Sleep had been something of a rarity in Lucy Preston's life since the moment she had taken that first trip to 1937.
Losing Amy was always something that stayed with her. There wasn't a mission that went by that she didn't think of the consequences that might await them when they returned…some other loved one erased, some other person forgotten. Amy's erasure had been traumatic but it didn't stop her from having that glimmer of hope that perhaps someday they would come back from some distant point in time and she would somehow be there…restored. That glimmer of hope, however, didn't stop her from awaking in the middle of the night, crying out for the sister that no longer existed.
If she wasn't dreaming about Amy, Lucy's sleep would be disrupted by the terrifying experiences she had lived through over the past year. The fiery crash of the Hindenburg, Lincoln's final moments, the heart wrenching deaths of Bonnie and Clyde, being trapped in that furnace by H.H. Holmes…each mission seemed to carry with it a new horror that was filed away in her subconscious, only to be recalled in horrifying detail when she finally found a few moments of rest.
It was hardly surprising then, that Lucy found her sleep punctuated by nightmares surrounding their ordeal in Salem. While it was bad enough to have to suffer through all of that once, without having to relive it in her dreams, Lucy found that finding solace in Wyatt's arms was definitely a step up to the many nights she had spent alone following her rescue in 1918.
At that time, she had been haunted by the memory of the soldier she had killed. His face, as he begged her to spare his life, would appear before her, silently accusing her every time she closed her eyes. That, coupled with the six weeks of manipulation and coercion at the hands of her mother and Rittenhouse had been enough to have her spending most of her nights staring up at the ceiling, reflecting over how her life had gone so far off track since the moment she stepped into that time machine.
This time, however, she wasn't consigned to a lonely cot in a dark and unfeeling room. Now, every time she woke with a start after feeling the phantom rope around her neck and hearing the specter crowd jeering, Wyatt would quickly wrap his arms around her and pull her close…anchoring her back to the present. It might have been the same bunker, it might have even been the same cot, but the entire feel of the place had changed because Wyatt, steady and sure as he was, made her feel cared for in a way that she hadn't felt in a very long time. When she woke the next morning, she felt safe, secure…and warm.
A little too warm.
Pulling away from Wyatt slightly, she couldn't help but notice the radiant heat that seemed to surround him, even though the bunker itself was mercilessly cold. She sat up in bed with a gasp, immediately pressing her hand to Wyatt's forehead and found to her horror that he was absolutely burning to the touch. "Wyatt? Wyatt?" she called to him in panic, watching him groan and complain as he awoke.
Jumping out of bed and wrenching on her robe, she ran down the hall and retrieved the first aid kit from the supply closet. Shaking him awake again once she got back, Lucy's voice quavered as she called to him, "Wyatt. I need to take your temperature."
"What time is it?" he groaned as he looked at his watch, letting out a scoff as he read out, "Lucy, it's 6:00 in the morning."
"I don't care, Wyatt. I think you have a fever." She said breathlessly holding out the thermometer to him. When Wyatt gave her a look of pure exasperation, she shook it at him and pleaded, "Just let me take your temperature…please?"
Wyatt grunted in compliance and allowed her to place the thermometer under his tongue, smirking at her weakly as she did so. She felt a little silly doing this for Wyatt of all people, but the last person she had ever taken care of when they were sick was her mother and she was dying…
Nope. She wasn't going to think about that.
Wyatt wasn't dying. He was fine. It was just a fever. She bit her lip as she waited for the beep of the thermometer, hoping that he had just picked up a bug somewhere…preferably not one from 1692.
With shaking hands, she viewed the screen and then looked up at him with alarm announcing breathlessly, "100.1"
"That's nothing to worry about Lucy." Wyatt assured. "I've got my antibiotics, it's probably just a little infection, that's all."
Lucy looked at him doubtfully as she put the thermometer back in the First Aid Kit. "You should have gotten more sleep last night…" she murmured. "They told you specifically that you needed to rest."
"They told us both that we needed to rest." Wyatt said with an impish grin, "but if you think I'm going to regret anything that happened last night, you're in for a rude awakening, ma'am."
