He heard it in passing what had happened. Lucy had been seconds away from being hung as a witch while they were in 1692. The thought made him nauseous. Lucy, with a thick, daunting rope wrapped around her neck, inches from death because he had abandoned his team. Abandoned her. When they need him most.
It had just all happened so fast. He and Lucy having an oddly amazing time in 1941 considering why they were there. Being this ridiculous musical duo in order to get the information they need (and man could Lucy sing) before falling into bed together that night. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt so utterly in bliss. All the pent up passion they held towards each other came to a head in that one moment, and he couldn't believe how thrilled he was to explore their possibilities when they returned to 2018.
But then "Wyatt, Jessica's been calling. You might want to get back to her." He heard the words, and without another thought he was darting past Jiya and Mason and Christopher to his barrack where the burner phones they had been provided was waiting with 4 missed calls:
Jessica Logan
Jessica Logan
Jessica Logan
Jessica Logan
For a moment he almost couldn't believe it, but when he called the number, it was her. Her soft, loving voice. Alive. His wife was alive. He was so caught up in that that he couldn't register a thing she was actually saying, but finally it hit him like the winds back home in Texas.
Lucy.
The woman that just hours ago he had held in his arms, stroking her soft, pale skin as they exchanged sweet, yet passionate kisses, talking about all that had led them there and maybe where they could go from there. What she must have been feeling now. Especially after he had just took off at the mention of his dead-not-dead wife. The last time he had felt like this much of an ass was the night Jess went missing. But clearly that never had happened now because here she was still chatting away on the phone like it was any other day. And to her it must have seemed like it. Because it was. What had their relationship been like the past few years? Did she know about time travel? Did she know Lucy and Rufus? Rittenhouse? How was she alive now and not when he eliminated her supposed killer from existence? What changed? He could have continued listening to her talk, but he knew there were some things he had to figure out before he had any real conversations with her.
"Hey...Jess?"
"Yeah, babe?"
"I actually have to go take care of a few things right now," he lied. Kind of. "Pretty urgent. Could I call you again later?"
"Oh, yeah.. Of course. Military secrets and all that, I'm guessing?" she sighed.
"Oh, definitely," he continued. "I love you." Why did that feel odd to say?
"Love you too." And then the line went dead. He took a second to wrap his mind around all that had just happened. What the hell was he supposed to do? Jess was alive with memories of a life he only knew pieces of. Lucy was alive, somewhere in the Silo, making him feel things he hadn't felt since he first met Jess over a decade before.
But one thing he did know was that he was going to have to face Lucy sooner or later, and for both their sakes he probably needed to do it sooner. He threw the phone onto the poor excuse for a bed, and began his search for the brunette. It took a little longer than he anticipated as she had found the darkest, farthest corner in the entire bunker to deal with whatever she was feeling. And by what he saw, she wasn't feeling great. She shot up as soon as began to approach her, but she couldn't hide the tear streaks that covered her face, her Hollywood make-up smeared under her eyes.
"Lucy, I'm so sorry. I-"
"Sorry for what?" she interrupted in an oddly casual voice. "We had one fun night, right? You don't owe me an explanation for loving your wife." He was honestly too shocked to speak. Shocked with her calmness. Shocked by her words. And honestly a little angered by her words as well. One fun night? Was that all it really was to her?
"Lucy, come on…" but it was too late; she was already trying to make her way around him.
"I should probably find a new barrack to sleep in though," she muttered as she began to walk away, but he wasn't going to let her go that easily. He reached out and grabbed her arm, desperate for her to show some of the anguish he was feeling. They met eyes for just a second, but that was all he needed to really understand what was going on in her mind. He had never seen a look of such pain yet such coldness from her before especially directed at him. It shocked him, so he let her go.
"Fine," he snapped. And she was gone.
He went to Christopher and explained that in the reality he left before 1941 his wife had been dead, and he would need some help filling in the gaps of the years he had remembered without her, and it might be best if he didn't go on the next jump or two, you know, to get readjusted to this new old life. Not to avoid Lucy or anything. He was surprised with how easily the homeland security agent agreed to his requests.
"Wait, so who are you going to get to fill in for me?" he asked, knowing the team would need someone who could use a gun.
