Chapter 8: Leverage

Until we reach perfection everlasting.

Nicholas Keynes' words reverberated in Lucy's troubled mind as she lay on the crude camp bed in a room that amounted to little more than a closet. There was one small window situated along the top of the wall that served as her only source of light. The small light that it offered was hardly cheering, but it did allow her to have some sense of what time of day it was. She judged by the orange dusky hue that now filled her cramped space, that evening was falling.

She wasn't sure exactly how long it had been since she had been taken from 1934. She knew that several days had passed at the very least and wondered with a pang of sadness and regret how Wyatt was doing. She wondered if he had gotten over his illness and how his arm was healing. She wondered if Agent Christopher was there, like she promised she would be, when he woke up to find them gone. She knew he was probably angry…at her, at Flynn…maybe even at Rufus, for sneaking away on that mission without telling him…and she wondered if he ever would forgive her.

The last time Lucy had been brought (unwillingly) to the Rittenhouse compound, she was given every imaginable comfort. As Carol Preston's daughter and, as she discovered, the last of the direct line of David Rittenhouse himself, she was treated in a such a way as to befit her position…whatever that was. All she knew from the few conversations she had had with her mother in that time was that she was "born for this." Her mother's pointed interest in her education in history and anthropology had been less about a shared passion and more about molding her daughter into her successor in the family "business."

That revelation had been one of the most painful.

She had spent a majority of that time of her six weeks looking back over her life. While the mother of her timeline had made a few different choices, the one constant, as she compared what she knew to what was being revealed to her in this timeline, was what she now recognized as the way she had been groomed her entire life. From the books she was brought up on, to the courses she was pressured to take in school, Lucy saw her mother's hand in every aspect of her upbringing. Rittenhouse, she now understood, had always been there…waiting in the shadows until her time to take up her mother's mantel had come.

Garcia Flynn had told her on that first mission that she had been chosen for a reason. She had to admit, at the time, she had no idea why the government would call on her, an untenured, untested, young professor to lead something as important as these missions. After her connection to Rittenhouse became clear, however, she now understood that her father had suggested her placement on the team, not because of her abilities but because it was her "birthright." Following in her mother's footsteps wasn't just about Stanford…it was about all of this. This plan, this scheme to alter the course of the future by manipulating the events of the past.

Lucy sighed as she turned on the small bed in her cell. Unlike last time, she was provided no books to read, no newspaper to peruse…she was left only to her thoughts and they were straying to another Rittenhouse protégé who had been groomed and molded to take over the family business.

My father says that peasants are like the hands of a clock. Around and around they go. John Rittenhousehad said in 1780. A peasant is no more capable of choosing his own path than the hands of a clock. And who chose that path for them? The Clockmakers, of course. he had said. Control exercised from the shadows to the give the illusion of choice and freedom…that was what Rittenhouse was truly about. No matter how many times she was lectured that theirs was a benevolent and necessary cause, she only saw the ugly, hidden hand of tyranny.

For hundreds of years, her family and their band of faithful followers had placed themselves in key positions throughout Government and society, manipulating decisions, empowering others who shared their views, and enriching themselves while the "peasants" unwittingly followed the path that was chosen for them. There were moments where Rittenhouse didn't always win, of course, but that could be rectified now, with the time machine…and if Nicholas' words from a few nights ago were to be believed, that was exactly what Rittenhouse was planning to do; right the wrongs they had been dealt by going back and ensuring that the "correct and established" path was followed to ensure a "better and more perfect future."

Lucy had already seen this at play in her own life.

She had wanted to give up school and join a band, even though she knew her mother would never agree. The accident that had nearly ended her life had set her back on the course her mother had set for her…and Lucy half wondered if it had been designed…intended. After hearing from Rufus how her father had somehow manipulated his car and threatened his life and the lives of his family, she couldn't help but think that perhaps Rittenhouse had planned for her car to end up in that river.

And after everything she had seen in the past year, she really wouldn't be surprised if they had.

But that wasn't the only life altering circumstance in Lucy's life. In the timeline Lucy knew, her mother was dying of lung cancer. With mere weeks left to live, Carol Preston was hanging on by a thread when Homeland Security knocked on the door of her home and ushered Lucy away. The saving of the Hindenburg had reset her mother's future, had saved the lives of nearly everyone on board. As a result, Henry Wallace never married Carol, she never got addicted to cigarettes and Amy, of course, was never born.

All thanks to Garcia Flynn and that journal…

Huh.