Lucy rolled her eyes at him, though she couldn't hide the hint of a smile on her face. Even so, she was determined to take this seriously, since it was clear that Wyatt wasn't. "Wyatt…with your injury, you need to be careful. Who knows how much blood you lost…and then there's the possibility of infection…"
"Lucy…I feel fine." Wyatt assured with a heavy sigh. He made to get up out of bed but Lucy put her hand on his arm, "Where do you think you're going?"
"I'm getting up." Wyatt answered looking at her as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"No." Lucy protested. "You need to rest…at least until your fever goes down."
"Lucy…I got plenty of rest last night." Wyatt argued.
"No, Wyatt…I know these things can get out of hand if you're not careful. There's no reason for you to be up and moving around when you're sick." Lucy nodded determinedly, "You're not leaving this bed until you get better."
"Can I go to the bathroom?" Wyatt asked incredulously. "Or are you and Rufus going to take turns emptying my bed pan?"
"I obviously came by at the wrong time." Rufus announced from the doorway. "Don't mind me…you two keep talking about whatever it is you were talking about…but I vote no on bedpan duty."
"Rufus!" Lucy called out, causing him to wince and make his way back into their bedroom as Lucy argued her case, "Wyatt has a fever. Don't youthink he had better stay in bed until he gets over it? Just to be on the safe side?"
"Before you answer her Rufus," Wyatt chimed in defensively, "I'd like to remind both of you that I'm not five years old." He shot Lucy an annoyed glance, "I'm perfectly capable of knowing what I can and cannot do."
"Look, as much as I love getting in the middle of your arguments, I really have a lot of work to do today…Agent Christopher and Mason are wanting to look into the possibility of adding a fourth seat to the Lifeboat so…"
"What do they want to do that for?" Wyatt demanded as he sat up in bed.
"Um…I don't know." Rufus lied, but at Wyatt's glare he continued, "Okay, fine…I don't like it any more than you do, but seeing all the issues we had in Salem, Agent Christopher thinks it might be good idea if we have an extra seat…just in case."
"Just in case of what?" Wyatt spat out. "Just in case Flynn wants to go along for the ride?"
"I didn't say that…." Rufus quipped as he rubbed his hand on his neck. Wyatt shot him a dubious look which put Rufus on the defensive, "Look, even if they did decide to allow Flynn on these missions, which I'm not saying they are, but you would be there to make sure he didn't…ya know, try to kill us." Rufus offered, "So there's that."
Wyatt cursed under his breath as he swung his legs over the bed. "Wyatt, get back in bed. Lucy demanded pointedly, "You. have. a. fever."
"It's hardly a fever, Lucy." Wyatt chided as he pulled on a shirt. "Besides, you heard Rufus…they're thinking about letting Flynn on these missions…"
"I didn't say that." Rufus reminded him as he took a sip of coffee.
"...and how the hell do you think they're going to react if I'm stuck in here in bed all day because of a tiny fever?" Wyatt scoffed and muttered under his breath, "might as well just sign Flynn up right now to take my place."
"Wyatt…this isn't about you trying to prove anything to them or to Flynn." Lucy argued. "This is about you taking care of your health."
"And my health is perfectly fine, ma'am." Wyatt said as he pulled on his shoes.
"Don't you dare call me ma'am when you're disagreeing with me, Wyatt Logan." Lucy hissed. "I swear, if something happens to you…"
"Lucy, I promise…the minute I feel like I'm doing too much, I'll come straight back to bed."
"Fine," Lucy huffed out, defeated, "but at least take something for your fever."
Wyatt smirked at Lucy victoriously as he took his pills from her outstretched hand. Throwing back his medicine with a bottle of water on his nightstand, he asked, "Happy now?" Though Lucy nodded at him, he could tell from the expression on her face that she was far from happy. Still, he had done what she had asked and even though he wasn't mad at her for her insistence that he take better care of himself, he couldn't help but feel a bit exasperated at what he felt was an over-reaction at something as trivial as a mild fever. As he left the room smiling, he tossed her the now empty water bottle muttering something under his breath that sounded an awful lot like "Bossy know it all."
