Chapter 7

"Don't you two look cozy?"

The distant sound of Rufus' amused voice unwillingly pulled a begrudging Wyatt out of a pleasant and dreamless sleep. Squinting against the bright rays of the morning sun, he could just make out Rufus' silhouette; he was sitting back on his haunches grinning from ear to ear at what Wyatt could only imagine was how Lucy was currently using his chest as her own personal body pillow. As she shivered against him, Wyatt pulled the jacket they had been using as blanket up and over her shoulders to provide her some extra comfort which earned him an approving "Awww" from an annoyingly observant Rufus. Wyatt groaned and let his head fall back against soft Earth, not giving a damn about what Rufus thought...it was cold, dammit.

"It's cold…" Rufus scoffed in disbelief as he made his way out of their little shelter of trees, "you'd let my ass freeze all night long before cuddling me like that."

Wyatt, realizing that he must have spoken out loud, merely grunted in reply, knowing that Rufus was absolutely right…he would let his ass freeze all night…but that was more or less because Rufus had done nothing but complain for the past three days and well…it would serve his ass right. While he was not opposed to saving the life of his favorite time travelling pilot, he had to admit that, if given a choice, he would much rather sleep snuggled next to Lucy than next to Rufus anyway…because Rufus snored…and Lucy didn't.

He would have gladly pointed that fact out to Rufus, except that he vaguely knew that Rufus was no longer within ear shot to care…and Wyatt, well…he was too comfortable to go chasing after him to make his point. As the last vestiges of sleepiness began to ebb away, however, all the awkwardness he had felt the night before came hurtling back as he considered the position he was currently in with Lucy. She was practically on top of him, her whole upper body draped across his chest, held there, securely, by both of his arms. While it was one thing to cuddle her in the darkness of night, amid dropping temperatures with a snoring Rufus beside them, it was quite another to lay together like this, basking in the warm sunlight…alone.

Wyatt knew that the moment Lucy woke up, their current situation would make her uncomfortable and so, as gently as he could, he rolled onto his side, carefully easing Lucy off of his chest and back onto the little bed of leaves and pine needles that blanketed the ground underneath their little shelter of trees.

He had just made to pull away from her when her eyes lazily blinked open and Wyatt froze. The sight of her long, dark lashes fluttering against her ivory skin, even if it was smeared with three days' worth of dirt, was such a sight to behold, he couldn't help but be a little transfixed. Lucy was attractive…there was no argument on that point, but how she still managed to look like a million bucks even with leaves tangled in her hair and mud smudged across her forehead was beyond him.

Completely oblivious to Wyatt's internal assessment of her disheveled appearance, Lucy narrowed her eyes in protest at being moved from her comfortable position. Yawning violently, she arched her back with a groaning stretch before mumbling sleepily, "Good morning, Wyatt."

"Morning" he returned with a smirk, flushing slightly as he realized that his hand was still firmly planted on her waist. Quickly drawing his arm back, Wyatt cleared his throat as he sat up abruptly, "You…um…sleep, okay?"

"Mmmhmm" Lucy hummed, "…and you? Oh…" Lucy gasped as her eyes fell on the dried blood staining Wyatt's sleeve, "How's your arm?" He shrugged, looking at his arm indifferently before his gaze slowly trailed all the way up her still reclined figure, until finally, they fixed on her dark eyes with a sudden intensity that almost took her breath away.

Lucy furrowed her brow as she lay there looking up at Wyatt in confusion. He was now leaning in towards her, slowly inching himself closer and Lucy, though completely taken surprise by this turn of events, laid as still as she possibly could, waiting in anxious anticipation…for what…she wasn't quite sure…but whatever it was, she wasn't exactly opposed to it.

She would never readily admit that she was attracted to Wyatt, he was in love with dead wife, after all, and well, she couldn't think of anything more pathetic than pining after a man who was clearly in love with someone else. It would be like Michael Garrison and the prom all over again…and no, she didn't want a repeat of that humiliation.

So, she did her best to keep her budding attraction at bay…which proved to be more and more difficult the more time she and Wyatt spent together. She trusted him, felt safe with him, admired him…and while she never imagined she would ever measure up to the wife he had loved and lost, a small part of her couldn't help but wish that he would, at least, consider her as a possibility…as someone who might help mend his broken heart.

