I apologise for the delay in this chapter... I was off raiding tombs in South America. But now that I've finished playing Shadow of the Tomb Raider (it was so freaking good! and I hate that I got through it so quickly! I'm so tempted to go back and play this trilogy again!) updates should be more frequent... I'm not going to promise that though...
Also, thankyou to Brooklyn for letting me steal doctor!Michelle!
It's been 3 days. 3 days since they returned from 1692. 3 days since Lucy was injured saving the women of Salem, and ultimately doing something he'd never thought he'd see her do… change history. 3 days that Wyatt has spent sat at her bedside, day and night, praying to any god that will listen for her to wake up and be okay. A part of him hopes that this break Rittenhouse seem to be giving them is Carol's influence. The woman may be the reason they were caught in the middle of the Salem Witch Trials to begin with, but if he's right, if this is her influence, then there's a chance she can be saved. There's a chance they can convince her to betray Rittenhouse and help them destroy them. There's a chance Lucy does have some family left. But there's also a part of him that doesn't want that, no matter how much more pain it will cause Lucy… What kind of mother sends her daughter to be hung as a witch?
There was a time in his life, when Wyatt didn't even know Lucy existed. Now? Now, he can't imagine his life without her in it. Whether that's just as friends, if he decides to try things again with Jess, or as something more if he decides to finally put the past behind him.
His brain is telling him to honour the vow he made to Jess, to give their marriage another chance. Right now - sat at Lucy's side, not knowing whether or not she's going to wake up and be okay - his heart is screaming at him to choose the unconscious woman in front of him. But he knows that as soon as he see's Jess again, as soon as he's reminded of all they once had, and all they could have again, his heart and his brain will switch camps. His brain will argue for Lucy, and his heart will argue for Jess… So, where does that leave me?
"I can hear you thinking from out in the common room…" Jiya says from the doorway, a sympathetic look on her face.
That look is all he's gotten from the few people he's seen in the last few days, and he just wishes they'd stop. He doesn't need their sympathy. He just needs Lucy to wake up, for her to tell him that everything's going to be okay.
Jiya smirks and steps into the room. "She's a fighter… She's going to wake up and kick your ass for moping around here for 3 days."
"She can kick my ass as much as she likes, as long it means she's awake and going to be okay." Wyatt's eyes never stray from where they're focused on her chest. He's too scared that if he looks away, it'll stop rising and falling, a sure sign that she's alive and breathing.
"I brought you some food." She holds up the plate in her hands. He hadn't realised how hungry he was until he laid eyes on the plate. "I didn't think you'd want to leave her long enough to get some yourself."
"Thanks." Wyatt smiles and accepts the food. Jiya isn't someone he's really made the effort to get to know throughout this whole thing, and in this moment he's starting to wonder why. "You're a goo-"
He cuts himself off when the hand he's holding tightens it's grip. Wyatt snaps his head towards the woman on the bed, hope rising within him for the first time in what feels like a lifetime. "What? What is it?" Jiya steps forward, her eyes flicking between her two friends.
"She squeezed my hand." A smile tugs at the corners of his lips. "Luce? Come on, Professor. Open your eyes, just… please."
Her voice is hoarse and her throat dry. It's a struggle for her to get the words out but one is clear. "Wyatt." He's never been so happy to hear his name.
He brings their clasped hands up to his lips, his free hand moving to brush the hair off of her face. "I'm here. I'm right here."
"Here." Neither of them had noticed Jiya leave the room, or return, but the bottle of water she's now holding out to them certainly wasn't in here before.
He takes the bottle with a small nod, before turning back to Lucy. The alarm suddenly echoing through the bunker is the last sound he wants to hear, as he brings the bottle to her lips, holding her head up slightly.
"I'll go see what's going on." Jiya slips out of the room, leaving the pair alone once more.
Lucy's eyes pop open, clearly surprised by the sound. It's seconds before she's screwing them shut tight and squirming in an attempt to get as far away from the noise as possible. The covers tucked tightly around her do nothing to help.
Seeing her distress, Wyatt moves from the chair he's occupied for 3 days, to perch on the side of her bed. He presses a hand to the mattress at the other side of her, keeping his weight off her as he leans over her. "Shh… It's okay."
"No, no, no."
Wyatt squeezes his hands between her body and the mattress, as he pulls her up into his arms. Wrapped in his embrace, she soon calms down, her breathing evening slowly as unconsciousness takes over once more.
"That's it." Wyatt lowers her back down, tucking the covers back around her. "Rest. I'll go see what all the noise is about."
"Where'd they go?"
The words sail right over his head as he fastens the buttons on his shirt. It may not be historically accurate for 1934, but it's the best they can do in their current situation.
