Chapter 13: Lightning Bolt

The musty smell of cigarette smoke assaulted Wyatt's nostrils as he opened the door to his motel room. Even though the placard on the door indicated its non-smoking status, it was clear that whoever occupied this room prior to his arrival had ignored that particular directive. "What else is new?" Wyatt muttered as he shut the door behind him, too used to these types of places from his many years traveling all over the country with the military to be shocked by the dinginess of the less than stellar lodgings. Flicking on the light switch did little to brighten the room, so Wyatt threw open the cheap curtains, flooding the drab two star accommodations in sunlight. It should have been a cheerful sight, considering he had been living underground for the past few months, but it wasn't.

Wyatt let out a derisive laugh as he considered how much his opinion of that damn rust bucket had changed in just the past few weeks. When he had first awoken from his injuries and found himself in that hell hole of a bunker, he had considered it more a prison than the safe haven it was supposed to be. Cut off from the world as they were, separated from Lucy…he had memorized every square inch of that place in an effort to keep himself from going completely insane with worry. He spent his days doing menial tasks, obsessively making the beds with military precision…anything to keep his focus on what was before him, rather than what kind of hell Lucy might be suffering.

That all changed, of course, when they brought her back with them from 1918.

Lucy's presence in the bunker made everything different. The groaning pipes, the lumpy mattresses, the incessant cold water, the locks that didn't work…none of that seemed to matter anymore. Wyatt certainly didn't notice it, anyway. Before, he would curse the icy floors of the bunker and fight with Rufus over the extra blanket in their room. These past few weeks with Lucy, however, he welcomed the way she would nestle up to him for added warmth and while he may have given her his share of reproving glares for entangling her frozen feet with his, he secretly thanked the Army Corp of Engineers for building such a crappy furnace that made such gestures a damn near necessity.

Nobody in their right mind would consider such rusty and ramshackle rust bucket a home but for the last few weeks, Wyatt had. And why wouldn't he? That bunker housed more than just a team…they were a family.

Family.

That was something that was a bit of an anomaly to Wyatt; his experience with it had hardly been picture perfect. Between the drunken rages of his father and the early death of his mother, he didn't exactly have a Leave it to Beaver type childhood. He probably would have wound up in a hell of a lot of trouble if his Grandpa Sherwin hadn't stepped up to the plate and molded Wyatt into the man he was today. It was that example, the example of his hero, that made Wyatt so damn determined to have that family of his own. He had tried with Jessica...but that had gone to hell, even before she was murdered. And was it really a surprise that it had? He was never there to make a home with her. Deployments, missions, trainings...as Wyatt sat there thinking it all over he knew, with a pang, that Jessica may have been his wife, but he was married to his career.

Living in the bunker, therefore, had given him something he had never quite had before. Rufus, Jiya, Mason, and Lucy...they weren't like his military team. Sure, he trusted them and relied on them the same as he would his Delta Force comrades, but their lack of training, their civilian status, had made them decidedly different than the people he normally served with. Rufus and Jiya were brilliant engineers, Mason was a billionaire entrepreneur...and Lucy, well...he never in a million years thought that he would ever be mixed up with someone with her background. Yet, they had all accepted him...the scrappy kid from a small West Texas town had found a place among them...and he couldn't be more grateful.

The absence of the people, therefore, who mattered more to him than anything else in the world…more particularly the absence of one of those people…was enough to make him wish himself back in the freezing cold of the dark, dank bunker than sitting in the sunny warmth of a sleazy motel room.

But he had to do this.

A quick check of his watch told him that Jessica should be arriving at any minute. Agent Christopher had recommended finding a neutral place for Wyatt and Jessica to meet. While Wyatt wasn't keen on the idea of a motel room, it was something that could be easily arranged at short notice and allowed for agents to be posted all around him, in case there was any trouble.

Not that Wyatt believed there would be any trouble.

A soft knock had him leaping to his feet nervously, hardly knowing what the hell he was going to say before he wrenched open the door and felt every last ounce of breath leave his lungs as he stood there gaping at a very much alive Jessica.

She looked back at him with a mixture of hurt, anger and confusion, her arms crossed defiantly against her chest as if daring him to give her some lame ass excuse for his neglect. Wyatt, however, was too overcome with the emotional vomit of six years' worth of grief to give a damn about how pissed she might be feeling. Any reservations he had about seeing his once dead wife and what he might say, dissolved in an onslaught of tears as Wyatt wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a tight embrace, "I can't believe you're actually here." he breathed out against her hair and neck.

Jessica reluctantly returned the hug, pulling herself away with a look of annoyance as she took in his motel room, "So this is where you've been for the past five months?" she snapped.

Having absolutely no idea what circumstances had led to their separation, but knowing he sure as hell couldn't tell her about the bunker, Wyatt attempted to make light of the situation, "Well, it's better than that dump we stayed in on our honeymoon, remember that?"