On their off-days…that is days that they weren't jumping through time, the team would work together to improve conditions around the bunker or assist in whatever way they could to assist Mason, Rufus and Jiya on their never-ending quest to improve the functions of the LifeBoat. The Mothership, thanks to Garcia Flynn and the nuclear core he stole, had an almost endless supply of power which, when compared to the LifeBoat, gave Rittenhouse a tremendous advantage. Without being subjected to plug-ins in order to make their next jump, Rittenhouse could potentially leave them in their figurative dust, wreaking havoc through history unchecked while the LifeBoat sat useless until its battery was sufficiently charged.
After breakfast, Wyatt had a serious conversation with Agent Christopher and Connor Mason about their plans for the fourth seat. Upgrading the Lifeboat wasn't just about adding a fourth seat, Mason had assured, it was about matching the Mothership as closely as they could for capacity and technology…and that required new equipment. Wyatt, therefore, spent a lot of his day moving the new computer equipment ordered by Mason into the bunker and helping them set it up.
Lucy, determined to watch Wyatt like a hawk for any sign of illness or distress, followed him around the bunker to the point of annoyance.
"I can see you, you know…" Wyatt huffed out at a partially hidden Lucy as he lugged a particularly large and heavy piece of equipment over to the silo.
"Do you think you should be lifting something that heavy with your arm the way it is? Lucy admonished. "They put it in a sling yesterday for a reason, Wyatt." Grumbling, he set down the box he was carrying, wincing as he did so. "Aha, I knew it…you're in pain." Lucy pointed out. "You need to take it easy, Wyatt."
"She's right." Rufus nodded towards Lucy, "maybe you do need to just take it easy for a while. You don't have to do all of this work, Wyatt…there's plenty of extra hands around here to help out."
Knowing that "extra hands" was code for Flynn, Wyatt rolled his eyes in annoyance, "Look, I feel fine, okay?"
"Will you at least take your pain medicine?" Lucy pressed as she handed him his bottle of pills. "It's been 4 hours."
"My, my, my" Flynn chimed from the corner, "isn't that something?"
"Isn't whatsomething?" Wyatt spat back.
"You…having your boo boos kissed by Lucy." Flynn said with a frown of mock sympathy. "What's the matter, Wyatt? I thought Delta Force was supposed to be tough?"
"Shut up, Flynn" Wyatt spat out as he rolled his eyes at Lucy, "Do you see what you started?" he hissed. "I'm fine."
By dinner time, however, Lucy could tell that Wyatt was far from fine. He was sitting at the table grimacing in apparent pain, looking somewhat green, and absolutely exhausted. Noting that he had hardly eaten anything all day, Lucy decided to take matters into her own hands.
"Here, I made you some soup." she announced as she placed a bowl in front of him.
"No thanks, I'm not hungry." Wyatt said weakly, grimacing as he shifted in his seat at the table. Seeing Lucy's obvious concern, he offered her a wan smile and teased, "Now if Rufus had made the soup..."
"Very funny, Wyatt." Lucy deadpanned. "I didn't make it…Campbell's did." Wyatt bit back the urge to laugh, Lucy's infamous troubles in the kitchen being a regular source of amusement for the team. Lucy, however, was not laughing this time. She sat in front of him with her arms crossed watching as finally relented and dipped a spoon into the broth. When he brought it up to his lips, though, he swallowed hard, frowned and then placed the spoon back down in the bowl. "I knew it." Lucy gritted out, "You're sick."
"No…" Wyatt began to argue, but Lucy, unconvinced, pressed her hand against his forehead.
'Wyatt! she exclaimed, "you're burning up!" Before he could protest, Lucy rushed over to the First Aid kit and pulled out the thermometer once more, handing it over to Wyatt who reluctantly took it from her.
