Chapter 15: Everyone is the Hero of their Own Story.

It was chaos in the trauma center of the George Washington University Hospital in Washington, DC. The President, as Lucy explained, had cracked a rib when he was being pushed into the limousine and had been coughing up blood. His presence added not only a heightened frenzy to the place, but also tightened security. The halls were filled not only with doctors and nurses, but with secret service agents and the occasional member of the press, attempting to sneak access to the wounded President.

"I don't understand." Rufus whispered as they made their way towards the trauma unit. "If Rittenhouse wanted to take out Agent Christopher, why didn't they do it the other day when they had the chance?" He looked at Lucy, "Didn't she get that black eye from your mother?"

"Because it's much bigger than that." Lucy explained in a huff. "If Rittenhouse is successful here, she could effectively disappear and the reality we had been inhabiting could disappear right along with it."

"She's that important?" Jiya asked.

"Well…everybody's important, but she created this team." Lucy muttered quietly. "She recruited Wyatt…without her…there's be no us…any of us."

"Oh come on now…" Rufus attempted to argue, "Jiya and I were at Mason…and I'm sure you guys would have…"

"When she found out all of her superiors were working for Rittenhouse she took us all off the grid." Wyatt reminded him. "That's not something just anybody would do. Do you know what kind of risk she took? Hell, she put 200 of them behind bars, some of them her superiors." Wyatt scoffed, "If it weren't for her, Rittenhouse would have had the Lifeboat a long time ago."

"Right." Lucy nodded as she swallowed hard, "So we need to make sure nothing changes for her. We need her to do the things she's supposed to do, so that come 2016, she's at Homeland Security arranging a team to go after Garcia Flynn."

"You know, you say that and there are days I would trade anything to be back chasing his ass all over history instead of dealing with these sleepers." Rufus quipped. "Course that would mean, he wouldn't be in the bunker living with us anymore…can't say that I'd miss him that much, but the man does have good taste in skin moisturizer."

Jiya rolled her eyes at Rufus, as Lucy leaned towards Wyatt and whispered urgently, "Any sign of him?"

"He has got to be here somewhere" Wyatt sighed as he took in the bustling unit. "If this is where they took Reagan, he can't be very far away."

"There are a lot of Secret Service here…would you recognize him if you saw him?" Lucy asked as she bit her lip nervously.

"Yeah." Wyatt muttered, "Coat and tie, mustache…Magnum PI 'stache."

"Well that narrows it down a bit." Rufus quipped sarcastically. "It's like finding a moustache in a haystack around here."

"And we still have to find Hinckley." Lucy reminded them, "He can't get away with this…who knows what could happen."

Wyatt, whose eyes hadn't once drifted from the task of scanning the room in search of Agent Christopher's would be assassin, suddenly tensed, "That's him." He turned to Lucy, "You find Agent Christopher…stay with her…make sure she gets patched up and then work with her on finding Hinckley. Rufus and I will go after this dick."

"Okay." Lucy nodded, before reaching out and grabbing Wyatt by the hand. "Just…be careful, alright?" she whispered urgently.

"You too." Wyatt offered as he squeezed her hand in assurance before setting off with Rufus towards the elevators.

Lucy watched them go with more than a little trepidation, taking comfort only in the fact that if they were unsuccessful, at least their memories would remain intact, no matter what changes they would face upon their return to the present. It was little comfort, however. Without Agent Christopher, would they even have a home to come back to? Would they return to a present where history as they knew it was unrecognizable due to Rittenhouse interference?

"You okay?" Jiya asked as she nudged Lucy in the arm.

Lucy shook her head despondently, "Maybe…maybe I can't escape Rittenhouse." She let out a shaky breath, "They're going to keep doing things like this until...until…"

"Hey," Jiya consoled, "We've got this…Wyatt and Rufus are going to find that sleeper, and we'll make sure nothing happens to Agent Christopher…it's going to be fine.

"But what about next time?" Lucy muttered mechanically. "I…I just…"

Understanding Lucy's concern, Jiya nodded thoughtfully, "I know...I worry too...but look on the bright side..."

"There's a bright side?" Lucy asked doubtfully.