What was it her mother had said when she told her she was Rittenhouse? That they would never allow Lucy to go back and save Amy. Carol Preston was too important. So how coincidental was it that the very first mission to which Lucy was sent resulted in the erasure of her sister and the healing of her mother?

Not that Lucy believed for one second that Garcia Flynn was Rittenhouse…but it did offer her pause…what had Wyatt said when they had gone to Salem? That man would make a deal with the Devil himself…

No. Surely not. They had murdered his family and besides, he had told Lucy he had gotten it from her…

If Flynn was following the missions set forth in her journal, then why would she have erased her own sister? What could she have possibly wanted to change in her future that would result in the erasure of one of the most important people in her life? And if she had indeed, given that journal to Flynn in an effort to change the future, then was she really any better than Nicholas or her mother?

The sound of a key in the lock of her door jolted her out of her thoughts and caused her to sit upright on the bed, scooting back to the furthest corner of her cot to keep as much distance between her and whoever it was that was coming through her door.

Light flooded into her room as the door swung open, causing her to squint and groan from the sudden change in brightness. A silhouetted figure was all she could see, therefore, standing in her doorway though the voice which called out to her was all too familiar. "I brought you your dinner." Carol Preston said as she set down a small tray on Lucy's nightstand.

"Great." Lucy muttered mechanically. "Do I get my bathroom break now too? Or, have you brought me a bucket for one of these corners?"

"Lucy," her mother admonished, "it's your unwillingness to be reasonable that has you in this position."

"Oh yes, of course." Lucy breathed out in exasperation, "this is all my fault." Lucy scoffed, "You're right. I should have had a better attitude when I found out you had lied to me all of my life."

"I didn't want to burden you with the responsibility of all of this until you were ready." Carol argued impatiently.

"When would I have ever been ready for this, mom?" Lucy breathed out incredulously. "I mean, you're playing God. You think that because something didn't happen the way you wanted it to, you can back and change it without thinking of what that means for anybody else?"

"You're not looking at the bigger picture…"

"No. You're not thinking about the bigger picture." Lucy spat out angrily. "Do you have any idea what it's like to come home to a new reality?" She sobbed quietly, before adding, "I do."

Carol shook her head in sympathy and folded her arms, "This is about your sister, isn't it? Amy?"

Lucy flinched at the cold way in which her mother uttered her sister's name. Of course, she would have no memory of her other daughter, so to expect her to have any semblance of maternal affection to a name was foolish on Lucy's part. Still, she wanted her mother to know, "She was your daughter." Lucy breathed out in a shaky voice. "And you loved her…and I know you don't remember her…and you probably don't even care, but I do." Lucy's tear filled eyes met her mother's as she continued, "That's why I will never help you do this. I will never stop fighting against you…you can't just erase history, memories, people…you just can't."

Carol pursed her lips together and sighed heavily, "Lucy, those people would be none the wiser. History would change and they would have no idea. Just like it did with me."

Lucy gaped at her, hardly knowing how to respond to such carelessness on her mother's part. To not even care about the ripple effects for the mere fact that no one would really remember, made her sick. "That shouldn't matter. You of all people…you taught me to love and respect history…I just don't understand how you could be okay with this."

"Because sometimes Lucy," Carol Preston quipped, "We could do better."

"How do you know?" Lucy contended. "How do you know that changing history would make anything better? You could make it worse."

"Don't you have any regrets? Anything you'd like to change in your own life?" Carol asked pointedly. Lucy refused to answer and tucked her head down as her mother continued, "What about your friends? Do they have any regrets?"

Lucy shrugged her shoulders and lied, "I don't know."

"Oh, I think you do." Carol said silkily as she sat down on the cot and patted Lucy's hand. "I overheard that night, you know? When he had come to tell you he was stealing the time machine to get his wife back?" Lucy swallowed hard as her mother continued, "You were very brave, to let him go…knowing that you might never see him again. You could…what was it you called it? Wake up to a new reality and find that the two of you had never even met. Why would you have? A mission like this is hardly the place for a happily married man."

Lucy tried to fight the tears that were pooling to the surface of her eyes, but one by one, they spilled silently onto her cheeks, betraying her heart despite her best efforts to conceal it.

"We could do it, you know?" Carol Preston said after a few moments of observing her daughter, "Bring her back, make him happy…and neither of you would remember a thing." Lucy clenched her eyes shut willing herself to stop crying, not to fall for this manipulative game her mother was playing, but she had hit her where she was most vulnerable and Carol Preston knew it. "You wouldn't have to live with the heartache of losing him, Lucy…unless, of course, you refuse to cooperate."

