a/n : so here's the annoying thing about starting a story just because the muse randomly makes you do it - there's this expectation that you actually have to bring it all to a reasonable close even if you only started the fic for the sake of writing about a somewhat canon-compliant doomsday massacre. Now there are real responsibilities involved, dang it. So with that being said, fair warning to everyone that this is winding down & I'm pushing through to the end because that's the right thing to do ... even if this is the fic that no one ever asked me to write ;)


There are too many variables. All it will take is for one part of this plan to hit a snag and then her whole world will surely come undone.

Wyatt claims that he and Rufus acted very deliberately when they sabotaged the Mothership. The real damage was done when Rufus extracted several fundamental parts of the time machine - an assortment of capacitors and cables that effectively wiped out the circuitry, not that Lucy really understands much beyond that - but with each of those stolen items still in his possession, he says he can very easily restore the Mothership to working order in just an hour or so. Wyatt's gunshots had been nothing more than well-placed theatrics, just a diversion to buy time and really sell the show to their adversaries.

But Lucy is crippled with doubt. What if it takes longer than an hour? What if Rittenhouse catches on to their plan before they can make the jump? What if Rufus and Wyatt overdid it and mistakenly damaged something beyond repair, confining them to the present timeline once and for all?

And that's just the beginning. Agent Christopher has officially benched both Lucy and Wyatt from the trip to the '70s, insisting that their injuries are far too conspicuous for a mission that requires discretion. Neither of them take that order well, but Wyatt is really seething when she goes on to say that they aren't healthy enough to be dependable anyway. He's making her case for her as he forces his words out between coughing fits, and she emphatically fires back each time he makes another hoarse argument against her decision - it's too much of a risk. They aren't going, end of discussion.

The tension heightens, expands through the room until the air feels like a rubber band that's about to snap, and Lucy is dangerously tempted to hit the off-switch in her brain and drift away from the conflict. She just wants to quiet the noise for a little while, if only so she can catch her breath for a single second.

Wyatt appears in her field of vision just in time, all traces of his anger and frustration magically diminished as he kneels before her. "Lucy? You still with us?"

She nods slowly, making great effort to clear her head and focus on the lifeline that lives inside of his clear blue eyes. He dips forward with a hand pressing against her cheek and kisses her fully on the lips with no regard for the fact that they're still in the presence of Agent Christopher, Rufus, Connor Mason, and a dozen Homeland Security agents. When he backs away, there's a dizzying heat in his gaze and a gentle smirk pulling at the side of his mouth, but then he's back to business in an instant.

The dispute circles around them again, but Wyatt works to keep his voice level this time and respectfully accepts the final verdict when its clear that Christopher isn't budging. They've been grounded.

It's not enough that Rittenhouse is still out there somewhere, or that the Mothership could very well be on the fritz despite Rufus' assurances, but now Lucy isn't even going to be there to ensure that things go according to plan. Her sister's fate rests solely on a stand-in team comprised of Rufus, Jiya, and a stranger from Homeland Security who looks bored out of his mind for the entirety of their briefing.

Lucy can't hide her tears as the meeting comes to a close. Everyone else is filing out of the makeshift conference room that's been set up several miles outside of the city, and she wishes she could do a better job of keeping a lid on her emotions through the mundane shuffle of feet and conversation, but she can't pull herself together or move from her seat. Unlike Wyatt, she has no problem admitting that her entire body hurts like hell right about now. She would definitely be a liability if anything went wrong on the jump, but the thought of staying behind is absolute torture. Her eyes keep flitting back to Rufus - who has come out of the wreckage of Mason Industries with nothing more than a mild bump on the head and a few shallow scratches and bruises - and she wishes with all of her might to just be him, as weird as that may sound. She needs this to work, needs it so badly that she's probably going to erupt with the stress of everything that's stacked against them.

And that's when it hits her square in the face. There's still one gigantic risk involved here, another hideous possibility that hasn't yet been discussed. She turns to Wyatt with a gasp, and Agent Christopher is there in a flash, her brow wrinkled with concern as Lucy tries to find her voice.

"What if we don't know about any of this after the jump? What if things change so much that I won't even know who Amy is when they come back?"

Wyatt's apprehensive glance boomerangs between Lucy and Agent Christopher for several gut-wrenching seconds before he attempts to answer her, but even then she can tell that he's at a loss for what to say. "I don't think that will happen, Lu - "

"Yes," she persists, feeling frantic and out of breath as the panic sets in. She looks to Denise, desperate for her to understand. "Yes it will, it's happened before! Amy had to have been part of my file when we left for the Hindenburg - she even came to the goddamn door and met the agent you sent for me that night - and you had no idea who she was when we returned. I'm the only one who remembers her now...if I don't go and history changes again, I - I could forget her forever."