"Flynn." Christopher sighed, and Wyatt felt his stomach twist into knots. "It's too risky now to bring in anyone else." Flynn? Could he really be trusted to protect Rufus and Lucy? While Wyatt was indeed reckless, Flynn took the word to a whole new level. Would he choose to save either of his teammates over destroying Rittenhouse? He opened his mouth to retract his request to take time off, but Christopher was already walking out the door, ready to prep the team for its next mission.
Wyatt ran out the door after her, checking to see where she was headed. It seemed as if the agent wasn't going directly to the cell to release Flynn, so Wyatt took off in that direction, needing a word with the former terrorist before he joined his team.
"Master Sergeant Logan," the guard greeted. "what are you doing-"
"I need to speak with Flynn. Now." Wyatt demanded. The guard nodded quickly and unlocked the door giving just enough room for Wyatt to squeeze in. It took a second for Flynn to look up from his intertwined hands.
"Master Sergeant," Flynn stood in mock respect. "What can I do for you?" Wyatt moved forward until the two men were toe to toe.
"You let anything happen to her, and no cell, no guards, nothing is going to keep me from putting a bullet in your head." He didn't bother giving any context to his statement; he didn't have the time, but he knew Flynn would understand momentarily, and Wyatt wouldn't hesitate to go through with his promise.
And from what he now had knowledge of, he hadn't been far from having to fulfill it. Lucy had almost died only because he had been too afraid to face her again. So how did she get out? He kept listening intently Mason's people chattering on about the events they had heard.
"Apparently when they were about to drop her, she pulled a knife on the guy!" One of them shared. He couldn't help but smile at that. He had told her a while back that she should probably start carrying some kind of weapon, and he wasn't surprised at all that she had gotten herself out of such a tight situation. His Lucy... His? Lucy had proven so resourceful over the course of their couple years of time traveling together. Whether it was talking or fighting her way out of the dangers they faced, she had saved Rufus and himself probably more times than they had saved her. He knew she had certainly saved him. Saved him from the darkness of himself and his grief and his anger. She was the reason he continued to fight through everyday. It wasn't Jessica or Grandpa Sherwin anymore. It was her. After hearing the news of her near death he couldn't fight it anymore. Wyatt Logan was in love with Lucy Preston. Her brain. Her clumsiness. Her quirks. Her inability to buckle a seatbelt. Her dedication to history. Her.
And again he was left cursing his situation. Even a year ago he would've given the world to have Jessica back. But now? Now his heart had finally moved on, and he couldn't just go back. But was that fair to Jessica? From what he had discovered over the past couple days, their marriage was thriving. So how could he just throw all of that away? His head was left throbbing at all the confusion swirling around in his head that he hardly noticed when Agent Christopher came in the room.
"Master Sergeant… Wyatt?" she called. Wyatt's head finally shot up.
"What can I do for you, ma'am?" he asked, trying to ignore the pain in his head.
"I think you need to come see this." Her voice sounded almost sympathetic. What was going on? Was it Lucy? He stood up and followed her into what they usually used as a briefing room where a couple of Mason's agents were sitting around a computer. He came around to look at what seemed to be making them so nervous. And then he understood.
"The team found this on the Rittenhouse operative in 1692," Christopher explained. It was a list of Rittenhouse operatives from every era of American history. All across the globe. And clear as a day near the bottom of the list.
Amanda Smith
Alias: Jessica Logan
Wyatt couldn't do much else other than stand and stare. Jessica? Rittenhouse? It just didn't make sense. Or did it? Maybe that was why eliminating Wes Gilliam didn't bring her back like it should have. Maybe that was why he was selected for the project in the first place. Rufus had been blackmailed by the shadow organization from the beginning. Lucy was practically Rittenhouse royalty. He had been the odd ball with no connection. Until now. Maybe that's why he was chosen in the first place. He had to grab hold of a chair to keep from falling over because in that moment he realized the wife he had fought so hard to get back had been his enemy the whole time.
"We have agents going to bring her in now," Christopher informed him. "Did you share anything confidential with her?"
"No," was all he could manage. He felt sick. But at the same time… relieved? Like he didn't have to feel guilty about being in love with Lucy anymore, and after he had time to process everything, he would tell her exactly how he felt.