Chapter 2 - "Just An Assignment" (Jessica)
A/N #1: Before we dive in, just want to say that while I'm fascinated by the very concept of time traveling, trying to make sense of it usually makes my head hurt...like a lot :p Therefore, for the purposes of this story, I decided to go with the simplest, most plausible (to me) explanation for Jessica's return from the dead...
"Be not deceived with the first appearance of things, for show is not substance..." - Proverb
The instant the Lifeboat vanished in a forceful blast of cold air, Jessica Logan turned away, hand dropping limply to her side after the half-hearted wave she'd given her clearly distracted husband (who barely acknowledged her presence). The pleasant expression on her face instantly settled into an irritated frown as she hurried along the drafty hallway to the tiny shit hole of a room she was forced to share with Wyatt since he brought her unannounced into the underground bunker a couple weeks ago. Well, that wasn't embarrassing at all. Jess could feel a telltale warmth in her cheeks, and she walked even faster to avoid coming face to face with anyone, especially a certain Homeland Security agent who always regarded her with open suspicion.
God, how she hated staying in this place-and this assignment was turning out to be beyond boring, Rittenhouse's newly-activated sleeper agent thought resentfully, somehow even worse than the years spent living in crappy military housing at Pendleton pretending to be a loving, devoted Army wife. At least Jess had various fairly interesting jobs and (very good) friends to occupy her time in San Diego whenever Wyatt shipped overseas for long stretches of time. It occurred to Jess more than once since her arrival that, considering the people around her had been crammed together in this dump for going on three months now, it kinda was a miracle they were still (mostly) sane, although the jury was still out on Garcia Flynn. Something about the rather penetrating gleam in his eyes whenever he looked at Jess gave her the creeps big time...
While thoughts of her weird fellow roommates combined with the not-great living conditions Jess found herself in were always a bummer, the true source of her annoyance at the moment was something different. Before the loud, insistent warning sounded a few minutes ago indicating the mother ship had jumped (gee, thanks loads, Emma), she'd actually been making excellent progress with Wyatt this morning, starting the day off with a frisky little bit of wake-up sex. Not as easy as one might think since it was on her to 'get the party started' because ever since his precious Lucy had apparently-oops-overheard Jessica's best impression of a porn star last week, her husband had become rather uptight about such activities during daylight hours. Just what she needed–another obstacle...
Swallowing her usual frustration with Wyatt's bone-deep stubbornness (which seemed to be part of his personality no matter what time line the guy existed in) and fixing an inviting smile on her face, Jess drew him close and proceeded to use every little move he usually liked to finally get him going (which to be honest, kinda made her feel like a hooker or something–ugh). Eyes on the prize, girl, she reminded herself stoically.
As added insurance, the eventually pleasurable romp was closely followed by a carefully guided trip down memory lane to when they dated in high school, and bam...all of a sudden, the guy was super cuddly, giving her a sated, dimpled smile and seeming to hang on her every word. Ha! Lucy, who? Jess congratulated herself gleefully, dutifully acting the part of a contented, loving wife for all she was worth.
Regrettably, her moment of triumph was wrecked shortly afterwards by her husband's reaction the second he heard the obnoxious alarm go off, effectively throwing ice water on the whole thing. Like some kind of trained dog, Wyatt practically jumped out of her arms at the harsh noise and began hurriedly throwing his clothes on without even a backward glance at the woman he'd happily been wrapped around a few minutes earlier. Seriously?
"Gotta go," he brusquely tossed over his shoulder, pushing his feet into a well-worn pair of boots before hustling out the door and down the hallway toward the cavernous open area where the Lifeboat sat waiting. Dammit, Emma. Jess rolled her eyes. She'd bet good money it sure as hell wasn't the thought of getting his guts tossed around riding inside that hulking ice bucket as it hurtled its passengers through time lighting a fire under Wyatt Logan's (admittedly fine) ass.
No, there could be only one reason for her husband's frantic sense of urgency. Lucy. Ever since his little sweetie had stupidly gotten knifed during the jump to 1692 (a mission Wyatt missed out on because he was meeting her), he was over-the-top obsessed with keeping Lucy safe–which continually annoyed the crap out of Jessica...his wife. Really? C'mon, people, wasn't that what tall, dark and moody Flynn was for?