Jessica glared back at him, "Do you have any idea what the hell I've been through?" she gritted out angrily. "I thought you were dead."

Wyatt resisted the urge to say "Likewise" and instead took a deep breath and tried to explain, "Look, Jess…the last couple months are a little hazy for me."

"That doesn't surprise me." She snarked back as she rolled her eyes. "You're only drunk off your ass five nights a week."

That revelation took Wyatt completely aback. "What are you talking about?" Wyatt asked in confusion and alarm. He and Jessica may have had their problems and sure he didn't mind a whiskey every now and then, but he swore after witnessing first-hand the drunken rages of his no-good sonofabitch father that he would never nurse the bottle like he did.

"Oh, come off it, Wyatt." Jessica railed. "You are rarely sober and when you aren't kicking back with a bottle of Jack Daniels, you're in some jealous rage or you disappear for days on end without so much as a word." She scoffed, "You know, I actually thought you were dead this time…I mourned you, Wyatt."

"Jessica...I ...I don't know what to say." he stammered out in shock.

What the hell was going on? Had things really gotten this bad between them? He had lived with six years of guilt and regret after her murder, but now, he was dealing with a whole different type of guilt and regret. He had put her through absolute hell, treated her like complete garbage…he had become the very thing he had hated most about his own father – a drunken, raging, asshole.

Suddenly, he felt nothing but shame. Yes, he knew their life together hadn't been perfect. They had had more than their share of fights…hell, one such fight had led to her untimely death…but he couldn't deny the fact that once upon a time, they were happy. At least, he was…which made these allegations all the more maddening. How could he ever be the drunken asshole his father was? How could he have ever let himself ruin his marriage in that way?

The past six years had given him more than enough time to relive his past regrets. Nights out with his buddies that could have been spent with Jessica, calls he should have made, dates they should have gone on…Wyatt knew he could have been a better husband…but as he sunk down on the hotel bed going over all of this in his mind, he also knew that he had always strived to live up to the example of his Grandpa Sherwin – to be the man he expected him to be.

This Wyatt…whoever he was…was not him. Not even close.

"You never know what to say, Wyatt" Jessica snapped back, "Until I leave or threaten to divorce you and then you bust out the water works."

"Jessica," Wyatt breathed out, "I don't know what you're talking about…but you've gotta believe me when I say that Wyatt you're describing? That's not me….I mean, maybe it was at one time, but not anymore."

Jessica let out a derisive laugh, "Right. That's what you always say…and the three weeks later, we're back at square one."

"No…that's not true. Jessica, I'm not that guy."

"Oh yeah?" she countered. "Then prove it. Where the hell have you been these past five months?" Wyatt made to explain but Jessica cut him off, "And don't you dare tell me it's classified."

"Jessica" Wyatt breathed out in exasperation, "It is classified…hell, you wouldn't even believe me if I told you."

"Try me." Jessica spat back as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"It's not that I don't want to…" Wyatt swallowed hard as he considered how his absence had driven her into the arms of someone else, how lonely her life must be with him constantly gone, and forever picking up and moving to a new place only to be left on her own again. His career had driven them apart…there was no denying his role in what had happened to her…to them…in both of these timelines. As Jessica rolled her eyes and turned away from him, Wyatt lunged off the bed and gently tugged her towards him, "Look, I can't even imagine what being married to me must be like for you."

"Yeah, that's bull and you know it." Jessica said with a laugh. "I put up with the cold dinners and the lonely nights because I'm proud of you and what you do." She shook her head at him helplessly, "But the whispered conversations that end the minute I come into the room, the half-truths, the partial answers…"she broke down in tears as she gritted out, "I love you, Wyatt…but I…I can't be married to a state secret." She gave a ragged sigh as she dug into her purse, "If you can't be honest with me, then I think it's time we just get this over with." she pulled out a manila envelope and shoved it at him.

Wyatt's heart caught in his throat as he opened the flap and drew out the legal documents from inside, "Divorce papers" me muttered mechanically, "Jess…I…I had no idea that things between us had gotten so bad.

"What are you talking about, Wyatt?" she nearly yelled in exasperation. "You've been gone for five months! Hell, we haven't even lived together for almost a year."

"Jess, I know this going to sound crazy…" Wyatt contended, "but, I really don't remember any of this. You and I…we had our problems, sure…but…not anything like…"

There you go again, putting our marriage on this pedestal." Jessica spat out in frustration. "Wyatt, you have this fantasy of what this marriage is...we aren't the couple you think we are."

His mind went back to those dark times after he had discovered Jessica's affair. He had all but drove them out of his mind when she had been killed…feeling just as much to blame for her wandering as he felt for her death. It was his long absences, after all, that had driven her to find comfort somewhere else. Wyatt raked a hand over his face apologetically as he whispered, "I'm so sorry, Jess."