"At least they can't do anything to Mason," Jiya answered with a grin, "without him, they wouldn't have a time machine." She tugged on Lucy's arm, "Come on, let's go find Agent Christopher."

The two friends and teammates made their way down to the emergency room where a young Denise Christopher was being treated for a minor gunshot wound to her arm. Since beginning this foray into time travel, Lucy had experienced her share of strange and unusual moments. Meeting her grandfather, Ethan Cahill, for example, had been one such experience; to become acquainted with a man she had never before seen while in his youth and then meet him again, hours later after he had aged 63 years? That was more than a little surreal. Now, however, as she pushed open the door to Officer Christopher's examination room, she felt that same twisted sense of déjà vu as her eyes beheld the fresh, young, and untested face of the Homeland Security agent who would one day be like a mother to her.

"Can I help you?" Agent Christopher asked with a wary look towards Lucy and Jiya.

Too astonished to even speak, Lucy stood gaping at her youthful mentor, until Jiya stepped forward, "I'm Cagney, this is Lacey…we're um…private investigators."

"I'm Denise."

"I kn…I mean, it's very nice to meet you." Lucy corrected herself nervously.

Denise Christopher narrowed her eyes at them suspiciously, "Who did you say you work for again?"

You.

Lucy bit her lip to keep that answer from escaping and making an already awkward situation, more so. "We're um…not at liberty to say." she stammered out as she cast a nervous glance towards Jiya.

Lucy had never been smooth with her lies…even in 1937 when Admiral Rosendahl had asked for their credentials, she had spouted off the first pop culture references that popped into her head, thanking her lucky stars that General Hospital wouldn't air for another twenty-six years. Then, Admiral Rosendahl had been thoroughly distracted by her mention of the Spanish Flu to ask any further questions; his concern for the health of his men and the awaiting crowd far outweighing any suspicion he might have otherwise had. Now, however, Lucy felt at a complete loss. Knowing Agent Christopher as she did, made lying to her, even years before she met her, a seemingly impossible task. Already she was surveying Lucy and Jiya with a searching gaze that Lucy had seen many time; a gaze that communicated clearly to Lucy that she knew they weren't being entirely truthful.

Desperate to distract from her nervous agitation which she felt would inevitably raise only more suspicion, Lucy stammered and fidgeted nervously, but no such distraction was forthcoming. She was just about to give in and admit everything when Jiya quickly got to the matter at hand, "We're here about the man who shot the President. We need your help."

Breathing out a sigh of relief, Lucy offered Jiya a thankful nod.

Agent Christoper...or rather, Officer Christopher looked back at them incredulously, "That's more of a job for the hotline or the Secret Service...not me."

"They won't believe us." Jiya pressed.

"Why not?"

Lucy exhanged a look with Jiya before taking a steadying breath and confessing quickly, "We believe that a disturbed young man named John Hinckley shot the President. He's obsessed with Jodie Foster, so he imitated the plot in the movie Taxi Driver to impress her."

Agent Christopher stared at them blankly, "You're right..." she said incredulously, "they won't believe you."

"We can prove it." Lucy said with a desperate nod, "All we need you to do is trust us...and you will have the opportunity to catch the man who shot the President. I know you can't walk away from that."

Denise Christopher sighed as she looked at the two women before her, "What do you need me to do?"

The steady drip of water echoed in the mildewed basement of a parking garage right off the Foggy Bottom Metro stop. Since Rittenhouse had played their hand and stole the Mothership right out from under Homeland Security's nose, Wyatt had been itching to get some real information out of them. The raid, while offering them some intelligence, did very little in the way of giving them any kind of indication of who these sleepers were, how many they had placed, and why any one of them would agree to live out an unknown number of years in the past. With Jessica's return and the mounting suspicion surrounding her own affiliation with Rittenhouse, Wyatt was more than a little anxious to get some answers.

Half dragging the sleeper agent to a secluded corner, Wyatt roughly threw him into a chair and began binding his hands and feet, "Pl…please…I'll tell you everything." he stammered fearfully.

"I have no doubts about that." Wyatt gritted out. "You're gonna sing like a canary." After tightening the bonds on the sleeper's wrists, Wyatt stood up, shook off his coat, rolled up his sleeved and loomed over him dangerously. "How long have you been here?"