Hovering over him, Lucy kept trying to sneak a peek at the screen, causing Wyatt to duck his head in an attempt to avoid her searching gaze. When the thermometer finally beeped, Wyatt did the honors, still trying to hide the result from Lucy, but his face fell when he saw the screen, "Shit." he breathed out.
'What? What is it?" Lucy asked in a voice of concern as she wrenched it away from him. One look at the screen however, had her going from concern to furious in about two seconds flat. "103.9? Wyatt!" Lucy exclaimed angrily, "You promised me."
Wincing now in obvious pain that he had been trying all day to hide, he lifted his arm to the table, "Take off my bandages, I need to see my arm."
Lucy swallowed hard, the last thing she wanted was to see that gash and the stitches piercing his skin, but Wyatt obviously couldn't do it on his own. Carefully, she unraveled that bandages, unrolling them over his forearm, until finally the last strip slipped away and revealed an ugly, red and swollen, scar.
"Dammit." Wyatt cursed. "Well, that explains all the pain." He looked at Lucy sheepishly and admitted, "I'm going to need the medical team back here."
"What? Why?" Lucy asked, terrified as Rufus gave a low whistle at the state of Wyatt's arm.
"Because I think my arm is septic." Wyatt mumbled softly.
"What was that, Wyatt? I don't think Lucy heard you." Rufus called out impishly.
"I think it's septic. I'm gonna need a doctor." Wyatt admitted ruefully.
"Wyatt Logan" Lucy gritted out angrily, "You promised me that you would go straight to bed the minute you started feeling bad." Wyatt made a lame attempt to defend himself, but Lucy was having none of it, "You get right back in bed this instant." Looking thoroughly scolded, Wyatt slowly made his way out of the common area and back to their bedroom as Lucy replaced the thermometer with a furious shake of her head. Flynn, watching the whole proceeding, smirked as Wyatt made his way past his chair. He had just opened his mouth to undoubtedly say something snarky, when Lucy rounded on him, "Don't you dare say a word to him about this. You got that? Not one word." And with that, Lucy left the table in search of Agent Christopher.
After what felt like an eternity, the medical team arrived, confirming what Wyatt had suspected, his wound had indeed gone septic and would need a course of intravenous antibiotics.
At the word "septic," Lucy felt helpless. It had always been a concern during her mother's chemotherapy. Something as simple as the common cold could send her spiraling into pneumonia and septic shock…and she knew what that meant. Wyatt, granted, was healthier than her mother had been in that timeline, but she wasn't going to take that for granted.
Seeing her obvious concern, Wyatt tried to offer her a reassuring smile, but Lucy was furious with him. "Why didn't you listen to me?" she asked him angrily. "I told you this could get bad."
Wyatt frowned at her apologetically as he held her hand, "I'm sorry, Lucy…I'm just…"
"A reckless hothead?" she finished for him.
"Yes." Wyatt agreed before continuing defensively, "I've never let something like this get me down before…you know me, I get shot, I still fight through it."
"What does it say about the state of our lives that we have to fight through injuries like this?" Lucy muttered quietly."
Wyatt didn't know what to say about that, he was used to these kinds of injuries – a hazard of being a special forces soldier – Lucy, however was not. "I know I shouldn't have tried to be a hero." Wyatt admitted ruefully, "but Lucy, I've had cuts like this before...it's usually nothing to worry about."
Tears sprang to Lucy's eyes as she remembered how she had wrapped his wound in strips of her 17thcentury dress. That dress which was probably ripe with bacteria and pathogens. "Do you think it was because I wrapped your arm?" she asked with a gasp.
"Wha…" Wyatt began, but one look at Lucy's face, full of fearful remorse, had him shaking his head at her, "Lucy, if you hadn't wrapped my arm, I would've probably bled to death before we made it to the Lifeboat." He squeezed her hand reassuringly, "I mean it, what you did probably saved my life….this? This is nothing."
Lucy blanched slightly as the medical team began to prep him for his IV, hating the sight of needles and Wyatt shooed her away. Hating to leave him, but hating the sight of them redressing his wound even more, Lucy left the room and reentered the common area where Rufus sat at the table offering her a sad smile.