That, she knew, however, was a total pipe dream. Wyatt was dead set on getting his wife back…hadn't he just said as much last night? She was his greatest regret, the one person he cared about most in all the world. Wasn't he angry with her partly because she had secured a deal to save Amy and he didn't have one to save Jessica?

So, what on Earth was he doing?

With almost cat-like stealth, Wyatt was creeping over to her until soon, his entire body was hovering above her own, his legs brushing the outside of her thighs, his sturdy arms bracing himself over her torso as his eyes burned with a fierceness that made her grateful she was already laying down. Swallowing hard, Lucy's eyes darted to Wyatt's lips, imagining what they might feel like as they drifted across her skin. The anticipation was maddening as he crept ever closer, his face suspended just inches away from hers; it would be nothing to close the distance between them, capturing his lips with her own… but she found that her courage was about as sturdy as her trembling limbs. Tentatively though, she pressed her hand against his chest, feeling the pounding of his heart, as her eyes sought his, "Wyatt?" she whispered as she gently lifted her head from the forest floor, bringing her face that much closer to his.

His gaze drifted momentarily to her lips before he softly muttered, "Don't move." She was just about to answer with a flirtatious giggle when with lightning fast speed and a flash of silver, Wyatt drove a dagger into the ground right next to Lucy's head. With a horrified gasp, Lucy flinched away, glancing over her shoulder as she sat up straight. There, she saw to her utter astonishment and revulsion, Wyatt's dagger, driven into the head of an enormous snake.

Scrambling to her feet, Lucy squealed in terror as the snake's body writhed in the leaves around the trees. "Oh my God," she exclaimed as she smacked Wyatt on the arm, "Why didn't you tell me there was a snake there?"

"I didn't want you to scare it." he answered with a bewildered shrug. "I mean, look at you, Lucy. This thing is dead and you're hysterical."

Glaring at him, Lucy gritted out, "You didn't want me to scare it? Are you kidding me right now?! And I am NOT hysterical." She argued as Wyatt raised his eyebrows in utter disbelief. Shrugging, Wyatt made to pull the dagger out of the snake's head, but as its body jerked and flipped once more, Lucy screamed out in terror, "And if that thing is dead, why is it still moving?!"

Rufus, hearing all of the commotion, came darting into the copse of trees with a large stick, frantically scanning the scene for whatever it was that had Lucy screaming out in fear. "You guys, okay?" he gasped out, "What's going on, what's happening?"

"Relax," Wyatt sighed as he pulled his dagger out of the snake and wiped the blade on a few leaves. "Lucy's just afraid of a little snake."

"That is not a little snake, Wyatt." Lucy gritted out as he slowly pulled the body out from around the tree, "Look at the size of that thing." She shuddered as Wyatt purposefully wound the reptile around his arm, "Rufus," Lucy breathed out as she grabbed onto his arm for support, "it was next to my head."

"Hang on," Rufus said in a voice filled with sudden alarm, "Are…are you telling me that you just killed that thing? Holy shit…does that mean- was…was that in here with us last night?!" Rufus asked Wyatt in a panicked voice.

"Could have been." Wyatt said with a shrug, but at the horrified looks on Lucy and Rufus' face, Wyatt let out an incredulous laugh, "Come on you two, it comes with territory. You sleep outdoors, you share a bed with all sorts of things…snakes, bugs, spiders…"

"…historians." Rufus muttered under his breath, but neither Lucy nor Wyatt seemed to hear him.

"Look, we're going to be stuck here for a while…this is something you two are going to have to get used to. Hell, even if we weren't sleeping outside we'd still have to deal with this kind of stuff." Wyatt said as he lifted his snake wrapped arm to Lucy and Rufus, "You think that a rustic cabin in the middle of the woods is going to keep out snakes, mice, bugs?" Wyatt chuckled, "Think again. They're looking for some place warm just like we are…"

"Yeah, I'm sure it was just looking to get cozy with the two of you," Rufus quipped, "you know, before you jammed a knife into its skull."

Wyatt shrugged as he cast an impish smirk at Lucy, "I think I did this guy a favor. Pretty sure Lucy would have made sure it died a slow and painful death if I would have let it slither over her throat."

