a/n: Hey, once again, this picks up fairly directly after the last chapter. Also, I still don't own Timeless. AND NBC IS DEAD TO ME IF THEY DON'T RENEW IT. That is all :)
"And she didn't give you any specifics on how you would help her change history? Nothing about their future plans or - "
"No," Lucy huffed out with thinly concealed irritation. "Nothing, okay, nothing beyond what I told you before - she said a Rittenhouse operative was going after the Mothership...or already has it by now, I'm assuming."
She watched Agent Christopher for a long moment, then glanced sideways at Wyatt who didn't meet her gaze. Neither of them gave her any confirmation, much to her aggravation. They had been going in circles for the better part of an hour, maybe even longer, and for what? If Rittenhouse already had the Mothership in their possession, shouldn't they be working on something more concrete? Wouldn't their time be better spent trying to get a lock on its current location or formulating a hypothesis for how they would use it? Lucy was talked out. Action would make her feel a hell of a lot better at this point.
But Agent Christopher had other ideas. "Okay, let's go over the last few things you remember again. Did your mother try to get you to leave with her?"
Lucy sighed and rubbed her face roughly, then left her hands over her eyes, trying to rein in the unraveling feeling that threatened to pull her under. "I answered that already. Twice."
She wasn't under any delusions that she would actually get off that easily, but then Denise's phone buzzed against the tabletop and miracle of all miracles, she actually decided to take the call.
"I'll just be a minute," she said as she strode toward the door, her expression sending a very precise message - don't bolt.
Lucy stared vacantly ahead, feeling the burden of Wyatt's silent scrutiny like a physical weight upon her shoulders. "Just say it."
"Say what?"
She could hear the grin in his voice without looking at him. That somehow disarmed her carefully-constructed defenses in spite of how desperately she wished to numb herself against his obstinate charm.
"Honestly? I don't have a clue, but you clearly want to say something. So let's have it."
"Lucy," he murmured lowly, causing a strange tension in her stomach. He pulled on the arm of her chair, effectively forcing her to face him since the damn thing was on wheels and gave no heed to what she wanted. "You're doing fine, okay? I know it can be frustrating - "
"Frustrating? I bypassed frustrating twenty minutes ago."
She started to ball a fist against her eyes, but he intercepted the hand and held onto it firmly. "She's just doing her job. She has to be thorough - "
"Why?" Lucy cut him off again, only feeling marginally bad about it as her voice climbed above his. "Why is it her job to make me feel like I'm a criminal being interrogated? It's like...like I'm hiding something and she's trying to catch me in a lie!"
His eyes were so soft, so gentle, that it almost made her apologize for the outburst. He ran a thumb over the top of her hand and shook his head. "No one thinks that you're lying or hiding anything. It's the opposite, really. Every time you give the same answer without changing any of the details, you're building more credibility."
Her anger ebbed away slightly, but she wasn't quite done yet. "Don't I already have credibility? Isn't it enough that I've put my entire life on hold for this? Every time I get into that damn machine to face God knows what, barely even surviving half the time...just to come back to our own timeline with no idea what might change, what could be lost... after everything we've gone through, I still haven't proven myself?"
She was blinking back tears at this point, hating herself for letting her emotions seep through to make an unwanted appearance. She just needed to get through this without turning into a total basket case, but with the way he looked at her - and touched her - so intently, it was a guaranteed lost cause. She could be nothing less than sincere when he was this close. Wyatt was like a direct dose of truth serum to her system, something she couldn't resist no matter how she tried.
"In my book? You've proven yourself a hundred times over. And I know Agent Christopher feels the same way," Wyatt held up a hand before Lucy could protest at that statement, continuing with unwavering confidence, "but she isn't testing your integrity here. She's just making sure your story is solid so it will hold up later."
"Later?" she asked quietly, her hand shifting to find a more sturdy grip on his, the fear of what he was bound to say next creating a swell of anxiety inside of her.
He swallowed and looked away, seeming to berate himself for opening another can of worms. "You...you know what's been going on ever since Ethan gave us access to his Rittenhouse files. This will be the same, Lucy. They don't have a choice."
She sat back in her chair and wrapped her arms tightly around herself, the words he hadn't said echoing in her ears. They were going to arrest her mom. And when they did, it would be Lucy's testimony that implicated her, that could potentially sentence her to a life in prison.