Lucy sucked in a breath and stared at her mother, "Wh…what do you mean?" she stammered out in apprehension, though she knew exactly what Carol Preston meant. Flynn had warned her. Rittenhouse would exploit her feelings for Wyatt and yes…they had attempted to do it in Salem…but this? This was all too much. This was more than exploitation, this was just cruel.

"I mean, we could do this the easy way, Lucy…or we could do it the hard way." She shook her head and stood up, her slim frame silhouetted against the door once more as she warned, "If you continue to make things difficult for us, we will make things difficult for you." Carol Preston gave Lucy a meaningful glare and added, "And I don't think you want that, do you?"

"No." Lucy answered mechanically as more tears fell.

"Good." her mother said simply as she made her way out of the door. "Now, eat your dinner before it gets cold." she instructed before pulling the door closed and securing it once more with a key.

It had been one week.

One hundred and seventy-two hours, thirty-four minutes and seventeen seconds since Wyatt had discovered that Rittenhouse had taken off with Lucy.

It had been one week since Agent Christopher had promised to trace the gun Garcia Flynn had brought back from 1934…and still they had nothing.

Well, maybe they did…but Wyatt hadn't been told a thing about it.

It wasn't from lack of trying; nearly every second that Agent Christopher passed in the bunker was spent fielding Wyatt's endless questions about where they were with the investigation and how the search was going.

"Not today, Master Sergeant." Is all she would respond and now, Wyatt was more than impatient. He had hardly slept since Lucy had been taken, his nerves were absolutely on edge and though nearly everyone had given him a pretty wide berth (remembering how Wyatt had been the last time Lucy had gone missing) Flynn had somehow missed the memo.

"Why don't you just relax?" Flynn breathed out in exasperation one morning after Wyatt had been pacing the hall waiting for Agent Christopher to arrive. "You're making everybody nervous."

Wyatt stilled and issued an icy death glare towards Flynn while Rufus and Jiya stopped cooking breakfast and looked nervously between the two men. Though Wyatt had repeatedly told the others he did not blame Flynn for Lucy's abduction, Flynn's attitude towards the entire ordeal had made Wyatt see red. When not working on upgrading the LifeBoat, Mason, Rufus and Jiya would assist Wyatt in poring over maps and writing down the addresses of any warehouse in and around San Francisco large enough to house something like the Mothership. Flynn, however, merely sat in his chair, carefree…reading. Whenever he was called out for his lack of concern, Flynn would merely roll his eyes and continue on with his book.

That is, until today.

Flynn's admonition to Wyatt seemed to hang in the air filling the room with an undeniable tension. For a long while, neither man spoke; only staring each other down with absolute disdain written all over their faces.

"You think I can relax?" Wyatt finally spat out in anger. "Lucy could be anywhere right now, going through God knows what and you think I can relax?"

Flynn rolled his eyes, "If they wanted to kill her they could have done it in 1934. She'll be fine." he scoffed. "Lucy's a lot tougher than you give her credit for."

"And you'd know all about that, wouldn't you?" Wyatt accused bitterly. "Seeing as how you got a first-hand look at how damn tough she is when you kidnapped her." Wyatt seethed with anger, every muscle in his body was tense as he made his way over towards Flynn's chair, "You know that she was almost burned alive in a damn furnace because of you and that deal you made with H.H. Holmes?

Flynn chuckled darkly as he tossed his book to the side and stood up, looking every bit as menacing as he had that night in 1780, "We're on the same side now." he gritted out, "I only kidnapped her because she got in my way. And you can hardly blame me for her getting mixed up with H.H. Holmes. I only paid him to sideline you…and Rufus."

Jiya raised her eyebrows and turned back to the stove, while Rufus shook his head and muttered, "Wrong answer" as Wyatt clenched his fists and made a move towards Flynn.

Flynn, however, was saved the ass-kicking of a lifetime when Mason's slurred voice called out from the other side of the common room, breaking the tension in the air like a whip crack. "Life is but a walking shadow. A poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more."

