any chances are you. Should I get a CORI check first?*
*Umm...*
*What, wait, I was kidding...did you really do one on me?*
*Well, Jiya does tech consulting and she works with the San Francisco PD, so...*
*..*
*Rufus? I'm sorry. I hope this wasn't a huge invasion of your privacy. My sister and Jiya were just worried about me.*
*It's okay. I just feel a little exposed now.*
*I'll send you my information, too. What's good for the goose...*
*Is good for the stranger, I get it. Well have a nice time down south, y'all!*
When she had arrived, she had been able to put her car in the garage. Must have cleaned that up! she thought. The house did have a big TV, but no sign of video games. Guess they hide away in closets nicely. The graceful deck with a sweeping view was a nice surprise. The keys were right where he said they would be. She had unpacked and made herself at home.
Lucy ate a quiet dinner on the deck that night. The stars twinkled over head and she stretched out her bare toes, soaking up the silence. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been able to relax for a full evening like this. The only thing missing was a warm shoulder to lean on. She found herself imagining herself meeting someone at the dude ranch. Maybe getting dinner tomorrow night with an attractive new friend... She shook her head, realizing that was just a pipe dream. It was a one in a million chance that she was here at all. Why expect romance on top of peace and quiet?
She scraped her dishes, left them in the sink for the morning and climbed up the stairs. She tucked herself in to the ample king size bed to read a mystery and settle in for the night. She fell asleep looking at the framed military honors on the wall, wondering what that must have been like to earn them. Rufus didn't tell me he was in the military.
Two days later these little details fell into place when she got proof that she was, indeed, not in Rufus' house.
It was midnight on her third day there, when she heard a car pull up into the driveway, and footsteps led up the walk to the door. Lucy snuck down the stairs, her heart pounding. She lifted a heavy paperweight from the mantle over the fireplace, nervously palming the rounded stone surface from one hand to the other. She didn't turn on any lights, letting the person come towards her without realizing she was there. She heard them move the flower pot and the following rattle of the key turning in the lock.
Lucy leapt out as the figure came through the doorway. She aimed for the head. She felt it connect with a thunk and heard a deep masculine voice cry out in pain. Before she knew what was happening, the stone was removed from her hold and she felt strong fingers clutching at her throat.
Sleepily opening the door, Wyatt had a thought that something was off-just before the stone collided with his head. He felt a stabbing pain and reacted immediately, without thought. He pulled the heavy object from the hands of his assaillant and grabbed for their throat. His hands encircled a slender, soft neck and the person in his grip gave out a frightened squeak.
Somehow in this midst of the rush of adrenaline flowing, he managed to loosen his hands. Letting go with one hand, he scrabbled to find the switch for the lights.
And found himself face to face with a young woman with dark hair looking as surprised as he felt, only she was struggling to breathe. She gasped, wide brown eyes gaping, pulling at his hand still clasped around her neck. He stood there in shock, his mind clicking through the possibilities of how this intruder could have made it into his home. Her pyjamas caught his eye, Are those bunny rabbits? He realized she was speaking.
"Do you mind? Your hand?"
Wyatt removed his hold from her throat and stepped back putting a hand to his bruised head. He barked out: "Who the hell are you and what are you doing in my house?"
She coughed a few times massaging her neck. Despite her brave words she looked frail and vulnerable. "My name is Lucy and I'm on vacation here. You scared the hell out of me you know." Her dark brown eyes were flashing with anger. Wyatt couldn't help but notice how beautiful they were. He tried to hold onto his own anger and remember that she had invaded his home, but felt his curiosity start to take the upper hand.
"What do you mean you're on vacation?" His mind raced trying to account for her presence here. Some kind of mix-up? He closed the door behind him and ushered them over to his living room and couch to sort things out.
They sat down on the couch. The comfortable chair that she'd curled up in so happily only hours before felt strange and alien to Lucy now. Her breath was still coming fast, and her heart was only just beginning to slow down as she took in that there was no threat here. No threat to my life, but maybe to my dignity, Lucy thought. Lucy was very aware of her how her bare pink feet contrasted with his dusty cowboy boots. How did I get mixed up in this situation? The whimsical pink bunny pyjamas whe wore that her sister had given her felt childish and inappropriate beside the simple black shirt he wore. Her eyes lingered on his chest, the thin fabric followed the lines of his taut muscles and the dark color contrasted with the bright blue of his eyes. Is it legal to have for a man to have eyes that beautiful?
Bringing her thoughts back to earth, Lucy explained how she had made a house exchange and that the address she got in return was this one. She went over the arrangements she had made and said they had been with "a man named Rufus Carlin". She heard her inadvertant host groan.
Her eyes darted to his, "Do you know him ?"
"He's a friend. Won't be for much longer after I get hold on him."
She put a hand out to touch the blue eyed stranger on the arm, worried now. "I'm sure what he did is very wrong but please, he seems like a nice guy, don't hurt him."
He raised eyebrow. "Who do you think I am?" he asked in a mocking tone.
She looked down at the muscular arm her hand rested on. She couldn't help but raise an eyebrow of her own. She retracted her hand, and it suddenly occurred to her that she had been sleeping in his bed these past few nights. She felt herself blushing and tried to cover it by saying angrily, "You are the guy who just almost strangled me." Lucy put her hand to her neck again, rubbing it angrily. She suddenly felt exhausted. The adrenaline high dropped away, leaving her feeling weak and as suddenly, deeply cold.
"My apologies ma'am but you are the stranger sleeping in my house uninvited." He retorted with a grin. He saw the color drain out of her face, and a shiver run through her slight frame. He frowned at the spot on his arm that her hand had vacated and made a decision. Plucking a blanket from the back of the couch he handed it to her and spoke soothingly.
"Well, ma'am, here is who I am: A soldier, Delta Force. So one of the good guys." She couldn't resist the charming smile he gave with that remark, and she felt herself starting to unbend. "I'm a good Texas boy, and am back here at my family home on leave, in between missions. Rufus is a friend of mine who well, let's just say made a mistake in offering my house to you. But that's not your fault, and it's the middle of the night. So, I suggest, we each get some shut eye and talk all this out in the morning."
Lucy hugged the blanket to herself, relieved and feeling something else which she set aside for now. "Thank you. I'll just sleep here. I'm so sorry about your head."
He shrugged, but winced at the movement and put his hand back to his head. "I won't hear of it. I'm fine right here. Just..."
"Just?" She held her breath wondering what could go wrong now.
"Who are you? So when I talk to Rufus I don't sound like a complete maniac. 'Rufus there's this strange woman in rabbit pyjamas running around in my house.'"
Lucy's face broke out into a smile. "Lucy," she said. "I'm a Professor from San Francisco. Rufus is staying at my place right now."
Wyatt smiled back. "Well, Lucy, welcome to Texas."