There's a crackle of loaded silence, but then Rufus tentatively raises his hand from where he's standing just inside of the doorway and nods towards his two teammates. "You guys do realize that the Mothership is a lot roomier than the Lifeboat, right? Lucy can still come, she just needs to stay in the time machine and wait for us there until we're done."

"And if she's going, I am too," Wyatt inserts with his eyebrows raised. "Like hell am I the only one out of the three of us who's getting my memory erased if this gets messy."

Lucy crushes his hand inside of hers with a white-knuckled grip, equally terrified at the notion of Wyatt not knowing her when this is all over.

Another round of debate ensues until Agent Christopher eventually relents with strict orders - Lucy and Wyatt are not permitted to leave the Mothership under any circumstances. She says it as if they've exasperated her to the point of finally being worn down, but there's a glimmer of charitable sympathy in her gaze as she glances back at the pair of them once more before leaving the room.

Lucy sags into her chair with a fragile sense of relief, knowing that this is the best option in a long list of shitty options. It's still not going to be easy easy to take a backseat this time around, but then she tries to imagine how she would handle a face-to-face confrontation with a much younger version of her mother, and the thought of it sends her reeling. With everything she's learned about her vile family history in the last two years, she's positive that such an encounter would be disastrous at this point. Maybe that's why Agent Christopher is towing such a firm line on the matter, but Lucy is too exhausted to examine that thought any further. It's a small comfort to know that time won't be changing its course all around her without her permission; even if this jump doesn't bring Amy back, Lucy will still know that she once had a sister. She'll know that they tried to bring her back and she'll still have the memory of Amy - not just her sister, but her best friend - to cherish even if it's all she has left.

And maybe that will have to be enough.

Rufus finishes patching the circuit board just a few minutes short of his promised hour, and then Lucy is taking her seat across from Wyatt, allowing him to help her with a new set of buckles as they prepare for what may very well be their last expedition into the past. She's been so caught up in whether or not they can really save Amy that she hasn't even taken a moment to process that the rest of this is coming to an end; this jump is their swan song, the end of a very long road that's brought more grief, more joy, and more surprises than she can even begin to count.

As per usual, he's perfectly attuned to what's going on in her head. He takes his time - excessively careful to avoid the painful assortment of bandages and stitches that adorns her skin - and his hand lingers once he's done, favoring her with a steadfast smile as he catches her eyes. "It's been an honor serving at your side, ma'am."

She tries to smile back, but when that fails, she touches the back of his hand instead. "You - you know we're pretty much the same age, right?"

He chuckles in response and Lucy falls in love with those laugh lines around his mouth all over again. "So you've told me...ma'am."

She squeezes his hand for a moment longer as a tsunami of emotion rushes through her. She can't believe this is true, can she? That after all this time, he's still that same guy who she'd written off as a total douche in the first sixty seconds of knowing him? He's not, he's never been that guy anyway, but even still, that version of him feels like a shadow in comparison to the man who sits in front of her today. The memory is so thin, barely a sketch of what he's come to mean to her in the days that have followed. She knows she's not the same anymore either, because standing guard at the epicenter of history has changed all of them in a myriad of untold ways, hasn't it? There are thousands of fractures - both small and large - running through all three of them, and the world will never quite be the same now.

But for every unimaginable thing they've seen and done, Wyatt still represents so much of what initially drew her to him. He's her safety net, their protector, the one who blends passion and drive with more heart than she ever knew could exist inside of one person. And now, after he's proven himself a million times over, fought for her and stood by her and loved her so well, they're actually doing this - they're actually going back for Amy. They're fixing it, just like he's always promised they would.

There are tears in her eyes as she inches forward and whispers the only words she can manage to get out without descending into an actual sob - "Thank you, Wyatt."

He leaves an unhurried kiss on her forehead before leaning back to make a very impressive show of clicking his own seat belt into place even with one arm in a sling.

"Show-off," she mutters with a tiny grin.

He chuckles again and opens his mouth, probably ready to say something ridiculously arrogant in response, but then Rufus announces that they're on their way and Lucy watches with a mild dash of amusement as Wyatt sits up straighter and gapes around the interior, clearly thunderstruck at the lack of turbulence.

"Sonofabitch," he breathes out, eyes wide, "so this is what it feels like to fly first class, huh? Screw history, our first priority on every jump should have been stealing this thing and leaving them with the damn Lifeboat for the ride home."

Lucy doesn't even have a chance to roll her eyes at his smartass comment, because just like that, they're already touching down in 1979.

This is it, this is the moment she's been dreaming of for so long, and now she's here. She's in 1979, the year that her mother first fell for Henry Wallace.

She's here, but there's nothing for her to do but wait.