"How's he doing?" Rufus asked as Lucy made herself some tea.
"They're saying he should be fine." she responded with a heavy sigh. "I just wish he would've listened to me." she gritted out.
"Well, he's hard-headed and stubborn." Rufus said with a smirk, "Just like somebody else I know."
Casting Rufus a side long glance as she steeped her tea, Lucy smirked, "I don't know what you're talking about Rufus."
"Yeah, right." Rufus quipped as shook his head, "Admit it Lucy, you both can be as stubborn as mules when you want to be."
"He's right" Flynn's voice called from the shadows.
"Didn't anyone ever tell you that eavesdropping was rude, Flynn?" Lucy muttered unconcernedly as she sipped her tea.
"I'm sorry," Flynn conceded as he strode up to them, "I was just passing by and couldn't help but overhear."
"Maybe you needed to try harder, Flynn." Rufus spat back. "Lucy and I were having a private conversation."
Flynn frowned and took in their surroundings, "In the common room? Forgive me, Rufus," Flynn chuckled dryly, "but if you wanted a private conversation maybe you should have had it in some place a little less exposed."
Rufus looked like he would very much like to tell Flynn to talk a long walk off a short pier, but was too afraid to do so. Instead, he turned an affronted gaze to Lucy who sighed and asked, "Is there something you wanted?"
Flynn shrugged, "Nothing in particular…I just heard Rufus' remark on your stubbornness and couldn't help but agree. Your stubbornness was a thorn in my side for quite some time, after all."
Rufus let out a disbelieving snort, "Are you being serious right now?" He chuckled as he asked Lucy, "Can you believe this guy? He tried to decimate history and wewere the thorn in hisside."
"I thought you said Lucy was stubborn?" Flynn quipped in apparent confusion, "I was just agreeing with you."
"You know what?" Rufus said with a sigh, "I think I'm gonna go hang out with Jiya. Night, Lucy." Rufus offered as he began to walk off, only to pause for a moment and add sardonically, "Flynn."
Lucy raised her eyebrows and sipped her tea as Flynn chuckled to himself, his arms folded across his chest, "So…" he began, "had a little trouble in Salem?"
"Nothing that you haven't already heard." Lucy quipped nonchalantly.
"I'm surprised that Wyatt, with all of his training didn't just break you out of prison, so you wouldn't have to go through the trauma of" he pointed towards her neck, "almost being hung."
"He got to us as soon as he could." Lucy defended. "He could hardly break us out of prison with my mother and Emma hanging around – he had to lay low."
"And yet…they still managed to find him." Flynn said pointedly.
Lucy glared at him over the top of her mug and said nothing. She wasn't sure what Flynn's angle was with this conversation, but it was clear to her he was attempting to take a cheap shot at Wyatt. "Yes," Lucy finally answered with a huff, "hardly surprising when they were looking for him."
"But a soldier of his training…"
"Look Flynn," Lucy spat out angrily, "Wyatt did the best that he could under the circumstances…"
"And your…relationship with each other…you don't think that compromised him in any way?" Flynn asked quietly.
"That is none of your business." Lucy shot back, her eyes bright with anger. Placing down her mug, she tucked her hair behind her ear and skirted past Flynn who was blocking her way out of the kitchen, "Now, if you'll excuse me," she muttered, "I'm going back to check on Wyatt."
She was halfway down the corridor when Flynn called out loudly, "I know he was lying about that knife, Lucy." She froze and turned to face him. "I just think you should consider the danger your relationship could pose to the team…Rittenhouse will exploit it…and it seems" he added with a shrug, "they already have."
Lucy swallowed hard as she watched Flynn smirk smugly at her and stalk away, leaving her alone in the common areas of the bunker. She had no idea how he had figured out that Wyatt had been lying about that knife, but she didn't want to think about it. Flynn had touched a nerve. Her relationship with Wyatt, new as it was, absolutely posed a risk to them…to the team. Her mother had tried to exploit it and as much as she hated to admit it, she knew that when it came to her, Wyatt's judgement would be clouded.