Lucy covered her face with her hands, disgusted by the very idea…but she couldn't help it...she could feel phantom scales sliding against her skin, and that, sent a chill of repulsion down her spine…which was soon followed by a rush of dread, "Wait a minute…is…I mean, was…was that poisonous?" she asked breathlessly, hardly knowing if she really wanted the answer.

"No, I don't think so." Wyatt said with a shake of his head, "You see the head?" Lucy looked away from the bloodied mess he was pointing out, "It doesn't have that distinctive triangular shape you see with most venomous snakes…it's too big to be a garter snake, not the right color for a rat snake…if I were to guess, I'd say it was Northern water snake. Pretty harmless, but I'd say we've got a good four feet worth of meat to work with here."

"Whoa, whoa whoa…" Rufus said as he lifted his hand in protest, "you don't really expect us to eat that thing, do you?"

Wyatt stared blankly back at the two of them, "Well…yeah. Why else do you think I killed this thing?"

Lucy blanched as she shuddered involuntarily, "Oh, I think I'm going to be sick."

"That makes two of us." Rufus shuddered as he frowned at the bloodied reptile hanging from Wyatt's arm.

Wyatt raised his eyebrows, "Look, you two…there's no take out here. You want to eat? It's hunting, fishing, foraging…this is how we're going to have to survive."

"I think maybe I might try being a vegetarian." Rufus quipped but before Wyatt could give him another lecture, he motioned to the river, "I uh…think I'm going to go clean up…see if there's anything in the way of soap in one of those saddle bags we stole from the French. They're into cleanliness, right?"

"That sounds like a good idea." Lucy muttered as she looked down at her own hands, completely covered in mud. She watched as Wyatt slid his dagger back into its sheath and inched past her with a triumphant smirk planted on his face and suddenly she felt self-conscious. How on Earth could she ever think Wyatt was attempting to make a pass at her when she looked and felt like she was coated in enough dirt to grow a potato? She hadn't seen a mirror in days and honestly…didn't want to. Not that she was extremely vain…far from it. She valued cleanliness and a good moisturizer….and right now she would kill for a decent bottle of shampoo, but…well, she was pretty sure that she wouldn't care nearly as much about her current appearance if Wyatt hadn't been so impossibly close to her dirt-caked pores that morning.

Now that her adrenaline level had somewhat normalized after very nearly having a heart attack because of that damn snake, embarrassment set in. She had almost kissed Wyatt…he was trying to kill a snake and she had almost kissed him. She wondered if he suspected, if he knew that she had completely misinterpreted what he was doing and what she had almost done. She cast a wary glance towards him; he was busily sifting through the stolen supplies, snake in hand, looking completely oblivious and wholly unconcerned about what had just happened.

But nothing had happened…so, why would he?

Ugh…but what would have happened if it had? What if she had actually kissed him? Oh God…what would he have thought? He had just finished telling her how much he wanted to get back his dead wife and her response was to wrap herself around him all night long and make out with him underneath a dang tree. She felt her face flush with complete and utter humiliation. She wanted to forget it…she wanted nothing more than to drown her mortification in a pint of Haagan Daz and a nice, warm bubble bath…but since both of those options were sadly off the table, a freezing cold river and some barbecued snake would have to do.

Lucy grimaced at the thought as she made her way over to the river, bound and determined to spend as much time away from Wyatt and that awful snake as she possibly could. She could not allow herself to get carried away with this stupid school girl crush she had on him…and since they were going to be stuck here for an undetermined amount of time, she was just going to have to commit herself to keeping him at arm's length.

That wasn't much of a tall order right now as Wyatt had set to work skinning the snake; the sound of ripping flesh sending her dry heaving to the water's edge where Rufus was already scrubbing his neck and face. "You want some of this soap, Lucy?" he asked as he wiped off his brow with a handkerchief, "It's not the best smelling stuff, but I feel a hell of a lot cleaner than I have for the past three days."

Lucy eyed the proffered bar nervously, "You do realize that's probably lye soap, right?"

"So?"

"So…if not measured out correctly, lye soap is extremely caustic…horrible for your skin…and back in these days, that was fairly common." she explained as she took the bar of soap and sniffed it, grimacing at the ammonia-like scent. "Ugh…that's gross…you know they made this from animal fat and ashes?"

"Lucy, I'm half-way clean for the first time in three days…I don't give a damn what it's made from…or what it smells like, for that matter." he added with a pointed nod towards her upturned face. "Like Wyatt said, if we're gonna have to learn to eat things like snake, we're gonna have to learn how to deal with nasty ass soap too."