Not helping her sullen attitude either was the fact that, her regular field reports to Rittenhouse to the contrary, things weren't going quite as smoothly with Jess' assignment as anticipated-a troubling fact she took great pains to conceal from her superiors. Sure, there would almost certainly be hell to pay if she got caught, but even more than getting reprimanded, Jess hated the very idea of failing her one and only assignment.
In her defense, though, it was becoming clear the intel gathered on Wyatt and Lucy up to now wasn't nearly as complete as Rittenhouse liked to think. Consider the bombshell tidbit of information that–surely unbeknownst to Carol Preston–the 'destined' Rittenhouse heir and Jessica's husband were much more attached to each other than earlier reported. In fact, newsflash, Dr. P., the teammates had become lovers during a mission mere hours before Jess was activated. Thank God she'd overheard Jiya and Rufus discussing their friends' hookup one morning not long after Wyatt brought her here because stuff like this was definitely something she needed to know.
It had been an oddly surreal moment, however. Pleased to have some inside scoop on her targets, nonetheless, the unexpectedly sharp flash of something washing over Jess at the news, however, truly unsettled her at first. Wyatt Logan was merely an assignment who meant nothing to her, Jess reminded herself. Then why did it kinda sting just a little to learn he and Lucy had been lovers?
Retreating to their room, she brooded silently over the matter for hours, strangely reluctant to ask for advice from her regular Rittenhouse contact and best friend, Emma–who violently despised Lucy Preston and was therefore incapable of being objective. Eventually, Jess decided she was worrying about nothing, that these feelings of hers couldn't possibly be anything resembling jealousy, but merely dismay about not having as much information as possible to succeed at her mission.
Unfortunately, despite her best efforts, from that day on, it was impossible for Jess to stop imagining Wyatt and Lucy together, especially when she and her husband were being intimate, which only served to piss her off. She was truly baffled. The wealthy, polished brunette, who was a boring college professor in her previous life (just like Mommy Dearest, ha) was pretty enough, Jess supposed, but realistically speaking, about as far from her guy's usual 'type' as you could get. The Wyatt she'd known since the age of 16 had always been attracted to blonde, athletic women who were down to earth and maybe even a little rough around the edges (which luckily, just so happened to describe Jessica to a tee). She honestly couldn't imagine what drew her husband to the other woman, until she recalled from his Delta Force days that Wyatt tended to form strong bonds with the people he served with. Yeah, that must be the answer.
Relieved she'd rationalized the improbable attraction between Wyatt and Lucy, Jess decided the juicy information might be of some value to her in the future, and deliberately left it out of the next field report. As Emma had advised her on more than one occasion, when dealing with the Rittenhouse agenda, it never hurt to have a little 'something' tucked away for the future. Still, hyper aware now of their brief intimate relationship, Jess found herself compulsively watching the couple every second they spent together. They were extremely careful around each other, she grudgingly noted. Yet, once you knew what to look for, the signs were all there.
For instance, like Wyatt constantly trying to entice Lucy into eating more, fixing her healthy snacks unasked and sneaking extra food on her plate at meal times...or the undeniable way he jealously gave Flynn the stink eye whenever the older man gravitated towards Lucy (which was more often than not). Or how, probably assuming no one was paying attention, Lucy's dark eyes watched Wyatt's every move with such naked yearning on her face it made even Jess uncomfortable. There was also the time she woke up alone in the middle of the night–only to sneak down the hallway to the girls' room on a hunch and find her husband sitting motionless beside Lucy's bed watching her sleep. Oh, yeah, so many little incriminating signs...
Okay, so maybe the irrefutable evidence there was a lot more going on than expected between the pair made her job a bit tougher-still, it wasn't anything Jessica couldn't handle. She was very well-trained and highly motivated, and strongly aware Rittenhouse was counting on her to complete the assignment successfully. But then something happened to change things considerably. Just when Jess convinced herself that through a thoroughly engineered game plan of equal parts guilt and happy past memories (combined with lots of sex), Wyatt had gotten over his 'crush' on Lucy in order to save their marriage, the guys had gone and unexpectedly brought a young JFK back from 1934, and then all hell broke loose when the rightfully freaked-out kid escaped the bunker...
