This ones a doozy, friends. A doozy. But it's Friday Night, and the feeling is right ;)

Oh God.

Oh God.

The words kept repeating on a loop in Wyatt's mind. Nothing else could penetrate the walls of his brain because Lucy…

Lucy.

In a tiny white dress, so very very short, with white boots stretching to her knees, her thighs on display, arms bare, cleavage bursting up through the strange angles of the neckline. Her eyes were heavily made-up so they popped against her perfect, porcelain, sculpted face, seeming ten times bigger than they normally did, which was already big enough to drown him in. Her lips, usually red, were instead a bright, candy pink. Her hair was quintessentially 60's, the unique style of ponytail… What the hell was it called? He'd been forced to learn one Halloween. A beehive with low pony. That was it. God it looked good on her. How did she look so perfect in every single era?

This was a bad idea. Right? Bad. Very bad. There was a mission, or something. They were going out to gather intel. There was no way in hell he'd be getting any info with Lucy looking like that. It was almost the exact outfit Elizabeth Hurley wore in Austen Powers. But Lucy looked a hundred times better, in Wyatt's opinion. To hell with Blonde Bond girl Barbara. Lucy was the single most beautiful woman he'd ever seen in his life.

He suddenly realized there was a clamour around him. The three culprits responsible for this debacle were falling all over themselves laughing and gloating and crowing their pleasure at Lucy and Wyatt's reactions to each other. It should have been an obvious cue to look away. Pretend it didn't happen. Avoid her gaze.

But for some reason he couldn't. He wouldn't.

He let his gaze drop to the toes of her shiny white boots and rake their way up, pausing at her thighs, her tiny waist, her chest, her bare neck and finally back to her eyes. Her eyes which were now hooded, dark, her lips parted as she met him stare for stare. What did it mean? What was going on? He felt hot. Too hot. He wanted to rip his jacket off. He wanted to rip his shirt off. He wanted to rip Lucy's dress off.

"Isn't she just magnificent?" Barbara drawled. Wyatt jumped, having forgotten that there were other people in the room. He watched with fascination as the woman sidled up behind Lucy and draped her hands over her shoulders, pressing in tight and smirking at Wyatt. His stomach flipped, feelings he would not name as jealousy and possession calling out to him. Especially when Lucy blushed like that at the compliment, and reached up to place a hand over Barbara's.

"Well you're a very talented girl," Lucy praised in return.

Barbara's voice was a purr. "You don't know the half of it."

Wyatt coughed and awkwardly reached up to fix hair that didn't fixing. The women looked at him with almost matching smirks. It was diabolic.

He whipped around to face their new, male, friends.

"Tea," he grit out. "You have anymore of that tea?"

The two grinned at each other in gleeful supremacy.

"Oh yes."

Wyatt turned with a military about face without even realizing. His body had reverted to it's ingrained training, as it always did in the face of great peril. And Lucy, right now was exactly that. He could feel her gaze burning through his back, right through the ridiculous blue suit. He wondered if it might actually burst into flames from the heat. Was she trying to murder him?

A few steps behind, Lucy was having the time of her life. She'd never considered herself that great at flirting, at dealing with the masculine side of the population in general. While she saw many a girl weave webs across guys in college, she'd never been able to accomplish it herself. But the way Wyatt had looked at her… and then the subtle but distinct narrowing of his eyes when Barbara touched her. Wow. She found herself wondering how far she could push him and amazed at how fun it was to mess with him. Why had she never done so before? Thoughts of not dead ex wives and dangerous missions and saving the world flittered through her mind but none of them seemed able to stick. She looked hot, and for once actually felt like it too. What was wrong with enjoying it?

"Will you stop that?"

Rufus narrowed his eyes at Flynn and kept tapping his fingers against his coffee. The ambiance of Honey's Café was homey and relaxing, but he was far from relaxed. "They're late. They're never late. Wyatt does not let it happen. He's military. It's literally his purpose to keep things in check and on time."