"Amen." came Wyatt's voice as he sidled down the small hill that led from the camp to the river. Laden down now with a canteen instead of a bloody and skinned snake, Wyatt approached Lucy and Rufus with a nod, "Just be glad you have soap."

"See, I knew Bear Grylls here would agree with me." Rufus nodded as Wyatt crouched down and began filling up a canteen. "Um…Wyatt?" he asked, "what are you doing? I thought you said we couldn't drink this water?"

"Not without boiling it, no…but this is not for drinking." he said as he stood up again, "this is for washing our little friend up there." he stated as he motioned towards the campsite.

"You're giving that thing a bath? I thought it was dead?" Rufus asked blankly.

"Well, if it wasn't dead before, it certainly is now." Wyatt said with a quirk of his lip as he rinsed his bloodied knife off in the river. "I've got it sliced up and ready to go…just need to rinse it off and get it ready for grilling. We just need to build ourselves a real fire." He looked at Rufus, "And if you're finished with your bath, I'll teach you."

"Not necessary." Rufus said proudly, "That camp fire you stomped out the other night? Yeah, that was me…no crazy survivalist skills necessary."

"Yeah, and you almost got us killed." Wyatt reminded him, "I'm going to teach you how to build a fire that can't be seen…burns hotter too….and produces less smoke. Come on," he said as he made a quick glance towards Lucy who was awkwardly crouched by the river, "let's go get it started" he said as he tugged Rufus by the arm, "we're actually gonna have a half-decent meal this morning."

Lucy thought that Wyatt was being far too generous in his assessment of what constituted a half-decent meal, but she didn't want to complain…especially not after last night. Wyatt had been kind enough to keep her warm and while she may have misinterpreted his actions that morning, he was, at least, treating her with more or less the same deference he had before that awful Watergate mission.

And that, at least, was something.

Sighing, she looked at the small bar of soap in her hand and began working up a lather, wishing she could remove her filthy clothes and wash them while she was at it…if anything but to just get out of the damn corset she had been forced to wear for four days. It wasn't like it would do much good anyway, not if they were going to spend countless nights sleeping in the dirt. Still, since they were going to be here for a while, she reasoned that a change of clothes for all of them would need to be in order…once, of course, they found a place to live.

Rufus and Wyatt, meanwhile, made their way back to the center of the clearing to where bits of snake meat sat, gleaming, slimy and white on a large rock. Wyatt immediately crouched down and set to work rinsing the meat with the water he procured, ordering Rufus to gather up some small limbs to be used for kindling. Trying to one-up him, Rufus not only collected a few things for kindling, he began gathering rocks so that they could contain the fire. As he began placing them around the center of the clearing, Wyatt looked up from his work, "What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm helping you build a fire…like I said, I already know…"

Wyatt shook his head as he left the snake meat and picked up the shovel from the night before, "No…you built a campfire…when you're trying to hide from your enemies you don't build a standard campfire." he explained, "You build a Dakota fire hole."

"You're talking to me like I'm supposed to know what that is…"

Sighing heavily, Wyatt explained, "It's not much different from your standard fire pit. You dig a hole in the ground, about the size of a dinner plate…and then you dig another hole at an angle…coming off of it like this, for air flow." Wyatt illustrated as he drew a diagram in the dirt with the edge of the shovel. "Because the fire is underneath the ground, it's nearly invisible…and because of the way the air flow tunnel works, it produces very little smoke." Wyatt shrugged, "It's how we stayed warm in the mountains of Afghanistan without advertising our position to the Taliban."

"Well, then why the hell didn't you build this last night instead of letting us all nearly freeze to death."

"Come on, Rufus." Wyatt muttered as he worked on digging out the hole for their fire, "It wasn't that cold."

"Easy for you to say," Rufus scoffed, "you were all warm and cozy with…" Rufus trailed off, his mind suddenly abuzz with a fresh new suspicion. "Oh," Rufus gasped as he looked back towards the river at Lucy, "I see how it is."

Wyatt paused in his digging, looking up at Rufus in complete bewilderment, "You see how what is?"

"Don't give me that." Rufus scoffed, "You looked awfully comfortable this morning snuggling with Lucy."