"Si…since Emma dropped me off…12 years ago." came his ready answer.

"Must have been lonely," Rufus observed casually as he leaned against a pillar. "Just you and that mustache."

Ignoring Rufus' jab, Wyatt continued to press for information, "When were you activated?"

The man looked fearfully between Wyatt and Rufus, unsure of whether or not they would believe his answer, "Th…this morning."

"So, you're telling me that you came here 12 years ago and they didn't give you any inkling about what you were coming here for?" The sleeper swallowed hard and shook his head, "Okay, so you're a naïve jackass who doesn't ask questions…just blindly follows…is that it?"

"You don't understand…" he stammered out, "I only know my mission…that's how it works….they don't tell us anything…only what we need to know."

"Is that a fact?" Wyatt asked with a scoff, "And why would you give up your smartphone, your Tinder account, for all of this?"

"I didn't have a choice." he cried. "My father…he was caught embezzling money. My family lost everything. My dad killed himself…but Rittenhouse…they bailed us out…my mother, me and my brother Zac. Zac bought into all of the ideology, but…I had my doubts." Heaving a heavy sigh, the sleeper continued, "Carol Preston promised we would be well taken care of…she just wanted something in return."

"Time travel." Rufus answered for him.

"Yeah." he confirmed with a derisive laugh, "It sounded like an incredible adventure."

"Going through time killing people is an incredible adventure?" Wyatt snapped.

"No! I didn't know about that until this morning…I swear."

"So, is that how this normally works," Wyatt asked, "they get some desperate bastard and send them back in time, show up one day and hand you a gun…is that it?" The sleeper didn't answer, only bowed his head in distress. "Who else is Rittenhouse targeting?" Wyatt pressed, "The other time periods? What's the plan" Wyatt demanded.

"I told you…I don't know." the man spat out in agitation, "I only know about my mission."

Landing a blow on his face, Wyatt leaned down ominously, gripping at the sleeper's shirt, "So let me get this straight, you're a nobody…a grunt…somebody Rittenhouse picked up along the way because you were desperate for money, power, attention…how many more like you are there?" Wyatt asked.

"I don…don't know." the sleeper stammered, "I just know what Rittenhouse promised me. They promise a lot of things…to a lot of different people."

Why did the bring my wife back?" Wyatt gritted out angrily. "Huh? Why would they do that?" He knew before he even finished asking those questions, he would get nothing in return, but if what Agent Christopher had said about Jessica's brother was true, then that had to have been the key in getting her to join the organization. Had her parents turned her over to them? And if they had…how they hell did they meet? Was she always Rittenhouse? Holy shit…was he her mark?

The whole idea of it made him sick.

"I don't know anything about that" the man begged, "Please…I have a wife and kid in 2018…if I don't do everything Rittenhouse says, they'll kill them. Do...do whatever you want with me. I just want them to be safe."

Wyatt scoffed, "You have a wife and kid in 2018? How the hell is that possible if you've been here for 12 damn years?" Wyatt studied his face closely, "You don't have a family there…do you? It's all just nothing but a damn lie."

The sleeper's face twitched, but otherwise his expression remained stony.

Motioning Wyatt over to the corner with a nod of his head, Rufus waited until Wyatt slowly approached and whispered, "What the hell are we going to do with this guy? Kill him?"

Wyatt shrugged, "Well, we can't leave him here, can we?"

"What if we bring him with us?" Rufus suggested. "Like a POW? I mean, we've never caught a sleeper before…we can take two trips."

"No. Just kill me…I'd be better off dead" came the voice of the sleeper from behind them. Wyatt shrugged his shoulders like he didn't think it was such a bad idea.

Rufus, however, objected. "No." he maintained. "We are not like Rittenhouse. We don't just kill people."

"I'm not leaving anybody behind so we can take this asshole back to the present." Wyatt argued.

"Then just leave me in '81." the sleeper suggested haughtily.

"Right." Wyatt spat out angrily as he grabbed the man's throat, "So you can just take out Christopher after we leave?" The sleeper shook his head adamantly swearing that he wouldn't, but Wyatt scoffed, "Why the hell should we trust you?"

"I'll tell you about my brother." he wheezed out. "Please. He came here to activate me. I stole Christopher's file from the hospital with her address in it. He's probably on his way over there right now."