"Well in case you'd forgotten, our purpose is also literally time, and sometimes it takes a little more of it to get the information you need. They're not that late."

"But what if they're hurt? What if they ran into Rittenhouse? What if they're dead?"

Across the table from him Flynn's eyes suddenly went wide, a look adorning his face that Rufus had never seen.

"Or maybe they're just having a good time," Flynn said haltingly.

Rufus frowned and turned around in his seat, nearly losing his balance and falling out of it at the sight that greeted him.

Lucy and Wyatt, looking like the poster children of sexy, free spirit 60's, with an entourage of two elaborately dressed men, who were holding hands, and a blonde bombshell, strutting down the street, laughing their heads off like they hadn't a care in the world. Rufus couldn't help but note the way Lucy and Wyatt were bumping into each other as they walked, both purposely and seemingly unconsciously, listing towards each other like they sought the other for balance. Though by Wyatt's red face and the way he looked anywhere but at her, and Lucy's sly and obvious glances, maybe it wasn't so unintentional after all. At least from one side.

What the hell had happened since they'd split up?

"Guys?" Rufus called out in a small voice. They didn't hear him.

"Well hi there," Flynn boomed, standing up and waving to them.

Lucy stopped short, teetering off balance as she looked around for the source of the voice. Wyatt reached out to grab her, her body falling into his as he helped her balance once more. She grabbed onto him with one arm and laughed as she waved at Flynn with the other.

"Heeeey!" she called. "You almost made me fall! It would've been the second time today! Though you're a bit bigger than Chester. And not as fluffy."

The group surrounding her hollered with laughter and Rufus wondered if he'd ended up in the Twilight Zone.

"What. The. Hell. Man," he stage whispered to Flynn.

"I have no idea," Flynn agreed through a fake smile as he continued to wave at the group.

"Hold on one sec!" Lucy declared as she whirled around, still within Wyatt's arms, to face the group. "Secret Army Base stuff!"

Rufus and Flynn's bafflement continued to grow at the statement, the sage nods it received, and the bumbling approach of their teammates.

"Hey!" Wyatt exclaimed. He coughed and frowned and offered a whispered "Hey!" a second later.

"Uh… Hi?" Rufus asked.

"They're taking us to Stonewall!" Lucy grinned. "For… uh…"

"Intel!" Wyatt supplied. "We're gonna get such good intel."

"Are you guys drunk?" Flynn hissed.

"What?" Wyatt scoffed. "No! We haven't had a drop!"

"Only tea!" Lucy promised. "Very yummy tea."

"Tea…" repeated Rufus dubiously.

"Yes!" Lucy huffed. "Tea. The hot leafy liquid I enjoy on a regular basis. Sheesh."

"Okay then…"

"Anyways," Wyatt drawled. "What did you guys find out?"

The men filled their friends in on the info they'd gained at the precincts, the fact they'd identified the target, and that he would be safely guarded until the raid occurred.

"Way to go!" Lucy bounced in her heels and clapped her hands. All three men tried not to look at her bouncing cleavage.

"Great recon guys," Wyatt agreed. "Good stuff. Real good."

"So good," Lucy beamed.

"But not as good as tonight's going to be!"

The group looked up at Jimmy, who immediately held his hands up in defense.

"Now now, I wasn't eavesdropping. I just have an ear for praising words. I love positive encouragement and just had to add my own."

"Guys, this is Jimmy!" Lucy introduced. "And that's his man Simon, and their friend Barbara!"

The boys frowned as Lucy gave the woman a big wink, and giggled.

"This is Rufus and Flynn," Wyatt loudly butt in, looking anywhere but the women, waving his hands towards his teammates.

"My what a group of misfits we are," Jimmy delighted. "So nice to meet friends of Ellen and John!"