Flashback
To her surprise, a still-recovering Lucy–pale as hell and left arm bound up in a sling-gamely insisted on accompanying Wyatt and Jessica when the husband and wife offered to search for and recapture the missing teen. Ha, talk about being a third wheel, Jess smirked behind a carefully blank expression. What a glutton for punishment. After an obviously disapproving Agent Christopher reluctantly gave her permission, the three of them borrowed an SUV from one of the Homeland Security agents guarding the bunker's perimeter and away they went. Taking advantage of this rare opportunity, Jess chose to hang back to better observe Wyatt and Lucy in action for research, but unfortunately, soon realized how greatly she'd underestimated the couple's bond.
Despite an initial awkwardness between them, within minutes of leaving the bunker, the two effortlessly slipped into a working rhythm, practically finishing each other's sentences and displaying a comfort level Jess had never witnessed before, given how little time the ex-lovers actually spent around each other in front of her. Her feelings of unease increased substantially during the standoff with Emma in the hospital room. As expected, her friend more than held her own against trained soldier Wyatt, never giving an inch (go, Emma), until she eventually tired of toying with him and abruptly upped the stakes dramatically by grabbing Lucy and holding the tip of a rather impressive-looking knife to her throat.
Her husband immediately froze in place, his eyes never leaving Lucy's–but also never once sparing even the briefest glance in her direction, which was an unpleasant surprise. Even worse, from her 'safe' vantage point on the other side of the room, Jess was startled to notice the faintest tremor in his hands. The hell? Master Sergeant Wyatt Logan was a clear-headed, decorated expert marksman, with countless enemy kills to his name, and it definitely caught Jess off guard to see his genuine fear for Lucy revealed in that moment.
This was not a good thing, she fretted silently, unhappy that Wyatt was seemingly oblivious to his wife's presence mere feet away because his entire focus was on Lucy and her safety. Any enjoyment Jess might've felt when the redhead-confident she had the upper hand in this situation-began taunting Wyatt about his 'wife' faded away when confronted with the undeniable proof he still had strong feelings for Lucy.
Clearly, Jess had not made nearly the progress with Wyatt she'd naively assumed, a lowering thought indeed. Shoving down her frustration, she decided it was time for this little farce to be over. Aware, too, that someone could walk in on the four of them at any second, Jess signaled Emma unseen by the other two to wrap things up. The redhead cocked her head ever so slightly in acknowledgment and with a triumphant grin, brutally shoved Lucy towards Wyatt before swiftly escaping, leaving Jess to witness the protective way he cradled her against him and softly asked if she was okay. Well, hell, that kinda stung.
Surprisingly, though visibly shaken, the brunette didn't take advantage of the comfort he offered (though in her place, Jess might've been tempted), but desperately urged Wyatt to go after Emma. Seems Lucy Preston has more grit than she'd expected. Unhappy at that revelation, Jess was more determined than ever to never again make a rookie mistake like underestimating her 'competition,' regardless of her personal feelings on the subject. Things moved rather quickly after that, including an intense little conversation with Lucy while Wyatt retrieved the SUV that was quite enlightening. Damn. Poor thing must really truly love the man to put his happiness above her own and hand him over to Jess on a silver platter. Hmm...maybe things weren't nearly as shaky with her assignment as she'd imagined.
After all, there was the promising exchange with Wyatt right in front of Lucy about their trip to Hawaii in the early days of their marriage before the three of them entered the hospital. Better still was the moment when Jess impulsively laid a hand on her husband's thigh during the silent ride back to the bunker...and after a brief hesitation, he put his hand over hers–a sweet gesture that hadn't gone unnoticed by Lucy, judging by the pained gasp emanating from the back seat. Woo! Hey, she wasn't too proud to take the win.
Not only that, but after a hasty jump back to 1934 with Rufus to return the future President to his own time and place in history (and oops, retrieve a seriously pissed-off Flynn), it was but a few minutes after the heavy thud of the time machine landing that her husband walked into their room. Relaxing on one of the two cots Wyatt had pushed together her first night in the bunker, Jess casually looked up from scrolling through her phone with a welcoming smile. To her surprise, it seemed as if he had something on his mind.
Dropping down beside her, shoulders slumped, Wyatt sighed forlornly and scrubbed his hands over his face. "Jess?" he asked hesitantly, dropping his hands to his lap and looking directly into her eyes, "Have you decided yet about whether or not you're going to sign the divorce papers?" He looked so despondent, she actually found herself feeling a little bit sorry for the guy. She collected her thoughts as Wyatt waited for her answer, and then, like a bolt of lightning, it came to her.