"Sorry doesn't work anymore, Wyatt." Jessica sighed as she shook her head. "I've tried so hard to be patient, but hell, you can't even tell me where you were these past five months. For all I know, you've been shacking up with some other woman."

Another pang of guilt shot through him at that allegation. He knew that he couldn't deny it…not that he meant to cheat on Jessica. She, however, would never understand that, not unless she knew about the time machine…but even then, he couldn't deny his feelings for Lucy. It really didn't signify that he fell for her when Jessica was dead and buried, the only thing that mattered was that he was now a married man who was head over heels in love with a woman who was not his wife.

Unable to meet her penetrating stare as he thought about Lucy, Jessica rounded on him, "Oh my God…you have been sleeping with someone else, haven't you?" She shook her head, "You know, I'm not even surprised. How many affairs does this make now, Wyatt?"

"What?" Wyatt asked incredulously. Now he knew he had no idea who that Wyatt was. If there was one thing he was not, it was unfaithful. Hell, how long had Jessica been dead before he even allowed himself a chance to hope for something with Lucy…and how much longer before he even acted on it? "Jess," Wyatt breathed out as he covered his face with his hands, "I don't know what you're…I've been working." He muttered as he realized he had just done what she had accused him of doing earlier…telling her a half-truth…though technically, the last time he had been with Lucy was when Jessica was still dead, so he supposed maybe he was being honest, after all. "My job…it's complicated - it requires me to be gone all the time."

"You need to get your priorities straight, Wyatt." Jessica gritted out. "Once and for all, I need you to decide whether you are married to me or to your damn career."

Six years of wishing he could go back and do things differently and now that he had his chance he had, once again, screwed it all up before he even had an opportunity to fix things.

Or had he?

Jessica was giving him an ultimatum. He could give it all up, commit himself to her more fully. Be the husband she deserved after all the years of hell he had put her through.

But could he give up Lucy?

The thought of never seeing her again, made him sick. But what if Lucy was right? What if this was a miracle? No one could deny that this was a unique and once in a lifetime opportunity. Hell, Garcia Flynn had murdered his way through history in an effort to get his own wife back. If he didn't jump at this chance, what kind of an ungrateful bastard would he be? So, what if it was Rittenhouse who brought her back? The mere fact that she now had a chance to live a life that she was robbed of should be enough to have him on his knees, thanking God that at long last his prayers had been answered.

Jessica's eyes bore into his as he contemplated the very difficult choice before him. She reached out and grasped his hands, "I'm just asking you to be honest with me, Wyatt. Don't you think I deserve that, after everything we've been through?"

Sleep was a near impossibility for Lucy these days.

This last week spent in the bunker was quiet and subdued. Rufus and Jiya were hard at work making upgrades to the LifeBoat, Flynn was forever in his room, as was Mason, and even Agent Christopher's visits seemed less frequent. When the team did assemble for meal times and the occasional movie, there was an awkwardness among them that could only be attributed to the fact that Wyatt was no longer among them.

For Lucy, Wyatt's continued absence only served as a glaring reminder that he was no longer a part of her personal life…and as more time passed and still there had been no indication that he was returning, she imagined that he would no longer be a part of her professional life either.

Not that she could blame him.

To be reunited with his wife, to have that second chance? Why on Earth would he risk losing her again by jumping into a time machine? Why would he leave the comfort of her arms and the conveniences of a normal life to return to the dismal existence that was life in the bunker?

Lucy wished for a mission…anything to help her focus her attention on something other than the gaping hole in her heart, but Rittenhouse, it seemed, was relishing in her torment. No missions came, no other developments occurred, and so Lucy was forced to pass each excruciating second fighting back tears as she attempted to busy herself with some mundane task around the bunker in an effort to keep herself from thinking too much on what might have been.

The others seemed happy to oblige her, offering up little tasks she could assist them with, but their pitying looks and all too kind responses to any of her questions made her feel more like a project than a friend. They were all walking on eggshells around her and it was pathetically obvious, despite her best efforts to show them that she was fine. Her heart may have been a broken mess, but she would manage her disappointment…and could do it much better if she had something to occupy her time. Since everyone insisted on treating her with kid gloves, more often than not she found herself alone in her room, reading a book or listening to Mason's old collection of jazz albums.

On the eighth night of Wyatt's absence, Lucy could no longer stand the confines of her room. She was restless and the lack of sleep had made her irritable. Pulling on a pair of woolen socks over her sweat pants, Lucy made her way down the darkened corridor and flipped on the television. Memories of curling up on the couch with Amy, watching classic films served to both assault and buoy up her heart as she queued up one of her favorite classic films, It Happened One Night. Feet propped up on the coffee table, her head resting in her hands, she had hardly noticed or cared that she was soon joined by Garcia Flynn who silently offered her a beer as he took a seat beside her.