Everyone turned to see Connor Mason stumbling his way towards them, a near empty bottle of brandy in his hand. "Um…are you drunk?" Rufus asked, his eyebrows raised in a mixture of amusement and concern. As Connor Mason sidled past the tables and chairs and over to the counter, the unmistakable stench of alcohol wafting from him answered that question. Sloppily grabbing another tumbler, Mason giggled slightly as Rufus muttered to Jiya, "That would be a "yes." Connor," Rufus called out in a voice of concern as Mason, tumbler procured, made his way over to the couch, "it's like 8:30 in the morning…don't you think it's a little early to…"

"Icarus Descending!" Mason cried out loudly, interrupting Rufus as he held up a newspaper, "The Fall and Catastrophe of Connor Mason."

Giving one quick look of concern to the others, Rufus made his way over to the couch, where Mason had retreated with his bottle, tumbler and where he was currently burrowing himself under a coarse blanket. Wrenching the newspaper away from Mason as he poured himself a drink, Rufus' eyes scanned the article in question, "Yikes. Why are you reading this?" Rufus asked as he watched Mason spill a good portion of his drink on the coffee table before steadying his hand and pouring the amber liquid into his glass.

"Because today, Rufus, is the day that I officially lose control of Mason Industries and all of my financial holdings. Today, Connor Mason is officially a nobody." He offered Rufus a sardonic grin as he lifted his now filled tumbler in the air, "A toast, to oblivion!"

Mason threw back his glass of alcohol in one deft move, causing Rufus to look over to Wyatt and Jiya with alarm. Flynn, had since busied himself with a book and was no longer paying any attention to the goings on in the bunker.

Wyatt, momentarily forgetting his own concerns, was about to make his way over to Mason to offer some kind of support when the bunker door swung open and Agent Christopher came marching in. "Wyatt," she barked out as she made her way down the hall, "I need to speak to you."

At her words, Wyatt didn't know whether to be relieved or fearful of whatever it was she had to say. Though her expression was unreadable, her voice spoke of an urgency that sent his heart racing. Feeling as if he had completely lost all ability to use his legs, Wyatt stood there stupidly gaping at her for several moments before the sound of an alarm pulled him back to his senses.

Cursing the timing of Rittenhouse, he looked with pleading eyes to Agent Christopher who merely sighed and muttered as she walked past him, "Let's deal with this first."

"No." Wyatt argued as he pointed towards the Lifeboat, "We're not going to be able to do a damn thing without Lucy…if you have information on her, I need to know what it is. Please."

Ignoring him, Agent Christopher called out to Rufus, "What do we have?"

Rufus cast an apologetic look towards Wyatt and raced up to view the monitor "Um…November 23, 1936. San Antonio, Texas." Rufus answered as he turned away from the screen, "Anybody got any ideas?"

They all stood apart, staring blankly at each other, until Wyatt, frustrated beyond all belief spat out, "No…because the person who would know isn't here."

But Agent Christopher held up her hand to Wyatt and turned to Flynn, "Did you ever pick up any Rittenhouse intel about this?" she asked.

Flynn closed his book thoughtfully and sighed, "Never heard a thing about San Antonio in the 1930s."

"Well if you're not here to provide intelligence than what the hell are you good for?" Wyatt snapped angrily.

"There's the Texas Centennial Exposition" Rufus called out as he looked up from his laptop screen. "Um…six million people attended…ooh including President Roosevelt."

"Okay," Agent Christopher sighed, "well, that sounds like a…"

"Nevermind." Rufus interrupted, "That was in Dallas…which is nowhere near San Antonio."

"It's got to be the Gunter Hotel" Mason's muffled voice sounded from underneath his blanket, "It's quite obvious."

"Um…how is it obvious, exactly?" asked Rufus.

"Because in the Gunter Hotel on November 23, 1936, Robert Johnson and Don Law changed the world."

"Who the hell are Robert Johnson and Don Law?" Wyatt asked incredulously.

"King of the Delta Blues, Father of Rock n Roll?" Mason asked in astonishment as he sat up and let the covers fall away from his prone body. "You people are philistines!" Everyone in the bunker stared and shrugged at Mason as he continued passionately, "Look, without Robert Johnson, there'd be no modern blues…which means, no Elvis, Beatles, Stones, Zepplin, none of them."

"Which is bad, no doubt" Rufus agreed with a shrug, "No one wants to listen to Pat Boone on the radio 24/7…but I think I'm missing the larger geopolitical point here."

"Don't you see?" said Mason as he swung his legs off the couch, "It wouldn't just be Rittenhouse killing rock n roll at its source. It would be them killing the cultural revolution of the 1960s."

"All of that because two dudes don't record an album?" Rufus asked doubtfully.