Thank you, Lucy Preston, you honorable, self-sacrificing little fool. Trying to control her elation, Jess took a deep breath and in a suitably somber tone, told her husband about the serious conversation between the two women outside the hospital, explaining how shook up she was over the scene in the hospital room with the stranger who was trying to hurt them-and leaning toward signing the divorce papers and just walking away from Wyatt. His dark blue eyes widening in dismay, he opened his mouth to interrupt when Jess put two fingers over his lips.
"Let me finish, please. I've been thinking about the fervent way Lucy immediately defended you before asking me to give you another chance," she informed Wyatt before twisting the knife just a tiny bit and savoring the incredulous frown he couldn't quite hide. "You know what? You're really lucky to have a good friend and teammate like Lucy looking out for you, Wyatt. I'm glad she's on our side." Although the phony words of praise about made Jess gag, she knew from the surprised (but pleased) expression on his face as he leaned in to kiss her, it had been the perfect thing to say.
When they broke apart, Wyatt stood, favoring her with an affectionate smile, and grabbing a few things from the dresser, left to take a shower. She wasn't sure what instinct made her follow him seconds later along the deserted hallway, but Jess was soon rewarded for her efforts. Coming to a halt a few feet from the bathroom but back far enough to stay out of sight, she plastered herself against the damp wall and peeked around the corner just in time to see the heavy door swing open and Lucy slam right into Wyatt, hissing in pain at the unfortunate contact with her sore left arm. Curious to see what would happen next, Jess practically held her breath and listened as hard as she could, absently hoping none of the others would catch her eavesdropping.
The former lovers instantly broke apart like two scalded cats, both murmuring apologies before Lucy turned away with a tight smile to take a couple steps in Jessica's direction. Shit...she was gonna get caught after all. Even as Jess turned to hurry back down the hallway without being seen, she suddenly heard Wyatt quietly call out Lucy's name and stopped in her tracks, dying to know what he was about to say...
"Lucy," he rumbled, waiting while she reluctantly turned to face him, "Thank you."
"For what?" she asked, shaking her head slightly and staring at him in bewilderment.
"Uh, Jessica's giving me a second chance...and she said it was 'cause of you," he answered, watching Lucy expectantly. Shocked he would actually straight out tell Lucy about their conversation, Jess felt herself frown in sympathy on the brunette's behalf at her husband's clueless behavior. Ouch...that had to hurt...
After an uncomfortable pause, Lucy sighed and starting talking softly about how the history he shared with his wife was special and that Wyatt deserved to finally be happy. Out of nowhere, Jess felt a sort of grudging admiration for Lucy Preston's generosity because wow–she did not see that one coming. There was silence between the two for a few seconds, and then Wyatt stepped closer and lowering his voice, solemnly told Lucy, "I have no regrets..." Unfortunately, before she could hear the rest of their exchange, out of the corner of her eye, Jess noticed Flynn approaching and hustled back to their room, deliberately ignoring the curiosity on his lean face as she flew past him without a word...
End Flashback
Once alone in her room, Jess flopped down on one of the uncomfortable cots to contemplate her next moves. Secure in her position because of her particular value to the organization, at least Jess herself had always lived in the present day, and not dumped in the past like some of her fellow operatives were recently. She shuddered mentally at the harsh living conditions those men and women were willing to endure–sometimes for years-in the name of Rittenhouse. Places where all the modern conveniences she took for granted like deodorant and tampons and cell phones and Starbucks were decades (even centuries) away from being invented. Hmm...maybe Jess should be a little nicer to her husband...
While there had been occasional whispers over time about a new initiative involving members being planted decades in the past for God only knew how long to await mysterious future orders, the official Rittenhouse 'sleeper' program hadn't launched until an abrupt change in top leadership after what Emma mockingly called the purge had taken place. It was still a little hard for Jess to comprehend. Seriously, who could've have foreseen that after hundreds of years successfully working anonymously behind the scenes to make the world a better place, a little ragtag bunch of rebels led by college professor (and secret Rittenhouse princess) Lucy Preston and surprisingly, a career soldier out of Camp Pendleton named Wyatt Logan (hence her own importance), actually managed to score a shocking but fairly impressive win over the secret organization when the feds arrested like 150 of their highest-profile members and carted them off to prison.