"Hey," Wyatt said faintly, drumming his fingers against her knee, "don't let that get in your head, okay? The only thing you need to worry about is telling the truth. Just keep telling it exactly how you remember it, no matter how many ways Agent Christopher asks you the same questions. All you have to do is be honest every single time."
Lucy took a deep breath and let it out rather unsteadily. Her eyes drifted back to his. "This must be laughable to you."
His eyebrows flew upward in response. "Does it look like I'm laughing?"
"Well you should be. With the things you've seen overseas...what you've been through as a soldier..." She chuckled humorlessly. "And I can't handle an hour or two of harmless questioning from someone who's on my side? I...I'm a coward."
"A coward? That would be the last word I'd ever use to describe you," he spoke earnestly, each word coming out measured and uncompromising as he leaned toward her. "You're a civilian, for starters. A civilian who was dropped into the middle of an insane mission that you were not adequately trained to deal with, by the way. And that entire mission has gone to hell all around you in some very personal ways...but every time," his voice caught for a second before he could go on, "...every time, Lucy, you pick yourself up and you keep going. You keep fighting because you believe in what we're doing - you believe that history should be preserved, that lives should be protected. And that's far from cowardly. Sounds a lot like courage to me."
She pressed her lips together, speechless and a breath away from bursting into tears. He seemed to read that note of fragility in her eyes with ease, his face sloping with a small smile as he stood and pulled her up into a swaying hug. She tucked her head against his shoulder and let out a trembling exhale as her arms went around him.
"You make a much better soldier than you give yourself credit for, ma'am."
That brought a messy little laugh to the surface, which was probably the exact result he had hoped to produce. She was surprised to feel his lips brushing across her temple a moment later, filling her with a burst of warmth and affection that was simultaneously perfect and terrifying. Wyatt took at step back, his hands gliding over her arms as he watched her with a hint of apprehension.
The door clicked open from somewhere beyond Wyatt's shoulder, driving Lucy away from him as she struggled to bring her frayed emotions into check. Agent Christopher walked back in with a wary glance between the two of them. "Sorry, that call went longer than I anticipated. Everything okay in here?"
Lucy kept her eyes trained on the conference table and decisively tried to shut out the sound of Wyatt awkwardly clearing his throat as she returned to her seat. "Yeah, fine. Any new developments we should know about?"
"No, not yet." Once Denise was settled in her spot, she paged through the notes that she had left behind before giving her full attention to Lucy. "So...I believe you were about to tell me what happened when your mom left the house. Did she attempt to coerce you into joining her?"
Wyatt's hand landed on her knee and gave it a little squeeze from beneath the table. She put one hand on top of his and sucked in very deliberate breath before answering. "Uh yes, she asked me to leave with her, but it wasn't...intimidating or aggressive. She genuinely thought I would choose to join her."
Agent Christopher nodded with an encouraging look. "Was there a confrontation when you refused to go?"
"No, she just kept telling me that I'd - " she closed her eyes and failed to hide the shiver that crept up her spine, "- that I'd understand my proper place when the time was right."
Wyatt's hand turned upward and interlocked his fingers with hers. She tried to smile appreciatively at him, but her mouth didn't quite cooperate.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, half for Wyatt and half for Agent Christopher. "That doesn't get any easier no matter how many times I say it."
"You don't need to apologize, Lucy," she replied without hesitation. "Did anyone else show up to meet with your mother while you were there?"
Lucy shook her head. "No, I didn't see or hear anyone else in the house. I-I needed space after what she told me, and I knew that there was no...no way I was coming back." She dipped her head, hating the idea of leaving it all behind - the memories of growing up there, the last place she'd seen Amy's face or heard her voice - but knowing there were no other options. "So as soon as I could make myself move, I went upstairs to throw some stuff in a bag and get the hell out. If someone came in while I was up there, I didn't hear them."
"Is there a chance that someone entered without your knowledge? Or would you have been able to hear them from your room?"
"Someone could have entered." She sighed in defeat, feeling embarrassed at having to admit the next part aloud...again. "I don't know what happened to me, but I-I sort of lost it. I barely even remember going up to my room, and I definitely can't recall anything that happened once I was in there. Everything just sort of...goes blank."
She felt Wyatt's entire arm tense at that confession. His head was bowed low, but from what she could see of him, the planes of his face were twisted into a pained expression that left her feeling even more devastated.
