Feeling guilty and more than a little angry, Lucy tugged the car door closed behind her, and slumped over the steering wheel. Damn it. Flynn had trusted her with the fate of his family, and now, thanks to Agent Christopher, he was convinced that Lucy had betrayed him.
She could kick herself for not realizing that Christopher would follow her to the meet-up with Flynn, that the federal agent would do everything in her power to ensure that the man who had terrorized American history (and her team) for the past year paid for his crimes. But couldn't Christopher at least have let Flynn try to save his family before she hauled him off to jail? That was all that he'd ever wanted, after all.
True, Flynn had stolen top-secret property (a time machine, no less), and there was no question that his subsequent actions had been atrocious. Yet he'd also been one hundred percent correct in his recent assertion to Lucy and Wyatt that they would do the exact same things if it could somehow bring back the loved ones that they had lost.
Lucy had openly admitted that Flynn was right. But there was something else that she hadn't admitted, another reason why a part of her felt that the man deserved some leniency. Simply put, his not-so-little crime spree had led Lucy to an all-new life — one that was far more thrilling and fulfilling than that which she'd originally chosen for herself. Even if it wasn't a life that she could hold onto for much longer, Lucy would always feel a little grateful to Flynn for that.
Because of Flynn' actions (however criminal they might have been), Lucy was finally able to step out of the shadow of her highly-accomplished historian mother — to start to make her own choices, and to truly become her own person. As a member of the 'time team', she'd gotten to experience history as it really happened (something that even her esteemed mother had never done), along with enough action and adventure to last anyone a lifetime. One might even say that she'd become a historical hero of sorts. As if all of that weren't exciting enough, Lucy had also, for the first time ever, fallen in love with a man who wasn't just another long-dead figure from one of her history books.
While she had no illusions that anything would ever come of her feelings for Wyatt (he was and always would be married to the ghost of his deceased wife), at least now she knew that she was capable of falling in love. After seemingly endless years of dating, yet never feeling anything more than the occasional passing spark of attraction for anyone, Lucy had honestly started to wonder if something inside of her might be broken. Now she knew better. Though falling in love for the first time hadn't worked out the way that she'd hoped, perhaps the next time it would. Once she got over Wyatt, of course.
Speaking of which…. Lucy dug her cellphone from one coat pocket, and dialed the only number besides her mother's that she knew by heart. She'd promised to let Wyatt know when the meet-up with Flynn was over, and if she didn't soon, he'd probably come after her, guns a-blazing.
Ever since last week's mission to 1954, when Lucy had insisted on returning to the present separately from the rest of the team (she'd had no choice, really — Jiya had needed immediate medical care, but Lucy hadn't yet convinced her grandfather to help them take down Rittenhouse), Wyatt had been oddly overprotective of her. Though Lucy appreciated his gentlemanly concern, there simply wasn't a need for it anymore. With Flynn locked up, and Rittenhouse in the process of being dismantled, Wyatt's job as her official protector was over. Besides that, his insistence on keeping such close tabs on her was starting to exceed the limits of her emotional fortitude.
How was she supposed to get over Wyatt, exactly, when he was always either by her side or insisting that she check in with him by phone? When her brain boarded the fast train to Fantasyland every time she heard his voice, or he smiled at her (those dimples…sigh), or (God forbid) he accidentally brushed against her? Surely Wyatt must know by now how he affected her. Yet for some unfathomable reason, he persisted in making her miserable with his constant presence.
It was ridiculous. She was ridiculous. Wyatt had made it abundantly clear that he had no interest in anything other than a working relationship with her. But try as hard as she might, Lucy couldn't get her feelings for him to go away. If anything, they just seemed to grow stronger with every interaction that she had with him, much to her never-ending frustration. And right now, the man himself wasn't making it easy on her in any way. Thankfully, as a Delta Force soldier, Wyatt would soon move on to another assignment. Though she would miss him and their adventures together, perhaps with him officially out of her life, her heart could finally move on, too.
"Everything go OK with Flynn?" Wyatt answered her call on the first ring.
"Not quite." Realizing that she was feeling a bit too warm (the sound of Wyatt's sexy baritone in her ear having nothing whatsoever to do with that), she wriggled out of her coat, and tossed it onto the passenger seat. "Christopher showed up with a tactical team, and arrested him." Lucy didn't even try to hide the irritation from her voice.
"She was just doing her job, Lucy," he reminded her firmly. "The guy's a terrorist, and belongs behind bars."