Once the dust settled, though, it was a member of one of Rittenhouse's original founding families, Dr. Carol Preston, who'd wasted little time taking the reins and putting her stamp on the group's operations, which included kick-starting the sleeper program. At least a dozen members of varying ages, genders, races and skill sets were hurried through a six-week crash program to help them rapidly acclimate to their new time periods before being ferried aboard the mother ship by Emma.
In just a matter of days, sleeper agents expected to hit the ground running had been dropped off all over the country as far back as pre-Civil War 1860, and here and there all through the last century as recently as the late '70's. Each specially chosen operative was tasked with one mission only, and failure was not an option. Jess thought it was really strange this new operative training just happened to coincide with Lucy Preston's time as a guest of her mother. Privately, she considered it kinda messed up that a mother would go so far as to kidnap her own daughter to try and brainwash her-but wisely kept that opinion to herself.
Thankfully, compared to pretty much all of the other mission orders, Jessica Logan's would appear to be a piece of cake. Her sole duty was stay hidden at HQ after her 'faked' murder in 2012, learning the ropes and making herself useful until 2018 when what remained of the other side was forced to go into hiding after Rittenhouse's unsuccessful attempt to take out the whole team by blowing up Mason Industries.
Once she was activated and put into position, it was only a matter of days before Jessica was sprung on her unsuspecting husband via an innocent-looking text message (of all things). As Emma smugly predicted, Wyatt had fallen neatly into the trap Dr. P. had cannily prepared, and within an hour or so after 'finding' her, persuaded Jessica to accompany him to the super secret location where he and the others had been hidden away by Homeland Security from Rittenhouse to begin part two of her assignment.
At first, smug in the knowledge she was the one who found the enemies' hiding place, and maybe a little too confident in her abilities after years of prep that included practically living inside Wyatt and Lucy's heads at times, it had all felt like a game to her. Initiate contact with her husband, and with his unsuspecting help, infiltrate the team, quickly become a trusted resident of the underground bunker, and then, by keeping Wyatt apart from the others–especially Lucy Preston–as much of the time as possible, eventually drive a wedge between him and the rest of his team in order to complete her task. Like taking candy from a baby...
Finally, the long-anticipated day arrived, and once Jessica tapped out a brief text to Wyatt and hit send, everything had gone even better than she expected the first few days. Part one was easily accomplished the second her husband walked into the San Francisco hipster bar she'd been working at the past week. (Damn...the things she did in the name of Rittenhouse, because that place had been a real dive.)
Still, in the end, totally worth it. The absolutely stunned expression on Wyatt Logan's face had been funny as hell. Poor guy looked like he'd seen a ghost...oops, guess he did, she mused thoughtfully. Even more entertaining? The way he had gotten all worked up and actually begged her for another chance after Jessica thrust the packet of divorce papers at him–exactly the response Emma had wisely predicted during her last pre-mission briefing before she'd been sent back out into the world to resume her boring life as Mrs. Wyatt Logan.
It came as no real surprise to Jess that as usual, Emma had been right on the money. Her off-the-charts intelligence and fierce ambition was something she greatly admired about her friend and confidant. No wonder Emma Whitmore had moved so high up in the Rittenhouse ranks (plus it didn't hurt she was screwing Dr. Preston's creepy head case grandpa they'd brought back from World War I). Yeah, the redhead was big on always having a backup plan...
As for her husband, it had been pathetically easy to play on Mr. Honorable's lingering guilt over her 'murder' in the other time line. The first, smartest thing Jess had done was refuse to tear up the (fake, duh) divorce papers Rittenhouse had prepared for her so she could keep stringing Wyatt along. She could tell he was scared to death she'd disappear, possibly forever in his mind, if given the chance and actually enjoyed the sense of power that gave her.
Having previously observed Wyatt and Lucy up close on numerous occasions, Emma had been a huge help while Jess was preparing for her big chance to prove herself to Carol Preston and the rest of the Rittenhouse power players. There was no reason Jessica Logan couldn't move up the ranks, so to speak, which was good motivation to keep playing the long game.
Asking her husband to start wearing the wedding band she'd tucked into her bag had been an especially inspired idea, although Wyatt seemed reluctant at first to comply. Good move on her part to subtly push the guy about it, though, because poor lovesick Lucy looked like she'd been gut punched the first time she spotted it on Wyatt's left hand, and as a result, actually made Jessica's job a little easier by practically refusing to even be in the same room as him if she could help it.