Rufu's grin grew a few degrees. "Ellen. And John. Yes. Our good friends Ellen and John."

"This night will be one for the history books!" Jimmy proclaimed.

Lucy let out a peal of laughter.

If only they knew.

The club wasn't anything like one from 2018. There were no thudding bass lines or Jager-bombs lined up at the bar. It was live music and liquor from hidden cabinets. It wasn't even a typical 1960's bar, not that any of them had been to one before. It was a bastion of free thought, free spirit, free love. And the people were enjoying it to the absolute max.

Lucy was pure wide-eyed wonderment, gasping and laughing out loud at the vibrant display of culture at such a tender and volatile stage of history. The movement that was about to explode.

"Oh my god!" she smacked smacked Wyatt on the arm. "Look! It's Marsha P. Johnson! Born Malcolm Michaels Jr, she's the one that stands up to the cops in defense of civil rights. Throws a shot glass against a mirror, symbolically shattering it, right at the beginning of the riot."

But Wyatt didn't hear a word of her rambling. He was just starting at her wide-eyed, following her every movement with hungry, open eyes. Rufus and Flynn continued to give each other confused and pointed looks, waiting for the other to explain what the hell had gotten into their friends. All four of them were soon swept into a red velvet cushioned booth that perhaps wasn't meant for so many people. Wyatt and Lucy ended up squished together in the middle, Barbara, to Lucy's right, playfully shoving her towards the soldier. Lucy let out a little whoop as she toppled into him but he caught her and kept her safe. As he always did. She smiled up at him.

"Hey," she grinned.

"Hey."

They were once again so close that the perfume Barbara had doused Lucy in pervaded Wyatt's senses, clouding his vision, filling his lungs. Her dolled up face blurred as he inched closer…

A loud clang shattered the moment as a bottle of liquor and several glasses appeared, slamming onto the table.

"Wow, table service," Rufus observed as Wyatt and Lucy pulled apart but stayed sitting way closer to each other than was necessary. "Never been able to afford that."

"Who can, brother?" asked Jimmy. "But we only live once, so why not enjoy it."

Lucy and Wyatt heartily agreed, crashing glasses with their new friends and downing the liquor in one go.

Rufus elbowed Flynn and raised his brows in question. Flynn shrugged and downed his drink. Rufus winced and looked down into his. He was more of a beer guy. He looked around the table at expectant eyes.

To hell with it. Only live once indeed.

An hour or three later and Rufus was regretting his one and only life. There was a reason he stuck to beer.

"Flynn, my man," he leaned over into his compatriot. "You gotta stop me. No more. Please."

Flynn smiled wryly at him and Rufus cursed him for his ability to drink. "Rufus, the last two were water. Could you not tell?"

Rufus squinted down into his glass, taking a sniff. "Oh."

Flynn patted him on the back. "Someone has to stay sane tonight."

Rufus peered over to the dance floor his friends inhabited. He suddenly felt a whole lot more sober. They were what could be classified as dancing their faces off. Wyatt had ditched his jacket, Lucy's hair had fallen out of place and now hung wildly about her flushed face, and they looked like they were having the best damn night of their lives. Their two new friends were right there with them, as was Barbara, the five of them twirling and spinning and passing each other around like it was going out of style. Who knew they had such moves?

"I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone," Rufus finally confessed.

"Once again I agree with you. Those two are acting distinctly out of character."

"They've had a bit to drink now but they were already acting totally out of wack when we met up at the café," Rufus worried. "Do you think something happened to them?"

"Maybe their new friends just knocked some sense into them."

"No…" Rufus shook his head vehemently. "We can't even do that. How could total strangers do it in a couple of hours?"

"I don't know. The 60's was a magical time."

Rufus scoffed. "No, man. Something's up. I just can't tell what."

"Do you think it will interfere with the mission?"

Rufus puzzled over the question but couldn't find an answer. "I don't know. I don't think so? I mean… it's them. No matter what crazy shit we go through we always make it out okay in the end, and almost always successfully."