"What the hell are you talking about, Rufus?" Wyatt spat out.

"I'm talking about the fact that you could've built this fire pit last night, but didn't…and you just happened to wake up completely wrapped around a certain historian."

"I didn't build a damn fire hole last night because I spent all night digging out a six-foot hole for the Protocol. I was too tired to mess with it…and if you remember, the wind was blowing too hard to make lighting a fire even possible."

"Uh-huh…" Rufus muttered, completely unconvinced, "says you."

Rolling his eyes, Wyatt set right back to work, feeling that it was useless trying to convince Rufus that there was absolutely nothing going on between him and Lucy. Yes, he had kept her warm last night, but what Rufus didn't know was the Lucy was also upset…and so even if there had been a damn fire, he still would have done his best to comfort her…because that's what any decent person would do…for their friend…and team mate.

Though as Wyatt thought that, he knew that he wouldn't get that close and personal with just any team mate. His eyes drifted from Rufus to the sight of Lucy, her hair pulled to the side as she washed her neck and face in the river a few hundred yards away, and he couldn't help but remember the warmth that filled him as she nestled into his arms and how, if he were being completely and totally honest with himself, last night had been the best damn night of sleep he had had in years.

But that was probably because he hadn't gotten any sleep the night before.

And they had just traipsed through 40+ miles of woods…and then, of course, he had spent all that time digging…

"Hey Romeo," Rufus called to him as he waved his hand in front of Wyatt's face. "You gonna stare at her all day or are you going to build us a damn fire?" Grumbling, Wyatt set back to work on the fire hole, silently resolving to never look at Lucy again…at least not when Rufus was around.

Once satisfied with its depth and the position of the air vent, Wyatt motioned for Rufus to bring him some kindling. He was just about to teach him how to start a fire without matches, when Rufus pulled out the tinderbox he had used before. "Now it's my turn to teach you something," With a smile, Rufus opened the box and pulled out the steel and flint, "behold…an 18th century lighter."

Having practiced using the tinderbox before, Rufus quickly had a blaze going, and Wyatt had to admit that he was impressed. It wasn't rubbing sticks together, but using the flint and steel wasn't like striking a match either…and for someone who admittedly hated the outdoors, Rufus had managed to light that spark much quicker than Wyatt had expected. Using a few limbs to cover the Fire Hole they had built, Wyatt laid pieces of snake meat across the top and though Rufus had declared he would rather go full vegetarian than eat snake, the aroma of sizzling meat soon had him staring at the campfire with wanton eyes. Seeing this, Wyatt let out a small chuckle, "I thought you didn't want any?"

"Maybe I'll have just a piece." Rufus muttered as the snake meat began to curl and char from the heat of the fire. "Like you said…beggars can't be choosers."

"No, they cannot." Lucy said as she plopped down beside the two of them, fresh faced and clean…well, as clean as one could get in these conditions anyway. With a smirk, she handed Wyatt the bar of soap, "You're up…if you're going to be handling our food, the least you could do is wash your hands."

Wyatt exchanged an amused look with Rufus before he took the soap from Lucy, muttering under his breath, "Sure thing, mom." as he made his way down to the water's edge. Despite giving Lucy a hard time about washing up, he was actually grateful for the chance to do so, particularly with his injured arm. If he was going to get them through this, he couldn't risk an infection, and while his injury was just a graze, he was determined to keep it as clean as he possibly could. Pulling off his shirt, Wyatt was just working to undo the bandage that Lucy had secured when he heard a twig snap behind him.

Whirling around, he came face to face with Lucy who was gaping at him in surprise. Flushing, Lucy looked down to the handkerchief in her hand, "I…I'm sorry…I didn't mean…I thought you might need this." she stammered as she handed him what they had been using as a washcloth, keeping her eyes cemented to the forest floor as she did so.

"Oh…um…thanks." Wyatt answered as he took the cloth from her outstretched hand. She muttered another apology and was quickly making her way back up to the camp when Wyatt called after her, "Hey, um…Lucy? Do you think you can get me that first aid kit…I just want to make sure…you know my arm…"

"Oh." Lucy gasped out with a quick nod, "sure, yeah…I'll be…um…I'll be right back."