Unfortunately, however, despite Jessica's best efforts to keep Wyatt firmly glued to her side until it was time to implement the rest of her plan, he'd been growing more and more restless, worried when his boss kept him off a couple of jumps in a row. And then there was today's little show. It had been embarrassingly obvious to everyone just now–except maybe Lucy-that Jessica's husband had been so preoccupied with eagerly following his teammate up those steel steps into the time machine, Wyatt had literally forgotten she was standing there watching until that jerk Flynn made a big deal of it. She recalled the distressing display in the hospital room between Wyatt and Lucy that she had once dismissed, certain this was not a step in the right direction. He was starting to slip away from her, drawn back to Lucy, Jessica fretted, worried the initial thrill of her 'miraculous' return was apparently starting to wear off-and Carol Preston would not be pleased.
Aside from the mean spirited-but oh so satisfying-pleasure she derived from busting up her husband's hot and heavy relationship with Lucy Preston on the express orders of her entitled, rather snobby boss (who absolutely loathed the nobody soldier from Texas for his growing influence over her precious daughter), each day in this dreary hell hole waiting to put into motion the second part of her assignment was more monotonous than the one before. Carol had assured Jess she would know when the time was right, but despite the less-than-demanding conditions, she couldn't help wishing her time here wouldn't last too much longer.
Sure, Mr. Delta Force was pretty hot, possessing a nice muscular body and rather satisfying stamina, so the sex was damn good–although it took all of Jessica's considerable skills in the sack to keep the guy's mind off his true love while they were going at it. More than once, she pretended not to notice when Wyatt would occasionally start to mumble, love you, Lu..., in her ear when he was on top of Jessica before catching himself and turning his face away. Truthfully, this kinda drove her crazy because no way in hell would she ever be convinced the rather quiet teacher, professor, (whatever) was sexier than she was.
It was disquieting for her to discover that contrary to the thick file Rittenhouse had compiled on him, whatever love and affection Wyatt had previously felt for his Jessica, all that remained after six years in his original time line was a persistent sense of guilt because it was pretty damn obvious to anyone with two good eyes he had fallen for Lucy Preston–and equally clear she returned those feelings one hundred and ten percent. To be fair, Jess thought grudgingly, although she continued watching the couple like a hawk every second she could, neither one had yet to cross the invisible line her presence had put in place.
While Emma zipped all over creation (and time) in the mother ship busily delivering sleeper agents, part two of Jessica's mission involved stealing the Lifeboat–something a hell of a lot more complicated and important than breaking up the unlikely lovebirds. Which naturally sucked since she'd been chosen and coached and trained since the tender age of five for this very mission. Thirty years now Jess had listened and learned, worked hard, and patiently waited to be "activated" by Rittenhouse in return for the group saving her beloved brother's life (and hers eventually as well), and now that it was finally happening, at times, honestly, it all felt curiously anti-climatic...
Flashback
East Texas
Late Spring 1988
"Sit still now, Jessie, and let me finish your hair," her mother scolded tiredly as she attempted to coax her only daughter's baby-fine blonde hair into a simple French braid. Jessica wasn't very happy about getting her hair fixed all fancy and having to wear a dress on any day that wasn't church Sunday (even though it was the special pink dress she wore last Easter Sunday) but obediently stopped squirming at the sharp tone in Mama's voice. Seemed like her mother's voice sounded that way most of the time since baby Kev took sick, and she and Jess' father didn't smile or laugh at much of anything any more, either.
Down the hall, she could hear Daddy hollering at Kyle to take their coon hound, Barney (named after the purple dinosaur), outside before the company got here. Hearing the back screen door bang shut, Jessie grinned at how grumpy her older brother was acting, probably from having to get cleaned up and wear church clothes in the middle of the week, especially the little blue and red striped necktie like Daddy's he hated.
"All done, little lady," Mama said, tying a pink ribbon on the end of Jessie's braid and pressing a kiss on her forehead. "You be a good girl now and go sit on the couch with your brother while I change Kev's diaper, and don't wrinkle your pretty dress, alright?" She nodded and slipped out of the room to join a mad-looking Kyle on the couch but kept her mouth shut, just swinging her feet and enjoying the tiny sparkles in her pink jelly sandals. While she and her brother mostly got along, Jess knew better than to talk to him when he was upset or risk getting a hurtful pinch on her leg or arm. Like most boys she knew, Kyle could be mean as a snake at times, so it was best to leave him be until he worked through his mad. All was quiet except for the tinny sound of the old window fan pushing a bunch of hot air around the room.