"Actually, it makes a lot of sense." Jiya quipped. "Remember Pirate Radio, Rufus? It was all about how the government tried to stop rock n roll because of the dangerous message it was sending."

"Precisely." hiccupped Mason proudly as he lifted the tumbler to his lips once more.

"Alright, then." Agent Christopher said with a sigh, "Gear up and get ready. Connor you're taking this one in place of Lucy. Wyatt, you're staying here."

At that directive, the room was full of confused murmurs, until Mason's voice rang out loud and clear above the din, "Absolutely not!"

"Connor," Agent Christopher scoffed, "you clearly know more about this Robert Johnson and his albums than any of them."

"Yes, and I will be happy to fill them all in as they get the LifeBoat ready." Mason countered.

"Don't mind Connor," Rufus teased as he rolled the stairs in front of the Lifeboat, "He's just never time traveled before."

"Wait a minute," Flynn quipped, "Are you telling me that in all the test runs you made for this machine, you never once time travelled yourself?"

"Of course not!" Mason exclaimed, "It's bloody dangerous!"

"Connor, you're going." Agent Christopher directed before turning to Jiya and ordering, "Get him some coffee." She sighed as she opened the weapons locker and handed Flynn a firearm, "Against my better judgement, I'm trusting you with this. Do NOT make me regret that decision. You bring them back safely, understand?"

Flynn gave her a wry smile and a wink as he took the gun from her, "I wouldn't have it any other way."

Mason looked around helplessly as Jiya handed him a cup of coffee. "I suppose I don't get a say in the matter, do I? It's only my bloody time machine." he muttered angrily.

"You'll be fine." Flynn quipped as he slapped Mason on the back, offering him a teasing grin, "you'll be with me."

"Oh yes, that's very reassuring." Mason sighed as Rufus pulled him up the stairs.

'Well, as much as I hate to give him credit for anything…he did save my ass last time." Rufus assured, "and this time…he has a gun." Mason looked like that didn't offer him the slightest bit of relief, but he begrudgingly entered the LifeBoat behind Flynn, leaving Rufus standing alone on the staircase. He turned and gave a concerned and confused looking Wyatt a solemn nod, before entering the time machine himself and closing the hatch.

"Okay," Wyatt breathed out as the LifeBoat disappeared, "what the hell is going on?'

"We have a possible location." Agent Christopher muttered as she opened a folder and handed a memo to Wyatt. "The gun was traced back to this warehouse near Oakland, right off the Bay Bridge." Wyatt eagerly took the memo as she continued, "I have no reason to believe they are keeping Lucy there, however, our preliminary reconnaissance makes us believe it is just a storage facility."

"What do you need me to do?" Wyatt asked solemnly.

"I want you to lead a team, you're going to raid that warehouse." She nodded at him, "You'll have a helmet cam, Jiya and I will have eyes on you from here. Wyatt," she added in a voice of warning, "this is just an intelligence gathering mission, not an assault. You get in, get what's there and get out."

"But what if…"

"Wyatt, we've been monitoring this facility for a week now, there has been nothing to suggest that this place is anything but a storage depot for them." She shook her head, "But perhaps something in there will put us on the right track to getting Lucy back."

He nodded and made his way down the hall, his anticipation high. After nothing for seven whole days, they finally had a lead…and he was going to be able to do something about it. He was so grateful that Agent Christopher allowed him to stay behind to take this mission…but really, what choice did she have? Flynn? Hell no. Sending him on missions was one thing, having him actually raid Rittenhouse when he had shown zero restraint with them in the past? Even if this was just a warehouse, Wyatt had no doubt in his mind that if Flynn had been selected for this particular mission, he would probably burn the whole damn thing to the ground.

Wyatt entered his room, sighing at the empty sight of Lucy's side of the bed. Even though Agent Christopher had stated that the likelihood of finding Lucy there was small, he nevertheless held out a small bit of hope that they would find her.

Grabbing the bit of gear that he had in his room, he made his way back out to the common area where he was met by another agent, standing by to drive him to the warehouse. Jiya and Agent Christopher assisted him as he donned his riot gear with both of them wishing him a good luck before he made his way out the door.

A tense hour and a half passed in the bunker, Jiya nervously kept checking the connection to Wyatt's feed, before finally his voice crackled into the nearly empty bunker, "Am I coming in clear?"

"We're reading you loud and clear, Master Sergeant." Agent Christopher returned as Jiya attempted to make connection with his head cam. "Just trying to connect to your camera now."