"One of Clark Gable's better performances." Flynn observed after taking a swig of his beer. "I always thought Gone with the Wind was a bit over-rated. Lucy merely grunted in reply as Flynn continued, "This was made in what? 1937?"

"1934" Lucy said flatly, the mission, the kiss, associated with that year suddenly brought to the forefront of her mind.

Flynn, either keenly aware or woefully oblivious to what was running through her head, frowned as he muttered softly against his beer bottle, "Not my favorite year."

Lucy could not agree with that statement, so she said nothing.

Instead, she immersed herself in the love story unfolding in grainy black and white on the television screen before her, delighting in every bit of banter, every familiar scene, every memorized line, until Flynn attempted conversation once more, "You were right, you know?"

"Hmmm?" muttered Lucy, still looking at the television screen, "Right about what?

"I don't know you…but I guess what I meant that day was, I'd like to get to know you. But I understand if you don't want that."

Lucy cast a sideways glance at him and said nothing for a while. Her mind was wrapped up the enigma that was Flynn. Why she gave her journal to him of all people was still such a mystery to her…and yet now, even after all of his pronouncements he had made for a better part of a year, he was sitting here admitting that he didn't know her as well as he thought he did. "So…what you're really saying is…" Lucy murmured with her chin still resting on her hand, "I'm not like the Lucy in the journal….is that it?"

"The Lucy in the journal is very impressive." Flynn said with a nod. "She makes me look like a Boy Scout."

Lucy shifted uncomfortably next to him. It had always bugged her when Flynn spoke of the journal version of herself. It was disconcerting enough to know that in some dystopian future she had supposedly written this journal and risked everything to hand it off to Garcia Flynn…but to consider the idea that she had been more ruthless and deadly than Flynn himself? What on Earth had happened to her to make her that way? She wasn't a killer.

But just as that thought passed through her mind, an unmistakable pang of guilt shot through her heart as memories of a pleading WWI soldier and an unarmed Jesse James found their way to the forefront of her consciousness.

Swallowing hard, but determined to get some answers, Lucy observed, "You said once before that you and I would be quite the team one day. I'm guessing that you didn't mean this?" She said with a nervous chuckle, "Or were cold showers in a rusty bunker and dinners made up of Spaghetti'O's and meatballs all part of the grand future you described that night at the Hindenburg?"

Flynn brought his beer bottle down from his lips, "Some things didn't turn out exactly as I expected, no."

Lucy turned her face back to the television with a triumphant smirk on her face, remembering Wyatt's speech to her after the 1754 mission, If you don't like the future Flynn has planned out for you, then rewrite it. And so, it seemed she had...but had she done it for the better?

As of right now, the man she loved was gone…possibly for good. If she had indeed tried to change her future, then why wouldn't she have warned herself about all of this?

With some hesitancy, Lucy muttered, "Did…did…" she heaved a heavy sigh, "Was this the same?"

Flynn chuckled, "Watching a movie with me?"

Lucy sighed, "You know what I mean." she said firmly, before taking a steadying breath and clarifying, "Wyatt. Did he leave…then?"

Flynn frowned before stating after a long while, "Not in the same way."

Lucy's heart plummeted to her stomach. So Wyatt had left her before...and it seemed he always would...for Jessica. Maybe she had been wrong...maybe Jessica's death wasn't fate. Maybe this wasn't what she was trying to change at all...though she couldn't imagine any version of herself not being completely heartbroken over it.

Flynn cast a sideways glance her way and sighed, "I tried to tell Wyatt in 1972."

"You tried to tell him what?" Lucy asked her attention turned fully to Flynn.

He cleared his throat and shifted slightly, "I read him what you wrote in the journal. That he needed to get over Jessica and move on." He nodded as he took another drink of beer, "Obviously, he didn't listen."

Lucy gaped at Flynn. So, she had wrote about Jessica in the journal…and Wyatt knew it? Funny that he never breathed a word to her about it. She wondered what he must have thought of her at the time…they were hardly a team then…in fact, it was after that mission that Wyatt was so furious with…

Realization dawned on Lucy's face and she let out a small gasp that had Flynn turning to her in interest, "What's the matter?"

"Nothing." Lucy muttered as she took a small swig of her beer. "I just…figured something out…I think." She cleared her throat, "I'm guessing he didn't appreciate the advice…particularly coming from you."

"But it didn't come from me." Flynn countered meaningfully, "I showed it to him…your words, your handwriting…warning him that he needed to move on from Jessica." Flynn scoffed, "And now Rittenhouse has exploited his weakness."

"I don't think we can blame him for that." Lucy said softly. "What would you do if Rittenhouse brought your wife and daughter back from the dead?" She cast a sideways glance towards him, "You can't tell me you wouldn't be so overwhelmed with gratitude to have them back in your arms again that you would…" she bit her lip and shifted awkwardly, "you can't tell me that you wouldn't have done the same thing Wyatt has done."