Lucy wasn't at all surprised that Wyatt thought so. Good and bad, right and wrong — it was all so black-and-white to him, wasn't it?
"Yeah, a terrorist who now thinks I betrayed him," she snorted wryly. "If he ever gets out…." Lucy trailed off, reaching down towards the passenger side floor to retrieve whatever had just fallen out of her second coat pocket. Oh right — the journal. In the chaos of Flynn's arrest, she'd completely forgotten that the man had given it to her.
"He's never getting out. Christopher will see to that," Wyatt reassured her.
"Yeah," Lucy responded automatically, not really hearing what he had said. Staring down at the worn, leather-covered book in her hand — the one that Flynn claimed that she herself would someday write — she wondered if she should read it. A few months ago, she wouldn't have dared to even consider doing so, on the off chance that something she learned from it would inadvertently cause her to change history on one of their missions. But surely now that the missions were over, and both time machines were under high-security lockdown, no harm could come from it. Could it?
"Hey, we still on for drinks tonight?" Wyatt asked. "Rufus and Jiya found a new place they want to try over on Gough. Guess it's got a pirate theme or something."
Caught up in considering the possible ramifications of reading the journal, Lucy failed to reply. What if just the act of reading it caused history to change somehow? Or what if she found out something truly terrible about her future? Neither possibility was something that she was certain she wanted to risk, especially the latter.
Thanks to Flynn's liberal use of this playbook that she'd supposedly given him to follow, Lucy had already lost her sister, Amy. Could she handle it if she found out that she was destined for still more heartbreak? Of course, there was always the possibility that the journal contained good news about her future, too, but Lucy didn't hold much hope of that being the case. If life for her future self had been bright and shiny in any way, she wouldn't have given Flynn the journal in the first place, would she have?
There was also the question of whether or not Lucy should tell Wyatt and Rufus that the journal was now in her possession. Wyatt in particular had been angry with her for not telling them of its existence to start with — for weakening the team by not sharing important intel. But would he (or Rufus) even care that she had the book now, given that they wouldn't be working together anymore?
If their roles were reversed, Lucy supposed that she'd still want to know about it, and to get a chance to read it, too. After all, Flynn had practically waved the damn thing under all of their noses for the last year, always hinting at things that he supposedly knew about each of them. Should she allow her teammates to indulge their curiosity, or would that be as potentially damaging as if she read the journal herself?
Realizing that she needed to think on it some more before making any final decisions (honestly, maybe she should just burn the blasted book and be done with it), Lucy tucked the journal back into her coat pocket.
"Lucy? You still there?" Wyatt's voice held an edge of panic that finally broke through her thoughts.
"Sorry, just thinking. What were you saying — something about pirates?" Lucy fastened her seatbelt and started the car, eager now to get home, to shower, and to nap for a bit before the evening out that she and her teammates had planned. It was to be a goodbye party of sorts, and she knew that if she didn't get at least a little rest beforehand, she'd be a big old blubbering mess of tears before the night was over. Not exactly the last impression that she wanted any of them to have of her, least of all Wyatt.
"Rufus and Jiya want to check out Smuggler's Cove tonight," Wyatt repeated, clarifying the group's plan. "Supposedly they've got like 200 kinds of rum on tap, and Rufus bet Jiya he could get through more of them without passing out than she could."
"Well that ought to be fun to watch," Lucy giggled. "My money's on Jiya."
"Mine, too," Wyatt chuckled. "But don't tell you-know-who I said so. So are you still in? I could, uh, swing by and pick you up on the way. Say around 7:00?"
"Sounds good," Lucy agreed. She flipped on her turn signal, and waited for a wide enough opening in traffic before pulling away from the curb.
"Great. Text me when you get home, OK?" (Definitely overprotective.)
"Yep." Lucy rolled her eyes, and disconnected the call the same way that she always did when talking to Wyatt: without actually saying goodbye. Tossing her cellphone on top of her coat, she scoffed at her own foolishness. For some reason, 'goodbye' was something that she could never bring herself to say to him. But that was about to change, wasn't it? After Monday's wrap-up with Agent Christopher at Mason Industries, Wyatt would go back to his own life, and there would be nothing left to say to him but 'goodbye'.
Feeling a bit melancholy (she definitely needed that nap, and maybe a hot, relaxing bubble bath instead of a shower), Lucy set off for home. If she wished as she drove that Flynn would somehow bust out of jail, or that Rittenhouse would pull some unexpected stunt that would keep Wyatt (and the rest of her beloved team, of course) in her life for just a little while longer, well, nobody else would ever know. After all, it wasn't likely that she'd ever written about that in the damned journal, was it?