While Lucy went to retrieve the iodine, Wyatt quickly went to work washing his face, his arms and his chest and neck, understanding as he took in the scent of the soap, why Lucy had been so opposed to using it in the first place. It stung his skin and yes, the smell reminded him of glass cleaner…but as Rufus had so rightly pointed out, this was all they had…and it was just something they were going to have to get used to.

He was just rinsing off the back of his neck with the handkerchief when Lucy tentatively approached him with the box of what passed as medical supplies in this century. Clearing her throat, she set the box down on a nearby boulder and pulled out the vial of iodine as Wyatt lathered up his arm once more for good measure and wiped it away with the dampened handkerchief. "Probably not the most sterile way to do this," Wyatt admitted as he wrung out the washcloth.

"No." Lucy said as she swallowed hard, "but…but the iodine should help." She pulled out some more strips of muslin as Wyatt sat on the ground next to her, offering up his arm….and Lucy couldn't help but wish she had sent Rufus down to do this job.

Hadn't she just resolved not to get herself into these situations with Wyatt…especially after her near embarrassment this morning?

There he was bare chested, wet and…chiseled….and nope…she wasn't even going to let her mind go there. He was injured, he needed her help and she was a grown woman…she had more self-control than this.

Taking a steadying breath, Lucy approached, determined to keep her focus on his injured arm and absolutely nothing else…which she found to be a near impossible task. With trembling hands, Lucy touched his arm and Wyatt, flinched. "Sorry." she muttered, "Did…did that hurt?"

"No." Wyatt answered, but his voice was strained and his jaw was clenched as he stared out at the river in front of them.

Clearing her throat, Lucy examined the wound. It was still there, but it was no longer bleeding profusely; it was, instead, beginning to scar and as there was no redness or irritation on the surrounding skin, Lucy breathed out a sigh of relief, "It looks like it's healing…it doesn't look like it's infected."

"That's good." Wyatt winced as she poured more iodine over his arm, his eyes still trained on the river in front of them.

"Sorry." Lucy muttered as she transferred turned the bottle over onto the fresh muslin strip and began to wrap Wyatt's arms again. Her fingers shook as she wrapped the medicated strips of cloth around his arm, her breath catching in her throat every time they brushed against Wyatt's torso. She had been so focused on the wrapping that she realized too late that she didn't have enough to tie it. With an exasperated sigh, she glanced over to the first aid kit, "Um…Wyatt?" she asked in a voice filled with hesitation, "Do you…could you hold this in place? I need to get another bandage."

For the first time since she began work on him, Wyatt turned his face from the river and looked at her, "Um…sure." he said as he placed his hand over the small strip of bandage that was sticking out, his fingers grazing hers as he did so.

Ignoring the fluttering in her stomach, Lucy quickly made her way back over to the kit to retrieve another strip of cloth. With a determination to not let herself get any more carried away than she already was, she returned to Wyatt, resolved to get this over with as quickly as possible so she could go back to keeping him at arm's length…and fully clothed. Quickly hugging the bandage around his arm, she wrapped it twice around until she finally secured it with a knot. "There" she sighed in relief, "all finished."

In what she could only describe as a moment of weakness, she allowed her eyes to drift from Wyatt's bandaged arm to his face and was startled to find that he was gazing at her with the hint of a smile playing across his lips. Lucy stared stupidly back at him for a moment before he, as if suddenly realizing what he was doing, quickly darted his eyes away and cleared his throat, "Thanks." he muttered grimly, pulling his shirt back over his head.

"Sure." Lucy mumbled in return as she made her way back to the medicine kit. She took her time replacing the bottle of iodine, taking care to check that all the other bottles were secure before closing the case, hoping that Wyatt would make his way back up to the campsite without her…but he didn't. Lucy turned only to find him purposefully waiting for her…much to her own and Rufus' displeasure.

"You know, I get that out of the two of you I'm probably the only one who knows how to make an actual home cooked meal, but I don't know a damn thing about snake meat." he called down to them. "So, if you're finished doing whatever the hell it is you're doing down there, you might want to check on this. I'm not taking the blame for burning our breakfast."

As Wyatt and Lucy made their way back up to camp, Rufus eyed them both with interest…something that was not lost on Wyatt who rolled his eyes in exasperation. While Lucy put the medical kit away, Rufus leaned over to Wyatt who was busily removing the snake meat from off the makeshift grill, "So…you two were gone for a while…"

"Yeah, so?" Wyatt spat out in annoyance. "She was just wrapping my arm again, okay? You think I could bandage this up on my own?"