"I hate wearing a dang tie and button shirt, and it's not even church Sunday," Kyle muttered after a minute, fingers tugging in vain at the snug collar of his white shirt that Mama ironed after breakfast along with Jess' dress and a clean shirt for Daddy. Glancing at him out of the corner of her eye, Jess quickly shook her head in agreement, grateful her pink and white checked dress wasn't so scratchy and uncomfortable. Encouraged, her brother started to say something else when their parents suddenly walked into the room, Mama holding their little brother on her hip.
"Kyle, leave be with that collar now, you're gonna get your shirt all wrinkled," Mama snapped, fixing a stern look on her face. Jess could tell whatever the reason they were all dressed in their Sunday best, it was worrying her parents something awful. Crossing over to the couch, Mama motioned for Kyle and Jess to put some space between them so she could put Kev down. Jess instinctively put an arm around her little brother, pleased when Kev sighed and cuddled against her despite the fact he was smushing her pretty dress a little.
Jessica loved her Mama and Daddy with all her young heart, and Kyle, too (well, most of the time), but she was absolutely crazy about Kev. He was her baby. Mama had told Jess so the day they brought him home from the hospital. Sitting on the couch that day and holding tightly to the warm, squirmy bundle, she'd instantly fallen in love with her new brother, and from that day forward, was extremely protective of him. It scared Jess when he started getting sick not long after Christmas. The little boy was tired a lot and had trouble breathing sometimes and kept getting fevers, too. She heard Mama tell Daddy that Kev had a bad cold or was maybe cutting teeth, but instead of getting better, he just got sicker, until finally, they took him to see old Doc Smith down at the clinic.
That was a bad day for their family...the day they found out Kev was sick with some scary disease with a big long name that Jess couldn't even pronounce very good. Loo-key-mee-uh. Wasn't long after that, their happy home began to change. Mama quit her job at the library to take care of her sick boy and Daddy worked even longer hours at the gas station–sometimes getting home long after they went to bed. She and Kyle were too afraid of what was happening to misbehave or even fight much with each other during those long, miserable days after Kev took sick. But then, just this morning, there was a big surprise. Mama told them at the breakfast table with a smile they needed to get cleaned up because special company was coming over to visit around noon. She and her brother looked at each other, but didn't say anything because it was nice to see Mama happy about anything.
So here they were, her whole family, all cleaned up and waiting for the special company to get here. Just as the big old clock in the corner that was her grandma's before she passed began to chime, they heard the sound of a car stopping in front of the house and then the loud slam of a car door. Daddy hurried to the front door and with a shaking hand, held it open with a friendly smile. And in walked the prettiest lady Jess had ever seen who wasn't on television–even prettier than her own Mama. She was tall, with shiny blonde hair and blue eyes and had on a beautiful blue dress with tiny white flowers and matching white sandals. A dazzled Jess thought maybe the lady was a queen or princess like in one of her bedtime stories.
After saying hello to Mama and Daddy, the lady turned to smile at Jess and her brothers. Crouching down in front of them, she said her name was Miss Carol and she was very pleased to meet them. Then she asked them what their names were in such a gentle voice that even baby Kev, who was usually backward around strangers, peeped around Jess' shoulder and gave her a shy smile.
Then something really unexpected happened. Miss Carol turned to Daddy and asked if he would mind getting a few things out of her car and bringing them inside please. It turned out to be presents! For no reason! A little shy at first when Daddy set the three brightly-wrapped boxes on the floor in front of them, Jess and her brothers nervously looked between their parents, afraid to tear into them without permission. Once Mama nodded and said it was alright, the three of them–well, Kev needed a little help from Mama-ripped open the boxes to find the biggest, best presents they'd ever seen, even better than the ones Santa Claus left for them under the tree at Christmas.