Flynn frowned slightly in thought, but said no more so Lucy turned back to the movie, though her thoughts were no longer on the budding romance of Ellie Andrews and Peter Warne. Instead, she was thinking about Wyatt and what Flynn had told her. Obviously, Jessica's return had caused her enough grief to write about it in her journal. If he had also left in the other timeline, no matter if the circumstances were different or not, the end result was the same. He was gone. Fate, it seemed, was not on her side. Heaving a heavy sigh, she removed her feet from the coffee table and tucked them underneath her, suddenly feeling overwhelmed by the thought of going on without his steady and sure presence by her side.

She blinked back tears as she tried to focus her attention on the movie, but the feeble "wall of Jericho" separating the twin beds of the socialite and down on his luck reporter transported her back to Arkansas 1934.

There's a couple billion people in the world and they're the only ones for each other? What are the odds?

What? You're all about fate and destiny except when it comes to love?

If there's only one person in the world for you in the whole world and you lose them, does that mean that you have to live the rest of your life without anyone else? I think you, we, anyone has to be open to possibilities.

Possibilities of what?

I don't know, I just know I'm not ready to say goodbye yet.

"Lucy?"

She awoke with a start, her eyes darting around the darkened living area. The television had been turned off and the blanket that had been haphazardly draped over her was now falling to the floor as she scrambled to a sitting position. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness and the foggy remnants of sleep began to lift from her mind, she startled to find Wyatt standing a few feet away from her.

"Wyatt." she breathed out, her voice hitching with emotion. "Wh…what time is it?"

He sighed as he looked at his watch, "Um…2 in the morning."

"Oh." Lucy groaned as she rolled her neck, her muscles screaming in pain from the awkward position she had been laying in. "Wh…what are you doing here?" she asked as she stifled a yawn. "I…I thought you'd be…I mean, I didn't expect to see you…"

"Lucy," Wyatt said as he made a tentative step towards her, "can we talk? Please?"

Lucy nodded as she stood up awkwardly from the couch, desperate to do something to quell the mounting anxieties that had awoken at the sight of him. "Sure…let me just…um…let me make some tea." She made her way into the kitchen, keenly aware that Wyatt's eyes were following her every move as she prepared her cup. He slowly approached, as if unsure of what to do with himself, until he finally set to pacing slowly in front of the table waiting for Lucy to give him her full and undivided attention. His actions, however, only served to make Lucy all the more nervous. For him to suddenly make a reappearance in the bunker in the dead of night after a week of nothing? What could it possibly mean? After she finished steeping her tea, she turned to him abruptly and asked, "Why are you here, Wyatt?"

"I live here." he said with a hint of a smirk, but at Lucy's admonishing gaze, he cleared his throat and amended, "I…I know I've been gone for a while, but Lucy…I just needed some time alone to figure all of this out."

"Alone?" The hopeful question was out of her mouth before she could even stop herself.

Wyatt, however, didn't seem to mind her tone one bit. In fact, he reinforced it by firmly confirming, "Yes. Alone. I…uh…I've been staying at a motel." he explained, "while I worked through all of this." He fidgeted nervously before adding, "Ag…Agent Christopher promised to tell me if Rittenhouse jumped…I…I was never…I mean, I would never…"

"Oh." Lucy muttered as she pressed her lips to her mug, trying to hide her unspoken relief that Wyatt hadn't been spending the last week wrapped up in the arms of his undead wife. "She never said…" Lucy tried to explain, "I mean…I wasn't sure if you were coming back."

"I'm sorry about that, Lucy…I just…" he bit his lip nervously, "I thought staying away would make things easier."

Lucy swallowed hard as she tightened the grip she had on her mug, hoping that it would conceal the shaking in her hands.

Wyatt anxiously stepped forward, taking care to keep a respectable distance between them, as he expounded, "I..uh…I saw Jessica." Tears sprang to his eyes and his voice was wrought with emotion as he went on to describe their reunion, "It's really her…I couldn't believe it…she looks just as she did, her hair is a little different, but…"

"I'm thrilled for you, Wyatt." Lucy nodded, fighting back her own tears as she turned back to the counter with her mug of tea.

"No, Lucy…wait, please." Wyatt begged as he pulled out a chair for Lucy. She sighed as she reluctantly took a seat. "The entire time I sat there with her…it was like…no time had passed. The things I had forgotten, the marriage counseling sessions, the fights…everything was the same." Wyatt swallowed hard, "I…our marriage wasn't happy...not like I had said...ya know, before." Lucy stared back at him blankly which made Wyatt shift uncomfortably before continuing, "It was my fault…mostly…I know I could have been a better husband. I was never there..."