That revelation took Wyatt from mildly annoyed to furious. "You couldn't tell us that before?" Wyatt gritted out as he slammed the sleeper against the wall. It wasn't just Agent Christopher he was worried about, if Lucy was still with her, she was a target too.

"I'm telling you now." the sleeper spat back in annoyance, "If you let me go…I'll give you the address."

Wyatt stared back at him dangerously, "No…you're going to give us that address now…and when we get back, we'll decide what to do with you. Start talking, asshole."

Lucy was desperate. They may have saved Agent Christopher from an assassin's bullet, they may have helped her nab John Hinckley, Jr, but if they didn't track her down and convince her to call of the arranged marriage she was being pressured into, they would be going back to a present they would not recognize.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Jiya whispered harshly as they approached Agent Christopher's front door. "I mean, there's the whole knowing too much about your own future thing…what if this backfires?"

"It can't be any worse than her going down a path she's not supposed to go down." Lucy said as she squared off her shoulders and tossed back her head resolutely. She knew that she was putting on a brave front. She had no idea what kind of repercussions this could cause, whether it would serve to make this better or worse, but she couldn't think about that right now. Right now, all she could think about was what kind of reality would await them in 2018 if they didn't do something to stop the wrecking ball Rittenhouse had put into motion. So, heaving out a sigh, she rang the doorbell of her Denise Christopher's home, silently praying that she would listen to what they had to say.

Though Denise did eventually listen to what they had to say, Lucy could see the confusion and fear in her eyes as she explained that she and Jiya were not the women they presented themselves to be…but when she mentioned time travel, the woman who would be Agent Christopher had had enough. "I think you need to leave." she muttered dismissively, making her way to the door.

"We can prove it!" Lucy explained desperately as Jiya presented her laptop.

"What is that?" Denise asked fearfully.

"It's a computer…I know you've never seen one like this before…that's because it's from 2018." Lucy explained. "And if can just trust us for just a little while longer, I'll show you why you can't go through with this marriage."

Whether it was out of curiosity or fear…perhaps a little of both, Denise relented and allowed Lucy to present her case. Pictures of children she would have, a marriage she never believed she could have and stories of her decorated career as a police officer, FBI Agent, and later Homeland Security, filled her eyes with tears of wonder.

"Every day we make decisions," Lucy argued passionately, "get married, don't get married. Take this job, or that job, go left, or go right…and at the time, they seem like they don't matter…but they do…especially in your case."

"Why my case?" Denise Christopher asked in bewilderment.

"Because," Lucy said, overcome with emotion, "you save so many lives. Including ours…and if you don't become the person you are meant to become...I..I don't know what will happen," Lucy said honestly as tears streamed down her face, "but our reality will change…and not for the better."

With shaking hands, Lucy pressed the thumb drive Agent Christopher had entrusted to her into her younger counterpart's hands. "Take this. You won't be able to use it for another 20 years, but it will help you remember why you are doing this," she smiled to herself, remembering Wyatt's own words to her, "what you are fighting for."

Embracing her, Lucy and Jiya left her in peace hoping that they had done enough to set her course back on the path to be their mentor, friend and confidant. Together, they both stepped out onto the porch of her home, anxious to see whether or not they had made any such difference, when a revving engine, a squeal of tires and a sickening thud had them racing out into the yard and looking with horror towards the middle of the street. A man had been hit by and was obviously dead…they had just turned to call for help when Wyatt stepped out from behind the wheel, a note of anxiousness in his voice, "You ladies call for an Uber?"

Confused, but beyond relieved to see him, Lucy and Jiya raced towards the car, understanding from Rufus as they piled into the backseat that Wyatt had "just saved all of their asses by turning the sleeper's brother into roadkill."

"Nice, Rufus." Jiya said with a roll of her eyes. "How'd you guys make out with the other guy?"

"He's dead too." Wyatt stated solemnly as he sped away from the scene. "Killed himself right after he gave us the address…must have had a cyanide tablet or something."