"We did ensure that Captain Hamilton will lead the riot."

"Assuming he's the Rittenhouse target."

"Pretty safe to assume."

"Well what if there's a sleeper here as a back up plan? What if…" Rufus shifted uneasily. "What if they're here right now?"

"Relax. If there was a sleeper here we'd all be dead by now. Easy to slip something into someone's drink at a place like this."

"Oh, gee, thanks, that makes me feel a whole lot better."

"I do try."

Rufus couldn't get another word in as the dance floor crew chose that moment to stumble back to their booth. There was a cacophony of exclamations as they laughed and drank and complimented each other's performances.

"Another round!" cried Jimmy.

"Woah there," cautioned Flynn. "I think my friends are good for the night."

"Woah there, Dad," Barbara snorted. "They're adults. They can make up their own minds."

Flynn reached out across Wyatt and grabbed Lucy's shoulders.

"Lucy," he said in a low voice. "We have a lot to do tomorrow. Remember?"

Her eyes swam as she tried to focus in on Flynn. He gripped her a little harder, unaware of the mounting fury in Wyatt's eyes. Before the soldier could cause a scene though, Lucy gave a little start, her eyes going wide and head nodding quickly.

"Yes. Tomorrow. Stuff. To do." She turned towards her new friends with an apologetic look. "Sorry. No more drinks for us."

There was much protest and bribery, but Watt sat up next to her and backed her up.

"Yeah. We've had a great time, but…"

"Sure we can't persuade you?" Barbara pleaded, her blue eyes growing wide and plump lips pouting. "Thought you were here for a good time?" she put a hand on Lucy's bare thigh. "An… open minded, time."

Six pairs of eyes were suddenly zeroed in on Lucy with laser focus. She felt like she was back in Bonnie and Clyde's cabin, Clyde's sly eyes testing and taunting them, daring them to contradict their story. She had to do something or their cover would be blown. The mission could depend on it. Right? Her head was fuzzy. Everything was too loud, colours too bright, movement too fast. But she couldn't risk messing this up. If nothing else, she knew that. She had to maintain their story. She had to. Lucy looked Barbara in the eye and slowly licked her lips.

"I've had a very good time." Lucy's voice dropped almost an octave. Beside her, Wyatt swallowed hard.

"Let me thank you," Lucy continued. She then wrapped her slim fingers around Barbara's neck and pulled her mouth to her own.

Three sets of jaws dropped to the floor as two others opened in delight.

Lucy continued her forward momentum, lifting the leg that Barbara's hand rested on to reach across Barbara's lap, her lithe body, usually so klutzy, easing gracefully in the tight space to straddle Barbara's lap. Lucy's other hand moved to join its mate behind Barbara's neck, her mouth opening wide in invitation. Barbara ran confident hands up Lucy's thighs, an arm moving to wrap around her waist while the other wrapped around her bare shoulders.

Jimmy and Simon's attentions turned from the show to the Lucy's three companions; a comparably, if very differently, fascinating display. Rufus' face was straight shock, bug-eyed and spluttering. Flynn was stone-faced, locked jaw, fists clenched. Wyatt, the closest to the women, was bright red, eyes glazed, mouth opening and closing like a gaping fish out of water.

"I…" he tried to say.

Lucy's hand slid up into Barbara's hair, angling her head for a different position. Barbara squeezed Lucy's waist. Lucy moaned.

"I have to go," Wyatt finally choked out, practically body checking Rufus and Flynn out of the booth before running to the men's room.

His abrupt exit broke the moment, Lucy's head springing away from Barbara's to hazily watch his mad dash.

Barbara made a noise of disappointment, guiding Lucy's lips back to hers but Lucy gentled her motions, easing off until she finally pulled away with a soft pop. She tucked some hair behind Barbara's ear and smiled.