"This place looks pretty dead." Wyatt's hushed voice called out. "We're approaching the perimeter now."

For a few tense moments, they heard nothing. Still unable to capture the feed from his head camera, Jiya frantically typed into her laptop trying to establish the connection when the sound of gunfire erupted through the near empty bunker.

Panic stole over Jiya's features as she stared up in horror at Agent Christopher who, by contrast, was looking tense, but calm. "Wyatt? Wyatt, what's happening?" The silence that followed was deafening and did nothing to quell Jiya's nerves. 'Wyatt?" Agent Christopher tried again, "Do you copy? What's the situation? Wyatt?"

Jiya and Agent Christopher breathed out a collective sigh of relief when Wyatt's voice crackled to life, "Yeah, I'm here."

"What happened?" the Homeland Security officer demanded. "Are you okay? We don't have a visual."

"A lot better than this dick." Wyatt responded gruffly, his voice racked with disappointment. "There's nothing here, it's an empty warehouse." The muffled sound of movement followed this statement as Wyatt's voice called out, "Checking to see if he has anything on him." Agent Christopher and Jiya exchanged hopeful looks when Wyatt announced finally, "I found a key fob."

"Wyatt, is there a serial number on it?" Agent Christopher asked.

"Yeah, TS PROX D02 531279." he recited. "Can you hack it?"

Jiya, already at her computer, was typing furiously. "Um…issued by AICS Securities." Her eyes darted back and forth on the screen before she added, "It's a high-frequency access fob to a priority client."

"Do we have an address? A name? An individual?" Wyatt's desperate voice called out.

"No." Jiya responded as Wyatt breathed out a curse. "There's a pretty advanced firewall." she explained, "but give me a few hours and maybe I can crack it.

Lucy sat at a desk in what was deemed a library in the Rittenhouse compound, her fingers nervously drumming on the table. In front of her, spread open in a large leather bound notebook was a handwritten manifesto, authored by none other than her great grandfather, Nicholas Keynes.

He was the soldier they had fought so desperately to save in World War I. The one she had murdered an innocent man for…his friend. Lucy half-wondered if Nicholas cared at all about the loss of his comrade in arms. That man had cared enough to try to find help for Nicholas, had worried himself over their efforts to save him and yet he, himself, wasn't deemed important enough to save.

Lucy wondered if he knew about Nicholas's radical ideas of world domination, or if he, like so many others in Rittenhouse's path was just an expendable pawn in their game. Expendable only because he had gotten in the way of Rittenhouse's plans. Lucy looked up from the faded writing with a gasp, suddenly realizing that the man she had killed might have been meant to survive that battle, maybe even the war. Lucy tugged at her locket mindlessly, pondering over the family he might have had, the family that very well may not exist anymore…all thanks to her and one fateful pull of the trigger.

She sat back and rubbed her eyes, attempting to wipe his pleading face from her mind. Dwelling on those dark thoughts would not do. Tumbling into a depressed state would only make her more vulnerable, more pliable in the hands of Rittenhouse. They would use her emotions against her.

Not that they hadn't already.

She cast a furtive glance across the room where Emma was chatting quietly with her mother. The bit of sky she could see from the shuttered window, was dark indicating that she had been in that room already for several hours. Emma had only just arrived a few moments before.

The Mothership had been taken out, of that much, Lucy was aware. She could hear snippets of their conversation as they discussed their optimism that this mission to 1936 would not fail. "If the first sleeper didn't handle the job," Emma had whispered, "the second most certainly would." From what Lucy could gather, the second sleeper was well entrenched, a trusted assistant, one that no one who suspect. She had no idea what the mission entailed or even where it was, but her heart sank as she thought of Wyatt. Would he expect to find her on the mission only to be disappointed? Would they make it through the mission alright without her? What if Flynn went along in her place? Would the two of them put aside their differences to work together?

"Lucy!" her mother's reprimanding voice called her out of her thoughts.

She shook her head slightly, before meeting her mother's studious gaze, "I'm sorry, I was just…um…thinking."

Carol made her way over to Lucy's desk, a reproving look on her face. "You've hardly read anything." she tutted at her as she pulled the notebook towards her.

Lucy cast a glance back towards Emma who was standing just behind her mother, shaking her head as if Lucy's reluctance to comply was hardly surprising. "I've got a headache." Lucy complained with a huff.

