A/N: Thank you, fritzen, TimelessBadger, and Danielle, for your reviews! I'm happy to see them and glad you're enjoying it. I hope you keep coming back! Sorry, this is a shorter chapter but life got super busy this week and it took me three times as long editing it because...life.
Enjoy!
Rufus and Jiya climbed the rickety stairs back up into the abandoned building where the Lifeboat remained. Rufus had the gun aimed out before him like he'd seen Wyatt do it numerous times before as they cautiously moved forward. He glanced about the nearly empty floor, eyes darting around but finding nothing except the Lifeboat, sitting exactly where he left it. He motioned with his head for Jiya to follow him.
They carefully made their way over to the Lifeboat. Rufus glanced inside, finding it empty while Jiya looked over the outside. They returned to one another at the entrance. "It's clear," Rufus whispered, turning his gaze over the empty room once again.
Jiya nodded slowly. "It's okay on the outside too..." She watched Rufus for a moment. "Do you think it was a distraction? An effort to separate us?"
Rufus's brows furrowed, slight shrug. "I'm not sure…"
He turned to Jiya, ready to speak again when they heard the familiar sounds of footsteps echoing from the stairwell. He motioned for her to get into the Lifeboat. He gave Jiya a boost, following her once she got inside.
The two waited for a moment, listening to the sounds as they thumped closer. The moment Rufus spotted the unforgettable red hair, he hissed, "It's Emma! Get us out of here!"
"What about - "
Rufus didn't let her finish. "We'll come back for them! Get us out of here!"
Jiya jumped into the pilot's chair just as Emma opened fire upon them. The hatch closed. Bullets ricocheted off the chaise. The Lifeboat roared to life and disappeared from 1980.
Emma blew a hard sigh from her lips, gritting her teeth. She shook her head, seething from the failed attempt to take the Lifeboat away from them. She wondered what had gone wrong and where.
Present Day
The Lifeboat returned to the padded landing room of the Bloodstone bunker. When the two rushed out of the padded landing room, Wyatt and Flynn stared at them, noting two members were missing. The panic washed over Wyatt's expression as he glanced between the returning two. Wyatt's voice began to rise as he asked them, "Where are they?"
"We had to leave -," Rufus started to explain, hands lifting defensively.
Wyatt grabbed Rufus by the collar, panic coursing through his veins as he demanded, "Where are they?!"
Flynn broke Wyatt's hold of Rufus, pushing the soldier away, keeping a hand on the soldier's chest. "You're not going to get answers from him if you beat him up!" Flynn shouted.
Rufus jerked his hoodie down to straighten it, shifting in place. His eyes darted over to a worried Jiya as she snaked her arm around his comfortingly. Rufus met Flynn's gaze. "Thanks," he muttered. Turning to the others, he spoke louder for them to hear as Agent Christopher walked over. "We saw Future Wyatt and Emma talking to one another - "
"Excuse me?" Wyatt choked, trying to calm down. "You expect me to believe-"
"Shut up," Flynn told him, shooting him an annoyed glance. "Let him finish."
Rufus nodded his thanks once more to Flynn, eyeing Wyatt carefully. "They went in different directions," he explained. "We decided to follow them in case Emma wanted to steal the Lifeboat...and she did. She attacked us as soon as we returned to the machine - "
"So, you guys decided to separate and leave half of you behind - the helpless ones at that?" Wyatt seethed, motioning at Rufus's hand, "And I see you have Tenley's gun." He scoffed, running a hand through his hair out of frustration.
Flynn's eyes drifted down to see Rufus holding the gun Agent Christopher had given Tenley. He gritted his teeth, keeping his calm as he knew there had to be an explanation.
Rufus nodded. "Tenley thought we'd need it more than them."
Jiya agreed, "She was right."
Wyatt's accusations started. "Or those two are dead because they were unarmed - "
Rufus interrupted Wyatt, voice rising. "Tenley said future you wouldn't harm them because Lucy was there - "
Wyatt scoffed, trying hard not to laugh, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck. "If I was working with Rittenhouse, what makes you think Lucy would be able to talk me out of harming any of you?"
Flynn cocked his head slightly as he listened. The man had a point. If the future version of Wyatt ended up betraying them and going to work for Rittenhouse somewhere in the future, that was a pretty clear indicator he and Lucy were no longer on good terms with one another.
Rufus blinked at them. "So, what do we do?"
Before anyone was able to answer, the overhead alarms sounded. "Active time travel initiated."