"But, you have time to change that now." Lucy offered. "Who you were then is not who you are now."

Wyatt nodded, "I know. But Lucy…"

"This is everything you ever wanted, everything you ever hoped for." Lucy nodded, "When she sees how much you love her…" Lucy offered him a wan smile, "Don't worry about things here…you…you just focus on working things out with Jessica."

"Lucy," Wyatt groaned in frustration, "Will you just listen? Please?" Lucy stared up at him and nodded slowly. Wyatt sighed heavily, "I lived with six years of guilt, Lucy…six years of thinking over what I could have done differently. But then I come into this timeline and the six years she had spent with me were…apparently even worse."

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked.

"I don't know." he sighed as he sank down in a chair, "She described…someone I never thought I would be." He held his head in his hands and rubbed rough circles on his forehead.

Lucy looked at him with concern, "Wyatt?"

"I always thought if that night had gone differently," he said more to his hands than to her, "that we would have survived the lowest point in our marriage. I mean," he chuckled dryly "when things are so bad you leave your wife on the side of the road, there's nowhere to go but up, right?" He scoffed, "Jessica was right, I did put our marriage on a pedestal….it wasn't perfect, not even close."

"No marriage is, Wyatt…you're being too hard on yourself." Lucy consoled. "What did Jessica have to say about all of this?"

She kept telling me she didn't want to be married to a state secret…and well, I knew…"

Lucy sat waiting for him to expound on that statement, not wanting to interrupt him yet again, but as no further explanation seemed forthcoming she asked with hesitancy, "You knew what?"

"That I didn't want that for her either." After a few moments of heavy silence, Wyatt sighed and pulled a rolled up manila envelope from his pocket and handed it over to her.

Looking at him warily, Lucy took the envelope from his hands, opening it up to find, "Divorce papers." she muttered as her eyes darted to his. She shook her head in confusion, "I don't…I don't understand."

"She had already signed them, Lucy." Wyatt said as he nodded towards the divorce papers.

Lucy stared at the divorce papers before her, hardly believing that after all of this time, Wyatt was willing to give up the woman he had repeatedly declared himself wholly committed to…the woman who was the only one in the world for him. "Wyatt, are…are you sure this is what you want to do?" she asked with concern. "You've had six years apart…of course there's going to be some rough patches to work through."

Wyatt stared at her blankly, "Lucy…I thought you'd be happy about this?" he asked in bewilderment.

Lucy sighed out in exasperation, "Of course I'm not happy. Wyatt…you're talking about throwing away the second chance you dreamed of." He made to argue with her but she shook her head, "I'm just afraid that one day…you might regret this." She looked away suddenly embarrassed as Wyatt gave her an affronted glare. "I mean, she's your lightning bolt."

"My what?" he asked in bewilderment.

Lucy stared back at him in irritated confusion, "Your lightning bolt." She flushed slightly as she expounded in embarrassment, "You know, the sign from the heavens…"

He let out a derisive laugh as he shook his head furiously, "No, she wasn't, Lucy." he said a little louder than he intended, his face shining with something that looked an awful lot like amusement.

Lucy tilted her head and glared at him sardonically, "Yes, she was, Wyatt…you told me so, that night with Bonnie and Clyde.

"No, I didn't." Wyatt argued as he shook his head at her determinedly.

"Yes, you did." Lucy shot back annoyed that Wyatt would dare argue about this with her. Did he not realize that she had replayed that night over and over again in her mind until she had almost the entire mission committed to memory? Lucy glared at him as she continued with a slight shake to her voice, "It was right after you told your engagement story…"

Wyatt huffed out an exasperated breath and argued, "Yes…and right after I kissed you."

Lucy gaped at him.

"That kiss that "didn't mean anything?"" Wyatt asked with a scoff as Lucy cast her eyes down, reliving the other conversation they had had that evening. Wyatt had approached her, nervous and embarrassed, telling her in no uncertain terms did that kiss, that had turned her world upside down and inside out, hold any special meaning for him.

That's why his next few words completely floored her.

"It meant everything to me." Wyatt admitted softly, hardly daring to meet Lucy's stunned expression. Amazed at the emotion in Wyatt's eyes, Lucy sat back, astounded, as he cast his glance to the floor and explained further, "You were talking about fate and destiny and how you had never had the lightning bolt from the heavens…well, I had." Wyatt nodded as he looked at her, "That night."

Hardly believing what she was hearing, Lucy pushed back from the table, "What? No…no you were talking about Jessica." she maintained.

"Dammit, Lucy…I was talking about you." Wyatt spat out in frustration…more at himself than at Lucy who had gasped at the force of his confession. If Wyatt noticed, he didn't let on, he was rubbing a rough hand across his forehead, his jaw tense and his face flushed with a sudden embarrassment. "I just…didn't admit it because it didn't seem like you felt the same way." He shook his head ruefully, "Hell, you were engaged."