Carol turned and looked towards Emma, "Would you get her some Tylenol?"

Emma dropped her arms and rolled her eyes, "Fine, but before I go does the princess need anything else?"

"Well, now that you mention it" Lucy quipped, "I would love to get the hell out of here."

"You're not a prisoner, Lucy." her mother sighed. "This is your home."

"Really?" Lucy asked, "Because it sure doesn't feel like home, mom." She motioned around the room, "I'm required to sit in here and read this…this propaganda for hours every day. I have scheduled times to go to the bathroom, I can't go anywhere in here without supervision, and when I am alone, I'm locked away like some…criminal."

Carol straightened herself up and nodded at Emma who left the room to procure some Tylenol. When she pulled the door closed behind her, Carol whispered harshly to Lucy, "You know as well as I do that your actions are what prompted all of this." Carol hissed. "If you would just make an actual effort, show Nicholas that you're serious…"

Lucy let out a derisive laugh as tears sprang to her eyes, "You know that's not why I'm doing this."

"You think I enjoy holding that over your head? You think I want to see you hurt?" Carol asked harshly as she threw her hands up in the air and gave an exasperated sigh, "Your stubbornness is what made things harder for you. I gave you plenty of opportunity to accept your legacy and move on, but you…." Carol bit her lip and shook her head, making her way to the door as she did so, "I'm going to go get you some dinner. By the time I get back, I want to see that you've made some progress." She made a meaningful nod towards the open notebook and slammed the door behind her.

Angry tears issued forth the moment her mother left the room. It was one thing to be held here against her will, quite another to have the threat of Wyatt's dead wife hanging over her, being used as leverage against her and her every move.

The last time had been easier. Much easier. She had been in Rittenhouse custody for only a few days when her mother had brought her that newspaper indicating that Mason Industries had been destroyed, and everyone she had known in her time there had been killed in the explosion. Agent Christopher, Mason, Jiya, Rufus…and Wyatt.

It had nearly destroyed her.

To be on the threshold of possibilities with Wyatt only to have it all ripped away? He was the one person she trusted more than anyone else, the one person she knew she could depend on, the one person who made who made her feel like she was stronger than she actually was. She felt lost, alone, scared…but it gave her a determination to end Rittenhouse like nothing else had. She would do it. She would destroy the Mothership, even if it meant that she would be stuck in the past indefinitely; even if it meant it would cost her her own life.

It didn't matter anymore.

What had she to come back to? A mother she didn't know? A life where she was forced to follow the teachings of some sick and twisted cult because it was her "birthright?" Everything and everyone she cared about was gone…and so there was only one way she was going to escape it.

But then, there he was.

Six weeks. Six long weeks of hopelessness had been washed away with one breathless statement.

You're alive.

The unparalleled joy she felt at seeing Wyatt again, nearly made her forget that she was grasping a hand grenade, that she was essentially on a suicide mission. It was only when Wyatt had asked for some explanation that she had remembered that there was no plan to return. Her mission was supposed to end there.

But it didn't.

And now she wondered whether it should have.

She was sure that the pain she felt at losing Wyatt then would be nothing to the pain she would feel losing him now. If she did not cooperate, if she did not comply with every request, she knew it would be nothing for her to be dragged into that time machine and forced to sit by while Jessica was somehow restored to him.

He wouldn't remember Lucy and what they had, but she would remember every excruciating detail of their short time together. To not just lose him, but to lose himwas enough to keep her dutifully obeying every ridiculous request her mother and great-grandfather set forth. He was her Achilles' heel and they were exploiting that knowledge with a cruelty that even now, knowing all the horrible things they had done, surprised her.

With that threat hanging over her head, Lucy wiped the last remnants of her tears away and went back to her reading, wondering when Emma might show up with her Tylenol, as the pounding in her head only seemed to be worse now after her crying.

She rubbed her temples in an attempt to soothe the aching in her head as she hovered over the manuscript. The narrow, loopy writing did nothing to ease the strain in her eyes as they darted over the same line repeatedly. It was no use. She couldn't concentrate. Her head hurt too much and her emotions were far too raw. Maybe she could….

BAM!

The door behind her flung open violently, causing her to jump out of her chair in shock and surprise. Standing before her was not Emma, not her mother, not even Nicholas, but a man, clad all in black, fitted with a helmet, and a very large gun…that was initially aimed right at her. Terrified, she backed away into a corner, until a familiar voice called out, "Lucy!?" Wyatt lowered his gun and was at her side the next moment. His eyes scanned over her as he asked tensely, "Are you hurt? Did they hurt you?"

