Prelude to a Long Night

Wyatt-

Wyatt and Rufus had spent a few hours at the bar researching the parents of his wife's killer after the pilot agreed to help him. He knew exactly what it was he needed to do to get Jessica back. So on that score he had a plan. Plans were good, they helped keep him calm and focused. Now, however, he was a jittery mess of nerves as Rufus drove them toward Lucy's house and now he didn't have a plan. It'd only been a matter of hours since he'd been on his way there to have a completely different conversation with her. He was nervous in a way that he'd never felt before. Unlike earlier in the day when he'd not had the mental capacity to think of what he wanted to say to Lucy because he was so worried about her, he had the complete opposite problem this time. There were too many thoughts running around in his head at light speed and he couldn't grasp onto what he felt was the most important as he explained the situation to Lucy.

"Just tell her the truth, man," came a quiet voice from his left.

Wyatt turned his head to see a very high-strung, yet determined looking Rufus exchanging glances between him and the road. How in the hell did he know what I was thinking? Wyatt asked himself, baffled.

"How did you—" Wyatt's question was cut off with a loud snort and Rufus rolling his eyes in his typical overly-dramatic fashion. So much so that Wyatt wanted to protest at the absurd level of dramatics Rufus was displaying.

"Oh, please, Wyatt! You might be all scary Delta Force soldier when we go on missions, but right now you look every inch the man who's trying to figure out how to tell someone he 'really cares about' that he might never see her again because he's going to steal a time machine to save his wife and you have absolutely no idea what you're going to say. And if it works, by the way, will mean you possibly won't be recruited in the first place, or if it doesn't, it means we get locked in some unknown, underground prison cell for the rest of our lives!" The volume rose with each word Rufus said and he was almost shouting, his usual manic-nervous energy finally coming out, by the time he was done, making Wyatt want to cover his ears.

Rufus was quiet after that and Wyatt was grateful for the silence. It gave him the time needed for what Rufus said to finally sink in and it brought him up short. If Jess had never died, he never would've become the soldier with his reputation, because he wouldn't have been as reckless and willing to do almost anything to get the job done, making him the number one pick for recruitment for these missions. Or even if he still had been recruited, would've he said yes with a wife at home? Maybe a kid, if he'd given in to Jess wanting a baby sometime in the last five years? It was absolutely in the realm of possibility that he could come back and have no idea who Lucy was. It hadn't occurred to him that could happen when he'd decided to ask Rufus to help him. He'd only been thinking he needed to stop these feelings he had for her. But by stopping them, he might erase her from his life altogether. Was not having those feelings worth the price of never having met her in the first place?

It was a question Wyatt really needed to think about for a long time. Time he currently didn't have...

Lucy-

Lucy sat at the kitchen counter for a long time after Wyatt left. She had more cups of coffee as she thought over what he'd said, letting it resonate within her. He was right, she knew, that if she didn't come to terms with what she'd done, it would eat her alive. She wondered how she would do it, though. She didn't have true justice on her side like Wyatt did, or burning rage like Flynn. So what was her reason, how was she supposed to reconcile her actions in the Bluffwoods. The coffee eventually ran out and she still didn't have any answers.

For the time being, Lucy decided to push it all as far away from her mind as she could and try to get on with life as best she could. She thought that she might try to call Agent Christoper in the next few days and try to either talk with her or maybe find a therapist. It would be a pain to talk in metaphors if the therapist wasn't given clearance to know about the Lifeboat and their missions. Even so, it would still help, so Lucy told herself she would give it a couple days to just process everything and then talk to Christopher. It made her feel a little better to have a plan, and the bagel she'd eaten had helped her feel a bit better, as well.

She was just finishing putting her dishes in the dishwasher when Lucy heard the front door open and her mom soon walked into the kitchen to greet her daughter, as Carol had heard the noise coming from there.

"Hey, Mom, how was your day?" Lucy asked, adopting as normal an attitude as she could. She prayed her mom couldn't see there was something seriously wrong with her daughter.

"Lucy, what are you still doing in your pajamas this late in the day?" Carol asked in a disapproving tone, ignoring her question. Typical Mom, Lucy thought with an internal sigh and eye roll.