Kyle's wide blue eyes just about bugged out when he lifted the lid of his box and saw the Astros hat and a ball glove that both looked to be just his size. Inside baby Kev's box was a big, soft, light green Care Bear with a clover on his white chest. And then it was her turn. Aware of the grownups watching, Jess' small fingers felt clumsy as she carefully tore the paper off her present and lifted the lid to find a Cabbage Patch doll. She sucked in a startled breath. Her very own Cabbage Patch doll. Even though she was five now and a big girl who was going to start school with Kyle after summer was over, Jess started to cry a little, she was so happy. Her new doll had soft yellow yarn hair in ponytails and brown eyes like hers, but the best thing of all was the doll's pink and white dress looked just like the one Jess was wearing.
She had no idea why they were getting presents when it wasn't anybody's birthday or Christmas or anything, but Jessica didn't care, especially when she saw the happy smiles Mama and Daddy were wearing. After the siblings politely thanked Miss Carol for the gifts, the grownups left them to play with their new toys and went into the kitchen for a tall glass of cold lemonade and some of Mama's fresh-baked ginger cookies. Wasn't but a couple days later after their special company left that little Kev went into the big, fancy hospital in Houston and the doctors fixed him for good. Mama always said it was a blessed miracle the day Miss Carol came to their house...
End Flashback
Naturally, it had been mind-blowing at first to find out on her 16th birthday from the nice blond lady who visited her family once a year since she was five that time travel existed. Not only was traveling through time real, but it enabled Miss Carol and her group of important 'friends' to arrange for the new and rare stem cell treatment that cured her little brother's leukemia (as well as save Jessica from being murdered before her 30th birthday in what she secretly dubbed the "original" time line). She, her parents and brothers were therefore doubly grateful for the day Carol Preston showed up at their modest home in Orange, Texas, a dinky, dusty little town on the Louisiana border. As a result, there was never (ever) any question where her life-long allegiance–and that of her family's-belonged.
She was in the kitchen fixing some hot tea when the Lifeboat abruptly thudded to a halt hours later in a tremendous rush of wind, the spinning rings slowly whining to a stop. Jess sighed. She'd spent all afternoon contemplating her next steps, and couldn't kid herself any longer–it was time to get serious about implementing the second part of her mission. Carol Preston was rapidly running out of patience...and that was never a good thing.
Leaning against the kitchen counter cradling her mug of tea, she couldn't help but notice the way her husband scrambled out of the hatch first and instinctively turned to help Lucy. Jess watched in unwilling fascination when, after the slightest hesitation, the slim brunette smiled faintly and placed her hand in Wyatt's. For the briefest of seconds as their hands touched, it was clear-at least to her-from the identical expressions of wistful longing the couple wore that they were miserable without each other. Jess frowned absently.
Okay, so maybe her usually chill conscience twinged the tiniest bit in the face of causing two basically innocent people (in the grand scheme of things) such unhappiness-with much more to come-because, God, she wasn't a monster...but then without warning, a mental picture of her younger brother as he was today popped into her head. Kevin was healthy as a horse, happily married to his high school sweetheart and the proud dad of three adorable little boys...and Jess would do anything for the people who made that good life possible by saving him from certain death when he was just a toddler. Anything...
Almost half her life thus far had been devoted to repaying the huge debt Jessica's family owed to Rittenhouse, and nothing was gonna change that. Nothing. She purposefully ignored the hungry way Wyatt's eyes lingered on Lucy when she laughed at something Rufus said. Keep your head in the game, Jess. Straightening her shoulders (and hardening her heart against even a hint of traitorous guilt), she pasted a cheerful smile on her face and went to greet her husband with a loving kiss. Sorry, cowboy, nothing personal, because all of this? It's just an assignment...
"Things are not always what they seem..." - Phaedrus
A/N #2: I've been working on this chapter off and on for a couple months now, and it turned out to be a lot more satisfying to write than I expected. As a hardcore Lyatt shipper, I absolutely hated the Lucy/Wyatt/Jessica "triangle" in Timeless season two, and so it was admittedly a real challenge to get inside Jessica Logan's head and try to see her actions from HER perspective. Once I did, however, I actually enjoyed myself (and as usual, got a little carried away, eventually writing more than 7,000 words for this chapter). I still plan on this being an ongoing series as long as I find the inspiration. If you have a POV request or suggestion, hit me up in a review or PM, and I'll do my best to give it a try. Sincere appreciation as always to those readers who continue to be interested in reading Timeless stories. Your reviews, favorites and follows mean so much to those of us still writing for the fandom :))