"Hey!" Jess steps into the room, and waves a hand in his face. "Earth to Wyatt…"
He snaps his head up in her direction, frowning slightly… How is she- Oh, right! The timelines. "Huh?"
"Righthouse? Where'd they go?" Seeing him fumble with the buttons, she steps in and fastens the rest of the shirt for him. It's more intimate than they've been in years.
"Rittenhouse, they umm… 1934. We don't know why." He all but ignores her as he leaves the room and heads towards the lifeboat. The quicker they leave, the quicker they can put a stop to whatever Rittenhouse has planned, the quicker he can get back to Lucy.
Rufus is up at the console with Jiya, making sure they're good to go when he and Jess make it to the lifeboat. He's not sure where Flynn is, and honestly he couldn't care less.
"Good to go?" Wyatt stops by the console, as Rufus presses one last button, before turning to say a quick goodbye to Jiya.
"Yup, you?" Rufus slaps him on the back as he climbs into the lifeboat first.
"As I'll ever be." He shrugs, following the pilot up into the giant eyeball. "The sooner we stop them, the sooner I can get back to where I need to be."
"Good luck!" Jess calls to them both from bellow somewhere.
Rufus turns to Wyatt, and sends him a look the soldier can't quite decipher. "Oh, man. The missus and the ex… welcome to every man's worst nightmare."
Flynn pauses in the doorway as he climbs in. "You just quoted something, didn't you?"
The two men glare at the ex-time bandit. The last thing they want is to go on this trip with Garcia Flynn, but they weren't really given any other choice.
When the lifeboat returns, Lucy is stood at the console with Jiya. They watch as Wyatt and Rufus climb from the lifeboat, pulling an unconscious figure out with them. A glimpse of the man's face has Lucy groaning, as she brings her hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose. "Please tell me that's not who I think is."
"It's not who you think it is." She begins to sigh with relief at Rufus's words, until… "Unless you think it's a young JFK, then it's definitely who you think it is."
"This is why you guys should not travel without me." She mumbles to herself, before snapping her head back up to look at them, a determined look in her eye. "Okay. It's not the end of world. So, he's not in the right time period. It could be worse. Yeah, it could be so much worse. He could be dead, he could be in the hands of Rittenhouse, he could… Who am I kidding!? This is a disaster."
Wyatt transfers the weight of the future - past? - president to Rufus, leaving him free to approach the panicking historian. He grips her arms, putting a stop to her pacing, before he runs his hands up her arms to cradle her face between his palms. "Stop. Breathe."
Lucy nods quickly, following his instructions.
"Better?"
She shakes her head, no. Breaking free of Wyatt's hold on her, she begins to pace again. "Why the hell did you think this was a good idea!?"
"Well, our only other option was to let Emma kill him, so…" Rufus shrugs from across the room, where he'd just dropped the unconscious form of JFK to the sofa in the common area.
Lucy calms a little at his words. "Okay, yeah… this is preferable to that alternative." Neither would have happened at all, if you'd let me go though… She begins to nod slowly. "Um… Why don't you guys try and get him conscious. Wyatt, can we talk?"
Not many people have asked him that question in his life time, but every time they have, it's never been good news. He doubts this time is any different. He nods slowly, hesitant in answering. "Uh… Yeah? Yeah, sure."
"So, um… What did you want to talk about?"
Wyatt's visibly nervous, and it's cutest thing Lucy has ever seen. She lets him sweat a little longer, smiling softly at him, which only makes him sweat more.
"Relax, Wyatt. You're not in trouble." She laughs slightly as he releases a deep breath. "Agent Christopher brought her wife here to check my arm while you were gone."
Wyatt frowns and cocks his head slightly. "Why would she do that?"
She mirrors his cocked head. "Turns out Michelle is a doctor."
"Okay…" His eyes flick to where he knows the wound sits on her arm beneath the sleeve of her shirt… or is that his shirt? "What did she say? Are you okay?"
Lucy brings her hands up to smooth over his face, as if to wipe away all his worries. "I'm perfectly fine. It looked a lot worse than it actually is."
Wyatt breathes a second sigh of relief in as many minutes. This conversation isn't doing any good for his health.
"I um… when she took some blood to run tests, I also asked her too check that other thing we talked about before you left."
Her words confirm something he's been suspicious of since he returned. Another timeline shift. Before he left, Lucy was barely conscious, and now she's up and about as if the cut on her arm was nothing more than a paper cut. Which for all he knows, in this timeline it could well be just that. "You… uh…-"
"You were right." Her smile is wide, and she looks happier than he's ever seen her.
How is he supposed to respond when he has no idea what she's talking about? He itches to tell her - he knows he should - but he can't let himself dampen her mood. After everything they've been through, she deserves this moment of joy. Instead he mirrors her smile and prompts her to continue.
"I'm pregnant."