If it had been possible to actually knock someone over with a feather, Lucy was sure that she would have been a viable candidate for said toppling. In no universe could she have ever imagined that in that impossibly tiny bed in 1934 Arkansas, Wyatt had been referring to her. She had replayed that kiss and conversation so many times in her mind since that night; kicking herself for stupidly talking about possibilities when Wyatt had just been talking about his engagement to his…well, what she had believed at the time, lightning bolt. She sat staring at Wyatt, her mind attempting to wrap itself around the idea that she, not Jessica, had been the sign from the heavens…and no matter how much she tried to believe it, she just could not.

"Wait a minute." Lucy said as she leapt up from the chair and braced herself against the kitchen counter, "I remember that conversation like it was yesterday…"

"So do I." Wyatt countered with a smirk, "You asked me if I could believe how Bonnie and Clyde were together and I told you it was obvious they were in love." Lucy nodded as Wyatt continued, "Then I asked you how you could believe in fate and destiny except when it comes to love and you said…"

"That I had seen attraction and chemistry, but no lightning bolt from the heavens." Lucy maintained. "But then you…" Wyatt shook his head and Lucy was suddenly taken back to that tiny bed in Arkansas in 1934. They had been impossibly close, forced to listen to the moans and sighs emanating from the notorious gangster couple on the other side of that ineffective "wall of Jericho" when Wyatt had responded that he had seen the lightning bolt from the heavens…because it had happened to him. He didn't elaborate…and Lucy had assumed that he had meant Jessica.

Why wouldn't she?

As Lucy stared blankly back at him, Wyatt's smirk formed into a full-fledged grin as he leaned backwards in his chair, "I told you I didn't say that." he said in a voice dripping with such smugness, Lucy couldn't help but roll her eyes.

All this time she had believed that she could never mean the same to Wyatt as his late wife…and now he was telling her that Jessica wasn't the one he was referring to that night? No. It didn't make sense. "Are you telling me that…" she scoffed in disbelief as she ran her hand through her hair and began pacing, "Wyatt…you risked everything to get her back…you stole the LifeBoat for heaven's sake."

"Lucy, do you know how guilty I felt after that kiss?" he asked roughly as he leaned forward. "I had just finished talking about the day I got engaged to Jessica...I wasn't supposed to be feeling anything towards anyone…least of all you. I mean, you were engaged."

"But Noah…"

"Lucy, you had just gone out on a date with the guy." Wyatt reminded her. "You weren't exactly available."

Lucy stopped pacing and stared at him as rested his elbows on his knees, contemplating his next words as if in prayer, "Besides, I had told myself after Jessica died, that I didn't deserve a second chance at…this. That it couldn't happen." He passed a rough hand over his face as he continued, "This mission changed all of that. With a time machine, I thought…maybe I had could have that chance, after all." He let out a small laugh, "And then I kissed you and my entire world flipped upside down."

Lucy felt tears burning in her eyes as Wyatt continued, "I tried to fight it…I didn't think someone like you would have anything to do with a reckless hothead like me" he said softly, lifting the corner of his mouth in a slight smirk. "I sure as hell never imagined falling head over heels for a bossy know it all."

Lucy stared back at him, her chest rising and falling heavily as she fought to maintain her composure.

"When Flynn took off with you, Lucy…I nearly went out of my damned mind and I knew then, that I had to figure things out."

Lucy crossed her arms over her chest, almost leveling him with a piercing gaze, "So…so all of that talk about stealing the LifeBoat being worth losing…" she wanted to say me, but couldn't quite find the courage – which was ridiculous after everything Wyatt had just told her. So instead, she reworded her question. "If I was your lightning bolt then why did you steal the LifeBoat? If you knew then..." she began to cry as the memory of that painful night replayed in her mind, "why did you say having Jessica back would be worth any bad thing that could happen to you?

"Because I had convinced myself it was the right thing to do. All those years of guilt? I felt like I owed Jessica something…a chance to live the life she should have had." He nodded thoughtfully, "I thought it was just my own heart I was risking that night…it wasn't until you…" he cast his eyes to the floor unable to look at Lucy without the pain of remembering the anguish in her face that night, "I never wanted to hurt you, Lucy."

She nodded as silent tears began to fall from her eyes. Wyatt scoffed as he made his way over to her, "I know I said I had to try…and I did, for my own damn conscience, but Lucy…don't believe for one second that I haven't regretted everything I said and did that night."

"You…you did what you needed to do, Wyatt. I can't hold that against you."

Wyatt let out a small laugh, "I call bullshit on that one ma'am."

Lucy looked up at him, "What? Why? I haven't held that against you."

"Liar." he said with a soft smirk as he brushed his fingers over her cheek, "You were so convinced I would abandon you again for Jessica, you basically pushed me out of the bunker door."