"Sorry, Baby. That's all the Thanks I've got."

Barbara sighed and slumped in the booth. "So close and yet so far. Another time?"

Lucy laughed but shook her head. "I have to head back home tomorrow."

"If you're ever in New York again?"

Lucy bit her lip, remember her team's banter about visiting Woodstock. Just the event her new friends would attend.

"You never know," Lucy smiled and shrugged. "You never know."

Wyatt came back to a still stone-faced Flynn and a Rufus who was studiously looking anywhere but at Lucy and the people she was now casually chatting with. Lucy's lips were swollen, her hair in disarray, her dress riding up her thighs to an indecent level, but she continued to talk with the locals like nothing had happened.

He wished nothing had happened.

He wished to God, the Universe and The Force that nothing had happened.

"Time to go," he said brusquely, ending the conversation. He couldn't and wouldn't think about what had happened tonight. Any of it. Not until the mission was over.

There were no arguments, the Time Team's new associates reading Wyatt's expression and knowing not to mess with him. It was the first time they'd really believed he was military.

"Alas, parting is such sweet sorrow," lamented Jimmy.

They gathered themselves up and out of the bar, calling goodbyes to people they'd met on the dancefloor before spilling out into the warm, summer night.

"We'll walk you home," offered Wyatt, aware of the dangers of New York at night, especially for an openly gay couple.

"Oh no, we're fine," Simon waved him off. "We do this all the time."

"But…"

"It's okay, my fine gentleman," Jimmy agreed. "You kids get yourselves home safe. And good luck with whatever this… stuff… is you have to do tomorrow."

"Oh!" Lucy gasped. "Right! You guys… don't come here tomorrow, okay?"

"Why on Earth not?"

"Just, please," she pleaded. "Don't come anywhere close. Will you promise me that? Whatever happens tomorrow, or in the next couple of weeks… please stay safe, and stay strong, okay?"

The locals looked at her, bewildered at her earnest but insistent appeal.

"We won't," Jimmy finally said, his rare serious tone appearing once more. "We promise."

"Thank you," Lucy nodded. Her eyes were wet in the light of the streetlamps. Jimmy gathered both her hands in his and nodded, solemn. The moment lasted several seconds before he stepped back and threw his hands in the air.

"Well! What a night! Thank you, dear mysterious friends, for an evening to remember."

"And to you," Lucy smiled, wiping at her eyes quickly.

"It was sure… something," Rufus agreed.

Several more goodbyes were had before the two groups finally parted, the locals floating their way down the street to home while the time travellers stood in place.

"So. Uh…" Rufus began.

Lucy frowned and pushed her unruly hair away from her face. "Where are we even staying tonight?"

"Yeah?" Wyatt echoed. "We didn't-"

"We've got it covered," Flynn sighed. "We have two rooms at the motel just down the road."

"Two rooms…" Lucy repeated.

"Let's have some man chat," Wyatt blurted at Flynn, clapping him on the shoulder. "Rufus, you watch Lucy."

"What? Me?"

"Yes, you."

"Man chat?" Flynn repeated, staring at Wyatt like he'd grown a new head.

"Yes. Rufus. You room with Lucy. Flynn. You room not with Lucy. Me… yeah. No Lucy."

They stared at him till he gave up, cursing them all and stalking down the street though he didn't actually know where they were going. They could think what they wanted of him. There was no way in hell Wyatt could be in the same room as Lucy tonight. No way. He wouldn't be in the same damn building as her if he could help it. Her and her white dress and those white boots and those swollen lips and the now dishevelled hair and…

He walked harder. His blood was still pumping, his heart racing. It hadn't slowed down since sometime in the afternoon. Had only gotten worse and worse. Stupid club. Stupid time travel. Stupid history saving.

It was going to be a long and difficult night.

To Be Continued…

Phew. Told ya so...

Oh, what the Time Team has to do to save history.

You guys still with me?