The trip back to the present was fairly subdued. Unsure of what awaited them, unsure if their efforts had made any difference, the team was rightfully nervous as the door to the Lifeboat rolled open. Seeing a beaming Agent Christopher waiting at the foot of the stairs, however, was enough to chase away any lingering fears or doubts. "I have been waiting 37 years to thank you all." she said proudly as she hugged each and every one of them. "You saved my life…and my family. I can't thank you enough." she said in a voice fraught with emotion.

"I'm so sorry to put that kind of pressure on you." Lucy said as she wrapped her arms around her mentor and friend.

"Don't be sorry, Lucy." she muttered gently, "It gave me hope."

Hardly needing a full briefing since she had been present for all that had transpired, even if it had been 37 years before, Agent Christopher, instead, asked Wyatt to elaborate on what he had learned from the Rittenhouse sleeper.

With an apologetic look towards Lucy, Wyatt explained as gently as he could manage how Rittenhouse seemed to prey on the desperate to do their dirty work. "The sleeper, ma'am, had been there for 12 years. His family had been financially ruined, his father had taken his life, but Rittenhouse had offered him a way out."

"A way out?" Agent Christopher asked.

Wyatt sighed heavily, "Offering him a chance to time travel, live in the past, and then turn him into a killer. It's my understanding, ma'am, that these people…these sleepers don't know the full nature of what they're being tasked to do until they are activated…and then, Rittenhouse manipulates them to see to it that their task is completed."

Flynn chuckled dryly, "They know…they may not know the full extent of what is being asked of them, but they know enough." His voice dripped with utter disdain as he lifted his eyes from the floor to the team huddled around the table.

Everyone turned to Flynn in surprise, he had been so quiet before they hadn't even realized he was there. "You have some information on this?" Agent Christopher asked. "Some intel?"

Flynn frowned thoughtfully, "A bit. They prey on the desperate…the people who have lost all hope." He scoffed, "They promise them the world…but first, they have to prove themselves." He cast a wary eye towards Lucy, who flushed and bowed her head, remembering with a pang the time she had had to prove herself, her loyalty, to Rittenhouse. Flynn nodded solemnly, "It's making a deal with the devil….and the ones stupid enough to believe that it won't cost them their soul…" he shook his head as he gritted out determinedly, "They know."

Wyatt, arms crossed in front of him, scoffed, "Sounds like you know first-hand what they're talking about…"

Flynn jutted out his jaw before admitting softly, "I do."

The reaction to that statement was immediate. Wyatt's arms dropped to his side as he moved to position himself, defensively, between Flynn and Lucy, nothing but hatred in his eyes as he rounded on the man he knew they should never have trusted. The astonishment of the others was evident not only from the surprised expressions on their faces, but also from the chorus of gasps and murmurs that sounded throughout the room. Wyatt, however, felt vindicated. "You sonofabitch," he growled, "you're one of them, aren't you?"

Agent Christopher, now recovered from the initial shock, threw herself between them, stopping Wyatt's advance as she threw her hands up in the air. "Let's hear what he has to say for himself before we jump to any conclusions, shall we?"

Wyatt reluctantly stepped back, seething with anger. "I told you we shouldn't have brought him in here," he gritted out as he crossed his arms once more and fixed Flynn with a penetrating glare.

"Do you honestly think I'd ever agree to work with those…those bastards?" Flynn growled at Wyatt angrily. "They murdered my family!"

"Which makes you pretty damn desperate." Wyatt spat back, "You just admitted you know first-hand what their methods are, so either you're a sleeper or you're lying…so which is it?"

Flynn hung his head, shaking it in frustration, "When you had me arrested," he said with a derisive laugh to Agent Christopher, "I was angry. I wanted revenge." He pointed to Lucy, "She promised that I would get my family back if I helped her…I held up my end of the bargain. I gave you Rittenhouse on a silver platter." he hissed.

"Actually, that was Ethan Cahill." Rufus piped up, but as Flynn turned a menacing eye on him, he shifted awkwardly and muttered, "but ya know…whatever…just…details."

"The point is…I helped you, I trusted you…and I got thrown into prison." he observed.

"You were thrown into prison to answer for your crimes." Agent Christopher admonished stoically, "you stole a time machine, you murdered countless people, you cost the Government a lot of money."

"I saved all of you! I saved history!" Flynn spat out angrily. "If Rittenhouse would have had that time machine, do you have any idea what they could have done?" He looked at Lucy meaningfully, "I do. That's why I was given the journal…to stop it."

