A/N: Sorry, this took longer than expected. The month of April is pretty busy for me. Hopefully the next chapter won't take as long since I have a good idea of where I want to take it. It'll be more plot than this. This one is a lot of filler, but I felt the need for some fluff after the last two painful episodes

Disclaimer: Nope, still not mine. I also don't own NCIS, but they definitely own the line I borrowed from Tony

"Ow. Ow! Jiya what the hell!" Rufus pulled his arm away from where his girlfriend was hitting it repeatedly and rubbed the now tender spot.

"Look."

Since Rufus was facing the bar, he had to turn his body to obey Jiya's command. When he saw what she was referring to, he promptly turned back to the bar and took a long swig of his beer before muttering under his breath, "Is there any way to psychologically un-see something? I don't need that kind of visual floating around every time we get into the lifeboat."

"Wait I thought you said you walked in on them in Hollywood."

"Yeah but they weren't all over each other. They were just kind of—" He waves his hand, vaguely gesturing in the open air, "—cuddling, and then they moved apart when they saw me. That," he hooks a thumb over his shoulder, "was so much more physical than I ever needed to witness." He finishes his beer and signals the bartender for another.

"Hang on." Jess chimes in, after being silent since starting to dig into her nachos, "What do you mean 'walked in on them'? Lucy and Wyatt? When?"

Rufus's eyes grow wide, "Uhhh. So I take it Wyatt maybe didn't tell you every detail? Yep, that is not a conversation I'll be having. You gotta take it up with him." He paused taking a sip of his beer. "But like maybe don't burst their bubble right now? After the shit they've been through they deserve a few moments of happiness."

When they part, Lucy is pressed up against Wyatt's chest with her arms wrapped around his neck and his hands clutching tightly to her hips. "So yeah maybe I do want to move forward. But God, Wyatt. It's not going to be that easy." She drops her arms so that her hands rest where his shoulders meet his neck and her forearms rest against his chest. Her eyes fall to the dip between his collarbones and her brows furrow. "We can't just pretend like none of this happened. Your wife came back from the dead and you just decided that, what, she's not really who you want?"

"All due respect ma'am," He says with a smirk, "but you're forgetting that she is my ex-wife." Lucy rolled her eyes, and Wyatt sobered up slightly. "And believe me, I want to talk about this. We need to talk about everything that happened. But maybe that can wait for an hour or two. After all, how often are we going to get the chance to enjoy ourselves outside of the bunker? So let's save the heavy stuff for that lovely missile silo we call home, and go join our friends for a drink?"

"Ok." They parted completely, but for the hand that Wyatt held onto and linked his fingers through.

They weaved their way through the crowd to where the rest of the gang was standing near the bar. Jiya was facing them as they walked up, and flashed a knowing grin. "I would ask how your talk was, but it didn't look like there was a ton of talking being done." Rufus shot her a scandalized look, "What? I'm just saying."

Wyatt and Lucy just smiled and ordered themselves another drink. Lucy perched herself next to Jiya, leaning back against the bar. Wyatt crowded into her side, leaning his hip against the bar and facing everyone else, while resting his arm casually along the bar behind Lucy. He didn't miss the glance Jess gave the arm or the way she seemed almost offended by it. Huh. That was weird. She knew about his feelings for Lucy a while ago, so why does she have a problem with it now? He decided that was a tomorrow problem.

Flynn decided to make his opinion known. "So as much fun as all six of us standing in a line is, there's an open high top over there and I'd like to sit." Without another word, he pushed off the bar and walked in the direction of the table.

Wyatt quirked an eyebrow and asked Rufus, "Why'd we invite him again?"

"I mean he is kind of Time Team now. Kind of."

"I still don't like it."

Lucy rolls her eyes. "We know." He has said that at almost every opportunity he can. Using Flynn for intel, Wyatt doesn't like it. Trusting a poorly drawn picture from Flynn, Wyatt doesn't like it. Helping Flynn escape jail and come live in the bunker, Wyatt doesn't like it. Flynn going on missions, nope Wyatt doesn't like that either. Lucy wonders if they will ever reach a day where Wyatt stops hating Flynn. She's not getting her hopes up for any kind of friendship, but they are fighting the same enemy here, and Wyatt and Flynn are more alike than either would care to admit.

The drinks help loosen Wyatt up a bit, as well as the rest of the team, so by the time the security details that brought them to the bar come to collect them, they are all a little more carefree and Wyatt has become handsy.

Flynn and Jess climb into the back of one SUV, laughing and getting along like no one thought possible, while Jiya and Lucy climb into the back of the other. When Wyatt goes to follow Lucy into the back, Rufus claps a hand on his shoulder. "Dude, I'm glad that you and Lucy seem to have figured some things out, but I saw more than I ever wanted to see between you guys in that bar. You are sitting in the passenger seat and keeping your hands where I won't be scarred if I see them." Wyatt opens his mouth to protest. "And before you say anything about my girlfriend being back there too, I know how to keep my hands to myself and Lucy is sitting between us." Without waiting for a response, Rufus hops in the car and closes the door on Wyatt's stunned reaction. He shakes himself out of it, shrugs, and gets in the passenger side, exchanging a flirty, heated look with a blushing Lucy.