Wyatt stared down at his phone in annoyance, and slammed the legs of his chair back down on the floor. Call Ended. "Damn it, what is her deal with that?" he cursed loudly.
"Whose deal with what?" Rufus asked around a mouthful of clam chowder, glancing up briefly at his irritable friend. He tore off a chunk of his sourdough bread bowl, dunked it into the thick, creamy soup, and popped it into his mouth. Man, was he grateful for the convenience of 21st century take-out, and the fact that (now that they wouldn't be chasing Flynn through time anymore) he need never be without it again.
"Lucy," Wyatt growled. "She hung up on me again without saying goodbye." He leaned his elbows on the Mason Industries conference room table where he, Rufus, and Jiya had gathered for a quick lunch, and scrubbed at his face in frustration.
"What, is that like a serious affront to your gentlemanly sensibilities or something?" Jiya teased.
"No, it's just stupid." Wyatt pounded his fist on the table to punctuate his point. "If Lucy doesn't say goodbye, how am I supposed to know she actually meant to hang up? That she isn't hurt, or…or didn't just get hauled off again by some psycho with a creepy agenda?"
Rufus and Jiya exchanged a look of exasperation. Wyatt had always been a bit overprotective of Lucy, particularly after Flynn had kidnapped her that one time back in 1780. But ever since they'd returned from last week's mission, the man had been absolutely obsessed with her safety. The pathetic thing was, there was no longer any reason for Wyatt to worry about Lucy at all. Except, of course, that he was glaringly in love with her. What was even more pathetic? Lucy obviously felt the same way about Wyatt, yet neither of the pair seemed to realize the other's feelings. How could two people in love possibly be so blind? Honestly, it was getting downright painful to watch.
"Right. Because the odds of that being the reason Lucy doesn't tell you goodbye are astronomically high." Rufus couldn't (ever) resist giving Wyatt a hard time. "Especially when she makes such a point of telling everyone else goodbye before she hangs up on them. Me, Mason, Christopher, her mom, the lady who takes her phone orders at the Thai delivery place, that guy she called last week about the free sofa on Craigslist. How about you, Jiya? Does Lucy say goodbye to you before hanging up?"
"Every time." Jiya grinned slyly, and winked at Rufus. Needing to get back to work, she wadded up the remnants of her deli sandwich, and stood from her chair. "Hmm. Maybe you just need to teach Lucy how to say a proper goodbye to you, Wyatt," Jiya offered helpfully. She waggled her eyebrows at her boyfriend, then leaned in to give him a loud, playfully exaggerated kiss. "Goodbye, Rufus," she stage-whispered, side-eyeing Wyatt as she strode from the room.
Wyatt's cheeks reddened with embarrassment at his friends' not-so-subtle ribbing.
"Dude, are you blushing?" Rufus taunted. "You are, aren't you?" He guffawed.
"Shut up," Wyatt grumbled. "I don't blush." He stood and occupied himself with clearing away the mess from his own meal, brushing a few stray crumbs onto the carpet.
"Right, right." Rufus nodded his head sagely. "Must be a sunburn from all those days you haven't been spending outside lately. Seriously, though — do you have any idea how ridiculous you've been acting? Do us all a favor already and just tell Lucy you're in love with her, would you?"
"What?" Wyatt scoffed at his friend's assessment of the situation. "Come on, Rufus. Lucy's my teammate."
"Dude, I'm your teammate, too, but if you start acting like that towards me, things are going to get really weird really fast." Rufus could see by the set of Wyatt's jaw that the man wasn't amused. "Look, you've barely let Lucy out of your sight since we got back from D.C., and when you do, you insist that she check in with you constantly. If you're not in love with her, then what the hell is all that about? Because from where I'm sitting…."
"Do you ever get the feeling that something really bad is about to happen, Rufus?" Wyatt interrupted, his voice low and ominous.
"Yeah, every time I step foot in the Lifeboat," Rufus quipped. (Thank goodness he never had to do that again!) He frowned as he looked over at Wyatt, who was now pacing back and forth near the door. "You're serious though. You think something bad is going to happen to Lucy? Like what?"
"I don't know. But back in D.C., when we were just about to leave? Flynn gave me this…this look, you know? And…I don't really know how to explain it, but it's like he was saying 'This isn't over yet'. And it got me thinking about Lucy's journal, and the part of it Flynn read me back in 1972."