"I haven't felt well today and I didn't feel like getting dressed," Lucy said politely, not wanting to start an argument with her mom.

"Hmm," Carol said, concern coloring her voice, "Do you need to go to the doctor?" She walked closer so she could press the back of her hand to Lucy's forehead, checking for a temperature.

Lucy ducked, batting her mom's hand away from her, "I don't have a fever," she said, annoyed. "It's just been a headache. I'll be fine after I rest today and get a good night's sleep. I'll wake up brand new tomorrow, I promise. Now, stop fussing, please," she asked beseechingly, only feeling a tad bad for the fib about having a headache.

Carol looked at her for a few moments before acquiescing. Lucy sighed in relief. "So, what did you do today, Mom?"

"I studied my notes before I met Bev and Addison for lunch to go over the final details of the fundraiser. After lunch, I met with the board about the changes to the curriculum I'd like to make," her mom replied. Lucy had forgotten about the fundraiser and board meeting had been coming up for her mom even though she'd been talking about it for days. Taking a trip to the past and killing someone could do that to a person, Lucy mused. She dismissed those thoughts and focused again on her mom.

Lucy was still struck by the differences in her mom from this timeline and the one she thought of as the "original" timeline. In that one, Carol had retired from Stanford, except for still serving on the board and still helping with fundraisers from time to time. She'd taken up tennis with her best friend, Bev, who was also a Stanford professor, and had taken more time for leisure activities. Carol had also spent more time with her daughters, something Lucy sorely missed. Then the cancer had been discovered and everything had changed, her treatment becoming their main focus.

It was the complete opposite in this timeline. While Carol had still retired from teaching, she was still active in the research projects of the History Department, very active on the board and just as active with the fundraisers. All the while, making time for her own personal book projects and also wanting to implement changes to the teaching materials. It looked like she had no plans of slowing down anytime soon, either. She'd also still taken up tennis with Bev. Sometimes Addison, Bev's teaching assistant, joined them. They'd tried to get Lucy to play with them, but Lucy adamantly refused. Knowing her physical limits, it would be lucky if one or more didn't end up hurt after a match involving her. Rufus had practically howled with laughter when she'd shown up to Mason one day in a very bad mood after explaining about an argument with her mom. Carol had been insistent Lucy go to the courts with her and had gotten upset when Lucy flat-out told her no, her mom making 'a mountain out of a mole hole' sized argument. Wyatt hadn't commented but she'd caught his smirk.

"Is the board agreeing to the changes?" Lucy asked.

Carol's expression became frustrated. "They're still a little reluctant, but I'm confident I can get them to agree and have everything in place for the school year after next." It took time to adopt changes, but Lucy had no doubt her mom would get what she wanted. She usually does, Lucy thought.

Lucy's mom yawned and said, "Well, I'm tired so I think I'm going to take a bath, maybe go to bed a little early tonight. I was up late going over my notes for the meetings today."

Lucy smiled. "Okay. I'll see you tomorrow. Good night, Mom."

"Good night, Lucy," Carol said with a small smile, then she turned and left the kitchen to go upstairs.

Since it was so late in the day, Lucy decided it was pointless to get dressed and would just stay in her pajamas. She moseyed around for a while, tidying up the house here and there before she made her way up to her own room. Grabbing a book about Harry Houdini, she settled down comfortably to read and did so until she fell into a light sleep.

...

Lucy woke to feel fingertips lightly trail along her left cheek. Her eyelids fluttered open and it took her eyes a moment to adjust to the dim light of her bedside lamp, the only illumination in the room. The person sitting on her bed didn't immediately become recognizable. She could see that while sitting, the person was tall, with a large, masculine frame. Her eyes focused on hair almost as dark as midnight and bangs that fell over a pair of hazel-green eyes. Lucy was surprised, yet strangely comforted, to find that Garcia Flynn was sitting beside her. His hand was touching her cheek, a look of longing in the gaze she was currently lost in.

"Flynn," she whispered, not moving toward or away from him.