"Yeah, yeah, "Wyatt said off-handedly, "we know all about Lucy giving you that damn journal. It still doesn't change the fact you as good as admitted you were recruited by Rittenhouse."

"They approached me. Came to visit me in prison." Flynn admitted with a nod. "I told them to go to hell." he whispered in a voice dripping with disdain. "They promised me my freedom…a chance to save my family…" He scoffed, "Even though I knew they couldn't be trusted…a part of me, wanted nothing more than to take that offer…just so I could see my girls again."

"Why didn't you?" Lucy asked in a small voice.

Flynn's eyes rested on Lucy for a long while before he answered quietly, "I had another visitor." he said with a solemn nod to Agent Christopher. Flynn frowned, "I decided since I was so valuable to both parties, I'd listen to what both of you had to say…what both of you had to offer."

"So that address in Darlington?" Lucy asked timidly.

"I got that from Rittenhouse." Flynn nodded, apparent shame clouding his features as he further added, "from your mother."

Lucy's eyes darted up to meet his, a look of horror on her face, "My mother came to see you?"

Flynn gave her a wry smile, "Oh yes. She wanted me to give you a few good leads, win your trust..."

"So you could double cross us all? Get revenge on Lucy? Is that it?" Wyatt spat out angrily.

"That was the general idea." Flynn admitted with a scowl, "But I didn't go through with it."

"The hell you didn't." Wyatt argued. "You did exactly what they asked you. The address in Darlington, the studio in Hollywood…hell, that sleeper almost took off with Lucy right in the middle of that party…and you knew it would happen, didn't you, you sonofabitch?"

"I knew Carol Preston was interested in getting Lucy back, yes…but I was interested in gaining your trust for my own reasons."

Wyatt turned to Agent Christopher, looking absolutely vindicated, "You see? I told you…he would make a deal with the devil if it would benefit him in anyway."

"I didn't make a deal with Rittenhouse! I wanted the hell out of there!" Flynn spat out. "you asked me for information, I gave it you." He pointed roughly to Agent Christopher "Ask her what happened to me…I got stabbed with a damn spoon!" Flynn passed a rough hand over his face, "They knew I was talking to Lucy…so they tried to kill me…I came here for protection…not for some Rittenhouse plot!"

"And why the hell should we believe you?" Wyatt asked roughly.

"I don't expect you to believe me." Flynn spat out, "But I think I've more than proved myself…why would I join forces with the people who put my family in their graves? They murdered my wife….my child." Flynn argued in a voice of emotion, "I'm not here on any errand for them."

"Why are you here?" Lucy asked quietly.

It was a valid question. As Wyatt had argued, he had provided no real intelligence since arriving in the bunker, yet he had made it seem that he was an indispensable source of intelligence for them. Lucy knew that Agent Christopher could have placed him into protective custody, given him a new identity…but yet, here he remained.

Flynn gazed at Lucy thoughtfully, his head nodding slightly as if making some sort of internal decision. Offering her a slight smirk and casting an admonishing gaze to Wyatt, Flynn jutted out his jaw and admitted softly, "To be a hero."

Notes:

This chapter was very challenging...and it actually was going to be much longer, but I really didn't want to proof another long one after that last Torrent update.

My big complaint with 208 was there was not much forward momentum in the way of overarching storyline. We learn that Wyatt saved AC and that RH uses desperate people to forward their goals. At the tail end of that episode we get Flynn's account of the journal handoff..and then the reason I hate this episode so much...the pregnancy bombshell. While I absolutely love that we were able to learn more about Agent Christopher and her past, I felt like everything else just sort of stagnated...and it FRUSTRATES me to no end that we didn't get more forward momentum on other parts of the storyline here when the next episode was the two part finale.

For the purposes of my fic, I kept the Reagan episode pretty much the same, and THAT is what made this chapter challenging...I didn't want to just copy the episode word for word...that's no fun...and so I tried my best to summarize the parts that were important for the over arching story and get us back so that we could learn more about Flynn and his role in all of this...again...this WAS longer...you'll get a bit more of that in the next chapter...as well as more Lyatt...i just couldn't fit it all in here without it being crazy long.

As always, thank you for reading!