Denise jotted down a quick note, then continued. "And what is the next thing you remember with clarity?"
"Waking up this morning," she responded in a small voice. "Anything else is...fuzzy. Unclear."
"Okay, I think that's enough about this particular incident, but we're not quite finished."
Lucy felt a roll of nausea coiling in her gut. "What...what else is there to talk about?"
Agent Christopher steepled her fingers together and seemed to consider her words for several seconds before she spoke. "We need more general information about your mother, Lucy. There are things we can't possibly know about her without your insight, the kinds of things that are more than just facts on file. How she spends her free time, places she's mentioned visiting, contacts or acquaintances that might fly under our radar...things like that, and - "
"And?" she choked out, feeling incredulous at how much more she could conceivably provide.
"And we need to discuss the very real likelihood that Rittenhouse was woven into the fabric of your childhood without you realizing it at the time. If there are any odd memories, conversations you may have overheard - "
"No." Lucy shoved against the table, sending her chair backwards. "Do you know how ridiculous that is?"
"Lucy - "
She was pretty sure that Wyatt and Agent Christopher had both said her name in unison, but she didn't care. Neither of them were talking her into this. "You do remember that this timeline isn't my timeline, right?! She isn't the woman who raised me, not anymore. My mother was married to Henry Wallace up until the day he died, okay? She smoked for years, got sick with cancer, and was literally on her deathbed the night that Homeland Security first came knocking on our front door. The only reason I even lived there was because I moved back in when her health really spiraled out of control, and now that is all erased. And by the way, my childhood included a sister, remember? Also erased. Nothing is the same now, so pardon me if I feel a little opposed to the suggestion of reliving a whole bunch of memories that don't exist."
Silence fell over the room. Her hands were shaking as she pushed her hair away from her face.
It was Agent Christopher who finally said something, her voice quiet and soothing as if Lucy were a spooked horse who needed to be tamed. "I understand. It might seem like a futile exercise, but - "
"It is futile. My life was normal until you dragged me into all of this. If you would have told me anything about Rittenhouse or time travel a year ago, I would have laughed in your face and walked away."
Agent Christopher was undoubtedly gearing up with another counterpoint, but Wyatt broke in first. "It's been a long morning for everyone, and with all due respect, I think it's asking too much for - "
"Wyatt," Denise began in a warning tone, but he was having none of it.
"Look, why don't you leave a pen and paper here, and Lucy can take a few minutes to think through a list for you - places, people, whatever comes to mind, just like you asked. Once she's done, let her get out for a few hours to clear her head. If something jogs her memory and suddenly stands out as the type information you're looking for, you'll be her first phone call."
She looked like she was going to argue, but with another glance at Lucy's pinched facial expression, she caved. "Okay. But the two of you don't go too far, understood? Check in with me immediately if anything comes up."
"Understood," Wyatt replied with a curt nod.
A few sheets of yellow legal paper slid across the table and came to rest in front of Lucy. "Take your time. This could be vital to our investigation."
Lucy couldn't muster a suitable response, the image of her mother trapped behind bars swimming before her. Instead she took the proffered pen and closed her eyes.
Focus. You can do this.
She started scribbling down names as fast as she could, refusing to dwell on any one thought for more than a second. She listed a small collection of people who had more or less been there throughout the years, the place her parents - or rather her mom and stepdad - had gone on their honeymoon, the locations of conferences that her mom had frequented multiple times, the colleagues who had taken a special interest in their family, just anything that popped into her brain at random.
When she eventually put the pen down, a bone-deep exhaustion had descended upon her. She'd captured just a snapshot of the life she'd once known, and it horrified her to think how much of it could have been a cover for something much more sinister than she'd ever imagined.
"You good?"
She lifted her head to find Wyatt standing at her side, his hands jammed into his coat pockets. Agent Christopher wasn't in sight, and it scared Lucy to know that she hadn't even noticed her exit the room.
"Yeah...I think so."
"Okay." He leaned over her, brushing against her arm as he gathered her own jacket from the back of her chair. "Let's get out of here then. We spend way too much of our lives in this hellhole. You'd think Mason could afford some more comfortable chairs in here, wouldn't you?"