She returned to their room as the medical team was finishing with him, informing her that a tech would stay behind to check on him from time to time until they were sure he was completely out of danger. Knowing that there would be no way she could rest with Wyatt getting his vitals checked and IV bags changed all night, Lucy curled up in an arm chair with a book until finally, after several hours, Wyatt murmured "Go to sleep, Lucy."
"I'm not tired." she yawned back.
Wyatt smirked as he peered at her through half closed eyes, "You're not a very good liar, ma'am."
"Neither are you." Lucy chided as she knelt down on the floor next to the bed. "Why didn't you just admit that you were feeling awful? Lucy sighed.
"I told you, because I'm a reckless hot head." Wyatt murmured.
Lucy frowned at him sardonically, "Are you sure it didn't have anything to do with the fact that Flynn is here…and you're worried about him joining the team?"
Wyatt rolled his eyes and shifted in the bed, "That's never going to happen. I don't care what Christopher says."
Lucy, thinking of her last conversation with Flynn, felt all the anxiety of what lay before them in terms of their relationship and Rittenhouse. "Would it…would it be such a bad thing, though?" Lucy asked as Wyatt gaped at her. "Rufus is right. Ifthey do decide to let Flynn come along, he's not replacing you…he'd be there to offer support."
"I don't need Flynn's help on the missions, Lucy." Wyatt muttered. "Besides, I don't trust him."
"I know." Lucy began, hesitating, "But Wyatt…you have to admit that on this last mission it would have been nice to have someone else there to…" Wyatt bristled as Lucy continued apologetically, "I'm not saying you didn't do a good job…"
"Then what are you saying, Lucy?" Wyatt huffed out in clear irritation.
"I'm saying that I don't want what happened in Salem to happen on another mission." Lucy tried to explain, knowing as the words left her that she hadn't said what she meant to say.
Wyatt's eyes narrowed as he rounded on her, affronted, "You think I would…"
"No, Wyatt…no." Lucy said consolingly, "I trust you…but my mother..." Lucy pursed her lips in frustration, "she knows you…careabout me." Wyatt's eyes darted to Lucy's and softened, he began to say something, but then thought better of it, so Lucy continued. "She's going to continue trying to manipulate one or both of us…and that…that's a liability."
"So…" Wyatt began.
"So, what I'm saying is that maybe having a fourth person on the team, isn't such a bad idea." Lucy muttered as she played with the bedsheet. "It would at least give us someone else to keep an eye on things in case my mother tries to…"
"Use one of us as leverage." Wyatt sighed as he nodded thoughtfully. "I still don't like it…" Wyatt muttered after a few moments.
"I don't either." Lucy nodded sincerely, "but like Rufus said, you'll be there to keep him in line. She smiled at Wyatt weakly, "Let's just hope it takes them a while to figure out how to make that fourth seat work…at least give us a little more time to see just how much we can trust Flynn."
"If we can trust him at all." Wyatt added as he heaved a sigh.
Lucy frowned. She didn't blame Wyatt for his hesitancy in trusting Flynn. She knew she wasn't the best judge of character, that she was too quick to trust, too naïve for her own good…but she meant what she said, with Wyatt with them, Flynn would be kept on a short leash. She had no doubts about that where Wyatt was concerned. She watched him as he drifted off to sleep only to shake himself awake, "Wyatt," she whispered as she grinned at him, "you need to get some sleep."
"Look who's talking." he muttered back with a smile. "You sleep, and then I'll sleep…I promise."
"Okay." Lucy agreed. "But first," she added with another yawn, "you need to take your pain medicine. It won't do us any good talking about this fourth seat if you aren't well enough to ride in it."
"Yes, ma'am" Wyatt smirked sleepily as he reached out and held Lucy's hand. "Good thing I have a bossy know it all keeping mein line."
Lucy woke with a start. She was still kneeling on the floor, her head resting on the side of the bed next to Wyatt who was sleeping soundly, his hand still wrapped around hers. It took her a few seconds to realize what had woken her, but once she had shaken the last vestiges of sleep from her muddled brain, there was no mistaking the sound of that dreaded alarm.