"Wait - what? You never told us Flynn read you part of the journal!" Rufus couldn't help but feel a little pissed off. "Seriously? After that guilt trip you laid on me and Lucy about keeping secrets from the team?"
"Yeah, well, it was private stuff, OK?" Wyatt defended himself. "Stuff about me, and about Jessica's death. The thing is, it was totally accurate, all of it. And not just the kind of stuff you could find in the newspapers. There were details, Rufus — personal details that I never told anyone. Which I guess means I'm going to tell Lucy, in the future?" He rubbed the back of his neck agitatedly. "The journal also talked about how I was obsessed with Jessica's death, and needed to get over it and move on, and Lucy — future Lucy — sounded pissed about that, like something to do with my feelings for Jess had caused some sort of problem for the team."
"Well you did steal the Lifeboat to try to get Jessica back. That definitely caused some problems for the team," Rufus reminded him.
"Yeah, but that already happened, and in the long-run, it turned out OK. This, though?" Wyatt paused to collect his thoughts. "Given the details future Lucy knew when she wrote the journal, it feels like something that hasn't happened yet. And if that hasn't happened yet, what else is in that damned book that hasn't happened yet? I can't shake the feeling, Rufus, that we're not done yet — that's there's more to come, and Flynn knows it, and he was trying to give me some kind of heads-up or something."
"OK, not that I'm saying you're crazy or anything," Rufus argued, though he really was starting to think that. "But Flynn's locked up, and there's no way Homeland Security is letting him back out again in this lifetime."
"Maybe it's not Flynn we have to worry about, though," Wyatt clarified. "Maybe it's Rittenhouse. I mean, that is why future Lucy supposedly gave Flynn the journal, isn't it — to wipe Rittenhouse off the map?"
"And we've done that, haven't we?" Because the thought that maybe they hadn't was far too terrifying for Rufus to process at the moment. He'd done his time, damn it. He'd had enough of playing dress-up, and he sure as hell was not getting back in that freaking time machine just to try and get himself killed again. "Christopher and her team have been working around the clock to round up all those dicks."
"But what if they don't get them all?" Wyatt's eyes darted back and forth frantically, his voice growing more and more agitated. "Or what if there are members that we don't even know about? Lucy's grandpa was pretty damn thorough in gathering intel, but he's just one man, Rufus. Who's to say there isn't something or someone important he missed?"
Seeing that Wyatt seemed to be working himself up into a flat-out panic, Rufus tried to lighten the mood a little. "So you're saying you're not in love with Lucy, that you're just keeping her on a short leash because Flynn — who, by the way, always has some kind of creepy look on his face — was making eyes at you?"
"I'm saying we need to keep our eyes and ears open, just in case," Wyatt sighed, clutching tightly at his hair with both hands as if trying to ground himself. "Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but I can't shake the feeling that something bad is going to happen."
"Well I hope like hell you're wrong, buddy." And he did. But Wyatt was the one who was trained to spot danger, and Rufus couldn't quite ignore that fact. Either way, Wyatt didn't seem willing to let this go. "But I guess it wouldn't hurt to keep our guards up a little longer. Have you talked to Lucy about any of this?"
"No. I, uh, don't want to freak her out, in case I'm wrong. She's got enough on her plate already, with coming to grips that she's not going to get Amy back. Not to mention trying to figure out what to do about Dr. McDouchebag."
Rufus didn't miss the way that Wyatt practically growled that last part. Definitely spoken like a man who was concerned about far more than just his 'teammate's' safety. "Yeah, but you can't be with her 24-7, Wyatt. She needs to know about this so she can keep herself safe. Oh, and you do know she dumped Noah, right?"
"Really? When?" Wyatt's eyes seemed to brighten with interest, though Rufus could tell that his friend was trying to play it cool. "She never, uh, mentioned it."
"Technically last week, right after he patched me up. But it's been over for months, from what Jiya said. Guess Lucy finally let the guy kiss her, but there was no chemistry or whatever. She told Jiya that she should have known lightning bolts from the heavens don't strike twice, whatever the hell that means."
"Hmm," Wyatt grunted noncommittally. He turned his back to Rufus, and ambled towards one of the large glass windows that overlooked the Lifeboat hangar, as if suddenly interested in the view.
What an idiot – doesn't he know that glass is reflective? Rufus grinned at the sight of the somewhat cocky, full-dimpled smirk now plastered to his friend's face. Though he wasn't quite sure of the exact reason behind Wyatt's expression, he was absolutely certain that it had something to do with the man's very un-teammate-like feelings for Lucy.