The ride back to the bunker is uneventful, and the team doesn't pay much attention to the counter surveillance methods employed by their drivers. Wyatt's hand is resting on the console, his fingers drumming impatiently. The soldier in him knows to wait for the area to be cleared before leaving the car, but as soon as they get the go ahead, he is out the door and waiting for Rufus to clear out so he can get to Lucy. But Rufus doesn't clear out. He stands in front of the open car door, and Wyatt motions for him to move so the girls can get out.

"Nope. Not moving yet. Sorry ladies, I need to have a brief word with soldier boy here." Rufus softly closes the door on Lucy's "what the—."

Lucy and Jiya sit back down in the back seat, and Lucy huffs impatiently. "What do you think they're talking about?" Jiya doesn't reply immediately and decidedly doesn't look at Lucy. "Jiya? Wait. Do you actually know what they're talking about?" Lucy turned to face her, resting her bent leg along the seat between them.

"So I can't be sure. And you definitely didn't hear this from me. But Wyatt may have left a detail or two out of his conversations with Jess about you."

"What do you mean? What detail? And what does that have to do with Rufus?"

"Well there was some conversation at the bar when Rufus saw you guys kissing." Lucy's confusion didn't lessen much, but she didn't have a response thought out. "Look, it's not really my place to say. That's for Wyatt to handle. But it's kind of an important detail that she definitely deserves to know. And that's all I'll say." She left Lucy to stew over those words as the boys finished up their conversation.

Wyatt rolled his eyes at Rufus. "Come on man. What's this about?"

"Did you happen to leave out the fact that you and Lucy slept together when you and Jessica were discussing things?"

"What? How did she find out?"

Rufus stuttered, "Um, it's—that's—That's not the point. The point is, that is a detail she deserves to know."

"I didn't want to hurt her. I mean in her world that would basically mean that I cheated on her."

"But to you, she was dead when that happened. She understands that part. She knows you've moved on and that you're literally not the same person she was married to because she was out of your life for 6 years and Lucy made you better." He stopped talking as he spotted Flynn and Jess getting out of the car behind theirs.

Flynn sauntered up to them. "Everything alright here, kids?"

"Yeah Flynn. We're fine. Move along."

Rufus throws him a look for being so harsh. "What Wyatt means to say is, yes we're fine. Just having a brief man-to-man." He looks back to Jess and tells them, "You guys can head on in. We'll all be right behind you."

Flynn shrugs and walks away. Jess isn't so quick to let it go though. "Are you sure, everything's okay?"

Wyatt softens for her benefit. "Yeah, Jess. I promise it's fine. We'll talk tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay…" She's not quite convinced, but she doesn't mind letting it go for now, so she turns and jogs to catch up with Flynn.

Wyatt waits until they're out of earshot. "Look, this whole situation was just so messed up. Everyone got hurt, and I just wanted to spare Jessica's feelings a bit."

"You didn't think that Hollywood would eventually come up at some point after you and Lucy finally got it together?"

Wyatt leaned back on his heels and stuffed his hands in his pockets, not quite meeting Rufus's eyes. Unfortunately, he forgot about the alcohol in his system. He's just barely buzzed, but it's enough to leave him off balance when he leans back, and he steadies himself on the side of the car.

"Alright, I think I've said my piece." With amusement in his eyes, Rufus ends the conversation and opens the car door to a contemplative Lucy, and motions for the girls to get out so they can finally head inside the bunker.

Lucy jumps out and stands next to Wyatt as Jiya follows her descent from the car. Wyatt and Lucy hang back for a moment while the other two start ahead without them "What was that all about?"

"I'll tell you later. Right now, let's get some food in our systems so we can start to sober up." Wyatt takes her hand and heads in the direction Rufus and Jiya had just gone.

In the bunker's living area, Rufus and Jiya were sharing the loveseat while Flynn and Jessica played a game of checkers. Wyatt and Lucy came from their respective bedrooms after changing into more comfortable clothes. Lucy sat down at the table, and Wyatt turned towards the fridge and the cupboards to analyze their contents for something quick and easy to make. He settled on pasta with a simple carbonara sauce. He put a pot full of water on the stove, and while the water was heating, he cut up some bacon to fry up in a pan. While his back was turned, Lucy sauntered up and laid her hands on his waist while peaking over his shoulder. "What'cha making?"

"Carbonara."

She hummed, "Fancy."