Everyone glanced at each other, waves of confusion washed over them as Wyatt snatched up a couple of guns from the locker, passing one over to Agent Christopher and Flynn, keeping one himself. They shuffled into the control room.
Jiya sat down at the console, brows drawing together as the information popped up onto the screens. "Uh…" she lifted her head, eyes gazing out the window.
Agent Christoper asked, "Well? What's going on?"
Jiya motioned to the landing pad just as the Mothership landed next to the Lifeboat. "Uh...we have company?"
They watched from the control room as the door to the Mothership opened. Holding their breaths and gripping their weapons tight, they watched in anticipation of who would exit. When they spotted a familiar head of blonde hair poke out from within the machine and a pair of blue eyes staring at the mirrored window to the control room, smiling at them, the team exited the control room to head toward the landing pad.
The door to the landing pad opened just as the team tried to greet their company who beat them to the threshold.
"What's he doing here?" Wyatt growled, glancing up to meet Flynn's gaze.
The team stood face to face with Rowan who entered the hallway. Rowan nodded his hellos to the others, a polite smile on his face. It was obvious to Rowan they wanted to know why he was there. The tension between all of them was thick and Rowan saw it in their body language.
"How are ye liking the new accommodations?" he asked.
"What are you doing here?" Wyatt demanded, eyes narrowed at the man. "You said you wouldn't be here for another 15 years."
Rowan sucked his teeth, tilting his head ever so slightly at the remark. "Aye, we did," he sighed, "Unfortunately with the recent developments, we're going to have to come sooner."
"What does that mean?" Agent Christopher asked. "How soon are you talking?"
"Now," Rowan told her. "We need to come here now."
"Hold on!" Wyatt snapped, holding his hand out to stop people from saying anything. "You're not doing anything - "
"We don't have time to argue," Rowan interrupted, turning his gaze from the angry Wyatt to the stunned Agent Christopher. "Might I have a word with ye?"
Denise stood straighter, eyes darting about the others. She nodded, realizing Wyatt would never allow Rowan to finish his sentence if she allowed them all to join in on the conversation. She motioned for him to head deeper into the bunker.
Wyatt grabbed Denise's arm, stopping her from moving as Rowan walked by them. "This is a mistake - "
Her eyes narrowed on him. "We need to understand what happened, don't you think?" she pulled her arm out of his grasp, "I can't make a decision without all of the facts."
While Wyatt and Denise were speaking in hushed angry tones, Flynn approached Rowan, studying him carefully. "What's happened?"
Rowan turned to address him. He relaxed in Flynn's presence but Flynn could see the lingering fear behind the man's expression. "Unforeseen events have pushed our hands - "
"To do what?" Flynn questioned, head cocked slightly to the side and his arms crossed over his chest. "What happened in 1980?"
Rowan nodded slightly as he realized what Flynn was concerned about. "Ah...Ye're worried about Tenley," he pointed out with a nod. "Of course, ye are...I forgot for a moment they were on that mission..." his eyes locked onto Flynn's and he cleared his throat, stating knowingly, "Don't worry. My brother is with them."
"Your brother?" Flynn repeated. His anxiety and concern for Lucy and Tenley increased, despite Rowan attempting to ease any fears for their safety. Flynn learned to eventually trust Rowan but he simply didn't trust Quinn.
Rowan nodded, further explaining, "I wanted to be the one to help them but...I was needed here."
"To do what?" Flynn questioned, fear rising in his chest. He asked the question he wasn't sure he wanted the answer to, "Are Lucy and Tenley safe with your brother?"
Rowan's eyes darted back to Denise and Wyatt for a moment, sighing as he realized Wyatt wasn't giving up until he was satisfied with whatever he was trying to convince Agent Christopher to do or not do. Rowan turned his stormy blue eyes back to the anxious Flynn. "Quinn will protect both of them, I'm sure." He inhaled deeply as he stepped closer to Flynn, his voice dropping low so no one else could hear. "In the future, Wyatt joins Rittenhouse."
"So, we've learned," Flynn admitted.
Rowan shook his head, waves of emotions Flynn couldn't identify quickly enough washed over the man's features. "No," he whispered, his tone growing a sharp edge to it. "Ye don't understand…" Rowan's expression hardened as he turned back to watch Wyatt and Agent Christopher again, "Wyatt's leading Rittenhouse in the future..."
Flynn's brows drew together, mouth parting slightly as he stood straighter at Rowan's words.
Rowan turned back to Flynn, his stormy blue eyes misting over with tears as his voice cracked ever so slightly. He choked, "And he's slaughtering us all."