"Oh, Lucy," he said, sadness coloring his voice. "I'm so sorry," he said as he buried his head in the crook of her neck.

Lucy was more bewildered than surprised at his behavior. What on earth could he have to be sorry about? she wondered to herself. She wrapped her arms around him, the thought of pushing him away, like she should, never crossing her mind. "What are you sorry for?" she asked quietly.

"Everything," he practically sobbed. "Everything is my fault. I never should've started any of this. If I hadn't, you wouldn't have had to clean up my mess in Missouri."

Oh, she thought, her heart breaking for him. "Flynn, it wasn't your fault," she said, rubbing her arms up and down his back to comfort him. "I'm the one who picked up that gun and made the decision to shoot Jesse James. You didn't make me," she said in a soothing tone, hoping that being gentle and reassuring would comfort Flynn. He was shaking in her embrace so she held him tightly, staying silent to give him the time he needed to to reclaim control over his emotions.

Lucy idly wondered how long Flynn had been in her house. Not only that, but how did he get in. She was sure that she'd locked all the doors and set the alarm before she'd gone upstairs. He must've picked the lock or found the spare key. He must also know the code somehow since the alarm didn't go off, she thought. It was strange, she knew she should be bothered by all that, but she wasn't. In that moment, all she knew was that she was grateful he was there. She was deriving just as much comfort from his presence as he was from her, maybe more. Holding Flynn in her arms was like a cooling balm to a sunburn that was on her soul.

Several minutes passed and they just held each other. The silence was finally broken. "I know I shouldn't be here," Flynn said as he pulled away from her far enough that they could look each other in the eye, "but I had to check on you, to be here if you needed anything." Concern was etched all over his face.

His sincere words touched Lucy in a way that Wyatt's had not. She'd gotten the impression from him that he was just trying to assuage his own guilt. She could sense that while Flynn also felt guilty, he was here for her, not himself. It made all the difference in the world to her. Talking though, was the last thing that she wanted. She was tired of talking, so she decided to say to hell with it and do what she wanted to do, not what she should, and pulled Flynn back to her, crushing her lips against his. His shock on what was practically an assault lasted only seconds before he was kissing her back, taking control of the kiss as he parted her lips with his tongue. Lucy moaned as she opened for him and felt his tongue dancing with hers in a way she hadn't realized until that moment that it was something she'd been craving for days.

They kissed and kissed until they couldn't breathe and broke apart, each gasping for air to fill their lungs. "We shouldn't be doing this," Flynn said quietly.

"I know," Lucy replied, "but I really don't care." Flynn studied her intently for a few moments before he apparently made the decision that he agreed with her because he gently pushed Lucy backwards on the bed and stretched his long body out beside her.

In no hurry, both Lucy and Flynn leaned forward and kissed again. There was no frenzy this time, but the kisses certainly didn't lack passion. It was only that they wanted to take their time, explore each other in a leisurely fashion. Her left arm circled his middle and he brought his right hand up to cup the back of her neck, pulling her even closer. Lucy could feel desire tighten low in her belly, making her body quiver in anticipation. Flynn's desire was quickly becoming apparent as she felt his shaft swell against her abdomen. It was just as his hand was making its slow descent down her body, a hairs breadth away from her breast when she became aware of a loud knocking sound.

She jolted upright in bed, realization dawning on her that she'd been dreaming and the reason she was pulled from the very welcome dream was that someone was knocking loudly on the front door of the house. The knocking persisted and increased in frequency so Lucy quickly threw her robe on over her pajamas and made her way down the stairs at a fast pace. She figured it had to be Wyatt or Rufus, because if the Lifeboat had jumped, she would've just received a phone call. She was bewildered to the fact that whichever one was at her door hadn't just called her, eliminating the possibility of waking her mother. It would definitely be a hard situation to explain, and one she hoped wouldn't be necessary. So far, thankfully, her mom didn't seem to be aware of the commotion so Lucy hurried even more so to open the door, wanting to keep it that way.

Lucy opened the door to again see Wyatt on the doorstep and the look she saw in his eyes told her she wasn't going to like why he was at her house at this time of night.