Physically, she was fine. Emotionally…well, that was something else entirely.

She shook her head in response, her words trapped somewhere in the throat. Wyatt, always astute in his observations, seemed to understand. He reached out with his free arm as he breathed out with a heavy sigh, "Come on, let's you get you the hell out of here."

Lucy made to take his hand and then stopped, remembering with a pang her mother's awful threat. Going with Wyatt would most certainly fall into the non-compliance category of things and she knew what that meant. They would punish her in the cruelest way…and it wouldn't matter if she wasn't with them...they could do it at any time and it would still be devastating. She could wake up tomorrow morning and not remember him. They could go on a mission and find themselves in the awful position of explaining to a newly alive Jessica how theirs was not "really an affair." It didn't matter what the scenario, the result would always be the same.

She would lose him.

"Lucy?" Wyatt asked in a voice raked with desperate concern. "Come on…let's go."

Taking a look at his outstretched hand and hearing his pleading voice, everything within her wanted nothing more than to grasp onto Wyatt and never let him go. It was therefore, a betrayal of every fiber of her being when she pulled back her hand suddenly and backed herself further into the corner, shaking her head as tears spilled onto her cheeks.

"Lucy, what's wrong with you? Come on…let's go!" Wyatt pleaded again.

I can't." Lucy sobbed in a shaky voice. "Please…just go."

Wyatt stared back at her too dumbfounded to speak. He wasn't sure what the hell they had done to Lucy, but he would be damned if he was going to walk away and leave her. His mind raced over all the possibilities that could be keeping her here, "Lucy," he asked desperately, "what…are you wired? Chipped? At each question, Lucy shook her head frantically, motioning him away from her, until Wyatt finally grabbed her by the hand and began pulling her away from the wall, "Lucy, I don't know what the hell is going on but we need to get you away from here."

They had just gotten to the door leading out into the large launch area when Lucy angrily wrenched her arm away and gritted out, "No! No, Wyatt!"

"Oh, come on you two, don't fight." Emma's voice rang out from beside them.

With lightening quick reflexes, Wyatt shielded Lucy as he turned and aimed his weapon at Emma, who was already within striking distance. Gripping his rifle with both hands, Emma wrenched it away from her and kicked Wyatt in the chest, sending him careening into the open door. Lucy backed herself slightly into the room again in an attempt to stay out of the crosshairs of the fight as Wyatt dove for Emma, the two of them trading kicks and blows.

Emma had pulled a large knife out of her boot and was now brandishing it at Wyatt as he sought to block every jab she made with it. Lucy watched with horror as Emma knocked Wyatt to the ground and quickly clambered on top of him, pinning him to the ground. As she reared back her arm, to stab him in the neck, Lucy suddenly didn't care so much about compliance anymore. Losing him this way was not an option either. Grabbing a laptop from off one of the nearby tables, Lucy knocked Emma off of Wyatt with a hefty swing and a grunt. Wyatt scrambled for his rifle, which was laying nearby, but Emma was too fast.

This time, however, she didn't go for Wyatt.

She went for Lucy.

Notes:

I apologize for being so long updating this. This chapter has been almost ready for about two weeks now but owing to some continuing drama in my life and the news that my husband would be leaving again for another short deployment a lot sooner than what we expected (TODAY, in fact) this has been put on the back burner of my life.

I am not one to leave things undone, however..and so I promise I will be updating this and working on this as I can. I appreciate your reading and reviews. Really, writing these stories is the only place I feel the love of the show with the fervor I once had, so while real-life is taking precedence over things like this, I'm going to be over here writing rather than being present on Twitter. Stepping away from the online drama, I think, will help me re-discover the things I loved about Timeless. To those of you who know me from Twitter, I will see you from time to time, I'm sure. I'm still around, but I am taking a very large step back. I hope you understand. It has nothing to do with me not wanting/believing the show can be saved...my hope is still very much for this show...but it does has everything to do with some very real hurt that I'm trying to work through on top of everything else going on in my life. So I need to do this for my own well-being.

Thank you again for reading. I hope you enjoyed this update and I hope to be able to update it again *soon*. For those you following my projected works, I am far enough into my Stranded fic where I should be able to start posting chapters from that soon as well. The Torrent epilogue is also still coming along - thank you so much for your patience. I also apologize for yet another cliffhanger...actually, I don't apologize for that. : )