"Okay, okay…" Rufus mumbled defensively, "I get it…you don't want to admit you've got a little soft spot for Lucy…but you know," Rufus said with an impish grin, "you could've asked me to fix you up…it's not like I don't have the experience."

Wyatt huffed out an uncomfortable breath. Yes, Rufus had patched him up in 1865…but it was surgery…and Rufus…well, as an engineer had experience with the level of detail work required for that kind of thing. This was just wrapping his arm…and Lucy had been right there…why wouldn't he have just asked her…especially since she was the one who had wrapped his arm to begin with?

For his part, Wyatt was very much aware that Rufus was trying to create something that wasn't there…whether for his own amusement or just because he had some overactive imagination, he couldn't be sure…but because of that, he was going to take extra care to keep Lucy at arm's length. He was already self-conscious around her because of how they had ended up last night…and with Rufus constantly ribbing him about it…well, if Lucy ever overheard it would make things very awkward for her.

And he definitely did not want that.

Hardly glancing at her, Wyatt dished out morsel of snake meat placing the rest of the canteen of water on the makeshift grate so they could have something to drink later. With a look of uncertainty, Lucy and Rufus exchanged nervous glances as they watched and waited for Wyatt to take the first bite. Seeing them both eyeing him with anticipation, Wyatt rolled his eyes, "It's not going to kill you…people eat snake all the time."

"Yeah, well, we don't eat snake all the time." Rufus reminded him, "so forgive me if I'm going to kick this back to grade school…you first."

Wyatt took that dare without so much as a second of hesitation, urging Lucy and Rufus to follow suit the moment he swallowed down his first piece. It certainly wasn't the heartiest meal any of them had ever had…and the meat was about as tasty as a bicycle tire, but…it was food…and as much as Rufus would've loved to complain about it, even he could not. Having eaten so little for four days, they were grateful for anything that kept their stomachs from roaring with hunger…even if it could have used some salt…and pepper…and a hell of a lot of barbecue sauce.

Maybe it was the fact that he felt somewhat cleaner than he had been in several days. Maybe it was the uplifting warmth of the fire. Maybe it was the promise of a drink of water after so many days of nothing but a sip or two of bitter alcohol. Whatever it was, Wyatt's mood after this meal was lighter…well, lighter than it had been in days, anyway. The fact was they were still in a horrible situation, stranded as they were, smack dab in the middle of nowhere 18th century America, but the hopelessness of yesterday seemed to dissipate as he looked around the makeshift camp at the smiling figures of Lucy and Rufus.

Despite their complaints and obvious aversion to "roughing it", they seemed to really be making an effort to stay positive…to keep their spirits up, even in the face of probable death. Add in the fact that they were now chowing down on something neither of them would ever dream of eating and well, Wyatt had to give them props for trying.

Yes, they needed still needed to find a place to live. Yes, this meager meal was far from the 2016 feast they all had had their hearts set on before Flynn blew their hopes all to hell, but at least it was more than just berries or whatever hell kind of jerky the French saddlebag had provided. Between the fresh meat (even if it was snake), the fire that served to warm, comfort and…as it was currently boiling water for them to drink…purify…their situation, while still crappy, didn't seem quite as hopeless as it had yesterday. It was more than just the fact that for the first time in days they were satisfying some of their basic needs. This breakfast gave Wyatt hope - small as it was – that they could do this, they could tackle the 18th century…they could beat the odds and survive.

Maybe.

Notes:

I purposefully delayed updating this chapter BECAUSE as some of you know, I'm just about to head out of town and will pretty much be out of pocket until after the 4th of July. That said, I worked REALLY hard this week to write and not only is the next chapter of this fic ALMOST finished, but WMHB is nearly completed...I have one chapter ready to go and I'm halfway through the next one...which means I only have about one and half more chapters to write before that one is DONE. I'm not sure how much time I will have to write while I'm away, but as I'm going to be on an airplane and dealing with a lengthy layover, I hope to be able to make at least some headway in these fics during my trip. (Pray for cooperative kiddos!)

I hope you enjoyed this update! I will do my best to update it again while I'm away...depending, of course, on how much I am able to write.

Have a great day and thank you so much for reading!