Dreaded not just because it was the signal of another mission right on the heels of one that had been almost disastrous, but dreaded because as Lucy looked at Wyatt she knew that this was one mission they would have to risk without him. Remembering with a slight feeling of dread what had happened the last time they had gone on a mission sans Wyatt, Lucy briefly considered shaking him awake, but one look at his bandaged arm had her resolving to let him sleep. His health was far more important in the long run than one mission.
They would be fine. She would be fine.
Pressing a quick kiss to Wyatt's forehead, Lucy slowly made her way out of the room and down the hall to where the rest of their team was already waiting, looking concerned as she emerged from the hall.
"There she is" Rufus sighed as he handed Lucy a cup of coffee. "What do you know about September 17, 1934 Wallingford, Connecticut?"
Lucy stared back at him blankly.
"I told you she wouldn't know." Flynn drawled as he sat down with a smirk.
"Do you?" Lucy spat out as she made her way over to the computer.
"No," Flynn admitted, "but aren't you the historian?"
"Despite what you may think, I don't know about every single event in any possible year in any possible place." she breathed out as she furiously typed away. Her eyes darted back and forth as she read through the search results, finally clicking on a possibility and announcing, "I think I've got it!" she called as she spun her chair around to face them, "Wallingford, Connecticut is home to Choate Rosemary Hall boarding school," she sighed, "and where John F. Kennedy was educated in 1934."
Agent Christopher raised her eyebrows, "Wait a minute…are you saying they are going after a young John F. Kennedy?
"Why not?" Lucy shrugged, "My mother just tried to erase Benjamin Franklin…nothing should surprise us now." she added despondently.
"I'm guessing it would be too much to hope that Wyatt is well enough to kick some Rittenhouse ass?"
Letting out a shuddering breath, Lucy shook her head as she quietly responded, "No…Wyatt isn't coming."
"I don't mean to state the obvious, but without Wyatt aren't you short…what was it you called it?" Flynn asked as he turned to Agent Christopher, "muscle?"
"No. Absolutely not." Rufus exclaimed. "I'm sorry, but I'd rather take my chances going solo without Wyatt than getting in that time machine with you. You may know some things about Rittenhouse but you're still the guy who had me shot!"
"C'mon Rufus." Flynn cried out in exasperation, "we're on the same team now. You think you and Lucy are going to be able to walk into some 1930s boarding school in white washed New England and get within arm's reach of a Kennedy?" He turned to Lucy for confirmation, "Forgive me if I'm wrong, but even at that time, the Kennedy's were one of the most prominent families in America, correct?"
Lucy frowned and nodded her head in agreement. She didn't like the idea of Flynn going along any more than Rufus did, and if Wyatt had been in any position to make his feelings known, she had no doubt what he'd have to say about the suggestion. Still, she couldn't deny that without someone else along…someone who would more easily fit in with the…demographic of the day and age, they were going to be hard pressed to do anything but watch helplessly from the sidelines as Rittenhouse did whatever it was they were planning on doing.
"He's got a point." Lucy mumbled as she crossed her arms in front of her.
"Lucy!" Rufus rounded on her, looking absolutely betrayed. "What the hell do you think Wyatt would say if he knew we were going to be jumping through time with the man who tried to murder us for a year?"
"He's a killer, Lucy." Agent Christopher added with concern etched all over her face.
"He's a time traveling killer." Lucy sighed. "And we can't deny the fact that when it comes to fighting Rittenhouse, Flynn has been…effective."
"That may be so, but Lucy…" Agent Christopher began.
"I don't like it any more than you do…" Lucy conceded, "but Flynn is right, we're without a soldier…"
"Then go drag his ass out of bed!" Rufus exclaimed.
Ignoring him, Lucy turned to Flynn, "I held up my end of the bargain…we got you out of prison. I need your word that I can trust you on this."