She gave him a halfhearted grin before allowing him to help her out of her chair and into her jacket. She felt spent, totally played out for more than one reason, but she still found herself smiling at his attempted normalcy. He steered her through the door and into the corresponding maze of halls, only letting his hand fall away from her back for as long as it took to collect his keys from the locker room before he was with her again, this time directing her toward the employee parking lot.
The fresh air did her some good, to the point where she actually started to relax ever so slightly as she sank into the passenger seat and waited for Wyatt to put the car in drive.
"So...lunch? Where do you wanna go?"
Lucy pursed her lips for a second before shaking her head. "No thanks, I'm not hungry."
He snorted, his mouth curling to the side as he turned sideways in his seat. "That's not gonna work, Lucy. You skipped breakfast this morning and God only knows when you last ate a decent meal...I somehow doubt you and your mom had a cozy family dinner last night. So what'll it be?"
"Seriously, I'm not hungry."
He steamrolled right past her words, acting as if she hadn't said a thing. "Deli down the street? Chinese? I don't take you for much of a fast food girl, but there's a Taco Bell not far from here, and a Subway just a little further out."
"Wyatt - "
"We can see if that little bar around the corner is open for lunch. I know you like that place."
She arched an eyebrow at him, torn between annoyance and amusement at his antics. "Does it count as lunch if I'm on a liquid diet of nothing but white wine? Or I might actually be up for some of your whiskey this time."
"That does not count," he returned with a smirk, "but I'll gladly help you with that whiskey later on tonight. I'll even treat you to the private stash."
She felt a little flushed at the possible implications of that statement but couldn't bring herself to banter back and forth with him. "I really don't feel like eating, Wyatt."
His smirk dimmed a few notches, but didn't fade away entirely. "I get it, but I can't let you waste away to nothing, so humor me and order something light. Lady's choice."
"Fine," she grumbled, "deli down the street."
"Excellent," he hummed, shifting into drive and making a quick exit from the parking lot.
They didn't say much on the way, and even lunch itself was fairly quiet, mostly consisting of Lucy picking at a salad while Wyatt made an exaggerated show of watching her each time she took a real bite. He eventually got her talking when he confessed that he hadn't done much exploring since he'd moved to the San Francisco area, consequently sparking an enthusiasm for her hometown that made him mockingly suggest an alternative career at the Chamber of Commerce. She took it all in stride, immensely relieved to discuss anything that didn't include her family legacy or alternative wormholes through time.
When Wyatt excused himself to take care of the bill - adamantly ignoring her offer to pay her fair share - she was astonished to notice that her plate was practically empty. She would never admit it to him, but apparently she'd been far more hungry than she had realized.
But one look at him as he came back to the table, and she knew he was fully aware of this minor victory. For once he didn't take the opportunity to verbally gloat over the fact that he'd been right, and she was endlessly grateful for small miracles.
"Ready?"
She nodded and then they were on their way again, although this time she had no idea where he was going. He wove smoothly through traffic, tapped his fingers against the wheel to the rhythm pouring from the radio, and pointedly disregarded her questioning looks. Just as she was ready to give in to her curiosity and grill him for details, they'd arrived. In two concise movements, Wyatt had them parallel parked in the midst of a bustling street that was only vaguely familiar, and then his eyes were on hers. "Wanna visit Jiya?"
"Yes!" She threw her arms around his neck for an instant before the strain of seat belts and armrests made it too awkward to hold onto him. "Thank you. I was really worried about her until...well, until - "
"I know," he supplied simply, a smile expanding across his face. "Rufus was blowing up my phone earlier with questions about you, so you're not the only who needs to catch up. I figured it was time to reassemble the team."
"So he knows about - "
"Yeah, I told him. Hope that's okay."
She could have kissed him for not making her say it out loud again. And maybe for a few other reasons too, but she'd stick to that one for now. "Really, Wyatt, thank you for this."
He shrugged. "No problem. Shall we?"
Lucy tried to squash the jittery rush that spread through her as took her hand out on the sidewalk and didn't release it the whole way up the street and through the automatic doors of the hospital waiting room.
A stronger person may have been able to stand her ground and fight against the impending disaster that was sure to follow this behavior, but Lucy was feeling anything but strong, so she convinced herself that it wouldn't hurt to indulge in the shadow of his protection for just a little longer. Just until she could confidently stand on her own two feet again...
There will be at least two more chapters after this one! Loving all the feedback so keep it coming :)