Lucy frowned at him seriously, "I just didn't want you to feel like you couldn't have that second chance, Wyatt…this was something you wanted for so long."

"And I appreciate that Lucy, more than you will ever know." Wyatt nodded seriously, "But I have no regrets." Lucy nodded while he cupped his hands along her face and leaned his forehead to hers, "I love you, Lucy Preston." he whispered softly.

Tears spilled out onto Lucy's cheeks as she reached her hands up to clasp his, terrified that at any moment she might wake up to find this whole thing had been the result of some sleep-deprived fantasy. Feeling his calloused thumbs caress her temples and the warmth of his hands on her cheeks, however, worked to convince her that this was no dream. Wyatt was actually here…with her...and she was the one he had chosen. She pressed a gentle kiss to his lips and murmured against them "And I love you, Wyatt Logan."

Lucy was unable to do or say much else as Wyatt ghosted his lips over her face, intoxicating her with every gentle pass of his lips over hers until finally his hands drifted from her waist to hair, pulling her in for one long, slow, passionate kiss that left Lucy a little breathless and weak in the knees.

Seeing that she had no objection to the kiss, Wyatt twirled her around, walking her backwards, the two of them kissing and clawing at each other as they stumbled their way down the hall towards the bedroom. They were just outside of her door when Wyatt pressed Lucy firmly against the wall, kissing his way down her neck as he gasped out, "Do you know how hard it was to keep away from you for a whole damn week?"

Lucy reclaimed his mouth with hers, but as his hands traveled underneath the hem of her shirt and skimmed along the bare skin of her back, she pulled away from him with a gasp, "Wait…wait a minute." she stammered breathlessly as she pressed his chest away from her, "You're still married."

Wyatt groaned as he dropped his forehead against her shoulder, "Yes, but I'm taking care of that, Lucy. I've already signed the papers."

He leaned back in her for a kiss, but she shook her head at him, the hint of a smile on her face as she maintained, "Mr. Logan, legally, you are still a married man. Which means, technically…you are very much off-limits." Wyatt groaned again as he looked at her with pleading eyes, but Lucy was determined, "Wyatt…do you really want to flirt with temptation?"

"If I say, yes would you hold it against me?" Wyatt returned with a devilish smirk, but Lucy's admonishing glare had him clearing his throat and stepping away from her respectfully. "Sorry about that, ma'am." he said with a slight bow as she stepped away from him. "You're right…I don't want to flirt with temptation, I want to…"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence, Wyatt Logan." Lucy admonished as he raised his eyebrows at her. "What would everybody think?"

"I don't give a damn what anybody else thinks, Lucy." Wyatt stated simply as he snaked his arms around her waist. But as she continued to offer him a reproving glare, he bowed his head, "Fine." he muttered in defeat, "I guess, I'll go take a nice, cold shower. Alone."

Lucy grinned at him, "I think that sounds like an excellent idea."

"You know…if you decided to take a shower too…for purely conservational reasons...I don't think anyone would hold it against you." he called after her as she turned to enter her room.

"Goodnight, Wyatt." she said firmly over her shoulder.

Wyatt shrugged as he backed away, not taking his eyes off of Lucy as she turned and watched him from her open door. With a flirtatious smirk, he muttered, "I guess I'll see you around the bunker, then…baby doll."

Lucy nodded at him as she backed herself away to her own room, teasing playfully, "See you around the bunker…sweetheart."

Notes:

Jessica is still awful...and I'd like to apologize for that, but I won't...because she's freaking awful. The next chapter will delve into that a little bit more, but for now, I just wanted to revisit that hotel room scene with a bit of Wyatt's introspective.

I hope you enjoyed this update. I have favorite chapters in all of my stories and this one, I think, is my favorite for this particular fic. The whole lightning bolt thing came from a discussion a few of us were having one day...I think Tish started it where we realize that Wyatt never answers her in the Bonnie and Clyde scene. He only says, it happened to him and then sort of frowns and looks a bit embarrassed...so I brought that beautiful theory in here because now I can't watch Bonnie and Clyde without thinking that that was lightning bolt he was talking about. We know from Arika that they both KNEW after that kiss, so there you have it.

I revisited baby doll and sweetheart because as heart breaking as that scene is in 2x05, I loved that callback so much...so I wanted to do it again in here, but under VERY different circumstances.

I hope you enjoyed this update! Torrent is coming along, but I'm stuck on a narrative issue...I can't decide which way I want to go with it...and since it's the FINAL update, I'm really stressing over it, so I'm letting it sit for a bit until I'm a bit more confident in the way I want it to go. (I have it all plotted out it's just the HOW they get there that's the issue...I'm at a fork in the road with my narrative choices and I want to make the one that I feel fits best.)

Thank you for reading and reviewing. I appreciate your feedback so much!