Wyatt laughed softly, and the smile stayed on his face. "Not really. Especially not in this hellhole. This was how I learned to make it in college. Just some staples thrown together to make a sauce. Bacon, eggs, parmesan, and pepper. Only, I used ramen noodles, much cheaper than a pound of pasta" He held up the container of generic-brand grated parmesan, "If only we had the fresh stuff, it might actually melt a bit." Lucy breathed out a laugh into his ear and rested her chin on his shoulder as he worked. It's a good thing this meal required little prep because he didn't want to move from this spot and disturb the domestic bliss of Lucy hanging onto him while he cooked. He mixed in a small bowl the egg, egg yolks, pepper, and Lucy's request for "extra parm, please."

When the sauce was finished and the water started boiling, Wyatt generously salted the water and added the pasta. He turned the heat off on the pan with the bacon, and spun to bring himself face to face with Lucy.

"I didn't know you could cook."

"My grandma, Grandpa Sherwin's wife, taught me some of the basics when I was old enough to be trusted with a chef's knife. It was something we enjoyed doing together, and since she passed, I tried to keep up with it. It always makes me feel close to them, and whenever I try something new and succeed, I like to think grandma's proud of me."

"That's sweet."

Trying to clear the somber mood, he turned a smirk on her, "And based on your belief that carbonara is all fancy, I'm guessing you're no Gordon Ramsay."

"Ha! Not even remotely. Minus the time I was in college, I either lived with my mom or close by. So most of my homecooked meals came from her." Lucy grew quiet at the thought of her mother. She still struggled coming to terms with the monster it seemed her mother was. But those were thoughts for another time. Tonight was a good night and she didn't want to ruin it by thinking about her mother.

"Hey." Wyatt brought her eyes to his with a finger under her chin. "Your mom loves you. She may have a horribly distorted way of showing it, and I absolutely don't condone anything she's done, but she does love you in her own twisted way."

Lucy sighed, "I know. I just don't want to think about that tonight. Is the pasta done?"

Wyatt looked at her for an extra second before deciding to drop it and check the pasta as she suggested with the subject change. He turned and grabbed a pair of tongs, then removed a noodle from the water to test it. "Yep. Perfect." He turned the heat off the pot and used the tongs to remove the pasta and place it in the now mostly cool pan with the bacon.

"You know one day you're gonna have to teach me how to cook something."

"I can do that, ma'am." He turned his face to lay a kiss on her cheek.

Jessica couldn't help but let her attention be drawn repeatedly to the couple at the counter. "How does she do that?"

Rufus and Jiya had left by this point, so Flynn didn't even bother looking. He knew who she was talking about. "Do what?"

"She just gets him to open up. But then they just go right back to smiling and being all happy. I mean I can't actually hear what they're saying, but I've known Wyatt for most of our lives. I can tell when he starts talking about something personal. It's something I noticed early on. They just have this ease together that we never had."

"I hope that was a rhetorical question. I don't exactly do the emotional talks with them. You really want to know? Ask Rufus. He's a touchy-feely guy. And he's the only one who was there for every mission. He'll probably know the specifics."

Jessica considered this. It's not that she was really jealous of Lucy, she just wanted to know how such a strong bond could form between two people who seem to be the exact opposite of each other. She meant what she said outside that hospital weeks ago. Lucy is the one he deserves another chance with. She left to seek out Rufus.

"Oh come on! I didn't mean right now. We were in the middle of a game." Flynn complained.

Jess just waved him off and continued on.

Wyatt plated the food and was nearly to the table when he stopped and faced Lucy behind him. "Why don't we take this food somewhere else?"

Lucy looked over his shoulder and crossed her arms. "You mean somewhere Flynn isn't going to be lingering?" Wyatt just shrugged with a sheepish expression on his face. Lucy let her arms drop and rolled her eyes. "Alright, come on."

"Where are we going?"

"My room." Wyatt stopped in his tracks and threw her a questioning look when she noticed and turned around. "Jiya and Rufus are probably in your room, so we'll have some privacy. Besides," She sauntered up to him and placed a peck on his lips, "I don't plan on sleeping alone tonight." At that she continued walking again and waited for Wyatt to catch up.

When they entered Lucy and Jiya's room, Wyatt placed the plates on the nearest table and quickly pulled her into his arms. "You know it's slightly rude to leave a guy in the hallway after saying something like that. Especially when I had my hands full." He growled out, while sliding his hands into her back pockets to emphasize his point.

Lucy gasped out, "Wyatt." Before she realized what was happening, he was pinning her against the door to close it and running his lips down the column of her neck. "God, Wyatt. The food."

Wyatt lifted his head and placed a quick but deep kiss to her lips before pulling away and leaning his forehead against hers. "That didn't sound very convincing, Professor." She huffed, but he backed away. "You're right though. We'll need our energy for later. And carbonara doesn't heat up very well." He handed her a fork and one of the plates and dug into his own.