"The answer is no, Lucy. We cannot trust him." Rufus whispered harshly. "Don't forget that this is the man who kidnapped you and paid H.H. Holmes to kidnap me and Wyatt."
Lucy could not forget that even if she tried, but they were in a desperate circumstance…and that called for desperate measures. "Can I trust you?" she asked with a face full of fierce determination. Flynn gave her one solitary nod, his face reflecting a hint of gratitude to be given a chance to prove himself to his former enemies. "Okay."
Rufus gaped at her looking both alarmed and shocked at her willingness to essentially entrust their safety and the success of the mission on Garcia Flynn. Agent Christopher, though deeply concerned, seemed to understand the bigger picture, but she wasn't about to allow Flynn free rein just because they were desperate. She marched over to Flynn resolutely, communicating with every single step that she absolutely meant business. "Lucy is in charge. You will follow her lead." she directed firmly.
"Deal." Flynn agreed with a sardonic smirk, "Now, where's my gun?"
"Oh hell, no!" Rufus protested loudly, "If you want me to fly that thing, then there is no way I'm going to climb in there if he has a gun. I kinda have a thing against getting shot in the back."
"Like that's the only way I'd be able to kill you…" Flynn quipped with an eye roll. "How do you expect me to be the muscle if I don't have a weapon?"
"You said it yourself, "Agent Christopher remarked, "you don't need a gun to kill anybody…I imagine you'll figure something out. Besides, aren't you going to a school?"
Flynn gave a little bow and followed an agitated Rufus into the time machine. Lucy swallowed hard, looking down the hall, knowing that when Wyatt awoke he would be angry, hurt, upset…worried…
"I'll talk to Wyatt." Agent Christopher assured, noticing Lucy's hesitation. "I'm sure he'll understand."
Lucy gave her a disbelieving smirk, knowing full-well that even if he was at death's door, Wyatt would never agree to send the team alone with Flynn…it had been hard enough to warm him up to the idea of Flynn being in the bunker and a possible 4thmember to their team. "Thank you." she muttered to Agent Christopher, "will you…will you be there with him when he wakes up?"
Agent Christopher smiled at her fondly, "Of course."
Lucy nodded and began making her way to the Lifeboat before turning around anxiously and adding, "Make sure you remind him to take his medicine…and…and don't let him get up and wander around too much…"
"Lucy, I promise, I will make sure Wyatt is taken care of, the medical team will not leave here until they're sure he's out of harm's way."
Lucy swallowed hard, giving Agent Christopher a weak nod before climbing the stairs once more to the LifeBoat. She was just outside the hatch when she turned around, and asked quietly, "And…and will you tell him that I'm…I'm sorry?"
With a look of total understanding, Agent Christopher nodded as Lucy stooped down and clambered into the time machine. Once inside, she sat down in her chair and immediately began securing her harness, watching with some amusement, Flynn struggling with his. "Having trouble with your seatbelt?" she asked with a quirked brow, wondering slightly if Wyatt had been as entertained with her fumbling over her straps.
"I can see why this LifeBoat was a failed design." Flynn muttered miserably as he attempted to work the buckles, his face awash in confusion, "It's cramped, cluttered…not very impressive."
"Yeah, well…it beat your ass most of the time." Rufus mumbled defensively under his breath.
Flynn, however, wasn't paying attention to Rufus. He had just managed to secure the last buckle in his harness, "There" he breathed out victoriously, giving Lucy a satisfied smirk. "All set."
"Careful" Rufus announced with some gratification, "first time travelers tend to get a little nauseous."
"This isn't my first trip, pal." Flynn bit back, annoyed.
Lucy scoffed, "This isn't the Mothership."
"Damn right." Rufus agreed. "You'll see…flying coach sucks."
Flynn glanced at the long faces of Lucy and Rufus, "Oh cheer up, kids." he observed with a smug grin, "This is going to be fun."
Notes:
Wyatt's not going on the mission - what could go wrong?
I hope you enjoyed this update - I'm working feverishly on the next chapter, plus some other fics that I hope to get out soon.
As always, I thank you for reading!
